Jim found himself unable to sleep that night. He tossed and turned for hours until he eventually gave up and decided to go for a walk.

In the past, Jim had always found wandering around the Enterprise at night comforting. He'd always enjoyed the solitude of it, just him and the sound of the ship's engines. But tonight, the quiet just made it easier for his thoughts to spiral. He couldn't get the events of the day out of his head. Toby had been willing to kill him, and it had awoken several terrible memories he'd tried hard to supress.

After aimlessly wandering around the ship for what felt like hours, Jim eventually found himself standing outside the gym. Well, if he couldn't sleep maybe exercise would help.

Jim pushed open the door and to his surprise the lights were already on. He walked inside to see a topless Spock viciously punching a punching bag.

Jim's gaze travelled over Spock's body. The Vulcan was clearly athletic, and he definitely knew his way around a punching bag (not that that was surprising given the way the guy fought). Not to mention, his hair was bouncing up and down in time with his punches in the most adorable way.

Jim shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts. "Hi," he said, "Couldn't sleep either?"

Spock didn't say anything he just glanced up at Jim for a second before continuing his attack on the punching bag,

Jim sighed and took several steps further into the room, "Look, I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life today,"

Spock still didn't say anything, he just hit the punching bag again.

After watching the Vulcan for a second, Jim decided that Spock had the right idea, taking his frustrations out on a punching bag, so he walked over to the one next to Spock, picked up a pair of gloves and slide them on. Jim punched the bag and smiled slightly to himself. There was something satisfying about that. He took another swing, causing the bag to sway slightly, and nodded to himself, this definitely seemed preferable to sleeping.

"Widen your stance slightly," Spock said suddenly, after about five minutes,

"What?" Jim turned his head to see that Spock had stopped boxing and was just standing next to his punching bag watching him,

"If you widen your stance you can put more power into your punch,"

Jim went to turn back to his punching bag when Spock spoke again, "Also you should swing more from your hips,"

Jim nodded and swung at the bag, "Like that?"

Spock stared at Jim for a second before he marched over to him and placed one hand on Jim's hip and one on his arm. He then gently moved Jim's body, slowly demonstrating the punch, "Like that,"

Spock took a step back and Jim repeated the movement on his own, punching the bag and causing it to swing out. He looked over his shoulder and grinned at Spock, "Thanks," he said. Jim turned back to his punching bag then paused before he could hit it. He turned to look at Spock who had walked back over to his own punching bag, "Hey, are you OK after today?" Jim asked,

Spock didn't look over, he just punched the bag again, "I am Vulcan, I don't feel," he said after a second,

"So, you're just attacking that punching bag because…?" Jim watched as Spock hit the bag a few more times,

"Normally a Vulcan would meditate," Spock said eventually,

"But you're not," Jim said evenly,

"No. I am not skilled at meditation, I can only reach the surface levels of my mind,"

Jim nodded, trying to make it look like he understood what Spock was saying, "And why's that?" he asked,

"I left Vulcan before I ever learnt how," Spock explained, "My father started teaching me but once he was killed nobody cared, or knew how, to teach me,"

"So, you come and take your frustrations out at the gym," Jim summarised,

"It's very unvulcan," Spock said. Jim thought he could detect a hint of bitterness in the Vulcan's voice but he decided not to comment on it.

Jim watched Spock box for a little while longer before he abandoned his own punching bag and walked over to Spock, "Do you want to spar?" he offered,

Spock looked him up and down before nodding slightly, "Affirmative," he agreed.

Jim smiled slightly at him then took his shoes off and stepped into the middle of the room, "Come on then," he said.

Spock stared at Jim for a second before stepping forward to join Jim in the centre of the room.

Spock raised his arms up in a fighting stance and the two men nodded at each other. Instantly, Jim lunged at Spock. He took one swing at Spock's head, but Spock easily blocked his punch.

In one swift movement Spock grabbed hold of Jim's forearm and spun him around, pinning his arm to his back. Before Jim could do anything to retaliate Spock then swiped his legs out from under him, knocking him to the ground. Jim sat back up and made to kick at Spock's legs, however Spock dodged out of the way just in time.

Jim climbed back to his feet, but Spock was ready for him. Once more he blocked Jim's attack then punched Jim in the face.

Jim let out a pained moan, but he didn't let up his attack. He tried to kick Spock in the knee, but Spock was quicker, sending Jim tumbling back to the ground,

"Do you yield?" he asked,

"No way," Jim kicked Spock's legs, finally managing to get a hit in, and sent Spock tumbling to the ground too. Jim instantly jumped on top of Spock, pinning him down. However, before Jim could ask him if he yield Spock flipped the two of them over.

"Do you yield?" Spock asked again.

Jim desperately tried to pull himself free from Spock's grasp but after a few seconds of writhing on the floor, he eventually realised his attempts were fruitless and he went limp underneath Spock, "Ok I yield," he said.

Spock climbed off Jim and sat down on the mat next to him.

"You're good," Jim said as he sat up, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Quora VII," Spock replied,

"The orphan colony?"

"Affirmative,"

Jim's eyes widened in shock. He'd heard stories about Quora VII, none of the good. Parents tried to scare their children into behaving by telling them tales about what would happen if they didn't and ended up on Quora VII.

He'd heard terrible stories about starving children and about the wardens there abusing their power. He'd even heard one description of the planet that involved the children there being forced to participate in a fighting ring! However, Jim had never actually met anyone who'd grown up there.

"If I hadn't been able to fight, I would have died a long time ago," Spock said somewhat cryptically,

"What do you mean?"

"There were several ways of get food on Quora VII but all of them involved fighting for it, and even then, once I had food I had to fight to keep it," Jim watched as Spock gazed into the distance, "Everyone there was starving, and they were more than willing to do whatever it took to get food,"

"So, all the stories I've heard about Quora VII…?"

"Are most likely true," Spock confirmed, "I ran away when I was fifteen, I decided that being a homeless Vulcan on Earth was preferable to staying there,"

"You managed to escape Quora VII? I thought the regulations about entering and leaving there were super strict‽"

Spock nodded, "They are, however once a week supplies were delivered, so I spent several months working out how to hack the security gates without getting caught. Once I'd done that it was relatively easy to stow away on a cargo ship and get to Earth,"

"You know, you get more and more impressive the more I learn about you," Jim remarked, and, although the expression on Spock's face didn't change, his eyes did seem to light up in a small smile.

Jim grinned back at Spock before climbing back to his feet and offering his hand to Spock, who stared at Jim for a second before slowly taking Jim's hand and letting him pull him up.

"Do you want to spar again, or do you want to go back to bed?" Jim asked,

"Let's spar again," Spock replied, "I'll try and give you some pointers."