Author's Note: This is a bit of a long AN that comes from absolute respect and love. Tomorrow (February 27) is the anniversary of the passing of the wonderful Leonard Nimoy, and I can't help but be sad when the day comes around. He will always live on in the memory of fans, never forgotten and greatly missed. He truly Lived Long and Prospered. *hearts*

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek! All rights belong to JJ Abrams (movie references) and Gene Roddenberry (TOS references). Any grammatical errors or mistakes you find I hope you can forgive me! Happy reading everyone!

Whatever this ship was called, let it be known that I absolutely HATE this monstrosity. I liked being on a ship with no windows, wanting to stay far away from seeing the vast darkness of space, hence why I felt more comfortable working in my medbay, but in this tiny dart-like ship? Everywhere I looked all I could see was the stars and the endless darkness that stretched on for eternity! Not to mention momentarily the ship had opened and we almost got sucked out into the black darkness that held no oxygen! Exposed, though briefly, to the outside air (or lack thereof). This was more action then I cared for, I've had enough to last me the rest of my life thank you very much.

On top of being a big ball of anxiety from being exposed to the unknown, I had no idea how to fly this stupid contraption and we had a very unpleasant landing the second we breached the planet's atmosphere. I'm a doctor, dammit, not a pilot!

I groaned as I crawled my way up to the opening of the ship, using the outside edges for support as I pulled myself out of this metal contraption. I could feel something wet drip down my cheek, and when I reached up to see what it was my hand came back red…great. Just perfect. It seemed, aside from the cut on my temple, everything else on my body was functioning just fine with only slight bruising from banging around the sides of the metal walls that kept us safe. All I had to do was get over the heart attack I just experienced after the messy landing.

I took a deep intake of air, thankful that I could actually breathe, before realizing that we were at the bottom of some type of ravine.

"I can't believe it." I mumbled as I hoisted myself up, hearing the metal groan under my weight, as I hopped out and splashed into the small stream of water. I truly couldn't believe we survived that.

Following behind, I heard Spock let out a groan in pain, and when I turned to see what was bothering the Vulcan I was alarmed when I saw something protruding out of his side the second he twisted his body to carefully attempt to get out of the ship.

"My God, Spock." The Doctor in me jumped into action as I reached over to assist him in getting out of the ship without causing more damage to his wound. He couldn't even stand on his own two feet the second it had touched solid ground which was concerning. I flung his arm over my shoulder and had him lean his body against mine as I led him over to the front of the ship. "God…sit down over here." I carefully placed his body down, hearing him groan at being slightly jostled to the side. "Okay. Okay, sit. Easy. Easy." I kept muttering as Spock eased himself down, deliberately taking slow and even breathes as he worked through the pain. And when his body was laying completely on the top half of the ship I could finally get a good look at the damage that was done. "Okay. Now, just uh…try and relax. You're gonna be okay."

"The forced optimism in your voice suggests that you're trying to elicit a sense of calm in order to..." God, even when in excruciating pain he can still attempt to grate on my every nerve when all I'm trying to do is help him. "Okay, I'll cut the horseshit." "Doctor, I fail to see how excrement of any kind bears relevance on our current situation." Spock had reached out to grab my shoulder for leverage, putting immense strain on his body to get back to his feet, and at the sudden movement I started to panic at the painful grunts he was letting out.

"Whoa, whoa, what the hell are you doing?" I protested as I placed my hand on his chest to force him back down.

"We must keep moving, Doctor." Spock protested my protest, stubborn ass Vulcan! Keep going like this and you'll kill yourself!

"Spock, this thing's punctured your iliac region!" I tried to make him see reason, I needed to get his wound under control or he could very well die!

"Time is a critical factor." Spock tried to argue, but the strength I could see was quickly leaving him as his wound was too great, causing him to lean back onto the ship with another groan.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you." I evened out my voice as I pointed down to his wound and gave him the only options we had. "Look, if I can't take this out, you're gonna die. Okay? If I take it out and can't stop the bleeding, you're gonna die."

"I can see no appeal in either option." Spock's voice, though he attempted to continue being stubborn and strong, wobbled after finally understanding the severity of the situation he was in.

"Believe it or not, neither can I." I whispered as I took a glance around to make sure that there weren't any more of those ships flying on patrol as well as to see if there was anything I could use to seal up his wound. I moved closer to the ship and started pushing through some of the pieces of debris scattered in the water that had fallen during impact. "So, if I remember correctly, the Vulcans have their hearts where humans have their livers." I found something, whatever this was, I mean…it looked like something I could use? A weapon perhaps to heat something up? Looked like one, I could only hope it doesn't do anything more than just a single ray of light.

"That is correct, Doctor." Spock winced as I saw him continue his even breathing. Gotta hand it to the man, professional till the very end. Something besides Spock's comment caught my attention as I reached into the ship and tried to wrench it free.

"That explains a thing or two." I said as I continued to yank the object free, placing the weapon to my side to free up both hands as I took a glance once again at Spock's injury. "You know, you're lucky. An inch to the left…" A couple of good, hard tugs, later and I finally got the blasted thing free. Though I had almost fallen ass first into the water. I reached over to one of the objects that flew out, a sharp pointed end metal rod as I observed. "and you'd be dead already." I took the two objects and made my way back to my patient. "God, I just don't get it, Spock. I mean, what did they attack us for?" I reached for a random large rock that I could easily grip in one hand and started bashing the tip of the weapon that resembled a gun. "I mean, they do all this for some doodad that the tiny critters didn't want?"

"It is unwise to trivialize that which one simply does not understand, Doctor." I heard Spock take a deep breath. "We can safely assume it is more important than a doodad." My phrase of the object is what bothered him?

"I think you just managed to insult me twice, Spock." I looked over my work, satisfied that I was able to make the tip thin enough so that the output of the laser could heat up the tip of the metal rod I had pulled apart from the ship. I placed the tip down onto a rock, activating the weapon as I saw the tip of the rod glow bright red, sizzling and smoking up, and now came the difficult part.

"Okay." I said as I went over to Spock's body. "All right, Spock, I just got one question." I furrowed my brows in concentration before shrugging as I tried to come up with a completely random question to catch the logical Vulcan off guard. I could only think of one thing. "What's your favorite color?"

"I fail to see the relevance-" Spock started to speak.

'Sorry Spock,' I thought as I yanked the offending object that was protruding out of Spock's wound free and held the heated metal against his open wound, hearing the sizzle of metal against skin, the heated metal doing its job to cauterize the wound. A bit primitive for my taste, considering I would've wanted to tackle the internal damage before sealing the wound, but at the moment I didn't have such essential necessities on hand.

Spock yelled out in anguish, a scream that echoed and bounced off the walls of the gorge. I waited for a couple of seconds to pass before I pulled the metal away. 'It would have to do…for now.'

"Yeah. They say it hurts less if it's a surprise." I said, reciting what medical school had taught me as I tossed the object that used to be jutting out of Spock's wound over my shoulder.

"If I may adopt a parlance with which you are familiar," Spock started to speak, a bit irritable from the sound of his voice as I looked over his wounds once more. The cauterization will have to do for now until I can get back to equipment I was familiar with so that I can better treat his condition. "I can confirm your theory to be...horseshit."

I couldn't help but smirk, Spock using my slang? And swearing no less? This I will have to tell Ally when I see her.

'Ally,' I thought with worry, wondering and hoping that she got off the ship alive just as we had. I heard the sound of a ship hovering in the distance, getting closer from the sound of it. Spock's scream may have attracted them to our location, and if they heard it then I could only assume that they would come investigate the location where the sound had come from. If we stayed here…they would find us guaranteed. "We gotta get outa here." I reached over and gently wound my arm around Spock's midsection as I slung his arm over my neck, supporting him as he slowly with difficulty got to his feet. "Come on."

'We needed to keep moving,' I thought as we followed the stream, going in the opposite direction from where I could guess where the ships were coming from. And as I concentrated on moving both my feet, keeping both myself and Spock moving, my mind would wander to my Mate. I could only hold on to the hope that Ally was alive, the feeling that Khan and myself had experienced at her passing three years ago hadn't hit me. A good indication that she could very well be alive and kicking. 'we'll find you Ally, just you wait.'

"McCoy to Enterprise. Come in." I continued with my attempt to get in touch with the ship, or any of our crew that would be calling on all frequencies as directive states. My hope dwindled as I kept getting no response back, but I had to keep trying…for both our sake. "McCoy to Enterprise." I was secretly hoping as well that I would hear Ally's voice come through my communicator, informing me where they were as well as attempting to reunite with us. I could only sigh as I gave up attempting to make contact with our crew and deciding to concentrate more on Spock's condition. When I turned back around I saw that Spock was forcing himself to continue forward while supporting his wound. I rushed to catch up with the wounded man just as I saw him duck into a cave like structure. "Hey, take it easy there, Spock. That was just a temporary fix back there."

"I understand, Doctor." Spock's voice echoed, and when we came out from the other side of the tunnel it seemed like we had come across another entrance that led further into the rock face as little critters started flying out from inside the cave. "Fascinating."

"Ominous. Dark. Dangerous." I pointed out with a shake of my head, not seeing at all the 'fascination' that Spock held toward the entrance as we both shared a look before Spock continued forward. "We're going in…"

Of course we are!

Over the rocky structure we entered what I could only assume was a cave, but something seemed off about this area we found ourselves in. Though this was supposed to be a cave, inside it didn't seem that way. It looked more machine-like as my boots clacked against metal, there were pockets of light shining in through holes that were evenly spaced out from above and through the slits in the walls. This place was too dark for my liking.

"Intriguing. These symbols are the same as those depicted on the artifact taken in the attack." Spock studied the symbols on the ceiling above us.

"You think it came from here?" I asked as I attempted to have a look around, almost tripping as the tip of my foot got caught on one of the grate like slits in the ground.

"It would seem so." Spock said before his body crumbled to the ground just as he let out a yelp in pain.

"Damn it, Spock." I scolded as I raced over to his side, helping to move him onto his back as I lifted his shirt to check and make sure he hadn't opened his wound with how much stress he was putting his body through. "Easy. Easy."

Due to the severity of his wound, and the excruciating pain he was in, Spock had gone unconscious the second his body hit the ground. 'Stubborn, green blooded, Vulcan!' I growled as I carefully took his body and slowly moved him over to the side of the wall as I continued to monitor his wound.

When he had regained consciousness I knew I needed him to stay awake so I struck up small conversations here and there, I was afraid that he would die in my care and I was not going to let that happen. Spock, and I would never say this out loud, was a great friend and an even greater First Officer. Reliable, and the only one capable enough to get us out of this mess with that large, logical brain of his. Not to mention how close Ally is to him and Nyota, though they were on this temporary break, was his Mate. The pain I had felt momentarily when Ally had died, I would not want Nyota to feel it.

Though as we spoke through the night when the sun was barely on the rise I had suddenly noticed that he had failed to respond after a few snide comments I made about him and Nyota. I turned to my right and noticed that he had suddenly closed his eyes and I started to panic. I had feared right then and there that he had succumbed to his wounds if it wasn't for the slow movement of his chest rising and falling.

"Spock." I called out, my body on high alert, and my thoughts running a mile a minute as I placed my hands on either side of his face, moving his head slightly from side to side. "Spock, wake up, damn it!"

When Spock's eyes opened, finally, he had given me a strange look before reaching out to take my hands off his face.

"I am entirely conscious, Doctor." Spock pointed out. "I'm simply contemplating the nature of mortality."

"Feeling philosophical, huh?" I shook my head as I let out an exasperated sigh, easing my way back to the area I had previously occupied before the fright Spock had given me. I sat back down and dusted off my hands against my pants as I stared out across the room. "Massive blood loss will do that to you."

"You asked me why Lieutenant Uhura and I parted ways." That's what he decides to bring up? Something I had asked back in Yorktown? I wasn't going to question his reasoning though, if he wanted to get something off his chest then I was just going to allow him to speak his mind while I remained silent. I think that's what Ally said she would do in this type of situation. "I became concerned, in the light of Vulcan's demise, that I owed a debt of duty to my species."

"You thought you should be off making little Vulcans, huh?" I concluded, taking a sharp intake of air knowing full well without needing to be there the storm that had kicked up after that conversation. "Yeah, I can see how that had upset her."

"I had been given advice by Commander DeLuca, to be honest no matter the outcome. I knew how Lieutenant Uhura would react, as did she, and as Mates I knew honesty was the best option." Spock said that caused my brow to lift, I had no idea that he had confided such a concern to Ally before consulting Nyota. "And I intended to discuss it with her further, but I received some news which affected me unexpectedly."

I fully intended to listen to Spock's concerns in silence, that prospect being quite difficult with the little comments I was making, but this had caught my attention. "What news?"

"Ambassador Spock has died." Spock's voice quivered, and I didn't know what to say to that for even I was caught off guard by the sudden news.

"Oh." I shook my head as I thought over my next words, what could one really truly say besides the obvious? "Spock, I'm so sorry. I-I can't imagine what that must feel like."

"When you've lived as many lives as he," Spock's voice broke, the wobble getting stronger and for the first time I saw the guard…that wall he always put up shatter. "fear of death is illogical."

"Fear of death is what keeps us alive." I assured Spock that there was nothing wrong with said fear. "Does Allyson…?"

"No," Spock shook his head. "I do not think she was given the news."

"I caught her a few times speaking to Ambassador Spock, though most of the time it was more like she was listening intently to his story, hanging on every word he spoke. Her face lit up like a child on Christmas Day whenever he would call and tell her more stories of his adventures." I thought back to the times I had caught the elder Vulcan on her screen after I had clocked out for the day. I was curious what he had gone through to go from the man seated beside me, to the man that was speaking to my Mate. 'It'll break her heart when she hears about Ambassador Spock…'

"I want to live as he did." Spock nodded his head. "That is why I decided to redirect my efforts and continue his work on New Vulcan."

Another shock, I wasn't even sure I had heard the man correctly as I leaned forward and reiterated what I had hoped wasn't the truth. "You're leaving Starfleet?" Spock had turned his head away from me, no longer able to look me in the eyes, and I thought about our common friend, curious to how such a news would've affected him and how he took it. "What did Jim have to say about that?"

"I could not find the time to tell him." Spock confessed, his voice now a whisper as his shoulders sagged.

"Well, I can tell you he's not gonna like that." I stated, knowing full well that is exactly how Jim would react.

"Commander DeLuca did not express her disagreement, but I could tell the more she spoke with me that she was displeased with knowing that I was planning to leave." Spock continued.

'Allyson,' I shook my head. "Of course she wouldn't express what she feels, knowing Ally, she would've wanted to support whatever choice you feel is right for you even if she personally disagrees. I can tell you this, Spock. With you being her first, true, friend since leaving her family? She was upset no matter what front she tried to put up."

"Commander DeLuca had indeed offered her support, but I had not…could not give her an answer to my decision." Spock said with a sigh. "I'm finding it…difficult to deliver such news."

"It's difficult, because you're fighting between logic and heart." I stated honestly. "Ally, will carry on with her duties, putting up a front so no one would worry because it's what she was taught to do. Jim? Well, I honestly don't know what he'd do without you." I shrugged my shoulders. "I mean, you know, me on the other hand I'd-I'd throw a party, but…" I was joking, obviously, we'd have our many disagreements but that didn't mean I didn't like the guy or wished him to leave.

Spock, to my relief, took my joke as simply that. A joke. As I heard him let out a scoff before a soft chuckle came from under his breath causing me to join in. But I only started to grow concerned when his chuckle erupted into a full out laugh. An uncharacteristic trait that I've never seen him do and that reaction made me uncomfortable as I leaned forward to stare at my First Officer as if he had lost his mind. "My God, you're getting delirious."

"McCoy and Spock to Enterprise crew. Come in, Enterprise crew." I attempted to make contact once more. "Anyone." When I had gotten no response yet again, I sighed and pocketed my communicator into the back of my pants before going back over to where Spock was leaning on a rock for support. "Come on, Spock." I grunted as I hauled his ass back to his feet. "Come on, you can make it."

We had gotten out of that cave, needing to keep moving in fear that we would soon be found if we stayed in one place for so long, and I had feared that if we dawdled any longer Spock's condition could worsen.

"Leaving me behind will significantly increase your chance for survival, Doctor." Spock had been arguing with me most of the time the second we had left the safety of that cave, and I was having none of it.

"Well, that's damn chivalrous of you," I shot his suggestion down, I wasn't going to leave his ass behind due to my duty as his friend and doctor. As well as keeping in mind how it would affect Nyota and Ally if I indeed left Spock behind. "but completely out of the question."

"It is imperative that you locate any surviving crew." Spock said as he stumbled a bit over some of the pebbles and rocks beneath our feet.

"Here I was thinking you cared." I shook my head before continuing to argue with Spock. "For your information, I have located a surviving member, and if we come across more then I will treat them so that we can continue to search for more of our crew."

The two of us stopped moving forward when something in the distance in the sky caught our attention. Three dots as well as the sound of the ship's engines were getting closer to our location from around the bend and I huffed. We were found.

"Of course I care, Leonard." Spock said as we watched the approaching ships, catching me off guard because for the first time he used my first name instead of calling me 'Doctor' or 'Doctor McCoy'. I watched as the ships grew closer, letting out another sigh. "I always assumed my respect for you was clear." I looked to Spock as he turned to look back at me, our final moments were upon us and he decided to drop such a confession on me? Full of surprises this man was on our short time on Altamid, though it could also be due to blood loss that he's deciding to suddenly be so open. "The dialogue we have had across the years has always-"

"It's okay, Spock." It also reminded me how patients close to death would confess their final thoughts, so that when they died…they'd die with no regrets. I didn't want him to finish, I wanted to keep on hoping that we could get out of here alive. "You don't have to say it." I turned back the way we came to see another ship had blocked our path and I could only shake my head. 'Sorry, Allyson…' I suppose I needed to come to terms with it now. We all have to go some time. "Well, at least I won't die alone."

I suddenly heard a familiar sound tickle my ears, the sound of something materializing…or dematerializing in this case for when I turned around Spock was no longer standing beside me. The three ships had lowered into the gorge, their weapons trained on me and I gritted my teeth in irritation. "Well, that's just typical."

I glared up at the ships that surrounded me, steeling myself as I held up my fists in defense. If this was my time to go then I'd go out kicking and screaming! "Come on, you bastards!"

Compared to our own transporter that was overall painless and instant, this time I felt my whole body being pulled apart. My molecules and atoms scattering about before I found myself on a different ship instead of facing a bunch of large weapons glaring down on me.

'I think I'm going to be sick…' I gasped as I turned back around and did a check over my body, making sure all my limbs were intact. That sure was a trippy. "Oh."

"Good to see you in one piece, Doctor." Scotty came into view, a cheeky smile on his face.

"Oh, am I?" I asked as I looked down at my hands. "I feel like my innards have been to a barn dance!"

"Aye, well, these old transporters were only ever used for cargo, but a few modifications seem to do the trick." Scotty reached for my shoulder to lead me off the transporter pad, this ship looked extremely old and quite frankly too unstable for my liking. "I thought it best to beam you one at a time, though. You know, in case you got spliced." Scotty made the motion of two objects compressing together and that did not make me feel any better about what just happened a few seconds ago!

"I couldn't imagine a worse scenario." I commented as I shook off the uneasy, queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach and went over to where Spock was doubled over.

"Good to have you back. You all right?" Jim was smiling, seeming happy to see us both as I brushed away his concern for me with a flick of my hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I nodded toward Spock. "He's hurt."

"I am functioning adequately, Captain." Spock, stubborn through and through, denied.

"In a pig's eye, you are!" I argued.

"Captain, we discovered that the stolen artifact appears to have come from this pla-" Spock let out a groan before his legs gave out from under him once again. Thankfully, Jim and myself were close by to catch him before he tumbled to the ground and inflicted any more damage to his body.

"Damn it, Spock." I growled before looking back to the group that had gathered on our arrival. "Are there any medical supplies on this thing?"

"This way." A woman responded as she nodded for us to follow. I had no idea who this newcomer was, and I couldn't care less. For now my only concern was getting Spock properly looked at and treated.

I never planned it this way it just sorta...happened. Nimoy's passing was one of those news that I couldn't help but cry instantly when I read the news (I only had this happen one other time when it came to the passing of a celebrity). I was late getting into the fandom, but I was able to watch TOS while he was still alive. To be able to appreciate his acting, along with the wonderful creation and character he brought to life. I really wish I could've gotten the chance to meet him.

Anyway, if you are enjoying yourself and my story: review, follow, and favorite! But again, it is not mandatory =) if you gave my story a chance and you're enjoying yourself while reading then I am happy. I hope everyone is continuing to stay safe wherever you may be in the world!
-SO