I don't own anything to Star Trek. It is all property of Gene Roddenberry and whoever has the rights to it. I don't make money with it. I'm writing fanfictions about Star Trek because I love this story. So I ask you not to sue me.

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In retrospect, I wish you all a happy Valentine's Day! I originally planned to upload this chapter on February 14th, but unfortunately I wasn't happy with it at all and otherwise found it difficult to write. I hope you don't notice as you read.

A non-romantic chapter follows in which fists fly and hatred opens its doors instead of love. Have fun!

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Perceived Fraud

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It was like everything was happening in slow motion. The rain stopped hitting the floor and walls. Every breath seemed to come to a standstill and only the wind howled a plaintive song. Jim couldn't tell how long he looked into the helmet's dark visor or how long his heart had stopped beating. He just wanted to see the face that was hidden.

His heart started beating again as gloved hands found their way to a chin. There was a familiar click and Jim knew he was going to take off the motorcycle helmet. There would be no excuses or distractions. Simon or Spock. Jim waited eagerly for the truth.

Two hands lifted the helmet in one gentle motion, revealing jet black hair and auburn eyes that looked at them without expectation. The pointy ears were clearly visible, as was the slight green discoloration of the skin. There was no doubt who was standing in front of them and Jim felt his heart pound out of his chest. Spock ... Spock!

It was only one moment that he realized he was moving forward and reaching out his hands to the vulcan. Not to fall around his neck. Oh no! He wanted to twist his neck! That damn vulcan ...

Only Gary's intervention prevented a violent confrontation, in which he stood more protectively in front of Jim and took away his eyes on the hated Vulcan. That didn't stop this smoldering hatred, but at least Jim stopped seeing red. He took the opportunity and took a deep breath. His buddy eyed Spock meanwhile.

"Take a look at this. If that's no surprise." Gary cocked his head slightly. "Jimmy thought the Romulans got you by now, but you're here instead. I'm starting to think the world has a strange sense of humor."

The Vulcan remained calm and tucked his motorcycle helmet under his arm.

"I didn't know a planet could have a sense of humor."

Jim noticed how he grimaced. The guy was still as humorless as it was two years ago. Why on earth did this man live? Instead of Spock, Pike should have lived, but no! That would have simplified the lives of so many people too much.

"I don't believe it ..." he muttered to himself and took a few steps away from the others. His mind raced. When he believed their problems could be minimized, instead they increased. A partnership with Spock was out of the question. Except that the bum had been fooling them and he hated him incredibly. They'd have more Romulans on their heels if a Vulcan were found to be with them.

"The deal is over!" Announced Jim angrily. "Gary, we're getting out of here! I don't even feel like sharing the air with that bastard."

When he looked at the said bastard, he noticed that his face was unmoved. God! How much he would like to hit it again now. This time the helmet was off. His chances were good. The urge even increased when the Vulcan opened his mouth.

"You will continue to share the air with me even if you leave the room. We're on the same planet and ... "

"Are you begging to get my fist in your face?" Jim pressed between his teeth. His hatred couldn't be ignored.

Spock closed his mouth and seemed to think for a moment before speaking again.

"My social skills are a little rusty. I am sorry."

Jim hissed scornfully at that statement. It brought him back to the bridge where he had had a simple conversation with Simon. ... Simon ... Spock must have laughed on the inside that he could fool him like that. Besides, he had had to apologize for so many things ...

"Forgiveness? For what? ", Jim began condescendingly."For your wrong decisions? For all the lives that lie underground because of you ... or in the slurry, as is the case today?"

Before the Vulcan could answer, Uhura intervened. You could see her anger build. "Stop that! You can't hold Spock responsible for everything! This situation-"

"We could have mastered it! We could have stopped Nero! We could have stopped the Romulans from taking this chance to attack Earth! Pike would still be alive if we'd done something!"

The former captain's name silenced everyone and even Spock seemed depressed for a moment. It hurt Jim to think of his old friend. His only father figure.

In addition, the silence in the room left his thoughts too much free space. He didn't want to think about all the losses, all that they had lost, but when he looked at Spock he saw everything again. All the pain and suffering in those two years. They could have done something! They could have stopped Nero!

It was as if someone had thrown a switch and before Jim knew it, his body reacted on its own and pounced on the Vulcan. No one seemed to have expected a new attack attempt because no one moved, not even when Jim threw Spock to the ground and beat him savagely. His emotions made him blind to everything else around him. Behind the red veil of anger, he only marginally noticed how Uhura reached for her knife, only to find that Gary had already taken it from her with nimble fingers. He stood between them and threatening her with her own weapon. By now Spock had raised his arms to protect his face.

That bastard was responsible for everything! Just because of him! HIM!

Jim had known that they couldn't trust anyone. He had known it was a mistake to rely on others. Any conversation about partnership had been a sick joke to the Vulcan. Perhaps he wanted to use both of them as bait to better hide from the Romulans. He must have done this before, how else could he have survived all this time?!

In his blind rage, Jim did not notice how easily Spock changed his position under him and quickly threw him away. It was only when he hit the operator of the roller shutter hard that he became aware of this fact. Ordinarily he would have got up as soon as possible to continue the fight, but a sharp pain drove him to the ground. He groaned and held his stomach and felt the blood pound from his wound. He had completely forgotten that fact.

"Jim!" Came it alarmingly from Gary, who immediately rushed to his injured friend.

Uhura meanwhile helped Spock back on his feet and if Jim hadn't known better, he would have thought he had seen concern on the Vulcan's face.

"I beg your pardon, it was not my intention-"

While Spock took a few steps towards them, Gary raised Uhura's knife and stopped him immediately.

"Always nice and slow. This discussion isn't over yet," his buddy said, pressing a soothing hand on Jim's shoulder. He was already starting to breathe heavily. It hurt so much! The wound must have opened.

Spock looked back and forth between them for a moment before nodding. "You may be right about that, but I suggest we take Mister Kirk to one of the buildings. Weather conditions will not improve his condition. He could also rest better in a bed."

"And why do we want to have something to do with you?" Gary asked skeptically.

"Apart from personal feelings, my suggestion was meant seriously. Both sides benefit from this cooperation."

"I am in favor of postponing this conversation or should Kirk lie curled up on the floor longer?" Uhura interfered and pointed to the injured man.

Both men paused for a moment before nodding in agreement. The former cadet slowly approached Gary until he put the knife down. He allowed her to support Jim. Meanwhile, Spock lifted Kelso's body over his shoulder.

"Are you still serious about the funeral?" Gary asked in astonishment.

Spock didn't look at him and only answered briefly. "That's why I'm here."

From then on, Jim couldn't pay any more attention to the others because the pain of his wound was too distracting. It had been a stupid idea to fight a Vulcan with an injury like this. The slight effort not to put all of his weight on Gary and Uhura was enough to make him sweat. He felt the drops on his forehead and his hands felt as if he had put them in the water. The whole way to another building was more arduous for him than anything else.

When they found a largely acceptable room, they helped Jim into bed. Gary even took off his wet clothes to wrap him in whatever sheets he could find. They re-treated the wound as best they could. ... Sometimes Jim wished Bones was still with him. Even without tech, the guy would know how to fix something.

Jim heard the rain patter against the window panes and heard the howling wind whistle through the cracks. This apartment would protect their group from the unpleasant weather. They could stay here. Here Jim could rest for a while. Here he passed out.

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"Nice throw," said Gary to Spock sarcastically as he sat by his friend's side.

James Kirk had passed out quickly, but continued to inhale and exhale regularly to her relief. The wound had opened only slightly, but it was enough to cause severe pain. The best they could do now was wait. Then they could continue their conversation.

Spock just hoped it would then take place without violence.

He withdrew with Nyota to - as he explained to Mr. Gary - use the rain to replenish their water supplies. It rained a lot of water from the sky and catching it immediately saved them the hassle of filtering it. In this form it was as pure as possible. An opportunity they had to seize.

Spock and Nyota went to the top floor and found a broken rain gutter on one of the windows. It had already been washed so well by the falling water that there was hardly any dirt left. The collected rain flowed to the earth in a clear stream. A perfect way to refill their bottles. Who of them knew when it would rain enough again. After all, there was always a danger in starting a fire to boil the water.

The whole time they didn't talk to each other. That wasn't necessary either. Spock knew Nyota would like to leave them behind as she could see no advantage in a partnership. But he disagreed. They had to work together or the Romulans would wipe each of them out.

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The rain had stopped when Jim opened his eyes again. There were only small remnants that slowly dripped from the edges onto the earth and glittered in the bright light of the sun. A beautiful sight that gave Jim peace and quiet for a while. But it quickly disappeared and he waited again for the Romulan heavy vehicles to search tirelessly for them. ... He didn't notice anything like that. So had Nero once told the truth? Would he leave them alone now?

His attention was drawn to another subject that Jim almost forgot. When the door to his room was not pushed open gently and he saw three people enter the room, everything came back to him. Right! They still had to clarify something, this time with words, because Jim didn't want to hit the wall again.

"You'd better start making your statement right now or leave right away. For my part, I am against this partnership." He didn't greet anyone, but he threw the first stone into this uncomfortable situation. After all, Jim wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

He probably wasn't the only one, because when Gary sat down next to him, Uhura began to answer. "Before we met you, we wanted to leave town to look for a home."

"Home, sweet home, right?" His buddy mocked the ex-cadet and Jim bit his tongue to avoid doing the same.

Nobody had permanent homes at the time. That was unwise. Nobody could stay in one place too long, but maybe it was just hope that drove them.

After all, it was Spock who kept talking. "Despite different goals, our situation is the same. We all struggle to guarantee our survival."

"I think we've been here already," Jim interrupted sternly. "Your point was that we didn't kill each other, but for my part I can't guarantee it anymore."

The Vulcan seemed to consider his answer and looked at the floor for a brief moment. "There are still advantages in terms of number."

It wasn't enough for him to swallow his hatred.

"I can only speak from my point of view on one point. I would like to have someone with the so-called gut feeling in our group."

Huh. That sounded interesting.

"It should be known that Vulcans think more and analyze each situation in order to gather all the facts. We don't rely on feelings. That is an advantage and a disadvantage."

"That explains your tenacity and why you want it. I don't understand why we should," Jim countered angrily.

Spock didn't seem impressed. "If you need a certain perk for yourself, I'm a Vulcan. I am stronger than a normal person. My senses are sharper and I can function longer without my basic needs. Also..."

Spit it out, thought Jim, looking at him impatiently.

"... you could use me as bait or distraction when a hopeless situation with the Romulans is inevitable."

"Wait! What?!" Jim came in shock. He thought he had misheard.

The shock increased when he heard his buddy answer. "That sounds logical."

"Wait! What?" Jim stared at Gary in disbelief. "That's not logical! That's stupid! It's absolutely stupid to be walking around in a group with a Vulcan!"

"That's true!" Agreed, Gary. Jim was already waiting for the "but". "But! If Romulans had a choice between Humans and a Vulcan, they would chase the Vulcan. The other perks are just a small bonus."

Jim couldn't believe it. "Gary ..."

"Are you going to leave us alone for a little while?" His buddy asked the others, who nodded without objection and quietly left the room. The two friends were alone now.

"Jim, I know you hate this guy deeply, but we don't have the luxury of being picky," argued Gary in a slightly pleading tone.

Jim didn't understand why his buddy suddenly wanted this collaboration so badly.

"What is this about? You always were against others. Why are you the trustworthy guy now?"

"Because our so-called group is just the two of us," argued Gary. He apparently raised his hands to give more expression to his next words. "Jimmy, we're alone and you're hurt. I can't carry you everywhere or protect you from everything and everyone. Not alone."

"So I'm the problem," Jim put the facts on the table.

His buddy almost looked like he was apologizing, but the truth was the truth.

"The only thing we can do is plan for the moment, and we need it now. Having a Vulcan in the group is actually more than practical. I'm not saying you have to like him. I am not saying that it is forever. I'm just asking you to swallow your anger until you are fit enough again. I cannot take care of an injured person on my own!"

The alternative would be to let him die or Gary would unnecessarily risk his own life. It was sad but true and at least his buddy was honest enough to remind him of it.

Jim noticed himself looking out the window. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining over the city. A city made of ruins and ashes. The once tall buildings had collapsed or were crooked. It was only a matter of time before they fell over.

... a cemetery. But Jim didn't intend to be buried now, even if he didn't know what to live for. He just know, not today!

"I will behave myself, but I will not apologize for the beating," Jim clarified, even giving his friend a small smile.

Gary looked more than relieved as he clasped his hands in prayer. "Thank you!"

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Jim is very frustrated and had to let it out. The relationship with Spock is still difficult, but they will still work on it.

Perhaps the tempo of this story is not necessarily the best, but somehow I am always afraid of logic errors. If someone notices something, they are welcome to write. I want this fan fiction to make sense.