Propositions

Spock sat at the table with Uhura feeling uncomfortable. He understood that Nyota was still upset about her argument with Christine but her actions were unwarranted considering that she had Spock and Christine did not. "Nyota," he said as he watched Christine leave the restaurant clearly upset.

"Hmm?" Uhura asked sweetly as she ordered a glass of wine and took the menu a waiter handed her.

"I do not think we should flaunt ourselves in front of Christine."

"And I told you I am done with her. We didn't do anything wrong. Why should we continue to hide our relationship? According to Charlene, we're all anybody on this ship can talk about anyway. You want me to move in with you but I can't be seen in public with you?" Uhura asked crossing her arms over her chest.

Spock could tell from her body language she was ready for a fight and he didn't want to argue with her.

"No, we should not hide our relationship. And yes I think you should live with me. But-"

"But what? I don't want to talk about Christine. We're on a date remember? Let's not talk about some other woman. I've got bigger problems than her anyway." Uhura thanked the waiter and started sipping the wine he brought her. Spock was fine just water.

"And what problems do you have, my wife?" Spock asked when the waiter stepped away.

"Like when are we getting to Vulcan so these healers can check me out?"

"The Enterprise has been diverted to a colony in need of vaccines. We should be back on course for Vulcan in a day or so." Spock informed her.

"All the ships in Starfleet and the Enterprise has to make a vaccine run?" I smell a Komack sized rat.

"All the ships in Starfleet and the Enterprise has to make a Uhura run?" Spock countered.

"Haha. I didn't ask to get Pon Farr. I didn't plan on going back to Vulcan anytime soon either."

"Indeed?" Spock asked.

Uhura sighed when she realized she had struck a nerve with Spock. "Look, Spock, I didn't mean it like that. When I left Vulcan I was still unsure of what my future would be but I certainly never dreamed of returning under such circumstances."

"What circumstanced did you envision?"

"I didn't envision any circumstances to be honest. I know I promised Amanda I would give our marriage a chance, but I thought I would do it on the Enterprise and then if it worked out maybe on Earth or an outpost. But I honestly never imagined myself living on Vulcan for the rest of my life." She said honestly.

"I see," Spock said.

"No, you don't. I can't explain it. Vulcan seemed a million miles away from me at the time, like another reality. I never imagined I could belong in that reality. It was so surreal when we were there. Suddenly I was married to you, I found out I had your katra, I was suddenly a matriarch, I was challenged by T'Pring, and I had to put on a show for your family. It was all so surreal. I would almost put it on par with the mirror Enterprise I found myself on. I couldn't get off of Vulcan quick enough."

Spock sat quietly.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. This is still new for both of us, more so for me since as you say you've been planning this almost since we met. I know I sound like I'm on repeat but just give me some time to adjust? I told you I am willing to live as your wife. And I don't like it when we're apart, so if I have to live on Vulcan I'll manage."

"Nyota, I never said we should live on Vulcan. As you say we could make our home on Earth or any of her outposts or even on some of our Vulcan colonies. And I don't like it when we're apart either which is why I think we should share quarters."

"I understand, but it's still a big decision. Besides my quarters are larger than yours. You should move in with me."

"Your quarters are larger because your quarters are meant for the first officer."

"I know," Uhura grinned. "You must have really liked me to give up your quarters for me."

"I did not give up my quarters for you, I was already established and comfortable where I was and I saw no need to rearrange my living quarters just because I acquired a new position," Spock defended.

"Okay, sure if you say so. It wasn't because you had a crush on me." Uhura teased him. "But you can drop by anytime you like and visit, consider it an open invitation."

"Yes, that kind of open invitation is what got us here," Spock said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your open invitations. You propositioned me.

"I never proposition you! I've never propositioned anybody in my entire life!"

"You did" Spock assured her. "Do you recall our first visit to Vulcan, the night I was divorced from T'Pring?"

"I remember that night, you came to me talking about some other woman then too," She said shaking her head.

"I did not talk about 'some other woman' T'Pring was my ex-wife."

"Whatever, I remember that night. I was so upset with you that day. I didn't know why at the time, but when you said T'Pring was your wife on the bridge, it shook me. I can admit it now, but I had a little crush on you, Mr. Spock."

"Only a little?" he asked.

"Yes. I was kind of into you but you were an untouchable."

"An Untouchable?" He asked.

"Yes, Janice and I dubbed you and the Captain untouchables. Pretty to look at but something you can't have," Uhura sipped her wine and smiled thinking off all the mischief she used to get into with Janice egging her on.

"I thought it was great fun to flirt with you but I always knew it would go no further. Boy, was I wrong huh?"

"You were indeed incorrect. Your flirting yielding the desired results."

"What desired results?"

"You procured me as a husband," Spock said with ill-concealed pride.

"I wasn't trying to procure you at all."

"Then what were you trying to do?"

"I don't know, it was for fun. I guess I thought I was loosening you up. If anybody needed loosening up it was you, you were so uptight back then. But Sulu says you used to smile all the time when Pike was captain."

"Nyota, I notice Mr. Sulu seems to occupy a great deal of your mind."

"No, he doesn't he's just been my best friend."

"I thought Christine was your best friend or Lieutenant Masters?"

"Are you jealous of Sulu?" She asked. She was very surprised by the notion of a jealous Spock.

"Are you jealous of Leila?" he countered.

"Don't try to flip the script, that's not the same at all. Leila was actually your girlfriend. Sulu and I have always been just friends."

"Not by Sulu's choice," Spock said.

"How do you know that?" Uhura asked. Did Spock see something in her mind? How did he know about Sulu's feelings for her?

"I know when a man is interested in you even when you do not," Spock answered her unspoken question.

"Really? Why does everybody keep assuming I'm some kind of airhead when it comes to men?"

"I do not assume that. As I said, you did procure me, that demonstrates some level of skill," Spock proclaimed smugly.

"I did not! You chose me you said it yourself."

"Let us say we chose each other. It was mutual."

"How do you figure that?"

"Nyota, you and I have been bonded for quite a long time now. Since our Time, the bond only grows stronger and stronger. Our futures are entwined, our destinies are one," Spock informed her.

"I guess sharing a Katra will do that huh?"

"No, I do not believe it is due to you possessing my Katra. Remember, my grandmother didn't bond us. When T'Pau melded with us at the place of Kun-et-Kalifee our minds were already joined."

"Because of your Katra," she insisted.

"No. You asked me why I sacrificed myself to heal you? I believe it was because I was already bonded to you at that time."

"What do you mean? How?"

"Telepathic bonds can form on their own, naturally without a healer's intervention. If two people are compatible and they frequently spend time together a bond can form as it did with us. I hadn't realized what was happening at the time, but even if I had known I would have been ill-prepared to stop it."

"But you were already bonded to T'pring," Uhura protested.

"Indeed I was, but the bond was a weak one. T'Pring and I never cultivated it the way you and I have. We lived light years apart and we rarely spoke to one another. And T'pring was involved with another man as well. The bond could not endure so it failed."

"So?"

"So when I saw you injured by Nomad, I could not stand by and do nothing. Our bond demanded that I intervene. It was the same instinct that drove me to act when I learned that Captain Pike was injured and I risked my life and career to save him. Or when I see the captain in danger and I reflexively intercede. Instinctively, I had to do all I could to save you. So do you understand now? My efforts to heal you did not bring about our marital bond. Our bond drove me to heal my bondmate."

"Oh my god!"

"I am sorry Nyota."

"Are you telling me we were married by Vulcan tradition well before we went to Vulcan?"

"Yes."

"And even when you had your first Pon Farr we were bonded?"

"Yes."

"So technically I broke the bond you shared with T'pring?"

"That is not precisely what happened-"

"Well, what then? You were engaged. Then you weren't. Because of me!" Uhura felt shame that she should be the cause of a relationship breaking up, even an arranged one like Spock and T'Pring's.

"T'Pring and I did not break up because of you. T'Pring and I didn't cultivate the bond and it weakened. My fight with Jim finished it off. You are not capable of initiating a bond with me, therefore, it was I who sought out your mind and bonded with you. I take full responsibility for everything that has occurred between us."

"Christine was right, I'm a man stealer."

"Christine was not right. I never belonged to T'pring. Our parents wished us to bond but neither one of us wanted it for ourselves. T'pring took the first opportunity to release herself from our union. If left up to her, I would have died, or Jim would have. I do not regret that our association ended."

"When?"

"When what Nyota?"

"When did it happen, when did you know?"

"T'Pau told me before we left Vulcan. When she told me that you possessed my katra she melded with me to determine if she could repair it. She has since consulted with healers and they informed her that our bond is too strong to be new. They believe a bond of such depth takes years to forge. It is similar to the friendship bond that Jim and I share only much deeper."

"Oh. Well, I guess it makes sense that you share a bond with the captain, you two are always in sync with one another. But I never felt anything. I mean yes we shared a friendship but it never even went as far as you and the captain or even you and Doctor McCoy."

"No, it went much deeper than those bonds. Deeper than any friendship bond I have ever experienced."

"But how could we be bonded without either of us realizing it?"

"I do not have a great deal of experience with such bonds. All I can decipher is that I was drawn to you and you were drawn to me. We were attracted to one another. Mutually."

"This is unbelievable! Why are you telling me all of this now?"

"Because you still labor under the impression that I randomly took you from the Enterprise and nothing could be further from the truth. I came to you that day because you were bonded to me as my wife."

Uhura took a moment to absorb what Spock was saying. Apparently, they were an old married couple bonded since who knew when. "This does explain one thing at least." She said finally.

"What is that?"

"The night you went to Vulcan to meet T'Pring." She stated.

"Yes, what about it?"

"I was not myself that entire day. I was in a sorry state and I didn't know why. I was so upset and I even cried because of you," She said.

"I am sorry that happened. I did not know about our bond then. However, I recall that once I had concluded my business on Vulcan with T'Pring I could think of nothing else but seeing you. That is why I came to visit you that night."

"Yes..." she said remembering that visit.

"We spent the night together talking," Spock finished her thought, "And that is when you propositioned me..." he said.

"I did no such thing! Stop saying it like that." She looked around in case someone was eavesdropping.

"Perhaps I prefer it like that."

"I just bet you do Mister," she said smiling at him.

"You served me tea and said you were mine," Spock recalled fondly.

"I meant as your friend."

"Friends do not serve an unbonded male in their quarters after hours. You unwittingly propositioned me that evening and I accepted."

"No!" She shook her head in denial.

"Yes," Spock nodded his head. "Your actions were tantamount to a proposal."

"I really am no better than Christine. And why didn't you throw that tea in my face like you did her soup?"

"Because I wanted your tea," he said with a quirk to his lips. "And you."

"You could've fooled me. You always blew so hot and cold with me. One moment we were inseparable then the next you couldn't get away from me fast enough. Do you know how many times you broke my heart?" Uhura confessed laughing bitterly. "I really was just like Christine, pinning away for a man I thought I could never have. And now you tell me we've been bonded to one another this entire time?"

"I am sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I only recently put the pieces together myself."

"Don't be sorry Mister. Be better. You better not ever play with my feelings ever again do you hear me?" Uhura demanded.

"I do."

"Good. And you promised you would never leave me. You better keep your promise, Mister." Uhura pointed her finger at him.

"I will," Spock said.

"Good," Uhura emphasized with a nod of her head. "And if our bond is so old why did we need to strengthen and solidify it? Why was I driven to into Pon Farr?"

"I do not know. The healers on Vulcan will have to explain it to us."

Uhura looked around the restaurant nervously and leaned in closer to Spock. "Spock," she whispered.

"Yes, Nyota?" he whispered in return.

"Um, how does The Fever know...?" she couldn't finish her question.

"How does it know what?"

"How does it know when to stop? I mean, you have to mate or die right? How does it know that you've mated? Does, um... a physical release trigger something and if so what?"

Spock was surprised by the turn of conversation. "That is a very interesting question."

"So what's the answer?"

"I have no idea. Pon Farr is of utmost importance for my race and yet very little is know about it publically. I am hoping the healers employed by T'Pau will be able to explain it all to us."

Uhura sat back in her seat, "I think I understand you a little better now. You have this ticking timebomb waiting to explode inside of you. You don't know when but sooner or later you'll get the fever and you can't control it or yourself. Now I have it too."

"Nyota," Spock said gently, trying to comfort her. "I am hoping it was just a one-off incident brought on by the stress of our separation."

"Hope Mister Spock? Human emotion?"

"You and Dr. Mccoy remind me often I am half human."

"You sound as if you've learned to accept it."

"It is illogical to deny that which is a fact of life."

"Mmm hmm. Like the Pon Farr? Or our marriage bond?" Uhura asked thinking of the facts of her own life.

"Yes." Spock agreed.

"Spock, I'm suddenly not hungry. Let's go home and I'll make us some tea."

"Are you propositioning me, Miss Uhura?" Spock asked with surprise.

"Yes," she said with a mischievous grin.

"Your quarters or mine?" Spock asked as he stood extending his first two fingers to his wife.

Uhura joined her fingers with Spocks. "Whichever one is closer. As long as we're together it's home."