Spock and Uhura are trapped on a slow ship to Vulcan with a lot of spare time on their hands. Time to reminisce and bond!

Trigger warning for implied non-consent, but they totally consented.

Those sweet memories

Will always be dear to me

And girl, no matter what was said

I will never forget what we had

~Remember The Time by Michael Jackson~

Remember the Time?

Spock agreed to delay telling his parents about the pregnancy until Uhura could tell her own family. Unfortunately, she couldn't reach them at the moment. Ship-to-ship communications were working normally, but long-range subspace communication was out. The captain had decided since they were on their way to Vulcan in the first place, instead of diverting to a starbase for repairs, they would continue on with the Vulcan cruisers as planned.

There were excellent space dock facilities on Vulcan which was an added bonus because Kirk had a mystery to solve. He wanted to know why the Orions attacked his ship and what the Vulcans had to do with it.

That meant Uhura could not call Earth until they reached Vulcan. It also meant she had a few days to formulate a plan of attack on how to tell her family all the things that had happened to her in the past few months.

In the meantime, an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders now that Spock knew her secret. She had been serious when she said all hell was going to break loose when her family learned about him. So while the ship lumbered along to Vulcan she and Spock were on borrowed time, but she was determined to make the most of it.

She looked over at Spock as he prepared their evening meal in the small galley area of their quarters. What must he be thinking right now? He was always so calm, cool, and collected but today he had behaved emotionally. She'd only ever seen him lose control when he'd been in Pon Farr. In Par Farr, Spock had to rely on her for his survival. He couldn't even feed himself. Soon she would need to rely on him. Not for the first time, she wondered if Spock regretted their bond. After all, it was his selfless act of restoring her memory that had intertwined their minds and fates together forever.

"I'm sorry, Spock," she blurted.

"For what are you sorry, Aduna?" he asked without looking up from his task.

"For a lot of things. I haven't been a very good wife."

That stopped him, and he looked at her seriously. "On the contrary, you have been a perfect wife. In fact, you have been the best wife I have ever had."

"Very nicely put, considering your previous wife's treacherous behavior. But I'm serious. I'm sorry for everything I put you through since we bonded and especially for what I did to you on Vulcan in that cave."

"Why are you sorry? What did you do to me?" He was genuinely confused.

"You still have no memory of what happened during your Pon Farr after all this time?"

"No, I do not. It is very rare for a male to remember the Time."

"Well... maybe that's for the best. I had a hard time facing you afterward, you know?"

"I am sorry that I am the cause for such remorse."

"It's not your fault, you were incapacitated. Incapable of understanding what was happening to you. Incapable of giving consent to what happened."

Spock raised his eyebrows. "Consent?" he questioned.

"Yes, everything that happened to you was out of your control."

"I beg your pardon? What are you talking about?"

"You heard what I said, Mr. All Ears."

"Indeed, I did, but I did not believe what I heard. Do you mean to imply that you took advantage of me during Pon Farr? What put that idea in your mind?"

"I did."

"And that is what I cannot comprehend. Why would you believe you took advantage of me when it was I who, in fact, took advantage of you?"

"How could you take advantage of me? I was in my right mind. I chose to bond with you. You had no choice but to bond with me."

"You had no choice but to accompany me to Vulcan. I abducted you from the Enterprise. I did not gain your consent."

"That is different."

"How so?" he asked.

She crossed her arms defensively. "It just is. If you had asked me to accompany you to Vulcan, I would have gone."

That gave Spock pause. True, she had made similar statements during his court-martial, but he didn't believe it then and he still did not. He could not imagine that Nyota would have agreed to their bonding if Amanda had not pressured her into it. She was not prepared for the savagery of Pon Farr.

"You did not take advantage of me," he said firmly.

"You just can't remember what I did to you," she insisted.

Spock stopped the food from cooking. "Now I am intrigued. What did you do to me that is causing such distress?" Spock had no idea why Nyota was talking about their Pon Farr now, but he could clearly see it stressed her, which he would not tolerate in her condition. He never wanted to see a frown on her face.

Nyota blushed and looked away. "It doesn't bear telling."

Oh yes, it does! Spock thought. Now he desperately needed to know what Nyota could have done to him to cause that blush. She was socially conservative, he understood that about her. However, he also knew that she possessed a very passionate nature. She was bold and confident in bed, and she did not blush easily. "What did I forget?"

"You really don't remember anything?" she asked.

"I remember... bits and pieces... I remember the last time we... joined." Spock was not conservative, but he preferred not to talk salaciously.

"What bits do you recall?" she interrupted.

"I recall that you asked me to hurry," he said softly.

She smiled sadly. "I recall that as well. I was exhausted. You had worn me out."

"I am sorry-"

"No, you're not. I don't want you to be sorry about it."

"Then what do you want from me?"

"I guess I want you to forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive. You saved my life."

"If you only knew how."

"Then tell me, Aduna. Tell me so I can forgive you. There is nothing you can say to me that I will not forgive."

"You can't promise that."

"I can and I do. It is only logical to forgive your wife when she is sincerely remorseful. Tell me," he prodded.

"The truth is... I... I... did things to you."

"Things?" he said, trying to encourage her.

"Well, I had to undress you..."

He nodded. "Yes, that is only logical."

"But you didn't like that," Uhura protested.

"I didn't?" Spock could not believe he would not like Nyota undressing him.

Uhura shook her head. "No, you got angry."

"I did?" he asked in disbelief. "I was certainly out of my mind."

She nodded her head in agreement.

"And this made you believe that you...violated me?" he asked in disbelief.

"Well, I did. You were not very willing. You even said I violated you."

Spock's mind was boggled. This woman... how could she misunderstand this? "Nyota, during the Pon Farr there are no rules and now laws. It is as you said. I could not think logically. I was acting on pure instinct. As a Vulcan male, I could have easily overpowered you in that cave. In fact, I could have caused you great physical harm quite easily."

"But at the time you didn't even have the strength to undress yourself-"

"Nevertheless, I could have snapped you in two with little effort. I could have stopped you if I didn't want you to undress me. I could have overpowered you and forced myself on you with little restraint and there would not have been a thing you could do to stop me."

He said this while he slowly stalked across the room and crowded her against a bulkhead. Showing her how big and strong he really was compared with her, how dangerous he could be, even with his logic intact.

He pressed her into the wall. "I could crush you even now. I choose not to, and I obviously chose not to then. In Pon Farr, it is not unheard of for a male to harm his female, even kill her if he is too far gone in Plak Tow."

Spock didn't want to frighten her, but she needed to know what he was capable of, what she was bonded to. He touched her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. "That is why I resisted the desire to bond with you for so long. I did not want you to know what I am capable of."

"Spock, you would never and could never hurt me like that. I don't care what you say."

Spock sighed. "Then you are foolish. I could have. Please believe that, for your own safety."

"But-"

"Nyota, please believe me on this?" He tried to will her to believe it.

"Okay, I believe you."

"Also, believe that nothing that happened in that cave was against my will. I would not have allowed it even in that state of mind. Even as a mindless animal, I would have defended myself against a threat. In Pon Farr, a male will only allow his bondmate to touch him. If I had not wanted your touch, I would have violently rejected you. If I voiced a denial, it was likely my instinct to protect you even in that mindless state."

"I still don't like what I did."

"Because you are a gentle being. Pon Farr is a primitive, confusing time. I regret that you have to see me that way."

Uhura wrapped her arms around him. "I went through it too. It's frightening to wake up and realize you've behaved like a wild animal out of control. That's why I'm sorry."

"We are both sorry. It is quite illogical. I have learned that I need to accept that primitive part of my nature. It is what sustains my race. I thought that being half-human, I could escape that part of my Vulcan heritage, that I could cheat it, but there is no escaping what I am. Therefore, logically I must accept it. To be a Vulcan wife, you must also accept it as a part of our bond."

"I do accept it now, and I accept you. I know it will happen again and I have to accept it."

"Do not feel guilt or shame for what took place during our Pon Farr. You like to be in control, but Pon Farr is something that cannot be controlled."

"But you told me to stop, and I didn't," she still argued against herself.

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because you needed me, you would have died if I had stopped."

"Precisely. You did what I needed you to do. You need not feel shame or guilt for that. You were being a good wife."

She still looked skeptical. "Nyota, did you enjoy it?" he asked suddenly when realization dawned.

"What?"

"Did you enjoy undressing me? Controlling me?" he asked.

"What kind of question is that?"

"The curious type of question. Did you enjoy it, Aduna?"

"What's to enjoy?" she said, evading the answer. "Like you said, I did what I had to do."

"Yes, you did an admirable job. But did you enjoy the task? Did you perhaps, find pleasure in having me at a disadvantage when I needed you most?"

"No!" she denied the accusation and tried to push him away, but she couldn't budge his bulk.

"What else were you forced to do to save me?" Spock pushed back.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"I am quite curious. As you say, I have no memory of it."

"Perhaps it is better that way."

"No, I do not agree. I would like to know. Perhaps I can give you that consent now."

"You already said you forgive everything, no take-backs," she said, trying to duck around him. He snagged her around the waist and pulled her against his body.

"No, I would very much like to know what I am forgiving first."

"Spock!" She tried in vain to pull his arm away, but he was stronger than any human she'd ever encountered.

"Yes?" he waited patiently.

"I can't tell you," she whispered.

"Why not?"

"I'm too embarrassed," she looked away

Spock turned her chin with his finger and looked into her raised eyes.

"You need never be embarrassed with me. There should be no secrets between bondmates. There should be no shame between us either. Nothing should ever come between us, Nyota." He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. "Now, show me."

"Sometimes I forget how bossy you can be."

"I believe you prefer me when I am 'bossy'," Spock said with a smirk.

Uhura narrowed her eyes at him. What did he remember about their time in the cave? Did he remember those fantasies?

"What makes you believe that?" she asked coyly.

"I have my reasons."

"Which are?"

"Mine," he said almost in a growl, and he started nibbling her neck.

"That's not fair. You want to know my secrets."

"I want to know what you think you did to me, and why you believe I would not consent. Because I cannot imagine anything you could do to me, that would not please me."

"Sp-aah-ock..." she whined. She was willing to forget everything else when he started sucking on her neck like that.

"For example, I know I would be very pleased if you were to disrobe me right now. I have imagined it often, even before we bonded."

"Did you really?" Uhura asked with skepticism.

"Yes. I have imagined us in such a scenario countless times."

"Really? You fantasized about me?"

"Of course. Vulcans have excellent imaginations. And you have fantasized about me too," he said with confidence.

Of course, she couldn't deny it. Spock would know if she lied anyway, so it would be foolish to deny it.

"Tell me Nyota, what did you do after you undressed me?" He went back to kissing her neck.

"Um, well after that I had to...er..."

"Perhaps you should show me?" he said in his husky voice. He had forgotten all about the food he had been preparing. Suddenly, all he wanted was to gobble her up.

"Pardon?" she said breathlessly.

"I think you should show me exactly what you did to me before I make a final determination," Spock said and pulled her by the wrist towards their bunk.

"Wait, what are we doing?" She asked, allowing him to pull her with little resistance.

"You are going to demonstrate why you are sorry."

"I'm sorry I brought it up now," she said, which made Spock raise his devilish brow.

"Well, since you have brought it up..." he barely contained a wicked smile at his play of words.

"I think you are trying to seduce me." She tried to pull away again, but he fell back on the bed and pulled her down with him.

"No, Adun'a you are seducing me."

Too late, Nyota realized that Spock had outmaneuvered her, the clever bastard. He was sprawled on his back, propping himself up on his elbows, looking at her with a challenging smirk. The ball was in her court now. Did she really want to run away from him? Did she dare accept his challenge? How the hell did she get herself into these messes?

And Spock just looked at her patiently, waiting for her to give in, as he knew she would.

"Okay, you win." Uhura slid to the side and knelt at his feet. She removed first one boot from Spock's foot, and then the other, just as she'd done months ago on Vulcan. "You wanna play games with me, Mister? Let's play!"

Hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. I probably won't be updating again until next week :-)