Hi and thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter too!

The Tholian Web

Personal log of Leonard McCoy, Chief Medical Officer on the USS Enterprise

It's been a tough week. We were faced with Jim's presumed death, with the possibility of getting killed as well, with the madness. And Spock and I couldn't get along.

I don't know why it's so difficult for Spock and me to be on the same page sometimes.

But this time, quite unusually, he was the first to bring out the subject. It happened today, while we were working on some alien samples in the biology lab.

"Are you all rightl, Doctor?" he asked.

"Sure. Why do you ask?"

"Your current behavior significantly differs from your usual one" he stated.

"And how so?"

"You are not talking" he answered blankly.

God knows why I insisted on the concept of humor with the man!

"I can resort to talking just now if you miss it so much, Spock!" I snapped.

He raised an eyebrow: "My observation was not meant to be a joke even if I have just realized that it actually has a humorous side".

I sighed: "Just thinking, Spock. The last days weren't easy"

"I agree"

"You agree with me? Your… how was that? Your current behavior is different from your usual one too!" I rebuffed.

Spock just regarded me with the I'm studying a fascinating natural phenomenon look before going back to his work.

"It's just that I'm sorry about how things went" I said after a while "and I'm sorry that I questioned your command since you were right in the end". What must be said must be said.

"The human crew of this ship was undergoing mental degradation at that time, Doctor" Spock pointed out.

"I don't think I would've acted much differently without mental degradation. If I was able to synthesize the antidote, apparently I had some sense left. And you are too Vulcan to not know it as well".

Spock had nothing to say to this because I was right.

"We had been able to find some… well, common ground and to cooperate more than we did before. And I wanted –I really wanted- to be useful to you. But after this story it seems to me that we're back to square." I stopped, that was enough for him to start fussing about logic and human emotion. But he didn't fuss.

"If you must know, Doctor, at some moment I believed that our agreement was compromised too. It happened when you implied that I was trying to usurp Jim's command" he stated quietly.

I blushed. How could have I ever said that?

"Look, Spock…"

"I am not finished, please. Later I observed that your sentence differed from the emotions you had previously displayed towards me. The only logical explanation was that you did not actually believe what you said but that you were blinded by anger and trying to provoke me. Am I correct?"

"Yes you are. I could never actually think that."

"Then I do not believe there have been significant regressions in our agreement."

"I'm glad to hear that" I answered. Oh, my. I'm being so mellow to the damn man that I will have to berate him very soon.

"Moreover there have been mistakes on my part too. I probably should have pointed out more clearly what I wished to do and why."

"And why you didn't?" I asked. Since Spock was in a rare talkative mood I had to keep talking.

"Because I did not think it was necessary."

Lie.

"Spock, don't act like a Vulcan, damn it!" he raised his famous eyebrow at this "The situation was emotionally stressful and you feared your human side was going to unbalance you."

"Doctor, you have a curious habit of explaining to me my own mental processes" he pointed out, and I could recognize the slight sarcasm in his voice.

"It's called psychology, Spock. I kinda studied it." I snorted.

"Indeed" His voice was so full (Vulcanly full, of course) of sarcasm that I didn't even grace him with an answer and I went back to my work with a huff.

"As for your desire to be useful to me, you actually were useful to me."

"Healing illnesses is my job…"

"I am not referring to the antidote you found, Doctor."

"Then what?"

"Once you questioned my decision of not pronouncing a funeral oration and you advised me to listen to my human side occasionally. I remembered your advice this time so, as I said, you were useful to me."

"That oration was a damn good one, Spock" I said seriously "No human could've said it better. And as I foresaw after the Galileo Seven, your command style improved quite a lot".

"Maybe one day it will improve so much that you will not question it continuously, Doctor. How much time will be necessary for this to happen, in your opinion?" he asked. Mischievous Vulcan.

"Eternity" I declared. And he decided not to push me more.