Nearly a year later

Forty-six weeks. Three hundred and twenty two days. Seven thousand seven hundred and twenty eight hours. Spock keeps running over the figures in his head of the time passed since the Captain awoke, in a way, it calms him down. Kirk, however, has his own way of passing the time and stilling a rapid heartbeat. He replays that day in his head over and over, having unknowingly memorized each little detail long ago.

"I'm still not comfortable with this, Captain-"

"Jim"

"…Jim. This is the deepest thing that we Vulcans hold dear, I suppose you could say it is the last bit of emotion we dare hold onto, though we are far too proud a race to ever acknowledge that fact."

"Get on with it Spock."

"Our minds one, and together."

Kirk knows those words far too well. They were among the first Spock Prime uttered to him in that cave what seems like ages ago.

"There are many types of bonds, of course. A familial bond, filial, that between a man and his pet, a much deeper bond that links both soul and mind, it's a fairly extensive list."

"And why me?"

"I have yet to figure that out for myself yet. My mind has seen you a compatible fit.."

The conversation went mostly like that, with Spock droning on and on in his technical, logical voice, and Kirk listening to every word that seemed important and ignoring the rest. Then Jim did the stupidest thing ever. He told Spock to give him space and let him think. God how much more of a girl could he sound like. He may as well have 'friend zoned' Spock right then and there. The only problem is: He can't get the damn Vulcan off his mind, and now the other has seemingly grown distant, most likely tired of waiting for an answer.

There was a comfortable tug at the back of his mind for a while, letting Kirk know that Spock still was curious and cared, but now, no matter how much he concentrates and searches, he can't find even the slightest hint that that thin thread even existed.

"Keptain on ze bridge" The little Russian voice fills the bridge, holding back some child-like excitement as his genius fingers dance across his post.

Kirk breathes in the familiar scent of his bridge, white with flashes of colours here and there from the shirts of his crew and the little flashing lights that light up consoles all around him. It's his first day back on the Enterprise and his heart is racing. A five year mission looms ahead of him, deep space, uncharted territory.

"How's our core Mr. Scott?"

"Purrin' like a kitten, Captain. She's ready for a long journey."

The smiling captain, happy to be back home, takes his seat in the chair, only partially conscious of the dark eyes boring holes into the back of his head.

"Mr. Sulu – take us out"

"Aye, Captain."

His fingers curl around the ends of the armrest of his chair as they take off, setting an easy pace at warp factor 3.

"Wonderful to be back, huh Mr. Spock?" he turns in his chair a bit to cock up his eyebrows at Spock where he sits at his station.

"Of course, Captain." His words are like ice, no more soft, caring words, or calling Kirk by his first name. That Spock left when Kirk told him to wait.

"Oh would it kill you to show some emotion for once, Spock? Or is that green-blood too thick for you to care?" McCoy interjects from Kirk's side, his hands clasped loosely behind his back and his eyebrows knit together in a look of annoyance.

"I do not know what I did to provoke such harsh wo-"

"He's joking Spock" Kirk says with a sigh, hoping being back around the crew would lighten his mood a bit, but he seems as cold as ever.

Kirk just scoffs and turns back around, drumming his fingers against his chair anxiously.

"All of space. Where would you like to go first, Bones?"

His question is shrugged off with a grimace and Kirk returns it with a cocky smirk.

"Captain!" Uhura's voice blares over the ship-wide intercom. "Captain red alert! We need you on the bridge!"

Kirk had retired a bit ago, still a little weak from too much activity. Bones had given him a thorough talking-to about his health and such, but the weary captain just brushed him off. Now, startled awake, he rushes to the bridge in his black undershirt, regulation pants, and boots that are half under and half over his pants.

"Keptain!" Chekov flits around Kirk like a bug the moment the turbo-lift opens. "Klingons! They're pursuing us!"

"And how did we get close enough to the neutral zone already to warrant an attack?"

"We weren't expecting them, Captain," Sulu offers, working his magic at the helm. "We weren't informed of their proximity and before we knew it they put down their cloaking shields and were on us." With his words, all eyes turn to Spock at the science station where the sensors and special equipment for such tasks were located.

The half-Vulcan's jaw is slack as if he's surprised, and Kirk has to shove him out of the way. "Mr. Spock, meet me in the briefing room." Spock doesn't move. "Go! Get out of here!"

Not even a day into his journey, Kirk has to ward off a Klingon war bird that had been plaguing a nearby planet and had felt threatened by a Starships closeness. The bridge is flaming with activity as Kirk barks out orders, his head throbbing slightly until they manage to escape. It's a pitiful, narrow escape, not one to write down in the history books, but they are flying in a ship meant mostly for exploration and not so much for fighting. That's when he turns his attention to one insubordinate First Officer hiding out in the briefing room.

"Kirk-"

"Save it Uhura."

He doesn't know if it's the anger at Spock for basically ignoring him for the better part of a year, or the righteous anger at his First Officer for allowing such a major slip up to occur under his usually keen watch that spurs him on. Kirk has a fire brewing in him and Spock seems the most eligible target to let off some steam on.