2

"Ack! I think I broke my tailbone, god dammit!"

"Oof, Hiraku, you are getting heavier, ack."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"Aye lass, not that I donnae appreciate ye sittin' in me lap, but ye heel is digging — oooow —"

"Bones! Is everyone alright? Uhura, Scotty — oh my god Sulu you will crush the poor guy, Chekov, you okay? Spock! Spock!"

"I am unharmed, Captain."

A hiss, then light.

"Of course," Kirk remarked dryly, "Not a hair out of place."

Spock ignored him and began to hand out lighters.

"I'm far too old for this kind of shit," McCoy groused, pushing himself off the floor with Kirk's hand. "God dammit, I knew this would happen."

"A most remarkable foresight, doctor," Spock said. "Perhaps next time you are certain of future happenstances, you would divulge your confidence and allow us to prepare in advance."

McCoy glared at Spock like he had nothing to divulge but his temper and Kirk quickly patted him on the shoulder in what he hoped was a consolatory manner. "You okay Bones? Not missing a spleen or anything?"

"Missin' my god damn good sense, is what I'm missing," McCoy griped. "What is this hellhole, anyway?"

"It appears by pressing our hands into the moulded slots we have activated the switch and the trapdoor was opened," Spock summarised.

"A trapdoor," Sulu repeated, little suspiciously.

"For the lack of a better term," Spock said. "The fall could not have been more than five meters. It was not designed to harm but to receive."

Indeed, the space they found themselves in was small, barely enough to accommodate a crowd of seven, with nothing but stone walls that resembled what they saw in the cave. A murmur broke out among the crew while they each mulled over the possibilities. Kirk edged closer to Spock and whispered, "No more than two meters?"

Spock cast him an indecipherable glance, then peered upward. "Four point one eight meters, Captain," he said with a slightly flick of the eyebrow.

"Attaboy," Kirk said, patting him on the shoulder and grinning brightly.

"Sir," Sulu said suddenly, "I see carvings on the wall."

"More?" Kirk said, moving closer and squinting, "What is it this time, footprints?"

"Uh, no sir, it appears to be some sort of equation... Pavel?"

They shuffled so that Chekov and Spock could move to the forefront and study the equations. After a brief pause, Spock murmured, "Fascinating," while Chekov scowled deeply, muttering something in Russian.

"Guys, what is it," Kirk said, alarmed.

"It does not appear to be solvable," Spock said, glancing at Chekov.

The whizz kid bit his lip and shook his head. "Aye, Captain, zis equation makes no sense."

Kirk nudged closer until he was squeezed in the middle, feeling slightly odd as his left side, pressed against Spock, was registering the Vulcan's heat vividly while his right side, pressed against Chekov, felt human normal. "Hmm," he said after a few minutes, "It is a particularly long equation, and not a very elegant one, at that."

"It has too many repeat elements with too little information," Spock said. "It's not possible to derive anything from the information we are being given."

Kirk nodded. "Okay, span out and search nearby walls. See if you can find more equations like this to provide as some kind of clue."

They fanned out, as much as they can, scouring the wall, and two more equations were found in the next few minutes. Uhura and Scotty poured over one while Chekov and Sulu put their heads over another, leaving Bones rolling his eyes and sitting down in the centre, muttering something about not being a mathematician, either.

Kirk did not move from where he was standing and after a few seconds, realised that Spock did not, either. They were still pressed tightly together, not uncomfortably, but close enough for Kirk to feel the heat radiating off Spock, making him suddenly hyperaware of the Vulcan's physical presence.

Kirk shifted a little on his feet, but otherwise felt an irrational compulsion to stay where he was. "I should've known this would happen," he murmured.

"Yet even armed with the knowledge you would have wanted to investigate further," Spock said in a tone that is neither accusatory nor vindictive, simply stating a fact.

"You know me too well, First Officer Spock," Kirk said with a smile, feeling warmed over as the last of the rain's dampness was driven away by the Vulcan heat.

Spock caught his eye for a brief moment before glancing away. Kirk followed his gaze and saw it land on Uhura, who was studying the second equation with a curious frown on her face. Kirk sneaked a glance at Spock and saw his expression morph into thoughtfulness, and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"I uh," he began, feeling a little out of place, "I don't mean to, you know, pry or meddle or anything, but if you want, I can tell Scotty to back off and pair you two up instead?"

Spock blinked and fixed his gaze on Kirk. "I beg your pardon?"

"You know," Kirk shrugged, "It'd be nice to work alongside someone you like on a mission, stuff like that. If you want, of course."

Spock regarded him with a level gaze and turned away. "I am satisfied where I am," he said flatly.

"Oh," Kirk said, blinking rapidly and feeling decidedly stupid. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to help — it was probably out of line."

Spock shook his head. "You misunderstand, Captain. Lieutenant Uhura and I have terminated our relationship as of eight point six month ago."

"Eight —" Kirk started, "But we've only been on this mission for five months," he said.

Spock said nothing. Kirk did a quick mental count and realised that it would've meant they broke up two weeks after the whole mess with Khan. Around the time he was being discharged from McCoy's iron grip, as well, and Kirk distinctly recalled being curious over Spock's continued presence during his recuperations. It all made sense, now, though Kirk could not quite put his finger on how he was supposed to feel about this new knowledge, however old the news may be.

"I'm sorry," he ventured at last, then, "It couldn't have been easy for you."

"It was a mutual agreement," Spock murmured. "Our ability to work together professionally has not been affected, as you no doubt would have noticed if it had."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that," Kirk waved a hand, then eyed Spock carefully. "You okay?"

"I am well," Spock said distractedly.

"You are kind of staring at her weird," Kirk pointed out. "Just thought you'd know, in case you don't want to be caught out pining or anything."

"I assure you, it is not what you think, Captain," Spock said slowly and in a level tone. Then, "Vulcans do not pine."

Kirk smiled faintly. "Sure, Spock."

They dispersed after that and Kirk noted with a strange feeling in his chest that Spock did walk over to Uhura's place and the two of them engaged immediately in rapid conversation, leaving Scotty to throw his hands up in the air and joining McCoy on the floor. Sulu and Chekov were still huddled by their wall, though by the look of it, Chekov was the only one studying the equation while Sulu studied Chekov with an amused expression on his face. Kirk watched his crew for a while then joined the doctor and the engineer on the floor, the latter two somehow miraculously procuring a whiskey flask and was drinking from it.

"No alcohol on missions guys," Kirk admonished half—heartedly. "Especially not if you are not going to share."

"Nah, it's just water," Scotty said. "More class if ye drink 'em out of a flask, I say."

McCoy snorted while Kirk smirked. Scotty took a large gulp out of the flask and screwed it shut. "Alright then, laddies, this one is either gonna go into books and songs, or nobody will ever know what happened to us down here, so we'd better come up with something."

"Lemme guess, communicators are fried," Kirk said.

Scotty inclined his head. "Something's blocking the signal alright. Couldn't scan it proper, so my guess is no beaming either. We are on our own here, Captain."

"Well," Kirk said, casting his gaze involuntarily over to where Spock stood, "I have my best here. Wouldn't exactly say I'm alone."

"Touching," McCoy said. "Doesn't mean the sky won't fall in soon and you will be bleeding all over the floor or something equally horrific as that, though."

Scotty looked torn between amused and scandalised while Kirk grinned brightly and swatted McCoy on the arm.

"But I know you'll arrive in time to save me, right?"

"Actually I was thinking of letting your stupidity run its own course," McCoy replied. "But sure, whatever. Didn't take the damn oath for nothing, you know."

"I love you too, Bones," Kirk quipped happily.

There was a sudden, noticeable lull in the quiet conversation behind them and Kirk lifted his head to see Spock staring down at him, an inscrutable expression on his face. He frowned.

"Yes, Mr. Spock?"

Spock continued to stare at him for a few seconds before something flickered in his eyes and he straightened into a parade rest. Kirk frowned harder and did not miss the amused glance exchanged between McCoy and Scotty.

"I believe we have made a discovery, Captain," Spock said stiffly.

"Okay," Kirk said slowly, "Care to enlighten us?"

Spock gave a terse little jerk of his head and to Kirk's irrational annoyance, it was Uhura who spoke up. "We think these equations are not equations at all, sir," she said.

Kirk tried not to dwell on the usage 'we' and how it sat wrong with him all of a sudden. "Not an equation," he repeated, "then what is it?"

"A language," Uhura said. "Each repeated element is akin to a letter or a phrase."

"Like a cryptogram?" Kirk said, perking up. He had a fondness for puzzles, after all. Next to him, Chekov exclaimed loudly.

"Of course! We have been solving it in the wrong way!" he bounced on his heels and extended a hand to Sulu without looking, "Hikaru, quick, PADD!"

Kirk watched bemusedly as Sulu gave Chekov his PADD without a word, and Uhura soon joined them, huddling together and laying out possible translations with help from the Universal Translator app. Scotty and McCoy were peering over its content too, enthused by the promise of a mystery puzzle. Kirk hovered close by until he realised Spock was standing in the corner all by himself, and decided to join him instead,

"Hey," Kirk greeted, "Should we have a go as well?"

Spock held out his PADD wordlessly, though he surreptitiously stepped back when Kirk poked his head over and into his personal space. Kirk paused, and, appearing as nonchalant as he could manage, said:

"You know, I wish Carol could have come with us."

Spock seemed to stiffen further at his offhand comment. "Lieutenant Marcus' handprint was not on the wall," he said.

"Oh, I know," Kirk said distractedly, "But I mean it when I say it's nice to work around someone you like. Bones would've loved to explore with Carol, no matter what he says. He's really into her, you know."

Kirk noticed with no small degree of satisfaction that Spock's eyebrow climbed further as he spoke, yet the Vulcan's posture seemed to relax by the end of it. He absentmindedly dragged two symbols next to each other on the PADD and added, "I think there's something to be said about putting your life on the line for the other person. You know, for someone who was pretty used to being abandoned, seeing another person sticking with you till the bitter end, as we say, it's — well, it's romantic," he glanced at Spock, whose gaze had turned inscrutable again. Kirk smiled. "I know, illogical, right?"

Spock inclined his head. "I have come to realise that very little about human relationships are logical," he said softly, though his tone betrayed more feeling than Kirk thought was possible by the monotone.

"Right you are, Spock," Kirk laughed, and patted him on the arm, taking delight when Spock did not step away this time.

His hand still lingered on Spock's arm when a small sound of whooping came from the other side. "Report," Kirk called, feeling a rush of pride and confidence all of a sudden.

"We have isolated the most frequently occurring elements, sir," Uhura said, "and the syntaxes seem to correspond with —"

"The translation, if you please," Kirk said pleasantly, as McCoy rolled his eyes.

"It translates into a phonetic alphabet," Uhura held up her PADD and they all huddled around to see.

"Beware... of... the... shadow," Kirk read the first part out loud, slowly. "Okay...?"

"Tun-bosh... ashayam," Spock murmured the next part. "Fascinating."

"Wait, the second part is in Vulcan?" Kirk frowned. His Vulcan was rusty at best in the Academy, but even he knew tun-bosh meant careful. "What does ashayam mean?"

"Beloved," Spock said softly.

"Be careful beloved?" Kirk translated, bewildered.

"Ne ostavlyaite samuraya," Chekov read the third part, looking just as lost as he was.

"Russian?" Something distinctively uneasy was prickling again at the back of his mind, and Kirk was almost afraid to ask, "What does it mean?"

"Do not give up the Samurai," Chekov said, face pale. His eyes darted to Sulu, who was scowling over the next part furiously.

"Taeyang-eul hyanghae idong," he said at last. "Go towards the sun."

By now Kirk was feeling extremely alarmed. "Okay," he said, glancing around the small space anxiously, "This is starting to freak me out."

"Oh hell," McCoy muttered.

"What," Kirk whirled around, only to see the doctor rolling his eyes towards the ceiling.

"Mine says, don't go checking holes in your eyelids."

Kirk frowned. "That's Standard — how do you know it's for you?"

"Because that's a saying where I grew up, Jim," McCoy replied gruffly. "It goes something like, 'I'm not falling asleep, I'm just checking holes in my eyelids."

Despite himself, Kirk snorted.

"Aye, this is fantastic," Scotty piped up. "The next bit says, haud yer wheesht!"

"Hold your what?" Kirk asked indignantly.

"It means be quiet," Scotty replied, rubbing his hands. "My, I haven't heard that said in a long while!"

At last they shifted their gaze towards Uhura, who appeared to be staring a hole into her PADD. "Mine says 'trust your hand'," she said at last.

"Standard too?" Kirk said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, Swahili," Uhura replied. She set down the PADD and stared at Kirk. "What now, Captain?"

Kirk was formulating an answer and a bold plan when a loud rumble rolled in, and the space they were in began to shake.

"Oh great," McCoy muttered, "Just as I hoped."

"Then I hope you would cease in your future divinations unless it is of a positive outcome," Spock remarked, and Kirk barked a laugh despite himself.

"Captain!" Scotty yelled, "The wall!"

True enough, the one wall that was unmarked by the strange warnings were slowly descending to reveal a dark passage, a stone corridor.

"Guess there's only one way outta here," Kirk announced, just as pebbles of stone began to fall from the ceiling. Miraculously, though somewhat ominously, only the small space they were in crumbled and the passage stood intact, somewhat oblivious to the seismic activity that seemed to be tearing through where they were.

The entire crew dashed out into the corridor seconds before the small space collapsed in itself, effectively blocking their swift exit.

"Well, that's that," Scotty announced with a shrug.

"Indeed," Spock said, straightening (not a hair out of place!). "We have no option but to explore further, Captain."

"Good day as any," Kirk announced cheerily. "Everybody remember their haikus?"

The human crew rolled their eyes while the Vulcan shifted an eyebrow. Kirk grinned. He could not imagine being stuck underground with better company.

"Alright," he said, waving the torch and letting the light dispel the seemingly endless darkness down the corridor, "Let's do this."

A/N: As you no doubt would have guessed, every language-related tidbit is courtesy of google translate. (So it's probably not very accurate but you get the gist)

Update: many thanks to mightymads on AO3 for the language help! :)