Enlightenment

"I swear Commander, if you die on me I'll kill you myself." Selece grumbled while she ripped her red uniform shirt in strips and used it to dress Spock's wound.

"Lieutenant, I'm inclined to say that if my body ceases all its functions it would be impossible for you to repeat the process after my system has shut it down."

"Well, you can't kill me for trying."

"Again Lieutenant, if I'm already dead it would be impossible for my person to inflict any damage on you. The lack of activity from my main organs would imply that."

"Well, for someone who's bleeding like a gutted pig through his chest your mouth sure is working perfectly fine." She tied the strips around his torso with more strength than necessary and Spock winced a little.

"Lieutenant, please refrain yourself to use so much strength. I believe that you want to stop the flood of blood, not to cut my blood circulation all at once."

''A joke Commander? I think you already lost too much blood, because now you have a sense of humor and for me this is the result of lack of oxygen in your brain."

"All my brain's functions are normal so I don't see what is your point."

"If you can't understand my jab, your brain isn't functioning so well as you think."

"I sense some distress from your part Lieutenant, it's there a reason for such hostility coming from you?"

"Reason? Well... Do you want a list or a compacted version?"

"Enlighten me."

"This was supposed to be a safe exploratory mission in an unknown planet, but then out of nowhere came this bunch of big animals with big teeth and a very angry humor and attacked us. And now I'm trapped with you in the middle of woods, under a freezing rain with a communicator that isn't working because of the static caused by the lightnings, and I don't know where the Captain is because our group had to go on different ways to ensure our safety. It's this explanation enough for you... sir?"

"I suppose your reasoning has logic."

"You suppose?"

"But I'm assured that the Enterprise's crew must be recalibrating the sensors to pass through the storm at this moment and if my calculations are correct there will be a 47.9 percent of chance that this storm will cease in the next 20.5 minutes."

"Great. So in the next twenty minutes I'm trapped with you bleeding all over me in this forest. Joy!"

"You don't look joyful in my point of view, Lieutenant. I believe that irritable would be a better description for your emotional state right now."

"Sarcasm, Commander, have you ever heard of it?"

"I believe that the Captain commented about this word with me in one occasion or another."

"Yeah... And I believe you still have a lot to learn about words, meanings and all the shit in the middle of it."

"Please, enlighten me again."

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"I believe..."

"I didn't make my question yet. Rhetorical questions, have you heard of it too?"

"Please, go on."

"What is your relationship with the Captain?"

"I believe that I didn't grasp the concept of your inquiring."

"Do you like Jim?"

"Define 'like' Lieutenant."

"Are you serious?"

"I do not do jokes."

"Well... I heard that you two spend some time together playing chess, also you lunch together and the bridge crew told us that your professional relationship improved a lot in the last year. You two argue less about things."

"A Captain and his First Officer must have a close interaction to balance the ship's function. When the commanding officers show to the crew that they can work without animosities coming between them the crew feel safe knowing that they are under the leadership of capable beings."

"Yeah... Thanks for quote the '101 ways to be a better leader from the Starfleet captaincy guide'. But what I want to know is what is your emotional involvement to the Captain." Silence came after the question and she could almost see the cogs working inside Spock's brain through his eyes. This or he finally collapsed, because talk about emotions to a Vulcan can give them a stroke. And damn she was spending too much time with McCoy, his pleasurable way was rubbing on her.

"He is..." Did Spock just stutter? Damn, the world was ending. And here she thought that the Apocalypse was coming when Jim told her that he was in love with the Commander. "my friend."

"Friend?" Unbelievable. For someone with so accurate senses, the guy was blind like a bat.

"It's the correct definition, isn't it? When you spend some of your free time in pleasurable companionship with a person capable to maintain a high intelligent level of conversation, what induce you to seek for other opportunities to repeat the experience, this is friendship. So I believe that the Captain is in this category."

"Of course he is." Selece said slowly, like she was talking to a dumb child.

"Am I wrong at some point Lieutenant? Or your definition of friendship differ from mine."

"No, it's basically this. Except that I only seek friendship from Jim's part."

"I can't see your point."

"You really lost too much blood." Spock only blinked in her direction.

"Again there's no relation between the quantity of blood lost for my body with my brain's activities." After he said that both became silent and Selece looked beyond the treetops, seeing that the rain was finally stopping. Three minutes after this her communicator flared to life and a familiar voice called her.

"Kirk to Selece. Are you listening Lieutenant?"

"Jim!" She grabbed the comm. "Where are you? Are you alright?" On the other end of the line Kirk almost smiled when he heard the concern in his friend's voice.

"Stay still Lieutenant, we're about to lock your signal." With that said, two minutes later she saw the world fade around her and the Enterprise's transport room came to view. The medical team rushed to Spock's side and two nurses helped him to get up, taking him seconds later to the medical bay. Jim's worried gaze followed them until they disappeared through the door and his attention went back to Selece.

"That went well." Jim said and Selece raised both her eyebrows.

"If you mean that you're in one piece, yes, it went well." She step out of the platform and stopped in front of the Captain, looking into his clear eyes. "What I don't understand is why you're still here."

"What?" He blinked.

"I'm fine, no scratch or anything, Spock on the other side..."

"Yeah... I saw..."

"It's okay, you can run to him like a worried wife." She smiled when Jim made a face because of her joke. "Well?" Selece raised both her eyebrows again and Kirk let out a long breath.

"I'm going, I'm going." And he left the room faster than a Chizetan warrior in their full run capacity.

"I'm tellin' u if these two don't kiss any sooner the crew is gonna blow up with expectation." Scotty said from his place in front of the control panel.

"It's just... I knew Spock was oblivious, but Jim is like a damn open book." Selece grumbled. All the Enterprise was sick and tired to watch their Captain and his First Officer dancing around each other and after this afternoon enlightenment the girl knew that this damn waltz would take forever to end.

"Yeah... It's a shock. And I thought that Vulcans liked to read." Scotty commented and Selece blinked, letting out a laugh and taping the Scottish shoulder, exiting the transport room to the sickbay. If she knew Jim, he was at that moment pestering McCoy about Spock's condition. And if she knew the doctor, he was one step closer to hypo Kirk with something dangerous and permanent.