Ok so this chapter is a little shorter than my others have been, but I was having the hardest time finding a good place to break it off...
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Spock heeded the gravity of Scotty's tone, and immediately rose and ran for the turbolift.
"Mr. Scott," I added, "What is the problem?"
"It's the Captain, Miss Turner." Scotty replied, "He's- he's.."
I was out of the chair as quickly as Spock, racing to the unused turbolift. There was no way this was happening.. What could have possibly happened to Kirk? Did debris fall on him during our artificial gravity failures? Did he fall from somewhere? I didn't want to think about the possibilities.
But the possibility that was truth never entered my mind. It was one thing to expect the worst, another to have it confirmed. I ran through to the warp core mainframe, and gasped, my tears flowing fast and hard. Kirk lay in the decontamination chamber, presumably after manually realigning the core.
"Any advice?" Kirk choked out, causing my sobs to become slightly audible.
"Captain?" Spock asked, his voice thick with emotion.
"I'm... Scared, Spock. Help me...not be. How do you choose... not to feel?"
"I do not know." Spock replied softly, his voice cracking. "Right now I am failing. Because you are my friend."
Kirk struggled to place his hand against the glass separating the two men, and Spock did the same on his side. It was a close as they could get. I could hear Spock crying now. Though he was not as loud as me, I could barely believe what I was seeing. A Vulcan, crying. Showing such an intense emotion, even humans disliked it.
Kirk's hand held it's position against the transparency for a moment longer. Then, it slid downward, as the Captain's eyes turned away from Spock, to gaze upward. They stopped moving. I glanced over to see Scotty crying as well, even if silently.
Then, Spock shouted at the top of his lungs a name.
"KHHAAAAANNNNNNNN!" Spock trembled with rage and sadness, standing.
"He had to have survived his ship's destruction. It sunk to earth faster than we did, but being superhuman and all.." I said, "There's a chance he's still alive." My voice started weak and broken, but my own fury at the man strengthened me.
By the time Spock and myself had returned to the bridge, Khan's ship had finished moving, stuck in the middle of the San Francisco's Starfleet Academy.
"Search the ship for life." Spock stated, and I leapt to my station, running full scans of the ship.
"Sir, there's no way anyone could have survived the impact." Sulu said.
"He could." Vulcan though he was, Spock still managed to make the observation sound like a curse.
A short while later, I found him.
"Got it! One life-form." I declared. "He just jumped thirty feet to the ground below."
"That's him." Spock confirmed. "Can we beam him up?"
"He's moving too fast, and there are too many other people around, I can't get a lock on him." Sulu responded.
I rose to stand behind Spock as he ordered Sulu to keep trying. Spock turned to look at me, the same strange expression crossing his face. Our eyes locked, and I could feel that mine were still wet. "Go get him." I said, my voice low and thick with anger and sorrow.
When Spock reached the transporter room, Chekov gave the coordinates, and Spock was beamed down to the surface. I kept tabs on all of his vitals, Khan's and Spock's location, and continued to try to beam Khan back to the Enterprise.
It was a dreadful wait, with no progress what so ever in the transporter department, when Dr. McCoy's voice practically screamed through the comm.
"McCoy to bridge. I can't reach Spock from sickbay. Listen to me! Khan, I need him alive. You get that murderous sonofabitch back on this ship right now." he took a deep breath. "I think he can save Kirk."
"Can we beam them up to the ship yet?" Sulu asked Chekov.
"No! They keep moving, I can't get a lock on either of them."
Looking over Sulu's shoulders, I had already come to a decision. "Can you beam someone down?"
I raced to the transporter room, my phaser set to stun. "Energize."
I came out on a barge, soaring through the city skyline. I took aim with my phaser, shooting at a surprised Khan. The pain in my wrist flared with every kick given from the shot, but I would not give up until this man was out cold. So far, he was only slowed, not stopped.
Slowed by the hits from my phaser, Khan was unable to defend himself from the onslaught of punches Spock now threw at him. As Khan staggered, refusing to go down, Spock grabbed the enhanced human's extended arm and executed a formal Vulcan martial-arts move. Only unlike in training, this time he did not stop himself halfway through the movement.
Khan's arm snapped. As Khan cried out, Spock spun him and slammed him down onto the metal deck. Crouching atop his helpless enemy, Spock proceeded to throw punch after punch to Khan's face.
After a moment, I realized that Spock had to stop if we were to save the Captain.
"Spock!" I screamed to be heard above the roaring motors of the barge. "Spock, STOP!"
Spock didn't seem to hear me. He continued pummeling Khan, blood spattering. I shivered when I realized that some of it was green.
"Spock, Spock- stop!" I shouted, kneeling in front of him. "He's our only chance to save Kirk!"
Spock froze, staring up at me in disbelief. I nodded, cringing internally at the green gashes adorning his face. Spock placed one final blow, not to kill Khan, but to incapacitate and knock him out cold.
Beaming up to the Enterprise was no trouble after that. The unconscious Khan was restrained in a gurney and taken to med bay, where McCoy drew some of his blood, and then put him in a cryotube. McCoy would be working hard until he could formulate a syrum like Khan's blood to save Kirk. But for now, the threat was over.
Spock and myself also resided in med bay for a small while. Myself for an inspection of my wrist, Spock for the numerous injuries he had sustained while apprehending Khan. When we were released, we went to the bridge together. The Enterprise was being docked for repairs, and we would all be taking shuttles down to the surface.
Stepping into the turbolift, Spock pushed the button for the bridge level. I stepped in with him, and as soon as the doors had closed, I wrapped my arms around him without hesitation. He returned the gesture, pressing his lips to my hair.
"I'm so glad that you're alright." I whispered into his chest.
"As am I, Jamie." he murmured into my hair.
"I think we'll have a lot of talking to do." I said, pulling back a little bit.
"I agree." he said softly. "But first-"
He pressed his lips to mine, causing my mind to swim. I wrapped my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. My hand slid into his neatly trimmed hair, noting how soft it was. We broke apart seconds before the lift stopped, the doors opening.
"Yes," I mumbled. "Talk later."
I glanced back at him, and I could have sworn I saw him smirk just a little, the white bandages on his face shifting.
When I reached my shuttle for the return trip home, I sat in the very back, not wanting to talk to anyone at the moment. The other passengers spoke to themselves in hushed tones. The majority of this shuttle was ensigns and assistants like myself, with one or two of the senior Engineering staff. I was staring off into space when I was surprised by a presence next to me. I looked up to see Spock sitting there, his warm brown eyes greeting me just as much as his voice did.
"Hello." I said, "Fancy seeing you here."
His lips turned up at the corners a trivial amount. "Indeed. Are you ready for that talking you spoke of in the lift?"
I smiled to myself at the memory of the lift, and nodded. "Sure, I guess."
"Do you wish to begin?"
"Yea. I just wanted to say, that I'm really glad that you're ok, that everyone's ok really. I mean even Kirk is going to make it now. I was so scared for so long, I didn't think I was going to make it. It really started when I got transported with Carol Marcus, I guess. Not knowing if you would get shot to smithereens or not, or if I would even make it back to you. Though I was scared at Nibiru as well, when you were in the volcano. But my timeline digresses. I guess the next is when Khan took over." I grimaced at his name, and I swore I heard a rumbling noise, like a growl, from Spock's chest. "I was terrified that he was going to kill you, and everyone else on the Enterprise. It was even worse when I got beamed back aboard. I felt a little safer when his ship was destroyed, but then when we lost power I knew that we were going to die. Or at least I thought I knew."
I paused, partly to catch my breath, partly to gauge Spock's reaction to my rambling.
"Is that all you wish to convey?" he said quietly.
"No. When we started falling, and I got jerked out of my chair, I was perfectly happy to sit next to the chair. Why did you pull me into it."
It was a while before Spock answered me. "I know that perhaps you thought it was pointless, our doom on the not so distant horizon. But there were many things going through my head." he said. "Firstly being that if we were going to die, I wanted to have you with me in my arms. Secondly, I had the illogical hope that somehow we would make it. Though illogical, my hope proved to be correct."
I nodded slowly. "That first reason, I kind of shared. That's why I scooted to be closer to you." I replied. "But when I learned that Khan could save Kirk, I wasn't scared anymore for some reason. I just wanted to help you get him taken down. I felt a pang of fear when I saw the position you were in. But I knew I could help. And I guess, here we are now."
It was a long while before Spock responded, though I was perfectly happy with him just holding my hand.
"I was fearful for your life as well. Many times over." he whispered, his voice almost as thick as it had been by the warp core. "The torpedo on the planetoid, transported to the other ship, the ship falling down. All of those moments brought nothing but fear and dread to me." he glanced down at me, a slight smile on his face, "You have tenancies to bring out the human in me." he finished, kissing my forehead. I rested my head on his shoulder, content with silence. I closed my eyes, happy in this moment.
"I knew it." I heard a feminine voice state.
I opened my eyes, and looked around the transport until I saw Lt. Uhura smiling at us from across the transport.
"I just knew there was something between you two." She smiled. "Best wishes." she said, winking, as I blushed beet red to the roots of my hair.
Spock seemed to be amused by my reaction. I just sighed and rested my head on his shoulder once more, closing my eyes as we came closer to Earth's green surface.
I had apparently fallen asleep in the short shuttle ride, and Spock shook me out of my stupor. I exited the shuttle alongside him, glad to breathe in the crisp air again. Spock took my hand, leading me away from the shuttle docks, and out towards the Academy We came to a stop in a large park, trees growing everywhere, spotted among the grass. Sitting down under a tree, we talked for what seemed like only minutes, but was really hours.
"I have to really thank you, Jamie." he murmured after a period of silence.
"For what?"
"After the loss of my mother, I was scared of allowing any human emotion to ever surface, especially love." he said, "In a way, you've helped me to learn to love again, and I am extremely grateful."
I leaned over to press my lips to his. "You're very welcome. Although I can't truthfully say it was entirely for unselfish reasons."
He smiled slightly. I was startled by his comm alerting him of an incoming call.
"Commander Spock." he said as he opened the link.
"It's McCoy." the doctor said. "Jim should be alright, and contious soon enough. Just thought I'd let you know so you don't get both of your Vulcan feelings hurt."
"I appreciate it, doctor." Spock responded. "I would be open to receiving notification when you have a closer idea when the Captain will be awaking."
"Alright." McCoy answered irritably, "You green-blooded hobgoblin."
The link was terminated, and I smiled. "That's great to hear."
"Indeed." Spock said, "It is very comforting to know that Jim will be alright."
We sat there a while longer, enjoying the sun and an environment that for once wasn't going to fail us at any given time.
Hours later, I returned to my quarters on Earth, and lay in my bed. My mind was muddled and didn't want to fully comprehend the entire adventure quite yet, but I knew one thing for sure. I was in love with Spock, and I was fairly certain that he loved me back.
It would be a while before Kirk was recovered enough to regain consciousness, as Dr. McCoy told us. Kirk's body was at times trying to reject the infusion, and it was requiring the medical specialist to keep the Captain in an induced coma, ensuring that Kirk's body would not go into shock upon awakening. When Spock received the news, his expression was one of both relief and sadness. Relief that his best friend would live, but sorrow at what was having to be done to ensure his life.