Disclaimer: Nope don't own.
After what Jim had named "The Stream Incident", his resolve to hide his feelings just got so much harder. Each time he looked at his first officer all he saw were those dark eyes, rich with an emotion he couldn't name as the Vulcans breath whispered against his lips.
Jim shivered as a spike of arousal shot through him.
Look at his shoes look at his shoes look at his shoes, the blonde chanted to himself, staring steadily at the back of Spock's boots and definitely nothing else. Absolutely nowhere else. Nope.
God dammit, Jim thought irritably, his gaze sweeping upwards.
Spock for his part didn't seem to realise what had almost occurred hours earlier, his behaviour the same as usual. Jim couldn't help but wonder if he was disappointed or not.
The young captain was a firm believer in not having sex with friends or colleagues. He had learned that the hard way through his academy days; as soon as sex was involved people got hurt or left.
And he couldn't do that to Spock. Not because of some noble sense of duty (he'd always seen rules as guidelines anyway) but from a purely selfish motive; Jim needed the Vulcan. Needed him like the air in his lungs, or the blood in his veins.
Spock is the sandwich to my Scotty, the young captain thought to himself in amusement.
Marvelling to himself at how romantically poetic he was, Jim almost walked into the back of his first officer. Glancing at him from the corner of his eye, Spock raised a hand for silence and scanned the surrounding jungle intently.
Jim froze and did the same, his guard going up straight away. Moments passed and Spock lowered his hand, turning to face his captain.
"My apologies, I thought I saw something that was cause for alarm but it must have been nothing," Spock murmured, confusion in his eyes. Jim strained to listen to the surrounding jungle but the soft gurgle of the stream beside them masked all background noise.
"And you're sure it was nothing? What was it you thought you saw?" Jim asked; guard still up and body tense. If Spock thought he saw something, nine times out of ten he saw something. It was these instincts Jim had come to rely on, and the notion of them failing left him uneasy.
Spock paused for a moment, seeming to internally debate what he wanted to say.
"I believe it was humanoid, approximately five feet and eleven inches. I was unable to see any other distinctive features," he said slowly, as if in thought.
"And it wasn't a member of the away team?"
"Negative. I would have recognised a crew member," Spock responded.
Jim sighed. Awesome, as if the last creature wasn't enough now there were people stalking them too.
"Ok, well let's just keep moving until we figure out what to do," Jim said, relaxing slightly.
The two had agreed the best course of action would be to head towards shelter for the night, Spock leading the way based on the landmarks he'd seen that morning.
Jim's stomach growled loudly, effectively breaking the silence. Spock paused and Jim coughed in embarrassment, for once not blushing.
"So…maybe we should look for lunch?" Jim ventured, clearing his throat. Spock nodded glancing to the stream.
Neon pink fish ranging from one to seven inches in length swam just below the surface of the water, looking strikingly similar to the koi of earth. As he observed them, one of the creatures snapped out a long tongue with a small set of jaws on the end to snatch an insect mid-flight.
Perhaps not koi then.
Jim was already sharpening a stick, legs crossed as he struck the end with a shard of stone. Finally something to eat that wasn't berries!
Before long the captain was knee deep in water, pants rolled up and black shirt in a pile where it was dry. Standing stock still he watched as the fish grew accustomed to his presence, moving through the water lazily.
Forcing himself to stay still, Jim focused on a larger one just hovering outside his striking range, swimming closer before darting away again. Lunging, he would have speared the damn thing but instead stepped on a slimy rock, pitching backwards into the water with a curse.
Meanwhile Spock had collected a decent amount of berries, content to sit cross legged on the ground watching his captain flounder through the water. He would have assisted him yet the desire to stay dry outweighed it. He did not like water, thus the logical decision was to not get wet.
It also had nothing to do with the desire to watch Jim. Nothing to do with the way the muscles in his back flexed when he flailed (and really, there was no other word for it) or the way he would send a sheepish smile towards the stoic Vulcan after each failure.
Nothing at all.
"Yes! Die fish, die!" Jim cried happily, having finally managed to capture his prey. Wading through the water, he sat the fish on a large stone before starting a small fire with some of sticks he had found. Rubbing them together briskly, soon smoke began to float slowly upwards. Blowing over the small ember, Jim coaxed it into a tiny flame which soon became a large enough fire to cook his fish over.
"That skill is not part of standard Starfleet training," Spock observed, raising a brow in question. Wiping his hands on his pants, Jim climbed to his feet with a nod.
"Yeah, well I went camping a lot as a kid. There wasn't much else to do where I grew up," Jim explained while he worked.
"What about you? Hang out after school with your Vulcan buddies?" Jim asked jokingly, and Spock visibly tensed.
"Negative. 'Buddies' are not beneficial towards academic advancements and thus illogical," the Vulcan monotoned, and Jim realised he must have hit a sore spot. He shrugged.
"I didn't really have a lot of friends either, my IQ intimidated them a bit I think. That and apparently getting into fights all the time isn't the best way to make friends," the blonde explained, poking at the coals with a stick. Spock rose an eyebrow.
"I find myself…surprised," the Vulcan trailed off.
"Why? You didn't picture me as a little shit of a kid already?" Jim murmured, staring at the embers.
"You and I were not so different," Spock murmured, and Jim glanced up at him.
"I doubt you were teased for being too smart, I mean you grew up on Vulcan," the blonde said in surprise.
"Not for being too smart, no. Rather my lineage and my mother in particular," Spock replied.
"Really? I would have thought Vulcans were too smart for that kind of bullshit," Jim snorted.
"What did you do about it?" he added, and the Vulcan rose an eyebrow.
"What makes you believe I 'did' anything?" Spock retorted, and Jim smiled.
"Because I know you," he replied simply, warmth in his eyes.
"I…broke the main instigator's nose," Spock admitted, eyes on the ground. He glanced up in surprise at the sound of Jim laughing.
"Oh my god, that's hilarious. Served him right I bet," Jim trailed off, smiling. Spock allowed the corners of his own mouth to quirk slightly.
"Indeed."
Moments later the scent of cooked fish wafted through the air and Spock fought the urge to scrunch up his nose in disgust, instead taking the time to meditate slightly upwind. Relaxing into his crossed leg position, the Vulcan inhaled deeply. And held it, frozen in place.
A figure stared at him from the tree line opposite.
Not letting on that he had noticed, Spock maintained the façade of meditation, studying the half obscured woman.
He was at least certain of that; though her face was obscured, the slight build could only belong to a female. The Vulcan narrowed his eyes as he focused on her but was unable to make out any other features, the mottled light and brightly coloured ferns obscuring her.
The woman extended an arm toward him, and as Spock rose to his feet in response her body flared a blinding white, leaving him blinking at the brightness. Jim cried out somewhere to his left and as his eyes readjusted he gasped softly.
Her flesh was black, cracking and disintegrating before their eyes.
The woman let out an ear piercing shriek before crumbling to ash, lurching forward and arm still reaching for him.
Lunging forward, Spock crossed the stream in record time, Jim scrambling behind. Pushing aside ferns and small plants, the Vulcan searched the ground and immediate area.
Before long (approximately one minute, 34 seconds) Spock straightened from where he had been combing through the foliage, eyes troubled.
"Did you find her?" Jim huffed, soaked from his rush through the stream.
"Negative. There is nothing at all; no ash, no marks in the soil…nothing," Spock murmured, a small furrow appearing between his eyebrows and tone mystified. Jim stared at the Vulcan.
"What?! But she was right there," Jim cried incredulously, gesticulating uselessly towards the ferns. Spock said nothing, his gaze thoughtful. Jim wanted to grind his teeth in frustration.
The Vulcan, for the first time in his life, cursed his eidetic memory. Flesh crumbling away from her form, the blackened arm reaching toward him… It took more than a little of his hardened self-control not to shudder.
A soft pressure on his shoulder brought him back to the present, Jim squeezed his hand minutely. Tentatively, he placed his own hand over his captain's, a silent thank you.
Because Jim would always bring Spock back.
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A/N I dunno how I feel about this one; to be honest I think it could have been better :s that said I promise to make it up to you by releasing the next one in a couple days! Thanks for all the reviews and support guys ^^