Hey, all.

I wanted to clarify what their shared "look" meant to me in the previous chapter because I was asked about it.

I don't think Nyota ever didn't want to bond with Spock - she just didn't want to be some human experiment. To me, she is now realizing how little time they have left together, depending on his punishment. She fears he may be put on shore leave or something like that because he went against a direct order and does not regret it.

Disclaimer: As much as I long to steal Spock and tie him up in my basement, I do not own him, or any of the other characters from Star Trek. I do own, however, planet Niburan and all of its inhabitants and O'turan.

Also - I'm thinking about lengthening Uhura's memory into a oneshot. Shall I have your opinion? Yay or nay?

R&R


Only I could hear her smooth voice, speaking in hushed whispers to the unconscious Captain through the wall to my right. I walked down the corridor, my footsteps echoing on the white floor tiles. The trial had been long, longer than I had anticipated and, although I denied my emotions, they still coursed through me - like the green blood pooling through my veins. I was restless, troubled, and I could do nothing about it.

I turned the corner into the medical bay. The cots were still filled with some crew members who were beamed up from Niburan. Nurses tended to them, monitoring their vitals with professionalism and care. I could feel my heart accelerate by my hip as I entered the private room holding the Captain, like the steady tapping of my mother's fingers on the windowsill whenever she was feeling anxious.

I stood in the door way as if I was waiting for her to grant me access, watching her whisper to the Captain. I thought of pointing out that it is illogical to speak to someone who is in a coma, but decided against it, opting with an observation.

"Your affection for Jim Kirk has grown," I remarked, quelling the heat that threatened to climb up my neck.

"Not affection, Spock, friendship," she corrected me, to my unexpected relief, "And it is perfectly logical to be speaking to someone in a coma. It was once proven that patients can respond to sounds when unconscious."

"I have read about it. But his coma is medically induced, and therefore he is not meant to wake up until we allow it," I pointed out, not overly surprised that she had correctly guessed what I was thinking.

"I know. But talking to him makes me feel better. Maybe because he isn't the best listener when he's awake," she said with a small laugh, releasing his hand from her grasp.

I walked into the room to stand on the opposite side of his cot. She didn't look up at me, although I faced her and was obviously receptive to the conversation.

"What do you speak to him about?"

"Anything. I told him about the trial. And how pigheaded he was to pick a fight with his captors and get himself tortured in the first place," she said with a small smile.

I watched her stand, her movements careful and slow, not to make a noise, even if he couldn't be woken up anyway.

"It would be beneficial for us to speak, Nyota," I told her thoughtfully.

"About what?" She asked me almost defensively, passing the Captain's bed.

I didn't respond and we exited the sickbay. She finally turned on her heel to face me.

"What do you want, Spock?"

The action was familiar - she faltered, obviously noticing the similarity, as well. I was determined not to have this conversation end the same way.

"You said you never regretted our relationship," she pointed out before I could start, "Do you now?"

"I do not," I said. The response was completely honest.

"Neither do I." She looked at me, the emotion in her eyes unreadable.

"Then, if I may inquire, why are we on unpleasant terms?" I asked her, my voice lowering automatically.

Nyota's eyes averted to look at the floor. I waited patiently, my hands held behind my back in a professional manner in case a stray cadet walked by during his dinner break.

"I don't want to be an experiment," she told me, her voice low as mine was.

Her eyes turned up to hold mine, and I found my breath was stuck in my chest for approximately a second.

"As a child, my father told me he married my mother because it was logical," I started, not breaking her gaze, "After she died, he told me it was because he loved her. I find nothing about love to be logical - it is impulsive, confusing - "

I stopped myself when her eyes drifted away once more - disappointment and sadness on her face. I didn't dare touch her intimately in such a public place, but my hand shot forward to touch her arm, drawing her attention back to me before I continued.

"But that did not stop my father, nor I, from falling into its entrapment. I did not enter a relationship with you because I thought of it as an experiment, even if you would have been a likely candidate if that were so. I will not bond with you for the sake of science."

She opened her mouth to speak, but another voice intercepted.

"Damn it, Spock, either you're in or you're out, don't block the entrance of the medical bay!" I heard behind my back.

Uhura jumped when the Doctor's gruff voice called out to us. He didn't see her and went to assist another patient as we walked out into the hall.

There was a small smile on her face as we walked to the turbolift.

I thanked her capacity to forgive.

- - -

We never made it to dinner, as we were planning.

We were on each other before the door closed. It was hard to say who was on who - we were both controlled by the same force. I felt my back get pressed up against the wall as we explored each others mouths once more, re-familiarizing ourselves with what we had lost.

'Whoa. Horny vulcan.'

I reached my hand up to one of his perfectly pointed ears, my thumb flicking over the peaked bit of skin. I could hear his breath catch and, the next thing I knew, I was over him, my hair surrounding us like a tent. My hands traced down his chest that heaved with every breath he took. I could have spent hours kissing him, paying tribute to his mouth, but there wasn't time. We only had one night until his faith as sealed. And maybe there was nothing to worry about.

But maybe there was.

I was already pushing the sleeves off of his arms, my hands having unzipped his dress jacket of their on volition. He took my hands, effectively stopping them from their determined path. I looked up at him, my eyes questioning.

He effortlessly picked me up with him, dropping me unceremoniously on his bed before pulling his tight, black undershirt over his head and following me down.

I thought of what he had said early as my mouth licked and nipped at his chest and abdomen. He had "fallen into love's entrapment". It was very poetic, and as close as he would come to muttering the three words to me.

The memory spurred me on. I slipped my uniform over my head and reached for his belt.

All of the worries and problems would be back tomorrow - but tonight we didn't have to think of them.

- - -

I felt his fingers tenderly caress my cheek before latching the place customary for a mind meld. He took my hand with his other one, moving to place it on his face, as well.

"Place your other hand on my heart, Nyota," he said, his voice deep and husky. I whined for him, the familiar warm sensation threatening to burn my stomach. I did what he told me, however, and he put his free hand over my breast.

We moved, albeit awkwardly with our arms in the way, as he opened my mind to him. I leaned closer to his face, close enough to smell his sweet breath as it hit my feverish skin, and I stole another fiery kiss, not relinquishing my hold on him as I followed his every action.

"I want you to tell me something," I said between gasps. He looked up at me questioningly, his mouth partly opened in silent acknowledgement.

"Do you love me?" I asked him, the bed moving beneath us.

"I do."

"Say it," I whispered to him breathlessly, more of a plea than an order. I needed to know.

"I love you."

My mind was torn in half the exact moment ecstasy struck my core. For a moment I could see how I looked from his eyes, feel what he felt. I must have forgotten to breathe, because the next thing I knew he was whispering my name in a panic.

"I'm sorry, it's just..."

He had told me before that Vulcans felt stronger than humans did, but I never really comprehended it until now.

He smiled.

'It also touched me that you can feel the same, breathless ardor that I can,' his voice echoed in my mind. I smiled back at him, allowing naked body to slip off of him.

I thought of what I had felt these past two nights, having to spend them alone in an empty bed. They must have been so much worse for him.

As if to respond to this train of thought, I felt him across the bond remember the turmoil. It was so... Dark... I almost felt myself slipping into it before his words interrupted my thoughts.

"Sometimes when you suppress your emotions for so long, it is bewildering to realize they are still there," he told me softly, reaching to sweep the hair out of my face.

I dropped my face to his chest, my lips tracing the faint outline of his abdomen before resting my chin down to face him, allowing his deep breaths to bob my head up and down.

"Now we'll never have to leave each other," I whispered brokenly. His hands traced my bare back, trying to make me feel better. He knew that I liked it when he did that.

His eyes, and mind, reflected my own.

I need you.

I thought of the alternative if he was docked from the ship - I could teach. I passed with flying colors...

"No," he told me softly, 'You have desired to serve about the Enterprise ever since you heard of its development. I refuse to take that from you.'

I thought of the ensuing trial tomorrow, but tried to shake it from my thoughts - my emotions didn't only depress me, now. To distract myself, I thought of how I wanted to jump Spock the moment I saw him in his dress uniform that morning. I chuckled softly, causing his lips to turn up. He reciprocated by thinking of when I walked in the room, the way my dress uniform hugged my curves shamelessly, and the joy he felt when my necklace swung into view. It looked like a tiny Vulcan, he had realized, and I smiled.

"You're right, a tiny Vulcan," I said, holding the jewel before my eyes to scrutinize. His hand covered mine, wrapping it around the pendant with tenderness.

'Sleep,' his mind told me, his thoughts drifting to the vision of me sleeping in his arms. The fondness in that one image touched me more than I could say, and I obediently rested my head on his shoulder.

That chapter was super hard for me because I'm such a freaking virgin, so I understand if it wasn't satisfactory to some.

R&R, lovelies!