Ch 25: The Best Laid Plans

"Dammit Bones, I don't need someone to baby sit me!"

There was only one day left before Spock returned to New Vulcan and McCoy was getting nervous. After what Kirk went through in the four months that Spock was away, he was unsure if Kirk could remain stable for the next two months. The news that Starfleet had approved of their relationship would give Kirk less to stress about, but there were still the Vulcan side of things that had yet to be sorted out. Also, even though the fact that Sarek allowed Spock to see Kirk was a good sign, it didn't mean that Sarek was no longer a problem.

"In case you've forgotten Jim, you drove damn near half the ship crazy while Spock was gone! I'm still catching up on the sleep I lost when you were going through withdrawals! I can't take the risk of you pulling that crap again when he leaves!"

"That was before Starfleet gave their approval! I'll be okay this time, I really will!"

"I don't believe you," McCoy said, narrowing his eyes.

Kirk put one hand on his hip and jabbed the index finger of the other into McCoy's chest. "I don't care if you believe me or not! I'm the captain, so if I say I don't need someone hovering over me at all times of the day to make sure that I don't go bat shit crazy again then that's the end of it!"

McCoy crossed his arms. "You may be captain, but I'm the chief medical officer! My job is to make sure that every single person aboard this ship, be they crew member or guest, are in the best of health. Which means that if I deem it necessary that you be under supervision to ensure you eat right and are in good mental health, my orders are absolute and can't be overridden, not even by the captain!"

Kirk growled at his best friend who glared back at him. The two were locked in a staring match of silly proportions. Chapel watched helplessly from afar, afraid to open her mouth. The air around them was charged as one immovable force met with another immovable force.

"I will not have someone attend to me and that's that!" Turning on his heel, Kirk stormed out of the sick bay and nearly barreled into Spock as he walked by. He was so intent on leaving that he didn't even notice the surprised Vulcan.

Spock exchanged an awkward look between Chapel and McCoy before entering the sick bay. With his back straight and his arms clasped behind him, he addressed Chapel. "Nurse Chapel, if you could give the doctor and me a moment alone, I have something I need to discuss with him."

"Forget it Spock," McCoy said. "Whatever needs to be discussed will be discussed in front of her."

An eyebrow rose on Spock's forehead. "I do not believe that it would be appropriate to hold our conversation in her presence."

"Look, I already know where this is going, and I'm telling you, it doesn't matter! Say whatever you need to say right now; Christine will stay right where she is."

Spock allowed himself to show his irritation on his face. At times like this, the doctor could be quite incorrigible. "Very well," he said, "we will discuss things openly. I believe that the Captain should have a yeoman assigned to him."

Smirking, McCoy said, "I agree."

McCoy enjoyed throwing Spock for a loop. The look on his face was priceless and never got old. "You agree?" Spock asked.

"Yes Spock, I do," McCoy said smugly. "I believe that part of Jim's problem was that he has been undergoing far too much stress as a captain and would do better to have an assistant, especially one he wasn't romantically involved with. A yeoman would ensure that not only is he getting his work done without being overly stressed, but also that he is taking proper care of himself. That should prevent a repeat of his recent breakdown."

Spock nodded slowly at the doctor and gave him a slight smile. "I admire your train of thought Doctor."

McCoy was beside himself with glee that he was one step ahead of the Vulcan. "Well, I'm glad to hear that!"

"However," Spock added, much to McCoy's dismay, "while your reasoning for assigning a yeoman to the Captain's side is quite logical, it was not the same as my reasoning."

It was McCoy's turn to have an eyebrow raise on his forehead. "Okay…then what was your reasoning Mr. Spock?"

A smug smile curled on Spock's lips as he said, "To ensure you do not attempt to seduce him."

The shock on McCoy's face was enough to make Chapel laugh. Her laughter was abruptly reduced to a clearing of her throat when he shot an angry glare at her. He faced Spock and crossed his arms tightly over his chest.

"I'll have you know that he won't need a yeoman for that reason Spock," McCoy said, unable to hide the contempt in his voice. "I've taken the time since our last discussion to think things over and to be very honest, Jim is much better off with you than he is with me. He needs someone young like you to keep up with him. Just watching him wears me out, and I don't have nearly as much patience as you Vulcans do, so you can have him."

He gave Spock a cheeky smile as he walked over to Chapel and put an arm around her. "Besides," he added, "I have a lovely lady that is willing to put up with me, so I shouldn't bother with forbidden fruit when I have a lovely Georgia peach!"

If Spock were a full-blooded human, he would've rolled his eyes at the utter cheesiness of McCoy's line. It didn't seem to faze Chapel though, who was blushing and smiling coyly.

"If that's the case," Spock said, "then the only reason the Captain would need a yeoman would be as you described. A yeoman would indeed relieve some of the pressure that Jim suffers on a daily basis, and will prevent another breakdown in my absence. I commend you on your foresight Doctor."

"Ah, don't thank me," McCoy said, idly waving Spock's comment away. "If you're going to thank someone, thank Christine. It was her idea. She even has a suggestion for who should take the job!"

"My friend Yeoman Rand would be an excellent choice for the Captain," Chapel said. She spoke confidently despite her nervousness. She didn't talk much with Spock and always worried she would sound like an idiot the moment she opened her mouth. It didn't help that she had a crush on Spock during the first part of their mission, a crush that was quickly overshadowed when word that he was dating Kirk leaked out.

"Ah, yes, Yeoman Rand," Spock mused. "I've noticed her. She's a very diligent worker. I believe she will indeed be an excellent choice as the captain's personal assistance." He gave a slight bow of his head in Chapel's direction. "You have my thanks."

Blushing again, Chapel said quietly, "You're welcome."

McCoy gave Chapel a look, but decided to ignore her behavior for the moment. Turning his attention back to Spock, he said, "I'll uh, I'll speak to Rand personally and inform her of the decision. I can't think of any reason she'd have to object the position."

"Nor can I," Spock agreed. "The hard part will be getting the captain to agree to it."

McCoy smirked darkly. "He doesn't have a choice."

A knock came at the door of McCoy's office. He peered over his data pad and called out, "Come in!"

In walked Rand, clutching on to her data pad as she usually did when she was on duty. She gave McCoy a curious look and said, "Christine told me you wanted to see me…"

"Yes, I did," McCoy stated. He put his data pad down and clasped his hands in front of him on the desk. He looked up at the yeoman and said, "I'm assigning you to be the captain's personal assistant."

Rand's eyes grew wide. "The captain's personal assistant? But why?"

"Are you asking why you've been selected or are you asking why he needs an assistant?"

She blinked at the question. "Both."

McCoy gave Rand a small smile. "I'm sure you're aware that for the last few months Captain Kirk hasn't really been acting like himself." Rand grimaced and gave him a tiny nod. "Well, aside from Spock being apart from him and the two of them having some unresolved issues with their relationship, the captain has been pretty stressed out trying to take care of everything on his own. As a result, he had somewhat of a nervous breakdown. We are assigning him a yeoman to help alleviate his daily stress load and help enforce healthy habits for him. As for why you were selected…well, let's just say that someone put in a good word for you."

Rand took a deep breath and released it slowly. She remained silent for a time then said, "That's a mighty big responsibility to place on me of all people. Surely they're someone else that's better suited for something like this other than me?"

"If I really wanted to, I could pour over the list of yeomen on the ship and drive myself crazy agonizing over who could put up with the captain. I could do that, or I could trust my source and assign you to the job. Personally, I'd rather trust in my source than spend potentially hours trying to pick the right candidate myself.

"Now, as chief medical officer, I'm assigning you to be Captain Kirk's personal assistant. Will you accept the job? You're technically allowed to refuse the position, but I can be pretty persuasive if I need to be."

She took a moment to mull the thought of being Captain Kirk's personal assistant. From what she'd heard he seemed like a very busy person, and as his assistant, she too would become very busy. Granted, it wasn't like he wouldn't be doing any work on his own; she would take up the bulk of the slack, but he'd still have things he'd have to personally attend to as well. Still, it seemed like she'd be doing an awful amount of work as his assistant.

Then again, she had always found the captain to be rather intriguing. It was unfortunate that he was no longer the womanizer he was in the Academy; somehow she had slipped through the cracks and missed making it onto the list of Kirk's many lovers and now she wouldn't have the chance. What she'd give for just one night in the bed with him…

She shook the indecent thoughts of her captain out of her mind and looked at McCoy. She gave him her best professional look and said, "I accept the position as Captain Kirk's personal assistant."

McCoy's face lit up. "Excellent!" he exclaimed. "You don't have to start until tomorrow, so you can relax for the rest of the day. When Mr. Spock leaves the ship for his return to New Vulcan, I'll get you and the captain acquainted and you'll begin your duties then!"

"Understood Doctor," Rand said. "If you'll excuse me…"

Nodding, McCoy waved her off and began to focus on his work. Rand slipped out of the office and spotted Chapel working on a data pad. Chapel looked up from her data pad and gave a knowing smile at Rand. The smile was all Rand needed to confirm that McCoy's "source" was indeed her friend. Returning her smile, she shook her head and whispered, "We'll talk later," before leaving the sick bay.

Her mind reeled as she walked to her room from sick bay. As of tomorrow, she was going to be Captain Kirk's personal assistant. McCoy was rather fuzzy on all the details, but it seemed like she would be doing more than just the captain's paperwork. From what McCoy described, she'd be a cross between a caretaker, a maid, and a secretary for Kirk. She would in essence be spending most of her time with the handsome captain.

It made sense why her face split in a wide giddy smile. Any woman in her situation would drop to her knees and thank God or Buddah or whoever she prayed to for this wonderful blessing. What didn't make sense to her was why she was so utterly excited about it. The captain was tied down and happily engaged; anyone who wasn't Spock hardly showed on his radar anymore. The longer he was with Spock, the less and less his eyes wondered to his female crew members. So why was she so thrilled at the chance to spend so much time with someone she didn't stand a chance with?

Sighing, she arrived at her quarters and walked inside. All the good men are always taken…

"I really wish you didn't have to go."

Spock and Kirk stood in front of each other in the transporter room. The only other person in the room with them was a plucky ensign that was amusing himself as the two said goodbye to each other. Kirk would have preferred if they could share this moment together without anyone else around, but it was necessary to have the ensign present so there would be no delay in Spock's departure.

"The feeling is mutual but it cannot be avoided," Spock said, allowing himself to show the slightest hint of sadness on his face. "It is inevitable that I must return to New Vulcan to fulfill the remainder of my promised time. I still have much to discuss with my father, but I believe he may now be seeing our relationship from a more rational point of view. The next two months could prove to be monumental in the progress I can make with him."

Kirk's head lowered and his eyes stared at his feet. "I know…" he mumbled. "That doesn't change how lonely I'm going to be without you."

Spock's hand gently touched the underside of Kirk's chin and tilted it back up to look at him. Loving dark brown eyes peered into sad blue eyes. The corners of Spock's lips curled gently into a small smile. "I will miss you greatly," he breathed in a voice that made Kirk's legs grow weak. "Do not forget that we can still meet with each other using our mind link. I plan to visit you every night for the next two months until I return."

His tone hardened a bit, but only enough to make his point clear. "I expect you to respond to me when I attempt to make contact with you. Though I have the capability to enter your mind forcefully from afar, I would rather not use it. However, if even once you fail to respond to my contacts, I will be left with no other choice than to breach the privacy of your mind."

A shudder ran down Kirk's spine at the thought of someone forcing their way into his mind, even if it was Spock. Lowering his eyes again, he said, "I promise I'll respond every night."

The smile returned to Spock's face as he leaned forward and kissed Kirk on the forehead. "You are aware that the reason I propose such an unlikely action is because I worry about your welfare in my absence?"

"Yeah, I know…" Kirk muttered. He was still embarrassed at his actions in the last few months, and rightfully so. A captain is supposed to show composure at all times; if anyone had wanted to, he could have been labeled emotionally compromised and unfit for duty. It actually surprised him that no one had done so, especially Corporal Peters. "I really screwed up…"

"Yes, you did," Spock said, getting a shocked look from Kirk. "You are fortunate your crew respects and admires you as much as they do. If they did not, surely you would no longer be the captain."

Kirk smirked at his fiancé. "I'm sure you would have loved to come back to the Enterprise and find out that you were the new captain."

"That would have been true two years ago," Spock said, smiling slyly back at Kirk, "but I have since then become more attracted to my position as first officer."

"Bullshit," Kirk said before leaning forward and capturing Spock's lips with his own. The two kissed tenderly for only a moment, not wanting things to progress too far. Their parting was difficult enough as it was; having to part with tightness around their lower body parts would only make it worse. Smirking again, Kirk continued, "You've wanted to get back in that captain's chair since the day I took it away from you."

Spock's eyelids lowered over his eyes and looked sultrily at the blond man before him. "I find it more pleasurable that I have found my way into the captain's bed instead of his chair."

Wide eyed, Kirk laughed in pleasant surprise at Spock's witty quip. "Wow Spock! I've had a worse influence on you than I thought! What would your father say if he heard you speak like that?"

Tilting his head to the side, Spock's eyes looked at the ceiling above him as he took a moment to contemplate his father's reaction. Before he could respond, Kirk said, "If you have to think about it, chances are you don't really want to know what his reaction would be. To be honest, I'd be scared if he came up with a response like yours!"

Kirk gave a few chuckles while Spock simply looked fondly at him and smirked. The two looked at each other and realized that the time had come for Spock to leave. "Well," Kirk said, "there's no sense in trying to delay the inevitable. You gotta get back to New Vulcan and I gotta get back to running this ship."

Spock nodded slowly and continued to stare at his love. He was infinitely better at hiding his pain inside than his counterpart, but the pain they shared was the same. He debated whether he should allow himself to openly hug Kirk or resort to the Vulcan form of showing affection. Technically he shouldn't even be thinking about this since just moments before Kirk had kissed him, but it was one thing to react to another's show of affection and another to initiate it yourself.

Luckily Spock didn't have to make the decision because Kirk made it for him. Kirk wrapped his arms around Spock's neck and hugged him tightly. Recovering from the sudden move, Spock hugged Kirk back and closed his eyes, a smile on his face. They pulled back and Spock put his hand up for Kirk to touch. Kirk placed his palm against Spock and pressed his fingers against Spock's. Pain, love, and sadness flowed back and forth between the two the moment their hands connected with each other.

Kirk looked sadly into Spock's eyes and was taken aback by the look on his face. Spock looked as though he had lost his planet and his mother all over again. I do not want to leave you my love, he said through their mind link.

I know, Kirk responded. I don't want you to leave either. We can't keep you any longer though; your father will begin to wonder if you don't leave soon.

Spock nodded and pulled his hand back, extending only his index and middle finger towards Kirk. Kirk did the same and let their fingers touch. Only their love was transferred through their touch this time as they shared the Vulcan equivalent of a romantic kiss.

Reluctantly, the two broke the contact and lowered their hands back to their side. Spock turned toward the ensign and said, "Ensign Davis, I am ready to leave."

The ensign's head snapped up when he heard his name. Giving an awkward smile, he replied, "Oh, right! Go ahead and step on the transporter pad Mr. Spock!"

Spock nodded and walked over to the transporter pad closest to him. He looked at Kirk, who looked as though his puppy had just died. Ignoring the pain he felt in his heart, Spock raised his hand and gave the Vulcan salute. He tried to say farewell audibly, but his throat had unexpectedly constricted around a lump that had formed and prevented him from speaking.

His voice, dripping with sadness, resounded in Kirk's ears. Goodbye for now my t'hy'la. May two months pass quickly so that we may be together again.

Before Kirk could say goodbye, Spock's body began to fade away as the ensign beamed him back aboard the Vulcan ship his father permitted him to use. Staring at the now empty transporter pad, Kirk said out loud:

"Goodbye my love…"

Kirk was lying in his room sulking when a knock came at his door. Sitting up, he sighed. It was likely that McCoy had come to offer a few words of comfort and check up on him. He probably is thinking I've holed myself up and cut my wrists, Kirk thought bitterly as he stood up and walked across the room to answer the door.

As expected, he saw McCoy staring back at him when the door opened. It was the presence of a blond haired woman next to him that threw him off. McCoy caught the questioning look on his face and decided to explain quickly. "May I present to you your very own personal assistant, Yeoman Janice Rand."

Kirk blinked at McCoy and then looked at Rand, who shyly waved her fingers at him. He groaned and said, "Bones, didn't I make it clear that I didn't want a personal assistant?"

"Yes," McCoy retorted, "but I don't recall ever saying that just because you didn't want one meant you wouldn't get one. I've brought her here to be instructed by you on what exactly it is you need her to do."

"I don't need her to do anything besides go back to whatever it was she was doing before you roped her into this."

"Jim," McCoy said in a dangerous tone, "I'll have you know that Spock is backing me up on this decision. I spoke to him personally about the matter and he agrees that you need a personal assistant! Are you gonna fight both me and him?"

Sighing in defeat, Kirk put up his hands and said, "Alright, alright. I give up. If you guys think I need a personal assistant that bad, I'll show her the ropes and let her do her thing, alright?"

McCoy smiled triumphantly. He knew that mentioning Spock would make Kirk back down and he was glad he had that card to play. He looked at Rand and said, "I'll let you two get better acquainted. Have a good time!"

Kirk and Rand watched as the doctor walked down the hall whistling happily. Rolling his eyes, Kirk grumbled, "Yeah, we'll have a swell time…" He turned his attention to Rand, who was now looking rather nervous. "Well, don't just stand there, come on in."

She gave a quick nod and walked past Kirk into his room. He watched her walk in and sighed heavily. Shaking his head, he walked back into the room and prepared himself for a grueling meeting with a random girl who was going to be a big part of his waking life.

At times like this, he really hated being captain…