Chapter Fifteen

Serving on board the U.S.S. Enterprise had been, thus far, an interesting experience for Zuria. It had been several days since Star Fleet had sent out several of its ships to aid in resolving the conflict between the Klingons and Chandra V. Nothing particularly thrilling had happened; it had been, for the most part, incredibly quiet. The only people that had visited the sickbay were afflicted with minor wounds or illnesses common to their species. Nonetheless, it was a chance for Zuria to practice her abilities as a xenobiological medical intern.

Presently, Zuria was monitoring an Orion that had lately succumbed to their version of influenza. She flipped through his charts, picking up a pen and updating them. Bones sat several feet away, watching her complete the task.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" She questioned teasingly, setting the charts down and turning to him.

"Nope." He answered bluntly. "You dealing with the sick Orion guy is the most exciting thing I've seen all day."

"You could've treated him yourself, if you had wanted to." She pointed out, taking a seat next to him. If she was being honest, however, she had to agree with him. It had been three days since she had seen Spock, a fact for which she wasn't at all grateful. He had been so busy on the main deck, working with Jim Kirk and the others to produce a plan that would prevent the Klingons from taking any action, as they were no doubt formulating some scheme of their own.

"And deprive my favorite intern of her chance to practice? Like hell I would do that." He said, and Zuria couldn't decide whether he was teasing or not.

"May I remind you that I'm your only intern?" Zuria retorted, offering a smile.

"Well, y'know why I can't have any other interns?" He asked. "It's because they'd all get pissed off at me for playing favorites."

Zuria gave a laugh, slapping Bones playfully on the arm. "You're pathetic."

"Yeah, well; it's all a matter of opinion." He told her. Several doctors and at least a dozen nurses moved aimlessly about the sickbay, each of them searching for something to do. Bones and Zuria remained silent for several moments, watching them.

"Just seeing these people doing nothing makes me almost wish that those Klingons would fire some damn missiles at us or something." Bones grumbled. Zuria opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a loud rumbling sound. Her heart sank down into her stomach, and she stood from her seat.

"I think you just got your wish, Bones." She said. The first sound was followed shortly by a second one, this one able to be felt. The unfamiliar voice of a man spoke through the intercom system.

"This is Cadet Gerard Dexius speaking. We are now under attack by several Klingon war-birds. Sickbay, please prepare to receive all injured persons." He alerted everyone. Zuria found herself frustrated by the message; it told nothing of what had been happening over the past few days, nor did it reveal much of what should be expected at that present moment, either. A scream of agony interrupted her thoughts, causing her to turn to the sickbay door. The first of many injured Star Fleet members to come had collapsed on the floor, unconscious. Zuria ran to him, kneeling and searching out his faint pulse. Bones was next to her seconds later, assisting her in lifting him and moving him to a gurney. A chunk of metal protruded from his abdomen.

"Jesus." Bones breathed as he glanced to the door. Wounded ensigns and cadets stumbled into the sickbay, doctors and nurses rushing to meet them. "Will you be okay handling this on your own?" He asked Zuria. She nodded.

"Go. Go help." She permitted with a wave of her hand. She found herself very thankful at the moment that everything in the sickbay was sterilized. Taking her medical PADD, she used its x-ray function to see how deep the metal was stuck into the cadet's body. She almost breathed a sigh of relief to see that it hadn't ruptured any of his vital organs. She quickly turned away, placing her hands in front of the sterilizer, allowing it to clean her hands with a puff of air before grabbing a pair of gloves and slipping one onto each hand before returning to her patient. Biting her lip, she carefully pulled the metal from his skin. Small amounts of blood seeped from the wound, though after she applied generous amounts of pressure to the spot, the bleeding gradually stopped. When it did, she was quick to cleanse the abrasion and stitch it up.

The next half hour passed much the same way. Zuria moved from patient to patient, assisting other doctors with their endeavors as well. She eventually came to Bones, aiding him in suturing the chest of an ensign.

"God dammit." He hissed out of frustration as the Enterprise shook again. It was, obviously, quite difficult to successfully sew a person back together when faced with constant turbulence. The ship's movement caused Bones to bump into the scalpel that he had carelessly left pointing towards him. It stabbed through his shirt, piercing through his skin.

"Son of a bitch!" He yelled, pulling away from the patient. His voice cut through the relative quiet of the sickbay. Zuria's eyes traveled to the medical instrument that now protruded from Bones' stomach. Squeezing his eyes shut briefly, he returned to his work. Zuria assisted him without speaking, knowing that he would be insistent on completing his task.

Several minutes later, Cadet Dexius' voice alerted the crew of the Enterprise that the Klingons had discontinued their assault on the Star Fleet ships. Bones' PADD signaled that he had received a written transmission only several moments later.

"What's going on, Bones?" Zuria questioned. Bones currently sat on a gurney, holding gauze to the gash in his side.

"I'm needed on the main deck immediately, but I obviously can't go now." He informed her, inhaling with a hiss.

"Let me help you stitch yourself." She said, reaching for the thread.

"No, I'm stitching myself up." He told her. "I need you to go to the main deck on my behalf and report back to me."

Zuria raised an eyebrow, glancing from Bones to the thread. "Are you sure that's what you want me to do?" She inquired.

"Yes, it is. Just go, and I'll be fine by the time you get back." He promised, gesturing towards the door with his head.

Inhaling, she nodded, giving Bones a gentle hug before exiting the sickbay and making her way towards the main deck.

Spock had been wrong to report for duty that day. He had been neglectful of his need to meditate, having only performed the action several times within the past few days. His head felt as though it was on fire and his body ached, calling out for an end to the pain. The battle with the Klingons had taken more of his energy than he thought it would. Spock currently leaned against the wall in pseudo-meditation, gathering himself prior to discussing the next course of action with those on the main deck.

"Hey, Spock," Jim called. Spock opened his eyes. "Did Bones say when he was getting here?"

"No, Jim. Doctor McCoy made no response to the transmission that I sent to him." Spock informed the captain. He was about to shut his eyes again, but they were instead drawn to the doors as they slid open.

Zuria had entered. Spock felt a flash of lustful heat course through his body, something that took all of his Vulcan control to ignore.

"Zuria?" Jim posed her name as a question. "Where's Bones?"

"I'm here on his behalf. He's stitching himself up as we speak."

"Ah." Jim said with a nod. He could clearly sympathize with Bones. "Ok, well then," He began, clapping his hands together. Several lieutenants and cadets left their stations and made their way to where Jim stood. Spock inhaled before joining them.

"Who's she?" The outspoken Cadet Dexius asked, nodding his head in Zuria's direction. Spock's eyes traveled to her, meeting her gaze briefly.

"She's Doctor McCoy's intern, Zuria Nibiru." Jim answered shortly. "Anyways, let's talk about what we're going to do with these Klingon bastards."

Jim looked to Spock, expecting him to speak. Spock, however, was glaring at Cadet Dexius, who was studying Zuria with an interest that made Spock nauseous from irrational jealousy.

"Cadet Dexius, I must ask that you refrain from gazing at Cadet Nibiru in such a manner. It is entirely inappropriate." He chided, his eyes narrowed to slits. Zuria glanced at him with a questioning look.

"I have every right to look at an attractive woman, sir." Dexius replied, crossing his arms defiantly, grinning at Zuria.

"Do not test me, cadet." Spock warned in a low, venomous voice. "I have no patience for your childishness." Spock hated his illogical behavior; Zuria hadn't even spoken a kind word to the cadet. But, as his current logic stated, nobody should have been looking at her, nobody but him. Anyone who did risked the chance of incurring his wrath.

"Spock, man, are you okay?" Jim inquired, raising an eyebrow. Spock's entire body felt as though it were burning up in flames of lust, pain, and anger. Why did Zuria have to be there at that moment? Her presence made it all so much more difficult; his self control was the weakest that it had ever been, and it took all of his strength and logic to hold himself back from dragging her off of the main deck in order to mate with her. He inhaled sharply, pressing a hand against his forehead.

"Forgive me, Jim, but I am feeling unwell." He replied, glancing momentarily at Zuria. He saw confusion and worry on her face, both pleading for him to tell her what was happening to him. He chose to ignore them. "I believe that I should retire to my quarters at this time."

"Yeah, you do that. I'll send you a transmission if I need to." Jim said, permitting him to leave with a wave of his hand.

Spock retreated to his room immediately, wasting no time in beginning his meditation. He had been negligent to his body, and knew that imperative that he do something to correct the damage he had done from disregarding the blood fever.

Spock only hoped that meditation would be enough to appease the licking and hissing flames of the pon farr.

Hey guys! Surprised to see an update this soon? Well, don't be. I've been devoting all free time that I currently have to my writings, and at the moment, this story takes precedence over all of my others. I should hopefully have all of the chapters written by the end of this month. Aw. Now I'm a bit sad; this story has been probably the most fun thing that I've ever written, seeing as I'm way more enthusiastic about it than I've been about other fan fiction I've written in the past. I'm going to miss writing it!

I've been getting tons of messages from you guys wanting to know what I'll be working on next. Will I write a sequel to this story? I'm thinking about it; if I do, however, it will most likely be relatively short. Aside from that, though, I think I'll take some time to explore the Heroes universe; I'm planning on writing several Sylaire one-shots (most likely song-fics) before diving into a full length Sylar/OC story. I know, I know; the OCs. They're everywhere for me. I just like them because I feel as though they let me explore canon characters better.

Well... there you have it: a new chapter, my plans for future writing, and an explanation. Hopefully that'll tide you over until the next chapter is up; I'm sure you'll all enjoy it very much.

Anyways, thanks for the read! Reviews, as always, are motivation to write more. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,

Harley