Chapter 10

This is what Jim had learned from the Organians since recovering his first officer. The Klingons had been threatening violence against the Organians for months now. They were attempting to get an ally, and they were willing to do so by force. Not that it was entirely surprising. They had occupied Organia for the past month, and though the Organians could have forced them out with their superior mental abilities, they had decided that the Klingons weren't really doing any harm. Plus, it would be interfering.

However, the rules of the game had changed as soon as the Klingons had found out that the Enterprise was visiting Organia on a diplomatic mission. Even more than an ally, the Klingons had wanted something to use against the Federation. Hence, the abduction of Spock. They had promised the Organians to leave the planet peacefully for the exchange of the first officer from the Enterprise. While Jim thought that it was a fool's agreement and one that the Klingons probably wouldn't follow up on, he could understand the appeal to the Council of the Elders. All they wanted was peace, and here was an easy way to obtain it without going against their beliefs. So they had readily agreed, grateful to avoid any potential violence. What the Klingons hadn't counted on was a super intelligent species who had the telekinetic ability to alter any plans that involved wrongdoing.

The night that they had stayed on the planet, Ayelborne had taken the guise of Jim and had lured Spock out of bed and to the place where he would be held. However, he hadn't meant for any harm to come to Spock. It was the reason behind Jim's dream. It had seemed so real because it had been real. He was attempting to warn Jim, to give him a clue as to where Spock was. He hadn't foreseen the amount of violence that the Klingons would use against the half-Vulcan. As it was, the Organian council insisted that they had been able to prevent most of the damage that the Klingons had attempted to inflict upon him.

While Jim would never approve of the Organians using his first officer as a bargaining tool, he had to admit that their plan was, for the most part, foolproof. Except for the part where Spock actually got hurt. That was unacceptable and unforgivable. And the fact that Jim couldn't think of a time when he had been more worried about someone put him in a particularly foul mood. Their intentions had been good, but Jim was still relieved to be leaving the planet. This was technically a failed mission, but he figured that Starfleet would agree with him when he told them that some things simply weren't worth it. Almost losing his first officer, even if it was a setup and Spock had technically been safe, was definitely a price Jim wasn't willing to pay.

Jim sighed, sitting in his chair on the bridge. He glanced around and smiled to himself. He was glad to be back, even if he had only been gone for about a day. It seemed like ages since he had been sitting on the bridge, anxious for an exciting mission. He supposed it had something to do with the frenzied state of panic that he had almost entered back on Organia. Currently, they were on their way back to Earth. The Enterprise was now to be used as a cargo vessel as they transported necessary goods to the New Vulcan colony. Jim couldn't say that he disagreed with the decision. With his first officer out of commission for an indefinite period of time, possibly forever, he just wanted to partake in some relaxing missions.

Speaking of Spock, he hadn't gone down to the Sickbay to see him yet today. Jim glanced around the bridge and noticed that everything seemed to be calm, almost to the point where a few of his officers seemed to be on the verge of dozing off. He couldn't blame them. He was still exhausted, having not found a decent time to take a nap. Well, now seemed as good as ever. His shift was over in about half an hour anyway. He couldn't imagine anyone would protest his leaving early.

"Sulu, you have the conn," Jim said, standing up abruptly and heading towards the turbolift. Behind him he could hear Sulu acknowledge with an "Aye, Sir".

Jim smiled slightly, and closed his eyes, grateful for every moment that he had to himself. As much as he enjoyed being around other people, sometimes he just needed a few minutes to just breathe.

The moment was short lived as the turbolift came to a halt and the door slid open. Jim stepped out and quickly made his way to the Sickbay. He had a feeling that Bones would be a bit frustrated with him as he had given him specific orders to settle matters on Organia and then come straight to see him. Jim had not, deciding that it was more important to resume duty as if nothing had happened. That, and he wasn't particularly looking forward to his date with Bones's hypo.

"Goddammit, Jim, where the hell have you been?" Bones snapped when he looked up and saw Jim entering.

"You know," Jim responding, flashing a cocky smile at his friend, "battling Klingons, saving the universe, all the while maintaining my devilishly good looks."

He received a glare for his efforts. "How do you feel?" he asked as he scanned Jim's body with a tricorder. Jim didn't really see why it was necessary. After all, he hadn't participated in any form of violence and he knew that the only blood on him was green. There was no way Bones could mistake it for his. All in all, another pointless trip to the sickbay.

"I feel fantastic," Jim said, breaking into a wide yawn. "Although, I could do with a ten year nap."

"That's not a nap," Bones snapped incredulously, pushing Jim onto a nearby bed. "That's a coma."

Jim just shrugged and allowed Bones to poke him in a doctorly fashion, occasionally shooting disgruntled looks at him. "Then I want to take a ten year coma."

Bones didn't respond, at least not to him, but Jim could hear him grumbling under his breath. He was pretty sure that he heard something about 'reckless captains' and 'ridiculous ideas'. McCoy turned to look for something on his counter, presumably a hypo. Jim watched him warily, ready to dive out of the way if he needed to.

"How's Spock?" Jim finally asked, the real reason he had come here in the first place. He was dreading the answer, still remembering the condition that Spock had been in when they'd first found him. The fact that he'd seen his friend's injuries made him doubt the Organians claim that he wasn't truly that hurt. Jim begged to differ.

Bones looked over at Jim, his face suddenly lined with exhaustion. It reminded Jim that the doctor hadn't gotten any more sleep than he had and by now he was probably running on empty. But his face didn't carry the look of someone who was about to deliver bad news, so he decided to take that as a good sign.

"It's remarkable," he said, his tone suggesting that he didn't completely believe what he was about to tell Jim. "There was actually very little damage, despite the amount of blood loss. He has a pretty bad cut on his chest that came pretty close to some vital organs, but it was easy to fix. There'll be a pretty nasty scar though. Also, there is some nerve damage in his hands, but it's nothing that can't be fixed. And, there's a cut on his cheek, but it's not really worth mentioning other than it'll leave a scar too. I don't know what those Organians did, but it quite possibly saved his life."

Jim nodded, relieved to hear it. Maybe they hadn't lied after all. He had no idea how they had done it, but he suddenly regretted the harsh words he had exchanged with the Council of the Elders. "What about his vision?" he asked, dreading the answer. He knew that if Spock were blind, he wouldn't be able to serve in Starfleet anymore.

However, at his question, an honest-to-God smile lit up Bones's face. "It's only temporary," he explained. "From the readings, it looks like they drugged him with something that had an adverse reaction to his unique genetic makeup. Had he been anyone else, it probably would have just knocked him out for an extended period of time."

Jim looked slightly confused, but nodded anyway. As long as his first officer would be alright, he didn't care about the minor details. "How long is he going to be blind?" he asked.

Bones thought about it for a minute. "I'm not sure," he confessed. "I've never seen this kind of reaction to a drug before, but I can't imagine that it'll be more than a week. Which is just as well. Green blooded hobgoblin was already trying to sneak out and return to duty. Stubborn fool."

"As I have said, Doctor, I am perfectly fit to return to duty," a calm voice called out from the other room.

"Damn Vulcan hearing," Bones muttered. Jim smiled at the slow return to normalcy and, with a wave of dismissal from Bones, walked into the other room to see his friend.

"Hey Spock," Jim greeted, smiling at his friend. Spock turned his head towards the sound and Jim felt a pang at the reminder that he was blind. But it was only temporary, so it was okay. He was going to view this as a character building experience. He looked him over quickly, noting the bandages wrapped around his hands. He would have to ask Bones how long it would be until the nerve damage was healed. "How are you feeling?"

"While I have not yet regained my sight, I do feel capable of performing my duties and request to return to the bridge."

Jim smiled slightly and sat down in the chair next to the bed. "And what, Mr. Spock, do you plan on doing without your sight?" he asked, a gentle teasing tone in his voice. He wanted to point out that, until he was able to see again, there really wasn't much for him to do, but he also wanted to do so with tact. Teasing a man for undergoing an unpleasant ordeal wasn't generally considered appropriate.

Spock paused as he contemplated this point and seemed to conclude that it had logical merit. "Indeed, Captain. You might be correct."

"Can you tell me what happened at Organia, Spock?" Jim asked softly. He hadn't meant to ask, as he wanted to give his first officer time to rest and come to terms with it, but he had heard the Organians' side, and now he wanted to hear Spock's.

Spock hesitated, briefly before shaking his head slightly, as if trying to shake his memory from his mind. "I was deceived, Captain. The Organian, I am assuming, took your form and urged me to follow him. My memory contains blank intervals after this point." He paused again, this time trying to remember what had happened. "I was chained and then tortured."

"Did you feel it?" He knew he wasn't being sensitive, but he was genuinely confused at how drastic the difference between the perceived injury and actual injury actually was.

"I was unconscious during much of the event," Spock confessed, "however, when I awoke I found myself in severe pain that now seems unfounded." Silence fell between the two men, both of them trying to understand how this was possible. Spock continued after a moment, "I believe that my injuries, for the most part, were a mere illusion, a mental configuration from the Organians. I do believe they hoped to deter the Klingons from causing too much, if any, irreparable damage."

"Then the pain was an illusion as well?"

"I believe so, for the most part."

Jim nodded, realizing moments later that Spock couldn't see. The Organians' story so far matched up with what Spock had just told him. "I guess Ayelborne said as much," he told Spock, leaving the unsaid words between them: but I didn't believe him. Yeah, he probably owed all of the council members an apology. He quite possible had overreacted. But next time they shouldn't use a living, breathing person as a bargaining device.

"Well, this just goes to show that things are rarely as bad as they seem," Jim said, trying to look at the situation optimistically. He knew they were a fool's words, seeing as he had temporarily succumbed to pessimism when he'd first seen Spock, but there was no need for him to know that. He also knew that the pain had been very real for his first officer and that this entire event would probably lead to even more emotional instability. Jim almost groaned. It wasn't that he didn't want to support his friend, but he was running out of motivational, reassuring speeches.

"Perhaps," Spock muttered and then completely changed the topic. "I request to be released from the sickbay."

Jim laughed shortly before clamping his mouth shut. Oops. "Sorry, Spock. It's just, Bones is never going to let you go unless you have a reason so legitimate it has a birth certificate."

"I require solitude," Spock replied stiffly, ignoring his attempt at humor.

"Why?" Jim pressed. If he was going to put his neck on the line by asking Bones to release Spock, there was going to be a damn good reason.

"I cannot meditate here," the man said softly after a beat, sounding almost ashamed. Jim felt an unusual tug at his heart as he witnessed the more vulnerable side of Spock. He never would have thought that the words 'vulnerable' and 'Spock' could go together. Spock had gone through something fairly stressful, even if the extent of the physical damage had been far less than had been anticipated. It was probably a mental thing that he just needed to sort out on his own. However, convincing Bones that Spock was well enough to return to his own quarters would be fairly tricky.

A soft sound at the door caused Jim to look up. He saw Uhura hovering by the door uncertainly. She was looking at Spock with a sympathetic frown on her face. Apparently she was nervous, as she was wringing her hands together and her eyebrows were drawn together. It was obvious that she wanted to speak to Spock alone, and if Jim was right, the conversation would be awkward and difficult for both of them.

"I'll talk to Bones about it," Jim promised, standing up to leave, nodding to Uhura in acknowledgment.

"Bones," Jim called out, knocking on his office door before entering. He was sitting behind his desk, an alcoholic beverage in hand. Jim smiled at the comforting feeling that this sight presented and sat down across from him. "You should let Spock stay in his own quarters while he recovers."

Bones raised his eyebrow and shook his head in mock anger. "Who's the doctor here, me or you?"

Jim rolled his eyes. "Is there anything wrong with him, minus the blindness?"

"His hands are still healing -"

"They're wrapped and healing without any supervision from you," Jim pointed out.

"And the cut on his chest -"

"You've healed that already, although I've heard that 'there'll be a pretty nasty scar'." Jim was asking to get either sedated or beat up, he didn't know which. He could already tell that Bones's temper was about to snap.

"Blindness seems to be pretty serious on its own then," Bones snapped. "I can't run to Spock's quarters to attend to his every whim. And, whether he likes it or not, the damned hobgoblin is going to need some assistance."

Jim grinned and sat back in his chair, taking a deliberately calm demeanor. He knew it would piss Bones off even more than he already was. "I don't know if you've met Spock," Jim said flippantly, "but he's pretty self-sufficient."

"Not enough to function blindly," Bones grumbled back, but Jim could tell that he had finally broken through most of his arguments. "And I don't have time to check in on him."

Jim shrugged. "I'll do it then."

Bones raised his eyebrow again, clearly not a fan of the idea. "You are aware that, as captain of this ship, you have your own damn responsibilities, right?"

Jim shrugged again. "We aren't doing anything that requires my direct supervision for a while, just transporting cargo from one side of the galaxy to the other. I won't be needed on the bridge as much, and it'll give me an excuse to avoid doing paperwork."

Bones gave him a measuring look, still skeptical. Jim could understand why Bones would be slightly concerned about leaving Spock in his care. After all, he was barely capable of keeping himself alive and out of trouble. Plus, Bones had witnessed firsthand his inability to keep pets alive. He could imagine that all of this was going through his mind, so he decided to interject before his idea was rejected. "Come on, Bones, Spock isn't a goldfish. He has a lot greater chance of surviving in my care than the fish did."

If anything, Bones's expression became even more doubtful. Maybe he hadn't been thinking about that after all. Jim mentally cursed himself and was about to just give up when Bones nodded. "Alright," he said with a defeated tone. "He can continue the rest of his healing process in his own quarters. But," this was accompanied with a threatening, but very motherly, finger shake, "you will check up on him at least once an hour, and I will also check up on him twice a day. Understood?"

Jim nodded and stood up. He knew that Bones meant it too, and that if he didn't follow through on his end of the agreement, he would find his next physical to be increasingly invasive and thorough.

He left Bones's office and went back into the room where Spock was in, pausing at the door to make sure that he wasn't interrupting anything. He could hear Uhura's whispered tone, but nothing distinct. He figured that meant he could interrupt safely. Or maybe it meant the opposite...oh well. He'd find out momentarily.

With that he walked into the room, a massive shit-eating grin on his face. "Well, you're free to go," Jim said. Uhura shot him a slightly displeased look, but Spock seemed relieved. Well, at least his facial twitches seemed relieved. Jim wasn't entirely sure, but he was going to assume that was the case.

Spock sat up and Jim hesitated, wondering how much Spock really was capable of doing whilst blind. So he stood tensely, ready to leap forward to grab him if he fell over or to lead him away from anything he might run into. However, Spock seemed to manage fairly well on his own. Until Jim looked away for one second and he ran into the counter.

Jim and Uhura both rushed to his side but he warded them both off with slightly frantic arm gestures. His cheeks were both shaded with a splotchy green. Jim almost chuckled. He was blushing! Instead, he straightened his posture again and began to walk towards the door. Jim hovered beside him, determined to not let any more harm befall the half-Vulcan. He knew that Spock could sense his overbearing presence and that he was probably frustrated with him for it, but Jim figured that unless he would admit to being frustrated (a very human emotion), he would continue hovering.

"Bye Bones," Jim called out, as they made their way towards the door.

"Wait a minute," Bones said, coming out his office and turning to the half-Vulcan."I don't want you wandering around your own. I don't need you falling and hitting your head, or re-damaging your hands," The look of disapproval was still fixed on his face, but he also seemed to be resigned to the agreement he had made with Jim.

"Doctor, while you might be incapable of maintaining your balance, I assure you that I will have no trouble maintaining my own composure, even with my current disposition."

"Goddamn stubborn green blooded hobgoblin computerized robot bastard-"

Jim quickly grabbed Spock's arm and pulled him out of the Sickbay before Bones could change his mind, leaving both Uhura and Bones behind them. Once they were in the hallway, Jim let go of his arm and began walking towards the turbolift, keeping a watchful eye on Spock as he fell into step beside him. Jim was impressed. He hadn't thought that a person could manage so well without their eyesight. He figured it was probably because Spock had such good hearing, but he could have been making that up.

It was really interesting to Jim, because, if he hadn't known that Spock was blind, he never would have guessed it. He still carried himself with grace and poise, he still managed to condescend the hell out of the people around him just with his demeanor, and he had a fairly good sense of where things were.

CRASH.

Except people, apparently.

Jim almost sighed, surprised that he hadn't seen it coming. It was an ensign who had been reading a datapad and was walking too fast. He hadn't been looking where he was going, and Spock obviously couldn't be held accountable for not being able to dodge things he couldn't see. And now his first officer and the ensign were in a tangled mess on the ground.

"Sorry Captain, Commander," the young man said, standing up hastily. He kept on glancing at Spock out of the corner of this eye. Jim figured he was wondering why the usually efficient first officer hadn't found a way to avoid the collision. Especially because he hated being touched.

As far as Jim knew, details about what occurred on Organia were limited to a need to know basis and Spock's injuries were definitely not necessary information. There were only a few people who knew the extent of what Spock went through during his brief captivity.

"As you were, Ensign," Jim responded as captainly as he could manage, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. The young man hurried off, clearly embarrassed. Jim knelt down and grabbed Spock's upper arm, pulling the man carefully to his feet. Again, his cheeks were flushed with a greenish tinge and Jim felt a wave of sympathy wash through him. Spock pulled his arm away and resumed his walk to the turbolift, this time standing a bit closer to Jim, who had quickly followed. Jim could only assume that this meant that standing closer to Jim was preferable to falling again.

He decided to take it as a compliment.

"Okay, so the deal was, I get to be your personal maid until you get your vision back," Jim said, turning to Spock when they entered the turbolift.

Spock raised his eyebrow but nodded in acknowledgment. He clearly was displeased with this, but seemed to know better than to argue. "If you insist, Captain."

He wasn't sure why, but somewhere along the way, Spock had reverted back to calling him captain. 'Captain' didn't sound nearly as good coming from his mouth as 'Jim' did. He would have to remedy this. "It's Jim, Spock," he reminded him gently. "And it wasn't my idea, it was Bones's. It was the only way to get him to release you."

Spock nodded and took a hasty step out of the turbolift as the doors opened. For a moment, it looked like he was about to stumble, but he quickly regained his composure. He was probably doing it out of spite, Jim figured. No one could be that good at navigating right after losing their sight.

The two men fell into step with each other easily as they made their way to Spock's quarters. Jim decided that it was probably best to get Spock situated and then leave him to his own devices. He would check back in with him after a little while and bring him something to eat.

They passed Jim's room and came to a halt outside of Spock's room. Jim punched in the captain's override code and stepped aside to let him enter his own quarters.

"Is there anything you need right now?" Jim asked, watching as Spock carefully made his way around his room, his bandaged hands gently brushing against the furniture. He was probably trying to memorize the layout of his room so he wouldn't have to depend on anyone. Hopefully he wouldn't accidently do more damage to his hands, like Bones had suggested. Then again, Spock seemed to know what he was doing. Jim hadn't been lying when he had said that Spock was self-sufficient.

"There is nothing I require at the moment, Jim," Spock replied, turning towards where he thought Jim should be. A twinge of joy filled Jim at the sound of his name, but he ignored it.

"Alright, I'll leave you to it then," Jim said and turned to head towards his own quarters. Let the ten year coma commence.

A.N.
Haha, you guys have no faith in my ability to be nice to the characters. Haha, just kidding. I'm going to take this moment to point out that I have almost no knowledge of Star Trek TOS. I have only seen a couple of the episodes, so almost anything that happens is a pure coincidence (minus the Organian episode - I watched that). I have done research, but on characters and species, not events. I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone, I really am trying to watch them...there are just a lot. And I'm trying to remain as canon as possible. Thanks for the continued support and reviews guys. Like always, it means a lot to me.