You guys have made me so happy with all the positive reviews and favourites/follows! Ahhh, you make me smile. Thank you so much for all the support thus far.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

The room is dark when Uhura finally slips through the door. "Doctor McCoy," she whispers into the shadows. "Are you awake?"

"Unfortunately," Bones grumps from the couch.

"Sorry, did I wake you-"

"No, no, you didn't. Lights, twenty percent." The lights overhead flicker on to reveal Bones still dressed in Spock's uniform. "Can't sleep. Blasted uniform is too tight. I suppose you don't know where Spock keeps his sleepwear?" He scratches his head and yawns, which makes Uhura smile because for a moment, Spock just seems so – human. Bones freezes suddenly. "Is that an awkward question to ask a woman?"

Uhura laughs as she deposits her communicator by the bedside table and takes off her boots. "Ordinarily, yes, Doctor McCoy. But this is not an ordinary situation." She takes off her earrings before continuing. "I'm afraid Spock doesn't have any sleepwear."

"What, at all? Does he not have any spares?"

Uhura only grins as she heads into the bathroom, and Bones groans when he understands what she means. "Damn it, I really did not need that visual, Uhura." He makes a mental note to set the sanitizing cycle to full volume for his room if this mess ever got sorted out. "I guess I'll be sleeping in the uniform."

"Vulcans don't really need to sleep," Uhura says from the bathroom, her voice echoing and hollow. "You will be fine for a couple of days, given that you take naps here and there."

"If your boyfriend doesn't get my blood pressure too high and kills me," Bones mutters.

"What was that?" Uhura asks, poking her head out from the bathroom.

"Nothing!"

She fixes him with a suspicious stare before withdrawing. "So I heard you two had a little brawl with the Captain this afternoon," she calls.

"Jim's being a baby. It was a scratch."

Uhura walks out of the bathroom dressed in an oversized T-shirt and sweats. "A scratch that required several nurses fussing over him and bags of ice?"

"The ice – possibly necessary. The nurses? All a contrivance of Jim's doing." Bones sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Okay, yes, Spock and I had a go at each other and Jim got in the way."

"Spock attacked you?"

"More like I attacked him," Bones admits.

Silence from Uhura. Bones wonders if he should apologize, but before he can open his mouth to say anything, Uhura simply says, "Good."

"Good?" Bones wonders how many times he's been repeating things the last few days.

Uhura snorts, sitting down on the bed and drawing her legs close to her. "Do you know how many times I've wanted to punch him?"

"You're – you're in a relationship with him!"

"Doesn't mean I don't want to smack him over the head sometimes." Uhura wraps her arms around her legs. "Jim and I talk about it, sometimes. Spock can be a little…aggravating."

"A little!" Bones huffs. "He's been insulting my intelligence all day. That patronizing tone of his – God, I want to punch him every time he says something."

Uhura smiles. "Has he brought out the 'I presume that that hypothesis you just made was your form of humour' line yet?"

"That's an actual line from his mouth? And he said that to you?" Bones barks a laugh. "You're one of the smartest women I know!"

"Well, you know Spock," Uhura says with an air of resignation. "He thinks everyone isn't good enough for him."

Bones shakes his head sympathetically. "I'm so sorry for you."

"You should be," Uhura deadpans before breaking out into laughter.

When their chuckles subside, Uhura tucks her hair behind her ear. "He's not all that bad, you know," she says quietly.

"Yeah?" Bones sits up to look at her.

"Yeah." Uhura stretches out her long legs on the bed. "Everyone thinks he isn't human, and he wants everyone to think that, but-" She hesitates. "He's more human than he cares to admit."

Bones thinks back to the rare times where he saw Spock really lose it. The first time was when Spock almost punched Jim's brains out over the Enterprise console. Then there was the time Spock's mother died in front of him. He'd seen a crack through the veneer then, even if he hadn't thought about it at the time. And then there was Khan, and then there was Jim's almost death. Bones thinks back to a year ago, when Spock sat by Jim's bed for almost a week and refused to leave even when Bones tried to throw him out. "I guess you're right," he says reluctantly.

Leaning forward, Uhura laces her fingers together and steeples them under her chin. "Don't give him too hard a time," she says gently. "Being human is difficult for him, you know. Logic is easier to follow. There's no guilt involved there."

"Yeah, but does he have to be such an ass about it now?"

Uhura clicks her tongue in agreement. "No one knows, Doctor. I guess you and I will just have to find out for ourselves."

"Why do you love him?" Bones asks bluntly.

"Why do I love him?" Uhura taps her finger against her lips. "Well. I guess he is an enigma."

This earns her an eye roll from Bones.

"Well," Uhura says, cutting to the chase, "I guess I knew the day we got onboard the Enterprise. When everything started happening so quickly, I knew, you know? I just knew when his mother died in front of him. I knew it right then and there that I would never ever want to see him die." She smiles sadly. "Not that way emotionally, at least. That's why it hurt so much when Jim died back in that chamber. I lost a close friend, but I also felt like I lost Spock a little bit that day."

Bones sits up to watch her. "You know so much about him," he says, an idea beginning to take root in his mind.

She quirks a smile. "I watch, Doctor."

Bones nods thoughtfully. "Sorry that you're stuck with a cantankerous Southerner."

"Actually, Doctor, your presence has been very comforting." Uhura smiles at him. "I thank you."

Bones groans. "You even sound like him."

She shrugs. "All I am saying is, go easy on him. He's still embracing his human side."

Bones huffs. "Fine. You know, if anyone else asked me to do it…"

"You would deck them?"

"Like cards," Bones confirms.

"Except maybe not Chekov," Uhura says.

"Maybe not the kid," Bones agrees.

They sit in silence for a while before Bones clears his throat. "You want me to get him to be more human?"

"That's an uphill task, Doctor, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy." Uhura smiles. "All I'm asking…"

"-is for me to go easy, I know, I know." Bones rubs the bridge of his nose. "I'll do my best as long as he doesn't try to kill me."

"Where are you going?" Uhura asks when she sees Bones get up and start moving towards the door.

"I have a lot to think about," Bones says, "and it's late. You should get some sleep, Uhura. I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

"Good night," she says, and the door is beginning to slide shut when she calls, "Try not to punch him too hard tonight."

"No promises," Bones gripes as the door shuts with an audible click. Uhura only laughs.

I'm still doing cartwheels in my mind.

Much love,
ohlookrandom