Captain Kirk ran over to Spock's lifeless body and knelt down besides him. He turned Spock over on his back and sighed.
"Oh, Spock," Captain Kirk gasped.
Spock didn't answer.
Dr. McCoy and Scotty ran over towards the two of them. Captain Kirk looked up at both of them, sadness and dreariness in his eyes.
"He's dead," Captain Kirk answered.
Dr. McCoy hung his head and clutched Julia to his body. Scotty grew silent and hung his head, as well. Captain Kirk looked back at Spock, again, and noticed his chest was beginning to rise and fall.
"Bones," Captain Kirk exclaimed.
Dr. McCoy looked and gaped at Spock. He handed Julia, asleep now, carefully over to Scotty and knelt down to examine Spock for himself. Dr. McCoy grabbed out his medical tricorder and began scanning Spock's body.
"His body functions are returning to normal…it's unbelievable." Dr. McCoy gasped.
"Spock, Spock…come back to us, Spock." Captain Kirk begged.
"Heart rate returning to normal, breathing consistent, blood circulating properly, brain waves are increasing." Dr. McCoy spoke, reading off his tricorder.
Spock fluttered his eyes open and then slowly looked around with his eyes. Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, and Scotty fell silent; was Spock back to normal? Was he still under after effects from the evil spirit being in him? None of them had enough courage to speak and ask. Dr. McCoy rose and took Julia back in his arms.
Captain Kirk gulped and finally found enough strength to speak.
"Spock…is it you, Spock?" Captain Kirk questioned.
Spock didn't answer; he slowly turned his head to look at Dr. McCoy and Scotty. Both men gaped at him, waiting for him to speak. He returned his face to look at Captain Kirk.
"Spock…answer me…please, Spock." Captain Kirk begged.
"Yah don't think the evil spirit erased all his Vulcan genetics, do yah, Dr. McCoy?" Scotty questioned.
"My tricorder did not say of any readings, Scotty; he should be his normal self." Dr. McCoy answered, beginning to worry.
Spock raised his eyebrow and began to sit up, with assistance from Captain Kirk. Spock looked around, checking his surroundings, analyzing every bit of information to figure out where he was.
"Spock…can you hear me?" Captain Kirk begged.
Spock snapped his head towards Captain Kirk and raised his eyebrow.
"I assure you, Captain, that I can hear everything you are saying quite fine and proper." Spock replied.
"Oh, thank yah, God," Scotty sighed, with relief.
"You gave us all quite a scare for a minute there, Spock." Dr. McCoy answered, with a smile.
Spock, again, raised his eyebrow and turned back to Captain Kirk.
Days went by, and it was Christmas Day. Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Scotty were all in the briefing room celebrating the holiday with eggnog, exchanging gifts, and socializing with one another. Scotty was opening his present from Captain Kirk. He took out a book from the box and beamed.
"Ah, Captain, just what I was hoping for. A new engineering journal to read about!" Scotty cheered.
Captain Kirk smiled.
"Glad you like it, Scotty." Captain Kirk answered.
Dr. McCoy smiled and looked back down at Julia, who was asleep in his arms.
"Dr. McCoy, yah not gonna open any of yah presents there, lad?" Scotty questioned.
Dr. McCoy looked up and smiled then back down at Julia.
"I already got my Christmas present, this year." He answered, smiling.
Julia grunted a little then fell back to sleep.
Spock nodded, acknowledging that factor.
"Alright, Spock; open your present up." Captain Kirk answered.
Spock opened his present and saw it was an abacus.
"Fascinating…Captain, where did you find such an artifact?" Spock questioned.
"Oh, I did a little shopping, back on Ernas V." Captain Kirk answered.
"An instrument invented back in ancient China and became the first calculator known to earth history; fascinating!" Spock gasped, amazed with the artifact.
"Glad you find it good use, Spock." Captain Kirk chuckled.
"You got him something to do math with, Jim; of course he likes it!" Dr. McCoy chuckled.
"Mr. Spock, Captain, McCoy, and I were awfully stuck on what to do, when yah were under the control of that evil spirit. Do yah know of any such banishing ritual or spell that we could've said to send the spirit away?" Scotty questioned.
Spock looked at Scotty briefly before answering.
"The banishing ritual of which you refer to, Mr. Scott, is quite a meticulous one. It requires specific objects and words for which even I can not remember to what they are. As for a spell, no such thing exists. Spells are used for witchcraft, which is an illogical form of thinking and acting, since it therefore does not exist." Spock answered.
Scotty smiled.
"Good to have yah back, Mr. Spock." Scotty spoke, with a smile.
Spock tilted his head and nodded, acknowledging Scotty's response.