Ch 28: Final Touches
Spock opened his eyes and found himself staring at the ceiling of sick bay. He felt a tightness around his right hand and looked at it, finding his hand intertwined with a still snoozing Kirk. Smiling, he sat up and brought the hand to his lips, kissing it ever so gently. So as not to wake Kirk up, he carefully lowered their hands, slowly released his grip on Kirk's hand, and slipped his hand free. He then slipped soundlessly off of the medical bed and looked at the occupied bed across the room. Memories of the damage he inflicted on the poor unsuspecting security officer filled his heart with guilt. He walked over to where Azrael lay and looked down at the sleeping lieutenant.
Sensing a presence near him, Azrael's eyes slowly opened, and then grew wide when he saw the Vulcan standing over him. On the monitor behind him, his vitals escalated. Spock quickly said, "It is alright Lieutenant; I have not come here to harm you. You have my word." Slowly the vitals lowered as Azrael tried to relax. "I have come here to apologize for my violent actions towards you. I assure you I was not in a sane frame of mind and was wholly unaware that I was harming you. That does not however excuse the fact that I brought you harm. You have my deepest apologies."
As he watched the Vulcan bow slightly toward him, Azrael's vitals returned to normal. He could tell that the Vulcan wasn't playing a trick on him, so he allowed himself to relax. "You don't have to apologize," he said. "It's my own fault for abusing my power and spying on other people. I should have known that sooner or later I'd piss someone off by being a no good busybody. My mom used to do that all the time and it drove everyone in the neighborhood nuts, so you'd think I would have picked up on that. You have my word that I'll never spy on anyone else ever again. Trust me, I've learned my lesson."
"I am relieved to hear that," Spock said formally. "If I may ask, what ever happened to Ensign Robert?"
Sadness filled Azrael's eyes. "He passed away. But you don't have to worry about Robert. What happened to him was 100 percent his fault. The dumbass picked some random fruit off a tree and ate it. Turned out the fruit was extremely poisonous. He was already feeling bad by the time you showed up, so don't think you killed him or anything like that. You're completely in the clear."
Spock nodded at the lieutenant. "I am sorry for what happened to him. Was he your friend?"
Azrael laughed and winced. His body still ached from the injuries he had sustained. "Yeah, I guess you can say that," he said. "We had known each other since the academy, although he was more of a groupie than a friend. He kept following me around, telling me how cool I was and how much he wanted to be like me." He chuckled, but softly so as not to feel as much pain. "He was an annoying little twerp, but I kinda thought of him as a little brother. It's a shame he had to go in such a way. He wanted to become something really great so his folks wouldn't think of him as a failure. I wonder how they'll feel when they find out how he died."
Spock laid a hand gently on the lieutenant's shoulder. "I'm certain that Captain Kirk will word his letter to Robert's family in such a way that he appears to have died admirably in the line of duty. I will make certain of it." Azrael gave the Vulcan a half smile and said, "Thanks."
Removing his hand, Spock moved to leave the sick bay when Azrael called after him. "Hey, Spock?" Spock's attention returned to Azrael. "About you and the captain…do you mind if I ask exactly what happened between you two? You know, what caused you two to fall for each other?"
Giving a small smile, Spock said, "When you have recovered, I may divulge the information to you. Assuming I can trust you not to let any unnecessary information leak to outside sources that is." Azrael gave a nod and a smile in return then lay back on the bed as Spock left the sick bay.
McCoy stood nervously outside of Chapel's door. He had no idea where her room was, so he had to look it up in the ship's directory. He raised a fist to knock on the door, but lowered it. Wringing his hands together, he paced back and forth in front of her door, gaining curious looks from passing crew members. A couple girls giggled as they recognized whose door it was that McCoy stood in front of. McCoy promptly shot them a glare and sent them running, still giggling as they made their getaway. Sighing in frustration, he raised a fist and knocked hard. Too hard. He winced at the unnecessary amount of force he had used, but knew it was far too late to take it back.
The friendly voice that called from behind the door made no indication that the knock had been overly forceful.
"Come in!"
Gulping, McCoy opened the door and walked in. There Chapel sat on her bed, smiling softly at him. The door closed behind him, reminding him that he could no longer just turn around and run. His heart raced in his chest, but he was unsure as to why. He was simply paying his nurse a visit; there was no reason for him to be so nervous!
Instead of addressing Chapel, he decided to look around the room and get a feel for the death trap he had voluntarily walked into. The room had a distinctly feminine touch to it. Her dresser had a lace cover on it where photographs of her family sat. A small, round crystal bowl with potpourri inside of it sat on her desk and filled the room with the smell of cinnamon and spice. She had draped fabric on the wall over her bed in such a way that it gave the effect of curtains over a window. For a moment, McCoy felt like he was back at home in Georgia, which helped relax him a bit.
"Do you like what I've done with my room Doctor McCoy?" she asked, drawing his attention back to her. Flustered, he responded, "Uh, yeah, it's uh, really nice. Really…you know…nice."
Chapel laughed lightly at McCoy, causing his face to turn a bright red. "You know, if the only reason you asked me to come here was to laugh at me, I can always go back to sick bay," he said angrily. She rose quickly from the bed and clasped his hands in hers. "Oh no, please, I didn't mean to make fun of you," she said, still laughing. "I wanted to talk to you."
McCoy stared down at the soft hands that held on to his and turned slightly redder. He was suddenly very aware of the fact that his hands were somewhat sweaty and felt embarrassed that such delicate hands were touching his at the moment. When he looked at her face though, she didn't seem to notice or care that his palms were slightly moist. She was far too interested in his baby blue eyes, which he averted nervously from her gaze. What was it about this woman that made feel so out of sorts?
He cleared his throat, praying to God that his voice wouldn't crack and make him sound like a prepubescent teenage boy. "So, I'm here. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" As if he couldn't tell by her behavior…
She smiled, revealing brilliant white teeth that reminded him of Kirk's smile. He felt something flutter uncomfortably in his stomach and tried to ignore it, but it persisted the longer he looked at her. When she spoke, her voice was like a song. "I wanted to talk to you about your feelings for Captain Kirk." McCoy began to protest, but she pressed a gentle finger against his lips, immediately silencing him. His heart thudded hard against his chest as he stared at her with wide eyes. "Don't talk right now, just listen, okay?" Still in shock, he simply nodded his response.
She removed her finger and took a deep breath. "I know you really care about Captain Kirk, and I know you really wish that you and he could be together like he and Spock are, but I really think you suit him best as a friend. When I look at you two together, I think of two brothers who love each other dearly, and I think that's cute."
Despite her request for him to listen and not to talk, McCoy interrupted. "If you're trying to comfort me about being rejected by Jim, you're wasting your time. I've already come to terms with their relationship and I'm attempting to move on. It's not something that can happen overnight, and I'll probably still have some lingering feelings for him, but you'll be happy to know that I've pledged my eternal friendship to the good captain. I've also promised not to get between him and Spock."
"That's wonderful!" Chapel said enthusiastically, catching McCoy off guard. She grasped his hands tightly in hers and stared at him with wide sparkling eyes. "I'm really glad to hear that Doctor. I hope this means I can go back to working side by side with you instead of working the graveyard shift." McCoy had to swallow hard to push his heart out of his throat and back into his chest. Stuttering, he said, "Y-yeah, sure. After all, you are learning how to be a doctor. Well uh, if that's all, then do you mind if I, uh, return to sick bay? I, um, I need to check up on Azrael again…"
Reluctantly, she let go of his hands, but continued to smile. "Of course. I didn't mean to pull you away from your duties…"
"You did no such thing," McCoy blurted out. They stared at each other for a moment, and then McCoy averted his gaze again and turned back toward the door. "I made sure Azrael was okay before I came to see you, so you don't have to worry about that."
Though he didn't see it, she nodded. She took a step forward and placed her hands on his back, laying the side of her face and her forearms against it as well. McCoy's mind raced as he felt her make such intimate contact with him. Her actions were not that of a concerned nurse, but those of a concerned lover. She grinned and laughed internally as she heard his heartbeat race.
"It's good to know I didn't distract you from your work Doctor McCoy," she said. "It wouldn't be a good example of how a doctor should behave on the job, which is crucial since I'm supposed to be learning from you."
McCoy tried to say something in response, but he seemed to have suddenly lost the ability to speak. Something about the nurse being so close to him and speaking in that beautiful voice of hers threw things off in his brain and left him unable to function properly. After several attempts, he managed to spit out, "Right, yes, well, I should get going now." He said this in hopes that she would kindly remove herself from his back since he didn't have the ability to verbalize that desire. Luckily, she took the hint and slowly pulled herself off of McCoy's back, but not before lingering there a little longer.
"I understand Doctor," she said, disappointment clear in her voice. "Will I see you at the party in the recreation room?" He turned his head and nodded silently. He then walked toward the door; he was almost free when he heard her say, "Oh, and Doctor? Perhaps you should have your heart rate checked when you get back to sick bay. It's rather high."
Not wanting to show her that he was blushing profusely, he remained facing the door and said, "Yeah, I'll make sure I do that." He quickly exited the room and stomped down the hall, thinking to himself, And while I'm at it, I'll have my head examined. I must be going crazy if I'm falling for someone like her!"
It was 19:03 Starfleet Regulation Time when Kirk, Spock, and Spock Prime went to the transporter room together. Scotty was already at his station, waiting for the others to arrive. Prime stopped just short of the platform and faced the young captain and his first officer.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for the festivities?" Kirk asked Prime. "We wouldn't have been able to get Spock back without your help. This celebration is as much in honor of you as for Spock." Prime politely shook his head and smiled. "The time for me to enjoy such frivolous activities has long past. I leave that up to my younger self now. Besides, I must return to the Vulcan colony. I am sure they are wondering what is taking my test flight of Ambassador Sarek's new ship so long. No doubt they believe I am going on a bit of a galactic joy ride with it."
Kirk and Prime chuckled while Spock simply gave a smirk. Prime took a moment to look at the two young men and relish the sight of them looking so happy and so natural next to each other. "I am pleased that I was able to be of assistance to the two of you, though it puzzles me how fate continues to bring us back together. Perhaps the true reason I was brought to this timeline was to act as a sort of guiding force for the two of you."
"We may never know for certain," Spock interjected. "But I will say I am most thankful for your presence, regardless of the circumstances that brought you here."
Prime decided against expressing his feelings on the matter. He knew that had he made it to Romulus on time, this alternate universe would never have existed. Time would have flowed as it was meant to for these two young men and the hardships they faced would never have existed. But at the same time, their bond would never have been formed as early in their lives as it had. It took years of working together with the Captain Kirk of his timeline before they realized their feelings for each other, and in the end, they were still kept apart. Prime wasn't able to be with Kirk when he died, something Spock never forgave himself for. But now that the course of history had been changed, perhaps these versions of himself and Jim could live their lives differently, maybe start a family and live a long happy life together in peace.
The old Vulcan stepped onto the platform and stood on a teleporter pad. He stared at the two young men one last time and gave them a smile. Raising his right hand and giving them the traditional Vulcan farewell hand sign, he said, "May you both live long and prosper together." Spock returned the hand sign and nodded. Kirk fumbled with his hand for a moment before successfully returning the hand sign as well. With a final chuckle, he nodded at Scotty, who beamed him back aboard his own ship.
The two men stared at the empty transporter pad for a moment, the events of the last few days spinning wildly through their head. Kirk clapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. "Well, now that Prime is back on his way to the Vulcan colony and Spock is back to himself again, let's go see what Sulu and Chekhov put together in the recreation room, huh?" He slapped Spock on the back a little too enthusiastically. The Vulcan winced in pain and shot an angry look at Kirk. Kirk withdrew his hand and said meekly, "Er, sorry Spock."
"It is fortunate that Vulcans have an especially long lifespan," Spock said, straightening out his shirt. "It may take me many years to get used to you."
From across the room, Scotty laughed heartily and walked over to the two. "Oh come now Mister Spock, don't give the Captain too much trouble! He did just risk his life ta bring ye back to yer senses."
"Yeah," Kirk said, smirking. "Don't you think I deserve a little respect? I called Prime here to help, I jumped into your mind, and I helped get your multiple personalities to merge with you! So come on, don't get all bent outta shape just from a slap on the back!"
Spock sighed in defeat. "Alright," he said. "I suppose I can let your over enthusiasm slide for tonight. But only for tonight."
Scotty smiled and clapped his hands over both Kirk and Spock's shoulders. "There, tha's tha kind o' love ah like ta see! Now get yer butts in gear men, it's time fer us ta go an' party!" Kirk and Spock watched as Scotty left the room. They grinned at each other, and then left the room, Kirk's arm around Spock's shoulders and Spock's arm around Kirk's waist.