Thank you so much for all of your reviews! You guys rock! On a serious note though, it's just plain fun to mess around with Romulan and Vulcan characters!
Rated M. I own nothing. Please Enjoy.
Super special thanks to Lov2catnap for beta-ing.!
OoOoOo
Spock stood stoically outside the medical bay as he waited with boundless patience for James to come through the doors. He had agreed to allow her access to the Engineering bay provided that her work was conducted during certain hours and that he escorted her to the destination. Spock had seen the security footage of her wandering the decks aimlessly and felt it was in her best interest if he guided her to her destination. The first two days had passed without incident and the Vulcan male had allowed himself some time to speak with James on varying subjects that normally revolved around the warp core or Vulcan behaviors. Therefore he had been slightly surprised and a bit disquieted when the human medical officer had dared to join them.
Spock had noted that the male had an unusually protective manner toward the Chief Engineer. That fact should have meant nothing to Spock, but it had caused a ripple of tension between himself and the terran male. It had been an immediate but unvoiced dislike as they stared each other down over James' head when she failed to be watching. A baser level of Spock had felt as if the medical officer were encroaching on his territory. It was an absurd thought that Spock squashed quickly under the neutral mask he always wore with distinction.
"Really Bones, you don't have to come. I'll be fine." Spock's dark eyes watched James as she turned to converse with the smaller male. "You know you are going to be bored to tears while I'm working." Spock found the imagery of the vulgar human being reduced to tears as slightly amusing.
The medical officer looked undeterred. "You said yesterday that you would be 'fine' and you came back with second degree burns." He growled out at James.
"But still fine." The engineer insisted coyly.
"I had to regenerate the skin on half of your left hand." The doctor pointed out dryly.
"Yes, and it is excellent work. Really it is." She lifted said hand and waggled her fingers to show off the no longer distinguishable patch of new skin.
Spock noticed the glare that was lofted in his direction from the medical officer. "I'm still coming Jim." The man ground out.
Spock decided that a compromise could be achieved. "If , you are so concerned for the welfare of your crewmember, perhaps T'Starla would be able to watch Chief Engineer Kirk during her allotted time in the Engineering bay."
"That's a great Idea!" James stated excitedly, and turned to Bones with pleading eyes. Spock fought the twitch of mild irritation at her seeking permission from the terran male. Spock had not been made aware of any claims on the female, and yet his dark eyes scanned the pair with burning questions in his forethoughts.
"No." The man snapped angrily. "She has absolutely no previous knowledge, or medical training, for humans." Bones turned a glare at Spock who remained impassive in the face of his anger. "I would sooner trust Jim to a veterinarian."
"That would be a rather unwise medical decision," Spock stated neutrally his face revealing nothing. "I wish to inquire where you obtained your medical license."
Spock found the multiple shades of red the terran male turned quite fascinating. "That's not what I meant! I would never…Jim is…Her safety means everything to me." He stated at last, with firm conviction.
Spock was not pleased with that answer.
"Indeed? That is why you suggest leaving her in the care of a medical specialist, designated for animals, instead of an experienced and licensed Vulcan Chief Medical officer?" His brow rose slowly in an insulting manner.
The terran medical officer looked ready to strike him. Spock would have been greatly amused had he tried. "Shut up you bloody-literal pointy-eared bastard!"
"My parents were married at the time of my birth." The Vulcan stated stoically, and he was unmoved by the terran's outburst. It had been just as he had calculated it to be.
"McCoy!" Barked James in disapproval. "That is enough! We are their guests, and you will treat them with the respect."
The terran male looked startled for a moment, and Spock felt spreading warmth in his chest over the female's defense of his person.
"I'm not apologizing," Stated the male stubbornly.
Spock watched as a small smirk graced James' lips, as she smothered a laugh. "I didn't say you had to apologize."
The male gave James a curt nod. "Good, because I'm not going to."
"I have an inquiry." The Vulcan turned to look at the human male.
"What?" The man hissed at him lowly.
The Vulcan remained apathetic. "Is it true that humans are descended from large primate that lacks a tail referred to as apes?"
"What? Um…yes. That is true." The man called 'Bones' looked perplexed by the shift in topic, for he paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "Why?"
Spock decided that verbal banter was much like the earthen game of chess. The Vulcan knew when it was necessary to make more aggressive moves. "I have noticed an amazing correlation between your mannerisms and that of your ancestors." Spock believed such a move could be termed 'checkmate'.
"You-."
"Bones." The warning was present instantly, and the man floundered under the weight of those blue eyes that held no traces of their previous humor.
They continued down the hall in silence, and Spock noted the male seemed sufficiently cowed by the reprimand. Spock did not attempt to hide his straightened spine, or the tale-tell signs of gloating that appeared within his eyes. There was something oddly satisfactory about such an experience.
When they arrived at the engineering bay Spock granted them access.
James gave him with a sheepish look. "You have my gratitude and I apologize for the behavior of my companion." She shot a look at the doctor who huffed under his breath.
"Apologies are illogical." Spock responded stonily. It made James smile brightly.
"Yeah…well, alright then. We will see you here in eight hours." She gave him a small wave, to which he inclined his head, and stepped beyond the door as she made her way to the warp core consoles.
Spock and the terran male stared at each other for a long moment with their mutual dislike evident.
"Hobgoblin," hissed the terran male as he turned to walk away.
"Ape," responded Spock before closing the door in the surprised male's face.
Vulcans, as an unspoken, but heavily implied rule, expended a great amount of effort over the mastery of their emotions. Spock had always been qualified as having been at a disadvantage, for he was not wholly Vulcan in his genetic make-up. He was in fact equal parts Vulcan and human. His father before him had taken fancy to a terran woman, and took her later, after a lengthy courtship, as a bond-mate. Though he was, in a sense, grateful for his father's choice in bride, Spock had considered himself completely Vulcan in many aspects, including the attraction he felt for Vulcan females. He had been mildly surprised that when he had set eyes on the lone female warding off the sexual advances of a Romulan Sub-commander, he had been drawn to the less defined features of her species.
It had been perplexing, but nothing that his formidable Vulcan side of logical and rationale could not quell. Whatever the rebel part of him was that sought to feel anything more than placid apathy toward the female, kept resurfacing. It was a strange sensation to say the least. It had been almost like a prompting on a screen that kept reappearing every time she was near him. He had been given cause to feel many other things toward her besides some inexplicable pull. He had been angered with her tampering of potentially fatal materials in the Engineering bay. He had been protective of James when she had willingly instigated an altercation between his vessel and the Warbird. Spock had felt amusement, curiosity, and a handful of other emotions that he could not have placed.
After the first countable 48 hours with the terran female James aboard his ship, Spock had been disturbed to find he was far more distracted in his meditations than he could ever recall having been before. Originally he had sought to purge his newly discovered emotions through rigorous meditation, and an avoidance of the cause of his silent inner struggle. However, he had been unable, or unwilling; for he believed that both could be considered applicable, to stay away from James longer than he had. It had been an irrational decision to see after her physical welfare because he duties and repairs to oversee. And yet, he had come almost as if his body was separated from his mind to the medical bay.
What he had viewed had shifted some long buried and darker part of his species. He had not taken lightly how closely the Second Engineer Ra'Vesti had been to the terran female. Whatever the unusual, and decidedly unpleasant sensation was, had welled inside his chest with enough force to create tension along his spine. Spock had understood quite logically that he was angered by Ra'Vesti's immediate proximity. What Spock had found trouble comprehending was why such a trivial and meaningless thing had bothered him so readily. He had contemplated possible reasons well past the time of meditation and rest the following night.
It had also not escaped his notice, that his subordinates gave the female a wide berth. Spock had rationally equated this to her rather mercurial nature. However, they seemed to regard James with the same fascination that he felt when he watched her flit about the Engineering bay. She was everywhere at once, and he stood observing her from afar through the various security cameras. Purely out of scientific interest, as was only logical.
It was also highly odd that he had chosen to pursue his privileges as captain by monitoring her frequently. Even more curiously; it had been out of knowledge of her illogical nature that caused his vigilant observation. He was simply…watching her. Spock studied her every move as she flittered around the engineering bay, akin to some form of exotic bird. His Vulcan logic had concluded that she was…fascinating.
The darker and more instinctual part of him understood the answer the intellectual part of him could not grasp. He had therefore considered the possibility that it was the beginning of Pon Farr. But Spock had consulted T'Starla he was informed that he was still a year or so away from the Vulcan ailment. The Captain of the T'Maiti had been both relieved and confused further at the proclamation. It was an undeniable fact that something about the blonde human called to a much more primitive part of himself; for the higher functioning that the Vulcan male possessed was intrigued by her arrogance and vulnerability in equal measures.
His ears flushed a slight dark green, at the memory of her cooler hand as it embraced his own. Spock had been able to inspect the memory in vivid detail through his meditations. And when he analyzed it dispassionately, it had been a rather comfortable experience, which required no further thought. Yet, when he looked at it in its fullness, with his human side, he was struck by a light sensation that left him feeling more than optimal in spirits.
It had been both illogical and asinine; but strangely…pleasant… in its own way.
Still the inkling lingered that she had kissed him rather enthusiastically. Upon their initial meeting, Spock concluded, she had been both irritated and in possession of several reasons to be distrustful of alien races. However, she had kissed him without any traces of disgust or condemnation anywhere in her thoughts or feelings. He reflected that James was unusual, and willful, but her kiss had felt nothing like the few timid intimacies between T'Pring and he. The stoic Vulcan male felt a peculiar sort of emotional twist at the thought of T'Pring who waited for him faithfully, on the Vulcan home world, while he pondered why the kiss from another made his blood tingle from the sensation.
Whatever the force drawing him to the woman James was, Spock felt, it was comprised of heat, power, and possessiveness. With T'Pring, he had always noted the comfortable silence and familiarity of a like mind. They could have been considered opposite points on a line graph, with his mental control acting the part of the constant in the equation.
Spock shook himself from his thoughts and turned away from the closed doors of the Engineering bay with thoughts swirling in their endless pools of contemplation.
OoOoOo
Jim was not an overly patient person. And she had several files back at the Federation, and the Starfleet academy. to verify that glaring fact. However, she was a person who was easily entertained.
With the exception of the Medical bay from hell, she was very easy to please. Honestly. So therefore, Bones really should not have acted so surprised that Jim gasped just about every six minutes, just to watch him snap to attention with wide eyes ready for any possible injury.
There were some things simply too irresistible to pass up. She was a firm believer that tormenting Bones was one such temptation. She was highly amused that it took him nearly two hours to catch on to her little ploy. The last time, he had nearly tripped over himself to grab her arms and inspect her for injury.
"There had better be something cut off the next time you gasp like that." Her long time crewmate growled warningly and Jim laughed at him.
"Are you actually wishing me bodily harm? What happened to your Hippocratic oath?" She teased merrily; enjoying the flush of indignation that spread over Bones' cheeks.
He narrowed his eyes at her cheekiness. "It must have slipped my mind when we were being blown out of space by your Romulan boyfriend."
Jim cocked her head to the side and grinned at him. "I don't have a boyfriend."
The southern gentleman flushed even more. "Ah...I...I'm sorry to hear that."
"Are you?" She gazed up at him from beneath her eye lashes.
"Uh…" He floundered. Jim laughed at him sweetly, and Bones glared down at her.
"Don't you have work to do?" He bit out angrily.
"But Bones." She purred, leaning into his grasp. "You are so much more….exhilarating than work." Her voice dripped with its sexual purr.
Jim truly enjoyed ruffling the feathers of one Dr. McCoy, as he blinked in stunned silence. Jim noticed that a few of the Vulcans had stopped to glance inquisitively at their closeness, and she extracted herself from Bones' grip.
She looked at Bones, who was still silent, and grinned at him. "Alright, I'll get back to work," she stated jokingly, and her attention shifted to the rate of flow from the fusion coils.
Her previous modifications appeared to be holding steadily, and she had been able to attempt a few more. Jim was still highly uncomfortable with using the Vulcan technology of the console, because she had no idea what the hell they said! And Uhura refused to come with her, so she was stuck with Bones.
Not that she minded Bones, but someone who could read and translate Vulcan, that wasn't still upset over the 'incident', would have been a godsend. Or she could take Captain Scott up on his helpful advice, and down a fifth of bourbon and wait fifteen minutes. Which, scarily enough, she had seen work for him in the past. However, as she had already lamented, Vulcans didn't have any freaking alcohol!
Sober bastards…
Also, she had a bone to pick with whoever had designed Vulcan uniforms. She, and her crew members, had been given spare sets of garments to replace the ones which had been destroyed; thanks to one obsessive Romulan. Jim hated them instantly. They were heavy, and they itched almost as much as if they had been made of wool. And that Wool had come from really overgrown sheep which felt as soft as pine needles. It wasn't just the fabric that irritated her, but also that it did not fit as well as her federation uniform had. This made sense because she wasn't from this species, and clearly their females had differently shaped hips than her own.
"So…how did you get the name 'James' anyway? I never asked." Jim looked up quickly to see Bones leaning back against the bay wall with his eyes half lidded as he watched her think.
"Talking to me again already Bones?," She grinned flirtatiously. "My, my, if you keep this up I'll start to think you like me." She leered at him gently, and noticed that he stiffened for a moment.
"Knock it off and answer the damn question."
She scoffed at his language. "And here I thought all southern men were gentlemen."
Bones took a deep breath, and held it for a moment before he expelled it. He tried again in a tone that suggested repressed anger. "Would you please tell me how you got the name 'James'?"
"Of course Bones!," She called out cheerily, and clearly amused. "It would appear that even our advanced technology can make mistakes on the gender of a fetus." She gestured to her body still encased in scratchy Vulcan clothing. "Simply put, my parents thought I was a boy, and picked out a name ahead of time."
Bones furrowed his brow in confusion. "But when you were born-"
"I was born on an away mission, to a medical doctor of a different species." She informed him patiently. "The fact of the matter is the delivery doctor was not fluent in standard, and was known to often mix up male, and female connotations. He called out 'boy'; which was close to his native term 'bolishq' meaning female. I was swaddled when I was handed to my mother, and my name was logged as 'James Tiberius Kirk' in the Federation system as a male human."
"So you are still registered as a male?" He asked in disbelief.
"Oh no," She amended quickly. "I was re-registered as a female when my mother figured out that I was girl with the first diaper change." Jim laughed softly. "To hear her tell it, it was quite a surprise."
Bones smiled at her warmly. "Why wasn't your name ever changed?"
Jim blinked at him. "Well, by that time I already had a name, and my father had been notified. To be honest, I'm not sure why they never changed it. I like my name just fine." She shrugged haphazardly.
"Only you Jim." Bones chuckled.
"I know. I make things fun!" She declared jokingly, and they lapsed into silence once more. Her thoughts drifted back to her task at hand.
And had she mentioned that it was blazingly hot on this infernal ship? She chased away her erratic observations, and focused on the problem at hand. The fact of the matter was that she needed to get this warp core up to her operating goal of 215% operating capacity. Which, was all well and good in theory, but Jim had run across one large error in her previous thinking. She still did not know the best way to implement her idea of a shared power grid. Especially, when her comment on Vulcan intelligence had spread like wildfire and now she was dealing with rather prissy Vulcans. Well, as prissy as they seemed to be while ignoring her nearly completely. She might not have thought her words through carefully enough.
'Perhaps if I adjust the deuterium injector…' Her thoughts drifted to how exactly she might be able to use plasma with dilithium crystals. 'If I had a system where I could optimize the energy output from the crystallized dilithium and the deuterium.' The years she had spent studying warp cores in the Starfleet academy had only ever prepared her for maintenance of warp cores, and never for actually constructing, or modifying one to the extent that she had promised to attempt.
Her fingers drummed lightly on the tool kit she kept attached to her waist at all times. She gazed at the core with deep awe and a rising need to best the 'beast', so to speak. She had dodged the oddly insistent questions of the second engineer. 'Rashish, or raja….something like that'. Who she had been forced to ask pointedly to allow her room to work. She found it odd that Vulcans took challenges so seriously. However, she could not say she was surprised. They were a strange race. Even humans had a certain level of 'Um', but Vulcans were nearly in a class unto themselves.
Her fingers had loosened on her calibration tool, and if fell to the floor with a 'clank', before rolling into the nearby open panel that covered the Bussard collectors. She muttered a curse under her breath and looked imploringly at Bones, who studiously ignored her. Sometimes she worried about the fickleness of men. Her blue eyes cast downward and she walked toward the open Bussard collector but had been unable to see her tool from her position. Jim knelt on the ground and reached her hand around gingerly inside the open conduit for her favorite tool.
"Captain Spock to Engineering." Jim tensed slightly at the Vulcan's name, before she continued to fish for her tool, jumping slightly when she scraped the back of her hand on a protruding corner.
"Engineering Captain," an unknown voice replied and Jim felt her fingertips brush the tip of her sought prize but she was too high up. Jim crawled as close as possible, but she was forced to strain.
She could hear the activity of the Vulcans continue on around her. "Where is Chief Engineer Kirk?"
Jim groaned at her luck.
She waved while still on kneeling, with one arm all the way in the Bussard conduit and her other moving wildly. "Here I am." She called out, and she could hear Bones smother a laugh. 'Damn you Bones,' she thought savagely. 'You had better not be looking at my ass,' she added as an afterthought.
"Chief Engineer Kirk we are currently being hailed and I wish for you to be linked in the transmission."
Her dour mood lifted instantly. 'Finally another Federation ship has arrived!' She thought happily. Exuberantly she tried harder to grasp the elusive tool.
"Oh yeah, that's fine." Her hair fell over her shoulder and she knew she was so close to getting the damn thing.
There was a lengthy pause. "Perhaps you would prefer to come to the bridge."
She waved her free hand dismissively. "No, just go ahead and patch it through."
"Are you certain?" She could practically feel the eyebrow as it rose.
"Yes, I'm certain." Exasperation dwelt in her tone, for she honestly didn't care what Federation ship had responded to their call. She just wanted her tool and to get to the Enterprise where she could tinker with a warp core to her heart's content.
"Greetings Ji-" She stiffened at the all too familiar voice.
She closed her eyes as mortification crept up her cheeks like a wildfire. She feverishly believed that perhaps if she held still he would go away.
"Whatever are you doing down there Jim?"
No such luck. And the screen had to be behind her too God-dammit.
She opened her eyes and stared straightforward at the dull grey sheen of the metal that comprised the ship, while she was more than certain that Maelrok was getting a fantastic view of her derriere.
"Your boyfriend's on screen." Came an acerbic statement behind her.
"Thank you Bones, I got that," she hissed peevishly. She looked over her shoulder to see the leering face of a Romulan coupled with the impassive face of Spock.
'Fan-fucking-tastic,' she thought bitterly. Jim smiled brightly trying to hide her obvious discomfort. "Maelrok? What's it been? A whole week?"
The Romulan chuckled lightly at her thinly veiled sarcasm. "Did you miss me Jim?"
"Like an abscessed tooth," she shot back. He smile turned into a sneer.
"You wound me." The Romulan placed a hand over his heart.
Jim snorted at him. "I wish."
"Sub-commander Maelrok wishes to change the parameters of his previous terms." The bland monotone of a Vulcan had Jim craning her neck to see further over her shoulder.
"Really?" Jim's eyebrows shot to her hairline of their own volition at the information.
"Indeed." Maelrok responded. And Jim found that she did not like that word coming from his lips. To her that word was completely Spock.
Jim moved to stand. She dusted off her knees and looked up. "Ok. This I've got to hear." Her tone was baleful.
"I propose that you be surrendered to me, and I shall grant the Vulcan Ship T'Maiti limited special access into Romulan space."
"You're going to give them a hall pass in exchange for me?" She stared incredulously at the Romulan. "I have to say Maelrok I'm kind of insulted." She placed a hand on one hip. "You couldn't think of anything else to sweeten the pot?"
"Why would I wish to add sweetener to a pot?" The Romulan Sub-commander asked in confusion.
Jim rolled her eyes. "It's a human mating ritual."
"Truly?" The Romulan arched a brow in surprise, as he shifted forward in his seat.
"No." Jim shook her head in frustration. She had had just about enough of beings that didn't understand sarcasm when they heard it. "Are Romulans and Vulcans somehow related?" She quipped before she could stop herself.
She knew it was the wrong thing to ask when they both stiffened. She'd take that as a 'yes'.
Maelrok brushed over her question easily. "The Vulcan Captain has refused. "
"So why are we talking then?" Jim half-snarled in agitation.
"I love it when you are feisty Jim." The Romulan grinned, and Jim was about two seconds from giving him a very human rude gesture. "However, to answer your question; we are talking because even though the Vulcan refused. I knew that you would be more logical-" Jim noticed Spock's jaw twitch at the insult,"-and listen to reason. I don't want to have to kill everyone to get you Jim, but I will."
She cursed her libido as his words caused a pool of heat between her thighs. She wasn't a monster. She did not enjoy this, but sometimes words were fucking hot. And words that came from attractive men, that could snap her like a twig, tended to also be a turn on.
What? Everyone had a type!
Hers normally wasn't this psychotic.
"Oh darling with seductive comments like that, it's a wonder I can keep myself away from you," she deadpanned.
"If it is your wish to-"
"Sarcasm!" She barked at the Vulcan before her fury at the Romulan returned swiftly.
The Romulan eyed her speculatively. "Pity," he commented.
"Intelligence," she retorted smarmily.
"I had already informed the Sub-commander that you would not be willing to go with him, but he was certain hat you would find this proposition agreeable." The bored tone of Spock brought Jim back to a proper train of thought; One that involved only a naked Vulcan, and not a naked Romulan. Now she could focus!
She smiled at Spock to show her appreciation for his correct assumption. "Hm. let me think about that." She tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment. "NO," she stated articulately.
She watched the Romulan's face darken at her refusal.
Jim pressed her luck, "Oh wait, I forgot you had trouble with the standard word for 'no.' Let me state it another way-" she took a single step forward. "-'no' means a negative used to express dissent, denial, or refusal; as in response to a question or request."
"I am aware of the definition of the word 'no," The Sub-commander growled at her, nearly furious at her mocking.
"Really?" She tilted her head to the side. "You could've fooled me."
"Our business has been concluded. You have been enlightened as to the human's wishes," said Spock, interrupting any retort that might have occurred.
The Romulan looked at Jim for a hard moment. "This is not over Jim."
"I'm sorry, I don't understand Romulan." Jim replied.
"I wasn't speaking in-" Maelrok's puzzled face was cut off and Spock's filled the screen.
"It would seem the communication device has suffered a malfunction." The bored Vulcan stated tonelessly.
"You hung up on him didn't you?" She laughed heartily at the Vulcan's actions.
"Spock Out," The Vulcan stated, and Jim couldn't help but notice that he had ignored her question.
She turned to Bones with a wide grin. "Ok, now I really like Captain Spock."