"Greetings, Ambassador." Spock linked his hands behind his back.
"Ah, Commander. May I presume that your captain is doing well?" Spock Prime inquired.
"Captain Kirk is recovering, though it appears he is having issues with short term memory. Dr. McCoy is optimistic that it is only temporary." The Commander informed his elder.
"That is good. I must thank you for keeping me in the loop, Spock."
"It seemed the logical thing."
"I am glad you believe so."
"But that is not my main purpose for calling you, Ambassador." The Commander stated.
"And that would be?" Spock Prime raised a brow.
"When I asked for your help to defeat Khan, you informed me it would cost a dear price."
"Yes."
"But you were talking about yourself, not the Captain."
"I was. I surrendered my life for the same reasons your Jim did. That is all I can tell you, Spock."
"I understand, Ambassador. I thank you for your time." Spock gave him the Ta'al.
"Of course, Commander." Spock Prime raised his own, "Take care of him."
[|]
Doctor Leonard McCoy paced in his temporary office. A week, an entire week, and Jim had no remembrance of any of the days before the present one after the Khan incident. It was as though when he went to sleep, his mind wiped the day clean from itself and forced him to relive his last moments on the Enterprise. The only anomaly was when the Captain saw the conversation reversed, with Spock behind the glass instead of himself. It could be nothing more than shock, which was the optimistic option. But being a doctor, particularly the CMO of the Enterprise, brought the other option about to the front of his mind with clear realism. It was possible that Jim had neurological damage. Permanent, irreversible neurological damage. Though, it was too soon to know for sure, especially since none of the scans had seen anything.
Bones sighed. At this point it'd be pointless to tell Jim but he should probably inform Spock of his hypothesis. The hobgoblin was not going to be happy. The doctor snorted, when was he ever? Bones pinched the bridge of his nose. No, he'd keep it from Spock until he had further evidence. Not when he was positive the half-Vulcan had gotten very little sleep in the past month between attending to Star Fleet, the Enterprise and her crew and keeping a vigil over Kirk. Dr. McCoy wandered to the doorway of Jim's room, navigating through graveyard shift nurses and fellow doctors.
Both occupants were deeply asleep. Jim's far hand twitched now and then but he had an otherwise peaceful sleep, which was a nice break from the past week of him tossing and turning and nearly breaking his own nose on the arm rails that bracketed the Captain. Spock's face was cradled in one of his arms, not visible. His other hand, it appeared, had slipped from the back of his head and onto the bed. Barely noticeable, the tips of the half-Vulcan's fore and middle fingers seemed to be brushing the same fingers on Jim's hand.
The doctor turned to head back to his office. He had considered waking Spock and sending him to sleep in the half-Vulcan's own quarters but something told him Spock would never get back to sleep. So he left them. The First Officer would awaken if the Captain had any issues and would likely call him in. For now though, Bones was going to go pass out on his desk.
[|]
"Ow! Dammit! Bones, if you shoot me with another hypo, I swear to G-d I'm going to kill you!" Jim snarled at the doctor who was frowning at his MedPADD.
"Oh stop being such a baby!" Bones rolled his eyes.
"That's the fifth one in the last twenty minutes!" Kirk crossed his arms, glaring menacingly.
"Ever think there's a reason for that, Jim?" Dr. McCoy cocked an eyebrow at his patient.
"I'm fine."
"Really? That why you can't remember the past week?"
"Shut up, Bones." Jim murmured as he hugged his legs, looking out the window, eyes dark. Bones sighed, muttering a curse. He hadn't meant to make the Captain upset but he knew he had a point.
"Doctor?" Spock's voice drew Dr. McCoy's attention. The half-Vulcan was carrying a relatively big box.
"Yes, Spock?" Bones inquired.
"Would the Captain be up to a game of chess?" Spock asked.
"I'm always up for some chess!" The Captain beamed at Spock. The heart monitor's frequency went up a bit.
Bones sighed, "Yes, Spock but it appears I'll have to monitor the game."
"I don't need a babysitter." Jim pouted.
"Maybe not, but you do need a doctor." Dr. McCoy said sternly. The Science Officer gave a single nod, moving to the seat nearest the biobed. Jim moved the hovertray over to where the game would be set up and clipped it onto the bedrail. Together, the Captain and First Officer set up the board and its pieces.
"Which side do you wish to play, Captain?" Spock asked politely.
Kirk grinned, "Which do I always pick, Mr. Spock?"
"A logical decision, and it is your turn." The half-Vulcan nodded.
Jim turned his sitting position so that he could properly see the board, as well as swiveling the hovertray toward him to decide which piece he'd move. Kirk moved a pawn from one of the attack boards onto his main board. He inclined his head to his challenger. Spock nodded and moved his knight from the right – Spock's right, not Jim's – attack board and placed it on the proper spot on his main board.
Bones watched both his MedPADD and the game without really watching. He heard the monitors attached to Jim beeping and the click of chess pieces moving to and fro by who must have been expert players at the game in the Prime Universe. He paid attention when Jim's heart rate went up, but it was only a little and for obvious, cunning and mischievous reasons rather than medical emergency ones.
Jim laughed, the noise causing Dr. McCoy to come back to reality. Spock frowned at the illogical reaction from his friend. He'd been beaten and yet, he was smiling and expressing amusement. That was rather… odd. Even for the Jim Kirk he knew.
Kirk's blue eyes gleamed like the sea under a summer sun, "That was a good game, Spock. Thanks."
"I do not understand why you're thanking me, Captain. You lost."
"Yeah, but I almost won. If you hadn't played that move just now, in three rounds I would have check mated your king."
"I do not see how. Do explain." Spock's brows furrowed slightly.
"Here." Jim moved Spock's piece back to its previous spot and went about simulating the way he'd imagined the next three rounds would have gone to achieve victory, "See?"
"Your chess playing is as illogical as your command, Captain. I find it rather perplexing."
"My point precisely, Mr. Spock." Kirk laughed.
Author's Note: Okay, so I didn't put one of these on the first chapter because, quite honestly, it slipped my mind but I remembered this time. :) Anyways, this is my first ever Star Trek fanfic and I am seriously surprised at how little I've thus far had to edit. Which is absolutely wonderful, let me tell you. Now, those following the fic will probably wonder what the heck took me so long to write this chpt if I didn't need to edit much. The answer is Tri-Dimensional Chess. I have honestly /never/ played it and it took me forever to find any sort of partial rules for it and even then, it wasn't much. Therefore, I had to watch lots and lots of TOS, which I was doing anyways to get Bones and Spock Prime sorted out a bit better.
Wow, that is a blob of text... If you read it, I thank you, if not, hey, I'm not judging. Anyways, please review, I love hearing your thoughts! If you've got any questions, feel free to ask! And if you want me to make the chess game more in depth, let me know and I'll see about getting to it. Thanks for reading ~Nobu~