"Damn all these Vulcans and their crazy physiology" Dr. McCoy muttered as he pulled a gloved hand from the chest cavity he was working in and gestured to his assistant for a surgical laser. The young nurse held out the tool, which he snatched from her. She busied herself with arranging the surgical supplies on the tray and studiously ignoring the doctor's comments. He had been going on like this for almost an hour.

As he finished the repair and sealed the chest up, he gave the patient over to the nurse's care and peeled of his bloody green gloves, and tossed then away disgustedly. It was still unnerving to see blood that was another colour other than red. Not to mention all the different sights and smells that came with a body that wasn't human. A few races had insides and bodily fluids that were downright putrid. In medical school when they had xenobiological surgery, it was common for many students to "fill their mask"- the term used for becoming sick in surgery. In school he had been a lot better than most, and once he graduated, most aliens' insides hadn't bothered him at all. But for some reason today, the smell of the Vulcan's insides was almost unbearable. And it wasn't only the smell that bothered him; it was the fact that he had spent half the day trying to save the lives of god-dammed Vulcans. And to make matters worse, it was hard to even tell exactly where they were hurt because they didn't have the decency to even complain of pain or moan like a normal being.

"It's those damn Vulcan's self-righteous, to good-for-everybody-else mentality that's there own downfall.—" He stopped as he became aware of a woman standing next to him. He glared down at her irritably; it was…, what was her name. T'Pas …T'Las… T'Kas, there he finally found it. The woman was staring at him with that impassive gaze that made Vulcans so annoying, and McCoy realized that he had been speaking aloud. Great, with just his luck, she'd get off this god forsaken planet and report him to Starfleet for xenophobia. For a moment he thought back to his conversation with Jim earlier on that subject, had he been serious?, he sure as hell had looked serious when he said it.

The woman spoke surprising him with her words."It is quite difficult to treat a patient when they don't provide any non-verbal or verbal cues as to the nature of their distress"

McCoy was startled, first because she had apparently heard a lot more than he thought she had. Second because she was agreeing with him, even if she was talking in that annoyingly logical voice her entire race had.

"Hmm, so you're saying that all this logicalness is pretty stupid if you die of a ruptured Vessel, because you're to perfect to moan in pain"

"I didn't say that" the woman replied. McCoy could have almost sworn that he saw the ghost of an amused smile on her face. As he looked down at her he realized she was quite pretty, She had a heart shaped faced. Her thick black hair was done in a plain style that McCoy found quite attractive. Her eyes were coal-black and almond shaped. She was very pretty. For a Vulcan. He amended his mind, shutting down his line of thinking as he came to his senses and realized who he was thinking about. The next moment any charitable thoughts he had towards her disappeared as she spoke again.

"I was merely stating that cues to problems are helpful with diagnosis"

He snorted irritably. was she mocking him ? That was what he got, as soon as he thought he had found a Vulcan that didn't have their head stuck up their rear, he was proven wrong. Well, what did he expect; he knew they were a bunch of two-faced bastards.

He walked away from her, without another comment, muttering darkly under his breath and went off to find another patient. The next patient was a young man with an open fracture; Despite his Vulcan reserve you could tell he was in pain. McCoy pulled on a pair of gloves and examined the leg. it would have to be reset before the tissue and bone could be healed. Even with pain medication it would be quite painful.

Was he a bad doctor if some part of him would enjoy it?

XXXX XXXX

Spock walked down the corridor back to the hangar deck that housed the colony ships; he had just finished downloading information from the main computer banks. He turned a corner his mind preoccupied with the entire task he had to complete and walked right into someone. He looked down and saw the top of a head, black hair neatly crowning it

"Pardon" he began stepping aside to allow the person to pass.

"Spock?" A female voice issued forth as the person tilted her head up. It was T'Kas he had walked into. She had a medical bag slung over one shoulder, her eyes were looking at him intently, and her delicate features were solemn.

She spoke again "I was down in the Hangar Decks treating one of the workers for a burn" she glanced around at the moment the corridor was deserted. "I have something to talk to you about" she paused biting her lip in a very un-Vulcan display of worry.

Inwardly he felt apprehension at her reaction; this was yet another display of emotion by yet another person in the colony. It was like most of the Vulcans here had the emotional control of a small Vulcan child or they were all playing at a bad imitation of Vulcan control. Even allowing for the philosophy of the T'karis colony's original founders, the lack of control exhibited by their ancestors was disturbing.

A technician came down the corridor carrying an armful of data tablets, and wires. The man glanced at them for a long moment before continuing on his way.

T'Kas waited until the man had disappeared down the corridor, out of earshot before continuing then said in a low voice "Can we go somewhere , a little more private." T'Kas glanced behind herself furtively checking for people even though the corridor was empty.

Spock nodded his assent at her request and followed her as she started to move. She led him down the corridor and opened a small door. He followed her in and the door clicked shut behind him. He heard T'Kas move then a light blinked on. Spock looked around the room they were in. It was very small, there was hardly room for both him and T'Kas as it was they stood barely half an arms-length apart. The walls of the room were covered with shelves, wires and ship circuits were neatly stacked, bulging against the webbing that held them in place against the shudders that threatened to send them hurtling to the ground.

Spock stared at T'Kas. She was beautiful. Her entire appearance appealed to him. He was disturbed to feel his body reacting in such a way to her close proximity that he usually only experienced with Uhura. He tried to push down the feelings that were rising in his mind and was only partially successful. Since he had left Vulcan at an early age, he had very little contact with females of his own race that were of a similar age. He found himself thinking of how a Vulcan female differed from a human female. T'Kas was very aesthetically pleasing in a way that few humans were. Except, Uhura, he amended.

"Spock, my—"the rest of T'kas's words were broken off as the lights dimmed and the ground heaved.

T'Kas fell forward landing against Spock, and he reflexively wrapped an arm around the young woman to hold her upright as the ground shook again threatening to throw them both off their feet. The wires and ship's components that lined the shelves strained against the protective webbing. The shaking gradually ceased and the lights grew slowly back to their former intensity. Spock looked down at T'Kas again, she was still up against his chest, through the thin cloth separating their bodies he could feel the heat from her body. He had forgotten how pleasantly warm other Vulcans were with their higher core temperature, than the cool skin of humans. T'Kas stared up at him; he could feel her warm breath on his face. She looked a moment longer than turned away as his gaze burned into her eyes.

She began pulling herself away "I should—"she began. The door opened, startling them both; there was a sharp intake of air. Both Vulcans turned towards the door.

Uhura stood framed in the doorway; her eyes took in the scene. Spock was keenly aware of how he and T'Kas must look. T'Kas pulled away from him straightening her tunic, and said "I'll talk to you later" to Spock. She then turned, and walked past Uhura out the door, Uhura coldly watched her leave, and then turned back to Spock fury clearly evident in her eyes.

Spock spoke "Nyota, T'Kas and I were merely having—"

Uhura cut his words off "Were merely having what? I walk into here to get some supplies and I find her in your arms and you say you were merely having something?"

"Nyota, you're not thinking logically, I—"

"How do you expect me to be logical, when I find you with her in this tiny supply closet?"

"If you keep cutting me off, how can I explain—"

"Spock I don't care what you want to explain. There's no way you can explain this ! I've seen the way you looked at her when we arrived, and now I find her with you in here. I—" she broke off tears suddenly sprang to her eyes and it was like her anger disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Spock began moving towards her. He was exceedingly alarmed by the sudden change in emotions.

"Nothing, I just—I just need some time by myself okay?" She said swiping tears away with her hands even though as she cleared those more appeared to replace them almost immediately.

"Nyota" Spock said again unsure what to do

"I just need- some time alone okay -I'm going to evacuate- with the other shuttle- I just need to think." Every few words was interspersed with a sob. As finished talking she began crying uncontrollably, tears streaking down her face. She turned and fled.

Spock stared after her, very little of what had just happened made sense to him.

A/N: I was planning on making the next update sooner, but I realized I worked that day. So the next update for this story will be January 21st. I totally definitely appreciate reviews. And not to increase my review count. I honestly just want feedback. So if you're following, favoriting or just reading please drop a review, or a PM. I really don't mind the criticism or praise and I don't bite;)