A/N: The following things and people heavily influenced this chapter: annime 1231's deviantart gallery; the LJ community entitled startrek_diary; Voyager; the TOS episode Spectre of the Gun; Liam Ironarm, Dragon of the Shang, and Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan; Arrested Development; the BtVS episode Go Fish; the scene with the apple in the Twilight movie (hehe); Vulcan hand porn; and my girlfriend.
x
Enterprise High
being a high school AU of ST: XI
with many hijinks
and much angst
x
Chapter Eighteen: The Apple
x
Still worked up over Bones, Chapel had sex with Gaila. It was great, but they were both keenly aware that it was pity sex, so afterwards they had a cleansing talk about men.
"He probably liked both of you, and he just chose Jim because they have a history," Gaila said, attempting to restrain her extremely tangled hair with a scrunchie. "I mean, he's being nice about everything, right? He hasn't ignored you at all?"
Chapel buried her face in a pillow for a moment, the clean lines of her shoulder blades obviously clenched. A muffled "no" came from the pillow's depths.
"What is it?" said Gaila, stroking those shoulder blades.
"Well…" Chapel sat up, draping the sheet around her body and leaning towards Gaila. "Actually, I've been ignoring him. He keeps trying to talk to me, but I never talk back. I just go all awkward."
"What? Why?" Gaila demanded. "You should talk to him. You have to be friends with him to like him; it means you're interested in his personality, not just his looks. Unrequited crushes are fine, you know; you don't have to worry about getting too attached or something. Just—get to know him again, and maybe when he and Jim break up you can swoop in for the kill. Only, you know, wait a while. Don't be a rebound or anything."
"Obviously," said Chapel. "But I'm worried I'll go off the deep end, like Nyota."
"Don't even get me started on that girl," growled Gaila, visibly tensing. "Her attitude is completely unhealthy. She won't go out with us anymore. And Spock doesn't have any friends, so it's just the two of them, fucking constantly—I don't mean that literally."
"She talks to me a lot," said Chapel, trying to stick up for Uhura. "On IM and in class. But yeah, we never do anything together."
"High school relationships," shrugged Gaila. "She'll get over him eventually."
"I think so. I know what it's like to be obsessed with Spock. It's very easy. There's something quite intoxicating about him—like you," Chapel added to Gaila, fluttering her eyelashes playfully.
Gaila's hand disappeared under the sheets and Chapel shuddered at her light touch. "Thanks for the compliment," purred Gaila, removing her hand.
Chapel's eyelids flickered. "Wha?"
"You were talking about Spock," Gaila reminded her, then distracted Chapel again by licking her fingers.
"We could continue the conversation later," Chapel suggested, watching the tip of Gaila's middle finger disappear into her mouth.
"Sounds good to me," said Gaila eagerly. "I'll grab the strap-on."
x
Spock got to school early the Monday after the second race. He had swim team practice at seven. He saw Bones's truck parked behind the football stadium—the homecoming game was that Friday and the coach was taking every available moment to drill his players. Spock walked into the natatorium and headed straight for the steamy changing rooms. He was a good swimmer, but not the best; he was better at fencing, karate, and Suus mahna—the combat arts—than he was at swimming, but he enjoyed the sport because it was calming. His demeanor and appearance tended to alarm the other competitors, which gave Enterprise High's best swimmers a slightly unfair advantage.
Uhura, who was at tennis practice, had mentioned regretting not being able to see him in his swimsuit, which was very, very small. He wasn't particularly embarrassed about it, but he found he had a difficult time making people take him seriously in a Speedo, was frustrating.
So when he walked out of the locker room and into the pool area, his goggles on his forehead (he'd left his glasses in the locker room), a towel draped over his arm, wearing nothing but his swimsuit and a pair of flip-flops and encountered a blurry James Kirk, also Speedo-clad, he paused.
Kirk, who was doing a leg stretch, grinned sideways at him. "You're on the swim team too, then?" he said, giving Spock a blatant once-over.
Spock pulled himself together and stuck his nose in the air. "Obviously," he said, attempting to brush past Kirk. But Kirk had other ideas. He leapt up, his lithe body unfolding as he leaned forward to grasp Spock's arm.
"Can I help you?" said Spock coolly, wishing he had his glasses so that he could see Kirk's expression.
"Let's see who's faster," said Kirk mischievously. "Bet I can beat you in any style you choose."
"Breaststroke," said Spock quickly. He would be best at the most difficult stroke, thought Kirk.
"Yeah, I could beat you at that," said Kirk cockily, even though he wasn't sure he could. "One hundred meters?"
Spock was better at sprints, but he wasn't about to be the one to change the rules of the engagement. He nodded shortly and pulled on his goggles, which were prescription, so his eyesight returned, and he resisted the temptation to use his newfound sense of sight to visually explore Kirk's very bare body. They lined up at the pool's edge, counted down together, and took off.
To Spock's surprise, he won. He bobbed at the edge of the pool, watching as Kirk pushed through the last few meters and surfaced, looking tired.
"You're good," panted Kirk. "You never looked to see how I was doing."
Spock was confused. "Checking on the status of one's opponent is detrimental to one's own concentration."
Kirk rolled his eyes. "No, it's human to want to see where the competition is."
"Might I remind you, James, that I am not purely human. How long have you been swimming for?"
Kirk shrugged. "A year. I could have beaten you in butterfly."
Spock was impressed despite himself. He had been swimming for four years. "I doubt you could have. You claimed to be able to beat me in breaststroke, yet you could not."
Kirk looked frustrated. Spock found this disturbingly adorable.
"That's not the point," said Kirk, frowning.
"Then what is the point, James?"
"I—well," Kirk hesitated, flustered. "That's beyond the point."
"Ah," said Spock wisely, pulling his goggles off so that he could raise his eyebrow properly. "I see. I'll be going now." He hauled himself out of the pool and walked off, back straight. He successfully refrained from looking back at Kirk, but it was a near thing.
Kirk, though, stared after Spock, and it wasn't lovingly. Something about that boy just really pissed him off.
x
In the football locker room after practice, a shirtless and sweaty Bones poked at his tender ankle. The paramedics had dealt with his fracture after the baby had been born, but the ankle still hurt a bit when he exercised on it, which was quite bad, considering the homecoming game was Friday.
He told the coach, who sent him to the school's physical therapist, who x-rayed it and advised two weeks of crutches and ice packs.
Bones gaped at him.
"Is there another option?" he said.
"Yes," said the PT. "Ruining it."
Bones was deeply skeptical of this diagnosis. He flipped through his anatomy book and decided something could be done. He called his own doctor and made an appointment for after school. His coach nearly had an aneurism when she heard that her star quarterback was badly injured, but Bones calmed the woman down. He tried not to think about what not playing the game would mean for the team. He was the end goal of most of their plays. He scored a vast majority of the touchdowns. He was the beating heart of the body that was the team, and one of his valves had evidently given out on him.
Eleen owes me big time, Bones thought as he accepted crutches from the PT. He would use them for the rest of the day, just in case.
x
The rumor spread like wildfire around the school—McCoy's on crutches. Valor High is gonna beat the shit out of us on homecoming weekend. And most of their players are Klingons! Bones's perpetual scowl didn't help matters; everybody assumed he was unhappy about the game instead of just being himself.
His classmates also noticed the way his eyes lit up when he saw Kirk dashing towards him before first period, concern evident on his handsome face. Making room for Bones's crutches, Kirk kissed Bones thoroughly before asking what had happened. Bones reminded him of twisting his ankle at the racetrack, which Kirk had honestly forgotten about. Kirk immediately demanded that he carry Bones's books, which Bones found heart-meltingly romantic, and escorted him to English.
x
It happened during fourth period. Kirk and Bones were walking (and limping) to lunch, discussing Spock, whom Kirk had been ranting about since that morning.
"You're really this pissed just because he beat you in swimmin'?" said Bones, looking amused. "I didn't know you were so competitive."
Kirk hiked a false smile on his face. "I didn't know he was so much fun to compete against."
Bones rolled his eyes at Kirk's comment and then stopped suddenly, his head tilted.
"What's that noise?" He frowned.
Kirk stopped too, still grinning. "What noise?"
Bones looked further down the hall to investigate and stalked off in the direction of the faint banging. "Nevermind—you can't hear anything over the sound of your goddamn ego, anyway."
Kirk burst into a real smile and sprinted after Bones, who hadn't gone far. "Left," he murmured in Bones's ear, directing him into a smaller hallway lined with lockers. They worked their way down the corridor, listening intently for the occasional rattles. Finally they stopped before one. Kirk yanked the locker open and Chekov, bright red and clutching his physics textbooks to his chest, tumbled out mid-knock.
"Jim!" he exclaimed. "Leo! I was—I was—"
"Pavel, how many times have you been stuffed in a locker this year?" asked Kirk, leaning against the bank of lockers and looking faintly amused.
Chekov brushed his curly hair out of his face and sniffed, not meeting their eyes. "Only a few times."
"Who's been doin' it?" Bones growled, somehow extra intimidating on crutches.
"Nobody," Chekov tried to say, but Bones raised his eyebrows alarmingly at him and hobbled forward, cornering Chekov against the open locker door.
"Who," repeated Bones in a much more imperative tone of voice, leaning close in to the younger boy, "has been doin' this?"
"Some seniors," Chekov managed.
"Whose names are?"
"I do not know, Leo."
"Like hell you don't."
Chekov shivered for a moment, then seemed to give up. "Raj Rapali," he said finally. "Raj and his friends Wyatt, Wergil, Morgan, and Holliday."
"That stuck-up guy in our calculus class?" said Kirk incredulously to Bones, referring to Raj. "I could take him blindfolded."
"His friends are a different matter," said Bones. "They're tough cookies, Holliday especially. He's in my physiology class and to be honest, he scares the hell outta me." Bones patted Chekov's shoulder sympathetically. "No wonder you didn't say anythin', kid," he said. "Holliday's kinda scary, isn't he?"
"Da," Chekov muttered.
"Isn't Raj one of the homecoming court?" Kirk asked.
"Yup," said Bones. "It's not always the nice guys. He looks good enough that everybody's fine with nominatin' him, but they also know his true colors. He wouldn't mess with me on purpose. Guess he doesn't know I'm friends with Pavel."
Pavel looked up at Bones. "Friends?" he said in a small voice, sounding surprised.
Bones gave a raucous laugh. "Of course, kid," he said. "We haven't known you for long, but you don't think Hikaru's the only one who cares, do you?" Bones grinned evilly at Kirk. "Wanna go kick some ass?"
"I'll deal with it," said Kirk sternly. "You need to stay off that ankle. Pavel? Let's go have some lunch and pick up the posse so that we can deal with your little problem, alright?"
"Alright," squeaked Chekov, trying to rearrange the books he was still clutching messily and managing to drop all of them. Kirk grinned at him and picked them up. Chekov blushed. Bones, who was not at all intimidated by Chekov's little crush on Kirk, smiled indulgently.
"Even just watchin' should be fun," said Bones.
"Oh, I think it will be," said Kirk.
Chekov was worried.
x
Kirk, Bones, and Chekov were five minutes late to lunch, but Scotty had saved them their usual spot at the senior table, which was the longest table in the cafeteria and placed right up against the railing of the open area, so that all eyes were generally on it. Chekov had been sitting there with Sulu all year, but he was still nervous about the hundreds of worried eyes trained on him as he approached it; since he was with Bones, the attention he received was quadrupled.
"Damn people don't know how to relax," Bones growled, swinging himself onto his seat next to Riley and shoving his crutches under the table. "I'll be fine."
"You will? Are you sure?" Kevin Riley demanded. His on-again, off-again British boyfriend, John Kyle, rolled his eyes.
"It's just a game, Kevin," Kyle said.
"It's the homecoming game!" Riley cried. "We have to win!"
Kyle took an insolent bite of his ice cream. "You'd do better to spend your time with real football," he advised Bones. "None of those free throws and third downs. Just red cards, offside, and a few extra meters."
"I do like soccer better," Bones admitted. "But I'm damn good at football. The Friday night lights shine in my blood."
"Typical Southerner," said Kirk, who had just gotten onto the soccer team with Bones and Kyle and was rearing for the season to start. "None of your priorities are right. Football first, then soccer?"
"Sports," announced Sulu, glaring at everybody, "bore me. Can we move on?"
"You don't even care about the homecoming game?" cried Riley, sounding personally insulted.
"I do care about the homecoming game," said Sulu appeasingly. "It's the only game I go to. Plus, I have to go this year, since I somehow got elected to the court."
"Fopularify's a bish," said Bones around a large bite of cheeseburger.
Kirk had the gall to look nauseated. "Chew and swallow, man," he said.
Bones stuck his tongue out at him. The sight was disgusting.
"He's just trying to get back at you," said Gaila to Kirk. "Scotty's been a bad influence on your eating-slash-talking habits."
"Ah 'ave nae!" protested Scotty, spraying Gaila with bits of sandwich. She gave him a slow look that would have killed a lesser man and brushed crumbs off the front of her shirt dangerously.
"'orry," Scotty muttered, shrinking back down in his chair and clutching his BLT protectively.
"So, who are each of you going to homecoming with?" Kirk asked perkily, attempting to change the subject.
"Scotty, for reasons unknown," said Gaila, glaring sideways at him. Scotty continued to look meek.
"This berk," said Kyle, nodding to Riley, who just scowled.
"Ruth," said Janice Rand, smiling.
"I asked Joe," said Tony Giotto, blushing slightly. Everybody grinned widely at him; Giotto had been enamored of Joe Tormolen for quite a while and hadn't acted upon his attraction until now.
"Good for you," said Chapel sweetly. Kirk looked at her expectantly.
"Haven't been asked," she said as carelessly as possible.
Bones frowned. "Damn shame," he said, and winked at her. Chapel grinned despite herself.
"I am going with Sylwia Beecher," said Chekov happily, much to the surprise of everybody at the table. Sulu stared at him.
"That—freshman?" said Kirk, thinking that calling her "that fucking gorgeous freshman" like he wanted to would offend Bones.
"The girl similar in appearance to the risin' sun?" said Bones. (Screw you, thought Kirk.) "She's a stunner. I thought—" Bones paused, appearing to figure something out. "I thought Sylvia was goin' with Raj Rapali."
Chekov nodded dreamily. "She was," he said. "She said she'd rather go with me. We haf differential equations together and she said she liked the way I harmonize my functions in Laplace equations."
Sulu was still attempting to force his face into a pleased expression, but he managed to say, "When did she ask you?"
"This morning," said Chekov. He looked elated for a moment, then suddenly sad. "It is why Raj stuffed me in that locker."
Kirk and Bones hadn't really had a chance to tell anybody about the locker incident. They'd been planning on breaking it to Sulu quietly somewhere where he could destroy things without anybody else noticing. Everybody watched out of the corner of their eye as Sulu broke the plastic fork he was holding.
"What happened?" Sulu demanded in a high voice, ignoring the crushed cutlery and focusing entirely on Chekov.
"Raj and his friends, they told me that I was not allowed to go with Sylwia to homecoming, and that I should back off, but I refused, so they pushed me into a locker and left me there," said Chekov, staring at his plate, his face flushed in embarrassment.
"Pavel," said Sulu sincerely, putting his arm over Chekov's shoulders. "I'm so sorry."
"It was not your fault," said Chekov, confused.
"I'm just expressing sympathy," said Sulu dryly.
"Oh," said Chekov, and smiled at him. Sulu smiled back.
Everybody else was quiet until Gaila cleared her throat awkwardly and said loudly, "So, Hikaru, who are you going with?"
"Nobody," said Sulu, his shoulders drooping. "Haven't found the right person yet." Quite a few people had asked him but he'd turned them all down; he had been getting up the courage to ask Chekov, but it was evidently too late for that.
"Hey!" said Chapel, leaning across Chekov and looking at Sulu. "Want to come with me?"
"Sure!" said Sulu, perking up. "That'd be fun!"
They grinned idiotically at each other for a moment before somebody cleared their throat and everybody looked up to see Spock leaning over Bones. Bones blinked up at him, bemused.
"Can I help you, Spock?"
"Yes," said Spock, looking uncomfortable. "I have a favor to ask of you, Leonard."
"What is it?"
"Could I… speak to you in a more private location?"
Bones shrugged. "My ankle really hurts," he lied, unwilling to get up.
"Ah. Well," coughed Spock self-consciously. "I suppose I shall address the question to the table, then." He glanced around at all of them, clearly ill at ease. "I think am, as you would say… missing something. Nyota is angry at me."
Everybody was biting his or her lip, trying not to laugh. Kirk glanced to the end of the senior table, where Spock and Uhura's lunches were sitting abandoned.
"You know, that's really somethin' you'll have to work out for yourself, Spock," said Bones, sounding just as awkward as Spock.
"Normally, I would attempt to ascertain the reason behind her irritation for myself, but I suspect that it is human in origin," said Spock, putting his hands behind his back. "Nyota seems to display particularly displeasing facial expressions whenever the word 'homecoming' appears or is mentioned."
"Are you takin' her?" asked Bones.
"Excuse me?"
"Are you takin' her to homecomin'?"
"What do you mean?"
Bones stared at him. "The dance, you green-blooded idiot. Are you takin' her to the homecomin' dance?"
"I am not sure—"
"You haven't asked her?"
"No—why would I? Am I supposed to?"
"Of course y'are!" cried Bones. "You're datin' her! That means you're supposed to ask her to homecomin'!"
"Ah," said Spock, enlightened. "That must be the problem. I will rectify this immediately. Thank you for your help, Leonard."
And he returned to his seat just before Uhura came back from the restroom.
"My God," groaned Bones. "I don't know how he survives on Earth."
Kirk watched as Spock reached over the table and took Uhura's hand in his, speaking. She stared at him for a minute, listening, and then smiled widely and nodded. They both looked irritatingly pleased with themselves.
"Hey," said Bones, snapping his fingers in Kirk's face. "You there, Jim?"
"What? Yes," said Kirk quickly. "Does anybody know why they're still dating?"
"It's probably the passionate sex," said Giotto sarcastically.
"It could be," said Gaila seriously. "Vulcans are quite intense."
"I know Nyota's just as promiscuous as the rest of us, but Spock—he doesn't seem like the type," said Rand.
"How long have they been dating for?" said Chapel.
"A little over a month, now," said Kirk.
"Shockin'," said Bones. "I think Nyota's longest relationship 'til now was two weeks, with Liam."
"Ferrolin?" said Kirk. "In our history class?"
"Yeah," said Bones. "He's pretty cool. He could kick all y'all's asses in martial arts." Bones glanced around and saw him at the other end of the senior table, a few seats from Raj and his friends. Liam was eating alone, reading a book. Whenever Raj's friends got too loud, he would glance pointedly at them and they would quiet down.
"Huh," said Bones to himself. "That's interestin'."
x
After lunch, as they were heading back to class, Kirk swiped an apple from one of the complimentary bowls of fruit next to the vending machines and promptly dropped it in surprise when a voice behind him said, "James? If I may have a word?"
The apple rolled towards the voice. A booted toe popped it into the air and caught it with open palms. Kirk looked up from the outstretched hands to see Spock watching him.
"Nice reflexes," said Kirk, plucking the apple out of Spock's fingers without touching him. "What do you want?"
"Since I am sadly ignorant of many Earth traditions, I was wondering if you could enlighten me as to any other important rituals humans observe during the time of homecoming," said Spock.
"Uh," said Kirk, starting back towards Pike's room. "You dress formally for the dance. And you should probably take her to the game."
"Formally meaning—a tuxedo?" Spock trailed him like a duckling following its mother.
"Suit and tie, at the least," said Kirk. "She'll wear a nice dress. You should ask her what color her dress is going to be so you can get the same color tie." Kirk was slightly unnerved by how intent Spock was on Kirk's every word.
"Are there any traditions to be observed when we attend the football game?" said Spock.
"Do you actually know anything about football?"
"Yes; before I came to Earth, I read an American football rulebook and am in complete understanding of the game."
"Well… good. Buy her a hot dog or something; that's pretty traditional."
Spock made a face. "The human ability to consume flesh is questionable, but your tendency to combine multiple dubiously named meat products into one truly disgusting package simply escapes me."
Kirk didn't say anything in reply. Spock looked over at him. Kirk was staring at Bones, who was standing further down the hall, talking to Liam Ferrolin.
"Do you like Pavel?" Kirk asked abruptly. "Do you care about him, I mean?"
"I suppose," said Spock slowly. "He is an intelligent boy with a good heart."
"And you don't like bullies, right?"
"I do not," said Spock coldly.
"Meet us after school in the library," said Kirk. "Raj Rapali and his friends have been ganging up on Chekov. We're going to have a talk with them."
"I see," said Spock, understanding the euphemism and feeling a small blossom of rage unfurl inside of him. "I will certainly be there."
x
Kirk's plan was brilliant, even though Chapel, Gaila, and Rand slapped him after he proposed it, and Ruth and Uhura looked pissed.
Bones looked like he was trying not to laugh as he told off the girls for slapping his boyfriend. Kirk scowled at him. Still, everybody had to agree that it was the best idea that anybody had come up with, so they put it in action.
At the end of calculus, the five girls walked by Raj Rapali's desk. He was sitting with Holliday. Both of them watched as the girls walked by. Chapel did an obvious double-take of Raj and stopped, looking down at him, her arms tucked under her breasts to emphasize her low-cut shirt.
"Hey," she said sweetly. "Heard you don't have a date to homecoming anymore."
Raj glared at her. He was a tall, skinny Indian boy, with thin eyebrows and a weak jaw, but his large eyes were liquid and his cheekbones were hauntingly sharp. Chapel could see why people found him attractive.
"What business is it of yours?" Raj said coolly.
"I was simply wondering if you'd like to go with me," said Chapel, giving him her sexiest eyelash flutter and coy smile. "And if none of your other friends have dates, maybe… maybe they could take us." She motioned to Uhura, Ruth, Rand, and Gaila.
Raj frowned. "I thought you were dating that Vulcan," he said to Uhura. "And I thought you were a lesbian," he added to Ruth.
And here was where the reason they had slapped Kirk came in.
"I am," purred Ruth, snaking her arm around Rand's hip. Raj's mouth formed an "O" of comprehension. He looked over at Holliday, who was clearly intrigued.
"We'll be in the library after school," said Uhura. "Come get to know us?" The girls blew them kisses and sashayed away.
Across the room, Kirk mimed applause until Bones slapped at his hands irritably.
x
Raj and his four friends entered the dark library after school. It closed early on Mondays, but the door had been unlocked (thanks to Scotty's suspicious ability to use a lock-pick), and, preoccupied by the idea of five fiercely sexual girls taking them to homecoming and maybe more, they didn't think too much of their ease of entry.
Which was a huge mistake.
They moved forward in the dim light, hands scrabbling across computer desks and bookshelves, until they came to the open reading area filled with couches. Five shapes were sprawled across the cushions in the middle of the floor—the girls, staring up at them with sly expressions on their shadowed faces.
Suddenly, a single light came on above their heads. Its beam was focused on a single point directly behind the girls. Inside of the light stood a bright figure pointing a long, shining object at them.
Raj and his friends stopped in their tracks. The effect was melodramatic, but impressive.
More lights came on, and more people appeared, flanking them. James Kirk, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. Leonard McCoy, leaning forward menacingly on his crutches. Montgomery Scott, holding a heavy pipe wrench. Spock, utterly expressionless.
"En garde," whispered Hikaru Sulu, brandishing his fencing foil.
Raj and his friends turned to run, but Chekov and Sylvia Beecher were behind them, arm in arm.
"I do not think you will go so soon," said Chekov quietly. "I think you will stay and listen to what we have to say to you."
"I don't," snarled Raj. He threw himself at Chekov.
It wasn't much of a brawl. Everybody fought—even Bones managed to bash Holliday over the head with his crutches—but not for long. Spock and Liam Ferrolin dealt with the bullies rapidly. Spock beat Raj into a pulp, shockingly unable to control his rage. Liam, cartwheeling across the room, took out Wyatt, Vergil, Morgan, and Holliday with a stunning series of kidney kicks that left the four boys groaning.
"Spock—Spock! Get off of him!" cried Kirk, trying to grab Spock's arms, but a wild punch from Spock threw Kirk across the room. Uhura rushed over, putting a calming hand on Spock's shoulder, and the beatings slowed, then stopped. Raj was unconscious and bleeding. Spock sat back on his haunches, blank, Uhura kneeling next to him, a panicked expression on her face. He shook his head, trying to clear it.
"My God," whispered Bones, hobbling over. He dropped heavily to his knees, snapping at Chapel to bring him his backpack. Spock backed away, his eyes widening slowly.
"What is wrong with you?" Bones roared at Spock. "You can't just beat a man like this, no matter what he's done!" He waved his tricorder over Raj's still form and seemed to relax.
"He's fine," he said, gruffly surprised. "Except for cuts and bruises, he's fine."
"I nerve-pinched him," said Spock softly. "At the end."
Raj looked terrible, but most of his injuries were superficial. He had a black eye and multiple bruises, and was bleeding from a split lip and eyebrow. Bones roused him roughly.
"Let's talk a little more about who you're not takin' to homecomin'," said Bones, gathering Raj's collar in his fist almost delicately. "Sylvia can go with whoever she wants, y'hear? If I see you or your friends anywhere near her or Pavel again, I will let him—" (He nodded to Spock) "—loose on you, and you can possibly tell that he doesn't like bullies. Are we clear?"
Raj licked his lips. "We're clear," he said hoarsely.
"Good." Bones released Raj's shirt and Raj scrambled upwards. "You're free to go."
Raj dashed from the library. His four friends were still groaning on the floor.
"Leave 'em," said Bones, disgusted. "Maybe they'll get busted for breaking and entering. Let's get outta here."
x
"That scared me," said Uhura. Her voice was trembling. It was thirty minutes later and they were at her house, in the living room. "You can't—you can't do something like that. Leo was right."
"I know," said Spock, staring at his hands, which he had laced together in his lap. Uhura was standing in front of him. "I am aware that my actions were—inappropriate."
"Inappropriate?" Uhura cried. "They were downright dangerous! You could have killed him! Spock, you never lose control."
"Nyota, you have simply never seen me lose control. I have before. I do not like bullies."
"Is that—" She stopped, steeled herself, and continued. "Are they why you—why you tried to kill yourself?"
Spock stiffened. "No," he replied immediately, too quickly. "I had—other reasons."
"Like what?" demanded Uhura. "Spock—why?"
He stood, his long body unfolding. He placed his hands on her upper arms and moved close to her.
"Believe me when I say that I would like to tell you," he said, staring into her eyes. "But I cannot. I have never spoken to anyone of this, and I—I simply will not, now."
"Are you sure?" she asked, caressing his cheek.
"I am sure," he said. He kissed her gently, trying to placate her. "I am sorry, but I am only so human. In fact, I want to tell you something. I have been meaning to show you this for a while." He held up his right hand in the Vulcan salute. "Place your hand against mine."
She did so, noticing the way his eyelids flickered when her cool skin pressed against his warm palm.
"When Vulcans and Romulans kiss, they do it—differently," he said. "Our hands are sensitive. The texture of our skin is different—do you feel?" She ran the pads of her fingers down his pointer and saw him tremble slightly.
"I feel," she breathed. "Spock—"
He gathered her in a fierce, human kiss while she massaged his hands. They gasped against each other.
"Please, Spock," she said. "Let's g-go to my room, please, I need you—"
"Yes, he whispered into her ear. "Yes. I need you too."
He cupped her face and kissed her once more, and then moved for the stairs. Their fingers united, her thumb stroking his knuckles as they climbed the steps. She was going to take thorough advantage of this revelation.
x
Kirk waited in the lobby while Bones went in to see his doctor.
"We can fix that easily," the doctor said, peering down at Bones's ankle. He was a balding man in medical teal. "The paramedic team didn't tell you to keep off of it?"
"Nope," said Bones, stretching out on the biobed. "I know it was dumb of me to go to practice so soon after a healin', but the big game's this Friday, and I had to show up."
"Athletes," sighed the doctor, poking at Bones's ankle. He picked up an osteoregenerator and frowned at its controls. "Doesn't anyone know how to turn off the program when they leave?" he muttered, pressing a few buttons. He leveled the device over Bones's ankle. "This will take about ten minutes," he said. "I'll be back when you're done."
Bones walked out of the hospital with a spring in his step. His ankle was perfectly fine, but the doctor had advised him not to run or do leg exercises for a week, with an exception for the game. Bones knew his coach wouldn't be happy about losing him for practice, but at least he was going to be able to play homecoming.
"You're in a great mood," commented Kirk as they slid into Bones's pickup. "Healing make you feel better?"
"Much better," said Bones, starting the engine and shifting into reverse. He whistled a bar from Amazing Grace.
"This is a little weird," said Kirk, staring at Bones. "You're supposed to be grumpy. You're not on antidepressants, are you?"
Bones raised his eyebrow. "My demeanor is just naturally pessimistic. And you're askin'?"
"Cheerful old me? What's wrong with that?"
"Well, didn't you—" Bones felt his good mood evaporate as he realized what he was going to ask. "—didn't you try to commit suicide?"
Kirk shrugged, his expression unchanging. "It was a different time," he said lightly, and Bones left it at that.
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