"You, you said family." Kirk looked at Uhura for a moment then at the healer, "We, we seven are a family. The bridge crew is a close family. The entire crew itself is an extension of that core, of that family." He looked at the healer suddenly feeling hopeful, "Need the family be related by blood?"

"Those who were involved were stated to have been all close blood relatives. There is no record of it being successfully done with strangers."

"Sir, with all respect these are not strangers. Circumstances have made us a family and our feelings for one another keep us a family." Kirk kept looking at the man, "I consider Spock my brother."

"As do I." McCoy looked at the other four and then at Kirk, "I'll kill any and all of you if you ever tell him I said that."

"Gentlemen, there are records of attempts of using non-blood relatives. All of those who attempted it received severe permanent side-effects and the patient remained the same."

"Then there is nothing," Kirk knew he could not ask and would not expect the others to risk what he would.

Chekov seemed shaken, "How, how bad were the side-effects?"

"The effects were severe enough, in Vulcans, to make them unable to work at the jobs they had before but they did find menial work that satisfied them."

Sulu shook his head, "But that would have been a full meld, right?"

"No, what is done is just a light touching to show the patient the true thoughts of the others about them."

"The," Uhura looked at the healer, "could the patients have become annoyed at the others and done that to them?"

"That would be a hostile act and something unworthy of a Vulcan. I can understand why you asked it as it would be a Human reaction."

"Then you will have to take him to that special facility," McCoy sounded tired and deeply depressed. "I'll get the forms,"

"I won't sign them! I won't approve them!" Kirk looked from McCoy to the healer, "There must be another way!"

"Captain Kirk, I can appreciate your emotions but there were over two hundred and eighty-seven reported cases where attempts were made with non-blood related family and in each case the results were the same. The patient suffered greater confusion and those who attempted the healing were left only able to do menial even though they had held positions requiring great mental and physical powers. I am sorry but committal to the facility I have told Doctor McCoy about is the best for him. If you do think of him as your brother you will grant him what he asked for, you will grant him the severance."

Captain James T. Kirk knew the healer was correct, that what Doctor McCoy had said was the best for his First Officer, and that he had to sign the forms. Jim Kirk looked at the others around him and knew that they were all friends of Spock's but to expect them to risk permanent mental damage.

As Kirk looked at his Chief Engineer he saw how the man was looking directly at the healer, "I can nae speak for the others, Sir, but I could nae live with meself if I did nae try at least to help me friend. He'd nae like to live as ye say he will."

"Do you understand that such an action could permanently mentally damage you and any other who may also offer?"

"Aye, but ye see, Sir, I know the lad would do the same for me and nae think about it."

"You're right, Scotty," Uhura moved to stand by him, "Mister Spock would not hesitate."

"He would say," Sulu walked over to be by Uhura, "it is he only logical thing to do and I agree."

Slowly Chekov stood and joined the others, "He is my Wulcan brother and if I can help him I will."

McCoy nodded as he joined them, "He has risked his life and sanity many times for me, it is time for me to do it for him."

Kirk looked at his friends then, as he walked to join them, looked at the healer, "As I said, we are a family. Just tell us what to do."

The healer nodded and slowly looked at them all one by one, "You have shown you are his family but you must know what is involved. You are all doing this willingly but you must know that you must be willing for him to see into your mind, you must freely allow him to see the truth of your feelings about and towards him. It is a deeply personal thing. Each session will be just a short contact. There is no need for oral communications as you will talk mind to mind. He will see what you truly think of him and if you have any telepathic ability and he allows you will see what he truly thinks of you. You will both see each other as the other sees you as a being and as a fellow officer. I will merely be a conduit and will have no awareness of what is being shared. I will only be able to assess how he is after each session unless he becomes greatly distressed. After all of you have shown him your thoughts you will join hands and collectively show him your thoughts about him as a unit. He will then have to decide if he wishes to fight back to this life, this world. You should take some time the think of,"

"Excuse me, Sir, but I will go first to reassure the lad we are all here.'"

"You are certain? He will see,"

"With all due respect, Sir, the lad has seen me at me worst and at me best. He has seen me in near every condition a man can be in and he nae left my side. Of all here he best would know who I am and what I am. He would do it for me and I'll nae fail to do the same for him. There is no part of me mind he cannot look into. Now he and I may be of a different kin but tis as the Captain said, Mister Spock is my brother as well."

"Very well."

As they watched Scotty walk away with the healer Kirk wondered if the others would somehow forgive him as he realized that since his outburst it had been only McCoy who had actually spoken with him. The others had been on the bridge since then but it had been as though he was a stranger, a different man, and, in a way he was. He did not know that man who had used that language at his friend, that man who had been so cold and cruel to perhaps the only other living being who really knew him, who had always understood and accepted him as he was, faults and all. He saw how the others still looked at him with subtle repugnance.

In the Intensive Care room Mister Scott was aware of the healer looking at him but all he saw was how pained Spock appeared. The healer had not been lying when he said Spock was in mental turmoil, the Chief Engineer could not recall ever seeing the Vulcan's face reflect so much pain.

"You will place your hand on my hand so only your fingertips touch his face in the contact points. You must mentally announce your presence and await if he will allow you to touch his mind. Your conversation will be in silence though the link I provide. You will not be harmed in any way and he will only be able to access the feelings and memories you allow."

"Can I take his pain?"

"Only if he allows. You must know it is extreme pain. It is emotional pain that is slowly manifesting itself into physical pain."

"Tis pain of the emotions the lad will find most painful and I will take that for the laddie any day."

"If he allows I will transfer his emotional pain. He truly is your brother if you would take such pain."

Carefully, yet unhesitatingly, Scotty placed his fingers where he had been told and waited for a moment before he started, "Mister Spock, it's Montgomery Scott, may I have a word with ye?"

There was a silence then, "Mister Scott. The ship?"

"Aye and the ship tis just fine. I'll be needing your help with the re-calibration of the,"

"You are more than capable of doing your work, you are a miracle worker and,"

"I am only as good as ye have made me and I need your help to do better."

"You have a question for me I cannot discern."

"Aye, you'll nae like it but will ye allow me to take your emotional pain away?"

There was a momentary stillness and the Scotsman was sure he had upset his friend, "I knew twas what the Captain said but he had been drugged and he is a very hormonal Human male. He sees such a fancy wee lassie like that First Officer was and he nae knows how to behave. Ye have to know he nae meant what he said and if we have forgotten what he is really like ye must know that to call you a half-breed would show he has no breeding to talk about."

Even through the frail link Scotty felt the flash of mirth revealing the sense of humor he knew the Vulcan had, and then heard, "I appreciate your offer, but."

"Nae, ye'll nae being doing that, Spock."

"Doing what, exactly?"

"Give a yes and then a'saying but as that but means forget what I just said and I'll nae forget you said yes. I can take it, Sir, as it is an emotional pain, am I right?"

There was a stillness for a long time then a resigned, "You pretend not to be a linguist and not to have great insight, Mister Scott, but your words and actions attest to that being most inaccurate. It would be greatly appreciated if you could take some of the pressure the emotionalism is placing on me."

"Now I did nae say some, Spock, I said your pain and I meant all your pain."

"It will be too much for you to,"

"Listen, laddie, I've had a mite more experience in the likes of dealing with human emotions and all their pains than ye have. I'll take it all and deal with it. I am ready to take it all."

Scotty felt a sudden rush of shame, pain, humiliation, uncertainty, betrayal, shock, total disbelief, and a deep feeling of worthlessness spread over him and looked down at Spock, smiling as he saw how his friend did not seem to be in the same amount of pain as he had been in when this started.

"Thank you, Mister Scott, are you,"

"I am fine, laddie. A wee nip or two later will be all I need. I best go as the others all want to come in."

"All?"

"Aye, all but he will be the last. He is facing his own devils at the moment."

"Thank you for,"

"Ye can thank me later, laddie, by checking my work and helping me with that blasted re-calibration. Ye just let the healer and us help ye for now. We all miss ye being with us."

The healer eased his hands back and looked at Scotty before placing his own hand lightly on Spock's face and nodding slightly, "There is substantial emotional relief but he still is greatly confused. You have removed the emotional pain but there is still doubt in him mainly regarding his relationship with Captain Kirk and there are the remains of the physical pain caused by the accident as well as his emotions. He still is not allowing me to help him."

For a moment Scotty was quiet as he looked back at his Vulcan friend, "He is nae one who welcomes the help of others but he will this time."

Uhura walked over to Scotty as he walked into McCoy's office, helped him to the chair he had occupied before and got him a cup of coffee. It was clear that whatever had happened had drained the Chief Engineer but he made no mention of taking Spock's pain. As he took the cup of coffee he nodded, what he had shared with his Vulcan friend was just between them. He had, just as he was leaving the Vulcan, remembered what he had not told the Vulcan but he was sure that his friend had known as he would have seen it and accepted it as unsaid between them.

There was a moment when the others looked at one another before Chekov stood and went to where the healer stood waiting. He followed the healer's instructions and hoped the Vulcan did not mind such touching as he knew his friend did not like being touched.

"Sir? It is Pavel Chekov. May I speak with you?"

"Is there some problem, Chekov? Mister Scott informed me the ship was fine."

"The ship is fine but I am not."

"What seems to be the problem? Perhaps you should see Doctor McCoy, he is,"

"Not who can help me. I am watched like a new cadet by the new men on the bridge. You always made me feel important and of use even when I made a minor mistake or was a bit slow."

"That is to be expected. I am sure Captain Kirk will,"

"He has done nothing. Since he was like a Cossack toward you he has done nothing. I found something odd with the scanner and he did nothing. Just sat there. That bulky thing said I had to be wrong. I was not wrong, I know it. You would have checked before saying I was wrong."

"I admit he should have verified your statement if he is your senior officer before telling you that you were incorrect. You say the Captain just sat there and said nothing."

"Yes. All he did was sit there and did nothing."

"Captain Kirk may have been letting him be the First Officer. He is now your senior officer."

"He will not be my senior officer. You are."

"All things change."

"Not us, Sir. Not us. You are my Wulcan brat. We are family. "

"So I thought as well."

"We are. The Keptin is sorry but does not know how to say it. That is as in family, how it is wery hard to sometimes say sorry."

"Yes, perhaps it is. Thank you, Pavel."

The healer walked with Pavel to the door and looked at Sulu as he stood, "As the other two will tell you, there is no meld, just a light touch." and Sulu glanced at Scotty and Chekov and when he saw them nod he felt annoyed at himself that his concern had been so obvious.

"Hello, Mister Spock, it is Hikaru Sulu. I first want to thank you for getting me off the bridge before,"

"No thanks are necessary, Mister Sulu, nor need you be so concerned about this form of contact. When you become a captain of your own ship you will encounter other forms of contact and if you are open to them you will find, as Captain Kirk has, that such forms of communication improves understanding between beings of different species or races."

"It has been largely your doing that has allowed me to progress as I have on the ship, that has enabled me to learn more about various vessels and techniques in flying them. I am looking forward to more lessons from you."

"There are others who can give you lessons,"

"But no others who can challenge me to do better, to question the possible, to see for myself rather that just accepting what I am told. You always told me to ask questions and to question the answers to ensure I understand. Too many do not like being questioned. I need that, I need you. I need you as my teacher, my senior officer, but most importunately I need you as my friend. You did say you would show me how to take a shuttle-craft through that zebra maneuver."

"So I did. Thank you for coming, Hikaru."

As he walked out of the room Sulu felt a wave of uncertainty as he could not remember Spock ever using just his given name before.

Uhura calmly walked into the room and paused as she saw her friend so still, so, as she studied his face, still in some sort of mental conflict.

"Spock, it is,"

"Nyota Uhura, thank you for coming. I trust you have fully recovered."

"Yes. Doctor McCoy says what you did,"

"I did what was necessary to secure the Bridge."

"We both know it was more than that, Spock. Everybody on the Bridge knows why you did what you did even after how the Captain had treated you."

"Following procedures. The Captain would expect,"

"He gave up the right to expect anything when he called you what he did."

"He is the Captain and,"

"Unless you come back and he really apologizes to you in front of us he will not have much of a crew."

"You would not leave him like that."

"After what he did I am not alone in being ready to leave him. He had not right,"

"He is the Captain, he,"

"He will be a Captain unable to have a crew as word travels faster than warp ten, Spock, when things like that happen."

"You must not let it impact on his career."

"We, Spock. Only with your help can we stop the damage. You would be the one to know the best way to stop the damage."

"You have the linguistic skills to,"

"And I also have the emotionalism that could twist the words to only worsen the situation. Apart from that you were teaching me Vulcan. I am a slow learner and need you, my friend, to teach me more."

"You are learning faster than must Humans I have tried to instruct. You have an ear for the correct sound."

"I look forward to my next lesson and will be prepared for you to assess me with a conversation in Vulcan."

"That would be most interesting. Thank you, Nyota."

Once the physical contact was withdrawn Uhura quickly and briefly placed her hand on Spock's forehead and closed her eyes as she said, "Let'theiri." and removed her hand hoping that her friend would have inner peace.

Doctor McCoy had been calmly sitting in silence with the others, watching them as they came out and keeping an eye on Jim Kirk. It was obvious that those who had been in with Spock had made contact with him, had talked with him, and wanted to keep what was said private. It was clear that whatever had been said was personal to each of them. He only hoped his friend would come back to them, that somehow they could get through to that Vulcan just how special he was to them.

When the healer looked at him McCoy nodded, he knew what he wanted the Vulcan to know and he wanted to make him understand that Kirk had been drugged and was a puppet for that, that other officer. In all the years he had known Kirk he could not remember ever seeing him so shaken by his own actions, so almost afraid of the future, so lost. If they could find a way through the chaos that the drugs and Jim's outburst had caused in the Vulcan then they might get him back and if they could get him back they would get Kirk back as well. For all his words to Kirk about it not being his fault as he was drugged and infatuated McCoy knew that was not entirely true. He knew of Kirk's will-power and knew that he could have kept his distance from that woman.

As he approached the bed he could tell that Spock did not seem in as great a pain as before and was relieved. There still was pain of some sort but he did seem more relaxed.

"Spock, it is,"

"Leonard Horatio McCoy. I wish to thank you for your care. You have always been a most extraordinary physician. Healer T'Tonan has informed me that you had ensured he was awaiting our arrival at Starase Ten and were reluctant to not be in with me during his examination. He said you were most possessive as well as almost overly protective of me."

"I am honored, Spock, but I am only as good as some patients will let me. You seem to be more relaxed and I hope it is because you know how much all of the crew cares about you and will protect you as you recover."

"All of the crew, Doctor?"

"Blasted Vulcan, I did not ask each individual member but many have come to see me to find out how you are and I have resorted to telling only about ten each day and they have circulated your status. "

"They do not know of the Captain's,"

"No, that has been kept mainly to those there at the time. Oh, the crew believe he ordered you to stay out of his romantic affairs but they do not have the details, the words used."

"I would appreciate you thanking those who were there, on my behalf, for not giving a verbatim report of what was said."

"You know one good thing to come from that explosion was the time it took to repair the recording of what had happened on the bridge. Uhura removed a portion of the recording saying it was too scrambled to be understood. She gave it to me."

"Then the Captain is safe. I thank you for,"

"Now you hold it right there. I, and I imagine all of those who have been in to see you, need to thank you for,"

"I have told them no thanks are necessary, I was fulfilling my duties as the,"

"Spock?"

"Yes, Doctor McCoy."

"Shut up. We both know the truth."

"Yes, Leonard, we do."

"Jim will come in next. He,"

"NO! Not him."