Title: A Threefold Cord
Charaters: Kirk, Spock, McCoy
Rating: K
Word Count: 1950
Warnings: Spoilers for ST:TOS canon, including Amok Time, TWOK, TSFS, TVH, CotEoF
Summary: My first music meme, and I can't say I love the format, only being able to write until the song ends. But it was done for the TrekLit competition on LiveJournal, and it was fun. ^_^ 10 songs at random, one ficlet for each. Unbeta-ed other than a brief proofreading, as per the rules. And can I help it if my iPod mainly has Disney, 50s Big Band, and Star Trek? Try making a Disney song not slash or idiocy, and you see what happens. :P
Disclaimer: I don't own the songs or Trek, obviously.
That's Amore – Dean Martin
He did not have very many vivid memories of the early years of his service in Starfleet, but one of those that he did remember with horrible clarity was the first shore leave James Kirk succeeded in coaxing him away from the Enterprise's computers for a brief shore leave.
In all fairness, it wasn't anything Kirk had done that made it so memorable, merely the fact that Spock discovered the unpleasant way that Italian cuisine did not agree with his Vulcan physiology.
Not to mention the fact that sharing a turbolift afterwards with Kirk and Dr. McCoy, who had both had an inordinate amount of garlic on their pasta, was highly unpleasant.
"Do you boys like Italian?"
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes. I love Italian. And so do you."
-ST:IV
-
That New Car Smell – Michael Giacchino
Months before, he had watched his ship, the love of his life for so many years, the ship he'd manipulated and connived his way back into commanding for the V'Ger mission, the ship that he'd risked so many times, barely scraping his way out of danger to save – he had watched her go down in flames in the stratosphere of the Genesis planet, in that horribly daring and desperate attempt to save the lives of the crew who had risked all to follow him into an insane rescue mission.
He would never forget the streak of brilliant fire that shot across the sky, like some giant shooting star, nor forget the utter despair that had settled over his heart, a grief rivaling that of losing his son. It was like losing a child, a lover, and he would never forget the pain.
But now, as he takes his place on the transporter pad between McCoy and Uhura, he cannot help but feel the fluttering of nervousness in his stomach, and he wonders if the NCC-1701-A will ever feel like home.
He closes his eyes as the transporter operator energizes. When he opens them, it is to the sound of the bos'n's whistle piping him aboard, and Spock is waiting for him with a saluting detail of smiling, fresh faces.
"Welcome aboard, Captain," the Vulcan greets him with a fond simplicity, and he knows some all-important things will never change.
-
Run and Shoot Offense – Michael Giacchino
McCoy has seen a lot of weird things during two five-year missions, but the weirdest yet has to be these sentient trees that can move through solid earth. And they can hurl branches and fruit at them (ancient Terran movie adaptations, anyone?)
Vulcans are a peace-loving species, pacifists, and yet this particular Vulcan is more than willing to waive that where his captain is concerned. Spock pelts along after his gasping commanding officer just now, covering their retreat, and the doctor jerks his attention back to his footing just in time to hop a boulder, laughing to himself despite the situation at the sight of Jim taking a half-ripe pear to the back of the head (thankfully not hard enough to do serious damage).
Jim stares, bug-eyed, but McCoy's never so thankful for Vulcan ambidexterity, as he is when Spock calmly whips out a spare phaser from somewhere and with both hands blasts a wide hole in the group of trees blocking them from the shuttle.
-
On the Street Where You Live – Dean Martin
It is three months past their encounter with the Guardian of Forever when the Denevan tragedy necessitates the captain's return to Earth, to take his nephew back for custodial situations and to take a short but deserved period of bereavement leave.
Spock is utterly astounded that the captain shyly requests he come along instead of McCoy, but he later understands. After they see Peter Kirk to his grandmother's in Iowa, they return to San Francisco, and he silently follows his captain through the Old Town. Jim meanders along, apparently searching for something, until he halts, looking with misty eyes on the street before them.
It is the street where they had been reunited with McCoy during their stint in Old Earth's history. The street that used to contain the mission where they worked, the boarding house where they slept.
The street where Edith Keeler lived, and the one where she was sacrificed so that they could both stand here today.
Jim says nothing when the hesitant hand comes to rest upon his shoulder, but offers him a sad smile before they return to their ship, and their tomorrows.
-
Oh Lady Be Good – BBC Big Band Orchestra
Spock loves fuzzy animals.
Well, that's what the whole crew knows, anyway, though the Vulcan will never admit it no matter how many times someone points it out. Their resident emotionless being has a soft spot the size of a small planetoid for furballs, and it's the stuff that's whispered of and laughed fondly about over drinks on shore leaves or dinner in the Mess. It's simply adorable, though no one would dare use the accursed word within hearing of the aloof Vulcan. Or the Captain.
But even the overly-indulgent (everyone knows Spock can get away with murder if he plays his cards right, and no one can really hate him for it) Kirk draws the line when the Vulcan rescues a small blueish-grey ball of fluff, one possessing six legs and long, furry feelers that like to wrap around humanoid ankles, from a rainstorm on Altair VIII's second moon and brings it aboard.
"She is quite an intelligent, affectionate creature, and merely needs proper training, Captain, and –" Spock's protest was reportedly heard over the captain's startled yelp one night, followed by a suspiciously loud crash.
If the captain was limping the next morning, the First Officer pouting as only logical Vulcans can, and the furry lady of the hour had disappeared, no one dared comment.
-
Enterprising Young Men – Michael Giacchino
Transporter malfunctions ranged from the highly disturbing (like the time when their captain had been split into two entities) to absolutely hysterical, like this one – turning Kirk into a highly intelligent, fearless six-year-old and Spock into a child-version of part of his adult self; namely, the part that would follow Jim Kirk to hell and back, and who cared what collateral damage they accrued in the process.
Young enough to get into all kinds of trouble, and old enough to know better. Old enough to nearly blow up the ship, and young enough to outrun Bones and Scotty when the two tried to chase them down.
Bones was approaching homicidal when they finally found the duo eight hours after the last near-disaster, but even he couldn't stay angry for very long when Scott discovered them on the observation deck, sound asleep on one of the couches before the largest of the star-lit windows.
Nothing was cuter than a baby Vulcan snoozing gently with his head on a miniature Jim Kirk's shoulder, he decided as he gleefully snapped a holopic for future blackmail purposes.
-
I'll Be Seeing You – Frank Sinatra
The decision to join the acolytes of Gol and undergo the Kolinahr was, admittedly, not the best decision he had ever made. It was not that it had been a poor choice, for at the time his very sanity was nearly in shreds, his symbiotic nature torn apart by the upheaval going on in the ranks of Starfleet Command. Jim Kirk was a bitter, angry man for having his command wrenched from him, Leonard McCoy was exhausted beyond belief and returning to Georgia for recuperation before he became too unbearable to live with, and Spock himself was left floating in limbo, no real future apparent other than that unenterprising career in instruction which Starfleet offered.
He had lived aboard the Enterprise for sixteen years; having that safe haven taken from him with little warning threw his meditative and emotionally-controlling center off more than he would ever admit. Jim Kirk was too bitter to be of much help at the time, and Spock himself knew not how to acclimate himself to such drastic change. He was awash in a sea of indecision.
He discussed the matter at length one night with Kirk, in the admiral's apartment in San Francisco, and they had finally come to an understanding. Kirk might not forgive him for his choice, but he had given Spock his understanding, and that would have to be enough.
But no amount of emotional repression could keep his heart from jumping painfully when, two years into the purging, an unusually fair-haired Vulcan passed him in the compound and for one illogical instant his stunned mind thought it might be his friend.
-
Witchcraft – Frank Sinatra
The local equivalent of the population's recalcitrant witch doctor was a fearsome creature, all vicious intent and frightening appearance, with a booming voice that sent every native quailing in fear. The man single-handedly controlled the whole village with hypnotic power, balking Captain Kirk at every turn when he tried to reason with the natives for permission to mine the valuable pergium from the hills behind the village.
Finally, after three days, McCoy lost his temper.
Obviously, primitive mysticism had nothing against an old-fashioned arm-flailing Cain-raising Georgia tantrum, Spock observed in fascination.
-
The Processional – Alexander Courage (Amok Time Soundtrack)
It was a far cry from the last, some hysterical part of him observed, this time around. Last time they had been on Vulcan, they had been outsiders, accursed off-worlders, intruding on a Vulcan wedding steeped in tradition and mysticism. McCoy had cheated the tradition, he had cheated death, and he got the idea that Vulcan as a whole really didn't appreciate that very much.
Now, McCoy was regarded as a hero, an extraordinary being, for being the first human participant in a fal-tor-pan – much less a successful one – and he an integral part of the process himself, of saving Spock of Vulcan.
Despite the situation's seriousness, it was actually hilarious to see two weeks after the fal-tor-pan, that a very flustered Leonard McCoy apparently had Vulcan fangirls.
Hurting Each Other – The Carpenters
Relationships are built upon highs and lows, esctasys and drudgeries, the commonplace and the extraordinary, the pleasant and the heartbreaking, the hurt feelings and the affectionate ones (both of which a certain Vulcan insisted did not exist).
Theirs was no different, whatever this was that they shared. As McCoy himself had said, it was a mystery to all three of them what bound them together in such a strong bond that even a Vulcan – an emotionally disturbed one, but a telepathic and brilliant Vulcan nonetheless – recognized the bond that connected them when he had first seen it.
McCoy sighed over the whole thing sometimes, until he remembered one evening an old Scripture passage his grandmother had read once to him, when he was just a little boy in grade school. He looked it up on the Federation religious literature database.
Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:8-12, KJV)
A rare, full smile crossed the doctor's aging face. He copied the words into a message, and forwarded it to two wireless data-padds aboard the Enterprise-A.
If the young crew wondered why, five minutes into alpha shift, both their COs were smiling (one with his mouth, one with his eyebrows) at their padds, they only cast each other knowing glances and were content in the presence of a legend.