Chapter Six : Curiosity and Mistrust

It was a strange power Spock felt at the twiddle of his fingers. As a Vulcan, he could already do greater things than an average human: such as develop immense strength, increase in basic senses, higher intelligence, telepathy, control of emotions and pain, and the ability to perform the Vulcan nerve pinch technique. Of course, he's always been a slow, even weaker performer of those powers due to his human heritage as compared to his fellow people, yet now he has something… unique, something that he could very much call his own. The ability to hear what is broken and know how to fix it, the same power as his grandfather — Gabriel Gray. Claire is not the only one he's done research on. While Spock was quite mortified to know that his human relative had been accused to murder his own adoptive mother, he can tell the physical similarities between him and Sylar, though now he knows the feeling of obtaining power and can relate to him on a deeper level. Obviously, he kept this news to himself. Maybe Claire was right. They were more alike than he thought. But no, Spock is a Vulcan, a master of control. Unlike Sylar, he doesn't plan to massacre; unlike Gabriel Gray, he has friends to count on, a father still present to guide him. But just like the both of them, to obtain a new ability was the most satisfying thing Spock's ever experienced.

The control over one's shadow was an unusual concept. Of course, a being with a physical body and right amount of light can already do that by simply waving their arm up and down, with their shadow easily following the movement; however, what Spock has is the chance to do what he pleases with the two-dimensional silhouette of what his own or some else's body can manifest, even by making the shadows three-dimensional and do his bidding. A chance to manipulate the shadow of light, something so illogical but all the more fascinating. Even Spock had his doubts when he initiated the mind meld with Kenny, not believing that he could take something as complicated as a power from a person, but then again, nothing is ever impossible. If a Vulcan can move katras from mind to mind, why can't a Vulcan study an ability weaved into a genetic mutation and make it a part of his own? Spock wasn't essentially stealing Kenny's power, merely duplicating it. The killing, well, they had to get rid of the crazed Augment somehow, didn't they?

As Spock sat on a biobed within the crowded sanctions of medbay waiting to be treated, his finger subtly pointed to a small darkened spot cast by a canister on top of a table beside him. To his keen amazement, the shadow peeled up from the spot on his command, moving and swaying to meet the tip of his finger like a stream of water. Only, as it wrapped around his hand, Spock felt its density like liquid, but light as smoke. ' Fascinating' he thought, watching as it traced around the groves of his hand before disappearing up his blue sleeve. Spock felt its delicacy travel all around his body in almost a warm calming effect before reappearing from the other side. He turned his palm up, mesmerized as the shadow danced under his mental command, before turning into a flower, something he could physically hold by the stem. Spock paused, pondered for a moment, before uncharacteristically let his reclusive imagination run wild by forming it into a tiny serpent, its body somehow hissing quietly up at him and the only feature it held were its innocent glowing white eyes. Resuming to wrap around his finger and rub its head against his nail in affection, a faint smile appeared on the Vulcan's face when he realized that this power was his, and his alone. It made him feel important, idiosyncratic, special.

"While Kenny mistreated you poorly, I shall endeavor to not repeat his mistakes," he whispered, illogically assuming that the tiny shadowy manifestation would understand him. The wisp that he made simply flicked its thin black tongue at him, head tilted curiously before Spock allowed it to dissipate completely.

Curious, the Vulcan imagined what other things he could do with his newly acquired ability, for he only managed to see Kenny use it for manipulation against others. Using his original power, Spock noted the workings of the ability swirling through his mind like clock work, understanding how each thought can alter shadows to his own gain, all within viewing distance, and how he can become more like his element as well. He knew his strengths and weaknesses, though they were limited as his experience with it as well. A significant technique caught hold of his attention, and he thoroughly focused on it, becoming more enabled to perform the action by the second. His interest got the better part of his scientific mind, for Spock refocused on the same shadow, now settled on the tray before him and let his instincts guide his movements. With a steady breath, the Vulcan's hand slowly dipped into the shadow, emerging himself and the darkness into one, causing that portion of the hand to simply disappear.

"Fascinating!" Spock breathed aloud, watching as he pulled his limb back into full view, turning it carefully to see not one sign of harm or repercussions. This power is — to use a human idiom that he's often heard — awesome. He wonders how much of his body could disappear in the shadows. Will he be able to control where he can go? Can he only hide when there's a shadow large enough to pass his body? Can he move when it's still light out? How long can he—

"Hey."

Spock froze, somewhat startled to be interrupted, causing the shadow under his command to waver and return to its original spot. ' So, that is what occurs when one loses focus,' he realized offhandedly. ' What would happen if I were hidden in one? Would I cease to exist, or would I simply be discovered?' He turned to see Claire standing beside him, looking both uncomfortable and angry to be in his presence. Spock could hardly care, however, for he gave up trying to please her. The adolescent was stubborn to place him in the role of Sylar, even when he is certain that she knows that she is addressing a different person. Her hate for his grandfather was understandable, but he was still Spock's grandfather. Even though he was a killer, Spock was equally determined to defend his mother's side of the family. And, in a sense, he was a killer now, too. With Vulcan being destroyed that obliterated a majority of his species, and his counterpart was involved with said destruction, which is still Spock, so technically, he was the one who killed them all, now including Kenny.

Either being a murderer runs in the family or Spock was overthinking things.

"The Captain wanted to check up on you, forced me to be the messenger," Claire continued, oblivious to his inner thoughts. Her eyes flickered over to his still unattended wound, though her obvious frown was not that of worry but of disgust. "Gross."

"Why be perturbed when you were the cause?" Spock raised an eyebrow, drinking in her rolling eyes. "Tell the Captain that I will manage and shall return to the bridge as soon as I am released."

"Yeah, bet you will. I don't think he'll actually want someone like you up there considering you sucked a man's life before his eyes," she noted in nonchalance. Spock looked down at the table, forcing his mask to remain neutral. He remembers when Jim pulled the phaser on him, like if he was the enemy. There wasn't an amount of hesitation for raising it. He was ready to shoot Spock.

The Commander shook his head, directing his gaze to her. "Captain Kirk made the logical decision of defending himself. If something were to happen during the ability transfer, I could have lost control, but he would have been there to disable me. Furthermore, the phaser was set on stun."

"Not from my angle," she shrugged, crossing her arms and tilting her head. "Isn't the little button on the side supposed to be blue instead of red to stun?"

Spock hesitated. "You must have seen incorrectly. Jim would not have considered killing me for defending the two of you. I was fulfilling my duty as First Officer."

"Or perhaps he's finally seeing you for what I have been telling him, the grandson of the worst serial killer from the twenty-first century." She suddenly smirked. "Yeah, I did some research on you, too. I also know you have a history of violence. Punched a lot of kids back during your school years, eh?"

His gaze hardened, finger by his side twitching in the direction of the shade, only to pause and rethink his brash actions. 'What do I plan on committing anyway?' He pondered, though quickly dismissed the thought. Whatever his actions were, they were not necessary. "The Captain knows better than to believe rumors," he said. "Why have you been sent down here? Even if the Captain were apprehensive, he would have sent down Dr. McCoy or someone else completely. It is only logical to assume that he sent you to do something more than to 'check up' on me."

Claire huffed, making no move to get closer. "He said that he wanted me to, uh, relate to you. With the new powers you stole," she glared pointedly. "Probably to make sure I convince you that you don't use it for bad and go on a killing spree. But how does it feel? Taking something that doesn't belong to you?"

Ignoring the last comment, he answered truthfully. "It is absolutely astonishing. To think there are people out there to have this kind of power." Spock looked at the shadow, beckoning it back into his hand and transformed it into a small bird, watching it with child-like awe as it fluttered around Claire's head before landing on her shoulder. She looked at it with apprehension, to which he frowned. "Not everyone is evil, Ms. Bennett, and not everyone becomes corrupted. I am a scientist, and my curiosity originates by my determination to know the truth. To seek understanding. I may not be my grandfather, but I do get where he comes from. This 'Hunger' you describe him to have is not within me because I have control. I am Vulcan, and you keep forgetting."

"I do have one question," she began, capturing his attention. "Could you really have fixed Kenny? You said there was something that was killing him, and you could have helped."

Spock looked off for a moment. "My ability allows me to see what is broken and what to change in order to fix it."

"But you decided to kill him instead."

"Just because he would have been free from death did not mean he would have stopped his reign. I did what needed to be done."

"Or, he could have stopped." Claire narrowed her eyes into slits before she abruptly grabbed the bird innocently chirping on her shoulder and crushed it into a shadowy oblivion with a resounding squawk. Spock flinched, straightening as he watched the remains spill from the crevasses of her hand and solemnly return to its original spot.

Suddenly, something deep within Spock stirred, awakening for the first time in forever. It was dark, boiling, and as intense as he remembered. It roared to him, just like it did during his youth when bullies threatened him, just like when his planet and mother perished, just like when his father refused to speak to him for all those years after he refused to join the Vulcan Science Academy. It began creating images and scenarios of him using his immense strength to rip open and investigate the young woman's mind, the closest object for release, to find out why she acted the way she did and how her power worked. The power of immortality could be all his, and no one would be the wiser… Spock settled his cold gaze on her, refusing to speak in order to settle the newfound animosity. He was a Vulcan. He was in control.

"The Hunger always wins," she spat. "Jim should have pulled the trigger, but when next time rolls around, I won't let him have the chance to hesitate." With that, Claire turned and left, just as a nurse came to treat him.

'She threatens to kill me if I lose focus. A reasonable procedure, but not one I would want her to use on me,' Spock harshly thought, not paying much attention as the dermal regulators did its work on his lacerations. 'Once word gets around about what happened to Kenny, the crew will surely begin to develop their opinions based on rumors and assumptions, neither will certainly paint me to be a hero. With Jim now uneasy about my control, I will have no choice but to prove to them that I remain the same. I can not do that with Claire continuously meddling with those affairs. I must get rid of her, now being sooner than later. But how?'

"All set, Commander," Nurse Chapel interrupted his thoughts with a smile. Spock lifted himself from the biobed, checking his reflection from a mirror she handed him. There were still marks going below his eye but were thankfully mended and free of blood. "Sorry. You had some pretty deep cuts. Only a few will scar, but fortunately, you don't have to deal with stitches. Here's some ointment to further treat it, to prevent rashes and irritation."

Spock nodded in thanks, putting the small tube in his pocket. "You hold my utmost gratitude, Nurse."

Christine gave him a smile that looked strangely lovestruck, but he dismissed his observation by nodding in farewell and leaving sickbay. Spock wandered the corridors for a few moments, pondering about what he should do. 'Claire desires nothing more than to return to her own time, yet our technology today has yet to make a foolproof method of time travel. However, there was a time when the Enterprise went decades into the past after going through an ion storm. Maybe if I can convince the Captain to let me take shore leave, I can use one of the shuttles to take Claire to a nearby storm and calculate the proper conditions that could take us to the right time. No, but there are no current storms like that, are there? Furthermore, Jim will not allow me to have leave without proper reason, especially when I have made it priorly clear that I despise taking vacations.'

As Spock turned the corner, the corridor was somewhat filled with working crewmen. However, when he passed, he could feel their eyes latch onto him, and whispers began to float through his ears.

"Did you hear what happened?"

"Yeah, who hasn't? The Commander totally killed a guy in the transporter room."

"Really? In cold blood?"

"No, it was to defend the Captain, duh."

"That's not what I saw. I was there. You should have seen the look in his eyes — totally feral Vulcan if I've ever seen one."

"Remind me never to catch him alone."

The Commander quickly walked by, his shoulders stiffening with suppressed tension. It wasn't his fault that they dared believe in something irrational. He was defending others. Why can't anyone believe that? They need to pay more attention to their tasks than what words float around to distract them. As First Officer, he was obligated to put them on the right track. Spock paused at the next corner, flicking his finger up toward the group of officers huddled by a computer system, using the shadows below their feet to wrap around their ankles. An officer bid farewell to the others before walking away, only to trip and fall, tugging the shadowy rope tightly and causing them all to topple onto the floor. Spock called off his ability, smirking slightly as he went on his way. ' The only people who have useful abilities are the Augments locked away in Starfleet's secret storage facility,' Spock continued his thoughts, heading to the bridge next. ' Hm… Hiro… Claire mentioned that her uncle Peter used Hiro's ability to transport her here. Perhaps I do not need to find an ion storm, but another power to possess.'

Spock felt his communicator beep in his pocket. He flipped it open, noting the frequency was coming from the bridge. "Spock, here."

"Commander, just to inform you that we have been called for an emergency meeting on Earth with Starfleet admirals," Uhura explained, causing his eyebrows to raise. "We'll arrive at our rendezvous in two days at max warp. The Captain wanted to let you know."

"But not inform me himself, it would seem," he uttered before he could stop himself.

The communications officer released a small huff. " Yeah." There was a small pause. "How are you holding up, by the way?"

"I am faring better than what everyone seems to believe." He frowned. "They are… afraid of me, Nyota. I can sense their fear from all around the ship. It seems Claire's influence on them has plagued the notion that I mean no harm."

"They're spooked. It's not every day you hear of someone who has the power to control shadows." Despite the attempt to cheer him up, Spock heard the underlying tone.

"Are you frightened of me, Nyota?"

" ... No, of course not."

He slowed to a stop. Hesitation. Why did she hesitate? "Very well," Spock opted to say, fists mistakenly clenching. "Let the Captain know I will return to my duties in the laboratories."

"Sure, Spock. Bridge, out." The communicator snapped shut.

It seems as though the crew has been manipulated more than he initially thought. From now on, Spock will need to be careful of his actions, especially when he has now become the newest subject to look out for. He will not be using his abilities so publicly anymore to ease the tension until it has passed. Until then, Spock will make sure to do his assignments as usual to avoid suspicion while he does more research on Hiro. He couldn't help but feel pleased to hear that they were heading to Earth. 'What impeccable timing.' At least he won't have to think of an excuse as to why he needed a random shore leave. The only thing to focus on now is getting through the two days without mishaps and thinking about how to get into the secret facility where all the Augments were held without alerting the guards.

This will certainly be an interesting opportunity, but one Spock will be ready for.

TBC…