ST:FIC Days of Our Youth

Chapter Two               

As soon as Captain and First Officer left the bridge the Medical Officer appeared and he looked like he had just swallowed a Centurian Slug with lemons to wash it down. He stalked up the corridor toward them; his footsteps echoed off the near empty hallway. One glance at Spock told Kirk that the unmovable Vulcan was slightly unnerved about the doctors terrifying walk. Then again nearly everyone in the Fleet had heard about the good doctor’s hypospray-happy-hand.

Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy stopped in front of the two men. Placing his hands on his hips he looked between them. Finally his angry gaze settled on Kirk. Long seconds passed in tense silence. Even Spock had to shift slightly under the glare.

            “What in God’s good name are you two planning?” He hissed, leaning forward slightly, as if to push his anger on them.

Like always Kirk’s instinctual reaction was to play it off. So, he lightly tapped Spock’s shoulder and stepped around Bones. “Whatever are you talking about, Bones?” He said over his shoulder with a happy lilt in his voice. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of Spock’s fine eyebrows twitch upward.

            “You know very well what I mean!” Bones had instantly spun on his heel and stormed after them. “Going onto a Romulan ship? Are you two insane? Especially you, Spock!” He said, lifting a hand and looking very much like he was going to slap the back of the Vulcan’s head.

            “Doctor, I assure you we are both quite sane and our reasoning for going onto the Romulan ship is logical,” he explained smoothly.

As usual.

Bones rolled his eyes and huffed. For the entire way down to the transporter room he nagged them. He snapped and prodded, snipping and jibbing to add into the mix. The entire way down Kirk laughed and Spock remained silent; almost scarily so.

            “Aye, Captain. I can beam ya down. But… I don’t know if I can beam ya out,” Scotty announced as the trio entered the transporter room. He was smiling happily as if his last piece of news was unimportant. Bones turned to look at Kirk. Crossing his arms he lifted both eyebrows a silent way of saying ‘I was right, you are insane’.

Rolling his eyes Kirk stepped up onto the transporter pad, Spock following him. “Scotty, I get the feeling you can beam us back. If not… Well, then the Fleet is going to be getting a brand new Romulan ship.”

            “Captain—“

            “Spock. Don’t worry. Scotty’ll get us back,” Kirk said, smirking confidently. Scotty nodded and sat down in front of his station. Bones grumbled but didn’t complain anymore.  “Energize, Mr. Scott,” Kirk commanded. Holding himself still he waited for the familiar sensation of his entire essence being split. No matter how much Bones complained about ‘black magic’ he genuinely enjoyed being transported. It was one of those strangely pleasurable sensations that he lived for. Just before he completely disappeared from the Enterprise he glanced over at Spock.

Yes. Strangely pleasurable things were what he lived for.

**

              If there was anything Captain Kirk hated more than talking to Romulans it was being stuck on their ship. And boy were they stuck on this ship. Almost as soon as they had materialized on the Romulan transporter Uhura had called in to say that a strange energy just blocked any and all transporter being. So, it is needless to say that when the Romulan captain stepped into the transporter room he was instantly glared back out of it.

            “Well, I’m glad to see you arrived. Although it looks like you are not as pleased,” D’nal said with a light chuckle. Behind him was a group of five Romulans who looked armed to the teeth and all with a bad attitude to match.

            “No. I’m not,” Kirk responded instantly with little joy in his voice.

D’nal nodded and bowed his head lightly. With a light sigh he stepped up in front of the Enterprise captain. “I assure you, you will be getting back to your ship in due time. But first, we had to make sure that we could show you something before you jumped back to the Enterprise,” he said; explaining everything and nothing.

            “Uh-huh… Whatever. You could have said that you were going to do this before we got on board,” Kirk complained.

The Romulan nodded smirking widely. “If we had would you have still come aboard?” He asked, shooting one glance at the First Officer. Kirk was at a loss for words. He opened and closed his mouth a few times then huffed and crossed his arms.

            “Well… You-- Spock!” He turned to look at the Vulcan. But Spock wasn’t looking at either of the Captains. He was standing very tensely and staring at the transporter door. Kirk looked over aswell.

Seeing her on the viewing screen was strange enough, but in actual physical form... That was a whole new story.

Amanda stepped through the small crowd of Romulans. She was smiling widely and, if Kirk looked closely, she looked like she had tears in her eyes. She almost ran up to greet her son but had to stop herself. All those years from living on Vulcan must have taught her that physical touching was just something one didn’t do; even if she hadn’t seen her son for a year since her own death.

            “Hello, Spock,” she whispered.

For a long time no one said anything. Then slowly, Spock stepped off the pad and down toward his mother. With a strange awkwardness he gathered her into his arms. She sighed happily and seemed to melt into her son’s touch. They stood for a long moment in silence.

In that silence Kirk watched Spock’s face. To him it looked like Spock was very confused and uncomfortable. Had anyone looked at his expression they would think that he was normal. But since Kirk had spent the last year watching his new First Officer he knew otherwise. Hey, he was captain. Wasn’t it his job to learn how his officers ticked?

               Of course it was.

The ruffle of fabric pulled him out of his thoughts. Amanda was moving out of the embrace. Her smile was much wider but Spock’s confusion only seemed to grow on his face.

            “Spock! I have something to show you,” she said, wrapping her hand around his. She started to pull him toward the transporter door.

            “Mother, I don’t exactly—“

            “Don’t worry, baby-cakes. The Romulans have been treating me very well since…” She stopped and cleared her throat. Her smile dropped. “Since Vulcan.” Her smile returned and she turned to look at her son. “They fixed me up and I want to show you how,” she explained. She paused and glanced at Kirk and D’nal. “Your Captain can come aswell.” She paused again. A strange look pulled over her features. “Actually, I want him to see this as well. Would that be alright, Captain D’nal?”

The Romulan captain smiled, if any one looked closely they would think it would look a little wicked. But then again that could just be Kirk. He didn’t like Romulans after all.

            “That would be perfectly fine, Amanda,” he answered. Looking at Kirk he lifted his hand toward the door. “After you.”

Kirk’s upper lip curled in annoyance. Shaking his head he stepped off the pad. Amanda smiled and left the transporter room, dragging her son with after her. With one last glower at D’nal, Kirk followed his First Officer and the once dead mother.