Title: Precious Water
Author: Istannor 
Series : TOS
Part: 1/1
Rating NC I7 
Code: 
Synopsis: Early on in the first five year voyage, Spock and
Kirk learn some valuable lessons.

Disclaimer: These are the characters of Paramount and
Viacom, they own them I only check 'em out from the library.
I promise to bring 'em back, when they promise to treat them
with respect.


		
				Precious Water

	


He felt warmth against his back. He was completely naked and
wrapped in a blanket. Arms wrapped around his chest and held
him firmly. A head rested against the back of his shoulder.
The body that was molded to him was also naked, but
strangely cool. His own erection nudged his awareness
insistently, part arousal and part need to void his bladder.
Then, the soft undertow of a mindvoice filtered through into
his awareness. It was his Captain, laying naked against him.
Holding him in his sleep, was James Kirk, his commanding
officer. He would have said it was impossible, except it
obviously was true. His senses did not betray him. 

As he began to move, he felt unaccountably weak and stiff.
He silently took account of all of his faculties and
discovered that he had been ill. Quite ill, if his present
condition was any reflection of the actual state of affairs.
His time sense was faulty. It appeared that at least 10.4
days had passed since his last period of awareness. Strange
that he could not be more exact. Even stranger was the fact
he was not awakening from a  Vulcan healing trance. He
required more information. It was time to awaken his
Captain. He turned slowly and looked into the sleeping face
of James T. Kirk. The Human's face was covered with bruises
and scratches. There was swelling around his left eye. It
appeared to be unable to open, even had Kirk attempted to do
so. Kirk's nose was obviously broken, and his lip had
evidence of recent bleeding. In conclusion, he looked like
he had been beaten. 

Spock allowed his eyes to continue down the body of his
Captain. The smooth chest was also bruised. A large gash ran
from Kirk's third rib down to his umbilicus. Spock could
hear Kirk's harsh breathing through the broken nose. The
bruising continued down his body, sparing little of the skin
that Spock was able to see. There were no obvious puncture
wounds and all of his limbs seemed nominally intact.
Horrified, Spock realized that he may have done these things
to his Captain. He feared the sleep was not natural, so he
moved quickly to awaken the human. As he moved from
underneath the encircling arms, Kirk's right eye opened,
clear and alert, and looked directly at him. The human had
an air of waiting. Spock broke the silence. "Captain, are
you intact?" Spock could see his Captain relax visibly. He
watched as the human sat up slowly  and gingerly, into a
cross-legged position.

"I'll do." The Human's voice was a dry whisper. Kirk took a
long slow look at him, missing no detail, including the
obvious erection. Spock could see the Human's eyebrow lift,
a slight bit, as his eyes took in his discomfort. A small
smile played at the Human's face. "Well, it's reassuring to
know that not just us poor Human's are plagued with a
morning hard-on."

"Hard-on," Spock paused trying to recall the meaning of that
particular human euphemism. "Ah yes, you mean an erection.
We are trained to deal with it, however." Spock closed his
eyes, and the erection visibly deflated to its normal state. 

 Kirk smiled. "That could come in handy. Maybe you could
 teach me that one day." 

"I would think you would be more interested in the opposite
skill," Spock commented dryly. 

Kirk attempted to laugh, but it came out as a croak. His
lower lip began to slowly ooze red . "You've been very sick.
Do you remember anything?"

Spock searched his memory and could not recall anything
after landing on a planet called Emin for a Peace
Conference. "I remember attending the first day's sessions,
led by the Federation Ambassador. I remember watching you
argue with the Ambassador later that evening." Kirk had been
worried about something. Spock could not remember what it
had been. "I do not remember anything after going to bed
that night." He sat quietly trying to force compliance from
his deficient memory. Nothing further came. Kirk waited
quietly while he worked at  it, until with a sigh of
exasperation, Spock gave up. " That is all."

"Why don't you get cleaned up, and after you take care of
your bladder, I'll fill you in." Kirk moved slowly to stand.
Spock could see him weave unsteadily on his feet. Spock got
up quickly to steady the human before he fell. Kirk sat back
on the ground. "Maybe I'll sit here while you go outside."

"It appears that it is you who require caring for, not I. I
feel recovered. You, in contrast, look like, I believe the
term is: "something the cat dragged in." Spock moved closer
to support him and was surprised at the weakness he felt
from the human. 

"You sure know how to make a guy feel special. There's a
small spring to the south of the cave entrance,
approximately five meters up into the cleft. You can't miss
it." Spock walked away from him and through the opening of
the rocky alcove Kirk had them in. Kirk had obviously chosen
the site carefully, because both water and a bush with
edible fruit was close to the entrance. Spock returned,
feeling much cleaner and refreshed. When he entered, the
human had not moved. He sat with his head between his knees,
and his arms crossed in front of him.  Spock did not like
the pallor, or the obvious signs of dehydration that he
could see in the human. 

"What is wrong, Captain? You are ill and it is not explained
by your bruising."  Spock came to stand beside him and
watched as the human started to breathe rapidly and leaned
back, to lower himself supine, down to the shelter floor.
Spock caught him right before he fell. He sank down with
Kirk the rest of the way. "Jim, what is the matter with
you?" The human's breath came in sudden rasps and Spock
anxiously waited for his breathing to slow down. Spock held
him and was surprised to feel his Captain grab him and hold
on. Kirk had never before allowed such a show of weakness.

 "Nothing a little IV solution and a steak wouldn't cure."
 He finally was able to answer. "The water and the food on
 this planet is toxic to humans, remember. I'm just hungry
 and thirsty, that's all." 

"Tell me where we are, and how we got here," he demanded. He
had to know in order to quickly get his Captain to a medical
facility.

Kirk sighed. "We're still on Emin, or what's left of it." He
turned to look at the surprise in Spock's face. "You
remember me arguing with the Ambassador. I was arguing about
him sending the Enterprise away. The Eminarae said it was
intimidating to have a fortress of war circling above their
heads, so the Ambassador told me to have it leave orbit and
ferry one of his staff to Amarit, in the next system. I
argued against it. I got overruled. After the Enterprise
left orbit, we were treated to a close up and personal view
of a violent coup by the Eminarae against the Emin. They
blanketed the planet with communication interference so I
couldn't contact the Enterprise. The Ambassador got
separated from us and I don't know where he is." 

"It was a blood bath. During the height of it, you got hit
by one of their poison darts. It doesn't have an
automatically fatal affect on Vulcans. I stole a flyer,
dragged you on board, and took off. I thought you might
prefer a chance at survival versus what I saw them doing to
the Emin they had captured." Spock could not miss the fine
tremor that ran across Kirk's body. "We've been holed up in
this cave for twelve days."

Spock looked at the human again. He doubted he could have
done all of that in his present state. That left only one
conclusion. "I did this to you."

"You didn't mean to. You were delirious." Kirk smiled again.
" I promise not to bring you up on charges, if you promise
not to tell anyone you kicked my ass."

Spock saw the gift of forgiveness for what it was. "That is
an attractive proposition. I will agree to it on only one
condition."

Kirk stiffened in amused surprise. "What condition?"

"You now allow me to take care of you." Spock watched as the
human relaxed with a chuckle.

"Deal." The human fell back onto the ground in surrender.

"I do not have any cards." Spock was rewarded with the sound
of laughter. "First, I must ascertain what supplies we have
left."

"We have enough water for two days, max. I've been giving
you Emin water since you can tolerate it. I also have
scavenged some plants that you've been able to keep down.
The flyer is intact and camouflaged down the slope. I have
reprogrammed a transmitter to the Enterprise frequency, but
the jamming is still operational. We are three days away
from the normal time the ship would return."

Spock immediately noted what Kirk had omitted. "What food is
there available for you to eat?"

"Nothing."

"What have you had to eat since the coup?"

"Nothing."

"What is there for you to drink?"

"Nothing."

"When was the last time you had any liquid?"

"Four days ago." Spock knew, humans could live for months
without food. They could only live 3 to 5 days without
water."

Spock sighed. The human had fed him, given him water, washed
him, and been beaten by him, all while he slowly starved and
died of thirst. Illogical. No doubt, he could have found a
way to escape without a sick Vulcan restricting his options.
Now, he was obviously too weak to do so. The human was
irrational. There was no reason, logically, for him to do
what he had done. Inexplicably, the fact that he had done
so, caused a sense of warmth to envelop the Vulcan. Perhaps
this self sacrifice was an intrinsic part of this Human. He
had also demonstrated a similar sense of sacrifice when he
had dealt with Gary Mitchell, alone and against all odds. It
was obvious he had much to learn about humans in general and
this one in particular. He turned to make a comment and
found , in the silence, the Human had fallen into an
exhausted sleep. Spock covered him with the blanket that had
been over them both and went out to look for the flyer.

He found the flyer without difficulty. A proximity alarm had
been rigged to transmit if a signal from the Enterprise was
received. It was an elegant bit of engineering. Spock was
often amazed at  how resourceful the Captain was, even with
electronics. All the supplies had been efficiently stripped
from the alien vessel. Spock worked for several hours on
discovering a means to break through the broadcasted
interference from the Eminarae. He had no better success
than his Captain. When he returned, it was dusk and Kirk was
still asleep. The Vulcan made a fire and went to awaken the
human. He watched as the man struggled fitfully back to
awareness. "Captain, it would be wise for you to move
towards the fire. I have our clothes. Since you no longer
need to share your body heat with me, it would be logical to
don them." Kirk silently moved to comply. Spock had to
assist him towards the end. Then, the human slumped back
again to the floor in exhaustion.

"I was unable to successfully modify the transmitter to
pierce the interference." The human nodded weakly. Having
nothing further to say, Spock moved to sit opposite his
Captain. The silence lengthened. "Why did you do this,
Captain? You could have escaped on your own. It was my
presence which resulted in your present state."

"You're my First Officer." Hazel eyes flashed at him against
the flames of the small fire between them. "I owed you the
opportunity at life."

"Your choice may result in your death," he said
unemotionally. Truth was the basis of logic. "It was not a
logical decision." Kirk smiled tiredly at him. "I will be
able to survive on the food and water on this planet for as
long as I need to, before recovery by the Enterprise. You,
on the other hand, can not eat or drink almost anything on
this world without daily detox shots. Had you retreated
alone, to an Embassy or a Trade Station, you would have been
able to eat and drink safely. Why did you not take the flyer
to one of those locations?"

"Those locations no longer exist." Kirk's voice was hardly
above a whisper.

"I see." Suddenly, he did. The human knew he was doomed.
Yet, he had patiently nursed his First Officer back to life,
all the while knowing he, himself, was dying. "You are
dying."

"Yes."

Spock felt sudden nausea. He did not want his Captain to
die. He did not want this man, who had slowly worked his way
into his Vulcan consciousness to expire from the simple lack
of water and food. " I do not want you to die." It was
truthful and some of the hardest words he had ever said.

"I'm not too happy about it myself." Kirk smiled weakly.
"Thank-you."

The Vulcan was confused. "Why are you thanking me?"

"I'm thanking you for caring." Spock's confusion was
evident. "I'm thanking you for not wanting me to die.
There's no logical reason for you to have told me that. It's
good to have someone wish for my continued existence."

Spock knew, with rock hard certainty, the last thing he
wanted was this human to die. His mind completed the
thought: or leave me alone again. It became crystal clear.
He had not been alone since the day the human took command
of the Enterprise. There had not been a day they had not
spoken. There had not been a time this human had not
supported him, or encouraged him. There had not been a
minute this man had not attempted to understand his Vulcan
mores. He did not want this man to die. His emotions
battered against his shields. He had to leave quickly and
find a solution. It was obvious if he stayed he would
comport himself in a shameful fashion, His Father's voice
rang in his mind. "Spock, emotional displays are for the
weak of mind."  He turned to the human to inform him of his
decision.  It was illogical to stay with Kirk solely because
he may die. If he did not find a solution, the Captain would
surely die. Offering his presence would be
counterproductive, he assured himself. "I would like your
permission  to return to the flyer. Perhaps there is
something I have overlooked. Is there anything you require
before I leave?" 

The human looked at him with an expression he could  not
interpret, then Kirk shut his eyes tightly for 5.3 seconds
before he answered his First Officer. He sighed and waved
Spock away. " Do what you need to do, Mr. Spock. I'm not
going anywhere, it seems."

Spock returned to the shuttle. He worked through the night.
Finally, when he returned to the cave in the morning, he had
managed to use the engine power cells, in combination with a
solar pack, to arrange for a beam powerful enough to pierce
the interference and reach the Enterprise. It was a concept
he never would have thought of in the past, but need drove
him to try even the illogical, and it had succeeded. He had
spoken with Commander Scott. The Enterprise was only 6 hours
away at best speed. 

The fire had burned out during the night. Kirk lay huddled
near its ashes. He walked over to him to wake him and tell
him of their impending rescue. "Captain?" There was no
response. "Captain?" He moved to shake him. There was still
no response. "No," he heard his own whisper. He leaned down.
Kirk's body was still warm. He felt for a pulse. There was a
faint one, thready and rapid. "No," he groaned between
clinched teeth. " I have contacted the Enterprise. You can
not die now. We are going to be rescued. You can not die."
He began to shake the human harder. "Captain." He felt his
chest gripping in a pain he had not felt since childhood,
not since he finally saw he would never satisfy his father,
not since he finally saw he would never have anyone to care
for him. Even his betrothed, T'Pring, had an aversion to the
Vulcan half-breed to whom she was promised. He felt pain and
it robbed him of breath. "No." He would be alone, again.
Now, it would be even worse, because for a brief part of his
life, he had not been alone.

He laid down next to his Captain. He pulled the limp body
into his arms. "Do not die, please do not die." He held him
and rocked him slowly. He shared his warmth with the cool,
dry  human, who could no longer even sweat because of
dehydration.  He stroked the lock that always fell over the
wide forehead. Spock willed James Kirk to live, illogical as
the concept of his wish having any affect on the fate of the
universe was, he wished with all of his being. Suddenly, an
idea formed. There was something he could do. He jumped up
and crossed to the supplies scavenged from the flyer. He
found what he needed. A blade, small, but sharp, was in the
medikit. Spock turned and rushed back to the side of his
Captain. He laid back beside the human and wrapped his arms
around Kirk again, and pulled his Captain towards him. Spock
then took the blade and ran it across his wrist. 

Blood welled up from the cut. He held his hand over dry lips
and forced the Human's mouth open. Blood ran down into
Kirk's mouth. Spock massaged the cool throat, forcing him to
swallow. He let more run into James Kirk's mouth, more. He
wanted Kirk to live. Vulcan circulation concentrated on
conserving water. As a desert dweller, Vulcan circulation
was far more conservative. It's blood held a far higher
content of water than humans. The copper was not enough to
harm humans, and the iron of a hybrid, could nourish Kirk. 

The toxins in the Emin water and food were naturally broken
down by Vulcan metabolism into benign compounds. Systems
designed by millennia of desert hardship would save his
captain now. Spock's blood dripped and his captain
swallowed. Human circulation held 5.2 liters of blood.
Vulcan circulation held 7.1 liters. Spock calculated he
would be able to spare at least 3 liters before he would
lapse into unconsciousness, and be unable to help either of
them.  

He was on the second liter when the sound of the transporter
beam made him aware that help had arrived.

Piper released Spock  from the sickbay the next day. Rapid
transfusions had restored him to normal function. Kirk had
taken excellent care of him during his delirium, so he was
otherwise intact from the ordeal. The Captain had required
far more extensive assistance. The beating had resulted in
widespread muscle damage and myoglobinuria, which occurs
when the byproducts of muscle injury hit the circulation.
That, combined with the dehydration, had caused his kidneys
to shutdown. By the time the Enterprise had arrived, they
were just in time to put him on complete life support. He
had coded right after beam-up.

Spock found himself drawn back to the sickbay, repeatedly.
It was not logical and it was definitely not his custom to
watch his Captain sleep. Nonetheless, he was compelled to be
there, day followed by night. Spock found himself doing his
shift and then returning to the sickbay. Finally, Piper put
a seat next to his Captain's bed and Spock worked on his
reports at Kirk's bedside, during his off-hours. Kirk
remained comatose. Spock meditated nightly to attempt to
deal with his shameful emotional outburst prior to his
rescue. No other human had survived the coup. Several
Vulcans, and two Andorians were located by their life sign
readings and beamed aboard. The Vulcan Aide de Camp to the
Ambassador detailed how the man had died along with all the
rest of the human members of his staff. The Ambassador had
been killed, horribly, in the first hours of the coup. The
rest of the human entourage had either been slain outright
or died, in hiding, of simple dehydration.

Kirk awoke on the fourth day. Spock was there. The Vulcan
watched as the human struggled up to awareness. "He
continues to struggle, always fighting," He thought. Piper
moved to the Kirk's side and spoke briefly while he checked
the readings on the monitor. He grunted in satisfaction and
without a glance backward, walked out.

"Mr. Spock ?" The human's voice was rough and weak. Piper
walked back in with a sipper of warm liquid. He held it to
the Captain's mouth and told him to sip. When he was
satisfied with his consumption, he pulled the sipper away. 

"Well, Jim, my boy, I don't know how you manage it, but you
have squeaked by again. This time I think you owe your
thanks to Mr. Spock . He found a rather unusual way to get
you some liquid. I am going to let him tell you about it."
Piper turned and looked intently at the Vulcan. "Mr. Spock,
you have five minutes, then I am running you out of here."
The doctor turned and left.

Spock walked up closer to the bedside and looked at his
Captain. "How are you feeling, Captain?"

"Much better than the last time you asked me that question.
I recall preparing myself to die, Mr. Spock. Why am I still
here? How did you find water for me?"

"I did not find any water." Kirk waited for Spock to finish.
"I located another source of liquid." 

"What was that?"

Spock felt an illogical reluctance to tell Kirk the source.
He predicted revulsion and then rejection would follow. He
also knew he had to answer, or Kirk would find out easily
from Dr. Piper. "I used my blood."

Kirk blinked. It was his only reaction. Then, inexplicably
he began to laugh quietly, weakly. Spock waited in total
confusion for the laughter to wearily taper off. Kirk
sensing his confusion, put his hand up towards him. "No. I
am not laughing at you, Spock. That's the greatest gift
anyone has ever given me and I know thank-yous are
illogical. I'm grateful to you for your actions."

"Why did you laugh?" The Vulcan felt completely lost.

"Do you know what vampires are?" Kirk struggled to turn on
his side so he was facing him fully.

"Yes, I am familiar with all of the significant earth myths
from any time after the twentieth century."

"When I was a little kid, I use to have nightmares about
vampires. I would wake up all the time screaming that they
were sucking my blood. One day, my mother told me a story
about a vampire that wanted to see daylight and walk freely
among regular people; he refused to drink blood at all.
Eventually, after great suffering and hunger, he was able to
walk out into the bright sun like any one else and he died a
happy man, many years later. That story ended all of my
nightmares, because I felt sorry for anyone that couldn't
see the sun. Now, I'm the Vampire. I drank your blood, and
the first thing that hit me was whether I would ever see
daylight again.  It seemed funny to me, for some reason."

"I don't understand the reference."

"I'm not sure I do either. But the thought made me laugh
anyway." He closed his eyes briefly in exhaustion.

"You are not disgusted with what I did?"

"Absolutely not," he responded emphatically.  "I am
flattered and a little in awe. Why would I be disgusted that
you saved my life?"

"I am not human and I had you consume my blood. It was my
understanding that humans considered the practice to be
abhorrent."

"I had noticed you weren't human, but I can't say I've
tasted any human blood but my own. Can't say which tastes
better, since I honestly can't remember how you tasted.
Maybe I need another sip to remind me of the flavor. This
Human considers continued existence to be so wonderful, that
even the taste of copper in my mouth can't ruin my
happiness." Kirk smiled. 

Spock shifted uncomfortably. "You are teasing me."

"I'm guilty as charged." Kirk smiled again, now in open
amusement, and the Vulcan felt himself relax in response to
the smile. " Spock, what you did makes me proud to have you
as my First Officer, and I'd like to think,  as my friend.
I'm not ashamed of you for anything you are, or do.
Understand ?" Spock nodded. "Good. " Kirk closed his eyes
briefly in obvious fatigue, then turned to him and Spock
felt drawn towards the hazel eyes. "Can I tell you a secret,
Spock," he asked quietly?

"If you wish."

"I was angry and hurt when you left me alone in the cave. I
have a thing about dying alone and I thought I was going to
die down there. When it happened, I wanted you to be there.
I know that sounds foolish, but I felt it all the same. Even
though I knew why you were doing it; when you left to go to
the shuttle, I felt betrayed. I feel like a complete idiot,
because your act saved us both. Even if you weren't aware of
what I was thinking, I owe you an apology."

Spock felt his stomach tighten. He forced himself to a
semblance of calm. How could he tell this man, after Kirk's
disclosure, the real reason he had left? The truth was, he
had left Kirk alone because he feared the loss of control
that would result if he had to witness the Human's death. In
truth, he ran. He sighed. Kirk deserved the truth. " I did
not want to see you die. I left to avoid having to witness
your pain. I could have taken you with me to the craft and
lain you in there as I worked. I rationalized my behavior by
telling myself that such an act was illogical." Spock waited
for the inevitable outburst. 

Kirk stared at him without expression. "I see. Thank-you for
telling me the truth, Mr. Spock." The human turned away and
looked towards the wall for 1.3 minutes. Spock waited. When
he turned back, Spock prepared himself for Kirk's response.
" It seems we still have much to learn about each other.
Hopefully our next opportunity, won't be so demanding on us
both." 

"I will not leave you again," Spock stated. 

"Yes, you will. You'll leave me." Kirk smiled a crooked
smile. "They all do," He whispered. Spock felt his thoughts
lurch at the pain and disappointment that radiated from the
human. He decided in that instant, that he never wanted to
disappoint this man again. The Human's eyes began to close
and Spock could see he was fighting sleep. He realized Kirk
desired his continued presence, but the human was obviously
exhausted, and Spock had work to do. 

"I must go,"  Spock stated. Kirk's eyes shot open. "I will
stay here for a while longer and then  I will return at the
end of the shift." The human visibly relaxed. Spock stood
quietly and watched as Kirk fell asleep. When he was certain
Kirk was completely asleep, he left... and was back in the
chair at Kirk's bedside, at the end of the shift.











8


11