Title: A Plan in Motion (3/3)
Author: klmeri
Fandom: Star Trek AOS
Pairing: Kirk/Spock/McCoy
Summary: Unbeknownst to the men of the Enterprise, the women are plotting.
Previous Parts: 1 | 2
A/N: First, I’ve elevated the rank of Chapel here a little early. In TOS, she starts out as an ensign and it isn’t until TAS that she becomes a lieutenant. Second, the podfic for Of Sacraments and War is now available! Go here to download.

“Nyota, it is a pleasure to speak with you again.”

“And you, Selek,” Nyota Uhura says in turn. “Thank you for your time. Please allow me to introduce two colleagues of mine. This is Lieutenant Christine Chapel,” she indicates the woman on her left then the one on the right, “and Yeoman Janice Rand.”

The Vulcan on the computer screen inclines his head.

Janice leans forward, asking curiously, “Ambassador, did you know us in your universe? Did we serve aboard the Enterprise too?”

“The answer is yes to both of those questions, Miss Rand. I find it remarkable yet unsurprising to discover that each of you share in a similar destiny. You were invaluable to the success of the ship and its crew in my universe, and so it is only logical you shall be in this universe.”

Christine flushes and whispers to Nyota, “He’s not quite like our Spock, is he?”

“He’s charming,” her friend answers.

Janice adds, “Like Jim.”

“It has been said to me on numerous occasions that my long acquaintance with James T. Kirk had an unexpected effect on my manner. I would not entirely disagree. I am…” The Vulcan pauses as if searching for the proper word. “…not the same in many ways.”

Nyota recognizes an opening when she sees one. “Do you have any regrets?”

“Please clarify.”

“You said knowing Kirk changed you. Have you ever had a reason to regret that?”

The Vulcan steeples his fingers, seeming to give the question serious thought. At last, he says, “There was a time I believed human friendship came at the cost of who I was. In the end I realized such was not the case. Because of it I learned to accept myself as a child of two worlds without the sacrifice of either. For this gift, I will always be indebted to them.”

Christine’s hands spasm in her lap. “Them?”

“While there were several individuals in my lifetime whom I considered a friend, only two were t’hy’la.”

Nyota draws in a breath, knowing enough of the Vulcan language to understand what distinguished the word. T’hy’la is family. “Kirk,” she guesses, “and… McCoy?”

The Vulcan nods.

“They mean a lot to each other in this universe too,” she tells him. “Actually, that’s why we called you.”

Spock lifts an eyebrow. “I see. What is it that you wish of me?”

The women exchange a look.

Nyota takes the lead again. “Is it possible that you—I mean, our version of you—could love one of them?”

“He is his own person. I cannot speak for him. However, if I have understood correctly why it is that you have asked me this question, I will tell you this: in any universe, I should hope to care for both of them a great deal.”

“I thought so,” Nyota says, sounding satisfied. “So… how willing are you to pass this message along to them?”

In response, the Vulcan raises his eyebrows.

~~~

Leonard wakes up feeling like he’s been in a shuttle collision. It only makes sense, then, to burrow himself farther under the covers and will himself to pass on from this life.

“Leonard?”

A pillow muffles Leonard’s groan.

“Leonard, I know you are awake.”

Of course. Fate would make it so that he can’t die until he has been lectured by his Vulcan boyfriend.

The bed sheet is lifted away from his head. Leonard gropes for it blindly, unwilling to remove his face from his pillow. “Nuuugh,” he complains, “give it back.”

Spock, the bastard, tells him instead, “You cannot stay in bed any longer,” and depresses a hypospray against his arm.

The solution from the hypospray works too well. Within a minute, Leonard’s head doesn’t hurt, his stomach isn’t churning, and his limbs seem to have reattached themselves. He rolls over, hating the fact he is so damn good at his job to have invented the particularly effective cocktail.

Spock casts a shadow over him from the side of the bed. “I take it you are feeling better.”

“Damn you, I wanted to sleep.”

“You have slept, Leonard. Now it is time for you to be productive.”

Leonard draws the covers up to his chin and closes his eyes.

Spock makes that soft sound which is the Vulcan equivalent of a sigh.

If he can’t sleep, then he can at least annoy Spock a little first, Leonard thinks, reminding himself not to smile. To his surprise, the bed sinks down on one side. Leonard opens his eyes when fingers ghost across his skin.

“I do find you exasperating at times,” Spock says. “Tell me, should I find a suitable excuse so that you may remain here?”

Leonard answers promptly with “Yes.”

“Why?”

He catches Spock’s hand. “Because you love me.”

“I do love you,” the Vulcan agrees, “but I am not certain this means I should encourage your behavior.”

“You’d let Jim get away with murder, Spock. Maybe I want to be treated the same.”

“Do I treat you differently?” Spock grows momentarily quiet, an indication that he is giving this notion some thought. “I do try to appease you both.”

Leonard brings the back of Spock’s hand to his mouth and brushes his lips against it. “Darlin’, I’m not really complaining. We both know Jim has a tendency to be less mature, and so sometimes letting him have his way is like letting a child snitch a cookie from the cookie jar while your back is turned.” He sits up. “You can hold me to higher standards. I don’t mind.”

Spock shifts his hand to cup the side of Leonard’s face. For a long moment they simply enjoy the contact without words.

Eventually Spock withdraws. “I am to escort you to a private meal in Jim’s quarters now that you are awake.”

Spock has won. Leonard sighs with mock-exasperation. “All right, I guess I can’t turn down food. Just let me have a moment to put myself together ‘fore we go.” He pauses in the act of sliding off the side of the bed to turn back to Spock. “You didn’t let him light any candles, did you?”

“Negative. There are limits to even a Vulcan’s generosity.”

The corner of Leonard’s mouth tips upward as he abruptly he leans forward to pull Spock close enough to place a kiss on his mouth. He lets go of Spock as quickly as he caught him. “Don’t ever change, hobgoblin.”

Spock watches Leonard cross the cabin to the bathroom, one of his eyebrows lifted.

~~~

There is a quiet lull in conversation, during which Jim’s hand creeps along Leonard’s thigh under the table. The other man has yet to brush aside although he seems interested only in his plate of food. Jim takes this as a personal challenge. Just when he is about to slide that hand to a more enticing spot, his personal computer lets him know he has an incoming transmission.

“Saved by the bell,” remarks Leonard, dry as ever. “Better take your other hand out from under Spock’s shirt too.”

Spock’s lightly green-tinted face flushes further.

“How can you be this grumpy when I’m trying to seduce you, Bones?” Jim complains as he stands up.

“Not everybody appreciates being groped while they’re eating, kid.”

“Cranky old man.”

“Infant.”

Jim has it in his mind to dismiss the transmission (why didn’t he have the sense to shut down the system to begin with, since there’s nothing worse than being interrupted while he is in the act of wooing?) until he sees where it is coming from. He drops down into the chair at his desk and activates the screen with a cheerful “Spock!” From the corner of his eye, he sees his two companions come to attention.

“Jim,” the Vulcan with a dusting of grey in his hair greets him. “I am sorry for the unscheduled communication. I hope this is not an inappropriate time to speak with you.”

“No, it’s fine,” Jim tells him, waving away an unnecessary apology. He is more than pleased that his friend thought to call him. “I was just having some food.”

“Ah. In that case, I—” The Vulcan stops mid-sentence, turning his head slightly away from Jim to say, “Hello, Spock.”

“Hello, Ambassador,” replies Jim’s Spock, who is now standing just behind the desk chair in parade rest. “Are you well?”

“Yes, I am. Thank you for asking.”

Amused, Jim wonders if either Spock realizes their conversation to any outsider would seem like a stiff-legged display of dominance. At least, on the younger Vulcan’s behalf it does. No doubt his older counterpart is as equally amused as Jim. Even Leonard had once called it endearing, though he had said after, “There’s no point in letting him know we think he’s little bit jealous, Jim. It’d wound that non-existent pride of his, and he’ll pout for days.”

Jim realizes with a start that both Spocks are looking at him expectantly. “Did I miss something?”

“Nope,” Leonard replies, having arrived by stealth to stand at his opposite shoulder. Leonard places a hand there. “So, Selek—”

How funny, Jim thinks, that Bones still refuses to call him Spock. It isn’t that confusing.

“—Spock and I can hightail it outta here if you need to speak to Jim.”

“It is fortunate, actually, that both of you are present, Leonard—ah, forgive me, Dr. McCoy,” the Vulcan amends. There is a glint in his eyes that means he might have used McCoy’s first name on purpose to watch the other Spock bristle.

“Why’s that?” Jim wants to know.

“I would propose a matter which concerns the three of you. At this juncture, I assume it is too earlier to expect that you have informed others of the… change in your relationship.”

“We’re not waving a banner up and down the halls if that’s what you’re getting at,” says Leonard.

“Bones,” Jim chastises him.

“What?” grumps the doctor.

Jim reaches up to pat the hand on his shoulder. He knows that Leonard feels embarrassed that the elder Vulcan is aware of their relationship in the first place. But where else could Jim have turned in order to figure out how to win Spock over? It’s not his fault that the species is too smart for their own good. Of course, he honestly hadn’t expected to receive advice on Spock and Bones at the same time—but Jim isn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The Vulcan folds his hand in front of him, which makes him appear wiser than he already is. “Perhaps it is time you were less discreet.”

That startles Jim. “What’s happened?” he asks as Spock replies, “That is not your decision to make, Ambassador.”

“It is not a decision or an order,” the oldest informs the youngest. “It is a suggestion, which of course you are at liberty to dismiss.” To Jim he says, “Do not be concerned, Jim. While I cannot reveal the source whereby I formed my opinion, you may trust that the source is valid.”

“I trust you,” Jim says, “so that’s good enough for me. Spock and Bones trust you too.”

“Speak for yourself, Jim!”

“Don’t mind Bones. He’s being ornery out of habit.”

“In every universe, it is Dr. McCoy whom I believe shall always remain the least changed.”

Leonard looks to the Vulcan standing next to him. “Did you just insult me?”

“I did not.”

“You, him—same difference. You’d better not insult me again, Spock.”

Jim presses his lips together hard in order to keep from laughing out loud. Once the inclination under control, he asks mostly out of curiosity, “Do you really think it would serve us better to come forward?”

“There are those on your ship who will benefit from knowing. I explained to you that my relationship with your counterparts was platonic but regardless our friendship still had a strong effect on the crew. When there was a lack of harmony between us, the collective morale fared no better.”

“It was probably like watching mom and dad fight,” Leonard mutters.

“An adept observation, Doctor. Thus, the reasoning behind my suggestion: I suspect that at the moment you are attempting to discourage rumors, which implies that you would be less responsive to a matter regarding your companions than in the past. Have you considered that this may be a cause of concern to others?”

That niggles at Jim. His brows furrow as he tries to work it out. When he glances up at Spock, Spock has a similar expression of concentration.

“People are worried?” Leonard sounds incredulous. “Who?”

The Vulcan on the screen simply looks at Leonard.

Leonard’s fingers tighten on Jim’s shoulder. “Okay, fine. Say it’s true—that there are some officers on this ship who don’t like it when Jim, Spock, and I aren’t close enough to be in each other’s back pockets. But that doesn’t mean they would accept the idea of us being together. I don’t see how you could possibly think your conclusion is logical unless…” Leonard suddenly blanches.

Jim lifts up slightly in his seat to take Leonard’s hand in concern. “Bones?”

It is Spock who finishes the thought on Leonard’s behalf. “Unless someone has spoken directly to the Ambassador about us.” His dark eyes stay fixed on the screen as if he can discern the truth from a lie by merely staring at his counterpart.

“Does the notion disturb you?” Spock is asked.

“Wait a minute,” Jim interrupts before the Vulcan can give a sharp reply he might later regret. “You said ‘a matter regarding your companions’, Spock. Were you referring to an instance in particular?” He voices his suspicion, “Does it have something to do with what happened to Bones?”

Both Vulcans look at him inquisitively. Leonard does too.

“What are you talking about, Jim?”

“Think about it, Bones. Nothing weird has been going on these last few weeks with the exception of yesterday. Yesterday, you disappeared.” Jim turns to him. “Frankly that did concern me. You never did say where you were.”

“Engineering,” Leonard replies.

“Was it necessary for you to be in Engineering yesterday morning, Leonard?” Spock wants to know.

“Of course not. I got tricked into it… or something,” Leonard tells him, seeming slightly confused himself. “I don’t know. I was just there. It took forever to get out, too.”

Jim feels like he has to ask. “Do you visit that department often?”

Leonard pulls his hand away. “Didn’t you just hear what I said, kid? I didn’t want to be there! I—wait, what happened to Selek?”

The three of them turn back to the screen—which has gone dark. Sometime during their discussion about the impromptu visit to Engineering, the Vulcan had quietly ended the communication. There is a message box at the bottom of the screen. Jim maximizes it.

It reads: It seems you now have all which you need to move forward. Live long and prosper.

“That mysterious old bastard,” Leonard snarls. “I can’t believe he cut us off like that!”

“Indeed,” echoes Spock.

“Everything we need…” Jim murmurs thoughtfully, ignoring their complaints. “Gentlemen, I think I know what he means.” Standing up from his chair, he claps a hand to either of their shoulders. “We need to catch ourselves a few misguided officers.”

“I’m feelin’ kinda misguided myself right now, Jim.”

“To whom do you refer, Captain?”

Jim gives Leonard and Spock a thin smile. “I don’t know, but I think we start with Rand.”

~~~

Janice has a little extra time to fix her hair before starting her shift because she couldn’t sleep very well the night following the conversation with Ambassador Selek. He hadn’t exactly said that he would help them, only remarking that there was something he could say to Kirk which would ‘enlighten matters for their Captain.’

That had sounded somewhat suspicious to her, but Nyota didn’t seem bothered. In fact, the woman had thanked the Vulcan, indicating she trusted him to do what was best.

Janice still can’t shake the feeling of an odd undercurrent going on that she isn’t fully aware of. She also cannot believe the Vulcan hadn’t looked askance at them once or asked them why they were making someone else’s love affair their business. In a way, she is glad for that because she doesn’t want to be chastised for meddling.

Having situated her hair to her liking, she exits her quarters and goes in search of the very man whose business is her job. She finds him in the Ready Room, looking over reports while Mr. Spock oversees the Bridge. With her usual cheery manner, she replicates him fresh coffee and takes it to the long table he uses for his work desk.

“Good morning, Captain!”

“Good morning, Janice.” Kirk smiles at her, but his eyes light up once he sees the coffee. “Have I told you lately what a wonderful person you are?”

“I could stand to hear it more often,” she teases, placing the mug into his hand.

“This is great,” he says after taking a sip of his coffee, “just what I needed. You know…” He puts the mug aside and cracks his neck. “If someone had told me at the Academy about the amount of paperwork that came with this job, I might have declined it.”

“That’s a bald-faced lie, sir,” Janice replies. “You love being a captain, and we all know it.”

“I guess I enjoy it enough to put up with this, this…” He grimaces at the padds in front of him, not bothering to finish his sentence.

Janice takes pity on him. “I’ll help. It’s my job after all.”

“You can’t sign them for me.”

“No, but I can tell you which ones need signatures and which ones need to be read through first. Won’t that help?”

He nods, looking relieved. “I would appreciate that, Yeoman.”

She takes a seat near him. “Certainly, sir.”

He goes back to the report he had been reading prior to her entrance, and she reaches for a padd in the stack he hasn’t touched.

~~~

Jim almost feels bad. He likes Janice a lot. In fact, right now, he kind of loves her.

But he has to know what part she played in Bones’ trip to Engineering. ‘Kidnapping’, Leonard had decided to call it, which Spock then pointed out was a bit extreme to be an accurate description.

“You weren’t the one held hostage by a gaggle of women,” the doctor had retorted.

Remembering that argument tickles Jim. He has this really awful desire to watch Leonard and Spock bicker with each other on a regular basis. Maybe that’s part of the reason why he loves them so much. They entertain him.

He clears his throat as he picks up another padd deemed as Signature Only by his yeoman. “Would it be awkward if I asked you a personal question, Janice?” he inquires.

“You can ask me anything,” she says. “I just might not answer.”

Smart girl. He looks down at the report, fumbling the padd a little as if he’s nervous. “How would you feel if you found out a commanding officer was having… relations with a subordinate?”

He sees her freeze out of the corner of his eye.

Then Janice turns to face him. “Sir, if this is leading to a proposition…”

He drops the padd and throws out his hands. “NO! I mean, ah, no, no, no, it’s nothing like that.” His uncomfortable laugh isn’t at all feigned.

The woman stares at him. “I… think I’m insulted.”

Oh shit. “Sorry,” Jim apologizes. “It’s not that you aren’t attractive, because you are, definitely you are, but—” Shit all over again. “—I would have to say my interests already lie elsewhere. I apologize, Yeoman, if I offended you in any way.” Thank God he can fall back on formalities!

But oddly Janice sits back in her chair, crossing her arms, looking sly in a way Jim hadn’t expected.

“Who are you interested in?” she wants to know.

Jim looks left and right.

“Captain,” his yeoman stresses, “I wouldn’t think you asked me an idle question. Since you’re as high-ranking as they come on this ship, which subordinate are you having—or plan on having—sex with?”

Now he’s very uncomfortable. How did she manage to turn his own plan on him? “It’s not like that.”

She purses her mouth, looking thoughtful. “Is it… that new transfer to Science? Marlena?”

“Who?”

“Maybe it’s our pretty ship psychologist, Helen Noel.”

“Forget I said anything,” Jim pleads.

Janice makes a face. “Tell me it’s not Uhura.”

“Do I look like I want to die?” says Jim. “She’ll serve my balls for breakfast.”

“Good, because I would do it if she didn’t.”

Jim thinks he must be perverse to feel this relieved. “I think we can end the conversation here, Miss Rand.” He signs the report in front of him hastily and holds out a hand for the next one, hoping to get her focused on the ship’s business again.

Rand is slow to hand over the next padd. “You know,” the woman comments too idly, “if you really are interested in someone, sir, that’s not a bad thing.”

“I know,” he replies.

“As long as Command doesn’t find out before you have a chance to tell them.”

He winces. “I know.”

“Otherwise…” Janice shrugs. “It’s not a big deal. No one thought ill of Mr. Spock and Lieutenant Uhura when they were together. I doubt anyone would think ill of you either.”

“That’s good to know,” Jim tells her, then promptly pretends to be hearing-impaired for the duration of the next hour.

~~~

“I wonder how Jim fared,” Leonard remarks to the Vulcan sitting in front of his desk. “Did he look any different to you on the Bridge? Pleased with himself, maybe?”

“He generally appears pleased,” Spock replies. “I did notice, however, that he seemed uncomfortable at one point when Yeoman Rand approached him with a container of coffee.”

“It didn’t go as planned then.” Leonard leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “I coulda told him it wouldn’t. If Rand’s at all interested in what’s going on between you, Jim, and me, then she’d take an inch and run a mile with it.”

“Then I assume you did not speak with Nurse Chapel?”

“Heck no!” Leonard bursts out. “I’m not a stupid man!” Then he snorts. “Besides, I know she was in on it anyway. Otherwise I wouldn’t have ended up in that turbolift bound for Hell.”

Spock just looks at him.

Leonard amends, “Engineering.”

The Vulcan retrieves his cup of tea from the corner of Leonard’s desk and takes a sip.

“What’s your plan?” Leonard asks him, knowing what Spock’s silence means.

“It is a simple one, Dr. McCoy: we tell them.”

“So the Ambassador was right after all?”

Spock’s eyebrows draw together. “The Ambassador specified nothing. He made a suggestion.”

“He was right,” Leonard insists, fighting to keep his expression neutral as Spock’s nostrils flare ever-so-slightly. “Look at it this way, Spock,” he teases, “you two are practically the same person. If he gets credit, so do you.”

Apparently that is too much insult for the Vulcan to bear. Spock stands up, abandoning his tea.

Leonard catches him before he gets to the door. “Now, darlin’, I didn’t mean it,” he soothes.

“You were trying to provoke me.”

“Only ’cause it’s fun.”

“I see no ‘fun’ in your actions.”

“No?” questions Leonard. “Then how about in this?” He pulls the Vulcan in close to press their lips together.

Because they are thus occupied, neither of them has time to react when the door to his office unexpectedly opens. His Head Nurse, Christine Chapel, gapes at them from the other side of the threshold.

Leonard jerks away from Spock and gapes back at her, at a loss of what to say.

“Um,” she mutters, clearly searching for words too. “I’ll… come back another time.”

The door slides shut.

Leonard looks to Spock, who stares back.

“Well, I guess an announcement won’t be necessary now.”

“Indeed,” murmurs his partner, whose skin is a healthy green.

Leonard lifts a hand and brushes the back of his knuckles lightly against Spock’s cheek. “Are you upset?”

“Not particularly,” Spock replies. He captures Leonard’s hand and lowers it. “If you will excuse me, I think Jim should be informed.”

Leonard nods and steps back, allowing Spock to leave.

It turns out that Jim’s only response is to shake his head and say, “Let’s hope this is the end of it, because I think I underestimated what we’re up against!”

~~~

Janice raises her glass to her two friends. “We did it!” she toasts.

The three women down their drinks.

“But did we really do it?” Christine wants to know as she refills each of their glasses from a decanter. “Just because Leonard and Spock are… involved doesn’t mean Jim is too.”

Nyota sips at her second drink. “Two out of three isn’t bad.”

“Hey, don’t forget that Kirk is ‘interested’!” Janice inserts. “I’d have run him down on the details but he looked close to hiding under the table.”

“Yes, the Ambassador did good,” Nyota beams. “We should send him a gift basket to say thank you.”

“How about a holopic of the boys shacking up?” the nurse suggests.

They break out into laughter. A group of ensigns at the opposite corner of the bar glance in their way. Nyota turns to smile widely at them. They hunker down and lower their heads.

“I’m thinking,” she begins, “that this mission is close to completion, ladies—and that makes it somewhat boring for me. Who’s next?”

Christine puts her chin into her hand. “Mmm, good question.”

“Sulu,” Janice offers between mouthfuls of her drink. “He likes his plants too much.”

“Not more than Chekov surely,” Nyota counters before her expression slowly starts to brighten. “You know, that’s a great idea, Jan. Chekov is so cute. Too cute to stay on the market for long without landing into trouble. We need to do something about that.”

Christine tilts her head. “So that’s it for Kirk, Spock, and McCoy?”

“Until I have to start worrying about my ex again,” the dark-haired woman replies. “But if he’s already to the stage of letting McCoy kiss him, he’ll be okay for a while.”

“Well, I still want proof,” complains Janice. “Kirk’s stupid enough to let the other two love each other without thinking he should have any part in it.”

“Oh, pining,” Christine grimaces, “I hate that.”

“Exactly.”

Nyota straightens in her seat. “Then it’s settled! Janice, stay on the trio situation until they’ve said wedding vows. Chris and I will lay the groundwork for Sulu and Chekov.” With a decisive nod, she lifts her glass in a second toast. “We make a good team. To us!”

“To us!” Rand and Chapel cheer, raising their glasses in agreement.

-Fini

Related Posts:

• A Plan in Motion (2/3) – from March 11, 2014
• A Plan in Motion (1/3) – from February 27, 2014

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