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Characters/Pairings: Spock/Uhura
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything
Summary: Nyota finds out about something Spock neglected to mention...
A/N: Part 2 can be found here
"No thank you," Nyota replied curtly when Christine offered her something to drink.
This is going to be awkward, Christine thought to herself as she sat at the opposite end of the couch.
After an uncomfortable silence, Christine gazed at Nyota earnestly, "I just.. want to say that.. you are my friend, I care about you, and I never meant to hurt you."
Nyota remained unimpressed.
"I never wanted it to be made public what occurred between Spock and me," Nyota winced as Christine said this, "Especially after he and I were assigned to the same ship, and even more so when I realized you two were together." Continuing, she said, "I don't know how on earth you found out about it, but now that you have, I'd like you to understand the circumstances."
At this point, Nyota wasn't sure she wanted to hear the gory details, but she knew that if she didn't sit through this, imagining the possibilities would be torture. "Fine. Please explain," she responded flatly.
"I had some classes with Spock throughout our years at Starfleet. He was the only Vulcan most of the students had ever met." Christine started, "It was so hard for him to relate to those around him, or to be understood. He was so.. alien."
Nyota wondered where this was going.
"It's just that he was so serious all the time, and so blunt,” she continued. "He offended others easily, and they reacted by shunning him, and making fun of him behind his back." Christine's face darkened at the memory. "I don't think that he had any friends for some time."
"At one point, we took a required inter-species history class together, and I was assigned as his project partner. He seemed very unfriendly at first, but after a time, I began to see that he just didn't know how to make small talk," she continued. "I began to admire his intelligence and efficiency, and I also felt that there was something more behind the serious front he put up all the time."
Christine continued carefully, "I also noticed how handsome he was," Nyota cringed as she said this, "So of course, I developed a mild crush on him after a time. That's as close as I got to him for a while, and I would run into him from time to time and chat a little bit about purely academic subjects, but that's as far as it went for some time."
"Then one day, midway through our fourth year" Christine started as she got to the point, "I noticed that there was something wrong with him. He just looked... ill. And less impassive, somehow. As a nursing student, I tried to think of what could be wrong, but I needed more information. It was very startling for me to see him this way."
"So I found out where his dorm room was, and tried to visit him there. He wasn't there when I dropped by, but his roommate was, so I asked him all sorts of questions about Spock. He told me that Spock had been irritable, and seemed... emotional." Nyota's eyes widened with curiosity, "And he'd noticed Spock's hands shaking!"
"What was wrong with him?" Nyota asked, startled.
"Well, that's what I wanted to find out." Christine replied, "Oh, if you knew how much research I had to do on Vulcan physiology.. Fortunately, as a nursing student, I had connections and I knew someone who knew someone who had once gotten access to the Vulcan Science Academy libraries."
Christine asked Nyota, "So, I'm guessing you don't know about Pon Farr, correct?" She shook her head. "I'm not surprised. Vulcans are extremely secretive about their mating practices."
"Mating practices?" Nyota exclaimed. Is this another thing Spock's been keeping from me? she wondered to herself.
"Yes." Christine continued, "Every seven years, Vulcan males go into heat and must take a mate.. or they will die." Nyota was stunned to hear this. "Typically, they are betrothed at age seven to a female, but apparently Spock's 'fiancée' didn't really want to have anything to do with him due to his being half human."
Nyota was familiar with the situation with T'Pring. It seemed racism did not escape even this supposedly advanced species. Wait--how did Christine know about T'Pring?
"Once I knew all the facts," Christine continued, "I went back to Spock's dorm and found him there alone. Apparently, he'd been meditating. He didn't want to be bothered, but I told him I knew what was happening to him. He was extremely embarrassed, but it seemed like his emotional control had broken down considerably, and amazingly enough, I did get him to talk to me. Nyota, he was shaking like a leaf. It was awful. I pulled out my tricorder and found that his hormone levels were dangerously high. It was so frightening. I asked him as gently as I could if he had tried to find a mate, and he explained that his fiancée back on Vulcan wasn't interested in him and that the feeling was mutual. I could tell that he had acted out of a sense of pride, and believed he could weather the situation on his own. I asked him if he'd considered finding someone here, and he said something to the effect of not knowing anyone, of not having any friends."
She continued, "At this point, he became more agitated and asked me to allow him to continue his meditation. I had my doubts, but I allowed him his space. But before I left, I asked him to please contact me once a day to let me know his status, or that I'd come looking for him again."
Nyota let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.
"The next day, he left me a message telling me not to visit him, telling me he did not require my assistance. The day after that, he showed up at my apartment. He looked like hell, much worse than when I'd last seen him."
"I let him in, sat him down, and he put his hands over his face. He simply said to me, 'I cannot... I cannot..'"
Christine paused, continuing softly. "And that was it. He stayed with me for three days straight until he was better again."
Christine stared at Nyota with concern in her eyes, as Nyota looked at the floor, shocked. Nyota was grateful for having been spared the gory details of those three days. She didn't know how to feel. So she said the first thing that came to mind, just to end the silence, "So what happened between you two after that?"
"It was very... uncomfortable for him to have gotten involved with me so intimately," Christine continued carefully, "And, honestly, it was awkward for me, too. By mutual consent, we decided to keep the incident to ourselves. We went to our classes and acted like nothing had happened, and we never spoke of it again until now."
Nyota was numb.
"Nyota," Christine asked, "Please tell me who told you. How did you find out about this?"
"Robert Hassan is here on temporary assignment," she replied.
"Who?"
"His old roommate."
Christine was stunned. Spock's stupid roommate must have noticed that she'd been contacting Spock that week--perhaps the only woman to call on Spock ever--noticed that Spock had left for three days and come back miraculously relaxed, and put two and two together. What an ass, she thought to herself.
Nyota got up to leave.
"Wait.." Christine pleaded with her, "What are you going to do now?"
"I don't know," Nyota closed her eyes, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.
"But.. now that you know what happened, aren't you going to talk to Spock about it?"
"Listen..” Nyota started, “Intellectually, I think I understand what happened here. But Spock should have been willing to discuss it with me. And still. Even if I understand why it happened, knowing that you and he…” Nyota pressed her eyelids closed. “I just need a moment.”
Christine was silent, and Nyota left.
part 4 can be found here.
A/N: I've seen the idea before in a couple of fics that I like (Tag You're It! and Miscommunication, to name two), where Spock spends Pon Farr at the Academy with Nurse Chapel. I was intrigued by this and wanted to explore it further. Typically, she is portrayed as an evil witch bent on getting in between our Favorite Couple. This, in addition to her portrayal in TOS as totally and pathetically love-struck led me to develop an irrational hatred of the Nurse Chapel character. This fiction is my way of dealing with that. I wondered... how would Christine behave if she had more self-respect? Anyway, when this is done I may do a one-off story from her point of view. Perhaps she is more attached to Spock than she lets on here?
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::applauds:: I'm so glad you did this. I don't know why some fanfics love to make the few canon female characters we have so unlikeable.
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Hmmm.... I hadn't thought of it that way, but I believe you are right! ...which is weird, considering fanfiction is mostly written by women.