And This is How I Meet Your Parents?

Jim sighed heavily, wincing at the pain that the motion brought. He really ought to be more careful, yes, but he just wanted to get back to his own quarters and curl up in his own bed. He didn't want to stay in Sickbay. He never wanted to be in Sickbay, but he wanted to be there less when he had an audience.

Spock was sitting up in his bio-bed, leaning against the headboard and staring intently at the screen of his PADD. Next to him, Sarek was laying back in his bio-bed comfortably, eyes closed, while Amanda ran her fingers over the back of his hand.

Jim felt resolutely out of place in the Sarek family reunion, even if it didn't seem to be a family reunion at all.

Bones shushed him so much as he opened his mouth to protest, every time, and even Spock had stopped trying to argue and had asked for his PADD to keep occupied.

It was slightly more than annoying.

Still, Jim drifted off without much complaint. His body hurt too much to move and he had had enough excitement for one day.

When he awoke again, it was dark in Sickbay. He sat up, inwardly groaned at the pain, and wondered just how long he was going to feel unrested due to the stupid wound he had received earlier. Coaxing his tired body to its feet, he stretched and snuck as quietly as he could to the bathroom. What he wouldn't give for a shower right now, a real one, but it was far too painful to think about standing for that long.

He left the confines of the bathroom and was just about to trudge the seven feet back to his bio-bed when he caught the glint of Spock's eyes in the darkness.

"Mr. Spock, what are you doing awake?"

"I find it improbable that I require more sleep than I have already had," Spock replied, his voice lacking any apparent tiredness.

"You need to sleep. That blood transfusion was no walk in the park and the drug that you took wasn't beneficial, either," Jim said, trying to sound stern even though he heard the exhaustion in his own voice. Maybe he could get through this confinement in Sickbay for the next couple of days if all he did was sleep. Starfleet knew that he could use the extra rest.

"Vulcans do not require as much sleep as you do," Spock reminded.

Jim squinted towards the medical monitor above Spock's bio-bed. "Well, I'll give you this: your stats are back to normal."

"Yet Doctor McCoy will not let me leave. I find it most..."

"Irritating?" Jim supplied.

"Irritation is a human emotion, Captain."

Jim laughed quietly, hesitantly sinking onto the edge of Spock's bio-bed. "And, as usual, you don't feel human emotion, do you?"

"Of course not."

Jim's laughter trailed off into a sigh.

"You should return to your bio-bed," Spock said.

"I should, but hang on a minute." Jim looked firmly towards Spock, squinting in the darkness. "I owe you my gratitude. One, for your quick response to my attack and secondly, for your choice in commanding this ship. I know that it had to be... difficult for you-"

"On the contrary, Captain, the decision was an easy one."

"No," Jim interrupted. "It was logical."

Spock's eyebrows furrowed. "Yes."

"Logical isn't always easy," Jim said softly.

Spock met his gaze evenly. He looked away after a moment, directing his gaze towards the other two in the room.

Sarek appeared to be asleep and Amanda had fallen asleep with her head and arms resting on the bio-bed. Their fingertips were brushing each other's, even in unconsciousness.

"My mother stated that if I did not help Sarek, her only option would be to hate me for the rest of her life," Spock said evenly.

Jim frowned, although he kept his gaze firmly on Amanda and Sarek and didn't look back at Spock.

"I made the choice that my loyalty belongs first to you and second to my parents. She did not understand the logic behind the choice and struck me for my decision."

Jim didn't know exactly what to say, so settled for tactful silence. The words that Amanda had spoken about Spock never quite fitting in, never being human but never being Vulcan, either, swirled in his mind. Spock must have been battling those thoughts earlier, when Amanda had asked him to make that decision, and Jim felt remorseful that he had brought it on himself. By device of an Andorian and a punctured lung. What a great Captain he proved to be on occasion.

"My loyalty belongs first to Starfleet. I made that decision eighteen years ago and do not plan on changing my belief anytime in the future. Of this I am positive."

Jim sat silent. Awkward tension seemed to fill the medical bay and he cleared his throat, sitting up a bit straighter.

"I appreciate your sentiment, Mr. Spock. As I told your mother, you are the best officer under my command," he said as passionately as he could.

Spock was silent before shortly inclining his head in a nod.

Jim stretched with a groan, shivering slightly. Even in a setting such as a starship, the medical department always seemed to have a certain chilliness about it. He slowly got to his feet, wincing as he did. "Wonder what Starfleet thinks of all this. The conference can go on as planned, I'm sure, but there's a lot that just happened."

"Dammit, Jim! I told you to stay in bed!"

As if on cue to the lightening of Spock and Jim's conversation, Doctor McCoy powered on lights to fifty percent, rounded the corner of the room and gripped Jim's arm tightly.

"Get back in bed, now. Spock, you could at least act like you're asleep so I don't sedate you," McCoy growled, gently pushing Jim back into his own bed.

Jim fell into the blankets gratefully, but he cast a grin at Spock through the half-light of the medical bay. "He caught us."

"It would seem so, Captain," Spock replied, using the tone of voice that was the closest that he ever got to sounded amused. His eyebrows were raised in their customary closest-reaction-to-humour arch as he watched Jim across the medical bay.

"Yes, I did. Now both of you, go to sleep before I sedate you!"

"Is that a threat?" Jim teased, pulling the pillow close.

"No, Jim. That's a promise," McCoy said.

Jim smiled, closing his eyes. He could practically hear Bones rolling his own.

"You two are like children. Honestly, Spock, your parents are sleeping! You could at least try to stay quiet."

"My parents are quite comfortable in their states. If we had disturbed them, I would be aware of the knowledge," Spock said.

"Less talk, more resting. I will sedate you, Spock," Bones said seriously. If he was trying to be threatening, it was lost on Spock.

"I do not need the assistance of your beads and rattles, doctor," Spock replied, emotionless as ever.

"Then go to sleep!" McCoy demanded.

Jim's smile widened. He wanted to pry his tired eyes open so he could continue the conversation, watch the two banter, but he felt too exhausted. Soon, he was drifting into a blissful sleep to the sound of Bones muttering something about green-blooded hobgoblins and disobedient Captains.

I love this episode so, so much. My list of Top Five TOS Episodes is going to have to stretch to Top Ten. And given that they all ended up in Sickbay at the end of the episode, it just made for fanfiction.

I do not own Star Trek. Thank you!