The Voice
By Numnut
7 Nov 2003

Sounds echoed from the back of the cave, the drip of water, the soft sigh of the breeze blowing over unseen openings. But other than that it was quiet.

Too quiet.

Jim Kirk longed for the sound of a richly timbred voice, quoting equations and possibilities.

But for the moment that voice was silenced, reduced to the faint sound of breath over parched lips as Spock lay fighting for his life on the cavern floor.

It had been so quick. So sudden. Diplomacy turned war. And they had had to flee.

Kirk had ended up carrying his first officer, struggling with his limp weight, his hands slick with green. Spock hadn’t uttered a sound since losing consciousness, hours before - and Kirk missed his voice.

The sound of logic.

The sound of confidence.

The sound of answers to questions he hadn’t even known to ask.

The sound of friendship.

He had been known to silence Spock, the man certainly knew how to over explain a subject, but he had, honestly, never tired of that voice. He had grown over the years to rely on the fact that if he asked, the answer would be there.

But now it wasn’t.

He would have to supply his own.

He had done what first aid he could. Patched up the bleeding Vulcan. Done what he knew needed to be done, and they were safe for the moment. So all he could do was sit and watch.

And think.

At what point had the two of them become inseparable? He scanned over the years in his memory, but could find no defining moment. It had been gradual, a creeping need that neither of them had been aware of until it was too late. They were intertwined. A pair.

It was like they were the two sides of one coin, working together seamlessly, a team, functioning as a whole. And it was the two of them together that had made it through all the challenges they had met – where alone each would have perished.

Kirk stared at an arched eyebrow, not knowing what would happen should they be separated. They could function separately, yes, but the synergy would be lost, and they would be vulnerable. His ship relied on that energy, it fueled the crew with faith, a faith of surviving the unknown. Much would be lost.

And so would he.

So he sat in the semi-darkness, listening to the silence, waiting, hoping.

Praying.

He would hear that voice again.

**********
FIN.