+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Welcome to Hypatia's Story Archive | | http://hypatia.slashcity.org/slash/ | | Copyright Notice and Disclaimer | | http://hypatia.slashcity.org/slash/notice.html | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ TOS/TNG Captain's Discretion [PG-13] (P, C, K/S, K/f implied) 1/1 Title: Captain's Discretion Author: Hypatia Kosh Series: TOS/TNG Featuring: P, C Pairing: K/S, K/f implied Rating: PG-13 Summary: Picard tells Crusher a tale from Spock's life with Kirk, post "Unification." Thanks to Datalaur for advice on the coding. Not that I took it. (I kept the K/f in there because I don't want anyone to read this looking for slash and get halfway through and yell "what the **** is this?" and then go flame me.) So if anyone is unhappy with the coding, it's all me. C A P T A I N ' S D I S C R E T I O N "Captain Kirk." Jean-Luc smiled a mysterious smile. "Well? What is it?" The captain laughed. "I really shouldn't be telling you this, Beverly, but some stories are too good to keep to one's self." --//-- It was the day after Picard and Data's return from their most perilous (and ineffectual) mission to "retrieve" Ambassador Spock from the Romulan homeworld when Dr. Crusher decided it was time to get the details -- all of them. Call it intuition or keen observation, but she was certain there was something Jean-Luc hadn't told the others, but was dying to confide. She was not disappointed. --//-- "A mind meld?" First Sarek, now Spock. Jean-Luc was certainly racking up an impressive pedigree. "So what was it like?" "Certainly nothing like the one with Sarek, but of course Sarek was quite ill at the time. Spock is certainly much more . . . human. "It didn't last very long, but it was intense. Memories from the meld have been coming back to me in bits and pieces over the last few days." So the captain of the Enterprise D settled in to talk about the meld with his friend, the ever-insightful doctor, and his insights into Spock's character; as much as he could, he felt, without violating Spock's privacy. Inevitably, Beverly asked about Captain Kirk. --//-- "Ah, yes. Captain Kirk." Jean-Luc smiled a mysterious smile. "Well?" prompted the Doctor, "what is it?" "Well there was this--" He suddenly stopped himself and cleared his throat. Then, unable to help himself, the captain laughed. "I really shouldn't be telling you this, Beverly, but some stories are too good to keep to one's self." "Well, with an introduction like that you're going to have to spill it," stated the doctor, smiling. "I see I've talked myself into this one," Picard conceded. "I'm sure you know of Captain Kirk's reputation as a ladies' man," he began. "Yes, but I've also heard that he and Captain Spock were more than just close friends." "I was curious about that myself." He paused for a moment, considering his words. "In a mind meld, two consciousnesses become one. To *consider* a question is to have it *answered*. If I had thought to school my thoughts better, it wouldn't have come up, but," "but?" "It turns out -- they're both true." "Both! How did Kirk manage that?" "It turns out they had a 'gentlemen's agreement.'" Beverly stared, incredulous. "Spock told me, eu, Spock told *Kirk* that he could do what he pleased, as long as it didn't intrude on the relationship between the two of them." "Why would he do that?" "Apparently," Picard answered, unconsciously steepling his fingers in front of him, "he and Captain Kirk had different . . . needs, and Spock didn't want to be bothered with . . . meeting those 'needs.' There was only one stipulation. Kirk was not to bring home an STD, *or else*." "What was the 'or else?'" asked the Doctor, amused. "I don't think it was ever spelled out because, incredible as it seems, Kirk actually managed not to do it. But there was one close call." Picard paused and put his hand to his chin. "This, of course, was before the current regulations were put into place about sexual encounters with aliens." "Given Kirk's reputation, I'd say those regs were probably written *for* him." "That's doubtful," opined the captain, though he was smiling. "So, what was this 'close call,' dare I ask?" "Well," began the Captain, warming to his tale, "it must have been some time in the 2280's. The Enterprise was sent to Clostridium Novyi on a diplomatic mission to convince the Merkathians to join the Federation. It seems Captain Kirk took it upon himself to get to know one of the Merkathian delegates on a more, shall we say, *personal* level." "I think I can already see the punchline to this one," said the Doctor. "But go ahead." "For some reason, Spock insisted that Kirk get himself checked out in sickbay when they returned to the ship. There were stories circulating even then about Merkathian women and he didn't want to take any chances. I have this *impression* of a memory: Kirk is saying, 'you're crazy, Spock, I know what I'm doing, I used protection.'" "Typical male," Beverly commented *sotto voce*. "Pardon?" "Nothing." "So, apparently Kirk did go see the doctor after all, and they found signs of this gangrenous bacteria." "It's not actually gangrene, it's Necrotizing fasciitis. It's usually caused by streptococcus bacteria, but in this case it's caused by a very nasty bacterium which the Merkathians carry called Spirulum necrominos." "Well, whatever it's called, left untreated it would have begun to eat away at his flesh. You can imagine how Kirk felt after that." "All this from the mind meld?" "Yes." Picard smiled. "The memory flashed by very rapidly." "Did you learn what Spock thought of all this?" "Oh yes. Since nothing ill came of the incident, he found it rather amusing." Beverly took that in for a moment. "I don't know whether to be impressed or feel sorry for him. Thirty years with James T. Kirk." "I don't think *he* was sorry. Actually, I got the impression that Spock was in some ways living vicariously through his more *adventuresome* mate." Beverly smiled. "Now that's the sort of thing you don't read in the history books." "No," the Captain chuckled, "it's not." E N D