Spock tried, too

Rerun

Christine was headed to Sick Bay when she saw a familiar pair of pointy ears and a familiar stride headed her way in a golden jacket. She could see the green tint of skin first then the pair of brown eyes. The hollow cheeks. All the other star fleet officers became background noise. Face less to her. It was like her and that damn, mysterious tall but lanky man were the only ones in the universe. It had been twenty-four hours since the Enterprise had gone into back space. Twenty hours since Spock made the ship wide announcement regarding the mission of the ship and elaborated, it had been more of a: "Captain Decker has been put through some inconvenience. Under my command, the Enterprise will retrieve the surviving colonists and physicians from Hellgaurd and then return to Earth to face the impending charges. Captain Spock out." kind of announcement.

"Mr Spock!" Christine said. Spock had his hands locked behind his back when he stepped out of a ensign's way. She almost swore that his face turned into one of pleased recognition. But that could be her imagination trying to personify a being who normally didn't express emotions all the time. Back in the day, Spock did express his emotions in a manner that could be compared to a human being careful with how they were expressed. He looked stiff.

"Christine," Spock said, as she approached him. "it is pleasant to see you again."

"Same to you," Christine said. "I missed you."

Spock slightly tilted his head, almost in disbelief.

"Just seeing you, again, Mr Spock," Christine said. "I didn't get the chance to say . . . but . . . I grieve with thee."

"It has been a rough period in my life," Spock said. "how is your mate?"

"T'Pring has all ready found a starship that allows children in space," Christine said. "she is chilling out studying a venus fly trap hybrid with a Cardassian Venus Fly Trap to see how similar they are to each other."

"That is a intriguing concept," Spock said.

"Yes," Christine said. "how have you been?"

"Pleasant," Spock said.

"You don't sound like you believe it," Christine said, folding her arms.

"Quite illogical that I sound this way," Spock said. "I thought my human half was burned away."

"But it wasn't," Christine said.

"I understand the concept of wack-a-mole more than I did before," Spock said. "and you?"

"Serving aboard, back home again, feels wonderful," Christine said. "but I sometimes feel like. . ." she pause, being considerate. "Jim will come right in and start talking to me. Like he never died."

"I understand," Spock said.

"But you are here," Christine said. "so he is still here."

"In spirit," Spock said. He couldn't say that Jim was with him because if they found out--holySurakhelpme.

"Yes, in spirit," Christine agreed.

"He never left," Spock said.

"You still feel him?" Christine said.

"From time to time," Spock said. "old habits die hard."

"Mr Spock. . ." Christine said. "I. . ." She cleared her throat. "I hope you found happiness in your life again."

"As to you," Spock said.

She sadly smiled back at the Vulcan then went past him. Christine's shift had just started. She had a strange feeling lingering in her gut regarding Spock. It was unusual. She made her way past several officers until she came into sick bay where the doors opened before her eyes. A ensign had her leg wrapped by several layers of fabric while playing with what to be a small teddy bear enjoying herself. Stone's sick bay was full of ensigns who had either gotten themselves hurt by accident or did it to be around the doctor. She understood why the ensigns were here. Doctor Stone was a attractive man with muscles that normally would be seen on a security officer.