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spacedogfromspace) wrote2025-03-22 08:23 pm
[Fanfic] Twenty Credits (K/S Spring Fever 2025)
Twenty Credits
K/S Spring Fever 2025
Nyota doesn't think Kirk and Spock will last. Hikaru disagrees. A bet is made.
Fandom(s): Star Trek AOS
Character(s): Nyota Uhura, Hikaru Sulu, James T Kirk, Spock
Tags: Spirk, Outsider POV, Canon Character Undeath
Rating: Teen+
Content Warnings: Major Character Death
Word Count: 1023
Type: Oneshot, Standalone
Collection: K/S Spring Fever 2025
Written for K/S Spring Fever 2025 for a_most_Beloved_fool
Nyota did a spit take.
"What do you mean Kirk and Spock are dating?" She hissed in a half shout, half whisper across the table at Hikaru. They were in the mess hall, and she didn't want to shout this kind of thing out where anyone could hear it, so a whisper shout would have to do.
Hikaru shrugged. "I mean that they're in a relationship. You know, when two people—"
"I know what dating is, Hikaru," Nyota said, rolling her eyes. "Are you being serious? This is a joke, isn't it. This is a prank, and Chekov is around here somewhere watching me freak out..." She turned in her chair, scanning the room. Pavel was nowhere to be found.
"No, I'm being serious," Hikaru said. "I caught them smooching in a turbo-lift. Had to pretend I didn't notice."
Nyota shook her head in disbelief. "I just can't wrap my head around Spock going with someone like Kirk, you know?"
"I dunno," Hikaru said thoughtfully. "Something about them seems to work. You know how they are on the bridge. Always finishing each others' sentences."
"Yeah, but Spock is so serious," Nyota said. "And Jim is..."
"Jim?"
"Exactly." She sighed. "Not gonna lie, I don't think this'll last all that long. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but Spock beat the shit out of Jim just last month. Those two hated each other."
"And now they don't," Hikaru shrugged. "I think we should be happy that our captain is getting along with his first. It was really awkward when they were at each other's throats all the time."
"Well, yes," Nyota said apprehensively. "But imagine how awful it will be when they break up."
"If they break up," Hikaru corrected.
"I don't mean to be a pessimist, but I think I'll place my bets on when."
"You know what, I'll take that bet," Hikaru said. "Twenty credits for that one arcade near the Academy?"
Nyota laughed. "I haven't been there in ages."
"But you still have some credits," Hikaru said. "We all do."
"Yeah, I do," Nyota admitted. "Alright, twenty credits it is."
Nyota really didn't seriously believe that the whole Kirk-and-Spock thing would last. She really thought it was just a casual fling. She changed her mind when Jim died.
Spock had been upset when his mother died and his planet was destroyed. He didn't show it, but he was upset. She was good enough friends with him that she could tell how much it tormented him. Which was why Spock's pure, unconstrained rage at Jim's death surprised her so much. Could one man really be worth more to him than a planet?
Nyota was mad too. Jim shouldn't have had to die. And it was easy to determine who was to blame for making his sacrifice needed.
"Go get him," Nyota told Spock as he stormed to the transporter room.
When Leonard found a way to possibly save Jim— a slim hope, but a hope none the less —Nyota beamed down into a battle zone to try and stop Spock from outright killing Khan.
Spock didn't listen to her. He was out to kill.
"He's the only way to save Jim!" She shouted at him. That got his attention. So instead of breaking Khan's neck, he knocked him out cold with a vicious strike to the chin.
Jim was alive. That was a relief. Everyone had been waiting outside sickbay while Leonard tried to work a miracle. Spock was pacing the corridor so aggressively that it was starting to scare people. What would happen to him if Jim couldn't be resurrected?
Luckily, they didn't have to find out. Spock relaxed after a while, half an hour before anyone came out to tell them that Jim Kirk was alive, and would likely stay that way. Nyota found Spock's premonition odd. How could he have known?
When they were finally allowed to see Jim, everyone wanted to rush in at once. Leonard put a stop to that, letting only one or two people in at a time. Spock got to go first, alone.
Nyota and Hikaru got to visit Jim together.
"Hey," Nyota said as they entered the room.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," Hikaru said cheerily.
Jim smiled weakly from the bio-bed. He looked awful. His radiation burns had yet to heal, and even without that, getting dragged back to life would put anyone through the wringer.
"Hey, you two," he said. "Glad I get to see you guys again."
"I think that's our line," Hikaru joked.
"How are you feeling?" Nyota asked.
"Terrible," Jim said. "I probably look better than I feel, which should be saying something. Still, I think I got the better deal, compared to Spock."
Nyota furrowed her brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Oh," Jim said tiredly. "I guess me and Spock have an ancient sacred Vulcan psychic bond?"
Nyota took in a sharp breath. "T'hy'la," she said to herself.
Jim heard her. "Yeah, that's the one," he said. "Anyways, apparently it's a pretty awful experience if your bondmate dies."
"It's no wonder he..." Nyota trailed off. "Wow. I never knew."
"Neither did I," Jim said. "And neither did Spock. So it was quite a surprise when I died and he felt something in his mind tear apart. I can't imagine what that must have been like."
"Neither can I," Nyota said.
Leonard walked in at that moment. "Alright you two, time's up. Jim needs his rest if he ever hopes to stop looking and feeling like a corpse."
Jim grinned at them. "Thanks for visiting."
"Of course," Hikaru said. "Thanks for saving our asses and coming back to life to tell the tale."
When Nyota and Hikaru were out in the hallway, Hikaru gave Nyota a sly smile. "So... they're bonded," he said suggestively.
"Yeah," Nyota said. "Never would have seen that coming."
"Guess you owe me those twenty arcade credits," Hikaru said.
Nyota laughed. She had practically forgotten about that with all that had been happening. "Yeah, I do." And for once, she felt rather happy about losing a bet.