PARTED AND NEVER PARTED

Spock sat huddled by their boat, examining it again, looking for flaws in its construction. If he found some, maybe he could delay Jim's departure. There were none. It was small, but sturdy. There was no excuse he could give Jim. Tomorrow he would be gone. Shoulders slumped, he rose and went to sit by the fire.

Neither man had had the energy to gather much wood during the day so their fire was small. It gave out barely enough heat to make Spock comfortable. He sat as close as possible to it, stretching out his hands to warm them. Night fell quickly on this island, and the cold air quickly penetrated his tattered uniform. Jim looked up from where he was cooking their dinner and gave him a fleeting smile of welcome. They didn't speak, they often didn't these days. Sheer survival was taking most of their energy and there was little spark left in either of them.

The small animal was charred on one side, underdone on the other when Jim finally pulled it out of the flames and unwrapped it. Carefully, he sliced the flesh from its bones. One third of it he diced up and placed in Spock's bowl. There he mixed it up with a few of the straggly plants that had proven edible. The result was to make the entire 'meal' unpalatable to Spock, but it was the only way he could choke down the animal flesh. He would do it, as there was no alternative, but every time he ate an animal that they had killed, some small Vulcan part of him died.

Jim ate hungrily at his part of the animal. They had barely been able to scrape enough food together to feed themselves on this island. In the first few weeks they had been sick often, after eating anything they could get their hands on. Now they knew what to eat, and what not. Both men were gaunt, shadows of their former selves. If they delayed any longer Jim might not have the strength to complete his journey.

When their meal was finished, Jim tidied up while Spock prepared their bedding. They'd erected a small hut with a rough wooden floor, leaves had been piled on the floor and a makeshift quilt stuffed with more. The quilt was made from animal hides painstakingly stitched together, and its smell was another torture to Spock. Spock lay down first, fully clothed, searching for a comfortable spot and pulling the quilt up around him. The nights were long and cold on this island. Jim joined him shortly, stripped down to his worn black trousers. They spooned close together, a necessity that Spock had long since conceded.

There, in the dark, the hard grind of the day behind them, was when they talked. Sometimes they had talked for hours, at first they had talked of the possibility of rescue and of where they were. They had made grand plans for taming this island, for making their life comfortable. Later they had speculated on why the Enterprise hadn't found they, had wondered what their friends were doing. Still later they had decided on the building of the boat and who would sail her. One night Spock had held Jim while he gave in to despair and quietly cried himself to sleep. They had known that Jim's tears were for both of them.

This night Spock held Jim away from him slightly and examined the human's arm. He had cut it open on some sharp rocks only a few nights ago and the wound had swollen with the angry red of infection. Jim had burned with fever for two days. Spock had entered his mind and used his Vulcan techniques to aid healing. Now there was only a pinkish scar to be seen.

"If anything happens to you like this, I will not be there to help you. Let me come with you, Jim."

Jim pulled away angrily. "We've discussed this over and over, Spock. My decision stands. The boat's not big enough, we wouldn't be able to carry enough food or water. Besides, the natives on the mainland are a primitive people. If they get a good look at you, we'll both be burned at the stake."

Jim calmed himself and turned to face his friend. The despair he saw in those features softened his tone.

"I won't be long, Spock. I'll sail there, pick up some provisions, and sail back. You stay here with the emergency beacon. Someone will hear it soon. They'll come. I know they will."

Spock was not comforted by Jim's optimism; he knew it was unfounded. Desperately, he played his last card.

"If you will not let me accompany you then let me join our minds."

Spock could hear Jim swallow. "Our minds?"

"I would bond with you, Jim. I will know if you have survived."

It was Spock's deepest fear. That Jim would sail off and he would never hear of him again. Not to know if he still lived, or if he had died. To live alone on this island, not willing to die in case Jim still lived.

"A bond? Like you had with T'Pring?"

Spock was silent for a long time.

"Yes, but it would be stronger between us. We are already attuned. You would not shut me out as T'Pring did."

Spock could hear the bitterness in his own voice. The bonding with T'Pring had shadowed his life since he was seven years old. First, the coldness of it, for so many years. Then the absence, years of nothingness, an emptiness that never quite went away.

Jim laid a hand on Spock's arm. "No, I would never do that Spock. But I have to know more about what this would mean for us Spock. Would we be able to talk to each other?"

"No Jim, we would only have an awareness of each other's well-being. At the most, we would have a sense of the other's emotional state. Part of you would be with me, part of me would be with you." Seeing Jim's hesitation he continued tentatively. "The bond can be dissolved at another time by a healer."

Kirk nodded decisively.

"Do it then, Spock. Join us."

Spock took several deep breaths to prepare himself and then drew Jim towards him, his fingers finding the meld points. Both men closed their eyes as mental contact was achieved.

Spock was no stranger to this mind, and now he entered easily. Jim's dynamic mind was as sharp as ever. The bonding meld required a total sharing of their minds and he went deeper than he ever had before. When his mind was totally wrapped around Jim's he reached out and joined them together. The link was a fine chain, stretched between them. For the first time in many years Spock's bonding centre was engaged, and the emptiness left there by T'pring's severing of their childhood bond was gone. He was healed. Complete. He began to withdraw from the mind, leaving only the chain behind, but then hesitated as an errant human emotion pressed itself into his consciousness. Tentatively he reached out with his own need and confusion. Then quickly he withdrew and forced his eyes open.

He stared into Jim's equally shocked eyes.

"Parted and never parted..." he had not meant to speak the words out loud but Jim had heard his whisper.

"Never and always, touching and touched." Jim responded.

"We meet..."

"... at the appointed place." They finished together.

Jim brought a hand up to touch Spock's face, tracing a finger down the fine cheekbone. He lent forward and kissed the soft lips, brushing only lightly against them. Spock slowly returned the kiss. They pressed together closer under the quilt. Jim reached a hand inside Spock's shirt and rested it on the hairy chest. He could feel Spock's deep breathing, hear the raggedness there. His cock was stiffening with desire.

"Spock, I can feel you inside my mind."

"And I you Jim. While we are bonded it will always be like this. "

Spock's hand came out to tentatively stroke Jim's smooth chest, trailing down it to rest just above the waistband of his trousers. He swallowed hard.

"Jim, I believe that the meld may have awakened certain responses in us..."

"Inappropriate responses, Science Officer?" Jim smiled, his own hand dipping down lower on Spock's waist.

There was a sudden intake of Vulcan breath as Jim reached down into Spock's trousers and stroked the bulge he found there.

"Not...entirely inappropriate." Spock swallowed again, searching for control. "I believe we should stop...and consider..." he gasped suddenly as he felt cool human fingers slipping under his briefs and touching the flesh within. "However, there is much to be said for experimentation..."

"Enough talk Spock. I think we both know what we want." Jim stripped the Vulcan of his trousers and shirt, and then disrobed himself. When both men were naked, Jim pressed their bodies together, and joined their lengths. Their mouths met again in a longer and harder kiss, Jim snaked a hand down and cradled the Vulcan's testicles. Spock gave up trying to talk and gave into the sensations as Jim firmly manipulated him. Both felt a faint echo of the other's pleasure through the bond, and when Spock came Jim released as well, their seed mingled together.

They lay quietly for a time, holding each other in the darkness. The link between them echoed with their certainty and contentment.

Finally, Spock stirred. "Jim, this may be the only night we ever have. I would like to feel you inside me."

Kirk was slightly shocked at Spock being so forward, but his cock stirred in eager anticipation.

"Spock? It will hurt."

"I am a Vulcan, pain is easily controlled. Please Jim...give me this. I want to be joined to you completely, in all ways."

Jim felt along the bond and found only open trust there. Delaying no longer, he gathered up their semen and spread it over himself, it would have to serve as there was no other lubricant available. Spock turned onto his stomach and raised his hips slightly. Jim slowly prepared him, inserting his fingers and massaging the tight ring of muscle. Spock sent messages to his body to relax and pushed back firmly against Jim's fingers.

The ground was hard underneath them, and the wind howled outside their makeshift shelter, but they could have been in a luxury suite on Earth for all the difference it made to them. Ever so gently Kirk slid inside Spock until he was fully sheathed. There was some pain, and both felt it, but Spock quickly suppressed it. When Kirk began to move inside Spock all other thoughts disappeared and only their shared pleasure remained. They moved together as one and when orgasm took Jim, a wave of pleasure cascaded down the bond and took Spock over the edge as well. His release echoed back to Jim. Finally the waves dampened down and exhaustion overtook them. Jim rolled over onto his side and wrapped his arms around Spock, his eyes sleepily closing. As he drifted towards sleep he smiled against Spock's neck. "We'll have this bond forever. And it won't be the last night Spock. I promise."

At dawn the next morning Spock stood and watched as Jim loaded the small ship. The boat looked so small; the journey seemed so long; the task impossible. Desolation gripped his soul, and then Jim looked up and smiled. The human came back and took one cold Vulcan hand, holding it tight. He caressed the face and their lips met.

"Don't forget, Spock. I'll be back."

Jim turned, going to the boat and clambered aboard. Spock watched for a long time as the craft disappeared from sight. Even long after there was nothing to be seen he kept standing there. The thin chain of the bond hung between them and he tugged on it gently with his mind. Felt the answering tug and for a moment he thought he could hear the light voice on the wind

"...parted from me and never parted."

After a long time, he left the shore and settled back into the lonely business of survival. That night he took his bedding out to the beach, watched the dark empty sea and the shining stars, and dreamt of his lover.

~>)O(<~

Three weeks later, he stood in the Enterprise transporter room and watched as a bedraggled human materialized on the pads. There, in full view of their shipmates, he stepped forward and held out his joined fingers to his bondmate.

"Never parted Jim, never again."

Jim smiled and matched the fingers with his own.

"No, never parted."

The End

KSOF Challenge:
Kirk and Spock are stranded on a deserted island.