Title:  Guardian Angel
Author: Vanasati (Vanasati@aol.com)
Pairing: Spock/The Doctor
Series: TOS/Voy X-Over
Rating: Where no one has gone before (NC-17)
Notes: Part of the "Spock Fuh-Q Fest", located at http://www.kardasi.com/fuh-q-fest
I give my heartfelt thanks to my wonderful beta readers Wildcat and Hafital. Remaining errors are mine.
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of Paramount and Viacom. This is only amateur fan fiction, I make no money with it and mean no infringement on their rights.

EMH1 (Voy):
"I am as close to a sentient lifeform as a hologram could hope to be. I socialize with the crew, fraternize with aliens, I've even had sexual relationships."

EMH2 (Prometheus):
"Sex? How's that possible? We're not equip--"

EMH1 (Voy):
"Let's just say... I made an addition to my program."

(From the episode "Message in a bottle")

GUARDIAN ANGEL

"I am the Guardian of Forever.
I am my own beginning and my own ending.
Many journeys are possible.
Let me be your gateway."

Spock stood in front of the big stone ring, hearing the sonorous voice of the alien entity. He remembered another time when he had stood here, with Captain Kirk at his side.

Then they had jumped through to retrieve Dr. McCoy, who had vanished and changed their time line, leaving them without a ship and a future on this barren rock.

Now, Spock himself was about to vanish, because he no longer had a future here. The Guardian might be able to help him survive. Then maybe he could come back. He certainly *wanted* to come back.

But in case he could not, maybe his friends would be consoled by the thought that he might live in another time, another place. Maybe that would be easier to bear than the certain knowledge of his death.

He took a deep breath.

"Guardian. I want you to take me to the future of the Federation. About 100 years. But I want you to bring me someplace where I will not meet myself - in case, I will still be alive then."

The big stone ring filled with swirling mist. Images appeared and vanished, too fast to follow with the eyes only. Then it cleared and showed a kind of corridor.

The Guardian's voice rang anew:

"This is what will be in the given timeline. This is where you may find that what you desire the most. If you chose to live, you will be returned."

Spock straightened and stepped through the stone ring.

*** // ***

"Captain, I am picking up a space distortion forming on Voyager. Location: deck ten."

"Mr. Paris, full stop. Mr. Kim, do the sensors read any other distortions nearby?"

"Negative, Captain. Only this one, and it's already disappearing again. I have no explanation."

Harry Kim was interrupted by the voice of Tuvok. "Captain, there is an intruder on deck 10."

"Security alert. Tuvok, you're with me. Chakotay, you have the bridge."

"Yes, Captain."

*** // ***

Janeway, Tuvok and two security officers surrounded the intruder. He stood still, hands clasped behind his back, looking calmly at the people around him.

Then his eyes met Tuvok's. The two men stared at each other, then both lifted an eyebrow in unison.

"You are a Vulcan." The deep voice of the intruder held a certain amount of satisfaction as he stated the fact.

Tuvok nodded. "And you are Ambassador Spock." He frowned. "At least you appear to be him."

This time the intruder lifted both eyebrows. "I *am* Spock. But I am not an Ambassador - my father is. I am First Officer of the USS Enterprise. May I ask you - where am I? And who are you?"

Janeway stared at the man that had come to be a legend of her youth. She knew him from many holovids and she would've thought she'd recognize that face everywhere.

But - the man in front of her was much younger than he should be - in fact, he seemed to be the same age as Tuvok.

At the question of the Vulcan, she found her voice again.

"You are on board Voyager. This is a Federation Vessel, currently located in the Delta Quadrant."

The eyebrows disappeared into Spock's black hairline. "Fascinating."

Janeway smiled. "We are no threat to you, if you really are who you claim to be."

She tapped her combadge. "Janeway to the Doctor. I am coming to sickbay with a - guest. Prepare for a full examination."

"Understood."

Janeways looked at Spock. "Would you please join me?"

Spock hesitated only a moment. Then he inclined his head. "Certainly, Captain. I assure you, that I am no threat to you either - I hope."

Janeway and Tuvok exchanged a glance. Then they accompanied their guest to the sickbay.

*** // ***

"This man is indeed who he claims to be - Spock, son of Sarek of Vulcan. The DNA test confirms it. And I can explain his appearance also. The readings indicate evidence of temporal displacement. He has come here from our past."

Janeway and Tuvok stared at the Vulcan sitting calmly on the biobed, returning their gaze steadily.

Then Tuvok asked: "Mr. Spock, what is the last stardate you remember?"

"7838.4" came the immediate reply.

Janeway and Tuvok exchanged glances. "About 120 years." Janeway whispered.

"Do you know how you got here?" Tuvok interrogated further.

Spock rose from the biobed and resumed the position he seemed to feel most comfortable in; standing straight, hands clasped behind his back. He nodded.

"Indeed. I know how I got here - though I did not know where I was going when I left. However, I cannot give that information to you. In my time it was classified. Given the - importance and potential danger of traveling in time, it is likely that the knowledge still is classified."

Janeway frowned. "I see. I take it from your statement that you're not here against your will?"

Spock inclined his head. "Affirmative."

"Then I do need more information about the purpose of your visit. I think you understand
that."

Spock turned to Tuvok. "May I talk to your Captain alone for a moment?"

Janeway nodded to Tuvok and the Vulcan left the room. Then the Captain and Spock looked pointedly at the Doctor, who expectantly returned the gaze.

"Doctor?" Janeway said, impatiently waving her hand in the direction of the Doctor's office.

The Doctor raised his chin and looking miffed, he groused: "Very well. But I am a Doctor - not a spy. I will not give any information I hear in this room to other persons. You really should know that, Captain."

With that he turned and left the room.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "He is very similar to our Doctor. Is a - hologram supposed to be so - emotional?"

Janeway smiled. "Holograms are what they're programmed to be. Our Doctor however is not a mere hologram anymore. He's sentient and a valued member of our crew. He *is* my CMO, after all."

Spock nodded gravely. "I see."

Janeway sobered. "Now - can you tell me anything about your mission? Why are you here?"

The Vulcan straightened his shoulders. "Actually, I do not have an official mission. This is a...
private matter."

"Private."

"Yes."

"And what would that private reason be?"

Spock pressed his lips together.

Janeway held up her hand to emphasize what she was going to say. "Mr. Spock, I have great respect for what you did - or are going to do - for the Federation. But please understand,  you *have* to give me a reason why I shouldn't arrest you right now."

Spock's head shot up. "Arrest me?"

"You say you can't tell me how you got here. But this much I can guess. Since you *are* here, there must've been some kind of - device that brought you here. And since you said you're not on an official mission, I must assume you violated Starfleet orders to use that device."

The Vulcan looked down at the floor.

For the first time Janeway realized his rigid frame, the tension that radiated out of him. If he were human, she would've thought he was nervous or frightened about something.

With a sense of dread she waited for him to answer. The silence streched. Janeway softened
her voice and prompted: "Mr. Spock?"

Finally, Spock asked: "Do you recall the events, when V'ger threatened earth?"

"Of course. Stardate 7412.6. Everybody knows about that, it's history! You saved earth by melding with the entity."

Spock swallowed. "Actually it was a - mutual encounter. V'ger saved *me* by showing me some ... important things. I chose not to go back to Gol after that. My life in the two years since has been satisfactory... happy."

The last word was only whispered. Janeway felt the need to reassure him, to tell him that she'd not let him down. But she stayed quiet and let him do the telling in his own way.

After a moment, he looked up and met her eyes.

"One month ago I asked for a temporary leave from the Enterprise. I told Captain Kirk that I wanted to join the science team assigned to study an artefact - a device -   that the Enterprise encountered at stardate 3134,0. We never had a real chance back then to study it. He understood my curiosity. He granted a leave for three months."

Spock took a deep breath. "Using the device *is* a violation of the rules that were given by the Federation council. *Nobody* is allowed to actually use it." He looked up. "You are right, Captain. I deliberatly violated those rules. I... lied to my Captain's face."

Janeway catched her breath at the hurt she saw in his eyes now. Not for the first time she silently wondered how anyone could address Vulcans as cold and unfeeling. To her, it had always been easy to read Tuvok who was her best friend.

This Vulcan in front of her was no different. His eyes betrayed the stone mask of his face.

"And you still won't tell me *why* you did all this? What it is that makes you risk your career, your freedom, your friendship with your Captain?"

Spock did not anwer. After a moment he said, as if he'd not heard her question:   "I told Jim I would be back after three month. I once promised him I would never leave him again. But... I left, and I already knew that probably I would not be able to return."

"How are you supposed to get home?" she asked quietly.

Spock swallowed. "When the Enterprise encountered the device for the first time, we were forced to use it. Back then the device returned us when our misson was completed. One moment we were back in 1938 earth, the next we stepped through the device, to be where and when we had left. It seems that the device does not give up control when someone is sent on a 'journey' by him."

"So you expect to simply vanish when you've accomplished what you came for?"

Spock nodded curtly.

"Please, Mr. Spock. *Why* have you come? After all you've done, you can't let me just put you into the brig. There must be something you've hoped to get here. Something we can do to help you."

His voice brittle, Spock whispered: "My... problem is medical. I hoped your Doctor might be able to help me."

The Vulcan's chin sank down on his chest. Janeway saw his hands clasp into fists to hide their shaking. And suddenly she understood. The Vulcan in front of her was fighting for his control. And a Vulcan losing control and talking about *private* matters - that could only mean one thing. She swallowed.

"I'll tell our Doctor to do anything to help you. You are not meant to die here. You still have
many things to do, that I will learn about in school."

The Vulcan made a sound, that could have been a snort and shuddered.

"We'll do anything we can," Janeway repeated, determined.

"Then I would like to speak with your Doctor now - alone."

"All right. I'll leave you here in the capable hands of our good Doctor. When you've come to a decision, just hail me or Tuvok anytime."

"Understood."

Janeway turned and left sickbay.

Spock closed his eyes and took some deep even breaths. Then he straightened and - tugging
at his uniform top - slowly made his way toward the office. The Doctor sat at his desk, looking intently at the screen of his monitor.

"Doctor, may I talk to you for a moment? Confidentially?"

The Doctor raised his head. "Ah. *Now* you want to talk to me. Of course - I have anticipated that." He sounded very pleased with himself and Spock's eyebrows again disappeared into his bangs.

"You have."

"I *have* examined you, haven't I? We have several Vulcans on bord Voyager, and one has already gone through the Pon Farr."

Spock froze, his whole frame going rigid.

"Yes," the Doctor continued. "You are way past the beginnings of your Pon Farr and of course, you already knew that. The question is, what are we doing about it? Shall I call Tuvok?"

"NO." Spock took a step towards the Doctor then halted himself. "No," he repeated quietly. "I do not wish to involve anyone else in this, least of all another Vulcan. This is a very *private* matter."

The Doctor raised his eyes to the ceiling and sighed dramatically. "I have heard this before.
Very well, Mr. Spock, then maybe you tell me what you wanted to tell me when you came in my office minutes ago. Do you have a suggestion?"

Spock pressed his lips together. "I... no.." He turned around, facing the empty room and continued, talking with his back to the Doctor. "I wanted to tell you about my... condition and ask you, whether Vulcans in this time have found a solution, that differs from the... need to..."

His voice trailed off. The Doctor stared at the rigid back for a moment. Then he stepped forward and laid a hand on one stiff shoulder.

"The need to mate - to have sex. I am sorry but no, there is no other solution."

His voice was soft now and held only compassion.Spock's shoulder's slumped slighty.

"However. I tell you about the way Ensign... our young Vulcan on board survived. Then maybe we find a solution for your survival too."

Spock inhaled deeply. He turned around and faced the Doctor again. "Agreed. I came here with the hope to find a way to get back to my time...alive."

The Vulcan's face was impassive, but the Doctor saw the weariness in his eyes. After all he had worked with Tuvok for nearly six years now.

"Please, sit down. We need to talk about this.I'll put a privacy lock on the sickbay door. Then we won't be disturbed while talking."

"Thank you."

              *** // ***

They sat opposite each other. The Doctor told Spock about the fight that ended the first Pon
Farr of Ensign Vorik, without actually naming anyone, of course.

Spock affirmed.

"The ritual combat *is* a way to solve the Pon Farr. In fact, I was forced to use this method too to survive my first one."

The Vulcan looked down at his hands, that he held clasped together in his lap. Reluctantly he
went on:

"It is not a... pleasant way. One has to wait until the Plak Tow to fight. It is a great
humiliation above the... pain, the loss of control."

Spock swallowed. The Doctor could see how hard this was on him, to talk about this so openly, maybe for the first time in his life. The Doctor vividly remembered how reluctant Tuvok had been to give any useful information when he had asked him to help Ensign Vorik.

When Spock finally spoke again, his voice was so quiet, that the Doctor had difficulty hearing him.

"Also it is not possible to solve two times of mating in a row through the ritual combat. If one
Pon Farr is solved that way, the body doubles its efforts to mate and secure offspring the next time. For me this is not an option."

The Doctor frowned. "I see." He begann pacing the room. "I heard the monks at Gol are able to endure their - time - by meditation. You have been to Gol to study there. Can't you help yourself with that meditation?"

Spock shook his head. "I left Gol without completing my education."

"Hm." The Doctor continued to pace the room and Spock followed the energetic movements with his eyes. It reminded him of Kirk and McCoy and somehow it gave him some reassurance.

Then, suddenly, the Doctor's head shot up. "There is another option. May I suggest we
continue this conversation at a more - private location? I think this is in your interest too."

"Affirmative."

The Doctor tapped his comm-badge.

"EMH to the Captain. Would you please come to the Sickbay."

*** // ***

Janeway arrived shortly after and looked at the Doctor expectantly.

"Captain, I want you to transfer me and Mr. Spock to the Holodeck. There I can provide him with surroundings that are more - comfortable for him. I suggest you do not disturb us until I call you again."

Spock steepled his hands in front of his face and took a deep breath. "Do not let *anyone* near us. If there is a way to help me, the Doctor will have to find it. If there is not -" again the heavy intake of breath, "-I ask you to let me die without letting anyone see me."

Now he raised his head and his dark eyes bore into hers. "I have no right to order you. But I... beg you. Please."

The Captain shook her head. "I will assign you a holodeck, Mr. Spock. I'll leave you two alone for some time. *But*," her face was hard and determined now, "I'm going to monitor your lifesigns. If there is any indication that your life is in danger, I *will* interfere. I am *not* going to let you die just so."

For a moment their gazes were locked, fighting for the other to give in. Then Spock lowered his gaze again, defeat written all over his face. When he spoke again, his voice was tired.

"I should have known. Starship Captains do not take requests like this."

Janeway's features softened. She came around the desk and placed a hand on Spock's shoulder. "No." she said simply. "We don't."

*** // ***

An hour later Spock sat with crossed legs on the floor in front of a glowing small fire. The Doctor had created one of the big tents of the desert people on Vulcan for them to stay. He had studied them and found the location a suitable one.

Spock had not objected. To be on ancient Vulcan was indeed fitting to him in his present condition. Weird, to be in the past and in the future at the same time.

The ground was covered with carpets and cushions. In the middle of the tent was a big fireplace to provide warmth during the night. Now the small fire presented a focus point for Spock's burning eyes and his wandering mind.

The temperature in the holodeck was set to Vulcan standard but Spock was shaking in spite of it. He had held his brittle control until they had reached this refuge, now the time was rapidly gliding out of his hands.

The Doctor, sitting next to him on the floor, was just coming to the end of his story about his trying to solve the Pon Farr of the young Ensign on board.

"... so I send him to the holodeck. I'd designed a Vulcan female for him and I thought he could have sex with her and end it."

Spock looked up, fighting to understand. "It did not work?" This holo-technology was new to him, and he would've found it fascinating, if he would've been able to think straight. The haze in his head went thicker by the minute. His loins hurt and he was *cold*.

The Doctor turned to him, looking worried. "No." He stood and fetched a blanket from a heap at the back of the tent. He wrapped it around Spock's shoulders. "There. Is that better?"

"Thank you." Spock whispered.

"You're welcome." The Doctor looked down at the dark head and felt a strange feeling of compassion tug at his holographic heartstrings.

"It didn't work." He continued. "But I didn't know at that time that the young ensign already had made a connection to one of our female crewmembers. And besides, Vulcan mating includes a mind meld. That was not possible with a hologram."

A shudder passed through Spock. "Then there is no hope." he said tonelessly.

The Doctor knelt down in front of Spock and grabbed his shoulders.

"Yes, there is. *I* am not a mere hologramm. I have evolved. I am sentient."

Spock raised his head. "What are you saying?"

"I am saying that I am willing to help you through the Pon Farr. I am sentient, you can meld with me. But you can't hurt me. There is no need to hold back and worry about injuring me. I'd say that I am the *perfect* solution."

The Vulcan struggled to think. "You... volunteer to... have sex with me. Why?"

"I am a Doctor. I'll do whatever has to be done to save the life of my patient."

"But... sex is no *treatment*. It is about... feelings." Spock nearly choked on the last word. He shrugged the hands of the Doctor off of him and drew the blanket tighter around his shoulders. "You do not know anything about feelings - and I... should not either."

The Doctor put a hand on Spock's arm. He felt the hot body tremble under his touch.
"Don't be too hard on yourself."

He sighed. "Let me tell you something about me. I may have started out as an unfeeling hologram, but over the years, I have learned more about feelings than I had wanted to know. Four years ago I fell in love for the first time, with a Vidiian woman. I did not even recognize *what* I was feeling at first. But then I learned all about love - the pain of being rejected, the
joy of being together with her and knowing that she also loved me, the sorrow when she had to leave."

The Doctor halted for a moment. He met the dark gaze of the Vulcan who breathed heavily, fighting to keep his thoughts focused on the other's words.

"A year later I created a holographic family to learn about real life. I had a wife, a son and
a daughter. After an accident my... my daughter died. I indeed learned more than I had wanted to know."

For a moment the Doctor closed his eyes, lost in the memory. Then his gaze returned to meet the Vulcan's eyes again.

Spock licked his dry lips. In his opened state of mind he could feel the Doctor's desperation through the touch of his hand. It matched his own desperation - and the growing wish to give in. He could feel the Doctor's warm body next to his. Ah - easy to forget it was not a real body. So easy to give in and bury himself in that willing flesh.

He struggled to get the meaning of the words when the Doctor's voice again penetrated the fog in his head.

"I lost my daughter. I couldn't do anything for her. But I *can* do something for you. And I *won't* let you die."

Spock stared into the determined, confident eyes in front of him. Slowly he raised a hand and placed his fingers on the connecting points on the Doctor's face. He shut his eyes and whispered: "My mind to your mind..."

After a moment he breathed, "I can *feel* you. Your compassion... warmth... your *need* to help."

The Doctor raised a hand too and covered the back of the hot Vulcan hand. "Let me help you."

Spock's eyes opened. He took the holographic hand into his and whispered: "I accept your offer."

He leaned forward and touched his lips to the Doctor's. They were warm, firm and soft. They opened willingly and invitingly under his mouth and Spock felt the heat rise inside his body. His hands wandered over the Doctor's body. He hesitated and frowned.

"How do I undress you?"

"Oh." The Doctor's appearance flickered, then he sat naked in front of the Vulcan. Spock tilted his head.

"That is... most impressive - though not very erotic."

"I am a Doctor - not a stripper."

Spock smiled at that. "Indeed. Would you like to undress me?"

The Doctor nodded. "I would," he whispered. He began undressing the Vulcan who helped him by raising his arms and lifting his legs when it was needed.

When Spock was naked too, the Doctor admired the beauty before his eyes. The slender, wiry frame, lean but well muscled in the right places. The pale skin, the dark, shiny hair. The elegant pointed ears and the slanted eyebrows.

Since he had begun to be a photographer in his free time, he had developed a sense for beauty, and this man, standing in front of him, was beautiful.

The Doctor began touching Spock, running a hand through the black hair, tracing the eyebrows and the rim of the ears with a finger. Spock closed his eyes. The Doctor moved closer, embracing Spock with one arm, steadying him with that hold around the waist. He laid the other hand on the Vulcan's cheek, tracing the lower lip with his thumb.

"You are beautiful."

Spock shivered. The Doctor kissed him again. Soft, hot lips on his, tender at first. The Vulcan's arms came around the other's waist, hot hands began to roam the Doctor's body while Spock's hot mouth ravished his, hungry, greedy.

They sank backwards, lying down on the cushions, still kissing. Spock's hands were everywhere now. Raking through the dark hair on the Doctor's chest, pinching his nipples into hardness, gliding over the smooth skin on the bald head, back over the face, touching the meld points on the face and slipping into the Doctor's brilliant mind again.

So much order there, logic, a vast intellect, sucking Spock's mind inside. And warmth there,
compassion, even passion. A cool hand found the throbbing cock of the Vulcan, and Spock cried out when it touched him for the first time.

"I need you - now," he growled.

He pushed the Doctor's legs up over his shoulders, placed his cock on the tiny entrance and pushed. Cool, tight, welcoming him without the need of lubricant, the holo muscles closed around his aching shaft.

The Doctor's face beneath him was concentrated, focused on giving him pleasure, release. Spock drove into him, his hands searching again for the meld points, driving into body and mind. When he felt the total devotion focused on *his* well-being, his *life*, he convulsed and spilled his seed into the welcoming body.

He collapsed then on top of the Doctor, his breath coming in short, labored gasps. The Doctor's arms closed around him, held him. When the sweat on Spock's body cooled and he began to shiver, the Doctor gathered the blankets around them, covering them both.

When the shivering did not subside, the Doctor raised his body temperature some degrees to level his own with the Vulcan's.

Not long and Spock stirred. He raised his head, looking in the still composed face of his life-saver. The Doctor smiled at him, reassuring. He rolled over, and began stroking Spock's body, learning every inch of the slightly green skin beneath his hands. Licking and sucking he worshiped the strong body, admiring the silky feeling of the chest hair on his lips, the smell of the copper sweat, and the taste of the Vulcan's arousal.

When he took the hard shaft into his mouth, he tasted only Spock's own seed on it. For he was a hologram, clean inside and outside. The Doctor deepthroated Spock, sucking him in whole, and Spock writhed and thrashed his head, grasped the Doctor's shoulders in a steel grip that would've broken bones in a human. When he came, he silently arched his back, driving his cock even deeper down the Doctor's throat.

When it was over, he slumped back on the bed, panting. The Doctor took care of him, tucking blankets around the tired body, fetching warm water and a washcloth to wipe the sweat off of him.

Later the Doctor fetched him something to drink, Vulcan spice tea, and cool water. When Spock was hard again, the Doctor was there, offering his body and his mind, offering himself, whole, his intensity focusing only on giving. Giving Spock what he needed to survive.

And Spock took the life out of the Doctor's hands, feeling cherished and comforted and - loved. He sensed that this was special; that *he* was special to the Doctor. When they melded, he held onto that feeling, wrapping his mind around it, and survived.

*** // ***

On the third day it was over. Spock slept, a sound, peaceful slumber and the Doctor laid next to him, watching him. He listened to the deep even breaths and knew that it was over.

He felt sad, that soon this remarkable person would vanish out of his life, and that he most certainly would never see him again.

But most of all he felt a deep satisfaction, that he *had* saved the life of that special Vulcan.
For now...

The thought rocked him. There was one last duty he had to perform for that man.

Spock stirred and opened his eyes. He saw the Doctor's face, hovering over him and smiled. He raised his hand to touch the face that had encompanied him through the last days.

"You are most remarkable. I owe you my life. Thank you."

"What are you going to do with it?"

The tender expression on Spock's face was replaced with a frown.

"What do you mean?"

The Doctor's face was earnest, his voice urged.

"If you don't find a mate, this will be futile."

Spock looked away and his face closed up. The Doctor did not retreat.

"Spock - why have you come here? Why have you not chosen a mate? Why have left your work, your ship, your - Captain?"

Spock's eyes came back to find the dark gaze of the Doctor. "I assume you have the right to
know. I want you to understand."

The Vulcan swallowed, but did not avert his eyes. "I could not choose a mate. I have melded too often with my th'y'la to choose another one, to *want* another one in my life."

The Doctor frowned. "Your th'y'la?"

"It is an ancient Vulcan word, meaning, friend, brother or - lover."

The frown on the Doctor's face deepened."I don't understand. If you have a lover, why did you not bond with him?"

"Because - " Now Spock had to avert his eyes, and the Doctor felt his body tremble. "Because he does not love me. He loves women. I am his best friend, nothing more."

The Doctor stared at the handsome face, and the pain in the Vulcan's voice pierced his heart. He reached out and gathered the man in his arms again, trying to comfort him one more time.

"Does he know, Spock? Have you ever told him how you feel?" he whispered into the elegant ear.

Spock shuddered. "No," he breathed. "How could I? He is my Captain."

The Doctor made a sound. "But..." He sat up, looking utterly bewildered.

Spock stared up at him, puzzled and hurt.

The Doctor swallowed. "I can't tell you. But.. you *have* to tell him. This is *important*. Promise me. Tell him when you are back."

Spock searched his face. Something dawned in his eyes then. A look of wonder crossed his
face.

He sat up too. Holding himself very straight he said determined: "I will."

The air wavered and glimmered around the Vulcan sitting naked next to the Doctor, then he was gone.

*** // ***

After three months of leave Spock came back to the Enterprise. When he materialized in
the transporter room, Jim Kirk stood there waiting for him.

Kirk gave him that special warm, brilliant smile and said: "Welcome back Spock. I've missed you."

"And I you." Spock said.

Jim Kirk detected a warmth in the Vulcan's eyes that he had never seen there before. Or
had he? Uncertainly he searched the other's face.

"Spock?"

"Yes, Jim."

The Vulcan stepped down from the platformand into his new life.

The End