Space,

The final frontier.

Where anything could happen, no matter how inexplicable it might be. People were killed, wars were fought, new life and new civilizations were found and formed. Anything was possible out in the final frontier.

Captain James T. Kirk was resurrected by the blood of his enemy. It took a while, but he had survived the insurmountable levels of radiation that wracked his system. He was alive and well, too. Perfect neural recovery, no lasting physical consequences, and he was mentally sound as far as anyone could tell.

But now it was different.

Spock was the one on the biobed this time, covered in his own green blood, and there was no way to save him. His clothes were half-burned half-ripped from his body, exposing every lesion and burn on his skin. Each nurse was working rapidly on the man's wounds, trying to save him from his inevitable death. The security had had to remove Jim from the room earlier, since he was hysterical with panic and fear. McCoy wanted to console him, but he knew that they were leaping off a cliff with no parachutes.

McCoy was standing there, holding Spock's heart in both his hands. It had practically fell out once they got his shirt off, and McCoy had caught it before anything could rip. It was hot, and it was beating rapidly. McCoy knew that it would soon stop, and he could not bear to think of it. As soon as the cavity was mended, McCoy fixed the heart back in place.

He raised a bloody hand and placed it on Spock's cheek. He couldn't believe that Spock would sacrifice himself for Jim again. He had gotten into the habit of throwing himself in front of the captain whenever danger ensued, even though he knew it was illogical. It started with those poisonous dart plants on Gamma Trianguli VI, and only continued to get more and more deadly. In this case, it was more explosive. They had been on a seemingly peaceful planet before they realized that there were explosive pockets inside the planet's crust. Jim had stepped right onto a weak spot before Spock shoved him off and it exploded.

His clothes were still smoking when they had beamed aboard. At first glance, McCoy knew that there was nothing that he could do to save him. Even with the Vulcan's voodoo healing powers, it would have been impossible.

So there he stood, watching helplessly as Spock's vitals dropped lower and lower. He shouldn't have even been alive at that point, but he and M'Benga had pumped him so full of chemicals that he was practically on life support now.

"I'm so sorry, Spock..." McCoy croaked out, his hand still on the man's face. M'Benga put a dark hand on his shoulder.

"McCoy, he can't hear you- neither physically nor telepathically." He said, and McCoy elbowed him away. He didn't need the other man's logic at that point. If he wanted to be irrationally sentimental, then he was going to do it.

"Shut the hell up, M'Benga. I'll make him hear me." He growled, lowering himself and pushing his forehead against Spock's. He said it again, "I'm so, so sorry Spock. I would have done anything..."

Tears threatened leave his eyes, but he blinked them away. He kept his forehead against the Vulcan's, wanting to stay close to his friend throughout his last living moments. He thought about Spock's life, all the memories they had shared so far, but eventually he started thinking about things he never knew about Spock. His childhood, his family, his feelings, his teachings. He didn't know any of these things about the man before, and it was hurting his head to think about it. He couldn't pull away, and he couldn't stop the thoughts and memories from coming.

McCoy soon became so overwhelmed, and he succumbed to the darkness surrounding him.

"It will be too early to determine the effects. I regret that this is the route that was taken."

"Yeah, well, I bet he'll be pretty angry when he wakes up."

McCoy groaned, acknowledging that he had woken up, and opened his eyes. He was in sickbay, on a biobed. But why? He looked over to where he heard the voices, and saw Spock sitting up and talking to M'Benga. The words were out of his mouth before he could even think them.

"Why the fuck are you alive?!" McCoy asked, jumping off of the biobed and approaching the both of them. He looked up at the monitor and saw that Spock was doing moderately fine, except for the fact that he was in a lot of pain. But there he was, looking up at him like it was any other day, as if the only damage he'd gotten was a kick in the shin by an angry Ferengi.

"It may be difficult for you to understand." Spock said, but McCoy crossed his arms and waited for the explanation. Spock and M'Benga exchanged a glance before the Vulcan continued. "Vulcans have the ability to transfer parts of their mind or essence to other people or objects. It is called the transference of katra. When you made certain physical contact with me, much of my katra was willed upon you."

"So if he died, it wouldn't matter, since his katra would be in you." M'Benga contributed, and McCoy raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit mentally violated.

"The transference was done quite quickly, which is why you were rendered unconscious from shock. Doctor M'Benga then called a Vulcan officer down so that she may perform the fal-tor-pan, or 're-fusion.' My katra was then returned to me." Spock finished explaining, and McCoy scoffed.

"Well shit. If it was that easy..." He trailed off, not really wanting to finish. If it was that easy, then they could have just done that in the first place without all that stress. "Where's that Vulcan you mentioned?" He asked, looking around and seeing nobody else in the area.

"She had to go meditate. The process can be quite stressful, not to mention mentally and emotionally straining. She'll want to talk to you later, though." M'Benga answered, then crossed his arms. "And it wasn't as easy as you think. You were unconscious for nine hours. And also..." He trailed off, and McCoy raised his eyebrows, looking between him and Spock.

"... And what?!" He demanded when nobody made a move to answer. M'Benga sighed, glancing at Spock.

"Some of his katra is still in you. Stuck there." M'Benga admitted, and McCoy gaped at him. "Which we thought was because T'Laua isn't a practicing Vulcan healer, but she said that not even a master could get it out. That it... mutated, I think."

"T'Laua infers that it manifested itself physically inside of you." Spock said bluntly, and McCoy's gape turned into a scowl.

"Like... a tumor?" He asked, and the other two exchanged yet another look. Almost pissed him off, like they didn't want to tell him the whole story.

"Not particularly. It won't kill you or have any bad effects on your health." M'Benga assured him, and he nodded, feeling only a little relieved. "We think that it'll just be... there. And we don't really know why it is that way- whether it's because Spock's half human, or that T'Laua just wasn't experienced enough, or if it's just how these things can happen. After all, fal-tor-pan has only been reportedly completed just a few times. Anything could have gone wrong, and we're lucky that it went as well as it did. You both are still alive, and that's something to be thankful for."

"However, it is advisable that we both meet with T'Laua once she is performing adequately again. After that, it would be wise that you see her regularly in order to be certain that you are still in good health." Spock suggested, and McCoy clenched his jaw. He didn't want to go talk to some hobgoblin about his mental issues, damn it. It was bad enough being the subject of their weird bio-voodoo.

"Ah. Well. Fine, if that's all it takes. Has Jim seen you? I know he was... worried." McCoy asked, and M'Benga laughed and walked off.

"He did visit me, yes." Spock answered, looking away. McCoy raised his eyebrows again, and moved to try and catch Spock's eyes.

"What happened?" He asked quietly, wondering if it was something bad.

"He... Confessed his romantic feelings towards me." Spock admitted, and McCoy frowned in confusion.

"Wait, I thought that you guys were already together." He asked, sitting down on the biobed next to the Vulcan's knees. Spock blinked at him.

"We were not. He is my friend." He replied, and McCoy nodded.

"So I take it that you don't reciprocate his feelings?" He asked, and Spock shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no. He would have made an adequate partner, however I find that my affections for him are strictly platonic." Spock answered, folding his hands together. "Were you and him involved with each other romantically?"

"Jim and me? No." McCoy snorted, shaking his head. "He came onto me at the Academy once, but that's where it ended. We've only ever been friends." He answered, and it was Spock's turn to nod his head. McCoy just looked at him after that, noting his severely pale complexion and the small cuts on his face and neck. He was dressed in a hospital gown, and cleaned of all the blood that he had been drenched with before McCoy had passed out. He looked like absolute crap, but his demeanor said that he was the same as ever.

McCoy wondered if he or Spock would change because of the whole 'katra' thing. He hoped that he wouldn't develop some sort of second personality because of the piece of Spock rooted inside of him still. He also hoped that Spock wouldn't act different or partially gone because of the missing katra. Wasn't it part of his soul or something? Surely he couldn't go without it and still perform like usual. He had so many questions, but he knew that he needed to wait.