Rating: T (for subject matter)
Warnings: Reference to attempted rape.
Summary: Spock and Uhura have their first official fight and second official date.
A/N: This was done for Ship Wars Prompt# 5 'Fairy Tales' over at LJ. My interpretation took me down an interesting path and while there are playful parts, there is a serious undercurrent here. Please be sure to check out my wordpress page for the links and pictures. References TOS episodes Spock's Brain, The Enemy Within, The Naked Time and the film The Company of Wolves.

A week passed before they could go on another date. But it had been one of those weeks. A week where they literally went from one crazy situation to another. McCoy had even started performing rituals in his office in a ridiculous attempt to cast off their 'bad luck', especially after Spock's kidnapping by the Eymorgs of Sigma Draconis.

Their next assignment looked like another disaster in the making. The Enterprise was brokering a treaty between the Ueta and the Ufaya, two warring planets in the same solar system. They were being heavily courted to join the Federation and the brass at Starfleet were anxious that negotiations go smoothly.

But once her shift ended, Nyota had returned to her quarters, eager to shut out work demands if only for a few hours. She tried not to think of getting time off, since the prospect of shore leave was far away.

She sat at her computer, sipping hot tea, watching an interesting tale unfold on the screen called The Company of Wolves. Rand was working on her dissertation on the evolution of fairy tales. She'd focused on ancient European folklore and was researching the way stories changed in response to social anxieties.

Janice had needed a fresh pair of eyes, and after reading through her thesis, Nyota agreed to watch the old movie for the heck of it. She always loved a good scary story.

She was in the middle of a suspenseful sequence when an incoming call pinged for attention, the indicator flashing in the corner of the screen. She impatiently answered it, not bothering to pause the holo.

The screen divided to reveal Spock's placid face, 'Hello Nyota, I apologize for disturbing you.'

Her attention switched to his screen in surprise, 'Spock! I wasn't expecting a call. Did you need me for anything?'

'The ETA has moved up three hours. You need to report to the transporter room at 0500.'

Nyota groaned and covered her face with her hands, 'That means I've got to go to bed now-'

Suddenly, there was a blood curdling scream and Nyota sat up quickly, startled by its loudness. She locked eyes with Spock, who tilted his head in curiousity.

'May I inquire what that noise was?'

She laughed, 'Yeah, it's some poor soul getting mauled in a horror movie.'

'Ah, I understand. What is this horror movie about?'

'It's a version of an old folk tale called Little Red Riding Hood. Rand needed a new perspective and I told her I'd help her out.'

'I am familiar with this story. My mother read it to me as a child.'

'Yes, well...this movie isn't meant for children. This is about the sexual awakening of a young woman, whose grandmother has just given her an ominous warning about men whose eyebrows meet-'

'I assume you have noticed that mine do not.' He quirked an elegant eyebrow at her as if to prove his point, then watched her as she gasped with laughter.

'Thank you, Spock, I have noticed, though I'm sure you're aware of the rumors floating around regarding your reputation.'

His eyebrows shot up, but he only gave her a mild look of reproach before replying simply, 'Good night, Nyota.'

The following morning arrived too quickly, but Nyota was soon busy working with her team on-site. A planet at the edge of the solar system had been designated as a neutral meeting place between the Ueta and Ufaya governments. Scotty and his people had set up the modular buildings for the diplomats to meet in two days ago.

It had been left up to her team to monitor the communications between all the represented factions, of which there were several. Since each government had experienced its own internal upheavals, they had decided to include those other interests at the negotiating table, in order to resolve the overall conflict.

The Uetan and Ufayan cultures had an oral history tradition similar to that of griots in Earth societies and it soon became clear to Nyota during the initial meeting that they were more interested in the Federation bearing witness to their resolution process than the crew actually getting involved with mediation.

Much to his chagrin, Kirk was selected as an official witness to the Ritual of Recognition and Resolution, so he'd sent most of the team back to the ship, but had also decided that he wanted some crew close by in case anything important came up.

Nyota sighed, 'So when the Captain said some of us were to stay, he really meant us, didn't he? You recognize how illogical this is, right? I've got better things to do than hang out on a rock waiting for this to finish.'

'I believe you are familiar with the expression misery loves company, Nyota.'

They settled onto an uncomfortable bench outside the meeting chamber. Spock leaned back against the wall, folding his arms over his chest and crossing his long, lean legs at the ankles. 'You can tell me your thoughts of that holo. Were you able to finish it last night?'

'No, I was tempted to because it's such a compelling story, but I went to bed right after we talked.' She let her head rest against the wall, then looked over at him to study his profile, 'Come over tonight and we can watch it.' She grinned, 'We can make it a date. Gotta keep checking those off the list.'

Spock nodded, 'It would certainly qualify as an official date.'

'We could count this as an official date.'

'Indeed? You are impatient.' But Spock looked somewhat pleased. 'Are you that eager for this phase of our relationship to be completed?' His head turned to her, his gaze unwavering.

She glanced at the floor, 'That depends on what comes after that.' Nyota sighed, 'You know, I don't know how you feel, but I'm going out on a limb here to say that I'm attracted to you. Obvious, I know, since we wouldn't be here if we weren't attracted to each other. But the prospect of dating you for twenty-nine more dates is probably going to drive me crazy.'

Her stomach fluttered when she felt Spock lean close, his arm pressing against hers, to speak lowly in her ear, 'You wish to initiate a sexual relationship on the second date?'

His warm breath tickled her ear and she leaned away from him to look into his eyes, 'I'm serious, Spock. I won't lie and say that I've never slept with someone on the second...or first... date. I know this is supposed to be different, but given our history, this is honestly going to be hard for me.'

A warm feeling crept across her face as she realized her double entendre. She could've sworn that he was smirking back at her, but he broke eye contact and stared at the blank wall opposite them for a moment before responding.

'There should be a formal delineation between our dating and sexual phase since the evaluation criteria for both are somewhat different. It would skew the date data---'

'Date data? Okay, I'm not even going to touch the fact that you'd have criteria for sexual compatibility, but Spock, do I really want to know about this?'

He pursed his lips briefly, 'Perhaps you are correct. I would not want you to draw erroneous conclusions about my methods.'

She rolled her eyes in amusement before taking out her padd and jotting down some notes for additional research. She'd wanted to ask him about Vulcan dating customs as well as the role of men in a traditionally matriarchal society, but needed to do some reading beforehand.

Spock leaned over to look at her screen, curious, 'What are you doing?'

Nyota shielded the screen from him, 'Just giving myself a research reminder. Besides, you're not the only one doing the evaluating, Mr. Spock.' She ignored the heat from his thigh that was pressing against hers.

'Point noted.' He leaned back and folded his arms, returning his attention back to the blank wall.

'I've been keeping a journal since you kissed me on Christmas.' She watched him out of the corner of her eye.

He turned his head, 'You have?'

'I have. My notes got more detailed after the first date and I think I'm figuring out a point system for evaluation.' She raised her eyebrows nonchalantly, then smirked at him.

He resumed studying the opposite wall. 'My system of evaluation is rather complex.'

'Oh really?' She feigned disinterest.

'Under normal circumstances, I would share my methods with you, but since you are the study subject, I would not want you to feel like an experiment.'

She chuckled and looked over the top of her padd, 'Thanks Spock, you say the most romantic things.' She patted his arm affectionately. 'It's okay though, everyone's got their own ways on making a decision.'

He looked surprisingly relieved, 'Thank you for understanding. I would not want to cause you offense--'

'It's okay, it really is.'

'--though I am sure you are curious as to which of your qualities I have identified for evaluation.'

Shaking her head, she laughed at him, 'You're so incorrigible. No, I'd rather not know. But I bet you're having fun with it. In fact, I bet you think you can solve love like an equation. You're probably losing sleep over whether or not you're weighting the correct data set, aren't you?'

She chuckled when Spock pointedly looked up at the ceiling, ignoring her playful jibe, which only confirmed her suspicions.

'Your sarcasm indicates overexposure to McCoy's influence. He has always resisted the suggestions I have made for an efficient Sickbay.'

Nyota stopped laughing, 'Oh god, he's been on a tear this week, hasn't he?'

'He is a man of science and yet his behavior--'

'So you heard about the things he and Scotty have been saying?'

'Yes, the Captain had to speak to him about Nurse Chapel. She did not appreciate the insinuation he made to her that women were the cause of the alleged bad luck. He rationalized the incident by saying he was merely referring to the ancient Terran superstition held by sailors of that time.'

Nyota rolled her eyes and put her face in her hands, embarrassed for her friend, 'What has gotten into him lately? You know, I think he's still upset that he couldn't remember how to put your brain back.'

'I concur. He has been quite sensitive.' He looked down at her, studying the back of her graceful neck, 'Do you know that Scotty poured out a bottle of Saurian brandy in the engine room? It was to appease an Earth god.'

She gasped, 'Nooooo! Len got to him!' For Scotty to have parted with his beloved brandy showed her just how deeply affected some were about this past week, but it was a consequence of serving in deep space on a five year mission. Sometimes, things just got to you.

'It was to Manannan mac Lir, a sea deity of his land.' He canted his head at her, 'You are aware that what Rand is studying is occurring now.'

'What, that we're gossiping?'

'No, that in human communication, certain unconscious priorities manifest themselves. Scotty and Leonard have been very anxious about this week of alleged bad luck.'

Nyota got up to stretch her back, and Spock watched as the hem of her uniform skirt edged up, then down, her well formed thighs. He reminded himself that a premature sexual encounter could do irreparable harm to his long term goals.

'Yeah, that makes sense.' She yawned before continuing, unaware she was being observed, 'The fairy tales that Janice talks about can be really disturbing sometimes. The ones I grew up with were somewhat different.'

'The sheer variety of tales that humanity has produced is remarkable, especially how they explore the human psyche. Those tales tend to have fixed gender roles. In Little Red Riding Hood, the male is always cast as the dangerous seducer and the girl as innocence personified. Unlike on Vulcan, where we have parables emphasizing logic that Surak himself once told.'

'Nothing grim and bloody? No twisted tales of seduction and their horrifying consequences?' She grinned slyly at him.

'I am sure you will be quite satisfied when your research leads you to the appropriate pre-Surakian materials. We are well aware of how humans derive salacious pleasure in perusing them, as if their existence are proof of our true natures.'

Spock stared at her innocently, with a small half-smile on his mouth and she slowly smiled back, 'I'll just have find out now, won't I? But don't worry, Spock. I'll try to not use ancient history against you.'

They continued their discussion for three more hours, exchanging stories they'd heard and read since they'd been children.

He'd surprised her, again, with his knowledge of human behavior. But what really fascinated Spock, and amused Nyota, was the new folklore that was being collected during the mission. Stories popped up very quickly surrounding the adventurous missions involving Kirk, McCoy and Spock and were re-told often by the crew.

Even when the facts of the mission were readily available, the stories got stretched into elaborate concoctions. Scotty, Sulu and Riley were very skilled at telling tall tales, not to mention prolific, causing Nyota to speculate that perhaps it was a male quality to see who could tell the most outrageous story. Spock was theorizing on what could be the female equivalent, when Nyota interrupted him.

'You know Spock, something you said earlier about Len got me thinking.'

'What was it?'

'What he said to Christine. Do you think it goes back to his divorce? Sometimes....I get the feeling that he gets very frustrated with women.'

'Has he said anything that upset you?'

'No, but....'

'Nyota, please tell me. I would like to help you with whatever he said that bothered you.'

'Actually, it was about you.'

Spock's eyebrows flew up, 'Me?'

She shrugged, 'Yeah, you. Remember how things were weird after Alfa 177?'

'After the transporter malfunction with the captain?'

'Right, that-- and how we weren't hanging out like we used to?' Nyota looked away from him, down the drab, quiet hallway.

'You canceled your music lessons with me.' He studied her face, 'You said you were too busy.'

She sighed, 'Well, I wasn't. I was mad at you.' She looked down at her boots. She really needed to polish them.

'Me? For what reason?'

'It's all water under the bridge now.' She folded her arms, 'Just please don't say anything to Janice--'

A small note of frustration crept into his voice, 'Nyota, I do not understand--'

'That thing you said to Janice after the Captain was...put back together again.'

'What thing was that?'

'Oh come on, Spock. I can't believe that you of all people can't remember. It was such an asshole-ish thing to say!'

Spock straightened up reflexively, 'May I remind you, Lieutenant, that I am still your commanding officer? Furthermore-'

'Look, Mister Spock. You're lucky I didn't make this an issue back then. I don't even know why Janice didn't.'

Spock's face froze as if suddenly recalling what he'd said, 'The imposter had some interesting qualities wouldn't you say, Yeoman?,' he repeated.

She gave him a pointed look, 'See? It's a shitty thing to say.'

'I was only pointing out--'

'What? The obvious? What for? After one of your crew was almost raped by our captain, your best friend?'

'If you're implying that--'

'I'm not implying anything. What I'm saying to you Spock, was that it was completely insensitive and uncalled for. Not to mention a nasty shock for Rand.'

'Why did she not speak to me on it? Why did she not report it?'

'To the captain? To you, the XO? Hell, even Janice was wondering if she'd imagined it because it was just so unlike you.' She stopped abruptly.

Spock stared at her, 'Continue.'

She shrugged again, 'She was upset, so she told me. Then I was upset.'

'But....' Spock prompted her.

'But she's not anymore and I guess I still am.' She looked him dead in the eye, 'Did you really believe what you said?'

'That she found the impostor more interesting?'

'Among other things. Like, that maybe she wouldn't mind almost being raped by the man she had feelings for.'

'Is that what she thought I meant?'

'What else were you saying? And she said you gave her this smirk, which I feel bad about still, because at the time, I didn't believe her!'

'You should have come to me immediately.'

'I'm coming to you now, Spock. What did you mean when you said that to her?'

There was a long pause before he answered, 'There was no excuse. It was a lapse in logic. My only defense was that this was right after Psi 2000. My control....was not at optimum.'

Their eyes locked.

'Ok, fine. That explains how you lost your edit function, but even if you had better control, you'd still think it, wouldn't you? Are you the type of guy who thinks a woman invites that? Just because Kirk knew of her feelings for him?'

'Of course not. Nyota, I can see from the change in your voice and posture that you are still upset. We can discuss this again when-'

Spock's patronizing tone ignited the anger she'd felt since his derisive comment, 'Oh give me a break!'

She leaned forward into his personal space, her index finger jabbing into the middle of his chest as she made each of her points, 'First of all, I'm a grown woman and I can handle a heated discussion. Second of all, you still haven't answered my question. You need to give me a straight answer-'

He looked down at her, 'Are you giving me an order?'

'And you're surprised by that?'

'Uhmm, am I interrupting anything?' Kirk's voice smoothly cut into the middle of their argument.

Nyota's eyes flew over to Kirk, standing some yards away down the hall, 'Captain!' She stood up.

Spock quickly followed suit, 'Captain!' He looked over at Nyota, 'We were just discussing... personnel issues.'

Kirk's hazel eyes flicked from one face to the other, 'Is that so? Well, I'm going back to the ship. They're finally taking a break for the day and I need to get the hell out of here before I go nuts.'

He walked back down the hallway, getting lost in the crowd of diplomats emerging from the meeting room.

Spock and Nyota looked at each other for a moment. They didn't say anything else, but knew that this was a conversation they'd be continuing.

A few hours after they'd returned, Nyota's nap was interrupted by her door chime. She sighed and went over to the entryway, knowing exactly who was there.

Spock stood there silently looking at her after the doors slid open. He hesitated, 'I was not sure if you wished to meet tonight.'

She smiled tiredly up at him, 'You were worried I wanted to stop?' She beckoned him in, 'Well, I'm glad you're not afraid of a fight.' Nyota walked over to the replicator to make some hot tea.

He stood in the middle of her quarters, hands clasped behind his back, 'I know you did not want me to say anything to Yeoman Rand--'

'Spock!' She stopped when Spock shook his head, then waited for him to continue.

'I could not in good conscience let what you said go unaddressed. I sent communication letting Rand know that I was recently made aware of my transgression against her. I did not say how, but I suspect she will deduce who told me.'

Nyota sighed and went back to making their tea, 'Thanks for the heads up.'

'I have offered her the services of a mediator if she wishes to re-visit the incident. I have also informed her that she is entitled to file a complaint, in addition to assault charges against the captain if she sees fit to do so.'

'Oh?'

'Yes.' Spock sat down on the edge of her very small couch. 'I have apologized for making the remark and for not being supportive after her assault. As her XO, I should have counseled her on her options had she wished to file charges. By not doing so, it has given the appearance of complicity on my part. However, I have arranged to attend re-training on these matters.'

'Oh.' She stirred her cup of tea faster. 'I don't know what to say.'

She brought their tea over and set it on the low table in front of him. 'I've queued up the holo.' Nyota sat down next to him, examining his profile as he sipped from his cup, 'What do you think Rand will do?' She knew that it could hurt his career if he were officially reprimanded.

Spock looked at her, 'Actually, we have already spoken at length about the situation.'

She raised her eyebrows in surprise, 'What did she finally decide?'

'That my reputation for being, and I quote 'an intimidating asshole' unquote, was resolving itself in her mind, but that she would also like Kirk to attend the re-training.' Spock paused, then added, 'As will Dr. McCoy.'

At that, Nyota couldn't help but chuckle, 'Misery loves company, doesn't it?'

He gave her a small smile, his body relaxing slightly, 'Yes, it does.'

When the holo ended, Nyota asked him if he could see himself in the role of the wolf, but Spock merely shook his head. He countered by asking her if she could see herself as the young woman and whether she would have made the same choice in the end, to join the wolf.

'Not literally, but I can certainly empathize with the conflicted feelings she had for him.' Silently, she wondered how he could come from a matriarchal society and yet still have a sexist streak in him. She shook her head slightly, needing to know if this was going to be a problem with him.

'Nyota,' He waited for her to face him before continuing, 'Would you please tell me when I make a mistake like that again?'

She nodded, her eyes shifting back to the tea cup in her hands. She looked up, startled when his hand lightly touched her forearm, drawing her attention back up to him.

'Our ranks as commander and lieutenant do not matter. In the end, it is just us, as Spock and Nyota, and I need to know that you can still trust me.'

She drew a deep breath, then nodded slowly. He had never really answered her initial question about Rand. Nyota supposed that he had given her one by finally addressing the problem, but it would be something she'd always keep in the back of her mind.

They finished the rest of their tea in a companionable silence though. When Spock finally bid her goodnight, he leaned down for a goodnight kiss that made Nyota realize her attraction to him had not weakened, despite their previous argument. She closed her eyes when his lips touched hers.

Spock deepened their kiss, his large hands traveling down her arms, before slipping to her hips and pulling her close. She moaned when his tongue gently slid into her mouth. Desire, deep within, aroused her in a way that the kiss of their first date did not. They were safe in the confines of her rooms now. No one would see.

When he pulled back from their kiss, she swore that, for a moment, Spock was re-considering their dating contract. But then, the fires banked in his black eyes and Spock informed her, in his rather maddening way, that she should focus her energy into something constructive, like making a journal entry.

After Spock left, she went to her bureau and pulled out the red bag from the back of the drawer. Spock seemed frustratingly immune to the effects of their courtship, but she was not. She sighed, resigned to a solitary outlet of sexual release- for now.

A/N: You can find a link to the scene in question from The Enemy Within at my wordpress page. ETA 03/16: I just realized from comments over at my wordpress page that Kirk and Spock had withheld the fact that Kirk's 'imposter' was really Kirk himself. So--how did Nyota know what had really happened? Well, I guess I'll just have to address that in the next update! lol Thank you!