whump scenario where Spock catches some sort of illness or similar thing (one that conveniently only goes after Vulcans) so it gives him a really bad fever that has him confined to Sickbay and while he’s there he starts hallucinating and having fever dreams that McCoy ends up being witness to
He could be hallucinating anything but what was playing in my mind was basically a confession similar to the one he gave Jim in Naked Time about love on Vulcan and his mother and whatnot. Just anything riddled with shame and regret and typical Spock angst
Summary: Spock is not human, this creates challenges when the equipment Starfleet makes caters to human, but there is little logic in complaining.
Captain Pike believes otherwise.
WC: 1442
day 4: frostbite
If there ever was a time that Spock would be caught wishing that it was his human side that dominated his physical makeup, it would be from now until the moment they flew the shuttle back off this planet. While the suits were equipped to deal with the frigid temperature conditions to an extent, they were calibrated with human temperature tolerance in mind. Spock does not begrudge Starfleet for catering to the most common demographic among their employees, but it does pose an inconvenience when he can feel his efficiency and productivity drop the longer they remain outside of the landing shuttle.
He was slowly falling behind the rest of the group as they hiked to the ruins that would possibly reveal the nature of the cataclysmic event that destroyed the population of over a billion once sustained on this planet and completely reversed the planet’s climate. It was illogical to not voice his decrease in functionality to the captain, but Spock found himself hesitating, regardless. He did not wish to compromise the mission, and as he was the only science officer within the landing party, his knowledge and skill set would be essential to the mission's completion. To inform the captain had a high chance of ending with Spock being removed from the landing party, and thus jeopardizing both the effectiveness and timeliness of the mission.
With the evidence considered, Spock concluded that it would be best to monitor the situation independently. He would inform the captain only if his physical condition reached a point at which it would risk the mission.
Satisfied, Spock refocused on the hike, only to realize that he could hardly see the group in front of him. The snowfall had been increasing in intensity since their landing, and was now powerful enough to extremely limit visibility. Their communicators were being disrupted by natural interference of the planet due to a high concentration of certain metals and minerals, and Spock found himself with an uncommon emotion- fear for himself. Should he lose sight of the group, it was unlikely he would be able to locate them again until after the storm had passed, and them him, and by that point- it was likely that stage 3 hypothermia would have set in, and he would be near to death.
Panicking would do him no good, so Spock carefully willed the fear away, instead shifting his concentration to quickening his steps, eyes straining for the dark colours of the suits against the white landscape surrounding them. The cold seeped into his muscles, tightening his movements and fatiguing him, but Spock pushed forward. He hardly registered when he slipped on ice, ignoring the burning pain it sent through the thin material of the suit on his hands, and instead scrambling upright and moving forward again. Distantly he was aware of the fact he stopped shivering, but taking time to consider the unfortunate status of his physical condition was a low priority as he finally grew closer to the landing party. They appeared to have stopped, for a reason unclear to him until his short range comms device finally made contact with the rest of the group.
“Captain we don’t have time-” La’An was saying, but it appeared she cut herself short as Spock appeared beside her. He was not expecting the comms to explode in noise as he himself began to speak, to question their break when the storm raging around them was only increasing in its danger, and the time they had left to get to the ruins before everyone froze to death was decreasing.
“Enough!” The captain shouted over the other voices, and silence reigned momentarily until Pike continued. “Mr. Spock- You know better than to wander off on a mission. Care to offer an explanation?”
“My apologies, Captain.” Spock replied quickly, before taking a long moment to collect his thoughts. An explanation where he did not upset the captain- however illogical said upset was- about his lack of disclosure on his hypothermia, would require a proficiency in lying that Spock did not possess. He was, as the humans liked to say, screwed. “I believe I was experiencing mild hypothermia that led to a decrease in my ability to maneuver in this terrain, resulting in my falling behind the group. However, the situation seems to have resolved itself, as I have stopped shivering.”
There was momentary quiet once again, before the captain was marching towards Spock and, to the vulcan’s confusion, grabbing his shoulders and shaking them. A highly illogical action, and one that garnered no reaction from the rest of the crew. “We will be having words about this later, Spock.” The captain told him firmly, before turning to the others. “We’ll continue towards the ruins. Our scans indicate that the interior continues to host functional life support and temperature control, and it is far closer to us now than the shuttle.”
La’An was the first to move forwards, with Ensign Uhura and the captain following behind. To Spock’s slight discomfort, the captain kept one hand on his arm, marching beside him as they made their way to the ruins. Luckily, soon the ruins were upon them, and Spock was expecting immense relief, but instead felt pain in his extremities and digits. His mind felt muddled, and he was realizing that perhaps his function had been more impaired than originally believed. Despite the heat surrounding them, Spock found himself shivering once again, and stopped shortly in front of the doors as the captain finally released his grip and shut the doors behind them.
Pike started tugging at Spock’s suit, and it took him an embarrassingly long time to get the hint and give his captain a hand at taking it off. Spock flexed his hands, which appeared to have become mildly frostbitten. Spock knew it would take quite some time for his internal body temperature to increase back to its regular levels but he would suffer no long term damage from hypothermia. The frostbite appeared to be no worse than stage 2, which was nothing that a dermal regenerator could not fix once they returned to the enterprise. Overall, it was a logical conclusion that Spock was fine, but the captain was giving him one of his looks.
The others had branched off from the entrance room, leaving Spock and Pike alone, and though he was often not adept at deciphering the body language of others, he could tell that the captain was upset and gearing up for a lecture. Spock generally enjoyed conversing with the captain, even when he was being reprimanded, but he was not looking forward to this particular conversation. He averted his gaze to look around the entrance hall as the captain began removing his own suit, keeping himself occupied until-
“Do you have an explanation as to why you didn’t inform me immediately when you got hypothermic, or am I to just assume it’s a vulcan version of teenage rebellion to put yourself in a dangerous situation without telling anyone?” Captain Pike began, his tone stern and his face steeled. Spock paused, weighing the intensity of anger his possible responses would elicit from the captain. To tell the captain his original justification seemed the most logical course, as any other argument he could make would not have his full support behind it, and thus likely serve to irritate the captain more.
“I did not believe that the hypothermia would impact my functionality during the mission unless it worsened. I concluded that if it worsened, I would inform you, but to do so prematurely would put the schedule of the mission at risk. By the point at which it had worsened, I had fallen behind the group, and was unable to request aid until I had caught up.” Spock spoke slowly, finding himself suddenly quite fatigued. He leaned slightly against the wall behind him, blinking rapidly for a moment.
“Sit down before you faint,” The captain ordered, rushing over to Spock and guiding him down to the floor. “Geez, kid.” He mumbled, sitting next to Spock and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. “You can never do anything by halves, can you?”
“My apologies captain, I was not aware-”
“Ah-ba-ba. Close your eyes, get some rest. I’ll need you strong enough to make the trek back to the shuttle once the others have finished up.” Spock nodded, letting his eyes shut. He doubted he would be able to fall asleep in these circumstances, but did allow himself to relax against the captain, who was incredibly warm. His breathing evened out, his shoulders slumped, and then he was, despite his original prediction, out cold.
sometimes i think about how one of spock and mccoy's major moments of connection in aos was when spock was bleeding out in a cave. karl's performance is genuinely phenomenal there-- i wonder if it haunts bones, the guilt of wondering if he took advantage of spock's delirium, half convinced spock considers their conversation an indignity. i wonder if he keeps catching himself watching spock's lips, longing for the ghost of a smile. (i wonder if the way bones touched spock's jaw turns up in spock's mind when he meditates, sometimes.)
*casually drops off a fic three years later* please accept this humble gift
This is basically the same as every Tony fic I’ve ever written, but of course totally different, because it’s Spock this time.
Summary:
Spock learned a long time ago that showing weakness is not an option. But that doesn’t stop the migraines from coming.
Five times he tries to downplay his pain, and the one time he finally reaches out for help.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Did I travel three hours from home to help my son move into college and still find time to browse a used bookstore for Star Trek books? Pfft, of course I did. And it's quite a Spock whumpfest so far 👀
