NIGHT 54: West Wing, North Hall 1-A

[sanguinario]

[From here.]At least if he couldn't soothe anything else, he could soothe the flashlight. While it seemed to rebel by flickering a few more times, the light stayed steady otherwise. So now, on top of attempting to supply himself with blood so he didn't randomly select a new victim and get stabbed between his ribs again or set on fire, he had to

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[dual_worlds]

Any explanation regarding what Kirk had seen would have to wait. As Spock predicted, learning about the incident from last night was one of his top priorities. It was only logical for a captain to hear such details, particularly when they obviously related to the dangers found within the Institute. Yet McCoy had been uncooperative when the Vulcan pressed for more information during breakfast. He wondered if the doctor would insist on remaining silent to even Jim.

Spock soon received his answer. His tense posture contrasted with the way he normally carried himself, and there was no denying that he seemed quite eager to close the matter. But claiming that he deserved disciplinary measures because he'd assaulted Spock was oversimplifying the matter. The Vulcan subtly narrowed his eyes at McCoy before turning his attention onto Kirk.

"If someone must take responsibility for what occurred, sir, I believe it should be me," he calmly spoke. "When we entered the morgue on the second floor, we discovered what appeared to be human blood dripping from the ceiling. I agreed to separate in order to simultaneously investigate the morgue and one of the autopsy rooms for more information. It was then that Dr. McCoy encountered a creature that, from my understanding of the situation, induced a hallucination."

[doneinthree]

Kirk's eyebrows rose when Spock finished his report. A creature. So it was no one's fault, really. Not that he had seriously believed they would've come to blows while thinking rationally - argue, sure, but not attack each other - but it was still a relief to get that cleared up. Or should have been a relief, but Kirk's shoulders didn't relax even a fraction as he stared between his two senior officers, trying to figure out what the hell was still bothering him.

It was Bones. Kirk understood feeling confused over whatever the creature had done to him, but surely he and Spock would've touched upon on the creature attack during breakfast, food fight or no food fight. Afterwards, there was no reason Bones couldn't have told him about being affected by one of Landel's eldritch horrors, but the doctor had stayed oddly cagey throughout their conversation. And now, jumping to accept punishment before Spock could even explain... The Leonard McCoy he knew had a strong sense of honour and responsibility, but that didn't explain it.

Guilt did. But why feel guilty when you weren't to blame?

There was an obvious argument to that, but Kirk forced himself not to pursue that line of thought - for now. This wasn't the time to just stand around. "No one's getting... disciplined," he sighed. "But we're not having a repeat incident either - tonight, we'll have to avoid getting separated." He gave Spock a pointed look there. He couldn't get mad at them, really, for splitting up - Kirk would've agreed to the same under the circumstances - but he was sick of feeling like he wasn't getting all the information. If something else happened, at least one of them would see it.

Kirk gestured ahead with his flashlight. "Let's move. Whoever's not talking, keep an eye on the rear." The exit to the rec field was on the other end of the hallway, and Kirk walked swiftly towards it, being sure to check carefully for an ambush. Assured that at least the next ten feet weren't hiding giant frog monsters, he glanced over his shoulder to Bones. "What do you remember about the creature?"

[hes_deadjim]

McCoy finally cast Spock a strange look. They both knew that wasn't entirely true. Sure he was Spock's subordinate, but it wasn't like Spock had ordered him to do something he hadn't wanted to do. The Vulcan had neglected to mention that he had been the one pestering the commander to let them split up in the first place. Spock had seemed perfectly content to stick together. Had he just lied to the Captain's face?

Vulcans had a hard time lying, but they knew how to avoid that by not outright lying in the first place. They just chose not to mention certain details. But he'd only seen them do so when they had a logical reason for it, and taking the fall for their fellow crew didn't fall under that. Spock had nothing to benefit from by doing so here.

They could have a whole debate on whether it was lying if by omission, but he found it hard to drum up any enthusiasm at the idea. He wasn't entirely certain why Spock hadn't mentioned it. Spock was all about the facts here and he had deliberately neglected to give all of them. What was he doing? He had to have some reason. Spock always did.

Some part of him wanted to confront him on it, but not right here. McCoy was fine just saying it to Jim, but if Spock had neglected to mention it, he wanted to know why first. Kirk seemed ready to accept their report and move on. The doctor, on the other hand, was still of the mind that he shouldn't get left off with not even a slap on the wrist. Just because he'd been hallucinating at the time didn't mean he wasn't to blame. Maybe under other circumstances but not here. He hadn't told either of them, but he remembered knowing it was Spock despite the wild terror. It hadn't been some random phantom he'd conjured up. The fact that he knew it had been Spock and had tried to stab him anyway made him just as guilty as if he hadn't been affected by that animal.

The worst part was that some part at the back of his mind still thought he'd been right to try it.

McCoy fell in behind Jim out of habit as he started walking. It looked like he only wanted the basics on the creature. That was safe enough. He obliged. "It looked like a large snake with a single red eye in it. It left behind some black residue with a strange smell to it. I remember it being nearly silent. My guess is that it's usually an ambush predator."

[dual_worlds]

He noticed the way McCoy looked at him. As far as Spock was concerned, however, he hadn't said anything deceitful or misleading. He had agreed to split up (which implied McCoy's role in this as well), and he'd said as much to Kirk. What he hadn't done was unnecessarily draw extra attention to the fact that it had originally been McCoy's suggestion in the first place. To do so would have looked like he was trying to shift the blame onto their doctor, when in reality it didn't matter whose idea it was.

As the ranking officer, what happened last night ultimately fell on Spock's shoulders, and he'd been prepared to accept responsibility.

Of course, Kirk wasn't eager to issue discipline or punishment to either of them. Indeed, he likely recognized there was more to the situation than what met the eye. If this conversation went at all like his exchange with McCoy this morning, Kirk would soon find that there was a lot about last night that McCoy was unwilling to divulge. While there was also a possibility that they wouldn't get so far in their discussion, Spock intended to speak to Kirk privately about the matter once a better opportunity presented itself.

In the meantime, Kirk's decision to stay together was sound. As long as they were uncertain as to the exact nature of "Project 2911", they needed to remain on guard. Since Kirk had been directly involved in this morning's events, Spock believed their captain might become a target of whatever the Institute planned to unleash onto them tonight. As he fell into step beside McCoy, Spock took care to ensure that they weren't being followed, but also remained aware of Kirk's movements and words in case he noticed something amiss.

[doneinthree]

Okay, Bones was a terrible liar. Or if not a liar, then... actually, Kirk didn't know what that look to Spock entailed, but it took a good deal of patience to keep from just stopping in the middle of the hallway again to demand what the hell was going on between the two of them. If they'd been anywhere else, at any other time... He knew all too well that the nighttime could cut out on them without any warning, and Kirk was determined to at least catch of glimpse of what lay beyond the prison walls.

Besides, it wasn't as if they were being totally uncooperative with him yet. Bones answered his question readily, and in detail. A surprising amount of detail. True, Starfleet officers were trained to be observant and log small details into their memories, given that they were often sent to explore new worlds and deal with unprecendented situations. He would've expected no less of Bones... had he been thinking clearly. Kirk had thought that whatever had happened had seriously messed with the doctor, which was why he'd let it go until now - but unlike during second shift, there was no I think or it's all kind of fuzzy or better ask Spock here. Bones had been the only one to see the creature, anyway.

And if he remembered enough to comment on its attack strategy, then he could answer Kirk's next questions: "So what happened? That is... did it attack you, or was it the residue, or what? What were the effects like?" They'd reached the door, and Kirk pushed it open without a second thought, same as the handful of other times he'd crossed this way. It was unlocked, as usual.

[to here]