Burning (Star Trek: TOS story by Natasha Barry)

You may be looking for The Burning, a K/S story by Erin Tooley.

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Burning
Author(s):	Natasha Barry
Date(s):	1990
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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Burning is a K/S story by Natasha Barry.

art by Dragon for this story in As I Do Thee

art by Dragon for this story in As I Do Thee

It was published in the print zine As I Do Thee #15.

Summary

"Though Kirk and Spock have admitted their love for each other, regulations and Kirk's own personal code of ethics prohibit them from taking steps to become closer... and they're not the only couple acting unusually aboard the ENTERPRISE."

Reactions and Reviews

Once read, and looked back on, this story is a very sad one. There are no sadder words than "...might have been." It's well-written and touching and I like the time element involved. I must confess I never understood how McCoy's dream fit into things. It didn't hurt, but seemed extraneous the way it was abruptly dismissed. A good read, certainly one worthy of retrospection.

I usually like a long story but “Burning” goes on and on and on page after page with strange storylines, silly pairings, and the ending nowhere in sight! I have often wondered what the author was trying to get at. Exactly what was she trying to say for this piece seems to have no plot and no end? The story more or less starts with McCoy and Kirk having a picnic lunch on some planet near the beach on the last day of shore leave. Among other things, they talk about some of the relationships that have formed on the Enterprise. Through McCoy’s personal thoughts and musings, the author gives us all this background information. This is where this piece gets weird. Spock is in love with Kirk and wants him anyway he can get him. Kirk may or may not love Spock. This changes from page to page and is never really clear. At one point he records into his personal log that he “hungers to be close to Spock” but love with Spock is unattractive to him. Besides, it’s against regulations and Kirk will do nothing to ruin his career.

Next we learn that heterosexual Scotty has the hots for Pavel Chekov who is only in love with women and Captain Kirk. But, maybe that’s only a case of hero worship and infatuation. Anyway, he feels nothing for Scotty. Sulu and Garrovick are in an exclusively homosexual relationship and Uhura and a female psychologist, Catherine Jensen, are in a lesbian relationship. As if all this weren’t enough, McCoy is also in love with Kirk. This explains why he and Spock never seem to get along with each vying for Jim’s love. Truly, there must be something nasty in the air on the Enterprise.

McCoy is bothered by a recurring nightmare where unknown people are chasing him and calling him devil eyes and witch eyes and burning him at the stake. I guess this is the “burning” part. McCoy goes to Uhura’s lover, Dr. Jensen, to get help. Perhaps the dreams have something to do with his unspoken and unacted on love for Jim. He has one session of sleep therapy, but only normal dreams, nothing nightmarish. And this part of the story comes to an end.

After a lot of talking and lot of thinking there is a scene with some action. There is a chemical spill in one of Spock’s labs. Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Garrovick, security and maintenance all stand around the lab door in the hall wondering who else is inside. Kirk and Garrovick end up going in. On one page it seems like Kirk is wearing protective garments, but on the next he gets his eyes badly burned from a sulfur spill. He is kept in sickbay where his face and hands are heavily bandaged and where he worries about his face looking good. At one point, Spock enters his room and unties his hospital gown. Something sexual happens between them at this point. We never know what.

Finally, in an epilogue, we jump ahead to the new Enterprise, sometime after Sybok where McCoy and Kirk have another talk. Jensen and Uhura have split up so she is free to carry on with Scotty. Twenty years later, McCoy is still in love with Kirk but listens while Jim wonders if Spock is still in love with him. On the last page in practically the last paragraph, Kirk finally tells Spock that he loves him and Spock tells him he never stopped. It took 58 long, long pages to get there. This has got to be the most rambling story I have ever read!