The Gift (Star Trek: TOS story by KCS)

Fanfiction
Title:	The Gift
Author(s):	KCS
Date(s):	2010
Length:	2,988 words
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:	The Gift
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The Gift is a Kirk/Spock story by KCS.

Reactions and Reviews

This story is one of the few TOS-related K/S stories appearing on the net these days amidst the wash of movie-related ones and for me, is much like a breath of fresh air. That‘s because with the exception of a handful, I have a hard time relating to movie-related, or "reboot" K/S fic, mainly because I have a hard time relating to the "reboot" Kirk and Spock. There seems to be a trend amongst authors of movie fic to radically embellish the characteristics of both these men when it comes to their personalities, especially Kirk. While it may be possible to get past the physical characteristics of the blue eyes and the fact Kirk seems to be allergic to everything except Spock, what I can‘t get past is the more vulgar and cocky attitude he‘s often portrayed as having or the fact that he considers his achievement of becoming a starship captain as more luck than hard work and study. Even the "reboot" Spock is different. Instead of the tight emotional control exhibited so brilliantly by Leonard Nimoy, Quinton‘s Spock tends to wear his heart on his sleeve a bit more. All this just makes me even more thankful when I run across a new TOS story on the net because I know the Kirk and Spock in that story are going to be "my" Kirk and Spock. Such is the case with "The Gift". This is one of those "missing scene" stories involving an episode of TOS. In this case, the episode is "Journey to Babel". The story is told from Amanda‘s point of view as she spends her time in Sickbay while Sarek recovers from his surgery. Spock has already been released, but Kirk remains confined, due aggravating his injury not only after his return to the bridge so that Spock could provide the blood that would save his father‘s life, but also after two unsuccessful attempts to escape from Sickbay. For Amanda, who is more than a little regretful at the way she treated Spock when she visited him in his quarters in a futile attempt to persuade him to save Sarek‘s life, this gives her the perfect opportunity to make amends for her behavior, as Spock seems determined to spend every free moment he has at his captain‘s bedside. But when she tries to apologize, she finds that Spock‘s response is typically Vulcan, in that apologies are unnecessary and illogical. Yet she soon discovers that what is not so typical of her son is the relationship he has with his captain. Vulcans, after all, aren‘t supposed to form friendships with humans. As a matter-of-fact, ―human affection, human love, and all their derivatives were so fickle and flighty that no Vulcan worth his mental shields would ever have trusted a typical specimen of the race enough to form more than a shallow acquaintance with him or her.‖ Yet it seems this is one Vulcan tenet Spock refuses to follow as Amanda is given a rare glimpse, thanks in no small part to Kirk, of how her once lonely and isolated son has finally found not only a home, but also a not-so-small piece of his own humanity.

The Gift is another short piece that takes place shortly after the events of ―Journey to Babel.‖ The story is written from Amada‘s perspective and she observes interaction between her son and Kirk. Kirk is taking longer than anticipated to recuperate from the stabbing incident with the Orion spy and Spock is (naturally) at Kirk‘s bedside. This is pre-K/S piece, but there some endearing hurt/comfort scenes and Amanda‘s happiness that Spock is allowing his human half emerge for his captain. This story is in the spirit of the stories I used to enjoy in fanzines like Contact and it was a happy little read.