Associates of Good Character

By Lady Amanda

Sarek/Amanda – TOS

Rated PG

Disclaimer: Star Trek belongs to Paramount, Sarek and Amanda belong to each other. The characters of Sorel and Corrigan belong to Jean Lorrah. I'm just borrowing them in my obsession with Star Trek.

Post Journey to Babel – Amanda and Sarek have arrived back home on Vulcan. This is an extension of my very first fanfic, Flash of Blue.  For further information, check out "Flash of Blue" in the archives!

The Vulcan Science Academy was renowned throughout the Federation as the very finest of medical institutions. Yet it was not Sorel or Corrigan who had saved the life of the legendary Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan. It was a self-described "country doctor" named Leonard McCoy of the USS Enterprise. Sarek sat in the examination room ruminating on the events of his trip on the Enterprise. He had almost lost his life, but all turned out well in the end. McCoy had saved him, and the tenuous threads of reconciliation were spun between him and his son.

Amanda had wanted, nay, insisted that he use his influence with T'Pau so that they would travel via the Enterprise. It was after their argument following Spock's aborted wedding ceremony that he had had his first heart attack. She had demanded that he "reach out" to their son and reunite their family. Logically, his wife had reasoned that she was aging and would likely predecease him. His years of marriage to his very human wife had taught him the concept of irony. The irony in this case was that he was dying, and not Amanda. But McCoy and his associates in sickbay had saved him. Spock had saved him, too. He had risked his life with a drug that had never been used on Vulcans before so he could act as a blood donor to his father. Without the blood transfusions, he would not have survived the surgical procedure.

Amanda had been beyond pleased to see him communicate with his son as a father once again. For the first time, Spock asked the question that he had been asked by others for forty years. His answer was always the same. Those who had no intimate knowledge of Vulcans viewed it as a sterile, cold answer. Amanda knew differently. Logic did dictate his marriage to Amanda. It would have been illogical to turn his back on his relationship with Amanda, for Sarek knew that a marriage to any other would have meant less than contentment for both. It would have emotionally destroyed Amanda, and it would have physically destroyed him, for when his Time arrived, he would have refused any other, even to save his own life.

Sarek's reverie was broken by the entrance of Sorel in the examination room.

"Sarek, I am impressed by the level of care you received by the Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise. The defect has been repaired and you have many more years of life to look forward to. I also appreciate the disks that Dr. McCoy sent on the medication that was used on your son. This knowledge could help Vulcans and possibly other races in the future."

Sarek merely nodded slightly to the Healer. "I am gratified by this news. I am sure that Amanda will also be pleased as well. Good day, Sorel. I send my regards to your family as well."

Sarek arrived home and was looking forward to seeing his wife again. His condition had prevented any intimacies between them and he had always cherished the frequency of his physical relations with his wife. In fact, a curious side effect of pleasing his Human wife was the fact that the madness and frequency of his Time were slightly lessened. In this case, emotional responses had a most satisfactory outcome.

It was particularly hot today so Amanda was not tending her roses. Instead she was in her greenhouse tending the Terran vegetables that they both enjoyed. Sarek stood quietly at the door and caught sight of her gleaming silver hair. Opening their bond, he let her know he was near. This was rewarded with his wife turning towards him and giving him a jubilant smile.

"Sarek!" Amanda exclaimed as she closed the gap between them. She held out paired fingers to her husband in greeting. Sarek began to return the gesture in kind but instead swept his wife in his arms and kissed her passionately.

Breathless, Amanda pulled away slightly and teased her husband, "Sorel must have given you good news!"

"A most logical deduction, my wife. He was... pleased with the level of care I received on the Enterprise. It seems that I owe my health to Dr. McCoy's medical abilities."

"Not merely Dr. McCoy, Sarek, but Captain Kirk as well."

One eyebrow shot up, "I do not understand, Beloved."

"You were unconscious, my husband, but Captain Kirk had been critically wounded by the phoney Andorian that committed suicide. Dr. McCoy had relieved him of duty, which compelled Spock to believe he had to stay on the bridge with the crisis the ship was in. I confess I became very angry with him when he told me that he could not logically abandon the crew of his ship to be your blood donor."

"A logical decision on Spock's part, the lives of everyone on the ship depended upon his ability to command. But I fail to see how Captain Kirk enters into this."

Amanda chuckled at her husband's obtuseness. "Are only Humans this crafty? I would think, Sarek, that logically you would see what took place on the ship. Captain Kirk cares deeply for Spock; he considers him his closest friend, as well as a most valued First Officer. He knows that Spock's human side would never have been able to live with knowing that you died when he could have prevented it from happening. So Kirk conspired with the doctor to appear on the bridge, good as new, insisting that Spock should head to sickbay immediately and begin donating the blood. Of course, the captain was still in a great deal of pain, but he felt it was more important for Spock to save his father."

Sarek was stunned. "Why would he do such a thing? Surely he was under no obligation to me, and his ability to command was seriously compromised."

Amanda shook her head and smiled at her husband. "Darling, you have worked with Humans your entire adult life, married a Human woman, lived on Earth, and raised a half-Human son, and you do not understand what it means to be Human. Spock said something similar to me in regards to Vulcans, and now it seems that applies to you in this case where Humans are concerned.

"Kirk felt responsible for you as his ship was to transport travelling dignitaries safely. But more than that, he felt obligated to his friend, to Spock. But we don't have to discuss this anymore, Sarek."

"Indeed," Sarek replied, as he smoothed a stray tendril of Amanda's hair. "I can think of more agreeable ways to engage ourselves."

Amanda slid her hands up her husband's chest and said, "Yes, far more agreeable. But I'm still going to get the last word on this subject!"

Taking her husband's hand and leading him out of the greenhouse towards the house, she exclaimed, "One of these days you're going to have to admit to our son that his associates are people of good character!"