Chapter Text
"What the hell is going on, Jim?" Bones exclaimed as the captain stepped out of the transporter carrying a small black cat. He felt the urge to beam Jim back the way he came, weird space creatures almost always meant a horrible headache.
Jim grimaced, "This is Spock." He held up the tag shaped like the Starfleet insignia around the cat's neck that read SPOCK, S'CHN T'GAI (S 179-276 SP) "We participated in some ritual to prove ourselves before the Lelottons would sign the contract. I guess Spock failed their trials."
"Is it permanent?"
"I hope not, they wouldn't give me any information, they just kept saying that there was something he had yet to discover, and that he needed to be honest with himself." Jim ran his fingers through Spock's fur slowly, and looked up sadly. "I don't know Bones, no one meditates like he does. How could Spock of all people be out of touch with his thoughts?”
"What I want to know is how the hell being a cat is supposed to help him figure it out?"
"I really don't know Bones, is there anything you can do?"
It hurt McCoy to feel helpless when a member of the crew was in danger, but he just didn't know how a Vulcan could be turned into a cat, let alone how he could be turned back. "This isn't a medical issue, I don't know if I can help."
"Bones, I need you to try, I can't do this without him, please."
"Yeah Jim, I'll try, we can't have our captain moping around while the ship's in danger. I don't know how in the hell we’re gonna figure out the lie he's telling himself, but I'll do what I can."
"Thanks Bones, I really appreciate whatever you can do."
Bones sighed as he watched Jim walk out of the transporter room, Spock tucked in his arms. How was this crazy shit always happening to them? If he'd just stayed a small town doctor on Earth, he wouldn't have to deal with figuring out how to turn a cat back into a Vulcan. This was some shit out of a fairytale, maybe all Spock needed was 'true love's first kiss'. He chuckled at that thought, and set out in an attempt to figure out what the fuck he could do to get them out of this situation.
______
Jim really didn't know what to do with the little furball that was apparently his first officer. He was having a difficult time focusing on the mission reports he needed to fill out, when his mind wouldn't stop jumping back to thoughts of Spock. He kept looking over his shoulder, half-expecting his friend to be standing there, a delicate eyebrow raised and a small smile saved only for Jim gracing his face, only to see a furry face staring back.
Spock was currently curled up on Jim's pillow. Jim had to admit that he was completely adorable, hiding his face under his paws and gently purring as he slept. Jim completely melted.
It was a common rumor that Vulcans were descended from a feline species similar to cats. Jim had no idea if this was true, but he had frequently thought that Spock's ability to enter a room nearly silently, and his signature eyebrow raise and head tilt, were rather cat-like. As the cat woke up and tilted his head in a uniquely Spock way, Jim found himself believing the rumor.
Jim walked over to his bed, and reached his hand out to the cat, waiting until Spock pressed his head into his palm to pick him up. He held the cat close to his chest as he ran his hands over the soft fur. As the events of the day finally caught up with him, inexplicable emotion bubbled up in his chest. Spock's purring became louder as tears began to fall from Jim's eyes. Spock reached his paws up to Jim's face as if he were trying to dry the tears streaking off Jim's cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Spock. I just don't know what I'm gonna do without you. You can't be a cat forever, I miss my best friend. Who else will get illogically annoyed when I beat them at chess, or quote Shakespeare back and forth with me?" He breathed in a shaky breath. "Who will tell me I'm being illogical, or quote the odds of success for me even when I really don't want to hear how screwed we are?"
Spock rubbed his fuzzy face against Jim's chin. It was remarkably grounding and comforting. There were barn cats on the farm of course, and Jim had a golden retriever for a while, but it had been a very long time since he truly had someone to comfort him. He found that he missed it.
"God, I really hope you don't remember this if you ever get turned back. I'm sure you don't want to remember me crying all over you, this is the peak of illogicalness."
Jim buried his face in Spock's soft fur and sighed. "I should probably stop crying and talking to myself, and take you back to your quarters, huh? I'm sure you'd rather stay over there, than continue to be bothered."
After allowing himself a few more seconds of hugging cat-Spock tightly to his chest and petting his back gently, Jim headed through the bathroom to Spock's quarters. Jim used his override code to open the door, something they both did frequently as he and Spock had found little need for privacy between them nowadays.
He set the small bundle of black fur onto the bed, replicated some cat food, and turned back to leave Spock's quarters, intent on finishing his mission report before he went to bed.
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Jim felt thoroughly drained, he desperately needed to take a shower and sleep, but finishing the report came first. He was having trouble deciding what to write though. How do you explain your first officer being turned into a cat and then getting kicked off of a planet until he could figure out what he was hiding from himself. Vulcan repression certainly wouldn't help Spock either, maybe that was why he was turned into a cat.
Jim was pulled from his thoughts by loud mewling coming from the bathroom door. He raced out of his chair. What if something happened to Spock?
He opened the door to Spock's side of the bathroom to see two adorable brown eyes staring up at him.
"What's up, buddy? Do you need something from me?"
Spock pressed himself up against Jim's legs, and meowed.
Jim picked him up, and Spock began purring as he practically melted into Jim's arms.
"Did you miss me, Spock?" Jim said with a giggle. "Okay, how about I leave both bathroom doors open, and you can choose where you want to be. Does that sound okay?"
Spock let out a loud meow that Jim took as a yes.
______
Jim breathed a sigh of relief as he sent off the mission summary. It was a small thing that Spock usually handled for him, but it was always nice to not have to worry about doing the whole report. Now in the midst of worrying about Spock, he also had to write the entire summary from scratch. This included what happened, and how he planned on fixing it, which ultimately boiled down to a whole lot of "I don't know."
He got up, ready to take a shower to wash off the stress of the day, and noticed that Spock was once again curled up on his pillow. He smiled at the adorable sight and headed for the bathroom.
______
Most nights, Jim and Spock played chess together before bed. Tonight though, that wasn't an option, he didn't have any work he wanted to get done, he didn't have Spock to chat, drink tea, and play chess with, and he didn't have any books he'd been waiting to read.
He walked over to his bed and sank down onto the mattress. He pulled the cat into his arms and sighed, "I really, really miss you Spock. I know you're right here, and it hasn't even been a day, but I have no idea what to do without my best friend, or my first officer. I need you to come back to me soon, before I become too illogical, or die of boredom."
Spock let out a quiet meow, and cuddled closer into Jim's arms.
"Yeah buddy, I know, I'm sure you want to be back too. How about we watch an old movie together, and then in the morning we'll work on bringing you back to us."
______
After putting on the movie, Jim quickly fell asleep. Spock took it upon himself to press the button turning off the wall display, then padded back over to Jim, curling up on his chest. Jim was lulled into a deep sleep by the rhythmic sound of Spock's gentle purring.