I walked steadily to the medical wing, waving hello at several of my crew mates as I did. I then suddenly ran into Jim as he came down the hall with a stressed expression.

"Hey Jim, are you alright?" I asked curiously, walking with him since we seemed to be headed in the same direction.

"Fine Ferris just fine," He claimed with a tense tone but then sighed. " Actually, Scotty just quit."

"What?! No way," I said with furrowed Jim's expression was serious.

I'd lost my favorite engineering chief and scotch buddy.

"Oh, and your boyfriend keeps second guessing me every chance he gets," Jim said as we entered an elevator. "Sorry, that was inappropriate."

I made no effort to correct his statement.

"But honestly, sometimes I just want to rip the --- Bangs of his head," Jim claimed.

I still didn't say anything and briefly drifted off in thought.

"Well, maybe it's just me," Jim said shrugging.

"No, it's not just you, Jim," I quickly said.

Jim turned to look at me but I continued looking straight.

"Hold on, are you two.... having a fight?" He asked.

"I would rather not talk about it," I said but he quickly butted in.

"Oh my god! What is that even like?" He said just as the elevator doors opened and it just so happened that Spock was standing right in front of them. He rose a brow at us but I simply walked past him.

"Ears burning?" I over heard Jim say to Spock who most likely looked confused. As he always seemed to look these day.

I stood next to the captain's chair and soon joined a conversation with Chekov and Sulu. As we chatted, I couldn't help letting my eyes wander about the room. I noticed Uhura at her station, quite obviously staring at Spock.

Regardless of Spock's status as taken. Many women still pined for him.

Jim walked up to his seat and sat down.

"Say, Chekov, you have been shadowing Mr.Scotty, you are familiar with the ship's inner mechanisms?" Jim asked and Chekov smiled shyly as if being caught.

"Affirmative sir," Chekov answered, smiling his cute smile that could make anyone melt

"Well then, you are my new chief engineer. Go put on a red shirt kid," Jim said much to my surprise as well as everyone else's on the bridge.

Chekov could barely register his words or his incredible promotion. "A-aye captain," Chekov answered. I gave him a pat on the shoulder as he stumbled out of the room.

"Uhura, please open a ship wide channel" Jim ordered, causing her to finally stop making coy glances at my boyfriend in hopes that he might actually look her way.

"Channel open sir."

"Attention crew of the Enterprise, as you know Christopher Pike, former captain of this chip, and friend, is dead. The man who killed him was fled to the Klingon home world where he thinks we are unwilling to go. Per admiral Marcus, it is essential that our prescience goes undetected," Jim said and then paused, looking at Spock. "That being said, I will be leading a landing party onto the surface of Kronos where we will capture the fugitive John Harrison. So that we can return him to earth to face judgment for his actions. All right Kirk out, let's go nail the son of a bitch."

"Captain, I believe you have made a smart decision, and would be happy to accompany you as a member of the landing party," Spock said coming up from beside me. Regardless of our current quarrel, his presence was automatically reassuring.

"You? Happy?" Jim asked in disbelief.

Suddenly the ship took a sudden jolt causing Spock to fall forward and on top of me this time. I fell backwards in surprise landing on one of the control panned with Spock on top of me. He quickly regain his footing but not before his familiar mint scent hit my nose.

I awkwardly stood back up and looked at Jim who had practically fallen out of his chair.

"Chekov did you break my ship?!" Jim half yelled half asked as he struggled to regain his footing.

"I'm sorry sir, ze' core overheated, I had to have an emergency stop. It must have been a coolant leak, I need time to find it. I am sorry sir," Chekhov's voice said over the com.

"Dam it, Sulu time till destination?" Jim asked.

"20 minutes sir," Sulu quickly answered. "

"20 minutes in enemy space we weren't counting on," Jim said softly. He was quiet for a moment, obviously trying to think of a solution.

"Where's Spock?" Jim asked turning to find Spock readjusting his already perfect shirt.

"Right here Captain," Spock announced, stepping towards Jim.

Jim then turned to me. "Ferris how is your Klingon?" Jim asked and I shrugged.

"It's not perfect but it is good enough," I told him.

He then looked between Spock and I. "Having you two working together won't be a problem will it?" Jim asked, curiously glancing over to Uhura who also spoke Klingon.

Hell if she was going.

I glanced quickly at Spock "Absolutely not," I said quickly

"Unclear," Spock added and I quirked a brow but didn't say anything.

"All right, let's suit up then," Jim said as we made way for the door.

"Hold on Jim you can't be actually going down there. You don't rob a bank when the getaway car has a flat tire" Bones said metaphorically, stopping us from leaving the bridge.

"Don't worry I'm sure engineering will have patched us up by the time we get back, isn't that right Mr.Chekov?" Jim asked, directing his speech to a com linked to Chekov.

"Yes sir," Chekov chimed.

"Mr. Sulu, you have the comm, once we are en route I want you to transmit a targeted comm link directly to John Harrison. Just tell him you have a bunch of big torpedoes pointed at him and if he doesn't play nice your're going to use em'," Jim explained and I smirked. It was difficult to think of Sulu as threatening. He was always so kind to me.

Sulu looked a little stunned at the sudden promotion to acting captain. And he even hesitated before standing up.

"Not going to be a problem is it?" Jim asked.

"Not at all sir," Sulu said and stood up. "I've just never sat in the chair before."

Jim smiled. "You'll do fine Mr.Sulu," Jim assured, I offered a grin to Sulu who still looked hesitant.

"Jim wait! You just sat that man to a high stakes poker game with no cards and told him to bluff. Now Sulu is a good man but he is not captain, " Bones said while walking out of the bridge with us.

"Well, he will be for the next two hours and quit with the metaphors. That's an order, " Jim said.

Jim then ordered a list of other things such as a ship we confiscated the other month and for Spock and I to go change into arms dealer clothing.

We then made my way toward the hangar bay where the small K'normian ship was. I walked with Jim to the ship and saw two other men there. Spock was already preparing and checking the ship.

"Lose the red shirts lieutenants, you are K'normian arms dealer now. Put these on," Jim said handing them similar outfits to mine. The two men kind of just looked at Jim like he was speaking a different language.

"Sir?" They questioned.

"Look if this thing goes south we can't have anything tracing us back to StarFleet," Jim explained and both of the men simply nodded and started putting on the suits. I walked into the small shuttle that was sort of cramped.

Spock was already sitting in one of the three operating seats. "Sir, based off these readings there is one life form in the Ketha Province. If Mr.Scott's coordinates are correct than this should be John Harrison," Spock claimed.

"Alright, send message to Sulu to begin his transmission," Jim ordered and I quickly relayed the message. We soon then took off towards Klingon.

"Sir, it should take approximately 3 minutes for us to reach Klingon. I detect the odds of John Harrison coming willingly are unlikely there is a 92.6 percent chance he will attempt to kill us," Spock explained. My jaw inadvertently clenched at his words.

"Well it's a good thing you don't care about dying then," I replied sharply without thinking. I almost bit my tongue as I realized what I'd just said.

"Excuse me Ferris?" Spock asked, as if he hadn't understood me.

"Oh I didn't say anything" I said absently.

"I would prefer we didn't discuss this here," Spock said.

"You prefer we don't discuss this at all," I snapped back.

"Our current circumstances - are you two really going to do this now?" Jim said, cutting in.

"Jim just give us one second ok," I insisted. "What never seems to deserve your undivided attention is us Spock."

"In the Volcano you didn't give a thought to us, what it would do to me if you died Spock," I added looking down. "You didn't care, you didn't feel anything, and I'm not the only one who's mad Jim is too."

"What no no no don't bring me into this," Jim said. "But she is right."

It was quiet for a moment.

"Your suggestion that I do not care about dying is incorrect. A sentient being's optimal chance at maximizing their utility is a long and prosperous life." Spock claimed and I scoffed quietly.

"Not exactly a love story Spock," Jim said, speaking for me.

"You misunderstand. It is true I chose not to feel anything upon realizing that my own life was ending. As Admiral Pike was dying, I joined with his consciousness and experienced what he felt at the moment of his passing. Anger. Confusion. Loneliness. Fear. I had experienced those feelings before, multiplied exponentially on the day my planet was destroyed. Such a feeling is something I choose never to experience again. Ferris, you mistake my choice not to feel as a reflection of my not caring. Well, I assure you, my actions are the exact opposite," Spock explained and it took me a moment to register. I slowly turned my eyes to meet his.

So he did care...

Suddenly something big banged up against the ship, almost making me fall out of my seat.

"What the hell was that?!" Jim asked startled

" We are being pursued by a D-4 class Klingon vessel," Spock replied.

" I thought this sector was abandoned," Jim said loudly as we did our best to evade the pursuer.

"It must be a random control!" I said as I hit several switches so we could go faster.

"Hold on," Jim said as he started to speed up and surprisingly didn't hit anything.

"Captain, this ship hasn't got any defensive capabilities," Spock said.

"It's got us, give me all six fuel cells!" Jim ordered and I quickly complied and we began to speed up towards a very narrow area.

"We are bearing fast at 285," I said towards Jim.

"If you are suggesting we utilize the passage between the narrow structures we will not fit" Spock said calmly but with obvious concern.

" We will fit" Jim claimed

"No we will not" Spock objected.

"We will fit!" Jim yelled as he turned the slender ship sideways. The sides of our ship grazed the sides of the small space. I braced for impact and couldn't even hear myself scream over the sounds of metal scraping against stone.

After a few scary seconds, we finally exited.

"Told you we would fit," Jim said, relieved.

"I'm not sure that qualifies," Spock replied.

"Did we lose them?" Jim asked

"I am not picking them up on our scanners," I answered

"We lost them!" Jim said triumphantly.

"Or they are jamming out Scanners," I retorted.

"Or we lost them," Jim said again.

Suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of three Klingon battle cruisers. They surrounded us on all sides with no escape.

Shit

They started speaking in Klingon and I did my best to understand.

"They are ordering us to land," I translated. "Jim they are going to want to know why we are here, they are going to question us, torture us, and then kill us".

My hands subconsciously tightened against the control panel

"So we come out shooting," Jim suggested.

"Sir we are severely outnumbered and outgunned," Spock pointed out.

"Jim, you brought me here to speak Klingon, so let me speak Klingon," I said standing up looking at Jim.

Jim opened his mouth to argue but he knew his options. Slowly, he nodded his head and I took that as a go ahead. I spared Spock a quick glance, conveying what I couldn't say in words.

I cautiously walked out of the ship feeling suddenly small. Several Klingons stood armed to the teeth just ten yards in front of me. I took a deep breath as one, a Klingon obviously bigger than the others stepped forward. He then removed his helmet and looked down at me. He had these brilliant blue eyes I was not expecting and a face reminiscent to a bear.

I willed my knees to stay steady and prayed they couldn't smell fear.

I spoke to him in Klingon, explaining how a bad man was on this planet and we were here and we wanted to take him back.

The Klingon commander gave me an unimpressed look and then smirked. He then grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up.

I gasped for breath and clawed at his hands but to no avail. He began to slip out a knife. He was about to stab me when the shots of a Cannon blaster rang through the air easily hitting three Klingons square in the chest. The Klingon who was holding me dropped me in surprise. I quickly grabbed his knife and stabbed him in the leg and he yelled out in pain but was quickly silenced when a blast of red light hit him.

I quickly tackled another smaller Klingon and stabbed him under the seventh rib which wouldn't kill him but would at least keep him down. I then took cover as more gunfire took to the air. I looked around to discover the source of the blaster fire and I found a tall man with a black cloak holding a cannon blaster as well as a smaller gun shooting from up above.

Could that be John Harrison?

I wasn't able to tell since there were about three dozen more Klingons joining the fight. But whoever the man clad in black was, he was a one man army. Taking down foes left in right in brutal succession. I picked up a gun and quickly started shooting at the Klingons.

I was actually doing pretty good when one suddenly attacked me from behind and pushed me to the ground. I fought back, ripping off the Klingons helmet and then attempting to use that as a weapon. But suddenly, a blast came out of nowhere and grazed my shoulder badly. I yelled out in pain. The Klingon took this opportunity to attack further.

Why am I the one always getting shot?

I braced myself for a punch but it never came. Instead, someone suddenly ripped the Klingon off of me before shooting him the chest with a blaster.
It was the man in black.

I didn't catch a glimpse of his face before he heaved me off the floor in one swift motion and pushed me towards a wall. He was not trying to hurt me, in fact it seemed he was trying to protecg me, but I still felt the need to escape.

Unfortunately, the searing pain on my shoulder made it hard to focus. I could only watch half dazed as the man in black continued to fight against the Klingons.

Soon the gun fire sounds dissipated.

"Ferris!" A familiar voice sounded that I immediately recognized as my brothers.

"Get away from her!" Jim ordered, coming into veiw. The figure in black stepped away.

Spock was immediately at my side and began to check over my shoulder. I instinctively grabbed his forearm for support.

"Nothing major was damaged but we need to get you back to the Enterprise," Spock told me swiftly as he delicately peered at the wound.

The burning pain in my shoulder was almost blinding but the adrenaline helped to subdue it. I was even shaking a little bit, practically trembling from the impending shock.

"Thank you, Spock," I said softly.

"Stand down!" Jim ordered while pointing a gun at the man clad in black. In one swift move, the man easily swiped the gun out of Jim's hand.

He was impossibly fast.

He then pushed Jim for the floor, causing me to instinctivly take a step forward but then the dark figure ripped off his hood.

It was John Harrison.

He was a tall man with raven black hair and an angular face. His eyes were cold, blue, and narrow.

"The torpedoes, the weapons you threatened me with, how many are there?" Harrison asked demandingly.

"72," Jim answered quickly, and then just a second later, Harrison dropped to his knees, releasing his gun and put his hands above his head.

"I surrender," he announced. I quirked a brow and looked at Spock who looked at me with similar puzzlement.

That wasn't suspicious at all.

Jim then stood up, wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt. "On behalf of Christopher Pike, I accept your surrender," Jim said and then punched Harrison straight across the face. Then again. And again.

"Jim!" I yelled out hoarsely but he couldn't hear me. He just kept striking the fugitive.

The strange thing was that Harrison was hardly reacting to the blows. Infact, jt actually seemed to be hurting Jim more than Harrison.

"Captain," Spock's firm voice yelled out loudly with an assertive tone. Jim took a breath, finally stopping his attack while glaring at Harrison. Jim's knuckles were already turning purple with smears of blood.

"Cuff him," Jim ordered, and one of the extra guys who came with us quickly cuffed him.

Jim checked in with me, and I told him I was ok. Spock helped me board the shuttle and sat me down. He injected me with a pain reliever before grabbing a device that I recognized. It stopped bleeding.

He waved it over me as I took deep breaths, trying to calm my heart rate. The pain was already beginning to dissipate from the injection. Jim was in the cockpit looking murderous, I wanted desperately to comfort him but was unable to.

Harrison was then brought onto the ship and our gazes met. His ice blue gaze seemed to bore right into me. A flare of anger raced through my senses as I looked into the face of Pike's killer. I felt myself shiver out of discomfort. He kept staring at me as if trying to figure out who and what I was.

I should have looked away, but I found it near impossible. It was like I was parylyzed.

Spock soon noticed it as well as he cleaned my wound and waved a device over my shoulder. The skin was already beginning to stitch itself back together.

"Is there something you wish to say Mr. Harrison?" Spock asked and I saw a flash of disdain flash across eyes.

"No, Mr. Spock, I was simply admiring," Harrison said absently, hardly even glancing at Spock.

I should have said something. Anything. But my tongue felt glued to the top of my mouth.

I finally broke our stare down as Spock ushered me into the cockpit.

We soon took off towards the Enterprise. Spock waited till Harrison was off the shuttle before he tried to take me to the med bay. I stopped him at the door of the shuttle.

"Thank you Spock," I said, smiling softly up at him.

"I believe you would have done the same for me," Spock replied.

I'd forgotten how comforting he was to be around.

I nodded in agreement.

"I apologize for the turmoil between us recently," Spock added and my brows lifted in subtle surprise. Even after a gunfight and detaining a murderer, he was still thinking about it. "I do care very much for you and our relationship."

I took a deep breath. "It's ok, Spock. I forget sometimes that we're different," I began. "But I wouldn't change a thing."

The corner of Spocks mouth tweaked upwards. The closest to a genuine grin.

"Likewise."