You winced as you felt pressure on your shoulder and leg, a searing pain shooting throughout your body. You heard voices but they were muffled. You could tell they were all male but there was one you recognized. His voice was laced with worry as he kept asking "Bones" to stop the bleeding.

Bleeding?

Oh right, you got shot. Twice.

You strained to crack your eyes open, blinking rapidly at the odd light that fell on your eyes. But you were soon cast in shadow as a figure loomed over you. Even in the shadow, you could see his bright blue eyes. 

"You're alive," you rasped as you tried to sit up. 

Kirk smiled at your determination, but he reached over; one hand cupping your face, the other gently pushed your good shoulder back down. "Apparently I'm not the only one." He gave you a small smile and sat on the makeshift bed with you.

You looked around as best you could, spying a few other officers talking a distance off. "Where are we? Are we safe?"

"We are in an old Federation ship, the USS Franklin. We are safe for now. But we have to go get the crew."

You reached up and grabbed one of his hands, squeezing it urgently. "What of the remainder of my crewmates?"

Kirk nodded, squeezing your hand back. "Them too. But you need to stay here. My men and I have a plan."

You shook your head, irritated that after all this you just end up being left behind. "I want to help."

Kirk stilled your shaking with a soft hand on your cheek again. How anyone maintained a conversation with this man was beyond you; his eyes reminded you of the waters back on your home planet. Calming and clear.

"And you can. You were a communications officer right?"

You nodded, wincing a bit as your shoulder twitched.

"Good. I'll need you to make sure our comms units are online and once we are in the sky I will need you to contact Yorktown."

Your mind was still a bit slow from the pain but you understood. "Roger that."

Kirk nodded once, standing and pulling at his jacket. He gave you one long look, a flash of wistfulness flashed across his face before he gave you an almost sad smile. He turned to go but you called out.

"Captain Kirk."

He turns, his eyes searching your face. You wince as you sat up carefully but you never broke eye contact.

"Be careful. I didn't get shot for a dead man."

That brought a wide smile to Kirk's lips, lighting up the room and making your heart beat a bit quicker. "I'll make sure to only come back half dead." And with that, he winked and was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were able to get the crew on board, including some of the last remaining members of your ship. At one point you thought Kirk wasn't going to make it back and that's was when you decided you were gonna kill him for making you worry so much.

But that was just it. You had been worrying too much about him, you couldn't help but think there was something your heart wasn't telling your brain. That was confirmed the moment you saw him on the transporter pad, face down moaning as he held hands with Jaylah. Your blood started to boil and your heart flipped.

You shook your head. Now was not the time to get caught up in fleeting emotional nonsense. Besides you have a duty to help protect Yorktown from Krall. You found yourself in the transporter room for no reason other than to see Blue Eyes so you tried your best to limp away unnoticed. But you ended up sounding and looking like an old man pulling dead weight. You heard footsteps behind you quickly make work of the distance.

"Would you look at that. My savior is up and walking." You could hear the smirk in Kirk's voice.

Without turning to him, you let yourself smile a bit. "Heaven forbid you ever thought I was actually going to die for you."

You meant it in jest but he sobered. The two of you stopped walking. He turned to you, looking in your eyes so intently you had to fight down a blush. "Thank you."

You blinked. You didn't think two words would have such a strong impact, especially since you have heard them before. But with the way he said it and the sincerity in his stare, you would have cried if you thought about it any longer.

You swallowed, giving him a nonchalant nod. "It seemed only fair. You helped be get down from my pod, I saved your life."

Kirk smiled wide this time, stepping a bit closer. "Ah, true. But to some that wouldn't seem fair."

You shrugged your good shoulder. "I suppose I'm not like some."

Kirk seemed closer now, his eyes darting around your face. "No, you really aren't." His voice was low and it gave you goosebumps.

His eyes flickered to your lips. Your face warmed and you tried to think of a way to stop him but your mind wasn't exactly working right. Kirk's nearness made it near impossible to think of anything other than the man in front of you.

You two were merely a breath away when Mr. Scott rushed in.

"Captain! The ship is ready. We best be going now."

The two of you jumped apart. You more like staggered. Kirk reached out and steadied you, nodding to Mr. Scott. "Thank you. I'll be right there. Have the crew ready."

The Scotsman nodded, giving the captain a knowing look. Kirk ignored it as he turned to you. You looked up at him, trying to think normally after what was just interrupted.

"I will feel better once you are with the crew and secured in a seat. You have done a wonderful job with the comm links but Uhura is here and I want you to rest."

You just nodded, not trusting your voice. Kirk gave your face another longing look before he bent in and kissed your cheek lightly. He pulled away, giving you a small smile then left.

You watched him leave, your body shaking from the tension but also fear. You had a pretty good idea how things were going to happen, and it wasn't good. You did as he suggested and went to be with the rest of your crewmates. They helped you get comfortable as you closed your eyes and tried not to think the worst thing imaginable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kirk breathed hard as he tried to regain his bearings after Edison's punch. It was harder than he thought to stable himself in a semi-gravitational box. Edison was weak and blinded by rage. Kirk knew he could take Edison down but it was the relic in his hand that worried him the most.

Kirk remembered back to before he took off after Krall. The look on your face almost pleading with him to not go. He knew there were other ways but this was the fastest and he knew it was going to work because it was him. Kirk wanted, needed, to stop Edison.

You looked like you were about to cry so Kirk smiled wide, calling out to you. "Only half a dead man."

He punched Edison, sending him sprawling away. He listened as Scotty gave him instruction but he soon found himself crashing through one of the glass walls and into a building top. Poor Edison was confused; he thought he still had to fight in order to be free of oppression when there was nothing he needed to be free of. Kirk watched as Edison took off and started to float off with the shattered glass.

"Mr. Scott?"

"He's riding the jetstream back to the center."

Before Kirk put away his communicator he heard your voice.

"Be careful not to overshoot it, you won't have enough time to circle back around."

Kirk felt new strength and energy as he took off after Edison, the sound of your voice filling his ears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You couldn't watch as Kirk struggled to open the last lever hatch. You trembled and your wounds started to bother you. So you left. You ran as best you could away from the evident danger that Kirk was in, thinking that if you weren't there to hear and see him fail, then it would hurt less.

You found yourself in a medical office of sorts. A nurse saw your bandages and offered to have you seen to. You numbly followed her and let her fix you up as you tried not to think of the man you grew to care for in such a short amount of time become a whole dead man.

So there you laid, tears falling out of the corner of your closed eyes as you let your emotions wash over you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kirk leaned on Bones and Spock as the three of them made their way to the medical office. Bones, being the least injured, got to work on Kirk as Spock sat down to rest. He looked over and spotted you laying with your back to them. Curious, the Vulcan stood and walked over to you, standing to the side as to not startle you.

"Forgive me but are you not (Y/N)?"

You shot up, half expecting pain but then remembered you were healed. You looked at the man before you and recognized him as one from Kirk's crew. New tears sprung to your eyes. Before you gave him a chance to say it you turned away.

"I don't need you to tell me. I had a feeling he wouldn't make it."

Spock raised a brow. "I assure you, Captain Kirk is alive, though not as well as he could be-"

You didn't hear the rest of what he said. You stood, almost falling over and looked around frantically. Then there he was, complaining to Bones about a small cut on his brow. Without thinking twice you ran toward him, flinging your arms around him.

Kirk let out a whoosh of air but laughed as he hugged you back. He was surprised but not at all bothered. You pulled away, cupping his face in both your hands. You gave him a long look over before you closed our eyes and relaxed as the others around you no longer mattered.

"You're alive."

Kirk chuckled. "Now where have I heard that before? I have a knack for ending up half dead, it seems. "

You rolled your eyes. "Had you died I would have killed you myself. Again."

"I look forward to it."

You smiled wide. Suddenly you noticed how close you two were. Not wanting to be interrupted again you closed the gap, capturing his lips with yours. You were gentle as you kissed him, making sure you didn;t hurt him with all his cuts and bruises. Kirk held you close to him, his own lips kissing you back tenderly. Warmth and security enveloped you both as you pulled away to breath only to be held against his chest. Kirk felt like he was a new man with a new purpose in life and he wanted to keep saving people with you by his side.