Author's Note: So after having discovered Star Trek via the new JJ Abrams' franchise, I decided to go back and watch the original series. This is, aptly, a reunion of the two. A reboot of an episode in the first season which shares its name with this story: "The Enemy Within". The plotline is almost directly derivative of that episode, but I have taken the more character-driven traits from the Abrams movies. I don't really wish to say more, lest I give away the plot. That being said, this was a little too long for a one shot, so I've divided it into three parts with the next installments coming soon. Please enjoy! And please leave some feedback, as I adore hearing from you guys!
It was meant to be a routine mission to the planet Alpha 177; the objective being to discover and classify heretofore unidentified lifeforms. Pretty basic.
If there was one thing Captain James T. Kirk had learned in his yet early captaincy, however, it was that the "routine" missions were generally the ones that ended in the most unexpected and disastrous ways.
"I think it's a … a dog, sir? A space dog?" Lieutenant Sulu holds the fury pink creature in his arms, laughingly examining the long horn protruding from its forehead.
The captain laughs. "That should make a good specimen," he says jokingly.
The planet appears to be mostly devoid of any humanoid life forms, though its conditions are comparable to Earth's; the only exception being that the planet's orbit takes it so far from it's sun that overnight temperatures drop dangerously to almost one-hundred and twenty degrees below zero. Jim wanders for a few moments, watching his crew complete their assigned tasks. He cannot help but feel a solid, warm little ball of pride from within the center of his chest. They haven't been together very long – less than a year, really – and they are all impossibly, gloriously young for Starfleet officers. And yet, and yet, as far as Jim is concerned, they might have been the most decorated crew in the galaxy, aboard the most celebrated ship in the universe. Such was Jim's pride in the Enterprise and her crew.
"Captain?" Sulu interrupts his musings, "I think Fisher's been injured, sir."
Jim takes a look at the man's hand. "What happened, Lieutenant?"
The man flexes his fingers and uses his uninjured hand to dislodge a patch of yellow dust from his uniform. "Just took a fall, captain, into a patch of some debris over the other side of those rocks."
Jim nods. "Well it's not too bad, but the team's all but finished here. Why don't you have Mr. Scott beam you up early and you can head to sickbay to get patched up."
Fisher nods and relays as much to the ship's engineer before Jim hears Scotty's heavily-accented assent over the communicator.
"Sulu," the captain turns back to his helmsman, "good work today. I'm gonna go ahead and head back, make sure Fisher is seen to. You boys finish up here and contact Mr. Scott when you're ready to beam back."
"Aye aye, sir. Oh, and, uh, captain?"
Jim raises an eyebrow. "What's up, Sulu?"
The pilot looks sheepish for a moment, his grin almost embarrassed. "Permission to take the, uh, space dog back with us, sir?"
Jim's return smile is brilliant. It makes his job so easy, really, when making a crewman happy can be achieved so simply. "Granted," he chuckles, then adds as an afterthought, "But let's try to keep it quiet. Commander Spock might not find it entirely logical, our deciding to keep a pet…"
Lieutenant Sulu nods solemnly, as if he's only just realized the consequences of the Vulcan finding a dog on board the Enterprise, but there is a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Welcome back, Captain," Scotty smiles cheekily as Jim materializes on the transporter pad in front of him.
Jim nods his acknowledgement, but he feels himself stumble as he steps from the platform. He feels unbalanced, somehow, not quite himself…
"Steady on, Jim," Scotty says kindly, "let me give you a hand."
Jim shakes his head. "Just a little dizzy, Scott, I'm fine."
"You look pale. Let me take you to your quarters, Jim. You might do with a quick nip, sir."
And Jim nods, all thoughts of checking up on Fisher wholly abandoned. He doesn't question this sudden lack of initiative, doesn't wonder at the fact that it is very out of character for him to blindly obey another crewmember, especially when they are telling him to rest. No, usually Jim would scoff at such an implication, ever defiant. But he merely shakes his head again and mumbles good-naturedly, "Oh, Sulu's gonna beam back a dog, by the way. Consider yourself warned…" before allowing himself to be led from the transporter room.
On his return, Scotty is confronted with a very flustered fellow engineer. "You didn't tell me they were bringing animals back with them," Wilson grumbles.
Scotty chuckles guiltily. "Right, yeah, a dog, isn't it? At Mr. Sulu's request."
"Two dogs," Wilson clarifies, obviously irritated, "and one is a damned terror. Locked it in the basket for now. Crazy thing tried to bite me."
Scotty frowns. "I'm sure the captain only mentioned one dog. Anything wrong with the transporter, Wilson?"
Engineer Wilson shrugs. "Suppose it was acting a bit funny. I beamed the first dog back, but the second came all on its own. I thought it was just a delayed trans-signal."
Scotty looks over his shoulder warily, studying the basket that shakes with the vicious growls of its imprisoned canine. And beside it, the other dog – pink and whimpering in fear, yet inexplicably unwilling to move away from its counterpart...
Jim is in his quarters, fresh from a shower, when his first officer makes his presence known from the corridor.
"Yeah," Jim calls, "come in, Spock."
And then there he is, standing tall in Jim's doorway, hands clasped behind his back, dark eyes shining with something that looks alarmingly like concern. It makes Jim sad, instantly, though he can't say quite why. That look of worry – worry for him – renders Jim instantly guilty. He takes a step forward, ready to do whatever it takes to alleviate the worrisome lines on Spock's face. Jim can only describe this new, intense emotion as … protectiveness, perhaps.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Captain?"
Jim frowns. "Like what?"
"Dr. McCoy felt that I should check in on you, sir," Spock says, without further explanation.
"Oh?"
"Yes sir. He was quite concerned."
Jim shakes his head, trying to dispel the sudden, crippling feeling of guilt. He doesn't know why Bones is worried – isn't sure what he's done this time to merit the good doctor's concern – but he knows he doesn't deserve it. Nor does he deserve the expression of care on Spock's face. They're both such good men, Spock and Bones, and Jim feels he must be the most selfish asshole alive to make them always-
"Captain?" Spock has taken another step forward. He thinks maybe the captain is inebriated. After all, Dr. McCoy did say that Jim stole an entire bottle of brandy from him, earlier in the day. The doctor had described his demeanor then as aggressive – quite the opposite of the attitude Spock now observes. But he does not disclose this information to the captain. Not yet.
"I'm quite alright, Spock," Jim says, meeting his first officer's eyes sadly. His tone is polite, almost … apologetic. "You should go find Bones and tell him I'm fine. I'm just going to stay here." Jim sits down gingerly on his bed. "I'm just going to sit right here. Please don't worry. You look so … sad."
Spock visibly blanches. "A human emotion, captain," he says, testing.
But Jim does not respond in any way sarcastically or teasingly, as is his wont when his friend tries to deny the existence of his human half. Instead he … apologizes again.
"Of course, commander. I don't mean to be insulting." And he hangs his head.
When Commander Spock returns to sickbay, ready to report on his captain's overly emotional, highly illogical display, he is perplexed to find engineer Scott already complaining to Dr. McCoy of Jim's strange behavior. Yet the engineer's tale is completely contrary to his own … and, perhaps, far more disturbing.
"Bloody hell," Scotty winces, touching his already-swelling left eye. "But the captain's got one hell of a right hook."
Dr. McCoy curses under his breath. "Damn kid's gone off his rocker," he grumbles.
"Excuse me, Mr. Scott, but I must have misunderstood. You claim to have just come from an altercation in which your assailant was … the captain?"
McCoy interrupts Scotty's reply with a scoff. "Damnit, Spock, you don't misunderstand much of anything. And you sure as hell didn't mishear, not with those freaky alien ears of yours. So what are you getting at? I thought you were going to check up on Jim?"
Spock ignores the doctor and turns, pointedly, to face Scotty instead. "Tell me what happened, Mr. Scott."
Scotty looks between doctor and first officer before clearing his throat uncomfortably. "I, uh, was down, back in the transporter room, waiting for Sulu and the others to request to beam back – I'd sent Wilson for lunch. And, uh, the captain comes in, looking all feverish and excited…"
"Probably drunk from all that damn brandy he took," McCoy grumbles bitterly.
Spock doesn't even spare him a glance as he waits for the engineer to continue.
"He wanted me to fight him," Scotty confesses, obviously confused and rather upset. "Said he hadn't had a good fight in ages – started hopping around like a madman with his fists up, trying to challenge me."
Spock raises an eyebrow. "The captain wished to fight you, Mr. Scott?"
"Aye, that's what I said."
"And by fighting the captain, just now, you have received these injuries. Is that correct?" Spock indicates Scotty's blackened eye, his split lip.
Scotty nods, but McCoy interrupts yet again. "Which wouldn't have happened if you'd just gone to check on him like I asked." The doctor's tone is bitter and accusatory, but Spock knows that it most often his method of concealing his fear for his friend. McCoy continues: "Where the hell were you, damnit, while Jim was beating Scott to a bloody pulp?"
Scotty raises a finger to interject, perhaps to deny having been beaten that badly, really, but what Spock says shuts them both up.
"I was in the captain's quarters … with the captain."
There is a long pause before Dr. McCoy manages to stop gaping stupidly at the Vulcan and mutter, "Well fuck me…"