The Enterprise is on its 5-year voyage around the galaxy.
Kirk sat in chair, "Status report?"
Sulu answered, "Approaching a small, class M planet—"
Uhura interrupted, "Receiving communications from the planet."
Kirk nodded and ordered, "Bring it up on the center screen."
"Okay, sir."
A few seconds passed in silence without the message.
"What's taking so long?" Kirk asked impatiently.
"I don't know. It's not like what we usually receive."
Kirk disappeared off the bridge. "Keptin?" Chekov asked, as people on the Enterprise began feeling nervous.
Spock glanced up to see what the commotion was all about when he realized Kirk was gone. "What happened, lieutenant?"
Uhura rapidly began typing into the computer. "I don't know, sir."
"Can anyone track Kirk's location?" Spock stiffened in his effort not to display his frustration and fear.
"I have him, sir. He's been beamed down to the planet." Sulu looked confused. "I don't see how that's possible, though. They're not developed enough to possess such technology."
"Then let's assume the Klingons are assisting them. Scan the area. Find a good place to beam down. I'm beaming down with an escort of guards to locate and collect Kirk. Do you have a lock on his location?"
"Yes."
"Good then Scotty, beam me down." He called to the ship notifying the crew of their current condition and requested two redshirts.
Spock briskly walked to the transporter with Scotty jogging to keep up with his pace.
Two redshirts met them at the door and the three took their place in the transporter.
"Do ya think two will be enough, sir?"
"Two will be adequate: I don't want to attract too much attention and it is procedure to have protection. Energize."
As soon as they reached the planet, they sprinted off to the side and crouched behind the protruding boulders.
Spock tried to think like Kirk at this moment because he concluded that any diplomacy would be futile.
Spock observed the guards that marched around a later structure, which he figured was the Capitol building.
On a previous attempt to invade a high-security building, when he was with Kirk, they had stunned the guards and used their clothes as a disguise. Spock decided this I the best plan of approached and told the two redshirts of it.
The two men were truly surprised by this creative and not procedural method, but agreed and followed through with it.
Once inside, wearing the disguises, the three made their way unnoticed through the building and, with Scotty's navigational skills, successfully located Kirk.
They found him unconscious in an iron cell. He looked battered and bruised but otherwise unharmed. They began devising a plan of escape when the guard came around the corner.
"Soldiers, what are you doing here?" the man said in a deep, commanding voice.
He appeared human, however judging by his structure and the way he walked he seemed to be physically stronger than most humans and might be an even match against Spock.
"We took a wrong turn," one the redshirts said.
"I bet you did, but I need you to collect our prisoner and deliver him the Commander." He tossed over a set of keys as he said it.
The other redshirt caught it, unlocked the door and Spock and the redshirt went in to grab Kirk.
Together they half-carried, half-dragged Kirk to where the general lead them. Spock was just about to call the attack on the general when a door was opened, revealing a large crowd of the super-humans.
The two redshirts glanced over at Spock nervously who emotionlessly looked back.
There was a table in the middle of the round room to which they were told to strap Kirk.
They complied but only strapped him loosely to allow for a quick escape if the opportunity presented itself.
A man in a white coat came over to Kirk and jabbed a needle in his arm causing his to jerk awake.
Kirk struggled in his constraints before the Commander donned in a golden uniform stepped into his view.
"I'm glad you're awake, Captain. I was beginning to worry whether my men were too hard on you. But now you'll see that you will experience pain like you never have before if you don't give us the answers we need."
Spock and the two redshirts had stepped off to the side and were careful not to draw attention to themselves until the time was right. They wanted to stay under the radar until they had an opportunity to escape.
"Who are you working for?" Kirk asked in a steady voice to show that he couldn't be intimidated by them.
The table released an electric current that shocked Kirk's body causing him to writhe in pain. He refused to scream or even moan; he still wanted to appear strong to these people.
"You see, we ask the questions, you give us answers; it's very simple. Now tell the override code for your ship."
"That wasn't a question," Kirk teased, smiling deviously. He had no intention of telling this man anything and would certainly die to keep his ship safe.
A shock came through the table, much stronger than the last and Kirk involuntarily arched his back in pain but remained quiet.
"What is the override code for your ship?"
The room was silent to hear Kirk's response, "I have had much worse than this, you know. You won't get any information out of me."
"Okay then because you think you're so strong and brave, let's see if you can handle this; you'll just beg for death."
The doctor connected metal pieces to Kirks forehead and chest.
"Now let's try again, what is the override code for the Enterprise?" He smiled menacingly.
Kirk smiled back. "I will never tell you no matter how much pain you put me through. You'll just have to kill me I suppose."
The Commander continued smiling. "I'd hoped you'd say that."
The metal pieces sent shocks through his head and chest leaving him unconscious.
The shock had been enough to kill and the limp body was left on the table because the doctor injected Kirk with a needle and he came back to life.
Kirk went into a coughing fit as the shock had clearly done serious damage to his lungs in addition to his heart.
Spock realized what was happening: they would continue to kill him and bring him back to life until he would give up the information. Eventually, Kirk would have to give in and Spock wasn't going to wait to see that happen.
The same question was asked and Kirk laughed in the Commander's face. "You honestly think you can break me? You're an idiot!" Kirk sounded as if he was going insane the way he talked to his captor. Spock knew he had minutes to come up with some kind of distraction.
Then, an explosion sounded and the floor shook. The crowd of people rushed out the door giving Spock the moment he needed. "Now!" he called to the two guards. Spock broke his disguise, rushed over to Kirk, and pulled him free of them table while the two redshirts defended them with phasers.
Spock slung Kirk's arm around his neck and supported him as they hurried out of the building. Several super-humans tried to stop them but they were stunned by phasers.
Spock called up to the ship, "Lock in on the location of this communicator and beam us up quickly."
Seconds later, they were all aboard the Enterprise.
McCoy was the first to speak: "What the hell happened?!"
Kirk was half conscious but when he realized that he was back on the Enterprise he bolted upright and yelled, "Get this ship out of orbit now!"
Kirk tried to stand up but McCoy rushed over and held him down by his shoulders.
Scotty by the computer relayed the message to Sulu on the bridge and the Enterprise was quickly brought into hyper drive.
After a second in hyper drive, when the ship was far away from the planet, Kirk stopped fighting and finally passed out in McCoy's arms.
McCoy delicately lowered the captain back down onto the floor of the transporter and began analyzing his condition: minor brain trauma and an inflamed lung.
"Spock, what happened?"
"He was tortured." Spock's voice sounded so empty that McCoy knew it hurt him to see his friend in this state. Spock stood stiffly over them and McCoy didn't ask for a further explanation.
Instead, one of the ensigns came over an explained how they had to deliver Kirk to the room to face the most horrific torture techniques that involved pushing his body into accepting a significant amount of pain, letting his body fall within an inch of death, and shocking him back to life with a shot.
Spock stared blankly off into the distance thinking about all he had seen: Kirk was put through so much pain, yet he had been so brave and accepted the next bout of pain without complaint. He thought of how much he admired Kirk. As a Vulcan, he could turn off his senses and shut down his body at will, but Kirk was human; he felt every ounce of that pain and still found a way to remain strong.
"Spock?" McCoy asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yes, doctor. Since our captain is unable to perform his duties, I will take his place on the bridge." Spock left without looking back.
"Scotty, call down to the medical bay and have them send up a stretcher. I don't want to further damage his head."
Scotty put the call in and Nurse Chapel brought in the stretcher.
Scotty lifted Kirk's torso and Chapel lifted his legs, while McCoy took extra care with his head. Once he was securely on the stretcher they rushed him down to sickbay.
There, he was treated from his injuries and hours later he opened his eyes.
They were dilated but as brilliant blue as ever. McCoy sent a courtesy call down to the bridge to let Spock know that Kirk was awake.
Although Spock dust sound as elated as McCoy had hope over the communicator, Spock had appeared minutes later in the sickbay to see Kirk.
When Kirk sat Spock, his face lit up that McCoy felt a surge of joy for his friend. The doctor left the room to give them some time together.
"I apologize, Captain for my actions. At the time it seemed illogical to expose ourselves as we had not secured a means of escape. I could not predict the danger it left you in and the suffering you had induced—"
Spock attempted to further his apology but Kirk waved him off.
"You're action we're fine for the situation at hand, although I must ask, what gave you the idea to dress up as guards? I thought you hated it when I did it."
"Captain, as you said, my action were in response to the situation at hand and because that method had been successful in the past on numerous occasions, it was logical to devise and follow through with a similar plan."
Kirk smiled; he knew he wouldn't get a straight-up answer but he could read between the lines pretty well. Despite his Vulcan ideals, Spock had felt emotion when he was forced to sit by and watch his captain endure life-threatening pain.
The moment of silence ended when Kirk sat up and shifted his legs off the bed.
"Help me up." He reached his arms at toward when Spock was standing.
Spock stepped closer but still asked, "Do you think that's logical in your condition?"
"Spock, I'm sick of being confined to a bed. I need to get up and moving."
"If remaining in bed makes you unwell then you must stand up."
Kirk leaned on Spock for support and stood up. The motion caused his head to swim and his knees to buckle but Spock quickly moved to catch him and put a hand to support Kirk's head as McCoy did earlier.
McCoy strolled in and when he saw Spock catch Kirk, he rushed.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Spock, I at least thought that you would keep him from doing something stupid like this but I suppose not."
He guided Kirk as Spock lifted him back up and set him gently on the bed, easing Kirk's he's back on the pillow. For some reason, Kirk couldn't catch his breath, was panting heavily, and gave McCoy a questioning look.
"You had an inflamed lung. The physical damage I patched up but you still have to heal a bit."
"Bones get me out of here. Give me as many hypos as you want but I am tired of being here." Kirk didn't know if it was his injuries or fatigue, but he was glad this moment of weakness was only in front of his first officer and his friend.
"You're such an infant sometimes." Kirk gave him a face that read fatigue and McCoy softened. "All right. Can you eat?"
"Yeah, honestly, I'm starved."
"Then give me a minute." He returned with a hover chair which Spock eased him into. Then McCoy gave him a hypo spray to stop the pain in his head and to bring down the inflammation in his chest and wheeled him to the officer's mess.
Shortly after eating, McCoy didn't need to use a hypo because Kirk fell asleep in the chair. Spock and McCoy helped him to his personal quarters and into bed.
Spock was called down to the bridge by Uhura; it was a message left for Kirk but she believed that he should hear it first.
He went down to the bridge and listened to the message: "Captain Kirk, you may have escaped me this time, but I will come for again and next time you won't be so lucky."
Spock went dead quiet and his expression cold. "Thank you Uhura. I will inform Kirk of the message next time he wakes. Keep a record of the message and submit it to the Federation. I want to make sure that they are aware of that Kirk is in danger."
"Yes, sir."
Spock returned to his cabin but didn't feel as if he needed any rest so he went to McCoy.
He relayed the threatening message to McCoy and he started cursing. "This is bad, really bad. We can't protect him every second of every day and we don't know when he will try to take Kirk back."
McCoy grabbed his key to Kirk's room and he and Spock went into his quarters; Kirk still laid peacefully where they left him, deep in sleep.
"Do you think we should wake him?" McCoy asked.
"It can wait until morning."
"He shouldn't be left alone."
"If they have the ability to beam him off this ship and send him far away it is illogical to assume that any witness to this action could find and save him."
"Well, let's do what we can. I'm staying with him for the night."
"Your haggard appearance means that you need sleep. I am Vulcan; I don't need to sleep as often. I'll take the first shift."
"Fine," McCoy grumbled, especially because the 'haggard' comment, "but if he wakes up you must call me immediately. I want to be there when you have him listen to the message; he'll need all the comfort he can get."
McCoy left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. Meanwhile, Spock took a seat and noticed Kirk had tensed. Whatever he was dreaming wasn't pleasant as he began thrashing around.
Spock hated seeing Kirk like this and although he usually would ask before performing a mind meld, he figured this was an exception and put Kirk at ease with his thoughts. "Sleep well, T'hy'la."
Morning came and Kirk woke up stiff and disoriented, but he felt well-rested.
When Spock noticed Kirk was waking up, he went into the hall and called McCoy.
He then decided to knock; he didn't know yet whether he wanted Kirk to know that he spent the night because he might misunderstand.
He heard Kirk from inside call, "Come in."
Spock entered. "How are feeling today?"
"Sore, but well-rested." He grimaced as he went into a sitting position.
"That action is ill-advised, sir. You should continue resting."
Kirk stopped and looked at Spock for a moment. "There is something you're not telling me," he concluded. "What is it?"
Spock paused for a moment. He had no idea how Kirk is able to so accurately draw these conclusion, but he said, "It's nothing you should concern yourself with at this moment."
McCoy, without bothering to knock, came strolling in the door. "How'd you sleep?"
"Extremely well actually."
McCoy gave Spock a look and Spock maintained his stoic expression.
Kirk couldn't take it anymore. "Okay what is it? I know something's up. Tell me."
McCoy and Spock shared another look when Spock said, "He has to know at some point."
"No, he has enough trouble sleeping at night. He doesn't need another weight on his shoulders."
Kirk cut in: "I order you to tell me."
Spock went over to the communicator at Kirk's desk. "Spock to Uhura, play the message we received yesterday on this speaker."
"Yes, sir."
The message played and Kirk remained still.
Once the transmission ended Kirk merely shrugged and said, "Well, he isn't the first person to threaten me and he certainly won't be the last."
McCoy was stunned; he didn't quite know how Kirk would react but the nonchalant way he brushed it off caught him by surprise.
Kirk swung his feet off the bed and using the wall for support eased his way up into a standing position.
He took a step with great difficulty because of his stiffness but he was soon walking. McCoy and Spock simply stood silently and watched as Kirk fumbled across the room.
He made it to the door but he was winded; the damage to his lungs clearly taking a toll. His head swam and the firm hand he held on to the wall for support slipped. Spock grabbed Kirks arm and held him upright.
The dizziness in his head made it difficult to focus and Kirk soon saw the world tilt to the side and fade to black.
He opened his eyes again and found he was looking at the concerned face of Bones. He was lying back on the bed. "How long was I out?"
"Only for a couple of minutes."
"Sorry, I got winded and my head started throbbing." He quickly added, "I feel fine now."
He sat up again to prove his point. Bones came over sat next to him on the bed with a tricorder.
Kirk rolled his eyes as Bones conducted his standard tests.
"Are you finished yet?" Kirk said with a laugh.
"One more, I promise." McCoy whipped out a hypospray and stabbed him in the neck with it.
Kirk flinched. "Ow, you could've warned me."
Bones stated matter-of-factly, "If I did, you wouldn't have let me."
Kirk finally noticed a presence missing in the room. "Where's Spock?"
"He had matters to attend to, but that hypospray should help with the headache and hopefully prevent blackouts. Can you stand?"
"Yeah." Kirk got to his feet with little difficulty.
"How about walking?" McCoy stood about ten feet in front on him and faced him.
Kirk felt like a little kid walking for the first time, but he was used to it;
McCoy always babied him when he wasn't feeling well.
When Kirk reached McCoy, he leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath.
McCoy moved him like a mannequin: "Stand up straight, put your hands on your head and take deep breaths."
Kirk obeyed and he felt better.
"Do you want to eat? You haven't eaten a thing all day."
"I don't want my crew seeing me gasp for breath every three steps."
"Thanks fine, I'll get it for you."
He left for a few minutes and returned with food for both him and Kirk. They ate and talked about things like Spock and Nurse Chapel: everyone knew that she fell for him but he didn't exactly feel the same.
Then when they were finished McCoy took his tray and ran him through with a tricorder again. "You really need to rest and build up your strength again. How many hours do you usually get a night?"
Kirk was honest: "Four or five."
McCoy gave him an expression similar to how a mother looks at her child for doing something wrong.
"You really need to get sleep then. It's impeding your recovery. Do you need a sedative?"
Kirk gave and nodded. He laid back in bed and McCoy leaned over him to gently administer the drug. Kirk drifted to sleep immediately.
He dreamt of when he was captured although everything felt so real that he was beginning to think that it wasn't a dream.
He felt a powerful stream of electricity shoot through his head and chest, causing him to shake violently. He wasn't tied down this time but someone came and tried to hold him down as another bolt was given. Finally he gave in and screamed in pain. He grabbed hold of the person restraining him and realized that he didn't have the same super-human strength of the others. He easily threw him off when another came over. This one stronger but instead of restraining him, he was shaking him. "Wake up."
The scene faded and Kirk realized that it was all a dream. Spock was on top of him and had grabbed him. Bones was standing behind him rubbing his head.
Kirk was winded and sweating profusely.
Spock looked directly into his eyes. "Are you alright now?"
"Yes, I-I suppose so."
Kirk sat up and looked over to Bones. "Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry."
Kirk felt so ashamed for his actions.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Actually I'm more concerned about you. Physical injuries I can heal with all sorts of equipment but metal injuries. I have nothing to treat that. What's worse is you desperately need sleep by if you go through that every time you sleep, I don't think that that would be the right course of action."
Spock eased his way off the bed, stood up, and neatly folded his hands behind his back.
McCoy turned to Spock and said, "I knew we shouldn't have let him listen to that message. The poor guys scared for his life."
"I realize that now and I apologize for rash behavior."
Kirk cut in: "This is not anyone's fault. I just don't know what's wrong with me."
Spock responded sternly, "Do not think of yourself as weak. Even though you were human you remained strong and resisted their attempts to break you. That is strength."
Kirk was surprised at this reaction. He didn't know what to say so he sat quietly and simply stared at his first officer.
After a second in silence Spock asked, "May I use a mind meld. I could control your thoughts while you sleep but only with you permission."
"At this point, there aren't many options; I permit it."
Spock sat down on the bed next to Kirk, moved his left hand to hold Kirk's shoulder, while he positioned the fingers of his right hand along his temple.
Kirk felt Spock intrude on his mind and in push peaceful thoughts. He caused Kirk's breathing to slow and his body to fall asleep. His eyes closed and head slumped back. He would've fallen over too if Spock hadn't held onto his shoulder.
Spock took his hand off Kirk's temple and moved it to his head as he guided Kirk back onto the bed.
McCoy watched curiously at a distance. Spock turned to McCoy and said in a soft voice, "Go and take medicine for your head. As for me, I want to stay with him. I don't know how the meld will affect him."
McCoy didn't protest and quietly left.
Hours later, Kirk woke up feeling a hundred times better than before. Spock looked at him curiously at the bottom of his bed.
He clambered out of bed and stood up. Spock, in response, cautiously stood too. Kirk stretched his stiff body and felt some of his unused muscles pop. He then made his way to the door.
"Sir, where do you plan on going?"
"To the bridge maybe to say hi to Sulu, I don't know."
"I don't know how logical a plan that is. It is 3AM."
Kirk cursed to himself. He slept away the day and into the night.
"Do you want to play chess?" Kirk said hopefully.
"Certainly, Captain. I will return in a minute." Spock left and returned shortly with a tridimensional chess board and they began to play.
Because Kirk was cunning and random with his movements and Spock was logical and precise with his, they always played some of the best and often longest of chess games.
This game went on until around 6AM when Spock called Checkmate. Kirk frowned, in the end he was beaten by a simple move to block.
McCoy stopped by and was irritated that Spock hadn't informed him that Kirk was awake, but forgave him when Kirk told him how peaceful he slept.
"When do I go back to work?" Kirk asked inquisitively.
"Tomorrow if you eat and sleep well."
Kirk smiled. "Sounds good."
The day flew by and McCoy had Kirk go to bed at 8PM. Kirk only obeyed because McCoy had promised to approve him for duty the next day. Spock used a mind meld and Kirk was asleep in seconds.
The next day he woke up, showered, got dressed, and took his place on the bridge, ready to take on the day's activities.