You couldn't remember the last time you'd seen the sun.
The air was suffocating and harsh, causing thick, raspy breaths to come fighting from your lungs. The only clothing left that hadn't disintegrated from wear was your tattered training uniform from Starfleet Academy three years ago - but even that was dirtied and torn. All around you was desolate space; ruined buildings; dry ground, burnt trees and immobile cars with no windows, shattered long ago.
It had been almost three years to the date that Khan had destroyed the Enterprise, causing the collapse of Starfleet. In a vengeful rage he vowed to ruin the lives of any 'insignificant life' forms… and he did. He destroyed the Starfleet Command Centre, triggering an electromagnetic pulse which wiped out any and all electrical systems on planet Earth – permanently.
You'd been running for a while now, and the footsteps continued to follow you closely, but they were even louder now,
"Shit…" You hissed, gasping for air as you veered around a pile of rubble and made a beeline for the nearest alleyway. Deciding you could sacrifice a few seconds to attempt to catch your breath, you slowed to a jog as you reached the end of the alley before finally stopping, doubling over from the burning sensation that spread from your chest to you abdomen that meant you'd been running too long. After a few moments you straightened back up and flattened yourself against the wall, still breathing heavily as you listened carefully to the footsteps that continued to increase in volume; an indication that they were getting closer and your hope was diminishing rapidly.
Three years ago Khan had triumphed over Starfleet and unfrozen his 72 man super-crew, and now one of them was chasing you - hunting you – because you were one of the few surviving Starfleet members or the "rebels" as Khan had labelled you. Of course, the price on your head wasn't quite as much as it was the Heroes of the Enterprise, but Khan wanted it removed from your shoulders none-the-less. And then there was the public torture or straight-up execution if you were ordered to be caught alive, because the people of the New World were kept in line mostly through fear. They knew what Khan was capable of, and to be quite honest you didn't half blame them for turning their backs on Starfleet. What you had heard about the things he had done to the captured rebels, you didn't even dare to imagine the pain.
Shaking your head, you brushed a lock of your _(h/c) hair out of your face, realising you might have just wasted a little too much time trying to catch your breath. Panic starting to set in, you launched yourself into a sprint to the end of the alleyway, one hand trying to grasp the wall as you rounded the corner and barrelled into something solid. The air was knocked harshly from your lungs and you found yourself on the ground, various parts of your body aching either from the endless running or impact with… Well,
you didn't know.
"What in God's name…"
Two firm hands gripped your shoulders, and your face was scanned by a pair of large hazel brown eyes. A man's face was inches from yours- rugged, dotted with light stubble and small scars. Although he could never pass for old, the man's face looked…weathered. Almost exhausted yet, familiar?
"Leonard… Leonard McCoy?"
His face darted back, and he raised an eyebrow,
"How do you know my name?" His voice was rough and cracked; a side effect of the atmosphere. This was the face you'd seen plastered on decaying buildings, broadcast into the sky using the only technology that worked that Khan had at his disposal - one of the remaining Heroes of the Enterprise.
"Of course I know who you are." Leonard's eyes flickered to the Insignia on your collar as you spoke and offered one of his hands to you, lifting you to your feet, "There's a bigger price on your head than mine."
"Hey, she went this way!"
You grabbed McCoy's shirt and darted behind the nearest crumbled wall, peering over the top at the unit of elite soldiers. McCoy roughly pulled your hand away from his shirt which you apparently still had a firm grip on and you mumbled a quick apology as you ducked away,
"We have to go, now." You whispered as loudly as you dared, signalling for him to follow you along the near decimated wall. He reluctantly followed, but you were losing wall to hide behind. Fortunately, you heard somebody yell about finding tracks and the group took off in the opposite direction whilst you carefully looked on. You had to admit, you were jealous of their almost pristine uniforms and bulletproof vests and the way they all looked relatively clean. That was one of the many privileges to being one of Khan's or his crew's men; you got clean water, clothes and were fed, even if there were restrictions it was better than the grubby lifestyle you and other Starfleet were forced to live. Rather unfortunately, however, the alley which would lead you to your escape route was being blocked by a stray soldier who was snooping around, clearly not quite convinced that a girl of your age and state could get away quite so easily.
You sighed quietly as your mind set to work on various other paths you could take but none of which would avoid the hireling blocking your route out of here. The sewers had become an easy and hidden way to get from point A to B, and he was currently standing in the way of the only access route to the nearest sewer entrance. A frown creased Leonard's brow as he shifted slightly in his crouched position next to you,
"I didn't think there were any Starfleet officers left." He whispered, and you whipped your head around to glare at him,
"Shut up." You hissed almost soundlessly, jabbing a thumb at the wall you were both hunkered down behind and he leaned away from you having noticed a peep hole in the wall so he could take a look,
"Is this how ya always speak to your superior officers?" He questioned almost casually but quietly, and you resisted the urge to smack the side of his head,
"I don't give two hoots about whether you're my superior or not, he's blocking our only way out and I don't know what to do!" You were struggling to keep your voice down, and Leonard raised one hand as if to signal to you to keep the noise down, but the man blocking your ticket out of here had already been gripped tightly by curiosity and was gingerly treading towards you both. Without warning, Leonard picked up what you assumed was once part of a brick and threw it in the direction that you had come from. Thankfully it distracted him from his original path, and now with his phaser rifle cocked he altered his path to the left.
You released a breath that you hadn't realised you'd been holding, only to nearly choke when Leonard started back along the wall keeping slightly behind the armed soldier. You had no idea what he planned to do, and it wasn't like you could do a lot because all you had was a dagger concealed in the side of your right boot which you were positive was no match for a phaser, and a phaser rifle at that, no less. You watched Leonard as he reached the end of the wall, an almost horrified expression on your face with your mouth agape as the soldier stepped out in front of McCoy with his back turned. How were people still falling for that old throw-a-stone trick, anyway?
Before you knew it, Leonard had straightened up and lunged forward, one arm hooking around the unsuspecting soldier's neck in a choke hold, the other grasping his hand so there was no chance of escape. The phaser rifle clattered to the ground as both the soldier's hands flew up to the arms around his throat and he clawed at them to try and free himself, but it seemed the more he thrashed and flailed and tugged with as much strength as he could muster at McCoy's arms, the weaker his movements became and the tighter the grip was on his airway. Eventually the soldier fell limp and Leonard released his arm from around his neck, letting the soldier collapse onto the ground behind the wall,
"I was thinking a brick to the back of the head, but that worked, too…" You muttered as you stood, watching him dust himself off and pick up the rifle,
"The path is clear, isn't that whatcha wanted, Darlin'?" He raised an eyebrow as he inspected the soldier's weapon before looking up at you to find that your cheeks had a light pink dusting that wasn't there before,
"My name is _(f/n), thank you. Let's just get moving before they come back and find that one of their comrades is out cold and I'm nowhere to be found," You huffed, and you could've sworn you saw one corner of his mouth quirk upwards ever so slightly, but you were too intent on getting out of here as you vaulted over the thigh high wall or what was left of it and started off towards the alley that would lead you to a manhole – your entry into the sewers.
McCoy lifted the cover of the manhole and gestured inside,
"C'mon sweetheart, we ain't got all day." Glancing into the desolate pool of darkness below, you raised your eyebrows and chuckled lightly,
"It's like 7 foot down. Are you serious?"
"Well, it's either you let me help you down, or I push you. Make a choice, or I'll make it for ya." He fell to one knee and held his hand out, "Need a lift down?" Gingerly, you took his hand, lowering your leg into the sewer and following with the other one. The drop to the floor hit you hard, but not as hard as the smell. It was overwhelming, imposing your senses and making your head spin slightly. It smelt like a slab of meat that had been left in the car for too long on a hot summer day, and kind of confirmed your suspicions that the sewer was where Khan's soldiers hid the bodies that they were too lazy to dispose of.
A heavy grunt echoed from the walls as McCoy dropped to the ground next to you in a perfect crouch. He stood and brushed his trousers off, winking quickly and tilting his head as he did so,
"That's how it's done." Turning away at his jeering, you began to walk forward, cringing as the unidentifiable sludge from the ground penetrated the lining of your shoes,
"So, how does one of the Heroes of the Enterprise end up running around in possibly the most desolate district left on planet Earth?"
"Ha, the Heroes of the Enterprise? That what they're calling us now?" He caught up to you faster than you anticipated - his long legs giving him the advantage, "Hardly heroes, we couldn't even stop Khan when we had the damn chance."
"You were the only people that tried - that's what I heard anyway. That's always worth something."
"Enterprise crashes, takes out a whole city, half of its crew with it, and then Khan destroys the planet - and you're trying to tell me that was worth something?" He was facing you directly now, and had an eyebrow risen. Something about the way he was holding himself; he wasn't angry. It seemed like he was asking himself the same question,
"You're also forgetting the predicament with Nero that you and the rest of the Enterprise crew took care of."
"That was mostly Jim and Spock, I pretty much sat behind the scenes complaining about air sickness."
"Look, forget that I brought it up. Still not entirely sure why you're in this area, but -"
"Hey, even heroes need to eat. I was scouting out the nearby soldier camp, seeing how easy it would be to take over. Won't have much time to do that now, seeing as I've become a damn bodyguard."
"Bodyguard? I can take care of myself, thanks." Your cheeks reddened at the thought of him being your protector, essentially, and you were glad when he decided against a retort, instead just glancing at out of the corner of his eye, rolling them with a 'pfft'.
The next 20 minutes of the walk were silent and uncomfortable. The only source of light you had for guidance were the thin slits of light coming from the next manhole cover, which was always just close enough to be seen but not close enough to be of any use.
"So girly, how come you know so much about the Enterprise, anyway?" Although his attitude slightly disgusted you, you were glad for the broken tension,
"I'd appreciate it, Mr McCoy, if you used my actual name when speaking to me."
"Ok, '_'(y/n)," The sarcasm in his voice resounded around the tunnel,"How come you know so much about the Enterprise anyway?"
You smiled at the ground as you walked further, unaware of your destination, "I was assigned to join the crew of the Enterprise, when it returned from the voyage to capture John Harrison. Naturally that, uh, didn't happen. I used to be seeing a guy in the Starfleet academy though - he was a Russian guy, just a year older than me, so he got assigned to the Enterprise first. He obsessed over the ship; thought it was wonderful. We'd stay up all night discussing the engineering and the command, and when given the choice to stay with me or join the ship? It wasn't a choice, not really."
"Russ - Oh, that… Uh…that sucks." McCoy cleared his throat, unaware of how he should approach the conversation,
"What area were you going to be working in?"
"Trainee nurse, in the medical bay."
"No way?!" A smile broke onto his face and little lines formed by his eyes - they seemed forced, like they weren't usually there, "That's my area right there."
"Was it nice working on the ship? Were the resources good?" You'd dreamt about the Enterprise for a good few years - the stories told of the ship were becoming stuff of legend.
"Oh man, the place was beautiful. Big, open windows (and it's crazy that I liked those, because damn I hate flying.) The crew, we were all so close, it was like a little family…" He trailed off and looked away,
"How come it crashed?"
McCoy gulped, looking at his feet when he walked. "The warp-core misaligned. We had no control of the ship, and the only way to get it working again was to re-align the core by hand - impossible, due to radiation. We just… just fell out of the sky."
The silence returned, and so did the imposing darkness. Your feet had begun to swell in your shoes, which was odd because for the past year or so you'd been walking a good ten miles or more each day. You'd only really been walking about 40 minutes with McCoy.
"One final question Mr McCoy –"
"Damnit girl, will ya call me Bones? It's just - it's what I'm used to."
"Sure, uh, Bones. Where are we going?"
"Well for now, I'm bringing you back to camp. It's not safe for a lone Starfleet operative out there."
"So does that mean I'm going to meet -"
"That's right darlin', the Enterprise crew are all waitin' for ya."