A/N: Hey there, folks! Sorry I haven't been on in forever, I've had a lot of stuff to do. But now I'm excited to start a brand new project, to explore strange new fic ideas, and to boldly go where no fic of mine has gone before. That's right. I'm doing a Star Trek fic.

A few things you should know before I start:

1. This is based off a role-play I'm doing with a friend on Twitter. She will be included in the story as herself, but she is not a Sue because the story doesn't center around her, and none of the characters fall in love with her. I normally don't insert RL people into my fics, but since I'm writing this for her, and she requested to be included, I will make an exception.

2. I imagine this happening only in TOS, but we never specified that in the RP, so imagine it how you want to.

3. Some characters will be very OOC (not telling who, that's a spoiler). But this is necessary for reasons you will see as you read.

4. Yes, there is Kirk/Spock affection, but I'm not planning to write a lemon scene. If they do that, it will only be briefly implied.

5. There will be mild dark moments, such as the beginning, but I promise it's not all bad.

6. I do not own Star Trek, its characters, or Kayla.

Alright, this is my very first time writing Trek and I'm nervous as hell, so wish me luck! Now, enough of my rambling. Let's start, shall we?

You must have been in a place so dark
You couldn't feel the light
Reachin' for you through that stormy cloud

- 1. Darkness Within -

S'chn T'gai Spock did not like storms. They were disorderly, illogical, and unpredictable, all things that defined the exact opposite of him. And yet he was constantly aware of the ever present storm raging inside his very being. The one caused by his two halves always at war with each other. Logic versus emotion. Intelligence versus empathy. Knowledge versus blissful ignorance. Such was his daily life. Usually, he could keep the emotional side under control. But over time, its anger and pain built up and were becoming much more difficult to control. And the space station's people made it even worse, each race having something to say.

"They brought Vulcan trash…" A Romulan.

"…ugly green-blooded scum…" A Klingon.

"Inferior species." A Kelvan. But the worst were those who recognized him and targeted him specifically.

"Hey, ent that Ambassador Sarek's half-breed swine?" An Orion.

"They allowed the abominable runt to live." An Andorian. And the worst of all.

"One of ours made the bastard and called the thing a child." A human.

These and various other comments he'd heard during their week long stay here refused to leave him be. They nagged at his emotional half, feeding pain and anger, snubbing logic entirely. Their voices were hot pokers in his mind, ravenous beasts feeding on his heart. He could feel his control weakening, coherent thoughts beginning to falter and give way to impulse as he abandoned his journey to the science labs and went instead to his quarters.

Of course, to onlookers, he appeared perfectly normal, giving no hint of the turmoil going on within him. As a result, no one thought to follow him or stop him. And such was the beginning of a much greater, more powerful storm that would envelop not only him, but others around him. Others he tried to shield from his secret inner war.

Kayla hadn't been on the Enterprise that long, and already she could see what her fellow Ensigns meant when they said there was never a dull day. Already she had witnessed a table of Klingons scramble away from their table when a crabby young waiter had accidentally-on-purpose dropped a tribble in their midst and the furry creature had begun screeching loudly, much to the annoyance of other patrons in the lounge.

Now she was back aboard the Enterprise and on her way to the bridge. Her senior officer, Spock, had ordered her to take over the science station on the bridge while he went to oversee some experiment in the science labs. Earlier that week, he had used a mind meld to give her a crash course in running the station, so she knew the console and instruments as well as he did. Plus, it was good training for whenever she got promoted to a higher rank, which, like any Ensign, she hoped to do one day.

She came in to find the bridge crew looking utterly bored out of their minds, the younger members seeming half asleep at their posts. Even Captain James Tiberius Kirk was slumped in the captain's chair, his head in one hand, his eyes flicking across the PADD he held, not really paying attention to the report he was reading before he signed off on it and handed it back to Yeoman Janice Rand, who quickly left with it. Pavel Chekov and Hikaru Sulu got into one of their mini-skirmishes over whether or not something was invented in Russia (for Chekov, everything came from Russia). Kayla merely nodded to Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and the two shared an eye roll before Kayla took her post at the science console. So it was for the next few hours, until the captain spoke.

"Anything to report?" Kirk asked of no one in particular.

"Negative. Keptin." came Chekov's response.

"Same here." added Sulu.

"Nothing." confirmed Uhura, "…wait…" She adjusted her earpiece and turned to face the captain, her eyes wide in surprise. "Captain, that was the science department. They said Mr. Spock hasn't shown up at the labs, and he was due there hours ago. They've tried calling his communicator, his quarters, everything. He won't answer."

Kirk swore softly as he opened a communications link. "Bridge to Scotty, come in." There a short pause, then a thick Scottish accent was heard from the chief engineer.

"Scott here, sir." Kirk cleared his throat and spoke.

"Has anyone left the ship recently via the transporter or the shuttlecraft?"

"No sir, not since you and the others came back from the space station. Why?"

"We're looking for Mr. Spock, he was due at the labs and he never showed up." There was a pause as Scott took that in.

"Mr. Spock bein' a no-show? Now that's somethin' odd indeed. I'll certainly keep an eye out for him, Captain, and I'll be sure and inform you if I see him."

"Thank you, Scotty, Kirk out." He closed the link and turned back to the others. "Well, Mr. Scott confirms he's still on the Enterprise somewhere, we just have to figure out where. Any ideas?" Kayla stood up from her station.

"I'll search for him, sir. As a science officer, I know all the places he might have gone to."

"Thank you, Ensign, make a report when you find him please." Kirk nodded as she headed for the turbolift.

"Yes sir, I will."

Little did she know of what she would soon have to report.

Dr. Leonard McCoy shook his head after he got off the com with the scientist in the labs. Spock not showing up? That was unheard of, unless something important came up. But the captain and bridge crew hadn't seen the Vulcan either, so that couldn't be the case. The man wasn't injured or sick, or someone would have called Sickbay about him, or Spock would have come in himself. The Vulcan may be stubborn and a little more proud than he would ever admit, but he wasn't stupid. He knew not to mess with medical issues.

So what could it be?

McCoy racked his brains trying to figure it out, but he couldn't come to a reasonable explanation. Something didn't add up, and the doctor got a bad feeling there was more to the situation than anyone realized. He couldn't explain what it was or how he knew, but his gut told him something was very wrong aboard the Enterprise. Something had gone horribly wrong with the First Officer.

Spock made it back to his quarters quickly. He knew he was supposed to report to the science labs, but they wouldn't notice he was late right away, and it would be hours before they would call around looking for him. He hoped to have his inner storms quelled by then. He changed into his dark robes and pulled out a mat which he spread on the floor. It was times like this when meditating was usually most helpful to him.

But today was different.

The minute he retreated inside himself, he was assaulted by his emotions. Pain, rage, and sadness attacked from all sides, so suddenly that he almost let out a vocal cry of pain. He fought to reign each of them in, but every time he got one under control, the other two would overtake him. Soon he was no longer trying to control them, he was just trying to shield himself from them. But they soon overtook him, forcing him out of his meditative state. By then, it seemed his body was not his own. He saw as though looking through another's eyes. He felt numb all over. His limbs and hands seemed to move all on their own as he walked over to stand at the foot of his bed. His hand drew his phaser from its holster and raised it to his temple after setting it on its highest setting. He didn't hear his hand moving the weapon anymore, so he didn't realize what his hand was doing. All he could hear was a dull ringing and silence. Time seemed to slow almost to a stop. He could feel himself falling-or was he floating-slowly backward as his vision swirled completely out of focus and then went dark.

Hours later, an earsplitting shriek tore from the SIC's room where Kayla now stood by the Vulcan's bedside. Her senior officer lay on his back, eyes rolled back in his head, green blood soaking his pillow and sheets. On the floor, where it had slipped from his hand as he fell, lay a now cold phaser with splatters of green on it.

Aaaaaand I'm off on my first Star Trek fic. Please be nice with the comments. As I said before, it's my first time writing this fandom and I'm nervous as hell. I realize my versions of the characters may be a bit OOC, but it works for the plot. Besides, where's the fun in keeping them exactly the same as the ones on the show? Am I right?

LLAP.