[Written for a LJ community called 12 stories, the prompt is "Pain".]

Notes before the story: (there is no real order to these)

Sorry if I'm horrible at getting Chekov's accent. Don't be confused by the presence of Kirk; he is a larger character, but he isn't the main focus. But - Spock doesn't come in until later on. Also, because I'm crazy (who isn't on here?) I have this thing with identifying pronouns (he, she, it), and it gets really hard to do that when just about all the characters in the story could be labeled as 'he', so I hope it makes sense. I hope I get the characters right...if there's anything wrong, let me know so I can fix it in future stories.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters or Star Trek.


Chapter 1

Every inch of his body ached, as he lay mostly naked on his bed. He wanted to cry, but he knows it won't help; in fact, it may even make it worse. The cold hands and the hot breath, every touch, every feeling lingered on his body. He was ashamed to let it go on this long, but he knew that at this point it wasn't worth stopping. He could barely move, and he knew that it would only get worse. He eventually drifted off to sleep, not from exhaustion, but from fear. His dreams were the only place he felt safe.

Pavel knew that wandering the halls was his predator, and like a hungry lion, he only fed off of the weak and powerless.


The next morning Pavel awoke, still in the same position as the night before. He stood up slowly, wincing at the pain. He looked in his mirror and saw some new bruises on his torso, and finger marks on his arms. He sighed, and started picking up his clothing that were thrown to all corners of this room the night before. Pavel turned back to his bed, and saw a stain on the sheets. He walked over and ripped his sheets up from the bed, knocking everything off onto the floor. Still holding the sheets, he fell backwards crying. He held his legs with his harms, his head down between his legs. After a few minutes, he heard a knock at the door.

He quickly got up, wiped his eyes and grabbed his uniform shirt, the long-sleeve one, and threw it on. It was fortunate his predator let him wear boxers to sleep last night, which was a step up from normal; otherwise he'd have to find some. He pressed the button next to his door and it opened, revealing the Captain, Jim Kirk.

Without even looking around he stared straight at him and said, "Chekov, can I have a word with you?"

He turned looked him briefly then back, "I am sorry captain, but I am afraid zat zis is a bad time."

"This is important."

Pavel motioned to speak, but he reluctantly nodded. "Vhat do you need, sir?"

"There have been reports of a few nights these past few weeks of loud noises, sometimes banging, other times it's muffled yelps. Is everything all right?" Jim finally took notice of his eyes, "Have you been crying?"

Pavel was stunned, and even more embarrassed. He was holding back his tears. "Er, vell…um…I vas getting ready for my shift, and I got somesing in my eye, captain." He paused, "And ze noises…vell, I haf no clue."

Jim wasn't content with his answer, and even though he was captain, he didn't want to force anything out of him. If it were something big, he probably would have known earlier, because he knew the young navigator trusted him.

"Well…all right."

"If you don't mind, captain, I haf to get back to vhat I vas doing."

Pavel pressed the 'close' button, but Jim caught it. "Woah, woah. Hold on." He opened it a bit more, "If there's anything wrong, you know you can come to me. I mean, even though you're just a kid, I respect you."

"Thank you, sir. I vill let you know if anysing happens."

"Good. I'll see you on the bridge." He let the door shut before leaving Pavel alone in his torn up hovel.


Pavel didn't really feel anything anymore, at least not the immediate day after. With the exception of the physical pain, that is. His predator always came randomly, and whenever he wasn't around anybody he would jump turning every corner. That day he was taking a break in one of the rec rooms with Nyota. The only thing he could think about were those nights. He knew he was terrified of this bloodthirsty animal, and he still didn't even know his face, but he knew the body very well. Almost too well. He shuddered at the thought.

Nyota looked over at him. "Hey, you all right?" She asked, sizing him up.

He quickly turned his head to her, "Actually, no. No I'm not." Vhat am I doing! I can't tell her vhat's going on. She vill laugh at me...

A look of concern spread across her face, "What's wrong?"

Just then, a burly man and about 3/4'ths his size walked in. He eyed the smaller man, and he looked at him like he was bait. His heart sank, and his eyes widened. Fear struck his entire body, and he stood up and ran from the room, pushing through the men.

"You know what, I'm tired. I'm gonna go get some rest before my break's over." The smaller man said to the larger one. He exited, and once the door shut, he started in the same direction that the young man went.