Chapter 1

One button held the entire fate of the galaxy.

Kirk looked down at it; his hand hovering over the top of it. His palm felt electrified by doing so; adrenaline coursing through him. His thoughts flip-flopped in his mind, causing him to doubt in his decision. Even though a lot had happened to him in a small span of time, he knew deep down in his gut what the right thing to do in this moment was. He had to trust in this gut feeling, and realize that the repercussions of his actions would be for the better of the galaxy, not just for the better of himself.

As his hand slowly moved to press down on the button, he tuned out any protest that might form. His eyes fixated out the window in front of him instead, ready to watch the effects of his actions; ready to take responsibility for what side he had ultimately chosen.


One Week Earlier

"Kirk. Kirk. Kirk."

"Stop," he said silently, flicking up his free hand behind him to silence the voice. He used his fingers to enlarge the image on the screen in front of him, once again turning the angle of the picture in all possible directions to try to burn the image into his mind.

"Captain Kirk."

"Spock," he turned around slightly then, peering over his shoulder. "Just because you added the word 'Captain' to my name will not guarantee that you will be able to obtain my full attention."

"It did though, didn't it? You're talking to me."

Kirk smirked and rolled his eyes before going back to the image on the screen.

"Always have to be the smart one, don't you?"

"I am Vulcan, Captain."

"Right...can't forget that."

Kirk spread his fingers wide over the screen again, zooming in on the face of the man that was at the moment piercing terror into the hearts of many. This man that was pictured before him wore a deadly and serious expression upon his angular face; his aquamarine eyes ignited with a touch of fire from his soul. His raven hair was slicked back on the top of his head, displaying his calm, collected nature. Kirk couldn't understand why this man intrigued him so much. He had seen many a villainous people in his lifetime, but never had anyone made his mind spin as much as Khan.

"We really must be heading off, Captain. Star Fleet will wonder what is wrong if we don't..."

"One minute, Spock..."

A loud cling sounded out throughout the docked Enterprise then, causing Kirk to jerk his attention away from the screen in his hands. He turned to look at Spock, he stared at him as if he had just grown a second head.

"What was that noise?"

A beep sounded in the bridge followed by the frantic voice of Scotty.

"Sorry, Captain. We seemed to have run into a bit of a mishap down here, but I'm working on repairing it at this very moment..."

Spock turned away and looked as if he were about to message the bridge of his nose to abate a headache. Kirk rolled his eyes at Spock, finding it amusing how many human traits he was allowing himself to demonstrate now that he wasn't as ashamed to admit his human side.

"What kind of mishap, Scotty?"

"Well...um...you see, Captain...The warp core seems to have garnered a teeny tear, but it's nothing that can't be fixed soon."

"How soon is soon?"

"Give or take an hour."

"An hour?!" exclaimed Spock as he whipped back around. "We need to catch up with the rest of Star Fleet right now."

Kirk held up a hand to hold Spock back as he responded to Scotty.

"Resume what you were doing then, and thank you for the update."

"As you wish, Captain."

As soon as communication was dropped, Kirk turned to look at Spock who appeared completely disgruntled by the whole thing.

"Captain, are you really going to stand for the delay? This is completely unprofessional, and irresponsible..."

"Spock, cool it," said Kirk as he walked past him to take up a seat in the Captain's chair; the tablet tucked under his arm. He proceeded to look at the picture on the screen again as Spock stood rooted to his spot, looking at Kirk incredulously.

"Cool it? Cool what exactly?"

Kirk smirked at Spock's comment. Though he was showing more traits of a human, he still couldn't seem to fully grasp human sayings yet.

"I thought you were smart, Spock. Thought you were Vulcan."

"Sarcasm is not appropriate at this time, Captain..."

"Then why are you holding back a laugh?" asked Kirk as he briefly looked up to establish eye contact with Spock to see that he was indeed biting his lower lip to hold in a laugh.

"That's beside the point..."

"Is it?" asked Kirk as he looked back down at the screen.

"It's unhealthy what you are doing right now."

"I'm getting to know the enemy," said Kirk, biting his lower lip as he looked at the man on the screen. He seemed to have a magnetic pull for Kirk. For some odd reason, deep in his gut, he had the feeling that this man wasn't the enemy, but that couldn't be. Star Fleet had been informed of this man's actions and were readying to pursue him in force.

"Getting to know the enemy? Captain, how much information are you expecting to garner from a mere photograph of a tragic explosion?"

"Enough, Spock," he said, hoping that it would serve as a dual answer so Spock would lay off him.

"As you wish," said Spock, catching the hint. He moved to his own side of the bridge, casting a quick glance behind his back at Kirk.

Kirk finally clicked off the image in his hands, having burned the image into his memory. This man, whoever he was, was going to continue holding Kirk's fascination until he captured him. Kirk was about to press a button to see if Scotty might be able to hurry up on patching the warp core when an intense headache overtook him. Wincing, he closed his eyes as blurry images flashed through his mind. He could see crystal white light everywhere; flashes of familiar faces looking down at him from where he lay. He shivered as the images plagued his memory so much that Spock called Bones to deck to take him. Bones was immediately by Kirk's side, gripping his arm as he knelt in front of him.

"Jim, look at me. What's wrong?"

Kirk gasped as he opened his eyes and looked into Bone's worried face. He panted slightly, as if the distorted images caused him to become out of breath. He shook his head quickly as if to dispute the fact that anything was wrong with him.

"I'm fine, Bones...Really."

"Are you quite certain, Captain?" piped up Spock as he moved to rise from his seat.

"I'm certain...Just a small headache."

Bones dug into a pouch at his side to hand Kirk some pills to help ease the pain of the headache.

"In my medical opinion, Jim, I don't think that you should be commanding right now. You're not in the right frame of mind to. Spock can assume your position until your headache abates completely. We don't need this happening when we close in on the target."

"What are you, my doctor?" asked Kirk with a sarcastic grin before nodding his head; the pain returning. He quickly popped the pills into his mouth, swallowing them despite the lack of water. Maybe rest would help his weary head. "Spock, you're in control until I return from lying down. However, if Scotty happens to fix the core in my absence and we are able to close in on the target, I expect you to wake me, understand?"

"Understood, Captain," replied Spock as he rose to assume his new post on the bridge.

Bones helped Kirk up out of his chair, despite Kirk's protests, and led him to a bed in the medical bay. Kirk got onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling as a pulsing pain from the headache remained resided in his temple. He turned his head to look at Bones; his aquamarine gaze reflected in the curved mirror above Bone's head. Those eyes...his eyes. They now seemed like the eyes of a stranger. Fighting off a shiver, Kirk made himself close his eyes in an attempt to sleep. As Kirk's breathing evened out, and Bones finished checking Kirk's vitals for safety purposes, the room temperature began to drop. Bones had no idea why and decided to go question Scotty about it. He took one last fleeting look at Kirk before turning to leave the room to go figure out what was going on with the temperature change.