Russian Blue
Chapter One:
Curiosity Killed the Cat
Rating: K – T
Pairing: Sulu/Chekov
Story Summary: On an away mission, Chekov has a rather unfortunate accident. It's up to Sulu to see him through it.
~****~
The room Chekov awoke in was remarkably reminiscent of something from one of those old 20th century horror flicks Captain Kirk was so fond of. It was dark. Chekov's pupils were heavily dilated and he couldn't see beyond his own nose. He had no idea how large the room was (or how small for that matter). He was unable to see even what shape the room was, never mind where the nearest escape route might be found. The back of the navigator's head burned slightly when he leaned it on the wall behind him, putting pressure on some half-formed lump. Great. He was chained to a mysterious wall AND he had a goose-egg on top of all else. It was shaping up to be a pretty phenomenal away mission so far.
Apparently Chekov's sarcasm flared when he was incarcerated and in pain.
The planet was supposed to have been completely devoid of life-forms bigger than a toaster. The mission itself was simple: Go down to the planet surface, survey the various mineral deposits in the quarries, then return to the Enterprise for further analysis. The Enterprise crew had seen more harrowing missions and survived. None of them had ever anticipated that something so insanely SIMPLE would cause so much trouble once all was said and done. Wasn't it just LUCKY that one of Chekov's first chances to join a Landing Party was the freak exception to the as-of-yet established rule?
It had been Chekov, Spock and a young female lieutenant from the Sciences Division on the surface. Spock had come to oversee the geo-sciences work that the Lieutenant would be working on and Chekov had come down to earn a little bit of extra experience. Anyone with aspirations of Captaincy someday was required to have valuable hours like these under their belt and Kirk had finally decided shortly after the Russian's 18th birthday that it was time to get him in the field. Honestly, nothing had seemed out of the ordinary. There had been no peculiar power surges, nebulas, rogue space probes or random android crew members that usually heralded troubled waters on the horizon.
As a matter of fact, everything had been positively copacetic throughout the majority of the work. Things had only gone south when Chekov's inherent curiosity had pulled him away from Spock and Lieutenant Thompson. He had sighted a cluster of caves just a little ways behind them. Chekov was absolutely sure that no harm would come of a little bit of exploration on his own, so he had slipped off quietly, tricorder in hand, determined just to get a look at the inside of one. He remembered walking up to the closest of the cave openings and he remembered being distinctly surprised about…about SOMEthing…but what?
Shortly after entering the cave, something had struck him on the back of the head and it had done some damage to his short-term memory apparently. All Chekov could recall was some great epiphany before his world went black.
Now he was here, manacled to a wall with a lump sprouting on the back of his skull and no idea where the rest of the Landing Party was. At least the manacles weren't terribly uncomfortable. The little Russian boy didn't even know how long it had been or how far he had been taken. The most confusing thing, however, was HOW he had ended up in…wherever he was. After all, Mr. Spock's scanners hadn't detected any intelligent life-forms. What the hell had taken him if there was nothing sentient on this planet? The idea was a little bit less than comforting.
Chekov tested the strength of his bonds tentatively, wincing when his efforts brought the room to startling life. A low alarm went off, whining and strident in his already pounding ears as the lights came up. They were the harsh, sterile lights of a hospital or a laboratory. It made the Ensign wince as he fought to duck his head down and hide from the startling intensity of them. It ratcheted up the pain in his head to near-hangover levels and he groaned. He squinted at first, still unable to take in his surroundings as he fought through the veil of muffled agony.
"Forgive the level of the lights. These eyes are not what they used to be. Now then…let's see what we've got here."
With those words, Chekov felt a hand, shaking with age, on his chin. It turned his pale face this way and that, trying to get a clear look at him, "Hmm-mm-m. I had hope for a bit of a STRONGER specimen for the inaugural run of this experiment, but I suppose I must accept when I catch. I doubt the woman would have fared better…and the machines aren't calibrated for a Vulcan. Most unfortunate."
Experiment. In Chekov's line of work, that was NEVER a good thing to hear…especially not when one was locked to a wall. His blonde eyebrows rose up in marked disquiet. His mouth opened as he attempted to ask a question, only to find it pushed closed again by the same shaking hands.
"Ah-ah! I understand you have a great deal of questions. I'd be confused too if I were in your situation. However, I fear we haven't the time. Your companions will come searching for you soon and so I must act with the utmost haste. Provided all goes well, you won't be harmed. Why, if all goes according to plan, you may even be returned to normal soon!"
Shit.
The consciousness that had just recently been gifted back to him was taken away all that swiftly in a wave of nauseous light. The sensation was accompanied by a splitting, mechanized trill from some sort of robotic equipment. The sensation that followed was almost like beaming, but instead of the scrambled nothingness of non-being, he just felt scrambled. It was cliché, but he just didn't feel like himself! Then again…if his only problem was a feeling of vague displacement, Chekov supposed that he was getting off light on the 'Mad Scientist Spectrum'.
The Russian Ensign only hoped he survived long enough for Kirk to be royally pissed at him for getting himself into this situation.
~****~
It took Commander Spock ten minutes after Chekov's abduction to realize that the Ensign was gone.
If the Vulcan was troubled by this startling lapse in general awareness, he didn't show it. After all, he had been quite absorbed with a fascinating ore sample he and Lieutenant Thompson had managed to uncover. Spock hadn't bothered to consider that Chekov wouldn't have the good sense to just stay put. The boy was an accomplished member of the Bridge Crew. It would have been an illogical waste of mental energy to concern himself with the very idea that the intelligent young man would break protocol long enough to disappear into an alien landscape. He was reconsidering that variable now, however.
Lieutenant Thompson's voice spoke near his left elbow, "Commander, Ensign Chekov doesn't register on any of our scanners. Everything is displaying exactly as it did when we first landed on the surface…no life-forms aside from you and I."
"Your statement is not entirely accurate, Lieutenant. When we landed, we had Ensign Chekov and now we do not. Therefore, everything is not displaying as it did when we first arrived," Spock corrected in a mild dead-pan.
"Well where does a healthy young man's energy signature just disappear to, Commander?"
Arms folded stiffly behind his back, Spock surveyed the landscape, "There are several answers to your query, Lieutenant. The most immediate is that the Ensign has died. In death, there would no longer register as a life-form."
Thompson winced at his formal tone, venturing, "Well sir, what other answers could there be?"
"It is entirely possible that there is something in the caves over that ridge that impedes the operations of our scanners. Had the Ensign wandered into the caves, he could be completely well and we simply cannot detect him."
"Then maybe we should go look in the caves?"
Spock's aristocratic eyebrow rose, "If the latter theory is true, surely Mr. Chekov would have reported back by now. If it is true that the caves mute scanner effectiveness, it is also possible that it conceals a hostile civilization. He may have been abducted, in which case we must be prepared to face his captors."
Tugging at the hem of her uniform dress, Thompson sighed and tried to look patient with her superior, "Still, going and searching for him DOES seem the best choice, sir."
"Indeed. I was merely acquainting you with all the possible outcomes of Mr. Chekov's situation," Spock replied, his long legs already carrying him over to the caves. He didn't look to see whether or not Lieutenant Thompson was following him.
Still slightly astounded by the hyper-logical reasoning of her superior, Thompson tried to keep up with his quick clip. Oh she'd heard about him through the grapevine, but in all honesty, she'd never actually worked with the man before. He spent the majority of his time on the Bridge and she spent most of her work hours in a lab on one of the lower decks. So far being in contact with him had been a singular experience. She hadn't imagined that anyone could sound so…detached when it came to another crewman. It didn't bother her, per se…it was just novel.
Tricorders sweeping low as they walked towards the first cave, Spock's eyes were glued to the readings as though they were the most interesting thing in the universe, "Fascinating. There is nothing that suggests any geological makeup in this cave which differs from your Earth."
"So Chekov…?"
"I cannot say as of yet, Lieutenant. We do not have a body or any evidence which indicates that he has passed, so I cannot properly pronounce him dead. Nor have we proven that any minerals in this cave inhibit the use of our scanners. Therefore we cannot deduce that he is hidden in this cave. Most peculiar."
Fingering her tricorder fitfully, Thompson tried, "Maybe another cave?"
"Unlikely. Disruption of groundcover indicates that he travelled into this cave and only this cave," Spock cut her off.
"I'm going to try a little bit deeper in, Commander," Lieutenant Thompson said with great conviction, never a woman to sit idly by and ask to be told what to do every step of the way. It was part of the reason she'd been assigned to this particular away mission.
"Lieutenant," The Vulcan began and Thompson stared at him in confusion as he held out one hand, motioning to a spot in her path.
She followed his gesture with avid green eyes, blinking in confusion at the sight waiting for her. Looking quite drugged and bleary, a little yellow cat stumbled into the narrow passage, fur rumpled and eyes half-lidded. It was woozy and unstable on its feet, eventually collapsing over onto its side before it could reach Lieutenant Thompson. Both Spock and the Lieutenant could only watch as the animal lay on its side in the dirt, panting and flexing its paws. The Vulcan Commander was ultimately perplexed by the situation while Thompson was more moved to action, walking over and carefully picking up the small animal.
She sounded amazed, "Why, Commander…it looks like an Earth cat."
"Appearances are often deceiving, Lieutenant," he chastised as he reached for his communicator, setting it on the Enterprise's frequency, "This is Spock to Enterprise. Enterprise, do you copy?"
::Kirk here, Spock. What's going on down there?:: The Captain's easygoing tone drifted out from the small box and his First Officer resisted the urge to sigh at the lack of decorum.
"Captain, Ensign Chekov has disappeared and we find ourselves in possession of what appears to be a Terran Feline. I believe it would be prudent to have the animal decontaminated and examined by Doctor McCoy aboard the Enterprise."
::…Wait. You lost Chekov…but you're worried about a cat?::
"Captain, surely you recognize the oddity of locating an animal native to your planet on a yet-unexamined world."
Spock could practically HEAR Kirk pinching his sinuses, ::I fail to see how this is more important than the loss of one of my senior Bridge staff.::
"The two instances may present a correlation, Captain. The unexplained loss of Ensign Chekov coupled with the likewise unexplained appearance of an Earth cat, when properly investigated, may prove to be most telling."
::So you're saying that you don't think it's a coincidence.::
"That is what I was attempting to intimate, Captain," Spock sounded as though he were attempting to explain 'Dick and Jane' to a mentally handicapped toddler.
A sigh from Kirk's end came through the communicator and Spock felt his lips quirking as the Captain responded, ::I'll have the cat beamed aboard and sent straight to one of the Sickbay labs. I'm going to ask that Lieutenant Thompson return as well. I'll send down a Security Officer to replace her.::
"Very well, Captain. I shall see that she is prepared to beam up. Spock out."
Behind him, Lieutenant Thompson already had the cat in her arms and had moved to stand a little bit away from the Vulcan Commander. She had all the samples they had taken on the planet surface tucked safely into her haversack, "Ready to beam up, Commander."
~****~
Nearly an hour later and there was still nothing from the surface regarding the whereabouts of their bite-sized Russian navigator. Kirk was growing increasingly restless about this fact and had voiced his desire to beam down and aid the search multiple times. Spock, overprotective bugger that he was, wouldn't hear of it and had Kirk so inundated with rules and regulations that the Captain gave up his desires just to save his poor ears. It didn't stop him from sending down more security personnel though, no sir, nor did it stop him from fidgeting almost incessantly in his seat. One or two members of the remaining Bridge Crew found his discomfort amusing on some level. Sulu, already fit-to-be-tied over the loss of Chekov, just found it incredibly irritating.
Keeping the same level of genteel control that he usually exhibited, the helmsman breathed in and out deeply before closing his eyes, "Captain, maybe you should go see Doctor McCoy."
"Sulu, I'm not sick," Kirk replied in an agitated tone.
Another calming breath, "No, but wasn't McCoy supposed to be examining the cat they found on the surface? You may want to go check up on that."
"Oh…oh right," Kirk took the subtle hint the Japanese man was leveling at him, "I guess I'll be off. Good old Bones gets too wrapped up sometimes. Gotta go make sure he hasn't found something important and forgotten to tell us, right?"
Kirk pushed himself up out of the Captain's chair, dutifully handing over the Conn to Sulu before disappearing into the Lift. Of course everyone still on the Bridge was well aware that McCoy would never forget to mention something important. They knew, if it could be helped, the good Doctor would have charged down to the Bridge himself with any crucial information. However they were also very aware that Kirk needed SOMETHING to do right now. The Captain was very much a man of action and he had never been terribly skilled at playing waiting games. A quick run down to the Sickbay would be good for him right now.
Even McCoy was aware of the nature of Jim's visit as the man strode into his medical bay roughly eight minutes later (even though he endeavored not to show it), "Damnit Jim, do you ever knock?"
"Guess my momma never taught me better. Bones, what can you tell me about that cat?" Jim got right down to the point, walking over and leaning against one of the beds up against the wall. He had his arms folded akimbo, one leg jigging up and down impatiently.
The doctor sighed, tugging on the bottom of his smock, "Well for now, it's just a cat."
"…For now?"
The southern doctor's lips pulled into something that might have been a grimace, "I think you might wanna come get a look at this, Jim."
His curiosity piqued, Jim could do nothing but follow after the doctor's swiftly disappearing back. Surprisingly enough, they didn't go into one of the labs or even into one of the operating bays. Instead, they went into Bones's office. There on his desk, the peculiar yellow cat was stretched out in a sedated sleep amongst the piles of PADDS, its small limbs limp with deep artificial slumber. Despite the weight of the situation, Jim couldn't help but thing that it was…cute. He shook himself firmly as Bones walked over and picked up one of the assorted PADDs full of numbers and diagrams that Jim, quite frankly, didn't understand.
"So…about that whole 'for now' thing…?" Jim prodded verbally at his CMO.
"Don't be so damn impatient, kid. I'm getting to it. Basically, I decided the easiest way to figure out what we were dealing with was to do your basic, run-of-the-mill DNA test on the cat. At first, readings said that it was just a common housecat, weird as that sounds considering where it was found," McCoy explained after rolling his eyes.
"Light years away from any Earth Colonies?"
"Exactly."
Jim rubbed his forehead, "So explain the 'at first' part."
"That's just it, Jim. This thing's DNA…it's MORPHING. The first time I checked it out, it was one-hundred percent feline. Over the course of the past hour though it's been…changing. It's been happening very, very slowly…everything rearranging at a molecular level…but still happening."
"…What is its DNA changing over to?" Jim suddenly felt inclined to take a step back.
"Human, Jim!" Bones let out an exasperated snort and thumped the PADD down on the desk, "If this genetic transformation keeps going, we're going to have a fully fledged human on our hands in about two weeks."
"So you're trying to tell me that - ."
There was a sharp 'ping' noise in the background, cutting the Captain off. Bones went back to a computer terminal on his desk, scrolling over what he had found and blinking in surprise. Immediately, Jim was peering over his shoulder, "What is it, Bones?"
"…I had a hunch. I ran the emerging human genetic patterns through our crew's database…"
"AND?!"
The Doctor shook his head, knotting fingers up in his thick brown hair, "Get Spock up here and get us the hell away from this planet, Jim. We've found Chekov."
~****~
Sulu was deeply confused. Everything seemed to be happening so quickly. Not twenty minutes after going to see Doctor McCoy, Spock had returned to the Bridge looking as unconcerned as ever. He had come alone. No Chekov. That being the case, Sulu had wondered why the man had even returned at all. Had something horrible happened down on the surface? What had they found and why the HELL weren't they telling him anything about it? Was his Chekov okay?
He wasn't given much time to ponder over it before Kirk's voice drifted out over the intership communications system, ordering that Sulu report to his quarters immediately. Naturally, the man had obeyed, but the order had done nothing to alleviate his confusion. As a matter of fact, it had only served to exacerbate it. Now, on top of being mortally worried over the state of his tiny Russian boyfriend, Sulu was also wondering just when the world had gone completely insane. His mind remained a whirling tumult of chaos no matter how hard he tried to find his center on the too-long trip to his quarters. He could only imagine that Kirk wanted to speak to him so privately to tell him terrible news.
The helmsman could feel his heart sinking as he reached his door and thumbed the access code.
The last thing he'd expected was the yellow cat that had run up to him, pawing frantically at his ankles and looking up at him desperately with massive blue eyes. The animal let out plaintive mewls, batting at him and succeeding in getting pale fur ALL OVER his regulation uniform pants. He might have been annoyed if he hadn't been so utterly perplexed by this development. The asian helmsman leaned down and picked the cat up, trying to examine it even as the animal squirmed to get closer to him, cuddling against his chest. At least Sulu liked animals…
Kirk's voice came from inside, "I recommend you come inside with him, Sulu. We've got A LOT to talk about."
Still baffled beyond belief, Sulu stepped inside, still cradling the cat as the door hissed shut behind him, "Captain? Why is Commander Spock back on the Enterprise? Have they found Chekov?" He didn't think to ask about the cat yet.
"Yes, Mr. Sulu. We found him," Captain Kirk sighed, trying desperately not to look amused, "We're leaving orbit as we speak."
"Can I…can I see him, sir?" Sulu fought to swallow the lump in his throat. If Pavel wasn't here right now, that either meant that he was laid up in Sickbay…or worse…
Kirk just shrugged nonchalantly, completely throwing the helmsman off, "Sure. I don't see why not."
"Well sir…where is he…?"
A grin split Jim's handsome features and Sulu couldn't help but feel like the Captain was taking the whole situation far too lightly. Jim was one of the people who was aware of the fact that Pavel and Sulu were a couple. How could he just shrug all this off and smile when he knew how very delicate this situation was for the distraught helmsman? Sulu frowned darkly and took a step forward to say something stern to his Captain when he caught Jim looking pointedly at the cat in his arms, that same silly grin written across his features.
When Sulu looked down, the cat purred and stood up, butting the top of its silky head gently against the helmsman's chin affectionately.
Sudden realization dawned on Sulu and he looked up slowly at Jim who was still grinning to beat the band, "Yup. You guessed right, Mr. Sulu. Don't ask how it happened, because McCoy and I have no idea."
"Captain! If this is Chekov, then why are we leaving the planet? We have to take him back down there and get him to normal!" Sulu suddenly seemed a lot more protective of the animal in his arms.
"Easy, Mr. Sulu!" Jim held up his hands in a placating gesture, "He'll be back to normal on his own. Bones says that whatever changed him was done so quickly that it didn't really 'take'. His natural DNA patterns are re-writing themselves and he should be back to human in about two weeks with no problems other than growing pains. I figured that since he was your boyfriend, you could have the honor of taking care of him until he's back to his old self again."
Hikaru took a steadying breath, subconsciously scratching behind Pavel's ears, "I'm still not sure we should be leaving, Captain. Shouldn't we try and discover what actually did this?"
"I'm afraid of what will happen if I send more crewmen down there, Sulu. I don't even want to KNOW what Scotty or Spock would come back as," Jim flashed another devil-may-care grin at Sulu, "We're bound for the nearest Starbase to make our report. We'll let Starfleet figure out what to do with the place. For now, all you need to do is worry about taking care of Chekov."
"Aye sir," Sulu said, still utterly mystified as he watched the Captain saunter out on his way back to the Bridge.
Once he was gone, Sulu sat heavily on his bed, almost collapsing. He was careful to keep Chekov close to his chest so the cat wouldn't be jostled too much. The helmsman looked mournfully down at his boyfriend and mused bitterly over the whole situation. He had been waiting patiently for months just to ask the boy to join him in his bed one night, but not like this! He had hoped that having Chekov in his bed for the first time would be a little bit more romantic and a little bit less…fuzzy.
He caught the cat giving him an almost mournful look, poking the animal gently on the nose, "Well Pasha, I'd hoped our first night together would be more special."
The Chekov cat leaned up and pressed his cool, wet nose to Hikaru's. Trapped inside his mind, Pavel could only grouse, 'Trust me, Hikaru…this is about as special as it gets.'
The pouty Russian suddenly felt the warm pressure of Hikaru's fingers massaging firmly behind his ears, carefully pinching the loose skin of his scruff. Ooo…oo that was GOOD. Without realizing what he was doing, the navigator began to knead at Hikaru's chest with his small claws, purring and arching his back. It was completely and totally undignified, but oh it felt so nice! He barely registered Hikaru's chuckle.
"Pasha, this is weird," Sulu grinned as he continued petting.
Still lost in a wash of pleasure, Pavel just slit his kitty eyes at his boyfriend, 'You're not the one with a tail, Hikaru. You have no room to talk.'
Completely unable to hear Chekov's thoughts in this state or to even know that his boyfriend was capable of HAVING sentient thoughts at all, Sulu just replied playfully, "Don't look at me like that, Pavel."
The Russian turned cat just yawned a little bit and stretched, scratching Sulu a little bit with his claws now-quite on accident. He was exhausted from everything that had gone on and he would likely remain very tired thanks to all the changes that were being forced on his body. He was just lucky the whole mess hadn't completely damaged his molecular stability.
"…It's going to be a very long two weeks," Hikaru sighed softly.
'Da. You do not know the half of it, Hikaru.'
~****~
To Be Continued…
~****~
A/N: No, I have no idea where this came from. Yes, I think it's cute as hell. NO, there will NOT be bestiality, you bloody perverts! Sulu/Chekov is one of my favorite pairings for this fandom (next to Spock/McCoy) and I like doing little fluffy things with them. They're easily slash-able, but doing smut with them almost feels like pissing in front of a nun…especially their reboot counterparts.
Please enjoy! Chapter two is coming soon!