Kirk sat silently, his arm propping up his drooping head as he struggled to stay awake. He never thought that he would willingly sleep in the Medical Ward, but it seemed to get more and more likely with every moment that had passed. He didn't think that he could sleep while one of his best friends lay in the biobed beside his chair, but he was starting to see that he was wrong a lot. He was glad that he could at least be with Spock as he fought off the disease plaguing his body, whether he was awake or not.
He was so sleepy, in fact, that he hardly even noticed the door creaking open. The beam of light striking across his face from the illuminated hallway shook him from his trance-like state.
"Jim, you need to go home," McCoy peeked his head in the door and let out an exasperated sigh as he saw the captain sitting at Spock's bedside.
"He's going to be okay, right Bones?" Kirk asked in a hushed voice as he watched Spock's chest rise and fall rhythmically. The Vulcan looked so peaceful in his biobed, save for the slightly twisted and anguished expression painting his especially pale face.
"He's got a strain of the Vulcanian virus Hon'affer," McCoy sighed heavily as he stepped through the door and closed it gently behind him. "M'Benga says that it can be serious, if left untreated."
"Lucky we were so close to Earth, then," Kirk ran his fingers nervously through his golden hair. "We were due for a shore leave and standard repairs anyway. How long do you think he'll be down and out for?"
"I would like to say less than two weeks, if these Vulcan specialists have anything to say about it. They're the best of the best, Jim. He's in good hands here." McCoy explained and Kirk folded his arms across his chest.
"Even if they aren't your hands?" Kirk asked, exchanging a worried glance with his friend.
"I might be the best physician on this side of the universe, I can't match these people when it comes to knowing anything about the green-blooded hobgoblins," McCoy sighed. "They know what they're doing."
"Good," Kirk breathed, almost inaudibly.
"So," McCoy cleared his throat. "Don't tell me that you're planning on sitting here with him the whole time we're on shore leave."
"I've got meetings to go to," Kirk grumbled. "Command figured that this would be the best time to schedule them."
"That's rough," McCoy shrugged. "But at least you'll be staying out of trouble this time."
"Oh believe me Bones, I find trouble wherever I go," Kirk smiled.
"Trust me, I know." McCoy rolled his eyes. "Just this time, try not to get hurt. One bridge member in the Medical Ward is too much already."
"I'll do my best," Kirk chuckled quietly.
"Right now, you need to go home and get some rest. It's been a long day." McCoy pressed as he took a step closer to Kirk.
"I don't want to leave him alone, Bones." Kirk insisted, rubbing his eyes as he struggled to stay awake.
"He won't be alone. There are doctors everywhere here. And Uhura's out in the waiting room right now, waiting to come in here." McCoy crossed his arms against his chest. "You need sleep."
"Fine," Kirk said dejectedly after a few seconds of silence. He slowly pushed himself up from his chair and brushed himself off. "But I'm coming back here in the morning before my meeting. And you'd better call me if anything changes."
"I'm going home too," McCoy sighed. "They're all but pushing me out of here and telling me to enjoy my shore leave," He grumbled and the two men headed towards the door.
"Do you even know how to do that?" Kirk jested, taking one last look over his shoulder at his friend as they left the room. Spock remained perfectly still, save for the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest.
"Says you," McCoy scoffed. "And yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I'm spending the day shopping for gifts for Joanna."
"I can't say that's the most interesting thing to do around here, but it's got to be better than going to a bunch of meetings," Kirk grumbled as they passed through the Medical Ward's doors and out into the chilling night air. "You ever think about how crazy it is that we've been to planets that are farther than the stars in our sky are from us?" Kirk asked as he stared at the twinkling lights above them.
"I think about how insane we are for doing that all the time," McCoy shook his head and turned his gaze up to the stars as well. "But I can't deny that it is beautiful out there," McCoy sighed.
Both of the men turned their attention back to the street, only to see their path being blocked by a hulking shadow. They stumbled back to avoid colliding with the rigid stranger.
"Excuse us," Kirk said politely and attempted to sidestep the figure, but it reached out a long arm, blocking his path. Kirk instinctively lifted his arm to protect McCoy and reached for his phaser with the other. "Listen, we're just trying to get through." He said, his voice hardening as his brain switched into full alert mode.
The shadow took a large step forward and Kirk pushed McCoy back, sending his friend tumbling to the ground. McCoy quickly turned around to see the being engulf Kirk into its shadowy form, Kirk clawing at the ground, trying desperately to free himself. McCoy scooted back on the ground, his eyes wide with fear as Kirk screamed at him to run. Suddenly, two appendages from the sides of the mass shot out and snatched McCoy's legs, dragging him towards its main form. McCoy fumbled with the communicator on his belt, struggling to open it as the beast dragged his body along the ground quickly. The communicator slipped out of his fingers and clattered to the ground just as Kirk's face was engulfed in the shadows of the beast. McCoy sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes as the darkness came over him.
/
Kirk's eyes fluttered open as he felt a bright light pushing at his eyelids. As he looked around, he realized that he didn't have the slightest clue where he was or what had happened. He moved his hand to rub his eye, but he soon discovered that it was clamped very tightly to a large slab of some alien metal. He pulled at his other wrist and legs, only to find them in a similar situation. He cursed as he tugged at the restraints, but they didn't even threaten to budge.
"Bones?" Kirk cried out, his memories suddenly flooding back to him. "Bones!" He called again, looking around frantically for his companion. He soon realized that he was surrounded by nothing but white walls, and a bright white light from the ceiling. He looked down and saw that his uniform had been removed, and that he was now chained to the slab with only his black undershirt and pants.
His head snapped forward as the wall in front of him suddenly shifted and began to slowly retract into the ceiling. He struggled to pull his wrists from the restraints as the metal slab jerked forward and started to move him towards the receding door. His heart raced as he waited to see what was behind the door.
Much to his surprise, when the door raised, it didn't reveal a crowd of savage assailants waiting to tear him to bits. Instead, he found himself staring at what appeared to be a class. He recognized some of the students at the white and organized desks to be wanted bounty hunters and other scum from all over the galaxy. They all sat patiently, watching as he moved out from behind the wall.
"Class, please welcome Captain James Tiberius Kirk to the room," A towering alien at the head of the class gestured to Kirk, his fish-like eyes blinking slowly as he introduced him. He wasn't a species that Kirk had recognized. The creature was definitely bred for aquatic environments, his elongated fingers having the remnants of webbing between them, the thick gills that pulsed on his neck, and the massive spikes that ran down the back of his oblong head. A thick collared robe draped across his thin form, billowing out at the ends, the color as white as the walls around Kirk. His gray-blue skin faded against the fabric that covered his arms in a regal fashion.
"What the hell?" Kirk asked quietly, looking around at the intimidating students of the class.
"Captain Kirk, welcome to 'How to Break a Man'," The alien smiled, his razor sharp teeth appearing from under his thin lips and stretching across his entire face. "You will be the subject of this class."
"Wait," Kirk protested, pulling at the restraints again. "What do you mean?"
"I aim to teach these students the methods in which to torture a man in order to break him down," The alien gestured towards the students. "You should feel very honored for being selected for this position. I only select the most formidable opponents to demonstrate to my classes. You are going to be a tough one to break, Captain, but I am up for the challenge."
"Hang on a minute," Kirk warned. "I never agreed to this. Let me go. I don't even have any information that you want, why the hell would you want to torture me anyway?" His heart began to beat out of his chest.
"Ah, that leads me to the first lesson," The instructor said and all the students pulled out PADDs and began to type away on them. "You must decide for what reason you are torturing the subject. There are three main reasons," The alien held up a warped finger. "One, for information. Two, for revenge. Three, to simply break an enemy down and make him useless for his cause. It is very important to know why you are doing what you're doing. Confidence and conviction will get you anywhere," The instructor continued and Kirk narrowed his eyes. "I will be demonstrating the third reason on this particular subject."
"Listen, my crew is out there looking for me right now, and if you don't let me go, you're going to regret it," Kirk snarled, practically foaming at the mouth.
"The second lesson is to always know your subject. I have done extensive research on the Captain, and I must tell you, he is an interesting man. After some digging, I found his weaknesses fairly easily. For this reason, I have kidnapped one of his closest associates along with him," The instructor turned towards Kirk. "Now, Captain, if you resist, your friend will be greatly harmed. You wouldn't want that, would you?" He asked and Kirk shrunk, his blood running cold.
"You son of a bitch," He breathed and the instructor offered only another crooked smile.
"Now, with that out of the way, we can move on. There are two different types of torture, my students. There is mental warfare, and physical trauma. What you have just witnessed is an example of mental warfare, since I am attempting to manipulate his mind, instead of his body. Now, who would like to see an example of physical trauma?"
Kirk sucked in a deep breath. How the fuck am I going to get myself out of this one? He thought as he looked over the psychotic smiles of the criminals before him.
/
Hooray another new story! I've been thinking about writing this one for a while, and I finally got around to it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I promise you that there's plenty of whump to come... As per usual, I don't have a beta reader so please pardon my errors. Also, like always, I'm always open to constructive criticism and general feedback. So, thanks again for reading, and I hope you'll stick around for more!
-buckminsterbarnes
