It was dark. Completely dark. She couldn't see an inch in front of her face. Fuck that she couldn't see her own nose. Marie huffed out a sigh, sniffing back the tears that threatened to form again. Crying was no use right now. The rope around her wrists was rubbing raw from all the tugging. She couldn't figure how long she had been there. Tears would solve none of these things.

Marie Watson was a social worker, working on a special assignment with Starfleet. They had been contracted to help contact Nishu, a developing planet who had expressed interest in joining the Federation. She and a group of Starfleet officers had traveled to the sector, landing on the planet to enter into talks. They had been there for three days, and Marie had been in one of the local markets when she was attacked from behind.

The Nishu were a humanoid like species, but covered in scales like a snake. Their large eyes took up almost half of their face and what they failed to tell the Federation was that their eyes allowed them to see in darkness. Hence why she could hear the door to the room open and close whenever they had come in instead of seeing it. She wasn't sure why she was nabbed, her captors weren't telling her. But after hours in the dark, tied to a bed, with no move to harm her, she could only figure that they wanted her for some sort of ransom.

The door opened one more time, but there was something different this time. The Nishu were made to work in the dark, including behind quiet. So the struggle she heard, male grunting and scuffing shoes, drew her attention more than she could say.

"Fuck off. Let go." The voice said, only to cough as he was presumably thrown onto the ground.

Earlier that Morning; USS Enterprise.

Jim smirked around at his bridge crew; only the best for the Enterprise. The purple planet that was outside the view screen was slightly lighter than the darkness surrounding them. They had been summoned to Nishu in order to pick up some people in order to take them to Starbase 17 on the other side of the quadrant. He knew he should know more about whom they were escorting but he really didn't care. Spock cared; that was enough.

He glanced at his first officer who was watching the planet with his head cocked to one side. It seemed to be bothering Spock just as much as it was bothering Jim that the planet wouldn't let them simply transport down to meet the people. Nishu was transport capable, but they didn't use it often according to Uhra. It left them one option; take a shuttle down.

"It's fine Spock. It's not like we haven't taken a shuttle down to a planet before." He said, standing from his chair and moving to stand beside his first officer.

"The last time did not end so well." Spock said and if he ever chose to show emotion he would be disapproving. Jim laughed humorlessly at the reminder of that damn Volcano and shrugged.

"Well, maybe we should stick to the Prime Directive completely this time." He heard Uhra huff indignantly and smiled. They still didn't talk about Spock almost dying. They had been out in the black for a year and the topics of Spock choosing to die and Kirk actually dying were still issues of which Uhra couldn't speak. "It's just a pick up mission. We should be fine. Let's get going." He said, slapping the Vulcan on the back. He was going down with Cupcake in order to pick up the team while Spock watched the shipped; apparently the Nishu also wanted to meet the infamous Captain Kirk.

Apparently when you save Earth twice you become infamous. He didn't mind so much; it was kind of cool to have females flock to him even more. Jim met Cupcake in the shuttle bay as Sulu left the cockpit.

"Rawls will do fine sir." Sulu said, glancing over his shoulder at the second string pilot. There was a storm on the planet that they had to fly through, but he wanted Sulu ready to go as soon as they were back on board.

"Keep her running." Jim said. Sulu smiled and nodded as he walked passed. "Come on Cupcake... it'll be fun." Kirk watched as his Chief of Security rolled his eyes. They were on good terms after the Narada incident and all, but Jim still called him the silly nick name from that bar in Iowa.

"Fun. Yeah. That is what you said about the last mission." Jim laughed at Cupcake's snide tone.

"Come on, you got laid what was the problem?" He asked.

"She had teeth." Was the replying, causing Jim to laugh again. Jason, Cupcake's real name, had received a substantial bite out of his arm on the last away mission. Bones had fixed everything but apparently he still wasn't happy about it.

The flight down the planet was no big deal, the turbulence from the storm the only thing giving them a little trouble. Kirk stepped off the shuttle glancing around at the group of of people with Starfleet badges surrounded by three in uniform. Four of them looked very tense as they stood huddled together. The officer saluted as he approached and he nodded at them muttering "at ease".

"Captain. We seem to have a problem." Jim felt Cupcake tense slightly next to him.

"What problem is that...?" Damn he really should have paid more attention to the briefing.

"Lieutenant Olsen sir." Jim nodded and gestured for him to continue. "There seems to be a member of the team missing. She hasn't been seen since last night."

"Where was the last place she was seen?" He asked, Captain mode kicking in. Olsen motioned outside and Jim went to follow, feeling Cupcake follow him. They had barely stepped out the door into the street, which was darker than Jim expected for noon planet time, when the first shot rang out. Jim reached for his phaser, only to realize he had left it on the ship.

Jim reacted on instinct and shoved Jason back through the door as return fire came from somewhere. Something struck him across the face hard enough to snap his head to the side but not to disorient him. He felt the shadow blow past him as he came back to focus. The shadow, which was really a Nishu, ran back in front of him, moving faster in the dark than was easy to see. As he attempted to find where the Nishu went he was attacked from behind, an arm strapped around his throat.

The Nishu were also apparently stronger than humans he found as he scratched at the arm in vain. He was startin to see spots when something slammed into his stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Jim had a deja vu as he pushed onto his hands and knees, a strong pinch to the joint of his neck and shoulder and he blacked out.

When he came to, the weird clicking of the Nishu native language surround him. He was being jostled and when he tried to fight back, he found his wrists tied. What the hell was going on? Where was Jason? He tried to shift his hips to see if his communicator was still in pocket but he couldn't tell. He yanked his knees up and felt the Nishu holding his legs dig their nails in. He hissed as he heard something woosh; heard because he was just coming to realize how dark it was. He couldn't see anything, just what he was feeling. He tried to thrash again and felt the grips tighten again.

"Fuck off. Let go." He was able to snarl out before they unceremoniously dropped him on the floor, and he huffed again as the wind was yanked from his lungs. He wasn't sure if he expected it to be less dark where ever they dropped him, but it wasn't. He coughed sitting up slightly and his ears caught rustle of a mattress. Jim's senses were high alert as strained to see anything in the darkness.

"Hello?" His head snapped to the right, assuming that is where the bed was. "Is someone else here?" He heard the quiver in her voice; she was scared.

"Yeah." He answered, still not fully in his own breath. "Who are you?" He demanded, struggling to his feet. At least they had the decency to tie his wrists together in front of him.

"Marie. Marie Watson." Said the disembodied voice. He took a ginger step forward, feeling his knee come into contact with a wooden frame. "Who are you?" She asked quietly.

"Captain James T. Kirk, USS Enterprise." Not that his designation was going to help anything right now. For all he knew they took him because he was the Captain.

"You have a ship here?" She asked, hope flooding his ears.

"Yes. It's in orbit." He answered, sitting down and feeling her leg fall against his backside. He shifted slightly so he wasn't almost sitting on her. "How did you happen to get here Marie?" He asked, hoping that she wasn't a Nishu in this darkness.

"I was here with Starfleet trying to negotiate contact. I'm not sure why the Nishu requested Social Services, but they did. I was grabbed out of the street last night, at least I think it was last night." So here was his missing social worker. At least he had that going in the plus column. "I don't know what they want with me. I know they speak standard but they aren't speaking to me." She said and he heard the sheets move.

"Where are you from?" He asked, hoping she couldn't tell that he was digging for information. There could be any number of reasons this woman was here the most disturbing of which was that she could be working with the Nishu who took them.

"Seattle." She said quietly. "Can I ask a weird question?" His head snapped, hopefully in her direction and his eyebrow raised.

"Yes."

"Are your fingers accessible?" If they could see, Marie probably would have laughed at the shocked look on his face. Well, she had given him fair warning of a weird question.

"Um... yes?" Normally when a women asked him that he would have some sort of charming cocky response having to do with losing items of clothing. In the current situation, he was on high alert and didn't have time to flirt. He rolled his eyes. If she was flirting right now because of who he was he was kick his way out of this dark hell whole.

"Oh great. Do you think you could figure out a way to untie me?" Well that wasn't what he was expecting. She was tied up too. Her voice also didn't seem to be moving. "My hands are tied to the head board and my shoulders are starting to ache, and my nose itches of course." He huffed out a laugh and the very blatant eye roll that accompanied that statement. "Captain?" Her question made him realize how quiet he had been.

"You can call me Jim." He said.

"Ok. Um, Jim, do you think it's possible for you to try?" His attention pulled back to the voice on the bed. He was reasonably sure that he could figure out how to untie a knot even if it was in the dark. His hand slide out along the bedding coming to rest against what he assumed was her leg.

"This you?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said, and he felt her leg twitch under his hand. He nodded, realizing late that she couldn't see it.

"Ok. I am going to just follow... um, this up." He said awkwardly. He had never touched a woman like this, trialing his hand up her side with so many clothes on. "Sorry." He muttered with a smirk as she jumped when he tickled her.

"It's ok." She said, and it sounded like her head was turned away from him. He apologized again as his hand traced the outside of her breast, meeting her harm at her shoulder. He couldn't help but notice how cold she was, and she didn't seem to have a lot of clothes on.

"Um, what are you wearing?" He asked, hoping it didn't sound like a cheesy pick up line. Marie laughed and he felt her hair move against his hand as her head turned.

"A tank top. It was warmer in the market when they took me." Jim was relieved to feel smooth skin under his hand instead of snake scales but he didn't say that out loud. His fingers had found the rope; her hands were tied together directly over her head and then attached to a metal bar headboard from the feel of the hard cold columns under his fingers.

"Got there. Give me a second." Finding the knot wasn't difficult. Finding which piece was looped under the other was slightly more of a challenge, but he got there. The issue was the amount of torque he could get with his own hands tied.

"I really appreciate this. I can try and get you untied after." She suggested and he couldn't help but smiling in the general direction of her head.

"Deal." The angle at which he was bent was starting to cramp his obliques, but he didn't want to let go of the rope and have to try and find it again. "I think I might need to shift." He said.

"Whatever you need." Came the reply. He took a quick assessment and, keeping his hands tightly on the rope, he stood and slide a leg over the top of the bed until it came into contact with Marie's side. He then proceeded to straddle her waist, careful to keep his weight on his own knees instead of her stomach. "Oh, ok." She said, and Jim felt her body press down into the bed. He smirked again.

"Sorry. Better angle." She hmmed in the affirmative and he felt her hair shift over her fingers again.

With the new angle, his fingers could get the proper grasp on the rope. These Nishu knew how to tie a knot, but eventually he got it loose enough to start pulling out one end. He did so slowly because he didn't want it to come flying out and whip either of them in the face.

"So Marie, um... why did you agree to come here?" He asked, trying to make small talk that wasn't awkward as the situation was already awkward enough.

"I can't remember at the moment, but I'm sure it wasn't worth it." She muttered making him laugh. He felt her body tense and she pressed her body further into the mattress.

"You ok down there?" He asked, squeezing slightly on her wrist as he was currently following the rope around it.

"Why do you ask?" Her voice floated up to him.

"You suddenly tensed up. You can relax." He said. He felt and heard her take a deep breath in, her ribs pressing slightly against his thighs. Before she could answer her left arm came free and she hissed before moaning. A small cry escaped her as her arm came down to rest on the outside of his right thigh. Without dropping the now much longer length of rope in his hands, he brought them down to rest against her shoulder, allowing his fingers to gently massage the joint. She huffed under, and a part of his mind remembered the last time he heard that noise there was a naked woman in his bed. But then, when you thought about it, pain and pleasure noises could be very similar with the exception of the blood curdling scream.

"Thank you." She said, breathless. "I don't know how long that has been in that position but it was too long." Hearing her statement, he followed the rope back up to her right hand and unwound the rope from there, repeating the massage on her right shoulder until such time as the blood was flowing better through her limbs.

He waited, feeling her deep breathing under him. Jim knew that when one sense was gone, the others would get stronger in order to compensate, he had just never experienced it before. He could hear the fabric of her shirt rubbing against the fabric of the blankets with every breath she took. He could smell her; she smelled like the Earth jasmine flower. He could sense every millimeter her ribs shifted with her breath, where they pressed against his inner thighs.

"Thank you." She muttered again and he heard her head shift. Suddenly she was sitting up, a tangible presence in front of him even though he couldn't see her. He shifted back on his knees until he was over her thighs and he felt her hands lightly touch his shoulders. "I can try and do this." She laughed slightly. He felt her employ the same means as he did, trailing her hands down his arms until they found his bound wrists.

"So, why were you so tense?" He asked as he felt her fingers probing the sensitive skin on the inside of his wrists. She tensed slightly, her hands pausing for split second in their search for the correct loop to pull.

"Oh, well..." She muttered, fingers probing again and finding the knot. "You sort of have a reputation Jim." She said. He didn't respond because he knew of which reputation she was speaking. Carol teased him about it all the time. So he had function genitalia, what was so wrong with that? Apparently it was the excessive use of said genitalia that was frowned upon. Suddenly the rope around his wrists fell free. Almost instantly, Marie's cold, slim fingers were massage his palms, pressing their way up into his forearms to encourage the blood flow; damn it felt good.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" He asked as her fingers threaded with his in order to roll his wrist slightly.

"Manicures. Best thing to relax." She said. As her hands pulled away, he caught the right one, grasping it and giving it a shake. She giggled slightly. "It's nice to meet you Captain Kirk." She said, the hint of a smile in her voice.

"I wish it were under better circumstances Ms. Watson." She giggled again before she slowly started to remove her legs from under his. He helped by shifting so he was no longer straddling her. Jim expected his eyes to have adjusted slightly but he was mistaken. He still literally saw nothing. He waved his hand in front of his face and the only thing that changed was he could feel the slight increase in the wind.

He felt Marie shifting around, could hear the fabric of her clothes rubbing against the fabric of the blankets beneath them.

"So how much do you know about this room?" He asked.

"There is a bed." She answer succinctly and he laughed. "Other than that, nothing." He leaned back on his hands, glad they were free now and felt the bed was much roomier than he thought, bigger than his back on the ship. He realized as he shifted position he was sore from the stupid neck pinch thing. "Did you want to lay down?" She asked quietly.

Laying down actually sound amazing. He shifted up toward her, coming to understand the bed was softer than he realized before too. The day was suddenly catching up to him and even though he had been kidnapped and he had no idea where he was, he felt safe enough to sleep. He could feel the soft warmth coming off his fellow victim, and the tense was back.

"Hey Jim?" She asked.

"Yeah Marie." He answered. It sounded as if she was still sitting up and he had fallen horizontal, head landing on a pillow that was calling his name.

"Can I trust you?" Was breathed out, causing him to frown.

"Trust me to what?"

"To not rape me in my sleep?" She asked quietly again. Ok, he wasn't tired anymore. He sat bolt upright, arm brushing hers slightly and causing her to jerk.

"What?" He demanded. The thought of rape had never crossed Jim's mind; ever in his entire life.

"Well, it's just that I am a woman and I am in a dark room that men have access to and I don't know them and..." He reached out, palm finding the skin of her forearm and he squeezed in what he hoped was a reassuring matter.

"I am not going to rape you." He said, and even though she didn't know him, she did relax. "I'm not going to hurt you at all."

"Thank you." Now Jim had been kneeling over and she wasn't a large woman. She was very small, and the voice with which she said that made him think of her almost as a little girl; you know with boobs. He wanted to protect her and she was obviously very scared. Then again so was he. Jim Kirk could fight his way out of most places, but if his enemy could see and he couldn't, he was at a complete disadvantage. He had to wait for Spock to figure it out.

"Get some sleep. I'm not going to let anything happen to you ok?" He asked, sliding his hand up to her shoulder. He felt her hair shake as she nodded before slipping down so she laid down, very reminiscent of her earlier position. His adrenaline had spiked again. He told her he wouldn't let anything happen to her, and he was going to keep that promise. Even if it meant staying awake the whole time they were here.