Chapter 1: There are no simple missions

They should have known that the mission would not be as simple as they were first led to believe. They never were when they involved James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise and a man known as much for his unfailing bravery as he was for his ability to get into trouble.

The starship was currently maintaining orbit around the planet Junna. At 08:00 hours two days ago they had received a call from Command requesting they pick up a certain foreign dignitary from the planet and escort them to Starfleet Headquarters on Earth. Being the closest ship in the vicinity, they were therefore the best candidate. That the dignitary was classified as a "Priority One" requiring the Federation's highest levels of protection made their selection even more natural.

But what was supposed to have been a straightforward mission was already off to a spectacularly bad start.

"Enterprise...Do you copy...Package is secure but we are under heavy gunfire. Requesting immediate evac. Captain is down. I repeat. Captain is down." Sulu's voice crackled on the comm.

At 08:00 hours two days ago

"Captain, message from Starfleet Command on line one, sir."

Kirk smiled at the ensign manning the comm. "Patch them through."

It was only a second before Admiral Pike's face filled the screen. It had been some time since Kirk had seen the Admiral but the man seemed no worse for the wear with his new responsibilities.

"Good to see you are taking care of my ship, Captain."

"Got to. Who knows what grumpy old men will do when their ship gets pulled in for a second time after she just got patched up." Kirk smirked before he resumed formally. "What can I do for you, Admiral?"

Pike shared a brief smile before similarly plunging to the business at hand. "At 22:00 hours last night we received a request from one of the dignitaries currently residing in Junna for an escort to Starfleet Command. Given the urgency of the request and the importance of this dignitary, we feel that the Enterprise is best suited to this task. You are nearby, are you not, Captain?"

Kirk nodded in the affirmative. "We should arrive at Junna in a little under two days with warp at full speed."

"Good. Sending across the details of your charge. Take care of her Kirk. She's a Priority One."

"Will do Admiral."

At present

"Get outta my way!" McCoy made his way to the pad just as Sulu materialized half carrying, half dragging a torn and bloodied Kirk.

Not that Sulu or the rest of the away team was in any great shape either. A large gash ran down the side of Cupcake. Spock sustained various cuts and bruises as well as what appeared to be a broken arm. Sulu himself had a noticeable limp. The three others sported a variety of cuts, bruises, and broken limbs.

The last transporter pad however carried a hooded figure that, despite the thick fur cloak worn, was clearly a young woman and the object of the mission at hand. She appeared to be unharmed but unless they did a full medical examination they could not be sure.

Tricorder at the ready and Nurse Chapel and the rest of the medical team on his right, McCoy quickly transferred Kirk into a gurney whilst performing an assessment of the man's condition. And what he was quickly finding was not a pretty picture. Three broken ribs. Internal bleeding around the kidneys and liver. Two gunshot wounds, one at the left shoulder, the other lower down and only a little short of the heart. The bullets themselves were still lodged in the flesh and that was a concern. From the caliber of weapons used, if they did not get the bullets out fast, they would quickly disintegrate and cause even more internal damage then they already had. Kirk had likewise sustained significant blood loss and that in and of itself was a major concern.

Kirk had had too many close brushes with death. And every time Kirk was rushed into the medical bay with one or the other emergency, McCoy's heart sank and an icy fear gripped him. It was the same fear that kept him awake at night. The same fear that compelled him to walk the corridor outside the Captain's quarters hoping against hope that this time, nothing would happen to his Captain.

He feared above all that one day he may not be able to save Kirk. He was afraid that one day Kirk might actually die. And McCoy knew, if that day did come, he would not be able to handle it.

Not more than ten feet away, Spock was thinking the exact same thing in his own logical, Vulcan, way. He recalled the Kobayashi Maru test from their days in the Academy. Despite Kirk's seeming ability to cheat death time and time again Spock knew that, in the end, death would always win. You might escape now but there will come a time when one cannot run away any further. And to court this disaster by continuously exposing oneself to danger and rushing headlong was illogical and completely destructive. So it was only logical that he would do everything to prevent the Captain from exposing himself to such danger - right?

Four hours ago

"Captain, it would be wiser for you to remain on board while we collect the dignitary."

Kirk looked at the Vulcan as though he had grown two heads. "You do realize Spock that this is just an ordinary mission. Nothing that would endanger my life. Besides, it's only good manners for the Captain of the ship to personally greet such an important guest."

Spock knew that logically there was no reason indeed for Kirk to refrain from going down. From his reading of the dignitary's dossier and his survey of the local political situation there appeared to be no logical reason to expect a life threatening occurrence to happen. Even if this woman was marked "Priority One" there appeared to be nothing in her file to suggest why or for them to expect anything other than a peaceful handover.

So why did Spock not want Jim Kirk down there? He wasn't quite sure himself...only that it was also only rational to prevent any potential, no matter that it might only be 0.001% that something bad might happen.

But from the determined look in Kirk's eyes, Spock knew there was no arguing it. So instead he changed his line of attack. "If you are absolutely certain you wish to join the landing party then I propose that I join you."

"And I suppose you won't change your mind either, will you, Spock?"

"Indeed."

Kirk smiled and clapped Spock on the back. "Well then. Welcome aboard."

At present

The surgery room was stifling but the doctors and nurses milling around the table underneath the bright white lights didn't mind it. Their entire concentration was on the man they were trying to save and the various instruments they had hooked up to him to monitor his vitals. At the center of it stood McCoy in his blue doctor's scrubs, arms elbow deep in blood as he fought to keep Kirk alive. At the moment though, he felt like he was facing a losing battle.

"Blood pressure is dropping. We're losing him Doctor"

McCoy swore. "Dammit. Another round of blood replenishers, stat. No, make em a double." Grabbing a clamp from one of the nurses he proceeded to stem the flow of blood from yet another bleeder. This was the fifth since they started to operate. If he has another McCoy was afraid Kirk's body might go into shock.

Outside, the rest of the team waited. Sulu eyed the door to surgery with growing worry. While he did not know the full extent of the Captain's injuries, he knew that it was pretty bad. He recalled how earlier as he held the Captain up he could almost feel the life flowing out of him. There had been so much blood, so much pain.

Spock could only watch from his own bed at the medical bay the steady stream of nurses carrying blood replacement bags into the surgery room. This was the eighth such occurrence and assuming the surgery room itself carried the standard two bags, that would make a total of ten transfusions. That did not bode well.

For the tenth time since they landed in Junna, Spock replayed the events over again in his head. What had they not seen that could have warned them about the ambush that awaited them?

Four hours ago

There was little fanfare when the team arrived in Junna. Just a single representative from the ruling command was there to greet them.

"Welcome, Starfleet officers. I am Theodore M'Th'Kli. I am the Chancellor of the High Command and your guide. We had not quite expected you so soon or that Starfleet would send its prized ship. You are Captain James T. Kirk, yes?"

Their guide's three beady eyes fixed on Kirk. Kirk nodded. "Are you aware, Chancellor, of the reason for our visit?"

Chancellor M'Th'Kli did not immediately respond. When he did, he stopped in his tracks and faced the team. And when he spoke he addressed not the Captain but Spock. "We are aware of this individual you seek."

"Come officers. I shall take you to her. She has been eagerly awaiting your arrival."

The Chancellor led them to a building located in the central square of their capitol. The building, towering twenty stories high, was made of marble and limestone. A silver plaque at its entrance proclaimed it to be the main government building. Spock remembered from his history lessons that the current inhabitants of Junna were not its original settlers and they had taken up many of the original structures that men and women they called "The First" had built for their own. This was one such structure.

Little was known of The First other than they were a race that enjoyed beauty, if the structures they left behind were any indication. The other was that they had died out, more than a quarter century before the current inhabitants of Junna arrived. The cause for the annihilation of that entire race was still unknown.

Right now, with the fires of its three suns blazing with the heat of noon, not a soul could be found in the entirety of the square other than their party. Their footsteps resounded eerily on the stone slabs. Ushering them quickly through the entrance, the Chancellor led them to a waiting room on the second floor.

"It is a pity you arrived at the height of noon. Rare it is that members from other races are able to withstand the heat our three suns deem to shine upon us at this hour. Please wait here. We have prepared refreshments. I will be back shortly with her."

The Chancellor pointed to a decanter and twelve glasses perched on a bureau before bowing out.

The room they were deposited into was well outfitted. It was decorated with plush chairs and couches, hardwood bureaus and coffee tables, and more flowers than they had yet seen on the otherwise arid planet. Its western wall was completely made of glass, affording the occupants a clear view into the square below. Kirk walked towards this window with the clear intention to take a closer look at the view outside.

In his seat by the window, Spock was uneasy. So far nothing was blatantly wrong but there were many little things that were not adding up and left him with a vague sense of dread. From a quick scan of the room, it appeared that only he had these thoughts. It was by mere happenstance that as he looked up at Kirk, trying to gauge whether the man had likewise observed the anomalies, that he saw a glint in one of the taller buildings outside. Then the tumblers in his head clicked.

"Sniper!"

Spock jumped from where he was seated and raced to Kirk. Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough. The glass shattered as a bullet wheezed past to lodge itself into Kirk's chest. The rest of team scrambled and laid out some covering fire from their phasers as Spock dragged Kirk away from immediate danger.

A cursory examination indicated that the bullet had thankfully not pierced Kirk's heart. But it was too close for comfort. The man needed immediate medical assistance. They needed to get him back to Enterprise as soon as possible.

"Enterprise, do you read me. This is Spock. Requesting immediate evac. Captain is down. I repeat Captain is down."

Spock waited for a response. Nothing. Only static. He decided to try once more over the secure line. "Enterprise, do you copy. We request emergency evac."

Just as before, only static met his Vulcan ears. They were interfering with the signal. Calling Sulu and the rest of the team, they made for the door. They had to get Kirk and themselves out of that death trap.

At present

A shrill monotonous beep resounded in the room.

"V-fib!" The nurse manning the heart rate monitor proclaimed. McCoy knew he had only a matter of seconds to prevent the heart from going to asystole. And damn if he would ever let Kirk flat line on his watch.

He grabbed the paddles from one of the assistant doctors. Holding his breath, he looked up at the monitor. Still v-fib.

"Charge em up to 150."

Again, McCoy pressed the paddles to Kirk's chest. No change. There was little time left. McCoy grabbed a scalpel and with deft movements, enlarged the hole on Kirk's chest. He looked at Kirk before plunging his right hand into the cavity to directly jolt his heart.

McCoy could taste his desperation in the mouth. "Goddamnit, Jim. Ya do not get to die on my watch, do ya hear me!"

Author's notes: My first Star Trek fan fiction. So do forgive if there is some OOC-ness and any contradictions with cannon. And if anyone is wondering, this story is set between the Star Trek and Into Darkness films. Otherwise, enjoy.