A/N: Much thanks to Sanzy for all her encouragement :D

Jim awoke in his own room, beneath his own covers on his own bed. Alone. That word rang through his head like an annoying alarm clock signaling him to wake up. He had given Bones the order to have every available personnel on deck review footage of Spock's wing, and for Bones himself to check out Spock's room to see if there had been anything left behind, evidence, clues. Terror never let go of his heart no matter how hard he willed it away. Something bad had happened and Jim didn't know who or what caused it, but they took what was most precious to him.

A few more minutes of thought turned into an hour before Bones' voice slid through the room over the intercom.
"Jim, are you up?"
"Yeah," he responded, sitting up to rub his hand over his face. He was getting stubble. Now that wasn't acceptable. "Did you find anything?"
"The footage revealed nothing. But they left a note clear as day on his bed."
A note? Like, a ransom note… seriously, what Stardate is this? "Can you tell who it's from?"
"Come down to my office, I'm not doing this over the com." He was getting irritated.
"Alright alright, I'll be there in ten. Kirk out." He severed the connection and rose to his feet.
They had it. Something that would bring Spock back home. Maybe he was getting too ahead of himself. They had something, that's for sure, but Jim hadn't even seen it yet. Maybe it was just some stupid note that said "Ha ha, we took your First Officer, you idiot." Jim went into the bathroom, splashing cold water on his face, determined to compose himself before he left the room. His crew was already on edge as it is; no point in looking like you've lost your mind, too. He thought. After a quick shave, he adorned standard black pants and mustard color tunic before heading out to meet Bones.

"Uhura said it was a distinctive ancient dialect, or something, from a race known as Son'a. They're descendants of the Ba'ku people, but they're rebels, they insist on gaining higher technology instead of hanging back in the past with mere hand to hand weaponry."
Blue eyes dragged over the extremely alien symbols. "What does it say?"

Bones took a shot of something dark amber, setting the glass back on the table. "'We've taken Ambassador Spock. The Red Matter will be ours, whether he lives or dies.' And that's it."
Red Matter? That was the black hole stuff that destroyed Vulcan… This whole time-travelling, I'm-from-another-universe stuff was making Jim's head swim. They thought he was Spock Prime too. "What if the… Sunna?"
"Son'a." Bones corrected.
"Right, them. What if they were talking to Nero, like working together with them?"
"The Romulans were from a completely different time, Jim. How would they come to this Stardate and find an ally so willing to cooperate without destroying them first?"
Jim shook his head, glaring at the paper still clutched in his hands. I need answers. His mind was yelling at the paper. Where is Spock!
I am locked away.
Find me.

He dreamed of somebody calling out for help, but he saw nothing but white. A frantic voice surrounded him, calling for help. A voice locked away, out of sight. Jim tried to reason with it, saying he couldn't find whoever it was. But it was the same answer. I am locked away. Find me. His heart thudded dully in his chest, letting Jim know that he was still prone to anxiety and he was on the verge of a very bad panic attack.
"Jim, hey, look at me." Young, frantic blue eyes met older, calmer blue. "Don't you start this or I'm gonna jab you in the neck again."
Jim waved his hand absent, glancing off to the side for a brief second before looking back at Bones. "It hurts." He whispered.
Bones nodded, pouring Jim a shot glass full of what he just drank himself. "Not that I advise drinking your problems away, but here." He used the back of his fingers to push it towards Jim.

Jim took it, bringing it to his lips, downing it in one chug. He sucked a breath in through his teeth, hissing at the burning it created in his throat. "Another." Sliding the glass back to McCoy, Jim leaned back into the chair. They spent the rest of the day succumbing to the intoxicating effects of McCoy's secret Bourbon stash he hid beneath his desk.

Day two… Spock wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to endure the excruciating pain in his arm. Twice now he's woken just to reel back into the obscurity from the sheer magnitude of agony that tore through him. Several times he had slipped to his knees, rewarding whoever was listening with a scream-inducing shock. His wrists were raw and bleeding, the smell of scorched skin invaded his senses causing his gut to tighten and his eyes to burn. He attempted to once go into a meditative state, but was cut short by one of the large goons from before yanking his head up by his hair, snarling, what sounded to him like a death threat, in a language he did not recognize.
He lost track of time before the Captain of this ship came back in, heavy boots clunking over steel floors. "Have you thought about what we discussed?"
"I am not… who you are searching for." Spock wheezed out, eyes darker, menacing. "I do not know how to create Red Matter."
"That's a shame, Spock. Because we were told by a very reliable source that you were who we needed. So either… he is lying, or you are." The man bent at his waist, challenging Spock's steady glare. "I'm willing to bet he is telling the truth."
The Vulcan wanted to lunge forward, wrap his fingers around this creature's neck and squeeze the absolute life out of him. A thought he would put aside for later.
"You are merely wasting your time on me. I do not know how to create it. So will you torture me until I die? If I am lying, and you proceed to kill me, you will never acquire what you need. Am I correct?"

The Captain gave a long, hearty laugh. "You don't seem to realize the situation you have found yourself in, Spock. You do not hold the upper hand here, I do. Everything my men do to you, or you do to yourself," his eyes flicked up at Vulcan wrists then back to eyes, "Is the bare minimum. You will give me the secret to Red Matter. After all, it destroyed your planet, did it not? You must know the secret behind something so utterly… devastating." He left the same as he did last time, grinning wickedly and laughing.