Chp. 4 Run Away
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize, except for Audrey. If I did, then I would sandwiched between Bones and Kirk.
Author's Note: I put a twist in this chapter only because to go on with the story, it just fit. I also decided to pair Kirk and Audrey together but it will take awhile for them to get there. As yes the adventure is still there. Have fun!
It had taken less than two days to reach the planet they needed to before the crew moved toward the edge of the Neutral Zone to gain access to whatever was going on out there. In the span of hose days, Audrey had been glued to her computer, downloading and decrypting her files from the message and it turned out to be more difficult than she thought. The only time she had taken break was when the comm station shut down and started flashing she had five minutes to get to the mess hall for food. The Commander knew Bones had hijacked the system to make sure Kirk didn't overdue himself and it was apparent Kirk was doing the same to her.
Kirk to Pearce came over her comm as she jerked away from it, blinking her tired eyes. Damn him, she thought as she accessed the last bit of intelligence.
"Go for Pearce." She said, leaning back in the chair, noticing her joints popping as she did so.
Just wondering if you wanted to join us up here on the bridge as we resupply the ship and make the necessary modifications?
Audrey looked over the files carefully, waiting for the last one to decrypt at her own program she installed. That's when she realized she hadn't taken a shower in days and probably needed another clean uniform.
"Give me about fifteen minutes, Captain. I need a shower or otherwise people could be repulsed by me." The red head complied, standing up carefully. "Do you have any clean uniform I could have?"
I will be waiting Commander. Look in your quarters and you will find what you need. Kirk out.
Her eyebrows went up at his comment and wondered how the hell he got into here without her noticing. Kirk was really a sneaky bastard as she stumbled toward to what she realized was a real shower, with real water and breathed a sigh of relief. How she had not noticed this was beyond her but then she had been staring at the comm unit for the past 24 hours straight except for the break for dinner.
As she turned on the shower, steam filled up her senses and she felt a faint tingling sensation at the back of her mind. Audrey had suspected that only the half Vulcan Spock suspected her abilities and she wished of all times that her mother would stop trying to locate her. Dr. Auriana Dooling, unbeknown to those except High Admirals and the Federation High Officials, and close friends, was half Betazoid and had some fairly impressive empathetic abilities. Audrey's real father, not the one who raised her, and died in service to the Federation, was half Vulcan like the First Officer on this ship.
So because of her interesting heritage, StarFleet and the Federation kept close tabs on her and her mother. Her real father, Kavik, died on Vulcan when she was looking for her mother and felt the raw pain as she thought of that. The red head was not one to shove her emotions to the background and found meditation helped her control both her empathetic and telepathic abilities. She didn't use them on a regular basis and was finally glad to have someone around who could help her center her mind.
As the water bounded down her tense body, she heard the door swish open on Kirk's quarters and reached out lightly to see who it was. Unsurprisingly it was Kirk and she withdrew as she heard him still at the water running.
"Commander?" Kirk inquired as she sighed, reveling in the use of a real shower.
"I told you I needed to take a shower." She yelled as she heard him walk into the bathroom. "And if you think you are going to see me naked, you're wrong."
The young captain chuckled lightly. "As much as I would like that Commander, we just received another transmission from Admiral Pike."
Pearce continued to let the water ease the pain out of her muscles as she calmed her mind, trying not to think of what Pike wanted now. "Did you tell him I was unavailable at the moment?" she replied, as she quickly lathered up to clean all the grime of the past four days off her.
"I told him that you had been working non stop and had only eaten once since arriving on board." Kirk replied, as she turned off the water, as the blond handed her a towel over the bar.
The commander looked around the curtain to see her new captain leaning against the counter, arms crossed lazily. She raised an eyebrow at him as he just smiled. "If you get out of the bathroom, I will eat and appease everyone, promise." Audrey said, as she saw him shake his head and head out the door.
"Ten minutes, Pearce. Mess hall." Kirk yelled as she stepped out of the shower. "And be prepared to be hypoed."
With that Jim Kirk left her in peace and she wondered exactly what she had gotten herself into as she dried herself off, stepping into the guest quarters, only to realize a neatly folded gold command uniform on the bed, with undergarments lying next to it. Audrey smiled as she quickly dressed herself, tugging on her boots as she towel dried her hair and pulled it into a high ponytail.
Pearce eyes the bathroom door, debating whether or not to exit through the captain quarters only to hear raised voices outside. She immediately recognized the low tone of the First Officer and Kirk's passionate tone. Something irked her as she exited the door to see the Captain running his hand through his hair uncomfortably. And she realized, as she opened her emotions up that he knew and was afraid.
Audrey Pearce has been found out.
As Jim exited his quarters, he ran right into Spock, whose infallible exterior never faltered once at seeing his close friend's expression.
"I assume you read the rest of the report I gave you, Captain." Spock inferred, his head cocked to the side.
"Yes and right after you left, we received another transmission from Pike." An eyebrow rose at his comment as they both turned down the corridor, strides matching each other.
Jim stopped for a moment, his mind going a million miles a minute. He had felt the light brush against his mind, as Spock did when needed.
"She is not dangerous, Captain." Spock finally said, inflecting that he knew way before the report about Pearce's abilities.
The blond sighed deeply, running his hair through his hair. This mission was becoming more and more complicated by the minute. Not only had Pike told him that it wasn't a virus that killed those officers and researchers, it was Dooling herself. Audrey had to know that, or she wouldn't have followed the trace left by her mother.
"How do you know that Spock?" he asked, looking directly into his first officer's eyes.
"Why don't you ask me yourself, Captain?" a chilly voice asked behind him, as Jim turned around to see an impeccable dressed Commander Pearce. He smiled sheepishly, his hand dropping to his side.
"I don't even want to know how you snuck up on me, Commander." He stated, as the red head just stood there, arms crossed, hazel eyes staring directly at him. The staring contest continued for a few moments until Jim sighed. "I apologize Commander. I did not mean to imply…"
Finally the coldness in her eyes recessed as she waved her hand dismissively. "No, I am the one who should apologize Captain. I should have told you and Dr. McCoy straight away when I was injured." She said, looking behind him at Spock. "He must have sensed me as soon as I beamed aboard. I'm good but not that good."
"That you are not, Commander." Spock replied, as her eyes narrowed minutely. "Your lack of control is due to not having any others around you. It is…understandable."
If Jim hadn't been well versed in Spock body language and speak, he wouldn't have noticed the slight slouch of Pearce's shoulders at the Vulcan's statement.
"Your biological deposition is quite…fascinating." Spock continued as Jim just stood there, watching the two bait each other back and forth.
"Her what?" Jim asked, looking directly as her. She huffed, glaring at Spock as the Vulcan maintained a calm exterior and if the captain was the correct, his first officer was enjoying the interaction.
Audrey centered her gaze on him, her hazel eyes meeting his head on and as soon as she did, he felt the warmth encompass him, as a slight pressure against his mind. The blond stood there for a moment as she finished, probably to prove a point to the other person with telepathic abilities.
"As much as I like to be the center of attention, would you please explain to me what you just did?" Kirk asked, as the beauty before him shrugged shamelessly.
"I'm quarter Betazoid, quarter Vulcan, and half human." She explained as she started walking closer to him as he turned with Spock, heading toward the turbolift. He waited for her to continue, his curiosity spiked. Jim had been in contact with other em-paths, on Tarsus, and knew how dangerous they could be in they weren't in control of their abilities. He shuddered involuntarily at the memory as he felt the same warmth, comfort surround him. Jim had to admit, Pearce was good and she knew exactly what emotion to convey when needed. Spock was right, Audrey was not dangerous, not like…
"Captain…" her voice interrupted her thoughts as Spock just stood there, Vulcan mask in place. They did not need to know his horrible past, only Bones knew but only because he had almost self destructed during that month in Starfleet History class.
"Sorry. You were saying?" he replied, his emotions in check, captain facade in place, his blue eyes meeting hers.
"I have control of my empathic and telepathic powers, Captain. I was well trained." She said, as they entered the lift to take them to Deck Eight where the mess hall was. "And I know my mother killed those people. It happened the…"
And then it suddenly hit Jim and he turned to look at Pearce directly. "She was still bonded to your father?"
"After the man I called Dad, died, she returned to Vulcan to be bonded to my father. " Her voice faltered, as he realized she had not lost one but two men who were important to her.
"The day those people were killed, was the day…" Jim let his words falter, as he felt an all encompassing sadness around him. So many people lost on that day, so many senseless lives snuffed out.
"When the bond ended, she lost control." Pearce said, reaching over stopping the turbolift. "and took the research with her."
Tears were rolling down her cheeks now and Jim had a sudden urge to wipe them away. There was more to her story, he knew it but decided not to push. Right now, they had a mission and they needed to complete it. Nor was he going to give into the urge to comfort the woman in front of him because that meant he may like her and he didn't want another complication.
"So Pike said she may try to contact you. Is that why you were at Delta Vega?" Jim asked, as Pearce hurriedly wiped her eyes and pressed the reset button.
"Yes and no. I followed the faint trace of our bond there only to find it ended there. Either someone has taken her against her will or she doesn't want me to find her because its too dangerous for me. " she said as they stopped, door opening to reveal the bustling level that was Recreation and the Mess Hall. "And the virus is a real threat. If my mother has been taken against her will, its only time before the Klingons and Romulans have that virus and unleash it."
As Jim exited the turbolift, his head nodding once understanding what the commander said, as everyone they passed stood up straight, saluting their captain. Jim nodded to each of his crew members, whom he always made sure to acknowledge on or off duty. But people seemed to get out of their way more quickly than usual and he realized the them of must have a intimidating presence as they entered the mess hall.
Bones noticed them, expression darkening upon laying eyes on Audrey, who only seemed to stand up straighter upon seeing the doctor. Jim noticed that the table was stocked with food, as Spock went his separate way to join Nyota and Chapel, who were already discussing something animatedly.
"Looks like Bones has already gotten us our breakfast." The captain said, as he and Audrey stood facing the now somewhat complacent doctor. He did notice though the hypos sitting next to him and knew immediately the two of them were in trouble.
"Nice of you to join us, Commander. I had the replicator make us all good food." Bones replied, the glint in his eyes baiting any of them to argue.
"High calories, low vitamins." Audrey replied, taking the bait as she sat down across from his CMO. "Feeling sorry for me Doctor?"
Jim hid a smile as he surveyed the food in front of him, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and was that grits? He plopped down next to Audrey and shoveled as much food in his mouth as he could. That is when he realized…
"Oh my God, Doctor did you actually cook this?" Audrey exclaimed, the happiness and comfort radiating off of her in waves. Bones just raised an eyebrow as the blond continued eating happily. He knew that the southern doctor cooked, he did many times while at the Academy when he had difficult shifts at the hospital or when Jim had a down day. For Bones to suspect that Pearce needed a good meal, just spoke volumes on how the doctor viewed the hybrid now on the Enterprise.
As they finished eating the hearty meal, Bones got out the hypos as Audrey cringed visibly. Jim knew it was coming as he hadn't eaten either since dinner over 24 hours ago. "Now its time for those vitamins." Bones said almost gleefully. Sometimes Jim regretted making the doctor his Chief Medical Officer, and this one was one of those times.
As two painful hypos to the neck, and Audrey was miraculously fit for duty, Bones swept up the empty plates and left the two in command gold to their thoughts.
Audrey rubbed her neck tenderly. "You are right, he is a menace with those hypos." She said, as Jim stood up noticing the time.
"I need to go and be up on the bridge for the docking." Jim said carefully, as she nodded. "Please forward me what you need supply wise and I will send Spock down to get it."
Hazel eyes looked at him questioningly, as if telling him that she should go down instead and then she relented. "After you send that, you can come up to my ready room and we can debrief Pike on what our next move can be."
With that Jim turned and left leaving a baffled Audrey Pearce behind, trying to get his obvious emotions under control. Bones wasn't attracted to her but his best friend certainly knew the Captain was.
Jim was running away again and he knew deep down it was the wrong thing to do.
Reviews are love. I will try to update soon, as the good part are coming up soon!