Welcome to your life
There's no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find you

Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears

'-It's an escape pod. That much is obvious. All three were missing on the Chronos when the Federation ship inspected it before us'. Jim looks at me, his gaze serious and his arms straight at his side. I had never seen someone who was able to switch between their usual, relaxed self into such an entirely different person as Captain Kirk did. From what McCoy had told me, I had only seen a sliver of just how friendly and relaxed Jim could be. 'We've been trying to track them for the last few days. With such...weak technology as the Chronos had, we need to be within a certain close distance to find the pods'.

He pauses, and I swallow. My head still ached, and McCoy's place solidly by my side reminded me of what had transpired before I had turned on my heel and tripped away from the Medical Bay toward the Bridge, wiping my bloody nose as I went, the Doctor hot on my heels. 'We're...within distance of one, right?'

Jim tilts his head to the side, ridiculously blue eyes still on me. 'We don't know what dropped us out of warp, but it was just as Lieutenant Uhura and Ensign Chekov located one of the pods'. I stiffen at his words, doing my best not to glance uneasily toward the larger form of McCoy next to me. The Doctor, with all his tact, merely clears his throat loudly.

Why had I said that to him? Why?

I think of Edgar Bates. The definition of every mad scientist from films in the 80's, with his wild blue eyes that did not fit with his clean demure. I only had snippets of memories of him; memories that held clues to what he had been doing to me, and what he had done to someone before me. Was he on the pod that we were so close to? Was the Enterprise going to catch the people who had done this to me? There were three pods. Was the woman who helped on one of them?

I close my eyes, a wave of nausea washing over me, and breathe in. McCoy's hand ghosts against the small of my back, but it is gone just as quickly as it appears. He shuffles when I open my eyes, but I still don't look up at him, my cheeks hot and my stomach tight. 'Where is it?' I ask Jim. 'How close?'

He glances to McCoy, a look that holds some meaning, before looking back at me. 'On a planet, just near us. It's a Federation friendly one, small but populated with only half a billion. Its the perfect place for them to have gone...' Something changes in his gaze as he looks at me, almost like guilt. I know what he is about to ask me before he even voices it. Apparently, so does McCoy.

'Jim. No-'

Jim makes a tutting sound and sighs, turning on his friend with more animation than he had shown me. 'Bones, it's our only way to guarantee and identify anyone we might find-'

I finally look up at the Doctor, and see his eyebrows raised so high on his forehead that I'm half surprised he hasn't strained himself. With his arms solidly crossed across his chest now, he squints angrily at the Captain. 'You ever think for a second about the well-bein' of the woman you're so supposed to be protectin', Captain? Ever think that maybe she doesn't wanna face the people who-'

Kidnapped me. Burnt me. Used me. Changed me.

This is my fight. Let me fight it.

I cut McCoy off, half-annoyed that I was, for the billionth time since being rescued, being told what was good for me. 'I'll go'. Both men shut up, and Jim turns to me with a smug look. 'I mean...that's what you were asking, right?'

The Captain licks his lips, as McCoy tuts beside me. 'You realise what we're asking of you?'

I nod. Nope. Not really, but what the hell? I've got nothing else to do today. Or tomorrow. Or the next day.

'This is an alien planet...first time you will have set foot on solid earth in a long time, June'. I continue to look at him, brow cocked and lips pursed. That alone shows me answer. 'Alright. We'll beam down in thirty minutes. Spock can take the Chair'. He casts his blue eyes tiredly over to the Doctor. 'I take it you want to join the ground team, Doctor McCoy?' There is a hint of sarcasm in the Captain's tone, his light brow raising teasingly.

There is an awkward pause.

'I have about ten more vaccines that, as CMO of this ship, I can order you to have, Jim. Remember that'. I nearly roll my eyes. Had the situation been any different, I'm pretty sure that I would have. 'Any damn idea what caused this tin can to drop out of warp?'

The serious, Captain-y look falls onto his features once more. 'None. Scotty figures its some fault in Engineering - nothing too serious. Anything else would have shown a red flag in the-'

'You're sure it was Engineering, though?' I blurt out, before I can stop myself.

Jim throws me a queer look. 'What else would it be?'

I blink, shrug, and mumble, 'I dunno. You're Captain-'

The Southern, angry drawl cuts me off, as McCoy steps forward and closer to his friend, his shoulders hunched and his arms uncrossed. 'Jim, can Starfleet even authorise-'

I am so close to throttling these two men. 'Doc, it's fine,' I stress, placing a hand on the Doctors arm in an attempt to get him to shut the fuck up. He slams his mouth shut, turns his narrowed gaze on me, and frowns so hard I'm half sure his face is going to pull a muscle.

'They have,' Jim replies. I raise my brow at the Doctor, my hand falling away from the warmth of his arm. 'Christ - tell me how you get him to shut up like that, and I'll appoint you a damn negotiator on this vessel, June-'

'Ha, damn, ha'.

I throw the Captain a smile, before he excuses himself back to the Bridge, reminding McCoy that I needed to be up to date on my vaccines, to which the Doctor replies snippily, 'Dammit, Jim, I am Chief Medical Officer. She already is'.

When the door slips shut behind the Captain, the small room with a singular desk and screen decorating it suddenly feels suffocating. Awkwardness seems to settle into every damn pore of my being, as I shuffle and yank idly at the red curls, my brain struggling to think of something to say. Was I not massively distracted by the fact I was about to touch down on alien Earth, I might have mixed up some lie to defend the words I had said to the Doctor earlier-

'You don't wanna hurt me, huh?'

Crap. I turn to the man, who wastes no time in staring me down with that harsh gaze. Turns out the thing I liked about McCoy - honest, brash, shockingly easy to talk to - was also going to be my downfall. I blink, drop my hand from my hair, and shrug. 'I mean, not all the time, no, Doc-'

Ah. The arms are crossing again. That means he's pissed. 'My name is Leonard, or Doctor McCoy, and you're a damn liar'.

I pretend to gape in offence. 'I have no idea-'

He steps closer, arms still crossed and the blue of his uniform contrasting with the dark of the room and my own clothes. McCoy - Leonard, whatever - peers at me, concern and agitation written all over his features. I look up at him, remembering for perhaps the first time just how much time this man - a man who was very vocal about being tired of seeing my face loitering around his Sick Bay - had taken to help me recently. 'I've been a Doctor for a long damn time, June Adams. I know when someone's omittin' the truth from me. I ain't askin' you to tell me now - hell, I can't even begin to understand what you would be hidin'...You can tell us. Me. Jim. What-damn-ever. The look on your face after we dropped out of warp was somethin' I can sure as shit recognise after havin' one hell of a failed marriage'. He steps closer again, and the brow furrows even further. 'You blamed yourself, and God knows why, but it tells me you know somethin' they did to you, and you just don't want to tell us'.

I stand there, like a bloody idiot, my mouth hanging open and my mind going over about a million different ways to reply to that. I was always pretty good at making some kind of answer, even if I didn't know what the hell people were asking me. My lecturer in my Control Systems Design and Analysis module was the first person to call me out, however amused, that I seemed to have the ability to bullshit my way out of the things.

Finally, I reply, dropping my clueless act, 'I just can't. Not yet. Not until I see...' See what, I'm not sure. See him? See her? Or, maybe, remember fully it was what they did to me, because right now I'm not sure how I would explain anything to Jim or McCoy. I trail off, frown, and shrug. Helpful, I know.

He looks at me, before nodding. 'Fine. I'm trustin' you here, sweetheart. Hell, hope to the high damn heavens that you're just bein' damn dramatic'.

I snort. 'Probably'.

He half smiles at that, and my cheeks warm and my palms sweat and, ah shit, I can't get a crush on the damn Doctor. That's just the last damn thing I need and, in all honesty, I had so much shit to worry about that I was almost offended by my own lack of control. 'I gotta head back to Medical and tell M'Benga that I'm bein' dragged to God knows where-'

I laugh, incredulous. 'Dragged?'

He shoots me a look. 'Like I can leave you on a damn rain-forest infested planet without you bein' stung or bitten or eaten by some cannibalistic plant-'

'What?'

'Welcome to the future, Miss Adams. Now, c'mon. There's one more shot I wanna give you-'

'Aw, no'.

'Quit your whinin' - c'mon'.

The Beaming Deck is the same as before, but my nerves are about a million times worse than they had been when I had beamed aboard the Chronos. I recognise the woman with us. She had joined us on the Chronos and she was from Security. The other guys is a brand new face. The Captain stands beside me, as well as McCoy and the woman I recognise to be Lieutenant Uhura. She was, Jim had informed me upon McCoy and I walking into the Beaming Room, an incredibly skilled linguist and was the only person on the ship who knew the language of the people of Clion 2BA.

Clion 2BA. A planet. A whole new planet that I was about to set foot on.

I had whipped up a map of the planet on my PADD when McCoy's back had been turned, and found that it was just past Jupiter. I had glanced at Earth on the map of the galaxy, a homesickness for a world I had not even set foot on in this universe whirling through me.

Doing this...it would get me that much closer to going home.

Neck still stinging from the shots McCoy had given me, I rub the small bump, my fingers trailing back to where the 02 tattoo sat. I forgot it was there sometimes. Jim glances at me, a smile on his face. 'He got you with the vaccines too, huh? I'm pretty skilled at hiding from our good Doctor, if I do say so myself. Y'should hide down near Security - never sets foot there-'

The good Doctor, apparently, cottons on to the conversation. 'Because the damn Red Shirts are absolutely damn insane-'

The woman, Uhura, practically glides onto the Beaming Deck with a sharp eye trained toward the two men. 'Says the man who befriended James Kirk, Doctor. Slightly hypercritical, don't you think?'

McCoy, who catches my amused gaze, rolls his eyes and replies. 'You've got a point, Lieutenant'.

'I know, Doctor McCoy'.

I don't think I have ever felt less part of something in my entire life. It makes me miss my life from home even more. The familiarity of the people, the jokes, the conversation. I smile, bow my head, and look down at my dark shoes.

'Now,' the Captain says, as the three red shirted women flutter around the control panel in front of us. 'We know the natives of Clion 2BA to be part of the Federation, but we also know that there are Clans that are against that - us. The USS Diplo has been working on aiding the villages with medical care and education, and to help recover from the civil war of Clion-'

I turn to McCoy, throwing him a look that yelled: well, you didn't mention that, douchebag.

He merely cocks a brow, as if to say, you got yourself in this damn situation, not me.

'-We're staying far away from the villages who are against Federation involvement. And, please, I think we learnt last year not to touch any funky looking plants - yes, Lieutenant Uhura I know that was my doing - so June-' He looks to me, and I blink under his gaze. With a shifty look, Jim says, 'Do not go near a plant that looks like it is smiling at you. It is not half as friendly as it looks'.

I don't even have enough energy in me to reply that only an idiot would do that, but I think my expression speaks for itself.

'Good. Energize'.

It seems like I only blink, and then I am in air that is damper and cooler, with a sharp tinge of something sweet like fruit, with cut grass mixed into the smell. I open my eyes, and my world bursts with green. We are standing in a meadow, just in front of what looks like a thick and tall rain-forest. The grass beneath my feet is thick and long, and the moisture of it seeps through my dark trousers. I look up, and the sky is a cloudy mix of blues and greys. The air is filled with birds, insects-

And on my face, for the first time in a long time, I feel the wind.

An alien planet. One that probably existed in my home world, too. It was manic - mad - to even begin to think that this place had existed alongside Earth for so long. It had its own history, its own people - Clions - its own native animals and food and water and-

'You okay there, June?' Jim asks.

I just about manage a hysterical laugh in reply.

'She's fine,' McCoy replies.

I gaze around, turning on my heels to look further away from what I had already seen. I hadn't even thought of how much I missed weather until this moment. As Jim orders the two members of Security to assess the area, he speaks with Uhura about the tribes nearby, and the dialects that she knew. Oddly, I want to cry. I don't, rest assured. I think I would have died of mortification if I had done that.

It doesn't change how selfishly lucky I feel to be seeing something that others from my time would kill to see. I feel happy and lucky and free, and I shouldn't...because I have left people behind that-

'Remember the first time I left Earth,' McCoy says, standing next to me now. He gazes around himself, his jaw set and his frown shockingly in place. 'Hated every damn second of it'.

I glance at him, still struggling with how to make a sentence. 'So you decided to work on a bloody space exploration starship? Smart, Doc'.

'Leonard'.

I blink, remembering how many times he had reminded me of this. 'Leonard,' I agree.

'300 meters West,' Jim Kirk announces, holding up a hologram. I can only just see what it shows, but I guess the red, blinking dot on it is where we are headed. Snapping the little contraption shut, he glances to his team. 'This way. Eyes either side. Phasers set to stun, but hold fire until we know the intent'.

I frown, gaze shifting to the rain-forest that surrounds the meadow. Everything look untouched; like no life lived here at all. 'I thought he said the...bad tribes were far away?'

McCoy...Leonard scoffs. 'You'd be surprised with how damn unlucky we are'.

'Well, don't say that, dude'.

The two Security that Jim had sent off soon join us, assuring the Captain that there did not seem to be any natives nearby. Uhura, more to me than anyone else, explained that the nearest village was that of Uk'Ta, and was three miles north, deep in the rain-forest. It was friendly, and held a school that taught Standard English and Mathematics, as supplied by the Federation. At my onslaught of questions, she answers patiently, as we trample over the wet grass, and finally reach the brink of the rain-forest.

The noise of insects grows massively, and McCoy grumbles whilst Jim nods and reminds the Security and Uhura that the trees can be used as cover for any enemies. 'They could be close, or they could be far away. They would have crashed here weeks ago'.

The only noise after that is the sound of us walking, and my own heart hammering in my ears. I had never seen somewhere so...beautiful. The trees seem to stretch for miles above us, hiding the murky grey of the sky. Rain begins splattering at some point, but I'm not really sure when. The moisture is a welcome difference compared to the dryness of the Enterprise, and I hold out my fingers as subtly as I can, rolling the wetness between my index finger and my thumb.

Greens and reds and yellows burst around us, a beautiful mix of colour. Birds fluttering above, and I swear at some point I see something that looks like a money, but smaller and far too blue. All I think is how much my father would have loved to see such a thing, considering the amount of mind numbing countryside walks he had taken me on when I was younger. And now, even.

'You look around any more and you're gonna pull a damn muscle in your neck'. I look at McCoy, who stands hunched and displeased and so out of place in the nature, and grin, truly happy to be free of the confines of the ship and with a purpose. I was helping. I was doing something. I can't even be annoyed at his sour attitude. McCoy blinks at me as I grin, before tripping on a mossy, damp twig and swearing.

'Captain - there'.

I whirl to where the Security Ensign is pointing, my stomach cold with nerves. We stop. Pushing a hand through my damp, now knotted curls, I step forward to get a better look. It was hard to miss, in the mass of trees and green. The escape pod, cylinder and maybe ten meters in width and height, sits among a bundle of battered trees, moss already growing on the top of it.

The Captain moves forward, a yellow among the green, and the two Ensigns follow him. All of their phasers are drawn, and my back automatically stiffens.

'Captain,' Uhura says, following him closely with her ponytail swinging. 'Careful. We don't know if any of them are nearby, sir'.

'Jim'. McCoy leaves my side to go forward, his demure tense and his distaste for the sodden ground obvious. 'All three belts on the pod have been used - at least three of 'em got off that damn thing. We need to be careful. Look - the Medical Kit was taken. They're hurt-'

I stand back, wet and curious, and look around us.

It tingles in the back of my mind, first. The knowledge that someone, or something, was near. Don't ask how I know what it bloody meant. Perhaps, in the darkest parts of what they had made me forget, I had felt that feeling before. Another sense. Another new feeling. The murmuring voices of my companions seem to go quiet as I stiffen, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

It is then that I see him out of the corner of my eye.

When I turn, I see only an outline, but a familiar one. White hair, pale skin, a thin mouth. He's past a dozen thick trees, almost a dream amongst the scene before me. His aura brings forth a need to move to him; to make sure he doesn't disappear like so many of my hallucinations have. My breath catches, and I begin to move without my own knowledge - my feet carrying me over the wet grass. I can't be sure if what I am seeing is real, because I have seen so much that hasn't really been in front of me so often over the last few weeks.

With another step, I see that he is gone.

I know only that I have to know if he was really there - I can't let him go. Not when those on the Enterprise have done so much to try and help me. I move quickly, knowing that they are nearby, that nothing truly bad can happen to me-

I know it is stupid. I know that I should not be walking off alone. But in that moment, all I see if a man that I hate more than anything in the universe, and I want nothing more than to get him.

That, and I feel as if he wanted me, and only me, to see him.

I push through the trees, my hands pushing me forward against the wet, rough bark of them. My foot falls into a small puddle, and I scramble forward, desperate to find him again. My breathing comes out in short puffs, and my eyes well with frustrated tears. I can't have imagined it. Not again. I can't have seen things, or memories, again.

'June!'

McCoy.

And then, in the buzz of the forest, he speaks. 'Two'.

It is a breath of a voice, so full of want and compassion that I want to be sick. I turn and see him, his clothes surprisingly smart and intact for where we are. He is the same as my memories, his white hair pushed from his long face, and his blue eyes so startling that I wonder how I ever could have forgotten them. He stands in between two tall trees, shadowed by the large leaves, with his shoulders wet. Edgar Bates. The man who had torn me from my existence without even a moments thought.

My kidnapper.

I can only stand and look and wonder how he can look at me with such love, when he barely knows me. When he did such terrible things to me.

'You bastard,' I snarl. 'What did you do to me?'

He smiles, patronisingly, and two things happen at once.

First, I hear heavy footfalls behind me, hurried and loud. I know that it is McCoy, because as he has reminded me many times, he is CMO, and looking out for his patients is his number one concern. Second, I hear three loud and sharp small explosions, and feel the ground shake beneath my feet. I duck, hands flying to my head, and whirl to look at where I had left my...friends. Smoke rises, but no fire, and with a squinted gaze I see Doctor McCoy standing just a few meters away, looking behind him. He whirls to look at me, face damp, before turning to the man behind me.

'It's him!' I yell, and before I can stop myself I am moving forward to run, to get McCoy as far away from these monsters as I can. Something sharp hits me in my neck though, and things begin to go black before I can even comprehend what is happening.

'You damn bastards!'

Bastards? I think, my knees already hitting the ground. The others are here. Oh, God. Oh, no.

The last thing I hear before sleep entirely envelopes me is a thud, a groan, and Edgar Bates' terrible voice.

'A surgeon. How wonderful. Just what we need'.

omg okay so I am so excited with the concluding chapters of June's origin. After this, onto the films! Well...kind of. Please, please, PLEASE review. I am working my arse off with the storyline in this, and I would really appreciate if everyone (well, that's never going to happen, but you know what I mean) would just write the tiniest comment! I had near 100 followers for this. C'mon guys. Do a bitch a favour.

Anyway, thank you so, so much for reading and I hope you are enjoying!