Bones wasn't a fan of going to the labs where most of the other blue shirts spent their time, so he was glad that Mia Carpenter was in her room, resting after the events of the ground team and recovering from the death of one of her team. She was being given as much time as she needed, since they weren't able to do anything until StarFleet made up their mind about a captain. No point pushing her to do anything until they had a mission.

Bones knocked on the door, then rested his weight against the wall opposite while he waited for her to answer. He was so tired. Keeping an eye on Spock and Kirk had been a nonstop responsibility for a while, and the fact that they technically weren't allowed to share a room made it even more difficult. Something about working up conspiracies against the United Federation or something like that. It was stupid, and that was why Bones had left the two together. Besides, it wasn't like they could do much conspiring while one of them was unconscious.

Carpenter opened the door slowly, peeking around the corner. Her eyes were red, and she was dressed in pajamas with tiny models of the Enterprise patterned all over. She looked at Bones and frowned.

"I already had my exam, sir-"

"That's not what I'm here for. Can I come in?"

She looked wary, unsure what he was asking for, debating the consequences of refusing an officer of higher rank than she.

"I just want to talk to you. But it's gotta be in private."

She was quiet for a moment longer before she nodded, opening the door for him and backing into the room once more. Bones followed, closing the door behind him. When she frowned, he gestured towards the chair by the door, where she had a few shirts and some pants laid out.

"Do you mind if I move these to sit down?" He'd stay as far away from her as possible, because clearly this made her more uncomfortable than she should ever feel in her own space.

"Yes, please." She sat on the edge of her bed, looking ready to bolt at the slightest provocation. Bones gently moved her clothes to the chest at the foot of the bed and sat down, almost surprised at the relief it was to be seated again. His body needed a good week off to relax, but that wouldn't be happening in the near future.

"The Captain – Kirk isn't doing so well. And he won't get any better, unless we have what was in the augmented blood from Khan."

"I'm very sorry to hear that." And she was – there was real sadness in her voice, not just an attempt to make Bones feel better. He supposed that shouldn't surprise him, as she had been on the ground team sent to rescue the two of them.

"I am too. But we might be able to get our hands on something that will work."

"But... the augments were all destroyed-"

"They were. But there's a serum that they used to negate the effects in Kirk's body, and Spock... he seems to think we can pull something out of that to return it. But we have to do it soon-"

"Because it's almost completely negated, yes. And you need me to go down, because I'm familiar with the planet and I blend in."

Bones opened his mouth to say more, and instead nodded. She picked up quickly. Good. That would make it easier.

"I would risk my entire future with StarFleet if I did this."

"If it didn't work, or even if it did and we couldn't convince the Federation it was a necessary risk, then yes. You won't ever work for StarFleet again."

"I can live with not working for StarFleet again. I can't live with letting the Captain die if I could do something about it. Let me get dressed, and I'll find you in the medbay, where I assume you'll be with Spock. You can brief me on what I'm looking for."

She paused, her eyebrows raised as Bones stood completely still, processing. He'd expected to need a lot more convincing.

"I'm getting changed, Doctor, and I would rather do that in private, if you don't mind."

"Yes. Of course. I'll be in the medbay, Spock and I will brief you when you are finished."

She grinned. "Good. I'll meet you there."

Mia Carpenter couldn't beam down to the planet as they had before, because StarFleet had demanded they withdraw to a safe distance. So instead, she had been taken to an emergency shuttle, where Bones quickly ran through the various controls (there weren't many, it being an emergency shuttle), and then she had taken off. As soon as she launched, an alarm spread through the Enterprise, warning of the emergency that must be happening for the shuttle to be leaving the ship. It was Bones' job to explain to Sulu what had happened, and soon he found himself under guard, not allowed to leave the medbay and the two patients he had to take care of. It wasn't much a punishment, and everyone on board knew it; McCoy had been spending almost all of his time with his two patients anyway, sleeping in chairs or on the floor so he could be close if something happened. It was an excuse to have both Kirk and Spock in the same room, but would look like action was taken to the higher ups. Because, secretly, everyone was glad Mia had gone to do what no one else could.

Mia landed again, oxygen and mask already situated, and took a few deep breaths before she walked back onto the planet that had not treated her or her crewmates kindly thus far. And then she stepped off of the shuttle and began the trek back to where they'd lost Jacinto Catlow. Where the Captain had been found mostly dead and Bones had almost lost his mind to the cruel device all the slaves were forced to wear.

There was no way this could go poorly.

She trekked slowly until she reached one of the very rocky outcroppings they'd used before, to spy on the human slaves. The slaves were still out there, still walking back and forth and doing their mundane jobs in their mundane clothes. It was sad, but there wasn't anything she could do about it on her own. Her job was to find the serum that had been used on the Captain and return to her shuttle. And if she got in trouble, she was on her own. With the exception of a communicator connected to one in the medbay, she had no contact with anyone on the ship, and she couldn't be beamed out if she got stuck somewhere.

This was the most terrifying thing she'd ever had to do.

As a Science Officer, she'd assumed she would end up on planets, of course, exploring them once the scouting party had deemed it safe for noncombatants. She was trained, yes, and she could aim a phaser like nobody's business, but those were skills her father had instilled in her on the off chance she ended up in a fight. Not something she'd expected to use, especially not so early in her career. And now she was alone on a planet, expecting combat because she was sneaking into a known hostile alien civilization to steal something they surely kept well guarded. Her life had certainly not gone the way she'd planned.

Nor had Catlow's. But she wasn't letting herself think about that.

Upon switching of the duties, Mia crept quickly across the terrain, already dressed in clothing that would blend with these sad beings, and joined a group that was on break. They'd timed it perfectly; this was the last shift before they would all be herded inside, and then, if she was lucky, she could break free and find the serum.

The humans accepted her without question, used to the addition of others to their group with little or no ceremony. They didn't speak, from what she could tell, rather gestured and hoped others would pick up on the meaning. It was surely possible that they weren't allowed, or even that they couldn't; after all, if they'd been bred in captivity, the ability to speak could have been discouraged from birth.

She didn't want to think about how they were raised or trained or anything. While the inquisitive side of her brain wanted to know the answers, she didn't. She didn't want to get that close to them, because then she might feel the need to rescue them from their imprisonment, and she couldn't. She couldn't take the time. She had to get the serum and return to the Enterprise as soon as possible.

She made as if to brush hair out of her face, but instead pressed the small button on her communicator, hidden in her ear. "I'm here. We'll be inside soon."

"Very good Ensign Carpenter. You remember where the storage place for the serum is likely located?" The Vulcan's voice was all business. They'd gone over where Spock was sure the serum had to be, and she had drilled it into her brain. All she had to do was break away and find it.

"I do. I'll update you when more information is available."

"Very good."

She stopped the communication, hunching further down to blend with the fatigued workers. Soon the noise that meant it was time to go inside surrounded them, and as one the slaves stood and began shuffling towards the cliff civilization. They'd deduced it was like a herding of sheep, used to count and make sure none were missing or damaged before letting them return to their little huts for the night. Obviously Mia wouldn't be let in easily, because of her lack of an ankle cuff, and they'd likely have higher security than when Spock had blown his way past the guards. Mia had her phaser set to kill and hidden under her loose clothes, ready to use as soon as necessary. They weren't taking any risks with stunning, not when her speed was so important to this mission.

The alarm. Spock had described it to her, and she was prepared. She bolted from the line and took off in the direction Spock said she should go.

But there were more guards further down the hall, and they stepped into her path before she could get far.

She wasn't getting past them. She turned on her communicator as she pulled her phaser out.

"Carpenter to Spock. The security's doubled."

"If you calculate your targets, you should be able to-"

She didn't catch what he said as she started shooting. They dropped, one after the other. If she could just keep going. If she could just get out of here.

But she couldn't leave without the serum.

"Carpenter, you are ordered to leave." Those words, spoken into her ear as if Spock were beside her, were defeated. It must have been hard, to give up on finding the one thing that could cure the commander, but he was looking out for her safety. Maybe he'd argued with Dr. McCoy about it. Maybe he had known from the start he would have to call it if she was in danger. But she couldn't handle that kind of brokenness in the Vulcan.

"Sir-"

"Carpenter."

"Sir, you can't order me."

What had she done? What had she said? She could have gotten out and been in the clear, she could have left with a clean conscience because she'd been ordered out. Instead, she aimed, put down all of the aliens immediately around her, and ran.

She got around the corner before a shock pulsed through her body, landing her on the floor.

Spock and Bones listened as the communicator was fried. And both men were absolutely still for a few seconds, processing what they'd just done.

"She did not leave." The surprise in Spock's voice would have been a joy for Bones to hear any other time. But now, in the wake of a missing crewmate, a girl that Bones himself had convinced to walk into danger, there was no joy.

"She's too much like the rest of us in that way." Bones' voice was quiet, contemplating the horror they'd just subjected the poor girl to. "Couldn't be part of the Enterprise crew if she wasn't stubborn."

"I resent that." Kirk's voice. Both men turned towards the Captain, who had a frown on his face. It wasn't surprising that he'd be awake; he seemed to wake up to defend his honor, and minutes later he'd be back in the depths of dreams or nightmares.

"And yet you cannot argue its truth." Spock's voice was warm for Kirk, who hardly seemed to notice anymore. But that was fairly standard for, anyway, dying or not.

"Yeah, shut up." It was a mutter as he fell back to sleep, his face picking up the frown it wore in his deepest, darkest nightmares.

Bones stood and paced for a few minutes in the limited space before turning to Spock.

"Well shit. What do we do now?"

And for once, Spock didn't have an answer.