They stood in front of the barrier again, this time the color a pure white that made Jim squint. He looked down and blinked at the sight of a translucent film covering the small Spock's eyes and glared at him. "Lucky."

"Luck has nothing to do with it."

"Yeah, well… So, what is this barrier going to do? Be so hot that it burns my hand off, freeze me into an ice block?"

Spock looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and Jim grinned at him. "I just want to be prepared."

"Hmm." Spock walked up to the barrier, and brought his own hand out to it carefully, Jim watched, tensing slightly, eyes focused on that hand. There was a hesitant pause that small hand just barely hovering over that wall, Jim's breath caught in his throat.

Suddenly he pressed his hand to it, and the light faded, Spock letting out a brief shout of pain. Jim gave a yell of protest, hurrying forward and yanking the boy back. He paused, looking down at Spock, pulling his hand up by his wrist so he could look for any sign of damage, only to blink when he saw nothing. Then something else caught his attention. It was breathy, slightly bubbly, and it came from right next to his ear.

He turned his eyes, wide with shock to regard the small Spock giggling like mad, his eyes bright, his mouth pulled into a small smile, and his expression holding amusement. "Why you sneaky little…" Jim's eyes were bright with his own laughter, glaring ineffectively in the face of the absolute amusement in Spock's eyes. "You jerk, I thought something was wrong! I thought you were hurt! I thought you were being zapped or something!"

Spock just continued to giggle at him, and Jim glared before an evil thought popped into being in his head. Spock seemed to notice the sneaky look on Jim's face and automatically stopped his laughter, looking at him warily. Jim paused for a moment and then his fingers began dancing up and down the small boy's sides. Spock's eyes widened in shock for a moment and then he squirmed backwards, trying to stop from giggling, trying to squirm out of his hold.

"Oh no you don't, if you're going to scare me like that you're going to take the consequences!" Jim grinned, trying to find all the places where the boy was the most ticklish, the boy's face flushing green with laughter and lack of oxygen, and Jim finally relented. "There, serves you right."

Spock took a breath, and crumpled backwards, just breathing, a slight smile curling the corners of his mouth. Something in his expression was slightly dazed, and Jim considered for a moment. "No one's ever tickled you, have they?"

"They have not…the sensation…is…strange," he breathed out, looking at him dazedly. "I do not like it."

"Alright, I won't do it again." Jim grinned, holding his hands out to the sides innocently.

"Thank you."

"Seriously though, what does that barrier feel like?"

Spock looked at it and then back to Jim. "Do not tell me you are afraid of the barrier."

"I am not afraid. It's just…they haven't been some of the nicest things to walk through, Spock."

A small smirk curved up the corner of the boy's mouth and he sat up. "Shall we simply get it over with?"

"Alriiighhht…" Jim whined, glaring at the barrier like a petulant child, Spock looking up at him in confusion.

"If I did not know better I would say you are trying to amuse me."

"Well…maybe a little? I've never seen you laugh, it's…adorable."

Spock looked up at him with a small raised eyebrow and Jim grinned at him. "So is that."

"You are stalling."

Jim sighed, and looked at the barrier, his eyes dull. "Can you really blame me, Spock? Some of this is…it's difficult. I don't like having such insights into your psyche. Not when your life was like this. I know that I wouldn't want anyone to see some of the stuff that's in my head, and I'm betting that you feel just the same. It feels like a violation I suppose."

"I asked you here. You are my friend, Jim. I would rather have you here than that thing."

Kirk laughed, "Probably rather have me rather than McCoy, am I right?"

"Indeed."

Jim took a breath, and then the two of them walked forward, Spock's hand once again holding onto Jim's wrist, Kirk's other hand shading his eyes. This time the barrier didn't truly feel like anything he could touch. Instead it felt like someone had reached into his insides, a lead weight forming in his stomach.

When they crossed, Jim was pretty certain he knew what they had entered.

He broke into a sweat immediately, the dry heat of Vulcan on a good day he figured. Jim just hoped that it wouldn't start crumbling again. Spock had probably seen enough of that. He wondered if he would ever be able to look at his memories of Vulcan in the same way ever again. He wondered if they would forever remain tainted by that thing's meddling. He wondered if Spock would ever be the same.

Jim's eyes flitted to his small Vulcan guide, looking for any sign of how this was affecting him. He wasn't too pleased with what he saw, but he didn't expect much else. The shoulders were slightly hunched, the head bowed, nothing like the tall and proud First Officer he was used to. Granted, this boy was nothing like the First that he was used to. He couldn't be more than 3'8" for one thing, and he actually smiled and laughed in a way that was visible.

But, there was no doubt that he was still Spock. That thing couldn't have been less like Spock, even when it stole his form. He wanted nothing more than to see that thing dead and Spock's mind his own.

Spock was leading him through what looked like endless desert and sand. Jim was stumbling slightly as the heat decreased, the twin suns sinking behind the mountain ridge. Spock stopped eventually, on a mountaintop overlooking a valley of nothing more or less than endless sand. His hands were behind his back, and his expression was smoother than it had yet been. Eventually night fell, and Jim squinted into the darkness in narrow-eyed concentration, finally giving up on seeing normally and with a bit of concentration managed to enhance his night vision as he had before. "Can you see?"

"I can, Vulcan had no moon so I am able to see in the dark that it falls into. The Vulcan eye can see better than a human's in darkness."

"Ah, makes sense I suppose. What are we waiting for…" His voice trailed off, watching as a form became visible that was about the same height as Spock. In fact, as it got closer, Jim registered that he was looking at a Spock at the same age as the one who was currently standing next to him with his hands behind his back.

But that wasn't the thing that made his eyes bug out; it was the large beast behind him. It was huge, and six-inch fangs protruded from its mouth. Jim had just taken in a breath to shout an involuntary warning, when the small boy turned around and began to scold the beast. Kirk's eyes widened and his mouth dropped.

"What the hell?"

"That is a sehlat, Jim. The equivalent of a Vulcan…teddy bear I think you would call it. Only ours are living and come equipped with six-inch fangs. That was my pet."

"Was?"

Spock was silent, and Jim recalled that feeling that had come into being at the barrier. Shame. He knew then that he would find out.

Jim watched and listened closely, eyes slightly narrowed as bits and pieces came together. "You…left, without telling your parents, and this is…some sort of deadly maturity test?" Jim asked finally, his eyes widening slightly. "Damn, when you rebel you rebel."

Spock was silent for a moment. "It was not a matter of rebelling. It was a matter of proving something to myself."

"Proving what?"

"That I could be Vulcan," Spock whispered out, staring at the two of them in the distance as the young boy finally gave up and continued walking, the sehlat trailing behind him. They watched quietly from the distance, and then he saw it, crouched low to the ground and stalking them was a green cat like thing. It looked like a tiger, and Jim felt his blood freeze in his veins as he took all of it in.

"What…what's that?"

"A le-matya… It is, was, a predator native to Vulcan."

"Spock…"

Before he could truly say anything it roared, and the sound was both so familiar and so bone-chilling that he tensed, his eyes widening. The Spock of the memory tensed, looked behind him and met eyes with the le-matya, and ran, climbing up a nearby rock face and turning to look at the sound of the sehlat attacking the le-matya.

Jim was tense, watching as the two slammed into each other, one in the defense of a little boy, the other with the intent to kill. The emotions that ran through the memory made Jim drunk on a rush of dizzy adrenaline, fear and worry. Suddenly a Vulcan launched himself into the fray, landing on the le-matya's shoulders and delivering a nerve pinch. It collapsed, and the Vulcan straightened up.

Jim felt his heart slow down as the emotions ebbed into relief and wary thanks. But then his eyes focused fully on the Vulcan stranger, and they narrowed. "Spock?"

"He introduced himself as Salek, Jim…"

Jim's mouth stretched into a smile. "Well…I'll be damned…" He laughed, and then turned to look down at the small boy. "We'll make sure you get wherever this is in order to save your life."

"I believe that that would be appreciated."

Jim gave him a grin, and then continued watching, listening to the quiet advice given from one Spock to another, the emotions calming and forming into contemplation, consideration, and a slow respect for the Vulcan in front of him. "So you've had a couple experiences where there were two of you…"

"So it would seem."

It was then that Jim heard something behind them. He tensed slightly, and then turned; locking eyes with something that he was certain could only exist in his nightmares. He reached out slightly, and his hand dug into Spock's shoulder. The small Vulcan turned, and met eyes with the thing easily. But then he tensed.

"Jim…that thing is not part of my memories."

"Oh…really?"

"Yes…"

"Run?"

"Run."

With that Spock grabbed hold of his wrist and began running. The thing behind them flexed its sinewy muscles and launched down the mountain after them. Spock's ears protested the sound of its claws digging into the rock, the sparks flying with every leap. Jim turned around once, his eyes locking with the sight of the large catlike thing behind him. It was much larger than any catlike animal he had ever seen. It was also black, its eyes pinpricks of fire, and he had never seen anything so horrible. What made it worse was that it blended into the shadows, he was only barely aware of its existence.

They stumbled down the mountain, feet slipping, Spock's shoes getting torn on the rock face as they scrambled for purchase. They were not made for such a venture. Jim swung him up into his arms, leaping from rock to rock, his ankle protesting, but there was no other choice.

The thing let out a snarling call that made the hairs on the back of Jim's neck stand up, the sound echoing and screeching, Spock's hands covering his ears as it reached a pitch too high for the human to hear. The boy's own shout echoed among the rocks, and Jim gripped him tighter. Jim ran faster when he heard it coming, the breath from its lungs just felt on the back of his neck when Jim ducked, coming to a stop in the sand, the thing sailing over the top of them to roll and regard them.

The thing moved back and forth, eyes constantly trained on them, something like a smile curling up its lips, teeth that were longer than Jim's hand bared and shining in the starlight. Jim glared at it, only to tense slightly when it crouched, its left forearm crooked and its first toe missing on its right side. But he knew that it didn't matter. If that thing got a hold of either of them, they'd be dead. They would fail, and the Enterprise would be next on its list.
….

Scotty had been released. They had made him swear to light duty, and Keenser was to act as official reporter of the Head Engineer's whereabouts. There would be no more going days without sleep, or without food. Scotty had not been too thrilled with the arrangement, but there had been no other choice.

Communications were still down, but not through lack of effort. The ship was barely running on impulse power as it was. They wouldn't be able to survive another attack and they were about a week from Vulcan at their current location. Scotty would either have to pull another miracle out of his ass, or they were all in serious trouble.

McCoy was in the middle of cleaning the blood and sweat from their bodies, every body part cleaned one at a time, a warm blanket protecting their modesty. It was one of the most intimate things he had to do as a doctor and a surgeon, and if wasn't for Spock's Vulcan privacy he wouldn't be doing it at all. Although, he knew that wasn't true. They were family.

"Jim, your ship is a wreck… The crew's moral is lackin', and you've been stuck like this for days now. I know what I told them about hopin' that you can't hear us, but I can't help it. That goes for you too, you pointy-eared goblin. I don't want you thinkin' I forgot about you, because you're what started this whole mess in the first place. I think I understand what you were doin' now. This wasn't about you killin' yourself because you were tired of us or because you thought you deserved it. You were tryin' to save the rest of us from whatever latched onto your brain."

It felt weird, talking like this, basically to himself, but he couldn't stop himself. He found that he didn't want to stop, the silence pressuring him.

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face that wasn't covered with a cloth sopping with boiling water (Vulcans), and looking around in annoyance. "I wish that you hadn't, but from all I know, it could have been your only option. You brave fool, when did it happen, I wonder? It couldn't have happened on the ship…none of our officers have a psi rating high enough. So that leaves…" He paused, and then let out a weary chuckle, shaking his head. "Of course. The very first shore leave you actually take, and somethin' enters your mind with nothin' else as a goal than hostile takeover. Or…maybe somethin' else."

McCoy paced around the private ward, and then returned to the biobeds. "Well, I promise you one thing, hobgoblin. I'll do everythin' in my power to make sure that it doesn't get a chance. If it kills you…if it kills Jim, I promise that I won't leave you alone. You might think you want it, but you don't. I'll be there. For both of you if it goes the other way. Man that sounds cheesy as hell, but I'll be damned if you don't know it. You've both become family. The brothers I've never had, and I care for you. But, because I'm an ass, I'll never admit it to your face." Once finished he pulled another gown onto each one, straightening it after changing the bed linens.

"Well…there we go. Good for a while, so long as one of you doesn't start bleedin' all over yourselves again. Please. Refrain."

With a final check of everything he turned to walk out, his mind on what other crazy sap would wind up in his sickbay because they gave up so much to help the captain and the first officer. He was smart enough to know that Scotty wouldn't be the last.