CHAPTER TEN

He didn't speak. He stared at her, wondering why the hell, out of all people, she was here. She looked like a deer caught in headlights, her eyes wide with shock. Her deep brown hair was messy, falling out of its loose ties, and a thin trail of hot red blood dripped down the side of her dirty face. She swallowed, winced, and raised a hand to her throat. There would be bruises there tomorrow. Harrison felt his blood pressure rise as he recalled the monster that had almost crushed her windpipe, his body now a carcass in the dust.

A burst of weapons fire close by distracted him, but he didn't let her go. He disposed of his attacker quickly, then pulled her behind him as he ran for temporary shelter behind a large hangar. She strained against him, her teeth clenched, her gaze fixed on his fingers wrapped around her arm as they protruded from his fingerless gloves. He softened his grip, enough to ease her discomfort, but not enough to let her go. His eyes scoped their immediate surroundings. For the moment they were alone.

Someone called her name nearby. He watched as she turned towards the voice, her eyes darting frantically from shadow to building to crevice, searching for the owner of the voice. She stiffened as weapons fire ricocheted off a nearby wall. Heavy boot steps made the ground beneath their feet vibrate. Harrison pulled her flush to him. He could smell the sweat and fear on her.

"Stay here," he ordered calmly. "Don't move from this position."

Then he released her. He half expected her to dart away like a frightened doe, but she didn't. She stood there, looking up at him, her lips barely parted, her breathing labored. He reached up and wiped the trail of blood from her cheek onto his glove. His bare finger grazed her skin and he noticed her breathing hitch just slightly. Then the source of the heavy boot steps revealed themselves around the corner. Harrison gripped his weapons and whirled to strike them down.

Madelyn watched frozen as Harrison swung his weapon through the air, knocking two Klingons off their feet, and shooting down two more. He leaped onto a pile of crates, simultaneously sending a rain of weapons fire into a ship hovering above them, and then disappeared from her sight. The ship lost control due to Harrison's damage and spun uncontrollably through the air.

Kirk called her name again and she answered back.

"I'm here!" she yelled over the noise of the crashing ship. The captain appeared around the corner and grabbed her.

"Come on! Let's get you back to the ship."

She started to protest as they ran between buildings back towards the clearing where their vessel waited. The weapons fire had stopped. Suddenly Uhura and Spock appeared in front of them with alarmed expressions. Kirk and Madelyn whirled around as a figure cloaked in black jumped down from a cargo container, landing firmly on his feet barely a meter away.

"That's him," Madelyn muttered to Kirk. He still hadn't let go of her.

Spock raised his phaser and aimed at Harrison. Madelyn barely caught her shout of protest, but it didn't matter as Harrison easily knocked the Vulcan against the wall, his phaser tumbling out of reach. Uhura ran to assist him, leaving Kirk and Madelyn in Harrison's reach. His blue eyes peered keenly at them both through his black hair that had come loose and hung over the side of his face. He seemed broader, taller to Madelyn, dressed in a black cloak with thick protective shoulders and long sleeves. The weapon in his hand was an enormous phaser cannon, something an average man wouldn't have been able to swing around as easily as Harrison had. She didn't care that she was staring at him. His presence, the way he carried himself, what he was doing, it all shocked her.

"How many torpedoes?" he said suddenly, raising the cannon to Kirk's chest. His gaze flitted to Madelyn for a millisecond. She stiffened as Kirk's hand tightened around her arm, probably an instinct against Harrison's own threat.

"The torpedoes!" Harrison repeated, stepping forward to press the cannon into Kirk's chest. "The ones you threatened me with in your message! How many are there?"

Kirk refused to answer. Madelyn furrowed her eyebrows, confused by the strange query. What did it matter how many torpedoes aimed at them? One would be enough to incinerate them all.

"Seventy-two," Spock replied from behind them.

Harrison took a step back and removed the cannon from Kirk's chest, letting it slip from his hand and drop to the ground. Madelyn swallowed again, her throat aching, her neck tensing from the pain. He looked at her again, his expression hard as marble, unreadable with only an unfamiliar glimmer in his eyes.

"I surrender."

Madelyn stepped backwards to regain her balance as Kirk let her go. He stepped towards Harrison and swung his fist at the man's jaw.

"Kirk!" she screamed. "Don't—" Her words were cut short when Harrison didn't budge, his face merely reacting to the punch as though a single finger had pressed against his jaw. Kirk swung at him again. Madelyn watched dumbfounded. Harrison showed little to no reaction with every pummel. Kirk swung his knee up into Harrison's stomach. Harrison stumbled backwards slightly, then straightened to meet Kirk's gaze. The captain was bending over in pain, his hand on his knee. Madelyn reached over and pressed a hand to his shoulder. "Stop this."

The panic she had felt as Kirk first moved to attack Harrison was replaced with disconcertion at Harrison's seeming inability to feel pain, and Kirk was doing himself no favors. But the captain swung at him once more, keeling over in agony as his hand took the brunt of his own attack. Harrison tilted his chin down, watching him curiously, his hands hanging loosely by his sides. Kirk struggled to his feet.

"Captain!" Spock called, meeting Madelyn's gaze. Kirk groaned and slowly straightened as Harrison looked on, waiting.

"Take him to the ship," Kirk said through gritted teeth. Uhura pulled Spock to his feet, then they both surrounded Harrison.

Uhura aimed her phaser into Harrison's back. "Let's go."

He waited until Kirk stormed past them to look at Madelyn one more time. His expression was unmoved, despite the weapon pointed into his spinal cord. At this point Madelyn doubted a phaser blast would harm him much. She met his gaze with a slight lift of her chin. His eyes narrowed.

She felt his gaze burning into her back as she moved past them after Kirk. She seated herself inside the craft without a word, glancing up as Harrison, Spock, and Uhura boarded. Harrison seated himself against the back wall, across from Madelyn. Uhura kept her phaser trained on him even as the ship lifted off of Kronos.

She wanted to melt into the wall of the ship. His eyes wouldn't leave her. They flitted from her face to her hands that subconsciously gripped the edge of her seat, turning her knuckles white; from her hands to her filthy boots, in which one foot was kicked back on its toe under the seat; and back up to her face, where they remained until they arrived on the Enterprise and he was escorted out of the hangar by six security officers. But as Madelyn stood in the doorway of the vessel, watching them lead Harrison away, he turned and gave her one more look, a soft gaze, his jaw more relaxed.

For a moment, she wanted to know what was happening inside his head. And then she realized she wasn't even sure this was the same man she'd known in London.