THANK YOU to NoDayButToday971 for being my Beta here. And I am SO SORRY about my delay. My computer hard drive crashed and I was just able to save my documents. Thank you to everyone here for being so patient! You all are amazing!

Kirk smiled. Chekov had just confirmed that the low energy pulse they had detected was the Romulan ship. They couldn't see it, but they knew it was there.

"Cap'n," Kirk's communicator went off. He headed back to the Captain's chair to take the call.

"Scotty. Give me some good news."

"Power's been fully restored sir."

"Excellent. Chekov, scan that ship for Spock and Carina." Now to solve the problem of how to attack a something you can't see.

"Captain!" Uhura spun around in her chair. "We're being hailed sir."

"On Screen." Kirk turned to the finder and was met with the cruel face of Captain Sela.

Leonard was standing in the same spot he had been for the last several hours. At Uhura's announcement, his head snapped up. He didn't know who this man was or what his relationship with Carina, but he hated him.

"Captain Sela." Kirk's voice pulled Leonard out of his hate-filled trance.

"Captain Kirk. Congratulations, you've successfully tracked us. But I'm afraid this is where your journey ends."

Sulu turned discreetly toward Kirk. "Captain…they're powering weapons." Kirk nodded at his pilot then faced Sela again.

"You've taken something from me. I'd like it back." Sela chuckled at Kirk's words.

"Clever. I assure you, they are fine."

"Regardless, I'd like them back." Kirk was not smiling. In response, Sela just grinned. He pushed some buttons off screen. Kirk glanced at Sulu, but he shook his head. The Romulans weren't firing at them. Looking back up at the screen, Kirk saw a video of his Counselor and First Officer in a cell of some sort. But instead of being restrained, they were embracing, sharing a kiss. Kirk heard Uhura give a quiet gasp. He turned to look at her but she had turned away from the viewfinder and had her head in her hands. Kirk spun and looked at Bones. His mouth was open as he gaped at the screen. His knuckles were white as he gripped the railing.

Leonard felt the floor go out from under him as he watched the kiss between Spock and Carina deepen. He could barely believe what was happening in front of his eyes. He closed his eyes against the sight, but his mind was playing a cruel joke and replayed the scene behind his eyelids.

"They were not yours to take!" Kirk yelled at the viewfinder. Captain Sela's face reappeared on the viewfinder. "On the contrary, Captain Kirk. Goodbye."

Before the transmission was cut, the scene on the viewfinder erupted in gunfire. Captain Sela's face contorted in anger as he bellowed at whatever was causing the commotion. Then the transmission ended.

"Captain! I've locked on to Counselor Carina and Commander Spock!" Chekov yelled above the commotion.

"Beam them back now!"

Spock and Carina had managed to overpower the handful of crew members they had encountered on the way to the bridge. None of the control panels they had examined along the way had any communications capability whatsoever and they had deduced they would have to fight their way out.

They stopped at the corner of the passage that led to the bridge and knelt down. Carina looked up at Spock who was peering down the corridor trying to assess the situation.

"Spock. They're going to try to kill you first." He looked over at her.

"I agree. The chances of that occurring are…"

"You can't let that happen," Carina interrupted him. "The Enterprise needs you more than it needs me. Get back to it."

Before he could respond, Carina stood and started tracking along the corridor toward the door to the bridge. He quickly caught up to her. She glanced at him and nodded.

They burst onto the bridge firing their weapons they'd taken off the guards. They hit the crew members sitting at the weapons panels first before quickly moving on to the rest. A few of the crew members fled the bridge but others pulled out their weapons to fire back.

"Carina!" She heard her father bellow. She dropped behind a panel and took a shot at the legs of a Romulan crew member who was standing near her father. She rolled to the side and popped up next to one of the weapons panels, and shot it. She saw Spock opposite her taking out another Romulan.

Suddenly, she felt a stinging across her thigh. She turned to see a crew member pointing his weapon at her with a scowl. She shot him quickly before he could aim for her again.

"Carina I will KILL you." Sela had begun advancing on her. She turned to face him with her weapon held up. Spock was behind and to her left.

"I know." She fired two shots at her father before the white lights of a transporter beam engulfed her.

Then she was back on the bridge of the Enterprise. Kirk was standing in front of her looking confused. Quickly, she lowered her weapon.

"Go to warp!" Her voice sounded panicked, even to her. Kirk shook his head in disbelief.

"Carina, what happened?"

"Go to Warp!" She limped forward toward Sulu's station. Pushing him to the side, she punched in the command and hit the throttle. Once they were at warp, she turned to Sulu. "Find somewhere to hide that their sensors won't find us."

"Carina." It was Leonard. She stopped and turned to face the rest of the crew. She didn't realize how hard she'd been breathing or that she was trembling until now. She let out a long breath. The crew was staring at her. Kirk was standing in front of his chair with his hand held out to her.

Carina realized she had essentially taken over the ship when she had pushed Sulu out of the way and pushed them into warp. "Captain, I apologize." Her voice was shaking "I shouldn't have…"

"Carina stop." She looked up at her captain. There were tears in her eyes. "I'm just glad you and Spock are back." She turned to look at Spock again. He had made his way over to Uhura. She was looking up at him with a hurt expression. In return, he was looking down at her with his hand extended, a sign Carina knew as an intimate greeting. Uhura turned and looked at Carina with a cold look. They locked eyes.

She knew. Carina didn't understand how, but she knew that Uhura knew what had transpired between Spock and her. Carina dropped Uhura's gaze. She knew that Spock would explain, but the look Uhura was giving her now was frigid. She looked up at Leonard who was standing beyond the railing. He was staring right at her but she couldn't read him. He was gripping the handrail. Suddenly he turned and left the bridge.

"Carina, you need to get checked out at the Med Bay." Her eyes slid back over to her captain. Kirk took a step toward her. Her legs hit Sulu's control panel as she took an involuntary step backward. Kirk stopped and searched her face with concerned eyes.

"Permission to leave the bridge?"

Kirk nodded. "Granted."

Carina walked as fast as her injured leg could carry her toward the turbolift. Kirk turned to Sulu once the doors had shut. "Follow her orders. Something scared the hell out of her and I don't want to find out what it was firsthand. Spock. Get down to med bay to get checked out too. Uhura, go with him."

The turbolift doors opened on the med bay's level, but instead of heading that way Carina turned toward her quarters. She stopped short when she saw Leonard waiting for her. He looked like hell. He stood up straight when he saw her. He wasn't smiling.

"Leonard." She took a step toward him.

"Why'd you do it?" Carina winced at the gruffness of his voice.

"I don't understand." She looked up at him.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I hadn't felt anything real in a long time, and then you showed up. I gave you everything I could and you stomped on it."

Carina closed her eyes. Again, she didn't know how, but Leonard knew. She had to explain.

"Please," she pleaded. "Leonard, I was just trying…"

"Stop. Just don't." Leonard took a step back from her and started to turn around. "Get that leg checked out."

"Leonard wait!" He kept on going. Carina drew in a shaky breath, fighting back her tears. "Leonard!" He turned the corner at the end of the hall.

She realized she was shaking again. Everything hurt: her head, her ribs, her leg… none of them compared to what she thought was her insides trying to tear themselves apart.

Trembling, she moved towards her door, letting the darkness of her quarters envelop her.