"Mr. Chekov, it's your training day. You're beaming down with me for this meeting. Suit up," Kirk announced later that week.
Pavel nodded. "Aye, Keptain." He double checked the coordinates and nodded, impressed at his impeccable work. He rose, stretched, and strolled to the closet for his landing outfit. The training wasn't his ideal afternoon, but things had been looking up for the past few days. The captain hadn't spared him any dirty looks, made any remarks, or had any contact with Cat. Things seemed to have righted themselves now that Kirk was actively monitoring his diet, exercise, and waiting for telling blood test results to explain his outbursts. He'd been a bear all afternoon, but seemed fine at the moment.
"Be careful, Pavel," Uhura hissed as he passed her station.
"Off course," he replied breezily. "Eet's only training. Ze keptain will be making contact. I will just be his back up."
Uhura pursed her lips and nodded. "Okay. See you soon, okay?" She bit her lip as studied his face.
Sheepishly grinning, Pavel nodded and raised a hand in a lazy wave before joining the captain in the beaming area.
"Beam us down, Mr. Scott," Kirk called out calmly.
Uhura felt a knot drop into her stomach as the pair dematerialized.
Cat finished lunch and tidied up her apartment. Her shift began in a few minutes, but she had enough time to clean up. As she hastily made the bed, a piece of gray material fell from the sheets and landed at her feet. Cat smiled when she realized what it was. Pavel's sweatshirt.
The goofy smile and warm sensation in her chest struck her as funny. It's just a sweatshirt, she thought. Nevertheless, she brought it to her face and pressed her nose into it. Pavel.More and more of his things had been "forgotten" at her apartment, and hers at his. They were constantly running back and forth from place to place, seeking clothing, shoes, toothbrushes. At what point had they started doing that? Cat couldn't place a date, yet here in her hands was Pavel's sweatshirt. His communicator charger on her night stand. His shampoo in her bathroom. His casual shoes by her door. His vodka bottle on her counter. His leftover dessert in her fridge.
Blinking slowly and enjoying the realization that was dawning on her, Cat collapsed back onto the half-made bed and hugged the sweatshirt to her chest. "Hey. I think I have news," she giggled into her communicator.
"What news? Is it good or bad?" Jaylah's voice answered immediately. She sounded as she always did: on alert and prepared to act if needed.
"I think it's good. I'm pretty sure."
"How you are not sure? What happened?"
The smell from the sweatshirt wafted into her nose again and she beamed like a fool. "Pavel left his sweatshirt here." She acknowledged and enjoyed the euphoria her brain chemicals was causing.
Jaylah snorted into the communicator. "What this is supposed to mean to me?"
"It just made me realize something."
"What? He is sloppy?"
"No. I think-" Cat grinned and closed her eyes for full effect, "I'm in love."
"I think you will be to work late," Jaylah scolded.
"This is a big realization," Cat said, crestfallen. "Really. You know when you just feel it? That just hit me. Well, I mean, I think I have. I just didn't get it, you know?" she rambled.
"So much human drama," her friend scoffed. "Everyone knew. And Pavel Chekov is in love with you. Duh. Go to work. I see you later."
Pavel raised an eyebrow and surveyed the barren landscape. They'd landed at the top of a canyon. "Keptain, zis is not ze coordinates I entered. Someone must have bumped-"
"Turn off your communicator."
Pavel blinked.
Kirk swiftly silenced his communicator device and stared expectantly at Pavel. "This was a hostile planet – we don't want anyone ringing in and giving away our position, especially if we're not where we're supposed to be."
"We can comm for help. Plus, ze protocol, Keptain, eet says-"
"Turn it off, Mr. Chekov." Kirk threw hands out in exasperation. "You're with the captain. I swear I won't write you up. Just turn it off."
Chekov did so reluctantly. "Zis in nowhere near-"
"Yeah, it's not. I switched the coordinates when you were getting your suit." A sly grin slid onto Kirk's face. "We need to talk, Mr. Chekov. Man to man."
"Keptain, I really think we should turn ze communi-"
"No." Jim shook his head and rested his hands on his belt. "We're just going to talk, then we can have them beam us back up."
"Zere was no meeting, was zere?"
"You really think we're going to drop down onto a hostile planet and ask to meet with their leader?" Jim laughed darkly. "You're more naive than I thought, kid."
Pavel stepped away from the captain. His hand brushed against the cool metal of his gun and he immediately felt better. He nodded. "Okay, Keptain. What do you want to talk about?"
The medical bay was empty. Cat's mind was not. The first thing she'd seen on her desk was Jim's test results. Now she was poring over them again. They were clean. She convinced herself she'd missed some tell-tale sign of illness. On the fifth reread, Cat called out of her office into the bay. "Jose, can you think of anything that would cause a healthy patient to experience changes in personality?"
"Sure," the nurse answered, popping his head in. "Mental disorders, certain deficiencies." He leaned against the door frame. "We aren't just talking about any patient, are we?"
"No."
"The captain hasn't hurt anyone else, at least." Jose shrugged. "Sorry. Small ship. Hard to not know who you're talking about."
Sighing, Cat massaged her temples. "He's still exhibiting symptoms of- of something."
Jose sat down in one of the chairs opposite Cat's. "Results came back clean, huh?" When Cat nodded, he exhaled and put his hands on the top of his head. "We can run a psychological exam on him and see what mental disorder he has. Maybe bipolar, maybe-"
"I already did." Cat drummed her fingers on the desk. "He's a little narcissistic, but there aren't any signs or symptoms of any mental instability. Of course, he was acting fine when he took the exam. But someone who's mentally sound doesn't attack crew members and fly off the handle into a violent fit."
"Well shit." Jose shook his head and threw his hands up. "What does Dr. McCoy think?"
"He says it's just stress." Cat rolled her eyes.
Jose raised an eyebrow and laughed in disbelief. "That's old school medicine right there. Listen, Doc, we've all been stressed. None of us have attacked anyone."
"Agreed. I think Dr. McCoy is just too close to Jim to be able to accept that something else might be going on." Cat stared at the test results, hoping by some magic something would pop out at her. "What could I be missing?"
"I'm an outsider. Maybe I can help." Jose cleared his throat. "Start from the beginning. When did symptoms start?"
Cat sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. "Since it's no secret, I guess I'll dish. Symptoms appeared after the first time I saw Mr. Chekov."
"When was that?"
"The week after the trip to Earth."
Jose narrowed his eyes. "Earth. Okay. Did he say he ate anything funny there? See anyone that bothered him?"
"No and no. I think he just spent some time in Iowa with his family." Cat touched her lips in thought. "Let's go that route. What in Iowa could have infected him? This would have been in July."
"I spent some time in those parts before. Hot. Humid. Not a ton of people, but enough." Jose thought for a moment, then sat up straight. "It could be a mosquito borne virus."
Cat's jaw fell open. "That's it! Not a mosquito. A tick!"
Jose sat back in his chair. "Doc. You did it."
"No, no, you figured it out!" Dr. Greenberg jumped out and clapped her hands on either of Jose's wide shoulders. "You're getting promoted."
As she hurried out the door, Jose called, "Dr. Greenberg! Where are you going?"
"I've got to find Dr. McCoy!"
Kirk circled around Pavel like a predatory beast. "I'm the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Mr. Chekov."
"Yes, of course, Sir," Pavel replied. He tried to keep Kirk in his peripheral sight to watch for fast movements. Though his heart hammered, Pavel kept his composure. Any sign of panic might set Jim off.
The captain kept a hand on his gun and made no secret about it. "And that means it's my job to keep my crew members safe."
"Of course."
Kirk stopped walked directly in front of the navigator. "I got a startling report, Mr. Chekov." Jim stared down his nose at Chekov momentarily. After a moment, he began walking again.
Pavel felt his head quirk to the side. "Keptain?"
"I got an anonymous report from one of the medical team that there's been some signs of abuse in one of my crew members."
"Abuse, Sir?"
The captain clicked his boots together and stopped in front of Pavel again. His gaze was void of any human emotion. "Yes, Mr. Chekov. The nurses seem to think that one of my doctors is involved in an abusive relationship. She's withdrawn. She's changing her habits. She isn't seeing her friends anymore. She's locked away. Hiding something. Don't those sound like signs of an abusive partner, Mr. Chekov?"
Pavel's jackhammering heart skipped a beat. "Zey could be signs of many things, Keptain."
"I have no reason to doubt the collective opinion of my medical team."
Sweat trickled down the back of Pavel's neck. He mentally checked that the weight of his gun was still at his hip. Jim's not better after all. "Perheps-"
"I told her to stay away from you," Jim suddenly snarled. He moved toward Chekov, who ducked out of his grasp.
"Please, Keptain! I have done nothing to her!" Pavel caught a wild haymaker in the side of the head and staggered. "Zis is a hostile planet – we cannot risk zem finding us!" He danced out of the way as Kirk swung blows in his direction. "Keptain, stop!"
"That's bullshit!" Kirk hollered. His face was bright red and spittle collected at the corners of his mouth. "I told her to stay away from you!"
Pavel ducked behind a boulder and snatched for his communicator. Kirk dove for him, knocking Pavel to the ground. The phone skidded away from him. "No!" he gasped. Pavel crawled after it, but Kirk caught him by the boot. Pavel delivered a hard kick to the captain's face, effectively slowing him enough that Chekov could reach the communicator.
He moved to flip it back on, but the electronic buzz of the phaser behind him made Pavel drop the device to the ground.
Heavy footfalls pounded down the hall toward the med bay. "Talk to me," Jose called out as he rushed to prep a bed. He looked up and saw Jaylah scanning the room from the doorway.
"Where is Doctor Cat?" the woman demanded. "I have to tell her something!"
"She just left to talk to Dr. McCoy about something. Emily, break's over!" Jose called. "You look okay- is someone hurt somewhere?"
Emily appeared from the break room, dusting crumbs from her hands.
"I am not hurt, only trying to get to the Doctor Cat." Jaylah snarled and turned to leave, bursting into an immediate sprint.
"She'll be on the bridge," Jose called after her.
"What's her problem?" Emily asked.
"Not sure. Dr. Greenberg had a good hunch about what's going on with the captain, though." Jose left the supplies on the cart and went back to what he was doing.
"What's the hunch?" Emily asked, following after him.
"Lyme disease eating up his brain and making him violent. We got it just in time. Tick tock. That stuff gets worse, you know. Cap's been a ticking time bomb."
Emily froze. "There's actually something wrong? Like, it's affecting his brain? What does- does it affect his thought process?"
As her face contorted in horror, Jose scoffed. "What, you see a ghost up in here? Yeah it messes with your brain! You know that. But don't worry about it. We'll get him fixed up. We all owe Dr. Greenberg a lot, though. Captain Kirk could have snapped and killed someone if we didn't figure him out in time."
Cat whistled and practically skipped on her way to find Dr. McCoy. "Permission to come to the bridge!"
"Permission granted," Spock replied. He looked slightly surprised at her giddy state. "What can I do for you, Dr. Greenberg?"
"Dr. McCoy." Cat's head whipped back and forth as she searched for him. "I'm assuming he's here."
Spock nodded and turned to Bones. "Dr. Mc-"
Bones waved his hand. "Yeah, yeah, I hear. What's going on, Dr. Greenberg?"
"We cracked Jim's case," Cat hissed excitedly as she sat next to him. "It's not great, but at least we know what's going on. Of course we haven't confirmed without a blood sample, but I'd put money on it."
McCoy remained unimpressed. "Okay, so what is it?"
"Lyme disease," Cat exclaimed. "We were on Earth the week his symptoms began."
McCoy shook his head. "Nah. He hasn't been sick, Cat. Besides, how could we have missed it? Didn't you pull blood samples?"
"Yes, but we didn't run anything for Lyme."
Spock, who'd been eavesdropping, raised an eyebrow. "The captain hasn't shown any signs of physical distress, as is common with Lyme's disease."
"Hey," Bones groaned, "you're not supposed to be hearing this."
Spock was unabashed. "As Jim's friend and second in command, I feel I should be informed if there's something wrong with him that may render him unable to perform his duties."
"Whatever," Bones growled. He checked to make sure no one else was listening, then nodded. "We were on Earth. So? Doesn't mean it's Lyme disease. Unless you picked a tick off of him, what in the hell would make you think of that?"
Cat shook her head. "It can manifest itself in personality changes and mental imbalance. In one case, a straight A student started hearing voices. Another woman with no history of mental illness randomly developed manic depression. It's not a stretch that Jim would become violent. This disease can attack the brain and change the person. I think this is it. It's only going to get worse with time."
Bones seemed to be considering the possibility.
"Besides, when's the last time you saw his back, his scalp? If it's not something he could see in the mirror, Jim wouldn't know that he'd been bitten. He wouldn't see the bulls-eye rash that infected bites get." Cat crossed her arms over her chest. "Satisfied? We're pulling a sample and confirming this so we can see about treatment."
"All right. You convinced me. Good job, kid," Bones remarked. "He was in a hell of a mood before he and Chekov beamed down. Thought he was going to shoot up the place. At least we can fix him."
"What?" Cat whispered. She glanced to Chekov's spot. Her stomach dropped when she saw it unoccupied.
"Dr. McCoy said 'At least we can fix-" Spock repeated.
"Not that," Bones interrupted. "Jim was swearing and snarling and acting real weird. Then he calmed down in no time. Figured he just wasn't happy to be heading down. They're on a hostile planet." His confidence wavered. "That's when I thought he was just mad you weren't into him."
"Oh my god," Cat breathed. "And he's with Pavel?"
"Yeah." McCoy's face pulled into a grimace. "Oh, come on, Cat. Jim's beamed down with every crew member this week. He's not going to do anything to the kid, right?" He looked frantically to Spock.
"I cannot speak to the effects of this virus on the human mind," the Vulcan offered.
"Beam them back!" Cat and Bones shrieked in unison across the bridge.
"Dr. McCoy, Dr. Greenb-" Sulu began.
"The captain is not well," Bones snapped. "Get them back. Now."
Everyone looked up in shock before scurrying to beam the pair back to the Enterprise.
"I don't have them," Scotty replied from across the bridge. "They're not anywhere on the screen." He scanned around. "That can't be right. There must be a glitch. Hang on."
"No, we need them back now." Cat ripped her communicator from her pocket. "Pavel, what's your location?" Static was the only response.
