From the moment they exit the warehouse to the moment they haphazardly pull into the boardwalk parking lot, everything is a blur. Jim vaguely registers the law-breaking speed he employs and the phone call to have an ambulance arrive at their position. The sun is slowly dipping beneath the horizon and it grows colder with each passing second. The wind has picked up substantially. Kirk scrambles from the car, eyes scanning the area. He fears he's too late. Just a little bit too late.
And then he sees them: two figures barely visible in the fading light of dusk. They're both heading towards the edge of the pier, one stumbling along as the other all but drags him forward.
Kirk immediately takes off, sprinting the distance from the boardwalk to the pier and vaulting over the small concrete wall separating the two in a matter of seconds. He can see them both. He reaches for the phaser at his side.
"STOP!" He screams with all the volume he can muster. The command rings across the rippling wind and Kirk sees Maxim go rigid as Chekov turns quickly around. There's a split second where no one moves and it's as though time has frozen completely.
Maxim is the first to react, quicker than Kirk could hope to anticipate. He grabs the back of Chekov's shirt and pulls the boy in front of him. Kirk aims his phaser, ready to take the final shot, when Maxim pulls out his own gun, and aims it directly at Chekov's head. Kirk freezes.
"Put it down!" Maxim screams. Spock runs up next to Kirk, phaser aimed at the ready. Maxim takes a slight step forwarded and Chekov winces.
"I said put it down!" The man orders once again, malice filling his every word. "Or I'll shoot him right now and he'll be dead before you can fire one shot!"
Kirk glances at Spock, who quickly side-eyes him, making sure not to take his eyes off Maxim for more than a second. Kirk runs through his options, only to pull up short when he finds there aren't any. His jaw goes rigid as he puts one hand in the air and he slowly begins to lower his phaser to the ground. From the corner of his eye, Kirk can see Spock do the same.
Maxim's eyes follow them the entire way down. Kirk slowly stands back up, both hands now hesitantly in the air. The tension filling the moment is nearly unbearable.
"Listen…" Kirk calmly says, "we can work something out. Give you some sort of chance not to die in prison one day. Don't make a mistake that could jeopardize that chance".
He knows with all the things Maxim has done, all the people he's killed, he'll probably never see the outside world again once he's in jail. But Kirk certainly isn't going to tell him that.
Maxim throws his head back and laughs, and Kirk sees Spock glance at him in slight confusion.
"You think I'm going to believe you?" He asks, dry humor ringing in his laughter.
Kirk panics slightly and Spock swiftly picks up the exchange.
"Although you may assume the odds of your release are slim, there is always some probability of a favorable outcome," he continues. Kirk looks back to Maxim, who has seemingly ignored the vulcan's words. Jim hears the click of the gun, and he can swear his heart stops for a full second.
"Ain't no happy ending for me," Maxim says gravely, his eyes narrowed dangerously at the two men opposite him, "Never has been, never will be".
His expression grows dark and Jim can feel his own heart pounding in his ears. "But at least I can make sure you won't have one either".
And suddenly everything happens at once.
Maxim turns, takes his free hand, and shoves Chekov backward. The boy disappears in a single second off the edge of the pier.
Kirk is picking up his phaser, running forward, screaming.
Maxim turns back, fires two shots.
Kirk can feel one graze his arm, but he's too consumed with rage to feel pain. He stumbles slightly but continues. He slams directly into Maxim.
The other man is physically stronger, but Kirk can feel the adrenaline and rage fueling himself.
Kirk knocks the gun from Maxim's hand. Maxim retaliates with a cross punch, but Kirk jumps back.
He fires a single shot. The man falls dead at his feet.
Something flies by Kirk at an unimaginable speed. Spock is sprinting to the end of the pier.
And then just as quickly as everything happened, it feels as though time slows down while Kirk watches Spock dive off the edge and disappear into the churning water below. He's staring helplessly as powerful waves slam into the side of the pier; no sign of either of his friends.
Kirk takes off in a sprint to the ladder that leads down onto the beach below the pier. He grips both sides and slides down, his feet hitting the sand with a thud. The wind whips against him, sending a mix of sea water and sand into his face. He runs to the edge of the shore until the water is practically lapping at his boots as the waves glide up onto the beach.
He stands there, anxiety clawing at him every second nothing breaks the surface. He stares across the waves, searching for any kind of movement. The temperature around him feels as though it's dropping every minute, and he can see his breath coming out in small puffs each time he exhales. The seconds keep passing and the longer he stands there waiting, the more the fear that consumes him grows.
The pain in his arm begins to push through and he realizes he's bleeding. Not taking his eyes off the water, he places his hand over the burn.
He's seconds away from diving in the bay himself when he sees a figure burst through the waves. Spock slices through the water with one arm while the other keeps a smaller figure above the surface. Kirk feels a small swell of hope rise up within him, but it's gone in a flash as the pair draws closer. Chekov isn't moving. The only thing keeping his head above water is Spock, whose firm grip on the boy refuses to let him sink any further into the ocean.
Kirk forgets the burning on his arm completely and rushes into the water up to his knees as Spock reaches the shoreline. He helps the other man stand as he lifts Chekov from the water. They sprint farther up to the safety of the beach, away from the crashing waves and tide.
Spock lays the boy onto the sand as gently as Kirk has ever seen him do anything before, and quickly unbinds his hands. He then places his fingers against Chekov's pale neck.
Kirk can see something flash across Spock's eyes as the Vulcan man tries a second time to register a heartbeat. A few moments pass until he stops and looks up.
"I cannot find a pulse".
And with that, everything within James Kirk's small world comes crashing down.
But he refuses to accept it. No. They've come too damn far to give up on the kid now. Kirk begins the only thing he can think of to do; the technique Bones taught him along with a handful of other basic first aid procedures back from years ago when he'd bitch about standard medical care.
Chest compressions first; then breathe.
60 compressions. Breathe. 60 compressions. Breathe.
Nothing happens. Kirk checks for any signs of a pulse and still comes up with nothing.
60 compressions. Breathe. 60 compressions. Breathe.
He can feel the hot, burning tears starting to blur his vision as he desperately tries to save the life of his youngest friend.
"Come on, come on," he whispers, teeth clenched as he repeats the cycle of compressions again. The boy beside him remains still; far too still. His lips are a chilling blue, and his skin is far paler than it ever has been.
"Damn it, Pavel!" Kirk now shouts, voice trembling. His arms are growing tired with every hit, he's losing track of his count. But he still refuses to give up; he can hear sirens in the distance.
Then suddenly, Chekov coughs. Kirk immediately looks up and sees water sputtering up past the boy's lips. Jim is frozen for a moment, too much in the shock of relief to move.
He's brought back as Spock moves forward and positions Chekov on his side, making it easier for the water to vacate his lungs. It seems an eternity before water stops rushing from the kid's mouth.
By the time the medics arrive, Chekov is still unconscious. What the attendants shout back and forth to each other dashes Kirk's hope with each passing moment.
They relay vital signs: blood pressure, breathing rate, temperature, heart rate. They rattle off visible injury after visible injury and after they've listed roughly a dozen, Kirk has to block it out altogether.
He barely registers the ride to the hospital; the woman bandaging his arm. All he can think about is the dying kid inside the other ambulance. He can't get that image out of his head: the boy lying so still, not breathing, no heartbeat.
Kirk finds himself in a waiting room of the hospital, the one outside of the emergency room. Chekov's in surgery, that's all he's been told. That's all he knows. The bastards from Starfleet wanted to talk with him now that Jareth and the rest of his associates are in custody, but Kirk wouldn't even acknowledge them. He won't talk with any of them until he knows the kid will make it out of this okay.
He's by himself for about a half hour before the rest of his friends show up. He can't answer their flurry of frantic questions. All he can tell them is that Pavel is alive. Last he saw him, that is, he was alive.
They sit together, the six of them, waiting. Hoping. Praying.
Just begging any kind of higher power to let their youngest family member live.
Hooray for more updates! I figured two chapters was worth it since I hadn't updated in so long! Really let me know what you thought of it in the reviews because as of right now, the ending for this story is way up in the air (and by that I mean whether or not everyone is making it out of this story alive or not *evil grin*) and I'd like to know what you guys think! As always, thank so much and I hope you all have a fantastic day!
