Long time no see guys! Sorry about the delay but I've had mocks and things have been a bit stressful at the moment. So I guess I've got some bad news...this may be kinda on hiatus along with all my other fics. I have GCSE's in only a couple of months and I was...disappointed with my Mock scores. I got a B in English! A B! Anyway, outrage over, I have some good news! I'm on the last couple of chapters of this fic so, this is gonna be how it pans out. I will post the next couple of chapters over the next few weeks until you're all up to date with me (PS Left it on a massive cliffhanger but my friend has promised not to throttle me as long as I finish after exams) and hopefully-fingers crossed-I'll have it done by August but probably beforehand I just don't know really. I'm going to Amsterdam this half term on a school trip and then it's study leave followed by exams and afterwards a three week trip to Kenya! Don't I have an exciting life! Anyway, I will do my absolute best to finish as soon as possible and don't be too sad-you'll break my little black sadistic heart! xxx Morgan xxx
Uhura's heart was thumping loudly in her eyes as she helped Noel stagger through the winding maze of corridors. They had to weave their way through rooms in an attempt to avoid any pursuers who may have caught on to their presence and Jim and Noel's weakness meant that the journey was long and arduous; filled with constant tension and frustrated curses. The stubborn captain refused to be assisted-having ingested less of the foul, debilitating substance they had been forced to consume given his shorter imprisonment-and Uhura didn't have time to argue with him, her desperation to reach Chekov overpowering her concern for her captain. Perhaps it was foolish, but Uhura just ignored the echoing doubts and heaved Noel onward down the hallway; noting that Jim's movements were slicker than before and that his pace had quickened with exercise. He certainly was grimacing less and he now just hobbled along behind her, occasionally panting from the effort and bracing himself against the wall. She turned her head over her shoulder slightly, stopping to allow Noel to get his breath back and deal with her nagging worry.
"Are you okay?"
Jim merely gasped and waved away her concerns; his face a sickening pallor as he obviously fought for breath, though there was a greenish tinge to his cheeks that indicated rising nausea. At that moment, the Captain's stomach rebelled and he turned over to the side; vomiting violently for at least a minute before finishing with a couple of dry heaves and wiping the last of the colourless sick off his lips, washing them away with a fresh burst of tears. Uhura carefully let Noel drop down on the floor and rushed over to assist her friend; kneeling down beside him as he groaned and spat the lasting taste of bile from his mouth.
"I'm good…I'm good." He reassured her, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as well as he sat up straighter "I feel better now…we need to keep moving."
Jim pushed her hands away and nodded toward Noel, already staggering a little dazedly in front of them. Uhura wasn't solely convinced, but the young man now had some colour in his previously blanched cheeks and he moved more easily, curling into his stomach less. The expulsion of the horrid substance from his guts had done the trick and Uhura was slightly more confident in their chances as she hurried back over to Noel and placed his arm over her shoulders. Adrenaline was lending her the necessary strength to carry the alien but even though he was quite young, he was heavier with the effects of their diet and the longer their journey, the weaker Uhura began to get. As they approached the medical centre, Uhura was silently impressed with the determination of her Captain as he obviously forced himself to get better-probably with sheer willpower-and was now considerably less wobbly than before.
The sound of marching boots urged them to speed up and they quickened their pace; doing their best not to exhaust themselves in the process as they walked as fast as their weakened bodies would allow. Finally they rounded the last bend toward the omnipotent doors of the dreaded laboratories, Noel sagging so heavily against Uhura that Jim had fallen back to balance at least some of the weight on himself. Her heart thundered in her chest as her sensitive picked up the sounds of shouting-their escape blatantly having been discovered-and once or twice she was frightened to think she heard the distant echoes of gunshots. A blond girl stepped out from the alcove, looking calm and collected as she spotted the impeding group; a general aura of strength and authority as she rushed to meet them.
Luna's tone was even as she addressed Uhura "Where's Keira?"
"She was helping the other to escape, last time we saw her." Uhura replied slightly breathlessly and she adjusted Noel's weight on her shoulder so that his head lulled to one side in his unconsciousness.
Luna froze as she saw his face, her mask crumbling as she bent down and placed a hand gently against his cheek; flicking away his brown hair. Uhura was startled by the suddenness of the action and she was astonished when she saw Luna's pearly, blue eyes widen and flood with tears, a couple gently trickling out of the corner of her eyes.
"Noel?" her voice was a soft whisper, like a gentle breeze ruffling through the leaves on a summer's day and Uhura was unsure whether she had actually heard the young woman speak.
Noel groaned, obviously a little aware of his surroundings as he lifted his head to look up at the distraught blond and he too had a similar reaction before his slack-jawed expression morphed into a small smile "Luna…"
In an instant, Luna had wrapped her arms around Noel and locked him in a tight, desperate embrace as she buried her face in his shoulder. Without thinking, Uhura released the young man and the two slid to their knees, Noel leaning against Luna as she cradled him closer. The alien girl pulled back and clasped his face in both hands; Noel's weakly rising to touch the back of her hand as it touched his cheek, as though they were both checking the other was real. A smile spread across Luna's delicate face as she pressed her lips to his and they locked in a passionate kiss, finally drawing back only to take a deep breath. They giggled nervously at one another, the pure joy reflected in one another's eyes and Uhura felt very awkward as she stepped back in astonishment. Jim's expression of surprise quickly transformed into one of unerring glee as he patted his friend on the back and met Luna's eyes.
"You must be Noel's true love. He's gonna propose to you, you know."
The blunt statement seemed unreal in the current situation and Luna looked taken back by Jim's sudden appearance in her miraculous moment and wasn't worried about hiding her confusion but Noel just laughed, looking brighter and stronger than before.
"This is Jim; he helped me to escape." Noel looked back to her with loving eyes, rubbing his thumb lightly over her cheek "How are you here?"
"After you were taken away…I tried to bargain with the King. He promised to release you if I came and joined him at the castle…but afterwards…he said you were dead." Her voice broke once more and she hugged him again, as though afraid to let go in case he faded away.
"I will never leave you…" Noel replied solemnly, kissing her softly on the lips again and forcing her to meet his eyes.
Uhura was a romantic at heart; but she could hear the drumming of soldiers swiftly approaching and she forced herself to speak "We need to go!"
Luna's mask was immediately back in place and she gave an affirmative nod before taking hold of her lover and helping him to his unsteady feet. Jim followed suit, already hurrying over to the doors and Luna passed Uhura a key pass, which she used to swiftly deactivate the complex locking system. Not waiting for the others, Uhura and Jim rushed into the area; sprinting-Jim's legs powered by an unseen power that Uhura could not describe –and they flew down the long corridor. The lights flickered and flashed at irregular intervals and Uhura remembered from her brief engineering course that it usually meant that there was some kind of large power drain somewhere and the power was being used for something else. A sickening feeling of dread settled in the depth of her stomach and her pace instinctively quickened.
They stopped dead still as a savage scream echoed down the hallway; the abominable sound ricocheting off the benevolent white-wash walls. Time seemed to freeze as they looked between one another, each recognising the pitch of the sound as belonging to their dear friend, their little brother. Uhura went to sprint down the remaining gap but she was jerked back by Jim who shot her a pleading look; begging her to keep calm and not get caught. his eyes were filled with the same distress and Uhura nodded quickly, biting down hard on her bottom lip to prevent herself from crying and steading a shaking body. They needed to move quickly and efficiently; there was no time to be emotional, they needed to get Chekov out right now. Regaining her professional composure, Uhura followed Jim down the hallway as they neared the entrance to Chekov's room; her heart hammering in her chest and the blood rushing through her body. Jim peered hesitantly around the corner as another violent howl tore through the room, the sound dying into desperate sobs and pleas in slurred Russian. Uhura only caught a few words, but she knew that Chekov was begging for them to stop, to make the pain go away but his attempts were ignored and another flash of light and shriek followed, making both Jim and Uhura flinch and screw their eyes shut to escape the horrifying sound. Quietly, Jim motioned for Uhura to follow and they crept into the room where a group of scientists wearing tinted, protective goggles were stood a few feet away from the metal slab and its occupant, recording data and talking amongst themselves; too absorbed in their work to notice the pair that had just snuck into the laboratory. Another burst of bright light and Uhura saw Chekov's back arch as he cried out again, straining against the straps as his body convulsed under the extreme pain.
They were electrocuting him.
Uhura almost had to turn away as her stomach somersaulted and ripped itself apart in her abdomen. Never before had she seen something so…barbaric and with an anguished battle cry, the linguist grabbed the nearest heavy object off of the bench beside them and leapt into the fray. The scientists didn't even have time to cry out as she battered them maliciously, not caring whether they survived the beating or not as her entire body was fuelled by the uncontrollable rage within her. Behind her, she could hear Jim fighting his own opponents with equal ferocity, his movements just a blur of legs and arms as he instinctively went back to the dirtiest and most painful techniques-if you could call them that-and brought the aliens to the ground. Uhura turned to see Jim shove Dr Standing against a large, complicated machine which sparked violently and the Doctor writhed as he was shocked by the electricity that had previously been focussed at Chekov; collapsing onto the floor in a steaming pile, his skin blackened and blistered by the power. Jim stood over him, breathing heavily and he leaned down just enough to spit on the alien's dead body before turning to the slab and rushing over. Uhura almost slipped in the blood of her own adversaries as she hurried over to bend beside Chekov as he swallowed shallow, shuddering breaths.
If Uhura had though he looked terrible before… it almost killed her to look at him as he rolled toward them, tears streaking down his white face and his eyes open yet unseeing. His eyes were the most disconcerting. The once bright, blue, joyous orbs they were milky pale and duller, like the colour had been drained from them and at the corners his retinas were an angry blood-red. When she glanced up, Uhura saw the horror and devastation in Jim's face; multiplied by the fact that he had not been prepared for what he was to see and had no inkling on the pure suffering the poor teenager had been exposed to. Jim reached down and began to unbuckle the restraints, his finger quivering as he clawed at the hard leather but Chekov whimpered as he touched him, falling back into his native tongue to plead once more.
"Shhhh, Pasha." Uhura whispered soothingly, feeling the tears flooding down her cheeks as her voice cracked "It's Jim and I; we've come to get you out, okay? No one's going to hurt you anymore."
"N-Nyota? K-keptin?" Chekov croaked in reply, his voice weak and filled with unimaginable pain.
Nyota saw Jim's heart break in that single moment and the cool, calm Captain lost his mask and allowed the tears to fall "That's right, Pasha. We've got you; we're going to get out of here right now…back to the Enterprise."
Fresh tears brimmed in the Russian's eyes as he broke down into fragile, choking sobs and curled up against Uhura as she leant over him so his head was tucked between her cheek and shoulder "Spasibo vam…sank you…sank you…"
Finally, Jim tore off the last restraint and hesitantly, Uhura helped Chekov sit up. The teenager winced, though it was more like he was stiff as he gently brought his exhausted hands to his stomach and rested them there before slowly swinging his legs over the side and Jim moved forward as if afraid he would collapse. The blue light above them made Chekov's translucent skin look nightmarish and Uhura looked around for something to cover him with but could only see the clean lab coats hung in the corner and instantly decided not to do even more damage to Chekov's already tortured psyche. Chekov brought his hands up to his eyes and shook intensely, before his breathing once again became ragged.
"Pasha?"
"I-I can't see." Chekov murmured shamefully, his voice so guilty that if Uhura's heart hadn't already been in pieces, it would have shattered like glass.
Time stopped and Jim's face went eerily pale as he stared down at the young Russian and asked in a hoarse, heart-breaking whisper "What?"
"Z-Zey b-blinded me, sor…." Chekov replied, his voice thick and conveying his devastation "I-I cannot see."
Jim cursed and turned away from the two, placing his hands on his hips and then putting a hand against his forehead as he obviously tried to work out his ruined escape plan and Uhura watched Chekov flinch at Jim's harsh words. Uhura placed a hand on the small of his back and rubbed soothing circles there, trying to relax him as she knew that he would be terrified without his sight as he wouldn't know where Jim was looking.
"Y-you muzt leawe me, sor…" Chekov ground out and Uhura's blood froze in her veins and Jim turned back to him in obvious surprise, but Chekov's milky eyes stared straight ahead even as his voice wavered "I vill only slow you dovn…as Mizter Spock would say, it vould be illogical to bring me."
Jim looked at him as if he couldn't believe what the Russian was saying "Screw Spock, Chekov. No man gets left behind. Now we need to get a move on now. The others are waiting for us."
The commanding tone was much more in character and Uhura was reassured by the young man's tone as he carefully came over to Chekov and pulled his arm over his shoulders; nodding for Uhura to do the same. Gratefully, Uhura wrapped her arm around Chekov's back and guided his spindly arm around her shoulder, ignoring the coolness of his skin as she lifted him off the table and they began the long journey out of the medical block.
They were going to get out of here and help Chekov, or die trying.