Authors Note:
Sorry for the delayed update! I've been crazy at work and I just wanted to rest on my days off. I'm now off for a whole week and I'm hoping to get this near completion. Fingers crossed! Just a little update for now, the rest is coming!

Chapter Twenty-One

"My mind to your mind…

My thoughts to your thoughts…

Let me feel your thoughts.

Let me explore your mind.

Let me protect you."

"Stop. Who is that? How did you…"

Jim's voice echoed around him.

Spock looked around Jim's mind. It seemed different from before.

The darkness was more apparent, memories were harder to find and many had already faded away.

Jim's inner self kept his back to Spock.

"I am here to help you. Search my mind. Remember who I am."

Jim kept his back to Spock as the darkness surrounded them closer.

"I can't remember who you are. I can't remember… anything."

"Captain. Look at me. Let me show you, I shall teach you how to remember who you are."

Spock continued.

"I… I can't. You'll hurt me. You'll hurt me like the others did."

Jim's inner self started to turn, showing himself to Spock.

Spock almost took a step back when he saw Jim. His inner self was fading. Half of his face was plain and completely missing, much like his memories.

"How can you help me? Look at me. I can't even remember my own name. I don't know who I am."

"You are a Captain of the Star ship Enterprise. Together we will remember."

Spock continued, looking at the faded man before him.

Jim suddenly grasped his head, covering his ears to block out a screeching sound drumming into him.

"What is that noise?"

"It is of highest importance that you remain calm, captain. The doctor is helping you remember."
Spock spoke calmly, moving closer to the man in front of him.

"It hurts. What are you doing to me?"

Jim took a defensive step back, assuming it was Spock hurting him.

Spock noticed Jim's uncomfortable body language. "It will stop soon. Let your memories return."

"Make it stop!" Jim grasped his head tightly, squeezing his hands on his head to relive the pressure without much luck. "What is he doing to me?"

"The doctor is using lasers to erase the damage on your mind."

"Make it stop. Please, Spock, make it stop."

Squeezed his head tighter.

Spock raised his eyebrow, "You remembered who I am. The treatment is working."

"But it hurts. I can't do this Spock, I just can't." Hot tears started to fill Jim's closed eyes as panic began to set in.

"Tell me more of what you remember." Spock continued calmly, watching his friend in pain.

Jim's inner self collapsed to his knees. "I… I don't know… Please, stop the pain. Make it go away. I can't do this."

"What is your name? Who are you?" Spock pressed, raising his voice slightly.

"I am…" Jim wanted to scream it with all his might, the growing pressure building more and more in his head. "Captain… JAMES TIBEROUS KIRK" his eyes burst open as the rest of his face appeared. All the tension and pain building in his mind was finally released out of his body, thousands of memories flooded his mind once again.

"Jim, look. You're memories are returning!" Spock raised his voice further so the weakened man in front of him could hear over his screams of pain.

Jim was unaffected by the use of his name for the first time. He looked around his mind as small flash backs of his memories returned.

"I can remember… but it still… it still hurts."

"That will stop when the Doctor is finished. Your mind is healing, your memories are returning. It is time I leave now, Jim. You must repair the rest of your mind on your own." Spock took a step back as Jim's memories started to flood his own mind, it was hard to stay connected as they returned but he couldn't admit that to Jim, in case he refused the memories.

"Wait…" Jim's inner self reached out for Spock, wanting nothing more than to keep him with him, he made Jim safe, it made the pain better. He brought Jim's memories back. "I can't do this without you."

"Jim, you are stronger than you believe. Your memories will return and show you that. There is nothing more I can do until after your mind has healed itself." Spock could feel the bond weakening further.

"So I guess I see you on the other side then?" Jim said, as memories surrounded him further.

"It is good to see you becoming well again, Jim." Spock said, fading out of Jim's mind for the last time.

"Spock, what happened in there?" McCoy noticed Spock's almost instant return out of Jim's mind as his eyes snapped open.

"The captain was in a lot of pain. His mind will need time to recover from its ordeal." Spock said, rising up to his feet and composing himself. He felt physically weakened but it didn't show.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" McCoy said, folding his arms. He didn't know Vulcan's understood how to tease. "Did it work? Do we have our Jim back?"

"It may take him some time, but yes Doctor. I believe the treatment worked. The captain seemed physically unharmed and in good spirits when I left him. However – his memories will take time to return. I suggest –" Spock started to explain.

"That's all I needed to hear." McCoy breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in a while. "Did you say his name? Does it hurt him?"

"The Captain was unaffected by the use of his name." Spock said, placing the hands in the small of his back. It was clear the doctor didn't want to know all the ins and outs of what happened yet.

McCoy smiled. "Thank you Spock." It wasn't normal for McCoy to show sincere gratitude towards Spock but for once in his life he could finally admit that he really couldn't have done this without the Vulcan's help.

"The choice was logical, Doctor. The captain still has some recovering to do, but I shall return when he wakes." Spock said, unfazed by the thanks he received. "For now I must take leave to meditate."

"I'll comm you when he's ready for visitors." McCoy said as Spock turned to take leave. He couldn't wipe the smile off his face. "Let's take those damn needles out his skull now." He ordered Nurse Chapel.

"Doctor – his pain factor is rising further." Nurse Chapel spoke up quickly before McCoy could touch the mind probes control panel.

"It could be the sedation wearing off, give him another shot quickly. We can't have him waking up with all this in his head. The freak out won't be worth the hassle." He said, not thinking anything of it.

She quickly followed her orders and jabbed Jim in the neck with more sedative, keeping her eyes Jim's vitals.

"No affect, Sir."

Suddenly panic hit him but he refused to let it affect him. "Don't do this to me now, Jim, God dammit! This kid doesn't like to make things easy for me does he?" McCoy snarled, grabbing his tricorder and completing a quick full body scan.

McCoy could feel his heart drop when he saw the results. "Looks like one of the lasers has managed to go a little further in that I would have liked and Jim's brain doesn't like it. We need to remove them now." McCoy said, throwing the tricorder on the side to access the computer screen.

"Could it have caused any damage?" Nurse Chapel asked, looking worried.

"We won't know until the lasers out and Jim's awake." He said, tapping the order into the computer faster than he knew he could. "Apply pressure gauze as soon as they start to retract. Looks like its the upper left laser causing the issues."

Nurse Chapel nodded, grabbing the gauze quickly.

"Here we go…" he said, tapping the final eject button.

All five lasers began to retract and Nurse Chapel quickly applied the gauze to each small hole left in Jim's head. It didn't take long for alarms to start flooding the room.

McCoy grabbed the emergency meds out the bag Nurse Chapel brought in earlier. He quickly injected them one by one to stem any extra bleeding going on in his head. Slowly Jim's vitals started to lower enough to quiet the alarms.

McCoy took a deep breath. "And now we wait…"