Uhura crouched- though she didn't really need to- behind a vast tree trunk, listening to the sound of flesh hitting flesh. She tried to catch her breath, but it wasn't easy. What she'd just seen- who she'd just seen- it wasn't possible. And yet, there were those sounds.

Kirk and Spock were getting the crap kicked out of them by none other than Khan.

She tried to think, tried to process this.

"Jim! Attempt the disappearance command yourself!" Spock demanded, dodging blows. He sounded forceful; angry almost.

"I'm trying!" Kirk yelled back. He kept snapping his fingers for some reason.

Wow, Uhura thought. Spock had never spoken to her that way. She felt a twinge of jealousy. There was no reason she should be jealous, though. Spock was being mean to Kirk. But, he was there. Fighting beside his Captain. Or whatever they were now. That was more than she could say for her... doctor.

Suddenly it sank in, though, what Spock had said. "Disappear." As if he didn't really exist. Just like Leonard's vision of Alice and the rabbit, as they were on his mind, Khan appeared because he was on Kirk's mind? Was that what was going on? Their environment gave them what they were thinking of? In an empirically... extremely accurate way...

Leonard's imagination carried them far into Wonderland. But Kirk and Spock didn't seem to have changed much, apart from their sudden enemy. Uhura wondered if that was due to Leonard's telekinetically slightly altered mind. If that were the case, Uhura should be able to conjure whatever she wanted. Consciously.

She ran away from the fight, quickly, as far as she could, until she ran out of breath. She clutched her knees, taking in as much air to her tiny lungs as she could.

And then she began: 'Your lungs are expanding...' she thought, willing them to take in more and more oxygen. 'You are not small, you are your normal size. You are the size of a human being.

Maybe a little bit taller. But only like two inches taller than you were before.'

She kept her eyes squeezed shut and repeated her thoughts as a mantra. She felt the grass above her head brush against her cheeks. She felt like a time lapse of a flower in bloom. Her lungs felt like a balloon inflating. She inhaled and didn't stop, air coming in for at least a minute straight. It was the biggest, deepest, most satisfying breath she'd ever taken.

When she exhaled, she opened her eyes. Fuck yeah. She was back to her usual size again. She couldn't wait to bump into tiny Leonard and laugh at him. And then help him, of course.

But that was just the first step. Next, she had to imagine a weapon. What did she want? A phaser? That never worked on Khan. A net? Too risky, what if she missed? A knife? He'd turn it around on her.

Then she thought of a good one. He wouldn't see her coming because he didn't know she was here. She willed a shield around herself. She didn't want any other people's thought creations knowing about her. Then she wondered... if Khan didn't know of her existence, would she be able to interact with him?

She'd have to take the chance. She closed her eyes and opened her hands, thinking hard, waiting. Something heavy weighed her down, suddenly. She opened her eyes. Not only did this place read and create from her thoughts; it enhanced them too! She ran her hand along the fine, polished wood grain of the handle of her weapon. The steel on the end gleamed, just begging to be splashed in red.

She tiptoed back to the clearing. Kirk and Spock looked terrible. Spock was on the ground, trying to shield Kirk. Kirk was holding one hand that looked like it was bending the wrong way. Ouch. Khan backed off, laughing, holding a large rock. He opened his mouth to say something. Probably something arrogant and speciesist, but he didn't get a chance. Uhura stepped into the clearing behind him, holding up a sledgehammer.

Kirk said, "Uh-" and Khan read his expression. He turned around, locking eyes with Uhura, and then locking his perfect cheekbone with the sledgehammer. Teeth flew out of his mouth. Perfect broody hair was cast astray as he instantly lost consciousness and tipped over sideways. He hit the ground with a THUD.

Kirk started laughing. Spock stared at her with that kind of intensity she was familiar with as both admiration and suspicion that she insane.

"Where'd you get that?"

"I thought it. Same way you got that," she gestured with her weapon at the unconscious evil heap. "Snap your fingers, Captain."

"What?"

"You can do it. Snap your fingers."

Spock looked from her to Kirk. He snapped his fingers. Khan disappeared. Her sledgehammer disappeared.

The wounds and blood remained. Uhura didn't have enough energy to deal with those. But she knew who could.

Kirk seemed satisfied with finally making something happen. He stared at his hand, as if just realizing the power locked inside of it. Spock helped him to his feet and brushed himself off. And then brushed dirt from Kirk's back.

"Spock…" Kirk said wiltingly. Spock stopped and put his hands behind his back.

"Nyota, thank you," he said. She knew from his expression that he knew she had made Khan disappear.

"You're welcome. I have to find Leonard. Can you guys help me?"

"What happened to him? Is he okay?"

"He's fine, he's just- we ate a mushroom and… we shrunk."

"Shrunk?" Kirk smiled in disbelief.

"Diminished in size?" Spock specified. Uhura nodded. "To what extent?"

"We were only a couple inches tall. I managed to regrow myself, but I don't know if he did. I want to retrace our steps."

Kirk burst into laughter.

They wandered back through the forest, stepping carefully and calling for Bones. Kirk whistled, like he would for a dog. That got him an eyeroll from Uhura and an eyebrow from Spock.

He couldn't think of a better way to alleviate the tension of what they'd just dealt with than by making jokes. That was kind of the way he operated. He supposed that could be obnoxious to other people…

"He couldn't have gone too far. He was tired already when we split up."

"It would not be logical to separate."

"We wanted to look for help," Uhura said, focusing on the ground. She was lying, Kirk could tell.

"Is everything ok with you guys?"

"It's fine." That was short. Kirk and Spock shared a glance.

Then they heard giggling. When they crossed into the next clearing, Kirk was relieved and immediately more confused.

Bones, Scotty, Keenser, Sulu, and Chekov, were sitting in a circle, passing around a bottle of scotch. They looked up at their Captain and tried to hold it in. But it didn't work. There was a burst of laughter from Bones especially. He got up and stared at Uhura.

"What in blazes- how'd you get back to- I mean, I'm so happy to see you!" He gave Uhura a hug. She was rigid. He followed that by hugging Kirk and then Spock too. What was going on?

Scotty, the least drunk of any of them, managed to explain. "Cap'n, yeh'll 'ave to excuse 'im. He almos' drowned in my drink."

"It said "Drink me!" He laughed to Uhura, as if it were an inside joke.

"I see." Uhura replied.

"How'd you do it?" He was clearly too drunk to realize Uhura was upset with him.

"I thought myself back."

"Are you- you look taller." He took her shoulders. She shook him off.

"Kirk's got a broken wrist, can you help him please?"

Bones obediently went to Kirk and scanned his wrist with his tricorder. "Yeah, that's broken. We'll uh," he paused to hiccup, "we'll have to go back to the ship."

"That's a good idea for all of us, I think. I don't think we're mentally equipped to take shore leave here. We'll go to the nearest starbase. Can you call us a transport, Scotty?"

"Aye."

As he was making the call, Kirk heard a mechanical sound. Spock bent over in front of him and tore a piece of paper out of the ground. He handed it to Kirk.

It itemized each member of the party on the planet, and listed subvalues: table and chairs, mushrooms, Khan, sledgehammer, peaches. And each had a number next to them. At the bottom was a total, in Federation credits. It was a bill!

Spock read it over his shoulder. "It appears that this planet is a recreation area."

"Yeah, an expensive one, too."

They dissolved into energy, and appeared on the transport pad.

"I hope everyone had a good time," he announced to the group. "It's my treat. Sulu, Chekov, head back to the bridge and lay in a course for the nearest starbase. You have the con, Sulu."

"Yes Captain." He grinned, and took Chekov by the elbow.

"Oh and guys-"

"Da, Keptin?"

"Replicate yourselves some black coffee. Let's not make drinking and driving a habit."

"Yes sir."