USS Enterprise, Class M Planet, Nibiru


"Acting Captain Ele on ze bridge!" Chekov announced.

"Mr. Chekov," Adea smiled, settling into the chair, "Commander Spock, do you copy?"

"Awaiting confirmation from the Captain that the locals are indeed out of the kill zone so we can initiate the neutralization sequence," Spock's voice crackled back over the Bridge's speakers.

"Mr. Scott," Adea started, "Do we have a visual on the Captain?"

"He's on the outskirts of the settlement now," Scotty reported back.

"Dr. McCoy, your status?" Adea asked, biting back a subtle smirk as she heard McCoy's voice over the speakers.

"Waiting for Jim with our...ride," McCoy grumbled, "Lieutenant, are you sure about this? I mean it's calm right now, but have you ever seen the fangs on these things up close? One chomp'll take my head clean off."

"Nibirillas are quite docile and vegetarians, Doctor," Adea countered calmly, "Nibiru's population has been domesticated by the locals for transport. Its like riding a large horse."

"Riding a large horse?" McCoy huffed, "Have you even seen one of these things in person?"

"Would it make you feel better if I lied and said I did?" Adea mused.

"Like a horse, my ass," McCoy muttered under his breath, "Waiting for the Jim to arrive before making our way to the beach, Acting Captain Ele. What's his status?"

"Captain is on the move," Scotty confirmed quickly, his brows scrunching as he stared at the monitor, "Wait, that can't be right."

"What is it?" Adea questioned.

"Is he running?" Scotty mused, glancing blankly at Adea.

"Kirk, what are you doing?" Adea repeated, paging Kirk's communicator.

"PLAN A WASN'T WORKING SO I IMPROVISED A PLAN B," Kirk's voice boomed out over the bridge.

"What?" Adea frowned, "You were supposed to create a distraction at the temple."

"I TOOK SOMETHING," Kirk yelled back.

"Took something?" Adea mused, staring at the screen as Kirk's beacon raced across the screen towards McCoy, "Kirk, what the hell did you take?"

"I HAVE NO IDEA BUT THEY WERE BOWING TO IT!"

"Bowing?" Adea huffed, "For the love of God, Kirk, please don't tell me you took-"

"ITS SOME TYPE OF SCROLL!"

"Kirk, that scroll is the most sacred thing on that island," Adea frowned, pinching the bridge of her nose, "The Nibirans won't just follow you, Kirk, they will kill you to get it back! "

"I NOTICED," Kirk shouted, letting out a string of swear words as his communicator cut out.

"Kirk?" Adea frowned, watching as Kirk and McCoy's met briefly, pausing for a moment as they began moving to the north, "Kirk, what are you doing? The beach is to the south."

"Kirk to shuttle one, the locals are out of the kill zone, repeat!" Kirk huffed, "Spock, get in there, neutralize the volcano, and let's get out of here!"

"Mr. Sulu do you copy that?" Adea asked, exhaling as she turned her attention to the shuttle's location.

"Copy that, preparing for descent," Sulu responded calmly.

"Captain, did the indigenous life forms see you?" Spock's voice chimed up, "The prime directive clearly states-"

"I know what it says, which is why I'm running through the jungle wearing a disguise! Now drop off your ice cube and lets go. Kirk out."

"Kirk!" Adea called out, frowning his communicator went silent, "Where on earth are they-"

Adea trailed off as she eyed the trajectory of the beacons, realization dawning slowly as she watched the beacons continue forward, floating off the edge of the island.

"McCoy's gonna kill him," Adea sighed, standing slowly.

"Water thrusters have been activated," Scotty spoke up, nodding towards Adea as he made his way across the bridge, "Lieutenant?"

"Right behind you," Adea replied, turning towards the command console, "Mr. Chekov you have the con."

"Honestly, lass," Scotty started, hunkering down the hallway, "You cannae imagine what the salt water is doing to her. Airtight and corrosion are two very different things. You'd think the captain would care more, but here we are."

Adea raced after Scotty as he rambled on, grumbling about various functions of the ship as they descended through a maze of hallways and staircases to the Engineering Bay. They traversed a final hallway, coming to a stop at the valve door as the caution tone blared. Kirk and McCoy stood of slowly as the remaining water flowed away, heaving as they removed their regulators.

"You two made it to the beach in record time," Adea mused, smirking slowly as she caught sight of McCoy's livid glare.

"I'm gonna kill 'em," McCoy grumbled under breath, his glower easing slightly as he looked towards Adea.

"You can do that later, Doctor," Scotty huffed, frowning at two men, "Do you have any idea how ridiculous it is to hide a Starship on the bottom of the ocean? We've been doing it since last night!"

"Where's Spock?" Kirk spoke up suddenly, staring urgently between Scotty and Adea.

"He's still in the volcano," Adea responded quickly.

"Let's go," Kirk ordered, "We need him out of there now. That thing's about to blow."

They raced down the hall to elevator, punching the key to the Bridge as the doors slid close behind them. Adea exhaled slowly as she glanced towards McCoy, a small smirk playing at the corners of her mouth as him thumb brushed the back of her hand, his fingers briefly intertwining with hers as he stared forward. She looked down as the elevator continued its ascent, glancing at her watch for the mission time.

"Where are Uhura and Sulu?" Kirk started, glancing over his shoulder at Adea.

"Waiting for your confirmation that the locals were out of the kill zone," Adea replied, "They began moving in once you reported."

"Began moving?" Kirk huffed, stepping out onto the Bridge as the doors swiped open, "They should be moving out of there by now."

Kirk paced to the center of the room, crossing his arms as he came to a stop in front of the captain's chair.

"Mr. Chekov, what's going on?" Kirk asked, glancing across the various screens.

"Ze beacons for Lieutenant Uhura and Commander Sulu appear to be returning to ze Enterprise," Chekov frowned, "But unless zer is an error, which is highly unlikely, Commander Spock is still in the volcano, sir."

"Still in the volcano?" Kirk repeated urgently, looking up suddenly as Sulu and Uhura raced onto the bridge.

"Captain, the ship's cable broke and the transporter's technology could not withstand the heat," Sulu stated quickly.

"He's still down there," Uhura concluded quietly.

"Lieutenant, do we have an open channel to Mr. Spock?"

"The heat's frying his comm's but we still have contact," Uhura replied softly, her voice breaking as she stared back at Kirk.

Adea glanced up at the wavering in her sister's tone, her brows knitting as caught sight of the terrified gaze in Nyota's eyes. Adea stared back at her sister as the Enterprise made contact Spock, her eyes flickering between her sister and the Bridge as she watched Nyota's expression grow more frantic.

"Shut up, Spock, we're trying to save you dammit!" McCoy shouted, stepping forward towards the screen Kirk as and Spock continued arguing.

"Spock, we're talking about your life!" Kirk yelled,

"The rule cannot be broken…" Spock's voice warbled precariously through the connection, falling silent as Uhura let out an audible gasp, her hand clapping over her mouth.

Spock?

Nyota looked away from the screen sharply, her panicked eyes locking with Adea's as a questioning look flickered across her younger sister's face. Nyota looked away quickly, her mouth pulling into a tight line as she turned away quickly to post, flicking frantically with the switches on her control board as she attempted to reestablish contact.

Nyota had to be kidding.

Adea glanced away from her sister slowly, shaking her head quickly as she refocused on the mission, walking forward to stand beside Kirk and McCoy.

"If Spock were here and I were there, what would he do?" Kirk asked, staring forward at the screen as the clock until detonation ticked down.

"He'd let you die," McCoy replied quietly.

Spock and his goddamn rules. Adea stared back at the screen, her eyes flickering back towards her sister as her mind raced.

"Technically, the prime directive defines no-interference as introducing new technology and knowledge to a developing culture," Adea spoke up quietly.

"What are you saying, Mini?" Kirk replied.

"Nibiru doesn't have the scientific capacities to understand or build anything close to a starship into their society for the next 400.000 years," Adea replied quietly, glancing towards Kirk and McCoy as they stared in her direction. "If you want to be one for wording, they technically can't introduce new technology to their society."

Kirk exhaled steadily, glancing at the clock as timer reached one minute.

"Well Spock is one of technicalities," Kirk muttered quickly in response, moving to sit in the Captain's chair, "Mr. Sulu, get us in the air now. Lieutenant Uhura, send a ship wide alert to prepare for liftoff."

"Yes, Captain," Sulu replied quickly, flipping the switches on his panel as the ship began to whir.

"Hold on to something before you go flying off, Mini," Kirk ordered, the thrusters rumbling to life.

Adea's scowl was interrupted as the ship lurched suddenly, sending her toppling to hard into McCoy's chest. McCoy raised an eyebrow at Adea as her cheeks went scarlet, smirking softly as he steadied her arms.

"I'd say he told you so," McCoy started, suppressing a smirk as Adea huffed, grabbing hold of the railing as the ship began lifting out of the water.

"Mr. Chekov, eta?" Kirk called out.

"Twenty-four seconds until ve are in range, Sir," Chekov replied quickly.

"That's pushing it," McCoy huffed negatively.

"Well that's all we got," Kirk replied, standing slowly as the ship pulled closer to the smoke cloud, the sensors on the bridge whirring in response to the heat, "Mr. Sulu, bring us in closer."

"Sir, I don't think she'll withstand much more heat," Sulu warned.

"Mr. Chekov, do we have a signal?" Kirk asked.

"Trying to lock on now!" Chekov answered, leaning forward as he focused on his screen, "I have a signal!"

"Ten," McCoy started, "Nine."

"Is that necessary, Doctor?" Adea commented, raising an eyebrow at McCoy as he rolled his eyes at her.

"Six seconds," Uhura warned, "Chekov?"

"I have him!" Chekov announced excitedly, "Should be beaming now!"

"Let's go," Kirk stated, nodding at McCoy and Adea as he paced out of the room towards the elevator.

The doors swiped shut as the elevator descended quickly, Kirk's attention glued to his watch until the door finally opened. The three raced down the hallway, skidding to a stop in front of the transporter room, the golden beams fading away as Spock stood slowly, his EV-suit smoking.

"Spock!" Kirk shouted, flashing a relieved smirk as he and McCoy came to a stop besides him, "You alright?"

"Captain, you let them see our ship," Spock admonished, fixing Kirk with a disappointed stare.

Adea rolled her eyes, exhaling loudly through her nose as McCoy huffed loudly.

"He's fine," McCoy grumbled, waving his arm at Spock as her turned towards Adea, shaking his head slowly.

"Bridge to Transporter Room," Uhura's voice rang out, "Is Commander Spock on board?"

"He's onboard safely," Adea replied calmly.

"Please notify him that his device has successfully detonated," Uhura stated tersely, static buzzing before her connection went silent.

Adea exhaled steadily, exchanging a quick look with McCoy as she turned back to Kirk.

"You hear that Spock? Congratulations!" Kirk smiled, "You just saved the world."

"You violated the Prime Directive," Spock frowned.

"They saw us," Kirk shrugged, "Big deal."

"Captain, I-" Spock started as Kirk waved him off.

"Report to engineering to have that suit removed," Kirk ordered, turning to McCoy, "I'm sure you'll have him checked out after he's done?"

"Joy," McCoy frowned, shaking his head as Kirk paced towards the exit, pausing in front of Adea.

"Now how's that for a birthday, Mini?" Kirk winked, flashing her a wide smile as he continued past her, disappearing around the door into the corridor.

Adea stared after him, shaking her head slowly.

"And I thought jumping off a cliff was the most exciting part of my day," McCoy huffed, smirking down at Adea as she pressed her thumbs into her temples.

"I swear there's never a boring day on this ship, " Adea groaned, stepping into the elevator.

They stood in silence for a moment as the elevator descended, Adea's forehead resting against McCoy's chest.

"So, uh, your sister and Spock-" McCoy started slowly.

"Don't look at me," Adea replied quickly, frowning up at McCoy, "She just started talking to me last week. You're the one on the same ship as her."

"Yeah, but why the hell would I want to spend that time contemplating about Spock's love life," McCoy frowned.

"Don't, Lee," Adea shuddered.

"I mean, just the thought of it about it-" McCoy groaned.

"Still my sister," Adea huffed quickly.

"So what is with you two and senior science officers?" McCoy sighed.

"And I have a uniform to change out of," Adea announced as the elevator slowed, stepping swiftly into the hallway as McCoy caught her hand.

"Where do you think you're going?" McCoy drawled, glancing casually over her shoulder as he pulled her towards him, his hands catching her waist.

"Lee, what are you doing?" Adea whispered, heat rising to her cheeks as she caught the devilish look in his green eyes.

"You think I'm going just to let you walk away in that suit?" He smirked, his hands trailed slowly up to her zipper.

"You're up to no good," Adea sighed, catching his hand as he pulled at the zipper.

"Well, conveniently, my room is located right across the hall," McCoy drawled, teasing her zipper an inch lower, "With a shower I remember you being quite fond of."

"I have to meet Kirk on the Bridge soon," Adea stated simply.

"I didn't say it had to be a long shower," McCoy replied in a low voice, tucking a loose curl of her hair behind her ear, "Besides, isn't it your birthday? I think you get a free pass for being a few minutes late."

"Aren't you supposed to be the responsible one?" Adea tutted, relenting slowly as he walked her towards his room.

"Sweetheart, when has that ever been true?" McCoy winked, his hands promptly refinding the zipper as he pulled her into his room.


Sulu's Quarters, 19:27


"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," McCoy drawled, glancing up at Kirk as Sulu opened the door.

"You two started drinking without me?" Kirk mused, sitting a whisky bottle on the table as he sat on the the sofa across from McCoy, "I'm offended."

"Well that's what you get when you take damn near forever," McCoy countered, pouring Kirk a glass.

"Had to bake a cake," Kirk shrugged, taking a sip from his glass as he leaned back against the couch.

"You baked a cake?" Sulu questioned.

"Don't look so surprised," Kirk huffed, "It was that or giving Mini more wine for her birthday."

"Is it at least edible?" McCoy mused.

"You should go into comedy, Bones," Kirk retorted dryly, raising his glass.

"Birthday parties. Volcanoes. Spock nearly vaporizing himself," Sulu listed, clinking Kirk's glasses, "Anything else you have in store for us today, Captain?"

"And ruin a good surprise?" Kirk mused.

"Keep going with surprises today and this bottle won't be enough," McCoy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Please," Kirk sighed, "We didn't lose anyone. We saved a planet. Everything's the same as it always was."

"And Spock and Uhura?" Sulu mused quietly, raising his eyebrows at McCoy as he glanced towards Kirk.

"Let me get this straight," Kirk started, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, "You two are always on me about conspiracy theories and you two have been in here gossiping?"

"Concerned about the wellbeing of our shipmates," McCoy offered innocently.

"Concerned my ass. Since when do you care so much, Bones?" Kirk mused, "I thought you hated ship drama."

"Not when I'm in the middle of it," McCoy shrugged.

"Double standards much?" Kirk commented.

"So any chance you were gonna mention what's going on between Spock and Lieutenant?" McCoy drawled, raising an eyebrow at Kirk.

"Any change you were mention you've spent the past four years boning the Lieutenant's sister?" Kirk replied calmly, his grin widening as McCoy nearly spit out his whisky.

"What the hell, Jim?" McCoy sputtered, swearing under his breath as he coughed.

"You knew?" Sulu replied slowly, smirking slowly as he eyed the captain.

"Of course I knew," Kirk stated proudly, "I know everything that goes on this ship."

"Well even if you knew, you don't have to say it like that," McCoy grumbled, refilling his glass as he glared Kirk.

"Do you know how long I've been waiting to use that line?" Kirk smirked, "It was a golden opportunity."

"How'd you figure it out?" Sulu questioned.

"Intuition," Kirk sighed, leaning back against the couch, "That, and running into Bones kissing her years ago."

"Years ago?" Bones repeated, staring back at Kirk, "When on earth did you see-"

"On her doorstep," Kirk clarified quickly, eyeing McCoy over the rim of his glass, "It was her apartment you ran to after the Romulan mission wasn't it?"

"Well I'll be damned," McCoy sighed, shaking his head slowly as he took a sip from his glass.

"You and your types," Kirk smirked, shaking his head slowly at McCoy.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" McCoy frowned.

"Please," Kirk tutted, "You joined the crew crushing on Lieutenant Uhura, and then you start dating her lookalike sister?"

"What? When was I ever crushing on Lieutenant Uhura?" McCoy huffed.

"Are you kidding me?" Kirk mused, "The entire first year on the Enterprise under Pike. It was so obvious."

"It was obvious," Sulu agreed.

"Seriously, Bones," Kirk pressed on, "Have you seen the two of them together? I mean, how did you not know that was her sister?"

"Enough from you two," McCoy grumbled, glaring up at Kirk, "You say it like the only reason I like my girlfriend because she looks like her sister."

"So she's your girlfriend now?" Kirk mused.

"Why is my life suddenly so interesting to you two all of a sudden?" McCoy huffed, leaning back against the corner of the couch.

"So it is official then?" Sulu mused, smirking at McCoy, "You called her your girlfriend,"

"Yes," McCoy grumbled, shaking his frowned at Sulu, "I mean, kind of."

"Kind of?" Sulu repeated, "What do you mean kind of?"

"You two haven't talked yet?" Kirk questioned.

"Kind of," MCCoy huffed, "I'll mention it. I don't see what the big deal is. I don't need to rush to put a label on it when Adea doesn't care and you two just need something to gossip about."

"Do you think she doesn't care or did you ask?" Sulu clarified.

"I have two months to talk to her," McCoy replied, "I already talk to her about everything else. I think labels can wait."

"Two months goes by fast," Sulu commented.

"Well I'm sure as hell not bringing it up in the middle of a birthday party," McCoy argued.

"So you two are just going to go your separate ways for a few months until the next assignment without knowing what you are?" Kirk mused.

"Thanks Doctor Phil. I'll bring it up," McCoy huffed, "But enough of this. I already told her we'll see each other when we're back and she's gonna get reassigned to the Enterprise. Don't need to make a fuss outta it, Jim."

"But you do like calling her your girlfriend," Kirk added.

"Drink your damn whisky, Jim," McCoy snapped quickly, shaking his head slowly as downed the rest of his drink.


Enterprise Archive, 8:23 am


"You need not to plan meetings this early in the morning after birthday parties," Carol frowned, blinked painfully as she eyed Adea's jittery mood.

"That's what coffee's for," Adea smirked, taking a sip from her mug as she leaned against the Archive table.

"Yes, well I don't have a handsome doctor who hand delivers my coffee each morning," Carol grumbled, "Some of us still have to have the energy to make it ourselves."

"Please," Adea sighed, "McCoy, Sulu, and Kirk started a couple hours before we got there. He was still in bed. I made my coffee myself, thank you very much."

"You must admit, you did at least have some fun," Carol smirked, "Kirk even made you a cake?"

"A glorified brownie," Adea smirked.

"And what about Chekov, hmm?" Carol teased, "Your glass was barely empty before he was offering to get you a new one. If he'd sat any closer to you, he'd've been on your lap."

"Always the charmer," Adea sighed.

"It's going to break Chekov's poor little heart when he finds out it was the good ol' Doctor, all this time," Carol huffed, feigning sadness, "Did McCoy get you something for your birthday?"

"No, he said he'd find something in Paris," Adea hummed, smirking as Carol raised her eyebrows at her.

"In Paris?" Carol repeated, "You two are going to Paris?"

"I'm not," Adea sighed, returning her coffee to the table as she turned to the Archive screen, "But he is during the first couple of weeks we're back on Earth for a conference."

Adea typed her security code into the system, smirking as the screen flickered green. She turned quickly towards the newly opened compartment, gingerly lifting the heavy case inside onto the table..

"If you're not going to Paris with McCoy, then what are you doing for the holidays once we're back?" Carol spoke up, lifting the first of the Klingon rifles out of the box as she laid it carefully on the table.

"Dunno," Adea shrugged, flipping a phaser charge over in her hands before setting it on the table, "McCoy's in Paris with his friends. You're with your parents. I'll probably be in San Francisco researching Klingon rifle tracking."

"You lead a sad life," Carol sighed, shaking her head slowly.

"Judgy much?" Adea huffed.

"I've got a better idea," Carol proposed, "Come to London with me. My parent's canceled and decided to stay in San Francisco. I have their flat in downtown London to myself. Shopping, restaurants, parks-whatever your heart desires, A, and if the doctor of yours gets a break, you're welcome to bring him along too."

"Why not?" Adea shrugged, sliding open the bolt of the rifle as she loaded the cartridge.

"Why not?" Carol mused, "Since when have you ever been so easily persuaded?"

"It's twenty minutes to the Starfleet Archive," Adea replied simply, smirking as Carol punched her in the shoulder.

"You're not coming to London for Christmas to spend the entire time in an Archive," Carol warned, balancing the rifle's stock against her shoulder as she glanced through the sight, "So let's figure out what's going on with your rifle."

She passed the rifle to Adea gently, crossing her arms as she leaned against the table.

"Every non-Federation-issued weapon has to be logged and signed off on before it can be transported on a Federation Starship," Carol started slowly, glancing down at the guns, "Whoever logged these weapons into the ship's archive is required to check weapons for any foreign alterations or implants that may endanger the lives of Starfleet personnel."

Carol reached forward slowly, waving a scanner over first rifle.

"Because weapons are logged, the system keeps track of make and models of each weapon," she explained, tilting the scanner screen towards Adea, "So if there are modifications made to the standard weapon, the scanner will pick it up."

"So implanted trackers," Adea started.

"Would be picked up by the scanner. Yes," Carol concluded, eyeing the screen, "This one has not been modified."

"And this one?" Adea asked curiously, stepping to the side as Carol scanned the second rifle.

"Also negative," Carol concluded, setting the scanner on the counter as Adea exhaled loudly.

"So nothing's wrong with either one of these?" Adea frowned.

"Now I didn't say that, did I? There's more than one way to test these" Carol tutted, picking up one of the rifles as she rotated towards the far end of the archive, "I got Kirk to drag one of the blast screens from the simulation room up here."

"Kirk dragged it up here for you?" Adea mused raising an eyebrow at Carol, "Is that a friendly dragging blast screens around the ship for you? Or a we just hooked up friendly gesture?"

"He is a friend," Carol huffed definitively, "But back to the rifles, shall we?"

"Sure," Adea smiled slowly, turning back to the blast screen.

"Now the scanner only picks up modifications from the standard model," Carol said, "But it would not account for components that are built into standard models. For example, a standard issue Klingon disruptor model typically does not have any tracking equipment. However-"

Carol turned slowly, aiming the rifle at the screen as she fired once, the red blast dissipating as it collided with the black material of the panel. She turned back to the table, ejecting the cartridge as she eyed the chamber.

"Some Klingon sentinel weapons were equipped with a module to alert nearby patrols if the weapon was discharged," Carol sighed, showing Adea the dark opening of the chamber, "You fired you weapon a handful of times to clear debris. Sulu did not. Only an idiot would not check the chamber of a Klingon rifle for one before logging the weapon, but its worth a look to see if that's why the followed you."

Carol exchanged the rifle for the one on the table, firing it at the dark screen. She ejected the second clip, raising an unamused eyebrow as she turned back to Adea.

"And there you have it," Carol concluded dryly as she pointed to the green beacon glowing in the chamber, "Mystery solved. You were almost killed by an idiot."

"Good to know," Adea mused quietly, glancing at the rifle as Carol returned it to the table, "So now what?"

"Well every non-Federation weapon has to be officially logged," Carol replied simply, logging into the Archive screen, "You can track down the idiot that didn't do their goddamn job and reprimand them. Better yet, get Kirk to do it. In the meantime, I'll double check everything else logged on the ship as "approved for use" before someone else on this ship nearly has their head blown off."

She typed quickly into the screen, crossing her arms as the search initiated. She scrolled for a moment before finding the entry, swearing under her breath as read the screen.

"Well, all the more reason to come to London," Carol huffed, pointing at the screen, "The idiot didn't log the weapon during this mission. It was logged the weapon beforehand at the archive in London. You'll need to check the id there. You can't do it remotely."

"So I am allowed to go to the archive if I visit you in London then?" Adea smirked.

"You are permitted maximum two trips to the archive," Carol stated.

"Two?" Adea mused.

"I mean it," Carol warned, "Do you accept my terms, Lieutenant Adea Ele? Will you be spending the holidays with me in London?"

"Terms accepted, Doctor Wallace," Adea smiled, her gaze slowly returning to the glowing green beacon on rifle as it wavered, flickering once before fading into darkness.


And finally into the Into Darkness canon :) Thank you for the new follows and reviews. I like the support and I like hearing what you all think. Stay safe and per usual, live long and prosper. -Case