Star Trek Discovery

Quarantine

"We leave no one behind"

Summary

Having found an abandoned Section 31 research outpost Pike sends a team down to investigate. Bored and in need of distraction he takes the lead and invites Tilly, Reno, Michael and Sr. Pratts to join him. The outpost was abandoned for a reason, one that may prove lethal for parts of the away team.

OOOOOO

Chapter One

The Road to Hell

Tilly hitched on a breath and started coughing, it felt like her lungs was on fire and she didn't get enough air, her eyes bulged as her oxygen-starved brain thought it was suffocating. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as she began to panic and sank to her knees.

Then suddenly, like a protective veil, strong and comforting arms gently enveloped her and lifted her up again. Her anxiety lessened a little as she felt the freshness of his cologne and his body next to her. Tilly stopped coughing and let out a quivering breath as the attack passed. Her legs were still weak and she would have fallen had he not still been holding her upright.

"It's all right," he whispered softly in her ear. "I've got you."

Sylvia closed her eyes and allowed herself to lean against him, actually sag might have been a better word. She had dreamt of the moment where she melted in the captain's arms but this certainly wasn't one of the ways she'd pictured it. She looked like death warmed over, her cheeks flushed and hair tousled while her forehead was covered with a thin sheen of perspiration.

She mused with a sense of morbid fascination at the fact that despite their current predicament she was enjoying herself. She was no fool and she clearly remembered the looks of concern from Michael, Spock, Saru and Nhan as Doctor Culber had told them that the virus they'd picked up would eventually kill them unless a cure was found or their immune system were capable of fending off the pathogen. She gazed through the large window separating the quarantine room from the lab, expecting them to stand there again, at any second, to watch over them.

"I'm so sorry, sir," she blurted. "When I told you earlier I was happy it was just the two of us,-" she trailed off and turned to face him, looking somewhat embarrassed. "-it might have sounded like I wanted you for myself."

A dimpled smirk appeared on Pike's ghostly white lips and his eyes sparkled with amusement as he tilted his head slightly downwards to look at her closely. "I think you can drop the, sir. Actually you can drop all the formalities. Why don't you just call me Chris from now on?" he suggested.

She did a double take at him, her eyes bulging but for a completely different reason than earlier. "Capt,- I mean Chris," she stammered and brightened.

"That wasn't so hard was it?" he said softly and carefully let go of her. "Will you be able to stand on your own now?"

'I might not want to', she so desperately wanted to say but for once she managed to keep it to herself. Instead she gave him a nod.

He nodded back and watched her for a moment to make sure she didn't decide to fall flat on her face.

She waved his concern away and tried to keep her face neutral at his intense blue gaze and the concern directed at her. In an effort to try and think about something else she slowly made her way across the small room and ended up next to the observation window and pressed her forehead against the cold glass.

Chris followed her and came to stand next to her. "It's going to be okay, Tilly," he said kindly.

Sylvia glanced up at him. "I wish I had your faith," she whispered and then took a deep breath as she looked away from him and down at her hands, unable to face him. She let out a nervous chuckle. "I-, she began.

The captain looked at her.

"I guess here goes nothing," she managed. "What the heck, if we're going to die what difference does it make?"

He was frowning at her, not quite sure what she was trying to say but he patiently waited for her to continue.

"I,- don't laugh at me,-"

He couldn't help himself as a faint chuckle escaped his lips and then unintentionally gave her one of the most charming smiles she'd ever seen.

"I adore you – no – I love you," she blurted. "I think I have from the moment I first saw you."

His expression became unreadable for a moment.

Her mood sank as her courage plummeted and she desperately wanted the dimpled smile to crease his lips again. "I know it's inappropriate to say it. I know it's wrong to say such a thing but you're just so sweet, so sexy, so-" she trailed off and gently banged her forehead against the glass, not sure what else to do while condemning herself for being such an idiot.

"I don't want to hurt your feelings, Tilly," he began politely then a weary look came upon him and he wobbled ever so slightly, "but you're not the first subordinate who's had a crush on a captain. Don't worry, it'll pass."

She wanted to kick herself in the butt for being so stupid but she might as well go all the way as she'd already stuck her foot in it so to speak. "You don't understand, Chris," she said with a sigh. "I've tried to get you out of my mind,-"

Tilly stop talking in mid-sentence as she watched his knees buckle and then as his legs gave away, unable to keep him upright any longer. He crashed to the ground in a heap, his head lolling to the side, his eyes closed.

"No," she whispered desperately and scrambled over to him. She knelt next to him and shook him by his shoulders. "Chris!"

Getting no reply she felt her heartbeat thumping loudly in her chest and her pulse quickening in despair as she let go of him and heaved herself up from the floor. She reached for the intercom button on the wall and slapped it so hard it almost broke off. "Help! Please help me! Doctor Culber, Doctor Pollard, someone!" Tilly let out a quivering breath and began to sob as she let go of the button and then made her way back to where the captain lay motionless next to the window.

"Chris," she begged as she carefully placed two fingers under his chin, willing for him to have a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw a faint rise of his chest. "You're still breathing," she deduced.

The doors swooshed open to reveal two orderlies and Doctor Culber geared up in airtight suits.

"He's alive," she whispered wearily, feeling drained and lethargic all of a sudden as the adrenaline started to leave her body. "Oh my goodness, he's still alive."

A nurse suddenly materialized at her side and gently knelt down next to her. "Doctor Culber will take care of the captain," she said kindly. "How are you feeling, Ensign Tilly?"

"Have you been listening in to our conversation?" she asked carefully.

"No," the nurse assured her softly and gently squeezed her shoulder as she finished her medical scan of her.

Tilly breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I'm hanging in there," she whispered and gave into the darkness that tugged at the edge of her vision.

OOOOOO

To be continued

A/N: So sorry but inspiration hit and I had to share the beginning of this story with you before I continue with "Lethal Substance".