With the door closed behind him, Jim wasted no time in falling to his knees and curling into a ball, falling into a panic attack as easily as putting on an old shirt. Now that he was alone, there was nothing left to keep him from falling apart. After a moment, he realized he couldn't just sit and immediately stood and began pacing, trying to breathe slowly to calm his anxiety and panic and failing.

What was he going to do? Sure, they were already headed for the nearest Starfleet base, but what was he supposed to say? That he'd found and caught the presumably dead Kodos, the infamous genocidal dictator, and his personal tormenter?

A knock on his door shook him out of his thoughts, and with an almost not-quite irritation, he stood. After all, the last thing he wanted was to shove on a mask right now when he was at his limit. But, odds were it was probably Bones, right? Him, or Spock. But probably Bones, since he'd been avoiding him so much… Oh well, he'd find some sort of way to get him to leave Jim alone for a while so he could recharge enough to be Captain James T. Kirk again.

He finally rose and walked to the door, already speaking as soon as the door opened.

"Look, Bones, I-" An involuntary gasp left his throat, cutting off all intended words, as a sharp pain suddenly entered his side.

A woman he'd never seen before in his life pulled the knife out of him and immediately shoved him back inside his room, so hard he slumped against the back wall. Not even blinking, she stepped inside a moment later and the door closed.

"Hello, James T. Kirk," she greeted with a familiar smile that was all teeth with cold as ice eyes. With impending horror, the reality of who she was hit his brain like a starship at the highest warp speed.

"You thought your plan to catch my father was so clever," she said casually, walking over to the nightstand by his bed and picking up the communicator he'd thrown there after the last away mission. "If you'd been more subtle, perhaps it would have worked."

She then dropped Jim's communicator on the floor, slowly lifted her foot, and with a dramatic stomp, broke it to pieces.

If it wasn't for that familiar expression and actions (and the growing affections for his two crewmates he'd locked inside) he might have found her enchanting. She was beautiful, slim with blonde hair and wearing a form fitting blue dress. Clearly, she'd meant to look as disarming as possible, and succeeded.

"Let me assure you, I saw it coming a mile away." She then pulled out a PADD, sat on his bed, and began typing casually. "It's a shame, really. But you shouldn't feel bad. We already had you at checkmate and you hadn't even known we were playing yet."

A satisfied look settled upon her features as she finally sat the PADD down and stood.

"...Perhaps it would have been quicker and easier to kill you with a phaser, but personally?" She shrugged, the crimson stained blade in her hand glinting as she moved. "I've always liked the old fashioned weapons. Besides, I think you need to suffer a bit before you die, knowing you can't stop my father from escaping once again as you bleed out. And even if we are found, one day, without you, there isn't much of a prosecution, is there?"

Jim didn't reply, but the look in his eyes must have betrayed his agreement because a moment later, a laugh left her lips. She wiped the blood from the knife on the bed, and lifted her dress to mid thigh, and carefully slid it back into the hidden sheath. She then picked up the PADD she'd discarded and began walking towards the door.

"Don't worry your pretty head about trying to get up and leave, James. You won't believe how much it took to get top-notch hacking software, but it was worth all the trouble to know that no matter what, you are going to die here and there's nothing you can do about it but simply wait. And with you gone, we'll be safe."

She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and shot him a sweet smile as she walked towards the door, and out of it.

"Goodbye, James."

With that, the door closed, and he was alone.

Jim grimaced as he pulled his hand back from his sticky side, glancing quickly at his crimson hand before quickly pressing it against his side once again. He gritted his teeth and glanced down at the pieces of his ruined communicator, and then at his broken door. He was in pain, the exhaustion pulling at his limbs from days of so little sleep, but none of that mattered.

He couldn't just lay here and wait to die.

It was difficult, but he managed to use the bed to pull himself off the floor into a standing position. Better not sit again, he told himself internally. He didn't think he could manage to get up again if he did, after all. At least not on his own. The first thing he tried was banging on the door, and he quickly found it wouldn't budge. She hadn't been lying when she said she'd hacked it, huh? He made a mental note to bump up security.

As quickly as he could manage, he dragged himself over to his nightstand and began digging through a drawer, only stopping when he found the spare phaser he kept for emergencies. He shouldn't have one in there, via Starfleet regulations, but he was more than grateful at the moment he'd had enough insight to plan for the inevitable.

With a combination of determination and pure luck, his hand was steady as he aimed at the door and fired.

As he'd hoped, the sparking, damaged door swung open. He silently apologized to Scotty and all the other engineers that would have to come up and fix it, but this was a serious situation. He couldn't find it in himself to feel too bad as he quickly paced down the hallway, pain replaced by (short lived, he knew) adrenaline. Moving so fast, no one paid too much attention to him besides just moving out of the way. It was best, considering the slowly blossoming red stain on his yellow command uniform, and the phaser in his free hand.

Bones was going to be beyond livid with him for not going straight to sick bay (once Jim was stable and he was done being worried, anyway) but he had to stop Kodos and his daughter from escaping. If he was being honest with himself, he knew he wouldn't sleep at night until he knew that man was in Starfleet custody and on his way for his trial and sentencing. In the end, however, it wasn't his feelings that drove him. It was far more than just him that had been wronged by that man's actions. He wouldn't deny justice to all those other victims.

Now, there was a choice: Go to the bridge and get some help from his fellow crewmen and risk Kodos escaping, or go straight to the brig, surely soon enough to stop him and his daughter, but have to do it alone and injured? It was a difficult decision.

He entered the elevator, that was thankfully vacant, and leaned against the wall as he considered his options.

As much as he wanted to go to the brig and take care of it himself… The way his vision was swarming, he could barely stand, much less fight. He physically couldn't do anything, even with a phaser. That one good shot at the door was likely the only one he could manage. So the bridge it was.

It probably wasn't a great sign that he couldn't remember telling the elevator to take him to the bridge, or the ride there, he noted in the back of his mind. The next thing he knew, he was walking out- and almost right into Spock. Upon realizing who he almost walked into, Jim cursed his bad luck.

"Captain?" the Vulcan inquired, and Jim tried to move past him before he noticed anything, but he knew it was too late when the other's eyes widened minutely at the blood. That was as close to shock as he allowed anyone to see. "You are injured," he stated, and Jim had known him long enough to know this was said gently. "You should go to medical. I'm sure the doctor would insist if he knew."

Jim shook his head. "Listen, I promise I will soon, but I think Ko- Karidian is going to escape. He has an accomplice on the ship. She's a human woman, blonde hair, and wearing a blue dress. She's armed, and headed for the brig to break him out. I need to-"

"Jim." Somehow, Jim's words died in his throat once Spock had spoken his name. "I am more than capable of handling this situation. I will send more men to the brig to await this woman. I assume she is the one who injured you?"
He just nodded.

Was it just his imagination, or had something in Spock's eyes (the one thing he could never truly hide) grow cold?

"She will be dealt with appropriately." That cold look only hardened for a moment before his eyes flickered back to Jim's wound again and it was replaced by its usual warmth. "Now please, Jim; I will escort you to medical.. Medical care is not optional in this case."

For a moment, Jim almost faltered. After all, Bones would only be worried and slightly angry at him if he went in of his own accord vs if Bones had to find him and drag him there. But… as much as he trusted his crew, this was something he absolutely had to do himself.

"I will, after this is taken care of. But I need to…" He took a deep breath. It was crazy to try to explain this to Spock. He didn't know the real reason of why this was so important to Jim, and without that it didn't make sense why he was insisting despite being injured. "I need to do this. I need to know this is taken care of. We both know Bones won't let me leave the med bay for days once I go in there, and I can't just walk in there willingly until I know my crew is safe and Karidian can't escape."

For a moment, nothing, and Spock's eyes seemed to bore a hole in Jim's head as they locked eyes.

"I will go with you," he said finally, to Jim's shock. "We will quickly resolve this, and then you will go see the doctor." Jim felt his entire body relax. Good. That he could agree to. Knowing Bones, he'd still be mad, but at this point, Jim knew he could handle one of his best friends yelling him a lot more than knowing Kodos got away and he could have stopped it.

This time, the elevator ride was a distinct memory, because Jim could not remember ever seeing Spock that stiff and… well, if he didn't know better, angry. Why was a good question. Was it simply because Jim had gotten hurt, or was it just the thought of someone that hostile on the ship? It couldn't be just Jim, right?

But he quickly shoved all thoughts away as the elevator stopped, and the doors opened.

"Here," Jim said as they walked out, holding out the phaser for Spock. "I'll miss if I fire right now. It's better in your hands."

Spock took it without comment, simply nodding and continuing on.

For a moment, there was no sign of anything, and Jim allowed a tiny hope to rise that maybe, just maybe, they'd beat her here. But then, the still warm body of a red shirt came into view. Spock quickened his pace and knelt by the man. Jim just watched, hand subconsciously increasing pressure against his own wound.

"Already dead," he declared after a minute of studying. "I am not the doctor, but it seems to be from a single stab wound. But perhaps there are more ahead we can still save."

Fire burned in Jim's stomach. His own crew was dying because of Kodos, his family was dying again, and he couldn't do anything about it. He had to find her. He had to find her now, and end this once and for all.

Luckily, it was not another minute of walking when a flash of blue came into view, moving so quickly it took Jim's sluggish mind to process. She paused when she saw them. She was fully unhinged now; nothing remained of the cutesy defenseless girl now. Her dress was stained with blood and ripped, hair sticking up everywhere, lipstick smudged, and to top it all off, an almost animalistic rage burned in her eyes.

"Kirk," she hissed, her grip tightening on her knife. It was like she didn't even see Spock, but Jim wasn't too surprised. It was fairly obvious she wasn't entirely… there. "Father said you'd be tough to kill. But this time, I'll make sure to finish the job!" She raised her knife, and with a scream, began running towards him.

Spock didn't even let her get close.

With the almost eerie calm that only a Vulcan could possess, he moved forward. She probably didn't even see him until his fingers were by her shoulder, and by then, he'd already nerve pinched her and she crumpled to the ground.

A slight embarrassment settled into his chest at that. It was easy to forget with how composed Spock always was that he didn't need a weapon to disarm or best someone, and usually prefer not to use one.

All of the adrenaline finally gave out at that point, and this exhaustion and tiredness overwhelmed his body and mind. Jim stumbled over to the wall and leaned on it, and soon found himself sitting. Strange, he didn't remember sitting… Everything was slowly fading away after that, words sounding far away and colors bleeding together.

Ah, his last coherent thought began, perhaps I was bleeding more heavily than I thought.

Damn it, Jim, a voice said that he wasn't entirely sure was real. He registered a pain in his neck, and then nothing at all.