So sorry ive been taking so long with these upcoming chapters, been determined to get them perfect even though ive hit a wall of writters block lately, probably due to the fact im moving out soon af now but anway. Enjoy. I've not given up on the story, don't give up on me.

Xoxox

They were finally on planet. Finally.

"You know they're going to come looking for us, and when they find us. You won't stand a chance. Do you really think for one second they wouldn't notice that we're gone?" Nyota snapped as the grimey man they'd came to know as Jacobs waltzed back over with a cocky grin on his face cracking his knuckles one at a time as he came and stood in front of Nyota, putting a hand on his hip.

"Thats a lot of fighting talk from such a small woman, are you homesick already? Oh i've got a great idea, lets phone home! Just check in with them show them that you're settling in just great, Kor hail them." He barked.

"You've committed crimes against a federation vessel and you're going to brag to them that you've got away with it?" Alex started laughing, it was a loud hearty sound and it unnerved Nyota a bit at how genuine it was. "God you're stupider than i thought." she sneered watching as Jacobs stalked back over to her looking particularly perplexed by her behaviour.

"What did i say about keeping quiet Missy? Now i'm gunna have to punish you again in front of your friends." A grin stretched across his face.

"Hailing them now captain." One of the klingons spoke in broken english.

"On screen."

The front monitor of the ship was suddenly filled with colour as Jim's face filled the screen, Leonard and Spock stood at his sides. Alex tried her best to ignore the look that crossed Leonards face when he saw her, but there was un adultered fury in his eyes now as he saw both of them tied up and the black eye she was sporting. Other than that they were all stony faced, not giving away their emotions in the slightest as Jims voice came through like gravel. Harsh and commanding.

"I'm James T. Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise, you've committed crimes against a federation vessel, return our crew members safely and i will spare you the consequences."

"Obviously that won't be happening, i just thought i'd drop you a call before we meet with the boss, the girls were feeling a bit homesick. And this one-" he grabbed Alex by the neck and dragged her body about half an inch of the ground. "Has been mouthy."

"Put her down!" Nyota cried straining against her bindings, angry tears building behind her eyes as she watched Alex's arms writhe behind her as choking sounds filled the room. Her toes straining desperately to give her some form of extra support though they were hardly helping her out of the man's vice like grip around her throat.

Leonard was gritting his teeth, he didn't want to see this. Staring at the ground he frowned, fury and pain all whiring in his head like a storm. He was hurting her and he couldn't do anything about it. Not from here. He could feel a burning behind his eyes as his fists clenched tight, knuckles draining of colour as he heard the continued sound of her choking. Jim looked physically pained watching the events unfold on screen. He didn't know her quite as well as Bones but. Shes tied up she cant even fight back. Why is he doing this. Stop it. Get your hands off her.

"That's enough! I'm pretty sure she'll be keeping quiet from now on." Jim bellowed, scowl now present on his face as he watched the red head lurch forward coughing as her feet finally returned to the floor.

"What do you want with them? Who are you working for?" Leonard ground out between gritted teeth, eyes on fire as stared down a soon to be dead man. Or at the very least a man who was going to rot in a cell for the rest of his life. If i don't beat him to death first.

"See they're worried about you and your friend Missy, and you're just making them more worried. Should i tell them where you're going hmm? I don't think he'd like it, he's soft on you that one isn't he? Or maybe not so soft, you look far to used to being ragged around." He cackled kicking Alex's legs out from under her so her knees hit the floor with a crack, watching Leonard with a hawk eye as the man winced in reaction. "You know, you boys seem hardy enough and me and my boys have been itching for a good fight lately so i'm gunna give you a clue if you dare to even come down here…" He turned away from the screen mumbling something to himself before turning back around with a manic grin on his face. "If you've got the money, we've got the honey."

Something in Leonard snapped then and he saw Jim and Spock go still beside him. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." He growled, frown getting deeper and deeper as his jaw locked itself in place in anger. My- Alex and Nyota, fuck- a whore house? Red light district. This is fucked. They're probably scared shitless. If they so much as lay a finger on either of them i swear-

"No not kidding, although i think there's extra plans for you, he hasn't let me in on them and it's been annoying the hell outta me. What are you hiding Missy?" He cupped Alex's face again looking completely away from the screen as a tear ran down her face. "You wanna say something huh? Go on then whisper it to me, huh?" Jacobs cocked a brow at whatever it is he'd heard looking back up to the screen with curiosity in his eyes. Taking a hand and brushing her hair away from her face he tucked it behind her ears. Nyota gasped looking across at Alex. And Jacobs just stared in confusion.

"Should have let you do those tests Doc. I'm sorry." She smiled weakly before the feed cut off abruptly.

"Shit." Leonard put his head in his hands eyes squeezed shut as his head imploded. Who the the hell are we dealing with here. What are they planning to do with her. How do they know?

"Impossible." Spock simply stated unmoving from where he was originally stood as the call had ended.

"Bones, Spock ready room one now. Sulu send that recording to my padd. I don't want any interruptions!"

"Aye captain!" Sulu replied settling back into the captains chair as Jim dragged the others to towards the lift.

"You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do." Jim spat, no real anger in his tone but he was clearly very annoyed. He hated being kept in the dark. "So our new doctor. Human or Vulcan? Why the hell didn't you tell me about this Bones?" Jim snapped as the lift re opened.

"You're seriously going there? How bout asking the right questions Jim? Like what the hell are they going to do to them, are they going to experiment on her? How the hell did they find out?" Bones snapped as they all barreled through the door into the ready room. "She told me there was only one other person she'd told. And i highly doubt if she was keeping it this secret her family are gunna be the ones that have dropped her in it. Look Jim. She thinks she's human. Her scans say she's human, she bleeds red. I can't tell you anymore without tests. She's under the impression… or was under the impression it was a disfigurement or weird birth defect. " Bones sighed out his last sentence. Dropping down into a chair near the head of the table and putting his head in his hand, eyes becoming glassy and unfocused as he gazed past the other two figures in the room into open space. "I can't do tests or take blood samples without consent, and she said no."

"It is possible she is both, but the way forward is clear, in order to make a plan of action we must first learn as much as we can about their captors. We will need to analyse the hail recording for any information missed or details that may give us a lead to the person behind all this. Leonard we will need to contact Alex's Mother and father, there is clearly something going on and under the circumstances they will have to be truthful in order to help their daughter. Computer send a message to Torin requesting his presence in ready room 1 immediately. Make it clear he must come alone." The computer beeped in affirmation as both men looked at him with confusion. "With the 'defect' such as the one Alex appears to have, it is logical to assume she'd confided in someone with a similar looking 'defect.' If i am correct we may also be able to get a lead on the Vulcan behind this, Torins ship was sabotaged purposefully, probably by the same Vulcan behind this incident." Spock had spoke so quickly in order to get all the information out he was unsure if the two humans staring at him in bewilderment had actually heard any of what he'd said, that was until Jim piped up.

"I love the way your brain works sometimes Spock. Bones you get on that family thing, find her parents contact details, comm them on her data padd. Something. I'm gunna analyse the video listen out for any muttered words or signals from the girls."

"We also need to consider that some form of deal may have been struck between the pirates and the Vulcan perpetrator. They may be separated on arrival, Nyota could end up alone." Spocks voice became quieter as he was clearly doing the calculations in his head. Ignoring both men next to him not letting any emotions he may be feeling cloud his judgement.

"Alright let's get to work." Jim slapped his hands on the table going into a secluded section of the ready room inserting an earpiece almost immediately. Jim was doing a stand up job of not letting his emotions show, he wouldn't admit that he was panicking slightly. They didn't have much time, if either of the girls were going to a place like that… there's only so long they can avoid people before being forced into something… forced to… He scowled at the video as it began to play. That's not gunna happen to them. It can't. He felt bad to have even thought it but he was slightly relieved that Nyota wasn't on the receiving end of any of that bastards beatings. Not that she wouldn't be able to take it, it was just… Nyota was his friend, she was a good friend. And Alex, well she had potential to be a good friend but she just, she hadn't been here long enough. And it stung, the feeling of guilt ached in his gut as he willed himself to focus. He knew Bones was reeling, the look in his eyes gave everything away. But then again, he knew her, she'd let him in so he knew her alot better than Jim, and maybe that's why it was hurting him more than Jim, seeing her with a black eye and dried blood on her face and watching her choke as some asshole strangled her. Jim wouldn't lie, he was furious about it, livid in fact, that that grimey man had laid a finger on her but she wasnt Nyota. He liked her, but she hadn't been there from the beginning. He pushed the guilt down as he got to work, he'd have to deal with that later when they were back safe and sound.

Leonard stormed down the corridor back to the medbay, grabbing Alex's padd from an empty biobed ignoring all the eyes on his back as he made a quick exit. Refusing to look at the spot on the floor where she'd disappeared. Storming back to his room he threw himself onto his sofa pulling up her dads contact details before glancing down at the table seeing his old notebook on the coffee table the black leather worn and dry with his pen laying next to it. That's not how i left it this morning. Something was telling him to reach out and open it, but he flinched his hand away as he brushed the cover. Did he really want to see what was in it? If there was anything in it that wasn't put there by him? Yes. It can only be her. That's the only person it could be. No. If you don't do something soon you're going to give yourself time to think, it's going to sink in sooner or later that she's fucking gone you need to get her back before it does and it fucks you. You don't want to feel that just yet.

But his fingers itched and he grabbed the book anyway as if it would run from him if he wasn't fast enough. Opening the page he was last on and seeing the drawing of her sound asleep in his bed already had a lump forming in his throat, she looked at peace, like nothing in the world could interrupt her dreams, a stark contrast to the bloodied bruised face he'd seen a few minutes ago. But the words she'd wrote on the opposite page made the lump impossible to swallow, and Leonard tried to swallow it anyway, choking on the turmoil as he kept re reading the line over and over again as the elegant curves of her handwriting burned into the forefront of his mind.

I'm not going anywhere

He felt it then. The sting. The pang of pain and the nausea hitting him all at once. This was how he felt everytime a crew member was endangered but somehow right now, it was worse, the burning behind his eyes, the frustration and anger, the sick feeling and the pain? The panic. Taking a deep breath he willed himself back together. He wouldn't let it stay this way. The one person he'd let his guard down for, he had been happy. I was happy. The one person that had broke through the walls hed put up around his heart, and how she'd seen right through all his walls like they were nothing but fogged up glass that she had to brush her hands over gently to get a clearer view of what was inside. He wouldn't have it.

Picking up her data padd with renewed vigor he hit the dial button. Not caring if he looked crazy or stricken, his frown settled on his face and his lip set itself in a line. But his eyes didn't stop giving everything away.

"Ace? Its late-"

"Alex is gone, we need your help to get her back." Leonard cut the older man off with choked words and saw something wash over the graying man's face as he finally focused on the screen and the brown eyes looking at him. Eyes that most definitely weren't his daughters. There was confusion there but there was something else, understanding.

"What do you need from me." The reply was instant, straight to the point and no hassle, as if he knew the urgency of the situation. Leonard let his respect for the man grow tenfold for keeping his cool and not wasting valuable time.

Everything was familiar, but it wasn't… it was dark, and she wasn't alone. She couldn't see but there was somebody else here, they were close, letting out shaky breaths what had to be mere meters away from her. But wherever they were, it smelt… Sterile? Sort of homely like the med bay. No. Not homely at all. Her mind started to race as she registered she was tied to a chair, there was only one thing that she'd be down here for, she'd like to think she'd be braver than this but knowing they were probably going to experiment on her and torture her. She felt her chest tighten, and her breathing became erratic. Struggling in vain against the chair she let out a silent whimper. She hated the dark. She hated not knowing. She had to know. Not knowing gave her no preparation time, no plan of action or escape. Not knowing gave her nothing. The pitch blackness was engulfing her little by little and made whatever space she was in feel like the smallest space shed ever squeezed into, despite any small noises reverberating back to her ears off surfaces with certain metallic ring. The room had was obviously pretty big but the blackness was all consuming.

"Alex… is that you?" Nyotas words floated in an almost silent whisper from her left. Alex felt herself calm down slightly. She had someone else to take care of now, someone that wasn't herself. She could ground herself with Nyota here with her. She tried to turn her head to catch a glimpse of her friend in the pitch black but she saw nothing. Atleast im not alone, don't leave me alone in the dark.

"Yea… i thought for a second, they'd separated us and i-" Alex choked on her last words as another bout of panic shot through her. She really needed to get a grip, i'll be fine when i know who I'm dealing with and what their plans are, just keep it together until then.

"You don't need to say it, Im the same. I just wish i knew what we were dealing with." Nyota let out a small sigh, a sense of dread building in her gut at being kept in the dark, metaphorically and literally.

There was a loud swish and a breeze of cool air as a door was opened somewhere in the room and Alex could tell she wasn't the only one swiveling her head around to try and catch a glimpse of something anything despite it being hopeless. Steps echoed in the room for a time before they stopped dead. Seconds went by and all Alex could hear was her heart trying to beat out of her chest as Nyota sucked in a huge breath.

"You're right, i think it is about time you knew what you were dealing with, i do apologise about the restraints, but it was the only logical thing to do to stop you from running." The voice was cool and level as a loud snapping sound filled the room before it was flooded with light. Alex squinted mercilessly in the direction of the voice, trying to focus but only being able to make out a grey blurred figure after being flashbanged. The lanky blur stood between rows and rows of rectangles. Bio beds… they were biobeds. A white wash room with blue and steely grays trims, all so familiar… All so foreign.

"Who are you? And what do you want with us?" Nyota piped up her vision finally focusing in on the tall slim vulcan in front of them as he walked towards them both with indifference. His lips thin set it what looked like a constant grimace of disapproval.

"My name is lesh zherka hasu or in federation standard; Lyras. You are merely here as moral support, most humans seem to perform better with another human at their side to provide comfort. No harm will come to you." He gave a pointed look at Nyota before turning his gaze towards Alex his eyes seeming to dissect her, picking apart her every flaw and analyzing her every feature, taking note of the imperfect curls and illogical splay of freckles across her skin. Alex just glared up at him, he was tall and slim even by vulcan standards, his nose was perfectly straight if not a little big and his eyes looked slightly too close together with there dark grey irises, forever slightly squinting under thick pointed brows. "I use the term human loosely until we find out for certain if you're a halfblood."

Something in Nyota was screaming as the phrase left his lips, despite there being no change in his tone and the flatness of his voice that there was a threat behind the words, a sense of oppressed aggression in the way he moved. She watched intently as he pulled on a pair of rubber gloves just to push Alexs' red curls behind her ears before tying her hair back with an elastic band. No harm will come to you? What is he going to do to Alex, is he crazy. Why does being mixed race warrent punishment?

"Well you better get on with the tests then hadn't you?" Alex spat raising an expectant brow at the vulcan hovering beside her. "Can i make a small request before we get started, we're already tied by our feet and waist to these chairs why not free our hands? Or at least one of them? It's really uncomfortable having them pinned behind your back for so long." Alex grunted with a frown. She honestly wasnt really planning anything just yet, but it was extremely uncomfortable being tied at such an unnatural angle for so long.

"Do you really think i lack the intelligence to see through your plan? You merely want your hands free as a means to escape." Lyras countered turning his attention to her ears as he kneeled down removing one of his gloves.

"Don't touch them." Alex whined trying to lean away from the hand that was getting closer to her face. Leonards smiling eyes flashed behind her lids for a split second before the image was gone, left with this strange face crouched before her with slightly overgrown black bangs.

"And why shouldn't i?" Lyras paused locking grey eyes with green ones. She hated these type of Vulcans, they thought they were superior to every other race because they could control and repress every emotion under the sun, they were so entitled it made her want to kick them square in the jaw to knock some of the smugness out of them.

"Because you wouldn't like it if i started giving you a hand massage in front of your best friend now would you? Logically there is no reason for you to need to touch them, apart from curiosity, which would be better answered by doing the tests that you originally set out to do." She kept her voice calm and level as she maintained eye contact, she would not come across as weak to him.

"Indeed i would not, i presume from your use of metaphor that they hold a certain level of sensitivity." He raised a brow and reached out again nearly brushing the tip of her ear before she jerked away. "However, curiosity is not an emotion that is frowned upon in Vulcan culture." He finished with what appeared to be the smallest of frowns.

"But it is still an emotion you should be in control over nonetheless, is this why you're an outcast? Being a kinky little vulcan and wanting to touch things when you're not allowed." She tried to suppress the growl in the back of her throat but failed, but knew she'd succeeded in something when she saw a fleeting change in his expression before it returned to stone again. "Do you crave to be touched a little too much by Vulcan standards? Thats it isn't it? You're too curious." She was doing her best to try and read him, she knew she wasn't exactly being pinpoint accurate, but she knew for sure that this particular Vulcan whilst he was ungodly curious, he could also be unstable. He must be unstable if he's the one that took down Torins ship, three pure blooded Vulcans could have died just because one had had previous relations with a human. "Three pure blooded Vulcans could have died by your hand just because one of them had had previous relations with a human? What kind of fucked up logic were you following where that made any sense?" She was leaning forward till she was right in his face watching the cogs turn behind his eyes as she ripped into him with her own logic. Logic that shouldn't, but was, beating his own.

"It turns out i will be releasing one of your arms in order to take a blood sample, if you try to fight back i will subdue you." He stated matter of factly his eyes flickering away from hers as he moved away. I've done it ive shook him up. Just a little bit.

"I think you were right about him being kinky Alex, do you speak to your mother with that mouth Lyras?" Nyota chuckled while giving Alex a knowing look as they both shared a smirk, Nyota could see what Alex was trying to do, she may not be the one that was trained in reading people but she knew all about language and communication, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to put it to good use against a racist asshole that had plans to hurt her friend. Something has to be wrong in his head if he thought taking out three Vulcans made sense over tracking down the human. Wait, that must be what Alex is doing. She's trying to get into his head, she's pshycing him out.

"You know personally i don't understand your hatred of humans or Vulcan and human offspring, care to enlighten me?" Alex sighed looking over at the lanky figure expectantly, who was bringing over a very familiar device along with a small knife. He paused in front of her unmoving for a second. "You have my word i won't move if you answer the question." She raised a brow at him as he gave her a dead stare.

"Vulcans and Humans are two separate species who hold wildly different beliefs, humans are weak and are plagued by emotion. A Vulcan with the inability to control emotion and adhere to logic is no Vulcan at all, it doesn't make logical sense to want to taint the perfectly strong genetics of Vulcan biology with that of a humans. Therefore i have took it upon myself to put a stop to it by any means necessary."

"Taint? Now hold on a second first of all how dare you. We're wildly different species but our emotions are what make us strong. And secondly, how could you call a child conceived out of love tainted? You can't put Love down to logic or control. Even if they are conceived to parents who don't love each other or aren't bonded every species in this damn universe has pride and love over their child no matter its genetics. So before you start preaching about logic and control just remember..." she leaned forward with an angry snarl and a murderous look in her eyes. "Your plagued by the worst emotion of them all. Hatred. And by god have you let it blind you."

"Enough!" His voice boomed, but only enough to keep her quiet for a second or two. Despite the anger barely masked as he cut her wrist ties before yanking her hand towards him sticking in the device and drawing blood.

Alex barely even winced as her anger intensified, her teeth grinding together as she glared at the man with disgust in her eyes. "You know what's worse, i feel sorry for you, i used to have a certain sympathy for Vulcans, a race so scared of their own emotions that they decided it would be better to get rid of them completely. But you haven't even managed that have you Lyras? You've lost control of your emotions and worst of all, you've let hatred control you. lesh zherka hasu. One who carries emotion. Not someone whos controlled by it." She saw the flash of movement and fury behind gray eyes before there was a sharp pain in her shoulder and everything went black. Again.

"Why do you even have something like this Bones?" Jim asked eyeing the device wearily. The blur plastic casing shining in the bright lights of the med bay.

"Scotty came to me with the idea and needed some of my medical know how to help make it reality, he thought it'd be helpful for undercover stuff." He lied, Scotty literally just wanted to make it for the hell of it to see if it was possible.

Jim gave him a look of disbelief at that but didn't say anything. "So what are we all gunna grow long flowing hair so nobody will recognise us-"

"No you idiot, well i'm not saying we couldn't but i was more thinking facial hair, might also be a good idea to grow Spock's hair a tad so it covers his ears, just so he isn't instantly recognisable." Leonard gave Spock a somewhat sympathetic look before taking the device off Jim and tugging them both over to a mirror in one of the changing rooms. "Don't go crazy with it because it works pretty damn fast." Leonard stared at his reflection in the mirror before lifting his chin and raising the device to his face as if he was about to shave with it. With a click of a button the end that was touching his skin glowed a faint fluorescent blue before hair started to visibly snake its way out from under his skin, moving it slowly up his jaw only stopping when it connected with his sideburns. Wiggling his jaw slightly to get rid of the tingling sensation he looked over at Spock and Jim, just to see them both looking curious and Jim looking slightly mortified despite his obvious excitement. "What?"

"Finish the rest of your face then pass me it." Jim ordered, eyeing the device with the excitement of a child.

"It is fascinating seeing hair grow at such an accelerated rate, though i imagine it is a very foreign sensation."

"You can say that again." Bones chuckled as he moved the device further down his jaw making sure not to miss his mustache before tilting his head in the other direction, pulling the device slightly further away from his skin to help the hair gain more length. He hadn't had a full beard in a long time. Starfleet required their doctors to be very well kept and preferred them to be clean shaven to avoid any possibility of contamination. But damn did he miss having facial hair. Finishing up he took a second to look at himself in the mirror frowning at the difference it made to his appearance. I look good. I wonder if Alex is gunna like- that's not the reason we're doing this stop being vain.

"Yea yea Bones you look great with a beard now move its my turn." Jim ripped the device out of his hand and got to work on his own face, not noticing brown eyes following his every movement as blonde and ginger facial hair started to make itself known. It took them about half an hour in all to sort out there very real disguises, Spock taking the longest since he had to do his face and head. By the end of it Jim looked like a slightly ruffled but good looking homeless man with a strangely well kept beard but slightly overgrown head of blonde hair, now having to sweep back his fringe ever so slightly. Spock discovered his hair actually began to go slightly wavy rather than being pin straight the longer it got, and though he complained about having to add facial hair he did it anyway, as well as attempting to grow extra eyebrow hairs to make himself appear slightly more human. Jim definitely wasn't complaining about the facial hair, or Spock's long bangs, he was a little shaken up if he was honest, especially when spock gave him his signature eyebrow raise. It felt like he'd been struck by lightning and all he could do was just stare momentarily at how wild Spock looked before mumbling something about zoning out and apologising, smacking Bones as he rolled his eyes at him.

"I'll be right back need to grab some things before we get ready."

Jim watched as Bones left the changing room and felt an awkward silence settle as soon as the door slid shut behind him. The silence making him fidget straight away and the need to fill it was too powerful.

"So… why are you so against facial hair, i mean you suit it what's the issue?" that was casual, smooth, nice, don't make it weird. Jim watched as Spocks mouth twitched up into one of his none smiles and felt himself die a little bit. He's doing this on purpose oh my god.

"I'm of the opinion that it isn't a professional look for a science officer, and the upkeep is hardly worth the time, though with your current reaction to it i am reconsidering it as a possibility." Spocks voice dropped half an octave and Jim had to process if he'd heard him right or was just distracted by his lips as he watched them move.

Jim frowned, blue eyes meeting brown. "What did you just say?" What? What? Did he just-

"May i ask why you are so adverse to having any facial hair, Captain? When it very obviously compliments certain features."

What. Is. Going. On.

Jim opened and closed his mouth multiple times before Bones came bursting back into the room shouting them both over, saving Jim from making a fool of himself without realising it. It's time to go save the day. Jim could feel his heart pounding in his chest for a very different reason than it should have been as they all headed to the shuttle bay.