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SPOILERS for Into Darkness!

{To threaten a friend of mine}

I was still pointing my phaser at Admiral Marcus who stared at me, apparently not believing that I would really stun him. But I would. After everything he'd done to my crew, he wouldn't get away with any of it.

I was alerted by Carol who was screaming out my name and when I looked to the side, I was shocked at what I saw.

Khan! He wasn't lying on the ground of the bridge anymore. Instead, he had wrapped an arm around Scotty's chest. With the other hand he held the Scotsman's wrist so that my friend's phaser was pointing at his own head.

"Jim?"

Scotty looked at me, his eyes widened in fear. He wasn't sure what to do. And to be honest, neither was I. Bones had told me that Khan was a superman. How could we beat him if even a phaser didn't knock him out for long?

"Well, let's set that phaser on 'kill' firstly, shouldn't we?" Khan's cold voice echoed through the air and I swung around to point my own phaser at him.

"Don't!" I ordered him but he just smiled smugly at me as he turned the switch.

"Oh, but I already did, Captain. Now," Khan's smile vanished when he looked at the Admiral who was still sat in his chair, "how about you do what he told you and kill him?"

I glanced at Marcus and back at Khan and Scotty.

"I won't kill an Admiral." I couldn't. That man had done horrible things but I wouldn't kill him. But Khan gave me a theatrical sigh.

"Then you better say your farewell to your little minion." Khan's hand enclosed Scotty's and he was about to pull the trigger. I had to stop him!

"No! Wait!"

My heart was still racing as Khan moved his finger away from the trigger. He looked at me, expecting my decision.

"Please, don't hurt, Scotty. He's… he's got nothing to do with this." I tried to talk my friend out of this. Dammit, I shouldn't have called him! Or even better, I should have listened to him in the first place and not take those stupid torpedoes aboard.

But while I was talking, I didn't realize Marcus getting up and running toward the door. Only in the last moment, I was able to stun him. His body dropped onto the floor and I breathed heavily. He wouldn't get away, but I still couldn't kill him.

I looked back at Khan and Scotty. The Augment had watched the body falling down. Slowly, he stepped over to the motionless Admiral, pulling Scotty with him, and loomed over him. There was something in those eyes which scared me. And it only got worse when he suddenly smiled and placed at foot on the man's head.

Scotty glanced down at the Admiral for a second, before looking back at me.

"Oh, Admiral. You should have let me sleep."

I couldn't help but stare in horror as Khan lowered his foot. There was a horrifying crack, followed by Carol's scream. Scotty had closed his eyes, not wanting to see what Khan did, but he opened them again, when the man pressed the phaser against his head again.

I swallowed hard. My god! Khan really was a cold-blooded monster.

"Thanks for your help, Captain. That bastard didn't even deserve getting shot. This felt way better."

I could see Scotty shivering as Khan moved his face closer to my CEO's.

"Now, I think I could crack yet another skull. Unless, of course, you contact your ship and let them beam my crew over."

I slowly shook my head. Spock would never do that. He was against working with that man from the beginning. But if he didn't agree…

{"Captain?"}

That voice.

'Speaking of the devil…' I turned around to look at the viewing screen to see Spock looking back at me.

"Spock!"

{"Captain, you can't trust Khan. He betrayed us and-"}

I looked over at Khan and Scotty… and the dead body of Marcus, before cutting my First Officer off: "I know."

I should have known earlier. Then nothing of this would have happened. But now it was too late. Now I needed to get Scotty to safety.

"Tell him what I want." Khan said and I gulped as he ripped the phaser out of Scotty's hand.

"I can't," I said but Khan obviously wanted to change my mind for he suddenly fired a shot which hit Scotty's thigh. He screamed out in pain. Shit! I hadn't meant for that bastard to hurt him.

{"Captain? Am I assuming correctly that this voice belongs to Mr. Scott?"}

But I ignored Spock and instead glared angrily at Khan. I was about to stun him, but thought better. I wasn't in any position to provoke him. So, I turned back to Spock and nodded.

"Yeah… yeah, it does. Khan wants his crew… in exchange for our lives." I told the Vulcan the demand and he looked at me in… I don't know what it was. Vulcans don't really show their emotions after all.

{"We can't do that, Captain. Mr. Spock just told us about what Khan and his crew did. We cannot let something like that occur again. Thousands of people will die."}

I had known it. Spock wouldn't give in to something like that. He was a logical thinking person after all. Three lives against those of the many?

"Alright, Captain. If your First Officer refuses…"

Khan threw the phaser to the floor and turned Scotty around in his arms, only to grab the Scotsman by his throat, lifting him off the ground.

"I guess I'll just crash his larynx. Or maybe I should rip it out?" Khan mused, looking into Scotty's horrified face. I clenched my free hand into a fist.

"Stop hurting him!" I should have killed that man. I should have killed him when I had the chance.

{"Captain? What is happening?"}

Obviously, Spock couldn't see any of it. None of the others could.

Scotty couldn't breathe. I could see it. His face was getting pale, his feet's kicking got weaker. He would die. I couldn't let that happen. Scotty was my friend, my family – even though he had resigned his duties. He had helped me when I had called him. And I sure as hell wouldn't give up on him.

"Do it, Spock! Give him his crew!" I gave my order but Spock still shook his head.

{"We can't. Our transporters do not function accurately at the time being."}

'Shit!'

Now panic was gripping my heart. Scotty was losing his consciousness!

"You hear that, Khan? We can't! We can't beam them onto this ship!" My eyes filled with tears. "Let him go! Please!"

A moment later a smug smile spread across Khan's face as he threw Scotty across the room and walked over to a console. I ran over to Scotty, holding him in my arms.

"Well… this ship's transporter works perfectly fine, Mr. Spock. So that's no problem." He activated the transporter but I didn't really care at the moment. I just stared at Scotty. His eyes were closed.

"Scotty?"

There! His face was moving. He looked like he was in pain. But he was alive. Thank goodness!

"Well then, Kirk. Return to your crew. And go down with your ship."

With that we were beamed back over to the Enterprise. And I knew one thing for sure. Khan would pay for this!