"I've decided that I'm not feeling like a very patient man, Doctor," Valdis said evenly, jamming an unknown weapon against Kirk's back. "What is your decision?"
McCoy stood his ground. "I won't let you hurt the girl."
"I wonder which will be worse for you: knowing exactly what this weapon will do, or not knowing," Valdis said, his finger hovering over the trigger.
"Listen to me! Think about what you're doing! Trying to murder a child to get back at her father. If you do it, what then? You rot in prison the rest of your life or face execution. What does this really accomplish? It's not going to bring your son back!" The man seemed to consider his words for a moment, but his face hardened at that last statement.
"Thank you for bringing that to my attention, Doctor. I never would have thought of it otherwise," Valdis said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You are not going to change my mind. I will have retribution. The consequences don't matter; I've already lost everything. Now, what do you say?"
McCoy could feel his heart beginning to pound. He didn't want Jim to get hurt. Their eyes met, and he knew that the captain didn't want him to back down. Valdis pulled the trigger. Kirk braced himself, and he was no stranger to pain, but it was a lot worse than he expected. He cried out and fell to his knees. McCoy clenched his jaw, worry and anger flashing through his eyes.
"You will really let your friend suffer for the sake of a stranger?" Statements like this really irked the doctor.
"Her life isn't of less value just because I don't know her well!" he snapped.
"You won't be able to refuse indefinitely. The same compassionate heart that compels you to refuse now will be what makes you give in. I wonder how far I'll have to go, but I will find your breaking point." He harshly yanked the captain back up and lead him away after giving the doctor one more challenging glare.
McCoy slumped against the bars. It was worse not knowing what exactly that weapon did to Kirk. He would rather know how serious it was even though he wasn't allowed to check him over or treat him anyway. Not wanting to think about what Valdis might do to Jim next, McCoy wondered what the Enterprise might be doing. Spock would likely send a search party soon, but how were they going to find them?
'They'll probably meet up with Valdis, and he'll point them in the opposite direction of wherever this dungeon is.' He looked back at Ariella, who was holding her stomach. She was probably hungry, and McCoy was starting to feel it too. When Valdis came back, he brought some water, a couple pieces of bread, and what looked like some type of strange fruit. McCoy bit back a complaint; it wasn't enough, but it was better than nothing.
"Dr. McCoy, you can make this so much easier if you choose to cooperate with me now. It will end the same either way, but if you drag this out, not only will I get what I want, but your captain will pay the price as well." The doctor wavered for a moment, then lifted his chin in defiance. He had to hold out hope that there could be a way out. "I am going to make you regret your decision in a big way, Doctor. I only need a small amount of blood, but when I'm finished, there's going to be a lot left over."
With that, Valdis left McCoy standing there, his heart pounding hard with stress, anger, and worry. He hated that his compassion and care for others more than himself were being used against him. He refused to accept those could ever be weaknesses.
He turned his attention back to the food. It wasn't enough for one person, let alone two. He picked up the plate and cup and set it in front of Ariella.
"Here, you can have all of it." She stared at him for a second, then started to eat. McCoy sat a few feet away and tried to ignore the rumbling in his own stomach. When Ariella was down to the last piece of bread, she hesitantly walked over to the doctor and offered it to him.
"No, that's alright," he said with a smile. She tore the bread in half and held it out.
"My mommy and daddy said I have to share." Sharing wasn't her favorite, and she was still hungry, but she would feel bad if the nice alien man didn't get anything. McCoy wanted to refuse again; after all, it was only half a piece of bread anyway, and he'd rather she ate as much as possible, but he could see that she wasn't just trying to be polite and really wanted him to have it. Before he could decide one way or the other, she pushed the bread into his hands. He was reminded of when Joanna was little and she would want him to eat the food she pretended to make. Giving a small chuckle, he thanked the girl and ate the bread. His resolve to protect her strengthened; he knew he could not let Valdis have his way.
'But what about Jim?' he thought. Still no answer there.
"How come you're shaking so much?" Ariella asked.
"I'm used to much warmer temperatures. It's my body's way of trying to warm up." She seemed puzzled by that, and McCoy wondered if what was comfortable for him would be too hot for the Avelonians.
'I'm going to turn into a human popsicle,' he thought miserably, rubbing his arms. 'Wonder how long until hypothermia does me in.' Then his eyes brightened. 'That's it! I'll make like I'm in worse condition than I am. When he comes to check on me next, he won't know what hit him!' He wanted to let Ariella know what he was doing, but it needed to be as convincing as possible that he was dying.
Once he heard footsteps a while later, he pretended to be dizzy and lay on the ground, keeping his breathing shallow. Ariella came over and looked at him worriedly.
"Are you okay?" she asked in a small voice.
"S'cold," he mumbled, eyes half-closed. Tears filled the girl's eyes. What was happening to her new friend?
When Valdis returned to the cell with the captain again in chains, Kirk was alarmed to see McCoy lying there, apparently ill.
"Bones!" he shouted. "What did you do to him?" He stared at Valdis accusingly.
"I did nothing." Realization dawned on Kirk when he took note of his own shivering.
"It's hypothermia! The cold is killing him– he'll die if you don't do anything to bring his temperature up!" Valdis eyed him suspiciously.
"It may be a trick."
"It probably isn't," Kirk countered. "We've been here long enough with no heat. I'll end up like that too sooner or later." Kirk honestly wasn't sure whether Bones was faking it or not. The doctor hadn't stopped shivering, but it could just be that he wasn't quite in the severe stage yet. Valdis grunted and unlocked the cell door, then went to McCoy to get a closer look at his condition. Kirk was horrified when he appeared to stop breathing. Valdis checked for a pulse, and as soon as McCoy felt the touch on his neck, his eyes flew open and he punched Valdis as hard as he could. Caught off guard, the man fell, but wasn't down for long. Just as McCoy got to his feet, Valdis lunged at him, seething. The doctor could put up a decent fight when he had to, but unfortunately, combat was never his strong suit. It didn't help that he had no backup, as Kirk was chained on the outside and couldn't break free no matter how much he struggled. Ariella could only watch helplessly from the side. Valdis pinned McCoy down and began to strangle him. McCoy tried in vain to escape the grip, which only tightened. Valdis could feel the pulse thudding beneath his fingers. He was tempted to silence the insolent human's heartbeat... The man was a doctor who had probably done something like what Dr. Radeke had done to his son. And murderers deserved the death penalty. McCoy's eyes were starting to roll back in his head when Valdis felt something hard hit him, causing him to let the doctor go. The water glass– the girl must have thrown it. McCoy gasped and coughed hard as he struggled to get air back in his lungs.
"Bones!" Kirk called, relief and concern filling his voice. Valdis glared at the girl as he locked the cell door back up, but it was just as well. He'd gotten carried away; he did need the doctor alive.
"There is no escape, Dr. McCoy. I hope that is clear to you now." McCoy didn't answer, still breathing hard and coughing, laying a hand on his chest. He would have succeeded if only they had Spock and his Vulcan nerve pinch, or if he was better at fighting. 'I've really got to practice some fight moves when we get back on the ship,' he thought.
Suddenly, Valdis grabbed a knife out of his belt and slashed Kirk's arm, collecting some of the dripping blood in a jar. Kirk didn't cry out, but he felt sick at the idea of his blood being used to kill an innocent girl. McCoy got up, looking at their captor with disgust. "You are so concerned about doing the right thing, Doctor, and now you know for a fact that you cannot protect her. What happens to her is completely my responsibility, not yours. You will not be to blame. In that case, are you not morally bound to protect your captain from further harm?"
"You seem to think what you're planning to do is right, taking justice into your own hands," McCoy croaked, his throat aching. Kirk didn't like the sight of the bruises on his neck. "You're wrong. That doctor did not murder your son. It's not like he could see the future. He did everything he could!"
Valdis smirked. "Ah, but you don't fully believe that, do you? Am I right that you feel a heavy guilt for having done something similar to one of your patients?" McCoy jerked as if he'd been backhanded.
"I–" He couldn't deny it. His mind knew that it wasn't quite fair to blame himself for the choice he'd made when he had no way of knowing what would happen, but his heart stubbornly refused to accept it. His father would be alive if he had just waited.
Kirk shot a questioning glance at both men. What was this about?
"That's right," Valdis continued, "I could tell by your reaction to my story that it had hit a personal nerve, and what you are saying now sounds more like you're trying to convince yourself than me. Who did you make suffer? Whose loved one did you take away? You tell yourself it was not your fault so you can live with yourself, but you know deep down that you are guilty." McCoy squeezed his eyes shut and breathed heavily, but no longer for lack of oxygen. He'd heard a little voice in the back of his mind say something like this every so often, but to hear someone say it out loud like this...
He wanted to fall to his knees and weep, but he was not going to do that in front of other people. 'Vulcan emotional control would really come in handy right about now.'
"Don't listen to him, Bones," Kirk said gently. He didn't know the truth of this event from McCoy's past, but if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that Leonard McCoy could not be guilty of murder– unfairly blaming himself for a death sounded much more plausible. The doctor prevented death whenever he was able to, even insisting on saving the life of the evil Spock from the Mirror universe, and would without a doubt save Valdis should the situation arise.
"Stop resisting. You must accept that the girl is not your responsibility. What happens to your captain, however, does depend on you. And you don't want unnecessary bloodshed. Make the right choice."
A/N: I already started writing chapter 4, (which will be the last) so hopefully it won't be as long of a wait this time!