They were surrounded. Jim and Spock stood back to back as the guards closed in around them.
Otherwise, it was a nice planet; they stood in a field of purple grass that waved in the wind, surrounded by rolling hills.
Jim held up his hands and tried to look non-threatening, though the phaser he was holding ruined the effect a little. "We don't want to fight you," he attempted.
"Perhaps you should have thought of that before you insulted them," Spock supplied, ever helpful.
"I didn't know she was their leader's daughter!"
While Jim and Spock argued, the guards shuffled closer, closing in around them.
"I'm sorry to cut this short, but we've got places to be," Jim quipped, and leveled his phaser at the one in front of him. "You know what this is, don't you?"
"Set to stun," Spock reminded him. "Do not forget that we are to interfere as little as possible."
Jim rolled his eyes. "Of course."
Their assailants backed up a little at the sight of the phaser, but they refused to break rank.
"I warned you," Jim said. He fired straight ahead and charged into the smoke.
Spock followed closely after, firing all around them.
"This way!" Jim shouted, running up into the hills as fast as he could. Their assailants seemed momentarily stunned, but who knew how long it would last.
"There is no reason to inform the entire world," Spock retorted, not far behind.
They ran up and over the crest of the nearest hill and jogged along the other side, hopefully just out of sight.
"Why is it," Jim said between breaths, "that we keep getting thrown into things like this?"
"Why do you expect me to know?" Spock retorted. "You are the one who happens to have a proclivity for causing unrest."
"Hey!" Jim exclaimed. He stopped and turned to face Spock. "That's not what I meant. When we ran into trouble, the whole landing party scattered, but somehow the two of us ended up together, and this isn't the first time."
"We are frequently both on away missions. It is a simple matter of probability."
Jim let out a huff of air. "What about the other Spock, from the other timeline? He told you too, didn't he? About some crazy destiny."
"He made some intimations to that effect," Spock admitted, but he didn't seem convinced.
Jim made to continue on across the hills at a bit of a slower pace, and Spock fell into step beside him.
"It's pretty hard to believe, isn't it?" Jim glanced over at Spock, as though the Vulcan's expression would tell him anything about how he was taking it. "That we're supposed to have some weird bond."
"I can assure you that we have no such bond now, and it appears highly unlikely that one will ever arise."
"But somehow the other me and you got along."
"True. However, that is another universe, which we know to be different from our own in a variety of ways."
Jim nodded. "You're right. It's not like it's some destiny."
"Yes. The concept of destiny is highly illogical."
Jim couldn't argue with that, though it wasn't what he would call a satisfying answer. However, he didn't have time to retort before he heard a shout followed by approaching voices speaking some strange alien language - their pursuers had caught up to them at last.
"Perhaps now would be the opportunity for a strategic retreat," Spock suggested.
Jim glared at him, but he pulled out his communicator and flipped it open just as their assailants came up over the top of the hill.
"Enterprise, do you read me?" Jim demanded.
Jim met the closest pursuer's eyes. There was nowhere to hide.
Finally, a voice sounded over the communicator; "Captain?"
"Two to beam up, and fast!"
The whole hunting party came running down the hill toward them as Jim counted down the seconds, waiting to dematerialize.
He raised his phaser just in case.
They were just a few feet away when the purple hills finally faded and gave way to the Enterprise transporter.
Note: I want to thank wingittofreedom (on Tumblr and Archive of Our Own) for the prompt that inspired this fic, bringing together AOS Kirk/Spock, Waterloo by ABBA, and a glimpse of the outdoors!