Pike stumbled over his feet for the umpteenth time and swore under his breath, he quickly had to adjust and correct his balance before he fell flat on his face and took Una with him. They were attached together by a tethered rope system, which was ridiculously rather like a leash. Pike had a rope looped around his bound wrists, tied around his waist and which led behind to Una. It was then tied around her waist and then finally leading backwards to their kidnapper, who held the rope which kept them effectively linked to him. Alec had been right about them not liking what he had in mind...

After a few more minutes of blindly leading the way, Pike felt a tugging at his chest. He glanced down and noticed that the rope was starting to constrict and it wasn't long until he couldn't move forward at all, not only that but the tugging motion strained his cracked ribs badly making him hiss. Chris winced and came to a stop, taking the hint and gritting his teeth to stop from calling out. He was sick of being pulled around, and judging by Number One's huff she was too.

Chris glanced backwards and searched for the reason for the abrupt stop, he noticed that their kidnapper was glancing around the area looking for something, and also that he seemed to be struggling to stay upright. This was the first sign of weakness from Alec, and frankly it had been a long time coming. They had all been in a shuttle crash, how could it be possible that he and Una got knocked up and had to contend with broken bones whilst the man who was responsible walked away scot-free? Pike wasn't one to revel in other's pain but there was something quite satisfying about seeing the wince appearing on their captor's face; maybe he wouldn't push them so fast now he was hurting too. Chris felt like he was going to collapse any second and Una didn't look much better.

Alec turned back to the two of them and released the rope. "5 minutes rest."

Chris blinked in surprise. The order wasn't unwelcome but it was a surprise given the pace Alec had made them keep, he'd wanted to get them all as far away from the shuttle wreckage as possible and towards the rendezvous point. His injuries had clearly outweighed that urgency.

Pike glanced to Una who looked just as shocked and weary as he did. What they really needed was a real rest, before they both keeled over. He decided to try and push his luck. "Can we sit?"

Alec had already headed over to his own tree and was in the process of sitting himself. He regarded them both silently, leaving the two of them waiting in tense stillness for his judgement. Having their health, comfort and lives in another's hands was not a pleasant experience.

"Over by that tree, where I can keep an eye on you." Alec finally decided, showing some compassion or perhaps indifference for the first time since this whole nightmare had begun.

Chris and Una shared a look but wisely kept their mouths shut; never look a gift-horse in the mouth no matter where it came from.

Seeing as Pike was the only one who had use of his hands, he helped Una down onto the floor first and then settled down beside her, leaning back against the tree with a weary sigh. Una managed a strained smile his way and settled in close to his side, finding comfort in touch despite the fact that they were tied up, blown up and one wrong word away from death.

Pike noticed Alec go through the bag holding the emergency rations, the kidnapper took out a bottle of water and guzzled half the contents in one long swig. Chris licked his lips despite himself, it was funny how quickly the human body craved the miraculous liquid, especially when injured. Their captor noticed their staring and more importantly the object of their attention. He smirked from them to the bottle, shrugged and lobbed it towards Pike.

Chris picked up the bottle carefully, half-expecting to be shot whilst doing it or for something else equally nasty to happen. This was really strange behaviour from the man who had been so callous up until now. Alec read his expression easily, he chuckled and offered an explanation. "Don't want you dying on me now."

"I didn't know you cared." Pike quipped back thoughtlessly.

Alec could have reacted badly but he just snorted. "Yes Captain, my group care very much about your continued existence." He tilted his head. "I wonder if Starfleet do?"

It was said as a joke but there was a serious edge to the tone. Chris swallowed some water and then held the bottle out to Una before responding. "They won't negotiate with you, no matter what you threaten."

Alec looked mightily pleased with himself and brushed the comment off. "We'll see."

Chris decided the best course of action was to bite his tongue and keep his gob shut, an overconfident captor could be of use to them, and what did it matter if Alec didn't believe him? Sadly, Pike knew their fates if demands were made of Starfleet, and they wouldn't be pretty.

Una moved her mouth away from the bottle and smiled gratefully at Chris. He took another swig himself and threw the bottle back to their captor on his indication. The trio relaxed, well, as well as they could given their respective roles. Alec kept a wary eye on them both and his weapon within reach, whilst Una and Chris took the moment afforded to them to rest. What they really needed was medical treatment but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon so there was no point in wishful thinking.

Pike was content to simply take a breather, but Una being Una hated sitting still and she wanted answers. "Why were you trying to blow a hole in the city?"

Alec glanced upwards, surprised over being addressed. He seemed to deliberate the point for a moment before shrugging and giving a straight forward answer. "Money."

Pike had been paying half his attention on the conversation and the other half on battling the knives stabbing his brain, but when he heard the simplistic answer he shot up and frowned at their kidnapper, mirroring his XO's expression perfectly.

"I'm sorry what?" They squeaked in unison.

Alec laughed mockingly, throwing his head back in amusement. "Were you expecting some grand speech about us fighting for freedom, or the need to overthrow a tyrannical government? The truth is nothing quite so dramatic. We demand money and resources from people, cities, organisations and if they don't cough up then... boom!"

Both Chris and Una stared at Alec, mouths hung open in silent horror. Even when they'd thought they'd seen it all, when they'd seen the worst the world had to offer, someone like Alec came along and disillusioned them of that fact.

"That's insane." Una eventually muttered, her scowl deepening by the second.

Alec shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't knock it until you try it."

Chris saw one major flaw through this belief, one which made the whole point of this sound even crazier than Alec claimed. "But your mission was supposed to be a one way trip. What's the point of being in it for the money if you're dead?"

Pike and Number One both caught their captor flinch despite his best efforts to hide it. They'd obviously hit a sore spot, so much so that the smile slipped off his face, he averted his gaze and started to push himself to his feet. "They're not all one-way trips. I was just unlucky enough to pull the short straw."

"And you went ahead with it anyway?" Una probed, incredulous expression in place, her sneer showing just what she thought of their kidnapper's intelligence right about now.

Alec stretched out his aching muscles, wincing less than earlier. He managed a strained smile and laughed darkly. "You don't say no to these people, that's a much quicker way into the grave." He trailed off and stared into the distance, leaving Chris and Una to share a glance, a worried glance. They had thought that Alec was bad enough but if even he was scared of his own people…

Alec suddenly turned his attention back to the both of them. He slung the backpack over his shoulder, withdrew the phaser and picked up the length of rope which leashed Pike and Una together. They both tensed up and eyed the weapon warily, not relishing the idea of being on the move again.

"Besides I survived and I've more than made up for the failed mission." A smile broke out upon Alec's face and his mood lifted as he stared at the pair of them and more specifically at their predicament; under his power and control. He tugged on the rope which earned a pained grunt from the pair and ordered them to their feet, Chris helped Una up whilst their captor continued to voice his thoughts. "now that I've caught two bonafide Starfleet heroes. You may not realise it, but you two are going to make us a lot of money."

Chris glanced upwards automatically when he heard the sound of engines, it wasn't long before the cacophony of noise flew right over them and the trio saw a shuttle gliding through the treetops. Pike's first reaction had been one of relief, naturally thinking that help had come; the look on Alec's face obliterated that thought though. He looked chuffed to bits meaning this was clearly his shuttle and his people, not help and certainly not a good development for he or Una.

During their long hike Alec had finally let slip just why they were walking so far away from the crash site. Their kidnapper couldn't risk communicating in the forest, not with the chance of other ships picking up the messages, other ships that were looking for Pike and Number One. Transports were out of the question due to the planet's natural interference which was only made worse in the deep forest, hence their only option for egress was an in person meeting, where they would become greatly outnumbered by more people who wished them harm.

So, realistically they had two choices: follow Alec like pigs to the slaughter, or go against him and potentially walk into an early death. Neither option held that much appeal but Chris knew which one he'd prefer; he would rather do something and die trying. The worst part was the uncertainty of it all, what would Alec's people do with them?

Whatever it was it sure wasn't going to be pretty. If Alec's people took them then there was no telling if Enterprise would ever find them again. Whether they became political prisoners, hostages or even slaves... that was not a future either of them wanted to roll the dice on. So they'd been saving their energy, biding their time. They'd managed to talk a little during their break, and they'd both decided that they would rather try and get away from their captor before the choice was taken from them. It was all a question of when. The appearance of the shuttle rather limited their time-line.

In fact, as soon as the shuttle flew overhead, Pike and Una shared a glance, a glance which said so much without words. This was their chance, it was now or never.

Chris let his XO take the lead seeing as he was in front and the one with use of his hands, he waited for the signal that things had started and wasn't disappointed to feel the rope tugging at his chest. He came to a natural stop and glanced behind him, making sure to look bewildered and surprised by the sudden stop. Alec paid him no mind anyway; all of his attention was on Number One which was exactly the point.

Pike stayed rooted to the spot to ensure that Alec kept his attention off of him, all the while Una played up her injuries and staggered against a nearby tree trunk dramatically.

"Come on, get a move on." Alec snarled, his hand hovering near his holstered phaser.

Una coughed and spluttered in response and waited for Alec to let his guard down further, she waited for him to come close. Their captor took one last look at Chris, who was still acting innocently and as though he was taking the break as a respite, before stepping towards Number One intending to haul her forwards. That was when she made her move.

Una faked dropping to the ground; she dropped her shoulder and charged forward when her kidnapper moved in. Alec let out a strangled cry and flew backwards under the sudden shoulder barge. Even though Una had her hands restrained, she still packed one hell of a punch.

Chris moved as quickly as he could manage and it wasn't long before he was behind their captor, and grabbing at his hands which were already reaching for the phaser. Whilst Pike wrestled to keep the deadly weapon holstered and Alec in place, Una launched herself at the man again. Her options were rather limited but her restrained hands didn't constrain her legs, so as soon as she caught her breath she launched a vicious roundhouse kick straight at Alec's stomach.

Their captor crumpled instantly and his hands flew to clutch at his stomach. Chris took advantage of the weakness afforded to him; he looped his bound hands around Alec's neck and yanked backwards until he had the kidnapper in a powerful head lock. Chris kept up the pressure despite the struggles, despite the resistance and despite the strangled noises for breath. Alec fought him all the way towards unconsciousness, he clawed at his arms, kicked backwards with his legs and even tried head butting him once or twice.

The first attempt glanced Chris on the side of the face, it left him reeling and added another bruise to his collection but he held on all the same. Pike didn't let Alec get another hit in. He held onto his throat tightly, all the while their captor sunk towards the floor and his body sagged under the oxygen deprivation. After 30 seconds of wild thrashing their kidnapper fell limp, his eyes closed and the strangled noises stopped.

Chris took a deep breath and slowly released the heavy pressure on Alec's neck, all his muscles were protesting the scuffle and all he wanted to do in this moment was lie alongside Alec and join him in blissful oblivion, but they had an escape to pull off.

Pike eased himself up into a kneeling position and helped Una up from where she had fallen. "You okay?"

She seemed to be having trouble catching his eye but she looked happier after seeing Alec's dismal state. "Better than him."

Chris snorted and shook his head. If Una was up for making jokes then she was okay enough. Pike rolled their unconscious kidnapper over and searched his pockets until he found what he was looking for: the knife. He sliced through Number One's ropes as quickly as he could manage and she returned the favour. They both made quick work of going through Alec's pockets, relieving him of the blasted gun and his communicator.

Pike looked wildly around the clearing, trying to orientate where they were and the route they had taken to get here. The struggle had rather turned things upside down and with his and Una's shitty vision, they weren't in the best state to be navigating through a foreign jungle.

He was about to ask for his XO's advice, on exactly which direction they should go in first. However the unspoken words died on his lips when the sound of shouting echoed throughout the treetops, sending birds fluttering in all directions. They both snapped to the increasing volume; Chris' blood ran cold when he calculated that the oncoming noise was coming from the direction the shuttle had been heading...

Pike and Una both looked from the sound of danger to each other and suggested at the same time - 'let's get the hell out of here.'

Getting the hell out of there was exactly what the pair of them did. They confiscated their former captor's rucksack and headed off into the jungle, for the moment simply focussing on getting as far from Alec and the path they had been on as they could. They'd both agreed to expend what little energy they had left on moving out of the danger zone now and sit and come up with a plan later; if they got that far...

Chris wasn't a pessimist by nature but everything on this trip that could have gone wrong had gone wrong, so he kept expecting Alec's people to jump out at them any second, or for something else catastrophically bad to happen to the pair of them. They were really due a stroke of luck, which was why it was frustrating that the communicator Una had stolen from Alec wasn't getting any signal.

"Anything?" Pike asked, although he could already guess the answer based on Una's expression.

Her lips were pursed and her forehead creased further with each passing second. "Nothing." She snarled at the thing, her eyes darting desperately around the space. "We need to get to higher ground, there's too much interference down here."

Chris balked at the news, he barely felt like he could walk 10 more steps let alone hike to higher ground. His chest was getting tighter with each breath, the ribs Una had wrapped were shifting more and he was pretty sure his scuffle with Alec had done further damage. The more the adrenaline of the fight wore off, the more pain he felt. Even his shoulder had somehow gotten worse, all he could focus on was putting one foot in front of the other and pray he didn't collapse. He was slowing Una down, she needed to get on and leave him to it, she couldn't drag him around forever.

"Una..." he huffed, already out of breath. "I can't walk for much longer."

She stopped suddenly and appraised him, quickly seeing the sweat dripping down his face and noticing the incredible misery he was in, as well as the new bruises, cuts and blood seeping through what remained of his clothes. Now that they had stopped Pike found it impossible to stay on his feet another second longer, so he leant towards a nearby tree trunk and grasped onto it with all he had.

Una caught him before he fell completely, her expression exasperated as she supported his wounded shoulder. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"We were a little busy." Chris pointed out. There was nothing quite like the adrenaline rush from running for your lives.

Una's sympathetic expression scoured his body; her eyes stilled when she caught just how badly he was breathing and how little control he had over his limbs. "Still." She muttered sadly.

"It wouldn't have made a difference, we needed to get out of there." Chris closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, he put more of his weight against the tree trunk and prepared himself for the oncoming argument. "Just like you need to get to higher ground."

Una narrowed her eyes at him darkly. "I am not leaving you behind."

Pike recognised that look, the one which was born of the most stubborn iron-will he had ever seen. It was too bad for his XO that he could be just as stubborn, and frankly in this situation he was right. "You have to, I'm just slowing you down. If you don't then neither of us will make it out of here."

Una looked about ready to explode, she took a moment to control herself and responded viscerally. "No."

Chris got caught up in a coughing fit at just the wrong time, he clutched his chest and managed to groan out a feeble protest, already knowing that his body's moment of weakness had just proved his first officer's point. "Una-"

"I said I'm not doing it." She snapped back resolutely. "We can find another way."

Pike stared her down but knew he was fighting a losing battle, he didn't have the energy for this, he barely had the energy to stay upright any longer. He just wanted this nightmare over, but most importantly he wanted them both to make it through this. If his XO could conjure up a miracle solution then he would take it, he would follow her anywhere.

"What other way?" Pike managed a gasp.

Una's eyes widened and she was visibly surprised that he was backing down so easily. Number One was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she accepted the responsibility and took charge. Pike watched as her eyes scanned the surroundings and he saw the moment she settled on a plan. "I'll take the communicator to the top of a tree, these branches look sturdy enough to hold my weight."

Chris frowned at the tree in question and gulped; his muscles ached even just thinking about such an arduous climb whilst injured, let alone actually undertaking such a feat. "We've just been in a shuttle crash. I don't think it's a good idea to climb."

Una shrugged whilst studying the tree, figuring out the easiest route up considering her more fragile condition. "It'll be no worse than hiking to higher ground." She offered him a wry smile. "And this way I get to check up on you and make sure you don't get to nobly fall on your sword."

Chris threw her a deeply unimpressed look. "I do not do that."

Una snorted and shook her head. "You may fool command with that line but not me."

Pike gasped when a particularly nasty spasm forced his legs to buckle, Una caught him and helped ease him to the floor, propping him up against the base of the tree she was proposing to climb. Sitting lessened the burden on his strained system so it didn't take long for his breathing to even out, and his ribs were thanking him for the lack of movement. Number One made sure to adjust his hand-made sling and did something with her hands which felt damn-right magical.

Chris let his head thunk back against the bark and let out a deep sigh of relief, his whole body had been strung so tight but now his muscles were finally being allowed to relax and recover. When he opened his eyes he saw that Una was smiling down at him sadly, she noticed his wrapped ribs were shot to hell and set about rearranging and tightening the bandages.

"You sure you can do this?" Pike asked through gritted teeth as Number One secured the wrappings around his chest.

"I'll manage." Una answered distractedly. When she finished off the most urgent care, she removed the phaser from her belt and gently pushed it into his hands. "Try and stay awake, I know it's hard."

"I didn't think you'd notice."

The irony wasn't lost on him that he could currently see three of her.

"I notice everything." Number One laughed heartily which hit Chris like a breath of fresh air. She stilled all of a sudden, swallowed and leant in to press her lips against his forehead. "I'll be back soon."

Pike watched her rise, already missing her warmth and laughter. His skin still tingled from where her lips had touched him. Una walked over to the first branch and grabbed hold, Chris knew he should break through his frozen state to say something but that kiss had rather stolen his thoughts.

"Be careful." Was all he could manage and even that came out broken.

Number One smirked back at him, most likely knowing exactly why he was so flustered. "You too."

Chris indicated his seated position with his hands and quipped. "I'm sitting down, how much trouble am i going to get in?"

Una barked a laugh, shaking her head whilst muttering. "If only you knew…"