Captain Pike led the trio through the thick undergrowth, swatting away palm fronds and overhanging branches with ease. Michael had been having trouble keeping her wandering eyes off of him, specifically the warm smile that been growing as he chatted happily with Spock, the way his muscles bulged under his uniform when he slashed aside more vegetation, the wonder in his eyes as he took in a whole new world.

This infatuation was getting out of control. She had caught herself on more than one occasion mirroring the Captain's movements, and wanting to reach out and touch him. She clenched her fists whenever a wave of heat got too strong and she felt her face flush, the physical symptoms of attraction were becoming harder and harder to deny. Thankfully the atmosphere was baking so all three of them had red faces and were sweating more than usual; that was the only reason her reactions had so far stayed under the radar.

Spock was leading the direction, using faint readings of disturbance up ahead to plan their movements. The energy signature was somewhat similar to the red angel's signal, Michael and Spock didn't believe in coincidences so they started to follow the disturbance.

It was difficult to feel uneasy in this place even though Michael knew she should, they were literally venturing out into the unknown yet she couldn't help but be thrilled by the adventure. She had to keep reminding herself that any dangers could lurk here and she was the one responsible for covering all their backs. So far the planet had shown them great beauty and wonders but they all had to keep reminding themselves of the reason why they were all here, and what chaos usually came after the appearance of a red signal.

Out of nowhere Michael's instincts peaked and she noticed Spock stiffen as well. She felt subtle vibrations run through the ground, they were small at first barely noticeable, until suddenly they weren't. Violent tremors shook the ground beneath their feet, sending wildlife from all directions fleeing to the sky in horror.

Michael wobbled for a moment and almost lost her footing entirely then just as suddenly as the quake had started it stopped; they all looked to the sky when a loud bang echoed out and rumbled like a thunder strike. Some kind of energy wave rocked the sky and lit up the entire space like a nebula igniting.

The dazzling light disappeared into nothing and the thundering noise fell silent; all that remained was a strange tingling metallic taste to the air like the strike had charged the molecules. Michael stared up into the sky and saw hundreds of specks of light swirling and dancing in the air; it would have been unbelievably beautiful if it didn't make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up sensing danger.

"What the hell was that?" Pike had his hand on his phaser and his jaw was clenched, glancing round the area and squinting at the air suspiciously.

Michael's gaze snapped to her brother when Spock uncharacteristically hit the side of his tricorder, Michael noticed the screen was completely blank. Her bad feeling was growing.

"Maybe we should ask Discovery." Michael mused, all the while studying their surroundings carefully unsure why she was suddenly so on edge.

The Captain noticed her anxious reaction and started to mirror it. Nothing had really changed yet everything on the planet felt different, like the warmth and happiness had been stolen and replaced by a haunting chill. Whatever wonder they had felt here before was gone, cruelly eradicated by this sense of danger.

"Agreed." The Captain nodded pulling out his communicator. "Pike to Discovery come in."

Michael knew there was something deeply wrong when she couldn't even hear static, it sounded like the communicator was completely dead just like Spock's tricorder. After watching Pike struggle with the device they all flipped open their communicators and tried to get through to the ship, or get any response at all from the devices. Disappointingly none of them worked, they were all completely dead.

"Nothing." Pike slapped the communicator against his hand thoughtfully, glancing up at the lights in the air above them.

Spock was already busy breaking open the communicators and Michael's heart fell when she saw there was no power in any of their equipment, which meant… Michael unclipped her phaser and tried powering it up, scowling at the weapon when it refused to respond.

"We've lost all power." Michael grimly announced.

Spock glanced at her. "So it would seem."

So they had no way to contact the ship, no way to defend themselves and hardly anything on them for survival except the basics. They had never dreamed this would happen, not after scanning the surface and finding no sign of this. The energy wave must have been of natural creation, there was no other explanation for it. Michael turned to the Captain who had just finished checking his own weapon, a frown etched deeply into his features and sporting a grim pout.

"So, we appear to be stuck here for the time being." He glanced at both of them. "Suggestions?"

This was yet another reason why Chris was such a good Captain. He valued his crew's opinions above everything else; he recognised they were his number one resource and he always made them feel valued.

Michael's mind formulated a plan quickly. "Discovery will try and contact us when the check-in time comes round. When they get no response they'll come looking."

"They'll most likely start where they last had contact with us." Pike mused, glancing back the way they came. "Which was about 10 minutes that way."

"I can try and tie together our equipment, there might be just enough power left to send off a distress signal." Spock added.

Pike nodded happily. "Do it. We'll head back-"

Whatever the Captain was about to say was cut off as an almighty roar echoed throughout the space, sending wildlife scurrying away in all directions. All three officer's snapped round to the sound, postures stiffening and falling back into defensive position's automatically. Michael scanned the undergrowth meticulously looking for any signs of threat, and they all went for their phasers before remembering they were out of commission.

Michael gulped nervously and attempted to shake off the tremors that rocked her body. Whatever had made that sound had been close and it sounded big. "What was-"

Michael's words caught in her throat when the undergrowth came to life and something black and huge bounded towards them, towards her. She froze completely, rooted to the spot like her legs had suddenly become magnetised to the planet. She could see the beast coming towards her yet she couldn't, time became skewed and all Michael could do was stare mouth agape in pure terror.

"Michael!" She heard someone frantically scream her name as the thing bounded into her. She lost her footing instantly and felt all the breath leave her lungs. The force sent her flying backwards and the beast's claws sliced into the front of her uniform; leaving a vicious trail of fire in it's wake.

It was a strange sensation, whereas moments earlier time had slowed down to a crawl it had now finally sped up so in no time she was crashing heavily into the ground. She gasped painfully and sat up frantically, staring into the creatures maddened eyes. Michael had rarely felt genuine visceral fear like this, her brain wouldn't respond, her limbs wouldn't move, hell she couldn't even breathe.

The beast reared back and Michael's brain supplied that it was about to pounce again and she belatedly realised she still hadn't moved. Microseconds before it launched someone rushed the beast from the side, yelling to distract it while the body crashed into it with enough force to push them both aside.

Michael's eyes bulged and she suddenly felt so cold, all the way to her core. In her shocked state it took her a few moments to realise that the blur tangled with the beast had been Captain Pike, and oh my God, he had just tackled a monster like he was playing a game of american football.

"Captain!" She cried out and jumped to her feet, her brain finally kicking into gear.

The creature had already dislodged it's attacker and was now busy trying to get it's huge jaw around the Captain's head. Pike was fighting it off valiantly, holding the blood soaked teeth at bay with just his hands. The Captain's muscles shook all over from the force needed to keep death at bay; he staggered under the weight of the thing and cried out continuously when the creature's claws gouged his chest over and over.

"Michael catch!"

Michael spun round and automatically brought her hand up to catch whatever was coming her way, Spock had tossed her a tree branch which he had somehow set on fire. Michael immediately caught onto his plan and raced forward towards the beast waving the fire madly in it's face. Spock joined in the fight from the other side.

Sadly they didn't reach the Captain before he lost his footing and tumbled beneath the monster's weight, being crushed by it as it's greater mass landed on top of him. Michael's breath caught and she almost stumbled to a halt when the beast's teeth disappeared into Pike's shoulder.

The Captain screamed. Michael would never forget that scream for as long as she lived, the visceral pain and agony, the despair and misery all bound together in that one moment of unbelievable hurting. That scream was haunting.

Michael and Spock rushed forward and batted the creature with the fire making it jump off of its victim in horror; darting backwards away from the licking flames chasing it. Michael and Spock put their own bodies between the Captain, who had worryingly gone quiet and still, and the starving creature.

Michael looked into the beast's eyes as she pushed the fire towards it, seeing how often it kept looking at its potential meal splayed out on the floor. Michael trembled as she watched blood dripping from its lips, his blood.

Eventually it's survival instincts kicked in and the beast growled at them before bounding away into the forest not willing to fight against the unknown element. Michael was glad Spock had been able to function when she hadn't; his quick thinking had most definitely saved their lives. Speaking of which.

"Captain!" Michael cried again and raced over to his body dropping the burning torch nearby.

She reached his bloody form and her heart clenched painfully when she saw his eyes were closed, his breathing was so shallow and his skin was pale and already clammy. There was so much blood; he almost looked dead. Michael reached out a shaking hand and checked for a pulse, relieved when she felt a thready thrum beneath her fingers.

"He's alive, but his pulse is weak." She informed Spock who was standing guard over both of them having picked up Michael's downed torch.

Michael shook out of her jacket and pressed it against the Captain's wounds desperately trying to stench the bleeding. She honestly didn't even know where to start but it was his shoulder that had a huge chunk missing out of it so she pressed most of the material there; despairing at how much blood had already left Pike's body.

"There's so much blood Spock." She whispered shakily, realising she was panicking. No matter how much training they had had nothing could prepare them for this, for the ferocity of this and how it made her feel like her world was ending.

Spock glanced down at the Captain and Michael saw unfettered emotion flash across his face, worry, fear, panic. It scared her more than her own weaknesses. Spock didn't lose control. He sensed her staring and quickly schooled his emotions, kneeling down and shrugging out of his jacket too.

"We've got to stem this bleeding." He ordered, ripping his and her jackets to shreds. Michael soon got the idea and helped him rip up the material to create makeshift bandages. Michael followed Spock's example and cast her emotions aside. Chris, no the Captain, needed them both if he were to survive this.

They worked methodically and quickly, shifting Pike over and holding him up between them as they wrapped his wounds tightly with what little material they had. Worryingly Pike was quiet and still throughout the affair, head lolling limply against his chest and showing no outward signs of their prodding. Michael had to keep checking his pulse to make sure he was still with them.

Spock noticed her touch and glanced at her. "He's alive Michael, the pain is just too much for him."

Michael frowned and cocked her head to the side, her lips pursed. She wasn't sure how Spock could know such a thing for definite until she noticed her brother's hand was in contact with the Captain's skin. He was touch telepathic and had clearly been inside the Captain's mind to check on his wellbeing.

"Is he holding on?" Michael asked her brother unable to keep the quiver out of her voice, she didn't even know if she wanted to hear the answer.

Spock looked at her, maybe with a hint of sympathy. "He is." He then reached out and took Michael's hand in his own. "Captain Pike does not give up easily."

Michael caught flashes of memories that were not her own, Spock and Pike aboard enterprise, handfuls of close scrapes with the both of them always pulling through. She pulled away from the touch gasping like she'd been burned by fire; it had been so long since her and Spock's minds had touched.

She had seen his memories of the Captain what if Spock had seen hers? More importantly had he seen her deepest darkest secret? He looked at her like he was looking into her soul and she couldn't pull away from it, oh yeah he had definitely seen.

Their attention snapped to their Captain as he moaned miserably and shifted beneath them. Spock glanced from him to their surroundings and then back to Michael. "We've got to get to shelter, somewhere we can fend off further attacks."

Michael nodded in agreement, looking down at their Captain with sympathy. Moving him would hurt a lot but what choice did they have? "Where do you suggest?"

Spock pointed north. "Before my equipment ceased to function the readings suggested several underground sites not far from here. I believe the terrain will provide good shelter where the Captain can rest."

Michael's mind raced through her survival training, realising she hadn't needed to think like this in quite some time. "Okay. We'll need to find a source of water, we've only got the basics on us."

Spock nodded grimly then looked down at the Captain who had mercifully passed out again, a thin sheet of sweat covered his face and incredibly he looked even paler. Spock took the Captain's shoulder in one hand and indicated Michael do the same. "We should get moving before that creature decides to come back."

Michael glanced over her shoulder again for the umpteenth time, checking Spock was still in her wake and coping well enough. After they had agreed to move to safer ground Michael had helped Spock pick the Captain up in a fireman's lift. They had tried to be as gentle as possible but that was easier said than done. The Captain had flesh ripped out of him all over his body so trying to find an area that wouldn't hurt him was impossible.

After some trial and error they had both decided on a sideway's position so the Captain was resting over Spock's shoulder, carefully angling his body away so the shoulder with chunks missing wasn't pressing into Spock's chest every step. Spock had a tight hold of Pike and Michael ended up looking back when she heard her brother shifting the Captain, calming down when she saw he was just making sure Pike's shoulder wasn't trapped.

Michael's heart clenched painfully every time she caught sight of the Captain. The deathlike pallor of his face, the way his limp arm hung down and swayed with Spock's steps, the crimson blood dripping from his wounds covering both him and Spock entirely, his sweat and blood soaked hair plastered to his face. He looked half dead and honestly Michael barely recognised him. Where was the usual warmth he exuded? Where was the happy glint in his eye? Where was that smile she had grown to love?

She reluctantly looked away and continued pressing onwards, holding out the two flaming torches to clear their path. Michael had repeatedly offered to take over carrying Pike but her brother had waved her off, arguing that he was a lot stronger than her and that he was coping just fine. Michael pursed her lips unhappily but held her tongue. She knew better than to argue with her brother he was more stubborn than she was.

They'd only been travelling for 10 minutes and it had mostly been in complete silence. The only time the Captain had made a sound or stirred was when Spock and Michael had first lifted him to put him on Spock's shoulder. He had screamed in agony and flailed against the unfamiliar hold, already deep within the throes of misery to understand anything that was happening to him. Mercifully the screams had died out when he passed out and he had been silent ever since.

When he had screamed again Michael had almost lost all ability to support herself, her breathing had slowed and become shallow. Listening to Chris in pure agony had almost broken her heart in two. He had tackled a beast with his bare hands knowing where it would lead, and he had done it all to protect her. The Captain had tackled a monster to save her life.

Every time she saw the misery on his face, the tremors that ran through his body; she flashed back to the predator. She flashed back to the murderous hunger in it's eyes and couldn't get the blood drenched teeth out of her mind.

A sudden whimpering sound followed by an outcry forced Michael to shoot a concerned glance backwards, what she saw actually made her stumble and it was only a miracle that stopped her from falling over entirely. She had seen the Captain's head move. He was awake, face screwed up partly in confusion partly in pain; he was desperately trying to work out why he was upside down.

"What?" Pike muttered before crying out again, moaning miserably as fire burned through his shoulder.

Michael watched Spock stiffen and he slowed his steps right down, conscious that every movement he made sent untold misery through to Pike. "Its alright Captain, we're moving to safer ground."

Michael saw when Pike lost the strength to hold his head up, letting it sag against Spock's chest. He gasped and cried out with each step Spock took, further blood dripping from his face and wounds to stain both of their uniforms.

"Spock." Pike muttered weakly against Spock's shoulder.

Michael felt her heart clench at the desperation in his voice, she had never heard Pike sound so vulnerable. On the surface he was always the strong immovable Captain. Seeing and hearing him like this was an unwelcome reminder that they were all just human.

"Its me Captain, I'm here." Spock soothingly reassured.

For the second time she felt her legs tremble and Michael really didn't know where to look. She didn't want her brother noticing her surprise but she was sure he caught her reaction anyway. Those words and that tone were just so alien for Spock, but not unwelcome. She was glad he and Chris were close enough to be like this.

"Spo..." The Captain's mumble fell away when a nasty jolt sent him spiralling back into unconsciousness.

Michael frowned at Pike in concern but Spock waved her anxiousness away. "He's still alive Michael." He indicated with his eyes that he was holding the Captains arm, in constant contact with his surface mind. "However he is in a lot of pain and in need of rest."

Spock's face was tense and twitched every now and again almost like he was experiencing some of that pain, perhaps that was a side effect of being linked to the Captain. Michael understood the urgency and picked up the pace, bashing through the forest undergrowth with anew determination.

A/N - Poor old Pike, I do tend to treat him badly in my fics... Still nothing like a life or death situation to get some good reaction's out of the characters :) As usual next chapter should hopefully be a couple of days!