They'd had to stop along the way a number of times, McCoy pulling Carla to one side as she threw up what was left in her stomach. Finally they made it to the freighter bay, she was feeling sicker and sicker and she could tell she was going into shock. Sinking down against a cold, wet wall she closed her eyes, trying to stop the spinning in her head. McCoy looked at her fretfully but focussed back on Sarraf's ship, there was no sign of movement. Turning back to Carla his heart missed a beat, her head had lolled back and she appeared to be unconscious. McCoy grabbed her face with both hands, his thumb stroking her cheek.
"Cece! You need to wake up! Now!" He whispered frantically, Carla's eyes lazily opened as she tried to focus on McCoy's face.
"I'm awake." She slurred back, if they had been in any other situation McCoy would have laughed.
"Come on, we need to make a move, just stay behind me alright?" Carla nodded her head, hoisting her up and hooking her arm with his he practically dragged her towards Sarraf's ship. Nobody paid them any attention, the bay was full of life and it seemed that most people minded their own business. Given the majority of the business transactions were highly illegal there was no sign of any police or local law enforcement, if there was they certainly looked the other way.
The door slid open and McCoy slipped in and closed it behind them quickly. Carla's legs gave in and she slumped to the floor, McCoy knelt down in front of her and checked her pulse again, the skin around her neck was red raw in places and she winced at the pressure of his fingers against her throat.
"I'm sorry." He whispered in response. He'd already noticed the bruises that besieged her body, her cheek had turned a dark shade of purple and there was fist sized marks across her torso. Not to mention the assault he had witnessed with his own eyes.
"Cece, I'm going to get you out of here alright? I need you to stay awake, do you hear me?" She nodded her head but her eyes were still closed. "Damnit Cece, open your eyes!"
"What are you waiting for Boy Scout? Get us out of here." She looked up at him and gave him a half-hearted smile, McCoy smiled back at her compassionately and then made his way to the front of the ship, and he didn't fail to notice that the Alikan was still on board. If he didn't appreciate the gravity of the situation before he certainly did now. Powering up the ship he had no idea where they were, he just wanted to get away.
"Let's get the fuck out of here!" He muttered to himself as he watched the bay access indicator clear him for take-off. As he manoeuvred the craft away from the station and into space he allowed himself to exhale slowly in relief. "Now I just need to work out where the hell we are."
A familiar sound emanated from behind him, turning he saw a swirling of lights between Carla and himself. Kusa Sarraf appeared, brandishing his knife and howling at the top of his lungs. McCoy had no time to react, Sarraf running and tackling him to the floor, McCoy gripped Sarraf's wrist with both his hands trying to keep the blade as far away from him as possible.
"You think you can steal from me and get away with it!" He shouted. McCoy flipped him over, but Sarraf's sheer size allowed him to twist back around, plunging the knife into McCoy's thigh. He let out a pained howl, falling backwards he grabbed his leg to stem the bleeding.
Carla watched wide eyed, the horror of the situation coursing through her. She knew McCoy was moments from death, pulling herself up she looked around frantically, unhooking one of the chains from the wall she lunged towards Sarraf who had his back to her. She wrapped the chain round his neck and pulled with all of her strength, his hands instantly went to his throat trying to pull the chain away. Carla kept pulling, crying out with the amount of force and energy she was using to down the man.
"Cece!" McCoy tried to stand but his leg wouldn't budge. Sarraf changed tactics and instead of pulling against her he fell back, pushing Carla into the wall. She didn't let go though, keeping her grip on the chain as tight as she could. He repeatedly rammed her into the wall, her back and head taking most of the impact.
A firm blow to the head stopped Carla in her tracks, her vision began to blacken around the corners and she could feel herself loosen her grip on the chain. Sarraf took the opportunity it afforded him and turned towards her, landing a heavy blow to her jaw.
"Well I was right about one thing Sweetness, you do have fight in ya!" Picking her up as if she was a rag doll Sarraf laughed in her face. "I knew you were trouble the moment I laid eyes on you, there's something about you I can't put my finger on? It's a shame really." He placed the knife between them, then began pushing it into her stomach slowly, Carla cried out in pain while Sarraf laughed. Watching him open-mouthed Carla saw his laughter turn to agony, blood poured out of his mouth and it was then that she saw McCoy stood behind him and the knife protruding from Sarraf's chest.
"Fuck you." Carla spat into his face, she watched McCoy push Sarraf to the floor and then collapsing to the ground. Kneeling beside him she pulled the scarf from his neck, wrapping it around his thigh tightly.
"Damn it!" McCoy cursed. "I'm losing too much blood." Carla didn't know what to say, she got to her feet, holding onto the wall panel to keep upright.
"I'm going to fly us out of here, hang on." Her head was killing and her vision kept going in and out of focus but she managed to pull herself into the cockpit and check the chart. "I'm going to put out a sub-space transmission to the Enterprise, hopefully they're close enough to pick it up." Carla shouted over her shoulder, inputting the co-ordinates of their last known location she put the ship into autopilot and then made her way back to McCoy.
He was sat in a pool of blood, his skin was the colour of ash. Carla sat next to him and put more pressure on his thigh.
"How's my favourite Boy Scout?" She asked him, tears streaming down her face.
"I've been better." Carla couldn't help but laugh. "They'll find us Cece." McCoy whispered, his eyes closing as he spoke.
"I know." She replied, not knowing if he was trying to reassure her or she was trying to reassure him. She wanted to keep him awake so she kept asking him questions, what should she do if they encountered another ship, was the frequency she was using the right one? Eventually, her own exhaustion was too much to bear and her head slumped onto McCoy's shoulder.
"I'm sorry Leonard." The tears were falling freely down her cheeks.
"What are you sorry for? It should be me apologising." His words were becoming slurred.
"I shouldn't have got caught, you shouldn't have had to come after me." Her hand found his and she was surprised when their fingers intertwined and he held onto her tightly.
"You would have rather been killed? And I didn't come after you because of duty, I came after you because I wanted to. I had to." Her fingers rubbed the skin over and over on the outside of his hand.
"Thank you." She replied.
"Don't thank me yet Cece, we're not out of the woods yet." She felt a pang of pain radiate from her stomach where Sarraf's blade had broken her skin, she shifted uncomfortably but was careful not to move McCoy too much.
"I thought I was going to die today, and then when I saw that it was you. That you'd come to save me I knew I would live."
"What about now?" She could barely hear him now, his voice little more than a whisper.
"Now I'm not too sure." McCoy chuckled lazily, using his all his strength he opened his eyes and looked at Carla.
"You look like shit Cece." Carla smiled and kissed his forehead, letting her head rest on his.
"Always a pleasure Doctor McCoy." She watched as he closed his eyes, his breathing evening out. She could feel her own eyelids grow heavy with sleep, she didn't have any more fight left in her. She let her eyes close and felt herself fall into the darkness.