Hey guys, here's the second chapter in the story. I haven't enjoyed writing something this much in a long time.
I'd also like to request reviews of some sort. It's hard to tell if people like your work when they don't comment!

Warnings for this chapter: Violence ; mild language ; hints of Spirk

Kirk frowned as he gazed further into the brush ahead of them, trying desperately to pin-point the source of the noise that had made him uneasy. When he found nothing of the sort, he sighed softly and knelt next to Carol Wallace to help her collect samples of the soil and plants that scattered the ground. "What do you make of it?" He asked lightly, trying to hide the edge in his voice. Her eyes locked on his and she smiled almost sheepishly before shaking her head and returning to her work. "I'm not sure. I've never seen anything like it before and seeing as how I'm not nearly as good as… but I'm sure Commander Spock would love to take a look at these things." Her voice was calm and cut through the tense atmosphere, causing the captain to visibly relax and chuckle. "Yeah, better get the emotionless bastard things to entertain him." He teased in a friendly tone, grinning as the communicator on his hip chirped and Spock's voice filtered in, "Captain, remember why you are there and cease insulting my person." Carol laughed very faintly and the two fell into silence once more as they worked.

It was only when they heard it that their calm exterior was broken and all were on edge. The bloodcurdling scream that filled the air was nowhere near enough to startle the captain, but the distinct sound of ripping flesh and breaking bone was more than enough to make the man flinch and rise quickly to his feet with phaser in hand. He hadn't expected to ever – in his entire lifetime – see a sight as gruesome as the one he was staring at. Johnson, one of the security crew that had accompanied them, was lying in a pool of his own blood… well, what was left of him. To Johnson's left was Simmons, crumpled in on himself and bleeding profusely from his chest. Kirk cursed loudly and rushed over to the barely breathing male, crouching next to him and desperately searching for a pulse. When he found none, he stood back up with a grim expression on his face. Where was the fifth member of their landing crew? "Kirk to Enterprise." Kirk spoke as he made his way back to the startled Carol, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. "Enterprise, this is a direct order from your captain: Remain aboard the ship until I or Carol Marcus contact you. Failure to comply will result in your immediate discharge from duty." He did not wait for a reply before cutting off both his and Carol's communicators. If they were going to find the remaining of their team, they would need complete silence. Any sounds from their communicators would give away their positions if it came down to having to hide and Kirk would not lose another of his crew – especially not Carol.

"Pull yourself together. I know you're scared but I need you to focus. I need your help right now, Carol." He whispered to the girl that appeared to be in shock, gently rubbing her back in a reassuring manner. It was another thirty seconds before she responded to him and was able to collect herself and start off into the unknown land with Kirk slightly ahead of her in an almost protective stance. The further into the brush they traveled, the slimier the sand beneath their feet became and the more thick the air became. It seemed to be ages before they caught sight of their missing friend and as they emerged from the brush and into a clearing, they stopped dead in their tracks. "What the hell…?" Kirk muttered, pulling lightly at the sweat drenched shirt that clung to his body. Before them was what appeared to be some sort of nest filled with remains of animals, and their missing crew member. They had been too late to save anyone – too slow to make a difference. Kirk lowered his gaze and reached for his communicator to request return to the ship. His fingers had just barely brushed the device when Carol's shrill scream rang in his ears. He pivoted, eyes set in a glare and hands holding tightly onto his phaser. "Carol!?" He called out when his eyes were met with the absence of the girl he wanted to protect more than anything in that moment. She screamed again, the sound coming from his right, and Kirk's body was in motion before he could process what he was doing. He had to get to her; had to save her before it was too late.

"Jim!" Her voice called out to him, laced in pain. He could hear her but could not see her – could not control the situation. "Carol, keep talking!" He yelled as he moved, hoping the woman would be able to continue making noise for him to get to her in time. Instead of talking he heard more screaming, but he couldn't bring him to complain and instead willed his body to move faster through the thick forest-desert like area. Thorns, razor-like leaves, rocks, and limbs poked and prodded at his body, leaving angry red streaks along the pale skin and tearing at the clothing on his person but he couldn't bring himself to care. Pushing his body even more, Kirk burst into yet another clearing and quickly took in the positions of the creature and the woman ahead of him. Carol was moaning in pain, clutching at her stomach from her position on the now mossy ground, while the ten-foot tall, spider-like beast hovered above her. The pinchers on its head clapped together roughly and slowly lowered towards Carol, leaving the captain to do the only thing he could think of in that moment. "Hey! What about me? Come get me you ugly fucker!" He growled out between his gritted teeth, successfully gaining the attention of the enormous monster.

James Tiberius Kirk was many things; a womanizer, a friend, brother, captain, tough, caring… but he was the furthest one could be from a genius in that moment. As the large being slinked towards him, Kirk stood his ground and fired off several consecutive rounds from his phaser in hopes of killing the god-awful thing ahead of him before it reached him. Of course, luck was not a friend and he had to throw himself to the side to avoid being slammed into the trees behind him. He was momentarily discouraged now that he was aware that phasers had zero effect on the beast that was now on the ground and crawling quickly towards him as compared to the walking it had done previously. Kirk grunted and forced himself to his feet, moving just in time to prevent getting crushed as the ten-foot long body pounced. "Dammit. Think, Kirk!" He grumbled to himself before his eyes lit up with hope. He rushed over to Carol, accessing the damage done to the female and slipping out of his shirt to press it to her bleeding stomach. "Don't move from this spot. I'll be back." He promised before rushing the creature like a fool. He had to get himself injured – he wasn't exactly sure why he felt he needed to do so, but he wasn't one to question his gut instincts.

The captain hissed in pain as his body was sliced into by the sharp legs of the enormous spider and he cried out the moment those horrifying pinchers closed around his shoulder and neck. He slammed his leg up into the body hovering around him, causing the monster to loosen the grip on his body just enough for him to pull himself away. Adrenaline flooded through his veins, allowing him to barely notice how a huge chunk of skin on his neck was now missing, and he darted out of the clearing. He forced his body to head north, ignoring the protesting muscles and the agony he felt. If he could just make it to – ah! There it was; the little slice of hope he had been looking for. Kirk sped up, fully aware of the sound of scampering legs that followed behind him, and headed straight to the cliff ahead of him. For a brief moment, he considered throwing himself off of the side to assure that the beast would follow but instead he remembered Carol's condition and tossed his body carelessly to the side before he reached the ledge. The larger form of the spider made it impossible for it to stop moving in time and it went plummeting over the cliff and down into the raging waters below. As that happened, Kirk's body rolled until it reached the edge and slid off as well. He barely managed to grab ahold of the rocky surface where his feet should have been. "Come on, Jim. You've done this before." He mumbled as he forced his muscles to work once more, pulling himself to the safety of the rocky ledge.

He simply laid there for what felt like ages, breathing heavily and trying to regain enough energy to travel back to his weapon's specialist. His body ached and he knew he had already lost too much blood. His vision darkened slightly and he grunted as he forced himself to his unsteady feet. If he died there, so be it… but he had to get Carol back to the Enterprise for medical treatment. He had promised, after all. He moved slowly but surely back to the clearing he had left the female in and he tried not to gaze down at his blood covered body and protruding ribs. By the time he had reached her, he was panting heavily and on the verge of losing consciousness. He dropped to his knees, ignoring her concerned gaze, as he huffed out a labored breath and fell onto his side with a sharp groan. "Kirk to Enterprise." He mumbled in a pained voice as he spoke into Carol's communicator (his having been destroyed during his run-in with the cliff). "There's only two of us. Have the medical team report to the transporter room and inform them that Carol is top priority." He paused, making sure the information had been received before he whimpered faintly and added, "Get us out of here." He didn't remember when he passed out, or even getting onto the ship, but he remembered waking up in small doses for the first two hours.

His eyes had fluttered open for the first time as he was lying on the transporter pad with McCoy's concerned face hovering over him as the doctor worked. "Bones-" He croaked out, "Patch me up necessities only. Take care of Carol, then worry about me. That's an order." He had mumbled before passing out once more. He had woken up once more, while in the medical bay, to the sound of Spock's voice asking for the condition of his captain and sounding… worried? He remembered feeling a tingling sensation and an overwhelming dose of affection at the fact that his first officer cared so much for him before he had passed out once more.

By this point, Spock had ended the meld and was gazing at Kirk with a fascinated look in his dark eyes. Despite that fact Kirk was still emerged in his memories, recalling how he had woken a third time and had forced himself out of the Medical Bay and returned to the bridge where Uhura had embraced him and proceeded to yell about how he was a fool and never thought about the consequences of his actions. At the time, Kirk hadn't really cared what was being said to him and had simply told her to return to her station as he settled into the captain's chair. He was fully aware of the Lieutenant's hurt look and her glare as Spock had tried to console the captain and tell him to return to Doctor McCoy for further medical treatment, but just as with Uhura Kirk had informed Spock to drop the matter and return to his own station. Of course, his cold demeanor and words had led to the anger from both his communication's officer and his first office.

Kirk blinked, coming back to reality at the sound of his name being called by McCoy. "Huh?" He asked dumbly, looking around the mess hall for a moment as if he was unaware of where he was. "Oh, right… Sorry. I'm fine." He muttered with a faint blush of embarrassment on his cheeks as he cleared his throat. "I was unaware you felt that way, Captain." Spock said quietly, causing Kirk to turn his head and gaze at the other with a blank look. "Whatever it is you're referring to, Spock, it better stay in that head of yours." He then stood and groaned softly, lifting his hand to his shoulder and swaying slightly. Spock steadied him and gazed over at the doctor with an almost concerned look in his eyes before gripping at Kirk's waist lightly. "Can you take him back to his room, Spock? I've got to tend to Carol." The doctor spoke in a tone much softer than his normal one as he watched Kirk's eyes droop closed. "He's been through more than enough. He'll probably fall asleep while you're walking." As McCoy spoke he made his way out of the mess hall, leaving the two men to take care of themselves.

Spock remained still for a moment, listening contently to Kirk's thoughts of love and admiration for his crew through where their skin touched. "Stay awake, Jim, I will not resort to carrying you." He said in his normal haughty tone as he practically dragged the exhausted and weak captain through the ship and to his quarters. He helped Kirk settled into his bed and gazed at him for a moment before he turned on his heel to return to the bridge so he could keep things running while Kirk slept.

It was three days before Kirk emerged from his room and returned to the bridge, clad in clean clothing and fresh bandages. The circles under his eyes from the events before had all but vanished and he even had a small smile on his lips as command of the Enterprise was returned to him. They were no longer anywhere near the planet where all hell had broken loose, instead they were nearing the area of space where New Vulcan was located. "Mister Spock." Kirk began in a light voice, turning in his chair to look at his first officer. "I hope you treated the crew well while I was out. They always complain that you're a real hard-ass whenever I leave you in charge." He grinned devilishly at his friend as coughs and chokes were heard throughout the bridge. Yes, things were on their way to returning to normal. All Kirk had to do now was focus on healing and taking care of his crew.

If only that had been true. "Captain! There's a ship hailing us." Uhura's voice called out softly, followed by Sulu's steady tone, "They've locked weapons on us, sir." Kirk's face paled slightly and set his jaw before he took a deep breath. "Red Alert. Shields up, Mister Sulu." His nails dug into the arm of the chair before he relaxed visibly and turned to look at Uhura. "Let's have a talk with them, shall we?" He was not expecting to see a face from his past, nor was he expecting the impact it would have on him and his crew. This person was supposed to be gone for good. Kirk straightened his body and half-glared at the image before him.

"Khan."