I know y'all don't particularly care about my day to day life; I am merely a conduit for a story that you (hopefully) like and want to read. But that's why I put my a/n's in bold, so you can just skip past them whilst whistling Dixie. I have been back to University for about a month and a half now, and it is effectively consuming my soul. On top of my coursework in American Sign Language and Linguistics, I am the Stage Manager and Set Director for a showing of A Very Potter Musical one of my clubs is performing so I am running flat out. I apologize for my updates being slow and few between, and the vast number of mini one-shot ficlets that crop up when I'm supposed to be taking notes in my graduate courses (like the a/n is being written in).

Oh, and I've become obsessed with Doctor Who (yes, yes, I'm late to the ball, but remember, I live outside of the United States and Europe most of the year) so ... yeah, more of my time get's eatten up. That and Torchwood. I've fallen in love with Harkness and Ianto and Owen :D. ...does that make me sexist?

Chapter Six: Captain to King

Point of View: Kirk

James T. Kirk was seldom scared. Not that he'd never been scared, certainly he'd been in situations where he'd feared for his life and the lives of those under his protection; but he'd never been this scared.

Standing in that opulent room, seeing armor and weapons on the wall that bore signs of earnest and effective use, made him wish he'd just accepted a position in engineering like his first girlfriend had begged. Never mind that he'd never have gotten to Star Ship Captain, never mind that as he would most likely have died in some incident or another three weeks into his post, all that Kirk cared about was that he wouldn't be standing in this room, in front of this King, on this strange planet where no one knew who he was and he wasn't sure how he'd save his crew.

As he stood he affected the slightly relaxed pose he knew irritated Spock but put most humans at ease. He felt the disapproval roll through his bond with the Vulcan, but more so he felt the same fear and worry he was experiencing. A quick glance revealed his CMO and CO standing, shoulders touching, fingertips just grazing each other, with both sets of eyes trained on him with intensity and protective worry. It made him feel better know that his two most trusted officers were there with him; it made him feel even better to know that the rest of his bridge crew was there as well. Even if their chances of a speedy return to the ship in the nick of time if something went foul now was nill since Scotty was with them rather than in the transporter bay, he still found comfort in knowing the best minds in all of 'Fleet were at his back.

Before him stood the female Knight Alanna, the strange man Numair that people here claimed was a mage, and someone who looked as though they'd been cut from a cloth specifically meant to be made into a king. His short hair was jet black without a single grey strand, and piercing blue eyes made to judge men gazed calmly at him from a face that would be handsome were it smiling rather than looking at Kirk with suspicion. His clothing was rich and well made, but seemed simpler than Jim expected of a ruler. The only signs of wealth on the man were his rings, a sapphire earring in one lobe, and the ornate crown perched easily on his head. Kirk knew he was expected to kneel, or something, but his pride balked even under his fear. Instead he settled for a stiff half bow, more of a bob than a sign of fealty.

The silence stretched as Kirk waited. His skin crawled like he was covered in creeping slime. He shivered and stood straighter, coughing lightly into his fist. He could tell Spock could feel the sensation as well, but he didn't know if it was a carryover of his and Bones' nerves, or something coming from that level blue gaze.

"Ahem… Well, Sir, I am Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the Starship USS Enterprise call number NCC-1711, this is my Bridge Crew, and we are here by mistake,"

Blue eyes crinkled in something, mirth or annoyance Kirk couldn't tell, and he felt his tongue dry in his mouth. The creeping feeling grew worse, and now he felt as though three different hands were roving over his body and down behind his eyes to press into his brain. It struck him that some device was scanning him, maybe a type of medical instrument, or worse case a targeting weapon.

"I assure you, many people who arrive in this room feel as though they are here by mistake, but seldom have such a confusing group of people found themselves so deep in a restricted area of the realm by 'mistake'. I also assure you that if you lie to me, I will know,"

Kirk felt the cold sweat roll down his back, but he forced a bravos smile to his face and ran a thankfully still hand through his hair,

"Well, I assure you that I couldn't come up with a lie right now if my life depended on it,"

"Which is a lie,"

With a start he swung his gaze toward Alanna, who wasn't even looking at him, but rather watching the air between him and his crew, toying with the glowing gem of her necklace,

"Do not undersell your intelligence Sir Kirk, but do not take for granted my King's,"

Kirk nodded slowly, "I apologize, I… I suppose I could come up with a story, but the truth is we don't know where we are, how we got here, or why it happened,"

The King looked hard at him, full lips quirking under his moustache, "James was it? You are a brave leader to continue to keep information from us in hopes to protect your crew, but I must ask again for you to tell me exactly what you know,"

Kirk swallowed and turned back to the monarch, "We, we know how we happened to come here. We were transporting to another planet from our ship, one called Ancash XI, during an Ion Storm, which affected the transport badly. The next thing we know, we woke up in that forest. And they," Kirk pointed at Numair and Alanna, "placed us under a force field, took our weapons, and escorted us here. I promise you, other than wild guesses, we don't know anymore about how or why we ended up here, and we certainly didn't know where we had ended up. Might you um, explain where we were? And why we weren't supposed to be there? It looked just like a regular forest,"

The King shared a glance with Alanna, then he inclined his head toward Numair, "Numair, it is your handiwork there, would you prefer to be the one to explain it?"

The taller man covered his face with a gigantic hand, his knuckles pronounced along long fingers, and the tips blackened with ink and dirt, and he sighed,

"I turned a man into an apple tree,"

In the silence that followed there was a crushing feeling of disbelief coming from his crew. Numair noticed it first, then Alanna and King Jonathan shared a concerned glance.

It was of course Chekov who broke the silence,

"But that iz, impossible… to turn a man into a twee," Chekov grabbed Bones' sleeve, "Isn't it Doktor?"

"Chekov… I don't know what's possible anymore," Bones' gruff voice did little to comfort their youngest member, but it would have to do.

"I am not surprised you don't understand. I am, well, since he became rather leafy, the only Mage left that has the ability to use a Word of Power like that. It was either him or me, and now, there's some poor tree out there that's a human. I'm afraid he didn't have a good start to his life but I've helped him somewhat I think,"

Kirk weakly raised his left hand, feeling faint, "Please stop talking…"

The King walked forward, stopping well inside Kirk's personal space,

"I want to know, are you a danger to my people?"

Spock moved to protect him, he knew because he could feel the surge of protective anger in his mind, but all Jim could do was look into those hard blue eyes. Framed with the longest, darkest lashes he'd ever seen on a man, they captivated him and stole his breath for long moments,

"I… we, our mission is one of peace, no matter where we go,"

It wasn't good enough for the King, and he pressed closer, laying a hand that sparked blue on Jim's shoulder,

"Again: Are. You. A. Danger?" A hint of steel under King Jonathan's rich voice made Kirk look him square in the eye. Jim recognized his expression, he'd worn it many times already when considering an enemy's danger to his crew.

"We are dangerous, Your Highness, very much so. But we would never do anything to disturb your world. I swear it," Kirk held his head high, meeting the ruler of this world right on and without pretense.

"All I wanted was the truth. Thank you," Jonathan reached out and shook hands with Captain Kirk, "Now, how about I tell you a little about where you are?"

The sudden change in atmosphere fairly made him sag with relief, and Kirk laughed nervously, "That would be wonderful, but I think I need to sit down,"

Kirk slumped into the chair nearest to him and let out a gigantic breath.

Both Alanna and The King began to laugh in earnest, while Numair simply grinned at them. Spock moved forward and took his place while Bones moved swiftly to his side and gripped his shoulder reassuringly.

"I would be more than willing to learn more about this world. I have no record of anything here within the databases," Spock gestured to his PADD.

"Here, Master Numair would surely be more than happy to give you a history lesson," Jonathan pushed Numair toward Spock and walked closer to Kirk.

Kirk was focusing on his mental barrier between him and Spock, trying to keep his adrenaline spike and worry from the Vulcan and jumped when the King laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I do not apologize for your treatment, because I know Alanna and Numair were undoubtedly fine to you. But I do apologize for the situation that you are in, and the fact that at the moment I am at a loss as to what to do," Jonathan smoothed his beard with one hand, "I will contact the City of the Gods in the morning, right now they're busy with the culmination of a rather important event. I'm sure they will be able to think of something though,"

Alanna leaned over his chair too, "And I'll see if the Goddess would be able to do anything. If worse comes to worst, though, I suppose Daine might be able to ask her parents for help,"

"The Godde—," Jonathan cut McCoy off,

"What about Kitten's family? Could the Dragons bring them back like they did for Daine and Numair?"

Kirk straightened up in his seat. For a moment his face was dizzyingly close to Jonathan's. The firm heat of Bones' hand on his back sent a guilty feeling down his spine even as his eyes followed the King's lips and chiseled jaw line.

"I'm sorry, but what? There are… options to send us home?" He lurched forward, ignoring Alanna's warning hand on her sword, "You, you even understand what our problem is?"

Bone's continued to rub the back of his neck and shoulders, but it didn't take a peek at their connection to know the doctor was just as confused as he was. Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, and Scotty turned from listening to Numair's lecture at his strained and high pitched voice.

"Captain? What do you mean, they understand our problem?" Spock was the first to appear next to him, hovering just too far inside his personal space for a Vulcan to be quite proper, but no human would notice the closeness.

Numair joined them much more slowly, his black robes fluttering languidly. 'Why on earth is everyone here gorgeous?' Kirk felt the blood rise in his face when Numair laughed,

"Of course I understand. We, understand," Numair twirled his fingers, an idle spark of black light dancing across his fingertips, "You have made it clear you all are visitors from another world. Well, we're well versed in other worlds here in Tortall. We have the contacts to call in to see if we can help you get home. It just might… take a while,"

"Y'all really are a calm people, aren't ye?" McCoy's gruff question made the redhead at Kirk's left hand laugh.

"We can't afford to be shocked anymore you see," She smiled upwards at something, "It just keeps getting stranger since the barrier went down. You lot are just the next strange thing. I'm glad, I must say, that for once the newest strange thing isn't something that I need to figure out how to kill,"

"We shall endeavor to not cause you desire for our deaths, Lady Alanna," Spock nodded stiffly.

"I should hope not. Now, if I might ask my own questions, what are these devices I took from you earlier? I tried to probe them, but there's an energy signature that I don't recognize. Who made them for you? They must be quite a powerful mage, yet I don't know of them," Numair gently lifted one of the phasers from his pocket.

"Och, be careful with tha one. I specially altered it," Scotty quipped up with a guilty look towards Kirk.

"Altered the phaser? How?" Uhura covered her face with a hand.

"Before we get to the altered one then, can you please explain their purpose?" Numair gently interceded.

"Ah, yes, well, they're phaser—our weapons," Kirk looked back at Jonathan, "Please, do be careful with them,"

"What good can such a small thing be? They have no blade on them. What sort of Magic does it produce?" Alanna queried, reaching for one.

"Magic? Again with the Magic," Chekov whispered to Sulu and Nyota.

"I can explain it to y'es," Scotty stepped forward, beckoning for one of the devices.

"I sense that a demonstration would be more to Our Lioness's liking, Sir Montgomery," Jonathan nodded to Numair who handed the phaser lightly to the Scotsman. He then moved a large, hot hand to the base of Kirk's throat, black fire making a tingling, sparking necklace of light over his skin.

"S-Scotty, just to be clear, a demonstration in the literal, peaceful sense," He managed to choke out. Spock and Bones were on either side of him and Numair, fairly growling to themselves.

"Understood Cap'ain," Scotty looked around the room briefly, "Are… ye particularly fond o' that chair there?" He pointed to a chair set away in the corner of the room.

All three Tortallans shook their heads 'no' and Scotty nodded, and then activated the phaser. The chair disappeared in a puff and cloud of smoke, the loud noise causing the guards at the door to burst inside.

Jonathan merely traded glances with his two friends, waved the guards away, and took his seat at the edge of his immense desk.

"Remarkable. I trust you'll understand that I wish you to leave these devices in safe keeping with myself until you are able to return to your world, yes?"

"Too damn calm," Bones murmured into his hand.

Kirk nodded to King Jonathan, fervently agreeing with McCoy's statement.

Alanna gathered the phasers up and placed them in a black silken bag, "I'll keep track of these, Sire,"

"Have you communicated with Daine?" Numair was kneeling beside where the chair had been and started,

"Yes, the siege ended but she and Kitten are staying the night and coming back with Tkaa tomorrow. She said she'll ask the Badger if he can help…" His sentence trailed off, "There's no dust?"

He looked sharply at Scotty, "There's no dust. How can there be no dust? You can't just destroy something and not leave a trace, no residual energy, no dust,"

"You understand the concept of conservation of mass?" Spock craned around Scotty, almost giving into curiosity.

"….You do not?" Every one of the EnterpriseCrew laughed hysterically at the expression on Spock's face.

"Wha' Spock is trying to convey is, ah, well, we're nae used to other cultures this… prim…i…tive? Nae, not primitive, um, well,"

"You're unaccustomed to this level of scientific knowledge in a world that isn't as advanced as your own?" Numair leveled his gaze at Spock, who at least had the decency to look uncomfortable, if not chagrined, "I understand. But you must understand that we are apparently nothing like you've encountered before. Our world is one of magic, science, and faith completely intertwined,"

"I would say that's impossible… too idyllic and perfect to be real," Uhura began.

"But we have our troubles," Finished the King, "Wars with Scanra, Carthage; the Copper Isles are in a revolt right now, one that we've been barred from by Divine interference…" Jonathan trailed off.

Kirk looked at Bones, mouthing 'divine interference' and receiving the same troubled look back.

"Enough of this dreary talk. I am sure you are all exhausted and would rather like a proper sit down. I can have you shown to quarters here in the castle. I must ask you to remain within the Palace grounds for the time being. My people are calm for the most part, but with so many battles for so long, this peace is fragile and I don't want them to have cause for alarm. You came in with two of the most trusted and respected people in these lands. Without them, you might seem suspicious," Jonathan pushed off from his desk and strode to the doors, opening them and giving the guards outside orders.

Kirk noticed the abrupt difference in nature the King presented. When they'd first arrived Jim was willing to bet large amounts of credits, and his life, that they would have soon found themselves in a dungeon or worse. But that icy, Kingly, exterior had melted away as soon as he'd assured the man that they were not there to cause problems. King Jonathan turned into a charming man while discussing how they'd gotten here, and downright humorous over the phasers. But as soon as the door had opened, he became the King again and gave orders with a stiff and cool air. Not as cold as when they'd been shown in, but the difference was so stark that Kirk wondered just when this man was allowed to show his true face anymore.

The King turned back and motioned them out of his office, "I need to tend to Legann at the moment, so," He pointed to the door, "Out. Alanna, Numair, I need to talk with the two of you. The rest of you, wait in the other room. Some servents will be with you in a moment,"

As the door was closing, Numair lunged through and gripped both Spock and Scotty by the sleeves, "Wait! You two! I want to pick your brains before you go and disappear!" and he was yanked back into the room.

Scotty turned to the rest of them, and cleared his throat, "Ah know it's Mista Spock's job ta take things too lit'rally, but… I'm worried about that he MEANS it!"

Kirk leaned against Bones and reached a hand out to Scotty, Spock already standing at his elbow as always. Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov seemed to deflate and gathered closer,

"I'm sure he… doesn't, Scotty," Kirk looked around at his crew and smiled, feeling better for the first time since they woke up in the clearing that morning, "I think… We lucked out on this accident. I like it here,"

A/N- welp, here's another lovely little chapter, and what I feel is the last bit of exposition needed before I get to the rather 'episodic' type chapters in which I by turns torture or tantalize these characters.

If anyone has requests, I'm happy to entertain them ^_^.