It's 5:40 AM, and I've been working on this since 9 PM. You do the math. Too tired to go on a tirade. Read through this once, and edited. It probably still sucks but I'll worry about that after sleep. (Since this is a stupid idea, and I know this and still doing it anyway, it should tell you how sleep deprived I am)

Admiral Komack poured himself another glass of cognac, sighing heavily into his drink. In approximately twenty minutes, the scout ships would report in. If they could that was. He hoped they were successful even if the underlying reason was because he didn't want more people to die for his screw-up.

"Admiral, Admiral Barnett is─" before his assistant could finish, the door swished open.

"Ever heard of knocking," Komack snapped half heartedly, putting his glass down.

"Ever heard of not drinking on duty?" Barnett replied easily, taking a seat across from him. "Pour me a glass would you."

Komack grudgingly retrieved another glass from his desk and poured the man a drink.

They sat in silence for a while, both taking long, slow slips from the amber liquid.

Barnett sat his glass down once it was empty, folding his hands together in thought. Finally, he said, "You sent Kirk on that mission to discredit him, didn't you."

"You goin' to bring me up to the board, Barnett?" Komack asked sullenly into his drink.

A low chuckle filled the otherwise quiet room. "No. I can't completely fault you. You're only human, and your disdain for him isn't completely unwarranted. Kirk comes off as brazen, haughty, and seems to have problems listening to authority let alone following regulations. The mission request you received in your mail box looked like a milk run. A simple assess the situation and offer supplies mission. If Kirk followed regular procedure, he wouldn't have even gone down to the planet in the first place."

Decker looked at the man across with him, sensing a but coming.

"However, despite the easy mission, you knew Kirk would go down and see what the colony was going through. The mission brief was very vague but there was a high chance that they were experiencing a food shortage. Somehow, you found out he was on Tarsus IV, and you tried to use it against him. Legally speaking, you did nothing wrong, but I also can't condone the motive behind it."

Komack smiled bitterly, leaning forward. "I received a tip about Tarsus IV. An anonymous email. Digging deeper. There wasn't much. I just managed to find his name once in a small no town news article. But how do you know about Tarsus IV? It was deleted from his file."

Barnett didn't look concerned. "Pike knew about it. Kirk was like a son to him and kept some things on his computer. Like his complete file. I'm guessing Kirk hacked into the system years ago and deleted it, but Pike seemed to have gotten the entire thing, even some above his security clearance." The man sighed, rubbing his face tiredly. "Did you know Kirk is one of seven survivors who heard the speech before the massacre and could probably recognize him by sight if Kodos was still alive?"

The guilty expression Komack made was enough. "The fact he changed his file is enough to show you he isn't Starfleet material. What if he comes across something similar? He'll break. He never saw a psychiatrist, and when I spoke to his ethics professor, she said he ran from the room when confronted by it."

Barnett shook his head. "We have another cadet named Kevin Thomas Riley. He's going to graduate in two years. He requested to serve on the USS Enterprise once he graduates. He's also one of the seven who can identify Kodos."

"What's your point Barnett?"

"I had been called for the kid's hearing on whether he was mentally sound to join Starfleet since it was such a traumatic event. That kid is a strong one. I figured it was because he was so young he could get over it. When I found out about Kirk also being on Tarsus after he went MIA, I had a random thought that maybe they knew each other. So I asked."

"I still don't know where you're going with this," Komack said impatiently.

Barnett just gave him a stern look to let him finish. "First, the kid told me the hell that really happened on that planet, in his own words, in gory details. I read the file, as I'm sure you have, but to get it straight from the survivor's mouth is different. Cadet Riley is a very energetic boy, happy all the time, but when he talked about that colony, you knew he'd seen hell. Yet, I didn't see fear. He was cold, distant, and impersonal. Nothing was biased in his story, and there was no exaggeration. He looked like a soldier who had seen so many battles, nothing fazed him anymore. A Klingon fleet against him wouldn't even make him sweat. It reminded me a lot of Kirk.

"When I asked about Kirk, he looked almost panicked. I'm guessing he realized Kirk tried to erase his existence on the colony too. I told him that he wouldn't get in trouble, and I told him the situation and said I was worried about his mental state. The things that kid told me," Barnett closed his eyes as if he wanted to block it all from memory. "If Cadet Riley had been in hell, then Kirk must have been in the seventh ring. He told me what Kirk did. Everything. Like he was waiting for a long time to tell someone.

"Kirk led a group of children, protected them, fed them, taught them how to fight and survive. Cadet Riley was lucky enough to have been the first one Kirk picked up, so he saw the entire thing."

Barnett met Komack's gaze. "Kirk did things no child or adult should ever do. He did them so kids like Kevin would never have to. But the entire time, Kirk did not break. He fought back hard, and he did it to minimize losses to make sure everyone would survive. He doesn't act like it, but he's intuitive, tenacious to a fault, and a good captain. He knows his limits, and he knows his people's lives matter even if he doesn't act like it, but he also knows when to push until something gives. Tarsus is the reason why he could take over the Enterprise calmly during the Nero incident, and why he acted rashly with Khan. If Kirk had a major fault, it'd be he cares about his people too much."

"What do you mean too much?" Komack couldn't help but ask.

"Talk to Cadet Riley. He'll tell you what happened after the rescue." Barnett stood, stretching as he did so. "The scout ships should be in range. Be in the briefing room in 5 minutes."

Barnett left the room, leaving Komack to think over what he had said. How much worse could Tarsus have been? His curiosity was peeked.

"Computer, pull up Cadet Kevin Thomas Riley."

"Damn that, kid. Damn him, damn him, damn him!" McCoy cursed, trying to make sure all the wires under the dashboard of the hover car were connected. He and Nyota had gotten into the settlement just fine. Seeing the decaying bodies up close, it was enough to make both of them lose their lunch.

As Jim had said, there were a few work vehicles lying about. What Jim hadn't known was that a lot of them were stripped for parts. For the past two hours, they were trying to reassemble one of them into something functional if not temporary. And given that he had no idea on how to fix hover vehicles and the lieutenant was just a communications expert, it was extremely difficult and largely trial and error. There were already largely overdue.

And just a few minutes prior, a scout team spotted them and was now hunting them.

Nyota had lured them away while he tried to hot wire the damn thing. It wasn't right for a young woman to be bait. He was a southern gentleman dammit. He wasn't sexist or anything, but he lived a long enough life. 38 years wasn't so bad. Sure people could live to be nearly 120 nowadays but he never wanted to live that long anyway.

He cursed again when a spark burned his fingertips, but he kept going at it. The engine was at least turning over.

Two more tries and the engine finally roared to life. It was loud and clanky which definitely meant something was wrong with the engine, but as long as it didn't explode, they should be good.

He peered out the window, hoping that she could hear the engine and would come back. He didn't know if it would be good idea if he left to find her and she returned to this spot and wasn't there, but she might need back up too. Argh, this was Jim's thing, making tough decisions like this. He was a doctor. Not an engineer and certainly not a brash, cocky, and questionably brilliant starship captain.

He was getting anxious waiting out in the open like he was though. His hands rested on the steering wheel, pulling up the cuffs of his shirt. He frowned when it did. Well shit.

Just as he was about to pull out, something hit the passenger-side door, causing him to jump. Nyota had run into the door, yanking it open.

Just behind her, he could see the men with phasers behind her. If they shot at the already unstable craft, they wouldn't get far. "Take over, I'll distract them." Her eyes widened, and she was going to object, but he was already jumping out of the car. She saw it, just under his sleeve, the familiar specks of white.

Her stomach sank. She knew what he was trying to do, but she didn't want to leave him either. The mission came first. They both knew that. If she wasted more time, they could destroy Kirk and Spock's escape route. With determination, she slid into the driver's seat and took off, leaving McCoy behind.

But she would come back for him. After all, they didn't leave men behind.

The entire base was on alert. The sirens were blaring and people were running around with phasers. Due to the chaos, Decker only heard snippets of what was going on. A prisoner was missing as was their leader. So Kirk was successful, and they didn't know where he was. He wondered briefly if they had already escaped. All he really could do was sigh in relief. He knew Kirk had been serious with his threats.

Still he didn't want to face his wrath anytime soon. He would complete his mission, though probably not how Kirk wanted him too. He would get his revenge.

There was one thing bugging him. According to Kirk, the planetary defenses were still up and running and communication was down. He hadn't known that until recently, but he figured the opposite was true. Why was the colony isolating itself, like it didn't want to be saved?

He made it to the central command, which was surprisingly clear of people. There were three of them. All with their backs turned to monitors and readouts. He shot them all in the back before they even knew of his presence. Relieving them of their weapons, he checked over the computers quickly.

What he saw wasn't possible.

They weren't monitoring the system at all. The planetary shields weren't originating from central. The signal looked like theirs, but it wasn't. It was coming from somewhere else. The men he just killed were trying to figure out where and how to stop it. The communications were the same. They were sending out signals, but nothing was getting through.

Then his mission was accomplished. He should leave it alone and let them continue trying to figure out the problem. Except…

This was also the perfect place to stage his revenge.

He took the weapons he had taken from the bodies and set them to overheat. The resulting explosion from the three weapons combined could take out the entire floor, set so close to the shield generators he could take out the entire complex.

Kirk probably made it out anyway. He could get his revenge and take out the monsters who killed his crew.

He set the three to over load and high tailed it out of there, trying to escape the building as fast as possible. He had two minutes. He cut it close. Luckily he was only on the second floor, and had staged his escape earlier, keeping a window open to jump out of. He jumped and rolled once he hit the ground, grunting in pain and kept running, waiting for the countdown. Two minutes turned to three then four.

He frowned. Were the weapons duds? The probability for all three malfunctioning was fairly low even if they were handled roughly.

He was considering whether to sneak back into the building when he felt the familiar tug on his molecules. At first he started to panic, forgetting why the feel was recognizable to him, until he found himself in a grey room. It was reminiscent of a cell except he could see no way in or out.

"Commodore David Decker."

The voice drew Decker's panicked gaze. The strange bald man in silver robes stood before him less than two feet away. "We ask that you calmly wait here for the time being until we are ready to remove the fungal infection from your body. Food will be here momentarily."

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"We cannot disclose the specifics to you at this time. You were only relocated here because we could not allow such mass destruction to occur."

Decker's hands balled into fists, so these were the bastards who stopped his revenge.

"I suggest you calm yourself. We will relocate you to better quarters in three of your earth hours."

The alien turned around, presumably to leave, and Decker lost it. He used his knife to throw at the alien. The alien turned around, blocking the knife with his forearm and the object seemingly bounced off. The alien frowned, and focused his gaze on Decker. A second later, Decker's body dropped to the floor.

The alien's brow creased. "An unexpected development has occurred," he spoke out into the air. "The subject's body was weaker than anticipated. The typical punishment dealt out for misbehavior seems to have overloaded his body's functions."

A moment later he spoke again. "Very well." Both he and the body disappeared.

His head was throbbing. What the hell happened? Jim recalled rushing Dr. Emmett for the phaser. He remembered the phaser discharging and then a bright light blinding him. After that, everything was a blur.

As his consciousness fought to the surface, he focused on what he could. He felt rough carpeting beneath his body, the familiar humming of a ship's engines, and a familiar touch on his backside. Wait … what?

He did feel someone's hands on his back, slowly progressing lower. "Spock," he mumbled, slowly opening his eyes. The hand quickly disappeared off his person, and his vision finally focused enough to make out Spock's face. "Were you touching my ass?"

An interesting shade of green dusted Spock's cheeks. "Captain, you are awake," Spock said stiffly. "I was merely assessing your condition. Your backside was covered in a conspicuous amount of blood."

The comment brought Jim back to the current situation, and he sat up quickly, taking in his surroundings. They were in an enclosed room with no visible entrance or exit. There wasn't even a window or vent. The ceiling was at least three stories, the walls were smooth with a light metallic grey coloring, and the floor was made of course violet material. There was only furniture in the room was three elevated pieces of floor draped in a soft cloth that Jim was sure was supposed to be beds.

He was on one of the beds; Dr. Emmett was sitting up and staring at him in another. So she was taken too. Wonderful. "So where the hell are we?"

"We appear to have been abducted by an unknown alien life form, Captain."

"Very perceptive of you, Mr. Spock," both Spock and Kirk turned to the sound of the new voice, seeing two of the alien life forms Spock had seen on the planet. There was no difference between the two in appearance except while one had cloudy grey eyes, the other had a misty blue. Jim named them Grey Eyes and Blue Eyes in his head.

"What do you want from us?" Jim demanded, standing up, taking a few aggressive steps toward them.

"You, Mr. Kirk, are a very rare specimen," the blue eyed one said with a voice full of sagacity it belied what he was actually implying. "We have been unable to obtain results like we have received from you since Tarsus IV."

Jim's eyes widened, but before he could reply, something pulled on his left arm. He looked down to see, Luca, glaring at the aliens venomously. "Come on, Jim. You can take them. There's more of us then them," he said.

Before he could wrap his mind about why Luca was there and how he got there so suddenly, another voice spoke up. "I would not recommend it, James." The captain froze at the sound of the deep baritone voice behind him, whispered softly and intended for his ears alone. Slowly, Jim looked over his right shoulder and saw familiar golden-brown eyes stare up at him warmly.

Jabari turned his gaze to the aliens and his expression became cold with underlying ferocity behind them. "We do not know what they are capable of."

Jabari was shorter than he remembered, only reaching his chin, but everything, his gaunt appearance, his torn and dirtied clothes, his posture, his voice, his expressions, were exactly the same. The way he even looked back at him and asked, "Are you okay, James?" almost brought Jim to his knees. It wasn't possible. He was dead. He saw him die.

The captain opened his mouth to speak, but nothing would come out, stunned into silence.

Jabari just gave him that small reserved smile saved just for him, walking in front of him as Luca did the same until they both stood side by side in front of Jim.

"You managed to tame a boy who felt nothing, full of raw power and potential and wanted nothing but his own survival even if it meant shooting the man who raised him, and you inspired loyalty and friendship from him and others, encouraging them to follow you with wanting little in return. If you ordered them to their death, most of them, minus the one incident, would have," Grey Eyes said.

"You also demonstrated compassion. Without wishing for anything in return, you took in children who were in need of you, children you had no connection too previously. You protected them even if it cost you your own sanity or pride, doing many things that still haunt you to this day, so they would not have to," the blue eyed one continued.

A younger version of Jim appeared before their captors. His blond hair brighter, longer, and knotted, his blue eyes were hard, cold, and unforgiving, his body so thin his shirt dwarfed him, and his body and face covered in scars and blood, both fresh and old.

Jabari turned and went to the younger Jim's side, just behind and to the right of him. The younger Jim glanced at him and offered a small stiff smile which Jabari returned before they both returned their attention on the present Jim.

At some point Spock had taken Jabari's place, standing just behind and to the right of Jim, standing stiffly and looking ahead.

"Even now, Captain Kirk, your present and past reflect one another." The grey one gestured to the younger pair, Luca in the middle, and the older pair. "You have learned and grown since then, overcame adversity, and have taken a position suited to your talents. You have developed your problem solving skills to a degree where to others they seem almost spontaneous rather than pragmatic solutions, and have become a hero to the eyes of those of your Federation.

"When we repeated the test however, no one emulated your results despite there being several test subjects who shared similar upbringing both children and adults. We began to consider whether you were an aberration or if the results were based on what you would call luck."

Jim was still unable to say anything, his mind still trying to process what they were telling him and unable to look away from his younger self and Jabari. Everything . . . everything was. . .

"You are responsible for the collapse of both Tarsus IV and Brekka V and for distributing the fungus on both colonies."

The two aliens shared a look. "I believe we just explained that. The Vulcan is more primitive than we had anticipated."

Spock's eyebrows shot up at the comment.

"Yes, we distributed the fungus to both human colonies as well as others," the grey one responded.

"For what purpose," Spock asked.

"A type of social experiment. An over simplification of our true intent, but the specifics are too advanced for your archaic knowledge."

"An experiment," Kirk whispered disbelievingly. "You did all this for some damn experiment?"

"It was necessary. Our species survival depended on it," Grey Eyes responded.

The calm the aliens radiated pissed Kirk off. They didn't regret a single thing. "You used living, sentient beings! Does that not comprehend in that big brain of yours?!" His eyes wandered to Jabari, still standing by his younger version's side, but Jim couldn't see anything but the dead form of the teen lying in a puddle of his own blood, with lifeless eyes staring back. "Do you know how many people have suffered and died?"

"You of all people, Captain, should realize how hypocritical you are. Humans have used animals that they have considered less than in experiments for centuries because it was considered inhumane to use your own kind. Even once the notion that animals of lesser cognitive ability were not capable of emotions had been cast away and that even the simple laboratory rodent could show empathy for others of their kind, the experiments did not desist. You ask us now to desist for you?"

Jim opened his mouth to retort, but Spock beat him too it. "Understandable."

The captain turned wide, disbelieving eyes to Spock. "What?"

"A species' ultimate goal is to preserve itself. Thus why there is procreation, so that the species become immortalized by passing the genes from one generation to the other. Naturally, preserving the life of the species as a whole becomes the immediate priority over another's if there is a high probability of extinction."

"Spock," Jim growled.

"However, it does not mean I agree with the rancorous actions you have taken," Spock continued.

"It is not for the subject to decide," Blue Eyes said.

"You wanted me. Why did you take Spock and that woman," Jim asked.

"The woman is intelligent for your species, and she is also considered to be aesthetically attractive."

"So?" Kirk did not like where this was going.

"You are a valuable test subject. Should the experiment go longer than plan, procreation may be required."

Jim was boiling over with anger while the woman snorted. "And Spock?" he bit out.

"We have yet to study a Vulcan. His mind seems intriguing. His telepathy is something to be examined."

Enough was enough. Jim refused to go along with this anymore. He moved to charge at his opponents. They didn't seem armed, and if he was lucky, he could do it quickly before either had time to act.

He didn't even make it two steps before a sharp crippling pain in his head made him fall to the floor writhing in agony. He hadn't even gotten the chance to scream when the pain stopped. His hands trembled as he held his head in his hands and flinched when he felt a hand reach out for his.

Spock pulled his hand away but didn't leave Jim's side, squatting protectively in front of him, ignoring the pain in his own body.

"That was a warning, Captain," the aliens said together.

Unable to respond, Jim just shivered on the ground.

"Now, if you would kindly come with us, Mr. Kirk. We have some experiments we would like to run on you first."

Jim managed to roll onto his stomach, the tremors of pain still echoing throughout his body. He managed to glare, a nasty comment already forming in his mind.

"I will go in his place."

Jim looked on in horror as Spock struggled to stand with his battered body. Jim's body was still fighting off the shock of whatever happened to him. His voice was not collaborating with his brain.

The two aliens looked at each other, and then the blue eyed one nodded, "Very well."

Spock took a step and Jim grabbed his pant leg, gaining the Vulcan's attention. Jim weakly shook his head, trying to get his voice and body to cooperate with him, trying to tell Spock that he didn't have to do this. That he could handle it.

Slowly, Spock stepped away, breaking Jim's hold on him, and he made that expression. The same one Jabari gave him right before he died. Immediately, it put Jim's senses on alert. Then Spock said those horrible words. "I have my own will, Captain. Let me help."

Their images were overlapping in Jim's mind. Jabari's and Spock's. No. Spock couldn't be … he wasn't… with him.

He couldn't let Spock go. He twitched, trying to get his body and voice working again as he watched Spock walk away. No. He couldn't allow that. He couldn't allow it to happen again.

He managed to get to his hands and knees. "Sp-ck… S…Spock!" he choked out as Spock made it to the alien's side. Spock looked back with those damned eyes. No. "Spock!"

As he got to his feet, Spock was already gone.

No. No. No. No. NO! Spock couldn't be … it wasn't possible, but that look. It was the same. Those words were the same. Spock couldn't be in love with him.

Spock…

His legs gave out, and he fell against the bed like structure. Spock was in love with him. And if he knew that look, Spock was preparing for the worst.

Why hadn't he seen it until now? Why did he always realize too late?

"So you really are Captain Kirk and Commander Spock from the USS Enterprise," Dr, Emmett said, jolting Jim out of his thoughts.

He didn't answer at first, too shocked with his revelation to give a damn about what she said, but the panic was threatening to overwhelm him. He needed to stay functioning. He needed to find Spock. "So what," he bit out.

"Nothing, you just don't seem much of a revered hero of the Federation."

"Good." As soon as he was able, he was up checking the room, checking the walls and floors for a way in and out. He tried not to dwell what they could possibly doing to Spock. Once he checked the entire room, he checked again, and again.

It was futile. He knew that there was no entrance to the room, but he couldn't stop. He wanted, needed, to stay busy. The moment he stopped, his mind wondered what was happening to Spock. Occasionally, throughout the hours he was waiting, he would feel echoes of pain and discomfort in his mind before it suddenly stopped. Not knowing why was making him anxious. Spock would be okay, he told himself. He didn't know what he would do if he wasn't.

At some point, he fell asleep. He didn't know how long they had been captured, only that without his knowledge his eyelids became so heavy he couldn't stay awake any longer.

When he awoke, it was to the smell of food. He sat up in the bed, not recalling falling asleep on it, and saw two trays of food, one with a steak with a baked potato and salad, the other with a large plate of spaghetti.

At the sight of food, his stomach twisted unpleasantly. He was starving, but he didn't have an appetite. Besides, he wasn't going to play to their tune. He'd have Emmett eat it first to make sure it wasn't drugged.

He approached the food, intending to poke it just for something to do, when he caught sight of something stuck in the wall. It looked like a piece of fabric. Stepping over the trays, he inspected it. It was indeed a piece of the shimmering robes the aliens wore, sticking out of the wall showing a crack in it. It must have been the exit.

A smile pulled at his lips, the plate seemed to have a thin edge. He dumped the steak onto the tray and tested the material. It seemed to be made of a sturdy metal. With careful maneuvering he managed to forge the edge into the tiny crack and pry the door open farther.

He pried it open enough to get his fingers into the crack and pulled with all his might. Slowly, the door started to move. He only opened it far enough to squeeze his body through. It led into an empty hallway.

There didn't seem to be any security. In fact, there didn't seem to be any activity at all. His luck couldn't be that good, but he couldn't afford not to continue forward.

He followed his instincts. Something was drawing him. He made his way down the maze like corridors, and wondered if those two aliens were the only two aboard. Could they alone run a ship this large?

And the other thing weighing on his mind was why did he feel like he was getting closer to Spock. He ducked into a closet, hearing someone's approach and waited for them to pass before continuing on. So maybe they weren't the only ones after all.

Two more turns and he found himself in what looked like a lab. There were two glowing stone tablet looking things against one wall and some monitors attached to them, some transparent, cylindrical containers filled with some sort of fluid and big enough to fit a person inside it, and another bed like thing where Spock was laying apparently unconscious.

One of those alien things was bent over Spock, holding a device near his head. Bringing his hands together, Jim swung down hard, striking the alien from behind. The alien fell to the ground, and Jim went to Spock's side.

"Spock," he whispered harshly. The Vulcan looked extremely pale, deathly so, but his chest was moving. "Spock," he whispered again, touching the side of his face.

Spock's eyes snapped open and he jerked away violently almost rolling off the bed. The motion appeared to make him paler if that was possible, and he rolled over to his front, vomiting on the other side. Even after the contents of his stomach were empty, he kept dry heaving.

Jim reached out instinctively to help, but stopped short, unsure if his touch was what caused it in the first place. "Spock?" he said softly, trying not to sound like he was in a hurry.

"J-Jim?" he turned his face just enough so that they're eyes met until Spock started dry heaving again.

He couldn't help it, Jim touched the Vulcan's cheek with his finger tips, testing to see if he would shy away from him again while trying to see if he was too cold or running a fever. He hadn't expected Spock to lean into his hand, almost desperately, closing his eyes and reveling in his touch. Spock did feel a bit too warm, and his control was in tatters. Jim could read everything in his face, pain, fear, and the frustration of not being able to control his emotions. He was struggling, and his form was beginning to shake. What did they do to him?

"We need to get out of here Spock. Do you understand that?"

Spock shook his head, but it wasn't in answer to Jim's question. It was more like he was forcing control and trying to clear his mind. "Y-yes."

"Can you walk?"

"I will t-try." Spock's hand clutched Jim's bicep and didn't appear to be aware of his strength as he gripped onto the human as if his sanity depended on it. With the emotional wreck that he appeared to be in, it might not have been far off.

Jim had to grind his teeth to ignore the pain and hope Spock didn't break his arm. "Come on, let's stand up."

Jim supported most of Spock's weight when Spock made a noise of distress when placing weight on his injured leg. If Spock wasn't so heavy, Jim would have carried him. As it were, he helped Spock walk towards the exit of the lab. "Don't worry Spock, we'll get out of here," he whispered, focusing on projecting calm emotions through their touch. "Just hold on."

The door closed behind them.

As soon as the door closed, the alien picked himself off the floor, and the blue eyed alien joined him. "He came for the Vulcan as suspected."

Blue Eyes nodded. "It appears they share a telepathic bond of some sort. Subject Kirk knew where he was going."

"It is becoming increasingly probable that the reason for Kirk's success is because of the person by his side." The other said. "I believe the humans call the emotion love."

"Affection towards the subject could be the key. Both Subject Spock and Subject Jabari had kept Kirk's actions within an acceptable range and provided emotional support when needed."

"This is the first time Subject Kirk has shown such attachment however," Grey Eyes said, looking at the sliding door the duo had left through. "Let's see how successful they are in their escape attempt before we collect them."

It occurs to me that the beginning and the middle are redundant. My editor never said anything about it in the really rough version of this, so I'm not going to do anything about it until I get sleep. All of you should love me for doing this for y'all cause I felt guilty for the late update.

Review please!