Trigger – Chapter 8

She was alive. She could tell because of the way her head was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to split in two. There was a slight pain in her knee. Something stung on her shoulder. Her entire body ached. That's what she was first aware of – the pain.

She could feel the floor. It was smooth and cool, like ice against her cheek. Slowly, the pieces began to click together. Her cheek was on the floor. That meant she was on the floor. Why was she on the floor? Marisa's brain was fuzzy, and trying to think only made her head throb more. What had happened? Slowly, the black fog began to lift off of her mind. She could hear now, though there wasn't much sound. There was a hiss, a steady thump somewhere off in the distance. A faint whine. She heard footsteps grow closer, and then farther away again. Someone groaned.

She wasn't alone. But she couldn't see anything – it was dark. Her eyelid twitched. Oh – her eyes were closed. She tried to open them, but they remained stubbornly glued shut. She took a deep breath in, and even the feeling of her lungs expanding felt strange and unfamiliar. She tried to open her eyes again and slowly, her eyelids lifted. Immediately, she shut them again. It was bright – too bright. It was bright like it had been on the Enterprise, with its white and chrome and newness. The Enterprise.

She had been on the Enterprise, she remembered that. There was something in the back of her mind, something important. It was just out of her reach, like something that flitted just out of view but every time you turned your head to try and see what it was it disappeared. She reached out again, struggled to grasp the fluttering thoughts at the periphery of her mind. Suddenly, a picture of chaos crossed in front of her. There had been a fight; they had been under attack.

Talosians. The strange word appeared in her mind; Marisa could see the letters, thick and black. There was another muffled groan. Something about the starboard shields. Marisa scrunched her face, thinking so hard that it was almost bringing her physical pain. Why couldn't she remember? Why did it feel like her mind was hazy, like a blanket had been pulled over her head and she could only make out the faintest traces of what was going on?

She had been on the Enterprise and they were under attack. By the Talosians. Marisa had been checking the starboard shields; Kirk was worried about that side of the ship. Kirk. She been arguing with him, she remembered now. And then the alarm had rung. Their shields had been low. She remembered Kirk gripping her arm and helping her up. She remembered firing the stern guns. It was too late. Even now, after it had happened, the thought sent a rush of cold dread straight to the pit of her stomach. It had been too late.

The Talosians had boarded the ship and taken everyone from the bridge. Marisa didn't know if they had gotten everyone. She just remembered their oversized heads, the skin stretched around their huge brains looking perilously thin. She remembered hearing an angry roar, a string of curses, the sound of shooting. She remembered slipping from her chair. Then she remembered no more.

The floor felt colder beneath her cheek now, colder than the ice it had been before. Maybe she felt colder too. She must be on the Talosian ship. She was a prisoner. She took another deep breath, and opened her eyes. The light wasn't quite as bright this time. She was fully conscious; the fog had lifted off her brain. Still, it took her a minute to realize what she was seeing.

Someone's back was in front of her, somewhere wearing the Starfleet uniform. Slowly, Marisa moved. She needed to sit up. She placed a hand on the cold smooth floor, and tried to pull herself up. The slightly movement caused her head to spin, however, and she stopped. Taking a few deep breaths, Marisa tried again, pulling herself up until she could sit. Her eyes snapped closed; she breathed in and out heavily and she tried to stop the wave of nausea that had washed over her.

After a few moments of silence, she opened her eyes again, slowly, and looked around. She was in a small room, all white. She could see the crack of the door in the wall in front of her, but there was no metal box – no keypad or swipe-pad or fingerprint-pad that would let them open the door. This room was not designed for people to get out of.

The others were in there too. The back in front of her was Sulu. She could see Chekhov next to him. Uhura was still slumped against the wall, but Spock was alert, sitting next to her. She looked over and met his eye.

"You are awake."

"As are you." She replied, her tongue thick in her mouth. "What happened?"

"Poison." Spock replied. He seemed to have no trouble speaking. "Alkaloid-based, if I'm not mistaken. The only side effects so far seem to be our lack of consciousness. Though I don't recall drinking anything. They must have used another method." Marisa nodded slowly. Another loud groan echoed through the small room. In front of her, Sulu stirred.

"What 'appened?" Marisa turned her head to see that Kirk was behind her, just picking himself off of the floor.

"Poison." Spock repeated.

"Feels like my head's bashed in."

"Once you're conscious, it doesn't take very long for your brain to regain its complete capabilities. You should be feeling back to normal in about another minute and a half." Spock looked the same as always, perfectly put-together and calm. Kirk, on the other hand, looked like he had – well, looked like he had just gone through battle and was knocked unconscious and had just woken up. Marisa didn't even want to know what she looked like.

It didn't take long for the others to stir as well – it seemed as if they'd all been given about the same amount of the poison. Slowly, people began to sit up and open their eyes. From the looks on their faces, they felt about as good as Marisa did.

"Damn," Kirk swore, rubbing a hand across his face as he slumped against one of the walls. "This didn't turn out very well." Marisa snorted.

"Keep your negativity to yourself, please, Ward." He snapped in her direction. She narrowed her eyes.

"What do we do now?" Sulu asked, looking around at the rest of the captured Enterprise officers.

"We wait," Marisa replied simply, leaning back against the wall behind her.

"We find a way out," Kirk replied at the same time. He looked over at her incredulously. "We wait? Good plan, Ward." He scoffed. "I, for one, don't plan on being stuck on this godforsaken ship forever."

"Just how, then, do you suggest we get out of here?" She shot back. "There's no way out, Kirk."

"Again with the negativity, Ward! Have you even looked yet?" He was frustrated, she could tell. His brow was furrowed, a frown on his face. It looked strange. She was used to the smirk.

"There's not much to look at, if you haven't noticed," she snapped back. Clearly, being drugged and imprisoned had taken a bit of a toll on her mood.

"So you suggest we just wait?" He replied, giving a bitter little laugh.

"If you'd paid attention back at the Academy," she replied, narrowing her eyes at him. "You'd realize what standard procedure is when dealing with war prisoners. They're going to come and get us at one point. Don't you think, Captain, that there's a reason we were captured? Most people don't attack Starfleet ships for fun."

"Alright then, Ward. Tell me. Why are we sitting in this damn room?" His eyes were flashing dangerously now. Marisa was treading on thin ice. It was Spock, however, and not Marisa, who answered.

"Talosians are similar to the Vulcan race in that they do not experience emotion." He spoke softly, and yet both Marisa and Kirk stopped and looked at him. "They often capture other species in order to improve their knowledge of what eludes them. Considering humans are highly emotional beings, I doubt that they could pass up the opportunity to study us."

"I'll show them emotion all right," Kirk growled, his hands curling into fists.

"You're going to growl at them?" Marisa scoffed. "Nice."

"Listen, Ward." He glared. "Enough with the attitude. We're not sitting around the table at lunch, joking around. This is serious. I am captain, and if we're going to get out of here alive, then you're going to have to learn to respect my authority." Marisa opened her mouth to speak, but something about the look on Kirk's face made her close it again. He looked – well, he looked serious.

"Your inability to perform has already landed us in this position." He continued. His face was devoid of any trace of humor, no sparkling eyes or dimples or smirks. His mouth was a thin line, and she could tell that his jaw was clenched. "If your impertinence further jeopardizes our escape, then you'll find yourself on the first shuttle back to Earth the second we get to the Enterprise. That is," he added darkly, "if you're not dead."

She should have kept her mouth shut. She knew that he was right. But she couldn't help herself. After all, she wasn't going to let him blame this on her. It was every bit as much his fault. And just because he was sitting up on his captain's chair being all high and mighty did not give him any right to put this on her shoulders. She wasn't sure whether it was the poison or the stress or the danger or her absolute lack of control over her temper, but before she knew what was happening, her mouth was opening.

"My inability?"

"Yes," Kirk ground out. "Or do you not remember freezing in the middle of battle and having Chekhov cover your ass?" His words were harsh – he meant them to hurt.

"Captain," Chekhov cut in nervously, but Marisa cut him off.

"I froze once." She replied, her voice practically a hiss as it escaped her clenched teeth. "Once! No harm done. I still fired all my guns. It's not my fault you couldn't keep control of your ship." Immediately after her last words left her mouth, however, she regretted them.

"Don't you dare tell me I can't keep control of my ship!" Kirk was yelling now. She recognized the look on his face – it was just like the expression he wore the day in the mess hall. His jaw was clenched, his eyes were dark and narrowed. It was pure anger, real and deep. It was so real she almost flinched, like his words were lasers directed at her.

"Don't you dare blame this all on me!" She shouted back, her hands balled into fists at her sides.

"Damn it, Ward!" He shouted. "Why can't you just shut the hell up? I am captain!"

There was a beep, and the door slid open. Immediately, everyone's head snapped towards the door. At some point during the argument, both Marisa and Kirk had gotten to their feet. Everyone else was still sitting down, and Marisa could clearly see the shock written across everyone's face.

Immediately, all of the anger leaked out of her. Kirk was right. He was right about every damn thing. She had no right to question his ability as a captain, especially not now. She should have shut up and listened to him, no matter how deep his words stung. It didn't matter that she was irate at being poisoned and stuck in a small room with him. It didn't matter that her head was still spinning and she had lashed out. It didn't matter.

It was the Talosians. The image she had of the battle, the memory of them boarding the ship and marching into the bridge, the snapshot of one of them bending over her just as she slid to the floor. They flashed across her mind as she stared at the door now, filled with the oversized heads of their captors. She was right – they had come for them.

Before she knew what was happening, one of them had entered the room. Marisa sucked in her breath, not daring to move as the Talosian's eyes roamed around the room. He pointed at Kirk, and then, slowly, his arm swung towards Marisa. Four Talosians, who Marisa hadn't noticed before, marched into the room. Two of them grabbed her, their cold hands closing tightly around her upper arms.

"Hey!" She cried, trying to wrench her arms free from their grasp. "Let go of me, you big-headed bastards! You can't just grab me like that!" Several loud curses and grunt told her that Kirk was trying to do the same thing. Marisa frantically tried to catch Uhura's gaze, but she looked right through Marisa, her eyes glazed over. What the hell? Did the potion have another side effect? She turned to see if any of her other crewmates were experiencing the same thing, but the Talosians had already pushed her out the door and into the corridor.

Suddenly, something tight snapped around her wrists, pinning them behind her back. The Talosians let go, and Marisa grimaced. There were going to be bruises on her arms, she was sure of it. The brainiacs started down the hallways, which was plain and white and looked just like the room they had come from. Marisa stood still for a moment, wondering if she could outrun them, when she felt a sharp prod from behind. Another one of the aliens was behind her, pushing her forward.

"Alright, alright, I can walk by myself!" She snapped, wrenching herself away from him. Creepy little bastards. As she walked down the hall after the Talosians, she glanced over at Kirk next to her. He, too, had been restrained. He didn't look at her, however; he kept his gaze towards the floor. As they walked, Marisa looked around, looking for any way of escape in the plain white walls. There was no way in hell she was going to let these big-headed idiots observe her emotions.

AN: *hides* I am so, so, sorry! I am the worst updater on the face on the planet. Honestly, I am. I don't even know the last time I updated. But I have now! There's a new chapter! And hopefully there won't be as long of a wait until the next one. Thank you guys so, so much for your reviews and your messages. They're what keep me writing, truly.