Chapter 2

A/N: So, here's the second chapter! Woohoo! And yeah, I'm aware it's probably an unusual choice of movie, but I'm finding that it works brilliantly, so whatever. Enjoy the ride!

Disclaimer: Don't own Star Trek or Red!

In a quiet suburb halfway across the country from Hikaru's house, Pavel Chekov was returning home from a date. The guy was overbearing and cocky, invading too much of Pavel's space and trying to touch him even though Pavel had made it clear more than once that he didn't appreciate it. But at last they were outside the small duplex he called home.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" the guy asked, his arm slung almost possessively over Pavel's shoulder.

Pavel managed (barely) to keep from wincing. "Uh… I am so wery sorry… I haff a ting in ze morning… Perhaps some ozzer time. Goodnight." And he slipped into his home, closing the door firmly behind him and leaning against it. "Maybe vhen hell freezes over…" he nearly spat out after a moment.

Pushing himself properly to his feet, he started walking into the narrow kitchen, kicking off his shoes and leaving them where they lay in the hallway. He grabbed a bottle of vodka and poured himself a glass. Gripping the counter to steady himself, he took a long drink. Then he began to unbutton the buttons of his nice shirt.

"Vhy is it I can only ewer date assholes?" he muttered out loud, regarding the half-empty glass as though it had personally offended him. He finished off the glass, then poured himself another and started walking back to his bedroom. He was muttering in Russian, and was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice Hikaru standing in the hallway.

"Hey," Hikaru said.

Startled, Pavel leapt backwards with a yelp, the glass of vodka slipping from his fingertips and shattering on the floor. He stumbled back against the nearest wall and started looking around for a weapon to defend himself with.

"Hey! Hey!" Hikaru exclaimed, raising his hands in defense. "It's Hikaru Sulu." He had to duck as Pavel chucked a heavy-looking hardcover book at his head. "You eat far too much borscht and your mother is in denial about you being gay," he added, hoping these little tidbits would calm Pavel down.

Pavel dropped the paperback book he'd picked up to throw. Then he swore loudly in Russian, backing away from Hikaru with undisguised alarm. "Vhat ze hell are you doing here?" he shouted.

Hikaru took one cautious step forward, his hands still held up defensively. "You have to get out of the house."

"Vhat are you talking about?"

"It's not safe here. It's my fault and I'll explain, but right now, I need you to come with me."

Pavel stared at him incredulously. "I tink you had better go…"

Hikaru only reached down to pick up a small suitcase that had sat unnoticed next to him in the hallway.

"Dat is my bag…" Pavel said softly, his voice shaking a bit. Hikaru was struck by how young and vulnerable he looked when he was nervous.

"I packed it for you," Hikaru said.

Pavel swore again, then glanced back at the kitchen. "Did you… do my dishes? And… sveep ze floors?"

Hikaru blushed a little, looking down at his feet.

"Hikaru, listen… I liked you vhen ve talked on ze phone… But I am not about to…"

He froze as Hikaru pulled a phaser from under his shirt, but he was staring past the younger man, out the window where a hovercar was humming to a stop across the street.

"Right now, out the back," Hikaru said, his voice deadly calm.

"I am not going anyvhere!" Pavel yelped.

"I wasn't lying when I said I worked for Starfleet… but I did lie about my role. I wasn't in the botany lab like I told you. I was part of an elite squad, carrying out all kinds of dangerous missions… spying, assassinations, everything. Didn't you ever wonder how I got this kind of injury working in a lab? Anyways, I did some crazy shit and now someone is trying to kill me. That means there's been surveillance. They've listened to our phone calls and they're going to come after you as leverage."

Pavel stared at him for a full minute, not blinking or even appearing to breathe. Finally he shook himself. "I am calling ze police," he said.

Hikaru glanced out the window again and saw three figures approaching the house, and he sighed…

Back in his stolen hovercar, Hikaru drove smoothly, his gaze fixed on the path ahead. "This couldn't be more different from how I hoped to meet you, you know, if we ever even did meet." He rooted through the pockets of a coat in his lap, coming up with a communications device, which he promptly chucked out the open window. "But things happen and I think it's important to be flexible. You know what I mean?"

He glanced back at Pavel. The young man had his hands tied behind his back and tape over his mouth, and he didn't quite seem to know what to make of what had just happened.

Eventually they pulled into the parking lot of a quiet ranch-style motel. And within a few minutes, they were safely ensconced in a room. Hikaru carefully untied Pavel's wrists, then reached for the tape.

"Sorry…" he whispered.

Then he ripped it off, one quick movement.

"Ow! Ublyudok!" Pavel swore, reaching up to touch his cheek.

"You want some water or something?" Hikaru asked, a bit of concern bleeding through his calm façade.

Pavel stared at him for a moment, still visibly alarmed by the other man's presence. "If you let me go right dis minute, I vill not press charges," he tried at last.

"I'm not kidnapping you," Hikaru argued.

"Vhat do you tink you just did?!" Pavel exclaimed, waving one arm in a wildly expressive gesture.

"You were in danger!" Hikaru protested.

"No I vas not!" Pavel argued. "Ewen if you are not completely full of shit and people are after you, no one cares about me!"

"They know I call you. They've listened," Hikaru said quietly.

"So vhat?" Pavel demanded.

Hikaru looked down at the floor, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

"Vhat?" Pavel asked warily.

"They… they know… I like you…" Hikaru said, his cheeks turning even more crimson.

Pavel was visibly surprised, his eyes widening and his head tilting slightly to one side. "But… you hardly know me."

"I know you,' Hikaru said seriously.

That brought a blush to Pavel's cheeks and he looked away for a moment. "If you are really so important, can you not just comm Starfleet and fix dis?"

"I don't know how these guys found me…" Hikaru admitted. "I have to see someone. I need you to stay here until I get back."

"You just vant me to sit here?" Pavel asked incredulously.

"You'll be perfectly safe here. No one knows where you are."

"Dat is not so reassuring!" Pavel protested. Hikaru ignored him and reached for a roll of tape. For a moment, Pavel was confused, but he quickly realized what was about to happen. "Oh hell no! You crazy kidnapping perverted syn suka! You can go and…!" His words were cut off as Hikaru placed tape firmly over his mouth.

Leonard McCoy was sitting at a desk, wearing latex gloves, and handling a PADD with caution. Finally he laid the PADD on the desk, leaving open an image file showing a man and a woman caught up in a torrid embrace. Then he stood up and walked into a bathroom, where he used tweezers to carefully place several long blonde hairs on a brush, in the shower drain, and on the floor…

The communicator on his wrist beeped, and he pressed the button to answer it. "Hey there honey," he drawled in a heavy Southern accent.

As he spoke, he casually began planting fingerprints on different items in the bathroom.

"No, I think I'll be on time tonight." He paused for a moment. "Of course, sugar, and give Joanna a kiss for me. See you both tonight."

He walked out into the living room and stood before a man whose neck was in a noose and who was precariously balanced on his tiptoes on a chair. It was the same man from the images McCoy had been looking at, and he was crying and pleading and threatening McCoy all in one breath.

"I can make you rich! I can have you killed! Please do not hurt me!" he shouted. "Don't you know who I am, you ignorant pig?!"

McCoy glanced casually at his PADD, then back at the man. "Actually… I don't have th' faintest idea." And with that, he kicked the chair out from under the man, letting him fall. He'd done his job correctly, the neck snapped and it was over. And with that, McCoy walked out.

A/N: I know this one was really short, but the next thing is really long, so I figured it was better to break it up here…