Everyone gathered in the kitchen when dinner was ready. Pavel had worked hard at trying to put something together for the group of them and since they had rationed amounts of food, everyone was served with a small bowl. Inside that bowl were cuts of chicken, slices of apple with sprinkles of cinnamon and on the side, everyone had a glass of water
Scotty peered down into his bowl, rather confused and slightly disgusted by what he was looking at. But he didn't complain. He knew that if he did; One, it would offend poor Chekov and two, that would cause Bones to mentally implode and then take him off somewhere and kill him. So Scotty kept his mouth shut for his own good.
Uhura, although thinking the meal was strange, was grateful that she was able to eat something today. She wasn't paid very much with her job as a barmaid and when she couldn't eat, she would usually go down to Spock's home and visit him, kindly ask for food and he would talk about a return favor, but she just pushed it off, convincing him to give it to her for free. Then she would stay a while and they would talk about the logistics of this town's existence.
Bones was just happy to eat something and know his place in this world so far. He was still unsure about the heist he was planning. The large safe in the bank was slowly ebbing towards the front of his mind and he would always push it back. But sooner or later, it would burst through and he would have to do something about it. He was sure though, that he wasn't going to burn the town at the least.
"I hope zat everyone likes what I made. I tried my hardest, but…it wasn't by best. I apologize in advance." Pavel announced from the head of the table. Everyone nodded and Pavel took his seat. That was the signal for everyone to start eating. Bones dug into his food, feeling starved and weak. Everything that had happened today was on his schedule, but it was better than what he would have planned. All that running around and adrenaline made him quite hungry.
As everyone ate, the sun began to set behind the small town of Enterprise. Bright, orange streaks of light came bursting through the windows, casting a warm glow onto the table and the people sitting there, eating. Bones felt so relaxed that if gave him the chills. Is this what if felt like to be normal? Never running? Just being able to sit here…with people that he knew and loved. Having the sun just flow through the house like a blessing from the heavens.
"Aye, little Chekov, do you have any alcohol in the house?" Scotty looked up from his empty bowl that he had been pouting at for the last two minutes. Pavel raised his eyebrows, listening to Scotty.
"Uh, Yees sir. I vill get you some." Pavel rose from the table and quickly left the room. Bones followed Pavel and let an unconscious smile rise to his mouth. Scotty snorted and both Uhura and Bones glared at him.
"Ahm I sorry! I jus' couldn' help it!" Scotty confessed. "After seein' you today…oh man!"
"Dammit man, would you shut your mouth before I come over and shut it for you." Bones slammed his fist on the table and rose up. Uhura stood up with him.
"Leonard, Scotty…stop. We don't want to fight. Remember, that what you're here for Leonard. As well as us. We are going to try to prevent it." She spoke calmly, holding her hand out, stopping both the men. Bones shrugged in his vest, pulling the collar on his shirt forward, sitting down. Scotty rolled his eyes and leaned back in the chair.
Bones pulled out his gun and began to take it apart, just for the fun of it. He knew how to put it back together. He had done it at least a million times.
"Say, Uhura, you said that you loved someone…who never did say who." Bones initiated a conversation with the sweet girl that he had forced into a kiss. He still felt guilty about that.
"Oh! Umm, yes…I do…" Uhura looked down at the table, grinning to herself.
"Who is it?" Bones asked.
"Spock." She looked up and Bones could see that she was slightly embarrassed with herself and choice in men.
"Oh! That strange guy…well I guess there's reasoning behind that." Bones shrugged.
"Yes. I don't know why I do, but I feel…different with him…he's—"
"Would you just cut to the chase already!" Scotty yelled from his chair. Uhura glared at him and then returned back to Bones.
"I'm getting there! You know not all people can just spurt out their whole life story in a matter of seconds, like you." Uhura snapped. Bones' eyes widened. It appeared that Uhura was very protective about her own life.
"Alright…I just think that you should cut to the chase. Wouldn't want to bore the poor guy." Scotty smirked.
Uhura sighed. "I accidently got him drunk…and I slept with him. I didn't mean to! But ever since…I've just been in love with him. All he did was talk logic while we made love…it was the strangest thing, but I enjoyed it." She grinned like a small schoolgirl who had just told her best friend who she liked.
"Well that's…certainly something I would remember." Bones wasn't sure what to say to that.
"Yeah…but ever since then, he hasn't spoken to me in depth…" Uhura sighed.
"Just roll with it." Bones shrugged.
"Say, what did you do before you arrive in Enterprise?" Uhura asked. Bones froze. No one had ever asked him that before. And he wasn't sure how to respond. Being caught wasn't on his list of things to do.
"I work…as a..security officer. In random towns." Bones told the group. It was the closest thing to outlaw that he could think of at the moment. Of course he could have come up with better things.
"Interestin', so is that why you came here, to Enterprise?" Scotty asked. Bones shifted in his seat, unable to come up with another reason.
"Uh, I came here just on a whim…I mean! I mean that I stumbled upon the well a couple miles outside your town and Jim Kirk and his crew found me." Bones nodded to himself.
"Oh! Was there anywhere you were going in particular?" Uhura asked.
"No, not really. I just go where ever the wind takes me. Or my horse." Bones cracked a smile. Uhura and Scotty stayed quiet. "God dammit, where's Pavel? He's been gone a while." Bones leaned back in his chair and peeked down the hallway. There was no sign of the kid.
"Maybe he's gone and drunk his whole liquor cabinet!" Scotty suggested. Bones shook his head.
"No, he wouldn't do that." Bones rose and left the room, worried about Pavel. As he hurried down the hall and around the corner, he pulled his gun out and sneakily snuck through the house, making his way to the liquor cabinet. The house was silent. Almost too silent. Pavel would never be this quiet. Bones kept sneaking through the house, poking his head into rooms, opening closet doors until he was able to find the liquor cabint and when Bones entered the small room, he saw why everything was so stone dead silent.
Pavel was being held against his will by a tall, lean man who held a cloth gag in his mouth. The man's bald head was decorated with a light fuzz of hair and a tattoo that trailed down his face, curling around his eye. His body was shrouded in laters of trench coats and long jackets. Pavel's eyes were wide and blood was dripping from his hairline. Bones could sense the fear in the room that Pavel was emitting and the death that the man was bringing with him.
"Put…him down." Bones ordered the man.
He laughed and scoffed. "What makes you think I should?"
"Because…I'm an important person, you shouldn't piss me off…" Bones warned. It was true. If anyone had the nerve to push Bones over the edge, he would just kill them on the spot. It was a habit that he needed to break.
"Ha! Important…that bullshit. You're just a no one who wandered in off the desert floor." The man laughed. Bones narrowed his eyes and quickly pulled out his gun, flicking the safety off and shot the man in the shoulder. He yelled and let go of Pavel, who fell to the floor in a heap. The man cursed and held his shoulder and the blood began to seep from inbetween his hands.
"Pavel…come here." Bones shakily ordered. He checked to see if Pavel was still breathing. Yes, Pavel was breathing heavily on the floor and when he heard Bones' voice, he crawled forward. Bones kept his gun trained on the injured abductor and his eyes on Pavel.
"Try anything and I'll fill you full of lead…" Bones threatened. The man smirked and reached down with his uninjured arm and grabbed Pavel's ankle, pulling him backwards.
"No! Let me go!" Pavel pleaded as fresh memories came rushing back into his head from the last time his father left. "Please!" Pavel cried out. Bones knew that he had to act quick before the man seriously hurt Pavel. So Bones did what he told the man he would do.
Bones let a rapid fire of bullets leave his gun and enter the man, jerking him back each time. Blood was being sprayed everywhere. He dropped Pavel and Pavel quickly clambered forward. Bones kept shooting even when the bullets were all gone.
Scotty and Uhura rushed into the liquor room to see what the commotion was about, and they stumbled upon the most frightening scene. Bones was standing with his gun, pointed at a lean, scrawny man who was laying, bleeding heavily on the floor. Pavel was laying in a crumped heap, still breathing and alive. Blood was everywhere…
Bones dropped his gun for the first time and rushed over to Pavel's side, cradling him. "Pavel, are you alright? Come on kid…" Bones murmured as he held Pavel's head.
"L-leonard?" Pavel asked, trembling.
"I'm here kid. You alright?" Bones let out a breath, knowing that Pavel was at least alive.
"He…he heet me vith a bottle. On ze head." Pavel whimpered.
"Scotty! Get me a rag." Bones ordered to Scotty, who had been standing there, nearly moved to tears by the whole exchange.
"Yes!" He announced, running back to the kitchen. Bones shifted and elevated Pavel's head.
"Other than that, are you alright?" Bones asked.
"Yes…I eem fine. Zank you. YA lyublyu tebya." Pavel weakly grinned up at Bones. Bones smiled back.
"I love you too kid." Bones told him. He wondered when he had become so attached to Pavel. It couldn't have been when Pavel had first kissed him. There was no way no one fell in love that fast. Maybe…just maybe, it was when he heard the commotion from the bar his very first night. Rushing into that Saloon, seeing the poor kid hung up from the antlers…It's when he knew that he was going to do everything in his power to keep Pavel safe.
"I got it!" Scotty came rushing in, handing Bones the rag. Immediately, Bones pressed it to Pavel's bleeding forehead.
"Thank you Scotty. You two, I need you to lock all the doors and windows." Bones commanded. The sun had set and night was quick approaching. In no time, people would come pounding on the doors and coming in through the windows.
Scotty and Uhura nodded, running out of the room to put the house in lockdown. Bones stayed with Pavel, holding the rag against his head. The bleeding wasn't serious, but it was still near his head, which was always a dangerous spot for an injury.
"How you holding up kid?" Bones asked.
"I zink zat I veel be fine…" Pavel muttered. Bones hesitated to take the rag off of Pavel's head, but he said that he was fine, so Bones might as well take it off.
"Okay. Let's get you up and on your feet." Bones threw the rag to the side and stood up, grabbing Pavel's hand tightly, pulling him to his feet. Pavel popped right up, holding his injury while he steadied himself. Bones looked at Pavel. The kid was covered with the dead man's blood. It was on his cheeks, nose, clothes, hands.
"How about you head on up and take a shower. Scotty, Uhura and I will stay here and keep a watch out." Bones suggested.
"I zink zat would be good. I vill be right back." Pavel agreed. Bones let go of his hand and let him walk forward, down the hall.
"Hey!" Bones called out. Pavel turned and looked at him. "Do you have any other guns?"
"Uh yes…I theenk zat zey are…in my father's closet up stairs." Pavel tried to remember the last time he had seen his father with a gun. It was a very long time ago. There were still bullet holes in the ceiling of his room…
"Alright, thanks kid." Bones thanked Pavel and picked up his gun, placing it back in its holster. If Pavel's dad had any of the bullets his own gun used, Bones would be elated. He wasn't very comfortable using any other gun than his own, but usually had to deal with using other guns when his wasn't handy.
Bones dashed down the hall and up the stairs by two, following the route Pavel had taken, taking a slightly different turn towards one of the many rooms. All the doors looked the same, so Bones wasn't sure which one was which. All he could do was to start opening doors.
The first three were just guest bedrooms. They were empty, no color and nothing but a Victorian style bed with large posts supporting a canopy. He had entered them and checked for any weapons but there was no sign of anything. Nothing. It was like no one had even tried to take residence in the home. Bones wouldn't blame them. It seemed that life in the Pike/Chekov household was violent and not very uplifting. So, with no luck from those, Bones was left with the last two bedrooms, clearly Pavel's and the Sheriff's. So Bones chose the next door, opening it slowly.
The room behind the door was smaller than the guest bedrooms. It was more long than wide. A small bed was nestled in the corner near an open window, the pale yellowed curtains blew lightly in the breeze. A small brown desk was placed near the window as well. It reminded him of the one he saw downstairs in the study. Bones entered the room, knowing well that it wasn't the Sheriff's.
Bones walked around, touching random things, looking at souvenirs. He glanced at letter that were laying on the desk in sloppy handwriting. They were addressed to Mommachka, which Bones guessed was mother in Russian. He turned awa from the desk and spotted a mobile hanging from the window clattering softly against the frame. As Bones walked closer, he realized that it wasn't from America. All the little charms were nothing he had ever seen before. They were all wooden. Most of them were the Nesting Dolls that he had heard of. They rested inside each other and came out smaller each time. But these…all of a them different sizes and colors were strung from the tip of the mobile. The colors, despite being chipped and slightly charred, were stunning. Deep reds, intense greens, the occasional sunny yellow…
"Zat vas my mobile ven I vas leetle."
Bones jumped at Pavel's gentle voice as it wafted into the room. Bones turned to see Pavel standing there, wearing a white button up shirt that was a little too big for him. His curly hair was soaking wet and the cut on his head was pink.
"Oh. Sorry, got lost. I should go…" Bones felt embarrassed and guilty for walking into Pavel's room without his permission. It wasn't any of his business wandering around.
"Eet ees okay." Pavel shrugged and entered his own room.
"I should actually go find those guns." Bones walked around Pavel, stopped at the door and hesitated. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yes. I veel. Zank you Leonard." Pavel nodded, looking around his desk for something, while humming a quite haunting but melodic tune. Shivers ran up and down Bones' back as he left the room. Finding the Sheriff's room wasn't hard. It was the only room left that he hadn't checked.
Bones was able to find the guns in the closet of Sheriff Pike's bedroom. Luckily he had two shotguns, a couple pistols and one revolver stored in there. There were some large machetes and knives, but Bones chose to ignore those. Guns were quicker and easier.
As Bones was leaving the Sheriff's room, an object caught his eye. It was small. About the size of his fist. It shined slightly, despite the lack of light, and it was partially rusted. As Bones drew closer, he began to make out the actual shape of the object. Rounded with small humps on the top. Hollow rings were strung up next to each other, melded into one giant ring multi fingered ring. When Bones reached the ring, he knew exactly what it was. He had seen these on multiple outlaws that he had met over the years. Though small, they were made to literally crush someone's skull in. Knuckles. Steel knuckles were the cheap version. Brass knuckles were much more expensive. Bone wondered why the Sheriff didn't have a pair of brass knuckles instead? Bones swiped the knuckles off the desk, slipping the knuckles into his pocket and left the room with his guns in hand.
He trotted down the stairs, carefully balancing his multitude of guns in his arms. These would probably be enough to keep them safe for at least two days if they rationed the bullets correctly.
"Aye! McCoy!" Scotty came running in from the liquor cabinet, a bottle of booze in his hand already.
"What?" Bones asked as he reached the landing.
"What are we goin' to do with that dead man, lying in the liquor room?" Scotty asked, taking a quick drink.
"Dammit! I forgot about him. Uhh…shit. Just take him to-stuff him in that coat closet." Bones looked around, spying a coat closet that he had peeked in when he was looking for Pavel. It was big enough to fit a grown man.
"Alright." Scotty nodded and stumbled away to the liquor cabinet. Bones shook his head. He didn't think that Scotty should have the job of placing the dead man in a closet. It was a difficult task sober. Bones should know.
Bones headed to the kitchen table and laid out all the weapons on top of it. Guns…that's all they had to fight with. That and their fists but only Bones was expertly trained to fight in hand to hand combat. The other three had no clue. Not even Pavel knew how to properly fight and defend himself yet.
Bones sat on a chair and slammed his head down on the table in frustration. How in the hell were he and a group of people who didn't even know how to use a gun going to fend off a whole group of angry townspeople who wanted to kill an innocent boy?
"Leonard?" Pavel came walking down the stairs in his large shirt. Bones sat up and turned in his chair.
"Yes?"
"Are you alright?"
Bones sighed and turned to his original place in his seat. No he wasn't.
"Yeah, I 'm fine kid. C'mere." Bones waved Pavel over to him. Pavel came over to Bones, taking the chair next to him. Bones looked at Pavel, creasing his eyebrows in confusion. "Pavel, please tell me you're wearing pants under that shirt?" Bones asked.
"Yees Leonard…I eem. Short pants actually." Pavel grinned like a small child, hiking up his shirt, revealing the dark brown short pants. Bones' face grew bright red and he turned away from Pavel, ear burning up.
"Alright kid. Good to know." Bones dismissed Pavel with his hand.
"Uhh, so vat vere you doing een my room?" Pavel quickly changed the subject. Bones glanced at Pavel shortly before staring back at the guns.
"I got lost. It was my bad. I like your room…I like the mobile." Bones uttered quietly.
"My mother made eet. She was keeled by a fire…the mobile was nearly burnt, but she vas able to grab eet. Ze poleez found it and shipped it to America." Pavel explained.
"Well your mother did a really good job at making it and painting. I like it." Bones told Pavel.
"Yees. I treasure it. What about you, do you have anything special you hold onto?" Pavel inquired. Seeing as Leonard had been a very lonely man made Pavel wonder whether he held anything close to his heart.
"No. Just my gun. I try not to hold emotional attachment to things." Bones explained, but as soon as the words slipped out, knew what he had said and it was wrong.
"Vat?" Pavel asked. Bones stared intently at the guns.
"Nothing…I just try not to hold emotional feelings towards things." Bones muttered. Pavel's deer eyes opened wide.
"Zen vat deed you mean ven you said zat you loved me?" Pavel asked. Bones knew that this had been coming.
"Kid…I—I try as hard as I can to feel emotions. Don't bug me about it." Bones stood up from the table.
"But…but I vas…I vas hoping zat maybe…I could find someone who vould save me from hell." Pavel whimpered. Bones glared at Pavel.
"You can't just expect people to just swipe you off your feet and save you! Kid, this not a fairytale!" Bones began to raise his voice.
"Zen vhy did you say zat you loved me?!" Pavel cried.
"Because I have to feel something to feel normal! I say stuff kid!" Bones responded. Pavel felt stinging tears well up in his eyes. His heart was sowly breaking again.
"Fine zen!" Pavel exclaimed, standing up, leaving the room and stomping up the stairs. Bones sighed and collapsed onto the seat once again. What can he do right?