Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Star Trek franchise.
-ooO0Ooo-
She screamed and kicked while she was dragged he trough the sand, her adrenaline drowning out all feelings of pain but she could not stand up to the three of them and so her captors managed to take her with them back to where they had been coming from. When they reached the spot two of them were holding her steady, one at each side and she saw the blue glow build around them until they were fully engulfed by it. Exhausted from her previous struggle she hung limply between her captors, too terrified of what had happened to allow her thoughts to dwell on the pictures of Carl falling down face first that arose in her mind.
The blink of an eye later she felt warmth around her and recognized a brightly lit room of some kind and more people standing there, obviously waiting. As soon as they saw the group holding Natasha, one of them stepped forward and pressed a little device to her arm, causing her to lose consciousness almost immediately.
When she slowly regained her senses, the first thing she felt was a numb, throbbing pain in her head. Her thoughts were slow and fuzzy, she felt disoriented and tried to get her brain back to work in order o figure out what had brought her here – wherever "here" was. Then the memories came back with full force, and the scene of the kiss, the fight, and Carl's dead flashed back into her mind – Carl with his bloodstained T-shirt, the dagger awkwardly protruding from his chest, his eyes breaking while he slowly fell face-forward in the sand. "Carl" she cried out with a strangled voice, tears streaming down her face while the world around her came tumbling down.
-ooO0Ooo-
"No! I'm not even going to say that I'm sorry, but this is out of question, Commander!"
"Captain, as I was trying to explain you, cooperation is the only logical way. There is a 63,7% chance that I will be able to have a positive influence on the outcome of this mission."
"Spock, listen" Kirk sighed, almost exasperated "I will not allow you to partake in a mission of the Aryan brotherhood! I have seen and heard enough of admiral Shields methods to know exactly where somebody who is under my command will not go!"
"The Brotherhood is an established part of Starfleet and has influence high into the inner circles. It is illogical of you to decide differently than your line of command does!" To someone knowing Spock well like his Captain, the Vulcan officer that always claimed to have no emotions whatsoever sounded almost annoyed. "I ask you to grant me leave for the duration of this mission, sir!"
"Take my word for it, Commander; you will not go on this mission! I do not even expect to hear the details, I know that I won't be told and even if you would tell me they would do nothing to change my mind. I didn't believe that you that you were even thinking of associating yourself with these anti-Romulan racists." Kirks eyes narrowed dangerously as his clipped tone draw the border of threatening "I guess it would be better if you left now, Spock."
The addressed stood rooted on the spot, his eyes fixed on a point at the far wall. As he finally spoke, the words were spoken quiet and slowly "Kirk, for the sake of your trust in me, let me go on this mission." He hesitated "I've never asked you a personal favor before, but I'm doing so now"
The smaller of the two men turned around at those words and went to the big desk that dominated the room. He slowly shook his head, but only started to speak as he had sat down behind the desk and lifted his gaze to the man now standing across the room. "I'm sorry, but: no. This is my final word."
Hearing this, the first officer of the USS Enterprise turned around wordlessly and left the captain's room for the bridge. After he had left, Kirk leaned back and exhaled the breath he was not aware he had been holding. He was indeed sorry for Spock, but after the last experience with Admiral Shield's organisation that still raised the bile in his throat he had sworn to himself that he would never again allocate any resources to anything the Aryan Brotherhood was associated with.
Fool me once, your bad, fool me twice… despite the bitter grin that forced the corners of his mouth up he did not feel one bit less guilty about turning down this desperate request from his loyal first officer. Sighing, he left for the gym, hoping that some exercise would help to clear his mind.
-ooO0Ooo-
Natasha cried until her tears ran dry, crouched in the corner of the room she had been left in. Only after her dry sobs finally had faded to silence she bothered to lift her gaze, taking in the room she had been brought into. It was small and bare; clean stone floors and walls with a cot on one side, while the opposite wall contained a latch, apparently to bring things inside the cell without needing to open the door. As a cell it was, that was immediately clear to the lieutenant. She started pacing the confines of her tiny room, thoughts whirling in her mind, the most important one being "why me?". After a short time of marching back and forth, she noticed a sound at the door and turned around to face whoever would enter her prison.
It turned out to be three men, two of them carrying some kind of guns and entering quickly, positioning themselves left and right from the door. Only after this the third passed the doorstep, his composure immediately labeling as the man in charge as he walked towards their prisoner. He held one hand clutched to his chest and stared without a single word at the young woman in front of him.
Natasha had time to take the scene in, and she saw men that looked like tanned humans, if it were not for their ears that had tips protruding upwards in a way she had never seen before; they had very marked eyebrows and square yaws, and black hair trimmed to reveal their unusually shaped ears; she just couldn't place them. Not wanting to give them any hint of cooperation, she just joined the silent glaring contest.
After a short moment the man opened his palm, and Natasha's eyes widened as she suddenly saw the pendant – her pendant - dangling from his hand. Unthinking she leapt forward with a yell, trying to reach for the medallion, only to be slapped hard in the face by her captor and fall down on her side heavily.
"I will not give you the chance to use this to call them here." rose his stern voice "But if you cooperate, we will not harm you."
Her head was throbbing in pain, and the last hours had done nothing to make her more comfortable or calm her nerves. Despite her training, she was not able to hold back the tears silently streaming from her face but she mustered all the strength she had to glare at her captors
"screw you! I will not give you anything!"
A/N: No native speaker here, as you probably have noticed. Apologies for the errors and thanks in advance if somebody takes the time to point out any major ones.
Glyph