Captain James Tiberius Kirk was what you might call a tough guy, rough around the edges, but it still killed him to turn down Chekov. The little guy was a charming gentleman, and had some sort of adorable quality, much like a Tribble. Like those fluffy little creatures, Chekov would have been fun on an adventure, but had too many risks. At least with Pavel, they wouldn't have to worry about randomly reproducing spawn, but there were other reasons for the Captain to be concerned with his group's safety during an exploration of an unknown planet. He just hoped Pavel understood those reasons, and why he had to chosen for him to stay. He wouldn't want to come back to an angry, upset, or - heaven forbid - vengeful Russian crewmember. He loved the boy like he loved all of his crew-as if they were the family he never really had. Hurting one of them was something he tried to avoid at all costs, but sometimes it had to be done for their own safety. He would try to explain this all to Pavel when they came back, but right now they had to focus on the mission.
The captain, his first officer, and their linguist had all packed previously, and were planning to simply head back to their quarters, pick up their gear, and go straight to transportation. However, on the walk to the transportation deck, Kirk had realized he had forgotten his gun. Though he did have a back up, and a few knives on hand, he was berated by his first officer for being unprepared. According to Spock, he couldn't rely on "poor hand-to-hand combat fighting" for the rest of his life. Spock insisted he take along his phaser, which he had left on the bridge, and they went back for it as a group.
"So my hand-to-hand combat is really that awful?" Kirk protested as the trio re-entered the bridge.
"While it would be sufficient enough in a fight, it cannot be said that you have quite mastered the art," Spock insisted calmly. "I do vaguely remember Captain Pike telling a story of you being viciously beat in a bar after promoting your fighting as better than it was."
Uhura raised her eyebrows, putting a hand on Spock's arm. That was a sensitive subject, as it dealt with a period in which Kirk's pride was damaged, and Kirk enjoyed pretending that those times never existed. Her exploring eyes noted the way the captain's gaze wavered, his eyes watering in the slightest. She had almost forgotten - Pike. Her heart went out for the man, who had never revealed any other points of weakness. After his former Captain and mentor had died, Kirk had shown no signs that he had truly moved on. His body tensed and Uhura sighed, Spock's inquisitive eyes flashing with interest for a moment. She had no clue if he even realized that bringing up Pike was a bit taboo at the moment.
Kirk, always a trooper, just cleared his throat. Something told her that he was struggling to keep himself from becoming emotionally compromised. "That was awhile ago, Spock," he said, his voice light. "I've learned by now."
"Still haven't learned not to misplace your gun." Uhura chimed in, trying to lighten the mood. He chuckled softly, and she beamed at him, proud that he hadn't gotten frustrated with Spock. He turned to grab his gun, which was waiting in Sulu's hands. That man was always prepared to help his Captain, which was good. Falling from the sky and almost dying on the first day of knowing each other could do wonders for a relationship.
"Forgot this, huh?" Hikaru prompted, handing the phaser towards Kirk, who accepted it gratefully.
"Yeah, I suppose that Chekov distracted me," he admitted, a very slight smile playing on his face. Expecting his navigator to say something indignant, he looked up, searching for the boy's face. However, he spotted him no where on the bridge. Confused, he turned to Sulu, who looked back just as quizzically. "Hey... where is the kid, anyway?"
"I'm not sure, sir. He left shortly after you did and we haven't seen him since," Sulu replied, a hint of worry in his voice. He and Pavel were the best of friends, practically brothers, the result of countless hours of working at the helm together. The latter being younger by a few years, Hikaru couldn't help but be protective of him on occasion.
Kirk frowned, beginning to worry as well. He turned to Spock and Uhura, about to voice the question they had all been wondering: what had happened? That was when Scotty came bounding in, a similarly confused expression upon his typically jovial face. The five crewmates looked at each other for a moment, until Scotty, twitching with excitement, was about to burst with whatever he had to say.
"You wanted to see me, Captain? I came as fast as I could, but the lad told me you all were in medbay!" He glanced around the bridge, his expression sobering when he mentally compared them to everyone else's. "What's going on in here?"
"Who...who told you we were in medbay?" Kirk asked somewhat hesitantly. An idea was forming in his head, a sneaking suspicion that he didn't want to believe. The boy was usually so level headed, so rational...there was no way he could have done what Kirk's mind was suggesting.
"That would be Chekov, sir...found me in the transporter room, said you had a message for me," Scotty said by way of explanation, and Kirk quickly grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Did you see where he went after that?" he asked urgently, the suspicion turning more into reality now than he liked.
"No, uh, I left before the lad did... I think he might have stayed there, though, didn't hear him come out after me. Is that bad?" Scotty tilted his head, obviously confused. Kirk let go of the engineer, shaking his head in frustration.
"Kirk," Uhura said softly, and he turned quickly to look at her. She stood behind the captain's chair, but came down to stand beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I can tell what you're thinking, but he's fine. You have to believe he's fine. Maybe he went back to his room."
"Yes, it would be not be logical to jump to the worst possible scenario when we have not yet proven any other options to be untrue," Spock chimed in agreement.
"Right, you're right," Kirk sighed, still flustered but trying to control himself. "I'll go check his room."
"I'll come with you," Sulu spoke up, rising from his spot at the helm. Kirk turned to look at him, but merely nodded in response.
The two men left the bridge and walked briskly down the hallways, neither of them saying a word. There was too much on Kirk's mind for him to speak anyway-if Pavel had put himself in danger because of what Kirk had done, he would never be able to forgive himself.
The boy's room was not too far from the bridge, only a few hallways away in the sleeping quarters. They didn't have to open the door to know he wasn't there. Not only did the computer outside his door announce that there was no one inside, but the lack of sound was disturbing. Chekov always had one noise or another in his room. Music, the sound of typing, bouncing a ball against the ceiling - he couldn't stand silence, as Sulu knew. He sighed, and watched the Captain for any signs of was one of the many admirable things about Kirk: he could keep his head in situations like this, or at least act as though he had it together even if he didn't for the sake of everyone else. Sulu wish he could be more like that, instead of becoming flustered as he always did under pressure. He would never willingly show this side of himself, but even something small like forgetting the external inertial dampeners ignited a small anger inside of him. Hikaru may have been a bit of a perfectionist, but he was also fiercely loyal. That was why leaving Spock behind in that volcano had been one of the hardest decisions of his life, and why he was so concerned for Pavel now.
"He's not in there," Kirk eventually voiced what they both were thinking. "He's not in there, Sulu, where else could he be?" The two men stared at each other for a moment before Kirk rushed down the hall, Sulu on his heels. They stopped at a bulky screen on the side of the hallway, mounted into the wall.
"Computer, locate crewmember Chekov!" Kirk shouted at the screen, which showed a detailed, 3-D diagram of the ship from all angles as it took a moment to process the Captain's order. He and Sulu stared at it, the atmosphere between them tense.
"Crewmember Chekov cannot be located," the computer finally informed them, cold and indifferent as always. Kirk's heart plummeted, knowing what this meant. Pavel had gone down to the planet to work out the peace negotiations himself, and Kirk was confident that he knew why. He and Spock had basically called him a child in front of everyone, and it must have finally gotten to the boy. He must have seen this as a way to prove himself.
"No," Kirk said softly, turning to look at Sulu, seeing desperation in his eyes.
"He went down there," the Asian man murmured. "Kirk, we've got to get him back before-"
"I know," the captain cut him off, taking off down the hallway again and back towards the bridge. Sulu rushed after him, and they burst into the room at the same time, trying to catch their breath.
"Well, was-" Scotty began before being interrupted by Kirk.
"He's gone. He went down onto the planet," he explained simply, catching each of them in the eye. Uhura gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth, and Scotty gaped in astonishment. Spock merely stayed stock still, raising an eyebrow as though he was simply fascinated by the situation.
"Now why would he do that?" Scotty suddenly broke the heavy silence. "Didn't seem like he was going to do anything like that when I saw him... oh, wait a minute." Something seemed to have dawned on him, his mouth set in an "o" of surprise. "He was trying to get me out of the room so he could beam down, wasn't he? Oh, this is all my fault! I should have seen it coming...he was acting different, now that I think of it!"
"No, it's ours...we didn't let him come with us on the expedition, we called him a child, we dragged his pride through the mud...ugh, no wonder he left!" Kirk seethed in self-loathing, slamming himself down into his chair.
"Captain, it is unwise to distract yourself with pity at a moment like this. It is vital that we focus entirely on the situation at hand," Spock advised, sitting back at his station, Uhura taking her place next to him.
"I know, Spock. Let me think," Kirk sighed almost wearily. "Uhura, we can beam him back, right?"
"Hold on, sir, I have to check," the lieutenant said, punching commands into her screen. After a moment, she turned back around to face him, and he could see the gleam of tears in her eyes. "Captain, transports are down. Something is blocking our signal, I'm not sure what it is. We can't get him back." Her voice broke on the last sentence, and a sudden wave of despair almost overwhelmed Kirk. The youngest member of the Enterprise, the baby of the ship... stranded by himself on a hostile planet. The odds were definitely stacked against him. And what really tore up Kirk inside was that here he was, sitting in perhaps the most advanced and powerful starship of it's time...and he could do nothing to help. Not with the transporters down, anyway. There was only one thing he could do in a situation like this, and he wasn't even sure if it would even work.
"Are communications still intact?" He inquired of Uhura, whose rapid typing on her screen told him that she was trying her best to find out.
"Chekov doesn't appear to be wearing any kind of communication device on him... we have no method of contact," she informed him, and Kirk could hear the strain of her voice from trying to banish emotion. She had really been hanging around with Spock too much lately. He didn't blame her for wanting to keep herself in check, though. His own emotions were on the verge of being compromised, and he knew he couldn't let that happen, not if he wanted any hope at all of getting Pavel back. It was Kirk's actions that had driven their ensign away, and now it was their captain who was responsible for his safe return.
"Captain, we're being hailed!" Uhura alerted them suddenly, and every pair of eyes in the room shot straight up at the screen.