.o0o.

McCoy's heart was beating hard in his chest, thumping in his ears like some scene to the Tell-Tale-Heart. His feet felt hardened like walking through thickened clay as they made their way down the corridors towards the transporter room and the Romulan ship beyond.

"I hope you have a plan." McCoy muttered, though neither of them had cause to be quiet.

"Still working on it." Kirk responded in a voice that was just as low. "Right now, I'm hoping we might be able to distract them enough that the Enterprise can get away." They both knew it was a hopeless thought when they were surrounded as they were.

"And plan B?" McCoy was almost afraid to ask.

"We may be able to make a trade for the Enterprise." McCoy didn't need to ask what would be traded. They had little to offer. Terik's interest in them might prove their only advantage, particularly with them handing Stark over. His unconscious form was being wheeled between them.

McCoy frowned. "I thought you didn't believe in no win scenarios."

"As I said," Kirk continued with a fake smile, "I'm still working on it." There was a moment of silence.

"Jim, I..."

"I know." Kirk responded, not waiting for him to finish.

McCoy wondered if he did know, if he even had an idea what thoughts of terror were racing through his mind. They buzzed over the transporter more quickly than he'd thought possible and he found himself face-to-face with one angry looking Romulan. It was weird to see that face so similar to a Vulcan's openly expressing emotions, particularly that one.

One of the Romulans scanned Stark quickly and, seeming satisfied, took him from the room. Then they were roughly handled and dragged toward the Bridge, the halls a blur as they passed. The ship was not designed like the Enterprise. McCoy thought they'd face Terik as soon as the turbolift doors opened, but they had another long hallway to travel through before the final doors slid open.

McCoy rushed toward Spock as soon as he'd spotted him, still kneeling by the captain's chair. For whatever reason, Terik allowed him to push through and throw himself at Spock's side. The Vulcan kept his head mostly down, but McCoy could feel him through the link. He wasn't doing so well. Still, McCoy knew he'd be okay if they could just make it off this ship.

Terik moved around the Bridge with a flourish, like he was acting for some elaborate Shakespeare play. It wasn't far from the truth. "Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise, welcome. We're being broadcast across both Starfleet channels and across the Romulan Empire where everyone will be able to see how quickly Starfleet's finest is destroyed. But first, let them see how quickly Starfleet's prized captain falls."

McCoy's stomach dropped; Terik already had a plan. There would be no negotiating then. He caught Kirk straighten to his fullest height, puffing his chest out, the epitome of dignity.

Terik then locked his eyes on McCoy, and he tried not to find him imposing and failed miserably. "And Dr. McCoy is going to be the one to murder him." But the Romulan's expression quickly shifted to puzzled. McCoy realized that part of Terik's plan had been to use the trap he'd already laid in the doctor's mind to force him to do the deed and that he'd just discovered that that trap no longer existed. McCoy glanced out of the corner of his eye towards Kirk, who didn't appear the least bit surprised. He'd undoubtedly expected that.

Terik pulled him bodily from the ground, twisting his arm at a painful angle and his hand came up toward his face, evoking a horrible memory. The feelings of superiority at finding Terik's plan foiled were quickly replaced by horror at discovering his new plan. Kirk shifted to help, but a pair of guards grabbed his arms and held him so tight that McCoy was sure it would leave a set of nasty bruises.

The Romulan entered his mind like the bite of a bear trap. It wasn't just painful; it was a sudden penetration into his zone of safety.

It felt like hours before McCoy regained himself enough to remember Spock's training, though it was more likely a few seconds. He felt like he was running a marathon as he struggled to achieve the calm he needed to repel the Romulan from his mind, but he just couldn't find it no matter what he tried. Not until he felt a calm from outside himself like a breeze flowing through a sauna did McCoy feel like he had a chance.

McCoy looked into a star system of milky purple, spiraling into the dark depths of his own disordered mind to locate the threat, just as Spock had taught him during those tense sessions in his quarters at night, wishing he'd had more patience for the lessons back then. Then, he managed to do something he'd never succeeded with Spock. He'd never desired Spock to leave his mind with the bold fury that he felt now. Rage filled him. McCoy realized that this was what Spock had been trying to show him, his inner strength, his ability to attack was his emotions.

Terik pulled back in shock, gazing at McCoy with interested eyes. But the surprise was quick to pass, and then the Romulan was on him again. McCoy fought him off as best as he could, but it was a losing battle, and they both knew it. McCoy didn't have the training a Romulan would. He felt strangled, out of breath, and a tingly sensation was overtaking him.

Then a miracle happened. Another force joined his mind, fighting at his side to keep the Romulan at bay. Fuzzy light touched him, caressing his mind like a loving mother. Spock.

Again, the Romulan was thrown from his mind. "Fascinating." Terik commented in a cold mockery of the Vulcan's catch phrase. "You are linked to this Vulcan?"

McCoy stayed silent. The answer was obvious. He felt a brief flutter of hope light up his chest. Terik couldn't possibly beat them both, could he? The hope evaporated like a drop of water on one of the Vulcan suns as the Romulan plucked a phaser from his belt and shot Spock in the side in one smooth movement. Spock's back smashed against the captain's chair, green blood splashing against the fabric and along the floor. Spock collapsed completely as the back of his shirt turned dark.

"Nooo!" McCoy shouted. He could just make out Kirk echoing his exclamation. Terik turned back to him with a victorious smile, raising his hand to his face again, but stopping short by the last footstep.

McCoy hardly noticed what Terik was doing. His attention was consumed by the sight of the Vulcan's prone form in front of him. He didn't notice that the seed had cracked completely open, or that tendrils of leaves were tracing around his fingertips and twirling up his arm. He didn't notice it stretch across his chest, leaves sprouting and blossoming along his shirt. McCoy did notice when his legs refused to move forward to reach Spock. It was then that he realized his legs had hardened and solidified into a thick, brown trunk. His mind was unable to react and the doctor in him acknowledged that he was going into shock. Unthinking, he stretched out his arm for Spock and his fingers stretched with him, turning into green, wiry, willow-like branches. They made contact with Spock and cradled his body.

A shot was fired at him, but fizzled against the hardened skin of his torso. Automatically, McCoy retaliated, feeling validated in his attack on Terik as a branch circled and transported the Romulan captain into a deep sleep. Another shot fizzled against his skin and he entangled a second Romulan in his tendrils. Another branch split off from his arm, and another, until his hand was splintered into a hundred thin tendrils and the whole of the Romulan bridge crew was swept up, leaving Kirk stumbling free on his own as McCoy was swept away into a different world.

'McCoy.' A voice called out.

'Who are you?' McCoy circled around, but he couldn't see anyone in the smothering blackness.

McCoy wasn't entirely surprised by the response. 'I am the Indyrin you rescued when you visited my planet. You have allowed me to grow after all these years in solitude. My thanks.' The doctor was mildly curious how it had finally sparked after all his attempts, but his mind was far more concerned with Spock. Nevertheless, the Indyrin responded to his unasked question. 'An Indyrin cannot germinate unless it joins with a person. I had feared that there would be no one emotionally poignant enough to join. Your race's emotions seem to be weaker than those whom we used to feed from on our homeworld all those years ago. At least, that is how it appears in our collective memories. However, the strength of your recent emotions was more than adequate to begin the process.'

'So Jim was right about not giving it enough juice.' McCoy surmised. Then, he heard the sound of distant voices echoing all around him. More and more voices joined the chorus and a shiver went down his spine. Romulans.

'We're collecting emotional energy from those around us so that we can keep growing. The initial growth is very taxing.' Panic crept into him at that. Could Spock survive that? And what about Jim? 'Fear not,' the Indyrin quickly returned, 'I have not taken any from your ship as I knew it was not your wish.'

'Then it's just the Romulans? But there were so many.'

'We have sent out the noyaans to collect them from the other Romulan ships. With so much energy at our disposal, it has been a very quick process.'

McCoy knew without asking that the noyaans were the ghostly entities they had encountered over Andar IX. The same noyaans that had grabbed Spock by mistake. The same noyaans that had drained their ship. He pressed outwardly to feel the people that the Indyrin had taken. He could sense each of their minds. He scanned through and could not find one human among what had to be nearly a thousand Romulans.

Then he located Spock. The Vulcan was barely with him. He could hardly feel their connection. It felt like a rope someone was diligently sawing through. And very suddenly, Spock's mind was gone. McCoy felt as if the whole world had collapsed on top of him. He reached and stretched with his tendrils and with his mind, but he couldn't feel Spock anymore. Spock was dead.

McCoy rushed back into his mind as far as he could. The Indyrin's presence was warm and soothing, quickly blocking out (or perhaps feeding from?) his pain so that it dulled his senses.

When the Indyrin offered to take him away deep into one of his happiest memories, McCoy accepted without hesitation.

.o0o.

A/N: This. This was the scene I've been dying to write for eons, since I introduced the Indyrin, actually. It didn't turn out quite a could as good as I'd hoped, but I'm thrilled to pieces that I stuck with it until I could get it out. Can't leave the story here, though...

Katrina JG: I think I managed to keep it getting worse and worse even after that. Everyone needs a hobby, right? But anyway, I figure it's always darkest before the dawn. Also, wanted to let you know that I have yet to explain the note, but it will be explained. Briefly. Soon. Ish.

Tishbing: Worse, he had his torturer back in his head again.

PutMoneyinThyPurse: Wow! Those compliments are just oozing out of you and making me feel all warm and fuzzy. It's my dream to write professionally, so maybe you'll read my work some day soon! As far as blowing the cover, I was nervous that McCoy would STILL seem like an idiot, but I figured it would balance out when he saves the day. ^^

Mtcbones: We're almost at the end! Keep up the reviews.

: And I'm doing it again. :)