I big thank you to everyone who has taken time to read J

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek (unfortunately) all rights go to Gene Roddenberry, CBS and Paramount Pictures.

Warnings: Graphic descriptions of wounds.

Chapter 6: For Him I shall

Location: Starfleet Academy

29th September 2255

It was that time of the week again. Skye felt ready for whatever Matthews was going to throw at them. Her and Leonard had been practicing all week, providing that she didn't over exert herself. Jim was walking beside her looking at his PADD, checking out the latest details for his assignment whilst she glanced at Leonard who looked like someone had announced he was going to be executed.

"Cheer up old man!" Skye said hitting him with her shoulder.

Leonard turned to meet her with a look that said Cheer up? I am about to be publically humiliated! Skye didn't say anything else but turned to her bag to get her gear ready so that she could change. Once the class was ready, everybody was waiting for Matthews to begin her session of torture.

"Cadets! Listen up, I want each pair that I assigned last week to come up and demonstrate a basic defence and attack. Those of you who fail will have the pleasure of assisting me this weekend by doing paper work," Matthews warned with no trace of humour in her eyes.

Skye could feel Leonard sigh next to her whilst Matthews was scanning the crowd, waiting till her eyes settled on the familiar pair of cadets. She didn't say anything for a few moments and let the tension amount until she spoke.

"McCoy and Collins, I am expecting exceptional things from you," Matthews told them indicating to the mat in the center of the room.

Skye and Leonard walked up in front of the class and Jim winked at them.

Go for it.

Skye looked at Leonard, communicating silently; he looked at her and nodded slightly. They moved into position, Skye for attack and Leonard for defence. As she moved towards him, ready to strike at his most vulnerable side, Leonard's face screwed in concentration, focusing on what Skye had told him to. His hands came up and he blocked her, still getting knocked slightly, but he stayed on his feet. Skye pulled herself back up again and smiled at Leonard who looked marginally calmer than he had this morning. Skye glanced at Matthews who was observing them closely, coming up with her judgement. Skye would have almost said she looked disappointed and slightly irritated.

"Well, you won't be joining me this weekend, but that doesn't mean that you're out of the clear, I expect you to be constantly working to improve. Since you two seemed to have worked well this time, Collins, I am officially appointing you as McCoy's mentor," Matthews said, her eyes never leaving hers.

Leonard's face was priceless, Skye would have laughed if not for Matthews's no-nonsense stare, warning them that their work was far from over. Leonard and Skye retreated back into the crowd as the next two cadets were called up.

"Aren't you lucky, we get to work together for the rest for the year?" Skye teased.

"I am dying with excitement inside," Leonard replied, every word etched with sarcasm.

"Don't worry by the end of the year we'll turn you into a pro," Skye whispered as it went quiet.

"Dream on kid," Leonard whispered back but very much glad that they had made it without being sentenced to a weekend with Matthews.

Skye was still looking at Leonard when a shout pulled her to looking to the direction of the mat.

Matthews didn't say anything apart from the word "Paperwork!"

Matthews was looking at the two cadets who were staring at her almost in fear as she eyed them pointedly. As the next five rounds of the word 'paperwork' were shouted Skye felt slightly surer that they had a very long week of hard training ahead of them if they wanted to stay out of Matthews' bad book and out of her office in the coming weekends.

A year and three months ago

He swerved off the examination table feeling the mixture circulating within him. His eyes itched slightly and the more they tried to focus the more they burned. He bit down on his tongue to try and distract himself from the pain that would follow. It is the same as before. It will go. Be clam. At the side of the room she was watching him, arms folded, with a deep frown showing her concern for him.

"Rakem, are you well?" she asked almost as if to distract herself.

"As well as can be expected president," he replied, voice strangled.

She flinched at the use of such formalities which she did not expect, especially after the night before. She got up and made a move to go towards him but she decided otherwise when the medical attendant entered and measured Rakem vitals with a Jo'tooor. The machine whirled in protest as it drew a sample of his blood, making him in turn to look away. He prayed silently that this time there would be some change, anything that would make this worth the pain.

"Rakem, please look at me," she tried again, desperation in her voice.

"President I cannot give you a formal assessment until the results are given back to me but I suggest that you attend your meeting with the council," he replied with a formal tone.

"My name is Ardria," she said her tone firm and he recognized that tone, she used it often in court.

"You are my president," he said, begging her not to continue.

"Rake-"

"I do not wish it!" he snapped at her, the pain increasing, making his tone sound even harsher than he intended it to be.

Ardria looked at him and he saw the hurt go through her golden eyes that he had grown so accustomed to looking into, ever since he had been appointed to her office. He felt dread rise within him, he had worded what was an outright lie. He waited for her to reply in anger but she looked at him through a glaze of unleashed tears and she turned towards the facility door. He didn't want her to leave and whilst the pain elevated he closed his eyes and spoke.

"Ardria," he called softly.

She stopped midway and turned to face him. She searched him and came to him slowly as if with caution.

"Rakem," she replied.

The pain was almost too much and her presence made it bearable. She was a few inches from him now and he pulled her close, burying his face in the crook of her neck. She in turn wrapped her hands round him and closed her eyes.

"I do not see why you bare this pain," she whispered "I wish to do something- anything to help," she said angrily.

"It is not worth subjecting you to this, you are doing all you can," he replied.

"It is not enough Rakem, my people suffer," she whispered, stroking his back to bring him some comfort.

"That is why it is imperative that I try, if we succeed," Rakem told her.

"Rakem, if- if you do not wish to continue I understand-"

"No I will," he cut her off.

"Not just about these trials - but us, I understand if you do not want to continue. I am putting you in grave danger-"

"Ardira, you gave me your name, you gave that to me," he whispered "And I have sworn Ke'dith to you by the old ones. I love you," he said to her now staring at her in her eye.

She touched his face, slowly, brushing away his hair from his eyes.

"And I love you," she said.

"We have been through far too much Ardira," he said to her.

He moved from the bench he was sitting on to stand but he fell and he was just caught in time by Ardira to steady him. He pushed himself up and grabbed on to her, scanning her eyes and finding a deep emotion that she should not hold for a mere K'a'tho. She smiled at him as he touched her cheek with a touch that was so gentle she barley felt it. He leaned forwards and captured her lips and bought her closer. When they parted Ardira opened her eyes, which were smiling, to look at him.

"I pray that this time it will work, I fear we cannot last much longer," Ardira said kissing his nose "your pain is not worth the risk."

"I pray to the old ones and Gronn, Ardira, every day, that they will come back and that they will be positive."

Together, they silently held each other and enjoyed the small piece of tranquility that they had before the chamber would open and the outer world would call them back to reality.

Wednesday 10thth October 2255

The raindrops came down on her window, obscuring her vision of the outside world, she was listening to Spock who was delivering his after class talk on the art of control. His words were floating passed her, as her mind was turned to elsewhere. Skye turned to look at her cousin who was talking to Nyota who had answered the question he had posed, correct yet again. When he had finished, she lifted herself from the desk and collected her PADD and other notes that she had made. Spock turned to look at her and she came over to the two.

"Cadet Collins, I was informing cadet Uhura that I am going to be organizing a visit to the Rempt Institute. If you would wish to go then I shall sent the details via your PADD," he informed her.

"Rempt Institute for Art of Sytep?" Skye asked with interest.

"Affirmative, if I receive enough replies then we shall be going this term. After the return you shall be asked to deliver a presentation to the visiting delegates from Vulcan," Spock explained.

"I am in," Skye said giving a smile to Nyota who was as equally excited to go.

Spock returned to the task he had been finishing and Nyota came closer to her "hey I am going to the Sunrise bar tonight with a couple of friends, do you want to come?"

"Sure, I am working late tonight I have a shift at the hospital, I should finish by 9:00, is that okay?" Skye asked.

"Perfect, I'll see you there!" Nyota said touching her arm before leaving.

"Skye," Spock said from his desk.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"There is someone who would be gratified should they have the opportunity to see you," Spock said with a hint of mysteriousness which was unusual for him, as he was always on point.

Skye looked quizzically at him and Spock looked bemused as his brow raised. Skye felt someone behind her and she turned to see the kind eyes of someone who she was least expecting to see.

"Aunt Amanda!" she exclaimed.

Amanda's smile was wide as she invited her niece in for one of her famous hugs. Skye hugged her back still surprised.

"Oh my, you've grown even more since the last time I saw you Skye," Amanda smiled warmly.

"When did you arrive? Spock told me that he would tell me when you did," Skye replied, unable to wipe her smile from her face.

"Spock wanted to tell you but I told him not to," Amanda said still holding on to Skye.

Skye looked at her Aunt, she was wearing standard civilian clothes and her hair was neatly tied in a bun, habits from Vulcan that had stayed with her.

"Let me looked at you! In the Academy!" she exclaimed "You need to tell me all about it," she said.

Spock was watching the scene unfold, his mother was brimming with happiness and it was most gratifying to see. Skye turned to look at him and teased him "Group hug?"

"I would refrain from joining you group hug, the last time it was most a most, unsettling experience," Spock commented.

Amanda looked back at son and she laughed – a sound which Skye had missed and she was glad to be able to hear again.

"How long are you staying?" she asked.

"We're here for a few weeks, Sarek has a conference with some other delegates about an issue in the Elos region," Amanda explained "but enough about official business. When are you free?"

"I am free this weekend, whenever it's more convenient for you," Skye told her.

"I'll ask Sarek if he has some time off, he'll be so glad to see you again," Amanda said touching Skye's curly hair, smoothing it down like a mother who was affectionately touching her daughter.

Skye relished at the small contact allowing her to feel the warmth coming from her aura. Amanda smiled at both her and Spock with love that she had on her face every time she looked at them. Skye saw Jim lingering outside the door, pulling a face at her and she found herself smiling in amusement. Amanda looked to see the back of Jim disappear and she smiled.

"I'll let you go; I'll see you this weekend Skye. It was great to see you again," Amanda smiled and hugged her once more, holding on tighter and then releasing her.

"I'll see you later," Skye beamed at her Aunt "Bye Spock!" she called on her way out.

Skye excited the room and joined Jim who was already walking ahead. She caught up with him and by the look in his face; she knew the question that was coming.

"Have you heard anything?" Jim asked with a slight frown in his face.

Skye's spirits dampened, she took a moment before replying, and when she did, she could stop the regret from entering her tone "No."

"Hey, I know that tone, don't," James warned becoming serious.

"I know, I know," Skye whispered softly with a small smile.

Jim didn't say anything but put one arm around his closest friend's shoulders as they walked towards his dorm room.

Only three hours in to her shift and it was chaos, a huge influx of patients had come in to the hospital after some collision had caused mass disruption. Skye was weaving in and out of the staff, mind on full doctor mode. Nothing else entered her mind, all she thought about was the motions of her body as she worked as quickly as possible to do all the things she needed to get as many people out of critical condition. There was noise erupting from every corner of the ward, she could hear Leonard calling for extra people to help with the worst cases. Her uniform was stained with blood from the patients who had never ceased to stop flowing in. The female Jrith to her left had burns stretching across her face giving the appearance that she was melting into herself, with the only coherent sounds coming from her were the words please and stop. From the glimpses that she had managed to catch from the holoplayer in the corner was that there had been a collision on one of San Francisco's main roads and a truck that had been carrying HT1 waste was hit, causing an explosion. Skye slid passed her colleagues till she reached the woman who was standing over a small child with a sharp metal object sticking out from his leg. The boy had tears streaming down his pale face, his hand gripped firmly in his mothers. Skye deposited the items in her hand on the work surface and pulled up a hypo.

"You're going to be alright honey, I am giving you something for the pain," Skye said, her voice raised so that the boy could hear.

The boy managed a small nod and closed his eyes allowing Skye to place the hypo to the side of his neck and proceed to place the S2L gel around the wound, letting it turn the skin slightly blue before she pulled out the metal slowly, and leaving a gaping hole in his leg. Skye moved speedily cleaning and stopping the blood flow. She placed the skin generator on the wound and placed temporary stitches so it would close up. The boy looked almost dizzy as he laid back, the mother whispering words in his ears and kissing his head every moment.

"Thank you," the women breathed.

Skye smiled slightly and gave the boy another hypo, this time one in his leg and attached him to the monitor.

"Jack, this boys going to need an hourly spray of KT on his wound to counteract the S2L gel," Skye spoke giving Jack the KT bottle.

"Got it," Jack replied wheeling the boy to the side, to get him into his own room and bio-bed.

Skye paused for two moments allowing herself to get her head back into motion, taking her kit and walking over to the nearest dispenser to wash and disinfect. When she was done she was almost knocked by the speed of which someone was pulled into the room. She turned to stare dropping her towel. She body froze as her eyes followed the direction of the bio-bed and who was on it.

"Joe?" she half called expecting to get an answer.

The noise around her seemed to dull away as all she could see was Joe. His face was the first thing she stared at. The left side of his face was burned, his blonde hair soaked, matted with blood oozing from different cuts. His blue eyes barley open, were bloodshot and swollen. Looking down, she saw that half his body had literally been opened in half, entrails were sticking out at one end with blood oozing out, pooling around him. Medics were dancing in and out of each other, Skye could barley move, glued to the spot. When she did, she ran to his side, she tried to help by getting him wired in and administrating him with a hypo. She felt a weak hand touch her arm and when she looked down she could see Joe staring at her. She grabbed his hand and she shook her head, telling him to keep still. He opened his mouth but blood came spilling out, Skye felt her heart constrict as she bent down placing her ear next to his.

"'as 'hem- enner- fleet-" he spluttered coughing.

He fell back down and made a strangled sound and his eyes remained wide but they glazed over. His grip on Skye that had been tight was now limp.

"Joe," Skye said, her voice stunned, despite the monitor beeping "No, Joe, Joe" Skye repeated, still unmoving in shock.

People moved around her and she put one hand to her mouth as she stood there holding his limp hand. It wasn't until she felt two hands touch her from behind. She didn't register whoever was talking to her as she let Joe's hand fall as she was directed away. She met Jack's eyes and she shook her head as she felt a single tear fall from her eye.

"There's nothing you could have done," Jack said.

Skye nodded "I know." I shouldn't have left him.

Jack observed her for a few moments and before he could reply she sat up, pulling away. A thought crossed her mind. They killed him. The very organization she was studying to join had killed him. She walked away, her feet taking her to the direction of the outside where the rain was falling lightly and the air was slightly cold. Skye stayed there for a very long time until she was numb to her surroundings. There was only one thing that was left to do now. Find the people who had done this. Find them and stop them.

Jo'tooor: An ancient instrument used to measure an individual's vitals.

Ke'dith: A sacred ritual binding one individual to another, one that cannot be broken.

K'a'tho: A derogatory term to describe the lower classes that are bound to the highest.

Jrith: An alien species from the planet Jadar.