Chapter Twenty: In which Jim plays the protective older brother...in a slightly different light than that one-shot I did a while back, doesn't understand a word of Russian, and Karina goes quite mad.

I apologize for the lack of Camille and Bones in this chapter, but once we get there, I think you'll appreciate why they're missing immensely. Mwahahahahaha! Over to Karina.

Karina: browneyedgirl29 doesn't own Star Trek. Only the plot and her OCs are hers. Also, just as a note, she cried while going over this chapter.

I did not! I merely experienced very strong emotions. Now shush! (ahem) Enjoy and review!

"So, Kari, tell me about this Russian kid," Jim queried as they sat in a booth about an hour later, both slightly exhausted from the dancing. "You know I have to approve anyone that you are even considering – "

Karina spit out her drink – which, incidentally, happened to be a White Russian. Jim had recommended it. Now she had to wonder if that wasn't intentional. She coughed for a couple of seconds, trying to clear her airway, and stared at Jim with wide eyes. Finally, she calmed down enough to respond.

"What has Camille been telling you? Where is she?" She sat up and began looking around. "I will murder her!"

Jim sat back, laughing as Karina frantically searched the room. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Camille and Bones for a while now, either. Scanning the entire bar, he could find no trace of them. They'd been dancing nonstop long after Jim and Karina had left the floor. Jim could only assume this had to do with Bones' notion that he was after Camille. That was perfectly fine by Jim, as long as the man came to his senses and asked her out – soon.

"Relax, Kari," he said. "Camille only told me certain things. Such as the fact that he's a guy. So naturally, I had to ask."

Karina sighed in relief, sinking back down into her seat. "Well, as long as you're asking, I'm not…considering, as you put it. We're friends, okay?"

"Yeah, but how good of friends?"

She glared at him. "Stop. Reading. Into. This. Got that, James?"

He grinned, knowing he'd gotten under her skin. In typical big brother fashion, he enjoyed nothing better than driving her insane. "Okay, okay, I get it. You're friends. And honestly, it's kind of relieving. It means I don't have to let him know what happens if he hurts you."

Karina frowned. "What happens then?"

Jim shrugged. "Oh, I beat him to within an inch of his life. Then Camille's standing by to take care of that extra inch. At which point Bones leans down and pronounces him dead."

Karina shuddered, getting the mental image of such a scene. "Yeah, I can picture it."

He eyed her. "So, incidentally, are there any boys you're interested in? I mean, I already scared that Jenkins kid from Engineering off, but…"

Karina's head shot up. "That was actually a thing? I thought Cam just made that up to get me back into boys?"

Jim grinned. "You really are oblivious to these things, aren't you?"

She grew very quiet, and he was worried for a moment that he'd offended her. "I'm sorry, Kari, I didn't mean it like – "

"No, it's okay, Jim," she said, once again shaking her head. "Really, it's okay. I just didn't know how to respond for a second. I'm just not ready to be un-oblivious, I guess. Not really."

They were silent for a few minutes. "You were a lot more hurt by that Spanish guy last year than you let on, weren't you?" he asked. "All this time we've thought you were fine because that was what you showed us. But you're not, right?"

Karina nodded. "That was my first crush, Jim. I never liked any of the boys back in the abbey. I'd never thought about it. And honestly, the fact that I can't seem to move past this kind of irritates me. Normally I bounce back pretty quickly."

She sighed. "Maybe I'm just meant to be single."

Jim shrugged again. "Or maybe you're fifteen. And reasonably should be single for a long time yet. Kar, just because we tease you about this, doesn't mean we actually want you to start dating anyone. That's just what family does."

Karina smiled up at him. "You guys really are my family, you know that?"

He raised his glass. "To family."

She mimicked the gesture and clinked hers against his. "To family."

They'd both barely downed their drinks before her communicator started vibrating. Jim peeked over and saw the name on the screen.

"Speaking of the Russian devil," he quipped, smirking as though he'd made some witty comment. Drinking too much tended to do that to a man, he'd noticed.

Karina rolled her eyes. "'Devil' is hardly how I'd put it," she retorted. Then amended her statement, "Unless he's mad, of course. Then I don't think it's quite strong enough."

She flipped it open and held it to her ear. "Privyet."

Jim muttered to himself, "No idea what that means," and threw back another sip of his beer when he noticed a slight change in Karina's tone. It was agitated, urgent, and nothing like the calm person she'd been before she'd answered it.

She hung up, something in her eyes that he couldn't quite define. Not sadness, not fear… but definitely not a positive emotion, either.

"Jim, we need to get back to the Academy. Now."

Jim stood outside the door, only barely able to hear the conversation going on inside. Not that he would understand it if he did. All he could catch was a bunch of rapid Russian words flying about.

He'd hailed a cab and Kari had filled him in on the way here. Apparently something had gone wrong with her Russian friend's father. The guy was in town. Jim didn't necessarily understand why that was bad, and neither did Karina, but somehow he didn't think everything was sunshine and rainbows between father and son.

Karina's voice raised slightly in volume, and he winced. Whatever was going on didn't sound like it was the kid's fault, so he seriously hoped she wasn't taking it out on him. Though he knew if she was, she was doing it entirely unintentionally. Karina may not think before speaking half the time, and she may not have been the best of listeners when her mind was made up that she was right, but she wasn't cruel. Without good purpose, anyway.

Jim strained to listen, then gave up, coming to the realization that even trying to understand was pointless. Any similarities Russian may have with English, if there were any, were not included in this conversation. And he was not going to give himself an aneurysm trying to catch any of it.

"What do you mean, your father didn't know you were here?" Karina exclaimed, pulling her hands down her face and leaving white marks as she went. "You signed on without his permission? How did that work?" She paused for a moment, then added, "And why didn't I think of that ages ago?"

"Depends on how old you are when you sign on," Pavel informed her, looking like he really wanted to get past this part of the conversation and on to the problem-solving part of it. "If you're fifteen or over, you don't need parental signature. Or guardian signature, in your case. That's why it wasn't necessary for me to have his, but you needed your Mother Superior's."

Karina groaned, flopping down on the extra bed and throwing her hands up in the air. "And now he wants to take you away because he never approved of this in the first place, right? This isn't fair! We've worked so flipping hard!"

Though he didn't say anything, he was wondering if that was all that mattered to her in this situation, the fact that all their work was going in vain. Was it not important to her, that he was going back to Russia, probably never to return?

She stood up and started pacing, a crazed look in her eyes that slightly scared him. He hadn't doubted that she could go slightly insane if pushed. No, that had been quite apparent from the beginning. But this was not exactly what he had expected when that insanity hit.

"There's gotta be something we can use here," she muttered. "Some sort of runaway law or something… Wait. Are you a citizen?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why would I be a citizen?"

She paused and considered. Ridiculous question, now that she thought of it. There were less requirements for staying in the country than there used to be. Even less so for a member of an intergalactic armada. Still, there were laws that only applied to American citizens, and rights that only applied to citizens. Technically, they were all supposed to be under protection of the Federation, but even so, there were some laws that were decided country to country.

Something told her that they wouldn't apply to a Russian runaway, even if he was a member of Starfleet.

Karina wasn't about to give up yet, though. A million things that would be necessary for her to know when looking through the law records some random Admiral insisted they keep in Starfleet's library ran through her mind. Okay. Age? Seventeen. Situation? She thought she knew that pretty well. Suddenly, something occurred to her.

She turned to her friend and found the thought running through her head increasingly repulsive. But how could she not have seen it before, with the nervous movements, even when his father wasn't involved, but even more so now, today. Karina stopped her pacing and turned to him. Her teeth grit, even at the thought.

"Is your father abusive, Pavel?" she asked, dreading the answer. "Has he ever hit you, hurt you in any way?"

His silence told her everything she needed to know. The way he avoided her eye contact was even more telling.

Karina felt anger burning in her heart. Everything became suddenly more urgent to her. She walked up to him, standing so close she forced him to look her in the eyes.

"You can tell me," she told him gently. "If you can trust anyone, you can trust me."

A second's hesitation. It had been so long since he'd had anyone around him he could trust. But Chekov realized, Karina was right. She was the one person in this that he could trust. And he knew, instinctively, that he would.

"Not…abusive," he said. "He wasn't around enough for that. He never beat me, or anything like that. But every once in a while, he wasn't averse to raising his hand to me."

The crazy look in her eyes was back, but this time it was terrifying for different reasons. If he'd cared about the man that much, Chekov might have found himself fearing for his father's life. Karina had a determined set to her jaw, one that he had never seen before.

"That's got to still count," she muttered. "It has to still count. I don't care if it was just once in a while. Do you have any scars or anything to prove it?"

The look on his face told her how utterly insensitive that comment had been. She buried her head in her hands and let out a groan of frustration.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she moaned. "I just don't know what else to do here, okay? I don't – " Her voice trailed off, and she decided that she'd gone that far, she might as well continue. "I don't want you to leave, okay? It's not just that we've worked too hard to get on the Enterprise and now it's all for naught. I really don't want you to leave!"

He wasn't sure why she seemed loathe to admit it. Like not wanting him to leave was something to be ashamed of. Then he realized: She wanted to appear strong. Like she would be okay no matter what happened. And admitting that was showing weakness, vulnerability.

And, increasingly, he found himself liking this side of Karina. He didn't know why she didn't share the affection.

"What can I do?" she started saying, over and over, as though she were a crazy woman in a mental asylum, with nothing better to do than repeat the same sentence over and over again, rocking back and forth in a corner. There was even a hysterical edge to her voice.

Taking her by the shoulders to calm her down, Chekov said, "There's nothing you can do, Karina. I didn't call you here to fix this."

Confused, she lifted her eyes to him. They were filled with tears, and he realized he'd never seen her cry before. She wasn't technically crying yet, though.

"Why did you, then?" she asked.

Oh, this girl. Was there no end to her need to make things better for the people around her?

"Well, I'm still allowed to want to say good-bye, aren't I?" he asked, realizing just how close to a cliché that sounded.

Karina looked for a moment as if she were going to give into that desire to cry. Then she blinked rapidly several times, clearing her vision.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "No."

Chekov frowned. "No, I'm not allowed to want to – "

"No, that's not what I meant!" she cried, resuming her pacing. He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. He'd really thought they'd moved on from the whole pacing thing.

"What I meant was, no, this isn't going to happen! I don't care if this takes me a year, I'll find some way to stop this!"

He shrugged. "Realistically, in a year I'll be eighteen. Technically I'll be able to leave of my own volition then." But he knew, deep down, that once his father had gotten him back this time, he was never leaving Russia again. He was just saying that to put her mind at ease.

However, Karina's mind wasn't one to be put at ease so quickly. She continued her pacing. "Yeah, and by that time, it'll be too late! You'll be back, and that'll be great, but everything we've worked for will go down the tubes! You'll have to start over at the Academy. Basically, this sucks all around."

For more reasons than she understood.

"So what are you proposing to do here?" he asked, trying to sound patient, but torn between wanting her to just go and get it over with and desperately wanting her to stay.

"I'll dig through the law books," she said. "There's got to be something here. I'll go to Captain Pike. I'll do something, Pavel! I don't know what that is yet, but I'll do something."

She grabbed him by the wrist, and though in her frenzy it seemed almost a violent gesture, he knew it was anything but. "This isn't over yet. There's no need for us to say good-bye, okay? I'll bring you back."

She turned to go, then, on a sudden impulse, flew back and wrapped her arms around his waist so tight he momentarily lost the ability to breathe. Appreciating what she was trying to do but seriously doubting she could best his father in this, Chekov returned the embrace with an equal fervor, knowing this was probably the last time he'd ever see her.

Karina fought back the tears that were threatening to come out. How quickly this had progressed from a business deal to a friendship. And she'd been working so hard to keep that spot on the Enterprise so she wouldn't have to be separated from her best friends, she hadn't even considered that she might lose one of them.

But here they were.

Later, when Karina looked back, she wouldn't recall how long the pair of them stood there. Jim, outside, wondered briefly why things had fallen silent, and of course his mind went the exact opposite of where Karina wanted it to. But the one thing both Chekov and Karina knew when they looked back on it was that neither of them wanted to let go.

Finally, reluctantly, he pulled back, his hands on her shoulders. "You should go," he said in a low, hollow voice. "He'll be back any minute now. He was just heading out to secure our place on the shuttle tomorrow."

Her heart dropped. "Tomorrow?"

He nodded.

She trudged toward the door, then turned back. "I'm bringing you back. I promise."

The door slid shut behind her with finality. He dropped down into a chair. Now was not the time to lose composure. His father looked on that as weakness, and Chekov was determined not to show any this time around.

Karina, meanwhile, steamrolled past Jim, who raced after her. "Whoa! Kari! Slow down! Do you mind telling me what's going on here?"

"This is happening naad moy myort vee tyela!" she exploded, continuing on her trek to the library.

Jim groaned. "English, Kar. Remember it?"