Jeck: Welcome. You are all now involved in the experiment "Jeck and Raxsah post a chapter being on opposite sides of a state, nearly 5 hours away". :3
Raxsah: Fucking Google. It has made this process extremely difficult and will probably blow up on me… But anyway, we have returned to post a chapter in the small free time we have. Which should be spent doing homework. XP
Jeck: It's mocking me. It knows I haven't done anything and it's due tomorrow morning. But you guys are more important to me than Psych! So did you guys miss us?
Raxsah: Yesh, I shall do my English homework during the two hour break I have. My teacher will just LOVE that. Blah. You should have missed us. We're freaking awesome. Right, so back to the story… What the hell happens in this chapter?
Jeck: *shrugs* I didn't write this by myself! Besides, let's not ruin it for the fans. They have to read it to know what's going on!
Raxsah: Right. Thanks to all who added this to their alerts and favorites thingy. And all that jazz. Sorry if out memo is a little short. The internet does not like us tonight.
Jeck: Like I said, just bare with us while we figure out how to do this. We're used to just sitting next to each other and elbowing each other in the face to get to the laptop. :3
Raxsah: Yes, then hearing Jeck complain because my laptop is too 'sensitive.' then it flips out because she hurt it's feelings. Lol.
Jeck: That bitch needs to get over it! Anyway, we should probably start this now…
Raxsah: Right, Enjoy!

Chapter 18: Sin with a Grin

Jim gave a heavy sigh as he tried to go to sleep yet again. He had woken up a couple hours ago, and hadn't been able to go back to sleep. There was a strange feeling in his stomach, like something was wrong. Yet, when he looked at the ship records, nothing was out of place. He sighed and got out of bed, realizing he wasn't sleeping anytime soon.

He walked to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face and tried to make the horrible feeling in his stomach go away. Earlier in the evening, he debated on stopping by sickbay to be with Claire, but she had declined. She said she was already in so much trouble with McCoy, that him being there would just be worse. She did promise that she would make it up to him later.

"Captain Kirk?" A voice called. He ran a hand over his face and walked into his living room, where his computer sat.

"Here, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Sir, we have a situation in sickbay, you are requested to be present sir," the voice said. Jim pulled a shirt over his head and sighed.

"I'll be right there," he replied. He quickly put some pants on, and slipped into his shoes. He wasn't in his uniform, but he looked presentable for just being dragged out of bed. He made his way down to sickbay, a lot quicker than he expected, and was surprised to see a small group in the room.

"I can't believe this is happening," Liam said. Jim glanced around the group. Aside from all the medical staff, Ryan and Rupert also stood in sickbay. Ryan was deathly pale, and was pacing back and forth.

"What's going on?" Jim asked. Ryan stopped pacing and looked at him, his face fell.

"Something happened," he said. Jim raised an eyebrow and was about to ask what went on, but stopped when he saw McCoy and Chapel walked out of the surgery room. McCoy walked up to Ryan and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Doctor Giles did all he could to help her out, I over saw the procedure as best I could while making sure the baby was stable. Honestly, I will have to wait a bit before I can make sure everything went well. It would've been a lot better if… well… you know." Ryan nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

"Jesus, what the hell happened?" Jim asked.

"There was an incident in sickbay," Alex said. Jim raised an eyebrow and looked at McCoy.

"What happened?" he asked. McCoy sighed.

"I don't know. Doctor Conaway was on duty, and Doctor Giles came in to help her on her shift, as most interns should do. When he got here, he saw Ensign Stewart on the ground bleeding heavily and Doctor Conaway missing. There was also a Romulan phaser not far from Ensign Stewart," McCoy explained. Jim turned deathly pale and looked around.

"Where is she? Where is Claire?" he asked. When no one answered he turned to the computer. "Computer, locate Doctor Conaway," he said. There was a pause before the computer spoke.

"Doctor Conaway is not onboard," the cool voice said. Jim felt himself panicking as the robotic voice's words registered in his mind. Claire was gone. His girlfriend had been kidnapped. He was so conflicted with hurt, longing, and anger that he turned away from the group. He hadn't cried in years, but Jim couldn't fight a tear as it slipped down his face. His pain was unbearable, but his anger was slowly increasing. Those monsters.

"Jim?" McCoy asked in a soft voice, noticing his best friend's shaking shoulders. Jim couldn't control himself any longer and kicked over a cart containing medical equipment.

"WHO DID THIS?" He demanded, rounding on the room filled with worried and confused faces. Before anyone could reply, his communicator went off. Ryan's worried eyes followed Jim's moments as he answered the machine.

"Captain, we just received a message from the cargo ship that delivered our supplies yesterday. You and Lt. Commander Conaway need to come see this," Spock's voice said from over the communicator. Jim's eyes narrowed at the thought of being fooled by the men on the cargo ship.

"We'll be right there, Spock," he replied in a monotone voice, his attention turning to Ryan. He had been in charge of looking over the delivered goods the previous day. Jim said nothing as he turned to leave sickbay, saying nothing to Ryan. He expected the man to follow and wasn't surprised to hear Ryan's heavy footsteps behind him.

"Is the message about Claire?" Ryan asked in a hopeful voice. Jim didn't stop his hurried footsteps, but slowed a little for Ryan to catch up.

"Perhaps. What did you see in those crates yesterday, Conaway?" He snapped, his attention focused on the hallway before them. The lift was coming into view. Ryan swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

"I didn't check…" He said in a quiet voice. Jim stopped his fast paced walk.

"Excuse me?" He cried out, in pure shock and anger. He rounded on Ryan who looked up at the ceiling, realizing his mistake. Jim gapped at him, completely appalled at Ryan's answer.

"Ensign Sheppard checked and I didn't think I… the other captain said… I… I'm an idiot…" Without warning, Jim lunged forward and pinned Ryan up against the wall.

"Because of you, your sister has been kidnapped. Because of you, my girlfriend is being held against her will. Because of you, we are now at the mercy of whoever is holding Claire captive. Are you proud of yourself?" He yelled, practically nose to nose with Ryan. Whatever guilt Ryan had before that moment was gone, and anger now replaced it.

"It was your job too! You were in charge of meeting the damn captain, and you never got around to it! It's not just my fucking fault!" Ryan snapped pushing the man away from him. Jim simply pulled his fist back and threw it at him, hitting him square in the jaw. Ryan stumbled back but then threw his own fist, hitting the captain. Jim lunged forward and they began fighting. McCoy, who heard the commotion, ran over and pulled then men apart.

"Stop! What the hell are you doin'?" He snapped. Jim glared at the younger man and wiped a small trail of blood away from his face.

"It's his fucking fault," Jim snapped.

"I'm not the only one to blame! You didn't check either!" Ryan snapped. Jim went to lunge forward, but McCoy held him back.

"That's enough. You, go to the lift and head up to the bridge. Jim, hang back for a moment and collect yourself before you head up. Jesus Christ, neither of you can change what happen so just shut up and deal," McCoy snapped. Ryan paused before turning to lift and walking off, leaving Jim and McCoy in the hallway. There was a long pause before Jim turned around and punched the wall.

"Fuck!" he hissed. McCoy just watched as Jim tried to collect himself. "I can't believe this is happening," he muttered.

"Just calm down. Go see what Spock has, and please try not to get in anymore fights with your girlfriends brother." Jim sighed and nodded.

"Right, I'll let you know what's going on later," he said. McCoy nodded and patted him on the shoulder before heading back to sickbay. Jim entered the lift and tried to compose his face. He needed to be captain of the Enterprise right now, not Claire Conaway's boyfriend. When the doors opened, he saw Spock standing behind Chekov, who was typing something on his computer. Ryan wasn't far from them, but was keeping his distance.

"What do we have?" Jim asked. Spock turned toward him, and although his face showed no emotion, he could see the man was worried for him.

"It's a video message from the cargo ship. I think you should take a look at it," Spock said. Jim nodded and sat in his chair.

"On screen," he said softly.

"Good evening, Jim." Jim grasped the arms of his chair as Riley Kline's face appeared on screen. He looked content, but his face was wrinkled and his eyes looked tired. The permanent pain from losing his wife and child was apparent on his face. Ryan stood behind him, his fists clenched and his face turning red with anger. If they couldn't get Claire on board the ship to do surgery soon, he might know exactly how it feels. Jim's eyes never left the screen as Riley continued.

"By now you might have noticed the absence of Claire Conaway, one of the doctors on board the Enterprise. If not, you're a horrible boyfriend, Jim. Thanks to my inside man, I know all about the workings inside the Enterprise. Say hello to your fellow crewmembers, David." Riley took a sip of whatever drink was in his hands as the camera shifted a little to reveal Ensign Sheppard standing behind the camera. His face was emotionless as his dull hazel stared into the camera. He felt nothing.

"Hello."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU LYING PIECE OF SHIT!" Ryan cried out, rushing towards the screen. Spock grabbed the younger man's arm and held him back.

"This is not live, Lt. Commander Conaway. He can not hear you," he reminded him. Ryan stood his struggling, but his glare never left his face. The camera focused back on Riley who was giving them a smug grin.

"I'll cut to the chase. I have something that belongs to you and I want something simple in return. I want Captain James T. Kirk's dead body. A life for a life, Jim. My wife lost hers thanks to you and we lost a child. It seems only fair. If I don't have your corpse within two days, I'll take the life of the next best thing. If you try to fight back, you'll have her blood on your hands. Don't bother finding us, we'll find you." Jim didn't say or do anything as the screen shut off. He was frozen in fear. Fear of losing his own life, but more fear in possibly losing Claire's life. Spock let go of Ryan's arm as Ryan slowly crossed the room and stood in front of Jim, his back facing the captain.

"Ryan…" Jim started, but couldn't find the words to explain his feelings. It wasn't Ryan's fault. He'd been deceived by his own man and just lost his only family because of him. Jim had allowed Ensign Sheppard onto his ship.

"I have an idea," Ryan stated, still not turning around to face Jim.

"What is it?" Jim asked, not liking the emotionless tone of voice that Ryan was using. He'd never been close to the man and for the longest time, they weren't even friends. However, things had changed since their talk on the away mission. From what Jim knew, when Ryan got upset he either got mad or horribly depressed. Not showing any emotion was new and it frightened Jim slightly.

"We're going to give Riley your dead body," Ryan said bluntly. Jim rose from his seat.

"Excuse me?" He snapped. Ryan turned around, a determined look on his face.

"We're going to give Riley your corpse. However, you won't really be dead." Jim was prepared to jump the younger man, but stopped.

"How can you give him my corpse if I'm not dead?" Jim asked, his tone demanding. Ryan gave him a half-smile.

"We'll give you a neuromuscular-blocking drug," Ryan told him. Spock appeared next to Jim with an astonished look.

"That is a brilliant idea, Lt. Commander Conaway," Spock told him. Ryan nodded to Spock in appreciation as Jim gave him a confused look.

"A what now?"

"We wait…"

When Claire woke up, she felt like her limbs weighed ten tons each. There was a slight pain in her back, but she tried to ignore it as she shifted. The floor was freezing cold, and she was dimly aware that there was a chain attached to her ankle. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around.

She was definitely not on the Enterprise anymore, and seemed to be in a brig. The lights were dim, and it faintly smelled of blood and sweat. She could see the light from the door, but the rest of the room was barely lit. She groaned and sat up, ignoring the pain in her head.

"Oh… fuck…" she muttered.

"Sorry, I accidentally hit your head against the floor when I dropped you," a voice said. She froze when she realized she wasn't alone in the room anymore, and searched around for him.

"How nice of you," she mumbled. The voice chuckled evilly and stepped forward. Her body went stiff when she realized it was a very large Romulan man in front of her. He wore a large black trench coat, but nothing else, probably to show off his body. His black pants were tucked into his boots, and tattoo's covered his body.

"I also copped a feel when we were waiting to be transported. Nice ass by the way," he said. She shrunk against his gaze, realizing he was watching her intently. She backed up against the wall as he took another step forward.

"What do you want from me?" She asked in a shaky voice. He gave her an evil grin as he let his trench coat fall to the floor, revealing the tattoos all over his body as well as many scars.

"Well first I plan on taking you right here and then-" A voice cut the Romulan off.

"Nuhir, put your coat back on. I have business with the prisoner right now," he demanded. Nuhir furrowed his eyebrows, but snatched his trench coat off the ground without a word and left her cell. Once he was gone, another man stepped into the room.

"Claire Conaway, we meet again," he said. Claire looked up to see the face of the man whom she never expected to see again.

"Riley?" She asked softly. He nodded. He simply stepped forward and glared down at her.

"Long time no see. How's Jim?" he asked, his voice harsh. She flinched at his tone and took a step back.

"Riley… I'm so-" she didn't finish her sentence. The sound of his hand making contact with her cheek echoed through the cell and Claire held back the tears.

"Don't waste my time with your petty apologies. You are here for one reason and one reason only, to get Jim Kirk on this ship," he said.

"You think Jim is going to come here because you told him to? He's going to find a way to get on this ship and kill you," she snapped, anger building within her.

"You are so naïve. You really think Jim is going to come for you willingly? He's too preoccupied with his own damn ship to give a shit about you. I'm planning on your dear brother to bring him to me. That's the only thing bringing Kirk to me," he said. She glared at him.

"Riley, this is ridiculous. Honestly, is it worth all this?" she hissed. He rolled his eyes.

"You are so stupid. You wouldn't understand." She pressed her lips together. She had sympathy for the man before, but at this point, she was so tired, and living with Jim was rubbing off on her. She broke a little.

"You're stupid if you actually think Jim would be intimidated by some crazy ass lunatic like yourself." He lifted his hand again, but she smacked him before he got a chance. She paused when she realized what she had done and went to take a step back. He reached out and grasped her throat in his hand. She let out a squeal of surprise and grabbed onto his hand.

"You fucking bitch. I'm going to laugh when you realize that James T. Kirk only cares about his ship, and who he's going to fuck that night. I'm going to watch you break, and then laugh," he snapped. He shoved her against the wall and let go of her throat. She coughed a bit and glared at him.

"And if you ever try that shit on me one more time, I'm going to let Nuhir have his way with you. And he won't be as kind as I am," he hissed, his arm keeping her firmly pressed against the wall. Claire decided to try to push her luck once more.

"At least he has the balls to try it. Your balls aren't seeing any action while you're stuck mourning over your dead wife!" She snapped. Riley's eyes grew wide with shock. Half a second later, his shock was replaced with the most uncontrollable rage Claire had even seen in a man. She'd pushed her luck too far.

"Okay Spock, are you ready?" Ryan asked. Spock nodded as they both looked down at the unmoving body of James T. Kirk. His body was deathly pale, his eyes were seemingly frozen shut, and his body didn't move at all. He wasn't breathing. Spock reached down and placed a hand on the captain's shoulder.

"You'd better get on the shuttle. I'm sure the cargo ship will be here soon and you guys need to be ready to follow at any minute," Spock instructed him. Ryan nodded and took off running down to shuttle bay 2. As he arrived, he saw Alex, Rupert, and Anna waiting outside of shuttle that was going to follow the cargo ship when it arrived. They'd being working for the passed two days to strengthen the cloaking device onboard, so they'd remain undetected.

"Everyone ready?" Ryan asked. They all nodded.

"You sure this is going to work? What if Kirk wakes up before we can deliver him?" Alex asked.

"I have no clue. Right now we just need to make sure that we do our part," Ryan said. The small team nodded and filed into the shuttle, but Anna stayed back and looked at Ryan. They stood in silence for a moment.

"Ryan… I'm so sorry. About Colleen, about Claire… about everything," she said softly. His heart ached at her being so kind. God, how he loved those chocolate brown eyes.

"Thanks, but there is nothing I can really do about it. But thanks, Anna." She smiled and hugged him. His heart skipped a beat, and his nose seemed to jump in pleasure at the smell of her perfume.

"Everything will work out," she told him. He held her for a moment before pulling away and forcing a smile.

"We should um… get going," he said. She nodded and they entered the shuttle.

"Commander Spock to Commander Conaway, we have reached the drop off point," Spock said. Ryan sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Affirmative, ready when you are."

If Spock were human, he was quite certain he would be glaring at the screen in front of him. Instead, he looked forward and was quite emotionless as a Klingon came on screen.

"You have the Captain?" he asked. Spock simply gave a nod of his head.

"Yes… you have the doctor?" Spock asked. Again, if he were human, he would've winced. He did not see why the Captain would go through all of this to simply get the doctor back, but he didn't question human behavior.

"Captain first, then you can have your human whore," the Klingon snapped. Spock said nothing, simply nodded at Chekov to lower the shields. Ensign Chekov sighed before typing a few things into the computer, and watching as the Captain disappeared from sight. After a moment, Spock turned back to the screen.

"Where is our doctor?" he asked. The Klingon laughed.

"Captain Kline had decided that she is still being used. We shall drop her off at the nearest planet and send you the coordinates when we are done with her," he said. Spock raised an eyebrow.

"That was not part of the deal," he said. To the trained eye, anyone could tell that Spock was beginning to become agitated, but the Klingon just laughed.

"Plans change… Till next time… Vulcan." The screen went blank and Spock turned toward Uhura, who was watching him carefully.

"That was… rather unpleasant…" he said. Uhura raised an eyebrow.

"Unpleasant is an understatement. That sucked," she hissed. Spock simply raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.

"I believe that would be an acceptable term."

Pain erupted in her side as his fist collided with her ribs. Claire gave a small cough as she was forced to lean against Riley in order to remain standing.

"Shit," she hissed. Riley simply glared down at her and shoved her body to the ground.

"You're going to wish that you hadn't said that," he spat.

"Captain, we've reached the drop off point. Is the doctor ready?" A man said over a speaker. Claire looked up, but the ceiling was too dark to see. Riley continued his steady glare down at Claire.

"Change of plans, Tre'gok. Get the captain's body and inform the crew of the Enterprise that we'll drop the girl off at a planet near here when we're done with her. If they refuse, decloak our second ship and destroy the Enterprise. That's an order," Riley told the man, whom Claire assumed must have been Klingon. She tasted a some kind of metallic liquid in her mouth as Riley picked her up by her collar.

"Of course, Captain," the man replied. Riley paused as a thought appeared to have come to him.

"Oh, and Tre'gok? Please send Nuhir in. It appears as if he'll get to spend a little time with our prisoner after all," he added with a sickening grin. He's gaze never left Claire's terrified grey eyes.

"Right away, sir." Claire was overcome with fear as Riley gently stroked the side of her face, frightened by the sudden shift in behavior.

"You know, you remind me of my wife a little. In those last few moments I had with her," Riley told her as he study her features. Claire closed her eyes, trying to will herself to wake up from the horrible dream she must have been having. She must have given Colleen her ultrasound and fallen asleep. She wasn't on Riley's ship. She couldn't be.

"I'm glad you changed your mind, Captain. And I brought someone with me. I don't want to hog her to myself." Claire looked up to see Nuhir reenter the room with none other than Ensign David Sheppard standing behind him. Riley also turned to look and smiled.

"The more the merrier. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with the corpse of Captain Kirk." Riley dropped Claire to the ground and gave her a swift kick to the stomach before exiting the room. Nuhir stepped into Claire's cell and squatted so that he was eye level with her.

"I'm going to make you scream and beg for mercy. You'll wish you were dead after I've had my way with you. Hopefully I don't break you before young Sheppard has his turn," Nuhir told her, dropping his trench coat to the floor again. David watched from his spot at the front of his cell, his eyes filled with lust. Claire tried to crawl away, but Nuhir grabbed her throat.

"P-Please… d-don't…" She choked out, but Nuhir only chuckled.

"I can't tell you how many times I've heard that before…" She tried to scratch away his hand, but it seemed to be futile since he only laughed. He positioned himself on top of her, placing his weight on her lower half. She tried to move away, but between the weight of his body, and his hand on her throat, she was unable to move. After a moment he lowered his hand from his throat and traveled down her chest, stopping on her bests.

"Stop!" she hissed, trying to push him away. He grabbed her wrists with one hand and pinned them above her head.

"You won't be saying that in a few minutes," he hissed. He lowered his head and began to kiss her neck. Claire felt as though she were going to vomit, especially when his hand lowered and went to explore under her skirt. The moment he began to travel up, his teeth bit down on her neck, causing her to cry out in pain. His hard member pressed against her leg and tears began to escape her eyes.

Why did this have to happen to me? She asked herself.

Because you fell in love with James Kirk, that's why, a voice answered. Tears escaped her eyes at a rapid pace, and Nuhir moved away from her neck to lick them off her cheek. She whimpered at the movement. He chuckled and his hand was only inches away from her womanhood. She began to shake when he pulled her underwear off of her and she moved her head away from him.

"Look at me," he hissed. She ignored the Romulan, until he smacked her across the face. "You will do as I say, you understand me?" he hissed. She pressed her lips together, to stop herself from letting out a sob. David let out a low moan, and Claire could see him shifting uncomfortably from where he was standing. Her attention was brought back to Nuhir when he began unbuckling his belt to his pants.

"NO! Please!" she screamed. Her words did nothing, but cause him to smile.

"I love it when they scream," he whispered to her as his pants came lose and he slid them down. Suddenly, the ship jerked. Nuhir fell to the side, his pants around his knees and his member struggling against the cloth of his underwear. Claire leaned over to her side and proceeded to vomit, the vial touch of the Romulan man still lingering on her skin.

"Sheppard, go check it out," Nuhir instructed. Claire looked over to see Ensign Sheppard's hand inside his pants, his breathing frantic and his eyes half lidded.

"W-What?" He asked in a daze, realizing that Nuhir had addressed him. Nuhir grabbed his pants and pulled them back up around his waist.

"You useless human. Go check to see what that-" Before Nuhir could finish, the ship jerked again.

"What's going on?" David asked, fear evident in his voice. Nuhir glared at the younger man and yanked his hand out of his pants.

"Look presentable. We need to get to the bridge," he instructed, shoving David out of the cell. Claire looked up with tears rolling down her face as Nuhir turned around to face her. "Don't worry, we'll be back."

"Spock's last transmission said they successfully handed the captain over, but they refused to give up Claire," Anna informed them as they neared the cargo ship. Thankfully, they were still undetected. Ryan nodded.

"How much time until Kirk is awake?" He asked Liam. Liam turned around and checked his wristwatch.

"We still have another forty-seven minutes," he told Ryan. Ryan nodded.

"Okay, here's the game plan. First we're going to-"

"Ryan, I just detected another ship on the radar!" Alex exclaimed. Everyone in the room turned to look at him.

"What?" Ryan asked breathlessly. Alex nodded and pointed to the green blip on the radar screen.

"It's decloaking as we speak," he told him, turning his attention back to the monitor. Ryan paused and allowed himself to slip deep in thought. This complicated things a bit.

"Okay, this is bad. Our goal is no longer to take down the ship, just get Kirk and Claire out of there. Alex, I want you to take command of the ship. Liam, prepare your medical things. We don't know what condition anyone will be coming back out. Teleport Anna and I onto the ship when we get in range and remain cloaked. We're taking the defensive strategy now," Ryan commanded them. Liam nodded and began to pilot the shuttle closer to the ship. When he did, he stopped it and looked at Ryan.

"Ready when you are," he said. Anna and Ryan walked to the back of the shuttle and grabbed a few phasers.

"You all set?" Ryan asked. Anna smiled and nodded.

"Yup, this is why I joined Starfleet," she said. He chuckled and looked at Alex, who was reading something.

"The Enterprise will be coming in twelve minutes. So you guys better hurry," Alex said.

"No pressure or anything," Ryan said. Alex shrugged. "Alright… energize."

Riley stepped into the transporter room, and smiled down at Jim Kirk's lifeless body. Claire's brother didn't disappoint, that's for sure. He kneeled down and looked at the doctor, who was examining him.

"Well?" he asked.

"Dead sir…" he replied. Riley smiled and stood up.

"The great James Kirk… killed by his own crew, and for a doctor. Huh… seems ironic," he muttered.

"Sir, what are we going to do with the woman?" Tre'gok asked.

"Let Nuhir have his fun with her. Afterwards we'll see what mood I'm in. Get ready to dump his body into space. I'll be on the bridge," Riley said. Tre'gok nodded and waited for the captain to leave. When he did, he motioned for the men to drag him off the transporter pad.

"You think the captain will let me have some fun with her when Nuhir is done?" A man asked. Tre'gok shrugged and sighed as the captain rolled down the stairs and landed at his feet.

"No harm asking. Of course, there might not be anything left of the woman." Before anyone could reply, two figures appeared on the transporter pad, their phasers raised. Shots rang out through the room and before anyone could pull their own out, they fell to the ground.

"That was… easy," Anna said, walking down to Jim. Ryan nodded and looked around.

"Yeah… I guess they really didn't expect us," he muttered. Anna injected Jim with something, and a few seconds later his eyes shot open.

"Oh, damn… I feel like I've been sleeping for years," he mumbled.

"Welcome back from the dead," Anna said. Jim nodded in her direction as he held his head.

"So, what's the situation?"

"They had a second ship cloaked the whole time. Alex and Liam are staying hidden while we go get Claire. The mission is no longer destroying the ship and Riley, it's purely rescue," Ryan informed him, but Jim shook his head.

"No, we continue on with the mission as previously planned," Jim instructed him. Ryan's eyes grew wide at the order.

"Excuse me? Did you not just hear what I said? We're outmanned here, Jim. The Enterprise isn't even here yet!" Ryan shouted as the ship gave a sudden lurch. Anna rolled her eyes.

"Well, it's here now. Still, Ryan has a point," she defended, but Jim rose to his feet.

"I am your captain and you will do as I say. We may never get another chance to take Riley down. The Enterprise can hold off both ships. For now, our priority is Riley," Jim told them. Ryan shook his head.

"Then you go after him. Anna go with him just in case. I'm getting my sister," Ryan told him. Jim sighed.

"I don't have time to fight with you, Conaway. Ensign Lopez, come with me," Jim said, taking off through the door of the transporter room. Anna gave Ryan an apologizing look as she took off after the captain. Jim was too mad with revenge to even care about his sister, but she always came first to Ryan and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her on his watch.

Claire was alone in her cell was felt like hours, crying. She felt violated and scared, the thought that Nuhir might come back sending shivers down her spine. Dried blood was caked onto her clothes and her mouth was dry. She'd thrown up twice and dry heaved a few times, considering there was nothing left in her stomach. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess as Riley's words kept replaying in her head. The longer that she sat alone in the cell, the more she thought he was right. No one was coming to save her.

"Miss me?" Claire hopefully looked up from her fetal position in the corner, but cringed when she noticed that Ensign Sheppard had returned.

"No." She stated, her voice cracking after not being used for quite some time. David smiled down at her.

"Nuhir won't be able to join us for awhile, but I'm still here to play. Shall we continue where he left off?" Claire shuddered at his rhetorical question as he pulled his keys out and opened her cell door. He swaggered into the cell, slowly undoing his belt as he walked. Just before he reached Claire, his body fell limp to the floor. Claire jumped as his body landed a few feet away from her and looked up to see the familiar face of her brother.

"R-Ryan…" She stuttered as he dropped to his knees and pulled his sister in for a hug. He noticed the blood stains and the look of fear in her eyes as he cradled her close.

"It's okay, Claire. I'm here now," he whispered to her in a soothing voice. She clung onto his shirt as if it was the only thing anchoring her to reality. She began sobbing heavily and clung to him.

"He was… th-they almost, oh God," she cried. Ryan grabbed the key's Ensign Sheppard had and tried to find the ones to unlock her from the chain. When he finally freed her, he picked her up a bit. When he did, he noticed the pair of underwear not far from her. His heart sank and he pulled her closer.

"Jesus Christ, I'm so sorry Claire," he muttered. She just continued to cry into his chest and refused to let go. "Come on, let's go…" he said.

"Where's Jim?" she asked in a small voice. Ryan picked her up bridal style and frowned down at her.

"He went after Riley, the ship is in danger and he had to stop him," Ryan said. Her face fell even more.

"Oh," she said softly.

"Come on, we need you back on the ship," he told her.

Jim charged down the hallway, Anna on his heels, he was on a mission to find Riley, and he was going to do it. The man wanted blood, he was going to get blood. He stopped when a man jumped out in front of him, and he punched him hard in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. Anna pulled out her phaser and shot a Klingon charging for Jim. He gave her a nod and continued to charge forward.

"Sir, with all due respect. Aren't you concerned about Claire? She's probably really hurt," Anna asked. Honestly, there was probably a dozen men on the bridge, and she really didn't feel like fighting every single one of them.

"No, Riley is going to pay for what he has put me through. If it weren't for him we wouldn't be in this damn predicament." Anna frowned and followed him to the door of the bridge. "You ready?" Jim asked. Anna shook her head.

"No, but is there really a choice in the matter?" She asked. Jim shook his head.

"Not really, no…" Taking a deep breath, Jim kicked the door open, his phaser held firm in his outstretch hand. He fired away, not bothering to aim at any specific person. Klingons, Romulans, and a few humans occupied the bridge and jumped out of the way to dodge the phaser blasts. Anna kneeled next to Jim and aimed at the crew members trying to seek cover. Nuhir and Tre'gok shoved Riley to the floor and used their bodies to shield their leader, but none of Jim's shots made contact with his main focus. From his position on the floor, Riley pulled out his own phaser at aimed it at Jim's hand, knocking the weapon away.

"ARGH!" Jim cried out, clutching his hand in agony. Anna choose that moment to jump up and block Jim as he took a few seconds to compose himself. When he was ready, he darted out from behind Anna, just barely avoiding the phaser blasts from Riley's crew. Just as he reached where Riley was hiding, Tre'gok lunged forward at him with his Klingon dagger. Jim dropped to the floor and tripped the Klingon, who fell into Nuhir and dropped his knife. Both men fell to the ground as Riley rose to his feet.

"I thought you were dead!" Riley hissed through clenched teeth. Jim smiled as he grabbed Tre'gok's dagger off the ground.

"You're so easily fooled," Jim spat back, shoving Riley into his bridge chair. Riley just sneered up at Jim, no fear apparent in his eyes.

"There's nothing you can do to frighten me, Jim. Your girlfriend on the other hand, she was easy to break. And why aren't you saving her?" Riley asked as a rouge phaser blast flew by Jim's head, but he didn't flinch.

"Ryan is getting her. My business is here, killing you," Jim snapped, holding his dagger up to Riley's throat. Just before he could make the final move, Ryan appeared in the doorway next to Anna, Claire held securely in his hands.

"ALEX, BEAM US OUT!" Ryan demanded, shouting into his communicator. Jim's eyes went wide.

"NO!" He cried out, but it was too late. The familiar feeling of transportation overtook him as Riley faded out from in front of him. He'd missed his chance. He found himself back on the Enterprise, And was staring straight at Alex, who just looked at the dagger. After a moment Jim threw the dagger on the ground and stomped off the transporter pad.

"Damnit," he hissed. Liam and Alex just exchanged looks before Liam moved forward to Ryan, who moved toward him.

"How fast can you fix her up?" he asked. Liam looked her over and moved her head so she was looking at him.

"Claire, honey, can you hear me?" he asked. Jim looked over at the small group, his eyes landing on Claire before he dropped them to the ground. If he wasn't so damn angry at the whole situation, he would've ran over and grabbed her out of her brothers arms and held her close. Instead, he glared at the ground. He was so angry at her for being kidnapped, and even angrier at the fact that Ryan was so concerned with getting her on the ship that he had missed his chance to get Riley. He wanted nothing to do with any of them at the moment.

"Liam?" she asked. He nodded.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" he asked.

"Three," she answered. Liam nodded and scanned over her.

"How bad?" Anna asked. Liam sighed.

"Fractured ribs, some head trauma, and plenty of bruises." Ryan sighed and looked down at her. Alex walked over to the captain and looked at his hand.

"Did you want me to take a look at your hand?" he asked. Jim shook his head.

"I'm fine," he snapped. Alex nodded and walked over to Liam.

"Liam, do you think she is ready for surgery? Colleen's apparently in critical, she needs surgery immediately." Claire said nothing, but shifted out of Ryan's grasp and took a step forward, flinching slightly.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice shaking a bit. Liam and Alex exchanged looks.

"You sure? Claire, you've been through a lot," Ryan said. Claire nodded and walked past them, pausing a minute to look at Jim, who was now at the computer, looking like he was trying to find something. She took a deep breath and walked out of the room, limping slightly. Ryan grabbed Alex's arm and looked down at him.

"Do you know how to see if someone was raped or not?" He whispered. Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, why?" he asked. Ryan just looked at the door, then back to Alex. Alex gave a sigh and ran a hand over his face. "Jesus…"

"I need to find out so I know which son of a bitch to fucking kill," Ryan hissed. Liam gave a frustrated sigh and walked up to Ryan, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the room.

"We need to go. Colleen is crashing and needs surgery right now." Ryan nodded and followed Liam back to sickbay. He'd saved his sister, now it was time to save his future wife and child.

*Subliminal Message: Jeck is a poor college student. SEND HER MONEY! :3*

Four hours later, Jim walked into sickbay. He'd spent the previous four hours arguing with Spock to go back, but Spock denied the captain's request. The mission had been compromised by Jim's personal feelings. Finally, Jim stomped off the bridge and mindlessly walked through the halls until he ended up outside of sickbay. As he entered, he saw Rupert, Alex, Liam, and Anna trying to comfort Ryan.

"Any word?" Jim asked uninterested. He was still too angry to care about anything else, but Riley right now. Ryan's to-be-wife was just another casualty by Riley's hand. If they'd killed him when they had the chance, Colleen's suffering wouldn't have been in vain. How could Ryan not understand him?

"Claire and Dr. McCoy are still working on her. They've already lost the baby, but they're still trying to save her…" Ryan told him through his tears. Ryan could become dangerous, Jim thought to himself. Like Riley did after losing his wife and child. If it came down to it, Jim would kill him too. To protect everyone. To protect Claire.

"Tried to save her," McCoy stated as he stepped out of the surgery room. Claire stumbled out behind him, still hurting from her imprisonment on the cargo ship. Ryan couldn't hold back the sobs any longer as he realized the news. Colleen didn't make it. Their future together was gone.

"What happened?" he asked. When no one answered he stood up and walked up to Claire. "What happened?" Claire took a deep breath and continued looking down.

"The phaser hit a major artery in her heart. Doctor Giles tried to repair it but only temporarily patched it up. The baby was already hurt from a pervious fall, so when she fell to the ground the baby was beyond repair." She stopped and looked at Rupert, who looked as if he were to fall apart.

"But… she was stable," Ryan said. Claire pressed her lips together.

"She… she was stable, until the patch up job failed. I wasn't able to get to her in time to save her heart. I'm sorry." She looked down and there was a long paused before Ryan took a deep breath.

"Oh my God… she's really gone," he whispered. Claire would've ran a hand through her hair, but it hurt to lift her arm.

"I'm sorry," She said.

"Why didn't you try harder? You are supposed to be able to fix her!" he snapped.

"I did do everything I could," Claire said quietly. It was the truth. With her injuries, she could only have done so much. If it wasn't for Doctor McCoy being there, she would've passed out.

"Obviously not! Jesus, Colleen is gone, and my baby too! Why is this happening?" He asked. Claire looked up and her grey eyes turned cold.

"She was a fucking whore!" she snapped. The room turned deathly silent, and even Jim reacted. He took a step forward, ready to pull her away, but Liam stopped him.

"What?" Ryan asked. Claire stood up a little straighter, and ignored the pain in her ribs.

"She cheated on you! She slept with Rupert while she was seeing you, then got herself knocked up by the same guy and tried to pass it off as yours." Ryan's eyes turned just as cold at Claire's as he clenched his fists.

"You're lying!"

"Bull shit I am! She was a white trailer trash whore! She knew that you wanted a family and loved her and took advantage of you. You were going to marry a fucking slut!" Before anyone could reply, a loud smack echoed through the room, and Claire's cheek felt as if it was just hit with fire. A pain erupted on her lip and she felt the metallic copper taste enter her mouth and drip down her chin a bit. The room was silence as Claire realized what had happened and looked back at her brother. In the twenty-three years she had known her brother, had lived with him, he had never laid a hand on her. Of course he had gotten mad at her and yelled at her. But this was the first time ever that he had back-handed her.

"Ryan?" Anna asked, her eyes wide. Ryan said nothing as he looked at Claire, a red mark forming on her cheek. McCoy was the next to speak.

"Get out of my Sickbay. Now!" he hissed, moving Claire so she was behind him. Ryan didn't need to be told twice, he turned on his heels and left. Rupert paused before following right behind him.

"Ryan, wait mate!" Ryan paused before turning around and glaring at him.

"Is it true?" he snapped. When Rupert said nothing, he decked him across the jaw, causing him to fall into the wall. "You son of a bitch!" Ryan hissed. Rupert said nothing and expected him to hit him again, but was surprised when he just turned around and walked to the lift.

Claire sat down on the medical bed as Alex scanned over her. It was if her mind was on pause, and she could only comprehend the past couple days. Even then she didn't want to. Jim was a couple of beds over getting his hand looked at, and he looked pissed as hell. He didn't even look at her as she was escorted to a medical bed. When he was finished, he still didn't look at her. He simply got up and walking into McCoy's office. She felt a pang in her chest and looked down, watching as Alex finished up his exam and injected her with something that would make her injuries heal faster.

"Claire…" he said softly. She looked up and the warmth in his light brown eyes almost made her feel better. Almost.

"Yeah?" she said softly. Alex pressed his lips together and took a deep breath.

"When you were on the ship… were you…" He trailed off and looked her in the eyes. After a minute she shook her head.

"No…" she replied. He nodded and watched as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Do you… want to talk about it?" he asked, a little awkward.

"No." he nodded and they stood in silence for a bit.

"Well… uh, you'll have to stay overnight for monitoring. Can I get you anything?" he asked. She paused before looking down then looking up.

"Why me?" she asked. Her voice seemed defeated, almost broken. He took a hold of her hand and frowned.

"I don't know, Claire. I'm so sorry." Claire couldn't control herself, his comforting words reminding her of all the times that Ryan had been the one comforting her. She threw herself into his arms and let the tears continue to fall. She felt like she'd lost her brother and her boyfriend, the two most important people in her life. She'd lost her patient today as well, even if it had been Ryan's whore fiancée. Everything was starting to crash down on her as reality set in.

"A-Alex?" Claire stammered out through her labored breathing. Alex ran a comforting hand through her hair as she snuggled closer to him.

"Yes?" Claire looked up at him with wide tear streaked eyes.

"Thank you."

"This is her fault! No, this is your fault! If you hadn't assigned her graveyard shift, she would have never been kidnapped. Colleen would still be here and none of this shit would have happened!" Jim snapped at McCoy who sat at his desk and watched Jim's outburst with a calm composure.

"Jim…"

"It's Ryan's fault! If he had just checked the damn cargo this would never have happened." McCoy sighed and ran a hand through his slicked back hair.

"Jim… you need to breathe. Even if she wasn't on graveyard shift, they would've found her. They came aboard to take her, there wasn't much stopping them. Ryan was deceived by his own man, how was he supposed to know he was working with Riley. Everyone made faults, but there is nothing we can do about it except move on." Jim sighed and sat in a seat across from McCoy.

"I was so close. I could've had him. But he slipped through my fingers. If we had just stayed for five more minutes, he would've been dead," Jim muttered. McCoy sighed and pressed his lips together.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be back. You can kill him then." A silence filled the office and Jim just stared at the desk. His gaze lifted and he met the older mans eyes.

"She'll be okay… right?" he asked. McCoy looked down. Normally, he wasn't supposed to divulge that sort of information to anyone but family. Yet, in light of recent events, Jim was probably the only person he could tell.

"I don't know. Physically she's drained. She's suffered from a lot of abuse. You saw the way she was brought in. She insisted on doing the surgery, and nothing I said changed her mind. So I made her clean up before the surgery, but she lost a lot of blood. They really beat her up pretty bad. Not to mention the type of mental trauma she's going to have to deal with," McCoy said. Jim's eyebrows furrowed.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"She's been beaten pretty bad. That can effect a person in a horrible way. Not to mention Chambers thinks there might have been… sexual abuse as well. That's not an easy thing for the mind to handle. She's going to be very fragile." Jim placed his face in his hands.

"Jesus…" all this was his fault. How was he even supposed to look at her after this?

"Ryan?" Anna felt like she'd been around the Enterprise at least five times looking for the man. Her first stop was his room, but it was empty. She checked the security department, but there was still no sign of him. Rupert had shut himself up in his room, his guilt eating away at him. Alex was in sickbay tending to Claire's wounds while Liam took care of Rocky for her. Last she'd heard, Jim was having a mental breakdown in McCoy's office. But there was no sign of Ryan.

"You looking for the Conaway boy?" Anna looked up to see Scotty walking out of the engineering deck. She nodded and Scotty gestured over his shoulder.

"He's in there?" Scotty nodded and walked away, allowing Anna to approached the engineering deck. She'd only been in here once before, but it still felt as if she was walking into a new area. Just as she entered through the doorway, she saw Ryan collapsed on the floor next to one of the engineering stations. It was Colleen's.

"Ryan!" She called his name and crossed the room to him, but he didn't move. He didn't even acknowledge Anna's presence. She kneeled next to his curled up form and placed a hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, Ryan's head snapped up.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" His eyes were red and his voice was hoarse. His head stood up in all directions as he shot her a deranged looked. Anna jumped back, startled by his outburst and his disheveled looks. She leaned forward and tried again.

"Ryan, it's just me. It's Anna," she tried, but he shrunk away from her outstretched hand. Finally, Anna had had enough. She grabbed Ryan's collar and forced him to look at her.

"You're hurting, I get it, but you need to calm down. I'm only trying to help you," she snapped at him. He flinched, but didn't try to fight her grasp.

"She's dead. They're both dead. And Claire… you all lied to me!" He snapped back. Anna nodded.

"It wasn't our place to tell you. We tried to convince Colleen to be honest with you, but she couldn't do it. And Rupert… he was too scared of losing you to tell you himself. He confided in Claire their secret, but she was trying to protect you." Ryan's eyes grew wide.

"Protect me? I almost married her. She wasn't even carrying my child! How is that protecting me?" He shouted, trying to pull arms hands away, but she refused to loosen her grip.

"Because you were happy! We all make mistakes, Ryan. And holding this against anyone other than you and Colleen is ridiculous. This morning your main focus was saving your sister and now you're ready to toss her away? You need to be a man and deal with this yourself. Find out truth, but don't let it hold you back from living your life!" She told him, shaking him lightly as she scolded him on his behavior. She'd heard about his little episodes before and she wasn't about to fall for his shit. Ryan let his head fall forward as tears raked his body.

"I can't do it… not without her." Anna stood up and dragged him with her, after much difficulty.

"Alright, I've had enough of this bull shit. Detenga su queja! Honestly Ryan, you made it twenty-four years without her. Believe me when I say you are much better without her. You are a man, act like one!" she hissed. Ryan blinked a few times before running a hand through his hair.

"Thanks… I need to go to the gym." Anna raised an eyebrow as he walked away.

"I will never understand that man."

*Subliminal Message: Send some of that money Raxsah's way. She has College books to buy and a music adiction to feed. :P*

Leonard McCoy walked around his sickbay, making sure everything was in order. Liam and Alex had left, which meant he was left to do things by himself, not that he minded. He had just finished looking over a couple of long term patients before he heard a strange noise. It sounded as if someone was crying. He moved to a couple beds over where he saw Claire sleeping, though it was fitful and looked as if she were fighting someone in her sleep. He walked over and went to hesitantly reach out, only to have her scream in agony.

"Conaway, CONAWAY!" Claire shot up and opened her eyes, tears streaming down her face. McCoy reached out and took hold of her arms to keep her still.

"He… they… it was…" more tears fell down her face. McCoy gave a heavy sigh before letting her fall into his chest. She was so distraught, she probably didn't even realize she was crying in his chest. Claire just continued to sob as the weight of the previous events continued to fall upon her shoulders. She didn't care who was comforting her, as long as they were there. A few long minutes passed before she pulled away and took a few heavy breaths.

"Conaway… you okay?" he asked. She shook her head and continued to try and collect herself. She had just cried her eyes out into her bosses chest.

"I keep having nightmares… I'll live though," she said softly. McCoy looked into her pale grey eyes. He felt bad for her. She had been through so much and all for the simple reason that she was with Jim. She didn't even have Jim to comfort her, he was too deep in his own guilt and anger that he couldn't bring himself to even look at her.

"Claire, I'm going to give you something to help you sleep… okay?" he asked. She looked a little surprised but nodded.

"Okay…" He picked up a hypo spray and put the sleeping aid in it.

"You will only be able to get this from me, and I'm only going to give you the medicine for a few weeks. I don't want you to be dependant on it," he said, sticking her with the hypo spray. She nodded and closed her eyes, letting the drug take over.

"Thank you," she whispered. McCoy gave a heavy sigh and watched as she fell into a dreamless sleep. He hoped she got through this. She was a brilliant doctor and an all around determined young woman. It would be a shame if this left her to nothing. He gave a sigh and lifted the small blanket so it was covering her. Such a shame indeed.

Claire stared down at her tray at dinner, but couldn't find herself to eat any food. The past ten days had been hell. Ryan had leaned on Anna for support, and after a few hours hitting a punching bag, he was somewhat sane. He was still hurting, but he was getting much better at hiding it. She hadn't even seen Jim since sickbay, though she heard he was swamped with paperwork.

"Claire… what are you doing tonight?" Liam asked. Claire put her fork down and took a sip of her water.

"Um… I was thinking about talking to Jim… but other than that, nothing." Liam nodded.

"Well, since we'll be docking at a space station, we were wondering if you wanted to come out with Alex and I. You know, to a club. It'll get your mind off things." Claire shrugged.

"Maybe…" Liam sighed and looked at Alex, who was watching her carefully. Though he would never admit it to Liam, he was really hurt to see Claire like this. Even when she was dead tired or upset there was still a small fire behind her eyes. Now, there was barely anything there. They didn't look dead yet, but he had no doubt that it was only a matter of time before that happened.

"I'm not hungry," Claire said, handing over her pudding to Alex out of habit. Alex just raised an eyebrow as she stood up and left, then went for the pudding. Liam knocked it out of his hands before he could open it and watched Claire's retreating form.

"You're still allergic, genius," Liam mumbled. Alex sighed.

"No other dessert will ever replace it…" Liam turned to his boyfriend.

"Really? You're really going to mourn pudding right now? Have you completely forgotten about Claire already?" Alex shrugged.

"We can't force her to do anything. It's only been a couple of days, but these are some wounds that'll take some time to heal. In the meantime, we keep offering to take her out clubbing or spend the night hanging out with her. It's what friends do," Alex told him, shooting a glance at the ice cream cup on Liam's plate.

"You know, I don't think people give you enough credit sometimes, you're brilliant!" Liam declared as Alex snaked an arm around his boyfriend's waist.

"Can the brilliant boyfriend get your ice cream?" He asked with a hopeful smile. Liam just shook his head.

"No, so eat your jello."

Claire approached Jim's door, trying to find the right words in her mind, but it was too much of a jumbled mess to really plan anything. She figured she'd just jump into the moment and say whatever the moment calls for. But she was determined to ask one very important question.

"Jim?" She asked, hesitantly knocking against the door. Her knuckles barely rapped on the door before it swung open and Jim stood before her. He seemed to almost flinch upon seeing her. She was a wreck. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a sloppy bun, and strands of hair were loose from her hair tie and fell into her face. Her grey eyes seemed dull and tired, and she was paler than she normally was.

"Claire…" he said. A part of him was so happy to see her. A larger part of him, was annoyed. Annoyed at himself, at her, at everything.

"I was… um…" she looked down and took a deep breath.

"Did you… uh. Did you need something?" he asked softly. She was a bit taken aback by his question, it was as if he was asking a neighbor or an acquaintance.

"I was, well… I-I was wondering if y-you wanted to go out tonight. For a drink…" Jim took a deep breath and pressed his lips together, as if he wanted to say something, but knew he couldn't. Eventually he let out a small cough.

"I… I actually have a lot of paperwork to do. That Riley thing is really setting me back. Between the individual reports, and the medical stuff, and all that." She nodded and looked down. It was probably for the best. If he had wanted to end the night back at his room, she wasn't sure she could've gone through with it. Not after Nuhir and Riley's words.

"I understand, maybe another time." Jim nodded and they stared at each other for a moment. His heart ached as he saw her struggling. She was hurting, and he couldn't do anything about it. What was worse, a part of him didn't want to do anything about it. He took a chance and leaned down to press his lips onto hers. He didn't count on her moving her head, and his lips landing on her cheek. He pulled away quickly and frowned.

"I-I'm sorry," she said softly. Before he had a chance to reply, she practically ran down the hallway, leaving him alone in the doorway.

Not twenty minutes later, Claire walked into sickbay to see Liam and Alex lounging around. There hadn't been much activity after the incident with Riley and his crew, most likely because the news of Colleen's death had spread quickly. The sickbay was now being called the death-bay. Those who didn't even know Colleen were still afraid to be near the place she died.

"Afternoon," Alex said as Claire took a seat next to "her" gay couple. Before everything went down with Riley, Claire had dubbed them hers. Claire nodded in acknowledgement as she looked up at the ceiling.

"You mentioned something about clubbing tonight?" She asked in an unsure voice. Liam's ears perked up.

"Change your mind?" He asked excitedly, but noticed the tears that were flowing down her face. Part of Claire wanted to try to fight them, but she was too exhausted. She was mentally, emotionally, and physically drained and it felt like no amount of time would ever fix it. Liam leaned forward and placed an arm around her shoulders.

"Who do I need to get Alex to rough up for you, babe?"

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I can't sleep without the help of drugs, I can't focus on my work, and I just can't seem to find any common ground with Jim. Don't even get me started on Ryan," Claire said. Liam just hugged her closer while Alex frowned down at her.

"You and Jim just need some time. You've been through a lot and just need some time. Things will work out," Liam said. Claire nodded and sighed.

"I hope so…"

"Jim, you've been stuck in either your room or office for two days, you need to get out of here," Uhura said. Spock stood next to her and gave a small nod.

"I too agree. It is essential for Humans to leave their place every now and then to get their mind off work." Jim ran a hand over his face and looked down at the mountain of paper work he had finished. He barely had any left to do.

"I don't know. As of recently, work has been the only thing that has made sense." Uhura frowned and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, Jim… just a couple of drinks, that's all." Jim gave a long sigh and put down his work. Maybe after talking with them, he could find out why he was in such a bad mood.

"Alright, just a couple…"

"Claire, you look hot babe, I told you I'd be able to make those bags under your eyes disappear," Liam said. Claire sighed and looked down. Liam had dressed her in a pair of very dark and tight jeans, with heals and a black halter tank-top.

"I'm not feeling so hot," she muttered. Alex placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"After a drink or two, you'll be fine," he assured her. Claire nodded and looked at herself in the mirror again.

"I'm already dressed up, so a few drinks couldn't hurt…"

"Welcome to the Wild Things Nightclub!" Liam said as they stepped into the building. He immediately pulled Claire onto the dance floor, leaving Alex by himself.

"I need a drink…" He mumbled to himself.

"Tell me about it. Blimey, we haven't done this it quite a bit." Alex turned around to see Spike standing behind him.

"I'm going to retreat to the bar. You can retreat to any dirty corner in this place you like," Alex snapped and headed for the bar. Spike paused a second before following after.

"Ay, that ain't nice!" Alex ignored him as he pulled up a seat at the bar. The bartender shot him a glance.

"Your strongest stuff, please." The bartender nodded and walked away as Spike pulled up a seat next to Alex.

"So is Blondie available?" Alex turned and gave Spike an appalled look.

"Are you serious? You're in sickbay just as much as anyone else, so you should know what's going on," Alex snapped again. Spike shrugged.

"Well I figured since she came in with you and your lover and her man came in with the Vulcan and his squeeze, perhaps she was available," Spike inquired as he gestured to the other side of the bar. Sure enough, Spock and Uhura were talking to none other than James T. Kirk at the bar. Alex raised an eyebrow and looked back at Spike.

"When did they come in here?" He asked. Spike shrugged.

"Dunnno, ten minutes before you guys," Alex sighed and shook his head.

"Jerk…" Before Spike could reply, Claire was at the bar and was ordering a drink.

"Liam is going to come and make you dance with him, just so you know." Alex rolled his eyes before he felt Liam tug on his shirt.

"Come my lover, we shall make love on the dance floor." Alex chuckled and let Liam drag him off, leaving Claire alone with Spike.

"Just you and me now Blondie," he said. She rolled her eyes and sat in Alex's seat, taking a large sip of her drink. Spike took out a pack of cigarettes and offered her one.

"I don't smoke," she said. He shrugged and lit one up.

"So, why are you here with your gay boyfriends and not with your lover?" he asked. She sighed and decided to humor him.

"I needed to distract myself, and he is working tonight," she answered. He raised an eyebrow and took a long drag of his cigarette.

"Really? That looks like him talking over there," Spike said. Claire's eyebrows furrowed and looked to where he was pointing, only to have her heart sink when she saw it really was Jim. She turned to her drink and let her fingers trace over the edge of the glass. "I want his job if he get's to party at bars all night," Spike said.

"No need to tease me. He obviously isn't working, and he obviously lied to me. Are you happy now?" she asked, taking a long gulp of her drink. Spike smirked.

"I won't be happy until you say yes to coming back to my place tonight," he told her. Claire rolled her eyes.

"Not happening."

"I'm glad to see that you changed your mind, love," Spike said as Claire giggled. He had his arm wrapped around her waist which was there more to stop her from tumbling to the ground.

"I'm a sucker for British accents. I would've sucked on Rupert just to get him to call out my name with that sexy accent!" She declared. Spike chuckled at her drunken behavior.

"Let's not talk about you sucking my cousin and more about you sucking me." Spike pushed Claire up against the wall of a nearby closed shop, his hot mouth moving against her lips. All Claire could smell was the scent of whiskey on his breath as his hands traveled up her shirt, before she pulled away and leaned to the side. All the contents of her stomach washed over the sidewalk as the alcohol flushed her system. Every time she saw Jim's face, she'd taken a shot. Since she could barely take her eyes off him, her anger growing with every second she was at the bar, she was pretty shit-faced.

"Sorry," she mumbled, wiping her mouth on her sleeve, which happened to be Spike's jacket. Spike nodded.

"It's fine as long as you still come back to my place. And brush your teeth. I may be British, but I have standards." She shook her head.

"No… I think I'm going to throw up again," she muttered. She heaved a second time and Spike pulled out a pack of gum.

"Here you go, love," he said. She took the gum and he helped her down the hallway.

"Where we going?" she said, her fingers playing with his hair.

"My place, to have some fun." She suddenly pressed him against the wall and pressed her lips against his.

"Let's have fun here," she whispered. He replied by kissing her, liking the mint fresh taste of gum rather than vomit.

"Oh, Claire…" he whispered. Claire paused and took a step back before throwing up once more, this time, all over Spike's shoes. After a minute she took a deep breath and looked up at him.

"I think I'm going to go to my room, alone," she said. He nodded.

"Yeah… I'll walk you, then go clean up your mess," he said. She nodded and leaned against him.

"Are we still friends?" she asked, pouting slightly.

"Sure…" She smiled and let him lead her to her room. When they reached the room, she leaned against the door.

"Thank you, Spike… ha… Spike." She began giggling and Spike just rolled his eyes.

"Right, well… goodnight Claire," he muttered. She leaned forward and kissed his lips lightly before puling back.

"Night Spike…" she muttered. She entered her room and closed the door. Spike simply rolled his eyes and turned to go down the hall, only to stop when he noticed the Captain's figure standing at the end.

"Suddenly, the other lift looks so much more inviting," he muttered, turning around and heading down the hall. Spike hurried to the other end of the hall, but it was all in vain. Jim grabbed Spike around the collar and shoved him up against the wall.

"You were macking on my girlfriend!" He snapped at the young man. Spike gulped.

"I was just helping the lady home, Captain. You weren't there, so someone obviously had to," Spike told him, trying to play the situation off. Jim slammed him back into the wall again.

"The hell you were! You've been trying to get with my girlfriend since day one! YOU SLIMY LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!" Without warning, Jim pulled his fist back and punched Spike square in the nose. A sickening crack echoed through the hallway as the lift doors opened to reveal Liam and Alex holding hands.

"Jim?" Liam said surprised as he began to soak in the scene. Jim was holding Spike by the collar with one hand and the other was still held in the air, a bit of blood tainting his creamy white knuckles. Alex stepped forward and tried to pulled Spike out of Jim's grasp, but Jim shoved him aside.

"This doesn't concern either of you. I suggest you go to bed," Jim told them. Alex had had a few drinks, but was sober enough to realize that Jim was drunk and running purely on jealousy.

"Put him down," Alex replied, still trying to pull Spike away. Spike watched with wide eyes.

"Listen to the sexy doctor," Spike encouraged. Liam shot him a glare.

"He's my sexy doctor!" He snapped. If possible, Jim's anger increased.

"So is that what you do? You just go around stealing people's boyfriends and girlfriends? You deserve this!" He snapped as Spike spat a mouthful of blood at the captain.

"Fuck off! If you were paying more attention to your girlfriend then your work this wouldn't have happened. You bloody bastard," he snapped. Jim went to punch him again, but Alex pulled him away.

"Get the hell of me!" Jim shouted.

"Sir, this is not the time nor the place," Alex said. Jim glared at the bloodied man and clenched his fists.

"Stay the fuck away from Claire! She doesn't want you!" he snapped.

"Obviously, she doesn't want you either, or she wouldn't have been all over me." Jim went to lunge forward but Alex held him back. Liam walked over and shoved Spike away.

"Get the hell out of here!" he snapped. Spike glared at Jim before charging down the hallway, and Jim broke free of Alex. Both Liam and Alex took a few steps back and watched the Captain.

"Why would she do this to me?" he hissed. Alex and Liam both looked at each other. Even they knew that Claire wasn't in her right mind of recently, add that onto the fact that she was hurt by Jim pushing her away, she would have done anything to hurt the captain.

"I don't know…" Jim sighed and turned to walk away. Alex and Liam just shook their heads.

"People on this ship are fucking crazy," Liam said. Alex draped and arm around his boyfriends shoulders and nodded.

"That's an understatement,"

Claire glanced over from her breakfast table at Ryan and Anna, who were eating breakfast together. Ryan laughed lightly, but it was a bit forced. He was moving in the right direction at least. Claire, on the other hand, had her head pressed against the table with a very large coffee cup next to her.

"Rough night?" Liam asked. Claire's gaze never left her brother table and she groaned in reply.

"You know Jim is looking for you…" Alex said.

"Ugh… why?" she asked.

"He saw you making-out with Spike," Liam told her. She turned her head and looked up at her two best friends.

"What? I thought that was a dream," she muttered. Alex shrugged.

"We saw you leave the bar with him and we saw your boyfriend beating the shit out of him," Alex told her. Liam elbowed him, as if to say 'why did you tell her that'. Alex shrugged, but Claire's eyes seem to bulge out of her head.

"What?" She cried out. Ryan and Anna looked up from their table to see Claire's shocked expression. Ryan tensed up and made a move to stand up, but Anna held him down.

"Ryan, no. It's still too soon for both of you," she whispered to him. He nodded and turned back to his breakfast. Claire, meanwhile, was ready to strangle someone. Alex nodded.

"I'd say that Spike's nose is probably broken and Jim's fist is probably aching, but it could have been worse if we hadn't showed up when we did last night," he explained to her. Claire closed her eyes and allowed her face to fall in her hands.

"This is ridiculous," she mumbled. Liam sighed.

"We were going to wait to tell you once you were a little less hung-over, but my boyfriend is a loud mouth," Liam stated. Alex folded his arms.

"You weren't complaining about my loud mouth last night," he mumbled. Liam's face went bright red as Claire rose from the table.

"Alex, you're starting to sound like your boyfriend," she said in a forced playful tone of voice. She didn't want them worrying about her anymore than they were already.

"I can't help it. With all those comments he makes, it's hard to not start repeating them," he said in his defense. Claire nodded and turned to walk away, but Liam stopped her.

"And where do you think you're going?" He asked, continuing with the playfulness their conversation had. Claire forced a smile.

"I think I'm going to go lay down for a bit," she lied. Liam accepted her answer, but Alex gave her a skeptical look. He knew exactly where she was going.

"JIM!" He sighed and turned toward his girlfriend.

"Yeah?" He really didn't want to deal with her right now. She sighed and pressed her lips together. They were in the middle of a hallway, and she didn't want to make a scene.

"I um… how was work last night?" she asked. Jim paled.

"I went for a few drinks with Uhura and Spock instead," he said. At least he was honest.

"You couldn't have had a few drinks with me?" she asked.

"You seemed to have your hands full with that doctor," he said. She frowned.

"Look, I was drunk and mad and I just-" Jim cut her off.

"Mad? What could you possibly be mad about?" he snapped. She paused and pressed her lips together.

"I just-"

"What's your damn excuse?" he snapped.

"My excuse? You want one or several?" she asked. He glared at her.

"Several? What the hell did I do?" he asked. She clenched her fists and tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

"You've been avoiding me and locking yourself up in your room. You go to the club without telling me the truth. And do I even need to mention the fact that I've been needing someone ever since I got off that damn ship?" She snapped, tears spilling from her eyes. Jim felt horrible with every word she said, but his anger was getting the best of him.

"Well excuse me for having a job. I've been so busy trying to clean up the mess you and your brother caused. If he'd checked those crates a little more thoroughly and if you hadn't been kidnapped, I wouldn't have to deal with all this work right now. If you're going to blame anyone, blame yourself!" He snapped back. Claire took a step back.

"Are you serious?" She asked, completely shocked at his words. Her reaction did nothing to calm the rage boiling up inside of him. All the hurt and anger he was feeling that he been bottled up was being released, even if it wasn't all her fault. He wanted to take it out on someone, and she was the only person he could yell at.

"It's not the Claire Conaway show all the damn time. I can't cater to your every beck and call. I am the captain of a ship and my duty is to the crew, not some girl who wouldn't put out for months!" He cried out. A few crew members saw the scene and hurried out of the hall, leaving them alone. Claire felt her tears increasing as Riley's words were echoing in her head again.

"Jim…" She sobbed out. Jim wanted to comfort her, wanted to take back all the nasty things he had just said, but he couldn't.

"Claire, I can't do this right now." she shook her head and tried to calm herself down, but was being unsuccessful.

"He was right. I can't fucking believe he was right," she muttered. Jim raised an eyebrow.

"Who was right?" he asked.

"Riley. He told me you were more concerned with your damn job that anything else. And he was right," she snapped.

"Is that what you think?" he snapped.

"Yeah, that is what I think." He glared down at her.

"Well, I think you're just like Colleen!" he snapped. There was a silence and tears began escaping her eyes at a rapid rate. She looked down and took a deep breath.

"He said this would happen, I can't believe this is happening," she muttered. Jim frowned.

"Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I should've just left you alone at the bar," he said. Her heart clenched at his words and looked up.

"This is us breaking up… isn't it?" she asked. He frowned.

"I can't have you being a burden or a liability anymore. This thing between us is over." She glared at him.

"Liability? Fuck you! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have been on that ship and that man wouldn't have…" she trailed off and took a deep breath. Jim simply watched her for a moment before she lifted her hand and he felt a sting against his cheek.

"Oomph, damn," he muttered.

"You're right, we are over," she said, turning around and leaving him alone in the hallway. Jim simply leaned against the wall and tried to stop the few tears from falling down his cheeks. In his head he knew that what happened was inevitable, but it seemed to make his heart feel as though he made the worst mistake in his life.

"Ryan, get out of bed," Anna snapped as she entered Ryan's room. She'd given him time and attempted to cheer him up whenever possible, but this was getting ridiculous. She couldn't stand his depressed behavior any longer.

"I don't want to. Just go to work without me today," he mumbled from under his covers. Every time he was alone, he couldn't help think about all the lies, betrayal, and even the way he treated his sister. He was an ignorant monster and he deserved to lie in his bed for the rest of his life. The bed that he'd believed he conceived a child in. He'd checked all the records surrounding Colleen's death. It was true, Colleen's child was not his according to the DNA test.

"God damnit, Ryan. You're chief of security. You need to be at work, even if it hurts right now. It might always hurt. You have to learn to live with it. To get over it." Ryan groaned and placed a pillow over his head.

"I can't," he muttered. Anna sighed and walked to the end of the bed and grabbed his ankles. She used all her weight and began to drag him out of bed.

"Yes, you can. Stop your bitching and get up. You have a problem with something, fix it. Don't sit here and dwell on the past. Yeah, you almost married a whore, but then you know better. Next time you won't marry a whore," she snapped. He sighed and sat up, glaring down at the floor.

"All women are whores," he muttered. Anna glared and smacked the back of his head, causing his to groan in pain.

"Jackass, you say that again and I'll have to shank you." She walked over to his closet and pulled out his uniform. "Put this on, I'm throwing out all her clothes, and you can keep other stuff that you liked. From this point on we're getting her permanently out of your life so you can move the fuck on," she said. Ryan sighed and made his way to the bathroom, pausing to look down at her.

"Thanks, Anna…" she smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Of course, what are friends for?" she asked. His face fell for a moment before he nodded and entered the shower.

McCoy entered his sickbay with a cup of coffee in his hand and feeling powerful. He was large and in charge. He scanned the room for any sign of trouble and paused when he saw something out of place.

"Chambers? Where is Conaway and Peterson?" McCoy snapped, noticing two of his best doctors missing. It was just Alex and the interns manning sickbay. Alex scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I know Liam is taking care of Claire, but I don't know why. They're probably in her room right now," he said, offering up what little knowledge he knew. Liam hadn't said much, except that Claire needed her friends. Alex tried to come along, but Liam had sent him to work. Sometimes, he hated being the bottom.

"I would ask you or the interns to go get them, but I don't trust any of you. I will return soon. Try not to kill anymore," McCoy snapped. Alex nodded as McCoy left the room. Just as the head doctor was out of earshot, all the interns circled around Alex.

"Where's Claire?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Need an orgasm buddy?" The room went silent as everyone turned to look at Spike.

"No, I need you to go to work and mind your own damn business," Alex snapped. The interns begrudgingly went back to work, except for Spike, who was still eagerly looking at Alex.

"So… is that a no?" Spike asked. Alex smacked him with a chart and went back to work.

"Claire, Claire… are you ever going to come out of the bathroom?" Liam asked. The doors opened and Claire too a few steps out, running a hand through her hair. She looked almost sickly pale, and her eyes were red and puffy.

"I'm out of the bathroom…" she said softly. Liam nodded.

"We're making progress… how about making it to work?" he asked. She frowned and leaned against the wall.

"Work… I'm not even sure I can look at a scalpel," she muttered. Liam grabbed a clean uniform and handed it to her.

"Well, I'm sure you can look at a chart. You can do paper work," he said. She slipped on the uniform, and looked down at the bed, where a blue tank-top sat. Liam followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Claire?"

"That's… that's the shirt I wore when… I wore that shirt the night Jim and I…" Liam looked confused before grabbing the shirt and throwing it under the bed.

"We'll deal with that later, come on… you need to get out of your room," Liam said. Claire sighed and opened the door, only to be met with McCoy.

"Conaway, you were supposed to report to sickbay over an hour ago," he snapped. Claire flinched at his tone of voice and looked down.

"Sorry…" McCoy looked at Liam, who frowned.

"She and Jim… they broke up," he said. McCoy rolled his eyes.

"Really? All of this over a guy? I thought women like you were supposed to be strong and band together, and then just get over it," he muttered, nothing like tough love to help get over a break-up. Claire's eyes shot up to his, and the turned cold.

"Get over it? GET OVER IT? He's the first man I've fallen for in years, I would have given my life for him! Because of him I was kidnapped and almost raped, and he didn't even come to save me. I can't sleep without medication because of him! He just left me! He left me to take care of myself and didn't look back. So, I'm sorry sir if it might be a bit hard to get myself together and get over it!" she hissed. The moment she was finished, she looked down, knowing she was in a world of trouble. However, trouble never came.

"Claire, he breaks a lot of girls' hearts. I'm sorry that you were hurt, but you knew that going into the relationship." McCoy noticed that his words weren't helping the situation at all as Claire's eyes began to water. Liam shot him a nasty look, but McCoy ignored him.

"Honestly, I thought he'd changed for you. But times are stressful right now being captain. He's got to deal with all the paper work, running the ship, and his little grudge thing with Riley. He's not ready," McCoy finished, but Claire still didn't seem effected by the words.

"Thanks for trying, Dr. McCoy, but-" McCoy held up his hand, cutting Liam off.

"I want to see you in sickbay in another hour. Stick to paperwork today." And with that, McCoy was off. Claire left out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding, her body trembling slightly. Liam steered Claire back into her room.

"We've got another hour to get you ready to get through the day. Come on," he told her, navigating her over to her bed. Claire was in no shape for work, but they didn't have a choice. At least McCoy had given them a bit of a break.

Ryan took a glance over at his sisters table and frowned. If he thought he was doing bad, it was nothing compared to what she must have been going through. Anna said that Jim had broke up with her, and for a week she was trying to pick herself up. Anna sat down across from him and forced a smile upon her face.

"Hey, you feeling any better?" she asked. Ryan shrugged and turned back to his food. There was a silence between them before Anna spoke again. "Have you talked to Rupert?" she asked. Ryan looked up, his eyes suddenly cold.

"I don't want to talk to that bastard," he snapped. Anna nodded.

"I understand, but… you should… try, you know. He is your best friend," she said.

"Was, he was my best friend…" Ryan snapped. Anna leaned forward.

"Ryan, he made a mistake. People make mistakes. He feels horrible for betraying you, and if it wasn't for Colleen, he would've told you right away. That's why he told Claire, because he knew she wouldn't let you go through with something like that," she said.

"But she almost did!" A silence overcame the two of them. "Look… maybe one day I might be able to talk to him, but for now… I'm just going to stick to work, and my punching bag," Ryan said.

"Am I chopped liver?" Anna asked, a small smile on her face. Ryan chuckled and shook his head.

"No… you're a different thing entirely. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be as stable as I am," he said. Anna blushed and looked down.

"Thanks, Ry…" he smirked.

"No, thank you."

"What do you mean I can't have anymore?" Claire asked. McCoy gave a heavy sigh and picked up a patient chart.

"I mean, you are not being given any more drugs to make you go to sleep. You've been completely dependant on them," McCoy told her.

"I can't sleep without them. I've tried, I really have. But every time I close my eyes…" she trailed off, tears in her eyes. McCoy stood up and frowned down at her.

"I'm sorry, Conaway, but if you continued to use sleeping aids, you're body is going to start depending on them. Whatever the reason is that you can't sleep, you need to face it on your own, or talk to the ships counselor," McCoy said. Claire scrunched her nose and crossed her arms.

"This isn't fair…" McCoy rolled his eyes.

"Life isn't fair kid… get over it." She pressed her lips together and practically stomped out of the room. McCoy just rolled his eyes and continued to work. Claire, however, made her was over to the medical station and looked at Nurse Chapel, who was looking over a chart.

"I need a patient. Preferably some type of surgical patient," Claire said. Nurse Chapel simply frowned.

"Sorry. Doctor McCoy has stated that you are not to have any patients for another three days," she said. Claire's jaw dropped.

"What? I'm a doctor! I need patients!" Nurse Chapel shrugged and handed her a stack of charts.

"Here, these need to be looked over," she said. Claire just stared at the stack before Nurse Chapel walked away. Alex, who had just finished with a patient and placed a chart on the stack.

"Hey, how you doing today?" he asked. She glared at the stack of folders and tapped her fingers against the counter.

"I'm going to kill someone if McCoy doesn't let me have a patient," she snapped. Alex raised an eyebrow and grabbed another patient chart.

"I think that's what they are trying to avoid. You killing someone," Alex said. Claire looked at him, her grey eyes extremely dull despite her anger.

"You're mean…" He shook his head.

"You really are out of it if your best comeback is 'you're mean.'" Claire didn't reply, simply grabbed the stack of charts and walked to 'their' bed. Alex sighed and followed her and sat so he could face her. "Claire…"

"I can't sleep. I can't sleep and he won't give me medicine to make me sleep," she said. Alex pressed his lips together and watched as she angrily began writing things down on her charts.

"Why won't he give them to you?" he asked.

"He says I'm going to become dependant on them. I need to sleep on my own apparently," she muttered. Alex frowned.

"Why can't you sleep on your own?" he asked. She pressed her lips together and looked down. Alex sighed, already knowing the answer.

"It's not like I haven't tried. I always wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back asleep." Alex sighed and took her hand.

"I'm sorry…"

"I just… I hate waking up alone… you know?" he nodded.

"I'll stay with you tonight. Liam is on graveyard shift. I'll just sleep on the floor or something," Alex said. Claire shrugged.

"You don't have to… I know there are things you'd rather be doing," she said.

"I'm here for you, Claire. If that means I have to deal with sleeping on the floor for a night, then so be it." A small smile looked at though it was going to emerge, but fell last minute. She looked down at his hand and nodded.

"Okay. Thank you," she said softly. He smiled.

"Sure… no problem."

"Doctor Peterson, I stitched up Lieutenant Jones, is there anything else I need to do?" Liam looked over at the young woman in front of him.

"You know how to chart, Doctor Rogers, right?" she frowned, her pale green eyes looking slightly annoyed.

"Yes, sir… but I sort of had plans tonight," she said. Liam raised an eyebrow.

"Like sleeping with my best friends ex-boyfriend?" Sophie turned bright red and looked down. "Do your job, then you can get out of here."

"Fine," she muttered. Liam rolled his eyes and looked up just as someone entered sickbay. He had to hide the snarl as the captain walked up to the medical station.

"Um…"

"Your fuck buddy is charting, you can do her when she's done," Liam snapped. Jim frowned and scratched the back of his head.

"You know, Claire and I broke up. This isn't cheating or anything. I'm not hurting anyone," Jim said. Liam scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah right, you honestly think you're not hurting her? You're just lucky Alex and I have been keeping it from her." Jim looked down and focused on the counter.

"Is… is she alright?" Jim asked. Liam raised an eyebrow.

"Do you really care?"

"Of course I care! But I just can't… talk to her," Jim muttered. Despite what he told her, he did love her. At the time he was angry and just didn't want her around as a reminder that Riley had hurt her because of him. Now that he looked back on it, he told himself that he broke up with her so she wouldn't be put in that position again, so she wouldn't get hurt. Liam just looked at the man. He didn't look half as bad as Claire, but he could tell that the man was hurting.

"She's… trying," he answered. Jim frowned, but before he could answer, Sophie walked into the room.

"Hey, Jimmy… ready to go?" she asked. Jim visibly flinched at being called 'Jimmy' but reached out and took hold of her.

"Come on, let's get out of here," he said, reaching down and grabbing her ass. She giggled and they left sickbay. Liam rolled his eyes and went back to work. He only hoped Claire didn't see him like that.

Ryan pressed his lips together as he worked over a few security files. He tried to concentrate on work, but he was too tired to let his mind focus. Someone sat on his desk and he looked up and smiled at Anna. Of course, he didn't fail to notice that her dress was showing quite a bit of her legs. Her caramel colored skin looked like silk as she leaned back on the desk.

"Hey, how's work?" she asked. He rolled his eyes.

"Are you really asking about work? Or do you really want to know how I'm doing?" he asked. A small smiled came to her face, and she looked down in shame.

"I… uh… hmm. I know you hate being asked how you are doing, but, I want to know," she said. He smiled and watched as he brown eyes began searching over his desk, stopping at a picture of him and Claire.

"I'm… working on it. I feel like something's missing, and going back to my empty room isn't helping," he replied. She nodded and her eyes finally met his.

"It's going to be difficult, but everything will work out, eventually," she said. He nodded and stood up, his body brushing up against her legs. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself, but was having difficulty doing so. Anna didn't seem to notice. Ryan glanced at the picture on his desk and tried to distract himself.

"Have you… have you talked to Claire?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No, but Liam talks to me about her," she told him. Ryan nodded and looked down.

"How is she?" Anna sighed and stood up, placing a hand on his arm.

"Why don't you just talk to her? I'm sure she misses you." Ryan looked down at her.

"After what happened? Jesus… she was broken and I just kicked her while she was down. It hurts just to think about what I did," he muttered.

"I know, but she's your sister. She's going to love you no matter what." Ryan shrugged and picked up a file.

"I can't… not right now," he said. She nodded.

"She's doing fine. Liam and Alex have been trying to distract her," She muttered.

"Distract her from what?" Ryan asked. Anna sighed and raised an eyebrow.

"Well… their trying to distract her from Jim."

"What is Jim doing?" Anna seemed to suddenly be very uncomfortable.

"He's sleeping with a doctor in sickbay. Sophie, I think her name is." Ryan clenched his fists and rolled his eyes.

"That son of a-"

"Ryan, just… don't get involved. You raised her, you know she is strong, she just needs some convincing. Once you get on your feet, you can help her. But right now, you have to take care of you." Ryan's eyes simply stared into hers and he smiled lightly. He moved in and hugged her close, taking in her scent for a moment before pulling away.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"For being patient with me. Not to mention you kicking me out of my funk," he said. She chuckled and shrugged.

"Of course, that's what I'm for." Ryan didn't reply, but his grey eyes seemed to become warmer upon hearing her words. Maybe moving on wouldn't be so difficult.

Alex placed his sleeping bag on the floor and slipped his shirt off. Normally he would've worn a tank-top, but forgot about laundry so was forced to sleep in just his sweatpants. He placed a pillow down on the floor and sat down on the floor. He heard the doors open to the bathroom and looked up. Claire wore a pair of very short shorts, and a tee-shirt that seemed to be content with clinging to her curves. He couldn't help but let his eyes wander, taking in the feminine curves he had been secretly missing for some time. He loved his boyfriend, but he still found women very attractive.

"You sure you're going to be comfortable?" she asked. He swallowed the lump in his throat and looked down.

"Yeah, should be just fine," Alex said. She walked over and sat on the chair right near him. He pulled his eyes away from her legs and looked up at her.

"You can take the bed, it's really no big deal," she told him.

"Really, Claire… it's fine…" she nodded and ran a hand through her slightly damp hair. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah…" she whispered.

"Claire…" Alex raised an eyebrow as she looked to be struggling with something.

"I'm just scared is all, and as much as I appreciate you being here…" She trailed off and looked down in shame.

"You want Jim to be here," he said, spitting the mans name out. Claire nodded.

"Yeah, am I pathetic, or what?" he sighed and took hold of her hand.

"You're not pathetic, you're grieving. You both are," he said. Claire's eyes seemed to turn cold as she looked down at him.

"Maybe I should try and grieve like Jim and sleep with the new doctors in sickbay," she said. Alex froze and watched her carefully.

"You know about Sophie?" he asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Of course I know. They aren't exactly quiet about it. Not to mention Janice in engineering loves to gossip," Claire said. Alex stood up and pulled her into a hug, ignoring how soft her feminine frame was.

"I'm sorry, Claire. He's a jerk," he whispered.

"It's whatever, we should get some sleep," she said softly. She pulled away and walked over to her bed. Alex nodded and sat down on his sleeping bag.

"Night Claire…"

"Night Alex."

"Evening, Liam."

"Oh, good evening Ryan. What brings you here?" Liam looked up from his intern reports to see an exhausted looking Ryan trudge into sickbay. Ryan glanced around the room, searching for something, before taking a seat next to him.

"How's Claire?" He blurted out, not even bothering to beat around the bush. Liam wasn't even surprised.

"We're taking care of her," he told him in a cold tone. Ryan flinched, but nodded.

"I was hopping she was working tonight so I could talk to her…" Liam just shook his head.

"I don't know if she's up for that yet. She just stopped taking sleeping medications and she's pretty short-tempered right now," Liam explained. Ryan gave him a half-smile.

"And that's different because?" Ryan chuckled at his own joke, but Liam just shot him a glare.

"She's hurting pretty bad, you know? Whatever happened on the cargo ship left her kind of broken. Not to mention Jim dumping her, you flipping shit at her, and the fact she couldn't save Colleen… she's pretty messed up right now. You have no right to joke about that!" Liam snapped. Ryan jumped back, startled at Liam's tone of voice. He hadn't meant to be that offensive, but he also didn't know the extent of how bad his sister was suffering. Ryan could feel his heart ache, even more so then when he'd found out the news of Colleen's lies. This was his sister. His family.

"I'm going to talk to her soon. She may not forgive me right away, but I'm not going to give up on her that easily. I won't be like everyone else… I won't be like Jim and push her away!" Ryan declared. Liam nodded and turned back to his work.

"Then why are you here talking to me and not talking to her yourself?" Ryan rose from his chair, but Liam grabbed his arm.

"Wait until tomorrow. Alex is staying with her tonight to make sure she gets a full night's sleep."

Claire woke up in the familiar dark cell upon Riley's cargo ship. The faint sound of a pipe dripping was heard in the distance as the cold air wrapped around her barely clothed body. She could feel goose bumps line her arms and the hairs on the back of her neck stood erect. She could smell the mold growing inside of the cell and it almost made her want to throw up. Just as she was about to call out, the sound of a squeaky door echoed through the cell and a small ray of light appeared in the cell. Claire looked up to see Riley take a few steps into the cell.

"I told you he'd leave you."

"Shut up…" Claire mumbled weakly, trying to block out Riley's words.

"He never loved you."

"Shut up," she repeated, her hands clamping her ears shut. But his voice only sounded louder as he began walking towards her.

"He cares more about everyone else on that ship than you."

"Shut up!" She cried again, but Riley didn't stop. She looked up to see his pants dropping to the ground. Before her eyes, Riley's face morphed into Nuhir's. His shirt seemed to melt away as the tattooed skin of the Romulan appeared before her.

"Let me hear you scream…"

Claire felt herself screaming as she bolted up in bed. The memory of the dream still fresh in her mind. She felt hands on her shoulder and she practically jumped five feet in the air.

"NO!" she cried. The hands on her shoulder simply held on, and she was soon met with warm brown eyes.

"Claire, it's me! It's Alex!" she stopped screaming, but tears still streaked down her cheeks and she was shaking. Alex simply raised one of his hands to cup her cheek, as if to show her he was real.

"Alex…" she breathed. He nodded and she fell forward into his chest. He sighed and pulled her closer, rubbing her back.

"It's okay, I'm here. Just breathe Claire." She continued to cry, trying to calm herself down. Alex looked down at her small frame and felt his heart ache. Never before had he seen her so broken. She looked pretty bad when Pam died, but this was much worse. He even dared to wonder if she would ever recover from this. Eventually she stopped shaking, and he could hear her sob quietly.

"Claire… do you want to talk about it?" he asked. She shook her head and stayed silent. He simply rubbed her arms and rocked her back and forth, in order to sooth her. After a few minutes, she pulled away from him and wiped her eyes.

"I just…" she stopped and pulled herself out of his arms and stood up from the bed. She paused to adjust her shirt before heading to the bathroom and leaning over the sink. The door stayed open and Alex got off the bed, walking over till he was in the doorway. He watched as she splashed some water over her face and then take a few deep breaths. She took a towel and dried the water of her face and turned back to the sink.

"Claire…" she took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. Alex let his eyes selfishly rake over her curves. He shook his head and pulled his eyes away from her thighs, and looked back to her face. After a moment she stood up and turned toward him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think that… I didn't expect the dream to be that bad," she said softly. He shook his head.

"You don't have to be sorry, it's understandable," he said. She looked down and took a few steps toward him, but then stopped.

"I shouldn't be this messed up. This isn't fair," she muttered. He moved forward and placed his rough hands on her shoulder.

"It's not fair, you don't deserve to be put through this. You're tough, you'll get through it," he said. She felt tears come to her eyes as his words sunk in.

"Sometimes, I don't think I will." Alex sighed and his hands moved up to her face, his rough palms feeling warm against her cold cheeks.

"I hope you do. Because I'll be honest, work just isn't as lively when you're sad," he said.

"Really?" she asked, though her voice sounded a bit pathetic. He nodded and his thumb brushed away a stray tear.

"Yeah…" They stood in silence for a moment, his brown eyes clashing against her grey. She hesitantly moved forward, her body merely inches away from his, and her eyes dropped to his lips. His did the same, and soon he felt her pale lips on his and her arms snaking up to his shoulders. He gently caressed her cheek before moving his arms around her waist, pulling her closer against his body. A few seconds later, Claire pulled away. She had a blank look on her face, as if trying to register what had just happened.

"Claire… I'm so-" Before Alex could finish, Claire leaned forward again and crashed her lips upon his. Alex wobbled slightly from the impact, but closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of her soft warm lips against his own. She placed her hand on his bare chest, feeling his muscles tense under her touch. This time, Alex pulled away.

"What are we doing?" He asked breathlessly, searching Claire's eyes for an answer. She seemed just as confused as he was and shook her head.

"I don't know," she whispered back. They stood in silence another few seconds before rushing each other again. This time, the kiss was more heated and intense as Alex slipped his tongue into Claire mouth, causing them both to groan. Claire snapped her eyes shut and allowed herself to give into the moment. For that brief moment, the empty feeling was gone. The fear was gone. It was just her and Alex.

Onto the reviews!

Lintered
Raxsah: Technically you reviewed Chapter 12, which was the valentines day one. O.o Crazy chapter. Yes it would be very awkward. I hope Bones doesn't stroke out. Without him we wouldn't have a hard ass in the story. (Yes we are aware he is very OOC, can't help it now. Sorry.)
Jeck: SUBMIT TO THE OOCNESS! SUBMIT! I lack a brother, so I don't know how to feel in a situation like that… so I just picture myself in that situation with a man in general. Mad awkward…

amberhathaway
Jeck: Well… yeah… Colleen was a stupid bitch. Just saying.
Raxsah: Yes. It's sad when you start to hate your own characters after you create them. O.o I believe we actually planned for Ryan to be with her till the end too. That changed.

NickiR0x
Raxsah: Yes, Colleen sucks balls. I actually do like Rupert, but of course, he's a man. And I think a man added with alcohol, added with a woman he actually likes, is just trouble. If you want action, talk to Jeck. She's good at that. I'm good at the fluffy stuff. Though she has some really cute one liners in there that just make me go "AWWWWW" lol. Enough of embarrassing Jeck.
Jeck: And now that the world knows how I run and operate, I suppose I'll just continue on. Men have a tendency to be stupid. That's why I like women. They're just bitches. I like it. ;3 Raxsah doesn't give herself enough credit though, she did write some good action scenes too. Don't worry, there will be plenty more in the future. How do we know? Cause we're almost done. (still… still only ALMOST done)

SWfangirl21
Jeck: Not to worry! We knew you couldn't stay away from us for long! Yeah, we all knew the Kirk and Claire thing was going to happen sooner or later. Yeah, it still makes me giggle in knowing that Raxsah can't read through the Alex/Liam lemons (that's right, I said lemons! Spoiler alert!). Wow, I'm really happy that the Ryan/Anna thing caught on. I was worried it wouldn't… but then again, we all know Colleen is such a bitch! Sorry that it took us so long for update… college is a very new thing to me and I'm still trying to work out a good schedule so I can still get me some Raxsah time. She's like a drug! :3 I 3 my BFFF!
Raxsah: Of course we were going to put some Jim and Claire lovin', I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm sorry, but it still makes my face turn bright red. I just got over the being bashful at writing a regular lemon! Yes, we like Anna much more than Colleen. She don't take no shit! Ensign Creeper, I wonder if anyone knows his actual name, or if they all just say Ensign Creeper? Lol. Now, if they double checked, that would be no fun, would it? Of course they are going to be stupid. It's what they do. Don't be too mad at Rupert. I mean, yeah he's an ass, but shit happens. I miss my Jeck, life is just not fun without her. I'm stuck with Peter Pan all the time. COME HOME BABY! I 3 Jeck/person/BFFF

Yayyou
Raxsah: We would… if we could go back and rewrite over two hundred pages. I apologize for Bones being OOC, but we made him like that for a reason. Think of him as a Doctor Cox, who needs to keep all the newbies in line! (Doctor Cox is from Scrubs BTW, if you didn't know. I know a couple of people don't watch the show.)
Jeck: Well, he is in this story. Take our OOC with a grain of salt. It's not how we actually think of him, it's just how it fits into the story.

Draco MalfoyGirl 16
Jeck: Thanks. Here's the next chapter. Not much more to say than that.
Raxsah: You ask, we deliver… eventually. Good thing we're not running the mail system.

X-PANIC
Raxsah; Here is a little dose for now. Hopefully that will hold you over for a bit. And Alex has to be on top sometimes!
Jeck: Alex and Raxsah have something in common then. Because everyone already knows that I'm a top. :3 WITHDRAW NO MORE, FOR WE HAVE DELIVERED! And now, TAKE YOUR BEYOND THE SUN MEDICINE!

Jeck: I believe that covers everyone for this chapter.
Raxsah: Yup. Though I'm sure we will get a lot of shit for this chapter. Especially seeing as where we left off. O.o Remember kiddies, things happen for a reason. Just keep reading and we promise things will work out!
Jeck: But we're also known for being good at mindfucking people. Just putting that out there too.
Raxsah: I guess you'll just have to read it to find out then. Till next time lovelies!
Jeck: Random fact of the day- My roommate went out to Walmart at 9pm to buy a goldfish. That is all.