Chapter Two: Captain Kirk Saves the Crew, But At An (almost) Personal Cost

WARNING: for heights and swearing. Slash ahead, for you Spock/Kirk lovers. (Also probably a background of Spock/Uhura.) Nothing serious and most readers can probably look the other way and survive.

[Oh, and how do you like this clever little line breaker?]

-*2*-0*-0*-9*-

Dr. McCoy was pissed. Oh sure, the away mission was supposed to be nice and easy [and that was the trouble right there, someone had jinxed them using those words] and they would just come back within two or three hours tops after gathering some information about Colony Breta III, which apparently was doing a hell of a leap in technology. The bridge crew was to be going with Captain Kirk this time, and that was another problem that they'd had. He seemed to be under the impression that nothing was going to go wrong. Of course, the shuttle ride over, something did go wrong.

The shuttle apparently was on its last tether. It crashed on the side of a hill/cliff, and then it fell and landed on a small little edge a few hundred feet from the cliff that they'd fallen onto. The city they'd been going to was an hour away, and the temperatures outside were rather warm-it was ninety-nine degrees out, because it was high summer for this planet.

Kirk opened the doors after checking to make sure who was injured and who wasn't-the only seriously injured person had been Chekov, as he'd been flying the shuttle, and he now had a large concussion as well as an injured hand from smashing it against something-and stepped out onto the tiny cliff.

"Damn it, Jim, where are you going?" Bones spluttered, seeing him cheerfully moving towards the cliff.

"Oh, come on, Bones. It's rock-climbing!" Kirk said happily. "I didn't think I'd get the chance to do this until we were back at Earth for shore leave!"

Commander Spock-who had been assisting Chekov, came to see what their captain was planning. Kirk was already taking off his gloves and preparing for the 'hike' up the cliff. Spock looked astonished, for a Vulcan anyway.

"Captain, may I inquire as to what it is you're planning?" Spock asked, sounding slightly uptight.

"I'm climbing the cliff, Spock." Kirk explained. "It's the only way to get rescue. And I have experience in rock-climbing," He added, his face clouding momentarily. Dr. McCoy's softened, while Spock merely stood there wondering why the Captain would be upset at having experience in rock-climbing.

"Kid, what if you slip?" Dr. McCoy asked, sounding truly worried.

"Then at least I won't have a long way to fall." Kirk said grinning again, and Spock found it illogical that his Captain would be happy about rock-climbing. A flash of memory of running up the rocky cliffs to the High-Council in Vulcan made him pause, and then said carefully,

"Jim I do not wish for you to do this."

Captain Kirk turned in surprise, and Dr. McCoy blinked in shock-before remembering. He then swore colorfully, making the Captain frown at him.

"What am I missing?"

"Damn it, Jim-Spock's mother, don't you remember?" He hissed into the Captain's ear, but Spock had excellent hearing.

Kirk flushed and seemed to hesitate for the first time, possibly weighing his options when it came to saving the crew.

"Spock…if I don't go up there, then we might be stuck here…" Kirk said helplessly.

"Do not climb the cliff," Spock said simply, and turned to head back into the shuttle to assist both Chekov and Scotty with repairing the systems enough to call for help. Spock was distracted for a bit, but he still noticed when ten minutes later Kirk came back into the shuttle looking dejected. Dr. McCoy was reassuring Kirk, making sure that he was all right. Lt. Uhura assisted Spock, Chekov, and Scotty in restoring communications. Together, the four of them and a half hour after they had crashed managed to successfully reestablish a communication link to…the nearest city, which was still about an hour away.

"Anyone out there? This is Lt. Uhura, requesting immediate rescue an hour away from Colony Breta III…our shuttle crashed onto an edge of a cliff, and we can't get free for the shuttle is too badly damaged."

"Acknowledged, Shuttle 01, this is Captain Moore of the Breta Army. Gathering medical and a rescue crew together now. Is your crew in danger of falling off the cliff quickly?"

"Not at the moment, but we'd really like to get out of here fast in case something changes to make that happen." Lt. Uhura said relieved that they'd gotten through to rescue.

"Right-o, then. There's a rescue crew and medical crew coming your way-our engineer specialist here has managed to lock onto your signal and we should be there soon. Keep together, Lt. Uhura, help is on the way."

"Roger that, thank you Captain Moore. We hope to hear from you soon and in person." Lt. Uhura cut transmission, and Spock responded,

"Well done, Nyota." He said sincerely, and she blushed brightly at the praise. Spock turned to face the rest of the crew, and saw that Dr. McCoy was talking to the Captain. Just as Spock turned, the floor beneath him shifted.

All at once, the activity on the shuttle froze and everyone didn't dare to even breath. A second later, and the shuttle gave an alarming creek.

"Everyone out!" Kirk bellowed, and there was a rush towards the doors. The shuttle was clearly starting to go completely over the edge, and Spock was thinking quietly that it was ironic that he would share the same fate as his mother.

They all made it out, Spock following their Captain last, and just as they reached the safer part of their little cliff, the shuttle collapsed and fell completely off. The bottom of the cliff below was so far down that they could not even hear their shuttle when it crashed. Spock realized that they were now in an even more dangerous position, for the shuttle at least offered some sort of protection against the harsh weather here.

"Well, this is just perfect!" Dr. McCoy snarled, sounding furious and worried about their safety. "Nice and easy trip, my ass!"

"Bones!" Captain Kirk snapped. Dr. McCoy went quiet, but he still fumed silently at Spock's side. Spock was more interested in the fact that the cliff seemed to be holding them up. Then, ever so slightly, he felt the ground beneath his feet move. It was a tiny amount, and none of the others seemed to have felt it. He felt afraid for the first time since the Nero mission.

"Captain…I believe that we are not out of danger, for I had felt the ground beneath my feet move." Spock said tonelessly, but his hands tightened into fists. Dead silence fell among them.

"Nobody move-if you feel the ground moving, let me know instantly." Captain Kirk said tightly, and Spock was impressed with how calm he sounded despite their terrifying situation. Chekov spoke, his Russian accent much easier pronounced due to his fearful state.

"Keptin! I felt the ground beneath me move!" Spock saw Sulu clutch Chekov tightly, and hold onto the edge of the cliff.

"Everyone, grab hold of the rocks beside us. Grab something." Captain Kirk ordered, and Spock did so along with the rest of the crew. Spock also held Uhura at his side, while Captain Kirk held Dr. McCoy. Scotty was holding onto Chekov with Sulu, the two of them supporting the young genius.

They were not a moment too soon.

Lt. Uhura screamed in surprise as the ground gave way beneath them, and they were abruptly left dangling on the edge of the cliff, holding tightly to rocks and weeds. Spock gripped Lt. Uhura tighter, and she clutched at him and the rock she was holding just as tightly, if not tighter.

"Is…everyone…all right?"

"NO!" Sulu gasped loudly, as Chekov was struggling to keep himself supported, but was slipping beneath their fingers. Lt. Uhura was also slipping beneath Spock's own fingers, and he growled-a very human response, an inner part of his brain observed-and hefted her closer to him. She was sobbing, and he honestly felt like doing the same. He did not like heights.

"Just hang on!" Captain Kirk said desperately. "Help is going to be soon…"

"Better hurry their asses up!" Dr. McCoy snarled, sounding as though he were having a very difficult time keeping himself to the cliff. There was barely any rock supporting any of their weights beneath their feet, much less enough rocks to hang onto.

Lt. Uhura was slipping from his grasp again. Spock looked her in the eyes, and the tears were falling down her face, dropping into an abyss below their feet…

"Spock-don't let me go," She whispered, and he nodded tightly.

"I have no intention of doing such a thing, Nyota." He said. Dr. McCoy seemed to be swearing again-an unhealthy habit, though for this situation Spock could not blame the man. Captain Kirk seemed to be trying to help Sulu and Scotty keep Chekov up as well as Dr. McCoy. Lt. Uhura was slipping further in his grasp, and Spock felt the strong urge to swear just as Dr. McCoy was doing.

"Dr. McCoy, I must ask you to grab the Lieutenant's other hand," Spock said tightly, and Dr. McCoy looked alarmed, before doing just that. She slipped from his hand just as Dr. McCoy grabbed her other one, and yanked her up towards his side. Captain Kirk-having helped Scotty and Sulu get a better grasp on Chekov, swung over Dr. McCoy and Lt. Uhura to Spock, who was hanging on tightly.

"You doing all right, Spock?" Captain Kirk seemed to be having no trouble in hanging onto the rocks, and seemed to be paying strict attention to the other members of his crew at the same time. Spock swallowed.

"I am not at all fond of heights," He said, in a slightly broken tone. Captain Kirk looked as though he understood.

"Here, just do it the way I'm doing it-see, I'm not holding on so tightly. And we're not hanging on a cliff, we're walking on firm solid ground."

"Captain, I believe that you are delusional." Spock bit out, and Captain Kirk laughed. The others were slowly starting to climb up the cliff, each helping one another. Captain Kirk, it seemed, had begun to help them do so.

"Come on, Spock…just watch." Captain Kirk instructed, and then swung upwards to grab one of the rocks that was sticking out rather raggedly on the cliff. Spock watched flatly, and then looked above him for a similar rock, and found one a foot higher than his hand. He hesitated, and then swung upwards to get it…and his other hand slipped, causing himself to grab wildly at the rock that he'd reached for. He managed to catch it, and slammed into the cliff's side. Captain Kirk's face was pale, and he noticed that the others were already close to the top of the cliff, where safe ground lay. Captain Kirk climbed up to his side.

"There, Spock, see? It's all right…" Captain Kirk said soothingly, and Spock trembled. He had never felt this much tension. "While we're here, I wanted to ask you something. Distraction is a good tool when rock-climbing," He added, seeing Spock's incredulous look. Spock didn't respond, just hoisted himself up another foot with the rock that was there. "I heard from a Vulcan once when on the Enterprise as we were relocating them…what does… t'hy'la mean?" He asked, curious.

Spock would have frozen, except he had just reached up for another rock and was using all his concentration in climbing to the top.

"A Vulcan says it if they discover that their other half is in front of them," Spock answered tightly, as he swung himself up again. His chest was hurting from connecting so hard to the side of the cliff.

"Oh," Captain Kirk sounded unsurprised. "There's one that's closer to you," He indicated, and Spock grabbed it and hauled himself up, his feet scrabbling against the rocks to help him do so. Spock dimly noticed that Dr. McCoy had made it to the top of the cliff, and was hauling Lt. Uhura up over the side. Scotty was not far behind with Sulu and Chekov closing in behind him. Spock was the one who was lowest with the Captain at his side.

"Come on, Spock, there's one." Captain Kirk encouraged again, and Spock did not hesitate. If he remained at one rock for long, his fingers would slip and then…he would let go…

"Spock, there!" Captain Kirk said quickly, and Spock looked-and then grabbed it and hauled himself up further. They weren't far from the cliff's edge now, perhaps only a few feet away.

Only a few more feet…it became a kind of chant, Spock realized after a minute of thinking it. Captain Kirk cheered as Spock was so close that Dr. McCoy reached down to help haul him up the rest of the way…but then the rock broke off in Spock's hand, and he had only an instance look of horror cross his face before he felt himself falling…and then something snatched his wrist and he again collided into the sharp side of the cliff, wincing slightly as he did so.

Captain Kirk was holding him, he realized, and he was dangling over the cliff. He must have blacked out for a moment, because his Captain was shouting something…something about grabbing…

Spock grabbed a rock in front of him, and held on. Though the Captain kept his grip on him, he contained getting up the rest of the way…and was more than grateful when Dr. McCoy grasped his left arm and hauled him up, while Scotty and Sulu helped up Captain Kirk. They were saved, once more it seemed, by their Captain. If he had not encouraged them to climb and get to the top, Spock did not want to think of what might have happened.

Just as Spock became aware again, he could hear distance wailing sirens of help coming. Dr. McCoy was already bending over Spock, checking his side by ripping his uniform up. He noticed that his side was heavily bruised, and the others seemed rather in awe that he'd managed to keep hanging on and climbing.

"Thank you Spock, for not dropping me." Lt. Uhura said quietly as she was at his side.

"It is no problem, Nyota." Spock said quietly. All that he could think about was that the Captain had saved them.

"Stupid green-blooded hobgoblin," Dr. McCoy muttered in a fond tone. "You couldn't just let us work from the Enterprise could you?"

"I believe I'll let us do that next time, Doctor. For now, I think, I must close my eyes and rest." Spock murmured, and there was an undertone of worried and relieved voices as his eyes slipped close.

Captain James T. Kirk had saved his life.

Spock would be sure to return that as soon as the opportunity arose.

It was only logical.

AN: I realized that after writing this I noticed that it starts off with something like Dr. McCoy's POV and then it turns towards Spock's almost immediately. *huh* I don't know how that happened, but it looks okay so I'm not going to bother fixing it until after this story is finished.

Only four more chapters to go, folks!