Pike's eyes widened as he caught sight of the entrance of a cave hidden in the dense vegetation. The officers had been following the teenager through an endless forest of trees for the good part of an hour and where thoroughly exhausted. The teenager flicked his gaze warily around the small clearing before gesturing to the adults to stay where they were.

'The scout group should've already gotten here and warned the rest but I want to check first before you lot go in,' he told them before nimbly maneuvering his way towards and into the cave.

After a minute the teenager reappeared from the cave entrance and beckoned the officers in, once again checking the clearing for signs of danger. Pike glanced at Garrovick who merely shrugged in reply. Proceeding with caution, the trio of Starfleet officers followed the teenager into the cave. Ducking under the low doorway, Pike hesitated as he took in the interior.

The cave was filled with children, all younger than the boy whom had threatened them. They were huddled together in small groups and extremely malnourished. Their appearance was starved, but their eyes reflected their strong spirit.

'J.T!'

A small girl threw herself at their escort and a warm smile replaced his stoic face.

'Hey Lucy,' he said, ruffling her hair, 'how you doing kid?'

'Good,' the small child beamed up at her father figure, 'Kev says you're bringing strangers with food and medicine'.

'Yeah,' he nudged her shoulder towards the officers.

The small girl's eyes widened as she caught sight of the adults. Pike smiled at the child but faltered a flicker of wariness passed her eyes; she scurried off towards the safety of the other children. JT walked towards the officers, his face hard once again.

'Open your bags, lets see your supplies,' he ordered the officers.

The adults complied and the teenager relaxed fractionally when the packs were opened to reveal food and medicine. He nodded towards the only blue-shirt in the group.

'You a medical officer?' He asked.

The blue-shirt nodded.

'Good. Grab you med-kit and follow me; the rest of you distribute the food - not too much, just give them small portions.

Pike nodded, he knew the teenager would be watching them like a hawk regardless if he supervised the medical officer. Garrovick began delving through the food and water they had brought with them and Pike quickly followed suit, he watched J.T out of the corner of his eye. The cave was small, so he could easily hear the boy wherever he went. J.T walked towards and crouched down next to a small boy huddled next to a rocky wall.

'Tom, hey buddy, I want you to meet someone; he's a grown up and he's gonna fix your burns, Ok?'

His voice was reassuring and compassionate compared to the cold, hard tone it had been. Little Tom looked up with wide eyes and Pike felt a pang of shock and sympathy as he noticed a serious looking burn that covered one side of the small boy's face.

'Charlotte, Luke,'

J.T beckoned two other children over. They both had lacerations and other injuries but nothing as serious as Tom or J.T.

'I'll leave you to fix them,'

He indicated to the children and the medical officer immediately nodded, his hand already searching his supplies for the equipment necessary to heal the children's wounds. J.T watched the medical officer for a few seconds and then left when he was satisfied the children were in good hands. Pike averted his eyes from the teenager and concentrated on the task of distributing small amounts food to the children. They ate slowly, allowing their bodies to adjust to the increased intake of food. Pike's heart broke.

'When did Starfleet get here?'

Pike twisted his head around and saw J.T standing beside him, eyes darting around the room. Missing nothing.

'Almost a month ago,' Pike responded.

He threw an energy bar towards the teenager who caught it and began to devour it at the same painstakingly slow pace as the other children.

'J.T!'

An Andorian walked up towards the pair, she addressed the teenager in her native language.

'If there are grown ups here does that mean we get to go home?' she asked.

'I'm not sure yet, I'll talk to them first to make sure they're good guys. Go sit down now; make sure you get something to eat, ok?' J.T replied in Andorian.

'Ok.'

The child gave him a smile before walking back to her friends. Pike raised and eyebrow in surprise; up till now he hadn't known the boy could speak another language. He was smart, Pike was certain of that much. He'd have to be if he'd sheltered all these children before Starfleet arrived.

Half an hour later, all the children had eaten to their full – including those who had received medical attention. Little Tom was sitting with the rest of the children – a wide smile plastered on his face, as he no longer tried to hide the horrific wound. The medical officer had done an outstanding job but as always, injuries were racing against time and time had already done it's work on Tom's face – his burns were on their way to recovery but he would be permanently scarred for the rest of his life. Pike leaned against the wall of the cave, Garrovick sitting beside him while they both ate food to replace the energy of their earlier hike. Pike observed J.T who was sitting on the opposite side of the cave. He had refused to allow the medical officer near enough to heal his wounds and had insisted that he heal them himself. The exasperated medical officer had then watched as the teenager had swiped his dermal regenerator and walked off to – true to his word – heal himself. Pike watched in fascination as J.T deftly handled the dermal regenerator; most of the cuts were deep however and Pike knew that they would leave scars. A Vulcan boy walked over to the older boy and began to converse to J.T in his native language. J.T replied fluently and they appeared to have reached a conclusion, for J.T sat down in front of the small boy and allowed him to lift his shirt to heal the cuts underneath. Pike cringed as he spotted the cruel red lines across the teenager's torso. When the Vulcan was finished, he handed the dermal regenerator back to J.T who stuck it back in the pack containing medical supplies. He smiled and ruffled the Vulcan boy, murmured one last thing to him in Vulcan and made his way over to Pike.

'I've made my decision,' he told the lieutenant abruptly.

Pike gestured for him to continue. J.T rested his hands on his hips and huffed out a breath that had been pent up.

'These kids, they have nothing left. Nothing. I've done the best I can but there's no way I can keep them all alive forever. So, I'm willing to let you 'rescue' my kids if you show me where your ship is so that I can confirm you really are Starfleet'.

Pike nodded.

'When did you want to leave?' he asked.

'Now'.