wait..

Don't think about the heat..

Why is it so hot.. What is this place called, I can't..

remember..

Wipe your forehead.. no sit up just try and push yourself up by your arms. Stop picturing yourself moving and just do it..

Please someone help me, God please let me get beamed up, I-...

please let someone help me..

Cold concrete below the straws of hay gave his burnt body remedy as he finally pushed himself up to sit against the wall. His skin was scorched from the sun he'd learned to loathe since it had fathomed and destroyed all his strength. He looked down at the fresh scars on the palms of his hands. He tried to blink away his extremely blurry vision. A foggy memory of him placing his hands onto an alien device with a red hot signet and then seeing blackness. Iron clawed his wrists as he sat against a wall. Sweat slipped passed his charcoal and blood smeared cheekbones. An involuntary sacrifice he'd become in an away mission that had left him abandoned. One dull moment, he'd been discussing the puzzling terrestrial elements of the planets core with Data, and the next he was being forced to his knees as he sheilded his face from the concussive winds of his teams escape. For reasons they had yet to understand, they could not beam down and there for had to use alternate transportation.

A prisoner of war and only 17. He should've been at the academy, but he wanted to visit so badly. That Wesley was a fool to the one that now watched his federation issued boots in fear he would die staring at them. Six months ago he was filled with fury for a cause. That fury now eclipsed by despair and motivations buried in a grave he was too young to be digging. Other prisoners met the sides of his cell in their own. Families separated by stone and abused dominance. The rumble of the train above kept them awake all night until they'd ride it in the morning to meet their impending lot in life. Wesley was forced to learn their language in a very short period of time. It would have been a perfectly good ego boost, had he not been overwhelmed by the always merciless feeling of doom every second every day.

Their captors were faceless, wearing black masks from ear to ear, just below the eyes and down below the jaw. The thing about them that drove him crazy the most, was that they did not speak. He had once caught one of the superiors giving an order in a raspy whisper as he left the cavern, but he hid his reaction to avoid any kind of repercussion. Each day, anyone from 15 to 35 would be taken into the cavern where all remaining hope faced its demise. A guard would take you from your cell and toss you into the sandy ring at the feet of a highly trained opponent. Wesley showed his losses in the burns down his arm and up his neck. Different symbols and alien writings were seared into the skin with every defeat. The alien device that branded them left an ink like design of black and red. It was more pain than Wesley thought possible. As a result, they'd all become quick learners.

Nonetheless, he learned to fight, as did the others in the prison. He'd also learned to stop questioning their motives since every inquiry would result in silence and physical punishment. When they weren't in the cave or sleeping, they were laying brick. The train would take them each morning and they would discuss what they may be building each night. They whispered that it was a temple to worship their enslavers. Wesley never joined these conversations since he had learned to appreciate sleep as much as he could. A chain that led from the wall to his wrists had made this much harder.

He knew the night would be too cold to sleep if he didn't fall asleep right then. He laid on his side, scrunched up and arms clutched around his stomach. About 3 hours later, he woke suddenly by the train that rattled above, causing dust to puff from the old ceiling. He rubbed his hay-riddled face and pulled himself up to sit against the wall. He looked in the cell next to him to see the same old man that, he was told, had been there over 20 years. He rubbed his eyes to clear his drowsy vision, seeing as the man was not in his usual spot but lying face down beside the cell bars. Wesley shuffled closer to study the worrisome sight, but was yanked back by his restraint.

He took his chain and whipped it against the bars to see if the man would flinch. As the other prisoners sat up to see the culprit, Wesley stealthy slumped below the glow of moonlight into the shadow cast by night, motionlessly letting his open eyes hide in the blackness. The man did not flinch.

He's dead

Sulking further under the solitude brought on by deep darkness, his numbed sympathy felt little sorrow for the lost life. He curled back up against the stone and pulled the sleeves on his arms where a blanket would be. Guilt set in for his lack of feeling while he sat hoping the dusk would whisper temptations of sleep to kill his thoughts.

Light from the window shot a ray of sun across his eyes, bringing his consciousness to the surface. He scraped the top of his head against the jagged masonry. He sat up quickly when the memories of last night shocked his mind into sobriety. He rubbed his eyes only to make sure the man was really gone. He hadn't known him too well, but it pained him to think he might have done something to help.

He'd never woken up before the guards dragged their weapons across all the cell bars. He savored the 2 seconds just when a guard clanged against his cell.

"I'm awake!" Wesley snarled.

Like always, no response was given. The prisoners had all taken their first chances to scream and plead with the guards, but soon learned that the men were unmoved, and steadfast in this behavior. His senses suddenly sharpened at the undetectable change in the air that made his ears perk. The prisoners in the furthest cell he could see, were raising their voices and reaching their hands through the bars. They drew his attention to the subject. A girl no more than 16 with thick black hair overflowing from the jade pins that tried to hold it all together.

She must have been from a bountiful planet that resembled something like Earths east Asia, he pondered. Her dusty brown, slinky dress ended at her ankles and passed her wrists. It clung to her beautifully as it complemented her brown eyes, almost black. Small, olive green earrings dangled humbly below stray hairs with a natural curl.

The change this brought was exciting to. him, the first spark of joy he'd felt since arrival. But he couldn't have that. His thoughts immediately diverted to the reminder of his loneliness. He relaxed back down, his arm draping over his knee as he distracted himself from the good. Why was he trying to destroy himself, he questioned while rubbing his forehead in frustration and suppression of emotion.

Venomous words spoken into his mind by his pessimistic half. He could only assume that his team was gone for good. He was just a kid that they had to tolerate. He'd learned the feeling of doing them favors by staying mostly silent. If only he'd known that they'd been watching over him all along. Each cell had cameras imbedded in the stone to monitor the prisoners without their knowledge. All over the compound in fact, anywhere the prisoners could escape, without a single a blindspot. The enterprise had their feed hacked from the beggining. The silent suffering Wesley had calmly sat through was tortuous to watch.

The girl was tossed into the cell next to Wesleys, replacing the forgotten pair of hands before her. He winced as her knees scraped the ground. Her blank look was something he'd only required after weeks of sinking faith and the obliteration of the optimism he thought he would always have to rely on. Wherever she'd been before this must have taken her all, he said to himself. He knew they were about to be taken to the train because his restraints clicked open with a green light, as they do each day at that time.

The guards trickled out to unlock each cell. Wesley turned away, looking out of the small window near the ceiling, opposite the cell bars. He waited for the door to swing open but it never did. He turned to see the prison emptied, and himself alone. He stood quickly, checking the lock on his own cell. The door creaked open and his heart fell to his stomach.

At first, only Picard was called to the monitor to watch their plan play out. Others followed one by one as word spread, and there was quickly a very crowded room of curious people. They had tracked down that guard and paid him to leave the cell unlocked. Wesley had just assumed that luck had finally let go of its grudge and thrown him a bone. He stood at the door still, running scenarios through his head with a madness in his grip on the bars. "What are you waiting for," he pictured Riker saying. He wondered why himself.

He stared down at the red and black symbols that covered his surface. He thought about how he'd always thought of himself as stronger than the other prisoners and he couldn't begin to handle the pain and torture. They couldn't be left to die this way, and he had sworn to be loyal to his morals, even if it meant wagering his own life against freedom.

"Why is he hesitating?" Riker asked over Picards shoulder. A shake of the head was all he could give as he thought a word might make him miss a moment.

Wesley shook his head as he looked down, then looked up to the ceiling in frustration at his own ethics. He rubbed the back of his neck and leaned against the wall. The voice of his positive thoughts surprised him since their last departure he thought so permanent. They made him look up. The beauty was at his feet and he was flooded with gratitude that something possessed him to notice. Everything was extremely still paired with complete silence he had not experienced before. Without a sound for his ears to focus on, he took a moment to imagine he was somewhere else.

The crew watched with a new set of eyes as they were struck by the reminder that he was just a kid. A little bit of guilt fell upon them for everytime they'd forced his actions to exceed his years. Now they must watch with a different hope that the young one would make it out at all.

A/N...:) My ginormous outline tells me I must continue, so please let me know what you think! I love questions and comments! :)