Chapter Six

"Wake up, Doctor."

McCoy turned his head slightly, ready to hear Spock's voice telling him to get on his feet and move.

But the bond was quiet and Spock had not come looking for him. McCoy could safely assume that he had been captured by the Bringers.

A bolt of fear. McCoy was in no condition to stage a break-in. Until he was healed, he could do nothing to rescue Spock. He stood to stretch his one good arm and froze. Gazing at him with deep violet, unblinking eyes was a child. She spoke, but the universal translator couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"I'm sorry, but I can't understand you," McCoy said, bracing himself to run if she screamed.

"I said, are you a demon?" She lifted one slightly webbed hand to brush red hair out of her face.

"No, I'm not a demon," McCoy said, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Though some might beg to differ," he muttered darkly.

"Are you an Order?" He shook his head.

"Are you a Bringer?" Another shake.

"Then would you to meet my brother? He's a healer," she said, baring her teeth at him. McCoy started until he realized she was imitating his own gesture.

"Sure. I'd like that," McCoy said, hoping he wasn't walking right into a trap.

She skipped ahead and McCoy followed.

MSMSMS

The blow was sharp against Spock's face, but he betrayed nothing.

"Order...when is the next raid?"

"As I said before, I am not a member of the Order. It is therefore illogical to persist in asking me questions I cannot answer," Spock replied calmly, closing his left eye to keep the trickle of blood out of it.

Another blow. "Don't lie. We saw you with the Order. You and your brothers. You are plotting against us!"

"My crewmates were attempting to negotiate safe passage through this sector. We paused in orbit here to make repairs while we searched for supplies. Our meting with the Order was unplanned and unproductive."

"That's what you would have me believe," his interrogator spat bitterly.

"I was captured by the Order." Spock was growing frustrated.

"And what did they tell you about us?"

Spock narrowed his one good eye in the man's direction.

"They said you were rebels going against the established order. You have been staging terrorist attacks on innocents and-"

The interrogator slammed his club against the wall. "We are not terrorists! We are trying to show the people that the Order is repressing their ideals, their thoughts. I wouldn't expect you to understand." He left, leaving Spock the freedom to fall limp under the pain.

He struggled to keep his pain to himself by keeping the bond silent, though he desperately wanted to contact Leonard and tell him he was alive.

Closing his eyes, he slumped farther into his chair, biting back moans of pain.

SMSMSM

McCoy laughed heartily as he rotated his arm. "Feels great!"

Theylor, the healer, smiled at him. At least, McCoy took the gesture as a smile.

"I am pleased Axsk found you. It has been so long since we had visitors." He pulled his medical scanner back and allowed McCoy to stand and examine himself. The wound in his leg was sealed and clean. All of this cuts and tears were gone. In fact, he had never felt better.

McCoy longed to sit and study the tools Theylor used, but he was feeling guilty for the indulgence. The siblings had already housed and fed him for a night. All the while, Spock was...somewhere. Despite his best tries, McCoy could not penetrate the black shroud that kept him from Spock's mind. It worried him.

"Theylor, you know I value what you have done for me. But...I have to rescue Spock."

Theylor lifted one webbed hand to gesture Axsk over with food. "This Spock, he is your friend?"

"Well...yes. We bicker, but we're friends."

"You seem quite worried about him."

McCoy bristled defensively. "Well, why shouldn't I be? He's my t'hy'la!"

Theylor looked displeased. "Your t'hy'la?" He struggled with the pronunciation and McCoy marveled that his own Southern accent had accurately framed the word.

"He's my bondmate. He..." McCoy stopped talking, at a loss to describe the bond to an outsider.

"He frustrates the hell out of me. He can never admit when he's wrong and there are times when I could just kill him. Like now, for example. Getting captured by the Bringers is the dumbest, most illogical thing he could have done." McCoy stood and began pacing. Theylor watched him move, noting his word choice and wild gestures with interest.

"You are mates, then," he said sadly.

He had never seen anyone go as still as McCoy did in that moment.

"Why do you say that?" McCoy said suspiciously.

"You're a very interesting man, McCoy." He moved closer to him and McCoy backed away.

"Theylor, I think I see where this is going. I'm afraid I'm not..."

"Gay?"

McCoy spoke quietly. "Available."

They were still for a moment.

"Then let us rescue your t'hy'la."

And that's the end of chapter six!