Oooh you are gonna hate me.
/Wake up, Doctor/
McCoy gasped as he felt Spock's mind brush his. He had not answered to any of McCoy's mental pleas and he could only assume that Spock was undergoing another torture session.
/Spock/
/Leonard/
Though McCoy could not hear the pain in Spock's voice, he could sense it through the link that connected their minds. They had not seen each other for four days as Dieb deemed it too dangerous for them to stay in the same cell. So McCoy had barely slept for four days, waiting and straining his mind until he felt the comforting whisper of Spock's thoughts against his.
/Was this one as bad as the others?/
/Worse/
The worst part was that Dieb seemed to be torturing Spock for entertainment, not for the purpose of extracting information.
McCoy sat up as he heard footsteps padding the dry earth that led to his holding cell. He winced as the rusty door was shoved open, its protests absorbed by the stone and dirt lodging. A hand grasped his arm and dragged him into the bright hall.
Unaccustomed to the blinding light, McCoy could not focus his eyes until he was pushed into a darkened room. He almost slipped on the wet floor as he was guided to a chair.
He frowned. They were above ground and it hadn't rained since their capture four days ago.
McCoy froze in horror when he realized the pool of liquid was blood.
Green blood.
"Spock."
"Yes," Dieb said, striding into the room. "Spock. You two seem quite close. Bring him in."
McCoy's heart stopped as Spock was dragged in. The normally tall, proud Vulcan had to be held up by two of Dieb's guards. His face was swollen almost beyond recognition and he seemed unable to stand upright.
McCoy noticed his hands were clumsily bandaged by strips of his uniform and judging by the amount of blood that had seeped through the cloth, he was missing fingers.
"I thought I'd get revenge on that damn captain of yours by torturing you in order to extract information about your ship," Dieb began. "But since there's no way Kirk will know what I'm doing to you, I thought I'd kill one of you instead. The other one will be forced to stay here with me until I've determined otherwise. The question is, do I kill the scientist or the medic?"
"Technically, we're both scientists," McCoy quipped and was rewarded with a slap across the face from one of Dieb's guards.
"Very funny," Dieb snarled. "One of you is going to die. Choose."
"Kill me," Spock and McCoy said at the same time.
"Leonard," Spock said, pleading with his eyes. "I am already dead. The amount of blood I have lost–you of all people must know that."
"Like hell," McCoy growled. "Enter a trance. Slow your heart rate. Just don't die."
Dieb's eyes widened. "Interesting. Male lovers. I have heard of such a perversion, but I have never seen it."
Spock's eyes narrowed. "It is not a perversion," he hissed, his voice thick with pain. "Say any more and I will kill you where you stand."
"You really think you could? Then I would kill your friend here and then who would save you?"
Despite the obvious effort it took, Spock lifted his head. "Jim," he said, a faint chuckle emanating from his throat.
"What?" Dieb asked.
"Jim."
At that moment, a section of the wall furthest from them collapsed and in swarmed what seemed like dozens of Starfleet security officers. The two guards were shot immediately. Spock, lacking enough strength to stand on his own, collapsed to his knees.
"You!" Dieb snarled.
"Me," Jim replied, stepping over the guards, his phaser leveled at Dieb's chest. "Bones. Spock. Good to see you."
"Jim, your timing is no less than godly," McCoy chuckled.
"This isn't over!" Dieb yelled.
"Yes it is," Jim laughed.
"No, it's not." Dieb drew a blade from his sleeve and drove it deep into Spock's throat. Jim shot it, but the damage was already done.
To McCoy, the yells of the security officers as they called for an emergency medical beam out seemed muffled by the rush of blood in his head. He could feel the knife. He could feel the hiss of air that escaped Spock's throat from the hole the knife had left. And he could feel the rush of blood that was pushed out with every heartbeat.
/Leonard/
Spock's eyes focused on his and he fell backward, green blood staining the dirt.
"Where's that goddamn transport?" Jim bellowed.
McCoy was frozen. "Spock," he whispered.
Spock's eyes closed and McCoy felt his end of the bond go silent. Not the silent of repression, but a kind of void that threatened to pull McCoy in with it.
Even as McCoy's body dissolved into energy for transport, he felt something in his mind shatter.
Spock was dead.