Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in posting! Thanks for all of your lovely review. I've been working on the finishing touches for my novel that is being published April 1st. But I am still committed to writing this and finishing it for y'all. I deviated a little bit more from canon for this chapter, but there's finally some more action for you! Enjoy and feel free to leave me a review!

Chapter Seven

"5 ccs of epinephrine, inject it directly into his leg, Chris."

Pike quickly did as he was instructed as the alarms blared. He waited. A few seconds later, the alarms stopped and Jim took a shaky breath. Doctor Ravi reattached the leads and adjusted the boy's oxygen flow. Jim's eyes opened and he stared at Chris. He grabbed Jim's hand. The kid opened his mouth to say something, but succumbed to coughing instead. Jim rolled to his side and sat up. The doctor grabbed a bowl and pounded on the center of Jim's back. He expelled some of the gunk from his lungs.

"What happened?" Pike asked once Jim lay back.

"He had an allergic reaction to a compound in the broth he sipped." Doctor Ravi shook his head. "Is there any progress on his medical file? It would certainly help treat him."

Chris waited until Jim's eyes closed. "It's a slow process. Starfleet is cutting through the red tape to make sure the information is kept confidential. It should be coming in the next day or two."

"My head hurts…" Jim whispered.

"I know, kid. The doctor's gonna give you something to make it feel better."

"His oxygen levels are lower. It's causing his headache," Doctor Ravi stated. He grabbed the oxygen mask and placed it on Jim's face. "This should help. Let me know if it gets worse. I'll give you something for the pain."

The boy nodded and let out a sigh. He turned his head in Pike's direction. "Stay with me?"

"I'm not going anywhere." Pike squeezed his hand and sat back down in the chair beside the bed. He picked up his book off the bedside table as the doctor administered a hypo into Jim's neck.

Jim watched the man sitting next to him. Pike opened his book and started reading where he left off, but he could tell Jim wanted to say something. The boy coughed weakly. It was after eleven and he should be sleeping, but the kid's schedule was off. The doctor noticed Jim was resisting sleeping at night, but he was calmer with Pike in the room and asked him to come down for a while. Pike glanced up and saw Jim's eyes were heavy, but he blinked rapidly to keep them open. He set the book down and leaned closer to him.

"It's okay to go to sleep."

The boy shook his head. "I'm not tired."

"I can tell you're tired. Are you scared of having nightmares?"

Jim picked at the blanket and averted his gaze.

"I'm right here. I'll wake you up if it gets too bad."

"I don't want to sleep. I have to protect my kids."

"No one is going to hurt them, I promise you." Pike adjusted his chair. "He can't hurt you anymore."

Moisture pooled in Jim's eyes, but didn't fall. "You don't know that."

Chris frowned. He couldn't stay awake forever though and he knew Jim was exhausted. He opened his book again and returned his attention to the pages. The old novel about a man journeying along a road with his son was deep and confusing at the same time. Pike found he couldn't focus. Jim coughed again. He looked up and smiled. Despite his protests, the kid had fallen asleep pretty quickly. He wondered if the doctor had given him a mild sedative with the pain reliever. Pike leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. He might as well try to get a little sleep too.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Walker to Lieutenant Pike."

Pike jolted up, almost falling to the floor at the sound of his name. He took a deep breath and let it out before answering. "This is Pike. What can I do for you?"

"Sir, we are receiving a transmission from the planet, but Captain O'Mara is unavailable. Would you be able to come to the bridge?"

Chris ran his hands over his face. It was almost one in the morning and he wasn't surprised the captain was unavailable. They were leaving the planet tomorrow, well today, and he'd worked late the night before.

"Who is it?"

There was a long pause and Pike stood up. Something wasn't right. He glanced at Jim, seeing the kid was still asleep with the mask on his face.

"Sir, please just come to the Bridge."

Pike touched Jim's hand and promised the sleeping boy to be back as soon as he could. He rushed from the medbay, not caring he was dressed in civilian clothing instead of his uniform. They could excuse him because of the hour. Chris stepped into the lift. He ordered it to take him to the Bridge and he tried to refocus. As soon as he stepped out of the lift, his heart skipped a beat. An unfamiliar face was on the view screen. The man was older with wrinkles on his face and a fresh cut on his cheek. Everyone on the Bridge was silent.

"This is Lieutenant Christopher Pike." Chris walked over to stand in front of the command chair. "What can I help you with?"

"You have something that belongs to me." The rough voice caused goose-bumps to form on Pike's arms.

Ensign Walker, who sat at the science station, turned to look at him and frowned.

"To whom am I speaking?" Pike asked.

The man laughed. "You already know, Lieutenant. Now give him back to me. He wasn't yours for the taking."

Pike's fists clenched as he stood up straighter. He lowered his voice so only Ensign Walker could hear him. "Can you locate where his transmission is coming from?"

"No, sir."

Chris took a shaky breath and returned his attention to the vile man on the view screen. "Kodos, you are hereby under arrest for crimes against the colony of Tarsus IV, the mass genocide of the colonists, along with –"

"You can't arrest me!" Kodos interrupted. "I'm taking what belongs to me."

Kodos' face vanished from the screen as Pike ordered the shields to be raised. He rushed toward the science station to see if he could help locate the signal.

"Sir, there was an unauthorized transport from the medbay," Ensign Walker reported.

"Doctor Ravi to Lieutenant Pike! Our patient is gone."

Pike felt like throwing something. "Can you trace the transport?"

The young man worked quickly and his fingers deftly pressed the buttons. Chris ran his hand through his hair as he waited for an answer. The ensign nodded.

"I can't pinpoint the exact location, but he was transported into a kilometer radius around the governor's palace."

"Security Team one, meet me in the transporter room in two minutes." He turned to the ensign. "Inform Captain O'Mara of the situation and tell him I'll keep him posted. I'm not letting him get away with this."

Pike ran from the Bridge and all the way to the transporter room. Five security officers were waiting for him. He still hadn't bothered with his uniform, but he took the offered weapon. Kodos wasn't going to get away with taking Jim from him. He'd already hurt that kid too much. The group stepped onto the transporter pad.

"Energize."

The group materialized outside of the former governor's palace. Taro and Miller were two of the security officers and he was glad since they were vaguely familiar with the location. Taro pulled out his scanner.

"Anything?"

"I'm detecting two bio-signs 100 meters to the right. They are on the move."

Chris motioned for the team to follow him down the hallway. Broken glass crushed beneath his shoes. Only a little light came from the dim fixtures on the walls. It was like walking through a creepy Halloween haunted house. Pike felt his heart pounding hard in his chest. He rounded the first corner, keeping his weapon ready. Nothing. He quickened his pace as they went down the deserted corridor. A few of the doors were opened, but there was no sound inside the rooms.

"80 meters," Taro said.

Pike began to run. The team kept close as they rounded another corner. It was a dead end. There was absolutely nothing in front of them but an empty wall. Chris walked up to it, trying to feel for a level or something that would take him to another room.

"Where are they?" he demanded, turning to face Taro and the others.

"Still 80 meters from us."

Pike kicked the wall. At the same time, his hand grasped a small handhold and he felt the ground shift beneath him. He cried out to the security team, but it was a second too late as the wall twisted around, throwing him into another empty hallway and separating them. He regained his balance and pounded on the wall for a moment. An angry shout jarred his attention. Jim. He was close and Kodos had him. He wasn't going to let that happen again. Pike held his phase pistol and ran after the sound. The hallway floor was coated in dust and he almost slid into the wall.

Sweat dripped down Pike's face and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. There was no ventilation in the room and the floor was beginning to slope downward. There was another muffled sound ahead of him. Chris rounded another corner. A searing pain went through his arm and he registered the sound a moment too late. He leaned heavily against the wall. His left hand reached up and touched the wound, pulling back with dark blood on his hand. The room spun as the pain increased. A cry of pain escaped his lips. Pike fought to stay standing and his eyes fell upon Jim. Kodos had an arm wrapped around the boy's neck; there was obvious pressure. In his other hand, he held the outdated projectile weapon to the kid's head.

"Put down your weapon or the boy dies." Kodos huffed and he sounded winded.

There was no way Jim had willingly been running down the corridors in his weakened state. Blood trickled from the corner of Jim's mouth, but other than that he appeared to be okay.

"Let him go. You don't want to hurt him." Chris stood up straight and pointed his weapon at the executioner.

"James Tiberius Kirk. I discovered this little genius in my school system, but he was trouble. He kept bothering my teachers and pulling pranks on all of them. All of the other children loved him." Kodos ran the back of his hand down Jim's cheek as the kid flinched. "But I could see he was unhappy and lonely."

Pike tightened his grasp on his weapon as he listened.

"He refused private tutoring with me. I decided to kill him with the others, but he escaped and worked against me." The arm around Jim's neck tightened and he coughed, fighting to breathe. "The bastard stole food, but I wouldn't let him get away. He belongs to me."

Pike swallowed. "He doesn't belong to anyone. He's just a kid. If you let him go, I will make sure they don't kill you immediately when I turn you over to them."

"Liar!" Kodos laughed and it filled the small corridor. "If I die, he dies. There's no way around it, Lieutenant."

He watched as Jim wavered on his feet. He was struggling and trying to stay upright. The front of his medical top was damp with sweat. Jim took a short breath and swallowed, lifting his head to breath better. Kodos adjusted his grip on him. The kid lifted his arms and dug his fingernails into Kodos' exposed hand. The former governor cursed, but didn't release the boy.

Pike held his weapon to the side in surrender and hissed when he moved his injured arm. "Take me instead. I'll be a better hostage. The kid's already sick and he'll die without medical attention."

"Chris," Jim whispered.

The butt of the weapon hit the kid next to the eye and Kodos swore in an unfamiliar language. "Shut up!"

"Stop! Don't hurt him. I'm putting my weapon on the floor and I'll back up." Pike said, slowly getting down on one knee. "Just let Jim go."

He locked eyes with the boy, seeing the fear and pain poorly concealed. Pike nodded just a little bit. Chris continued to get closer to the floor. His eyes never left Jim's. In a flash, Pike rolled forward and aimed the weapon at Kodos' head. A shot rang out as he fired his weapon. Chris fell backwards as the projectile entered his side and he gasped. The pain immediately clouded his vision. His hands went to the wound, putting pressure on it. Chris felt his stomach roll and he thought he might throw up from the amount of pain he was in. Two hands joined his.

"Jim…"

His eyes barely focused on the boy's face. There was blood staining his skin.

"Kodos?" Pike tried to lift his head, but fell back.

"He's dead."

The edges of his vision began to turn black. Pike reached into his pants pocket for his communicator and remembered he didn't have one. Jim would have to go get help. The air in the room felt thin and it was getting hard to inhale. He vaguely heard Jim say his name as everything went dark.