Hello all!! So sorry about the long wait for the update but yay!! Here it is!! To be honest I wasn't sure who I wanted to find Jim first but I finally settled on Uhura because it seemed like a way for her to redeem herself from the night before. That and there totally needs to be more friendship stories between them :P There's also a liberal dose of humor in here to kind of break up the severity of the chapter (ie. "you owe me a new jacket", you'll see when you get there ;p) Hope you all like it!! :D
A gunshot is always a pretty good indicator of something going horribly wrong. The remaining crew members had just completed their second sweep of the area surrounding the Academy and were about to give it up when the shattering noise split through the still air. They had broken off into pairs, each splitting off into different directions, and Uhura was the first to hear the shot. Her dark eyes widened as they made contact with Chekov's startled face. Before either said a word, they were both running in the direction of the shot, darting through the empty courtyards of the Academy.
Another shot ripped through the air and Uhura turned sharply, narrowing it down to the engineering junkyard across from the campus. All feelings of fatigue had dissolved instantly replaced by a cold, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't be sure, there was no way she could be sure, but she knew it was Jim. She pushed herself to run faster. She could vaguely hear Chekov contacting the others, telling them their location, as she darted across the street and came face to face with the barred gate of the junkyard. She grabbed the bars, pulling as hard as she could and cursing when they refused to move. "Damn…!" She growled, rounding to Chekov. "Can you open this?!"
The boy nodded, eager to help out in anyway and began rapidly typing in a series of codes and passwords. A few seconds later the gate slowly began to creek open, sliding along its hinges in a heavy, grinding way.
Uhura slipped through the gate once it was open enough for her to get through and looked back at Chekov. "Stay here and wait for the others. I'm going to go find Kirk."
"But what about-?!" Another gun shot cracked through the air, closer this time and Chekov cringed.
"Chekov. Stay. Here." She said firmly, turning away before he could protest further. She felt like she was talking to a puppy but she knew that if he followed her into the junkyard it would be much more dangerous. She could say hidden long enough to find Jim but she didn't want to worry about something happening to Chekov either. The others will be here soon she told herself, running quietly and ducking behind a large chunk of machinery. She remained still for a few minutes, listening closely to everything around her. She could hear someone talking a little further back into the yard, a voice she didn't recognize, but what she did hear chilled her to the bone.
"Come on Jim…come out, come out wherever you are…" The voice chided maliciously and before she could stop it she found herself yelling.
"Its over!" She called, casting her voice off the different angles of metal so it sounded much further away than she was. She ducked behind another large, cylindrical piece of an engine. "We know where you are!"
The yard became quiet, the voice stopping abruptly. She could see the shimmering image of man in the metal around her and carefully slipped away, putting herself behind him and disappearing again. More voices echoed from the gate up ahead and she knew that the others had arrived. Damn good thing too, she was running out of places to go. Without waiting to see where the man had gone, she took off toward the back of the yard once more.
Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed the large splatters of blood painting the ground along the way. The air smelled heavy with dust and blood and Uhura felt her heart drop to her stomach. There were streaks on the metal, freckles of crimson against a shiny metallic panel resting up against another piece of machinery. She could just barely make out the outline of a person hidden in the shadowed crevice between the two pieces of metal and she fell to her knees instantly. "Oh my God…Kirk…"
Jim was slumped against the panel, his eyes screwed shut in pain. He blinked when he heard his name, this time not in the sadistic, mocking tone Frank used. "Uhura…?" He asked, his voice coming out as a breathy whisper.
"Jesus Christ Jim…" She muttered, cupping his face and looking him over carefully. "What were you thinking?! Jesus…" She looked down at the alarming amount of blood that covered the younger man, her voice dying her throat. "Oh my God…"
" 'S…not that…bad…" Jim trying to smile but it looked more like a grimace. He took a shallow breath, the motion harsh and painful in his chest. He was trembling but he couldn't feel it; hell, he couldn't feel much of anything anymore. "You…shouldn't…" He paused to take another agonizing breath, vaguely wondering when talking had become harder than running a 15k marathon. "…Be here…dangerous…"
"Shut up…" Uhura snapped, unable to stop the tears from stinging the backs of her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to smack him in the back of the head and call him and idiot but she knew it wouldn't help anything. Instead, she reached out and placed both hands over the bleeding wound in Jim's side, pressing down hard. The younger man made a soft sound in the back of his throat, something close to a whimper and Uhura felt the tears fall before she could stop them. "I'm so sorry…God, I'm so so sorry…" She was apologizing for not doing more the night before, for not trying to stop Kirk from walking out of the bar, for basically treating him with little more than disdain for the past three and a half years. Her Captain was dying right in front of her and there was very little she could do to stop that.
" Not…your fault…" Came the gasped whisper. Jim was gritting his teeth, desperately fighting off the darkening edges that stained his vision. The shadows seemed darker, the ground falling beneath him and he didn't have anything left to hang on to.
"Kirk…?" The younger man's eyes were beginning to close and Uhura felt her stomach flip sharply. "No…no sleeping! Dammit, wake the hell up!" She shook him roughly, knowing it was probably doing more harm than good, but she didn't care. "Jim, wake up." She managed to level her voice out and she cupped his face in her hands. "Jim, listen to me…I need you to stay awake, alright? Can you hear me? Dammit! Open your eyes, Kirk…!"
Glassy blue eyes slowly slid open, focusing on her face. Jim blinked, wincing and tasting blood in the back of his mouth. "So…loud…"
Uhura nearly laughed in relief but the click of a gun being cocked made her freeze.
"Well, well, well…isn't this sweet?" A dark, sinister voice drawled from behind them. Uhura looked up only to find an old-fashioned revolver aimed directly at her and Jim. "Ahh…the pretty girl from the bar." The man smirked, a dangerous, black smile that would seem fitting on a cobra. "You know, I was planning on just killing him but I think making him watch you die first would be so much more entertaining."
Jim tried to sit up, tried to say something, but Uhura kept her hands on him and refused to let him move. She glared at the man, wondering where the hell everyone else was, and kept herself between him and the wounded man behind her. "Why?" She asked simply, the word dripping with every ounce of hatred and wrath she could fathom.
The man chuckled. "Why not? You know Jim personally, don't you? You know what a screw up he is."
"He's not-!"
"Ah." The gun leveled on her again and the man's eyes darkened. "Remember who has the gun here, sweetheart." Seeing that his point had gotten across, he smiled again, the same malicious smile he seemed to keep at all times. "Jim Kirk has always been a walking mistake…I'm just here to fix that." The gun leveled again and Uhura braced herself for the shot that never came.
There was a blur of movement and suddenly the man was knocked completely off his feet, tumbling back into the yard away from where they were. She had just enough time to make out Spock and Sulu before all three disappeared into the mechanical maze.
"Uhura!" Another voice called from somewhere up ahead and she recognized it instantly as McCoy.
"Over here!" She cried, noticing to her dismay that Kirk was beginning to lose consciousness again. "Hurry!"
A few seconds later McCoy ran by, missed their all but hidden location, and ran back. He dropped to his knees in the dirt, eyes widening sharply. "Oh my God…Oh God…" No matter how many years of experience he had, McCoy was still not prepared to deal with the blow of seeing his best friend battered, bruised, and just barely clinging to life in the middle of a dusty junkyard. There was far too much blood and not enough Jim beneath the dirty, tattered clothes. "What the hell happened…?!"
"He's been shot." Uhura said, keeping her hands over the wound. "Among other things."
McCoy nodded absently and went into instant CMO mode. He silently cursed the fact that he'd left all of his equipment on the ship and resolved to do things the old-fashioned way. He touched Jim's throat gently, counting softly. The younger man's pulse was far too slow, the rhthym thready and weak. Thank you blood loss. He took in the external injuries quickly, knowing there was probably a mess of internal ones as well, and moved up, patting Jim on the face a bit more roughly than was probably necessary. "Hey, kid. Sleep time's over. Wake up!"
The younger man blinked, his pupils uneven, and winced. Great, a definite concussion. "Ngh…you too…?"
"You're dame right me too." McCoy snapped but he couldn't keep his voice from shaking. "Dammit Jim, what the hell were you thinking?!"
Another wince followed but a raspy, gurgled breath. "Wasn't…"
"Obviously." The older man grumbled irritably, shrugging out of his jacket and wadding it into a ball. He covered the bullet wound carefully, placing Uhura's hands back over the shirt once it was settled. "The second you get better, I'm going to beat you to death…" He mumbled, taking in the rest of the younger man's broken form. Blood streaked nearly every inch that wasn't covered by clothing and the patchwork of bruises was only partially visible in the shadows. "Jesus kid…"
There was a rush of footsteps and Scotty appeared above them, panting and out of breath. "We called for a medical team and the police are on the way-" He looked like he was about to say more but he stopped, his voice faltering when he saw Jim. "Blood Hell…what did he do to 'im…?!"
McCoy shook his head slowly and looked up to the shaken man. "He'll be fine…" He said, trying to convince himself more than anything. "Just go back and wait with Chekov. Let the police and medical team know where to find us, whoever gets here first."
Scotty hesitated for a split second before he nodded and took off back toward the front of the yard. McCoy let out a breath, hating the control of frantic bystanders more than anything.
"McCoy…" Uhura's shaky voice brought him out of his reverie. "He's not breathing…"
"What?!" Okay, so maybe this was a little worse than frantic bystanders. Turning back to Jim, he tilted the younger man's head back and listened carefully, pressing his fingers to the side of his throat. Not breathing, no pulse…shit. "Shit…" Reacting instantly, the older man positioned his hands over Jim's heart and began chest compressions, counting softly to himself. "I need you to breathe for him…" He said in between each compression, catching Uhura's eye from the corner of his.
The young woman nodded, waiting for the cycle to finish before doing her part. She delivered two full breaths, watching carefully for the full rise and fall of Jim's chest. She was sure if he knew about this he's make some smartass comment about her kissing him. The thought brought the sting of tears all over again.
McCoy started a second set of compressions, muttering desperately to himself after each one. "Come on, kid…" He mumbled, pressing down hard and fast. "You can beat this…Come on Jim…Don't quit on me now…"
Uhura leaned over again, delivering two more breaths and fighting to keep the tears from falling.
Blood had now saturated the corners of the jacket, forming a small puddle on the ground. "Dammit Jim…breathe…" McCoy snapped, repositioning his hands and beginning again. "If you die I'm going to kill you…I'll find a way…you owe me a new jacket…" There was a shudder beneath his hands and Jim let out a weak, ragged cough, curling onto one side and wincing. "Atta boy…" McCoy breathed in relief, pulling Jim's head into his lap and stabilizing his neck. "Just breathe kid…there you go…"
Uhura sat back on her knees, smiling through her tears. That was far too close for either of them.
Someone appeared beside her and Spock's dark eyes leveled on the unconscious young man cradled in the doctor's lap. "Is he-?"
"He's in really bad shape." McCoy answered bitterly, looking down at Jim and then back up the First Officer. "Where's-?"
Spock didn't answer but his eyes held a sharp, dangerous edge they'd rarely ever seen.
"Did you-?" Uhura couldn't bring herself to finish the question.
"No, he has been incapacitated." The Vulcan reassured her though his eyes never left the limp form of the Captain.
"Incapacitated?!" McCoy exclaimed in disbelief. "You should have-"
"Spock broke both of his legs." Sulu cut in, joining the ragtag group that had formed around Jim.
"In multiple places." Spock added.
"Like, bones-sticking-out-in-all-kinds-of-funny-angles broke his legs. I don't think he'll be going anywhere anytime soon…"
"Yeah, well he can stay there." McCoy spat, expression darkening when he thought of what that man had put Jim through.
"Where is the medical team?" The Vulcan asked calmly but there was a very faint edge of anxiety in his voice.
"On their way…they should be here soon." But even as he said it McCoy wished they would hurry. "We need to wait for them though…it's not safe to move-" He never got a chance to finish as Spock took two steps forward, scooped the unconscious Captain into his arms and began walking toward the front of the yard. "…him."
"Desperate times, Doctor." Spock said over his shoulder, quickening his pace slightly when he felt the blood begin to seep through his shirt.
Sulu helped Uhura off the ground and the remaining three hurried after the First Officer. Their Captain needed help fast and waiting wasn't going to fix anything. The wail of a police siren echoed in the distance and they were more than happy to leave Frank broken and helpless in the middle of the junkyard.
So?? Was is okay?? Did Frank get what he deserved?? I wanted to kill him, I really did but I figured going back to prison, especially one he could never escape from (say, on another planet with a very acidic atmospher and running rampant with ravenous, blood-thirsty badgers with hand genades) was just as good :D Hope you all liked it!! There's still more to come!!
