Chapter 40- Persistence

"Shite." Scotty mumbled under his breath after Chekov reported what the tour group found in Sylar's room and Noah explained what it actually meant. Some days he wished he could be at liberty to just be piss drunk on scotch laying in a field somewhere in the Highlands rather than deal with something like this. Situations like the one he currently found himself in was the exact reason he preferred to stay in the bowels of the ship. Despite the possibility of a catastrophic atomic failure of the warp core drive, it somehow just seemed safer down there. No matter his preferences, he was the Captain and it was now up to him to decide the fate of the crew. He sighed and held his head in his hands. "Do any of the lot of ya have anything that just might be of use to me right now?"

"Such as?" Mohinder prompted. He didn't expect to hear reading genetic sequences among the list of emergent needs, but one could never know for sure.

"I dunno- reading crystal balls…or tea leaves…or mind control…"

"Um.." Matt tentatively spoke up, "I can do the mind control thing- sorta."

"Aye!" Scotty perked up. "I don't suppose you can just convince them to give up?"

"Well, if I was close to them." He admitted. "But the whole eclipse thing kinda makes that an impossibility."

"Not on Romulus." Sulu refuted turning in his seat to face the group. "If we could get you down there, could you convince the Romulans to just release them? The eclipse is only affecting the mining outpost right now."

"Da!" Chekov chimed in excitedly. "Then ve can just pick them up vithout starting a war. But you vill have to hurry because the orbit vill bring Romulus directly in the path of the eclipse in approximately two hours." He confirmed checking his charts.

"I don't have to wear one of those ridiculous shirts do I?" Matt asked apprehensively. While the form fitting fabric made the athletic crew look great, his softer body wouldn't look so hot- of that he was certain.

"Ya can go naked if ya like, as long as ya get the bloody job done!" Scotty smiled.

Noah chuckled and said, "I was going to volunteer to go as well, but now…" He shook his head as he looked Matt up and down.

"Likewise," Mohinder agreed gesturing vaguely to the elevators, "I have something….very…desperately important to attend to."

"Alright guys, go ahead and have your laugh." Matt grumbled putting his hands on his hips. "But who's the only one who can actually help here?"

"Well, I cannae let the two of ya you go alone. Chekov, get your gear and get movin'. Ah am countin' on ya to keep them safe down there."

Surprised by the invitation and serious responsibility, he jumped to his feet, saluted, and stumbled to the elevators all in one move. "Aye, Sir!" He smiled. "I vill not fail you!"

"What…?" Sulu asked perplexed looking after his friend. "Why does he get to go? I outrank him!"

Scotty sighed and wondered if they bickered like this when Jim made assignments. "And once more, Ah outrank you now quit your bitchin'. Ah need someone to fly the damn ship and Ah don't think we will get lost without him in the time bein'."

"Aye, Sir." Sulu quietly replied as he turned back to his controls. He didn't mean to sound petulant and really it was a little inappropriate to question his superior at a time like this. He was slightly embarrassed over the whole thing, but he squarely blamed himself.

Peter weighed his options as he followed Sylar through the twisting maze of hallways. He made it a point to stop at every door and peek in to see if Spock was inside. Sylar grew evermore irritated every time he did it, but Peter didn't care. "I'm telling you, it's not right to just leave him here." He insisted when Sylar scowled at him. "Besides, we need him. We don't know anything about these people or what their capabilities are."

"They don't know ours either." Gabriel reminded him.

"Which is exactly what?" Peter asked sarcastically. "Right now, it doesn't amount to shit because we can't do anything! I can make a quarter appear behind their pointed ear, but I don't think they would be too impressed with that."

Gabriel almost let out an involuntary laugh because it was the first time he ever remembered hearing Peter swear- even mildly- and he found it funny that the Boy Scout would stoop to such low standards. It just seemed so wrong. "The eclipse won't last forever and when it passes we will have our powers back."

Peter paused and asked in a serious tone, "What happens if we don't? Maybe the rules out in space are different or maybe this time it won't work. Then what?"

"There is no reason to believe we won't." He replied in a low tone. The fact was he simply couldn't fathom life without abilities. He couldn't stand just being Gabriel Gray- not after all the power he once held to get whatever his heart desired. Maybe Peter could find a life being normal but he couldn't- not after all the things that Sylar had done and all of the people looking to punish him for his crimes. But it was a little more than that- if their powers never came back it meant they were all trapped far in the future in space. There would be no going back- something he had just taken for granted would happen sooner or later in one way or another.

"Sylar!" Peter hissed as he grabbed the taller man's shoulder and squeezed harder than he meant to. "It's him!"

Gabriel held his breath as he peered through the small window of the door to see Spock bound to a table in what looked like a lab, covered in a green liquid he assumed was his blood if what he said about the painting was true. His stomach sank as yet another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

"We have to get him." Peter insisted.

"And do what?" Gabriel asked. "Just walk in there and ask the guard nicely to let him go? Peter, we can't do anything about it right now. We can come back for him later."

"No." Peter stated defiantly. "He is injured too badly to just leave him there. If we don't help him he won't last much longer."

"Assuming he is like a human, which I don't think he is." Gabriel argued. "Look, we have the chance to get out alive, why risk that for someone we don't really know? In case you forgot, Peter, we can die now."

A small smirk formed on Peter's face as he asked, "I'm not afraid. Are you?"

"You are an idiot." Gabriel scolded. He never imagined he would ever find anything in common with Nathan, but he began to see how frustrating it must have been to keep a leash on such an idealist. Why couldn't he just be more rational?!

"Maybe, but I'm no coward and we have to do the right thing." It was clear he had made up his mind and he would do it alone if Sylar refused to help. He just couldn't find it in himself to leave a man behind, especially one that was in serious need of medical help- help he could provide assuming he could get to him.

"Fine." Gabriel spat in frustration. He thought it a better alternative to go along with Peter's insane plan and at least get caught while doing something than to remain arguing in the hallway. "What do you propose we do?" If he was so hell bent on getting it done, he would be responsible for coming up with the plan this time.

"Well…" Peter mused again peeking through the window to survey the situation "I only see one guard. Since we both know you suck at fighting, I can take him." Gabriel scowled up at him for the insult, but he couldn't really deny it. "And I'm not really into the whole bondage thing- I think you would be better at getting him free from the restraints."

"Whatever." Gabriel mumbled. First Peter more or less called him a pussy and then added insult to injury by insinuating that he also had bizarre personal fetishes. His acquiescence only drove home exactly how different he was without his powers. Sylar would have had his scalp for such a sleight and no one- absolutely no one would have the temerity to question his combat skills.

"Have you lost your friggin' mind?" Jim asked Nathan after politely excusing the group from the table to deliberate in a side hallway. "I thought we agreed that we were going to negotiate for all of them!"

McCoy alternately looked at Nathan and back at the group to make sure they were far away enough so as not to eavesdrop. He was not a fan of negotiations and he was almost certain he could be engaged in something more productive elsewhere, but what worried him was the mob outside. If they didn't hurry, it might be too late and even he wouldn't be able to raise Spock from the dead if they got their hands on him. He was a doctor, dammit, not a magician.

"As I said," Nathan defended, "sometimes you have to give to get. Now, you want Spock back- we want Pete back, and they want a test subject although I can tell you now it won't amount to anything. They will never get what they want from Sylar."

"That's not the point!" Jim insisted, his blue eyes on fire. "Look, I know I am at a disadvantage here because Sylar isn't a crewmember, he's not even a citizen of the Federation to speak of. You guys are in a very grey area, but as you are all on my ship I am responsible for you- all of you. Whatever vendetta you have with him you will have to settle it later in some other way because I won't let you abandon him here."

"He is the best chance we have." Nathan said slowly. "Now if you want to walk away without them getting anything, that won't happen."

Jim only saw one viable alternative left. He didn't want to play the card he was holding, but he had no other choice. "You were an officer." He stated matter of factly. "What happened to not leaving your men behind? I assume you were honorably discharged."

The insinuation that he was kicked out of his post for being a poor officer infuriated Nathan. "My record is spotless." He ground out using every ounce of control he could muster. "And as you know, Captain, some collateral damage is acceptable in order to win the battle. Sacrifices must be made for the greater good."

Jim slowly nodded although it was a hard truth he could never bring himself to accept. Spock's words rang in his ears as he made his way back to the negotiation table. "The purpose is to experience fear, fear in the face of certain death, to accept that fear, and maintain control of oneself and one's crew. This is the quality expected in every Starfleet captain." He simply couldn't tolerate the idea of sacrificing Sylar- there had to be a win-win somehow. It was the Maru all over again and he didn't have the cheat codes this time.

As if things couldn't become any more complicated, when they returned they were face to face with Noah, Matt, and Chekov also seated at the table. Jim gave a "WTF" look to McCoy who only shrugged his shoulders. He had long ago stopped trying to figure things out- pretty much when Peter died and then came back to life in his sickbay. If he had to pinpoint an exact moment when he gave up, that would probably be it. Since then, he had witnessed a whole host of improbable and completely inexplicable events that if he repeated them to another sensible person would pretty much have him labeled as unfit to practice medicine by reason of insanity.

"Captain Kirk," Koval greeted in a friendly voice, "the rest of your delegation has finally arrived."

"I see." Jim replied squinting in particular at Chekov. Chekov ignored the withering glance and smiled pleasantly.

"I hope we haven't missed anything." Noah smiled as he folded his hands in front of him on the table.

"Not at all." Koval smiled. "We have just finished and we agree that returning Spock and the others would be the best outcome for both parties."

Nathan immediately turned to Matt who looked as though he were concentrating very hard and he sighed.