If your time ain't come not even a doctor can kill you. ~American Proverb

Pike watched the approach of the shuttle that contained his men, his eyes not leaving it from the moment it appeared on the horizon. Chris knew Sam was in the pilot position and even if Jim would have preferred to be flying, he was okay with Sam being in charge.

Pike waited patiently as Sam flew the shuttle directly to the roof of HQ, landing with barely a sound. McCoy and Sulu were waiting with him, and there was a gurney at the ready, two white coated technicians standing by.

Jim had called Hikaru at Sulu's house as soon as they were out of Chinese airspace, alerting him that Pavel was safe and they were on their way home. Sulu had contacted Chris directly after he hung up with Jim, and Pike had called McCoy, telling him to come down to HQ to prepare for the arrival of the shuttle.

As soon as Sam had the door to the shuttle open, McCoy boarded, making a bee-line to Scotty who had woken with the landing. Pike followed, careful not to get in the way of the doctor as he tended to Scotty. Pike could hear Scotty telling Colum that he needed to let mom know they'd be late for dinner and to tell her he was sorry. Sam promised he'd tell her and that Scotty shouldn't worry about it. Jim quietly explained how Scotty thought Sam and Pavel were his brothers, Pike nodding in understanding.

Chekov silently watched all that was going on inside the shuttle, finally breathing when Sulu entered. Pavel was engulfed in a hug by Sulu who held tight, his suspiciously shining eyes looking over at Pike.

"Well done, Pavel," Chris said, patting him on the back. "Once Scotty has been taken inside, we'll debrief."

"Da," Pavel agreed, still holding tight to Sulu.

McCoy was sitting on the edge of the bed, checking Scotty's vitals. He reported that his pulse was weak but steady. His stethoscope confirmed that his lungs were clear. "Let's get him inside. I'll clean and suture the wound."

The technicians transferred Scotty to the gurney, quickly getting him off the roof, McCoy following. The other men followed more slowly, very few words spoken by any of them. Pavel was talking softly to Hikaru. To Pike's ears, he sounded tired but not especially upset.

"Have any trouble getting them out?" Pike asked Jim as they went through the rooftop doorway that took them to the metal stairwell.

"Not really. The warehouses aren't guarded. And they were only 3 blocks away. Pavel did an excellent job getting him to the safehouse."

Pike nodded, waiting with Jim as the technicians maneuvered the gurney down the stairs.

"Why isn't there an elevator?" Jim asked.

"I have no idea. But since this building was originally a bank, I doubt they had many gurneys in the stairwells."

"True," Jim said, going down a few more steps as their tiny parade descended in unison.

Chris heard the door above them close with a thump just before he heard Sam's footsteps on the steps. "Shuttle secure?" he asked Giotto, looking up at him through the metal slats that made up the steps.

"It is," Sam agreed. "You want me to fly it back afterwards?"

"I'll have it returned," Chris said. "You can all go home after the debrief."

"I need to call Denise," Sam said as they stopped again to wait for the gurney to descend further.

"Of course," Chris agreed. They stopped as the technicians maneuvered the gurney through the door on the top floor, McCoy assuring them they would get Scotty to the operating room. And they would be informed of his condition. Chris nodded, watching them wheel Scotty down the deserted corridor and into the elevator before turning to Jim, studying him with patient, grey eyes. "You need to call Winona."

"She okay?" Jim asked as they went down the next flight of stairs at a more regular pace.

"Yeah. She couldn't reach you or Leonard. Worried her. So she called me," Chris explained.

"Where is she?" Jim asked. "The sun is nowhere near up in Iowa."

"London," Chris said.

"Oh. Okay. She told me last week she's coming out for Christmas," Jim told Chris with a grin. "You want to have a sleep-over while she's here?"

"I am not discussing any possible romances I may or may not have with you," Chris told him with a frown.

"Of course not. And it's just a coincidence that every time I call her, she's just hung up with you. Or she's about to call you. Or she has to hang up on me to talk to you," Jim said.

"Shut up. I can have you killed. And Winona would still talk to me on the phone," Chris said.

"Have him killed anyway, please," Sam interjected. "Do you know what he talked about the entire trip home?"

"His latest novel," Pike said, shaking his head.

"My ears are still bleeding. Spock said this. Spock wants that. Spock wears ugly shoes," Sam said, making Jim laugh.

"I never said a word about his shoes, smart guy. He's the one you should have killed. Not me. He color-codes his edits," Jim said in great indignation.

"We know," Chris and Sam said simultaneously. Chekov and Sulu turned around at that, looking at them with a puzzled expression on both their faces. "Sorry," Chris said with a shrug. "Jim was whining about the hardships of being a best selling writer."

"Da," Pavel said with a nod. "Mr. Spock seems a hard case."

"See. The man-child understands," Jim said.

"He is not a child," Sulu said indignantly. "I'd thank you to remember that."

"At ease, Hikaru. Jim wasn't being ugly. You know that," Pike said smoothly.

"I know," Hikaru agreed. "I'm sorry. I was just so…."

"I understand, Karu. No harm no foul. That's why you had to stay behind," Jim reminded him kindly.

"I know," Sulu repeated, glancing over at Pavel. "Yeah. I wanted to go."

"Of course. I would have too," Pavel said, his color rising when Jim had to translate it into English. "Oh I am sorry."

"I understand," Sulu assured him with a light kiss. "It won't matter once I master Russian."

"Already you understand much," Pavel said with a smile only for Sulu.

"I have an excellent teacher," Sulu responded with a matching smile.

"All right you two. It was 2 days not 2 years," Chris said all stern gruffness.

"It felt like 2 years," Sulu told him.

"I'm sure it did," Chris said as they passed through the sturdy metal door to a wide corridor. It looked like a hallway in any bank in any town. Even the sounds were those of a standard business – computers, copiers, coffee brewing. The day for most of those working in that set of offices didn't officially begin for another 20 minutes but like on most days, those who occupied them were there already.

Many spoke to the men as they walked toward the conference room, Sulu waiting outside without Chris' reminder. One of the men nearest the coffee pot poured Sulu a large mug, settling him in an empty office to wait for the debrief to conclude.

The conference room was equipped with a six foot by six foot touch screen, already queued up to show the section of Hong Kong where they had so recently been. There was a circle around the restaurant where Chekov and Scotty had completed their mission, a dotted red line leading to the safehouse and a solid black line from the Pepsi warehouse to the safehouse.

"Are these diagrams correct?" Chris asked Pavel who was standing by the oval table close to the screen.

"The restaurant is correct," Chekov said with a nod. He approached the screen, using his finger to move the dotted red line a block west, skirting the more populous areas around the harbor. "We went here and then here," he said, adjusting the line to more accurately reflect their escape.

"Good," Pike said. "Scotty was shot at the restaurant?"

"Da. Here," Chekov said, touching the screen so that a red X appeared. "The shooter he was here." Touching the screen again placed another red X 20 yards away. Pike adjusted the mark so that it turned black.

"Were you IDed?" Pike asked.

"Not so much as we know," Pavel said. "We had no followers."

Pike nodded in approval. "And you went directly to the safehouse?"

"No one was seeing us as we entered the alley. No one approached. No one followed."

"Very good," Pike said. "Sam, you landed here?"

"Yes," Giotto agreed. Pike had put an icon representing the shuttle right on the Pepsi warehouse. "Qui-Jon is still there."

"We'll have it retrieved," Pike assured him. "So what do you think happened, Chekov?"

Chekov considered the question for a few thoughtful moments before telling the other men what had happened, step by step. Chris asked several questions, needing clarification or amplification. Chekov was descriptive and answered each inquiry with precision. He did not place blame for Scotty being wounded, telling them the facts without embellishment or excuses.

"You did an excellent job," Chris said when they had been discussing it for over an hour. Chekov was clearly exhausted but remained alert and attentive. "Are there any questions you have for us? Anything you need to say? It can be off the record if you like."

"Is it not good that Dr. McCoy has not called?" Chekov asked Pike.

"He can't call, Pavel. We don't have the phone on," Chris told him. "If something bad had happened, he would have come up and told us."

"Da," Pavel agreed in relief. "Jim and Sam vere experts at getting us."

"Good," Chris said with a nod, glancing at the other two men. "They've been doing this a long time."

"Sam a lot longer," Jim added, earning Sam's glare.

"I'm not too old to take you down," Sam reminded him.

"How well I know, old man," Jim said, grinning at him.

Sam just shook his head, turning his attention back to Pike. "Are you boys done?" Chris asked.

"He started it," Sam said just so Chris would frown at them even more.

Chris mostly ignored him, turning back to Pavel. "What else?"

Chekov shook his head, glancing over at Jim before speaking in Russian, Jim answering. "Nothing sir. That is all."

"You sure?" Chris asked, looking from Chekov to Jim and back. Jim shook his head with a smile, assuring Chris that Pavel really was all right. "Very well. If you want to talk to me any time today or tomorrow, you know all you have to do is call me. I'll come to you or you can come here."

"Da," Chekov said. "Thank you sir."

"Thank you, Pavel," Chris said with a smile. He stepped out of the conference, returning with Sulu and Dr. McCoy. Sulu hugged Pavel as Leonard told them that Scotty would make a full and complete recovery. He had some healing to do and he'd lost a lot of blood. He'd be released in a couple of days and would be confined to bed for about a week after that.

"Confined at our house," McCoy said. "Otherwise I know he'll be out chopping down trees before I turned my back."

"You tell Scotty?" Chris asked.

"Yeah. He's pretty doped up. I think he understood," McCoy said with a shrug. "And unless you need me, I need to get to my day job."

"Of course," Chris agreed.

Jim walked McCoy to the elevator as Chris talked quietly with Sulu, Chekov, and Giotto. "I'm serious, Pavel. I'm only a phone call away."

"Da," Chekov acknowledged. "I may call you after I sleep and eat."

"Good," Chris agreed. "Call me tomorrow at any rate."

"I vill," Chekov agreed, leaving with Sulu after a final farewell.

"He going to be okay?" Sam asked Pike when they were off the floor.

"He's going to be fine. He didn't fall apart. He took care of Scotty. He followed all of the protocol. He'll be just fine."

"Good," Sam said with a nod. "It okay if I go call Denise?"

"Of course," Chris agreed. "I'm going to my office. Unless you need me, you're free to go."

"All right. I'm gone once I call," Sam said.

Chris acknowledged his words, going to the elevator to wait for Jim's return. Once he had exited the elevator, Chris said he was going to his office and would Jim come? Jim naturally agreed, following Chris to his corner office with his oversized desk and small round conference table.

"So I called Spock," Chris said as they sat on the couch beneath the photo of San Francisco at sundown.

"Do tell," Jim said with a laugh.

"He was…put out. Wanted to know what it was that took precedence over your meeting with him."

"What'd you say?"

"That it was unavoidable and that you should be free all day tomorrow. He said he had time at lunch and would you be amenable to meeting him in his office? He'd have lunch brought in."

"Did you tell him yes?" Jim asked.

"I said I would talk with you and see if you had the time," Chris said with a smile. "Do you have the time?"

"And you won't have him killed for me?"

"Now Jim. We've talked about this. Your writing life and your secret life are two very different things," Pike said in a pseudo-patronizing tone.

"Yeah," Jim sighed. "Okay. I'll meet him for lunch. But he tries to feed me plomeek soup, I'm finding a new publisher."

"I'll tell him," Chris laughed. "Now go home. Call you mother. Go to bed."

"Yes sir," Jim agreed, standing and stretching. "Pavel did really well, Chris. Better than I ever would have hoped."

"That's good to hear," Chris said, walking Jim to his door. "And thanks for getting them home safe."

"You're welcome," Jim said, leaving his office, his laughter lingering behind him. It wasn't long before he reappeared in Chris's office, still laughing. "I have no way to get home."

"Oh right," Chris said, looking up at him. "That is a problem."

"Little bit of one. Who can take me?"

Chris left his desk to walk over the door of his office. "Brady," he called, one of the women turning around to acknowledge. "Take Kirk home."

"Of course," she agreed, pulling on her coat that she had just removed. "You ready now?"

"Sure am," he said, telling Chris good bye one last time before leaving, this time for home.

AN: I didn't realize (until several readers expressed concern) that I left Scotty seriously wounded in Chapter 6 with doubts that he would, in fact, survive. I'm very sorry if I worried you. I really didn't mean to create so much suspense. And now that I've posted Chapter 7, I have no idea when Chapter 8 will be up. Yes, I'm still in the madness of NaNoWriMo - I have 11,899 of the required 50,000 words. In the good news, I am on schedule! 1,666 words per day is the rate you need to maintain. Well, was that TMI?