Enterprise, 2258
It wasn't ten minutes later that Kirk, McCoy, Uhura, and Sophie-Anne had come racing onto the bridge. Spock watched them appear, wondering at how they all came to be running around the ship together, especially when Kirk was still on academic probation. He knew Sophie-Anne and Uhura were close, so they'd probably been together when the other two appeared.
When Kirk had started to spout nonsense about Romulans he'd tried to interject, but once the logic had been proved sound he agreed that they were probably flying into a trap. As the Captain ordered shields up he waited with the others to see what would happen, and when he turned his head he found Sophie-Anne standing against a nearby railing.
Her hair had come loose from it's braid, just as it always did, and her eyes burned with equal parts fear and excitement. He'd seen that look on her face before, fierce and determined, and for a single split second he allowed himself to remember their time in the jungle.
XXX
Illyria-4, 2254
They'd run for what felt like forever. The Teldosians were excellent trackers, and this was their home territory, but thankfully both Spock and Sophie-Anne were in excellent shape and finally outpaced their opponents. Once it was clear they had lost them Sophie-Anne slumped to the ground, leaning against a a large rock to catch her breath. Spock paced the area, looking down the hill and taking stock of their surroundings.
"Commander Jennison is dead," Sophie-Anne said, barely able to keep herself from bursting into tears. She wasn't fond of the man, if anything he seemed like kind of a jerk, but she'd never seen anyone die before. And certainly not in such a horrible, grisly way.
Spock nodded. "Yes, that is correct."
"He had the communicator. There's no way for us to contact Starfleet and let them know where we are. How are they going to find us? What if the Teldosians find us first?" Her voice was bordering on hysterical, and Spock had to come back around to kneel in front of her.
"Cadet Caldwell, it is essential that you remain calm. We have managed to escape the combatants, and I have made note of our location relative to their settlement. A team will be sent to retrieve us, and so we must find a suitable place to conceal ourselves until that time," he explained, moving back so she could stand.
"Settlement? You mean then have a town near here?"
He motioned down. "At the base of this hill. We are concealed by the brush at the moment, but it would be wise for us to move further away to make camp."
Sophie-Anne scanned the horizon, squinting against the orange sun. The town was made up of a few circles of huts, surrounded by a row of lumpy spikes to make a fence. A fire burned at the center, and children scampered between the huts. There was something about those spikes, though, something she couldn't quite see that made her think they were sinister. It wasn't until the sun disappeared behind a cloud that she could make them out clearly, and the strangled gasp from her usually stoic companion made it clear Spock had figured it out too. They weren't spikes for fences, they were skewers, and each on contained the body of one of the missing Vulcan crew. There were 10 in all, each speared through in a gruesome display, and without thinking Spock was pushing through the brush. Sophie-Anne was barely able to hold him back.
"Where are you going? You can't go down there!"
If he had wanted to he could have easily thrown her off, but he hesitated, struggling to calm the torrent of emotions threatening to escape. "I must retrieve the bodies," he said, voice dry and clipped. Sophie-Anne squeezed in front of him, using all her weight to push him back out of sight.
"You're going to become one of those bodies if you go down there. Please, once help comes we'll get them, I promise, but until then we have to stay alive. I need you to help me stay alive," she pleaded, appealing to his sense of duty. Finally he shuddered, emotionless mask coming back down over his features.
"Let us find shelter," he said, storming back through the other side of the treeline. Grateful, Sophie-Anne followed.
XXX
The first night they'd found a small cave, big enough for the two of them to lay down, and Sophie-Anne had managed to scrounge together some edible berries. Spock barely ate and almost never spoke, leaving in the morning to scout for help and returning at night to sleep. It was during that sleep a few nights later that Sophie-Anne awoke to the sound of a soft moan, which transformed into a sharp cry. Spock was dreaming. Sophie-Anne wasn't sure at first if she should wake him, thinking maybe he'd stop and fall back into a peaceful sleep. But when his cries started to get louder, she worried someone might be drawn to the noise and crawled over to where he lay.
"Hey, wake up," she whispered, placing a hand on his arm. An instant later he was shooting up, roughly gripping her shoulders so hard she was sure it would bruise. She'd never seen him so vulnerable. For a half second before he really woke up it was like looking at a different person, someone wild and afraid, but he quickly replaced the look with one of mild interest. He released her shoulders, muttering apologies. "You were dreaming."
"Yes, I believe I was," he admitted, not moving away from her like he normally would.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, knowing he wouldn't. It was about the bodies, she'd decided after the first few nights, he sometimes went back to the ridge to make sure they were still there. She could tell it had shaken him more than he wanted to admit. He shook his head, laying back down carefully.
"Perhaps you could tell me about your home," he said, after a very long pause, and Sophie-Anne nearly asked if he was serious. He'd never asked about her past or her home, but after seeing that vulnerable look on his face she couldn't bring herself to question it. She lay down by his side, shoulder to shoulder, and stared hard at the dark rock above them.
"In the summertime in Georgia, everything just moves slower," she started, nearly stopping when she felt his hand brush hers. It was an almost accidental motion, just the backs of their hands making contact, but neither of them pulled away and she continued. "It's nice, in a way. The days are so much longer, so warm..."
XXX
Enterprise, 2258
McCoy helped Sophie-Anne to her feet, holding on to her arm as she stumbled. The Captain continued to talk to the madman Nero, and when they were finished he stood. "I need officers trained in advanced hand to hand combat," Pike ordered, and after Sulu volunteered and Pike had started toward the shuttle with Kirk, Sophie-Anne stepped forward.
"I'm trained, sir, and want to help," she offered, trying to ignore the pit of fear that was rapidly expanding in her stomach. Kirk frowned, but nodded just the same.
"It's true, I've seen her in action," he attested, and Captain Pike was nodding when McCoy stepped forward. There was a trickle of blood running down the side of her face, dripping from where she'd bashed her head against the railing during evasive maneuvers.
"Captain, Cadet Caldwell is unfit for duty. She injured herself during the fight, and needs to be taken to medical for examination," McCoy said, and pulled a piece of gauze from his bag, pressing it to her head. Sophie-Anne swatted him away, annoyed.
"It's just a little cut, I'm fine. Sir, I promise you..."
"As a senior medical officer I can't allow you to endanger yourself and others..." McCoy interrupted, and everyone on the bridge stopped to watch the two argue it out. Finally Pike huffed, throwing up his hands.
"I don't have time for this. Caldwell, I'm sorry, but if he won't clear you for duty I can't take you. Go get checked out. Kirk, Sulu, come with me," he ordered, disappearing into the lift. McCoy refused to meet her eyes, motioning toward medical.
Sophie-Anne glared at him for a moment before turning on her heel. "You suck," she called over her shoulder, where he was trying to keep up with her furious pace.
McCoy rolled his eyes. "Why, because I won't let you kill yourself? Do you know what they're going to do? Jim and the others are going to space jump onto a tiny platform and fight Romulans. Do you even understand that?"
They'd reached the airlock to deck six, and she spun back, allowing him to crash into her. "You don't get to decide what's best for me. You don't even know me anymore, okay?"
The words stung, even though he knew they were true. McCoy was grasping for a comeback as he pushed past her and pounded in his code into the keypad. The airlock refused to open. What's wrong with this damn thing now? He slapped a hand against the console, furious at the machinery and the girl standing behind him with her arms crossed. A pair of nurses passed through, then, carrying an unconscious man, and McCoy motioned toward the door. "Why won't this open?"
The nurses shared a look, and the taller of the two grimaced. "Deck six is gone, along with everyone on it. We've moved all remaining personnel to deck four."
McCoy felt all the air leave his body, so his next question came out a little strangled. "Doctor Puri?"
"Dead, sir," the other nurse informed him, before the two took off with their patient. McCoy and Sophie-Anne stood in silence for a moment, and when he finally dared to look at her again she had tears in her eyes.
"You were there, on Deck Six. You and JT, the both of you. If you hadn't snuck him on board, if he hadn't had that allergic reaction..." She was spiraling out of control with what-ifs, and without even thinking about it he reached out a hand and pulled her against his chest. Her arms came up around him, and she hugged him tightly.
"If it weren't for Jim we'd all be dead, Soph," he said, realizing once the words had left his mouth it that it wasn't a very soothing thing to say. But holding her felt right, even after so many years and so much bullshit After a long moment she pulled back, green eyes meeting his hazel ones and holding his gaze. There was something in that expression, he was sure of it. Suddenly he was filled with the desperate urge to tell her everything, what had really happened with Jocelyn, but her communicator was beeping in alarm.
"Cadet Caldwell, report to the transporter room immediately," it squawked, and she pulled away before he could react.
"I'm glad you're not dead," she told him with a small smirk, before disappearing around the corner. Well, McCoy thought, a smile of his own firmly in place. That's something, anyway.
XXX
A/N: mmmmkay. so i know the style and characterization is a little... all over the place. usually i'm better at third person, but it's all coming out kind of omniscient, which i hate. i'll work on it, i promise!