Jim, Spock, and Luna ran into the bridge, each of them going straight for their spots, knowing that what was about to happen was going to be crucial. "ETA the incoming ship." Jim immediately commanded as he prepared himself in the captain's chair.

"Three seconds, sir." Sulu responded as Luna immediately began to put all of their shields up and prepare any weapons she could without being too obvious.

"Shields." Jim commanded.

"Trust me, Captain," Luna began while her fingers danced across her control panel. "I am way ahead of you."

The tension just continued to build up in the bridge during those three seconds, and when the ship finally appeared, at least ten times its size, the Enterprise was deathly quiet. The two ships were face to face in what seemed to be a stare off. Luna and Sulu both turned to look at each other as Luna made a point for Sulu to see her finger rest near the launch button for most of their weapons. He gave her a concerned glance, but Luna wasn't taking any chances. She didn't care who it was, if they tried something, Luna was going to fire. "They're hailing us, sir." Uhura spoke slowly while half turning around to look at Jim.

"On screen." Jim commanded while still staring at the ship in front of him. "Broadcast shipwide, for the record."

Once the transmission came onto the screen, everyone was immediately silent at the sight of Admiral Marcus. The one hand Luna had that wasn't hovering over the trigger button was clenched into a fist at everything he had done. "Captain Kirk."

"Admiral Marcus." Jim responded with a slight smile, wanting to make it look like everything was normal. "I wasn't expecting you." Jim gave the best smile he could before shifting his tone of voice into a more interested one. "That's a hell of a ship you got there."

"And I wasn't expecting to get word that you'd taken Harrison into custody in violation of your orders."

Luna's finger inched a little closer to the button, and Sulu gave her a terrified look, not wanting this to end up in an all-out war. "Well, we..." Jim had to think of the best way he was going to call out Admiral Marcus. "We had to improvise when our warp core unexpectedly malfunctioned. But you already knew that, didn't you, sir?"

"I don't take your meaning."

"Well, that's why you're here, isn't it?" Jim asked in an innocent voice. "To assist with our repairs? Why else would the head of Starfleet personally come to the edge of the Neutral Zone?"

Then an alert ran across the flight control panel, that being the thing to make Luna take her finger away from the trigger to find out exactly what they were spying on. "Captain, they're scanning our ship." Luna responded, looking back at Jim for a moment before turning back to Admiral Marcus with a deep glare.

"Is there something I can help you find, sir?" Jim asked without a beat, continuing to look directly at the Admiral.

The Admiral paused, not showing a bit of emotion before asking, "Where is your prisoner, Kirk?"

"Per Starfleet regulation, I'm planning on returning Khan to Earth to stand trial."

Admiral Marcus sighed while rubbing his face in annoyance. "Well, shit. You talked to him." He threw his hand in the air with a deep sigh before looking back to Jim. "This is exactly what I was hoping to spare you from. I took a tactical risk and I woke that bastard up, believing that his superior intelligence could help us protect ourselves from whatever came at us next." That's when the Admiral got close, trying to make Jim see that he was in the right. "But I made a mistake. And now the blood of everybody he's killed is on my hands. So, I'm asking you, give him to me so that I can end what I started."

To everyone on the Enterprise, it sounded more like a threat than a request. "And what exactly would you like me to do with the rest of his crew, sir? Fire them at the Klingons? End seventy-two lives? Start a war in the process?"

"He put those people in those torpedoes." Marcus spoke again, getting angry with Jim and everyone in his crew who was standing by him. "And I simply didn't want to burden you with knowing what was inside of them." In the med bay, Carol watched intensely as her father spoke. Bones looked over at Khan, making sure he was behaving himself before walking up to Carol, and placing his hand on her shoulder for comfort. She didn't second guess his hand there at all. She simply moved hers to lay on top of his. "You saw what this man can do all by himself. Can you imagine what would happen if we woke up the rest of his crew?" Luna turned back to Jim, trying to tell him in some way that they couldn't trust Admiral Marcus here. Spock was doing the same as he was moving towards the captain's chair. "What else did he tell you? That he's a peacekeeper? He's playing you, son, don't you see that? Khan and his crew were condemned to death as war criminals. And now it is our duty to carry out that sentence before anybody else dies because of him." Jim stared at Luna for a moment, wondering how he was going to get them out of this one. "Now, I'm going to ask you again! One last time, son. Lower your shields. Tell me where he is."

"He's in engineering, sir." Jim sighed out. Luna turned around to look at what was in front of her, wondering what Jim's plan was by fibbing to Marcus. "But I'll have him moved to the transporter room right away."

"I'll take it from here."

Once Admiral Marcus had cut his transmission, Luna stood up just as Jim did, looking to Sulu before doing anything. "Do not drop those shields, Mr. Sulu."

"Aye, Commander."

She hurried to Jim after that with a panicked expression, ready to hear his plan. "Captain," Spock began as the three began to circle around each other to hear Jim's plan. "Given your awareness of Khan's true location in the med bay, may I know the details of your plan?"

"I told Marcus we were bringing a fugitive back to Earth." Jim said obviously before moving to his control panel on the captain's chair. "That's what we're going to do." He quickly pressed a button and turned his head in the mic's position. "Mr. Chekov, can we warp?"

"Sir, if we go to warp, we run the risk of seriously damaging the core!"

"Can we do it?" Jim pushed.

Chekov took a long pause before finally answering. "Technically, yes, but I would not advise it, Captain."

"Noted." Jim responded before ending the transmission and turning to look at Luna. "Ms. McCoy, can you please set a course for earth?"

"What are you planning?" She asked in an exasperated breath, becoming scared for their lives which wasn't rare when Jim gave commands like this, but still terrifying nonetheless.

He moved close to her, giving her a small kiss on the forehead as a convincing piece. "Just trust me."

She took a deep sigh, not feeling any better about all of this, but she did trust him. She quickly turned to Sulu, taking on the best commander voice she could. "Sulu? A course for earth?"

"Yes, ma'am." He answered quickly before moving to the controls.

"Punch it." Jim included with a point in his direction as Luna hurried back to his captain's chair, refusing to sit down because of her nerves.

"Well," Bones scoffed while moving back to Khan to run tests on him. "At least we're moving again." He was saying it more for Carol, but he wasn't sure if he really believed himself that this was a good thing.

Khan got a small smile on his face before looking up at them once Carol had joined Bones' side. "If you think you're safe at warp, you're wrong." He ended his stare at Carol, prompting her to run out of the med bay, knowing she had to warn Jim about her father.

"Lieutenant Uhura," Jim began once Luna had joined him. "Contact Starfleet. Tell them we were pursued into the Neutral Zone by an unmarked Federation ship."

"Comms are down, sir."

Luna turned from Uhura to Jim, opening her mouth to say something when the elevator doors opened, and Carol stood there. "Permission to come on the bridge."

Luna let out a little sigh, wishing she could actually talk to Jim for a change, but she knew there were more pressing matters at hand. "Dr. Marcus." Jim nodded, giving her the permission she needed.

Jim stood when she ran up to him, moving close to Luna so their arms were touching. "He's gonna catch up with us, and when he does, the only thing that's gonna stop him destroying this ship is me, so you have to let me talk to him."

"Carol, we're at warp." Luna began in a calming tone. "He can't catch up with us."

"Yes, he can." Carol spoke, challenging Luna's calming tone. "He's been developing a ship that has advanced warp capabilities – "

"Captain!" They all turned to look at Sulu, noticing his panicked tone which he very rarely expressed. "I'm getting a reading I don't understand."

That's when the ship was shot by Marcus'. They all fell over while another part of the ship was ripped open, taking out everyone who was in that wing. As Marcus fired again, he shot the ship out of warp, jarring everyone forward.

Luna ended up near the flight control panel, and with a large grunt, she pulled herself up while looking over at Sulu who was trying to steady himself as well. "Where are we?!" Luna growled out. She was getting so sick of Marcus' shit.

"We're 237,000 kilometers from Earth." Sulu reported intensely.

"Damage report!" Jim yelled while hurrying over to their control panel, mostly to check on Luna, but also to check on the ship.

"Weapons are way down." The woman reported as Luna tried to take control of her panel again. "Shields are dropping. We're defenseless, sir."

Right when Jim reached Luna, a lieutenant hurried up to him. "Sir, we have a bulkhead breach."

Jim sighed before turning around to another lieutenant. He wanted to take care of Luna, but he also had to take care of his crew. "Where's the damage?"

"Major hull damage, Captain."

They were shot again, damaging another wing of the ship. Everyone was thrown forward again, but this time, they were more prepared. "Evasive maneuvers! Get us to Earth! Right now!" Jim yelled to his remaining crew.

"Captain! Stop!" She yelled it loud enough for everyone on the bridge to stop moving and listen to Carol. "Everybody on this ship is going to die if you don't let me speak to him."

There was an intense moment of silence as Jim looked to everyone, not wanting any more of his crew to get hurt. He finally turned to Uhura, trying not to look like he was shaking from his fear. "Uhura, hail him."

Right when Uhura had opened up the line, Carol stood in front of the windshield, taking a deep breath before speaking. "Sir. It's me. It's Carol."

All the explosions stopped, and everyone waited anxiously as Marcus accepted the video connection, and Bones ran into the bridge, standing directly behind Carol, stopping at the tension he could feel in the room. For the first time since starting this battle with them, Admiral Marcus looked terrified. "What are you doing on that ship?"

"I heard what you said. That you made a mistake and now you're doing everything you can to fix it." Jim turned to look at Luna as she stood next to him, and she looked the same time he did. Slowly, Jim grabbed her hand tight, afraid of what was going to happen next, and Luna squeezed his hand back, sharing his same anxiety as they continued their locked eyes. "But, Dad, I don't believe that the man who raised me is capable of destroying a ship full of innocent people." They slowly turned back to the windshield, watching Marcus' face, hoping that somehow Carol was getting through to him. "And, if I'm wrong about that, then you're gonna have to do it with me on board."

A tear fell down Carol's face as she kept her stare with her father. For a moment, they thought they would be able to get out of this alive. "Actually, Carol, I won't."

Carol twitched and began to back away, a weird feeling going through her body. "Oh." When she turned around to look at the crew, that's when everyone noticed she was being beamed out of the ship. Carol looked at her fading hand before looking to Bones as he stepped forward, wanting to be there for her. "Leonard…"

Bones moved even closer to her, not sure what to do. Luna looked around at the bridge, hoping someone would be able to fix this. "Can we intercept the transport signal?"

A crew member turned around to look at her with a helpless face, knowing there was nothing that could be done. "No, ma'am."

Carol screamed as she tried to run from it, and Bones followed her, screaming out, "Carol!" It was too late. When Bones reached his hand out for her, almost touching her, she had been taken.

Everyone's eyes were still fixed on where Carol disappeared when Admiral Marcus began talking again. "Captain Kirk, without authorization and in league with the fugitive John Harrison, you went rogue in enemy territory," Jim turned around with wide eyes, realizing he was really going to kill them right here. "Leaving me no choice but to hunt you down and destroy you. Lock phasers."

"Wait, sir," Jim yelled out while hurrying up to the windshield so he could get a better look at his face.

"Jim!" Luna yelled out, scared that he was going to be stupid, but Jim ignored her, continuing to run forward.

"Wait, wait, wait!"

"I'll make this quick." Marcus said while turning around to the person in charge of weapons on his ship. "Target all aft torpedoes on the Enterprise bridge."

Spock and Uhura moved close to each other while Bones moved to Luna, beginning to drag her toward the pods, deciding that if he couldn't save Carol, he was going to save Luna. "Dad!" Luna screamed out, becoming panicked at the thought of leaving Jim and the rest of the crew.

"Sir," As Jim began to speak, Luna and Bones stop struggling, hoping that some way, they would be able to work this out. "My crew was just following my orders." Jim was shaking with fear, not caring about his own life at this point, but caring about his crew. "I-I take full responsibility for my actions. But they were mine and they were mine alone."

Marcus turned around to look at Jim again, Luna beginning to try to struggle out of Bones' grip so she could go down with him if it came to that. "No." She whispered as she tried to wiggle out of her father's grasp. "No."

"If I transmit Khan's location to you now, all that I ask is that you spare them." Everyone on the bridge was becoming worried for Jim's life at this point, but Jim would gladly go down with the ship if that meant everyone else was safe. Jim moved forward, his mind more concrete. "Please, sir. I'll do anything you want. Just let them live." Luna was letting out small whimpers, still trying to get free, and every terrified noise she made was like a dagger in Jim's heart.

"That's a hell of an apology." Marcus finally said before nodding, his face unchanging as he sat down in his chair. "But if it's any consolation, I was never going to spare your crew. Fire when – " The screen went blank, and in the center of it was a big box that read, 'TRANSMISSION TERMINATED'. The crew just watched as the ship's missiles moved to face them.

Luna stopped struggling, and Bones dropped her arm as Jim turned around. He looked at everyone, feeling nothing but failure. He couldn't save his crew. His main job as captain was to make sure his crew was safe, and here they all were, about to die. "I'm sorry." He breathed out, trying to keep tears from falling down his face.

Luna gulped as she moved toward him. Jim watched her every movement, terrified that any moment could be the last time he saw her. When they reached each other, she fell into his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her while planting kisses all over the side of her face. If they were going to die right here and right now, they would die in each other's arms while whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears.

As they held onto each other, Sulu looked to them with wide eyes once he got an alert on the control panel. "Their weapons have powered down. Sir."

Both Jim and Luna looked up from their embrace to look at Sulu, and then at each other, not sure what was happening. "Enterprise!" Both of their eyes lit up as they turned around and broke their hug to look at the windshield. "Can you hear me?"

"Scotty!" Luna screamed out from excitement, swiping all the tears she could off of her face.

"Guess what I found behind Jupiter."

"You're on that ship!" Everyone on the bridge was buzzing with excitement at the fact that Scotty had bought them some extra time.

"I snuck on. And seeing as I've just committed an act of treason against a Starfleet Admiral, I'd really like to get off this bloody ship. Now beam me out!"

"You're a miracle worker." Jim continued, trying to figure out a way to get Scotty back on the ship. "We're a little low on power right now. Just stand by. Stand by."

"What do you mean, 'low on power'? What happened to the Enterprise?" That's when Scotty heard a loud bang from behind him, knowing he had to get out of that area before he was found. "Call you back." He whispered before shutting his communicator.

"Scotty!" Luna yelled, but she knew the communication was gone. She turned to look at Jim, with her jaw slightly dropped. Her neurons were seeming to fire faster than her brain could handle. First Jim was going to sacrifice himself, then they were all going to die, then they were saved, and now they had to worry about Scotty's life. "We have to get him off that ship before Marcus finds him."

Jim nodded before turning around quickly. "Spock. Our ship, how is she?"

"Our options are limited, Captain." Spock told him as Bones joined the group as well. "We cannot fire and we cannot flee."

Jim looked down for a moment, putting on that mischievous thinking face they were all frightened of. "There is one option."

"Jim." Both Luna and Bones said at the same time, becoming instantly stressed about whatever option he had come up with.

"Uhura, when you get Scotty back, patch him through."

All Uhura could do right now was her job, she couldn't argue with Jim like Spock, Luna, and Bones could. "Yes, sir."

"Mr. Spock, you have the conn." Jim continued his glance to Luna. He knew that anxious expression by now. He gave her a tiny wink before trying to hurry off the bridge. "Bones, come with me to the med bay."

Luna looked in-between Spock and Bones, knowing they had to do something to stop him. They each looked forward at the same time before running off together. "Captain, I strongly object." Spock called as the three of them joined him on the elevator.

He turned around, noticing they had all piled in, leading to him letting out a big sigh. "To what? I haven't said anything yet."

The trio looked at each other like Jim's plan was the most obvious in the world. Spock decided to start. "Since we cannot take the ship from the outside, the only way we can take it is from within."

"And," Luna continued, making Jim turn around while looking back and forth at the three. "As a large boarding party would be detected, you're only going to take as few as possible."

Bones took a long sigh before adding on. "Their guards are going to be military, requiring you to bring someone with advanced combat abilities and innate knowledge of that ship."

"This indicates that you plan to align with Khan." Spock finished as they all kept intense eye contact with Jim. "The very man we were sent here to destroy."

The elevator doors opened, and Jim stepped out, the three following extremely close behind. "I'm not aligning with him, I'm using him. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"

"An Arabic proverb attributed to a prince who was betrayed and decapitated by his own subjects." Spock pointed out, not easing anyone's nerves.

"Still, it's a hell of a quote."

"I will go with you, Captain." Spock spoke, grabbing onto Jim's shoulder to turn him around.

"No," Jim sighed out while turning around before Spock could do it to him, knowing the three of them were going to try to convince him otherwise. "I need you on the bridge."

"Then I'll go with you." Luna pressed.

"Me too." Bones included, trying to sound as confident as he could after everything that happened in the past five minutes.

"No." Jim told them sternly. He looked back and forth between all of them, knowing no matter what, he couldn't lose any of them. Not again. "I need you all here."

"I cannot allow you to do this." Spock pressed as both Luna and Bones nodded in agreement. "It is my function aboard this ship to advise you on making the wisest decisions possible, something I firmly believe you are incapable of doing in this moment."

"You're right!" Jim finally yelled, knowing this was the only way he was going to get his point across. "What I'm about to do, it doesn't make any sense, it's not logical," he turned to Luna, "it's not ideal," then he turned to Bones, "and it's most definitely not smart." He took a deep breath before continuing, hoping they would all understand. "It is a gut feeling. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I only know what I can do." They all took deep breaths, knowing these moments were going to be some of the most stressful they were ever going to have to go through. "The Enterprise and her crew need someone in that chair that knows what he's doing. And it's not me." His eyes focused on Spock and Luna standing close together, knowing they were the one thing the Enterprise needed right now. "It's you two."

Jim turned around, Bones gulping before deciding to follow, knowing he would need him with Khan. Luna began to breathe more heavily than normal, feeling the anxiety begin to rise in her chest. "Jim!" She screamed out desperately.

Jim turned around as Luna's feet took off, finding herself jumping into his arms. Jim held her tight, not including anything fancy, just holding her as close to him as he could. "Come back to me." She whispered into his ears, that desperate voice creeping in again. "Please come back to me."

Jim sighed while rubbing her back, knowing that this was the safest option for her. "You know I will."

She got down from his grip before leaning forward to give him a light, but loving kiss. He smiled once they were done, really hoping each of them could get through this thing alive.

Jim and Bones walked into the med bay, the both of them staring at Khan, wanting nothing more than to kick him off the ship, but they needed him. He was their only chance of getting rid of Marcus. Jim took a deep breath before going to stand directly in front of Khan as Bones moved to continue with his tests from earlier. "Tell me everything you know about that ship."

Khan didn't waste a minute. "Dreadnought class. Two times the size, three times the speed. Advanced weaponry. Modified for a minimal crew. Unlike most Federation vessels, it's built solely for combat."

Jim glared at Khan, knowing he had to make some ground rules before they went on this mission together. "I will do everything I can to make you answer for what you did. But right now, I need your help."

Khan knew that if Kirk was coming to him, he had to be desperate, but he wasn't going to help him without something in return. "In exchange for what?"

"You said you'd do anything for your crew. I can guarantee their safety."

Khan scoffed without breaking his glare with Jim. "Captain. You can't even guarantee the safety of your own crew."

That just pissed Jim off even more. His glare got deeper, but Jim had to stop himself from going at Khan like he did earlier. "Bones," Jim finally spoke, knowing he had to distract himself from his anger. "What are you doing with that tribble?"

"The tribble's dead." Bones spoke as he prepared a shot for it. "I'm injecting Khan's platelets into the deceased tissue of a necrotic host. Khan's cells regenerate like nothing I've ever seen, and I want to know why."

Jim's glare moved to Khan again before he stepped forward, giving Khan little space. "You coming with me or not?" Khan thought for a moment before looking back to Jim with a slight smile on his face. Doing this would give him the perfect opportunity to exact revenge on Marcus. His smile just got a little bigger, and Jim kept his glare, but he was terrified for what Khan had planned.

MisfitCarter: God, Infinity War MURDERED me. I think I'm still dead. You can PM me and we can talk about spoilers and stuff if you've seen it. My boyfriend and I were both sobbing on each other. And I'm such an education pusher (hence my major) so yes please come talk to me anytime! Oh, back on the topic of the story, I'm glad you liked it ;)

Love. Fiction. 2018: :)))))))))))))))))

Lucky Chances: This is so sweet! When I first saw it I thought you were going to roast me, but then I continued reading and I was like oh it's super nice lol. And your stories sound awesome! Whenever I have time I'm going to read them! Thank you for your sweet review!

blue-lily295: I was getting frustrated with myself while writing this chapter because it's like a push and pull thing I have going on with Jim and Luna and all of the outside forces at this point. I was like Janae, why do you do this? Thank you for the review, love!

I AM DONE WITH SCHOOL. Well, for this year. But that means more time to write! And I may get an acting job soon. For a local theater, but still a real paying acting job. I'm super excited. But anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter, and remember to review! We're getting to the emotional stuff so everyone hold on tight.