Leonard McCoy was not happy. Granted, he hadn't exactly expected much from this silly expedition. When Jim Kirk was involved, you learned to expect the worst, however much McCoy disliked that fact. So he wasn't entirely surprised that their rescue had ended up get captured themselves.
"Spock," he greeted as the first officer was tied up in a chair next to his.
The Vulcan's eyes slid over to the doctor, and McCoy could clearly see his confusion and worry. Emotionless my ass.
"Doctor," he ventured once Jim – no, Leighton, Thomas fucking Leighton – had left the room for a moment. "What has happened to the captain? And to Kabul?"
"It's a long story."
"Well, please, enlighten me," Spock added with gritted teeth.
Uhura stepped in; leaning forwards a little to better see her boyfriend. "It's bad, Spock. There's some kind of mind control device in his brain. Kirk has no control over his actions." Hearing this the other members of the team leaned in as well, Sulu with some difficulty McCoy noticed. He seemed to have been shot in the arm. The rest of them also looked pale and shocked, and McCoy distractedly wondered what exactly had happened outside.
"Who is controlling him?" It didn't really surprise McCoy that Spock had no trouble accepting the existence of the device.
"Thomas Leighton – he's a researcher on the Enterprise." At this there were looks of shock, and then rising anger.
"Are you certain?" Spock asked.
"That's who he declared himself to be. There could be a chance it's not him, of course."
McCoy shook his head. "No, Leighton makes the most sense really." He paused before continuing. Uhura, Sulu, and Spock already knew of Jim's time on Tarsus, but the others didn't. He decided to continue anyway. "He was there with Jim on Tarsus, and there's no way anyone else would know that much of what happened."
"This is about Tarsus?" Sulu asked, his voice surprisingly strong despite his injury.
Uhura nodded. "Yes.I'm still confused why he has such a grudge against Jim, but it has something to do with Tarsus. Whatever happened, Leighton's been planning this for a long time. He designed a sort of mind control device, which he's using on Kirk. They implanted it in the back of his neck."
McCoy cut in here. "It's all the way down to his spine – there's no way I could get it out safely without surgery."
Spock nodded gravely as Uhura continued. "From the way he was talking about it, Leighton has full control of Jim's body, but Jim's skills can still be called upon, like his ability at hand to hand and his aim."
McCoy looked once again at the first officer. "Whatever we do, we've got to do it fast. Jim's body was already weakened before Leighton took over – if he could feel any of that pain right now he'd be unconscious."
"Yes, Jeffersons attempted to stun the captain – Leighton – just now, but his body was not affected," Spock said.
"So even if we get out of these restraints, we can't just stun him? Do you think sedatives would work?" McCoy wondered.
"I wouldn't bet on it," Sulu replied, shifting his position and gritting his teeth.
Uhura looked back at Spock. "Spock – you've melded with Jim before – is it possible that you could do something? Like… help him take his mind back or something?"
"I don't know," Spock intoned. "It is highly possible that in attempting to reach Jim's mind, I would encounter Leighton's instead." He paused, looking up at their guards, who now had their backs turned on the group. "However, our first objective should be stabilizing our situation."
Sulu nodded. "We can't be much help if we're tied up here, now can we?"
McCoy looked down at the ropes covering his chest. "Hey, Spock –"
"All of you – shut your traps!" Jim's voice carried over the space as he entered the room once more. "Now, you may be wondering what you're still doing here. You know, why I didn't kill you. Well, that's because Jimmy has a very important choice to make." He chuckled softly. "You know, it's amazing to finally be at this point. To have the powerful James Kirk in my fist… I almost don't know what to do with myself."
"How 'bout let us go you fucking bastard," McCoy growled.
Leighton nodded serenely. "That may be happening very soon." Everyone's eyes raised in shock. "Or you could be blown up. It's all up to Jim."
McCoy scowled. "And what do'you think he'll choose?" he asked sarcastically. He kind of understood now why Jim always egged his captors on. It gave a kind of control to the situation.
Jim's shoulders shrugged. He looked up at the guards. "Get these people in the truck, and we'll find out just which side little Jimmy's really on. Who knows? You might just be surprised."
So yeah. This one's kind of short, but I'm debating which direction I'm going to go from here. Please feel free to give any suggestions you may have, or point out any plot points I might have forgotten about along the way.
Minecraft Guardiansaiyan - I might not use that exactly, but you've certainly given me ideas, so thanks!
I also wanted to thank everyone that started following or have favorited this story. I was only writing the story I thought would be fun to hear, so it's awesome to know others want to hear it too!
So thanks, and please remember to review!
