Chapter 8

I am really glad you guys are enjoying this story! Thank you so much for your feedback! It is super appreciated! Once again, I am sorry for the cliffhanger on the last chapter!

NOTE: Since we never actually knew what happened to the people Charlie made disappear in TOS ... who is to say they weren't simply relocated to another place?

So on that note... here is the next chapter!

Spock was on Charlie in less than a second. His hands wrapped around his throat. All sense of the Vulcan's control seemed to have vanished. His usually brown eyes had gone completely black.

"Bring. Jim. Back." Spock spat out the words and his fingers continued to close around Charlie's neck.

"Spock! Are you insane? Let go of him! Killing him won't solve anything!"

"I..." Charlie wasn't able to speak. Spock's hold on him was too strong.

"Dammit Spock! Let go of his throat!"

But Spock was not listening to the Doctor. His hold on Charlie's throat only seemed to strengthen as he growled, "You will pay for what you have done!"

"Spock!" McCoy was at a loss, he had never seen Spock so determined and completely out of control since the Khan incident.

Wait, that's it! The Doctor figured it was worth a try, before Spock did something he would regret.

"Spock! We need him to bring Jim back!"

And sure enough Spock stopped. He turned to look at the Doctor, his eyes were still as black as before. But something in them had changed. His hands let go of Charlie's throat. McCoy watched as the teenager dropped to the floor, clutching his neck and coughing.

Spock stared at the spot where Jim had been only moments before. His eyes seemed to drop slightly. Sadness quickly replaced the anger in the Vulcan's face. McCoy couldn't help but feel sorry for Spock. He clearly cared for Jim.

Out of the corner of his eye, McCoy saw Charlie sit up and glare at Spock.

"Spock!"

Without even flinching Spock turned around and nerve pinched Charlie. Charlie dropped down to the floor with a loud thud in an instant.

Spock stared at the boy's limp body before pulling his communicator off his belt.

"Lieutenant Uhura, please send a security detail to the Captain's quarters."

"Spock? Is everything alright?"

"No. It is not. I shall explain once we head up to the bridge."

Spock put his communicator back on his belt and remained completely silent until the security detail arrived.

"Please escort Mr. Evans to the brig."

"Yes, Commander." One of the men answered Spock as the picked up Charlie's limp body.

Spock turned to face the Doctor. "I must go to the bridge." He said with a stoic expression that to the untrained eye looked like the one he usually wore.

The Vulcan turned and practically ran from the room.

"Spock!"

McCoy ran to catch up to the Vulcan and just barely made it into the turbolift. The Vulcan was clearly trying to maintain his stoic expression, but McCoy could see that the Vulcan's control was wavering.

"Spock. I want to get Jim back as much as you do. But you need to get yourself together!"

"I find it difficult to think logically at this time, Doctor" Spock replied without turning. Choosing instead to stare intently at the turbolift doors.

"Dammit Spock! You have to at least appear in control! You are in command now!"

The space in the turbolift seemed to shrink as the Doctor's words sunk in. Spock shifted uncomfortably. The Doctor wondered if he had overstepped his boundaries with the Vulcan when Spock ended the silence.

"Thank you, Doctor."

"For what?"

"For not allowing me to lose control in the Captain's quarters."

"Yeah well... I don't think Jim would have wanted his boyfriend to become a murderer because of him."

Normally Spock would have protested against the Doctor's wording, but he did not have it in him to do so. All he wanted was to get Jim back.

McCoy observed the Vulcan. His face looked grim, but it was much better than before.

'At least now he doesn't look like he is going to kill everyone on the spot', thought McCoy.

The doors of the turbolift opened and the two men stepped out into the bridge.

"Commander, where is the Captain?" Sulu asked as soon as he caught sight of them.

McCoy winced involuntarily. Thankfully Spock was able to respond without appearing emotionally compromised.

"The Captain...is missing. Mr. Evan's is in possession of telekinetic powers and has used those powers to make the Captain to disappear. We have no way of knowing where he is or what has happened to him."

The was a collective intake of breath on the bridge as everyone looked from Spock to the Captain's chair.

Uhura was the first to recover and she rose from her chair. "Commander… what is our course of action?"

"We must notify Starfleet of what has happened. Mr. Evans shall remain in the brig until we can fully understand what he is capable of doing. Dr. McCoy, I will ask you to keep Mr. Evan's sedated until we can find a way to prohibit him from using his abilities."

Spock walked toward the Captain's chair but made no move to sit down. Instead, he merely stared at it with solemn eyes.

The silence was yet again broken by Uhura. "Commander Spock. We are being hailed."

"On screen."

A man appeared on the screen. At least he had the face of a man but his features were green and he did not appear to have a solid form.

"This is acting Captain Spock of the Starship Enterprise. To whom am I speaking to?"

"I have taken my form centuries ago. So that I may communicate with you. We did not realize until too late that the boy had gone. We are saddened that his escape has caused so much trouble for you and the other ship."

McCoy turned to look at Spock but Spock was staring intently at the screen. The entire bridge was completely silent except for the sounds of the equipment. The figured continued speaking.

"We shall remedy all of the damage Charlie has caused you and your crew. Everything shall be as it was."

At that moment McCoy's communicator went off. McCoy reached for his belt, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"McCoy here."

"Doctor!" Chapel's relieved voice filed the bridge. "The patients are back to normal! They are all fine, Doctor! It's as if nothing ever happened to them."

Shortly after Chapel finished speaking, Jim appeared on the floor in front of them.

"Great Chapel. I'll be down there soon." He said distractedly as he shut off his communicator.

McCoy would have loved to say that Jim looked exactly how she had when she disappeared...but she didn't. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes were torn and her face and body were covered with bruises and scratches. The poor girl looked absolutely terrified when she appeared.

Spock was by her side within seconds of her reappearance. The confusion was apparent on Jim's face. She stared at her hands and avoided looking directly at anyone. Spock kneeled down, Jim flinched when the Vulcan extended an arm toward her.

"Jim." the surprise and even a hint of sadness were noticeable in Spock's voice.

Jim stared up at him, analyzing the Vulcan. Until finally after a few seconds she opened her mouth and tried to speak. "Sp-. Sp-p-ock." Her voice was very raspy.

"Yes Jim. I am here."

McCoy rushed over and ran his tricorder over her. She pushed the tricorder away.

"Dammit Jim! I am trying to help you!"

Jim let out a frustrated moan. "M'Fine Bones."

"The hell you are!" McCoy took out a hypo and shot her in the neck before she even had time to protest.

Jim let out a groan and placed her hand over her neck. " -the hell Bones!?"

"This will hydrate you for now. But we need to get you down to sickbay."

Jim mumbled something under her breath that the Doctor couldn't make out.

"Yes Captain. I believe it is necessary." Spock raised his eyebrows at Jim.

'Damn Vulcan hearing.' McCoy thought to himself.

Spock reached out to Jim again, and upon seeing that she did not flinch. Spock placed his hand over hers. Jim did not return the gesture but she didn't shy away from it either.

Much to the Doctor's surprise, Spock moved closer and wrapped his arm around her in an attempt to comfort her. She stiffened for a brief moment but then accepted his advance and proceeded to clutch his shirt and place her head on his shoulder.

The doors of the turbolift opened and Charlie stepped on the bridge with four security guards closely behind him. He froze at the sight of the Thasian on the monitor.

"No! Please! Don't send me back! I can't go back with them! I can't live with them anymore! They don't feel! I can't even touch them!"

The entire bridge remained silent. Dr. McCoy looked around the room. Most of the crew members were looking away, feeling guilty for what they were doing, rather, what they weren't doing.

McCoy knew that he sure as hell wasn't going to speak up. That hormonal teenager had caused enough trouble on their ship.

His mind drifted back to Jim, the Doctor instinctively turned in her direction. She was still being embraced by the Vulcan, and Spock didn't look like he intended to let her go anytime soon. But Jim was no longer leaning against Spock. Her face had completely changed.

"We are locked on to Charlie's coordinates and we are beaming him over to their ship."

"NOOO! PLEASE! PLEASE!"

"Just a minute!"

Everyone turned in surprise to look at Jim who had spoken out. Her voice was still raspy but it had a hard note to it. She gently pulled away from Spock and had a look of determination as she limped over to where Charlie was standing. Spock hovered closely behind her.

"After everything you put us through... you expect us to let you stay?" Jim let out a disbelieving laugh, which due to her state of dehydration, resulted in a coughing fit.

"Captain?" Spock approached Jim, his right hand unconsciously extended towards the Captain. But Jim ignored him and once the coughing died down, she kept on speaking.

"No. I am sorry but no. I have no idea what you did after I disappeared... but you caused harm to several of my crew members. You almost did to Spock what you did to me! If there is one thing I cannot forgive, it is someone messing with my crew."

"I'M SORRY! I'LL BE GOOD! I WONT EVER DO IT AGAIN!"

Jim stared at Charlie long and hard, until finally turning to face the screen.

"Can he be taught to control his powers? So that he can live among humans?"

"We gave him the power so he could live. He will always use it. And he would destroy you and your kind if we allowed him to stay."

"Is there nothing you can do?" Jim patiently asked.

"We offer him life. We will take care of him."

Jim nodded and stepped back toward Spock.

"Come Charles." The man on the screen said before disappearing.

"No! NO! NO!"

Jim turned away from the sight and stood next to Spock as Charlie disappeared from the bridge. Everyone remained silent and stared at the spot where the teenager had been seconds before.

The silence was broken by what sounded like a squeak. The doctor turned toward where the sound had come from and was met with the sight of Spock carrying Jim bridal style.

"I shall escort the Captain to sickbay."

"What? No, Spock! Put me down! I am fine! It's just some minor cuts and bruises."

"The most logical course of action would be to allow Dr. McCoy to treat your injuries."

"PUT ME DOWN! Spock! That's an order!"

The Doctor knew that was his cue to follow them, but he remained standing there. His feet rooted to the floor of the bridge. His brain was still trying to process everything that had happened. Crazy telekinetic teenager, Jim disappearing and reappearing in front of them, Spock actually embracing someone in public and the sight of Spock carrying Jim away.

If this pattern keeps up, he is going to be an alcoholic by the time their five-year mission is over.

Jim shifted uncomfortably on the biobed as McCoy tried to get some readings on his tricorder.

"Spock… I am fine you don't have to stay…"

"It is my duty to - "

Jim waved him off. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Your duty."

Jim turned away from the Vulcan and looked directly at the Doctor."

"I am so over this Bones! I told you… I am fine. You just like to give me medical exams for no reason."

"Dammit Jim! Hold still! You were gone for less than an hour and yet you say you were gone for almost a day! How the hell is that 'no reason'? And drink some more water, we need to get you hydrated."

Jim grabbed the cup and gulped down some water. She used her torn up shirt to wipe off some of the water the dripped off her mouth.

"A Gorn Bones! A damn Gorn! I wake up in the middle of a desert. I think to myself, things can't get any worse… and then I find a communicator on my belt. But the only person I can communicate with is a male Gorn, who wants to kill me!"

Jim threw her hands up in the air as if to prove her point.

"Dammit Jim! Sit still! You got a pretty big bump on your head."

"Oh… yeah… that's from when the Gorn tried to throw me off a cliff."

Spock stiffened, something Jim did not fail to notice. As she glanced at the Vulcan the Doctor chose to take advantage of the moment to stab Jim with a hypo.

"Oww! Dammit Bones!"

"Only you Jim! Only you would get yourself into that sort of situation!"

"It was a small cliff anyways, Bones! No big deal!"

"You weren't supposed to end up there in the first place Jim!"

"What? I was supposed to let him hurt Spock? Besides, I didn't know what he was going to do!"

"Liar." The Doctor rolled his eyes as he placed the hypo with the rest of the medical equipment.

"Captain, while I appreciate your noble gesture. I find that I agree with the Doctor in this matter."

"Dammit Spock! Why can't you just say 'thank you' like a normal person? Why do you always have to criticize everything that I do?"

"I am not criticizing you Captain. I am merely suggesting that you have shown a pattern of reckless behavior in the past and you should sway away from such actions."

McCoy shook his head. This was like the Volcano incident all over again.

"Okay. You know what… I am just going to go to my quarters now. Spock, you have the conn. I need some rest."

Jim made to get off the biobed but McCoy stopped him before he was able to jump off.

"Okay kid, what aren't you telling me?"

"What?"

"The Jim Kirk I know would never willingly go rest when he needs to."

Shit. McCoy silently cursed himself. He used the masculine pronoun instead of the feminine one. He expected Jim to call him out on his mistake, or yell at him for calling her a man. Instead Jim just stared at him.

"Look Bones, a Gorn tried to smash my head in with a rock…"

Spock visiably tensed up in front of Jim.

"… and he obviously failed." Jim said as he gave another quick glance in the Vulcan's direction. "But I am exhausted. I just need to spend some time alone… resting." Jim added the last part after seeing the raised eyebrows he got from the Vulcan and the Doctor.

"Jim… did something happen out there, wherever you were?"

Jim looked at the Doctor dead in the eye, "no" she growled.

She got off the biobed before the two men could protest and stormed out of sickbay.

Spock was the first to recover from Jim's sudden emotional outburst. "Doctor, may I make an inquiry?"

The Doctor was still staring at the door of the medbay. "What the hell do you want, Spock?"

"I was merely wondering if you noticed that the Captain prevented the medical examination from being conducted?"

McCoy turned to look at the Vulcan with wide eyes.

"Son of a - "

Jim stormed into his room. He rushed into the bathroom and threw up in the toilet. After what felt like an eternity of puking his insides out. Jim flushed the toilet and went to the sink to rinse out his mouth. He stared at his reflection. He just stood there staring the pale and weakened looking girl in front of him. He splashed some water on his face and messaged his temples, avoiding the bump on his head.

Yup. He was screwed. He was not going to be able to hide this from Bones for long. How could he even throw up so much? He hadn't eaten for almost a day. He groaned as he shut off the bathroom light and dragged himself back to his room.

The headache had died down. All he could do at this point is to hope that it wouldn't come back again while he was on shift. But he knew it was only a matter of time before he would have to tell Bones.

'Hey buddy. I am not sure what happened that caused me to remember that I am actually a man! But I do. And now I feel like shit and it's not just because my entire crew lied to me.'

Oh yeah. That was going to be a great conversation. He mainly didn't want to talk to his friend about this because he was kind of upset with him. How could Bones not tell him what had happened? Instead he had let Jim think he was a girl and run around making eyes at his First Officer.

He began to tear off his clothes in frustration. He caught a glimpse of his body in the mirror as he was talking of his shirt. He groaned as he stared at his breasts and threw the shirt at the mirror. Usually he would have taken the time to admire how good looking he was, even as a woman. But now was not the time. Especially since it was this new body that got him into this problem in the first place.

What the hell was Bones thinking? Thanks to him, he had just made a fool of himself in front of his entire crew.

And what the hell was Spock thinking? Spock didn't love him. He was only doing his job as First Officer by humoring Jim. 'She' had made 'her' crush on the Vulcan painfully obvious. Spock was just humoring 'her'.

The Vulcan had probably thought it would be more logical to keep 'her' at ease and avoid any conflict.

Jim opened his dresser and pulled out a gold shirt and black pants.

He shouldn't have let Spock hug him... it was completely unprofessional. But it had felt so nice to be in Spock's arms. The way his body fit so perfectly against Spock's solid frame. The way Spock had rubbed his fingers across his shoulder and the way the Vulcan's intoxicating scent filled his nostrils every time he got close to Spock.

No. NO. NO! He couldn't let himself think like that. He was already confused enough.

He was in the process of putting on a fresh shirt when he felt a fresh wave of of pain wash over him.

Shit.

But Jim forced himself to fight the pain. He refused to go to Bones. He had to find some way to deal with this killer headache. He couldn't risk Bones finding out the truth. Not yet at least... there were still so many things he needed answered. And not to mention he wanted revenge on his friends for not telling him anything.

He fell back on to the bed, and threw a pillow over his head. Not two minutes had passed before he heard his door chime. He promptly ignored it. Spock could deal with anything that needed immediate attention.

It wasn't until he heard his door sliding open that he quickly sat up.

"Dammit Jim! Put on some clothes!"

Jim looked down and realized he had never put on some pants. Oh great.

"It's my room Bones. I can be naked if I want to. Besides, you let yourself in!"

Jim got a pair of pants thrown in her face in response.

"Oww! What the fuck Bones?"

"I could ask you the same thing Jim! What the hell do you think you are playing at?"

Jim froze. "Huh?"

The Doctor threw his padd on to the bed so that it landed right next to Jim.

"I was able to get some scans, despite your sabotage efforts." The Doctor glared at Jim as he said this. "Your vitals are all over the place, Jim! Not to mention a significant change in your brain chemistry!"

Jim's face immediately drained of all color.

"What the hell aren't you telling me kid?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." He said, not looking at his friend. His female voice actually someone sounded more innocent when he lied. But his friend clearly wasn't buying it.

"Why wouldn't you let me scan you, Jim?"

The headache was making it harder for him to focus on Bones. Most of his energy was going toward pretending he was okay. He knew he wouldn't be able to pretend much longer.

"Bones, I -"

Jim was unable to finish his sentence due to a sharp pain he felt in his head. Jim tried not to cry out but he let out an involuntary gasp. Then a second wave of pain hit him. Far more painful than the one that had hit him before.

"Shit! What's wrong Jim?" Bones quickly rushed over.

He was clutching his head. Bright lights filled his vision making everything else blurry. He could feel a pair of arms holding him. 'Spock.' He thought to himself. He could faintly make out a voice but he couldn't hear the words he was saying. Jim felt a sharp pain on his neck and soon after all pain and emotion faded. All that was left was darkness.

Jim opened his eyes and was met by the Doctor flashing a bright light into his eyes. He groaned scrunched up his eyes. "Shit!" He raised his hand to his forehead.

"Damn right Jim!"

"Where am I?" Jim groaned as he tried to sit up, but he was immediately pushed back down by the Doctor.

"Oh no you don't! You're in sickbay. What the hell were you thinking Jim! You had a damn concussion and some internal bleeding. Why the hell would you keep that to your self?"

Jim sighed, "It didn't know. I thought it was just a really bad headache."

"DAMMIT JIM! YOU'RE AN IDIOT!"

"Bones! Calm down! There is no need to yell!"

"CALM DOWN?" An ensign groaned two beds down from Jim's making the Doctor realize where he was. He lowered his voice but his tone remained bitter.

"Jim! Your vitals were way off."

"You told me this already. What else is knew?"

"No, Jim! I am serious!" His friends features slightly softened. "You screamed because of how much pain you were in. You passed out in front of me. We are talking about your life Jim! How can you be so careless?"

"What choice do I have Bones? Do you want me to break down in a corner and cry whenever I get a headache? I can't do that! Until I die or I'm discharged, I am responsible for the lives of everyone in my crew. The crew is my family Bones. I am not going to let them down."

"Jim… Why the hell would you keep this from me? I could have fixed this right away if you would have let me scan you."

"Bones… There is something I have to talk to you about… But you have to promise me you won't tell anyone else!"

"The hell?"

"I am serious Bones!"

"Okay, fine kid! What is it?"

"I know..." Jim swallowed, "I know that you are a hypocrite Bones!"

"Dammit Jim! I don't have time for this!" The doctor raised his hands up in the air and made to walk away from Jim's biobed.

"You have been keeping stuff from me too Bones." Jim said with his usual cocky tone.

"What - ?"

"I know I am really a man, Bones." Jim stated matter of fact. Not exactly how he had wanted this conversation to go, but at this point... he was sure this conversation would have never gone well anyways.

The Doctor remained silent for a long time. Then when he finally spoke, he did not say what Jim expected him to say.

"Well, at least that explains the brain scans. Does this mean your not in love with the hobgoblin anymore?"

Hey guys! Once again, I am so sorry about the delay. I am trying, but I am so busy lately.

This chapter did not want to get written. I rewrote this chapter so many times! I am actually supposed to be writing a ten page paper right now. So I think I am going to go do that.

I won't abandon these stories. It might take me a while to update... But I WILL update! Thanks to everyone who is following the story and thank you all for being so patient.

Note: No beta and because I have been very stressed lately, I am scared that I might have missed something while editing. So just in case... forgive any mistakes I may have made!