Thank you to everyone who read or review the last chapter. Also, thank you to everyone who left kudos, who are following this story, or who added the story to your favorites. Sorry, this update took a little while. I was trying to finish up my Marvel Cinematic Universe story Tony Stark Is Not a Relationship Expert and that led to writing back to back chapters. However, now that that story is done, this is the story I'm trying to finish which means more back to back chapters as soon as I do an update for The Idiot's Guide to Family Bonding. Yes, I know I'm horribly behind.
Warning: Violence, character death, and children in peril. Although, you might actually be happy about the character death this time.
Chapter 24: 101 Reasons Why Villains Schemes Fall Apart (Never Believe Your Own hype)
Put the mission first. Focus on the mission. Don't think about the fact that you are being forced to work with your mom's new wife or that technically she is the one who is supposed to be running point on this mission because the grand Admiral herself is worried you are emotionally compromised.
Don't think about the fact that you are emotionally compromised because for the first time in seven years you're spending time around your mom, who you thought was dead. Don't let your mind wander to the fact that your best friend, stepson, and mother-in-law have all been kidnapped by a man so amoral he had his own daughter killed. Also off limits is the fact that Chris, who should be dead right now, isn't thanks to some miracle that no one is talking about.
Don't think about the fact that your husband is having a 'Marshall episode' and you know that he's having one. At least this time he is responding to medication which he is taking the voluntarily rather than having to be forcibly injected by Nyota, who's not available right now.
It's really not in your best interest to think about why she's not there. You should definitely not focus on the fact that she could –no, most likely is being tortured right now. Don't think about the fact that she may just end up like your favorite father figure. Be happy that said father figure is not dead like certain idiotic former admirals are claiming in the media. Don't think about the fact that Amanda is on a shuttle headed for what Jim really hopes is New Vulcan.
He's really not going to think about baby David being alone with a sociopath or the fact that he's not even 100% sure which sociopath. His gut says the Vulcan supremacist, but it could be the bigoted biological grandfather who wants war with the Klingons at any cost. Of the two the narcissistic Vulcan with delusions of grandeur is a much better option than the guy who used to beat up his daughter and ordered her execution.
They have a plan. There's going to be three teams involved in this operation. The first team has two groups. Both will be going through the Vulcan passageway that leads straight to the Vulcan Council headquarters on New Vulcan (Jim would love to ask why such a passageway existed, but doesn't). One will stay behind to guard Spock's great-grandmother as well as the Council members to prevent the coup d'état from getting worse. The other is going on to intercept the ship carrying Amanda and David at the space port.
The second team was going to the location where they traced Nyota's access of the Enterprise database with the emergency code. Jim is really, really thankful right now that they came up with that little system. He would be running point on that mission (with Agent 13 there to babysit).
The last team is what Jim likes to think as the cavalry. This team will be coming with Enterprise for back up. Even flying at maximum warp, they won't get there for several hours however.
Now, Jim wants Spock in charge of the team at the spaceport. However, he's been overruled by step mommy dearest.
"No. I know your husband is a highly capable officer." Agent 13 said emphatically. "I know Spock is probably one of the best in Starfleet. However, even if he wasn't having a mental health moment, I would not allow him to run point on a mission involving the kidnapping of his mother or child. It's too personal. I wouldn't even be letting you run one of the teams if we didn't have a mole problem."
They definitely have a mole problem. Despite being a complete dick, there were people all through Starfleet who believed in Alexander Marcus's way of doing things. These people were unhappy with the measures Starfleet had taken in the last three years to get back to their roots and become the peacekeeping exploratory organization that they were initially. These people have been causing problems like derailing negotiations, causing bad publicity, and leaking information to certain groups. One of these individuals leaked the location of yesterday's pizza lunch. Was that only yesterday? It seems so long ago right now. So much has changed in the last 24 hours.
"What do you mean by 'mental health moment'?" Jim started to rub his temple. He hates that his assumption about Marshall has been proven right. He was hoping he would be wrong there.
"He started talking to the personification of his human self at the house. Once he took his medication he was able to help with the investigation but…" Agent 13 trailed off there. (He's not going to think of her by her real name. There's no reason to get to know her. After today Jim can avoid the woman and her wife for the rest of eternity.)
"Spock is a liability?" Jim supplied for her.
"Yes." She answered bluntly. You knew that, but he was still going to fight this, sort of.
"Okay, I concede your point. If things go south at the spaceport, I really don't want Marshall in charge of the tactical team, but Spock could still be in charge of the Enterprise." Okay, even Jim realizes that he was essentially arguing for the sake of an argument at this point. Agent 13 realizes the same thing because she was sighing.
"I'm not completely grounding your husband. We don't have the resources for that right now. He can be on the Enterprise, but I don't want him there in a leadership capacity. You suggested Lt. Cmdr. Sulu earlier. I think he is still our best option. Commander Spock can run backup support, if he is able to." The way she said it made Jim positive she believes that Spock would not be able to. The fact that she was an actual psychologist, not just a secret spy is the only reason Jim did not challenge her on this point.
"Fine," Jim gave up. They really didn't have time to keep arguing. Every second mattered and he would really like to get his team to Nyota before something bad happened. "But who's going to run the welcome wagon at the spaceport?"
"Agent Gaila of course." Agent 13 pointed to the woman beside him.
"You're Section 31?" Jim asked slightly shocked. Besides his husband, Nyota and Bones, there wasn't anyone else that he was closer to. They were best friends or at least he thought that was the case.
"Jim, where else would I be in Starfleet? Where else would they put someone who looks like me?" Jim could see her point. Of the two of them, Gaila could go to places that he never could. People would never assume that she was Starfleet. Actually, he used her on a few away missions for that purpose. Anytime they dealt with a human phobic society Gaila and Spock ran point. Unfortunately, that happened of lot more than he would like. But she was more than just her species and it annoyed Jim that she didn't believe something similar.
"You're one of the best damn hackers we have in Starfleet. I think you're better then Spock and me sometimes." Jim praised her and just wasn't empty platitudes. She was good. There was a reason why he went to her for help with his grand scheme to reprogram the Kobayashi Maru into something useful.
"Yes and combine those skills with my appearance and you have an unstoppable agent. People underestimate me. They think I'm just a dumb sex slave. It's helpful." He would like to believe that in this day and age that people would not think that way, but he knew that they did.
"Also, I beat you all the time when we spar." She was very good when it came to tactical thinking too. He'd learned to never, ever play war games against her. Her team kicked his team's ass at paintball and Capture the Flag.
"Okay." Jim acquiesced. "You are the best option we have right now."
"I'm the only option we have right now." Gaila quipped.
"No, you're the best one. He's not going to expect you to be a threat, especially if he remembers you as Amanda's meek assistant." A plan was already forming in Jim's head.
"We can use that," 13 said. "Pretend to be docile and submissive. Catch him off guard and then attack."
"That works for me." Gaila replied just as Agent 13's encrypted communicator chirped.
"River here." She said into the communicator as she stepped far enough away that they could only hear her part of the conversation.
"Seriously? No, we expected it. It doesn't change the plan. I want everybody to be ready to leave in 20 minutes from Gateway H." She quickly ended the call.
"We have a development." Agent 13 turned back to Jim and Gaila. "Council member Sank is just as crazy and self-absorbed as we all assumed he would be. He has requested a meeting with Spock and Elder T'Pau to negotiate release of the hostages."
"Please tell me that someone told him that New Vulcan doesn't negotiate with terrorists? You just know it's a trap." And there was no way at all Jim was going to let Spock get anywhere near it.
"Vulcans are more logical than that. They speak with the terrorists first to see if it's possible to diffuse the situation before telling them to get fucked." Gaila quipped beside him.
"The joys of the Vulcan mind." Jim sighed.
"As we just discussed, Spock being there is not an option. He may get himself killed and your mom will make me sleep on the couch for the rest of eternity if I make her baby boy a widower."
Although Jim found that laughable, he agreed with her decision. However, he doubted that Spock would be the one getting killed. This woman obviously did not know what happened to Cupcake during Spock's last severe psychotic episode. The council member would be torn in pieces. And while the image is one of his top 10 fantasies right now, Jim really does not want to be a single parent due to Spock being on a prison planet for murder, even though it would be justifiable homicide. However, that's when Jim realized they had another solution.
"He just said that a Spock had to attend right?" He asked for clarification.
"Yes, but again we are not sending in your husband."
"Not my husband, her boyfriend." Jim replied with a smirk.
"He's not really my boyfriend," Gaila retorted. "We're just sleeping together." Jim wanted to roll his eyes. Why was his friend so afraid of the B word?
"What are you talking about?" Agent 13 looked at the pair highly confused.
"You don't know? I thought Section 31 knew everything." Jim snarked.
"Selek's real identity is even beyond Section 31 purview." Gaila explained. "I only know because I know your Spock very well, but I think using the elder would be a good idea. It would definitely catch him off guard."
"Do you think he will do it?" Jim asked.
"He feels guilty and useless right now. I think he will be willing to help any way he can." Jim could understand that. They're essentially the same person and if Spock Junior was filling guilty and blaming himself, then Spock Senior would be feeling the exact same way.
"Would you like to share your plan with the class?" Agent 13 looked at the both of them.
"It's better that you don't know." Gaila replied.
"Plausible deniability," Jim quipped.
"Plausible deniability is good." The senior agent just closed her eyes for a moment.
"So here we are at the transporter pad again." James said anxiously as he waited to go through the gateway to New Vulcan. He was obviously referencing the moments just before they boarded the Narada together.
"This time I am not accompanying you." Spock would feel more at ease if he could directly participate.
"You know I want you there." James squeezed his hand.
"However, I'm a liability." Spock was well aware of his own limitations.
"I'm more worried about Sulu blowing up my baby. You know I hardly ever let him have the keys." James joked.
"There are no actual keys for…" Spock finds James' mouth upon his in an effort to keep him from speaking.
"This will work. I will get Nyota and the good doctor and Gaila will get your mom and David. Then we will be planning your mom's wedding and deciding how we want to decorate David's room," James said with a touch of bravado. If Spock was in the right mindset, he would already be quoting the statistical probability of the mission's success, but instead he remained silent. James needed to convince himself that the rescue plan would work because there are no other options. Failure is not an option either. A certain voice in his head is already quoting those numbers, but Spock refuses to listen. It is not productive.
"I expect you to keep with your pattern of accomplishing the statistically impossible." Spock chose to say instead.
"I married you. I think that proves I'm great at pulling off the impossible." James kisses him one more time.
"Come back safe." Spock said before initiating one final kiss.
"I promise." With that, James steps onto the transporter pad and disappears seconds later with the rest of his team.
When they arrived at the Vulcan Council headquarters, a transport was already waiting to take Gaila's team to the space port. They would be meeting their target and his security entourage just outside the space port in front of a nearby café. It only took her 15 minutes to convince Elder T'Pau not to accompany the team and stay with the officers there to protect her.
There were only six including the ambassador (Gaila would only refer to him as the ambassador right now because her training dictates she maintain some emotional distance. Of course, she's not sure how she will accomplish that considering that she is posing as his fiancée.) The small team was their best shot at catching the man off guard and successfully extracting the two council members.
If they showed up with 50 people, Sank would know something was up. Instead, she was posing as Spock's fiancé. Agent Six had a striking resemblance to Spock's assistant, Janice. In proper Vulcan attire, it would be impossible to tell the women apart, which was why the agent would be posing as his assistant. The other advantage to traditional Vulcan attire was that it was very easy to hide weapons. Section 31 just happened to be in possession of weapons that would not set off the weapon scan that any good security team would do before approaching. As a precaution, Six would be carrying a weapon because they could always claim that the assistant was another security team member.
The other three members of the party were posing as the ambassador's security team. Technically, one person was actually a member of his normal team who the ambassador trusted implicitly. The other was the only Vulcan member of Section 31, T'Ray. She was not happy with her fellow countryman at the moment.
Actually, T'Ray was never happy with her countryman considering she was once promised to the odious Vulcan. Gaila doesn't know all the details, but it was enough to make the female Vulcan consider Starfleet as a viable alternative to an arranged marriage to such a despicable being. In the end, the choice saved her life because she was on Earth touring the Academy with her cousin when Vulcan was destroyed. She was a valuable asset now. Much like herself, Agent T'Ray could go places that more humanoid looking agents could not. Her personal knowledge of the target was helpful in setting up this all up. With her team in place, they waited for the Elder to arrive.
Gaila wasn't shocked at all that the Elder arrived with Amanda by his side, in chains no less. Nor was she surprised that he was flanked by several guards all with weapons all of which happened to be trained on Amanda. It was superfluous. A means of intimidation. They would be just as effective with one sniper perched on top of the café roof like her team did. Apparently the Elder decided to go with a show of force instead of the practical.
What did surprise her was seeing Elder T'Panda tethered to the council member at the wrist. She was also dressed in traditional wedding attire and without the assistive technology which helps her see. The Vulcan was also kept in front of Sunk as a shield making it impossible for their sniper to get a clean shot. The fact that the normally fiery - by Vulcan standards - councilwoman was being so complicit made Gaila certain that drugs were involved. Both of these factors were extra complications in the extraction.
Baby David was nowhere to be seen. This worried her, but she tried to tell herself that they just left the toddler on the starship for this little confrontation.
"Where is Mr. Spock?" Sunk asked impatiently. If the two hostages weren't so close to him, she would order the sniper to take him out now. "I specifically demanded to speak with him. I will not negotiate with anyone else."
"I am Spock." Her—okay, let's just call him her boyfriend- said to the petulant Vulcan.
"No, you are not." Sunk replied coldly not a trace of emotion anywhere and has language or expression.
"If your guard did a DNA scan, you would know that we are telling the truth." Gaila started to explain.
"My great nephew is technically a clone of myself." Selek supplied. From a certain point of view that would not actually be a lie.
"You did not specify which Spock you wanted to see. So we decided to choose for you." Gaila replied impatiently. She would not be part of this exercise in exerting one's masculinity. Although, she sure that Spock would win.
"Who are you?" Sunk spat out with disdain. She is not surprised at all that the Vulcan whom she spent several months with post destruction does not recognize her. It's better that way. Amanda must agree because she said nothing.
"My intended." The ambassador replied. A look of disgust instantly fell over the Vulcan face. That was the whole reason why they chose this particular story. This prejudice would help keep the other Vulcan off guard.
"This is a perfect example of why you should be stripped of your membership on the Council. Those who forsake our ways should not be on it. A half human consorting with a prostitute is an affront to the Vulcan way of life. How much did you pay for her?" Despite his best efforts, Gaila could feel the anger beneath his calm expression.
She visualized kicking Sunk in his genitalia to permanently prevent him from procreating. Sadly, he keeps his Vulcan shield in front of him and is more importantly a member of an endangered species. She hopes that whoever has the misfortune of reproducing with this bastard will be able to prevent their child from inheriting his more abhorrent qualities such as his prejudice and narcissism.
"Those who care only for themselves should not be on the Council." T'Ray commented from the back. "Yet, you are still a member."
"I am…" He started, but was cut off once more by T'Ray.
"An individual with no diplomatic skills whatsoever, who should not be on the Council let alone be attempting to run it? Those of us who 'consort' with humans are considered traitors in your eyes. Yet, you have abandoned the principles our society was built upon and remain on the Council. Your Vulcan supremacist tendencies make you a disgrace to our people. You have twisted the philosophies of our people into your own racist rhetoric just like your father."
"I am certain you remember your former fiancé, T'Ray." Her Spock said curtly.
"T'Ray, I am pleased to see you here." He was not. It looked as if he swallowed a lemon. "I assumed that you perished with the rest of our people. Your cousin Snek neglected to mention this." He gestured to one of security team members.
Gaila didn't dare hope that Snek was who she thought he was. The lack of weapons scan prior this meeting made sense if she was right though.
"I am sure you wished that to be the case. I assume my cousin turned your personal attack dog didn't believe my survival would be of interest to you." The specialist spat out. "I was always too emotional for you. I had the good fortune of visiting Starfleet Academy at the time of our planet's demise."
"How fortuitous. You will be able to attend my bonding ceremony." That explains the wedding attire. Okay, this guy really was that crazy. He was also extremely dangerous.
"Only if I cannot free the bride from you." T'Ray spoke without inflection. "We are here to negotiate the exchange of prisoners."
"That is an unfortunate term. No one here is a prisoner." Spock just raised an eyebrow at the Vulcan.
"Then why is Dr. Grayson in chains?" Gaila asked pointedly.
"This is merely her punishment for the false imprisonment of my father." The specialist rolled her eyes.
"Your father tried to kill her son." T'Ray shot back.
"Because he is inferior to us." Gaila wonders why no one has challenged Sunk sanity, because it seems obvious the Vulcan is insane. She was fairly sure sanity in a hypo wouldn't help. The Vulcan was not rational enough to take care of himself, let alone a planet.
"I find that hypothesis illogical considering the fact that you are not superior to anyone. You would never have ascended to the Council if not for our planet's great tragedy and the fact that you pushed her husband out of the way."
"I did no such thing." The Elder spat out.
"You brag about it. It is one of your favorite accomplishments." Gaila wonders if T'Ray was inferring what Gaila thought she was inferring.
"This current dialogue is unproductive. We are here to discuss your demands." Spock interrupted.
"I have no demands. I only want you here to watch." His expression was ice and Gaila just knew something was going to go down.
"What would that be?" Spock inquired.
"Your mother's demise, although I guess she is not really your mother. Your friend then. It does not matter. Kill her now." He said gesturing to T'Ray's cousin. As he said the words, his 'bride' pulled away from him finally allowing a clear shot and Gaila quickly signaled the sniper. At the same time, his former fiancée ran to get Amanda out of the way. Before her sniper could take the shot Sunk was already on the ground lifeless. The cousin of her agent was standing serenely over the body weapon in hand and none of the rest of Sank's security team were rushing to attack him. Clearly she was missing something here and it wasn't just David.
To be continued.
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