"Hang on, Jim." McCoy cooed as he rubbed his hand comfortingly on Kirk's shoulder. Kirk gritted his teeth in agony, his skull seemingly splitting with every beat of his heart.

"We will be back at the planet in 2 minutes, Doctor." Spock called over his shoulder.

"D-Don't," Kirk spat as he tried to roll over, but McCoy kept him anchored to the spot.

"Why not?" McCoy pressed, trying to calm the squirming Kirk. "What's that bitch trying to tell you?!"

"'S using... me..." Kirk pushed McCoy's hand off his shoulder and managed to pull himself onto his knees, still clutching his head tightly.

"I know Jim, but we can fix this," McCoy put his hand on Kirk's back, keeping him from tipping over. "But not if you're dead."

"Th-the outsiders," Kirk hissed, his eyes shut tightly. "C-could be threat."

"That's a chance we're going to have to take," McCoy gently tried to guide Kirk back to the ground, but Kirk wouldn't budge.

"Go." Kirk said, as firmly as he could. "Safety..." He trailed off as McCoy pushed a hypo into his shoulder and his muscles relaxed. McCoy guided him to the floor as he nearly faded out of consciousness. His pained cries subsided as the drowsiness set in. McCoy whipped out his tricorder and waved it over Kirk, frowning at the results. The captain was still in immense pain.

"Thirty seconds, Doctor. Prepare to take control of the vessel." Spock unbuckled himself as the planet came into view.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" McCoy asked, watching as Spock made his way to the back of the ship, pulling his phaser from his belt.

"I am the reason that we are in this situation. I intend on making things right." Spock said, readying the transporter.

"Wait," McCoy protested, but Spock began to fade into thin air. "We could've talked this out, but no." McCoy grumbled.

/

The Kahn-ut-tu woman sat on the hilltop, her legs folded neatly beneath her, waiting patiently. A smile crossed her face as she watched the strange alien man, known as Spock, appear in a cloud of sparkles before her.

"Luna," Spock fully materialized on the planet and pointed the phaser at the woman. "You will stop harming the Captain." He said forcefully.

"Then you will give me what I want," She shrugged and twirled her jet black hair in her fingers.

"You heard the Captain's terms, I assume. I intend on seeing them through." Spock said stiffly.

"The terms that he had were not our deal," the woman's words bit as she stood up slowly. "After all, it wasn't the Captain's deal to make in the first place," She waltzed over to Spock and touched his shoulder lightly, walking around him seductively. Spock stood rooted to his spot, standing rigidly as she touched him. "I believe this deal was made between you and I."

"Indeed it was," Spock said, uncomfortably. "However I have changed my terms to match the Captain's demands."

"Very well," The woman sighed. "I have changed my terms as well. I will not surrender my hold of the Captain's mind until you have returned here to my planet with the weapons that were promised. And furthermore, I demand to be brought back to your planet and oversee the production of those weapons."

"I cannot agree to those terms. Your very presence on Earth endangers not only my career, but also the Captain's." Spock attempted to reason with the woman.

"Do you know how fragile the mind truly is, Mister Spock?" The woman asked, staring up at the sky. "Do you understand how little it takes to break a man?" She asked, holding up her thumb and index finger, ready to snap. "It could be over, just like that." She snapped her fingers and Spock flinched slightly. "I presume that you want the Captain to remain alive and well?" Spock sat in silence. "I highly recommend you agree to my terms."

"I could end your life right here, right now." Spock growled, his phaser trained on the woman.

"Oh please, Mr. Spock. You and I both know that you wouldn't do that." She smirked.

"And why is that? You are threatening my Captain, to whom it is my duty to protect." Spock wavered slightly, his finger hovering over the trigger.

"Because you could never harm an unarmed woman," The woman sneered. "Nor would it be in your best interest. Threaten me again, and I will damage your Captain in more ways than you can imagine." The woman pushed Spock's phaser down, and he hesitantly let her. "Now, I believe we have a ship to get back to."

/

"How are you feeling, Jim?" Kirk heard McCoy's voice say distantly. He groggily opened his drooping eyes to see McCoy hovering over him again, the all-to-familiar medical ward ceiling above him.

"Damn," Kirk grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "How long have I been out?"

"A couple of hours," McCoy answered, looking up at the biobed readings. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Kirk admitted, sitting up in his bed, under McCoy's wary watch.

"No headaches?" McCoy asked.

"No," Kirk shook his head and frowned. "We're back on Earth?" He asked, looking around.

"Spock brought us back," McCoy's lips curled into a frown.

"And the Kahn-ut-tu?" Kirk asked. McCoy refused to meet his eyes. "Bones," Kirk warned, his tone growing close to 'I'm the captain and you'd better do as I say'.

"She's staying in a hotel just outside of town. Off the records. We've got some security teams watching her closely." McCoy sighed, watching Kirk's vitals spike with the news.

"Shit." He rubbed his head. "Why didn't we just leave her on the planet?"

"She threatened to kill you, Jim." McCoy said, somewhat defensively. "We had to do what she told us."

"You didn't have to do shit." Kirk grumbled as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. McCoy opened his mouth to protest, but Kirk put up his hand, stopping him. "You've always got a choice, Bones."

"What was I supposed to do?" McCoy hissed. "Let you die?"

"Yeah, maybe." Kirk shouted back and McCoy fell into a stunned silence. "It sure as hell would've kept you guys from being wrapped around her little finger."

"I don't give a fuck what she tells me to do. All I care about is that you're still alive and kicking," McCoy shouted back at Kirk. "We'll figure the rest out as we go."

"I can't ask you to do that, Bones." Kirk sighed, staring into McCoy's eyes, the vibrant blue of his irises clouded with anger and confusion.

"Good thing I don't need your permission." McCoy sneered. Kirk lowered his head in defeat, looking down at his feet hanging over the biobed.

Kirk shook his head and his eyes locked on McCoy, but it was a much softer glance. "We've got to roll with the punches now, I guess," He sighed. "We've got to find out who planted the bomb."

"And in the mean time, you're going to stay as far away from that witch as you can, you understand me?" McCoy warned.

"Yeah," Kirk muttered quietly. "What the hell does she want here, anyway?"

"She wants to supervise the weapon making," McCoy shrugged. "Spock told her that she wasn't allowed to see how we made the weapons, and she was alright with that, so I don't know why she's here keeping watch. I guess she wants to make sure that we're not trying to snake out of our deal."

"No," Kirk shook his head. "Something else is going on. I can't quite put my finger on it-" Kirk froze as a small pang at the back of his head started to flare up.

"Jim?" McCoy asked, his eyes shooting up to the biobed readings. A small spike in the pain indicator, but nothing more. "You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kirk reassured his friend and turned his attention back to him. "What was I saying?"

"Something about the Kahn-ut-tu and the weapons," McCoy raised an eyebrow as he watched the young captain cautiously.

"Right," Kirk shook his head. "She's got some other reason for watching, but I can't quite place-" Kirk was interrupted by his entire world being consumed by a strange white light.

/

Kirk blinked and he realized that the engulfing light wasn't just a flash - it was a vision. He blinked again and saw the faint horizon line before him, where the light met the gray of the ground. He found himself surrounded by this open space, the strange white light no longer burning his eyes, but filling him with a calm and secure feeling. He watched the space around him pulse rhythmically, and he suddenly felt at peace.

"Jim," Kirk's eyebrows furrowed as he heard his name. He swiveled around quickly and saw the Kahn-ut-tu woman sitting behind him, seemingly floating on nothingness and staring at something ahead. "Jim!" He heard his name again, the voice growing more desperate. He took one last look at the woman and let the voice tear him away from his trance.

/

"Jim, talk to me!" McCoy yelled as he grabbed Kirk's shoulders and stared into his lifeless eyes. Kirk suddenly sucked in a deep breath and blinked hard. McCoy breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the light return to Kirk's eyes.

"Bones?" Kirk asked, his face scrunched up with confusion.

"Jim," McCoy breathed, helping the dazed Kirk lay back down on the bed. "What happened?" He asked quietly as he guided the man back down to his pillow.

"I-I don't know..." Kirk admitted, blinking wildly. "I," Kirk's eyes locked on McCoy's. "Bones?" Kirk whispered, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm here, Jim," McCoy held onto Kirk's shoulders comfortingly.

"What the hell just happened?" Kirk tried to sit up, but McCoy held him down.

"You just blanked out for a few seconds," McCoy explained, struggling to keep the squirming captain in place. "It's like you, I don't know, left or something," McCoy huffed as he pushed down on Kirk's shoulders.

"Bones, let me go, I'm fine." Kirk smacked at McCoy's hands. "I didn't go anywhere. I just - I don't know, I just saw something, I think." Kirk explained and McCoy relaxed his grip.

"What did you see?" McCoy asked breathlessly as he watched Kirk sit up.

"I don't know," Kirk shrugged. "I was surrounded by this... light. It's like I was everywhere and nowhere, all at once," He paused. "But I wasn't scared. I know I should've been, but I just wasn't." Kirk rubbed his head.

"Did you see anything else?" McCoy asked softly.

"Yeah," Kirk nodded slowly. "That Kahn-ut-tu woman. She was...she was just sitting there. She wasn't looking at me, she was just sitting." Kirk shook it off. "I don't know what happened."

"It's alright, Jim," McCoy cooed and reached out to touch Kirk's shoulder.

"I'm fine, Bones. I already told you," Kirk swatted his hand away. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"

"It just seems like that woman's getting to you," McCoy said comfortingly. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you,"

"What do you mean she's 'getting to me'?" Kirk asked. "You don't think I'm going crazy, do you?"

"I'm not saying that, I'm just saying that this has to be mentally taxing-"

"You do think I'm going crazy!" Kirk gaped. "I'm not, Bones. I'm fine." Kirk protested. "I promise."

"I don't doubt that you are, I'm just-" McCoy was interrupted by the beeping of his communicator. Kirk looked expectantly at it, and McCoy rolled his eyes and reluctantly picked it up. "McCoy," McCoy sighed into the communicator.

"Spock here," Spock's voice called over the communicator. "The Kahn-ut-tu woman is requesting that Captain Kirk join us in the weapons facility."

"Spock, I really don't think that's a great idea," McCoy warned as he glanced over at Kirk.

"She is not asking," Spock said back, and even McCoy could detect the urgency in his voice.

"Right," McCoy grumbled. "We'll be there in ten minutes." He shut the communicator and slipped it back into his belt. "Get ready to go." He shook his head at Kirk. "We're not going to be there long."

/

At long last, a wild chapter appeared! Sorry about the wait, but I think I'm finally going to be able to turn this story around. Thanks for sticking with me this far, and I hope you'll hang around for the rest of the story with a little bit of your wonderful patience :). Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

-buckminsterbarnes