Author's Note:

Good morrow to you all. Here is a heavier chapter and you see a bit more of Pavel's childhood. I hope you enjoy this and please let me know what you think.

Warning-Contains child abuse but nothing to graphic.

I own nothing.

Dreams Past

It really wasn't the best situation Spock and Pavel could be in.

They had been on an away mission when there had been a transporter malfunction preventing them from beaming back up, unfortunately the unique atmospherics of the planet also meant that using the shuttle wasn't really an option either. They were therefore effectively stuck on the planet until the transporter was fixed, they could still communicate with the Enterprise so they weren't completely cut off from the ship. As such the only thing they could really do was find some form of shelter and wait for the repairs to be done. This is what caused them to be sitting together in a cave as night fell outside.

There had been several other crewmembers with them on the mission but they had returned to the ship as Spock and Pavel had done few final scans, the transporter malfunctioned soon after rendering it unusable. Since then they had waited in the cave largely in silence and Pavel had eventually drifted off to sleep, knowing that they could be in for a long wait and that Chekov needed more sleep than him Spock let him be and waited for news on the transporter.

Chekov had been sleeping for about an hour when he started to mutter and shift around in his sleep. Initially Spock thought that he was waking up but he realised that the ensign was dreaming, he watched as Chekov seemed to get more and more distressed and came to the conclusion that the ensign wasn't just dreaming but having a full nightmare. Spock was unsure as to what he should do and hesitated as his charge started to whimper, Pavel then let out an anguished cry and Spock acted before he could think. He instinctively pulled the boy into a hug and accidently performed a mind meld.

It took Spock a moment to realise that he was in Chekov's mind and then he saw two figures standing before him. One was obviously a much younger Chekov, possibly seven or eight, but the other was an adult man that he didn't recognise. The man was shouting angrily but Spock couldn't understand what he was saying as it was in Russian but it was having a noticeable effect on the child Chekov. There were tears pouring down the boy's face as the man continued to yell and Spock could feel the child's fear. The man stopped shouting and the boy answered but it obviously not what the man wanted to hear as he savagely smacked Chekov round the head. The blow sent the boy crashing to the ground and Spock felt an inexplicable emotion stir in him, the man began yelling again as the child cowered on the floor sobbing. The man suddenly hauled the boy up and screamed in his face, he then threw the child back on the floor before ruthlessly hitting him. As Spock watched the beating he felt the emotion that had been building in him explode and it surged through the mind meld obliterating the nightmare entirely.

Spock returned to reality to find Chekov clinging to him sobbing. The boy was still in his arms and Spock found himself rubbing Pavel's back soothingly as the boy wept. Pavel eventually cried himself back to sleep and Spock continued to hold him in his arms to give him comfort. He thought about what he had seen and knew that it was as much a memory as it was a nightmare; the more he thought about it the more he felt the urge to protect Chekov from his past. It was an illogical urge, that part of Chekov's life was over and done with, but Spock just couldn't suppress it. He then looked at the boy sleeping peacefully with no brutal memories plaguing him and came to a realisation.

Yes, trying to protect Chekov from a past he couldn't change was illogical but he was going to do it anyway.

PS-So there we have it. I'll probably do a lighter chapter next and I'm still willing to take suggestions.