A/N
Hey to anybody still reading. I know it's been absolutely forever, sorry. I decided I needed to do a bit of living so I took myself backpacking around Australia and Asia, and it was pretty fucking awesome. But it also meant I didn't have my laptop so I couldn't write. But now I'm back so here is the next instalment, with apologies for it taking quite so long. A bit of a warning for this chapter because I don't want to upset anybody... there's some fairly mild gore and violence, as well as a lingering threat of sexual assault and one short scene during which an assault takes place. I've placed a page break at the actual scene so anybody who wishes to read the chapter but not that small section can avoid it. It's also mentioned again later in the chapter but not as a flashback or anything. Anyway, I'll try not to leave it four months before the next part...
Chapter Thirty-Six
Nearly twenty-four hellish hours passed before Chris received word that he would not under any circumstances be allowed aboard the Intrepid as it pursued the Orion ship that had captured David.
Carol had done her best to argue the case, but the other Admirals were hearing none of it, claiming emotional compromise would render Chris unfit for duty.
He had no choice but to sit his last final, staring blankly at the floor barely concentrating as his hand moved rapidly across the page, writing but not really thinking. He'd probably fail, but he couldn't bring himself to care even slightly.
He was aware of people staring at him everywhere he went on campus, but it took until mid-morning before he called in to Spock's office and found out what was really going on.
"It appears the details of your conversation with David have been discovered," Spock said quietly, so quietly Chris could barely hear him above the noise of the students chatting loudly loitering outside the office door.
He hated this tiny, badly positioned office they had forced on Spock, and he resented Mitchell all the more for his pathetic vendetta.
"Which conversation? We've talked a couple of times."
That's exactly what he couldn't deal with, some sordid scandal of his private conversations coming to air in the press right now.
"The only conversation which did not take place over a secure channel. The conversation during which you proposed marriage to him," Spock said, looking up at Chris, one eyebrow slightly raised as if as a question, asking him to confirm.
"I don't… I don't really care, Spock. I don't care right now if every single person this side of the neutral zone knows that we're together. It should never have mattered in the first place. After three years I'm damn tired of having to live with the biggest part of my life as a secret. It was time for it to come out, I'll deal with whatever shit it causes. Right now I just want to be out there. I feel so useless here… I know that Sulu will do a damn good job looking for them, but I just… I want to be there. I want to be the person who pulls him off that ship and shoots the bastard who took him away," he said, clenching his fists so tightly on the arm rests of the chairs he deformed the plastic, leaving small finger indents in both arms.
"I understand the feeling of helplessness which you are currently experiencing. I am gratified that you have sought me out this morning, I felt I needed to speak with you," Spock said and Chris looked at him expectantly.
"I wished to stress upon you the importance of maintaining your current state of wellbeing during this difficult time. I understand the stress and emotional strain you are under must be enormous, however I wished to remind you that I am certain David would not want this incident to cause you to-"
"Fall off?" Chris asked lightly and Spock gave a slight nod of agreement.
"Indeed. Your extended period of sobriety and increasingly stable lifestyle are very important to you, and I know that David would not wish you to forget these things in his absence," Spock said and Chris did his best to keep his emotions off his face.
"That's kind of sweet of you Spock. Thanks for checking up on me. I mean, I think I'm pretty safe from falling off right now… pretty certain the Orions haven't hidden David at the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniels, so I won't need to go looking for him there," he said lightly and Spock quirked an eyebrow.
Chris knew it wasn't even slightly appropriate to be making such a joke, but he had no other way of coping with the amount of concern coursing through him.
"In addition to it not being what David would want, it is not what I want. I… I care about your welfare a great deal, and I do not wish to see you take a step backwards. If you require any assistance during this time, you need only ask," Spock said quietly and Chris searched the dark eyes so similar to his own, finding nothing but truth in those words.
"Thank you Spock, that means a lot to me," he said, slowly rising from his chair and leaving the office with the intent of going over to see Carol and Bones and how they were holding up, his stomach lurching uncomfortably as he moved and his mind wandering to where David could be.
*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~*
"McCoy? McCoy wake up!"
David opened his eyes slowly. He was laying flat on his front, face pressed against a cold hard floor. It took him a few moments to process everything.
The first thing that occurred to him was that he was injured. His head was throbbing and he vaguely remembered being hit by a stun blast from a phaser. His upper arm reminded him angrily he also had been burnt by another blast from a phaser, a small but nasty wound where the focus of the beam had just clipped him.
"Where 'm I?" he slurred, flattening his hands onto the floor and pushing himself up onto his hands and knees.
Hughes was kneeling at his side and she moved slightly to give him some room, not removing the hand from his shoulder where she had shaken him awake.
"You're naked," he noted aloud as he glanced at her.
"I'm naked," he added as he realised how cold he was.
"They took our uniforms when they brought us aboard," Hughes said matter-of-factly.
"Well, good thing this isn't awkward or anything," sighed David as he pushed himself into a kneeling position and turned away from her a little in their small confined space.
"You hurt?" she asked and he shook his head.
"Scratch on my arm, I'm fine. Are you ok? That was a hell of a bang on the head you took back on the ship," he said and she nodded stubbornly, despite the dried blood he could just about make out around her hairline through the gloom.
He reached out towards her head and she caught his hand, pushing it away. He noticed her hand was trembling.
"You're shaking," he said and she frowned.
"I'm fine," she insisted.
"Are you cold?" he asked. It was a stupid question. The tiny room they were being kept in was freezing. He scoped it out quickly. There were no beds, no window, no obvious door, and in one corner a very basic toilet.
"Nice place," he said sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood. She rolled her eyes, hugging her knees towards her chest and holding them, trying to keep warm.
David did his best to hide just how scared he was of the situation they had found themselves in. He knew Chris would be doing everything to search for him and that Starfleet would be searching for them, they would just have to hang on if there were no opportunities for escape.
They barely spoke for the next few hours, Hughes seemed to be shaking more and more uncontrollably as time wore on and David wished he had some water to give her.
"That's it. Get over here," he ordered unnecessarily from where they were laying close together on the hard floor, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her close. Her body felt absolutely freezing against his and she struggled for a few moments.
"David let go, I don't need- just let go," she argued weakly before stopping.
"I think maybe I have a concussion," she admitted, going still and allowing him to draw her close so that he could share his body warmth with her.
"Yeah. I was worried about that. How long do you think they'll leave us in here?" he asked and she shrugged, actively moving and pressing her back against his chest, trying to collect more of his body heat.
"I don't know. From what I understand of Orion slave rings if you're going to be kept, you get moved up to the Captains quarters so he can sample the merchandise, if you're going to be sold you get kept in holding, and if you're no good for anything they toss you out of the airlock," she said, closing her eyes tightly as David carefully touched her forehead.
"You feel like you have a fever," he said and she shrugged him off.
"No I don't. Let's just try and get some sleep. No body contact below the waist, I better not wake up with you humping me, alright? That's an order, Ensign," she said in her best stern Captain's voice, which sounded significantly weaker than usual.
"Sure. I'll try to control myself. You just get some rest," he said gently, tightening the arm around her waist to keep her close.
It didn't take her long to fall asleep but he couldn't get any rest. His mind wandered and went over the horrible possibilities of what could happen to them on this ship over and over again.
After what felt like several hours, a section of the wall slid away revealing a doorway through which one large Orion appeared.
"Starfleet! Who wants to meet the captain?" he offered cheerily and David glared, sitting up slowly. Hughes didn't stir.
"What did you do to her?" the Orion demanded of David who shrugged.
"What did you do to her?!" he repeated, aiming a kick at him that he just managed to duck.
"Nothing! She's sick I think. She hit her head back on our ship. She has a fever," he explained and the Orion grinned toothily, tiling his head to one side and drawing his phaser from his belt, as well as a set of handcuffs.
"You will meet the Captain. He prefers his guests unrestrained, but if you choose to resist, I will have no choice," he said, stepping aside and beckoning for David to leave the tiny room.
"I'm not leaving her," he said firmly and the Orion laughed.
"This is not an invitation it would be wise to refuse, human!" he boomed, Hughes stirred a little but her eyes did not open.
"If your Captain wants to speak to us, he can come here and speak to us," David said firmly, kneeling protectively in front of Hughes, putting himself between her and the Orion who roared with laughter before dragging him to his feet by his hair and slamming him into the wall.
"You have made your choice," he hissed as he wrestled David's hands into the cuffs before dragging him by the wrists down a blank grey corridor. Doors lined both sides and with a horrible feeling of dread, David realised each room he was passing was likely exactly the same as the one he himself had been contained in.
He struggled the entire way, trying to grab any tiny foothold and stop the guard from dragging him to the Captain. It was completely useless and only earned him some very bruised toes as after trying to hook his foot around one doorway the guard stamped on said foot in his heavy boots to stop him trying it again.
Eventually they reached a set of doors that required the Orion to pass a biosensor before they would open. Through the doors the ship was entirely different. Luxurious and not utilitarian, less doors, though no more people. David didn't see another soul until he was pushed through a doorway into a luxuriously appointed bedroom and told to wait.
He twisted his wrists within their restraints, realising with despair he had no chance of breaking them. If only Chris were with him, he'd be strong enough to break them.
Trying not to think of Chris for a moment, David paced the room, fear and horror rising as he realised what this was.
The door slid open and a different Orion entered, a smirk filling his face as soon as the door closed behind him.
"You are just as pretty as described," he said silkily, reaching up to touch David's face. He recoiled and the Orion laughed, stepping forwards right into his personal space. David stepped back and his back hit the wall, his heart hammering against his ribs as a strange almost floral scent filled the room and his head swam.
"You're far too young to be a Captain. My dear boy you barely have hairs on your chest," he said softly, running his hand up from David's ribcage, over the dark hair in the centre of his chest and up to his throat.
"Name, rank, serial number, that's what they tell you to say in these situations, right?" he asked softly, the hairs on the back of David's neck standing on end.
"I have had many Starfleet officers pass through my possession. They are among my favourite merchandise to sample before sale. They always have such a fight within them, always so sure they will be rescued," he said just as softly, his warm breath ghosting over David's face, making him feel even more nauseous.
Behind him, David's bound hands clenched into fists. He had to find a way out of this and fast.
"Turn around," the Orion ordered and David tensed, not moving at all.
"Turn. Around. Now," he said much more aggressively, face barely centimetres from David's.
He resolutely kept still, staring straight ahead. He wasn't going to obey this asshole. He wasn't going to just surrender to him. He wasn't going down without a fight.
Catching the Orion by surprise, he slammed his head forwards into the Orion's, sending him reeling backwards with a cry of rage. He followed it up with as hard a kick as he could muster, aimed at the mid-section of the larger male who spluttered and doubled over at the blow before howling with rage and grabbing his leg as he swung it back for another kick, being his only real option with his hands behind his back.
David tried to pull his leg free but the Orion held firm, using his tight grip on his leg to push him back into the wall and beginning to lift his leg, twisting it and using it as leverage to turn him around so his face was against the wall. He fought against it, struggling with all his strength, but it was useless and he found himself with his face crushed against the metal bulkhead. The Orion didn't stop twisting and lifting his leg. David cried out in agony as he felt his hip joint slip, his leg having been forced far beyond its natural range of movement. With a sickening crack, the joint dislocated and gave way, pain like nothing he had ever felt before causing him to slip down the wall and slump to the ground, vision going white at the edges. He couldn't tell if he was screaming or not anymore.
The Orion scooped him up and flung him onto the bed as if he weighed nothing, face down and helpless. With his good leg he tried pathetically to aim one more kick at the Orion's face. It was easily deflected and he was pinned, gasping for breath.
"You should have known better than to fight me," the Orion leered, licking the side of David's face as he crawled over his body.
A wave of nausea rose, whether from the pain of his hip and leg, or the thought of what was surely next to happen he didn't know, but he retched, causing the Orion to recoil, disgusted. He retched again, tears stinging his eyes as he spat out bile onto the covers of the bed near his face, his restrained arms leaving him unable to move.
"No no no, this just won't do. I'll have to leave you a while to get some strength back, get some composure back. I can't have you vomiting all over me. I'll be back. The others will look after you for now," he said, and with one last caress of the side of David's face, he was gone.
Barely clinging to consciousness, he tried to take stock of his situation. Hughes couldn't help him, and he couldn't really do anything to help himself or her. There was no way he could relocate his own hip joint, and the pain from it was unbearable. He tried to shift and reposition himself but couldn't move an inch. Before he could stop himself he started sobbing into the bed, harsh, racking sobs that shook his whole body and sent fresh sparks of agony coursing through him from his hip.
He lay still for what felt like a long time before the door slid open again. He opened his eyes quickly, a fresh wave of terror striking him as he expected to look up and see the Orion back to finish what he started.
"No, please," he moaned, trying to wriggle away from the door.
"Hey, it's ok, stop moving, it's ok," a voice instructed.
"Please don't hurt me," he responded, closing his eyes and burying his face into the rough fabric of the bed covers as a very last line of defence against this new attacker.
"I'm not going to hurt you. Here, I promise, I'm not going to hurt you," the voice came again, calm, reassuring and almost… familiar.
A hand took one of David's where they were bound behind his back, a hand that felt warm and human.
"I promise right now nobody is going to hurt you, least of all me. You need to try and keep still, your leg is broken I think. What's your name kid?" the man asked and David tried one more time to escape this stranger, writhing with as much strength as he could muster and trying to get away from him.
He didn't know this person or trust this person and just wanted to be alone.
"Just look at me kid, I'm not one of them, I promise I'll do my best to keep you safe from him," the man's voice tried to reason with him.
David turned his head to the side, feeling like he was finally going to slip into merciful unconsciousness. He peeked open one eye to glimpse a man with scruffy hair and a beard, going grey, skinny, with bright blue eyes that widened in recognition before his vision faded into darkness.
*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*
Hughes woke up alone in the tiny room, hands flailing wildly looking for McCoy. It took her a long few minutes to accept that he wasn't there.
Her heart was pounding in blind panic as she racked her brain to try and work out what to do. Her rising fever did nothing to help the situation, and she cursed herself for needing her medication so desperately as to not even be able to miss one day.
For what felt like hours she lay alone, curled into a ball and trying to keep warm, until the doorway slid open and a completely limp figure was dropped into the room.
Hughes scrambled forwards as the Orion who had brought David back set down a large jug of water and a chunk of what appeared to be bread, before closing the door and leaving them alone again.
"McCoy? Can you hear me?" she asked, hating how vulnerable she sounded.
David looked in a really bad way, covered in bruises and small cuts. She tried to roll him onto his side in some vague semblance of the recovery position that she knew for her basic first aid training, but all that seemed to do was cause him pain as he resisted her weakly and groaned when his weight shifted so he was on his side. She'd been trying to keep her eyes above the waist, but she had to glance down to see what was causing him such pain and immediately had to fight the urge to expel the meagre contents of her stomach.
David's left leg hung at a sickening angle, obviously dislocated. She turned him gently onto his back again, turning his head to the side. His eyes opened slowly, one turning dark from bruising already.
"Have some water," she insisted, picking up the jug the guard had left and trying to help him drink from it, spilling a lot in the process.
"You need it more than me," he protested after a few mouthfuls.
"Your leg isn't looking so hot," she argued back and he shook his head.
"Don't care. This might be my last ever chance to be a gentleman," he said weakly and she punched the wall in frustration.
"We're getting out of here. Both of us. I mean it. Just focus on what you want the most when you get home," she said and he closed his eyes again.
"I just want a lazy Sunday morning with Chris, watching bad TV and chatting shit and cuddling," he said quietly, so quietly it was barely above a whisper.
She took a deep breath and gave her own piece of information.
"And I just want to tuck my son into his bed one more time, because when I left him I promised I'd be back," she said and David's eyes opened again, immediately on her.
"I didn't know you had a kid," he said and she shrugged.
"It isn't something that I tell people," she said vaguely.
"How old is he?" David asked weakly, looking like he was fighting to stay conscious.
"He's two and a half."
"What's his name?"
She hesitated before giving this answer.
"Thomas."
"Tha'snice," McCoy slurred, fighting to keep himself awake.
"Yeah. He's pretty great. It's been tough to be away, really tough," she admitted, running one hand through her hair.
David attempted to move and whined in pain, closing his eyes tightly. She noticed a single tear roll down the side of his face and felt a rush of sympathy, reaching for his hand.
"Do you and Kirk want to have kids of your own someday?" she asked and he nodded slightly.
"Hope so," he answered, his grip on her hand growing weaker by the minute.
"Hey squeeze my hand?"
He tightened his grip slightly before letting go again.
"I don' feel so good," he mumbled, eyes rolling back as he fought to stay awake.
"Keep talking to me. Ask me a question. Anything," she said, trying not to sound too panicked. She had no idea how badly he was really hurt, but she knew she couldn't sit here beside him and let him die.
"What's your first name?" he asked weakly and she chuckled.
"Still hung up on that, huh?"
"I can try to guess. That might kill some time," he hissed, trying to position himself in a way that put less pressure on his injured hip.
She took a deep breath, and lay down beside him.
"So I know you're in a lot of pain right now, but I need you to try and stay with me, OK?" she offered and he nodded slightly, his face tight with pain and fresh tears shining on his cheeks.
"My first name is Olivia," she said softly and their eyes met, sensing the desperation of their situation.
"S'pretty," he said sleepily, his grip on her hand growing weaker all the time.
"Never speak of it again," she warned and his lip twitched in a faint smile.
"Tell me about your son," he asked, barely above a whisper and tears burned at her eyes as she contemplated for the first time that she may never see her son again. They'd been aboard this ship for days and it seemed no rescue was coming for them.
"He's... he's great. I have pictures but they're all on our ship locked away, I didn't tell anyone else on the crew he even exists," she admitted and he fought to keep his eyes open.
"I… I have to tell you something-"she began, falling silent as David finally slipped into unconsciousness.
She lay awake for a long time before the Orion guard came for her. She went quietly and was careful not to disturb David as she was led away, not knowing if she would return.
"This is getting ridiculous," Chris sighed, running a hand through his hair tiredly.
"I know kid I know, but we're gaining on them. I promise you I'll get him back," Sulu reassured, he looked so sincere that Chris really wanted to believe him, but after a week he was feeling like maybe David and the Orion ship were slipping from his grasp.
"Did your engineers take a look at your engines again?"
"We're squeezing every drop out of them that we can, I swear to you Christopher, I'll get him back and hand-deliver him to you," Sulu said firmly. He looked tired, Chris wondered if he was in contact with Bones and imaged he probably was. Being a parent himself Sulu could probably barely stand the thought of anything happening to his daughter and this happening to the son of his old friend couldn't be easy for him.
"I'm sorry they wouldn't let you come out. I wanted you here, and Leo, you're useful guys to have around," he said and Chris nodded tiredly.
"Thank you for everything you're doing. I feel so completely useless here when he needs me," Chris admitted. He felt exhausted, he'd barely slept for the week David had been gone and when he had it had been light and filled with terrible dreams of David being tortured by Orions and left him waking up sweating with tears streaming down his face.
"When I have any news you'll be the first person I call," Sulu assured and Chris nodded, letting the Captain go and staring at the blank comm screen for a moment before the doorbell distracted him.
He straightened his shirt, one of David's that he'd decided looked better on him, and headed downstairs to the door.
He wasn't surprised by who his visitor was.
"How you holding up kid?" Bones asked.
"Not the best," Chris admitted shakily and Bones nodded.
"I know, me either. C'mere," he said, stepping into the house and pulling Chris into a fatherly embrace before he could get a word of protest out.
It reminded him of the way Jim used to hug him as a child and it made him tear up again. Bones noticed his sniffle and let him go, setting both hands on his shoulders and looking him dead in the eye.
"Whatever happens, I promise you everything is going to be alright," he said firmly and Chris nodded, biting the inside of his lip.
"Anything from your bond?" he asked, sounding a little hopeful.
"I can feel that he's still alive, but other than that, nothing," he said miserably. Bones let go of his shoulders and sighed.
"Alright. Come with me, Carol might have something but it's kind of a long shot and might get you all kicked out of Starfleet," he said and Chris raised an eyebrow.
"Us all?" he looked around Bones to see his car sitting at the end of the driveway. Scotty was in the passenger seat, Leo and Molly in the back.
"Yeah, you want to get David back right? Those three idiots think they've got something, and Carol should be able to give you guys a shot at it, but basically we're giving Sulu twelve more hours to catch them up and if they haven't by tonight, you guys are going out there. You on board with that?" Bones asked and Chris genuinely smiled for the first time in days.
"I'm beyond on board with that."
Chris grabbed a few essential items from the house before following Bones to the car and squishing into the back seat with Leo and Molly.
"Dude you look like hell, what happened to you?" he asked Leo. His brother hadn't been home for a few days, and neither had Emily, but he hadn't thought too much of it. Emily was really busy with promotional work for her bands latest album and Leo was probably off working on something bizarre in the depths of Starfleet HQ's main engineering bay. He'd been too caught up in his own head to notice much of anything going on around him.
"Oh you know, just working overtime for this slave-driver here," he said, nudging Scotty's seat with his knee.
Chris looked at him as if to say 'really?' and Leo relented, sharing his story with his twin through their telepathic link.
Emily and I aren't good. She won't talk to me about anything she's feeling right now and we've been fighting.
Chris gave a small nod and a sympathetic expression before falling silent in the car as they went over to the McCoy household. He glimpsed Emily as they all walked through into the dining room to sit around the table to talk. She looked pale and her eyes were puffy and she barely acknowledged any of them as she passed them heading upstairs to her bedroom to hide.
"She'll come around eventually," Chris reassured his twin, sensing that he wanted to go after her.
"I hope so. I just wish she'd realise that I'm just as worried as she is," he said miserably as they sat side by side at the table. Joanna and Tucker were also there, waiting to hear the details of the plan.
"Alright, so… this guy, who keeps makin' me look like an idiot by the way, has come up with somethin'," Scotty introduced, beckoning Leo across the table.
"You just need to try and use all of that tiny human brain of yours Scotty," Leo taunted lightly before standing up and addressing them all.
"Starfleet HQ has a huge power supply. Over five times that of even the most powerful warp engine. I think it's powerful enough that I could beam a couple of people out to the Intrepid's position if we can get a direct-ish line of sight. Now the only catch is that… well… basically it'll destroy HQ's power for at least a day or so until they can get it back online, so they'll never allow us to do it, especially as they don't want us on that ship anyway. But if I can get to the Intrepid, I'm confident I can not only find the Orion ship but catch up to it in a few hours."
"I can give the exact time of the direct line of sight, I can gain access to the main observatory, run a scan and-"
"Are you suggesting you're gonna knock out HQ for a whole day?" Tucker asked incredulously, interrupting Carol as she began to speak.
"Yeah, I am. But Scotty can fix it, can't you buddy?" Leo asked in a mock-patronising tone to the greying Scotsman who gave him a one-fingered salute.
"Aye. I can fix it. But I'd rather come with you lad. Means we'll be on our own out there mind, HQ won't be able to make any outbound comms, and they'll have the arse of whoever they find out was responsible," Scotty warned.
"They can have it, when do we do this? I'll take responsibility," Chris said firmly.
"They'll throw you out of the fleet! Chris you can't, I won't let you," Carol argued, Bones nodding beside her.
"That's really sweet of you Carol, but honestly I think the time has come that we need to act urgently. I'm concerned that-" Chris was interrupted by a shriek from upstairs mingling with the sounds of his own, Carol and Bones' communicators sounding at once.
None of the three of them wanted to pick up the call as they heard rapid footsteps upstairs then coming down the stairs.
"Don't look at it, don't look-" Emily sobbed, racing into the kitchen. Leo leapt up and caught her and she clung to him, sobbing uncontrollably. Chris felt the colour draining from his own face as sick dread crept up his spine.
"What is it? What's happened?" Carol asked, now at her daughters side, helping Leo hold her up.
"They… th-there's a p-picture of him," she choked out.
Chris snatched up his communicator, ignoring the call from Sulu and going straight to the news net, looking for what Emily could be talking about and slamming his eyes closed as soon as he looked at it, fist closing tightly around the device as he fought against the urge to vomit.
"Don't look at it," he said firmly as he heard somebody else snatch up their ringing communicator.
The image showed David and Lieutenant Hughes slumped against a wall, both in terrible condition. David was obviously beaten, and Hughes looked like she could be dead she was so deathly pale. On David's bare chest was a small triangle, the Starfleet insignia daubed clumsily in blood that could have belonged to either of them.
Chris couldn't fight it anymore and took a few steps towards the sink, no longer able to stop himself from vomiting.
He could hear the chaos breaking out in the room around him, Bones and Carol reacting, Joanna reacting, Emily crying.
Blind fury overtook his nausea and he got himself under control.
"Carol, get us that window. Leo and Molly, make this happen, use my access codes for everything, I'll accept the consequences later. We have to get him back before they kill him," he said firmly, the whole room falling silent.
Bones was white and shaking with rage, Carol clinging to him for support with silent tears rolling down her face. Everyone was silent for a few moments, just looking at Chris until Emily went completely limp, Leo catching her as she fell.
"She's in shock. Go, go get him," Bones ordered and Chris didn't need to be told twice. Leo looked conflicted as he handed Emily over to the Doctor but then determined as he climbed back into the car, this time with Carol driving and Scotty up front. He sat on the left side, Molly in the middle, and Chris on the right. Nobody spoke a word until they reached HQ. Chris realised distantly that he wasn't even in uniform and neither was Leo or Molly, but that didn't matter as they raced through the building. The image of David and Hughes was circulating rapidly, and he felt more determined each time he caught a glimpse of it, or caught a glimpse of horrified witnesses to it on screens.
"McCoy, I-"
"Not now!" Carol fiercely cut down someone who tried to stop her to offer sympathy as the five of them hurried towards the main observation room.
"I will call you the second you have a clear shot so you had better be ready," she practically growled at the twins and they nodded, hurrying from the room with Scotty and Molly.
Chris used his access code to access one of the transporter rooms and then locked it from the inside.
"The security footage will have you guys involved too you know," he said as he wandered around the perimeter of the room, mind racing as his eyes barely took in what he was looking at around him.
"Aye, but we'll deal with that later," Molly replied as she worked side by side with Leo and her father to reprogram the transporter.
"I'm coming with you guys too, you'll need someone who can hack the Orions systems to bring their shields down or you won't be able to beam aboard their ship," Molly said casually as she worked.
"She's right, I can do it but she's faster," Leo pointed out and Chris nodded.
"Fine, you can come. Just-"he started but was cut off as Scotty's communicator chirped.
"That's it, we've got a four minute window!" he said quickly and slammed the panel he was working on closed.
"Energise," Chris ordered and Scotty hit the button and dived onto the pad with them, the four of them aware of the room shaking as they dematerialised, the next thing they knew was a very confused Ensign in the Intrepid transporter room.
"We need to see the Captain, now," he said quickly as three security officers stormed the room, weapons drawn.
*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~*
"Wakey wakey," a soft voice dragged David back to awareness and he hissed in pain, screwing his eyes tightly shut.
"Let me see you," someone was tapping on his face now. He catalogued his body quickly. Still naked, still freezing cold, belly aching with hunger, the majority of his pain was in his hip, leg and back, with a major headache to go along with it.
He opened his eyes slowly, blinking as the large Orion male crouched over him came into focus. He jolted away as best he could, causing the man to laugh. He was the same male from earlier, or maybe it was the previous day, he had no concept of time anymore.
*~*~*PAGE BREAK - TRIGGER WARNING*~*~*
"Oh my dear, are you feeling better?" he asked and David whined, thrashing against the bonds holding his hands painfully behind his back. He noticed he was back in the fancier room with the bed, not the tiny stark cell he had passed out in.
"Let's get you nice and comfortable here," he soothed in a sickly voice, turning David over onto his back and ignoring his sharp cry of pain at the change of position. David turned his head towards the other direction, eyes locking with those of a woman crouching in the corner. She looked emaciated, her skin grimy and her hair unwashed. The look on her face told him she had given up a long time ago. There were other people crouching near to her, a few other women, a couple of men. David couldn't get his eyes to focus properly to count them. The sickly scent of the strong Orion pheromones washed over him again and he felt his awareness slipping.
He closed his eyes determinedly. He was not going to let himself be aware of people watching him while this happened. He was going to try and go far away inside his mind, like his Starfleet training had taught him. The techniques that had worked so well in training of torture scenarios seemed woefully inadequate at keeping him calm as one strong hand pinned his good leg against his chest, left leg hanging useless and open towards the side of the bed. His heart raced at the complete vulnerability of his position.
"Have you ever done this before my darling?" the Orion cooed as one hand lowered to touch just below his balls. David jolted, trying to fight back, struggling against the grip and causing the Orion to laugh manically.
"Fuck off and die," David hissed with as much venom in his voice as he could muster.
"I'll be gentle," he whispered, licking the side of David's face as he kept his eyes tightly clamped shut.
He felt his head spin as he slipped in and out of consciousness, trying to distance himself from his own body and the situation. He kept perfectly still and spat the foulest most insulting words he could possibly think of at the man pinning him to the bed until his voice was growing hoarse.
And suddenly it stopped. The two thick fingers harshly invading his body were gone, the weight pinning him to the bed was gone, and in its place, the distinct sound of a struggle. One of the men from the group cowering in the corner had dived at the Orion and was beating him savagely.
*~*~*PAGE BREAK - SCENE OVER*~*~*
"You-fucking-scum-" David caught panted out by a long-haired man as he snatched the Orions weapons and threw them aside, punching him in the face repeatedly.
He switched to using his elbows, causing more damage and leaving the Orion unconscious quickly, dark green blood splattering the floor and the man's body as he kept on hitting him. He stood up, slamming him foot down into the Orions midsection and head until the limp body on the ground stopped responding. David fought to stay awake as the now bloody and panting man came over to the bed.
"Are you ok kid?" he panted, voice rough, like he barely used it.
He didn't respond, the pull of unconsciousness too strong. The world around him faded to black as the door opened and several Orions burst in, the man who had beaten the would-be rapist collapsing off the bed from a source of pain that David couldn't determine before he passed out.
Jim woke in a tiny room and launched himself to his feet, banging his fists against every wall, screaming his frustration. He was certain that the man he had saved from being Raato's latest victim was David McCoy. He was definitely older, and at first he wasn't sure with the facial hair, McCoy had never had stubble when he'd known him… but having got a better look at him Jim was certain. He wondered if he was out this far looking for him, but thought that was pretty unlikely. Starfleet would have someone more experienced on this, and David couldn't have been older than his early twenties, and that was if they were even searching at all. He allowed himself to wonder for the first time in a long time how much time had passed since his 'death'.
Being in that room and existing only to service the needs of Raato and his crewmen was enough to drive anyone to the brink of despair. It was only the hope that one day he would escape and see his family again that kept him alive.
He wondered if the Orion was alive. He'd never lost control the whole time he'd been aboard the ship, but the man on the bed had been so helpless and when his head had tilted in that particular way and Jim had recognised him he had to act. He knew his punishment was likely to be severe.
He didn't have long to wait before an Orion slightly smaller than Raato but with a very menacing smirk arrived, stepping into the tiny room and standing in front of Jim.
"You have killed our Captain," he said plainly.
"Good," Jim spat back, feeling the wild rage of earlier still coursing through his veins.
"You will not be allowed to remain aboard this ship. I have no interest in using you to serve my needs. I am sending you to a work colony," he said, smirk growing as Jim laughed sarcastically.
"Oh wonderful. You know how long I'll last in one of those? What happened to me being your big bargaining chip with Starfleet? Hmm?" he demanded and the Orion looked at him seriously.
"Those were the old orders. I am the Captain now, I make new orders. I have no interest in you. A dead man. You are worth nothing, Kirk. So I am going to send you to die in the mines. After murdering Raato in such a manner, it is better than you deserve. There have been calls to throw you out of an airlock, but I think that is too quick, too merciful. You will be off this ship by this time tomorrow, and you will work until you beg for death," he said, turning and leaving the room before Jim could respond.
He slumped down on the floor, both hands pulling at his long unkempt hair in frustration. Maybe if he could send a message from the mining colony? A distress signal? Somebody might find him that way, somebody might still be able to save him if they found him in time.
*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*
"You'll only have about-"
"Five minutes, I know, you told me about fifty-billion times," Christopher rolled his eyes at Sulu who straightened his posture slightly as if to remind the young cadet of his place.
"Captain. Sorry, sir. Five minutes before their weird pheromone shit starts making me drowsy," he acknowledged.
"And if that happens, I get to do something other than engineering for today!" Leo said cheerily from the transporter panel. He had caught them up to the Orion ship, baffled every engineer on Sulu's ship with how he had done it so easily, and was now ready to follow his twin if he wasn't back within the required time.
"I'm sorry I can't go with you kid, whatever they're using is just too potent. I'd only have maybe a minute before I'd be napping on the floor too," Sulu apologised as Chris stepped up onto the transporter pad.
"Their shields down?" Chris asked uncertainly and Molly grinned at him now from where she was stationed behind the panel next to Leo.
"It's almost as if ya don't trust me lad!"
"Just don't want my atoms splattered against an energy shield, that's all," he grimaced and she nodded.
"Their shields will glitch the moment I tell them to, and they probably won't even be wise to it," she reassured and Chris nodded, sweaty hand tensing around his phaser, shifting his weight between his feet and looking at the people in the room in front of him. People who had risked their careers to bring him here, to give him his chance to get David back from the slavers.
"Im'a go get a bottle of scotch from the main bar to toast your return, takes me about eight minutes there and back lad, so don't be hangin' about," Scotty said and Chris nodded, clenching his hands again.
"Right. Leo and Molly, you ready?" he asked and they both nodded.
"Ok. Energise," he ordered, trying to force himself to keep calm as he felt himself beginning to dematerialise.
He opened his eyes and looked left and right. He was on board the Orion ship, in a completely empty corridor, just as Leo had promised him from the blueprints.
He ducked into a small alcove and crouched down, first activating the comm-piece in his ear, then taking a deep breath to centre his mind and try to focus on his bond.
He could feel David's mind nearby and he did his best to clear all the other thoughts out of his head, trying to focus on it, but he could feel another external source of information.
"Leo get out of my head," he muttered.
Not in your head, I just took a psi inhibitor to make sure I didn't interfere he responded immediately over the comm and Chris closed his eyes tighter. Psi inhibitors were very unpleasant, and he doubted Leo would have wanted to take it. Could he be lying just to try and reassure him?
"Whatever you say," he mumbled back, pressing his thumb to his left temple, trying to reach out to David's mind.
I'm here. I'm here to bring you home, just tell me where to find you
Footsteps dragged him from his mind and he lunged forward, tackling the Orion guard and knocking him out with a vicious blow to the side of the head. He dragged the heavy, limp form into the alcove and stumbled as a strong wave of disorientation washed over him.
Best if you don't touch them, and you've got three minutes until I'm following you over Leo's voice was clear in his ear.
"Right. Yeah. Realise that now," Chris hissed back, trying to shake off the dizziness and sleepy feeling that was creeping up on him.
Ignoring Leo's advice he pressed his fingertips to the Orion's face, retracting them after only a few seconds when he had David's location, a few decks below.
He wasted no time in running along the corridor, finding the access hatch as directed by Molly through the comm and then running along another corridor until he reached a sealed door. He could practically feel David's rapid heartbeat in his mind now, and knew this was the place. He started to attempt to hack the door access, but really this was the part he was worried about.
You've got sixty seconds and I'm sending Leo across Sulu's voice was in his ear now.
"I'll be done in thirty," he replied confidently, ignoring the way he was losing feeling in his fingertips and the edges of his vision were blurring into nothingness.
Chris your vitals are going haywire, I'm going to pull you back Sulu said firmly and Chris punched the door in frustration.
"I've got another plan," he said, stepping back and raising his weapon, firing two shots at the control panel which burst into flame immediately. The door slid open a fraction, maybe two inches, and Chris forced his hands through the gaps, using all of his strength to push the two halves apart.
"David?" he called as the doors started to give. It was dark in the room but his night-vision adjusted quickly, making out a single figure laying on the floor on his side.
Tears burned at Chris' eyes as he slipped into the room.
David was laying in what looked like his own blood, his pale skin streaked with the dark stains, amongst a scattering of bruises and lacerations. The fact that he was completely naked made Chris want to stay on board the ship and murder every single Orion with his bare hands. There was no question of what they had done to him and the thought made Chris angrier than he could ever recall being. It wasn't until he moved closer he noticed three things that tipped him dangerously close to vomiting.
The first was another figure lying near to David, he recognised Lieutenant Hughes immediately. It looked like she was barely breathing, if at all.
The second was the bizarre angle that David's one leg was contorted to. The extensive swelling around the top of his leg and hip told Chris it was probably a broken Femur or a dislocated hip, either of which would be incredibly painful.
The third and most nauseating was the barbaric way they had secured David to the floor to stop him from moving. A metal peg a few inches long was protruding from the floor, a hole in the top of it with a circular ring threaded through. The ring disappeared into the flesh of David's ankle, reappearing clean through on the other side, tethering him to the floor. There was a lot of blood on his leg and the floor surrounding, but it seemed a lot of it was dry so he'd been secured in this way for quite some time.
"What have they done to you?" he muttered, kneeling beside his bondmate and inspecting his ankle more closely. It looked as though they had broken the joint and passed the loop between the bone and Achilles tendon. His stomach turned again as he sought a way to detach him and could reach only one conclusion after trying to dislodge the peg from the floor and finding no obvious join in the ring itself.
"Can I talk to somebody from medical, please?" he asked shakily.
There was a few seconds pause before another voice.
Kirk, it's M'benga. What do you need?
Chris tried to think how to word his request in a way that made it sound less horrific than it actually was.
"I've found them, but David is… they've put something through his leg. If we beam back with that thing still in his leg, is that dangerous for him?"
It's difficult if it's attached to the ship. If Engineering can distinguish where his leg ends and the ship begins then we're ok, but it can be tricky. You'd be better to try and detach him, we can patch him up when you get him back to us
Chris closed his eyes tightly.
"It's through his ankle. I'd have to cut his Achilles tendon to free him. Leo can you split him from it for transport?" he asked desperately, fingers trembling as he crawled to drag Lieutenant Hughes closer to himself and David. She had a pulse, albeit a weak one.
I can't say for certain I can split him from the ship. If you want him to keep his leg you'll have to cut him free, I'm sorry Chris.
Taking several deep, steadying breaths he reached out inside his mind to the bond. David's side was mostly blank in his unconscious state but Chris did his best to try and pass a message.
I'm taking you home, but this is going to hurt and I'm really sorry. Please, please forgive me for this.
He removed the knife he'd brought hoping not to use and carefully examined the point where the thick metal ring pierced the flesh once again.
"Is there a best way to do this? To cause him the least pain?" he asked aloud, hoping M'benga was still on the comm.
Just cut him free with as small of a wound as you can and bring him back to me to fix.
Gritting his teeth Chris chose a location that seemed to cut the smallest amount of flesh and in one sharp motion, pulled the knife upwards through soft flesh and tough tendon and pulled the ring out through the wound, freeing David's leg and sending a spurt of startlingly red blood all over the floor and himself.
Even in his unconscious state he moaned in pain.
"Three to transport; and we need medical assistance," he gasped, white hot pain burning through his right ankle where the bond allowed him to experience what David was feeling.
He wasn't sure if his vision was failing or if it was the beginning of the transport cycle as everything became white around the edges. His knees hit the ground as he rematerialised on the transporter pad, and hands were on him immediately.
"No. Don't help me, I don't need help," he protested, trying to fight off the medical staff.
"I have a right to refuse medical care! Help them first!" he insisted angrily. One pair of hands let him go, the other following soon after. He forced his eyes open to be met with a scene of chaos as the medical staff crowded around. In the light he could see just how deathly pale Hughes was, dark bruising mottling her porcelain skin, and how much of a mess David was, a pool of vivid red blood spreading rapidly from his ankle across the transporter pad.
"Clear the room, every non-essential person out of this room right now!" he heard Sulu's authoritative tone over the hum of the other voices, before he lunged for David's hand amongst the tangle of moving bodies, gripping it tightly as he finally passed out.
*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~*
"-if he wants to keep his foot we need to get that clean, now."
"-heartrate is picking up now they're away from the pheromones."
"Ok, good, but keep him under until we finish fixing up his leg."
Chris forced himself to open his eyes. He was in sickbay, but not in a bed. He was half laying against the wall near to the door. He looked at his hands, they were covered in red blood, David's blood from where he'd cut him. He retched and the gold clad figure standing over him offered him a basin.
"Here you go kid, that's the way, get it all out," Sulu said kindly, rubbing his back as he threw up everything in his stomach.
"How… how did I get here?" he asked, disoriented by his surroundings.
"Leo carried you, medical staff were all busy with Hughes and McCoy."
"I had to… I had to-" he started but Sulu just nodded.
"I know. But you did good. You got him back, you got them both back. I'm sure when he wakes up he'll be thanking you," he reassured. Chris felt dazed.
"We're a little understaffed right now, so I need you to just hop up on a bed until M'benga or one of the nurses is free to come look you over, is that ok?" he asked and Chris stared blankly down in the direction he knew David was in. He could see him faintly in the distance, blurry, he had several people in blue around him, now covered by a sheet and looking so pale.
Without a word Chris hauled himself to his feet and walked the few steps to the nearest biobed, sitting on it and just staring as the medical staff worked on his bondmate.
Sulu pressed a plastic cup containing some water into his hand and he drank it in one, clutching it limply in his hand and not allowing his eyes to leave the form of David lying perfectly still on the biobed until his vision went completely black.
When he woke he was looking up at the ceiling and someone had cleaned all the blood off his hands and changed him out of his uniform and into standard sickbay pyjamas. Startled, he looked around quickly. He was now in the bed beside David, who now had slightly more colour in his cheeks. He had several IV bags hanging next to him, one clear, one a pale yellow and one filled with blood.
"Saline, because he's dehydrated. Antibiotics, so he can keep his leg attached to his body, and blood, because ankles bleed when you sever the Achilles," M'benga said from where he was standing beside Chris, startling him.
"Will he be OK? And Hughes?" Chris asked immediately.
"He'll make a full recovery," said M'benga stiffly. Chris felt a wave of nausea rising, he knew what Orions did to their captives. David and Hughes had both been naked when he recovered them, and he needed to know. He needed to ask.
"Did they... did he..." he attempted, but he couldn't ask the question.
"Most of his injuries are consistent with a struggle, there's evidence of sexual assault but no semen was present, I'd assume penetration by fingers or a foreign object. Looks like he fought them off before… " the doctor answered without him needing to ask. Christopher exhaled heavily and fought back tears burning at his eyes.
"Hughes?" he asked, needing to move the conversation away before he lost control. The doctor shook his head.
"She didn't make it. She had massive internal bleeding from blunt force trauma to her abdomen... there wasn't anything more we could have done, she barely lasted minutes," he said shakily and Chris looked at the doctor carefully, he was clearly under a lot of strain.
"Don't blame yourself," Chris assured and the doctor nodded.
"It's hard not to, sometimes. I'm just glad you got them back when you did, McCoy couldn't have taken much more of the way they were treating him," he said miserably. It dawned on Chris that M'benga had known David since likely the day he was born, and seeing him injured in such a way must be very difficult indeed.
"What are his injuries? Besides the terrible one I caused, I need to understand what we're dealing with," he asked guiltily and M'benga picked up the chart from the side of David's bed, eyes scanning over it.
"Bruising, cuts and scrapes basically all over, minor infections from a lot of the cuts from being kept in dirty conditions. His left hip had been dislocated for several days but we've relocated the joint now, the ankle obviously, minor concussion and withdrawal from the pheromones, and the signs of the attempted rape that I mentioned before. He's going to be fine, but it's not going to be overnight. You're going to have to help him get his head around this," M'benga said sadly, looking at David almost as if he were his own son.
"I'll be there for him every minute of every day if that's what he needs from me," Chris said determinedly, forcing himself to sit upright.
"You're suffering from the effects of those awful pheromones they give off, you'll likely feel nauseous, headache, perhaps ache like you have the flu, it could last a few days but it's nothing to be concerned about. I can give you a painkiller if the headache becomes too much," he offered and Chris shook his head.
"I'll be fine, thanks Geoff," he said, trying to sound friendly but it came out flat as his concern for his bondmate crept to the surface. The doctor nodded and left the two young men alone. Chris forced himself out of his bed and settled in the chair next to David's bedside. He remembered his promise to Bones and sought his communicator out, finding it on the small stand beside his bed. It was barely half a ring before the older man picked up.
"Chris?"
"It's me. I've got him. Sorry I didn't call sooner, I passed out. He's going to be fine, full recovery, M'benga said," he blurted out quickly.
Bones sighed deeply and he could hear Carol sobbing in the background, probably with relief.
"We can never thank you enough for getting him back. But when you get home, you and I are going to have a serious conversation about you endangering your life looking out for other people," he said in a very stern fatherly tone and Chris let out a sound that was half laugh, half sob, as his emotional overload at having David back in more or less one piece hit him all at once.
"Deal," he choked out. He could hear more people in the background now, Emily and Joanna. The relief of the whole family was easy to hear. He exchanged a few more words with Bones before cutting off the call and slumping back into the chair, running a hand tiredly down his face.
Tentatively he reached out towards David's mind through their bond, flinching at the sharp pain emanating from him. He leant forward in his chair, awkwardly resting his head on the pillow beside David's, one hand pushing his grimy hair back off his forehead. He focused all his remaining energy into passing the most calming, caring and loving thoughts through their bond until he must have fallen asleep as he was woken a while later by a hand on his face.
"Guh?" he asked intelligently as he came to, sitting up quickly and pulling a face at the painful crick in his neck from his awkward sleeping position. He blinked stupidly until his eyes found David's, now open and looking at him.
"Hey you," he forced out; fighting the painful lump in his throat that was forming as he took in the obvious distress displayed in his bondmates eyes.
"Hey, missed you," David forced out, voice hoarse.
"I missed you too. Here, let me get you some water," he said, glancing around and reaching for a small cup on David's bedside, helping him to drink a few sips.
"What happened?" David asked and Chris took a deep breath.
"Just sleep, we'll talk about that later. Just rest and feel better," he said softly and David frowned, stretching a little and trying to get comfortable.
"They fixed my hip," he noted aloud and Chris nodded.
"And your ankle is mending too," he gestured to said ankle, regenerator still doing its work and humming away quietly wrapped around the damaged limb.
"Jesus... Chris... what the fuck happened to us?!" David hissed, clearly starting to panic. A quick glance at his monitors confirmed his heart rate was steadily creeping up.
"Just stay calm, you're safe now," he said soothingly, picking up David's scraped up hand and clasping it gently between both of his own.
"You were captured by members of an Orion slave syndicate, alongside Lieutenant Hughes. You were aboard their ship for nine days. The Intrepid was tracking the ship, but they seem to have cloaking capabilities beyond what Starfleet intelligence suggested, and they were losing you guys. The Orions released an image of the two of you to Starfleet, as a warning to keep away from this area of the quadrant. Leo and Molly were able to isolate where the signal came from, Leo beamed us here from Earth with the information to find the Orion ship, even with its cloak. We found it, and got you back," he explained briefly. David looked confused and scared.
"Hughes?" he asked and Chris bit his lip.
"Don't tell me she didn't make it," David mumbled, barely above a whisper.
"I'm sorry."
Christopher did his best to gather David into his arms and hold him as he lost control of his emotions.
"I don't remember much. I… I-I'm scared," he whimpered against Chris' shoulder.
"Don't be scared, I'm here. Nothing can hurt you," he comforted, ignoring the wet tears soaking through his shirt and pulling David as close as possible. The sniffling stopped and David became totally limp in his arms after what felt like half an hour or so, and Chris gently lowered his sleeping form back against the pillows, tucking in his blankets carefully and pushing his filthy hair back off his forehead, placing a small kiss there.
"I love you so much," he whispered, fighting back his own tears as he settled back into his chair, watching over him while he rested.
It was another six hours before David woke again, and when he did he seemed a lot more alert than the first time as the anaesthetic from the surgery on his ankle and the Orion pheromones were wearing off.
"Please just let me go back to quarters?" he begged of M'benga who responded with a flat no.
"Please let me go take a shower?" he asked and the doctor considered.
"Either fully supervised by one of my medical staff or Chris, or I can get a nurse come give you a sponge bath," he gave in.
Chris waggled his eyebrow suggestively, trying to make a joke and David gave a weak smile.
"No sponge bath. Chris can help me," he said confidently and M'benga nodded, granting them access to the real water shower in the bathroom off the CMO's office.
Chris helped David walk unsteadily to the small room, partially carrying him some of the way when he struggled to support his own weight on his still-healing legs.
"I gotta take a leak, can you hold me up?" David asked shyly and without hesitation Chris did as he was asked, resting his face against the back of David's head so he would know he wasn't looking.
It took David a long time to let Chris undress him for the shower. Every time his hands neared the waistband of the flimsy sickbay pyjamas he would flinch away and then apologise, fresh tears rolling down his cheeks that Chris wiped away with his thumb, trying to hide how much it felt like his heart was being ripped in half from seeing him this way.
"Don't you dare apologise. This isn't your fault, none of this is your fault. Nobody is going to hurt you ever again David I swear to you," he mumbled as he held the trembling, shirtless form of his bondmate close, half in half out of the tiny shower stall.
"I don't r-remember b-but they did things t-to me," he hiccuped, tears streaming down his face faster than Chris could wipe them away, eyes swollen and bloodshot.
Chris was at a total loss for words as his control snapped and his own tears fell.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry this happened, it was my fault, I should have got to you faster, I shouldn't have taken no for an answer when the brass told me I wasn't allowed out to join the search," he apologised over and over as David weakly clung to him. It took a while, but David eventually allowed his bondmate to carefully remove his pyjama pants and help him up the single step into the shower unit. David pressed himself against the cold wall, trying to get away from the larger man.
"Not going to touch you except to help you stay on your feet, I promise," Chris assured and David nodded, swallowing hard and reaching out to turn on the water. He stood totally still, just allowing the hot water to roll down his face and body.
"Can you help me?" David asked weakly and Chris nodded.
"Of course. Let me know if you're not happy and I can stop touching you right away," he offered, grabbing the bottle of provided, medical smelling shampoo. He poured a handful and lathered it carefully in David's dark hair, one hand shielding it from running down into his eyes. His fingertips rubbed gentle circles into his scalp as he applied a tiny bit of pressure to encourage David to put his head back under the water flow to rinse the suds out. He did as instructed and handed Chris the bottle of shower gel, other hand clinging white-knuckled to one of the grab rails at waist height to keep himself stable.
Unsure of himself, Chris poured a handful of shower gel into his hands, lathering it before starting with David's unshaven face and neck, working his way down over his shoulders, under each arm in turn and down to his hands before coming back to his chest and back. David seemed to be breathing more quickly, eyes screwed shut, body tense. Chris paused and rinsed off his upper body before snatching up the washcloth he'd brought in with them and lathering it with soap before handing it to David who looked at him uncertainly, blinking water out of his eyes.
"I'm gonna hold you upright so you can do your bottom half, OK?" he offered and David nodded slowly as Chris held him tightly by the sides of the chest, firm but gentle grip promising that he wouldn't let him fall. He let go of the rail and washed himself with the cloth before dropping it and letting the water rinse him clean, slumping back against Chris' chest, soaking his clothing completely.
"I got you," Chris mumbled, gently kissing his temple and reaching to shut off the water, supporting David carefully with his chest and one arm while reaching back to grab a fluffy white towel to drape him in. There were several more towels in the pile and he grabbed another, wrapping it around the younger man's waist and tying it, before snatching up a third to towel off his hair.
David was silent aside from the occasional sniffle as Chris gently dried him off. He dried his hair and upper body before moving down to dry his feet and legs, one hand rising slightly too high as he did so and brushing the crease where thigh met backside, causing the younger man to immediately tense and flinch away. Feeling like he'd been punched in the chest Chris apologised profusely, handing over the towel and turning around to give David privacy while he finished drying himself off.
Chris noticed a fresh set of pyjamas near the door and assumed M'benga must have snuck them in while they were busy in the cubicle. He picked them up and handed them to David who wordlessly asked for his help to get dressed, the request coming through their bond as David struggled to stay awake.
"Of course. I got it," he reassured, picking the clean white boxers out of the pile of clothes and helping David get one foot through each leg hole, pulling them up quickly with as minimal contact as possible. Next came the shirt and finally the pants, by this point David was nearly asleep on his feet. Chris picked him up easily and without any of the usual protesting and carried him bridal style back to his bed, gently setting him down and tucking him in.
"Thank you," he whispered faintly and Chris gave half a smile.
"Anytime. Now get some rest, we'll be coming up on Earth tomorrow and you need to be fresh to face your family. I think your sisters are going to hug you to death," he warned and David gave a small smile, drifting off to sleep again.
While David was out, Chris was a burning ball of rage. He got himself released from sickbay and paced the hallways and observation decks, looking for a way to work out some of the restless energy inside him. He wanted vengeance for what the Orions had done to his bondmate. He wanted the blood of the man who had touched him.
"Wearing a hole in my floor kid?" came a voice from behind him and he turned around from where he had been watching the stars rush by at warp from one of the forward observation decks.
"No. Sorry Sulu, I'll settle down," he said tiredly.
"I'm not expecting you to settle down," the Captain said, beckoning to the seats behind them. Chris followed the wordless instruction and sat down.
"I've spoken to the brass. We're making catching that ship a priority to any available vessel," he said and Chris bit the inside of his cheek.
"Good," he ground out.
"How's David?" he asked and Chris met Sulu's eyes for a moment before looking away pointedly.
"He's..." he began and drifted immediately, emotions flooding up to the surface faster than he could force them back down.
"I don't know how to help him," Chris admitted, voice cracking as two tears rolled down his face. "He's traumatized and terrified and won't let me touch him, he flinches when I try to hold his hand and I just want to hold him and tell him I wish it was me instead," he blurted out in one breath, tears falling freely now. Sulu put a fatherly hand on his shoulder.
"He was your rock, right? When you got hurt?" he asked and Chris nodded.
"Your turn to be his rock. I know you can do it," he said and Chris nodded again, collecting himself a little bit.
"Sorry, sir," he said quickly and Sulu frowned.
"No. No sir, no ranks here kid. You're my friend not my cadet right now. If I can do anything for you two please let me know," he said and Chris thought for a moment.
"How long will they put David on leave for when we get back?" he asked and Sulu thought for a moment.
"I can get his debrief pushed up to ten days?" he offered and Chris nodded gratefully.
"That would help. I don't think he can talk about it just yet, some time might help him."
"Absolutely. Is there anything else?"
"Will you be handling notifying Hughes' family?" Chris asked and Sulu looked solemn for a moment.
"She didn't have any family except a two year old son, no partner on record so we can't find the kids father, he'll go into care. Why'dyou ask?"
"David will want to attend her funeral," he said and Sulu nodded.
"I'll keep you posted as soon as arrangements are made."
Chris thanked the Captain once more before bidding him goodnight and tracking a path back to sickbay.
David was sat up and eating when he arrived, several people gathered around his bed all looking around the same age as David.
"Chris, this is the crew, crew, this is Chris," David introduced briefly. Chris nodded to the four individuals sitting around.
"You guys didn't go back to Earth?" Chris asked and one of the two girls leant forward a little.
"Sulu didn't want to waste time taking us back to drop us off, so he put us up in Ensigns quarters and gave us some duties to keep us busy while we were searching."
"And we couldn't go home without knowing our favourite grumpy crew member was safe and sound," added one of the guys to murmurs of agreement.
Chris felt quite unsure of himself as he took the seat closest to David's bed. He wanted to reach out and rest his hand on David's forearm, lean across and kiss his cheek, but he didn't know how much David wanted his crewmates to know.
"We should probably get going, let you finish your dinner and get some sleep," the first girl spoke again and three of the four rose from their seats, leaving one behind.
"I was so worried about you," she said sincerely to David, reaching out to hold his hand. Chris felt his eyebrow beginning to rise.
"I know. I was worried about you guys, didn't know what had happened to you."
"I can't believe it… about Hughes," she said sadly and David looked down at his blankets.
"Me either. I uh… I yeah. She was alright, much as she drove us all nuts on the ship," he said and she chuckled.
"You only hated her because she rigged the sound system to start playing 'baby got back' every time you walked onto the bridge," she laughed and David gave a tiny shadow of his usual grin, his eyes crinkling up a little in the corners.
"I never could work out how she did it," he sighed.
"And Chris you were so brave going aboard that ship," the as yet unnamed young woman turned her attention to him now.
"Well y'know. I'd do anything for this guy," he said casually, ruffling David's hair affectionately and earning himself a scowl.
"You guys are adorable. I'd better get an invite to the wedding," she said with a mischievous smile.
"Yeah so uh… Louisa here is a bit of a detective, and she figured us out," David explained and Louise gave a slightly smug smile.
"Huh, well good job. I don't think it's much of a secret anymore though," Chris said flatly and David looked worried.
"It's not. But you guys don't need to worry, everything will be fine. Anyway I should leave you to it, don't want to be a third wheel. See you guys around," she said, letting go of David's hand and leaving them alone.
"So what's for dinner?" Chris asked and David looked distastefully at the plate.
"Shit, with a side of dirty socks," he grimaced and Chris snorted.
"What is that, replicated meatloaf? Gross! When we get back I'll take you for a nice greasy burger somewhere," he offered and David looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Nah, burrito," he said and Chris made a noise of approval.
"And strawberry ice cream after?" he offered and David nodded, looking at him with a tiny bit of warmth in his bloodshot eyes.
"Or strawberry ice cream at home with takeout mexican and terrible movies?" Chris offered and David gave a tiny smile.
"That one."
They were silent for a long few minutes until David spoke again.
"So I uh… you asked me to marry you, and apparently everybody knows about it," he said awkwardly and Chris felt his face growing warm.
"And you said there's a time and a place to ask, so I'll ask you again sometime," he said with a smile. David shook his head and reached out for Chris' hand.
"I said yes and I meant it," he said quietly.
"Good, because I meant it too," Chris said softly, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.
They were silent for a few moments until David spoke up again.
"Can you hide us? When we get back? I don't think I could handle any media attention right now," he admitted and Chris squeezed his hand again.
"Already working on it," he gave a small smile. It was true, while David had been resting he'd sat with Leo in engineering for a while and asked about nice places on Earth that he had seen during his travels. Leo had told him about a guy in Indonesia who owed him a big favour, and said he'd get back to him with the arrangements.
"Somewhere I can get a tan," David requested weakly and Chris sniggered.
"You don't tan."
"Fine. Somewhere I can get freckles," he admitted and Chris grinned, unable to resist leaning down and placing a tender kiss on his bondmates cheek.
"I love your freckles."
*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~*
David's reunion with his family had been just as emotional as Chris had expected. What he hadn't expected was being pulled into the bone-crushing hug they had wrapped their youngest family member in the moment they were out of the shuttle. Carol had even kissed him on the head once she was done smothering David in affection; Bones was looking at him with an expression he could only define as pride. Spock and Seren were also among the welcoming party, Seren giving David a warm hug, and Spock setting a hand on his shoulder in a way that for him was about as much care as he ever showed.
As expected there were some media around the front of the building as they headed out. The group closed together, Chris and David at the centre with their heads covered by a thin blanket Emily had brought for them to use for privacy. David was still in a fair amount of pain from both of his legs and Chris was supporting him heavily as he'd refused crutches.
"Nothing to see, assholes!" Emily cried, leading the group.
"You can see this if you want?" Leo offered, raising both middle fingers to the crowd of photographers pressing in on them.
"Jesus, how do you guys do this all the time?" Tucker asked as they neared Joanna's car.
"It's an acquired skill," Emily answered through gritted teeth as they got to the car and parted the group to allow Chris and David to get into the back seat. It was a struggle, but they managed it without anyone getting David's picture in his vulnerable state, and as soon as Joanna and Tucker had piled into the front, they were on their way home.
David pulled the blanket off his head and set it on the middle seat between himself and Chris.
"I'm so tired," he sighed, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
"Get some sleep, I'll bring you inside when we get home," Chris offered.
"M'not a baby," David protested before promptly falling asleep. They reached the house shared by the twins and the two McCoy's and true to his word Chris gently extracted his sleeping bondmate from the car and carried him inside whilst Joanna and Tucker kept watch for any arriving photographers.
Hours later, David woke in an unfamiliar bedroom, confused and disorientated. He spread out his arms, one hand colliding with something very solid next to him.
"Sorry! Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't know where I was for a second," David apologised quickly as Chris rubbed the point on his head where David's flailing fist had connected.
"You're lucky I have a very hard head," he said lightly, moving in a little closer.
He expected David to flinch away and was relieved when he didn't, and his heart gave a hopeful jolt when David slowly wrapped an arm around him just like he used to.
"You want big spoon or small?" David asked and Chris grinned in the darkness. It was selfish, but he was desperate for attention from his bondmate after him being away for so long and he was struggling to avoid physical contact for the sake of David's comfort.
"Small," he answered, turning onto his side, facing away and backing up slightly. David cuddled up behind him, chest against his back but hips far enough away that they had no lower body contact, arm tight around his waist and hand splayed on his chest. He snaked his other arm underneath the pillow under Chris' head and exhaled heavily, the puff of air ruffling a few strands of Chris' hair as it whooshed past his ear.
"Something on your mind?" he offered and David made an affirmative sound.
"You don't want to know," he admitted.
"You can talk to me… about anything. I'll always be here to listen to you, and I'll never judge you for anything you say to me, anything you say is safe with me," he said sincerely. David relaxed a little against his back and remained silent, Chris wondering for a moment if he'd slipped back into sleep.
"I uh… Hughes' son. I'm just thinking about this little boy being told his mom is never coming home and I just want to track him down and hold him in my arms and never let him go," he admitted, eyes filling with tears. Chris wrapped his arms around the younger man and held him tightly as he sniffled.
"You did everything you could to protect her, I know you did," he reassured and David hiccupped weakly.
"I still don't remember anything," he admitted and Chris shook his head.
"No. You probably won't, the pheromones affect the way your brain stores information, but you don't need to remember, I know you and I know how you would have behaved, and I'm certain you did everything in your power to protect and help her," he said and David gave a small nod.
"I have one little memory… of kneeling between her and a guard, telling him to take me instead of her to see the Captain," he admitted and Chris gave him a small squeeze.
"See. I know you would have done your best."
"It just wasn't enough. God damn it, I should have saved her," he sighed, sadness spiking as anger for a moment.
"You can't save everybody, sometimes things are out of our control," he said, quoting something he had been told himself numerous times whilst grieving for Jim.
David fell silent for a long time, long enough that again Chris wondered if he had fallen asleep.
"Chris?" he whispered.
"Hm?"
"Will you uh… why haven't you kissed me, since I got back?" he asked quietly, nervously.
Chris twisted his body so they were laying side by side facing each other and took David's face in both his hands, pressing their foreheads together first, brown and blue eyes giving far too much away about how vulnerable they were both feeling. He closed his eyes and closed the gap, their lips meeting for the first time since he'd kissed David goodbye at the apartment weeks ago. A jolt of electricity shot through their bond and his heartrate rose, a warm feeling spreading all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes. An uncertain tongue pressed at his lips and he welcomed it, caressing it with his own for a few long seconds until the need for oxygen became too great for them both, and they reluctantly parted.
"I haven't kissed you because I didn't want you to think I was making a sexual advance towards you," he said truthfully and David nodded, looking slightly dazed.
"I uh… yeah it's not that I don't appreciate that you're being sensitive about giving me my space… I just… I thought maybe I'd done something wrong, or something," he trailed off and Chris pressed their mouths together again firmly, trying to kiss away all of his bondmates fears and worried, pouring affection through their bond.
"I will give you as much or as little space as you need right now."
"I need a bit, I think. Might be a while before I feel ready to… y'know," he said awkwardly and Chris fumbled under the covers for both of his hands.
"You take all the time you need. I'm not going to put any pressure on you to have sex with me. I've adjusted perfectly well to watching outrageous amounts of porn and jacking off in the shower every day, I can survive a while longer yet," he said cheekily and David snorted.
"It scared me, y'know?" David said, immediately killing Chris' small joke.
"I can't even imagine," Chris said, unspoken words about how it had scared him just as much lingering in his mind but not escaping his mouth.
"I feel like…my body isn't my own. I feel like someone has taken part of me, and its gone now," he said in a hollow voice and Chris held him tightly.
"Nothing is gone, and when you're completely ready to, you're going to take your body back… it's yours, nobody else's, nobody has the right to take that from you."
"I do wonder though, why he stopped," David pondered aloud and Chris closed his eyes tightly for a moment, a wave of nausea coming over him as the unbearable mental image of a large Orion pinning David down and forcing his fingers inside him against his will crept into his mind.
"I think you fought him off. The injuries on your knuckles were consistent with-"
"I can't help wondering if it was Hughes. And that's why they killed her," he admitted.
"You can't think like that, you can't blame yourself for any of this. What happened to Hughes wasn't your fault, and what happened to you wasn't your fault either," he said firmly and David gave a small sniffle.
"What if I hadn't made it?" he asked quietly.
"Don't. Come on, let's not talk about this, we don't need to think about things like that. You did make it, that's what matters right now, that you're right here with me in this stupidly tiny bed, and," he splayed his hand over David's heart and took David's hand, placing it over his own "that we're both still ticking, okay?" he reassured and David's hand closed tightly in his shirt, his other arm wrapping around him as he buried his face into his chest. Chris held him that way until he fell asleep, stroking his hair and keeping a steady stream of reassuring thoughts going through their bond. Chris barely slept that night, instead forcing himself to stay awake so that he'd be there for him if David woke up. He woke a few times and every time he did Chris was there to stroke his hair and whisper reassuring words to him until he drifted back to sleep.
He stumbled into the kitchen a few hours later, wearing only a pair of David's old pyjama pants and nothing else, hair sticking up at all angles and feeling like he was half-dead.
"Rough night?" Bones asked from where he was sitting at the kitchen table as if he owned the place, making Chris jump where he hadn't noticed him.
"Yeah uh… not exactly what I had in mind for our reunion," he admitted, scratching the back of his head, voice coming out rough from sleep, or lack of it.
"Did he sleep at all?"
"Yeah, he did. He probably got about six or seven hours in total. I got maybe two," he confessed as he helped himself to two mugs from the cupboard and set about making coffee.
"Leo tells me you're planning on taking him away somewhere for a week, I think it's a good idea," he said and Chris nodded, leaning back against the kitchen counter and closing his eyes, trying to fight the thumping in his head. A tiny hiss next to his ear startled him and he opened his eyes to find Bones retracting a hypospray from his neck, having administered it so gently he didn't even feel it.
"Hey! What did you drug me with?!" he protested.
"Painkiller, for your headache," he said as if reading the younger man's mind.
"Thanks," he sighed, going back to fixing the coffee, adding milk to one and leaving it out of his own.
"Still not agreeing with dairy huh?"
"No, it gives me like… acid reflux. Hopefully now he's back my anxiety will settle down and I'll stop puking," he said, stirring in a little extra sugar to both cups and picking them up ready to leave the room.
"When you guys get back next week come and see either me or Seren? We'll run some tests, just to be sure there's nothing going on with your stomach," he offered and Chris nodded in agreement.
"Alright kid, well I'll take off now, give you guys your space. I just wanted to check in this morning in case either of you needed me," he said, one final offer. Chris met his eyes for a moment and considered telling Bones everything about how he was feeling right now, but decided against it. He wasn't sure how much the doctor knew of the exact nature of David's injuries, but he knew his bondmate would want to keep it quiet from his family as best he could.
"We're fine Bones. Gonna have a lazy day and head to Leo's place where he's going to let us hide out. Thanks for checking up on us, but please stop hacking your way into my house," he smirked as he kicked the doctor out, padding quietly back upstairs and bringing David his coffee.
"Hey wake up, I have coffee," he said softly, setting both cups on the side and crawling back into bed behind his bondmate, cuddling up close to his warm body.
"God damn, you're fucking freezing," he whined, trying to escape but unable to get away because of the edge of the bed and the risk of falling out if he moved over much further.
"And you're amazing and warm," Chris smiled, holding onto him tighter and stealing his warmth.
"Did you say coffee?" David asked, sniffing the air hopefully.
"Yep, it's right over here. So did you decide if you want to go away this week?" he asked and David turned over to face him.
"Jesus you look like shit, did you sleep?" he asked concernedly.
"Uh… no… I didn't really," he admitted.
"I'm sorry, that's my fault. Yeah, I do want to go away, did Leo's friend come back?"
"He did, said the villa is ready today if we want it. Leo said Scotty can beam us directly there."
"Villa? Fancy! Does Leo have any pictures of it?" David asked, leaning across to grab his coffee.
"Not that he'd show me, said it has to be a surprise. I trust him though and he said it's incredible and that the guy is super nice."
"Good enough for me, let's get the hell out of the northern hemisphere for a while!"
*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*
"I mean, its okay," David smirked as he looked around the villa.
"I guess it's tolerable for a few days," Chris added.
"I totally call this side of the bed," David sighed, collapsing onto one side of the giant bed in the master bedroom.
"You want to swim? Eat? There's beer in the fridge?" Chris offered and David looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Can we swim and watch the sunset? Then eat?" David suggested and Chris nodded, getting to work digging through their suitcase for swim shorts.
The villa was even more incredible than Leo had suggested. It was set high on a hillside on the Indonesian island of Bali, and away from all the other properties anywhere else in the valley. It had acres of grounds cut into large flat areas down the hillside and just outside the back patio doors an infinity pool overlooking the valley and providing a glimpse of the ocean down at the bottom. Their host, a friendly local guy by the name of Su had been very eager to meet them and make sure everything they needed was available for them.
"I wonder what Su owes Leo a favour for," Chris asked as he sank slowly into the warm water of the swimming pool.
"Yeah, I don't know," David replied, taking a far less graceful approach and dive-bombing into the pool creating a huge splash.
They both swam over to the edge, Chris getting there first and resting his forearms on the tiled wall, his chin on top of them, looking out over the valley as the setting sun painted the sky in dramatic pink and orange as it sank below the horizon. David swam up beside him and copied his position, but leaning his head to the side to rest against his bondmates.
"We're going to be ok, right? Everything will be ok?" he asked uncertainly and Chris turned to look at him, feeling the all too familiar tug on his emotional control at just how vulnerable David looked.
"Everything is going to be fine, I promise," he said sincerely, reaching out to bring David's face closer to his, leading him with a gentle hand cupping his jaw and pressing their lips together.
"Hey… so uh… this is probably a better setting right?" Chris asked and David looked confused.
"Better setting for what?" he asked and Chris smirked.
"Will you marry me?" he asked and David cracked a smile, a genuine one.
"You know I will."
"So… will you marry me… while we're here one night on the beach at sunset?" he asked and David's eyes widened fractionally for a moment in surprise before he grinned.
"You're damn right I will," he said, draping his arms around Chris' neck and pulling him in for a much more engaging kiss, a surge of excitement coursing through their bond.
"Good, because I think I'm ready to sign my life away to you now," Chris smirked.
"Oh you are huh? The old ball and chain?"
"Yep, I'm going to change your number in my comm to 'wifey' and everything," Chris teased, smirk growing wider as David splashed him with a handful of water. He splashed him back, and soon they're struggling, laughing and ducking each other's heads under the water in a childish game. The game ended abruptly when David's elbow accidentally made contact with Chris' nose, hard.
"Sorry! Shit I'm so sorry, that's like the second time in two days I've punched you in the head, here let me - shit you're bleeding, I'm so sorry," he babbled quickly, both hands trying to pry away Chris' from his face so he can get a look.
"You remember I'm part of an endangered species, right?" Chris said indignantly as he applied pressure to his bloody nose.
"I'm so sorry," David said sincerely and Chris laughed.
"Considering I sliced your damn ankle open like… not even a week ago, I think I can forgive you for a bloody nose," he said, hauling himself out of the pool and walking across the lawn towards the house, returning a few minutes later with his face cleaned up and two bottles of beer clutched by the necks in one large hand, the opener in the other.
"You read my mind," David said, swimming lazily over to the side of the pool Chris was standing on, accepting one cold bottle and taking a swig. Chris sat down on the edge of the water and let his legs hang into the pool, sipping from his own bottle.
"So I uh… I feel like something important happened. I feel like I have something I remember that I should be telling you," David said after a long few minutes of companionable silence.
"What is it?" Chris asked.
"I don't remember," David sighed. "I just feel like… something. It'll come back to me I'm sure," he said, screwing up his face in concentration.
"Well try to remember if you can, just don't make that face ever again."
"Shut up! Asshole," David laughed, setting his beer on the side and pulling Chris back into the pool as the stars began to appear above them in the darkening sky. They stayed outside for a long time, until they were both getting cold in the water and Chris was shivering a little. They went inside and dried off, brushed their teeth and curled into the giant bed together.
"Can we keep this bed?" David asked, voice muffled from where his face was pressed against Chris' chest.
"Mmm yeah, I think that's a good idea," Chris agreed sleepily, ordering the lights off.
"I think I love this bed more than I love you," David sighed contentedly, his entire body relaxed against the side of his bondmate, arm draped across his waist.
"That's probably fair. Goodnight," he smiled, tilting his head to kiss his bondmate.
"Goodnight. I love you," David mumbled against his lips.
"Mmm I love you too," Chris mumbled back before falling asleep almost instantly, David only laying awake for a short while before he too drifted off to sleep feeling safe and content with Chris beside him and his promise that everything would be alright.
