Spirk - Yours

Chapter 7

They waited an hour.

Then two.

Then three.

"Will you stop pacing?" McCoy asked, irritated.

Unfortunately, after their encounter with Asmodeus, the communicator he had given to Kirk had mysteriously disappeared. Obviously, there would be no calls for help in this dungeon. Without any way to know Spock's location or what his condition was, Kirk had taken to pacing to try and calm his growing dread. He looked down to where McCoy had taken a sitting position against the wall.

"Yes, yes, of course," Kirk muttered. He went over to the far wall and sat down against it.

Thirty seconds passed. Then McCoy heaved an internal groan as Kirk stood up and resumed his pacing. "I'm just so worried, Bones," he said exasperatingly. "We have no idea what they're doing to him, nothing good I assume, and... and it's all my fault," he sighed as he finally sank to the floor again.

"Jim, it's not your fault, you couldn't have done anything," McCoy reassured him. "Besides, you couldn't let them have the ship, could you?" he asked after several moments of silence.

"I suppose not," Kirk replied. "But I'm still worried," he added.

"Jim, I know how you feel about Spock—" Kirk looked up sharply at that, "—and I know he can handle pretty much anything. You don't need to be so worried," McCoy continued.

"Well, I suppose so," Kirk answered gruffly, a little red in the face that McCoy knew his secret. Kirk drew breath to further voice his concern when suddenly, the cell door rattled.

Both men looked up to see several of the guards standing outside the door—where there had been none just a moment ago. Kirk frowned, wondering how these creatures were able to appear and disappear so easily. But a second later, all thought was wiped from his mind.

There at the front of the line of guards, Kirk finally noticed Spock.

As they opened the door to deposit Spock back in the cell, Kirk suddenly got a clear view of him and gasped.

Most of Spock's face was covered in green blood, evidence of several head wounds. His uniform was torn in many places, revealing dark blotches of color on his ribs. As the guards dropped him unceremoniously on the hard floor, Kirk also noticed that he was twisted awkwardly, obviously trying to alleviate the pain.

Kirk rushed forward to Spock, dropping down on his knees next to him. He was so distracted that he didn't even notice the guards' retreat, like a shadow oozing away along the floor.

"Know this, Captain," Asmodeus' voice slithered from the depths of the tunnel. "I'm not finished with you yet."

Kirk strained his eyes in the direction of the voice, but all he saw was the rough stone walls of the dungeon. His words worried Kirk, but right now, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"Spock," Kirk said softly, voice broken. Before he could do anything else, however, McCoy interrupted him.

"Jim, move aside." He pulled out his medical kit and scanned Spock. Earlier, McCoy realized that all of their belongings except his medical supplies had been confiscated. He now wondered if that was deliberate, to allow them to discover and treat all of Spock's injuries. They obviously aren't done with us yet, McCoy thought grimly.

"He's got a concussion from those head wounds there, and his broken ribs have gotten worse—a result of severe bruising," he announced. "The thing I can't explain," McCoy frowned, "is why he's in such an agitated state. Normally, Vulcans can ignore pain pretty easily."