Less than thirty seconds passed while Leonard and Kate held onto each other, but it felt like a lifetime before they heard Jim say, "Bones, Kate, Scotty's on that ship and has taken them down for right now. I'm headed your way to talk to Khan."
Leonard pulled away from her enough to kiss her before resting his forehead on hers and saying, "I wasn't kidding earlier, we need to find a different job."
Kate laughed and shook her head as she pulled away from Leonard, and was startled to see Khan staring directly at them. She glared over at him for a moment, which seemed to prompt him to say, "You can rejoice in your momentary safety, but Marcus's ship will come back online and he will pick up where he left off."
Kate felt Leonard grab her hand and he began to pull her away from Khan. She followed along willingly, not really wanting to spend much more time with him. There was something deeply unsettling about how much attention he was paying to her, and she was growing tired of having him in med bay.
Leonard got them far enough away and said softly, "He may be right, but if he's not we've still got to figure out what we can about him."
Kate nodded and they both went back to the machine that was running tests on Khan's blood. As they sat there for a moment, Kate thought about the consequences of how quickly his cells regenerated and asked, "Leonard, do we have any tribbles left on board?"
He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why on earth would you want one of those again after what happened last time?"
Kate shook her head and explained, "Not a live one, I know Scotty got rid of them, but did we save any of the ones that had died while we were studying them?"
Realization crossed through Leonard's features as he nodded and said, "We do, I'll go grab one," then rushed off to a different part of med bay.
As Kate sat there waiting on him, the doors to med bay opened and Jim came through. He briefly acknowledge her, then went straight to Khan and said, "Tell me everything you know about that ship."
Khan answered bluntly, "Dreadnought class. Two times the size, three times the speed. Advanced weaponry. Modified for minimal crew. Unlike most Federation vessels, it's built solely for combat."
While Khan was speaking, Leonard had joined her again, dead tribble in hand. She punched a few buttons on the machine to stop the tests that were running so they could get access to Khan's blood to inject it into the tribble, both of them paying attention to what was happening between Jim and Khan.
Jim took in what Khan said, then said in an emotional voice, "I will do everything I can to make you answer for what you did," then finished softly by saying, "But right now I need your help."
Khan raised an eyebrow and asked, "In exchange for what?"
Jim sighed before saying, "You said you'd do anything for your crew. I can guarantee their safety."
Khan scoffed, a sarcastic smile filling his face, as he said, "Captain, you can't even guarantee the safety of your own crew."
A dark look crossed over Jim's features, but Kate was pulled back toward the task at hand as the machine running Khan's blood test started beeping loudly. Leonard pulled out the sample as she handed him a syringe that he could fill with Khan's platelets.
As Leonard inserted the needle into the tribble, Jim called over to them, sounding frustrated, "Bones, Kate, what are you guys doing with that tribble?"
Kate turned to face him and said, "The tribble's dead, so we're injecting Khan's platelets into the deceased tissue."
Leonard sat the tribble down and finished explaining, "Khan's cells regenerate like nothing we've ever seen, and we want to know why."
Jim shook his head, still not seeming very glad that their machine had interrupted him, but turned back to Khan and asked, "You coming with me or not?"
Khan smiled and said, "Of course, captain."
Kate wasn't comfortable that he agreed so quickly, but Jim went into action quickly, talking to the security team and getting them to surround Khan before they would leave. Kate looked over at Leonard, not trying to hide the worry in her eyes. As they made eye contact, he nodded his head toward the door and said, "Go follow him, let me know where you end up. I'll catch up with you in a moment."
Kate nodded and rushed off after Jim, trying to catch up with him before they got too far. Fortunately, he didn't have much a lead on her, and she caught up quickly and asked, "What is your plan Jim?"
Jim turned to her and said, "Scotty's on that ship, and Khan thinks he knows a way we can get over there. If we can get over there, we can stop Marcus."
Kate shook her head as she said, "Jim, that's crazy. You can't trust Khan and you can't trust Marcus."
Jim stopped briefly, and Khan, surrounded by his security team, stopped as well. Jim looked at her and put his hands on her shoulders before saying, "I know you worry, sis, but this is the only way. I don't trust him, none of us do, but we've got to use his knowledge right now."
Kate swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, so Jim nodded once and said, "You should go up to the bridge. You'll be able to keep up with what's going on there rather than worrying yourself to death about me."
Kate smiled and hugged Jim, but he pulled away quickly and said, "Love you sis," before heading off again.
The security team followed as well, and Khan bowed his head slightly as he went by and said, "Until next time, Katelyn."
Kate felt the chill go up her spine again with his use of her first name, but she shook it off and ran back to med bay, hoping that Leonard hadn't left yet.
She got back to med bay as Leonard walked out of his office. Just the sight of him made her breath catch in her throat for a moment, before she shook her head to clear her thoughts. Now was not the time to be distracted by Leonard McCoy.
She crossed over to him and said, "Jim's planning on going to the other ship with Khan and trying to stop them that way."
Leonard rolled his eyes and asked, "How exactly does he plan on doing that?"
Kate grabbed his hand and started directing them out of med bay as she said, "I don't know, but apparently Scotty's on the other ship. Jim told me to go to the bridge to keep track of what's going on."
Leonard followed along and nodded as they entered the lift and the doors closed. Almost immediately, Kate felt the familiar tension of being alone in a small space with him. It didn't matter at the moment that there were other things to be concerned about. All that seemed to matter at the moment was that she was right next to the man she was in love with.
But that ended all too soon, as the lift doors opened and they found themselves at the bridge. They entered and came to a stop slightly behind the captain's chair, where Spock was currently seated, trying to get a read on the situation.
Sulu turned to Spock and said, "Commander, our trash exhaust is aimed at access port one oh one A of the other ship."
Spock nodded and pressed a button before saying, "Captain, the ships are aligned."
Jim's voice replied, "Copy that," as Kate came closer to Spock's side.
She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Jim was planning on doing a space jump to end up at the other ship, right after the Enterprise had been attacked. There was no world in which this was a good plan. She crossed her arms before asking, "Has he lost his mind?"
Spock looked up at her and raised an eyebrow before saying, "He is following the only option we have left at this point. We cannot hope to defeat them, and we cannot flee."
Kate shook her head and felt Leonard's arm wrap around her waist, but even that was hard to take comfort in at the moment. She looked up at smiled weakly at him, trying to thank him for his comforting touch, but she wasn't sure she was convincing.
Sulu turned back to Spock again and said, "Commander, there's a lot of debris between the two ships from our encounter earlier. There's not a clear path for him to make it."
Kate groaned to herself, cursing Jim's stubbornness and Admiral Marcus's unethical decisions that had brought them to this point in the first place. What surprised Kate was that Spock even seemed a little concerned as he pressed a button again and said, "Captain, before you launch you should be aware that there is a considerable debris field between our ships."
Spock and Jim left the communication open now as Jim replied, "Spock, not now," then asked, "Scotty, you good?"
Kate didn't realize how much she had missed hearing Scotty in his short time off ship until she heard him reply in an aggravated tone, "It's not easy! Just give me two seconds, all right, you mad bastard!"
Things went silent for a moment as Kate smiled and shook her head at Scotty's frustration. Jim always did manage to work him up like no one else could. She was pulled out of these thoughts as she felt Leonard remove his arm from around her. She watched him crouch down near Spock and heard him say, "Tell me this is gonna work."
Spock looked like he wished he could tell Leonard that, but said, "I have neither the information nor the confidence to do so, Doctor," and, for once, Leonard didn't reply with a sarcastic remark.
He just stood and joined by Kate's side again as they heard Scotty say, "Okay, Captain, stand by... Yes! Okay, okay! I'm set to open the door!"
She heard Jim ask, "You ready?" and Khan's deep voice reply, "Are you?"
She knew that had to have challenged Jim, and Jim probably wasn't handling his emotions real well right now, but Jim said calmly, "Spock, pull the trigger."
Kate's stomach dropped as Spock said, "Yes, Captain. Launching activation sequence on three, two, one."
Immediately, Jim and Khan appeared as small figures on the screen so they could track their progress. Kate went to the screen closest to her and crossed her arms across her stomach, trying to keep herself calm. It wasn't helping, though, as Spock called out, "Captain, there is debris directly ahead."
Jim sounded stressed as he replied, "Copy that," then Kate watched as his name on the screen narrowly avoided some of the debris.
She cringed, realizing how close a call that was, and continued to feel uncomfortable seeing that his trajectory was not going to lead him to the door. Leonard saw the same thing and said, "Whoa! Jim, you're way off course!"
Kate felt irritation flare in her as he said that. Like Jim didn't know he was off course already, and it was almost like she had read Jim's mind as she heard him say sarcastically, "I know, I know, I can see that." Leonard looked over at her and, even though she was irritated with his obvious comment earlier, she couldn't stay upset at him as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She pulled herself in closer to him as they continued to watch Jim's progress.
Sulu performed some calculations and said, "Captain, use your display compass. You must correct precisely thirty seven point two four three degrees."
Jim seemed to take this better than he had taken Leonard's comment and said, "Got it, I'm working my way back. Scotty, your'e gonna be ready with that door right?"
Silence filled the bridge, waiting for Scotty's reply, so Jim asked again, sounding frustrated, "Mister Scotty, where are you?"
Nyota was pressing buttons and flicking switches as she replied, "Captain, he can't seem to hear you. I'm working on getting his signal back, stand by."
Kate felt the all too familiar feeling of dread crawling up inside of her. Things were not going well so far. It only got worse when she heard Jim say, "Damn it."
Kate asked, worry evident in her voice, "What is it, Jim?"
Jim didn't sound like he wanted to reply, but said, "My helmet was hit. Uhura, tell me you have Mister Scott back."
Nyota shook her head, seeming to grow more flustered as she said, "Not yet, I'm still working on a signal. His communicator is working. I don't know why he isn't responding."
Kate squeezed her eyes shut, hoping things would go right like the always seemed to. Things seemed hopeless against the Romulans, Mudd, and while they were dealing with the tribbles, but they had managed to make it through all of that. Surely they could make it through this too.
She snapped her eyes open and focused back on the screen as she heard Sulu say, "Imminent collision detected."
She was expecting to see Jim about to collide with something, but instead saw that Khan was the one in danger. She blurted out, "Khan, there is debris directly in front of you."
He replied calmly, not seeming worried, "I see it," but then a terrible noise filled the bridge and his name disappeared off the screen.
Kate looked up at Leonard, and she could see the same worry she was feeling. Khan was the one familiar with that ship. Without him, Jim might be able to get on board, but he didn't stand a chance of making it to Marucs in time to stop him.
Spock asked quickly, "Mister Sulu, did we lose Khan?"
Sulu, joining in with everyone else that was feeling frustrated, replied, "I don't know Commander, I'm having trouble tracking him in all this debris."
Jim seemed to have picked up on the conversation at this point and asked, "Was Khan hit?"
Spock replied quickly, "We are trying to find him now, but Captain you need to adjust to your target destination by one eight three by four seven three degrees."
Kate saw Jim's name move a little on the screen, then dread filled her as Jim said, "Spock, my display's dead. I'm flying blind."
Kate closed her eyes and covered her hand with her mouth, trying to hold back the emotions that were trying to bubble over and the nausea that filled her stomach at Jim's words. There was no way Jim was going to be able to make it to the other ship without his display.
Spock didn't make things any better by saying, "Captain, without your display compass, hitting your target destination is mathematically impossible."
She felt Leonard tighten up next to her, and she could've punched Spock if she had been closer, and Jim seemed to feel the same way as he said, "Spock, if I get back, we really need to talk about your bedside manner."
Kate finally opened her eyes and looked at the screen to see Jim's trajectory, and felt as if all the blood drained out of her as she realized and said softly, "Len, he's not gonna make it."
Leonard started to say something, but didn't get the chance to as they heard Khan's voice say, "My display is still functioning. I see you Kirk. You're two hundred meters ahead of me at my one o'clock. Come to your left a few degrees and follow me."
Kate watched on screen as Jim joined Khan and their trajectory was now aimed for the target destination. That was resolved, now they just had to get communication back with Scotty and Jim would live through this after all.
Jim said desperately, "Scotty, we're getting close. We need a warm welcome. Do you copy? Do you copy, Scotty?"
Silence was their only reply, so Spock said, in an urgent voice she had never really heard much before, "If you can hear us Mister Scott, open the door in ten, nine, eight, seven..."
As Spock continued counting down, Kate grabbed Leonard's hand and her grip tightened each number Spock got through. It wasn't that long ago that she thought she was going to have to hear Leonard die, now there was a possibility that she was going to have to hear Jim die. She knew she had to have been hurting Leonard's hand, but he didn't complain as he seemed to be just as worried.
Just as Spock said, "Mister Scott, open the door," Jim also yelled, "Open the door!"
All the tension in Kate's body released as she saw both Jim's and Khan's names go into the ship rather than stopping outside the ship. Scotty had heard them and Jim and Khan were relatively safe on board the other ship, though that brought an entirely different batch of concerns.
She let go of Leonard's hand and he looked at her, shaking his head as he said, "Remind me to never piss you off, darlin'."
Kate raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why?"
Leonard chucked slightly and said, "Thought I was gonna lose my hand back there."
She punched him softly, just glad to know that Jim was safe for now, as she heard Nyota say, "Commander, I have that transmission, as requested."
Spock nodded and said, "On screen, please."
Kate wasn't sure what was going on, so she stood closer to Spock's chair again and felt Leonard directly behind her. As the image came on screen, she smiled as she saw Spock Prime.
Spock Prime greeted, "Mister Spock," to which Spock replied, "Mister Spock." She heard Leonard sigh behind her, so she elbowed him softly, indicating that he needed to be polite.
Spock began, "I will be brief. In your travels, did you ever encounter a man named Khan?"
Kate saw emotions that she couldn't describe go across Spock Prime's features. It was shocking to see emotions so prevalent on a Vulcan's face, even more so knowing that it was Spock that she was looking at and knowing that he was so good at suppressing his emotions.
Spock Prime replied, "As you know, I have made a vow to never give you information that could potentially alter your destiny. Your path is yours to walk, and yours alone."
Spock seemed disappointed that he wasn't going to learn more, but Spock Prime continued, "That being said, Khan Noonien Singh is the most dangerous adversary the Enterprise ever faced. He is brilliant, ruthless, and he will not hesitate to kill every single one of you."
Kate had never felt comfortable around Khan, but now thinking back on the times she had been around him, it made her sick to her stomach. If Spock Prime was saying he was that dangerous, there was no exaggeration. Khan was someone to be feared if Spock Prime was saying these things.
Spock nodded once then asked, "Did you defeat him?"
Spock Prime seemed saddened again, and said, "At great cost, yes."
Spock sat slightly forward in the captain's chair and asked, "How?"
Spock Prime paused for a moment, as if trying to decide if he should tell them or not. She wasn't sure whether it would do any good or not, but she knew that her other self had been good friends with Spock Prime in their time, so she said, "We're not asking you to tell us exactly what to do. We just need a push in the right direction to get started."
Spock Prime smiled slightly at her and said, "Of course, Dr. McCoy," then caught himself and corrected, "Excuse me, Dr. Kirk. I cannot tell you how we defeated him, because your circumstances are different than ours were. However, I can tell you, as you probably already know, that his crew is the single most important thing to him. If you can use them against him, you will win."
Spock nodded and said, "Thank you. You have been most helpful."
Spock Prime nodded once and said, "Until we meet again," then the screen went off.
Kate watched Spock for a moment as he sat in his chair thinking, but it was only for a moment as she felt Leonard grab her arm and spin her around to face him. She couldn't explain what she was reading in his face, so she asked, "What is it?"
Leonard shook his head before asking, "Did Spock Prime call you Dr. McCoy?"
Kate felt like her heart stopped beating for a moment before she nodded and said, "We were married before we joined the Enterprise together in his timeline."
He shook his head again, trying to process this information before asking, "How long have you known that?"
Kate thought back to that day, not really wanting to relive those memories, but confessed, "The day I kissed you for the first time. After you told me you didn't want a relationship, the time didn't really seem right."
Leonard still seemed taken aback by the news of their marriage in Spock Prime's timeline, but they were not able to discuss it anymore as Spock said to Nyota, "Lieutenant, I need you to assemble all senior medical and engineering staff in the weapon's bay."
Nyota seemed confused by nodded and said, "All right," then began making her calls.
Spock came over to them and said, "Dr. McCoy, you inadvertently activated a torpedo. Could you replicate the process?"
Leonard shook his head and scrunched his eyebrows as he asked, "Why the hell would I want to do that again?"
Spock, not letting the subject go, asked, "Can you or can you not?"
Leonard didn't seemed pleased with the direction of this conversation and said, "Damn it, man, I'm a doctor, not a torpedo technician."
Kate elbowed him softly, then said, "And that's why you've got me," then winked at him.
Leonard shook his head slightly, but seemed more calm as he said, "You're not a torpedo technician either, Kate. You've just got more engineering experience."
Spock pulled them back on track and said, "The fact that you are both doctors and that she has an engineering background is precisely why I need you to listen very carefully."
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Sorry this chapter was bit of a filler. I've had trouble finding motivation to write it, but I knew I needed to so that I could get to the next few, so bear with me. I promise, the next few will be much more entertaining than the past two have been!
All of your likes and comments have meant so much to me! Thanks for all the support and love you're showing me!