Star Trek 1

Serron leans forward and kisses Kara. "I need to file some paperwork with the admirals. Be careful, please."

Kara smiles at him. "You be careful!" She kisses him again before heading off down a different corridor. Once she's out of Serron's line of sight, her fists clench.

There's a reason she never corrected the public image of what happened to her. Looks like the decision has been taken out of her hands. Things could get messy real quick. She just hopes that -

"Emberlynn."

Well, that Komack apparently does exactly this. She turns around and smiles at him. "Admiral. I would say it's a pleasure."

He snarls at her. "Did you forget our deal?" he says softly. "Your silence for his life."

She arches an eyebrow. "New deal. You cop guilty, or I beat your ass."

Komak just smiles. "I don't think so. I told you that if you kept your mouth shut, I wouldn't kill your new captain. Looks like I'm going to have to now."

Kara doesn't even flinch. "You can't touch Serron."

"You underestimate me. My men are after him as we speak. I look forward to watching you as he dies."

Kara's fists clench. "You won't touch Serron." she hisses. "You won't hurt my crew!"

"Still loyal after all these years." Komak sneers. "You would think that you would have learned to look after yourself and not others."

Kara lashes out, and that's when the fight really begins.

-------/

Serron is talking with Admirals Pike, Davidson, and Hayes when he feels it. Abject terror and pain broadcasting loud and clear across his bond with Kara. He stiffens. "I apologize, Admirals, but I must go."

"Sit down." Hayes snaps. "This meeting cannot be discontinued."

"You do not understand. My commander is in distress."

"Your commander can deal with it." Hayes' lip curls.

Davidson holds up a hand, stalling Serron's immediate retort. "Make a phone call, Captain." he says quietly.

Serron nods and pulls out his communicator. "Jim, I need a favor."

"Name it."

"Check on Kara. Something's wrong."

Kirk leaps to his feet, and bolts for the door. "Do you know where she is?"

"She was headed towards the Avenger to help Haymitch with repairs. Hurry, Kirk!"

"On it!" Kirk skids around a corner, running full-pelt for slip 9. His eyes narrow as he finds Kara and Komack. "Found her - have Rem report to medbay. I'll be bringing Kara in."

With a yell, he drops the communicator and tackles Komack, knocking him off of Kara and sending them both tumbling across the floor. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He pins Komack to the ground, and sits on his back, twisting his arms up and across his back.

Kara gets to her feet, and stares. "Jim?"

"Grab my communicator and get security over here. Also, let Serron know you're okay." Kirk grunts as Komack tries to throw him off. "I don't think so, jackass. Only a coward fights a woman."

"I can take care of myself, you know." Kara calls over her shoulder.

"I know. But you scared Serron, who scared me." Kirk calls back.

Kara pauses as she picks up Kirk's communicator. "I scared Serron?" She doesn't give Kirk the chance to respond before she hails security and switches over to her own communicator. "You seriously sent Kirk to the rescue?"

The relief and quiet fury in Serron's voice is evident when he speaks. "I was detained. Are you harmed?"

"Nothing irreparable."

"I will take Rem's word for it. Stay in medbay until I get there."

"Sure thing." She clicks her communicator off. By now security has arrived, and they don't seem to know what to do. Kirk has Komak pinned, but he's an admiral. One of the redshirts looks over at Kara.

"The admiral give you that shiner?" he asks.

Kara nods. "I gave him worse."

"Good enough for me." He taps Kirk on the shoulder. "You can let him up, Captain. We'll take it from here."

"You can't arrest me!" Komak shouts. "I'm an admiral!"

"Not for long, if we have our way about it." Kirk mutters under his breath.

Kirk stands back to let security drag Komack away before turning to Kara. He gently turns her head to get a better look at her black eye. "He got you good, Kara." his voice is quiet. "Did he get you anywhere else?"

Kara considers. "My right side, I think he was aiming for my ribs and missed. It's just sore."

Kirk nods. "We'll get you to Rem and she can make sure. I know that Komack isn't gonna stand a snowball's chance in hell of surviving if Serron gets his hands on him."

"I'd pay damn good money to see that, if I'm honest." Kara mutters as they head towards medbay.

"You're not the only one." Kirk says with a faint grin. "I'd probably enable him if he asked."

"Don't joke, he might."

"Who said I was kidding?" Kirk asks with a grin.

The two of them walk down to the med bay. Rem and McCoy are down there waiting for them. Kara smirks. "Enjoying the company?" she teases Rem.

"You look like hell." Rem replies flatly. "Get over here. What happened?"

"Komak happened. Next time I see him, I'm shoving him out of an airlock." Still, she takes a seat on the biobed without complaining. Kirk raises an eyebrow.

"He got you worse than you're letting on."

"No, I'm just coming down off the adrenaline rush." Kara flashes him a tired grin. "He kinda scared the shit out of me."

"He scared the shit out of the rest of us, too." Kirk shoots back. "I wonder how long before the admirals cut Serron loose."

"So, what's the long version of what happened?" McCoy asks, watching Rem as she examines Kara.

Kirk shrugs. "I don't really have the long version. All I know is that Komack used to be Kara's captain, and was apparently trading with some bad dealers. When Kara found out, he sold her to Orion slave traders, who then sold her to the Romulans, and Serron found her sometime after that. I wasn't given a timeline, and Kara didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't push."

McCoy nods. "What prompted Komack to attack her today?"

"I don't know." Kirk shrugs helplessly. "Your'e asking the wrong person."

McCoy turns his attention to Kara, who's looking at the ground rather than any of them. Finally, she takes a deep breath.

"There's a reason I never called Komak out on his bullshit earlier." she says softly. "Especially once Serron requested me as his commander."

Kirk's eyes widen. "He threatened Serron."

Her gaze snaps up to him. "He threatened my whole damn crew. Said if I breathed a word of what really happened to anyone, he would kill every last one of them." Her fists clench. "By the time I knew he was bluffing, I was already pretty good at keeping silent. Serron honored my wishes, but I never told him why."

"He wasn't completely bluffing." Rem says softly.

"Yeah, but he came after me, not you." Kara points out. "He's more of a coward than I gave him credit for."

Kirk's jaw clenches, and he turns on his heel and stalks out of the room without another word. McCoy watches him go, then meets Kara's gaze.

"My guess is he's gone to get Serron, and they're about to beat the shit out of him, darlin'." McCoy says quietly. "He's not angry with you."

"I know."

"He won't say anything to Serron, I don't think." McCoy muses. "I think he figures you'll tell him when you're ready. Kind of like just now." he shoots Kara a smile.

(I'm so sorry it's crappy! *laughs*)

Serron blinks as Kirk steps into the conference room and stands at the door, waiting for him. "Captain?"

"I need you, as soon as you're free." Kirk's voice is plesant enough, but Serron and Pike can sense the fury blazing in him. Pike nods.

"He's free now."

Hayes growls. "No, he's not - "

But Serron is already up and following Kirk out of the room. "What's going on?" he asks.

"I need to kick someone's ass, and considering who, I thought you would like to join." Kirk says darkly. Serron considers before falling into step beside him.

"I find this idea exceedingly logical."

Komack looks up as Kirk keys the door to the cell open and steps inside, with Serron right behind him. "You know I'll be out of here in an hour, right?" he asks.

Kirk doesn't bother with an answer, merely shuts the door and re-engages the lock, before turning around and giving Komack a small smile. "No you won't. Besides, that's not what we're here for. I have some questions for you, and you're going to answer me."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you get hit by a very angry Vulcan." Kirk leans in and gives him a smile. "Here's a hint - it hurts. Take it from someone who's pissed a Vulcan off before."

"That was a half-breed." Komack sneers.

Kirk sees the movement behind him, and steps out of the way. Serron's fist flies past him, and collides very solidly with Komack's stomach. The man doubles over, wheezing.

"Yeah. Like that. I took the liberty of explaining why you went after Kara. Hope you don't mind." Kirk says cheerfully.

Kara stays in the med bay with no complaints. She keeps her eyes closed and her head tilted to the side, like she's listening to a radio station that's very faint. McCoy stares at her for a moment before turning his attention to Rem. "Wish I could get Jim to be that calm."

"She's keeping track of the captain." Rem explains.

"How?"

"How familiar are you with Vulcan mating bonds?"

"Familiar enough - Oh."

Rem smiles. "Yes. Like that."

Kara's fist clenches as she tunes out the conversation. Kirk told him. At least, told him enough that Serron deduced the rest. Admittedly, she doesn't blame him. Serron really does need to know, and Kara's not sure she could handle being the one to tell him just how much of a coward she was. Still, the blinding fury emanating from her mate is rather intimidating.

((I'm on a bit of a Star Trek kick, so guess what?))

Jim nods. "Now that I think you've got the message - question time. And this one's easy, so a good answer will be enough. What is it with corrupt admirals that like to threaten a Captain's crew? Because you're the second one I've run into in the last few weeks, and I'm getting sick of it." Komack snorts derisively, but doesn't speak.

Kirk smiles pleasantly. "Are you here because of Sinclair?" Komack's head comes up, and his gaze narrows.

"What do you know about Sinclair?"

Kirk's smile widens. "Ah. You don't know. It seems he took a page out of your playbook. Threatened my crew's lives if I didn't listen. It didn't work out real well in his favor. And let's be real - it's not about to work out real well for you either. I'm mostly just here to make sure we don't get interrupted since Serron here really, really wants a piece of your hide."

Komack snorts. "And what makes you think I'm alone in this?"

"I don't. I'm naturally suspicious, so I've left Kara with a few folks who know how to babysit someone who doesn't like to be babysat. If anyone tries anything on her while we're here, well, I can't guarantee that they won't get shoved out an airlock." Kirk says cheerfully. "I'm gonna let Serron have the floor, but I don't think he'll be talking with his words, if you get my drift."

Kara's eyes snap open. "Rem, put the medbay on lockdown."

Rem doesn't even question her. McCoy, on the other hand - "Why? What's going on?"

"Jim suspects Komak might have friends, and if they know he's in the brig for attacking me, they're gonna know I'm here. I don't want another fight." She reaches through their bond and nudges Serron, just enough to let him know that protective measures have been taken. He responds back with affirmation tinged with relief. It does nothing to relieve his anger.

McCoy comes to stand next to her. "What's goin' through your head, darlin?"

"Whoever came up with the idea that Vulcans are completely emotionless is a moron."

Rem lets out a very un-Vulcan snort of laughter.