Night 59: Main Hallway, 1-West

[doneinthree]

[from here]

Kirk ran into the main hallway and found nothing there except more pink light coating everything. His gut feeling said that if something was happening, it should've happened already, but he was a loss to explain what was going on. The system (if he could call it that, vague as it was to describe the whole Landel's torture/experimentation assembly line) had broken down at least once already, on that night when I.R.I.S. had first(?) appeared, and the whole of the building flickered like a malfunctioning hologram. Was that what the glowing cover was for? To prevent... he didn't know. Something. Something bad enough to warrant a Code Red.

(What had killed that creature?)

Waiting around here was already bad enough on normal nights, what with it being an open space with high traffic, but he'd picked it because it was the quickest and most obvious meeting place for all of them. Now with the whole area lit up like the inside of a strip club, Kirk was starting to feel like a lone piece of meat wrapped in a gold ribbon and tossed out for the wolves. He made a face for a second as he considered the unfortunate implication of mixing those similes, then decided that the dumb thoughts which crossed his mind ranked considerably lower in priority than, you know, paying attention to his surroundings and not getting himself killed.

Kirk swung the lead pipe in his hand once, just to focus, and shook his head as pain rippled out from the still-healing gunshot wound on his right arm. Take it easy, Jim, he admonished himself silently. It was still early in the night. Someone would be along shortly. And if not... he was giving his crew one minute. One minute, and then screw it, he was tracking down everyone himself.

[KIRK TO ENTERPRISE]

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[doneinthree]

"I'll be fine, I've gone— Seven?" Kirk echoed, unable to hide the surprise in his voice. He stared at Spock for a second, wondering how the hell he could've run up against seven aggressives and walked out without a scratch, before deciding that, if anything, this showed that the commander was more than capable of handling himself for ten minutes.

Kirk silently hoped this detour would take no longer than that. "Nothing's attacked us—" He waved his hand to indicate himself and Bones. "—and we've been in this hallway for awhile. I'm guessing these puppies have been sent to play fetch with whoever's had their abilities restored for the night. Honestly... I'll probably be a lot safer than you two."

There was a lot more he could've said about the nature of nighttime in Landel's and how weirdly time passed and the efficiency of splitting up, but one thing Kirk had gotten used to when it came to command was that explaining his orders wasn't a strict requirement. Especially not while they could get chewed up by any number of monsters while discussing it.

"It's not up for debate, gentlemen." He looked at Spock now. It was in Bones' nature to argue with him, and it wasn't as if Kirk completely disagreed with his point, but he thought — he hoped — that his second-in-command would understand. "We don't know how much time we have."

[hes-deadjim.livejournal.com]

Seven animals attacked Spock and the man walked off without a scratch? Sometimes, and not even counting his experience with That Other Spock, sometimes Spock scared him. Secretly impressed him at the same time , but with a slightly scary side to it. You got so used to Spock being more non-violent than all the humans put together on board, so quiet and tranquil, that you almost forgot how much damage he could do if he put his mind to it.

"And you aren't injured anywhere?" No scratches, no infections? Spock barely met his gaze, but McCoy caught the brief look. He didn't exactly grin, that would ruin the effect, but he couldn't help but be secretly pleased that Spock actually had his back. The pleasure faded considerably when Jim pulled his captain's voice. McCoy had a whole slew of arguments up his sleeve, but he didn't have nearly the same clout as Spock did. "And if they do actually succeed in rounding the others up, who do y'suppose they're coming after next?"

Jim's decision might be final, but surely Spock could convince him oherwise.

[dual-worlds.livejournal.com]

"As I said, I am unharmed," Spock quickly reminded the doctor. They didn't have time to concern themselves with non-existent injuries, so it was best to clear that up as quickly as possible. "Another patient aided me during the encounter."

Jim's theory regarding why he and McCoy had yet to fall under attack made sense within the context of what Spock himself had seen and experienced. After all, Goku had displayed signs of regaining some his own natural abilities as well. Not only that, but it made sense for the military to target those they considered the greatest threat to their authority -- in other words, individuals who experienced a change in physical strength and abilities due to a security breach. Assuming that was correct, then Spock would become a potential liability.

"The captain's logic is sound," he conceded after a brief pause. Then, turning to look at McCoy, Spock continued. "If we traveled together, I would likely draw more danger to both him and Lieutenant Uhura. We should go investigate the force field."

Now wasn't the time for debate. Spock was confident McCoy would understand that, even if he didn't necessarily agree with them.

[doneinthree]

Kirk didn't quite resist the urge to smile after Spock agreed (subtle, at least, more with the eyes than his mouth), but his only response to the commander was a nod. Unlike certain daring young captains, he couldn't think of any reason why Spock would fudge the truth about his health (Vulcans couldn't lie, right?), but all the better to send Bones off with him so the doctor could fuss to his heart's content. Hopefully, if Spock and McCoy moved fast through these hallways, they could avoid any seven monster pile-ups. Anything less than that, Kirk trusted Spock could handle himself.

Either way, they all should've been gone ten seconds ago. Kirk grinned at Bones' comment, already backing away in the direction of the female block. "That's why I'm trusting you two to put up a fight. Don't let me down."

If either of the science officers had anything to say to that, they'd have to direct at their captain's back, because he was already headed off, disappearing into the crush of monster corpses and rearmed prisoners.

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[hes-deadjim.livejournal.com]