exastris_scientia | retired open post // will still tag in if threads are ongoing!

[ Jim doesn't look at Spock, doesn't even turn to him as they continue out of the room. It isn't until he hears the shout that he gives anything else any attention, and immediately when he catches the auctioneer's face---dammit. He must have scanned for a tracking chip that the resistance put there. He brings the keys up, grabbing for his first officer's forearm, and moving to undo them as they continue to walk.

They don't have far to go, but he can't be certain of Spock's condition or treatment the past few days. He's not leaving without him no matter what, though. He had hoped they could avoid actual fighting, though, but the guards are moving towards them through the crowd. ]

I thought we'd have a few more minutes before anything went down, but I guess not. Are you good to run, Spock?

[ The last thing Spock wants is to be touched, but he allows Jim to grab his arm and work on the shackles still around his arms. At least he is unhampered otherwise, and they move together well enough that it only marginally slows them down. ]

I am capable of running at present.

[ Even if he were not, Spock would run. He can push his body in ways that most humans cannot, and any pain can be shielded against. Besides, he is not that badly injured. Enough that Doctor McCoy will snap and grumble, but insist upon a full 24 hours in MedBay, but he has suffered worse.

At last, Jim manages the shackles, and he can easily discard them on the ground, stumbling blocks for the guards, though he doubts they will be hindered. ]

Let us go, Captain.

Right, let's go. Come on.

[ Jim lets Spock get a few steps ahead of him before he follows. He loosens his collar, unbuttoning the jacket he had on and discards it as well. God, he hates fancy dress. He also has a phaser on him, but he doesn't want to resort to having to use it.

They get out of the building easy enough, and onto the nighttime streets. There aren't a lot of people, which is good and bad. Good, cause no collateral damage, bad cause they don't have a lot of avenues to hide until they can get out of the main city center. ]

Scotty is keeping a lock on us, but we need to get out to the transport coordinates, or at least as close as we can get. It's about half-mile past our emergency beam out point, and further into the forest.

[ There appears to be enough of a distraction inside that they manage to reach the streets with little issue, though the guards are not far away, judging from the shouts.

Spock simply nods at Jim's words, already figuring out the probability of their survival. With no people and few places to hide, the chances are slim. ]

It will be beneficial to split up, Jim. I am weakened and will thus be slower, and if they have to chase both of us, it will divide their forces.

[ Jim knows their chances. He's going through the situation and the realms of possibility in his head. He's going through scenarios, and the tactics available to them. He knows Spock, too, and knows that he's going through the probability, the statistics, and doing it in enough detail to tell him what Jim already knows he's going to say.

Didn't Nibiru teach him anything? He's not leaving him behind. He won't. ]

Which is exactly why we can't split up. If you need help and I'm off in the other direction what am I supposed to do? Let them take you again? We aren't going to get another chance at this.

We're not splitting up.

[ Spock has no intention of doing something like dying on the planet, surrounded by savage beings who are little better than cavemen. It is simply prudent to split up, improving their chances of not being discovered. Jim faces better chances of blending in, which means he could reach safety much easier. And above all, it is his duty to ensure Jim's safety; it comes with being first officer.

But despite the arguments filtering through his head, he knows any of his logical points will simply be ignored or dismissed. And they have little time to spend arguing. ]

Very well, Captain. You are more familiar with our surroundings than I, so pick a path that will take us out of this place.

[ Damn right the "logical points" will be ignored or dismissed. He's dismissing them preemptively, in fact. He doesn't care about the chances of him blending in. The chances of being discovered less easily, and he definitely doesn't care about the fact that it's Spock's job to ensure his safety.

Court martial him later for all he cares. Jim is sticking with Spock until they both get back to the ship. Period.

He nods when Spock acquiesces, looks around a moment, and nods in the nearest direction that will take them into the woods towards the checkpoint. ]

That way, come on.

[ Jim takes off, knowing Spock wouldn't dare do anything but be right behind him. ]

[ Spock might be a rebel, but at heart, Spock likes having rules. They make the world a logical, orderly place that he can understand and navigate, rather than this confusing jumble of emotions and illogical actions.

It is a good that Spock knows when to bend, when he should simply listen and obey orders. And this is Jim, who is his captain, and after everything they have been through together, Spock can only acquiesce and follow. He says nothing, as Jim has already taken off running, but dutifully runs after his captain - an action that is becoming something of a habit, Spock thinks. ]

[ Jim can't help but feel there must be some interesting stories in Spock's younger years, and boy he'd kill for any of them. He wonders if he can ever get Sarek to share with him. Do Vulcan parents have their own way of embarrassing their children with all the ways their children were illogical growing up?

He only slows to make sure that Spock is still following him, and manages to get them out towards the rendezvous. They get to a stream they have to cross, and starts, careful of the slippery, wet rocks. ]

It's not much farther, Spock.

[ Were Amanda alive, Spock is sure she would answer all of Jim's questions. But as that is not a possibility, Spock is doubtful Sarek would provide any stories.

So Spock is safe from Jim's curiosities, though he does not doubt Jim could find out information if he so desired.

The wet rocks are generally of little concern, but Spock crosses carefully, moving slower than usual. He's been under strain for days and even a Vulcan is not infallible.

He says nothing to Jim, though he does take some measure of comfort in the words, and nods in response. ]

[ There are times, more than just Spock's loss of her, that he wishes she were still alive. But he sees the request when that he makes yearly for time to himself, and can only imagine that it correlates to the stardate that they lost Vulcan or close to it, considering whatever mission they might be on. If Jim goes out of his way to make sure that he isn't bothered on that day more than any other---well that's just coincidence, isn't it?

He's still gonna talk to Sarek about it. Or maybe the older Spock. Talking is going to happen.

Jim doesn't let himself get too far ahead of him. He stays close in case his first officer needs him, and once they cross fully, he takes to running again. A little ways into a thicker part of the woods, he pulls his communicator out of his pocket to flip it open. ]

Scotty, I've got him. Get us out of here.

[ There are appropriate times to express grief, in carefully controlled and dictated ways, and to remember the lives of billions, lost to a man far too gone to remember the joy of life. Spock does take a day, as close to the destruction of Vulcan as possible; it is a day his people will hold in infamy for the reminder of their tomorrows, a day when grief is not only allowed, but encouraged.

Much like Jim takes a day to himself around his birth - a day Spock is all too familiar with, as is everyone else in Starfleet. Like the destruction of Vulcan, it is a day none of them will forget. In time, people will forget the terror and the chaos and the fear (or so Spock - illogically - hopes) and they will be days simply noted in the history books. But that will not happen as long as any of them still draw breath.

Spock draws up next to Jim, and in a short matter of time, feels his molecules rearranging themselves. Spock mentally prepares himself to be greeted with the sight of Dr. McCoy, scowling at him but with gentle hands feeling his wounds, and the familiar sight of the halls of the Enterprise behind everyone. ]

[ Jim can't imagine how 10,000 Vulcans choose to express their grief for the loss of their homeworld. He knows, from his own experience, how his mother chose to express hers over the years at the loss of his father on the day of her youngest son's birth. He still calls her on the day, even if he doesn't celebrate it for himself.

Hell, Bones was the only person he shared it with, even if it was weeks before the actual date. A glass for his father, and two for them to share. A toast to the dead but not the forgotten.

Jim hopes they will move past it one day. The deep scar that Nero left upon the fabric of their galaxy. So many lost. They still didn't even have an accurate count. It's almost unfathomable, and he witnessed it himself. He lets go a breath he didn't realize he was holding when he feels the shift of the transporter breaking his molecules apart, scattering, and then drawing him back together on the pad.

He looks, and Spock is beside him, Bones already starting to check him over with a bedside manner that grows on everyone like a kind of fungus that's relentless and impossibly grouchy. The fact that he had gotten Spock back to the ship, that his crew and family were safe and whole again, or would be soon was a hell of a relief.

He unbuttons the suit he'd worn at the cuffs, and reaches up to tug at the tie. He wants out of it as soon as possible, and to wash himself clean of all the events tied to it. To where Spock was, and what might have happened if they hadn't gotten to him as quickly as they did. ]

Edited 2016-09-01 18:34 (UTC)

retired open post // will still tag in if threads are ongoing!

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apologies for the lateness of this reply! ;;

never apologize