Holy cannolli people! I'm so scared to put this out there it's ridiculous. I'm really proud of this piece but I'm very worried about how you, the readers, are going to take to this one. I've never written something so serious in fanfiction before and it's got me a little scared. So review and let me know how you liked it and how I did because I'm dying to know. Ooo pun!

WARNING: If you have any strict beliefs about death or if you have any restrictions about the theories of death and how it comes to you, I recommend that you don't read this because I convey death in a very spiritual, non religious way that may offend you if you are from a religion that opposes of these theories. Thanks!

TIP: Find your darkest soundtrack on your itunes/Windows music player/whatever you have and play it now. I used Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen (because I'm the biggest movie score nerd you'll ever find) and it made me write this dark bundle of joy here so you'll get right in the mood. LOTR, POTC, ST:XI, anything with some evil undertones!

TIP II: When reading the italisized dialogue of my cloaked friend down at the end of this, imagine the voice of (the revamped) Optimus Prime or Gandalf. Their voices are what I imagined in my head when I wrote this.

Enjoy friends! Let me know how you like it!

This is it he thought, glancing towards the horizon. This is the end, the end of everything I've ever known.

He took a step forward and let the tendrils of death embrace him.

This is the end.

ð

Earlier...

Time twisted inevitably under the hull of the starship Enterprise. Space, time, there was no difference anymore as they shot through the stars at a speed once unheard of to mankind. Warp six made the Enterprise the fastest ship in the fleet and one of the only ships left; Terrans and other beings alike were working triple time on constructing more starships to make up for the ones they lost in the annihilation caused by the psychotic Romulan Nero and the genocide of the Vulcan race. There were no portions left of the ruined ships; all of the evidence had been destroyed in the implosion of the alien planet Vulcan. Starfleet was left with nothing to work with, nothing to recycle, no scraps to build from and this left them very susceptible at the moment. A destroyed planet and a lack of firepower meant a maimed Federation and there were many out there who were rejoicing from the news. Humans, Andorians, Tellarites and other Federation species and planets were worried sick that they or their homes would be next.

A captain cannot escape death; he knew that only too well. Every day of his life someone reminded him about his father and how he had sacrificed himself in order to save his crew. A captain for twelve and a half minutes...it wasn't a very impressive career move Jim Kirk concluded, having lived without his heroic father all his life. He would have rather'd that he had never have been a hero in the first place and had just been a father instead.

As a child, Jim had developed a healthy dose of fear towards death and all his friends; illness, war, destruction, zombies...hey, it could happen. So he rebelled against them anyway he could. They were the authority to him, and like any other authoritative beings out there, Jim despised them with every fibre of his being; so he pushed them to their limits and pushed himself to his limits just to see how far he could go. He had cheated death, he had cheated a deathly illness, and he had cheated his mother's internal destruction...but he paid the price. He always had to pay the price.

Broken bones, broken hearts, they never left his side even as a captain. He thought about them and rubbed his temples fiercely, not wanting to acknowledge the demons of his past on his way to such an important mission. Andoria was under attack again and due to the Federation's lack of in-flight support, there had been no one near by the help them. Jim felt like ramming his head against a wall, knowing very well it wouldn't help him at all but at least the pain would remind him that he could still feel.

Death.

He wanted to feel the wind blowing through his blonde tresses as he threw himself out of a speeding vehicle, landing on the ground only to have inertia fly him over the edge. He had never hung on so tightly in his life.

Death's right hand man, Illness.

He remembered the feeling of his life being sucked out of him until he was nearly empty. No more life came in to take its place, just agony and suffering. His mother cried shamelessly above his nearly lifeless body and his step father looked onwards, unable to watch the light fade from Jim's sapphire eyes. But Jim? He had never felt so alive.

Death's faithful reaper, War.

It had been one sided really, but the anti-matter that had destroyed Vulcan had been just as lethal as the atom bomb had been to the human race. So much destruction, so much suffering...Jim wished that he could have been at their sides, fighting the hopeless battle along with them. Jim had watched the planet's implosion along with everybody else and he had wondered to himself about what would have happened to him if he had actually been on that planet. Would he have cheated death again? Could he have cheated death again? He imagined that Death wasn't too pleased with him for evading him for so long.

He gazed through the bridge screen in front of him and out into the stars as they zoomed past, feeling more freedom and constriction than he had ever felt before. He wished he could be out there with the stars, floating around in the liberation that space could bestow upon him and find his father somewhere within those stars. His mother had once told him that his father was a star somewhere in the universe, watching over them and making sure that they kept safe. That was the beginning of Jim's gluttony for life threatening episodes, each of them increasing in danger, one after another. Some of them only gave him scars; others gave him nightmares that he would never cease to dream. He would wake up screaming or sweating and panting as if he had just run a two hundred kilometre marathon and he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again. He could escape death, just like sleep could escape him and despite the fairness of the situation, Jim couldn't help but despise it.

They were dropping out of warp behind one of Andoria's moons so as to not be seen by the enemy. From there, they would assess the amount of enemy ships and fire at will. Then, they would beam down to the planet's surface and fight along with their blue skinned allies and hope for the best. The amount of casualties was already high on the alien planet and Jim didn't want anyone else to die under his command. There had already been too many lost, now watching down among the stars.

Words escaped his lips and the fight began, blowing up one ship after another; the Romulans didn't know what hit them. Their shields had been dampened due to the concentration of power directed towards the weapons they were firing on the planet; there were six gigantic ships and the Enterprise had managed to completely destroy two before the Romulans caught onto their location. They started their onslaught on the Enterprise, four against one, and it was up to her navigator and helmsman to put her through every evasive manoeuvre they could think of to keep her out of trouble. Jim was on his feet now, yelling out orders and helping everywhere he could whether it was helping remodulate weapons or just prowling around looking over everyone's shoulder. Shields were down by forty percent by the time they managed to obliterate the third ship and they were upside-down when they blew the warp core off of the fourth. Maimed beyond saving, the Romulan ship sunk downwards into oblivion without a hope or prayer of ever returning to its homeworld; the Romulan Empire didn't care for its losses, only its victories.

The Enterprise's shields finally failed and a hole was blown into the side of the hull, somewhere near administration. A good twenty people were sucked out into the endless vacuum of space, destined to become stars like their crew members before them and Jim couldn't help but want to run after them and save every one, offering himself in their places. But there was no hope for them; they were long dead now, just like his father.

In order to save the remainder of his crew, he ordered that the rest of their power be sent to shields so that they could at least deflect the oncoming onslaught. Relying on thrusters only, the Enterprise whipped itself around another one of Andoria's moons and prepared itself for a surprise attack in which it would fly over top of the moon, assaulting the two enemy ships from above. Powering up weapons again and letting their weakening shields wane considerably, the ship was thrust over the planet and it attacked the only ship in view. Much like the last ship, it was mutilated beyond any mending and it sunk like a graceful swan plunging downwards to feed. It was inspiring to watch Death take their ship so elegantly, like a poised ballerina hand picking the stem of a crimson red rose; she did not flinch when she pierced herself on the rose's thorn but instead indulged in the pain as her matching crimson blood ran down the side of her hand and onto the ground below her. It was tragic and beautiful, graceful and horrible, and all Jim wanted to do was to join them in that fate and meet the cloaked deity he had eluded for so long.

The other ship came up behind them and blasted a photon torpedo at the Enterprise's warp core, sending them rocketing sideways from the unbalanced weight distribution. Jim barely managed to grasp onto his chair in time before the bridge crew was careened sideways and smashed against a wall, hurting a lot of the men and woman he was trying so desperately to save. Observing that his navigator had taken a critical injury to his torso after being launched across the room, the captain rushed to the young Russian's station and parked himself there, hoping that his minimal training in deep space routing might help him out at least a little bit. He could never be as good as Chekov but neither he nor anyone else on this ship had a choice right now and it only made the tightly wound knot in Jim's stomach coil itself even tighter.

Helping his helmsman work the thrusters, they managed to level out the disfigured ship but found the Romulan warship nowhere to be found. Jim gulped audibly, feeling that familiar feeling of someone stepping over his grave. Not right now Death, I have a crew to save.

He ordered Sulu to sink the ship as fast as he could, indulging on a sneaking suspicion that the Romulan vessel was regrouping and preparing to strike behind them. He was right of course as the phaser cannons meant for them skimmed right over top of the hull and slammed into the adjacent Andorian moon, causing a rockslide of sorts on the small planet's surface. Kirk positioned the thrusters so that the hull pointed upwards as they fell and he ordered the weapons lieutenant to fire every phaser they had.

The ship erupted into a brilliant fireworks display of copper and scarlet, filling the screen in front of them with a powerful array that left Jim breathless as he took it all in. The beauty of death was stunning and overwhelming all at the same time, leaving Jim with no words at all as he witnessed the burning of hundreds of desecrated bodies before him. Such an honourable death, he thought to himself as he gazed at the shrinking explosion beside the barren moon. The crew celebrated with a few hoots and hollers but their joy was short-lived; before long reinforcements would come and the Enterprise would have to send a team of soldiers to help win the fight below them. A hundred of them would go at least, leaving the Enterprise short staffed if anymore Romulan ships came to avenge their deceased.

On his way over to help his fallen crewmembers, Jim clapped Sulu on the back and told him to suit up; he was to lead the Enterprise's troop of soldiers to the capital of Andoria and fight what would be considered as a suicide mission. Captain Kirk knew better though; his men and women were capable of things no one could have ever imagined from them and he put every ounce of faith into them, knowing that they would succeed no matter what.

After helping many of his men and women into sickbay's reliable hands, he walked over to his First Officer and informed him that the bridge was his. After being responded to with a raised eyebrow, Jim explained that he would be going down with Sulu and the rest of his soldiers to fight the good fight alongside of their allies. Spock notified him that his decision to walk straight into a nearly hopeless conflict was tremendously illogical but Jim paid him no heed. Spock was captain of the Enterprise now and with that Jim stalked off the bridge to meet with his crew.

His hundred men were armed and armoured in cargo bay two, waiting for the command. Sulu stood at the peak of them, debriefing them on the target, range and strategy of the struggle they were about to thrust themselves into. Jim glanced at each of their faces as he walked in, trying to memorize each and every one of them. He knew that some of these faces would never return to Earth and they would end up in the skies like omnipotent sentinels, watching over their ship. This thought empowered him as he stripped off his shirt and allowed two men to help him into his armoured chest and back plate. The Romulan weapons were much more dangerous than the ones given to the Federation so Jim had asked the science and engineering departments to work on a way to develop a much more lethal program to integrate into the phaser's basic systems. The technological overhaul had in turn been a success; the phasers were increasingly treacherous to those in front of its merciless barrel now.

His preparation had seemed to almost happen in slow motion; there was nothing but the sounds of Sulu's pep talk to fill the anxious silence. These men were off to war and they were all feeling the same kind of dread seep into their bloodstream and into their brain. There was no turning back now; it was up to them to come to their ally's aid, just as they would come to theirs.

"Lift your chin friends. You're soldiers now and let's not have our efforts be in vain. Raise your spirits and don't let the Romulans scare you. We've come too far to let our fear control us. No sacrifice, no victory men. Remember that," Jim stepped up beside Sulu and addressed every single individual in the room, pausing to look into each of their eyes for a moment before continuing onto the next. He felt a mixture of pride and unease swell inside of him as he said these words but didn't betray these emotions on the outside. Instead he looked as he always did, a handsome, cocky, all-American boy who had managed to become the youngest captain in all the history of Starfleet. Each soldier looked up to him and felt their own hearts swell for him, for the hope he was giving them in this bleak situation they were about to find themselves in. Jim saluted his men and graced them with the gentlest smile he had ever given, "Come soldiers, let's fight."

Scotty transported the lot of them into an abandoned building just outside of the Andorian capital's boundaries. The crackle of the all consuming fire and the cries of woman and children screaming were eerie and foreign to Jim's human ears. Sulu shivered as well, glancing sidelong at the grim faced captain with eyes that pled for survival. Jim's eyes pled for death.

Troop Alpha took the flanks and Troop Beta took the rear, leaving Troop Delta in the middle of the diamond shaped formation being lead by Jim and Sulu. The helmsman carried a phaser in one hand and his unsheathed sword in his other, his eyes peeled for any unwelcome visitors. The acrid smell of burning flesh and buildings hung in the air like a fog and Jim tried his best to ignore its putrid scent like the rest of his soldiers. He could hear many of them coughing behind him and he turned to look over his shoulder, giving them all a reassuring nod in hopes that it would help lighten their darkened spirits.

Team Alpha was the first to be attacked and phaser fire began to rain down on their right side like a torrential storm. Sulu ordered them to flatten and many of them managed to evade the ambush with only a few casualties left crumpled and smoking on no man's land. They retaliated only moments after with their newly designed weapons and were pleasantly surprised when the oncoming wall of Romulan's began to fall like dead flies to the ground. Sulu ordered them to keep moving as they kept shooting and soon they were out of the Romulan's range all together. They gathered inside a deserted and barely standing building before they were to split up into their three assigned troops. Alpha would take the right flank, Beta would take the left and Delta would surge right through the middle until all three of them converged at the epicentre of the war to drive the Romulans back and hopefully away from the planet. It was up to Sulu and Jim to steal into the main building and find the rest of the living Ambassadors and leaders and beam them up to the Enterprise. Then, Jim would follow up with the leaders and leave Sulu to return to the battle at hand. Or at least, that was the plan.

Sulu gave his orders and the soldiers moved out, barely making a sound as they slunk through the obscurity of night to finish what they started. Within thirty seconds, there were only two men left standing in the abandoned building and Jim took a deep breath, readying himself for whatever would happen next. He met eyes with Sulu who gave him a quick reassuring nod and Jim tried to smile back, gripping his phaser tightly in his hands. This is it, he thought.

This is the beginning of the end.

Transferring all his weight to his one foot, he darted off like a shot in the night along side of his helmsman, dodging fire left and right and trying their best to retaliate while running. The closer they got to the large Andorian government building, the harder it became to avoid the hostile aliens and their ruthless weapons. Sulu and Jim found themselves squatting behind a piece of broken rock, waiting for the right moment to reveal themselves and kill the group of approximately fifty Romulans that were facing the other way.

"I'll cover you," Jim told his helmsman silently reaching over to gently grasp his shoulder. The pilot nodded his head and ducked out from behind the rocks shooting the unsuspecting Romulans and running to another cluster of rocks about ten feet away. He managed to get there unscathed and began to shoot over top of the rock pile in an attempt to kill the rest of them. Jim started firing at them too but had to duck just as a phaser shot skimmed the top of his head and burned his scalp awkwardly. He grasped his bleeding wound and tried to stem the bleeding with his sleeve, pressing down on the top of his head furiously. Then, biting back the pain, he climbed back up and joined Sulu again in their conquest against the antagonistic aliens.

Finally, the last of them were downed and Sulu and Jim clambered up from their positions and bolted towards the pile of dead and dying bodies, picking up their weapons along the way. Jim strapped two large photon phasers over his body and tucked a dagger into his boot and another into his belt. Satisfied, the two ran off, flitting from cover to cover until they reached the grand building. A large group of Romulans were crowded around it, trying to smash down the thick metal door with all of their firepower. Luckily, they seemed to be getting nowhere, unbeknownst to them, and Sulu motioned with his fingers that they would have to climb up the adjacent building in order to reach the hidden balcony their deliverance team had told them about before their departure. They began to scale the disintegrating building beside them, Sulu on top and Jim taking up the rear. Jim had to catch Sulu twice when the swordsman accidentally grabbed onto crumbling rock or lost his precious footing, giving Jim quite a few bruises on his face and shoulders and though the climb was quite treacherous, they managed to ascend the building without falling into the arms of the angry Romulans below.

"Ready?" Jim asked, assessing his footing as he prepared to jump the gap between the building he was perched on and the balcony of the Ambassadors building. Sulu nodded and took a run at it, leaping into the air like a gazelle in flight and he landed in a graceful roll on the other side, hopping to his feet in a split second after. He beckoned for Jim to follow him and he readied himself, knowing he was not nearly as graceful when it came to jumping as the swordsman on the other side. Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps back and jolted forward, giving everything he had as he threw himself over the edge, swinging his arms for momentum so he could fly through the air like a bird. The sensation of just soaring in the air was freeing and the wind that rushed through his blonde tresses revitalized him in a way that he hadn't felt since he was a child. The feeling was lost though when he landed on his feet and rolled onto his shoulder, feeling a pang of agony shoot up like a spring through his legs. He barely managed to stifle a howl as he continued rolling towards Sulu, biting his bottom lip until he could taste the metallic tang of iron on his tongue. He spat it out quickly and got to his feet, following Sulu who was already on his way inside the building and looking for a way in. Sulu managed to open the balcony door as quietly as he could and they both stalked in, closing the door and blocking out the sounds of the war behind them. It was unnaturally silent as they prowled the corridors, trying to find the main office where the leaders had barricaded themselves. Jim grabbed his datapad from his belt and tapped a few things on it so that the screen revealed the blueprints of the building. Jim examined it for a moment and then signalled to Sulu to follow him down the left passage instead of the one he was heading down already. The elegant cerise carpet did well to muffle their footsteps as they stole further down the corridors until Jim believed he had found the right door. It was made of furnished ebony metal that shone in the dim light filtering through the broken stained glass windows, giving it an ethereal glow that stunned Jim to silence. The gold veins and detailing that snaked through the metal caught the light and projected miniscule glitter on him and his surroundings; Jim looked down at his hand and moved it slowly, watching as the golden sparkles danced along his skin like waiflike faeries in the summer skies. Slowly, but carefully, Jim gently pushed the great door open and alerted his visitors of their presence.

"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation starship Enterprise and this is my helmsman Lieutenant Sulu. We're here to take you back to our ship and bring you to safety," Jim announced, stepping into the majestic office. He spotted the Ambassadors and Andoria's leaders' huddled behind scattered couches and desks, holding their phasers towards Jim and Sulu ineffectually. They all breathed out in unison at the mention of the Federation and they all got to their feet, muttering in their various languages in relief. There were all sorts of different federation races there; Andorians, Tellarites and Denobulans alike, all basking in the relief that they would be saved. The fact that they weren't out there fighting with their people like he was put a bad taste in Jim's mouth and for a second he considered just leaving them there for the Romulans to find. But he didn't, and knowing that he didn't have a choice, he called up the Enterprise and was forwarded to the transportation room for immediate rescue.

"Beam them up Scotty," Jim said quietly, giving the Ambassadors and Leaders a quick nod before watching them disappear into microscopic particles of light. He heaved a sigh and glanced up at Sulu who was staring intently at the open metal door, his frame tense and alert. He motioned with his hand for Jim to get down and Jim did as he was asked, taking refuge behind a couch and kneeling precariously outwards so he could see what was happening. Sulu skulked over to the doorway and wielded his sword in front of him, dipping his head towards Jim and giving his the grimmest smile he had ever seen in his life. Jim smiled back as best he could and waited impatiently for whatever Sulu had heard to come through the doorway. He didn't have to wait long.

Suddenly, at least twenty Romulans poured into the magnificent room, hell bent on blowing up everything in sight. Jim ducked behind the couch again and whipped the photon phaser off his shoulder, propping it over the couch. He began to fire it just left of the doorway so he wouldn't hit Sulu who was still perched behind the door, waiting for the opportune moment to slice many of their heads off in succession. Jim peaked his head over top of the couch just in time to see Sulu spring from his hiding place and decapitate three Romulans in one swipe and stab through another two cleanly with his sword like butter. Gathering up his courage, Jim burst from the couch and started firing in succession like a twentieth century mob boss, ducking and launching himself from place to place to keep himself from getting hit. One shot glanced off his shoulder and he nearly blacked out from the pain coming from the angry, ripped flesh. He could feel his warm red blood trickling down his front through his shirt and he did everything he could to keep himself from nursing it; the attack was getting heavier and more Romulans kept flooding into the room, smelling the scent of his sweet human blood. Sulu was being backed into a corner and Jim yelled over to the greatly outnumbered helmsman, screaming for his consent to be beamed up to Enterprise and then transported somewhere else. He managed to shout back a yes between blows and barely managed to avoid a sword that nearly plunged into his stomach by sidestepping himself into another Romulan. Despite his throbbing shoulder, he lifted his arm to hit his communicator and shrieked his orders to the men in the transportation room and they quickly complied, cutting the connection as they prepared to beam them aboard.

Before he could recover from his brief distraction, a phaser hit him in the outer thigh and he cried out, dropping to his knees. Taking advantage of his sudden weakness, the Romulans surged on him, leaving Jim no choice but to start firing at will. The first line of Romulans that started at him fell like flies but more jumped in their places, slicing and swiping at him until he was a bleeding, cut up mess. Crying out, he kicked the closer of the two away from him and started punching out every face, torso and kidney he found within reach with his photon phaser or his fists, ignoring the fact that they were nearly three times stronger than him. The adrenaline that pumped through his veins was giving him a strength he had never experienced before in all his life and he relished in it, giving every lurch, kick and thrust every ounce of effort he could find within himself. He could feel his molecules begin to part as the Romulans fully surrounded him and he looked up just in time to watch the ebony door smash into a billion pieces all around him from a photon blast. The metal shards rained down upon him and the unfriendly aliens around him, shooting slivers of the beautiful rock deep within his flesh. He screamed out and in this short moment of distraction, he looked down and saw that a blade had plunged right through his chest and was poking out the other side. Wrenching as the blade was jerked out of him, he fell to the floor and was whisked away into oblivion.

ð

Infinite white blinded him and he blinked quickly in succession, trying to figure out how he ended up in this place instead of in the transporter room. His bare feet were resting upon warm sand; they appeared clean and supple, unlike the feet he had slammed into his boots that morning. He was dressed in soft white linen trousers that caressed his clean skin like a cozy blanket on a cold winter day. His hands were clean and callous free and as soft as a woman's touch when he went up to brush his cheek. There was no stubble there, just smooth, spotless skin that indicated that he had never been in a war at all. There were no scars on his arms or hands and his blonde hairs seemed to glitter in the soft sunlight that was shining down upon him, casting a glow that reminded him of the stunning black and gold door he had been in front of only minutes earlier. He looked up and saw that he was surrounded by sand as far as the eye could see. Far behind him, in the distance, he could see a mountain range splayed across the horizon, nearly touching the bright sun that was slowly sinking behind them. Slowly, he took a step forward towards the mountains and set into an even pace, not feeling any pain or agony and he walked along. It was almost refreshing to walk on the sand barefoot without a care in the world or a pain in his body; he wasn't thirsty which was surprising and he wasn't hungry in the slightest. He hadn't even broken a sweat in the warmth as he sauntered on the pleasantly heated sand.

He noticed that he was climbing the gentle slope of a sand dune and he quickened his pace in order to see what was on the other side. He was anticipating more sand but to his surprise he saw a giant valley before him. In the middle of the huge vale he saw something brown against the golden sand and he started towards it, curious to see what the blurry blotch might be. He slid down the steep overhang of sand and found strangely enough that none of the sand clung onto him or his clothes. Somewhat puzzled, he reached down and grabbed a handful of sand and threw it up into the air. He was startled when it continued to hang in the air like a small golden cloud moving slowly with the air currents. In a gust of wind the little cloud blew away, leading towards the middle of the valley. Inspired, Jim jogged after the puff of sand and was astonished when he didn't even run out of breath. He increased his running speed and soon he was sprinting as fast as he could after the airborne sand, laughing and leaping and whooping as he went along, exclaiming that he could go on like this forever.

Realizing that he was nearing the brown blob, he slowed down to a leisurely trot and he squinted his eyes in an attempt to see the blurry object. To his surprise, he realized that it was a regular park bench, made of coffee coloured wood. As he neared the bench he noticed that there was a datapad integrated into the armrest of the seat and he scurried over to look. Astoundingly enough, it was a transport schedule; Jim examined the timetable and sat down simultaneously to take a closer look at the undersized text. The datapad read that there were only three transports scheduled to come today, one at 0900 hours, one at 1600 hours and one at 2300 hours. Jim looked up at the blinking clock in the top right hand corner and was stunned to see that the next transport would be arriving in only four minutes. Nerves grinded in the pit of his stomach and he shifted from side to side, wondering what kind of transport would be coming and where it would be whisking him off to. It was a little unsettling to say the least for Jim as he sat there, kicking the sand up with his feet. He consumed himself for the next two minutes by watching the sand fly up into little clouds and float away serenely, as if they didn't have a care in the world. He kept checking the datapad for the time and noticed that it was going incredibly slow; he was impatient all the time and this situation was no different. 2258, 2259...he was itching for the transport to come and whisk him away to another place, maybe a place with a more comfortable bench. He was getting a little antsy being all by himself with nothing to do except sit and wait; his mind was whirling with the possibilities of what would happen next. Where was he going? What was he doing here? Why wasn't he on the Enterprise? Was Sulu okay? Did they make it out of the Andorian office alright? If they did, then why was he here? And with a whirl of sand, James Tiberius Kirk got his answer.

"Finally Jim, it's about time I finally met you."

Jim spun around and jumped to his feet, his eye wide with surprise and shock. Before him stood three figures in stark contrast to their surroundings; only one was facing him and the two others were politely turned away, gazing onwards as if there was something much more interesting going on out there. In the middle, a figure clad in black Egyptian cotton stood sentinel, its arms hanging at his sides. Jim could not see its face as it was covered in a gaping hood but he could feel its piercing eyes staring at him from the darkness. To his right, a man stood profile to Jim, his skin oddly blotchy and purple. He was wearing a pine green chemise and a pair of dark brown slacks, revealing his swollen and mottled bare feet beneath. His hair was a chestnut brown and thinning and his eyes were bloodshot and as dark as night. Finally, Jim's eyes were drawn to the figure kneeling at the cloaked figure's left foot. His skin was jet black and shimmering in the softly setting sunlight, causing a pleasant aura to appear around him. He was dressed in a tattered black tank top and a pair of cotton shorts and appeared to be more of a child then an adult compared to the blotchy standing man. The boy had been looking down but now looked up and made eye contact with the staggered captain and he noticed that the young boy was not all that he seemed to be. There was a technological sort of boomerang shaped device hugging his left eye and temple and there appeared to be more metallic components running down his neck, onto his shoulder and spread out onto his arm until they tapered off near his hand. The young boy appeared more frightened then anything and so Jim squatted down so that he was the same height as him.

"Are you alright?" Jim asked the boy, offering his hand, "My name is Jim. What's yours?"

The young boy looked startled now and he glanced up at the masked figure with a facial expression that was clearly asking for permission. Jim caught onto this and quickly realized he was the head of the team here. The covered figure gave the boy a reassuring nod and he turned back to him and made eye contact again.

"My name is..." he trailed off here, seeming to be at odds with himself, "I...I am War."

"War? Well that's a very original name!" Jim replied, seeing the conflict in the young boy's eyes. Stupid authority, he thought to himself, shaking his head.

"Well my name's not really War, its-"

"Enough."

The cloaked figure silenced the young boy immediately and Jim got to his feet again, looking him right into the eyes he couldn't see, "The kid wanted to speak. The least you could have done was let him finish his sentence." Jim countered haughtily, taking a step closer to the cloaked figure. There was a beat before the shrouded figure began to laugh heartily, causing both the blotchy man beside him and the young boy to look at him as if he had three (albeit cloaked) heads.

"You are just like your father Jim. Always sticking up for the ones who don't need to be stuck up for."

Jim's facial expression changed from one of anger to one of complete surprise, "You know my father?"

"Yes, he and I have met on a few occasions. Sometimes I pass him on my way to the transports and we stop to chat for a while. He's very proud of you Jim. He always knew that one day you would grow up to follow in his footsteps."

"Really?" It sounded like a stupid thing to say once the word passed through his lips but he was too in awe to be bothered with it. My father? He's met my father?

"Yes son. And its time you join him too. He's dying to see you-" The blemished man beside him began to chuckle and even the little boy cracked a small smile, "Excuse the pun there Jim. I can't help but make fun of myself sometimes."

"So it really is you then," Jim asked, heaving a deep breath; he had finally met his end after all.

"Yes Jim. I am Death," he beckoned him forward, raising his arm and revealing an empty sleeve. Jim tried not to think about what was actually holding that sleeve up, "This is my right hand man per se, Illness," the blotchy purple man turned his way, motioned his head towards him and then continued looking off into the distance; there was no work for him here, "And you have already been introduced to War. He has been quite busy in your quadrant as of late. There has been a lot of unrest going on since your encounter with that most unfortunate Romulan."

"I'd say," Jim replied simply, running his fingers through his blonde hair, "It's been nothing but chaos since Nero..." Jim trailed off for a moment, looking down to stare at his hands, "Did you...did you see...see everyone off?"

"Yes Jim. There were many casualties that day, more than I've had to ferry in a very long time. And they're all okay now, watching over your friends now just as you will be soon enough," Death answered, letting his outstretched arm fall back down to his side.

"Where will I go now?" Jim asked, looking back up at the masked man in front of him. Death cocked his head to the side and laughed terrifically, his dark cloak twinkling in the setting sunlight. Death was beginning to remind Jim more of a jolly grandfather then an evil deity made of bones.

"Anywhere you wish son. The land of the departed is you oyster and it's up to you to decide where you want to go. And I believe you've known where long before you came here."

"The stars..." Jim trailed off, looking up at the sky. They were beginning to shine through the iridescent atmosphere and Jim couldn't help but smile as they twinkled in the coming night.

"Yes Jim. Your father is up there, flying and dancing though the stars and has been watching over you for a long time. It is bittersweet for him to know that you'll be joining him up there in the stars as well." Jim ran a hand over his face and frowned as he thought about his father. He would finally get a chance to meet his father tonight. But after all those years of wishing he would just die in order to meet him, he was a little worried. What would he say to his father, his father who had given up his life to save him, when he asked why his son had been trying to meet Death for years just so he could join him? Jim felt a rush of uneasiness seep into his blood and he couldn't help but shiver; what would his father say when he asked if he had enjoyed every moment of his life to the fullest?

"Have you realized the errors of your ways Jim?" Death asked, placing a hand on Jim's trembling shoulder. It was surprisingly warm to the touch, despite the fact that there wasn't a hand present, "Your doctor has found a way that may revive you. Would you like to continue on into the land of the departed and be forced to tell your father that you've wasted away your life just to die? Or would you prefer to go back to the land of the living and live Jim, live like you've never lived before," Death took a step forward and bent down to face Jim and for a moment Jim thought he may have caught a glimpse of a bright green eye hidden away in the shroud of black. It twinkled delightfully in the sunset's dying rays before it disappeared again and Jim had a sneaking suspicion that Death was smiling, "It's not your time Jim. There is a future, a bright and abundant future waiting for you there. You will love someone with every fibre of your being and you'll make history if you choose to accept it. Life is the most precious gift anyone could ever give and your father gave that gift to you. He risked his life to save you so that you could live to do what he wasn't able to; be a captain of a starship," Death raised his head and stared over at the horizon, "You have until the sun sets to make your decision son. Your fate is in your hands."

He could live or he could die. There was no ultimatum. There was no bribery. There was no pressure. Live or die, that's all he had to decide upon. And the answer was obvious.

"I'll return." Jim said simply, smiling up at the cloaked man before him, "But I have one question."

"Speak freely my friend."

"How much pain am I going to be in when I return?"

Death laughed aloud at this and clasped Jim's hands in his own non-existent ones, "Oh Jim, you have no idea."

ð

"He's coming to sir!"

There was a pause and a whirl of buttons before the doctor finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god Jim, thank god."

Let me know how you liked this daker side of my writing. I'm dying to know! Hahaha! Pun!

Love and fluff, Brontë