Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or Doom

Chapter One

Leonard 'Bones' McCoy stood on the transporter pad, alongside Spock and a small security team as they waited for the Captain, who was currently speaking to Scotty at the transporter control panel. Growling slightly, Leonard glanced at Spock and the security team, he hated using the transporter it reminded him to much of the Ark.

And the Ark was linked to some memories Leonard would rather not like to be reminded of every other day… What happened at Olduvai was something he hoped would never be repeated.

John 'Reaper' Grimm, as he had once been known as a long time ago, had tried so hard to forget that life and the horrors that had gone with it. He covered his tracks the best he could. Kept the truth about his DNA a secret.

As much as the world had changed since that fatefully mission, he knew the moment Starfleet or any other organisation found out about his altered DNA, he'd be their new lab rat or worse. His worst fear was someone who was willing to try and replicate C-24 would find out about him and replicate his DNA.

That wouldn't end well… Mars had proven that all those years ago. And it would only be a thousand times worse if it happened now, where the population of an average planet was a hundred thousand times higher than that of Mars.

It's be a massacre.

It'd be the being of the apocalypse that movie seemed so fond of telling stories about.

After all Marcus had been proof of the length some would go to ensure war. A war they would win and a war that would leave no survivors on the opposing side. Leonard had destroyed all records and samples he had of Khan's blood and he only wished he had more time to study it.

It was possible Khan had been genetically modified using C-24 or something similar.

Leonard snapped out of his musing as the Captain's laugh echoed around the transporter room and he watched as Jim slapped Scotty shoulder lightly before moving over to the transporter pad and standing beside him.

"Cheer up, Bones." Jim grins. "It'll be over before you know it."

Leonard rolls his eyes, not sure whether his best friend was talking about the transporter or the mission they were about to embark on.

It was common knowledge that Leonard hadn't wanted anything to do with this mission. He was more than content to stay on the ship and prepare for the endless possibilities of how the mission could and would go wrong.

It was a simple mission really, a man by the name of John Gill, a cultural observer, had many years ago travelled to a planet called Ekos, in the M-43 Alpha system. All the Enterprise had to do was find him and return him to the closest star base. From there he would be sent back to Earth as soon as was humanly possible.

The planet had been primitive and warlike when it had first been discovered. But when a federation vessel that had been sent to pick up John from the planet a few months ago, had been shot at with a rocket with a thermonuclear warhead, Starfleet had concluded that John Gill had intervened with the natural development of the native culture and people… Not that Starfleet had wanted to believe it at first.

It was a technology far too advanced for the planets inhabitants to have developed it by themselves, so the only logical conclusion was John had interfered with the natural development of the culture. John Gill had taught at Starfleet academy for many years and all who were taught by him were left in awe.

He was well known and well respected. He was a living legend among those who served in Starfleet and many looked up to him as a role model. He knew Starfleet's regulations like the back of his hand, yet he broke the Prime Directive.

Leonard also knew for a fact Jim respected the man. Jim had been over the moon when he found out John Gill would be teaching one of his classes in the first year, a class Jim had aced just like all his other classes. Leonard couldn't help but wonder what Jim would do if they had to return John to the ship by force.

It was hard to see someone you idolised, turn into something you could never have dreamed of… Even in the pits of hell.

"Energise." Jim commands.

)o(

The moment they materialised on the planets surface, Leonard knew something was wrong. The hair on the back on his neck stood on end and he could almost feel the gaze of something watching them, like it was burning into him.

"Phasers on standby." Jim orders, having gotten the same feeling as Leonard had.

The area around them seemed completely empty and bare.

They were surrounded by rocky hills and piles of rubble. Scattered among the hillsides were what appeared to be tunnel entrances, framed by wooden posts. Glancing at the ground around them, Leonard frowned at the twin metal tracks that twisted their way through the rocky landscape.

It reminded him of an old Earth mining district, used in the age of steam trains and house drawn carts, which he had learnt about in school as a boy. And thanks to the fact both his parents were archaeologists and had made sure he knew almost everything about the Earth's past.

"According to our present location," Spock speaks up, pulling out his tricorder. "The village Mr. Gill was sent to observe is two miles east of here."

Jim snorts. "I think it's fair to say it's not going to be there, Spock. After all we should be in the middle of forest right now, not a nineteenth century styled mining district!"

For a moment Leonard was surprised that Jim knew what century style the mining district came from, but then he remembered Jim was a genius, which he had proved countless times at the academy and on almost every mission they had since.

Catching a flash of reflected light out the corner of his eye, Leonard turns and stares at one of the hills.

"Get down!" Jim yells from behind him.

Before Leonard has a chance to even blink, he is knocked to ground by Jim, who's yelling something in his ear. But Leonard doesn't hear him, he's too fixated on the cut on Jim's hand which has just healed itself in a matter of seconds.

"BONES!" Jim yells in his ears, bringing Leonard back to reality and the sounds of gun fire and bullets ricocheting off the ground around them.

"What?" Leonard answers unintelligently, still trying to come to terms with what he'd just seen.

"Are you hurt?" Jim questions.

Leonard only just held back a snort. It had been a long time since he had truly felt pain. His body healed itself so fast, often the pain didn't even have time to register before it was gone… His body healed just as fast as he'd seen Jim's hand heal only moments before.

"Your hand-" Leonard begins to speak.

"Not now, Bones," Jim answers. "Whatever injuries I have, you can treat later, but we need to find cover now. We've already lost two people! If we stay here we're going to lose even more."

Jim quickly gets to his feet and crouches down in one swift movement, scanning the area around them as he does so. Moving just as quickly, Leonard crouches down beside Jim and looks round too. Spock and the rest of the security team that weren't dead, were hiding behind a pile of large rocks and boulders. Even from where he was sheltering beside Jim, Leonard could tell most of them had injuries, he could smell their blood.

He and Jim were currently protected by a small ridge, but it wouldn't offer them shelter for long. Whoever or whatever were shooting at them, were moving and getting closer and closer by the second.

"Cover?!" Leonard exclaims. "Where the hell are we going to find cover here?! We're in the middle of a god damn quarry!"

"You think I don't know that Bones?!" Jim demands, still scanning the area. "We're sitting ducks! If we don't move, if we don't try and get away from here, we're all going to die!"

"Where can we go, Jim?" Leonard snaps back. "The moment we move, we're going to give away our positions."

"What, so we should just sit here and wait for them to get even closer-" Jim stops speaking as he ducks down out the way of a ricocheting bullet. "If they get any closer, the little cover we currently have is going to be useless!"

Before Leonard has a chance to reply, Spock's yell stops him.

"Captain," Spock yells across from where he and a security officer are hiding. "I have managed to bypass some of the interference disrupting the communicators. An emergency signal has been sent to the ship."

"Very good, Mr. Spock," Jim yells back, a smile gracing his face briefly. "Prepare to be beamed up."

"Yes sir." The voices of those still alive answer.

But it doesn't take long for Jim and Leonard to work out something is wrong.

As the rest of the team beam up, all the can do is watch. Jim pulls his communicator from his pocket and stares at the bullet lodged in the middle of it. Glancing down, Leonard sees his own communicator broken on the ground, where it must have fallen when Jim pushed him to the ground and out of the way of the bullets.

"You have got to be kidding me." Leonard hears Jim curse, before his world goes black.

)o(

Leonard groans as he forces his eyes open, glancing down at his side he sees a bullet hole and dried blood staining his medical Starfleet issue top. He doesn't even bother to see if there's an injury, because he knows there wasn't going to be one. Shifting Leonard pulls at the chains securing his wrists behind his back, but they won't break.

"It's no use," Jim voice sounds from somewhere on his left. "I've already tried breaking them. The chains are reinforced."

Leonard glances round and stares at Jim for a moment in shock, before anger quickly takes its place. Jim sat with his head resting back against the wall behind him. His golden shirt was covered in blood. From where Leonard was sitting he couldn't see any of Jim's injuries, but he swore he'd kill whoever did this to his best friend. The only person who Leonard had ever truly let get close to him after what had happened all those years ago on Mars and the death of his twin sister a handful of years later.

"Don't worry," Jim carries on speaking as he moves his head and looks at Leonard. "I'm not hurt… Well not anymore."

"What do you mean?" Leonard demands, trying to see Jim's head to see if he'd suffered a head injury, which could be causing his delusions.

"I know you saw it." Jim answers. "When I pushed you out of the way of that bullet. You saw my hand heal."

Leonard thinks for a moment then it all comes rushing back. Jim pushing him to the ground. Jim's hand healing just as fast as his own C-24 enhanced body heals.

"I've been lying to you Bones… I've been lying to everyone for a long time." Jim mutters, before Leonard had a chance to answer. "But you have to understand, I didn't have much of a choice… If anyone ever found out. Well… It happened once before and the results were catastrophic."

"What are you talking about, Jim?" Leonard asks, trying to push down a sense of hope which was quickly filling him. Could it be possible? Could Jim be like him?

Jim laughs slightly but there was no humour in it. "You're going to think I'm mad when I tell you this… I've been meaning to tell you ever since Khan, but I never found the right moment."

Jim pauses for a second and takes a deep breath, Leonard watches him closely whilst waiting for him to continue.

)o(

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm aiming to update this chapter once a week, so until next time,

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.