Blood ran down the officer's face, streaming from wounds to his forehead and nose. The skin around his wrists and ankles was torn and bruised from the shackles that splayed him out on the hard metal table. His lip was split open and his right eye was swollen shut.

He hadn't given the aliens interrogating him what they wanted to hear, judging by the blows they gave him after he answered their questions. He was just an engineer, he didn't have the detailed Intel that they were looking for(not that he would have told them if he did). James T. Kirk took pride in his job of maintaining the Enterprise's functions and was excited when he got the opportunity to be on an away team, if only for consulting purposes. Then he got captured.

The infamous red shirt that he wore so proudly was nearly ripped to ribbons, now that the aliens were using whips on him. Dang, That hurt, he thought, grunting as another stroke fell across his ribs. He hoped the rescue team found him soon.

"Tell us what you are doing here!", hissed the wrinkly-skinned alien. "Why did the Federation send spies to us?"

"They didn't!", Kirk replied through gritted teeth, " they wanted to discuss the mutual benefits of joining with us...AHH!"

He screamed this time when the alien brought the whip down across his pecs, ripping through a very sensitive area. He saw stars and blinked moisture out of his eyes.

Jim tried to focus on the face he cared so deeply about in secret. Her beautiful brown skin and huge brown eyes were so alluring, not to mention her smile, and those legs...Ahem. He shouldn't be thinking about the captain like that, but he needed to focus on something besides the pain. Jim remembered watching her negotiate with aliens in their own language, impressed by her linguistics skills. He thought about the brilliance of her skills in combat situations, the times they had worked together to keep their battered ship from falling out of the sky, Her laughter when he told a stupid joke. Nyota Uhura was something else, all right. Jim knew she wouldn't rest until her crew were safe.

Another snarled question, another lash landed on Kirk's bleeding body. They were inching closer and closer to an area Jim REALLY didn't want to feel pain in. By the time the next stroke of the metal spiked device hit, ripping more skin open on his abdomen, he was almost delirious from pain, thus he thought he was dreaming when the aliens suddenly started falling around him. Phaser fire dropped the alien who was holding the whip.

"Secure!", came a voice (Spock, of course) and another voice (Sulu, he thought) said "Jim? Captain, over here!"

He heard the sound of boots running and a felt a hand on his neck.

"Jim? Oh, gosh. What in the world did they do to you? You look like bloody Swiss Cheese! Spock, Sulu, get these manacles off of him! Somebody warn Doctor McCoy to be ready for trauma. I've never seen anything like this before. Stay with us, Jim. So much blood!"

He heard a choked sound as she took in his myriad wounds and winced, realizing he probably looked as bad as he felt.

In seconds, Jim felt the manacles break and he sighed in relief.

"Hey", he breathed weakly, "I knew you'd come. My hero."

He blinked up at Uhura through his fog of agony, the sight of her like an oasis to a parched man. Her eyes filled with tears and she reached out to wipe the blood off his face.

"I'm sorry, Jim. The whole thing was a trap," his captain said remorsefully. "I should have seen it with how eager they were to talk to you in private."

"S'okay," he whispered, "so glad you're okay. I didn't tell them anything, by the way." She choked back a half laugh, half sob.

"Of course not. You're too stubborn."

"Well, it's also because I don't have the clearance for what they were asking me. But they wouldn't believe me. They punched me around a bit then they decided to go for the whips. Man, those things hurt. Ooh..."

He felt very dizzy suddenly. The room was going round and round...

He faintly heard the Captain's panicked voice yelling his name before he blacked out.

When he woke up, he was in sickbay and Bones was beside his bed, looking very harried.

"Jim, you sure know how to keep me busy. I just fixed countless lacerations, three cracked ribs, and a broken collarbone. Those blasted creatures really worked you over. You almost bled to death."

Jim gave him a weak grin. "I'm just glad they didn't go after somebody who could tell them what they wanted." He glanced at his torso, which was covered with bandages on his deep side wounds and two dermal regenerators, working their way over him.

"Will they heal okay? Wouldn't like seeing my sculpted chest all scarred up. Scare the ladies away."

The doctor rolled his eyes. "Trust you to be vain about it after nearly dying. All but three or four are healing fine. There were a few deep gouge like cuts that might scar, though. I had to stitch them the old fashioned way. But I wouldn't worry about scaring off the ladies. They sure didn't seem to bother the captain."

He winked and Jim flushed at the thought of Uhura being worried about him.

"How do you mean?" he asked cautiously. Bones smiled teasingly.

"She insisted on helping Chapel dress your wounds and she wouldn't leave your side until she had to go talk to Starfleet. I'd say she likes you, Jim."

Jim looked far away. "I'm in her crew, I would hope she didn't dislike me."

Though he tried to speak in a playful tone and deflect from the scrutiny, his quiet words caused the doctor to look at him more closely.

"Hmmm. Well, I'll be. Spock was right. You ARE in love."

"The traitor," muttered Jim, turning red. Who was Spock to give away his secrets? But probably Bones had asked him directly and everyone knows Vulcans can't lie.

A spasm of pain shot through him, bringing him back to reality. "Ugh, Bones, I feel like I'm one giant ball of fire."

He groaned as he tried to get comfortable. "You're probably ready for some more meds," said the doctor, heading to retrieve a hypo, "I've got a cream to put on those cuts also."

As Jim was starting to feel easier again, a familiar figure walked into Medbay.

"Hi, Doctor!", Uhura called cheerfully, "how's our patient?"

"Less irritating than usual", answered the doctor. "Probably because he's too sore to give me any lip."

She laughed and walked over to Jim's bed. "You look slightly less terrible than two hours ago, I guess," she said tilting her head as if studying him carefully.

"Thanks," said Jim dryly, "I think."

"Jim," Uhura said earnestly, "That was terrifying, seeing you like that. I thought you were going to bleed to death on us. Never scare me like that again."

She grabbed his hand and brought it to her lips. Jim would promise her anything she wanted, if she'd keep looking at him like that.

"I'll do my best, Oh angel-Captain in shining armor."

She blushed. She actually blushed. Instead of laughing it off or making excuses to leave, she grabbed Jim's hand tighter and just held it in silence. When she spoke again, it was in a completely serious tone.

"Jim, that was the nicest compliment you've ever paid me. I don't think I've been called an angel before."

"You are to me," Kirk said honestly. "A fierce, awesome, beautiful angel who kicks alien butt to save my sorry rear."

The glow in those blue eyes told her everything she needed to know.

"Oh, Jim," she sighed. "You precious man. What's a lady to do with such a charmer?"

"I dunno," Jim replied impishly. "Kiss it and make it better?"

When Bones came in with the cream a few minutes later, his eyes widened and he quickly backed out, leaving it on the tray. Uhura could apply it for Jim and things would be much less awkward. Who was he to interrupt love's happy dream?