Angels (Pavel Chekov)

107 - Not All Angels Have Wings

Vienna's in some sort of weird peace as the grip around her neck loosens. Pavel's screaming, she wonders why she can't feel any pain. Her body goes limp and she wonders how much adrenaline must be coursing through her veins. She thinks of her sister and her parents. She thinks of her friends. She thinks of her dog and the universe she'll never get to see. She hits the ground and she feels warm. She thinks of Pavel and the life they shared together.

Not All Angels Have Wings

It turns out that not all angels have wings.

Some have four legs and a tail.

Vienna realises that her body, suspended in shock, is still working. She tries to blink and her body co-operates. She looks to Damien and she realises that the screams have shifted from Pavel to Damien. There's something on his lower half and one word springs to the front of Vienna's mind.

Barkley.

Surely not.

Surely not Barkley.

Pavel scrambles and grabs something off the ground, pointing it at Damian

'No,' Vienna thinks. 'You're no murderer, Pasha. Not the boy I fell in love with.'

And she's right. The boy she fell in love with is no murderer. There's too much compassion in his heart to pull the trigger. He sets it to stun, fires two shots and drops the phaser. He falls to his knees and sobs, falling sideways and passing out. Vienna sits up. She looks to Pavel and then to her bag. Her limbs feel gelatinous but she makes it to her PADD with enough strength to send an SOS to her friends. She drops the PADD and shuffles onto Pavel's chest. She lays there and sobs. Barkley sits beside her and looks at the two of them. He's protecting them.

"Thank you," she whispers, her vision going back.

Vienna wonders if she's alive or not when she wakes. Someone's calling her name. She opens her eyes. Selwyn is shaking her.

"Stop," she mutters, her head full of rocks and her ears ringing so loudly she can't hear his response. He pulls her into a hug and she feels his body warm her up. She wraps her arms around him and squeezes him tightly. "Selwyn," she whispers. "Selwyn. Selwyn."

He moves her into a sitting position and starts shaking Pavel.

"He fainted," she says simply. "I'm going to be sick."

And she is, her body shaking violently as her stomach empties its contents onto the grass beside her. Barkley watches her and sneezes, Selwyn tries to wake Pavel up.

Hikaru, Erik and Selwyn come sprinting over. They can hardly breath and Erik lets out an inhumane noise, skidding to Pavel's side and muttering to him in Russian.

"He's alive," Vienna confirms, wiping the spit from the bottom of her chin.

"Damien," Erik mutters in shock, looking to the limp figure of the grass across from them before going back to Pavel. Vienna doesn't think she's ever heard Erik's voice sound more desperate. He calls to Pavel in Russian and he doesn't stir. Erik shakes him. Pavel makes a soft noise and comes to. "Pasha," Erik says, letting out a shaky breath. "Pasha. Pasha, you're okay. You're okay. We're here. It's going to be fine."

"Enya," Pavel says, using Erik to help him sit up.

"She's here too," Erik says, pointing to Vienna. "She's here."

Vienna feels faint again and she grips Selwyn's hand, telling him she's feeling sleepy again and trying not to slip under. Selwyn pulls her hair back and inspects his hand, noticing blood on the tips of his fingers.

"Head injury," he says quickly, inspecting her scalp. He finds it, muttering something that Vienna can't make out. Hikaru is coming over and Vienna sees a light shining in her eye and a new voice asking her questions she can't answer.

"Ma'am, can you hear me?"

"Not really," she admits, her vision going black again.