Aviophobia (Leonard McCoy)

32. Reunited

Kate landed hard, but didn't really get a chance to recover or assess herself, as Jim grabbed her hand and began running away from the remains of the Enterprise as he yelled, "Chekov," behind them to encourage their companion to keep up.  Looking over her shoulder as they ran away, Kate was no longer being dragged by Jim as she realized what was happening.  The Enterprise was out of control and was going to flip itself over onto them if they didn't clear it.  Kate could already tell that Krall's men and the other captain that had tricked them were not going to make it, and that just fueled her survival instinct.

She, Jim, and Chekov sprinted into the treeline ahead of them, barely clearing the Enterprise as she finally landed.  The force of the impact knocked them all over, but they had survived and were in the clear for the time being.

Kate laid there for a moment, breathing in relief that they had made it and was able to better assess herself.  She was sore and exhausted, and could definitely use some more water and some food, but she would survive.  She worried about her baby, but held onto hope that it would be okay, knowing that her body was designed to take care of the baby first at this point in her pregnancy.  She might would go hungry, but the baby wouldn't.

Jim pulled Kate to her feet gingerly and questioned, "You good?"

Kate nodded in response and said, "I think so.  You?"

Jim nodded and said, "As good as I can be, I guess."

Kate turned and looked at Chekov, relief evident in his features as well and she asked, "You alright, Pavel?"

Chekov seemed surprised at the use of his first name, but nodded as he said, "I am fine, Dr. Kirk."

Kate shook her head and said, "We've just escaped death together several times today, I think we can dispense with the formalities."

Chekov shrugged, and Kate and Jim chuckled to themselves as they took off through the forest, not really sure where they were heading.

The three of them walked in silence for a while, just grateful that they had survived what they did, and as they walked Kate became more aware of how much she needed rest.  Sure, she was hungry and thirsty as well, but her body was working in overdrive to help the baby grow at the rapid rate it does in the first trimester, and she hadn't slept in God knew how long.

She tugged on Jim's hand to signal him to slow down some, and he called ahead, "Chekov, I think we can slow the pace some."

Chekov nodded, then was silent for a moment before asking, "Captain, when did you begin to suspect?"

Jim shook his head and admitted, "Not soon enough."

Kate shrugged, not wanting Jim to be too hard on himself, and said, "You couldn't have known, and I started suspecting about the same time as you.  We did what we could, and we're alive."

The three of them came upon a drop off and Jim turned to her, ignoring what she said, and told her, "Chekov and I will go down first, then we'll help you down."

Kate felt ridiculous, like a helpless female, but she knew she would need the help and Chekov didn't seem any the wiser as he asked, "How did you know?"

As the two of them jumped down and turned to help Kate, Jim said, "Oh, I guess you can say I've got a good nose for danger," as a mist sprung up around them suddenly.

Kate backed away so that she wouldn't be caught in it as well as she yelled at them, "Run!"

But it was too late, the mist had engulfed them and became more and more dense, keeping Jim and Chekov from seeing what way they needed to run to get out of it.  As the mist thickened, Kate realized in horror that it was solidifying and Jim and Chekov were caught in it.