"Can you tell me what you did wrong?"

"Sir?" Captain Kirk turned, finding Admiral Christopher Pike standing behind him. They were at Starfleet, at least he thought they were. A pale light sparkled through the large glass windows.

"What you did wrong, Jim." Pike repeated, his voice taking on a much sterner tone.

Kirk closed his eyes, sighing as he shook his head. "With all due respect, sir. You're dead." He raised his head and looked at the closest thing he ever had to a father. "I saw you die."

Pike studied the young captain. "What kind of game are you trying to play here?"

Kirk swallowed at the lump forming in his throat. "You died. I watched you die in London, after the attack on Starfleet. John Harrison. Khan. He killed you."

Pike nodded, his hand clenching tightly around his cane. "Alright." He said as he limped around his desk and sitting on the edge of it. "Jim." he began in a much calmer voice. "Just what in the hell is going on?"

Shaking his head, Captain Kirk slowly backed away. "This isn't real." He said. It felt real, it looked real and he so desperately wanted it to be real. But it wasn't. It was too perfect, too good to be true. Christopher Pike was dead, and there was no changing that. "None of this." His back hit the wall.

Pike stood.

Captain Kirk looked at the solid walls surrounding him, at the perfect detail of the room. "Stop this!" He yelled. He knew the alien was watching, standing over him, messing with his mind. "I won't give you what you want so just kill me already! Just kill me!"

"Jim!" Pike yelled, suddenly in front of him, hitting the younger man across the face.

Kirk felt the sting of the blow as clearly as if it were real. He turned to Christopher Pike.

"What's wrong with you?" Pike demanded.

"No." Kirk shook his head. "Please just go away."

Pike set a gentle hand on the young man's trembling shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what is going on?"

"It's in my head." Kirk confessed. "An alien species..called..called a Talosian or something. I'm not sure. But it's in my head and I don't even know what's happening. I don't know what's real or what's not." He shook his head. "I can't get out of it. I can't wake up. I don't know what to do." His voice almost broke as he finally let the panic spill over.

Christopher Pike nodded thoughtfully. "A Talosian, you said?"

"Yes, sir."

Pike pressed his lips together in a thin line, contemplating the proper response.

"I'm sorry, sir." Kirk mumbled. "I don't know what's happening to me."

"Whatever it is, I want you to know I'm here and I'll do whatever I can to fix this," Admiral Pike told him, squeezing his shoulder slightly to get his attention. "Jim?"

Kirk looked up, meeting the admiral's gaze. "Yes, sir."

The admiral turned and headed to his desk. He swept his hand over the flat surface, activating the built in screen. He looked up at Kirk. "Well let's see what we can find out about this alien of yours."

Kirk didn't move. "You believe me?" He asked.

"I really want to." He said, turning back to the display.

Captain Kirk tried to smile, but it died before it touched his lips. "I think I'm just going crazy." he admitted.

"I sincerely hope not." Pike said studying various star charts.

Kirk headed towards the desk and leaned heavily against it. Christopher Pike opened various maps and files, carefully analyzing the readouts. Captain Kirk watched, recognizing the various names and coordinates of the different systems.

"Thank you," Captain Kirk said in a quiet voice.

"Have you told Spock about this?" Pike asked.

He shook his head. "Not yet."

"That might be a good thing to do. He may be able to help."

"Okay."

Spock.

Klingons.

Frank.

"No!" Kirk yelled as Pike accessed a classified databases. The information ran through his head, the Starfleet codes and locations. He moved away from the desk and fell into swirling shadows. The room was gone and the Talosian stood over him, its dead eyes studying him carefully.

There is still more you have not told me, it warned.

Kirk slumped against the rock wall, his tired eyes glaring at the Talosian.

We are not yet finished.

"Screw you."

The Talosian held its hands out in front of it, the edges of its paper thin lips curling in what might have been a smirk. It seemed about to speak when a blast of light suddenly struck the alien. It staggered back, its mouth hanging open wide and its dead eyes full of fear.

NO!

Faaren was about to fire again when he suddenly found himself sinking into the earth. Chains snaked around his arms and yanked him further down into the blackness. Kirk staggered to his feet and stumbled into the Talosian, knocking it to down.

The alien's hold on him broken, Faaren stood and fired at the writhing figure lying on the cavern floor. The alien shrieked in pain and swung its hand around, sending Kirk tumbling across the ground. Before either of the humans could react, the Talosian had vanished.

Breathless and exhausted, Kirk slumped onto the ground. His blue eyes glared at Faaren. "You."

Unable to locate the alien, Faaren lowered his weapon. "The lieutenant is safe," He informed Kirk, stepping towards him. "As is the rest of your crew." He held out a hand, which Kirk did not accept.

"What do you want with us?" Kirk demanded.

"That is a long story I do not have time to explain."

"Whose side are you on anyway?" The captain mumbled.

"I guess I'm on the side with the heroes and the fools." He said with a grin. "What about you?"

Kirk stared at the man for a long moment before taking his hand and climbing to his feet. He hissed and stumbled as soon as he put weight on his ankle.

"Can you walk?" Faaren asked.

Kirk nodded. "Yeah, I think so." Grinding his teeth and swallowing the pain, Captain Kirk limped after Faaren through the small canyon. Kirk marveled at how shallow it was. He had seen it as a deep and winding fracture that reached far into the earth. But the glowing blue plants now revealed the canyon to be no more than two or three stories high at its deepest parts.

Faaren reached a small place where it shallowed a bit and several ledges jutted out of the dark rock wall. Setting his rifle in his back holster, Faaren began to climb. Kirk followed afterwards, much slower than he would have liked since one of his legs was all but useless. At the top, Faaren leaned down and helped the captain up.

"Where's the others?" Kirk demanded as soon as he staggered to his feet.

Faaren nodded towards the far end of the massive cavern. "Last time I checked they were heading in the direction of the temple. There's an ancient power chamber connected to the planet's core."

"Let's not keep them waiting." He was just going to have to go with it for now, ask questions later when they had time. They began moving forward when suddenly a massive tremor tore through the ground, sending both men to the ground.

"What was that?" Kirk shouted over the thunderous rumbling.

Faaren cursed, mumbling something under his breath before taking off.

Climbing to his unsteady feet, Kirk followed after Faaren. Long cracks tore through the dark earth and in the distance, several of the ruined buildings began to crumble. Chunks of rock and ancient metal fell from the roof high above.

"Okay this is not good. This is definitely not good." Kirk muttered as they began to run.