Always by my side

Sixteen

Kirk POV

"Lieutenant Ombria, a word?"

"Sir, I'm very sorry, Sir, I'd rather not talk right now, if that's alright with you, Sir?"

My heart shattered into a million pieces hearing her talk like that.

"Of course, Lieutenant Ombira."

I had hoped to catch her before we left the Enterprise for another expedition, but now I had no choice to wait until afterwards.

Uhura, Bones, Spock, Sarah and I were on the shuttle that left for the planet where everything had take a turn for the worse. This time however, we were armed and prepared- and we had Sarah.

As soon as we were on the ground, we found cover, scanning the surroundings for possible traps or ambushes.

"The perimeter is clear, Captain"

"Thank you, Commander Spock."

"Keep your weapons ready, just to be on the safe side"

Sarah took the lead, checking every corner for attackers.

Suddenly, she fired a shot in the dark, which was followed by the sound of a body dropping to the floor.

"Take cover!" Sarah shouted just before the first shots were fired at us.

Before I could react I felt someone grabbing me. I landed a few feet away from where I had been standing, with my back on the ground, Sarah on top of me. She had tackled me in order to get me behind a rock, shielding us from the gunfire.

"Are you okay?" She looked at me a little concerend, her face just inches from mine

"Yeah, I'm good. Are you?"

"Yeah, I think so"

She got up, peaking around the rock to get an overview of the situation

"Everybody safe?"

"Yeah, Uhura and Spock are over there, Bones is behind the tree."

She turned to me

"I want you to wait for my sign, then get the others and get to the shuttle as fast as you can. I'll be right behind you."

Sarah loaded the gun in her left hand.

"What are you doing?" I looked at her astonished

"My job"

She left the safe cover of the rock, opening rapid fire at the enemy

"Go!"

I sprinted over to Bones, Uhura and Spock following my lead. Together, we ran to the shuttle.

"Sarah!"

I yelled, but I wasn't sure whether she could hear me over the gunfire.

Spock kept me from running back to her, so I yelled some more.

We could only watch as Sarah ran out of amunition and went for the rest of the attackers with two daggers. She was fast and agile, killing one after the other.

When they were all down, she sprinted to the shuttle and jumped in. Uhura immediatly took off

Nobody said something, we were all in shock. I really thought we had a shot at talking to them, but the inhabitants of this planet didn't seem to think of much of words.

When we were back in the Enterprise, I caught Sarah making her way to her quarters.

"Sarah"

She turned around

"Yes, Captain?"

There it was again, this bad feeling in my stomach Everytime she used my formal title I felt like someone was stabbing me in the heart and I felt sick- but I was the one who had made her use the title.

"That was very impressive, thank you"

I smiled mildly

Sarah's eyes were cold

"Just doing my job, Captain"

She turned around and left. Bones had caught up to me and put his hand on my shoulder, applying a little pressure.

"Well, Jim, I guess you succeded. Sarah hates you"

I felt empty inside, only the sick feeling remaining

"I guess I did"