DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters
are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc and Viacom. The story contents are
the creation and property of Djinn and are copyright (c) 2007 by Djinn. This
story is Rated R.
Under Duress
by Djinn
"She's asleep now,
Spock," Jim says and you look to see if Christine is, finally,
asleep. She is, but she winces at each
cry of the beast in the cell across from you, a beast you surmise was a human
once. The beast is still pacing the dirt
floor, occasionally stopping to reach through the bars the way he reached for
Christine earlier, when he yanked her away from your alien captors, pulled her
hard into the bars. He pawed at her,
ripping her uniform, until Jim said to give her back to the two of you, that
you would do it.
It: a benign label for what
the aliens have in mind for you and Jim and Christine. You close your eyes for a moment, try to
drown out the slobbering thing that would have taken Christine if the aliens
had allowed it--would probably have killed Christine as he'd taken her--if
you'd refused. The aliens looked to you,
even after Jim spoke for you both. They
thought you would countermand him?
"We will do it,"
you said, and saw Christine slump in relief as the aliens pulled open the cage
door and threw her in with you and Jim.
"We will have to find
him"--the alien jabbed an elbow toward the brute--"a mate somewhere
else, then." The alien
is more reptilian than humanoid, his smile highly unsettling.
You turn back to Jim, see he's sitting on the floor, his back to the wall,
watching Christine sleep. You have
always wondered if something happened between them during the time you were at
Gol, when Jim was on Earth. You have
wondered, but you have not had the courage to ask. And you have not pried with the meld,
either--not that you have been close enough to Jim to pry that way.
Whatever the two of you had
in the past seems to have changed into friendship since you left him so
abruptly. Without
explanation. Without
warning.
"Sit, Spock."
"I am studying our
enclosure."
"There's no way
out." Jim rests his forehead
against his hands; his voice is muffled by warm, human skin. "Now I know how Chris felt."
It takes you a moment to make
the leap from Christine, who Jim calls Chris, to Christopher Pike, who Jim also
calls Chris. Pike was in a zoo such as
this one. Only those aliens seemed more
benevolent than the ones that hold you captive now. They have said that their business is sex;
you will be expected to have sex with both Jim and Christine. They will be expected to have sex with you.
You suspect that, aside from
the presence of observers, this will be a hardship for none of you. Awkward and uncomfortable,
but you have all--Jim and Christine, too, you think, even if you have not
asked--had sex with each other. Just...not all at once.
"Spock." Jim's eyes meet yours and you see something
you didn't expect to see. Amusement. "I
guess this means we're getting back together, huh?"
"So it would
seem." You nod at Christine,
sleeping so fitfully. "And you and
the doctor will also be rekindling old feelings?" You hope for your sake he says no; you hope
for her sake he says yes.
"So it would
seem." His smile is the ironic one,
also the angry one. He stares up at the bars, as if he can will them open. You would not entirely put it past him to be
able to do it.
Slipping down the wall, you
sit, back against the wall, looking at Jim as Christine lies between you. And you wait.
------------------
Christine wakes, looks over
at Jim, who has fallen asleep near the wall, then at you. The beast is still making noises that might
once have been speech but now seem to be just roars and grunts.
"Nice guy," she
says, and her smile is brave and defiant.
She looks like Jim for a moment, until she seems to shudder. "Thank you," she whispers.
"I would not have let
him have you," you say. "And
neither would Jim." It is harder to
say this last part.
"I guess there's some
explaining to do?" Again she looks
at Jim, and this time the look is tender.
"Only
if you feel so inclined." But you want to say, "Yes, there is
indeed."
"It was while you were
away. We both missed you. I was stressed; he was unhappy. Sex helped."
It is an admirably concise
summation. "Do you love him?"
"Do you?"
You stop short of saying that
you asked her first. But she grins, and
you think she can tell what you were going to say.
"Yes. I do," she says.
"Are you with him
now?" It seems impossible that they
could be conducting an affair without you knowing it, but Jim conducted an
affair with you under the same conditions.
He can be exceptionally stealthy.
She shakes her head and you
feel a surge of relief. You know it is
illogical, but it pleases you that you will be on even terms with her, that
neither of you is currently his lover.
"When I left to go to
the ship, we ended things. And once he
was onboard...well, it was easier"--you can hear the unsaid "for
him" in her words--"to not reengage." She looks away, not at Jim, not at the beast,
just up at the ceiling and says very softly, "I assumed it was because you
were back."
You wish you could tell her
it was because of you, but suddenly you suspect that you are not with Jim now
because of her.
"Interesting
times," she says with a wry smile.
"Indeed."
You both settle into an
uneasy silence.
------------
The aliens
return, stun all of you, and you wake up naked in a far bigger enclosure. There are no bars, just walls of rock, as if
you are in a canyon--one with no way out.
It is warm, not as hot as you might prefer, but probably perfect for Jim
and Christine.
You look up, try to see if
you can tell where the observers are, but there is no sign of which part of the
rock might be less opaque than it seems.
There is no noise but the sound of birds--simulated, no doubt--and
running water from a creek flowing across the enclosure, a creek that feeds a
small pool.
The three of you are lying on
mattresses of the kind Jim used to pack when you went camping. In fact, this place looks like the area he
preferred near Yosemite. You glance over at him, think
he is probably realizing the same thing.
Christine gets up,
surprisingly comfortable without clothes, and goes over to the creek and
drinks. You are about to admonish her to
be careful, but you realize that the aliens have no reason to poison you with
bad water, not if they want you to perform for their amusement.
She lifts up a tray that was
hidden by a rock near the pool.
"Golly. They certainly want
us prepared." You can only imagine
what is on the tray.
She walks back and as you and
Jim both stare at her, she blushes.
"Is there any logic in shame? In trying to cover up when there's no
way to do that?"
"No," you say, and
then you see that Jim, too, is blushing.
"No, there is no logic in shame," you say to them both.
"So," Christine
says, sitting down by them. "How
long can we stall before they throw me in with Mister Personality?"
"Not long, I
imagine." Jim is up and walking the
enclosure, pacing it out, as if there is a way out. "We could climb, an airshaft
maybe?"
You know the aliens are
listening. You know Jim knows the aliens
are listening. You think he won't give
in without some show of defiance.
You allow him that defiance
and nod. "Yes. Perhaps an airshaft."
-----------------
Christine looks over at Jim
as he paces, then back down at the ground.
She is sitting with her knees pulled up, her breasts pushed against
them. Hiding.
"Are you
afraid?"
She glances at you. "Are you?"
You are not sure if she would
have answered a question with a question this way when she was a nurse, when
you first knew her, and her hair was blonde and not dark.
"Well? Are you?"
"No." It is true; you are not afraid. Fear would be seeing Jim or her taken
away. Seeing either of them thrown to the
beast, and you think the aliens know that.
"I'm sure this wasn't
high on your list of all time fantasies, though." She is making small circles in the sand,
digging in, and you move closer and stop her hand.
"Don't let me interrupt." Jim sounds irritated.
"Have you thought about
this?" you ask him, because it is easier than trying to explain why you
felt moved to touch her.
"What? Being trapped with the two of you and forced
to have sex so a bunch of perverts could get off and some aliens who make the Gorn look attractive could make money off it?" He crosses his arms over his chest. "Oh yeah. I've been dreaming of this moment."
Christine laughs, and Jim
shoots her an annoyed glare. "If
you take out the last part..." she says with another laugh.
You glance at her, see she is
serious. Her hand twitches under yours,
and you realize she is also very nervous.
"You've thought about
this?" Jim strides over, and you
wonder if he has any idea how appealing he looks.
"Upon
occasion. The two of you mean a lot to me
and..." She stops.
"I get why I mean a lot
to you, but you two seem awfully comfortable." He is looking at you, not her. You should have told him. You should have admitted to him long ago that
after the first Pon Farr you went to Christine.
"It was the Pon Farr, all right?"
She is glaring at Jim. "It
wasn't his fault; he doesn't like me; he just needed me. Get over it, Jim."
It sounds odd to hear Jim's
name coming from her. Odd and you feel
something clench inside you, and then you realize you are pushing her hand down
because she is staring at you and saying, "Ow."
You pull your hand away,
murmur, "I am sorry."
"Well, this is just dandy."
Jim strides away and resumes his inspection of the wall.
"Can't
really top that assessment." Christine gets up and walks over to the pool,
dipping her toe in.
You sit and pretend to
meditate, as if you are not intensely aware of how close they are, and what you
will soon be doing with them.
--------------------
There is a sharp clang, then a voice fills the enclosure. "We are bored."
You allow yourself the luxury
of one sigh, then you walk over to Jim, grab his hand
and pull him with you to the pool, where Christine sits, her legs dangling in
the water.
"Here?" she asks,
and her voice squeaks.
"It will afford us some
small amount of privacy." You wait
for Jim to go in, then follow him. Christine slips off the side and joins you.
"What next, Spock, since
you seem to have appointed yourself our fearless leader." Jim glares at you.
"I suggest, if we all wish to stay together, we have sex as they seem
so eager for us to do." You want to
pull Jim to you, have wanted to ever since the meld with V'ger.
"Why don't I sit this
one out?" Christine starts to go,
and Jim reaches for her and pulls her back, and a
surge of jealousy rolls over you.
She turns, meets your
eyes. "I know you don't want me
here."
"You know
nothing." You pull her to you,
taking her before Jim can. Not sure if
you want her, but sure you don't want to watch Jim taking her and also sure Jim
won't let you take him first.
You are kissing her because
you are angry, but your body is not responding to her out of anger, but out of
desire. You pull her onto you, hear her
sigh as the two of you connect in a way you have never done. The Pon Farr is
mindless coupling; this is something...other.
You look over, see that Jim
is watching both of you with a helpless look, and tenderness for him overwhelms
you. As you move inside Christine, you
pull Jim to you and kiss him.
As soon as you pull away,
Christine pulls him to her, and they kiss in a way that makes you want her
more, not less.
"The aliens must be loving this," Jim says, and there is anger and
desperate humor in his voice.
"Let's give them a show,"
Christine says, and her eyes glint as she rides you harder and faster, and you
clutch at her and let go in a way you never have with her.
Once she slides off you, Jim
pulls her to him. They move in a way
that lets you know that whatever they had, it was not just for a few
nights. They know each other. They know what the other likes, evidenced by
the way he touches her and makes her come, by the way
she kisses him, licking his upper lip in a way you know inflames him.
When they finish, you are ready
again. And Christine surprises you by
reaching over and pulling the tray to her, then handing you one of the
containers. "Waterproof. They think of everything."
Your eyes meet hers, and she
smiles, but it is a smile that does not seem particularly happy. Then you forget about her for a moment,
readying Jim, taking him, the way you used to, imagining him taking you the
same way.
Soon, you will not have to
imagine.
--------------------
You are tired. It is an unusual feeling to be this
enervated, but sex with two is not only more complicated, but also seems to
spark a great deal of creativity--if not outright competition.
It is, however, a
good-natured competition. If Jim was mad
at your for leaving, he appears to have forgiven you. Although you do think he is keeping track of
who has made Christine come more.
It amuses you to think that
you are currently in the lead.
Christine is soaking in the
pool. She is propped up, her arms folded
on the edge, her head on her arms, the rest of her in the pool. She looks very content and very tired.
Jim is dozing in the false
sunshine, halfway between the two of you, on a mattress the three of you pulled
over near the pool at some point. Even
for you, the days are starting to blur.
There is another clang, the
first time that it has sounded since the aliens warned you they were bored.
"Captain? Mister
Spock? Doctor Chapel?" It is Mister Scott. "Are you hurt?"
You take a deep breath, feel
blood rush to your face and wonder how much more you would flush if he'd caught
you in the act. "We are
unharmed," you manage to say, and then a door opens and Doctor McCoy walks
in, your uniforms over his arm.
He takes one look, one long
look that sweeps the tableau. Then he
smirks, and you know he is fully cognizant of what has taken place. "Smells like a brothel in here," he
says so low that Mister Scott will probably not hear--or you hope he will
not--and then he tosses you your uniform.
Christine is red, but Jim is
even redder. They pull their uniforms on
quickly.
"Well, I hate to break
up this little vacation paradise, but what say we get you three out of
here?" McCoy is still smirking, and
Jim walks up to him, with that look that says not to push him.
McCoy has a history of
ignoring that look. "I trust you
had fun?"
"We didn't book a room
on Risa, Bones.
We were captured." Jim
sounds angrier than he normally gets with McCoy. You think this is not the time for the
doctor's brand of sarcasm.
McCoy seems to understand
that, too. "Of
course, Jim. I'm sorry to have
made light of the situation."
Christine pushes past him,
hurrying out. You follow her, see Scott
and several others standing around. They
all look like they are trying to hide smiles.
She stops and turns, her
expression very angry as she says, "One word, one laugh, and I will
fucking kill you."
You are not sure that, given
the context, you would have added that particular expletive. But you fully agree with the rest of her
sentiment. You try to make that clear to
the landing party with a stern, even for you, look.
Their almost-smiles die.
"And just think what
he'll do," Christine says, as Jim comes through the door.
"We've got the aliens in
custody on the ship," McCoy is saying.
"There was another
prisoner," Jim says. "Down in
the cages."
"We got him. Had to stun him to even get
to him."
Christine shudders, but you
do not think McCoy notices.
"We found quite a few
others in enclosures such as this.
Figured you might like to drop them off somewhere so they can get home?"
"How many other
enclosures were there?" Christine asks.
"A dozen
or so. Couples in them--yours was the only one with
three people."
There is the sound of suppressed laugher.
"Let's get the hell out
of here," Jim says, obviously ignoring the laugh.
You don't feel like ignoring
it, but the transporter takes you before you can see who it was.
------------------
Your routine is back. A week on the ship should make the week you
spent in the enclosure a dim memory.
Except that you have almost perfect recall, so every moment is etched in
your mind--and other places.
You have not reached for
Jim. Or for Christine. You do not think they have reached for each
other. You know they have not reached
for you.
A hail sounds in your
quarters. It is Jim. "We need to talk."
You wonder how many people
"we' covers. Your question is
answered when you meet Christine in the lift.
She is off duty as you are, as Jim is.
She is wearing a red dress that clings loosely to her body, and you
think how easy it will be to remove.
You realize she is watching
your face as you assess her, and she smiles. "If I'd known this dress was going to be
such a hit, I'd have bought one in every color."
"He wants to talk,"
you say, still wishing to establish some prior claim to Jim.
"Maybe he's going to
kick me out of the tree fort." Her
voice is less sure than the cocky look she is wearing.
You don't want to tell her
that you fear it is you who will be excised.
You walk together, strides
oddly matched, as you make your way to Jim's door. She waits for you to ring the chime, but you
let her go first as the door opens.
"Computer, lock
door." Jim is in a robe, his hair
wet from the shower. He stares at you
both with a stern look and says, "You two are severely overdressed. Although I like that dress a lot,
Chris."
"Yeah, so does
Spock."
"Only he'd never admit
it."
"Never ever," she
says, and they share a grin, leaving you out.
"For
God's sake, Spock. Take off your clothes and get over
here." Jim is grinning at you now. The warm smile of long ago.
He never gave it to you in that enclosure, no matter how good you made
him feel, and you know it was because of the circumstances. But now he is smiling at you, and he turns to
Christine and says, "Help him out of that damn robe, all right?"
She laughs, and pulls your
face to hers, and kisses you, while deftly maneuvering the hidden fasteners on
the robe.
"Did you know?" you
ask her, and you hope Jim did not discuss this with her if he could not talk
about it to you.
"No, but I'm not going
to question it and neither should you."
She pulls you to the bed, where Jim is waiting. It will be crowded, you think, but then Jim
holds out his arms, and she pushes you down and then crawls over both of you to
get to the other side.
Jim holds you both, kissing
you first, and you suspect it is not because he loves you most but because you
are, ironically, the most needy. Then he kisses Christine and she reaches
across him to touch you.
"Had a week to think
about it," Jim says once he pulls away from her. "Hate what happened to us. Hated being a prisoner. But the sex...being
with the two of you, that was good."
He is lying back, smiling up at the ceiling. "I propose we find out what it's like
with no audience holding us back."
You raise an eyebrow, hear
Christine laugh. You were not aware of
holding back, audience notwithstanding.
"I love you
both." There is a quiet in the room
following Jim's pronouncement, a moment as you think both you and Christine are
thinking about what he has said.
"I love you both,
too." Christine's voice is small,
as if she expects you to be the one to make it not unanimous.
Jim turns to look at
you. "Spock? Do you want this?"
You wonder what he would do
if you said no. If you said you only wanted
him. But to say that would be a
lie. You want him more than you do her, but
you want her, too. And you love her,
too, even if the feelings are new and fragile, and might die if she went away.
Christine sighs and tries to
move, but Jim is holding her fast.
"Do not go," you
say, and you touch her gently on the arm.
"I love you both."
She blinks in what you think
is surprise, and Jim smiles his smile of deep contentment, and you relax beside
him.
This is not what you
expected, not what you wanted, but it is worth exploring, and someday, it may
be everything you want. For now, it
will do.
FIN