Captain Pike stared out of the shuttle's view screen, watching the mesmerising warp-speed effect fly by. An arm jostled his shoulder which sadly ripped Chris away from his mindless daydreams. He sighed inwardly and glanced at the offending arm; seeing it belonged to the prison security team leader. Pike's eyes slid over the man briefly and lingered for a little while on the large phaser rifle the security chief had at the ready, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious with the amount of fire power in the small shuttle especially seeing as he was unarmed himself.

The abrupt pull back into reality reminded Pike why he had been dragged all the way out here and that he was surrounded by unfamiliar officers. New orders had arrived direct from Starfleet Command instructing Pike and Discovery to collect a prisoner from a starfleet holding centre, because said prisoner had vital information about the red angel and the catastrophic future Spock had seen. Chris had his own doubts that such a person existed and how anyone could know more than they did, but the prisoner had clearly convinced Starfleet Command so the orders had flown down.

Because of this mysterious prisoner Chris was traipsing half way across the galaxy, alone. It was just one of the many reasons why Pike felt anxious and couldn't settle. Apparently it had been one of the conditions of the deal the prisoner had negotiated, he had been asked for by name.

Discovery had been allowed to take him as far as a starbase then was ordered to remain there under Commander Saru's capable command. Meanwhile the Captain disembarked and would have to travel the rest of the way in a prison shuttle. The prison was apparently of the highest security and didn't want anyone knowing their location, even a federation starship. It made Pike suspicious about the identity of the prisoner and how dangerous they were. His concern only grew when he boarded the shuttle and clocked four armed security guards who hadn't stopped eyeing him suspiciously since.

So the reason he was uncomfortable and rather unhappy was because he had been dragged away from Discovery alone, unarmed and been surrounded by unfamiliar prison officers who were leading him on a wild goose chase to keep the security facility's location secret. He was completely in the dark and at the mercy of the prison guards and their protocol; he didn't like it one bit but what could he do besides disobey a direct order?

The only way this field trip would prove to be in any way worth it would be if the intel was correct and could aid in their search for the red angel, Pike wasn't a pessimist by nature but he really didn't hold out much hope for this prisoner transfer. All he could do was wait patiently whilst they travelled the rest of the distance to the top secret location. No-one had said a word since he boarded except for checking his identity, and that he had complied with their protocols by leaving behind all weapons and communications devices.

Chris had lost track of how long they had been travelling for some time ago, and he had been purposefully kept away from the information screens so he had absolutely no idea where in the galaxy they were. Thankfully it wasn't too long before he felt them drop out of warp, and Chris heard them dock with something when the ship clanged against metal. They had arrived.

Pike unbuckled his safety belt and got to his feet following the security officer's movements. He waited for the doors to open and resisted the urge to use up some of his excess nervous energy, he really wanted to pace now but a cramped shuttle was hardly the place for that. He felt a chill wash over him and shivered as his neck hairs stood up on end, something was wrong and his instincts were screaming that danger was close. When the doors finally opened Pike's chest felt unusually heavy all of a sudden.

Stood between a contingent of well armed guards was Harry Mudd, with his hands restrained in front of him and arms held securely between the well built prison officers. The prisoner's dreary expression transformed when his eyes found Pike; his face lit up like a supernova and he beamed just as brightly. Chris' reaction was exactly the opposite. He was stuck between so many emotions and he couldn't decide on one completely; shock, horror, fear, anger, betrayal? Pike knew he would be having words with Starfleet Command about this, and if he had the chance to tell them right now they would not be nice ones; Mudd was the last person he was expecting and wanting to see.

"Captain you came." Mudd greeted him warmly, clearly ecstatic that Pike and Starfleet had granted his specific request.

Pike's chest tightened as he realised that Harry Mudd must have been the one to ask for him by name. With their history the request couldn't mean anything good, at least not for Chris. The Captain realised most of the officers were staring at him, and Mudd was clearly waiting for a response.

Pike made his mouth respond eventually, trying but failing to keep the anger out of his voice. "I didn't have much choice."

Mudd smirked happily. "Well no matter the reason, I'm glad you're here."

Chris almost flinched when he saw a very familiar murderous expression flash across Mudd's face, one he had sincerely not wanted to see ever again. Pike had to remind himself that even though this man was restrained and covered by weapons he was exceedingly smart, capable and dangerous. That twinned with the fact that Mudd seemed genuinely elated to see Captain Pike specifically, made Chris suspect that Mudd was after revenge or something similarly dreary. If he had known that Mudd was the prisoner then he would have argued against taking anything he said as truth, and he would have definitely petitioned to refuse Mudd anything he asked for.

The Captain stood aside and watched Mudd warily as the armed guards transferred him to the shuttle team who dragged him inside the ship; securing him to a seat in an alcove with leg chains. They left Mudd alone and activated a force field around him, effectively cutting him off from the main occupants of the shuttle. With that done the guards then positioned themselves in strategic points around the ship and Pike marvelled at how different they were now Mudd was aboard. He could feel the nervous energy in the air and was glad it wasn't just he who took the threat Mudd posed seriously.

Pike took a seat opposite the alcove and buckled up, not willing to turn his back on Mudd for one second longer than absolutely necessary. The pilot didn't waste any time so they shot off into warp as soon as the back doors closed. Pike noticed the security team all had their weapons in a ready position and he couldn't help but feel his anxiety creeping up. There was a lot of firepower in the small space. The only people who weren't armed were him and the prisoner which hardly seemed fair. Still there was nothing he could do about it; the federation prison had strict rules for a reason.

Chris stared dead ahead and tried to ignore Mudd who was attempting to catch his eye, staring at him unnervingly with a growing grin spreading across his face. Mudd looked rather like a kid who had been given free reign in a sweet shop, the look really didn't do anything to help quell the Captain's distress. The bastard actually chuckled and Pike realised the prisoner was enjoying watching him squirm.

"Relax Captain, we've got a long journey ahead of us." Mudd laughed sinisterly.

Pike schooled his expression and let Mudd's words wash over him, not willing to give the prisoner any further reaction or entertainment. This wasn't some cushy field trip and Mudd didn't deserve to be having a good time, if it were down to Pike he would have left him behind bars for good and thrown away the damn key. When Chris couldn't watch Mudd's amusement any longer he turned his attention away from the prisoner and stared out of the main viewport at the passing stars. Mudd was playing mind games but Pike was so done with having his head messed with.

He watched the warp effect outside and let his thoughts drift away from the bat-shit crazy situation and back to happier thoughts, of Enterprise, Discovery, his crew. Chris began counting down the minutes in his mind, the further he counted the closer he was to getting home. Soon he would be back aboard Discovery where he would truly feel safe, and where he wouldn't have to be trapped with Harry Mudd ever again.

Chris had finally managed to not think about where he was or who he was sitting across from for 5 whole minutes, when the universe decided to intervene and provide some excitement. The shuttle juddered and shook violently as it dropped unceremoniously out of warp; ear splitting alarms rang out and the whole flight console lit up like a christmas tree.

Pike's senses were on alert immediately and he watched the pilot frantically silence the alarms and punch several buttons in frustration. Chris knew shuttles well and figured he was a damn good pilot so he knew something was seriously wrong without even looking at the flight console. The engine sound was troubling and thrummed inharmoniously, and the violent way they had been booted out of warp indicated severe power problems.

Still this wasn't his ship and the pilot should know what to do here with all the protocols they'd spouted at him over the long journey. So instead Pike focussed on the most dangerous element present, and stared at Mudd suspiciously thankful that the force field was still stable. Mudd met his gaze and shrugged innocently, lounging back in his chair like he didn't have a care in the world.

Chris scrutinised the prisoner carefully but couldn't detect any attempts to move or prior knowledge of the shuttle's power problems. After a few minutes of drifting and flickering lights passed by the Captain's patience ran out, enough was enough.

"Is there a problem?" He voiced the question knowing full well that there was indeed a problem, whether the pilot would reveal anything however was unknown.

Surprisingly the pilot turned to him and answered albeit a little frantically. "I can't figure out what's wrong and we've lost power all over the shuttle."

Pike clocked the sudden frigid atmosphere and saw the security team exchange worried glances with each other. Chris brushed off the initial panic from the pilot's problem, drowning the fear and seamlessly moved into Captain mode. "What systems are affected?"

The pilot bashed the control panel to try and get any screens to respond. Chris could see from his seat that the whole system had gone haywire and the shuttle lights kept crashing in and out. "Engines, the warp core, communications, life support, weapons and countermeasures."

Great, so the broken systems were everything they needed and almost every critical system. Life support was the one that stuck in Chris' head though, without air they would suffocate in no time. The Captain glared distrustfully at the prisoner. "Do you know anything about this?"

Mudd just smiled back innocently like butter wouldn't melt. "I know as much as you Captain."

Pike rolled his eyes and decided to give up on that line of questioning knowing talking to Mudd would only piss Pike off more. Deciding the emergency trumped prison protocol Chris unbuckled his seatbelt and moved towards the cockpit. Predictably the pilot glanced over his shoulder at the sound distrustingly, eyes flicking from the prisoner to the guards and finally to Pike.

Chris held up his hands in a non-threatening manner and smiled uneasily. "Look this is an emergency, I can help."

Pike could see the pilot's mind whirring away, battling between following protocol and accepting some much needed help. Chris saw the moment the emergency won and the pilot relaxed back into his seat. "Alright. What do you suggest?"

The Captain wasted no further time and slid into the co-pilot's seat, tapping away at the consoles quickly until they started to respond to his commands. Luckily the prison shuttle used the same sort of software as other federation shuttles so Pike became familiar with it in moments; it also meant it didn't take long before he spotted the main problems. He cursed when he followed the trails and realised how much was wrong and how many systems were on the verge of collapsing.

Something was causing power surges across the entire shuttle's electronics making almost every system unstable in one way or another, in extreme cases a system would be so badly affected that no matter how many times he tried to get any response from it he couldn't. Pike's fingers flew over the console as he began to prioritise vital systems they needed, attempting to cut them off from the unstable power problems.

"I'm going to isolate life support and impulse power on it's own circuit." He explained as he carried out the intricate work, struggling to keep ahead of the surges and find a place the problems hadn't breached yet. One look at the warp engines was enough to tell him they were a lost cause, he doubted that a fully fledged engineering team could fix it before life support ran out. Strangely communications was another system that had completely blacked out so he couldn't even ping off a distress call, which made their options rather limited.

The pilot picked up the Captain's plan quickly enough and helped him isolate the vital systems and divert the crazy energy spikes. With the two of them battling the computer for control the power eventually became more stable, and mercifully life support responded and kicked back in.

Pike jumped when he heard guns powering up behind him and spun round in his seat, panic flaring and his instincts screaming vociferously. He saw that it was the guards' weapons who were powered up and aggressively held, Pike followed their aim and soon saw what had caused the alarm. The force field surrounding Mudd had fizzled out of existence, so the only thing keeping the prisoner in place now were the restraints and chain that held him to the floor. Mudd didn't even look like he noticed the disappearance of the force field; he looked bored out of his mind and had made no attempt to move an inch.

Chris was loathe to turn his back on Mudd but it was clear the security team had him covered for now, and he and the pilot had a job to do to get them all out of this alive before their life support failed completely. "What now?" The pilot sounded like he was struggling to keep it together.

The Captain brought up a map for the local area and breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted a commercial spaceport. He glanced at the power situation and prayed the fixes he'd made would hold long enough to limp in on impulse power. Staying here drifting in space was completely out of the question with fluctuating life support and no communication capabilities.

"We go here, and call for help from there." Pike showed the pilot his plan. The pilot squinted at the coordinates and nodded fervently, seemingly happy to not be the one making the big decisions.

Pike entered the coordinates and fought fiercely against the ship's power problems to engage the engines long enough to last until the space port. He was not relishing the task of keeping the life support stable whilst keeping the ship from becoming dead in the water, being stranded out in space was no joke. The situation was made that much worse by the fact that he had his back turned to a dangerous prisoner who's force field had gone down, and Pike couldn't shake the feeling that Mudd knew more about all of this than he was letting on.

Held together by nothing more than a prayer the prison shuttle hobbled into the spaceport finally. When the blasted thing finally landed without any further catastrophes Captain Pike sagged back in the co-pilot's chair with relief, his arms were tense and aching after fighting with the ship for so long. He glared at the difficult console tiredly and wanted to punch it's lights out when the voice informed him that life support had finally failed. He hadn't had so many things go wrong in a shuttle ever before.

Pike got out of his seat and turned to the guards who were still pointing their weapons at Mudd. "We need to all get off this shuttle. Life support has failed completely."

The team watched the prisoner skeptically but did as commanded when alarms started blaring. They unchained Mudd from the floor and held him securely between them, making sure his restraints were still tight and functioning first. The pilot swiftly opened the back doors and Pike followed the security team and Mudd out into the port.

Pike breathed in the fresh air and revelled in the amazingly non-stale smell that was rich with oxygen. It was crazy how everyone took oxygen for granted, Chris definitely wouldn't again after that turbulent journey.

On his way out the pilot handed him a phaser pistol from the weapons locker. The Captain took the offered weapon and looked at the pilot questioningly.

"There's not exactly a protocol for this kind of situation, but it would be best if we were all armed to keep an eye on the prisoner." The pilot explained. Chris warmed as he realised this meant he had earned the man's trust.

He smiled gratefully and attached the holster and phaser to his belt. Having the weapons at his side helped to quell some of his nervous energy, and it made him feel a lot better knowing they were all being cautious around Mudd.

The group moved away from their smoking shuttle coughing when the noxious gas drove it's way into their lungs. Pike looked round the shuttle bay and spotted a spaceport security team heading their way, the leader of the group moving with purpose and haste. Pike reckoned they must have recognised the kind of shuttle it was; a prison shuttle crash landing in a commercial port was not normal or something any security chief would want to deal with.

Pike glanced back at the shuttle as robots race past their group to contain the damage, erecting a force field round the smoking vehicle before it caused anymore damage to the air. Chris could see the prison team were not happy with outsiders combing over their shuttle but it wasn't like they had much of a choice, the damn thing was on fire.

The space port team formed a loose ring around Pike and his team, all officers tensely holding their guns in near ready positions. "What are you doing here? This is a civilian space port." The leader of the security team asked aggressively.

Chris resisted the urge to hold his head in his hands, why were security personal always so outwardly threatening and predictable. He flashed the chief his go-to disarming smile. "I'm Captain Pike and this is a security team from a starfleet prison station, we've had serious problems with our shuttle which forced us to land at the nearest safe location."

The security leader looked them all up and down with a piercing gaze. "Which just happened to be here." He grumbled dejectedly.

Chris' diplomatic smile didn't falter, he refused to allow the the man's negativity to make this situation unsalvageable. He had faced more difficult diplomatic problems in his career than an unwelcoming security officer. "We lost life support and communications. I'm sorry we're bringing this to your door but we had no other choice."

After the apology the security team relaxed a little and the chief even had the audacity to look a little ashamed of his harshness, it wasn't like the prison shuttle had any choice if they wanted to live. "What do you need from us?" The chief eventually asked although it sounded like he was doing it out of duty rather than genuine concern.

Pike honestly didn't care what the chief's reasons were as long as he helped them and they could send a message to Discovery. He clearly didn't want them here any longer than necessary and they really didn't want to be here. "I need to use your communication system to send a message to my ship, they can come and collect us and be out of your hair."

The security chief latched onto the easy option to get the prison delegation out from under his jurisdiction, but instead of looking happy with the solution he stared at Mudd and frowned."What about him?"

Ah the difficult one, Mudd was a dangerous prisoner who really needed to be confined and not having a field trip aboard a civilian space port. Pike glanced over his shoulder at the prisoner who was looking round the space curiously, stance relaxed and non resisting.

"Have you got a secure holding area we can keep him until my ship gets here?" Pike decided finally.

The security chief looked like he wanted to wash his hands of this whole mess but he eventually nodded and turned on his heel. "Yes follow me."

Pike blinked at the change of pace but followed the security chief all the same; hopefully they could get Mudd secured and get Discovery here in no time. The convoy walked through the spaceport and Pike was wary of the amount of looks they were getting as they went past. Everyone was curious, whispering and pointing at the security team escorting their prisoner.

Pike kept glancing over his shoulder at Mudd expecting him to bolt any second or make a move, but he simply walked along relaxed and beamed at him. The spaceport was bustling with people and Pike was as aware as the security team that this was far from an ideal situation to be in.

"Is there not a quieter route to the holding cells?" Pike asked nervously glancing at the increasing crowd around them.

The security guard answered sympathetically. "Usually yes, but we've been having power problems of our own today."

Power problems, huh.

Pike didn't believe in coincidences and everything about this situation was putting him on edge. He realised he was becoming hyper alert and began to hear every sound and notice every minute movement. He clocked all the entrances and exits to the rooms and wished he had seen a blueprint of this place before they set off. His eyes landed on the growing crowds and he felt even more anxious when he spotted a large group of school children playing, whilst teachers and adults tried to usher them away from the patrol. On their right was a canteen of some kind which was also heaving with people; innocent people.

The universe heard his concerns and brought his deepest fears to life, she really could be a cruel mistress. The Captain came to a sudden stop when the world fell into darkness and surprised yelps and screams echoed throughout the spaceport. He heard a scuffle behind him and his thoughts quickly flew to the prisoner.

No, not here. This can't be happening.

Pike gripped his phaser in response to the sounds of distress and spun on the spot, blinking in surprise when the lights abruptly returned and blinded him for a few seconds. When his vision returned his heart sank when he saw what had caused the scuffle.

Mudd held a powerful grenade in his hands with the pin pulled out. One of the security team was sprawled out on the floor desperately clawing for breath, whilst the other man who had hold of Mudd's arm was just regaining his footing.

A stunned silence fell over the room for several moments as everyone took stock of the change in situation, then there was chaos. It was like a storm had suddenly crashed through the walls of the station, drowning everyone under waves of fear and panic. Harry Mudd stood in the eye of the storm and laughed.

A/N - I had so much fun with Mudd last time so I decided to bring him back and pit him and Pike against one another again :) The next chapter should hopefully be up by the end of the weekend now I've got the whole story planned out, hope you enjoyed!