Falling Into Darkness

By Lady Dawson and EssentiallyRei

Chapter One: Torn Loyalties

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

"Or the one."

Stardate 2259.40
Planet Qo'noS

The room was bathed with red light as most Klingon rooms are. Joni sat childlike atop a counter artlessly tossing a depleted power cell up and down with her real, skin-and-bone right hand, as she watched the man across the room working on the circuitry behind an open wall panel. Over the past few weeks, and with her help, the man had been turning the abandoned and half-destroyed Klingon dwelling they had been using as a hideaway into what could now only be defined as a lair.

Joni was ruminating about fate and how much she did not believe in it, especially nowadays, as she watched the man work. It was like watching a machine. He never second guessed what he was doing, or paused to take a breather. His work was linear and he would not rest until he accomplished the task of getting the main power on. They had depleted their supply of power cells several days before, but after he and Joni designed a make-shift dampening field with the junk lying around to hide any major power signatures from the Klingon patrols that frequented the area, using an old generator left behind in the rubble of the Ketha Province did not seem like a bad idea.

Unlike Starfleet dwellings, which were mostly white and spotless, Klingons were not afraid of dirt and grease and still used it along with their tech. Joni and the man were both covered in black grease and grime: Joni from working on installing the actual generator, and the man from working on everything else. To this point, the man had managed to get the lights working; he was now working on other computer systems. Joni had nothing better to do than watch her consistent partner in crime work under the antagonizing red light that Klingons loved so much.

The six foot tall man, making him half a foot taller than Joni, had the brightest blue eyes Marcus could give him when the Admiral reconstructed the man's entire appearance. Not once did those blue eyes look to Joni. The man, who was well aware that Joni was watching him, ignored her, so used to her ruminating. He ruminated too, but only when he thought Joni wasn't watching; she had caught the beast gazing up at the stars a couple of times. Joni did not know what to make of it, because a beast he was—dominant and deadly. Seeing him contemplative made her stop and wonder too much about loyalty. Particularly where her loyalty was supposed to be placed.

For some reason, it was easier to allow herself to like the man before her when she knew he stopped to think and wonder once in a while, like a normal human being.

Because she did not trust the man in front of her. Or, at least, she did not want to trust him, regardless of how much she cared to admit that she actually did. Joni had to keep in mind that he was a villain. And it was something that was constantly on her mind; otherwise she would easily forget that she should not trust him. She got along all too well with the villainous, deadly, and dominant man she found herself fascinated by and more often watching than sleeping.

These days her thoughts were constantly in a jumble about right and wrong, logic or feeling, and abandonment and loyalty. But that was okay, because she had a contingency plan if she made the wrong choices. Yet, she promised herself it was one that she could only use as a very last resort, because it would demand blood—her blood.

Feeling un-Vulcan and empowered, she set the empty power cell down, and walked up to the open panel. Joni now stood next to the man with her best intimidation stance, which was much better than it had been a year ago thanks to the very person she was using it on. He had taught her to defend herself and not fall prey to men like Admiral Marcus.

She was willing to test it on her teacher now. Time was running out, not to.

The stance put her left foot and left shoulder in front so that her cybernetic arm was as a shield to the rest of her body—for good reason, too, because there actually was a specially designed shield installed in the arm that Joni could switch on by clinching her cybernetic hand into a fist. She wasn't going to need it switched on now, she hoped, but she was ready.

"I cannot let you blow-up the Kelvin Memorial Archive," she boldly confronted the man. It was not her first time discussing his vengeful intentions and plans against Starfleet with him. This, however, was the first time she was desperate enough to be threatening towards him about it. Those icy blue eyes now turned to look at her.

He was unreadable, but Joni had been wrong in that he took her statement quite seriously, putting down his sonic tool before giving her his full attention. He carefully watched her as she stared struggling not to falter her own gaze. Since the man was all about dominance, Joni was trying to establish her dominance in that moment. It was the only way if she wanted results.

To defend himself, the man chose patience as his weapon.

It felt like minutes staring into the cold eyes of the man—Joni started getting flashes of her nightmares, of staring into the singularity of a black hole. It forced her to abdicate her stance. She simply could not stare at him anymore, having to close her eyes and turn away. She lost the small battle for supremacy. "Cut the bullshit, John, and say something," she broke the aggressive silence.

AN: Sorry, guys, but that's all you get. However, the rest of the chapter is posted under EssentiallyRei's and my shared page: worldshifter fanfiction. There is a link to the page under my favorite authors and stories. Hope you enjoy and please, review under the complete chapter!

Lady Dawson