Expectations: The Lost Doctor Part 2 of 3
Title: Expectations
Adventure: The Lost Doctor Part 2 of 3
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuMin, KyuWook
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Romance, Angst
Beta: Motty123
Special Thanks to Amy for all her wonderful support.
A/N: This story is inspired by Star Trek. The crew of the Expectations will be made up of members of DBSK and Super Junior. Each chapter will be its own separate adventure, and will have its own focus. An adventure may have several parts.
Summary: Commander Kyuhyun is lost to a world of grief and self-hatred as he uses Sungmin, while continuing to mourn his spouse. Captain Yunho attempts to come to terms with the lifelong bond he has with Jaejoong. The crew is shocked when it receives a must unexpected call for help.
Prior Adventures
Jaejoong followed Yunho into the Officer’s Lounge that was connected to the bridge. Jaejoong could feel Yunho’s distress at being stuck on the ship and separated from his away team.
Jaejoong sat directly on the table, ignoring the chairs as he watched Yunho pace the room. He watched as Yunho fought an internal battle with himself. The thought that his crew was in danger and there wasn’t anything he could do but wait on the ship did not sit well with the captain. “Come to me…be with me.”
Yunho stopped pacing and eyed Jaejoong, not hungrily but with a new necessity in his eyes. “It would be for the wrong reasons…it’s always been for the wrong reasons.”
“You have an outdated notion of right and wrong. It has never been for the wrong reasons. It wasn’t wrong to save your life and it wouldn’t be wrong now.”
“If we had sex would I be able to beam down to that planet?”
“Not without me…”
“Then what purpose would it serve? I can’t have sex while members of my crew are in danger.”
“The purpose would be to start strengthening the bond so that someday you can visit planets without me.”
“Are you even sure that day will come?”
“Yes, I have reason to believe that our bond will indeed be strong enough someday to span great distances.”
Yunho studied Jaejoong closely and saw the truth of his words. “Why? Why do you believe that?”
Jaejoong looked away from the captain, unable to meet his eyes. “I can’t tell you that…yet, but it’s true. You just have to trust me.”
“Computer, lock the door to my command only,” Yunho ordered aloud to the Expectation’s main computer that controlled the ship.
“Yes, Captain,” the automated voice of the computer answered, locking the door.
Jaejoong looked back at the captain and reached out his arms for him. “Come to me.”
“I do trust you…implicitly. I don’t want you to think I am only doing this so one day I can be free of you…I do care for you,” Yunho explained as he stepped up to Jaejoong.
“I know you care for me.”
“I do…the pull between us is very strong,” Yunho told him as he reached up and cupped Jaejoong’s face. “I have never wanted anybody as much as I want you.”
Jaejoong placed both of his hands to Yunho’s face. “Proximity strengthens our bond, but this will be different. When we do this it will be like a gateway is opened between our minds. There will be no use for words.”
Yunho took a step backwards, pulling away from Jaejoong’s touch. “What do you mean by that? Will we know each other’s every thought?”
“No, I will only know your surface thoughts that you direct toward me…and your desires. I would not go deeper into your mind without your permission…but you will also know my surface thoughts. Once the bond is firmly established we will not need spoken words with each other. You will be able to send me messages…telepathically,” Jaejoong explained, reaching out his hand for Yunho again.
“What if I don’t want to send you messages telepathically? I like spoken words,” Yunho said with his eyes narrowing at the thought.
Jaejoong chuckled. “Then we will do spoken words. Now is the time for you push your doubts aside and move forward with me. I know you are ready.”
“Do you want to know what I know? I know members of my crew - my Changmin - is down on a planet with giant bears. I know I have to suck up my reservations and just do this, but it’s not how I wanted it to be,” Yunho said, moving back to Jaejoong who immediately grabbed him and pulled him closer.
“You don’t have to suck anything. You only have to do what feels good.”
Yunho blushed. “That isn’t what I….”
Jaejoong hushed Yunho with a firm kiss to the lips. “Don’t think…just feel. Feel me.”
In response to Jaejoong’s mental plea Yunho pulled Jaejoong tightly to him and kissed the other man back. Jaejoong’s hands ran over Yunho’s firm, hard body while at the same time his mind tried to open the gateway between them. Yunho’s mouth moved away from Jaejoong’s lips and slid down his neck as his hands slid under Jaejoong’s shirt and quickly pulled it up over Jaejoong’s head and tossed it on the floor.
Jaejoong’s body melted under Yunho’s touch but Yunho’s mind still remained closed to him. The moments passed, the passion flared, but the gateway did not open. Jaejoong soon found himself pushed back against the table as Yunho, who was still fully clothed, went to work, removing Jaejoong’s pants. Jaejoong reached down and grabbed Yunho’s hands, startling him. Yunho who had been kissing, sucking, and leaving marks up and down Jaejoong’s chest and abdomen stopped as he pulled back to stare at the man underneath him.
“Kiss me again,” Jaejoong ordered mentally as he released Yunho’s hands and placed both of his hands on either side of Yunho’s face, pulling the other man down for a desperate kiss. Once Yunho’s hands were free he quickly went to work on Jaejoong’s pants while at the same time kissing the man passionately. Yunho smiled into the kiss as he succeeded in removing Jaejoong’s pants. Jaejoong wrapped both of his legs around Yunho’s waist while at the same time trying to force the gateway between them open.
No matter how much Jaejoong tried the gateway between their minds remained closed. Jaejoong sighed into a kiss that was desperate for all the wrong reasons, and with a cry of disappointment he pushed Yunho away.
“This isn’t going to work.”
“No,” Yunho admitted, looking around the room. “We need a lubricant.”
“What?”
“You know what I mean, but there isn’t anything in here that we can use.”
“We don’t need a lubricant.”
Yunho squinted. “Wouldn’t that hurt? I’m not an expert by any means. I don’t want to hurt you…although I guess you would heal yourself pretty fast, but still.”
Jaejoong closed his eyes and shook his head as Yunho missed the point entirely. “As sweet as your concern for my comfort is, it’s unnecessary. I am not human as I have told you repeatedly. My prostate does its own lubricating.”
Yunho tilted his head and scrunched up his nose as every human biology class he had ever taken flooded back to him. “How is that even possible?”
“Not human,” Jaejoong snapped aloud as he rubbed the palms of his hands against his face. “That isn’t even the problem.”
Yunho stared at the naked man on the table. “Then what’s the problem?”
“It’s not working.”
“It’s working for me I assure you.”
Jaejoong looked down at Yunho’s hardened cock that was still covered by clothing. “Your body is willing, but your mind…your mind isn’t there.”
Yunho stepped closer to Jaejoong and took his hand. “The body is what’s important. You keep saying sex is the answer.”
Jaejoong shook his head frantically. “I thought if we made love…your mind would open to me, but this is just sex…and sex isn’t enough. Sex is just physical contact.”
“I don’t understand,” Yunho said, reaching up a hand and running it through Jaejoong’s hair.
“Although your body is more than willing, you have one thing on your mind right now, and it’s not me. It’s helping your people.”
“I told you that, that’s why I was so hesitant. You said it wouldn’t matter.”
“I thought I could still open the gateway between us, but your mind is much more complex then I originally thought. You have been exposed to another telepath and it has strengthened you,” Jaejoong admitted, avoiding Yunho’s gaze. “Your mind will open to me when it’s ready and not a moment before.”
“Another telepath? Of course I’ve known telepaths. The Betazoids are members of the Federation and I have known some through Star Fleet…but I’ve never been really close to them,” Yunho said, pondering Jaejoong’s words.
Jaejoong continued to look away nervously. “I guess you were closer than you thought. What matters is that our having sex will not strengthen our bond enough. Only making love will…and you are not there.”
Yunho reached down and grabbed Jaejoong’s shirt that he had thrown on the floor in his haste. “Don’t be embarrassed…it’s not you. I just…I can’t help but focus on the away team.”
Jaejoong smiled and raised his arms up as Yunho slid his shirt back on for him. “I know. It’s why you are a great captain.”
Yunho bent back down and grabbed Jaejoong’s pants and placed them back on Jaejoong, threading his legs through them. Jaejoong slid off the table and Yunho finished pulling his pants up. “When this is over, when they are all safe,” Yunho said, pulling Jaejoong in for a hug, “then we will have our time.”
“I know.”
“And for the right reasons,” Yunho told him as he bent down for another kiss, but was interrupted when Ensign Eunhyuk’s voice came over the intercom.
“Captain, we are getting a message from Commander Cho.”
Yunho quickly let go of Jaejoong and hurried through the door to the bridge. “Let’s hear it.”
“Captain, the water is too fast. We have been unable to find Sungmin,” Commander Cho’s voice told them.
“Commander, keep looking. I am going to send down a shuttle craft to assist with the search,” the captain told him.
“Yes, Sir.”
The captain tapped his insignia. “Commander Yoochun, I need a shuttle craft ready to depart as soon as possible.”
“Aye, Aye Captain, I will have it ready in five minutes,” the chief engineer told him quickly and confidently.
**************
Sungmin had fought to remain afloat for miles but the pain in his left side and the blood loss worked against him. The current kept trying to pull him under to a watery grave. He struggled with the last of his strength to stay afloat but lost the battle as the current won and pulled him completely under.
His mind was viciously cruel to him, as his lungs filled with water and thoughts of Kyuhyun and Ryeowook filled his head. Kyuhyun would find Ryeowook on this planet that would claim his life. Sungmin doubted that Kyuhyun would even spare a moment mourning him. Kyuhyun would be happy again, happiness he could never find with Sungmin. Happiness that Kyuhyun had found at the Academy,years ago with the most unlikely person. Sungmin remembered Kyuhyun’s initial outrage when the stewards had given him what he had called a person from a backwater primitive planet as a roommate. Sungmin had befriended the chubby, extremely awkward Ryeowook, feeling sorry for him as the other cadets took delight in tormenting him.
Kyuhyun has mocked Ryeowook ruthlessly at first, but then something had changed. Ryeowook’s honesty, innocence, and sincerity had touched something in the bitter, spoiled son of powerful admirals…something that Sungmin had never come close to touching. Sungmin, who had loved Kyuhyun from the first time he saw him at the Star Fleet entrance exams, was forced to watch helplessly as Kyuhyun and Ryeowook fell hopelessly in love with each other.
He was forced to push his feelings aside and be the supportive friend of both, but all the time wishing things were different. Wishing Kyuhyun was his, while at the same time allowing Ryeowook to call him best friend. When Ryeowook was thought dead, a horrendous guilt has befallen Sungmin. The guilt was not enough though in the end, not enough to push a grief stricken Kyuhyun away when he had sought comfort in Sungmin. No, the guilt had not been enough.
Sungmin thought death was perhaps a kinder end than facing Ryeowook again…facing that trusting friend. Yes, he would rather die than live with the consequences of his betrayal. He’d rather die than watch Kyuhyun flee back into those arms he not only craved but loved with all his heart. So Sungmin accepted the inevitability of his death. Maybe this way Ryeowook never needed to know. Kyuhyun would lie to protect Ryeowook from any pain, and what member of the crew would willingly hurt the very beloved Dr. Cho? Sungmin would die and take his and Kyuhyun’s dirty secret with him to his watery grave.
But just when all hope was lost and death was embraced, a hand reached down through the water and grabbed a hold of Sungmin, pulling him toward the surface.
**************
“I got him,” Siwon barely got the words out of his mouth as he gasped for beloved air and broke the water’s surface. Kangin, who was searching the water nearby, swam over quickly to assist Siwon.
“Doc, we got him!” Kangin screamed from the river as he helped Siwon pull the unconscious body toward the riverbank.
“I don’t think he is breathing,” Siwon added worriedly.
“Hurry,” Dr. Cho instructed, watching them anxiously from the bank. “Do you recognize him?”
Kangin looked back at the body and furrowed his brows. “Doc, its Ensign Lee from security.”
Ryeowook paled and shouted, “Sungmin!”
“He doesn’t look good. He has deep wounds to his left side,” Siwon told the doctor as he and Kangin were finally able to stand up in the water.
“It looks like a bear got him,” Kangin explained as he and Siwon both lifted Sungmin from the water.
“I don’t think he’s breathing,” Siwon repeated as he and Kangin laid Sungmin on the bank in front of the doctor, who already had his ear pressed against the wounded man’s chest, listening.
“No, he isn’t,” Ryeowook informed them as he immediately began CPR. Siwon and Kangin stood beside Ryeowook as they watched him work on the wounded man.
“Is he going to make it?” Kangin asked as Ryeowook took turns breathing into Sungmin’s mouth and doing compressions on his chest.
Ryeowook ignored Kangin’s question as he worked swiftly to save Sungmin’s life. Ryeowook let out a sigh of relief when Sungmin started coughing and expelling water from his lungs. Ryeowook’s relief was short lived because as soon as Sungmin’s heart started pumping again the wound on his side started gushing blood. “Kangin, I need you to hold pressure here.”
Kangin bent down and quickly placed his hands on the site that Ryeowook pointed to. “If he is here…does that mean the rest of them are here too?”
Ryeowook stood up and looked around them. “I don’t have time to think about that. I need you to gather up as much of the Coagul Herb as you can find to slow his bleeding. I need to get him back to the shuttle craft so I can stitch him up.”
“The bears are going to smell that blood,” Siwon pointed out, making the other two men frown.
“That’s right, they are going to be on him like a Sunday Dinner,” Kangin agreed as he looked up to the sky. “These stink repellant necklaces won’t keep them away if they smell blood,” Kangin told them as he fingered the necklace around his neck. All three of them had similar necklaces on.
“Then let’s move him to the cave, and then find the herb. Once he stops bleeding I can wrap up his wounds enough to hide the smell from the bears. I need him in the shuttle so I can monitor him. He’s in very serious condition,” Ryeowook told them as Kangin bent down and picked Sungmin up while Ryeowook placed pressure on the wound.
“Doc, what we need is for the Expectations to beam us up. You need a sickbay,” Kangin told him.
“I would love a sickbay right now. I can’t pin all my hopes on them rescuing us though, Sungmin can’t wait that long,” Ryeowook said, walking down the path toward the cave while applying pressure to Sungmin’s wound at the same time.
Siwon who was gathering the herb along the way added, “I think the chances for rescue are good though. They must have heard our distress signal…why else would he be here?”
“I have confidence that Captain Seung will rescue us,” Kangin said, and then grinned. “Well that’s if Yunho hasn’t stolen his command out from under him yet.”
“Yunho is a little young to be captain,” Ryeowook pointed out as he studied his patient, not liking what he saw.
“Yeah, but he will make a good one someday,” Kangin laughed and said.
“No doubt,” Ryeowook muttered, walking backwards as he applied pressure to Sungmin’s wound.
“Are you even excited?” Kangin asked.
Ryeowook who was studying Sungmin intently, said in a wistful voice, “Nobody wants to be rescued more than me.”
Kangin grinned down at Ryeowook. “I am sure Kyuhyun has lost his mind over you.”
Ryeowook couldn’t hide a smile at the mention of his husband. “Kyuhyun is a lot stronger than that.”
*******************
“We still have no sign of the security chief, or anybody else,” Commander Cho said as he headed along the path that followed along the river edge.
“Proceed with caution, Commander,” the captain ordered.
“We will, Sir,” Commander Cho said, as he flipped his communicator off.
Ensign Junsu watched the shuttle that flew above the river scanning for anything that could be the injured security chief. “It doesn’t look good, does it?”
Lieutenant Jung cast a look at the ensign and shook his head. It didn’t look good. The shuttle craft had yet to find any trace of Sungmin. Commander Cho walked ahead of them, determined to follow the path till he found the lost crew of the shuttle craft…the lost doctor.
Junsu turned around and watched the seven security guards who closely followed them with their phasers drawn ready for anything. “Big, bad bears, we are ready for you now,” Junsu muttered mostly to himself.
***************
Sungmin’s world was a blur of hot fire and pain. He was convinced he was in hell. He was burning in hell for betraying his friend. “Ryeowook, I’m so sorry!”
Ryeowook, who was packing Sungmin’s wound with the Coagul Herb, looked down sadly at the delirious, feverous man. “Sungmin, it’s okay. There isn’t anything to be sorry about. Calm down.”
Sungmin reached up with his right hand and grabbed Ryeowook’s shirt. “You have to forgive me. Save me from this hell.”
“Sungmin, calm down. You are not in hell. You are injured but I am going to take care of you,” Ryeowook promised, grabbing Sungmin’s right hand and holding it, trying to comfort the injured man.
The prince who was sitting nearby eating berries as he watched Ryeowook attend to the injured man offered, “He seems most regretful about something.”
“That he does,” Kangin couldn’t help but agree as he went through their second home, ,looking for anything that could be used as a dressing.
“He is just delirious,” Ryeowook insisted as he looked down at the crying man whose eyes were now open and glued to him.
“I loved him first,” Sungmin cried, “you took him away from me. We thought you were dead. He needed me…he wanted me.”
Ryeowook swallowed nervously as something in Sungmin’s words alarmed him, setting off internal alarms. “What are you saying?”
“Shit,” Kangin said, walking over to the doctor.
Sungmin shook his head frantically and sobbed. “He was mine….but now…he will leave me. He will want you back…he will leave me. Leave me.”
Ryeowook stopped packing Sungmin’s wound and asked in a voice full of unease, “Sungmin, are you and Kyuhyun lovers?”
A very diaphoretic, injured Sungmin whimpered and confessed, “Yes, but he doesn’t love me. He never loved me.”
Ryeowook’s eyes widened in alarm, sensing the truth of Sungmin’s words but he refused to believe them. “You’re injured…you don’t know what you are saying.”
“I’m so sorry…we thought you were dead,” Sungmin cried, closing his eyes tightly. “He will want you back…he will leave me.”
“Sungmin,” Ryeowook whispered, the pain easily heard in his voice. His hands still paused over the injured man’s wound. As hard as he wished to deny the truth of Sungmin’s words, he knew better.
Kangin, who was standing behind Ryeowook, reached down a hand and squeezed his shoulder. “Do you want me to throw him back in the river, Doc?”
Siwon stood up quickly. “What? You can’t do that!”
“No, you can’t do that,” Ryeowook agreed as he resumed packing Sungmin’s wound. “Siwon, bring me some of the Aceta Root. It will help with his fever.”
Kangin sat down beside Ryeowook as he watched the man continue to attend to Sungmin gently. “I know you took an oath to do no harm, but this bastard is screwing your husband.”
“We have been gone over a year. I am sure we were assumed dead a long time ago. Also as a Star Fleet officer you can’t be offering to dispose of people for me,” Ryeowook tried to explain calmly, fighting the emotions that were trying to overwhelm him.
“Screw Star Fleet, I’m more loyal to you right now. We all owe you our lives a hundred times over,” Kangin told the doctor.
“We do owe you our lives,” Siwon agreed as he sat down on the opposite side of Sungmin as Kangin and Ryeowook. Siwon handed the doctor the root with a bottle of water.
“I’m so sorry. Ryeowook, I am so sorry,” Sungmin muttered.
“It’s okay, Sungmin,” Ryeowook told the injured man as he tilted his head up. “Sungmin, I need you to swallow this for me. It will help with your fever.”
“I’m so sorry,” Sungmin whimpered.
“Swallow,” Ryeowook said more forcefully, stuffing the root in Sungmin’s mouth and following it with the water, forcing Sungmin to swallow the root down.
“So you are not even mad?” Kangin asked in awe.
Ryeowook looked up at Kangin his eyes flashing with suppressed anger. “Oh, I am mad. I would rather stay trapped on this planet for an eternity than see that bastard husband of mine.”
*************
“I need ideas people!” the captain demanded of his officers that surrounded him at the officer’s table.
“The shuttle craft is not equipped with proper sensors to differentiate between humanoid and animal life signs,” Yoochun told him. “Although it’s doing a bang up job of finding bears.”
“We could send more people down,” Lieutenant Donghae the transporter chief offered.
“More potential bear food,” Heechul responded, not liking the idea.
Lieutenant Yesung spoke up. “With phasers, we are more than a match for the bears.”
“They had phasers before when Sungmin got attacked,” Heechul told Yoochun with an exaggerated eye roll.
“I think the naked Leeteuk running past them might have distracted them,” Lieutenant Donghae pointed out.
Heechul folded his arms and pouted. “I never get to run naked.”
“Isn’t that a terrible shame,” Lieutenant Yesung said, full of scorn.
Yoochun chuckled, eyeing Heechul with admiration. “It truly is.”
“Can we focus on our injured comrade…you know, Sungmin? Our friend? He’s down there maybe dead, and we are no help to him,” the captain said, shaking his head and hating how helpless he felt.
“We could risk lowering the Expectations into a lower orbit…if we got closer maybe our sensors could differentiate between the life signs, but…” Yoochun said trailing off.
“What would that do to our engines?” the captain asked.
“Well the shields that we would have to maintain to keep from burning up in the atmosphere would no doubt diminish our dilithium crystal supply to practically nothing. We are short on them as it is,” Commander Yoochun explained.
Jaejoong, who was sitting next to Yunho quietly could sense his mate’s worry and anxiety regarding the option the chief engineer had just given him. Jaejoong could feel that Yunho was about to take the risk to the ship instead of leaving a man behind. “There is another option.”
The officers around the table all focused on Jaejoong. “And what would that option be?” Lieutenant Yesung asked.
“I am a telepath. I am not on the top of my game, but I have been sheltering you all from the full affects of my telepathy. Out of respect for your privacy, I have closed off parts of my mind. If I were allowed to unleash my full power there is no way I could not detect a man if he were in severe pain…if I were even remotely close to him. The fact that the planet is not populated makes it much easier,” Jaejoong explained, causing the other members of the crew’s eyes to widen.
“Awe, the fewer minds for you to sift through,” Heechul explained as his keen intelligence broke through the madness.
“Jae, I thought I disrupted your senses,” Yunho asked from beside his mate.
“You do, but I still think if he is alive I would be able to sense him,” Jaejoong explained to Yunho.
“Could you sense the bears too?” Heechul asked curiously.
Jaejoong smiled and looked at Heechul. “Yes.”
“Could you control them like you did the Zusaders?” Donghae asked.
“The more primitive a species the more difficult they are to control,” Jaejoong explained, “and like I said I am not at my best. The captain’s presence is intoxicating to my senses, but I would sense a hungry bear if it were nearby.”
Yunho stood up from the chair. “You give us a heads up and we will happily take care of the bears.”
“I think it’s the best option we got,” Commander Yoochun said, liking the plan.
“Agreed,” Yunho told them. “You are all are dismissed. Transport Chief, get ready to beam us down.”
“Yes, Sir,” Donghae said, getting up from the table.
“Commander,” the captain said turning to Yoochun, “We will have to provide Jae with an insignia.”
Yoochun smiled at Jaejoong and winked. “You are a real member of the family now.”
The captain swatted Yoochun on the arm. “Just go get one.”
Jaejoong watched as the chief engineer hurried off to get him an insignia. “What exactly is an insignia?” Jaejoong asked, desperately trying not to pry the answer out of the Yunho’s mind.
Yunho looked down at Jaejoong who remained seated, and tapped the triangular looking broach on his chest. “It allows us to communicate on board the ship with each other…I am sure you noticed. But most importantly it allows the Expectations to latch on to us while we are off ship…if we are in beaming range. "
Adventure: The Lost Doctor Part 2 of 3
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuMin, KyuWook
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Romance, Angst
Beta: Motty123
Special Thanks to Amy for all her wonderful support.
A/N: This story is inspired by Star Trek. The crew of the Expectations will be made up of members of DBSK and Super Junior. Each chapter will be its own separate adventure, and will have its own focus. An adventure may have several parts.
Summary: Commander Kyuhyun is lost to a world of grief and self-hatred as he uses Sungmin, while continuing to mourn his spouse. Captain Yunho attempts to come to terms with the lifelong bond he has with Jaejoong. The crew is shocked when it receives a must unexpected call for help.
Prior Adventures
Jaejoong followed Yunho into the Officer’s Lounge that was connected to the bridge. Jaejoong could feel Yunho’s distress at being stuck on the ship and separated from his away team.
Jaejoong sat directly on the table, ignoring the chairs as he watched Yunho pace the room. He watched as Yunho fought an internal battle with himself. The thought that his crew was in danger and there wasn’t anything he could do but wait on the ship did not sit well with the captain. “Come to me…be with me.”
Yunho stopped pacing and eyed Jaejoong, not hungrily but with a new necessity in his eyes. “It would be for the wrong reasons…it’s always been for the wrong reasons.”
“You have an outdated notion of right and wrong. It has never been for the wrong reasons. It wasn’t wrong to save your life and it wouldn’t be wrong now.”
“If we had sex would I be able to beam down to that planet?”
“Not without me…”
“Then what purpose would it serve? I can’t have sex while members of my crew are in danger.”
“The purpose would be to start strengthening the bond so that someday you can visit planets without me.”
“Are you even sure that day will come?”
“Yes, I have reason to believe that our bond will indeed be strong enough someday to span great distances.”
Yunho studied Jaejoong closely and saw the truth of his words. “Why? Why do you believe that?”
Jaejoong looked away from the captain, unable to meet his eyes. “I can’t tell you that…yet, but it’s true. You just have to trust me.”
“Computer, lock the door to my command only,” Yunho ordered aloud to the Expectation’s main computer that controlled the ship.
“Yes, Captain,” the automated voice of the computer answered, locking the door.
Jaejoong looked back at the captain and reached out his arms for him. “Come to me.”
“I do trust you…implicitly. I don’t want you to think I am only doing this so one day I can be free of you…I do care for you,” Yunho explained as he stepped up to Jaejoong.
“I know you care for me.”
“I do…the pull between us is very strong,” Yunho told him as he reached up and cupped Jaejoong’s face. “I have never wanted anybody as much as I want you.”
Jaejoong placed both of his hands to Yunho’s face. “Proximity strengthens our bond, but this will be different. When we do this it will be like a gateway is opened between our minds. There will be no use for words.”
Yunho took a step backwards, pulling away from Jaejoong’s touch. “What do you mean by that? Will we know each other’s every thought?”
“No, I will only know your surface thoughts that you direct toward me…and your desires. I would not go deeper into your mind without your permission…but you will also know my surface thoughts. Once the bond is firmly established we will not need spoken words with each other. You will be able to send me messages…telepathically,” Jaejoong explained, reaching out his hand for Yunho again.
“What if I don’t want to send you messages telepathically? I like spoken words,” Yunho said with his eyes narrowing at the thought.
Jaejoong chuckled. “Then we will do spoken words. Now is the time for you push your doubts aside and move forward with me. I know you are ready.”
“Do you want to know what I know? I know members of my crew - my Changmin - is down on a planet with giant bears. I know I have to suck up my reservations and just do this, but it’s not how I wanted it to be,” Yunho said, moving back to Jaejoong who immediately grabbed him and pulled him closer.
“You don’t have to suck anything. You only have to do what feels good.”
Yunho blushed. “That isn’t what I….”
Jaejoong hushed Yunho with a firm kiss to the lips. “Don’t think…just feel. Feel me.”
In response to Jaejoong’s mental plea Yunho pulled Jaejoong tightly to him and kissed the other man back. Jaejoong’s hands ran over Yunho’s firm, hard body while at the same time his mind tried to open the gateway between them. Yunho’s mouth moved away from Jaejoong’s lips and slid down his neck as his hands slid under Jaejoong’s shirt and quickly pulled it up over Jaejoong’s head and tossed it on the floor.
Jaejoong’s body melted under Yunho’s touch but Yunho’s mind still remained closed to him. The moments passed, the passion flared, but the gateway did not open. Jaejoong soon found himself pushed back against the table as Yunho, who was still fully clothed, went to work, removing Jaejoong’s pants. Jaejoong reached down and grabbed Yunho’s hands, startling him. Yunho who had been kissing, sucking, and leaving marks up and down Jaejoong’s chest and abdomen stopped as he pulled back to stare at the man underneath him.
“Kiss me again,” Jaejoong ordered mentally as he released Yunho’s hands and placed both of his hands on either side of Yunho’s face, pulling the other man down for a desperate kiss. Once Yunho’s hands were free he quickly went to work on Jaejoong’s pants while at the same time kissing the man passionately. Yunho smiled into the kiss as he succeeded in removing Jaejoong’s pants. Jaejoong wrapped both of his legs around Yunho’s waist while at the same time trying to force the gateway between them open.
No matter how much Jaejoong tried the gateway between their minds remained closed. Jaejoong sighed into a kiss that was desperate for all the wrong reasons, and with a cry of disappointment he pushed Yunho away.
“This isn’t going to work.”
“No,” Yunho admitted, looking around the room. “We need a lubricant.”
“What?”
“You know what I mean, but there isn’t anything in here that we can use.”
“We don’t need a lubricant.”
Yunho squinted. “Wouldn’t that hurt? I’m not an expert by any means. I don’t want to hurt you…although I guess you would heal yourself pretty fast, but still.”
Jaejoong closed his eyes and shook his head as Yunho missed the point entirely. “As sweet as your concern for my comfort is, it’s unnecessary. I am not human as I have told you repeatedly. My prostate does its own lubricating.”
Yunho tilted his head and scrunched up his nose as every human biology class he had ever taken flooded back to him. “How is that even possible?”
“Not human,” Jaejoong snapped aloud as he rubbed the palms of his hands against his face. “That isn’t even the problem.”
Yunho stared at the naked man on the table. “Then what’s the problem?”
“It’s not working.”
“It’s working for me I assure you.”
Jaejoong looked down at Yunho’s hardened cock that was still covered by clothing. “Your body is willing, but your mind…your mind isn’t there.”
Yunho stepped closer to Jaejoong and took his hand. “The body is what’s important. You keep saying sex is the answer.”
Jaejoong shook his head frantically. “I thought if we made love…your mind would open to me, but this is just sex…and sex isn’t enough. Sex is just physical contact.”
“I don’t understand,” Yunho said, reaching up a hand and running it through Jaejoong’s hair.
“Although your body is more than willing, you have one thing on your mind right now, and it’s not me. It’s helping your people.”
“I told you that, that’s why I was so hesitant. You said it wouldn’t matter.”
“I thought I could still open the gateway between us, but your mind is much more complex then I originally thought. You have been exposed to another telepath and it has strengthened you,” Jaejoong admitted, avoiding Yunho’s gaze. “Your mind will open to me when it’s ready and not a moment before.”
“Another telepath? Of course I’ve known telepaths. The Betazoids are members of the Federation and I have known some through Star Fleet…but I’ve never been really close to them,” Yunho said, pondering Jaejoong’s words.
Jaejoong continued to look away nervously. “I guess you were closer than you thought. What matters is that our having sex will not strengthen our bond enough. Only making love will…and you are not there.”
Yunho reached down and grabbed Jaejoong’s shirt that he had thrown on the floor in his haste. “Don’t be embarrassed…it’s not you. I just…I can’t help but focus on the away team.”
Jaejoong smiled and raised his arms up as Yunho slid his shirt back on for him. “I know. It’s why you are a great captain.”
Yunho bent back down and grabbed Jaejoong’s pants and placed them back on Jaejoong, threading his legs through them. Jaejoong slid off the table and Yunho finished pulling his pants up. “When this is over, when they are all safe,” Yunho said, pulling Jaejoong in for a hug, “then we will have our time.”
“I know.”
“And for the right reasons,” Yunho told him as he bent down for another kiss, but was interrupted when Ensign Eunhyuk’s voice came over the intercom.
“Captain, we are getting a message from Commander Cho.”
Yunho quickly let go of Jaejoong and hurried through the door to the bridge. “Let’s hear it.”
“Captain, the water is too fast. We have been unable to find Sungmin,” Commander Cho’s voice told them.
“Commander, keep looking. I am going to send down a shuttle craft to assist with the search,” the captain told him.
“Yes, Sir.”
The captain tapped his insignia. “Commander Yoochun, I need a shuttle craft ready to depart as soon as possible.”
“Aye, Aye Captain, I will have it ready in five minutes,” the chief engineer told him quickly and confidently.
**************
Sungmin had fought to remain afloat for miles but the pain in his left side and the blood loss worked against him. The current kept trying to pull him under to a watery grave. He struggled with the last of his strength to stay afloat but lost the battle as the current won and pulled him completely under.
His mind was viciously cruel to him, as his lungs filled with water and thoughts of Kyuhyun and Ryeowook filled his head. Kyuhyun would find Ryeowook on this planet that would claim his life. Sungmin doubted that Kyuhyun would even spare a moment mourning him. Kyuhyun would be happy again, happiness he could never find with Sungmin. Happiness that Kyuhyun had found at the Academy,years ago with the most unlikely person. Sungmin remembered Kyuhyun’s initial outrage when the stewards had given him what he had called a person from a backwater primitive planet as a roommate. Sungmin had befriended the chubby, extremely awkward Ryeowook, feeling sorry for him as the other cadets took delight in tormenting him.
Kyuhyun has mocked Ryeowook ruthlessly at first, but then something had changed. Ryeowook’s honesty, innocence, and sincerity had touched something in the bitter, spoiled son of powerful admirals…something that Sungmin had never come close to touching. Sungmin, who had loved Kyuhyun from the first time he saw him at the Star Fleet entrance exams, was forced to watch helplessly as Kyuhyun and Ryeowook fell hopelessly in love with each other.
He was forced to push his feelings aside and be the supportive friend of both, but all the time wishing things were different. Wishing Kyuhyun was his, while at the same time allowing Ryeowook to call him best friend. When Ryeowook was thought dead, a horrendous guilt has befallen Sungmin. The guilt was not enough though in the end, not enough to push a grief stricken Kyuhyun away when he had sought comfort in Sungmin. No, the guilt had not been enough.
Sungmin thought death was perhaps a kinder end than facing Ryeowook again…facing that trusting friend. Yes, he would rather die than live with the consequences of his betrayal. He’d rather die than watch Kyuhyun flee back into those arms he not only craved but loved with all his heart. So Sungmin accepted the inevitability of his death. Maybe this way Ryeowook never needed to know. Kyuhyun would lie to protect Ryeowook from any pain, and what member of the crew would willingly hurt the very beloved Dr. Cho? Sungmin would die and take his and Kyuhyun’s dirty secret with him to his watery grave.
But just when all hope was lost and death was embraced, a hand reached down through the water and grabbed a hold of Sungmin, pulling him toward the surface.
**************
“I got him,” Siwon barely got the words out of his mouth as he gasped for beloved air and broke the water’s surface. Kangin, who was searching the water nearby, swam over quickly to assist Siwon.
“Doc, we got him!” Kangin screamed from the river as he helped Siwon pull the unconscious body toward the riverbank.
“I don’t think he is breathing,” Siwon added worriedly.
“Hurry,” Dr. Cho instructed, watching them anxiously from the bank. “Do you recognize him?”
Kangin looked back at the body and furrowed his brows. “Doc, its Ensign Lee from security.”
Ryeowook paled and shouted, “Sungmin!”
“He doesn’t look good. He has deep wounds to his left side,” Siwon told the doctor as he and Kangin were finally able to stand up in the water.
“It looks like a bear got him,” Kangin explained as he and Siwon both lifted Sungmin from the water.
“I don’t think he’s breathing,” Siwon repeated as he and Kangin laid Sungmin on the bank in front of the doctor, who already had his ear pressed against the wounded man’s chest, listening.
“No, he isn’t,” Ryeowook informed them as he immediately began CPR. Siwon and Kangin stood beside Ryeowook as they watched him work on the wounded man.
“Is he going to make it?” Kangin asked as Ryeowook took turns breathing into Sungmin’s mouth and doing compressions on his chest.
Ryeowook ignored Kangin’s question as he worked swiftly to save Sungmin’s life. Ryeowook let out a sigh of relief when Sungmin started coughing and expelling water from his lungs. Ryeowook’s relief was short lived because as soon as Sungmin’s heart started pumping again the wound on his side started gushing blood. “Kangin, I need you to hold pressure here.”
Kangin bent down and quickly placed his hands on the site that Ryeowook pointed to. “If he is here…does that mean the rest of them are here too?”
Ryeowook stood up and looked around them. “I don’t have time to think about that. I need you to gather up as much of the Coagul Herb as you can find to slow his bleeding. I need to get him back to the shuttle craft so I can stitch him up.”
“The bears are going to smell that blood,” Siwon pointed out, making the other two men frown.
“That’s right, they are going to be on him like a Sunday Dinner,” Kangin agreed as he looked up to the sky. “These stink repellant necklaces won’t keep them away if they smell blood,” Kangin told them as he fingered the necklace around his neck. All three of them had similar necklaces on.
“Then let’s move him to the cave, and then find the herb. Once he stops bleeding I can wrap up his wounds enough to hide the smell from the bears. I need him in the shuttle so I can monitor him. He’s in very serious condition,” Ryeowook told them as Kangin bent down and picked Sungmin up while Ryeowook placed pressure on the wound.
“Doc, what we need is for the Expectations to beam us up. You need a sickbay,” Kangin told him.
“I would love a sickbay right now. I can’t pin all my hopes on them rescuing us though, Sungmin can’t wait that long,” Ryeowook said, walking down the path toward the cave while applying pressure to Sungmin’s wound at the same time.
Siwon who was gathering the herb along the way added, “I think the chances for rescue are good though. They must have heard our distress signal…why else would he be here?”
“I have confidence that Captain Seung will rescue us,” Kangin said, and then grinned. “Well that’s if Yunho hasn’t stolen his command out from under him yet.”
“Yunho is a little young to be captain,” Ryeowook pointed out as he studied his patient, not liking what he saw.
“Yeah, but he will make a good one someday,” Kangin laughed and said.
“No doubt,” Ryeowook muttered, walking backwards as he applied pressure to Sungmin’s wound.
“Are you even excited?” Kangin asked.
Ryeowook who was studying Sungmin intently, said in a wistful voice, “Nobody wants to be rescued more than me.”
Kangin grinned down at Ryeowook. “I am sure Kyuhyun has lost his mind over you.”
Ryeowook couldn’t hide a smile at the mention of his husband. “Kyuhyun is a lot stronger than that.”
*******************
“We still have no sign of the security chief, or anybody else,” Commander Cho said as he headed along the path that followed along the river edge.
“Proceed with caution, Commander,” the captain ordered.
“We will, Sir,” Commander Cho said, as he flipped his communicator off.
Ensign Junsu watched the shuttle that flew above the river scanning for anything that could be the injured security chief. “It doesn’t look good, does it?”
Lieutenant Jung cast a look at the ensign and shook his head. It didn’t look good. The shuttle craft had yet to find any trace of Sungmin. Commander Cho walked ahead of them, determined to follow the path till he found the lost crew of the shuttle craft…the lost doctor.
Junsu turned around and watched the seven security guards who closely followed them with their phasers drawn ready for anything. “Big, bad bears, we are ready for you now,” Junsu muttered mostly to himself.
***************
Sungmin’s world was a blur of hot fire and pain. He was convinced he was in hell. He was burning in hell for betraying his friend. “Ryeowook, I’m so sorry!”
Ryeowook, who was packing Sungmin’s wound with the Coagul Herb, looked down sadly at the delirious, feverous man. “Sungmin, it’s okay. There isn’t anything to be sorry about. Calm down.”
Sungmin reached up with his right hand and grabbed Ryeowook’s shirt. “You have to forgive me. Save me from this hell.”
“Sungmin, calm down. You are not in hell. You are injured but I am going to take care of you,” Ryeowook promised, grabbing Sungmin’s right hand and holding it, trying to comfort the injured man.
The prince who was sitting nearby eating berries as he watched Ryeowook attend to the injured man offered, “He seems most regretful about something.”
“That he does,” Kangin couldn’t help but agree as he went through their second home, ,looking for anything that could be used as a dressing.
“He is just delirious,” Ryeowook insisted as he looked down at the crying man whose eyes were now open and glued to him.
“I loved him first,” Sungmin cried, “you took him away from me. We thought you were dead. He needed me…he wanted me.”
Ryeowook swallowed nervously as something in Sungmin’s words alarmed him, setting off internal alarms. “What are you saying?”
“Shit,” Kangin said, walking over to the doctor.
Sungmin shook his head frantically and sobbed. “He was mine….but now…he will leave me. He will want you back…he will leave me. Leave me.”
Ryeowook stopped packing Sungmin’s wound and asked in a voice full of unease, “Sungmin, are you and Kyuhyun lovers?”
A very diaphoretic, injured Sungmin whimpered and confessed, “Yes, but he doesn’t love me. He never loved me.”
Ryeowook’s eyes widened in alarm, sensing the truth of Sungmin’s words but he refused to believe them. “You’re injured…you don’t know what you are saying.”
“I’m so sorry…we thought you were dead,” Sungmin cried, closing his eyes tightly. “He will want you back…he will leave me.”
“Sungmin,” Ryeowook whispered, the pain easily heard in his voice. His hands still paused over the injured man’s wound. As hard as he wished to deny the truth of Sungmin’s words, he knew better.
Kangin, who was standing behind Ryeowook, reached down a hand and squeezed his shoulder. “Do you want me to throw him back in the river, Doc?”
Siwon stood up quickly. “What? You can’t do that!”
“No, you can’t do that,” Ryeowook agreed as he resumed packing Sungmin’s wound. “Siwon, bring me some of the Aceta Root. It will help with his fever.”
Kangin sat down beside Ryeowook as he watched the man continue to attend to Sungmin gently. “I know you took an oath to do no harm, but this bastard is screwing your husband.”
“We have been gone over a year. I am sure we were assumed dead a long time ago. Also as a Star Fleet officer you can’t be offering to dispose of people for me,” Ryeowook tried to explain calmly, fighting the emotions that were trying to overwhelm him.
“Screw Star Fleet, I’m more loyal to you right now. We all owe you our lives a hundred times over,” Kangin told the doctor.
“We do owe you our lives,” Siwon agreed as he sat down on the opposite side of Sungmin as Kangin and Ryeowook. Siwon handed the doctor the root with a bottle of water.
“I’m so sorry. Ryeowook, I am so sorry,” Sungmin muttered.
“It’s okay, Sungmin,” Ryeowook told the injured man as he tilted his head up. “Sungmin, I need you to swallow this for me. It will help with your fever.”
“I’m so sorry,” Sungmin whimpered.
“Swallow,” Ryeowook said more forcefully, stuffing the root in Sungmin’s mouth and following it with the water, forcing Sungmin to swallow the root down.
“So you are not even mad?” Kangin asked in awe.
Ryeowook looked up at Kangin his eyes flashing with suppressed anger. “Oh, I am mad. I would rather stay trapped on this planet for an eternity than see that bastard husband of mine.”
*************
“I need ideas people!” the captain demanded of his officers that surrounded him at the officer’s table.
“The shuttle craft is not equipped with proper sensors to differentiate between humanoid and animal life signs,” Yoochun told him. “Although it’s doing a bang up job of finding bears.”
“We could send more people down,” Lieutenant Donghae the transporter chief offered.
“More potential bear food,” Heechul responded, not liking the idea.
Lieutenant Yesung spoke up. “With phasers, we are more than a match for the bears.”
“They had phasers before when Sungmin got attacked,” Heechul told Yoochun with an exaggerated eye roll.
“I think the naked Leeteuk running past them might have distracted them,” Lieutenant Donghae pointed out.
Heechul folded his arms and pouted. “I never get to run naked.”
“Isn’t that a terrible shame,” Lieutenant Yesung said, full of scorn.
Yoochun chuckled, eyeing Heechul with admiration. “It truly is.”
“Can we focus on our injured comrade…you know, Sungmin? Our friend? He’s down there maybe dead, and we are no help to him,” the captain said, shaking his head and hating how helpless he felt.
“We could risk lowering the Expectations into a lower orbit…if we got closer maybe our sensors could differentiate between the life signs, but…” Yoochun said trailing off.
“What would that do to our engines?” the captain asked.
“Well the shields that we would have to maintain to keep from burning up in the atmosphere would no doubt diminish our dilithium crystal supply to practically nothing. We are short on them as it is,” Commander Yoochun explained.
Jaejoong, who was sitting next to Yunho quietly could sense his mate’s worry and anxiety regarding the option the chief engineer had just given him. Jaejoong could feel that Yunho was about to take the risk to the ship instead of leaving a man behind. “There is another option.”
The officers around the table all focused on Jaejoong. “And what would that option be?” Lieutenant Yesung asked.
“I am a telepath. I am not on the top of my game, but I have been sheltering you all from the full affects of my telepathy. Out of respect for your privacy, I have closed off parts of my mind. If I were allowed to unleash my full power there is no way I could not detect a man if he were in severe pain…if I were even remotely close to him. The fact that the planet is not populated makes it much easier,” Jaejoong explained, causing the other members of the crew’s eyes to widen.
“Awe, the fewer minds for you to sift through,” Heechul explained as his keen intelligence broke through the madness.
“Jae, I thought I disrupted your senses,” Yunho asked from beside his mate.
“You do, but I still think if he is alive I would be able to sense him,” Jaejoong explained to Yunho.
“Could you sense the bears too?” Heechul asked curiously.
Jaejoong smiled and looked at Heechul. “Yes.”
“Could you control them like you did the Zusaders?” Donghae asked.
“The more primitive a species the more difficult they are to control,” Jaejoong explained, “and like I said I am not at my best. The captain’s presence is intoxicating to my senses, but I would sense a hungry bear if it were nearby.”
Yunho stood up from the chair. “You give us a heads up and we will happily take care of the bears.”
“I think it’s the best option we got,” Commander Yoochun said, liking the plan.
“Agreed,” Yunho told them. “You are all are dismissed. Transport Chief, get ready to beam us down.”
“Yes, Sir,” Donghae said, getting up from the table.
“Commander,” the captain said turning to Yoochun, “We will have to provide Jae with an insignia.”
Yoochun smiled at Jaejoong and winked. “You are a real member of the family now.”
The captain swatted Yoochun on the arm. “Just go get one.”
Jaejoong watched as the chief engineer hurried off to get him an insignia. “What exactly is an insignia?” Jaejoong asked, desperately trying not to pry the answer out of the Yunho’s mind.
Yunho looked down at Jaejoong who remained seated, and tapped the triangular looking broach on his chest. “It allows us to communicate on board the ship with each other…I am sure you noticed. But most importantly it allows the Expectations to latch on to us while we are off ship…if we are in beaming range. "