Chapter Text
“George. I can’t do this without you! I can’t do this alone. Please.”
“You won’t make it at all if I don’t stay and fight them off! You have to go!”
Winona sobbed as the shuttle detached from the bay with a lurch. She curled around the tiny baby in her belly, praying that somehow they would all make it through, they would all survive. She was still so early in her pregnancy, she could not help but dread the thought that she might lose it;
“Win, are you there?”
“I’m here, George, I’m here!” She cried.
“Sweetheart. I’m so sorry. I’m not going to be there. You are strong; you can do this.”
“No, why are you still on the ship?? You have to be here,” she pleaded, knowing in her heart he would never abandon his post for his own sake, but she truly didn’t know how she could go on without him. George had always been strong and dependable, someone she could lean on when life just seemed too much.
“Sweetheart, can you hear me??”
The communication was full of static, and the tremor of fear in his voice was unmistakable.
“I can hear you—!” she managed to choke out through tears.
“I love you so much! I lo—“
The ‘pop’ of the comm connection breaking was deafening. Winona sobbed as the lights from the explosion reached the shuttle. He was gone. She watched the massive black ship list away, and a small hope flickered within her; they were going to make it. Burying her head in her arms, she sobbed quietly, blocking out the view of the destroyed Kelvin.
A sudden lurch brought Winona’s attention back up.
“We’re caught in the tractor beam!”
Her heart sunk as the shuttle stopped and was slowly pulled backwards toward their attackers. She bit her lip and bolstered herself; she could help.
“Where are our shields?” She said, glancing over Lieutenant Commander Humphrey’s shoulder.
“It’s draining them…it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before, Lieutenant.”
Winona scanned the systems, trying to find something they could use. Anything. But Humphrey was meticulous, as always. The shuttle descended toward the gaping maw of the other ship.
“Do we fight?” She asked quietly.
“No,” Humphrey replied, “If they wanted us dead, we’d be dead by now. These Romulans want us alive for some reason.”
“That can’t be good.”
Humphrey’s lip quirked in a mirthless motion, “We’ll soon find out; and perhaps we’ll find out more about them in the process. I know how much George meant to you, Kirk, but I will not lose more people today for the sake of revenge, you hear?”
“Yes, sir,” Winona said through clenched teeth. The thought had occurred to her; but Humphrey was right. She had nothing but a phaser, and would never get close enough to who was responsible for George’s death before they took her down. And how many would join her in such a futile attack? Too many, and still not enough. And she had to think of her little one. The only piece of George she had left. For the baby’s sake, if nothing else, she would survive. She would endure.