'Keep your mind on your job, Hikaru', he reminded himself, 'or you're going to get caught. And how would you explain this one to Starfleet? We went on shore leave and... ... misplaced our ship. The captain has no idea what happened to it. He's stranded on a suddenly hostile planet, and half of his crew has been kidnapped.

Besides, idiot that you are, you volunteered for this.'

He inched along, centimeter by centimeter until he came to a small grate leading to the interior complex.

Too small for him to pass through, of course, that was why it wasn't guarded. Getting into the complex was not his objective, however.

He removed a small vial of liquid from one of several pouches strapped to his back, all empty now, setting it carefully next to the metal grate.

He wiggled backward until he had space enough to turn, then retreated as quickly as he could, disregarding injuries in his haste.

He emerged into a verdant green forest, and scouted carefully before starting off on foot for the nearest base. Behind him, a soft curl of smoke escaped from the ventilation shaft he had just vacated.

"How did it go?" Rowe asked, handing him a towel.

He gratefully accepted it and began toweling himself vigorously dry. Sulu looked up at her, frowning.

"I think I may have been spotted once. Did all the vials go off as expected?"

"Ya," she replied, searching through the clothes for something clean. She finally handed him a shirt that was only slightly soiled and a pair of trousers. "The rescue attempt is in it's final planning stages; the distraction of the "disease" the prisoners have caught should keep the Verin busy for a while.

"Lets not take any chances. I want double watches tonight. They don't know we're out here yet, but we can't hide from them forever. Eventually, they will realize that Pavel isn't our leader and they'll come looking for me, if nothing else.

He looked up at his second officer again. "Dismissed," he added, and went looking for something to eat while she passed on his orders.

Pavel would never have needed the orders. He would've had security beefed up and everyone alert the moment Sulu had entered the tunnels.

But then, Pavel was paranoid. 'And working with him all these years has made me think that way, too,' he thought ruefully. He had chosen his science officer because he thought Pavel needed a counter-weight to his paranoia, but now he thought Rowe might be a little too trusting.

Sulu just hoped it didn't get her killed. For that matter, he hoped it didn't get him killed!

The Captain noted several crewmen watching him surreptitiously, and banished the frown he knew he was wearing.

It wouldn't do to show too much worry about the members of the crew held captive by the Verin. Bad for morale.

'Come on, Pavel. Give me a little inside help. I need you out here.' Needed him out here to hold him up when he got tired, to bolster his spirits with that unremitting Russian do or die spirit that never failed to impress him. Just to be there, where Sulu could see him. Touch him.

Hikaru Sulu wondered if Pavel knew how his captain felt about him. He should probably have his friend transfered, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do it. If there were a chance, however slim, that Pavel might.... reciprocate his emotions.... maybe. It would be worth the constant seperation to be able to wake up with him when they were together.

Sulu yanked his thoughts back on target when they started wandering into a fantasy realm he usually kept reserved for his sleep period.

"Lieutenant Rowe," he ordered as the young woman passed him. "Report."

"Security is doubled, Sir," she said breathlessly, juggling a stack of data padds. She hadn't learned how to delegate authority yet, either. "And the rescue operation is ready for you to view. They've made all the changes you stipulated, Sir, and are waiting at the comand post."

Sulu nodded, and she walked off, dropping a padd as she went. He picked it up and set it carefully on the top of the stack, acknowledging her grateful smile with a nod. 'How many sirs was that?' he wondered, missing Pavel more than ever. The Commander had taken to calling him Hikaru lately. He insisted that if you worked with someone for twenty years you should at least be on a first name basis with them. And Sulu loved the way Pavel's Russian accent altered his name.

Sulu meandered over to the "Command Post", a big rock near the most secure edge of the circular clearing his team was currently housed in. One third butted up against a sheer rock face, another half was made impenetrable by bramble bushes growing so close together even the rodents had trouble passing through them. Which left them with only a small portion to defend. Not that he didn't have guards on the rock wall and the brambles, as well. Pavel would never forgive him if he died from sheer stupidity.

Sulu resolutely dragged his thoughts from Pavel yet again, and addressed his troops. Rowe, having already been briefed on the mission, was remaining behind to coordinate. She was good at that, and it kept her out of danger. More or less. She was late, of course.

His eyes lit on Janice Rand. "Any luck with contacting Excelsior?" he asked quietly. She shook her head in response. He frowned, momentarily concerned about the rest of his crew. 'Never mind them,' he told himself firmly. 'They have a hell of a lot more chance of getting out of this on their own than Pavel and the others.'

He turned to Alexi Kent, raising one eyebrow. Without further prompting, his chief of security laid out the rescue plan step by step for his Captain's approval, exactly as he had three times before.

Lieutenant Kent had spent the last three days making these plans, and fuming because his captain insisted that he risk his life going into the tunnels when it should have been Alexi Kent that was putting himself in danger to rescue the rest of the crew.

"We attack here," he began, indicating a tiny entrance on the map. "It's not supposed to be heavily guarded, so it's an obvious target. We should have no trouble making ourselves look more numerous than we actually are.

While we're here, you" Kent sounded dissaproving as he outlined Sulu's part in the proceedings. "sir, will sneak in here. It's a ventilation shaft that should be big enough to allow you access to the compound itself. The door directly underneath it is shielded and heavily guarded, but there's no actual security around the shaft. Just don't let anyone see you."

Sulu nodded, concentrating on the map. He probably shouldn't be going in himself, and he knew he was worrying his officers half to death. He just hoped they took it for one of his usual hyperactive insanities rather than what it really was.

He needed to see Pavel for himself, to make sure he was ok. And he couldn't wait until the rescue team brought him back.

"We have very little information about the inside of the complex, so you'll be mostly on your own. Communications is monitored, so don't contact us. They'll know exactly where you are if you do.

As near as we can tell, The Commander is being held here, and the others, one level up, here," he explained, pointing out the sites on the crude map.

Sulu examined the information carefully. "So, getting in seems easy enough," he said thoughtfully, "As long as nobody looks up. And then I wing it."

"Yes, Sir," Kent said, plainly not happy with the situation. But he had his orders. The Captain was to join the rescue mission. "I'm hoping the Commander will have come up with something to help from the inside. By now he should have realized that the effects of the "disease" appear to be mainly cosmetic. Maybe they'll loosen security up a little," He added without much hope.

"Maybe," Sulu agreed thoughtfully. Pavel was locked up, surrounded by guards, and had apparently contracted some sort of disease that caused skin irritation and mild discomfort. It looked awful, though. What would Pavel do...?

Be pitiful, of course. The Verin had proven themselves suseptible to those big brown eyes and that lost puppy dog expression before, they'd likely do so again.

Sulu grinned. Those Verin that were undergoing their reproductive cycles would tear down the door to get to "poor, pitiful, sick Pavel, who just wants to be cuddled and pampered until he feels better."

'God knows I have trouble not jumping on him when he gets like that.

"Sir?" Rand asked tentatively. Sulu realized he was still grinning.

"Oh, I think Pavel probably has a few tricks up his sleeve," he said, unquenchable exuberance returning with a vengance. "A good many of them have asked him to... ah... donate DNA," he added delicately. "He can probably use that to his advantage."

Rand's eyebrow twiched in response. She alone, out of all his friends or crew members knew how he felt about Pavel. She could be trusted to forget anything he had ever confided in her if he needed her to. Others suspected, of course, but there was no proof.... Pavel was never anything more or less than a very close friend. Damn him. It occured to him to ask Demora if Pavel did that on purpose, or if the Russian even knew about Sulu's feelings for him. She probably wouldn't tell him, though. It was enough to make you wonder which of them was the better father. Well, no, it wasn't, either. Pavel won, hands down.

He felt a sudden surge of jealousy at the thought of anyone but him cuddling the yourger man, and stamped it back down into hiding quickly.

"Let's go, then," he said. The order came out more sharply than he had intended it to, and he got several concerned looks from his crew members. He ignored them, dispatching decoy teams one and two, and then the attack unit. He provisioned himself carefully, aware that he might be required to hide in the tunnels for several days. After a suitable amount of time had passed, he donned an infrared visor and began the hike back to the complex, watching carefully for any signs of life.

Having found a disturbing lack of even wildlife on this moonless night, Sulu examined the ledge he was supposed to scale carefully. If he could get up there without the guards seeing him, he'd be fine.

The problem was getting up there without one of the six guards sounding the alarm.

He didn't want to incapacitate anyone, either. They had call in checkpoints, and if somebody missed one the whole complex would be alerted to his presence. Sulu strained all of his senses toward the complex. He could almost feel Pavel standing beside him, trim waist encircled by one of Sulu's arms.

The captain had once asked Rand what the crew thought about that, and she had replied, "They don't think anything about it. I mean, there are the usual rumors, of course, but most of the crew think you're a touchy-feely person anyway, and so is he. Must be a cultural thing."

Sulu snorted, remembering the off-hand way she had described him.

There was a sudden scuffle at the door, and Sulu didn't wait to see what it was. He took off at a dead run for the rocks to the side of the doorway.

Reaching them in record time, he distinctly heard a familiar voice sulking at his guards as Sulu scaled the rock quickly, trying to ignore his laboring lungs. He was getting too old to be doing this. Maybe he'd have a talk with Pavel about this habit of getting himself captured on such a regular basis.

'Then again,' he thought, looking down through a crack in the ledge, 'He is so sexy when he's sulking like that.' He grinned, tearing his eyes from his shirtless first officer and flattening himself against the wall as he attempted to open the grate. It was rusted shut, and stubborn. He pulled a compound out of his pack and dabbed it carefully on the old metal, settling back to wait for a while.

"Vhy can't I go outside?" Pavel demanded sulkily, crossing his arms and pouting. He knew he looked like a small child being denied his favorite toy, but that seemed to excite these people.

"Now, darling, you know you're not supposed to leave your room unsupervised," One of the women who was "guarding" him said sweetly, fussing over him for a bit. He allowed it, since it appeared to make her happy. The happier his jailers were, the more freedom they gave him. At this point, he was allowed to wander more or less freely among the cells of his crewmates. They weren't even always monitored anymore.

Although, technically, he wasn't supposed to be allowed to do anything. Pavel had very little respect for someone who would disobey orders just because the prisoner had a cute pout.

And Chekov was well aware that he could be adorable when he exerted himself. And occasionally when he didn't.

He took a deep breath, rolling his eyes upward.... and spotted a scrap of black... cloth? outlined against the stars. Verin guards wore purple, not black. He made a sudden effort to look disspirited. He thought about how much he missed Sulu until he was close to tears, and looked up at the ladies with a wet sheen over his eyes.

Distressed, they began fussing over him again, begging to know what was wrong.

Pavel sniffled. "I miss my friends," he said, finally. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, sniffling again. He looked up, noting the removal of the whatever-it-had-been and seeing what he thought was a hand take it's place.

One of the ladies handed him a filmy handkerchief, and he looked at it for a moment, wondering if he was actually supposed to use the thing. Only his nose was running now, and he didn't have much choice. He didn't want to look that much like a child!

He blew his nose, allowing himself to continue crying. He knew he cried nicely, too. Big, fat tears without the redness and swelling. He stuck out his bottom lip just a bit, and the small group melted almost at his feet. They scooped him up and cuddled him until he thought he would suffocate. And he liked to be cuddled!

All through this display, the guards watched tolerantly, ignoring the surrounding area in favor of the spectacle he presented. A muffled snigger from above him confirmed his guess, but was missed by the guards, who weren't to be distracted by anything.

Joy welled up in him until he almost cried again, resulting in another burst of near-hysteria on the part of his hosts. Sulu. Everything would be ok, now. No more of this idiotic brood, no more watching his crewmates get thinner and thinner as they were fed less and less every day. Now he just had to find a way to help his friend free them all.

Sulu restrained another snigger as he passed out of earshot of the group. To his surprise, Pavel entered the huge cavern shortly after, trudging along with seven air-headed Verinians trailing along in his wake.

'Do they actually give him the run of this place?' he thought increduously. Pavel appeared to be free to wander around at will.

This conclusion was proved erroneous when Pavel traipsed up to a beefy Verin and said something to him, leaning towards his victim invitingly. The Man grinned ruefully and shook his head.

Pavel appeared to consider this for a moment, then sidled a bit closer and motioned for the man to lean down. He asked again, this time speaking the question directly into the bigger alien's ear.

The alien flushed, mating instincts obviously aroused. He shook his head, and Pavel sulked. He stormed off in a huff, and the big man's eyes followed him across the entire length of the cavern. Pavel gave a little twitch of his hips before he dissapeared from sight, and the guard looked as though he might faint.

Sulu scrambled along the rafters after Pavel, knowing he'd already lost him. Which meant he was going to have to find him the hard way-- or not. He rounded the corner and looked down from his perch to see Pavel, lounging against a wall for no apparent reason.

'Does he know i'm here?' Sulu asked himself, frowning. If Pavel knew he was here, then someone else might, too.

Nothing he could do about that now. He would have to proceed on the basis that this was all just coincidence until more data presented itself. And follow Pavel, since he undoubtedly knew where the rest of his crew was. Those twenty people were depending on him.

"I vant you to read to me," he said, suddenly.

"Read, dearling?" One of them asked vapidly.

While Pavel appreciated that only the stupidest Verin had gravitated to him, in that it made escape a little easier, he was rather insulted that he couldn't attract anyone with a brain bigger than a pea.

"Da. Ve can sit in my room on the couch and you can read me a story. Vhat kind of stories do you have?" He replied, making himself look perked up and happy.

Several of the ladies squealed with delight, and they rushed toward his cell in a large group. He snorted, and looked up slowly. He stood for a moment, hands on hips, looking up at his friend, who was now perched directly above him. He could see one of Hikaru's boots.

Pavel stretched luxuriously, knowing full well what effect it had on his long-time friend.

When they got back to Excelsior, he rather thought he'd ask for a transfer. He wondered how he could get Sulu alone for a night before he left.... Was it polite to skip your own farewell party? Well, no. Probably not. He sighed, letting his arms fall to his sides. He chased after his hosts, bounding into his cell and hurling himself at the little group huddled on the couch.

He sprawled full length across their knees, wriggling until he was semi-comfortable, while one of them began reading to him in a shaky voice. Several of the others starting in on the cuddling business again, and he laid back and tuned them out for a while. He wondered how Sulu was going to get into the cell block. There weren't any rafters in here to hide in.

Sulu craned his neck, trying to see what was going on without revealing himself. He could see Pavel's legs.... and several pairs of hands roaming over them.

Jealousy flared again, and he damped it down. 'He does not belong to you!' he told himself sternly. 'Get back to work. What he does is his business.'

There were several excited squeals from below, and he used the noise to cover the sound of him dropping from the rafters. If he could just get inside Pavel's cell and find somewhere to hide... But how to get in there without being seen, now. That posed a problem.

He paused when more noises of excitement issued from the room before him. He stood to the side of the door and carefully peeked in.

Pavel had his trousers off. He stood there in regulation boxers, with a shirt thrown over his shoulder. He wiggled a little bit, sending them into giggles.

Sulu took a deep breath, sliding silently into the room and down the wall until he was lying prone. He inched his way across the room, in full view of anyone who turned around. Pavel wiggled and teased and captured their attention completely while Sulu slowly slithered under the bed, covered by floor length blankets.

'Now what?' Pavel asked himself. They weren't going to settle for posing indefinately, they wanted more out of him than that.

He really didn't want to give them more. And he wasn't getting anybody pregnant!

And anyway, he didn't think he could bear to subject a child to growing up with these idiots. They couldn't raise fleas, let alone children!

'Alright. What will get them to go away?' At a loss, Pavel continued teasing the ladies, although they were beginning to tire of this. Suddenly inspired, he stopped what he was doing and started pouting again.

"Oh, whatever is the matter?" came the multiple cries of concern. Chekov fought the urge to laugh. Sometimes it seemed as though they shared one brain amongst them.

"Curfew," he replied sulkily. "The guards vill be around in a minute to make you leave me again."

Various noises of distress precluded the guards' prompt arrival. The two beefy men ushered their frailer counterparts out, making sympathetic noises and tossing the still sulky Chekov appologetic and admiring looks.

Chekov smiled suddenly, stretched slowly, and offered them a little hip wiggle. Every occupant of the room froze, staring. "There is alvays tomorrow," he said cheerfully.

"Well... yes, dear," one of the ladies finally choked out. "Um.... goodnight."

Pavel remained standing on the couch, calmly watching them back slowly out of the room without bothering to put his clothes back on.

He surveyed the closed door thoughtfully for a while, then stripped down the rest of the way and climbed into his bed. He reached out and flicked the lamp off, silently wishing Hikaru sweet dreams.

Sulu awoke with a start. He stared up at a wooden board 3 inches from his face for a moment, and then recalled where he was.

He quickly took in his surroundings, nearly jumping out of his skin when he turned his head to find Pavel, upside down and grinning at him from above.

"Nice dream?" He asked nonchalantly.

Sulu grunted, concentrating on calming his racing heart before it exploded on him.

"You vere making interesting noises," Chekov offered, the grin widening.

Well, Pavel had no doubts as to the type of dream, that much was certain. Sulu wondered if he knew who was involved.

He collapsed back against the stone floor, banging his head on it. He sighed. "So, I take it you're not being watched?" he asked, looking up at Pavel again.

"Niet. They never vatch me anymore. I'm a model prisoner. And I am cute." Pavel responded, slithering off the bed to lie naked on the floor next to it.

Sulu laughed. "Don't hesitate to point it out, Pavel."

"I am! I'm adorable," Pavel replied, totally serious. Sulu stared at him.

"You certainly are," he replied finally, unable to take his eyes off of the other man.

Pavel smiled suddenly, breaking the spell he had Sulu under. The captain flushed, covering it by rolling out from under the bed and climbing stiffly to his feet.

Pavel rose as well, climbing back into the bed.

"I came here to rescue my crew. I think we should get started on that," he said pointedly, snapping into command mode.

"Aye, Sir," Pavel replied quickly, straightening the sheets.

It occured to Sulu suddenly that his friend wasn't wearing any clothes. He found himself stealing quick peeks at the blankets where Pavel's thigh was beginning to show.

'Oh, this is just silly!' he chided himself in disgust, 'You've seen the man stark naked a hundred times!' He suddenly realised that Pavel was talking and tore his eyes away forcing himself to focus.

Pavel looked at him mildly.

Sulu stared back for a moment. "Go over it one more time," he said finally.

Sulu licked his lips, carefully, and asked him to go over it again. Pavel wondered if he had heard anything he'd said. Apparently not. He tugged the blanket up to cover himself. Play later. Now they had a rescue operation to mount.

Pavel shrugged. The women had taken him for a ride in an armored car when the rest of the crew had been exposed to what he now knew to be an Andorian Porta Root extract. They were unatractive now, so they were being forgotten on a regular basis. Most of the compound would rather chase him around.

Sulu grinned at him, and Pavel noted just a hint of something more than "friendly". Definately a transfer. Before Hikaru started getting obvious even to people who didn't know him.

Sulu handed him a phaser and headed for the far wall. Pavel started off in the opposite direction. He wasn't allowed out after curfew, but he didn't think he was going to get any complaints.

He hid the phaser in a pile of clothing near the guard he wanted to distract, and walked up behind them.

He carefully and silently climbed up on a box, leaned forward, and blew in the man's ear.

The Verin nearly jumped out of his skin, whirling to see what had happened. When he saw Pavel, looking unhappy because his surprise hadn't been well received, he relaxed immediately. Several other guards wandered over to visit and Pavel spent the next few minutes keeping them entertained. He saw Sulu climbing up a curtain out of the corner of his eye, and wondered if the captain was done, yet. He got the all clear when every guard in the place was knocked unconscious with a phaser blast.

Pavel sighed. "I'm going to need therapy vhen this is over," he said wryly.

Sulu grinned at him. "C'mon, Pav. Help me with the injured."

Pavel shoved his shoulder under the arm of a crewoman with what appeared to be a broken leg.

They gathered everyone up and situated them in the center of the room. Then they secured the doors as best they could, and manned them with phasers, Verinian guns, or whatever else they could find.

Sulu pulled out his communicator. "Sulu to Excelsior. Come in, Excelsior. This is Captian Hikaru Sulu, calling the U.S.S. Excelsior. Please respond." Someone tried the door nearest them, and then began battering on it when it wouldn't open. The frame shook violently, but seemed to be holding. For the moment.

"Excelsior to Captain Sulu," a fuzzy com signal interrupted their fascination with the door.

"Sulu here," he replied eagerly. "What's happening up there?"

"Repairs under way.... Sir," the communications officer replied. The com signal kept fading in and out.

"Are the transporters working?" Sulu demanded as the door began to buckle.

"Aye... lock on...."

"twenty to beam up, use the carge transporters," he ordered sharply. Not as comfortable as the people movers, but it would suffice.

"...Sir."

The room suddenly shimmered around him, and he saw the door burst open in slow motion as he faded from existance.

"It's my request for a transfer, Hikaru," Pavel replied, mildly amused at his friend's reaction. This was hitting him harder than he'd expected it to. He was going to miss Sulu. Still. If this worked out like it should....

"Why? Did I do something innapropriate?" Sulu asked worriedly.

Chekov grinned slightly. "I suppose that depends on who you ask vhat's appropriate."

He shook his head. "I'm not leaving because of anything you did or did not do," he said gently. He reached out and captured Sulu's chin in his hand. He stared into his friends' face for a moment, then leaned suddenly forward, opening Hikaru's mouth in a kiss that involved his whole body and left them both breathless when he was done.

Pavel licked his lips. "I'm leaving... more for vhat I vish you vould do," he added carefully.

Sulu just stared up at him for a moment. He tossed the transfer request on his desk and hauled Pavel closer to him. He kissed him hard enough to endanger the Russian's tonsils, wrapping his arms around Pavel like he would never let go.

Pavel laughed, and gently steered him toward the bed.