Here it is, my longer fic. At the moment I'm thinking five or six parts but we shall see...

Thanks for all your wonderful feedback on my stories thus far. It's made joining this fandom a lot of fun!

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.

A new world promises medical advancements previously unthought of, but Kirk is attacked and begins to succumb to delusions at an alarming rate. But what if there's a deeper meaning to his hallucinations?

Plant-Life: One

“Jim, come with me.”

“What? No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm fine.”

“On the contrary Captain, you are looking considerably unwell. You are also bleeding profusely and the substance covering you smells quite foul. These two undeniable facts do not support your claim that your condition can be described as 'fine'.”

“Seriously, I'm fine. I just need a shower.”

“Jim, this is serious denial, even for you...”

“Actually Jimmy, y'are lookin' a wee bit green around the gills.”

“That statement is illogical Mr. Scott. The Captain is not green, nor does he possess gills...”

“It's a figure of speech Mr. Spock. It basically means...”

“Ugh! Damnit Jim, I only just got this uniform!”

“...that he looks like he'll be throwin' up.”

“I thank you for the clarification Mr. Scott. Captain, I believe it would be wise for you to go to sickbay.”

“All I did was vomit. I've had worse... worse...”

“Are you actually aiming at me? What did I ever do to deserve this? Good God man, what have you been eating?!”

“Sorry, accident.”

“Yeah, right... Is this payback for the poisoning incident back at the Academy?”

“Wait, what?”

“You know, when I accidentally let a drop of experimental antiviral fall on your sandwich and I told you it would be fine and... Er y'know what, never mind.”

“Bones, do you have any idea how sick that made me? I was in the medical center for a...”

“Oh come on Jim! Now you're actually aiming for me!”

“Don't wanna ruin everyone's clothes.”

“Doctor McCoy, please take Captain Kirk to sickbay. Mr. Scott, please assist the Doctor. I shall return to the bridge. Keep me informed Doctor. We may need to initialize a wider quarantine in order to avoid infecting other members of the crew with whatever is affecting the Captain.”

“Quarantine? But what if all've us are infected? I don't do well locked in isolation rooms...”

“An unlikely scenario, as we were not in the plant's vicinity when it ejaculated...”

“Spock, do not say that word again ever, okay? Consider that a Captain's Order.”

“...the pollen, neither were we hit by its roots. I therefore believe we escaped any risk of infection, Mr. Scott.”

“Eh, a fair point I... Gah, Jimmy! That's disgustin'!”

“Sorry Scotty...”

“Hey, don't I get an apology Jim? Jim!”

“Sorry. Okay, okay, I think I'm done.”

“Oh, at last. Jim? You sure you're done? Because you look... whoa!”

“Well at least he's not pukin' while he's unconscious...”

“Oh, don't challenge him to it. Chekov, transport us to sickbay would you?”

“Uh, I am unable to do so Doctor. Ze Keptin's signal iz distorted again, perhaps by ze... goo zat iz covering him.”

“Scotty, gimmie a hand here.”

Spock released a calming breath as McCoy and Scott dragged Kirk away between them. He made a mental note to log the planet's fauna as hazardous, albeit not deadly. How typical of the Captain to be the first one to discover such a fact. Foolhardy simply seemed too weak a word to describe Kirk's apparently insatiable desire to throw himself head first into all and any danger.

...Although, Spock reconsidered as he headed for a turbo-lift, perhaps Kirk had less thrown himself and more fallen into this particular mishap. The planet they had visited, designation M763.02, was of particular scientific interest to the Federation as its plant-life seemed to promise many medical advancements. Kirk, ever adventurous, had gone down to the planet's surface with Spock and McCoy, insisting that he should be part of the advance team that scouted the planet for immediate dangers before a larger scientific exploration unit was dispatched from the Enterprise. Scott had insisted upon coming as well, citing that he rarely got out of engineering and wanted to “stretch his legs”. Spock had attempted to argue protocol, reminding the Captain that it wasn't appropriate for so many senior crew-members to be absent from the ship at once, but Kirk coolly pointed out that they'd done it before and they'd have to do it again. Spock subsided, knowing better than to force his point further.

The mission had been going well: numerous promising primary samples had been gathered and the local wildlife seemed perfectly content to leave the four-man team alone. What had been very unexpected was the discovery of a ruined village almost reclaimed by the vast forest. It had probably abandoned for generations but it was still entirely out of place on a world supposedly not inhabited by any form of sentient life.

They had split into two groups, carefully exploring the small collection of buildings. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the ruins: no lingering remains of ancient technology and no signs that any living creature had set foot here in years. However, Starfleet had an archaeology department dedicated to investigating such sites and as such the away team was fully aware that the planet would have to be submitted for a survey.

They were about to regroup near the town's entrance when the accident happened. Kirk and McCoy had been standing atop one building's roof, taking a series of panoramic images to insert into the various reports that would have to be written, when the rotting structure gave way, the pair noisily disappearing from sight. Spock and Scotty had wasted no time getting to the building and inside the unstable structure they found Kirk pulling McCoy's limp body away from a vicious looking plant, its stem dotted with countless barbed thorns. The putrid thing, its sickly green flower wide open, let off an eye-watering odour worse than the stench of rotting death.

Spock was quick to aid Kirk and, noticing that the Captain had a distinct limp from an ankle he had probably landed awkwardly on, Scotty soon took McCoy's weight off his shoulder. Kirk paused, catching his breath, and that was when the plant stirred. The only warning came from a brief tremble in the ground. There was barely any time to react. Sensing trouble, Kirk gave Spock a heavy shove. Uncharacteristically shocked by the unexpected push, Spock stumbled forward and out of the building. He just barely managed to keep his balance and turned in time to watch as the plant launched its bizarre defense mechanism. The flower spat some form of pollen into the air, large globules of which coated Kirk in what looked like thick mucous. In the same instant, roots shot out of the ground and dug into whatever they hit first.

Kirk cried out as he took a hit to the leg, the root digging deep into flesh and muscle. Falling to the ground was the only thing that saved him from taking another hit to the head, the force of which would've killed him instantly.

Not knowing what else to expect, and not wanting to shoot the plant when part of it was buried in the Captain's leg, Spock chose the wisest option: retreat. “Spock to Enterprise, four to beam up.”

“Commander, I am unable to get a lock on ze Keptin,” came Chekov's voice. “Zere iz much interference. I cannot explain ze source but it iz somehow connected to ze planet itself...”

“Take the Doctor,” Scotty told Spock, handing the now semi-conscious McCoy over. “I'll get the Captain clear.”

Spock nodded, told Chekov and then he and McCoy were gone. Scotty looked into the building. The plant slowly began retracting its roots, but there was no way to tell if it was subsiding or preparing for another attack.

“Don't move Jimmy,” Scotty said, his voice quiet as though the sound of it would send the plant into attack-mode again.

“Ah, yeah, that's not gonna be an issue,” Kirk ground out, obviously in pain. “Have you ever seen anything like it?”

Scotty shook his head. “I'm no biologist or... or gardener, but I've never heard of a plant that can...”

It gave an ominous tremble.

Kirk hissed a curse. “I'm gonna pull the root out of my leg. I'll need your help to get out of here...”

Scotty's eyebrows shot upwards. “You're not supposed to pull stuff outta wounds like that. You could bleed out!”

“I can't move if I don't.”

“Okay, okay, just... wait. Wait, wait, wait.” Scotty pulled off his red shirt. He waved it at Kirk. “You're gonna need somethin' to stem the bleedin'.”

“Right.” Pale but focused, Kirk gripped the root jabbed into his leg with both hands. Scotty expected a countdown but Kirk just yanked once and the root came out with a slurping pop. Once free, the root retracted rapidly, disappearing underground again. Kirk fell backwards and Scotty dashed forwards, shirt at the ready.

“You're absolutely stark raving bonkers, you know that don't you?”

Kirk managed a shaky laugh as his friend wrapped his freely bleeding wound. “So I've been told.”

The plant continued to settle back to stillness. Scotty reached for his communicator. “Scott to Enterprise, two to beam up.”

“Give me a moment. Ze Keptin's signal iz clearer but I still need to compensate for ze interference...”

Kirk looked down at himself, blue eyes glazed. “Man, I am a mess.” He looked to Scotty, nose wrinkled. “Does something smell bad to you?”

Before Scotty could answer with 'Yeah, you', they dematerialized. Once in the transporter room, Kirk limped free of Scott's support and held onto a nearby wall. Scott hurriedly filled Spock in on what had happened after he and McCoy had returned to the Enterprise whileMcCoy, fully awake now and shooing off the attention of other members of the medical team, hurried to his friend's side. He didn't need any equipment to tell Kirk was already struggling with blood-loss and a fever.

“Sickbay,” McCoy ordered. “Spock filled me in. We'd better quarantine you. Damn alien space viruses...”

Which, mused Spock in the present, was exactly when the Captain had started arguing that he was fine, only to vomit copiously before giving in to total collapse. Stepping onto the bridge, he first looked to Uhura, acknowledging her look of relief with a curt nod. She smiled back and returned her attention to her station.

“Captain Kirk is in sickbay under quarantine protocols,” Spock announced to the officers on the bridge as he sat down in the Captain's chair. “We shall remain in orbit for now but no further away teams will be going to the surface until Doctor McCoy can ascertain the extent of the medical threat.”

“Quarantine?” Sulu asked. “What was down there?”

“Highly defensive plants.”

Sulu's confused expression said it all.

To Be Continued...