Kir-Alep

by Lalaith Quetzalli

(Sequel to Buk) When he was a child all James wanted was to be loved… as a teenager, all he desired was to be someone who would be remembered as more than a father's son… as a middle-aged man James had done and seen and been more than he could have ever dreamed of… and the universe wasn't done with him just yet. (Minor Canonical Character Death)

Remember how in the last story (or the one before that, I'm actually not sure), I said something about taking a left turn somewhere and then going in a completely different direction? Yeah, this is kind of the culmination of all that.

For those wondering, the events of Beyond did happen, with some differences: Spock Prime hasn't died (he'll actually make an appearance here), thus Spock wasn't planning on leaving. James never considered leaving. And things actually happened during the crew's last stop in Yorktown befoore heading back to Earth to officially end their first five-year-mission.

More Important Notes at the End (Do not read them before reading the fic itself please).

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Kir-Alep

By: Lalaith Quetzalli

When he was a child all James wanted was to be loved… as a teenager, all he desired was to be someone who would be remembered as more than a father's son… as a middle-aged man James had done and seen and been more than he could have ever dreamed of… and the universe wasn't done with him just yet.

It was until a year after the end of the Enterprise's second 'five year mission' that Jim realized something just wasn't right. It had been fifteen years since he first became Captain, and there was no one with more medals and commendations to his name, he'd turned down the offer of a promotion to Commodore once, and to Rear-Admiral twice. Which was insane, considering that one of those offers came just after he and his crew were finished with their first five year mission, he was just thirty two then! Then again, they'd also just saved the quadrant, again, and more directly, Yorktown, from an insane megalomaniac (there seemed to be a lot of those) intent on killing as many as he could, for some self-righteous reason.

So that particular mission had pretty much made him, and the crew, into Starfleet's poster children again, which helped a lot when not only he turned down the promotion (something that, apparently, no one else had done before him), since he really wasn't interested in leaving the Enterprise (other than when the ship was docked, or he was on leave). Then he'd gone and explained to the Admiralty why exactly they weren't going to go straight back on another long term mission. Even with how he'd managed to arrange for 'family shore-leave' at least every six months or so, he knew how much his crew missed their loved ones, he wasn't going to take them back into the black again so soon. In the end an arrangement was reached, and aside from those who had no reason to stay, most of the crew remained on Earth for the following two years.

It wasn't like Starfleet didn't benefit from that too, as they'd made every senior officer teach at least a couple of seminars (most taught a lot more) and do other work here and there to improve Starfleet as a whole. Then, at the end of those two years off they went in their second five year mission (by then other ships were undertaking similar missions, though still, the Enterprise was their flagship).

Previous to that Jim had fought a long diplomatic battle to get the Admiralty to authorize families to travel with them if they chose to. They were all warned about the risks of going into the black, and everyone had to take some basic courses on how to live in space, safety protocols, as well as make arrangements on how everyone could help. Because the addition of families meant the need for more food, and other services, like nannies, teachers, etc. Not everyone was interested, or willing to do such a thing, but there were those that thought it was worth it, to keep their families together despite being in space. Ben and Demora Sulu had been the first to sign up. Joanna McCoy didn't, though that was mostly because by then she was eighteen years old and in pre-med (and had already made Jim swear to save her a spot in his crew for when she graduated; he'd even already written a recommendation for her to join Starfleet once she had her degree). It was also a great help when several members of their crew chose to marry and have children (made for some rather insane experiences in the course of the mission, but Jim wouldn't go back and change it for anything).

Eventually that mission too came to an end, by then he'd turned down the promotion to Commodore of a new base, similar to Yorktown, called Avalon, and was trying to find the best way to turn down his second offer at becoming Admiral without offending anyone. Chris (who by then had been Vice-Admiral, and it was rumored was the favorite to become Fleet Admiral once Archer finally retired) found the whole thing so funny he couldn't stop laughing about it. Though at the same time, he understood why Jim refused anything that could take him away from his ship; he too sometimes missed it; though he wouldn't give up his wife and children (Jamie had by then been joined by a second boy named Stefan, and a girl: Astraea) for anything; then again, Jim had his husband right there with him on the Enterprise.

Spock was another who'd been offered a promotion, to Captain, more than once. The second time he had accepted it, on the proviso that he be allowed to stay on the Enterprise. Which meant that, in the end, nothing really changed for him except what rank he was called. Though after so many years, so many of the Command Crew had known each other for so long that they only used ranks to refer to each other when on extremely formal settings, and never just among themselves. And therein laid the problem. Not in the familiarity, but in that it was still the same crew…

In the past fifteen years they'd all become as much of experts in their respective specialties as it was possible to be; most had even taken enough extra courses to qualify for at least one extra specialty. In the case of Hikaru, Nyota and Pavel, they all had earned full credits to qualify as captains; Jim had been more than ready to sign their letters of recommendation when the day came and they told him a ship had been offered (he'd written the letters himself, and then had Spock check them over so they were the very best they could be). Yet the time had never come. At first Jim kept telling himself that it was their choice, that they liked being on the Enterprise. After all, Scotty had refused to take Command classes, refused the idea that he might one day he anything other than Chief Engineer. Carol too was satisfied with her position and claimed that she wouldn't have time for her family if she were to take command (never mind that her husband was part of the crew and her children had been on board the ship since they were born). But it had been fifteen years, and he kept getting offers for promotion…

"What do you mean they're frozen?!" He demanded, loudly.

Three sighs were his answer, coming from Pike, Barnett and Archer, the only three among the Admiralty whom Jim got along with. Spock was there too, being as solemn as always… except for the fact that Jim could sense he was just as surprised about what they'd just found out.

"In the process of Komack's investigation regarding Khan, the augments and Marcus's actions it was discovered that a number of members of your bridge crew had aided you at some point, in the process breaking a number of regulations and laws." Archer explained. "They were called in, separately and asked to explain their actions, they refused. They were also asked to explain in detail what had transpired, where you had been, what you had done, who else might have been involved; yet again they refused. Even when the consequences of doing so were explained to them, they each, separately, stood by their decisions."

"They chose to be loyal to the Enterprise." Spock murmured quietly.

"They chose to be loyal to you two." Barnett corrected. "Komack himself signed the orders to freeze them at their current ranks for the rest of their careers. We could push at it enough for Commanders Uhura and Sulu, as well as Lieutenant Commanders Chekov, Hendorff and Wallace to receive their currents ranks, but that was about it. They will never get above where they are now, they will never be offered captainship."

"Are you telling me you're blocking some of the very best people you have in Starfleet, who have more than earned the right to be captains, to actually sit on that chair, because of an order Komack gave?!" Jim practically blew a gasket at that. "The same Komack who was working with Marcus all along? Who, with his dying breath, regretted nothing more than being unable to kill me?! What the hell?!"

Chris sighed, he'd known that was coming, for years.

"While the Captain's choice of words might not be mine, I have but to agree with the spirit in which they were uttered." Spock offered his agreement in his usual style.

"Komack was found guilty of treason, couldn't you just… I don't know, retroactively cancel all the orders he gave?" Jim demanded, trying to find a solution for the situation.

Of course, if it were that easy it probably would have been done already, fourteen years ago!

"We did that with many of his orders, yes." Barnett nodded evenly. "The problem is that, as you are probably aware, in order for orders of this kind to be passed they must be backed by others. Komack got Liu, Chandras and Hamilton to sign their agreement with the orders. As I'm sure you also know, none of them were in any way connected to the clusterfuck caused by Marcus and Komack. Their signatures were enough for the orders to stand."

Yeah, Jim knew it wouldn't have been that easy.

"Very well." Jim nodded, taking a deep breath.

Chris had no idea what was coming, he just knew it was going to be a mess, what else could it be, with Jim Kirk involved?

"Then add me in too." The blonde declared, dead-serious.

"What?" Archer and Barnett were completely thrown for a loop.

"I said, add me in too." Jim repeated. "Sign orders for me to be frozen in my current rank. They are my crew, they were loyal to me and I will be loyal to them." His eyes were like steel, mind made up. "Suppose this will save me from trying to think of a better way to decline next time they try to offer me a promotion."

It looked like Barnett was trying to find the right words to reply to that, to see if Jim understood what he was saying, the full implications of such a choice, when Spock went and sealed the deal:

"I too would like to receive the same treatment."

In the end, there was nothing they could say, and all three Admirals knew it. Chris himself had known from the start that when Jim learned what had happened he wouldn't like it, that he would outright hate it and probably do something insane when he realized there was no way of winning that one. Of course, considering that he'd already turned down promotions on three separate occasions he might consider that a win… the bastard (Chris could have almost laughed at that last thought… his wife certainly would, she'd told them, more than once, that Jim Kirk wasn't the kind of man to allow anyone to take him away from where he wanted to be, and where he wanted to be was the captain's chair).

"It will be done." Archer announced eventually.

And that was that.

xXx

Jim and Spock left Earth to return to New Vulcan very early the next day, before anyone could possibly find out about the new freeze on their ranks. Though that didn't stop the e-mails that began pouring in from the crew. It was obvious they knew exactly why the two of them had done what they had, they still didn't agree. Thought they were being foolish. (All except Nyota, who was more-or-less convinced they'd just used the crew as an excuse to finally get the Admiralty to stop insisting on promoting them… clearly she knew them best from everyone).

They weren't running, not at all. It was the start of the summer-break, which meant the Academy wasn't in session, there were no classes to teach, so Jim and Spock could spend most of their time in New Vulcan. T'Uralaun was already thirteen and so beautiful… she looked more human than Spock, and had an emotional maturity that, as he confided to his telsu, he'd lacked at that age (had lacked until his bonding to James, in fact). Because, regardless of how illogical things like xenophobia, prejudice, bullying, etc. might be, they still existed; T'Ura (James called her that, claiming T'Uralaun was much too long and, as she knew where her name came from, their little sister felt honored) found herself victim to much of the same attitudes Spock had at her age. What was completely different was the way she reacted to the half-veiled (and not-so-veiled) insults and bullying, turning every insult against her bullies, twisting their words around in such a way that sometimes they ended up not knowing what had happened exactly. And when they tried to make her less for her human heritage, for her emotionalism she would turn and prove to them all how superior she was, before stating it was all thanks to her humanity.

James completely agreed with that part, and even Spock admitted there was some truth to the statement. Vulcans, with their lives ruled by logic, they lived their lives always knowing what to expect, never did things without already expect a particular result. Humans on the other hand, they always wished, and hoped and dreamt, took insane risks seeking the best result even when it didn't seem possible, refused to give up regardless of the odds. T'Uralaun, at a very young age, had learned something, or rather two things, that Spock hadn't until he was much older: there's more to life than logic and there's nothing wrong with feeling…

Things were pretty good on New Vulcan. While things hadn't worked like Selek had hoped regarding the Romulan Empire as a whole; a faction that had long followed Vulcan teachings had splintered from it and traveled to New Vulcan to join the Colony. That had allowed for new blood, and scientists had new hopes that the Vulcan race might rise again after the tragedy that had befallen them 40 years earlier.

Things were going better with the Klingons, the last thing Jim and Spock had heard was that there was an official cease of hostilities (which was being enforced on both sides) and actual talks between the Federation Council and the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council had begun. Jim had no idea where Kariva and the others were during all this, but had kept himself as far from it all as it was possible to be. While he loved Kariva and the crew dearly, he knew how much it'd complicate things if his own connection to the Klingons were to be revealed, especially because there was no doubt that some people would seek to use it against him, try and brand him a traitor of some kind (never mind that he'd served in Starfleet for fifteen years, and saved either Earth or the Federation as a whole at least four times!).

The couple were halfway to New Vulcan (they would actually be getting there before their family but that was alright) when both their personal comms, as well as their Starfleet issued ones began beeping like crazy, practically at the same time. What followed was the two of them trying to field calls, all which ended up being for the exact same thing. There had just been an attack… in Organia, during the summit to finalize the treaty between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. The building where the summit was taking place had been bombed, there were dozens (possibly hundreds) dead, including several Klingon warriors, one of the Council members of the Federation, a Tellarite, and the representative from Starfleet: Admiral Heihachiro Nogura; and even more that were so badly injured they could die at any moment: including Chancellor Gorkon meQpu'yay.

As if that weren't enough, Captain Gary Mitchell of the Atlanta reported there was a chance that several of those who'd been in that meeting may have been abducted before the explosion took place. The Atlanta had gotten as much data as possible but been unable to go in pursuit as they didn't have the advances necessary to catch up to them; so, while Mitchell had sent all the information to HQ, he'd also sent it to Jim, wishing him the best, knowing he was the kind to act, rather than wait for orders.

On that front, the call James had received confirmed everything, and more. Avoss was among the dead, Tsernono himself was injured but ready to move: Kariva had been one of the abducted, along with most of her entourage (which included Cilaun and Kariva's second handmaiden: Anima). Tsernono was calling in anyone who might be willing to join him in a rescue mission.

Spock's call from T'Pau sent him reeling as she confirmed his worst fears: his family had been there. Once all calls were done and the information put together and double-checked they came to the conclusion that Sarek had been injured, possibly badly but still alive and still on Organia; Amanda and T'Uralaun on the other hand were missing, quite possibly among those abducted. One of Jim's own children, Thalia, was injured and still unconscious, having been there as part of the press (she was one of the most known reporters).

All Jim and Spock needed to do was look at each other, they knew exactly what they were going to do next. In seconds they'd taken back control of the Puksu/Suvwl', erased their old destination and set off towards Organia. Once that was done the two began working on sending messages to everyone they considered pertinent: Nyota, Bones, Tsernono, T'Pau, Leah and the others, and Chris. They saw no point in reporting anything official to Starfleet or to anyone else, they weren't asking for permission.

Of course, the calls began coming in the moment they dropped out of warp (they'd used one of Scotty's most recent developments to allow them to go faster than any other ship their size could go, fast enough that no messages had reached them). Nyota and Bones were going nuts about their actions, though they knew better than to try and demand they stop; Tsernono was waiting for them, and he'd been joined by all who'd once been part of the Bet'lath crew, all willing to fight for their princess… the one who would become their Queen if the Chancellor did not recover; Jim's children were in a tizz, but they were all too aware none of them had the skills needed for such a mission, so they were staying put, at least for the time being (Jim didn't hold to hope that they wouldn't find some way to get into the thick of things sooner or later); Starfleet officially demanded the two of them return to Earth immediately, threatening them with everything from insubordination charges to treason ones, Chris and One just asked they made sure to make it back alive (Jim almost laughed at the spluttering from a number of other Admirals when it became obvious Chris was not going to threaten them, how well his pseudo-father knew them!).

Jim wasn't even surprised to see Noonien standing beside Tsernono; though, as was quickly explained, he was going by Asad nowadays. Also, Anima was his daughter. There were several other augments who would be joining them too, those who had the most experience in combat and were still willing to risk their lives for him and his child. The real surprise came when Sarek insisted on joining them; they didn't even comment on Jim and Spock allying with Klingons and augments for the mission (the family had found out about them early on the negotiations with the Empire, though everyone had agree there was no need to share such information with Starfleet), even Selek had blanched when learning the truth; apparently because in his own universe Khan had been one of his and his Jim's worst enemies, the Elder Spock seemed to have a hard time understanding that their timeline (James's and Spock's) was different, and the two of them had no intention of holding people responsible for what an alternate version of them might or might not have done. Asad was their friend and would remain so (he'd saved James's life!) no matter what the Elder Spock thought about it!

"Has any information regarding the perpetrators of this attack been found?" Spock inquired as the engineers among the group worked on hooking the several ships together.

"We know exactly who did it." Tsernono informed him evenly. "Korrina."

"Korrina?" Jim inquired, joining them. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"The planet is located in the Neutral Zone." Spock announced, consulting on his padd. "A neutral planet that has never expressed any interest in joining the Federation, or anyone else. They are devoted to the creation of the most advanced technology possible, which they are willing to sell to the highest bidder."

Both their minds jumped to the exact same thing, at the same time: the Vengeance.

"We always knew there had to be someone else behind everything." Jim pointed out when Spock and his logical mind failed to accept what to the human was obvious. "Even if we could never fully trace all the money. Really, if it had all come from Starfleet they would have noticed. The kind of money that went into getting that thing done… well! But even all our contacts pooled together could never find Marcus's and Komack's secret sponsor."

"And now we know why." Asad nodded grimly, understanding where their minds had gone. "It is said that war can be a most lucrative business."

"If the treaty between the Federation and the Klingon is signed, they will loose a possible income right there, probably their biggest one unless the Romulans suddenly decide to declare war…" Which would be unlikely once an actual alliance between the two great Potentiates was in place.

Yes, it was all beginning to fall into place.

Sarek could only watch the exchange in silence, marveling at how well his son and wedded son worked together; and not just that, but the way everyone else did their part, beings that most of the galaxy would never believe were working together! Also, Sarek couldn't help but notice the way they all seemed to defer to his sons in some way or another, leaving them to take point. Even the Klingon warrior who was clearly someone with high rank, he deferred some of that power to the two bondmates (he was trusting them with the life of their princess!).

In the years since being chosen to be part of the negotiations with the Klingon Empire, Sarek had had occasion to see Kariva meQpu'yay a few times, though she hadn't really seemed interested in taking the lead. Yet Sarek had noticed how, whenever her father was being too hard, too intransigent, she'd say something, either to him in private or to the room in general, and things would settle a bit. He'd known she held James, and to a point Spock as well, in high regard, even if he'd never understood how such a thing was possible. He was beginning to understand.

"Forget any treaty, forget the Romulans, if the princess isn't found our Empire will declare war!" Tsernono stated gravely.

"Why?!" Many were horrified by that.

"Because they will consider us responsible for the attack, because the security wasn't good enough, because we were the ones who chose the place, because she's the Chancellor's only living child, because Starfleet should have realized what Korrina was up to and do something about it fourteen years ago yet it never did…" Much like they never found the ship that destroyed the Kelvin, and twenty five years later, Va-Pak happened… "Take your pick."

"We need to find that ship, and rescue those they took." Asad said what they were probably all thinking, it was the only way to avoid war.

"And we have probably less than five days to do it." Spock offered.

Considering the time it would take for those in charge on either side to call back their full Fleets and assemble them at the edges of the Neutral Zone… that was probably an optimistic view of things. They needed to be quick.

xXx

The next three days were the most insane anyone involved in the rescue mission had ever been through. It had taken a little over twenty-four hours to put all the information Gary, Tsernono and various other contacts had gotten from the time of the attack and abduction, and some long-distance help from the geniuses that were Pavel, Scotty, Carol and Grant, to put together an algorithm that allowed them to track down the ship (which by then they had confirmed beyond shadow of doubt were either Korrinans or working for them) that had taken those abducted with more than a 50% certainty. The fact that, several hours into their trip (the engineers of the group had used those same 24+ hours to tweak the engines of their joint ships enough to pull as much speed from them as possible; it was possible at least one of the engines would end up fried at some point, but that was an acceptable sacrifice as far as they were all concerned) Sarek, Spock and even Jim began all feeling their bonds to Amanda and T'Ura strengthen was more than enough confirmation that they were on the right path.

And it wasn't just the speed, Asad had offered them a prototype of a cloaking device some of the taHaI had been working on. They'd installed it and activated it as soon as possible, since it was very different from the prototypes both Klingons and the Federation had been working on in recent years, they'd hope the ship they were in pursuit of wouldn't be able to detect them through it. They were really making use of every possible ace they had.

On the other hand, their time available had gone down drastically. Spock and Jim had expected Starfleet would take three days to recall the Fleet, call in anyone who might be on leave and gather their full force to march on the Neutral Zone and prepare for war. They'd given orders to have all that done in 48 hours instead, by the third day they were planning on being ready for battle. There was no doubt they wouldn't be reaching the fifth day without war breaking out, not with tensions running so high… which meant they needed to get everyone back before that.

Which was pretty much why, just after the 60 hour mark, when they found the ship and got them in range, Jim gave orders for them to proceed.

Their plan, for a value of it, consisted on two parts: first, the best pilots in their group would take over the ships (which they'd fixed in such a way they could unhook even in the middle of space, they just wouldn't be able to reassemble until they landed somewhere); their focus would be to keep all their enemies' attention on them, to distract them from the real attack. That was the second part of the plan: a team of the best fighters would be using Scotty's portable transporter (which was officially still in-the-works, though Jim had gotten to keep the prototype since their trip to Qo'noS) to get onto the ship and rescue the hostages, hopefully without their enemies knowing what was going on.

The only part that Jim disliked was that since he was one of the best pilots, and the best one for his own ship (he'd been working on a new interface which allowed him to connect certain sensors to himself and then he could control every part of the ship with his thoughts alone; it was still experimental, and only really calibrated to his own mind, so there was really no better pilot for it), that meant he couldn't join his husband team's for the actual rescue. Still, he trusted that Spock had the skills to carry it out, and he'd be with Asad and the best fighters both Klingon and taHaI (they'd managed to convince Sarek to stay with Tsernono and the Bet'lath and help from there, as neither of them were really up to a physical confrontation).

They kicked off the confrontation by Jim, who had the best weapons, shooting his biggest, most powerful torpedo (which had been further modified by Asad and Spock) at the Korrinan ship, where they hoped it'd cause a cascade effect that would ruin at least the warp, if not the engines, leaving them floating in the middle of space, unable to flee. The exact target had been chosen based of what they all remembered from the Vengeance. It worked, for the most past, while the ship could still somewhat move, it did so very slowly. Hopefully slowly enough to give the pilots a better chance to dodge the attacks that would be coming.

Once the battle truly began, it got insane really fast. Jim had been shot at before, both on a ship and with his feet on the ground, it wasn't exactly a new experience for him. What was new was doing his best to protect himself, to look like he was fighting back, without actually going as far as he could, out of fear that his actions might end up hurting his family rather than his enemies. And then it happened. The one thing he never wanted to hear… his telsu's cry.

Everyone heard Spock's roar over the comms, but Jim also heard it through his bond, it shocked him so much he miscalculated the next maneuver and his ship was hit by a phaser shot. It was little more than a grace, but red-alerts began blaring right away. Jim cursed even as he shut down all the alerts, instead doing his best to get out of range of his enemy, while still keeping most of his attention on both the bond and the comms, he needed to know what was going on!

"Ambassador Selek is down!" It was T'Uralaun's voice crying out from the distance.

*They were threatening T'Ura, ko-mekh insisted on protecting her, they pointed the phaser at her…* Even in their minds, Spock's voice broke, just a little.

*Ashayam…?* Jim was fearing the worst, he was so terrified he could no longer focus on the bonds in his mind to see if anyone was missing.

*They shot at her.* Spock finally forced himself to continue. *Selek… he got in the way. He took the shot meant for my mother… our…*

It was clear he'd no idea how to say it, what to even think. Really, their relationship (Jim and Spock's) with the Elder Spock had never been the best, but it had become especially strained after Jim's Klingon connections had come out. It was ironic because the man… vulcan, whichever, he was the first to insist on peace, on treaties, and yet he couldn't seem to wrap his head around a James Kirk (even one who wasn't his) having found a dear friend in a half Romulan and the future Queen/Chancellor of the Klingon Empire! The situation with Khan had been even worse, and while Jim and Spock knew the old vulcan had good enough reason, it was as if he couldn't accept that their universe's Khan… Asad, could be a different man from the Khan Noonien Singh who'd caused so much pain and strife in another timeline (or maybe… maybe it was more that the Old Spock was afraid that there might have been the potential for such a Khan to exist in their own universe and they ruined it somehow).

"Spock?!" Sarek called loudly over the comms.

It took a moment for Jim to remember that the others didn't have the kind of bond he and his husband shared. Sarek could probably still feel his bonds to his wife and daughter, but that did not mean he could be sure of their situation.

"Ambassador Selek is dead." Spock stated evenly. "Previous to our arrival, Lt. Meadows was killed when trying to fight back. Miss Cilaun has lost her eye implant, but no further damage was done, Miss Anima was wounded during the original explosion but has almost fully recovered by now. Kariva is in good condition, aside from some healing cuts and bruises." He seemed to swallow before adding. "Amanda is in a similar condition with T'Ura unharmed."

Practically everyone seemed to breath out a sigh of relief at that. Jim opened his mouth to say something to that effect when he found himself coughing a lot, unexpectedly.

*K'diwa…?* Spock asked through their bond. *James, what is wrong?*

Jim couldn't even focus enough to try an answer that question though, if he was honest with himself, even he wasn't sure what was wrong, exactly. And then there was Asad on the comms, yelling that they had been discovered and needed to get out of the ship before the guards arrived. Almost at the same time one of the Klingon ships was finally hit in the wrong place, blowing into pieces; which made several people curse loudly through the comms.

"We need to get out of here now!" Jim cried out, just a moment before he went into yet another coughing fit.

It was then that he realized he was having trouble breathing. Had the life support systems failed or something? Only then did he remember the alerts he'd shut down when he was so focused on finding out what had happened to Amanda and T'Ura. The moment he brought it up he saw it was even worse than that. The phaser shot had managed to hit something that short-circuited the warp core. He hadn't noticed right away because he hadn't needed it, but by then the damage had become such that the ship was slowly becoming irradiated. That was why he was having real trouble breathing.

"Shit!" Jim cursed in Standard, followed by every other language he could think of.

"James? Ravanok?!" Voices began calling through the comms.

"I'm going to need someone to beam me out of here and to a containment room, fast." Jim said, trying to force himself to breathe as regularly as possible.

"James…?" Sarek somehow managed to speak louder than anyone else without actually shouting.

"One of the attacks damaged the warp-core, the radiation managed to filter through the rest of the ship. Which means that I've been affected by now. It's not too bad yet, but it's better if no one gets too close until I've been treated. Also, I'm planning on crashing this ship against the Korrinan's, hope that might keep them off our tail."

"We're ready when you are Ravanok." Tsernono informed him a few seconds later.

He could feel his husband's tension in the back of his mind, and a part of Jim actually wondered if the radiation was really that low, or if perhaps his beloved vulcan might be helping him keep control over his own body… In any case, there was no time to focus on that as he turned all his attention back on his ship and on setting the right course; knowing that if he calculated the route just right he might be able to damage the ship enough to disable it completely. He also couldn't help but think that he was doing basically the exact same thing that his own birth-father had done when he was Captain of the Kelvin, going against the Narada… the difference was that he actually expected someone to get him out before the crash…

"Now!" He yelled into his comm the moment he was sure the collision was inevitable and that neither weapons nor the shields of the other ship would be able to prevent it.

The de-materialization somehow felt worse than usual, and the moment the blonde felt solid ground (or floor) beneath his feet he dropped to his knees, barely managing to control his sudden nausea, though he couldn't stop his whole body from shaking.

"*James… ashal-veh!*" His husband was yelling both out-loud and through their bond.

"Don't… don't let Spock in…" Jim gasped, forcing himself to breathe as deeply as possible.

What he really wasn't expecting was when none other than Asad went right in, pulling a hypo out of the inner pocket of his jacket, which he then proceeded to inject the contents of straight into Jim's neck. That was followed by loud yells and demands from outside the containment room but Jim wasn't really listening anymore as unconsciousness took him.

The sound that came from Spock's throat when his telsu closed his eyes was inhuman, there was so much pain, and despair in it that for several seconds no one quite knew what to do. When he tried to go into the containment room, the taHaI and Klingons present tried to stop him, but he was too strong and beyond understanding. At least until Amanda, ignoring all warnings, went and threw her arms around him. Even lost to his despair, Spock would never do anything that might hurt his mother, not even by accident, so that was enough to finally stop him. Then, when the anger no longer served a purpose, nothing was holding him up anymore and he collapsed. Some even thought he might die himself, until Asad pronounced the words that changed it all, in a most unexpected way:

"He's still alive!" To prove it, he'd hooked the blonde to the nearest medical scan and there everyone could see his heartbeat and his breathing; they were slow, almost dangerously so, but still there, and becoming faster. "Your husband is still alive!"

"What the hell just happened here?!" Kariva demanded.

Really, the past three days had been an absolute hell for her. From one of her oldest friends dying to protect her and another of her friends (and the head of her guard), being abducted, her two handmaidens/bodyguards being hurt while keeping her safe, a human child being threatened simply because of who her parents were, and then when they'd tried to kill her and her mother… Kariva had always known they would be rescued, there hadn't been a single moment of doubt for her. But still, she'd been afraid of how badly things might get beforehand.

It was clear for her that their abductors never expected someone to catch up with them so fast, or to be able to get so close without them picking up on anything. Korrina was supposed to have the lead in all kinds of technology… Then again, they had kidnapped at least four people that James Tiberius Kirk saw as family, they should have known better! Impossible to know if the Korrinans had been among those who believed that everything that was said about Captain Kirk was just PR, that the stories were greatly exaggerated so he'd remain the poster child for Starfleet; they could have never known that that wasn't the case, James Kirk was everything (positive) the media said about him, and more (because there was so much more about him he hardly ever showed to others); either that or their kidnappers were stupid and hadn't the slightest idea who they had abducted exactly, and the consequences their actions would have (though really, pretty much everyone in the galaxy knew who Amanda Grayson has, her husband the Ambassador, her son the Second in Command of the Enterprise, and said son's husband: Captain James T. Kirk).

Still, what she certainly wasn't expecting, was to get beamed onto the Bet'lath along with the rest of those rescued, to find Jim on the floor, seemingly in agony, then what Asad had done, and then Spock going practically feral…

"I want an explanation!" She demanded strongly.

And so they explained it all to her. How Jim's ship got hit, but he was so focused on the fight he didn't realize his warp core had been compromised and the radiation was filtering to the rest of the ship until he was already being affected. His strategy to crash his ship against the Korrinan's (which had worked, extremely well, the aliens on board had been forced to take the escape-pods, which had no weapons; no one had pursued them, so the confrontation ended there). Jim himself had been beamed out of the Suvwl' just fine and onto the Bet'lath, straight into a containment room at his own insistence. Asad was the only one who had gone in, knowing that his own enhancements made him immune to the radiation. And then everything else they'd seen.

"What was in that hypo?" She asked next, because she knew that part was important.

"A serum." Asad explained evenly. "Made from our… my own blood."

That threw everyone for a loop.

"From the moment we first freed ourselves from those who sought to control us, to make us into little more than their soldiers, their weapons, some of us have sought to learn more about ourselves." Asad elaborated. "To find out what was done to us exactly. We're stronger, faster, all our senses are enhanced in comparison to a human, but how many times exactly? Are we all the same or different? Can we improve further or are those modifications already our limits? We're superior to the baseline human, but what about those who've been enough generations in other planets and forced to evolve, to adapt? And perhaps the most important, can we share what makes us what we are?"

He paused, giving everyone a moment to catch up, then continued:

"For the most part we keep discovering new things every time the experiments are repeated. It might take us our whole lives to discover all the nuances to what makes us what we are. On the last part… I've long suspected that what was done to us can be replicated on others. For the most part you cannot augment another adult, the shock is too much for their system, it kills them. It's why we were all changed either as infants or when we were in the womb, or before that even. As has been discovered, the earlier the changes were made, the better for our own stability. So we cannot augment others, but our blood still carries certain properties that can be passed on. Like the vaccine we created during the War to protect as many humans in my territory as possible from the virus the Human Supremacists had created. It worked well enough with the first two strains, but we never got the chance to do anything with the third before the attack happened and it became a matter of fleeing for our own survival."

Asad shook his head, mostly to himself. So many times he'd lost himself to what-ifs, wondering if he might have been able to do more, if he could have saved his beloved Marlene if only he'd done some things different. He hated what-ifs because they didn't change anything in the end, his wife was still gone, along with their stillborn son. But he had Anima, she was an incredible girl and looked so much like her mother… Asad would be thankful every day for the gift his beloved gave him in her.

"I'd used my own blood before, it works but it can be hard on the body." He went on eventually. "The serum was the means to get the best from my own blood without risking making things worse on the recipient. It took us years but we managed to make it worth it. There are actually four versions of the serum. One, the purest one, it works only on ourselves, it's good when we're badly hurt as it accelerates our own healing for a short period of time, enough to allow us a better, faster recovery. The other three were tailored for specific races: klingons, humans and vulcanoids. At Tsernono's insistence I gave the Chancellor the only dose I'd on me that was tailored for klingons, just before the first responders reached us."

Which meant that the serum was probably the only reason why the Chancellor still lived. Why war hadn't broken out even before they made it to Organia. The half-vulcan also had no doubt that his father either hadn't been aware of the serum or hadn't trusted the taHaI enough to accept it. The fact that he could once more feel his beloved through their bond had calmed him down, finally. He couldn't actually go into James's mind, couldn't touch him either or even join him in the room until the decontamination process had finished, but he knew his sa-telsu was alive, and for the time being that was enough.

xXx

In the edge of the Neutral Zone, tensions were running high, so much some couldn't help but see it as a miracle that the war hadn't started already, even without a Declaration. All it would take was someone getting a little bit trigger happy, or moving further ahead from their line, and it would begin… the one thing at least some of them had fought so hard over the past fourteen years to avoid… war.

"You really think they'll make it back in time?" Pavel asked quietly, not quite taking his eyes off his own controls.

"They will, Pavel, have faith." Hikaru said reassuringly, a hand on the younger man's arm. "Jim and Spock haven't let us down in all these years, they won't start now. They'll make it back."

"You know how much they like to make a grand entrance." Nyota called from her own post. "I'm sure they'll arrive at the very last moment, acting like it was all planned."

Bones (who probably should have been in medbay, yet no one would actually so much as think of telling him to leave the bridge, snorted).

They were all there, because if there was to be a war, of course the Enterprise had to be there. With the absence of both its Captain and Vice-Captain, Chris had decided to take the position himself (only temporarily, he assured the Command Team, until the other two returned and they straightened everything with the Admiralty); to no one's surprise, his wife had followed him. Chris hadn't actually liked that, the two of them putting themselves in danger, risking leaving their three children without either parent, but One would not let him go without her. She had made a point of reminding him that, on the day of their wedding she'd promised to always support him, no matter what, while he promised to never leave her behind. The children had been left in the care of the younger Dr. McCoy (24 years old, she'd just graduated and was doing her internship in Starfleet medical in San Francisco HQs). And they weren't the only ones either, all the children who'd been on the Enterprise during the last five-year-mission, whose parents were on-board in that moment had obviously had to stay behind, and they'd all been gathered together, under the care of those parents and elder children who weren't part of the official crew as they waited for the outcome of the current situation. Also, plans were in place in case worse came to worst, though none knew more than they were to contact someone called Katja Walter… they still hoped such a thing wouldn't necessary though.

Chris himself didn't say a thing as he listened to the bridge crew make comments back and forth. The kind of faith they had on their captain and vice-captain… it was a heady thought. He knew his old crew had respected him, liked him, some might have even admired him, but the kind of trust the people currently on the bridge had on Spock and Jim Kirk… it went beyond anything Chris could have ever imagined. The odds, the danger, the probabilities, none of it mattered, for them there was no doubt that Jim and Spock would come through for them. Chris could only pray they were right.

When things finally happened they did so suddenly that hardly anyone was sure exactly what kicked them off. It was almost the end of the fourth day, and the tensions were so high it was probably a miracle nothing had happened yet.

The first thing everyone did notice was when one of the Klingon ships flanking the one they were all sure carried the Chancellor, fired the first shot. It was a careless shot that went almost too wide (it almost hit one of their own and came nowhere near any Starfleet ship). No one knew what was going on exactly, no declaration had been made yet, on either side. They were still basically on enforced radio-silence, and then a ship came out of warp so suddenly, right in the middle of No-Man's Land, that more than one person came close to firing at it simply out of reflex.

"What the…?"

Whatever question Chris was about to ask, he never got to finish it, for a heart-beat later Nyota was working on an incoming transmission.

"Is it Archer?" Chris wanted to know.

The Fleet Admiral was on another ship, and he was the one in contact with the Federation Council, which meant that if war was ever formally declared on their side, the order to attack would come from him.

"No sir it's… it's the ship floating in the middle." Nyota answered. "The codes they're using…" She broke off as she last number of the code came in: "It's Jim and Spock!"

Nyota didn't even wait for the Admiral to approve them receiving the transmission, she was already accepting it. At first there was only sound.

"Hey Ny…" It really was Jim, and he sounded absolutely exhausted. "I need you to fully take our transmission, and replicate it to every single ship you can."

"We're on radio-silence, all frequencies encrypted." Nyota informed him.

"I know, and we both know we have ways of getting around pretty much everything." Jim replied evenly. "We have a message to give, and it needs to be received by everyone at the same time. It's the only way to end this war before it actually begins. The only way to keep everyone safe."

Nyota's hands were already hovering over her console before she remembered who she was supposed to be answering to this time (that it wasn't Jim). Chris finally turned to look at her, he just exhaled before speaking:

"Your Captain just gave you an order Commander, go ahead." He stated. "He seems to be calling the shots around here, even when he's not sitting on this chair…"

"When isn't he?" Bones muttered under his breath.

"Hey Chris!" Jim called, they could all hear the smirk as he spoke. "Don't get too comfortable okay? That's still my crew!"

If anyone noticed that he'd spoken about the crew and not the ship, no one mentioned it. Not like there was time to focus on such things anyway.

Weapons were heating up all around, it was like the tensions had finally gotten to the limit. And then Nyota managed to finish her hacking, with some assistance from Cilaun over in the mess of hooked-up ships that was pretty much floating in the middle of the space between the two Fleets. The video blinked a couple of times before stabilizing, not just on the main-screen of the bridge but throughout the ship and, if all had worked as it should, in every single ship several light years around them.

"STOP!" The word was called by several voices, each speaking a different language, all carrying the exact same level of authority.

Standing there, in a loose formation were Jim Kirk, Spock and Kariva meQpu'yay; behind and around them a number of other Vulcans, humans, Klingons and other assorted species. The first thing Nyota noticed was that both of Spock's parents as well as his sister were there, and they looked alright, that brought a huge relief to her; also, Elder Selek was conspicuously absent (she was one of few people who knew the truth about his origins). She could also see Khan, or the man who'd once been Khan, in a corner, while a woman who reminded her powerfully of Dr. Givens, and Cilaun, stood very close to Kariva and her head-guard: Tsernono.

There was no war that day; hopefully there would be no war any time soon. Jim, Kariva and Sarek took turns speaking out, exhorting both the Klingon and Federation Fleets to stand down, to turn around, to 'walk away'. When one of the Klingon Councilors questioned the loyalties of those present, because most were part of Starfleet, Jim step forward and did the last thing anyone ever expected:

"Most people here know me as James Tiberius Kirk, son of George and Winona Kirk, Captain of the Enterprise and part of Starfleet." He announced, taking a deep breath before continuing. "What not many know is that I am also James yoD' Ravanok, adopted son of T'Lura of Vulcan and Van Ravanok of Themys, Shield to Lady Kariva yoWhI' meQpu'yay."

That started a whole other mess, both in the Federation and the Empire; even then, minutes later orders came from Fleet Admiral Archer, they were going back to HQs, at the same time the Klingon Fleet began breaking formation, moving away. War had been averted. As far as Jim was concerned, that made any chaotic (and messy, it would definitely be messy) consequences of him revealing his 'other name' more than worth it.

xXx

Jim and Spock only stopped on Earth long enough to hand in a report of the mission before taking off for Vulcan with their family. A few in Starfleet had had every intention to detain them until Thalia Garcia's latest broadcast came out, an exclusive into what had happened, exactly, that day during the summit in Organia, the near-war, and the 'heroes' who stopped it. After that it would have been political suicide for anyone to try and arrest Jim and Spock. The most they could do was keep them suspended, which they'd been since going AWOL the day of the attack. Chris knew that some of his colleagues were trying to find justification for kicking those two out of Starfleet, once and for all, and even he, Archer and Barnett working together might not be able to stop it this time; even with Komack, Marcus, and all the co-conspirators they'd been able to uncover through the years, they never seemed to be done. He also knew that, as much as Jim loved being in the stars, he didn't much like Starfleet anymore, and it wasn't even just what had been done to his friends, freezing them in their ranks and positions, without possibility of advancement. It wasn't fair; Sulu, Uhura, Chekov and the others, they were the best of their generation, some of the best in the history of Starfleet, and they were being punished simply for being loyal, to themselves and to the ones that had proven themselves to them. And it wasn't even just them, but he knew there were some bright cadets who looked up to that group, saw them stagnate and wondered: Will the same happen to me? If they, who are the very best of us, cannot grow, what hope is there for me in Starfleet? They were losing cadets and recruits for that kind of thing, and the worst was that Chris knew there was nothing he could do to change it. His hands were tied, and that upset him so much. He could still remember the last conversation he'd had with Jim, before all the mess with the summit, the last thing the blonde has said to him:

"I don't regret it you know? Coming here, joining Starfleet. Becoming who and what I am now… You dared me to do better. Better than my father, who in twelve minutes of captainship managed to save 800 lives… but more than that, you dared me to be better than I had been. You believed in me, when few people ever had."

"You proved me right." Chris had told him. "And proved all who ever looked down on you, who didn't believe you could do it. Graduate in three years, be an amazing captain at 25, be a good representative of the Federation… you proved them all wrong."

"And that was awesome of course. But what about Starfleet?"

"I don't understand."

"I've proven I can be better. But when will Starfleet prove itself? I'm not talking about you of course, or people like One, like Admiral Archer, Barnett, my crew… I'm talking about all the bastards like Marcus and Komack; or those who might not have been with them, but who still believe as they did, that we should be seeking war instead of peace, despite of the values Starfleet itself was founded upon, the oath they, we, all took upon graduation. When will they prove to be better? To be who they're supposed to be?"

Chris had had no answer for him.

Even then, a week later, he still had no answer for a blonde, he wasn't sure he ever would. He was distracted from his thoughts when his assistant informed him of a call that had just come in, high priority… a call that would change everything.

xXx

Selek's funeral took place the day after everyone got to New Vulcan. His body was cremated and his ashes placed in a special receptacle which would then be shot into space, where the pressure would make it break, allowing his ashes to disperse across the stars. That was his wish, he'd made the plans. As they finished all the arrangements Spock couldn't help but think about the last conversation he'd had with the man, as he lay dying on the main deck of the Korrinan ship, after taking a shot meant for his (their) mother.

"Come closer young one…" Selek murmured, voice wet with blood. "I have… things to say a-and little t-time to-o sa-y them."

Spock knew his older counterpart wanted to meld, and while he wasn't certain it was a good idea, he wouldn't deny the old man a last request. So he got close enough to allow the touch, to his psi-points, and into his mind.

"M-my mind to-o y...your mind…" The Elder began.

"… my thoughts to your thoughts." The younger finished.

There was a rush of images that lasted several seconds, before the Elder pulled his mind into order once again. The last one stayed with Spock though. An image of a different, older, James T. Kirk, one who would rather be called Jim; or rather a projection of him, coming from a pendant he'd always seen Selek wearing, a holo-emitter, and the message it carried:

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…" The figure stopped its half-singing to grin. "I know I know, it's illogical to celebrate something you had nothing to do with, but I haven't had the chance to congratulate you on your appointment to the ambassadorship so I thought I'd seize the occasion… Bravo, Spock — they tell me your first mission may take you away for awhile, so I'll be the first to wish you luck… and to say…" The next pause was short, but carried evident emotion: "I miss you, old friend."

"You were more than friends." The younger Spock stated as the two found themselves face to face in the middle of the Elder's mindscape.

It was very different to the younger Spock's, which took the shape of a stone garden, like the one that could be found on the Vulcan Embassy on Earth, where he and James had spent so many late nights and early mornings, chatting, connecting… the Elder Spock's was Vulcan, the open dessert with the view of Mount Seleya in the distance.

"Yes, we were." The Elder nodded. "We were T'hy'la, much like you two. Though our time together was much shorter than yours. Which makes me happy for you. Regrets are, of course, illogical, and not why I brought you here. I wish to explain what I wish be done upon my death."

"You have given up then." The younger did not understand.

"You know not the Korrinans like I do. Have had very little dealings with them. The gun that was used was not like the guns Starfleet carries. The damage is much greater, even Doctor McCoy would find it incredibly difficult to do much more than make me comfortable." He shook his head. "There is no hope for me, young one, but that is alright. I have lived a long life, longer than I ever expected, or wanted it to be. I find myself… tired of this existence."

"You wish to die."

"I have wished to depart from this life many times, for many years. Suicide is illogical, but what is life when the ones who made it worth it are no longer with you? Truth is, I have not truly lived for a very long time, long before I ever went through that black-hole… now, all I wish now is to rest." He exhaled. "I will not be leaving my katra, to you or anyone else. I wish not to remain in this plane for longer than I have. I also wish for my body to be cremated, my ashes sent into space with the new shen-star (ascending star) device, which will allow my remains to join with the stars… it is the closest I shall ever be to those I have lost."

"You believe you will find them on the other side?" The younger Spock was curious about that.

"In my long life, I have come to believe in many things, even some I could have never imagined possible, or logical at all." The Elder admitted. "The idea of an afterlife… it is not something I have found reason to believe in. No, the best I can hope for is to end this existence of mine. Everything else is not up to me. Kaiidth (what is, is)."

"Kaiidth." The younger Spock echoed.

The younger Vulcan wasn't sure why, but he found something in his older counterpart's words… wrong. It wasn't like he himself believed in an afterlife or anything like it, or did he? He didn't know for sure, all he really knew was that he wished for nothing, not life or death, to separate him from his t'hy'la.

As life slipped from him, Selek seemed to at least partially lose control of himself, his own mind, as another piece of the memory the younger Spock had noticed earlier materialized around them, if only for an instant. It was a continuation of the same recorded holo-message:

"You once said being a starship captain was my first, best destiny… if that's true, then yours is to be by my side. If there's any true logic to the universe… we'll end up on that bridge again someday. Admit it, Spock. For people like us, the journey itself… is home."

Selek's requests had been followed to the letter. Spock had made sure to keep everyone away from his body when he finally expired, so his katra wouldn't jump onto anyone else. Then, upon returning to the colony, the Elder's body had been cremated, his ashes gathered and then the newest creation of a mixed-up team from the NVSA and Starfleet used for the very first time.

Spock still wasn't quite comfortable regarding his last conversation with his counterpart. It wasn't that he couldn't imagine growing tired of life; it was the opposite, in some ways, he simply couldn't imagine living without his James, his t'hy'la, though he was well aware of the likelihood of such a thing coming to pass, despite what Asad had explained to him were the greatest expected side effects of using the serum. Because apparently it wasn't just healing; or perhaps it should be said it was exactly that, healing, to a degree that most would have believed impossible. In just five minutes, despite how slow the heart-beat had been at the time, his telsu's heart had pumped enough blood to allow the serum to reach every inch of his body. The cells in the serum were engineered to reproduce, fast, allowing them to eventually touch every single cell in the body, healing it as much as was possible. It wasn't just about healing wounds, or sickness (or radiation); the serum healed every cell in the body, until it was back to its peak.

In simple terms, James Kirk was, at a cellular level, in his twenties again. It was likely that in the coming months and years some people might notice that his hair was brighter, his skin smoother, that the lines around his mouth and eyes weren't quite as deep anymore. They'd only know what really happened if someone were to perform an in-depth cellular-level test on the blonde, which they wouldn't be allowing any time soon. The most important part to Spock though, was that the cells hadn't just healed in a remarkable manner, but they'd been strengthened.

"He's not immortal." Asad eventually reached his conclusion. "None of us are. But when we were created… they wanted us to be perfect soldiers, for us to be able to fight as long as possible, not just in the length of a battle, or a war, but our lives. The longer we could last, the more useful we were. It meant they might not have to train new soldiers every time they needed one. Of course, they never got to see it happen; but we know it to be true. Humans, at the time of our creation, had a time expectancy of anywhere between 70-80 years, more if they were lucky and not in a very dangerous line of work. Us? We were expected to live twice as long as that. Of course, none of us have quite lived that long yet, but we've studied our own cells, our aging is much slower, even compared to the humans of this century. So you can expect your husband to live to be at least 150, possibly more, if he doesn't get himself killed doing something incredibly reckless and stupid beforehand."

Though the serum would help on that front too. While it had effectively already disappeared from his system, some of the effects remained. Like the slower aging, as well as a degree of self-healing and lesser enhancements. There was a reason why they'd made sure to wipe all record from the serum from all the ships, and sworn everyone who'd been close enough to know what was going on to secrecy. The last thing they needed was someone going after Jim or even the taHaI for that freaking serum.

"Do you think he's with him now?" James's question pulled Spock out of his thoughts.

Spock hadn't even noticed when almost everyone else walked away, only the team in charge of the shen-tar device were still there; and his husband. Spock found himself standing near the edge of a cliff, with James beside him, their arms so close their hands were almost brushing.

To most others, his sa-telsu's question would have sounded odd, senseless, but Spock understood exactly what he meant. He wondered if Selek… if Spock's counterpart might have found James's own in whatever afterlife there might be.

"I do not know." The Vulcan admitted quietly.

"I think he is." The blonde stated with the lightest of shrugs.

"What proof have you?" Spock inquired, curious.

"No proof I guess I just… I believe." James admitted. "Have you ever had a dream that you forgot upon waking, yet it still left with you with this absolute sense of certainty of… something, anything?"

"Vulcans do not dream."

No, they didn't. Mostly because they never slept deeply enough to go into REM; their rest was mainly achieved through meditation instead. Spock had shared dreams with James, but as far as they knew he hadn't dreamt before that; or if he had, he no longer remembered (since before his t'hy'la he'd seen anything human as a failing on his part he probably would have endeavored not to have done such a thing as dream so…).

"Well, when we were on our way to the Neutral Zone." James got back to the matter at hand. "After the serum healed me, I still slept for most of the day, we both know that. I think… I think I dreamt, I'm sure I did, even though I cannot remember what it was about it. What I do remember is that I woke up with this absolute certainty… of a truth so strong that nothing could take it away. It doesn't matter who speaks against it, I will never stop believing it."

"What is that certainty k'hat'n'dlawa (half of each other's heart and soul)?" Their fingers finally intertwined, and Spock could suddenly feel that certainty as if it were his own.

James raised the Vulcan's hand to his lips, kissing his knuckles tenderly, sending so much love through their bond that for a moment all Spock knew was that love. It was amazing, because they'd been bonded for fifteen years and still the love his sa-telsu had for him could leave him breathless. Then again, he knew James felt the same. They were truly made for each other… perfect soulmates… t'hy'la. And that fit with his beloved's certainty perfectly:

"We'll be together forever."

xXx

The call came about two weeks before the start of the new term in Starfleet Academy. James and Spock had been waiting for it, in one way or another, whether they were returned to full duties, demoted or outright dismissed from Starfleet, they knew it had to happen before the start of the Fall term. Even then, what they really weren't expecting, was to be summoned to Organia, rather than to Earth, or what they found there.

The place of the bombing had been cleaned and a new building was standing there, people already going in and out. That wasn't exactly surprising, considering the technology most planets had access to, nowadays. Even though Organia was deep into the Neutral Zone, it still wasn't that shocking. What was shocking was when they were lead to the top floor of that building and found not just Chris, One, Archer and Barnett waiting on them, but also Chancellor Gorkon, Kariva, Asad, at least two other Klingon Council members and their respective entourages.

"What's going on here?" Jim asked, tensed.

Really, as prepared as he might have been to either be ordered back into the black straight away, or to be dishonorably discharged, he had no idea what he should be expecting anymore.

"There is to be no more war between our peoples." Chancellor Gorkon announced. "Not today, not tomorrow, not for as long as my House holds power."

"Honor to you and your House, Chancellor Gorkon." Jim stated with a respectful bow, in perfect Klingon, before switching to Standard. "Your words bring me peace."

"Peace, yes." Archer nodded. "That is exactly what we all seek."

"It's been brought to our attention that as much as we might all wish for there to be peaceful relations between the Federation and the Empire, our peoples might not yet be ready for a complete integration." Barnett explained. "Chris had a proposal regarding that."

"The basic idea was my wife's, I just fleshed it out." Chris admitted with a shrug. "We all know the Federation and the Empire aren't ready to be living and working side by side, they might not be for many years, but we need to help lead them, to make them understand we're no longer enemies and that it is, indeed, possible for us all to be allies." He made a pause to make sure they were all following him. "The plan is for a team to be created, mixing both Federation citizens, and Klingon ones. When we tried to think of a possible crew… your names came up."

"Something like this has never been officially attempted before." Chancellor Gorkon stated. "But has been done, by you." He focused fully on Jim. "You have proven yourself several times over YoD' Ravanok. I have trusted you with the life of my only daughter before, and I know she has trusted you with her life and with the safety of our Empire, so I shall follow her example and trust that the two of you working together, with the people you choose, will be able to lead our respective peoples into better times than the ones we've lived thus far."

Jim turned to look at Kariva, who was standing there in her battle-dress rather than the more elegant attired he'd have expected to see her in during such a meeting except… except she wasn't there as the princess of the Klingon Empire, but as his future co-captain…

"You really think we can do this?" He couldn't help but ask her.

"I know we can do this Ravanok." She replied with a huge smile. "It will be like the good old times, except, you know, on a bigger scale."

Of course, because in the past they'd limited themselves to about half of the Neutral Zone, and the edges of the Empire (because the rest didn't really need the kind of 'services' they provided). If they did things as the Chancellor and Admirals were proposing, it'd mean doing basically the same, with a mixed crew of Klingons and Federations citizens, going around the Federation, Neutral Zone, and Klingon Empire. Of course not everyone would agree. First they'd have to look very closely at who they chose for their crews; then he'd have to make sure they were all aware of the challenges and dangers they'd face, and that they were as prepared as they could be.

Yes, he was taking the mission. Had there been any doubt?!

"I'll do it, on one condition." Jim announced.

Barnett began sputtering almost immediately, Archer raised a brow, as if wondering if the blonde was really putting conditions after being given such a chance; Chris and One just laughed, they'd obviously seen it coming!

"I get to choose my crew." Jim stated seriously, then revised. "We get to choose our crew."

A look at each other, Kariva, Jim and Spock already had a pretty good idea who they'd be choosing. All they needed to do now was to sell the idea to them.

*Bones is going to go nuts!* Jim practically cackled at the idea.

Of course he'd threaten to leave them hanging, perhaps even to retire, but they all knew that Joanna would jump at the chance to be part of such a mission, and there was no way Bones would ever let his daughter go on something like that and not go with her.

The rest would be a bit easier. With some of them like Hikaru, Carol, Greg, the main concern would be the safety of their children, and Jim would do everything he could think of to try and ensure it, though he knew no one could possibly plan for everything; he'd certainly give it his best try though. Nyota would simply love the opportunity to use some of the languages she rarely had chance of practicing. Pavel, Gaila and Scotty would love simply the chance to go through such a mission.

On Kariva's side, there was no doubt that Tsernono would go wherever she lead, same could be said for Cilaun, Asad and Anima. He'd no idea who else she might choose, but those who'd joined on the rescue mission were the likeliest candidates; which meant some of their former crew-mates and some taHaI.

The mere idea of undertaking such a mission, a mixed team that would travel across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, it was well beyond anything else that might have been done before. Even the five-year missions could not compare… Jim was almost vibrating with giddiness and excitement, he could hardly wait to begin.

*You really think we can do it?* He asked silently to his telsu, letting no one but him see how nervous he actually was about it all.

*O T'hy'la…* Spock knew how precious that was, and placed on it the value it deserved. *I believe, together, we can do anything.*

xXx

As it turned out, there was a ship already mostly finished, a new prototype. It was about a quarter or so the size of the original Enterprise, and with systems advanced enough that it could be controlled with just three people most of the time (pilot, navigator and a captain to coordinate the two); in case of an emergency one could handle it all. Also, Scotty was given carte-blanche to modify the ship to his heart's content (nothing huge, they were planning on shipping out the day after the new term began). It did surprise a few that he was willing to go, to leave the Enterprise, when he'd never made it a secret how much he loved that ship. As it turned out, his loyalty to James T. Kirk surpassed even that (Jim was also sure Jaylah had something to do with it, the girl was as good as Scotty's daughter, as well as his apprentice, and she clearly had been delighted when the idea was proposed).

Hikaru, Pavel and Nyota were others that were immediately on board with the plan. Even when the risks were explained, they were still quite willing, Ben too. Bones made a huge deal about going back into space when he had been planning to retire, until Joanna said she was in, then he changed his mind (just like Jim knew he would). Carol and Greg were all for it, they didn't even mind being technically demoted as Asad would be head of security (Jim was quite sure the two were just giddy at the thought of getting to study different kinds of weapons and fighting techniques; also, not being in charge actually meant a bit less danger which was all good in their book); they got along great with both Asad and Anima, and if either of them recognized the augment, neither said a word about it.

In fact, no one had said a thing about the man that had once been known as Khan. The thing with the Klingons could be explained away by the fact that most of those signing up for the new mission had been right there with Jim when Kariva and the Bet'lath crew had helped them on their 'unofficial mission' all those years prior. Asad was an entirely different matter, one that Jim couldn't quite understand.

"They trust you." Cilaun pointed out calmly.

"What…?" Jim blinked at her, uncomprehending.

"You…" The half-Romulan was clearly fighting to find the right words. "There's something about you, James, that makes people want to trust you. Like with me. The very first day we met, you protected me, even though that put you at risk, you did it anyway. And because of that, when we all made it to Organia, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay with you. So much that I even joined the Bet'lath, just to stay with you. And I never regretted it. Everything that has happened since, the good, the bad…" The loss of her eye, and many other wounds throughout the years, the friendships she'd gained and the genius she got a chance to express. "I will never regret trusting you. And, I know, neither will they."

James had no words with which to reply to that, so he did the only thing he could think of, he embraced his little sister tightly. Really, at times he'd wondered how he ever believed himself to be alone when he'd such a huge, eclectic, amazing family.

xXx

2273.230 (August 18th of 2273) was a day that would likely be remembered for years, possibly even generations to come, not just in the Federation, but across all of Alpha and Beta Quadrant, at the very least. It wasn't just the start of the newest generation of Starfleet where, for the first time, Klingons would be spoken about as neighbors and allies rather than enemies, a potential threat. Where Starfleet might finally turn their focus back onto exploration, peace, reassured that the war so many had feared (and a few even sought to provoke) for years, had not happened, and would not be happening any time soon (hopefully never).

It was also the day when Admiral Archer stepped down as Fleet Admiral, personally handing the position to his successor: Christopher Pike. It was a historical moment not just because of how rare it was for an Admiral to retire, or who his successor was, but because for the first time in a long while the position was actually handed over from one Admiral to the next rather than having someone take possession of it upon the death of their predecessor (either in battle or because he happened to be an evil bastard like Marcus and ended going against the wrong people).

Finally, it was the day when the new ship that would bear a mixed crew and lead by Admiral James Tiberius Kirk-Ravanok (the others insisted the change in rank was necessary so he'd be on more even footing with his co-leader) and Princess Kariva yoWhI' meQpu'yay was officially christened. Right before the official take-off; and of course, both 'leaders' were expected to say a few words to the officers, cadets and public assembled (and all the press, through which probably at least half the galaxy were following everything).

Kariva was the first to step forth. She was dressed in what Jim had once termed her 'battle attire', except she had no weapons on her except her ceremonial dagger (she knew that most of Starfleet wasn't yet ready to see her fully armed, and she didn't expect to need her weapons during an official function).

"All present know who I am, who my father is." She stated, softly but strongly. "But today I wish to stand before you not as my Empire's princess, or as my father's daughter, I wish to stand here just as myself. I am Kariva. I may look different from many, if not all of you, but truth is, I don't think we're that different deep inside. I am a woman, one who has made choices not everyone agrees with. I left my home and began wandering through the stars, wishing to make a difference. I was lucky in that I found other similarly minded people who were willing to stand by me, to help me do what could be done. My partner, James, was one such person. I always knew there was more to your Federation than what our soldiers told us, but it was James who showed me that we really are not that different. We can all value the same things: Bravery, honor, and the will to stand for what is right. We all have that, and what else do we need to stand together?"

Applause followed her speech. Kariva made a very elaborate curtsy before stepping back, smirking at James as he rolled her eyes at her and stepped forward.

"Like Kariva said, everyone knows who I am." The blonde stated, relaxing his whole body, rather than standing at attention. "The Kelvin baby, only genius-level repeat-offender in the mid-west, a maverick, the most unorthodox captain in Starfleet… it goes on and on, and each epithet gets better or worse depending on whether the person in question loves me or hates me." There were some sporadic chuckles at that. "But put all that aside for a moment, because as awesome as it all might be… as awesome as I can be…" He gave them all his most winning smile. "This isn't actually about me. Or about any member of this crew, it's not even about Starfleet. It's about the Federation, and about the Klingon Empire, it's about everyone, together." He straightened up then, getting to the serious part of his speech: "A little over twenty years ago I met a group of people that had the courage to defy who the galaxy believed they ought to be to stand by their convictions and become who they knew the universe needed them to be. That is the example we all strive to follow as we set out today. Because it's not about any one of us, but about all of us, all that we represent. We carry with us the dreams of our peoples, the hopes for our futures, for peace and acceptance across the stars, and that is both a huge responsibility, and the greatest honor we'll ever receive. So thank you. To everyone of you who believed in us, who still believes in us. Who trust us to carry on this mission. We will not let you down." He stepped back to join his crew before adding. "To peace and acceptance!"

"To peace and acceptance!" The crew echoed him.

And thus began the voyages of the Kir-Alep.

---

For those wondering, Kir-Alep is the name of a divinity from Vulcan's ancient times. It was the God of Peace and Acceptance. I wanted the name of the new ship to mean something, and that fit what I wanted to project.

I know the purist fans may disagree with where I've gone with things, but I think that it must have been obvious from the start that I'm not the kind to follow traditional story and plotlines. I knew from the start that I wanted to do things in a way no one had ever before. Maybe I got too crazy, I still like how things came out.

Now, the most important. This is essentially the end of the series, at least where our main characters are concerned. For those who might be interested, I'll be posting one more story in a couple of weeks (you can consider it a late Christmas present), it'll concern Spock Prime. Because I decided that, in the end, he deserved to have his say... and some romance of his own! Also, I'll be addressing James's comment about dreams and certainties. So I hope to see you all there!

Now, for those who might be interested. While the main series, to call it something, is coming to an end (either here on in the next installment, depending on how interested you are in it...), I have two ideas for AUs which I'll be writing next time I drop into this fandom (I'm currently on an MCU binge). You can vote for which of the two you'd be more interested in: "YoD'" will be essentially about James deciding not to return to Earth when getting the news that Winona has passed. Instead he stays with the Klingon Empire, as Kariva's bodyguard. Of course when, years later, they heard about a prisoner escaping their most tightly guarded prison... in the end some things are just meant to happen, and soulmates cannot help but be drawn to each other... "Ravanok" is the other option and it has T'Lura surviving Tarsus, James eventually choosing to join Starfleet, except he keeps the name of James Ravanok, and no one but Chris (and maybe Bones) knows his birth-name. How different will things go when James doesn't have the weight of being the 'Kelvin baby' upon him? Or when he's known as the son of a Vulcan lady?

Yeah, I like writing crazy things, hope you'll be interested. See ya in a couple of weeks (I hope)!

P.S. Please don't forget to review/comment.