A/N: So, I had been once again browsing through st_xi_kink_meme and found this interesting prompt:

For the first time in his life things are going great for James T Kirk; he is Captain of the flagship, has a loyal crew who are his family and has been in a loving and committed relationship with Spock for over two years. What could possibly go wrong? During his routine medical he turns up pregnant; should be good news right? Nope not when your bondmate and th'yla is sterile and unable to get you said pregnant. The thing is Jim never cheated on Spock but nobody not even his BFF Bones believes him and they ALL take Spock's (who kicks Kirk to the curb immediately after finding out) side, making life so awkward on the enterprise that Starfleet have to intervene and end up dishonorably discharging Jim for behaviour unfitting a commanding officer (you know Sarek pulled strings). Kirk is understandably devastated... which would of course be understatement of the year,and after being rejected by even his family he thinks about having an abortion but he can't bring himself to end his pregnancy, to kill his and Spock's baby, even though everyone around him tells him to.

The prompt is longer, really angsty and full of nice drama - but I decided to make it a bit more "fuck you, bastards" story, and changed it so. Being inspired by one of the fillers, I decided to genderbent Jim (so hellooo, Jane). Because hey, strong women rock.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just this piece of fiction is completely my very own fault.

Best Served Cold

As Jane sat in the transport shuttle, gazing at the ship she captained only few hours ago getting out of sight, she thought about what she was supposed to do. Just few weeks ago, she came from her shift, only to meet pissed off Spock in their quarters.

Obviously, she was pregnant (she didn't even know that yet) and obviously, he was not the father.

Jane didn't know how the baby in her womb came to be. She read the charts about Spock being sterile herself, so the conclusion that she had been unfaithful was quite logical even in her very biased eyes. But she was absolutely faithful, and it scared her when Spock her been towering above her, eyes blazing with anger she didn't remember seeing ever since the 'you never loved her!' incident. Instead of grabbing her by the neck and ending her supposedly still-not-monogamous life as she half-expected him to do, he just coldly told her that he had been warned that this would be happening sooner or later and yet he allowed himself the illogical hope of her ways being changed.

The thing is, she never needed to change anything, because the rumours about her promiscuity had been just that. Rumors. She would have thought he knew that, after melding with her during their relationship before and after their bonding, but obviously, he chose lies instead of truth, because the lies seemed logical.

And Enterprise chose his side of the argument without bothering to ask her about anything. Spock's version had obviously been enough.

Bones openly yelled her, accused her of being player and told her to get the fuck out of his sickbay. Part of her understood why he was like that - after all, divorce like his would probably make everyone suspicious. Yet she hoped that at least he would listen to what she had to say. The whole senior crew was openly showing their disdain; Uhura glaring at her coldly, Chekov looking elsewhere but her, Sulu cancelling all the training sessions they had planned without saying why (not that she couldn't put two and two together), Scotty changing settings of her replicator to give out only those dishes the whole crew knew she hated. Sure, they would answer when she spoke to them, followed her orders - but otherwise, she was completely alone in the crowd, no one sparing her a glance, a smile or word, kind or unkind.

When they came close to the New Vulcan colony and Chris came onboard, she hoped at least he would listen to her. But the only thing she received from him had been PADD with message from Admiralty.

Jane Tabitha Kirk is to be dishonorably discharged for conduit unbecoming a Starfleet Captain.

She only had time to pack her things, the few belongings she had fitted into two carton boxes she was provided by suddenly very helpful quarter master, she downloaded her data on few datapads (among those data was her last talks with Spock and Bones - somehow, she found herself watching them over and over, keeping her heart hurting and bleeding) and was ready to leave.

No one came to see her off.

-o.O.o-

She didn't know what to do when she arrived to Earth any more than she knew that after leaving Enterprise. San Francisco was most probably off-limits for her to search for a job, and although she was sure she would qualify for most of the jobs she saw in the ads, every time she made an inquiry, she was told - in very polite and very cold way - that the position had already been taken (which was lie in most of the cases - she checked that by hacking into the email addresses of the companies and saw that people who applied for the job later than her got invitation for interview, since the position was still open).

That was when she realized that if there was one place she could always go to, it had been Riverside. Riverside, the unimportant and boring town of her life, surrounded by cornfields and plains, with its close knitted community and opened arms to anyone. Maybe Danny would give her a job as a waitress or cook at his pizza parlour again (she did that back when she was fifteen and was told she did decent job). Maybe Lyna would rent her that small apartment above her store again. Maybe Bill would take her under his wing when it came to taking care about her health again (she used to have Bones for that, but obviously, not anymore). Maybe Josh would bake her those amazing cookies again, and serve them with a cup of his absolutely amazing tea. Maybe...

Maybe Riverside would take her side in this.

It wasn't surprising that the folks or her hometown were rather unsure about how to treat around her when she first came back. After all, it's not every day you get the planet hero dishonorably discharged. But it only took one visit from the Riverside padre Diderico (as they used to call their pastor) and they welcomed her back with open arms.

After all, it wouldn't be the first time Jane overcame all possible or impossible odds. Nor it would be the last.

Most of her friends, as well as her brother, were already married, with families on their own (as would be she, if anyone actually stopped to listen to her). All of them came to visit her in her flat (Sam originally demanded she came to live with him and Aurelan on Kirk's ranch, but she refused, saying that with his boys, he would need all the room he could get, and she was comfortable where she was), rented to her by Lyna (as she hoped - the woman was ecstatic to have her in that flat again), and promised their help should she need it.

And she truly did need it, with all the depression fits, morning sickness and panic attacks.

She worked at Danny's once again, being one of the two waitresses there. It wasn't paid much, but she managed, partly because she didn't have many needs, partly because she managed to make some savings when she was still Captain of the Enterprise, partly because all the folks in her town helped her as much as they could. Would she need help to figure how to care for the baby? Some baby clothes? Bassinet? Baby-sitter?

She tried to contact Spock, Bones, Old Spock (she felt he would like to know, even if only for the scientific curiosity of his) or Chris after every single one of her medical examination for three months. The baby was growing inside of her without trouble, and she wanted them to know about the progress of her pregnancy.

Bones at least sent her email, telling her off and leaving him the fuck alone. Spock, Old Spock and Chris didn't bothered to at least read the emails or view the enclosed scan pictures, only after her fifth email she got official warning to stop bothering Spock and Chris (no response so far from Old Spock), or they will file a complaint about her harassing them. So she stopped trying, and if she cried for the whole night afterwards, there was no one who would tell on her.

-o.O.o-

One days she woke up, feeling so sick that not even the morning sickness could beat it. After spending half an hour above the toilet bowl she called for her brother and his wife to help her. She couldn't stop crying and her head was killing her. Her brother and his wife Aurelan came just in time to catch her, as she blacked out.

Her head felt empty when she woke up some time later, and she was still rather dizzy as her brother carried her to her bed.

"Jane, what was that?"

"I... I do not know," she responded slowly. Then her comm unit pinged to life. In-coming message. From Starfleet. She opened it, hope rushing through her whole being, only to be crushed seconds later. The email was basically "your marital status had been changed to 'divorced'" message.

That was the meaning of the nausea. Spock broke off their bond.

-o.O.o-

Finally, Bill had been able to do the complete DNA scans of the baby. It came as 60% healthy Vulcan boy (Spock himself had 80/ of Vulcan DNA, as the Vulcan genes proved to be dominant when it came to giving birth to hybrids). She could see his slightly pointed ears on the scans already, and it made her weep.

Why, Spock, why didn't you believe me, she asked. No one answered that to her, and she only emailed her closest friends and Sam with the scans, and that was it.

-o.O.o-

Before she gave birth to her son, she was visited by newly appointed Romulan Ambassador. She was preparing some coffee for the refill pot, when she heard discreet cough behind her. She almost dropped the pot when she turned around and saw a Romulan behind her (she guessed he was Romulan - his attire sure suggested that), from all the possible people who could come to Danny's.

"I believe you are Jane Tabitha Kirk," he said, and the sound of his voice, firm and strong, but not threatening, made her relax.

"Yes, that would be me," she answered, setting the pot down, so she wouldn't accidentally drop it. "I'm afraid you have me at disadvantage, though," she let her voice trail into silence, prompting him to speak again, which he did.

He offered her a small bow. "Excuse my bad manners. I'm Maiek Riuurren, Romulan Ambassador. I came to Riverside in hopes of speaking with you. Maybe when you have time...?"

This time it was his voice that trailed into silence. She eyed him for a moment, before she shrugged. "Sure, why not - but I'm afraid you will have to wait, as I'm supposed to be working for next four hours."

"Then I shall wait," he said, once again offering her a small bow. "I find myself rather hungry - maybe you could recommend me a dish for the afternoon meal?"

"Sure, sure," she scrambled for some manners, cursing herself for lack of professionalism. Yes, she may be just a waitress but that still doesn't mean she should forget about her work. She pointed him towards the non-human friendly meals Danny's offered, and helped him pick one.

It was slightly unnerving to feel someone's eyes on her the whole rest of her shift, without the watcher trying to stab her with his glare. She found herself curious what a Romulan wanted to speak about with her - after all, after her dishonorable discharge it wasnt as if she had any ties to Starfleet anymore, so she wouldn't be able to give him any correct info anymore (nor that she would, but still) or tell him whom to contact, if he needed help.

Obviously, just talking to her was enough of him. "I find S'chn T'gai Spock and his decision to leave you illogical," he said before he left. "Anyone would be content to have mate as brilliant as you."

"Would you, Ambassador?" she said jokingly, meaning it mostly just as rhetorical question.

"Yes."

He left after that one last word, leaving her standing in Danny's with her mouth open, staring after him. She didn't have much time to think about that, though, as few hours later her water broke and she had other matters to think about.

S'tark. She will name her son S'tark Tiberius Kirk.

-o.O.o-

Ambassador Maiek slowly became a regular at Danny's, often waiting for hours for her to get off shift, so he could talk to her before he had to make his leave.

Once she offered him to meet her baby - the walk to her apartment was a short one, and when she saw him cradling the baby carefully in his arms, gazing into the surprised eyes of her son with wonder, she felt her heart clench painfully. He looked up from the smiling baby in his arms when he heard her soft gasp, and gave her a Romulan not-smile, and she felt her lips creating a smile of her own as reply.

-o.O.o-

S'tark had been six months old when she got another visitor, the old Spock.

At the very first moment she wanted to tell him off, but the look in his deep and sad eyes stopped her from saying that. She invited him to her home, telling him what happened, while he explained why it took him so long to contact her. He had been teaching new generation of Adepts of Gol, and had been left with no connection to the world outside of newly built monastery. His surprise, when he learnt what had befallen on her from her emails, had been enormous, and he spent a long time by searching for her.

Old Spock actually cried when she placed the boy in his arms, in wonder gazing at the boy. "My younger counterpart was unwise to cast you out."

Well, if that didn't sum things up, then nothing would.

-o.O.o-

It had been everything Riverside could talk about. The Enterprise was about to come to Earth for a shore leave, and they were about to get upgrades at the Riverside shipyards. Meaning - why not to finally show the bastards a what for?

Jane strictly prohibited everyone from doing anything what could bring them problems. "Just make it slip, should someone ask, that the Danny's is the best pizza parlour in Riverside. I'll deal with them myself." She still wanted to give her crew one more opportunity to see that she truly was not lying when she said she was faithful.

Old Spock told her that while he appreciates the sentiment, he thinks it too generous when she spoke to him and mentioned that. Maiek himself voiced similar sentiments. "You do not need them, Jane," he told her at his next visit of Danny's. "There is no need for you to prove they were wrong."

"I know," she said. "But I do not think I could forgive myself, if I didn't try one more time."

Maiek just nodded his understanding and touched her hand lightly, making her heart skip a beat.

-o.O.o-

To say that the whole thing didn't go quite as planned would be gravest understatement of century. The whole of Riverside had been really helpful, pointing everyone to places they asked about, slipping in the info that if they wanted a really good Italian, they should go to Danny's.

Almost no one took the bait, but as Jane found out with wildly beating heart, the whole of senior crew certainly did.

She knew confronting her former crew, former colleagues and former friends will be hard - but part of her hoped it won't be made even harder by them. Her appearance by their table and softly spoken "may I take your orders?" was met first with stunning silence and then a whole hell broke through.

"What, someone like you working in such highly spoken place like this? The owner sure needs to check references before they accept their workers."

"You and working in pizza parlour? Shouldn't you be working in, I don't know, bawdy-house or something?"

"I find myself not in need of sustenance anymore."

That made it quite obvious that they really did not change their opinions about her. "I take it that you need to think about your orders a little more. I will tell my co-worker to take them in a short time."

As she listened to the mocking whistling following her leave, she nodded at Danny. It was time to use plan B.

-o.O.o-

Jane herself was not quite sure what she wanted to do. Sure, she wanted to prove that she was saying the truth and make everyone from her former co-workers feel bad, as bad as she felt when she was rejected by them. But just how to do that?

If only Frank, their step-father, had been still alive... Jane missed the man; he may have been surly, but he was not cruel, and showed his caring in little ways. He would probably hunted the senior crew with a shotgun, she thought with a small smile.

Sam came with genial solution - make it a public affair, so the whole Federation knows about it, just as the whole Federation knew about her dishonourable discharge. And the best way to proceed would be to gather evidence, post an article about it in some tabloids everyone will buy and then make trial of the century about that.

"I know just the right lawyer to have the game started."

'Ey, ey, life is a game,' hummed Jamie afterwards. 'Ey, ey, twisted is the way, you know how it feels, to smile through the pain...'

-o.O.o-

The lawyer Sam recommended had been one pretty quirky man of name Samuel Cogley. Jane adored him ever since she spoke to him for the first time. He was full of nervous activity, always thinking about five things and five of their outcomes at the same time, chattering about regulations, codes and principles - but he paid close attention to what Jane was saying, making notes at what needed to be investigated and who would be able to help with this.

Old Spock and Maiek fully supported her in this, once she told them about the scene senior crew made, and promised their help, if needed. And right now, she was sure she will need all the help she could get.

-o.O.o-

When Maiek asked her out, she thought that maybe he's just struggling with some Terran idiom (after all, he mentioned several times that Terran idioms were source of never-ending frustration to him - once he learnt one, there were dozens more appearing and confusing the hell out of him). But he was completely serious, and Jamie found herself saying "yes" to his invitation.

He brough her flowers, and was a perfect gentleman that evening, and Jane thought that she may actually be falling in love with him just a little bit.

-o.O.o-

Getting the evidence needed was proving to be quite a challenge, such as the question 'how to actually collect evidence that it was possible for Spock to impregnate his at-that-time-bondmate?'

That one proved to rather easy in the end, as old Spock volunteered to do the testing for half-Vulcan/human compatibility and half-Vulcan/Vulcan compatibility. The results came as rather shocking - Spock was never tested for his fertility outside his father species, so fact of the day - outside the Vulcan species, Spock was very much fertile, and just by some random chance it took him so long (they were in relationship for almost two years, and sleeping together for about year) to impregnate her.

Then there had been false accusation of her 'conduit unbecoming a Starfleet Captain'. As she didn't do anything what other Captains didn't do themselves and it never brought them anything worse than a strict reprimand, her only 'crime' would be getting pregnant - which wasn't all that unusual either, and since none of the other female Captains who got pregnant wasn't dishonorably discharged, well... Jane was sure the public would get the picture.

She also had proofs of emotional abuse - after all, was the complete ignorance of her by her crew anything else? There were the videos with her last not-duty-related talks with Spock and Bones, full of insults and accusations, as well as her personal records during last few days of her Captaincy, speaking how alone she feels and why.

All in all, Jane was rather positive that this will slap quite a few people right in the face.

-o.O.o-

"Are you content with how your life is now, Jane?" asked Maiek on one of their 'dates'. They had been sitting in the park, watching the ducks on the pond, enjoying the comfortable silence when Maiek spoke.

Jane looked at him curiously. "I'm not depressed, if that's what you are asking about, Maiek. Well,"she paused, grimacing slightly, "at least not anymore. I got friends who stand by me, son I love, and currently find myself in company of spectacular man - what more to wish for?" she finished teasingly.

"For the stars," replied Maiek seriously. "You were meant to travel among them, not to be forced on the ground."

There was more silence, before Jane quietly said: "I know."

They just stayed there until the sun disappeared behind the horizon, her head on his shoulder, and his arm around her.

-o.O.o-

The time for break-through finally came - Jane had all possible evidence, as well as maximum support from Riverside folks. All it took to get some attention was to call to office of the biggest tabloid in the Federation.

Two days later, the charges against Starfleet are pressed, and the whole of Federation can enjoy the headlines in Seal of Federation latest issue.

Jane T. Kirk - Unfairly Dishonorably Discharged! Read more at pages 5 to 20!

And this time, it was Jane who has the pleasure of having Sam Cogley to return her suddenly full email box with "please refrain from contacting Jane Tabitha Kirk again" messages to every sender who knew her personal adress.

-o.O.o-

As was expected, Starfleet tried to solve the whole "inconvenience" out of the court. But Kirks, Riverside, Old Spock and Maiek would not let it be like that. Before, the 'fleet had no qualms to wash the dirty laundry in public, now Jane returned the favor. She just wouldn't appear at the court personally. They did not deserve that.

But she was in another room, watching the happenings in the court room on monitor, Maiek sitting next to her. S'tark was being taken care of by Aurelan. It was strangely satisfying to see her former crew fidget on their places as the evidence was listed by Samuel - he was obviously having time of his life, as he presented each point of the charges.

"First I would like to bring attention of the court to false accusation of my client's infidelity - as you can see on these scans," he showed them around, fetus with clearly pointed ears, and the DNA scan, " my client was not guilty with what she had been accused of. Commander, pardon, Captain Spock had no logical reason to break their relationship and later even their bond off on unchecked possibility of his fertility."

"Objection!" called the defendant. "Captain Spock didn't consent to any kind of testing! Where did you get this kind of evidence?"

"I hoped you'll ask that," smirked Samuel. "Ambassador Selek kindly offered his DNA for the testing purposes, as he shares number of traits with Captain Spock, such as his parentage of being half-Vulcan and half-human being."

It made Jane smirk viciously when she saw the stunned faces of her former crew. Probably more viciously than she should, but at this time, she just couldn't care less about how much punched-in-the-gut they all felt.

-o.O.o-

First day of the trial was also the day Maiek asked her to become his wife. There had been lots of stuff to discuss before she gave him her "I will" or "I won't" - as how her child would be accepted? How she would be accepted? What would be her position as his wife? There were so many questions on her mind, Maiek answering them patiently (althought after hour of questioning his patience was obviously wearing thin.

She asked for time to think it through - after all, the trial was only at its beginning and she was quite emotionally compromised - and he (althought a bit reluctantly, as he obviously hoped for a clear answer to his proposal) granted it. When he rose to his feet, intent on returning to his suite at embassy, she followed up and before she could stop herself she blurted: "Stay?"

And he did.

-o.O.o-

The trial was as bad as could be expected. There was so many dirt aired during it... Like Jane's family - quite absent Winona (stars were obviously much more attractive than her two children and second husband), her juvvie record (which started with with driving George's - no, she won't call him father, just like she wouldn't call Winona mother, for that they actually would have to be present in her life - car into ravine), her relationships (there were far less of them than probably would most people think)...

And then there were things like Uhura and Spock dating while she was his student, McCoy and his divorce, Scott and beagle incident, Chekov and Sulu getting in trouble, Giotto and his work at removing most of the basic equipment from the escape pod they launched her in to Delta Vega...

She felt sick, but it couldn't be stopped now. The chalice of bitterness had to be drank till the last droplet.

-o.O.o-

"Why do you think I would be a good wife to you?"

If Maiek had been surprised by her sudden question, he didn't show it. Instead he gazed at her and listed the reasons why he wanted her as his mate. Loyalty. Determination. Beauty. Intelligence. Love.

That day, she told him yes.

-o.O.o-

Finally the last day of the trial came. It was time for final statements and wait for results. Somehow Jane got the opportunity to make the final statement herself, in private final hearing - and damn her if she won't use the chance.

It was cathartic to tell them how she lost all trust to them when they sentenced her guilty without allowing her to prove her innocence (and anyway, wasn't it supposed to be "innocent until proven guilty" instead of "guilty until proven innocent") and lost all remains of respect to them when they made the scene in the pizza parlour.

She told them they deserved each other and that she hoped they could expect more from themselves than what she received - but when it comes to her, she now got her son and husband-to-be and couldn't care less about them. That caused some ruckus, quickly silenced by the judge and with that she finished her statement and left the courtroom again, Maiek waiting for her with S'tark in his arms.

The court ruling in her favour was just the cherry on top.

-o.O.o-

Her wedding with Maiek had been quite a scandal - the hero of Federation, who built her career on defeating Romulan from future marrying a Romulan? A Romulan marrying woman who has child with possible telepathic abilities? And it was glorious; whole of Riverside in attendance of the wedding, the only outsider being Old Spock.

Maiek still kept his position as Ambassador, meaning they travelled a lot, on various conferences, meetings and some travelling just for the sake of travelling - she managed to meet with Old Spock (well, he went under name 'Selek' now, but she still called him 'old man' as a kind of endearment) quite often on various missions and while Maiek tried to be rather territorial around her, he slowly relaxed when she was in presence of other men.

S'tark had been source of neverending pride and banging their head against the nearest wall to both of them. Old Spock helped him to understand the Vulcan side of his genetics, while she and Maiek let him choose the path he would take. He used the control Selek taught him, and balanced it with his human heritage. Jane also made sure he understood that while Maiek is his father, he is not his biological father, telling him about her dishonourable discharge and the trial against Starfleet (better if he heard it from her then be ambushed about that by someone else). He sure was Kirk, Jane thought, when she remembered some of the best pranks he pulled.

It was aparent when S'tark reached his fourteenth year that he loved his parents but not knowing his biological father troubled him. That was partially her fault. When she was tying the trial, she petitioned the court to be given full custody of her son - which certainly wasn't very nice, but it was no less than Spock deserved. Jane thought it strange twist of fate that Maiek's presence was requested for Babel conference, and the ship which was to bring him there was announced as Enterprise.

When exiting their shuttle after it safely landed in Enterprise shuttle bay, Jane allowed herself a small smile, when S'tark jumped out and held his hand to help her out, half of the senior crew greeting each ambassador as they arrived, thus seeing her in presence of her husband and son. As S'tark felt their eyes on him, his blackhaired head turned aside to flash them a smile, his crystal blue eyes shining with amusement at their gasps of surprise. Spock watched his son with unmasked curiosity and S'tark fully returned the sentiment.

Part of her felt like making some childish gesture at them, but in the end she decided to behave like Ambassador's wife and just greeted them in cool, detached voice, earning herself amused smirks from her men. She looked around, taking in the silver walls of Enterprise shuttle bay. When she was here last time, she was depressed, broken and alone. Now, she came back, victorious and happy.

Oh yes. Circle came to its end and new beginning.

Notes:

- Romulan Names taken from ASR Character Name Generator.

- yes, if you read my "This Is The End" story, you may have noticed I used Samuel Cogley there, too. He's one of the TOS characters I just love so much I can't stop myself from bringing back. His character has all the right quirkiness to it.

- 'Ey, ey, life is a game' is part of lyrics of 'Life is a Game' by Kristina. Also, the song had been anthem of one of the ice hockey championships.

- There may be a sequel planned for this (because hey, Journey to Babel anyone?). But as usual, I promise nothing.