Chapter One

A three-year-old James Kirk pressed himself back into the recesses of the cupboard, watching out through the thin slit provided at the scene before him. His mother, who had been previously reading him a bedtime story earlier, was now talking with two nasty looking men with threatening spears. Tattoos swirled up the meaty arms of the men as they leared ever closer to his mother.

"Where's your son?"

"What son?" He heard her ask, backing up enough until she backed into the dresser.

"Nero will not be trifled with. He knows George's son lives, so where is he?"

Trembling himself, James curled his legs up under his chin, watching as one of the two men began to search his room.

"Again, what son?"

"We're not daft, lady. We know you're the wife."

James' focus turned from his mother to the man combing the room, noticing that he was getting ever closer to the hidden cupboard that he was hiding in. His mother had taught him an escape from the cupboard if he needed to, yet though he was scared, he didn't want to leave his mother.

"You have five seconds to tell us where he is..."

As the man in front of his mother began to start his dreaded countdown, he began to slowly move his hand downwards, trying to search for the secret lever his mother had taught him was there. As his small fingers closed about it, he tugged it up. Tugging the lever up caused the back of the cupboard to lift up, and James wasted no time in slipping half of his body out. As the man reached the number 'five' in his count, James' eyes turned back just in time to see his mother lying on the floor. He knew what had happened, and tears streamed down his face as he quickly let his body drop the rest of the way out of the back of the cupboard into the shrubbery at the back of the house. His trembling hands shut the door before he got on his belly and began to worm himself along the ground in the shrubs. On the other side, his village was being burnt up and pillaged by Nero's men. If they couldn't slake their greed by finding him, they'd do it some other way. Three-year-old James had half a mind to reveal himself to spare all this, but didn't as the words of his mother replayed in his head. No one could find him. If Nero caught him, Star Fleet would perish.

He suddenly felt heat beside his leg, and turned his head slightly to see his own house going up in flames. Knowing that he had to move away from the safety of the shrubbery, James looked about him quickly for any of Nero's men before he made a run for it. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him across the field, aiming himself for the trees nearby. If he could just make it to the treeline and into the cover of the trees, he'd be fine. He'd make it. He'd…

"HEY! Get that kid!"

Running faster now that he knew he had been spotting, he crashed right into the thick trees, not caring that the branches were scratching his face or tearing at his clothes. He could hear the men pursuing him from behind. He turned to look behind him briefly, but that was all it took for him to misstep. Tripping on a root, he tumbled down a small embankment and hitting his head against a rock. The world about him began to spin as he laid on the ground, listening to his pursuers get closer and not being able to move.

It was then that a face suddenly appeared above him; a face that didn't belong to Nero's men. Feeling his eyelids grow heavier, he looked at the boy who was looking at him curiously.

"Who are you?" asked the boy who appeared to only be about a year or two older than James.

"My name is James...James Kirk..." whispered James, figuring he could trust this boy. A small sigh left his mouth then as he passed out.

Looking on at the unconscious boy for a moment or two more, the other boy turned when he heard the noise of the men coming towards them. Looking over his shoulder, the boy could see a light moving closer to him, and knew that he had to act quickly before they were found. Grabbing the boy's arm, he gently began to drag his arm as he moved to a hidden tent nearby where he had previously been sleeping with his father.

"Papa! Papa!" called out the boy as he neared the hidden tent.

Having woken at the sound of Nero's men approaching outside, the man peered out the tent at his son; eyes widening when he saw the boy that his own boy was with. He slipped out of the tent then to scoop the unconscious James up into his arms before slipping back into the tent. The other little boy followed his father back inside the tent, sitting near the entrance as he zipped it and helped to conceal it once more.

The man moved to lay the unconscious boy gently out before taking the boy's pulse, relieved to find out that it still existed. The sound of Nero's men grew louder outside, and everyone in the tent fell silent; the father putting out the light to not reveal the existence of their secret place. Nero's men crashed about outside for a bit in search of James before eventually deciding to move on and explore another section. As soon as the men were gone, and they had waited a couple minutes in the silence and darkness to make sure, the father lit the light again and moved to examine the unconscious James once more.

"Did you catch his name?" asked his father.

"Yes. James Kirk. His name is James Kirk," answered the boy obediently as he stayed seated near the entrance.

The father's eyes grew wide upon hearing the name, turning to look at his son.

"Do you realize who this is? This is the boy from the prophecy?"

"He is?" asked the boy as his own eyes widened in shock, looking at the seemingly ordinary boy that lay unconscious in their grasp. "He is the one that will save Star Fleet."

"It is his destiny to do so, yes..."

The boy watched as his father then moved to wrap a blanket about James' body.

"We mustn't let those men find him. Nero will kill him if they find him. We have to protect him and take him in. That is our destiny."

The boy nodded his head slowly, moving then to get closer to the unconscious James to study him better.

"How are we going to do that, papa?"

"We must take him in as our own," said the father, gently reaching up to touch Kirk's non-pointed ears. "If anyone asks about his ears, we'll just say it is a result of the marriage between your mother and I. We will take him in and pretend he is a long lost brother. You will have to play along. We'll call him Tibby...Short for Tiberius."

The boy nodded his head as he watched his father stare softly at James.

"But papa. It's illogical to put ourselves in danger when we don't have to."

"Son, this is not illogical to protect the fate of Star Fleet by taking this boy in. This is the same sort of logic that had you drag him towards safety in the first place instead of leaving him behind."

The boy nodded his head as he reached out a hand to touch James' hand as he lay there.

"You must protect him at all costs, and someday help him to realize who he really is. You must someday help him to fulfill his destiny. His life is in your charge now, Spock. We can't fail. The whole of Star Fleet, and consequently the galaxy, depends on it."

"Yes, father," said five-year-old Spock then as he looked at his father. "I'll protect him whatever the cost."