Alpha shift had started off normally, Kirk had taken command from his replacement, as the rest of his command crew drifted in. Uhura notifying him of an incoming message from Starfleet Command, which a brief yawn, he ordered her to put it on the viewscreen.
Quirking an eyebrow he looked at Admiral Archer, "Admiral Archer, what can I do for you?"
"I need you to do a routine mission is all, I need you to take supplies to New Vulcan, after that, I will need you to return to earth, somethings happened with your mother."
"What does my mother have to do with anything? I haven't spoken to her or anyone from Iowa since I joined Starfleet."
"I'd prefer to discuss your mother in private Captain," With a barely perceptable wince Admiral Archer replied.
Raising both eyebrows in the Admirals direction, he laughed softly, and surprising his crew replied with, "My crew, these people you see here before you, are more of a family to me than my own family was. My mother at any chance she got, took off into space, leaving me with Frank. Who was abusive, physically, emotionally and mentally. My own BROTHER took off and left me alone with him. So you can speak freely of my "mother", in front of them."
Wide eyes looked from all around him at him, before turning back to the viewscreen, determined to do their captain, brother, lover proud. They would stand behind him no matter what, no matter what the Admirals decided to dish out to them, they'd keep their captain safe. They'd almost lost him more than once, and they were determined to keep him THEIRS.
He'd helped with Chekov and his self confidence issues being the youngest crewmember, yet alone the youngest of the command crew. He'd kept Scotty in-line from going to far took quickly in modifying and making the Enterprise that much better so that he didn't kill himself from exhaustion. Spock was no longer in his shell around the command crew, he may not have laughed or showed many outward signs of emotion, but he joked and showed he cared for them. Their captains biggest accomplishment was bonding with Spock, the two were not inseparable. Uhura hadn't been happy at the time, but with time all wounds heal. She was deteremind to see her two friends happy, and if that was with each other, so be it.
When Uhura was having problems translating something, Kirk offered to help her, and despite her misgivings he proved to be essential to her deciphering it. It wasn't important, just a side project she'd taken on to keep herself entertained. Since then she had kep regular dates with him so that they could work on things together. Sulu, he taught was taught in return. They sparred and they laughed.
With a glance around the bridge, Admiral Archer gave a gruff laugh, "Well then Jim, I'll be informal. Your mother is dying, Frank didn't want me to notify you, but as she is a Starfleet officer and you a Captain, I ignored him. She may not have done right by you, or your brother but she did love you, and you deserved to know, better yet you deserve to have the ability to say good-bye to her."
With a snort Kirk can't help but laugh himself.
"Right, and I'll be welcomed with open arms? Hell, I can't IMAGINE either of them being happy to see me, let alone if Sam is there, I'll be dead within seconds of showing my face."
Without a word, Spock stood and put his hand on his t'hy'la's shoulder while looking at the viewscreen,"Admiral, am I to assume correctly that when we reach Earth we will be on leave?"
Admiral Archer watched the byplay with curiousity, he'd never seen the Vulcan in the light he was now, he had of course heard the rumors that he and Kirk had bonded, but hadn't believed them... Until now. Maybe there was truth in what people were saying.
"Yes, you will all be granted shore leave while Jim is visiting his mother."
Spock glanced down at his captain before looking at the rest of the bridge crew who were watching them avidly, when he caught each of their eyes individually he asked them, "Are you willing to come with us, when we go to see his family?"
Quickly glancing between themselves then back at Spock and Kirk, they unanimously chose Uhura as their spokesperson, "Yes Commander, we'd be more than willing. He is our friend as well as our captain. We'd be remiss in our duty if we let harm come to him even on leave. He deserves our support in whatever way we can give."
With that Admiral Archer smiled, James Tiberius Kirk had ended up with a phenomenal crew, and he in return showed them his loyalty had no bounds and he would protect them even if it meant his death. They would not let him go without a fight, the rest of the Admiralty with the exception of Admiral Pike had no clue what was awaiting them if they ever came to the decision of what to do with Captain Kirk. Whether they would try to tame him and put a leash on him, they would face his crew, who were loyal to him before they were loyal to Starfleet.
"I'll be seeing you Jim. Be well and don't get yourself killed while doing this milk run!" And with that, Admiral Archer was gone.
Turning back to his bridge crew, "Sulu, plot a course for New Vulcan. We'll take them their supplies and then to earth. And by the way guys... Thank you. You know you don't have to right?"
Uhura again was their unspoken spokesperson, "We don't have to, but we want to. You're not the only person who thinks of us as family. You're part of our family as well."
"Thank you."
Once they reached New Vulcan, Jim gave a sigh of relief. Beaming down with landing crew, he helped to unload the shuttles of supplies. Turning while wiping the sweat from his brow, he jumped in surprise as Spock Prime stood before him. Giving a nod of acknowledgement, he turned to go back to work, when he was interupted.
"I would like to congratulate on your bonding with my counterpart. My Jim and I never bonded, so I give you my blessings."
In shock, he looked over his shoulder as Spock Prime walks away. It had never occured to him that Spock Prime and his counterpart had never bonded. It had always seemed so natural to him how he and Spock had progressed. Jim was still chaos personified, but he was not tempered by Spocks logic. His chaos was now even more dangerous, he was willing to take the risks, and he always had Spocks logic to keep him centered.
Once they returned to the ship, Jim stretched while yawning. It would soon be time to switch with Beta shift again, so that he and his command crew could get some much needed rest. They had all been stressed with this mission on top of the fact they would all be going to bumfuck Iowa, also known as Riverside, Iowa to see his family.
