A/N: Well, this is my first StarTrek fan fiction! It has total...three chapters? It's actually a one-shot but I'm not used to posting more than 10K words in one post, so I'm separating them into three chapters. The other two chapters would probably be longer than this one, so this one is mostly like an introduction of sort. I'm still not used to some of StarTrek words and phrases, so if I mis-used or used misinformation, do let me know!

I'm also a bit not canny about the characterisations, I tried. I mean, I'm following the reboot!Kirk instead of TOS!Kirk. Do let me know if it's off. Other than that, hope you guys like it!

Title: Beneath the Stars

Pairing: Kirk/Spock

Setting: After StarTrek: Into the Darkness

Prompt: Partially inspired from a prompt I got in Tumblr: Imagine Person A showing up on Person B's doorstep with a bundle in their arms that turns out to be a baby that A had found abandoned. A wants to raise the baby with B, and B agrees, even though they're not a couple. Though I didn't use the prompt, I just used it as an inspiration. I think I got this from otpprompts in Tumblr. The child-well, maybe he was born after ST (2009) but anyways, this whole story is definitely after STID. Does that make sense? /;/

Chapter 1

James Tiberius Kirk's life was never going to be the same again.

It was three in the morning when the call that was going to change his life forever rang. Laying in the bed where his blankets covered him up like some cocoon and in deep slumber, the first few rings had gone off without anybody answering it.

The thing was it was his shore leave at the moment, back on Earth in San Francisco while he waited for his lady, the Enterprise, to be repaired due to some damages she had gotten from a tense fight with the Klingons. After nearly mid-way in the five-year-mission, Jim was practically bouncing like a little kid in his seat when he got the notice to return back to Earth for Enterprise's repairs and upgrades.

He loved the space, which was no doubt to anyone who had known him. He relished the moment every time he was back out there just sailing through the stars and creating new memoirs along the way with his crewmembers—with his family but sometimes, Terra, Earth—home was where he wanted to be after a very long tough mission and sometimes, he would want to remember how blue a clear sky looked like.

After the Khan Incident, after Jim had literally died and was brought back to life by the same maniac's blood, he was ecstatic to find out that he had gotten that five-year-long-mission. Not to mention, he was getting more and more famous not just in his home planet but throughout the galaxy. Everyone knew who James Tiberius Kirk was and everyone knew what he did for Earth and for his people.

But he didn't take all the credit. He did what he had to do as a captain. He always used the phrase 'the captain goes down with his ship' to explain his situation at that time. He wanted to see his crewmembers safe and it didn't cross his mind that he was going to die until the very end. Until he saw Spock was crying and the radiation practically ripping through his skin that he knew he was dying.

After he was brought back to life, he was treated with respect by his crewmembers—heck even by the Starfleet Admirals. But he didn't really care for such attention, he was just glad he had his ship back and his friends, his family was safe. And then, when he was back in space, he made even closer bonds with each and every crewmember aboard.

He made sure he spent some time with them, even if it was for a few minutes, just to let them know that it was alright to be close to him. He maybe the Captain of the U.S.S Enterprise but he wasn't someone to be afraid of. He was friendly and he loved making friends. He wanted to be a captain where his crewmembers could express themselves and trust him, not to just follow orders and act like he was any more superior to others because the truth was—he wasn't.

He was pretty much like everyone else on board. They were like in a symbiotic relationship. Never one without the other or else pretty much everything else would go off balance. Though, it did hurt every time he lost any member of his crew. Every time he had to sit down and write the report or write the condolence letters to their respective families, it tore a part of Jim with it.

That was one of those perks that made Jim's job as a captain a bummer. But otherwise, it was perfect. That was until Klingons decided that they needed to attack something and his ship was their closest target. It wasn't a surprise that they practically detested the Federation and when they saw his ship, Jim thought he saw the Klingon vessel doing a loop-di-loop in pure ecstasy.

After the battle where the Klingons had retreated away without any more damages besides almost taking half of his lady out, Starfleet Headquarters ordered them to return back to Earth. Jim then found out that he would be taking a well-deserved time off until his lady was repaired and ready to resume her mission.

So, the first two weeks was a blast. Jim had gone back to his apartment even though he grimaced at how dusty the place looked. He cleaned some things up and he went out to get some groceries before inviting Bones for a drink. After that, he simply decided to read some of his father's old books, the ones with real hardcover just for the sake of a nostalgic walk through memory lane.

Of course, he didn't take a rest from bugging Spock either. His First Officer and his life saviour (since he was the one who had gone after Khan and he was the one who had gotten Khan)—practically changed Jim's life from inside out. His friendship with Spock was shaky at first after the planet-Vulcan-going-boom-by-Nero thing but after getting practically strangled on the bridge consoles and finally getting his captaincy; Spock decided miraculously that he wanted to be his First Officer.

Guilt ate Jim from inside. Just because he never really understood his mother didn't make it right to assume that Spock didn't as well just because he wasn't bawling on the ground and crying like a five-year-old who just found out that his teddy-bear was gone for good. He learned that Spock was trying not to let the emotions get the best of him (which he failed because Jim made him get angry beyond control and lashed out at him like some beast).

Jim tried to apologise on certain occasions but every time he tried, the words 'I'm sorry' somehow turned into 'Wanna hang out?' by the time it reached his mouth. Of course Spock was going to reject his offer every single time until he caught Jim playing chess by himself in the rec room by accident. After that, they clicked just like that.

Then, Khan happened and Jim had suddenly solidified their friendship even closer when he watched Spock's face before he died. He was in awe too besides fear, wondering why Spock managed to cry for him out of all people. And then the ta'al they mashed together tight between the thin glass somehow jolted some electricity through him even though he didn't know why.

When he was brought back from the land of the dead, he found out about Spock's ruse and fuss and was deeply touched. All previous mistakes were evened and forgiven. Though, after that, Spock became even fussier and if possible—even bitchier.

Jim sometimes wanted to tear his hair out, listening to the listed protocol coming out like some program from Spock whenever it was Jim's turn to make the decisions. As usual that would lead him to snap at the Vulcan that he was the captain and he knew what he was doing and then, his First Officer would go rigid at that and before they knew it—they weren't talking to each other anymore.

Though it never lasted long these tiny fights because by the time an incident was over, Spock would hang around his bedside like some protective mother hen with Bones accompanying and encouraging the half-Vulcan when Spock rattled on about how reckless the captain had been and Jim would end up grinning widely. Spock's eyebrows would then crawl up his forehead until they disappeared behind his bangs and Jim would catch a fond expression in the Vulcan's eyes meaning that he wasn't really angry at the captain—but maybe he was slightly worried even though Jim was forgiven.

After that, Jim would notice certain patterns with Spock like how the strange fond expression in the Vulcan's eyes were directed more at him than he ever directed it at Uhura—his girlfriend and someone who Jim tried to pick up in a bar. Confusion would start to bubble inside the captain and then he found himself wondering if the Vulcan found Jim—interesting or fascinating and that was why he was being ever so intrigued with him.

When he relayed his observations to Bones, the doctor aka his best friend since academy days simply stared at him for a few seconds before uttering a strong line of curses at Jim's high IQ but apparently dense in everything else emotional. Jim took personal offend to that but Bones simply told Jim that he was far too busy with treating real diseases instead of being Jim's love guru because apparently Bones said, and Jim quoted word by word: 'Goddamnit, Jim! I'm a doctor not some love counsellor!'

Okay, so the word 'love' was ever so foreign in the Kirk manor. Jim was startled at those choices of words and laughed at Bones's face because right, like Jim was even remotely going near that emotion from ten feet radius. He didn't even have that word in his dictionary and that meant something. So, no, Bones was wrong because there was no way Spock 'loved' Jim that way because of so many reasons and one of them was because he was still with Uhura.

And Jim—well, he wasn't interested in Spock that way. End of story and no matter what Bones said, it would change nada-nope-zero about his feelings because didn't he know his own feelings better than anyone? Bones didn't think so.

Damn it, Bones.

Anyways, though, pushing those thoughts aside, Jim still hung around Spock at every chance he got. He would sometimes catch Spock heading to the Academy to teach—because they were in need of a xenolinguistic lecturer especially in Vulcan and Spock was given the position until he was ready to leave for space. Sometimes, Jim didn't admit it but he would sneak into one of Spock's classes and sit at the back, listening to his best friend speak.

And no, he did not get any butterflies whenever Spock spotted Jim from the corner of the lecture hall and gave a subtle quirk of the lips that only Jim could recognise from all that stoic Vulcan mask. And no, it did not make him feel quite happy that he sometimes saw some of those Vulcan faces reserved only for him like he was special to Spock instead for Uhura.

No, just no, no matter what Bones insisted.

So now, he was sleeping, dozing off to a land where he rarely got to go because he still got nightmares when his comm started to ring. Jim groaned under his breath, wondering who was it that called him at this hour of the night and was tempted to ignore it. But after the comm still went on ringing, Jim finally scratched his head furiously and sat up before grabbing his comm.

Answering it with a gruff hello, the last thing he thought to hear from the other side was the voice of a woman. "Is this Captain James Tiberius Kirk?"

Jim rubbed his eyes for a moment before saying, "Yeah?" cautiously.

"This is Amelia Johnsons from the child service and we believe we have your son with us."

Jim blinked for a few minutes before rubbing his eyes again with his thumb. Right, obviously he wasn't clearly awake yet if he was hearing things like he had a child from a woman he didn't even know. "Uhm, uh," Jim started. His mind was working with nothing here to indicate that he even had a child. "Sorry, what?"

"Your son?" Amelia, or so Jim thought was her name, spoke calmly. "Your son, Grayson T. Kirk, he's here with us. We need you to come over and see him."

"Right," Jim said, confusion building inside of him. "I don't have a kid."

"Sir?" Amelia asked, this time she sounded confused. "I'm assuring you that you do have a son."

"Look, Amelia was it? I don't have a kid," Jim insisted as he sighed. "I don't know what you're playing at but don't you think I would know if I had a kid?"

Silence matched from the other side and Jim was certain that this was the part of the conversation where this prankster would end the call and he could now go back to sleep. "You don't know," Amelia stated after a while without sounding doubtful. Jim furrowed his eyebrows.

"I don't know what?" he asked sounding irritated.

"Sir, you do have a son," she said. Not this again, Jim groaned mentally. "You have a seven-year-old son named Grayson Timothy Kirk. His mother is Latvia Heights. There has been a fire in her apartment and she didn't make it. Your son, Grayson, was at his friend's house at that time and we picked him up afterwards. He's here with us and we found out that you are his father, therefore we are calling you now to inform you of his condition."

Jim remained silent for a few seconds, trying to soak in the information. Latvia Heights? It rang a bell somewhere in his mind but it didn't hold any true significance. A seven-year-old son? He felt his heart stop beating for a millisecond realising that maybe one of his infamous one night stands must have ended up pregnant with his child. But for seven years without knowing his son existed?

Jim was having a hard time dealing with this fact. "Uh," Jim started. "I'm sorry, maybe you've mistaken me with someone else."

Amelia sighed from the other side. "It's in his birth certificate. It is stated there that you are his father."

"Look, Amelia," Jim said. "Don't you think that the mother of that child would've just simply placed my name there as the father?"

"It could be possible," Amelia said. "But still for now, you're the best we got as this child's family relatives. Latvia was an orphan. Grayson has no other kin to take care of him. He will be sent to the orphanage if he doesn't have any more family members."

"Well, what can I do? I'm not his father," Jim insisted and Amelia remained silent on the other end.

"Would you be averse to try a DNA comparison?" Amelia stated and Jim thought that this woman wouldn't stand off his case until he proven her otherwise. "If you really are not the father of Grayson, at least we have concrete proof and we can send him to the orphanage."

A pang of slight regret washed through him when he tried to imagine a seven-year-old kid in an orphanage. But he wasn't the father and Jim—he wasn't really a father material. Sighing, he finally conceded if it meant that he could rest this behind him. "Yeah, sure."

"Excellent," Amelia said with relief in her voice. "We need you here as early as ten in the morning in New York. Is that possible?"

"New York?" Jim asked as he frowned. "Yeah, sure. I'll be there."

Amelia then gave him the address and the conversation ended. Jim stared at his comm for a moment before tossing it aside next to him. He waited for the reality to finally settle down in his brain before he groaned and rubbed his face with the heels of his palms. He looked at his pillows and realised that he didn't feel like sleeping.

He had washed up, shaved for the sake of something and sighed when he saw his face in the mirror. He didn't think this day would actually happen. Sure, sometimes Bones would tease him whenever he went ahead for some night company, telling him that one day he might actually impregnate someone. He just didn't think it would actually happen!

He shook his head before he exited the bathroom and went to his closet, opening the doors up and looked through before dressing up. Walking to the kitchen, he decided to grab some bread and munch through. "Computer, time."

"0430 Standard Time," the computer spoke. Jim just mulled at the thought of what if he did have a son. Latvia Heights, he furrowed his eyebrows and thought deeper. He had heard of her name and it did felt familiar on his tongue. He just couldn't remember how she looked and where he had met her. A sudden wave of guilt washed in him when he realised that he never really bothered with the women's name or how they looked every time he left their apartments or hotel rooms.

Was he such a dick before?

No, he rationalised. He was just having some fun. Harmless fun—until he got a call at three in the fucking morning from someone who claimed to say that they have his son. A son that he never knew of or existed. Bones was going to have a field day if he ever heard of this.

He decided that he should better head out to New York. He didn't want this to take longer than necessary. With that, he grabbed everything he needed and walked out of his apartment, reassuring himself one last time that no, he didn't have a son.

New York, well, was busy even eight in the morning. Jim looked at the address he had written down and looked at the building in front of him. It was a tall building with glasslike walls covering the whole thing. He hesitated for a second if he wanted to go in. For all that could happen, this Amelia woman could be a trap.

Hey, when you get kidnapped more often than not, you would start getting suspicious at everyone who wanted to see you alone.

After a minute, Jim finally relented and walked into the building. It wasn't as if this was the first time the captain did anything without thinking so much. He shrugged, wondering what a building in the middle of the city could do damage to him. Once he walked in, he saw the reception table and walked up there. The woman behind the reception table was busy typing something in before she looked up and stared at Jim.

Jim grinned, showing off his pearly whites before saying, "I have an appointment with Amelia? Uh, Amelia…Johnny?"

"Johnsons," a voice behind him said. He quickly turned around and met a woman who wore a working suit with a waist-fit skirt down to her knees. She was smiling at Jim and the captain smiled back before shoving his hands into his pockets. "You came," she said, sounding slightly surprised. Jim raised his eyebrows.

"Uh, shouldn't have I come?" he asked. "I mean, calling me three in the morning and suddenly saying I have a kid—who wouldn't come, right? Unless of course you did get the wrong person." He narrowed his eyes at that. They could've called him and let him know that. Amelia crossed her arms against her chest before eyeing Jim one last time and turned around.

"No," she said. "You're the person."

Jim frowned before he sighed and followed her. They got into the lift and headed to the fifteenth floor. "Now, the reason we called so early because the fire happened at ten o' clock last night and when they finally managed to put out the fire, we found out that she had a son and the son was at his friend's house. We decided to search anyone who might be next in kin and found you. You have to understand, it's our protocol."

Jim nodded. "But I'm not the father," he said and Amelia looked at him from the corner of her eyes before smiling.

"I concur otherwise," she said before the lift finally brought them to the respective floor. Once the doors opened, she walked out, gesturing Jim to follow her. "We told him about his mother and he had been silent since then. We tried to get him something to eat but he wouldn't budge." She headed down the hallway until she stopped in front of a big door.

Pressing onto a button, a light appeared from the small dot near the door and scanned her. "Agent Amelia Johnsons, access granted," the voice said and the door hissed opened. Jim followed her inside quickly and finally they stopped in front of another door. This time, there were another three more people near the door, waiting for her.

"Amelia," the man said as he stepped up to her. "You found him?"

"This is Captain James Tiberius Kirk," she said as she stepped aside. The man immediately looked at Jim and eyed him. Jim didn't know why he felt uncomfortable with the gaze. It was as if he was being dissected. He cleared his throat before pointing to the door.

"He's in there?" Jim asked. The man nodded.

"Your son," he said. "Is in there."

"But we believe you wanted to make a DNA comparison?" another woman next to the man spoke up. She looked tired with her hair a mess and her glasses slid off from her nose slightly. Jim nodded.

"Look," he said. "I'm not the father. I didn't even know I had a kid."

"Okay," Amelia said before she looked at the door and keyed in the code. "He had been quiet all this while. We tried to get him some sleep, anything but he wouldn't reciprocate. He didn't even cry."

Jim felt something familiar washing into him as he heard what Amelia said. "The kid must've been in shock," Jim found himself saying and the woman in the lab coat nodded.

"Please," Amelia said as she opened the door and walked inside. Jim hesitated just for a minute before he took in a deep breath and walked inside. His blue eyes scanned the white room before it landed on a small-framed boy, sitting on the chair and looking down to his hands. "Grayson?" Amelia spoke quietly. The boy slowly looked up from his hands and Jim found himself taking a gasp.

The boy looked like an exact carbon copy of Jim. He found himself gaping at the boy, wondering if someone made a clone of his seven-year-old self and placed it in front of him. Every word of how he wasn't related to the boy flew out of the window. Now he knew why Amelia was adamant saying he was the father of the child.

Holy crap.

The boy looked scared, his light blue eyes that seemed to have a tinge of green in them stared at Jim. Jim noticed that the boy had the same shade of blond hair that he had. The boy even had the same nose and the same bow of lips as Jim did. There was also something different from him like that the boy in front of him had slightly paler skin tone and he had rounder ears. Maybe those features followed Latvia.

"Uh," Jim found himself saying before he pointed at the boy. After that he looked at Amelia. "Uhm…"

"Yeah," Amelia found herself agreeing to whatever he was trying to say. She looked back at the boy and smiled. "Grayson, this is—"

"My father?" the boy, Grayson, said as he looked at Jim, not even bothering with Amelia. Jim had to take a step back, his hands dropping to his sides. No, hell no. There was no way he was the father of the child. No matter how exact this boy looked like him when he was seven years old.

"Uh, no," Jim said as he took a gulp. This wasn't happening, not now. He didn't want to settle down yet, heck, having a kid hadn't even crossed his mind! "I'm not, you're not. I'm Jim. Not…father."

"Oh," the boy said and seemed to have deflated visibly. His blue-green eyes filled with tears before he looked away from Jim to his hands again. Jim felt a stab of guilt taking over. He didn't want to upset the kid. He didn't mean to.

"No, uh," Jim said, trying to find the right words but words had always failed him. So, he kept quiet and looked at Amelia pleadingly. She just sighed before she nodded.

"Grayson?" she started as she walked up to him. The boy didn't look up though and simply continued to stare at his fingers. "We're going to have to take a strand of your hair, is that okay? We need it for a DNA comparison with this man here."

The boy looked at her slowly before he looked at Jim. "Okay," he said gravely. With that, she stood up and sighed before looking at Jim.

"Let's start."

The woman in the lab coat took something physical like a strand of hair from both of them before she hurried off to the lab. Jim waited for the results inside the room. Amelia thought it would be best if he was in the same room with the boy, just for the sake of some sense of comfort. So, as Jim sat in front of the boy, Jim began to take in the details of Grayson.

The boy didn't seem so certain of anything. He looked small, timid and Jim suddenly had a wash of protectiveness flooding into him. He just wanted to pick that boy up and hug him tight. After a few minutes, he shifted on his seat. He was never good whenever he was left with nothing to do. So, he decided to try and talk to the boy.

He didn't want to get attached to the boy but it seemed like Grayson needed someone to talk to. "Uh, hey," Jim started awkwardly. Grayson looked up from his hands to Jim, his eyes seemed tired and traces of tear tracks covered his cheeks. Jim blinked for a few times, trying to get rid of this sudden intense emotion of sadness inside of him. "How are you?"

The boy just stared at Jim lifelessly. Jim grimaced at the defeated look on the boy before he looked away. Clearing his throat, he looked back at the boy and smiled warily. "Have you eaten anything?"

Grayson looked down to his hands and ignored Jim. The Captain of the U.S.S Enterprise felt as if he had encountered a dead end. There was no way he could get past it. He was never good with children. His own childhood wasn't flowers and candies that he could use it to help get near children anyways.

He sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was beginning to slightly worry if the boy really didn't eat anything at all just like what Amelia had mentioned. Silence filled in the room before the boy mumbled something under his breath. Jim leaned in close, intrigued as he waited for the boy to repeat his words.

But when no such action was made, Jim said, "Speak up. I can't hear you."

Grayson looked away from his hands to the floor before speaking a bit louder. "My mother's really gone, isn't she?"

For a seven-year-old, the words sounded too dark and heavy. Jim winced at the lifeless words and leaned back into his chair. Staring at the boy, he opened his mouth before closing it. How would someone say to a seven-year-old kid that his mother really was gone? After contemplating the options, he nodded even though he wasn't sure if Grayson saw it or not.

"Yeah," Jim said slowly. "I mean, that's what Amelia said. You know, the woman—"

And the boy started to cry again, this time with a soft whimper. Jim stopped talking and felt his fingers fidgeting in nervousness as he watched how the boy's small shoulders quivered and a sob took over him. What should he do? Goddamnit, what the hell was Jim supposed to do?

He was never good with emotional stuff, it was one of the perks of being a Kirk. He thinned his lips before he slowly reached out for the boy from across the table. Scared that he might make the boy even sadder, he let his fingers pat the boy's head gently. He looked for any signs for his crying getting worse before he fully placed his hand on the boy's head and patted.

Before Jim could comprehend anything, the boy had got out from his seat and hurriedly jumped onto Jim's lap while burying his face into his chest. "Woah," Jim said panicked out, his arms covering the boy. He felt his heart picking up speed and panic clearly taking over.

The boy bawled his fist around Jim's shirt and buried his face deeper, crying. Jim was rigid against Grayson. His arms were feeling tense and he wanted nothing more than to just get up and walk out. He felt uncomfortable and he didn't know how to deal with it. "U-uh, uhm, don't cry?" Jim brought his right hand and patted the boy's head again awkwardly.

His mother used to kiss the top of his head whenever he cried, he recalled. Looking down on the boy, he didn't think it was a good idea to do so. He wasn't the father, he said to himself. His heartstrings still tugged heavily at the sadness the boy was pouring out from his cries.

He didn't know how long he held the boy but the boy seemed to finally succumb to a silent sleep after he stopped crying. Jim felt really uncomfortable now. He wanted to push this kid away because he was making Jim feel more or less panicked out. Jim looked down to the boy, his right hand resting on his head while his left cradled his back from slipping away from his lap.

Grayson mumbled something as he buried his face into his chest and his hands clutched his chest tight. Jim didn't think he was ever held this tight before. The door to the room suddenly opened and Jim panicked once more. Unfortunately, before he could do anything to remove the boy, Amelia had seen the scene and a mischievous glint made way in her eyes.

"I can't get him off," Jim explained lamely. She just crossed her arms against her chest before she held out the PADD.

"I have the results," she said. Jim eyed her for a minute before looking down to the kid in his arms. Suddenly, he felt a bit scared to hear the result. He steeled every single strand of courage he could get inside of him and looked back at the woman. Jim then nodded before she looked down to the PADD and sighed.

"Well?" Jim whispered. He furrowed his eyebrows when he realised he was—whispering. Why in the world was he whispering? A few movements from the boy in his arms made him realise why he was whispering. Amelia simply looked at Jim before she walked further into the room and handed out the PADD.

"You should see the results," she said. Jim felt his heart beating loudly as he grabbed the PADD with his right hand and looked at the results.

He felt his world slipping from his fingers right at the exact moment his eyes found the words he feared for. His life had been shifted to the sides and he felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold ice on him. No, his mind screamed in panic as his left hand tightened against the boy. "This—isn't possible," he started as he looked at Amelia with wide eyes. "This isn't right! I can't be the kid's father!"

Amelia didn't know how to react to that, Jim could tell. But he couldn't give a damn right now. He felt like he couldn't breathe and the world crowding him to a corner. How was this possible? Even though he slept around before, he never really did anything as stupid as forgetting protection! Damnit, he had just started on this epic journey in space—it couldn't end now! He didn't even plan to have a family so soon.

"Sir," she started. "It is what it is."

Kadiith, he suddenly translated her words into Vulcan. His brain wasn't making much sense at the moment. All he could think of was that he—James Tiberius Kirk—the Captain of the U.S.S Enterprise—was a fucking father.

No no no no no no no fucking way!

His brain wasn't happy with how panicked out Jim was and he almost blacked out. He took in deep breaths as he looked back to the PADD, his right hand shaking. "Sir," Amelia called out. "I—You are the father of Grayson."

"But that can't," Jim started weakly. "I can't be a father."

She remained quiet for a while before she looked at him. "If you'd like…we can maybe discuss alternate options to take care of the boy."

Jim looked back at her before he looked down to Grayson. This fragile little thing in his arm that was barely seven years old was his son. He felt his whole world shattering into something different—he just wasn't sure if it was for the better or for the worse. He needed to think, walk around to get this feel really settled inside and he couldn't do it with the boy in his arms.

Grayson was left sleeping on the couch outside of Amelia's office. Jim was inside of her office, pacing about as he ran his fingers through his hair furiously. Amelia simply sat in her chair, her fingers clasped on the desk and watched Jim pace around. "Sir," she started.

"How in the world is this possible?" he asked himself, ignoring mostly everything else. Latvia, she should've told him at least that she was expecting. But then, what could he do back then? He would've freaked out like how he was now and he might've even told her to get rid of it. He immediately stopped pacing as a sickening feeling took over from inside.

He might've told her to get rid of it.

Groaning, he rubbed his face with his hands, looking at Amelia. "You know who I am, right?"

Amelia nodded. "You're the youngest Captain Starfleet had ever had. You currently command your first star ship, the U.S.S Enterprise. You're a hero, dubbed by the society."

Jim laughed humourlessly. "I can't have a kid with my career," he said. "Call me selfish but—I'm not ready to be a father. I can't be a dad! I have a whole life ahead of me and a kid will…it will change everything."

Amelia thinned her lips before she sighed. "Sir, I—in my opinion, nobody's ready to be a parent." She looked at Jim in the eyes. "Grayson had lived with a single parent until now and now his mother is gone, you're the next in line to take care of him. We thought at first you were trying to conceal you had a child and that's why it surprised us when we found out you were the father of Grayson. However, now we know that you truly didn't believe you ever had a child. So, I understand your hesitation and—if you really don't want him, if you want to give up your rights as a parent, he will be taken away from your shoulders."

Jim looked at Amelia carefully. "And then he'll be sent to the orphanage." Amelia didn't say anything else, instead she just nodded.

Jim shook his head and groaned. "No, I can't," he said. "I can't—not the orphanage."

"Why don't we do this?" Amelia said. "Why don't you take the boy home? Let him settle down with his loss for a few days while we arrange other ways to take care of this problem. And if by then you still want to give up your rights as a parent, I'll bring the papers around and take him away."

Jim grimaced at how horrible it sounded. They were talking about a kid as if he was an item on the shelves in a store. He sat down in front of Amelia and looked at her before he looked to the desk. He shouldn't make such rash decision. He wasn't someone so cold until he would push away a kid—his kid to an orphanage. He was the father—Jim shuddered at that in fear—of the kid.

He felt even more guilty realising he couldn't even remember the face of Grayson's mother. Sighing, he looked at Amelia. "Alright," he said. "I'll take him back to San Francisco and I'll see what I can do with him."

"Alright," she said. "I'll bring the papers around in a week."

"Okay," he said. He looked to the door and flinched at the new reality he was about to embark on. Standing up, he looked at Amelia again. "Does he have…you know, his stuff?"

"His belongings," she said as she got up. "If you'd follow me."

A/N: So...what do you guys think? Should I continue? Let me know and uh, well, I'm kinda nervous so, I'm sorry if something's amiss. Until later! -Krystal