Together

by Dark Side's Cookies

SPOILERS AHEAD. Set a few years after Into Darkness. Transporter accident sends Kirk and Jim into the future where they meet the crew of the USS ENTERPRISE 1701-D. Will they ever get home? Or will a virus keep them from even being able to try? SLASH McKirk with Riker. Don't like. Don't read. Don't hate. R&R!

"Captain, there's a distress signal coming in..." Uhura shook her head. "No response when I answer."

Kirk stood from his seat on the middle of the bridge, walking forward to stand behind Sulu and Chekov. "On screen."

The view screen shifted to show a ship floating upside down in the vast space ahead of them. (Although how there is really an up or down in space is really relative right now.) Kirk tilted his head to the side so he could at least see it a little more properly. Finding the movement futile, he shook his head and straightened it.

"Flip and magnify." The screen shifted again, the screen focusing in on the hull of the ship. "Enterprise..."

Checkov continued to read the of call numbers on the side of the ship. "NC 1701... D." He turned to look at his captain, just as perplexed as he was.

Kirk's head dropped forward, his jaw following suit. "Uhura..." It barely registered to him that he was even talking, but somehow he was going with the motions. "Still no response?"

"N- none, Captain."

The whole crew was looking at the ship, stunned. How was it even possible they could be looking at a ship that... hadn't even been commissioned yet? It made no sense to any of them.

"Checkov, open a link to Commander Spock."

"Y... Yes, sir. Right away, sir." Checkov punched a few buttons. "Go ahead, sir."

"Spock. Report to the bridge. NOW."

The crew was wildly speculating all the possible reasons about what they were looking at and how it was possible at all when Spock entered the bridge. He looked over to Jim who was in a confab with Uhura and Checkov. Heading over to them, his stride suddenly slowed as he realized what was on the view screen. When Kirk realized Spock was standing there beside him, he turned, needing his input.

"Tell me you've got something, Spock." Even though he'd just gotten there, Kirk knew within the few seconds that he'd been assessing the information that he'd be able to postulate a... Who was Kirk kidding. All he knew was Spock would have answers.

"I... do... not.. know..."

Kirk stopped dead. "What? Are you kidding me!?" He held his hand up to the screen. "We've got another Enterprise floating aimlessly in space in front of us. It's got a call number that shouldn't even be in existence, and you're telling me you've got nothing."

"I would not know where to begin, Captain. The possibilities are endless."

Kirk took a deep breath, turning to place his hand on his first officer's back, leading him away from the other two toward the screen. Holding his other hand up to point the screen, Kirk spoke silently.

"This isn't an anomaly, Mr. Spock. But you and I have both seen things in Starfleet that shouldn't be possible. You above all people should be able to speculate something."

Spock shook his head. "To speculate anything without knowing all the variables would be illogical."

If there was one word from the Vulcan's mouth that Kirk wished he could eradicate forever, it would be that one. If he could, he would prohibit the man from using it. "I don't care about being illogical at the moment, Spock. I just want some sort of idea."

Spock knew how highly Kirk held his insight, but he did not ever feel comfortable guessing. Without more information, he could not possibly come up with anything, but he knew the captain needed something.

"In our time serving together, we have seen several things. Time travel. Cryogenics. There is any number of reasons why this ship, a ship that should not even be here, is in fact here. Without knowing more, I cannot speculate anything."

Kirk nodded. "Then we're going to go over there and check it out." He turned back to the rest of the crew. "I need a scan of the status of that ship!"

"Oxygen levels are minimum, Captain. Systems failed or failing."

"Life signs?"

"None, sir."

Kirk hated thinking about the total extirpation of a ship's crew. A ship of that size had to have at least 800 members, and that was overestimating, or so Kirk thought.

"How many people can I take over with me with the oxygen level as it is?"

"Three, sir, but for no longer than a half hour, a little more possibly."

Kirk didn't like possibly, but that would be enough time to go over there and extrapolate enough data for Spock to generate some sort of explanation. "You're with me, Spock. Checkov, tell Dr. McCoy to meet us in the transporter room."

"Aye, Captain."

Kirk and Spock entered the turbolift to head toward the transporter room. Kirk was glad that Spock had learned not to question him when he's said he's going to lead a mission away from the ship. Not that he wouldn't go head to head with his first officer at any given time, but the two of them had come to an understanding over the time they'd known each other, and neither of them questioned each other any longer.

Stepping out of the turbolift, they met up with Bones coming down the corridor.

"Jim." He nodded his greeting, not bothering to greet Spock verbally. These two, even after the years they've served together, still had their issues. Neither one of them seemed particularly eager to fix that, and there was one reason for that. Their captain himself.

"Where are we headed?"

"We've got a ship floating out there. No life signs. Oxygen is limited, that's why it's just the three of us on this."

"So you're just going to send the three of us over to our doom because you want to play Sherlock?" Bones still questioned his captain's orders almost daily.

Kirk nodded, clapping his medical officer on the back as they walked into the transporter room. "I guess that would make you Dr. Watson."

Bones rolled his eyes and the three of them stepped up on the transporter pads.

"Energize."

As Kirk felt his body start to re-materialize, he was not prepared for what he was faced with. There were no signs of a ship in disarray. No signs of a ship in distress. Instead, he had a phazer pointed at him. Clearing his throat, he turned to look at Bones and Spo- Spock wasn't there. Exhaling heavily, he started to laugh. Bones groaned beside him. Jim was going to get them into more trouble than they were already in, but he knew better than to expect any less with him.

The transporter chief turned his head in confusion. Why would someone with a phaser pointed at his head start laughing? Then his eyes widened, followed closely by his mouth. He knew who was standing on the transporter pad in front of him... But it wasn't possible. The two men standing in front of him were younger than the men he knew of. These two had the faces of Admiral James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard McCoy but how was this even possible. The two men had been dead for about 20 years now.

Kirk then realized the difference in their uniforms, and everything made sense to him... even if it made absolutely no sense to him.

"Where are we?"

The transporter chief lowered his phaser. "The Enterprise, sir."

"Jim..." Bones slowly started to warn Jim, even knowing he wouldn't listen.

"What year is it?"

The officer's face went ashen. "Year, sir?"

"Stardate," Kirk reiterated.

/\ /\ /\

"Captain's log, stardate 45343.93." Jean Luc Picard sat at his desk in his ready room, recording into the ship's database. "We have two new Starfleet officers aboard our ship. These two men have been displaced from their time and we have not yet been able to determine how. They are with Lt. Commander LaForge discussing what had brought them here. I will be going down to meet these legendary officers."

He did not mention who the officers were. Time travel was not supposed to be possible, yet it had been seen several times interspersed throughout history. He knew not to question it. Yet, the news of having James T. Kirk on his ship was not one of the best things to be adding. He'd include it in his personal log later, but for ship's logs purposes, they would remain nameless. If he was asked by the Federation later who they were, that is when he would release that information.

Picard stood, walking around the desk and heading toward the turbolift doors. He had seen several things in his life that he had been unable to explain, and this one he would be adding to that long list. How two people from the past had somehow managed to beam onto his ship was beyond his mental capacity. He knew his first officer would be beside himself. Kirk was Riker's hero after all.

Down in engineering, Kirk and Bones listened as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi LaForge told them what he thought had happened, or what could have happened. With all that Kirk's crew had been through in the relatively short time they'd been together, Geordi's hypothesis seemed to make sense, somehow. Kirk was, however, still concerned.

"Why did Bones and I come through and not Spock?"

Geordi tipped his head slightly to the side. "You say that you two were standing on these pads here?" Geordi referred back to the holographic image of Kirk's ship's transporter, the two pads lighting up when he touched them. "And Mr. Spock was on," he touched another pad, one pad away from the pad Kirk had said he had been standing on, "this one here?" That pad lit up as well.

Kirk nodded. "That's right."

Geordi stood back, observing the hologram. Bones had been quiet most of the time they had been there, throwing in a question or two when he felt he needed to, asking things Jim wouldn't, but for the most part, Bones was intrigued by the device over the Engineering Chief's eyes. He had known they were working on this type of technology, to give sight to the blind, but he never thought he'd see it in action. They weren't even to prototype stage yet, just ideas popping out of boxes.

"Two possibilities."

Kirk listened intently. It was refreshing to have someone who knew what they were talking about to at least speculate without reservation. That wasn't to say that he didn't appreciate Spock, but sometimes Kirk just wanted answers. Spock knew more than he would ever share when he wouldn't speculate.

"Either only these two pads were affected by the distortion, or the transporter was affected as a whole, but because you two were standing as near to each other as you were, you were sent here and Mr. Spock was transported... I assume he transported to the distressed ship."

Neither Kirk nor Bones had told them they had been transporting to the Enterprise D, just that they had received a distress signal and were going over to assist or assess the damage to the ship.

"What if he didn't?"

Geordi shook his head. "The number of places he could have ended up are infinite. Unfortunately, unless we can track how you two arrived here, then we won't be able to determine where he went."

Picard approached the three of them, in awe at the two men from the past standing in front of him. Geordi turned to greet the captain.

"Captain, this is-"

Picard held up his hand. "These two need no introduction." Picard lifted his hand, offering it to Kirk first to shake. "Captain Kirk. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Captain Jean Luc Picard of the…" He chuckled slightly. "Of the Enterprise."

Kirk smiled in return. "It is a little awkward, isn't it?"

Picard nodded his head slightly. "To say the least." Turning to Bones, Picard offered his hand again. "Dr. McCoy." They shook hands. "Welcome aboard. Until we can figure out exactly what happened and how to get you back to your ship and time, make yourselves at home. Feel free to explore the ship. I'll have some quarters set aside for you."

Kirk took a step forward. "That won't be necessary, Captain." He looked back at Bones and then to the captain again. "One room will be enough. No need to go to too much work."

"It's not. I assure you."

"Just the same. One room will be enough. If I need the doctor, I'd like him there with me."

Picard nodded his head. "Very well. I understand." Picard figured if he had been displaced in time, he would want something - someone - familiar there with him. It made sense. "If you'll excuse me now, I have somethings to attend to." He didn't want to leave. He wanted to take time to talk to them, get to know them, but he still had duties that needed to be done.

"Of course, Captain."

"Dinner? 1900 hours. 10-Forward."

Kirk nodded, accepting the invitation for both of them. Picard nodded and left the three of them alone again.

"I'll get to work on figuring this out," Geordi said, turning to the computer console they had been working on.

Kirk turned to Bones. "Explore the ship? Or would you like to stay here and offer the engineer a hand."

Bones narrowed his eyes on his captain. "We can explore."

Kirk nodded, clapping LaForge on his back as he and Bones walked by. "We'll catch up with you later, Mr. LaForge."

Once out in the corridors and walking side by side, Bones spoke silently to Jim. "What was that about back there?"

Kirk snorted, shaking his head. "Really? I saw how much you were gaping back there."

"I was fascinated by that... visor he was wearing. Jim, that sort of technology-"

"Yeah, right. You got jungle fever!" Kirk was feeling a little jealous, but he was trying to make jokes about it to mask it. Bones knew better.

"Is that why you requested one room? So you could keep your eye on me?"

"I don't need to keep an eye on you, Bones."

"No, that's usually my lot."

Kirk lifted his arm, wrapping it around Bones shoulders. He knew how Bones felt about the attention he gave other people, about the attention others paid him, so feeling that pang of jealousy take him over was odd. He knew where Bones' heart was, and even though Bones knew the same, that didn't stop the little green monster from rearing its ugly head.

"Come on, Bones. Let's have some fun."

"I hope I live to regret this."

Kirk chuckled and they went off on their adventure.

/\ /\ /\

"What happened?" Spock called back to the Enterprise. "Where are they?"

"Spock..."

"Lt. Uhura, where are they?"

"I don't understand what happened, Spock. They're there. But..."

She was keeping something from him. Spock looked around the bridge of the Enterprise D. He couldn't see the two of them anywhere. Bodies were laying around, some sitting in chairs, some along the walkways.

"They're on deck 12, but... we can't detect any life signs..."

"Bring us back NOW!"

"Spock, they're..."

Spock wasn't going to hear it. He'd had to live through Kirk's death before. He wasn't going to do it again. "Now! Bring us BACK!"

The swirl of white lights overtook Spock and the lifeless bodies of the captain and CMO from the medical bay, bringing them immediately back to the ship.

From the front of the bridge, someone entered from the captain's ready room. He had heard someone talking out there. He knew that everyone on the ship was dead. He'd sent out a subspace communication almost an hour ago, but he knew he'd just heard someone else's voice, one he was not familiar with, When he came onto the bridge, all he had seen was a swirl of white lights, transporting out whoever had been there.

/\ /\ /\

Kirk and Bones turned a corner down one of the corners and come face to face with a brick house of a man. Both of their faces coming to a halt in front of the chest donning a silver baldric. Their eyes scanned up to the man's face and were stunned to find the man was a Klingon. As if the two men were conjoined, they each took a step back, still staring up at the man.

The man with the ridged forehead was about to retort something about watching where one is going, but he noticed the men's odd uniforms first before realizing who he was standing in front of. The two men noticed the Klingon's visage change from one of severe gruffness to confusion. Kirk took a chance and offered his hand up to the behemoth.

"James T. Kirk. This is my friend Dr. McCoy. And you are?"

The Klingon looked down at the hand and back up to the man who offered it to him. "Worf."

"Worf," Kirk repeated the gruff man's name and looked down at his hand before looking back up at him, shrugging his shoulders and dropping his hand. "Well, nice to meet you, Mr. Worf. As you were."

Kirk quickly maneuvered his friend away from the huge monster of a man and down the corridor. When they had gotten a good distance from the Klingon and around the corner, both of them doubled over, breathing deeply. It wasn't as though either man was afraid of the man they had just come into contact with, he wouldn't have a Starfleet uniform on if he was anything like the reputation Klingons had made for themselves, he wouldn't be a Starfleet officer.

"I'm guessing they aligned with the Federation," Kirk said, not particularly looking for a response.

"Come on. Lets just get going before he follows us. He's freaks me out."

Kirk laughed, and the two of them continued to explore the ship. Down the corridor ahead of the displaced captain and his medical officer, Bones spotted the one place he could possibly feel at home on this ship.

"Sickbay! Now we're talking."

Kirk shook his head. "Would you like to go in?"

Kirk saw the excitement glowing behind Bones' eyes as he turned to look at his captain. He didn't have to say anything. The two of them walked in through the doors as they whooshed open in front of and closed behind them. A striking redhead looked up from inside an office, smiling at the two of them and standing up from her desk, coming out of her office to meet them.

"The captain said we had some visitors. To be honest, I didn't believe him."

"Is the captain prone to exaggeration?" Bones asked, feeling at ease with the female medical officer.

She laughed shortly. "The day Captain Picard learns to pull a prank will be the day pigs really do fly." Of course, if they were on a ship like this, that wouldn't count. She held up her hand to Bones first since he had been the first to speak. "Dr. Beverly Crusher. Chief Medical Officer."

Bones smiled. "Leonard McCoy. Chief Medical Officer as well."

Beverly's eyes danced. She already knew that, but the excitement of standing in the presence of legends was overwhelming. "I know a lot about you. I never thought I'd actually meet you though. I don't think any of us did."

Kirk cleared his throat, interrupting their moment. Bones took a step back, rolling his eyes. "This is Captain James T. Kirk, but I'm sure his reputation precedes him."

Beverly nodded, still smiling and shaking the captain's hand next. "Everyone knows of Captain Kirk." Even if they didn't know the rest of his crew by name, everyone knew Captain James Tiberius Kirk.

Kirk nodded, looking over at Bones. Bones was in seventh heaven. He hadn't seen him this excited over something in... well, maybe ever. Looking back at Dr. Crusher. "Hey, you got any recreation here on this ship? Something you do to pass the time?" On his own ship, he could usually always find something to do, but this wasn't his ship, and he couldn't do anything but waste time while he waited for this crew to figure out things. Bones seemed content to stay right here.

"We have the holdeck. There's bound to be a program in there you will enjoy."

"Holodeck?"

Beverly smiled. "Give me a moment. I'll arrange an escort for you." She tapped her comm badge. After it beeped, Beverly spoke into thin air. "Deanna, could you report to holodeck three?"

"Of course, Beverly. On my way."

"Now if you head up to deck D, and take the right out of the holodeck, you'll meet up with the ship's counselor, Deanna Troi, and she'll show you how to use the holodeck. Trust me, you'll have fun."

Bones stood still, not really wanting to leave. Kirk nodded, turning to Bones. "Why don't you stay here with Dr. Crusher. Lend a hand. I'll see you later."

Bones was relieved. He really didn't feel like messing around with no holograms at this moment. He'd much rather stay and do what Jim told him to do. "Have fun."

Kirk smirked at Bones and looked at Beverly. "Get his hands dirty, Doc."

She laughed shortly. "Yes, Captain."

/\ /\ /\

Spock was furious. He hated his human emotions, but sometimes they just seemed to get the better of him. He wanted answers. He needed answers. Backing the poor Russian navigator against the computer panel.

"What happened?"

Checkov hadn't been the one operating the transporter, but he was one of the two people who knew the most about the system on the ship and Spock wanted answers from him.

"I don't know, sir! I don't know."

"Spock, let him go!" Uhura pleaded, pulling at his arm. "It wasn't his fault. Let him go."

Spock was shaking, his black eyes blazing red. Trying to breathe, trying to focus, he let go with a jolt, pushing the younger man to the ground. Standing up straight, Spock looked over at Uhura.

"They are dead, Nyota, and he needs to tell me why!"

"He can't figure it out if he can't breathe, Spock!"

Spock stood staring down at her, chest heaving for a time. Then he turned his head, looking down at the teenager, eyes intent.

"Find me answers, NOW."

And with that, Spock walked off, leaving Uhura and the whiz kid alone. Tenderly, she placed her hand on his back, shaking her head at the newly-appointed captain.

/\ /\ /\

"Captain Kirk?"

Deanna said, seeing the face she knew almost intimately as he approached her. She had never met the man personally, but a man she did know intimately, Commander William Riker, knew everything there was to know about this man. Riker himself had wanted to follow after Kirk's path, becoming Captain in 3 years of entering Starfleet, but after coming aboard the Enterprise, things had changed for him. Deanna was one of those things that had changed.

"Counselor Troi?"

She smiled. "Please, call me Deanna."

Nodding his head, he gave her his best smile. "So, what's this hologram thing?"

Giggling slightly, Deanna tried to curb her amusement. "The holodeck is a holographic program, designed to simulate anything you can think of. I've selected one of my favorite programs. Have you ever been to Betazed?"

Kirk shook his head. "Are you Betazoid?"

Deanna nodded her head. "Half. My father was human."

"Ah." Kirk nodded. "So, what does this thing do? Project images of your home planet? Like an art gallery?"

"Not exactly," she assured him, taking a step back and holding her hand up for him to enter the already running holodeck.

Kirk stepped in, instantly being transported into a lush jungle. He looked around, finding he could smell the fresh air, hear the sounds of … a waterfall in the distance, birds, other animal sounds. He could swear he had actually left the ship he had been on and was standing on a foreign planet. Turning back to Deanna, he shook his head.

"How is this possible?"

She smiled, sensing his elation, his confusion, but utter delight. "Omnidirectional holographic diodes projecting the manipulations of photons to simulate anything you can program into it."

Kirk blew out a heavy breath, shaking his head and looking around again. "This is a real place? On Betazoid?"

Deanna nodded. It was a place that meant a lot to her. It was the place she had first truly connected with her Imzadi. "Yes. It's called the Janaran Jungle."

Walking further in, he realized everything was truly as real as if he was on a planet. Leaning over at the stream trickling by, he ran his fingers through the running water. It was as real as he was. Standing up, he shook his head in amazement. "This is amazing!"

"I'm glad you like it! Care to go for a walk."

Kirk smirked, offering his hand to her.

/\ /\ /\

Captain Picard was waiting in the transporter room when his first officer returned. Stepping off the transporter pad, Will Riker nodded to his captain, walking over to him.

"Welcome back, Will. I trust you had a nice trip."

"Yes, sir. Ready to get back to duty."

"Not so fast. There's been a development here on the ship, and I'd like you to hear it from me first."

Instantly, Will was alert and ready for anything the captain could tell him. Anything other than...

"Captain Kirk and Dr. Leonard McCoy are here."

Riker was sure he'd heard Picard wrong. "Captain Kirk?"

"Come with me."

Picard led him out of the transporter room and down the corridor, explaining to Will what they knew. Will couldn't believe it. He'd only dreamed of this moment. He'd never been able to meet the admiral, but this man wouldn't be the admiral everyone spoke so highly of. He had lived out the remaining years of his life on Earth, living out his retirement in the calm of the Northwestern hemisphere. Not many people had seen him in the years after his retirement, and he had died before Will even knew about the man. But the man he was just told was aboard the Enterprise was that very same man, and Will would be able to meet the man who had been his driving force since entering the academy.

"Can I meet him?"

"I'm having dinner with him and Dr. McCoy in 10-Forward. You may certainly join us."

Riker inhaled deeply. This was a dream come true. He couldn't wait to sit and talk for hours with the man who was his reason for joining Starfleet in the beginning. Sure, things had changed and he didn't want the same things he had, but Kirk was still Riker's inspiration.

Walking into 10-Forward, Picard noticed Kirk was already there, but Bones was not his companion. He was sitting rather closely to Counselor Troi. Picard stifled a laugh, turning to look at his first officer.

"I'm guessing no one told him about the two of you."

Riker's glare didn't shift from the scene across the room from him. Stories of James T. Kirk were not limited to his Starfleet missions, or even his life before Starfleet. Everyone knew the type of man he was. It was the type of man Riker had been before he had met a beautiful, young Betazoid woman and fallen head over heels for her.

And now he stood, staring at the man who had been a driving force in his life hanging all over the only woman Riker had ever loved in his life. He was jealous. Yes, he was jealous. He wouldn't admit it, but he was seeing green. Not only toward Kirk because he had his hands all over Deanna, but toward Deanna as well.

He didn't like these feelings, being jealous, especially for two very different reasons at the same time, but he couldn't help it. Deanna was sitting there spending time with the man who was his hero.

He jumped, feeling Picard's hand on his back. "Come on."

The two men headed over toward the couple on the far end of the room. Coming to a stop at the table, Kirk looked up from the hushed conversation he was having with the gorgeous brunette to see the ship's captain standing in front of him. A tall, dark and handsome officer stood to the side of him. The man looked as though his eyes would shoot phaser beams directly at Kirk and he was sure this was Commander Riker, the man Deanna had told him about during their time in the Janaran Jungle.

"Captain Kirk, this is my first officer-"

Kirk stood, offering out a hand to the darker man. "Will Riker. It's great to meet you!."

The anger in his face washed away to confusion before Deanna's voice filled his head. I told him all about you, Imzadi. Riker cleared his throat, reaching out and taking Kirk's hand, pushing past the feelings he'd been having when he entered the lounge and focusing on the one feeling he was feeling now. Admiration.

"You'll have to forgive me," Riker said after shaking his hand and merely staring at the man for several moments. "I'm uh..." he reluctantly pulled his hand back, "I'm at a loss for words."

Kirk smiled. "Deanna's been telling me about the your drive to get through Starfleet and your aspirations. I'm impressed and flattered." He inhaled, looking back at Deanna and then to the other captain at the table. "Why don't we sit? Bones should be with us in a moment. Your Dr. Crusher will be joining us as well, I hope you don't mind, Captain Picard?"

Picard shook his head. "Not at all." He had no issues with his wife joining them for dinner, but Kirk didn't know the two of them were married.

Kirk sat down and Picard and Riker joined them. Kirk and Riker continued talking.

"Deanna took me to the Janaran Jungle today. It's a beautiful place."

Riker was doing his best to keep his jealousy in check. That was their place, but he couldn't blame her for sharing it with who she shared it with. He knew it wasn't like that with her when it came to Kirk. He trusted her, he always would. And oddly enough, he trusted Kirk. He knew even though he'd walked in on them the way he had, Kirk had some honor in him. With as close as the two of them were being, Riker knew that Deanna wouldn't let him that close if she questioned his motives. He trusted both of them because he trusted Deanna.

"Yes, it is. It's a favorite of Deanna's and mine. How did you enjoy the holodeck?" Riker knew the only way they could have gone to Betazed was with the holodeck. Betazed was light years and light years away.

Kirk's eyes widened. "That has to be the most awesome thing I've ever seen. She turned on another program, something she said was one of your favorites?"

Riker narrowed his eyes on Deanna, questioning, "Risa?" Deanna smirked at him and he shook his head. "Doesn't surprise me. Seems like a program you'd enjoy."

Kirk leaned back in his seat. He liked this man. He was a man just like him. They liked the same things. They had the same ambitions. The reasons behind why they had joined Starfleet had been vastly different, but they were two of a kind. He could tell, not only from the things Deanna had told him, but from the few moments he shared with him since he arrived here at the dinner table to join them.

"I hope we're not too late?" Dr. Crusher's voice approached the table.

They all looked up to see Bones and Beverly approaching them.

"Haven't even ordered yet." Picard stood, pulling out a chair for his wife, discreetly pressing a kiss to the side of her face as he leaned forward, pushing her chair in. She smiled back at him and Bones took the seat between Dr. Crusher and Kirk.

"Enjoy yourself, Bones?" Kirk asked, winking at him.

Usually, Bones would grunt at him for such a question, but he actually had enjoyed himself a great deal. All the advancements Dr. Crusher had at her disposal in this Enterprise's sickbay. He could only hope and pray these instruments would become available to him soon enough. "This place is amazing, Jim."

Kirk nodded excitedly. "Remind me to take you to the holodeck before we go to our room. You're going to love it."

Bones rolled his eyes. He wasn't looking forward to frivolity. He'd much rather return to sickbay until he was ready to go to sleep, but if Jim was that excited about it, he'd take five minutes to check it out with him.

/\ /\ /\

Spock sat in the transporter room, having ordered everyone to leave him alone. He stood staring at the transporter pads where his captain and the doctor had been standing before they had left for the distressed ship. He had to figure out what happened. He had already seen Kirk's death once before, and knowing Kirk's lifeless body laid in medical was enough to bring all those feelings back to the surface.

The two bodies would stay in sickbay until Spock gave orders to let medical go about their duties. He couldn't accept that they were dead and he wasn't going to accept it. He couldn't accept it. There had to be a logical reason this had all happened. There had to be a logical reason that they had died and he hadn't. He had to figure it.

Then his pointy ears perked up as his head instantly jerked upright. He had an idea and he needed Pavel Checkov's assistance to do it. If anyone on the ship could help, he could. He may even consult with Mr. Scott as well. Turning from the transporter pads, he left the transporter room heading to engineering to pick up Montgomery Scott on his way to the bridge. He'd explain what he needed to Mr. Scott on the way and then he'd be able to help him explain it to the younger human.

/\ /\ /\

Kirk stepped out of the holodeck with not only Bones but Commander Riker as well. The three of them had just visited Earth, France, 1899. It was the age of the Bohemian Revolution. Freedom. Beauty. Truth. And Love. Their time there made Kirk want some time alone with Bones. It wasn't as though he wasn't having a good time with his newfound friend William Riker, but it was time to retire to their own quarters.

Even though he didn't want the night to end, afraid it was all the most amazing dream ever, Riker told the displaced men he would show them to their room. Once at the room, he pressed the panel beside door and it whooshed open, he lead them inside.

"This will be your room while you're here. There are two beds. Bathroom. Living area." He looked around the room, his eyes focusing on the food replicator. "Oh! In case you get hungry, you might want to know how to use this." He walked over to the replicator and talked to the computer. "Coffee. Three cups. Black. Hot."

There in front of them, three coffee mugs materialized out of thin air. Picking up two, he handed them to his new friends before turning back and picking up the last one. "It's basically like the food synthesizer, but basically, as long as we have energy to support life, the replicator is able to synthesize anything."

"Doctor Crusher was saying something about this in sickbay earlier," Bones said, holding the cup in his hand, having not yet taken a sip. "Basically, it can be used to regenerate some body tissues. But it's not limited to food and tissue. It also can replicate parts for the ship, uniforms. Basically anything except for complicated quantum structures and anything illegal, weapons and poisons."

Kirk was impressed, being the first of the two to sip his coffee. "Damn, that's almost as good as Columbia beans!"

Riker nodded. "It is a remarkable machine!"

Kirk could tell Riker wasn't ready to leave anytime soon. Sighing, but trying not to be obvious about it, he lifted his eyebrows, asking the commander, "Would you like to stay for a while? Swap some stories?"

Riker was sure his heart was going to jump right out of his chest. "Sure. Yeah."

/\ /\ /\

"If ve can calibrate ze transporter to ze same settings ve used ven ve sent you over to ze ozher Entaprise, ve can recreate zose conditions, and figure out vere zey vent."

"It's worth a shot!" Scotty agreed with his younger engineering associate. It wasn't going to bring Kirk and McCoy back, but at least maybe they'd have answers.

Inhaling deeply through his nose, Spock nodded his head. "Let me know as soon as you have figured anything out."

"Aye, Captain."

The whole crew was still getting used to calling Spock their captain once again, but Kirk was dead, and they couldn't revive him again. The doctor wasn't even here to do that. Everyone knew there wasn't anything the doctor wouldn't do for their captain, and no one questioned it. They respected it and were grateful for it at the same time. Everyone on the crew looked up to their captain and now that he was gone, everyone felt as though their direction was gone as well.

/\ /\ /\

Riker had been sitting talking with Kirk and McCoy for going on two hours now. He was mostly talking to Kirk, but there were even things he wanted to hear what Bones thought about as well. He couldn't describe what he was feeling right now. This was better than his holodeck program where he plays with Duke Ellington. Kirk was a real live, breathing man, not a holographic image.

Bones stood up and Kirk looked up at him. "Bones?"

"I'll be back."

Kirk gave him an odd look and nodded. Bones retreated back into the bedroom area, sitting down on one of the beds. He was used to all the attention Jim gave the many women he slept with. He was even used to the odd friendship Jim had with the pointy-eared bastard, but what was happening out in that room with a man who they shouldn't have ever met for so many reasons was really starting to get to him.

Bones was not comfortable with the attention Jim was getting from William Riker. He was sure Riker was a great man and an excellent officer, considering he'd done everything he could to be as good as Jim, and it was that reason probably above all else that Bones hated the time Jim was spending with him.

Jim thrived on attention. He didn't care where it came from, and if it was positive attention, especially the type of attention that flattered him and boosted his ego, he thrived on it. Riker was puffing him up more than Jim needed to be. He already had a big enough head. Riker being Jim's biggest fan would make his head explode.

Bones hated being jealous when it came to Jim, but it wasn't Jim's fault everyone adored him. Hell, even Bones, who didn't get hung up over anyone, was head over heels gaga for Jim Kirk.

"I think I better go check on Bones." Kirk said, standing. "Don't go anywhere."

Riker nodded as Kirk left the living area of his guest quarters, stopping when he saw Bones with his face down in his hands. Bones had been having such a great day despite their predicament, spending more than half the day with Dr. Crusher and then with everyone at dinner and even during the time they were at the holodeck. Maybe the whole of everything was finally compounding on him.

Kirk walked over and knelt down in front of Bones, taking his hands in his own. Bones looked up at Jim, shaking his head.

"I can't do this, Jim. I can't sit back while he fawns all over you."

Kirk blinked. "What? Riker? Don't be an idiot!"

"He's practically throwing himself on you."

"You've never let anyone else throwing themselves on me bother you, Bones."

Bones raised his voice a little louder than expected. "Because it never-" He cut himself off, lowering his voice. "Because it's never been someone who really likes you. God, this kid knows you probably better than I do!"

Kirk smirked at him. "Come on now. We both know that's not true."

"Damnit, Jim, I'm serious. He's probably the foremost expert on you in this time!"

Kirk thought that was taking it a little bit too far, but truth be told, he was sure the man might know things about him that haven't even happened yet. That could very well be a dangerous thing. As much as knowing about the future intrigued Kirk, he was sure it wasn't a very good idea. Knowing too much could change the past and therefore change the future as it is, and that would ruin everything as they knew it here.

Then his eyes widened. "Bones, you're amazing!" He didn't know why he didn't figure this out before. If they had been beaming over to find out what happened to the people on this ship, and they had been transported here to the future, maybe that's exactly what Kirk needed to do. He needed to figure out a way to go back in time and fix the future!

"Bones, you're a genius!" He jumped up and kissed the man, both of them falling to the bed. Kirk looked down at him, shaking his head. "Do you have any idea how amazing you are?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

Smiling, Kirk nipped at Bones's bottom lip. "We are going to figure out all we can about this time so we can stop whatever happened to kill everyone on this ship."

Bones wasn't following his train of thought. "How are we going to save them when we don't even know what happened?"

"But we do know what happened in the end," Kirk said, smiling brightly. "That's all we need to know to prevent it!"

Bones didn't get his reasoning, but he knew there was no talking Jim out of anything once he decided he was going to do something. "Whatever you say, Jim."

Kirk smirked again, letting his tongue slide over Bones' lips briefly. "Do you know how sexy you are when you're pandering to me?" Pandering was a word that Bones used, but Jim liked using his quirky words on him rare occasion. It would reward him with Bones rolling his eyes at him.

And it did, to Kirk's delight. "You're an imbecile."

"You love me."

Shaking his head, Bones pulled Jim's head back to his, kissing him deeper, letting his other hand reach down and grip Jim's ass, pulling him tighter against his body.

"Listen, guys, I think I'm going to head..." Will Riker's voice came into the room and both of them turned to look at the commander. "Ummm, I … uh..." Riker was confused. Everything he knew about Kirk, all the women he'd been with, he was a legend. Riker never knew James Kirk was also with men. Or was it just this one man in particular? "I..."

Groaning, Bones pushed Kirk off of him and Kirk stood, unsure of what to say - a first for him. Then again, no one had ever caught the two of them like this. They had been together since way back when they first joined Starfleet, and during all that time, no one had ever known about them or stumbled onto them at anytime. Yet they get transported to the future and Kirk's biggest fan walks in on them.

Riker blinked several hundred times, looking between the two of them. He'd never in a million years thought that two men together was anything other than weird at all. He wasn't a prude, by any means. He didn't hold it against anyone. But he was a lady's man, through and through, just like he thought James T. Kirk was, but apparently he was mistaken. And even as he stood there, looking at them, he realized that he did find this situation extremely enticing.

The idea of James Kirk making Dr. McCoy groan out from having Kirk's cock buried deep in his ass made Riker's own ass clench. He was sure if it was out of anxiety from the thought of Kirk in his ass or the realization that he would most likely enjoy it. But he couldn't stand there having these thoughts. He had to go back to his quarters he shared with his wife. HIS WIFE.

"See you tomorrow. Goodnight." And with that, Riker excused himself from the guest quarters, heading straight for the quarters he shared with Deanna. But even as he neared the door, he was afraid to go in. She'd know exactly how he was feeling, and though he'd never been able to hide the way he was feeling from her, no one could unless they were a trained empath themselves, but it was even more of a futile act considering they were Imzadi.

I am here, Imzadi, Will heard in his head as he entered their quarters, and he knew exactly what she meant. He had already known she would be there, but he knew she could already sense his thoughts, his feelings, and she was letting him know that she was there and she'd be as understanding as she could.

Walking into their bedroom, he saw Deanna sitting there waiting for him. He didn't even know where to begin. He knew she could sense the thoughts he was having, the feelings, and even if he wished he could shut that off right now so he didn't hurt her, he was thankful as always that she did know how he was feeling and what he was thinking. Even if it hurt her, she could make him feel better and they would figure it out together.

Lifting a hand, she smiled softly at him. From the moment she felt him coming down the corridor, she had been trying to pull herself together so she could help him through this. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for the man she loved. He was her Imzadi, after all. They were connected in a way not many people of separate species were. But she was half human, and when Imzadi come together, there's no denying it.

Riker took a step forward, taking her hand and pulling her into his arms once he had sat down on the bed with her. Softly, she wrapped her other arm around him, holding him securely against her. She wanted him to know that everything was alright. She wanted him to know that she would be understanding, that he could talk to her and not worry about if he would hurt her or not. She waited for him to speak, not speaking out loud or projecting her thoughts into his head. She simply waited.

When Will finally spoke, his voice broke. "I don't know what just happened, Imzadi."

Deanna's hand slid up Riker's back, softly scratching the back of his head. "How about we start at the beginning?"

Pulling back, he looked into her eyes. "Kirk is sleeping with Dr. McCoy."

Had she been fully human, she may have not understood completely, predispositioned to believe the non-sexual connotation the idea of two men sleeping together could have. But Deanna, aside from being Imzadi with Will, was a very skilled empath, and she could hear exactly what those words meant, not the base surface of them. Slowly nodding her head, she let him know he could continue.

"All my life, I had this image of who James Kirk was, of the type of man he was. And all night, he's lived up to being exactly the type of man I thought he was. But we go back to the guest quarters, we're sitting around having coffee and McCoy leaves the room. I've got to tell you, I never thought I'd ever be alone in a room with Kirk. Never in my life."

Deanna knew this. They'd often talked about how amazing of an officer, of a captain, James T. Kirk was. She knew how highly Will held him. But what she didn't know, not yet anyway, was how Will was really feeling about what he saw. She could feel the battle raging inside of his head, all the different thoughts, she could feel all of the different emotions he was feeling. She could sense an inkling of it in the back of his mind there somewhere, but everything else going on in his head was keeping it at bay, if only for the moment.

Will inhaled deeply. "Kirk left to check on McCoy. I know I don't know the man, McCoy, all that well, not like I know Kirk, but McCoy seemed to be having a hard time. I don't know, adjusting to being here on our ship. I mean, I'd be off myself if that happened to me, so I just thought Kirk was going to check on him, to make sure he was ok. I don't know, maybe he was, but after a few minutes, I decided it was probably best if I came back here. So I went to tell them I'd see them in the morning, but when I walked in..."

Will let out a long breath, feeling the realization of how he really felt pushing past everything else now that he was getting it off his chest. He knew he couldn't keep anything from Deanna even if he tried. He didn't want to. "I love you, Deanna. Since we met, it's been no one but you for me."

Taking his face in her hands, she shook her head, meeting his eyes head on. "I know that, Imzadi. I know that." She wasn't going to push him, but she already knew what he was going to say.

"I've never thought of a man sexually in my life. I've always been a ladies man." He didn't need to be telling her that. She already knew who her husband was. She knew him inside and out. "Deanna, when I a saw him with Dr. McCoy, I wanted to be in McCoy's place. I wanted him to be kissing me. I wanted... I wanted more."

From the time they had met on Betazed, from the moment he had rescued her from the Sindareen, it had been the two of them and no one else. Deanna's mother Lwaxana had forbid Deanna from ever seeing the lieutenant ever again, but Deanna left that moment to be with Will and had never looked back. It wasn't until just a few years ago that she worked things out with her mother and she came to their Betazoid traditional marriage there on the Enterprise in their Janaran Jungle simulation on the holodeck.

"It's alright, Will," Deanna said softly, "RaBeem. I understand."

Closing his eyes, he leaned forward, resting his head on his wife's chest, his arms wrapped around her. He didn't deserve anyone as good as her. He had no idea what he had done to have her in his life, but he knew he'd never do anything to lose her. She was too important.

/\ /\ /\

At 0500 the next morning, Will Riker returned to the guest quarters. He had been up since 0300 when Beverly came over his comm telling him that the captain had fallen ill and she had him in quarantine in sickbay. The senior staff had met in the ready room off to the side of the bridge trying to figure out what had caused their captain to fall so deathly ill so quickly.

And then, to make matters worse, Geordi LaForge collapsed there at the table, falling to the same sickness as the captain. The only conclusion they could come to was that their visitors from the past had brought a virus with them that the Enterprise D weren't immune to. They didn't want anyone else to be introduced to it, so Will decided he would be the one to bring them into quarantine.

The door chirped and Will waited for an answer. A moment later, the door whooshed open and Kirk was standing in front of him. His inquisitive look faded to a far more pleasant visage when he saw the man on the other side of the door.

"Good morning, Commander. Would you like to come in? Bones and I were just sitting down for breakfast. That replicator is amazing!"

Kirk wasn't about to tell the commander what the two of them had replicated last night. After he had left last night, Kirk had done his best to set Bones' mind at ease. Once he was able to assuage the doctor, he had become excitable, asking Bones to come with him to the replicator. The toys and other items they had replicated were tucked away in the bedroom and Kirk knew it was best they stayed there. Riker didn't need to have an aneurism thinking about what the two of them had been doing.

"No, Captain. I'm afraid I need to ask you to come with me."

Kirk turned his head slightly, confused. "Commander?"

Bones came up behind Kirk, wondering what was happening. "Jim?"

Kirk turned his head only slightly to glance at Bones before looking back at Riker. "The commander is requesting we accompany him."

"What for?"

Kirk shook his head. "I have no idea."

"I'll tell you on the way."

Nodding, Kirk lifted his hands in surrender. "Take us away, Commander."

Bones pursed his lips, but followed Jim anyway. Whatever was going on, it was serious. With all the hero-worship that had ensued last night, for the two of them to be addressing each other by their ranks, Bones knew it had to be something serious. The two of them followed the Commander toward sickbay.

Entering the medical bay, Kirk and Bones noticed three bodies laying on beds at the far end of the room. Bones sprang to action immediately, his Hippocratic oath urging him to help. He was struck back by an invisible wall. Stunned, he shook his head, looking around.

"It's a force field, doctor," Riker explained. "They're in quarantine."

Bones turned back to the commander, shaking his head. "Goddamnit, what's wrong with them, man?"

"They've all been infected with a virus I can't zero in on and I can't stabilize it."

Bones turned back to Dr. Crusher when she answered. "I know I'm not familiar with all your advancements, but I'm a doctor, dammit! I can help!"

Beverly looked past him to where Will was standing. Nodding her head to him, he nodded shortly in return and lowered the force field. Bones immediately ran over to the three bodies laying on the biobeds. One was the captain, the one next to him Chief Engineer LaForge, and on the other side of him was the transporter operator who had held them at phaser point when they had arrived.

Looking over the monitors, he looked back at Dr. Crusher. "How long have they been like this?"

"The captain woke up having seizure like symptoms at approximately three hundred hours, LaForge collapsed at a staff meeting an hour later and Chief O'Brien was brought in a few minutes ago."

Kirk turned to Riker as the two doctors discussed the symptoms and what she was doing to try to contain the spread. "You think we brought this with us, don't you?"

Riker hadn't wanted to say the words, but he nodded his head in response. "Dr. Crusher isn't sure if it's airborne or contact transferable, but until she figures it out, you and everyone you've come in direct contact with have been ordered into quarantine."

Kirk looked around. "Where's Counselor Toi?"

Will's eyes darted around the room. "Beverly?"

Beverly looked up at him and Will simply said his wife's name. She looked around the room. When she realized Deanna wasn't there, she shook her head at Will. Will let his head fall back and he rolled his eyes in frustration.

"Stay here!" he barked at Kirk, but as he ran out of the room, Kirk followed directly behind. Turning to look at the man who came up beside him, Will shook his head. He was every bit the man Will knew him to be. He didn't take orders from anyone and did as he damn well pleased. Not that Will could have thought he could give him an order. Even being from the past, he still outranked Will.

The pair came up to the room and the door opened to grant Will access, Kirk ran in as well. Deanna was nowhere to be seen.

"Deanna!"

The two men turned to see Deanna come into the room from the bedroom, falling against the wall to keep herself from passing out. She was barely dressed, her skin glistened with sweat and her eyes were glossed over.

Imzadi...

Will ran to her as she took a step out to him, falling forward. Will got to her just before she fell to her face. She was burning up under his touch and her body was convulsing.

"Deanna..."

She could barely breathe, looking up at him. Her mouth was dry, her lips chapped as though she hadn't had water in days. She couldn't speak. She could barely keep her eyes open. Will's heart felt like it was being held in a vice grip inside his chest. He couldn't lose her. Looking up at Kirk, he thought coming home to find Kirk there was the most amazing thing in the world, but now he was wishing they had never showed up.

Lifting her into his arms, he lifted her and ran with her out of the room. Kirk came running into sickbay as Will was laying Deanna down on a biobed. Will stood there, unwilling to move. Kirk realized that the only time he ever came even remotely close to feeling what Will was feeling was when Christopher Pike had died. Yes, Kirk had lost his father when he was born, and that had affected him his entire life, but he'd never actually lost someone close to him until he had lost Pike.

Then he quickly looked over at Bones. He was busy working with Dr. Crusher. Kirk could remember the look on Bones' face when he had awoken from being cryogenically frozen after he died in the decontamination chamber.

"That's not all that matters, Jim. You didn't lose the one person in this world who meant the most to you. You're a goddamned flight risk, a time bomb ready to explode at any moment. Your entire crew follows you because you're the best, but one of these times I won't be there to bring you back to life. Then what?"

"Bones..."

"I can't lose you, Jim. I just can't. Goddamnit, do you have any idea what you mean to me? You're my life. Without you, I'm not even left with my bones."

It was only those words that made Kirk understand what Riker must be feeling right now. He wished he could take the pain away. He had wished that he could have taken Bones' pain away, but he knew that Bones would always feel the loss he felt when he had died, even if he wasn't dead any longer.

Will finally let Beverly move Deanna back over by their other ill crewmembers. He turned to look at Kirk. "Dr. Crusher's office. Now." He didn't even wait for Kirk to make a move to follow before heading in himself. He stood, staring at the monitors, one coming online just as Beverly hooking Deanna up. Kirk entered the room, turning and touching the panel to shut the door, leaving them alone.

"I can't lose my wife."

Taking a deep breath, Kirk walked around the desk, placing a hand on Will's back. He felt him jump but loosened up slightly immediately.

"What you walked in on last night, Will-"

Will shook his head, turning to look at Kirk incredulously. "I don't want to talk about what you and Dr. McCoy do. This is my wife we're talking about."

Kirk dropped his hand, nodding his head. "That's the exact point I'm trying to get at. I have never cared for anyone... loved anyone the way I do Bones. He's the better part of me. He's the one thing in this world that makes me think 'I haven't done all bad after all.' He's that one person that makes me want to be a better person.".

Will sighed, leaning back against the wall. "You're in love with him?"

"Yeah. No one knows. You're the only person who has ever even..." He trailed off. "I've never even come close to losing him, Will, but he has lost me before. I'm sure you know about our encounter with Kahn? I died. If it hadn't been for Bones' amazing mind, his …" Kirk shook his head, musing silently to himself, "his love for me, I wouldn't be alive today." He gave Riker a reassuring smile. "I promise you, he will do anything he can to help Dr. Crusher isolate this and come up with a cure."

Will nodded, reaching out and placing his hand on Kirk's shoulder. "Thank you, James. You have no idea what that means to me."

Kirk let his head tilt slightly to the side, letting Riker's words roll off his shoulder. "Call me Jim."

Will smiled, letting go of a heavy sigh.

"Does Dr. Crusher have some place you can relax? Since we're in quarantine here anyway. Some place where you can sit and try to relax?"

Will didn't want to relax, but he knew he wouldn't be doing Beverly any favors by hovering over her and getting in the way of her work. "Follow me."

/\ /\ /\

"Captain, we're being hailed."

Spock lifted his eyes from where he was sitting in the captain's seat. He had to continue on as captain, even if all he wanted to do was focus on what he had to do to figure out what happened to Kirk and McCoy.

"From what ship?"

They were alone in space, except for the Enterprise D floating out there.

"The Enterprise."

Spock furrowed his brow above his eyes, his eyes narrowing in on the view screen ahead of them. There were no life signs aboard the Enterprise. How could they be getting hailed? "On screen."

Uhura brought the image up on screen. In front of them a man with pale skin. How could he be alive when the rest of the crew was dead?

"Identify yourself," Spock ordered.

"I am Commander Data of the USS Enterprise."

Spock's face relaxed, all the questions swarming in his head that he needed to ask this man. "I am Captain Spock of the USS Enterprise."

Data's head cocked to the side. "Sir, I believe you and I have a lot to discuss."

That was an understatement. So many questions needed to be answered on Spock's end, and he didn't know that Data would have a lot of the answers to most of them.

/\ /\ /\

"How did you and Deanna meet?"

Will sat across from Kirk on the couch in a room at the back of sickbay, his arm propped up on the back of the couch, head rested on his fist. "She didn't tell you?"

"No," Kirk shook his head. "She told me about the Janaran Jungle where you rescued her from the Sindareen. She said you were stationed on Betazed at the time?"

Will nodded his head. "I was stationed there between missions early on in my career. Deanna had been like no other woman I'd ever met. From the moment I saw her, I forgot every other woman I'd ever known."

Kirk smiled, looking down not really focusing on anything other than the thoughts in his head. Even though men could marry men and women could marry women in his time, it was still frowned upon in Starfleet and he knew it would be held against the two of them if he and Bones were ever to let their relationship be known, as much as he'd want it to. Riker was lucky he didn't have to deal with that prejudice.

"What about you and Dr. McCoy?"

Kirk looked up at Riker, his smile remaining on his face. "We met when we both shipped off for Starfleet. We were roommates at the academy." Kirk let his shoulders roll. "I got drunk one night and instead of letting me get my ass beat again - his words, not mine - he took me back to our dorm and …"

Kirk looked at his best friend's face, just inches from his own, the alcohol on his breath bouncing off of Bones' face and wafting back at him as he spoke. "You know, you really are a great friend!"

Bones shook his head. "Man, you're way past reticulated."

Kirk narrowed his eyes on his friend. "What does that even mean?"

Bones shook his head, dragging Kirk's drunk ass into his bedroom. He tripped over Kirk's uniform on the floor and fell with him down to the bed. Bones ended up on top of Kirk. Kirk smirked up at him.

"If you wanted to be on top, all you had to do was say so."

Bones rolled his eyes and moved to get off of him, but he hadn't moved fast enough. Kirk wrapped his hand around the back of Bones' head and pulled him down, kissing him roughly. Bones' eyes widened when he realized what was happening. Jim was drunk. He didn't know what he was doing. Bones had to pull back.

"Jim, you're drunk!"

"You're right, Bones, I am, but that doesn't mean that I still don't want you."

Bones eyes widened again. "What?"

"You heard me. I've wanted you since that day we left Iowa. Don't tell me you don't want me too."

"You're a cocky bastard, you know that?"

Kirk smiled up at him, that cocky smile that always seemed to get him into trouble. "Just shut up and kiss me Bones."

"And you two just..." Will shook his head, "decided to make a go of it?"

"Full thrusters ahead."

Will stifled a laughter, nodding his head. "That's basically how I felt with Deanna. I figured if I'm going to be feeling like this for ONE woman, I should just forget everything and be with her."

"Everything?"

"Following after you. I mean, no one can be ship's captain in three years like you were, but I still wanted to have my own command by the time I was thirty-five."

"How old are you?"

Riker laughed. "Thirty-three."

Kirk joined in his laughter. "Come on! You've got two years." He was going to reverse the crew's fate. He wasn't going to let what he had seen happen.

Riker nodded. "I guess. We'll see what happens."

/\ /\ /\

Commander Data sat across the small desk from where Spock sat, the two of them deep in conversation. Data knew all about Mr. Spock, from his birth as both Vulcan and human to his life growing up and his entrance into Starfleet. He knew about the destruction of Vulcan and the existence of another Spock. He knew everything except that he was Captain of the Enterprise, at least at the date Data had found himself in. But they weren't discussing who each other were or even their common ranks and specialties aboard the ship. What they had to discuss was far more important.

"I did not meet the two of them until everyone on the Enterprise started falling victim to whatever virus it was that was rapidly scouring the ship. At first, we thought it was Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy who had brought the virus with them, but Dr. Crusher, with Dr. McCoy's help, was able to figure out it was not them at all before she herself too collapsed."

"What was it, Commander?"

"It was a virus. Commander Riker had brought it back with him from his shore leave."

"So, with your ship's doctor down, and the rest of the ship falling victim to this virus, how did you manage to come back here to our time?"

"The same way your captain and doctor were able to come to my time. A temporal tear in space. Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy must have passed through it when you said the three of you were transporting over to our ship, and our ship must have passed through the same temporal tear to send our ship back here."

Spock was putting all the pieces together in his head. Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy had not died during transport. If they had, they would have collapsed the same space from him where they had been standing before transport. They had actually been transported into the future and spent a few days with the crew of the Enterprise D before falling victim to the same virus the crew was dying from. But now that he knew how it happened, he still had no idea what he was supposed to do with the information. He now had an android from the future on his ship and a dead captain and chief medical officer in sickbay to think about funeral arrangements for.

/\ /\ /\

Bones came back into the back room where Kirk was laying on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Kirk looked up and turned to his side to look at the weary doctor. Half the ship had now fallen ill because of this virus. Dr. Crusher had taken a blood sample from the two of them and found that neither of them were showing symptoms like the rest of them.

She ran a test on Will to see why he wasn't showing any symptoms only to find out that the virus had been raging inside his body and from the viral load she could tell he'd had it for several days now. Will insisted he felt fine. Beverly concluded that it had been him who had brought the virus back with him. The realization that it was Riker's fault alone the crew was sick was because of him was weighing heavily on him.

He had been sitting by Deanna's comatose body, holding her hand since Beverly had breathlessly and feverishly told him. It was his fault his wife was hovering an inch above death. Beverly had put everyone already infected into an induced coma to save them from any of the pain they were suffering and showed Bones how to do it so he could put her under. He did so reluctantly.

"Soon, there won't be anyone left to run this ship, Jim."

Taking a deep breath, Jim slid back against the back of the couch and lifted his hand to invite Bones to join him.

"Jim, I don't think now is the time for-"

"Will you just get your ass over here, Bones!"

Sighing, Bones walked over and laid down on the couch with his back pressed back against Jim's chest. Jim wrapped his arms around Bones, holding him close.

"You're doing all you can, Bones. There's nothing more you can do."

"I've got all this new equipment and advancements at my disposal, and yet I feel helpless."

"You're thinking too much about what you can't do instead of what you have done. You're helping, even if there's nothing more we can do."

Bones sighed, laying his head on Jim's arm. "You know, we could die here. Really die."

Jim leaned his head forward onto Bones' head, inhaling him deeply into his senses. "Yeah. We could."

Bones shifted, turning around to face Jim. "I know I may come off as a hardass some of the time-"

"All the time," Kirk amended with a smirk.

Bones gave him a slight glare, but continued anyway. "But that doesn't mean I don't love you."

"Bones..."

"I want you to know, Jim. If we're going to die out here, I want you to know that I do love you. I love you in spite of everything. You are who you are and I love you anyway."

Kirk wanted to make a joke, but he knew this wasn't the time for one. "I love you too, Bones," he whispered, looking down at his lips for a moment before looking back up into his hazel eyes looking so intently on him.

Bones could feel the intensity of the moment building between the two of them, the realization that they could be dying at any time, and he didn't want that to happen without Jim knowing exactly what he meant to him. Kirk knew because he knew how much Bones meant to him, and he always would know. Even death wouldn't take that away from them.

"I need you, Jim."

Nodding, Bones pulled at Jim's head, pulling him closer so he could press his lips to his again, kissing him deeply, his tongue touching every space of Kirk's eager mouth. Kirk groaned into his mouth, gripping the back of his head, melding their mouths together. Bones slipped his hand from Jim's head and slid down his chest, gripping at the end of the shirt he wore, pulling at it.

Their kiss only broke for a moment as Bones pulled the shirt off and tossed it aside. Immediately, their lips were back together, tongue caressing tongue. Bones' hand trailed down Jim's bare stomach, gripping at his pectoralis major, groaning into Jim's mouth. Jim pulled at Bones' shirt from behind, pulling it up and over his head.

Bones took a deep breath, looking into Jim's opulent blues, inhaling deeply. He didn't want to think about not being able to look into those eyes. Even when they were not able to be intimate like this, he could still look across a table, or even across a room, and the words they could say to each other just with the look, not speaking at all, was something Bones didn't want to think he wasn't going to have anymore. He wasn't going to have anything if they were dead, and he just didn't want to think about it... even if that's ALL he could think about.

He moved his hands down to Jim's pants, undoing the clasp as Jim helped him pull them from his muscular legs leaving him only in his boxers. Jim reached for the clasp on Bones' pants next. They each worked together to get them off Bone's lean legs. Flesh met flesh as they pulled their mostly naked bodies to blend together. Jim pulled Bones on top of him, wanting to feel the weight of his lover on top of him.

Neither of them knew how much longer they'd have with each other. Neither of them knew if they'd be able to be together like this ever again, but they hoped it wouldn't be the last. It couldn't be the last, but they were both afraid it would be. They were both afraid they'd never be able to spend another night in each others arms. Both were afraid they'd never be able to feel the touch of the others hand, never be able to even talk to each other ever again. They were both thinking of it, but neither of them wanted to.

Kirk slid his hands down inside Bones' boxer briefs and heard William call to him as he entered the room. His voice was broken like he'd been crying. He froze, seeing the two men whom he had walked in on last night practically naked on the couch. He had come in seeking solace in his new friend, not expecting to find the two of them about to...

"I'm sorry, I didn't..."

He turned to leave and Kirk called out .

"No. Wait."

"Jim..."

Kirk looked up at Bones who was still laying on top of him. "Bones..."

Sighing, Bones nodded his head. If they were all going to die, why not go out with a bang. Kirk smiled and Bones sat up letting Jim sit up. Kirk smiled at Bones before turning back to Will who was frozen in the doorway. Standing up, Jim walked over to WIll, taking him by the hand. He was sure Will needed to tell him something, and if it had been imperative, he would have said it already. Instead, he let Kirk lead him over to the couch to sit down between the two of them.

"I... I don't know if..."

"Shhh," Kirk whispered, softly rubbing his back. "We'll take care of you." He looked over at Bones. "Right, doctor?"

Bones still wasn't one hundred percent into this, but Jim didn't have to tell him why they were doing this. He understood the many reasons why they were letting the commander join in. He needed something to take his mind off their inevitable fate. His wife was already succumbing to it. Usually, anyone would question his actions, but Kirk only wanted to console his new friend, help get his mind off things. Riker may not know that his crew would all be dead soon, but Kirk and Bones did, and Bones understood why Kirk wanted to give him the best night of his life.

"We'll take it easy on you," Bones tried not to grumble. He nodded his acquiescence to Jim and Jim took a deep breath, turning to Riker.

Kirk didn't want to make Bones jealous, but he didn't want to let Will feel left out. But Bones had given him the go ahead. He knew Bones wouldn't have agreed if he wasn't ok with it. He may not WANT to share his lover with anyone, but he did it because he knew what it meant to Kirk to be able to make his number one fan happy. It's not everyday you meet your biggest fan and they don't turn out to be completely psycho.

Kirk slid his hand over Riker's stomach, leaning in and brushing his lips over Rker's neck. There was one thing Kirk didn't do when was with other women, keeping up the ruse so no one expected anything, is kiss them. Kirk's lips were for one person and one person only. It was the one thing Kirk had promised Bones when they weren't able to promise anything else. So, if he wasn't going to be kissing other women, he wouldn't be kissing Will. It was far too intimate of an act, and this wasn't about intimacies.

Kirk pulled at Riker's shirt and he willingly lifted his arms, helping him take his shirt , Kirk moved to his pants next, helping him slide out of them, leaving the three of them in their underwear. Kirk could see in his eyes how much Riker wanted this and Kirk was happy to fulfill this dream the man never even knew he had.

"I'll get he lubricant," Bones muttered as he stood off the couch, walking over to the replicator. He told the computer what to replicate before taking the bottle out and turning back to see Jim's mouth wrapped around Commander Riker's cock. Riker's head was tossed back against the wall, his eyes rolled back into his head from the pleasure.

Kirk felt his dick grow hard in his boxer briefs. He knew how good those lips felt around him. He didn't want to think that he'd never feel them again. He didn't want to think about the things the two of them would never do again. Right now, he just wanted to get all he could get from the man he loved and pretend like tomorrow was just another day.

Walking back to them, he pulled Kirk's boxers from him, letting his hand rub over his firm ass before leaning forward and biting one of the firm cheeks. Jim moaned loudly, Riker's cock deep in his mouth. Riker lifted his hips involuntarily, sending his cock farther down Jim's mouth. Bones smiled. Reaching around Jim's side, he took his cock in his hand, starting to pump it. Jim started moaning more and more, grunting as he continued to try to manage with as deep as Riker was thrusting.

Pulling off of Riker's cock, he growled. "Damn, Bones!" He looked back at Bones to find him smirking at him. "You always know just how to get me going, don't you?"

"Hey, when you're good, you're good!"

Laughing, Kirk turned back to pull Riker up to kneel on the couch with him. "You ever had a threesome before, Will?"

"Years ago," his voice came out lower than his usual gruff. "But it's different with two girls."

"Damn straight, it is!" Kirk agreed, turning to look at Bones who was rolling his eyes. Kirk smirked, reaching out and taking Bones' dick in his hand. "I'm gonna take Bones' ass," because it was something they rarely did. It was usually Bones who had Kirk's ass most of the time. But this may be the last time they ever are together again, Kirk wanted to give him something he rarely got.

Turning his head back, he nodded to Will. "And you can have mine."

Riker's cock lurched at the sound of that. Nodding his head, he waited for instruction. Kirk took the lube from Bones and poured some on his hand before taking Riker's cock in his hand, starting to stroke it, getting it all slicked up so he could enter him. He turned back to Bones, pushing him down to lay on his back. If this was going to be their last time, he wanted to watch him as he made love to him.

Kirk lubed up his own cock before tossing the bottle aside. He stroked himself a few times before spreading Bones' legs for him, granting himself entrance. Bones looked up into Jim's eyes. Even though there was someone else in the room with him, he oddly felt as though there was no one other than the two of them. Jim's eyes looked down into Kirk's hazels, everything he could ever say and will never say so prominently written there.

Kirk guided his cock slowly into Bones' ass, starting with just the tip and easing in ever so slowly. Bones loved the feeling of Jim's dick in his ass. It wasn't something they did often. Kirk loved to be dominated by Bones, and Bones loved helping Jim get off by that. Kirk always had control, but in the bedroom with Bones, he liked to relinquish that control. Bones is the only one he could ever give that to.

Riker now about to slide his cock inside Kirk's ass was something altogether different. It wasn't about control, it wasn't about intimacy, it was about doing something different. It was about giving Will Riker something to remember about the time he met his hero. Kirk couldn't bring himself to tell Riker he wouldn't be alive much longer to enjoy the memory of it, but it was one Kirk wanted to give to the man anyway.

Kirk relaxed his ass to allow Riker easy access. Riker didn't need anymore instruction after feeling Kirk's muscles give way and tighten around his cock in a matter of seconds. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before. It was incredible. And Kirk was loving it. He had never had a dick in his ass while he'd been inside Bones. Prior to this moment, he'd never been with any other man than Bones. Being sandwiched between his lover and his number one fan, Kirk was content.

Looking down at Bones, he smiled. Bones was enjoying this. His dick was being stroked between the two of their taut stomachs. That sensation, added to Jim's cock buried deep in his ass was driving him closer and closer to falling off that beautiful edge.

Riker was the first to breach that precipice, releasing his load deep within Kirk's ass. Collapsing on Kirk's back, he was content to lay there, grateful he wasn't thinking about anything other than what he'd just done with none other than James Tiberius Kirk.

Riker falling against Kirk pushed him deeper into Bones. Each of them groaned out. Jim leaned forward, pressing his lips to Bones' lips. Bones felt the fireworks explode behind his eyes as he released, warm white juice sprayed between the two of them, splattering all over each of their stomachs between their pressed bodies. Kirk took Bones' moans into his mouth.

That was all Kirk needed to cum for Bones. Their lips were still connected, only now barely brushing against the others out of breathlessness. Kirk groaned out as he released deeply into his lovers ass.

"Bnnnnnnnnssssss!" He muttered out against Bones' lips. Breathing heavily, Kirk barely whispered warmly at Bones mouth, "I love you."

/\ /\ /\

Ensign Checkov and Mr. Scott were working feverishly to figure out what had happened to their captain and chief medical officer. Two heads were always better than one. They sat in the transporter room, scanners in hand, portable computer panels on their laps running statistics and schematics. They had been working without anything to eat or sleep since Spock told them to get to work. Scotty was starting to get cranky.

"If we don'a figure this out soon, m' stomach is ginna start eatin itself."

Checkov shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Food is not as important, Scotty."

"You tell that to m' stomach!" He said, pointing at it. As if on cue, it growled loudly. "See!" Scott thought quickly to add. "'m not makin this up!"

Checkov couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head more.

The portable computer panel beeped on Scotty's lap and he looked down at it, his eyes widening. It took him a moment to figure out what he was looking at. He was sure he'd been deprived sustenance far too long, but there it was in the blue, grey and yellow lights on his tab.

"I've got it!"

Closing the tricorder in his hand, he affixed it to his belt and stood, running for the door. Checkov followed just a few steps behind him, eager to find out what Lt. Cmdr. Scott was so excited about.

/\ /\ /\

Bones laid silently sleeping in his lover's arms as Kirk ran his fingers through the hair at the back of his head. His head lightly rose and fell with each of Kirk's breaths. Kirk knew he loved this man, but as he held him like this, out in the open in front of his new friend William Riker, his love was reaffirmed.

Will sat on the other side of the couch there with the two of them, letting what had happened between the three of them, letting what had happened since he got home from his shore leave sink in. Picard had sent him down there after news of the death of his father reached them. He had missed the funeral. He hadn't been able to say goodbye. It had been difficult on him, but he had needed to get away from everyone. Even Deanna agreed.

The planet he had spent his time on had been widely uninhabited. The only people who lived there lived on the alternate side of the planet, leaving Will some serene alone time in a lush garden-like environment. His food had been prepared to take with him, and he was left alone for four days, no communiqué, nothing but himself and nature. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Now that he was sitting back aboard the Enterprise, his friends dying all around him, he wasn't so sure.

"I don't want to die," he finally spoke up.

Kirk lifted his gaze to Will. The man seemed to be shivering. He sat on the couch in his pants, not having pulled his shirt back on yet. Kirk and Bones hadn't pulled more than their boxers back on before Bones fell asleep on his lover. Will didn't look well. The virus must be affecting him finally.

"Death isn't so bad."

Will looked up at the man who had been his reason for doing what he did in Starfleet, astounded. No matter how much he knew about the man, learning something new about him always amazed him. He knew Kirk had died a year out of the academy, not long after Christopher Pike's death. What he didn't know was how he'd felt about it. It was one of the things James Kirk never talked about.

"But you've got a man who would move heaven and earth so he doesn't have to live without you."

Kirk smiled down at the sleeping man in his arms, nodding his head. "Yeah, I do." Looking back up at Will, he nodded. "Deanna would do the same for you if she could."

Will knew that. Closing his eyes, he shivered. "I've got to get to the bridge." He moved to get up, struggling to even lift his head from where it rested against the wall.

"You're not going anywhere."

"I have to..." Reaching for his shirt, he found his combadge in the jumble of material. "Data."

"Yes, Commander."

"I'm … No longer fit for duty. You've got the conn."

"Yes, sir."

Will dropped his shirt. "If there's one thing I envy about that man, it's his inability to feel."

Kirk had met the android in passing after dinner last night on the way back to the holodeck. He had been fascinated by him. There were so many things in this time that Kirk was going to miss. The only thing he was grateful for was that Bones was here with him. He wasn't alone.

Kirk looked down at Bones, realizing his skin was feeling very clammy, not warm with the wash of afterglow sweat he had moments ago. Kirk placed his hand on Bones's forehead, his eyes widening. He was burning up. His eyes began to tear up. Bones was getting sick now. It was only a matter of time before Jim was showing symptoms as well and the end would be here.

"Bones," Kirk barely whispered, tears laced through the single utterance of the nickname he'd given this man so many years ago. Lifting his head, he placed a soft kiss to Bones' forehead. Wincing, he felt a stabbing pain at his temple, his head fell back to the couch. His eyes were clenched shut, his breathing turning shallow, taking labored breath after breath.

Bones was shaken to consciousness, his head spinning and his stomach in knots. He first felt shaking before realizing it was Jim who was convulsing beneath him. Barely able to breathe himself, his lip quivered as he spoke.

"Jim!"

Coughing out, he looked around, grabbing his pants and pulling them on. He felt lightheaded and dizzy, but he wasn't going to let Jim die on him again. Jim was a heavy man, but Bones lifted him into his arms and ran with him into the main part of sickbay. All of the biobeds were taken, there was no place to put him.

Dr. Crusher's office sat adjacent to the room, empty. Running into the room, he laid Kirk down on the desk, clearing the contents off in a clean sweep. "I'll be right back." Inhaling deeply, he looked down at his lover once more before running out to get a portable medkit. Running back into the room, his eyes connected with Jim's pleading blues.

"B... Bones..."

Swallowing roughly, Bones walked over to Jim, taking his hand. "Jim..."

Kirk tried to smile, convulsing slightly. "Don'... Don't do it... I don't want to leave you."

"Goddamnit, Jim, I'm a doctor. I can't do this!" He was doing his best not to let the tears fall from his eyes, but they were dropping without his permission. "I can't let you die again."

Kirk's lip quivered, choking out, "We'll go together."

Bones closed his eyes tightly, tears streaming from behind closed lids. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to Jim's, a soft and sweet kiss, lingering there.

Neither one of them noticed the swirl of lights around them, but when Bones opened his eyes, they weren't where they had been a moment ago. James was laying on the ground of the transporter, Bones crouched over his mostly naked, shaking body. He turned his head to see Spock, Mr. Scott and Mr. Checkov standing there beside Commander Data from the Enterprise D.

"What the...?"

Kirk opened his eyes, his body still shaking, the pain in his head clouding his vision. He was barely able to focus on the figures standing in the room with them.

"Spock..."

The four men stood silently, watching the two who had just been transported, kissing, onto the pads in front of them. Spock was at a loss for words. Checkov's eyes were wide in amazement, and Scotty's jaw was open in a wide smile.

"Good on you, Captain!"

Kirk's mind wasn't clear. What had happened to get them there wasn't registering. It wasn't registering that the two of them had been kissing. He was probably hallucinating, but he didn't care. He was with Bones, and now Spock too, his friend. He could die in peace.

Bones looked down at Jim as he closed his eyes. "No, damnit! You stay with me, Jim! Stay with me!" He flipped his head toward the others. "I need to get him to medical, NOW!"

Spock and Data, being the strongest of the four, stepped forward and pulled Jim up to his feet, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. The jostling caused Kirk to open his eyes.

"Spock! It is you! How you doing, buddy?" The running with him in their arms kept him awake. His head bobbed over to the silver man beside him. "You're an awesome creation, you know that?"

They led him into medical as Scott and Checkov helped the doctor into the room behind them. He had realized he had the medkit in his hand from the Enterprise D. He could put Jim in stasis while he tried to figure out a counteragent to the virus. But when he opened the kit at Jim's bedside, he noticed something different in it. Picking up the device, he realized what it was. There was enough for one of them, not both.

Thinking fast, he placed the inoculator full of the serum into the medical scanner beside him. Quickly, it scanned the contents. He hoped he would be able to synthesize the compound, not having that fancy little replicator was going to be an adjustment, even though he'd only been in that time for a little over forty-eight hours.

Once the scan was complete, he took the inoculator out and administered it into the side of Jim's bare arm. He had no idea how long it would take before the serum did it's job, but he had faith that Dr. Crusher wouldn't let him down.

The other men stood around the shirtless doctor and his delirious patient. Kirk's head started to move around on the bed as though he were experiencing an illegal substance-induced high. The smile on his face was enough of an indicator that whatever was coursing through his veins was doing something.

"Soooo good!"

Bones gripped the table, waiting with bated breath. He had noticed how quickly the sedatives had worked that Dr. Crusher had given to her crewmates and expected the same from this serum. Kirk closed his eyes, his breathing suddenly easing and his body relaxing on the table. Bones grabbed a medical tricorder from the medkit and ran a scan over his body. He felt his own heart relax in his chest, even though he was still under the effects of the illness. If Jim was going to be alright, he knew he would as well.

Jim fell, instantly passed out on the table, but Bones could tell he was only sleeping, Smiling he nodded, turning to the rest of them standing around them. "He's going to be alright."

"Doctor, do you have more of that inoculation for yourself?" Spock inquired. It didn't take a genius to tell that McCoy had been infected as well.

"I think I can synthesise it. Yes, Commander. I believe I can."

Spock nodded. "Then do it. We need your help."

"Yes, sir."

/\ /\ /\

Bones had not wanted to leave Jim's side, but he knew he had a job to do, his duty had to come before his own desire to be there with the man he loved. He sat in the captain's office just off the side of the bridge with Spock, Commander Data, Scotty and Ensign Checkov. They had each been filling him in on what they had been working on, what Scott had figured out with Checkov's help.

Their scanners wouldn't have been able to pick it up had they not been focusing on it. There was a tear in the space/time continuum out there between their ships. Kirk and McCoy had passed through it on their way over to check out the status of the Enterprise D. The tear had also affected the ship's systems, shutting down life support. Ensign Checkov and Mr. Data had already come up with the solution to fixing that issue.

"Doctor, you will return with Commander Data to his ship," Spock explained, "make sure the serum for that inoculation is there for the crew of the Enterprise D. Commander Data will then transfer all available power to the engine and direct the ship into the tear. At this time, Mr. Scott will transport you back here. The beam should be able to cause the tear to fluctuate as it had before, sending Captain Kirk and yourself to the other Enterprise in the first place."

Spock was not all too comfortable with the scenario, his stressing of the words should be was enough to indicate that. But Commander Data and his own engineers were confident in their theory and was willing to test it out based on their confidence alone.

/\ /\ /\

Bones had gone with Commander Data back to the Enterprise D again. Everyone on the ship was dead. The people he'd only known for a few days were all dead and he knew he had to have faith that what he was going to do would work. Data informed him he would be on the bridge and Bones made his way to sickbay.

Walking in the doors that had been left open, the computer systems failing all over the ship. He saw that Riker had pulled himself from the back room and had curled up on the biobed beside Counselor Troi, holding her lovingly in his arms. If this was going to work, none of them would remember anything. None of them will know they had ever met Jim or him. Riker would never know he'd been with his hero.

A part of him felt bad that he couldn't carry that memory back with him, but most of him was glad. Even though he and Jim would remember, Jim was still his in every way. Jim would just have the knowledge that somewhere in the future was a man who looked up to him more than anyone ever had, following his professional path and that would make Jim proud.

Bones accessed the sickbay main panel, turning it on manually. Looking over Dr. Crusher's notes, he saw she had the serum down, plus a way to distribute it throughout the entire ship by use of the ventilation system. The crew of the Enterprise D would come out of this alive, even if all of them save for Commander Data all had to die first.

Leaving sickbay, he made his way to the bridge. He'd had to take the Jeffries Tubes since the rest of the ship's power had been diverted to the aft nacelles to transport the ship back to their time. Bones had retrieved his and Jim's clothing from the room in the back and brought it with him, leaving nothing behind to show they had even been there. Commander Data would be the only one to know they had been on the ship at all.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Commander Data."

Data nodded his head, shaking the doctor's hand. "It was very intriguing to meet you, Dr. McCoy."

Bones was glad he would not have to get used to having an android like Mr. Data around. He was odd to say the least, but he was sure he was like that for everyone when they first meet him. Nodding, he looked down at the clothes in his hand, shaking his head. He was going to kick himself for doing this, but he knew Jim would like it if he did.

"Give this to your Commander Riker," Bones said, handing Jim's shirt over to the Commander.

Data looked at the shirt and then back to the doctor. "I do not understand."

"Just tell him it's a gift from a friend. Vintage Jim Kirk original uniform shirt."

Data looked down at the shirt, still not understanding, but willing to do it.

"Goodbye, Mr. Data."

"Goodbye, Dr. McCoy."

/\ /\ /\

Bones materialized on the transporter pad and a brown and white animal ran off the pad ahead of him. Bones' head dropped forward, followed by his mouth. "What the hell?"

Scotty stood up from the transporter controls, grabbing his head. "Porthos! 's'a miracle!" The beagle came around to Scotty's feet and he leaned forward, sweeping the dog up into his arms. "I've gotta place a subspace call t' Admiral Archer. He's not gonna b'lieve this!" Mr. Scott left the transporter room, scratching the dog's head behind his ear.

Bones shook his head and stepped off the transporter pad, heading for the bridge to find out if their plan had been successful. After that, he'd head back to medical and back to Jim's side.

/\ /\ /\

James T. Kirk shifted, his eye opening slowly and looking around the room. Turning his head slightly, he realized he was in his room back on his Enterprise. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten here. Last thing he remembered was Will Riker saying he didn't want to die. Closing his eyes, he stretched, pushing his head back into the pillow.

He felt the bed beside him shift and he opened his eyes again. Bones was laying there with him. He had fallen asleep, but it wasn't a peaceful sleep. Reaching out, Kirk gripped Bones' shoulder, giving him a gentle shake. Bones' eyes snapped open, looking around the room before focusing on Jim in front of him.

"Damnit, Jim."

"I'm guessing you saved the day?"

Bones shook his head. "No. I had a little help."

Kirk smiled, but he had to know. "And the Enterprise D?"

"We're assuming they've gone back to their time. Mr. Scott and Ensign Checkov's plan worked on our end, so we're sure it's fixed their end as well."

"Good." Kirk reached out, taking Bones' hand in his own, pulling it up to his chest. "I'm glad we're home."

"Yeah... About that." Bones shifted on the bed but didn't retrieve his hand from Jim's grasp. "We've kind of been... figured out."

Kirk winced, his eyebrows lifted in question. "Kind of? What does that mean?"

"We were caught in a … compromising position and … Everyone knows."

Kirk thought about it for a moment before smiling. "Good. Now I can kiss you like Nyota is always kissing Spock!" Bones' eyes opened wide and Kirk could see the laughter forming behind them. "Careful, Bones. I'm only partly kidding."

Bones actually did laugh this time. Laughing wasn't something he did all that often, but when he did, it really made Kirk smile. Pulling him closer, Kirk wrapped his arms around him. "I'm glad it was you there with me and no one else."

Inhaling, Bones averted his gaze, looking down between the two of them. "I would have gone batshit crazy had I not been." He'd already had to deal with Jim's death before. He wasn't prepared to do it again. He'd done all he could to save his life before it was lost this time.

"I love you, Bones."

Bones lips turned into a slight smile as he turned his eyes back up to Jim's blues. "I love you, Jim. Forever."

Kirk smiled, leaning in and pressing his lips to Bones'. Whatever the Enterprise came up against, they both knew that they'd have each other to get through it. And now that the crew knew about the two of them, they didn't have to hide the way they felt about each other any longer. They could finally be the couple they never thought they could be. They could finally be together.