A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed! Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up.


Part Two: The Hotel

Sometimes Jim wonders how it ended up being the four of them traveling together. Him and Bones make perfect sense because they've been together since Jim was six and Bones, who was still Leo then, was eleven and Jim's mom had taken him and his brother to visit the McCoy family in Georgia who she was friends with and even though it would have made more sense for Leo and Sam to have become best friends, ever since that summer they had always been one unit in those family gatherings, together every waking moment until they were Leo-and-Jimmy who were more brothers than Jimmy and Sam. Him and Bones and Nyota made some sense too because Bones and Nyota have been together for a long time and before the disease Bones had mentioned to Jim once or twice thinking of maybe, maybe asking her to marry him, always hesitantly and questioningly but the thought was in his head nonetheless. Nyota would follow Bones, and Jim would always be at Bones' side, so the three of them made sense.

But it was the four of them, Jim, Bones, Nyota, and Spock that made him wonder. He knows that Bones isn't really too fond of Spock and even though his harassment is generally good-natured and not that different from the same snippy attitude he gives the rest of the world, Bones and Spock don't get along the way Bones does with the people he teases out of affection. And even more than that Jim and Bones knew that Spock and Nyota had dated once, a long time ago but from the sounds of it, it had gotten semi-serious before they ended things, which maybe also explained why Bones didn't like Spock so much. Nyota still gets along great with Spock which may only bother Bones further, Jim thinks. Really the only reason Spock is here is because of Jim, who shouldn't even like Spock that much anyway because Spock was the one who turned him in for "cheating" on the Kobayashi Maru but Jim had respected Spock even then and after the whole debacle had been sorted out, Jim had ended up having Spock as a professor the next semester and found himself warming up to the Vulcan. But never in his wildest dreams had Jim thought that someday Spock would be one of the three people he was the closest to in the world, one of the three people who he now lived with in a single car, hoping against all hope that he would live to see another day with.

Jim can still remember so clearly the day they left. It was maybe three months ago now, maybe four, it becomes hard to tell after so many days bleeding together, when he and Bones decided to head out for good, to head to the little beach of their childhood on the coast of Georgia to wait out the epidemic. They had been speculating on the idea for weeks but when Jim's mom gets sick they decide they have to leave. Jim couldn't bear to leave her by herself but before long Bones comes down one morning holding the phaser that Jim's mom keeps in her bedside drawer and says,

"She's dead, Jim."

And it never really has a chance to sink in because they leave that day, pack up all their important things in Bones' hovercar then drive to Nyota's to pick her up because there's no way Bones is leaving her behind to die, and Nyota's apartment is right near the Academy and before they head out for good Jim stops and says,

"Wait. Let's stop by the Academy really quick?"

"Why?" Bones says incredulously.

"I don't know," Jim confesses, "I just think we should check there really quick. See if we can't scavenge something useful."

And that something useful ends up being Spock who is standing at the Academy gates staring silently, forlornly at the buildings when they pull up in the hovercar and Jim walks up to him and says,

"Professor."

"Cadet Kirk," Spock replies evenly, not meeting his gaze.

"What are you doing?"

"In all honesty, I do not know. The last of the faculty living in the Academy has died and I am at a loss."

"You don't have anywhere to go?" Jim asks, and Spock looks away so that he does not see the anguish twisting his features.

"No," Spock replies softly, "I have been unable to contact or locate my mother, and she is the only one I could go to. I have nowhere else to go, but I do not wish to stay here."

"Come with us," Jim is blurting before he realizes it, "Me and Bones – er, Leo, Leo McCoy – us and Nyota Uhura are all going to Georgia."

"Georgia?"

"Yeah – me and Bones used to visit this little deserted beach there all the time when we were younger and we're gonna head there so we can hopefully just, you know, wait out the storm." Spock stares at him speculatively for a moment, then replies,

"Since this seems to be my only pleasant choice, I will go with you."

And that was how they had ended up with Spock in the backseat of their hovercar next to Nyota. There was barely enough room for all of them, their important belongings, and the supplies necessary for their survival, but they managed. That first day Bones had repeated their three rules over and over again as if it were the only thing that could keep them alive because, in a way, they were the only things keeping them alive.

The hovercar lasted until they had just passed the border of Nevada when the last of their gas ran out. They were at a loss as to how to proceed and so sat on sat on the side of the freeway for one day and then decided they would have to travel on foot until some better alternative arrived. So they packed up as much as they could carry, though many things were still left behind, and set out on foot.

They continued down the freeway for three weeks when they found the Mercedes pulled over on the side of the road. Quickly they assented that a ground car would be easiest to use even though they were slower than hovercars, because they ran on water which was so much easier to come by than gas, and so Bones and Jim and Spock had approached the car cautiously, masks and gloves in place and Clorox in one hand, except for Bones who held the phaser he had taken from Jim's mother's room.

The car was not uninhabited. The man lying in the front seat was completely covered in the repulsive mottled skin of the infection, like some giant ugly bruise covering him from head to toe, and they were sure he was dead until Bones reached over to start dragging him out of the car and his eyes opened. His eyes had no whites – they were entirely red with disease and he reached out laboriously for Bones' hand and Jim had jumped away with a yelp and Bones, in his terror, fired the phaser and then the man really was dead, leaving the doctor swearing and shaking. It was a long moment before anyone could muster the courage to start pulling the dead man from the car, and it was a struggle for Jim not to vomit as they bathed the thing in three gallons of Clorox which was way the hell more than was necessary but no one could get the image of the living dead man out of their heads. Thankfully there was still water in the car and so they started back onto the road, this time thankfully no longer on their feet.

And it had been the four of them since then, now in the SUV that did not really belong to them but it belonged to them now.

It has been two days since they left the empty hospital and Jim is pretty sure Nyota is upset with Bones because she's barely said a word to him and not much more to anyone else since then and has been spending the days staring somberly out the window and spending the nights sleeping in the far back, away from everyone else.

It has been two days, and at about three o'clock in the afternoon Jim is staring out his window with a beer in one hand and he notices that there is a large building coming up on their side of the freeway and after a moment of peering at it he realizes it's a hotel and he says,

"Look, Bones."

"You know the rules," Bones starts to say grumpily, then Jim adds,

"It's a hotel. Hotels usually have swimming pools. There might be food too." Bones glances at him in annoyance for a moment, then Spock adds,

"We are running low on water for fuel. It would be wise to at least look." Bones sighs in defeat and he gets off the freeway at the next exit and before too long they are pulling up into the hotel. The weather-worn sign claims the hotel is a Mariott and Jim jumps out of the car when it pulls to a stop, surveying the abandoned building. It looks like it's in pretty decent shape which is a good sign and the four of them head into the building together, masks and gloves on just to be safe.

They find the kitchen without too much difficulty and dig through the meager supply, and in the end are rewarded with three cans of baked beans and a bag of ice from the freezer, which they throw into the SUV before heading to the back of the hotel.

Sure enough there is a swimming pool. It's only about halfway full and the water looks rancid, mostly because there is a dead body floating in it, which Nyota cannot bear to look at and she walks away out to what looks like a golf course. Bones sighs and holds up the empty gallon containers they've brought along with them.

"Fill 'em up," he says, eying the floating body, which is clothed head to toe in what looks like a plastic jumpsuit, "The car won't mind if the water's nasty. But be careful." So, hesitantly, they begin filling the jugs and when they are full they take them back to the SUV, load them in the back where the rest of their fuel-water is kept.

"I'm gonna go find Nyota," Bones says, swapping his wet gloves for clean ones and Jim and Spock do the same, and he sets off for the golf course.

Jim looks over at Spock and says,

"Wanna look around some more in the building?"

"I do not see the purpose of such an activity."

"It'll be fun. It'll be like exploring a haunted house, like for Halloween. Come on!" Spock protests half-heartedly as Jim leads him into the hotel, and look around what used to be the lobby in curiosity for a few moments, then Jim says,

"Come on, let's go further in."

"I do not think that is wise, Jim."

"Spock. It'll be fine."

So they go past the lobby and look around the rest of the first floor, which ends up being a mistake because Spock catches sight of three public commlinks outside the restrooms and Jim can't keep him away from them.

"Spock," he begins to protest, but Spock does not even appear to hear him as he tries the first commlink, to no avail. He moves to the second one and Jim says again, more forcefully,

"Spock!" He grabs Spock's wrist before he can smash frantically against the commlink's on button, and Spock looks sharply, wildly at him.

"Let go of me," he says, his voice low and wild and dangerous in a way Jim has never heard before, in a way that terrifies him but he doesn't let go.

"This is useless, Spock," Jim whispers, "You're going to make yourself insane with this. What good would it do? They're all broken, Spock. None of them will work!"

"I have to find out," Spock replies fervently, eyes darting between Jim's face and the commlink, "I have to know she is alive."

"She's not alive, Spock," Jim retorts, and Spock growls,

"We are alive. If we can survive there is no reason why she cannot either."

"She's dead, Spock!" Jim shouts, "She's dead, your mother's dead just like my mother and Bones' mother and Nyota's mother and everyone else's mother! This is pointless, Spock, and you know it, and it's going to kill you and you know it!"

For a moment it seems like Spock is about to strike him, his other arm lifted in the beginnings of a blow and his features twisted in rage and anguish, and then something within him snaps and he lowers his hand, looks away, and whispers,

"I – I loved my mother..."

"I know," Jim whispers, releasing Spock's wrist.

"You do not understand – I loved her, loved her more than any other being in this entire universe, and if she is dead..." He trailed off brokenly and managed in a hoarse whisper, "I never told her I loved her, never told her how precious she is to me."

"I'm sorry," Jim replies, looking away in sadness and shame because he although was fond of his mother but cannot bring himself to understand the depth of affection Spock is speaking of, and he was saddened when his mother died but not broken the way Spock seems to be. "I'm so sorry." Spock shakes his head almost imperceptibly, looking wistfully at the third commlink as if knowing he will not even try it. "Tell me about her."

"My mother was a teacher," Spock murmurs, "She... She lived in San Francisco, which is where she met my father where he was an ambassador. They were bonded for several years before I was born. She was..." He paused and looked again at the commlinks, then back at Jim. "Please, let us leave this place, Jim."

"All right," Jim replies, leading him away, towards the door through which they had entered. "Let's get the hell out of here."


When Leo finds Nyota she is sitting silently in the middle of the golf course, on a small rise overlooking a pit of sand, and she does not seem to notice him until he sits down next to her. She jumps at his presence and he frowns.

"Nyota," he says softly, "What's wrong? You've been so quiet and moody the past couple days and I can't stand it anymore. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replies quickly, too quickly, "Nothing, Leo. Just... Just drop it. Nothing's wrong."

"You're pregnant, aren't you?" he replies in a deadpan, and she chuckles bitterly.

"No, I'm not," she retorts, "That's not it."

"Please tell me," Leo whispers, and before she can stop him he leans in and kisses her and she pushes him away as fast as she can, jumps to her feet, but she knows the damage is done and she can't stop the tears that spring to her eyes because she knows that he has now unknowingly given himself a death sentence.

"Stop it!" she exclaims, her hysteria painful to her own ears, and Leo reaches for her unsuccessfully. "Stop it, Leo!"

"What the hell, Nyota?" he demands, getting to his feet, brows furrowed in confusion and hurt and anger, "What did I do? Are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," she chokes out, because her tears have become uncontrollable now and he reaches over to wipe her tears away and she shoves his hand back down before he can. "I'm not, Leo, please believe me, I'm not. I just... I just..."

"I don't know what to do, Nyota," he says, putting his hands behind his head and closing his hands into fists and pulling on his hair, "I don't know what you want me to do."

"I just..." she struggles, "I just want to be alone right now." Leo stares at her, completely at a loss for words, and she looks uncomfortably away and begins walking back to the SUV. "Let's just go, ok? Let's go." He opens his mouth a few times as if searching for words that will somehow fix everything that he knows to be ruined now, words that do not exist, then finally he sighs and murmurs in defeat,

"All right." He follows her out of the golf course, past the hotel, and into the parking lot.

When they approach the SUV there is the unmistakeable sound of a phaser rifle being cocked and Leo grabs Nyota by the arm and pulls her close to him in panic, looking about frantically to find a man dressed in a plastic jumpsuit, like the dead man in the pool, holding the offending phaser rifle at them barely thirty feet from the SUV.

"Who are you?" the man hisses from behind his helmet, taking slow careful steps towards them.

"We're just travelers passing through," Leo replies, eyes darting about in a panic, "We're not here to hurt anybody or do anything. We're just passing through."

"We'll see about that," the man spits through gritted teeth, and he holds a communicator up with one hand, the phaser rifle still pointed at them. "Captain Pike, we've got some intruders in the parking lot. Two, one male, one female."

"We've got two males, caught them exiting the building," comes a reply from the communicator and Leo looks away with a snarl, "We'll meet you in the parking lot."

A few moments later Jim and Spock arrive, each with a phaser rifle to their backs held by two more men in the same plastic suits. A third man is with them, holding yet another phaser rifle casually at his hip, walking behind the two men. Jim and Spock are shoved to stand next to Leo and Nyota, three rifles holding them in place as the man, presumably their leader, speaks in hushed tones with the man who caught Leo and Nyota.

"You hurt?" Bones says gruffly.

"No," Jim replies curtly.

"Shut up," one of the men in the plastic snaps at them, "No talking."

After a moment of conversing, the leader turns to them and says, "What are you doing here?"

"We're just passing through," Bones insists, "We're not infected. We didn't know there was anyone here. We're just passing through."

"Then why don't you tell me why one of my men is lying dead in the swimming pool?" the leader snarls.

"He was that way when we got here!" Bones protests, "I don't know who any of you are and I sure as hell wouldn't have killed one of your guys."

"I don't believe you," the leader retorts, "He couldn't have died from the disease. Not if he was one of us. One of you killed him."

"I'm telling you he was dead when we got here!"

"Shut up!" the leader shouts, "Shut up! I'm considering being nice and letting you go but if you don't shut the hell up I'll kill you all right here!" He sucks in a heavy breath, visibly calming himself, then eyes the group of four suspiciously. "Number One. Take the girl over there." He gestures to the sidewalk and a feminine voice responds,

"Yes, sir." One of the plastic-clothed figures presses their rifles against Nyota's back and pushes her forward onto the sidewalk – she stumbles a bit and looks back at Leo with panic evident in her eyes, and Leo glares at the leader figure but holds his tongue.

"And the blond one, too. You, pretty boy. Get up there." Jim glares daggers at the man but proudly and fearlessly swaggers up onto the sidewalk next to Nyota. They stand there for a moment, Nyota wringing her hands in anxiety and Jim standing straight and tall with a sneer on his face, meeting the leader's gaze unabashedly.

"Undress. Now," the leader says, and the followers glance quickly at him in surprise.

"No!" Leo shouts, rage twisting his features as lunges at the leader, who shoves him back with a kick to the gut, and he stumbles to the floor, writhing breathlessly at Spock's feet, and now there is a glare plastered to Spock's face as well but he remains silent.

"Please no," Nyota cries, beginning to sob.

"Undress or they both die," the leader snarls, lifting his rifle at Leo and Spock, and Nyota buries her face in her hands.

Jim seems to hesitate for a moment, then, with his mouth still twisted in a snarl, he pulls off his shirt in one fluid motion, kicks off his shoes and pulls off his socks. He straightens back up, his glare locked firmly on the leader, and then pulls off his pants and then his underwear. He gives a slight shiver in the sudden cold but otherwise stands firm and unafraid, proudly defiant in his nakedness.

He is completely nude and Nyota stands next to him completely clothed, sobbing with her face buried in her hands, and the leader demands,

"You too."

Finally, slowly, she starts with her shoes and socks, and her pants follow shortly after. She looks at Leo in desperation, and his face is mauled with anger and hatred and sheer helplessness as he meets her gaze desperately. Her hands hover with the hem of her shirt for a long moment, and then finally, with barely-choked back sobs, she pulls her shirt up over her head and lets it drop to the floor.

"Shit shit shit shitting fuck!" a man exclaims from behind Spock, stumbling backwards in panic, and the girl holding the rifle up at Jim takes several terrified steps back as well, as does Jim himself. Leo stumbles to his feet, mouth agape in shock, as the leader takes a step backwards and hisses,

"Not infected, huh?"

Nyota stands there crying, tears running down her face, but nobody notices because the only thing they can see is the mottled skin of infection winding and trailing from her navel to just below her collarbone.

"Get out of here," the leader growls, taking a few steps away, towards the hotel, "Get the hell out of here before you infect us all!" He and his men run back to the building and slowly Nyota begins to gather up her discarded clothing, pulling her shirt back on hastily, shamefully, and hesitantly she looks at Bones who is staring at her still with his eyes wide and his bottom lip caught between his teeth. He looks away and turns towards the SUV and mumbles to no one in particular,

"Get in the car. Let's go."

"Leonard, she is infected," Spock says, barely audible, next to him.

"I know that, Spock, so you can shut the hell up," he growls under his breath, and he steps towards the driver's side door. Spock looks back to see Jim pulling on his pants while hurrying towards the SUV, his gaze kept carefully away from Nyota, who fully clothes herself before walking slowly to the car.

In silence they drive away, back onto the freeway, and when it gets dark Bones pulls over and without being told, Nyota gets out and settles down in the far back of the SUV, away from everyone else.

"Walk with me," Bones says hoarsely to Jim, getting out of the car. Slowly Jim gets out too and follows him as he walks down the side of the freeway and they walk along together in silence for a few moments, then Bones whispers,

"She's infected." That much is obvious but Jim doesn't say anything and lets the older man talk. "She's infected and we can't save her. We have to leave her."

"I know," Jim replies softly, unable to look at his almost-brother.

"I can't leave her, Jim," Bones continues, his voice breaking with barely stifled sobs, "I can't leave her to die but we have to. I can't leave her here." Slowly Jim reaches out and touches Bone's shoulder and they stop walking as Bones begins to cry openly. "I can't leave her here. I can't, I can't, I can't!"

"I'm sorry," Jim whispers, because he has no idea what he can say to make things better somehow, "I know. I'm sorry." For a long moment Bones sobs silently, his face turned away from Jim as his shoulder trembles beneath the younger man's hand, and then he whispers,

"We know the rules. I know the rules. She's already dead." He says it several more times as if willing himself to believe it, and then murmurs, "We'll... We'll leave her someplace nice. Not here. Someplace comfortable for her. Not here. Not here."

"Okay," Jim agrees softly, "Okay. It's okay." It's not okay and it will never be okay but what else can he say? What else is there to be said?


"Spock?" Nyota's voice comes faintly from behind Spock but he hears it clearly.

"Yes, Nyota?" he replies softly, pulling his blankets closer about him.

"I'm sorry." She can barely whisper and he can tell she is on the verge of tears. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Of course you did not," Spock answers gently, "No one blames you."

"I'm so sorry. I really am. I'm so sorry."

"I know, Nyota. But there is nothing to be sorry for."

They are silent for thirty-two seconds before Nyota's voice comes softly again through the darkness.

"Spock?"

"Yes, Nyota?"

"I'm scared."

Spock does not know how to answer to that. Somewhere deep down he is scared too. If she is infected, how easy it would be for the others to be infected. He does not say anything.

"I don't want to die, Spock."

Again he cannot bring himself to reply. Of course she does not want to die – no one wants to die, especially not the horrific painful death that eighty-nine percent of the Earth's population has already succumbed to. Her words are not surprising or profound but Spock finds himself unable to formulate a response. And when he hears her begin to cry from the far back, still he cannot find words that would not make her cry harder.

He is also scared. He also does not want to die. It is not his decision to make, but he knows that if they are going to live, she is going to have to be left behind, and he knows she knows it too and he is fairly certain that this, also, is her unspoken fear, the true reason behind her tears.


It has been two days since they have left the hotel and Nyota has been dutifully wearing her mask and sitting exclusively in the far back of the SUV. Jim has been sitting in the backseat with Spock because he knows Bones needs his space right now, and no one's said much of anything to anyone in the two days since they left the hotel.

It's been two days and when Bones sees a little gas station on the side of the freeway he mumbles,

"Might be water. Or food. We should check."

"Yeah," Jim agrees, and Bones gets off the freeway and pulls into the gas station. It's a small, mom-and-pop kind of gas station and all the gas nozzles are pulled out from the self-serve stations, several of which are falling apart. There is a message spray-painted on the side wall of the gas station, the side that faces away from the freeway, that reads in large red capital letters, "BOBBY: MOM + DAD R DEAD IM GOING 2 UNCLE JOHNNY'S PLS CONTACT ME ASAP -DAISY". Bones sighs heavily, resting his head on the steering wheel, before getting out of the car while pulling on his mask and a pair of gloves, Jim and Spock following him silently. They gather their empty fuel-water jugs and begin to scour the outside of the building and when Bones finds a tell-tale water nozzle he calls out,

"Over here." He turns it on and after a moment of rumbling, clean, clear water starts gushing out and he stares in shock for a brief moment before he comes to his senses and starts filling the empty jug in his hand and when it's full he leans down and experimentally takes a sip of the still-flowing water and is shocked, because somehow the water's still cleanly running here and he has no idea how that's possible but it is. Jim and Spock join him and fill the containers they're carrying with the blessedly clean water and Bones goes back to the SUV and grabs some of their empty drinking-water containers and fills them too, then heads into the inside of the gas station to see if there's any food. The building has been scavenged and so there's nothing left but empty shelves and a busted credit register, but it's fairly clean as far as abandoned buildings go and it even looks like the electricity might still work which is just as miraculous as the water.

Jim walks into the building and hesitantly approaches him.

"No food?" he asks softly, and Bones replies,

"No."

They are silent for a long while, then Bones says hoarsely, "This is... This is a nice place."

"Yeah." Jim knows what Bones is going to say next but the older man seems unable to speak. Again they lapse into silence, Jim watching Bones guardedly as he stares, brows furrowed, blankly at the broken credit register, his mind elsewhere.

"We have to leave her," he finally manages to murmur, "We have to."

"I know."

"And this place isn't so bad."

"Yeah."

"It's not a bad thing, right? If we leave her here?"

Jim's heart is breaking from the tone of Bones' voice and he forces himself to reply, "Of course not. It's better than leaving her with those people at the hotel, or on the freeway. It's better than that." Bones scrubs at his eyes and chokes,

"Okay. Okay."

He stands there for a long moment, his hands over his eyes, and Jim peers uncertainly at him until finally he lowers his hands and looks up at the ceiling with a heavy sigh, his eyes still red and damp with tears that have not fallen but are still there. He composes himself visibly, then turns to Jim and murmurs,

"All right. Let's get going."

They exit the building and head towards the SUV, Bones walking purposefully the way he always does when he has to do something he doesn't want to, Jim following him closely. As they approach, Spock is organizing some of their stuff in the backseat, attempting to reduce the clutter rather unsuccessfully, and Nyota is sitting in the back the way she has been all day. Jim goes to stand next to Spock, not wanting to get involved with what is sure to become an unpleasant situation but still wanting to be close enough for moral support at least. Bones stops in front of the tailgate, sucks in a heavy breath, adjusts his mask and gloves and then reaches over and opens it. Nyota looks at him in surprise as he wordlessly takes her duffel bag of belongings and sets them on the ground.

"What are you doing, Leo?" she asks faintly, in a tone that suggests that she knows perfectly well what he is doing. He pauses, looks at her, his eyes tight, then says hoarsely,

"Get out."

Nyota's face crumbles in despair as he begins unloading a blanket and pillow and she begs,

"Leo, please, please don't do this."

"I said get out," he replies, his voice faint, and he takes her by the arm and pulls her out of the car where she stumbles to her feet and backs away as he closes the tailgate.

"Leo!" she begs.

"It's nice and cool in that building," he says, gesturing towards the gas station, "The water in the building works and it's clean water too. It'll be... It'll be easy to make yourself comfortable."

"Please, Leo," she says, tears falling freely now, and he turns away and steps towards the car and Jim and Spock take their seats in silent understanding. She chases after him desperately, grabbing his hand as he moves to open the driver's side door and he shakes her off. "Don't do this," she begs, "Leo, I love you. I love you!"

"You don't understand!" Bones shouts, her words driving him to his breaking point, "Can't you see? I love you, I love you more than anything, but I have a responsibility and I have to follow my own rules. For God's sake don't make this any harder than it has to be. Please. Please!" And he gets quickly into the car and she stands there crying, and as they pull out into the street she begins chasing after the car, sobbing and crying out after them,

"Leo! Leo!"

Bones speeds up and before long she is no longer visible in the rearview mirrors. They keep going for maybe another mile and then Bones pulls over, turns off the car, and hunches over the steering wheel with his head in his hands and he begins to weep.

"Oh, God, Nyota," he gasps into his palms, "Oh my God. Oh my God." Slowly Jim reaches over, touches his shoulder, and asks gently,

"Do you want me to drive?" A few more sobs escape Bones' lips before he manages to choke out,

"No. No, I can do it."

"Okay," Jim murmurs, backing away, "Okay. I'm going to sit in the back with Spock." Because now more than ever Bones just needs space, which is hard to give when they are stuck in a car together but he's going to at least try because for Bones, he'd do anything. He climbs into the back next to Spock who looks somberly at him, and Jim's heart wrenches because it's not the same without Nyota. Gently Spock reaches out and touches his fingers and Jim can feel his sorrow and sympathy, knows that Spock hurts not only for himself but for Bones who is Leonard in Spock's mind, and the words I grieve with thee float between the contact of their fingers, and Jim closes his eyes. He's not sure what Spock is feeling from him but their touch lingers for a moment longer, then slowly Spock takes his hand away and places it back in his lap, clasping his other hand, and Jim looks away, out the window.

After a little while, Bones' sobs fade away, and after a little while longer he sits back up, starts the car, and they continue silently down the crumbling freeway under the same gray, cloudy sky.