This is another uncomfortable chapter. Incredibly uncomfortable. Once again, I don't support non-consensual sex (although there isn't any in this chapter, thank God!), or domestic abuse, let alone abuse of any kind. It's completely out of my comfort zone, so I'm sorry if it's not written the best. Sorry for any OCC'ness.!

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or anything associated with it.

This is War.

Chapter Two: The Moment to Die.

Three years later:

Spock put his hand to his stomach. A life was now growing within him. A life that had been born of the bond between him and Stonn. In the three years since they had completed the bond this unborn child was the first, and only, good thing to come of it.

Spock brushed his hair out of his eyes. Stonn had not allowed him out of their residence in... Spock had lost track of how long he had been kept there. The only people he saw regularly was Stonn, his mother, and, occasionally, his father. The only reason he could see his parents was because not even Stonn could keep his mother away.

The doctor had come to the house and examined him earlier that morning. The diagnosis had been a shock. His family, the doctors, even he, had thought that he was infertile. Spock now knew how his mother must have felt when his parents had found they were pregnant with him.

Spock lay in the bed, caressing his stomach. He imagined what would become of the child within him.

He looked up as the door opened to reveal Stonn. He was still dressed in the clothes he had worn to the city.

"What did the doctor say was wrong?" Stonn asked, disgust apparent in his face and voice.

"There is nothing wrong."

Stonn sneered at his insufferably unintelligent mate. "You have been sick for the past 6.8 weeks. There has to be something wrong."

"I am pregnant."

Stonn stared at him in repressed shock, but his expression quickly morphed to one of the Vulcan's rages. Spock curled in on himself, trying to protect their child.

"You disgusting abomination," Stonn hissed. He crossed the room quickly to punch Spock's cheek. The younger Vulcan went sprawling across the bed. Stonn grabbed and pulled him up by the collar of his robe and punched him again.

Spock's head began to spin as he tasted blood.

Stonn dragged him off the bed and to the floor. Spock lay, trying to protect his stomach. Stonn kicked his lower back, making him scream and arch away from the other male's feet. Stonn took advantage of that moment of pain and kicked the younger Vulcan again.

Spock gasped and tried to crawl away. Stonn grasped his hair and pulled him up and across the room, to the door.

"I will never sire children with you. I will not allow my family's bloodline to be diluted by your human filth!" Stonn threw him down the hall and the stairs.

Spock lay, broken and bleeding, at the bottom of the steps. He wept as he lost consciousness, clutching desperately at his stomach.

Spock opened his eyes to a foreign ceiling. He turned his head to the side with difficulty to see his mother reading in the chair beside his bed.

She glanced up, as if she had been doing so many times recently, and saw that he was awake.

"Spock!" she said as she sat up and closed her book. "How are you feeling?"

Spock swallowed. His mouth felt as dry as one of Vulcan's deserts. His mother seemed to realize this and poured him a glass of water from a pitcher. She helped him to sit up and drink it slowly.

"I... I am well," Spock told her. In truth, he was stiff and sore all over. There also seemed to be an... emptiness within him. That emptiness also ached fiercely. His memory was oddly faint. He had no idea what day it was, nor the time.

"Spock," she admonished. "I need you to tell me the truth."

"I am sore," he admitted. "Why? I do not remember."

Amanda bit her lip, one of her human habits that had never completely disappeared throughout the time she had lived on Vulcan. Yet it only appeared when she was distressed about something.

"You fell," she whispered.

Spock tilted his head in confusion. "Why do I not remember?"

"The healers have given you medication for your recovery. They will cloud your memories till they have left your body."

Both Spock and Amanda turned to see Sarek at the door. Spock thought that the man appeared much older than the last time he had seen him.

"Why am I at the hospital? What happened?" Without noticing it, Spock's hand fell to his stomach. Both his parents saw it, though. Amanda looked to her husband, unsure of how much they should tell Spock.

"I went to your residence earlier today," Sarek said, speaking slowly. "I found you at the bottom of the stairs."

"I fell down the stairs?" Spock asked. Although it would explain his pain, it seemed rather uncharacteristic of him. He had no doubt Stonn would let him know how unintelligent he had been.

"No," Sarek said softly. "Stonn... pushed you down the steps."

Spock stared up at his father in horror. The events from earlier that day rushed back to him. His heart seemed to jump from his side to his throat, even though the very thought of it was illogical.

"The child... Is it?"

Sarek shook his head and Spock heard a high pitched whine in the room. He realized after a few seconds that he was making the noise.

"The child did not survive the trauma. Stonn has been apprehended and we will receive retribution. The bond has been broken."

Tears blurred Spock's vision and he wrapped his arms around his middle, desperately wanting his child back. He began to sob.

"Amanda," Sarek said quietly, unnoticed by Spock. It was the Vulcan way to grieve in private.

"He's my son, Sarek," Amanda told him, eyes hardening. She turned from him and wrapped her arms around Spock. He leaned into her.

Sarek turned from the sight and cleared his throat before speaking. "I will arrange another bond for you, Spock. Soon."

He didn't miss Spock's head jerk to look up at him. He stared, through the tears, with terror at his father.

Sarek turned from the room and walked down the hall.

He was grateful that his son was alive. He wished that he could erase the sight of Spock lying in a pool of his own blood. As he passed a young Vulcan couple with an infant he felt a pang for the grandchild he would never hold. His throat felt oddly closed as he walked out of the hospital. He walked further into the city, no doubt of where he was going.

Stonn would pay for nearly killing his son.

Spock quietly gathered his things. There was not much.

He was still sore and walked gingerly, but he was well enough to travel. He would have to be–time was running out.

He looked out his bedroom door and saw no one in the hall. He crept out, careful of the floorboards he knew would creak.

"You're leaving."

He turned back to see his mother, standing in her robe. She looked sad.

"I cannot be bonded again," Spock told her.

She nodded. "I know," she took the last few steps to him and hugged him to her before releasing him. She placed a few credit chips in his hand. "They should cover your travel expenses and a few months wherever you decide to go."

"I have enlisted in Starfleet," Spock admitted.

Amanda nodded again. "I know. Spock, I love you."

"Thank you, Mother. I... I love you, too," Spock told her, defying his Vulcan heritage with difficulty.

She hugged him again. "Don't lose contact with us, Spock."

"I will not," Spock told her. He turned away and started down the steps, gripping the railing tightly. He paused and turned back one last time. "Please tell Father... I am sorry."

Amanda nodded, a tear falling down her cheek.

Spock turned and didn't look back again.

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