When Jim and Sam had finally made it back to the house and into the kitchen, they were greeted by the sounds of conversation and laughter as well as the smells of pancakes, waffles, sausage, eggs, hash browns, cinnamon buns and coffee.
"God it smells great in here, we must be in heaven!" Jim stated happily. He walked over to the stove and gave his sister-in-law a kiss on the cheek, smiling at her soft greeting he looked around the room and saw their new arrival. Jim's face lit up and he grabbed a plate and headed towards the table. "Hey Li, good to see you here." Once his plate was full Jim sat down at the table next to her and grinned.
"Hi Jimmy, glad to see you're appetite hasn't changed since you moved to the city." Liana smiled at him. Leaning over she hugged Jim with one arm and gave him a peck on the cheek.
Grinning Jim started eating, then looked around the table. "Hey, what are you two doing over there?" Sulu and McCoy had the laptop open and were both grinning like Cheshire cats. "What's got you both so pleased." Then he looked over at Liana and knew something was going on when she looked at him and winked.
Sulu looked up from what he was doing and gave Jim a huge smile. "Well, what's been the one thing that you would want most in the world Jim? Seriously, think about it before you answer too." Sulu had seen the look Jim made and knew the answer was going to come off as a joke in some way shape or form.
"Well, that could be anything. I mean I want to be able to enjoy being here with friends and family but if I have to really think about it," Jim laid his fork down next to his plate and looked at Sulu then McCoy. Both had matching grins and when Jim looked over at his brother, Sam shook his head, he seemed to be just as confused as Jim. If I think about it, it would have to be..." His sentence drifted off as he looked at Sulu again. "We got it?" Jim asked softly, "We got the Vulcan job?" The energy in the room seemed to almost double as Jim's excitement grew when Sulu nodded his head.
McCoy looked at his friend and grinned, "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jimbo." He was glad to see a genuine smile on his friends face. "Looks like you'll get to see Vulcan after all and if I'm reading the information right Romulus as well."
"YES!" Jim shouted, he jumped up from his chair and rounded the table. Looking over Sulu's shoulder he skimmed over the message that had come through from the office. "This is the coolest thing ever!" Jim was excited, this job would give the company's reputation a boost as well as help both Humans, Vulcans, and Romulans understand each others cultures better. Looking up at Liana he asked her, "You're going with us right? We're going to need you there Li so you have to say yes." Jim grinned at her knowing full well she wasn't going to turn this opportunity down.
"Well did you want me to stay here? I mean you know that I want to go so why ask?" She stuck her tongue out at Jim and laughed when he returned the gesture. When she glanced over at McCoy she saw that he was watching her intently and she felt heat flood her face. Looking away she focused back on Jim and Sulu. "Tell us what all will be expected Karu? We need to know what we need to do and who we're going to be dealin with, we don't really need any surprises." Liana laughed softly. She knew Jim's reputation for trouble, it seemed to follow him like the plague and they would need to be ready for anything.
Sulu looked up at Liana and laughed, "You think Jim is going to get into trouble don't you?" He laughed harder when she shook her head yes and when Jim threw her a look full of playful disdain.
"Hahaha you two think you're just soo fuckin funny don't you?" Jim gave a soft huff of irritation but the smile on his face showed he wasn't upset by the playful banter.
"You know it's the truth though Jim, trouble follows you like a hungry panther stalking its prey." McCoy smiled sweetly at his friend and couldn't help but laugh when Jim glared at him and then back at Liana.
"You three can stop the ganging up on me now, that's not even true to begin with." Jim knew there was some truth to their joking but it still bothered him nonetheless. He couldn't help it when an image of Gary popped into his head and he frowned, forgetting for the moment that four sets of eyes were watching him.
Liana sensed the shift in his mood and quickly changed the subject. "You know this will be great though either way Jim, the company gets a boost in rep and meeting a new race and getting to see their home world will be an added bonus. What if we all decide to stay on Vulcan? Can you imagine what could happen..." She was cut off by Sulu and his groan of frustration.
"What's wrong Hikaru?" Sam finally spoke up, He had seen the shift in his brothers expression and had watched as Liana had tried to cover it by changing the subject. "That groan doesn't sound good at all and the frown isn't making me feel better either." Sam helped his brother and friends out with the company as much as possible and wanted to make sure after the conversation he and Jim had earlier there were no issues getting this job.
"The reps from both Vulcan and Romulus are asking to come here first. They want to meet us basically and see what we can come up with before we see either planet. They are asking to see the main offices as well as a current site on planet." Sulu glanced at everyone standing around the table then back to the laptop. "We have the job, they just want to reconfirm so to speak our ability to accomplish it." He chuckled, "Vulcans are always so logical when it comes to making decisions and Romulans are almost just as bad but more straight forward about it."
Jim's smile widened, "So we will get to meet them before we start work then. That's not an issue, as long as everyone can make it to any important meetings we have, we can't afford any type of slip ups or miscommunication." Jim's mind was racing from one idea to another. He looked at everyone in the room, observing how his brother and his wife interacted with Liana while Bones watched her as well as talked to Hikaru. He had no issues with the reps coming to Earth to meet first nor to see one of their sites. He didn't really enjoy the idea of going back to San Francisco anytime soon but for this job he would deal with cutting his trip short. "When are they asking to come Hikaru? We need to know so we can be ready and make sure that there are no hitches or distractions. I want this job and messing it up now when we're this close..." Jim used his fingers to show an example of the distance. "To getting it would not be cool at all."
"We got you Jimmy don't worry." Sam chuckled at his brothers rambling. He hoped that this job would bring back the full sparkle to his brothers eyes. He'd seen the slow withdrawal when they had last seen each other. It had worried him to the point he had confronted his brother about it. Jim had insisted everything was ok but Sam had asked Liana, McCoy, and Sulu what was going on and had been livid when they told him about Gary and how he had been treating his brother. That son of a bitch has it coming to him, I'll make sure he never hurts Jimmy again. Sam had been holding onto that thought after the conversation with the other three at the table. He had wanted to confront Gary but they had made him promise to leave it alone. Liana and McCoy had both said they had tried to help, Sulu had actually gotten into a physical fight with Gary but Jim never left for good. It hurt them to step back but Jim had to take that step for himself, they had told him. So Sam had agreed to not say anything until his brother came to him. Now, six months later his younger brother was here at the family farm and he seemed to be doing better. That was until Sam had told him about the phone call from Gary. He had seen the flash of fear in his eyes and the color fade from his face. He had regretted his decision to tell him but he couldn't help the flash of anger when Gary had called. Not after he had found out how Jim had been treated by the other man. He had thought Gary would have been good for his brother, they all had. As it turned out they had all been wrong.
Sam felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and he looked over at his wife. She was stroking his fisted hand and trying to get him to release a pen he was gripping tightly and had broken, the pieces digging into his palm to where his hand was bleeding. Sam blinked, he hadn't realized just how angry he was at Gary, he looked at Aurelan then everyone else in the room, they all seemed to be watching him. "Sorry guys just got somethings on my mind." Sam sighed. He wasn't sure what would happen when they returned to San Francisco but what ever it was Gary Mitchell would not get the chance to get near his brother.
"Umm Sammy, you wanna let go of the pen now?" Jim's voice held a note of concern, surprised to see his brothers hand cut open. Jim had a pretty good idea what was on his older brothers mind but decided he would talk to him about it later. He watched as Aurelan cleaned his brothers hand then looked over at Liana. He wondered if she knew what Sam was thinking about. By the expression on her face he was pretty sure she did.
"Sooo," Sulu started then cleared his throat. The silence had become uncomfortable and he was trying to break it. "They are wanting to come when ever it's convenient for us. So we can think about a date and go from there. They also included a dossier of all reps that will be coming, with a list of all of their experiences, job proficiency and prior projects." He gave a low whistle as he continued, "Seems like the Vulcan's are sending three, two humans and one Vulcan," Sulu paused surprised by the information but continued reading from the screen. "The Romulans are sending two, both Romulan." A thought occurred to him and Sulu sat back in his chair and looked at Jim. "You know Jim, we need to call Scotty and see if he's free as well. His group will fit in great on this project and we all know how serious you are about this so yeah, Scotty would be our best bet for engineering and mechanical. Besides I hear he has some new toys at the latest dig in Wyoming and we all know how much you like to play with toys." Sulu winked at him and chuckled. He watched his friends face light up with pleasure at the thought of being able to see what Scotty and Keensner where working with now.
"Well damn, I see that we're going to be takin a trip to Wyoming then?" McCoy asked as he looked at Jim and saw the excitement had returned. Everyone in the room had felt his withdrawal at their teasing earlier and the abrupt change of subject by Liana had been obvious. "You seem to be getting more gifts than you know what to do with Jimbo." He smiled when Jim nodded his head eagerly. "You gonna make copies of the dossiers and schedules Hikaru? We need to know these people as well as they know us." He would also have to request medical information for both parties as well as Vulcan and Romulan physiology, he would need to brush up on his anatomy of both species. He glanced over at Liana and was surprised to find her watching him. When she noticed his gaze however she looked away, a light blush covering her face. Maybe there is something still left between us? Maybe this trip will be a new beginning for all of us, a chance to learn and grow and to have a future. The thought was something to consider and McCoy looked at her once more before he turned back to Sulu and Jim.
"If they want to come immediately they would have to do a quick tour of the offices in San Francisco unless they are wanting to see the offices at the actual site. I mean that's a lot of traveling and from what I understand Vulcan's and Romulans don't always get along." Jim was thinking out loud now. Despite his and Sulu's fluency with other languages they weren't proficient as far as Vulcan and Romulan went. "We're goin to need to take crash courses in both Vulcan and Romulan languages and customs. What is and is not acceptable as far as social protocol, what type of foods they eat and if they have certain rituals or customs that we will need to be mindful of." Jim was pacing as he talked, hands moving with each word. He knew this was a golden opportunity for any company that got the contract, was secretly relieved they had because it would afford him the chance to get away from Gary and start over. Maybe this time he could be happy with life and not have to fear what was going to happen later on.
"Slow down Jim, we have time to discuss and review and research until we're all sick of it." Sam smiled as his brothers excitement started to return. Everyone's energy had changed with the ideas going through their heads and Sam knew his brother was going from carefree to business in a matter of minutes. "I'm curious as to who the reps are though because it's interesting that there are two humans from Vulcan."
The thought had crossed everyone's mind when Sulu had read the information. It didn't seem to be normal for any type of business dealings with the Vulcan race. "It seems that it's the Ambassador's son, who is also the project leader, and his associates coming from Vulcan." Sulu read over the dossier for each person and was surprised to find that one of the reps was only seventeen years old! "Wow how do you get to be on a project of this magnitude at seventeen?" The question had been said out loud despite him having thought it in his head.
Looking over his shoulder Jim whistled and grinned over at Liana and Bones, "He's Russian and seems to be a child prodigy. According to his dossier, Chekov was top of his class in stellar cartography,transporter theory, an expert in advanced theoretical physics, and the youngest cadet in history to graduate from the Academy. Scotty is just gonna love the hell out of him. Transporter theory really? I can just imagine the conversation now." He laughed when everyone in the room groaned at the thought.
"Lord help us because that's just not something I'm going to want to sit through. I don't care how much I adore Scotty I'm just not going to be up to that." Liana sighed.
"You know Li, with degrees in psychology, xenolinguisticts, molecular biology, and mechanical engineering you should enjoy that discussion." Jim chuckled, he knew she didn't want to sit through the convo not because of the content but because it would be between a Scotsman and Russian, both who were infamous for their consumption of alcohol and over exuberance at the most inopportune times.
"Shut up Jim, you know I would but nope not if it's not in the board room, I will not be discussing any thing business wise with either of them. As much as I enjoy the thoughts of others from time to time I do not enjoy the thoughts of a drunk person so to avoid any issues I will not be drinking with them." She gave a huff for emphasis and stuck her tongue out at Jim.
McCoy gave a snort of laughter and agreed with her, "She is right ya know Jim, that's a powder keg waitin to explode. Wait till you tell Scotty, he's almost as bad as you when it comes to his toys." He couldn't help agreeing with Liana, he knew the Scotsman reputation for his whiskey and when he had to much he tended to be as some would say, a barrel of laughs. "Besides none of us can drink with Scotty, remember what happened last time? We almost got alcohol poisoning."
Everyone at the table laughed as they thought about McCoy's words. Their group was a family unit and they all looked out for each other. No matter where they were at any given time there was always someone who knew how to reach the others.
Jim scrolled down the information on the computer and froze. The picture of the ambassador's son had shown up as well as his credentials and other projects. When he looked over the personal information, Jim took a step back and froze. The ambassador's son was half-Vulcan, half-Human? How in the hell was that possible? He glanced over at Liana and knew she had heard the thought, the slight interest in the question and flushed a light pink. The picture had caught his attention, the young man in the photo had a head full of jet black hair in the traditional Vulcan bowl cut. His skin was pale, tinged with a light green due to his Vulcan blood but it was his eyes and lips that caught Jim's attention. His eyes were a warm chocolate color with flecks of cinnamon and his lips, despite them being a light pink they had a slight curve in the picture as if he were smirking at the person behind the camera. Who is he smiling at and what is he thinking of to be smiling? Jim couldn't help his curiosity and right now he was curious about the man in the picture.
"S'chn T'gai Spock is the name of the ambassador's son, his primary focus is computer programming, advanced phonology, and interspecies ethics. Basically he is a scientist that can hack a computer, something he and Jim have in common already." Sulu chuckled. He hadn't noticed Jim's sudden interest in the man on the screen and continued to read Spock's dossier. "He is as a part time instructor at the VSA but it seems he is wanting to go in a different direction with his life." Scratching his head Sulu glanced at Jim then looked over at Liana. He had a feeling that Jim stopping on the picture of Spock was for a reason and it worried him.
"There is no damn way in hell that should even be possible." McCoy muttered. He was intrigued by the fact the the project supervisor was half-human half-vulcan. "They did a hell of a genetic make-up and mixing to get this done with success, I'd love to read the notes on how they achieved it but that's for later." He glanced over at Liana and was surprised to see her face was pale, her violet eyes standing out in contrast. "Li, are...are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost?" McCoy looked over at Jim and noticed the blush, "Oh no, no no nonono Jim. There is no bloody way that we are going to let that even happen so before you get any thoughts in your head remember that company policy forbids it." McCoy loved his best friend like a little brother and would do what ever it took to protect him. Even if that meant being as blunt as possible when ever he felt it was needed.
Jim looked at him with wide innocent eyes and grinned, "Why Bonesy old boy what ever could you possibly mean? I know company policy remember, I helped with it. Besides, we're just reading a dossier not a marriage proposal, so relax ok? Trust me I can control myself," Jim glared at McCoy but he mentally told him self, it's not as if I haven't had any practice at having to control myself. Jim looked up at Liana again and was surprised to see her staring at the table intently. He echoed McCoy's question from earlier. "Li, you ok?"
"He is the only one of his kind, a rarity and was ostracized for his human heritage. His mother...is Lady Amanda Grayson married to Sarek of Vulcan. My, my parents are part of that circle due to their duties on Betazed. So, we have met the family before when I was younger but I, remember their son. Spock seemed shy not as reserved as most Vulcans but he did have the lack of emotions thing going on which kind of throws people off until they either get to know him or..." Liana trailed off as she looked up at McCoy. She could tell he was surprised but continued anyway. "They are an intelligent group of people and Spock, despite his mixed heritage is no different. His assistants being human must be for different reasons than we think because it's difficult to get to Vulcan, no matter what your rank or position. They must be very exceptional people as we see is the case with young Chekov."
Liana remembered the family well, Spock had made an impression when they had last seen each other. One that if she was truthful would help Jim more so than it would her. Looking at McCoy she smiled softly and pulled the laptop away from Sulu. "I'll contact my parents and see what they remember or if dad knows anything. Lady Amanda is beautiful, dark chestnut hair, warm brown eyes and an easy smile." Liana laughed as she remembered how the Betazoids around her seemed to enjoy her presence, surprised that she was the wife of Ambassador Sarek. "She was the perfect match for the ambassador too. Kind of like an old friend you lose contact with for awhile but never really ever forget." She finished softly, sighing she sent a message off to her mom and dad then waited for a response.
Jim looked at Liana, this was something new about their friend, something he would have to ask her about later. Glancing over at Sam he grinned wide and was happy to see it returned. "We can do this right Sammy? No hitches or bs, we can do this and maybe just maybe it will be that we have done something significant not about "George Kirk's sons" doing something. No more living under a shadow, it would be us and our friends." Jim's insecurities about their father were justified, most the people in their lives had compared both men to him. Always reminded them that he had been a hero, something that hurt Jim more than Sam due to Jim having never known George. "It'll be Sam and Jim Kirk this time." Grin getting bigger Jim looked at the other three occupants in the room. They all nodded and the decision had been made, they would do what was needed to keep this project.
"We gonna celebrate now fangirl or what because you droolin all over that picture is makin me nervous and uncomfortable Jimbo." McCoy looked at his friend and couldn't help the laugh that escaped him at Jim's blush.
"Fuck you Bones, I was most definitely not drooling and you just wanna celebrate cause Li is here." He glared at his friend and wanted to laugh as Bones glared back at him but glanced at Liana as well. Jim stuck his tongue out at both of them then muttered to himself about making arrangements for their guests later. "Hey Hikaru, let's get in touch with Scotty then and see when he is free. We need to go out there anyway so it might be easier if they meet us in Wyoming. If they want to meet us in San Francisco we will accommodate but let's make it clear we will not be staying long." Jim was determined to avoid running into Gary at all costs. Even if that meant cutting short a business meeting or two.
They discussed plans and dates for another hour then decided that it was time to relax. While Jim and Sam headed into town for supplies Liana, McCoy, and Sulu were talking about the new project and the effect it would have on everyone involved.
"You guys know that if Jim falls for this Spock, we are in serious trouble right?" McCoy asked the question softly, he had a suspicion as to why they had left the city so fast and right after Jim's last blow up with Gary. "If they are as unemotional as people say, getting involved with a Vulcan may hurt Jim more than when he was involved with Gary."
"That's not true Len and you know it. Gary was an ass who treated Jim as a possession not a person. He made him feel less than that most of the time because of his own damn insecurities. Always had to play off of Jim's and then tried to turn him against us. Which thankfully didn't work but we almost lost him so if he does fall for Spock I am not going to discourage or encourage it either way, I would just really like to see Jim happy for once. He above all others deserve that much right now, especially after everything he's been through with that ass Gary." Sulu knew he was the reason Jim had come back to the family farm. Knew that if they had to go back to San Francisco they would all have to make sure Gary didn't get anywhere near Jim. "Anyway, change of subject." Sulu looked between Liana and McCoy. "what's really going on with you two? Why the sudden camaraderie when you two are usually at each others throats?" Sulu was curious, usually they were fighting or disagreeing on every other issue and it was unnerving to say the least.
"Nothing, really. We just decided that it would be easier to make the effort to get along instead of always fighting with each other." Liana answered softly. She looked over at McCoy and offered a shy smile.
"None of ya damn business Sulu, just be grateful for the little things." McCoy growled, flustered after the smile from Liana. Maybe there is a chance after all.
Later, once Sam and Jim had made it back and the celebration had begun they all forgot about the thoughts that had dampened the day and enjoyed good food and time with friends. By silent but mutual agreement they all decided that later, much later on in the week they would work on their latest project and make sure that no matter what, nothing stood in the way of their success.
Okk everyone :) this is my first Spirk story so please bear with me...This is NOT cannon this story is strictly from my imagination, I do not own any of the characters except Liana Gaines...I understand those who feel that it's out of character or somethings don't add up but if you will just be patient you will understand where it is I'm going. Other than that I thank you for taking the time to read and hope you enjoy!