USS Contact NCC-26546, Transporter Room One

"Come with me."

Saavik's head came up. She hadn't expected Spock to say that. "Do not tempt me."

"On the contrary, I very much want to tempt you."

She got a smokey light in her eyes that had nothing to do with logic. "I could take that a number of ways."

They were alone in the room for this exact reason: privacy before he left.

She came to stand in front of him. She had earlier watched him smooth the blue uniform tunic down his body into proper lines and told him, "You are giving me ideas of doing the same." Now she did: she ran her hand slowly down his chest, smoothing a uniform already in place. And why shouldn't she? He was her husband.

She left her hand there, laying on his heart. "You know I want the same thing."

"Yes. And I know why you cannot." He took her hand between his. So warm. Not from body temperature, they were cooler than humans, but from being her. His wife.

Which is why he wanted her to come with him. "If you could, I would have everyone important to me in one place, with you there not only as an associate or friend this time. But with you as my consort, my mate. We never could do so before, because my mother and Jim would no longer there."

"We would not be able to say I was yours."

"We would know."

"Spock." Saavik's eyes showed the internal scales of wife and captain. "Do not tempt me."

"I know." He ran his thumb over the back of her hand and her kindled look returned. "I should not have asked. It is not logical. Except-"

"Marriage has nothing to do with logic," she finished for him. One corner of her mouth lifted slightly, just for him. So many things were just for him, as so much was only for her.

Marriage. Fascinating.

"I begin to think logic equally has little to do with parenthood. I know the children are well, and yet – I'm pleased you will see so for yourself. Give them a message from me."

She has more than one reason to be tempted. "I believe I know it."

"Yes, you would. Yours is much the same." Saavik touched his forehead and imparted what she wanted their daughters and son to know. She then stroked his hand in return, a kiss to send him on his way.

She went back to the transporter station even though the Enterprise was beaming him over. One more way to hide their technology, even in a simple way. "Lieutenant Bimojigar, inform the Enterprise that Mr. Spock is ready."

He once more checked his uniform: blue shirt with commander stripes, Enterprise insignia, and the Sciences emblem inside of it. How both odd and familiar to wear this again. Would the others he once wore be the same? After all, he dressed in one of them when he first fell for Saavik and Kirk had returned to the Enterprise.

And my mother still lived.

Saavik watched again as he went over himself. "Adun." My life's partner. Literally.

The hum of the beam started. She timed it perfectly as he left one transporter room for the other. "Savor this. You deserve it. You all do."

She disappeared before he could reply.

Then Spock appeared on the other pad nearly instantaneously and remembered he had to stand still with this technology. It was no problem, because as someone just told him, he needed to appreciate each moment, starting here.

Back in the transporter room he had seen thousands of times. Mr. Scott at the console, looking as if one of his engines suddenly started talking in Gaelic, and right in front of the transporter pads: James Kirk.

His hair was nearly blonde still; it wouldn't darken for another year. The command green tunic edged his hazel eyes towards the same color, and showed him in peak shape like so many other years. He had the same amazed look that he wore when they recently spoke.

"Greetings, Captain." As if Spock had only been gone a day or two.

"Spock." Kirk unapologetically stared and smiled. "It really is you, isn't it?"

"I believe we will be determining that shortly."

The smile widened. "I could bet on the answer."

Scotty shook his head without tearing his eyes away. "I canna believe it. Even with what I saw on that ship, I just canna believe it."

Spock nodded slowly. "I understand, Mr. Scott." He turned back to Kirk. "I still must take the necessary genetic test to prove my identity. However, permission to come aboard, Captain?"

Kirk shot Scotty a look as if they needed to discuss it.

"I was wondering, lad—"

Lad. How good it was to once more see Scott alive anyway, but talk like that made it even better.

"—if you could name something that only our Mr. Spock would know."

Kirk watched him for a reaction. He merely lifted an eyebrow. "An excellent tactic. Sound and wise."

Their earlier communication was never enough to prove who he was, but it brought him here. If he was not Spock and dangerous, they had drawn him in where he could be taken, instead of him remaining a threat out of reach. If he passed this next step, he'd be allowed to reach the final assessment: McCoy's DNA test.

Spock had already noticed the Type I phaser secured right above Kirk's hip under his tunic. No offense was taken of course; it was a smart precaution.

"To answer you, Mr. Scott." While the captain observes me for physical subtleties where I prove myself as authentic or a fabrication. "I believe I can provide you with such a response. On Stardate 1709.2, the Enterprise responded to an emergency call from Outpost 4. We discovered it was a Romulan ship who later engaged us in battle. It marked the first time anyone in the Federation saw a Romulan."

That had the opportunity to say so. Because Saavik and everyone else on the Hellguard colony, right now, have been seeing Romulan faces for years. They simply cannot tell us so until T'Pren is able to make her escape and tell us Hellguard exists.

With Saavik's help and sacrifice for the Vulcan woman who was, in every true sense, her mother. Only biology and legalities stated otherwise, and, the latter would have been resolved if T'Pren had survived.

It was why their daughter bore her name: for the woman who would have been her grandmother, the woman whose bravery saved those remaining lives.

Kirk nodded with small movements of his head. "That's good… but anyone with Starfleet clearance could see our logs on it. It doesn't prove you're Spock."

"No, it does not. I could provide you with other details, such as the Commander's last words to you or the name of the crewman prejudiced against me in that mission. However, I will tell you a detail that you yourself did not know then. You only recently learned it when Sarek came on board. The Romulan Commander looked remarkably like my father. They were physical copies of each other. I am the only who knew it and I did not put it in my reports. Nor have you entered it in your logs for the Babel mission. Like me, you saw no reason to do so."

"At the same time," he continued, "no one who has seen my father during this mission would know about the Commander unless they were on the bridge for that earlier mission. That is limited to myself, you, Mr. Scott, Dr. McCoy, and Lieutenants Sulu and Uhura. All other bridge personnel have been reassigned between the two missions, and anyone else who learned of the Vulcan and Romulan similarities, did not see an actual image of the Commander."

"Therefore," he finished, "it is a detail no one could find on record anywhere. I am either Spock or one of the other five people with that knowledge. If I may, Captain, it would be quite diverting if you were to report to Dr. McCoy that I might be a version of him."

A big grin split Scott's face. "Aye, he convinced me."

Kirk gave the same nod, but now with a flash that showed he was enjoying this to the full limit.

So was Spock.

His sharp hearing picked up people leaving from the other side of the door; no doubt Security officers who Scott now signaled they weren't needed.

Spock looked calmly at Kirk. "Permission to come aboard?" he repeated.

"I think I can take the risk." The captain looked at the blue shirt. "Your uniform. I thought it would be… different."

"I thought it best to wear the one you know."

"Yes, of course." Kirk contacted the bridge and told Sulu to push the speed to Babel, and to let the Contact know that plan. He half-turned and gestured outside the transporter room with one arm. The grin came back. "I think you know the way."

Blindfolded, as you would say.

Spock stepped down from the transporter pads and started to walk by Kirk. He deliberately slowed the last couple steps. The captain, without thinking, took the customary lead and Spock fell into his old place.

How many years had it been? He naturally knew the exact number, but that wasn't the point. The point was he had left Starfleet when Kirk's death meant it was never going to be this captain again. He relished his career as an ambassador; he did important work that challenged him and made a difference. It had been time for that change and he would not leave it. It did not lessen this borrowed chance to walk with this captain for a limited time.

He put everything negative behind a door: the look on Jim's face when he asked Spock and McCoy to go with him to the Enterprise-B and they refused, although for good reason; losing Amanda, her hand in his and staying by her side until she was gone; Perrin with his father; and Scott's death. Everything put out of sight, so he had this hour, day, whatever it would be.

Savor it.

The walk from the transporter room to Sickbay – and they had to be going there, to McCoy and the final test – was a mere minute. Plenty of time to remember all the moments they made this same walk. Missions completed or in progress, beaming back to the ship, and needing to work out what was going on or to discuss what had just happened.

"You're making it too complicated," McCoy once corrected him. "Look, we'd get into that contraption and we'd beam down. We'd get captured, then Jim would kiss or punch somebody, and we'd go home."

They were halfway down the corridor before Kirk realized what he had done, that he took the usual lead; and that Spock stood a few steps further away than normal.

"Everything all right?"

"Completely, Captain. I thought you might prefer a space between us in the event I am not Spock. Another tactical maneuver."

"What makes you think I'm still wondering about it?"

Up shot an eyebrow. "You still carry the phaser." And the corridor is empty. Although that could be to keep his presence a secret from the crew, rather than the captain being concerned about an attack on them.

The hazel eyes crinkled at the corners as white teeth flashed. "Anything else?"

"I could be concerned you are not James Kirk. The buffer of that additional space would then work for me as well."

Nothing in the balanced stance or the continued wide, easy smile ever considered Spock didn't believe him. "Do you have a phaser?"

"I would not need one." He said it lightly, but they both knew it was true. He was stronger than Kirk and he had decades of experience over him. He could easily render his opponent unconscious and disarm him, if needed.

But it wasn't needed.

"Bragging, Mr. Spock? …Listen. You know we can't do much to help you." Spock agreed. "But whatever we can do, just ask."

"I have thought on it and I am speculating on a few possibilities."

"Then let's get this last test out of the way. Oh, wait. The children," they had stopped again, "you know they're all right?"

"I do." Because of their earlier conversation, but mostly because his bond to his son and daughters had amplified by coming over to the Enterprise. Despite his seeming to focus on nothing else but his old life, he kept those mental links close, like being conscious of his heart beating. His children did the same which is why the bonds had intensified.

"You'll see them once we get the DNA check out of the way. Just another precaution." They started walking again. "Setik and the girls." He then shook his head with a chuckle under his breath. "I told our Spock that you do good work."

"Thank you, Captain. My wife was of great assistance as well."

The chuckle wasn't under the breath anymore. "Of course. Just so you know, T'Kel and I are forming our own fleet. You may want to get on the duty roster. Everyone else in your family is."

McCoy's voice rang out into the corridor even with the Sickbay doors just opening. "Leave it to you. Not only are they identical twins, but mirror ones. Do you know what the odds are on that? Even for humans let alone a Vulcan?"

Kirk just turned into the ward ahead. "Mirror ones?"

Spock hung back a step. He could just make out all three of them – Jim, McCoy, and the Spock of their time – in the ward. His past set out as a living tableau. It was worth the few seconds to watch.

"Yeah, Jim. If you put T'Kel and T'Pren face to face, it's like they're looking at a mirror. One's left handed, the other's right handed. They have a few other physical things like that, and then there's the personalities. T'Kel hates talking and T'Pren loves it. T'Pren is all about – wait, I thought that other Spock came over from the other ship."

He took the last step into the ward. "You thought correctly, Doctor."

The wide-eyed, speechless look he received in return gave him a moment to deal with his own surprise.

Leonard McCoy.

The doctor still formed a major part of Spock's life and in his family's, so he hadn't expected to be thrown at the sight of him. But young, strong, the hair completely dark, and – not the man who bore his katra to Seleya at such cost. How amazing that actually showed in the eyes.

And in what was said, if he thought about it. McCoy's comments to him changed after that point. Less sharp barbs about not being human, about feeling nothing, and instead I know what's in that head and heart of yours. Because McCoy did know everything. Plenty of arguments still, plenty of pushes, and a kick up your backside if I have to.

Somewhere around that point, McCoy decided he could yell at Saavik too. Not the general yelling everyone got, but the particular sort of thing, and for the same reason. Bearing Spock's katra meant the doctor learned about Saavik from the person who knew her best. To this day, Spock thoroughly enjoyed asking McCoy when he was going to give Saavik the lectures of letting her emotional half free of her Vulcan half.

Spock now had the upper hand here. Except that must be put aside for the moment.

"Doctor, before we proceed, Captain Kirk has told me of the good care you have given the children. I expected no less, however, I am appreciative of your doing so."

McCoy cleared his throat. "It's okay. They're good kids." He snapped his fingers and then jabbed one at him in triumph. "I found out about Setik wanting to be a doctor!"

Spock folded his hands in front of him. "I am certain your reaction was much the same as yours in my own time."

"How much do I drive you crazy with it?"

An eyebrow lifted. "You set your computer to randomly send a celebratory video to both my wife and I a few times per month."

"Good for future me! I told this one," McCoy jerked his head at the younger Spock, "that I like the kids better than I like you."

The doctor had said the same thing very recently after 'meeting' someone else. "But do you like them as much as tribbles, Doctor?"

McCoy snorted. "It's him. Two of you, I'm going to need something for a headache. Like a drink."

It brought Spock naturally to his younger self, showing very little of how difficult it must be to be under scrutiny.

"Interesting," he thought out loud.

His younger version stood straighter. "Less progress than you thought?"

"On the contrary, more." Spock expected to see what he had not yet become. He remembered those struggles: that hunt for balance, and for where his path lay. So he knew he wouldn't see it now in this mirror. What he hadn't anticipated: seeing how far he already came. "I remember it differently. It is true then, we are our own worst critics."

He now stood taller in his own uniform, for the same reason as the other had done. "And you?"

Younger Spock's brow furrowed. "I?"

"Yes. This view through a time portal works both ways. Have I… done well with your future at this point?"

That identical head flung back. He had never expected to be asked that question.

"I am quite serious." What did the other him think? He did not know everything about Spock's life now, but he surely knew enough to form some opinion.

Spock actually felt… anticipation, felt the scrutiny. Had he built a life he would have approved of younger?

"It is… unforeseen."

McCoy made a disgusted noise, Kirk's eyes darted between them, and Spock…

He nodded to the younger one. "I understand. I am reminded of it every day." He turned back. "Captain Kirk tells me three of the reasons for my unpredicted life are kept elsewhere for the moment."

"That's right," Kirk repeated. "Until you pass the DNA test."

His head bobbed in response. "May I suggest we perform the test so I may see the children?"

"Of course. Bones."

But Spock heard the stampede already headed towards them. So did his younger self. The children reached the ward by the time Kirk said the third word in his sentence.

"FATHER."

The twins reached him first, only because they rushed headlong unlike Setik. T'Pren took hold of his left hand and laid it to the side of her face. She leaned in and quietly closed her eyes.

T'Kel was more abrupt. She grabbed his hand in her small ones and facepalmed herself. Both girls drew on his calm and strength as if he was a recharging station. Which, in a way, was true.

They poured out the details of what had happened today. Then they gave contented mental murmurs with his being so close. As they bathed in their father's mind, they found a message from their mother wrapped in the memory of her touch, and each twin gave an audible sigh. The stress of their abduction, and the taxing situation they woke up to, swept aside with a stroke of their father's hand and their mother's mental embrace.

Setik, however, held himself back. Spock watched his son's stiff posture and the distance he kept between them.

"Father," he said formally.

What was this? "Son."

The young shoulders shifted before the head was raised, but not the eyes. "Father, we were abducted at school. We were called out of our classes. The man was a stranger, even though he had our security codes. I should have recognized this. Then, when we came aboard the Enterprise, one of us told the captain and others that you were our father. I do not know who it was, however, I should have found an excuse for it so they did not know the truth."

McCoy exploded, "Spock, just a damn minute! Are you telling me you're going-!"

The younger one cut off the rest of it, allowing his future self to focus only on Setik.

Spock pulled his hands away from the twins and walked a step closer. He almost knelt, but Setik clearly felt his additional two years over the girls and a perceived level of what he was expected to do for his age. "My son, you did well. Your sisters told me of all your actions and no one could find fault in them. Quite the opposite. You have handled yourself perfectly. That is what I think and so would your mother."

He reached down and laid a hand on Setik's dark head and let him absorb Saavik's presence and message. He slid his hand down his son's back and pulled him closer. That rich touch of his child – and then all three as the girls drew closer and took hold of him again. He drew his free hand over T'Pren's forehead and then down her cheek, soothing the last bit of remaining uneasiness. He repeated it with T'Kel, but not Setik. His son's mental controls were stronger at seven and after his kahs-wan. Still, Spock left the hand on his head and the physical closeness, drawing in them as much as they did him and Saavik. Setik's eyes lifted to his.

Spock spoke in understanding of his younger self's thoughts. "As we said, unforeseen."

"It is you."

Both Spocks spun around at that voice. The older one said, "Mother."

She glided over quickly and cupped his face in her hands. Breathlessly, she repeated. "It is you."

The old bond between them clicked back in place at her touch; not a true parental bond, but close to it. He closed his eyes to fully feel it for the eternity of a second. His voice roughened as a rush came over him as if he was no more than Setik's age. "Yes, it is."

Her hands slid down and rested on his chest. The sapphire eyes darted over his face, simply taking him in. "Spock."

He covered her hands with one of his. One of them had to say something, but what? He tried for lightness. "Mother, if you're looking for my heart, you know it is not there."

"I know." She gave the barest nod indicating the children. "It's in these three, and your wife, wherever she is."

He looked down at her from the tops of his eyes. "Fanciful."

"I notice you don't say fanciful and wrong. Spock, your wife," Amanda started and stopped. He wondered if she was afraid of what he'd say to whatever was coming next. "…Do I like her? Is she good for you?"

He kept his hand over hers. "You once called her extraordinary."

"So I do like her? Not just her, but her with you?"

Spock felt the warmth of all the memories of Amanda and Saavik together in their unique, outstanding way. The note Amanda had put on the back of a holopic of the two of them: the daughter I found in you. The way she wanted both Spock and Saavik to see what they were to each other already.

"Mother, it is not possible for you to love her more than you do. Both for herself and for her with me."

He felt her relax in relief with only one question left to eliminate all doubt. "And your father? What does Sarek think of her?"

Another memory: Sarek coming to him on Saavik's ship, the Armstrong, cautious but determined in asking his son, was he wrong or did Spock want Saavik for a wife? "Father questioned why I waited so long to tell her she was my choice. As a matter of record, so did you."

Before I lost you. No, keep that behind the door.

Saavik once noted that Amanda said everything with her eyes. Right now, she said delight and a sense of being whole: her family was complete.

Even so, she sighed. "I'm not going to get to talk to her, am I?"

He deliberately dropped his eyes, not wanting to deny her anything. "You will at a time in the future."

"Don't be deliberately dense. You can't manage it any more than your father can. You know I meant now and here."

"Mother." He stopped. "Mother, even if you did, you would not know it is her."

She leaned into the hands on his chest. "Don't be so sure." Her eyes became a mystery of secrets. "I have my ways."

And those will only increase when you study an adept's methods, so you understand why I sought out Gol.

And I will say that you became more of a hybrid than me. Switching, as you will, from the Vulcan to the human and back again, ever the chameleon. You will call me illogical and try to raise an eyebrow. You will fail.

"Do not be disappointed, Mother, if you do not have the opportunity. It is not what we desire either."

Quite the opposite. Everyone important in one place. And for Saavik, one more time to speak with you.

Amanda at last stepped back. "I probably interrupted something."

Kirk reassured her it was fine and told McCoy to administer the DNA test.

"Well, this is a colossal waste of time. Spock," he indicated the older one to come over.

The blood sample was taken quickly and the tricorder hummed. Sarek laid in the bed right next to them.

"My father is doing well?" He remembered it that way, but reassuring to be certain again.

And look at my father, our ages so close here. He is… Spock thought the comparison made the Sarek of his time look… old. But only in years. He is ever Sarek, even here recuperating from surgery.

He freely acknowledged his relief over it, unlike the way he kept it hidden at this point in time.

Setik brightened. "Yes, Dr. McCoy taught me to understand the basics in the scans. Grandfather should awake in a few hours."

"Boy's a natural," McCoy gloated. "Going to be the best in Starfleet. Here's the results that we all knew already. I checked against his record and a sample I took right before you got here, Jim, plus the children. We have two Spocks – which is two more than anyone needs." He gave a startled jerk when he caught sight of Amanda. "Sorry, ma'am. I was only joking."

She narrowed her eyes even as her mouth pulled at the corners. "Don't make me call your mother."

Younger Spock nodded at the thought. "An entertaining notion."

Kirk broke this up. He looked directly at the older one to avoid confusion. "Now then, Spock, anything you want from us to prove we're who we say we are?"

He thought of pointing out that he very well knew, but he should take precautions. Too much was at risk. "Yes, Captain."

"Whatever you want."

Spock held out his hand to shake Kirk's, whose eyes immediately widened and looked at that offered hand. The entire room reacted in the same way, and no wonder: Vulcans limited any touch since it was meant their telepathy became engaged. Spock had toyed with it for a while, as he had with public emotions with Captain Pike. But it was uncomfortable and reminded him why his people didn't do it. In this time, he would only do it a few times more, starting with Zephram Cochrane. After that, he thought he had abandoned the gesture. It did not suit him and he had no blame for being himself, for being Vulcan.

Until Jim held out his hand before Spock jumped through the Guardian on the Time Vortex planet to try and save himself and Amanda. He would clasp Kirk's hand after V'Ger, and McCoy's on his and Saavik's wedding day. She would do the same.

Now, here, for this one more time, it suited him.

Kirk eyed him, offering Spock a chance to change his mind. He had not lived that handshake at the Guardian yet.

Spock kept his hand out.

His captain came forward and solidly clasped it, shaking it once in a combination being glad Spock would do this and solemnness that he had.

It all came through: vitality, intelligence, strength, leadership, deep commitment to duty and friends.

Spock summarized it with a single term. "Jim."

That same brilliant spark of life looked across their gripped hands. "It's good to see you, Spock, as always."

They dropped their hands, and T'Pren must have taken it as a sign she could talk. "Father, will we go to the Contact now?"

"I have duties I need to accomplish first. Afterwards, we will go."

Setik looked at his sister who nodded. "We could go alone while you remain here."

Their unspoken subtext said, Let us go to Mother. He understood it, but he couldn't allow it.

"You will not. While the Enterprise has proven safe, the Contact has not. I am the only one who can transport back to the ship with you, so you will wait for me." He interrupted her before she could speak. "No further discussion, T'Pren."

She subsided, all three knew not to push him, even though they showed in their individual ways that they didn't want that answer.

Spock recognized T'Kel's planted feet (A trait she inherited from Saavik) and T'Pren's measuring look. He viewed the other meaning of that and addressed the room. "Has there been any incidents?"

Kirk shook his head, but McCoy and the younger Spock exchanged glances. Amanda, on the other hand, laughed with her eyes. Sarek often gave him a similar look: the parent's curse.

The doctor finally answered him. "It was just a kid thing. They're pent up, that's all."

"T'Kel?"

"Well, not by herself, no.'

"But she initiated it?"

His younger self's brow furrowed. "How did you know?"

"Ninety-seven point seven nine percent, it is T'Kel."

Her defiant stance got worse. She actually stamped a foot as she balanced herself to fight back, her head tilted to the side. (Both traits also from Saavik.) "Father! That is unfair! He-!" pointing his other self.

T'Pren jumped in. "It has been a difficult day, Father." She ducked her head and looked up from the tops of her eyes, the same gesture she inherited from Amanda.

Who looked at her granddaughter, "I see what you're doing."

So did Spock. It might have worked except he was unwilling to give in with his mother staring at him, knowing what was going on. It is much simpler when Saavik is disciplinarian, at least for T'Pren.

So he stopped it immediately. The three of them displayed a lack of discipline, even Setik had slightly rough edges. "Mr. Spock is still an adult and you will pay him the respect he is due. You clearly have missed your meditations."

T'Kel wanted to argue, but that only proved him right.

They clustered together before turning back to him.

T'Pren spoke up, "Father." She was, once again, the chosen delegate, because Setik and T'Kel watched him keenly too. "Did you always want to get married and have children?"

Amanda made a small noise. Spock looked to her, saw her – what? Concern, curiosity, amusement?

All of the above?

"Why do you suddenly have this question?" He saw his younger self hanging back. Ah. "To answer you, no, I did not. You know I was betrothed before and it ended. Other than it, I had no plans for a wife and children."

Three young heads swiveled to find each other. This wasn't going well in their minds, that was evident, but T'Pren straightened her shoulders and stuck it out bravely. "What changed, Father? Was it obligation?"

"No."

She forced her chin up. "What was it then?"

"Your mother." Miraculous: two words and the peace returned to the place behind Setik's blue eyes, and an invisible weight slipped off the twins. They were, of course, two powerful words spoken by the one person who could say them in that one right way. Even so, amazing to see the effect on his son and daughters.

Undeniably, Saavik had always been the center of Setik's world, and for the girls: despite T'Kel's and Saavik's already conflicting because they were so alike ("Which secretly concerns my wife, to see what she fears is Hellguard in her daughter.")

Despite Saavik having to intervene with their younger girl's antics. ("Constantly, Spock. It has become nearly a verb in this family. 'To Amanda you: the ability for T'Pren to manipulate through the inheritance of her grandmother's attributes'. Father, you are equally guilty.")

Despite all that, Saavik was very much the hero of her daughters' lives.

Spock didn't need to say anymore, not for the children's sake… but for his younger self? "When your mother turned out to be the one who could be the wife and could be the one who would allow me to have children with her, my wants immediately changed, and my plans became giving her reason to choose me. Does that answer your question?"

T'Pren backpedaled to T'Kel. "Yes, quite thoroughly, Father."

His children returned to whatever conference kept them occupied, walking to the exam room for some privacy, but lingering in the doorway so they could still see him.

Spock turned and raised an eyebrow at his audience. "And you, Doctor? I imagine you heard the discussion. Was there anything I left ambiguous that I should clarify?"

"Of course I heard it, you were talking a few feet from me." But McCoy cleared his throat against the lump in it and Spock could tell by the softness in the man's expression that he really had been affected by what he heard. "And, uh, you were very clear. For the record, I'm glad that happened for you."

"Even though, as you would say, the word 'love' isn't written into my book." McCoy would say that, later this year.

"You just can't let things alone, can you? I said something nice and you have to poke at it! And in front of the kids!"

"Thank you, Doctor." He glanced at Kirk. He simply wanted to know, almost needed to know, what his captain thought.

Very slight nods, a smile in the eyes that dropped for a second as if thinking the whole thing through. "You're lucky, Mr. Spock."

"More than I can describe."

His mother: her eyes glistened. "You know what makes me just as happy? That your father heard that."

He looked to Sarek in the healing trance and what he would one day tell his son. "Yes." A simple word to say so much.

Spock walked until he was side by side with his younger self. He lowered his voice to something no one else could hear. "You will reach that part of our path, if you still choose it."

His younger self's eyes lowered and anyone who knew him could see his mind turning. Amanda started walking to them, but Spock forestalled her with a raised hand.

At last that gaze lifted. "One question."

He knew that mind held a million things to ask. "Only one?"

"Only one you can answer. She is a choice?"

Spock understood the need to hear it again with the two of them face to face, not as listening to another conversation with T'Pren. He switched to Vulcan. "She is. She is t'hyla."

That younger head came up and the lips parted, a huge gesture for a Vulcan. To hear she not only was chosen by him, not only a ko-telsu – a wife; any female who married automatically became a wife - but Spock's life's partner, his aduna. And even more than that, the relationship reached such depth, reached such significance, she was t'hyla. A real wife and lover.

Not every marriage did, even with love between them. McCoy's hadn't, even in its best days. Others stayed together, built a good life together, adored each other, but never could call one another anything close, in any language.

For the first time, Spock thought of his parents in the same terms: t'hyla.

He raised his voice as he reached the doorway and the children. "Your meditations. I suspect Doctor McCoy will allow you to use his office."

The communication panel whistled with the old sound of a boatswain whistle. Kirk answered it.

"Captain," Uhura said. The children's heads turned sharply at the voice, someone they knew who they hadn't seen here. "We heard from the other ship. They're asking to speak with – their Mr. Spock."

"Send it here, Uhura."

Spock held the same… interest showing in the children, who poised to hear their mother's voice.

But Risteárd Imre came over the speaker and Spock refused to feel something so trivial as disappointment. Although, where was Saavik? "Sir, we still haven't found the saboteur, which you know means he's still a risk. So we're asking the Enterprise to keep the children for a little longer. We just don't want to bring them back to where he—"

Drugged them and shoved them into a crate.

Spock looked to Kirk, knowing what he would say. But protocols existed for a reason. "Of course they can stay. I promised them that I'd keep them safe."

"Mr. Imre?"

"I heard him, sir. Thank you, Enterprise." He signed off.

He did well, containing his excitement about speaking with the Enterprise. He did not give into the temptation of asking for the captain.

Kirk looked from the comm panel to Spock. "First Officer?"

"Yes," not knowing Jim meant was it his first officer. He came up to his children. "I will remain with you. Now, your meditations." It will help.

They stalled for one instant more, just long enough to say telepathically how much they idolized their grandmother – and your friend too, Father. They went to McCoy's office and he watched them go.

He turned around then. "Captain, we briefly discussed what we may be able to do from here regarding the issue where we find ourselves."

Kirk sat himself in the chair by the ward's desk, strain pulling at his eyes and in the small slump of his shoulders. He still made it look like he sat in his captain's chair, in command of the situation. "You said you had speculations."

"Indeed. As you heard, all searches for the saboteur aboard the Contact have proven unsuccessful."

Kirk pointed out, "We saw Ben Finney evade searches on the Enterprise. The Contact is larger."

"True. It is the lack of results from the scans that is puzzling. Therefore, I propose the Enterprise scans the Contact."

The younger Spock nodded as he thought through the suggestion. "A sound recommendation. It would eliminate the possibility of their scanners being effected."

"Correct."

"And with the use of the scope, my older self can monitor the scan results in privacy."

"The two of us performing the task," the older said, his hands once more folded in front of him, "it will increase the speed of the process."

"Logical," the younger said.

McCoy folded his arms across his chest next to Kirk. "Great. A Spock mutual admiration society."

Kirk kept his grin over that mostly to himself. Mostly. "Then we're off to the bridge."

He pushed himself to his feet and then clearly thought of something. Spock saw that gaze swiveled on to him. "We could have a problem. You should know that the news about you and the children got out to the crew. We don't know how, but it spread around the ship. We think part of it is just guesses, especially since a rumor has it that your wife is on the Contact. They couldn't know that. So, it looks pretty much like gossip with some of it hitting the mark. We kept the children here for that reason, just until we decided it was all right."

"I heard it myself," Amanda added. "Everyone is speculating on who your wife could be, even what she can be. Human or Vulcan or someone else. Dr. McCoy has nicely stayed here and set up a clinic elsewhere in case people thought of suddenly developing headaches so they can see the children."

Spock's first thought was paternal: did this endanger T'Pren, Setik, or T'Kel? He did not see how and he would not overreact. Be cautious certainly, but no more. "Curiosity is the basis of most Starfleet officers' nature. It is not surprising then to see it in this instance." He turned it around in his head further. "It appears harmless. However, as you say, let it be us who decides when to allow the children to be seen."

Amanda moved to stand next to the younger version of her son. She spoke half to him. "They will need dinner soon and it is growing restrictive in here."

She makes him acknowledge the truth about them. He will not be allowed to ignore them forever.

Spock remembered those sorts of dealings with his mother, condensed into one word: relentless.

"By then," she continued, "Sarek will hopefully be out of the healing trance." She quivered with anticipation of having her husband awake and seeing him with their grandchildren.

In a way, so did Spock: to see his much younger father with Setik and the twins. Definitely interesting.

In the meantime: "Doctor."

McCoy headed off the rest of it. "It's all right. Like I said, they're great kids. I also have a goal of imprinting as much of myself on Setik as possible."

"We will be fortunate then to return time to its rightful place."

That earned a snort.

Spock looked around, focusing on them one by one. "Interesting."

McCoy answered before anyone else. "What is?"

He lifted an eyebrow. "You do not ask if the rumor concerning my wife being aboard the Contact is true. I thought your own curiosity would have you ask."

Amanda took his arm. "I don't have to. The children have said a few things that told us she's there. Don't be upset with them, they don't even know they slipped."

He pulled his hands behind his back, a gesture that seemed more natural in uniform and outside his ambassadorial robes. "Naturally, you are right. These circumstances are difficult. The children cannot be blamed for even indirectly informing you about their mother."

When he looked up, his younger self was shaking his head, perhaps as a signal.

McCoy grinned from ear to ear. "Unlike you who just directly told us that she's there."

At his confused look, Kirk threw his hands out in a shrug. "You fell for a very old trick, Spock."

His mother squeezed his arm. "As if my grandchildren would let something slip like that." His face registered what he had done. "I lied, Spock. I thought I could get you to say it if you thought it was the children. You said a few things that hinted at it – like you both desire for her to come here and talk to me. That would mean she is over there. But you would work your way out of anything you said, so I did it this way."

Spock closed his eyes at the thought of it. No wonder T'Pren could manipulate him; she inherited it from the best.

Of all people, the younger Spock rescued him. "I believe we have duties best served on the bridge."

Kirk headed for the door. "All right then. Let's get to work."

The younger Spock automatically began to move to his side, but stopped awkwardly at crossing his older self.

That Spock gestured for him to go ahead. "Your time, your place." He moved instead to Kirk's other side once his other self took his position.

Kirk strode down the corridor and spun around when he got in the turbolift. It meant he saw both Spocks follow him in. His eyes brightened with laughter and so did his voice. "I can't wait to get to the bridge."

Spock let his younger self say it. "You anticipate their expressions, Captain."

"You couldn't be more right, Mr. Spock." The lift doors snapped open and Kirk walked out first. With perfect timing, Spock walked out with his younger self.

Some stared, a few started getting out of their seats in total surprise, and no one could talk, at least not coherently.

"Perfect." Kirk grinned and then jerked a thumb at the science station. "Let's see what you two can find."


I swear that the McCoy bit with "and then Jim kissed or punched someone" was from the Vulcan's Forge novel, but I couldn't find it. Just know I read it – at least, I think I did.

I have a lot of episode references (and movies when it comes to Saavik) throughout this story; I'm not going to footnote them all, but if you would like to know, please just ask.

Saavik and Spock clasping McCoy's hands on their wedding day is from my story, Wedding Vows.

Someone thought I used t'hyla wrong: just wanted people to know that I do try to research everything I write. In this case, here is the full definition of t'hy'la: I double-checked with all the Vulcan language institute, dictionaries, and Gene Roddenberry's documentation for it. T'hyla is not only males. Here is the official definition: t'hy'la: friend-lover-lifelong companion, blood brother/sister; soulmate; soul-brother/sister.

Thanks!