Woo! Down to the wire! Welcome to Chapter Nine!

Man, this one was a real toughie to write. My imagination seems to be waning recently because my brain is busy with everything else going on in my life. I was even debating updating tomorrow but now! I gave myself and ya'll a dead line of Wednesday and I'm going to keep it.

So I hope you enjoy this chapter and I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving! I'm really loving all the reviews I'm getting! Keep them coming!

There was a small clock on the wall, an old analog clock that ticked away as seconds passed. Seconds that Jim wished were filled with something other than silence. His knee began to bounce nervously and he was suddenly very interested in a smudge on the floor next to his left foot.

"Jim?"

Jim startled, looking up at the face of his father, which reflected a bit of his own features. His eyes were squinted in concern, the beginning of crows feet at the edges. He was sitting across from Jim on a white dining chair, leaning forward a little, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked relaxed, a little less tense than when Jim first met him on the Enterprise. First met him. Jim shook his head. He still had to force himself to wrap this around his brain, the fact that his father, who'd been dead for a very good chunk of his life, was now sitting across from him very much alive.

Of course, this version of his father was not the same as the one who died as Captain of the U.S.S. Kelvin, who sacrificed himself to save a ship full of people. This version had found himself an escape pod and left. This is where Jim decided to start the conversation, because this was what was weighing on his mind more than anything. Could this man live up to the picture he painted of the man named a hero?

"Sorry, have a lot on my mind."

George nodded. "Yeah, I hear ya." He sat back, the chair creaking under the weight.

Jim snorted and shifted in his seat on the couch. "So, I guess this is where we talk." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. You would never have guessed from looking at Jim now, sitting in his coat, his scarf hanging down over his shoulder and a nice pair of black slacks, with a grim expression on his face that he had spent the morning in blissful ecstasy with his First Officer.

No, now he looked every part as Captain of the Enterprise, in casual clothes. He straightened his back and cleared his throat. "What happened on your end? Before you sent out the distress signal."

George nodded. "We were attacked by the Romulan. Their ship came out of nowhere and when they asked for our Captain to come aboard, he said no and they opened fire. Your mother and you were already ejected by the time I got to my escape pod." His voice hardened and he swallowed a lump in his throat. "I sent out the distress signal when the Kelvin exploded."

Jim looked up at the clock, watching the hand tick away. He looked back at George. "What happened with my mother and me?"

George opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Instead he shut his mouth and turned his head to look away, the lump in his throat back. He took a moment to compose himself. "A piece of the ship flew off and hit her escape pod. I...watched it happen through a small window."

The silence between them was deafening. Jim desperately wanted to do something, say something, anything that would make this less awkward but he was never one to deal with death properly. He wasn't exactly the poster child for grief counseling. But he did let go a sigh of relief. He'd been wondering if his father had abandoned ship and was glad to know that he wasn't in fact a deserter. Something relaxed between his shoulders, a ball of stress un-twining itself.

"Where is your mother by the way? Can I see her?"

And then it was back. "You might not. I mean, she may not be the same person you know. And I don't particularly keep tabs on her anymore."

George nodded. "I left her alone, it must have been hard on her."

Jim swallowed hard, his jaw set. "It was hard for all of us." A boy sitting alone in his room at the dead of night, staring at a dirty, roughed up photo under a flashlight.

"I'm sorry, you're right. But at least you had a big brother to take care of you?"

A snort and an eye roll. "Not exactly."

George stared at his son. His son. It was still hard for him to picture all of this, to believe that in another dimension his son and wife had made it, that he was sitting solidly in front of him. "I'm sorry. Really. But things must have worked out for the better for you though, I mean, Captain? It'd make any father proud." He smiled slightly, hoping to brighten the mood. "I don't really know how to do any of this, be a father. I mean I was excited for you to be born, to meet you, but I wasn't so confident on the role of dad just yet."

"You don't have to try so hard. I can understand how overwhelmed you must be because I'm just as awe struck and nervous, but you don't have to think so much on how to be a father to me. I'm already grown up." Jim could feel the familiar cloud of darkness ebb its way back into his mind, forming this ball of black smoke that screamed all his insecurities. He could taste the bitterness of growing up practically alone and he was starting to show it unknowingly. He looked up at George's face, his father, and tried to find something good in all of this. "Have you made a decision on whether or not to stay here?" He could start to feel himself detach.

George nodded. "Yes, I'll stay." He sat up. "There's nothing for me back there." He could see a deepening to the blue of Jim's eyes and chuckled to try and lighten the mood at least a little bit. "Maybe we could start out as friends?"

Jim nodded. "Sure. I'm always up for making new friends." He smiled a little. He moved to stand, wrapping his scarf around his neck.

"You're leaving?" George asked, standing as well.

"I have a prior engagement-"

George reached out, laying his hand on Jim's shoulder. "You don't have to be so formal, Jim. You can be as normal with me as anyone else."

Jim stared at his father for a moment before letting go another sigh of relief. His shoulders sagged just an inch and his back wasn't so straight anymore. "I'm sorry. I have some stuff I gotta do but tomorrow? I have some free time then, maybe we could grab some coffee. We're gonna have to figure out what you're going to do here. Maybe show you around the city?"

George smiled. "It looks pretty much the same as before I took off on the Kelvin."

Jim smiled back. "It's been a couple years since then."

ooooo

Spock stood, for what seemed like hours, in the middle of his apartment. He'd gone back home to meditate and think about the previous actions he had taken with his captain. It should have seemed strange to anyone who'd think that Spock and Jim could ever do the kinds of things they did to one another, hell, Spock didn't quite believe it had happened. But it did and it reaffirmed his feelings for the blonde.

Sure it would have been logical to walk away from it all, from the unwanted stress of knots churning his stomach, the distractions of Jim's most excellent features, but something had cracked behind the wall in Spock's brain, the boundary he tried so hard to keep away from lest he have another burst of emotion, possibly larger than what he'd expressed when Jim died. It was like a light bulb clicked on and suddenly Spock could see things differently. He wasn't quite so afraid to express himself a little more, lean more on his human side than his Vulcan.

A small smile formed as he took a moment to ponder on how his father would react to such a thing, to letting himself experience his other half. Proud came to mind, a memory of his mother wanting just that of him. But then another thought slipped its way into his head and it clouded over everything else. His father would be proud that his son was deciding his own path to happiness, but Spock wasn't quite sure how he'd take to knowing that that path lay through another man.

This was the twenty-third century, and people were far more accepting of one's race and sexual orientation, but Vulcan's were still a strict society of people who continued with the old ways and were hard pressed to change their minds.

It was a problem for Spock, not really knowing how his father would react. He could possibly keep it from him, but the mere thought seemed to tear a hole inside him. To truly be himself, he'd have to accept himself and not care what others thought, including his father, but he was still half Vulcan and that unfortunately made him just as stubborn.

Sighing and pulling out his meditation mat, he sat down on the floor and crossed his legs. He relaxed, his hands resting on his knees, and took a deep breath. He shut his eyes and exhaled.

The world seemed to make sense now. He was in his own little world where the puzzle of his emotions pieced together into something he could wrap his head around. There was the section where his feelings for Jim pulsed with a desire he held deep down. Then there was the section where his worries for his father laid. It felt dark and clouded.

He took a deep breath and the worries went away. All that was left were his emotions, his feelings for Jim and it settled clear within him. It didn't matter what others thought, Spock could push the negativity away. He wouldn't hide from his father; he wasn't a child any more.

But something else peeked through, a slim thought to how Jim must truly feel. Spock had forced all of his feelings into Jim, and Spock was sure Jim had reciprocated a few times over but could he really be sure?

Spock shook his head, breaking from his meditation, and opened his eyes. He stared for a moment at a spot on the floor. He'd been so caught up in the memories of the events earlier in the day that he hadn't stopped to really think on what could be happening inside Jim's head, what he'd be feeling about all this.

Pizza. Jim had mentioned that he liked pizza. A simple request to their dinner date. Jim wouldn't have stated a fact for further progress if he hadn't liked what they had done. Maybe he was thinking too hard on something that obviously made both very very happy. Spock smiled a little and shut his eyes again, beginning his tiny steps back into meditation.

ooooo

Bones sat next to Jim on a small park bench. The park where the bench sat was a small one, one of a few that were still kept clean with the original playground plastic slides and swings with metal handles. The grass was fresh cut, spreading underneath Bones' shoes as he turned to Jim slowly. He stared at him for a moment before speaking.

"So, how did things with your dad go?" The question rolled off his tongue but it had taken a small strength inside him to calmly ask instead of going full blown rage on him. It took a lot for Bones to wait patiently to get to the more important conversation at hand, but he'd try his best. He gritted his teeth and forced a smile.

Jim rose a blonde brown and snorted, looking off at the playground, some kids running around laughing. A couple jogged passed them on a small dirt path that ran around the playground. "Don't hurt yourself Bones." He smiled. "It went okay. I don't think we're going to be as close as he wants us to be but I invited him for coffee tomorrow."

"Coffee. You've met the man you've been dying to meet all your life and you wanna take him out for a coffee date? Would have figured you'd wanna play catch or something." Bones chuckled at his own small joke.

Jim sighed. "Look, you have to remember that he's young, he's not the age he would be if he were still alive today. I can't look at him and think of him as a father because in my head, my father aged."

Bones nodded. "But he looks at you and sees the son he lost all grown up. That's understandable. I look at my daughter and sometimes still see her as when she was born."

"That's sweet Bones." Jim laughed. Bones rolled his eyes and leaned back against the back of the bench.

"You didn't stay for very long."

"I know."

Sighing, Bones crossed one leg over the other. "I get it kid, take it one step at a time."

Jim looked over at Bones, his friend and stared. He never really had to say much for Bones to know what was going on in his head. All he had to do was be in the same room and it was like Bones could read his mind. Jim smiled. Only one other person could do that with Jim. Flashes of Spock pressed against him, fingers firmly gripping his arms, his legs. Jim blushed suddenly. He cleared his throat and shifted on the bench, aware that his face was giving off a bit of heat. "Thanks."

"S'alright." Bones nodded before rounding on Jim. "Okay, now spill."

"Spill?" Jim rose a brow. "Oh Bones, whatever could you mean?"

Brown eyes squinted at him. "You know what. About Spock."

Jim chuckled. "Ohhhh…yeah well we slept together…a couple of times."

Bones sighed and sat back, leaning his head back to stare up at the sky. He shut eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose before opening them again. There wasn't much he wanted to hear about, definitely about the sex part, but he was curious. "I may regret this, but why?" He grumbled.

"Well…"

"No wait." Bones sat up, holding up his index finger. "Look, all I want to know is, is this going to be an ongoing thing?"

Jim shrugged. "I'm not really sure right now. We kinda did things a bit ass backward."

Bones stared. "Really…that was the best choice of words here?"

Laughter burst from Jim's throat. It trickled to a chuckle before he smiled at his friend. "Sorry, I didn't mean to." He laughed again. "He did the mind meld thing on me." He shifted his gaze to his feet. "There was a lot of emotion behind it, I mean a lot man."

"So, what are you gonna do?"

"You're being oddly calm about this." Jim rose a brow. "I half expected you to hit me or something."

Lifting his head back up, Bones looked at Jim. Shrugging, he added, "I figured you were going through enough as it was. I've seen you at your lowest, kid. Right now, you look happier than I've seen you in a few years."

Jim nodded. "I guess dying does something to ones ego."

Bones clapped a hand on Jim's shoulder, causing him to jump a little. "Well, I guess it's time to build it back up again. If you're happy, than I'm happy."

"Aw Bones!" Jim threw himself at the gruff Doctor, arms wrapped around his shoulders in a big hug. He laughed and squeezed him hard. "You know just what to say to a girl!"

"Right now, I'm regretting sitting next to you all those years ago." Jim laughed. "No seriously, I'm picturing myself moving away to sit three seats over."

I feel like this chapter was a bit smaller than my previous ones but I really don't want to rush what's going on between everyone so I'm sorry if this is a boring chapter. I promise more action later!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please don't forget to leave a review!