Chapter Ten.

A/N: So I finally updated my deviantart account. I feel productive.

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"Mother?" Kirk croaked, unsure if he heard his first officer correctly. It was impossible that he had. Amanda Grayson had fallen to her death when they had failed to latch onto her with the tractor beam. He had been in the engineering room with Chekov's frantic cries as he had tried his damndest to latch on and seen Spock's face and outstretched arm that had been reaching for someone no longer there.

"There's no time," Amanda said suddenly, rushing towards both of them. "You must go now. If I had known it was you, Spock, I would have done everything in my power to have warned you earlier."

"Woh, hold on," Kirk responded, hands motioning for the conversation the ceased and desist momentarily. At least until he had his answers. "Spock, you of all people are not going to take this without explanation, are you?"

In all honesty, Spock was not sure he could handle the conversation at the moment. He glanced at the woman that looked so like his mother.

Amanda sniffled. "After so long doing so well on Vulcan, this is what this entire scenario had reduced me to," she murmured, wiping tears from her eyes. "I don't know the details of it, you know that, Spock. I taught English, never physics. I left that to you and your father." She paused a moment, eyes glazing over slightly as she pulled frightening memories to the forefront of her mind. "I was standing on the cliff's edge, waiting for the transporter to lock on to us, with our home crashing down over our heads and under our feet." Tears stung her eyes as she spoke of Vulcan. "I looked at you and told you that it was okay to be scared. Your eyes widened as you realized what was happening and you reached for me, but I was already falling…. I don't remember much after that. There was nothing… floating in some sort of nothingness, and I'm not entirely sure that it was more than my consciousness." She paused again, regaining her composure. "Then I was here… and he was here."

"Who is here, Mother?" Spoke asked, pulling her focus fully on him. "You must tell us."

"He's horrible, Spock," she cried. "He said he was going to lure you in when you were close enough." She turned frantic eyes between the two officers. "He's insane, and powerful."

"Mother, you still have not told us who he is."

"I don't know his name," the aging Human woman murmured. "But he's Romulan. I think… I think he was the one that destroyed Vulcan."

"That's impossible. Nero's dead," Kirk counted, his voice a little more tense than he meant for it to be. Amanda's fright was putting his already frayed nerves on edge. He was sure, that given other circumstances – any other circumstances than these – that she would be just as calm as any Vulcan, but not today and not there.

"Describe this Romulan," Spock said, eyes watching for the source of sounds that Human ears could not hear.

"Tall, bald. He had tribal markings all along his face and around his head. His eyes… dark and cold. He said he has cheated death twice now. He-"

A hand reached from the darker of the corners of the cave and Amanda was pulled back. "Enough," a voice hissed from the shadows. "Not one move."

The voice, known far too well to the recent war heroes, stopped them in their tracks. Spock seemed to freeze as if he were a statue, his dream flooding back into his mind. Shadows of a cave, his mother, Jim, and…

"Nero," Jim's voice rang clearly through the cave, cutting the cold air with his tone.

"It's an interesting story," the miner snarled, the sadistic smirk evident in his voice. "Who would have thought even though our ship was mostly destroyed in the wormhole, that we would still be thrown through time? We didn't go back nearly as far this time. A few months, and landed here. Shriven II, unless used to be something else. By our time the explorers have given up on it." He paused, positioning his hand around Amanda's neck. The light from the holes in the high ceilings caught his hand, showing it marred and shredded. "Most of my crew, Captain Kirk, died on impact. I and a few others survived, but they did not make it through the harsh elements. I am the only Romulan left."

"We will not allow what has happened in your time to happen in ours," Spock swore, his voice tightly controlled. "Unlike you, I cannot blame an entire race for the foolishness of a few."

"So you will save my people, Ambassador Spock?" Nero sneered.

"I am not ambassador yet, and there is a chance I never will be. You altered our destinies when you came to our time." The young Vulcan paused and took a moment to gather himself. "You destroyed Vulcan."

"A planet for a planet!" the deranged man yelled. He shook Amanda briefly then pulled her closer so that his breath was not on her face when he spoke. "I'm not done with my story though, am I, Amanda?" He turned back to Kirk and Spock. "That phaser, Captain, I want it thrown towards me."

Kirk glared at him, but as the taller man tightened his grip on the woman in his arms he did as commanded. Nero motioned towards Spock to do the same and the half-Vulcan did so.

"Now we can continue. I found this cave and took shelter here. What else was I to do? You destroyed my hopes of ever returning home. That's all I wanted to do, Captain, was go home."

"You had already destroyed one peaceful planet, killed billions on it, and then attacked a fleet of starships flying under the Federation! Not to mention the Kelvin twenty-five years ago! If you'd 'just wanted to go home' you could have damn well done that when you came through the black hole to begin with!" Kirk spat, rage building and exploding from him within a matter of seconds.

"I wanted him dead!" Nero screamed, pointing at Spock. Amanda gave a small gasp in his grasp and he shook her until she quieted. "I came here, after my people were killed and I found I had nothing. On entering the cave, I found the strangest thing: Shriven II was not empty. A woman was here." He lifted Amanda's chin so that she was looking at both Captain and first officer. "Pretty thing, isn't she. Past the prime of her human years, I suppose, but still…" He glanced at Spock who stood tensely. "I found out that she had been a resident on Vulcan. The wife of an ambassador. She had fallen off the cliff as the U.S.S. Enterprise had attempted to beam her aboard. The beaming processes, it would seem, malfunctioned, and sent her atoms spiraling into the universe, to land here. What a coincidence, but not an unwelcomed one." He paused, turning his attention fully on Spock. "And then the Enterprise herself came close. You're a scientist for the Federation, Mr. Spock. Do you know why this planet will eventually be declared completely uninhabitable?"

"I have heard rumours of it."

"The planet itself will give power to those with the will to use it."

"But it will destroy you. No humanoid is able to withstand the strain that it puts on the body for very long."

"What does it matter?" Nero asked. "I have what I want here, and even with all of that I am willing to make a trade." Now he turned his eyes back to Kirk. "Amanda Grayson for your first officer."

Spock's world suddenly seemed to spiral out of control. He had never shown any leanings towards precognitive abilities, but he could not deny the extreme similarities between his dream and this reality. Jim was about to die. For him, his Captain was about to offer an exchange that Nero would take. If he and his mother would make it out alive after, he did not know, but he could not question what was about to happen. Was it okay to be scared, he wondered for a moment. Was it truly alright to put aside everything he had ever been taught to feel fear for his captain – his friend? – at this time?

He turned his attention toward the blond. He was beaten and bloodied, just as he had been in the dream. His breathing was ragged and Spock knew that his injuries were worse than they might have originally believed. There would be no chance of getting around Nero and running.

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The transporter pad lit up and McCoy and Chekov came into view at long last. Bones ripped his coat from his shoulders as he moved towards the control panel that Scotty stood behind. "What's the news?"

"We 'ave none, Doctor," Montgomery Scott answered, voice having a saddened sound to it. "We were hoping ye'd know something, being as ye were down there."

"We didn't hear shit other than the wind," the country doctor turned Starfleet doctor grumbled as he leaned against the wall. "Now I want to know why you beamed us up when Jim told us to wait."

"The readings the crew's got were readin' so far below 0 that you two'd be gonners if you'd stayed down there much longer," Scotty explained.

"The Keptin and Mr. Spock 'ave more've a chance because they have the cawe wall to protect them," Chekov murmured as he peeled his layers off. "Unless they cawe in-"

"Shut it, kid," McCoy growled. "Didn't you learn anything from last time? Jim Kirk doesn't know how to give up. They'll get out just fine."

"Well, I've got the engines back runnin'," Scotty informed them. "When the Captain signals that we won't be gettin' pulled back, we're gone and on our way to New Vulcan."

Bones nodded, eyeing the steady readout on the computers, looking for signs that his friend was still alive down there. It wasn't like they could leave even if he was not.

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"It's a simple exchange," Nero said, voice echoing. "Really, Kirk, I'm even letting you live."

"I won't give him up, you sorry bastard," Kirk growled back. This was not his day. It reminded him more of a horrible nightmare than anything. "I won't let you take him." If he had thought back on it, it was possible that Spock had known all along. Not likely, but possible. It might have even been subconscious, as the Vulcan would have never believed that Nero could have survived until he saw it with his own eyes, but he had mentioned something about the Narada's demise just before they had beamed down. Kirk wished he had listened better to his friend… about everything. "I'm sorry, Spock," he found himself saying, eyes turned downward. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

Spock did not even try to push back the rising panic. He knew what was next. Every muscle in his body tensed.

"Take me in exchange, Nero," Kirk bargained. "I was the one that gave the order to destroy the Narada. Let Spock and his mother go. You've destroyed Vulcan. You've made him feel everything you felt. Now take me."

A low chuckle echoed through the cave as Nero reached for something in the darkness. The sound escaladed into full laughter as he tossed the Human in his arms to the side. He moved at a speed that the injured Human in front of him could not hope to avoid, spear-staff in hand. Captain James Kirk braced himself for the impact that he knew was coming. He could only hope that while Nero was busy killing him that Spock could get his mother to safety. So much for that bond that the ambassador had spoken of. He had truly wished that he could have known it as his alternate self had.

The impact came, but not as he would have expected it. Jim's eyes fluttered open and he found himself on the cave's floor, draped over the rocks. It took a moment for his mind to register that he had been pushed out of the way and that his savior was none other than the half Vulcan that he expected to be his last thought. "S-Spock!" he screamed.

In all his speed, Spock had not made it clear in time.

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A/N: Wuha! Cliffhanger!! I love that staff of Nero's… in my own sadistic way. Please don't kill me!! Just review! The more reviews I get, the fast I'll want to see if Spock's okay or not.

Bineshiikwe: Where did you find it online? Augh! You mean I could be feeding my addiction more and I didn't know it?! The alternate realty has been growing on me more and more since seeing it the first time.

Jan7: So, my mom and I had dinner tonight and she was asking about what sort of reviews I got on fanfiction. So I showed her yours. Lol. She was impressed I think… Which made me feel good. So thank you! You know, I'd actually played with the idea of having an alien that could shape shift being Amanda… briefly, but then decided to go with the original idea of scattering like Bones is so scared of. Lol. Poor McCoy. Now he really has reason to be scared. Okay, thanks for the cave info! I thought about half way through the last chapter: 'oh shit! I haven't explained any light and it's a cave therefore it's dark! Oh no!' lol. So I tried to clear up what was in my head for you in this chapter. It's good to be nitpicky. You're wonderful for it!

Loesje: Yes, they are getting long, but this is just the way that I've always done them… I'm sorry! Just know that I tend to ramble a lot and that I write replies to absolutely everyone that has reviewed by the time I post the next chapter…. I tried to make this one a little longer so you wouldn't be disappointed, but I don't know if I succeeded. I didn't count. The characters write the story for the most part, and if I try to interfere I just screw it up lol!

Shinigami061:I want to give him a hug too…. Both of them now. And their friendship wouldn't just explode from nothingness… I agree. I think Jim would want it to though. Glad you like the updates!

Dragonwithc250: Yes, that was Spock crying. He does cry, every great once and a while. In…. the motion picture, he cries without any drugs or anything lol. Being that I've gone on multiple 'spores episode' rants when it has to do with Spock's lovey dovey relationships….

Cleopatra's Snake: Well, Kirk does later describe him as the most Human he has ever encountered…. I love Wrath of Khan… Mmm… And I love Amanda. She was always a favourite of mine in TOS, so I nearly died when she did during the new movie.

Vulcanvamp: If you think the last chapter was a cliffie, what about this one? –grins- yeah… I love my cliff hangers

Elvenstar Imrahil: Sorry, I'm a little behind the times on a bit of internet speak. I know most of it, but some still catches me unawares. Yay cackling fits!

LunarEclipse: Sure thing!

Secret Thought: No… I think not.

Aisling-Siobhan: Great! Hope you are still!

MeEksiNs: No problem!

TechieFashionista: Thank you!

PlayfulSylph: You cracked me up! He's in a cave, it must be Khan! I love Khan. It's the accent… Mmm… My mom still has a thing for him, so many years later. I had to show my roommate the old episode with him in it to explain WHY my mom's in love with him, but she saw him and understood. Khan….. Anyway, yay updates!

Latin-freak: And another Cliffhanger! My gosh! $11?! Our are… $8 here?

CrazyGunFire: You thought the last one was bad, I think I made this one worse… I'll have to go find TNG episodes and watch Q. I vaguely remember seeing him, once I'd looked him up online, but not enough. Ah well. I think we've established it is not Q (especially since that would be taking it WAY out of my territory if it were).