AN: The beginning and the ending of this chapter is inspired by another issue of the comic, which in turn was based on the Original Series episode The Apple.

Can you just leave me alone? I didn't even call you!

She could feel the other Jane smirking. I have access to your memories. I was able to hear Spock's instructions on how to call me, and I just applied them to myself.

Jane rolled her eyes. When this mission's over, I'm gonna ask Spock for a way to make you leave me alone for good. "Energize."

The six of them arrived on the surface of Gamma Trianguli VI, the six of them being Jane, Spock, McCoy, Landon, Hendorff and Lemli. Leslie was sick and McCoy had "banished" him to his quarters; Jane could tell that Lemli missed his friend.

"Alright, remember everyone," Jane announced, "if the computer on this planet is anything like it was on Beta III, it's going to fight against us. Bones, you take Landon and Lemli to find the inhabitants; try and explain the situation to them as best you can, but you need to get them beamed aboard the Enterprise. Spock, Hendorff and I will find the computer."

The group split up.

Spock took out his tricorder in order to get a reading. "The power source appears to be coming from those caves over there." He pointed to the caves in the distance. "I suggest we venture a closer look before ordering Mr. Chekov to destroy it."

"But the longer we stay here, the more at risk we are," said Jane. "You're right, though; we need to take a closer look."

The flowers.

What? I told you to go away. Jane blocked out her counterpart before she could say more. "Sorry about that, Spock. The other me was going on about the flowers." She looked around at the various plant life around them; the flowers were a range of colours, mostly pink. "They are beautiful, though."

Spock looked around too, and then frowned. "Captain, where is Mr. Hendorff?"

Jane looked around, as well; there was no redshirt to be found. "Wasn't he right behind us?"

There was a sudden cry of pain, and the two hurried back the way they came. "Hendorff!" It was his voice; Jane knew that much.

They pulled back the bushes to find Hendorff on the ground, lying motionless, with several thorns sticking out of his side. There was, however, no trace of the attacker.

"Fascinating," said Spock.

Jane tried not to yell at him. "What's so fascinating about a death?" Spock didn't say anything as he cautiously approached the fallen officer, scanning him with his tricorder. Jane contacted McCoy and told him to hurry to her location, but as she finished she noticed a large pink flower opening up above them. It was pointed directly at where Hendorff lay – and where Spock was now standing.

She suddenly realized what had happened.

"SPOCK!"

All she remembered was pushing him out the way and searing pain entering her system, before darkness.

"If you had listened to me instead of blocking me out, maybe you wouldn't be in this mess."

"You sound like my mother."

"I could be – in a way."

Jane was sat on the bridge of the Enterprise where her counterpart usually sat. The reason for this was pain; Jane could feel that she was in great pain, and as it turned out, her counterpart had been able to feel it, too. So said counterpart had let her sit down.

"But you said you could feel it?" Jane had asked.

"Not in the way you feel it," said the counterpart. "Dead can't feel pain."

Now Jane was regretting not having listened to the elder Jane's warning. "I'm sorry for ignoring you. It's just… You've been getting really annoying lately, and not just because of the whole 'you should be with Spock' talks. You've been annoying in general."

"I can see that now," said the elder Jane. "I suppose it's because this place is so boring. Nothing happens. So I contact you and watch what you're doing, but then that becomes boring because it's happened all before. So I start commenting. I know myself, and I should have realized that you would find it irritating."

"Kind of ironic how I would find myself irritating."

They laughed. "So you saved Spock-"

"He's my friend," Jane said instantly. "It's not a declaration of love, or anything like that."

"I wasn't going to say anything about that," said the elder Jane. "I was only going to comment on the irony of the situation – in my time, Spock saved me from the plant."

"Really?"

The counterpart nodded. "Thankfully his Vulcan blood saved him. While saving him was a good thing to do, it would have been best not to, because at least he would have lived. You, on the other hand..."

"So this is death?"

"No," said the elder Jane. "I'm a katra stored inside your mind. If you had died, we would have both gone…wherever it is people go when they die. McCoy will find a way to save you."

"One can hope." Jane sighed. "Never thought I'd ask this of you, but how about showing some memories? I'm bored, and I don't want to just sit here in pain."

"A good memory, then…" The elder Jane thought. "I have one good memory you'll like, but it does have me in pain. It's a good kind of pain, though."

"Good kind of pain? What memory is it?"

"Amanda's birth."

Jane was instantly alert. She had been in love with the little girl who could be hers ever since her counterpart had shown her the memory of the child. Seeing her birth… She didn't care if it was to do with Spock as well; she wanted to see it. "OK. Show it to me."

"You'll have to stand up." Jane complied reluctantly before the memory appeared. The crew were on the bridge, and the memory-Jane was sat in the Captain's seat. Her belly was large, making it obvious that the birth date was close.

"Something's been bugging me," Jane spoke up, turning away from the memory. "Starfleet regulations require that a woman Captain, when pregnant, must take shore leave until the baby is born. Why didn't you?"

Something crossed the elder Jane's face. "It's a sexist rule. Men think that women are unable to do their job when carrying a baby; their emotions may get out of control, their health will be at risk… While some women do find it difficult, and the baby's safety must be taken into consideration, I was determined to stay at my post throughout the pregnancy. I was able to prove to the Admirals that I can Captain a ship without problem while carrying."

"Cool." Jane smiled at her counterpart's determination. "So, what about the birth?"

"I mentioned before that Spock and I chose to bring our baby into the universe on Vulcan," said the elder Jane. "We were there preparing for the birth when Uhura reported that we were being contacted by Starfleet." She then gestured to the memory, which began to play.

"Put it on the screen," said the memory-Jane.

"Aye, Captain." Uhura pressed several buttons before turning in her chair to face the screen.

A face appeared before them; it was Admiral Pike. "Captain, I'm sorry to ask this of you, but we need your help."

"With what, Admiral?" asked the memory-Jane.

"The USS Farragut is in trouble," said Pike. "They've been attacked by Klingons, and they need back-up. I know you're preparing for the birth of your child, but your ship is the closest to their location. All I ask is for you to go in and assist for a short time before we can get our main fleet there. Then you can go back to Vulcan."

The memory-Jane exchanged looks with Spock before turning back to the screen. "So all we need to do is defend the Farragut until the main fleet arrive?"

"If you don't help them, there will be nothing left for the fleet to save," said Pike. "No other ship can make it in time, otherwise we would have asked them first. We didn't want to ask this of you, but there's not much choice."

The memory-Jane sighed. "I'll go and help. The baby isn't due for another few days, anyway."

Jane looked at her counterpart in surprise. "I'm heavily pregnant, and I'm going to fight Klingons. You should have told me how badass I am."

"I didn't want you to get too overconfident; you still have much to learn," said the elder Jane.

Jane shrugged in agreement. "OK, I can understand that. But why are you showing me what happened before the birth?"

"Because things get…well, complicated."

The memory skipped forwards, and the first thing Jane noticed was that everything was loud. Chekov and Sulu were focussed on the screen before them; Chekov was firing with precision, while Sulu was steering through the blasts of fire around them. Uhura was reporting on the ship-wide damage while Spock was attempting to fix any damage on the bridge.

The memory-Jane was holding her belly, looking worried, and instantly Jane knew what was happening. She turned to her counterpart with wide eyes. "You mean to tell me that you gave birth in the middle of a battle against the Klingons?!"

The elder Jane shrugged. "Ama always thought it was awesome when I told her the story."

"Her feelings must have changed when she gave birth to a daughter of her own," said Jane. When the elder Jane gave her a confused look, she added, "You didn't know? She had a daughter with Scotty's son. Roberta Jane."

"She…she did?" The elder Jane was speechless. "I must have died before that… She named her after me…"

"Sort of." Jane looked back at the memory.

The memory-Jane was taking in deep breaths as she opened a channel to medical. "Bones, how busy are you and the others down there?"

"It could be worse, Jane. Why?"

"I need you on the bridge. Something's happening to the baby."

She didn't get a reply, and Jane assumed that McCoy was hurrying up. Spock had obviously heard, for he was by the memory-Jane's side in an instant. "Jane, is the baby harmed?"

"No, I don't think so," she replied. "I think…it's coming…"

"She was a fast baby, as well," said the elder Jane. "Let's move on a little further."

The memory changed. McCoy had arrived with Nurse Chapel and Dr. M'Benga.

"Keep phasers locked onto the bridge of that Klingon warbird," the memory-Jane ordered Chekov.

"Jane, we need to get you down to medical," McCoy said. "Spock can take over here."

But the memory-Jane shook her head; she was beginning to sweat. "I need to stay and get us out of this. If we don't…we all die, including the baby."

Spock just stared from where he was sat at his post, looking obviously conflicted. "While your tactics in combat are far more advanced than mine, Captain, moving yourself down to medical is the logical thing to do."

"Spock…" The memory-Jane strained as she felt another contraction hit. "You know I need to stay here… I need to fight them off. We won't survive otherwise."

The familiar voice of her father stirred inside Jane. You'll die unless I fight them off… This is the only way you'll survive…

"The baby is fully dilated," Chapel reported. "It's too late to move her now."

"Jane, take in deep breaths," McCoy instructed. "I need you to push."

The memory-Jane remained calm as she pushed hard with a cry. Hearing this, Spock left his post and stood by her side, holding one of her hands in his.

"Did he just leave his post?" asked Jane.

The elder Jane didn't answer; she was too busy watching the memory play out in front of them, and Jane turned back to watch as well. She suddenly imagined a small shuttle, three doctors standing around her sweat-covered mother as she yelled and screamed from the agony of giving birth…

Then she was watching herself again, giving it her all as she pushed with groans of pain while giving orders to the crew around her.

"Captain, the fleet have arrived," Uhura reported. "I've told them your condition, and they've ordered you to turn the ship around and retreat."

The memory-Jane nodded. "You heard her, Mr. Sulu. Take us out of here."

"Aye, Captain."

When they entered warp the memory-Jane asked Uhura to open up a ship-wide channel. "Status report…all sections…"

But she paused – as did everyone on the ship – when she heard the cries of her baby.

McCoy handed the child to Nurse Chapel, who proceeded to clean her up. "It's a girl, Jane," said the doctor. "It's a girl."

The memory-Jane sighed, obviously relieved that it was all over, and leaned back into her chair. Spock was still beside her, rubbing his arm on her shoulder in comfort – although his eyes were gazing upon the little baby in the midwife's arms. Then the baby was finally handed over, and the memory-Jane began to cry as she beheld the small child.

Jane noticed that her elder counterpart was crying too – and then she realized so was she.

The memory faded, and Jane found herself sinking into the Captain's chair which had held herself and her child only seconds before. After seeing that…

"I just… That was overwhelming," she finally said.

"I would say 'don't try that at home', but since you're me, then I guess you're fine," said the elder Jane. "Starfleet issued an apology, but I told them to forget it; the Farragut needed my help, and I was happy to defend them. What was amusing was the Klingon's later found out about it – and promptly honoured my name for doing such a thing while battling them."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "OK, that is rather amusing."

"Jane…Jane…"

Both looked around before realizing that someone was trying to wake her up. "Looks like you're going to live, after all," said the elder Jane. "Bones is a miracle worker."

"Jane…"

Jane opened her eyes to find she was lying on a bed in medical. Spock and McCoy were looking over her, both in concern.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Captain Kirk," said McCoy.

Jane groaned. "Spock…"

"I am fine, Captain," said Spock. "It was my Vulcan blood what saved me…and you. We have become uniquely connected."

"Say what now?"

"Spock gave me a sample of his blood to use on you, in order to save you," said McCoy. "Thanks to the Hobgoblin's half-human heritage, his blood mixed into yours without killing you."

"It is the first successful Vulcan-to-Human blood transfusion," said Spock. "The procedure was not without its complications, but it appears to have saved your life with no lasting ill effects. Dr. McCoy is to be commended."

McCoy looked at the First Officer sceptically. "I must have contracted something myself down on that planet, because now I'm hallucinating. Did you just say something nice about me, Commander?"

"As the situation dictates, Doctor."

McCoy rolled his eyes. "Jane, you need to remain here for a few hours while I run some more tests. Then you'll be back on your feet."

"Sure thing, Bones." When he was gone, Jane turned to Spock. "The computer? The natives?"

"The natives are on board, Captain," Spock reported. "They are not human, although leaving them on the planet would have been problematic after the destruction of the computer as it was controlling everything, including the plant life and the atmosphere."

Jane nodded. "And Spock… Thanks for, you know, giving me some of your blood."

"Captain, you pushed me out of the way of a potentially deadly threat," said Spock. "You did not think about yourself; only me."

"Now you know how I feel whenever you put yourself in danger," Jane said back. "Only you do it needlessly. Seriously, you need to think these things through."

"But you did not think your actions through either, Captain. Otherwise you would have considered the possibility of me being not affected by the plant as opposed to yourself. So logically-"

Jane just burst out laughing at his logical response – not the response itself but the fact that he was giving one at a time like this – while Spock only raised an eyebrow at her.

"So now you have Vulcan blood in you."

"Sure." Jane only shrugged as she fiddled with the buttons on the dream Enterprise.

"You're not even going to tell me not to make any implicating comments?"

"I don't feel like it," Jane admitted. "I'm still at little overwhelmed by that memory you showed me."

"Changing our mind, are we?"

Jane didn't need to turn to know that her counterpart was smirking at her. But she didn't make a resort; she didn't even have the urge to.

Her mind was elsewhere. She thought about the memory, seeing the child that could be hers being born on this very bridge. And then she thought about what had happened on the planet; how she hadn't even thought about herself when she'd saved Spock, and recalled how McCoy had mentioned that Spock had offered his blood the moment he realized it could save her…

"Your silence fills me with hope," said the elder Jane. "I just need to get you to admit it aloud."

Jane once again said nothing.