A/N: Thank you to Bookdragon01 as always for beta-ing this chapter, especially since she's injured. Nope still don't own anything.

Nika, to answer your question about the Romulans, no they weren't on the Narada. I'd found on Memory Alpha that the tatoos were a sign of grief but they were supposed to be temporary, like the henna tatoos that you see in some Middle Eastern and Indian cultures. As they faded it showed the passing of their grief and return to normal life. They were supposed to be for loved ones but I figured that they might also apply if Spock Prime had started getting the reunification going, as a sign of respect. Nero and the rest of his crew made them perminate because they wouldn't let go of the destuction of Romulus and believed that all that was left was revenge. The ones at the memorial had the remains of the normal temorary tattoos and the hoods hid their regrowing hair. The robes I was picturing were the same style as Spock wore in 'The Voyage Home' and some of the guest appearances on the later series. I think Spock was wearing one, with the hood down, during the the memory of assuring the Romulans in his mind meld with Jim on Delta Vega. I hope this clears up the confusion for you and anyone else about the Delegation.

Chaoticmom


The next morning they hurried through breakfast and clean up so they could get to the terminal early, and piled in the old van. Jim gave Spock the front seat because the back was crowded with seven people and luggage which he knew was more than would be comfortable for his friend's Vulcan sensibilities. After a bit of juggling of seating arrangements Jim settled back in his seat.

"Ok Mom, I think we're ready to go," Jim said grinning at her reflection in the rearview mirror.

Their goodbyes at the terminal were made with promises to be careful, hugs and an open invitation to visit. Jim, McCoy, and Joanna waited till last.

"Leonard, let me know what happens, and I'll be there to help. And if you need anything or just someone to talk to don't hesitate to comm. me," she told McCoy as she gave him a motherly hug.

"I will Winona and thank you for everythin'," McCoy replied returning her embrace and stepping back for Joanna.

"I'll talk to you soon Joanna," Winona told her hugging her close, resting her cheek on Joanna's head. "And remember you can comm. me anytime."

"I will Miss 'Nona, see you soon," Joanna replied with a smile before joining her father and boarding the shuttle as Winona turned to Jim.

"Be careful Jim, I love you," Winona whispered in his ear as she hugged him one last time.

"I will Mom; I have too many people depending on me. You be careful too. One of us will let you know what's going on with Bones and JoJo," Jim replied, kissing her cheek.

"You'd better. Don't forget Sam should be calling in the next week," Winona reminded him as the final boarding call was made.

"I will, don't worry. Remind him I'm not on the ship and give him the number again. I sent it to him but I don't know if he'll remember. Bye Mom," Jim replied grinning as he headed up the ramp, turning to wave one last time.

As they took off Spock settled back in his seat and closed his eyes, quickly and easily slipping to just the edge of meditation, he let his thoughts drift.

From the row behind him, Spock could hear Chekov, Scotty, and Sulu debating the feasibility of increasing the maneuverability of the thrusters, and made a mental note to find out their conclusions. While in the row ahead, the Captain and Joanna were starting the familiar routine of distracting the Doctor for the duration of the flight. It had puzzled him at first, until he realized that McCoy was aviaphobic, and that it was Kirk's unique way of making the trip easier on his friend.

Next to him Nyota shifted and wrapped one hand around his forearm. Through the fabric of his sleeve he caught her feelings of contentment and interest in the article she was reading as well as amusement at the Captain's antics that matched his own; also her affection for him and the rest of their group overlaid with worry about the upcoming legal battles.

Spock pushed the awareness of her to the back of his mind and began going over the events of the last three weeks; making sure that he had everything that had happened with Dr McCoy and Joanna in order.

As for his and Nyota's engagement, that needed no second look. As he had been instructed by his elder self two years earlier he was doing what felt right; and at the moment nothing had felt like this since he'd rejoined the Enterprise, a kind of falling into place.

They were met at the shuttle port by Admiral Pike and Rhymer and, after dropping off their bags in their quarters, headed for Pike's office. Joanna was excited to meet Pike and kept up a stream of chatter with him all the way to their quarters.

As usual they drew some stares on the trip from their quarters, but this time it had more to do with the unusual site of Joanna bouncing back and forth between Jim and McCoy than the normal mixture of envy and interest they always seemed to get.

"Don't worry we won't keep you long. We just need to go over everything to make sure that it's been dealt with and we aren't going to have any nasty little surprises pop up on us," Pike explained as they settled into the familiar office.

"I spoke with Ambassador Sarek after the ceremonies the night you left about what was going on and the fact that we might have to push back the Enterprise's mission to New Vulcan. I offered him the use of the Yorktown if he needed to go before you were able to leave. Your father is a remarkable man Spock. When I explained the reason for the delay, he was adamant about taking the Enterprise. He told me that he wanted to offer what support he could. It's also probably a good thing we have a delay because they're still working on installing the last of the reinforced hull plates. They finally think they got the bugs out of the shield up grade this morning," Pike reported making everyone, especially Scotty; sigh at the idea of bugs in the systems.

"We're grateful that he's willing to put off the trip and for the support. I have a feeling that we're gonna need all the cool headed logic we can get before this is over, if what happened in Atlanta is any indication. And it's not like we'll be sitting around doing nothing waiting for them to finish," Jim said glancing between Bones and Spock.

"That's for damn sure, between this and the upgrades it's gonna take at least a week to make sure the Medbay staff know how to run it all correctly," McCoy added as Rhymer started his report.

"First I spoke with Capt Logan of the APD and one of their ADAs this morning, and we'll be able to do the criminal hearing from here. ADA Burger managed to get a date of July 2nd and the go ahead to have you, Cmdr Spock, Lt Uhura, and Captain Kirk give your testimony via satellite Dr McCoy," Rhymer explained.

"How'd you manage to finagle that?" McCoy asked a bit surprised.

"I explained that the Enterprise had pushed back an important diplomatic and supply run to New Vulcan, and that there wasn't time to be running back and forth with both new crew and at least two dozen family members coming on board. I also emphasized that we didn't want Joanna anywhere near Donovan because of his history and reaction to our coming to get her," Rhymer explained. "As to the divorce and custody hearing, we're looking at June 25th. So we're going to have to go back for that. Don't worry, we're bringing the judge with us and no one but Admirals Archer and Becket know who it's going to be.

"Joanna you don't have to be there for all of either trial if you don't want to, but your father and the rest of us that were present do. You may have to testify at the second one about what happened," Rhymer explained as a frightened look appeared on Joanna's face, and she grabbed her Father's and Jim's hands at the news.

"C'n th' rest o' us be there too or are they gonna be closed courts?" Scotty asked suddenly, drawing everyone's attention off Joanna for the moment.

"As long as you don't cause a problem I don't see why you couldn't, Commander Scott. Why do you ask?"

"Well Ah don't know 'bout th' rest o' th' lads but since Ah couldn't go wi' 'em, it'd be nice ta be able ta do somethin', even if it is just sittin' there. 'Sides if the Lass needs ta leave after sayin' her piece or jus' b'cause, Ah'm pretty sure the court'd frown on any of ye leavin' too," Scotty explained glancing around nervously.

"Are you sure about that, Scotty?"Jim asked, leaning forward to look around Joanna and Bones.

"Aye Cap'n, if we need ta Ah c'n take her back on th' Enterprise and she c'n help check over th' new systems an' such. Or we c'n jus' wander 'round till ye git done, dependin' on where we are."

"Are you going to be ok with that, Joanna, Doctor?" Rhymer asked.

"Yes, thanks Mr. Monty," she smiled at him a bit shakily and McCoy nodded. "I-I haven't even thought about it, I mean testifyin'. I thought they'd just use my statement from Riverside," Joanna said softly still holding her dad's and Jim's hands like lifelines.

"They definitely would if you were younger and they still might. I just want you to be prepared in case they call you, that's all. You've heard the old saying about preparing for the worst? Well that's what we're doing," Rhymer explained.

"A-Alright. Mr. Rhymer, can y'all explain what's goin' on and what's gonna happen with the divorce, please? I was so little before; that stuff didn't really make sense other than that Daddy had to leave, and Mama was actin' like she won some kinda lottery," Joanna asked looking slightly less frightened.

"Ok, what happened is that we found out that several people had lied when your parents got divorced. Some of the lies were what caused you to have to stay with your mother, and why your dad had to leave like he did. At some point the judge is going to want to talk to you about what's been going on since the divorce and who you want to live with. I think you did that before didn't you?" Rhymer explained.

"I think so, I remember a grumpy man in a black robe askin' me in front of the men that were sitting with Mama and Daddy an' doin' all the talkin' who was home more and I said Mama so that's who he said I had to live with," Joanna replied.

"I'm glad we turned him into the Atlanta DA's office," Rhymer muttered to Pike who nodded in agreement. "Joanna, he should have asked you who you were closer to and who you wanted to live with, not who was home more. And that should have been done just the two of you and possibly a stenographer to take notes, in his chambers, if there wasn't a recording unit available. You won't get asked in front of anyone but the judge this time. It's been standard procedure for centuries to do it that way so that kids don't have the chance to be influenced by one parent or the other or their lawyers," Rhymer explained, disgusted at how far the law had been stretched in this case.

"Doctor, I got the final report back from Mississippi on your former in-laws," Rhymer continued. "It seems that Beauregard Darnel lost most of his money right about the time that your ex-wife's behavior changed. And that she was sending all the money she could to help him. He'd also been living slightly beyond his means for a number of years going back to before your marriage; his creditors finally caught up with him at that point. He managed to avoid any major trouble by paying most of them off, but it wasn't until after your divorce that he finally managed to pay the last of them off.

"Also the investigator found out that the story that went around down there was that she caught you cheating," Rhymer said watching as McCoy's scowl deepened.

"Why that no good lyin'-" McCoy managed to stop himself before he actually started swearing but everyone knew what he wanted to say and were thinking along the same lines. "He never liked that I married his 'precious little girl', so I'm not really surprised," he added after a couple minutes when he could speak coherently.

"The facts are correct other than the blame being switched," Rhymer continued. "Other than a couple of final reports that need to come in, we are looking at a fairly open and shut pair of cases. I will be meeting with each of you and a few others over the next week or so to go over your testimonies and prepare you for what to expect. But I believe that you can relax a bit for the next week and enjoy yourselves."

"The Admiralty is working to keep this as quiet as possible, but please take care. Yesterday The Atlanta Constitution ran a brief note that Victor Donovan and an unnamed woman had been arrested for abuse and divorce fraud. The only problem is that they mentioned the name of the attorneys representing both of them, so it won't be too long before they get her name and possibly figure out the connection to you Bones. Thankfully they didn't say anything about assaulting Starfleet Officers, or we'd be in real trouble," Pike informed them gravely.

"Damn it she'll love that, and try to turn it into a circus just like last time," McCoy spit out, wrapping an arm around Joanna's shoulders. "And if she doesn't, her Daddy might. If he's been sayin' the whole thing was my fault, there's nothin' to stop him from draggin' it through the media."

"Admiral Becket's already at work on that front. If anyone starts printing anything but the facts, JAG has been given the authority to go after them for it," Rhymer said calmly. "We learned a few things two years ago about the lengths that the media will go to where any of the seven of you is concerned specifically and the rest of the crew in general. We aren't going to be playing catch up again," he added grimly, before asking questions about what happened on the rest of their leaves.

Almost an hour later they headed to the Officer's Mess for lunch. M'Benga and Christine Chapel were already at one of the tables. Both of them waved the others over as soon as they'd gotten their food.

"I'm glad you're back, McCoy, I hope everything went alright. Mr. Scott told us what was going on." M'Benga said shaking his hand across the table as they sat down.

"It could have been better, but I'm hopin' that things get easier from here. We got things set up a bit today," McCoy replied wrapping his arm around Joanna's shoulders. "Chapel, M'Benga, I want y'all to meet my daughter, Joanna. Jo, this is Christine Chapel, my Head Nurse, and Dr. Geoffrey M'Benga, my head Senior Medical Officer."

"Pleasure to meet y'all, Daddy and Uncle Jim talk about you a lot," Joanna replied as both Chapel and M'Benga glanced at the Captain sitting beside Joanna, and talking with Scotty to see how he'd react to the apparently new title. They were surprised when he didn't.

"Don't look like that, you two, Jo's been callin' Jim that almost since they met," McCoy explained with a chuckle.

As they ate, details of their leaves home were shared with Chapel and M'Benga. Joanna quickly finished eating and sat back to listen to the grownups talking. She was listening and watching Chapel and M'Benga with the others figuring out where they fit into the group.

A few minutes later there was a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Pavel standing behind her.

"Joanna, I kin show you vhere to dump your tray or do you vant me to take it?" he asked quietly.

"Can you show me? I'd really like some desert if they have any," she replied eagerly glancing at her Dad. He was deep in a medical discussion with Dr M'Benga so she turned to Jim who was going over Scotty's thruster proposal in his head.

"Uncle Jim," she said breaking into his thoughts.

"Hmm? What JoJo?"

"Can I go dump my tray and get some desert? Pavel said he'd show me," Joanna asked.

Jim glanced at Chekov. "Sure, just there and back ok. If it's more than you can eat I'll help you finish," he told her grinning mischievously.

"Thanks. Uncle Jim, you're just sayin' that so Daddy won't get mad at ya for eatin' too many sweets," she replied grinning, getting up and following close behind Pavel across the now slightly crowded room.

They returned a few minutes later with bowls of ice cream for the three of them: chocolate for Jim, strawberry cheesecake for Joanna and butter pecan for Chekov.

"Thanks you two," Jim said as Joanna set his in front of him.

"You're velcome –Keptin," Chekov replied with a grin as he sat back down.

Christine Chapel had quietly watched Joanna all meal and had to smile at the way she, Chekov, and the Captain interacted. She knew that the Ensign had a slight case of hero worship where Kirk was concerned, and Kirk had a habit of treating him like a younger brother a lot of the time. So it was understandable that the last week would bring that out. The Captain's relationship with Joanna was harder to figure out. If she didn't know better she'd almost believe Joanna was his niece, since the nieces and nephews in her family acted the same way around their favorite aunts and uncles.

'I'll ask Nyota later, she'll be able to fill me in on what happened that caused them to be so close so fast,' Christine thought as Joanna attempted to give Kirk the last bite of her ice cream. Unfortunately he turned his head to answer a question from Sulu at the last second so the spoon hit him in the cheek, smearing it part way across his face. Christine had to duck her head to hide her grin at the looks of shock on both their faces; she heard Nyota giggle next to her and looked at her in surprise. She knew her friend respected Kirk but she still had issues with his flirting with her; so the unrestrained humor in her laugh was unusual.

'Yes, I definitely have to find out what exactly happened on leave,' she thought as McCoy turned to look at what was so funny.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jim, I thought you saw me," Joanna was saying.

"Hey, my own fault Kiddo, I knew you weren't gonna be able to finish," Jim told her chuckling as he wiped his face. "It's not the worst thing I've had shoved in my face, right Bones?" Jim added turning to his friend as he took the spoon from Joanna.

"That's true Jo, so don't worry about it. Make sure he knows it's food comin' at him next time and he won't duck," McCoy chuckled earning him a smile from Joanna and a mock glare from Jim.

"If everyone's done, I'd like to propose a meeting in my quarters. I want to make sure you and Chapel know what's been going on and what will be happening for the next few weeks, M'Benga, and this isn't the place," Jim announced just loud enough for the rest to hear, glancing at the empty trays scattered around as he handed Joanna her spoon.

A few minutes later they left the cafeteria headed for the small conference room/office that Jim had attached to his quarters.

Jim quickly dropped back to talk quietly with Uhura and Spock about how and when they were going to deliver the news of their engagement and the forms to Adm. Pike. A few minutes later his communicator chimed.

"Kirk."

"Kirk what in hell is the meaning of this?" Pike's irritated voice came through the speaker.

"The meaning of what Sir?" Jim asked puzzled.

"The meaning, Captain, of these blank Request for Marriage forms, saved under the names of your First and Communications Officers! If this is your idea of a joke, I'm not laughing and I'm sure they won't be either when they find out," Pike growled.

"Admiral, you should know me better than that.I need to brief my head of security, SMO and Head Nurse on what's going on. I'll bring Spock and Uhura with me in around half an hour and explain everything, Sir," Jim said.

"Ok, Kirk, I'll be here. It better be good," Pike replied shortly.

"It is, sir, I promise. Kirk out," Jim replied glancing at Spock and Uhura.

"How did he find the forms, Captain?" Spock asked as Jim patted down his pockets and frowned.

"Damn! The disk must've fallen out of my coat pocket," Jim replied a bit shame faced.

"Captain, how are we going to do this now without looking like complete idiots?" Uhura asked turning to glare at him.

"Calm down, I saved everything to Spock's PADD as well as the disk just to be safe. So we need to give him the finished forms and he should settle down. Damn, I was hoping not to make him mad about this," Jim said as he opened his communicator again and made the call to Lt Cmdr Giotto.

As they walkedChristine had to smile as she watched Joanna with her father. Just having her around seemed to make him relax and look more like his real age of thirty-three.

'Admit it girl, you've thought he was handsome, grouch or not, since you met him,' she thought shaking her head at her own stupidity at having slightly more than just friendly feelings towards her friend and senior officer as they entered the conference room.

The room was definitely crowded with ten of them but they found places against the walls.

"Ok, as soon as Giotto and Martin get here we'll start," Jim said replacing his communicator as he settled against the door to his quarters. "Sorry about the conditions, I'd move us out of here but I don't think my quarters are any bigger and we have walls in the way. Besides I managed to lock housekeeping out, finally, so I'm pretty sure no one wants to go in there; though I should still have all my clothes and stuff," he apologized, drawing chuckles from the rest of them.

Bones had settled in Jim's desk chair with Joanna on his lap, the other two chairs were taken by Christine and Uhura.

"As long as you don't plan on keepin' us in here long, Jim, I think we'll be fine," Bones said shifting Joanna slightly as the door chimed.

"Come in," Jim responded and Giotto, followed closely by Martin entered.

"You wanted to see us Captain?" Giotto asked. He was a slightly grey haired man of around fifty; brisk, no nonsense, and by the book in most cases. It had definitely been an adjustment getting used to working with Jim but they had come to respect each other. Martin was still a puzzle at times for Jim, but he wasn't a bad guy really. The two of them had managed to more or less bury the hatchet; though Martin would still glare at Jim if someone happened to call him 'Cupcake'.

"Yeah guys. I know it's a bit cramped, but I wanted to keep this as quiet as possible," Jim said, as he stepped forward to stand behind Bones and Joanna, allowing Spock to step out of the cramped corner he'd claimed and take his spot against the door. "I know Scotty told M'Benga and Chapel what was really going on the last day of the Memorial, but I don't think you know. Am I right?" he asked looking at the two security men.

"No, Captain, only what was announced about you, Cmdr Spock and Lt Uhura," Giotto replied after exchanging a quick glance with his second in command.

"Ok guys, I'm sorry you were kept in the dark, but at the time there wasn't time to fill you in. I want you to meet Dr. McCoy's daughter, Joanna. Joanna, these are Lt Cmdr Giotto and Lt Martin," Jim said resting a gentle hand on Joanna's shoulder.

Joanna smiled at them, especially at Martin thinking about the nickname Jim had given him. Both men nodded and looked at Jim questioningly.

"I'll explain in a minute, Commander. Scotty, I know we didn't ask you to keep quiet by about what we were doing, but how did you end up telling M'Benga and Chapel?" Jim asked looking at Scotty.

"Cap'n, they cornered me after th' ceremony and made me tell 'em tha' ye were at least a'right, They were worried when they couldnae find ye. All Ah told 'em was that ye were safe and were helpin' the Doc wi' a family emergency involvin' his daughter," Scotty explained.

"Ok Scotty, I'm not mad about it, just concerned as to how many people knew after what Adm. Pike told us earlier," Jim said. "We don't need to bring the reporters on our heads anymore than they might already," he added sharing a glance with Bones and causing Giotto and Martin to exchange worried glances of their own; each was wondering what their Captain had gotten them into now.

"Don't worry, I don't think it's gonna be life or death, but I wanted you to be aware of what happened two weeks ago and the possible ramifications," Jim stated looking around the room, specifically at the four newcomers.

"The day we left the ship, Bones got a message from his ex-wife that he was going to lose his parental rights two days before we reported back from leave. Thankfully it got sent or at least listened to earlier than planned. We, Bones, Spock, Uhura and I took the information to Adm. Pike and he called in a friend of his, Lt Cmdr Rhymer from JAG to look over everything during the memorials. Then Friday morning Bones got a call from his neighbor that Joanna was in trouble. We brought Adm. Archer in on things and headed to Atlanta to get her. Though why Archer made that stupid ass story up about Spock and I having the flu and Uhura being injured I don't know; all it did was worry everyone." Jim shook his head and continued the story leaving nothing out from the time they landed in Atlanta to their arrival in Iowa, with details from the others.

He skipped over leave and briefed them on the conversation with Adm. Pike and Rhymer earlier that day and the possibility of the media once again descending on the crew.

"No offence, Doctor, Captain, but when you decide to get into something messy you really do," Giotto said.

"Don't worry, Chief, I've told him the same thing more times than I can count. And she specializes in messy, worse than Jim really; but at least he isn't malicious 'bout it," McCoy replied.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. We might need you to come with us in a week, especially if things get out of hand with the media," Jim added.

"We'll be ready if we need to be. If I can have Lt Cmdr Rhymer's comm. info I'll get in touch so we can coordinate if things start to go the way they did two years ago," Giotto said calmly.

"Thanks, Commander. I hope this doesn't make too big of a headache for you on top of all the families coming on board," Jim told them both.

"Not a problem, Captain, that's what Martin here's for," Giotto replied with a nod at the younger man.

"Thank you both, we appreciate this," Bones said, as he set Joanna on her feet and stood to shake their hands.

"Yeah thanks," Joanna echoed copying her Dad. Martin was clearly as unused to kids as Spock, but managed the handshake with good grace.

"There's the info for Rhymer, Commander. We all hope this is as far as it goes, but who knows what will happen if they get Bones' name," Jim told Giotto as he handed him the information.

"They better not!" Bones said vehemently. "I've had my fill of those parasites for a lifetime," he added as everyone nodded in agreement.

"If you'll excuse us, Captain, we'll get on this," Giotto said.

"Certainly, you two have a good afternoon," Jim said as Giotto and Martin left.

"I think we all need a bit of a break. Have fun and I'll see you at dinner," Jim said as everyone prepared to leave.

"See you later, Uncle Jim," Joanna said coming over for a hug before following Bones out the door.

"You too, JoJo," Jim said returning her hug.

"Ok let's get changed and go explain to Pike you two really are engaged," Jim said turning to Spock and Uhura as soon as the rest were gone. "I'll meet you in the hall in five," he added as he headed into his quarters to change into his captain's uniform.