Bunnybutton: LOL! Thanks, point taken. Henceforth I will try to keep you posted on the doings of the 'evil squid' or their underlings, in each chapter. And, thanks to your nudge, I figured out a tie-in to Into Darkness you should LOVE!

Everyone else – see what frequent reviews can get you? You tell me you really like certain parts of the story and I will see what I can do to magnify them. BTW, to those who have been asking about Mpreg, your wish is about to come true.

Many, many thanks to Trekkergurl, my Beta for the entire story!

Chapter 25 - David

… "It is time for you to depart. T'remel will have had food prepared and placed in a cooling unit in my Guest House. All who come to the Ha'Tshi have the right to stay in my Guest House as a courtesy." She stepped forward and touched them both on center their foreheads. "You young men, however, may find things there to be, hmm… quite extraordinary," she said with a wink. …

During their climb out of the cave Spock found himself contemplating Gatok's final communiqué with him. When she touched his and Jim's foreheads that final time, she planted a message in his mind and he had been working it out while they were walking.

Meanwhile, that touch had triggered a series of hormonal shifts in Jim. Under normal circumstances a s'treu would be triggered to produce eggs if he was mated to a male and the male went into heat. However, there was a mostly forgotten piece of s'treu biology: during times of population crisis any s'treu, even one in a committed relationship with a female, could go into a heat of their own in order to attract males for the sole purpose of getting pregnant to increase said population.

Jim was uncharacteristically quiet during the climb. He felt… weird. That was the only way he could describe it. Ever since Gatok touched his forehead he had been getting these rushes of pleasure that would start in his crotch as a pleasant warmth and spread outwards. Every time it happened he had to stop and breathe for a second before he could continue. His brain felt that familiar blur that came from being drugged, yet there had been no drugs. He was certain there had not been any drugs, but he really did feel pleasantly buzzed.

Spock reached the surface first with Jim several seconds behind him. Jim wasn't paying much attention to anything however and walked right into a Vulcan wall. Jim giggled for a second before he straightened himself. The he stepped up next to him. Glancing at Spock Jim said, "hey babe."

Spock raised an eyebrow and replied, "hay is a dried grass fed to both single and double toed ungulates when fresh grasses are not available."

Jim nodded and laughed before he said, "at least you didn't just say horses, you included all of 'em, cows, camels, and goats, all of 'em. You're a veritable equal opportunity joker."

"Indeed," Spock replied taking a deep breath through his nose, designed to be relaxing. However, his Vulcan olfactory sense picked up a new pheromone coming from Jim and suddenly the message Gatok had put in his mind became clear; she had put Jim into heat.

Jim watched as Spock took a deep breath then looked like he was about to say something but then, suddenly everything about his visage changed. To Jim it looked like a switch went off. Which was literally, what had occurred. A biochemical switch went off in Spock's brain when he smelled the pheromone that Jim's body was producing specifically designed to ensnare a mate: his nostrils flared to provide him with more of the delicious scent, his expression changed from puzzled to intensely interested, his pupils dilated until the iris of brown was nearly invisible. Spock shook his head in an attempt to keep his Vulcan control even as he felt his body reacting.

Spock took a careful step back from Jim and held him at arm's length by his shoulders, and said, "James, stand back from me for a moment and allow me to regain control." He was looking deeply into Jim's eyes while he asked to ensure that Jim, in his intoxicated state, understood.

Jim nodded and relaxed in Spock's grip, no longer attempting to push forward into his grip.

Spock took an additional step back and closed his eyes while he rebuilt enough of his emotional control that they could function.

Jim did as he was told and took the time to take in everything about his beloved on that day in that place. All of the dirt only added to his appeal.

T'remel had been sitting in the sun meditating waiting for them to return. When he felt Jim's energy returning to the surface, he realized it felt… different. He stood and moved so that he was facing the opening. As soon as he set eyes on Jim he realized what the difference was, Jim had been touched by Gatok. He was glowing with Her energy.

He watched their emotional interaction; however, as a eunuch he was totally oblivious to the sexual overtones. So, when he had crossed the near fifty meter distance, he spoke, "James, Spock welcome back!"

Jim's reaction was instantaneous. Everything about him became as hard as the diamond he had in his pocket. He put up his left hand, palm up. Looking T'remel in the eyes, Jim hissed, "silence" in a voice that would have been heard easily in the back of a large auditorium. Birds in the vicinity fell silent from the power of the emotion behind that word. T'remel had to admit that he was impressed by how well it worked. He had known that one day James would learn how to project, he was glad that this developed now that he had a Vulcan bonded to him to temper him.

It was another minute before Spock felt centered enough to allow them to get to the guest house. As long as he did not touch Jim in the interim they would be fine.

When he opened his eyes Jim was staring at him with concern. He put up a hand to make sure that Jim stayed where he was, as he said, "Ashayam, it is difficult at the moment for me to remain in control around you, you must refrain from touching me until we reach the Guest House."

Jim frowned but nodded. He then turned to T'remel and said, "take us to the Guest House, please."

T'remel had taken the moments during which Spock centered himself as an opportunity to "look" at their auras instead of their emotions and discovered that they were each surrounded in bright red auras with a sparking electric red cord connecting the two. A light went off in his mind; it had been a while since he had seen a mating dance. No wonder he had misunderstood the subtle tension he had misread when he first saw them. However, once that light did go off he was fully cognizant of the need to get them to the Guest House quickly. It was a good thing that it was nearby. He led them around to a path on the side toward the valley and began walking. Running parallel with them along the path were several long Gatok trunks.

"Follow that path lined with Gatok trunks. It will lead you to the Guest House. Walking quickly, you can reach it in less than five minutes." T'remel pointed to a path that, if you didn't look for it, you wouldn't have noticed it. "There is plenty of food inside. I had J'ndal stock it for several days in case it was needed." With that he turned and left them.

Jim and Spock walked toward the spot in the wall where T'remel had pointed. It appeared as though three large Gatok trunks ran into the rock wall at that point and had created a crack. When they reached it they realized it was actually a very wide crack that had been there for millennia, that the tree had taken advantage of. As they were instructed, they followed the trunks.

When they walked to the end of the crack it opened out onto the river valley side of the mountain, definitely high enough to be out of the way of floods. That view alone would have been worth the walk through the crack, but it paled in comparison to the vision in front of them. The three Gatok trunks came together into a grove of a sort and became the Guest House itself.

Jim had a difficult time believing what he was seeing at first. He shook his head and looked at Spock who had his mouth open in surprise. He checked the bond to confirm. "Okay, so you see that too," Jim told him.

Spock swallowed before he spoke, "if by that you mean the grove that is the house, yes, I see that."

Jim smiled at him, "good to hear that snark in your voice that my love! I always want you by my side to snark at me," He really, really, wanted to jump on his mate and it was killing him not to climb on him right then and there. So, he suggested, "um, don't you think we should go inside?"

As they approached they could truly appreciate the house. It was amazing and anyone who had not met Gatok would find their Goddess belief furthered by the awe that it inspired. After all, it was not every day that you found a house that was grown! It was Jim's understanding that there was a Guest House on wherever there was access to the Ha'Tshi.

The outside of the house was, naturally, covered in the deep cinnamon colored, smooth bark of the tree. No vines marred the surface and it had grown spaces for windows and doors, branches creating a peaked roof of a sort. There were other branches that sprouted from the ground and grew as proper shade trees to provide summer cooling.

Inside the house practically glowed with the golden color of the wood. The kitchen was to the left and a living area to the right, with an entertainment screen. In the kitchen, along the wall that was the front of the house, there was a counter with cabinets above that were all grown out of the wood of the tree. The sink, chiller and replicator were along the next wall, with an open breakfast bar along the hall to the bedrooms. There were three bedrooms. The master had a king sized mattress on a wood platform grown from the floor, and a lamp on a table next to it with a chronometer. The second had a queen sized bed, also on a grown platform and the third bedroom had two sets of bunk beds on opposite walls with the bunks grown from the walls.

There was not one wall or door that was not part of the Gatok tree. The wood was almost alit from within with shades of gold, yellow and white running through the grain with the occasional darker cinnamon streak. There were no decorations on the walls, for they needed none. The wood was its own decoration. It was breathtaking.

It was a beautiful evening and all the windows had been opened. There was a breeze that flowed either down the valley to the ocean or from the ocean up the valley depending on the season. That night it was flowing from the ocean up the valley and the air was full of the smell of the ocean.

Spock could hear Jim's lusty little thoughts leaking in through the bond by the time they got in the door and that had him prepared, so that he could make sure the door was closed and that they actually make it into the bedroom.

Jim leached onto him as soon as they entered and would not be dislodged, not completely. Spock did get him to shift as he moved from engaging the privacy locks to the master bedroom. If he had not prepared himself, they would have been on the floor fucking like rabbits.

Spock was grateful that the house was small. Quickly he maneuvered Jim so that his legs were around his waist. He found he was beginning to drown in Jim's emotions and pheromones. They were a very heady mixture; one with a greater guarantee of success in causing him to lose control than dark chocolate. So, to distract himself he counted the strides to the bedroom, making them as long as he could.

"One, two, three," Spock suppressed a gasp as Jim bit his neck before beginning the count again, however by then he had taken several more and had lost count. Guessing he started counting again, "seven, eight, nine, ten, elevennnnnnnnnnnnn, twelve." He couldn't count any more. Jim had successfully distracted him from counting by the time he started on his ear. Between licks and nips Jim told him how much he loved him and wanted Spock to fuck him senseless.

When they reached the bed Spock was growling low in his throat. He was so hard his dick hurt. Before he let Jim go he tore his shirt off, and then dropped his torso onto the bed. Spock then grabbed the fasteners of Jim's pants and began to take them off. His eyes were burning into Jim's, which were glowing white.

As soon as Spock had undone Jim's pants and started to pull them down Jim released his legs so he could get them off. He separated out Jim's briefs then threw the jeans across the room. Bringing the briefs to his nose Spock inhaled deeply, closing his eyes, mouth open slightly, savoring the scent.

Watching that display Jim moaned and he felt an intense throbbing, not only from his cock, but from inside. Spock opened his eyes and pinned him where he was with his gaze as he stripped himself. Jim held his cock with his left hand while he investigated between his legs with his right. His ch'la had opened and were now like lips, very sensitive moist lips. Investigating further he found his vagina and he moaned deeply when he sunk his middle finger inside. He brought his hand to his face, first smelling then tasting himself. "Omm, yum," he said.

Spock had opened his eyes and was as the teresh-kah (Vulcan - 'silver-bird', hawk like predator) watching its prey as Jim investigated the changes in his genitals. As soon as he had removed his pants and stood he took Jim's ankles in his hands to ensure he did not touch himself; he was already painfully hard.

When Jim put his finger in his mouth he couldn't stand it anymore. "Do not move," Spock commanded throwing Jim's briefs over his shoulder. "Your scent is quite different at the moment and it is quite," he paused, raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side, and made sure to emphasize the next word, "fascinating."

That caused Jim to snort, remembering their earlier conversation about the word. Spock got on his knees on the bed, still looking Jim in the eyes, picked up his legs and put one on each shoulder and began kissing the insides of his knees.

"Oh, God, Spock, that is such a tease. Ugh, owww," he finished when Spock nipped a particularly sensitive area on the back of his leg. Spock, however, was not in the mood for teasing, much. He dropped his head down for a taste; Jim's body had to taste better than his briefs. For one brief second he marveled at evolution's mechanisms as he gazed at Jim's external female parts open for the first time. There lies the greatest source of the pheromone produced by a s'treu in heat, designed to draw the male. No Veenan male would have been able to resist this long and once Spock dipped his tongue into Jim's honey pot, he was lost to reason.

And taste Jim he did. Spock began to lick the delicious juice between Jim's legs until he found the hole that was the source and began sticking his tongue in there. He fucked Jim with his tongue and tried to suck out any juices he could get.

Jim couldn't believe how good that felt. He could feel himself producing the moisture that Spock was seeking. He writhed and moaned, his hands carding through Spock's hair. Jim had been trying to stroke himself but Spock wouldn't allow him to touch himself so he was getting crazy.

"Yeah, oooohhh, God Spock, fuck me with your tongue," but he needed more; he needed Spock inside him. He was bucking and writhing into Spock's face, trying to get his tongue deeper, until he couldn't take it anymore.

He started to whimper and beg, "mmmm, Spock, please, oh, pleassse."

Spock lifted his head and looked at his mate. "Ashayam, what is thy desire?" he asked, his voice half an octave deeper than normal.

Jim spiraled deeper into his desire at that. It was the whole picture; not just the voice, or the formal speech, added to the overall picture was Spock looking totally debauched. Jim looked him in the eyes and said, very deliberately, "fuck me Spock. Please?"

"Your wish is my desire, K'diwa," Spock said as crawled up Jim's body, licking a trail as he went. He licked up Jim's penis, which twitched happily at the contact. His brain categorized the lack of pre-cum for later study. As Spock got close to his target he grabbed his own dripping cock and lined it up with his target. He dipped his head down and kissed Jim deeply, allowing him to taste himself as he began to enter him.

Jim moaned into his mouth and mumbled, "mm a virgin this way ashaya, mmm, just for you," as he brought his legs around Spock's back and began to pull him in.

Spock pulled his head back several centimeters so that he could look into Jim's eyes. He was unsurprised to find them open; watching as he slowly penetrated him.

When Spock was fully seated Jim was feeling pleasure from both outside from pressure on his cock and deep inside. "Move," he said as he bucked upward, and Spock did. "Oh, yeah," Jim said, "that's it, fuck me baby."

Spock pulled out and drove back in hard. Jim was amazed at the sensation. He muttered and cursed encouragement to his love in every language he knew. Every time Spock drove into him he hit that spot inside that was like but not like having him hit his prostate. It was glorious.

As soon as Spock's forehead hit Jim's the meld was instantaneous. Their usual pleasure during the meld was tripled. Spock found himself pounding Jim into the mattress because he knew that was what pleasured him the most.

Jim was flying high on endorphins and every time Spock hit that spot he got higher and higher. Suddenly, Spock's mouth was right there and they started trying to suck each other's tongues out of their mouths, clashing teeth and nipping in the process. Jim had been close and that was all it took to push Jim over the edge into an earth shattering orgasm. He ejaculated through his vagina welcoming every continuing pound that Spock could give him. His scream was captured by Spock's continued kisses. It was not long before Spock followed him into orgasm.

The world turned into a bright white explosion for them both and for an immeasurable amount of time, their souls floated, merged together as one being. They had finally gotten under each-others skin.

It was two more days before they emerged. By the time they left they had made love in the shower and the tub; on the table and the counter in the kitchen; and every flat surface that could hold Jim's weight in the living room. All the fresh food that had been stocked by J'ndal had been eaten, plus some of the canned food that was stored there 'just in case.'

Gatok had accomplished her goal; Jim was pregnant.

OoO

On their return to P'tar Jim took them for a tour of the small city of Umseta. Jim had lived there with his mother while they had stayed on Veenu, because there was a Starfleet Multicultural Center (where Winona had worked) and a University (where Jim had studied) located there and it was only 15.23 kilometers from T'remel in D'Matri.

Although Umseta called itself a city there were no high-rise buildings or endless blocks of row homes. In the outer area, where they had lived, none of the houses were taller than two stories and they all had small yards that surrounded them. Each house had either two or four apartments each. Jim and Winona had lived in one of the four apartment buildings. The largest buildings in Umseta were those at the University and the Starfleet Multicultural Center, where Winona had worked.

Umseta had served their purpose while they had lived there. However, the place left a sour feeling in Jim's mouth because it made him remember Carol beating him through their bond after she found out she was pregnant.

Jim kept telling himself it was just going to be a quick drive-through, with the one stop. He should have remembered that most things in his life never worked out quite that way. If he did, he never would have consented to Spock's request to show him the Multicultural Center without first thoroughly expressing his fears. If he had, they would not have walked into the Multicultural Center that morning to the cheery face of last person he wanted to see: Carol Marcus.

Jim swallowed, but stood his ground as Carol narrowed her eyes and her smile changed to a smirk.

"Um, hi Carol," Jim said keeping his voice as steady as possible. He had unconsciously clutched Spock's hand as soon as he saw her and his Vulcan calm was helping him cope.

Spock felt Jim's self-deprecating feelings as soon as he saw Carol and from the pictures he had seen in Jim's mind he quickly realized that this was the mother of his t'hy'la's son, the woman who had hurt Jim and then refused to let him be a part of his son's life. As quickly as the anger rose he squashed it hard; he needed to be in complete control, for his Jim.

Jim pulled himself closer to Spock, using their joined hands, looked him in the eye, and with a smile turned back to Carol to introduce him. "Carol, this is Spock, my Ama."

Carol's mouth fell open when Jim introduced the Vulcan, whose hand he was clutching, as his Ama. "You're Ama?" she asked, incredulous.

"Indeed," returned Spock with the raise of an eyebrow, head cocked in a posture Jim called 'the eyebrow of doom'. "And, you are the mother of his son." Spock took a step toward her, looking down at her, his eyes boring into hers, "to whom you have forbidden him access."

He took another step into her personal space. Carol correctly interpreted that as being a threatening gesture and backed up. Spock moved with her until she had backed up five paces to the counter and she was pinned. Spock never let go of Jim's hand and pulled him along, so he was standing right behind him as Spock growled at Carol, "that ends now. You will allow James to meet David today!"

With that Spock backed up two steps. Carol gulped and nodded, her blue eyes were the size of saucers. She shook her head and said, "I…" she swallowed and tried again, "um, I thought Vulcan's were a peaceful people."

Spock simply raised an eyebrow and returned matter-of-factly, "we are. Until something or someone brings out our more primal instincts, for example someone who has caused pain to our mate." He leaned forward menacingly, as he hissed the word pain, causing Carol to flatten herself against the counter and lean back.

Spock immediately gave Carol her space back and she dropped her head, looking at the floor. She found herself performing an intensive study of the non-pattern on the floor tiles as what Spock said hit home. It was very true that she had not simply hurt Jim, she had been intentionally emotionally cruel to him through their empathic bond; if it had not been for Winona and T'remel she was certain it would have been much worse. Considering all the guilt he had already harbored over Tarsus IV, what she had done had been extra cruel. And, although her Deep Reflection with the Ha'Tshi had been terrifying, it had made all of her own petty motivations clear. She owed Jim so many apologies she didn't even know where to begin.

When Carol looked up she nailed Spock with a determined glance before moving to Jim. When her blue eyes met his they were etched with sadness. "Jimmy, I'm sorry for everything," she started. Carol looked down briefly, then right back into Jim's eyes, this time there was determination in them as she continued, "what I did was wrong Jim. Nothing was your fault. And most of all, I had no right to say the things that I did. I was just so…" she shook her head and looked at her shoes, "scared of the possibilities." As she finished she looked back at Jim beseechingly.

Everything in Jim began to feel lighter as Carol apologized and he felt her sincerity. "Thank you," he said. "I feel lighter hearing that Carol."

Just as he had been ready to ask her about David, Carol looked at her wrist chrono and her face lit up as she said, "Well, I'll be. You have perfect timing. If we start walking we can get to David's school in time for his lunch. Would it be a good time for you to meet him now?"

Spock was suspicious at the suddenness of her request and of the timing. A child's school lunch was generally one hour in length. "Excuse me," he asked, giving her the 'eyebrow of doom' once more, "is there not a better time, perhaps when James time with David would not be constricted by the limited time of a proposed school lunch meeting?"

Spock's protectiveness of him made Jim feel a lot better about himself in the situation at hand.

That time the 'eyebrow of doom' caused a different reaction from Carol: she bristled. Frowning, she squared her shoulders before she replied in a clipped tone, "well, excuse life for getting in the way Commander Spock but, it just so happens that my parents are picking David up after school to take him to Disney Planet for the next week! So, unless you are planning on hanging around, the answer is NO."

Spock's eyebrows looked like they were going to crawl off of his head, as they disappeared behind his bangs. He was confused by Carol's defensiveness. Jim tried very hard not to laugh at his reaction, "um, K'diwa," he said as he laid a hand on Spock's shoulder, "you can't just get all protective and give people your 'eyebrow of doom' and not expect them to get defensive."

Spock turned to Jim, who had his first two fingers extended in a kiss. There were many things that flashed through Spock's mind as potential replies as he brought his fingers up to Jim's, he settled on asking, "eyebrow of doom?"

Jim gave him a brilliant smile and a little laugh as he explained, "you, Ashayam, have a way of raising your eyebrow, focusing your eyes and cocking your head that I started calling the 'eyebrow of doom' before we ever got together, that is extremely intimidating. Many people, like Carol here, can get really defensive when you turn it on them." He then looked into Spock's eyes very mischievously before stating very quietly, "of course, I think it's rather hot in the right situation."

As Carol watched their interaction she relaxed as it became clear that the reason that Spock had acted as he had was because he was being protective of his mate. She was glad that she had taken a course in xenocultural studies, she was not so surprised that she did not pick up on any emotions from him; the shielding Vulcan's utilized she could understand, but the strict emotional control she could not.

She put up her hands in a gesture of surrender to get their attention. When they looked at her she first addressed Spock, "my apologies for being so defensive Mr. Spock. This whole situation is rather sudden."

Carol was interrupted by a huge guffaw from Jim. "Sorry," he said, between laughs, "that's like," he took a deep breath to steady himself, "got to be one of the biggest understatements." Jim then looked from Carol to Spock and concluded, "and I thought Spock had that market cornered."

Spock proceeded to give Jim the 'eyebrow of doom'. However, instead of intimidating him it sent him into hysterics.

Carol couldn't help snickering; she thought they were adorable. Of course, she would never mention that to either of them. She placed her hands on her hips, looked Jim in the eye, raised an eyebrow of her own and said, "well, do you want to meet your son or not?"

Jim's stopped laughing and smiled at her so brightly she thought for a moment she needed to put on her sunglasses before they went outside as he chirped, "absofuckinglutely!"

Carol fixed him with her sternest mother look and said, "watch your language around our son James Tiberius Kirk!"

Jim stood at attention and saluted her, but he couldn't keep the silly grin off his face as he snapped, "yes ma'am."

Carol shook her head and smiled at him. She turned right and waved for them to follow her out of the building.

As she went to link arms with Jim, he pulled away, closer to Spock, saying, "I really don't think that's a good idea right now."

Carol raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. "What the hell does he mean by that?" she thought. So she tuned in her special ability and looked at their auras and saw two tiny shining gold spots in Jim's abdomen connected to two just as bright shining golden cords twined tightly together connecting the two men. She blinked twice in surprise then nodded as she said, "ah, now I understand. Congratulations!"

Jim could feel Spock's surprise that Carol could tell that he was pregnant when they were not absolutely sure yet. Jim didn't feel any different, except that his ch'la remained open, but he smiled and crowed inside as he gleefully informed his beloved, "um, Spock, Carol is an aura reader."

At Carol's proclamation, Spock found himself momentarily assaulted by his own emotions: joy, love and a fierce need to protect what was his. Jim had turned to face him with his hands up. Spock took the invitation and slowly slid their fingers together. At the moment, he did not care if Carol understood the meaning of the gesture or not. They stood there for several moments, ignoring everything around them, lost in each other's joy and love, until Carol couldn't take it anymore and cleared her throat really loud.

"Ahem." Carol cleared her throat a second time, that time she made it obvious, so Jim looked at her.

"Yes Carol. We know that you are there, but you just confirmed what we only suspected/hoped might be the case. So give us a sec, please?" Jim asked.

"Is she always like this?" Spock enquired through the bond.

"Pushy?" Jim returned and Spock nodded.

"Yeah. Kind of like you," Jim said in his head, kissing him on the lips before releasing his right hand, moving to Spock's side so they could walk on.

"Okay, so let's walk to his school and on the way, tell me a story about my son that will tell me something about what he's like, please Carol?" Jim asked.

Carol smiled, and rubbed her hands together because she had the perfect story for him. "At the school there's one boy who used to be a pretty nasty bully to the younger kids; until David got there. His name's Joe and he's in fifth grade, and he seemed to be amused by the fear he caused. I'm using past and present here because Joe is still in school, but David taught him a lesson and he is no longer a bully. David taught him to fear."

Jim raised an eyebrow at her and said, "how did a six year old make a ten/eleven year old fear anything?"

Carol snickered as she said, "he is a very clever, charismatic boy. It took him a couple of months to formulate a plan. He found out, through gossip, that Joe had an extreme fear of snakes because of a practical joke played on him by one of his brothers. So David got everyone in his classes who weren't afraid to go looking for non-venomous snakes. He got lucky and found a nest of pretty newly hatched Gith snakes around four inches long. He had previously watched Joe at his locker and gotten the combination. Over the next three weeks he was able to get the snakes hidden in places that would surprise him and freak him out. The first day he put three baby snakes in his baseball cap and turned it upside down so he would dump them on his head."

Jim was totally amazed at the plan: totally non-violent. Jim's first thought would have been to beat the shit out of the kid, even if he was bigger. David, on the other hand, at six, did something non-violent to teach the kid a lesson. Jim found himself impressed.

"Well… What was the result?" Jim enquired, gesturing with his free hand for Carol to get on with it.

"David had most of the male first graders hanging out in the hallway in the area of Joe's locker at the end of the day. Well, when Joe went to put it on his head the snakes fell on him and he screamed like a baby. Everybody in the hall stopped and looked at him while he flung one of them away like it was deadly. People started to laugh at him. So he started to yell. This caught the attention of a nearby teacher who came over just as Joe started to shake and really freak out as he realized that the other two snakes had gotten into his shirt." She paused giggling for a second remembering the situation.

"The teacher helped Joe get the two baby snakes out of his shirt and then asked those standing around if anyone knew who was responsible. As one the group of thirty six assembled first graders raised their hands!" She shook her head and looked at Jim, "he's your son, I have to say that. When Mrs. Stap asked them if they had a spokesman he proudly stepped forward and introduced himself, just like you did, with the Robocop after you drove the 'Vet off the cliff. And he told her flat out, that it was because he was a bully to all of the younger kids; that he liked to make them afraid. And worst of all none of the adults were doing anything so they were doing something."

Jim automatically put his hands to his abdomen wondering if the little cells dividing down there were going to wind up like that too. Then he remembered Gatok's vision and realized that they would, and he smiled slyly.

Carol continued talking while Jim was wondering about his little ones. "Mrs. Stap told him that the adults did indeed do something whenever they caught him. However, it appeared that Joe may have found a way to bully when the adults were out of range. The kids acknowledged that. Then she told the group to leave except for David. Joe wanted to know what she was going to do to punish him. She told him that was none of his business and told him to leave since he was once again composed. She pulled David into one of the classrooms and the first thing she did was pat him on the back and smile at him. He was confused until he became aware that she was going to become his coconspirator. She told him that if Joe didn't back off after what had just happened she would help him teach him a lesson. Well, he started in on David after that, but David didn't give in to him and got bruised up, but he never felt defeated and started carrying around a snake in his pocket! So together with Mrs. Stap and several other members of the staff they decided to use the snake approach after every incident of bullying. So, he wound up with snakes in his gym shorts, book bag, desk in the math class and his pockets of his jacket. The last one was in the tip of his right sneaker in the boy's gym locker room and it bit his big toe as he put his foot into it. At that point, all hell broke loose.

"Once a Gith snake bites down on something, it eats it, dies or is somehow released. But it cannot open its own mouth. You can press the jaw joints between your fingers and press them together and cause the snake to open its mouth farther. So, while Joey was lying on the floor screaming about how he was going to die, David walked over calmly, grabbed him by the right ankle and took the baby five inch baby snake off his toe. Then he walked around to Joey, with the living baby snake in his hand and said, 'Joey, repeat after me: I will no longer bully anyone because now I know what it's like to experience fear.' Ever since then Joey has been very nice to everyone." Carol concluded, pride in her voice and bleeding through her shields to Jim and Spock.

David Marcus was excited. Atrin (mother) was coming for lunch and then his Stin (grandparents) would be picking him up after school to take him to Disney Planet for the week! So, as soon as the lunch bell rang he made a beeline for his Atrin. He skidded to a halt ten feet before his destination however, when he recognized the figure standing next to his Atrin; it was his Ain. David had been bugging his Atrin about his Ain. There were some photographs of him, but nothing else, so David wanted to know everything about him. Last thing that she had told him was that his Ain was at Starfleet Academy on Earth. What was he doing here?

As soon as they laid eyes on one another, something neither of them had realized was missing, clicked into place: the parental empathic bond. For a full minute they simply stood and stared at one another, emotions passing between them.

Overwhelmed and with tears leaking freely from his eyes, Jim sank to his knees, letting go of Spock's hand in the process. Spock moved behind him and put his hands on Jim's shoulders to continue providing extra emotional support. He felt Jim's gratitude through the tumult of other emotions sweeping through him.

Carol watched her son while he stared at his father. In many ways he was a miniature of his sire. If you looked at photographs of six year old Jim Kirk and six year old David Marcus you would find very little difference between them in looks. David was also quite charming, people loved him. He was boisterous and protective of others, especially females. And, he got his intelligence from both his parents so he had a tendency to be too smart for his own good.

David was a strong empath and once the bond was established he was able to determine quite a bit about the s'treu in front of him. Once David completed his assessment, he launched himself at Jim; every ounce of him, one hundred percent pure six year old boy.

Jim opened his arms to the oncoming bolt of lightning, and was extra grateful for the presence of Spock's legs behind his back as he was hit with a small, blond cannon ball named David Marcus. "Ain!" he yelled in Jim's ear as Jim hugged him, laughing and crying at the same time. Jim found that he was too.

OoO

When the young Ensign James Komack was originally on the xi home world he was implanted with two eggs, in addition to the parasite in his brain. One of the eggs became the octopus like creature that implanted parasites in others. The other was a very small squid that was a communication device; through it he received his messages/orders from the xi. He would stick his hand into the tank in which it lived and as it would wrap around his hand he stuck one of his fingers into its mouth and the communication would commence.

Admiral Komack sat at his desk with a cup of expertly prepared coffee, staring out his windows overlooking the academy and behind it, the Golden Gate Bridge. However, his mind wasn't on the view, or the coffee, or any of his upcoming appointments for the day; he was very disturbed. The previous night, the message he received was more cryptic than usual. They wanted him to find "The Cunning One" to fight "The Warlord." He knew who "The Warlord" was: Kirk/Spock. Who the hell was that other person who was supposed to fight him? The communication had sent a picture but he didn't recognize it. He would need to search for it. But there was a big problem with that: he found out he was being surveilled. A month previously, video from his home security system had captured images of some Starfleet Intelligence people looking through his home placing bugs. They didn't find what he had carefully hidden and he removed the bugs by doing a "routine sweep" for listening devices when he got home that night.

For one second the thought crossed his mind that if he had not been an admiral he would have put his head in his hands and cried. Mentally he laughed at himself. The only outward change was a very slight twitch to the right corner of his mouth. Komack wasn't a stupid man; he realized that from that point forward that anything that he was going to do would require the utmost caution.

A/N: Please, don't forget to leave me a review! It'll only take a second of your time. And each review helps the next chapter…