Disclaimer: Star Trek is not mine nor do I claim to own it. This is purely a work of fiction.

Same warnings Apply.

Please read Part Five before Part Six.

Last part to chapter eleven. Sorry its short, its really only a lead in to Chapter Twelve and finally summing certain things up.

Chapter Eleven:

(Part Six)

"Victim to War"

There wasn't much left.

The two ships that had warped back had been two Federation flagships one of which carried the admirals. Admirals who were supposed to have been on board the space station for the arrival of the Enterprise, but who had truly never planned to be present on the station or near the station at that time.

Upon the initial call from Jim, Pike had begun to realize that much more was going on than what was being seen.

For a long time after the war, the Federation had suspected that the others had given up too easily. That it had ended almost too suddenly. Yet, with so much loss they were prepared to accept the win and bask in the aftermath as they tried once again to dust themselves off and regroup.

Without Jim, or without the golden boy of the Federation, this seemed a most complicated task for many. However, Jim had resurfaced months after the winning of the war. It was a glimmer of a hope that things were right once more. One call from Jim, from J.T., answered these concerns and brought with it a new reality; forcing their eyes open.

Kids…Jim had spoken the words as calmly and as precisely as one could without bending any rules. "I need to save the kids."

Pike knew Jim for some time now.

He knew Jim as a child, only briefly and because of his relationship with Jim's deceased father. He knew Jim as an adult, being the one who tempted Jim to join Starfleet, but more specifically he knew Jim as J.T. What he knew of Jim then was that he had never revered to the other survivors as anything but "my" kids or with a tone of belonging. Something that lacked as Jim made the demand.

He knew from the very beginning that Pike would understand.

When Jim comm'd the next time it was as a teenager and there was fear in his eyes. Fear that came with knowledge, and pain that came with recollection. "They want to fight the Enterprise. They know we're heading to Earth…I know this won't make sense because I am only a kid, but you have to trust the enterprise to protect Earth. Others may get hurt if you don't."

The admirals fought on how they would handle such a situation, because honestly nothing had ever happened like this before. Could they blindly trust Jim when he had been under the influence of Romulan torture for over a year now? Could they allow the Federation to risk so much on a chance? They knew now that Jim's warning had been right.

All it took was for them to look around and what they found was truth to Jim's words. Children all over Federation Space had been taken. Important figures were turning up dead or missing only to return with an outcry for a lost child.

Jim was aware that things were going wrong and he was trying quickly and helplessly to catch the Federation up to where they needed to be. Yet, it was all still too unpredictable to just leave the star base unprotected.

"They have the access codes, they have information on everyone and everything you think is needed to keep this station safe. You think it up and I know they have it. I gave it to them, because they need to think we are failing. They need to see us on the brink, and I need them to face off against the Enterprise. My ship will take them down, and all those ghosts we are fighting at the corners of space. They'll show up and you'll see they've been ships all along.

Klingon war birds, Romulan fighter ships, so many deep space members that opposed the Federation have all joined up with the promise of this new era. They all have hostages on them every single ship…you cannot fight blindly and you cannot just fire at will. The borders need a strong front and leaders to take action. Break the ships or alter the war, but save them or the Romulans forever continue their delusional plan to create a new, better, human race."

They would wipe out not only the federation power but the entire human race except for the children they had captured. Children of which were to be molded and shaped into a new powerful human race. The humans had obviously proven strong and resilient and thus respected in many eyes, but they needed alterations-they had grown too strong-and now those outer planets were working together to create this change.

Jim had stepped out before the admirals as himself but Pike had seen the youth in Jim's eyes. He hadn't fully returned yet, and with that brought premonition. When he spoke with Jim, the young captain had informed him of this and had left Pike stone-stiff.

"You gave them everything? What of regulation? How long have they known? Who all knows?"

"I gave them nothing for an entire year. Followed Star Fleet procedure and found myself no closer to seeing daylight, but worst yet I was stuck unable to do anything but watch children starving again. I promised to never bear witness to such a site, and could do nothing to prevent it. I saw Romulans strike a child who cried not in fright but in despair. Yet, still I gave them nothing."

"Yet, you claim now they have everything, but here you are."

"But here I am."

Pike looked up at this and flinched as he saw Jim curled over in pain and clenching almost painfully at his chest.

"Jim."

"Spock will be returning…He'll wish to know what we discussed. I need time…time for it to wash away before he returns. Believe me Pike. Believe me. "

Jim had pushed himself too far too quickly so that the Admirals could understand the desperation in his actions. He gave everything to his crew and trusted completely in Pike to fill in the gaps. To cover all the loose ends. Jim knew that they needed to act and quickly. So, with hesitation the Admirals and many of the men manning the Earth station left on the remaining ships to aide in the battles at their borders.

They, however, had not followed the orders to a tee and many of those they left remaining on the space station were captured and severely injured. Two of the highest officers were struck down immediately and killed without a moment's hesitation.

A burden Jim would be sure place upon his shoulders. If Jim ever woke up.

There were three things that had happened simultaneously after the end of the war.

One of the first things to have happen was that the twenty children, all of which had been brought back on board the Enterprise with the rescue party, were taken to sickbay. Here they found all the capable crew members, willing to help out. Food, water, bandages and all means of care were given to the children.

As they were getting taken care of a single question remained on almost every child's lip. Where was Jim?

Beside the children, the Enterprise crew was commanded to turn the ship around and dock her upon the space station. It had only just been taken back from the Romulans after the arrival of the two Starfleet vessels. As the Admirals, and their crew, went to fight upon the Romulan ship; the other ship and their crew had boarded the space station in a similar rescue mission.

So much had been trusted to Jim's word and many had to not linger on what could have been to realize that Earth not only remained but so did so many lives.

As all was settling, the Enterprise slowly crawled its way back to the station only just out of reach, and docked upon command. Here those of the crew were debriefed on what exactly happened and how Jim truly had been playing so many things behind the scenes.

Jim who had single handedly prepped his crew for an attack, a hands-on battle, and a rescue mission. Jim who had known all along that his crew could decode messages he could not breathe aloud and who could turn the tables when called upon. Jim who spoke riddles to stretch time and spoke truths to catch up. It was all in a means to control an uncontrollable situation, and all done with the cost of slowly losing his mind.

Which leads us to the last, and perhaps most important, event that happened during all else after the war ended.

Jim was returned to the Enterprise; to his home. Like the last time he had returned from the Romulan ship he had to be carried back on board his ship, unable this time to walk on his own. He was immediately taken to sickbay for tests. Here McCoy sealed himself away alongside Chapel, all in an effort to fix Jim. Spock remained idly by, unable to part with Jim as the fear of him disappearing once more hovered dangerously above all other thoughts.

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While all other celebrated the end of the war, McCoy sunk with the news that Jim was perfectly fine. Jim truly had been healed after the year of torture, leaving him with scars only from the most severe wounds.

Chapel left the room holding in tears, for there was no medical cure for this, and she couldn't stand by and watch again.

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Jim was fine. His heart pumped on its own, he breathed in on his own, and he lived on his own.

Yet, Jim's mind was lost.

He would not respond to light. He would not respond to touch. And he would not respond to sound. Jim was alive but for all intent and purposes he was no more than a broken clock; ticking without purpose until it just couldn't tick any longer.

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Spock remained idly by, looking at a shell of someone who had suffered so much to prevent a complete collapse of everything they had known and held dear. Jim had saved not hundreds or thousands of lives but so much more. Federation planets across the system were saved from the collapse the war would've brought. Above all else Jim saved twenty children from the Romulan ship and hundreds more from the other ships around the borders.

He knew that the Romulans and the other warring ships wouldn't stop even if he had taken the children and saved his crew two years ago. He stayed to protect his crew. He stayed to protect the kids. He stayed to save the Federation.

James T. Kirk was lost as a victim to war, and no one knew how to survive with this loss.

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Although, Spock didn't plan on letting things end the same way once again.

AN: So, yes I left the Romulan Captain's or rather D'Torak's death open-ended. Why? So that your own minds can cruelly smite him in a manner most fit to your desires. Cruel? Perhaps…but each punishment or death scene I wrote was not good enough…or it was too violent. So, I hope that your mind supplied an entirely deserving punishment upon the one who shattered our Jim. Please don't hate for leaving it like I had :X

Fear not…Spock has duct tape and super glue.

Hope you enjoyed. Also that we are semi happy that Jim is truly and rightfully home, at least to some degree. No more plot twists of Jim getting taken off ship again. I only had so many cards up my sleeves for this story.

Sorry if it was really strange or out there.

I still have a few more things in store.

On to next chapter!