Chapter 25

by Starsinger

I think you'll like this chapter. Gary wakes up, and wants to see his brother. Oh, and some people from the Enterprise are hatching a plot, a plan, and it will be interesting to see what becomes of it. Not all plots and plans are evil ones. Don't own them.

Gary gasped. Bones looked down to see him open his eyes and look around. "Well, how are ones looked down to see him open his eyes and look around. "and plans are evil ones. Don'e are hatching a plot, a you feeling today?" Bones asked.

Through a dry, cracked throat that hadn't been used in two weeks, Gary managed to get out, "Well enough for a dead man."

"Oh, you're not dead," Bones told him. "But seriously, how are you feeling?"

"I'm…well. Can't move, though. How am I alive?" Gary asked.

"Khan, believe it or not. Made a serum from his blood, injected you with it, and voila! Here you are. But seriously. Are you feeling homicidal, power-mad, or neurotic?"

Gary laughed. "No more than usual. How'd you catch him?"

"I didn't," Bones told him looking over his shoulder before moving away to the other side of the bed.

Spock came into view. "You saved my life," Gary told him. "Thank you."

"You know, Uhura and I had something to do with that," Bones muttered. Gary gave him an eyebrow twitch before returning his attention to Spock.

"No, Captain, you saved me and the crew…" Spock started.

Gary cut him off, "Spock, just…thank you."

"You are welcome…Gary," Spock finally said.

Gary took a long swallow of water before he finally asked the question he needed to know. "What about Jim?"

Spock looked over his shoulder as another figure swam into view. It was Jim in all of his holographic glory. He had on a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt that read, "Admiral Marcus Sucks!" He was also barefoot. Just like his brother. "Jimmy! You're alive?!"

"Yeah, Khan shot above my shell, severing my connections to the ship. Bones and Scotty came out and got me. Mom, Dad, and Scotty have been taking turns being my Brawn," Jim told him. "I'm stationed here at HQ/the Academy until repairs are made to the ship."

"Who's going to be the captain?" Gary asked. He was afraid of the answer.

"You are," Jim told him with a wide grin. "In one year we start our five year mission." No one missed the wide smile on Gary's face as he took in the news. "If you'll excuse me," Jim told him. "My attention is being called elsewhere."

Gary laughed as the hologram faded from view. "Only he would get away with walking around here barefoot," Gary said. He watched as Bones and Spock looked at each other. "What is it? Is Jim not coming along?"

"Oh, no, he's coming along," Bones told him. "He's earned enough for a buyout."

"Battle pay," Gary said. "So he's coming along voluntarily."

"Voluntarily, hell! He was the first one to sign up for the mission!" Bones told him. "We're talking to Hypatia, the majority shareholder of MotoProsthetics."

"What about?" Gary asked.

"You can't say a word about this," Bones told him. Spock nodded. "They're donating a body for Jim to use on the Enterprise."

"Donating? Aren't they expensive?" Gary asked.

"Well, yes," Spock responded. "But, if not for the Enterprise's actions, their manufacturing facilities would have been destroyed. The Vengeance came within feet of their buildings when it crashed into San Francisco."

"How bad was it?" Gary asked.

"Bad enough," Bones told him. "When you're stronger, we'll let you see."

"Why…wait?" Gary asked yawning mid-sentence.

"I think you just answered your own question," Bones told him with a laugh.

"Not…sleepy," Gary said as his eyes closed.

Bones and Spock left the room passing Geoff on their way out. They walked across the quad and to HQ. They found Jim standing in the foyer with Admiral Archer, Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, and a little girl no one knew, but was in Sulu's arms. She was staring intently at Jim, as if trying to decide if he was real or not. "Demora, he's real," Sulu insisted.

"But I can't touch him," the little girl, who looked to be about Jo's age of six, said.

Jim smiled sadly. "This is still who I am," he told her.

"Who's this?" Bones asked.

"I'm Demora," she told them shyly. "This is my Daddy," she said leaning in to hug Sulu. Everyone laughed.

"I have a little girl about your age," Bones told her. She lives in Georgia.

"I live here in San Francisco," Demora told him. "So, I can see Daddy when he's on Earth." Soon, a young woman came to them. "Mommy!" Demora announced, waving at her.

"Were you good for your Daddy?" the woman asked.

"Yes, Mommy, very good. Can I come back tomorrow?" she asked.

"No, you have school tomorrow," she told the little girl. "However, everyone's invited to dinner," she said, looking around. Sulu was clearly on better terms with his ex than Bones was with his.

Everyone agreed, immediately, except Jim. She looked at him inquiringly. "Jim, your holoemitter," Uhura told him.

"I would love to," Jim responded.

Then it occurred to her, "Oh, you're the Brain!" She smiled widely, "I'm Lee Sulu. Not only am I Demora's Mommy, but I work for Motoprosthetics! I'm in charge of the complicated electronics going into the bodies we're building many of the shellpeople."

Jim gave her a genuine smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Although I'll never be able to afford a 'body', I appreciate your efforts on our behalf."

"But, you…" Sulu quickly shook his head trying to let her know to bring that line of thought to a halt.

Fortunately, another little voice broke the tension. "Daddy!"

Bones turned to find his daughter, his little girl, Jo, racing across the room to him. All he could think to do was fall to his knees and scoop her up. Jo's arms wound themselves around his neck. He looked up at his smiling friends, the hardships of the past few weeks momentarily forgotten. All was suddenly well with the universe.

Demora's appearance in Star Trek: Generations comes full circle. According to a behind the scenes for Star Trek: Beyond, Sulu has a daughter in this universe too. Her picture is resting on his console.