AN: Please excuse the inordinate longness of Chapter Five, and just stay with me, we're almost to the end of what will be my single longest completed work of fan-fiction. Please enjoy Chapter Five, and remember to review. I accept con-crit, but no flames. I hope my readers know the difference? Enjoy.

Part Four :: Chapter Five

When they arrived, they were ordered to beam directly from the Enterprise to Starfleet Command once all shipboard business had been taken care of and seen to. Families were notified ahead of time and had gathered to welcome them home. Jim wasn't expecting anyone to be there for him, he hadn't seen or spoken to any of his family members since before joining Starfleet. He'd been sleeping on a friend's floor the night Captain Pike caught up with him in the bar outside Riverside Shipyard, he hadn't been home in two years or at all in the three years since that night. He got to watch his officers and friends reunite with their families, watch Bones hug Joanna. All the while, he held Delta in his arms and tried not to feel disappointed.

"Jim!" Someone yelled over a crowd of people six or seven deep. Jim turned and saw someone in a blue duty-uniform waving furiously. He shaded his eyes with one hand.

"Sam?" It was Sam alright, but what was he doing here?

"Jim!"

"Sam!" he put Delta down and took her by the hand, "Come on, sweetheart, my brother's here." He pushed his way through the crowd, Delta clinging to his hand so she wouldn't get separated. Jim only let go of Delta to hug Sam, who dragged him into a crushing bear-hug.

"Are you nuts? Sneaking onto the Enterprise? I spent four days worried sick about you!" Sam pushed him away, "Look at you! You look terrible!"

"Tactful, Sam." Jim chuckled, "Ow."

"Damn it, Jim, I thought you were a goner for sure!"

"Yeah, let's see how far saving Earth will take me." He looked around, "The Council probably doesn't know if they want to hate me or love me. How's Mom?"

"Boy, you thought I was bad?" Sam looked over his shoulder, "You ain't seen nothing yet."

"She's here?" Jim cringed. Five years without any contact at all and suddenly his family decided he was worth their time? Not good. "Sam, there's a reason I haven't seen Mom in five years or bothered going home."

"She told me how much she was sorry about forgetting you."

"Yeah, well, she never told me. I never got a call, a letter, a visit…nothing. Maybe I cut off, but if she really cared that much, she would have taken time out of her "busy" schedule to see me whenever she was in San Francisco." Jim remembered why he hadn't seen or spoken to his family in five years.

"Did you ever call or write?"

"You bet I did! I even had Captain Pike carrying my letters for a while! I never got a single letter back from her, Sam, not one damn letter." He lifted Delta into his arms so he'd have something to hold onto, "I never got a call, or a visit. Absolutely nothing."

"She does care."

"Yeah, well, she's got a really lousy way of showing it, Sam." He hugged Delta tightly.

"Hey, Jim, who's this?" Sam gestured at Delta, effectively changing the subject. Jim smiled despite himself.

"Sam, this is Delta. I found her on Delta Vega."

"Oh, so she's not yours?"

"Nope, but I'm all she's got and that's close enough." He smiled and stroked Delta's blonde curls, "Looks like me, though, don't she?"

"Yeah. That's just freaky. Are you sure she's not yours?"

"Yeah, pretty sure." He kissed Delta on the cheek, "Delta, this is my brother Sam. Say hello." Delta looked at Sam's rank-stripes.

"Hello, Commander."

"Oh, she's a sharp cookie."

"That's my girl. What can I say?" Jim just grinned at Sam as he shook hands with Delta, "Is Aurelan here with the boys?"

"Yeah, they're around here somewhere."

"How old is Peter now?"

"He's four now, Alex and Jacob are seven and ten."

"Wow." Jim craned and looked for any sign of his sister-in-law. He saw them a moment later and saw his mother with them. Jim clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes, "Oh great."

"You can be civil, Jim. She's had it rough the last couple days."

"Huh. The first time in five years she actually decided to care."

"Hey, Jim?"

"Yeah?"

"I probably shouldn't tell you this, but the last two and a half years, Pike really cracked down on Mom and got on her case for not trying to get in touch with you more actively. He just got sick of her excuses."

"Pike?" Jim arched an eyebrow, "To borrow a phrase from Spock, fascinating." The closer they got, the better Jim could see his mother's face and he realized she was either in tears or between bouts.

"Yeah, and he wasn't nice about it either. Maybe you cut out first, but that didn't mean she had the right to give up being a mother."

"Oh I bet that went over well. Why did he care? And…why is Mom crying?"

"She got one of your reports about Pike and hasn't stopped crying since."

"I didn't…oh wait a minute." Jim turned around and looked for Bones, "I didn't send Mom any status reports about Captain Pike. Was it a medical report?"

"Yeah."

"Bones." He sighed, "Damn. Bones sent her that report! But why would he do that without telling me?"

"You'll see in a second here. Put Delta down, you're gonna need your hands free, little brother." Sam put one hand on his shoulder and he dutifully put Delta down again. What he got from his mother was completely unexpected.

"Thank you, Jimmy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"For what?" He was a little taken aback. What did she have to be grateful for besides saving Earth and the bloody Federation with no thanks from anyone at Command?

"You brought him home, Jimmy! You brought him home to me!" His mom was all over him, hugging him, kissing him, messing up his hair as she tried to make up for five years and half a child-hood.

"Wait a minute, Mom. Hold it." He pushed her back at arm's length, "Are we talking about Captain Pike?"

"Yes, Jimmy!"

"If you want to thank somebody for that, you need to see Bones."

"I already did. Oh he's such a nice man! I'm so thrilled you have a friend like him to take care of you!"

"Yeah, he takes care of me alright." Jim decided he would kill Bones later. He hugged his mom, "He really does. I'm sorry."

"Oh, Jimmy, don't be! I was the stubborn one! You made your choice and went away, I kept thinking you'd give up and call. But you never did. Chris told me it was because I didn't make any effort to show you I cared." Winona Kirk had always been a beautiful woman, even when she was sad and except when she was covered in bruises from Frank's abuse. She smiled sadly as she reached up and touched a healing bruise on his cheek-bone, one of many still healing, "I was too chicken. I didn't know if you'd want to see me."

"You got my letters, didn't you?"

"Oh, Jimmy, I kept them all!"

"But…I never heard from you! I never got a letter or a call, you never came to the Academy. I didn't know if you got them and threw them all away or kept them." Boy this wasn't what he'd expected on his first day back on solid ground. Not after five years of silence. A tug on the hem of his tunic got his attention and he looked down.

"Jim?" Delta looked up at him with wide brown eyes, "Are we home now?" Jim smiled and lifted Delta into his arms. He had a thing about holding her, it was a weird habit of his really.

"Yeah, sweetie, we're home now. Mom, this is Delta. I rescued her from the Romulans on Delta Vega after they marooned her there." He had to explain it somehow, his mother's eyes almost fell out of her head.

"She looks like you!"

"I keep hearing that from people. I think she's from a future timeline or something, she's definitely a Kirk."

"Oh, Jim!"

"Well, I wasn't going to leave her there to die! I'm not completely heartless, thank you."

"Go easy on him, Winona." Aurelan put one hand on Winona's sleeve, "If you've had a bad week, his has been worse."

"Thanks, Rel." Jim smiled gratefully at his sister-in-law. Maybe he didn't always get along with others of his family, but he always seemed to get along well with his sister-in-law. Winona was fascinated with Delta and reached out to touch her hair.

"She really does look like you, Jim. She's very pretty."

"Thanks. I kinda wish she was mine, but I plan on adopting her if nothing else." Jim smoothed the front of Delta's dress, another creation from Bones. The man was going to run out of replicator credits before Delta ran out of a wardrobe, he mused. They'd definitely have to do some shopping while they were stateside, or perhaps borrow? Regardless, there were a few domestic items needed tending to. He would deal with them later, after he'd slept in a decent bed and had time to process his thoughts.

"Captain." The calm, melodic voice of his First Officer reached him above the hum and ebb of external conversations and Jim just smirked.

"Yes, Commander?" he loved the expressions on the faces of his family members. He'd left a lowly, disgraced Cadet and someone had just addressed him as "Captain"? Boy had they missed something important!

"Sir, most of the officers have departed the area."

"Thank you, Spock. Come here a second." He turned to his First Officer, who stood behind him at perfect attention, hands clasped behind his back and feet spread just shoulder-width apart.

"Jim?" Sam hissed, "Is that a Vulcan?"

"Yes, Sam, that's a Vulcan." He clapped his brother on the shoulder, "This is my First Officer, Spock. If all goes well and the Academy Board doesn't eat me alive, he'll have to put up with me for a long while yet." Spock said nothing, just raised an eyebrow, "Spock, this is my family. My mother, Winona Kirk, and my brother Sam, and his wife Aurelan. These are their sons, Peter, Alex, and Jacob."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Kirk." Spock didn't offer to shake hands, but Jim almost died of mortification when his mother did something very impulsive and very Human.

"Oh, honey, just call me Winona!" she beamed at Spock a split second before she hugged him. Jim choked and bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood.

"Mom!"

"Sorry, sorry. Jim just doesn't have very many friends."

"I wouldn't call him a friend, persay. I think he just tends to put up with me." Jim hugged Delta tightly.

"Hey, pleasure's all ours, Commander." Sam stuck out one hand, "Anybody dumb enough to put up with my baby brother's welcome to it."

"Sam, you…!" he trailed off. Spock politely shook hands and withdrew at the soonest. Jim set Delta down and looked around for Bones, "Delta, why don't you and the boys go see if Joanna McCoy wants to play. I bet she'd like to have some friends her own age around here."

"Oh can we, Mom?" Jacob clamored.

"Please, Mom? Please, please, Dad?" Alex pitched in.

"Who's Joanna McCoy?"

"She's Doctor McCoy's daughter, she's just Delta's age. I know they're around here somewhere. Delta will know." Jim wanted to escape his embarrassing Human family before he apologized for them. Jacob and Alex wanted to play and run off some spare energy, but Peter wasn't all that thrilled about wandering too far from Aurelan, so he stayed behind while Delta took the boys and went to find Joanna. Jim couldn't remember if he'd brought down his communicator or not and groaned when he realized it was back on the Enterprise.

"Damn it."

"You may use mine, Captain, if you wish to inform Doctor McCoy?"

"Thank you, Spock." He took the offered communicator, hardly noticing when his fingers brushed Spock's for a brief moment before he pulled away and flipped the communicator open, "Kirk to McCoy. Bones, you there?"

"Yes, Jim. I haven't moved three feet from where you left me." He heard the silent "idiot" left unspoken and snickered.

"I love you, too, Bones. Listen, pal, I've got three youngsters heading your way, do you mind letting Joanna and Delta play with the boys?"

"Your brother's boys?"

"You're getting Jacob and Alex."

"No problem. I'll just add it to the tally."

"You're a saint, Bones."

"Tell me something I don't know. McCoy out." That was the end of that conversation and Jim handed Spock his communicator back.

"Well, that went well. You can collect the boys from Doctor McCoy in an hour or two."

"Thanks, Jim. They've been bouncing off the walls."

"You're welcome." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Now, if you lovely people will please excuse me, I am overdue a hot shower and a nap of the twenty-four hour variety."

"What about Delta? Will she be alright?"

"She'll stay with Bones and Joanna."

"Alright. Take care of yourself, little brother. Don't be a stranger." Sam slapped him on the shoulder and dragged him into another hug before letting him go.

"Same yourself, Sam."

"Welcome home, Jimmy. I'm glad you're safe." Aurelan whispered as she hugged him far more gently and kissed him on the cheek.

"Says my sensible sister-in-law. You're an angel, Aurelan." He kissed her on the cheek and stole a siblings' kiss before he let his mother fuss over him.

"Mom, Mom, quit it! Yeesh! I'm alright, I swear." He tried to straighten out the rumpled shirt and flatten his hair, to no avail, "I just need a shower and sleep and I'll be fine!"

"Okay, Jimmy. Just…"

"I know, Mom. You can go to Starfleet Medical any time you want to see Captain Pike." He smiled, "He'd like the company."

"Thank you." His mother let him go reluctantly and he took a fold of Spock's sleeve as he turned away.

"You and me are getting out of this madhouse before I actually loose my mind, Spock." He whispered, "Let's get out of here."

"You have a very…enthusiastic family, Captain."

"For the last time, it's Jim off-duty. And they're not enthusiastic, they don't know any better." He ran his fingers through his hair, "Jesus, I am so sorry my mom hugged you. She can go a little overboard."

"That is what mothers do, isn't it?" Spock shrugged, folded his hands behind his back, "My mother used to do the same with me when I was much younger, and even when I was older. I always resented her affection for the wrong reasons." Jim winced. What did Spock think of him, with his in-tact family? Granted his biological father was dead, but his mother had remarried a very good man without Jim's knowledge. He knew how he'd missed that little quirk, and hated that he'd been so damn mulish about contacting his family. Pike sure hadn't said anything to him.

"Jim?"

"Yeah, Spock?" boy, he'd never heard Spock's voice quite that soft, not in a few days anyway.

"Your mother is alive and she loves you very much. Cherish that no matter how much you would rather not."

"That was a freak of nature right there, Spock. When I was growing up, my mom was more interested in her new husband, who was a real jackass and a tyrant. He beat Sam and I, but Mom just wouldn't leave him. She would leave us with him and go off on science missions with Starfleet, leaving us for months at a time." He shuddered, "You know how I flipped out on the bridge that day?"

"I recall that very clearly." Spock frowned, more of a drawing-together of his eyebrows than an actual frown.

"Yeah. My step-father used to beat the shit out of me for no good reason, I've always been shy of physical contact. That's why I fight so dirty."

"I saw it in your eyes, Jim. You were afraid, you were angry."

"And you threw me off the Enterprise. All forgiven, by the way, you saved my ass on the Narada." He paused as Joanna and Delta raced past him with the boys in close pursuit, their shrieks filling the air as they darted between families.

"The children are happy."

"Which makes me happy. Boy, have you seen Bones lately? The man won't stop smiling."

"I was not aware Doctor McCoy could smile at all, he is so severe."

"If you've gone through half of what he did, you'd be the same way." Jim frowned, "I had the misfortune of meeting his ex in second year and broke my hand punching the wall of our dorm-room."

"Why did you react so violently?"

"I hated the woman for hurting Bones. He's my best friend, Spock, he's always been there to pick up the pieces and do the things nobody else will do for me. I saw Gemma Pierce and hated her fully and innately. You don't hurt my friends and then think you can play nice with me and I'll just take it."

"Would you do that for me?" Spock looked at him sidelong as they walked together.

"If somebody ever hurt you or tried to hurt you, they'd get their ass kicked so hard they wouldn't feel for two weeks. I spent my life getting kicked around, having everything taken away but getting nothing back. I like to protect what's mine."

"Is that why you killed Ayel and Nero on the mining-ship?"

"Yeah, that's why I killed Ayel and Nero. I had Delta waiting for me, I had to make sure she was safe." Jim reactively curled one hand into a tight fist as he remembered that fight on the catwalks. Spock reached down and took his hand, carefully uncurling his fingers with a troubled look on his face.

"You used to hurt yourself, but I don't know why. When I saw you on the Jellyfish, I didn't know if I was going to lose you." Spock straightened Jim's fingers with great care, running sensitive fingertips over the ridges and indents of his hand, "I learned something that day."

"Spock?" Jim had seen Spock run the gamut of emotions in the last seven days, but he'd never seen it like this. What was Spock talking about, anyway? Spock reached up and slipped two fingers under the cuff of his sleeve, pressing against the scars there from a failed suicide-attempt almost seven years ago.

"I almost lost you, and I didn't even know you existed." Spock looked up and Jim forgot how to breathe. Spock's eyes were dark, fully Human, as if he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be sad or angry. He'd talked to Spock Prime, Jim knew he'd spoken to Spock Prime. Jim curled his fingers around Spock's, heard the sharp intake of breath, felt the customary flinch.

"Spock?"

"Yes, Jim?"

"Ple'ma tsu rashaya?" He had learned Vulcan a long time ago on the racing circuit, but had never needed it until he'd met Spock. Without letting go of him, Spock led the way back to his apartment and pulled Jim inside. It was warmer than usual, but having spent time in Spock's quarters aboard the Enterprise he was used to the almost repressive heat. The heat, their exhaustion, and the simple fact that there was no where for them to be until tomorrow spurred a lazy cuddle. Jim moved first, reaching for the blue tunic and undershirt, pulling them off to reveal smooth, pale planes he had spent the journey home memorizing. Spock took his sweet time with Jim's tunic and undershirt, adding it to the pile beside the bed, later adding their boots and belts to the mix.

Spock turned off his communicator, activated an override on the lock of his front door, and went to the kitchen while Jim sprawled on the queen-sized bed. Spock had a studio apartment that made Jim's apartment seem really small. Maybe that was because Spock didn't have any walls like he did. There was one divider wall between the kitchen and the main area that served double-purpose as a bar and dining area, but that really about it in the way of barriers. The bed was sectioned off with opaque red curtains that were pulled back at the moment. Spock returned shortly with two glasses of light, fruity Vulcan wine. It was like champagne, but more tart. Jim liked it. He rolled onto his stomach and looked at Spock.

"This is a really nice place. Nicer than mine."

"How?"

"First of all, it's immaculate and mine's a disaster. It's also bigger because you don't have walls." He sipped the wine, "It's just…nice. Homey. I like it." Spock's eyes smiled for him. Jim finished his wine and carefully set the glass aside, curling onto his side to watch Spock. They had done a lot of this on the Enterprise, where they didn't really talk. Sometimes they played chess, sometimes they did paperwork, other times they just did this and relaxed. Jim sighed and shifted his angle. After a few minutes, he shoved off the bed and wandered to the bathroom, where he took a shower. Spock lent him a pair of sweatpants and he reclaimed his spot on the bed. It wasn't that late, but he was truly exhausted. Spock shaded the windows, opened one of them to let in some fresh air, and came to bed.

The warm body behind him lulled Jim into a sense of security that had him reaching for sleep within minutes. He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he heard a muffled knock. He thought it was his dream, but when it kept coming, he forced himself to wake up. Spock stirred sleepily beside him, somnolent and lazy.

"Go back to sleep, it's nothing."

"No, it's Bones. That's his knock." Jim sat up, "What time is it?" he looked at his watch. It was a little after 2030 hours. He yawned and got up from the bed, "I'd love to know how Bones found me here."

"He must have seen us leave." Spock didn't move. Jim pulled on a tee-shirt as he trudged to the door and pulled it open.

"I knew I'd find you here." Bones greeted him with a smile. He seemed far too awake for Jim's liking.

"Hey, Bones. What's up?"

"I've got the girls, did you want me to keep Delta for the night?"

"Aw, geeze. I forgot about Delta!"

"She's just fine, she had a grand old time with Joanna and your brother's boys. They nodded off around 1945 hours and I just took them back to the hotel." Bones grinned, obviously very much in a pleasant state of mind, "My parents absolutely love her, they've offered to keep her until we get our feet on the ground."

"Bones, your mother is a fucking saint. Tell her I love her and she has my thanks. So the girls get along?"

"Like two peas in a pod, you should see 'em. I'll stop by in the morning, you look dead."

"I feel dead. Thanks for coming by, Bones, I'd forgotten."

"Well no hard feelings on her part, she's happy as a lark. Get some sleep, Jim." Bones hugged him and waved as he went off.

"'Night, Bones!" he called quietly as his former roommate disappeared down the outer stairs. The bloody man was whistling! Yeah, he was in a good mood. Groaning, Jim staggered back into the apartment and went back to the bed, falling backwards with a sigh.

"What did he want?" Spock's query was muffled by the pillow.

"He just wanted to let me know he's keeping Delta for the night. His parents are willing to keep her until the Academy Board figures out what to do with us." He sighed and rolled over in the dark, "Which is the nicest thing of them. I like his parents, his mom's a sweetheart."

"It is nice to have a second family when your own leaves some to be desired."

"Tell me about it. I, quite honestly, am so tired I could sleep all week without moving."

"That's because you refused to sleep on our way home, Jim. You robbed yourself of perfectly good sleep, for what?"

"Paranoia, it's a wonderful stimulant." He buried his face in the cool pillow, "Ugh." Jim heard Spock stir and smiled into the pillow as warm lips touched his shoulder.

"Go to sleep, Jim." Spock whispered in his ear, "I'll be here in the morning." It was such a strange thing to say, after all this was Spock's apartment, but Jim appreciated the sentiment.

"Thanks, Spock." He smiled and turned his head on the pillow. Exhausted but content, Jim drifted off to sleep. At some time in the night, Spock shifted and Jim was aware of a warm body close behind his, one arm laid over his midsection. It made him smile and he drifted back into the lovely oblivion of sleep.