(Last Chapter for the Into Darkness arc. I hope you guys enjoy it and stay tuned since I am considering continuing with the Star Trek Beyond storyline. I own nothing but my OCs.)
...
"Whoa! That was too close!" Sulu exclaimed, his heart thudding in his chest as the Enterprise nearly missed getting sidechecked by the quickly plummeting Vengeance.
"Oh my God!" A woman sitting behind Sulu gasped as the U.S.S. Vengeance crash landed on earth with a tremendous explosion.
Sulu bit his lip and pulled up more on his controls. So focused was he on not following the Vengence's trajectory that he didn't hear the turbo lift until the doors opened and two pairs of footsteps furiously stamped into the bridge.
"Scan the ship for signs of life!" Spock ordered, more like snapped as he dashed to the front of the bridge, Kat close at his side.
Sulu looked up from his controls. "Sir! There's no way anyone survived a crash like that!" He protested until he saw the fierce and slightly murderous look in his Commander's eyes contrasting with the grief-stricken one in Kat's.
"He could!" Spock insisted, his voice cracking with the emotions he no longer seemed to have any sense of control over. Swallowing hard, Sulu slowly nodded his head knowing better than to continue arguing.
"Yes Sir..." He bent back over his control pad and hit a combination. Within seconds a blinking red indicator came up on the main monitor symbolizing where Khan was in relation to the vessel he had comandeered and wrecked on the planet's surface.
"Oh sweet Mother and Child!" Kat gasped as she looked at the readout and saw that the Vengeance had landed sideways on the ground with heavy clouds of smoke pouring from every opening.
Suddenly a dark figure in a long torn coat appeared from one of the windows. At first he seemed to be struggling to escape the vessel, then suddenly he was on his feet and Kat felt Spock tense next to her when they recognized who he was.
"There he is!" Sulu chimed in as if voicing everyone's thoughts. "Lock in on his signal and prepare to beam him up to the ship!" Spock ordered.
The crew started to comply when Khan suddenly leaped from the window, sliding at a perilous speed down to the ground below.
"Whoa!..He just jumped 30 meters!" Sulu exclaimed as the monitor began to beep like crazy.
Doesn't mean a thing to him. Kat bit her lip as she stared at the quickly descending indicator on the screen that marked out Khan's location.
"Can we beam him up?!" Spock snapped, his dark eyes flashing with frustration as he stared at the monitor with her.
Chekov shook his head. "There's too much damage! I have no incoming signal!..But it may be possible to beam you down Sir!" He proposed, carefully studying his readouts even as panic flowed around him.
Kat turned just as Spock met her gaze. A moment of unspoken confidence between them as if he were waiting for her permission before giving his response.
Kat took a shaky breath, thoughts of Jim, Carole, Admiral Pike and all the suffering that Khan had caused to them rushing through her mind like a flood as she stared back at her husband's intense gaze.
There was only one right thing to do at this moment and she knew Spock knew it as well she did even before she gave him her answer.
"Make him pay."
Spock nodded back at her and turned swiftly to leave the bridge, his right hand going to grab the phaser on his belt.
"Enter 3517 by 2598!" Chekov sent the order to the transport engineers as Spock made a mad dash for the transport chamber.
Kat took a deep breath and crossed her arms in an attempt to keep herself together as she kept her eyes trained on Khan's signal.
"All right stand by!" Chekov piped in as Kat watched Khan's signal move farther and farther away from the site of the wreckage.
A few minutes later, Spock's frequency reading appeared a few feet away from Khan's and Kat exhaled as she watched his signal take pursuit towards Khan's.
"He is in pursuit!" A cadet standing to the far left of Kat announced as if the others weren't aware.
"He's moving fast." Sulu added, brow furrowing slightly as he kept the Enterprise on course towards the Starfleet base.
"Khan's objective is to destroy Starfleet and the quickest way there from the crash site is down that road." Kat spoke up nodding at the readout in front of her. "The quicker Spock takes him down, the better."
Sulu slowly nodded his head. "Well let's hope he has what it takes." He said with some reservation.
Kat started to respond when a communication alert came on the main bridge intercom.
"Med Bay to Ambassador Kirk! We successfully removed the Captain from the radiation chamber. Do you wish to be present for the autopsy?" The voice of a female nurse crackled through the damaged speakers.
Kat felt nearly all eyes move towards her as her heart twinged at the mention of her brother. "I will be there." She muttered, still not taking her eyes off of Spock's life frequency monitor.
"Very good Ambassador." The line clicked off and Kat released the breath she hadn't realized before that she was holding.
"Looks like he's engaged Khan." Uhura spoke up from her spot at the Communications Panel. Kat nodded as she noted the quickly fluctuating postions of both Spock and Khan's indicators on the main monitor.
Come on Love. You got this. She chanted to herself. End this now.
"Whoa! They just jumped across an air taxi!" Sulu exclaimed as the readings on the screen spiked briefly for a moment.
"Something's wrong. He's struggling more than was anticipated." The lieutenant sitting on Sulu's left worried as he looked over the readout on the screen.
Kat shook her head. "Khan took on four of us back on the Vengence with little difficulty. Even in his current condition, he's more than a match for Spock." She argued, biting her lip and hoping with all her might that despite what she said, Spock would be able to apprehend their foe soon.
Remembering the look of pure aggression and vengence she had seen in her husband's eyes just before he had raced to the beaming platform, Kat was reminded of the way Spock had looked when he attacked Jim on the bridge of the Enterprise over a year ago shortly following the destruction of Vulcan.
If that moment was any indication of what Spock was capable of when pushed past the limits of his extreme self control, Kat knew that even with his superhuman capabilities Khan was most likely dealing with the fight of his life right now.
"McCoy to Bridge! McCoy to Bridge! This is an emergency!" The familiar yet frantic voice of the ship's CMO rang over the intercom, causing everyone to look away temporarily from following Spock and Khan's movements.
Kat looked up towards the main speakers with a confused frown on her face. "Bones, what's wrong?" She asked before anyone else could respond.
"I can't reach Spock!" Bones's response crackled through not missing a beat. "I need Khan back alive! You tell him to get that son of a ***** back on board this ship right now!" He snapped, causing a cadet sitting in the navigation's area to flinch a bit.
"Why?" Sulu asked calmly though he as confused as anyone else was. A brief moment of static answered him before Bones answered.
"Because I think he might be able to save Kirk...if we hurry."
"Khan's blood!" Kat realized, her eyes growing wide as she realized what Bones's plan was. It had saved her son once. Could it also save Jim...even now?
"Mr. Chekov! Can we beam them up to the ship?" Sulu asked, his voice wavering only so slightly as he looked back at the life frequency reading on the monitor.
Chekov shook his head. "Ah, they keep moving too much! I can't get a lock on either of them!" He said, frustrated as he wrestled with his controls.
Kat chewed on her lower lip.
"Then can you beam someone down to that location?" She asked, studying the markings on the screen as she spoke and not noticing the looks that Chekov and Sulu were giving her.
"What? McCoy needs us to get people back on the ship not off of it." Sulu argued.
"Besides you're injured!" Uhura put in.
Kat shook her head. "Khan's not going to expect someone else to come at him at this point. If I can beam down there," She pointed to the screen. "at just the right spot, I can take him by surprise and together Spock and I can have Khan ready for re-transport back to the Enterprise in less than five minutes." She explained her plan.
"All I need is one good shot." She flexed the fingers on her good hand.
"Aye! That just might work!" Chekov responded almost excitedly. Sulu nodded and turned to face the young ensign.
"Let's do it then. Acting Captain Sulu to transport! Stand by and set coordinates to point 3709 to 2600!" He ordered as Kat turned swiftly to leave the bridge.
"Ambassador! Wait!" Uhura stood suddenly from the Communications' Panel and Kat paused mid step as her friend and former student reached into her holster for her phaser.
"You'll need this." She put the phaser in Kat's good hand and gently closed her fist over the handle. Kat looked from the weapon back to her fellow crewmate and smiled gratefully at her.
"Thank you Uhura." Quickly, she set the phaser to stun and jogged out the door, hoping with all her might that she'd get to Spock and Khan on time.
This was their last chance to save the Captain.
...
"Ahh!" Spock groaned as Khan pinned him roughly to the surface of the air taxi. They'd been struggling for what seemed like hours though in reality it was more likely that only a few minutes had passed since he had engaged Khan.
His body bruised and muscles aching from being struck, thrown and slammed, Spock found himself grasping for the last reserves of his strength as Khan clamped his large white hands over either side of his head.
Eyes widening as the pressure quickly mounted on his skull, Spock desperately tried to push back against Khan's energy, knowing he could be crushed in seconds when something caught his attention through his peripherals.
A bright beam of white light shone on the surface of the air taxi just a few inches behind Khan taking the outline and shape of a slender person with human characteristics.
As the light cleared, Spock recognized the person as she held a phaser in the locked and ready position at Khan's back with her other arm clenched protectively into her chest.
His eyes widened in shock, but without hesitating Kat fired her first shot stunning Khan into releasing Spock. Turning, Khan saw Kat and started to advance on her his eyes blazing with rage when she fired another shot this time hitting him square in the chest.
Khan faltered slightly, but did not stop his advance even as Kat fired another three shots at him.
Taking advantage of the moment, Spock made his move and ripped an exhaust clamp from the side of the air taxi. Grabbing Khan by his left shoulder, he struck him across the head stunning him enough to wrestle him away from Kat just before he could attack her for the phaser.
"Spock! No!" Kat suddenly cried out as Spock snapped Khan's arm over his shoulder. Barely hearing her, Spock swiftly flipped Khan onto his back and took a wild punch straight at his adversary's face.
Again and again he struck him, giving him no time to react, willing Khan to feel every inch of the pain he inflicted on Jim, Admiral Pike and most of all on Kat.
"Spock stop!" Kat's voice rang out again and Spock felt her hand brush against shoulder as he punched Khan again this time nailing him right above the right eye.
"Spock!" Kat finally grabbed his arm, preventing him from landing another punch. "We need him alive! He's our only chance to save Jim!" She pleaded, looking straight into her husband's eyes as he looked back at her, both stunned and confused at her pleas.
"Spock, please trust me!" Kat continued, her eyes moving back down to where Khan still lay stunned after Spock had viciously attacked him.
Spock followed her gaze then he leaned over and grabbed Khan by the front of his shirt. Without hesitation he aimed a final punch just under Khan's jaw.
"Hurry! We have moments left!" Spock spoke briskly, grabbing a now unconscious Khan by his good arm. Kat nodded, put her phaser away and bent to help support his weight with her good arm, grabbing her COMM to contact the bridge crew as she did so.
"This is Ambassador Kirk to Enterprise. Beam us up!"
...
"Good God!" Bones jumped out of his skin a little when the doors to the Med Bay whooshed open and Spock and Kat stumbled in dropping Khan limply to the floor in front of them.
"Khan has been successfully apprehended. What is it you plan to do with a sample of his blood, Doctor?" Spock asked, his eagerness made plain to those around him.
Bones sighed and moved towards where Spock and Kat stood grabbing an empty syringe and needle from the table next to him.
"I'm going to make a serum with it and inject it into Kirk's bloodstream. If my theory is correct, the properties of Khan's blood should rejuvenate Jim's eradiated cells and hopefully restore the rest of his body functions." Bones explained, pushing up one of Khan's sleeves before plunging the needle into his arm.
"It'll work. I know it will." Kat said more confidentally than could be expected considering the situation. Bones and Spock turned almost simultaneously to look at her.
"How can you be so sure?" Spock asked, eyeing his wife through his peripherals. Kat took a deep breath.
"Because...because I've seen it work. Once." Bones pulled the syringe from Khan's arm and quietly motioned for a couple of interns to quickly move him into the cryotube they had prepped in the lab.
"When?" Spock asked, his attention never moving from Kat while Bones worked to quickly mix the medicine for Jim. Kat looked up, her gaze falling first briefly on Bones then to her husband.
"Spock?..Bones? I think it's time I tell you the truth about...how Greysam got well." She started.
...
"Captain we're losing shields!...Is he all right?...Your Father was Captain for twelve minutes...I dare you to do better..better..better..."
"Ah, you're awake finally." Bones muttered half to himself as he walked over to check on his patient. Jim blinked as his vision cleared and he saw the clean white uniform his friend was wearing as he picked up a small hand held scanner and placed it by his right temple.
"Wha?..." Jim groggily tried to sit up in the bed he was laying in until he realized that he was not in a biobed on the Enterprise.
"Ah ah! Not so soon you idiot. Your body's still trying to recuperate. Stay still. I'm just going to get your vitals." Bones reprimanded, keying something into a PADD as he continued running his scanner.
Jim furrowed his brows in confusion as soft murmuring voices spoke barely audibly from some corner of the room he was in.
"Rucuperate? What do you...?...I mean aren't I-?" Jim asked just as a noise that sounded like a baby fussing hit his ears briefly.
"Oh don't be so melodramatic. You were only barely dead. It's the transfusion really that took its toll on you." Bones interrupted, giving Jim a grim look before returning his attention to his PADD again.
"Transfusion?" Jim asked as Bones took his pulse count and recorded it into his records. The Doctor only nodded his head in response.
"Yeah, your cells were heavily eradiated when we got you out of that oven. We had no choice." He sighed as he looked up to check something on one of the monitors above his head.
When Jim continued to look confused, Bones rolled his eyes as if Jim were missing the most obvious thing in the universe.
"Khan's blood. After we got him back into custody, I took another blood sample and synthesized a serum with it not unlike the one I was going to make with your sister's and Spock's blood samples to save your nephew's life until he made his miraculous recovery. Anyway, it seems the transfusion was a success. Your vitals are coming along remarkably."
Bones closed his PADD and was about to step away when another thought suddenly occured to him. "You're not...having any homicidal thoughts are you? Any sense of...power hungry...manical or...despondent feelings you can't explain?" He asked, making Jim chuckle a bit since Bones seemed genuinely worried that Jim's answer might be yes.
"Not as of right now...Thank you though Bones...You know for saving me." He said true gratitude shining in his eyes as Bones grunted a reply and turned to put away a few of his tools.
"How'd you do it? Get Khan I mean." Jim asked, remembering how easily Khan had taken down himself, Kat and Scott back on the Vengence.
Even though Bones was far from helpless, Jim knew it must have taken some genius plan for the Doctor to be able to draw more blood from someone as volatile as Khan.
"Oh I didn't." Bones answered smoothly just as the sound of a door hissing open and closed sounded from somewhere behind him.
Jim craned his neck a little to look around Bones until his eyes landed on Spock who was standing in a slightly dimly lit area near the door.
Meeting his gaze, Spock came forward slowly until he was standing in the light that streamed from the windows on the opposite side of the room.
"Captain, you are looking remarkably improved." He said approvingly as if he were praising Jim for getting a high grade on an exam.
Jim nodded his head. "Thanks to you. You saved my life." He said gratefully.
"I did not do it alone Captain." Spock raised his chin slightly. "Had it not been for Katarina's timely assistance our current circumstances would be drastically different." He said steadily.
"Don't forget. I mixed the serum that actually reversed the effect of the radiation poisoning." Bones put in, looking up from his PADD.
Jim inclined an eyebrow at him.
"Is that right? Where is Kat? Thought she'd be in here crying or something." He smirked wryly, looking up to see Spock's usual unreadable expression.
"She left presently to nurse the baby. She did not wish to disturb you, but she will rejoin us shortly." Spock responded, the barest hint of smile on his face.
Jim smiled too. "Oh yeah the baby...how's he doing? Was he happy to see you guys?" He asked, relaxing back into sheets of his medical bed.
Spock nodded in a positive and confirmative way. "He is well. Since we returned to earth, Kat and I have been spending mass quantities of time with Greysam whilst waiting for you to make a full recovery." He responded as if he were making a field report on a new uncharted planet.
Jim felt his smile widen into a full on grin. "That's great...And now thanks to you guys, I can stick around and watch him grow up too." He lay back against his pillow and shut his eyes briefly.
Spock started to nod when the door hissed open again behind him. He and Jim both turned to see who it was and Jim smiled again when he saw his sister walk in with a sleeping baby cuddled close to her chest.
Kat froze for a second when she saw Jim was awake, then she returned his smile. "Hey." She approached the bedside, gently patting Greysam on his back.
"What's up?" Jim responded, his gaze moving from Kat to the baby then back again. Kat shrugged a shoulder.
"Grey fell asleep while eating." She lovingly cuddled her little son for a second then returned her attention to her brother. "How are you feeling?"
Jim chuckled. "Better, thanks to you guys." He looked from Kat to Spock and back again. "Bones said you guys took down Khan."
Kat and Spock briefly exchanged glances. "It was nothing." Kat tried to shrug it off, but Jim shook his head. "If there's anything I can do...you know to repay you two, let me know."
Spock and Kat exchanged another look at this. "Actually Jim, there is a special request which Katarina and I wish to make. We have already received permission from Starfleet Command conditional upon your agreement on the arrangement." Spock responded steadily.
Jim raised an eyebrow at that, particularly at Spock's use of his first name, which he did only on occasion since Vulcans did not usually address people by their informal titles unless it was their life mate. Especially when that person outranked them in any way.
"Oh yeah? What can I do for you guys?"
...
(One Year Later)
There will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop them, we risk awakening the same evil in ourselves.
Our first instinct is to take revenge for those we love who are taken from us.
But that's not who we are.
We are here today to re-christian the U.S.S. Enterprise and to honor those who had lost their lives, nearly one year ago.
"Spock? Have you seen Grey's favorite pacifier? I think he dropped it while I was putting him to sleep and I can't find it anywhere." Kat's voice echoed across the little apartment as she and Spock made ready to rejoin Jim and the rest of their crew on a new five year mission they'd been assigned.
This time however, the Enterprise would have an additional passenger aboard for the mission as well as a new crew mate.
When Christopher Pike gave me his ship, he had me recite the Captain's Oath. Words I didn't appreciate at the time. Now I see them as a call for us to remember who we once were and who we must be again.
"Here it is." Spock bent and carefully picked up the small plastic object, moving towards the kitchen to clean it before giving it back to his wife.
"We should hurry. The Captain said for us to board the Enterprise no later than 0300. We have less than half an hour." Spock continued, walking out of the kitchen and towards the bedroom where Kat was pulling a shirt on over their now one year old son's head.
"We're almost ready." Kat responded as she pulled Grey's arms through the sleeves of the shirt. "What do you think? Think it'll make an impression for his first day on the Enterprise?" Kat asked turning towards her husband as he put the pacifier in the bag Kat had packed for the baby.
And those words...
"I believe it will. Jim will especially appreciate it since it is the gift he gave to the boy." Spock nodded, smiling a bit as he watched his son make soft unintelligible noises whilst cramming his fist into his mouth.
Kat chuckled and reached to pick him up from the bed. "Well, that's everything then. Did you get the pacifier?" She bent awkwardly to grab their bags with Grey balanced on her hip.
Spock moved quickly to grab the larger of the bags. "I did. I placed it inside the front pocket of Selek's bag." He responded, using his son's Vulcan name this time.
Kat carefully adjusted her arms around the baby. "Great. Let's get going then, or Jim will never let us hear the end of it." She grinned at her husband.
Spock nodded and looked down at Greysam again. With his free hand, he gently stroked the top of his head close to the tip of one of his pointed ears.
Greysam met his gaze then and held out his chubby little arms to Spock, making a sound as if asking for his Father to hold him.
Kat noticed and smiled happily down at him before turning back towards Spock. "Want to trade?" She asked, nodding at the bag in Spock's other hand.
Spock inclined his head towards her. "I would be glad to." He said, lowering the bag he had been holding back to the floor and holding out his hands to take the baby from his wife.
Kat happily passed Grey to him and the child nestled happily into Spock's chest. "Da-Da." He burbled, slipping his thumb into his mouth as Spock gently wrapped his arms around him.
Spock's eyes widened when he heard his son's murmuring. Kat gasped softly.
Space...the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.
Her five year mission to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.
...
"Captain on the bridge!" Chekov called as Jim entered through the brand new doors to the brand new bridge of the new Enterprise.
Jim grinned as he stepped in and looked around at his crew who were all already seated in their respective stations all around the bridge. All except for...
"It's hard to get out once you've had a taste. Isn't that right, Mr. Sulu?" Jim's grin widened as he approached the Captain's chair where Sulu had been sitting.
Upon seeing Jim arriving, Sulu hopped up and smiled sheepishly at the much coveted seat. "Captain does have a nice ring to it." He looked up at his Captain and backed respectfully away towards his own spot in the pilot's seat.
"It's all yours Sir." Jim nodded gratefully at him. "Thank you. Mr. Scott? How's our core?" He asked, hitting a button on the arm of the Captain's chair to COMM the engineering deck.
"Purring like a kitten Captain. She's ready for a long journey." Scott responded readily, sounding quite pleased and ready to begin their new journey.
"Excellent!" Jim hopped back off the Captain's podium like an excited little kid, nearly bumping into Bones who had joined the crew on the bridge to witness the first take off for the new ship.
"Come on Bones! It's going to be fun!" Jim clapped him in the shoulder.
The Doctor however, seemed less than eager about it given his history with space sickness. "Five years in space...God help me." He sighed, clenching his jaw as he stared straight ahead at the ship's main monitor.
"Dr. Marcus!" Jim continued cheerfully, stopping to speak to his newest science officer. Carole turned to meet his gaze and Jim paused for a second, caught off guard by the slight sparkle in her light blue eyes.
"Uh, I'm glad you could be a part of the family." He nodded as the woman's expression curved into a warm smile. "It's good to have a family again...Jim." She responded, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.
Jim smiled back then turned towards the Commander's station. When he saw that the station was empty, he looked towards the communications panel and frowned slightly.
"Mr. Sulu?" He called back to his helmsman.
"Yes Captain?"
"Where are Commander Spock and Ambassador Kirk? It's not like them to be late for take off." Jim folded his arms across his chest just as the doors to the bridge whooshed open.
"Our apologies for our tardiness Captain." Spock reported in briskly, bending to put Greysam down on the floor as he and Kat hastily entered the bridge together.
"Grey learned another word today and we kind of had a moment before we realized we were going to miss take off." Kat added on, looking down on her son with adoration in her eyes.
Jim grinned as he watched his toddler nephew begin waddling his way around the bridge on his short unsteady legs.
"It's no problem. What did he say? I see he's wearing my birthday present." He asked, watching as the baby wandered first up to Uhura who smiled lovingly at him, then towards the front of the bridge where Sulu was wearing a shirt that was basically a tiny replica of a starfleet uniform tunic.
"Dada. You should have seen Spock's face when he said it." Kat answered, watching with both amusement and affection as Sulu turned and scooped Greysam up in the way a playful uncle might.
The baby giggled as Sulu proceeded to "make him fly" through the air while making noises like a shuttle engine.
"Dada huh?" Jim turned to smirk at Spock. Spock stiffened a bit, but anyone could tell he was as pleased as Kat was with this new development in their child.
"I hardly consider the child's burbling of those syllables as an actual uttering of a word, but nonetheless it is still a pleasing sign of development." Spock responded primly though Jim and Kat could tell he was happy and a little embarrassed at the sudden attention.
"Well after take off then, I'll give Grey a full exclusive tour of the Enterprise as a reward." Jim enthused, turning to watch as Chekov joined in with Sulu, acting like he was a security crew member giving Greysam "flight updates" as Sulu continued to "fly" him.
Greysam laughed happily as they played.
"Mr. Sulu, kindly return my son to his full and complete upright position so that he may rejoin his Mother and be prepared for take off." Spock ordered though his tone did not seem to imply much concern or disapproval.
Immediately Sulu and Chekov stopped goofing around and Sulu set a still laughing Greysam down on his lap. "Yes Sir, Commander." Sulu stood to put the toddler back down on the floor where he could walk back to Kat when he caught sight of the Captain's chair again and an idea popped into his head.
Looking down at the baby again, Sulu grinned then stepped away from the pilot's station for a moment.
Seeing what he was doing, Kat covered her mouth to hide her grin.
"Spock! A word?" Jim asked, nodding for his first officer to follow him as he walked across the bridge to a spot directly behind Chekov's station.
"Captain." Spock complied willingly, oblivious to what Sulu was up to even though half the crew was trying its best to keep a straight face and not start giggling at the sight.
Jim smiled again as he looked out at the vast open expanse of space laying out before them.
Five years...five years to explore it all. They could see new worlds they'd never seen before and meet people who were non-indigenous to this side of the galaxy.
The question remained however as to their first destination on this miraculous mission.
"Where should we go first Spock? Which quandrant or star system should we go to?" Jim asked, not taking his eyes off the view. Spock took a moment to consider his answer following Jim's gaze.
"Well Captain, as a mission of this duration has never before been attempted...I defer to your good judgement." Spock replied, a smile playing on his expression as he turned to resume his place in the command station.
He froze however when he noticed something behind him and seeing Spock stand still in his place, Jim turned too to see what had struck the attention of his first officer.
What he saw made him laugh out loud though Spock was only staring straight ahead with one of his famous mostly unreadable expressions on his face.
"Well!...How did you get up there, Little Guy?" Jim asked, still laughing as he went to pick up his nephew from where he had been contentedly sitting in the Captain's chair since Sulu set him down in it.
Spock shifted his gaze through his peripherals to where Sulu sat and saw him biting his lip as he attempted to appear busy with pre-take off procedures.
"It's like you said, Captain." Sulu responded, not quite keeping the laughing tone from his voice. "It's hard to get out of the chair once you've had a taste. Besides he was certainly dressed for the part." He added, looking up from his controls.
Spock finally found his voice. "Mr. Sulu-."
"Isn't he though?" Jim cut him off, sitting down in the Captain's chair with Grey still in his arms. "Would you like to ride in the Captain's chair with me, Greysam?" He asked, setting his nephew down on his lap.
Kat looked hesitant. "Uh Jim, I don't know."
"Just for take off?" Jim turned slightly in his chair to meet his older sister's gaze pleadingly as if he were a child begging his Mother to let him have a treat. "I promise I'll keep him safe." He wrapped an arm carefully around the toddler's small frame. "Please?"
Kat and Spock exchanged brief glances then Spock nodded and Kat sighed. "Oh all right. Just for take off." She gave Grey a quick kiss on his head before going to settle down into her seat next to Uhura while Spock took several wide strides to get to his own station.
When he got there, he and Kat exchanged another look and smiled conspirationally at each other.
"Sulu!" Jim carefully settled the baby on his lap and stared ahead out the window again. "Take us out."
"Aye aye Sir!" Sulu complied immediately, beginning the take off procedure. Soon they were off again headed towards new worlds and new adventures.
...
(And that's it for the Into Darkness part of the story. Leave me a comment in the review section if you're interested in a continuation of this story into the Beyond storyline. I hope you like it! :) )