Going Home
by Starsinger
Okay, back to nice and normal AU. Am I killing Pike off? I don't know. At this point the answer is probably. As much as I love that character, McCoy needs that push. And I'm not killing off Jo or Jim to give him that push. But, that's in the future. For now, a certain Starfleet Admiral has arrived with some surprises. Don't own them.
Jim heard the distinct sound of someone giggling. That was strange, was he no longer on the Enterprise? He swam toward consciousness as he heard McCoy's voice and another, high pitched voice respond. Then he distinctly heard Frank's baritone join in. Were they already back on Earth? Jim opened his eyes to find Leonard, Hannah, Frank, Penny, Peter and Jo all staring at him, with Geoff hovering behind them. "Uh, hi everybody," he said as he took in his surroundings. He was still on the Enterprise.
Frank ran his hand through Jim's hair fondly, "Hey, kid, welcome back. Ya did good."
Jim smiled as Penny and Peter climbed up in bed with him and gave him hugs. "What happened?" Jim asked. He glanced around to discover Captain Pike in a nearby bed unconscious. He didn't look good.
"Well," Leonard replied, "to make a long story short. Spock and I went on board the Narada, beat up some Romulans, took out the ship which unfortunately involved the creation of a black hole, ejected the warp core to escape the gravity well of said black hole, and it'll be about three weeks before we get back home. So, Admiral Archer came with some ships to take the Vulcans off our hands and the dead and Captain Pike, since he's technically still Captain, and delivered us three monsters!"
"Daddy!" Jo protested as Frank, Hannah, and Archer all burst out laughing.
Jim shook his head as he looked at M'Benga, "How am I doing?"
"You were out for three days, Jim, but most of the damage has been repaired. You still have some healing to do, and as long as you don't pick a fight with another Vulcan, you should be alright," M'Benga replied.
Jim sighed, "Spock. How is he doing?"
"Better than you are," Archer replied. "Jim, I've got a bone to pick with you. Why Chekov?"
"Not my fault that he was on Delta Vega where I got marooned, Admiral. Oh, you'll probably want to have someone stop by and pick up the remaining station personnel. There's somebody there who you'll very much want to meet." Archer gave him a strange look as he turned toward a console to give another ship those orders.
M'Benga stepped forward and started scanning Jim who closed his eyes. He was still tired and had two very warm bodies pressed up against him. "Jim, I'll let you go in a couple of days. Take it easy and report back here every day, not that that will be hard given your job description."
Frank announced that he was taking the kids to the rec room to feed them too much ice cream and the crowd slowly dissipated as Leonard looked at Jim. "Who is it? Who did you meet on Delta Vega?"
Jim snorted softly, looking around before answering, "I met Spock. A very elderly version of our Vulcan crewmate. He was shocked that I wasn't Captain."
Leonard shook his head, "Yeah, well, Nero was surprised to see me instead of you. Do you suppose that we were very different in his universe?"
"He looked at my wedding band and asked if I'd married Dr. Marcus. I've never met a Dr. Marcus."
Leonard snorted, "The only Dr. Marcus I've ever heard of is the daughter of Admiral Marcus, Dr. Carol Marcus."
"Then the answer is definitely no. I'm not sure I'd want him for a father-in-law," Jim said with a grunt. "Where are you and the kids staying?"
"There's a cadet who's a master of efficiency. Her name is Janice Rand and she's the captain's yeoman. She found the family quarters that were to be yours and mine, turns out, and gave them to me. Frank and Mom are staying next door in other family quarters. Mom's taken a shine to your stepfather. Can you imagine us related to each other?"
Jim laughed, "She'd spoil Penny and Peter rotten."
It was a long and slow trip home. Jim getting out of Sickbay was the highlight of the trip as far as McCoy was concerned. McCoy spent Alpha shift on the Bridge while Jim spent it in Sickbay with two very willing babysitters on board. At one point the toxins in Pike's system built up so high that Jim had to put him on dialysis. "I'm sorry, Captain," he apologized to Chris. "This is still the fastest way I know to do this," Pike grimaced at him, not saying a word.
Archer approached him the day before the made planetfall, "How's he doing?"
Jim looked up, "As well as can be expected, Admiral. He'll walk again, just not without help. There's so much damage…maybe neurosurgeons on Earth will be able to help him."
Archer sighed as he sat down across from Kirk, "He was supposed to command this starship. What are we going to do now?"
"Just don't give it to me," Jim replied.
