"At least you look good," Mitchell said as dropped into the seat next to her and turned his PADD so that they could all see a picture of her and Pike from the night before. "Happy b-day, Jimmy."
"Thanks, Gar," Jayme sighed. She held her hand out and he passed her the device. It was a good picture despite how uncomfortable she and the captain of the flagship are with being the fleet's dancing monkeys.
"How was it?" Gaila asked, sitting across from Jayme.
"It was a dinner dripping in pomp and circumstance. I got dressed up, I showed up, I listened to people talk, I ate, I hung out with Pike and I left," Jayme chuckled. "In that order."
The memorial dinner wasn't actually as bad as the whole thing at the Starfleet Memorial Wall that morning, mostly because she didn't have to do anything. Hell, other than the people at her table, she didn't even have to interact with anyone. It still annoyed her to no end that she was ordered to show up when all they really had to do was ask but she was a big enough person to let it go.
"You know this is rumor fodder, right?" Mitchell asked. "People are already starting to talk."
"We made it very clear that he's my mentor and my CO. If people wanna make a big deal out of us sticking together through all the political bullshit, that's their problem," Jayme shrugged.
"It's not like she could've gone with her actual husband. I mean, she could've but the press would zero in on that in a heartbeat and they promised the brass that they would keep to themselves. If the choice is between going alone and going with a friend, I pick going with a friend," the green goddess said.
"Especially if that friend is Pike," the tactical officer said, handing Gaila the PADD.
"Well, duh. Though, I gotta say, you do look really good. I like your dress," her Orion friend smiled.
"It's not a dress. It's actually a top and a skirt and, yes, you can borrow them. I think the dark blue will look good on you," the blonde said, knowing exactly what was coming next.
"You know you're the love of my life, right?" Gaila chuckled.
"I do know that," Jayme smiled. "If I wasn't married already, it'd be you and me. And maybe Sulu."
"That would be so badass," Gaila smiled.
"Hey, what about me?" Mitchell looked between the pair of women.
"Oh, please. You have Alder," Gaila giggled. "You lucky, lucky man."
Bored.
Annoyed.
Jayme was equal parts bored and annoyed.
First, these stories about George Kirk were getting more and more ridiculous as the night went on. Winona never did anything half-assed and that included letting Jayme know exactly who her father was. The stories that her mom didn't tell her in person, Jayme heard from the personal logs that both of her parents left behind. So, listening to these people change things and exaggerate and blow smoke was just fucking annoying.
Second, with the exception of his eyes, Jayme does not look like George. She actually takes after her maternal grandmother to the point of almost being a dead ringer for the long deceased woman. The next person that tells her she looks like a girl version of her father was seriously getting punched in the face.
'You are not going to assault anyone,' Spock thought at her. Again, she couldn't actually bring her husband with her, thanks to the admirals, but that didn't stop them from going back and forth in their heads.
'Girl can dream, can't she?' she thought back as she smiled and shook hands with these people that she probably won't see again for another 25 years. 'I hate this.'
'It is the last day, Jim.'
'Doesn't make it any less annoying.'
She was genuinely ready to bow out of this mess. Technically, it was after midnight, which meant that is wasn't actually her birthday anymore. The orders for her to run around with the brass technically ended forty-one minutes ago. The only thing stopping her from leaving was the fact that she's spent enough time with diplomats to know that is was more beneficial to stay. She was proven right about ten minutes later when she managed to pull herself away from Admiral Lei and heard something that caught her attention.
"We're tracking an anomaly near Klingon space. It honestly looks like a lightning storm," someone said behind her.
"When was this?" the man's friend asked.
"A couple of hours ago. I almost missed this to see that," the first man said. "We weren't exactly sure what to make of it. Stuff like that just doesn't happen out there."
That wasn't exactly true. Something about the nature of the anomaly and it's location tugged at her brain. She's heard it before and she knew she had but her brain wasn't connecting the dots fast enough.
'The Kelvin was investigating a similar anomaly, in that region of space, twenty-five years ago,' Spock thought.
'A couple of hours ago, so it was twenty-five years to the day,' Jayme added. That was not a coincidence. 'You have access to the telemetry array?'
'Indeed, I do. I will meet you there.'
"You better have a damn good reason for waking me up at two in the morning," Pike said as he walked into the room.
"And a better reason for why you left me at that damn party before that," Barnett said from behind the captain.
"I do, actually," Jayme said. "Kid, show 'em."
"This," Chekov said in his think accent as he brought the sensor data up on the screen, "is an anomaly that was picked up by the outpost sensors near the Klingon Neutral Zone six hours ago." The only person who knew more about space than Spock was Chekov, so when they couldn't figure out exactly what they were looking at, she woke the kid up and he was all too happy to help.
"This is the data from the anomaly that the USS Kelvin was sent to investigate twenty-five years ago," Spock said. "Also near the Klingon Neutral Zone."
"They're almost identical," she told the captain and admiral.
"With the exception of the ship," Barnett said, referring to the giant Romulan ship that popped up and laid waste to the Kelvin. "I mean, it's the same anomaly without a ship."
"Actually, sir, a ship emerged from the new anomaly fourteen minutes after it began. This ship is infinitely smaller than the one from twenty-five years ago. One or two-man vessel. Vulcan design, though highly advanced. Seemingly more advanced than the Romulan vessel," Chekov said as he watched the screen, his 'v' sounding more like a 'w'.
"You mean to tell me that somebody is out there?" the admiral asked.
"Yes, sir. Based on the heading and current speed, they will be in the Vulcan sector in thirty-one hours," the kid said.
"What's more, we think this person or persons might've come from the same place as the Romulan ship that destroyed the Kelvin. Best case scenario, they have answers about the other ship and why we haven't seen it in twenty-five years. Worst case, it's someone else after the Federation. In either case, it's in the fleet's best interest to take a closer look," Jayme said.
"This is why you left the party?" Barnett asked.
"Someone at the party mentioned it, sir. I know the Kelvin report like the back of my hand and the similarities were just too close for comfort not to check it out," she told him. "I'm not asking you to launch a ship…"
"You're not?" the tall man gave her a look.
"The USS Mizuki is on an intercept course. They're fifteen minutes out at warp four, sir," Jayme said.
"And you know that how, exactly?" Pike asked.
"I might've talked to Captain Robbins," she muttered. "She hinted that she might take a look."
"Might she?" Barnett asked with a smile before he chuckled and looked at Pike. "God, she's you fresh outta the Academy."
"I don't know about all that," Pike said but the look on his face told Jayme that Barnett was talking about something specific and her captain knew exactly what it was. "Maybe a little."
"Taking that as a compliment," Jayme smiled.
"It was one," the admiral sighed. "I'm going to assume that Mister Spock has already written a preliminary report."
"Yes, sir," her husband said with a nod.
"Send it to me," Barnett sighed as he looked at the screen. "I will establish contact with the Mizuki and I will let you know what they find. In the meantime, you should all go get some rest. I have a feeling that you're going to need it."
"Spock?" Jayme muttered as she reached over and realized that she was alone in bed.
It wasn't unusual for her to wake up without Spock, given that her husband didn't need as much sleep as she did, but something was off. Like really off. She doesn't know why but it felt like there was someone else in her head. Not an unpleasant presence but a presence none the less. She pushed herself up and left the room in search of her husband.
"Are you certain?" Spock asked his brother as they shifted away from each other. If Jayme had to guess, they were mind melding. The problem is that she still felt someone in her head.
"Mostly," Sybok said.
"About?" she looked at the pair.
"The presence in your mind," her husband said.
"It's just you. Spock can feel it, and I felt it through your bond, but it's not connected to him. I was trying to isolate it but I can't," Sy told her. "It's almost like it's supposed to be there. Sorry if I woke you up."
"It's okay," Jayme smiled. "Could it be something maternal maybe?"
"No," Spock answered. "We are careful and I already eliminated the possibility when you were sleeping. You are not pregnant."
"You and Bones and the sneaky midnight tricorders," she chuckled.
"You don't exactly sit still when people try to check you over," Sybok smiled.
"You… Shut up," Jayme smiled. "What do you think this person wants? This person in my head?"
"Nothing from what can tell," her brother said. "It actually kinda reminds me of your bond ten years ago."
"You don't think I have another husband out there somewhere, do you?" she asked, her hands resting on Spock's shoulders as she stood behind him.
"That's just it," the older Vulcan sighed, "the presence is protective not romantic but it still feels familiar. It feels like family. Our family."
"Well, you guys were right," Pike said as they walked through Earth Spacedock.
"Spock and Chekov usually are. I'm closer to seventy-five/twenty-five. What were we right about?" Jayme asked.
"The Mizuki intercepted that ship that emerged from the anomaly and there was a passenger," the captain told them.
"Passenger, not prisoner, so a friendly?" she asked.
"Vulcan national but Number One wouldn't tell me or Barnett much more than that over the comms, which is why we're up here in the first place," Pike said, a look crossing his features.
"Captain Robbins being cryptic isn't really new," Jayme said with a shrug.
"No, but she sounded… odd," their commanding officer said. Jayme and Spock shared a look before the followed him to the airlock that led into the Mizuki.
"There you are," Robbins smiled as she met them just inside the ship.
"You called, we're here. What's up?" Pike said with a smile.
"Missed you too, Chris," Robbins chuckled. "Come on." She led them through the ship. "We couldn't actually believe it when he told us who he was. Since he's claiming to be from the future, there was only one way to verify anything he said." She gave Jayme a pointed look.
"Is he related to us?" the younger woman asked.
"In a manner of speaking," the Mizuki's captain said before they walked into one of the guest quarters.
Sitting on the floor, facing away from them, was an older Vulcan man. The presence Jayme felt in her mind seemed to relax the closer she got to him. "It appears that no matter where I go, you are always near."
"It's what I do," Jayme muttered.
"It is, indeed," the man said. She took another step into the room as he stood and turned to face her. Jayme could go blind tomorrow but she would still recognize his features, no matter how old they were. Everything about the extra person in her head finally made sense.
"Spock?"
AN: Yes, I just did that. The ST09 screenplay has Spock Prime dropping into the Kelvin timeline on 2258.05, or Jan 5th, the day after Jim's 25th birthday and before Spock's 28th. The Narada destroys Vulcan on 2258.42, or Feb 11th, five weeks later.
Had they left Nero's prison break from Rura Penthe (The Klingon prison planet that Uhura picks up in the lab) in the movie, the month gap would've made sense but since they didn't, they skimmed over it and never tell us how long Spock Prime was there.
Obviously, this is going to be a pretty AU version of the movie.