His name was David. David A Marcus, David Alexander Marcus. Jim was sitting on the edge of his bed when he heard a rapid knocking. He had been considering what to do next. He hadn't gotten a call from the lab technician since she dropped out of the academy last year unexpectedly and broke up with him. Sure, Jim was over joyed. But he was concerned with being a father. Does he return to Earth to meet his little boy or does he wait for the next call to see him? Winona didn't know her son was a father. She didn't know she was a grandparent. Frank was being a drunk somewhere held under a DUI charge most likely. His brother, Sam, was somewhere out there in space. He wasn't on Earth, Jim knew that part. The brothers had become estranged. Sam left Jim when he most needed him. Driving the car off the cliff was what lead Jim to Tarsus IV. He lead The Tarsus Nine. It still happened even with his father's death. Kodos was presumed dead and it still haunted him. His voice.

"Go away." Jim called.

The knocking returned, insistently.

"I said, GO AWAY!" Jim shouted.

The knocking only grew louder.

"I will go away when you don't need a good fashioned spanking!" Came John's voice echoing through the room.

Jim looked up from the floor raising a eyebrow abruptly startled.

"Bones?" Jim was alarmed.

Jim stood up.

"OPEN UP BEFORE I USE MY PASSWORD TO OVERRIDE YOURS, YOU LITTLE INFANT!" John raised his voice.

His face softened.

"He can't do that." Jim said, amused.

"THE HELL I CAN!" John added. "AND I WILL." John's yelling defied the laws of physics. He had strong vocal cords. John and Jim participated in the chorus during their first year on their free time in the academy until they got kicked out of it. The instructor, a Andorian, had made the admission that John had the strongest cords she ever heard. John gleefully smiled and informed her that it was his strong suit. He also added that as a child, his parents could find him when he screamed like a little girl. It was mostly Jim's fault they got kicked out. Jim had the voice of an angel. John, on the other hand, had the voice of a rough, bitter angel who had a grudge against humanity with a southern accent to it.

"I am coming!" Jim called. "Don't break the door down for me."

Jim walked down the hallway to the living room of his quarters. His quarters were designed with a couch, a rug, a wide screen tv attached to the wall, and a counter to rest objects on across from the curled wide screen set. He came to the door then inputted the code into it. He was in his green wrap around tunic. It felt comfortable to him. Was his best friend going to apologize for the way he presented the break up? It had been, well, painful for Jim. The exercise deck had only served to distract him. But it was a good distraction. A few hours ago he broke down in his quarters and cried. He still had a bruise on his heart for it. The doors opened to reveal Spock with his hands locked behind his back.

"You are not Bones." Jim said.

"That I am not." Spock said.

"Did you have to use Bones to speak with me?" Jim asked.

"Your communicator is off." Spock said. "And it was his idea, let alone mine. My idea was more logical."

"Uh huh." Jim said.

"Mr Mitchelle is in the brig." Spock said.

"What. Why?" Jim said.

"He tried to choke a nurse." Spock said.

"Oooh," Jim said. "Why don't you handle it."

"Captain, as much as the doctor has told me regarding your friendship with him, it would be logical for you to be there." Spock said. "And Doctor M'Benga has informed me that there is another person, or, entity controlling him." He tilted his head slightly. "The doctor informed me that you would be this way being a father."

"I am not the best position to decide someones fate." Jim said. "I am emotionally compromised."

"He is your colleague." Spock said.

"Sometimes the needs of the one outweigh the needs of the few." Jim said.

"But not the many." Spock said.

"You never had a an accident and never known for a year that you had a kid," Jim said. "You don't understand how I feel."

Jim turned away then headed toward the bedroom and the doors closed on Spock.":

"On the contrary, I had a project that started an artificial intelligence at the age of twelve." Spock said. "It called me 'Master Grayson' under the approval of my mother and my father. For over a year I worked on it and gave it more qualities, Vulcanian in nature, to meet the approval of my peers. I turned it in for a science project. I never heard from it again until I was thirteen. The chances of it being alive was seventy-three point thirty-seven. It was being used on a Scientific classed vessel for a anomaly recently discovered close by Vulcan. My AI 'malfunctioned' or so the Vulcan Academy Science said. She turned the ship around and returned to Vulcan from the anomaly when they became too close to it. They had no choice but to destroy the program because it was not logical that it disturb the work of science. My creation was used to self categorize several science entries previously and interact with the crew on a daily basis. The loss was felt by the crew. More importantly, I grieved for the loss as well."

The doors opened again.

"What did you call her?" Jim asked.

"Susan." Sock said. "What I am trying to say, captain, is that if she did not get destroyed and given to me to live with it. I would not have adequately been able to raise her. I was a child compared to parenting. As are you," Spock saw the captain flinch. "Your files indicate despite your familiarity to them . . . you are not ready for it. The most logical solution to the problem would have been handing her off to the Vulcan Science Academy. If she kept the child, she will be a fierce protector over them."

"Carol. Her name is Carol Marcus." Jim said. "Nearly married her." He looked toward the floor then back to Spock. "We grew up in Riverside together. We were great friends and she went into the academy right around the time I went just on a earlier shuttle craft." He cleared his throat. "I feel like . . . I have been . . . left out of the whole becoming a parent passage."

"As in the daughter of admiral Alexander Marcus." Spock said.

"Yes." Jim said.

"Did he know of your relationship with her?" Spock inquired.

"He knew we were friends but I don't know if he knew that she had my child." Jim said. "So I take that Susan was anything like you."

"More or less." Spock said.

"How do I tell my mother that she has a grandson?" Jim asked. "How do I tell her that I knocked up a Admiral's daughter. And . . ."

"You do it with brutal honesty," Spock said. "Human parents tend to see the good in things. However illogical as they are."

Jim agreed.

"You should have seen my mom when she showed Bones of my baby pictures." Jim said, with a warm smile.

"Captain, may we discuss Mr Mitchell's predicament?" Spock inquired."Mr Scott's gemma replacement, Miss Charles, has given a new status update."

"What is it?" Jim said.

"We are five years from the nearest starbase," Spock said. "With impulse power, the Enterprise can reach the nearest planet in one day." He paused. "With all consideration, we need to focus on the Mr Mitchell."

"What about Dehner?" Jim asked.

"Her eyesight has returned and the entity that had been plaguing her has vanished."

"That is too much of a coincidence." Jim rubbed his hands together. "I don't like coincidences." Spock stepped aside as the man finally inputted a code that unlocked the doors then he exited. "I need to speak with Miss Dehner."