AN: Good Lord, it's been a while! To be honest, the last month and half has flown by (I've had speaking assessments in French and English, mocks to prepare for, coursework to finish...). It's been a nightmare. BUT this idea has been with me for a while, and I've finally got it written! So, I hope you enjoy!

Italics = flashback


A few days later, Joanna's time on the Enterprise had come to an end. When Bones finally managed to get her to leave the ship (after hours of arguing and stubbornly insisting that yes, she did have to finish her last eight years of school and no, she couldn't just skip the boring parts of become a Starfleet officer right now), her departure was accented with tears and general unhappiness.

"Scotty, for the love of God, will you grow up?!" Bones said gruffly as the older man hugged Joanna goodbye, "You're crying more than Joanna! And she's eight!" Scotty stood up, wiping the tears from his face whilst glaring at the doctor.

"I can come again, can't I?" Joanna asked him as he took her hand and led her away, the little girl waving to the crew she was leaving behind as she went.

"I'm sure Jim would love for you to stay again, sweetheart," he assured her, "Did you enjoy it?" Joanna nodded, grinning madly.

"It was awesome," she told him, "I can't wait to tell everyone at school that I've travelled on a real starship! No one's going to believe I've actually been into space..."

"I have pictures," Bones said smiling, "I'll send them to your mom and you can prove it to everyone at Show and Tell." Joanna hugged him tightly as they walked.

"Thank you, daddy," she said, "That was the best birthday ever."

"You're welcome, princess," he replied, hugging her back.

"Can I come and stay with you before you go away again?" she asked quietly, her hand holding his as if her life depended on it. Bones nodded.

"You can stay for as long as you want, Jo," he said. He had very nearly forgotten the insecurities he'd felt just three weeks before, finally feeling that he'd been properly reacquainted with his daughter. Joanna sighed happily, leaning against him as they walked to the hovercar that would take them home.


Just over a month later, Joanna was in Bones' apartment, concentrating on her PADD with the tip of her tongue poking out of her mouth.

"You know," Jim made her jump as he suddenly appeared by her ear, "Staring at the screen for ages won't actually help you learn it faster." Joanna glared at him.

"Uncle Jim!" she scolded, "You scared me!" Jim flawlessly jumped over the back of the sofa, landing next to her with a grin on his face.

"Sorry, Jo," he apologised, "What are you reading anyway?"

"An article about working for Starfleet," she replied, "It's all wrong." Jim took the PADD from her, quickly scanning through it and frowning when he was finished.

"It does seem a bit... biased." He replied, "Who wrote it?"

"The Starfleet recruitment office," Joanna replied, "We're learning about careers at school. When my teacher said we'd be learning about the Starfleet recruitment process, I got really excited, but then I read this..." she frowned, "This is nothing like what being on a starship is really like. The guy who wrote it doesn't understand." Joanna finished with a frustrated huff, crossing her arms angrily. Jim smiled slightly.

"Unfortunately, kiddo," he sighed, patting her hand, "That's the way life is sometimes. People who shouldn't get things often do. Look at me: I've got my own starship. I definitely shouldn't have that, I'm way too immature. Just ask your dad." Joanna smiled slightly at that.

"Don't need to," she muttered, "He says it all the time." Jim chuckled.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" he gave her PADD back, "There's nothing you can do to change things like this, though. There will always be people doing things they don't understand." Joanna looked thoughtful.

"Or..." she was smiling, suddenly, and all at once Jim understood exactly how Joanna was Bones and Jocelyn's daughter; that smile, right there, was one with Bones' genius and Jocelyn's cunning.

And it wasn't a comforting look.

"Go on," Jim asked, knowing he was going to regret ever turning up at Bones' apartment.

"Maybe... you could come to my school? To tell them what it's really like to work for Starfleet?" Jim's eyes widened.

"You want me to come to your school?" he asked, "I'm not sure, Jo... maybe your dad would be better-"

"Daddy isn't the Captain of Starfleet's most amazing starship!" Joanna interrupted him, "He's amazing, he saves lives every day, and he's the best daddy in the world but... you have the future of the universe on your hands whenever you go to one of those conference thingies. You're the person who tries to make all of the different planets out there have a better future. And that's what Starfleet is all about, isn't it? Making a better future for everyone?"

Jim was shocked beyond belief at Joanna's words; he had to remind himself (repeatedly, in the space of thirty seconds) that she was eight-years-old. She was way too smart. He made a mental note to get Bones to do something about that because, really, it was scaring him.

"Jo, I..." he couldn't quite find the words he needed to say.

"Please, Uncle Jim!" Joanna begged, "You'd only have to do a little speech and then answer questions! You're a genius; you can manage that, right?"

Jim looked from Joanna's face to the PADD in her hands and sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes, "Fine, fine," he muttered, "But, just so you know, this is not in my job description."


Jim had expected Bones to laugh when he told him about Joanna's plan. So he was more than a little surprised when his best friend clasped his shoulder thankfully.

"Well, thank god for that," Bones muttered, "Joanna got me to read through that article last night. Biggest load of waffling crap there's ever been. Whilst you're on good terms with the admirals, you should really look into getting whoever wrote it sacked."

Jim gaped at him, "I can't believe you're not finding this hilarious," he muttered, "I can't believe I'm even thinking about doing it!"

"Oh, come on, Jim," Bones smirked slightly, "When have you ever turned down an opportunity to boast about yourself?"

"Okay, I don't think you understand," Jim said seriously, "This will be talking to children. I can't just... talk about myself the way I normally do. Even you think that's inappropriate, and you're almost as dirty minded as I am."

"Jim, you'll be fine," Bones assured him, placing a glass in front of Jim before pouring a drink for himself, "Joanna will love showing you off. And you'll be inspiring loads of kids to fight for what's right in the universe. It's a win-win situation."

"Unless I say the wrong thing," Jim said quietly. Bones sighed.

"Put it like this, kid," Bones knew that the only way to get through to Jim when he was in this kind of mood was to put it to him as it was; the doctor was far too good at that... "Either you go to the school and do Jo a favour or you'll have to put up with her glaring at you for half a year and you'll have to get her one hell of a Christmas present to make it up to her." Jim sighed.

"I suppose it's not the end of the world," he muttered, downing the alcohol in his glass, "Let's face it; we'll be off planet for five years soon anyway. Chances are, I won't even recognise the kids I influence by the time we get back."

"That's the spirit," Bones muttered, smirking slightly.

"Have you told Jo about the five-year mission yet?" Jim had received news about the five-year mission a week previously; he'd immediately called the bridge crew (and McCoy) and ordered them to attend a meeting, without telling any of them what the meeting was about. Nevertheless, they all turned up, and when he'd told them the mission had been offered to the Enterprise they'd all been completely convinced that he was joking.

After a while, however, they realised that Jim was being far too serious to be joking, and reacted... differently, to say the least:

"You mean... you're not kidding?" Uhura asked, totally caught offguard by Jim's seriousness.

"I'm being completely serious!" Jim said, "Honestly, I'm hurt you'd think I'd joke about something like this!"

"Well, the last time you said we'd got the mission... we didn't have the mission. And you got suspended." Bones smirked.

"Thanks for the reminder," Jim muttered, retaking his seat (he'd stood up indignantly when the group had started questioning him), "The point is, I wanted you guys to know first. It's a big decision, after all." Uhura and Spock had shared a look that had immediately caused Jim's attention.

"What?" Uhura asked, frowning at him.

"That was a look," he said gleefully, "Why are you guys having looks? Do you have big news?"

"No, we do not," Uhura said quickly. Jim frowned disbelievingly.

"Spock, do you guys have news?" he asked. Uhura groaned as Jim chuckled, "Vulcan's can't lie, let's just remember that."

"Nyota and I do have 'news', Captain," Spock replied, "Though I feel it to be premature to announce it at this point."

Jim pouted, "Spoil sport," he muttered, "Anyway. Like I said, this is a big decision to make. I want you guys to have as much time as possible to think about it," he stood up, smirking slightly, "We leave in eight weeks." The group around the table gaped at him.

"Eight veeks, sir?" Chekov asked, shocked, "Is that not too soon?"

"Not in the slightest," Jim replied, "The ship's on top form. In fact, she's never been better. We've been on cargo runs for weeks now; don't tell me you guys aren't itching for a bit of excitement." Glancing at Sulu's grimace, Bones' eye roll and Scotty's smirk, in addition to not missing Uhura's irritable sigh, Jim assumed that he'd been spot on.

"Right then," he said, "Meeting adjourned. Let me know what you decide."

Thinking of the daunting task of breaking the news to his daughter, McCoy shook his head. "I don't know how," he replied, "She barely gets to see me as it is. A weekend every so often, a couple of days in the holidays... what is she going to do whilst we're gone? Who's going to look after her when Jocelyn has to leave for work at the last minute?" He left the most important question unsaid: what will we miss in her life whilst we're gone?

Jim felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards his best friend then; because Bones wasn't talking about their situation as if he was deciding between leaving Earth and staying with his little girl. Bones was talking about the situation in a way that said he was going on that mission no matter what. And, though he could only just admit it to himself, Jim knew that he'd last all of two seconds without Bones on the Enterprise at his side.

"She'll understand," Jim said quietly.

"Will she?" Bones asked, not truly wanting to know the answer. Jim remained silent; he wasn't sure he wanted to know either.


Jim wasn't sure where the fear had come from. Maybe it was from his messed up childhood. Maybe it was because of Tarsus. Maybe it was just because he spent more time around adults than he had ever spent with children.

But kids terrified him. He'd thought meeting Joanna was scary, but he could assure himself now that it was nothing compared to standing up and facing a class full of eight-year-olds.

He stood at the front of the class, his 'Captain smile' on his face, as Joanna coughed to get the class' attention.

"Ahem," she waited for everyone to fall silent before continuing, "Right. As you all know, we were given a Starfleet article to read over last weekend. Well, I read that article when I was at my dad's house in San Francisco, and it was completely wrong. So, I asked my Uncle Jim to come in and tell you what Starfleet really does."

Joanna glanced back at him, smiling. Jim winked at her before taking centre stage; room full of kids. Right. How bad could it be?

"So," he started awkwardly, "I guess I should probably introduce myself properly. I'm Captain Jim Kirk of the starship Enterprise. I-" he stopped as a girl near the back of the room put her hand up, "Er, yes? You have a question?"

"How old are you?" Jim wondered if the girl was just asking a random question, and so saw no harm in answering it.

"I'm twenty seven, as of last month," he told her.

"And you're already a captain?" she asked, her eyes wide, "Isn't that really young?" Jim smiled slightly.

"I'm the youngest Starfleet captain there's ever been," he told her, "So yeah, I'd say it was pretty young."

"Have you ever saved the world?" a boy nearer the front asked.

"A few times," Jim said, rolling his eyes as he heard Joanna mutter 'more than that' from her seat at the very front, "That's not all Starfleet's about though."

He started to explain the details of his job; how he travelled the universe, inviting civilisations to join the Federation. It was difficult to get into any stories properly because of the constant flow of questions thrown at him, but the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves. Jim even saw one kid taking notes in the corner, and made a point to ask him why at some point; it didn't hurt to show a bit of interest.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" the question came as a shock to Jim; he hadn't expected an eight year old to ask that kind of question. That was a question he often got from new recruits at the academy.

Jim sighed as the class quietened down, all of the waiting for an answer, "Only the bad guys." He replied, "But, in all honesty, that doesn't make it any better. Killing people is wrong, no matter who they are or what they've done. I don't like doing it. No one I know, nor anyone I work with, like doing it. We avoid it wherever possible."

The class was quiet as another girl tentatively put her hand up, "Has anyone ever tried to kill you?"

"They tried," Jim smirked, "I guess I'm just lucky. And I've got Joanna's dad to patch me up whenever I get hurt." Joanna laughed quietly and Jim smiled at her, accepting her thumbs up with a wider smile. "Any more questions?" he asked, "I think we've got time for a couple more."

In the corner, the note-taking boy's hand shot up. Jim gestured for him to ask his question, "How do you make sure that your crew gets out of a fight alive?"

Jim was beginning to think that he'd underestimated eight year olds; they seemed pretty damn smart for a bunch of kids, "I don't believe in no-win scenarios," Jim shrugged, "There's always a way out. I've got the best crew there is; they're all the very best at what they do. I'd be lost without them... literally. My navigator is a key member of the team." The class laughed as Jim grinned, wondering what, exactly he'd been scared about.

Joanna's teacher came to the front of the class from where she'd been standing at the back, thanking Jim for coming and asking if he'd say goodbye to everyone at the door as the bell rang for lunch.

Jim happily agreed, offering hi-fives to anyone who passed him. The boy taking notes was at the back of the line, and Jim smiled slightly when he spotted him.

"Hey, Jo?" Jim crouched slightly so that he could talk to Joanna quietly, "Who's the kid at the back of the line? Is he a friend of yours?" Joanna shrugged.

"He doesn't really get on with people," she replied, equally as quiet, "He prefers to be left alone a lot of the time. He reads a lot though. I like that." Jim smiled.

"What's his name?" he asked.

"Dylan," she replied, the boy in question reaching the front of the line just as she said his name. He looked up from the book in his hands to respond.

"Oh," he said quietly, "Hello."

"Hey," Jim grinned, "I saw you taking notes. Do you want to be a Starfleet officer one day?" the boy shrugged.

"Maybe," he said, "I'd like to be." Jim nodded.

"Well, try talking to Jo," he said, nudging the girl forward. She sent a subtle glare at him before smiling shyly at the boy in front of her, "She spent a week on the Enterprise with me and her dad. I'm sure she can tell you anything you'd want to know." Dylan and Joanna both smiled slightly.

"I'd like that," he told her. Joanna nodded.

"Maybe you could come to my house one day?" Joanna suggested, beginning to walk towards the canteen, Dylan walking beside her, "My mom makes really good chicken. You're not a vegetarian are you?"

Jim smiled proudly as the two walked off, Joanna chattering away, Dylan happy to just stand and listen. Just before the end of the corridor, they stopped, Joanna saying something before running back towards Jim. He stooped slightly to pick her up as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Thanks, Uncle Jim," she said quietly, smiling as he hugged her tightly, "You were awesome."

"Any time, Jojo," he assured her, placing her back on the floor, "Now get back to your boyfriend." He teased. Joanna glared.

"He is not my boyfriend," she told him, "Boys are icky." Jim smirked, wondering how long it would take for her to change her mind.

"Whatever you say, Jo," he said, "I'll see you soon, alright?" Joanna nodded, running back down the corridor to her new friend, hooking her arm through his as they went to lunch. Jim smiled; perhaps Joanna could hold onto her innocence for a little bit longer.


The last bit was spur of the moment writing; I think Joanna needs a little friend now that her dad and Uncle Jim are going off for five years. Once again, I apologise for being so late; I really will try to get this updated sooner this time (I'm on Christmas Holidays now [thanks goodness] so hopefully I'll be able to update at least once).

Remember that reviews are perfection and I love them a lot, and that if you leave one I shall shower you with magic and stardust. Until the next time, thanks for reading!