Chapter 5

"She'll be fine, Jim. She's banged up, and'll be in pain for a while, but if she's anything like you, she'll be hollering for release anytime now. Actually, no, she'll just be leaving without my permission. Blasted Kirks." Jim grinned.

"Just think of all the fun we'll have, Bones! With two of me, you'll have twice as many people to jam hypos into!"

"Now I know you're just saying that to get a rise outta me, and it's not gonna work…"

"You are certain the Captain will make a full recovery?" Mr Spock interjected.

"Yah, sure. Overprotective hobgoblin." Bones mumbled.

"It is not for myself that I ask this." Mr Spock informed the doctor, a not-frown heavy on his face. "I simply wished to be sure, so that I might inform my other self of that fact." McCoy nodded.

"'Course. Can you believe she thought we were abandoning Jane? What does she think we are?"

"People who do not trust them." Spock replied succinctly. He walked into the med bay from just outside the doors, and met his other self by her captain's side.

"She will be well. Dr McCoy has every confidence that soon she shall be escaping sick bay in a relatively short amount of time." Ms Spock nodded.

"What shall be done with my captain while we are here? Your captain does not have two jobs as we do, and I do not believe either of them would deal well with boredom, if your captain is as mine."

"He is. I am sure they will decide something."

"Yes. They are very good at that."

"That is why they are captain."

"Indeed."

"Do you wish to inspect our mission records? It may prove helpful in deciphering the differences between our two universes."

"Very well. I shall utilize the readers by the beds.

Mr Spock obligingly pulled over one of the readers, and set it to missions. Ms Spock reviewed and kept watch over her captain. Mr Spock returned to his quarters. Bones went to bed. Kirk wondered. He wondered if this was what his Spock did for him.

Now that he thought about it, the light he'd seen in Ms Spock's eyes when she had first come, that light had gone out when Jane had been captured. And even now she was so tense… was this what happened to Spock every time Jim got himself hurt or captured? If so, he really needed to be more careful. He wasn't just the reject orphan kid from Iowa anymore. He now had friends, people who suffered when he did, and while Jim didn't really care if he got himself blown to bits so much anymore (provided it was for what he deemed a good cause, he wasn't anything near suicidal), he didn't want to hurt his friends. That wasn't an option. And if that was what he'd been doing… he'd always known his crew cared for him. But if they were anything like Spock… in a human, perhaps her signs weren't so bad. But to have the power to break through those Vulcan shields, to wreck havoc with that calm ordered mind… and to abuse that power so frequently! Jim knew that from now on, he would so much more careful. He would have to be more careful. He knew he could no longer run into danger without thinking of those haunted eyes, devoid of hope, pain etched into the very essence of the tortured being. But now, of course, there was the issue of how to return the wayward travelers home. Jim, awesome as he knew he was, did not think he wanted to deal with there being two of him, and he knew no one else did. So it appeared they were paying the Delavans another visit.

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"You haf'ta stay in med bay till I clear you!" Came the good doctor's shouting. "You can't leave yet!"

"As my first officer said, I'm not part of your crew, and you have no right to keep me here." Bones threw his hands up in frustration.

"I give up. But if you get blinded, or maimed, or die, don't come crawling to me."

"That would be difficult, I couldn't find you if I was maimed or dead."

"Hmph! Kirks. No sense in any of 'em. Go on, git! And don't infuse my crew with your delusions of health and the unnecessity of medbay. I have enough problems with getting them to come here without you."

"I'll keep that in mind." Jane returned teasingly. "Do you know where Ms Spock is."

"I think the hobgobblinette is on the bridge."

"Thanks." Jane walked out of med bay triumphantly, and made her way to the turbolift. She strode onto the bridge, and smiled at her first officer, whose eyes lit up in response.

"Captain. I see you have recovered."

"Yep. So how were things while I was gone?"

"Manageable."

"Miss me?"

"To miss is a human emotion."

Jane started striding forward, ignoring the rest of the bridge crew. "Know how we're getting home yet?"

"Negative. There has been insufficient time to formulate a proper theory."

"All right then. So, where we headed now?" For the first time, the female captain seemed to acknowledge that there were others on the bridge, and widened her focus to include them all. It was Jim who answered.

"We're going to pick up Mr Spock's parents. We have to transport them to Earth because their transport fell through. It'll be a long ride to Earth, but we pick them up on the planet Thalin." Jane gave a wince.

"Right. Well, how long before we get to them?"

"They'll be here by tomorrow." Jane nodded.

"All right. So, what can I do?"

"My paperwork?" Jim suggested hopefully. He received a death glare for his troubles.

"I would suggest that for now the captain acquaint herself with our missions. My counterpart's findings were most helpful in dissecting some of the differences between our two universes."

"I thought they were the same." Jane pointed out, crossing her arms and tilting her head.

"Mostly." Spock clarified. "However there are some differences. There were some planets we could not visit in due to our gender; having males there would be seen as a desecration of their temple."

"Like Mynaroth." Jane realized. "That's where Ms Spock learned to fight like she does now. Aside from the neck pinch and other Vulcan stuff." Jim nodded in understanding.

"Also, I think we're forgetting something. How are we going to tell the two of us apart?" Jim queered. "I mean, if we're both going by 'captain' things are going to get confusing real fast.

"You can call me Jane." Jane grinned. "After all, I'm not captain here." Her smile grew. "That also goes for you Spock. Both of you."

"That is acceptable." Mr Spock relented. "After all, it would be illogical of me to do otherwise."

"I have already been referring to you as "my captain" to reduce confusion." Ms Spock stated. "As you are still my captain, then I shall continue to refer to you as such unless it is otherwise possible to confirm your specific identity in relation to my statments."

"I'm not going to get you to use my name, am I?"

"Negative, captain."

"Stubborn Vulcan."

"Yes, captain." Jane rolled her eyes good - naturedly, and turned to Jim.

"May I ask where I'm going to be staying?"

"Yes, ah, I believe there's an available room next to Ms Spocks. Do you … want to check it out?"

"All right." Jane agreed. "Ms Spock, would you like to take me?"

"That would be agreeable." The half Vulcan deadpanned. The two walked off the bridge, and Jim stared after them.

"That was so weird."

"Weird captain?" Jim didn't even need to see his first to know off the undoubtedly hovering eyebrow.

"Talking to myself. It's really disconcerting."

"Perhaps the fact that she is also an aesthetically pleasing female that you cannot be attracted to without being debatably auto sexual, is another reason for your discomfort." Jim snorted, looking embarrassed. Chekhov and Sulu stifled giggles.

"Warp 6, Mr Sulu." Jim growled.

"Yes sir." Sulu returned, as the ship went that 1 warp faster.