Thank you all for reviewing. Gosh, you guys are nice. I love this story, it's my favorite I've written so far. This, I think, is my fav chappie besides the second. So, here you go! And thanks again, reviewers! You make me smile. :) ) :P

Epilouge: The End of Something...or the Beginning?

Kirk watched, on the screen, Shatner's delighted and slightly confused face. Shatner looked up at the sky and smiled. Mission accomplished.

"Everyone has received their letters and phasers." Sulu reported. "Now, should we set course to the sun?"

Kirk nodded. He glanced at the members of the bridge. Uhura was sad that she could never see Nichols again, and Sulu and Chekov were staring glumly at their stations. Even Spock seemed a little melancholy too. Only two faces were not sad- in fact, they were angry: McCoy and Scotty. "What's wrong, Bones?" Kirk asked.

"You've got to socialize with your actor!" McCoy snapped. "But me and Scotty have been left out. From what I've heard, I really would have liked to meet that DeForest Kelley."

"Aye," agreed Scotty, "and James Doohan. Ah well. Suppose the timing wasn't right."

Kirk almost laughed. "Timing? We're on a starship that's capable of time travel. We've got all the time in the world!"

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November 23, 1998

DeForest Kelley was lying on a sofa, immensely bored. He was flicking channels when his wife Carolyn walked in. "Hon, you alright?"

"Fine." De answered. "Where ya going?"

"To the movies with Nancy." Carolyn answered. "Want to come with?"

"I'd rather stay here, darling." De replied, kissing her cheek. "Have fun."

"I will." she promised. "Don't have too much fun without me!"

De sighed, smiling. He had a good life, full of leisure and love. He leaned back on the couch. The doorbell rang. He went to answer it. "Hey...James?"

"Hey De!" James Doohan said. "You wanted me over here?"

"I...didn't call you." De replied, a bit confused.

"No, you did!" James argued. "You called me and asked if I could come over. Sounded like you, anyway...though you did yell at a 'pointy-eared hobgoblin' in the background."

"I didn't call you." De said. "But...no matter. Come in. Have a drink."

The two actors sat down and chatted for a while. "Want some more wine?" De asked, not hearing a door creak.

"If ya have any Scotch I'll take it." Doohan replied.

"What about Romulan Ale?" a voice from the door said. "That'd be nice. For medical purposes only, though." The two men spun around.

"Did we have too much to drink?" Doohan asked.

"What are you seeing?"

"The same as what you're seeing."

"Well, one of us has to say what we're seeing."

"You say it."

"No...you."

"I'm seeing...our younger..."

"Selves." De completed. "But, how..."

"Ah, with a vessel as fine as da Enterprise," Scotty said, "time travel is easy."

"This is...real?" Doohan asked.

McCoy walked up and took a sip of the wine. "It's real, alright."

"So, Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy is real?" De asked. "I was actually portraying you?!"

"And a damn fine job you did too." McCoy said. "Though I personally yell at Spock a lot more."

"I have ta say ya did a good job as well, James." Scotty said.

"Are you convinced we're not drunken hallucinations anymore?" McCoy asked.

De glanced at Doohan. "Where's my manners?" De asked. "Want something to drink?"

"Bourbon." Scotty said.

McCoy sighed. "I bet you don't have Romulan Ale."

"Nope."

"Then some whiskey." McCoy said.

The men conversed for a long time. Minutes seemed like seconds, De noted. He talked with McCoy about everything- from Vulcans to hyposprays. "Explain to me again how solid material can be sprayed through the skin." De said, which is a question the author has always wondered as well.

Doohan and Scotty were talking mainly about the engines. "I've always wondered how the transporters really worked." Doohan said.

But all good things must come to an end. McCoy and Scotty went out on the porch. "I'm sorry, but Jim'll have our hides if we're not on the Enterprise in two minutes." McCoy said.

"Will we see ya again?" De asked.

"How should I know?" McCoy replied. "I'm a doctor, not a fortune teller!" De chuckled sadly.

"Take these." Scotty said, tossing each of them a phaser. "Just in case."

"Does...any of the other actors know?" Doohan asked.

"No. They learn after you." Scotty said.

"We'll have to keep this to ourselves?" De asked.

"I'm sorry, but we couldn't have told you later."

"Why not?" Doohan asked.

Scotty and McCoy exchanged a glance. "Never mind." Scotty said. "You can at least talk wi each other."

"That's something." De whispered. "So...all of this is real."

"It is." McCoy said. "Goodbye, DeForest. Nice meeting you."

"I feel like I've always known you." De replied. "But it was nice to see the real you."

"Goodbye, James." Scotty said. "It was nice talking ta someone who wanted to hear about the engines."

Doohan laughed. "Goodbye."

De pulled McCoy to the side. "We're...we're dead, Bones. When the others find out. Aren't we?"

"Think of it this way." McCoy said. "Me and Scotty haven't even been born yet." The two beamed up.

"I...this is enough excitement for a night." Doohan said. "I'll speak with ya tomorrow."

"See ya." De whispered.

He sat down on his sofa, fingering the phaser. Words like 'impossible' and 'hallucination' scrolled through his doubtful mind. He fired the phaser at the wall. Where there was once a poster of Carolyn's, now there was nothing. Words like 'amazing' and 'real' scrolled through his confused and delighted mind.

De popped in a Star Trek DVD. He watched himself play 'Bones' McCoy, the role taking on a new meaning for him.

"Darling?" Carolyn asked, arriving. "You there?"

"I'm here." De answered.

"Are you coming to bed?" Carolyn asked.

"Just a minute." De replied, walking out to the porch.

He looked at the stars. At Space. The Final Frontier. Somewhere out there, the voyages of the starship Enterprise would be made. They would explore strange new worlds, and seek out new life and new civilizations. He, DeForest Kelley, would never know the whole story of the Enterprise. His missions as Dr. McCoy had only lasted three seasons and six movies- the real Dr. McCoy's would last five years. He knew he would die...die before Shatner or Nimoy even knew the Enterprise really existed. He didn't feel bad. Rather, it almost felt the same way when they filmed the last episode of Star Trek. The end of something. But as he looked out into the stars, he had another feeling. The beginning of something new.

FIN

Are there other questions still in the readers' minds? Such as...how did Gene Roddenberry even find out about the Federation? Did the Klingon ship really get destroyed by the sun? And can the author be as mean to never let the bridge members and the actors reunite? If you want to find out the answers to these questions and more, review me and...find out in the sequel!