Jim's vision started to go out. His eyes were half-lidded, his body ready to fall out of the chair he currently inhabited. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu as he looked around the bar. He cradled his drink in between his hands, his eyes narrowing as he tried to remember where he was and how he had got there. He could remember... being on the Enterprise and beaming down with Spock...Spock! Jim looked around, alarmed. Where was his Vulcan First Officer?

And now he was in a crowded bar with many different species of aliens harbouring drinks between their paws, claws or other appendages and many more humans, all Star Fleet cadets judging by their uniforms, mingled amongst them. Jim didn't know what to do, stay or look for Spock. They were in another world after all. One moment he was side by side with Spock, walking after being beamed down, the next he was here, in a bar with a Scotch in his hand.

"Bullshit," he whispered to himself as a tall, caramel skinned woman walked to the bar to order drinks. "No freakin' way!"

It was Uhura, plain as day in her tight regulation red uniform. Her long hair swung behind her as she leaned into the bar, picking up a menu and began to order. How in the hell- Jim thought as he pinched his arm to try to wake himself up. He waited a moment and when nothing happened he leaned over the big alien dude and tried to remember what thickheaded words he'd said to her that first time they'd met.

"Make that a double," Jim said right on queue as the bartender began to move away. Uhura protested, saying the same thing as the last time. Jim tried not to roll his eyes; even in a possible dream Uhura was still an independent, headstrong young woman. She would make a good Captain, he thought to himself before shaking his head. Star Fleet wasn't ready for Captain Uhura just yet.

"What? They don't have last names in your world?" he asked trying to set his mind to the game at hand. Play it like before, nice and cool, he told himself.

"Uhura is my last name," she replied with the same annoyed tone. Oh, how things never change.

"Er- they don't have first names in your world?" he tried again. She turned away from the bar.

Jim stood up from his place, his eyes surveying the area for any sign of the Vulcan before sliding next to Uhura. Their arms briefly touched and he felt a small chill; this might be as close as he would get to touch Spock, as strange as that felt. Sure, he was Captain of the Enterprise and very hands-on but he respected his crewmembers and he knew Vulcans didn't liked to be touched. As touch telepaths, they shied away from it so he respected Spock's personal bubble. As much as he could... when he wasn't too interested in the feel of the First Officer's skin under his fingers.

Even though Spock and Uhura had broken up a while ago – two point five months ago to be exact, not that he was keeping a record – when he looked at Uhura he still had to wonder why. Why would she, if the rumours were correct, break up with him? After everything Spock had been through, she would just dump him the moment things got 'serious' for no apparent reason. Even with a reason how stupid was she to dump someone as unique and strong as the Vulcan. Jim saw no logic in that and he was sure Spock didn't either.

Jim played it cool, collected, and, even with his great acting skills, a little drunk. Uhura didn't seem to mind, they were in a bar after all, but it seemed to unnerve her. She looked about ready to run away and go tell her girl friends about him so they could laugh at his awful pick up lines. Which he wouldn't have minded; more time to look for Spock instead of replaying old memories.

"This townie bothering you?" A voice said behind them. If Jim liked one thing about Giotto, it was his timing.

"Beyond belief," Uhura replied snidely. "But it's nothing I can't handle."

Jim knew his line well; Giotto still hated him for the nickname. "Oh, relax, Cupcake," he said hitting Giotto's arm playfully, "I'm just having some fun." Oh, oh... That wasn't right.

"Fun?" Uhura replied. "Fun for who?"

"Get lost, townie," Giotto said sternly. "Look around, a room full of cadets and you. You don't belong here."

This time it wasn't Cupcake and his cabbage patch kids who threw the first punch, Jim did. And did it feel good! Or, it did until he felt himself thrown back against the bar, the wooden digging into his flesh. Quickly, he bounced back, throwing some punches here and there. His advantage: speed and the fact that they'd beaten him before. He could recall their exact moves, more or less; they threw and managed to avoid most hits. He even managed to avoid touching Uhura's breast... He couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Just like last time, a loud whistle-stopped the fight and all heads turned to Captain Christopher Pike wearing his regulation black uniform. He commanded, in that friendly yet stern voice of his, everyone to get out before coming to stand by Jim.

"You can whistle really loud, you know that." Jim said, amazed at how repetitious he was sounding.

The Captain merely shook his head, a smile threatening to appear and turned to call to someone over his shoulder. Jim wouldn't have looked if wasn't for that scratching feeling in the back of his mind. A feeling he only got when Spock was around. He looked around Pike and stared open mouthed at Spock, dressed, like Pike, in regulation uniform. He strode into the room, calm, collected, and stood by the Captain, who was looking at him strangely.

Jim shut his jaw and looked away. Spock's presence was too much, even if he was trying to find him a few moments earlier. Those rich, dark eyes stared at him with absolutely no recognition- it hurt him to see no warmth in them, the warmth that he loved watching appear in Spock's human eyes. Human eyes that never judged or analysed what Jim did, merely accepted.

Spock stared back at the strange human. Who was he, this beat up man staring at him? Those startling blue eyes, so familiar yet so strange, looked at him with an almost pleadingly that Spock had seen only once during the dying of his beloved Sehlat. He'd asked his cousin, Selek, why I'Chaya had died but the Vulcan had merely explain that all things must come to an end. Finally, logic won and Spock gave up, I'Chaya was gone. Still, the pleading look he saw in the face of I'Chaya when he turned to the body of his Sehlat had stayed with him for many nights. The death of his precious pet and companion had further pushed him towards his Vulcan half.

But, this human was neither familiar nor completely unknown. Somewhere, deep inside himself Spock could feel recognition spark as the fair-haired man sat down cradling a beer but never taking his eyes off him. Had they met before, perhaps briefly? Was he a student? Spock doubted that for he was in classes more to pass the time than to learn anything. Vulcan had taught him everything he needed to learn and he had quickly mastered the material upon entering the Academy. Unless the young man was extremely quiet or reserved, which Spock doubted, they would have, at one point, crossed paths.

"-want from me, man?" The man, Kirk, asked Pike. Spock realised his mind had been straying from the current situation and tried to centre himself, setting his eyes firmly away from Kirk and his blue eyes.

"Enlist in Star Fleet," Pike replied with what Spock recognised as the human emotion of hope.

Pike wanted Kirk to enlist, for what reason? The man seemed wild, angry and, not to mention, rude. Star Fleet had enough floaters as it was, Spock should know, he was tutoring most of them in what the academy called training for a 'science officer's duty aboard a Star Ship'. Spock didn't debate a science officer's duty but he often wondered what teaching a second year cadet basic navigational controls had to do with a science officer's duty.

Kirk looked away, laughing at the thought. Had be been capable of emotion, Spock would have laughed as well. Pike's high hopes for Kirk despite his earlier demeanour confused Spock. He refrained from questioning his mentor but when their conversation was over and the two men turned in synch to look at him, he raised an eyebrow.

"I apologise, Captain," Spock said. "I seem to have drifted off. May you repeat your comment, question or command."

"You drifted off?" Kirk asked alarmed. Spock took a step back when the human stood up, walking to his side an arm outstretched to touch him, probably in the forehead. Kirk was reaching to check his temperature much like his mother did back on Vulcan. It startled Spock to have a stranger bring up such memories from him. "Are you okay, Spock?"

"Oh, you two know each other?" Pike questioned also standing up.

"No," Spock answered in synch with Kirk's, "Yes."

"Well, which is it?" Pike asked confused before shaking his head a moment later. "Forget it. I don't want to know."

"If you did not wish to know, then why ask the question in the first place?"

"Yup, he's fine." Kirk said to himself. He smiled towards Pike before reaching over, taking a long sip of his beer, and walking toward the door.

"And where are you going?"

"Home," Kirk answered, pointing to the door and back at Pike. "We are done, aren't we?"

"If you change your mind, we'll-"

"I know," The young man interrupted, "I'll be there."

He turned to go and Spock exhaled a breath he had not known he had held in. However, Pike, careful and protective man that he is, called out to him, making Kirk pop his head back into the room. Spock could not control the spark of annoyance and, deep down, happiness that he felt when Pike said, "Spock will escort you home."

"I don't need-" Kirk began.

"Make sure he gets home." Pike walked off without another word, pushing Kirk inside the bar.

"This is gonna be fun!" Kirk exclaimed with a giant grin on his face.

Before he could help it, Spock raised an eyebrow and said, "fascinating."

Jim stared after Pike with shock. This hadn't happened the first time, Spock hadn't been at the bar and he hadn't taken him home either. If he had, in his drunken pissed off state he either would have angered the Vulcan or jumped his bones the moment they got to his apartment. He turned to Spock and noted tightness around the man's eyes.

"This is gonna be fun!" Jim exclaimed with growing excitement. If Spock wasn't going to enjoy going home with him, Jim sure as hell was.

Spock raised an eyebrow and said, "Fascinating," with the tone Jim had come to recognize as amusement.

"Well," Jim said. "Follow me, I guess."

He left the bar, expecting to feel Spock's familiar presence behind him. Walking to his motorcycle and putting on his helmet, Jim noticed how different the landscape was. It was as if someone had taken a picture and was projecting it around him. The sky was sparsely cloudy, as it had been that night, but the clouds did not move. Nothing moved, not even the air around him felt real.

He turned to give Spock his extra helmet but Spock was nowhere to be found. Dumbfounded, Jim forgot his earlier thoughts and turned around, taking his helmet off before walking back to the bar to see Spock standing in the same place, a faraway look on his face. Jim knew that face well; it had been directed towards him enough times. It was his 'humans confuse the crap out of me but I'm not going to let it bother me... much' face. It was a face that Jim both hated and adored.

"You know," Jim said walking to him, a helmet tucked under his arm the other hanging from his forefinger. "You're not a very good Vulcan."

That seemed to snap him out of his thoughts. Spock turned to Jim in one graceful movement and asked, contritely, "Pardon me?"

"I can read your emotions on your face," Jim replied flinging a helmet at him. He caught it (of course he did) with perfect grace.

"Do I know you?" Spock said after a small pause. "I do not believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you."

"Pleasure, huh," Jim replied with a grin. Perhaps this dream or whatever it was, was more of a nightmare. If Spock didn't know him but he knew Spock that meant that it was Jim's alone. Jim often dreamt of being Captain of the Enterprise only when he turned to talk to Spock, an Andorian was in his place. That nightmare, because being Captain without Spock felt hollow and fake, taunted him almost every night since he discovered he had feelings for Spock.

"I know you more than you know yourself, Spock." Jim rubbed his face and ran his hand through his hair in aggravation. This was definitely a nightmare.

"Clarify." Spock tilted his head as he often did when things where not clear enough.

"Never mind." Jim pointed to the helmet. "Put it on, let's go."

"Very well," The Vulcan said as he put the helmet on. It took Jim a moment to get over how adorable Spock looked with it on. He saw the slight twitch of a brow and his body tightened as he got used to the helmets pressure around his head. His ears were probably crushed against the side of his head.

"Are you okay? Does the helmet hurt your ears?" Jim asked, concerned. "I'm sorry if it does, I don't have another one."

"I never understood man's need to apologise for something that is out of their control," Spock commented. Jim gave him a look and Spock added, "I am fine."

Jim stared at the Vulcan; he felt a shot of arousal through him as he looked. He looked at Spock, almost appraisingly. The Vulcan was very handsome, almost startling so. His eyes were rich brown and so... human, there was no other way to describe them - A gateway into the complex soul of a Vulcan/human hybrid. His lips, even when set in a tight line, were pouty with a light green tinge to them.

Not to mention those eyebrows! Jim went light headed at the mere sight of them, and watching them rise in a traditional Spock manner made him want to reach out touch them. He hoped that, one day in the near future, he'd be able to accomplish the one fetish he had with Spock's eyebrows: to lick them.*

His straight nose, long pointed ears and high cheekbones just accentuated his looks further. But it wasn't just physical attraction; Spock's mind was complex. His thoughts were neat, organized so unlike Jim's. Yes, Spock had a Vulcan mind but Jim knew that underneath all that Spock did indeed feel. He felt more deeply than anyone else, his emotions were more potent than any humans. Jim had felt that when Selek, the name Spock Prime had adopted, had mind melded with him back on Delta Vega.

"You are aesthetically pleasing," Jim said with a shy grin, his eyes full of admiration. Spock faltered and tilted his head at Jim.

"Do I know you?" Spock repeated softly, trying to figure out where they'd met before.

"Let's go," Jim said.

What could he say? Yes, Spock, I know you but you don't know me because we meet three years from now when I beat your Kobayashi Maru test. I meet you when your planet is about to be destroyed, your mother killed and your emotional barriers shattered. I meet you in the future, Spock, and I fal) in love with you. Of course he wasn't going to say that, he would sound like a giant egotistical crazy jerk.

Spock followed the strange man outside the bar to his motorcycle without question but faltered for the second time since meeting Kirk as the human jumped on and looked at him expectantly. He stared at the man, brow twitching with amusement before sighing internally and swinging a leg over. He felt uncomfortable being this close to Kirk, having only just met him, yet found no problem getting on the old bike. Without thinking about it, he wrapped his arms around the human's waist as Kirk started the bike. He felt the body still and was about to remove them when hands reached behind him, touched his lower back, and pushed him closer to Kirk. It was Spock's turn to still, as he felt the warmth radiating from Kirk's body and moved in closer without a second thought. His arms tightened around Kirk as he began the bike and left the bar parking lot.

Strangely, Spock felt safe as Kirk drove on at a ridiculous speed. He did not comment, Pike had been his one and only ride and he had left him at the bar with Kirk. As the quaint Iowa landscape passed them by, Spock felt himself begin to purr lightly. The purring, centred in his chest, began as they continued to ride around the countryside.

He closed his eyes, throwing logic to the wind, as illogical as that was, and enjoyed the sensation of having Jim's hard body against his own in perfect fit against one another. He began to lose himself in the sensation that Ji- Kirk's body was eliciting and, with a lot of effort, managed to, after a few deep, deep breathes, pull himself away. His purring stopped, he locked away the emotions he'd felt only a moment ago, and he checked his mental barriers.

Touching Kirk, even over his clothing, was producing an emotional response from him. He felt a pull, a need to get closer to the man – and it scared him. Logically, the pull would mean their minds were compatible, if they were both Vulcan. But since Kirk was human, there was no way that their minds could be this compatible... was there?

Kirk slowed down near the docking where the Enterprise was being built, adjusting his speed to get a good look at the ship. Spock had found that, with the speed decreasing so had his need for constant contact with Kirk. He disengaged his arms from around the human as the bike stopped.

"She is a beauty," Kirk commented getting off the bike and taking off his helmet, a far-away look in his blue eyes. "I miss her already."

Spock removed his helmet as well, getting off the bike and turning to look at the Star ship. It really was aesthetically pleasing. It was awe inspiring even from hundreds of feet away. He turned to Kirk, confused at his second statement.

"How is it that you miss the Enterprise?" he asked. "It has had only a few months of construction."

"It's a long story," the human replied. "You'll find out in, oh, three years what I mean."

Spock quirked a brow but said nothing. The human was puzzling, that was a sure thing, but why did it ignite a sort of scratch in the back of his mind as if he should know what Kirk was speaking off? A scratch that, when he tried to sedate and explore, threw his mind back with such a force he felt his body react by taking a step back.

He saw Kirk look at him, confusion apparent on his face, before he shrugged and dismissed Spock opting to turn around and lean back on the wooden spikes that surrounded the shipyard. The human sighed and looked up at the sky. Spock looked at the human studying his face, trying to remember where they'd met before. He was, what humans would call, attractive with his azure eyes and pouty lips and light complexion. His hair was the colour he remembered his Sehlat had on its back. Looking at him brought back all sorts of emotions that Spock quickly repressed but it also brought memories of things that had never happened.

He saw himself in the Captain seat on board a ship, immediately his eyes turned to the Enterprise, knowing that that was the ship he saw himself in. He saw Kirk, dressed in a tight black uniform, standing in front of him, yelling at him angrily but his eyes conveyed a different emotion: sadness, regret. And finally, he saw an older, much wiser version of himself speaking to him. The reverence and warmth that that Vulcan had given off had increased ten-fold when Spock had asked about Jim, that he remembered clearly. But how? These events had never happened or had not happened yet.

"C-captain?" Spock said softly, his eyes returning to Kirk whose head snapped back.

"S-spock?" Jim - for it was Jim, his captain, his friend - who was standing next to him, reaching out towards him in what he recognized as a hug with such emotion that Spock could almost taste it. Spock was about to take a step closer, about to close their distances and allow himself to wrap his arms around Jim, feeling him against him as proof that this was not a dream, when everything went white and he found himself in his room on board the Enterprise.