A/N:

In this chapter you'll find some lovely Chekov/Sulu, McCoy/Chapel, Spock/Nyota, and implied Alternate!Kirk/Spock Prime... it's a buffet of relationships. Spock may seem a bit OOC, I'm still not sure. I have trouble getting the mix of emotions and Vulcan right... and his speech seems very mechanical. There is also a shameless piece of nothing but complete dialog as a tribute to my laziness. All knowledge about Kirk's step-dad is of my own creation... Thanks for reading this far! Once again, I don't own Star Trek. Enjoy! (And review...)

11. Jump

As a child there had been two rules in the household ruled by his step-father. The first was that when Jim was asked to jump, the reply was always to ask how high. Secondly, Jim was always to jump up to and beyond that height, no matter the physical or mental damages that would ensue. As a child he had hated it, and as an adult he hated it even more.

He realized now how cruel it was to demand action from some one with little explanation as to why they were putting themselves at risk. To be allowed unrestricted power over a person or group of people was to become tyrannical. Jim would not allow himself this luxury. He demanded to be questioned. Every reckless action, every executive decision, it was imperative that it was questioned. Checked. Balanced. Corrected. Reprimanded. Perfected.

Starfleet taught a lot about positive leadership, but the lessons that had made Kirk an effective captain of the Enterprise came from first hand exposure to negative leaders and a desire to refrain from seeing those negative traits repeated in his life.

So every day Kirk awoke on the Enterprise he made two promises to himself. Firstly, he would never become over inflated with the power of his role. Secondly, he would not become his step-father.

Come Hell or high water, James T. Kirk would not become a tyrant.

12. Joke

Leonard McCoy sat alone in his office. It was late. It had been a long day on the Enterprise. Two major accidents in engineering, both happening within hours of each other, had filled his medical bay with ensigns and security officers for a good fourteen hours. Five major surgeries, countless minor procedures for sutures and burn repair, and an almost infinite number of 'look-em-over-and-send-em-out' checks had left him looking particularly haggard.

Scotty had promised to stop doing whatever he was doing to cause such disasters. McCoy wanted nothing more than to have a drink, slip into bed, and sleep until the next evening, but that didn't seem like a very wise idea. In fact it seemed all to lonely. A knock on the door called him from his self pitying downward spiral. "Doctor." Christine Chapel said softly.

"I thought we were fighting." McCoy offered no other greeting.

"We were." She said, taking a seat in his office.

"And you were going to look for a humanoid, remember?"

"Yea." She said with a relaxed smile. "I looked all over, but not one of them seemed to hold a candle to you. Even if you forgot my birthday." McCoy stood up and poured them both a small glass of whiskey.

"Yea? What about that Andronian, in engineering?" The doctor's eyebrow raised.

"Oh yea... him." She bit back a smile. "Turns out he's gay. Would have been a go if he hadn't been more interested in you." At this McCoy laughed so hard he spit out half of his drink. Christine watched him appreciatively. "Funny thing is, you think I'm kidding."

13. Baby

"This..." Spock Prime's voice floated over the speakers as his image waved on the view screen. "Is the first Vulcan child born in the colony." On the other side of the transmission, Spock sat and observed the small child laying peacefully in his alternate-self's arms. The child was fully Vulcan, his ears were pointed and tinged light green, and his eyes were almond shaped and the darkest brown.

"Why is it that you wish to show me such being?" Spock asked.

"I only wish to inform you that the population is regenerating here in the colony. I estimate the birth of at least one child per season currently, and then that rate will increase with time." Spock Prime seemed a little... disappointed. He had expected his younger self to see the same beauty he saw in the new life cradled in his arms.

"This is acceptable news." Spock observed the child for a while longer. His hair, black as night, looked silky even through the grainy view screen. The location of the Enterprise in relation to the Vulcan colony made it nearly impossible to get a clear transmission. "It is female?" He asked after a while.

"Yes." Spock answered with a slight smile. "She is a healthy female. Do you not wish to inquire as to her name?"

"I do not see how this would benefit me."

"It wouldn't. However, I shall inform you anyway. The parents of this child, along with the council of Vulcan, have decided to call her Amanda. After your mother."

Spock's breath caught in his chest, but he subdued the gasp. "It is not traditional."

"Little is anymore. We have done much for Vulcan, Spock, I believe this is their way of repaying us... in slight."

Spock did not speak, but he looked intently at the child again. With a slow and steady hand he reached out and touched the view screen where her hair was. It was an illogical action, no texture could be perceived through the slick monitor, but for a moment Spock's heart fluttered. When he next whispered his voice was only a fraction above audible...

"Live long and prosper."

14. Bruised

The Captain entered the bridge on that particular day full of good spirits, or as it was often perceived, arrogance. Everyone else was working duitifully and quietly. "Good day crew!" Kirk exclaimed loudly. He took a large bite out of the apple in his hand and made to sit down in his chair. He probably should have paid more attention to where his body was positioned and not the pretty new tactical assistant that was talking quietly to Chekov.

As it was, Jim was distracted and missed his seat by at least a half a foot and landed promptly on his ass on the hard tile floor. His apple went flying and in an attempt to catch himself he looked even more like a fool. He cursed in pain. The bridge burst into laughter, even Spock managed a small smirk. Uhura looked at him with a cocky smile. "You okay, Captain?" He glared at her.

"Nothing bruised but my pride." He paused. "As you were, ladies and gents."

15. Fencing

Sulu hadn't seen these recordings in years. In fact, he wasn't even sure he had seen them before. He lay in his quarters and watched with the match with the same wide-eyed wonder he had when he played. He remembered this match like yesterday.

Chekov emerged from the bathroom with a towel to dry the rest of the water from his hair. He observed appreciatively the prone form of his boyfriend, and then he noticed the images fluttering across the screen. Within minutes he was as captivated with the smooth movements as the other man.

"Hikaru..." He whispered after the match had finished and both of the competitors had removed their headpieces. Sulu had lost, but that did not stop the triumphant smile on his face. "That's you?"

"Yea..." The answer was followed with a combined laugh and sigh. "I used to be pretty good. And if I had won!" Sulu thought of it. "I would have been on my way to fame. But my style was off... so it was Starfleet for me."

"You were beautiful." The awe was completely evident in the young boy's voice. Sulu had to admit that it flattered him. He turned over and placed a hand on the other side of the bed. "Of course... you still are to me." It was so cliche, yet it was romantic.

He mumbled something incoherent as Chekov moved to lay down beside him. He ran a long hand through bright red hair. Chekov sighed contentedly and buried his head further into the crook of Sulu's arm. "Well then," He said after a while. "I'm kinda glad I lost."

16. Pilot

He had always wanted to fly. Growing up he would hold out his hands and make shuttle noises as he ran around the fields surrounding his home. He could do this for hours, between his homework and his sleep and his meals. His mother would often laugh and encourage him, but his father would send the ground quaking when he saw Pavel playing in such ways. "No son of mine vill put vis head in ze clouds! Dilithium mining... now zat's a man's vork!"

Thankfully his father spent most of those years off planet, bent in the mines that would eventually kill him, leaving his mother to nurture Pavel's free and intelligent spirit. She would tell him repeatedly not to worry about what his papa said... that he could do anything he wanted in life. Even if what he wanted was to spend the rest of his life flying trans-atlantic shuttles... she would be proud of him.

He tried a few shuttle simulation classes in his free time, but it was unfortunate because the turbulence of Earth's atmosphere and confined containment of the shuttle often gave him airsickness. He decided he liked math, statistics, and military tactics. He proved to be a quick learner in anything. He had dropped his dream of being a pilot in order to take up a tactical post aboard the Enterprise. In the end, he guessed, it was worth it.

Perhaps he could not become a pilot, but he assumed he did the next best thing, (not that this option would make his father much prouder)...

He fell in love with one.

17. Dance

It was, aside from translation and education, her favorite activity. She only wished that she could get Spock to partake in a little fun every now and then. She wanted desperately to replace his warm arms for those she currently held. Not that McCoy was a bad partner, he was exceptionally and unexpectedly good... she would have never taken the chief medical officer for a classical dancer.

Every time they passed him in their small waltz twirl, his face was stoic, a mask rapt with attention to her every body movement. The music hummed from the transmitter on the other side of the room. She was happy. Her smile was radiant. It was nice to see her happy. After a moment Kirk stepped in with Chapel and then Chekov joined toting Sulu reluctantly by the hand.

Spock observed the switch of partners so that now Kirk and Nyota were dancing together leaving Chapel and McCoy to their own devices. Spock felt something tug at his heart... jealousy? No... sadness? Most likely. He closed his eyes and let the easiness of the music wash his brain.

Someone coughed gently. Spock opened his eyes to see Nyota standing alone in front of him. "Dance with me." She said with a small smile. He looked her in the eyes, she seemed radiant even still. She wasn't even sure he would reply, but he reached out and took her shoulder. Her skin buzzed with the warm contact.

She wanted more than anything for him to sweep her onto the floor along with everyone else, but instead he removed his hand and looked away. Her face fell. She composed herself quickly.

"I cannot. You know this. It is illogical for you to ask me otherwise. The Captain appears, however, to be a willing partner."

"I'm sorry." Her tone was unintentionally harsh. "I should have known." She turned on her heels. She ignored Kirk's waiting stance and stormed right out of the door. Upon catching Kirk's questioning glance Spock merely answered, "I do not dance."

18. Simple

"So!" Scotty said to those seated in front of him. "It should be easy enough." He wrote several long strings of variables and mathematical symbols on the clear board in front of him. "Just move this over here, solve for this, and then insert the standard set of conditions... here... here... and here..." With each word he circled something. "Followed by some standard variables here... here... and here..." Again with the circles.

"And then if we just enter this whole strand of data into our main processing center than we should be able to achieve the desired result. Which is?" He waited for an answer from his extremely quiet audience. When they were unforthcoming he drew a picture on the board.

"Pie, sir?" One of the men asked. He was clearly confused. His eyes were squinted.

"Ah! That's not just any pie... that's Shepard's pie... from our replicators!" Scotty couldn't have smiled any wider The crowd was unresponsive. "It's quite simple really, let's hit it again and then put it to work boys. We're having pie tonight!"

19. Shit

"You lied to me!"

"It was not lying as much as it was concealing the truth from you."

"Semantics. You guys saw each other and the universe didn't come crashing down around us! You could have done this all the while and saved me any trouble with him... you... whatever!"

"Anger is illogical. I did not mean to deceive you. I would never intend that."

"Well you did. Do you have a logical explanation for that?"

"Yes."

"May I hear it...?"

"Jim. I felt it helpful to promote a friendly relationship between the two of you. It was a moment of weakness on my part. Having you back again... I wanted things to turn out the same in your reality as they had in mine. With all I had changed I wanted to make things right."

"Wait. The same... meaning?"

"In my time, Jim, I was not engaged in courtship with Lieutenant Uhura."

"Okay... so you wanted me to jump in on the two of you? Make it right by breaking you up?"

"It could be put that way. In my world, Jim, you and I grew to be good friends."

"Ummm... do you mean... you and I..."

"Yes, Jim... selfishly I wanted to allow myself of this universe the same pleasures I received from a life with you."

"Oh, shit. Really?"

"Yes, Jim. As I stated before... I would not deceive you on such matters."

"Umm... well... was it good at least?"

"Very much so. In fact there were times when..."

"Stop. Stop talking. Please."

"I apologize if I have troubled you..."

"No. No, its fine... it's just... you hate me."

"My mother used to tell me that the bully in the fourth grade was mostly motivated by a secret liking of the person being bullied."

"Shit."

20. Love

"If this doesn't work..." Spock began, standing in the highly advanced ship and looking at the Narada looming before him. "Please tell Lieutenant Uhura..." Tell her what? That he loved her? Surely not. He did not love her. At most he enjoyed her company. He felt comforted by her. But he did not love her. At least he did not think that he loved her.

He always thought that love would be a definite emotion. With Nyota it was always fog and mirrors. He did not know one moment from the next if he loved her. He did not know if he wanted to love her. "Tell her that I..." He was unsure of how to finish.

"Spock... It'll work. Trust me." Good thing he didn't have to.

A/N:

20 did occur on the Vulcan ship before Spock flew into the Narada... I like it... because it seems to show his hesitancy. I'm not sure if that's out of character, but I know I like it. But my favorite in this one is tied between 13 and 16. I absolutely adore Chekov and Sulu and can't seem to write anything but fluff between them. I'll try to make some more serious improvements. Least favorite would have to be 18... I thought the pie was funny at first... and now I don't see it anymore. Plus Scotty seems OOC. Thanks everyone for reading! Please review and stay on the lookout for more!