Chapter 2

When Jim kirk was first given the Enterprise, he had expected every mission and every day to be just as exciting and unexpected as their first mission together so many years ago. However as the years went by, and Jim became older and wiser, even Jim Kirk fell into the inevitable cycle of routine.

It had been a while since their last planet side mission and even longer since they been to one with warp capability. Jim was practically bouncing on the balls of his heels as he walked onto the bridge.

He smiled as Chekov chirped out 'keptin on the bridge'. It had started out as a joke since their initial jaunt into space had yielded three captains in a span of one mission; however, after so many years Jim found it endearing. He sank into his chair with Jo on his hip. She kicked her feet excitedly as Lieutenant DeSalle handed over the reports from gamma shift.

He scanned the reports and noted how nothing unusual had appeared during the night. They were on track to arrive at their destination. "Good work, lieutenant." Jim nodded his head.

"Thank you, captain," DeSalle answered. Jim could detect the pride in the young man's voice. Jim watched as the young man hurried off the bridge. He would make a fine captain someday. The rest of the shift change occurred just as smoothly. It was nice to be captain of a crew with so much comradery.

He set Jo down on the ground once the alpha crew was situated. He smiled as she toddled over to Sulu's station. She had just started walking. Like all babies, she was a little unsteady on her feet and walked with her hands straight out.

Jim smiled as she sat down on her bottom before pulling on Sulu's pant legs. He loved the effect she had on his crew. Sulu smiled and scooped her onto his lap. He turned briefly to look at Jim who simply smiled.

"Want to help Uncle Hikaru fly the ship, Jojo?" Sulu asked. He spoke quietly, but loud enough for Jim to hear.

Jo giggled and clapped her hands. Jim watched as Jo pulled herself up so that she could see the console. She wobbled a little as she tried to balance on the curvature of Sulu's legs before he protectively wrapped an arm around her waist.

Jo beamed up at him before directing her attention at the flashing console board. Through the reflection of the view screen, Jim could see Jo was actually listening attentively to Sulu as he described what some of the buttons did. She had her little tongue sticking part way out.

Jim smiled before pulling up a PADD. He groaned at the amount of paperwork and reports he had to fill out before the end of the year. There were upgrades, last minute mission logs, and crew commendations and transfer and reassignment requests.

Over the years, Jim was proud to say he had matured as a captain; he was no longer the green, cocky captain who dove into everything headfirst. It also meant he was more responsible about the growth and career advancement of his crew. He had been extremely lucky to have been directly commissioned to captain straight out of the academy; however, he knew this wasn't the norm. He hated letting crew members go. It felt like he was losing a part of his family, but he knew it was important to let them work under different captains and different ships for their own growth.

He chewed the tip of his pen as he approved the few transfer requests that had been submitted and approved the replacements. Most were from the research departments. He also noted like always there was none from medical. He vaguely wondered when Bones last received a replacement nurse or doctor.

The next time Jim looked up, he saw that Sulu was letting Jo 'drive' the Enterprise. Of course, Jo was too young to understand auto pilot or that she wasn't actually piloting the Enterprise. At least she was having fun.

He knew if the brass saw what he was doing they would cite a thousand regulations: favoritism, hazards and professionalism. Jim normally turned a blind ear to it. During normal operation, the Enterprise practically drove herself. Hell, she did drive itself.

He smiled fondly at the reflection of Jo in Sulu's arm on the view screen before returning to his PADD. He was deeply engrossed in a report from the science team detailing the properties of the vast ecosystem of their last assignment when he felt a tiny tug to his pant leg.

Jim peered up from his PADD and smiled. "Hey baby girl." He tucked the PADD into the space between his leg and the side of his chair.

Jo grinned up at him. "Want to sit with Daddy?"

Jo clapped her hands and babbled a string of her baby talk. Jim, taking that as a yes, scooped her up. He blew a raspberry into her belly causing her to giggle.

At that moment, Chekov's startled cry of 'keptin!' jolted him to attention. He pulled Jo into his lap before looking up. His eyes widened in horror at the large, black mass hurled towards them as the Enterprise flew towards it.

"Mr. Sulu, evasive maneuver now!"

"Aye sir."

Jim reflexively tightened his grip around Jo with one hand as he clenched the edge of his chair to prevent himself from flying off as felt the Enterprise turn hard. At times like these, he really questioned the logic of starships not being equipped with easy to fasten seat belts. He hated the emergency harnesses and had never used them.

Sulu practically bit through his bottom lip as threw his whole weight into turning the ship.

The black mass continued to advance, closer and closer. While the Enterprise, large and gaudy, although sleek in design still turned painfully slow.

"Mr. Sulu," Jim urged. He could feel Jo trembling. He didn't even have to look down to know she was scared.

"I'm trying, sir," Sulu responded. He could tell from experience and Sulu's expression that something was wrong. The Enterprise had finished making a ninety degree turn. The black mass shouldn't still be following them.

"Captain," Spock's stoic voice broke the near silence. As Jim turned to speak, a large bang resonated throughout the Enterprise. A loud, high pitched squeaking sound resonated overhead. As the noise died down, the Enterprise bounced once then twice before settling down.

Jo let out a quiet whimper. Jim gently ran circles through her back before throwing his head back towards Spock and Uhura's station. Uhura's communication panel was already lighting up as different departments were already reporting in their damage. "Yes, Mr. Spock."

"Captain, right before the mass collided with us, sensors showed that it had corrected its course as Mr. Sulu did."

Jim nodded his head. "How did our sensors not pick up on it? This isn't the 1900's when the Titanic failed to notice the iceberg."

"Keptin, it just showed up," Chekov said feebly.

Jim pinched the bridge of his nose. After all these years in space, and he had accumulated a heartily sum now, space debris didn't just show up.

"Mr. Spock and Mr. Chekov, while we complete our mission today, please analysis the ship's sensor logs. We need to see if there are any more anomalies in our systems. Mr. Scott can help as needed."

"Aye sir." Chekov nodded his head.

"Yes captain," Spock answered, as passive as ever, but Jim could detect the curiosity in Spock's voice. In his Vulcan way, Spock was dying to see what could have caused such an incident.

He diverted his attention to Uhura. "Damage report?"

"Minor crew injuries," Uhura reported. "Engineering reports minor hull damage."

"Good, good." The last thing he needed this far into deep space was ship damage. They were weeks out from the nearest star base that was large enough to accommodate a ship the size of the Enterprise. "Mr. Sulu, correct our heading back to our assignment then."

"Yes sir." He could detect the slight tremor in Sulu's voice. He was clearly still shaken from the incident.

Just as Jim was planning was stand up to squeeze Sulu on the shoulder, the all too familiar voice belonging to that of his husband filtered onto the bridge. "God damn it, Jim, what the hell was that?"

Jim rolled his eyes. He spun in his chair to be rewarded by one seething Leonard McCoy as he stepped off the turbo lift. Really, most men cowered in fear when Bones appeared enraged; however, Jim Kirk always found it incredibly hot. He loved the grouchy side of his husband as much as he loved his affectionate and happy side.

"Turbulence?" Jim replied lamely. He smiled as Jo reached upwards. Jim tightened her grip around her.

"Turbulence, my ass. I almost cut out a section of Ensign Weathers' intestines, Jim Kirk." Leonard traversed the room. He crossed his arms; a deep scowl formed on his face.

Jo beamed at him and waved her arms. She babbled a string of nonsense, and like always the scowl on Bones' expression immediately faded away. Spock wasn't the only one Jo had this effect on.

Bones took Jo from his arms. "Hey baby girl." He pressed a kiss to Jo's forehead. "Did Daddy do something stupid again?"

"Hey!" Jim protested indignantly.

Bones' smile got wider when Jo actually nodded. He would need to work on his daughter. He couldn't have them both ganging up on him.

"Spock, you have the con." Jim stood up. He pulled at the cuff of Bones' uniform.

"Yes, captain." Spock answered.

Bones rolled his eyes. "What the hell Jim?"

"Need to go down to engineering and talk to Scotty about what just happened." Jim eyed Bones expectedly.

Bones' eyebrow immediately rose. "Damnit Jim, I'm a doctor not a…"

Jim flashed his husband a smile before slapping him on the shoulder. "I know Bones. You're a doctor, and you know how engineers are. They'll never leave their posts even if they're bleeding out."

"Engineers." Bones rolled his eyes; however, Jim didn't even have to look back to know that he would follow into the turbo lift.

Jim loved the soft hum of the Enterprise's engines. When he was first given the Enterprise, he used to spend hours in engineering climbing through the Jefferies tubes. He always figured if he hadn't gone through the command track; he would have definitely done engineering.

As they entered engineering, Jim flashed a glance at Bones and Jo. He loved seeing Jo's eyes widen every time he brought her down here to visit. Even though she wasn't even a year old yet, most people who knew her loved to speculate which track she would pursue when she joined the academy.

As much as Jim entertained the idea of Jo following in his footsteps and being a captain because any child with his and Bones' genetics was definitely a force to be reckoned with, he wouldn't be too disappointed if she chose something else.

Bones however was scowling something fierce. Jim almost did a second take at the chaos currently unfolding in his engine room. Normally it was controlled chaos.

Jim climbed over a pile over loose hose and piping. "Scotty," he shouted as he spun on the balls of his heels to locate the Scotsman.

"Aye captain," a disembodied voice called out over the noise. Moments later, his chief engineer, sweaty and grease covered, appeared through a conduit. He rubbed his hands on the towel that he always had tucked inside his pants pocket before walking forward.

"Mr. Scott, what are you doing to my engine room?"

He spotted Bones moving through the chaos. He was tricorder already twirling. Jim could already see a few of the younger, greener engineers ducking behind panels. They had a lot to learn. Bones was a master at finding people who tried to avoid medical attention.

"Upgrades, sir," Scotty answered easily.

"Spock and Chekov may come down here later for data on our earlier collision."

Scotty nodded his head. "What happened sir, if you don't mind me asking? Sulu's one of the best pilots in the fleet." Scotty patted the Enterprise's walls. "She's strong, sir, but it's a long way to space dock if something happens to her outer hull. We don't have nearly enough reserves to fix damaged outer hull plating."

"We think it wasn't simple space debris. Spock believes it course corrected when Sulu turned her."

Scotty's eyes widened. "Sentient space debris," he shook his head. "Not something I ever thought I would see."

"We're a long way from home, Scotty."

"That we are."

Bones appeared minutes later. There was a large scowl on his face. "Bones?"

"Engineers..." Bones shifted Jo in his arms. "This ship is full of overzealous people who never understand the importance of health. Five crewmen had second degree burns; a sixth had a slight concussion." Bones gave him the eyebrow, as if insinuating that it was all Jim's fault. So what if he often avoided sick bay like a plague when he was actually hurt, he was the captain. He was busy.

Jim laughed awkwardly before turning back to Scotty. "So how are the plans on turning the pool into an ice rink going?" He spotted Bones leaning against one of the consoles in the corner of his eye.

"I think we can actually do it, Captain. Just need to adjust the temperature sensors a little more. Keenser thinks we can actually get it to snow."

Bones' eyebrows shot upwards. Scotty and Keenser made quite a team, and one that Bones was constantly complaining was giving him as many grey hairs as Jim did.

A few hours later, they finally reached Loyan. It was a large purple planet which Spock found 'fascinating'. Sulu easily maneuvered the Enterprise into a perfect synchronized orbit around the planet.

Jim flashed Bones a smile as he stepped off the bridge once again. "See you in a bit," he mouthed as he doors of the turbo lift slid close.

The last thing he saw was a particularly high eyebrow raise. Jim laughed joyfully.

TBC