Clearing the colony of survivors had taken almost two weeks. Making sure all were healthy and accommodating them all inside the scarce ships as they arrived to Tarsus IV had been tiring, almost to the point of numbness, but it had to be accomplished if the Federation wanted to conduct a completely successful rescue mission.
Sam had spent the majority of those two weeks checking lists and talking to new orphans - who were more probable to trust a teen like him than an adult like the other officers – contacting his lawyer, Mr. Parker, and his mother, who was still out of communication range due to her own exploration mission, and finally, monitoring Jim's progress through the innumerable surgeries he had to be submitted to and the counseling sessions he refused to go to unless Sammy was there with him.
At night, he held his brother's shaking hand – healing, at least, little nails were steadily growing on his little Jimmy's fingers, thanks god – and tried to smile as the doctors delivered their stoic reports of Jim's daily improvement. And encouraged a toothless smile from him until the boy fell asleep.
As many of the other children, Jim was skittish and would whimper every time a nurse or a doctor came too close to him. He couldn't cry out or scream like the others, however, as the doctors had to remove all his rotten teeth and were currently trying to make his gums accept the dental pieces they had built for him, which in turn, made them sow his mouth shut with their special nano-biowiring, which to him, with his medical knowledge was quite normal, but to his traumatized twelve year old brother, was torture.
Some doctors aboard the ship encouraged Sam to sit with Jim and chat with him, to make him feel as normal as he could and to try to remind him daily that it was only for a while that he would be weak and helpless. Sam understood and would do anything in his power to help his little brother. He sometimes sneaked little shots of hot chocolate for Jim to sip through his wiring – not much, though, he knew Jim could throw up if his stomach was over charged and he didn't want to imagine how horrible it would be for his Jimmy if he had to puke but could not open his own mouth – and often brought little Kevin and Thomas to sleep in Jim's bed.
The relief Sam had felt the moment their ship had departed the accursed Tarsus IV was short-lived, however, as he went into Jimmy's room that night for their usual hand-holding and conversation, feeling tired and cranky, ready to curl by his brother and caress his bald head – the doctors assured him it was just a matter of time before Jim recovered all his beautiful blond locks – when he realized his usual spot by Jim's side was already occupied.
A boy was sitting on Jim's bed, eyes closed; hands tense on his baby brother's yellow-ish face, the tips of his tiny, pointy ears tinted a faint green tone.
Sam saw red.
Yes, he knew the Vulcans were the first and most numerous to arrive with help for the survivors, the very ship they were sailing towards Earth on was Vulcan, and he should feel grateful for their superior knowledge, but that little brat was boldly invading his little brother's personal space and Jim's eyes were so wide, so scared, tears were rolling down his sunken cheeks as he struggled to open his mouth and cry out for help.
To hell with proper protocol!
"Hey! You!" he roared, feeling a small twinge of satisfaction as the Vulcan boy snatched his hand away from Jim with a visible start. "What the hell do you think you are doing to my brother?"
The Vulcan boy stood, eyes wide.
"Your brother was crying," he said. "I was merely trying to assess the mental stability of his psyche in order to provide a suitable response to his need of…"
"Mental stability my as!" Sam snapped. "What's your name, you fucking brat! Children without authorized supervision are not allowed here! Ambassador Sarek will know about this!"
The boy hesitated for a moment, eyes guilty, before he nodded in understanding.
"I am Stonn," he replied finally.
"Well then, Stonn," Sam growled, pulling him forcefully out of the room by the arm. "The Ambassador will know about this, so you'd better get ready to be punished. My brother is out of limits, get it!"
Stonn nodded, gave Jim one last longing glance – in Sam's opinion it was longing, anyway. His poor brother was always such a heart breaker – before hurrying away. Sam sighed, taking his brother's frail body in his arms and sitting on the bed, rocking Jim back and forth gently.
"Shhh, it's ok, Jimmy," he soothed. "I've got you now, baby. No one's gonna touch you again until you want them to, ok? I promise, Jimmy, you know I always keep my promises, right?"
Jim's frightened whimpers slowly subsided until his trembling fingers were still enough to grasp Sam's hand and give it a small squeeze in response. The older boy smiled, laying a kiss on his brother's forehead, trying to ignore the scars that lined his Jim's skin that would, hopefully, be covered by his hair in a few months.
Jim raised a hand suddenly, trying to reach the PADD Sam had left for him to amuse himself during the day. Sam allowed it, and grinned when Jim started to scribble a message.
'He was just curious,' he wrote. 'He meant no harm.'
"How can you know, Jimmy?" Sam asked, snuggling the little body to him. Jim smiled weakly.
'I dunno, I just do.'
"Ok, I promise I'll let the Ambassador know as well," he said gently.
Miraculously, Jim's brain waves were far more coherent after that incident, or so the doctors said. He still had nightmares, of course. Sam doubted those would stop for years to come, but his heart didn't nearly burst out of his weakened chest nor did he fails frantically with the need to vomit anymore. Sometimes, however, Sam thought he was making progress, eating on his own, sleeping a whole nap on his own, but then something would happen that would make his brother go back into hiding and crying and pissing himself.
It was heart-breaking to watch his brother try to crawl out of his own clothes, face full of shame and frustration.
The Vulcan children were helping, of course. Sam's complete dislike of all things Vulcan resided on the little fact that children aboard the ship kept following him around. All stoic chubby faces with arrow straight backs trying to cover child-like curiosity and, as far as one of them had told him, solving the riddle one of their instructors had given them.
Why so many children on the ship?
Well, it happened that one of the first ships to respond to the distress call had been a Vulcan ship on its way home from an educational surveillance and investigation leave for your minds, or whatever the Vulcans called children's summer camp, and that meant the instructors decided it would only be logical to assist the survivors and further their own charges' chance at education.
Instructor Sikah had already asked Sam's permission on one occasion for the children to stare at Jim from a secluded window, not to have close contact with his troubled mind. Sam had agreed, of course, thinking that it was a little cruel of the man to show children the horror of the tragedy as his brother was a perfect embodiment of such, but he had never guessed that bastard of a Vulcan would use the chance to broaden the kids' minds by posing a mental challenge for them.
That Stonn brat had been severely reprimanded, and Sikah and the other Vulcan instructors had assured Sam that they had warned all children from bothering the survivors in their vulnerable state. However, all Vulcan eyes had turned thus to Jim and Sam, as their abnormal behavior – by Vulcan standards, at the very least – had become completely 'fascinating' or so the little Vulcan girl that had become his constant shadow had told him.
It had been the little T'Pill, or whatever her name was, who had made Sam aware of the little riddle instructor Sikah had given his charges: "Should you be faced with a creature such as this," he had said seriously. "I would like to hear your thoughts on species and origin." Which was the main reason, the little girl explained, as to why all children kept following Dr. Kirk – obviously the doctor in charge of patient 097-B, as Jim had been tagged - and lingered outside Jim's room.
Sam thought the little girl experienced shame for herself and her race for the first time when, instead of providing the information she so sought from Dr. Kirk, Sam had stalked away as quickly as he could, face red and eyes hard, had found instructor Sikah and had delivered a punch to his expressionless face with all the strength his years in Iowa had given him.
"Listen to me, asshole!" he roared, grabbing the man by the robes and feeling a little satisfied when the Vulcan faltered for a second. "Jim is not a science pet project for you or your students, he is innocent and you will stop playing with him as if he was a freak! Or so help me god I'm going to pummel that big head of yours until your prodigious brain leaks out of those pointy ears, you hear? Tell your children to back off Jim!"
Admiral Archer had to pull him back from the Vulcan as he continued to scream treats and rants of violence to whoever dared to make fun of Jimmy and his condition. Jimmy was not alone anymore, he swore, now Jimmy had Sam Kirk to protect him and he would not be mocked nor studied like an animal!
The Admiral had listened to his explanations, hours later and had apologized to him with a proud pat to his shoulder.
"Had he done that same shit to me," the old man said. "I guess I would have done the same."
Ambassador Sarek himself sent a file to them expressing his most deep regrets at the incident, much to Sam's and Archer's surprise. Instructor Sikah had only wanted the children to realize the effect malnutrition could have on the human body and that human will could go beyond bodily requirements in order to survive, but had gone the wrong way about it. Sam snorted hatefully when the Ambassador told them instructor Sikah was most ashamed of his behavior and would do all in his hands to correct his mistake.
When Sam stalked out, heading towards the replicator to get Jim's lunch, he found the Vulcan girl waiting for him by the door, eyes solemn and head lowered.
"I believe I must apologize as well, Dr. Kirk," she said softly. "I did not understand the situation to its fullest and have, therefore, upset you and offended the integrity of your patient. I also feel ashamed of my instructor's actions and I can only hope you shall not think ill of all of us Vulcan because of his misjudgment."
Sam blinked, surprised, then sighed.
Of course, the girl must have been there when he had exploded on Sikah and afterwards, as the Ambassador chewed him out. That little girl must have understood they were doing something wrong and it was within her Vulcan-logical-whatever for her to apologize as well.
She felt responsible.
With a careless hand, he patted her lowered head, ignoring how her whole face tinted green and her eyes widened in shock, before giving her a wide, calm smile, the one he used to pull a giggle out of his Jimmy.
"Apology accepted, T'Ping?"
The girl frowned a not-so-really-there pout on her mouth.
"You should stop trying to pronounce my name, Dr. Kirk, you will never get it right with your human tongue," she said. Sam laughed.
"Well then, I'm going to see my brother now," he said, offering his hand. "Would you like to join me? I'm sure he'd like to meet some other children."
The Vulcan girl nodded, shyly taking his hand in hers and flushing a deep olive color to the tip of her pointy ears.
"May I possibly inquire about the nature of your patient, Dr. Kirk?" she said suddenly, as they walked. "Out of general curiosity and not of any malice?"
Sam shook his head.
"Jim? He's my brother," he explained, entering his security code on the door. "You do the math."
The girl stopped momentarily, her eyes wide and little mouth hanging open in shock. It seemed her mind could not conjure the idea that Dr. Kirk was actually the creature's relative, which would mean that patient 097-B was actually a human being. Impossible, illogical. Sam tried to suppress a laugh.
He had shocked the emotional control out of the girl.
"Then my apology must not suffice, if I have wronged a relative of yours with my attitude," she said suddenly.
"Uh? Why you say that?" he asked in confusion, typing his order for his brother's lunch.
"Admiral Archer explained to us the importance of familial bonds between humans and that subjects of the same kin would often take offense on behalf of their siblings," she said. "He also said that should I offend any human male that I should give them what he called 'a sassy wink with those pretty eyes' so they should be appeased." And then, the little girl proceeded to close her left eyelid over her eye for a second in what she must have determined, was a sassy wink.
Sadly, her neutral expression never changed.
Sam snorted.
It had been a while since he had interacted with people close to his age and relaxed in conversation, even if the other party was a weird Vulcan girl trying to sass him up. Suddenly a distressed shriek alerted them both and made Sam's tray fall from his hands.
The noise came from Jim's room.
"JIM!" he cried, rushing past the girl and into his brother's room, heart hammering in his chest.
A nurse was sitting on the floor, a bruise forming in her face as she gapped at the huddled figure on the bed.
"Nurse Jennings!" Sam said. "What is the meaning of this!"
The woman turned to him, eyes wide.
"I was going to give the patient his daily shot when he started to trash and try to escape," she explained, not still out of her shocked state. "I tried to reason with him but suddenly that boy entered the room, backhanded me and then took position over the patient, sir!"
"You shall not take a step further into this room, nor will you approach him with your hands," the boy hissed, brown eyes narrowed to slits.
"You… you…" the nurse cried in outrage, standing from her sitting position.
The boy, the one could easily recognize as Stonn, had a hand on top of Jim's head, fingers caressing the soft blond fuss his brother had in what Sam could only describe as a too human gesture of comfort. His teeth were bared at the nurse and a low, animalistic growl curled from his chest.
The little Vulcan girl said something in their language that Sam couldn't make out, making Stonn turn to her and hiss a response. The girl blinked, her eyes focused on Jim and then Sam, her petit hand curled almost unconsciously on the older human's one.
The nurse huffed, muttered some ill-thought treats about pointy eared brats who would not do as they were told before stalking away, eyes hard. She never apologized to Sam for the scene nor did she mention the fact that she had not found Jim's chart by the boy's bed, as it was still in Sam's pocket.
Once the woman was gone, the focus of Stonn's hatred shifted to him, and the same dangerous growl rumbled through the small room.
Sam's eyes narrowed back, ready to fight the Vulcan off Jimmy if necessary, when Jimmy himself raised teary blue eyes to him and a pathetic grumbled escaped his pale lips.
"Ssshhhmmy!" he said.
Sam was by his side in seconds, cradling his body in his arms and letting Jim cry into his shoulder, trembling hands trying to curl a lock of Sam's hair into thin fingers. How long had it been since he had cut it? Too long maybe. He should shake his head off, it would make Jimmy smile.
"You are not a threat to his safety?" Stonn asked, confused. The Vulcan girl shook her head.
"Dr. Kirk is this patient's older brother," she said evenly, arms behind her back.
Stonn nodded then, eyes solemn.
"I was passing by when I noticed the woman inside the room," he explained. "She held him by the arm and was trying to stab him with a hypo spray, causing him great distress. I've seen before that all vitamins are administered orally to him, therefore I believe she must have committed a mistake. Your brother became more and more agitated with her attempts and then I was forced to interfere."
Sam sighed, feeling a headache coming.
"Thank you, Stonn," he said softly, nuzzling Jim's ear with his nose. "Please hand me my kit, will you? This little rascal pulled a nano-wire off and I'll better fix it now."
Jim snuggled into Sam's chest tiredly, a small, apologetic smile on his face as he pulled his bleeding lip back.
"Does it hurt, Jimmy?" he asked. Jim shook his head, eyes going to rest on the Vulcan's worried ones.
"Thhhh…k…..uuuu…" he tried, only to be reprimanded by Sam.
"I do not understand that language, I am afraid," Stonn said, tilting his head.
"He means thank you," Sam translated, running the dermal regenerator over Jim's mouth. "No more talking to you, mister, or you'll twist your new teeth."
Jimmy nodded, offering a hand towards Stonn. The boy flushed violently green before he grasped Jim's hand carefully, as if it was a wild animal. The Vulcan girl muttered something in their language, something that made Stonn shake his head and snap something at her. He didn't release Jim's hand until one of their instructors – not Sikah, at least – came to retrieve him and the girl for the day.
Sam laid Jim in his bed and curled by his side, considering all that was happening around him. He guessed Vulcan's were not as bad as he had thought, and he could allow a little Vulcan shadow on his brother's side if it ensured such protection to his baby.
To be continued.