Disclaimer: I don't own. I don't profit. And I'm not nice to Bob Orci's vision in this chapter.

Verky special thanks to beta Notes from the Classroom. She has some concerns, but beta'd this chapter anyway.

Chapter 5

"I am not our father," the elder said.

"Our father." Vulcans did not speak imprecisely. This was his elder self. Spock was not surprised an elder version of himself had entered this timeline. The ship aboard the Narada had already alerted him to his other self's existence. He was surprised to see this version of himself in the hangar.

Walking forward the elder Vulcan said, "There are so few Vulcans left. We cannot afford to ignore each other."

He'd assumed his other incarnation must have been killed by Nero. But thinking back on it, he realized he should have deduced this was not true. Even Spock had noticed Kirk being evasive when the ship from the future had recognized Spock as its owner. He tilted his head. Kirk and this...elder...this other version of him had met. "Then why did you send Kirk aboard when you alone could have explained the truth?"

Nodding his head slightly the elder said, "Because you needed each other. I could not deprive you of the revelation of all you could accomplish together. Of a friendship, that will define you both, in ways you cannot yet realize."

Spock's mind spun. This explanation was wrong on several different levels. Apparently, the elder seemed to be making assumptions about the personalities of Jim Kirk and himself based on the men they were in a different timeline. Illogical. Second, the elder seemed to think that events in this timeline would unfold in the same way they had in his own. Also illogical. But more importantly, this lie had put the lives of everyone aboard the Enterprise, not to mention the safety of Earth -indeed, perhaps the galaxy-on the line.

Whatever his feelings of Jim Kirk were before, Spock knew him well enough to realize that he would not have put so much at risk without good reason. Kirk might be vain, arrogant, and cocksure, but he wasn't stupid.

Spock felt himself go hot. They'd been pawns to this man's illogic. His brow furrowed. "How did you persuade him to keep your secret?"

The elder said smoothly, "He inferred that universe ending paradoxes would ensue should he break his promise."

The furrows in Spock's brow deepened. "You lied," said Spock, not attempting to hide the disapproval in his voice.

"Awwww...I...I implied," said the elder Vulcan without any hint of remorse. In fact...Spock tilted his head. It was almost as though the elder found the situation slightly humorous. Did this being not consider the lives in this timeline to be as real as the lives in his own?

Clenching his hands tightly behind his back, Spock said, "A gamble." Only a deeply ingrained respect for elders allowed him from launching into a tirade against this other version of himself. This man was frail - physically, but most likely mentally as well.

"An act of faith. One I hope you will repeat in the future at Starfleet," said the elder.

At the word 'faith,' Spock's suspicions of mental frailty were confirmed. Was it age, or a side affect of being drawn through the anomaly? It did not matter. He would not point out the illogic of an abstract concept like 'faith' to someone whose grasp on reality was too tenuous. Instead he merely said, "In the face of extinction it is only logical I resign my Starfleet commission and help rebuild our race."

Head bobbing slightly the elder said, "And yet, you can be in two places at once. I urge you to remain in Starfleet. I have already located a suitable planet on which to establish a Vulcan colony. Spock, in this case, do yourself a favor. Put aside logic. Do what feels right."

What felt right?

Spock stared at the elder. All of the suffering, the death, and the pain that existed in this reality; were they just abstractions to this old man?

The image of his mother's eyes widening as the cliff collapsed beneath her, the unshed tears in Nyota's eyes in the turbolift, the Vulcans on the Enterprise left homeless, selflessly putting aside their emotions to repair the ship...To see such injustice, such suffering was to feel that it had to be made right. His people needed a home and protection. Yes, it was logical to help in rebuilding their future, but he felt it must be done as well.

He did not expect the task to be fascinating, or as intellectually rewarding as life in Starfleet. In fact he expected tedium. He knew that sometimes he would face the old prejudices - but he was neither human or Vulcan, he encountered prejudice everywhere. He would have to leave Nyota; that filled him with despair. But he could not turn away from the logical path; he would never be able to forgive himself.

The elder began walking away. For a few moments Spock considered apprehending him, but on what charge? How would he prove his mental instability? And Starfleet knew he was here...Of course, he'd probably been the one to help Kirk and Scotty beam aboard at warp. This man was Starfleet's only link to the technology of the future. Starfleet and the galaxy needed him, even if he was unstable.

Did they know he was unstable? Spock would have to talk to his father. It sounded as though the elder intended to stay on the Vulcan colony. Sarek could arrange some unobtrusive observation, perhaps put him essentially on house arrest without the old man even realizing he was on house arrest.

Turning, the old man said, "Since my customary farewell would appear oddly self-serving I will simply say, good luck." He held up his hand in the Vulcan salute.

Spock decided it was best to humor him. Slowly he raised his own hand in turn but couldn't bring himself to speak.

Spock watched the elder walk away, and then dropped his head and turned on his heel to go find Nyota - he was late. Before he even had taken a step forward he heard her voice, "Spock..."

Lifting his head, he saw her peering around one of the shuttles. She straightened and came forward, smoothing her dress. Her eyes were wide, her mouth slightly agape. Before he could say anything she said, "I didn't want to interrupt, but I saw everything."

Walking quickly to his side she looked up at him and then gazed in the direction the old man had went. Nyota turned back to him but kept her eyes lowered. She put her arms behind her back. "Your world was destroyed, you have to make hard choices." Looking up at him with moist eyes she said, "Nothing is going to feel completely right. Do what is logical."

She neatly summed up all his internal turmoil and resolution in a few sentences. She understood him more than he understood himself. It made him want to touch her and establish an empathic link, then and there, in the hangar. Such an action was not unacceptable among bond-mates, and wasn't that essentially what they were?

He tilted his head. They were Commander and Lieutenant now. He held out his hand. "If you do not feel it inappropriate..."

She held out her own hand to his and let the pads of her fingertips graze his. Spock felt happiness and sadness from her in equal measure. He echoed it. For 1.5 minutes they stood locked in a loop of bittersweetness, and then Spock felt something dark and possessive unleash within his core.

"Let us go home," he said.

She nodded. He expected her to say, "We need to talk," but the words never came.

x x x x

Their fingers didn't separate the whole walk across campus to the officers' quarters. When they entered the elevator, Spock hit the button to her floor, it was two floors below his. He felt a slight rush of surprise. He looked at her and said, "It will save us 27.5 seconds."

Home was relative.

He felt anticipation growing in her, and his own need rising.

They slipped in step from the elevator to her door. Fingers still entwined, she hit the code to her quarters and pulled him in behind her. A rush of cold moist air hit him. She'd left the window open and the fog had rolled into the city. He did not care. Before she could turn around he slipped his hands on her temples from behind and pushed his forehead to the top of her head.

His vision was blackening.

Nyota moaned. Spock felt his lips drawn to the back of her neck. Kissing his way down he felt her shiver. When he bit down she cried out, but not in pain.

X x x

Spock collapsed backwards onto the mattress, his skin slick, his mind blank. Rolling over, Nyota lay her head on his shoulder and draped half her body over his. Bringing his hand up, he brushed her temples. He felt her consciousness there, at first blank like his, but then he felt...gratitude.

"We haven't done this in a while; it's nice," she said. "To have you back...in bed, in my mind."

He felt the gratitude, too, for the moment, for the escape from...from everything.

The longer they lay there, the more other feelings settled in. Love, affection, but the sadness as well.

They would be parted.

Nyota shivered. "You know, Spock, it took the destruction of a planet for us to have our first major fight."

It wasn't a fight precisely, but Spock wasn't going to argue semantics. He wasn't going to say anything at all, but then an errant thought entered his mind. "You mean it was not the fault of that piece of ginger?"

She huffed at the small joke. He felt a spark of amusement through his fingertips.

It was such a human...and banal…thing to say in the face of everything that had happened, in a universe that had become so very broken. And yet...it felt defiant.

Lifting an eyebrow he said, "If I had known the root was innocent, I would not have immediately cast it into the garbage disposal and pulverized it."

Nyota huffed again and rolled her forehead over onto his chest; he couldn't see her expression, but happiness and amusement

danced in his fingertips. "My Spock, you're back," she said.

He kissed the top of her head, never taking his fingers from her temples.

Without looking up she said, "Spock, I sent an email to admin...I asked about resigning my commission. They said the only way out would be a dishonorable discharge."

Spock felt relief in his fingertips. She didn't really want to leave Starfleet. Lifting her head to look up at him she said, "I'm sorry...I..."

"A dishonorable discharge would be unacceptable," said Spock.

Nyota nodded. "But I was glad they made the choice for me. I feel like the only two constants in my life right now are you, and the trajectory my career was on..." Closing her eyes, she lowered her head to his chest. "I don't know about New Vulcan." She took a deep breath. "I'm afraid of what I'd be getting myself into. There are great Vulcans, and...Vulcans that really do look down on humans."

"And if they pick a planet with an environment similar to Vulcan's, the gravity will be higher, ambient daytime temperature will be hotter, and the atmosphere thinner and drier. It would be physically uncomfortable for you," Spock said.

Looking up at him she said, "You know, you would make a really bad salesman." There was a touch of humor in her words, though.

Spock raised an eyebrow. "It is logical to give you all the data you require to make an informed decision."

She folded her hands on his chest and lowered her chin. Eyes not leaving his she said, "I'm more worried about the cultural aspects. You will be able to pass for full Vulcan. I won't.

Sometimes when societies undergo a crisis they become more insular, not less. Part of me thinks that is a good reason to go with you, to fight the good fight for Vulcan-human relations -"

Spock pressed his fingers against her temples more firmly. "A dishonorable discharge is not acceptable, Nyota." And it wasn't. It would be a mark on her for life.

"I don't want to give up on us yet," she whispered.

"Then we will not," said Spock. He had his own insecurities on this matter; five years was a long time, for a human - but they'd been apart before.

"I'll get so much done without you around," Nyota said. "It might be helpful for my career."

Spock blinked.

"I'm trying to think of the positives," Nyota said. She looked down. "I've been looking forward to us being together again for so long - I need to talk myself into the idea of us being apart again." Shrugging, she said, "When you weren't around the last two years, it was easier to focus on my studies."

Spock stared at her. Despite her words he felt her sadness and apprehension through his fingertips; he wanted to make it go away. "I am sure there is a witty rejoinder for that," he said. "I do not know what it is."

Nyota gave a small smile. "At least we're talking again."

Spock looked up at the ceiling. Her emotions and his were still jumbled. And yet...he felt some hopefulness from her.

...they were really back where they started from a day ago, but it was slightly better.

A/N:

So yes, maybe a few people hate me right now. My interpretation of the scene between Spock!Prime and Reboot!Spock. I like Spock in TOS, but he was badly written here.

Notes doesn't like this because it destroys the "Hero Arc" of the story. She wrote very eloquently of it to me in an email I might have to put in the reviews.

I haven't thought of "hero arcs" in a long time. I just felt that the whole scene was contrived, and I really didn't like it. I feel like Spock needs a logical reason to stay in Starfleet...and I don't think that his reasons for leaving are entirely based on logic either (there is logic, but emotion too). Notes says that Spock!Prime was saying to reconcile his logic with his emotions and it was very symbolic because Spock!Reboot was hearing that message from himself – but I didn't hear that message. I just heard "What feels right" and got annoyed.

Yes, he will wind up on the Enterprise...but it will be a few more chapters.