Author's note: Again, thanks to everyone for reviewing! I'm giving you an early update as a special treat. Also, I wish to apologize. I realized today that I made a mistake while I was doing some research. In the original timeline, Tommy was older than Kevin, but in this story I have it the opposite way. Also, Kevin was only supposed to be 4-years-old when Kirk saved him, but this is slight AU. So hopefully you can forgive me!

The small passage is borrowed from "Dragon Gets By" by Dav Pilkey. It was one of my favorite children's books.

Enjoy the new chapter! I really, really loved Pike's interactions in this one. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

Chapter Five

"Pike to Transporter Room One, we have twenty to beam up." Chris glanced at Jim's pale face as a tiny bit of oxygen passed his parted lips. "Please transport myself and JT directly to the medbay."

"Copy that. Give us one moment."

As soon as he finished speaking, Pike felt the transporter take them and deposit them in the medbay. He could never really get used to the feeling of having his molecules taken apart and put back together. Doctor Ravi was already in the ICU room. The head nurse, Amanda, helped him reattach Jim to the machines and place an oxygen mask on his face. Jim didn't even wince when the IV was inserted.

"Amanda, I need 2 ccs of tri-ox and a deep tissue scan of his lungs." Doctor Ravi looked up at the stats on the screen.

Pike took a step back and let them work. He watched as Doctor Ravi listened to Jim's lungs with a frown on his face.

"Doctor, his blood pressure is dropping," the nurse said, handing him a hypospray.

"He's not getting enough oxygen. We need to intubate him."

Pike looked away as the doctor inserted the plastic tubing and connected it to the machine. He felt sick at the sight and wanted to hit something. The doctor finished stabilizing Jim. He ushered Chris back into the main part of the medbay. Pike opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as the doors to the medbay opened and the group of rescued children was escorted in. Kevin stepped forward first.

"Where's JT?" he asked, looking around.

"He's getting the medical help he needs." Chris knelt in front of the boy. "JT is pretty sick, but I promise he's gonna be okay. Doctor Ravi would like to give all of you a check-up to make sure you are healthy. He won't make you do anything you aren't comfortable with."

"I wanna see JT first. Then you can do the check-ups."

Tommy took a step closer to Kevin and grabbed his hand. This close, Pike could actually smell in the infection on the little boy's face. He swallowed and stood up.

"How about we let Doctor Ravi begin his examinations while I take you to see JT? We both want the little ones to feel better." Pike motioned to the little toddler. "What's her name?"

"Maya. Her parents were killed."

Pike felt his stomach roll, but he didn't let his expression change. "Let Doctor Ravi help Maya and the others. I'll take you to JT."

Kevin turned and nodded to the others. He walked Tommy over to Doctor Ravi. There was no hesitation in his movements as he put Tommy's hand in the Betazoid's. Kevin walked back over to him. Pike couldn't help but smile as the boy grabbed his hand and motioned for him to guide him. Jim had done a great job protecting the children. Unlike Jim, they still had enough trust to give to the Starfleet members. Jim let himself be broken to protect the others and give them a chance. He had even more respect for what Jim went through.

Chris led Kevin into the small ICU room. He paused in the doorway. The sight of Jim in such a vulnerable position had to be frightening. He squeezed Kevin's hand.

"What's wrong with him?" the boy asked.

"He has an infection in his lungs that is making it hard to breathe. The machine is helping him while he gets better." Pike glanced down at Kevin's face and saw him nod. "You can get a little closer if you want."

"No." Kevin vehemently shook his head. "I don't wanna remember JT like this. You can take me back to the kids."

"Okay. That's okay."

Pike took Kevin back out into the main part of the medbay and let one of the nurses guide him over to a biobed to be examined. Doctor Ravi was examining Tommy's wounds. Chris couldn't look at his wounds. He needed a little space. Captain O'Mara had suggested making one of the cargo bays into a location for the children to stay. A few crewmen were adding beds and other personal touches. The captain doubted they'd want to be separated into several rooms. Pike excused himself to go check on the progress.

As soon as he stepped into the hallway, Chris paused and leaned up against the bulkhead. He took three deep breaths. The images wouldn't leave his mind, but he had to keep going. Pike headed to the cargo bay to check on the status of the beds. He stepped inside and sighed. The beds were lined up like a prison. Two crewmen were finished up the final touches.

"Do you mind if I move things around a little?" Pike stared at the white blankets and shook his head.

"Of course not, Lieutenant. Is there anything we help with?" the crewman asked.

"No. You can head to back to your stations. I'll finish up."

The man nodded. "Thank you, sir. Have a good afternoon."

Pike rolled up the sleeves of his uniform. The kids deserved a nice place to sleep, a place that felt a little more like home.

Pike completed the finishing touches to the kid's area. He'd rearranged the beds, so they were grouped together in groups of four beds. He changed the bedding to bright yellow, blue, and pink comforters, and replicated different stuffed animals for the beds. Captain O'Mara had given him permission to make the space as comfortable as he could. There was also a section of the cargo bay with toys: dolls, blocks, balls, and books. It wasn't a lot, but it was a place for them to be kids again.

Chris headed to the medbay to escort the children. He opened the door to find controlled chaos. The children were running around in white pajamas and nightgowns. Two girls yelled "tag" and squealed in excitement. One of the nurses held little Maya as she smiled around the thumb in her mouth. Tommy sat up on a biobed with clean gauze on his face. It was a complete change from what he'd seen hours before.

"Chris!" Kevin exclaimed, running toward him. "We all got to take a bath."

"You definitely smell better," he teased, getting down to the kid's level. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, but the doctor says Tommy has to stay here for a little while."

"It will make him better." Chris gave him a warm smile. "I have a surprise for all of you."

"What is it?" Kevin couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

"You'll have to wait and find out. Let me talk to the doctor first."

Tommy needed to stay in the medbay overnight for dermal regeneration, but the rest of the kids were healthy, other than they were malnourished. Doctor Ravi came up with a nutrition plan for each child. Jim was still unconscious. Pike planned on going to see him once he got the kids settled.

Two of the nurses helped him round up the kids to take to the cargo bay. They'd worked out a schedule so at least two nurses were with the children at all times to watch out for them. Pike stopped the group outside of the cargo bay and encouraged all them to cover their eyes. He laughed as three of the littlest ones tried to peek. Chris opened the door and helped the kids walk forward.

"Open your eyes," he said.

As soon as he spoke, they all uncovered their eyes and looked at their temporary place. The kids called out to each other as they ran for the beds and squealed as they found the stuffed animals! After a few minutes, each kid had picked an animal and a bed. Little Maya held a stuffed purple elephant as she snuggled against the nurse, sitting on her bed. It took all three adults to get the kids tucked into their beds.

"Will you read us a story?" a small boy asked.

"Yeah, Chris, can you read us a story?" Kevin repeated.

All of the little voices began to beg and he sighed, grabbing a book from the pile and sat down in on the boy's bed. The kid sat up and grabbed his arm, leaning over so he could see the pictures of the blue dragon.

"Dragon Gets By. One warm, sunny morning Dragon woke up and yawned. He was very groggy… And whenever Dragon woke up groggy, he did everything wrong. First he read an egg and fried the morning newspaper."

The laughter of the children filled his ears and Chris blinked to fight the moisture pooling in his eyes. They all needed this moment.

Chris had finished his work-out and managed to eat a few bites of dinner before heading back to the medbay. The first thing he saw was Tommy lying awake on the biobed. Pike kept his surprise hidden behind his back as he sat down in the chair.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I can't sleep by myself. I miss my friends," Tommy whispered.

"Well, you can sleep with them tomorrow. But tonight, I brought you a new friend." Pike pulled the monkey from behind his back. "He doesn't have a name, but I think you can give him one."

The uninjured side of his face smiled. "He's mine?"

"Yep, you can keep him."

Tommy giggled. "I'm gonna call him JT, after my bestest friend."

Pike felt his heart contract at Tommy's words, but he continued to smile. "That's a great idea. Now, you have one of your friends with you and you can fall asleep." He stood up and tucked the blankets around the little boy. "Good night."

"Night!"

The little boy rubbed the soft fur from the monkey against his cheek and snuggled into the pillow. Chris walked away and saw Doctor Ravi sitting in his office. He took a glance at the ICU door, but headed toward the doctor's office. He knocked. The Betazoid motioned for him to come in. Pike sat down in the extra chair and sighed. He ran his hands over his face. It had been a long day with little sleep from the night before. He should have headed to bed, but he couldn't sleep.

"How is he?" Chris asked.

"Jim's stable, but nothing has really changed in the past few hours. His oxygen levels are still low and he's on the ventilator. I might try removing it tomorrow morning if his oxygen levels are up. I'm keeping him sedated until then so he doesn't try to pull it out himself." Doctor Ravi took a sip from the mug sitting on his desk. "You're stressed and exhausted, Lieutenant."

"Chris, remember? I'm off duty right now. I just wanted to check on Jim and I'll head to bed."

The doctor nodded. "It's going to be a long healing process for Jim. He'll need someone to support him and he trusts you, even if you both don't know why. I suggest you see him and then head to bed. I'm headed out myself once I finish this report."

Pike stood up and walked over to look through the clear glass. He glanced over at the little boy and saw he'd gone right to sleep. "Is Tommy going to recover?"

"He'll carry the scars with him for the rest of his life, but I've managed to clear up the infection. The vision in his left eye was affected. He won't recover all of his vision, but most of it. Unfortunately, it will degenerate with age."

"Did he tell you how it happened?"

Doctor Ravi stood and moved around the other side of the desk, standing next to Pike. He took another sip of the liquid and Pike could smell it was tea. He waited patiently.

"Yes. He was caught stealing food with Jim. The child was burned with a chemical as punishment, but he told me Jim attacked the man and stopped him. Governor Kodos injured Tommy. Both he and Jim have seen his face, along with Kevin I suspect."

Pike turned and grabbed the back of the chair, focusing on breathing evenly. He released the chair and paced around the room. "I'll have to inform Captain O'Mara."

The doctor put a hand on his shoulder. "Say good-night to Jim and get some rest. You're gonna need it. It's only going to get harder from here. I suspect all of these children have some painful stories to tell us."

Chris nodded. He said good-night to the doctor and headed into the ICU room. Some of the color had returned to Jim's face, but he still looked awful. Pike sat down in the empty chair and listened to the sound of the machine helping Jim breath. He put a hand over his mouth and leaned forward. There were no words. He couldn't imagine Jim's pain, but he'd have to find out at some point in the near future and he wasn't looking forward to it.