Disclaimer: I still don't own Star Trek and I also don't own Toy Story or any of the products, but I do have a little brother who has the same Buzz pajamas. :)

Chapter Thirteen

Jim sat at the small table, swinging his feet as he stared at the plate of scrambled eggs and smoked apple sausage. He rested his elbow on the table and played with his food, stabbing it with the fork repeatedly. It was amazing how four days had improved his health. He was up and moving around now. The oxygen and IV lines were gone. His arms still needed therapy, but Jim was finally improving. Pike watched as he took a sip of his orange juice. Despite the physical healing, Jim was an emotional wreck. It was hard to see Jim go from his boyish and charming behavior to suddenly very sensitive or incredibly angry.

"Jim, you need to eat."

The boy shrugged and picked up the fork. "Fine."

Jim was supposed to have a meeting with the counselor in an hour, but Pike didn't want to take him. There was no way Jim would respond in a pleasant manner. He had a meeting with Admiral Mitchell while Jim was in his meeting.

"I don't want to go." Jim set down his fork after only eating half his eggs.

"I know you don't. But we'll do something fun afterwards. Please eat a little more."

He rolled his eyes before taking a bite of the sausage. Pike went to lay out some clean clothes for Jim to change into so he didn't wear his Buzz Light-year pajamas pants outside of the apartment. The kid was obsessed with the movie character. Jim came in a minute later.

"I ate the eggs and one of the sausages. Is that okay?" he asked, grabbing the clothing.

"That's fine. Go ahead and get dressed. We're taking a transport car."

"Cool." Jim headed into the bathroom to get ready.

Pike went into the kitchen and finished drinking his coffee. Jim came out a minute later in cargo pants and a light blue t-shirt. He smiled as Jim's shoe laces hung on the floor. Pike quickly knelt down and tied them before the kid could protest.

"Thanks," Jim mumbled. "Let's just get it over with."

"Okay. You'll be fine though. I'll be in the same building and you'll be able to stop at any time."

"Okay."

Pike slipped his communicator into his pocket and they headed out of the apartment. He doubted the kid remembered coming down the hall the first time. Jim hadn't been outside since. The corners of his mouth turned up as they stepped out of the elevator and out of the building out into the sunshine. Grey clouds threatened to block the sun, but gave the kid a moment of peace. The counselor was meeting them in one of the Command conference rooms to keep Jim close. It was a short ride to the Cochrane Building where he was meeting Admiral Mitchell. Jim stayed quiet as he stared out the window.

They found the correct conference room. A middle-aged woman with her short brown hair hanging on her shoulders stood outside the door. She smiled when they approached.

"Commander Pike?"

"Yes. This is Jim." He pushed Jim a step forward by putting a hand on his back, but the boy backed up again.

"Hello Jim. It's nice to meet you. My name is Dr. Kent, but you can call me Karla. I just want to spend a little time with you. You don't have to talk to me, but if you want to, you can. I brought some homemade chocolate chip cookies if you just want a snack."

Jim's body was stiff and he didn't answer her. His eyes narrowed.

Pike knew the kid was shutting down. "Can you give us a minute alone, Dr. Kent? I just want to talk to Jim before I go to my meeting."

"No problem. I will meet you inside, Jim."

The woman stepped into the room and the door slid closed behind her. Pike knelt in front of Jim, resting his hands on his knee.

"Hey, I'll be right upstairs if you need me. You can just use the comm system and I'll come right away. I'm not going to leave you here."

"It's fine," Jim said, keeping his eyes on his shoes.

Pike put a hand on Jim's chin, forcing him to look up. "It's gonna be okay."

"I guess. Go to your meeting. I don't need you to coddle me." Jim turned and stepped into the conference room without another word. And the angry, obstinate Jim was back.

Pike sighed and stood up. He really hoped this woman could get through to Jim, but he seriously doubted it. He checked the time and realized he had to hurry. Admiral Mitchell was waiting. He hurried up to the admiral's office and said hi to the secretary as he passed.

The flirtatious blond grinned. "The admiral is waiting for you."

"Thank you."

She looked him up and down. "You're welcome, Commander."

Pike shook off the awkwardness and headed back to the main office. He pressed the doorbell.

"Enter." The admiral's voice came through the intercom.

Pike walked in and stood up straight. "Sorry I'm late, Sir."

"At ease. It's not a problem. Please have a seat. We have a communication coming in a few minutes. It might be rough, but we have a connection with Winona Kirk and she'd like to speak to us about Jim."

He wasn't a bit excited to talk to Jim's mother, but Pike nodded. It was for Jim. Admiral Mitchell put down the PADD in his hand and turned his computer screen. "How was Jim this morning?"

"He's doing as well as can be expected. I doubt he'll say a word to the counselor. Doctor Ravi is going to give him a check-up this afternoon and work on some therapy for his arms to help improve his muscle strength. Physically, he'll have a few scars, but he'll recover. Emotionally, it's another story."

"The poor kid has a long journey ahead of him."

The computer beeped twice. It was the incoming transmission from Winona. Admiral Mitchell murmured something about being prepared and hit the button to answer the transmission. Winona Kirk. She'd aged and not very gracefully since Chris had seen her last. But her eyes hadn't changed. They were dull and blank. There was no emotion or unshed tears. It pained him.

"It's good to see you again, Winona. I'm sorry it's under such poor circumstances." Admiral Mitchell crossed his arms in front of him. "Has the Captain given you an ETA?"

"We should arrive at Earth in fifteen days. The Captain informed me he's trying to go as fast as he can, but there's only so much he can do." Winona cleared his throat. "How's Jim?"

Admiral Mitchell glanced over at Pike, giving him a chance to answer. He spoke quickly when Chris didn't speak. "He's doing as expected. His body is beginning to recover from the ordeal, but he's struggling to deal with what happened."

Winona nodded. "I'm sorry he's causing such trouble."

Pike looked down before she saw the anger flash in his eyes. Jim wasn't causing trouble; he was a young boy in pain and needing comfort. She thought… he took a deep breath and focused on the conversation. He'd missed something and hoped Admiral Mitchell explained that Jim wasn't a burden to anyone. Winona mumbled something about not always being there for Jim when he was little.

"The important thing is that you're coming home now to see him," the older man continued.

"Where is Jim?" Winona asked, looking at Pike for the first time.

"He's talking with a counselor at the moment. It's very important he has a professional to talk with and to help him through this."

Her hand shook as she brushed her hair behind her ear. "Okay. Can I speak with him?"

It was like she wasn't even listening. Pike answered, "I'm sorry. We can find a time to speak with him soon."

The connection fizzled a little, but the image cleared up after a moment. Winona frowned. "I understand. I hope I can speak to Jim soon. I better go. I'm sure you have important things to tend to and I need to return to my station. Thank you, Admiral."

"You're welcome. We'll talk again soon."

Pike dropped his head to his hands as the connection closed and the Starfleet Emblem appeared on the screen. He sighed. "I have no idea how Jim is going to deal with her. She's…" He sat up straight. "It's like she was talking about someone else. There was no emotion in her voice."

"I'm sure it will be different when she sees her son. Have a little faith, Chris."

"I'm trying."

Admiral Mitchell picked up his PADD. "Let's get some work done and deal with it a little later. We only have so much time until your charge's meeting is finished."

0o0o0o0o0o

Chris stared at the PADD in front of him, trying to help set-up the interviews with Jim's kids. Admiral Mitchell wanted to make sure all of their unique stories were recorded and stored in the file. Kevin had already told his part and Pike had finished reading it. It sounded a lot like Jim's account of what happened, but with more in-depth about how JT had saved them, taking care of them by making sure they had food to eat and not eating himself. Kevin noticed a lot that Jim didn't even say. He really loved those kids. Pike broke his concentration as the door chimed.

"Come in," the admiral responded.

The brown haired woman, Dr. Kent, burst into the room. "He's gone! Jim's gone."

"What?" Pike stood up, almost knocking his chair over in his haste. "What do you mean he's gone?"

Dr. Kent wrung her hands as she spoke. "Things were going alright, but Jim said he was feeling nauseous and asked if I could get him a drink of water. I – I went to grab him a cup and came back, but he was gone. There's no sign of him."

Pike ran from the room, looking down the hallway. Where would Jim go? He knew the kid wasn't okay with talking with others, but he didn't think Jim would run away. He could be anywhere. Admiral Mitchell and Dr. Kent followed him into the hallway.

"Do you know where he'd go?" the admiral asked.

"No. But Jim couldn't have gotten far on two feet and he's still not fully healed."

"I'll alert Security and make sure they are discreet about the situation." Admiral Mitchell pulled out his communicator and stepped to the side to some privacy.

Pike turned his attention to the counselor. "Was he talking to you about anything that might have triggered this?"

She shrugged. "He would only give me one word answers and if it was a question he didn't want to answer, he'd stare at his shoes. The most he said to me was he wasn't feeling well and wanted some water. I shouldn't have turned my back." Karla let out a shaky breath. "Does he have any family he'd go to?"

"No. He doesn't."

Chris had so many things to say to the counselor, but none of them were polite. Worry ate at his insides. Jim shouldn't be alone. The admiral walked back over to them, breaking the awkward silence.

"Security has been put on alert and told to inform us if they see Jim, not to approach and scare him away. We'll find him, Chris."

The weather picked that moment to let loose a deep rumble of thunder. Grey clouds hung overhead as they looked out the window. Rain hadn't started falling yet, but by the color of the clouds, it was going to be a bad storm. Pike crossed his arms as he walked to the window and stared out at the grounds. They had to find him.

Three hours passed painfully slow. Security hadn't seen him other than his initial escape from the building on camera. There was no hint where the kid had gone. Pike ran a hand through his hair and fought against the nausea in his own stomach and his hands were sweaty. Admiral Mitchell stayed in his office to help coordinate the efforts to find Jim. It was lunch time now and Pike had just checked the main cafeteria to see if the kid had snuck in to find food, though knowing the kid's small appetite, it wasn't that likely. Rain poured down as the storm caused the sky to flicker with lightning. Thunder chased the flashes of light. No one walked outside for fear of being caught in the deluge. Pike stepped out into the rain, not caring as it soaked his already wet clothing and caused water to drip from his hair into his eyes. His communicator chirped. He saw it was Admiral Mitchell calling him.

"This is Pike. Any news?"

"Security hasn't found anything yet. This would be easier if the kid had some type of technology on him. He's small and could be hiding anywhere in this weather. I was checking to see if you had news."

Pike glanced at a woman running down the sidewalk. "Nothing yet. Jim's smart, but that might not help us find him."

"This would be much easier if he had family he was going to see or a friend, but I doubt that. The location of the other children is undisclosed, so he can't be going there. I checked with the families and none of them have seen 'JT' as the kid's call him."

Pike paused. Something the admiral said sounded familiar to the counselor's words. He let out a puff of air, sending the rain water spraying from his lips. "I think I have an idea of where he could be. He does have family here."

"I don't understand."

"I'll call you if I find him." Pike closed the communicator and headed off.

There was a small chance Jim would be there, but he'd have to try. He wasn't giving up until Jim was home safe with him.

Hope you enjoyed the early update! Please let me know what you think of Jim's mom and his escape!