This chapter may differ from the timeline some due to the fact that Jim's brother, Sam isn't really mentioned in the reboot, other than he was supposed to be the boy "Johnny" in the beginning the movie during the car scene. I did take a little creative license here, so hopefully it's okay.

Chapter Fourteen

The rain didn't lessen as Pike ran towards the spot he thought Jim might be. It was his only idea and he prayed he was right. If not, they had an even longer day of looking ahead of them. He saw the lights of the memorial through the sheet of rain. The Kelvin Memorial stood proud and strong, untouched by the weather and the years. Pike squinted as the rain dripped into his eyes. There was no sight of the young boy. Jim wasn't there. He let out the breath he'd been holding and stared up at the memorial. The names of those who died were transcribed in raised letters; those who died in the initial attack, Captain Robau, quite a few of the Engineers, and the most important name.

George Kirk. Jim's father. The man who died on the day Jim was born, sacrificing his life for his wife and son. He gave up everything for his newborn son. But it didn't fully save him. Jim lived in the shadow of his father and always would. Would George Kirk's son be as courageous and willing to sacrifice for others someday? Jim would never be able to live a quiet life.

But Pike still had to find Jim first. His father's grave wasn't close, so Jim couldn't be there. Pike shook his head and pulled his communicator from his pocket. "Pike to Admiral Mitchell."

"This is Admiral Mitchell. Did you find him?"

"No, Sir. I thought he would maybe be at the Kelvin Memorial, but he isn't here."

"We'll keep looking, Chris. We'll find him. One of the men in my Security says they may have tracked down a lead of a young boy taking a transport car by himself. We're looking into it."

"I know. I'm going to keep looking for him." Pike shifted, feeling the water in his boots slosh. Gross.

"I'll check in with you in a little bit."

Pike tucked his communicator and hands back in the pockets of his jacket. He had no idea where to go next, but he wasn't going to give up on the kid yet. He'd only been walking for a few minutes when his communicator beeped again. The name was vaguely familiar.

"This is Pike. To whom am I speaking?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, Sir, but this is Harold, the doorman in your building." There was a pause and Pike realized he knew the voice as the old man downstairs. He'd spoken to him on a few occasions. "Sir, I hate to disturb you, but I had a strange visitor for you earlier. A young boy insisted on trying to get into your living quarters."

"Jim," he mumbled.

"Sir?" Harold said.

"Nothing. What happened?"

The man continued with no hesitation. "I tried to inform him that you weren't available and he said he knew. He pretended to leave, but I saw him sneak in after another couple and head to your floor. The poor kid was soaked and insisted he knew you. I can still call Security if you are concerned he could enter your quarters. But without the passcode –"

Pike smiled a little. I didn't matter that Jim had snuck into his place. He probably knew the passcode after seeing Pike lock the door behind him earlier in the day. The kid was smart. "Thank you. You don't have to call Security. I'm on my way."

Pike closed the line before Harold could answer and went to hail a transport car.

The rain had slowed a little bit when Pike jumped out of the vehicle and ran up to his building. Harold pulled the door open for him, giving him a look of sympathy.

"Not a good day to be outside, Sir." The elderly man commented, taking in Pike's soaked clothing.

"It's pretty awful out there." Pike quickly changed the conversation. "How long ago did the kid get here?"

"About thirty minutes ago."

Chris couldn't wait another second and made a mental note to apologize to Harold later. He ran to the lift and rode it up to his floor. Frustration and worry ran through his veins as the doors to his apartment opened and he stepped inside. The lights were dim. Two wet shoes sat on the mat by the door as Pike kicked his off. A soft sound came from the bedroom. Pike quickly rounded the corner and froze as the sight of Jim, wrapped in the blankets on the bed with a bit of Buzz pajamas sticking out and Toy Story 2 playing in the background. His eyes were red-rimmed and his hair was damp. Jim's arms were wrapped around a fluffy brown bear that hadn't been there that morning.

All of Pike's anger melted away. Pike grabbed dry clothing from his drawer as Jim's eyes followed his movements. He didn't say anything before stepping into the bathroom to change and send a brief text to Admiral Mitchell that Jim was safe. Chris dropped his laundry in the basket and stepped back into the bedroom.

"Did you know I have a brother?" Those were not the words Pike expected to hear from Jim's mouth first.

He perched on the side of the bed. "No, I didn't. Was he on the colony with you?"

Jim shook his head. "He was on the Kelvin with my parents. Sam, though his real name is George Samuel, but I call him Sam. He was in the nursery with the other kids since he was only two years old. They saved him, but he was on a different shuttle than my mom and I. Mom struggled to love him too. We were stuck on those shuttles for almost two weeks. Mom was trapped with me, the baby who was born the same day her husband died. I've read the reports. I was premature and really sick when I was born. They almost lost me." He paused and sat up a little in the bed. "I found a personal log from the guy driving the shuttle. My mom could barely look at me or feed me. He said he'd never seen someone so broken and detached from their baby."

"I'm sorry, Jim."

"It's not your fault." The kid shrugged, hugging the bear tighter. "When we got back to Earth, she tuned out both of us. Sam had Dad's name and eyes, but I looked like an exact duplicate of our dad. I grew up calling him Sam because Mom didn't like it." There was a long pause and when Jim spoke again, his voice was choked up. "Sam walked out when I was six, the same day I stole my dad's car and drove it into a quarry. He never came back."

"Did you find out where he went?" Pike asked.

"Nope. I assume he's still alive and on Earth. But I don't know."

"Do you want me to try and find him?"

Jim let out a shaky breath. "No. The counselor asked me if I had any friends and it made me think of him. That's all. He chose not to be my brother and I've accepted that."

Pike headed to the replicator in the kitchen and returned with two cups of hot chocolate with little marshmallows. Jim took the cup and gave a small smile. He pulled one of the marshmallows out and ate it.

"Thanks."

The two sat in silence as the movie continued to play on the screen, but neither of them were really watching it.

Pike sighed. "Do you want to tell me why you ran away today?"

"I got scared."

Three simple words and Pike's heart broke. He should have been mad at Jim for running, but he just wanted to understand so he could make sure it didn't happen again. "I'm sorry. I know you didn't want to talk to Dr. Kent, but you can't run away. It won't make this disappear. Jim, you can't just pretend nothing happened the past few months. You have to deal with it and continue living."

Jim scooted over closer to Pike, leaning against his side and drinking his hot chocolate without another word. He watched as Buzz motioned for the toys to cross the road to get to the giant chicken and save Woody. Jim smiled. "Thanks."

"For what?" Pike looked down at him.

"Thanks for taking care of me."

"It's not a problem, kid. I'm here for you as long as you need me."

Pike didn't have the heart to tell Jim his mom was coming or wanted to talk to him. It wasn't the right time and he doubted there would be a good time to tell him.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Physical therapy was going well until Jim pulled his arm too far to the right and tweaked a nerve. He cried out in pain and kicked the physical therapist, Martin, back a step. The man didn't flinch, but waited until Jim lay still. He moved in closer and pulled out his tricorder.

"There's no damage. You're okay. Rest a minute and we can try again if you'd like."

The boy's chest heaved up and down in rapid succession. Pike sat on the sidelines, refusing to run to Jim's side and coddle him. It wouldn't improve the kid's mood. Admiral Mitchell informed him that morning that Winona would arrive in eight days. Things were going fine with Jim, but he refused to talk to the counselor and Pike noticed it was harder to convince the kid to eat. They had an appointment with the admiral in the afternoon and Winona would finally get to talk to her son. Jim seemed uninterested in talking about it, but Pike knew the kid was upset.

"Two more! You got this and we'll call it a day."

Jim finished with the exercises and flopped back against the mat. Martin patted his knee once and reminded him to ice his arms if they were sore later. Pike put away his PADD and walked over, offering his hand to Jim. The kid grabbed it and pulled himself to standing.

"Good job today."

"Thanks," Jim mumbled. "Is it time for our talk?"

"In a bit. We can stop and have lunch first before we go and give you a chance to get cleaned up."

He nodded and took his bag from Pike's hand. Jim headed to the small locker room without another word. He returned five minutes later, freshly showered and wearing clean clothes.

After Pike managed to convince Jim to eat more than one bite of his hamburger, they headed to Admiral Mitchell's office. Jim didn't say a word as they walked outside in the sunshine. He kept his lips tight as they moved into the building and up to Mitchell's office. The admiral smiled at Jim, but he still didn't say anything. He tried to make light conversation with the kid to no avail. Finally, it was time as the emblem on the screen changed and Winona's face appeared. The color drained from Jim's face and Pike squeezed his knee.

"Hello, Admiral, Commander. How are you today?" Winona said. She didn't seem to notice Jim sitting between them.

"We're doing well, thank you."

Jim's hands were shaking as he clasped them in his lap. Pike watched as Winona's expression changed when she finally looked at her son.

"Jim."

She said it in the same way on the day he was born, so full of sorrow and love. Pike had listened to the last transmission of the U.S.S. Kelvin the day before. He'd heard Jim take his first breath and heard as George Kirk took his last. It was haunting and a part of him understood why Winona struggled to get past that moment and accept her son. They named him together and then she was left alone to raise two boys. George's last words, "I love you", and Winona's soft sobs, mixed with Jim's infant cries, wouldn't leave Pike's thoughts.

"Hi Mom," Jim whispered.

To her credit, tears appeared in her eyes this time. "Oh Jim, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault." Jim sniffled a little.

Despite how she was, Winona still was his mom and he needed her. He blinked his eyes quickly to keep the tears from falling.

"I'll be there to see you soon. Are they taking good care of you? Are you eating enough?" Winona visibly swallowed. "I'm sorry you went through this. I shouldn't have left you with your aunt."

"I'm fine. Commander Pike makes sure I eat something and takes me to my doctor appointments. You don't have to worry about me."

Winona frowned. "I'm your mom. I'm always worried about you, even if I don't tell you."

"I know."

"I just want to make sure that you're eating the right foods and not the ones that make you sick like the one time you got into some strawberries and we had to go to the hospital –"

Jim shook his head. "No, I'm not eating those. I'm being good. I'm being really good."

Winona continued to chatter on about how she wanted Jim to be okay, but it was clear the kid wasn't okay. Pike watched as Jim dug his fingernails into his own hand. His voice choked up as he tried to reassure his mom that he was fine. Pike glanced over and locked eyes with Admiral Mitchell.

"I'm sure you'll have more time to talk once you arrive," the admiral interrupted. "We don't want to take up too much of your time and Jim still needs some rest."

Winona nodded. "I understand. Thank you. And I'll see you soon, Jim."

"Okay, bye Mom."

Admiral Mitchell said something to Winona, but Pike's attention was on Jim. The connection closed and the kid dropped his face into his hands. His shoulders trembled. The admiral excused himself to give them a moment to talk alone. Pike put a hand on Jim's shoulders, getting him to look up.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Jim's lip trembled. "I can't go live with her. I can't do it again. I won't!"

"Jim…"

"I wanna stay with you! I'll be good. I won't misbehave and I'll eat my food when you ask. You won't regret it." He stood up quickly. "Please! Don't make me stay with her. I love my mom, but I can't be her son anymore."

His heart contracted painfully. "Jim… I don't know."

"Please?" A tear rolled down Jim's cheek.

Before Chris could answer, Jim threw his arms around him and hugged him tightly. He returned the kid's embrace, feeling the sobs racking through his small body. Pike knew he had no legal rights to Jim, but he really wanted to look for a two bedroom apartment.