Hi! I apologize for the infrequent updates. I really hope this chapter makes up for everything. I am now taking name recommendations for the baby! I'm leaving it up to you guys! Things will be sped up quite a bit for the next few chapters. Please review. It really encourages me to write more...I love being bugged by my readers.

Tishbing

Chapter Thirteen

Jamie stretched, her joints popping pleasantly. Opening her eyes, she had never felt so well rested. The sight that met her wasn't the familiar grey and white of her quarters but tan with deep green lines. It was soothing but strange. The bed she was in was soft-much softer than her own. Sitting up, Jamie realized that she felt...normal.

"Ah, I am pleased to see you awake."

Jamie turned and saw Selek stepping into the room, a tray in his hands. Her stomach growled at the smell. The old vulcan smiled at the sound and moved closer, placing the tray on a bedside table.

"So, it wasn't just some dream?" Jamie rubbed her hand across her forehead and sighed.

Selek's eyes softened and placed an hand on her shoulder, shaking his head. "I am sorry but no."

The bed looked blurry as tears welled up in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. "My whole life...everything is different. I shouldn't..." Biting her lip, Kirk stopped herself and pulled her shoulders back.

"What am I even doing here?" She asked.

Selek moved the tray to her lap and took a seat on a chair next to her bed. "Currently, you are about to eat the soup that is on your lap."

Jamie rolled her eyes and was about to protest when a stern look from her friend had her picking up the spoon.

Selek refused to talk until she had finished every bite. Once the tray was taken away, the older vulcan returned carrying two hypos and administered them gently, apologizing when she flinched at the small sting.

"I need to know what's going on. I'm supposed to be on the Enterprise. As nice as this is, I still have a job to do."

Selek reached behind him and handed a PADD to her. "Dr. McCoy and Lt. Uhura contacted me recently to inform me of your situation. We, along with the assistance Mr. Scott, believed that for the sake of your health and happiness, that the best option would be for you leave the Enterprise. I did not know the severity of the situation until your arrival here." Selek looked so sad and it made her feel guilty that she was the cause of it, however indirectly.

"I can't just leave. The Enterprise is my home. Also, Starfleet isn't just any kind of job. You can't just walk away. There's forms and protocol and proper procedure." Selek was nodding and it just caused her to go on. "Not to mention the whole legal nightmare with..." Jamie's throat tightened and her eyes burned as the images of the legal documents appeared in her mind. "...the baby."

"I believe that the good doctor has found an adequate temporary solution. According to Starfleet's Medical Code, a pregnant crew member, or any crew member for that matter, placed on medical leave is free to choose where to spend their leave. If you'll look on the PADD, you will see that you have been placed on medical leave indefinitely."

Jamie looked at the official document and snorted in amusement. McCoy's illegible scrawl across the bottom making it official. She could see that it had been post-dated and approved by Admiral Cartwright which had to have been Uhura's and her mother's doing to get it sent, signed and approved so quickly. Jamie smiled at their hard work, a warm feeling settling in her chest.

"This is only going to work until I have the baby. What then? Spock's gonna sic his lawyers on me and take the baby. I..." She tightened her grip on the PADD. "I'm not sure I could handle that."

Selek steepled his fingers under his chin as if deep in thought. "There is another option."

Jamie waved her hand in a carry-on motion. "And?"

"Run away."

"What?"

"Run away." He repeated, his expression solemn.

Jamie scoffed and laughed, stopping when she saw the still serious expression on Selek.

"You're serious, aren't you? I can't just run away." Jamie's grin slipped off her face and she sat up straighter, pushing the blankets off and standing on wobbly legs. "There has to be another option. Not only is it cowardly but there's a million things to be taken care of."

"A million?"

Jamie huffed a small laugh. "You know what I mean. Don't pretend you don't. It's not cute." Wagging a finger at Selek, she moved to sit back down.

"There are no other options, Jim. None that I can think of that would result in a favorable outcome."

It was then that it hit her. How old Selek was. He looked defeated and his eyes showed the pain he felt at having to admit that he was fallible, that he couldn't fix this. The lines on his face were etched deep and Jamie could see bruises under his eyes. When was the last time he had slept? Had he been working continuously since Uhura and Bones contacted him?

"But what about Spock? He has a right to his daughter as much as I do."

Selek leaned back and breathed deeply, carefully choosing his words. "I agree however, it is not possible given current circumstances."

"And this...this bond that we supposedly have? Doesn't he have to be around to break it?" Jamie felt sick at the thought of breaking it but it was the right thing to do. He didn't want her. It just seemed so wrong. A part of her cringed and recoiled but Jamie pushed it away, focusing on the thin hands of the vulcan in front of her, trying to think of anything else. She didn't understand the sheer revulsion at the thought of the bond being torn apart. It was instinctual but she tended to trust her instincts.

Selek paled at the question and swallowed. "No. He does not need to be present. The type of bond that you two have is a rare bond, a t'hy'la bond. It formed spontaneously and is the deepest and most treasured of all vulcan bonds. It is extremely dangerous to attempt to sever one. I would recommend waiting." Selek's hand shook as he straightened his robes. "At the minimum, until the child is born."

Jamie's head jerked in agreement. "I can't believe this. I feel like I've fallen down the rabbit hole."

Yawning, She stretched and rubbed the back of her neck. Selek pulled back her blankets and encouraged her to go to sleep again. Even though her mind was spinning itself in circles, Jamie felt safe and content under Selek's watch and fell asleep quickly.

Spock paced in the captain's quarters, his meditation proving unsuccessful in quelling his rising emotional state. The door chimed and he ignored it, continuing to focus on determining the root cause of this lapse in control.

"Commander?"

Spock clenched his hands into fists at the interruption.

"Spock, we found something."

His steps halted and he looked up. The doctor was holding a small silver band. Spock recognized it and reached out. He was ashamed to realize that his hand trembled slightly as he took the bio-monitor bracelet.

"Why was I not called?" His voice was rough with the effort of trying to suppress his emotions. He could see he wasn't successful by the sympathetic look in the doctor's eyes.

"Because I told Mr. Scott you were off duty." He said simply.

Anger at the unsaid accusation licked at his insides as his irritation grew. "And why would that be, doctor."

McCoy raised an eyebrow in disbelief, an impressive imitation of himself and it only fueled the fire. "Are you serious? You're about ten minutes away from a full blown fit!" Shaking his head, McCoy took the bracelet out of his hand and Spock had to fight the urge to snatch it back.

"You're emotionally compromised. Dr. M'Benga agrees with me." He cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders. "The bracelet was beamed onto the bridge. Uhura and Chekov found that there were encrypted messages in the data chip. Two are for you, one is for me and one is for Uhura."

McCoy rubbed the back of his neck and the look he gave Spock was almost pitying. "They're from the captain."

He thumbed open the small bracelet and pulled out a data clip, plugging into the computer at the commander's desk. "It needs your code to play."

Spock's anger fled as he moved to the desk in a numb fog. He typed in the code at the prompt and breathed a quick inhalation at the sight of Jamie on the screen.

She was thin, her cheeks thinner than he remembered and he wondered how he had failed to notice her weight loss before. Her hair was tousled and her eyes looked swollen but not red as if she had been crying, most likely sleep caused the effect. Her lips were quirked in a half-smile that looked...sad.

A rustling from behind him caused him to startle and remember that he wasn't alone. He turned in his seat and realized that the doctor knew what had happened to the captain. He knew the likely contents of the message and was offering support if he wanted it.

"I would prefer to view the message in private." His eyes flicked to the image frozen on his screen and back to the doctor. "Please." He added brokenly.

McCoy nodded. "I understand." He placed the sensor bracelet on the desk. "I just want you to know that what was done wasn't out of spite or anger. It was done because it was the right thing to do. My father always told me that the right thing starts at the beginning of the day." He sighed and pressed his lips together, blinking rapidly as though to ward off tears. "Do the right thing now. Every day is a new chance to do the right thing. It might not always be the logical thing but if you can sleep at the end of the day or meditate in peace or whatever the hell it is you do, then you know that you did the right thing."

A hand fell on his shoulder and squeezed before falling and Spock stared at the screen, refusing to acknowledge the doctor except for a small jerk of his head.

"The only people who know the truth are ourselves, Nyota and Mr. Scott. An announcement will need to be made at your discretion. Right now, the crew needs you. They've lost their captain and currently, their first officer is unreachable. They need a leader now more than ever."

Spock heard the door close, signaling the doctor's departure and waited a moment, replaying the McCoy's words in his mind. He pressed the button to play the message and swallowed convulsively, strangely nervous even thou he knew it was a pre-recorded message.

The captain swallowed, her body straightening as she clearly had just realized the recording had started. "Commander Spock, this is the official notification of my intent to spend the remainder of my medical leave away from the Enterprise as stipulated in Article three Subsection five of Starfleet's Medical Code. I am also officially resigning as Captain of the USS Enterprise due to personal reasons. I have included the required documentation. The ship is yours." She bit her lip, the skin turning red and frowned slightly. "Take care of her."

The first file ended and the second came up. The captain...no, Jamie looked the same as before. Spock was surprised. He had never thought that the captain would leave her ship. He was rarely proven wrong.

He pressed the button to play the second, much longer message.

Jamie's lips turned up at the corner, her blue eyes seemed regretful. A furrow marred her forehead as she continued her frown from the earlier message.

"Spock, I included this second message as a personal addendum to my resignation. I'm sure that, by now, you've realized that there was more to my leaving than what was originally thought." She snorted in disbelief. "Hell, even I didn't know until it happened." She paused, eyes blinking rapidly and Spock could see a small tear escape and run down her cheek. "I can't lose this baby, Spock. I would have shared her but I will not give her away." She pointed to herself, her eyes fixing on the screen blazed with an intensity Spock had never seen. "She's a part of me and I love her. I may have not met her but I know her. She's growing inside of me and I want her more than anything."

She shook her head and scrubbed her face with her hands before continuing. "I saw the equivalent of a healer and I was told that we-that we have a bond, something called a t'hy'la bond and I want to reassure you that I won't hold you back from bonding with Uhura or some vulcan girl. I can't do it now because it would hurt the baby but I'll break it for you when I'm told it'll be safe. I know it's dangerous but I..." Tears started falling from her eyes freely and Spock felt a splash against his hand. Confused, he moved his fingers to his cheeks and found them wet.

"I can't hurt you any more than I have already. I'm sorry."