Disclaimer: They aren't mine, and this is unbetaed. Sorry.

Warnings…just like before. Torture. Genocide. Language. It's a dark fic, but this is relatively fluffy update...actually, it's a really fluffy update. I didn't have the heart to make it darker.

Sorry about the wait on this update guys. This one was really hard to write for some reason. I'm so burned out that there aren't even words. But thanks to those of you who recently reminded that this fic matters to you (and to the person that reminded me (yes it does matter to me also-thanks)). I appreciate it. This particular fic is never exactly easy to write, and I think I kind of bit off more than I could chew (I now have four WIP fics.) In the end I just had to sit down and write and not let myself get up until I was finished it. So be patient with me and there'll be more.

This is for Argent-Jinx. I needed that.

The new stripes caught his eye every time he moved his hand as he walked the familiar path to sickbay. Truth to tell, the stripes were annoying the hell out of Pike.

Only you would be annoyed by a promotion, he thought to himself.

Well, it happened to be the truth.

Pike was annoyed. Annoyed. Annoyed. He was so annoyed that he was growling to himself. It had only been two days since his promotion and this whole thing had turned into one huge fucking nightmare of a mess.

Not that it hadn't already been a huge fucking nightmare of a mess. Because it had been. And it still was.

Pike sighed aloud. A luxury he did not often permit himself.

This project had so much fucking responsibility. It wasn't that he minded exactly...it was just...a lot. There was an incredible amount to do, to get done, to organize, to oversee, and to keep in order.

Not to mention keeping back the raving vultures that were the press corp.

Yes the jackals had arrived.

Pike was very glad he'd convinced Moritari to beam all of Jimmy's kids aboard, and that they weren't on the planet now to be subjected to the media circus. As far as Pike was concerned, those kids were not even going to be aware that the press corp existed. He wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do about the press knowing or not knowing about the existence of kids. It might depend on what or how much the press already knew. He'd have to wait and see.

He'd sent science officers to examine the crops and the fungi. There were A7 computer specialists going through the colony's databases. Environmentalists had been sent to see if the land would ever be viable again. Pike had half a mind to recommend that the whole world be set aside and never revisited. But that wasn't really his decision to make. Though it could be an opinion he placed in his final report to Starfleet. He didn't know yet.

The hardest part so far had been in finding enough people trained to do the survivor interviews. These were going to be open, sensitive, highly emotional interviews. And Pike didn't want them screwed up by idiots that couldn't handle something as emotional as these were likely to be. Not that anyone in Starfleet was prepared to hear about witnessing genocide. But that was why Pike wanted trained professionals and not well meaning amatuers.

God he had a headache.

Dealing with the kids' interviews was a whole new nightmare. He didn't have any idea how in the hell he could get these kids to talk about this. Once they'd been beamed aboard the ship, they'd all been surprisingly reticent. They acted differently from how they had on the planet. They were not sullen exactly, but they were withdrawn. Quiet. Shy. They weren't mistrustful exactly, but they weren't...open. They weren't the kids who'd played freeze tag that first afternoon with him and JT.

JT. Maybe that was it. Maybe they were waiting for their leader.

He was their leader, their strength, their support. He had been their chance. Maybe they were just lost without him. Despite the fact that he'd woken up, Jimmy had remained in sickbay for the past two days. While Pike was aware that the children had been told their hero was out of danger, they weren't yet permitted to visit him. Adamson felt it would be too strenuous on the boy. Kirk apparently needed time to heal. And in order to heal, the kid had to stay in bed and take his medication, which he would likely stop doing if he had to pretend to have no weaknesses--which he'd do the second he had any of his kids back in sight.

So Pike had agreed with Adamson on the temporary ban of child visitors to sick bay. Kirk was healing as well as could be expected for his condition.

Once constant source of consternation to the entire crew was that, despite it being the twenty third century, weight could still not be gained artificially. All of the children, Jimmy included, were still excruciatingly thin. The smaller ones seemed to be gaining faster than the older ones, but to look at any of them could break the heart. To Pike's eyes, Jimmy was putting on weight slower than any of the rest of them.

It made him sad.

He wanted the kid to get better faster. But according to Adamson, the kid's immune system was shot. Jimmy'd had so many infections raging in his system that his body had stopped responding to most hypos. Jimmy Kirk was going to have to mostly heal the old fashioned way.

The two of them had a date today. Kirk was allowed to play chess so long as he didn't move much. Pike liked playing against the kid. Jimmy was surprisingly good. He won against nearly every opponent on the ship. Pike wondered if it was all practice Kirk'd had in the cave, or if the kid just really was that good.

But the boy was going to be playing at grandmaster level someday soon. It made Pike pity Kirk's future opponents. What a commander he would make...that is if Starfleet hadn't driven him away completely. But if the kid could strategize like this now...what would he be like ten years? He would be a hell of a tactician, that is if Pike could tempt him to the dark side just as George had tempted Pike.

Pike arrived at the foot of Jimmy's bed right on time. The boy appeared to be sleeping. He lay on his stomach, just as Matt had said he would. Pike smiled. He didn't mind much if they missed their game. He just liked seeing the kid. The boy shifted in his sleep and the quilt slipped down from the boy's shoulders, exposing his scars. Pike was starting to get used to them. Kirk would have them for the rest of his life, but Adamson had down some good work on the kid's back. The lash marks were less vivid than they had been, and growing paler by the day.

Pike stepped up beside the bed and pulled the quilt back into position. He looked down on Jimmy's slumbering face. The boy looked incredibly like his father. Jimmy looked so young when he was sleeping. Sometimes, he found it easier to look at Jimmy when he was sleeping, as then he wasn't able to see the haunted look in the boy's eyes.

But that wasn't really true. Pike enjoyed every minute of the time he spent with Jim. The boy was incredibly keen witted. Pike reached out a hand to Jimmy's unruly golden hair. Just like George.

He smoothed down a curly look that had fallen into the boy's eyes.

Pike couldn't help but smile as he did so. Doing things like that always made him feel so...paternal.

Get a grip, Chris. You've only known the kid a week. He isn't yours, he scolded himself.

Not yet, an inner voice answered.

As though he felt the new commander's scrutiny, Kirk moved in his sleep and started to wake. Pike put a gentle hand against the boy's back and helped him to sit, propped against the pillows.

"Hey, Jimmy."

Jimmy gave him a tired, and somewhat unfocused smile. "Lo, Commander."

Pike allowed his face to reflect mild reproach. "What have I told you about calling me commander?"

This time Jimmy's smile reminded Pike of a breaking sunrise. "Chris," he said.

"That's better," Pike smiled himself. He pulled a chair beside the bed, turned it backward, and straddled it. Pike began setting up the board. Jim was always white. "How're you feeling, Jim?"

"Okay."

"The truth," Pike insisted.

Kirk gave him a tired smile and looked like he wanted to protest, but eventually, he answered. "Tired. Sore," he shrugged. "Bored. Okay, really."

Pike nodded. He felt guilty. The kid needed sleep. "I shouldn't have woken you."

Jimmy gave him a funny look. "You didn't. I was waiting for you. I like our chess matches."

Pike was a little surprised at that. He had kind of thought that he was only relieving the kid's boredom. "I hadn't thought I presented much of a challenge to you."

Kirk smirked. He looked as thought he was about to say, you don't. But he didn't. Instead, he said, "You play better than anyone I've played in a long time."

Pike smiled. "Diplomatic answer."

Jimmy just blushed at him. They played in silence for a little while. It was clear that Jimmy wasn't concentrating on the game. Pike wondered what was bothering the kid. But Pike didn't want to push Jimmy. The boy had been through a lot. Pike figured Jimmy would talk when he was ready.

"Dr. Adamson told me you knew my parents." The boy's voice was quiet, not at all his normal self assured tone.

Pike nodded. "Yeah. I did." He didn't know exactly what to say. "Your dad was my roommate at the Academy. I was best man at their wedding."

The look on Jimmy's face could only be described as hunger. "You knew my father?"

Pike smiled. "Yeah. He was my best friend. And I don't make friends easily, so that's saying something."

"I think you're nice," said Jimmy.

Pike was momentarily taken aback. No one had ever called him 'nice' before. He had quite a reputation for being an uptight, hard ass. Then he smiled. "Yeah, well, you're a weird one," he said.

"True." Jimmy actually laughed. It transformed his face. Pike wanted to see that again.

Jimmy's smile was shy and tentative, and somehow more real than any expression Pike had previously seen on his face. "Will you tell me about them?"

Pike smiled back. "Of course I will. Of course I will. It might take a while."

Jimmy smiled again. "I'm not going anywhere." And then he settled back against his pillows, looking for all the world like there was no where else he wanted to be.

Okay, so that was my return to Haven. Hope you liked it. I enjoyed writing it. Please review.