Thanks for all your reviews! Please let me know what you think, liked, didn't like, or would like to see. Also, if I am taking too long to update, please prompt me. I've been busy, but I can make time to make someone laugh a little.

And I own nothing, but I wish I could be some Romulan's Tasha Yar sometimes… oh like you don't. Yeesh.

OoOoOo

Jim blinked at the screen in desperation as the admiral failed to rouse himself from what she assumed was the floor. He could have landed on his chair on the way down, she supposed, but Jim had no way to prove that. And, quite frankly, she was running out of time. Her sapphire eyes shot up to the clock positioned directly above the screen with panic.

She had… 12 minutes before they kicked her out of the embassy.

Jim scratched at her wrist, a nervous habit. It did not escape her notice that she had been indulging in a lot of nervous habits lately and they all centered around that Vulcan sex on legs. Which, Jim would have gladly ogled to her heart's content before he had decided to trick her into marriage.

She was a genius for crying out loud and she never seemed to see these things coming. A more childish part of her quipped that she had seen many signs of males that wanted to come near her, but the marriage part always seemed to catch her off her guard.

As much as it pained her to admit, and it did, she honestly needed to start listening to Bones more.

The proverbial light bulb flashed above her head, and Jim disconnected from the call.

"Thank you for calling Starfleet, and remember to have a pleasant day," an automated female voice chimed delicately.

"Have a pleasant day," Jim mimicked in a sarcastic voice.

This had turned out to be yet another day from hell. She was hot, and tired. She was sure she stunk and there must have been a film of sand covering her from head to toe. Worst of all she was separated from her beloved warp core. And, she was now Mrs... Well, Spock. For the life of her, Jim could not pronounce whatever his last name was.

She knew that if Uhura had been here, that woman would have told her how to pronounce it in at least seven dialects. Jim understood she was in a sorry state when she started to miss Uhura. Not that there was anything wrong with the woman, they were friends after all, but because Uhura had this uncanny ability to make Jim feel like she was four years old. Four years old and had just flashed her panties in front of the whole class.

God she missed kindergarten sometimes.

Her fingers flew across the console as she typed in a number she knew from memory. One of only eleven people Jim had ever bothered to remember such a detail about. She fiddled with her now stringy hair as she waited. Even though she had boundless patience with her tinkering and theories, waiting in reality always blew chunks.

Well, that and she constantly had to remind herself not to hyperventilate. Her blue eyes nearly filled with tears as the snarling face of Dr. Leonard McCoy filled the screen. His dark hair was slicked back; slightly wet from what she assumed was a shower. If this were not such a dire situation, Jim would have made a pass at the smooth-talking southern gentleman.

However, she did have her priorities, and at the top of the list was getting off this damned sandbox of a planet.

"WHAT?" Bone's snarled in agitation, his eyes not even focused on the screen.

"Bones," Jim started with a slight waiver in her voice, "I want to go home to the Enterprise now."

His faced morphed into an expression of shock, and his eyes traced over her downtrodden features. His gruff voice switched to match the concern spreading throughout his face.

"Jim honey," he said in the same tone he used with scared children, "are you alright?"

She was forced to blink back tears behind her blond lashes. Jim cursed her lip quivering at his earnest inquiry after her health. For all the crap she gave Bones, he was always on her side. That is why Jim was so fiercely loyal to him. Anyone who messed with Bones messed with Jim, and every member of any crew they had ever served on knew it all too well.

And, should Jim be displeased enough, one or more people had found their rooms without thermal controls after having been set to 'artic'. Their apologetic requests for fixing it ignored until Bones told her to stop making up reasons why she couldn't get to their rooms. It was a system that had worked since their days in the academy together.

"Not really," she commented thickly.

Bones made a noise in the back of his throat that Jim couldn't discern from a growl or a noise of sympathy.

"Where are you?"

Her sapphire eyes flicked to the doorway out of reflex and then to the clock. She only had ten more minutes. She fought the urge to smooth down her hair some more, and settled for rushing to explain her circumstances.

"I'm at the Terran Embassy on Vulcan," she started in a rush, "my citizenship has been changed to be Vulcan, and I have been assigned to the Vulcan Science Core."

"You resigned from Starfleet?" His voice boomed through the screen with his surprise and she winced at the volume.

"No, I didn't do anything," she denied vehemently, "You know I would never quit after being assigned the Enterprise. My Vulcan Husband," she spat the word like a curse, "did it for me."

Bones' face grew white, then red, then purple, and finally turned blue as he processed her words. Jim couldn't help but marvel at the plethora of colors he was able to achieve.

"I KNEW IT! I knew that Vulcan bastard was up to no good," his eyes narrowed threateningly, "I'll kill him. No, I'll kill him, then heal him, and then kill him again. If he so much as touched you, I'll-"

"Bones," Jim pleaded quickly, "I'm only allowed to stay on Terran soil for another… seven minutes. Please, you have to come get me. Or send someone to get me, I really don't care which."

His face softened at her obvious distress. "Don't worry Jim, I'll be there."

She breathed a huge sigh of relief before she could stop herself.

"Wonderful, I think I can file a temporary claim against my forced citizenship with the Vulcan government. That should buy me a couple of days until you get here."

Bones snorted. "That won't be necessary," he quipped tightly.

Jim raised a brow in confusion. "I… I don't-"

"I never left," he answered her unspoken question with ease, "I took my vacation time when they came to pick up the others. Uhura and I have been looking all over for you." He panned the hand-held device over and Jim blinked in astonishment at the linguist waived to her.

Uhura gave a weak smile. "Knew what you were doing huh?"

"Now is not the time Nyota," Jim snapped out defensively.

All of them perked up at the familiarity of the scene. The engineer let out a half-hysterical laugh which proved contagious amongst them, for the other two began to laugh.

"So James T. Kirk finally got married," Uhura commented offhand while wiping a tear of mirth from her eye, "And, just I thought, it had to be done in the craziest way possible."

Jim puffed up in indignation. "It wasn't my fault," she started quickly.

"It never is, according to you," Bones replied sarcastically.

"I maintain my innocence in all of this," Jim stated in good humor, "but can we continue this discussion when we are, say… off this planet? Sound good? Excellent."

Bones' face filled the screen once more. "We're coming to get you. Starfleet never leaves one of its own and all that hogwash. I'm just coming because you'll never let me live it down if I don't."

"Bones," Jim stated seriously, "If I weren't already married, I would marry you."

He blinked, and his face flushed scarlet for a moment.

"Um… thank you kindly," he replied awkwardly.

She tilted her head to the side and studied him carefully. "Am I too much amazing for you to handle? It's alright I have that effect on people," she grinned at him sexily.

"Why you-"

"Time is up Mrs. Kirk," the man from before called as he opened the door.

Jim snapped her attention away from the screen and at the short man who had interrupted the small bit of happiness she had gleamed out of the place that made Arizona seem cool. Which, by itself, was so many kinds of wrong that even the Breen would stop and blink in confusion.

And, that was saying something.

"Yes, of course," she responded with forced politeness as she shut down the terminal. Her heart constricted in her chest. She had forgotten to ask Bones how long he would be. She stood up from her seated position and exited the room without a fuss. Jim could very nearly taste her freedom and smell the sweet scent of coolant from her plasma coils.

"Oh and Mrs. Kirk?" The nameless unhelpful desk jockey inquired neutrally.

"Yes?"

"We hope you have enjoyed your time at the Terran Embassy," he informed her congenially.

Jim froze and she felt her left eye begin to twitch. Her mind stalled for a moment at the sincerity in his voice. Did this man have no idea what she had been through? Could he not grasp that this was sheer torture being here for even a single moment longer?

She turned slowly, her lips stretched into a sweet and innocent smile. Jim couldn't stop herself from the caustic reply on the tip of her tongue.

"Why thank you, and may I say, I hope I never have to see you again."

Jim stomped further down the hallway, leaving the poor man to do nothing but blink at her rudeness.

OoOoOo

Spock could feel her storming through the back of his thoughts. His whole mind had become attuned to her presence nearly instantly and he found even the minimal contact with her Psi-null mind to be comforting. However, it presented its own set of challenges for Jim being a psi-null, and he being only half Vulcan their bond was not traditional by any standard of measurement. He could not hear her thoughts, only sense the strongest of emotions for James' brain would not be able to utilize the link as T'Pring had. Humans lacked the proper higher brain functions necessary to communicate through anything less than a mind meld.

That had been an inconvenient hindrance in finding his wayward bride. Spock did not allow himself to be pulled down by the unparalleled force of Vulcan emotions, which were stronger than any species he had encountered to date. This was not an attempt at bragging, which was illogical, this was a fact. And, as such was upheld under scientific study.

He could sense James' distress, and near panic. It caused a sympathetic response of rousing his primitive protective instincts. This had disconcerted him slightly. Spock had found himself prone to the jolts of emotion that forced themselves past his mental shields. He had been surprised, though he should have accounted for such an occurrence if James was the source, at the intensity of her anger. He was by no means an ignorant or stupid male. Spock could tell immediately that her anger was directed at him.

That led him to believe she had discovered her change of occupation. It had caused Spock to meditate a great deal upon his decision prior to making it; however, he had seen the logic behind keeping James close to her new home. In time, he had been confident, she would adapt to the lifestyle as his mother had. They appeared to have developed some sort of human connection. His mother had called it an 'understanding' which by definition meant a mutual agreement.

This had been pleasing to hear. However, the discovery of her disappearance had caused his katra so swell with that primitive instinct he worked so diligently to suppress. It was logical to wish to protect his mate from harm, and even the Vulcan people could not deny that life was precious. Therefore, Spock found it to be the only reasonable expression of his concern for her health. He had noted that James had the unprecedented ability to cause injury to her person, attract unwanted suitors, and nearly destroy allied vessels… seemingly by no fault of her own.

However, he was not an unwanted suitor, he was her Adun. Spock had taken extensive measures to make sure that James had understood what she was entering into. And, she had even accepted the ancient challenge of his people during the time of the Joining of the minds. He had been caught unaware by the surge of pride that had coursed through his very blood when she had proven to be the victor. He had also been fascinated by the rarity of their compatibility.

Logically, it was the compatibility that had made joining with a psi-null possible at all. He had spoken in length with his Father on the matter, and Sarek had been in agreement of his hypothesis.

There bond had proven to be uncommonly strong, if Spock were able to discern the surge of her emotions. Their bond crept around his mental shields like a predator of the desert, and Spock knew himself to be its master. He delighted in her presence even if his bond mate was unaware of his mental presence. He knew her to be in no danger, and that was enough to keep his control firmly in place.

He had used the jolts of her emotions in a similar fashion to echolocation. He followed the tantalizing pull of their connection. As a psi-null James could not be located through following the bond alone and it forced Spock to lower his mental shields to seek her out. His patience and persistence had led him to the gates of the Terran Embassy. Spock understood he could not enter for he was a Vulcan citizen, as was James.

However, by right of his birth as a son of Vulcan, he was denied the ability to set foot on the soil unless he was in his Captain capacity, as he had no official business with the Embassy, Spock was forced to wait at the gate side. His dark eyes stared nearly hungrily at the doors, as if he might be able to will her into existence if he waited long enough. It was illogical, but his blood sung of her belonging to him. His very bones knew her to be his mate, and their bond, so new and so strong, compelled his more bestial urges to the surface.

The urge to claim swam through his blood like a fever. His impeccable control, however, kept him from acting out in such a barbaric fashion.

His dark eyes traced the doors once more with resignation tinged with desire. To any passerby his face was entirely impassive, nearly carved out of green stone. But inside a storm raged similar to James' of feelings that could not be long denied, and Spock needed her presence the way a plant needs water or sunlight.

Not Vulcan sunlight, for it scorched all it touched, but the sun of Earth nurtured its plant life to flourishing.

'Soon Aduna, you will see. I will endeavor to be an excellent mate to you,' he promised, pushing the words into the bond, knowing she would not be able to hear them, but the pledge stayed firm in his thoughts.

It was only logical, she was his after all.