A/N: Thank you to Bookdragon01 as always for betaing this chapter. Nope don't own it.
This will be the last chapter BEFORE New Years. There's just too much going on right now to be able to juggle the holidays and keep updating in a halfway timely manner. I will be working on the ending and doing a bit of polish on the rest. I'll post the next chapter in January, once things calm back down and the kids are back in school. So please don't think I've abandoned the story. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.
The next morning Joanna was missing. McCoy had come out of the bathroom and found her gone. After a quick search of their quarters, he frantically commed Jim and then Uhura; but neither of them had seen her since the night before. Jim quickly contacted Giotto, who helped him collect the rest of the officers for a search party. Before they started, Spock ran a check of the lift, fire, and stairway door records which showed that no one had used them that morning. It was a small relief to McCoy and the others that she had to still be on their floor.
Giotto and Jim split everyone up into teams to do a room by room search. Jim took her and Bones' room himself and sent Bones with Christine to look in the rooms at the other end of the hall, while Giotto kept watch on the stairs and the lift.
After doing a quick search of the tiny kitchenette, behind the front room couch, and a quick check of the bathroom, Jim quietly moved into the bedroom. He knew Bones had checked the closet but looked in there again just in case Joanna had switched spots, All that was in there were their clothes. Jim knew that there was no chance that she was under her Dad's bed; the frame was to the floor just like his, with only small cubbyholes for shoes, so that only left the portable one that she'd been using.
Jim moved as quietly as possible, bent over and lifted the blankets hanging off the edge of the bed and found himself looking into a pair of frightened hazel eyes.
"JoJo, you need to come out Kiddo," he said softly lying on the floor so he could see her better.
"No, I don't want to go back, Uncle Jim. I wanna stay with Daddy and you on the Enterprise," she whispered. "You said I was gonna get to because of what happened."
"JoJo, the only reason we have to go back is so you can stay with us," Jim explained patiently; it hurt to see the fear in her eyes again.
"I heard Mr. Rhymer tell you and Daddy last night that I might have to go and stay with Mama anyway," Joanna replied stubbornly.
"Joanna, sweetheart, he meant was that you might have to stay with your Mom a certain amount of time a year, as in a visit. The rest of the time you'll be with your Dad and the rest of us," Jim told her gently
"Right, then why didn't he say anythin' around me? Why'd he wait till it was just you and Daddy?" she challenged.
"Because, your dad didn't want to upset you by asking about the possibility of your mom having visitation rights when he didn't know how likely it would be. He was trying to figure out how to bring it up with you and asked Rhymer what the likely-hood would be so he'd know what to tell you," Jim explained softly and smiled as he saw her expression clear slightly.
"Promise?" she asked hopefully.
"I promise JoJo, we're not giving you up. Give me your hand, I'll pull you out and then we'll go explain what happened to your Dad and the others. Right now they're doing a room by room search for you." Jim said smiling as she took his hand.
"Is Daddy mad at me?" she asked hesitantly as she stood up
"You really scared him, disappearing like this, but no, he won't be mad once he knows why," Jim told her sitting on the bed, and taking her hands.
"I'm sorry I scared him, but I was scared he was g-gonna have to send me back," Joanna explained tearing up.
Jim couldn't think of anything to say right then and pulled her into his lap and held her. A moment later she was clinging to him, with her face buried in his shoulder. Jim let her cry it out, murmuring nonsense to her until she was calm again. "Are you gonna be ok, JoJo?" he asked softly once she was down to hiccoughs.
"Yeah, U-Uncle Jim," she said leaning back and wiping her eyes with her hands.
"Next time, Sweetheart, ask one of us if you don't understand something, or something is worrying you, please? Even if you overheard it while eaves-dropping," Jim told her with a smirk that made her smile. It was just a small upturn of her lips, but it made the knot in Jim's stomach loosen for the first time since Bones' call.
"Shall we let everyone know that you're ok, Kiddo?" Jim asked as he set her on her feet and stood up, with her hand in his.
"Can I ask you somethin' first, Uncle Jim?"
"Sure, JoJo, what?"
"Why'd you call me sweetheart just now? You never used to call me that," Joanna asked looking up at Jim curiously.
Jim was surprised, he hadn't even thought about calling her that, it just came out. "Because, JoJo, as far as I'm concerned, your Dad's my brother in everything but blood; which makes you my niece," he explained with a shrug. "And I guess 'cause it's something Mom used to call me when I was upset as a kid," he finished as they stepped into the hall.
"Thanks, Uncle Jim," she said hugging him.
"You're welcome, JoJo," Jim replied as he hugged her. "Come on, let's get this taken care of," he said keeping one arm around her shoulders as he yelled down the hall. "I found her guys!"
The response was immediate, as everyone rushed into the hall. McCoy was the first to reach them.
"Jo, what were you thinkin' worryin' us like that?" he asked as he picked her up and hugged her, blinking hard at the tears that wanted to form at finding her safe.
"I heard you and Mr. Rhymer talkin' last night. Just where he said that I might have to stay with Mama and I thought that he meant I had to go back to stay," Joanna replied softly looking at him.
"No, Jo, not gonna happen," Bones replied as his arms tightened slightly, relieved that he could promise her that. "I'm not losin' you again, Darlin'."
"I know, Uncle Jim said that Mr. Rhymer meant just goin' to visit her for a while every year," Joanna replied smiling at him.
"That's right, Jo, though we'll just have to see what happens, alright?" McCoy reminded her as he set her down, keeping his arm around her shoulders
"Alright Daddy," Joanna said as she stepped half out of her father's embrace. "I'm sorry for worryin' y'all"
"No apology necessary, kidogo moja*; we all do crazy things when we're scared," Uhura assured her. "I hid in the top of a tree in my back yard once to try and get out of going to the dentist to get a tooth removed. My Baba found me after half an hour of searching. He and Mama weren't too pleased that I'd hidden, until they found out that I'd been told a bunch of scary stories by several of the older kids in the neighborhood about what to expect," she explained, making Joanna and the others smile a bit at the idea of her hiding from anything.
"I hid behind the garage once because I was scared to show my folks my report card," Sulu added as they gathered up their bags and headed for the lift.
"I zhought vhen Starfleet vanted me to come so early zhat I'd newer be able to wisit my family again," Chekov said, shaking his head at the memory. "I ended up in zhe attic. Mama found me and straightened me out. I vas only zhirteen," he added with a shrug as they headed out of the building towards the shuttle hanger. On the way Scotty, Martin, and even Spock shared something that they'd misunderstood as children, making Joanna relax a little and laugh.
Admiral Pike, Rhymer and Lt Cmdr Giotto were waiting for them at the shuttle.
"Sorry we're late; we had a slight problem with miscommunication this morning." Jim explained softly with a glance at Joanna as they loaded their luggage.
"Nothing serious I hope?" Pike inquired as everyone started boarding.
"No just the different meanings of the phrase 'stay with' in the context of custody cases." Jim replied, keeping his voice low, not wanting to embarrass Joanna anymore. "She overheard what you said last night about staying with her mother and thought that meant she wasn't going to stay with Bones. When he couldn't find her this morning he panicked and got the rest of us searching our floor. I found her hiding under her bed, because she didn't want to go back to Jocelyn," he explained with a glance at Rhymer, who looked a bit shocked at the news.
Pike nodded, now he was glad that he'd requested a recruit shuttle for this trip so that everyone could sit together instead of separated by rows.
Giotto waved McCoy and Jim over as they were about to board. "Captain, Doctor, we've gotten a lead on those missing drugs," Giotto quietly informed them.
"Good work Chief. Keep us informed of what goes down," Jim said with a slightly grim smile.
"Will do, Sir, be careful yourself. I'll be talking to Martin daily, so don't think I won't hear about any of your stunts," Giotto reminded Jim with a smirk. While he might admire Kirk's quick thinking and cool head in battle situations, he knew how much trouble the Captain could get into without trying. And it never hurt to remind him that he'd be watching even if by proxy.
"Don't worry, Chief, I'm definitely not going to be doing anything other than going to court and maybe as extra hands for shopping." Jim assured Giotto seriously. "We both know that this is too important to screw up."
"You worry too much, Sam, besides I'll be there to help as well as Winona. Between the two of us we should be able to keep this group on their best behavior for a week," Pike interjected with a grin at Giotto.
"I hope so, Chris," Giotto said, giving his friend a look as if questioning whether Pike even knew the definition of best behavior. "By the way, Captain, tell you mom I said hello will you?" Giotto asked.
"Sure, Chief. I didn't know you knew her," Jim replied intrigued.
"I met her a couple of times when she was on assignment when you were a kid. She always talked about you and your brother," Giotto explained looking slightly uncomfortable which made Jim grin.
"Sometimes I think everyone knows your mom, Jim," McCoy remarked teasingly.
"I'll see you when you get back, Joanna. Think you can help Pike and Miss Winona keep these two in line?" Giotto asked Joanna with a smile.
"Yes Sir," Joanna replied with a smile.
"I'll expect a full report, Miss Joanna," Giotto replied, and gently tugged one of her braids.
As they reached the ramp she surprised all of them by letting go of her father's hand to dart back and hug Giotto tightly and hurry back to her dad's side before Giotto could react. Jim laughed and shook his head at the fact that his tough as nails, by the book, Security Chief was so gentle with Joanna. He'd overheard Giotto tell her on Wednesday that if she ever couldn't find her Dad or 'Uncle' to come to the Security Office, especially if there was trouble on the ship.
The trip took just over an hour to get to the Atlanta Shuttle Port. As the flight had progressed Joanna had become silent, and hadn't let go of her dad's hand. At the sight of her fear McCoy had forced his own residual discomfort with flying down, trying to comfort her, along with the others; though there wasn't much they could do but hold her hands and try to distract her until they landed. As they disembarked she was clinging to his hand, refusing to let go. Once they were off the ramp he swung Joanna up into his arms, letting her burrow into his shoulder.
"Jo, loosen up just a bit, Darlin', I need to breath," McCoy whispered as her grip threatened to strangle him.
"Sorry, Daddy," Joanna mumbled, shifting her death grip around his neck slightly.
"You're safe, Darlin'. Nothin's gonna happen to ya," he whispered back, shifting her weight to a better position on his hip.
Once Pike's chair was unloaded they grabbed their luggage, splitting McCoy and Joanna's between Jim Uhura, and Christine as they headed for the terminal to wait for Winona's shuttle.
A bad thunderstorm had popped up over Riverside that morning, preventing them from landing, so Winona had waited and caught the next shuttle out of the Riverside terminal. No one was really comfortable with the arrangement, but there wasn't anything they could do about it. Thankfully it had put her less than half an hour behind them.
They managed to find a semi-secluded seating area away from the main flow of foot traffic, and settled in to wait. Chekov had brought the chess set and managed to distract Joanna with a game; her and Jim against himself.
"Doctor, may I offer a suggestion?" Spock asked softly, trying not to distract Joanna from the game.
"What's that Spock?" McCoy replied looking at Spock as he sat down next to him.
"When we are settled tonight or sometime tomorrow, would you permit me to try a light mind-meld with Joanna? Please, Doctor, hear me out," he continued when McCoy's expression darkened. "It would be no more dangerous than the hypnosis some psychiatrists employ, though more effective and would assist her in coping with her fears both of facing her mother and the –man who injured her, as well as of being separated from you. Both of which could possibly be detrimental to your case if she cannot overcome them to make clear the events that occurred to bring you to this juncture."
"And just how would letting you poke around in her head help?" McCoy asked glancing up at Spock's uncharacteristic pause; he wasn't surprised to see the anger in Spock's eyes at the thought of the bastard. He also realized Spock did have a point, but he wasn't going to do anything until he understood it better.
"I would not 'poke around' as you put it, Doctor. It would more closely resemble the form of hypnosis used in the late twentieth century to assist in recovering lost memories or to break destructive habits. Though more focused, as I would literally be following her emotions back to their initial cause," Spock explained. "I would be neither tampering with her memories nor any other part of her mind. I would be focusing on only the worst of the fear associated with the events leading up to our arrival three weeks ago. I also believe it may help resolve her night terrors, or at the least pin-point their cause and enable you to assist her in dealing with the issue."
"I'll think about it, Spock, and talk it over with Jo too, once we're settled. I'm not sayin' you'd hurt her but I'm not gonna agree without her input and a lot more information," McCoy said turning the idea over in his mind.
"It is logical to want her to have a say in the decision. I will answer any questions either of you have regarding the mind-meld and what to expect," Spock said as he stood and returned to his seat beside Uhura to finish watching the match.
It was a quick game; Chekov was one of the best players on the ship, so he was able to beat Joanna and Jim fairly easily, though Jim's participation gave him a run for his money. It was enough to make Joanna smile slightly.
Lt Richard 'Cupcake' Martin had quietly watched Joanna over the last week whenever she was around and had come to the easy conclusion that she was a 'sweet kid', as his friend Lt Mark Carrannelli described her one afternoon after she and Kirk had dropped by the security office to speak to Chief Giotto. She was extremely cautious around new people but he could understand that with what had happened to her. But to see her scared was bothering him; he'd grown used to her happily following the senior officers around the ship or Starfleet HQ talking a mile a minute and helping Kirk and occasionally Nurse Chapel tease her dad about practically anything.
He shifted in his seat on the edge of the group watching the passing crowd; it was a big assignment: keeping both the command team and Admiral Pike safe, especially with only Mark and Lt Bejal Lewis, to help, but he was proud of the trust Chief Giotto had in his ability to lead the detail.
As he 'people watched' his eyes were caught by something on the nearby news kiosk. All he saw was the word 'Enterprise' flash across the headline ticker before the crowd blocked his view, but it caught his attention and he watched closely as he waited for it to cycle back. When it came back up he had to bite his tongue to keep from swearing; the headline read: 'Enterprise CMO in Abuse and Custody Battle.' 'Fuck! This is not good,' Richard thought, signaling to Mark to take watch as he quickly pulled out his PADD and hurried to the kiosk and purchased the story. After a quick glance through it he moved to Admiral Pike's side.
"Sir, I think we have a problem," he murmured in Pike's ear, as he handed the Admiral the PADD.
"Oh?" Pike replied, as he glanced down. His expression immediately darkened at the headline. "John," he said quietly but his tone carried a note of urgency that had Rhymer's immediate attention.
"What is it Chris?" Rhymer asked, coming over from where he'd been going over his case files.
"Read that, John," Pike told him disgustedly, handing over Martin's PADD.
"Why those bastards," Rhymer muttered as he read the story. "Chris, I'll be back, but this might take awhile so don't wait for me." He hurriedly copied the story to his own PADD, handed Martin's back, and headed for the nearest vid-comm. to call San Francisco, muttering under his breath as he went.
"Ok folks; looks like the cat's out of the bag. So better get whatever you brought as cover on," Pike said raising his voice just enough that the group could hear him. Everyone sighed as they slipped on hats or for Uhura and Christine let their hair down. Joanna looked ready to start crying for a moment, until McCoy gently pulled her into his arms and let her borrow into his shoulder.
"Shh, Jo, I got ya. You're safe, Darlin'," he whispered to her, gently rubbing her back very much aware of the worried glances their friends were sending them.
"Don't worry, JoJo, Mom's gonna be here any minute so we should be out of here in no time," Jim tried to reassure her, as he moved to sit next to them. "You going to be ok while I go meet her at the gate, Sweetheart?" he asked as he carefully slipped his contacts in.
"Y-Yeah, Uncle Jim, but won't they recognize you?" Joanna asked, as she peeked out at him from her dad's shoulder.
"With these contacts in and a hat on I'll pass. Remember, if anything they're looking for your Dad and won't be too worried about me. And even if they think they recognize me, the fact that my eyes are the 'wrong' color will throw them off, and no one would look for me in Atlanta anyway," Jim reminded her. "Bones, you gonna be ok too?"
"Yeah Jim, just don't get side tracked on your way," Bones said, pulling his black hat out of his bag and gently pushing out a dent in the crown before slipping it on. "Go on Kid. Before someone thinks we look suspiciously like what we are," he grumbled, making Joanna smile slightly as she snuggled back into his shoulder and Jim full out grin.
"Lighten up, Bones," Jim said lightly swatting McCoy on the shoulder as he started towards Winona's arrival gate. Carrannelli caught up with him.
Jim quickly found his Mom in the small crowd of arriving passengers. "Mom," he called getting her attention.
"Jim. What-?" she started to ask when she saw Jim's eyes but a small shake of his head stopped her. Something was up, and she'd bet money it wasn't good judging by his expression. So she nodded in understanding and hugged him, whispering in his ear "I want answers soon, James," and had to fight a chuckle when she felt him swallow hard; she only ever called him James when she was deadly serious and/or he was in serious trouble.
"The cat's out of the bag, Mom," Jim whispered back, knowing she's understand and felt her nod against his shoulder.
As Jim took her bag and turned to head back, Carrannelli joined them. "Mom, I want you to meet Mark Carrannelli, one of our security guys," Jim murmured just loudly enough for them to hear.
"Good to meet you, Jim's told me a lot about you," Winona replied in the same tone.
Mark had to chuckle, "I bet; and in most of them he was calling me Cannoli too, right?"
"In some yes, most of those were when you were at the Academy though," she replied with a smile at the young men on either side of her.
"Nana!" Joanna called the minute she spotted Winona, Jim, and Mark approaching, and blushed at her slip of the tongue. Her yell drew a few indulgent stares as the passing crowd wrote the scene off as a simple family reunion. Winona just laughed at Joanna calling her Nana instead of Nona or Miss Nona as she hugged her tightly, resting her chin lightly on Joanna's head.
"I don't mind if you call me that, Honey," she whispered in Joanna's ear pulling back enough to see her face.
Joanna managed a smile for her and whispered "Thanks N-Nana," she quickly gave Winona another hug, before turning and hugging Jim.
"It's good to see you, Leonard," Winona said as she hugged him, not too surprised at the look of relief he gave her as she stepped back and turned to the others.
The greetings were slightly rushed as everyone gathered their luggage, but still warm. As Chekov hugged her, Jim had to smile at how close his friends and crew had gotten to his Mom.
Winona immediately spotted Uhura's engagement ring and happily congratulated her and Spock; after doing a very slight double take at the sight of Spock in a fedora.
Finally Winona made it through the group to Pike. He grinned and hugged her like everyone else. Only Jim was in a position to see the slight differences in their greeting than in the others. 'Naw they're just old friends, nothing to worry about. Though I guess they could do worse. Stop right there. There is no way there's anything going on between Mom and Pike.' Jim thought as Pike and Winona finally stepped back still grinning at each other.
"Mom," Jim said as she rejoined him. "I want you to meet Christine Chapel."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Ma'am," Christine replied with a smile.
"Same here I've heard a lot about you from the others," Winona told her. "And please, it's Winona. Ma'am still makes me feel like I'm at work and I retired two years ago."
"Alright then, Winona it is. Looks like Martin wants you Ca-Jim," Christine said with a nod at Martin.
"Well let's get ready to get outta here," Jim chuckled and quickly kissed his mom's cheek and headed over to see what Martin wanted.
"Sir, where are we going? Even the Chief didn't know," Martin asked quietly.
"All I really know is that it was arranged by Ambassador Sarek. So we probably should be asking his son," Jim explained as he waved Spock over.
"Is there a problem?" Spock asked looking between Jim and Martin.
"You do know where we're going, right?" Jim asked.
"Of course, my father made the arrangements. There is a vehicle waiting for us outside, and the house is stocked for our expected stay and a bit beyond. As my father pointed out, it is difficult to accurately judge the pace of the legal system here," Spock explained as they headed out of the terminal.
A/N: *kidogo moja- little one: Swahili
A/N: Chekov being one of the best players is taken from an interview in the special features on the BluRay. Bruce Greenwood (Pike, if you don't know/remember) says that between takes he, Anton Yelchin (Chekov) and John Cho (Sulu) would play chess and Anton Yelchin always beat them. I thought it was something that fit Chekov's character.