A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the late-Anton Yelchin. You were a master at your craft and you were taken far too soon. R.I.P.

Paris…Life?—Part X

Starfleet Academy, San Francisco, California, 2291.292, 1250 hours. Nyota sat at her desk grading papers in an attempt to clear the deck before the weekend. She and Spock planned to spend a few days in Napa reconnecting and relaxing. Setting her PADD down she briefly closed her eyes. She could almost taste the wine.

And then, suddenly, she felt a surge of panic and pain not her own.

Eyes flying open, Nyota attempted to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. Spock was fine, that much was certain. Admittedly her telepathic bonds with her children weren't as strong given her psi null status but she could still sense them. Pressing her hands to her eyes she sought out T'Alora and found all was well. Selas too was fine, living with Rebecca in newlywed bliss. Se'tak on the other hand…his connection to her was quiet and cold.

What was happening to her baby?

She knew he'd been miserable lately. Se'tak didn't give her any details but sometime over the summer he let slip that he and Marie had separated. By the sounds of it it wasn't his idea and she wondered what happened but tried not to pry. Still, it grieved her to see him in pain.

Desperately she tried to reach out to him but it was like a comm call cutting out mid stream. Nyota stood to go get Spock only to find him standing in her doorway. "Se'tak is in trouble. We must go to him at once."

They teleported right into the heart of Paris and made straight for Se'tak's dorm to find it crawling with police. "Oh G-d," she whispered, clutching her adun's arm. Frantically she tried to raise Se'tak on his comm again but to no avail. Approaching the barrier she reached for the nearest officer and asked for details. He rapidly uttered a statement in French and resumed his duties observing the perimeter.

Nyota's knees wanted to buckle but she willed them to stay firm.

Sensing her distress Spock urged her off to the side of the crowd. "What information did he impart to you?"

"He…" her eyes pooled with moisture, "He said a young woman was dead, and a young man was stabbed and was probably dead too."

Her adun went rigid. "What hospital did they say he was transported to?"

She gulped down some air. This couldn't be happening. Who would want to hurt Se'tak? She looked to Spock for reassurance but his eyes were hard and flinty. "Saint Vincent de Paul."

"Then we shall travel there immediately and inquire if our sa-fu is within."

The nurse at information didn't know anything but motioned for them to head to the ER. No sooner were they buzzed in then they saw Max standing alone in the hall, his arms and hands covered in copper blood. Nyota gasped, her lower lip trembling.

Max turned at the sound and blinked but didn't seem to recognize them. He was in shock. Spock stood stock still, fear for their sa-fu running wild across the bond. Slowly she stepped forward and tried to bring the teen out of his stupor. "Max?" He didn't move. "Max, it's Auntie Ny."

Finally he looked at her. "Auntie Ny?" She nodded. All of a sudden he came out of his trance and looked at his hands as if for the first time. "OH!" Max looked at her again. "I…I tried, Auntie Ny, I tried…b-but there was so much blood and I…"

She sympathized with the boy. Holding him by the shoulders Nyota forced him to focus. "We know you did," she urged, "But what happened?

"I don't know. I-I went to his dorm to see him and I heard a noise. When I opened the door he was on the ground and…" He looked down at his hands again growing close to tears. "I tried…"

She pulled him in and held him close while Spock called Callan. "I know."

A police officer finally appeared and approached them both. "Madam, vous êtes…?"

"I'm Se'tak's mother," she answered in Standard. "And this is his father. Now will somebody please tell us what is going on?"

Lieutenant Bonhomme quickly introduced himself and brought them up to speed. "We've been searching for your son's stalker for several months and…"

"I'm sorry, stalker?" Nyota asked, furrowing her brow. She looked to Spock, his lips pursed in concentration. "What stalker?"

The Lieutenant cocked his head to the side. "A woman has been following your son for several months now. The situation escalated mid-summer, however, we had no clue as to her identity until tonight."

"How long had she been active?" She glanced as Spock as she asked, trying to gauge his reaction. Nyota had a nagging feeling he knew more than he was letting on.

The officer's gaze shifted from her to Spock and back again. "The stalker had been active for over a year."

"A year?" she gasped, struggling to comprehend the full scope of the situation. "But…but he never said anything."

"I'm sorry. If you will excuse me, I must return to my post. I will update you as soon as I have more information." The Lieutenant turned and walked away. A nurse stepped forward to brief them on Se'tak's condition. He was being wheeled into surgery and they were ushered into a private waiting room in Intensive Care.

Saint Vincent de Paul Hospital, Paris, France, 2291.292, 2320 hours. There was still no word on Se'tak's condition. Spock called T and Selas; they were on their way but it'd still be at least several days before they arrived. She worried they wouldn't get here in time to say good-bye.

Tears threatening to spill down her cheeks once more, Nyota forcibly shook her head to clear the negative thoughts. Se'tak would survive. She was not going to outlive her child. She hated herself for thinking otherwise.

The door opened and, thinking it was Spock returning with tea, she looked up expectantly only to have Marie rush in. She looked nothing like the gay young girl who visited them in San Francisco just a few weeks ago. Tonight she looked disheveled in sweatpants and a t-shirt; she also had dark bags under her eyes giving her a haunted look.

Ny stood abruptly in surprise. "Marie, what are you…" but the girl dove straight into her arms ignoring all her questions. Holding her Nyota realized she was nothing more than skin and bones.

"She finally got to him, oui? I knew it, I knew she would," the poor girl uttered into her shoulder.

"You knew about his stalker?"

Marie pulled back and nodded, her face streaked with tears, and saw the confusion on her face. "You didn't? But Se'tak said…"

"He never told me."

From there the whole tale poured forth—from his stalker's notes, to the threats, to the break-in and her cat's murder. The pregnancy and miscarriage were a total surprise. Each new revelation horrified Nyota and she quickly pulled the poor girl back into her arms. "Oh Marie…"

"I couldn't…" she sobbed, "I couldn't stay. I love your son but I couldn't stay. I wasn't s-strong enough."

"Don't say that," Nyota told her sharply. "You're incredibly strong. This is—" she searched for the right words "—this is just an extraordinary situation." Marie nodded, unable to speak. Spock returned bearing steaming cups of tea and gazed at the pair of them curiously.

Again she had to wonder how much her adun knew. Earlier they'd each been wrapped up in their own fear but with this new information in hand now they had to talk. Marie's sobs began to subside as Nyota rubbed soothing circles on her back. "Do your parents know you're here, Honey?"

She shook her head no. "They were at the theater when I heard the news report. Se'tak wasn't mentioned but they were outside his building and I-I knew it was him. I didn't even tell my Papy, I just caught the last train."

"They're probably very worried about you. You should call and tell them where you are."

"Oui, you're right." She went to the door and hesitated. "If anything…if the doctors…"

"I'll come and find you if there's any news." With that promise made Marie stepped outside to make the call and Nyota crossed the floor to Spock. "You knew Se'tak had a stalker, didn't you?" The statement was couched as a question so he couldn't prevaricate. Her adun nodded once and Nyota fought not to scream. "How long have you known?"

"Se'tak made me aware of this woman's presence 237 days ago."

She snapped. The stress, the worry, the fear—and he knew, the whole damn time he knew! Nyota did the unthinkable; she slapped Spock. Twice. "How dare you!" she seethed.

A light jade imprint of her hand bloomed on his cheek. He didn't recoil from her but his hurt was palpable through the bond. "K'diwa, we did not…"

"HOW DARE YOU!" she screamed. "He is my son. You should've told me everything right from the BEGINNING!"

"Nyota, we did not want…"

But his attempts to reason with her only made her angrier. "No! NO!" She clenched and unclenched her fist, the rage within so fierce she wanted to haul off and hit him again. Instead she turned away as the bile rose in the back of her throat. "I can't even look at you right now." She tamped down the bond to almost nothing. "Just leave."

"Nyota…"

"GO! NOW!"

To say he was bewildered by his adun'a's treatment was a gross understatement. As he stood in the hall outside the waiting room with 2 lukewarm cups of tea in his hands Spock attempted to understand her behavior.

It was true, he had breached her trust by not informing her earlier of this stalker; however, he and Se'tak had agreed to withhold this information for her own good. They did not want to worry her. Conversely, Se'tak also withheld information from him. Spock was unwitting of this woman's escalation in activities until 12.89 minutes ago when the Lieutenant spoke with him privately in the cafeteria. Had he previous knowledge of the break-in, the murder of the feline companion, and the subsequent miscarriage Spock would not have hesitated in informing her.

Nyota's speech and actions left him deeply unsettled. In his heart Spock knew that she did not believe him to be the cause of their safu's present suffering—he was merely the most effective target for which to vent her grief. They were in very real danger of losing Se'tak. The knife punctured his liver and narrowly missed his heart. That their sa-fu's attacker was currently laying on a slab in the morgue was all that stopped Spock from running mad himself.

He was in need of his aduna's presence now more so than ever…and yet she turned him away. Violently. In the 35.11 years of their relationship Spock had experienced a whole host of human emotions through the bond he and Nyota shared—but until today he had never experienced her indifference.

Placing the cups on the floor he retrieved his comm from his pocket. There was only one other person he could turn to in his time of need. The comm rang twice before being answered. "Hey, Spock, what's up buddy?"

"Jim." Spock suddenly found he could not give voice to the rest of his thoughts. Fortunately, he did not need to; his friend instantly picked up on his tone.

"What's wrong?"

"Se'tak has been gravely injured. The odds of his survival are…"

"We'll be there as soon as we can."

0117 hours. She had no read on Se'tak whatsoever. Every minute was an agony not knowing if he was alive or dead—thank G-d for their friends. She didn't care that he was the one to call them, only that they were there. Jim and Taline arrived about 45 minutes ago and Chris and Len followed not long after. Their presence was all that kept her from completely going to pieces.

She kept to the opposite side of the waiting room, their friends unwittingly acting as a barrier. Being under the same roof as him right now was trying. Why had he kept her in the dark all this time? Why? It didn't make any sense—she started to wonder if maybe there were signs somewhere, clues that she missed, but Se'tak never let on what was happening to him. What else was he keeping from her? Were T'Alora and Selas keeping secrets from her too? She was a mother, she worried, it was her right—so why stoop to hiding things from her?

At long last the surgeon entered the room, followed by an administrator in a crisp suit. She made a beeline for the pair, as did her adun. It took a minute for her to realize the man in the suit was a translator sent for their benefit.

The surgeon spoke first and her translator swiftly followed. "You are the parents?"

"Oui."

"Yes."

Chris and Taline bolstered her and Marie, just as Jim and Len did for him. She clenched her eyes tight. "Your son survived surgery…"

'Thank G-d." Nyota felt herself go weak with relief. Se'tak was alive! She barely listened to the rest. He was alive!

"However," the surgeon swiftly continued, "His condition is still grave. The next several days are critical. He may never recover fully; he may not even wake up. Your son lost a large amount of blood and if—" the surgeon consulted briefly with the translator before continuing, "It is my belief that if he had been wholly Human he would not have survived even this long. From here on out we can only monitor him closely and see if there is any change."

"Take me to him, please," she implored them.

"Madam, he is still unconscious," the translator began.

"I don't care!" she interjected passionately. Suddenly recognizing her position Nyota quietly added, "Please. I'm his mother."

Both the surgeon's and the translator's heads conferred briefly before acquiescing. They brought her down the hall and around the corner to his room. Se'tak lay in bed, a mask obscuring half his face, his coloring as pale as the sheets covering him. Nyota collapsed into a chair and reached through the blankets for his hand. Even with the reassuring skin-to-skin contact his presence was barely palpable.

"Mama's here, Se'tak," she reassured him, struggling to keep her tears at bay. "I'm right here."

A/N2: I'll be posting a new story in the coming days called "Undoing". The first chapter will pick up right where this one leaves off.