~*~Life as we know it will continue forth, regardless the tragedies of man's past. Standing in the eye of the storm, I watch the life around me transition from one era to the next, while I myself is left on standby. Even with the ability to fix the past, the resulting outcome can prove ill. The path of life I am now riding is a result of a tamper in time, and to reset the path to its original course can prove disastrous still…~*~

It is nearly 11 in the morning, and Nyota is finishing up with Spock's favorite veggie lasagna while I put aside the dish of deviled eggs, and use my telekinesis to multitask with preparing stuffing some pita bread with hummus, olives, egg, lettuce while over the stove, making some steamed veggies, pasta with alfredo sauce, and some classic macaroni and cheese.

"Wow," I hear Nyota whisper.

I turn around to face her, "Oh, sorry. Sometimes I get a little carried away. It's been a while since I last entertained any guest."

Nyota waves it off, "Oh, you're fine. It's just that…it's not something I'm used to seeing. Science and technology has probably come a long way since you were born, but it still seems like magic."

"It still does seem that way sometimes," I say. "Thanks again for forwarding some of the vegetarian recipes and for stopping by early to help me prep this stuff."

"It's no problem."

"For as long as I've been around," I say, "I could never figure out how those vegetarian people could live without some kind of meat in their diet. Me, I like my meat: Steaks, hot dogs, ribs, all the good stuff."

We are silent as we carry some of the dishes outside with some hot plates. With only a thought, I pick up the lawn table and chairs and place them a few feet to the right so that they are under the shade of a tree. I heat up the grill when Nyota speaks again,

"Gabriel?"

"Hmm?"

"If you don't mind my asking, what were you like, before you met Spock's grandmother?"

I had not been expecting that question. The flame of the grill is at its highest setting, but the question causes me to turn and look at her and place my hand on the cooking grid, momentarily forgetting the heat.

"God damn!" I curse. Nyota, with the grace and speed of a gazelle, rushes to my side and takes my burnt hand into hers and right before her eyes, the injured flesh repairs its self and only the black smudges from the grill remain on my palm. "See?" I raise my hand, waving my fingers around. "No harm done."

"Sorry," she cringes.

"It's fine," I assure her. "But I thought I already told you what I was like, before."

"You did, but I kind of thought there was more to it," Nyota says.

"I was a bad person," I tell her. "A lot of people died because of me. Even when I stopped going after people with abilities, it was still a long time before I would let anyone close to me, before I thought of anyone other than myself."

"That just sounds so sad," Nyota says, and I only grunt in response. "If you had the ability to change the past, would you?"

"If? I do have the ability," I tell her. "I can manipulate time and space. But in answer to your question, no, I wouldn't change it. Things happen for a reason, and it is not my place to change it. For as long as I have had that ability, I've never time traveled."

Now Nyota looks at me in disbelief, "You can do that? Do you know what this could mean for Spock? Your own daughter?"

I look at Nyota hard, "Don't you dare use them against me. You cannot comprehend what you are asking of me."

Nyota glares in return, "The attack on the Kelvin, the Battle of Vulcan, it was not supposed to happen! You can change that!"

"I could, but I can't"

"You mean you won't!" she retorts. "Billions of people were not supposed to die!"

I take a deep breath, "Changing the past could always change for the worse. I cannot go to the future to prevent the Narada from falling into the singularity because that future no longer exists. If I prevent the Kelvin from being where it was when the Narada arrived then the Romulans could delve further into Federation territory, and still able to do God knows what even without the red matter. Regardless, the Narada still arrives, thus canceling out the future they came from."

Nyota is in tears at this moment, "You don't know that for sure. There is always when the Narada appears at the singularity."

I roll my eyes, "At the edge of Klingon space, risking their attention? I know enough that they are nasty little bastards. They could interpret it as an act of war. There are thousands of different possible variables to consider. Besides," I stroll up to Nyota, lean towards her and whisper harshly in her ear, "even if I did restore the time line, made it as it was before, would you be willing to sacrifice your relationship with Spock?"

Nyota took a step back, "What do you mean?"

"I know about Spock's elder self, he came through the singularity with Nero. Spock told me that he asked his elder self about your guy's relationship. Spock was told that your relationship never existed in that timeline," I tell the young woman, not allowing myself any sympathy. "Be happy with what you have, and accept the way things are now."

In the distance I hear Kavik barking madly and soon the voices Kirk, McCoy, and Spock follow. "Do not speak of this conversation to Spock, other wise I will just make you forget…" I let the threat hang, letting Nyota interpret the meaning. Instantly, I then replace the scowl with a warm grin as I greet my guests as they walk around the house to the back yard.

"Hey guys," I say. "I'm glad you could make it!"

Kirk jovially returns the greeting, "Yeah, I'm glad to be here. I'm Jim, Jim Kirk. This here is my friend and medical officer Leonard McCoy."

The three of us shake hands, and I notice that they are all carrying food containers, "Oh, more food!"

"Yes," Spock says, "I thought it would be impolite not to bring something when you would be providing so generously."

"We've got," McCoy begins, "Oreo ice cream, fruit salad, and a cheese ball with crackers."

"Great!" I say, taking the ice cream. "I'll put this in the freezer, and it would be my honor if you would heat up the steaks. They're right night next to the grill, along with some 'dogs and hamburger meat. Trust me, I got enough food to feed a village."

"As there are some countries where starvation is still prominent," Spock says, "why not make the effort to feed those in need, when we do not need such excess amounts of nourishments?"

I only quirk a brow, as Kirk and McCoy laugh, "Spock, buddy," Kirk says, "he doesn't really have that much food. It's a figure of speech to mean he just has a lot of good food."

Spock quirks a brow of his own, "Your human idioms have such duplicitous meanings. It is a wonder your species understand one another at all." Spock follows me into the house. "Grandfather-" "Gabriel."- "Unless I am mistaken, it appears that Nyota was upset upon our arrival."

I sigh, "Yes, she was, and probably still is."

"Might I inquire as to why?" Spock asks. "After all, I am the one going home with her tonight."

I look at Spock, and notice the light tilt of a corner of his lips, and with a tilt of the lips of my own, I reply, "Don't let her hear you talk like that. But yeah, we had a little disagreement, regarding my talents. Do not concern yourself, it will pass over and your girl will be good as new."

Spock only quirks a brow but lets it go. After storing the ice cream, Spock and I make our way back outside. Kirk and McCoy are having a ball with the grill. "Hey!" McCoy cries out, a beer in one hand and the two-tongued prong in the other, "The host arrives!" he exclaims.

"Please tell me he's not that much of a light-weight," I say to Kirk, taking the prong and the plate of steaks and handing them to Kirk.

"Nah," Kirk says. "He claims that he's just happy to actually getting some good food."

"Mess hall food gets old you know," McCoy interjects. "With the synthesizers and food cards, people will eventually forget how to feed themselves. A home-cooked meal will become a thing of the past; obsolete! You can't carry a food synthesizer around, and food cards can break. What would happen you were to get stranded, with nothing but the land to live off? You'd starve, most likely." After McCoy's tirade, he finds himself in the center of attention with four pairs of eyes staring at him as if he lost his mind.

"Wow," Nyota mutters.

"Yeah," I say. "I'm gonna get some music. Hold tight." In the kitchen I grab my iPod and dock. I shoot a spark of electricity to charge the batteries and set the playlist that contains mostly of David Bowie, Eagles, Matchbox 20, Breaking Ben, and some 22nd century musicians.

"Gabe," Kirk starts, mouth full of hamburger and fried rice, "you are one hell of a cook."

"Why thank you," I say. "So, word on the street is that you've been made captain, straight out of the academy. That must be quite the accomplishment."

"Yeah," Kirk says, ducking his head a bit. "I kind of wished it was under different circumstances, but what happened, happened. Spock tell you anything about the situation?"

I nod, "Yeah, he told me just about everything. I also read the report, about Nero and the space-time thing." In the corner of my eye, I see Nyota glancing at me with piqued interest.

"Well," Kirk continues, "with everything out of line from the continuum and all, it was the universe's way of righting its self out: me becoming captain with all my bridge crew where they should be. I think."

"But Kirk," Nyota jumps in, "if you had the chance, the ability-" Spock's and my attention swivel to Nyota, for we both hear the stress on that word- "to fix the past so that Nero never came through the singularity, would you take it?"

Kirk and McCoy look at one another with confusion, "If that was even possible, it would be unlikely to fix things they way they were prior," McCoy says.

"From tactical stand point," Kirk says, "to change the past could make things worse in the future."

I want to jump in the air and say I told you so, but I am feeling too much anger at Nyota for asking such question but berating myself for bringing up a question that opened the doors for her to do so. I have to tuck my hands under the table to hide the blue sparks emitting from my hands. "Listen, little girl-"

But Nyota puts a hand up, "I'm going to pretend you did not just say that. But Jim, look at all the things Nero has done."

"Yeah," Kirk says, "he came to the past and fucked things up for the future."

"Nyota," Spock says, "I must ask what has gotten into you?"

Before Nyota could reply to Spock, I reach over to grab her wrist and concentrate. When I open my eyes, Nyota is looking around her wildly, as Spock, Kirk, McCoy and everything else appear frozen in time. "Yeah, Nyota, what has gotten into you?"

"You don't get it," Nyota says. She gets up and starts to pace; I get up and follow her.

"Enlighten me."

"You can fix things. How can you just stand there with the knowledge that a whole civilization is gone when it wasn't suppose to happen?" Nyota asks.

"I could fix things so that I never got Claire Bennet's ability," I say. "I would either die at a ripe old age, if not gutted by some angry father or brother, and Spock would never be born. Spock will never travel to Romulus, make empty promises, and piss off some angry Romulan. It will just be some other unfortunate soul and their planet that gets annihilated. We can't predict the outcomes of these things. Let it go, little girl."

By this time, my control of my electricity is still a bit sketchy. Nyota snarls and gives me a hard shove, knocking me to the ground, releasing my hold on time and the electricity. I see my three other guests become startled at Nyota and I being there one second to Nyota standing over me as pulses of electricity shoot out. The few pulses I had let out cause my guests to fall to the ground in pain with shock. I manage to contain the pulses but I still convulse with electricity sparking all over me.

"I….can't…seem to….stop," I stutter, dragging myself to the tree. Spock gathers himself and begins to come towards me. "No…don't come…any closer," I reach my hand out to stop him, but a thick bolt of lightning shoots out, tearing up the ground. Spock steps away in time, but continues forth. With a decisive hand, Spock reaches a hand and grabs hold of the base of my neck, right where it meets my shoulder, and then I see black.

When I come to, I no longer feel the shocks of pain of my ability going haywire. Of all my abilities, it seems that electricity is the one I have least control over. Fortunately, it doesn't happen on a regular base.

"How long was I out?" I ask, groggily. McCoy is standing over me, waving a tricorder.

"Ten minutes," he says, grumpily. "Which is the shortest amount anyone spent under the Pinch, and you don't seem to be suffering from any ill effects of that lightning bit, either."

"How were you able to do that, anyway?" Kirk asks. "I have never seen anything like that, so what makes you so special?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," I mutter, with sarcasm.

"Actually, I would."

I lean my head against the tree, taking my time. I steal a glance to Spock and Nyota. She has the grace to look ashamed of the transaction that went between us. Spock, on the other hand, is conflicted between following his captain or his family.

"This is not how I wanted you to find out," I finally say.

"Find out what?" McCoy asks.

I only stand and look at Spock and Nyota, "Why don't you two explain this situation to them?" With a pointed look at Nyota, I finish, "I grew tired of trying to explain myself." So without another word, I walk toward the house. I wonder to myself, as I step into the bathroom and start the shower, should I have introduced myself, just twenty-four hours before? I am I better off being alone? Is Spock better off not knowing me?

My thoughts are brought back to Nyota. It is not like her to be so…illogical. Spock means a lot to her, and his people were important to him, as is his mother. My daughter. Nyota had really toed the line, mentioning Amanda like she did. This path of time has been disrupted enough as it is, to go back and save Amanda could possibly have ill-side effects that I can't predict. Even if saving her didn't result any dire results, what about the billions of others on Vulcan? What about them? I groan as I am reminded of the early twenty-first century, with the Petrellis and their do-gooding clan. Though, if there is anyone that understands the Butterfly Effect, it's Mama Petrelli. I almost long for her company, her advice as how to best treat this situation without robbing them of their civil liberties.

I feel truly lost.

AN: basing facts off of memory alpha, the TOS crew didn't have voice activated food replicators, and I know a lot of fics have that in their stories and go by that. So don't hate me for changing up what people are used to reading.

And I hope I made sense when explaining why Gabriel refused to change the past so that Nero never happened.