Spock sat alone in the briefing room. As acting Captain he had confined Kirk to his quarters - mostly to prevent his friend from doing something stupid. He felt a slight tingle of worry when he remembered they were entering a war-zone to deliver what one side considered a criminal back to her people, but, as Lena predicted, the Zezians, upon seeing the treaties she deliberately written to be hacked, had promptly lost interest in the Enterprise. Casualties on each side were mounting. They were mostly Zezian, but Spock was starting to realize this was only because Zezians had more to throw at the Virosa. It was becoming abundantly clear that Lena was losing. Only the Hamids were providing aid - her other alliances had stepped away from the conflict. Jim knew it, too. Spock personally sided with the Virosa - but his hands were tied. The most he could do was return their best soldier.

In just a few days Veelia had completely re-worked their engines, earning the entire engineering crew's admiration. She typically hung-out in sick bay - Chekov, and Crewman Vero - Chekov's 26 year old girlfriend - visited her often. The three got along surprisingly well once Veelia had ceased attempting to seduce Chekov, though Spock suspected she had moved onto a young Crewman in engineering. When asked about it she merely shrugged and said that Suria said she was going through a phase - whatever that meant. Despite her intellect, Veelia did not seem to be too concerned about the war - she had complete confidence in Lena. Lena said it would be fine, so Veelia assumed it would be. Yet, according to Spock's calculations there was only a 2% chance the Virosa would win. He wondered if Lena was merely keeping morale high.

The door to the briefing room opened, and Nyota stepped inside. "We just received a hail from the Virosa", she said.

Spock sighed, "The Princess Lena?"

"No", Nyota said, "It's from their Queen - Lena's mother."

Spock spent the next hour in a private deliberation with Queen Bial. She indeed looked a lot like her daughter - but significantly more polished and spoke with the poise Lena had to deliberately switch on and off with a natural ease. She was slightly surprised when Spock addressed her as the Captain, but quickly moved on to the reason for her hail. The Zezian Vaa had offered her a peace treaty; she wanted Jim's help to get is signed, and get the Zezians out of their space. When he questioned why she required his help, it came back to Lena and Suria. Unbeknownst to her mother, Lena had developed an army and ring of alliances with several other colony leaders. They refused to sign - and refused to cease hostilities without the approval of their leaders, who were dead set on keeping the war going. Without the cooperation of the army, the treaty was effectively null. Bial was sure her daughter was the driving force behind the refusal, and offered a trade.

"I know Lena is still in love with your former Captain. It is why she has not mated with her betrothed - why she has no child. I also think it is why she has placed such a low value on her own life - because he is lost to her. This war will kill her, Captain. It's a miracle it has not already. You must ask him - you must make him convince her to sign. In exchange - I will amend our laws. If they wish it - they can be together. Mate - have children, anything she wants."

Spock was confused, "Will that not diminish her eligibility from her future Queenship?"

Bial shook her head, "No - there is a loophole. Lena must have a Winged Daughter as an heir to secure power. Because families desire to remain in power, the natural assumption was that the heir must be the daughter of the Queen, but it is not the case. Lena can pass the Queenship to Suria's daughter - she'll have to, as her daughter with your Captain would be non-winged, should they even be compatible to conceive at all. The loophole will likely only work once, as this is not how it's supposed to work - the Conclave will surely amend the laws once it is done, but it will work. Our society will be destroyed after this war - it is likely she can promote him to a place of leadership once she is Queen to help rebuild. All he has to do is get her to sign.

"But she is betrothed."

"She can rescind - I hear she is planning on it anyways…. Please, ask him."

Spock agreed.

He gathered Kirk and Veelia into the briefing room and relayed the Queen's request. Veelia seemed confused. But Kirk just sighed.

"It's not going to work, Spock."

"You do not think you can convince her?"

"No", Kirk said, "She's not running a war as a temper tantrum. She has an agenda - she always does. Bial doesn't know her daughter very well if she thinks that I have something to do with this. Lena's not stupid."

"What he said", Veelia piped in.

"Jim - she is running a war she cannot possibly win. You know this. What other motive could she have for not withdrawing?"

Kirk turned to Veelia, "I think that's to you."

She shrugged, "I don't know - I really don't. She said everything would be fine though, so I believe her. Lena is the greatest warrior the Virosa have ever known. Sometimes you just have to have good old fashioned blind trust."

Spock looked to Jim - his friend often asked the same thing of him in seemingly hopeless situations. Jim and Lena were so similar; different sides to the same coin, Nyota had said. It was no wonder they loved each other so much. Spock knew - if Jim said this was not going to work, it wasn't going to work, but he persisted.

"Is this something you are not willing to try, then? I understand it would mean leaving the Enterprise, but-"

"I would do anything to save her... but she isn't doing this because of me."

"Then why does she refuse to sign?"

"Because it's not a treaty!" Kirk nearly shouted at him, "I read the file you gave me. It's a cease fire. A stalemate. An agreement to allow the Zezians to turn tail without being attacked with absolutely no provisions for them not coming back. If Bial signed this, the Zezians will be back in ten years, mark my words. They'll go home, rebuild, and hit the Virosa even harder."

"The Virosa will have 10 years to prepare."

"The Virosa are going to need twice that long to rebuild to even the level they were at a year ago, and the Vaa knows it! They're dead, Spock - this is NOT a treaty."

"So you will not agree."

"I'm telling you it's pointless."

"What do you suggest then?"

Kirk scowled, "Now I'm in charge?"

"I am out of ideas."

Kirk gazed out the window of the Enterprise, his home, "Tell Bial we will help her, but that this treaty is bullshit. We recently made nice with the Zezians - try to negotiate a new treaty - a real treaty. Tell them we'll act as a mediator; that IS allowed under Starfleet guidelines, but that I will do nothing to convince Lena this is a good idea until the treaty is fair."

Veelia grunted in frustration, "You know she will not like that", she spat.

"Lena is LOSING, Veelia!" Kirk turned on her in a sudden rage, silencing her for once "You may not accept that, but she is, and it will mean the genocide of your race. This is her best shot." His voice dropped to a whisper, "You had better hope it works."

With the cooperation of the Zezians, the Enterprise was able to enter the orbit of the Virosa home world, which bore a great similarity to Earth. The Conclave was located in their largest city, which a small ambassadorial party beamed down to with Veelia in tow. She had been oddly quiet the last few days. Upon landing she asked to leave the group - she needed to fly - her wings were starting to weaken after a week on the Enterprise.

The Palace on Ya-Mo was clearly modeled after the Conclave Palace, except that, instead of empty mezzanines in the entry hall, they were full of Winged Daughters ranging from Kirk's age and older. It was also the size of a stadium. Lena told him once that the Winged Daughter's made up 12% of the female population, and that a select few were invited to sit in at the Conclave. He didn't doubt it now - there must have been at least 10,000 of them assembled. No wonder they never got anything done.

Queen Bial stood on a high podium with a group of six Zezians - their Ambassadorial party. They were in a heated discussion. Spock and Uhura were with them, attempting to negotiate. Kirk was resolutely staying out of it. He hung back with Chekov and Bones. From what he could see, the negotiations were falling through - like he expected them too. The Zezians didn't want peace, they wanted time to re-group. It came to light that the Virosa had surrounded a large part of their fleet, and were essentially holding it hostage. The Zezians had agreed to leave Virosa space if they relinquished their hold - but that was all. Kirk wondered why Bial was doing this - it wasn't a good deal, and she was clearly an experienced leader. But then, perhaps her love for Lena had clouded her judgement, like it clouded his. Even with the fleet being held, the Virosa were sure to lose should the Zezian's continue - the Zezians merely wanted to limit their casualties.

"Enough!" Bial shouted. "I want this war over now."

"We concur, Queen Bial", the Zezian Ambassador responded, "However, we are not in a position to offer more. The Vaa has set the terms himself. We have entertained your mediators' suggestions, but we are not willing to entangle ourselves in anything that involves your people. Your daughter has killed too many!"

"My daughter has kept us alive! You attacked US!"

"That is neither here nor there…This is not a debate. If you do not sign the war will continue - we will not offer this again…"

"Ambassador, if I may..," Uhura tried to say, only be slapped abruptly across the face by a Zezian male standing beside her.

Spock reacted faster than Kirk would have thought possible, and got the male into a choke hold instantly - suddenly weapons were drawn - Kirk's as well.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Queen Bial cried. "Enough - I will sign. Lena will have to disband her army or cause an insurgency and destroy our race."

"Captain - let him go...I'm OK", Uhura said, rubbed her face, "They're not strong enough to actually hurt me", she added with venom.

The Zezians glared at her, but did nothing. The hall had quieted.

"Captain… our agreement?" Bial said to him.

Kirk shook his head, "No way she's agreeing."

"But do you agree", Bial asked him.

"No", Kirk said softly, "I would die for her, but I won't help her lose - not with so much at stake. She doesn't need me to refuse though...She won't do it."

"Captai-"

Bial was interrupted by a great ruckus in the hall. Veelia strode through the doors, soaking wet… it had started to storm outside. Kirk could see her wings sagging under the weight.

"Halt the proceedings!" her musical voice called out.

"Who are you, child?" one of the elder Winged Daughter's cried out.

"I am Veelia", she said fearlessly, "First generation - I have come to declare Queen Bial incompetent as our leader!"

"What gives you the right?"

"I have every right!" she shouted back. "It is my technology that has saved us. I command our army in conjunction with The Princesses Lena and Suria - I have saved countless Virosa lives. I have the right!"

"I have come to establish a vote - on behalf of the Princess Suria - second in line for the Queenship after Princess Lena - she will charge the Queen!"

The hall doors swung open again, and a group of thirty Virosa, males and females, winged and non, entered the hall. Suria was leading them. She looked better than either Lena or Veelia - her wings still mostly their translucent white, and significantly less scarred. She wore a plain black flight suit, and had her dark hair pulled back into a bun. On each arm was a phaser-cuff like the one Veelia had held to Kirk's head. Next to her stood Brok, who was carrying a deadly looking weapon. They gazed up at the podium.

"Queen Bial! I have come to charge you for incompetence as our Queen", Suria's voice echoed over the din.

"On what grounds?" Bial shot back.

"On the grounds of putting your daughter's life before the well-being of your people. On the grounds of consorting with an enemy, and on the grounds of attempted political manipulation for personal gain!" The crowd silenced itself, and Bial grew pale.

"What are you talking about?"

"This is no treaty! This is a desperate attempt on your part to drag Princess Lena away from the war - you have fraternized with our enemies, the Zezians, and have attempted to agree to something that is not in the best interests of our people."

"I…"

"I have PROOF that you know she will not agree - you engaged the Federation to aid in your deceit, and illegally amended our laws in an attempt to give Princess Lena something you presumed she would trade you for."

"Lena…"

"Princess's Lena life belongs to her people - to us- it is not yours to bargain for. You have broken our morality code that dictates selflessness as our chief virtue. You no longer deserve your title. You are disgraced!"

Kirk and Spock shared a look; Veelia had apparently contacted Suria in secret and told everything. They had been planning this for days. But he felt a strange satisfaction arise within himself. Bial would have signed this idiocy with or without his help, but, because of him, she had unwittingly given her daughter a way to prevent it. Lena had always said that she was prepared to overthrow her mother if needed. He didn't think she would go so far as to use her mother's love for her against her, but there was brilliance to the irony. In trying to get the treaty signed, Bial had inadvertently blocked it.

Bial, however looked smug, "You cannot claim the Queenship over me Suria - you are not ranked high enough. Additionally - it is raining."

Kirk looked at Uhura in confusion, "What's with the rain?"

"The Queensgate", Uhura whispered back. "To claim the Queenship a Virosa must enter through it, through the roof - The only way to do it is to fly; it's supposed to keep non winged females from attempting to claim the Queenship. But it's raining so…"

"So no one can fly through-wet wings", he finished her sentence.

Suria however did not seem perturbed. "I'm not claiming the Queenship" she said. Turning to her crowd she shouted, "I move to replace Bial with her daughter… Princess Lena!"

"Lena is not here!" Bial shouted.

Suria looked up at Kirk, and for just a moment, she smiled at him before turning back to Bial and uttering the words Kirk had heard her say in exasperation a year ago - "Open the roof."

Kirk saw the rain pour into a small spot on the floor, growing as the roof opened wider and wider, drenching Suria and her insurgent party. He looked up, and a black figure shot into the room, but instead of flying around the mezzanines to slow itself, it shot to the ground, shattering the marble floor. The figure rose-it was Lena.

Kirk felt his windpipe constrict. She looked...deadly. She too wore all black, but her wings were black as well, stained with Zezian blood. Her body looked - hard. She was thinner than she was a year ago but wiry - muscular. It was clear that she could now fly in the rain, overcoming the heaviness of soaking wet wings. Her short hair was jet black from the rain, and slicked back, a metal crown identical to Bial's resting on her head. The scar on her face stood out against her pale skin.

Suria and her landing party started to go up on staircases on either side of the podium , but Lena merely extended her 20 foot wings and flapped herself up to the top effortlessly. She didn't look at Kirk. "I have come to claim my Queenship", she said in a clear voice.

Bial looked stunned to see her daughter in such condition. "You have no heir!" she said.

"Suria is my heir", Lena answered, then with a cold smile, she said, "Thanks for the loophole, mother."

"Lena… please…"

"Do you relinquish?" Lena interrupted her, "Do not force this to a vote… you will lose, but it is in the best interest of our people to see a clean exchange."

"What about you, Lena, you… this is a dangerous war… what about your life?"

Lena closed her eyes for a fraction of a second, but regained herself, "My life is not my own", she said softly.

A tear fell down Bial's cheek, "I relinquish", she whispered.

"Bial has relinquished! All move to recognize Queen Lena!" Suria shouted.

Lena walked to the edge of the podium. The Winged Daughters rustled to get a good look at her -their warrior Queen. "Stand with me, Suria", Lena said. Suria took her place beside her. "Veelia - hail the Vaa."

The crowd collectively gasped, but Lena stood there, impassive. Veelia threw up a giant hail screen. "What is she doing?" Kirk whispered to Brok.

Brok grimaced; he too had filled out significantly, his arms bulging with muscle, "Showing the Vaa she is not afraid."

The hail screen opened and the face of a Zezian male filled it. He looked incredibly surprised to see two Winged Daughters on the other end. "Who is this?"

"Vaa Borod", Lena said, "I informing you that these negotiations are OFF. We do not accept. Your conditions are laughable. Your Ambassadors, and the Federation Officers are now in my custody."

"They are Queen Bial's Ambassadors!" he shouted.

"They are my Ambassadors now. You have chosen the wrong Queen to negotiate with."

"Who are you?" he said again.

"I am Queen Lena, formerly Princess, commander of the Virosa army, and liberator of Ya-Mo. I am the one who will defeat you…."

"Lena… we meet at last…"

"Until you wish to put forward a decent treaty…the war continues", she said, and flipped off the hail screen.

Kirk, his crew, and the Zezian ambassadors were dragged bodily off the podium by Lena and Suria's party. They left the great hall, and were taken into a small break out room. With a quick wave of Suria's hand, the Zezians were taken away by the insugents, leaving just Lena, Suria, Brok and Veelia in the room with the Enterprise's away team. The door slammed shut.

Before he could even speak, Lena rounded on Kirk, "What the HELL are you doing here, Captain!" she shouted at him, pushing him - she had gotten a lot stronger since he left her.

He took a step back, "Still not the Captain."

Lena started menacingly towards Spock who quickly said, "Considering the circumstances, I believe it best to reinstate you, Jim."

Uhura whacked him on the shoulder, "Really?" she said.

Lena was getting frustrated, "Why are you here? I TOLD you to stay away - both of you!"

"It's not their fault, Lena!" Veelia jumped in.

"Then whose fault is it?"

"Well...yours, technically."

It was a testament to Veelia's bravery that she could say it so candidly. "This all started because YOU recorded that message, then left it laying around. When Ya-Mo was destroyed it was triggered, like I told you it would. They came back and the Zezians attacked them because of the technology YOU accepted."

"Which you sent out as an intact file."

"You know I had no choice - I didn't want the Captain in trouble either. But I pick the Virosa over him - and over you- any day."

She continued, "After they saw what happened to Vexel…And were contacted by your mother… they couldn't walk away anymore."

"You found Vexel?"

Lena turned to Uhura, "What happened to her?"

Uhura stared at her wide-eyed, unable to speak.

Lena closed her eyes and looked away, "She was in my care...I couldn't get her out, though…" Opening them she looked back to Spock, "Do you know who did it?"

"Yes", he said. "Minutes after her death, Veelia broke through their shields and transported him to our bridge - where she promptly executed him."

Lena turned to Veelia and stroke the edge of her wing tenderly, "Good girl."

"Captain", Lena said rounded back on Kirk, "I still can't have you here. You must beam back to your ship… the Federation cannot be involved."

Before Kirk could respond, Spock stepped in, "Considering the severity of the Zezian hostilities, and your establishment of an alliance with the Federation prior to their actions, we are acting completely in accordance with Starfleet regulations by attempting to help you negotiate a peaceful end to this war. In addition, the Zezians have shown considerable and unwarranted aggression towards us - eliminating the Zezian threat appears to be in our best interest as well."

"Are you just making up Starfleet regulations as you go along?!" Kirk practically shouted at him.

"I am interpreting regulations as the situation calls for it, Captain. You are, of course, free to overrule me."

Kirk rolled his eyes, "Alright - Kirk to Enterprise...Enterprise… where are they?"

Suria whipped out her con-sol and tapped it, "Shit…our communications are down…" Suria looked at Lena, "Apparently the Zezians have chosen NOW to resume the war." She exchanged a look with Lena. "Captain - Lena is correct - your crew is in grave danger."

"The crew is safe!" Lt. Sulu rushed through the door with Julie. They were out of breath, and Sulu was sporting a busted lip, but they looked OK otherwise.

"What are you guys doing down here?" Kirk said.

"The Zezians attacked us - before the negotiations even fell through… They lied to us. They sent a boarding party, but Julie and I were able to them stop them. They cut off our com though. I made the decision to send the Enterprise back into warp - they won't be able to catch them. But we needed to warn you guys - they have a massive ship moving in on the home-world… I think they are planning on destroying the planet…"

"Who has the con?" Kirk asked.

"Ummmm Carol?"

"Perfect…" Kirk said with sarcasm.

Veelia looked up and Kirk and smiled, "Welcome to the war!"

"Suria!" Lena said, "Where are our ships?"

"They are close by, but...We need to contact them! The com is cut off."

"They can't cut off our com - the signal is too strong, and our shields protect it from being fired on."

Lena rushed to the table, which had a computer embedded in its surface, and pulled up a 3-D image of a large tower that with a base in the Virosa ocean. Around it she could see Zezian hover crafts swarming. "Shit… It looks like they manually destabilized it… this whole peace treaty thing was a trap … they just wanted to distract us to get their massive warship in firing range of the home planet!"

"Can we fight it off?" Suria asked Veelia.

"Yes… but I need to be able to TELL our fighters that it's hostile! They still think we are in negotiations!"

Lena looked down, "Get my parents", she said quietly. She began pulling off her heavy armor, stripping down to just her flight suit pants and a thin tank top. Kirk wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms - she was covered in scars and bruises. She was indeed much thinner than she had been, but he could see her muscles bulging from her arms and shoulders, and just a trace of a six pack beneath her shirt. "If they manually took out our com, I will manually reestablish it." she said.

"Lena!" Suria exclaimed, "This is too dangerous, even for you. The com tower is swarming with Zezian hover crafts!"

"There is no other way… Take my weapons… in the rain it will be too heavy to fly with them on… I need to be quick - light."

No way, Kirk remembered in horror how Spock told him how Queen Bial said that Lena was taking unnecessary risks – risking her life over and over on half-planned schemes. He rushed over to her, "No no no, you cannot go up the unarmed - what are you doing? They are going to open fire on you! What are you going to do? Just hope they miss?"

"If you have a better plan, I would love to hear it...Jim." Her voice softened as she said his name. "I'm the only one who can do this, no one else can fly in the rain - we're all dead if Veelia can't contact the fleet. Brok - Can you provide me with cover fire?"

"Got it", he said.

"I can, too", Julie stepped up. Lena looked at her curiously, "I hold six of the 20 sharp shooting records at Starfleet."

"Really?" Kirk asked.

"Jim… I'm five feet tall - how else could I get my score up to the 79th percentile?"

"Done", Lena said, "Brok - arm her."

"Lena!" Lena's mother, Bial, was rushing in, accompanied by a tall male Kirk could only assume was her father. "What are you doing?!"

"Mother… I… I am sorry… it had to be done. I'm so sorry… I love you." Lena reached out to her stricken mother before turning away, "Daddy…"

He stepped forward and took her hands, looking down at her he said, "I know…" Lena's eyes well up for just a moment before she put her fearless mask back on.

"Father.. get mother to the underground bunker…wait for word….. Brok, are you and the crewmember ready?"

"Yes".

Lena pushed a button and opened a wide window as the rain poured in. She outlined her plan. She would fly to the top of the tower and re-calibrate it. Then she would dive under the water to hit the switch at the bottom. She expected the force of her dive to carry her deep enough to do it. She would then take cover and regroup at the base when she could. Suria was to get out of the Palace and head there immediately where she and Veelia could take command of the fleet.

Kirk grabbed her by the arm, "I can't let you do this!"

She looked at him softly, "You have to. Unless you sprouted wings in the last year and have forgotten to tell me." She smiled at him, "It's the only way…"

"Lena, I have to hel-"

She stepped forward and ran her hands up his arms, and looked into his eyes, "If you want to help me, get Suria to safety - she is the lynchpin for our whole empire. More so even than me. Get her to the base."

"OK… but… the switch is under water…"

"Good thing my wings float, then." She broke into the cocky grin that captivated him a year ago, and leaped gracefully out the window headed toward the tower.