Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter.

The second part of this chapter will contain some dialogue from the last chapter of this story's predecessor, but the entire scene will be flipped so that we see it from Carol's perspective. For those of you who read Starfleet Family Values you know how much I love doing flashbacks and using nonlinear storytelling. The truth will be coming out in this chapter (some of it anyway), and it's scarier than you can imagine.

I cannot remember if I gave Admiral Jackson a first name. I looked through the previous chapters and I haven't found anything, so just go with the first name now.

Songs for this chapter:

The Heart of the Matter

lyric excerpt:

I got the call today, I didn't wanna hear

But I knew that it would come

An old true friend of ours was talkin' on the phone

She said you found someone

And I thought of all the bad luck and all the struggles we went through

In a World Like This

lyric excerpt:

In a world like this where people fall apart

In a time like this when nothing comes from the heart

In a world like this, I've got you

Did you really think I could get through this entire story without using a Backstreet Boys song? I admit I was going to try to but this song just was perfect. It's unbelievably fluffy, but it perfectly represents Jim and Spock's relationship in this chapter.

Chapter 8: In search of absolution part two: Forgiveness Is for the Living

Spock lay down cautiously next to David, who was cuddling the plush that he referred to as Mr. Spock. His son was still peacefully napping, unaware of the story told by Ms. Chapel and the inner turmoil it caused his father. Spock does not remember seeing anything in David's mind that contradicted the secondhand version of Carol's side of events. At least now Spock understands David's closeness to Rebecca and why he did not find it that strange that Spock was engaged in a romantic relationship with another man. The woman was another mother to David and at the very least Carol's lover.

However, there was not much in David's memories that supported Ms. Chapel's narrative. There was evidence that she became very wary of Adm. Jackson in David's most recent memories. He also may have saw Carol arguing with her father in one of the memories.

Spock was wary to trust anything that came from Ms. Chapel because Carol was the source. If her story was true that meant that the only thing Carol never lied to him about was her feelings for him. If what he was told was true, that meant Carol concealed her pregnancy and her confrontation with their fathers. If Ms. Chapel's narrative turns out to be true that means his father deliberately conspired to keep David away from him. He is uncertain if he wants to discover the truth.

However, the truth may lay in the files forwarded to him by Ms. Chapel. He opens a message with trepidation due to the dubious subject line of "please read in the event of my disappearance or death".

Xx

I'm sorry, Christine. I have been keeping a lot of things from you lately. I wanted to keep you as safe as possible by keeping you in the dark, to the best of my abilities. It's best that you don't know what I have accidentally become involved in. I'm a prisoner of my own making and David and Becky are stuck with me. I don't want you to be as well.

If I told you how bad things have gotten on the colony, I'm sure you would have told Spock about David in an effort to rescue Rebecca and me. That's why I never told you how bad things have become. I no longer trust Jackson. He was never the father figure that I thought he was. He only used Spock and me as his own guinea pig to create his prototype perfect soldier. Now David is his toy and I'm not sure how much longer I can keep him safe.

If you receive this message, then it was not very long and I am most likely dead or incapacitated. I set up the program to forward this message if I do not log in for 48 hours. My only hope is that David and Rebecca have remained unscathed.

XXX

Spock stops reading the message as he runs a hand through David's hair, thankful that he is still here and mournful that Rebecca is not. He trusted Rebecca more than Carol. If they were lovers, then obviously not all of his preconceptions about Carol were accurate. He is also concerned about Carol's ominous words regarding Admiral Jackson. This is why he starts reading again.

XXX

However, I don't think that is the case. If I'm gone, I'm sure Rebecca would follow behind me. In that event, I'm trusting you to make sure David is taken care of. (I do not want to contemplate a scenario where David is gone too. I will die myself first.) Do not let Jackson turn my son into his personal experiment (more than he already has). Tell Spock everything if you have to. Although, I prefer that you don't. I don't want him to realize how much of a coward I truly was. Just tell him enough so that he will take David. I have listed Spock and his husband as David's guardians with Starfleet. If protocol is followed (which I sincerely doubt) he should go to Spock. If Spock is unavailable or unwilling David should go to his uncle Selek on the New Vulcan colony, Spock's mother, or yourself. There are very few I trust and my father and Jackson are among those I do not trust. Whatever happens, make sure David does not go to my father and he's somewhere where he can be happy.

XXX

It seems like the thing Carol was most concerned with was David's happiness. He is slightly worried that she referred to Elder Selek as David's uncle. If she was a member of the fabled Section 31, she most likely had the clearance to know of his counterpart's existence.

It is obvious that Carol was very wary of her father and Admiral Jackson for reasons that were disconcerting at best. Spock thinks back to his conversations with Carol about Admiral Marcus. She loved her father, even if the relationship was slightly contentious. At the time, she was mostly annoyed at the fact he was forcing her to focus on physics and weapon design when she preferred the biological sciences. Since the death of Carol's mother, the man had become obsessed with war and weapons. If rumors were to be believed, it is highly possible that that preoccupation led to his dismissal from Starfleet. Also, if rumors were to be believed he needs to keep David away from the man at all cost.

Spock has been suspicious of Admiral Jackson for years. He was naturally wary of any crony of the now disgraced Admiral Johnson. How did the Admiral use him and Carol for his own purposes? Spock has a feeling, as his husband would say, that the answer is attached to Carol's message to Ms. Chapel. It includes several important files such as a copy of Carol's last will and testament and excerpts from her personal log. (The entry from his wedding day will most likely result in a highly uncomfortable conversation with his other self about his selective disclosure of important information.)

She also included a copy of what she gave Starfleet stating that she wanted custody of David to go to him and James in the event of both her and Rebecca's demise. The final document that he opens contains a personal message to him from Carol. It was heavily encrypted but Carol did not use standard encryption, but rather a system that Spock created sometime during the course of their relationship.

XXx

Dear Spock:

I don't know how to start this letter except with if you're reading this, then I must be dead or presumed dead. I sent this to Christine to give to you, because I'm sure you would delete any message from me without reading it first.

I guess I should start with an apology. I apologize for lying to you about a lot of things, especially about why we needed to end our relationship. I should have told you the truth as soon as I left the meeting with my father. Even if I did believe your father's version of the truth, I should have broken up with you in person. I should have told you I was pregnant instead of listening to my father's friend. How was I supposed to know I should question the motives of a man I have known since I was five years old? Never trust a man named John because he is the type of person who has no qualms about secretly replacing a 16-year-old's birth control with fertility drugs. Everything from our first meeting until the miracle that kept our son alive was entirely engineered by a man who is fascinated by genetically engineered 'Supermen' of the late 20th century and he thought he could do better with a little Vulcan DNA. He's so cocky about it that he put everything in writing. Two months ago I came across his secret project file. He just wanted David and he used me. Did you know that David was a twin? No, I don't know what happened to our other baby.

The only answers I have are in Mr. Spock and David is the key. Ask him why the caged bird sings. Make sure you bring all of his things with you, but don't get anything out of the basement. Jackson keeps his pet project down there. You should call your brother first before you mess around down there. You may accidentally defrost something you should not.

XXX

The last part of her message seems somewhat incoherent. Most of the message actually makes no sense except for the implications that David's conception was not accidental. That was the main reason why he did not believe Miss Chapel's account of events. The probability of accidentally impregnating Carol was too small. However, Carol's words point to the possibility that they were both manipulated by the now Admiral Johnson. That scenario seems more plausible.

Spock does not have time to reflect on this because James and Nyota returned to their quarters abruptly. Spock can sense the anger from James before he actually entered. His husband is in great pain.

"Why the fuck did you not tell me that they found his body?" James yells loud enough to cause any child to wake up, including David. Spock realizes that he will need to apologize to Nyota, because obviously the walls are not as soundproof as they should be according to the regulations, and she most likely heard certain activities that he did not want her to hear. The problem will need to be remedied if this room is to become David's permanently.

"See, this is why I did not tell you. I knew you would act like this. You already had too much to deal with. Now you're yelling at me and I hate this," Nyota replies in a tone that from anyone else would be considered insubordination.

"Why are they fighting?" David asks groggily from the bed.

"You have two reactions to bad news, you either do a really good imitation of Vulcan indifference or you go crazy. God, you and Spock are the perfect match when it comes to this. I'm not sure which to reaction I prefer." Nyota actually laughs at that part.

"I am uncertain," Spock tells his son, because he is uncertain what could be causing James such turmoil, but he knows his husband is in great pain.

"I think I would've reacted a little bit better if I did not accidentally find out from a communications officer that can't keep her mouth shut, as opposed to my communications officer, who is really good at keeping her mouth shut, that they found Sam's body buried under my old house. Fuck you!" Spock finds the words slightly jarring.

Now he understands the pain that is radiating from James. Even though James' brother disappeared more than a decade previously, James always held out the illogical hope that his brother was alive somewhere. This revelation obviously has hurt his husband. It would also signify that he had no biological family left, unless you count uncles and aunts that Jim has never met in person.

"They remind me of mommy and Aunt Becky," David says in a soft voice as he clutches Mister Spock more closely. "They yelled a lot when they thought I was asleep. Aunt Becky never liked Mister Jonathan and wanted to leave, but mommy was afraid to." His words cause Spock to stop paying attention to the conversation outside. Spock's instinct is to wrap an arm around his son. His mother did this to him several times before he told her that such gestures of physical affection were illogical and culturally inappropriate.

At that moment, James walks into the room that they were setting up for David. For a moment it seems like he is going to begin a classic tirade against any number of individuals, but he stops himself when he sees David. Instead, he walks over to the sleeping area and sits down next to David and hugs him for a few minutes without saying anything.

"I am sorry I woke you up," Jim says after a moment, placing a kiss to David's temple.

"I'm just really mad at your aunt. Sometimes she's the bravest coward I know. She'll go toe to toe with your daddy when he's crack- having a very bad day because something very bad happened to him, but never ask her to talk about her feelings. She is absolutely terrified of emotional confrontations. Maybe that's why she is your dad's best friend," James quips.

"You should give her Mister bear," David says quietly and James smiles just a little.

"Actually, I think she needs her Doctor Bones, especially if we can finally get the two to play Doctor," James replies cheekily.

"I presume that is a double entendre of sorts," Spock says with a glare.

"Of course it is." Jim responds as he gives Spock a chaste kiss on the lips. "We have a two-year-old. That means no dirty words or using the fun stuff under the sink. Our s-e-x life is pretty much going to go to h-e-l-l. We are not going to be able to do more than this until we have Grandma Amanda around to babysit," James says, wrapping his fingers around Spock's in a discreet kiss. He can tell that James craves the physical comfort of his touch. Spock feels the same way after reading Carol's words. He just wants Jim.

"Well, if you didn't yell at me, I would offer my quality babysitting services so that you can find time for s-e-x. I did take care of my sister Ivy," Nyota says, walking into the room.

"I really don't want to see you now. Although, as soon as this mess is over with, I'm taking you up on the babysitting offer. I'm sure I will be less mad at you if I get to you know what," Nyota looks away at his angry words. "How did you get in here?" James asks with a resigned sigh.

"You haven't changed the code yet," she replies smugly.

"I'll try to do that when we're not dealing with- something that I can't talk about in front of my two-year-old," James finishes and if he were human Spock would smile at the fact that James referred to David as his son.

"I know you're mad at me, but Gaila just found something on planet that both of you need to look at now," Nyota starts ominously.

"Thanks to Margarita, I'm on leave. You're in charge. May I suggest you actually make a decision this time instead of waiting for someone to make that decision for you," he shoots back.

"Look, I'm sorry. I was going to tell you, you know that I was going to tell you. It just wasn't the best time," she says softly. "Look, we don't have time for this." Nyota places a PADD screen in front of James' face.

"What the fu-what is that?" James asks, barely catching his profanity.

In front of them are images of things that look very similar to caskets. However, there is a glass window and Spock can see a body inside. They remind Spock of an image of something he read in his history class about pre-warp space travel on earth. His instinct is to push David away from the screen, but his child has already seen the images. Worst of all, David does not seem surprised by the images. This tells Spock that whatever this was down there, David already knows. That worries Spock most of all. Actually, he is more worried because the incoherent part of Carol's letter to him was starting to become coherent. His instinctive response is to clutch Jim's hand harder.

June 20, 2258

Carol stood back at the edge of the reception hall, nursing another flute of apple cider as she tried to avoid her father. It was the only thing non-alcoholic and even though she just found out that the embryo re-implantation was successful two days earlier she wasn't going to risk anything that would damage her unborn child. Technically, she was six weeks pregnant, even if the implantation only occurred a week and a half ago. She knew the Admiral would be furious with her and would doubt her story about her and Rebecca wanting to start a family together. Of course, she didn't expect him to start yelling at her in the middle of the Starfleet function that he was making her attend.

He was already displeased that her relationship with Rebecca transitioned from tentatively reconnecting, once Christine forced her to tell her oldest friend the complete truth, to becoming lovers. Apparently, xenophobia and homophobia are two sides of the same coin. He hasn't been very happy with her since a low-level Starfleet medical personnel broke several regulations and told her father that her Vulcan boyfriend, who outside of fertility drugs should not be able to get her pregnant, (forget about the fact that they were both using contraceptives) managed to actually get her pregnant.

The fact that she is carrying another (from his perspective anyway) child of Vulcan ancestry threw him over the edge to the point where they were fighting at a commendation ceremony. That was why she chose that moment to tell him he was going to be a grandfather and there wasn't anything he could do to stop her this time.

Of course, it wasn't any commendation ceremony; it was a ceremony for her former lover's husband. Those words stuck in her throat. The first guy she ever loved who merely saw her as a science experiment and a means to study human sexuality was married and would be having a renewing of his vows later that day. She broke a glass when Christine told her about the wedding, because despite moving on it hurt her.

Rebecca and Christine tried to convince her that Spock was not who she thought he was, to the point that Christine actually tried to date him. (They fought for weeks about that.) Yet, she still believed Spock's father over the words of her friend and girlfriend. Vulcans do not lie. Of course, a voice in her mind told her that could not be the absolute truth, because either Spock was lying to her when they were together or Spock's father was lying to her when he told her "it is impossible for my son to have affection for you because he is engaged to a Vulcan of his station. Any interactions with you must be a means to satisfy his curiosity about the human species. Due to the low probability of my son actually being able to impregnate you I believe that this is merely a form of extortion and I doubt the viability of your claim."

Maybe a part of her believed that Spock was not as horrible as his father led her to believe. If she believed him entirely she would not be risking her father's wrath to bring her and Spock's child to term despite her desire to help the Vulcan people. Between her own guilt and the urging of a man who gave her the ability to save her child, the newly minted Adm. Jonathan Jackson, she was convinced that now was the best time to have the procedure done. Rebecca supported her entirely and felt like she should have done this as soon as she was safely in London, no longer under her father's direct control.

Jonathan was always supportive of her growing up and was more of a father to her then her own father. He was the one who nurtured her interest in the study of biology, unlike her father, who kept pushing her towards Physics and weapons design. She despised weapons. She was interested in the creation of life, not destroying it. When her father forced her to 'end' her pregnancy, she decided that she no longer wanted to spend the rest of her life doing something that she was going to hate just to make the man happy. The fact that her father forced her to transfer to the London Academy campus to keep her away from Spock made her even more willing to defy him. Jonathan supported this decision and helped her get set up. He was also the one who found her crying after the confrontation with her father and Spock's father when they gave her the ultimatum of terminating her pregnancy or risk Spock getting arrested and ruining his career. He was the one who presented her with a third option in this messy situation. So when the man asked her to consider going through with the pregnancy now, she said yes.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" The profane words had the effect of breaking her out of her morose thoughts. She vaguely recognized the woman from when Christine introduced her to her friend, a cadet Uhura or something, after a panel on women in science that Carol participated in last year. Later Christine told her that the young linguistics student was trying to date her former lover with disastrous results at the time. Apparently, the two were friends now, judging by her greeting.

The question was appropriate because, in all honesty, Carol did not know why she was there despite her father's wishes. Rebecca has always said that she was a masochist, especially because she keeps trying to get her father to love her when the man will always love his precious Starfleet more than her. Ironically enough, it was their mutual daddy issues that brought her and Spock together in the first place. They were both constantly trying to get the affection of two men that would never give them anything but cold indifference as they both constantly micromanaged their existence. Spock was free, but she wasn't. She was going to take great pains to make sure the child she was carrying would never feel like that. She wasn't sure how good of a parent she would be considering the man who raised her, but Rebecca will be a good mom. Together they can do this.

"I am a member of Starfleet and this event is open to all Starfleet personnel," she replied in a clipped tone. What she wanted to say was her father forced her to come to show her that the guy she almost threw everything away for (in her father's mind) was perfectly happy with someone else. She herself wasn't sure why she didn't run away completely after her fight with her father. She should. Why was she putting herself through this? Rebecca was right, she is a masochist.

"I wonder how long it's going to last?" Carol said with put upon bitterness as she pointed her glass at her former lover and his love. A painful voice in the back of her mind told her it would last a lot longer than what she and Spock had together. Her heart was breaking at that moment, but she would not show it. She kept a steady mask of indifference upon her face. It would do no good for Spock's friend to see how much being here was affecting her.

She would like to blame the pregnancy hormones for her urge to cry, throw up, or throw something, when in reality it was the sight of Spock looking lovingly at her replacement that made her ill. She knew of him because her friend Christine was in love with him despite his 'fuck anything that moves' reputation. Christine was mentally already planning for their wedding before he left her to chase after Spock. Apparently, he was much more successful than Christine because it was obvious that the man had Spock's heart and Spock had his as well. During the entire course of the relationship, Spock never looked at her with such reverence. Maybe Spock's father was right and he never really did love her because not once did Spock ever look at her like that. That thought made her go cold.

"For a very long time, unlike your relationship with Spock, Jim actually loves him and isn't using him for a cheap fuck or to satisfy some sort of alien sex fetish." She could see that was the truth by the way the guy looked back at Spock as his friend through the lie she told Rebecca back in her face. She always regretted that. She should have confronted him in person after the encounter with their fathers but she was too much of a coward to do so.

The words gave her pause because if Spock was only using her as his father argued, then why would Spock's friend be so angry at her? She was confused and she regretted her decision not to talk to him even more than before. If she did things differently, would this have been their wedding? She doubted it. Things would have been messy with their child being bounced between multiple countries and planets. She grew up like that and did not want it for her child.

"Jim actually sees how great Spock is. That is something you could never do."

She wanted to laugh at those words because she did see how great Spock was or at least she did before. Now she was wondering if her own observations were more important than what Spock's father told her. The Vulcan was never particularly close to Spock. Actually, during the time they were dating the two were not on speaking terms.

"You need to leave!"

Carol agreed with that statement completely. She shouldn't have come in the first place, even if her father was forcing her to be at this 'celebration'. This was a mistake.

"Your ex-boyfriend doesn't want you here. As his friend, I'm going to make sure you don't ruin this for him," the woman whispered angrily.

"Spock was never my boyfriend," she spat, trying not to show how much it pained her to say that. As she watched him with Jim, she knew he never loved her. Maybe he did care, but she's never going to know that now. What they had was supposed to stay casual, but it was never casual, even before he got her pregnant. She was such a fool at 15 trying to be a big girl. Her father called her a stupid genius and maybe he was right. At 23, she realized that all too well.

"Thank god for that. Finish your champagne and get the hell out of here. I have no trouble having security escort you out. I would do it myself but you're not worth my time," the woman said, as if she wanted to kick Carol's ass. That worried her. Reimplantation pregnancies were very precarious in the first few weeks, and even a simple fall could cause her to miscarry. She could not handle a physical altercation.

"It's not champagne. It's sparkling cider. I'm pregnant." She wasn't sure why she said this, but maybe it was her maternal instincts kicking in. She needed to protect her child and she doubted Spock's friend would physically attack a pregnant woman, even if she did not know that Carol was carrying her friend's child. "I'm just a few weeks along but alcohol is bad for the fetus." She took another drink of the cider as she watched the fire go out of the woman's eyes. Obviously, her assumption was correct and she would not have to worry about being attacked.

"I pity that child and the poor bastard who knocked you up. I hope he gets full custody."

Those words made her angrier than anything else. How dare this woman that she is only met once before judge her like this? She doesn't know Carol. She has no idea what she has been through and has no right to judge her.

"On the bright side, we know it's not Spock's because he hasn't touched your skinny ass in at least five years."

She wanted to laugh at the highly ironic words.

"Leave now!" Spock's angry friend demanded once more.

"You will be amazed what can be done these days with technology and a DNA sample," Carol said cryptically under her breath as she reluctantly placed her glass back on the table. Maybe a part of her wanted the woman to figure out that she was carrying Spock's child. She wanted Spock to confront her or at least talk to her again. Of course, she decided to go with a plausible lie instead of the improbable truth. Years later, she still did not completely understand how Spock managed to get her pregnant. It should been nearly impossible. He was a hybrid. Of course, as a scientist, she should know there are no such things as absolutes. Also as a scientist she was interested in how her little miracle happened. Despite how dreadful everything turned out, a part of her still saw it as a miracle. Rebecca definitely did.

"Is there a problem?"

Carol heard a voice that sounded familiar. For almost a moment, she swore she heard the familiar cadence of Spock but that couldn't be right. It sounded older. She turned around to see a man or rather a Vulcan standing in front of her. He looked a lot like Spock, but he was much older. He had to be a relative of some sort but he sounded so much like her Spock that it was unnerving.

"No trouble at all Elder. Dr. Marcus was just leaving." The lieutenant's voice was clipped.

"Just in case, I will escort Carol out of the facilities personally," the Vulcan said as he grabbed her arm forcefully. The touch was familiar, too familiar. He felt like her Spock.

"Wait, how do you know my name?" Carol asked as the Vulcan dragged her away. Did Spock talk about her with his relatives? Of course, a part of her brain was coming up with an even more ludicrous possibility. The Vulcan was too old to be her Spock but yet she couldn't shake this odd feeling.

But was it really that ludicrous? Her father was a very high ranking Admiral and he told her everything, despite their strained relationship. She knew the real origins of the individual who nearly destroyed Earth. Could the existence of an older version of her ex, who came from another dimension, be that outside the realm of possibilities?

"At my age, I know a lot of things. I'm well aware of what you did to my nephew." His tone was clipped and he was giving her the same expression that Spock used when he was upset at her. Really, she should never have lied. Rebecca was never going to let her hear the end of this. Why did she not have Rebecca come with her?

His words made her angry. This was another individual who only knew one side of the story and that side was a pure fabrication.

"Are you aware of what he did to me?" she asked bitterly as soon as they were out of the hall. "I was just some human girl that he wanted to fuck. I was merely some bloody experiment to satisfy his human curiosity."

The elder just gave her a puzzled look. She knows that she has seen that expression before.

"I know myse- nephew very well. He is not one for meaningless physical encounters and he would never purposely play with someone's emotions, as humans may say."

When he said that phrase, she knew that despite the improbability of it, this man was Spock. The fact that he almost said "myself" instead of "nephew" took away any of her remaining doubts. At that point, she pulled him into a nearby classroom that was often used for classified briefings and secured the room. There were some advantages of being the Admiral's daughter and getting into the room was one of them. Spock's "uncle" followed behind her.

"You're Spock!" she accused as soon as the room was secure.

"I am merely a relative of your former lover." He argued that without actually arguing. It was a very Spock thing to do.

"So, it's true, Vulcans can lie when necessary." She wanted to laugh bitterly at this revelation too many years too late. "You came through to this dimension just like Nero."

He said nothing to her and she took that as his way of confirming her suspicions.

"Were we together in the other dimension? Is that how you knew my Spock would never do to me what his father told me he did?" she asked, wanting to know the answer.

"We were acquainted in the other timeline, but we did not meet until much later in life," he responded, not looking at her, as if he was keeping something from her.

"You were already with him." She didn't even have to say who 'him' referred to because they both knew who she was talking about.

He didn't look at her and therefore she took that as another unspoken yes.

"I'm not surprised. Even if I wasn't just some experiment to my Spock, he never looked at me like that. I could never compete with their connection," she told him with a sad smile. "Maybe he wasn't lying when he said that I didn't mean anything to Spock."

"Who is this 'he' to whom you are referring?" this Spock asked her with confusion.

"Spock's father, or rather, your father. It's a long story and I doubt that you will believe me, anyway." Her words were tinged with anger. "Although, you should know the probability of you getting a woman pregnant via traditional sex is higher than you think," she remarked sarcastically. That's when he looked at her stomach.

"I was under the impression that my counterpart has not engaged in a physical relationship with you in some time. The child you are currently carrying cannot be his unless you resulted to unethical means such as those at which you hinted during your altercation with Nyota." Apparently, this Spock heard that part of the conversation before intervening.

"Forget this conversation happened. You are never going to believe my side of the story, nobody ever has," she said, trying to retreat as fast as possible, but he grabbed her wrist gently.

"I'm willing to listen, if you're willing to tell me," he told her, but she still was uncertain if she could trust him.

"That still does not guarantee that you will believe me," she told him, not making eye contact.

"There is a way you can tell me your side of the story without the ability to lie." She knew what this Spock was referring to; she did have a relationship with a version of the Vulcan for over a year.

"Okay." What did she have to lose at this point?

To be continued

Please remember to tip your writer with reviews (comments, favorites, alerts, or kudos) on the way out. Thank you