Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter. I know it's been a little while. I've been distracted by shiny new stories and characters. For those of you that love Spock/Jim/Nyota, I just started the third story in the Idiot's Guide to Multi-Species Polyamorous Relationships, entitled The Idiot's Guide to Family Bonding. From the title, you can tell that much like this story, that story is family focus. You will find all sorts of goodies in my profile.

When I originally started this story, I had a completely different plan for how it would go. Originally, there were going to be 2 major villains, Carol's father and the terrorist organization that killed everybody on NCX 17. I was also planning to spend more time planet side exploring Jim and Spock's foray into sudden parenthood. Then STID came out and that caused me to throw out my original plan, but in a good way. Now, Carol's father would no longer have to be an original character and well you'll find out about the terrorist group eventually.

However, Alexander Marcus isn't the type of villain to sit around and let me write cute fluffy chapters about our protagonists dealing with bath time (other than the one I already wrote). Things are moving faster in the story than I had planned and I have decided to just go with the flow. This means that we only have about 5 or 6 chapters left. However, if there is desire for it there is potential for a fluffy follow-up story. Let me know because this will alter the way I do the last few chapters.

Warnings for this chapter: Violence and character life left in peril.

Chapter 20: Why can I just do the Sunday crossword like a normal person today?

"I just don't get it, Spock. Why didn't she tell me?" James asked him for the 18th time since the events of the night before. Each time, Spock has been unable to provide an explanation to his husband regarding why his mother chose to not only fake her death, but keep him ignorant to the fact that she had done so.

"I do not know James. We will be able to ask her ourselves in 3.2 minutes time."

They were currently sitting in the diner that Amanda recommended for this meeting. She said 'neutral ground' would be best for such a potentially emotional confrontation and Spock agreed with her. His mother offered to accompany James and Spock to the meeting with Winona on this Sunday morning, but they both preferred for her to stay at the Admiral's compound with David. Yesterday's events proved that it was not safe for David to be outside right now. Alexander Marcus has proven himself once again to be an unscrupulous individual.

"I mean, I understand why she did what she did on an intellectual level." James started again. "Frank was always a bastard. If she already knew that he was responsible for what happened to Sam, I completely understand why she was worried about what the bastard would do to me and baby oops and would be willing to take desperate measures."

"Do not refer to your sister by such a derogatory term." Spock chastised his husband.

"Well, I doubt that this was a planned pregnancy, considering mom decided it was best to fake her death to get away from the bastard." James defended himself. "I could see her being that desperate. I just don't see why I couldn't be in on the secret." Spock has no explanation for that either.

"David was not a planned pregnancy." Spock chose to say instead.

"Not on your part." James scoffed. "Seriously, what type of sick bastard plans to get an unknowing teenager pregnant for the sake of science?"

"Jonathan Jackson." Spock responded nonplussed despite the anger he felt at being an unwilling and unaware participant.

"Spock, that was a rhetorical…" James stopped speaking as he was attacked by a very small hyperactive 4-year-old Vulcan. As a child, Spock would have never hugged anyone, including his mother, in public. However, his younger sister was currently wrapped around the legs of his husband. Oddly enough, no one else was with her.

"I missed you so much baby girl." James returned the embrace. Due to the incident yesterday, they were unable to see the girls before they were turned over to the custody of Mrs. River also known as Winona Kirk.

"I missed you too. Mommy Amanda says that you're going to be here for a long time." The four year old said enthusiastically.

"At least a year," James told her pulling out of the hug.

What was left unsaid is both he and James have started considering moving into the private sector. Recent events have made it very clear that Starfleet has become an extremely corrupt organization or maybe it was always corrupt (the farce known as the Kobayashi Maru trials being a prime example). Unfortunately the new top leadership, including Christopher Pike, have been unable to stem that corruption, even after the reforms. They have David now and even though they are now able to raise him on board Enterprise, he and James need to evaluate if that envirnment is the best option for David's physical and emotional well being. Unfortunately, they do not have time for such a serious discussion. Their primary focus at the moment is to keep David safe and in their custody.

"That means that you can come over to our new house to play with me even though you have David now." The way she phrased the question Spock wondered if his younger sister was threatened by David's presence. Spock made a mental note to discuss this with Amanda at the next opportune occasion.

"I remember jealous little brother/sister syndrome very well." James said with a soft smile as he knelt down to be at eye level with the four year old. "Just because we have a kid doesn't mean I'm not going to have time for you. Just between you and me, I'm a little afraid of being a daddy. Maybe I can practice on you and you can tell me what I'm doing wrong." The 4-year-old readily nodded her head in agreement.

"What is this new house you are referring to?" Spock asked his younger sister. He has yet to talk to his mother about housing arrangements due to more pressing issues. However, he assumed that they would be living in Starfleet housing as soon as it was safe to do so as not to displace his mother and sisters.

He also chose not to mention James self-deprecating comments about his parenting skills. This is neither the time nor place to talk about this. Spock personally believes that James is adapting to parenthood at a faster rate than Spock. Again, he made a mental note to discuss this with James at a later date.

"Admiral Daddy is moving in with us, so we need a house that is completely wheelchair accessible." That explanation is completely logical on the surface. However, this showed Spock that his mother's relationship with Christopher was much more serious than Amanda allowed him to believe before he learned of their engagement. It was obvious to Spock that they have been more than friends for a very long time. "And mommy Amanda says we should give you your house back."

"Don't baby Vulcans say the cutest things?" James smiled sardonically.

"T'Pay in light of recent events, it is ill advised for you to run away from our guardians." His other sister stated as she caught up to her younger counterpart.

"Sorry, T'Pen," the young girl apologized without making eye contact.

"There is no purpose in apologizing. Please do not engage in such a potentially dangerous behavior again." T'Pen reprimanded the four year old.

"I think that's stuck up Vulcan for 'you scared me to death, please don't do that again'." James said with a smirk as he stood up again.

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance again, Mister Kirk." James actually rolled his eyes at T'Pen addressing him in such a formal way. This did not happen last time.

"It is Jim or if you must be as formal as your brother use James. I am your brother-in-law." James sighed.

"Of course, Mister-James," the preteen stammered out.

"Close enough." Jim shrugged. "If I try to hug you, will you freak out?"

"I would prefer not to engage in such culturally inappropriate human behaviors in public." T'Pen responded curtly.

"Well, at least it's not a no." James shook his head.

"Where are your guardians?" Spock questioned his sisters.

"At present, Mrs. River is recovering from a panic attack in the car. Her wife, Kayah, is currently explaining to Georgia why her mother is suffered a panic attack. Is it true that you are Georgia River's older brother?"

"That's what I've been told, but I've never met her." James sighed again.

That resulted in T'Pay pulling James by the shirtsleeve out of the restaurant. She was also excitedly talking about her best friend, who apparently likes Barbie's (particularly Starfleet Captain Barbie) and wants to be a starship captain when she grows up. Spock felt it would be best to allow T'Pay do the introduction between sister and brother.

"I have been informed by mother Amanda that you have procreated with your former girlfriend Carol Wallace, also known as Carol Marcus." Her words were devoid of emotion.

"This is true." There was no point in deceiving the preteen.

"I was also informed that if I engaged in similar sexual behavior before coming of age by her standards, outside of a medically necessitated time, I would be grounded for the next 18 years, especially if such actions resulted in procreation." James would have laughed at that if he was there, but Spock did not.

"I believe Amanda was using hyperbole." He is also certain that Amanda was very upset with him regarding what happened at the academy and his younger sister was suffering the consequences. "However, you are too young to concern yourself with such things.

"According to mother Amanda, I am only 3 years younger than Miss Wallace when you and she began your physical relationship." Apparently, Amanda was very angry about this and shared several private details of the incident with T'Pen.

"I was not aware of that at the time." Spock said in his defense.

"In addition, since the destruction of Vulcan premature puberty has become a regular occurrence among our people." Spock is positive that premature puberty is coded language for premature Pon farr. It is a common occurrence among the surviving population of Vulcans. Individuals as young as 10 have become sexually mature. Many are considering this an evolutionary adaptation due to the loss of population. Certain members on the Council felt that this adaptation should be exploited. His mother was not one of them, which may explain another reason why a certain Vulcan was trying to force his mother off the Council.

"Did you enjoy spending time with your nephew yesterday?" He asked in a deliberate attempt to change the subject.

"I found yesterday's meeting with young David pleasant until I had no choice but to incapacitate his grandmother."

"She is not his biological grandmother, but rather merely married to the man who is David's maternal grandfather. Carol's mother died when she was younger than you are…" He was unable to finish due to the sounds of ancient gunshots and phaser fire coming from the parking lot.

"Where were you last night?" Chris asked as he made his way into Jane's lab. He is not surprised at all to find her here. She was supposed to come to the safe house, but she never arrived last night and Chris was too preoccupied with Jim's reaction to finding out about the Winona situation at the time to be concerned.

After Jim regained consciousness several pieces of ceramic ware were destroyed. Fortunately, they were all diplomatic gifts that Admiral Lume completely despised. She may see this as James doing her a favor. It was not a pleasant evening or rather morning. He was currently functioning on 2 hours of sleep. It wasn't until this morning when he received a very strange email from Jim and Spock's attorney that he realized he had reason to be concerned.

"In the company of our favorite Admiral and my great-nephew many generations removed. We chose to stay at their house in the city due to the guest staying at their country compound. Yes, I had a security detail with me at all times. Scary and Scarier are still outside." She answered without even looking up from her lab equipment.

"For some reason, I do not believe you. I received an email this morning stating that Mercedes Marcus received a visit from her sister, who just happens to match your description except for the fact she had a standard American accent." He glared at her.

"I'm an expert at languages, accents, and dialects." She said, sounding Mid-western rather than British or Indian which he is used to hearing from the woman. This should not surprise Chris, the British accent that he has heard from her over the last 3 ½ years was fake and yet he never once questioned the accent's authenticity.

"So you're not going to deny this?" He asked.

"What's the point? Yes, I was there. I wasn't lying earlier either. Our esteemed leader was the one who allowed me access in the first place. By the way, I speak over 15 languages or dialects, several of which are practically lost languages in the 23rd century. I can mimic any accent after hearing it just once." She was now using the upper-class British accent he was more accustomed to hearing her use.

"Sometimes I forget that being a scientist is just your cover and you're probably one of the most dangerous operatives to ever be part of Starfleet. You could pretend to be anybody if you wanted to." He sighed to himself.

"I will always be a scientist first. I only use my other gifts as a means to protect my family and for purposes of atonement." She said walking over to something that looked like a refrigeration unit.

"So would you like to explain how breaking Mercedes Marcus' wrist is some form of atonement?" That was another thing mentioned in Alexis's email.

"David is my family. Therefore, if I did touch that wretched woman, it would be for his protection. However, I didn't have to. She was like that when I got there." Jane actually smirked. "It must've been a side effect of being dropped like a brick house by a prepubescent Vulcan that happens to know martial arts or whatever the Vulcan equivalent is called.

"I don't believe you." Chris scoffed.

"You can ask your boss or my security team. I'm merely asked Mercedes to pass the message on to Marcus."

"What was that message?" He asked slightly worried.

"To tell her husband or most likely soon-to-be ex-husband that if he wants me or my research so badly he should come after me instead of trying to kidnap 2-year-old babies or killing his own daughter and for him to stop hiding behind others." Her voice was pure venom at that moment.

"So you just decided to poke the gorilla?" He sighed. Great he was dealing with another Jim Kirk, one with "super powers".

"This man has already killed my friends and my husband. Don't tell me that we don't know that for sure because in my heart I know it was him. Now he tried to kidnap a child, who I consider my family, in a crowded children's restaurant. He already poked the gorilla and I'm ready to tear him to shreds." The way she said it he knew she was planning to do it with her bare hands.

"If you go after him right now, he will kill you." Chris warns her. Even before recent events, he was well aware that Alexander Marcus was a very dangerous man.

"I'm hard to kill." She told him with obvious false bravado. "You saw what happened last time. I survived, but my husband did not. I don't want to see anybody else hurt."

"This man knows how to kill you!"

"But he doesn't want me dead, at least not yet. After my conversation with Mercedes, I'm pretty sure what happened last time was actually a botched kidnapping attempt. He wants my research. It's the only thing that makes sense. Why else would he want a grandson that he never cared about before? I'm sure the traders told him how special David is." Jane spat out bitterly.

"Marcus doesn't need you alive for your research." Chris cautioned her. "He doesn't even need you. Most of it is now on Enterprise's servers. For all we know his Starfleet mole already forwarded him all the files. I'm sure eventually he'll figure out your encryption. Don't be overly confident."

"The files are not encrypted, at least not the file that he wants the most. I purposely wrote them that way. I told you, I know 15 languages including several that are barely used in this century. He's going to make another attempt for me and I'm going to be prepared." Jane told him as she placed several large rings on her fingers. She then handed him the hypo she retrieved earlier in the conversation. "This is for you."

"What's this?" He asked as he reluctantly took the hypo from her.

"This is the reason why Marcus wants me." Jane starts to explain, but it still sounded extremely cryptic. "This is the secret ingredient to turn any run-of-the-mill soldier into me. However, in your case, it means being able to walk down the aisle at your own wedding. Jonathan called it AH 325."

"That doesn't tell me anything." He told her still confused.

"What you are holding in your hand is a drug derived form the antibodies that kept me alive as a child. This is the perfected version of what brought David back from being clinically dead. It's powerful. This may be the only thing in the universe that could repair the damage done to your spinal cord." He's not surprised at all that she looked at his medical files. Not one bit.

"I could walk again?" He asked skeptically.

"We had success with several paraplegic patients." She explained. "Marcus is coming after all of us and you need to be in the best shape possible."

"So I need to be out of the wheelchair?" He asked sarcastically. "I know you're from another time, but my being in a wheelchair doesn't make me useless. I'm still a pretty good shot." He said, pushing the hypo back in her hand.

"This may be a miracle drug, but not enough to instantly turn you into a master fighter overnight. If you're lucky, you may be able to walk around with a cane after a week. It will be months before you can fight like you used to, and that's after lots of training and physical therapy. In the meantime, a phaser blast won't kill you." Jane explained. "Just keep it for right now."

Just as she tried to give him back the hypo again, Admiral Lume's assistant Ensign Lee walked into the laboratory with PADD in hand.

"Please tell your boss I'll be up in a few…" That's when Lee pulled his weapon. At least the now Pike had a good idea who the mole is. "Seriously, you're using a phaser? Apparently, somebody didn't read the 'how to kill Jane Jackson' memo." Jane quipped as she pushed the hypo in his neck. That may have been a good thing considering at the same time Ensign Lee fired his phaser at him on the kill setting. 'I hope this miracle drug actually works. 'Chris thought to himself before everything went black.

Jim seriously wished he could be as excited to meet Georgia as his baby sister-in-law was. Under normal circumstances he would find a little girl who collects starships and has Starfleet Captain Barbie cool. Yet, he can't help but resent someone who was essentially the reason why he's been mourning his mother for the last seven years when there was no need.

"If Georgia is your sister, does that mean she's my sister to?" His baby sister-in-law asked excitedly as she pulled him outside of the restaurant. Jim had no idea how to answer the question. Right now all he felt was complete dread. His mom was back from the dead and he had a seven-year-old half-sister from the bastard.

He still hasn't wrapped his head around that. Jim is not entirely sure if he ever could. How exactly do you deal with the fact that your mother decided to fake her death because the condom broke and she didn't want your new baby sister to deal with the bastard. She's been hiding in San Francisco as a preschool teacher for the last 7 years living this brand-new life with a brand-new wife and a kid who gets to live the happy childhood you never had and never tried to make contact with him. How absolutely fucked up was that? Part of Jim wonders if his baby sister-in-law had not ended up in Miss River's class, would he have ever found out the truth? Did she care about him at all? He didn't know.

Maybe, it's all a mistake. Maybe, it's not real and his mom is still dead like he has known for the last seven years. Maybe, this Whitney River just looked a lot like his mother and was playing Chris for reasons only known to her.

Jim successfully convinced himself of this until he saw Whitney River, sitting in her car crying into her wife's lap (who looked young enough to be Sulu sister). There was no doubt the woman in front of him was his long-lost mother. Jim would like to think that the shock of having his mother back after 7 years was the reason why what happened next actually happened.

He was in such of a state of shock he failed to notice the group of men carrying firearms he'd only seen in his 'Military Weapons through the Ages' Academy class coming right at him and the baby sister-in-law. Actually, he didn't realize something was off until he no longer felt the tug of T'Pay at his wrist. Then suddenly he felt a gun pointed at his head and T'Pay was screaming kidnap at the top of her lungs. She was also employing every single Vulcan self-defense skill possible. Angry attacker number one was currently getting kicked in the stomach a lot.

"Shut the fuck up or I will shoot both of you." The attacker with the gun screams, we will just call him angry attacker number two. Jim was trying to figure out the best way to incapacitate the attackers to give T'Pay enough time to get the hell out of there.

"She's the wrong kid. Dammit! All Vulcans look alike. This one's a girl. Mr. Alex is going to be pissed."

Shit! They were actually after David and the people hired to do so were too dumb to notice the difference between a two and a half-year-old multi species boy and a four and a half-year-old full Vulcan girl. One would think 'Mr. Alex' could afford to hire smarter henchmen.

"Take her anyway. She must be related to the one we're supposed to take. Maybe they'll do a trade." Angry attacker number three yelled at the other two from someplace Jim couldn't see.

"I'm thinking no." Jim said as he threw himself at the guy holding T'Pay, which gave the 4-year-old a chance to get out of the man's grip. At that moment, angry attacker number three fired his gun and Jim feels the bullet penetrate his right shoulder, which hurts like hell. Energy weapons were so much more civilized.

He didn't have time to focus on the pain. He had to keep his baby sister-in-law safe. However, the guy that shot him was currently laying down on the ground unconscious.

"Grab his weapon and get baby girl out of here." He heard the petite woman with his mother shout at him. Not only was she already out of the car, but she was dealing with two assailants on her own, rather quickly at that. By the time he had angry attacker number two's gun, angry attacker number three was being tossed into a car. Spock was out there now, and he had T'Pay in one hand and a phaser in the other. Jim just loved the fact that his husband had the good sense to bring a weapon to this breakfast. Actually, his husband was allowed to. Jim wanted to bring a phaser, but Amanda took it from him.

It didn't matter because Jim had a gun now and it was currently trained on angry attacker number four. He shot the guy in the leg because he wanted that idiot to live to be interrogated. Practically simultaneously, Jim saw his supposed stepmother took down angry attacker number five before his husband even had time to take a single shot.

"Who are you?" He asked looking at the woman who just knocked out another guy 3 times her size.

"Your stepmom," she answered nonchalantly as she kept her phaser on the supposedly unconscious assailants.

"I just saw you take down 5 guys with guns without even breaking a sweat. I don't think you're a child psychologist like Chris said." Jim told her with his borrowed gun still drawn.

"That is my day job. I am Agent 13 of section 31. My old boss was a fan of 20th century comic books." That's when several police cars pulled up into the parking lot of the diner.

"Seriously, 3 minutes and 27 seconds?" she looked at her watch with annoyance. "We could all be dead by now. It's bad enough that he was shot." She said pointing to him. That's when he looked down to see the spot of red on his shirt.

Xxxxx

"Amanda honestly, I'd don't know what to do with Nyota. I've tried to call her a thousand times this morning and she hasn't picked up once." Alexis told her friend and sort of client as she made her way to interview Christine again to find out everything she knew regarding Alexander Marcus's treatment of his daughter and grandson.

Last night was horrible. She didn't mean for Nyota to find out like that, but her daughter's half-sister was a very stubborn woman. Telling her like that was the only option given that Nyota hasn't spoken to her father for more than a few seconds in years. It couldn't wait any longer otherwise they may end up telling her about the whole thing at his funeral which would be worse.

"If it makes you feel better, I think she's still in her room with Leonard. They have been together since you left last night. They haven't even come out for breakfast and I made pancakes." Amanda said cheerily. She is not surprise that Nyota is with Leonard right now. He was the sole reason why the fighting didn't get out of hand last night. It was obvious to her that the man was completely in love with Nyota. Alexis would love for her to have a good boyfriend for once.

"Thank God. I think he would make a nice pseudo-son-in-law…" Alexis stopped speaking, when she noticed the door to Christine's quarters open. When she walked inside, she saw that the 2 security officers in charge of Christine Chapel were lying on the ground. One had a pool of blood beneath her. The other was obviously hit by a phaser.

"Amanda, I have to call you back." She said, ending the call abruptly. She felt for a pulse, but couldn't find one on either individual. She was just about to call for assistance when she saw a third body dressed in Starfleet blue. She instantly recognized it to be Ms. Chapel. She could see the blood, but this time she could also see labored breathing.

"Starfleet Security. What is your emergency?" The overly chipper voice said on the other side of the line.

"I need an emergency medical evacuation and security personnel at this location. My client has been shot multiple times at close range with an actual gun, not an energy weapon. She is still breathing, but just barely."

To be continued.

Just to cut down on some of the digital pitchforks, I want to remind everyone that I promised that Chris and Amanda will still be alive at the end of the story. However, for all the other characters (except David), I make no such promises.