Well hello again, back for more I see!

This is un-beta'ed (I'm in the process of sorting that out) so all mistakes are my own.

Enjoy!


Chapter two

Jim let out a strangled yelp as he was woken abruptly by someone diving on him. Someone tall, slender and heavy.

"Get up!"

"Get off me!"

"No! Get up!"

"Oh my god you weigh a ton!" Jim grimaced as he heaved with all his might and sent Christopher tumbling onto the floor. He blinked sleepily and sat up, met with the sight of both twins standing in his bedroom, Christopher straightening his clothes from where he had been pushed off the bed.

"What are you doing here?" Jim asked and they both smirked identical smirks. Dangerous smirks.

"We think you could use a little cheering up, old man," Chris said with a wicked grin as Leo snatched up Jim's communicator from the bedside table where he knew he always kept it.

"Leo-"Jim began in a warning tone but Chris grabbed him firmly and held his hand over his mouth.

"Hello Admiral Bennett? Yes this is Kirk here. I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to make it in today, I'm feeling terribly unwell," Leo said in a perfect impersonation of Jim's voice, adding a slight hint of weakness to it to make him sound convincingly sick. Jim's eyes widened and he struggled feebly against his sons grip. Leo had always been incredibly good at doing impressions. His hearing was off the charts sensitive, and Jim felt it has something to do with it, he could pick things up in voices, subtle things that he could replicate through practice. His own voice and Spock's voice were his standard two, but he did a mean Leonard McCoy and his Scotty was always good for a laugh.

"Kirk? Hmm. Well. OK, but make sure you get straight over to medical and report back later," said the Admiral, he sounded slightly suspicious.

"Thank you Sir, I'll be sure to do that right away. Kirk out," said Leo, snapping the communicator shut. Leo laughed triumphantly and punched the air, Chris releasing his death-grip on Jim.

"You… this isn't… what the hell are you two playing at?!" Jim demanded.

"Excellent job on the voice there!" Chris said, giving Leo a hearty pat on the back.

"Why thank you, thank you," he said, taking a theatrical bow.

Jim shook his head and groaned loudly, flopping back down onto the pillows.

"Get up! We're going on a field trip! We've decided you need to be pulled out from being stuck up your own ass sulking and taken out for a full day of fun," Leo said enthusiastically.

"What time is it?" Jim asked without opening his eyes.

"Too late already, now get in the shower before we throw you in there!" Chris demanded, dragging Jim's warm duvet off the bed and throwing it on the floor, leaving him laying in the middle of the bed with no blanket to hide under.

"God damn it! You two are in so much trouble!" Jim hissed as he threw himself off the mattress and stormed down the hallway to take a shower.

Ten minutes later once he was showered and dressed in casual clothes Jim noticed Leo fiddling with a small handheld device.

"What you got there?" he asked and Leo tucked it behind his back.

"Never you mind," he said, sticking his tongue out.

"Headache better?"

"Much. I told you I just needed sleep," he said and Jim shrugged his agreement.

"Whoa, what the hell is- are you doing this?" he demanded as tiny white sparkles began to swirl around the three men. Leo grinned as they dematerialised.

"This is not fun for me!" Jim protested loudly as they rematerialised a few seconds later.

"Sure it is, being kidnapped is fun for everyone," Chris grinned as they began to drag Jim along the street. Jim looked around to be met with a familiar skyline.

Chicago.

"What are we doing in Chicago?" he asked and the twins shook their heads.

"Can't tell you."

"Nope. Not saying. You'll have to wait and see," Leo said as they continued to walk.

Jim knew vaguely where they were, but he wasn't overly familiar with the city. The most time he had ever spent there at once was a fortnight whilst Seren was in her first year of medical school. She was only fifteen years old, and moving into student dorms had been an intimidating experience for her. Jim had stayed with her and slept on her couch for a whole two weeks until she could finally sleep alone.

Jim smiled as he noticed the familiar figure standing looking out over lake Michigan. Her back was turned but she was unmistakable even from behind, her long dark hair cascading down her back in soft waves.

She glanced around and noticed them, then turned to face them, leaning casually back against the railings behind her.

She had Jim's lopsided smile on her face and her blue eyes were shining. He felt a twang of hurt at how much she looked like Spock, but he forced it down.

"I have missed you," she said as she hugged the three of them at once.

"Can't say I've missed you," Chris said and Leo laughed.

"Nope. We haven't missed you at all. Well. Maybe your cooking," he grinned.

"You two are terrible," she said with a small chuckle, shoving them away.

"Commodore," she smiled at Jim.

"Doctor," he nodded and she laughed.

"I still don't quite feel like it's real. It doesn't feel like all those years have finally led to something, although, the eighteen hour shifts certainly feel real," she said and Jim grimaced.

"Bones used to do twelve hour ones when we were at the Academy, he'd get home so tired I'd have to help him change clothes," Jim said and Christopher pulled a face.

"Didn't realise Bones used to be gay with you."

"Oh shut up! It was nothing like that," Jim protested and the four of them stood together and laughed.

"So. You've abducted me from my bed, you've committed an act of identity theft to convince my boss I was too sick to go to work, and you've brought me somewhere against my will. What are we doing here?" Jim demanded and Chris and Seren looked at each other, grinning.

"Just, come with us," they said as they began to practically drag him down the street towards where Seren's sleek silver car was parked around the corner.


"Oh my god, I swear if I go on this one more time I'm going to spew, but It's so much fun!" Chris bobbed up and down on the balls of his feet as they stood in line.

They'd spent all day at the enormous amusement park located just outside of Chicago.

Jim had been manhandled and coerced onto the first few rides, but was now bubbling with excitement for the next one. They'd certainly done a top class job of distracting him and he was really touched that they had gone to so much trouble all to try and cheer him up.

"You're looking a little green," Jim pointed out and Chris shook his head.

"No. No I'm fine," he said stubbornly.

"I would suggest you do not ride again," Seren said and Leo laughed at his twin.

"What's the matter big shot? Roller coaster got the better of you?"

"Hey! Shut up! It's scarier when you can actually see what's coming up!" he said and Jim sucked in a breath.

Any kind of joke or comment about Leo's blindness had always been off limits. Always.

"I'm not scared of anything," Leo said, perfectly calm. His facial expression gave nothing away. He either wasn't hurt, or was very good at hiding it.

An awkward silence descended as the four stood waiting patiently in line.

"So… Leo when does your next term start?" Seren asked her brother who started talking animatedly about his studies and how much he was looking forward to getting back to them after summer break.

Jim zoned out until he noticed Christopher staring at him.

"You guys are going to work things out right?" he asked and Jim looked at the floor.

"Yeah, sure we are," he said, trying to inject some positivity into his voice.

"You don't sound entirely convinced."

"I guess I won't know until we see each other," said Jim honestly.

Chris nodded and dropped it, and the four moved forward until they reached the front of the line.


"I've never seen you look so terrified in all my life!"

"Shut up, I hate you all," Chris whined, putting his hands over his ears.

"Fear is an illogical emotion Christopher," said Leo in an uncanny impersonation of Spock's voice.

The twins continued bickering as Jim got to talk in depth with Seren about her job at the hospital. They were sitting in a small pizza place near the Chicago river, waiting for their food after their long day of keeping Jim distracted at the theme park.

She was working primarily as a surgeon, but was also working on several research projects, though she kept the details a firmly guarded secret no matter how much Jim tried to worm some information out of her.

"Hey this time next year I will have graduated!" Leo pointed out excitedly and Jim smiled.

"You will. You'll be ready to steal Scotty's title as the finest engineer I know."

"Pfft. He's an amateur, I'm already better than him," he said and Jim laughed.

They sat and talked, laughing openly, sharing stories. They didn't get to do this often, especially with Seren and Jim's schedules both being so hectic.

After practically force-feeding Jim more pizza than he could comfortably eat they settled into a contented quiet, just enjoying each others company until a shrill beeping rang out from Seren's bag.

"I have to go," she said as she glanced at the pager. Jim nodded and stood up to hug her goodbye.

"You can make it next Friday, right?" he asked and she froze.

"I will try my best," she said sincerely.

"That's all I'd ever ask," he said with a smile as he watched her leave after saying goodbye to her brothers.

"Well boys, are we going home?" Jim asked and Leo yawned and stretched.

"Better had or I'll be too tired to work the portable transporter," he said with a sly smile.

"Where did you get that?" Jim asked as he placed it on the table. Jim picked it up, turning it over and over in his hands as he inspected it.

"I built it. Just… y'know, over the summer. I was bored so I got to tinkering. It won't go off planet, and from San Fran to here is about it's maximum range, but it comes in handy in sticky situations," he said and Chris smirked knowingly.

"I take it you two have been having adventures with this huh?" he said and they both smirked. He sighed and shook his head.

"I never should have had kids. Passing on my wild streak into you two was irresponsible for the wellbeing of society," he said and both boys laughed.

Jim's wild streak had been on the back burner for a long time now. Long gone were the days of drinking and fighting, and fucking anyone who'd stay still long enough. Spock had tamed that out of him, but he knew it was still in there beneath the surface, buried deep.

As much as he wanted to hate Spock, he knew Bones had made a valid point the previous evening. Jim would often get like this when Spock was away for extended periods of time, but as soon as he'd come home he'd forgive him of all the nights he promised he'd call and didn't. Of all the times he hadn't been there. It was almost like it was all instantly forgotten the moment they locked eyes on each other.

The last time Spock had been home Jim had been ready and waiting for him, standing in the living room as he heard the front door open and his footsteps in the hallway. Jim had rounded the corner, fists clenched, breathing heavy, ready to march right up to his husband and punch him square in the jaw and demand of him how the fuck dare he come home after how little he'd bothered to communicate in the time he'd been away.

But he hadn't. He'd rounded the corner and their eyes had met, blue meeting brown actually in person for the first time in seven months.

Before either of them could get a word out Jim had thrown himself forward, pinning Spock roughly to the wall, kissing him with savage intensity, hands clasping fistfuls of his black shirt.

They hadn't even made it upstairs. They'd barely made it to the couch.

Jim thanked every god in existence for the kids being at Carol and Bones' house that night.

But this time was different. Jim could feel the change in himself. He felt… drained. He didn't even know if the raw heat that existed between himself and Spock would even be there when he got home this time.

"Jim? Dad?"

Jim snapped back to his senses, aware of a hand waving in front of his face.

"Hmm? Sorry," he said quickly.

"What were you thinking about?" Chris asked and Jim smiled.

"Oh uh… just about when you were kids," he lied quickly.

"Go on?" Leo pressed and Jim mentally cursed himself for now having to concoct a story.

"Nothing really. Just about the time when Spock and I sat you down and explained after you started school and you noticed that most kids had Moms and Dads that I was actually the one that carried you and everything, and then you started getting weird about calling me 'Dad', and then from then onwards I was always Jim to you. One of the guys at work was asking me the other day, he heard you on the comm. when I was in my office. He thought it was disrespectful… but then I explained that to us it's always been well… normal. As normal as we could ever be anyway," he said. Both twins seemed to accept the explanation.

"You should try being five years old trying to understand the difference between boys and girls and then being told that your 'dad', who is a 'boy' is also a 'girl' and actually was the one who gave birth to you," said Leo, shaking his head.

"Yeah. You traumatised us," Chris interjected jokingly.

"Me?! Traumatised you?! I took six months of your minds being joined to mine! And neither of you are exactly the most logical of part-Vulcans," Jim pointed out and both boys shrugged.

"So, Jim."

"Jimbo."

"Jimethy."

"Jimmeny-Jim-Bob."

"Enough," Jim laughed. "Are we going home?" he asked and Leo nodded.

Christopher insisted on paying for their food before they left, walking a little way before beaming themselves back to San Francisco.

Jim went back to the boys apartment with them, Leo having fallen strangely quiet.

"You tired again?" Jim asked and Leo nodded slightly, a curious expression on his face.

"Yeah. And I mean I slept ten hours last night, and that can usually last me a week, but I feel like I need to do the same again," he said and Jim felt a niggle of concern for his son.

"Do you want to go and see Bones tomorrow? Get checked out?"

"No, I'm fine, really," he said and just as Jim was about to argue Chris started babbling excitedly about a message he'd just received from a modelling agency, saying they could get him a lot more work based on the success of his first major campaign.

"This is awesome!" he grinned, flashing the message at Jim who read key parts of it out for Leo.

"Uh… yeah, well done," Jim said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

He had concerns about his son's career choice. Serious concerns.

He was very bright, but he had completely rejected the Vulcan side of his mind at a young age. He could still use his telepathic abilities, but he had shunned logical thought and meditation in favour of fully embracing his inner Kirk.

Leo had gone for a more middle ground, there were strong traits of Jim present, but he was quieter, more logical, more reserved and more careful with his thinking.

"I'll be the best, I can do it," he said firmly and Jim nodded, giving him half a smile.

"Yeah, You can. You've sure got the looks for it kiddo; and the ass too apparently."

Leo settled onto the couch, laying down on his side and closing his eyes, holding himself with his arms wrapped around his chest, as if he was cold.

Jim looked at him curiously.

It was strange behaviour, something he might have expected of Chris, but not of his twin.

Jim was about to cross the room to check on him when his communicator sounded from his jeans pocket. He removed it and glanced at the ID, taking a small breath and holding it for a few seconds before answering.

"Hi Spock."


"You want to talk about it?" Joanna asked her younger brother.

"No," he grunted from the passenger seat of the car, surly expression firmly etched onto his face. She chuckled.

"You know you'll pass it next time, I just know it," she assured and he sulked, sinking further into the seat and looking pointedly out of the window, away from her.

Just like Dad, she thought to herself as they neared home.

She slowed the hover-car to a stop and David was out first, bounding up the steps and through the door, discarding his red cadets jacket on the way into the room.

Joanna followed, picking up the discarded item of clothing and carefully hanging it over a chair.

"Dad? Carol? You home?" she called.

She heard a muffled thud and a giggle from upstairs and sighed, rolling her eyes as she slipped off her heels and padded into the kitchen.

It had been a long day at the office, and there was only one remedy for a long day as her Daddy had taught her a long time ago.

She groped around under the kitchen sink, knowing where he kept it hidden from Carol.

"Leonard McCoy you sly dog," she chuckled as she carefully extracted the bottle of Bourbon and poured herself a small amount into a glass before stowing the bottle carefully where she had found it.

By the time her father appeared her glass had been emptied and re-filled with water which she sipped slowly as she sat at the kitchen table.

"Hey Jo, didn't realise you were coming over tonight," he said, trying to play down the fact he was wearing sweatpants that looked like they'd been pulled on very hastily, and his shirt was inside out.

"Yeah. I picked David up from campus, he didn't want to sleep there tonight… which I can understand," she said and her father nodded, running both hands through his hair as he sank into a chair on the other side of the table.

David had failed his pilot's exam for the second time that afternoon, whilst all his classmates had passed. They were all moving into their third year, but he would be stuck, repeating the entire year again due to failing twice.

"He's got the skills, he just don't have the confidence," he said and Joanna nodded.

"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" asked Carol as she entered the room. Joanna smirked. Her hair was a hastily fixed mess and she was only wearing her bathrobe.

Like a pair of teenagers, even after all these years.

"Hey Carol. I'm pretty good, another day another dollar you know," she said and Carol smiled.

"Have you heard anything back from your application to join the translation department at Starfleet yet?" she asked and Joanna shook her head.

"No… but it's pretty slow. They get so many applications that it must take them forever to get through everyone. I'm fine doing what I'm doing for now," she said and her father gave her half a smile across the table.

Joanna was working in a shitty job. An office in a grey cubicle, shared with two others, translating what were essentially gossip magazines ready for publishing across the galaxy. But it paid her bills and kept her busy, so she couldn't complain. She'd always been far too laid back to be worried about something as silly as diving immediately into her career at a young age, wanting to find herself a bit more first.

"I'm going out," David's voice echoed from the hallway.

"Where?"

"Out."

"David McCoy! Where?!" his father demanded and he stomped into the room.

"Out. With Chris Kirk and a few others. I'll be back later," he said as he shrugged on his leather jacket.

Leonard opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.

"Be safe," he said. Carol stood silently watching the exchange.

"I'm always safe," David scoffed, turning on his heel and leaving the house.

"He's picking up a real attitude from that Kirk kid… I don't like it," Leonard huffed and Carol walked over, her hands resting on his shoulders, rubbing the knots out of them.

"Maybe you should have a word with his father," she suggested and Bones snorted.

"Jim can't control him. He knows he can't. The only person that kid has ever listened to is way out in space where he can't do anythin' about any of it. I swear it's only a matter of time before somethin' blows up, and I don't want David involved," he said firmly.

Joanna understood.

Christopher Kirk was building himself a reputation, and it seemed some of his behaviours were definitely rubbing off on her younger brother. He'd always looked up to the twins like older brothers, and they'd always protected him like a younger brother, but David and Chris were both as bad as each other when it came to being competitive.

When the first images of Chris in his underwear had appeared, David had immediately joined the local gym and begun exercising relentlessly until he was as large as the Kirk twins. He'd cut his hair, he'd started to dress differently, to talk differently.

"He'll come out of it. Remember when I was eighteen? I dyed my hair black and went through that stupid punk phase? He'll be fine. He'll see that Chris is an asshole in his own time," she said and Bones grunted his agreement.

"You heard anything more from Em?" Joanna asked.

"They've got their last show in Paris on Thursday and she'll be arriving home on Friday morning," Carol said with a small smile.

Emily McCoy could give Christopher Kirk a run for his money in the 'who is more famous' stakes. She'd spent five years at music college in London, to leave at eighteen and join a pop-rock band that called themselves 'Warp Five'. They'd achieved a reasonable level of fame, enough to keep Emily away from home for two more years whilst they toured, but the bubble had burst and they were splitting. Emily was coming home to regroup whilst she decided what to do next.

Joanna yawned widely and stretched.

"I'd better go home, I'm pretty tired," she said, getting to her feet.

After being seen out by her father and Carol, Joanna drove herself home to her apartment. It wasn't big or fancy, but it was perfect for just her and she was happy there.

She fixed herself a quick dinner and changed out of her work clothing, settling onto the couch she pulled out a PADD and trawled through her messages, looking for the reply she'd never confess to desperately wanting.