Chapter Eighteen

Chris glanced up as his communicator began to sound again, it was still showing no identity of the person calling, so he didn't want to answer it.

He ignored it and continued with his homework, an incredibly dull assignment on the earliest warp-speed starships.

The sound stopped and he breathed a sigh of relief, finding it easier to focus now without the noise.

He had only a few minutes before he could hear the video-comm panel sounding in the living room. He groaned and stood up, shuffling out into the lounge and glancing at the screen for the caller ID.

USS Enterprise.

He frowned a little and accepted the call.

"Chris?"

A face appeared on the screen and Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Joanna, what are you doing on the-"

"Chris we've been deployed. Enterprise has been scrambled… Intrepid ran into some trouble and personally requested Jim and Spock, so the ship was sent out."

Chris took a second to repond.

"But Jim and Spock are-"

"Indisposed right now, yeah, I know. My Dad, Carol and Scotty are splitting his duties until he's back. Scotty beamed them on board, so they're here. We're all here, it's just you guys now… so take care of Leo and Emily, and keep an eye on David for me," she said and Chris snorted.

"Oh yeah, I'll be sure to do that," he said sarcastically and Joana sighed exasperatedly.

"Chris, please, come on, I'm sure it's nothing serious and we'll be back in a few days but please be an adult and keep an eye on everyone for me?" she pleaded. She looked scared, tired, and a little bit dazed at having been forced from her bed at such an early hour as the crew was hastily assembled.

"Yeah. Alright," he said finally and she gave him half a smile.

"Thanks. I gotta go, I'm on shift and my supervisor will be back soon," she said and he nodded, cutting off the call.

He stared at the blank screen for a few moments before he could hear his comm. again in the bedroom.

This time he answered it.


David opened his eyes, glancing around blearily.

"Hello?"

He was in a small cell, the corridor outside completely deserted.

He stood up and stumbled over to the door, pressing his face against it and looking around.

"Hello? Anybody here?" he called.

There was only silence as a response and he sank back onto the cot, resting his head in his hands and trying to remember what he'd been doing.

"DUI huh? Never though you were the type," a taunting voice echoed from outside the room.

David looked up and frowned as he saw an officer leading Chris down the corridor.

"I… what?" David slurred, scratching at his face.

"You don't remember? Wow, you must be wasted."

David took a few seconds, concentrating hard.

He could remember cold wind whipping past his ears, fingers numb, the rush of air and the roar of an engine, and then nothing. Blank until waking up.

"You took my motorbike. Drunk. And went for a little joyride. Lucky you didn't kill anybody," Chris said, crossing his arms as he surveyed David through the door.

"I didn't do that," he said flatly.

"Oh really? Because the arresting officer found you asleep at the controls of said bike, just out by the city limits. Anything coming back now?" he asked as the officer opened the door and heaved David to his feet by gripping his upper arm.

"Hey don't touch me," David protested, wrenching his arm from the officers grasp.

"Behave, David. I already paid your bail for driving drunk, but I'm not paying your bail for assaulting a police officer. Now let's go," Chris said firmly.

David stumbled over his own feet as they were both led down the corridor, sick dread rising in his throat as he began to remember his actions.

He's gone out. Got completely wasted. Wanted to go and see the stars, away from the city and away from the lights.

Chris' bike had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Now, not so much.

Christopher was silent as the officer completed entering the record on David's file and then released him, giving him instructions on what would happen next. His drivers licence was suspended until further notice, and he'd have to attend a hearing. David was numb and just nodded.

"I'd yell at you for being such a fucking idiot, but right now we've got bigger problems," Chris said as he led David out of the police station.

"Like what?" David asked, voice still a little slurred.

"First off, here," Chris said, taking a small clear patch from his pocket and peeling off the backing before sticking it on David's neck.

David winced as the medication took effect, sobering him instantly and leaving him with a splitting headache.

"Thanks, hate those things," he grunted as he peeled off the small piece of plastic and balled it up, stuffing it in his jeans pocket.

"Me too, but I can't deal with you drunk right now. Jim and Spock are in trouble, Bones and Carol too. Some kind of distress signal from Sulu and Chekov, they were rushed out a couple of hours ago," Chris explained as they walked quickly down the street.

"Shit."

"Yes, big shit. Joanna's gone too, and you'd have been called if you weren't suspended. Oh hey, good job, suspended from the academy and getting arrested for the first time in under twenty-four hours? Great work!" Chris mocked and David punched him in the arm. He couldn't look at him properly, not after what had happened between them earlier. His stomach was in knots just being this close to him.

"So… what do we do?" David asked as Chris led him to Seren's car that he'd borrowed.

"Go home and wait for them to get back, I guess," Chris shrugged as he got into the drivers seat.

His comm. started to sound in his pocket and he sighed deeply before pulling it out.

"This damn thing hasn't stopped all night and-" he froze upon seeing the ID before opening it quickly.

"Seren, hi," he said.

"Chris… you… you'd better get over here," she said urgently and his eyes widened slightly.

"Is he alright?" he asked quickly.

"He's… just get over here," she said, cutting off the call.

David met Christopher's scared brown eyes for a brief second before he turned his attention back to the road, starting the car and speeding off in the direction of the hospital.


Leo pressed his forehead against the window, trying to see further, to see more.

"I… this is weird," he chuckled weakly. He felt strange, shaky and weak certainly, but he hadn't expected everything to be quite so scary when he could see it.

Seren just watched him staring outside with silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

She'd come in to check on him and found him wide awake, standing at the window, hands flat against the glass as he looked out.

"Does it always look like this?" he asked, still not turning to face her.

"The city? Yes. At night it does," she said, taking a step closer.

He was silent as he continued to stare.

"I'm a little bit scared to look at you, or at a mirror," he confessed and she smiled.

"Look at me," she said gently, putting her hand on his shoulder.

He turned slowly and blinked hard as he focused on her face, hands coming up to rest on either side of her face as his eyes widened.

"Hi," he smiled and she grinned as more tears welled up in her eyes.

"Hi Leo."

He silently looked at her for what felt like a very long time, his eyes delving into hers, looking over her face over and over.

"Your eyes are… I could look at them all day. The colour is… what is that? I mean I don't…" he trailed off and she smiled.

"Jim's eyes. Blue. His are better though, mine aren't quite as-"

She stopped as the door burst open and David and Chris piled in, both freezing as they saw Leo standing up and out of bed, eyes open and seeing.

"Leo, oh my god," Chris gasped as he crossed the room so quickly it made David's head spin.

The twins stared at each other for a few long moments before Leo wrapped his arms around his older brother and sister, pulling the three of them into a tight embrace.

"Thought it wasn't gonna work, thought you wouldn't be able to-"

"I see you. I see everything," Leo said quietly, eyes flicking between his brother and sister. David kept his distance until he was noticed.

"Jim and Spock are in trouble, I can feel it," Leo said quickly, letting go of his siblings and tensing up, eyes squeezing tightly closed for a moment before opening again.

"Hey, hey come sit, I need to take a good look at you… you need a full set of scans, need to try and keep yourself calm too, don't want to overwhelm yourself," Seren said gently, slipping back into 'doctor' mode as she led him to the bed. Leo kept his eyes fixed on his twin.

"I look like you?" Leo asked and Chris nodded, overwhelmed, even more so than Leo.

"Unfortunately," David interjected and Chris scowled, Leo smirking.

"David McCoy, good to see you," he said as Seren prompted him to lay back down on the bed and he reluctantly complied.

"You too man, you had us all pretty worried."

"Your sister as good looking as you?" he asked and Seren giggled as David blushed.

"Better, probably," he mumbled and Leo smiled.

"Good. Damn. I can't get over… I… we're all so… nice to look at," he said and Chris laughed.

"Want to see yourself?" he offered and Leo frowned a little.

"Why would I need to? Already seen you," he said as Seren began to look at him thoroughly, tricoder taking careful scans of his head.

"Just… you're better looking than me, you should see it," Chris said, glancing around the room for a reflective surface. He picked up a PADD that was on the side table and activated the front camera, effectively turning it into a mirror, before handing it to his twin.

"Oh holy shit," he breathed as he looked at his own image for the first time.

"We really are the same. How does anyone tell us apart?" he asked as he turned his face slightly to look at himself from a different angle.

"Believe me, it aint difficult," David said as he watched Leo carefully taking in his own appearance.

Leo's heart rate was increasing, and it hadn't gone unnoticed on the monitors, Seren keeping an eye on his readings.

"My eyes are… not the same," he said with a small frown.

"No. You two have brown eyes, like Spock," Seren told him and he nodded slightly.

"Brown and… blue? Right. Got it I think. Shit, colours are so difficult… can I take a class somewhere to learn all this stuff?" he asked and Seren, David and Chris exchanged smirks.

"We'll teach you. Colours, and reading with your eyes instead of your hands, and animals and species and shapes and… y'know, all the basic stuff you need to know," Chris promised.

"Going to shine a light in your eyes, ok?" Seren asked and Leo nodded. She looked at his eyes carefully before stepping back with a grin.

"He all good?" Chris asked and Seren nodded.

"Making really great steps. Going to need monitoring carefully to make sure that the cancer doesn't make a reappear-"

"Can I go and see Emily now? And Jim and Spock?" Leo asked, interrupting and sitting back up quickly.

"Jim and Spock were called away off-world, but they should be back soon. Emily… well… I guess so. You just need to be careful. She's had a nasty infection and it'd be really bad for your healing if your immune system got distracted trying to deal with something like that," she said and Leo looked up at her hopefully.

"But I can see her, right?" he asked and Seren nodded.

"Sure. I need to run some more thorough tests before they'll let you leave though, okay? Get dressed and I'll get through it all as quickly as I can."

"Ok… I need uh… clothes," he said slowly, glancing around the room.

Chris picked up the backpack on the floor containing a set of Leo's clothes ready for him to wear when he was ready to go home and started to unpack it onto the bed for him.

"I… we'll give you a minute to get ready," Seren said and the three of them began to leave.

"Chris?"

"Yeah?" he asked, turning back to his brother.

"Stay?"

"Sure. You need help putting your panties on?"

Leo chuckled.

"Something like that."

Seren and David left the twins alone, Leo sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at his brother with an intense expression on his face.

"I… I don't know how to do this," he confessed and Chris frowned.

"What? Get dressed? I mean I assume it's the same as before you could see, you take off your old clothes and you put on the new ones and then-"

"No. I know how to get dressed… I don't know how to… see you," Leo said quietly and Chris took a step closer.

"Are you feeling ok?"

"I feel good. Really good, better than I have in a long time," he said and Chris frowned suspiciously.

"I distinctly remember you lying about stuff like that before… y'know, while you were going through chemo… getting ready for surgery… couple of weeks off kicking the bucket and 'no, im fine, maybe a little tired'," Chris said in impersonation of his brother.

"This time I'm telling the truth. I feel good, just… my eyes work," he said and Chris nodded.

"Yeah, they do. A lot of stuff to show you now, I'm excited for it. And… Emily. Wow. Can't wait for you to see her, your reaction is going to be… interesting," Chris said and Leo smiled.

"Yeah. I'm excited to see what she looks like, I feel like an asshole though, kind of bad timing for my trance," he said and Christopher cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh? Were you guys hanging out that night after she was done yelling at you?"

"Uh… well… that's kind of why I asked you to stay in here. I need some manly advice," he asked and Chris nodded, sitting beside him on the bed.

"Sure, anything."

"The night I went into my healing trance… Emily and I… well… we slept together. It was both our first times and I just feel so terrible because I couldn't stay awake afterwards and then I was aware of her trying to wake me up in the morning and I couldn't and I just… is she mad at me?" Leo asked and Chris smiled.

"Just tell her you love her and you're sorry. She isn't mad."

"Really? I mean… because I'm worried I was bad at it and it was bad for her because I know I hurt her a little bit at first and I… I feel nervous and I'm scared to see her… I mean what is it meant to feel like?" he asked and Chris thought for a moment.

"Jesus man, you've been in basically a coma for weeks and the first thing you want to ask me about is vagina?!"

"This is important to me! I'm worried she hates me! It's mostly what I've been thinking about while I've been laying here."

Chris chuckled as Leo frowned at him, picking up his tee-shirt and looking at it with fascination.

"She doesn't hate you. Did you make her… y'know, writhe and scream and beg you to keep going all night long?" he asked with a widening smirk. He was just so relieved to have his twin back talking, let alone the excitement he was feeling that his eyes seemed to be working perfectly.

Leo blushed a little bit.

"I did my best to make sure she… enjoyed herself. But oh my god… I… we need to talk about this in more detail sometime."

"Then that's all that matters. Up until she got sick she was here every chance she got, and she asks about you all the time. I'm sure that she isn't mad. Can't believe you actually did it! And yes, that's fine by me, but for now let's get you ready to go, we can have sex-talks later," Chris ordered and Leo sent him out of the room so he could get dressed.

Leo did his best not to take too long, though he was fascinated by the sight of his own body. It looked the way it felt, long and lean and with sharp hipbones jutting out of golden skin and six little abdominals with no fat covering them.

"You think he's just staring at himself?" David asked and Chris rolled his eyes.

"Of course he is. I mean, wouldn't you be curious too? Twenty years in a body you can't see and then you wake up and there it all is?"

"I guess, but I mean like-"David stopped talking abruptly as Leo's door opened and he looked out of the room.

"Seren went to go and get another doctor, just to double check on letting you out of here. Then she'll run her tests and then we'll be ok to abduct you and take you home," Chris explained and Leo shook his head.

"No. I don't need another doctor, I'm fine. I need to go home," he said firmly.

Seren returned as Leo began to argue with his twin and checked him over more thoroughly before getting the opinion of her colleague who agreed with her diagnosis.

His recovery was nothing short of miraculous, and his sight was perfect. She'd done the impossible. Twice.

"I'm so excited for you to see our house and all the pictures and oh my god, the stars! You can see the stars with us now!"

"Chris, settle down would you? Some of us are hungover here," David grumbled, rubbing his forehead which had begun to pound with the mother of all headaches.

"Maybe you should go home, get some sleep," Seren advised and David nodded, rubbing his face with one hand and yawning.

"Yeah, you need to figure out how you're going to tell your parents about that nasty criminal record you're now boasting," Chris taunted. David looked clearly uncomfortable so Seren got between them as Leo looked on, confused by what was happening.

"Look. Both of you. All the fighting has to stop, all the acting out has to stop. Drink-driving is a serious thing David, and I don't know what's gone on between you two to make you behave this way, but being suspended from the Academy should have meant more to you than it did. You need to stop provoking each other, and if you can't do that, then you need to stay away from each other, understand me?" she said sternly and David nodded.

"And Chris, fighting? Really? Come on, what did Jim always say about fighting?"

"To pick on someone your own size or not at all," Chris mumbled and Seren nodded.

"Mhm. Now, humans? Really? Come on Chris, we all know how strong we are, particularly you. You shouldn't be fighting with humans half your strength, no matter what they say to-"

"They insulted Jim!"

"I don't care! It's against everything we've grown up with. David, go home, sleep off your hangover and get to kissing ass to sort out your suspension. The DUI I can't help you with, maybe you'll just get probation or something, I don't know how it works. Chris, come with me, we're going to take Leo home and make sure he settles in ok," she ordered and Leo laughed.

"You're totally the parent now everyone is off-world."

"Maybe," she said as everyone began to follow her orders, David walking away in the direction of his house, Chris leading Leo to the car as he looked around him, eyes trying to take in everything all at once.

"Wait. What in the hell is that?" Leo asked as he looked up at a particularly large tree.

"Tree," Chris said bluntly and Leo scowled at it.

"Ah. My one true enemy. Fuck you tree! I'm no longer at your mercy!" he declared dramatically and Chris roared with laughter, Seren suppressing a giggle as the three of them clambered into the car.

They got home and Leo stared at the house with wide, wonder-filled eyes, the exact same way he'd stared out of the car window for the whole drive back.

"He's adorable. Look Ser, isn't he adorable? Can we keep him? Oh please can we keep him?" Chris joked as he watched his twin walk nervously up the driveway.

"I… can't quite believe that it's real, that he can really see, and that he looks like he's going to be alright. I was so scared for a while that we might not be able to fix him," Seren said and Chris nodded.

"You did great. Bones too."

"Hey guys, I… will you come with me?" Leo whisper-yelled down the driveway. It was very early, only around five in the morning and the three of them did not want to wake their neighbours and cause any trouble.

"Course we will," Seren smiled, taking a few steps closer to her younger brother and opening the front door of the house.

"Welcome home," Chris grinned as he ordered on the hallway light and allowed Leo in first.

He looked around nervously, trying to take it all in.

"Blue," he said, pointing at the wall.

"Hey you're getting the hang of this colour game already," Seren grinned and Leo took a deep, slow breath, his face scrunching up a little.

"I… have a headache," he admitted and she frowned.

"Probably just a little bit overwhelmed. Let's get you up to your room. Do you need to sleep?" she asked and he thought for a moment.

"No. I think I just need to… take a minute off this whole 'seeing' business," he said slowly. "Not that I'm not grateful!" he added quickly and she smiled.

"I understand. It's an awful lot for your brain to handle right now. Before you take your break, let me just show you one thing," she said, briefly going into the living room and pulling a picture frame off the wall. It held two images. The first was of Jim and Spock on the day of their human wedding. It was one of Seren's favourite pictures of her parents. They looked just so happy. Jim's eyes were crinkled around the edges as he grinned, and Spock's lips were quirked up in the corners, face relaxed and eyes warm and friendly as they looked at each other, not at the camera.

The second image was of them as children, with the three McCoy's. The image had been taken whilst Jim and Spock were away on honeymoon, and they had stayed with Carol and Bones for a week, the first night all curling up together in Bones and Carol's kingsize bed and kicking the parents out to sleep elsewhere. Joanna was on the edge of the bed, David beside her, then Christopher, Leo, Emily and Seren. Half of them were asleep in the image, little faces relaxed, peaceful as they slept.

Leo smiled as he looked at the pictures.

"That's Jim, and Spock," Chris pointed to the two men in turn.

"And there's Emily," he pointed out the small blonde in the picture of them as children.

"So… that's Joanna?" Leo asked, using the process of elimination to work out the identity of the third girl in the image.

"You got it. We were cute kids huh?"

"Yeah I… we look the same here, so much the same," he muttered as he stared hard at the picture.

"This is so weird," he breathed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

Seren and Christopher watched him with concern for a few moments until he opened his eyes again.

"I think… I need to take a nap," he said finally and Seren nodded.

Christopher didn't try to get Leo to talk to him as he walked up to his room with him, just helped him change into his pyjama's as he crashed out on the bed, pillow over his face.

"I can still see stuff… in my mind… god how do you deal with all of this input all the time?" he asked and Chris shrugged.

"You'll get used to it. We'll video-comm. Jim and Spock once we get word that Spock is all done. They'll be so pleased to see you awake and alright," Chris said, giving Leo's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Stay," Leo squeaked out and Chris hesitated for a minute.

"Of course," he said, sitting on the edge of his twin's bed.

"I'm… scared," Leo confessed and Chris carefully pried the pillow away from his face so he could look him in the eye.

"What are you scared of?" he asked and Leo opened his eyes slowly.

"Right now? Everything."


Jim could feel the gentle hum of the ship around him, the soothing, barely there vibration of the warp core.

He didn't know what was going on, but knew it must be serious for him and Spock to have been beamed aboard despite the fact they were occupied.

And boy were they occupied.

Jim hadn't had proper sleep in over two days, since Spock's Pon Farr began. He'd get little bits of rest in between rounds when Spock would take short breaks, but it wasn't enough. He was aching and sore and oversensitive, Spock not letting up on him even a little bit.

He was grateful though that at least Spock was being relatively gentle with him. He was, so far, uninjured.

Spock stirred beside him and Jim tensed reflexively.

"I believe… the worst of the fever has been satiated," Spock said quietly.

Jim looked at him carefully.

"Really? Last time it took almost twice as long," he said, one hand absentmindedly beginning to play with Spock's hair, tangling in the strands.

"I am… not as young as I was. Pon Farr is a primarily reproductive function. I am nearing the end of my most fertile years. A decline in the intensity of Pon Farr is natural and expected," he explained briefly. Jim always found it all too easy to forget that Spock was over fifty, and that he had only four years to go himself until his big half-century birthday.

Jim stretched and winced, Spock wrapping his arms around him and placing a small, apologetic kiss on his temple.

"We are aboard the Enterprise," Spock noticed aloud and Jim made a small sound of agreement.

"Something serious must be going on for them to have beamed us up mid-fuck," Jim said with a small smirk as a green blush crept across Spock's face.

He groaned as he stood up, still completely naked, and stretched out better, reaching his arms above his head and popping his shoulders comfortably, re-aligning his spine where it had been compressed by the various positions he had been contorted into over the past few days.

"I… Jim your assistance in keeping me alive and helping me through the fever is once again most appreciated," Spock said stiffly and Jim sniggered as he headed for the bathroom, feeling in the most dire need of a shower.

"Spock, I tell you this every time. I'm not going to let you die," Jim said firmly and Spock nodded once.

"I understand Jim, however due to our recent-"

"Spock. Shut up. I don't want to fight about this again right now, ok? I know we've been stressed lately. I know things are scary… and we still haven't fixed everything from when you were away, but please stop stressing about it? We need to get to the bridge," Jim said firmly and Spock swallowed.

"Indeed," he said in monotone.

"Jim. May I ask a personal query?" he asked as Jim turned to vanish into the bathroom. Jim sighed and leant back, out of the doorway, just his head and shoulders visible due to the angle.

"Seeing as we've been married over fifteen years, yes, I guess you could ask me a personal query," Jim said snarkily.

"Do you dislike me?" Spock asked and Jim rolled his eyes.

"Spock, Jesus, you want to do this now?"

"Yes. I feel this conversation is fully relevant. There are thoughts I encountered in your mind that suggest feelings of resentment towards myself and furthermore-"

"I've been waiting almost twenty-one years for Leo to wake up and be able to see. You don't think I'm maybe a little worried that I might miss it?" Jim snapped and Spock sat up, sheets pooling around his waist as he stared hard at his bondmate.

"You do not think I would be disappointed if I were to miss the same moment?" Spock asked and Jim shook his head.

"I really don't want to do this now."

Jim vanished into the bathroom and Spock pulled the sheets off his body, getting to his feet and following his husband into the bathroom before cornering him in the shower cubicle.

"I do not know what you want from me, Jim. I have apologised on far more occasions than is logical. I have attempted to convey my regret at missing so many years away from you and away from-"

Jim silenced Spock with a hard kiss, dragging him into the shower with him, the hot water raining down on them both.

"You frustrate me," Jim growled, lips parting for just a moment before the kiss resumed with ferocious intensity.

"You intrigue me," Spock countered, hands trailing down Jim's back, their foreheads resting together as Jim breathed heavily.

"I sometimes feel like we barely know each other anymore," Jim breathed and Spock looked deeply into his eyes, sending waves of warmth across their bond.

"We just need some time. Time to repair. Time to enjoy life together once again. I am certain that once Leo recovers and Christopher becomes more stable that we will have ample time to-"Spock is cut off as Jim slams their lips together once again, this time the kiss is enough to leave Spock breathless too.

"Should we not report to the bridge?" Spock pants out as Jim pins him to the glass shower-cubicle wall.

"One more round won't hurt anyone."

"You are tired, you need to rest T'hy'la," Spock mumbled softly as he trailed kisses up to Jim's earlobe. Jim shivered and tried to decide if that was from Spock's ministrations or the strange chill that had just run up his spine, the source of which was unclear.


Aboard the USS Intrepid Commander Pavel Chekov fought to retain control of the ship.

Systems were failing, weapons were offline, as was the warp drive.

"Broadcast emergency distress signal, all channels all frequencies," he ordered of his long-time friend and communications officer.

Uhura swallowed the nervous lump in her throat and obeyed.

"There are intruders now on deck seven sir," he was informed and he nodded in acknowledgment.

"Any word from ze Keptin?" he asked and Uhura shook her head.

"They're hailing us," she said suddenly, opening the frequency as Pavel stepped forwards. He had never grown to be a large man, but he stood up straight with his shoulders back and head up, using his best assertive body language.

"Zis is Commander Pavel Andreivich Chekov, USS Intrepid. You are attacking a Federation vessel and-" he stopped talking abruptly as the visual side of the communication started to function from the other ship, the view-screen filling with the image of a half man-half machine hybrid.

"You will be assimilated," a cold, mechanical voice rang out.

"Assimilated?" Chekov repeated.

The single, visible eye of the organism was dark as it stared at him, the other obscured by half a mechanical visor.

"Resistance is futile."


Emily buried her face further into her pillow as the strange tickling sensation irritated her foot once again.

She kicked out and groaned as she heard her brother sniggering.

"What?!" she growled, turning to look at him.

"Morning sunshine!" he said cheerily and she groaned, rolling onto her back and clasping her hands over her face before glancing at the clock.

"Morning?! You call this morning?! It isn't even fucking light outside!" she hissed, wrenching her foot away from where he was trying to continue tickling her.

"I know. Just got some news for ya," he said chirpily and she groaned, rubbing at her throat with the heel of her hand. It was no longer painful, so she assumed all of the antibiotics she'd been shot with had finally worked and destroyed the infection. Her sleep had already been disrupted the previous night by their parents leaving late and then sending them a message with more information, and she was far from thrilled about being woken at the early hour.

"Better be worth you waking me up at the ass-crack of dawn," she growled.

"Leo's awake, walking, talking and can see," he said and she sat straight upright, not even caring that she was only wearing a tank top with no bra and her brother was in her room.

"You're shitting me?"

"No shit. He's at home, hospital let him go under Seren's watch. I think he's going to-"

Emily bounded out of bed, snatching up a hooded sweatshirt from the back of her chair and pulling it on, brushing her hair tidy frantically with just her hands before shoving her brother out of her room.

She pulled on a pair of well-worn grey jeans and slipped on her shoes, brushing her teeth on the way past the bathroom before hurrying down the stairs as David laughed at her from the top landing.

"And he's all sexy and bed-headed and confused," David taunted and she glared.

"Keep your hands off my Kirk, you've got your own," she said stroppily, storming out of the house and into the pre-dawn light.

It took her less than ten minutes to walk to the Kirk residence, her lungs protesting a little bit to each sharp inhale of the cold air.

She rang the door-chime only for Seren to open the door moments later, almost as though she was expecting her.

"He's here, and can see," Seren confirmed before Emily could even open her mouth to ask.

Emily flung herself at the part-Vulcan, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Thank you, thank you so much for making him better," she mumbled into her sinewy shoulder.

"He's not completely better, but the hardest part is over," Seren said, awkwardly patting her on the back and then letting her go.

"Before you go up there, I just need to do one thing," she said, beckoning for Emily to follow her into the lounge.

Emily allowed the young doctor to take readings from her with a tricoder, waiting nervously to be given the all clear to go up and see Leo.

"You're good. Just… go easy on him," Seren sighed and Emily was gone in a flash, sprinting for the stairs and taking them two at a time, not even bothering to rise to Seren's comment.

She reached Leo's bedroom door and knocked lightly.

He didn't answer.

"Leo?" she asked, knocking again.

There was still no response so she let herself into his room, finding his bed made and empty.

She could hear the water running in the attached bathroom so sat on the edge of the bed and waited until she heard it shut off.

"Hello?" he asked from inside his bathroom and she grinned.

"Hey stranger, guess who?"

The door slid open and she bit her bottom lip as he stepped into the room hesitantly, upper body glistening in water droplets and a white towel slung low around his slim hips.

They stared at each other for a moment, speechless.

"I… hi," he said nervously, one hand reaching up to scratch the back of his head, giving her a pleasant view of all his muscles flexing under golden skin as he moved.

"Hi indeed," she retaliated, feeling a nervous jolt in her stomach as he took a few steps closer to her.

"I've missed you. Sorry for my… y'know, nap," he said weakly and she smiled.

"No problem. I was worried about you," she said shakily.

He continued to stare at her, so hard she felt like she'd never been looked at before. The intensity on his face was enough to have her heart pounding in her ears as the world around them seemed to evaporate.

"This is… different," he said softly as she stood up from his bed, taking a step towards him.

"It is. You can uh… see me, right?" she asked and he nodded slightly.

"Oh yes," he breathed, taking one final step towards her.

She could see the water dripping from his hair down his face, a droplet just clinging to the bottom of his plush lower lip. Her eyes flicked down to it and then back up to meet his.

"You're… really… um. Pretty?" he guessed and she giggled.

"You're pretty pretty too," she smirked and he raised an eyebrow, glancing down at his near-naked body.

"I uh… should probably find some clothes," he said awkwardly and she shrugged.

"Aint botherin' me," she admitted and he shrugged.

"Chris said that it's all about… this… part," he said, vaguely gesturing towards his abdominal area.

She could see the sharp points of his hipbones just above his towel, and allowed her eyes to follow the lines of his torso up to his ribcage.

"All of you is pretty great," she said quietly.

"I feel so awkward," he admitted and she nodded.

"Must be strange, seeing everything, after all these years. How do you feel?" she asked and he stepped one half a step closer to her, their bodies now almost touching. She could feel the warmth radiating off his bare skin.

"Colour is… um. Too much, right now. I have a headache," he admitted and she frowned a little bit, worrying creeping up. She opened her mouth to speak but he interrupted her before she could ask.

"Not that kind of headache. More like a 'oh holy shit you can see' headache. Not like before. Sorry. About that. For not telling you," he said nervously and she shook her head, reaching her hand out to tentatively take his, brushing the tips of their fingers together. He shivered at the touch, delving further into her eyes that were brown but not in the same way his were, looking at her pink, pouty lips that he just wanted to kiss over and over.

"S'okay," she mumbled as he threaded his hand into her hair, heel of his hand settling on her cheekbone.

"It isn't. I'm sorry Em. And I'm sorry for going into my trance when I did. We have so much to talk about and-"

She silenced him, pressing her lips to his gently. He was surprised but kissed back, their lips just lightly brushing together. As she pulled back he moved forwards, hand tangling more tightly in her hair and other hand finding her lower back, pulling her close.

His skin and towel were damp against her clothes and she didn't care.

He broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against hers and chuckling softly.

"I uh… need some clothes, okay?" he said, shifting back from her a little bit.

She giggled and nodded, turning around so he could scramble into some clothes without her watching.

"So, come spoon," he invited as he crawled onto his bed, flopping onto his back and groaning as he spread out like a starfish.

"Really? You've been in bed for weeks, lazy bones," she teased as she curled up beside him, one arm draped across his chest.

"I know, but I'm really drained. Taking a shower has taken like… so much energy. Plus, I owe you one whole night of post-sex spooning," he said and she smirked into his neck, looking up at him to see him grinning. He looked tired, but he was smiling and he could see her. At last.

"You do. You also owe me an awkward conversation about that," she prompted and he groaned, curling away from her and making her laugh as he dramatically tried to hide his face under the blankets.

"You're such a child Leo."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes. You are."

"Ok. Fine. Let's be serious for a second," he said, turning to face her and looking at her with that same piercing look in his eyes that made her instantly pay attention and stop goofing around.

"I really like you, and I want you to be my girlfriend. What we did… I… can't imagine doing that with anyone else. I felt this amazing… connection and I-" he stopped as he shifted forwards, their lips meeting again in a slightly more needy kiss.

"So. Will you? Be my uh… girlfriend that is? Like… exclusively?" he asked and she laughed, causing his eyes to widen slightly in surprise.

"You felt the need to ask?"

"Well It's polite… I mean I-"

She cut him off this time, more kisses being shared as she pressed her body up against his, as close as they could get.

"Mmmm I'm tired. Don't think I could do anything like that right now," he mumbled and she stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.

"Don't want to. Just wanna be close to you," she said softly. He smiled and kissed her neck, nuzzling his face into her hair.

"Want to sleep all day here with me?" he asked and she wriggled a little, getting comfortable.

"That'd be great."

"If I wake up first, do I have permission to just stare at you because you're amazing?" he asked and she sighed, feeling herself blush pink.

"Ok. Creep."

"Been waiting a while to see you, and now that I can I'm so sleepy I can barely focus," he whined and she smiled again, her cheeks beginning to hurt from the constant grin.

"I'll still be here when you wake up, I promise," she said softly as he wrapped his arms more tightly around her, his face nuzzling into her neck.

"Yeah you will, I'm not letting you go," he mumbled, kissing her ear and giving her a small squeeze.

Leo felt uneasy, like something was going on, something bigger than he could comprehend at that moment. He was exhausted, just a few hours awake and being able to see had worn him down to the point where he needed to sleep again.

He focused on the smell of Emily's hair and the soft texture of it against her face as he forced himself to rest, knowing it was vitally important he listen to his body if he was to make a proper recovery.


A/N

Here's a great big pile of sorries for you:
1. Sorry this is late.

2. Sorry if it's full of errors, I will be proof-reading tomorrow, just wanted to get it posted for now.

3. Sorry if it kinda sucks... I've had writer's block over some of the scenes in this chapter. I'm not completely happy with some of them still, but there's not a lot I can do.

I'll be honest with you guys, I'm really unwell at the moment. I've been having pretty much constant migraine headaches which I am struggling to control, even with medication (because I find all that does is make me fall asleep, ugh.) I'm going to keep going for the one update a week though, but anyone who's ever dealt with persistent headaches will understand how much of a challenge it is to function around.

Anyway, enough about that! A couple of people have guessed what's going on out in space, and yes, Borg! Nasty, nasty Borg. More on them in the next chapter... but yeah. I woke Leo up. I missed that guy! He kind of brings the lightheartedness and the story has been lacking in that lately.

So, now I'm going to ask a favour because I'm all miserable a headachey and feeling incredibly sorry for myself. Leave me a review? Even if just to guess what you think is coming next. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has reviewed in the past, and in advance if you leave a review after reading this part :)