Chapter Twenty-Four

David's communicator sounded around an hour later, jolting him awake suddenly.

"Chris?" he asked groggily as he opened it.

"Hey, how's it going?" Chris said casually.

"How… how's it going?" David repeated.

"Yeah, that's what I asked, what's up? You called me like a bajillion times," Chris said just as casually.

"I… thought we were going out for a drink tonight," he said sheepishly, now feeling slightly foolish for the amount he had been worrying.

"Yeah, I mean, sorry. I fell asleep in class and then I was talking to my instructor and lost track of time," Chris said quickly.

"Oh… well that's ok. Are you feeling alright? It's like three in the morning?" David asked and Chris cleared his throat.

"I don't know. I feel kind of funny. I'm at home now, want to come over?" he offered and David quickly accepted, getting his stuff together and going over to Chris' apartment.

David took a sharp inhale of breath as Chris opened the door with a bad black eye and a split lip. He glanced up and down the corridor before pulling his bondmate inside and double locking the door.

"Chris! What the hall happened to your fa-"

"Shh. We need to go away. Somewhere nobody will find us. We can't talk here, it isn't safe," he said. He looked panicked, glancing around the room constantly. He was the total opposite to how calm and casual he'd sounded on the phone.

"Chris what are you talking about? Are you ok? Who did this to you?" David demanded and Chris checked the locks on the door again, peeking out through the peep-hole.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," he said stubbornly, flinching away as David tried to touch his face to get a look at his eye.

"You aren't fine," he said softly.

Chris was silent until David tried to get some more information from him.

"You get into a fight on campus? Another cadet?" he asked and Chris shook his head.

"No. Not a cadet. I… this guy has been following me and I just flipped, and then he started telling me all this shit about Jim and your dad making this… serum… that stops me and Leo and Seren from using the abilities Khan's blood should have given us. He was talking all this shit and then this van pulled up and they bundled me in… I don't know where we went… but they kept trying to make me join this… this group to go out and hunt down the Borg before they find the planet. They asked me to spy on Starfleet, to feed them information and…" Chris took a deep inhale.

"They said they'd kill you if I didn't do it. And when I still said no they did this to me… and told me they know how to find you. So I'm going to have to do it, I can't let them hurt you," he said shakily.

David frowned.

"This is a load of shit. Come on, we're going to call the police and get this guy tracked down and thrown in a loony-bin where he belongs by the sound of it."

"He isn't crazy. He seemed to know a lot about me and Jim and Starfleet. Everything he said makes sense. What if your dad did develop some kind of suppressant? With my parents help? It would make sense. I mean, the three of us are strong but the augments are… superhuman. I always found it a little strange that none of us possessed any of the super-strength and the healing capabilities that they are rumoured to have had."

"Rumoured. Chris. Rumours. These augments are locked up in chryo and have been for years. Nobody can substantiate any claim as to their alleged abilities. This guy sounds like a lunatic, try and just forget about him, he's just some weirdo stalker," David said, trying to get Chris to calm down.

Chris continued to just stare at him in response until he exhaled slowly.

"My dad is on a night shift at Starfleet medical, we could go and talk to him? If anyone can clear this up, it's him," David said and Chris looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

They left the apartment quickly, both looking around much more than they usually would, both being extra careful. They took Chris' bike as it was the fastest and were soon waiting outside Dr McCoy's office.

He opened the door and looked at them both before looking both ways up and down the corridor, ushering them into the room and locking the door.

"So, how old were we?" Chris asked and the Doctor looked at the floor.

"How old?" he asked again.

"You were about fifteen months. We didn't have a choice Chris, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry that they found you, it should never have happened," he said quietly.

"Why didn't you have a choice?" he asked and the Doctor sighed, sinking into his chair behind his desk.

"You broke Jim's wrist. You didn't mean to, you were only a baby, but… you were throwing a tantrum and clean snapped his wrist. You were all too strong, and combined with telepathy we had no idea how it would potentially-"

"You had no right," Chris said calmly.

"I'm aware. It was… a very difficult thing to have to do. Chris you have to understand, we didn't have a choice! Starfleet were keeping a close eye on you three and if they got word you possessed the abilities of the augments? They'd have thrown you in chryo Damn it! With the rest of them! We had to be sure that nothing would happen, that nobody got hurt," he said and Chris looked at him for a moment before sitting down in the chair on the other side of the desk, David pulling up an extra one and sitting too.

There was silence for a few moments before the doctor sighed and opened the top drawer of his desk, removing a holo-emitter and placing it on the desk in front of him.

"Jim gave me this, told me if you guys ever found out, if the inhibitor wore off… to show it to you. I've never even watched it myself," he said as he switched it on, a small holographic Jim appearing and beginning to pace the desk. David noticed Chris look away pointedly and reached for his hand.

"Seren, Chris, Leo. If you're seeing this then I want to begin by telling you how sorry I am that I didn't get to tell you this in person. I'm not sorry for the decision we had to make though, because I know it was the right thing to do." Jim's hologram paused before continuing to explain.

"You guys are really special. Unique. You possess something that only a handful of other people have, and although it's a gift, it's also incredibly dangerous so we had to do something to make sure that nothing happened. You all know what happened to me before you were born, everything that happened with Khan, and my death, and the treatment that saved me using his blood. Because his blood had healed me, it became dormant in my system. Had I fathered children in a normal way, the blood wouldn't have passed on to you, but because I physically carried you, blood was able to cross and it meant that some of Khan's blood ultimately ended up in your systems. All three of you have it, which was completely against the odds. At first nothing was particularly out of the ordinary. You all developed way faster than we would have expected even for part-Vulcans, but then when you were about a year old we started to notice. Seren first, she broke the bars on her cot when she wanted out. Then Chris, then finally Leo. You were all displaying unbelievable levels of strength and a mental capacity that was just… astonishing. Needless to say other people became aware of this, even with the Enterprise being out on the five year mission we still had to report back about you three, and long range communications are not secure by any means. Somebody found out about the abilities you were developing."

Chris looked at David and then back to the Doctor who looked to the hologram as it continued to speak.

"With Bones' help, we created an inhibitor… it was a chemical compound that blocked the abilities of Khan's blood. We tested it and once we were happy it was safe, gave it to all three of you. We only acted with your best interests at heart and so that you could grow up normally without having to worry about any of it. The compound was designed to gradually break down in your systems over time… we estimated it would last around thirty years or so, maybe less. At that point you'd be able to make your own decisions about if you wanted to repeat the treatment or continue to live with Khan's abilities. People are afraid of what they don't understand… and the augments are so poorly researched at this point that nobody really knows anything about them, apart from the fact that one of them wiped out most of a city. Starfleet has swept the whole thing under the rug and we just wanted to minimise the potential trouble it could cause for you, I hope you understand."

The hologram ended and Chris leant back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair, then rested his elbow on the desk, looking back across at the Doctor.

"So, somebody wants to use us as weapons? These people that I ran into?" he asked and the Doctor nodded.

"You guys could be… well, anything. Khan's blood combined with Vulcan telepathy is going to give you an unknown amount of power. Based off of how strong you were by one year old, well, I don't even really know," he said, brandishing a tricoder in Chris' direction, looking at his eye carefully.

"But… this isn't fair. Why didn't Jim and Spock tell them?" David asked and his father shrugged.

"Jim planned on it, but then Leo got sick, you had your whole Pon Farr situation… there was a lot going on," Bones explained and Chris nodded.

The three men fell silent until David spoke a few minutes later.

"Who are the people that are threatening Chris?" David asked and his father opened a file on his PADD and handed it over.

"They call themselves the Alliance for Planetary Protection and they're a huge pain in Starfleet's ass right now. They're trying to get everyone all riled up over not knowing about threats to the planet, claiming that something like Vulcan has happened before and could happen again. Now that the information that the Borg exist has been leaked… these guys are all over it. They seem to believe that the augments are our future, that we should start genetically modifying people again; create a new generation of… super-soldiers to protect the planet from these new bigger threats," he said and Chris tensed up.

"They were saying… about… about me and Leo. And… us being like Jim…" he trailed off and Bones raised an eyebrow.

"To be able to have children?"

Chris nodded and David's hand tensed a little.

"No… Chris, no you can't. We ran really detailed scans when you were babies. You're all man. You and Leo. Not a uterus between you, sorry," he said and Chris looked at him carefully as he seemed to look away.

"You sure about that?"

"I… well. You didn't have. It's possible if your inhibitor has worn off that it could develop in adulthood, as it did for Jim. I just… well. As hard as this is to hear, even if it did magically appear somehow, I really don't think you'd be able to carry a child to term. All the damage your body took? I don't think your systems would cope with the demand. I'm sorry," he said and Chris shrugged.

"It's fine. I don't care, I mean, anything like that is a long way off. They just said to me about it so I figured I'd ask. But Leo?"

The Doctor sighed.

"Theoretically it's possible if his inhibitor wears off that he may develop the ability, whether he would choose to use it, that'd be up to him."

Chris could see David looking at him out of the corner of his eye and chose to ignore him for now.

"So. I don't want any more inhibitor," he said and the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"I don't see the harm it'll do… I'll be stronger, faster, better… I don't see a reason to not just see how it goes," he said and the Doctor shrugged.

"You have a point. If you start to get any side effects, you need to tell me. Don't be a stranger, okay kid?" he asked and Chris nodded.

David looked uneasy and his father picked up on it.

"So will they find me again, these Planetary Protection… whatevers?" Chris asked and Bones shrugged.

"Just make them think you're doing whatever they asked you to do. They bothered Jim for a while, he was able to hold them at bay by just telling them what they wanted to hear and keeping Starfleet aware of what they're doing. I don't think they pose any real threat."

"They threatened your son's life," Chris pointed out and the Doctor frowned.

"They say a lot of things. David's got you to protect him, and you guys will be going now to go make a statement to the Police," he said, ushering them from his office.

"Yeah, I do think that's a good idea," David piped up and Chris rolled his eyes.

"Ok, we can go to the cops if it makes you feel better," he said and David nodded.

"Tell Spock too, he'll need to know," the Doctor called after them as they began to walk along the corridor towards the exit.


Leo closed his eyes for a few moments, trying to get his bearings.

The room was huge, lights flashing and changing colour, the sound so loud is was completely disorientating. A mass of people pulsated around him, adding to the sensory overload.

He continued to work his way through the crowd until he got a bit closer to the stage, until he decided he was close enough.

He'd called Emily several times but got nothing back. He gave her a week before he tracked her down. She was performing with a new band and out in Europe, London this time. He'd found the venue, got himself in, and now just needed to get her attention.

The band that were on the stage finished and left, the lights came up and the insistent flashing stopped, giving way to a more even glow that hurt his eyes considerably less.

He cursed his mind for counting every second until she appeared, looking nothing like he imagined her from the pictures he had seen, even the recent ones.

In the photos he'd seen of her that were a mere few months old she's been slim and fit looking, blonde hair hanging long and cascading around her shoulders, skin tanned and radiant, looking full of life. She looked different now. Skinny, not slim and healthy, with her hair cut into a shorter style, above her shoulders, with flashes of blue and purple peeking out from underneath. He caught a glimpse of several studs in her ear and one in her nose, her make up much more than she would usually wear from what he had seen in pictures.

She was wearing a ripped tank top and hotpants, heeled boots on her feet. She was barely recognisable as she grinned in the spotlight, a cocky, sneering kind of grin that looked nothing like her personality.

"London!" she yelled into her microphone and the crowd roared. Leo flinched and closed his eyes momentarily again.

The band began to play, something that sounded nothing like her old band, the music much heavier, much angrier.

It was so loud he could barely understand a word of what she was singing, and she kept looking the wrong way to see him, but he persevered.

Part way through the second song he thought she glimpsed him, and it wasn't until the fourth song when he was certain she'd seen him. She missed a note as her heart skipped, a lump rising in her throat as she quickly turned away and got back into her little bubble.

Their eyes met once more, lingering for a second too long as a song finished and the crowd erupted.

Emily, I'm sorry.

She looked away again, pushing her hair off her face and turning to the band, pulling them into a huddle.

"We're going to play a new song for you guys right now," she announced to more cheering, he caught her eye again and she looked right through him, making his heart sink a little.

They launched into the next song and this time he managed to hear more of the lyrics, and the sections that he caught made him curious.

"…Just a lifetime to plan an escape route, I put my map on the wall in the basement. It's not a question of who are we really, it's who we want to be."

"And if you try and find me now, I'm in all the echoes that have faded out so… I'm moving on cause I just want to feel for once that I belong…"

He watched until the very end. They took a bow and ran offstage. The room around him didn't empty, so he knew there must have been more people to play, but he slipped out of the crowd and into the fresh night air of the street.

He waited outside the venue for what felt like a long time until he heard excited squealing coming from one of the stage doors. Making his way over he found two guys that he recognised from being in Emily's band being surrounded by a gaggle of excited young women. He waited patiently for them to leave before getting the attention of one of the guys.

"Hey dude, 'sup?" he asked.

"Uh… hi, not a whole lot. Cool show," Leo said awkwardly.

"Rad, man. Hey, look at you, you're like… not even human!" the band member continued excitedly.

"Yep. Well. Part human. Hey is Emily around do you know?" Leo asked and the guy smirked, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Oh, I get it man, I get it. Pretty hot right?" he grinned, lighting up his cigarette and taking a long slow drag.

"Yeah…" Leo trailed off, doing his best not to cough.

"You can't have her cool alien guy, there's a list… band first, then random dudes," he said. Leo decided that he was obviously pretty drunk and had no real idea what he was saying.

"Oh yeah sure, course, pass her around the band first, I'll have her when you're done," he said bitterly and the guy narrowed his eyes a little.

"Hey are you… are you… that guy?" he asked and Leo sighed.

"Could you be more specific?" he asked, looking over his shoulder and noticing Emily walking out with one of the other band members.

"The guy from all these songs she's been writing lately, the one that left her," he said and Leo shrugged.

"Depends how you interpret leaving someone."

Emily glanced around and caught sight of him, changing direction and heading straight for him.

Leo allowed her to drag him away by his upper arm until they were out of earshot of her bandmates and hidden around the front of one of the parked up tour buses.

"What are you doing here Leo?" she asked and he swallowed the nervous lump in his throat.

"I tried to call, but I couldn't get hold of you so I figured I'd just find you," he said, trying to sound casual. He was certain she must be able to hear his heart thundering in his ribcage.

"I didn't want you to find me, if I did then I would have called you back," she sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry I just… I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry if I hurt you when I ran away. I hope you can understand that I just needed my space, time to get everything clear in my mind and-" he was silenced as she pressed her lips to his. He kissed back and she pulled away.

"You… need to leave," she said sadly.

"What?... why?" he asked and she sighed again.

"Because… because I've made up my mind. I'm done with my old life," she said firmly, her face and body language strong, but her eyes giving her away.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" he asked and she sighed, pushing her hair back off her face.

"Do you have any idea what it feels like to grow up in a family where you're so different from everybody else?" she asked and he raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a serious question?"

"I know you were different… but I mean… like… completely different. My family have never accepted me for who I want to be! I don't want anything to do with Starfleet… I couldn't give a shit about any of it. I don't want to be a scientist, or a doctor, or a.. anything! I just want to play music. My family have never, ever tried to accept that. My dad thinks it's just a phase… and I can tell that I disappoint him and I just… I'm done. I'm an adult now. I don't have to go back," she said, the pitch of her voice rising as she fought back tears.

Leo looked at her for a few long seconds before taking a deep breath.

"Your family accept you. Your dad is proud of you, I know he is. Ok, sure, you are different, but you have this amazing talent that nobody else has, so of course you want to get out and use it. Just be… careful… who you associate yourself with," he said, glancing at the two bandmates who were now looking at him as if they were sizing him up for a fight.

"Just because you come from a Starfleet family doesn't mean that's all your future has to hold for you Emily," he added and she looked at the floor for a few seconds before looking back up at him.

"I'm sorry Leo, but I'm staying here," she said firmly.


"The cops in this town are fucking useless," David sighed as they got back to Chris' apartment, Chris locking the door and then triple checking it.

"Mhm," he said shortly, pacing in the kitchen, obviously preoccupied.

They'd gone to make a statement and the officer had looked at them as though they were crazy. The only advice they'd been given was to make sure they locked doors and windows at night.

David watched him for a moment before approaching him, one hand settling on the side of his face gently.

"When was the last time you took your meds?" he asked and Chris twitched a little.

"Don't know," he shrugged.

"You've been taking them, right?" David asked and Chris shrugged again.

"Chris these are important! They stop your body rejecting your lungs, they keep infections out, and they help with the pain, you need to take them," he said gently and Chris looked at the floor with a blank expression.

"Do you want me to help do it?" David asked and Chris hesitated for a moment before shaking his head fiercely.

"That's fine, I just need to see, ok? Just to make sure that you take them all," he said and Chris sidled over to the fridge, removing a few vials and loading up a hyprospray with liquid from the first vial.

He gripped the hypo between his teeth and his fingers fumbled for his belt and jeans buttons, getting them unfastened and forcing them down enough to expose a section of thigh muscle where he administered the hypo. He repeated the process twice more, injecting in the same spot before setting the dispenser on the side and wrenching up his jeans before walking right past David and into the bedroom. David watched as he searched through his drawers of clothes before retrieving a set of pyjama pants and changing into them, as well as a long sleeved black undershirt. He climbed into bed and lay curled on his side, facing away from David standing in the doorway.

"Chris?" David asked carefully. He didn't get a response.

David gave him a few moments before going over and sitting beside his curled form, one hand gently resting on his shoulder.

"You in pain?" he asked and Chris nodded.

"You could have had twice as much of the-"

"Don't want it," Chris grunted.

"Well… I don't know what to say. If you're in pain you need to take the shots for it, or deal with it."

Chris screwed his eyes tightly shut and held his breath for a few seconds before he suddenly launched himself from the bed, yanking the black undershirt over his head and throwing it aside.

"This," he growled, pointing at the heavy scarring on his chest.

"This is going to hurt for the rest of my life. This is what I have to deal with now, ok? So don't try to pull your whole 'I care about you' act, because there is nothing you can do that makes me feel any better," he raged before seemingly realising what he was saying. "It hurts," he whimpered, sinking back into the bed.

"I know it does," David said softly, not rising to Chris' words no matter how much they had stung.

"I want it to stop," he sighed before coughing a little.

"How long have you had a cough?" David asked quickly.

"I don't have a cough, just clearing my throat," Chris answered just as quickly.

"If your body is rejecting-"

"I don't have a cough," Chris said firmly and David retreated.

"Ok. That's fine then. I'm going to head home, try and get some sleep," David said, standing up. He knew that really he should stay, especially as Chris was acting strangely, but the bond was blocked from Chris' side and it was making him uneasy. It was also very late, or early, and he needed to get some sleep before his classes later in the day.

Chris gave him a puzzled and hurt look, looking all the more pathetic with his black eye that he'd refused to let the Doctor heal for him.

"I can't stay Chris, I don't know what's going on that you aren't telling me but it's making me really uneasy and I need to get some rest," David explained and Chris nodded sadly.

"Go," he said and David hesitated.

"It isn't because I-"

"I said go, David, are you deaf?" Chris asked and David shook his head, beating a hasty retreat from Chris' bedroom and letting himself out of the apartment.

The weak pre-dawn light illuminated his way home, and he was soon curling up in his own bed but not before he made a quick call to his father who was still at work.

"Chris isn't right, and that story he told me about whatever happened to him tonight, that's not all of it, he's hiding something," he explained.

Well try and get to the bottom of it then, and I'll talk to Spock and Seren, tell them to keep an eye on him from a distance so he don't get too suspicious.

"I also… he's been… erratic with his meds, and I noticed he had a little cough earlier, I don't know if it means anything, but I thought I better mention it," David added.

First time you've noticed it?

"Yeah, it is. I know he's been patchy with taking his shots for a while though, mainly the painkillers," David explained and his father was quiet for a moment.

The painkillers he has are going to be making him feel a little bit spaced out… disorientated even, so he probably doesn't want that feeling. There isn't really a lot of other options though, and we have to be careful because they can be addictive at this strength. The best option for him would be to wean himself off them entirely at this point. Taking them intermittently will be worse for him because he's getting the high and the crash from them when they wear off.

David sighed and ran a hand through his hair wearily. It had only been a few months since Chris' accident but he couldn't help but wonder how much more he would change. The shift in his personality since the incident had been enormous, but it seemed to be continuing to shift, moving further and further away from the person David had grown up with and bonded with.

"He's… unpredictable," David said shortly.

He's not… violent?

"No. God, no. He's just… I don't know. One minute he's walking around with his shirt off saying that he doesn't care what he looks like, the next he's utterly miserable and hiding for days at a time. Then he'll go out drinking all night with people from the academy when he knows he isn't meant to be… but the next minute he's telling me he's sorry and that he's trying to get better and I just… he got angry with me earlier so I left. I don't know what to do," he admitted. He'd never felt so helpless. In the few months since their bonding and then since Chris getting injured he'd fallen hopelessly in love with the man, in a way that he didn't fully understand and had never experienced before. Their bond was complicated, and since Chris getting injured had been patchy in how much time they spent trying to develop it.

Send him back to me whenever he has a chance. He can't be going out drinking; his system is under too much strain and adding alcohol to it is asking for trouble. He needs to see a shrink, it sounds like possibly PTSD could be kicking in. Has he… has he been talking about Jim at all?

"No. He's barely mentioned him, and I don't bring it up," David said, holding his breath as he waited for a response.

Bring it up, tactfully, see how he reacts.

"You're crazy!" David protested.

I don't think Chris' pain is all physical. I think we need to try and get a better idea of it. You said he's shut you out of his mind?

"Entirely, yeah, it's like a brick wall when I reach out to him."

Harsh as it sounds, I think we need to bring the wall down and then we can properly assess what we're dealing with.

David was silent for a few moments. He knew his father was right. Chris was getting himself worked up into a state, and it seemed the events of the night had pushed him just a little too far. He ended his call by agreeing with his father, then fell into his bed, tossing and turning and not really sleeping until his alarm went off a few short hours later.


Jim pressed the side of his face against the cold glass of the viewing portal. He was cracking up, he knew he was. He'd spent the afternoon hanging out with his father. His dead father.

Archer had brought him a pile of items that had been found in the shuttle along with him.

One of the items was his communicator, and once the Captain had left him alone in his quarters he did the only thing he could do. He called Spock, he called Bones, he called the kids. None of the transmissions connected, but he babbled helplessly to each silence that met each transmission. It only served to make him feel more alone.

It took him a little while to pull himself together after that and by the time he did, he was hungry.

He headed out of his quarters to go and find some dinner, walking alone through the winding corridors that led to the mess hall. Before he got there he saw someone he recognised, someone he knew well. The way they looked back at him said they recognised him too.

Spock Prime. Being led along the corridor by an enthusiastic looking Archer. Spock raised an eyebrow slightly in a way that Jim could only understand as recognition and Jim glanced at Archer who paused to introduce them.

"Mr Kirk, this is Ambassador Selek of Vulcan, he's with us to help finalise a new treaty that the Vulcans are heavily involved with," Archer said.

"Ambassador, pleasure to meet you," Jim said politely, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as he met Spock Prime's eye.

He knows. And this IS him. It isn't some other alternate universe Spock, this is the same Spock from Delta Vega and he knows me.

"And a pleasure to meet you too, Jim," Spock said, raising the Ta'al. Archer looked between the two men, his brow crumpling into a small and quizzical frown.

"I didn't tell you Mr Kirk's first name, Ambassador," he pointed out.

"Forgive me, I had merely heard a colleague addressing Mr Kirk earlier and felt it more in line with human customs to use one's given name. Am I incorrect in my belief this was common practice?" Spock asked, playing dumb so perfectly Jim almost believed him himself.

"No… ambassador, it's not a problem at all. It was nice to meet you sir," Jim said, nodding to Archer as he passed the two men and continued heading to the mess hall, though he was no longer hungry at all. He glanced back over his shoulder and caught Spock glance at him too.

He's come to help me find a way back.


Spock shut off the shower. He brushed off most of the water droplets from his pale skin with his hands before stepping out of the cubicle and picking up his towel and drying himself methodically. First his face, then neck and shoulders, down his arms and chest, over his torso and down his legs and over his feet, before rubbing at his hair to remove the water from it. He'd always preferred sonic showers, the water was something Jim had favoured and it sometimes helped him feel closer to him.

The silence of the house was still perturbing to him. He was used to there being at least some background noise, but now there was nothing. Jim wasn't playing music, or singing in the kitchen while he cooked. It was too quiet, especially with the kids gone too.

Seren was working a lot, and when she did come home she took a minimum amount of rest, showered and then left again.

Christopher lived mainly at his apartment but still would come over occasionally. His moods would be erratic though and sometimes he would barely say a thing.

Leo was currently away searching for Emily McCoy, against everyone's advice.

Spock dressed in casual clothing and walked downstairs, feet bare against the carpet. The carpet Jim had chosen to be soft against Spock's feet when he was home as they were more sensitive than those of a human.

Everything in the house bore a constant reminder of the man who should be living there, and that combined with the deafening silence was almost too much to bear.

Spock picked up his communicator, planning on calling Leo to find out when he would be home. He paused when he noticed a small symbol in the top corner of the screen. The symbol told him he had a recorded message, though he could not recall hearing the communicator sound so was unsure as to when he may have missed a transmission.

He instructed the device to play the recording aloud and took it with him into the kitchen as he began to make himself a cup of herbal tea. He selected a mug from the cupboard as the audio began to play.

Hey Spock it's me. I've just picked Chris up from soccer practice and we're gonna go get some groceries now. Would you mind reading Leo the next chapter of his book until I get home? See you in a bit, bye.

Spock held his breath and screwed his eyes closed, the mug falling to the floor and shattering.

That message was over ten years old.

His heart pounded in his ears, until another sound interrupted.

Spock.

The audio hadn't finished. It crackled, Jim's voice filling the room. Spock's eyes were wide as he backed away from the device, horrified.

Spock. H-

The transmission crackled as Spock's back hit the opposite row of cabinets.

Here Spock. I'm h-here.

"Jim," Spock whispered into the emptiness of the house.

I'm here.

There was the sound of more static and then a click. Spock almost leapt out of his skin when the female computer voice sounded following the end of the message.

End of messages. To repeat, key one, to delete, key two, to save or backup, key three.

Spock just stared at the device. He was certain his mind was playing tricks on him. It must be. How could Jim possibly be communicating with him? He couldn't be. Jim was dead. Dead people can't communicate.

Spock left his communicator on the side in the kitchen and went upstairs, changed into his Starfleet uniform and went to work. He stayed on an extra four hours at the end of his teaching day, wanting to avoid the house and the communicator he was now so illogically afraid of.

He didn't tell anyone of what had happened.

When he ran out of excuses to remain on campus and darkness had fallen, he returned to the house, feeling inexplicably nervous as he unlocked the door and instructed all the lights on at eighty-percent.

He cleaned up the smashed mug from the morning and made himself a quick dinner, not once looking at the communicator.

Much as he hated it, he put on the television, watching anything he could find to keep his mind vaguely occupied until he decided he could probably sleep.

He decided to check the communicator before he went to bed, just to be certain that none of the children had tried to contact him with anything urgent.

He had a text message from Leo telling him he was staying one more day in Europe but would be back in the morning, but nothing else.

The small device clasped in his hand, Spock went up to bed. He changed and then left the device on his nightstand while he went to clean his teeth. When he returned he glanced at it again, panic flooding him as he noticed the small voicemail symbol illuminated once again.

Fingers trembling, he pressed play.

Hey Spock it's me. I've just picked Chris up from soccer practice and we're gonna go get some groceries now. Would you mind reading Leo the next chapter of his book until I get home? See you in a bit, bye.

There was a long pause and then a loud burst of static that made Spock tense up as he fought back his natural urge to fight or sprint away from the threat.

Spock it's me. God… Spock I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to… I… I'm so sorry. I love you. I'm trying. I'm trying to find a way, I just don't understand and I… I love you so much.

The message ended and Spock held his breath before doing something entirely illogical. He dialled Jim's comm. frequency.

There were a few seconds before it clicked through to his voicemail.

He waited for the recorded greeting to finish before he spoke.

"Jim… I… I do not know if you will receive this message. I am… afraid. I have been receiving messages I cannot understand. You are… gone. I know this. My mind is becoming… I am disillusioned. I know you cannot be communicating with me, however, though I am aware it is only my own mind… I am… frightened."

Spock paused for a moment, trying to steady his breathing.

"I am frightened, Jim."

He cut off the message and put the device away in the drawer of the nightstand, putting the whole thing down to a nightmare that he was hoping would go away by the morning.


A/N

Ok, I have to admit here, I actually gave myself the hebejeebies a little with that last section as I was writing it! Did I creep anyone else out?

Anyway, hope everyone is well and enjoyed this latest part!

Now, I received a review that I'd like to address... the only reason I'm doing so here is because it was posted anonymously so I couldn't respond. Here's the review:

Guest chapter 23 . Jul 22

Come on! We've waited for months for the conclusion since you left us with a major cliffhanger and now you're just adding more twists and loops. None of this came up before now. We want to appreciate what you're doing writing this but I feel like any day you'll be busy again, stop writing, and leave us with more questions than ever and few answers. Why not make another story altogether if there are to be so many new concepts.

First off, Guest, thanks for taking your time in reviewing, I really appreciate your feedback. I never intended to 'leave' with a major cliffhanger. I became quite seriously unwell quite suddenly and basically put my entire life on hold. I'm (quite clearly) not a professional or full-time writer, so I don't always have the time to give to the story. In the months I was absent I was fighting to recover, to keep my job, to keep my life together and to keep a roof over my head. I'm really sorry that these events meant I had to take an unexpected hiatus. I don't plan on being 'busy again' with serious illness any time soon, so hopefully I won't inconvenience you again with another break while I try to get my health back on track.

The concepts that are now emerging in the story are not new to me. As I have said previously, I will not abandon this story because I have already written the ending. These new concepts are key to the direction of the story and the leading up to that ending, which was actually written BEFORE I wrote the beginning. (I know that's bad practice, but I had it in my mind... and I just... yeah.) If the story was predictable, it would be boring. If you feel so strongly about what I'm doing, then please do feel free to stop reading, but of course you are more than welcome to stick around and find out the conclusion.

Aaaaanyway. Now that's off my chest... hope you're all enjoying what's going on? I know the plot is changing direction, I know it's a big leap, as I've said above... it's to meet the ending I already had written right from the start. If you have any questions about anything you feel I may not have explained, do leave me a message or a review and I'll be more than happy to answer for you :)

'Til next time!

P.S. The little section of lyrics from Emily's gig are Paramore - Escape Route - these are NOT mine and I do not claim ownership of them in any way. In my mind Emily has a big voice like Hayley of Paramore so it fitted well, also with the theme too.