Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chris cleared his throat and stood up, feeling all the eyes of the people in the room turn to him.

"My name's Christopher, and I'm an addict," he mumbled.

"Hi Christopher," mumbled back the circle of disinterested looking individuals. They all wanted to be there about as much as he did.

"I uh… I've been coming here for over a year now, and I've never shared before so…" he trailed off, looking down at his feet and shifting awkwardly.

"I guess I wanted to share that I've recently had something of a slip up. The person who was helping me stay clean moved away suddenly and I couldn't handle it… I… freaked out, got wasted yesterday. I'm so… I don't know. Disappointed? Ashamed? I don't know, all of the above, I guess."

He paused. Nobody was listening. Somehow that made it easier to talk.

"It's been two years now since I lost my dad and I just… it doesn't get any easier. In fact if anything I feel more lost than ever. I felt so sure that I was doing the right thing and now I don't know that I am anymore," he said vaguely. He had to be careful about going into any detail; he didn't know for certain that nobody recognised him.

He weakly trailed off before sitting back down and sliding down into his seat, wishing the ground would just swallow him up and he could disappear.

He'd obviously scared Leo as when he'd woken up his twin was sitting watching him intently with a fresh glass of water for him placed carefully on the coffee table.

His hangover hadn't been too bad, and that made him feel worse. He should be suffering. He should be miserable.

But he wasn't.

Not in the way that he should be.

He was only sad that David was gone, not that he'd ruined his long stretch of sobriety, not that he'd let himself down, only that David was gone and hadn't even bothered to tell him to his face that he was being transferred. He kept a steady pressure on the bond from his side, it was blocked, but he wanted David to know he was thinking about him.

The rest of the meeting dragged on.

Chris drank two more cups of the vile excuse for coffee before leaving once everyone had shared that wanted to, sidling off before anyone tried to talk to him and drawing his coat tight around himself as he stepped out into the frigid air of the street, his breath immediately rising in a mist in front of him.

A familiar black car idling in front of the building caught his eye and he approached it, peeking inside.

The driver inclined his head in invitation and Chris opened the door, grateful of the warm rush of air that greeted him as he sat down in the comfortable leather seat.

"Hey kid," Bones greeted, sounding much less gruff than usual.

"Hey Bones," Chris said, barely above a mumble.

"Got you a coffee, the cinnamon one you like? The one that's going to give you diabetes," he hinted at the cup sitting in the passenger side cup holder. It was from his favourite place – where he and David went all the time. He only allowed himself one of this particular type of coffee a month – as a special treat.

"Thanks," he said glumly, picking it up and taking a sip. He should have been more grateful, it was a thoughtful gesture, but today he just didn't have it in him to respond properly to it.

"You wanna go somewhere and talk for a bit?" he asked and Chris turned to look at him.

"I don't know," Chris sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Come on, talk to me. I can promise you right now he's bein' a prize jackass. Joanna told me someone kicked his ass, wouldn't say who, but he briefly stopped by at her place before he split. I'm sorry I wasn't home… I probably could have stopped him. You don't need to be… reacting like this," he said sadly and Chris sighed again.

"I know… but… it's cold, and I hurt. I actually hurt everywhere at the moment, and I'm not in the mood to deal with this kind of bullshit from him. I was trying to be supportive, you know? If he'd have got the mission and gone, I'd have backed him entirely. But this? This is unfair," he said, frustrated, finally letting his annoyance surface.

"It is unfair. And he knows that you need stability, he knows that he can't be flaking out on you. I think something must be going on here that we aren't seeing," Bones said, beginning to drive before Chris could get out of the car and run off.

Chris took a sip of his coffee. It was just the perfect temperature, so Bones must have been waiting for him for at least ten minutes.

"You telling me he's in trouble somehow?" Chris asked and Bones made an indecisive noise.

"You know how bad he wants to be Captain now that he's got it in his head."

"Stubborn asshole," Chris grumbled in agreement.

"He is. But… I think he does need to focus. He's barely going to make the cut to be Captain. Focusing will help him. I know he can do it; he's just got to knuckle down and actually get on with it. I mean, he's young enough that he could afford it, but time isn't going to be on his side forever," Bones rambled and Chris frowned, rising to defend David before he could help himself.

"Not good enough?" he asked and Bones sighed.

"Not… I don't know. He aint Jim," Bones said and it was Chris' turn to sigh.

"But not every Captain is."

"Every Captain should be. They should have those exact qualities. Pain in my ass though he was, your dad was the best Captain Starfleet ever saw."

Chris was silent for a while, just watching the world pass by outside the car, until he realised where they were going.

"Are we going to-"

Chris' question was cut off by the click of the car doors locking.

"I think it's important you talk to him."

"I don't want to have anything to do with him," Chris protested, pulling at the handle of the car door though he knew he was locked in.

"Kid, he's your father, it's important you maintain a relationship with him," Bones said firmly and Chris sighed.

"But he doesn't want a relationship with me. And I can tell. And I feel like he never did, so why should I bother?"

Bones was silent for a moment before he answered quietly.

"Because… as hard as it can be for him to say it, he loves you."

*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*

Jim did his best to brace himself as the shuttle shook violently.

All of the gravitational sensors were off the charts, alarms were blaring, everything was telling him to abort his current course through the singularity, pull back, change direction, do anything but what he was doing.

Outside of the small craft was… darkness. A deeper blackness than he had ever before seen.

There were no stars, no lights, simply nothing but blackness.

The ship was violently shaking, the alarms now warning him he was exceeding the manufacturers specifications for maximum force levels.

Deciding he would be better to be safe than sorry in the event of a hull breach he sprinted to the rear of the ship where the Enterprise crew had been kind enough to donate him one of their suits.

He piled into it and quickly rammed the helmet on his head, making sure his atmosphere was stable before returning to the cockpit.

Things seemed to be only getting worse; he could feel the compression on the ship like a heavy pressure on his chest. The ship was practically groaning under the strain and he was on edge, waiting for something to explode or decompress or simply disintegrate, send him blasting out into the abyss to – as Scotty put it – freeze, die and explode!

At least the suit would give him a few more seconds…

Before he could brace himself he was flung suddenly forwards, sending him careering headfirst into the glass viewing portal at the front of the ship, his head taking most of the blow, sending a splitting pain through his skull.

He blinked hard and then gave in, closing his eyes and letting whatever would come, come.

The next thing he knew was warmth.

He wiggled his fingers and toes, confused to feel soft, dry sand between them and opening his eyes so quickly that the bright light of the sun felt like it was blinding him.

He allowed himself a few seconds before he opened his eyes more slowly, giving himself a few seconds to adjust before sitting up and looking around.

He was on the beach.

The beach where he used to always take the kids when they were growing up.

Looking off into the distance he could see a man and woman playing in the shallow water with a young girl who looked no older than two.

He was sure he'd had this dream… but then he couldn't remember.

He made his way over to them, the sand between his toes warm and comforting, completely at odds with the cold unease he felt as he got closer and recognised the young man.

"Leo?" he called out.

He turned and grinned.

He looked older now then when he had last seen him. He had a few days of stubble on his face, a few light lines around his eyes. His hair was long and scruffy, hanging down to level with his jaw.

"Hey, glad you could make it," he said, splashing his way out of the water and over to where Jim was standing

"Where… are we?" Jim asked, feeling like that was the most obvious question.

"At the beach, duh," Leo said unhelpfully, shrugging and pushing his hair back.

They stared at each other for a few moments before Jim spoke again.

"Is this real?" Jim asked and Leo shook his head.

"No. It's a figment of your imagination. You might even be dead, who knows," he answered honestly and Jim sighed turning back and looking towards the top of the beach. It looked almost like there was nothing beyond the end of the sand, that this was the entirety of the world his mind created for him.

"You know my wife…" Leo smiled as the young woman approached. Jim felt his heart skip as he recognised the woman with the young girl balanced on her hip.

"Emily? You guys… you made it, huh?" Jim asked, glancing between them.

"Wasn't easy," Leo chuckled, taking the toddler from Emily and turning her to look at Jim.

She had the most striking eyes – two completely different colours. One was his own , instantly recognisable 'Kirk blue', the other an olive green. Her head of blonde curls danced in the ocean breeze and she giggled as she pointed her chubby hand at Jim.

Jim reached out to touch her fingers, gasping as her hand slipped right through his.

"If you don't get home… none of this will happen," Emily warned and Jim frowned. Leo inclined his head in one direction down the shore and Jim followed the gaze, spotting a lone dark-haired figure in a gold Starfleet shirt.

"David?" Jim asked and Emily nodded.

"Go talk to him, we'll be right here," Leo said, stepping back and allowing Jim to walk past him.

As Jim got closer David turned and recognised him.

"Took you long enough."

"To… what?" Jim asked. He was shocked to see how awful David looked. He looked exhausted, haggard even.

"To get back. Everyone fell apart when you left. You've taken your sweet time to get back. But you're too late," David said, face crumpling as he sank down to sit in the sand.

"He's gone, Jim. He killed himself. He couldn't take it anymore, the pain got too much for him," David explained and Jim felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach.

"Chris is… dead?" he asked and David nodded.

"And it's your fault. You weren't there when he needed you. I wasn't there when he needed me. We both let him down and now he's gone."

"David I- I- don't know how to find you guys. I don't know how to get home," Jim said, his voice coming out strained as he tried not to cry. How could Chris have done such a thing?

"Figure it out! Or there's going to be more blood on your hands, because Spock will be next," he warned, inclining his head down the beach in the same way Leo had done, Jim looking further along and noticing two dark haired figures sitting in the sand. He recognised them instantly.

Spock and Seren.

From this distance it looked almost like he couldn't stand on his own, that she was supporting him.

Jim took off running towards them, feet sinking into the sand.

He seemed not to be getting any closer, but his feet seemed to sink deeper with every step.

"Spock!" he called out, running harder, his feet sinking up to his ankles with every step now.

"Spock wait!"

He sunk to his knees and that was it, he was stuck.

The sand began to swallow him, quickly sinking into the grasp of the earth, passing his knees, then up to his waist were seconds later.

"Spock! No!"

The sand continued to engulf him. He could see Leo, Emily and David now standing above him, watching him sink, but they didn't try to help him as the sand finally covered his face and the world turned black.

Jim gasped, coming to his senses and thrashing to escape the imaginary sand. It took him a few seconds to realise it had all been a vivid dream, the result of bashing his head when he was flung forwards.

He felt dizzy and his head was throbbing, but other than that, he was grateful that he seemed to have cleared the black hole.

"Computer, what's our status?" he asked hoarsely. He must have been yelling out loud in his dream because his throat felt like it was on fire.

Systems damaged. Hull integrity at fifty-two percent.

"Which systems?" he gulped out, getting back into the seat in the cockpit with some difficulty. He'd really bashed his head, to the point where he was beginning to lose vision in his left eye.

Warp drive offline. Life support operational. Scanners operational. Weapons operational. Shields offline. Communications offline.

"Great," he ground out, biting the inside of his mouth to try to give him something else to focus on than the unbearable pain in his skull.

He could feel a numb tingling in the tips of his fingers and toes and knowing he was going into shock scrambled out of the seat and towards the food synthesiser near the back of the craft. He needed something high in sugar to try to keep himself conscious. He keyed in a code and nothing happened. He jabbed at it again with still no result.

"Computer, status of the replicator unit?" he gasped out as his head throbbed again. He could see a few flecks of red on the inside glass of the helmet and knew he must have split his head open. Bones would kill him. That's if he ever made it back to see Bones again.

Replicator unit offline. Damaged.

"Can we fix it?" Jim asked, leaning against the wall and sliding down it slowly. His vision was fading around the edges, tunnelling in as he started to pass out.

Negative. Damage irreparable. Recommended course of action – replace unit.

"Well that's – shit- very helpful computer, thanks," Jim bit out, releasing the clamps on his helmet and taking it off, laying back on the floor and allowing unconsciousness to take him.

*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~*

"I had the weirdest dream last night," Leo sighed, taking another sip of his giant milkshake.

"Yeah? I had a pretty weird dream too," Emily said, leaning in and stealing a sip.

"Hey! You ordered diet soda, you back up off my milkshake!" he glared, moving his drink further away from her reach.

"Aww. But I just wanted a little. I couldn't drink a whole one of those, I'd put on ten pounds instantly," she sighed and he snorted.

"You would not. These aren't that unhealthy."

"Oh please. I grew up in my house with doctor buzzkill taking away all the nice food. That right there is probably about a thousand calories," she said, pointing to his drink which he protectively clasped his hands around.

"You don't listen to her, she's jealous of my metabolism, she doesn't mean to insult you personally," he mumbled to the glass and she laughed, kicking him playfully in the shin under the table.

"So tell me about your dream?" she prompted and he sighed, scratching his head.

"I don't know. I only remember parts of it," he said vaguely.

"Tell me the parts of it?" she asked and he leant back in the booth.

"I… he was there. You know… who I mean," he trailed off. He still couldn't say Jim's name. She nodded in understanding.

"I… well… we were at the beach. There was a kid there? Somebody's kid was there, I don't remember. Anyway. He was there, and… maybe you were there? I don't know. Like I said, I just know he was there, there was a little kid… you… and maybe Bones? I really… I don't know. Let's talk about something else? Wanna go make out?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"And what makes you think you've got my forgiveness?" she asked and he leant forwards over the table, close to her so he could talk much more quietly in the busy little diner.

"You've hung out with me on to one for the first time in almost two years?" he suggested and she shrugged.

"You're having a tough week, everybody is. Plus I don't have anything better to do," she said casually and he pretended to look hurt.

"So I'm just… killing time?"

"Pretty much," she smirked and he gasped.

"I'm so offended. You should just leave. Right now. And don't come back!" he said dramatically and she playfully slapped his face, leaving her hand there, resting on his cheek.

"What else?" she asked and he kept his eyes locked on hers, tongue darting out to lick his lips.

"You uh… you're making eyes at me?" he asked and she smirked.

"Anything else?"

"I don't know. But seeing as I can read your mind… this game is kind of silly," he said, placing his hand over the top of hers and removing it, setting her hand back on the table.

He was getting mixed signals from her, much as he wanted to believe her behaviour, which was becoming more and more positive, he couldn't help but pay attention to the little snippets of her mind that he would see whenever they'd make any sort of physical contact.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked and he shrugged.

He could feel that she was apprehensive. That she didn't trust him. That she didn't know what she really wanted.

"Nothing," he said quickly, flashing a smile.

It annoyed him that she was so uncertain. He'd kept to all of her terms… stopped sleeping around, acted like his old self… but she wasn't sure she could trust him.

"How can I make you trust me?" he blurted out and she frowned.

"Leo I do tr-"

"No. You don't, because every time you touch me all I can feel is how much you don't trust me. I know what happened two years ago sucked. I know it was wrong of me to not tell you when I was sick, and I know it was wrong of me to run off and hide when I did without telling you. I'm sorry for doing that, I've already told you I'm sorry. I just… what do you need from me? Because I'm here Emily and I'm telling you that you're the one I want. I just want to get to see where what we had back then was going, because I liked it," he said and she took a moment before she responded.

"There's nothing you can do. I just need time. You really hurt me when you ran off like that," she answered quietly and he nodded, reaching across the table and tentatively taking her hand in his.

"I know. I'm sorry," he said, sounding much more sincere now and less defensive.

"Can we… start over?" she asked and he smiled.

"I'd like that."

He changed his grip on her hand so they were now in a handshake and shook her hand.

"I'm Leo, nice to meet you," he said cheerily and she mock-glared.

"Goofball," she sighed, taking her hand away.

He hadn't missed the warmth he'd felt coming from her though, and hoped that he could give her all the time she needed. It was true what he'd said, he'd really never felt this way for anyone else and would give anything to pick back up where they left off.

*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~*

Bones took Chris to Spock's house.

He had to call it Spock's house because he couldn't bear to think of it as 'Jim and Spock's house' anymore. Jim was dead. He had to keep telling himself this. It had been two whole years now. He wasn't coming back.

Once he'd managed to coax Chris out of the car and into the house he'd cracked and started to sob messily on Spock's shoulder.

To be honest, the doctor had been relieved to see him releasing his emotions in a more positive way than getting completely obliterated and staggering to Leo's apartment.

He gave Leo a quick call just to check up on him. It had been a rough week with the anniversary, then David vanishing, and then all of the fallout from that. He'd sounded ok if a little strained so the doctor decided paying him a visit was next on his list, after he'd made a quick trip to London to demand David give him an answer.

It was difficult to put how disappointed he was with his son into words.

He'd never been Chris' biggest fan, but in the two years since he'd been injured it was almost like he'd undergone a complete personality change. He was so devoted to David, so patient with him when he was being his usually pig-headed self, so happy to just do whatever made David happiest. He was caring and hardworking, doing well at the Academy.

But.

He was also a ticking time bomb. His emotions were erratic still, and his pain levels were sometimes still unmanageable. More than once he'd come to the doctor, shaking just for being in the hospital, and asked to be knocked out for the night just so he could sleep.

Bones hated himself for not having anything left to do to help.

He could improve the scarring, but the pain was a permanent feature. The only meds strong enough to properly manage it were highly addictive, so Chris couldn't have them unless it was under his strict supervision, and he preferred not to have them at all. He described the pain coming back after a few hours of relief as like giving a child a puppy for an afternoon and then taking it away again. It just wasn't worth the brief happiness it brought him.

David seemed to be the best comfort to him. He'd watch them around each other and Chris always seemed a little lighter when David was there, always a little less miserable. He stood a little straighter and smiled a little brighter, and though it was nice to see, Bones wasn't sure David was quite aware of what he had in Chris. Somebody who'd never leave him. Who's be loyal to the very end no matter what the personal cost.

He'd seen it before. Jim. Jim was so painfully loyal to Spock, regardless of the faults in their relationship, and he'd watched it slowly start to destroy Jim. He couldn't let David destroy Chris.

He walked a little quicker than usual once he parked the car outside HQ. He'd beam across planet to the London headquarters, it was much more convenient than a shuttle, and he still hated those damn things even after all these years. Much as he hated the transporter, he hated the shuttle more.

"McCoy," A voice dragged him from his thoughts as he walked through the main atrium. He turned and felt a scowl creep onto his face.

"Mitchell. How are you?" he asked and Mitchell straightened.

"That's Admiral to you, Doctor," he corrected and Bones frowned more deeply. Nobody pulled rank like that.

"And as I'm off duty, Admiral, I'll be carrying on my way," he said, turning and walking away from the Admiral. He hated that guy so much he actually thought his career might be worth punching him. He only had to work a few more years until he could take early retirement, so he'd continue to dream about punching Mitchell until maybe the day he could afford to hand in his resignation.

"Doctor. Come back here right now or I'll have you arrested for insubordination," Mitchell's voice warned from behind him and Bones stopped in his tracks, turning back to face the younger man.

"How can I help you Admiral?" he asked in as sarcastic a tone as he dared.

"Enterprise is going back out in three weeks time. Would you care to take up your old commission?" he asked and McCoy shook his head.

"No sir, I'm plenty occupied enough here planetside," he declined.

He couldn't go back out without Jim. It wasn't even conceivable in his mind.

"No problem. As you were Leonard," Mitchell said in a far too friendly tone for Bones' liking.

He walked away as quickly as he could whilst still looking casual and hurried to the transporter room, flashing his Starfleet ID to the officers posted there and requesting his destination.

He was relieved to find there were no issues and he got straight through, re-materialising in London HQ moments later.

It took him a few minutes of wandering to remember where to find the accommodations office, and then a few more minutes of pestering until he found out where David had been placed. At least he had a single room so he wouldn't have to worry about any roommate wandering in whilst he was being told off by his dad, Bones thought to himself as he set off across the grounds towards the accommodations buildings.

David's room was in the middle of a row, on the bottom floor, pretty much guaranteed to have maximum annoying noise from neighbours.

Bones rang the chime and waited. After about twenty second he rang it again and then heard shuffling.

The door cracked open and David groaned, trying to push the door closed but his father had outwitted him and quickly put his boot in the way.

"Let me in and this will go a lot easier," he warned and David surrendered immediately, walking back into the dark room. He was only wearing boxers and he snatched up a pair of jeans from the floor and hastily wrenched them on.

His room was trashed and he'd barely been there 24 hours. Clothes were strewn everywhere and the blinds were closed despite it only being early evening.

"You been sleeping?" Bones asked and David nodded, yawning and sitting on the edge of the bed, drawing his knees up to his chest.

"Don't offer me a seat, I'm fine," Bones said sarcastically, pulling the chair out from under the desk and placing it facing the bed, then sitting himself down facing his son.

David was doing his best to keep his face turned away but the black eye had already been spotted when he opened the door.

"So who hit you?"

"Do we have to talk about it?"

"Yes. Who was it? Another cadet?" Leonard asked.

David grabbed the comforter from the bed and wrapped it around his bare torso, nuzzling his face into the soft fabric as he let his head fall onto his knees.

"You should press charges. They'd probably get expelled from the academy for that, it looks pretty nasty. Provided you didn't hit them first of course," Leonard provoked. He was trying to get David to answer any way he could.

"You have no idea," David sighed, sitting up and turning his face to look directly at his father who immediately went into doctor mode.

"You see anybody about that?" he asked, getting up and taking a closer look.

His eye was swollen painfully and coming up in dark purple bruising, a nasty cut just below his eyebrow.

David shook his head and winced away as his father tried to lightly touch the wound.

"Nothing's broken, just a damn nasty right hook," he said, backing off and letting David go back to hugging his knees and resting his chin on top of them.

Both men were silent for a moment before Leonard spoke again. Hard as this was going to be to hear, David needed to know the truth.

"Chris got blind drunk last night. Stumbled his way to Leo's place and crashed there. He was at AA this morning," he said and David took a slow deep inhale, resting his forehead on his knees now and closing his eyes tightly.

"I'm so torn. I know that I could tip him. One way or the other. I could give that perfect life that he wants, that stability, that commitment, but on the other hand… the depth of his feelings for me and how dependant he's become could destroy him. And I hate to feel responsible for him hurting… but what was I supposed to do?" David asked, looking up. Leonard was taken aback to see it looked like he was holding back tears.

"He just wanted you to tell him straight, that's all. To have given him the time and told him to his face," he explained and David looked at the floor for a long moment.

"What-" he started and then stopped himself.

"What if I told you… that it wasn't a cadet that hit me?" he asked quietly and Leonard raised an eyebrow slightly, leaning closer.

"Somebody not in Starfleet?"

"Somebody very much in Starfleet," David said seriously, shifting uncomfortably under his father's hard stare.

"An Officer?"

David shook his head.

"Worse."

"An Admiral?" he asked, anger rising as David nodded slowly, the first two tears spilling and running down his face.

"I… I can't go back there. I need to stay here, keep my head down, and just do everything I can do get on a ship from here," he said quickly, wiping his face with the back of his hand and sniffling.

Leonard moved and sat on the bed beside his son. He had a good idea which Admiral it was, but needed to be completely sure.

"Did he threaten you?" he asked in a low voice.

David nodded.

"With what?"

"That my career will be over before it begins. He was talking all of this shit about Jim and Spock… then he had this… picture of me and Chris," he gulped.

"Something sexual?"

"No. No nothing that bad. I kissed him on the cheek… at that stupid awards ceremony that we went to with Emily. I thought… I was being subtle. I thought nobody would see," he said. He sounded completely crushed.

"If they take Starfleet away from me… it'd be bad. But if they took it away from Chris? He wouldn't cope with it. By doing what he wants I'm protecting both of us. I'm making sure that he can still follow the career he wants. I just… have to stay here for a year, get some extra credits, maybe date a girl or something… so nobody suspects-"

"Who hit you?" Leonard asked more firmly.

"Why? Why does it matter? Aren't they all the same? Don't the whole Admiralty feel this way now? I just don't understand where everything went so wrong. It's like we've gone back three hundred years overnight! I'm not doing anything wrong. Chris isn't doing anything wrong. Nobody should get to decide who another person can and can't love, can and can't marry, or… die for… or anything. That isn't how the world should work," David said, a few more tears spilling and his voice becoming increasingly choked up.

"No, kid. That aint how the world should work. Unfortunately sometimes things don't work as we think they should. I can't tell you why things are going back this way. I can tell you that I agree with your viewpoint. Man, woman, alien… love is love. Can't fight it."

David nodded and sniffled, reaching forwards and rummaging in his bag before removing a plain black box.

"I… I was going to ask him if… if he'd marry me," he sniffled, handing the box to his father who peeked it open.

Inside was a plastic ring that Leonard immediately recognised from his sons childhood. Christopher had had a very intricate model of the solar system in his bedroom as young teenager. He and David had argued one day, and David had broken it out of spite. Jim had retrieved all the pieces that had scattered everywhere when David had hurled it across the room, but the only missing piece was Saturn's ring.

"I was sorting out some old stuff a few months ago and found that… and I remembered that stupid fight. And that he still sometimes goes on about that stupid Saturn ring and I just… yeah. I have a real ring. But I… I wanted to ask him with that one. I know it sounds really dumb…" David trailed off and looked up to find his father smiling at him.

"Let him come visit you, just straighten things out between you, ok? Please don't let him think you don't love him. It's clear that you really do, but in leaving the way you did you made him question that. Please fix it… he's really hurting," he said quietly and David nodded and sniffled again.

"I know. I can feel it… I just… I don't want to tell him that we have to be even more secretive, you know? It's hard enough as it is. Whenever we go out anywhere and we have to act like buddies I can feel how much it's hurting him. I mean I hate it too, but it's like it physically paining him. And this thing with Emily? Lying about it? It's never going to work," David sighed.

Leonard stood up, picking up David's communicator from the bedside table and tossing it to him.

"Call him, sounds like you have a lot to talk about," he instructed, turning to leave the room.

"Oh and David? I'll talk to Mitchell, don't worry," he assured. He left before David could try to argue with him and was soon on his way back to San Francisco, seething with anger and wishing the one person who could help him properly get revenge on Mitchell was still alive.

A/N

Hey hey hey you wonderful people! I know this part is a little shorter than my usual, but after the overwhelming response to the last chapter I just really wanted to get something out for you guys to express my gratitude!

I've really knuckled down to get this written and it just didn't flow right if I added anything else, so the rest will (probably) go into the next chapter, which I'm hoping will be out in the same sort of time-frame :)

Thank you so much for the reviews on the last part, it's fantastic to know there are so many people out there still reading after all this time! For everyone who's sent wishes with regards to my health... the latest update is I have some new medication, but it makes me feel dizzy and kind of drunk so I've not been taking anything for about two weeks now. I feel better for it I think, just been trying to eat and drink as cleanly as possible and it seems that's helping :)

Now... as I'm tying up all the ends and with my silly frazzled brain, I'm looking for someone to bounce ideas off and to help me keep the plot together and generally just talk to about the story/Star Trek awesomeness. Anybody interested? Drop me a message if so! 3