A/N

Hi!

I'm still here. I know I begin every chapter with the same... but... yes. I'm still here. Still gradually inching towards the end of the story at a snails pace. This chapter has some big stuff, I hope anyone out there still reading will enjoy. As ever, reviews are welcomed and appreciated more than you know. Thank you to everyone who's sent their well-wishes with regards to my health, I'm pleased to say that I'm doing a little better :)

*~*~*~*xxx*~*~*~*

Chapter Thirty-One

"It's about damn time you showed up," McCoy grumbled as Spock walked into his office, standing straight by the door as it swished closed behind him.

"My apologies for the delay, I have been extremely busy-"

"Not me you need to apologise to Spock, it's your kid that almost died today. Twice. So save it," he hissed.

Spock barely flinched and crossed the room.

"I received troubling news today, from the colony," he said, now standing just the other side of the desk Leonard was sitting at.

"Mhm. I'm sure that was more important than what's happening here?" he asked. He felt so conflicted, part of him wanting to scream and yell and tell Spock he was being a terrible parent, but another part of him knowing the emotional turmoil he was still going through following Jim's death, and not wanting to make that pain worse.

"Of course the health of my children is my priority. I understood Leo to be in a stable condition, and determined that-"

"Listen. Spock. I can't just… ignore it. One of my kids stubs their damn toe and I need to be there for them, my parental instinct drives me to it. We're very different, you and I, but I really have to say that you're outdoing yourself with the cold indifference at the moment," he basically spat and Spock did flinch this time, but rather than turning to leave or firing back, he sank into the chair opposite Leonard, sitting calmly at the desk, back still infuriatingly straight.

"The news from the colony was very ominous. My counterpart is missing. He has been missing for several months now. I am concerned for his welfare," he said flatly and Leonard raised an eyebrow.

"Well, at least there's another one of you, plenty of Spock's to go around," he retorted and Spock didn't respond.

"Pease could you update me on Leo's condition?"

Leonard was quiet for a few long seconds before opening up the results in his PADD and handing them across the table.

Spock's eyes flickered back and forth as he took in the information. After a few minutes he set the PADD down on the desk and looked up to meet McCoy's eye.

"I am… I do not know how to correctly process this information," he said flatly.

Leonard leant back a little in his chair, gripping the arms that had little semi-circle marks gouged into the foam padding where he would often grip the arms of his chair when he was stressed or thinking too hard.

"Tough one, right?" he said, reaching down to his bottom drawer and pulling out the bottle of bourbon he kept there. He tentatively placed a small glass tumbler in front of Spock and when the Vulcan didn't protest, he placed one in front of himself and poured some liquid into both.

"Is he aware?" Spock asked quietly and the doctor shook his head, taking a tiny sip of the golden liquid and savouring the taste and then the slow burn down his throat.

"He's still out. I'm worried how he'll react. Emily's in the wind, her comm. is offline and nobody can reach her, but she doesn't have the whole story and I think when she does, she'll be back pretty quickly," he said glumly.

Spock was silent for a few moments before voicing his next question.

"Do you have a theory on how this could have occurred?" he asked and the doctor nodded.

"I do. I got to take a good look at the uterus, run a lot of tests. It's almost like some sort of membrane… almost like an osmosis kind of situation that allowed him to conceive. I think maybe it's activated by something, maybe a strong attachment to the other parent, something that would make the fertility kick in, make his body want to… y'know. Reproduce; accept donor cells when neither of them knew what was happening. But we ran the DNA a few times… there's no doubt on that side of things," he said. Where he'd started to explain quite confidently, by the end of his sentence he was finding his throat constricted, emotion threatening to overflow, split him at the seams and leave him a blubbering mess. He quickly took another sip from his drink.

Spock took a slow drag him his own before breaking the heavy silence in the small office.

"The other parent was Emily," he stated. It wasn't a question, more just a factual statement. McCoy confirmed with one short nod.

"And she is not aware?"

"Nobody is aware. 'Part from me and you Spock. I'll tell Carol too of course, but right now, I thought you needed to know. It… it was your grandchild too, potentially. God damn… I just wish he'd kept up his physicals," he said, rubbing his temple with the fingertips of the hand that wasn't holding his glass.

"If he had, could the pregnancy have been viable?" Spock asked, again in the same flat tone.

"Difficult to say. Certainly wouldn't have made it through his injuries from yesterday, that's for sure, but if he'd known, he could have been more careful," he said and Spock quirked an eyebrow.

"And had he known and been more careful, David could have fallen to his death," he pointed out and the doctor nodded.

"I'm painfully aware of that," he said, setting the glass down and now rubbing both temples. It had been a very long forty-eight hours for him and he was ready to have a few days off to himself, to try and get his head straight.

"We need to get a message to Emily. I don't want her out there angry at him, thinking he was cheating on her, when he didn't, and this is something they need to get through together, how they're going to take it I have no idea," he sighed and Spock finished the last of his bourbon, setting the empty glass down and shifting in his chair a little bit.

"Perhaps it would be wise to give them space. I agree with your thoughts that it would be best to keep this information discreet, I do not think Chris or David need to know at this time, that will be for Leo and Emily to tell them when they have finished coming to terms with it themselves," he said and the doctor nodded.

"We're doing that thing again where we agree with each other and it makes me uncomfortable," he said with a weak smile and Spock glanced up to meet his eye.

"After over twenty years Leonard, I would have hoped you would have been used to this occurrence by now," he pointed out and Leonard gave a weak chuckle.

"Nope. Apparently can't ever get used to agreeing with you. Anyway, I'm going to check Leo's vitals once more and then I'm going to find out what's happening with this whole mess with Mitchell and all of that media shitstorm, and then once I've made sure everyone is ok, I'm going to go home and try to get some shut-eye, I need it," he sighed.

"A feeling I am most familiar with," Spock agreed. Looking at him more closely, it was apparent that he was looking very tired, dark circles under his eyes giving him away.

"So you say the other you is missing?" Leonard asked as they walked down the corridor towards Leo's room.

"Indeed," Spock responded.

"For how long did you say? A month?"

"Several months since any confirmed sightings. I feel it may be a wise course of action to make the journey to New Vulcan and search his residence for any clues as to his whereabouts… I must confess that his departure has made me feel… uneasy," he said and Leonard nodded.

"Does seem pretty weird that he'd vanish like that. You used to talk often?"

"Not too often but our communication was fairly regular since-" Spock stopped himself but Leonard knew the rest of what he was going to say. Since Jim.

He didn't press Spock for any further information, just let it drop. The last thing he wanted to do was bring Jim into conversation; that was a can of worms he just couldn't bear to open right now, not with everything else that was going on.

"Not sure if you heard about what Molly dug up," he said, changing the subject away from Jim and the other Spock.

"I am aware, I spoke briefly to Christopher with regards to it. He believes it may be in the best interests of himself, his siblings, and David if they were to, as he phrased it 'lay low', for a period of time until the threat has passed. I am inclined to agree that this may be a wise course of action."

The doctor nodded.

"I think so too, unless David can come up with another plan. Anyway, first priority, get Emily back here so we can fix that, then make sure Chris and David are ok… then just make sure Leo keeps breathing, that's on my 'to do' list too," he said, rising wearily from his desk and leaving the office with Spock in tow, striding towards Leo's room to check on his condition.

He was still out, taking slow deep breaths as he lay flat on his back, the monitors giving steady readings of his vitals which were coming back into normal range. Chris was sitting attentively beside his brother's bed fast asleep with his head lolling onto his shoulder, David was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Joanna.

"They must have gone to get some food or something," Leonard reasoned as he noticed Spock's curious expression at there being far fewer people in the room than earlier.

Spock settled into the chair beside Chris's sleeping form and watched as the Doctor attentively took readings from his son, checking he was improving at the rate he should be.

He exhaled heavily and it caught Spock's attention, causing him to look up at him properly and meet his eyes.

"He's almost completely healed from everything – His leg and back are the only things left, and I'd guess in probably another twenty-four hours, he'll be up and walking. What his body is doing… I… he shouldn't be able to do this Spock. Even Khan couldn't do this," he said quietly.

Spock was silent for a moment before answering.

"Would it be an option at administer another dose of the inhibitor whilst he is still unconscious?"

"I can't. He would have to give consent," Leonard responded quickly.

"Could I not provide my parental consent?"

Leonard shifted awkwardly.

"Actually Spock… uh… when I was going through his file it seems like he's removed your consent, requested it be removed I mean. Plus he isn't a minor anymore, and it isn't life or death treatment… so it becomes more complicated. He had Chris added as a medical proxy, basically a proxy makes the decision if the patient is unable to but-"

"I understand the process," Spock interrupted coolly, a sharp pang of hurt hitting him at the knowledge that Leo had taken steps to mean if his life was in danger, Spock couldn't make any decisions for him, that he'd given that power to Chris instead.

"I'm sorry," Leonard added softly and Spock nodded once in acknowledgment, standing up from his chair.

"Please notify me if there is any change to his condition," he said, walking swiftly from the room without so much as a backwards glance.

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

"If it's so gross then why don't you… I don't know, stop drinking it?" Joanna suggested helpfully and David shook his head, taking another sip from the offending coffee.

"Because I'm so exhausted that I'm probably going to fall asleep in the elevator going back up there, so I need the caffeine," he said, setting the paper cup down and letting his head fall into his hands, elbows on the table.

"How you holding up?" she asked and he laughed sarcastically.

"Like someone that just almost died, had one of their best friends almost die by basically sacrificing himself to save them, and then found out their partner might not be faithful to them, that's how," he said, not lifting his head up and continuing to stare at the table.

"You know he didn't do it," she said and he shrugged.

"No. David, come on. You know that he didn't do it. Surely you can feel it… in your… mind bond… thing," she finished hesitantly and he looked up at his half-sister with a smirk.

"Like beautiful poetry," he commented and she reached across and ruffled his hair.

"Shut up. You know what I mean," she said and he nodded with a small smile.

"Sometimes I worry that although we have this… I don't know… just this," he gestured with his hands vaguely, "that we still don't really know each other that well, each other's character I mean. I mean… until that stupid recording that Molly had dug up I didn't even know he was still going to AA so often. I thought he was down to once a month, not once a week. So he must be lying to me, telling me he's at class or something and then going to extra meetings. I mean… if he needs the support why doesn't he just ask me? Talk to me?"

Joanna smiled slightly.

"Because he's proud. He wants you to think he's doing better than maybe he wants to admit to. I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm by it, just doesn't want you to worry," she explained and he shrugged.

"I guess," he sighed.

The door to the hospital cafeteria opened and David glanced up as his mother walked into the room, Scotty following close behind, both looking very serious as they walked across and joined them at their table.

"You look like somebody has died," David commented and his mother chuckled weakly.

"You, actually, if rumours are to be believed," she said and David tensed.

"What?"

"Aye. Rumours flyin' that both you an' Kirk succumbed to your injuries from yesterday," Scotty explained and Joanna scowled.

"Who would start a rumour like that?" she asked and David felt a sick feeling of dread bubble up inside him.

"Someone that wants it to be true?" he suggested and they all exchanged concerned looks.

"That's not why we're here," Carol started, interrupting all of their various dark trains of thought.

"Firstly, how are you holding up?" Carol asked her son, setting her hand on his forearm on the table. He nodded and forced a smile.

"Fine. I'm fine," he insisted. Joanna knew he wasn't, the tense way he was holding himself, the way his eyes had lost their usual sparkle. He wasn't fine, he was just holding it together.

"OK. Good. Now… something has happened today. Something else," she said and David took a deep steadying breath.

"Go on…"

"I've been offered a job. I've been offered an opportunity to join the Admiralty," she said flatly and David didn't know if he should smile or not. Thinking maybe best not, gauging his mother's reaction, he remained impassive.

"Now. The offer didn't come from… you know who… but, I still think he had something to do with it. I've told them I need time to consider it, talk to your father, talk to you and Jo and Emily… but I think it has something to do with what's going on. I don't see it as genuine," she said and David nodded in understanding.

"Admiral McCoy huh?" he said and she shrugged.

"I don't know. I feel like it must be some sort of… it can't be a coincidence that it's happening within the same 48 hours that everything else has just happened," she said and Scotty glanced around nervously, making sure nobody was listening to them.

The cafeteria was practically deserted, that was why Joanna and David had settled in there to talk. There were only two other tables with people sitting at them, one was a lone old man, sipping from his own paper cup of the poor coffee, the other was a young woman with two small children who kept having to restrain the elder one from trying to climb into the table.

"Does Dad know?" Joanna asked and Carol shook her head.

"Not just yet. This is why Scotty is here. We're going to take him up on his offer of somewhere quiet to wait this out. I know all about your conversation earlier, I know what Molly has, I know all of it… and I think we should go. All of us. Which means we need to draw Emily out of wherever she's hiding," she said and David nodded, racking his brain for anywhere his sister could be hiding.

"I'll go and find her. I doubt she'll have gone far, even left the city. I'll track her down," he said, standing up quickly and hurrying from the room.

He took Chris' bike, the helmet providing him a welcome disguise from the cluster of media waiting outside, and he sped off towards his parents home.

It seemed too easy of a place to find her, but he thought it was worth a try.

The drive across town was fast, the bike allowing him to weave in and out of traffic easily. He used to worry about Chris riding it, even going as far as calling it a 'deathtrap' at every possible opportunity, but once he'd gained a bit more confidence on it himself he understood why Chris preferred it to the car.

He left the bike carefully parked on the empty driveway, letting himself into the house and glancing around. It seemed empty and he couldn't hear anything, but he held still for a moment and listened intently just in case.

A faint sound from upstairs caught his attention and he carefully toed off his shoes, leaving them beside the door and padding up the stairs as quietly as he could.

He paused at the top, listening again and then heading down the hallway towards Emily's room where he could definitely hear sniffling now.

"Em?" he asked, gently knocking the bedroom door.

"What?" came the answering voice, sounding equal measures angry, exhausted and upset.

"Can I come in?" he asked quietly, stepping back from the door and waiting for a reply.

He didn't get one. Instead there was a faint hiccup from inside the room and a few seconds delay before the door slid open.

Emily looked awful, her eyes red and puffy, face tearstained with her mascara running down her cheeks.

"Come to rub it in?" she demanded and he frowned.

"No. Of course not. I came to find you to check that you're ok and to ask if there's anything I can do to help… or if you just wanted to talk?" he offered cautiously, taken aback by her aggression.

"Oh. Uh… No. I'm good. Going to get some shit together and then go to London for a while, stay with one of the guys from the band and figure out my next move," she said, backing away from the door, scratching the back of her head as she did so, looking a bit guilty that she'd been so short-tempered with him.

"H-how is he?" she asked softly, her voice wavering just a little.

David shrugged, stepping forwards and standing in her doorway now, shoulder leaning against the frame.

"I didn't ask before I left. I find that I don't actually care too much about how he's doing right now," he said and her lips curled in a tiny smile.

"But he saved your life," she pointed out.

"And cheated on my sister," he pointed out in return and she shrugged.

"Since when did you ever care about my feelings?"

"Since I grew up and stopped being a jackass. Being in a serious relationship has taught me to think about people's feelings other than my own… and I've always been a bit of a prize asshole to you. I guess now's as good a time as any to offer you… I don't know… an apology for being a dick to you pretty much since I was born?" he laughed weakly and her smile grew a little.

"Aww, but I thought that was your talent in life?" she smirked and he chuckled.

"You want to take the next twenty years of being the bully?" he offered and she laughed, flinging herself down onto her bed.

"No. I think we're better if maybe we just call a truce. Anyway. Chris… did he do it? Are they… are they both cheaters?" she asked and he shrugged.

"We haven't talked properly. The video is fake, but it seems like he's been lying to me about stuff, so we do need to talk. But I don't think I have to worry about infidelity, I'm more worried he's using again," he sighed, sinking into the armchair in the corner of the room and rubbing at his forehead tiredly.

"Not drinking?"

"No. The drinking is too obvious, he'd never get away with it around me. He wasn't just addicted to that… you know… back then. There were other things too. I guess we haven't talked about it as much as we should have," he said and she nodded.

"And now you nearly died and you're scared, and you need to be reassured about every area of your life, right? That it's all solid, and real and still there?"

He looked up at her to find her sitting on the edge of the bed now, facing him and looking at him sadly.

"I don't know. Maybe. I didn't come find you to talk about me. You need to talk to him when he wakes up, find out who this guy was because… because I'm fucking shocked. I never thought he would… that he'd end up-"

"Sleeping with a man? I'm pretty sure his only requirement of a partner is that they have a pulse," she said with a sarcastic laugh that made David want to flinch at the raw pain in her voice.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked and she nodded.

"Why do you stay with him? I mean, from an outside perspective you don't seem happy. You barely see each other, when you do it normally ends in a fight. You're both fiery people, and it seems like together you're… pretty combustible," he finished weakly and she looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.

"Because when it's good, and he's actually himself, then it's perfect. But you're right, it's volatile between us. I guess it doesn't bother me because the make-up sex is so good," she sighed and he laughed.

"What do you guys fight about?"

"Everything. I mean… absolutely everything. His workload, my workload, his wandering eye, my bandmates and his insecurity over them, the future… just everything. He needs to get over what happened that day on the ship, then he can be himself again, but he's just repressing it and it's making him worse," she said and he nodded.

"Have you told him that?"

"Do I look stupid to you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. Seriously. You need to tell him. He needs to deal with the past and his loss, accept it, work with it, and move on with his life in as positive a way as possible, but not like this. We all have and he needs to do the same. The question is now are you going to listen to what he has to say?"

She was silent for a few minutes, picking at her fingernails and looking around the room until she finally closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

"Ever since we first had our thing three years ago, I've known I'll never want anybody else in the way that I want him," she mumbled and he nodded.

"Then we'd better get back to we can be there when he wakes up," he said and she stood up and then hesitated.

"I can't figure this out until I have the whole story, I need to hear it from him, I need to understand why he did this," she said and he stood up too, crossing the few feet of distance between them and causing her to look suspicious.

"You going to grab me in a headlock? Indian burn? Dead leg?"

"I was thinking more like brotherly hug?" he offered, opening his arms and she kept her suspicious expression for a few more seconds before stepping forwards and wrapping her own arms around him in exchange. It was awkward and they let go after a few seconds, but both knew it was a big step for them.

In David's absence, the decision had been made that they were going with Scotty and Leo was stable enough to be moved so would be coming too. They had a few minutes warning before they were beamed out, Emily looking worried about the use of the transporter and David laughing at her and telling her that her fears were unfounded.

Appearing in an unfamiliar room David glanced around. Emily was gripping his arm so tightly he was sure he'd have bruises and he wriggled a little.

"We're here, and we're all in one piece," he said and she peeked her eyes open, looking down at herself and breathing a sigh of relief.

"My biggest fear was that we'd somehow switch bodies and get stuck that way," she laughed and shoved him away playfully.

"Yeah that would have been awful. What on earth would I have done if David was stuck in a hot female body?" Chris asked from the corner of the room where he'd been waiting for them to arrive.

"That's a real great way to get back on my good side, good job," David glared and Emily looked uncomfortable.

"Come on, lighten up!" Chris protested, stopping talking immediately as the door opened to the room they had beamed into.

Spock was standing in the doorway and they all looked at him nervously.

"Leo is awake. He is asking to speak to the three of you," he said and Emily launched into a rage.

"You can tell him I don't want to hear any of what he has to say right now," she said firmly.

"And you can tell him thanks for saving my life, but I have nothing to say to him either," David said, standing beside his sister and causing Chris to sigh.

"Is he ok?" Chris asked and Spock looked tense.

"I am uncertain."

"In what way are you uncertain?" Chris asked, immediately concerned as he followed Spock from the room, leaving Emily and David both looking equally annoyed.

Leo was only a few doors down. The building was strange, they seemed to be underground and it smelled of damp slightly, but everything was clean, if a little dated looking. The doors were old-style, with hinges, they didn't slide. Chris gripped the old-fashioned door handle tightly as he pushed it down and opened the door.

Leo was sitting in a single bed which had been placed in the centre of the room propped up by a stack of fluffy pillows, Bones standing beside him keeping an eye on a series of monitors he was hooked up to. He looked exhausted, and one side of his face was coming out in colourful bruising as a delayed response to his hard impact with the water, but other than that he seemed happy enough.

"Hey, how's it going?" Leo greeted casually and Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Nope. Sorry. You gotta do better than that," Chris frowned, crossing his arms.

"Uh… good afternoon?" Leo guessed and Chris huffed a laugh.

"Sorry I almost got myself killed?" he suggested and Leo shrugged.

"Sorry not sorry. Couldn't be letting you walk around all bondmate-less could I?" he grinned and Chris sighed, shaking his head.

"No. And I'm grateful, but please think before you act next time."

"I did think! I thought my plan was pretty solid apart from the-Ouch! Bones! Warn a guy," he protested indignantly as he was stung with a hypospray in the neck mid-sentence.

"Sorry," Bones said in a clipped tone.

"You going to tell me why you're mad at me yet?" Leo asked, looking up at the Doctor.

"Because you didn't keep up your physicals. That's why," he muttered, sitting in a chair beside the bed and kicking his feet up onto the foot of the mattress.

Spock closed the door and then stood near to where the doctor was sitting, hands clasped neatly in front of him. Chris perched awkwardly on the edge of Leo's bed, the frame groaning under their combined weight.

"Physicals-Schmysicals Bones, I'm in great shape I don't understand what-"

"Do you remember the pain in your abdomen? Chris having to force you under?" the doctor interrupted and Leo narrowed his eyes, looking confused and is if he was thinking hard to remember.

"Kind of?"

"If you'd kept up with your physicals, we'd have known, and we'd have been prepared for it. Somewhere in the course of the last few months you... you had…" he trailed off and glanced at Spock.

"What Doctor McCoy is trying to explain is that upon examining your injuries from the shuttle incident, he discovered a mass in your abdomen," Spock answered smoothly and Leo's jaw tensed.

"Cancerous?" he asked and the doctor shook his head.

"Not cancerous. Uterus," he said bluntly and Leo took a deep breath.

They were all silent for a few seconds as Leo absorbed the information. Chris was just waiting for the details to come out, to find out who it was that Leo had cheated on Emily with, who's DNA made up the other half of the foetus he had been in the earliest stages of incubating.

"Ok. So what happened?" Leo asked and the doctor pulled out a PADD seemingly from nowhere. Chris had noticed he had a habit of doing that.

He set the PADD to display in 3D, the small images hovering above where he'd set the device on the bed. It showed a strand of DNA, made up of two distinct colours, representing the two parents and interlocking together.

At the swipe of the doctor's hand, the DNA split, a huge amount of information appearing in relation to all of the different chromosomes and what they made up.

"What… what is this? My DNA?" Leo asked, looking confused.

"This half, in blue, that's yours. Inside that secret uterus of yours was a very early pregnancy, around five and a half to six weeks gestation," Bones explained and Leo swallowed hard.

"Ok. But I'll tell you this now, I can't have been pregnant. I haven't… I don't… not because I disagree with it," he glanced up at Chris who shrugged, "-but I haven't had any male partners. I have one, very exclusive, very female partner, and that's all. And she didn't knock me up," he laughed lightly and Bones smiled sadly.

"Wish that were the case kiddo. The other half of the DNA is from Emily," he said, voice shaking slightly.

Chris could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he struggled to contemplate what the doctor had just said. He looked at Leo, his face was impassive, but he watched him for a few seconds – one hand settled low on his abdomen, face slowly falling as he opened his mouth to ask his only question.

"I… Does she know?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

Bones shook his head. "Wanted to tell you two together, but you know how stubborn she is, she thinks you were cheating on her and she wouldn't come in here just yet. I can go get her and-"

He stopped talking as Leo abruptly turned in the bed and tried to stand up, putting all his weight on his injured legs and yelping in pain before collapsing forwards, being quickly caught by Chris who had dived across the bed to reach him and Spock who lunged forwards quickly enough.

"Damn it kid, stay still! You seriously injured both your legs and I don't know how you're heali-"

"Get her to come to see me, please, I have to see her," Leo hissed through gritted teeth as he carefully repositioned himself on the bed, laying back against the pillows again and looking thoroughly defeated.

"You're going to be in a brace on that left leg for a little while. Super-blood will only take you so far with these kind of injuries by the looks of it. No more diving out of bed kid, doctor's orders. I'll go get Emily, just sit tight," he said, his tone was stern but also kind as he insisted Leo stay still.

Leo nodded once and lay back down, Chris found his hand on his brothers shoulder, not really remembering putting it there.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled and Leo shrugged.

"Me too," he whispered, blinking tears from his eyes.

Chris never saw his brother cry. He hadn't cried after Jim's death, or at his funeral, or for anything that he knew of, or if he did, he just never saw it. Leo was always so strong and resilient, never letting his emotions take control of him in such a way. Seeing it now made Chris feel desperately sorry for his twin.

"I'll get her," Bones said, picking up the PADD with the DNA results and heading out of the room, Spock moving closer to the bed.

He placed his hand on Leo's other shoulder, crouching down beside the bed so he was almost the same height as where Leo was laying down.

"You did nothing wrong," he said gently and Leo sobbed, the sound wrenching Chris' heart from his chest.

"You did nothing wrong," Spock repeated and Leo nodded, face crumpling as he rolled towards Spock, beginning to cry freely into his shoulder, clutching at his shirt as he did so, Spock's hand on the back of his head, smoothing his hair in a comforting way, similar to what Jim would have done when they were children.

Chris's sensitive hearing picked up voices arguing in the corridor outside the room, and he vaguely realised again that he had no real idea where they were. He recognised Emily's voice, then David's voice, and then their father trying to calm them where they were both yelling.

Emily began to sound more and more upset until the door was flung open and she threw herself across the room and basically piled on top of Leo, holding him as if she never wanted to let go.

"We should leave them alone," Chris pointed out to Spock and Bones who both nodded, but Leo tightened his grip in Spock's shirt.

"Stay," he whimpered out and Spock hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Of course."

The five remained holed up in the room until Leo finally fell asleep, Emily curled against his chest. Bones carefully checked him over as best he could without waking him and gave him another shot of the strongest pain medication he was able to before he inclined his head towards the door and he, Spock and Christopher left Emily and Leo alone.

Leo woke a short while later, feeling groggy and nauseous from the medication, his leg throbbing painfully and his back a constant feeling of pressure that he knew without the drugs would be agony. Noticing him stir, Emily glanced up from where she was curled up to him, reaching up to push his hair back off his forehead.

"Hey, sleepy," she said softly and he smiled faintly.

"Hey yourself. How long was I out?" he asked, voice coming out scratchy from sleep and tears.

"Not too long, around an hour. Do you need anything?" she asked, looking at him carefully.

"Got it," he said, tightening his arm that was wrapped around her and causing her to smile slightly.

"Never thought I'd end up the accidentally pregnant one of us," he chuckled lightly and she sighed.

"No. Me either. I… did you have anything else you wanted to talk about with it?" she asked and he shook his head.

"I think I said it all when everyone was here. I'm just sorry that I didn't know, and that… well y'know. That my ignorance meant we lost it," he said quietly and she held him tighter.

"You weren't to know, you didn't know your body could do this. It isn't your fault Leo, I'm sad sure, but I'm not angry at you," she said and he nodded, eyes slipping closed as he fought to stay awake.

"Would love to see what our baby would look like," he mumbled sleepily, placing a small kiss at her temple. She smiled into his chest and snuggled closer.

"Me too. One day," she said and he made a sleepy sound of agreement.

"Mmm. Now is good. Skip your next shot," he mumbled and she chuckled.

"This is the drugs talking. Get some sleep, got healing to do," she said and he groaned.

"Cut my leg off? The left one?" he asked and she frowned.

"I don't know Leo… that might make a mess in Scotty's place," she said and he smiled, forcing his eyes open.

"Why are we here? His secret hiding spot right?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Get some rest, I'll tell you in the morning," she said, shifting up a little so she could reach to gently brush her lips against his.

"I can't believe you'd think I would cheat on you," he mumbled and she pulled back a few inches.

"I barely see you anymore, it worries me what you get up to and who you're with," she admitted honestly and he shifted a little closer to her, wincing as he did so.

"Try not to-"

"I'm trying not to," he grinned, holding still now so he didn't keep shifting his injured body around and aggravating the healing bones and tissues.

He pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before slowly opening his eyes again.

"You scared me," she whispered and his face softened in apology.

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't know I was going to end up in quite this much of a mess," he chuckled lightly but she didn't smile.

"I thought I was going to lose you," she said seriously and he took her hand in his own, lacing their fingers together.

"Never," he smiled, bringing her hand up and kissing her palm, then the tip of each finger in turn. She shivered slightly and he held her closer.

"You cold?" he asked and she shook her head.

"No. Just over-tired," she admitted and he nodded.

"Mm. We can fix that one. But if that's an extra blanket I can see over there, can you grab it? Because I'm kinda cold in here," he asked and she got up immediately to fetch the blanket and bring it back to him, attentively covering him with it before glancing down at her own clothes.

"I better go find my pyjama's, they're here somewhere. Then I'll come back and we can hangout until you fall asleep?" she offered and he smiled weakly.

"I'd like that. If you see him, can you send your dad back in? I gotta ask him something," he said and she nodded, kissing him lightly on the forehead and tucking in his blankets before leaving the room.

She followed the voices down the hallway until she reached what appeared to be a lounge, though there wasn't much furniture. David, her parents and Scotty were sitting around talking and she slipped into the last empty chair.

"He doing ok?" Scotty asked quietly and she shrugged.

"I guess."

"Are you doin' ok?" he asked and she shrugged again.

"I think so. Need to sleep on it, it's been a lot to take in," she said and the Scotsman nodded. "Dad, Leo wanted to talk to you," he asked and the doctor nodded, getting wearily to his feet and stretching before heading in the direction Emily had entered the room from.

"Where's the other one?" she asked and David glanced up.

"Uh he went to bed early, said he was stressed. I was about to follow him actually, he was acting really strangely," he said awkwardly, getting up and leaving the room in a different direction.

"So where even are we?" Emily asked and Scotty grinned.

"Lassie, of course, you missed the initial explanation!" he said enthusiastically. "This is my second house. Well… my secret house. Ny don' even know about it. Good thing she's off world for now too or she'd kill me… anyway. All I'll say is we're in Scotland, nobody can find us, nobody can track us, this house has the greatest signal blocking and cloaking systems that Jim an' I could create. It's a wee bit dusty, haven't been back for a long while you see," he explained and she nodded, catching her mothers eye and smirking.

"So you have a secret house… that your wife doesn't know about?" she asked and Scotty looked immediately guilty.

"Well… it's secret like for safety reasons, in case of situations like this one. Gotta lay low for a few days. If she needed to use it, 'course I'd tell her, we've just never needed it yet," he said and Emily nodded, accepting his answer.

"There anything to drink here?" she asked and he punched the air enthusiastically.

"Aye! Now we're talkin'!"

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

"Until we know why it happened, I can't stop it from happening again. So you'll need to keep up your physicals this time, no excuses," Bones said firmly and Leo nodded.

"Of course."

They'd been talking for a little while, Leo had questions about what his body had done and if it would happen again, and the doctor had theories but no real answers, leading to a lengthy discussion.

"I guess I have one more question for you," Leo said sleepily, eyelids drooping as he leant against the pillows behind him.

"Looks like you're about to drop off there kiddo," Bones smiled and Leo blinked hard.

"Jus' the painkillers Bones, make me groggy," he protested and the doctor nodded.

"Mhm. Of course. What's the question?"

Leo was silent for a few seconds, just staring at the Doctor, the man who was like another father to him, as well as one of his best friends, not to mention had saved his life numerous times now.

"I uh… I really scared Emily. I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to hurt her," he began shakily and the doctor nodded.

"Course not kid," he smiled and Leo nodded, swallowing the nervous lump in his throat.

"What I mean to say is I… uh… I would never want to hurt her. Ever. I just want to take care of her and treat her right, and make sure she knows how much I love her. I want to make her happy, and make her dreams come true… and I would move the Earth to do that," he said and the Doctor said nothing, just watched him intently waiting for him to continue

"I…" he faltered and closed his eyes for a second, willing his pounding heart to slow down.

"I wanted to ask you…" he trailed off. Bones' expression gave nothing away and Leo sighed, chuckling nervously.

"I wanted to ask you if I can ask your daughter to marry me," he spat it out. Bones gave nothing away for a few seconds and then nodded slowly in understanding, contemplating the words.

"You're killing me here Bones, say something," Leo added, another nervous laugh escaping.

"I have one condition to that," he said finally, looking at Leo seriously and he nodded.

"Of course, anything," he said quickly.

"Wait until your leg is better, because you're asking her properly down on one knee," he said, face breaking into a grin and Leo relaxed, his own face cracking into a wide smile.

"I already have it all planned out, you want to hear it?" Leo asked and the doctor smiled.

"I think I'd rather Emily tell me about it, in the past tense," he said and Leo nodded in understanding.

"Gotcha."

"You get some sleep now, and that's a medical order," he said, getting to his feet and bidding the young man goodnight before leaving him alone to rest.

He passed Emily in the corridor and did his best to hide his smirk, knowing he'd just about succeeded when she didn't try and question him.

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

The room was dark. Jim's eyes strained against the blackness but couldn't make out anything. He wondered for a moment if he'd been blinded by something, or if it was actually so dark his eyes couldn't process anything at all.

His wrists and ankles were bound and he was laying on a flat, uncomfortable surface which had absolutely no padding. It could have been metal or stone, something equally unforgiving against sore pressure points which were forming around the parts of his body in contact with it, his shoulder blades, back and tailbone.

He was perfectly still and silent, assessing his own body firstly.

His clothes were slightly damp and a strange, almost floral smell drifted in the air. His head was still swimming from hunger and his stomach still just as painful as it had been though he didn't detect any new injuries to his person.

One thing was clear though, whoever had removed him from the shuttle certainly hadn't done it to rescue him.

He sat up carefully, ears straining to pick up any sound as he did so, but he heard nothing. Nowhere hurt any more than it had on the shuttle, and the bindings on his wrists and ankles weren't fastened harshly, he had a little wriggle room and no circulation was being

cut off. He scrambled to a standing position, almost losing his balance due to his bound ankles but eventually forcing himself upright.

With his legs bound together, he ungracefully hopped to the wall, then followed it along, keeping one side of his body in contact with it at all times so he could follow the outline.

He was in a small room, only a few metres square. There were no features on the walls that he noticed on his brief exploration, they seemed to just be smooth all the way around. His eyes weren't adjusting to the dark which worried him, as it meant he must be in a room with absolutely no light source at all.

"Hello?" he called out cautiously, his dry throat protesting from the sudden loud vocalisation.

He waited, listening to his own heartbeat thrumming in his ears.

It felt like a long time until he heard footsteps and then a sudden, blinding light filled the small space as one wall slid aside, a tall figure standing there.

He blinked rapidly, turning his face away from the light, his eyes stinging at the sudden intensity.

"Oh no, you look at me," a cold male voice snarled, a hand gripping his hair roughly and turning him back towards the light and the figure standing there.

He couldn't make out any features, just a dark silhouette against the blinding white flooding the room.

"The great Captain. With the golden hair, and the perfect blue human eyes. Look at you now great Captain, where is your ship? Hm? Where are your people now?"

Jim was pushed and immediately lost his balance, landing painfully on his back. It took all his discipline not to cry out, many years of training helping him to keep his silence. He scrambled up into a kneeling position, staring defiantly at his captor.

So they knew his identity, and he clearly wasn't popular, but he still had no idea of the identity of his captors.

"Who are you?" Jim growled, against his better judgement.

"Who am I? Captain Kirk I'm offended you don't remember me; especially as your meddling caused me so much trouble. Seven years on a penal colony in fact. But now here I am, and here you are, and this is just… perfect," he purred, a waft of the same strange almost floral scent Jim had detected on his clothing now filling the room.

Jim's head swam and he wobbled, tipping over to the side from his kneeling position and crashing to the floor again as the heavy pheromones made the room spin.

The man laughed and Jim closed his eyes at the familiar cackle.

"Raato," he mumbled and the Orion clapped slowly.

"So you do remember me I see."

"I remember you and all of your slaves that I freed," Jim spat, crawling back to his knees again, backing away from the large Orion who advanced on him, backing him into the corner.

"And you will serve the duty of every single one of those slaves you had no right to take from me!" he roared. Jim didn't flinch at the volume, just kept glaring straight ahead.

"I'm missing. The Federation are looking for me, Starfleet are looking for me, and when they find me locked in a cell on your ship, you'll beg them for a penal colony," Jim said confidently and Raato laughed again, louder this time, the high pitch echoing uncomfortably in the confined space.

"My dear Captain. Nobody is looking for you, you have been dead for over two years on your planet. I must say I was very pleasantly surprised to find you, like… what is the holiday on your planet? Like Christmas! That's it. Like Christmas. Now, I know you'll fetch me a good price once I get you to market, but in the meantime I'm going to need you to stay out of trouble, can you do that?" he hissed, kneeling in front of Jim now, his face just a few inches away.

Jim did his best not to react to the information that over two years had passed for his family, though it felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach at full force.

"I asked you a question!" the enraged Orion roared, lashing out quickly and striking Jim who again did his best to remain impassive.

"I can stay out of trouble," Jim answered flatly.

"And if you don't… we will have to talk about that," he smiled sweetly, another pungent rush of pheromones flooding the room.

Jim's head span and he landed flat on his face in the confusion, the Orion's laughter ringing in his ears.

"Oh Captain, I'm so glad we found you," he said, pulling Jim back up off the floor and into a kneeling position again. He untied the bonds around his wrists and ankles, instead fitting a sleek, metal ring around his right ankle. It looked unsuspecting enough, but Jim was all too aware of what it was.

"Shall we test? Make sure you can behave?" Raato asked and Jim stared blankly at him, doing his best to look obedient and submissive.

"I think we better had," he smirked, removing a small control from his pocket and pressing a single button.

Agony like nothing Jim had ever experienced spread rapidly from the ring around his ankle, he cried out, body convulsing helplessly, it lasted a few incredibly long seconds before it stopped.

Before he could stop himself Jim sobbed, the pain fading and allowing him to come back to his senses.

"Do not cry human, I will take very good care of you," he said smoothly, caressing Jim's face with one green hand.

Knowing better than to try and fight; Jim stayed perfectly still and closed his eyes, trying to think of a nice memory to get him through what he feared was about to come.

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

Leonard felt like he'd barely been asleep minutes when he heard the whisper from the bedroom doorway.

"Bones."

He grumbled and curled closer to Carol, burying his face into the pillow and hoping whatever part of his dream was whispering to him would shut up and let him sleep after a very long few days.

"Psst. Bones."

"Whasamatter?" he asked blearily, peeking one eye open and glancing towards the door.

There was a tall figure standing there, taller than David, so he guessed one of the twins and as Leo wouldn't be out of bed, that meant it had to be-

"Chris?" he asked sleepily and the shadowy figure nodded.

"Could you uh… come help me with something a second?" Chris whispered, obviously being careful not to wake Carol who was still sound asleep beside her husband.

"Chris I'm sleeping," he grumbled, turning over so his back was facing the young man and closing his eyes again.

"Leonard," the part Vulcan whispered from the doorway, a sense of urgency creeping into his voice that had the doctor worried.

With a groan he hauled his aching body out of bed and dragged himself to the doorway, straightening his pyjama's he followed Chris into the hallway which was illuminated by a faint glow from the moon streaming in through the window at the end of the corridor. He closed the door behind himself and followed Chris towards the light, noticing now that he was fully dressed all in black.

"I did something," Chris confessed, standing with his back to the doctor.

Leonard sighed.

"Chris if you had a drink or… whatever, we can talk about this. I'm here for you, David is here for you, and –"

"I didn't," Chris cut him off sharply before taking a steadying breath.

"I did something bad. I did something really bad," he said, voice shaking as he turned around. His hands were covered in a dark liquid the doctor recognised all too well even in the half light.

Blood.

Christopher's face was a picture of pure guilt as he looked from his hands to the doctor and back down to his hands again, beginning to shake uncontrollably.

"Chris, what… what did you do?"