Yo!I'm super happy to have this chapter finished, because it's so long I feel like I've been writing it for the majority of my life.

I'll be super curious to know how many (if any) of you who may be reading may have suspected the events of this chapter coming. If you did, let me know, I want to know if I'm too predictable ha. Anyway, cue a whole bunch of serious fluff just in time for Christmas! (you're welcome, and happy holidays to everybody reading!)

Warning: this chapter contains discussion of a sexual assault. Please proceed with care if you may be upset by this. Message me if you'd like a cropped version of the chapter and I can put one together for you.

Oh, and I promise, next chapter Jim and Spock will get more than like one paragraph. It's coming. That beautiful and extremely predictable conclusion that we've been working towards? Yep. It's coming. Don't worry.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Bones scrubbed a hand down his face. He'd pulled a near-enough double shift to try and clear some of the backlog of patients caused by him needing a few days off during the time David was missing.

He hadn't had the easiest few days. Carol had done a little bit of digging at Starfleet to try and get some more information about David's time on the Orion ship, only to discover that his medical file was sealed, even to her Admiral rank security codes. She'd come home one night with the news and the two of them had sat in silence, both of them knowing what it likely meant.

He'd had the unpleasant task of sealing medical files of a sparse few people aboard Enterprise who had survived a sexual assault, and he knew it was one of the only reasons Starfleet would protect a file in such a way. He'd wanted to comm his son, to reach out though he had no real idea what to say, but he'd decided to give him his space. He was with Chris who he had complete faith in, so he settled for texting David to tell him if he ever wanted to talk to him, about anything at all, he was there. He'd had a thank you in response but nothing else. He didn't want to press the matter and neither did Carol.

The small clinic he was running with Seren was now so busy the waiting list was almost six-months long for an appointment, and he'd frequently work late or a Saturday just to try and get through the list of hopeful men coming through their doors and dreaming of becoming parents, many of them having travelled from all over Earth and even now from off-planet.

The comm. unit in his office rang shrilly as he typed up notes from his last consultation and he answered it quickly, unable to tolerate the sound of it for too long.

"Doctor McCoy, a gentleman named Hikaru Sulu has called requesting to speak to you," the crisp tone of their receptionist cut through. It wasn't their usual cover Carla, but rather someone else, a friend of Joanna's who needed to earn some extra cash.

"Did he say what it's regarding? Only I'm kind of snowed under," he said, grabbing the coffee he'd forgotten he had on his desk and sipping it, finding it cold and pulling a face.

"He didn't, just that it was a personal matter and extremely urgent," she said and he frowned.

"He still on the line?"

"Yes."

"Put him through please," he requested, waiting for the click.

"Leonard?" Sulu asked quickly, the second the line connected.

"Sulu, what can I do for you? You still dirtside?"

"Yeah, I am, another week or so yet. Listen I need to swing by your office, is that alright? I have to talk to you about something," he said vaguely but the urgency in his tone remained.

"Can't you just tell me over the-"

"No. I need to come in. How busy are you?"

"Just saw my last patient, writing up the notes. I was trying to get out of here and maybe sleep sometime tonight," he sighed, frustrated with how mysterious the other man was being.

"I'll come and pick you up in ten minutes, is that alright?" he asked and McCoy frowned again.

"Uh… yeah. I'll be here."

"Good, I'll call you when I'm outside," Sulu said, cutting off the call quickly.

The doctor didn't have long to wonder. By the time he'd finished typing up his notes the comm. had rung again, Sulu telling him he was outside. He sent the receptionist home for the night, glanced around the empty waiting room and then left, locking up as he did so. Seren was doing lab work that night and had left early.

He crossed the street to the car loitering on the other side and approached the passenger door, Sulu was twisted awkwardly in the driver's seat, reaching back behind his own seat for something that Leonard couldn't see from his angle.

"So what's so important that you can't tell me over the phone?" Leonard asked curiously, sinking into the passenger seat. Sulu looked up and met his eyes for a moment, his expression giving nothing away.

"I had to deal with Lieutenant Hughes' affairs today, get the arrangements for her Starfleet funeral set up, deal with informing her family… and uh… well something caught my attention. I was going through her files and she has no family listed, I did some digging and found out her parents were both 'fleet but died in a shuttle crash when she was nine years old, so she ended up in care through the Starfleet system. Her only living relative is her two year old son. His picture was in her file and I… I think you're going to want to take a look at it," he finished uncertainly, looking downright nervous as the Doctor narrowed his eyes.

"You came all the way over here and got me to finish off early, so I can look at a picture of a kid?" he asked incredulously.

"It sounds like that, but please, look at him for me," he requested again, producing a PADD and tapping a few items to bring up the required document and attached image. He loaded it and then handed it over to the doctor who frowned at it.

"So the system glitched and got one of David's baby pictures in there by mistake, big deal, I've been saying for years standards are slipping down in the admin depart-"

"Leonard. Look closer, that isn't David. I thought it was at first too, but it isn't him. That boy has brown eyes," Sulu said, the doctor squinting at the small child in the picture and deciding though he looked incredibly similar to his own son around that age, the eye colour was indeed incorrect.

"I think… I think David could be…"

"The father," Leonard interrupted, his heart hammering in his ears as he stared at the image in front of him of the boy. His hands were sweating as he gripped the PADD.

"Exactly. So I went over to the family services building and I went to meet him, before he goes through the system and ends up in care… and I asked him if he wanted to come for a ride in the car," he smiled faintly, inclining his head back. The doctor frowned and peeked cautiously around the seat to notice a small boy hiding in the rear foot-well, a shock of messy dark hair sticking up in all directions.

"Hey back there," he offered softly and the child looked up. His heart was thudding against his ribcage as he was met with a face so similar to his own it sent a shiver down his spine.

"He's… he's just so similar to how David looked at that age and if I'm wrong then I'm so sorry I bothered you with this Leonard, but I couldn't let him go into the system without finding out for sure. As soon as I saw his face I knew I had to ask the question," Sulu said seriously.

"Looks uh… looks possible, for sure," he forced out, mouth completely dry.

"It's possible that David could be his father? Right? If the kid is two and a half, nine months back from there and that's before he and Kirk started their relationship?" Sulu asked, looking at the doctor carefully before glancing back to the small child who was now punching the back of his seat repeatedly.

"From what I gather David used to sleep with any girl that would keep still long enough before he and Kirk got together. Let's bring him inside I can run a genetic test off a cheek swab," he said and Sulu nodded, shutting off the car and getting out, opening the back door and scooping up the wriggling toddler who yelled in protest but did not cry. Bones shakily unlocked the clinic and showed Sulu into his office, quickly gathering what he needed.

"This used to take hours, days even, we're lucky now it's only a few minutes," he said as he swabbed the inside of his own cheek thoroughly with a cotton swab, placing it in a test tube full of a clear solution when he was done.

"Open wide little buddy," Sulu instructed of the young boy who obediently did as he was asked, allowing the doctor to collect the swab from the inside of his mouth. He placed it in an identical test tube before taking both tubes out of the room and into their small on-site lab that they only used to screen for genetic anomalies. He re-programmed the machine to perform a function he had never used before, to check for a DNA match. It took barely sixty seconds for the result to appear and he snatched the print-out, heart racing as it confirmed what was visually so obvious.

He was the paternal grandfather of the young boy sitting with Sulu in his office.

Steeling himself, he walked the few short steps back into the room and gave one nod to Sulu who let his head fall into his hands.

"Jesus. Does David have any idea?" he asked and Bones shook his head.

"There's no way he does. He'd have fought her for custody if he knew. I thought I taught that kid how to use a condom," he grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. Sulu chuckled.

"But he's adorable, he's like a mini-David, he's got the pout perfectly," Sulu grinned and the doctor cracked a smile at the young boy who was pulling a perfect impression of the sulky face his son had worn through his early childhood.

"What's your name little man?" Bones asked, crouching in front of the chair the boy was balanced on. He was reasonably tall for a two year old. His dark hair stood stubbornly up at all angles, striking against his pale skin and big brown eyes. He had the exact same dimple in his chin as David, as well as the seemingly permanent frown on his chubby little face.

The boy mumbled an answer, pulling at the sleeve of his little coat with one of his hands.

"How did we get here?" Sulu offered.

"Car," the boy said confidently.

"That's right, we drove in the car," Sulu encouraged.

"His name is Thomas. I have his file in the car. I was supposed to officially declare him orphaned today but instead I signed for temporary custody of him from Starfleet, but obviously I'd rather he's with his family."

"I can honestly say I have no idea how David is going to take this," Bones sighed, watching as the young boy stretched his mouth in a wide yawn, revealing two lines of tiny white teeth.

"Thomas, looks like you can call me Grandpa," he said, offering his hand. The boy looked at him, frown deepening and causing a grin to break out on the doctor's face as he looked at him with such disdain.

"He's so mad looking. It's awesome," Sulu beamed.

"He's David's alright, not a shred of doubt with an angry face like that. I'd better take him home and get him down for the night, it's nearly eleven, way past bedtime," he said, scooping up the young boy from the chair and into his arms, feeling his paternal instinct kick in strongly as he did so.

"You want to go sleepy-time?" he offered gently and the boy nodded, sucking his thumb into his mouth and resting his face against the doctors' shoulder.

"Without a car seat I probably shouldn't drive him. Mind dropping me off at home? I can come back for my car tomorrow," he requested and Sulu agreed, the two men heading out and getting into the car, Leonard strapping the seatbelt carefully around him and the tiny, now limp and in a deep sleep body draped with his chin on his shoulder.

His mind was buzzing as they drove.

He was a grandfather now. He hadn't expected any grandchildren for another couple of years, let alone one appearing so suddenly and under such circumstances.

"Thanks for signing for his custody. If he'd gone into the system David might not have been able to get him back."

"Of course. Like I said, I took one look at him and saw that he was the image of you and David and knew he needed to come with me," Sulu answered quickly.

"So how do you think Kirk will take this?" Sulu asked and Leonard chuckled.

"I have no idea how either of them is going to handle it. I mean, their relationship is pretty solid from what I gather, but a kid turning up out of the blue like this is definitely going to be a bit of a shock," he said, still barely able to believe that the tiny chest rising and falling against his own belonged to his grandson. That his son was now a father and had been for over two years without ever knowing.

"Where are they hiding?" Sulu asked.

"Uh… Bali. Leo knew a guy that owed him a favour, so he hooked them up to stay at his place. Apparently Leo saved this guy's daughter's life in a diving accident. She ran out of oxygen and he shared his bottle with her until they could surface. He's so much like Jim it's kind of disgusting," he sighed and Sulu chuckled.

"Oh yeah, that's a Kirk trait alright, risk your own life to save someone else's. Do you think Chris will be alright with a kid?"

"Sure. He spends a lot of time around kids, does voluntary work at the hospital one night a week at least. He reads them bedtime stories and plays blocks and wipes snotty noses and none of it even slightly fazes him. It's David who's in for the big shock. He doesn't know how to deal with a child. Starfleet will let David keep him, right?"

"I'm not entirely sure on the policy. I think so long as he can prove paternity and none of Hughes' family come forward to apply for custody, it should be fairly simple, worst case it'll go through a hearing in a family court. But it's hardly something I've dealt with before," he said, slowing down as they reached the McCoy household.

"I'm already feeling pretty attached to the little guy. I miss my kids being this age," the doctor sighed fondly, thinking about the days when he'd carried Emily or David around on his shoulders, or given Joanna a piggy-back ride, or built a fort out of blankets.

"Well, prepare for a lot of babysitting I guess. Good luck with everything, I'll drop you a message with details on how David should proceed with all this… I just need to find out if Hughes had any family at all left on Earth and then talk to Starfleet family services about it," he said as Leonard opened the car door and unfastened his seatbelt, carefully getting out of the car with one hand covering the top of Thomas' head. Sulu handed over his file and a small backpack full of belongings and bid him good luck before leaving.

He walked up to the house and let himself in as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb anybody. He'd need to find somewhere for Thomas to sleep, and some pyjamas for him, he hoped there were some in the backpack.

The light was on in the kitchen and he caught sight of Carol sitting at the table working on something. He kicked off his shoes and padded down the short hallway, lifting the small boy a little higher as he did so, his chin now on his shoulder.

"So darlin'… I have something to tell you," he began as he walked into the kitchen.

She turned and looked at him. First she frowned, then she opened her mouth and closed it a few times, growing a little pale as she walked over and around her husband, looking at the small boy he was holding, taking in his face. She brushed her hand lightly over his forehead and he frowned in his sleep. He didn't miss the way Carol's breath hitched as the recognition hit her.

Finally she spoke.

"I'm going to kill that boy."

"Form a queue darlin', I'm gonna kill him first," Leonard chuckled but there was no heat in either of their threats.

"God, he's beautiful," she sighed, staring intently at her grandson.

"I know. His mother is Lieutenant Hughes, no immediate family. Sulu went to fill out paperwork at the family centre because he's handling her funeral and he was supposed to transfer this little guy into the public care system but noticed the resemblance and brought him straight to me. We did a cheek swab at the office, he's definitely David's," he said, holding him a little tighter.

"He's going to have a fit," she said, both hands now over her mouth.

"Probably. We're just gonna have to support him through it. Gonna be a hell of a shock for him and Chris that's for sure. Thought I was gonna have a heart attack myself when I saw his little face and my brain put two and two together," he said, Thomas now stirring against his chest, making small whimpering sounds and wriggling, screwing up his face.

"Uh oh Thomas, are you cranky?" he asked and Carol smiled as the small boy opened his eyes and looked around blearily.

"It's way past bedtime little man. Are you sleepy?" he asked and the boy nodded.

"Some juice and then bed?" Bones offered softly and the boy nodded again. Carol almost tripped over her own feet in her haste to get to the fridge. She located some orange juice and diluted it half and half with water, pouring a very small glass that Bones helped him drink messily from.

"Uh oh. Someone still likes to use a sippy cup huh?" he asked and the boy nodded again.

"I'm hungry," he protested clearly and Carol laughed openly.

"Definitely David's, right? Pissed off looking and always ready to eat," Bones laughed as she rummaged around the kitchen looking for something suitable for the young boy to eat.

In the end she settled for boiling an egg and cutting toast into long strips to be dipped into the runny yolk. Thomas had clearly never seen this before and was very amused by it as he was held up by his grandfather and fed by his grandmother. He was giggling loudly as a very confused looking Emily turned the corner into the room and both her parents froze.

"Emily, say hi to your nephew, Thomas," Carol grinned, seeing no point in trying to lie or disguise what was really going on.

"Nephew?" Emily asked, extremely confused before her eyes widened comically.

"Holy fucking shit he's like David's clone!" she gasped.

"Mhm and also old enough to repeat every word you say, so watch the language," Bones warned.

Emily silently crossed the kitchen and crouched down next to the young boy who grabbed at her hair with messy, eggy hands.

"You are going to make your dad very happy," she smiled at the young boy, totally ignoring the mess he was making of her hair.

"Really? We were thinking he'd have some kind of breakdown," Bones chuckled, letting Thomas go as he started to wriggle. He immediately clung to Emily's legs and pulled on any fabric he could grab of her jeans, looking up at her expectantly.

"You're kidding right? David is broody as hell. He'll be overjoyed, once he gets past the shock. So how did this happen? Standard basket on the front porch situation? Baby momma looking for child support?" she asked, scooping up the child who was still tugging at her jeans. Her father briefly explained Sulu's story about Lieutenant Hughes and how Thomas had come to be in their kitchen that evening.

"That's so sad. So lucky Sulu spotted the resemblance or he might have ended up anywhere with anyone. At least this way he's still got his father, and obviously Chris too."

"We should call them and tell them they need to come back," Carol said seriously and her husband nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I think they need to be high-tailing it back over here so we can break them the news."

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

Jim pulled at the flimsy sleeves of the shirt he had been given. It provided him with basically no protection from the elements, and he knew he'd probably only have minutes wearing it until he would succumb to hypothermia.

The Orions had dropped him off on what he assumed was an ice planet not unlike Delta Vega. Except this time there was no Scotty waiting for him in a Starfleet outpost. There was no mysterious Spock Prime, waiting to give him the information that would ultimately lead to him forming his bond with his Spock. There was no help for him here.

He had been left with three others, none of whom he had seen before, and none of whom had made any effort to speak to him since they had been dropped off by shuttle.

He'd tried to ask around about David McCoy, to see if anyone had heard the name, or seen the young man, but nobody could answer his questions.

He shivered harshly, hugging his knees to his chest and resting his forehead on his arms, his breath misting in front of him.

Spock please, please help me. Leo… Seren… Chris… anybody. If any of you can hear me, I'm begging you he thought as hard as he could, forcing his mind back many years to when Spock taught him how to shield his thoughts and making sure to do the exact opposite of following the shielding techniques.

A heavy thud next to him snapped him back to his senses and he looked up to find one of his fellow captives had dropped to the ground, unresponsive. He crawled over and shook the man by the shoulders, pressing his numb, stiff fingers to his neck looking for a pulse.

He couldn't find one.

He waited what felt like a long few moments until he was certain the man was dead before doing something he felt sick for even considering and taking the shirt off the limp body and pulling it over his own head, adding an extra layer to his own thin clothing. The two others looked at him with haunted eyes and he wondered if he wore the same expression. It had been what felt like years since he had last seen his own reflection.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled to the man, guilt pooling heavy in his stomach.

In what Jim guessed was no more than an hour, he was the only living being for what seemed to be miles around. The Orions had left them there deliberately so they would freeze, he was sure of it. It didn't take long for a strong sleepy feeling to overcome him and he let it, simply too exhausted to fight any longer.

He was extremely startled to wake what could have been hours or maybe even days later, sweating uncontrollably in a dusty medical tent, laying in a narrow uncomfortable cot. He was alone and dragged himself to his feet, noting a new metal ring around his one ankle, almost exactly the same as the one the Orions had fitted him with aboard the ship. He guessed this one was also capable of delivering a considerable electric shock, the same as the previous one he had been fitted with.

He got shakily to his feet, noting the IV line in the back of his hand, and crept towards the opening of the tent, peeking out under the coarse fabric.

An Orion must have been watching the doorway because the second he opened it, the man was coming right for him, striding purposefully.

Jim raised his hands in surrender as the man bustled into the tent.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I was just trying to work out… where am I?" Jim asked and the man looked at him blankly.

He set his large hands on his shoulders and pushed him back onto the cot none too gently.

He disappeared for a moment and then reappeared with a bowl of a bland-smelling broth, offering it to Jim who looked at it for a moment, trying to work out what the hell was going on.

"Where am I? What planet it this?" Jim asked, ignoring the food in front of him.

"Where am I?" he asked again, the doctor ignoring him.

He asked a few more questions until he gave up and the doctor left for a few seconds, returning with another two Orions in identical medical uniform. Jim struggled as they held him down and force-fed him the broth, nearly ripping the IV out of his hand in the process.

"You must eat, become strong for working," the one Orion explained in a heavy accent.

"Working where? I don't understand… I was in the cold… and now it's hot?" Jim asked as they let him go, wiping his face with his hands.

"Ship dropped off at pole, mines here," the Orion explained, glaring at him.

"So you're sending me to work in a mine? I'm probably not the best guy for that," Jim gestured at his skeletal frame.

"Eat and be strong, human. Now sleep, later eat more," the first doctor spoke again, raising a hypo to his neck before he could do anything to protest.

Jim clung to awareness for a few short minutes until he passed out again in the tiny cot as the effects of the sedative overcame him. A flicker of hope had been ignited in his mind – if he was on a planet, he was in one place and maybe he could be found. Maybe a federation ship would make a stop here, maybe Starfleet would find him. For the first time in a long time, he felt a vague semblance of hope.

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

"You trust me with this?" Chris smirked as David perched behind him on the jet-ski.

"I'd trust you with pretty much anything," he responded immediately, earning himself a quick peck on the lips before they were speeding away from the beach and out towards several large rocks sticking out of the water a few hundred metres off shore.

They blasted around the large rocks at high speed, David clinging tightly around his bondmates waist and grinning against his back at the adrenaline rush as they hopped over the waves. They headed off to the right, following some vague instructions from Leo for an excellent snorkel location. The water below them was a dark indigo as they passed over a very deep area of ocean before becoming much lighter as they found themselves over the reef as they drew nearer to a different beach from the one they had set off from.

"Do you think this is the place?" David asked as Chris eased off on the throttle and they slowed to a near stop. He looked around and then down into the water.

"I think it seems like the right place, let's find out," he said, pulling two snorkel masks and tubes from where they were stowed in a small compartment on the jet-ski. Chris was ready first and jumped backwards into the water, limbs flailing and creating a huge splash. David chuckled at how utterly ungraceful and clumsy he was.

He surfaced a moment later, giving a thumbs up before immediately putting his face back into the water to look at whatever was below him.

David dismounted the jet-ski more slowly and climbed down into the water cautiously, making sure his mask was sealed tight and the tube in his mouth at the correct angle to only bring him air from the surface before putting his face down into the water, still clinging to the jet-ski with one hand. He imagined if he could have seen his own face his expression would have been one of comedic shock as he took in the scene below him.

A colourful coral reef stretched as far as he could see in the crystal clear water, fish of nearly every colour and size flitting around. Chris dived down, all flailing limbs again, and grabbed something off the bottom, bringing it over to David for him to see.

"Starfish," he said, muffled by the tube in his mouth as he held out the small blue starfish for him to see. They looked at him for a few seconds before Chris took him back where he had come from. A larger silver fish approached David who nervously backed away, backing right up against the jet-ski and feeling very exposed in just his swim trunks.

Come on, I got you, let's go and explore.

Soothed by Chris' encouragement inside their bond, he let go of the small craft in favour of clutching Chris' hand tightly instead, letting him lead them away and out over the reef. It didn't take him long to forget his fear as he watched clouds of tiny blue fish hovering above a pink piece of coral, and laughed as Chris got pecked by curious parrot-fish.

"Those bastards have beaks!" Chris protested as they stopped for a short break, treading water and breathing normally with their masks and tubes hanging around their necks.

David was suddenly aware of something larger than a fish moving in the water off to his left, near the edge of the reef.

"There's a shark!" he cried out, thrashing away from the direction he'd seen the movement, Chris immediately putting himself in front of his bondmate in a way that made his heart do an odd sort of flutter in his chest.

"I'll take a look," he said, barely a hint of fear in his voice as he pulled his mask back over his eyes and nose, placing the tube in his mouth and ducking his face under the water. He made a sound of surprise, muffled by the tube as he swam towards the strange shadow David had seen.

It's not a shark, it's a dolphin!

David scrambled for his own mask, forgoing the tube and just holding his breath as he ducked his face back under the water, swimming towards where Chris was floating just above the edge of the reef, where the ocean floor dropped off into the dark depths they couldn't see.

He watched for a few seconds before another shape emerged from the gloom, coming directly at them before becoming clear as what it was.

It's totally not a dolphin, that's a shark! David protested through their bond, backing up from the approaching creature.

Well yeah, that is a shark, but it's a lemon shark so it won't hurt you. Those are dolphins Chris was pointing him in a different direction now and he strained his eyes to see, but as they drew closer he could make out the shapes of several streamlined dolphins playing at the reef drop-off, chasing one another and swimming in circles and patterns.

They watched them for a while and explored the reef some more, even being lucky enough to glimpse a sea-turtle before David felt himself getting tired.

"Come on, let's get you back to the house," Chris ordered, practically having to drag him back to the jetski and help pull him out of the water onto it.

"These pain meds for my ankle make me so drowsy," David complained, trying to force himself to stay awake.

"Yeah, I took that kind for a little while, the drowsiness sucks," Chris agreed as he fumbled with the wet key to the jetski, trying to find the ignition.

"How did you keep yourself awake?" David asked curiously, fighting back a yawn.

"Uh… Well, a huge amount of cocaine?" Chris smirked and David chuckled.

"Yeah I'm probably not going to do that," he laughed as Chris began to speed them back off towards the beach.

The next thing he knew David was dry and warm, laying on a soft fluffy towel on a lounger beside the pool back at the house. Chris was fast asleep laying on his front on the lounger next to him and he reached out a hand to push his salt-encrusted hair back off his forehead. A pair of dark eyes fluttered open.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hey. You fell asleep on the jetski, I had to drag you back here," Chris smirked and David felt a little bit of pink blush rising in his cheeks.

"Sorry."

"It's cool. You're cute when you're asleep, I like watching you sleep," Chris smiled, shifting closer with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Aww you're blushing!" he taunted and David felt his face turning redder still, he grumbled in protest and rolled away from his bondmate, turning his back on him. Chris laughed and shifted from the lounger he was laying on onto David's, scooting right up behind his back, teasing him about his blushing before starting to tickle him.

David struggled, laughing uncontrollably as he was tickled mercilessly.

"Chris – stop – fuck you," he forced out between giggles until finally he relented. With a jolt of nervousness David noticed his bondmate was pressed fully against his back, and he was at least half hard.

"Ignore it, sorry," Chris apologised quickly, backing away a little having sensed David's feelings through the bond.

"I uh… I don't want to," he admitted, his voice coming out a little rough. He turned over to face the part-Vulcan, feeling more than a little aroused from all the grabbing a moment ago. Chris glanced down his body and then back up to meet his eyes, looking uncertain.

David pushed down his nervousness, reaching out to grip the back of his head and pull him in for a heated kiss. Before either of them really knew what was happening David was on top and they were kissing fiercely, hands wandering even though Chris had yet to touch him anywhere covered by his swim-trunks. He struggled with the waistband string on Chris' trunks before finally succeeding and plunging his hand inside to wrap firmly around his cock, causing Chris' breath to stutter a little.

"What do you want?" Chris panted between kisses, David dropping his head to nip at his collarbone, not giving him an answer, fighting the corner of his mind telling him to stop, trying to push past it and focus purely on the physical, focus on how good it felt to have his hands on Chris again after all their time apart.

"Do you want to fuck me?" Chris asked in a low voice, causing David to whine and push his hips forward, pressing his erection against Chris' thigh. A distinct feeling of nervousness and uncertainty was spilling into Chris' mind through the bond, but he tried to ignore it, not wanting David to know he was aware.

"Mmm is that a yes?" Chris asked and David gave up trying to suck a hickey into his neck and looked up at him, blue eyes blazing.

"I feel kind of nervous," he admitted and Chris shook his head, reaching up to caress his cheek lightly.

"You don't have to feel nervous with me, not now and not ever, and we don't have to do anything you don't want to," he promised and David nodded.

"I don't know if I can… not yet," he admitted nervously and Chris smiled, still a little out of breath.

"I have something else I'd really like to do, if that's ok?" he asked and David hesitated a moment before nodding, allowing Chris to drag him back into the house and sit him on the edge of the bed, both of their shorts being lost along the way. Before David could protest Chris was on his knees between his legs and the incredible warmth of his mouth was wrapped around his erection. He let out a truly embarrassing sound somewhere between a whine and a yell of surprise before cursing under his breath and trying to stop his mind from going anywhere than this moment right now.

"I missed seeing you naked," Chris mumbled in a low tone as he pulled off for a second, his hand replacing his mouth as he looked up to meet David's eyes.

"You're so fucking hot, you know that? Drives me crazy just thinking about your body," he praised, blush rising in David's cheeks again as Chris' hungry eyes roamed his body. He leaned up on his elbows to get a better view as Chris took him into his mouth again, maintaining the eye-contact between them.

Instinctively David reached out and grabbed a handful of Chris' salt-encrusted hair, threading his fingers into it and tugging a little, causing Chris to let out a small moan of approval.

David closed his eyes and tried to force himself to enjoy what was happening. He tried to ignore the way his heart was hammering against his ribs that had nothing to do with arousal. But he couldn't ignore the fact that he wasn't enjoying what was happening, that panic was rapidly welling up inside of him like a tsunami he couldn't contain. A sense of confusion came through the bond as he felt his body begin to lose interest in proceedings.

"Stop! Stop… stop it," he stammered out, yanking Chris' head away harshly by the handful of hair he already had threaded between his fingers.

He crawled up the bed rapidly, needing to put some space between them, curling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

"David?" Chris asked softly, the younger man so lost in his own head that he hadn't even noticed Chris sitting on the edge of the bed next to him, now wearing boxers.

"I'm so sorry," Chris whispered and David dared to look up at him for a second, meeting his dark eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push you… I… I thought it was okay," Chris breathed, tears welling in his eyes.

"Well, apparently it isn't," David forced out.

They didn't speak for a long moment, sitting in an extremely awkward silence until Chris got up and headed for the other room, returning a moment later with a glass of water that he handed to his bondmate. David took one sip and then set it down on the side, his stomach not wanting to allow him to consume anything at all at that moment.

"We both had like fifty billion missed calls from your parents," he said quietly as he sat on the edge of the bed again.

"Don't care right now," David snapped back and Chris nodded.

"Good point. We can't call them back anyway it's like four in the morning in San Fran. Come on, get in the bed, you'll be more comfortable," Chris ordered, trying to cajole the younger man into getting under the covers and resting his head on the pillow. David didn't move a muscle. He felt like he was frozen to the edge of the bed with his knees curled up to his chest.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth, I'll be back soon," Chris said, leaving him alone. He was gone for over ten minutes, which left David enough time to find his pyjamas and pull them on, and crawl under the covers, curling into a ball on his side, hugging his arms protectively around himself.

"You uh… feeling ok?" Chris asked carefully from the side of the bed and David opened his eyes to look up at him.

"I uh… no. Not really. I just want to sleep," he lied blatantly, and by the look in his eyes Chris knew it was a lie.

"Ok, then lets sleep," he said, not wanting to push things.

"I didn't mean to push you," Chris added quietly as he got into his own side of the bed and David shook his head.

"Can we not talk about this right now? I just want to sleep," David asked weakly.

Chris did as he was told and let his bondmate go to sleep, waking a few hours later to find the bed empty. He dragged himself out of bed, setting off in search of David and finding him curled on the couch fully dressed and under a blanket, a mess of crumpled tissues on the floor.

Chris felt immensely guilty and stood there for a few moments looking at him, unsure of how to proceed.

"You breathe really loudly," David murmured, startling Chris who thought he was still asleep.

"You can hear me breathing?" he asked and David nodded, sitting up and stretching, moving his head from side to side to ease the crick in his neck.

"Are you ok?" Chris asked, taking one step closer and regretting it when David visibly flinched back.

"Uh… not really," David answered honestly, rubbing at his puffy eyes. His face was a mess and he'd obviously been crying for some time.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault. I pressured you and I was being selfish and I have no idea what you're going through and… I just… I can't even put into words how sorry I am."

"We both just wanted to try and get it over with I guess, try and tell ourselves it was all ok," David said flatly having clearly spent a long time laying on the couch trying to make sense of everything in his mind.

"I've never felt so conflicted. I want desperately for you to hold me and at the same time I never want anyone to touch me ever again, and I… I don't know what I want or what I need and-"David's voice cracked and Chris just looked at him helplessly, standing there in his boxers in the dim light that made the dark scarring on his chest so much more obvious.

"What do you need from me?" Chris asked and David stared at him for a long few moments before he looked down at the floor.

"I honestly don't know right now. Space from you? Maybe. But then I don't want to be alone. I couldn't think of anything worse."

"If you need space I can give you that. I can sleep on the couch until we go home, and when we get back I can move in with Spock for a while, give you some time to-"

"I don't want you to move out, and I don't want you to be uncomfortable," David interrupted, gesturing at his own chest and Chris shrugged him off.

"I'm used to it. It always interrupts my sleep anyway. I'd rather you slept well. We could even put a bed in that third room at the house, Emily's music stuff room, we could get a small bed in there and I can sleep there. You just… you need to tell me. I feel like I forced you into something that you weren't happy with," Chris said glumly, guilt clear on his face.

"I wasn't thinking clearly. I was uncomfortable and scared, but at the same time… the bond and… it's been a long time… I don't know. I didn't know what I wanted, but now I know that I think I need more time, maybe a lot more time," he said, shifting a little in his seat as Chris nodded.

"Ok. More time it is. As much time as you ever need, and when we get home we'll work on the sleeping arrangements. You want the bed for tonight here?" he offered and David looked guilty.

"Take it, go on, get some rest," Chris insisted, accepting David's grateful peck on the cheek as he passed him to go back into the bedroom. He settled on the couch, shifting around until he got comfortable. He brushed his fingers against the spot on his cheek David's lips had just touched and sighed, closing his eyes and trying to force himself to sleep.

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

Thomas had slept for around two hours before Leonard was woken by loud crying from down the hall. Carol was still fast asleep so he snuck out quickly to tend to him, finding the small boy standing on the bed in David's room wailing at the top of his lungs.

"What's the matter little man?" he asked quietly, closing the door of the room and flicking on the bedside lamp, sitting on the bed.

"Not tired," he protested and Leonard sighed.

"Thomas I know you are tired, it's almost two in the morning which is time for sleeping," he offered and the boy shook his head furiously.

"Want to play," he argued.

Leonard looked around for the backpack and grabbed it, opening it and digging through the small number of items there. Amongst the few items of clothing and some spare pull-ups there was one rather chewed looking stuffed bear.

"Who's this guy?" he asked, handing the bear over to the boy who grabbed him and eagerly pulled him to his chest.

"Hmm? What's his name?" he asked and the boy shook his head, holding the bear tightly and sitting back down on the bed.

"Do you want me to read you a bedtime story?" he offered and the boy looked at him carefully for a few seconds.

"Where's mommy?" he asked and Leonard froze. He hadn't decided if it was really his place to try and explain to the young boy that his mother wouldn't be coming back or if he would let him try and form a bond with David first.

"She's not here right now little guy, so you're gonna have to make do with Grandpa. Let me go get a story," he said, leaving the room for just a second to grab his personal PADD from his bedside cabinet before creeping back into David's bedroom, finding Thomas now under the comforter again, ragged bear held close and his head on the pillow.

"Looks like you are sleepy," he pointed out, earning himself an intense stare as he awkwardly climbed into the bed beside his grandson.

He scrolled through his PADD, finding that of course he didn't have anything suitable for Thomas' age.

"Looks like I don't have any stories on here, should I look one up? Or should I tell you one of my stories?"

"Story about spaceship," Thomas demanded excitedly and Leonard smiled and nodded, racking his memory for something suitable.

In the end he told the story of what had happened on Niburu all those years ago, Spock in the volcano, himself and Jim on the planet. By the time he reached the point in the story of the Enterprise rescuing Spock from the volcano Thomas' eyelids were drooping. It took him barely ten minutes to appear to be fast asleep. Leonard looked down at him and watched him for a few minutes, still not really able to believe David was this little boy's father. A small hand grabbed his arm and he looked down quickly, finding the boys eyes still closed.

"Do you want me to stay here?" he offered and Thomas nodded against the pillow.

Leonard shuffled down in the bed, re-positioning the pillows under his head and reaching over to shut off the lamp, allowing the young boy to grip tightly onto his left arm. He somewhat awkwardly reached over to stroke his back until he was sure he was asleep, his breathing had evened out and his little body was totally relaxed. He forced himself to close his eyes and go to sleep, wondering why this little boy trusted him so much after having spent barely a few hours with him. He obviously had no fear of strangers which told him he was used to dealing with lots of different people all the time.

He fell asleep wondering how much he'd be able to learn about the child from his and his mother's files. He woke up to a small body climbing across his mid-section, a sharp knee pressing on his uncomfortably full bladder.

"You snoring," giggled Thomas, hair completely wild now, eyes bright and full of energy for a new day.

"I was huh?" he asked and the boy giggled and nodded.

"What time did we make it until?" he asked the boy with a wide yawn and he fumbled for the PADD on the bedside table. The time glared up at him, and it wasn't a time he particularly wanted to see.

"Young man it's barely six in the morning, are you trying to kill me?" he asked with a weary sigh. Thomas looked up at him and then tilted his head to the side with a big smile and his heart just melted.

"Alright little guy, let's get you a bath, some new pull-ups and then some breakfast," he said, hauling himself out of bed after accepting there was no more sleep to be had now that the toddler was awake.

He led the small boy down the hall to the bathroom and grabbed a big fluffy towel from the laundry closet, filling the bath around halfway with warm water with a small amount of some bubbly liquid that wasn't too strong smelling.

"Bath bath!" Thomas squealed with joy as Leonard helped him wriggle out of his little pyjamas printed with tiny cartoon starships.

"You like bathtime?" Leonard asked as the now naked toddler tried to scale the side of the bathtub.

"Bath!" he squealed again and Leonard flinched, knowing he probably would have woken up the entire house.

"Shh, little man, no yelling so early," he scolded gently as he lifted the small boy over the side and placed him carefully in the tub. Leonard could feel his age in his back and his knees as he washed off the small boy he kept trying to throw handfuls of bubbles at his face.

Without any warning Thomas raised both arms and crashed his hands into the water excitedly, giggling loudly as he soaked the man bathing him.

"So you're a comedian, huh kid?" Bones asked, tickling him a little before lifting him out of the tub and wrapping him in the towel. Before he could do anything to stop him, Thomas took off running down the hallway giggling hysterically, the towel dragging behind him like a cape.

Leonard cursed his aching knees and hurried after him, worried he might fall down the stairs. He turned the corner on the landing and found Thomas safe and well, and being held by an extremely confused looking Leo.

"Uh… Bones? There's a naked miniature David in the house. Do you know anything about this?" he asked, holding the boy up effortlessly at arms length while he flailed and struggled.

"Emily didn't tell you last night?" he asked, taking the child off Leo and wrapping him snugly in the large towel so he couldn't wriggle so much.

"She was already asleep when I got here. I snuck in late, was doing overtime for Scotty," he explained, hinting at the cup of strong coffee he'd balanced precariously on the stairs when he'd reactively grabbed the toddler.

"Oh. Yeah so uh… this is Thomas."

"He looks like Lieutenant Hughes," Leo commented and Leonard nodded.

"She's his mother. Sulu grabbed him from the care facility when he went to declare him orphaned, if David ever calls me back I'm going to try and get him back here to meet him and figure out what he wants to do now," he explained and Leo remained fairly expressionless.

"I uh… don't really know what to say. He's cute. Chris will be happy," Leo said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

"Breakfast!" Thomas shrieked and Leonard flinched at the volume.

"Alright little guy, clothes first," he instructed, passing Leo without addressing his odd reaction and finding him some more clothes amongst the contents of his small backpack. He needed more stuff. Kids this age were messy and Leonard knew he would likely need more than one set of clothing just for that day.

His suspicions were proved correct at breakfast when Thomas decided to place a handful of his porridge in the pocket of his little sweater. He discouraged him, but didn't get too mad. It was impossible to with his huge brown eyes staring up at him so innocently.

He quickly ate something himself before sending a message to Seren to let her know he would likely be late into the clinic if she could cover his first appointment. He'd explain to her when he had time.

Carol arrived downstairs with perfect timing to allow him to sneak off and take a quick shower and get dressed. By the time he got back downstairs Thomas was engrossed in cartoons while Carol read from a PADD on the couch, glancing up from time to time.

"I still can't believe it," she said, looking at the young boy who was giggling happily at the cartoons in front of him.

"Me either. David call you back yet?"

"Not yet, but hopefully-"

She stopped talking as her communicator started to chirp.

"Divert it to the…" Leonard trailed off as his wife was one step ahead of him, inviting a video call and sending it to the larger screen, causing the cartoons to stop and Thomas to look very confused for a second.

He bent down and scooped him up, balancing him on one hip and walking away far enough that he wouldn't be in the field of vision of the video comm.

"Hey," he heard David's voice come through, he sounded uncertain and uncomfortable.

"Hi. We need you to come home straight away," Carol said immediately and seriously.

"What's happened?" David asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Something… something has come to light, that we need you to be aware of as soon as possible. Can you come home? Your father and I would rather we tell you this in person," she said, a little more gently.

"I uh… yeah. Yeah, we can come back, I'll get us on the next shuttle," he said, sounding worried.

He cut off the communication quickly and Leonard sat down beside Carol, standing the small boy on his lap. He looked between the two of them, grinning happily.

"Socially he's not normal, but as far as I can tell he's happy and healthy," Leonard said and Carol nodded.

"No, of course not, he doesn't have a fear of strangers. We need to get hold of Lieutenant Hughes' files, I should be able to pull them up. I imagine it must be because he's spent a lot of time getting looked after by a lot of different people, he's just come to think of everyone as a friend," she said as Thomas started to wriggle so Leonard let him down, placing him carefully on his feet on the floor. He was steady on his feet and ran immediately over to the corner.

"He needs stuff… more clothes, pull-ups… a bed," he listed off just a few items and Carol nodded.

"Those are responsibilities for his father, don't you think?" she asked and he contemplated for a moment.

"I think if the circumstances right now were different, I'd agree, but I think David needs all the help he can get. When they get back later I'll go shopping with them for everything they need," he said, trying to stifle a yawn.

"What time did you get up with him?" she asked and he stretched a little. The mattress on David's bed was firmer than he was used to and it had disagreed with his back.

"Uh… around one I think, told him a story until he went back to sleep. Then he trod on me at around six and that was that," he explained as they watched Thomas foraging around the living room, looking for something to play with.

"He's absolutely beautiful," she said quietly and he nodded his agreement, giving her a kiss on the cheek before leaving for work. He'd end up cutting his day short to be back for when David arrived, but he'd go in for as long as he could to try and cover their huge demand for appointments.

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

Chris held onto David's hand tightly as they walked up the driveway towards the house.

"My Mom sounded like… super serious. Something is wrong, I can feel it… someone is sick, or something has happened or-" David's nervous rambling was cut off as the door opened for them, Carol standing on the other side of it.

"Thank you for coming back so quickly. Come in, go in the lounge," she instructed. She followed them in and instructed them to sit, then left the room. Bones sidled in and sank into his favourite armchair, cup of coffee clutched in one hand. He didn't say a word but looked at them both closely.

"I feel sick," David sighed, a fresh wave of nervousness coursing through their bond.

"I'm sure it's fine, I'm sure everybody is fine," Chris comforted, holding his hand tightly and trying to focus on sending calming emotions through their bond.

"He's a little cranky because he was taking a nap," Carol's voice carried around the corner and David looked confused for a moment until she walked around and back into the room, clutching a young boy in her arms.

"David… this is Thomas. He's your son," Leonard spoke at last. He didn't give away any emotions in his voice, just stated a fact, but his half-raised eyebrow conveyed a little annoyance.

David just stared, Chris glanced between his bondmate and the small boy, deciding immediately that the only person in the universe that could be this kids father, was David. He was the perfect likeness, apart from his brown eyes.

David let go of his hand, putting both of his hands over his own face and hiding for a moment.

"Hughes," he said hoarsely and his mother nodded.

Chris touched David's forearm gently to get his attention. When David glanced at him he offered a smile and then took the lead, standing up and going over to Carol and the boy.

"Hey there Thomas," he spoke in a tone of voice David had never heard him use before, even in the last week when he had been taking such care of him, he'd never heard him speak so softly.

"Did we interrupt your nap, huh? I'm sorry little man," he said and Thomas buried his face into Carol's neck shyly and she chuckled.

"He's not shy with anyone else at all. He's met Leo and Emily, and Leonard had to sleep in with him last night because he wouldn't sleep alone," she explained and Chris took a step closer.

"Can I hold him?" he asked. David remained where he was on the couch, frozen to his seat with an expression of total disbelief on his face.

"Sure. Here Thomas, go to Chris," she encouraged, trying to hand the boy over. He whined in protest and wriggled until Carol set him down on the floor on his feet. He ran immediately the few steps to the couch and grabbed David's legs, resting his chin on his knees and staring up at him. David looked shellshocked and Chris watched curiously.

"H-hey little guy," he said uncertainly.

"I Thomas," he said happily and David gave a nervous smile.

"Hi Thomas," he said, looking up and meeting Chris' eyes for a second, excitement surging through their bond in equal parts with nervousness.

"I uh… I'm David," he said weakly.

"David," Thomas repeated.

"You got it," David smiled, reaching out a hand to lightly touch his son's forehead, pushing back the untidy dark hair.

"You've got your mothers eyes," he said, tears spilling down his face as he looked at his son, expression of total wonder on his face now.

"Hug hug!" Thomas squealed excitedly and David looked panicked, looking to his mother for help.

"I think he wants you to hold him," she encouraged and David awkwardly picked up the boy for the first time, hands placed uncomfortably under his arms, placing him next to him on the couch. Thomas got to his feet and then boldly stepped right into David's personal space, wrapping both his arms around him and nuzzling his face against his upper arm.

"Hug and no more crying," he said quietly in his little voice and Chris bit the inside of his mouth to try and stop himself from tearing up.

David sniffled and wrapped his arms around the boy in return, holding him close, looking at Chris with panic in his eyes.

Thomas suddenly let go and jumped off the couch with alarming speed, sprinting from the room and towards the hallway, rapid shuffling announcing his was climbing the stairs. Carol disappeared in pursuit, leaving David and Chris staring at each other in a stunned, slightly uncomfortable silence. Bones excused himself from the room, leaving them to talk.

"I don't… I don't understand why she never told me. I would have been there. I would have… I would have helped take care of him…" David said in a hollow voice.

"She must have had her reasons for keeping it a secret," Chris said, his tone strained, unsure where he would have fitted in David's little vision of himself helping Hughes raise the child.

"I don't know how to take care of a kid. What is he, three years old? I don't know anything about kids. I don't know what to do. Maybe I should give him up for adoption, maybe it's the best thing for him," he said, sounding utterly broken. Chris looked at him. He still had refused to shave since his return from the Orion ship, and his stubble was now thick and dark, making him look much older than his twenty-two years. He still looked tired and strained, and now he looked scared.

"I do… I know. From my volunteering at the hospital. I picked up a lot. I mean mostly I dealt with kids age five and up, but two or three isn't too bad, I'll manage, I'll figure it out, and you'd regret it so much if you let him go," he reassured, sitting next to David who immediately grabbed his hand quite desperately.

"What the hell am I going to do?" asked David, as if he hadn't heard any of the reassurances at all.

Chris sighed and turned to face him, trying to get David to meet his eyes.

"We are going to be fine. We'll learn how to take care of him, we'll split taking care of him, and we'll get him a little bed to go in the third bedroom at the house. We'll manage, it'll be alright," he said firmly and David nodded, still looking terrified.

Carol and Thomas returned, Thomas now holding a scruffy looking teddy bear that he handed to David with a big grin.

"Hug bear," he instructed and David just looked at him, the chewed bear hanging limply in his hand.

"Hug bear!" Thomas shrieked and David quickly obeyed, holding the bear tightly to his chest with one arm, leaving his other hand linked to Chris'. Thomas looked at their joined hands before grabbing them with his own, his whole hand just barely reaching around their meshed fingers.

He climbed back onto the couch, laying on his front and stuffing his thumb in his mouth, one hand still clinging onto where Chris and David's hands were joined.

It didn't take long for Thomas to fall asleep. David snuck away first, carefully extracting his hand and then leaving the room hurriedly. Chris listened to his footsteps tracking through the house, and then the door to the back yard open and then slide closed again. He sat in silence and looked down at the young boy, already feeling completely besotted with him. He ran his hand through his soft dark hair, watching as his long eyelashes fluttered a little.

"You're pretty cool, you know that?" he said quietly.

"I mean… you're kind of a surprise. Your dad isn't too keen on surprises, but I think you'll probably grow on him pretty quickly. He's kind of going through a hard time right now, but I think we're going to be ok," he said, talking more to himself than anything.

Carol peeked back into the room and gave him a small smile.

"How's David?" she asked seriously, sitting down on the other side of the sleeping toddler who was still clutching Chris' much larger hand with one of his own.

"He's… I don't know. Not great. Something happened yesterday and he's gone completely into his shell about it, even though at the time I thought it was fine," he said, trying to be vague but also to give enough away that she would know what he was talking about. He needed help to deal with David, who had been incredibly distant since the previous day after their encounter by the pool and then in the bedroom.

"The Orions assaulted him," she said bluntly. Her mouth was pressed closed in a stern line and her steely grey eyes were very serious.

"I… It's not my place," Chris backtracked a little and she pressed further.

"I know something happened because even my security clearance can't access his medical files anymore. Was… was he raped?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

Chris looked at the floor.

"We… we think he fought them off. Somebody fought them off. He was assaulted," Chris seethed, pulling his knees up to his chest and closing his eyes for a moment.

"He's afraid of you, afraid of intimacy," Carol asked, her question coming out as more of a statement.

Chris made an uncertain sound.

"It's hard to tell. I can feel in our bond that he's conflicted. I mean… we've missed each other, and there's been frustration on both sides, but I touch him and he flinches away. While we've been in Bali we basically just held hands a lot, cuddled, maybe a few kisses here and there. I walked into the room naked once and he basically ran away from me, and he always locked the bathroom when he was taking a shower. But something happened yesterday and now he… he's barely even met my eye since, and he asked me to sleep on the couch last night, and when we get home we aren't going to share a bed," Chris blurted out, immediately feeling uncomfortable. David would be so embarrassed if he knew Chris had discussed their sex life with his mother.

Carol cleared her throat a little.

"I imagine it's going to take him time to get back to normal. Maybe if he talks to somebody about what he's feeling. I imagine he's going to be a lot more stressed now with Thomas and everything, and the fact that you guys are going to have to file for his custody from Starfleet. Just be there for him as much as you can?" she asked and he nodded.

"Always."

Thomas stirred a little, peeking up at Chris watching over him before sitting up and looking up at him curiously.

"Hey there little guy," he offered and the boy just blinked.

"Romlan," he said, looking at Chris intently.

"Romlan? Oh, you mean Romulan? No buddy, I'm not a Romulan," he chuckled, picking the boy up and standing him on his lap.

"I'm a Vulcan, we're different. But I'm part-human too, just like you," he said with a smile and Thomas reached for his ear, grabbing at it. He flinched a little but let the boy grab and look.

"Your ears are round, and mine are pointed, see?" Chris explained, guiding Thomas' hand to feel his own ear, and then back to his different shaped one so he could feel the difference.

"Where's Grandpa?" he asked Carol and Chris sniggered at the thought of Bones being called 'Grandpa'.

"He's gone to talk to David. Shall we find something to play with until he gets back?" she offered and the toddler nodded eagerly, bouncing on Chris' lap, his foot slipping dangerously close to standing on him somewhere incredibly painful.

"I know a fun game we can play," Chris said quickly, standing up and holding Thomas securely under his arms.

"You want to be a starship captain?" Chris asked before launching the toddler up in the air quickly, keeping a firm grip on him and lifting him up high, holding him over his head leaning forwards. Thomas giggled and squealed his approval as Chris zoomed him around the room making starship noises until he noticed David standing in the doorway watching them, his face tearstained but a slight smile on his lips as he watched them, warm affection coming through their bond.

"Thomas I think it's nearly dinner time. Shall we find you something you like to eat in the kitchen?" Carol offered as Chris landed him on the couch again. He nodded eagerly, hopping down and following Carol into the kitchen, leaving Chris and David alone.

"So I uh… I like him. Can we keep him?" Chris asked lightly and David chuckled, running a hand through his hair as he often did when he was stressed out.

"I guess we have to. Seeing as I need to take responsibility for my actions and all," David said awkwardly.

"Hey, no contraception is effective a hundred percent of the time," Chris offered and David laughed.

"No, that's true, but this is my own stupid fault. I uh… I have a huge hatred of that stupid male shot, it makes me gain weight," he admitted and Chris raised an eyebrow.

"You weren't getting the shot? Jesus. Between the two of us we might have knocked up half of San Francisco," he chuckled and David gave him a look in return.

"The shot isn't designed for Vulcans. Gives me a headache. I only ever got it once, and after that I just hoped for the best or stuck with condoms," he shrugged.

"God damn we were both so fucking dumb," David sighed, sinking back into the couch.

"My dad just came to talk to me while I was sitting outside and basically ripped me a new one about not being careful. I told him it's too damn late for that now," he said and Chris made a sound of agreement.

"He's mad?"

"Well, yeah, but I think more because he's missed the first two and half years of his first Grandkid's life. I mean. I'm pretty pissed myself. I managed to get a little bit of info though. His birthday is in June, the twentieth, his full name is Thomas Allen Hughes. He doesn't have any medical issues, he was born right on time and a good weight, and he's growing fine, got all his inoculations up to date and all that, hitting his milestones. Socially he's unusual, but it looks as though he's spent at least half of his life in daycare, so he just trusts everybody he meets. Doesn't seem like Hughes had a huge bond with him," he said sadly and Chris met his eyes.

"But he can have a huge bond with us," he said, fighting against the lump in his throat and David broke their eye contact and looked away.

"I'm sorry. I know this must be a lot. I understand if you don't want to stick around," he said and Chris laughed.

"You're kidding right? Thomas only sweetens the deal. You're both keepers, don't think you're getting away that easy. You promised me a wedding," he pointed out and David looked back at him, looking comforted.

"You're sure?"

"Very sure. Now let's get our heads together and figure out what we need to get for him, because little kids need a lot of stuff."

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

"Remind me that we're never having kids?" Leo asked Emily, watching Chris and David bring everything they had bought into the house.

"Sure," she said absently as she tried to get her nephew to change into his pyjamas. He was extremely determined to run around naked instead.

"See, he gets to run around naked and it's fine, but if I try and do it it's 'inappropriate'," Leo protested.

"He's two years old. You're a grown ass man. It's different," said David, scooping up Thomas from behind and holding him while Emily wrestled a pair of pull-ups onto the small boy

"Does he know how to use the bathroom yet?" Leo asked and Chris shrugged.

"We're not too sure if he's potty trained, we'd guess not because he's been in daycare so much. But David has kindly nominated me as potty-training master, so I'm gonna try to teach him," Chris said determinedly as he worked on assembling the extra bed they'd bought for the child.

"You sure you don't need my help with that?" Leo offered with a smirk as he watched Chris struggle.

"No," he answered bluntly as the leg he'd been attaching fell off and bumped him on the forehead.

"McCoys, distract him in the lounge, we'll get this finished," Leo instructed as Emily and David finished getting Thomas dressed in his pyjamas. Once they'd left the room he cornered his brother who answered his questions before he could even ask.

"Yes. I'm fine about this. No, I know it's not ideal, and yes, I'm a little bit jealous somebody else got to have David's kid. And we're going to figure something out about who takes care of him when, we don't know yet. We still have five days before David has to debrief, and then I have my hearing for crashing the main power source at Starfleet HQ, so who knows what's gonna happen," he said and Leo nodded, taking in all his answers.

"I hope David is going to be ok, he seems stressed as hell."

"He'll be fine eventually. He's getting over a pretty traumatic thing, and now to have this dropped in his lap too isn't exactly ideal. But he's strong, he's going to get through this. I'll make him get through this," he said as he and his twin worked to get the bed finished in the room. They were finished soon enough and packed up all the tools, getting the mattress in place and then making the bed up. They just had some old spare sheets David had lying around from his academy dorm that they were using for now.

"You should get him some cool sheets with like… tribbles on them or something," Leo suggested as he stuffed a pillow into the plain pale-blue case.

"Not everyone shares your affection for those little hairballs," Chris chuckled as he worked on getting the fitted sheet over the mattress corners.

"Man I don't know what kids like. Cartoons?" he suggested weakly and Chris rolled his eyes.

"I'm just glad I've done so many hours volunteering at the hospital to know a thing or two about taking care of a kid. I'm probably the most qualified of the four of us," he sighed, completing the sheet and throwing the comforter over the bed, then stepping back and folding his arms across his chest.

"No pressure then," Leo grinned as they went back out into the lounge to find Thomas half asleep on David's lap on the couch, sippy cup of warm milk dangling from his hand.

"We gave him warm milk like Dad suggested before bed and he's pretty much down for the count," Emily explained.

"Yeah, he's still kind of in a food-coma after Mom fed him earlier, he had two dinners," David chuckled, gently taking away the cup. Thomas whined and weakly grabbed for it.

"You want more? How can you want more? Your belly is so full," he chuckled, handing back the bottle and placing his hand on the boys tummy. Chris grinned at the positive interaction between David and his son, pleased to see them beginning to form a bond.

Thomas drank a few more mouthfuls before whining angrily and kicking his legs.

"He's tired and cranky. Let's get him to brush his teeth and try the potty and then bed," Chris stepped in and David looked at him hopefully.

"Ok, I'll handle this," he sighed, taking the toddler from him and into the bathroom. First he brushed his teeth, managing to make a bit of a mess when Thomas decided to spit his toothpaste all down his arm. Then he pulled out the brand new plastic potty from under the cabinet where Leo had stuffed it when they were putting everything away.

"You need to use the bathroom little guy?"

Thomas looked at him blankly, but was shifting his weight from side to side distinctly like he needed to go.

Chris freed him from his pyjama pants and pull ups and encouraged him to sit on the little green plastic seat. He was relieved when the small boy understood immediately and did as Chris had hoped; only he wasn't entirely done when Chris tried to pick him up, and he peed on the Vulcan's arm, giggling a little when Chris yelled out indignantly.

"You're not funny little man, not funny at all," he scolded as he took care of the potty then washed his hands and arms thoroughly in the sink, keeping an eye on Thomas as the toddler pulled up his own pants and waited.

"Now bedtime," he instructed, holding him at the sink so he could wash his hands first, before carrying him into the room that would temporarily be his bedroom. Emily stored music equipment there, but had taken some of it back over to her parents house to clear space. The room was still a bit of a mess, but as he entered the room David was in there working on getting everything put away.

He plugged a nightlight into the wall and then stood up to face Chris.

"Looks like he's already asleep," David pointed out and Chris looked down. Thomas' head was lolling against his chest and he was limp in his arms.

"Yep. He peed on me, and then laughed about it. I think your son might be kind of an evil genius you know," he chuckled and David smiled, stepping over to the two of them.

"You mean our son," he pointed out, causing Chris' heart to do a strange sort of flutter low in his ribcage.

"I like the sound of that."

"Yeah well, me too. I uh… I can't imagine doing this with anybody else. You're a pro with him, and it's kind of incredible to watch you interact with him," David admitted shyly and Chris felt warmth creeping into his cheeks.

"I've just had more practice than you. You'll be a pro before long too," he encouraged gently as he adjusted his grip on the sleeping boy ready to lower him into the bed. David pulled back the covers and Chris gently placed him down, locating his scruffy teddy bear and putting it next to him with his arm around it, letting David pull the blanket back over him and tuck him in while he watched.

"I uh… I think I love you more than ever when I watch you with him," Chris admitted shyly and David looked up at him. He gently touched Thomas' face once more before leading Chris from the room by his hand out and switching off the main light behind them, quietly closing the door.

"Come into the bathroom?" he asked and David looked confused but nodded and followed him obediently. Chris lifted him easily and sat him on the counter by the sink, then rummaged through the cupboard for something. He filled the sink with warm water and then showed David what he had in the small kit he'd removed from the cupboard.

"I'm going fix your face, ok?" he explained, removing the old-school shaving kit. David said nothing, just watched him intently as he lathered up foam and applied it to his face.

"This crap on your face can't be comfortable," he explained as he removed the extremely sharp straight-razor and flicked it open.

"Uh no… it's itchy as hell," David admitted. Chris reached out with the razor and David caught him, gripping his wrist for a moment, their eyes meeting.

Trust me. Let me take care of you.

David let go of his wrist and sat extremely still on the counter as Chris stood between his legs. He carefully ran the razorblade over the sensitive skin, rinsing it off in the sink and working methodically until David's entire face was cleanly shaven and his legs had wound around the back of Chris' thighs.

"All done," he smiled, handing him a small towel to wipe off his face with. He turned to look in the mirror and smiled faintly.

"That does feel better, thanks."

"Anytime. Listen, I'm not going to leave just because you won't sleep with me, ok? I'll wait for you to feel ready and completely sure about what you want. Yesterday was dumb, we shouldn't have let that happen, but you should have stopped me at the time if you were uncomfortable. You can always stop me, I promise I won't be mad," he assured and David looked down at the sink intently.

Chris stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his bondmate from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder and meeting his eyes in the mirror.

"I'm always going to be here for you. Hey, hey don't cry," Chris did his best to soothe the younger man as his eyes filled with tears that spilled over almost immediately.

"I can't believe how badly I fucked up," David whispered, glaring at himself in the mirror.

"What do you mean?"

"I was so young and stupid and now I've fucked everything up for us. We were supposed to enjoy our lives before we had a kid, be young and do crazy things and travel, and go on a five year mission… and now we're going to end up stuck on Earth in some shitty desk job like Jim had to take and-"he hiccupped and stopped talking. Chris applied gentle pressure to his shoulders to encourage him to turn around.

"Listen to me, because I'm only going to say this once. You did not fuck anything up. We had a plan, and plans change, so now we're going to make a new one. Our new plan is going to involve you, and me, and that beautiful little boy in there, the three of us as a family. We're going to learn how we do that together, and it's not going to be perfect, but it's going to be us and that alone is going to make it the most exciting adventure either of us will ever go on. We can still travel, we can still go on a five year mission if we really want… we've still got our whole lives, and I still want to spend the rest of mine with you, and I want to contribute to raising our son and if he grows up to be half the man his father is I'll consider myself to have done a damn good job," Chris said, not really sure where the words were coming from. His speech served to initially make David more upset, but he calmed down and Chris managed to talk him into going to bed.

He collected his pillow and an extra blanket from the closet, kissing David on the forehead before heading downstairs to the couch.

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

Five days passed by quickly in a blur of broken sleep. They had both been having nightmares, David dreaming of the day three years ago when he'd held Chris in his arms as the life ebbed out of his body, and Chris dreaming of the pain and torment David had suffered at the hands of the Orions. Neither of them wanted to initiate the conversation about the dreams that they both knew they needed to have. Added to this, Thomas would not sleep in his own room no matter what they tried on the first and second night, and on the third night David woke at around two in the morning to find the small boy nestled in the bed beside him, snoring softly in Chris' usual spot. He had watched him sleeping for a while until tiredness took him and he fell back to sleep. The next two nights, Thomas went down in his own bed and always crept into him in the middle of the night.

The morning of David's debriefing the alarm sounded and David grumbled until the clock understood his request and shut off the sound. He rolled over and dragged himself out of bed, wondering if Thomas had managed to stay the whole night in his own bed.

He padded quietly down the hall to check on him, but found he wasn't in bed. Frowning, he decided to check downstairs. His frown turned into a smile as he turned the corner into the living room to find Thomas asleep on Chris on the couch. Thomas was facing inwards towards Chris with his face buried in his shoulder, his one arm draped across the part-Vulcan's chest.

He crept back to their room to retrieve the camera they had taken with them to Bali and from his position in the doorway, snapped a few photos. With a pang in his chest he realised this was the first picture he had taken of his son and wondered if maybe Hughes had any baby photos of him lying around. Her funeral was tomorrow, and he was dreading it even more than he was dreading his debriefing.

"Are you taking pictures of us sleeping?" Chris asked, voice low and scratchy from sleep.

"Maybe," David confessed, caught red handed.

"I've been sneaking pictures of him since he got here, he's too adorable," Chris sighed, hugging the boy close and then gently rubbing his back to wake him up. He let out a high pitched whine and buried his face into Chris' chest, grabbing for the blanket and wrapping himself more tightly around Chris as he tried to get away.

"How did you get him to come down here?" David asked and Chris looked up at him from the couch with tired eyes.

"I may have bribed him with a cookie before bed if he promised not to wake you up all night and if he woke up and needed somebody he could come down here to me," he admitted, scratching his head and sending his caramel hair into even more of a mess than it already was.

"I uh… thank you. I feel better after a whole night's sleep," David admitted, sounding a little guilty at having disturbed Chris, especially with his current sleeping arrangement on the couch.

"Come on little man, you've got a whole day hanging out with Aunt Jo and Uncle Quinn," Chris encouraged and Thomas whined again.

"Maybe he doesn't like Joanna, can sense her fear of him," David sniggered, trying to prise the young boy off Christopher and getting nowhere as he latched on with both his arms and his legs around Chris' torso.

"I think the person most scared of him is Leo. He's been avoiding him like the plague."

"Leo's weird about kids because of what happened… with him and Emily," David pointed out and Chris looked solemn for a moment.

"I guess that would do it. Anyway, come on Thomas let's get you some breakfast while David takes a shower?" he offered and Thomas shook his head, still clinging to Chris' warm chest stubbornly.

"Well, he's already prepared for life as an adult – he hates Mondays!" Chris called after David's retreating back as he headed for the bathroom.

As he washed he just let the last few days all run through his mind. He'd filed for the permanent custody of his son from Starfleet, and had been informed that any day now Thomas would be returned to their care while a review was carried out into the living arrangements provided for the child. He'd included Chris' name on the forms, and as a result Chris had been contacted and informed he would have to pass a drugs test due to his very public addiction struggles. David had been hesitant but Chris agreed instantly, and had reported for it that very afternoon. The results hadn't come back yet, and David couldn't really explain the sense of dread he felt about when they may come back.

He knew Chris was clean, he trusted him, but after the last few weeks the last thing he needed was anything else going wrong.

He wasn't ready for today, to face whatever Admiral would be holding the debriefing. He knew his mother had requested to be there as a witness, he didn't know if her request had been granted. Chris would be there, but he could only watch from the public area, he couldn't sit beside him while he answered questions about what had happened out there.

He dried off and pulled on his dress uniform, finding it a little baggier than he was used to. He hadn't been eating the best since Thomas had shown up, instead spending long hours deep in thought and worrying about his failures as a person. He'd come to the conclusion that Hughes must have hated him so much she had deliberately kept Thomas away from him, it was the only explanation that made sense in his mind.

Walking numbly into the kitchen, he crossed paths with Emily who was rushing out of the house with a guitar case on her back.

"Anything exciting going on today?" he asked her.

"You have no idea," she beamed, pausing to re-apply her red lipstick in the mirror by the door as she hurried out.

"Oh, and good luck today," she said, reappearing around the corner of the kitchen and placing a kiss on his cheek that he wiped off theatrically.

Chris was almost done encouraging Thomas to eat his breakfast of fruit and cereal. David swapped places with him so he could go and get ready, and did his best to keep his uniform clean.

"Do you want to play blocks?" David asked and Thomas shook his head.

"Where's Mom?" he asked inquisitively, tilting his head to one side and looking up at his father.

"She's not here today, you've got me now, me and Chris," he said gently. He had no idea how to explain to a two year old that his mother was never coming back.

He was saved from further questioning by Joanna arriving right on time.

"Quinn has the flu or something similar, so it's just me today," she explained as she entered the house alone.

"Oh, that sucks."

"Yep. He's just going to sleep it off I think," she continued as she pulled off her coat and shoes.

"Anjo?" Thomas asked and she grinned. He hadn't quite grasped calling her 'aunt Jo' and the words had merged.

"There's my favourite little nephew! Come give me a hug!" she encouraged, crouching down to Thomas' height and beaming as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"How does everyone get the hang of this so easily except for me?" David sighed.

"Well, I need practice. Me and Quinn are officially trying for a baby now before he gets shipped out on some outrageously long mission, don't tell Dad," she warned and David smirked.

"He can't give you any shit for having a kid before you're married, Emily and I were both born before he married Mom," David pointed out and Joanna shrugged.

"True. I never thought to use that one against him," she said, setting the heavy toddler back down on his feet.

"David?" Thomas asked curiously.

"Yeah?"

"What's shit mean?" he asked, repeating the word he'd just let slip when talking to Joanna. She smirked and he bit back a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's a bad word I shouldn't have said, it's not a nice thing to say," he tried to explain and Thomas grinned running towards the stairs.

"Shit shit shit shit!" he squealed as he clambered up the stairs as quickly as possible, David in pursuit.

"Uh oh, did somebody learn a new word?" Chris asked from the top of the stairs, emerging from the bedroom in his own dress uniform, looking incredibly well presented and handsome.

"Shit!" Thomas grinned and Chris stifled a laugh as he picked him up and returned him to the bottom of the stairs.

"That's a bad word Thomas, it's a bad word only for grown-ups, it's not nice. Please don't say it anymore, ok?" he offered seriously and Thomas squirmed.

"Promise me?" Chris offered, extending his hand towards the small boy.

"Ok Chris promise!" he agreed gleefully, shaking his hand.

"Hey, secret handshake?" Chris offered and Thomas laughed in delight, shaking his hand before giving him a high-five, and then a fist-bump.

"You guys have a secret handshake now huh?" David asked, trying and failing to keep the jealousy out of his voice.

"Thomas asked me if he could teach you and I told him yes, so you guys can work on that tonight. See you later little man," Chris said, ruffling Thomas' hair and kissing the top of his head.

Joanna assured them she would be fine caring for him, and they left the house without further delay, wanting to arrive early.

They barely spoke as they made their way to the Academy buildings, nor as they walked what felt like a long way to the room where the debriefing was being held. David could feel himself sweating nervously and was grateful for Chris' solid and reassuring presence beside him and inside his mind.

"I'm going to be right over here. If you need me, you know where I am," Chris reassured, his voice sounding very far away even as he stood just in front of David who just looked at him blankly as he was ushered away to take his seat one side of the table.

He could see Chris from where he was sitting in the very front row of the public viewing area. A few minutes later his mother arrived in her full dress uniform, taking the seat beside Chris and giving him a small but reassuring smile. He did his best to force a similar expression onto his own face, certain that he'd failed.

Mercifully, the debrief hadn't been assigned to Admiral Mitchell, that had been David's biggest concern. Admiral Peris was known to be stern but fair, and she was leading the inquiry, a Commodore he did not recognise as her assistant.

"You can relax, Ensign, you are not on trial or in any trouble. We need to debrief following your mission and then take details regarding your capture and imprisonment, we are not here to punish you, only to listen to what you may have to say," she assured in her gravelly tone.

All David could look at was Chris.

He fought to concentrate on what the Admiral was saying, but he kept zoning out. He managed to make it through discussing the mission and retain his composure the entire time.

"At this stage I would request that everyone in the public gallery vacate the room?" she asked, turning around to look at the few people sitting in the seats. Some of them moved immediately, David caught sight of two of his crew-mates from the mission and felt gratitude towards them for them coming at all. He also caught sight of a photographer and felt sick at the thought his face would probably be plastered in the press the next morning no doubt with some patchy article detailing the missions failings and how several cadets ended up dead.

"Admiral – if I may, why does everyone have to leave?" David piped up shakily.

"I wished to grant you privacy when discussing your time aboard the Orion ship. As I have been able to view your medical records, I felt this was something you would welcome," she offered pointedly.

"I-… yes… I…" he stammered uselessly, cheeks burning hot and red in embarrassment. She already knows.

He couldn't do this. He couldn't talk about it. Answer questions about it with a senior Admiral.

David? You can do this, ok? I know you can. Just be strong, tell her what she needs to know Chris assured through their bond, dark eyes focused on him intently.

He watched helplessly as his mother and Chris rose to their feet slowly, obviously reluctant about leaving.

"Can… Can Kirk stay? Please?" David finally blurted out, when Chris's retreating back was almost through the door and Peris gave a single nod.

"Cadet Kirk, if you would? And close the door please?" she called out and Chris stopped in his tracks, letting Carol out as the last person to leave before closing the door and walking back over.

"You may sit with Ensign McCoy, if you wish," she offered and Chris nodded, fetching himself an additional chair before sitting down beside David.

"I understand this is going to be a difficult conversation son, but we need to know everything that you can remember, from the beginning if you can right up until you woke up in sickbay. Can you do that? If you need to stop and take a break at any time, we can do that," Peris asked kindly and David nodded, buoyed slightly by Chris' shoulder pressed against his own.

"From the beginning, if you please," Peris requested. David was acutely aware of his every word being documented. He swallowed dryly and began to speak, knowing this was the first time Chris would hear most of this too and dreading him wanting to ask further questions later.

"It was a normal day, same as the rest of the mission. We were pretty bored, trying to amuse ourselves. Lieutenant Hughes had the bridge and I was off duty at the time of the attack."

David continued speaking. He remained professional and explained thoroughly the events following the Orions ambushing the ship. His account grew patchy when he reached being on board the ship.

"How long were you kept in the first room with Lieutenant Hughes?" Peris asked and David shook his head.

"I don't know ma'am. I had no concept of time. It may have been a day or two based purely on how hungry and thirsty we got before they sent someone to talk to us. Hughes had become unwell, I'm not sure what was wrong, but I went in her place to speak to the Captain."

"This Captain of theirs then assaulted you, is that correct?" she asked and David looked at the table.

"He tried to. I remember a struggle. I remember all I would say to him… name, rank, serial number, but he wasn't interested in questioning me about anything. I tried to fight him but he was so strong. He pinned me to the wall and lifted up my leg and just… twisted, until it gave way. I don't remember much after that. Somebody helped me… somebody was there who tried to help me. It might have been Hughes, it might have been a man, I don't remember," David answered shakily.

He was aware of Chris growing tense beside him as the story reached the inevitable conclusion he was dreading having to verbalise.

"Ensign McCoy, I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but your medical file states that you were sexually assaulted during your time on the Orion ship. Is this true?" she asked and David nodded.

"Yes Admiral," he forced out.

"Do you have any recollection of the attack? Anything that may help us identify the individual responsible?" she asked.

David swallowed around the huge lump in his throat, sweat beading on the back of his neck and his stomach churning horribly.

"I… I do have some recollection," he admitted shakily. He could feel Chris' eyes on his now as he started to hyperventilate.

"Hey, breathe," he urged quietly from beside him. He reached across and took David's trembling, sweaty hand from where it was resting on the table in one of his own, the other rubbing his back soothingly.

"You're safe, you're ok. They just need to catch the guy. Anything you remember might help," Chris encouraged and David choked out a sob, tears spilling over.

He could feel Peris looking at him and felt a fresh wave of shame rise up.

"Admiral, I apologise for-"

"Silence," she said sternly and David stopped immediately.

"I will not listen to you apologise for anything. You handled yourself with exemplary conduct under extreme duress, and you do not have to apologise for becoming emotional when discussing an extremely difficult and sensitive subject. Believe me, I want to ask for the story about as much as you want to tell it," she grimaced and David nodded, composing himself a little. He gripped Chris' hand tightly and met his dark eyes for just a few seconds before taking a deep breath.

"He was a big guy, the Captain of the ship. From what I heard around I think his name was Raato. He… h-he overpowered me in one of the rooms where he stored his personal slaves. He pinned me to… I don't know, the floor, maybe a bed. I don't remember. I… he…" David stopped talking and looked at Chris again. Chris looked like listening to this was causing him physical pain, but he nodded, silently asking David to continue.

"My leg that was dislocated I couldn't use… it was just… there. I was on my back and he pinned my other leg up against my chest and I think he… he was touching my face. I remember his face, his eyes. He was just… he looked insane. And then he… he was saying all these things, telling me things h-he was going to do to me," David took a shaky breath and Peris nodded once. Don't make me say more, please don't make me describe it David thought desperately, face burning red with embarrassment, unwilling to look at Chris beside him.

"That's when he assaulted you?" Peris asked. David was grateful for her choice of words, for her not going into any more graphic detail.

"Y-yes Admiral," David confirmed shakily for the record. "I was trying to fight him and I couldn't properly, I was just pinned there and I… I remember… it… it hurt… and I was trying to go far away inside my mind, I was just yelling and yelling and then somebody pushed him away. The next thing I remember after that is being in sickbay. But I understand I'd been a cause of trouble so they bolted me to the floor by the ankle. Chris had to cut me free," he finished shakily, tears shining on his face. Chris was pale and shaken looking, but still squeezing his hand supportively.

Peris was silent for a few seconds before she spoke again, but this time not to them.

"May the record show that Ensign David McCoy cooperated fully with this inquiry, and we find that he displayed behaviour under extreme stress that can only be classed as exemplary. May the record also show that Ensign McCoy acted bravely and selflessly in attempts to defend an injured crewmate, and put himself in mortal danger in her stead, sustaining a serious assault in the process. This case will be classified under the reference number-"

David zoned out again, Peris words ringing in his ears but not really hearing them.

"Due to the nature of the assault, the case will remain classified and its record will not be publicly available, the same will apply to your medical file. This concludes our hearing today," Peris finished, and the Commodore beside her who David still couldn't name, stopped the recording and promptly left the room, leaving Peris sitting opposite them surveying them silently.

David was suddenly hyper-aware of Chris' hand on his own, and his other hand still on his shoulder as a solid, anchoring weight.

"I have known both of your parents for some years. In fact, I met you both on several occasions when you were young boys," she said in her deep voice. Neither of them were quite sure how to respond.

"You take good care of him Kirk, though I can already see that you do," she said, rising from the table. They both hurried to stand to attention and she chuckled.

"At ease gentlemen. Cadet Kirk, would you do me a favour?" she asked and Chris nodded.

"Would you please ensure that Ensign McCoy eats a sizeable lunch? His dress-uniform could be his fathers," she said dryly before turning to leave the room. David tugged at his too-large uniform and Chris let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding.

"Oh and Kirk? One more thing. Your hearing next week is cancelled, I was able to explain to my fellow admirals why it made no sense to seek to punish you for your actions. I expect to see you achieving great things in the New Year, pending the results of your finals," she said and Chris nodded, the two of them watching her leave, the door sliding closed behind her.

"Admirals orders, I'm buying you lunch," Chris said quickly, dragging David by the hand from the room.

An hour later found them hidden in a booth at the back of a tiny Italian restaurant Chris knew the owner of somehow, both of their formal jackets discarded and a bottle of red wine sitting open on the table between them, David already a glass and a half down. Chris stole a few sips from his glass, but did not pour one of his own. He let David lead the conversation until the moment was right and he spoke up.

"I uh… I didn't realise you remembered as much as you do."

"Chris can we… can we not?" David asked, sounding very fragile.

Chris slowly extended his hand across the table and picked up David's slightly smaller one, meeting his eyes.

"Of course."

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

Christmas was approaching rapidly, and Thomas had been taken back into the protective custody of Starfleet, much to the dismay of Chris and David who were finding the house entirely too quiet with him running around.

"They're going to let him live with us, don't worry," Chris reassured one evening when he found David clutching one of Thomas' tiny socks in his hand in the bedroom the small boy had been using.

"I want him to. I never thought… I didn't think I was someone who gets attached so quickly," he admitted sheepishly.

"Well, he's got a way of stealing hearts I think, not unlike his father," Chris smirked and David rolled his eyes.

"That was terrible."

"Aww. Don't I get something, for effort?" Chris pouted and David chuckled, getting up off the edge of the bed and kissing his bondmate on the cheek. After ten days on the couch David had invited Chris back to their room earlier that day. He'd only been in there to fetch clothes or anything else he needed, but this time David had invited him to sit on the bed and stay and hangout. He hadn't missed the way Chris' eyes had lit up though his expression had remained neutral.

"Did Natalie contact you at all today?" David asked and Chris gave a sad smile confirming he hadn't heard from their assigned social worker. David sighed.

"Why is this taking so long?! I just want him here. Will he even remember me when he comes back? I mean, it's been five days, that's a long time to a little kid."

"Natalie is busy – she said it herself when we first met with her, this time of year is crazy to be a social worker, she's got a lot of cases going on right now. I know she'll come through in time for Christmas. Our case is more complicated because of… my history. But everything has come back to prove that I'm clean and she was getting character references the last time I spoke to her, I told you everything we talked about already, you need to just relax. And of course he's going to remember you, I think he knows who you are, he's a smart kid, I think he's figured it out," Chris smiled and David pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Hey, no, stop doing the stressed-nose-grab thing, you're turning into your dad. Let's go watch bad movies and fall asleep, ok?" Chris pried his hand away from his face and led him back to their own bedroom.

"Do you have to go in and talk to them again? I was so nervous," David admitted. A few days prior Chris had attended a lengthy meeting with Starfleet family services and David had been a nervous wreck, only relieved when Chris returned home seeming very upbeat.

"No more meetings until they call us with a decision, and Natalie was very hopeful things are going to go our way and in time for Christmas too, you need to relax," Chris said and David bit his tongue to avoid lashing out and telling him to stop telling him to relax.

"I heard that," Chris smirked, having sensed the thought through their bond anyway. David stuck out his tongue petulantly.

They curled up together in bed, only half watching the movie that was on in the background.

"Is this ok? I can go and sleep in Thomas' room?" Chris offered and David shifted closer to him, wrapping one arm around his chest somewhat awkwardly.

"Stay," he said softly and Chris nodded, leaning back to give David a gentle kiss on the cheek.

David fell asleep first and Chris shut off the movie before closing his own eyes, feeling much more comfortable back in the bed where he felt he belonged.

In the morning a message popped up on David's PADD while he was taking a shower, and three hours later found the two of them nervously arriving at Starfleet family services together, hand in hand and wrapped in coats.

They had a tense wait in the reception area before they were called in and sat in the two chairs facing their social workers desk. Natalie bustled into the room a few minutes later with a folder full of paperwork tucked under her arm and a garish Christmas sweater clashing horribly with the bright pink of her hair.

"Hey guys, sorry to keep you. How have you been?" she asked and Chris looked to David to answer.

"Nervous," he admitted and she nodded sympathetically.

"I can imagine, I'm sorry this has been stressful for you guys, I know it must have been tough letting him come back to us while we finished all our investigations," She explained, barely pausing before she continued.

"So they have made a decision, it went through this morning and I called as soon as I heard. They've decided that they're going to let Thomas come and live with you guys full time," she rushed out and David's smile could have lit up the room, he turned to Chris and they just grinned at each other stupidly, hands gripping so tightly it almost hurt.

"There are a couple of conditions. Chris, we're going to need you to pass a random drugs screening whenever we decide to spring one on you, is that ok?"

"Natalie, I will pee in a cup for you whenever you like," Chris grinned, feeling a little giddy from the sheer joy he was feeling.

"Lovely. And David, if you are ever caught DUI again, you'll lose custody, no second chances on that, do you understand?" she asked and David nodded.

"I was young and really stupid, and I've never done it apart from that one night," he said seriously and she nodded again.

"We're also going to need Thomas to come in and keep seeing his regular doctor here for check-ups and any vaccinations, and we're going to conduct a home visit once a month for the first six months, and you'll get a minimum twenty-four hours' notice of these visits," she explained, but neither of them was really listening.

"So you guys can come collect him right now if you like? He's in the play centre," she said, getting to her feet. David and Chris practically jumped out of their chairs to follow her.

They followed her through the building, chatting excitedly until they reached a door that she opened with her access card. The room was full of children all around Thomas' age of all different species. Upon noticing the door open a lot of them looked around, and David crouched down as his son ran towards him at full speed, diving into his arms and hugging him tightly. David lifted him up and held him close.

"Can we play blocks?" Thomas asked innocently without as much as a hello.

"Every day," David promised with a laugh, Chris stepping forward and hugging them both. Thomas grabbed his ear, then his own ear, in imitation of how they had first made friends those few short weeks ago at the house.

"You guys have four days to organise Christmas, go, what are you still doing here!?" Natalie asked. They completed their required paperwork before bidding her farewell, but not before she insisted on taking a picture of the three of them in front of the Christmas tree near her office, explaining she liked to keep a photo of the families she helped keep together or reunite. The three of them willingly obliged, Chris sneakily asking to be sent a copy of the image, before they headed home with Thomas safely in his new car seat in the back of the car.

"Did you know Santa is coming?" he asked excitedly and Chris stole a sideways glance at David, committing this particular elated grin to memory.

"He sure is! Have you been a good boy this year? Is he going to bring you presents?" David asked and Thomas nodded eagerly.

I'll go shopping later while you guys get some quality time, Chris promised through their bond, David reaching across and giving his thigh a grateful squeeze.

Thomas settled perfectly back into the house, having no trouble remembering anything at all, particularly his habit of climbing into David's bed, though now he settled in between David and Chris. On Christmas eve Thomas was an excitable, hyperactive bundle of energy. Bones and Carol had come over, and Chris had even persuaded Spock to come over too.

"Even by the standards of human children, Thomas' behaviour is most illogical," Spock deadpanned as they watched Thomas smashing the block tower he'd just spent nearly half an hour building, great joy on his face at the destruction he had caused.

"But he's so awesome," David grinned, bounding over and picking Thomas up, then turning him upside down so he squealed and laughed as he struggled and tried to turn himself the right way. He set him down and started to tickle him, the toddler laughing so hard it seemed he could barely breathe.

"Stop it! He'll pee his pants," Chris warned and David ceased the tickling.

"Easy to see who's the disciplinarian of you two then," Bones commented lightly, sipping from a tumbler of golden liquid.

"Chris is definitely the boss. I'm just in charge of the easy stuff like playtime," David grinned and Chris rolled his eyes.

"You're totally whipped," Emily taunted of Chris who shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess a little," he admitted with a smile.

"Thomas, do you know what time it is? It's time to talk to Santa to make sure he's coming to leave you some presents under the tree! He's calling you right now!" Carol hurried into the room with a ringing communicator in her hand. Thomas leaped up and ran over to her, taking the communicator and clumsily opening it and holding it up.

"Hello Santa?" he asked and David and Chris smirked as a familiar voice answered. How Carol had got Leo to agree Chris would never know, but the voice he was putting on was great.

Hello! Is this Thomas?

"It's me!" Thomas replied excitedly.

Ho ho ho hello! Now, have you been a good boy this year Thomas? I'm about to get on my sleigh from the North pole, and I need to know if I'm bringing presents to your house. What do you say?

"I'm a very very good boy! Everyone is a good boy in the house," he tried to explain, practically shaking with excitement.

You're right! I've checked my list and it says you were a good boy this year, so I'll leave you some presents under the tree. Can you look and see if there's anything there now?

Chris didn't miss the fond smile on Bones' face as he watched his grandson sprint over to the Christmas tree in the corner of the room and crawl under it, emerging with pine-needles in his hair.

"Nothing under the tree Santa, are you coming soon? Can I see you?" he asked, almost dropping the communicator in his excitement.

I can't come to your house until you go to sleep. Can you do that for me? And could you leave me some milk and cookies for a snack? And a carrot for my reindeer?

"Ok Santa! Chris get cookies and milk and carrots!" he ordered and everyone laughed.

"Me?!" Chris said mock-indignantly. Leo/Santa gave a hearty chuckle down the comm before bidding the young boy goodnight. Thomas closed the comm with a look of total wonder on his face.

"Everybody go to bed NOW!" he shouted, running into the kitchen, David jumping up to chase after him.

Leo reappeared a few moments later tucking his communicator in his pocket and grinning.

"He's getting the milk and cookies for Santa ready," Chris explained as he saw Leo glancing around looking for Thomas in the quite crowded living room.

"Ah, cool. He like it?" he asked uncertainly and Chris nodded.

"He loved it. Thanks. My Santa voice isn't nearly as convincing."

"When you were very young Jim convinced Mr Scott to dress as Santa at Christmas time and visit the children aboard the ship. Seren did not ever fall for his disguise, but you were fooled until the age of four," Spock explained to Chris who grinned.

"I probably noticed his accent."

"I believe that was what eventually gave away his true identity. You also saw fit to forcibly remove his fake beard," Spock continued with a tiny smirk on his face.

"Man I should apologise to Scotty sometime," Chris laughed, watching with a warm feeling in his chest as David and Thomas reappeared from the kitchen, a small plate with a few cookies on it, a carrot, and a glass of milk carried between the two of them carefully. He watched David help his son carefully place the items on the windowsill near to the tree, lifting him up so he could reach before holding him close and closing his eyes for a second, looking directly at Chris when he reopened them.

"We'd better head out so that Thomas can get to sleep, don't want to keep Santa waiting," Carol hinted, herself and Bones gathering up their coats and leaving.

"David I put the car in the garage for you," Bones said cryptically and Chris gave the two of them a confused look.

He moved all of Thomas' presents from his car into your car David explained to Chris through the bond. They'd hidden all the boxes at Bones and Carol's house seeing as Thomas was less likely to find them there.

Bones and Carol left, and Emily and Leo retreated upstairs to their room, just leaving Spock who was putting on his coat and warm hat and gloves in the hallway, Chris, David and Thomas waiting to see him out.

"I do not wish to cause upset, but there is something I feel I must give you. Jim… Jim felt it important that he leave gifts for his Grandchildren in the event he did not meet them. As Thomas is Jim's first grandson, I brought a gift from the house that he left in my possession, I felt Thomas should have it," he explained, a tiny tremor of emotion in his voice that if you didn't know him would have been hard to detect but to Chris it was plainly obvious.

He removed a square, flat, wrapped item from the inside pocket of his coat, a note in Jim's handwriting taped to the front of it, with a clear instruction in block capitols.

TO BE OPENED ON DECEMBER 24TH

Chris nodded and Spock handed the parcel to Thomas who eagerly accepted it.

"This is a gift from your grandfather Jim," Spock explained.

"Jim?" Thomas repeated, looking at the parcel curiously.

"I believe it may be a bedtime story, one that perhaps Christopher and David may read you before bed tonight," he said, giving a meaningful glance to his son.

"What do you say Thomas? Shall we get our PJ's on and read a bedtime story together?" Chris asked, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. He could feel himself welling up at seeing Jim's handwriting and the thoughtfulness of the gesture Jim had left behind.

They bid Spock goodnight, got themselves and Thomas ready for bed, and all three of them curled up in Thomas' small bed, the small boy in the middle with the mysterious item from Jim clutched in his hands.

"We're going to read the letter first, OK?" Chris took the piece of paper attached to the small parcel off and unfolded it before reading aloud.

"Hi kiddo, Merry Christmas from your old Grandpa Jim. Sorry I'm not there, I had to help Santa with some top-secret business up in the sky. Be good for your parents – and know that they and I love you more than you'll ever know," Chris read, fighting not to get choked up. He caught David subtly wiping away a tear out of the corner of his eye and he distracted Thomas, who hadn't been very interested in the note at all, with opening the item contained in the brightly coloured paper.

"It's a special Christmas bedtime story," David explained as a battered old copy of 'The Night Before Christmas' tumbled out onto the sheets. Thomas looked at it carefully before thrusting it into David's hands so he could read it, looking up at him expectantly.

He opened the first page and cleared his throat.

After reading the first page he handed the book across to Chris who read the next one, pointing out the pictures to Thomas as he read. They handed the book back and fore, reading a few lines each until they got to the end.

"You ready to go to sleep now?" David asked and Thomas nodded eagerly.

"Can I have light?" he asked as Chris and David both clambered out of the bed, tucking him in as they did.

"Course you can," Chris leant down and flicked on the nightlight plugged into the opposite wall.

"See you in the morning and we'll see what Santa has brought for you," David promised, kissing his son on the head and giving him a hug.

"Goodnight," Chris smiled, doing the same and feeling a huge tug of emotion as he picked up the book they'd been reading and the handwritten note to take and put away.

They left the room and turned off the main light, closing the door behind them.

"Is that-"

"The copy Jim read us as kids? Yeah, it is, I recognise the cover. I remember when we got old enough that we started rejecting him reading this to us on Christmas eve. I think Leo and I were about twelve and he yelled it at us through our bedroom door, the whole poem. That was the last time," he said sadly.

"Nice of him to leave it, especially the note, caught me off guard a little," David said as they settled in bed in their room.

They waited a while until they went back to check if Thomas was sleeping, once they were sure he was out they tiptoed downstairs and quietly brought in all the boxes from Chris' car, carefully positioning them all under the tree. Leo appeared when they were almost done with a few small, neatly wrapped boxes that he added to the healthy-sized pile of brightly coloured gifts now beneath the tree. He disappeared for a moment and then returned again with a larger box, the tag bearing Thomas' name.

"That better not be noisy or messy or so help me," David threatened weakly and Leo looked guilty.

"Emily picked it, I accept no responsibility," he smirked, taking one of the cookies for Santa and eating it, then picking up the second one and biting it but placing the other half back on the plate.

Chris took a bite out of the carrot and David drank most of the glass of milk. Leo left them to it and they finished setting up the room, heading back up to bed once they were happy everything was in place and ready for the morning.

"He's going to freak out when he sees all of this," David grinned.

"I know. It's going to be awesome."

"You're so good with him," David sighed, a flood of warmth and affection filling their bond.

"You're getting so much better now, you don't look at him like you're scared of him anymore," Chris encouraged and David chuckled.

"I'm still terrified of him, I've just got better at hiding it. He's a good kid," David smiled fondly, the conversation pausing as they turned off all the lights and snuck back to their bedroom silently, closing the door as quietly as possible.

"He's a really good kid. I'm so lucky to have you guys, and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow," Chris smiled as they crawled into bed together, settling under the blankets with Chris as the small spoon.

"You know when I found out about him I was really worried you were going to be mad or find it hard to accept him, but you've accepted him like he's your own and it makes me love you even more," David mumbled against the back of his neck.

"Course I have. He's yours so he's basically mine. One day though I want another one, one that's a little piece of both of us," Chris admitted and David kissed the back of his neck, his stubble scratching at the sensitive skin there and making him shiver slightly.

"I'd like that," David murmured, his hand moving to rest low on Chris' stomach.

"Stop imagining me pregnant, it's weird," Chris protested with a laugh and David chuckled.

"I think you'd be sexy pregnant," he defended and Chris scoffed.

"I'll flip a coin with you over who gets to do the honours, but I still don't think Seren would let me, she said it would be dangerous with my body being the way it is."

"I'll do it, I'll be happy to, once we're ready," David offered immediately and Chris turned enough so that he could kiss him.

"I love you so much," he mumbled against his lips between kisses, David shifting his body closer and kissing him with more heat, his hand now resting on his hipbone and tantalisingly close to Chris' crotch.

They kissed lazily and slowly, but with a steady heat building. Chris' breath hitched as David pressed tightly against him, erection pressing against his lower back. A noise caught both of their attention and they parted for a second, both listening intently in case it was Thomas out of bed creeping around.

As the noise came again they both groaned and David buried his face into the pillow.

"God damn why do we have the room that shares a wall with theirs?" he whispered and Chris giggled.

"I agree it was a terrible idea. I'm going to be mentally scarred," he mumbled back.

"Sounds like she's having fun though, right?" Chris taunted and David gave him a playful shove as another muffled moan carried through the wall from Emily and Leo's bedroom.

"Shut up, that's my sister. Disgusting," David scowled, grimacing as if he'd just bitten into a lemon.

Chris giggled and rolled onto his back as David rolled away from him.

"Want to go hangout downstairs for a while?" Chris offered and David nodded. The two of them crept downstairs and into the lounge, closing the door behind them.

"I need a drink," David sighed, looking traumatised.

"That can be arranged."

David settled into the couch and Chris headed for the kitchen, returning a moment later with a bottle of bourbon and two tumblers.

"You sure you're alright with that?" David asked and Chris smiled.

"I'm good," he reassured, pouring them both a generous measure.

"To irresponsible behaviour?" David suggested weakly, raising his glass. Chris chuckled.

"To me being the luckiest guy in the world?" Chris countered and David rolled his eyes.

"I mean it you know," Chris insisted, a small smile playing around his eyes.

"You're a big sap," David tried to shrug him off, feeling a little embarrassed.

"OK, well how about we go for… to family?" Chris offered and David smiled shyly.

"I like it," he agreed, touching his glass to Chris' and then taking a sip of the golden-brown liquid.

"Ick – that doesn't taste how I remember it," Chris grimaced and David laughed.

They sat in comfortable silence, holding hands and exchanging light touches, sipping from their glasses until they were both done and decided the coast was probably clear to sneak back upstairs to try and get some sleep.

Tiptoeing into their room they found their bed was no longer empty, Thomas sprawled out in the middle, fast asleep on his back. They carefully got into bed on either side of him, being very careful not to wake him up as they did so.

"I love you desperately, you know that right?" Chris mumbled, catching David off guard as he tried to settle into sleep.

"I do, but feel free to remind me any time you like," he mumbled back, smiling into the kiss Chris leant across to place on his lips.

"We'd better get some sleep, I have a feeling we're going to need it for tomorrow."

"Yeah, I think you're probably right," David smiled, linking his hand with Christopher's across the small boy sleeping between them who had already stolen both of their hearts in the space of a few short weeks.

*~*~*~*~*~*BREAK*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That's by far the single longest chapter I've ever written, and I hope you enjoyed!

I just wanted to point out that I obviously know Starfleet would hardly just hand over a kid to somebody in the space of about a week. I mean, I figure in the future that processes will likely become more streamlined, and I'll admit I played off the fact Hughes had no family and David was the biological father a little bit here to make things easier, but I know it was all kinda fast. I didn't want to take the storyline too much away and drag them through months of visits and court hearings and the like.

Also, being as it's Christmas i'm going to use this opportunity to beg for reviews. They seriously do make my day, please leave me something?