Thanks to everyone who read and to LauraCynthia, FrankieHS, and She-Elf23 for reviewing.

"Italics"==Vulcan

Spock composed himself and took a seat on the couch before accepting the transmission. A show of surprise served no purpose when one could simply ask for the reasoning behind an unexpected event if such was not provided.

The relationship between he and his father had improved since the loss of Vulcan, but—as previous to that they had not spoken directly since Spock had left for Starfleet Academy—that meant little more than that the 'check-in' calls that his mother had placed roughly every fifty-three days were now made alternately by one or the other of them at intervals of approximately twice that, and the ensuing interactions were short and most accurately described as stilted. While Spock was not opposed to real-time proof of his father's continued existence and suspected that the same was true in return, topics of conversation were frequently difficult to come by, and by his estimate they were still at least thirty-seven days short of when the next attempt should have occurred.

"Father." He raised a hand in salute, and Sarek returned it.

"Your health remains satisfactory?" Sarek asked.

"It does." He had messaged such after Khan's attack, although his focus at the time had been on covering both his own and Jim's responsibilities as well as assisting Dr. McCoy in whatever way necessary. And, admittedly, attempting to avoid thinking about his latest emotional lapse, something about which he never intended to inform his father. "Your own is the same?"

"It is."

Rustling from the second level in the silence that followed indicated that Jim would be down fairly soon, and Spock glanced up quickly before returning his attention to the screen. "Is something amiss? I was not expecting visual communication with you at this time."

"It is not. However, my presence has been requested on Earth as part a Federation oversight committee tasked with investigating that which Admiral Marcus' actions have revealed. Travel arrangements have not been finalized, but I expect to arrive in approximately twenty-seven days. Assuming your continued presence on-planet, I would inquire if your schedule would accommodate a dinner."

Conversation between them was no less awkward in person, but as both required sustenance, a meal was a logical time for direct interaction. "The Enterprise is due to launch prior to that date," Spock said after a moment. "However given the number of upgrades that we have received, we will likely be engaged in evaluation maneuvers for at least 2.9 weeks, and I do not foresee difficulty in taking a small amount of additional leave."

"Spock? Is everything okay?" Jim asked, suddenly at the bottom of the stairs.

Spock looked up. "Yes. However, my father has informed me that he will be arriving on Earth approximately 2.1 weeks after the launch of the Enterprise, and thus unless we are unexpectedly involved in a mission of some criticality at that time, I will be requesting the use of some of my banked leave to join him for a short visit."

"Good, that'll make Bones happy." Jim blinked and then focused on the PADD in Spock's hands. "Wait, informed you like...?"

Spock turned the PADD so Jim and his father could see each other.

"Captain Kirk."

"Uh, hi, Ambassador." Jim raised a hand in a clear attempt, albeit a failed one, to return what was no doubt a salute on Sarek's part before taking a step backwards. "You know, that reminds me that I was supposed to call him. Bones. Have a nice chat, I'll be back in a bit." He stepped back and then turned and hurried up the stairs, and Spock tilted his head. Curious.

"Bones?" Sarek asked when he turned the PADD back. "Presumably a reference to an acquaintance of some form, although I fail to understand why an acquaintance of your captain would find pleasure in your use of that which is mandated by your service."

"Its origin is unknown to me, but the moniker refers to Dr. McCoy." Spock would not be surprised to learn that Jim was at fault since while several other members of the senior staff had taken to using it on occasion, Jim was both the most consistent and had also known the doctor the longest. "And while I would say that the doctor's concern for the crew's health, both physical and mental, is entirely appropriate given his position of Chief Medical Officer, he is on occasion overzealous in his attempts to ensure that no one allows an unacceptable amount of personal leave to accrue. Particularly as despite multiple requests I have yet to receive a numerical value for that which constitutes 'unacceptable.'"

"Indeed. Curiously inefficient." Sarek visibly dismissed the matter. "You appear to be neither on your ship nor in one of Starfleet's Earth-based apartments. If recent events have necessitated the taking of temporary lodgings elsewhere, it is likely that the Embassy would be able to accommodate you."

The offer was unexpected, particularly as he had not stayed overnight at the Embassy since enlisting in Starfleet, but given Khan's recent actions, Sarek was not incorrect about the atypical limitations on lodging in the vicinity of Headquarters. Prior to leaving with Nyota Spock had actually been housed in the attached Starfleet Medical wing in a small suite that would normally have been occupied by medical personnel on rotation, although it was possible that those quarters had been assigned at Dr. McCoy's request given their mutual concern with regards to potential effects from the serum and blood transfusion. And while he had requested accommodation for the remainder of his shore leave in an available room at the Academy prior to learning of the passing of Professors Navrics and Aaangstrom, he had not received a reply before withdrawing his application. "Your information is appreciated. Currently I am at Jim's family residence having accepted his invitation when my original plans were disrupted, but I may contact the administrator in residence upon our return to San Francisco."

Silence fell for 0.96 minutes, and then, "You have found visiting your captain socially to be a productive use of your leave?"

It required no discernible amount of time for Spock to decide that he did not care to attempt to explain his friendship with Jim to his father. Vulcans did, of course, maintain social connections outside of their families, it would be entirely illogical to expect one's relations to either share all of one's interests or be able to satisfy all reasonable curiosity regarding such, but at the same time such relationships were more...transactional? The wording was both imprecise and somewhat incorrect as well, but at minimum one Vulcan visiting another's home would have had more specific intent behind the action than he had had in coming here. "I have full access to all collected data required for my current lines of research, and given the ongoing repairs and upgrades being made to the Enterprise, the two of us being in the same location allows for more expeditious decision-making." Not that there were many decisions left to be made or that he or Jim had been consulted overly often in making them given how many changes were dictates from various Starfleet design centers. He hesitated. "Also, the captain is an adequate chess opponent."

Sarek almost looked surprised. "I was unaware that he was ranked."

Spock clamped down on his own surprise that his father would have any notion of Jim's status with regards to chess or anything else. "He has not chosen to pursue tournament play." Silence fell for a moment. "I assume that all planned additions to the New Vulcan settlement are continuing at an acceptable pace."

"They are."

"Have you identified any additional changes to your dwelling that would improve your efficiency?"

"I have not."

More silence.

"You are approximately sixty-one days late for the publication of a scientific paper given your previous productivity level while serving onboard a starship," Sarek said.

Upon reflection, the mentioning of such now was less curious than the fact that his father had not brought it up during their last conversation, although that had been slightly before the sixty-one day margin noted. And Spock hadn't been aware that his father had tracked his publication record so closely, particularly given his ongoing stated preference that Spock leave Starfleet and join the Vulcan Science Academy, however much reduced it now was. "My duties were fewer the last time that I served onboard a starship, however I am currently preparing a journal submission regarding the use of Klylal particles in the detection of gravitational plane waves and expect to submit the abstract prior to the re-launch of the Enterprise."

"An instructive topic of research." Sarek paused again, and then, "I will notify you of my schedule when the travel plans have been finalized."

Spock nodded. "I will put in the necessary request for leave when it is received."

"Live long and prosper."

"Peace and long life."

The connection was cut, and after a moment Spock set the PADD aside. It was curious, in retrospect, that his father had contacted him prior to finalized travel plans, but perhaps it was logical to have done so as soon as he had agreed to make the trip given the possibility of Spock fully occupying his time with a research project or some form of assessment aboard the Enterprise from which he could not be excused. Spock went upstairs to find Jim.

"—did not!" Jim was protesting as he reached the top of the stairs. "It was perfectly safe!"

Given Jim's history Spock judged the statement to have at best a thirteen percent likelihood of truth, and if the indignant, if less than entirely intelligible, protests from Dr. McCoy were any indication, he judged the probability even less.

"Jim?" he asked, stepping into the doorway.

"Tell him!" Jim ordered, turning the PADD to face Spock.

"Dr. McCoy," Spock greeted, and then looked past him. "Please elaborate on w—"

"What the hell were you thinking, letting him on a roof?" Dr. McCoy interrupted before he could complete his query. "Did you even read what I sent you?"

"Of course, Doctor, but given your reference to a roof I would submit that 'letting' was in no way involved. A not infrequent situation to find oneself in where the captain is concerned, as I believe you are well aware."

"Hey!"

Spock raised an eyebrow at Jim's protest. "What, precisely, was objectionable about my statement?"

"That's not the point," Jim decided, turning the PADD back around. "But you promise, the day after tomorrow, right? No more random consults to be added to your schedule?"

"Barring an emergency—and don't give me that look, you absolute child—or a last-minute a change in circumstances with Joanna, I will be on the shuttle the day after tomorrow," Dr. McCoy agreed. "And in the interests of preserving my sanity, you will stay inside and rest until I arrive, is that clear? No more damn roofs. Spock, did you hear that?"

"I did," Spock agreed.

"Good. Enforce it this time. Pinch him if you have to; he's a damn pain in the ass whenever he's conscious anyway."

"Love you too, Bones," Jim said with a grin.

Dr. McCoy grumbled something and then called a goodbye to Spock before Jim thumbed the PADD off and rolled off the bed and onto his feet.

"He seemed unusually irate," Spock observed. Even if the captain had likely been the one to incite his ire by referring to their earlier activities.

"Yeah, well, not only was all of the extra 'visitation' he could manage a vague agreement for a vidcall at some unspecified point tomorrow, some idiot lost control of his hovercar and caused a multi-vehicle pileup last night right before he was supposed to go off-shift. Apparently he's been in surgery ever since to the point where one of the nurses just evicted him from Medical fifteen minutes before I called. Kind of surprised that he was still conscious enough to pick up, actually."

"It once again occurs to me that the doctor should take his own advice with regards to required rest periods."

"Yep, and I once again want to be on hand when you tell him so. And I say that as the guy who used to get called over to haul him back to the dorms after ridiculously extended shifts when they weren't even willing to put him on a transit bus alone. It's safe to go back downstairs, I take it?"

"Please clarify the threat that rendered it otherwise."

Jim looked back as he started down the stairs. "Uh, the fact that I'm basically obligated to hide from your father for the rest of my life?"

Spock blinked. "That is both an illogical and untruthful declaration."

"No, I'm pretty sure once you've attacked somebody's kid, especially under the circumstances I did, you're basically required to dive into a closet any time you see them coming forever after. I'd say we could call Bones back and double check since he—well, he and Hikaru, but I'm pretty sure Hikaru caught the first shuttle for that new base, and I have no idea what time rotation they're on—are the only parents I know, but on the off chance he did pass out as soon as we hung up, I'd rather not wake him."

"Captain—Jim—you and I have already thoroughly discussed this. More than a year ago, in fact. While I cannot claim that it was a pleasant experience, what you did was both entirely logical and entirely necessary given a particularly difficult set of circumstances, and I was under the impression that the matter was quite settled." As much as he was still privately of the opinion that his assault remained an overreaction that should not have been excused so easily.

"You and me are good, sure, and I wouldn't trade that for anything," Jim said immediately. "But that doesn't change anything about needing to hide from your father."

Spock closed his eyes and took a particularly deep breath as he followed Jim into the kitchen. "As I was previously unaware of your opinion on this matter, I feel that I must now make my own position exceedingly clear: I do not desire to find myself required to provide my father with any form of explanation as to why his presence causes my captain to take refuge in a closet. To take refuge at all, in fact." A pause. "Also, using the probable reaction of the doctor as a stand-in for the behavior of my father, or indeed any Vulcan parent, is quite strikingly inappropriate and would likely be found offensive by all parties in question."

Jim tilted his head. "Okay, I can kind of see that last, but since I don't know any Vulcan parents, it's the best I can manage."

"I would submit that the Vulcan who has been your acquaintance for more than a year, however lacking I might be in progeny, would be the logical reference."

"Mm." Jim rocked a hand and then punched his dinner selection into the synthesizer, and Spock refrained from anything as illogical as sighing.

"To temporarily change the subject, my father's upcoming visit to Earth was precipitated by the formation of a civilian oversight committee tasked with reviewing that which Admiral Marcus' actions revealed."

"Good," Jim's tone was hard as he took a dish of some form of pasta from the synthesizer to the table. "I fucked up letting him use me—use all of us, and the Enterprise too—like that, but whatever the hell Section 31 is, it needs to get ripped wide open. And then preferably burned to the ground, especially since they somehow managed to reroute enough personnel and supplies and everything else to build a damn warship without anyone being the wiser."

"I do not disagree." Spock entered his own dinner selection. "No doubt the resources used to build the Vengeance could have been put to far better use with respect to Starfleet's stated priorities. And if there exists sufficient intelligence to warrant the alteration of those priorities, the decision should have been made by the Federation Council and associated Military Staff Committee as opposed to a rogue admiral." Or potentially some number of rogue admirals, the likelihood of which he suspected had a great deal to do with the appointment of the committee in question. "However, I intended to focus your attention on the fact that, while we as well as the rest of the Enterprise crew were quite thoroughly debriefed—" Jim's scoff interrupted him, and he raised an eyebrow.

"That wasn't thorough, that was...I don't remember exactly what Bones called it, I was still kind of in and out when he got back from his last round, but I know it involved tentacles and was real damn apt." A pause. "Orifices, too."

"I do not choose to contemplate the doctor's choice of metaphor," Spock decided, moving to the table with his meal. "And while I have no doubt that our depositions will be made available in full to the committee in question, I judge it more likely than not that we will also be called upon to speak directly to at least some subset of said committee. Given that my father is not inexperienced with respect to such interrogations there is a greater than eighty-five percent chance that he would thus be included, and, to return to our previous topic of conversation, any attempt to hide in a closet rather than attend would not be looked upon with favor."

"Eighty-five percent, huh?"

"While as a Vulcan he would not allow any familial connection to affect his work, it is still likely that he would be requested to recuse himself from any questioning involving myself, and as such it is possible that he would be requested to recuse himself from any questioning entirely in the interests of maintaining consistency across interviewers."

"Fine." Jim made a face. "No hiding in the closet if I'm called to a deposition. Although I'm going to say that if that comes up again, my desire to hide in the closet won't depend much at all on who's asking the questions."

"Noted." In the very specific situation in question Spock might even consider his feelings something approaching logical, not that he had any intention of encouraging Jim with that fact. "Additionally, I would point out that you are the captain of the Federation flagship, and while I am aware of and in agreement with your desire for a five-year exploratory mission, the probability of us avoiding diplomatic events entirely is quite low. To attempt to hide during something of that nature simply because my father is in attendance would be exceedingly inappropriate." Given his previous unawareness of Jim's opinion on the matter, it was perhaps as well that his father had spent nearly all of the past year deeply involved in the construction of New Vulcan and had conducted the vast majority of his diplomatic responsibilities through either subspace communication or intermediaries.

"Okay, fine, no hiding during depositions or formal diplomatic events. Can I hide the rest of the time? I bet if you asked he'd say he'd be relieved by my doing so."

"He would not, and you may not. He would find such a reaction to be completely nonsensical, and I will reference again that I do not desire to find myself required to offer an explanation for such behavior." Jim's expression indicated that he was about to make another absurd assertion, and before he could Spock pulled the chess board between them. "I believe we have a rematch scheduled? As I was the victor in the last game, you are entitled to the first move."

"Oh, hell no, I took white last time and that didn't end well at all. You go first."

Spock raised an eyebrow and then nudged a pawn forward, and Jim almost immediately echoed the move.

As before Jim seemed to pay very little attention to his moves in the early portion of the match, although Spock was not willing to conclude that there wasn't some sort of underlying strategy that he simply wasn't seeing.

"I have a question," Spock said as they both set their now-empty dinner dishes aside and Jim swung one of the attack boards around far earlier in the match than one would normally expect. "It regards the doctor and thus it is somewhat inappropriate to ask you rather than him directly, but you are both here and the more likely to answer." At least in an easily-comprehensible manner.

"Can't argue with the first; the second is questionable," Jim said, looking up. "Whatever you want to know isn't...I don't know, anonymizable? Is that a word?"

"It is, and I could do so, but it would be both disingenuous and also more likely to lead to an inaccurate response."

"Fair enough. You can ask, but no promises that I won't tell you to ask Bones when he gets here anyway."

"Understood. What were the parameters of his divorce that made it 'messy'? I have heard multiple such references from both him and yourself, although he is more likely to use the term 'bad,' but I am unclear as to the specific meaning in either case." He paused as he brought up a bishop to take out a pawn that Jim had nearly managed to maneuver into an unacceptably threatening position, and then, "I did once ask Nyota, but she indicated that she was not familiar enough with the circumstances for speculation to be appropriate."

"Oof." Jim took the bishop with a knight that Spock should not have lost track of, tapping it on the table lightly. "Okay, so technically I should tell you to ask him directly, but in this case it's probably a good thing that you didn't because sober he won't get within a hundred clicks of that. Like not even the stuff that's got to be public record somewhere." Another tap. "Give me a minute to figure out what's appropriate to share without breaking any confidences and what I only know because of a lot of alcohol and mutually crappy coping mechanisms, all right?"

Spock nodded.

"You're good on human marriage and divorce in general terms, right?"

"Marriage, certainly, and while divorce is something of an odd concept from a Vulcan perspective, the definition is not unclear."

"Really?" He put the bishop with his other captured pieces. "Odd how?"

"In the equivalent to a marriage on Vulcan, the telepathic bond between participants is a critical component. To sever such…."

"Oh, wait, that's what Dr. M'Benga said caused so many problems for so many of the adult Vulcans after everything last year, wasn't it?" Jim said when he trailed off. "I mean, other than the obvious."

"Your memory is accurate, but as those bonds were terminated due to death, it is not an appropriate parallel." Nor something that he cared to discuss. "I was attempting to think of a situation that would be, but I am currently unable to identify one. While I have never studied the matter and thus cannot state with certainty that it is impossible to break an active marriage bond once it has been established, assuming no change in telepathic status I expect that doing so would require several skilled healers and have lasting repercussions on the parties involved. Human divorce is...easier."

"Mm." Jim rocked a hand. "Given that the great extent of my telepathic experience is Ambassador You dumping way more into my head than I ever wanted to know about anything, I'm just going to take your word about anything you say there, but I'm not—"

"He did what?" Spock demanded as soon as he was able to form the words, utter surprise temporarily overriding basic courtesy.

"Nero's a lunatic, have some memories?" Jim looked more confused than offended.

"Elaborate. Beyond Nero I am unclear on that which you reference." There would be time before the doctor's arrival for them to return to their previous topic of conversation, but while Spock was aware that Jim and Ambassador Spock had interacted, he had not been aware of any form of mental transference between them. And while Jim was by his own admission no expert, the assertion of something 'dumped' into his head was concerning.

"Uh, sure. It was on Delta Vega. I did tell you that the random hermit I ran into there was him, right?"

"Eventually, yes, although your attempts to refrain from doing so prior to the correction of a certain inference were admirably creative."

"Yeah, well, forgive me for not wanting the universe to end; I'm funny like that, I guess." He shrugged slightly. "I wasn't exactly in very good shape by the time he and I ended up face-to-face, and while I appreciated him not letting the extremely toothy ice crab eat me, I wasn't quite ready for him to address me by name or insist that he was my friend or that you and I were friends or any of that. And when he got to the part where I was supposed to be the captain of the ship I'd been smuggled onto a couple hours before...I don't know, I think at that point I was mostly just trying to figure out which of us had the head injury. Or worse head injury, maybe."

A not particularly illogical assumption, Spock decided, although Jim continued speaking before he could say so.

"When I told him about Pike being taken hostage that's when he brought up Nero, and when I asked what he knew about him he said it would be easier…." Jim gestured to his face and then shook his head and pulled his arms in across his chest in what was very clearly a defensive gesture.

For his part, Spock made sure that he was appropriately centered before he spoke again because any vague notion of amusement was very much gone. Jim had said that Ambassador Spock had told him about Nero, but Spock—and presumably Starfleet's Admiralty—had assumed verbal communication. "Such an action was unacceptable."

"I didn't say no."

"You were not required to decline. Given your status as a sentient being of sound mind who was neither a threat nor an enemy combatant, particularly one who was and is also psi-null, by all Vulcan law and custom he was required to obtain consent."

Jim shook his head. "It wasn't like he meant any harm, it was more like it never occurred to him that I would object. I think…." He frowned, freeing a hand to rub his forehead. "I think they must have done it before, him and the other version of me. And not just once or twice. I'm pretty sure he only intended to show me the stuff with Nero, but no surprise that getting sucked into the past—alternate universe past, whatever—and then getting captured and stuck on an ice planet just in time to watch his own planet get blown up messed him up more than he thought, and he ended up dropping a whole lot else in with it." His hand dropped and he stared at the board, although it was obvious that that was not where his attention was. "And the really weird part is that it wasn't just his thoughts and some odd bits that seemed an awful lot like they should have been mine, either, I swear there was also some of Bones tied up in there." A pause. "Plus he thought my eyes were weird, which just seemed unnecessary after everything else."

Spock blinked. He was not at all pleased to learn that any version of himself would have attempted what Jim described; Ambassador Spock had more than enough experience that he should have known he'd been unbalanced at that point, and even more what harm he could have done to a defenseless human. But while he could, perhaps, conceive of some emergency situation in which he might be required to initiate a meld with Jim and to which Jim would likely grant consent, Dr. McCoy was...a very different person. And he had no idea at all what the ambassador's issue with Jim's eyes might have been, although under the circumstances that was hardly a primary consideration.

"Anyway, it was just an accident," Jim said, shaking himself. "At least the non-Nero parts were. But I really didn't like it so it's pretty solidly on the list of things that I don't think about and mostly pretend never happened. Whatever's tied up in there, it's not my life, and I don't need or want to know."

"That is understandable." And also quite in keeping with the ambassador's desire to not allow his knowledge to corrupt this timeline, even if his concerns were not Spock's priority at the moment. "However, if you find yourself unable to do so, which I believe for humans would include any form of recurring dream, please do not continue to pretend. There are healers on New Vulcan who would be able to securely shield your mind from the aftereffects of such an unanticipated transference."

He shook his head immediately. "No dreams, and no offense but more strangers in my head sounds even worse anyway."

"Understood, and if you have had no issues after a year it is unlikely that they would begin abruptly. But it is a possibility of which you should have been made aware."

Jim sighed and then nodded. "Fair. And now I do, so thanks." He gestured at the board. "Your move, I think?"