Chapter 1

Jane T. Kirk shouldn't have been surprised. The way things had been going for the seventeen-year-old girl… it shouldn't have been a surprise when shit hit the fan again. A week ago, Jane's mother had offered to take Jane off planet to visit a friend of hers. Jane hadn't heard from her mother in a year, so it had been an odd request, but she still had packed a bag, her mother was not one to argue with.

Jane had been whisked off to Vulcan and for the first time in her life her mother was treating her kindly. "Winona, what is going on?" she asked as the shuttle neared Vulcan.

"Mom." Winona corrected with a smile, but Jane couldn't help but wonder what lay behind that smile. "It's a vacation Jane. It has been a while since you and I have taken a vacation." Winona led Jane off the shuttle. "We were invited by my friend Amanda. Be on your best behavior my dear."

Jane stared at her mother apprehensively but went along with whatever was happening. A small part of her wanted to believe that her mother was telling the truth. That she really was turning over a new leaf and cared about Jane. Perhaps it was that wishful thinking that made her so blind.

A woman around her mother's age stood beside a boy who looked to be slightly older than Jane. The woman waved at them while the boy stood rigid besides her. "Amanda!" Winona said as she gave the woman a hug. The woman was pretty with a thin face and frame, brown eyes, brown hair and a brown long sleaved dress that fell to her ankles. Jane was surprised to note that she was human. The boy beside her was not though. He had the pointy ears and somewhat sharp eyebrows of a Vulcan though Jane noticed that there was a softness to the strong features that she had never seen in a Vulcan before. He was handsome, there was no denying that.

He had the woman's brown eyes with sharper features as if carved from stone. His lips were pressed together, and Jane found herself wondering what they would look like in a smile. He stared at her with such intensity that she found her cheeks getting warm as she shifted her weight to her other foot nervously.

Spock took in the young girl in front of him as she took him in. She was indeed pretty by conventional terms. Young looking and too thin, but her face was symmetric, her blond hair long and lightly curled but her bright blue eyes were what caught his attention the most. The way she seemed to be analyzing everything, looking for answers to questions he didn't know were being asked.

"This is my daughter Jane." Jane's attention snapped to her mother who was smiling softly at her with something that looked like pride in her eyes. Jane had never seen that look in her mother's eyes before.

"This is my son, Spock." As he looked at his mother his eyes softened just a bit. However, his gaze hardened as he looked back at the two newcomers determined not to care about them or be interested in the young girl.

"Father is waiting." He held the car door open for his mother. Winona followed Amanda into the car.

"Jane. Why don't you ride up front with Spock." Her mother suggested and pulled the door to the car closed behind her leaving Jane and Spock to stare at each other.

For a split second he looked slightly annoyed, but his face returned to a blank stare just as quickly. He moved past her to open the door for her. She hesitated for a moment looking back at the shuttle. Something told her that she should leave now but she slipped into the car allowing him to close the door and she had a sinking feeling that she should have run. However, she had been feeling that way since she was thirteen, so she simply ignored it.

A while later they stood in the large living room of a large house being introduced to Amanda's husband Sarek. Jane noticed that Spock was staring at her again as she greeted his father. She had the feeling that he was studying her as if she was a problem he was unable to find the answer to.

"Spock." Amanda called out to her son as she led Wiona towards a doorway. "Why don't you show Jane around the house?"

Spock glanced at his father who nodded curtly then followed his wife and Jane's mother out of the room. Once again Jane stared at Spock unsure of what to do. She didn't even know why she was here, but the adults seemed determined to push her and Spock together. "You don't have to play host." She picked up her bag. "Just tell me where I'm crashing, and I can leave you be."

"I cannot do that. My mother says it would be rude of me to leave you alone. She wishes for me to show you around and so I shall." He had no interest in the tour or the girl but as she was here it was his responsibility to do as his mother wished.

Jane sighed. "I'm often alone. I'm used to it."

Spock simply stared at her until she caved. "Fine. House tour it is." She grumbled.

"You may leave your bags here. They will be taken to your quarters." He waited as she set her bag back on the floor before heading for the doorway to the right.

It was a lovely home, jane had to admit as he led her around. The tall ceilings and large spaces were all well decorated though it looked like it wasn't that lived in. Everything was clean and, in its place, as if the rooms were never used. Jane wasn't sure how a family could leave such a clean space, but she figured it had something to do with their Vulcan organization.

"So, are you all like clean freaks? This house looks too perfect." Jane spoke her mind.

Spock regarded her for a moment. "My father and I prefer things tidy. My mother does her best." He showed her another room. "Do Humans not keep things tidy?" he asked after a moment.

Jane thought about the question. "It depends on the human, I guess. I like things clean, but I also have my moments where I am too occupied by other things to care. Some humans can be OCD about it while others are slobs… It is a spectrum I suppose." When he didn't respond she asked, "Do you not meet many Humans?"

"My father is the Ambassador to earth. However, I have not interacted with many Humans. My parents have prioritized my education over their travels often leaving me home when they travel."

Spock nodded and continued the tour. Eventually they ended up walking into a bedroom. It only had a nicely made bed with a soft blue comforter in one corner and a large desk in the opposite corner. White walls that held a few awards that had been neatly framed on the wall near the desk. The room was neat and functional.

Jane's attention drifted to the corner of the room where a desk sat, the walls plastered with papers somehow organized despite the chaotic nature of the notes and papers plastered there. A chalk board on the wall held an unfinished math equation. It was obvious someone spent most of their time at that desk.

"This is my room." Spock sounded quiet, almost hesitant.

Jane looked at him surprised. He didn't strike her as the type to work with such an external thought process. That was exactly what the papers on the wall were… his thoughts. "May I?" She pointed to the corner curious to see what he was working through.

He nodded.

Jane moved closer to examine the papers on the wall. Some were little notes, some formulas and drawings. There was a drawing of a ship design that she had never seen before. It had eraser marks as if he was editing it. There were other drawings on the wall as well. Buildings and other designs that all looked very technical. She couldn't help but smile, he was a very good artist and his attention to detail was astounding. "These are beautiful." She said, not looking away from the wall. Her attention moved to the chalk board with the unfinished formula. She looked it over and frowned at it.

"I am attempting to figure out a new propulsion system that would cut down on emissions. I have found this formula to be difficult." He said the last word with a slight bit of annoyance. Jane smiled at him knowing how it sucked to be stumped. She took in the formula again, her mind working over it trying to solve it herself. As she looked at the drawing of the ship her smile grew as she began to understand the design and the propulsion system it would require keep it afloat and moving.

Spock watched her curiously as she analyzed everything in front of her. Her eyes were sharp and purposeful as she looked at his work. He realized she understood his notes and she was working on the problem. He found himself staring at her with a mixture of disbelief and a newfound interest in her as she worked on math that should be far too advanced for a human of her age.

"Your formula is wrong." She erased a small bit and wrote in a slightly different number she had calculated based on the weight of the ship and needed thrust to move it forward. She then solved the formula and was happy to see that it fit within his desired emission range.

Jane's eyes danced with excitement as she looked at Spock who was openly staring at her now. Slowly her smile faded. "Sorry. I shouldn't have intruded." She set down the piece of chalk and nervously brushed her hair out of her eyes moving back towards the doorway cursing herself internally for touching his equation.

Spock couldn't find his words. He had been unsure about her but now she was just about the most interesting human he had ever met. She had just taken minutes to solve what he had been stuck on for a week. Her eyes had been so bright and excited. He didn't understand why she had backed down. He had never been good with emotions nor with comforting someone. "I do not mind." He found himself saying. She stopped halfway towards the door and turned back to him. Her eyes found his and there was hesitation there. Unsure what to do to keep her from leaving he gestured to the desk chair

Jane tilted her head slightly but did take a few steps closer while he looked at the equation she had just edited.

Spock looked at the chalk board, but he found himself considering the girl without taking in the equation. He had found her pretty before but now as intelligence and excitement filled her eyes; he couldn't help but think that she was beautiful. It was the intelligence behind her eyes that had his curiosity peaked. He realized he had been staring at the formula for far too long, so he forced his attention to the chalk board. "It seems you are correct." He said simply.

Jane beamed. "You could reduce that number even more if you could lighten the ship." She moved to the bed and sat down at the end not wanting to get too close to him as Vulcans didn't like contact or closeness to her knowledge.

Normally Spock would tell anyone who sat on his bed to get up immediately, but he found that it didn't bother him. He focused more on her words, taking a seat in the desk chair.

"How would you propose to do that?"

Jane studied him for a moment. She was beginning to like this guy; he was smart and seemed to challenge her. Perhaps he was still testing her, but something told her that he was treating her as a peer now. "Is this ship meant to travel off planet?"

"No." She nodded as she had thought it wasn't.

"Can you cut the hull thickness then?"

"It's designed to insulate the cabin due to the heat of the planet." They sat in silence, both working through the problems in their mind.

"It would be better to have some sort of AC anyways, wouldn't it?" She was now lying back talking to the ceiling. Her photographic memory projecting the design on the ceiling in her mind's eye.

"Originally, I had planned a cooling system. However, the emissions were high, and it was heavy." He was a bit sidetracked by the thought of her in his bed, but he quickly pushed the distracting thoughts away. After a moment it dawned on him. "Perhaps recycling the exhaust from the propulsion system…"

She sat up grinning at him. "Run it through a filter and perhaps use cooling coils to cool the clean air."

Spock began erasing and drawing on the blueprint and Jane came to stand nearby the excitement pushing away her caution as she pointed out suggestions and helped him work on the design update.

Together they lost track of time as they developed the simplest but brilliant cooling system that allowed them to then be able to cut down the hull thickness and reduce the weight of the ship significantly.

Eventually Jane and Spock were both standing near the chalkboard looking over their work. Jane had never met someone whom she had matched wits with before and found herself glancing at Spock occasionally, feeling a bit awed at how easy she found working with him to be. For once she felt completely understood even if it was just for a shuttle design. She had always been the odd one out.

Spock too was taken aback by how easily they had worked together as he stared at the board and blueprint. Jane was a genius for human standards and if he were honest, she was brilliant even by Vulcan standards. He looked at her and found that she had been staring at him. She cleared her throat and looked at the board. Spock kept staring at her. She had seemed so sure of herself, so in control just a moment before and now her expression seemed more reserved again.

"You have a brilliant mind." He blurted. He froze, he never blurted anything. His words were always planned and thought out. She seemed to make him nervous he concluded.

A small smile formed on her lips. "Thank you. As do you."

They stared at each other for a moment, both taking in the other. "You have chalk on your face." He blurted once again. Janes eyes widened and her hand moved to her face, but he hadn't said where.

His hand moved to her face without his thinking. His index and middle fingers brushed lightly along her cheekbone. Janes breath caught as a feeling almost like a current of electricity shot through her body. He withdrew his hand. Whether it was surprise or an actual feeling of intimacy neither of them knew but that feeling was not something they had ever felt before.

He stared at her wide eyes and wondered if his eyes were equally shocked.

They both jumped apart as a knock on the door rang out through the room. Sarek stepped in. He looked between the two, glanced at the chalkboard. His eyebrows were raised slightly. Jane took another step away from Spock. She wasn't sure what had just happened but having his father interrupting them made it feel even more intimate and therefore more awkward.

"Dinner is finished. Your mother wants to have dinner together as we have guests." Sarek looked at the chalkboard one more time before leaving the room.

"Are we in trouble?" Jane whispered to Spock.

"It is illogical to assume that." He looked at her. She looked nervous. "My parents wished for us to get along." He added in an attempt to reassure her.

Suddenly her eyes flashed with anger. "So, you were babysitting me." Somehow the idea that he had been forced to get along with her really bothered her. She left the room before he could reply though he wasn't sure he would have known what to say. He didn't understand why she had gotten mad.

Sarek was waiting outside Spock's room. Jane had stormed past him without noticing him in her anger. "You will learn son. Human females can be quite emotional." Spock simply looked to his father confused. "Perhaps she inferred that you did not wish to spend time with her and was hurt as you two had just been getting along."

"Then why would she not ask me?"

The corner of Sarek's mouth tilted up slightly in his version of a smile. "Humans are quick to act on emotions. If she was hurt and confused, she reacted and stormed out. It took me a long time to understand this with your mother."

Spock frowned. He would have to find a way to fix this misunderstanding.

"You two will find a balance. She will be good for you." He started to the dining room with Spock trailing along behind him.

In the dining room Jane sat quietly across from her mother. Spock took the seat beside her. She didn't look at him. "What have you two been up to?" Amanda asked glancing at her husband as she noticed the chilly mood.

"Jane helped me finish the design for the shuttle." Spock said simply.

His mother beamed. She tried to lighten the conversation by asking Jane about her schooling on earth. It was obvious that she was attempting to pull Jane out of her shell, but Jane wasn't interested in anymore forced attention. She ate her soup speaking only when needed. Her mother kicked her under the table, and she yelped in surprise.

"You okay Jane?" Amanda asked looking worried. All eyes were on her, but she was looking at her mother. There was a convincing look of concern on her face, but her eyes said everything.

'Stop embarrassing me.' They screamed.

Jane looked away from her mother and forced a smile on her face. "Fine, just burnt my tongue." Spock noticed that the smile she wore now didn't make her nose crinkle in the way it had earlier when they had been alone. He wondered why that was, but he let it go.

The rest of the dinner Jane was a bit more active in the conversation. She was friendly and charming, making Spock's parents like her. "Oh, this is perfect. Winona you were right, Jane is such a good match for our son. You two will have a great bond. I'm so glad you will be joining the family."

Jane felt like someone had just poured ice water into her veins. She glanced at her mother who was laughing with Amanda. "Oh yes. Jane is very excited. Aren't you dear?"

Jane wanted to run but one look from her mom and she nodded. "Yes, so excited." She heard herself speak and marveled at how good of an actress she was. She could almost see herself sitting there with a big fake grin on her face as she laughed and pretended like she hadn't just heard about bonding to a Vulcan for the first time just then. She knew she was disassociating as she went into her mind trying to find a way out of this.

How could her mother just decide to practically marry her off? She couldn't even run; she was on another planet, and she definitely didn't have the money to get back to Earth. She could tell the others the truth maybe they wouldn't go along with a bond if they knew she wasn't interested… but how could she be sure of that. She also didn't want to deal with her mother's wrath. She could try to talk her mother out of it. This was Janes future, surely her mother couldn't be that cruel but as she looked across the table she understood. This family with their large house and maids who cooked and cleaned. They were important and her mother loved important people. She would love to be in-laws with them.

Jane thought about Spock. He wasn't the worst Vulcan to be matched with. There was no doubt that she had felt something in that room and given time maybe she could grow to like him, but she might end up hating him. They were not nearly well enough acquainted to know how she might feel about him. Add in being forced into this… she might never be able to get past that. Anger boiled her blood as she wondered why she had been born. Her life had never really been her own and now even this choice of who to tie her life to wouldn't be her own.

"The ceremony is all planned. Tomorrow morning at sunrise." Jane felt dizzy. Less than twelve hours… why was her life so terrible? What had she done wrong to deserve all this? She was just trying to survive.

She thought about what a bond meant. Would she belong to him? Would he have access to her mind…or more. Would it mean she could love no others? She didn't even love him. How could her dating life be over before it began?

"I think we should get to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow." Her mother walked around the table to Jane. "Come on, we're sharing a room. Let's go to bed."

Jane followed her mother out of the room. When they were alone in their room with the door closed Wiona beamed at Jane. "This will be so exciting. You did well today, Jane."

"Please don't make me do this." She felt a tear slide down her cheek. "I don't even know him. How can I bond with him?"

Winona's eyes grew cold. "It's nothing. Stop making a big deal out of it."

"Please." Jane felt her strength leave her. She collapsed to the ground.

Winona just laughed. "You will do this. You will unite our families and that is the end of the conversation." She left Jane crying on the floor to get ready for bed.

Authors note- I do not claim to be a genius nor an engineer or scientist. I am just a writer with the internet and a basic understanding of the topic. Along with an idea lol. So, if my scene didn't quite work in reality, please don't harp on me too much.