Jim and Spock sat quietly on either side of Leonard's biobed listening to the beep and blips of the machines. Drs. Sanchez and M'Benga had stopped Leonard's contractions- again- and treated the bruises and cuts he'd sustained in his fight. While proud of him for standing up for himself and his patients as he always did, they were both angry at him for putting himself and the children in danger. Jim's leg was pumping up and down a mile a minute while Spock meditated with his eyes closed to temper the uncharacteristic anger he was feeling.

Jim had a feeling after they'd gotten the call from the admiral that they'd try something. He was glad he contacted Ambassador Sarek and encouraged him to do a tour of the new facility ahead of schedule and observe Bones and his team in action. What he did not expect was for his pregnant partner to be involved in a fist fight so far along in the pregnancy with Starfleet personnel in front of the mostly civilian volunteers. T'Pau was also a surprise.

"You realize T'Pau will not let this go," Spock appeared to be thinking of the matriarch of the House of Surak as well.

"I'm aware," Jim pinched the bridge of his nose.

Spock opened his eyes and turned to face Jim. "She may begin pressuring us to bring Leonard and the children to New Vulcan."

Jim snickered. Her energy would be wasted. Bones had defied her counterpart once. He'd do it again. "There's no way Bones will do that."

"Indeed."

They both stood as Leonard groaned trying to sit up. Jim adjusted the bed so he was sitting up a little higher and Spock turned down the light over the bed. Leonard opened his eyes and looked around.

"Wha's 'appen?"

"You started having contractions again. M'Benga sedated you," Spock lightly touched his shoulder and skimmed the bond for any discomfort or distress. He could only feel slight confusion.

Leonard scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. " And today started off so well."

Jim leaned over the bed. Someone was going to pay for this. "Bones, what happened?"

He thought for a moment. What did happen? Leonard bolted upright and his eyes darkened with rage as it came rushing back. His hands started flying around as he spoke, nearly knocking Jim on his ass.

"We were discussin' the results of the blood tests we'd just taken on the couples that wasn't pregnant yet when the door blows open and all this smoke and redshirts start fillin' up the place, yellin' and screamin', threatenin' me, tellin' me I'm under arrest, accusin' me of stuff and-"

Warmth flowed through him like hot cocoa on a cold day. Serenity flowed right behind it and Leonard lay back against the pillows as the fight drained right out of him. Damn hobgoblin!

Jim and Spock looked up at the monitors to see they'd gone back to normal. Spock took his hand off Leonard's shoulder. "Jim it might be wise to refrain from questioning Leonard about this event."

Jim's eyes were still glued to the monitor which had just been covered with sharp, jagged lines. The alarm was blaring and a light above it flashing in warning.  It was amazing how fast the readings went from sedate to stroke territory.  Leonard was apparently still fired up about the event. 

So was he. He wanted information so he could go to Starfleet and demand answers. "Can you access his memories and find out?" he asked turning to Spock.

"Only if he allows it." The alarm and light went off as nurse Chapel appeared. She took a look at the three men then left with a  shake of her head. Spock looked down at Leonard who looked calm and peaceful. "K'diwa."

"Hmm?" he sounded dazed like he did when he had been brainwashed on Beta III and started professing the wonders of Landru. He wasn't though. He was miffed that Spock used his telepathy on him. Leonard understood the why. He still didn't like being controlled. Kinda.

"I would like to meld with you."

He blinked at him. "Why?"

"I want to know what happened."

Leonard looked back and forth between Jim and Spock. "Alright. But only today and nothing else. Don't want you siftin' around in there, messin' up the place."

"I would not," Spock huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Leonard and Jim chuckled. "I'm teasin', hobgoblin. Go ahead."

**********

His cover was blown but the vulcan response to what occured was swift and scathing. Leonard's box was full of members of Starfleet tripping over themselves either to apologise, to get in on his research and experiment, or demand he submit to scans and tests by Starfleet. The lab had been repaired and expanded on Starfleet's dime. Jim barely refrained from beating the tar out of the officer that hit Leonard and demanded he and the lieutenant that was sent to take him into custody be transferred off world immediately.

The taunting messages upped in number with one or two threats thrown in here and there. By the end of the second week, Leonard was exhausted and had stopped checking his messages. He gave his com number to the participants and staff and the rest he ignored.

Jim spent more time with him when he wasn't dealing with the admiralty or ferrying diplomats. Spock had taken up a teaching position nearby. After hearing what happened, the crew took it upon themselves to make sure one of them was with Leonard at all times and Sarek had a guard on standby if someone couldn't do their day.

Used to operating automonously, Leonard felt stifled. He wasn't used to being treated like a priceless jewel and having his every movement monitored. Seeing that it made Jim and Spock feel more secure, he let it go with less fuss than usual. M'Benga and Sanchez did any in person tests and scans of the participants necessary and Leonard assessed and did diagnoses via video conferencing. Fourteen days after they began to do their experiment, all the couples had conceived.

A small celebration was held to congratulate the couples and celebrate the new lives. The two crews rented out the restaurant side of a bar and invited all the couples to dinner. The couples ended up turning the celebration into a worship and praise session of Leonard, M'Benga, and Dr. Sanchez. They reasoned that it was fate ordained by their gods or goddesses that had the Enterprise crew from 2267 sent to this time and reality to bless the families with their heart's desires.

Leonard would blame the hormones for his sudden weepiness.

Spock eventually took a sleepy Leonard home and the couples followed not too long after. A few of the crew stayed behind for drinks. Eventually Jim was left after Scotty got an impromptu date. He was getting ready to leave when he saw McCoy rush in. He'd had a surgery that ran late and missed the party. Jim waved him over figuring they'd have a few drinks to let McCoy know what he'd missed and then he'd head out.

Having stayed back to talk to someone he knew from the academy, Kirk and Spock were standing near the back of the bar when they saw McCoy enter. He started to walk up to him but stopped. McCoy didn't seem to see them. He turned and waved to someone in a booth. Kirk frowned as he saw the doctor walk over to his counterpart and the two sat down. What were they hanging out together for? Pulling the cap further down to hide his face, he grabbed Spock's arm and quickly walked across the bar, and slid into the booth directly behind the one McCoy and Jim sat in.

"Jim, what are we doing here?" Younger Spock asked looking around.

"Spying."

"Spying? On who?"

"Bones."

Spock raised a brow. "Why?"

Kirk sighed. "Listen. I have to come clean. I have feelings for Bones. I always have. I didn't think he'd go for someone like me so I just slept around to bury my feelings for him. I was going to tell him after graduation but then Nero happened and I met Ambassador Spock."

Spock sat up straighter and gave Jim his full attention. He too had something to confess.

"Because of what the ambassador said about us, I stopped looking at Bones. I thought it was just supposed to be me and you like it was just him and his Jim Kirk." He took a breath. "But then Jim and his crew came and I see how the relationship is between him, his Bones and his Spock. They fit so right and, to me, it just looks so wrong to see them apart. And I started thinking, if they could get together," he looked up into Spock's eyes. "Why can't I have you and Bones too?"

Spock was quiet a moment as he thought of the best phrasing for what he had to say. "I confess that I also have feelings for Dr. McCoy. The ambassador told me he didn't tell me about the future because he did not want to influence my decisions. I felt something similar to the feelings I have for you when the doctor and I were on Altamid and I began to pursue them. I had thought we'd grow closer but it seems the opposite has happened."

"We need to find out how to fix it."

"Agreed."

Kirk nodded in the direction of the other booth. "For now, we're spying."

*************

"I'm angry," Jim was saying. "Any time Bones has needed me, I've been unable to do anything. He's nearly died five times and each time it was Spock who found the cure or revived him. Spock fought for him in an arena and broke him out of a prison while I could only watch. He's been attacked twice in this reality while pregnant with my kids and we showed up too late. Do you know how useless, how worthless that makes me feel?"

McCoy silently stared into the liquid in his glass. "Yeah, Jimmy. I do."

Jim stared at him over his drink.

McCoy gulped down his drink. "Spock once beat the holy livng god out of Jim and I didn't try to stop him because I knew we'd both be in the med bay. Then because of Kahn our Jim died. He was dead as a doornail in a body bag, brought to my sick bay and I couldn't tell him how I felt. By chance I figured out how to bring him back and with Spock and Uhura's help, we did it. I thought I had my second chance." He looked over to see Jim smiling.

"But he woke up with eyes only for Spock." McCoy inhaled his drink. "He didn't outright say it but it was there in the way they looked at each other, the way they spoke to each other. He only thanked Spock." He lowered his voice. "That hurt. I hid that hurt by cracking some joke that Uhura and I helped."

Jim stared at the table. That hadn't happened to him. He could understand McCoy's bitterness.

McCoy sighed heavily and leaned back in his seat with a thump. Unbeknownst to him, Kirk and young Spock jumped in surprise on the other side. "It just kept happening over and over. Not the dying - but the Jim-Spock moments. When we were in Yorktown, he was in trouble, about to be sucked out into space. I have all these phobias about space and flying but I swallowed that down and zipped over there to save him. Spock crawled through the hatch and snatched him out of the air and dragged him into the ship." His hazels met Jim's hazels and he snorted. "You know what Jim says?"

Jim shrugged and poured him another drink.

McCoy shook his head. "He says 'what would I do without you, Spock?' No 'thanks for the help, Bones.' No 'what would I do without you too, Bones?' Only Spock." He gulped down his drink. Tears stung his eyes but he refused to let them fall. "They were both going to leave and thought nothing of how it would affect me. I only stayed in space because of them. It was pretty clear from there where I stood in the grand scheme of things so I gave up." He poured another drink and inhaled it just as quickly. "And here we are."

Jim nodded and drank his in one gulp. "And here we are."

McCoy shook his finger. "But there is one difference between us."

"And what's that?"

"They love and acknowledge their love for you. It's there for everyone to see.  They don't ask you to be something you're not. They accept everything you throw at them. They just ask for you to be there in whatever capacity you can. To give whatever you're willing to give."

"But is it enough? Is it okay for them to accept just part of me when most of me is up there?" He pointed at the ceiling.

McCoy made a face. "They ain't complainin' so I'd say so." He played with his next shot. "Listen, I'd give anything to be in your shoes. You have two loving partners and you're about to be a father. Having a place to go home to where you can lay out your heart and hide from the world isn't the worst thing there is."

Jim watched quietly as McCoy stood and adjusted his shirt.

"No, the worst thing is shutting your heart off and having no home to return to." He gulped down his beer and placed the glass on the table. Patting Jim on the shoulder, he left. Jim drummed his fingers on the table, lost in thought. Maybe McCoy was right.

On the other side of the booth, Kirk and Spock looked at each other.

Kirk felt like his heart had been torn out. "Could that be true?"  He wiped the stinging tears from his eyes.  "We did that to him?"

Young Spock tilted his head slightly. "It would certainly explain a few things."

"How could we have been so oblivious? Bones was my roommate for three years. I didn't see it at all."

"The past cannot be changed. I suggest we focus our efforts on rectifying the situation."

Kirk adjusted his ballcap and stood. "Agreed." 

*I wonder who is going to fix their relationship first.  🤔