20,000 Vulcans survived the destruction of their home planet not counting off-worlders. It has been six months since the event unfolded before the federation. Strangely, Jim couldn't find Spock Prime or his whereabouts. How? Why? This brought numerous questions to Jim's head. It should be easy for Jim to find his Spock.

But it wasn't.

"Captain, I went back in time and rescued myself through the guardian of forever." Spock Prime said.

"I don't recall seeing two of you." Jim said.

"I went to a time where I was seven years old going on my rite of passage. I called myself Selek and pretended to be a cousin." Spock Prime said.

Jim raised an eyebrow.

"And you said Vulcan's don't lie." Jim noted.

"Only when incredibly necessary." Spock Prime said.

"Go on." Jim said.

"And in my place, in the alternate timeline, was a Andorian. I can only hope he is living prosperly." Spock Prime said.

"Hm, interesting," Jim said. "A science officer being a Andorian. What would that have been like?"

"I really prefer not to think about it." Spock Prime said. said.

"If you were put into a situation like that again on Vulcan, would you call yourself Selek?" Jim asked.

"Affirmative." Spock Prime said.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Jim pressed a button on the machine with his head turned.

"Keptain, we have reached Zhekio." Chekov Prime said.

"Thank you, Mr Chekov." Jim said.

Jim's rope was gradually repairing itself, painstakingly slowly, and this just made Jim think about Spock even more. He could remember luxurious nights in bed they had after their missions. He could remember the first kiss. One that was not forced by any godly beings, parasites, or anything not-so-ordinary. He could remember the first night they had sex. How messy his hair had been after they had a experience not even a Deltan could top. It was simply amazing.

He talked about Spock to T'Prin.

His Spock.

"Spock is currently serving aboard the USS Enterprise,Daddy." T'Prin said.

"I am talking about my Spock. There are two Spock's." Jim said.

"Why is there two?" T'Prin asked.

Jim was washing the dishes.

"Because something happened and displaced him into a Alternate Universe." Jim said.

"Then who are you?" T'Prin asked.

"Logically, the captain." Jim said.

"Which one?" T'Prin asked.

Jim turned his head away toward T'Prin.

"The captain," Jim pointed to his chest. "Second captain of the Enterprise."

"You look nothing like your pictures." T'Prin said.

"This is a Alternate Universe," Jim said. "Events that are not canon to mine have happened. People look different." Jim thought about Sarek and Sarek Prime. He thought of Bones and McCoy Prime. "Now the parallel universes are where the opposite events happened . . ." Jim stopped rubbing the plate using the wet soapy rag. "You should learn about this in school," Jim shook his head. "I don't know why I am talking to a child about science fiction."

"What do you call him?" T'Prin asked.

Jim thought of Spock and Spock Prime.

I wish you were here to explain,Spock, Jim thought.

"Spock, Mr Spock for formal occasions, Ambassador for more 'offical' occasions, and Selek for . . ." Jim put the plate on the table. "For. . ."

Spock.

Jim used the table as his guide to walk from the kitchen leaving T'Prin on the small chair.

"Daddy?" T'Prin asked,sounding to be concerned.

"I don't feel so well." Jim said, his hand knocking a plate to the floor where it shattered to pieces.

"Daddy!" T'Prin said, starting to get off her chair.

Jim used the wall as his guide to walking forward.

He felt certainly dizzy and the edges of his eyes were growing dark in his line of vision. Jim managed to get herself to sit down on the wide couch he had purchased using federation credits. T'Prin put a pillow under Jim's head then went off to the kitchen to make vegetable soup which was easy for her to make because he made it last night. The easiest thing to do for her at the time was prepare for when he woke up. That lasted for hours. He didn't wake up. She had to heat up dinner. Though for the rest of the two days she was by the side of Jim.

Until she decided to get a healer and see what was wrong with him.

"I grieve with thee." The healer said.

"What do you mean?" T'Prin said.

"He is dead." The healer said.

T'Prin stared at the man who seemed to be sleeping, not dead.

"You are wrong. He is still there." T'Prin said.

"Your father may be breathing, but his . . . his mind is not there," The healer said. "He is never going to wake up."

"Please, try one more time." T'Prin plead.

The healer sighed then put his fingers along Jim's Psi points. He closed his eyes and tried again for his search. He could feel the remains of a mind in the vessel. The mind was smaller and flickering than it had been before. He heard a name being called from the darkness. A name that was tied to a officer serving on the USS Enterprise. Spock . . . The way it sounded was more of a lover who couldn't get their beloved off their mind. It was the voice of someone who missed their beloved. The image of someone who somewhat resembled Spock came up. It resembled Selek, a Vulcan who aided in the foundation of New Vulcan, the confederacy of Surak except much younger. The healer let go of Jim's head.

"This human has a dissolved marriage bond. His suffering must end." The healer said.

"There has to be a way. There has to be!" T'Prin said.

"If the significant other dissolved their marriage bond then they have good reason to." The healer said.

"Please." T'Prin said.

"Only the one previously wedded to him can bring his mind." The healer said.

"Thank you." T'Prin said.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Jim,Spock is the host to a parasite!" McCoy Prime said.

"Wait,what?" Jim said, with much surprise in his voice.

"It seems I am pregnant." Spock Prime mused.

Jim looked at Spock's bulging belly as the Vulcan was on the biobed. Jim rubbed his eyes, not once, but twice to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Spock rubbed his stomach staring at it ever so fascinated by it. Jim could see the shape of a foot pressed up against Spock's stomach. McCoy Prime was by Spock's side with a scowl and folded arms.

"You just had to be in the way of that creep, didn't you?" McCoy Prime said.

"Bones, you just said this is a parasite but I can clearly see a foot." Jim pointed out.

"I am the surrogate to a alien newborn currently in the last developing stages." Spock Prime said.

"And I am going to C-section it out in twenty-four hours," McCoy Prime. "And it should be done in a woman not a man! I mean, a woman's body is more prepared for this than a man is." McCoy Prime gestured over toward Spock. "Captain, we need to get some willing woman volunteers. And Spock,if you get contractions that shouldn't happen. You must tell me."

Jim's hands grew into fists.

"Is that what they do? Have surrogates carry their offspring? Even against their own will?" Jim was disgusted at the thought that he could have been unwillingly impregnated by the unusual species.

"Apparently so." Spock Prime said.

These species transmitted their embryos through a machine that sent them from one place to another a bit like the transporter only meant for the insides of humanoid beings. Every three months the embryos were taken to different hosts inside male bodies a majority of the time. Mostly due to the insides of the male be a ideal incubator being proven scientifically by their society and be better at protecting their developing fetuses than the alien's females. The females only spent three weeks with the baby inside them as a fetus then it was transmitted into a alien male due to a defunction in their female body that didn't allow the baby to further develop inside the womb and made the baby get a cold. Now, since they had developed this defunction centuries after becoming advanced in technology it wasn't much of a problem. This problem effected all of their females.

"Next time I will be the one who carries the baby," Jim said. "If there is ever a next time."

"It is a lot like butterflies in my stomach," Spock Prime remarked. "Other than the kicking, it is quite pleasant. May I now return to my duties, doctor?"

"No way, not until we get a woman,Spock." McCoy Prime said.

Jim grinned then he walked on out of the room all the while keeping his cool.

He felt a hand place itself on the side of his head.

Familiar, warm but wrinkled hands.

Spock?

There was a familiar phrase being chanted.

Spock?

That was the only person on his mind.

Spock!

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

. . . 2259. . .

. . . New Vulcan. . .

"I really hope your other self is okay." Kirk said, as they walked down the hall heading to the transporter.

"Vulcans have a sufficient chance of surviving a heart attack even though Vulcans never experience it," Spock explained. "This must be stirred by the cause that he is half human and I am taking note in his condition that should be deteriorating since a human-Vulcan hybrid would be weakened by it and old age would take over leading to imminent death."

"Spock, did you do research?" Kirk asked, raising a eyebrow.

"Effectively after hearing the news, why yes." Spock said.

They entered into the transporter room.

"Are you scared of dying?" Kirk asked.

"Dying is a natural process that should be respected and not be intervened when it is already occurring." Spock replied, his hands behind his back.

"Scotty, do you have the coordinates?" Kirk asked.

"Ay, sir!" Scotty said. "Already got it in."

Kirk and Spock got on the transporter pad.

"Energize." Kirk said.

Scotty slid up the bars to the transporter console.

Kirk and Scotty were beamed down to New Vulcan's planet surface at least five feet away from the family apartment. The two approached the door. Kirk knocked three times, then looked over to the Vulcan who wasn't showing any emotion. No indicators that he was afraid. They had expected for Jim to open the door only for a three year old Vulcan girl to open the door wearing gloves as her arms were covered in paint and she had a unusually delightful smile.

"Hello," T'Prin said, in her best 'emotionless' voice and she stepped aside. "Daddy is waiting for you."

"Fascinating," Spock said. "She already calls him 'Daddy'."

"Ah come in Spock." Kirk said, grabbing his first officer by the shoulder and bringing him in.

T'Prin carefully slid off her pair of gloves then put them into a machine that did all the cleaning only to tell the two, "Down the hall across from the living room, take a turn to the right, and then you are there." She went to a painting that was propped by a pair of wooden legs and resumed dipping her fingers into the small circular bowls and proceeded to finger paint a vase. Kirk had let go of the Vulcan's shoulder.

"Did you paint?" Kirk asked.

"I saw it as a illogical waste of my time." Spock said.

"So what did you do for fun?" Kirk asked.

"Private matters." Spock said, going in the direction T'Prin had said.

They came into the wide room with furniture. Jim heard the door start to open so hid what he had into somewhere close-by but not so obvious and evidently clear. The two young men came into the room. Spock saw his prime self on the bed deep in trance.

"I am not going to lose you again, Spock," Jim said. "And I am always going to be there for you. Nothing is going to separate us this time." He injected the needle into the sleeping Vulcan's skin. "I am doing this out of love. I don't want to be alone, not again." He pressed the back end letting the contents empty out into the Vulcan's blood stream. "I rather go to comatose over you dying." He took the needle out of the Vulcan as it had emptied. "I have one person to thank bringing us back together and that is Q."

Jim took out a phaser.

"But unfortunately, I have to be prepared for if you turn into a ugly monster," Jim said. "And I would never forgive myself if you did."

"How is he?" Kirk asked.

Jim smiled.

"Healing himself, what do you expect a Vulcan to do?" Jim asked.

"Vulcans can heal themselves?" Kirk said.

"You'll learn about that part,later, kid." Jim said, then he looked over to Prime Spock.

"What happened?" Spock asked.

"He was in a political discussion with Sarek," Jim looked sadly over to Spock and Kirk. He knew Sarek's fate, a honorable one, but he made a personal vow never to tell anyone. "Then . . . Then he stopped speaking correctly, I mean, god, that was humiliating for him. I could feel it miles away!" He leaned back into the chair. "It was very frightening. The healers sent him home after they came to the conclusion that you just came to, Mr Spock."

Jim dropped the plate to the floor.

"Oh no," Jim said, his eyes widening and his hands were trembling. "Not now."

"He is dying." Spock said.

"Much as he tries to heal himself . . ." Jim said. "It would cost a miracle to save this man."

Jim looked over toward his Spock.

"So what is that?" Kirk asked, pointing over to the open combadge on the table.

"Combadge," Jim said. "They come around in four decades. "This . . . just broke apart." Jim swiped it off the desk then dropped into the trash can where it made a metal kling upon landing. "Been meaning to do that for awhile."

"Jim. . . I just saw my father go to his death." Spock Prime said.

Jim took the hand of Spock.

"I grieve with thee." Jim said.

Spock Prime closed his eyes.

"He told me . . ." Spock Prime opened his eyes. "Something I never heard from him in decades," Spock Prime said, his eyes were starting to get watery. "That he loved me."

Jim caught his first officer first into the hug and let the much taller Vulcan cry into his shoulder.

"What are you going to do after he is dead?" Kirk asked.

Jim looked over toward the door then back to the two men.

"Raise T'Prin and fall back into obscurity," Jim said. "Can't do much except for . . . wait until the grim reaper comes to my front door."

Or somehow return to his universe with Spock's remains.

He must be buried in space.

The space they served together for four decades.

"That sounds like a logical choice." Spock said.

"How much has being around Vulcan's affected you?" Kirk asked.

"Unlike how they seem to be, they are quite fun loving beings and their logic. . . oh god. . . That is the best subject I ever came across," Jim said. "In fact they are quite easy to live with. Don't let their negative side fool you."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kirk flipped out his communicator.

"Kirk here."

"Captain, Christopher Pike would like to speak with you."

"About?"

"All I know is that a man named John Harrison attacked Star Fleet Quarters and that is all he would say."

"On my way. Kirk out."

Jim had a short laugh.

"I am so glad you met Pike earlier." Jim said.

"You never met him?" Kirk asked.

"Once," Jim said. "But he wasn't in my life as much as he was in yours, or, as I have been informed by your Spock."

"Spock, did you really?" Kirk asked.

"I had no choice but to disclose--" Spock started but Kirk caught him off.

"Yes, you did," Kirk said. "Next time you ask to play chess, I am declining. Go ask Nyota next time."

Kirk walked out of the room and he left with a furious storm.

"Kid really has an attitude." Jim said.

Spock Prime's eyes started to open followed by a soft groan.

"Jim. . . why am I in bed?" Spock Prime said.

Spock glared over in the direction of Jim.

"You got ill, and now, you are perfectly healthy." Jim said.

"What is that sound I can hear? Sounds like hearts." Spock Prime said.

Jim smiled.

"What did you do, Admiral?" Spock said.

"I used a miracle," Jim said. "Go to your captain. Because in reality, he is going to need you."

Spock held his hand up, "Live long and prosper." then he left.

"Jim, what did you do?" Spock Prime asked.

Jim listened until he could not hear the footsteps of Spock, he heard, "One to beam up, Mr Scott." then the familiar sound of beaming take place outside the house. Jim turned his head in the direction of Spock Prime and his face turned into a brightened one.

"I made you immortal, my friend," Jim said. "Just like Bones and I."

"Explain." Spock Prime requested, getting up-right.

"It starts with Oldavia two centuries ago in 2046 . . . ." Jim said. "And this just goes without saying: you do not want to play with extra chromosomes."

"Jim!" Spock Prime said.

"A long time ago . . . there was a machine called the Ark that lead directly to Earth from Mars and a couple other planets that are currently unknown," Jim explained. "There was a facility on Mars called Olduvia. Currently obliterated. In it there were scientists meddling with something they should not have had. Something that had previously wiped out an entire race in a bio-engineered war. Something that left people as monsters and superhuman. And this begins with the video."

And Jim?

He was in the clear.

Out of the woods.

The End.