Supposedly Spock wouldn't complete kolinahr in the next few days. McCoy was sure that the only way to snap Spock out of it was being the sly little shit that made him the best doctor in the galaxy. McCoy was aboard the small starship that he and his acquaintance of a year had acquired. This was one of a kind starship. It had taken him over three weeks to properly learn how to fly it and use its defenses. His co-pilot was a Andorian/Human hybrid by the name Jake Mallard. Mallard was sipping through a straw finishing a drink he had. McCoy looked over toward Mallard.

"When did you get that?" McCoy finally asked.

"At Andoria when we stopped there." Mallard said.

"That was two days ago." McCoy said.

"I kept this refridgerated while you don't with your beverage." Mallard said.

"It's supposed to be cold." McCoy said. "And Mallard,I am making this offer for the last time. You can get out while you still can."

"Then who is going to make sure you get beamed out in time in the transporter if I am not here?" Mallard pointed over his shoulder. "You need some time saving and you won't admit not even to someone interested in helping people." He leaned into the chair. "Are we going on a star fleet mission?"

"Not exactly." McCoy said.

"You shaved your beard." Mallard said.

"So?" McCoy said.

"You returned and you are going on a reckless mission for Star Fleet." Mallard said.

McCoy frowned, feeling insulted.

"No,and my stubble is goin' to be back in a few days," McCoy said. "I did it to be presentable when meeting with Ambassador Sarek." He glanced over toward the stunned Andorian. "Being affiliated with the Ambassadors son comes with its perks."

"You and Mister Spock?" Mallard asked.

"Colleagues." Which could become something more, McCoy thought, but I doubt it. Doubt because: why would Spock want to elope with someone who overwhelmed him emotionally? The blame wen to McCoy. His feelings were so great that it drove Spock to the point that it sent him straight to Kolinahr.

"I did not know you were connected with the Commander that way." Mallard said

"It's nothin' that you are thinking of." McCoy said.

"How can I be relieved when I have known you to be connected to all sorts of people under various excuses?" Mallard asked.

"T'Shat was a different scenario!" McCoy said. "And for crying out loud, it wasn't what you think it was!" He shook his hand. "I had to help her with deliverin' her triplets. In a cave. Now, I can't imagine why you think a parental relationship with three Vulcanian children is so bad. I don't understand why you think I have a relationship with every patient who comes into my care."

"Because they act that way." Mallard said.

"You haven't been watchin' or seein' much social interaction since bein' raised in a science laboratory. The only relationship you have seen grown was between scientists test your social knowledge." McCoy said. "Honestly, Mallard, why did I have to be the one to save your little ass from your own inflicted disease? Oh right, T'Shat." McCoy's mental shield fell down where he expelled a flare of anger then he sent the mental shield back up. "We are colleagues."

"Riiiight." Mallard said.

"Besides, the last one I had. . ." McCoy cringed. "Jocelyn and I are still friends but sometimes a man just needs a break from bein' in a relationship after a bitter divorce." McCoy sighed. "Or getting into one a few years afterwards." He looked over toward Mallard. "The other one, well, that doesn't count. I only did it so I wouldn't be alone when I died and someone to take care of me. Much as I regret that decision."

Jim went through the doorway to the starship. It was a small one. There were small narrow passages. There were a few doorways here and there. He went through some of them to find empty bedrooms. He came down the deck to find less doorways. He went through one of them to find that McCoy's quarters were decorated in the bright color of blue. There was a holograph of Joanna on the table. Her light blue eyes and freckles in the arms of her father who had brown hair. They were happy together. And he wore one of his bright smiles. His light blue short sleeved shirt matched his eyes. He didn't have as many laughter lines that he did now. And he looked cute. He smiled at the photograph then it faded. Jim placed it down onto the table.

Jim stopped.

He just picked up a holograph and put it down.

Could that mean. . . He could communicate?

Bones would understand, surely? That he wasn't invincible. That he was truly dead. It felt like Jim was part of a cheap ass paranormal movie. He remembered how he got here. He was forcibly tugged. One minute he was in bed, arms wrapped around Spock's lower torso, and the next he was on the bridge. A rather crowded bridge that had buttons galore and noises. The bridge was nothing like the other bridges he had been on in his life. He turned the photo in the direction of the bed. He saw there was a photograph on the wall across. He approached the photograph. Jim recognized himself. They had taken the photo two years into their five year mission. Jim was planning on his second five year mission then. He had decided to tell Spock at the end of their first five year mission

Jim saw another picture.

This time it was of Jim and McCoy in sick bay. McCoy had his arms folded glaring in the direction of the captain. Spock was in the background across from his father. Amanda's figure was seen alongside him. Who took this picture? His thoughts wondered to the security camera. What a way to meet his spouses parents. They were supposed to be at the wedding but there was a mission Sarek was on. Amanda was pleased to meet Spock's husband. As was Jim to meet the woman who raised his trusting, right hand man. Jim had met Eleanor McCoy when she was on a federation colony that survived a deadly bacteria. It was a personal issue for McCoy seeing his mother the way she was. Jim thought back to the conversation he overheard. It occurred to Jim that he had taken this photograph from security footage.

Why did he come back?

Jim hadn't learned the reason, yet.

"Captain Kirk."

Jim turned in the source of the direction.

"Greetings, it is pleasent to see you again."

Jim saw a woman with a unique hair style, her eyes were supportive, and she had slanted eyebrows that were thick. He could see the green skin and the familiar pointy ears. She gave the sign of the ta'al. Jim recognized the female as Britlv. She had been a Vulcanian scientist being transported it a Vulcanian colony recently claimed during his five year mission. She was to over see the Sehlat population being bred. He remembered that because it was shortly after the Babel Conference. She had a small smile on her face. He hadn't seen her hair down the last time they seen each other alive. She approached the captain with her hands in the long sleeves. She was in a light green dress with a black sash around the waist. He reciprocated the ta'al sign.

"It is nice to see you too, Miss Britlv." Jim said. "Why are you here?"

"You are lost and confused." Britlv said.

"And to think Vulcans didn't believe in angels." Jim said. He got a strange look from Britlv. "I didn't bother to ask."

"Vulcans are highly logical beings," Britlv said. "A ha'su approached me, earlier, and it was logic enlightening experiencing." She paused. "Unlike Ha'u, a seductess demon and seeing a e'shua is terrifying. E'shua are what we call demons."

"You saw one?" Jim asked.

"I saw them." Britlv said. "My ha'su saved my soul. But seeing a e'shua is worse than that you believe demons to be." Jim thought back to various beings he came across calling themselves demons. "Their skin is a color you wish never to see. The eyes are more than a human would be able to handle. The faces, no Vulcan wishes to see, are horrid. Their appearance alone can be truly terrifying." Jim shuddered. "They are almost skin and bone."

"Part of me is glad Vulcans are against movies regarding them." Jim said.

"It is a banned practice for a reason." Britlv agreed. "Ha'u unlike them look like exotic."

"Do you know why I am here?" Jim asked.

Britlv looked at Jim slightly tilting her head then straightened it.

"You are awaiting your partners, logically." Britlv said.

"But if I were waiting. . . Wouldn't I have started waiting after I died?" Jim asked.

"Sometimes the soul has a funny way of making its way down." Britlv said. "It has been over three years for you, captain, as it has been nearly a hundred for me." She stroked the bed then looked up toward him. "A year can feel that way when you are in what humans call: hell." She was sitting on the edge.

"You were in hell?" Jim asked.

"Figuretively speaking." Britlv said. "As my ha'su prevented me."

"So how far into hell." Jim said.

"Just enough to know being alone can drive a Vulcan to do illogical things. I went through the wrong door." Britlv said. "And that is all I will say of it."

"Why are you here?" Jim asked.

"To decide rather or not to let my katra be cleanse and return to Vulcan as a new soul," Britlv said. "I was not a scientist who made ground making discoveries, nor was I a poet," She sighed. "But what I was . . . more of a historian than scientist." She looked back up toward the bright young man. "I am surprised to find you here."

"You don't look a day over thirty." Jim said.

"Captain, Captain," Britlv said. "We are dead, no need to flirt."

Jim rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry," Jim apologized. "It's just that. . "

"Is that how you got out of danger?" Britlv inquired, raising a eyebrow. "Flirting your way out of death?"

"Actually.. . " Jim was about to say otherwise. "Yes."

Britlv laughed.

"This was the only ship around from where I died." Britlv said. "Old habits have difficulty going away upon death." She stood up once more from the edge of the bed. "That is a tangible aspect of the afterlife we share . . ." She walked around the captain going over to the knapsack on the table. "In life, death is a frightened asset. Some people fight against it because when it happens, it is frightening and terrifying. But the parts after being fatally injured is easy."

"I don't remember my death." Jim said.

"You had a traumatic death, captain." Britlv reminded him.

"Asteroid hitting the planet. . ." Jim said. "I thought deaths like that are natural."

"Not when you see it coming and experience it." Britlv said. "I died of unnatural causes, captain."

"Why would someone kill you?" Jim asked.

"For a very logical reason." Britlv said.

"Humor me." Jim said. "Not every Vulcan is killed out of logic."

"A Andorian colonist who hated the Sehlats my conservation was breeding. Poison." Britlv said. "Getting rid of the person overseeing the program does not eliminate it."

"Your death was illogical." Jim said.

"The logic in it was eliminating their fury," Britlv said. "Not all Andorians share that Andorian's opinion."

"How do you know it was a Andorian?" Jim said.

"We had several disagreements leading to my death and I allowed the Andorian to have tea with me prior to my death." Britlv said.

"That is a shame," Jim said. "You could have made a new breed of Sehlats. Life saving ones."

"We did create several. But I expect them to fail as they are genetically weak against certain viruses," Britlv said. "They were limited to live for a certain period of time." She looked away from the knapsack. "You see, my work is a failure as Sehlats have been genetically adapt to a climate such as Vulcan and attempting to make new breeds is illogical. Their size is problematic."

"You tried to make new breeds like the humans did with dogs except not with genetic engineering." Jim said.

"Indeed." Britlv nodded. "I have made my decision, captain." She walked past him through the bed. "I only wish that you do not have to wait too long." She turned in his direction then gave the ta'al. "Wait a long and prosperious time for your loved ones."

"Miss Britlv!" Jim called out. "What if they will be the ones waiting for me?"

"Everyone has to wait for something, captain." Britlv said, then she turned away then walked through the doorway where she vanished in a red haze.

Jim sat down onto the edge of the bed. It was true, he cared about his best friends dearly including his partner. McCoy and Jim hit off their friendship quite well. It wasn't until the second year that they were friends with benefits. Before Pon Farr set in. McCoy at first declined to continue the relationship but when it came to saving Spock's life, that personal belief of his was tossed aside. Jim had claimed he wasn't enough for this Pon Farr. Jim remembered how McCoy prepared for it. Two shots, repairing the scars Jim received from the passionate Pon Farr using the dermal regenerator, and arranging for M'Benga to be on duty for the next day. McCoy went inside with a medical kit. Jim and McCoy took turns. The look on McCoy's face seeing a emotionally, intimate physical Vulcan was something that he won't forget. And will never forget that smile. A smile replaced it. His suspicions proved correct.

------------------------------------------------------

McCoy was smiling when Jim awoke, sitting on the chair, fixing himself being a doctor.

"Jim," McCoy said. "Don't tell Spock."

"Why?" Jim asked, alarmed.

"We not remotely interested in one another." McCoy said. "Unlike you two are."

"You are interested in me." Jim said.

"Personally, Jim, I see Spock as the first officer of this ship and as a friend," McCoy replied. "Not as a lover."

Jim frowned.

"But . . ." Jim started.

"That was only to save his life." McCoy said. "And you were there for me."

Jim got up approaching the doctor.

"Oh come on, Bones," Jim said. "Our Spock has to know who helped me. I can't take all the credit."

"Yes, you will." McCoy said.

"Fine," Jim said, kneeling down to his level. "But in exchange I get to tell Spock sometime in the far future."

"Over my dead body!" McCoy exclaimed, in a hushed tone.

"Exactly." Jim said.

McCoy raised his eyebrow.

"Wait," McCoy said. "Tellin' him over my dead body?"

"Yes." Jim said.

"Don't rub the salt in the wound,Jim." McCoy said.

"After." Jim said, softly.

"Emotionally,that might do some good for Spock." McCoy said. "Since he is not likely to remember this particular hot session." He glanced over to the sleeping Vulcan who was snoring. He looked over toward Jim. "Jim, can I admit somethin' to you?"

"Yes, go ahead." Jim said.

"Sometimes I feel tired." McCoy said. "And some dizzy spells."

Jim placed one hand on the doctor's shoulder.

"I am not a doctor, but that's from worrying." Jim said.

"Personally, I think I will die because of the two of you," McCoy said. "Not of old age. Worryin' myself to death." McCoy briefly closed his eyes feeling Jim squeeze his shoulder. "You sometimes make me dizzy with how often you risk your life. I am scared one day I won't be able to save you. Not even if Spock tried, too."

Jim's smile softened.

"I trust you with the life of my partner,Bones," Jim said, letting go of McCoy's shoulder. "Is that not enough?"

McCoy sighed.

"I am retirin' as soon as this five year mission is over." McCoy said. "When I have the chance."

"I am considering of going back into space, another five year mission," Jim said. "It is going to be fun."

"Fun?" McCoy said. "Are you tryin' to wear me out?"

"You get to help people," Jim said. "The more the merrier."

McCoy smiled back.

"Why you are right." McCoy said. "You better stick around for the next Pon Farr. You hear me?"

"I will do my best, doctor." Jim said, coming up toward the man's level.

McCoy met his eyes.

"That's good enough for me."

Jim leaned forward catching McCoy into a kiss.

"Jim," McCoy broke the kiss. "Let's end our sexual part of the relationship. Friends?"

Jim purred.

"After you fix me, Bones." Jim said.

McCoy rolled an eye then looked to the side of the man's waist and his eyes--

"Damn it, Jim!" McCoy said. There were red cuts along Jim's waist."You took my turn." McCoy turned the dermal regenerator on. "I can't you believe you did that."

"What?" Jim asked. "You flirt all the time."

"Do not." McCoy said.

"Do too." Jim said.

"I am your doctor, don't argue with me." McCoy said, as he carefully repaired the damaged by Spock's fingernails. "We are crewmates." He scanned the man's body searching for wounds that the rough sex had given him. "But that won't stop you and Spock from touching me. Won't it?"

-----------------------------------------

Jim looked up to see McCoy enter the quarters appearing to be tired. He slipped off his pants, then his jacket, and next his shirt. McCoy fell onto the bed. Jim saw how the years had been to the doctor. Jim carefully turned the man over. He was fast asleep. Jim carefully slid the blanket over the doctor. McCoy's hair was in the middle of turning gray. It wasn't Jim's fault that he was growing gray. McCoy groaned turning over. Then he yanked out the cupboard and searched around in it. His eyes were droopy. His hand was searching for the backside of it. How long had Jim been standing in this room? McCoy put an item on the table that resembled a communicator with the yellow lid. McCoy mumbled, "Computer, lights off." The room turned pitch black.

"Medical officer's log," McCoy started. "Number something-ninty-thirty?" He yawned. "Mallard and I went to a colony today. T'Shat was there. The triplets are doin' better after bein' treated." He briefly closed his eyes. "Asides to a shipment of Romulan ale and goin' on a average mission Jim would go. . . I think I am--" He yawned. "Going nuts. Sometimes I feel like he is still there. I feel like contactin' Spock or T'Pau about it. T'Pau warned me against. . ." He yawned. "Using the bond too soon with my recovery. Sendin' random emotions is workin'."

Jim lunged forward landing on the floor.

"I knew it!" Jim said, shaking his fist. "I should have told Spock!"

"I don't think I am goin' to come back alive from this mission I am on." McCoy said.

"What?" Jim said, alarmed.

"Mallard, that little kid, he is going to be in on one wild ride." McCoy mused to himself. "Jim wouldn't like him either." He yawned. "This is my last log. And if you are listenin' to this, Spock . . . At least I suceeded on gettin' you the hell outta of that place." He yawned. "If I see Jim, I will be the first one to apologize. End Log." McCoy slapped the lid over then closed it. "Why do I bother taking logs?"

Jim stood there in horror as he realized just what the plan was.

Drag Spock out of retirement by the only means possible.

"Bones . . ." Jim said, as McCoy slid the blanket over himself.

McCoy lunged forward.

"I didn't put myself under the covers." McCoy looked over in both directions with widened eyes. "Whose there?" He looked both ways in alarm. "This is very odd." Jim moved the photograph featuring him with McCoy to the wall across from the doctor. McCoy looked over in the direction of the empty wall then his head turned in the direction of the wall. He gasped at seeing the photograph. "What the hell is goin' on here?"

McCoy opened the other drawer below the first one then took out a improvised phaser. Jim could tell it had special modifications and it wasn't like any ordinary phaser. It bore resemblance to the 20th century version of a gun merged into a nerf gun. McCoy turned off the safety protocol then steadily held the phaser up. His hands were trembling. Jim noticed the glass part of the phaser weapon was glowing a light blue with the contents sliding from side to side. McCoy lowered the phaser to his lap with small, wide terrified baby blue eyes. McCoy combed through his hair. He was trembling in bed. McCoy slowly placed the phaser back onto the counter alongside the bed.

"This must be gettin' on my nerves," McCoy said. "Using The Guardian of Forever for a quick visit."

Just what was The Gaurdian of Forever? This inidividual sounded everything that would have Jim's caution and Spock's interest in evulating. It sounded like this person was capable of making eternity/ And how long had McCoy been in deep space? How long had it been exactly since he dove straight back into the land of the living as a ghost? Just what good would a Star Fleet Captain do, deceased, in this state? Other than waiting. There has to be something that he could do. He felt irritated and annoyed at being useless. It felt surreal. Perhaps, perhaps he can convince McCoy not to do what Jim thinks the good doctor is planning. Jim came to a conviction. He could fix it all with his supposed band-aid which required talking in general through the bond. Knowing Spock, it would be startling and it may leave him in a state of shock at the knowledge that he had not one but two soulmates. For the long while he had been around this new Spock who looked a bit of serenity and like he had a stick up his ass. He was going to fix it. At least try.

So god help him.

Not like McCoy is going to be pissed at the dead.

"Just your imagination," McCoy muttered to himself. "Just your over active imagination."

"How am I your imagination, Bones?" Jim said. "You once told me that you believed in ghosts." He grinned. "Sorry, old friend, but I am afraid tonight isn't going to be the best night sleep you had in the previous days." Jim picked up a pillow then tossed it at McCoy's face. McCoy bolted up looking pale. "TELL HIM."

McCoy picked up the phaser.

"Come out wherever you are!" McCoy demanded. "I am armed! What kind of stowaway are you?"

Jim picked up a hypospray.

"The kind who loves you." Jim said.

McCoy looked over and saw the floating hypospray. McCoy was at a loss of words as his eyes grew small and he gasped in horror holding the phaser. He was terrified, really, staring at the floating object. His hand holding the phaser was trembling. Jim took the lid off walking over to the wall. He then dipped his finger into the liquid inside the container. He started to write on the wall when, "Computer, turn lights on by sixty-eight percent!" The room was engulfed in a bright golden light. Jim wrote the next letters to his demand: TELL SPOCK. McCoy gaped in horror seeing the unusual phenomena occurring before his eyes. He was a doctor, not a ghost buster! Chills traveled down the doctor's skin. Jim then added, BONES. PLEASE. McCoy was out of his bed approaching the wall as realization dawned on his face.

"J. . . Jim?" McCoy finally said.

McCoy turned around seeing the phaser was floating into the drawer.

"Relax," McCoy said. "I am only approachin' the other Spock to fix a little problem he made." He tapped the side of his right temple above his eyes. "And then to be a doctor going over to a hide out alongside some rumored camp where Romulan/Vulcans are. Hellgaurd, I heard that's the name." Jim closed the drawer. "I am goin' to be fine. You can relax." He paced the room. "And wouldn't you do the same if you were in my shoes?"

"But we didn't know." Jim said.

"Of course you didn't know, so did I." McCoy said.

"That gives no excuse to keep it from Spock and use it to do what I think you are doing!" Jim said.

"You would do the same if you were in my position!" McCoy argued back.

"I wouldn't." Jim said,flatly. Inside, Jim knew the doctor was right. "I would go to Spock and talk to him."

"He is not the same person we knew three years ago." McCoy said. "None of us are!"

"So?" Jim raised a eyebrow. "So are you."

"I am still the same person unlike a certain someone who is dead."

"That is not fair," Jim said. "Just because I am dead doesn't mean I have change--"

"Life and death isn't fair. How you died isn't fair." McCoy sighed rubbing both sides of his temples. "If you knew what it was like after you were gone. . ." He closed his eyes. "One of Spock's Science Interns was promoted to Chief Science Officer. T'Pro, oh, she was a nice Vulcan. She was a sassy, unique independent Vulcan. She got alon' with Captain Sulu." Jim looked up in alarm. "He made a good captain. Though after the five year mission concluded he accepted a new mission that got him to lieutenant commander. He told me bein' made captain didn't count. Because he didn't go through the normal channels and promotion track. That's what he said. T'Pro actually," McCoy began to sound emotional. "She. . ." He came to a stop. "Janice Lester. She was insane."

"Her?" Jim said, in surprise.

"T'Pro used a lethal Vulcan move when Janice . . Janice. . . Janice refused to believe you were done. There was a fight. Janice is dead. T'Pro was dealt by the Vulcan authorities,afterwards. I went to her trial on Vulcan and told what happened. You see Janice Lester went after me. She thought you were on the ship. Spock was at Vulcan by then. Part of me wished that I never was cured by the Fabrini when she had put me into her body. What I went through after she tricked me. . ." McCoy cleared his throat. "T'Pro, Janice Rand, M'Benga, and Christine were the first to notice." McCoy smiled, briefly. "T'Pro informed the captain that I was being erratic and I was unwell. Which was true. Which meant she, well, I was taken off duty. I nearly died half a year ago because of xenopolycythemia. I acquired a cure for it thanks to T'Pro and me bein' intrigued by the Fabrini." McCoy had a pause. "Part of me is glad that you weren't there. I was hopin' to seein' you again back then."

McCoy felt a icy grip on the side of his shoulder.

"T'Pro's Star Fleet commission was terminated after the trial." McCoy said. "I never. . . I never. . . I never thought an Vulcan could make me that emotional. Knowin' we will never see each other again. That is the part of the ordeal that made me get emotional. Part of me wishes that she killed the woman using a phaser rather the ancient vulcanian way."

"Bones. . ." Jim said. "I am sorry."

"So, you see, Jim, I have a healthy respect for Vulcans and I think what I'm doing is right." McCoy said. He went over to a drawer then pulled it open and took out a towel. "We nearly lost Sulu to a ship was that was shiftin' in dimensions. T'Pro was the one who insisted that he was still alive. Didn't take much convincin' afterwards for me. My experience was that Vulcans are fairly certain. It was thanks to T'Pro that we were able to get out of the Tholian Web."

"So I am not the only one who feels reassured with having a Vulcan first officer." Jim said.

"Yes," McCoy said. "But she couldn't fill the space that Spock left behind. No one could. For all of us involved, Spock's departure was a emotional day. For someone without emotions they seem to provoke them in others." He snickered. "Vulcans are reliable when it comes to making command decisions. I am surprised that Star Fleet hasn't commissioned a vessel to be commanded by a Vulcan officer at all." He put away the towel after cleaning the wall with it. "Put the photograph back, Jim. Maybe. . . Maybe Spock could be that officer to command a starship."

"But Bones, he is not interested in command!" Jim said.

"Right," McCoy said. "I forgot about that."

"By getting him to take command of a starship, you are making him do something he dislikes." Jim said.

"You are dead, Jim." McCoy said, slipping into bed. "Takin' command of a starship will make him begin the grievin' process."

Jim considered that.

"That is a good point." Jim said.

"Computer," McCoy said. "Lights off." It grew dark. "Besides, bringin' Spock into a uncomfortable zone is the risk I am willin' too take." Jim slid alongside the doctor who was laid on his side. Jim placed a hand on the doctor's shoulder cupping the side of his face with his elbow on the neighboring pillow. "Good night, Jim."

"Good night, Leonard." Jim said, stroking down the man's shoulder.

Jim was yanked back to the humid climate of Vulcan. Spock was in his quarters resting. He saw the man flickers of emotion in bed mumbling in his sleep, inbetween snores. The Vulcan was adorable while resting. He was at peace. And the show of expressions what was Jim enjoyed, alive, when cuddling with a sleeping Spock. A look of disgust crossed his face. Jim sat on the edge of the cot making it creak. Spock briefly opened his eyes then closed them with a moan. He was still as tall and thin with the blanket outlining his figure. Jim remembered the fond purr of the Vulcan when he was happy. Spock had a chest full of hair. Jim slid the blanket over the Vulcan's shoulder then planted a cold kiss on the Vulcan's forehead. Spock's eyes shot open as he asked, "Whose there?"

"You know," Jim said. "You've known since I came here." Spock closed his eyes. "As a theory . . . at least." Spock was curled up into bed. He gently stroked the side of the Vulcan's cheek. "It has always been you and will always be you. I love you, Spock."