The tall mysterious Vulcan who would not give his name had saved Jim from a pummeling by his stepdad. Jim didn’t see what happened to Frank. He was told to go back into the house, so he had.
Then the Vulcan returned but Frank had not.
The Vulcan dropped to his knees and examined Jim. “Jim? Are you hurt? Jim?”
Jim frowned. “You know my name.”
“Yes. Are you hurt?”
He bit his lip, but then that hurt, so he stopped immediately. “My lip hurts.”
“It is bleeding.” The Vulcan produced a dermal regenerator. He ran it over Jim’s lip to heal it. “Where else?”
“My arm.”
The Vulcan’s eyes turned soft, brown, like chocolate. Jim liked chocolate. He fixed Jim’s arm.
“Anywhere else?”
“No. Frank…”
“Will never hurt you again. Are you hungry?”
“Yeah.”
The Vulcan stood, took Jim’s hand, and drew him into the kitchen. “What would you like to eat, Jim?”
“Macaroni and cheese? Please.”
“Very well. Sit there at the table while I make it.”
Jim moved to do as the Vulcan said. He watched him silently, but then, “I’ve seen you before.”
“Have you?”
Jim nodded. “I think so. When-when I was four, I got really sick and ended up in the hospital. You were there.”
The Vulcan said nothing, just continued to fix Jim food. He’d been in the hospital two years before.
“You came to me there and you put your hand on my face.” Jim’s frown deepened. “I told Mom later that you were there, but she didn’t believe me. No one did. They thought it was because I’d been delirious. I got better after you were there.”
The Vulcan walked over to the table and handed a plate of macaroni and cheese to Jim. It was heaping with food, but Jim was hungry, and he thought maybe he’d eat all of it. He took it and began to eat it while the Vulcan watched him.
“Are you sure Frank won’t hurt me again?”
“I am positive, Jim. He is out of your life now. You need not worry about ever seeing him.”
“But Mom—”
“She is on her way home to take care of you. She knows about your stepfather.”
“’Kay.”
“In the meantime, a man named Christopher Pike will be here shortly to watch over you while your mother returns from being off planet.”
“You can’t stay?”
“I cannot, I am needed elsewhere. But you can be certain that I will return whenever you need me.”
Jim nodded. “Okay. This is good. Thank you.”
“You are welcome, Jim. Please eat all of it. And when you are done, I want you to sleep. When you wake up Lieutenant Pike will be here.”
“Oh. Is he in Starfleet?”
“He is. He will take good care of you, Jim. He will not hurt you.”
“And no Frank?”
“I assure you that he is gone. Do not worry.”
When Jim finished eating, Spock took his hand once more and made him go lie on the couch. He put his long elegant fingers on Jim’s face like he did in the hospital.
“Sleep now, Jim.”
“When I wake will you be gone?”
“Yes. But Lieutenant Pike will be here and then your mother. You will not be alone. I promise.”
Jim smiled a little. “And will you tell me your name?”
The Vulcan returned the smile, even more slight then Jim’s. “Someday, Jim. Someday.”
Spirk (with a small dose of Pinto) 