This may or may not turn into something but I’m putting it out there. And yeah, angst.
I was shaken awake not very gently. I blinked rapidly at my aggressor. A shuttle crewman who now gazed at me rather sheepishly.
“Sorry, Admiral. But we’ve reached our destination.”
I blinked again and shook my head to get my bearings. “New Vulcan?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Didn’t we just leave?”
But of course he gave me a sympathetic look. One of those ‘poor old people’ looks.
“No, sir. You fell asleep shortly after take-off. If you need a wheelchair or other assistance disembarking, I’ll-”
“Forget it. I don’t need help,” I snapped at him.
“Sorry, sir.” And he moved off.
I supposed I should feel bad for snapping at him. But, hell, I wasn’t that old. Or was I?
My bones and limbs told me otherwise as I stiffly struggled out of the seat. I had to hold onto a bar as I did so and my muscles cried out in protest. I winced at the pain and took several deep breaths before I could will myself to move toward the exit.
Everyone else seemed to have departed already, judging by the crew members hovering by the door, both the one who had awakened me and a female with ensign uniform.
“Business or pleasure, Admiral?” she asked politely. There was something about the ears, slightly pointed, and the eyebrows. I suspected she had some Vulcan in her, though I did not know her.
“Not pleasure,” I replied. “Nor business. A death. I’m here for a funeral.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” She hesitated. “Ambassador Sarek’s?”
“Yes.” I searched her face once more but no, I could not place it. Her. Where she came from. “Thanks for the smooth ride.”
I made my way down the ramp, slower than I used to be able to do, but I didn’t need to stop to rest on the way, so I considered that a win.
A young Vulcan male stood to the side when I reached the end but then he approached me. “Admiral Kirk.” He made it a statement rather than a question.
“Yeah.”
“I am Saulvek, son of Spock.”
I nodded. “Sarek was your grandfather. I grieve with thee.”
“I have been asked to escort you to accommodations, sir.”
He looked a little like Spock but also like Spock’s wife, T’Lure, the Vulcan female he had bonded with after our second five year mission. Saulvek had been the result of their union. I had been at their bonding ceremony together with Bones, Scotty, Uhura, and Sulu. Scotty and Uhura would marry shortly after that.
During that five year mission, Spock and Uhura had ended their romantic relationship for good and then later, Spock had arranged, through his father, the bond with T’Lure so that he could finally help with the repopulation efforts of their species.
I had not seen Spock for a number of years. Not since T’Lure’s funeral ten years earlier.
Saulvek reached out a hand as though to help me but I batted him away. “I am capable of walking.”
“I thought only of the excessive heat.”
“Lead the way.”
It was strange being back here. The old hollow pain in my chest was almost immediate when I stepped off the shuttle. Or perhaps it had started when I got the missive about Sarek.
We went down several roads and pathways before he finally stopped in front of a modest dwelling. I recognized it. Spock had been living there for quite a while.
“How old are you now, Saulvek?”
“Eighteen.”
God, I could barely remember that age. That boy I was.
Saulvek opened the door with a wave of his hand and gestured for me to go inside. It was much cooler inside though still significantly warmer than I was used to back home.
“Sa-mekh?” he called. “Admiral Kirk is here.”
I braced myself for the sight of the man, the Vulcan, I had loved almost my whole life, and never had. Loving someone who did not love you back was the worst torture.
Spock appeared only a moment later, dressed in the traditional Vulcan robes he always wore now, I supposed. His glance rested on me for only a moment before he turned to his son.
“Thank you, I will see you later.”
Saulvek bowed, taking this as his dismissal, and he turned and went out the door again to the outside.
For a moment we merely stared at each other. I broke first.
“I grieve with thee.”
He nodded. “I have your room ready here, if you’d like to come with your bag.”
I made my way across the floor to where he stood. Or I almost did. My knee decided to be a bitch and give out just as I reached him.
“Oomph.” I crashed right into Spock, who, as usual was steady and prevented me from going down. I breathed out and winced at the pain.
“Are you all right?”
“Obviously not.” I reached down and rubbed the offending knee. “God, that hurt.”
He hesitated. Still held on to me too. “What is the nature of the ailment?”
“Old injuries from when were young. Arthritis.”
“I will help you.” He did, too, refusing to let go of my arm as he led me down a short hallway to a room.
“You know, I really didn’t expect you to put me up at your house. A hotel would have been fine.”
“To have you stay at a hotel would have been scandalous. My father would have felt the same.” He picked up my bag and brought it to the bed. “There is an attached bathroom, as well.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
He hesitated in the doorway rather than leaving right away.
“Was there something else?”
“You-you look well.”
I shrugged. “Khan’s blood. Made the aging process slow down a bit. Except for these damn aches and pains, anyway.” I smiled. “And tell that to the shuttle crew.”
“The shuttle crew?”
“I think they thought I was an octogenarian or something.” I paused, looking him over. Though he was older than me by a few years, at this point he looked younger. Damn Vulcans. Handsome and fit. Hair without even a little gray. I felt like an old fool. In my early sixties or not. “You look amazing.”
At that he inclined his head. “When you are settled, come out for refreshments.”
“All right.”
As soon as he left, I sagged down upon the bed, exhausted.
