An attractive dark-haired woman greeted Spock in the foyer of a two-story home in the heart of the main city of Deneva.
The home looked sterile and impersonal, from the outside, and in the foyer where Spock was greeted.
She had introduced herself as Aurelan Kirk, George Samuel’s wife.
After Spock explained the situation, she had picked up the animal carrier to study Bombay herself.
“Jim! I can’t believe it.”
“Then you do believe this feline is indeed James Kirk?” Spock asked.
After the meld, Spock was certain himself, but he found himself having to ask nevertheless.
“Oh, yes, this is him.” She held on to the carrier as she returned her glance to Spock. “Please wait here.”
Spock couldn’t have said why he felt anxious that she took Jim with her, but he did. It was illogical. He’d brought Jim here for the Kirks to help him, naturally they were going to take charge of him.
But Spock did not like being parted from the cat, which made him realize he had more of an emotional attachment than he’d realized.
After a while it began to become clear that he’d been waiting for someone to return to his location for some time and Spock began to pace. His leg ached a bit from standing for so long and he was disinclined to rub it for he did not like to show weakness.
He heard a noise behind him and was about to turn when something struck him on the head.
Spock regained consciousness when someone shook him awake. He blinked up at a man in uniform.
“Sorry to wake you, sir, but we’ve reached out destination.”
“Destination?”
“Yes, sir. The shuttle has landed in San Francisco. Everyone else has already disembarked.”
Startled and not a little alarmed, Spock quickly looked about and saw that indeed he was on a shuttle. A now empty one.
Still a bit dazed, he got to his feet and stumbled out of the shuttle and into the bustling crowed of the San Francisco Shuttle Bay.
Clearly the Kirks had incapacitated him and sent him on his way back home.
He had lost Jim.
Yep totally left it on a bit of a mean cliffy! Bombaby/Jim will be back April 14!
I glanced at Suvoc as he stood in the kitchen staring at me as I prepared the hardboiled eggs for dyeing. “It’s for fun.”
“Fun,” he repeated as though it was the strangest word in standard. “I do not understand.”
I sighed. “You dye them different colors, like, you know, for spring, they represent, um, well, whatever. They are pretty.”
Suvoc raised an eyebrow and then turned to Spock. “Sa-mekh?”
“Yes?” Spock asked from his perch on a stool at the breakfast nook in our apartment. He was reading something on his PADD while sipping his spiced tea.
“Do you understand this odd Terran practice?”
Spock inclined his head. “I am aware of it but I do not appreciate its purpose.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, wait for Bones to get here. He’ll be on my side.”
“He is always on your side,” my husband said with some amusement.
“Yeah that’s what besties are for.”
Suvoc turned his curious dark eyes on me again. “Besties?”
“Yeah it’s like a nickname for best friend.”
“I thought Sa-mekh was your best friend.”
I smiled and met Spock’s gaze. “Well, yeah, but he’s way more than that.”
Suvoc nodded. “I have a best friend.”
“Yeah? Who?”
He seemed to think about it. “Is it permissible to have more than one?”
“Sure.”
“Then you, Father, and Sa-mekh are two of my best friends,” Suvoc said seriously. “And Bones.”
I smiled. “And friends your own age?”
“There is Carla.”
I remembered her as Suvoc had commed me about buying her a present for her birthday. “Good choice.”
“And T’Saralonde.”
“Are all your best friends from school females, Suvoc?” Spock asked.
He seemed to think about this. “I believe so. Is that not acceptable?”
“Of course it is.” I ruffled his hair which I knew he disliked. I laughed and brought the boiled eggs and dye to the table to sit down. Suvoc dutifully followed me there.
“Will you dye eggs with us, Sa-mekh?”
Spock glanced at his PADD wistfully but set it aside to join us at the table. He eyed the dye dubiously. “Perhaps we should wear gloves so as not to dye our fingers at the same time as the eggs.”
The door opened and closed with a loud bang and I knew Bones had arrived. “What’s this about wearing gloves?”
“In order to refrain from dyeing our flesh along with the eggs, Bones,” Suvoc said.
Bones rolled his eyes and took his seat at the table. “Dyeing your fingers is all part of the process, kid.”
Suvoc scrunched up his face. “Is this true, Father?”
I shrugged. “You and your Sa-mekh can use gloves if you prefer.”
“I do prefer,” Spock said, arching an eyebrow. He went into the kitchen and returned with two sets of latex gloves. He pulled his on immediately.
Suvoc stared at the other pair of gloves and then watched as Bones picked up an egg and swished it around in blue dye. “What do you do with the eggs once they have been dyed?”
“You crack them and peel them and eat them,” I said, sticking one in green dye.
“Why not do this now before coloring them?”
“Then it’s not fun.”
His brows furrowed and he picked up an egg, still without putting the gloves on. He dipped the egg in purple dye and then stared at his fingers. “I believe I would prefer the gloves.” He pulled them on his hands.
I laughed. “Figured you might.”
“A wise choice, Suvoc,” Spock said with approval.
“Amateurs,” Bones mumbled.
“What else is part of this Terran celebration?” Suvoc asked after a moment.
“Chocolate bunnies.” Bones eyed Suvoc and Spock. “Although not for the two of you.”
“Indeed, doctor. Jim is also allergic to chocolate.”
I stuck my tongue out at him.
“More for me then,” Bones announced with glee.
“You can also hide eggs around and then you hunt for them,” I told Suvoc.
“For what purpose?”
“To find them.”
“Why? Why do you hide them only to re-find them?”
I shook my head. “For—”
“Fun,” he finished for me. “Terrans are very strange.”
Spock nodded. “Something you will learn very quickly. Fortunately, we are able to adapt to their peculiarities.”
“Let me see your egg,” I said, nudging Spock.
He held up an Easter egg that was beautiful and precise, perfect.
“That looks too good,” I scoffed. I held mine up which was made up of several runny colors leaking into each other.
“And that is…interesting looking,” Spock said.
“Best damn…er…darn Easter egg in the whole universe.”
“So the purpose is to make them unattractive?” Suvoc asked.
“Oh be quiet,” I said. “I like my egg. It’s Eastery.”
“Is that even a word, Jim?” Bones asked with a smirk.
Spock watched as his husband and bondmate hummed to himself as he stuffed items into a brightly colored basket he had referred to in previous years as an Easter basket. Jim filled it was colored eggs in pinks, blues, greens, and yellows. Also there was a small chocolate bunny for Laurel and one made of non-chocolate candy for Sidak, which meant ‘out of two’. Jim had also included books, toys, little bags of chips and other treats.
“You have overdone it again,” Spock told him quietly.
Jim bit his lip and looked at the overstuffed baskets. “Really?”
“Yes, ashaya. You spoil them.”
“Well, this might be the last year they believe in the Easter Bunny.”
Spock knew that neither of their children believed in the Easter Bunny anymore. Sidak had stopped even before Laurel, though he was the younger of their children. They’d had a long discussion before the children could talk about whether they should teach their children to believe in mythical creatures. Spock had believed their children should be told only the truth, but Jim wanted them to have the magical childhood he could only dream of. Jim had won. Spock didn’t have the heart to tell his mate the children had stopped believing in the Bunny. And Santa too.
“Now, I just leave these on the table at their seats and we wake them up.”
“Would it not be better to allow them to wake naturally?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Jim put the baskets on the table. “You coming with me?”
Spock nodded.
Jim went to Sidak’s room first. Their adopted Vulcan son opened his eyes immediately when Jim shook him gently.
“Hey, kiddo, the Easter Bunny has been here,” Jim said.
Spock watched as Sidak worked to keep his expression blank.
“The Easter Bunny,” Sidak repeated.
Jim’s smile faltered just a bit. “Yeah. You should see what he brought you.”
“A giant rabbit walking on two legs to deliver baskets filled with eggs and candy is completely illogical,” Sidak said stiffly.
“I…uh.” Jim turned a little red, ducked his chin. “Yeah maybe.”
Sidak met Spock’s gaze over Jim’s head. He gave a slight nod. “Nevertheless, I am anxious to see what has been left for me.”
Jim’s smile returned. “Yeah?”
Sidak nodded and took Jim’s hand. “Yes, Dad.”
“Let’s get your sister.”
They went to Laurel’s room. She was a little harder to wake, but eventually she traipsed out after them to the dining room table, rubbing her eyes the whole way. They had adopted her as a baby when she had been abandoned by parents. She was half human and half Andorian. She did not have the Andorian blue skin but she had the white hair and the antennae.
Laurel went to the basket at her seat with a big smile, which made Jim grin. She started chattering away about all her gifts. “Look at this Daddy.” She held up a stuffed chick.
“Very cute,” Jim said, grinning.
Spock was pleased she was better at hiding that she knew the gifts came from her daddy then Sidak was.
Then Jim turned to Sidak. He surveyed his basket. “It is an acceptable assortment.”
Spock arched a brow.
Sidak cleared his throat. “It is quite pleasant.”
Jim sighed a little in disappointment, but tried to cover it. “Okay. Well. Uh. I guess I’ll make breakfast.”
Sidak watched him walk into the kitchen. The young Vulcan boy bit his lip as he’d seen Jim do many times. He abandoned his basket and followed Jim into the kitchen. Spock went to the kitchen doorway to…well to spy on them. He could not deny it.
Sidak hesitated at Jim’s back. Finally he tugged at the hem of Jim’s shirt. When Jim didn’t immediately notice, Sidak cleared his throat.
Jim turned and looked down at the boy. “Yes?”
“Thank you, Dad.”
Jim dropped down on his haunches until he was closer to the boy’s height. “Me?”
Sidak nodded solemnly. And then to Spock’s surprise—and surely Jim’s too—Sidak threw his arms around Jim’s neck, hugging him tight. “I am grateful for the Easter basket, Easter Bunny.”
Jim laughed and shook his head. “You’re welcome. Want to help me with breakfast?”
“It would be better if I did. Last year you burned the hot-cross buns.”
“I did not.”
Sidak arched a brow in a fair imitation of Spock himself. “Ask Sa-mekh. He is spying on us.”
Jim glanced at the door and grinned. “So he is. Did I burn the hot-cross buns, Spock?”
“And the hash browns,” Laurel said, coming up to stand next to Spock.
Jim laughed again, a sound that pleased all his family. Perhaps they would pretend the Easter Bunny was real for one more year.
“You don’t have to be here to help me,” Jim told his first officer self-consciously as Spock reached over to assist Jim as he got out of the hospital bed.
“I am quite able to assist you.”
“Yeah, I know.” Jim faltered and slumped down in Spock’s arms, who immediately helped to straighten and stabilize Jim. He had to lean against Spock even still. “But you shouldn’t have to. I-I can get a nurse to help me use the restroom.”
“There is no need when I am right here.” Spock hooked an arm around Jim. “Walk slowly.”
“Don’t you…I mean you must have somewhere else to be.”
“I do not.”
Jim sighed, feeling out of sorts about letting Spock assist him.
There’d been an attack on Yorktown by a rogue Klingon vessel and during the attach Jim had sustained injuries which was why he now found himself in a Yorktown military hospital with Spock now helping him go to the tiny closet sized toilet in his room.
Slowly he made his way over to the bathroom, Spock holding him all the way, and when they finally reached there, Jim hesitated. He’d need help to stand in front of the toilet as he peed. And the idea of Spock having to—
“Perhaps you want to go check on Uhura.”
“She was discharged yesterday and is recovering well in her temporary apartment.”
Jim nodded, glanced away.
“Jim, please. Allow me to help.”
He blew out a slow somewhat painful breath. Because yeah his injuries still hurt like a bitch even though they’d healed what they could and he would recover.
He looked down at his arm in a sling. “Can you help me lift up this hospital gown so I don’t pee all over it?”
Without a word, Spock lifted the gown and helped Jim to the toilet.
“Can you look away?”
Spock did without comment for which Jim was glad.
He did his business, conscious of the sound of his pee stream, feeling his face redden. Stupid, of course. Spock had to pee just like anyone else.
He turned to the small sink and Spock turned on the water and Jim washed the hand that wasn’t in the sling and Spock tried it for him.
His first officer then helped him back to the bed.
After they got Jim settled, he said, “You can go now if you want. They’ll be bringing in my dinner soon.”
“I will help you to eat since your preferred hand is injured.”
“You really don’t—”
“Jim, why are you persisting in trying to get rid of me?”
“Because…I don’t want to keep you from doing what you want to do.”
“Do you really not know?”
Jim frowned. “Know what?”
“What I want to do is to be by your side. At all times.” Spock paused. “Always.”
Jim sucked in a breath. “Uhura—”
“Is my friend. We are not together.” Spock reached for Jim’s left hand and held it to his side. “I would like to stay. Even watching over you while you sleep tonight if you will permit me. I do not wish to worry about losing you again.”
Jim’s heart felt light. “You can stay. In fact…I would love that.”
“Then you will allow me to assist you as your potential mate?”
He felt almost dizzy at that question, but he smiled and nodded. “Yes, Spock. But take that ‘potential’ out of the equation.”
Spock leaned down to kiss Jim’s chastely.
They both heard the clang of the dining carts.
“Your dinner has arrived.”
And that my friends, is a wrap for March flashes. Thank you!
Leonard growled when Jim jumped on his biobed. “Easy, Jim. You’re going to launch me off this bed and then I’ll have to stay extra days.”
Jim grinned and patted Leonard’s leg.
Leonard looked behind his friend and captain to the Vulcan standing at the foot of his biobed. “Can’t you keep him in line?”
“Me? Keep the captain in line? Are you out of your Human mind?”
Jim laughed and gave his typical heart-eyes look to Spock. The two of them made Leonard sick. Well, all right that wasn’t why he was in the medbay. But still. Why they hadn’t finally admitted they were gaga over each other was anyone’s guess.
Anyway, Leonard was currently a patient in his own medbay because he hadn’t moved fast enough out of the way on that godforsaken planet he hadn’t wanted to go down to anyway. But he’d thought he needed to keep an eye on Spock given the Vulcan’s recently injuries he’d been recovering from.
“How are you feeling, Bones?”
“You sound way too cheerful considering your best friend is in this bed.”
“My best friend? Spock’s standing right there.” Jim laughed again when Leonard threw a wad of gauze at Jim’s head.
“I’m feeling fine, thank you very much. I’m just a bit tired.”
“And you’d be fine resting in your own quarters, right? I’ll remind you of that next time you argue with me about it.” Jim patted Leonard’s leg once more and stood. “M’Benga says he’d gonna release you, so Spock and I will get out of your way.”
“Thank God for small favors,” Leonard grumped. He eyed them as they stood side by side, in perfect sync. “You two ever going to confess it?”
“Confess what?” Jim asked.
Leonard sighed. “Admit it?”
“Admit what?” Spock asked.
Leonard gave them credit for keeping straight faces. He waved them away, shaking his head at their normal-for-them idiocy.
*Because I got a weird question in Spam (sorry I don’t know if it was legitimate or not) this is entirely an AU. All my imagination related to the shapeshifting and nothing in Star Trek canon ever suggested Kirk was a shapeshifter (I’m surprised it has to be said)
Spock carried the cat carrier discreetly covered by a cloth as he prepared to board a passenger ship to Deneva.
He’d learned that was currently where the Kirk family was and if anyone could figure out how to help Jim Kirk, Spock imagined his own family of cat shifters would be where to start.
He’d also decided it was best to leave San Francisco for the time being so he had taken a leave of absence from teaching at the Academy.
The agent manning the gate before the entry to the ship eyed Spock. “What’s that you have?”
“A cat.”
The man peered under the cloth. “Pretty cat.”
“Indeed. He is my emotional support animal.”
“A Vulcan with an emotional support animal? Now I really have seen everything.”
“He keeps me calm and unemotional,” Spock replied, with a straight face.
The man waved toward the door. “Whatever. Go on ahead.”
Spock looked behind him before going up the ramp. He had no evidence that he and Jim were being followed, but clearly those who had abducted Jim were out to find him.
Once on the ship, Spock selected a seat in the back of the ship that faced the entrance so he could see all other occupants. He put the carrier on the empty seat next to him.
The flight was expected to take five hours and Spock hoped Jim would sleep through most of that. He, of course, would not. As it turned out, the flight to Deneva was uneventful. There weren’t a lot of others traveling there so he’d been able to keep track of them easily.
Spock hadn’t let the Kirks know he was coming either as he hadn’t wanted anything traceable. So he exited the ship with Jim to go locate them.
I had this done and am still not ready with WTE chapter so I figured, why not?
This is the OMS from my own story The Closer I Get to You. I thought it would be fun to revisit them here as Jim cares for an under the weather Spock.
Jim was feeling his age, all his aches and pains, and he wasn’t too happy about it. No one lived forever he knew and guessed he had fewer years ahead than those he left behind.
But at the moment, he couldn’t focus on the pain in his creaking knee. Spock, normally in much better shape than him, had a terrible cold.
They’d both been surprised he’d managed to get one. But had one Spock had.
So Jim was currently stirring Plomeek soup in a big pan on the stove of their Yellowstone cabin. Spock was grumpy. It was winter and he hadn’t wanted to come to the cabin in the winter and Jim had insisted.
Now with his cold, he was grumpier still while maintaining he was not at all in a bad mood.
Jim guessed Spock might be in a worse mood had he known that Jim received a very strong email from the Fleet asking him to do a publicity run for the newest crew of the Enterprise. The Enterprise-B.
“You’ll be retired. It won’t be you in command anymore. But they’re going to ask you to be there, to make it some sort of stunt, to look good for Starfleet, to hand it off to the younger guys, and…don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Accept.”
And yes, Jim remembered every word his counterpart from…well Jim didn’t know where he was from exactly, but those words still rang in his head.
The soup heated, Jim ladled out a generous portion with some home-baked Kreyla (not by him of course) and brought it on a tray to Spock who rested in bed in their room.
The Vulcan’s hair was adorably rumpled even as he almost glared at Jim.
“I brought you soup and bread.”
“It’s cold.”
Jim smiled and set the tray on the bed in front of Spock. “I turned up the heat, you should feel it soon.”
Spock picked up the spoon and placed it in his soup. He took a tentative sip. “It’s not terrible.”
Jim chuckled. “I made it from your own recipe. I did have to synthesize the Plomeeks, though. They don’t grow in Yellowstone.”
“Too cold to grow anything,” Spock groused.
That wasn’t quite true, but Jim understood the sentiment.
If it was up to him, now that they were retired they’d live at the cabin full-time. Spock emphatically disagreed.
Jim sat in a chair by the bed and once more looked at the message from Starfleet.
“You should say no. For him.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know you don’t, and I’d say more but I’m sure my Spock wants to kick my ass as it is. Just…please. Don’t. It’ll mean so much to me, to him. Don’t.”
“What is that you are doing, Jim?” Spock asked with a sniff.
Jim smiled. “Nothing really. Just about to reply to an email.”
“From?”
“An admiral of Starfleet.”
“You are retired,” Spock unnecessarily reminded him.
I respectfully decline. At the moment, I am taking care of my husband and bondmate. Ask Commander Scott.
Jim hit send. Looked back up at Spock.
“You have a birthday coming up. What shall we do for it?”
“It is—”
“Illogical, yes I know. But let’s do something anyway.”
Spock arched a brow. “Such as?”
He laughed. “I don’t know. But I’ll think of something.” He rose from the chair and leaned in to kiss Spock’s forehead. His husband harrumphed, but Jim saw the warm mirth in his dark eyes before he could hide it.
As promised here is the birthday hurt/comfort for Kris. This will count as Monday’s hurt/comfort because I don’t wanna write another one yet LOL. For those of you no doubt clamoring, yes, I will uplpoad to AO3 at some point (wow that was presumptuous of me thinking you would clamor)
And Happy Birthday
Jim moved slowly around his quarters, but at least they were his quarters instead of the medbay. He’d spent too many days there after another very close brush with death.
It had been a near thing. Jim knew that from Bones’ very grim face when treating him and afterward when allowing him to finally leave.
He’d heard all about how between the super blood and Spock’s intervention of the meld, Jim had finally pulled through.
Jim was relieved. He wasn’t ready to die. He’d only recently started his relationship with Spock, a loving, special, important one. To put it mildly.
Everyone was treating Jim very carefully and with a little bit of awe. He knew why. He’d saved the day for all of them and got almost killed in the process, but to Jim it was a group effort. Always.
Even Uhura had given him a long, tight hug in the medbay.
But…seemingly absent was Spock.
Oh he knew Spock had saved him. Pulled him from the brink with an exhausting meld that had likely taken a mental and physical toll on the Vulcan. But that had been forty-eight hours ago and he hadn’t seen Spock since.
Jim was growing concerned.
Dressed casually in pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, he stood by the replicator trying to decide whether he should go for something healthy or something like comfort food when there was a buzz at his door.
“Come.”
He was ‘off-duty’ for a few more days but Jim knew a captain was truly never off duty.
And speaking of…
Spock stepped inside his quarters. He frowned in concern when he spotted Jim by the replicators.
“I was given to understand you would be resting in bed.”
“I know. I told Bones that. But I’m hungry.”
“Get into bed,” Spock said, making it sound like a cross between an order and a plea. “I will bring the food to you.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“Actually it is. What do you desire?”
The truth as to why you abandoned me for the last two days, Jim thought, but he kept that thought to himself and turned to go to his bed. After he got situated, with the sheets and blankets wrapped around him, and pillows propped at the headboard, he said, “Macaroni and cheese.”
Yes, he went for the comfort food. He could eat a damn salad when he was cleared to be on the bridge. He’d almost died, so yes, he wanted to have a treat.
Spock brought him a big bowl of it, looked like a double portion, and made with white cheese like Jim preferred. And maybe it was because he still was injured but the thought that Spock had done that for him made his eyes prick with tears.
“Thanks,” he managed to get out with his voice only wavering a little.
Spock fussed with his pillows and blankets for a moment before finally bringing a chair over to sit and observe Jim.
“What’s on your mind, Spock?” Jim asked, when neither one of them could stand it any longer.
Spock was quiet for a while, uncharacteristically staring at his hands instead of looking at Jim.
Jim began to get nervous. Had Spock decided he didn’t love Jim after all? Should he ask?
“You…you did not tell me you had a…intimate relationship with…Ambassador Spock,” his Vulcan said haltingly.
Jim pursed his lips and set the half-eaten bowl of macaroni and cheese aside for the moment. He hadn’t exactly lost his appetite, but this needed his full attention.
“You found that out through the meld?”
Spock nodded. “It was not my intention to pry.”
“No, I know. I never would think that, Spock.” He sighed. “I really love you. Are we going to be okay?”
Spock looked a little startled at Jim’s words but after a moment, he said, “What happened in the past has no direct bearing on our future.”
Jim clenched the blankets and twisted them in his fists. “Is that a yes?”
“There is nothing you can say or do or explain or think that will make my love for you not exist, Jim. I am completely committed to you for the rest of whatever time is left for us.”
Jim exhaled slowly. “It wasn’t…I didn’t actively hide it from you, but it also didn’t seem necessary for you to know. After I…after Khan, he came to see me in the hospital during my recovery. Once you had determined I was going to be okay, well, you went back to your own live and your own relationship with Uhura.”
“Jim, I—”
“We’ve both made peace with that, Spock. I know you love me and have for some time. I get…insecure sometimes, but, yeah I do know. We’re what we are now because we want to be together and that’s the best thing ever. But then, you were with Nyota, and I just…I needed something you couldn’t give me then. He could. And more importantly, he wanted to give it to me. It was as much for him as it was for me. He missed his Jim and I wanted my Spock and we became for each other this incredible thing and incredible time and it was just…it was great.”
Spock seemed to take this in. “I am glad you were able to have some comfort there but am still surprised that you didn’t tell me. More recently when we became intimate ourselves.”
“I guess part of me wanted to keep it as a secret for myself.” Jim shook his head. “It was a great time for us. For him. For me. And logically it ended when it had to.”
“I grieve with you for your loss when he passed. Even then you did not let on.”
Jim nodded. “I knew he was dying before he did. He’d sent me word, given what had been between us at one time, I said my goodbye to him in happier times. We both felt that was better, but I did know he was weakening. I loved him. And I don’t regret our time together. But the future, my future, is with you.”
“As is mine with you. I understand, I believe. And I cannot really find fault with his desire to spend what time he had left with you. I am glad you found happiness together.” Spock paused. His gaze was intense as he looked at Jim. “But I am even more glad that you now find your happiness with me.”
Jim smiled, feeling love and warmth bubble up inside him. He held out a hand toward Spock. “Come here.”
“Your injuries—”
“Just come and lie with me, holding me. You can’t hurt me. You won’t.”
A moment later, Spock joined him on the bed, and under the covers, holding Jim close. He put his fingers lightly on Jim’s face, more a caress, than a meld, but he felt Spock’s overwhelming love for him, and it went a long way toward Jim knowing they would be all right.
Spock now sat in his living room, cat on his lap, trying to wrap his logical mind as to why Commander James T. Kirk would be the cat that Spock had rescued and was now fostering.
A line from an old Earth’s scribe came to mind.
There are more things in Heaven and Earth, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
From all accounts and Starfleet records, James Kirk was an ordinary Human. A brilliant, high-achieving one, notwithstanding. However, if the cat now staring at him with striking blue eyes was indeed Kirk than accounts were not accurate.
Now there was a chance that something on the planet the shuttlecraft had crashed on had somehow turned Kirk into the creature now in Spock’s apartment, but Spock didn’t think so.
He recalled after speaking with George Samuel Kirk that he read that the hole in the door of the shuttle had been too small for a Human to escape through, which was one of the reasons the authorities had decided that Kirk perished along with the others in the crash, even after not finding evidential remains. And that had been a logical conclusion if they did not have all the information needed to determine that.
But George Samuel Kirk had declared to Spock without hesitation that the hole in the door had been big enough for Jim. And if Kirk was in the form of this feline on his lap, that would make him fit through that hole.
Yet Kirk, if this was indeed somehow him, had not changed back to Human form.
“What are your secrets?” Spock asked Bombay.
Bombay made the tiniest of meow sounds, more like a kitten than a full-grown cat and then put his paw on Spock’s face.
Spock blinked at the cat. “You want me to meld with you?”
****
Spock had never taken the step to meld with an animal before. There’d been no reason, And yet if his theory was correct and this was somehow James Kirk, the cat was no ordinary animal.
Bombay’s paw had slipped off of Spock’s cheek but the feline remained staring fixedly at Spock.
Spock guessed given the appearance of the strange fedora man, someone wanted to find this cat whether or not he was Jim and the fact the man called the cat Kirk seemed to lend credence to his theory.
And that meant time was likely of the essence.
With a nod, Spock raised his hand toward Bombay’s had, being careful not to spook him in case he didn’t get what Spock was about to do. Bombay did not move as Spock gently probed his mind.
The Kirks were shapeshifters, animal shifters, cats to be exact. George Kirk’s father, Tiberius, had long ago made the decision to keep the family secret to avoid the possibility of captivity and experimentation they’d likely be subjected to. It came to the Kirks through a spousal connection. Some Kirk offspring had more abilities than others, George Samuel and James T. being among them.
Since his service with Starfleet, Jim had hidden this side of himself from everyone, even those he had trusted like his friend and colleague, Helen Moore. It hadn’t been easy since she was a physician and had noticed certain peculiarities about him. But Jim was certain she had never suspected the truth.
That was until the crash happened.
Jim had been forced to change in order to escape the wreckage of the shuttlecraft but upon exiting through the hole, he had been unable to change back to his human form as someone was waiting for him and had trapped him in an animal carrier.
Shortly after he was abducted, Jim learned that he had been set up by the now deceased Helen Moore who had somehow discovered what he was and had intended on turning him over to those waiting on the planet. But the shuttle had crash and she and several of her conspirators had perished there.
The original plan had been to claim to Jim’s captain that he had been killed in an accident on the planet, but everything had changed because of the crash.
His captors had managed to escape the Federation authorities and had take Jim in his feline form with them.
Over the course of the last years since Jim “disappeared” they had been experimenting on him and doing tests, basically torturing him, according to Jim.
More recently they had injected him with something that caused him to remain in cat form and that was when he escaped. Spock found him.
Spirk (with a small dose of Pinto) 