1. Chapter 1

"Captain, we're getting an incoming message from Starfleet command." Bella reported, fingers hovering over the controls.

"Put it through." Said Kirk, sitting up in the command chair. She obliged, clicking switches on her console.

An older man appeared on the screen. "Captain Kirk." He said. "We need you to investigate a new black hole near Alpha Centuri. It's been causing a lot of problems."

Kirk nodded. "Can do. Kirk out." The screen went blank. "Mr. Sulu, lay in a course for Alpha Centuri." He said.

"Yes, captain." Sulu replied.

Kirk turned around in his chair. "Bella, you're off duty now." He said.

She stood up and stretched. "Right-o." she said.

"Oh and if you see Spock, tell him he's back on duty in ten minutes." He added.

"I will." She said. She walked through the double doors of the bridge and into the hall. She paused, thinking about where she would go. Quarters? No. Gym? Nah. Rec room? Yeaaaahhhh, rec room. She walked down the hall and into the rec room. The door slid open to reveal a few off duty ensigns, chattering happily amongst themselves. And Spock, sitting off by himself. She walked across the room and sat down beside him. "Hello." She said, smiling.

He looked up. His lips did not move, but he smiled at her with his eyes. "Hello." He answered.

"I trust you know what's going on." She said.

"Alpha Centuri?" he asked.

She grinned. "Bingo." She said. He raised an eyebrow, but did not comment. "I've been thinking." She said, her eyebrows drawing slightly closer together. "About my family." She added. Her eyebrows drew closer together still and her lips turned down at the corners. "I miss them." She whispered. She cocked her head slightly like something had just occurred to her. "I've never shown you a picture of my family, have I?" she asked him. He shook his head. She pulled a crumpled photo from her pocket and unfolded it. She smiled sadly at the rush of memories. Her parents stood in the center of the picture, her mother composed but with an unmistakable spark of happiness in her eyes, her father beside her, a big happy grin on his face. And in front of them, a seven year old Bella and Aria stood with arms around each other's shoulders, identical down to the last detail. A five year old Lyssa smiled happily beside them, hair ash blonde, but still unmistakably Vulcan. Bella had an arm around Lyssa's shoulders, linking the three of them together, showing that they were a team.

And while the three of them were visibly different; Lyssa's smile was the toothy grin of a five year old, Aria's wild and carefree, Bella's loving and happy; there was something the same about them too. The eyes. Their father's brown eyes copied exactly into each of their faces. It was a nice picture, Spock reflected, but there was something unmistakably sad about it too. They smiled out of this picture forever, not knowing that they were dying. T'Sari had died in a fire a year after this was taken; the other three had followed her not long after. Until only one was left; the girl sitting in front of him. He swallowed and handed the picture back to her. She took it with a thoughtful expression. There was one thing he wanted to ask her, but wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to ask her right now. In the end, curiosity won out.

"Bella?" he asked.

"Mmmm?" she hummed.

"What was it like…" he wondered how best to put it. "To have a twin?" he finished.

She smiled. "It was like having a best friend only better." She tilted her head as though she was deciding how to phrase something. "Sometimes we could tell what the other was thinking. One of us would say something and the other would say 'I was just about to say that!' We finished each other's sentences all the time and often times we would start to hum the same song at the same time."

Spock tilted his head, considering. "ESP?" he asked.

She smiled and shook her head. "No." she said. "It only ever worked with the two of us." He nodded. "If one of us was having a bad dream, the other would wake up and feel afraid without ever knowing why." She continued. "I could always tell when she was worried and vice versa." She smiled sadly. "We were linked in a way that even we didn't understand. And when she died…" Bella hesitated, her eyebrows drawing together in pain. "I knew the moment it happened. I felt our connection… break." She finished. Spock opened his mouth to offer comfort but was interrupted by the intercom.

"Spock!" Kirk raged. "You are over fifteen minutes late for duty! If you're not on this bridge in five minutes, I'm going to find you and embarrass the hell out of you!" Spock shifted uncomfortably as the group of ensigns turned to stare accusingly at him.

"Go." Bella urged him. He stood up. "I'll see you later." She said. He stroked her cheek and nodded. He turned and walked out the door, leaving her with only her thoughts for company.


	2. Chapter 2

Bella sat at her console, bored out of her skull. Sure this thing is causing big problems, she thought sarcastically. Big problems her ass. Nothing had happened in the three days they'd been here. And Spock was still scanning. "Spock." She said. "I think you can stop scanning now. If we haven't found anything in the last three days, I doubt…"

"Captain!" Spock said suddenly. "I'm getting some very strange readings."

Kirk leaned forward in his chair. "Where?" he asked.

Spock consulted his console. "Approximately…" he looked up. "Directly in front of us." He finished.

Bella looked up at the screen. Nothing. "What kind of strange readings?" she asked.

Spock consulted the screens on his console. "Extreme magnetic readings, Power fluctuations…" he started.

"It's a black hole alright." Said Kirk.

Bella threw up her hands. "Well we found it." She said. "Now what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Investigate it, I suppose." Said Kirk.

"Oh well then." Said Bella rolling her eyes. "We better get started then."

* * * * *

"Any luck?" Kirk asked.

Bella shook her head. "We don't know anything about it." She said. "It pretty much benign." She frowned. "Why the hell did Starfleet send us out here, if nothing was wrong?"

Kirk shook his head. "I don't know." He said.

She stuck out her lip. "Well this is just…"

"Captain." Spock interrupted. "I'm reading extreme power fluctuations. The black hole seems to be expanding at an alarming rate." Bella turned to the view screen. The black hole was indeed expanding. Fast. Too fast.

"That's what they were talking about." She said. "An expanding black hole…yeah, that would cause some problems." She turned to Kirk. "What now?" she asked.

"We should get farther away from it, for starters." He said. "And then..." The lights flickered off, plunging the bridge into darkness. "Emergency lighting." Said Kirk. The small red lights illuminated the bridge and its occupants. "Bella get Star fleet command." Kirk ordered.

"Yes, captain." She replied. "Starfleet command, this is the Enterprise. Do you read?" No reply. "Starfleet, this is the Enterprise, please respond."

"Well?" asked Kirk.

"No response." She said. "Either they're not picking up or there's something wrong with our communications and we can't get through."

"Captain." Said Spock. "Perhaps we should withdraw from the singularity. It continues to gain size and density."

"Right." Said Kirk. "Helm…" The rest of his words were drowned out by a shuddering lurch.

"What happened?" Bella asked.

Spock consulted his console. He turned and said grimly "We are being pulled into the black hole."

Kirk punched the intercom button on his chair. "Scotty, can you get us out of this?"

"Sorry, captain." Scotty replied. "The engines shut down when the power turned off. They're still warming up."

"Ok, Scotty." Said Kirk. He turned to the helm. "Sulu, when Scotty gives the signal, be prepared to take us out here as fast as you can."

"Aye, captain." Sulu replied, hands hovering over his console.

"And…know!" said Kirk. Sulu punched the controls…and the console the console exploded in his face. He and Chekov dove for cover and wires tore and spilled onto the deck. "No one touch the console." Said Kirk. "Those wires are still live. Could give you a nasty shock." Bella vision seemed to be dimming. Without full engine ability and no helm controls, they were screwed. They would all be crushed to death inside the monster black hole. She stared at the helm, its exposing wires sparking with power. She knew what she had to do. To make the console work, she had to connect the wires, the ones still flowing with electricity.

"Captain." She said. Everyone turned to look at her. She took a deep breath and willed herself not to cry. "The time I have spent as a member of this crew is the happiest I've been in over ten years." She looked at all their faces. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Sulu, Uhura, Scotty. "You are all my family." She said. She turned to Spock. "Spock…" she said. She couldn't stop the tears now. They ran down her face and fell to the floor. "I love you. I love you so much." And she hurled herself towards the helm.

"Bella, no!" they yelled. Her hands closed around the wires and the electricity flowed through her body. It hurt, oh god it hurt, but she had to do this. For them. She forced herself to connect the wires, make the console work. They all watched helplessly as the electricity slowly killed her. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she opened her mouth. The sound that came out… no creature alive had ever made a sound like that. It was terrible… _like someone dying_, Kirk thought. He shuddered and quickly pushed the thought. Bella gripped the wires that someone deranged. One… last… one… she thought. She took a deep breath and made the connection. She power stopped flowing through her and the console beeped.

She collapsed on the deck and lay there. No one spoke. "Mr. Sulu." Said Kirk hoarsely. "Take us out of here."

"Aye, captain." Sulu whispered.

"Bella." Kirk whispered.

McCoy dropped to Bella's side. He ran a tricorder over her body. "Jim." He said. "The electricity destroyed most of her nerves and arteries." He swallowed. "Jim, she's dying."

"Bella." Kirk whispered.

"Yes?" she said faintly. Green blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Ship… safe?" she asked.

Kirk swallowed and tried hard not to cry. "Yes." He said. "You did it. You saved us all." She smiled.

"Don't…forget me…right?" She sighed.

"Never." He whispered.

Her smile widened. Green blood began to trickle from the corners of her eyes. "Bones, can't you do anything?" Kirk whispered helplessly.

McCoy took a hypo out of his med bag. "This will repair her major arteries and nerves." He said.

"Will it save her?" Kirk asked.

McCoy hesitated. "I don't know." He admitted. "The damage to her system could be too great." But he bent down next to her and injected the hypo into her neck. She shuddered and closed her eyes momentarily.

"Spock." She whispered. He knelt silently next to her. She smiled and reached for his hand. "I love you so much." She said.

"As do I." he answered. "Always." Spock struggled to keep a hold on his emotions as he stared into her eyes. She smiled and lifted her hand in the Vulcan salute. She pressed her hand to Spock's.

"One and together." She said. She sighed and her eyelids fluttered. "Spock… lover." She whispered. "Oyori."

Spock gripped her hand harder. "Oyori, Ainama." He whispered. She sighed and her eyes closed.

McCoy ran his tricorder over her body. "She's dead." He whispered. Spock closed his eyes and slowly let himself drift into the void.

* * * * *

Spock shut the door to his room. _Their room. _He sat on the bed and put his face in his hands. He kept hearing her last words over and over and over. _Oyori._ Goodbye. It hurt so bad he wanted to tear his heart out. He never wanted to hear her words again, though her voice would never leave his head. He curled up and did something he hadn't done in years. He cried.


End file.
