Magic Among The Stars

Based on the request made by **FantasyWriter93 **and** SnakeLionWolf2020.**

**Do you bloody know how hard it is to squeeze one move into a one-shot story?! I busted my fingers AND brain for this!**

**BUT IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!**

**Hope you'll like it!**

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**Disclaimer:** I claim no rights to the characters of Star Trek (2009) and Harry Potter. They belong to their respective creators.

**Warnings:** slash, explicit content,

**cut**

A difficult sigh passed lush, full lips as their owner walked down the wet streets of a nondescript town in Iowa. The year was Merlin-knows-which, Stardate who-gives-a-bloody-fuck, and Harry James Potter was annoyed, angry, lonely, wet and bloody tired of everything.

If he knew that accepting the Deathly Hallows after they reappeared in front of him for the _tenth time_ after he destroyed them time and time again, in ten different ways, would grant him immortality, he would have at least found a way to make sure he never ran out of things to do.

After living for over a thousand years, after witnessing the revelation of the wizarding world, after being there for the merging, watching everyone he loved and cherished grow old and die while he stayed forever young and untouched by time, he has grown tired of it.

You may think that he was above trying to kill himself, but he wasn't.

He _tried_.

He tried _everything_.

And nothing worked.

After over a thousand years, he still looked like an 18 year old, even after sealing those blasted Hallows under so many charms _god_ wouldn't be able to dig them out and porting them to the bottom of the lowest point of the ocean, and denouncing magic. He was still immortal. He still couldn't die.

And he _still_ had nothing to do.

He moved so many times that he lost track of all the places he had lived in. Every single person he had gotten close to died already. He hadn't had a friend in almost a century.

It hurt too much.

But he knew he wouldn't be able to stay away from human contact.

One of the reasons he decided to join the Star Fleet. That was the _one thing_ he hadn't done yet, and since the higher ups knew about him and his _problem,_ at least he knew that he wouldn't have to leave the Star Fleet in some 50 years or so.

Or so he hoped.

He cursed when rain started falling harder and hurried his stride, only to halt when something caught his attention.

He took a step back and looked down a small alley, eyes narrowing when he saw a small, huddled, trembling form hiding behind a dumpster.

Ever so slowly, he made his way to it, his heart clenching when he realized that the child was a boy not older than 10 years.

A thought appeared in the back of his mind to just turn around and leave, but it was ephemeral. There was no way he could leave a child alone.

_Well then,_ he thought as he took a deep breath, _time to get attached and hurt again._

**cut**

"Hey there, kiddo."

Blue eyes full of tears squinted to see through the rain falling as though it wanted to flood the world. The child swallowed audibly as he stared up at a man drenched just as much as he was. He didn't seem to be older than some 18 years, but his eyes were warm and kind, and seemed to glow with something the child couldn't name. He only knew that he has never seen such a clear green color.

"What are you doing here, kiddo? You're gonna catch a cold," the man spoke kindly, and he radiated such honest concern and care that the child simply couldn't help but wish to accept him.

"I…" he choked up, a shiver wrecking the small body, "I ran away from home. I can't - can't go back."

Those beautiful eyes narrowed and looked into blue ones as though searching for something. The child's eyes widened when he felt a warm caress against his brow and realized that the stranger was a wizard when he saw those emerald eyes glow a brighter green for a moment as the man read the child's mind.

Immeasurable sadness turned those eyes a darker shade of green, but full lips tilted into a smile never the less.

"Come on," the man offered his right hand to the child, "my place is nearby. Let's get you dry and warm. You're safe now."

"I'm," he hiccupped and curved black eyebrows rose up a bit, "I'm not supposed to trust strangers." The man let go of a subdued laugh.

"Well then, I'm Harry Potter," he said making the child frown. "See? I'm not a stranger anymore."

He really wanted to contradict this _Harry Potter_.

But he was hungry. He was cold. He had no where to go.

Harry's lips tilted up into a smile when a smaller hand settled in his offered one. Both stood up and the child was surprised when Harry didn't let go of his hand, the man's own wrapped around his smaller one, offering warmth and reassurance.

"What's your name, kiddo?" Harry asked as they walked down the street, the wizard looking down at the child with a small, comforting smile.

"James," he stuttered out, "James Tiberius Kirk."

Harry chuckled and nodded.

"Well, James Tiberius Kirk, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

**cut**

**12 YEARS LATER**

**cut**

_Booooooriiiiing_, James Tiberius Kirk, better known as _Jim_ surveyed the almost too full club as he cradled a bottle of beer in his right hand, leaning back against the bar. _Harry better be here soon_, he huffed in annoyance and finished his bottle, turning around to order another.

"Hi. I'd like a Klabnian Fire Tea, two Cardassian Sunrises and three Earth beers, no slim-shots, anything on draft," a beautiful, dark skinned, dark haired female Cadet attracted Jim's attention, and a smirk tilted his lips.

_Well, at least I can have some fun_, he thought as he peaked around a bulky Alien to look at the beautiful woman. Not exactly his type - in any way - but his mind was muddled enough and he was bored as fuck, so why not?

"That's a lot of drinks for one woman," Jim drawled making her look at him and he leaned back to take a good look at her noting the high heels with a smirk. "Wearing those boots," he added as he leaned forward again smirking at her.

She rolled her eyes at him before looking at the bartender again, obviously deciding Jim was not worthy of her attention. "And a shot of Jack, straight up."

Jim chuckled and looked at the bartender. "Make it two," the bartender raised an eyebrow at him so Jim hurried to ad, "her shot's on me."

"Her shot's on her," she spoke scathingly, throwing Jim a warning glance, brown eyes cold as glaciers. "Thanks but no thanks," she said and Jim rolled his eyes.

"Don't you want my name before you completely reject me?" Jim drawled in pure amusement as he straightened to full height, accepting the glass of Jack.

"I'm good without it," she spoke, more than obviously annoyed, and Jim just couldn't resist the challenge as he laughed, rounded the Alien shooting him wary glances and came to stand to the Cadet's right, looking down at her with his usual smile which more often than not either annoyed people or got him what he wanted.

"You _are_ good without it," he said teasingly and she rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh, but Jim wouldn't be deterred. "It's Jim. Jim Kirk. If you don't tell me your name, I'm gonna have to make one up." She wrinkled her nose at him and Jim raised eyebrows, knowing he was getting to her.

"Uhura," she answered and Jim grinned.

"Uhura? No way! That's the name I was gonna make up for you." She laughed, unable to stop herself, and Jim's grin brightened. "Uhura what?"

"Just Uhura," she answered through subsiding laughter and Jim almost rolled his eyes again.

"They don't have last names in your world?" Jim drawled and she huffed, shooting a glance at the bartender as though to urge him to hurry up with her order.

"Uhura is my last name," she said, her lips still tilted in a small - albeit unwilling - smile.

"They don't have first names in your world? Wait, let me guess. Is it "Jim"?" She laughed again, and Jim chuckled, knowing he was slowly winning her over. "Okay," he faced her fully, placing his right forearm on the bar and resting his weight on it, "so you're a Cadet. Studying. What's your focus?"

"Xenolinguistics," she drawled proudly, brown eyes looking at Jim with a clear challenge. "Lemme guess: you don't know what that means." She smirked almost proudly and Jim answered with a hum.

"Let me guess," he muttered dryly, "study of Alien languages: phonology, morphology, syntax- it means you've got a talented tongue." Jim glanced at her full lips before meeting her eyes, finding her looking at him in contemplation.

"And for a moment I thought you were just a dumb hick who only has sex with farm animals."

_Oh, now that's low_, Jim thought, lips forming an 'o' as he took his drink and smirked at her. "Well. Not only." She squinted at him as she copied his relaxed pose, leaning on the bar, and Jim hid a pleased smirk with his drink.

"You think you're smart," she said as though she just came to the conclusion and Jim chuckled.

"Oh, baby, I'm the smartest…"

"This guy bothering you?" Jim looked to the side when a gruff voice cut him off and found 5 male Cadets standing to his left, four of them standing behind a tall, burly, bald man, and Jim could swear that his fists started to itch.

"Beyond belief, but nothing I can't handle," Uhura smiled coldly at the Cadets and Jim barely suppressed a snicker.

"You could handle me," she rolled her eyes in exasperation at those words. "That's an invitation." Just as Jim was about to round Uhura the burly guy grabbed a hold of Jim's left shoulder and tugged him back, making Jim look up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You mind your manners," the Cadet threatened and Jim knew there would be trouble.

_Harry's gonna kill me_, he though, trying to find a way to calm the situation. He came to ease his boredom, not end up in a brawl.

"At ease, Cup Cake, it was a joke," Jim spoke in a low, leveled tone looking straight in the guy's eyes. "Like your hairline."

_Okay, maybe I drank too much_, he realized his tongue ran before him when he heard Uhura asking him to stop.

"What was that?" the burly guy took a step closer and Jim knew these guys were actually looking for a brawl.

_Well, who am I to deny them_, Jim thought as he brushed the guy's hand off of his shoulder and stood to his full height, although the Cadet towered over him for a good few inches.

"You heard me, Moon Beam," he pressed out through his teeth and the guy had the decency to laugh at him.

"You know how to count farm boy?"

_Farm boy?!_ Jim was close to snapping.

"There's five of us," the guy looked behind his back as though to make sure his palls were still behind him before smirking and looking at Jim, "and one of you."

"I can't believe this," when those words were spoken Jim realized that music stopped playing and that everyone was listening in to him and the Cadet, but with that realization came another one, because it took him less than a second to recognize the voice. He didn't need the Cadets to step to the side to know who interrupted them. "I leave you alone for all of 2 weeks and you get into trouble."

The man standing in the middle of the club stood at a respectable 5'9, lithe, obviously lightly muscled body outlined by the form fitting red Star Fleet uniform. Waist long, raven black hair was tied low with a band, messy bangs falling into stunning, bright, sharp emerald eyes which were glimmering with amusement. Full lips were tilted up into a smirk of amusement, and three yellow buttons on the man's high collar told everyone that they were standing in the presence of a Star Fleet Commander.

"Maybe that means that you shouldn't leave me alone, Ry," Jim drawled, knowing that the Cadets to his left were too stunned to do anything.

"Sir, this guy," the burly fellow spoke up only to snap his mouth shut when those out-worldly eyes settled on him with a dull stare. If Jim wasn't annoyed with the guy he'd pity him. Jim knew very well how it felt to have those viridian depths stare at you like that.

"Commander Potter, Cadet," Harry spoke in a drawl making Mr. Burly stand at attention, the other four copying him. "And it appears to me as though you were about to engage into combat with a civilian which is strictly against Star Fleet regulation."

"Commander Potter, this guy was…"

"This _guy_ is a _civilian_, and if you go against me _again_ you will find yourself suspended for a month." Burly guy paled and took a step back before glancing at Jim with a growl. Jim smirked at him and wiggled his fingers, the Cadet growling at him before he saluted Harry stiffly and marched out of the club followed by his friends.

Harry looked at Uhura, and the young Cadet tensed up, snapping into a salute.

"As you were, Cadet Uhura," Harry spoke kindly and she relaxed, gifting the older man with a small smile.

"Thank you, Commander," she said and Harry chuckled.

"Go along now," she nodded, turned to grab the drinks off of the bar and ran off to join her friends. Just as the music started again, Jim's and Harry's eyes met, both of them sharing a grin.

"Took you long enough, Ry!" Jim said as he moved forward to envelop his brother in all but blood into his arms.

"Still a troublemaker, are you, Jim," Harry murmured warmly as he hugged Jim tightly.

"I swear that this time it wasn't my fault. Those guys came asking for trouble," Jim said as they parted and Harry laughed clapping Jim's back as he started to lead Jim over to a table.

"Let's pretend that I believe you," Harry drawled and Jim grinned while Harry glanced up at the bartender that walked over to them to take their order. "One double Jack and one beer," he said and the man hurried off while Harry devoted his attention to Jim again, "I hope the work-shop's still in one piece."

"Fully operational," Jim informed his savior and Harry smiled a small smile.

"I still think that you should reconsider your choices, Jim," Harry spoke warmly, and Jim groaned rolling his eyes.

"Not this again, Ry," he muttered both of them nodding when their drinks were brought to them. "You know I don't…"

"I known, Jim, I just…" Harry sighed and shook his head before straightening and putting a smile on his face. "You know what? Forget it. I'll probably be summoned for duty soon enough, and I don't want to spend what little time I have with my little brother fighting."

Jim grinned and raised his bottle, Harry copying his action with his glass.

12 years ago Jim was just a kid whose mother left him with his uncle who couldn't stand him.

12 years ago Harry found Jim after the young man escaped from home for the last time.

12 years ago, after being unaccounted for ever since the revelation of the Wizarding World, Harry re-entered the society to be able to adopt Jim.

11 years ago he became Jim's legal guardian, Jim's mother relinquishing guardianship after Harry threatened to take her to court.

11 years ago, Jim finally got someone who loved him and cared for him.

11 years ago, Harry remembered what it was like to love and care, and to receive the same in return.

Jim grew up into a striking young man, becoming a great mechanic under Harry's tutelage, and Harry became a Star Fleet officer after reaffirming his identity, although he still refused to use magic.

_Why? _That was something no one knew, not even Jim.

Harry told him that in that day and age, magic was not something he needed.

Jim thought that Harry simply didn't want to have an unfair advantage in the Star Fleet. Only a chosen few Admirals knew that Harry was a wizard and that he was virtually immortal - after Harry suffered heavy injuries three years ago during his mission on a Class M planet somewhere on the outskirts of their Galaxy and all but _died_ on the operation table, it was proven that Harry _could_ in fact _die_, he just needed to be a whole _galaxy_ away so that the powers of the Deathly Hallows couldn't reach him. Only very, _very_ few people knew that Harry was a savior and a hero, and the Star Fleet Commander _loved_ it that way. He was respected for his accomplishments and admired for his work-ethics and efficiency, not something he didn't even remember doing.

And even though Harry knew that he would one day lose Jim as well to old age - he would make damn sure of _that_ - he didn't allow that to bring him down.

He loved Jim like he would love his own child, and there was no way that he would ever leave Jim's side.

"Drinking on duty, Commander?" Harry almost choked on the sip he took ending up coughing his lungs out and spilling his drink all over his front, and Jim would have laughed at him had he not seen Harry wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, turn in his seat and glare up at the man standing behind him, smirking like a cat who got the canary.

"Captain Pike," Harry sighed in exasperation and stood up, loosely saluting the Captain whose smirk widened. "You finally got me."

"No hard feelings, Potter," Pike drawled in amusement and Harry huffed before looking at Jim.

"I'll be right back. Captain, feel free to join us," with that said Harry marched off for the toilet and Jim stared at the Captain in slight aw. He has never seen anyone startle Harry like that before, and by the look on Pike's face he was very pleased with himself.

"Erm…"

"Hello, Mr. Kirk, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Jim stood up to shake the older man's hand, trying to think of an answer which wouldn't make him look like a total idiot.

"Captain Pike," he nodded at the Star Fleet Officer, "please take a seat."

"Don't mind if I do," Pike took a seat in Harry's chair, facing Jim straight on, and the 22 year old had to suppress a shiver.

_This might just be how experiment subjects feel_, Jim thought, gulping when the Captain chuckled and shook his head, lips tilting up in something resembling fondness.

"You know," he sighed and sat back in the chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "I couldn't believe it when I finally found out just who Harry considered his younger brother."

Jim froze up and frowned, observing Pike warily.

"And who am I, sir?" Jim asked and Pike chuckled.

"Your father's son," he stated almost carefully, and Jim paled, eyes darting all around the room, wondering what was taking Harry so long. Pike crossed his arms on the table, looking straight at Jim, who found it difficult to look anywhere but in the Captain's almost silver eyes. "For my dissertation, I was assigned the U.S.S. Kelvin. Something I admired about your dad - he didn't believe in no-win scenarios."

"He sure learned his lesson," Jim pressed out over a pile of bitterness in his throat and the left corner of Pike's lips tilted up.

"Depends on how you define winning," Pike admitted and Jim bowed his head a bit. "You're here, aren't you?" Jim nodded minutely, taking a sip of his drink to avoid those knowing eyes for just a second. "He tended to leap before looking. In my opinion it's something Star Fleet has lost." Pike noticed the waiter walking towards them and shook his head, telling the man that he wouldn't have anything. He looked back at Jim, speaking as though conspiring. "We're admirable, respectable. But overly-disciplined. We have Cadets who'll make competent officers - but you can bet your ass they'll run home to momma the minute they're looking down the barrel of a Klingon phaser cannon."

Jim swallowed audibly and shifted in his seat, unable to sit still. "Why are you talking to me?"

"I looked into your profile when Harry finally caved a few days back and told me a little about you. That man deserves a medal for his devotion to the mission and borderline _obsessive _separation of his private life from his job, but that's beside the point." Pike's eyebrows rose up on his forehead and he leaned closer before speaking, "Your aptitude tests were off the charts- what is it, d'you like being the only Genius Level small town mechanic in the Midwest?

"Maybe I love it," Jim pressed out through clenched teeth and Pike snorted.

"So your daddy dies... you can settle for a less-than-ordinary life. Or do you feel like you're meant for something better? Something special?"

"Look, Captain Pike, I don't know…"

"Enlist in Star Fleet."

When Pike cut Jim off the younger man was left gaping, blue eyes widening.

"Enlist," Jim stated dully before chuckling and shaking his head. "You must be way down on your recruiting quota for the month…"

"If you're half the man your father was, Jim, Star Fleet could use you," the captain cut him off again and Jim frowned at him.

"Did Harry talk you into this? He's been asking me to join the Fleet for years."

Pike chuckled and shook his head. "No," he said, "Commander Potter doesn't know that I'm talking to you about this. As a matter of fact, he never mentioned anything about him wishing that you would join Star Fleet, although I have no doubt he's more familiar with your potential than I am." Pike raised a challenging eyebrow and smirked. "You could be an officer in four years, have your own ship in eight. Think about it." Pike stood up and threw enough credits on the table to cover Harry's and Jim's drinks. "Riverside shipyard. Shuttle for new recruits leaves tomorrow, 0800," he spoke as he straightened the jacket of his uniform, Jim's sky blue eyes watching his every move. "Your father was Captain of a Starship for twelve minutes. I dare you to do better."

"Captain Pike?" Harry chose that moment to reappear and Pike smiled at him while Jim stared at the table with a troubled countenance.

"I'm afraid I can't stay. I only came to tell you that you will be leaving tomorrow with the new Cadets. We have a new promising group for the engineering department, and it would be a pity if you weren't there to oversee their testing."

"Aye, Captain," Harry answered with a frown, obviously displeased, but knowing better than to contradict the commanding officer. "Have a good evening," with that said, Pike left the bar, and Harry looked at Jim, frowning when he found the younger man staring at the table in quiet contemplation.

"Jim?"

The blond seemed to snap out of whatever troubled him at least somewhat, and he slowly got to his feet.

"Let's go. You need to rest for tomorrow morning," Jim muttered into his chin, walking out of the club, leaving Harry no other choice but to follow him.

There was something wrong with Jim, but Harry knew better than to ask when the younger man was in such a mood. Jim would come to him when he was ready to talk. Sure, since Harry was leaving in the morning, that talk would have to wait, but if Harry has learned anything since the night he found Jim in that small alleyway drenched, hungry and cold after he ran away from his uncle for heavens know which time, it was patience.

Lots and lots of patience.

**cut**

"Permission to speak freely, Captain?"

Pike looked at Harry who came to stand beside him after making sure that the recruits he was in charge of were in their designated shuttles.

"Permission granted," Pike spoke with a sigh, knowing he was in for a tongue-lashing.

"With all due respect, sir, the stunt you pulled yesterday was not exactly alright," Harry spoke, frowning at Pike who sighed and shook his head.

"Maybe," he admitted, "and maybe not. You know how much I like gathering new talents, and Jim…"

"Jim didn't talk to me for a month after I enlisted, Captain," Harry cut Pike off, emerald eyes cold as glaciers. "I've known since the first time I've seen Jim sitting behind a wheel that he had potential, and I am very well aware that his characteristics match your version of a perfect Star Fleet officer, but please, next time you decide to confront someone with recruitment, do consider their history. Jim lost his father to Star Fleet. Consequentially, he lost his mother as well, since she contacted him only a handful of times since he came into my care all of which she was mostly angry with him for leaving when she was the one who left him behind."

Pike frowned and looked to the side, obviously taking Harry's words into consideration. He looked at the Commander when Harry sighed and raised an eyebrow when Harry shook his head.

"Sadly, Jim left this morning before I could talk to him, so I don't know what state he's in. Such things - becoming a soldier of _any_ kind - could make or break a man, Captain. Keep that in mind."

"It didn't break you, Harry," Pike said and Harry's eyebrows met.

"I was a soldier long before I was anything else, Captain," Harry spoke slowly. "You can't compare Jim to me. Yes, I may be grateful to you for recruiting me and giving me a chance," Pike's lips tilted up as Harry's glare softened, "but please, leave Jim alone. If he wishes to join Star Fleet he will do it in his own terms and in his own time."

Pike chuckled and nodded, clapping Harry's shoulder.

"I understand, Commander. Let's go. We don't want to be late."

Both turned towards the closest shuttle, the pilot standing in the doorway observing the two commanding officers. "Waiting for something, Cap?" he asked and Pike looked first at Harry and then towards the entrance to the shuttle port.

"No," he muttered with a sigh. "Guess not." The Pilot was about to enter the shuttle when a loud purr of a motorbike made all three of them turn around.

"Hold her a second," Pike said to the pilot before glancing at Harry and both of them walked down the stairs, Jim stopping right in front of them, smirking smugly when he took the helmet off and shut down the engine.

Pike was smirking and Harry was all but gaping, and Jim smirked at the Commander as he mounted off of his bike, grinning at a technician passing beside him.

"Good ride," the man commented, freezing in his place when Jim threw him the keys in passing.

"Keep her," he said, ignoring the man in favor of walking over to Pike and Harry. He winked at the raven haired Commander, passing beside the both of them in his usual strut. "Four years?" Jim threw at Pike as he climbed the stairs leading to the shuttle. "I'm gonna do it in three," with that said Jim entered the shuttle, leaving Pike grinning and Harry sighing in exasperation.

"I should have made a bet," Pike muttered.

"Permission to speak freely, _sir_," Harry bit out and Pike looked at him, the definition of innocence.

"Granted."

"Stuff it," the Commander passed beside the Captain who chuckled and walked away while Harry entered the shuttle.

He found Jim just as the new recruit managed to buckle his seatbelt and settle in the all but comfortable chair.

"Surprised to see you here," Harry said as he took a seat to Jim's right, buckling his own seatbelt effortlessly.

"You know I can't resist a good challenge," Jim drawled as he looked around, eyes landing on Uhura who shook her head and rolled brown eyes. "I still didn't get the name!" he called out to her.

"And you never will," she answered and Jim chuckled looking at Harry who merely sighed and relaxed in his seat.

"I refuse to comment," Harry muttered into his chin and Jim grinned at him, but before he could say anything, his lips fell open and his eyes widened making Harry raise an eyebrow at him and look around trying to see what caught Jim's attention.

"Are you people deaf? I told you I don't need a doctor, damnit! I _am_ a doctor!" The man urged inside the shuttle by a female flight officer was very, _very_ handsome in Harry's honest opinion.

_And Jim's type_, he thought knowing that the younger man was all but drooling beside him. He landed a hit in Jim's ribs when the flight officer brought the man over to them, making Jim snap out of his stupor.

"Sir, for your own safety sit down…"

"I suffer from Aviaphobia, case you don't understand big words, it means 'fear of dying in something that flies'," the handsome man stumbled back when the officer took a step forward, cutting him off.

"I will MAKE you sit down, do you hear me? RIGHT NOW!" she snapped at him, and he took a seat sharply, quickly pulling the straps over his shoulders while she marched away, and both Harry and Jim raised eyebrows when they saw the man grip the armrests tightly, pale and already sweating, groaning when the shuttle torqued to the side.

Harry heard Jim let go of a wavering breath when the sick-looking, somewhat ragged man looked at the blond.

"I might throw up on you," he pressed out and Harry rolled his eyes suppressing a snicker, while Jim gulped and shifted in his seat.

"I think these things're pretty safe…"

"Don't pander to me, kid," the man cut Jim off, and the blue-eyed man flinched back a bit. "One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds, solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. Hell, some of the damn passengers are blue! And wait'll you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles, see if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding. Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence." Jim gulped, feeling Harry laughing soundlessly behind him, if the minute trembling of the shoulder Jim was leaning back on was an indicator.

"I hate to break this to you, but Star Fleet operates in space," Jim offered to the man who huffed and shifted in his seat, eyes focused on something in front of him.

"Yeah well, I've got nowhere else to go," the man bit out and Jim frowned.

Behind Jim, Harry was doing his best as not to make it obvious that he was listening in. If Jim was interested in this man - which he so painfully obviously was - Harry would damn well learn every detail about him.

"The ex wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I've got left is my bones."

_Damn good bones they are_, Jim thought, hoping his expression wasn't showing just how disappointed he was with the fact that the hunk of a man sitting to his left was obviously into women.

Never the less, Jim offered the man a small smile. "James," he introduced himself. "James T. Kirk."

The man sighed and accepted Jim's offered hand.

"McCoy," he pressed out. "Leonard McCoy."

**cut**

**3 YEARS LATER**

**cut**

"Aw fuck," Jim pressed out as he walked down the stairs of the Academy with Bones right beside him. "He's going to kill me."

"Jim, they'll rule in your favor, you know that just as well as I do," Leonard tried to comfort Jim who was literally - but rather unfortunately - saved from suffering humiliation in front of the whole student body by a distress call coming from Vulcan.

"I can't face him right now," Jim muttered bowing his head a bit and Leonard looked at the stiff form of Commander Harry James Potter standing at the bottom of the stairs. They could both feel the heat of his glare even from where they stood.

Jim looked at Leonard when the doctor clapped his shoulder. "You'll have to."

Jim took a deep breath and walked down the stairs towards Harry with Leonard following close behind. For some reason Jim wasn't the only one bowing his head in front of Harry once the two Cadets reached the Commander. Leonard couldn't look at Harry either.

"Can you explain to me what that was, Jim?" Harry asked in an obviously falsely calm tone.

Jim took a deep breath and looked at Harry, fighting against the almost _overwhelming_ need to look away from those scorching eyes. "Harry, I just wanted to pass that test. No one ever passed the Kobayashi Maru, I just wanted to…"

"And in your thoughtless actions you disgraced the Academy, yourself and me," Harry interrupted him and Jim paled, making Leonard take a step forward.

"Harry, you know that test was created so no one could pass it…"

"It was made as such for a reason!" Harry cut Leonard off sharply before looking at Jim again. "Jim, I know that you don't believe in no-win situations, and I know that the board will rule in your favor _eventually_, but don't think for a second that what you did was alright! You need to start seeing the bigger picture!"

"Harry…"

"You have hacked into Star Fleet programming!" Harry interrupted Jim sharply, "Do you have the _slightest_ idea how hard programmers work every day to stop that from happening? Do you know how much effort is put into the protection programs every day, and you tore all of it down because of a test you don't even need to pass! Your stubbornness has reached new levels, James Tiberius Kirk! For once in your life, did you even stop to _consider_ what your actions would result with?! I know you want to live up to your father's name!" Jim winced at that, but Harry wouldn't be deterred. "I know you want to become Captain! But cheating isn't winning, Jim!"

"I know…" Jim muttered and bowed his head, unable to keep looking in Harry's eyes, feeling Leonard's gaze on the side of his face. "I didn't think…"

"You didn't think. Period," Harry cut him off again, heavy silence settling among them. After a few long moments Harry sighed and rubbed his face with his hands making both Jim and Leonard look at him. "Pike left me in charge of telling you that you will be on academic probation until further notice…"

"What - Harry, I…"

"Leonard, you were assigned to U.S.S. Enterprise so make your way to the hangars. We'll be setting off as soon as the Cadets are assigned to their ships." Harry looked at Jim who was looking at the Commander with wide eyes, completely frozen in place. "You and I will continue this talk when we return, Jim. I hope that you'll take that time to think about your actions. Just because the Board will rule in your favor doesn't mean that this was alright, and you can forget about being assigned to a ship any time in the near future," with that said Harry turned his back on Jim and walked away, not even telling Leonard to follow him, knowing that the doctor would come after him in a minute.

"Jim, the Board'll rule in your favor," Leonard spoke comfortingly, glancing after Harry, knowing that he didn't have much time, but unable to leave the young man who somehow made a place for himself in Leonard's hurt heart upon their first meeting.

They hadn't parted ever since they started the Academy, and Leonard had to admit that after you pushed past the cockiness and arrogance Jim seemed to breathe with, the young Cadet was a good man with a heart of gold, unwilling to admit defeat in any situation and extremely loyal to those he cared about.

He managed to win Leonard's heart, and the doctor couldn't stand seeing Jim broken like that. It didn't help that Leonard has been fighting a whole different set of feelings for a while now concerning the blond Cadet, but due to his responsibilities he couldn't address them.

Leonard knew Jim cared about him a lot. It didn't take long after their meeting for Jim to admit to Leonard that he was gay, but Leonard couldn't figure out for the life of him if Jim felt the same for him or not. It was frustrating, especially now that Leonard finally admitted to himself that a relationship with Jim wouldn't be such a bad thing, but right now there was no time at all for him to address those thoughts and feelings.

"Look, Jim, I - I need to go. I can't…"

"Yeah, yeah," Jim cut him off distractedly and Leonard felt his heart clench. "You go..." Jim murmured, staring down the path taken by Harry earlier. "I'm good."

Leonard swallowed difficultly, staring at Jim with a pained frown.

Jim looked at his best friend when Leonard sighed and took a firm hold of Jim's arm. "Come with me," he bit out and started pulling Jim along.

"Bones, what're you doing?" Jim asked as they walked fast towards the hangars with Leonard muttering something unintelligible under his breath. Jim was pulled into a small room and Leonard let go of him immediately going for a cabinet grabbing a small bottle with a blue liquid and a hypospray syringe before grabbing Jim's arm and seating him down on an examination table.

"What are you doing?" Jim asked only to let go of a choked up shout of pain when Leonard pressed the hypospray into his neck, injecting him with something.

"Doing you a favor," Leonard muttered, cleaning Jim's neck before he put the tools away. "I couldn't just leave you there, looking all pitiful. I've just given you a vaccine against viral infection…"

"What for? I don't understand…"

"To give you symptoms," Leonard cut him off just as Jim started to sway in his place, looking around in confusion. "You're gonna start to lose vision in your left eye and gonna get a really bad headache..."

"Yea, I already ha - wow…" Jim started blinking rapidly while Leonard huffed and grabbed a hold of Jim, pulling him along.

"What was this for?!" Jim gasped and Leonard checked him out, nose wrinkling.

"And flopsweat…" he muttered and Jim looked at him incredulously. "I'm doing you a favor!"

"This is a favor?" Jim breathed out, hardly able to keep up with Leonard walking briskly towards their shuttle.

"Yeah, you're welcome," Leonard bit out, pulling Jim along up the stairs leading to the entrance to the shuttle where a scanning officer was waiting, looking at them with a frown once Jim and Leonard came to stand in front of him, Jim hardly able to stay upright, blinking and wheezing.

"Kirk, James T." The man frowned looking into the database. "He's not cleared for duty aboard the Enterprise…"

"But I am," Leonard cut him off sharply, "and Medical Code states the treatment and transport of a patient's to be determined at the discretion of his attending physician, which is me." Leonard wrapped his arms around Jim's waist making the smaller man lean more against him, the doctor shooting the officer a pointed glare. "You can see he's suffering, he needs me as his doctor, so since I'm assigned to this ship, so's he, or would you like to explain to Captain Pike why the Enterprise warped into a crisis without one of its medical officers?" The officer pursed his lips, glancing at Jim when the blond Cadet groaned, looking as though he would puke any minute now.

"As you were," the officer muttered and took a step to the side.

"As _you_ were," Leonard bit out scathingly and tugged Jim into the shuttle leading the sick man over to the two free seats before making him take a seat beside the isle. Leonard buckled Jim in before slipping into his own seat making sure that Jim was secured before buckling his seatbelt.

"I might throw up on you," Jim gasped out weakly and Leonard snorted, getting the strange sensation of a déjà vu.

Leonard chuckled and shook his head.

"Ungrateful bastard," he muttered, and if Jim wasn't feeling so sick, he would have noticed the tone of fondness in Leonard's voice. But since Jim was too busy trying not to puke, Leonard could do nothing but observe the man with a small smile, not even knowing what the consequences of his actions would be.

**cut**

"Bones, thanks for getting me on board," Jim pressed out while Leonard led him through the hangar of U.S.S Enterprise towards Sickbay, "but I don't feel right. I feel like I'm _leaking_," Jim choked up and Leonard resisted the need to roll his eyes at the younger man in favor of keeping his eyes on their surroundings. It wouldn't do for them to run into Harry or Spock before the ship takes off.

Speak of the devil…

"Oh look, the pointy-eared bastard…" Leonard pressed out through his teeth and pulled Jim to the side, managing to avoid a meeting with the Vulcan who walked beside them without noticing them, and Leonard held back a sigh of relief, panicking when he saw Harry walking towards the elevator which Spock just took, the Vulcan halting the elevator when he saw his fellow Commander waving at Spock to wait.

Leonard cocked an eyebrow when he saw Harry's lips tilt into a small smile, although the man looked grave, and if Leonard wasn't mistaken there was actual worry on Spock's face.

_Wonder what that's about_, he thought before snapping out of it when Jim groaned and rested his whole weight on Leonard. "Damn it," he cursed and took a better hold of Jim before tugging him along. They rushed into Sickbay and Leonard immediately brought Jim over to a table.

"Bones, this - this wasn't worth it…"

"I know. I'm horrible," Leonard muttered in annoyance as he searched for a hypospray.

"This itching in my mouth is…"

"Here's a short -lasting sedative," Leonard cut Jim off again, experiencing a short sting of absolute pleasure when Jim cursed at him after Leonard injected the sedative in Jim's neck.

"Bones, what the…!"

"Those symptoms won't last long. Don't be an infant," Leonard drawled with a smirk while Jim swayed in his seat.

"How long will it t…" in the next second Jim fell back on the bed in a dead faint and Leonard sighed, rolling his eyes.

"More trouble than he's worth."

**cut**

**10 MINUTES EARLIER**

**cut**

"Commander Spock!" Harry called out to his fellow officer, lips tilting into a small smile when the Vulcan halted the elevator, allowing Harry to get in before the door closed and they made their way up.

Silence reigned between them with Spock quietly observing Harry before he moved, pressed the button to stop the elevator and faced Harry.

"You are upset," the Vulcan stated calmly and Harry rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," he drawled and Spock frowned at him, taking a step closer to Harry.

"If this is about Mr. Kirk, you and I both know that he in essence passed the test, and that the Board _will_…"

"I know that, Spock," Harry interrupted the Vulcan. "I just - I thought I taught him better than to _cheat_ to achieve something, especially something that does not affect his future." Spock hummed while Harry leaned back against the wall of the elevator, arms crossing over his chest, usually squared shoulders hunching forward.

"While I do not know Mr. Kirk personally, you have told me of him. His actions should not have surprised you, since you are the first who would say that Mr. Kirk does not believe in no-win scenarios," Spock delivered clinically making Harry look at him from under messy bangs, lips tilting up when he saw Spock smirking at him, "a quality I do believe the two of you share."

Harry huffed and rubbed his face with his right hand before allowing it to land on his left shoulder, head resting back against the wall of the elevator as he stared at Spock. "You know me too well," Harry spoke tiredly and Spock hummed taking another step closer to Harry, leaving less than a foot of space between them.

"We have worked together for several years now, Harry, and have spent all together over 25 months aboard various Starships. I do believe that I know you _more_ than too well."

Harry laughed quietly allowing his arms to fall to his sides, and Spock took half a step closer to him. This was a side to the Vulcan only Harry has ever seen, and that was something the raven haired man was very proud of. It took him almost a _year_ after he first met Spock to make the Vulcan speak to him about anything other than work, and it sure paid off.

Spock balanced him perfectly. The Vulcan's cool logic grounded him better than any meditation ever could, helping Harry advance in the field of engineering and climb to the position of Chief Engineer sooner than many would.

But let it not be said that Harry was the only one affected by their acquaintance. Spending time with Harry made Spock open up as well, even though it was only to the other Commander.

"You are overstepping your boundaries, Commander Spock," Harry drawled teasingly and Spock raised an eyebrow at him.

"I have thought about your words from several days ago," Spock answered and Harry frowned in confusion, wrecking his brain to remember what exactly he said to the Vulcan. "The argument we have had after I refused to accompany you to dinner for the 6th time?" Spock reminded in an amused drawl.

"Oh!" Harry fought hard to suppress the laugh which wanted to bubble up his throat.

He remembered.

Several weeks ago he admitted his attraction for the young Vulcan, asking Spock to go on a date with him, and while the man _did_ admit that he had feelings for Harry as well, that first time Spock said that he didn't believe that a relationship would benefit their positions as officers of Star Fleet.

When Harry asked him out again for the second and third time, Spock's answer was the same.

On Harry's fifth try, Spock answered that their relationship probably wouldn't get in the way of them performing their duties, but that it wouldn't be logical for them to be together because if they were appointed to different Starships they would hardly if ever see one another, and that could prove lethal for the Vulcan.

On Harry's sixth try, Spock repeated that same reasoning after Harry snapped at him (Spock may have affected him in a way that made Harry get a better control of his emotions, but damn it he really wanted the Vulcan, and after spending centuries alone with only a few lovers every now and then, when the chance to have someone for eternity presented itself to Harry he would _not_ let it pass him by).

"Are you talking about the argument in which I called you a _'stubborn, self-centered, unyielding, proud Vulcan'_ who '_wouldn't see a good thing if it came and bit him in the ass_'?" Harry asked in a completely innocent voice, smirking when Spock's left eyebrow twitched.

"I have to admit that your words left me thinking…"

"Oh, Spock, do you ever do anything _other_ than think?"

"What I wanted to say," Spock's brown eyes glimmered and Harry suppressed another laugh, "is that if you are still interested…"

_"Pike to Commander Spock. Report to the bridge immediately." _Pike's voice came over the speakers and Spock pressed the button to start the elevator again only for it to stop not a moment later at the engineer deck where Harry was getting out.

"We shall continue this discussion on a later date," Spock said before the door opened and Harry nodded, schooling his expression into the one he carried around other Star Fleet officers.

"I am looking forward to that, Mr. Spock," Harry said as he stepped out of the elevator, the door closing behind Harry's back.

Spock took a deep breath and straightened, and _no one_ would know that he was mentally cursing up a storm for missing yet _another_ chance.

Sometimes that cold _logic_ the Vulcans were so proud of really got in the way of some things.

**cut**

"Engines at Maximum Warp, Captain," helmsman Hikaru Sulu informed Pike who looked at the young man sitting to Sulu's right.

"Russian whiz kid," Pike spoke with a small smirk, seeing the young genius turn in his chair looking at Pike with all the innocence of a child, making the Captain wonder how the youngling managed to finish the Academy in record time. "What's your name again? Chanko? Cherpov?" There was a second in which annoyance appeared into those bright blue eyes, and Pike suppressed a laugh when the young man straightened and smiled brightly.

"Ensign Chekov, Pavel Andreyevich, sir," the young Ensign introduced himself and Pike nodded.

"Fine, Chekov, Pavel Andreyevich, begin ship-wide mission broadcast," Pike gave his order and Chekov nodded as he turned the chair, elegant fingers immediately dancing over the board in front of him.

"Yessir, happy to," he spoke in his heavily accented voice before leaning closer to the mic. "Ensign authorization code: Nine - Five - Wictor - Wictor - Two…"

"AUTHORIZATION NOT RECOGNIZED, PLEASE TRY AGAIN." The computer's response made Chekov sigh exasperatedly, not noticing the way Sulu smirked at his younger comrade.

"Aigh, thees is the 23rd Century," Pavel muttered into his chin quickly retyping his entry code, "what good is woice recognition that doesn't recognize your woice?" he pressed out before trying again, "Nine-Five-Victor-Victor-Two."

"ACCESS GRANTED: INTRA-SHIP COMMUNICATION ACTIVE." Chekov smirked and almost seemed to puff up before his face appeared on every screen in the ship and he started on the broadcast.

"Your attention, plees…"

**cut**

"Pay attention, Cadet," Harry warned one of his underlings making the young Cadet stand at attention and look at one of the screens, and Harry hummed before frowning at the young face of Pavel Andreyevich Chekov.

_They're still accepting them so young at this day and age,_ he thought in distaste, listening to the broadcast with half an ear and keeping an eye on the Cadets.

Sometimes he really wished he worked with either less people, or people who knew more discipline than fresh-out-of-Academy Cadets.

_"At twenty-two hundred hours, telemetry detected an anomaly in the Neutral Zone. What appeared to be a lightning storm in space…"_

**cut**

Leonard stopped in front of the screen with his arms crossed over his chest and eyes focused on the data flowing down the screen, half of his attention still focused on the young man lying knocked out on the examination table behind Leonard.

_"Soon after, Star Fleet received a distress signal from the Vulcan High Council that their planet was experiencing seismic activity. We then lost contact with Vulcan entirely. Our mission is to assess the condition of Vulcan and assist in evacuations, if necessary. We should be arriving at Vulcan within two minutes. Thank you for your…" _Leonard's attention was torn off of the screen by a loud strained intake of breath and he jumped around finding Jim sitting straight although still drowsy.

"Jim, I told you to stay d - good God!" Leonard immediately grabbed a scanner while Jim - with still bleary eyes and hardly able to sit straight - looked down at his hands.

His almost three times bigger, swollen hands.

"What is this?!" Jim gasped, struggling to breathe normally while Leonard hurried over with a scanner and another hypospray, juggling a box of vaccines on his left forearm.

"I don't know, a reaction to the vaccine. Jim, damnit!" Leonard cursed when Jim pushed him to the side and rushed over to the video monitor, ignoring Leonard's tittering around him in favor of rewinding Chekov's speech.

_"…telemetry detected an anomaly in the Neutral Zone. What appeared to be a lightning storm in space…"_ Jim froze the video in that exact moment, eyes wild as he looked at Leonard.

"Bones, we have to stop the ship…"

"You're not allergic to Cardassian vole dander, are you?" Leonard asked, completely ignoring Jim's mumbling.

"What? How the hell would I k - doesn't matter!" he snapped waving Leonard off, making the doctor roll his eyes and huff at him. "Is Uhura on board?"

"You need an antidote, Jim, or you're gonna die," Leonard pressed out urgently, but Jim just rolled his eyes and ran out of Sickbay with Leonard following close behind, cursing along the way. "Jim, I'm not kidding, you gotta keep your heart rate down!" he warned the frantic Cadet while Jim ran over to a screen and typed in a code, wincing at his big, clumsy hands.

"Computer, locate crew member Uhura…"

"I haven't seen a reaction this severe since Med school," Leonard muttered into his chin, hardly paying any attention to Jim's distress.

"LIEUTENANT UHURA IS AT SIGNALS MONITORING STATION 12, DECK FOUR," the Computer reported.

"We're flying into a trap," Jim breathed out and Leonard groaned and rolled his eyes, his attempt at giving Jim an antidote hindered for heavens know which time.

"You're delusional, you know that," they walked out of the elevator and Leonard could have cheered in triumph when Jim came to a stop long enough for the doctor to inject him with an antidote.

"Ow!" Jim snapped and glared at Leonard who shot him an innocent look, "Stop it!" he rushed forward and Leonard sighed in exasperation, knowing there was nothing else he could do but follow after Jim. He has seen the younger man in such a determined state before and knew that Jim wouldn't stop until he was satisfied.

"Uhura!" Jim called out and came to a stop, out of breath and sweating up a river, eyes dazed as he blinked furiously.

"Jim?!" Uhura's eyes widened when she looked at him, but Jim didn't give her time to speak.

"The transmission from the Klingon prison planet - what exactly did you hear?" Jim blurted out, words coming out muffled.

"What are you doing here?!" Uhura ignored his question in favor of asking her own, her eyes darting all over Jim and settling on his still huge hands. "Oh my g - what happened to your hands?!

"Who was it who escaped? What was the fip 'af us sf - wha' s 'afenin' 'o 'y 'ouf?" Jim turned to Leonard with a frantic look, the swelling of his hands lessening while another side effect to the vaccine took hold.

"You've got Numb Tongue…" Leonard informed Jim who whined and spun around to

"Umb fung?!" the young Cadet cried out frantically and Leonard opened his mouth several times before finally pressing out:

"That's not good. I can fix that," Leonard mumbled as he quickly started digging through the box of vaccines in his hands while Jim whined and slapped his hands against his thighs looking at Uhura again who was watching it all happen with wide eyes, completely confused.

"'The fip, uath ith Womuwan?" Jim put an effort into speaking correctly, obviously failing if the confused expression on Uhura's face was an indicator.

Jim huffed and rolled his eyes, but before he could try again Leonard injected him with something again. "OW!" Jim shouted and glared at Leonard, hands darting to his neck. "Damn it! SONOFABITCH!"

Leonard looked quite self-satisfied and Uhura just shook her head in disbelief.

Having decided to ignore Leonard for a moment Jim turned to Uhura and tried again.

"The ship…" his tongue seemed back to normal if a bit heavy, thank god, "was it Romulan?" Uhura's eyes widened as she stared in Jim's darkened eyes.

"Oh god…"

**cut**

Jim ran onto the bridge followed by a begrudging Leonard and a shocked Uhura, every single head on the bridge turning towards them in confusion.

"Jim?!" the younger man paid hardly any attention to Harry who stared at him in shock from his place beside the Captain's chair, and Pike jumped to his feet as Jim came to stand in front of him, Spock abandoning his post as the distressed Cadet fought to catch his breath.

"Captain Pike, we have to stop this ship!" Jim managed to press out between gasps for air, making everyone frown at him, ignoring Leonard who came to stand to Jim's right.

"Mr. Kirk! How the hell did you get on board the Enterprise?!" Pike snapped angrily, with Leonard immediately jumping to Jim's defense ignoring the glare Harry was shooting the both of them.

"This man is under the influence of a severe reaction to a vaccine. He is delusional, and I take full responsibility for…"

"Vulcan isn't experiencing a natural disaster, it's being attacked by Romulans!" Jim blurted out cutting off both Pike and Leonard as heavy silence settled over the room.

Pike licked his lips before he swallowed and frowned at Jim, speaking in a low, leveled tone, "Cadet Kirk, I think you've had enough attention for one day," he spoke making Jim huff and roll his eyes in annoyance, but Pike would not be deterred as he shifted his glare at Leonard, "Dr. McCoy, return to medical, we'll have words later."

Leonard took a wary step back and glanced at Jim, but another glare from Pike had the medical officer retreating. "Yes, sir," he spoke in a strained voice and left the bridge, shoulders hunched and worry gripping his heart.

But it wasn't like anyone paid any attention to Leonard.

"As you know," Spock spoke up approaching Pike.

"Oh not you again," Jim rolled his eyes, neither of the three men noticing Harry approaching them and standing behind Pike.

"Mr. Kirk is not cleared to be aboard this vessel. By Star Fleet regulations, that makes him a stowaway..."

"Yeah, I get it, you're a great arguer, I'd love to do it again with you too…"

Completely ignoring Jim, Spock concentrated his full attention on Pike. "I can remove the Cadet from the bridge, Sir, by recommending a full stop in trans-warp…"

"Try it! This Cadet is trying to save…!"

"…in the midst of a rescue mission?"

"It's not a rescue mission - _listen to me_!" Having finally had enough Jim raised his voice, making everyone focus their attention on him. "It's an attack!"

"Based on what facts?" Spock spoke almost airily, obviously not believing a word which left Jim's mouth, and the Cadet looked at Harry.

"Jim, what are you talking about?" Harry spoke slowly, the tone of his voice suggesting that Jim better have sensible arguments to his conviction otherwise the Commander would _personally_ leave him stranded on the closest planet for an undetermined amount of time.

"You want facts?" Jim pressed out through his teeth facing Spock completely. "Alright, _fact_ - the same anomaly - a lighting storm in space - that we saw today also occurred on the day of my _birth_, before a _Romulan ship_ attacked the U.S.S. Kelvin," Jim looked at Pike taking a step closer to the Captain, "you know that, I read your dissertation." Pike's eyebrows furrowed, but Jim didn't give him time to speak, facing Spock again with a hard glare. "_Fact_ - this ship - which had formidable and advanced weaponry - was never seen or heard from again. _Fact_: the Kelvin attack took place on the edge of Klingon space, and at 11-hundred hours last night there was an escape from a Klingon prison planet - Rura Penthe. _Fact_: the escaped prisoners were Romulans, _Sir_," Jim looked at Pike, his eyes straying to Harry's shocked countenance for a second, "and it was reported that they stole a ship from the prison dock."

Pike cleared his throat, trying to get a grip over himself before speaking, "And you know of this prison escape how?"

Jim turned on his heel and looked at Uhura, giving her a sign to speak.

"Sir, I - I intercepted and translated the message myself. Kirk's report is accurate," she spoke firmly after the initial stutter and Pike glanced first at Harry and then at Spock.

"We're warping into a trap," Jim spoke up, voice trembling despite him trying to calm down the raging emotions surging through his veins. "There are Romulans waiting for us, I _promise_ you that."

"The Cadet's logic is sound," Spock spoke up much to Jim's surprise, and when he looked at the Vulcan, Jim found him not looking at Pike as he suspected but at Harry, which made Jim look at his guardian in confusion.

"Lieutenant Uhura is unmatched in Xenolinguistics," Harry spoke slowly, emerald eyes looking at Jim with something the younger man couldn't name. "I believe them." Pike nodded.

"Scan Vulcan space," Pike ordered the Communications Officer, "check if any transmissions are being made in Romulan."

"Sir, I'm not sure I could distinguish the Romulan language from Vulcan," the man admitted and Pike looked at Uhura.

"How about you? You speak Romulan, Cadet...?"

"Uhura, Sir," she nodded, "all three dialects."

"Uhura, relieve the Lieutenant. Mr. Hannity, hail the U.S.S. Truman." While Uhura took his place, Hannity ran off to do as he was told, Jim standing to the side, watching as Spock and Harry exchanged meaningful glances.

There was something between the two commanders which set Jim on edge a bit. Harry never mentioned Spock to Jim, so Jim didn't know the Vulcan before their first meeting after the Kobayashi Maru test, and in all honesty Jim didn't like the Alien.

At all.

He couldn't understand how someone could be so cold and absolutely logical, and - alright - maybe the fact that Spock brought up Jim's dad during the questioning rubbed Jim the wrong way, but he absolutely couldn't accept someone who appeared not to feel anything.

"The other ships are out of warp and have arrived at Vulcan, Sir, but we seem to have lost all contact," Hannity spoke up, shaking Jim out of his thoughts and making everyone look at Uhura.

"Captain, I pick up no Romulan transmissions, or transmissions of any kind in the area. There seems to be something jamming all communication around Vulcan."

"It's because they're being attacked," Jim spoke up and Pike looked at him. "Captain. Please," Jim urged, completely serious.

After a long minute full of tense silence Pike nodded for himself and turned on his heel. "Shields up. Ready all weapons."

Everyone burst into motion with Harry rushing to his post, passing beside Jim without sparing him a glance, contacting his men in the armory. "All men to your posts! Ready all weapons!" Jim looked away from Harry, pushing away the feeling of hurt which gripped his heart and stood firmly behind the railing above the Captain's chair.

"Arrival at Vulcan in five seconds! Four... three... two…" Sulu didn't even manage to say 'one', because the moment they were out of warp, they were suddenly surrounded by huge chunks of debris.

"Emergency evasive!" Pike ordered, the lights going red as everyone held on tight to whatever surface was closest to them.

"Running, Sir!" Sulu answered. Everyone stared in apt attention and horror at the screen, their breaths hitching in their lungs when they saw a huge piece of a starship floating right in front of them.

"Full reverse. Come about starboard, 90°. Drop us down underneath them, Sulu!" Captain ordered, appearing calm and collected, although if one looked into his eyes they would see absolute fear and distress.

Everyone held their breaths as the U.S.S. Enterprise ducked under the torn down ship in front of them, feeling as though they were physically hurt when their ship shook and the sound of metal scrapping against metal echoed through the deafening silence within Enterprise.

They breathed out almost as one when it stopped, but a second later an alarm sounded again.

"Captain, they're locking torpedoes," Spock stated calmly and Pike growled.

"Prepare to fire all weapons!" he ordered, Harry repeating it in his communicator.

The whole ship shook again, giant explosions echoing through the ship, and Jim could do nothing but stand back and watch, eyes focused on Harry instead of the view-screen in front of him, watching as the man who brought him up, who gave him everything, gave up on sitting aside and went to join his men in the armory, sparing only a glance to Jim on his way to the elevator.

"Commander Potter…!" Pike was cut off from saying his thoughts as another blast shook the ship, the door to the elevator closing. "Bridge to Commander Potter! Where the hell do you think you're going!"

_"They need me in the Engine room, Captain! We need to raise the shields to maximum power again!"_ Harry's hard, determination-full voice came over the speakers and Jim felt his heart swell with pride for Harry for staying calm and collected even in the face of such danger. _"I can't do that from the bridge, sir! You need to think of something while I do my job!"_

Pike cursed under his breath and looked around, thinking quickly.

"Sulu, report!"

"Shields at thirty-two percent! Their weapons are powerful, Sir, we can't take another hit like that!" Sulu informed them and Pike cursed under his breath, angry at Harry for rushing off without informing him and frightened because they were losing.

As the ship shook again Pike turned to Uhura, "Get me Star Fleet Command!"

"Captain, the Romulan ship has lowered some kind of high energy pulse device into the Vulcan atmosphere, its signal appears to be blocking our communications and transporter abilities!"

Pike cursed again hands fisting on the armrests of his chair. "All power to forward shields, prepare to fire all weapons! Divert auxiliary power from port nacelle to the shields…" The ship stopped shaking, resulting in a strained silence as everyone turned towards the view-screen.

"Captain, we're being hailed!" Uhura snapped and Pike looked at her over his shoulder, slowly standing up.

"On screen," he pressed out, standing proud with hands clasped on the small of his back. Everyone tensed up when a face appeared on the view-screen - a Romulan with tattoos on his face and cold, calculating, emotionless eyes.

"Hello," he pressed out calmly.

"I am Captain Christopher Pike, to whom am I speaking?" Pike spoke firmly, and the Romulan tilted his head back a bit.

"I am called Nero," he spoke coldly, with obvious pride.

"You've declared war against the Federation. Withdraw, and I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral loca…"

"I do not speak for the Empire," Nero cut Pike off, eyebrows rising for the smallest of fragments. "We stand apart. As does your Vulcan crew member, isn't that right? Spock?" All eyes turned to Spock who glanced at the Captain standing proud although if one looked really, really close - and I mean _really_ close - they would see slight confusion in Spock's brown eyes.

"Pardon me. But I don't believe you and I are acquainted," Spock spoke in that usual calm tone of his.

"No, we're not. Not yet, but I would like you to see something, Spock," Nero drawled in clear disdain before looking at Pike again, seemingly dismissing Spock as inconsequential. "Captain Pike, your transporter capability is disabled. You will man a shuttle and come aboard the Narada for negotiations. That is all." The screen shut down marking the end of the transmission, and silence settled over the room.

A moment later both Spock and Jim moved forward speaking almost at the same time.

"He'll kill you, you know that…" Jim muttered.

"Your survival is unlikely…" Spock agreed, but Jim had no time to be surprised.

"Captain, we gain nothing by diplomacy. Going over to that ship is a mistake."

"I, too, suggest you rethink this strategy," Spock added to Jim's statement, Pike raising eyebrows at the two.

"I understand that," he dismissed the two who exchanged a glance while Pike addressed the rest of the bridge-crew, "I need officers who have been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat!"

Sulu turned in his chair, raising his right hand, and Pike nodded at him. "I have training, Sir!" Sulu said.

"Then come with me," Pike nodded at Sulu before glancing at Jim and sighing in what appeared to be frustration. "Kirk, you too, you're not supposed to be here anyway. Chekov, radio the engine room, have Chief Engineer Potter meet us at Shuttle Bay Five."

"Aye, Keptin!" Chekov answered just as the door of the elevator closed behind Sulu, Jim, Spock and Pike.

"Without transporters, we can't beam off the ship, can't assist Vulcan, can't do our job. I'm creating an opportunity," Pike spoke up the moment they were out of the elevator and rushing down metal railways. "Mr. Kirk, Mr. Sulu and Commander Potter will space-jump from the shuttle. You'll have chutes, you'll land on that machine they've lowered into the atmosphere that's scrambling our gear, you'll get inside, disable that thing then beam back to the ship." His words made the three younger man exchange glances full of shock all of them stopping when they reached the entrance to shuttle bay five, Pike turning around to look at the other three.

"Commander Spock, I'm leaving you in command of the ship. Once we have transport capability and communications back up, you'll contact Star Fleet and report what the hell's happening here. Something you've got only precious few minutes to figure out. If all else fails, fall back and rendezvous with the fleet in the Laurentian System." While Spock's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, Pike looked at Jim, completely ignoring the Vulcan's distress. "Kirk, I'm promoting you to First Officer."

"What!?" Jim snapped in shock, and the right corner of Pike's lips tilted up.

"Captain?" Spock questioned, somehow telling everyone that he was doubting the Captain's sanity with that single word.

"While I'm gone we need to keep the chain of command," Pike drawled in what appeared to be amusement, obviously enjoying the shock he could see on all three faces in front of him. "And you two make a swell team."

"Captain. Please. I apologize, but the complexities of human pranks escape me." Pike chuckled and clapped Spock's shoulder.

"It's not a prank, Spock," Pike assured the obviously perturbed Vulcan. "And I'm not the Captain. You are," he stepped into the entry-chamber of the shuttle, but the door was stopped by Jim.

"Once we knock out that machine..." he gulped looking straight in Pike's eyes. "Sir, what happens to you?

"I guess you'll have to come get me," he winked at Jim and Sulu before looking at Spock again. "Careful with the ship. She's brand new," with that said he nodded at Jim to step back what the new First Officer did, and Pike spoke just before the door closed, "Suit up, gentlemen!"

**cut**

"Come here, you two."

Sulu and Jim glanced up from where they were putting on their suits at Harry who was completely geared up sans a helmet. His long hair was braided in a tight braid, messy bangs falling into harsh eyes. He approached Sulu first and immediately started fixing his suit.

"What do they teach you these days," he muttered as he readjusted Sulu's harness and chute-pack, before checking his com-set. "You would have died before we reached atmosphere."

"Thank you, sir," Sulu muttered while Harry moved on to Jim, quickly fixing the younger man's suit before looking in Jim's eyes.

"Harry…"

"Don't," Harry cut him off before his sighed and shook his head. "You - You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?" Jim's lips quivered as he tried to smile at Harry.

"Bones was the one who brought me on the Enterprise, you know? I didn't intend to…"

"I should have known he wouldn't be able to leave you behind," Harry muttered as he straightened Jim's collar while the First Officer frowned at Harry. "You two've been inseparable ever since you enlisted. I'm surprised there aren't any church bells ringing yet."

"Harry!" Jim choked up and Harry raised an eyebrow at him, telling Jim that there was really no sense in trying to deny it. "Not that it matters right now, but there's nothing between Leo an' me," Jim hissed while Harry double-checked his harness. "He's not even gay! We're just friends."

Harry snorted and clapped Jim's arms. "Jim, I wouldn't' risk getting court-martialed for _just a friend_," Harry informed Jim dryly, and the younger man blushed furiously for the first time since he first slept with anyone.

"Commander Potter?" Harry looked away from Jim and the First Officer frowned when he saw something glimmer in Harry's eyes at the sight of Spock. "You will be leaving in 3 minutes. May I have a word?" Spock sounded just like he usually did, but Jim thought there was something strange about the way he was observing Harry.

"Of course, Commander," Harry said and threw Jim a glance that said 'don't kill yourself while I'm away', before walking out of the shuttle to talk with Spock.

"I didn't even know those two knew each other," Jim muttered and looked at Sulu when he chuckled.

"Commander Potter and Commander Spock have been working together for several years now, it's well known among higher officers. They thought of the Kobayashi Maru together, and Commander Potter accented on the last seminar on Engineering and Hyper Space Traveling that some of his achievements wouldn't have been possible if Commander Spock hadn't offered help at several crucial points of Commander Potter's research."

"Why hadn't I heard of that?" Jim muttered, almost with a pout and Sulu smirked at him.

"Jealous much?" Sulu drawled and Jim looked at him incredulously.

"Are you insane?! Ry's like - he raised me! I could never - that's like _incest_, man!" Jim snapped and Sulu raised an eyebrow at him.

"You were raised by Commander Potter?" Jim nodded as he took a seat, fastening his seatbelt.

"He found me after I ran away from home when I was 10. Took care of me ever since." Sulu frowned as he copied Jim's actions by taking a seat. "Managed to get his degree in space engineering and mechanics all the while raising me and dealing with legal things about adopting me. Harry's a great guy once you get past all that 'duty before everything' attitude."

Sulu took a good look at Jim.

"He doesn't strike me like that sort of guy," he said and Jim frowned in confusion. "Sure, I've heard that he's really tight lipped about his private life, and that there's nothing that can stop him when he's on a mission, but he doesn't strike me like a guy who would abandon his friends because of a mission or the simple sense of duty." Jim snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Well who do you think taught me that there's no no-win scenarios?" he drawled and Sulu looked deep in Jim's eyes before nodding in understanding.

Before either could say a word Harry walked in and took a seat to Jim's right, quickly buckling his seatbelt. He moved to put on his helmet, but he wasn't quick enough to hide the fact that there was a strange gleam to those emerald eyes from Jim.

Before the First Officer could comment on it though, their Captain's voice came over the speaker informing them that they were taking off.

"You have the charges?" Jim asked Harry who nodded, taking a deep breath and relaxing in his seat.

"Of course," Jim snorted and looked at Sulu, both of them taking their helmets.

"So what kinda combat training d'you have?" Jim asked and Sulu halted in putting on his helmet.

"Fencing," he stated and put his helmet on while Jim started at him completely dumbfounded.

"... _fencing_…?"

**cut**

Spock walked briskly down the hallways of Enterprise on his way to the bridge. Those who knew him - and thankfully there was no one of that kind on the ship at that moment - would see that he was more than just worried. They would see that he was frightened, distressed and locked within thought, although the only thing showing that was a pair of deep brown eyes, eyes which showed that there was more to Commander Spock than most thought there was.

He entered the elevator which would take him to the bridge and leaned back against the wall, eyes slipping closed as the memory of what transpired minutes ago surged through his mind.

**cut**

**EARLIER**

**cut**

"Commander Potter?" Harry looked away from Jim and the First Officer frowned when he saw something glimmer in Harry's eyes at the sight of Spock. "You will be leaving in 3 minutes. May I have a word?" Spock sounded just like he usually did, but Jim thought there was something strange about the way he was observing Harry.

"Of course, Commander," Harry said and threw Jim a glance that said 'don't kill yourself while I'm away', before walking out of the shuttle to talk with Spock. "Is there something wrong?" Harry asked frowning when Spock led him out of the shuttle before taking a firm hold of Harry's hand and tugging him into a niche, out of sight and hearing range of anyone. "Spock…" Harry was interrupted by the Vulcan cupping his cheeks between warm hands and leaning down to seal their lips together in a heart-breaking kiss which left Harry breathless and made him look up at Spock with wide eyes once they parted. "What…"

"Concerning our discussion in that elevator," Spock interrupted Harry before the human could finish his inquiry. "I do care about you, and I do wish to have a relationship with you. I am very aware that my hesitance to admit my feelings for you has not been easy on you, and I am grateful to you for waiting for…"

This time it was Harry who initiated the kiss, making Spock shut up. "Do you know that you have absolutely _awful_ timing?" Harry breathed out making the corners of Spock's lips tilt up - something only ever seen by Harry when they were alone.

"Would you agree to have dinner with me after this mission is over, Harry?" Spock asked, deciding not to answer Harry's question.

"Yes, Spock. I would love to go on a date with you," Harry laughed and Spock bowed his head looking to the side in slight confusion when Harry took Spock's right wrist in his left hand and raised it before connecting their index and middle fingers, at the same time leaning up to press another kiss against Spock's lips. "Go, _Captain Spock_," Harry whispered, eyes glimmering with mischievousness and happiness, "your crew is waiting for you."

"Live," was Spock's only answer and Harry nodded before he turned on his heel and hurried to get into the shuttle.

Spock straightened and cleared his throat before he made his way towards the elevator which would take him to the bridge, worry which he would never show gripping his heart.

**cut**

"Dr. Puri, report!" Spock ordered the moment he was sitting in the captain's chair, frowning when he heard unarticulated shouting on the other side.

_"It's McCoy!"_ Spock's frown deepened when Leonard's voice came from the speakers. _"Dr. Puri was on Deck 6, he's dead!"_

"Then you have just inherited his responsibility as Chief Medical Officer," Spock informed the doctor and heard him sigh before accepting his new duties.

_"Yeah, tell me something I don't know."_ The link was cut and Spock looked at Chekov.

"Keep the team in sight, we need to know the moment our transportation and communication systems are cleared," Spock said and the young officer nodded. "Put everything on screen."

"Aye, Keptin," Chekov answered, immediately doing as he was told, everyone keeping their eyes on the view-screen, and no one noticing that Spock was focused on one particular window saying 'Chief Engineer Potter'.

**cut**

_ "Gentlemen, we're approaching the drop zone. You have one shot to land on that platform. They may have defenses, so pull your chute as late as possible."_

"Get ready, boys!" Harry's voice came over the speakers built into the helmet and all three of them moved to the jumping hatch. "Keep your eyes on me, and don't do anything stupid," Harry instructed as they got ready to jump.

"Have you ever done something like this before, sir?" Sulu asked as the gravity was annulled, and both he and Jim looked at Harry when they heard him chuckle.

"Something similar," was his answer, and Jim and Sulu exchanged a glance.

_"Remember, the Enterprise won't be able to beam you up until you disable that drill. Good luck."_ Their Captain addressed them, and all three took deep breaths. _"3... 2... 1."_ The hatch opened and all of a sudden they were falling, falling faster than anyone could imagine in a violent freefall towards the planet.

"Heads down, boys! You don't want your legs broken!" Harry's voice came over the com-link and Sulu and Jim looked at him, eyes widening when their Commander darted past them head fist, arms against his sides and legs straight.

Copying his pose, the two darted after him, eyes focusing on the numbers appearing on their visor.

"Potter to Enterprise! Approaching the atmosphere at 20 000 meters!" Sulu and Jim dared a glance at Harry before focusing on the quickly approaching platform.

"Approaching the platform at 5800 meters!" The numbers were changing so quickly on Jim's visor that his mind was spinning.

"5000 meters!" Harry's calm voice cleared Jim's mind.

"4600 to platform!" Jim managed to pres out.

"4100 to platform!" Sulu's voice followed.

"3500 meters! Heads up, boys!" Harry snapped and the two copied him after Harry did a summersault, falling feet first. "2000 meters! Pull the chute!"

Three chutes opened in quick succession, the three officers manipulating them against the harsh winds.

Harry was the first to land, quickly retracting his chute before looking up.

And just in time.

"JIM!" Harry rushed forward when Jim fell several feet in front of him, a gust of quick wind pulling him back. "Retract your chute!" Harry snapped as he jumped forward, grabbing a hold of Jim's left arm and tugging him back while Jim pushed the button to retract his chute.

"SULU!" Jim shouted and both of them turned around to see Sulu rolling towards the ledge, but the helmsman managed to retract his chute and catch himself before he fell.

"Commander, watch out!" Sulu cried out a second too late, the sound of a phaser rifle being fired startling Jim and Harry, and making the Commander fall back with a grunt of pain.

Two Romulans were advancing towards them, guns blazing, and while Jim hurried to aid Harry, Sulu was quick to engage the two into a fight.

"I'm fine! Go! Go! Go!" Harry pushed Jim off as he picked himself up, and Jim hesitated only for a second before rushing off to help Sulu. "Fuck," Harry cursed as he checked the charges and found them completely destroyed, them being the reason Harry didn't have a gaping hole in his side from when the Romulan fired at him.

"Jim! Sulu! Distract them!" Harry ordered, running towards the board with the controls.

"Easy for you to say!" Jim snapped only to grunt and roll towards the edge when one of the Romulans hit him with a mean right hook.

"Kirk!" Sulu called out before stepping back and grabbing something off of his belt. A second later he was holding a collapsible katana, the Romulan facing him recoiling for a moment, before he grinned and charged at Sulu.

It was over in a matter of seconds with the Romulan falling off of the platform and into the red beam connected to the ground, disintegrating instantly into less that atoms.

"Go to hell!" Sulu looked to the right in time to see Jim head-butting the last Romulan, and Sulu rushed forward, managing to catch Jim's belt right before the First Officer fell over the edge. "Thanks!" Jim said, glancing at the katana in Sulu's hand which he reassembled and attached to his belt. "Fencing, right?"

Sulu snorted and both of them looked at Harry who as kneeling in front of the interface, fingers dancing over it.

"Harry?!" Jim and Sulu ran over, standing behind their commanding officer, copying Harry and taking their helmets off

"None of this is familiar!" Harry grunted, and Jim and Sulu exchanged a wary glance. "The interface, the controls…"

"What happened to the charges?" Sulu asked.

"The Romulan shot them instead of me!" Harry answered gruffly.

"What do we do now?!" Jim looked around stepping back when Harry stood up.

"Well, the engineer part of me wants to study this!" Their Commander spoke almost carelessly making Jim and Sulu exchange frantic glances.

"How about the human part of you?!" Jim spoke in a choked up voice, eyes widening when Harry grabbed his phaser and shot at the interface.

"That one wants to live."

**cut**

"The jamming signal's gone!" Uhura cried out in relief, hands dancing over the control board in front of her. "Communications are re-established!"

"Transporter control re-engaged!" Chekov spoke brightly.

"Chekov, run gravitational sensors…"

_"Potter to Enterprise! Do you copy?!"_

"We hear you loud and clear, Commander," Spock answered calmly although he was on his feet almost immediately after Harry's voice came from the speakers.

_"Start emergency evacuation! Whatever they did to the planet isn't over yet!"_

"We must first run the scanners…"

_"For Merlin's sake, Spock, for once in your life do the second thing first! The people are more important than research!"_ Everyone looked at Spock, frozen in their places, waiting to see how the Acting Captain would react to Commander Potter's sudden outburst.

"Contact Vulcan High Council. Order immediate evacuation," Spock ordered looking at Chekov who appeared somewhat taken aback. "Chekov, do I need to repeat my order?"

"Aye, Commander! I mean Keptin, sorry!" Chekov turned in his chair. "Aye, Keptin," he muttered with a wince, not seeing Spock looking at the view-screen with something dangerously close to a frown. A moment later he turned around and took a seat in the Captain's chair, immediately turning on the communicator.

"Bridge to Transport. Bring them back to the Ship."

_"Aye, Captain."_

**cut**

"I don't think Spock appreciates being talked to in that manner," Jim drawled and Harry snorted, glancing at him from under messy bangs.

"He doesn't appreciate a lot of things, Jim. Luckily, I am one of the few things he _does_," Jim choked up and Sulu snorted, but before either could comment on Harry's statement in any way, a big canister fell right beside them making all three of them tense up.

"FUCK!"

"HARRY!" Jim roared but Sulu caught him before he could jump after their Commander, quickly opening the com-link.

"Sulu to Enterprise! Commander Potter just jumped after something the Romulans threw into the hole they…"

"NO!" Jim screamed but it was too late.

In the next moment they were standing in the Transportation room.

Jim tore out of Sulu's hold and ran forward to the officer in charge of transportation.

"Bring me back," he pressed out through his teeth, the man looking at him with wide eyes full of fear.

"I - I'm sorry, but our orders are…"

"Fuck that!" Jim snapped and ran out of the room, followed by Sulu, and both of them barged onto the bridge minutes later, but before Jim could say anything, both were taken aback by the image on the view-screen, showing a dot marked as Chief Engineer Potter which appeared to be suspended in mid air with something unidentified hovering in front of him.

_"I'm sending the results of the scan to you, but I need you to hurry up! I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep myself and this thing suspended in mid-air!"_

Jim let go of a breath of relief when Harry's voice - albeit strained and wavering - came from the speakers.

"I do believe, Commander Potter, that we will have to have a word about you revealing crucial things at the most interesting of times," Spock said, and if Jim didn't know better - which he really didn't - he would say that the Acting Captain was both worried and amused at the same time.

_"Oh come on, Captain, you already knew that I'm a Wizard."_

"I have had my suspicions," Spock drawled.

_"Careful, Spock, you may be my commanding officer right now, but I am still older than you,"_ Harry's bitten answer made several officers chuckle or snicker, and Jim's heart finally started beating slower.

"I do not believe that fact has ever presented a problem," Spock answered to Jim's surprise, and it took a moment for the First Officer to realize what the Vulcan was doing, and his eyes widened in shock.

He looked at the view-screen as his heartbeat started picking up speed.

Harry was using his magic to keep both himself and that thing in the air.

Harry was handling something volatile.

Harry hadn't used magic in over 15 years.

Harry didn't have a wand so he was using wandless magic, which meant that he would soon lose steam.

Harry was going to die.

_"Don't give me that attitude, Spock,"_ Harry's wavering, breaking voice came over the com-link, and Jim looked at Spock wide-eyed when he heard the Vulcan huff, and the First Officer gulped when he saw something he believed was impossible.

Spock's eyes were brimming with emotion.

Fear, sorrow, distress, worry, anger - just to name a few.

"Harry…" Jim whispered, but his quiet muttering was covered by Spock's answer.

"I am presenting multiple attitudes, Commander Potter, would you mind being more specific?" Harry's weak laugh made everyone in the room still.

_"How is evacuation coming along?" _

Spock looked at Chekov who immediately turned in his chair, trying to inconspicuously wipe a few tears away.

"Detecting over 157 escape shuttles with between 20 to 70 life-signals on board, 245 are in orbit. They should be out of range of any sort of danger within 2 minutes. They are entering warp as we speak."

_"The High Council?"_

"We have received a message from the High Council," Lieutenant Uhura spoke up, struggling to keep her voice steady. "They are entering a shuttle as we speak and will be in orbit in 2 minutes, entering warp in 3."

_"And results from the scan?" _

"It appears to be some sort of unstable matter," Chekov spoke up. "We cannot yet determine what its purpose-"

"Harry!" Jim's frantic cry had all of them looking at the view-screen their hearts stopping, because they didn't need to hear Harry's frantic cursing as they were seeing the undefined matter falling towards the hole, while the dot marking Harry followed it.

"Evacuation process confirmed to be done! The Shuttle carrying the High Council entered warp!" Uhura cried out frantically.

"Transportation, beam Commander Potter aboard!" No one had the time to contemplate the horror in Spock's voice.

_"He is falling too fast! I can't lock on!"_

"I can do zat!" Everyone looked at Chekov only to see him jump to his feet. "I can do zat!" He rushed into the elevator, leaving everyone confused.

"Harry, what's your status?!" Spock called out.

_"Falling, damn it!"_

"Mark your meters! We're working on beaming you up!" Jim shouted.

_"4ooo meters 'til impact! That's not helping, Jim!"_

Everyone's eyes were focused on the view-screen, following the dot moving at neck-breaking speed towards the ground!

"Captain there's something wrong with the planet!" Sulu, who has taken Chekov's chair informed them and they looked at him. "It appears as though they've somehow created a _black hole_ inside the planet!"

_"3000 meters and STILL FALLING!" _

Jim rushed over to Sulu's post and opened the communication line.

"Chekov, you better be working!"

"We won't reach minimum safety distance if we don't move immediately!" Uhura cried out.

_"2000 meters!"_

_"Holdonholdonholdonholdon!"_ Chekov's voice followed Harry's. _"Compensating gravitational pull, and - GOTCHA!" _

Everyone stopped breathing when the dot marking Harry vanished.

"Get us into warp!" Spock ordered, seemingly completely unfazed, and Sulu quickly returned to his post, pushing Jim aside.

_"Wait! Wait! Wait!"_ Chekov's warning came too late.

They were already in warp drive, the stars blurring around them.

"What is it?!" Jim snapped looking at Spock.

_"Keptin, sir…"_ Chekov's voice was wavering, and both Spock and Jim felt dread drench them. _"Commander Potter isn't on board, sir…"_

"What…?" Jim breathed out weakly while Spock took a seat in the captain's chair.

_"I know that I have managed to transport him off of the planet, but in the last moment, the radiation of the singularity must have interfered with the transport. I cannot locate Commander Potter. He is not on board."_

The strained, heavy silence which settled over the room, the tension which filled the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Jim was the first to move, rushing to Chekov's post, practically pushing Sulu out of it, fingers dancing over the board as he frantically searched for a small spark of hope.

_Come on, Harry_, he begged as tears filled his eyes, _come on! I just need a sign! I need a sign that you're alive! _

"Kirk, what are you…"

"Shut up!" Jim snapped at Sulu, not seeing everyone looking at him with pitting glances. "Computer, widen the search for Chief Engineer Harry James Potter. Look for anything," Jim ordered manually adjusting the perimeters.

"SEARCH UNSUCCESSFUL" the Computer answered.

"Widen it!" Jim snapped.

"Mr. Kirk…"

"I said, shut up! He's not dead!" Jim snapped at Spock, not turning around to see that the Acting Captain was standing right behind him.

"SEARCH UNSUCCESS- SEARCH SUCCESSFUL."

Multiple gasps echoed through the room, every single pair of eyes focused on the view-screen where a window opened.

"CHIEF ENGINEER POTTER LOCATED. STATS - UNCONSCIOUS, UNINJURED."

"Can you determine his position?" Jim asked, grinning like there was no tomorrow.

"TRACKING SYSTEMS AT 46%. UNABLE TO COMPLETE TASK." Jim paled and turned around to look at Spock.

"We need to find him," he said and Spock frowned.

"Computer, scan all planets in this system. Determine the amount of Star Fleet bases."

"EVERY PLANET IN THIS SYSTEM HAS A BASE, CAPTAIN." Spock nodded for himself and straightened.

"Send out a distress signal to every base. Have them search the planet for Commander Potter."

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"We can't just leave him here!" Jim rushed at Spock who turned in his place to glare at Jim - something the First Officer never thought he would see.

"Should I remind you, First Officer Kirk that we are on a mission? I assure you, if Commander Potter was here he would have done the same. He would not compromise the mission for the sake of one crew member if said crew-member was alive and stranded on a planet with a functioning Star Fleet base."

Jim fisted his hands by his sides, knowing Spock was right, but unable to suppress the raging emotions burning in his chest.

"How can you do it?" he bit out, and Spock's left eyebrow cocked up.

"Clarify," he drawled.

"How can you be so - so _logical_? Your planet was just destroyed!"

"But the people of Vulcan were saved," Spock contradicted Jim who pressed his teeth tightly together, jaw shifting minutely. "What we need to do now is to find out where Nero is going next, inform the Star Fleet, and prepare our defenses."

Jim looked over his right shoulder at the view-screen still showing Harry's stats.

"It takes more than this to stop Commander Potter, Mr. Kirk," Spock said and Jim looked at him with a small frown. "You know him better than anyone. Do you really believe that something like this would put him down?"

Jim took a deep breath to calm himself, swallowing around the pile of worry and anxiousness in his throat.

"What's your plan…?"

**cut**

"Aw, fuckit…" bleary emerald eyes opened as Chief Engineer Harry James Potter rolled over onto his back, groaning in pain as his raised his hands to cover his face. He was cold, hungry and everything ached, limbs feeling as though someone hung weights on them.

The crackling of ignited wood made his sit up quickly, stomach lurching and vision spinning.

"Take it easy, Commander. You have taken quite a fall," a familiar voice spoke from beside him, warm hands settling on heaving shoulders and Harry tried to catch his breath.

"Where - where am I?" he breathed out.

"You're on a Class M planet, location Delta Vega. I dare say that the saying 'you've fallen from the sky and right into my hands' works quite well in our situation."

Finally able to move without puking, Harry took a deep breath and raised his head to thank his savior, but whatever words he wanted to say were knocked out of him together with his words.

A familiar, yet aged face was looking at him with brown eyes so full of emotions diving into his wide emerald depths.

"Spock?"

Thin lips tilted up into a smile.

"Not the Spock you know, but yes, I am Spock," the old Vulcan answered and Harry looked around in confusion, trying to make his brain change gears to catch up to what was going on. "I am from the future."

"The - the future?" Harry whispered taking in the aged face of his beloved with confusion in his eyes, heartbeat stuttering when Spock gently cupped his face between big, warm, callused hands.

"My beautiful Harry," Spock whispered. "What has this life done to you?"

"But how can this be?" Harry murmured. "Time travel hasn't been possible ever since the Ministry of Magic destroyed all the…"

"The technology in the future has advanced far beyond your wildest imaginations, my Harry, although since Nero changed the flow of time by coming here and destroying the U.S.S. Kelvin, I cannot say what will happen."

"What happened?" Harry asked. "In your time, I mean. What brought you to the past?" Spock smiled kindly at Harry, and the young officer didn't even flinch when Spock placed his fingers on his face.

"It will be easier if I simply showed you…"

**cut**

The door of Sickbay opened and Jim walked in obviously shaken, and the moment Leonard's eyes met his, the doctor abandoned whatever he was doing and rushed over to Jim's side.

"Jim, what…"

"You're needed at the bridge. We're trying to decide what our next course of action will be," Jim spoke in a strained voice, although he was trying to speak normally.

"And Spock couldn't have just summoned me?" Leonard frowned, his eyes darkening when Jim opened and closed his mouth several times as he tried to speak.

"I - I needed a moment," he finally said, making Leonard's heart clench.

"You'll tell me everything on our way to the bridge," the doctor said, taking a hold of Jim's left arm as the two made their way to the closest elevator.

"Harry's is stranded on an unknown planet," Jim muttered and Leonard almost stumbled in his step, managing to keep walking. "He's alive and uninjured. Chekov was beaming him up from Vulcan, but the radiation of the singularity interrupted the signal, changing Harry's trajectory. He ended up somewhere, and we couldn't locate him due to the damage done to the ship." As Jim spoke they entered the elevator, the younger of the two leaning back against the wall, arms lax and head bowed.

"Jim, he's alive," Leonard spoke, not knowing what else to say. "Harry won't let something like this bring him down. He'll survive and you'll see him…"

"I didn't even apologize," Jim breathed out. "I didn't even talk to him about the Kobayashi Maru or why I cheated to pass it. I never told him how much I need him. I never told him how much I…"

"He knows it all, Jim," Leonard cut him off, but when Jim didn't answer, Leonard stopped the elevator making Jim look up, only to freeze in his place when Leonard cupped Jim's face between his hands and made him look into his eyes. "Harry knows you love him. He knows you're grateful for everything he did for you, even though you could do a bit more to show it to him. He knows you better than anyone, Jim, and he loves you, and when he comes back you'll see that everything will be alright."

Jim stared in Leonard's eyes, the First Officer trembling as he fought to stop the tears gathering in his eyes from falling.

"Jim…" Leonard breathed out when tears flowed down Jim's cheeks, wiping them away with his thumbs. He has never seen Jim like this. He has never seen Jim cry. The blond man was always strong, always full of faith that everything would turn out alright if he only did everything he possibly could.

"Then why do I feel like this? Why do I feel like I could have done more?" Jim managed to press out and Leonard took a deep breath, finally allowing himself to do something he never did until them.

He took a hold of Jim and pulled him into his arms, warmth enveloping him when Jim hugged him tightly, burying his face in Leonard's neck as he cried.

"Because you are James Tiberius Kirk," Leonard whispered against Jim's head," and you never leave anyone behind." He squeezed Jim closer to himself, fighting against the traitorous desire of his body to keep Jim just like that, as close to himself as possible.

They were all so close to getting killed that day, Jim more so than Bones after the attacks on the ships ceased, and in all that chaos, in the rush of finding the survivors and getting them into Sickbay to tend to them while other officers hurried to fix as much damage as they could with their chief engineer gone, Leonard made an oath to himself.

If he survived, if Jim survived, Leonard would come clean. He would finally admit his feelings to Jim. He would finally ask him to be his.

"Thank you, Bones," Jim's whispered words shook Leonard out of his thoughts, and his heart clenched when Jim moved out of his arms to look at the slightly taller man. "For everything."

Leonard snorted and shrugged, suddenly feeling quite uncomfortable. "Well, looking at the bigger picture, if I didn't smuggle you aboard the Enterprise we would have been slaughtered, so I guess that was a good decision," he said only to recoil when a thoughtful frown crossed Jim's handsome face.

"Why did you?" Jim's question startled Leonard and he was suddenly feeling cornered.

"Why did I what?" Leonard asked and cleared his throat when his voice came out strained.

"Why did you smuggle me aboard the Enterprise?" Leonard gulped when Jim took a small step forward, blue eyes observing Leonard's every move.

"We're friends," Leonard pressed out. "I - I couldn't leave you behind looking all pathetic like that."

_"Jim, I wouldn't' risk getting court-martialed for just a friend."_

Harry's words echoed through Jim's mind, and all of a sudden Jim felt quite… _elated_ for the lack of a better word.

"Just friends?" Jim asked as he took another step closer to Leonard.

"Jim, what are you…"

"I think it's time for us to be honest, Bones," Jim interrupted the doctor, cornering Leonard against the wall, and McCoy cursed under his breath. "I don't think we've been just friends for quite a while."

"Oh, damn it," Leonard cursed and moved forward startling Jim, but before the First Officer could say another word, Leonard's lips were covering Jim's sealing together in a deep, frantic kiss which shook something deep within both of them.

"Took you long enough," Jim breathed out, lips hardly a hair away from Leonard's.

"You're the one to talk," Leonard grumbled, cheeks cutely flushed.

"Let's just say that we've both been stupid and leave this for a better occasion, hm?" Jim murmured and Leonard chuckled breathlessly, resting his forehead on Jim's and pressing the button to get the elevator moving again.

"I do believe that's the smartest thing you've ever come up with."

"Just for that you'll be in the doghouse for a week."

"Jim!"

**cut**

Harry stumbled away from Spock Prime, gasping for air and not even trying to fight off the tears which were falling down his face.

"I'm sorry," Spock Prime apologized gravely, "the emotional backlash from the mind meld is…"

"No," Harry interrupted him, quickly climbing to his feet as he furiously wiped his tears away with his gloved hands. "I - I'm alright, I'm…"

"Harry…" Spock Prime interrupted him and slowly walked closer to the distressed Wizard. "In my world, you and I met when I was already too old for us to be together, although you still refused to leave my side. We never became what you and my counterpart have a chance to be."

"I never…"

"You never joined the Star Fleet. You never denounced your magic, and even when you were over 1200 years old, you were still as beautiful and young as you are now, but our bonding wouldn't have changed my destiny. I would have grown older, and I would have died. I would have left you alone sooner than I did due to this… _unfortunate_ situation. If you and my counterpart were to bond now, he would be bonded to your life, and the curse you live with because of mastering the Deathly Hallows would pass on to him. You would have eternity together. But first you need to stop Nero."

Harry stared at the old Vulcan in front of him, his mind overflowing with questions and doubts, his heart aching for everything he has seen by connecting his mind to this Vulcan in front of him.

Swallowing audibly and strengthening his resolve, Harry looked in Spock Prime's eyes making the old Vulcan smile kindly and knowingly.

"How do I get aboard the Enterprise?"

**cut**

"Lieutenant, have you confirmed that Nero is headed for Earth?" Spock asked, receiving an answer almost immediately.

"Their trajectory suggests no other destination, Captain," Uhura answered and Spock nodded, looking to Jim and Leonard who stood beside Sulu's post, the helmsman facing Spock just like everyone else on the bridge.

"Earth may be his next stop, but we have to assume every Federation planet's a target," Jim suggested, Chekov agreeing almost immediately.

"But why didn't they destroy us?" the young genius asked.

"Why waste a weapon? We weren't a threat," Sulu added.

"That's not it," Spock answered and everyone looked at him, finding the Acting Captain staring at the ground with a thoughtful frown. "He said he wanted me to see something. The destruction of my home planet."

"And how the hell did they do that by the way?" Leonard grumbled crossing his arms over his chest while Jim glanced at him over his shoulder. "When did they jump so far ahead in the arms race?"

"I have been working on a project with Commander Potter for quite some time now, and almost a year ago he and I have stumbled upon an… _interesting_ discovery. In accordance to it the engineering comprehension necessary to artificially create a black hole may suggest the answer: such technology could theoretically be manipulated to create a tunnel through space and time."

"Damnit, man, I'm a _doctor_, not a physicist! Are you suggesting they're from the future?" Leonard snapped incredulously.

"That is what he's suggesting," Jim said. "Harry told me that wizards had ways to travel back in time although it was heavily controlled and granted only to a special few people. But I thought that traveling through time and space was impossible since the Ministry of Magic destroyed every time traveling device and strictly forbade recreation of the same shortly after they were revealed to the rest of the world. That technology was considered too dangerous to allow its existence since the world was only stepping in contact with Alien races, and we were still at war with many. It wouldn't do for such technology to fall into enemy hands." Jim looked at Spock. "That's why I find it hardly believable that the Romulans somehow got their hands on a weapon from the future."

"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains - however improbable - must be the truth."

"How poetic," was McCoy's doubtful answer to Spock's conclusion.

"Then what would a future angry Romulan want with Captain Pike?" Jim aimed the question at Spock.

"As Captain he knows details of Star Fleet's defenses," Sulu suggested making everyone frown.

"We need to get Pike back," Jim muttered rubbing his face with his hands.

"That would be a highly risky endeavor," Spock said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing to Jim's surprise. "Captain Pike did order us to rendezvous with the fleet on the other side of the quadrant. We're technologically outmatched in every way. A rescue attempt would be illogical."

"Not to mention we couldn't do it anyway," Chekov spoke up. "Nero's ship would have to drop out of warp for us to overtake them."

"What about assigning Engineering crews to try and boost our warp yield?" Jim suggested and Spock shook his head.

"Remaining power and crew are being used to repair radiation leaks on the lower decks and damage to the main deflector shield- without which we cannot communicate with Star Fleet."

"Okay, but there's gotta be some way!" Jim insisted and Spock raised an eyebrow at him.

"Our best option right now is to meet the rest of Star Fleet to balance the terms of our next engagement…"

"There won't be a next engagement!" Jim spoke, his patience running out. "Spock, by the time we've "gathered", it'll be too late! How many planets are you willing to risk? You say he's from the future? Knows what's gonna happen? Then the logical thing is to be unpredictable," Jim pressed and Spock frowned at him, the rest of the crew watching the exchange between the two men who couldn't possibly be any different than they were.

"You are assuming Nero knows how events are predicted to unfold. The contrary: Nero's very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the U.S.S. Kelvin, culminating in the events of today, thereby creating a new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party.

"Does anyone understand him?" Leonard snapped in frustration.

"An alternate reality?" Uhura spoke up and Spock nodded.

"Precisely…"

**cut**

"Hello?!" Harry called out as he and Spock Prime walked down the dark hallway of the Star Fleet base. "Anyone here?"

The two were about the take a turn when a small Alien appeared in front of them, looking up at them with small, black eyes.

"Can I help you?" Harry glanced at Spock Prime before taking a deep breath.

"Are you the station chief?" Harry asked and the small Alien tilted his head to the side a bit.

"No. This way," he said and turned on his heel, leaving the two no other choice but to follow the little Alien into a massive warehouse filled mostly with junked space parts. Harry glanced at Spock when he noticed a large, tarped Shuttle in the background but didn't comment on it, following the small guy to a table where a Star Fleet officer was sleeping with his legs kicked up, leaning back in a chair with a hat covering his face.

The little Alien tapped the officer's boot and the man startled awake, glancing around with sleep-dazed eyes. "Hm?!"

"Visitors," the small creature grunted in a somewhat high pitched voice, the officer squinting at Harry and Spock Prime in scrutiny.

"You realize how unacceptable this is?" the officer spoke in a heavily accented voice making Harry raise an eyebrow. There was something familiar about the man, he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Excuse me?" Harry muttered in confusion while Spock Prime tilted his head to the side.

"Fascinating."

"What is?" Harry asked, but Spock Prime was interrupted by the officer blabbering on.

"I'm sure it's no' your fault, and I know youse lads are just doing your jobs, but could you no' have come a wee bit sooner?! Six months I've been living on nothing but Star Fleet Protein Nibs and the promise of a real food delivery! Six months, boys! It's pretty clear what's going on here, isn't it? Punishment! Ongoing! For something that was _clearly_ an accident!"

"You're Montgomery-"

"Scott!" Harry finished for Spock making all three other residents look at Harry with questioning expressions, especially since the Commander seemed excited about something.

"And you are?" Scott drawled while Harry seemed to be suppressing an urge to jump around happily.

"You're the guy who postulated the theory of trans-warp beaming!" Harry grinned and Scott rolled his eyes. "I've based a lot of my research about warp-drives and transportation on your theories! They're the greatest breakthrough in the past 50 years!

"Yes! That's exactly what I'm talking about! How d'ya think I ended up here?" Scott cried out, spinning around angrily. "I got into a debate with my instructor on the issue of Relativistic Physics as they pertain to subspace travel! He seemed to think that the range of transporting say, a roast turkey, was limited to a few hundred miles, right?" Harry nodded fervently, not seeing Spock Prime smiling at him fondly.

"Right! Right!" Harry blurted out, looking like a child who just met his hero.

"So I told my instructor I could not only beam a bird from one planet to an adjacent planet in the same system - which is no big deal anyway - but if I were so inclined I could actually do it with a life form! So I tested it on Admiral Archer's prize beagle. Which... was a mistake." Harry frowned and tilted his head to the right.

"I know that dog. What happened to it?" Harry asked and Scott bowed his head a bit, lips jutting out.

"I'll tell ya when it reappears. Dunno. Feel guilty," he admitted and Harry's eyebrows met the line of his hair.

"What if I told you your trans-warp theory was correct? That it is indeed possible to beam onto a ship that is traveling at warp speed. And that you only required the correct field equation to recrystallize dilithium?" Both Harry and Scott looked at Spock Prime, Scott frowning doubtfully while Harry gaped.

"I haven't been stationed here that long. If such an equation had been discovered, I'da heard," Scott said, apparently offended in some way.

"The reason you haven't heard of it, Mr. Scott is because you haven't discovered it yet, and if you allow us access to your shuttle, I will show you what a genius you actually are."

"Wait a second," Scott stood up and stood head to head with Spock Prime, glancing at Harry who just shrugged his shoulder. "Who in the bloody hell are ya?" Spock Prime's lips tilted up a bit as his gaze strayed to Harry, making Scott look at the Chief Engineer as well.

"He's from the future," Harry stated with a shrug, Scott's eyebrows disappearing under his hat.

"You're from the future?"

"Well he is. I'm not." Harry said, finishing off with an innocent smile.

"We are a bit short on time, so if you would show us to your shuttle, it would be my pleasure to show you that you were - in fact - right." Scott regarded Spock Prime and Harry for a moment before shrugging and making his way to the shuttle, the group having to dodge around and jump over many discarded pieces of metal.

"She's a wee bit dodgy: shield emitters are totally banjaxed, along wi' a few other things…" Scott spoke as they walked towards the entrance to the shuttle

"So, nothing a bit of polishing and a pair of gentle hands can't fix, right?" Harry asked and Scott stopped in the doorway glancing back at Harry with a small smirk.

"You're an Engineer of this ship ya want to board, ain't ya, lad?"

"Yes, I was assigned to the Enterprise," Harry answered and Scott hummed, entering the shuttle and leaving Harry and Spock Prime no other choice but to follow, the small Alien climbing aboard behind them.

"Enterprise? Had its maiden voyage already, has it?" Scott mumbled as he walked towards the controls. "Well, you must've done something right to be assigned to that ship, kiddo. She's a well endowed lady, love to get my hands on her ample nossels, if you'll pardon the engineering parlance.

"I have been an officer of the Star Fleet for over 7 years now, and have been promoted to Chief Engineer and Commander three years ago, Lieutenant Scott. I do believe that I've done something right," Harry drawled in dry amusement, long having accepted that his appearance of a hardly 18 year old man made people underestimate him on a daily basis, which must have happened with Scott as well, because the man was now gaping at him.

"Well, blimey…" he muttered and Harry chuckled while Spock Prime took a seat in front of the controls.

"Your equation for achieving trans-warp beaming," Spock Prime spoke up before Scott could speak any further making the engineer look at the screen in apt attention.

"Imagine that!" he muttered squinting at the screen. "Never occurred to me to think of space as the part that's moving."

Spock Prime chuckled and glanced at Scott. "Point of fact: it did occur to you. Extrapolating Enterprise's course…" Spock muttered into his chin, while Scott shook his head.

"Look, even if I believed you - where you're from, what I've done - which I _don't_ - we're still talkin' bout slingshotting aboard while she's going faster than light. Without a proper receiving pad, that's like tryin'a hit a bullet with a smaller bullet, wearing a blindfold," Scott looked up before adding just for good measure, "on a horse."

While Harry snickered Spock Prime merely smirked and finished setting the coordinates. "I calculate no more than a four meter margin of error."

Scott gaped for a few seconds before muttering, "That's all well and good unless you rematerialize four meters outside the ship."

"Agreed: the aft engineering bay is your best option: a large space and no unpredictable airlocks." Spock Prime stood up and looked at Harry who frowned at him when he saw something he didn't quite like in the Vulcan's eyes.

"You're coming with us, right?" Harry asked taking a small step forward

"No, Harry. My destiny lies along a different path," Spock Prime answered tiredly and Harry shook his head in denial.

"Your destiny can wait," he pressed out. "I need you to tell them everything. There's a chance they won't believe me if you…"

"Under no circumstances can my counterpart be made aware of my existence. You must promise me this. Harry, you know the rules of time travel better than I do…"

"You're telling me I can't tell Spock - you - _whatever_ - that I'm following your own orders?!" Harry snapped and Spock Prime sighed. "You know better than I do how you - Spock - _the other you_ is! Even if he is willing to listen to me, he won't go against Pike's orders! He will regroup with the rest of Star Fleet - if there _is_ still a Star Fleet and…"

"_He_ will?" Spock Prime asked in confusion. "Isn't Jim the Captain of Enterprise?"

"Jim?!" Harry snapped incredulously. "Jim only now became a full fledged officer! Are you telling me that he's…"

"In my time he was the Captain of Enterprise form her first voyage," Spock cut Harry off and the wizard gaped at him, taking a hold of the closest surface to stop himself from falling.

"Everything changed so much, didn't it?" he whispered looking at Spock Prime with wide eyes. The Vulcan smiled at him and came to stand right in front of Harry, neither aware that the other two residents were observing them feeling as though they were intruding.

"Harry, you must make my counterpart give up on his position. You know him, and you know that he will act according to logic, ignoring his feelings. If Nero is allowed too close to Earth he will destroy it, and the Star Fleet will not be there to stop it."

"But how do I make him listen? How do I make him surrender command?" Spock raised an eyebrow at Harry.

"Under which regulation must a captain surrender command to the First Officer?" the Vulcan asked and Harry frowned, eyes widening with seconds.

"Star Fleet regulation 619…" Harry breathed out, heart clenching as he closed his eyes. "So I need to emotionally compromise him…" he whispered and Spock Prime smiled, gently cupping one pale cheek.

"Harry, I just lost my planet," Spock murmured. "Believe me, I am emotionally compromised. What you must do is get me to show it."

Harry swallowed audibly and nodded, although his eyes were filling with tears.

"Alright," he breathed out and took a deep breath before looking at Scott, blinking away tears. "Let's go. We need to get there before it's too late."

"The Enterprise has a decent cafeteria I'm guessing," Scott taking position beside Harry on the transportation pad.

"You know..." Harry called out to Spock Prime, smiling tenderly when the old Vulcan looked at him, "coming back in time... changing history... that's cheating," Harry drawled and Spock Prime chuckled.

"A trick I learned from an old friend," Harry laughed in a subdued way and shook his head before looking at Spock Prime again who raised his right hand in the traditional Vulcan salute. "Live long, and prosper."

And with that Harry and Scott were beamed away.

**cut**

"…Whatever lives we might have lived, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed." As though coming to a decision Spock took a seat in the Captain's chair, sitting straight, although there was something about him that told an observant viewer that the Acting Captain felt somewhat grave. "Mr. Sulu, plot a course for the Laurentian system, Warp Factor Three…"

"Wait, don't do that!" Jim jumped forward completely missing the shocked look everyone was giving him. "Spock, running back to the rest of the fleet for a confab is a massive waste of time…"

"These were the orders Captain Pike issued when he left ship…"

"He also ordered us to go back and get him! Spock, you're Captain now!"

"I am aware of my responsibilities, Mr. Kirk!" Jim either didn't see or didn't care that the Vulcan in front of him was getting angrier by the second.

"Every second we waste Nero's getting closer to his next target…"

"That is why I'm instructing you to accept that I alone am in command..."

"I will not allow us to go backwards, away from the problem, instead of hunting Nero down!" Jim shouted, shaking everyone up, feeling a shiver of dread passing down his spine when Spock's brown eyes suddenly turned to glaciers.

"Then I must remove you from this ship," he spoke, although something told Jim that there was more to this than Spock would let on, which was entirely too strange to Jim, since he still firmly believed that Spock didn't in fact feel anything.

For crying out loud, his planet was just destroyed and he was acting as though nothing happened!

"Spock, look…"

"If I confine you to the brig, you'll likely escape," Spock cut Jim off, and even the blond wasn't oblivious enough to miss the slight wavering of Spock's voice. "Mr. Chekov, have transportation prepare a deployment capsule. Mr. Sulu…"

"Keptin, we're detecting unauthorized passing through one of the hangars!" Chekov cried out making Spock forget about Jim for a moment.

"On screen!" Spock moved forward the others watching the view-screen wary and tense. More than two dozen security video images appeared on screen. When Chekov enlarged one, everyone lost their breaths, staring at the image of a man who shouldn't, by all rights, be on that ship.

"Impossible," Jim muttered watching as Harry and a man they didn't know ran into an elevator.

"They - they are on their way here," Chekov whispered weakly. Before long they heard a door open and everyone turned around finding Harry and the stranger marching in.

"Harry!" Jim cried out in joy, but the wizard only spared him a glance, emerald eyes focusing on Spock who slowly approached them, hands clasped behind his back, right hand wrapped around left wrist as though he was physically trying to hold himself back from doing something.

"Captain," Harry stated in a tight voice, while the man beside him glanced from Harry to Spock in what appeared to be avid confusion.

"Who are you?" Spock directed that question at Scott who was just about to answer, but Harry stopped him.

"He's with me," Harry spoke up in a falsely calm voice, something everyone could hear.

"We're traveling at warp," Spock pressed out and Jim's eyes widened a bit when he saw Harry shifting his jaw, a clear sign that the Commander was more than angry and upset. "How did you manage to get aboard this ship?

"Before we answer that, I have a question of my own," Harry pressed out through his teeth making Spock raise an eyebrow at him while Scott took a wary step back.

The Commander facing off the Captain was nothing like the Harry he saw when they met less than half an hour ago.

"As Captain of this vessel I order you to answer the question," Spock ordered in a tight voice and Harry took a small step forward, head bowing a bit making messy, damp bangs cast shadows over darkening eyes.

"Not before you tell me why this ship isn't en rout to Earth, when it is clear as day that we should be intercepting Nero before he destroyed yet another planet." To everyone's surprise Harry's words made Spock's left eyebrow twitch and his shoulders tense up.

Looking away from Harry, Spock looked at Scott who froze up, eyes widening. "You are not a member of this ship's crew. Under penalty of court martial, I order you to explain to me how you beamed ab…"

"Don't answer him," Harry cut Spock off.

"Harry, what are you…"

"Stay out of this, Jim!" Harry snapped at the First Officer and took a small step towards Spock, who straightened to his full height.

"Can you explain to me, please, what we're doing here, Captain?"

"We are under orders to reconvene…"

"If the situation allows us!" Harry cut Spock off sharply. "What are you doing, Spock! Your planet was just destroyed, your race compromised, and you're running off to meet up with the Star Fleet instead of hunting down the bastard that did this?! You are not thinking…"

"I am doing what is logical and necessary…"

"You are running, that's what you're doing!" Harry thundered, the officers around him and Spock recoiling.

"Commander Potter, you will step down and…"

"What is this about, Spock? What is this really about?!" Harry continued as though Spock hadn't spoken at all, emerald orbs spewing hellish fire, hands fisted as though he was holding back from physically attacking Spock. "Your planet was just destroyed, you almost lost your family, and you're not even upset?! Not even a little bit afraid of what could happen?!" As though something just became clear to Spock his eyes widened minutely and he tilted his head to the side.

"If you are suggesting that these experiences interfere with my abilities to command this ship…"

"You were the one who said fear was necessary for command," Harry cut Spock off again apparently not caring that Spock seemed to be on the verge of breaking - or was he doing that for that very reason. "I mean, did you see that bastard's ship? Did you see what he did?"

"Yes, of course I…"

"And that doesn't make you want to stop him?!" Harry's voice broke as he snorted, "That doesn't scare you?!" Spock's eyes darkened and he tilted his head forward, a clear warning marking his voice.

"I will not allow you to lecture me about the merits of emotion," Spock pressed out through his teeth.

"Oh I think I'm just the right person to lecture you about the _merits of emotion_, Spock," Harry's voice was dangerously low, and Jim considered stepping in between them before a fight broke out, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him, and Jim looked up at Leonard who shook his head without sparing Jim a glance. "After all," even though hardly louder than a whisper, Harry's voice carried clearly over the room, "I was the one you abandoned in the middle of no where after I almost got myself killed trying to save your planet," Harry pressed out through his teeth as he stopped right in front of Spock, glaring in the Vulcan's eyes from point blanc. "You left me there, Spock. You _abandoned_ me, and for what?"

"Back away," Spock hissed threateningly.

"I'll tell you the answer, Spock. You left me, you chose this route, and you abandoned Captain Pike, because you simply don't care. All you care about is cold, simple logic. You don't feel anything, neither loyalty to your Captain and your crew, love towards your people and your homeland… and you don't love me," those last words made everyone gasp, especially when Spock's eyes darkened with rage. "Why when I think about it, you must not feel anything," Harry spoke lightly, taking just a small step back, looking as though he was coming upon a conclusion which didn't exactly surprise him. "You don't feel anything at…"

"Harry!" Jim cried out when Spock launched at Harry, Scott jumping to the side to avoid the Commander who dodged Spock's fist before he actually started fighting back.

Or did he.

Jim's eyes widened as he only observed the fight, Leonard's arms around him actually stopping him from joining it to help Harry. He knew how Harry fought. The wizard taught Jim everything the young man knew, and Jim saw something the others couldn't see if for no other reason than because they didn't know Harry as well as Jim did.

For some reason Harry was holding back, doing only what was absolutely necessary to prevent Spock from bringing him serious harm. But in the next moment Spock threw Harry in Chekov's post, hands wrapping around Harry's neck seconds later.

"NO!" Harry choked out, glancing at Jim when the First Officer darted forward to aid him before those teary emerald orbs looked up at Spock as he struggled to breathe more and more, Spock's hold on Harry's neck growing stronger with each passing moment. "Spock…" Harry choked out, a few tears escaping his eyes, and it was as though a switch was turned in Spock's head.

His eyes widened as he stared down at Harry, gasping for air as horror seemed to overtake him. He let go of Harry and the commander collapsed on the ground hands darting to his neck as he trembled, struggling to fill his lungs with air.

In the meantime Spock stared at Harry with horror written over his face, shivering as he looked down at his hands which moments ago were wrapped around Harry's neck. "Doctor," Spock's voice was broken and quiet, something no one ever thought they would ever associate with the proud Vulcan. "I am no longer fit for duty. I hereby relinquish my command on the grounds that I have been emotionally compromised. Please note the time and date in the ship's log," with that said Spock turned on his heel and all but ran towards the elevator, Bones jumping into motion and coming to kneel beside Harry who was still on the ground although his breathing seemed to return to normal.

"Well, at least now we know who made Jim as reckless as he is," Leonard grumbled as he gently raised Harry's head and pushed Harry's trembling hands aside to check the raven haired man's neck where bruises were already forming.

"That wasn't one of my smartest moves," Harry admitted with a small upward tilt of his lips.

"Definitely," Leonard muttered, minutely glancing at Jim when he crouched to Harry's left, observing his guardian with a wary gaze. "Now we've got no Captain and no first officer to goddamn replace him."

"Except we do," Harry countered in a raspy, strained voice and Leonard looked at him with a frown finding Harry looking at Jim. "You're Acting Captain now, Jim, per Pike's order."

Jim's eyes widened while Harry started to get up, and Leonard interrupted whatever Jim wanted to say. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! You survived a messed up transportation and you were just _strangled_! You need to…"

"What I _need,_ Mr. McCoy, is to go and tend to my _Mate_! What I need is for this ship to change its course and for everyone to gather here so that we can plan an attack! There is absolutely no time for us to argue about petty things, when we have a crisis happening," Harry took a deep breath and looked at Jim. "Give me 30 minutes, and I'll have Spock here. We'll need him to come up with something smart since I really don't have the strength to go head to head with anyone anymore," with that said he entered the elevator, leaving the bridge in complete silence.

"Did he say…"

"Yep," Leonard answered before Jim even finished the question.

"Did you…"

"Know about Harry and Spock? There weren't even rumors," Leonard was obviously just as shocked as Jim was.

"Did anyone know?" Jim looked around at the others.

"A-hem," they all looked at the stranger among them who wiggled his fingers at them. "Well I think it was pretty obvious."

"And who are you?" Jim asked.

"Montgomery Scott - Scotty for short. Hi!" he grinned brightly. "Apparently I'm the guy who made it possible for Harry and me to beam up on this beauty while she's in warp."

"You're an Engineer?" Leonard took a step forward and Scotty nodded.

"Yep!" Jim and Leonard exchanged a glance and a moment later Jim nodded, hurrying to the Captain's chair.

"Leonard, take Mr. Scotty here to get changed, he'll be assigned to Transportation."

"Captain for less than 5 minutes and he's already giving orders," Leonard muttered but did as he was told, taking an unresisting Scotty to the elevator.

Jim snorted and shook his head before he pressed the com-link button.

"Attention crew of the Enterprise," he swallowed and cleared his throat before continuing, "this is James Kirk. Mr. Spock has resigned commission and advanced me to acting Captain. I know you were all expecting to regroup with the fleet, but I've ordered a pursuit course of the enemy ship to Earth…"

**cut**

_"…I want all departments at battle stations and ready in ten minutes. Either we're going down, or they are. Kirk out."_ Harry took a deep breath ignoring the Cadets running around him as they hurried to their stations while he made his way to Spock's chambers.

He stopped in front of the door and pressed the button to open it only to find it locked.

"Computer, open the door," he said firmly, voice still strained and somewhat quiet.

"NEGATIVE, DOOR LOCKED UNDER CODE ZERO-SEVEN-TWO-FOUR-THREE." Harry sighed and shook his head.

"Over-ride code Alpha, Bravo, Torres, Zero, Three, Seven," Harry spoke tiredly.

"OVER-RIDE CODE ACCEPTED."

The door opened and Harry stepped in frowning and squinting in the darkness of the room. "Spock?" he walked in and the door closed behind him. "Lights on," he ordered shortly blinking when the lights turned on and he found Spock standing stiffly in front of the window, looking at the stars blurring around them.

"It is beyond my comprehension why you are here, Harry," Spock said in a falsely calm tone and Harry took a deep breath, slowly walking over to Spock to stand to his right and lean forward to try meeting Spock's eyes.

"You know I didn't mean any of it, right?" Harry whispered sincerely and Spock looked at him. Brown eyes were full of suppressed tears, thin lips drawn into a line, and strong shoulders were hunched.

Harry felt his heart clench with sorrow, but he tried to smile never the less, and he gently took Spock's hand in his slightly smaller ones, breathing out in relief when Spock didn't resist him.

"I may be breaking several rules and a promise by showing you this," Harry whispered as he raised Spock's hand to place it against his left cheek, looking straight in Spock's eyes, "but I know you will not believe that I hadn't meant any of that if you don't see for yourself."

"Harry, I promised to you that I would never…"

"And now I am asking you to," Harry interrupted Spock, viridian orbs pleading for Spock to just do it.

Swallowing audibly, Spock nodded and readjusted his hand, frowning when Harry closed his eyes, Harry's hands wrapping tightly around Spock's left wrist. Closing his eyes as well, Spock took a deep breath, and allowed his mind to meld with Harry's…

**cut**

"Harry!" Spock called out when Harry tore away from him, stumbling back to land heavily on Spock's bed gasping for air with tears streaming down his cheeks.

The mind meld didn't just allow Spock to see everything that happened since they lost contact with Harry, and to feel Harry's emotions as though they were Spock's own.

No.

The mind meld allowed Harry to experience the horror of seeing Vulcan disappear and the pain Spock went through when he thought Harry was gone. Harry felt the paralyzing fear and heartbreak which almost broke Spock even though no one could see it, when Spock actually believed for a moment that he lost Harry.

Harry managed to open his eyes when he felt gentle hands cupping his face within them, Harry's tears falling into them as brown, gleaming orbs looked deep into Harry's eyes.

For the first time in his life, Spock didn't know what to say. Harry's memories danced through his mind, the words which earlier angered Spock to the point at which he attacked the only man he ever truly loved making perfect sense now that he knew the intent behind them.

"I didn't mean it, Spock," Harry whispered brokenly. "I swear on my life, I didn't mean…"

"I know," Spock whispered and leaned in to kiss Harry, the wizard letting go of a whimper when the Vulcan deepened the kiss, Harry's hands fisting on Spock's strong shoulders.

Spock pulled back, brown eyes taking in every line of Harry's face before settling on the wizard's neck a hand rising to trace the bruises marring perfect skin. Slipping his hand to rest it flat on Harry's chest Spock looked deep in those viridian orbs, finding Harry smiling at him lovingly. "I am sorry," he spoke, "I am sorry for losing control, for not seeing what you were doing, for being a _'stubborn, self-centered, unyielding, proud Vulcan'_…"

"This _'stubborn, self-centered, unyielding, proud Vulcan'_ is my Mate," Harry murmured as he cupped Spock's cheek with his right hand and covered the hand which rested on Harry's chest with his left, "and I wouldn't have him any other way."

"Even if it is for eternity?" Spock asked, the memories he inherited from Harry of the Wizard's conversation with Spock Prime running through his mind.

"I would want nothing less than eternity with you," with that said Harry moved up and sealed his lips over Spock's one hand fisting in the Vulcan's short hair and the other squeezing around Spock's hand on Harry's chest.

"We do not have time," Spock murmured even while kissing down Harry's neck, lips apologetically tracing the bruise Spock found there as Harry lied down on the bed and Spock moved with the motion climbing to loom over Harry's only slightly smaller form.

"We have…" Harry stretched to glance at the clock on the far wall, "15 minutes," he concluded and Spock raised his head finding Harry smirking up at him, eyes shining with a clear challenge. "Think we can be done in 15 minutes?"

"If I do remember correctly," Spock's lips tilted up into a smirk, "we have done things of far greater strain in less."

"Oh, I love how you think," Harry pressed out and flipped them over, slamming his lips against Spock's as his hands slipped under Spock's uniform to touch soft skin. Harry didn't even notice when Spock's nimble fingers released Harry's hair from the braid, long, slightly wavy tresses spilling around Harry's shoulders to fall around him like a veil. The Vulcan's fingers tangled in the silky strands keeping Harry close as their lips met time and time again as though neither was willing to part.

Spock pulled back and found Harry smirking at him, cheeks tinged with a bright blush, eyes gleaming and lips kiss-swollen, and realized that the slight tingle of magic Spock felt left them both naked.

"Why lose time right?" Harry breathed out and Spock hummed flipping them over again and settling between Harry's thighs, their hard, aching lengths meeting and making Harry hiss as he arched up, burying his head back into the mattress while Spock grunted and bowed his head, bracing his weight on his hands which he fisted in the soft sheets beside Harry's shoulders.

Harry took a firm hold of Spock's head, digging his fingers in the tender skin behind Spock's pointed ears as he pulled the Vulcan into a frantic kiss, hips rising to meet Spock's, seeking that sweet, sweet friction which set every nerve in his body on fire. He let go of a choked up cry when Spock slipped his right hand between them, wrapping it around both of their lengths to pump them together.

"S - Spock, we don't have - Merlin, we'll have time for this!" Harry blurted out in a hurry and Spock grunted, but before he could point out that they had no lube to make this easier, Harry slipped his hand between them and wrapped it around Spock's wrist, tugging it away from their members and leading it to Harry's entrance, and Spock merely raised an eyebrow when with a single muttered word his fingers were covered with a cool, see-through gel.

"Magic does make things easier," he concluded in a mutter making Harry laugh quietly and breathlessly, and Spock looked up at Harry, focusing on those amazing eyes as he traced Harry's entrance with the tip of his index finger.

As Spock slowly pushed it in, Harry's eyes slipped closed, perfect lips parted without a sound escaping them, and Harry's right arm pulled Spock closer, draping over the Vulcan's back as Harry's left hand wrapped firmly around Spock's right wrist.

Spock slowly rotated his finger carefully observing Harry's face, determined to stop if there was even the slightest sign of pain in those beautiful features. He slowly added another finger, drawing a keening whine from Harry as the wizard pushed himself down on Spock's fingers, chest arching up, and every muscle in that lean body coiling and trembling with pleasure, and Spock slowly curled his fingers, searching for that small bundle of nerves which would make Harry see stars.

When Harry cried out and his whole body arched into Spock's, the Vulcan knew he found it, and unable to hold back anymore, he pulled his fingers out of Harry and took a hold of his own weeping length, spreading what lube was left over it before leading it to Harry's entrance.

Resting his forehead on Harry's, Spock slowly pushed inside the tight welcoming heat, both of them holding their breaths until the Vulcan bottomed out, breathing as one, gasping for air, eyes opening, and hearts beating almost in sync.

Spock leaned down to kiss Harry just as he slowly pulled out, but that pace didn't last for long. Everything they lived through in the past 24 hours came crashing down upon them, making every move fast and hard, no sounds escaping either one of them as they clung to one another seeking reassurance that the other was there.

Harry was the first to come, overwhelmed by everything, head thrown back as a few tears escaping amazing eyes, and Spock followed not a second later, Harry's own feelings and orgasm washing over the Vulcan and pulling him over the edge.

Wrapped around one another, they simply breathed for a few long moments, before Spock raised his head and looked down at Harry witnessing the opening of beautiful, dilated, emerald eyes.

"My Harry," he whispered, Harry's lips tilting up with love making those viridian orbs glimmer, "my T'hy'la."

"Forever…"

**cut**

"Now listen; we need to figure out a way to catch up and get to Nero's ship," Jim spoke glancing at the digital clock on the view-screen, unable to wait for Harry and Spock, and absolutely refusing to think why after 35 minutes, they still weren't there.

"There's not a chance," Sulu spoke up making everyone look at him and Jim glanced at Leonard who stood just a few steps behind Jim, arms crossed over a broad chest and handsome face marred by a scowl. "They're going to be in geosynchronous orbit around Earth in ten minutes. We'll never make it."

"Even if we could, you can't go in guns blazing," Leonard agreed with Sulu making Jim bow his head thoughtfully, "not with their technology, that's suicide."

"Then we find a way to get on that ship and steal the black hole device away from them," Jim pressed out through his teeth, wrecking his brain for a plausible idea.

"Well you can forget transwarp," Scotty spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "No way to predict the Narada's position from here."

Jim sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "Uhura," he turned towards the female lieutenant and she straightened in her chair, "anything from Captain Pike?"

"No," Uhura spoke weakly. "I've been monitoring all channels." Heavy silence settled over the room as everyone fell into their own thoughts.

"Keptin Kirk?" Chekov spoke hesitatingly and slowly raised his hand. "Excuse me, plees, could I...?"

"Yes, Chekov, you don't need to ask permission to…" Jim started with an exasperated tone, but before he could finish the young Officer jumped to his feet and spoke hurriedly.

"Based on the Narada's course from Vulcan, I've projected that Nero will travel past Saturn. If we could drop out of warp behind one of Saturn's moons, say, Titan, the magnetic distortion from the planet's rings will make us invisible to Nero's sensors. We could follow him to Earth by staying in his blind spot," Chekov took a deep breath after he blurted that out, looking at Jim with wide, doe eyes while everyone stared at the youngest among them completely taken aback.

"What blind spot?" was the first thing that passed Jim's mouth after he managed to snap out of the shocked state.

"Its exhaust wake!" Chekov grinned brightly. "If we adjust our shield frequencies, they shouldn't detect us."

"Wait a minute," Leonard took a step forward, waving his right hand, "anyone understand this kid? How old are you?" he directed the question at Chekov who smiled brightly at him.

"I am seventeen, Sir," Chekov stated almost proudly and Leonard pursed his lips as he looked at Jim.

"Oh good, Jim, he's _seventeen_," he bit out as though he blamed Jim for it.

"Doctor, Mr. Chekov is correct," everyone jumped in their places not having heard Spock and Harry enter, making them wonder how long they were there. "I have reviewed his telemetry," Spock continued completely undisturbed. "If Mr. Sulu can maneuver us into position, I can beam aboard Nero's ship." Spock and Harry approached Jim with the Vulcan standing in the front and Harry half a step behind him.

Jim looked at Harry, the calm smile tilting Harry's lips and the way his hair wasn't braided for once but pulled into a messy bun on the top of his head. Harry nodded at Jim, telling the Acting Captain that everything was alright, and Jim looked at Spock again.

"I won't order you to do that, Mr. Spock," Jim stated firmly, right eyebrow twitching when the corner of Spock's lips twitched up a bit.

"Romulans and Vulcans share a common ancestry," Spock answered, stating a point. "Our cultural similarities will make it easier for me to access their ship's computer to locate the device," Spock glanced over his shoulder at Harry who was already looking at the Vulcan, meeting Spock's eyes with calmness and confidence. "Also, my mother is human," Spock looked at Jim again, "which makes Earth the only home I have left."

Jim took a moment to observe Spock, looking for something even though he didn't really know what it was he was looking for. But there was something in Spock's eyes which moved something in Jim, something he thought he would never see in the eyes of a Vulcan, and the Acting Captain's mind was set.

"Then I'm coming with you," Jim stated calmly, catching Harry's eyes widen with the corner of his blue orbs.

"I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it," Spock drawled in what Jim could swear was amusement, and he smirked at the Vulcan.

"See, we're getting to know each other…"

**cut**

"Be careful," Harry whispered as he stood in front of Spock in the transportation room. Jim was behind Harry talking with Scotty and another transportation engineer, and they were getting ready to perform their mission. "I'll be keeping my eyes on you. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That leaves me a lot of options, since I am fully aware of what you would do to get the mission done," Spock answered teasingly and Harry snorted and rolled his eyes, climbing up a bit to kiss Spock lovingly.

"Then I correct myself," Harry murmured against Spock's lips, "don't do anything I would do to get the mission done. Come back to me alive."

"I will," Spock nodded at Harry and bowed down to kiss his T'hy'la, neither noticing Jim assuming position and looking at them with a slightly wrinkled nose.

Damn it, it was like watching you parent smooching someone!

Harry moved away from Spock, gifting him with another small smile before he moved on to Jim and pulled him into a hug.

"Don't do anything stupid," he said as Jim hugged him back tightly.

"Don't scratch her," Jim drawled, although Harry could see that the younger man wasn't nearly as careless as he wanted everyone to think he is. "I've grown quite fond of the Enterprise."

"I'll have her ready for the two of you when you come back," with that said Harry smirked at them and marched out of the room to take his place on the bridge.

"So! You and Harry…"

"I shall not comment," Spock cut Jim off, although when Jim glanced at him, he found the Vulcan smirking only slightly.

"Huh," Jim muttered and stood straight, nodding at Scotty to tell him they were ready. "Right."

**cut**

"Mr. Chekov! Mr. Sulu! Ready on your mark," Harry said upon entering the bridge, going straight for the Captain's chair.

"Ready," Sulu spoke up and glanced at Chekov who nodded before quickly typing something into his panel.

"I've projected the parabolic course you must follow," Chekov murmured just loud enough to be heard. "If you deviate by so much as a meter, we will be detected."

Harry glanced at Sulu with a small frown, but it disappeared when he saw the young helmsman straighten in his chair, radiating certainty.

"Give me one quarter impulse burst for five seconds and I'll do the rest with thrusters," Sulu spoke and Chekov nodded. "Commander, on your mark."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded.

"Fire."

**cut**

_"Transporter Room, we're in stable geosynchronous orbit behind the Narada."_

Jim and Spock stood straighter when Harry's voice came over the speakers.

_"There's no sign that they've detected us. Good luck, boys. Don't get killed."_

"Don't you just _love it_ how he's so confident in our abilities?" Jim drawled and Spock hummed, glancing at Jim to see him smirking.

"Ready when you are, lads!" Scotty called out.

"Harry, whatever happens, if you feel you have a tactical advantage, fire on that ship. Even if we're still aboard. It's an order."

_"Just make sure you're not on that ship and we've got ourselves a deal." _Harry answered and Jim rolled his eyes.

"Need I remind you that I'm your Captain now?"

_"Need I remind you that you're guilty for every single early gray I have in my hair?"_

"Early grays?" Jim spluttered. "Harry, you're old as _fuck_!"

_"Just for that I'm having Scotty beaming you up into the disposal room."_ Harry's dry completely _un-amused_ voice came over the com-link and Jim winced.

"Energize," he ordered before he could dig himself a deeper grave, and within moments they were gone.

**cut**

_"Transportation successful," _Scotty's voice came over the speakers and Harry breathed out.

"Mr. Sulu, maintain optimal distance, shut down all thrusters."

"Yes, sir."

"Mr. Chekov, keep shields at minimal velocity, be prepared to put shields to maximum on my mark."

"Aye, Commander."

"Lieutenant Uhura, keep your ears open. I want to hear it if someone so much as sneezes on that ship."

"Yes, sir."

"Bridge to Sickbay," Harry spoke into the microphone. "Bones, take a team to the Transportation room. We'll need you there for Pike."

_"Aye, sir._"

Harry nodded, and swallowed.

"And now we wait."

**cut**

Jim and Spock materialized in cargo bay, hands on their phasers just in case.

Good thing they were, though.

"INTRUDERS!"

"FUCK!" Jim had his phaser out in a second, but one of the Romulans had him disarmed and on the ground before Jim could blink. He immediately jumped to his feet, thinking of everything Harry had taught him about hand to hand combat.

He managed to bring down the guy and spun around to see how Spock was fairing, only to freeze up and gape when he found the Vulcan standing among five Romulans, only _one_ of them still breathing.

Spock raised an eyebrow at Jim when he saw the Acting Captain was out of breath and Jim opened his mouth to defend himself: "Mine had a gun."

"I am trained in the Vulcan martial art of Suus Mahna," Spock explained and Jim had a hard time stopping himself from sticking his tongue out at the Vulcan, _definitely_ certain that it wouldn't be the best thing to do.

They glanced at the still breathing Romulan when he groaned and started to get up, and the two Star Fleet officers came to stand in front of him, Spock immediately going for the mind meld while Jim took a hold of one of the Romulan rifles, covering for Spock.

"I am unable to meld with these Romulans, there are subtle differences in their physiology I did not anticipate…"

"Then punch him in the face! Make him talk! Suus Mahna his ass!" Jim hissed incredulously.

"Suss Mahna is only intended for self-defense, he's no longer a threat…"

"Then pretend he's a threat!" Jim snapped in a hiss, adding to it when Spock seemed to hesitate, "I'm your captain, that's an order!"

Spock raised an eyebrow and looked down at the Romulan who tensed up, eyes widening when Spock's eyes darkened and nose wrinkled in a sneer.

And then he smirked.

**cut**

_"TELL! - ME! - THE! - CODE!"_

Each word was accented with a rather painful sounding punch, and everyone in the room turned towards Harry, finding the commander sitting relaxed in the captain's chair, right elbow braced on the armrest, fist covering his mouth, but it couldn't hide the close-lipped grin of absolute amusement Harry had on his face.

"I didn't know Spock had it in him," Sulu commented almost dumbly, and in the next moment Harry laughed.

"Well, he _is_ half human," Harry managed to press out before bursting out into laughter again.

"Excuse me, but I don't think it's that funny," Sulu spoke with a dull stare aimed at Harry who managed to look at him.

"It is if you imagine Jim's face right now."

And even _Sulu_ had to admit that _that_ was indeed funny.

**cut**

Jim stared at Spock with newfound respect while Spock's fingers danced over the console, typing in the codes. A moment later two inter-cam windows opened one showing a white ship and the other showing Pike.

"The Red Matter Device is in the main hangar," Spock muttered, eyes scanning the screen, picking through the data with practiced ease. "I've located Captain Pike as well."

"Is he alive?" Jim moved closer to Spock, squinting at the screen showing Pike's prone form.

"I am unable to confirm," Spock answered and Jim clapped Spock's shoulder.

"Let's move."

Spock took his phaser and the two moved for the containment hangar only to stop and grab onto the closest railing when the whole ship shook.

**cut**

"They've activated the drill!" Chekov cried out when every screen in the room went dark, and Harry jumped to his feet.

"Uhura!" he snapped, turning towards the woman with a dark glare on his face, completely different from the man who was laughing minutes ago.

"Communications and transporter inoperative!" Uhura answered and Harry cursed under his breath.

"Chekov, I want those screens active yesterday…"

"Aye, Keptin!"

"Sulu, all powers to thrusters and shields, have warp drive on stand by…"

"Yes, sir!"

"Uhura, ears open!"

"Yes, commander!"

"Bridge to Transportation! Scotty, do you copy?!"

_"Aye, sir!"_

"I want you ready to beam them over the moment the drill is down!"

_"Aye, sir!"_

**cut**

"This technology is far beyond anything I have ever seen," Spock murmured as he and Jim entered the white ship containing the Red Matter.

"PRINT AND FACE RECOGNITION ANALYSIS ENABLED," the Computer spoke up and the two officers shared a glance. "WELCOME BACK, AMBASSADOR SPOCK."

Spock raised an eyebrow while Jim squinted at him, lips parting in confusion as he looked around.

"Is there something you're not telling me, Mr. Spock?" Jim asked and Spock's eyebrows rose higher on his forehead.

"There are a lot of things I am not telling you, Captain, if you would be more specific?"

"Computer: what is your manufacturing origin?" Jim spoke up.

"STARDATE 2397, COMMISSIONED BY THE VULCAN SCIENCE ACADEMY." Jim's eyes opened almost comically.

"I think this proves…"

"Shut it, Spock."

"I am sorry, Captain, but I do believe…"

"If you say 'I told you so', I _will_ shoot you."

"Permission to speak freely?"

"_Not_ granted," a nerve beside Jim's right eye twitched and his nose wrinkled when Spock had the decency to _smirk_ at him. "And they say _I_ have attitude problems," Jim grumbled. "Get this ship off of the Narada. I'll get Pike," he marched out of the ship.

And he was _sure_ Spock actually _laughed_ at him.

**cut**

"Anything?" Harry asked from his place in front of the Captain's chair, barely managing to stop himself from pacing as everyone worked furiously to try getting communications and transportation back on line.

All of a sudden the screens went on and before he could stop himself Harry rushed forward.

"Chekov! Status!"

"The drill is down! All systems on!"

"We need a picture Chekov!" Harry snapped, and within seconds they were seeing what was going on. Harry's eyes widened when he saw the white ship he had seen in Spock Prime's memories flying towards the Narada.

"Who's flying that ship?"

"Commander Spock, sir!" Chekov said.

"Sulu, the bridge is yours!" Harry shouted as he ran into the elevator, making his way to the Transportation Room.

"Commander…"

"Scotty, can you lock on to Jim's or Pike's signal?" Harry didn't give Scotty time to speak as he rushed into the room, passing beside Leonard and his team, and Scotty immediately jumped into motion.

"I have them both!"

"And Spock?"

"Have - no, I don't!" Scotty's eyes widened and Harry cursed under his breath.

"Chekov! Speak to me!" he snapped into the mic.

_"The white ship has gone into warp, sir! Narada is following it!_

"Follow them!" Harry snapped, running out of the Transportation Room and back to the bridge, almost losing his footing several times. He ran into the elevator, the ride to the bridge seemingly taking eternity, and when he ran onto the bridge it was in the moment when they got out of warp, in time to see the white ship flying towards the Narada.

_"Kirk to Enterprise! Do you copy?!"_

"Jim!" Harry cried out, eyes following the white ship zooming towards the monstrosity of a space vessel.

_"Port us out of here!"_ Jim's voice reached Harry's ears, and the Chief Engineer rushed over to the captain's chair.

"Scotty! Bring them home!"

_"Aye, sir!"_

"What is he doing?!" Uhura's terrified exclamation had Harry looking up at the screen, his heart stopping when he realized what Spock was doing.

"Scotty, now would be a good time!" Harry shouted, voice breaking.

_"I'M WORKING ON IT!"_

Everyone held their breaths as they watched the white ship disappearing among the huge tentacles of the Narada, seconds away from impact.

_"GOT THEM!"_

Scotty's exclamation was followed by a massive explosion which had everyone grabbing onto the closest surface to stop themselves from falling.

"Chekov! Maintain safe…" Harry's voice faded as they watched a _black hole_ materialize down the middle of the Narada.

It was a sight that would forever haunt their dreams, frighteningly beautiful in its destructive power.

"Status?!" Jim snapped the moment he and Spock entered the bridge, shaking everyone out of their stupor and pushing them into work-mode.

"Keptin! The enemy ship is losing power! Its shields are down!" While Spock came to stand beside Harry, accepting the distraught Commander's hug, Jim came to stand between Chekov and Sulu, facing the view-screen.

"Hail them, now!" Jim ordered, and Harry and Spock walked over to Jim, Spock standing to Jim's right and Harry to the Acting Captain's left.

They frowned at the screen when Nero's rage-full face appeared in a window, eyes spitting hate and rage.

"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise," Jim spoke firmly, making Harry and Spock glance at him. "Your ship is compromised - too close to the singularity to survive without assistance - which we are willing to provide…"

"Captain," Spock attracted Jim's attention and the two turned away from the screen with Harry raising an eyebrow at them, "what are you doing?

"We show them compassion," Jim murmured and Spock tilted his head to the side with a thoughtful squint. "It may be the only way to earn peace with Romulus. It's logic, Spock! I thought you'd like that."

"No, not really," Spock answered, looking at Jim from under his eyebrows, the corners of his lips tilting up. "Not this time."

_"I would rather suffer the death of Romulus a thousand times,"_ the two turned around to look at the screen when Nero spoke up, _"than accept assistance from you."_

"You got it," Jim spoke up and walked over to the Captain's chair, Harry and Spock following after him and taking their places on either side of Jim. "Lock phasers! Fire everything we've got!"

"Aye, Captain!"

If anyone asked the crew of Enterprise if they enjoyed seeing the Narada going down in a mass of explosions while the singularity swallowed it up, you wouldn't get an answer you might have expected.

Good soldiers would usually answer that taking a life never feels good.

The crew of Enterprise would disagree, at least in this case, because it felt _damn good_ to see them going down.

"Kirk to Scotty," Jim spoke into the com-link, "Chief Engineer Potter's with me. What's your status?"

_"Thought 'e might be there so I've taken the liberty to get to Engineering. Hope you're alright wi' that!"_

"Just this once, Scotty!" Harry spoke in an amused drawled and Jim chuckled.

"Get us out of here," he ordered.

_"With pleasure!"_

The familiar buzz of the ship shifting into warp had everyone breathing a sigh of relief.

Except it didn't last for long.

It took less than a second to realize that something was very, _very_ wrong.

"Why aren't we at warp?!" Jim shouted, wincing when they heard the ship practically _groaning_ under strain.

"We are!" Chekov cried out.

"Jim!" The Acting Captain looked at Harry, "We're trapped in the gravity well!"

"Go to maximum warp!" Jim snapped. "Push it!"

_"I'm giving her all she's got, Captain!"_ Scotty's voice came over the speaker.

"All she's got isn't good enough! What else d'you got?!" Jim cried out, eyes widening as he stared at the view-screen, the singularity getting closer and closer.

_"I have no idea!"_

"Scotty!" Harry jumped over to the mic and everyone looked at him. "If we eject the core and detonate, the blast could be strong enough…"

_"…to push us away! Captain, I LOVE how this man thinks!"_

"THEN DO IT!" Jim snapped.

The crew at the bridge held their breaths watching as the cores flew one after another towards the singularity.

"Let's hope this works…"

**cut**

"This assembly calls Captain James Tiberius Kirk."

Complete silence reigned over the assembly of the whole body of the Star Fleet Academy, as Jim walked over to take his stand in front of the presiding Admiral.

The older man smirked at Jim who stood in front of him with hands clasped behind his back, feeling the eyes of his crew, his _family _on his back, specifically a pair of shimmering emerald eyes, full of pride.

"Your inspirational valor and supreme dedication to your comrades are in keeping with the highest traditions of service and reflect utmost credit to yourself, your crew, and the Federation," Admiral spoke as he took a medal from its case fastening it to Jim's uniform as he spoke: "For your _unique_ solution to the Kobayashi Maru, it's my honor to award you with a commendation for original thinking."

Jim barely stopped himself from smirking, only shifting his jaw and standing straighter as the Admiral shot him a pointed glance before taking a step back and speaking so that everyone could hear him.

"And now," the Admiral offered Jim a smile, glancing over the young Captain's shoulder at Pike who was sitting in a wheelchair, alive and recovering, "by Star Fleet Order 28455, you are hereby directed to report to Admiral Pike of the U.S.S. Enterprise, for duty as his relief."

Jim turned on his heel and walked over to Pike, saluting him sharply, hardly able to conceal the smile stretching his lips. "I relieve you, Sir," he said as he sharply ended his salute, and Pike bowed his head at Jim.

"I am relieved," Pike answered and Jim nodded minutely, accepting Pike's offered hand. "Congratulations, Captain."

No longer able to suppress it, Jim grinned brightly and shook Pike's hand. "Thank you, Sir."

And as the thundering applause followed by cheers and whistling broke the silence of the assembly, Jim turned around, grinning harder than ever, his heart clenching at the sight of Harry standing first in line with Spock right beside him, the raven haired man's eyes full of tears of pride and joy.

Everything has finally fallen to place.

**cut**

"Will you not go and see him?"

Spock Prime chuckled as he turned around to look at Harry who stood several feet away from him, dressed in the red uniform, raven locks bound in a high ponytail and messy bangs falling into eyes glimmering with amusement and warmth.

"I do believe that there is no need," Spock Prime answered and Harry chuckled.

"You know…" Harry took a slow step forward, looking at the ground before he stopped right in front of Spock Prime and raised his head to look into those eyes full of timeless knowledge. "There was really no point in you staying behind. The future has already been changed. There is no way for us to go back and make it right. There would have been no difference if you went with me and simply told everything to Spock yourself, ergo…" the wizard's lips tilted up and he chuckled, "you _lied_."

Spock Prime laughed quietly and shook his head.

"I have seen in your mind the relationship between Jim and my counterpart," Spock Prime stated calmly. "Had I gone with you, Spock would have remained Captain, and Jim would have been thrown out of the Academy despite his intellect and accomplishments. They needed a chance to work together, to get to know one another, and this way they received it."

"But why?" Harry asked with a small frown. "Nothing guaranteed that they wouldn't have come to that conclusion on their own given enough time."

"Because they needed each other," Spock Prime stated and Harry tilted his head to the side thoughtfully, "my counterpart needs Jim. Maybe not as much as he needs _you_, dear Harry, but he does need Jim. I could not deprive him of the revelation of all that they could accomplish together, of a friendship, that would define them both in ways they cannot yet realize." Harry chuckled and shook his head.

"And what if I failed to make Spock step down? What if I ended up making everything worse?"

"There was no way for you to fail, Harry," Spock Prime answered making Harry frown at him in confusion. "You were determined to set things right, because of what I told you."

"But you lied," Harry's lips tilted up even while he squinted at Spock Prime trying to gauge his reaction.

"I merely… _implied,_" the old Vulcan corrected and Harry shook his head with a sigh.

"That was quite a gamble," Harry stated and Spock Prime chuckled. He placed his right hand on Harry's shoulder and took a step closer to kiss Harry's forehead.

"It was an act of faith, dear Harry," Spock Prime murmured before taking a step back. "And now, everything has been made right. I can be at peace."

"What will you do now?" Harry asked. "Will you try to find your way back to your time?" Spock Prime gifted Harry with a small frown of confusion which deepened when Harry smiled knowingly. "Because I know for a fact that if my counterpart from your time is anything like me, something silly like you being old would not stop him from being with you."

Spock Prime laughed quietly again and shook his head.

"You are right, Harry," he stated. "You are right."

"So?" the wizard pushed lightly, joining his hands on the small of his back, "I know of a singularity nearby which - with your knowledge - could be manipulated into taking you back."

"I do believe that we are speaking about the same singularity I have already investigated," Spock Prime answered and Harry laughed lightly, shaking his head.

When he calmed down he raised his right hand in the traditional Vulcan greeting. "Live long and prosper." Spock Prime raised his hand as well, although his words were much different.

"Be happy, and stay safe."

**cut**

"Maneuvering thrusters and impulse engines at your command, Sir."

"Weapons systems and shields on standby."

"Dock control reports ready. Yard Command signaling clear."

Sulu, Chekov and Uhura turned in their chairs one by one as they spoke their reports, looking at their Captain as he took a seat in his chair, lips tilted up into a smile and blue eyes taking in his crew before he opened the com-line.

"Harry, how are we?"

_"Dilithium chamber at maximum efficiency," _Harry's voice came over the line, adding almost _slyly: "Captain."_

"Scotty?" Jim spoke into the mic, smirking in amusement.

_"Finished transporting supplies, Captain, everything's ready."_

"Same ship, different day," Jim looked over his right shoulder at Leonard who stood to his right, arms crossed over his chest and smirking down at Jim. His smirk faded when Jim turned to the left looking at an empty post before sighing and facing the front.

"Mr. Sulu, prepare to engage thrus…"

"Permission to come aboard, Captain." Everyone turned towards the elevator and Jim stood up when he saw Spock standing there.

"Permission granted," Jim said and Spock walked over to Jim to stand right in front of him.

"As you have yet to select a first officer, respectfully, I would like to submit my candidacy. Should you desire, I can provide character references."

Jim chuckled and glanced at Leonard. "Harry, we will have to talk about you keeping things from your Captain."

_"I don't think we will,"_ Harry's voice came over the speakers, _"not if you don't want the whole crew to know about that one time when you were twelve and got involved with the…"_

"_It would be my honor, Commander_," Jim interrupted Harry hurriedly, looking at Spock who nodded, smirking at Jim before he went to take his position while Jim let go of a breath of relief and took a seat in his chair. "Maneuvering thrusters, Mr. Sulu," he ordered, ignoring the curious and amused glances thrown his way, "take us out."

"Aye, Captain."

**cut**

_Space. The final frontier. _  
><em> These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. <em>  
><em> Her ongoing mission - to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms, and new civilizations.<em>  
><em> To boldly go where no one has gone <em>  
><em> before.<em>

**cut**

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