The universe was playing tricks on Spock.

He had gone backwards and forwards in time half a dozen times in his lifetime, but he had never been to a parallel universe. Now that he had been sucked into a black hole, that had changed. He had apparently been sent back in time 129 years into an alternate reality. The Romulans had at least told him that much before they marooned him here on Delta Vega.

Spock could literally see Vulcan in broad daylight from where he was standing. This had been a source of simple frustration at first, but then his frustration became pure, blinding fear. "You will feel what you have made us feel," Nero had growled.

Was Spock here to witness the destruction of Vulcan?

He didn't have to wait long to find out.

And now he had met this universe's version of Jim. He was looking impossibly young, and he had a look on his face that Spock did not recognize and certainly did not like. Spock had seem Jim Kirk look afraid before, but not the same way this one had when Spock had saved him from the hengrauggi.* There was an arrogance about him that the other Jim had had little of during his Academy days and none of later on. This Jim was not well-educated and studious like the Jim Spock had known, and Spock was fairly certain that this Jim could never beat him at chess.

Spock had come to terms with his loss. He had accepted it, found peace with it, achieved closure, moved on. And now there was this imitation of Jim, this insult to the one Spock remembered, standing in front of him.

Perhaps Spock was being too harsh. Same person, same potential. But this new Jim had raised an interesting question in Spock's mind—had Jim been an inherently incredible person, or had he learned it somehow? Was this new man as worthy as the old one?

Either way, this Jim Kirk deserved a chance. And if Spock's counterpart was up on the Enterprise following orders as he was wont to do, Spock knew he had to take a chance and trust Jim one last time. If all went well, Jim Kirk was about to break his own record and become, at 25, the youngest Starship captain in history.

***

The Enterprise pulled out of space dock amidst cheers. Spock sighed. How he wished he was on that bridge with Jim…

His Jim. This Jim had a Spock of his own to discover. Hopefully, they would find each other eventually.

Spock's counterpart had seemed different, too. There was already more emotion in his voice and in his eyes that Spock had ever routinely displayed in public, and he seemed, well…a lot more interested in girls than Spock had ever been. Spock shook his head and smiled inwardly. Maybe this new Kirk and this new Spock would have what he and Jim had. Maybe not. Things were different here, and if things ended up differently there was nothing Spock could do about it. It was the natural course of things. It was not up to Spock to decide what was right for other people, even if they had the same genetic code as he did.

And maybe, just maybe, in this universe Spock would still have the Nexus.

*Apparently, that's what those giant white things are called.