A/N: Okay...so you're just going to have to forgive me for this one. I had a thought – I thought, what would the Alternative Universe Trek be like if there had been no Kelvin tragedy? Of course, you could point out that it would be the Original Series...like, that's exactly what it would be. But where's the fun in that? So I started this little story thinking it would be funny to have a look at the characters, as they are in the Alt universe, but if the Kelvin hadn't happened. Except then it went on, and on, and on. This 'little story' is 25,000 words long and got completely out of control. But I'm actually really happy with the result. However, if this kind of musing isn't your thing then skip this (ridiculously long) chapter and move onto the next one...when I post it :-)

Jim replicated himself a coffee before leaving his room. One of the luxuries of his new position was a tiny kitchenette, crammed in next to a small seating area, separate to the bedroom. Since the queue for food in the canteen was always at its worst right before Alpha shift he was really loving his new quarters. Now, instead of getting up ten minutes early to get his hands on some caffeine he could just make up a cup and bring it with him to the Bridge. Sometimes the little things could really make your day.

The turbo lift was empty when he called it and so he relaxed against the back wall, sipping his coffee and only straightening as the doors slid open, revealing a Bridge that was half way through hand over. Lieutenant J'ar, the ranking officer of Gamma shift, was standing by the Captain's chair, ready to start the debrief. He looked up as Jim arrived, offering a curt nod but no salute. Jim made no comment - he and J'ar had not had the best relationship before this, and Jim's promotion had only strained it further. Instead he nodded back, making his way around to the other side of the chair. Predictably Pike was already there.

'Good morning, Commander, how are you?' Pike put very slight emphasis on the title, smiling as Jim grinned widely at him. It had only been five weeks - it was still a novelty.

'Good morning, Sir. Beat me here again I see.'

'You'll have to be here more than five minutes early to catch me, Jim,' Pike teased, turning back to J'ar as he spoke. 'Anything interesting happen, Lieutenant?'

J'ar's antennae quivered a little as he shook his head. 'Nothing of note, Captain. Gamma shift was quiet and we are on route to Starbase 3. Our anticipated arrival is still Alpha+4. Two reports and one message came through from HQ - none of them urgent - they are all waiting for you on your padd.'

Pike thanked him and dismissed him, eyeing his padd as he spoke to Jim, 'Nothing we need to deal with right away then.' He glanced up, 'Go and do your handover and we'll sit down after I've read these reports.'

Jim nodded his agreement and turned to the Tactics station. Wilton was his Gamma shift equivalent, although Jim felt it was actually a bit of a waste. She had a rare talent for planning and strategy and he would have preferred to have her on duty during Alpha, where he could pick her brains in department meetings. He hadn't been aboard long enough to make those kinds of changes yet, but she was on his list as one to watch.

'Good morning, Ensign - everything running smoothly?'

Wilton smiled at him as she vacated her chair and offered it to him. 'Yes, Sir,' she said, tapping the screen to bring up her end of day report, 'I ran those diagnostics you asked for and worked out a small bug in the tracker beam software. Everything was routine.'

Jim eyed the information on the bug, and the patch she'd initiated. 'That's good work, Wilton, thanks,' he commented, taking another sip of his coffee as he smiled up at her, 'You're dismissed, I'll see you tomorrow.'

She threw a neat salute and made for the turbo lift, as Jim settled himself in for the day's work.

They had been on Bridge for about two hours when Jim's station beeped, signalling a call from the Captain's ready room. Pike had disappeared in there about an hour ago to read his reports and now his voice filtered through the small speaker. 'Kirk, come in here would you? Give McKenna the conn.'

Jim agreed and handed off to the Helmsman before making his way past the Science station and into the small office off the Bridge. It was designed as a quiet space for the Captain to work as needed, but still be 'on' the Bridge. Handing over the conn wasn't actually necessary, given the proximity of the room, but Pike didn't like to leave the Bridge with no one in authority, so he always made a point of handing over before he left. In the office there was just a desk with a chair on either side of it and a large comm screen for taking confidential calls. Pike was sitting behind the desk, a padd in one hand and another two abandoned by his elbow. He gestured for Jim to sit as the door slid closed.

'I was talking to your father yesterday evening,' Pike began, throwing down his padd on top of the others, his tone light.

It wasn't an usual comment - Chris was four years George's junior, but Chris had been assigned to the Reliant during his Command training and had made friends with the then Lieutenant. George had gone on to be promoted and reassigned but he had kept in touch with the slightly rebellious young officer who had taken only a few short years to become Starfleet's youngest ever Captain. Jim had met Chris a few times when he was young, and had been something of his pet project in the Academy - a happy coincidence leaving Chris as Commandant of Cadets just as Jim was coming in.

George and Chris, now both Captains of their own ships, commed often. Jim, sometimes to his chagrin, was their favourite topic of conversation.

'Oh yeah?' Jim asked, grinning, 'Is he still complaining that the new Kelvin isn't as good as the old one?'

Pike laughed heartily, nodding, 'Yes,' he confirmed, 'He is. I will never understand his love for that rusty old tub of an explorer. I only spent three days on it, it was awful!' He gave a theatrical shudder and Jim laughed back.

'It was a tub alright,' Jim agreed, 'But I suppose it's got happy memories for him.' Jim barely remembered the old Kelvin now, but he had spent the first four years of his life on it.

Chris nodded, smiling again. 'Yeah, maybe that's it – sentimental value. He asked how you were getting on.' Jim nodded – that was to be expected. 'I told him you hadn't outright challenged my authority yet and I was slightly disappointed.'

'I could start a small mutiny in Ops, if you want?' Jim offered, 'Or redirect our flight path during Beta shift?' He shrugged casually, 'You know I don't like to underperform.'

'Well,' Pike pretended to ponder, 'If it's only a small mutiny I don't know if it's worth it.' He laughed along with Jim but stopped as he spoke again. 'But that's not why I called you in here; amusing though it is to play go between for you and your father - he said he'd comm you tonight by the way, and that you'd better answer.' He levelled Jim with a mock glare. 'What I actually wanted to talk about was one of the new graduates we're taking on at Starbase 3.'

The Enterprise was due to dock at Starbase 3 in about two hours. They were taking on supplies, doing some minor repairs and, most interestingly, boarding a shuttle full of new crew members. They were recent graduates from the Academy - which had let out the Class of 2258 about four months previously. Chris has made sure to grab the best of each class - a task made easier because he'd been Commandant until last year and so had known the whole class well.

'Is there one you're concerned about, Sir?' Jim asked, wondering why one was being singled out for his attention. There were 12 newbies arriving - Jim had glanced over their profiles but couldn't name them all. There weren't any joining Tactics under him, and he preferred to get to know people face to face.

'I'm not concerned about him, I just think he might need some extra help to settle in. And I think you'll get on with him, honestly.'

Jim cocked his head to one side, a little confused. 'You're recommending me a friend, Sir?' he grinned. 'Times aren't that desperate are they?'

Pike chuckled along. 'No, I'm not - well,' he conceded, 'Not exactly. His name is Leonard McCoy - he's going to be Pruri's second in Medbay. He's a little older than your average graduate, older than you in fact. He was already a qualified doctor when he signed up. He's not…' Pike seemed to struggle for a descriptor, 'He's not your average bright eyed new officer. This maybe wasn't really where he saw his life going.'

Jim eyed him a little sceptically, 'You aren't exactly selling him, Sir. Are you sure he's a fit for this ship?' Jim knew the type Pike was describing. This guy had signed up for Starfleet out of necessity, not by choice, and while he was probably okay at his job that attitude never really left people like that. Maybe in a more lacklustre ship it wouldn't matter, but Enterprise was the flagship and every officer and crewmember aboard was held to the highest standard - Pike made sure of it.

The Captain just shook his head to Jim's concerns though. 'I know I'm not making it sound great, but he's okay, really.' Pike swung his chair a little to the side, one arm resting along the desk edge as he stretched his legs. 'He was Head of Trauma at Georgia General, so he knows his way around an emergency. And some of his research has saved thousands of lives. He was quite the catch, if I'm being honest. His scores-' Pike continued, picking up a padd for reference- 'Were some of the best we've seen. He's future CMO material, which is why I wanted him here with Pruri.'

'Right,' Jim mirrored Pike's more relaxed pose, stretching out his own legs and leaning his chin on one hand, 'That all sounds great. So what's the catch?'

'It's not a catch,' argued Pike, but he didn't sound convinced, 'But he's made no secret of wanting a dirt-side post. He says he hates space travel.'

'He hates space travel.' Jim deadpanned. 'And did it not occur to him that Starfleet operates in space?'

Pike grinned at an old memory, 'In his defence he was pretty drunk when I picked him up - I'm not sure he was thinking that far ahead.'

'Ah, and it all becomes clear,' Jim spread his hands in mock deliverance, 'He's one of your rescue cadets, isn't he? And you want me to take him on as my rescue cadet.' Pike's recruitment tactic - namely finding (usually drunk) wash outs that no other recruitment officer would touch and signing them up in the name of 'potential' - was notorious in the Academy. George Kirk often said it was one of the reasons 'fleet worked so hard to get the Enterprise up and running on schedule - so they could get Pike out of the Academy and stop him picking up strays.

'Don't call them 'rescues' Jim,' Pike's voice was quietly disapproving, 'It's not the respect you should be showing your fellow officers. Not everyone can have a golden ticket in, like you did.'

Jim nodded his head in accepted guilt, 'Yes, I know: There but for the grace of God go I. Would you have picked me up off a bar floor, Sir?' he asked, grinning.

'I did,' Pike pointed out, 'On that last away mission - you definitely couldn't have stood up on your own.' Then he paused and gave Jim an appraising look. Jim tried not to fidget. 'I'd like to think I'd have picked you out of a crowd. I haven't made any major misjudgements have I?'

'Well,' Jim pointed out, 'Archer still hasn't forgiven you for that incident with the Scot and his beagle, so…'

Pike just waved his hand in unconcerned dismissal, 'Scotty was working on transwarp beaming. I know it was his prize beagle but that dog's sacrifice was for the betterment of Starfleet. And also,' Pike continued, pointing one finger at a sniggering Jim, 'I haven't forgiven him for marooning Scotty on Delta Vega - I wanted him here.'

'If you say so, Sir,' Jim agreed half-heartedly. He had had the dubious honour of having Montgomery Scott (Call me Scotty, laddie!) as a TA in his Second Year Engineering class, and frankly, the man was mad. 'But about McCoy,' Jim tried to pull them back on track, 'You want me to, what? Mentor him?'

'No, nothing as formal as that,' Pike shook his head, sitting up straight again, 'I just think he'll need someone to show him the ropes, but he probably won't think he will. If you've got one talent, son,' Pike grinned at him, 'It's that you're persistent. Befriend him, keep an eye on him, help him settle in.' He glanced at the chrono on his desk. 'I'm planning to go down and great all the new crew off the shuttle. Come with me and see what you think.'

A lot of Captain's wouldn't be bothered meeting lower level staff joining their ship, but Pike was the kind of Captain who could at least recognise all of his crew by face, and knew as many of their names as was possible day to day. It was something Jim really admired about his leadership style, and was doing his best to emulate.

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

They docked and went through assorted procedures for almost an hour before the Comms officer let Pike know the crew shuttle was arriving in. Pike stood from his chair, stretching out an old knee injury, and gestured to Jim. 'Let's go, Commander. McKenna - you have the conn.' The helmsman nodded and turned back to his own station.

When they arrived at the shuttle bay Giotto, Chief of Security, was already there. He nodded formally to both of them, his 'I might kill you for fun' face in place - as Jim liked to call it. There was also a Quartermaster, who was the one actually responsible for assigning quarters, uniform, and making sure the new members were pointed in the right directions.

The shuttle had already made it into the air lock at the back of the ship by the time they arrived so it was a short wait until it docked in the main bay, doors hissing as they released their seal. The pilot didn't disembark, she would be returning to Starbase 3 almost immediately, so it was just the 12 crew who made their way down the steps to stop in front of their officers. Eight men and four women, all looking human or a slight variant on, snapped to attention as Pike made his presence known. One man, older and standing at the back of the crowd, was slower than the rest. Jim knew straight away that would be McCoy.

The man looked a little unsettled, whether by the flight, the ship or the newness of his position, Jim couldn't guess, but that unsettled feeling was manifesting as a rather frightening scowl. At least, Jim hoped he didn't look like that all the time - not if he was meant to be a doctor. Standing next to him was a notably attractive dark-skinned woman. Her salute was perfect, as was her uniform and brushed back ponytail. She showed no nervousness at all, as though she knew she was exactly where she belonged. She made an interesting contrast to the man next to her.

'At ease,' Pike's voice drew Jim's attention back to him. 'Welcome to the Enterprise. I think most of you probably know me in some capacity already,' Pike smiled, 'But for clarity I'm Captain Christopher Pike. This,' he gestured to his right, 'Is Commander James Kirk, my First and also Head of Tactics. If you ever have a problem aboard this ship, and you don't feel it can or should be dealt with by your direct superior, then Mr. Kirk or I are always available to speak to. Just send a meeting request or grab one of us at any time. As the old saying goes - our doors are always open.' There was a ripple of appreciation from the group and a very slight lessening of tension. Pike had made that same speech when the Enterprise had launched - although Spock had been Commander then, not Jim. Spock, Vulcan in all but 50% of his DNA, didn't really give the most 'approachable' impression, but the offer had still been made. Jim now tried to look welcoming but professional. Pike then gestured to his left, 'And this is Lieutenant Commander Giotto.' He didn't offer Giotto's first name because no one called the Chief 'Sam' except Pike, and even then only in private. 'He is Chief of Security and if we ever have a problem with one of you that we don't think can or should be dealt with by your direct superior, then the Chief will be speaking to you.' He smiled as he said it but the message was clear. 'And finally,' Pike spoke again after a quiet moment, 'This is Ensign Danz, he is the Quartermaster and he will be sorting out your uniforms, stations and sleeping quarters. I'm going to leave you in his care, unless anyone has any pressing questions?' A moment of silence and Pike nodded. 'Very good.'

Pike turned and started for the turbolift again, Giotto on his heels. Jim glanced between the recruits and his Captain, undecided if now was the best time to approach McCoy. The older man had lined up at the end of the Quartermaster's queue, behind the young and excited recruits. Jim almost went over to him but then decided to wait. The man would need to get sorted out here anyway, and Jim didn't want to make a show of singling him out for attention.

He had to jog to catch up with the other two officers and Giotto raised an eyebrow at him as he slipped through the turbolift's rapidly closing doors. Pike just chuckled lightly. 'Decided to wait, Jim?'

Jim grinned back and nodded. Pike could read him like a book. 'Yes - best to give him time to get sorted. Don't worry, I won't forget to make friends.'

Giotto kept his eyebrow raised in an obvious but silent request for more information. Jim grinned at him. 'One of Pike's resc-' he cut himself off at Pike's frown, 'One of the Captain's special recruits. He asked me to help the guy settle in.'

'The older man at the back of the group,' Jim nodded as Giotto spoke, 'Dr. Leonard McCoy.'

No one asked how Giotto knew his name - there was no doubt the Chief had read over and memorised the files of every single person being added to the ship's roster.

'Yes,' Pike confirmed anyway, as the turbolift opened on Deck 3, home to the Security offices. 'He's a good one - I want to keep him.'

Giotto just shook his head as he stepped out, offering a very small smile as he threw a quick salute. 'Always collecting strays, Chris.' Then the doors closed and Jim turned to Pike.

'Was he looking at me when he said that?'

Pike just laughed. 'You're hardly a stray, Jim. Now,' he moved back to business, 'What are the actions for the rest of shift?' That topic took them back onto the Bridge and onto further tasks for the next few hours.

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

After shift ended and everyone else was heading off to dinner or recreation, Jim made his way to Deck 8. McCoy was being brought on as a secondary physician to Pruri, the CMO, but he still got his own room on the officers floor, being both a Lieutenant First Class and a doctor. Jim had checked before he left his station and McCoy was assigned to Rm845, about ten doors down from Jim himself, and the computer confirmed he was in his quarters. So Jim made his way straight down the corridor, which curved slightly with the ship's saucer, and stopped outside the right room. Before he could press the buzzer though the door opened and McCoy, looking at a padd in his hand, almost walked straight into him. He caught himself just in time and staggered back a little.

'Lieutenant,' Jim began, before the silence stretched.

McCoy seemed to take a second to register who was standing in front of him, blinking once before snapping to a smart salute. 'Commander.' His tone was questioning.

Jim just waved a hand in the air. 'There's no need for that, my shift ended a few minutes ago, I'm off duty. You can call me Jim.'

McCoy wasted no time in relaxing back out of attention and eyeing Jim with a suspicious look. 'If you're off duty what are you doing at my door, Sir?'

'Jim,' Jim said again, then smiled. 'I was actually just coming to introduce myself. Wondered if you'd like someone to sit with at dinner, if you haven't already eaten?'

'I haven't…' McCoy was frowning again, 'In fact that's where I'm going right now but…' He looked a little unsure but kept going. 'But why would you want to eat with me?'

Jim just laughed a little, trying to put the other man at ease. It sort of worked, at least McCoy did follow him as he gestured out the door, and even left the padd on his table before the door closed. 'You're a new officer aboard, I know what that's like - it can be nice to have someone to sit with the first day.' McCoy was levelling him a 'bullshit' look with one eyebrow raised, and Jim laughed for real this time. 'It's true!' he protested, and then decided to be straight, 'But also, maybe Pike asked me to look in on you.'

McCoy snorted, not quite derisively but it wasn't far off. 'Wanted to make sure I hadn't bolted already did he?' He sounded like he might have given the prospect some thought.

'Something like that,' Jim admitted, as he requested Deck 4, 'He just thought you might need some, uhm, friendly guidance settling in. He obviously thinks very highly of you,' he finished off, trying to make it sound less like he'd been assigned babysitting duty.

'Yeah,' McCoy grumbled, half under his breath, 'He thinks so highly of me he completely ignored my request to be anywhere but a starship.'

It was just as well Pike had warned Jim, or he might have said something unfriendly to that comment. As it was he couldn't quite keep the reprimand out of his tone. 'Our best people are needed on the front, and space exploration, in starships, is the front. If you're as good as Pike says you are then you're exactly where you should be.' McCoy glowered at him as they exited the lift and headed towards the noise of cutlery coming from the mess. 'Oh come on,' Jim smiled widely at the older man, 'It's not that bad. Enterprise is the flagship - you're in the best of the best here. And we're usually tasked with long range exploration, when we're not doing diplomatic missions, so we really get the 'new places, new people' bit of the recruitment pitch.' Jim grabbed two trays from their space and handed one to McCoy, gesturing for him to go down the line in front of Jim.

'New diseases, new man-eating fauna, new ways to die,' McCoy pointed out as he ordered a plate of salad from the replicator.

Jim silently counted to five in his head. 'It's not as dangerous as you think, you know,' he said, ordering a burger and fries for himself, 'Most of it's pretty routine, and a lot of the universe doesn't want to eat us.' He had meant it as a joke, but it only seemed to lower McCoy's mood some more.

'Yeah, routine - one of Starfleet's top trauma surgeons sitting on a flying saucer full of perfectly healthy people, wasting my time with check-ups and flu jabs.' McCoy shook his head as Jim followed him, frowning deeply now. 'I was doing important research on Starbase 3 - research that would have saved millions of lives. This is just a waste.' He dropped his tray down with a clatter and dropped himself equally heavily onto his seat.

Jim sat down across from him and did his level best to keep his voice even. He didn't think he managed very well. 'This is not a waste, McCoy.' The older man raised his eyes, defiance written all over his face, but Jim didn't let him get a word in, 'These men and women,' Jim gestured around, keeping his voice low, 'Are 'perfectly healthy' right now. But the minute something goes south they'll be filling your medbay. There's no fancy new equipment up here, no massive trauma staff to call on - there's a handful of nurses, what equipment survives first contact and you. So I hope you aren't bragging when you say you're the best - the best is the only thing that will keep us all alive up here. And for the record,' he finished, 'What we do up here saves millions of lives, and in a much more immediate way than years of research in a lab.'

Rather than being annoyed at Jim's reprimand McCoy seemed to genuinely consider it for a minute, but then dismissed it with a wave of his hand. 'You don't know what you're talking about, kid. I was much more valuable in that lab.'

'Don't know-' Jim cut himself off, raising a wrist to McCoy's eye level, 'I didn't win these stripes in a cracker box, buddie, I've seen action. You don't know what you're talking about, but I hope you learn before it's me lying on your biobed.' Unbidden Jim saw a field of bodies stretched out in front of him - testament to what a world without Starfleet looked like. He shut that down quickly.

McCoy just scoffed a little, but his tone softened considerably, 'Honestly? You look about 22, I was about to ask how you got promoted so young.'

'I'm 25,' Jim pointed out, finally shoving some fries in his mouth, trying to get back to civility, 'And I wasn't that young - I only made Commander last month. Not the youngest out there.' He picked up his burger, shrugging one shoulder, 'But I was born on a starship, so I guess it's in my blood.'

McCoy let a piece of lettuce drop off the fork half way to his mouth, 'You were born on a- Jesus! This level of radiation cannot be good for a new born. What happened? Were you a preemie or something?'

Jim was a little taken aback at the onslaught. There had never been comment on it, at least not that his parents had mentioned, but then, Jim hadn't made a habit of hanging out with medical staff. Maybe McCoy wasn't totally paranoid, were they all a bit like this? He shook his head as he chewed a bite. 'No, I wasn't. My parents were both serving on the Kelvin - no point in mom going back to Earth and us only seeing dad once in a year. So she stayed on duty and had me on board. I lived on the Kelvin until I was four. Don't worry,' he grinned widely as he pretended to twitch his left eye, 'I turned out fine.' He was rewarded by an actual chuckle and a genuine smile from the surly man across from him.

'So what you're telling me,' McCoy's voice was full of friendly sarcasm, 'Is that you're a lost cause because you bleed Starfleet?'

Now Jim laughed. 'I guess you could say that,' he conceded. 'I'm third generation, so there's no going back now. What about you?' He ignored what he had heard from Pike, curious about this cantankerous not-as-old-as-he-acted doctor, 'You hate space yet here you are - what's your story?'

'I don't hate space,' McCoy protested, although he didn't sound totally convincing, 'I'm just not a fan of space travel.' He ran a hand through his hair, looking tired. 'I needed a fresh start, I guess. And Starfleet was as far as I could go away from the life I had.' He stared down at his salad, looking at it like it had made him sign up. Then he sighed. 'Could be worse, I suppose,' he glanced at Jim, a small smile in place, 'I have got to work on some pretty cool stuff since I joined. Didn't get a lot of alien illnesses, or xeno-patients at all actually, back in Georgia.'

Jim nodded, glad the doctor was at least enthused by the variety of work he'd have. 'On my second ever away mission we came across a planet entirely covered with this type of fern - at least that's what we thought it was. Turned out it was sentient, didn't like us clipping samples off it, and released spores that could essentially take control of someone's nervous system. Half the away team started doing it's bidding and trying to kill the rest of us. That was an interesting medical problem.'

McCoy's fork froze again, as he stared at Jim in disbelief. Then his professional indifference took over and he scoffed. 'You're messing with me,' he said, stuffing a large bite of salad into his mouth.

Jim just shook his head, smiling even though it wasn't a pleasant memory. 'I'm not,' he protested, 'I was only three months out the academy, just an ensign along to observe. And suddenly the Chief of Security was trying to slit my throat with a pocket knife. I've still got a scar.' He held up his left hand, where a thin silver line ran across the palm, easy to see in the bright artificial light. He wasn't quite prepared for McCoy to reach out and grab his hand, but he managed to not react.

'What?!' McCoy now looked honestly angry, 'What kind of crack doctor let you walk away with a scar! Do you know how many nerve endings are in the hand - that should have been sealed up immediately.'

Jim tugged his hand back, conscious of a few curious stares in their direction. 'I guess we didn't have the best,' he said, half sarcastically. 'Plus, there were more seriously injured, a little cut like that had to wait. It wasn't going to kill me, after all.' It had been a shit storm right after. Almost everyone on the landing party was injured, half of them were mind controlled and still trying to kill everyone. There had only been two doctors on the Reliant and they weren't the best - Jim didn't mind saying that since one of them had almost killed him during a routine procedure. He had wrapped his own hand in the aftermath, and then run to Tactics where he was needed on station. It was hours later before he even thought about the cut, at which point it had mostly closed over and all he needed was a disinfectant hypo. He'd let it scar and not gotten it fixed, as a reminder of that very first away mission gone fubar.

'You could have lost motor sensitivity in your hand,' McCoy pointed out, rather darkly, but went back to his salad. 'So is that the weirdest thing you've seen out here?'

Jim thought for a minute. He'd had a reasonably quiet first few years in the black; just enough trouble for him to earn his promotions but not die. He'd seen action, plenty of it, but apart from that memorable away mission the ships he'd served on had had limited distance and milk-run missions. Well, until he'd gotten to Enterprise anyway. When Pike had offered him the role of Lieutenant First Class aboard he'd told Jim this would mean a lot more adventure and a lot more danger. Jim had jumped at the chance and not four days after coming aboard had been forced to jump between the Captain and an ambassador turned assassin. Pike had been very grateful. His mother had been furious.

'I think that's probably the weirdest, yeah,' he agreed. 'Everything else has been more the usual politics and first contact shtick - that'll earn you plenty of bumps and bruises, but it's not in the 'mind controlling flora' category.'

'And you said you followed a parent in?' McCoy seemed genuinely interested in knowing more about him.

'Both parents, like I said,' Jim grinned as McCoy nodded in remembrance. 'Mom's Head of Engineering on the Gallant, Dad's Captain of the Kelvin 2.0.'

'So you never considered anything but this?' McCoy waved his fork around the mess full of uniformed crew.

'I guess not,' Jim agreed. He hadn't really. 'I grew up with Starfleet, I know how important what we do is.' He shrugged as he finished the last of his fries. 'I suppose it's like you say - I kind of bleed silver.' He grinned again, 'You obviously had a life before all this though - did you always want to be a doctor?'

'No,' McCoy said, surprisingly, 'I wanted to be an explorer.' He grinned as Jim half choked on his drink, laughing. 'Yeah, I know - goes against everything I just said, but it's the truth.' He shook his head a little, still smiling. 'We all want stupid stuff when we're kids. When I was ten I broke my arm, climbing trees. My brother splinted it up and brought me back home - gave me a sense of what being able to help in an emergency felt like.'

'My brother broke my arm for me once, but he never fixed it,' Jim grinned as McCoy laughed. 'So you decided there and then to become a good old sawbones?'

'Sawbones?'

'It's what they used to call doctors way back in the World Wars,' Jim explained, 'You know - because they sawed through bones.'

'Gross.' McCoy threw down his fork to take a drink of water. 'I'm so glad we've moved on from there. But yeah,' he continued, 'I started working towards medschool then. Graduated and worked my way to Head of Trauma in Georgia General. It was a great job - got to see lots of patients but there was so much research going on too.'

He looked pretty wistful and, knowing at least some of the story of how he ended up here, Jim tried to lighten his mood. 'You said Starfleet had you doing research too? The labs on Enterprise are state of the art, since it's the first of these new ships - it's a scientist's playground, or so I've been told.' He'd seen the labs in a general tour, but they just looked like regular labs to him.

McCoy, though, had perked up considerably. 'Really?' he asked, looking around like he was expecting a lab to be set up in the corner, 'No one told me I could continue my research here.'

'Well,' Jim said, 'You'd have to speak to Pruri about it, since he's your superior, but I know he's doing a load of research on space affective disorder, or something or other, so I can't imagine he'd have a problem with you having a project of your own.' Jim caught McCoy's eye, holding. 'I can't make promises, though - it's Pruri's call.'

McCoy just nodded, looking a lot happier. 'Yeah, I know - I'm not worried. I worked under Pruri for a little while in San Fran. We worked on emergency protocol plans together - he's a good doctor.'

'That he is,' Jim agreed. He'd woken up to the older man's smiling face, after that incident with the ambassador, and was quite fond of him as a result. Pruri was the perfect blend of caring and 'no bullshit' that Jim liked in Pike. 'We could go and see the labs now, if you want?' he offered, since they'd both finished eating, 'They'll be at half-staff for beta shift, so it's a good time for a little tour.'

McCoy nodded enthusiastically but as he opened his mouth, no doubt to agree, a huge yawn cut him off. Jim laughed as he grabbed both their trays. 'Sorry,' McCoy shook his head a little, 'I had a double shift right before the shuttle left for here. It's been a long…two days.' He took a moment to calculate the length of time since he'd last slept.

Jim stopped in his tracks and raised an eyebrow at the older man. 'Two days, seriously? Alright, no tour for you.' He cut off McCoy's protests as he disposed of their trays and pointed towards the door. 'No, no way, McCoy. There's no orientation or training period here, you're on duty at 0800 tomorrow morning. You need to get back to your room and sleep.'

McCoy looked at him like someone who wasn't used to taking orders. Jim supposed that he wasn't - doctors, even in Starfleet, were rarely at the beck and call of their superiors. When someone was bleeding out no one outranked the person who could save their life. But this was about the doctor's health which McCoy, after an instinctive moment of rebellion, seemed to realise. He nodded and let some of the weariness he must have been holding back show on his face. 'Yeah, okay, you're right.' He followed Jim out of the doors and back towards the turbolift.

'You can ask Pruri about the research tomorrow,' Jim pointed out as they were lifted back up to Deck 8, 'And if he doesn't have time to show you I'll give you a tour tomorrow evening. Or I can show you where everything else is - rec rooms and all of that?' They walked out and stopped by McCoy's door. 'Same time tomorrow for dinner?'

McCoy gave him a hard look before he opened his door. 'You don't need to babysit me kid, really, I'm sure you've got friends to be hanging around with.'

Jim shrugged a shoulder. 'Sure I do, but I'm always up for another - I like being popular.' He grinned widely as McCoy scoffed. 'Seriously, I want to - I'll see you same time tomorrow.' Rather than waiting for more arguments he made his way on down the corridor to his own quarters. He could hear McCoy's door close before he slid his own open. It was only when he got in and heard the comm unit beeping that he remembered his father had said he'd call. Jim just managed to hit answer before the call cut off. He was met with the slightly startled face of his father, who had already been turning away from the camera.

'Hi, Sir, sorry! I'm literally just in the door.' He punctuated by plopping himself down in the computer chair and taking a deep breath.

His father cocked an eyebrow, glancing to the side, probably to a chrono. 'Alpha finished almost two hours ago, I thought you'd be free by now - Chris did pass on my message?'

'The actual threat to my wellbeing if I didn't answer?' Jim joked, 'Yeah, he did. I was having dinner with one of the new crew, lost track of time.'

'The drunk doctor?' George asked, grinning as Jim nodded, 'Where does Chris find these people?'

'This one was in our neck of the woods, apparently - in a clinic in Riverside.' Jim thought back on the last two hours. 'But he seems okay - obviously a great doctor, if perhaps a little grumpy. I like him.'

George raised an eyebrow, 'That's high praise coming from you, at least about a doctor.' Jim's aversion to medical treatment was a long running family joke. 'Your mother will be glad to hear you're making more friends - it can be hard, when you climb through command.'

Jim nodded, it was a discussion his father and he had had when Jim was given his promotion last month. 'Yeah, I do find it's not really the same with the rest of the guys now.' He had made plenty of friends aboard the Enterprise in the time he'd served as Lieutenant, and even though they were still his friends, it had an edge to it now. At any moment he could issue an order and they would have to obey - they all knew it. Evenings spent complaining about their superiors and joking about Starfleet had all but ended.

George was nodding sympathetically. 'Yeah, it's just not the same is it?' Then he grinned widely, 'Wait 'til you make it to Captain - no one wants to hang out with you then.'

'Aww, dad,' Jim teased, also grinning, 'Are you lonely in your shiny new ship that Starfleet custom built for you?'

'It's not the same as the old Kelvin,' George pouted and Jim laughed out loud.

'Yeah, so you've mentioned. About a million times.' Jim said, stopping laughing before he continued. 'I hear there's a possibility of mom getting that transfer to you?'

George's smile fell a little. 'How did you hear about that - you better not have been hacking into the servers again, Jim, I'm serious.'

Jim held up a hand in defence. 'Calm down, dad - I haven't done that since academy. Mom told me.'

George looked mollified, 'Oh, well, yes, there's a possibility. Hughes here doesn't really care where he serves so long as he's in the middle of an engine, so he's happy to do a swap transfer. The paperwork went in yesterday. We'll see what Brass says.'

Jim nodded. His parents had been lucky enough to serve on the old Kelvin together, before and after Jim was born. But when Winona got promoted she had moved to another post, and Jim had gone home to Iowa with his brother and grandparents. George had stayed where he was. Over the last 20 years husband and wife had wrangled some ships together, some desk time in the academy and on various outposts. But the life of a Starfleet officer was among the stars, and stars were very far apart. Now, with their children fully grown and both having reached as far as they wanted to go in their careers his parents had been working towards getting reunited on the Kelvin. George would be made an admiral eventually, there was little doubt, but that was a few years off at least. The plan was to spend their last few years of space travel together - if Starfleet were willing.

'They don't really have a reason to say no,' Jim pointed out, 'I'm sure it'll be approved.'

'We'll see,' said his father, with his usual stoic acceptance of Starfleet's will. Then he smiled again, 'Speaking of distant lovers, how is Carol?'

Jim grinned. 'She's great. We actually managed a video call yesterday - the signal is awful and so far we've really had to stick to mails. It was good to see her.' Carol was stationed on a far out research post, on a frozen planet in the neutral zone. Her party could barely leave the station without freezing to death, were living off dried rations and would be there for another two months. Carol was in her element, face red with cold but bright with happiness when the slightly blurry image had finally come through. 'She's having a great time.'

George shook his head, 'I love that girl but who could be having a great time on Mekar II?' He gave a theatrical shudder, 'It's got to be the worst place in the universe.'

Jim would totally agree but Carol was happy to be anywhere that let her experiments continue. Jim didn't even know what she was working on at the moment - she was two security clearance levels above him so she couldn't always talk about her work. He could presume it was something related to the cold, given the location, and he knew she was with a team of eight other Starfleet personnel. But outside of that, he was in the dark. Instead of talking about her research they had spoken about his promotion and how he was settling in. And they'd talked about her parents, whom Jim had met up with on Earth five weeks ago. Carol's father, Admiral Marcus, would, of course, have been present for Jim's promotion either way, but Jim had been touched that Carol's mother had come as well. Neither of his own parents could get time off, so it had been nice having someone to hug him and fuss over his new strips. And Carol had also told him a rather alarming story about a Mekar II native fauna, whom she said resembled a 15ft tall polar bear but with three sets of teeth and four eyes. Carol, pure scientist and the survival instincts to match, had been fascinated by the discovery. Thankfully, for Jim's sanity, four of the nine person team were Security, who had pulled the scientists back inside and tracked the beast away from the station.

'How long is she going to be on that godforsaken snowball for anyway?' George pulled Jim back to the conversation, 'Does she know?'

Jim shrugged. 'The plan was for another two months,' he explained, 'All going well. But they do have the option to extend for an additional three if they need it.' He shook his head, smiling a little, 'Carol would definitely be up for it, if the opportunity is there. But from the little she's able to tell me it does sound like they'll be done in another seven weeks or so.'

'And when she's finished there?' George had that look on his face. It was the same look he'd worn since Jim and Carol had reached the one year mark of their relationship. George was old fashioned in some things - he and Winona had married at 21, still in the academy, and had George Jr. not even one year later. He had been hinting at marriage for almost three years now.

Jim gave him a rueful smile, knowing what his next words would result in. 'Well,' he started casually, 'There's the possibility of a weapons position opening up on Enterprise.'

Predictably, his father's eyes lit up. 'Really? Is Carol going to apply for it? Will I get your grandmother's ring out of storage? It's in Iowa but I can definitely have it at a Starbase for your next supply run.'

'Dad, seriously, stop.' Jim laughed all the same, not in the least annoyed. He wasn't about to admit it, but his mind had started going in that direction. 'Don't go sending out invitations just yet. We'll see how long she's on Mekar, then if there is a position here, then if she gets it.'

George just waved a hand in the air, 'Chris will give it to her, no problem.'

Jim shook his head, 'Only if she's the best option - neither of us would want it any other way. Then, maybe, we'll start talking about the next step. Maybe,' he added, as George grinned widely.

'Excellent!' George hadn't stopped smiling. 'Keep me posted on it all. You'll be around for the comm call Friday-week with your mother?'

Jim nodded. It was Winona's birthday and they would be a doing a family wide comm call. 'Yeah, I've pencilled it in - is Georgie free?'

'Yeah,' George nodded, 'He says he should be, but you know what that place is like - we'll see if he can get through.' George Jr., his wife and their baby son were all on another far out research planet - but this one was more of the desert kind. Signal came and went. On a good week Jim would receive a photo of his little nephew doing something his parents thought was amazing - usually along the lines of blowing snot bubbles or babbling incomprehensibly. Jim thought he was amazing too, if he was being honest. But getting calls through had proven difficult, and Jim himself had only managed one call with them the whole time they'd been on planet – going on nearly four months now.

His father then asked some more about his new duties and Jim spent some time explaining about the First Contact away mission they were prepping for. They were on route to the planet now and expected to arrive in a few days but it was an interesting meet and greet. The planet in question had politely refused to join the Federation for several decades and then changed their minds a month ago. No one knew why, but the Enterprise had been tasked with first contact.

'Your mother is convinced there's something going on and this is going to end badly.'

Jim just shook his head, grinning. 'Mom thinks that about all First Contacts - in fact about all away missions. If it's not an engine it's not to be trusted.' George laughed heartily in agreement with him.

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

The pain seemed very far away. Intellectually Jim knew he'd been shot. He could see, in his peripheral, red spreading across his chest. He also couldn't stop himself as he fell backwards, head bouncing as it hit the ground. Black spots appeared before his eyes and he blinked rapidly trying to clear them. Somewhere in between blinks a gold blur appeared. The blur was speaking, Jim knew he was speaking, but he couldn't hear anything. Or feel anything. Or move.

'Jim!'

It all came back in a very sudden, painful, loud moment. Pike's hand gripping his arm was the only thing that stopped Jim from completely doubling over in pain, even as the aborted movement itself caused fire to explode across his lungs. He groaned loudly but it was barely audible over the sound of shouting, phaser fire and panic.

'Beam out! Beam out!' Jim knew that voice was Giotto's, field marshal loud, clear even in the middle of a fight.

Jim couldn't breathe properly. Every time he tried to draw a breath in his lungs froze. A weak cough brought the black spots back.

'Jim!' Pike was shouting at him, probably had been for at least a while, 'Jim, damn it, stay with me.' Pike's hand was like a vice on his arm, but the other hand was raised, a phaser firing rapidly in the direction of their attackers as Pike knelt over him. More people were moving around, blurry shapes in the background. One or two fell over but the sparkling lights of a the transporter were already buzzing around Jim's head. The pain went away for the brief second his molecules weren't all together, and then returned with a vengeance as the cold, hard metal of the Enterprise appeared beneath his back. He must have passed out for a second because when he opened his eyes again it wasn't Pike leaning over him, it was McCoy. The doctor's face was pulled into an even fiercer scowl than normal, but his hand on Jim's shoulder was very gentle.

'Hang in there, kid,' he said quietly, not seeming to realise that Jim had woken again. He was busy looking up and behind him, his voice much louder as he barked instructions, 'Chapel, call medbay - five stretchers down here now. And get Pruri out of bed! Ryan, start triaging - organise those four for transport and brief Pruri when he arrives. I'm taking Kirk straight into surgery. Connors - my bag.'

Jim blinked a few times as he tried to process all that had just been said. The pain, still white hot and burning, was making him slow. It was just as McCoy turned his attention back to his patient that Jim's brain finally registered the first half of what he'd said.

'Who's injured?!' At least that's what he tried to say. In reality he got the first syllable out, then his chest seized up and the sentence died on his lips. He had to squeeze his eyes shut against the pain, body jerking again, instinctively. Two strong hands held him down and McCoy's face was suddenly much closer to his.

'Jim,' McCoy voice was calm, as though his sleeves weren't turning red as they touched Jim's body, 'Jim, I need you to stay still for me. Stay still and stay conscious, can you do that?'

Jim would have nodded, or said yes, or given any sign, but his head seemed to have fully disconnected from his body. He watched as McCoy reached down beside him and grabbed something. Something he then started waving over Jim's chest. Jim tried to follow it with his eyes but it was no use. He was too tired, and in too much pain. His eyes slipped closed even as he herd McCoy call his name again.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Jim felt strange. Not in pain, or tired, or hungry, or anything. Just strange. He felt a little like he was floating. He couldn't really feel anything, even though he knew, somehow, that he was lying down. Everything felt numb and for a panicked moment he couldn't tell if he was breathing.

Beep. Beep. Beep, beep, beep,beep,beep-beep-beep-be-be-be.

'Jim? Jim, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?'

He was breathing - he knew that because he'd be dead otherwise. But he couldn't feel his chest moving, or the air against his tongue as he opened his mouth a little.

'Jim? Open your eyes.'

He could feel a light pressure against his shoulder, and it was wonderfully grounding, feeling something, anything at all.

'Jim - I know you can hear me, kid. Open your eyes.'

The pressure on his shoulder increased a little and Jim's brain finally starting paying attention to the words he'd been hearing. McCoy - that was McCoy's voice, and the beeping was a heart monitor. He was in the medbay. He'd been shot.

It took several long seconds to prize open his eyes, and when he did he had to shut them again immediately, the lights above him much too bright.

'Lights to 50%. Try again, Jim.'

He did as he was told and squinted up at McCoy. The doctor was leaning slightly over the bed, his face in Jim's direct line of sight. His usual frown was softer than normal and it was his hand resting on Jim's shoulder that was applying pressure. A quick glance around showed he was in one of the private treatment rooms, off to the side of the main medbay.

'Hey, kid.' McCoy kept his voice very low and Jim was grateful for it. He didn't have a headache, but he felt…tender all over. 'Welcome back to the land of the living. How do you feel?'

'Uhh,' Jim managed, intelligently, before he started coughing, his throat totally dry. Coughing, or trying to, informed him that he couldn't move anything from the neck down, but before he could panic about it McCoy was already speaking.

'Easy,' McCoy said, slipping one hand behind Jim's head to hold him up a little, until the coughing died down, 'You're in a stasis field, that's why you can't move. Took me ages to put your chest back together, I'm not having you ruining it all on me now.' McCoy graced him with a rare smile, although it was drawn. 'I'll release you from it in a while, but I want to know you won't cough up a lung first.'

'Don't think I have any lungs left to cough up,' Jim managed to croak, as McCoy let go of his head. A glance down showed that he was shirtless, half covered in a light blanket, but mostly covered with a thick layer of white bandage that ran from just below his neck to under the blanket, and from one side to the other.

'Oh don't be so dramatic,' McCoy joked lightly, 'They're still in there - believe me, I checked.'

Jim gave him a side eye, 'That's weirdly creepy and invasive. Thanks.'

McCoy just snorted as he reached for a hand held scanner by the bed. He started waving it over Jim's torso. 'Whatever. So how do you feel?'

'Like I got hit by a starship and then you drugged me up to my eyeballs. What happened?'

McCoy was busy studying the scanner and comparing it to the readout on the biobed screen above Jim's head. 'You got shot by a blaster and then I drugged you up to your eyeballs,' he said distractedly. 'Your heartrate's kind of high, are you in any pain?'

'Pain?' Jim asked, 'I can't feel anything. Seriously, what did you give me?'

McCoy just glared at him. 'Kid, believe me, until the regen is done with your chest, you don't want to feel anything. So no pain, anything else wrong? - your breathing seems good.'

'I'm fine.' McCoy rolled his eyes hard. 'What about the rest of the crew - there were other people injured, I remember.'

'Memory is okay then,' McCoy said slightly sarcastically, but he crumbled under Jim's look. 'There were four injured, apart from you.' He sighed. 'Two of them are still outside, but no one died and everyone will recover fully. You were by far the worst injured.'

Jim nodded, very slightly, thinking. 'Okay, that's good.' McCoy gave him a fierce glare but Jim just rolled his eyes, 'Not that people were injured, just that everyone will be okay.' Then he had a moment of doubt as he once again glanced down at his chest. 'I will be okay, right?'

McCoy nodded, still annoyed. 'Yes,' he confirmed, 'You'll be fine, so long as you do what I say and don't push yourself before you heal up.'

Pike visited a few hours later, waking Jim from what was probably his third nap of the day. McCoy was going to have to lay off the painkillers. Pike told him he'd called his parents and assured them he would be alright, but that Jim had better comm them himself as soon as. And he'd mailed Carol, not able to get a call through.

'I told her not to worry, that you'd be fine,' he said, from where he was sitting by Jim's bed. 'But I know that girl well enough to know she won't be satisfied with that. I've approved the long distance comm, so if you can get the connection up you can talk.'

'Thank you Sir.'

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

Carol's face was a little glitchy, a little fuzzy as the connection blinked, but Jim could clearly make out her red rimmed eyes and downturned mouth.

'Oh, sweetheart,' he began, wishing, as he often did, that they weren't billions of miles away from each other, 'I'm fine, I promise. Don't cry.' Carol just let out a sob, pushing a tissue against her mouth and shaking her head a little. 'Look,' Jim spread his arms, ignoring the slight twinge that created across his pecs, 'I'm fine, really. That new doctor I told you about patched me up good as new.'

'Jim.' Carol's voice was thick with tears and she choked a little on his name. More tears were sliding down her cheeks and she went back to sobbing into the tissue, seemingly not calm enough yet to speak.

Jim was a little taken aback. It wasn't that Carol hadn't gotten upset the handful of times he'd been injured - she was always upset and worried until she knew he was alright. But she knew his job was dangerous; even more so now. That was an understanding they, and every Starfleet couple, had. He didn't like the idea that she was on a planet with 15ft polar bears but he trusted the security officers with her, as well as her own extensive training. He'd never answered a comm to her sobbing, even the last time he'd been shot - by far his worst injury up to this.

'Carol?' He couldn't keep the concern from his voice, 'What's wrong? Are you okay?'

It was apparently the wrong thing to say, because she sobbed harder. But he could see her trying to reign it in, eyes narrowing as she took a few deep breaths, interspersed with more sobs. She wasn't a woman who liked being the victim, it was one of many things Jim loved about her, and after another few seconds, where Jim kept silent, she had controlled herself enough that she could speak.

'I'm sorry.' She sounded completely miserable, sniffing loudly, 'I'm such a mess.' She sniffed again, 'You're definitely okay?' Her eyes were wide and filled with unshed tears.

'Yeah, sweetheart,' Jim smiled reassuring at her, 'I'm fine, honestly. I'll be another day or so in medbay, and then I'll be back up and running. Now,' he held her gaze, 'Do you want to tell me what's got you so upset?'

'I-' she faltered, glancing away from him and then back, 'I really thought this time you- and then I just kept thinking-' She cut herself off again and more tears slid down her cheeks.

'Carol,' Jim tried to keep his voice soft but she was starting to really worry him, 'You're not making any sense, sweetheart. I know you were scared, and I'm really sorry, but I wasn't in danger of dying - I hope no one told you I was?'

She shook her head. 'No.' Another sniff. 'No, Captain Pike mailed me, because the call wouldn't go through, and said you'd been hurt badly but that you'd be fine.'

'Good,' Jim nodded - Pike had told him as much, 'So you knew I was going to be okay.' A sad little nod and more tears. This was so completely out of character, in the four years they'd been together, that Jim was a little lost at what to do. He'd have really liked to hold her, but that wasn't an option, words would have to do. 'Why are you so upset, sweetheart - what scared you so badly?'

'I-' she stopped again, but this time she took another deep breath, blew her nose and steeled herself. Carol steeling herself was a very physical thing, if you knew what to look for. And Jim did. 'The mail about you being injured,' she began, suddenly sounding a lot calmer, if a little detached, 'It arrived in right after-' another deep breath, 'Right after I handed in my notice to the research team.' Her voice wobbled on the final note and she bit her lip, hard by the looks of it.

Jim knew his mouth was open, but he couldn't bring himself to close it. Carol had wanted this research job for ages, had worked all of the last two years towards it. She's been so excited to go. He'd gotten to spend one day with her, on Starbase 2, right before she left. She'd been happy to see him, but totally distracted by what was coming. They'd laughed about it, the third time he'd asked her what ice-cream she wanted and she'd told him a fact about weapon's testing in subzero conditions.

'What?' he finally managed, intelligently.

'I- I handed in my notice,' Carol was still fighting for control over herself, but her words were clear, 'I can't stay here, not any more.'

'But Carol - this was what you wanted? This isn't because I got hurt, is it?' He couldn't understand how it could be, but then, none of this made sense. Carol shook her head but didn't say any more. Jim dampened down his frustration, born of his concern, and took a deep breath of his own. 'Okay, Carol, darling, start from the beginning and explain to me what's going on.'

Carol nodded again, flickering a little as the connection wavered and then steadied. 'Yes, yeah, sure,' she was rambling, 'So we have to have medicals every month here, to make sure no one is being adversely affected by the weather.' She glanced to the side and then back at him. 'And I went for one last week.'

She stopped speaking and Jim felt a swell of panic in his chest. 'Carol? Is something wrong? Did they find something when-' He was cut off by her.

'No, no,' she cut in quickly, smiling a little weakly and shaking her head, 'No, nothing's wrong, I'm fine. But-' She was biting her lip, 'But they did bloods this time and-' A look of frustration passed across her face, before she smiled a little ruefully. She'd almost completely stopped crying now, 'This wasn't really how I imagined telling you, but then that mail came and I thought I might not get the chance at all. Jim,' she looked him straight in the eye, 'I'm pregnant.'

Silence hung heavy in the air, but also the word 'pregnant' seemed to be echoing back and forth between them, like the connection really had glitched. Jim could hear his heartbeat beeping louder on the monitor. The last thing he needed right now was a medical team bursting through the door. He made a conscious effort to calm down before he spoke.

'You're pregnant?' He needed to hear her say it again, needed to know he hadn't heard it wrong. But she was already nodding, much happier looking tears spilling from her eyes now.

'Yeah,' she confirmed, smile wide, 'Yeah, I am.'

Jim's mouth was open again. And his brain seemed to have slightly shut down. Pregnant. A baby. A real live, forever baby. And he was in space. And she was on dangerous planet in the neutral zone. 'When?' he found himself asking, even though it really wasn't anywhere near the most important question.

Carol blushed a little, which, after four years together, would normally make him laugh. Carol could be wonderfully shy about certain things - the product of a strict and duty-bound upbringing under the Admiral. 'That one day we had together on Starbase 2, before I left.'

Oh yeah. Probably could have worked that one by yourself, genius, his mind supplied. They had only had the one day after all, so of course they had made the most of it. They had never worried about consequences because- 'But what about your shot?' Carol had always been diligent with her meds, as she was with everything.

The blush deepened. 'I think-' Carol looked sheepish, 'I think the meds I was given before coming out here countered it. At least that's what the doctor here thinks. This isn't really his area of expertise though, he's a biologist with some basic medical training.' Suddenly she didn't look nearly as happy, 'Jim, are you-?' she stopped and then started again, 'I mean, I know neither of us planned this, and it's far from perfect timing, but you're not- you're not mad are you?'

'What?' Jim barely caught what she had said, since he'd gone back to the idea of the dangerous ice planet, with no real doctor. It took a second for him to catch up. 'What?! No, Carol, sweetheart, not at all. I'm delighted, really!' He spread a smile across his face and found that once he'd put it on he couldn't have removed it if he'd tried. 'I'm sorry - it's just a bit of a surprise, obviously, and I just-' he made an aborted reach towards the screen, 'I wish I was with you.'

Carol's smile was sweet, tears finally completely dried. 'Yeah,' she agreed, 'I wish that too. But this is us, right?' She spread her hands to take in the background - she seemed to be sitting on a bunk in a tiny metal plated room, 'This is what we chose.'

It was true, of course. Carol and he had met in the Academy - fighting each other for top spot in a Starfleet History class. She'd won. He'd demanded a date as consolation. They had been together since final year, graduated at the same time and resigned themselves to a relationship of mails and comms and stolen snatches of time in the same quadrant. That wouldn't be forever, but they were both ambitious, and chasing promotions meant travelling in different directions. There had always been a long term plan, involving marriage, children and a more Earthbound life - or at least Starbase-bound. But that had been a good while in the future.

But now it was now.

'Well-' Jim tried to pull his thoughts together, 'We'll have to talk this out properly - what we want to do now. But first you need to get off that planet - when is your transport picking you up?' He trusted Starfleet Security and Carol's own training up to the point of his unborn child's life. He wanted her off that planet. Both of them off that planet.

Carol bit her lip, but just in confusion, not fear. 'I don't know yet,' she confessed. 'The request went in two days ago - Dr. Kil'ren wrote it immediately after the exam. But apart from an acknowledgement we haven't been given a timeline or anything. I'm perfectly safe here anyway, until 'fleet can spare someone to come and get me.'

'They should have responded with a transport immediately.' Jim frowned deeply. 'You're in the neutral zone - anything could happen.'

Carol just laughed at him, like she always did when he acted like he needed to protect her, 'Jim, even the Klingons wouldn't want to come here.' She gave him a smile, 'I will be fine and Starfleet will come and get me when they can. As it is, Kil'ren's already banned me from anything but computer based research, so I'm just sitting behind a desk.' She pouted and this time Jim laughed.

'Aw, that must be devastating for you, sweetheart, I can't imagine. Actually,' he countered himself, with a pout of his own, 'I absolutely can because Bones is going to make me play desk jockey for at least the next week with this.' He gestured to his chest.

'Bones?' Carol quirked an eyebrow.

'McCoy,' Jim explained, 'The doctor I told you about. I've given him a nickname. He pretends to hate it but I can tell he's secretly pleased.'

Carol just shook her head. 'You know this is exactly what Pike meant when he said 'persistent'.' She was interrupted by a beeping from her side. 'Oh shoot,' she looked back at him quickly, 'That's my cue to get off the comm, I've used up my time, I've got to go.'

There was a hell of a lot Jim hadn't managed to ask her yet - like when they were going to tell other people and what they were going to do after she got off Mekar and about a hundred and one things about how she was, but this was the reality of long distance communication. It would have to wait.

Didn't make it easy though. 'Alright, sweetheart,' Jim sighed, 'If you have to. I'll mail you later - I have more questions.' She laughed and nodded. 'Promise me you'll look after yourself. And I'll speak to Pike about what's delaying your transport, I'll get it sorted.'

Carol just shook her head, 'I'm sure you will, hotshot, just don't ruffle too many brass feathers on the way, will you?' She smiled at him, 'I'll be careful, but you have to be too. I love you.'

'I love you too, sweetheart.' He just managed to get that out before the connection broke and he was staring at a black screen. His reflection looked tired. Jim ran a hand through his hair but the door opened before he could make any other move.

McCoy took a quick look at the comm screen as he entered but other than that didn't hesitate. 'You done in here?' he asked, making his way to Jim's bedside and immediately reaching for the overhead read out controls.

'Yeah.' To Jim's slight horror his voice was shaking just a little. He cleared his throat, 'Yeah, Carol had to log off - restricted comms, you know?'

McCoy abandoned the controls to give Jim his undivided attention, which made Jim slightly uncomfortable if he was being honest. 'Everything okay, kid?'

'Everything's fine, now,' Jim assured, and then frowned. 'And stop calling me 'kid' - I'm your superior officer you know?'

McCoy, completely unfazed, just snorted. 'Not lying in that bed, you aren't. And don't bullshit me,' he pressed, 'I was watching your heart rate skyrocket from outside. I had to stop Chapel from running in here. What happened - is your Carol okay?'

'Your Carol' - it was the kind of old-timey phrase McCoy used without thinking. Rural Georgia hadn't moved all the way into the 23rd Century, apparently, and Jim kind of liked it. 'Carol is fine,' Jim assured. 'And thank you for not letting Chapel in here - we were having a private moment.' It was only as the words were out of his mouth that he realised what they sounded like and had to correct himself fast as McCoy started to raise an eyebrow. 'That's not what I meant!' He raised a hand in defence, 'I just meant she was telling me something and I didn't need an audience.' That didn't really sound that much better, and McCoy knew it.

'So whatever it was she told you is what had you so rattled? What, did she break up with you or something? Decide one of those nerdy scientists on Mekar were more her speed?'

That startled a laugh out of Jim. 'No,' he said, giving McCoy a look, 'And you are also a nerdy scientist, you do know that, right?' McCoy just waved a hand in total dismissal. 'No,' Jim continued, suddenly and randomly keen to share the news, 'She told me- well, she told me I'm going to be a father.' It was even more surreal to say it out loud and they both lapsed into silence for a moment before McCoy's hand came down on Jim's shoulder.

'Wow, Jim, that's amazing. Congratulations.' McCoy seemed genuinely happy for him and after just one week Jim was already grateful that Chris had suggested he befriend the older man. Then McCoy frowned a little, 'How far along is she - I thought you two hadn't seen each other in months?' Then his eyes widened a little, 'And is she still on Makar? That hell hole is no place for a pregnant woman!'

'I know,' Jim's voice was grim as well. He was less and less happy about Carol being stuck on Makar, he wanted it sorted. 'The research head has put in for a transport to come and get her but it's been two days of radio silence - I need to speak to Pike about it, get 'fleet moving. And,' he came to the realisation, 'I don't know how far along she is. We had one day together on Starbase 2 before we both flew out but I didn't get a chance to ask her.'

To his surprise McCoy just laughed. 'Well, Jim,' McCoy's voice was kindly patronising, 'If you know the actual day then I think you could stretch yourself to work out how far along she is.'

Jim coloured a little, because of course the doctor was right. 'Oh, yeah, good point. I hadn't thought of that.'

McCoy just laughed again, 'Yeah, well, you're probably thinking about other things - like little fingers and little toes. Baby kisses. Whether it'll be a boy or a girl? That's okay - you're allowed to be distracted.'

In fact Jim hadn't thought about any of that. He had pretty limited experience with babies. His nephew was 8 months old, but Jim had yet to meet him on anything but long distance comm. And there had only been he and his brother growing up. Carol was an only child. 'I don't know anything about babies.' Jim, if he was less in shock, would have appreciated why McCoy laughed heartily at that. He sounded completely lost but also as though that thought had just occurred to him.

'Don't worry, kid,' McCoy clapped his shoulder again, 'You and every other person who ever became a parent for the first time. You'll figure it out - everyone does.'

'If I'm even there at all,' Jim pointed out moodily. The longer he thought about this the more problems that seemed to be presenting themselves. He'd just been made First Officer not six weeks ago. It was much too early to ask for a dirtside billet, if he had any intention of making Captain in the next ten years. And while it had been an option for Carol to join him as the Enterprise's weapons expert, it was unlikely Starfleet would approve a pregnant officer to that. It wasn't the safest job, by its very nature, and Jim couldn't imagine Carol would think it was a good idea anymore either. Carol had always planned to do at least some off world work, but HQ would be only delighted to have her back with them. She'd had requests from three different departments before she even graduated, and of course there was always the standing offer of a teaching/research position at the Academy. She wouldn't want for work on Earth, but Earth it would be.

Jim had been incredibly lucky, in many ways. He'd spent the first four years of his life with both his parents on board a starship. But after that he'd been with his grandparents and brother, without either parent, for the next three years. They'd each managed maybe three visits in that entire time. And then their mother had taken a job in the shipyards for a few years, and been home. And then their father had done a year at the academy and they'd seen him every weekend. They'd been altogether, all four of them, literally a handful of times in Jim's life. How much was Jim going to miss? The birth - there was every chance he wouldn't be able to get off for that. Pike would spin it if he could, but if they were light-years from Earth he couldn't travel weeks out and weeks back just for his own personal life. He'd miss all the other firsts as well, mostly likely - first smile, first word, first steps. His baby would know him, but only as a 2d face on the screen in front of them. It made Jim's chest ache a little to think of it - the baby could be a year old, maybe older - before Jim even got to hold them.

'I do need to speak to Pike,' Jim reiterated, as McCoy finished up with some equipment. 'Am I good to go?'

McCoy gave him a look like he'd really like to say no but given the circumstances knew he couldn't. 'I'll let you go-' he held up a hand to stall Jim's immediate movement, 'Only on the strict promise that you'll have this one conversation with Pike and then go straight to your room to rest. I mean it Jim, you don't know how tired you're going to be once you're up and about.'

'Scouts honour, Bones.' Jim threw a messy salute. 'Pike's on the Bridge - I'll be 15 minutes with him and then straight to bed.' McCoy had his arms crossed. 'Promise,' Jim said again, trying to look obedient but then falling into serious. 'I need to speak to him, you know I do. But I won't push it, there isn't any point.'

McCoy stared at him for another second before sighing and nodding. 'Yeah, I know. Fine, go, I'll update your file now. But if you feel any pain, shortness of breath, if you're overly tired…even if something just doesn't feel right, you come straight back, you hear me?' Jim nodded, already swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, ignoring the slight pull on his chest. 'And I'll swing by your quarters tonight after shift. If you don't answer the door I'm using my medical over ride to open it - fair warning.'

Jim clapped him on the shoulder as he looked around for boots, a pair sitting by the door for him. 'Wouldn't expect anything else, Bones, I'll see you then.' He had to sit back down to pull on the boots and McCoy rolled his eyes before helping. Once Jim was back up again, ready to leave, he stopped a minute. 'Seriously, McCoy,' he looked the doctor in the eye, 'Thank you.'

McCoy just frowned in his usual manner and pushed Jim gently towards the door, 'Yeah, yeah, let's not get all sentimental here - go on before I change my mind.'

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

Jim was greeted enthusiastically when he first walked onto the Bridge. It had been four days since his injury and while Pike had kept them up to date most of the crew hadn't seen him in that time. Pike himself smiled warmly at Jim but was clearly distracted by the contents of the padd hanging from one hand, which he'd been reading when Jim arrived. He gestured towards his ready room. 'I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be here, Mr. Kirk, but since you are, come with me.'

Jim, distracted by his own reason for being there, followed Pike in and sat down after him, either side of the desk. Pike glanced once more at the padd, but put it down and focused his attention on Jim. 'Medical cleared you to be up?'

'Yes, Sir - I'm off duty for another shift, and then light duties, but I'm fine, really.' His head was full of Carol and the baby and he probably wouldn't have tuned in properly at all to what Pike was saying if the Captain hadn't started with:

'Good, I'm glad to hear that. Particularly because we just received urgent orders and I know you're going to want to be involved.' Jim frowned but stayed silent. 'The Enterprise is to fly into the neutral zone-' Jim's heart rate picked up a little- 'And make our way to Mekar II.' Here Pike held up a hand to stall Jim's interruption. 'There isn't an immediate threat, that we know of, but Intelligence has picked up chatter suggesting the Klingons know we're working on the planet, and would like to know what we're up to. Given the sensitive nature of the work being done there, which I know you already know about, HQ wants us to evacuate the scientists and equipment asap. It's more precautionary than anything, but I know you're close to this, so I wanted to brief you separately.'

Jim was struggling to process this information on top of everything else that had happened in the last hour. A potential Klingon threat explained why Carol hadn't heard back on her own request - HQ were busy organising a full evacuation. While Jim's heart was practically jumping through his chest at the idea of Klingons making their way towards Mekar, at least this meant Enterprise, and therefore Jim himself, would be the ones evacuating. And it meant not a moment would be wasted.

'We're setting a course immediately, I assume, Sir?'

Pike, silently impressed that Jim was keeping his head in the game, nodded. 'Yes, I've been told to divert our course and arrive on Mekar as quickly as possible. I was just about to brief the crew when you arrived, I'm going back out to do it now.' He stood as he spoke and Jim, still distracted, rose slowly as well. Pike gave him a sympathetic look and clapped him on the shoulder as he came around the desk. 'It's a precautionary move, son, don't dwell on the 'could be's'. We'll be there in two days and she'll be safe on board.' Jim nodded but didn't speak, and Pike squeezed his shoulder before striding towards the door. 'Go back to your quarters, Jim - you're supposed to be resting and there's nothing for you to do while we're laying in the course. I promise I'll include you in the evacuation planning tomorrow, but for now rest up.' Then he was gone.

Jim stood in the ready room for a full minute before his brain finally kicked back into gear and made him move. The Bridge was in organised chaos as he walked through it, the necessities of a sudden change in course and mission making everyone busy. Jim tried to block it out as he made his way quickly and quietly back into the corridor. Pike was right - there was nothing he was necessary for right now, and he needed to be fully recovered for their arrival to Mekar. Already he could feel the slightly strain of being up and mobile for the first time in days - a slight breathlessness by the time he had travelled to his own quarters' door. Still, once he was inside the first thing he did was turn on his personal station and send a mail to Carol. He didn't try to call her - quite apart from the fact that it was unlikely to go through, it wasn't smart to be increasing signals to a planet potentially under observation by an enemy. So all he could do was a short mail, telling her he'd sorted the problem and she'd be hearing soon. It wasn't ideal, and it certainly wasn't everything he wanted to say, but it was the best that could be done. Then he stared at his couch for a minute - it really wasn't big enough to lie on - and so he heaved himself up with a groan, half collapsing onto the bed. Even with all the thoughts of Carol, the baby, the evacuation order; he was still asleep in seconds.

The sound of the door chime woke him. The lights were still set at full and Jim had barely moved from the spot he'd fallen into. In fact his boots were still on, which he regretted when he went to stand up, one of his feet half asleep in them. The chime was still going. 'Computer, open door.'

Predictably McCoy entered just as Jim came around the partition into the living area, one hand trying to smooth his hair. McCoy just gave him a slow once over, stopping for a second on the full uniform and boots. 'Were you sleeping?'

'Mmm,' Jim mumbled, giving up on his hair and flopping down into the corner of the couch. He'd been asleep for hours, if McCoy was off shift, but he still felt groggy and tired.

'In your boots?'

'Mmm,' Jim agreed again, debating how likely he was to get a cup of coffee while McCoy was still in his rooms. Not a good chance, he suspected.

'How are you feeling?' Jim didn't really know why McCoy bothered asking, since he immediately sat down on the couch and pulled out a tricorder, waving it around and watching the screen.

'Fine.' Jim answered anyway, then amended at the doctor's glare. 'Tired, but fine.'

The tricorder beeped again and McCoy transferred his glare to it, which Jim suspected meant it also said he was fine. 'Any shortness of breath, trouble moving?'

'Nope.' Jim popped the 'p' and chuckled at the reaction. 'Seriously, Bones,' he reached out and clapped the older man on the knee, 'You need to trust yourself more, you really did fix me up, I'm good as new.'

'I'd totally believe you if I didn't know you were lying,' came the response. But McCoy did sit back, sighing heavily as he put away the tricorder and stared at the black screen of Jim's entertainment centre. 'So Pike agreed to go and get your girl?'

'The orders had come through before I even got to the Bridge.' Jim just then realised that Pike must have briefed the crew, and he had slept through that. 'So I didn't even have to say anything, he was the one telling me that we were going to get her.'

'You didn't tell him about the baby?'

Jim shook his head, thinking back on the conversation and only processing now that no, he hadn't said anything. 'It didn't come up.' He could feel rather than see McCoy turn an eye on him and fought the urge to squirm. 'We're going to get them anyway - I'll speak to him about it later.'

Rather than the judgement he was expecting McCoy just nodded. 'Fair enough. And on the bright side, you get to see her now - you weren't expecting that, were you?

A smile made its way onto Jims' face, because that was true. Best case scenario before this was getting her off Mekar and safely to Earth. Having her here, even for just a day or two, was a luxury he never could have hoped for. She'd be here, in his arms, and he could actually kiss her, and tell her how happy he was. 'Yeah,' he finally answered, 'It's good.'

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

'Kirk, you aren't coming.' Pike held up a hand and it barely stalled Jim's argument. 'Commander.' Pike was using his title on purpose, reminding him who he was and what he represented. 'I know, believe me I know. But we are dealing with the highest level of security here. I have to go down with the landing party. And if I'm gone you have to be here to take command. We're hoping this all goes well, but if it doesn't I need my First up here to save all our asses down there.' He looked Jim dead in the eye, as if willing him to understand.

The problem was Jim absolutely did understand. Only one of the commanding officers should ever be away from the ship at any time. Diplomatic meetings, both low risk and high priority, were the only time Pike and Jim both left the ship at the same time. Starfleet, although Jim had dedicated everything to them, didn't care that it was his pregnant girlfriend down there. They cared that there was life-changing equipment down there, and some of their greatest minds down there. They didn't care that Jim wanted Carol back in his arms as soon as possible.

'Jim,' Pike continued, placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, 'She's my first priority, I promise. We're going to find the scientists first, and have them beamed back up before we do anything else. Only the Head is staying with us, to identify the equipment.' He smiled at Jim, 'All going well we should have the first party back up within about ten minutes of us landing. Giotto will take point on the rest.'

Giotto had appeared at Pike's right shoulder as they spoke. He gave the Captain an acknowledging nod and then turned to Jim. 'I'll get Marcus back as a priority,' he said, surprising Jim. It wasn't that Giotto wasn't a good officer, Jim would trust him with his life, but he didn't really come across as the kind of man soft on family connections, 'But as soon as she's back on board I need your head in the game.' And there is was. Not that Jim was mad - Giotto was totally right. But he was kind of skirting the line of respect to superiors. Pike ignored it, and there was no way Jim was arguing with it.

'I know,' he nodded, 'I won't be distracted, don't worry. Let's go back over your main areas of concern once the shields come down.'

It was both a risky and a safe plan. The Enterprise currently had her shields up, since they were orbiting in the neutral zone, but they would have to come down to let the landing party beam to the surface. The research base also had protective shielding. Rather than the weapon proof kind on the Enterprise, the base had shields designed to limit the amount of signal coming from inside and make it as close to invisible to scanners as possible. It wasn't quite Klingon cloaking device level, and obviously comms and mails could go through, but it gave an added level of protection against random scanning. It also didn't allow beaming. With both shields down they were open to an attack. Of course their own scanners would give them some warning, but not enough, against a cloaked Klingon vessel. The plan, essentially, was to drop the shields and immediately beam down into the facility, secure the scientists, beam everyone back except the lead researcher and the security team assigned to them, use Dr. Kil'ran to identify the important equipment and beam all of that on board, then abandon the facility. Ideally they would be planetside for no more than 30mins, but that really depended on how long it took to get the scientists safe, and how much equipment was deemed 'essential' and had to be extracted.

'My main concern is unwelcome visitors appearing out of nowhere,' Giotto stated, glancing at Pike for confirmation. 'We know they're somewhere nearby. I don't like operating under the hope that they won't notice us.'

'I'll have the Bridge on high alert the entire time,' Jim assured, 'The first sign of anything shields will go up. I'll be at the other end of your comms, so if needed we'll either coordinate lowering shields or send down a transport and backup to get you out. How long are the charges set for?' Worst case of worst cases the ground team would be extracted by shuttle and the remaining equipment would be blown to pieces behind them.

'There's a four minute timer on them,' answered Giotto, 'Enough to get a shuttle clear but hopefully not enough to allow Klingon casualties.' If the Klingons infiltrated the base and then got caught in the blast it was potential for an act of war.

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

Before he made it to the turbolift someone shouted his name from down the corridor. Turning he saw McCoy jogging towards him, a medical bag bouncing against one hip and that 'calm before the storm' look in his eyes. 'Kirk - are you not going to be in the transporter room?' McCoy only called him 'Kirk' when they were on duty - it was his concession to rank, because he never called him Commander or Sir. In fact, Pike was the only person on the entire ship that Jim had heard the doctor call by rank.

'I can't, McCoy,' Jim pointed out, then explained some more as his friend frowned deeply. 'This is a dangerous mission and Captain Pike is joining the landing party. I have to be manning the bridge, since we're their only line of defence if something goes wrong.'

McCoy's frown went from disapproving to sympathetic. 'Of course,' he nodded, 'I hadn't thought.' He glanced behind him, towards the transporter door, 'Well, I'm going to be there to see the scientists back, although we're not expecting any casualties. Will I comm you when they get here?'

Jim would, of course, receive a report from Transport as soon as the beam up was complete, but it was a kind gesture. Especially as Jim's nerves were more tightly strung than he'd ever admit. So he smiled and nodded at the doctor. 'Yes, if you can,' he agreed, 'That'd be great.'

McCoy nodded back and clapped a hand on Jim's shoulder. 'I'll have them all in medbay, just to make sure no one is frost bitten but I'll make sure your Carol gets a full work up. Dr. Kil'ren might have a dozen phds but medicine isn't one of them. I'll see she's looked after.'

Jim thanked him again before they parted ways and Jim was walking back onto the Bridge. This was one of the rare occasions he'd be manning the Captain's chair and on any other day it would be a thrill to settle himself into the centre seat. Today he just couldn't wait for Pike to be back on board and relieve him of command.

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

It felt like the longest two hours of Jim's life. Carol was on board and safe, so he didn't have to worry. But knowing she was only five decks below him and he was stuck on the Bridge was torture. If there had been something to do he could have focused on the task, but the delay was only caused by the sheer volume of equipment that had to be beamed aboard. So everyone sat, tense and vigilant, but with nothing to show for it, as transport after transport came through. Eventually the research security team, quickly followed by the landing party, beamed up and Jim instructed shields raised and Warp 2 towards Federation space.

He was already out of the chair when the turbolift opened, auspiciously to greet his Captain but really because he couldn't sit still for another minute. Pike just grinned at him as he made his way to chair.

'All good, Commander?'

'Yes, Sir,' Jim made a conscious effort to report properly. He was on duty and would act like it. 'Nothing came up on scanners at all while you were planetside. Not even any interference. Anything happen down there?'

Pike sunk into the chair, rubbing his hands together. 'Apart from it being the coldest place in the universe and those scientists having enough equipment to terraform a planet? No, nothing but routine.' He eyed Jim with a teasing air. 'All the scientists were moved to medbay by our cantankerous new doctor. Why don't you go down and get me a detailed report?'

Jim grinned widely as he threw a rather cheeky salute, 'Will do, Sir. Thank you!'

With that he strode to the turbolift and resisted the urge to break into a jog when it let him out on Deck 6. The medbay doors swooshed open with barely a noise and inside was all quiet efficiency. Since no one had actually been injured on the away mission the scientists had been checked over and then presumably shown to rooms, since none of them were in the bay now. Jim was sure McCoy would have told him if Carol had moved though, so he was confident she was here somewhere. A confidence that was proven when one of the nurses, Potts Jim recalled, came over to him.

'Commander,' the nurse nodded politely. 'Dr. McCoy and Lieutenant Marcus are in Dr. Pruri's office. Dr. McCoy said you were to go in when you arrived.'

Jim thanked the man and made his way to the end of the ward. He'd been in Pruri's office exactly twice since joining the Enterprise - once for an initial assessment and once with Pike for an update on some injured crew. The door had a chime to let the occupants know someone was outside - the door was completely soundproof. Jim hit the chime but instead of McCoy's voice through the comm the door just slid open. Jim moved quickly inside and had just enough time to take in McCoy behind Pruri's desk and a blur of blonde before a warm body was hitting into his.

'Jim!' Carol's mouth was right next to his ear as he bent his head into her hair, arms wrapping tightly around her waist. Her arms were around his neck and it was all he could do to not lift her off the ground, mindful of squeezing too hard but so glad to have her back.

It was a long moment before they released each other, finally loosening grip so they could move to arm's length. Jim took the opportunity to give his girlfriend a quick once over, running his eyes over every part of her, looking for injury, and lingering on her still flat stomach. When he raised his attention she was smiling widely at him, a twinkle in her eyes.

'Hey hotshot, miss me?'

He just laughed and dived forward for a quick kiss before leaning back again. 'Are you alright?' he asked, even though she seemed fine, 'Definitely?'

'They're both fine, now stop making out in my office.'

Jim nearly started, having completely forgotten McCoy as soon as he stepped into the room. He recovered quickly though, tightening his hold on Carol as she blushed a little and tried to move away from him. 'This isn't your office, Bones,' he pointed out, raising an eyebrow at how the doctor was lounging in his superior's chair with a smirk on his face. 'Does Pruri even know you're in here?'

'Of course he knows I'm in here, don't be an idiot,' McCoy was smiling though, and Jim just laughed, turning back to Carol.

'You see the level of disrespect for senior officers aboard this ship?' he asked, one arm still wrapped around her waist, 'You see what I've been working with?'

Carol laughed as well, gifting McCoy a soft smile. 'Oh, I don't know. He might not be that respectful but I have no complaints.'

Jim glanced between her and his friend, a sliver of nervousness making its way back. 'Everything is okay? You and the baby?'

'Everyone is fine,' McCoy assured, tapping a padd in front of him on the desk. 'We did a full work up and everything is as it should be. Despite the hardly ideal conditions.' He threw Carol a glare but it had no heat to it. 'Baby's due in six and a half months, but you already knew that,' Jim noticed a light blush on Carol's cheeks, 'And the development on the scan is all perfect.'

'You did a scan?' Jim felt a wave of disappointment sneak up on him. He knew next to nothing about pregnancy but he did know he'd just missed the opportunity to see the baby for the first time. He looked down at Carol, 'You saw the baby?'

Carol smiled widely as she looked up at him, one of her own arms snaking around his waist as well. 'Yeah, I did. Dr. McCoy recorded it though, so you could see it too.'

McCoy gave him a knowing glance and lifted the padd off the table, offering it to Jim. 'It's all loaded up, just press play.'

Jim grabbed it quickly with a heartfelt 'thanks' towards McCoy. He activated the padd, a video already on screen and felt Carol lean into his arm as he pressed play. In front of him was a brown and black moving blob. Jim waited a second, thinking the video would settle, but the blobs just moved around a bunch, forming different shapes but not anything that looked like a baby. His confusion must have shown on his face because he could hear Carol laughing softly.

'I couldn't make head nor tail of it either,' she confessed, smiling as Jim looked down at her, 'Doctor, could you show him like you did me.'

McCoy, probably knowing full well Jim wouldn't know what was happening in the video, was already coming around his desk. He was grinning, which only got wider as Jim glared at him and held out the padd. The doctor didn't take it though, instead leaning in next to Jim's other side and directing the padd back so all three of them could see it. 'Here,' he started, pressing some settings, 'First turn on the sound, then we'll go through it.' After doing that McCoy pressed play again and the same weird, psychedelic display showed up, this time accompanied by a sound like old static radio. 'This,' McCoy pointed to one weird shape, 'Is the sac, where your baby is growing. And this,' he moved his finger as the video shifted again, 'is your baby.' He froze the video and quite suddenly Jim could see a profile - nose, mouth, forehead and what looked like a fully formed hand were in among the blobs of brown.

'Oh.' He let out a breath and felt Carol squeeze his arm a little.

McCoy pressed play again and the baby disappeared into more moving shapes. This time though, the sound solidified into a strange whapping noise. It almost sounded like someone slapping water and it was fast and repetitive. Jim realised what it was just as McCoy spoke. 'And that is your son's heartbeat.' Jim was so distracted by the sound that it took a moment to register what the doctor had actually said. McCoy was grinning widely as Jim glanced up at him, only to immediately turn back to Carol.

'A boy?'

Carol's eyes were misty and she looked like she couldn't stop smiling. She nodded gently as she squeezed his arm again. 'Yeah,' she confirmed, 'A boy. Another hotshot Kirk to cause trouble in Starfleet.' He laughed with her as he dropped the padd on the table, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her again.

'You're amazing,' he told her, as he pulled back a little.

'Yeah, yeah, miracle of birth,' Jim actually did jump a little at McCoy's voice. 'If you two need to get a room, it needs to not be this one.' He was smiling, despite it, and Jim readily smiled back.

'Thanks, Bones,' he clapped his friend on the shoulder, not releasing Carol's waist. 'For looking after her. And for making the recording, I really appreciate it.'

McCoy actually ducked his head a little, the first time Jim had seen anything like humility from the doctor. 'It's fine.' His voice was a little gruff and Jim could tell he was at least a little embarrassed. 'Just doing my job. Are you two going to leave now?' He narrowed his eyes in Jim's direction, 'Aren't you still on duty?'

Jim felt Carol stiffen a little next to him and squeezed her closer for a second. 'I am, but Pike has asked me to get a very detailed report from medbay - I have another hour or more before he'll expect me back.' Carol beamed at him as he looked down at her.

McCoy just scoffed, 'Absolute favouritism,' he joked, making his way back around the desk and groaning a little as he lowered himself into the chair. 'Well, go on then.' He waved towards the door. 'I'll send you on a 'detailed report' which I'm sure you can find five minutes to read before you get back on the Bridge.'

Jim grinned, already leading Carol towards the door. 'You're a good man, Bones, thanks!'

The call of 'don't call me Bones!' followed them out the door, Carol giggling as Jim pulled a face.

'He loves it really,' he assured his laughing girlfriend, hurrying them out of the medbay and down the corridor. He didn't slow down until they were in the turbolift. As soon as the doors slid closed he crowded Carol up against the wall, hands on her waist and lips meeting in a gentle but needy kiss. She responded in kind and it was several long second before he pulled back, a lightly sheepish smile on his face. 'Hi,' he smiled, finally feeling like it was okay, like she was safe again.

Carol just smiled back, her cheeks pink, 'Hi.' She looked down to where her hands were resting against his chest, bodies close together. 'I missed you.' She leaned up to capture his lips again. Jim took the opening to move one hand up and one hand down, pulling her closer to him. It might have gotten a little out of hand if the chime hadn't sounded, opening the doors to a thankfully empty Deck 8. They moved out of the lift, both laughing at their behaviour. Kissing in corridors was the kind of thing they used to get up to in the Academy, in those first few months.

Jim led her by the hand, down to his door and into the small living area. There was a couch, his kitchenette and a desk with his personal computer. A screen hid away the bed and the tiny bathroom. As soon as the door slid shut he pulled Carol close again, re-engaging their interrupted kiss, only to have her pull away. She laughed as he tried to follow her lips.

'Hold that thought, Jim.' Carol pushed a hand on his chest to make him back up. 'I need to call my parents – dad will have known we were being evacuated and I want to let them know I'm okay. They'll be glad to see you're alright too.'

'Do they know about the baby?' Jim was already pulling a second chair around to the desk.

Carol shook her head. 'No, no, I haven't said anything. But I feel like I should tell them, now that we know everything is okay. I'm going to have to explain that I left the research team anyway.'

'Yeah, good point.' Jim stole a quick kiss as he led her to the chair. 'Your dad won't be long finding out you're going back to Earth permanently.' Carol smiled as he settled next to her, reaching for the comm link. 'Suppose you'd better explain it all before that.'

Jim had always gotten on well with Admiral Marcus. Okay, there had been a slight run in at one point in the Academy. Jim had been testing his computer skills and had accidentally ended up in Admiral Marcus' server. Marcus had been angry, but also made it clear he was impressed. He warned Jim not to do it again, and then told him he thought Jim would go far in Starfleet, maybe even farther than his father. George had been so mad when he'd called Jim that night. When Jim started dating Carol, Marcus had never been against the idea. He'd called Jim into his office a week after their first date and asked Jim about himself and his future in Starfleet. He'd also pointed out to Jim that Carol was a weapons expert and that if Jim ever hurt her she could literally make him disappear. But that could be considered pretty standard for a father. After that he'd been nice; interested in Jim's progression, supportive of Carol and him trying to make a long distance relationship and two careers work. Family dinners (which Carol's mum Catherine always insisted Jim attend) were never awkward and Jim had never struggled with the much lauded 'in-laws' problem, even with his 'in-law' being an Admiral.

But that had been before he'd knocked up Marcus' daughter, forcing her to give up a promising research trip and essentially grounding her, at least for the next year but probably longer. Alexander Marcus was an indulgent father; Carol was an only child and the apple of her father's eye. But he wanted big things for her, had groomed her from birth to the position she now held in Starfleet. At best Jim was never moving beyond Commander. At worst he was going to die in some ship related 'accident' - Marcus had a lot of connections, he could make it happen.

'Are you okay?'

'Hmm?' Jim looked over at Carol and followed her eye to where his leg was bouncing up and down under the desk. 'Oh, yeah,' -he made a conscious effort to stop fidgeting and smile- 'I'm fine, sweetheart.' Carol just raised one eyebrow and left it there. It was her patented way of making him talk. 'Okay,' Jim admitted, 'I'm just thinking your father might not be over the moon about this.'

'What?' Carol, the apple of her father's eye, looked confused, 'He'll be delighted, of course he will! He's going to be a grandfather.'

'He's going to have his extremely talented daughter stuck on Earth while she has the unplanned baby of a man who's not even going to be there,' Jim pointed out, 'He's going to kill me.'

Carol's whole expression softened - she could always read him like a book. 'Hotshot,' she started, reaching one hand up to his cheek, letting her thumb stroke along the skin, 'You won't necessarily not be there, we don't know that. We'll have to work it out, but we will work it out. We both signed up for this, per aspera ad astra, right?'

Per aspera ad astra - through hardships to the stars. The Starfleet motto. Jim laughed, leaning into her touch. 'And people accuse me of being true blue Starfleet!' He glanced at her as they straightened back towards the screen. 'This is going to be worth at least a demotion though, you know that.'

'Yes,' Carol agreed, totally unconcerned, 'He will probably make you Commander of Latrines or some such.'

'Could you love a Commander of Latrines, sweetheart?' Jim joked, even though a tiny part of him was still thinking that might not be as funny if it happened.

'I would love you even if you dropped out of Starfleet and became a pirate, hotshot.'

Jim pretended to think about it, tapping a finger on his chin, 'I'd make an excellent pirate - and that would make you my pirate queen, wouldn't it?'

'Oh?' Carol feigned surprise, already bringing up the contacts list on the computer, 'You're not just going to be a pirate, you're going to be King Pirate - why am I not surprised?'

'Only the best for you,' Jim pointed out, leaning in for a quick last peck on the cheek before the screen lit up and Catherine Marcus' frown lifted as soon as she saw who was on the other end.

'Carol! Jim!' she exclaimed, leaning in a little, clearly checking them both over. 'Are you okay? Carol, your father said Enterprise had been called in to evacuate your research team? And Jim - Carol mailed to say you'd been hurt but then I didn't hear from her again. Alex said he got a report that you were recovering. What happened?'

Jim laughed as Catherine finally stopped talking and Carol took immediate action to cut her off, 'Mum, we're fine,' Carol started, waving a hand between them, 'I'm on the Enterprise now, obviously, and Jim is completely recovered.' She looked to him and he agreed.

'Yes, we're both fine, Cathy, don't worry.'

'Alex said you were shot Jim - are you sure you're okay?' Catherine was a Starfleet wife, had been for the last thirty years, and she knew all about the risks of space travel. She wasn't a panicker or a worrier, but she was a good mother and had all but adopted Jim from the moment Carol had introduced him. She called herself his 'Earth Mom' since his own mother was rarely dirtside.

Jim smiled reassuring at her, 'I'm totally fine now, really.' He tapped his chest, Carol leaning a little closer to him, 'It did some damage alright but I've made friends with our newest doctor on board, so he saw me straight.'

'Always make friends with the doctors Jim,' Cathy nodded knowingly, 'For you hotshot command types it's a necessity.' Carol laughed as her mother mimicked her nickname for Jim. 'But never mind that,' Catherine moved on, levelling them both with a stare, 'I know you didn't call me in the middle of Alpha shift just to tell me you're okay - what's up?'

Another side effect of being the wife of an Admiral was that Catherine had a nearly psychic ability for reading people. She'd hit the nail on the head and she knew it, as Jim and Carol glanced at each other, Jim nodding for Carol to go on.

'Is dad there, mum?' Carol asked, rather than answering the question.

Her mother frowned, 'I'm expecting him back soon enough - it was a quiet day in the office for once. Why? Is everything okay?'

Carol sighed a little and Jim knew she'd been hoping to tell them both at once. 'Everything's fine, mum - we do have some news though and-'

'Hold that thought, honey,' Catherine was looking to the side, 'I've just heard the door.' She turned away and shouted, 'Alex? Come up here - Carol and Jim are on the comm!'

The faint sound of boots on a wooden stairs came through the speaker, a door opened and then the Admiral's face appeared on screen, leaning over his wife's shoulder. He took a moment to take in the fact that they were together and obviously on board a Starship before he spoke.

'You're both okay?' was the first thing he asked, sharp eyes roaming over them.

Carol smiled widely. 'Yes, Sir, we're both fine. I've been aboard for a few hours now.'

Marcus nodded, grabbing a chair from beside him and settling in next to his wife. 'Yes, I got the call just before I left the office. It all went well?' he asked Jim, who nodded.

'Yes, Sir,' he confirmed, smiling ruefully. 'It took a little longer than we'd planned, but it was quiet on all fronts. I'm sure there'll be a report waiting for you tomorrow morning.'

Marcus nodded thoughtfully. As the Admiral of Defence excursions into the neutral zone, as well as threats from the Federation's opposition, were his remit. He would have been involved in this mission from the start. 'No sign of the Klingons at all?' he asked Jim, frowning a little, 'Nothing?' Catherine politely pretended she hadn't heard the word 'klingons' even though it was an unwritten rule that whatever Admirals knew, their partners knew too.

Jim nodded again, 'Nothing, Sir. We had full scanners the whole time, and Captain Pike was on the surface with the extraction crew - no ships, no tracks, nothing.'

'Hmm,' Marcus frown deepened and he was half speaking to himself, 'Strange.' Then he seemed to remember where he was and cleared his face into a light smile. 'But you could probably do with the break from excitement; how's the injury, son? By all accounts it was a bad one.'

'It wasn't that bad, Sir, really.' Carol shifted beside him and Jim squeezed her waist gently before releasing her again. 'Medbay patched me up and I'm back on full duty.'

The Admiral gave them much the same look that his wife had. 'And yet you're calling us in the middle of Alpha shift - what's happened?'

Once again Jim glanced at Carol. She gave him a small smile, leaning in a little closer to his shoulder and turning back to her parents. 'Nothing has happened. But we do have some news. And since we knew it was about the time you'd be finishing up, and you'd want to hear from us anyway, it seemed as good a time as any to call.' She stopped and glanced at Jim.

He could see the nervousness in her eyes. Even though she was the one who was so sure her father would be pleased. But Jim didn't blame her, his heart was beating hard. He'd already told McCoy but somehow telling family felt like there was no going back. For the last few days it had just been them - even though they'd been apart it was their own little secret, it belonged to them. Telling Carol's parents, and then his own, meant half of Starfleet would know soon. It was one big family in the end, and they were both so well connected news would travel fast. For the first time since he'd found out Jim wished he'd suggested they wait a little while. But time wasn't on their side - he'd have to leave Carol at whatever station they dropped the scientists to, and she'd be making her way back to Earth, back to her parents. They had a chance to tell their parents together, but it was now or never.

'And that news would be?' Marcus' voice pulled Jim out of his reverie, Carol starting next to him.

She opened her mouth and then closed it again, and so Jim spoke. 'The call to come and get the scientists came at quite a good time,' he started, smiling at Carol's grateful look, 'Since Carol had already requested a transport off Mekar.' He glanced down and her and kept going, 'Carol has resigned from the research team on medical grounds.'

'What?' Catherine's voice overlapped her husband's, both full of concern, 'Honey, what's wrong?'

'I'm fine, I'm fine,' Carol held up a hand to stall them, now smiling widely, 'I'm-' she paused for a second, smiling to Jim and then looking back at her parents, 'I'm pregnant. We're having a baby.'

There was a long silence. Jim, feeling sudden tension rolling off Carol, put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side and smiling down at her, trying to not show his own nerves. They both waited for a reaction.

Catherine recovered fastest, a huge grin spreading across her face as she grabbed her husband's arm. 'Oh Carol, that's wonderful! And you too Jim, congratulations, both of you! When are you due, Carol? Have you seen a doctor, is everything okay?' She frowned a little, 'You need to see a proper OBGYN when you get back here - those 'fleet doctors are all well and good for patching up phaser burns, but I don't think much of their midwifery skills.'

Jim laughed as Carol frowned at her mother. 'I've seen the doctor here on board, mum, and he's happy with the progress. And 'fleet doctors are trained for everything, they have to be. I'm in as good hands here as anywhere.'

Her mother was unimpressed, 'Yes, yes,' she waved her hand in the air, 'Long life Starfleet, best of the best, and all that. But this is my grandchild, not some misfiring ensign.'

'Dad?' Carol asked, ignoring Catherine's comment to focus her attention on her father. Admiral Marcus hadn't spoken at all, just fixed his eyes on Carol, a slight frown on his face. 'Are you not pleased?' Carol's smile was gone and her voice wobbled just a little.

Marcus' frown cleared at once. 'Of course I am, Cary,' he assured her, smiling and taking his wife's hand from his arm into his own. 'Sorry, it's just a bit unexpected. You were in the middle of the research trip and-' he cut himself off but the meaning was clear. He knew they hadn't planned this, and he knew they'd messed up letting it happen. Jim knew he looked guilty, could feel the expression on his face as the Admiral's eyes flicked to his.

'It's not ideal timing, Sir,' Jim agreed, taking the bull by the horns, 'I'll admit it. But it's happening, so we're…' he trailed off and glanced at Carol, 'We're happy, and we're going to make it work.'

'Make it work' Marcus pointed out, 'Meaning Carol gives up a promising research position and returns to Earth while you continue on in your career unaffected.' He didn't go so far as to raise his voice but he was frowning deeply at Jim.

Jim didn't get a chance to explain himself though because, predictably, Carol jumped to his defence first. 'That isn't fair dad,' her voice brokered no argument and Jim knew better than to try to interrupt. 'You can't blame Jim for being the one that can't get pregnant. Yes, it was unplanned, but that's on both of us, not just him. And as to my career - honestly it's not going to make that much difference; a year of research on Earth, maybe some teaching in the Academy, will only be an advantage. Who knows what I'll be able to work up with that time, when I'm not being shuffled around by Brass. I have a few ideas already, actually, and I mailed Greg LeClarc yesterday - he's just been given control of that border defence project. He had said if I ever wanted to work with him there'd be a place for me, so I thought I'd ask the question.'

Marcus' expression softened a lot as Carol spoke, although that could also have been related to his wife's increasing pressure on his fingers. Catherine's smile was a little frozen in place and it was very clear she'd be having words once they got off the call. 'You're quite right, honey,' Catherine agreed, 'Research is research, no matter where it's carried out. I'm sure you'll make yourself just as valuable here. And you'll be with us for the birth.' Her smile got wide and genuine again, 'Which is just wonderful, isn't it Alex?' Just like Carol, her words were not debatable.

'Yes, of course,' Marcus made a visible effort to smile at both of them, 'It is wonderful, I'm sorry you two - I am pleased, I'm just concerned about your future too, Carol.'

'It's okay, Sir,' Jim assured, 'I had, and have, a lot of the same concerns. Carol and I will talk it through, but I'll do what I can, on my side.'

Carol just rolled her eyes at him, an expression almost exactly mirrored by her mother. They shared a look that clearly said 'men!'.

'Well,' Catherine spoke again, brushing the last several minutes aside, 'I for one am delighted and will start working on a baby blanket straight away. Are you going to find out what you're having?'

Jim grinned widely as Carol smiled at him and back to her parents. 'We're having a boy,' she told them, laughing as her mother clapped her hands and her father finally gave in to a proper smile.

'Wonderful!' Catherine exclaimed, once more gripping Marcus' hand, 'A little boy - I bet your delighted, Jim!'

If Jim was honest he hadn't really given it much thought either way. The baby was a baby, the fact that it was a boy just made it a more real concept in his mind, he couldn't imagine caring more or less if it had been a girl. 'I am, of course,' he agreed anyway, 'I don't think it's really sunk in yet though - it doesn't quite feel real.'

Catherine just nodded sagely, 'It will, don't worry. You've got the rest of your life for it to be real.'

They conversation lasted a few minutes longer, questions about future plans that Jim and Carol really didn't have answers for, and promises to call as soon as they knew when Carol would be arriving on Earth. Then they hung up, making more promises to tell George and Winona as soon as possible, so Catherine could start telling the whole of Starfleet without fear of ruining the surprise.

'I had a call scheduled in with mom and dad this evening anyway,' Jim told Carol, after they'd turned off the comm and repositioned themselves with Carol in his lap on the tiny couch. His hand had made its way onto Carol's stomach, his thumb stroking back and forth.

Carol nodded, 'It's her birthday. Do you want to tell them then?'

'If we don't,' Jim joked, 'Someone will have commed them by the time we get another chance. Your mom is on a mission.'

Carol laughed, snuggling further into him, her head resting on his shoulder, 'Admiral Archer himself will know by morning, you know what she's like. Yes, we can tell them tonight - it's nice timing to have them in the same place. Is Georgie available?'

'We don't know, we'll see if he can get through, you know how it is with him.' The padd on the table in front of him beeped and Jim went to reach for it only to realise he couldn't with Carol in his lap.

Carol herself just laughed and leaned over, grabbing it as Jim kept a hold of her. 'It's from McCoy?' she said, looking at the pop up on the screen.

Jim groaned, taking the padd from her. 'It's his report from medical, which means I should be heading back.' Then he laughed out loud as he opened the 'report', turning it so Carol could see it too. It was just one single page, one short paragraph standing out in black:

'If they had managed to injure themselves just getting beamed up from the surface I highly doubt they would have survived this long on that icy hellhole. Now drag yourself away from your love nest and get back to work.'

'Pike did say he thought Bones had CMO potential,' Jim laughed, Carol giggling next to him, 'So I guess we can tick the 'ordering around superiors' box on CMO duties.'

'Maybe you can paraphrase the report when you give it to the Captain?' suggested Carol, already starting to stand up, 'Just to make sure McCoy has the chance to get to CMO.' She looked around as she stood, stretching her arms above her head and yawning widely. 'You've got another three hours of Alpha right?' He nodded, rising after her. 'I might take a nap, I didn't get much sleep over the last few days.'

Jim snaked his arms around her waist from behind, dropping a quick kiss against her neck. 'Then you should, sweetheart. You've had a stressful week or two, you need to look after yourself. You aren't needed for debriefs or anything, are you?'

He could feel Carol shake her head against his chest, as she leaned back into him, 'No, Dr. Kil'ren said we'd do a general meeting at the beginning of Alpha tomorrow but he told us to take the rest of today off. Mind if I sleep in your bed?'

Jim couldn't help but laugh, hugging her a little tighter before letting her go. 'Have you ever, ever heard me complain about you getting in my bed?' He gestured towards the screen that cut off the sleeping area, 'Make yourself comfortable, I'll be back after shift and we can get some food before the comm with my parents.' Then a thought struck him. 'Where are your bags?'

Carol smiled mysteriously and made her way to his door, opening it and reaching out. When her hand reappeared it was holding a medium sized holdall, Starfleet logo emblazoned on the side. 'Tada!' she joked as Jim moved to take the bag from her.

'And how did that come to be out there, hmm?' he teased, carrying the bag into the bedroom for her.

'Turns out being the Commander's girl has its perks,' Carol teased back, 'Like the quartermaster agreeing to leave my bag outside your door instead of the group quarters my team has been assigned.'

'Poor Danz,' Jim lamented, taking in Carol's big blue eyes staring not-so-innocently at him, 'He never stood a chance against your charms, did he? I'll have to thank him later.'

'Do,' Carol agreed, opening the bag to start pulling things out. 'But after you've gone back to the Bridge - Pike will be missing you by now.' She looked him up and down, 'Although maybe you should change your shirt first, I've creased that one sitting on it.'

'You're just trying to get my shirt off,' grinned Jim, as he pulled off his gold over shirt, grabbing another out of the pile in his closet.

'Always, hotshot, always,' Carol agreed, waiting until his head cleared the collar to lean up and kiss him quickly. 'Now go and have a good half day at work, dear.'

'Yes, darling,' Jim laughed, finally making his way out the door.

When he did make it back onto the Bridge Pike just smiled indulgently at him. Before he could settle at his station though the Captain called him back. 'I still want the debrief, Mr. Kirk - will we take ten minutes in my ready room?'

Knowing full well Pike just wanted to talk, Jim agreed and followed him into the side room, waiting for Pike to sit before taking a seat himself. 'Carol is alright?' he predictably asked first.

Jim smiled widely, 'Yes, Sir, she's fine. McCoy did a full exam and she and the baby are doing well. She's resting now, in my room.' He didn't even register what he'd said until he noticed Pike was staring at him, shocked. Then he realised. 'Oh, yeah,' he started, sheepishly, 'Carol's pregnant.' The information had obviously moved thoroughly from 'secret' to 'tell everyone' in his brain.

'I-' Pike started and then stopped, 'Wow,' he finally settled on, grinning widely as he got out of his chair. He came around the desk, where Jim had also stood, and held out his hand. 'Congratulations, son, that's wonderful news.'

Jim smiled at his enthusiastic handshake and waited until they'd both settled themselves back down. 'Thank you Sir. Although,' he added quickly, 'We haven't told my parents yet, so maybe don't mention it to anyone just now.'

Pike's eyes lit up with mischief. 'You told me before you told your father? Oh I'm never going to let him forget that!'

Jim groaned good naturedly, 'Don't, Sir! He'll never forgive me. I didn't mean to say it, but I suppose I've had a while to process it and now it's just there - Carol and baby.'

'When did you find out?' Pike asked, frowning, 'You knew before we got the extraction orders?'

'Ah, yeah,' Jim admitted, grimacing a little at the memory, 'Carol told me after I was injured. She had requested a transfer off the planet and was wondering why she hadn't heard back, and then when I went to speak to you about it you told me we were being sent there on an evacuation order.'

Pike raised one eyebrow as he leaned back in his chair. 'I was going to say you'd really impressed me with how you handled the whole situation, but now I'm realising that would be an understatement.' He shook his head a little. 'You should have told me Jim, I would have made arrangements.'

Jim just shrugged. He'd thought about it, at the time, but then dismissed the idea. 'What would you have done differently, Sir?' he asked rhetorically. 'The idea was always to get everyone out safely, and the scientists were being beamed up first anyway. It would have only endangered everyone to try and prioritise one over another.'

'You're not wrong,' Pike agreed, but he was frowning slightly, 'Though I still would have preferred to have known. Next time, tell me.' He waited for Jim to nod and then smiled widely, 'But none of that matters now, since Carol is on board and safe. You said she's been cleared by medical?'

'Yes, Sir,' Jim leaned a little back in his own chair, feeling a grin spread across his face, 'McCoy promised to look after her while I was on the Bridge. He did a full check, they're both fine. And he did a scan, so we got to see the baby - he really looks like a whole person already; hands and fingers, and a nose.' Jim was conscious of the fact that he was grinning like an idiot, and probably sounded like one too, but he didn't really care.

Pike was smiling back at him. 'That's great, Jim- wait, 'he'?'

Jim nodded, 'Yeah, a boy - McCoy told us that too.'

'Congratulations, Jim, to both of you. So Carol will be staying on Earth then?' And there was the elephant in the room.

'She will, Sir, yes,' Jim confirmed, 'We spoke to her parents just there now. Carol's got plenty of options for research she can do over the next year. Then after that… we'll decide on that when the time comes.'

'And you?' asked Pike, levelling Jim with a steady look, 'What are you going to do for the next year?'

Jim didn't have an answer to that. 'I don't know, Sir,' he said, honestly, 'My promotion is very new, and I was delighted to get on Enterprise, to work with you.' Pike smiled softly. 'Leaving would be a bad move right now, I know that. But also…'

'You don't want to choose your career over your child?' Pike finished for him, watching as Jim nodded, somewhat miserably. 'Son,' Pike sighed, 'You are far from the first person to be faced with that choice. You're not even the first person who's sat in front of me and faced that choice.'

'Let me look into it.' – That's what Pike had said before they left the room.

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

Somehow the idea of telling his parents wasn't nearly as nerve racking as telling Carol's. Maybe because he knew his dad would be over the moon and his mum would be pleased. They wouldn't be looking at him like he'd ruined Carol's life. There was something inherently sexist in that, he knew, but it was still the truth.

Carol just laughed when he asked her if she was ready, mimicking what she had said to him. 'You think your dad's gonna want me to make an honest man of you?' she joked, pushing against his shoulder as they sat down in front of the comm unit again.

'You joke,' Jim pointed out, 'But you could be absolutely right. He's been dropping hints for months, and this is definitely going to tip him over the edge. He's totally capable of deciding he should get onto you about it.'

'I can take him,' Carol laughed again, 'And besides, first we need to concentrate on your mum - this is her birthday call we're high jacking, after all.'

'Yeah, somehow I don't think she'll mind.'

The comm unit started to beep and when Jim pressed the answer button the screen split in two - his father to the left and his mother to the right. Both were in uniform and both started talking the second the call came through.

'Are you both alright? I heard about-'

'Jim, it's so good to see you up. Carol, sweetheart, are you-'

They both stopped at the same time as well and got a good laugh from their younger audience. Jim held up a hand to forestall more overlapping questions. 'Hi guys - let's get that bit done with first - yes we're both fine, yes I really am recovered, no Carol didn't have any problems getting off the planet, yes we're safe on board now. Thank you for your unnecessary worry - it's good to see you too.' He smiled widely as both his parents frowned at him. 'And more importantly - happy birthday mom.'

'Happy birthday Winona!' Carol echoed him and then they waited while Winona instantly cracked and smiled widely at them.

'Thank you, sweethearts, that's very kind. But I don't consider that more important than your health.' She fixed Jim with a hard stare - she hadn't been able to call him in the time he'd been in medbay, due to maintenance on her own ship, and although he'd mailed her several times, and spoken to his father to doubly reassure her, it obviously wasn't enough. 'You're sure you're okay, honey? You look a little peaky.'

Jim just rolled his eyes at that, since his mother would have said it no matter how he looked. 'Yes, mom, I'm absolutely fine, I swear. No Georgie?' he asked, hoping to take some of the heat off himself.

George shook his head. 'We had him there for about three minutes while we were calling you, but it was dropping in and out, and now we can't get him back. Benji's getting so big though, and they send their love.' Jim felt Carol squeeze his arm a little at the mention of his nephew and tried not to look too guilty.

'That's a pity you lost him, but it's good they're doing well. I'll try to get a call in with him over the next few weeks, but I haven't been successful yet.'

'Yeah,' his father agreed, 'It's a real hellhole. Speaking of which-' George grinned widely at Carol, 'Glad to be back to civilisation, Carol?'

'Mekar really wasn't that bad, Sir,' Carol protested but George just shook his head, glancing sadly at his wife and son.

'She's clearly got frostbite to the brain, poor thing - will she ever warm up?'

'Oh leave the poor girl alone, George,' Winona laughed, 'And stop talking - I want to know what Jim's news is?' Winona fixed her son with an expectant look.

'N-news?' Jim faltered a little as both his parents zeroed in on him.

'You, kiddo, are an open book,' his mother pointed out. 'You're clearly looking to say something there. Go on, spit it out.'

Jim looked to Carol but she was just laughing at him, so she was no use. 'Well, yeah.' He ran a hand through his hair and then settled it on Carol's shoulder. 'We do have some news.' He could see his father edging closer to his seat and spoke a little faster before George decided to butt in with guesses. 'Carol is going to be taking a dirtside billet for the next while, because she's pregnant. We're having a baby,' he reiterated into the silence that followed.

'What?' both his parents spoke at once but George continued, a broad smile spreading across his face.

'Are you serious?' He waited for them both to nod, and clapped his hands together loudly, 'This is fantastic! Carol, sweetheart, congratulations! Son, I'm so proud of you!'

'Oh, you two!' Winona was also smiling widely. 'That's brilliant news! Carol, honey, how have you been - sick at all? How far along are you?'

'I've been fine so far,' Carol grinned as Jim kissed the side of her head. 'No sickness - maybe a little more tired than usual, but that's all. I'm only a few weeks, so it's all still to come I suppose.'

'Have you had a medical?' Winona echoed Catherine's concerns perfectly. 'What's that doctor you've made friends with, Jim - McCoy?'

'Yeah, McCoy,' Jim confirmed, 'He's done a full work up, scan and all.' He smiled down at Carol again. 'The baby's perfect. And a boy, too, as it turns out.'

The next hour was spent talking through most of the same things that Carol's parents had wanted to talk about. Along with a lot of jokes about telling the whole of Starfleet, and some good natured teasing for George that Jim had accidentally spilt the beans to Pike before him.

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

'I have a proposal for you.' It was an odd way for Pike to start a conversation with him, especially after calling him to his quarters, after hours. Carol was with her colleagues so he had accepted the dinner invitation and made his way up the corridor. Pike was still in uniform and had spoken the words almost as soon as Jim had stepped inside, gesturing to the table and chairs.

'I don't know, Sir.' Jim couldn't help himself. 'My girlfriend's pregnant, I can't really leave her now.'

Pike looked startled for a second and then laughed, shaking his head as they both sat. 'Just like your old man, you are.' He pointed a finger in Jim's direction, 'I'll get my own back when you've got that boy running around giving you lip - it'll happen faster than you think.'

Jim just smiled at the idea, already seeing a mop of blond hair and brown eyes.

'But no,' Pike continued, leaning back in his chair and levelling Jim with a serious look, 'I have a possible solution to your little career problem.' That got Jim's attention, and Pike knew it. 'You completed an accelerated course at the Academy - Command in three years instead of four.' Jim nodded along. 'Barnett is keen to get more of the other specialities trained up in Command. He's always had a bug bear about 'informal command training'.

Pike rolled his eyes and Jim laughed. Pike was well known for his love of 'trial by fire' learning. Barnett, Head of Starfleet Academy, preferred classroom learning, backed up by supervised experience. It was a fair point on Barnett's side though - officers who specialised in disciplines other than command were given leadership training, of course, but their specialities were the priority of their training. If they were lucky they had years of learning under their own superiors. If they were unlucky they could find themselves field promoted in an emergency, no matter how little experience they had.

'So Barnett-' Pike continued- 'Wants to set up a command training program that can be run remotely, for the benefit of officers already serving but not yet promoted.' He waved a hand in the air. 'I don't know how it's going to look when it's done, I stopped listening about ten minutes into his two hour presentation on it, but I do know he's looking for officers to head it up, back at the Academy.'

And so that was what he was getting at, thought Jim.

'And you're suggesting I could take a dirtside billet to work on it with him?'

'Yes.' Pike sighed as he swung a little in his chair. 'I don't want to lose you Jim, but this would be as good a compromise as you could ask for. The program is still a ways off - you'd be aboard here for at least another six months. But after that - I can speak to Barnett, get you a place. If he insists on trying to 'define leadership' at least I can send him someone who knows what he's talking about.'

Jim smiled a little but he was distracted. It was a great opportunity. Shipside was important for his career, but working with Barnett on training command officers was about as good an alternative as could be offered. And it would have him on Earth for when the baby arrived - it would let he and Carol co-parent for at least the first year or two. A luxury not given to many serving officers. Jim didn't exactly see himself as an instructor, but he had done some time as a teaching assistant in the Academy, and it had been good; he'd enjoyed it.

Pike hadn't said anything more, obviously giving him the time to puzzle it out. When Jim looked up again he smiled. 'Take a few days to think about it, Jim, there's no rush. Talk it over with Carol if you wish, and let me know when you've decided.'

It was a dismissal, and Jim stood. But before he left he reached out a hand, which Pike happily took to shake. 'Thank you, Sir, for all of this - for everything.'

'Any time, son, any time.' Pike waved him out.

STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST

'I wish you were coming with me.' In four years together it was the first time Carol had ever spoken a word against the orders that kept them apart. But Jim couldn't blame her - he wished he was coming with her too.

'It's only for six months, sweetheart - we've done longer.'

'I know, I know.' Carol had her head on his shoulder, their arms around each other, as they waited for the call that the shuttle was ready to depart. 'I'll send a holo every week, so you can watch me getting fat. And at least we'll be able to comm properly now.'

'Every single day, sweetheart, I promise.'

Carol just laughed. 'You know that promise won't survive first contact. But we'll comm, whenever we want and whenever we can.'

'Okay, I can keep to that.'

'Shuttle 2 preparing for departure.'

He could feel Carol sigh against him as she pulled away a little. 'That's my cue.'

One last kiss and then they straightened their uniforms and made their way onto the loading bay floor. Pike was waiting there, a smile in place as he saw them approach. Carol gave him a smart salute and then turned once more to Jim. 'Look after yourself, hotshot - I'll see you in six months.'

'You too, sweetheart.' Jim ran a hand up her arm and then let her go, up the steps. The door closed, the all clear was sounded and the shuttle's engines starting drove Pike and Jim up to the observation deck. Jim kept his eyes on the shuttle but started a little when he felt a hand fall onto his shoulder.

'Six months isn't so long, son.' Pike's voice was sympathetic and Jim smiled as he shook his head.

'It isn't, Sir. And I'm happy where I am. It'll be fine.'

Pike smiled back. 'Yes, indeed it will.'