A/N: Because everyone has been so patient with me, I'm going to upload a previously written and finally edited story for you to enjoy.

"Captain!"

Spock's shout was deafening to Kirk. The last sound Jim heard before the strange staff blast hit him hard enough to send him into the wall of the hangar. His head hit the hull with a thud, causing him to black out momentarily.

Jim came back to his feet as quickly as he could, his eyes watering and blurry. He had managed to hold onto his phaser and was prepared to fire upon the black creatures attempting to take over his ship.

Blinking the moisture from his eyes, the first thing he saw was Spock standing close, phaser in hand, pointed at him. Kirk frowned at his first officer, looking around quickly for the intruders.

"Report, Mr. Spock," he said, afraid that he had been out longer than he realized. If they had escaped, Jim knew that these particular aliens would return.

Spock's eyebrows puckered in a manner that told Jim that the Vulcan was confused. After two long years in the company of his crew, all their quirks were well known to him.

"I do not believe we are acquainted," Spock said. He steadied his aim with one hand, sliding the other to the communicator on his belt and flipping it open. "Spock to bridge, we have located the anomaly. It appears to have generated around a human."

"Bring the human up then, Mr. Spock."

Jim recognized the voice immediately and he froze. What was Pike doing aboard his ship? Two security officers took the opportunity to relieve him of his weapon and take hold of his arms. Jim stayed silent, going along with them for the moment. It was clear that something was amiss.

His first officer had the phaser pointed squarely at Jim's back as they walked through the corridors. These halls, the same shape as they always were, held small variations from what Kirk had become accustomed to. The letters on the doors were not in Earth common. Jim recognized the Vulcan script almost immediately, even if he couldn't read it.

His suspicions deepened when he was ushered into the lift. Everything was configured differently, and Jim, being rather intelligent for a human, knew the creators of this ship were not humans. He knew of alternate realities, and he also knew that he was either in one or having a distinctly unique dream.

The lift opened to the bridge and Jim was shoved out, practically carried forward by the security. Uhura didn't look up as Spock entered and Jim took note of that. Maybe in this reality they weren't an item.

Sulu did look up, however. As did Chekov. This lead to the man in the captain's chair, his chair, to turn and acknowledge the newcomers to the bridge. Christopher Pike was every bit the man Jim knew, if a little more hardened and in need of a shave. His gold command tunic was wrinkled as if he slept in it, not that Jim's was in any better condition, being completely torn and unrecognizable.

"What do we have here, Mr. Spock? A stowaway?"

"Indeed," Spock said, coming around Jim so he could stand at Pike's back, as Jim's Spock would when faced with a potential threat. "He was located in the shuttle bay."

"What's your name, stowaway?" Pike seemed amused by him, a faint smile underneath at least two day's worth of facial hair.

Jim tried not to become annoyed. Both Pike and Spock should know who he was. "James Tiberius Kirk." He watched as a shocked look came across Pike's face, along with surprise and suspicion.

"Who are your parents?"

"Captain George Kirk and Winona Kirk," Jim stated proudly. He stood a bit straighter, not at all oblivious to the whispers and looks shooting around the bridge.

"That is an impossibility," Spock said quickly. "The single offspring of Captain Kirk is deceased."

Pike held up one hand to silence Spock. That same hand rubbed at his mouth shakily. "How old are you, son?"

Jim tore his gaze from Spock and focused on Pike. "Twenty-nine." Pike's face went white when he heard Jim's age. "Why is that important?"

"Twenty-nine years, two months, and fourteen days ago your claimed parentage were killed aboard the USS Kelvin." Spock's explanation made Jim nod, he already knew that much.

"My father used the ship to save the lives of the crew and my mother."

"Everyone aboard the Kelvin died," Pike said quietly. "Your mother and the unborn child along with them." His eyes seemed distant as he looked at Jim. The security officers released him as Pike waved his hand. "I'm sorry, son, but you were never born."

It was like a punch to the heart. Jim actually stopped breathing, blood rushing just behind his eyes louder than than the words coming from Pike. Jim didn't feel as several pairs of arms caught him before he hit the ground. All he could think was that in this reality, James Kirk didn't exist. His mother was dead, Sam was dead. What else was different?

It only took one set of those arms, inhumanly strong, to bring Jim to the medical bay. The bright lights above the biobed barely broke through the haze of his vision. He could vaguely hear the noise around him, people conversing about his condition. That he was in shock and suffering from a prior head injury.

Jim wanted to go back to his ship, his crew, his normal life. Where he had a mother, a brother, two best friends. He wanted to go back...he wanted to close his eyes against the bright lights burning into his brain.

The hypo was pressed into his neck, the sedative taking effect quickly. Jim went from consciously wishing for his life back to floating peacefully in the realm of sleep.

Those familiar voices were still there when Jim came to. The bright lights had been dimmed, so his eyes didn't burn quite so badly, but he listened intently to the conversation going on between the two men he was closest to.

"That's something you're going to have to run by Doctor Puri. I don't have the authority to allow that."

"You are the primary care physician in this case, therefore the decision remains with you. There is a high probability that Chief Medical Officer Puri will be unable to make an educated decision regarding this situation. In addition, Doctor Puri is off duty."

"Dammit, if I get in trouble for this, I'm putting it on your head, you pointy eared bastard."

"The question of my parentage is already answered. Nevertheless, you are agreeing to release him into my care?"

A sigh could be heard and Jim knew that Bones was rolling his eyes. "After I release him, he's all yours."

"In what way would he belong to me?"

"He'll be your responsibility. But you get to tell Pike."