EDIT: I'M SO SORRY about the formatting the first time this posted! I have NO idea what happened but it's fixed now :)

Chapter Forty-One

***THREE YEARS EARLIER***

"So, who's the father?"

Olivia looked up from where she was crouched over hugging the toilet bowl and glared as best she could at her roommate.

"Nobody," she murmured as she spat and got up to flush the toilet and rinse her mouth.

"Uh huh, sure, so you just bailed on Mansell for nothing? You know he doesn't like people leaving his lectures early," Madeleine said, still leaning casually against the doorway as her roommate cleaned herself up.

"Well, I think Professor Mansell loves the sound of his own voice so much if it were up to him we'd never be allowed to leave his class at all," Olivia smirked as she dispensed some toothpaste onto her toothbrush and then shoved it in her mouth.

"So you didn't answer my question. You're pregnant," Madeleine stated, and this time certainly not as a question.

Olivia continued to brush her teeth until she was done before spitting and rinsing her mouth, turning to her roommate.

"I'm not sure why that's relevant," she crossed her arms across her chest defensively.

"Well… I mean, it affects me as having a kid in our dorm will probably cause us problems," she pointed out and Olivia shrugged, walking out of the room and back into the bedroom, removing herself some gym gear from her closet and shucking her pyjama pants, picking up her leggings to pull them on.

"Lucky for you my due date is before graduation, so we'll be out of your hair immediately after," she pointed out flatly as she switched her shirt. At fourteen weeks she was barely showing at all, but she knew it was only a matter of time until she wouldn't be able to hide so easily.

"So who's the father?" Madeleine persisted.

"I don't know," Olivia answered, only half lying.

"That a serious kind of 'I don't know' or a vague 'I do know but I'm not telling'… because I feel like it's the second one," she pointed out.

Pulling on her jogging shoes, the pregnant cadet glared at her roommate before leaving without another word.

She jogged through the central portion of campus, heading out in the direction of the water, wanting to feel the bay breeze on her clammy skin.

She'd have to go back to the doctor's office tomorrow for another round of tests and the thought of it was only adding to her nausea. Madeleine definitely suspected there was some kind of medical concern about her general health, but definitely didn't know what was really going on. For all her star-mapping ability she was fortuitously blind to what was right under her nose. That her roommate was genetically enhanced, experimented on, and now had broken the rules that had been instilled in her from such a young age. Do not reproduce.

She had been alone as long as she could remember but the last few weeks had finally begun to feel not so alone after all the time since her parents had died. She told herself she was imagining being able to sense the presence of the tiny life she was carrying.

When she found out she had called the father. David McCoy, son of the famous doctor who served alongside Captain Kirk, and his mother a renowned scientist and weapons expert. He hadn't picked up. She called him again the day after, feeling weak as he picked up and she said nothing. She wanted to tell him, she really did. She'd been warned of her life expectancy and she knew that she wouldn't see her child's tenth birthday. She didn't want to condemn them to the life of solitude that had left her in her current situation, but she also didn't have any reason to trust him to care for something that had already become so precious to her.

She had been assured that the baby would not be affected by her edited blood as long as she kept up her regimen of medications. Tests so far had confirmed all was normal and she was determined to keep it that way. She jogged gently as far as the water's edge and rested there before returning to campus.

Madeleine became the closest thing to a friend she had known in some time over the course of the next few months, and as her roommate held her hand for her and dabbed at her sweaty forehead during her contractions she was certain they were officially friends now.

"So, human huh?" she had asked some time later, sitting on the bed beside the new mother who was holding her son uncertainly.

"Uh huh."

"Dark hair, Caucasian skin. But could be your dark hair. Hmm," she pondered, squinting at the new baby as if he would lean out of the bundle of blankets and whisper his identity to her if she stared hard enough.

"You gonna run through every dark-haired Caucasian male in the bay area until you find him? I've told you Mad, I don't know who he is. I don't care who he is. I've got a place to live and I can afford to eat and once he's a bit bigger I can go out on missions and life will go on," she said determinedly.

"You name him yet?" Madeleine asked, accepting defeat on the paternity question.

"Not yet. I was thinking about naming him Thomas," she said, wincing in pain as she moved slightly, trying not to disturb the sleeping newborn.

"Kinda a serious name for a cute little baby."

"Well he needs a man's name for when he's older. I can't be calling him something that'll be cute when he's three and stupid when he's thirty. I want him to have a chance in life," she scoffed.

"Thomas Hughes. What do you think?" she asked aloud, not sure if it was to herself or Madeleine.

"If you like it you should do it."

She did. She stuck with the name, including Allen as the middle name to honour her father. After a day under observation she was released back to her tiny new ensign's ground quarters in one of the main residential buildings.

Arriving back at the building with this tiny new life to care for whilst still feeling so fragile in her own body was scary. Once the door closed to the outside world and she was left inside her new apartment that she had only lived in for a matter of weeks she felt as though the walls were closing in.

At six weeks she asked for an assignment.

Mitchell had looked incredulous.

"You want to go out? Now? Don't you have a baby to take care of?"

"Six weeks of age is the minimum requirement for family services to care for him in my absence, sir," she answered determinedly.

"The Reliant ships out in a month, I'll get you a position," he conceded.

She had nodded and left his office without another word.

She had memories of Gary Mitchell going all the way back to when she was nine years of age. Starfleet family services taking her in after her parents death. She had hoped maybe she could be adopted, go to a new family. Instead she became part of something different entirely.

***PRESENT DAY***

"How many of these will he need? Like… one a day until he grows too big for them right?" David asked, handling a pack of newborn-sized babygrows.

"One a day? Try five," his father snorted and David looked alarmed.

"How much poop and puke can one tiny human make?!" he asked, looking downright horrified.

"Human-Vulcan. And a lot. How's Chris today?"

David sighed and put the little packet of three back, picking up a larger one containing ten in stereotypical boys colours and tossing it towards their cart absentmindedly.

"He's so tired. He's trying to work but he's so damn tired and I don't think he's listening to his body enough."

"You need to tell him-"

"I've told him! I can't stop him, I can only ask him nicely. He was in LA this morning, filming something for an evening talk-show, he got home and just passed out, I didn't have the heart to wake him to bring him," he said and Bones rolled his eyes.

"Who watches those evenin' talk shows anymore anyway?" he asked gruffly, steering the cart into the next section which seemed to have even tinier clothing.

"A lot of people, apparently. I don't know. He was never entirely cool with giving up his celebrity life all the way and there's been a lot of interest on us since we announced-" David trailed off as he spotted a guy with a camera poking his head around a stand, clicking a quick picture of the two of them before ducking back in.

"There's a guy over there taking our picture," he hissed to his father in a low voice. Bones gave a subtle stretch of his shoulders and neck, glancing in the direction David had indicated and looking entirely casual.

"Hmm yeah, so there is. Welcome to the world of being papped, kid," he said, clapping David on the back and beginning to talk about the merits of baby onesies you could remove from either end, in case of 'poo emergencies'.

"Is he really gonna be this small?" David asked as his father picked up a couple of items in preemie sizes.

"Yeah, probably. We'll see how long Chris can hold out, we'll give him as long as we can. I mean this past week since ya'll found out officially has flown by, so maybe he'll go longer than my initial guess. We'll check on everything tomorrow morning at the appointment, ok?" he asked and David nodded, scratching the back of his head tiredly.

He had to face facts and admit he knew exactly nothing about caring for a newborn baby, and from their conversations this week he didn't think Chris did either.

"Chris and Leo were really premature and it hasn't caused them any problems, if you're worried," he reassured and David nodded again.

"You're worried," he said, it wasn't a question, more of a straight up observation.

David nodded and swallowed hard.

"Of course I'm worried."

"You've got a couple of grey hairs coming in kid," his father observed helpfully and David scoffed indignantly even though he had noticed those exact hairs himself.

"Let's just hope Chris won't mind if I'm a silver fox by the time I'm thirty," David said without humour as his father began to throw boxes of diapers at him, again all in alarmingly small sizes.

"Chris say if we're allowed to choose the crib without him? or he gonna find some energy for you guys to go shopping for it another time?"

"Uhh… I'll text him," David responded, pulling his communicator from his pocket and sending off a quick message.

Baby shopping is terrifying. Hope you're feeling ok. My dad wants to know if you wanted to choose the crib or if you trust me with it

He stuffed the device back into his pocket and continued being dragged around the store, the cart piling ever higher with stuff. He found himself getting enthusiastic about a changing mat patterned with planets and moons, ignoring the way his father had rolled his eyes at him.

His communicator pinged in his pocket and he pulled it out.

I trust you and your impeccable taste for interior décor

David snorted and fired off a reply.

There's no need for sarcasm Christopher

He had barely put the device back in his pocket before Chris had replied again.

I'm afraid you might come back with a shoe box for him to sleep in. I'll order one for delivery, no offence but I don't trust you with any major furniture decisions

"I'm not allowed to make any major decisions on furniture items," David informed his father who snorted a laugh.

"Sounds sensible."

"What is this insider joke that I have bad taste in furniture? If you guys are talking about Thomas' dinosaur lamp, he wanted it, he started to have a tantrum so I only bought it for him to keep the peace," he justified the hideous new lamp that had appeared in the house two weeks ago when Thomas had spotted it while they were out together and had thrown a huge tantrum when David tried to get him away from it.

"You're not supposed to give in to the demands of terrorists, didn't they teach you that at the academy?" he asked and David sniggered.

"Yeah, but toddlers are more unreasonable," he justified as they got in line to pay for the huge cart full of stuff that David had no idea where it was going to go. Thomas' room was barely big enough for just him, and David didn't really think they had space in their room either. They needed a bigger house, or for Leo and Emily to move out so they could have the whole place, though then they wouldn't be able to afford it.

He was dragged out of his thoughts by the requirement for him to actually pay money for his items and then walk out of the store and back to the car. Thankfully, nobody else was outside with a camera though one woman definitely stared at them as they walked back to the car.

"This whole people staring at you thing, how long does it take to get used to?" he asked as they loaded up the trunk.

"Uh… you don't. I never did. I just kept a low profile once we got back to Earth until everything with the clinic started to get so crazy. I just try not to engage with it as best I can, but it's weird and invasive and I aint got any better answers, sorry," he said glumly, just in time for two photographers to come hurrying over in their direction.

"Mr McCoy, how's everything going? Is Mr Kirk in good health? Do you know the gender of the child? When are they due?" he fired off quick questions and David just looked at him blankly.

"Uh yeah everything's good, thanks, but no comment other than everything is good," he said firmly, walking a few steps towards the front of the car, on the other side he could hear his father getting questioned too as he clambered into the passenger side of David's car.

"-I'm a doctor not a celebrity, damn it!" he grumbled as David began to drive off carefully, letting out a long, slow exhale as they finally escaped the parking lot and were able to move freely.

"How's Jo?" he asked, realising he hadn't spoken to his sister yet that week since all the craziness with being constantly stalked by the press.

"Fed up, got a couple weeks left to go."

"Bet Quinn is excited."

"Mm, I think so. He's a good guy, should make a good dad. She's gonna be so mad if you guys get your baby first though," he chuckled and David nodded in agreement.

"Yeah I think I'd rather he stayed put for a little while longer," he said expressionlessly, staring blankly ahead as he waited at a stop-light.

"Chris is going to be ok, and the baby is going to be ok. We're checking up on them every two days," Leonard reassured his son. David nodded, feeling tears begin to sting at his eyes. He snatched his sunglasses out of the centre console and put them on to hide it.

"I uh… I know it sounds dumb. I've had the same dream every night since we found out, that something goes wrong and I… I have to choose between them. And I can't shake this feeling that something bad is going to happen," he explained, spitting it all out as quickly as he could.

"Kid, it's natural to be worried but we're keeping such a close eye on them both. If the baby came out this minute he's still got good odds, we won't let Chris get to a point where it's dangerous for him, I promise you," he said sincerely and David looked over at him, meeting his eye from behind the tinted lens.

"Ok. Thanks dad," he said quickly, pulling forward as the traffic began to move again.

They made it back to the house relatively quickly, David finding his mother reading Thomas a story on the couch and Chris nowhere to be seen.

"He got up for a bit then went back to bed, so Thomas and I played dinosaurs and then we've had a few stories," she explained and David bent down to scoop Thomas up into a big hug, the young boys legs wrapped around his waist and arms tight around his neck.

"Did you get baby stuff?" he asked and David nodded.

"Babies need a lot of stuff."

"More stuff than me?" Thomas asked, pulling backwards a bit so he could look at his father's face.

"Well yeah but you're not a baby, you're a little man, almost a big brother," he encouraged and Thomas nodded eagerly. They were trying to teach him early so he could get used to the idea in the hope he wouldn't feel too displaced by the new baby. Chris was confident he was going to handle it fine, David wasn't so sure.

"Lifts weights all day for a job and can't even help his old man carry all this stuff into the house," Leonard grumbled from the doorway, putting down the last few bags inside.

"Sorry, got distracted," David apologised. He had a cup of tea with his parents and talked about baby names with his mother, quickly striking all her suggestions off the list.

"I don't hate Anthony," his father argued.

"Dad no, I can tell you right now Chris will hate it. He hates every name that exists," David sighed as he finished his tea.

"Oh boy," Carol had muttered to her husband as they watched David take Thomas upstairs to put him down for a nap and return to slump back on the couch, running a hand tiredly through his hair.

"Are you working tonight?"

"Yeah, I have two evening classes, back to back, then I'm on early tomorrow. Gotta cover somebody's goddamn endurance cycle class at 6am because they've got Andorian shingles," he grumbled, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"We should let you nap. You can get a couple of hours now, before you have to teach tonight."

"I thought you were all against daytime sleeping, what about the natural sleep cycle that I'm disturbing, or whatever?" he mock-argued with his father.

"That only applies to people who actually have a sleep cycle. Go get some rest, you look like you've been ground under the heel of the universe."

David had trudged heavily upstairs as soon as his parents had left. He peeked into Thomas' room to find him fast asleep, before creeping down the hallway to his and Chris' room.

He stripped down to his boxers as he crossed the room, kicking his jeans aside clumsily as they tangled around his ankles and falling into bed as gently as he could, trying not to disturb Chris too much. He looked more carefully at his bondmate now that he was in bed beside him and noticed he'd fallen asleep with his head on top of an old fashioned paper book. Very gently, he prised it out from under his head, Chris grumbling a little and rolling away, freeing it.

It was an old book on pregnancy and child development. He flicked it open to find to his surprise that the pages were all helpfully edited and annotated with Jim's handwriting. He skimmed through, smiling bittersweetly to himself at Jim's comments. The entire section on natural birth was torn out with just a note on the chapter cover page saying 'not for us' and a huge poorly-drawn smiley face.

Skipping forward a few more pages David almost chuckled aloud as he read the words noted in the margin about C-section recovery – 'The first time you sneeze you're honestly going to think all your insides are going to fall out of your scar. They won't, but try hugging a pillow or a blanket because it actually does help.'

He wondered absently if Chris was scared of the surgery. He knew he was scared of it, but in all the conversations they'd had over the past week, Chris had kept his feelings around the big moment carefully guarded, even through their bond.

"I'm not scared, if that's what you're wondering," Chris murmured and David's heart leapt.

"Jesus, you scared me. Thought you were asleep."

"I was, and then some kind of bull elephant stamped his way upstairs, slammed the door, stomped across the room and almost collapsed the bed when he got in," Chris smirked and David rolled his eyes, playing mock indignance.

"I'm not that heavy footed," he protested, knowing full well he was very heavy-footed.

"Yeah you kinda are."

"You were asleep when I got into this bed. I took the book out from under you, you were drooling and everything," David teased and Chris grumbled, shifting closer to him and wrapping his arms around him.

"I wasn't drooling," he protested weakly and David chuckled, placing the book aside and wrapping Chris tightly in his arms in return.

"You having fun nesting?" he asked and Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Is that what you think I'm doing here?"

"Well, the bed is kinda like a nest at the moment," he indicated all the extra blankets piled on Chris' side.

"My joints ache, I'm trying to pad out a bit because someone chose a damn hard mattress, and yeah, I'm kinda cold," he whined and David smoothed his hands over his back affectionately, tracing small patterns with the tips of his fingers before wiping them away with broad sweeps of the palms of his hands.

"You think of any more names? Or did your mom have any ideas?" Chris asked as David's right hand settled on the side of the small curve of his abdomen.

"I didn't think of anything else. My mom had a few but I think you'd hate them all. Anthony, Simon, Wilson, Matthew, Francis or Frank," he reeled off and Chris pulled a face.

"Ick. No."

"Didn't think so," David chuckled, pressing a small kiss to the nearest part of Chris that he could reach which happened to be his neck.

"We'll know when we meet him, I think," Chris said softly.

"I hope so. Or he's just gonna be named Kirk McCoy and we'll leave it at that."

"I don't hate Kirk as a first name, but it's just not really right given my name situation," Chris smiled.

"We're agreeing nothing family related right?"

"Yeah, no shoes to fill, it'll only mess with his head."

"Ok, agreed," David nodded.

"I can't decide if I'm hungry," Chris pondered aloud.

"There's homemade chicken sweet and sour in the fridge, just needs noodles," David mumbled sleepily, his eyes feeling heavy already just from laying down.

He was woken by Chris a little while later, in time to get ready and head out to teach his two classes. He got home to find a warm bubble bath waiting for him and the bathroom full of candles, Chris looking thoroughly like he was up to something.

"What time did Thomas go to bed? He give you any trouble?" David asked as he stripped off his sweaty shirt and tossed it into the hamper.

"Uh… I don't know, he's not here. Jo and Quinn have him tonight," Chris smirked.

"Oh yeah?" David raised an eyebrow.

"What about Leo and Emily?"

"Leo's still staying with Spock, said something about wanting to give us a few days of space, and I think he wanted to get out of babysitting while he gets over the whole incident in engineering, which I don't blame him," Chris shrugged.

"So… are you saying we're all alone?" David asked in a low voice and Chris stepped closer to him, allowing David to pull his shirt over his head.

"Get in the tub, there's one last thing but it's downstairs," Chris smirked, leaving a lingering kiss on David's lips before disappearing down the stairs. David stripped off the rest of his clothing and complied, settling into the tub and sighing heavily as the warm water immediately began to relax his aching body.

"Surprise," Chris smirked as he reappeared around the doorway with a large pizza box balanced in his hand, a delicious aroma wafting from inside it.

"Oh my god you didn't," David moaned.

"I totally did. It got here like ten minutes ago and I kept it in the oven to keep it hot," Chris giggled, stripping off the rest of the way and settling in the tub between David's legs, leaning back against his chest.

"It's nice you being here and us being naked and all, but I'm gonna fucking demolish that pizza now," David laughed, reaching over the side of the tub and flipping the box open, picking up a slice of pepperoni and stuffing it in his mouth greedily.

"Oh my god," he moaned out through a cheesy mouthful.

"Good right?" Chris smirked in agreement as he picked up a piece for himself and took a bite.

They lounged in the tub for a while, ate the entire pizza and relaxed and laughed, just enjoying getting some alone time. A short while later found Chris laying back with his head on David's shoulder, David's fingertips rubbing slow circles on his scalp, pleasantly tugging his hair a little bit in the process.

"Mmm you wanna go to bed?" Chris asked sleepily, his voice coming out a little rough in a way that made David's already semi-interested cock perk up a little more.

"To sleep or…" David asked and Chris turned his head to meet his eye, smirking at him.

I may have had something else in mind

Arousal thrumming through their bond they both dried off and hurried down the hallway back to their bedroom. There were candles lit in there too, and the bed was freshly made with new sheets.

"What, no rose petals?" David sniggered and Chris shoved him lightly.

"Do you want rose petals? Because I can go out and get some right now," he threatened and David shook his head.

"No, I uh… I don't want you to go out."

"What do you want?" Chris asked quietly and David kissed him hard, guiding him backwards towards the bed until his legs made contact with it behind him and he lowered himself back, David following him down, still kissing him fiercely.

David knew what he wanted, but he was also afraid to say it out loud in case it changed his mind. Just the thought of it was obviously crossing into Chris' mind and he pulled away, looking up at his bondmate through the flickering candlelight.

"You sure? We don't have to, we can do something else," Chris offered, still a little breathless. David shook his head and kissed him soundly.

"I'm sure. I'm ready," he said, feeling that he really meant it.

"How do you want to do this?" Chris asked when they next broke apart, sounding a little awkward.

"Like this I think, sit up against the headboard?" David asked and Chris moved immediately, removing a tube of lube from where it was stashed under the pillow.

David took the tube from him and helped Chris reposition pillows so he was resting comfortably with his back propped up against the pillows in front of the headboard.

"You can change your mind at any ti-" Chris started and was cut off as David started to lick and kiss his way down his body, pausing at his nipple, the one not destroyed by his scarring, and nipping it with his teeth in a way that made Chris' hips twitch, before continuing down, kissing the small curve of his belly gently, before continuing lower still and sucking the head of his cock into his mouth.

While Chris was distracted David uncapped the lube and squirted some onto his first two fingers, reaching his right hand around his back and lowering both fingers to his own hole, shivering a little from the cold lube.

"Fuck, that's distracting," Chris said in a low voice as David continued to tongue at the head of his dick whilst working his first finger into himself. He looked up at Chris through his eyelashes, finding him watching him intently, one hand coming to rest on the side of his face, the other settling on his shoulder, squeezing encouragingly every time he did something that Chris particularly liked.

David bobbed his head a little further, taking Chris down so he almost hit the back of his throat, causing him to groan softly.

"So good, love it when you do that, love your mouth on me," Chris encouraged, his low, ragged voice going straight to David's crotch.

David removed his finger and added a second alongside it, squirming a little at the stretch but feeling relaxed enough at his own touch. He catalogued his body for a moment, deciding he was still very much into what was going on, and that he felt completely safe and relaxed here with Chris.

"Can I touch you?" Chris asked softly, the hand on his face guiding him to look up at him. David sat up a little, wiping his mouth with the back of his left hand and catching his breath a little. Chris looked absolutely wrecked already, eyes blown wide with arousal and cock twitching impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah I want you to," David agreed, Chris wasting no time in picking up the tube of lube and adding some to his own hand, gently encouraging David to move his right hand and then to crawl up so he was straddling his thighs, their chests pressed together and faces very close.

Chris' slippery fingertips just grazed the crease of David's thigh where it met his buttock and he shivered, Chris leaning forward to kiss him as he gently slid one finger inside of him. David exhaled heavily, it felt pleasant and was less of a stretch than his own two fingers a moment ago.

"Ok?" Chris asked, mumbled against his lips, dark eyes looking at him with such care and concern, calming thoughts coming across their bond.

"Mmhm," he answered quickly, sounding unsure.

"I can stop, we can stop right now if you don't want to do this. I will never make you do this if you don't want to," Chris reassured in almost a whisper, their faces so close.

"No, I want to. I missed you," David said more assertively. Chris crooked his finger slightly to brush his bondmates prostate, causing him to jolt and groan.

"Sensitive?" Chris smirked and David panted against his face as he pressed harder in the same place.

"Yes," David ground out, hips writhing as he simultaneously tried to escape the pressure and lean into it.

"God you're so beautiful like this," Chris said softly, leaning in to kiss him firmly, dragging his bottom lip with his teeth as they parted.

"Can I have another? Please?" David breathed, a wave of desire overtaking him.

"Mm, so polite," he said, the low, lusty tone coming back as he added his second finger slowly, beginning to slowly drag them in and out, in, pause, slight twist, out. David got caught in the rhythm of it, kissing Chris deeply again until he gasped for breath as Chris changed the angle of his fingers and he saw stars.

"Sorry," Chris chuckled and David growled.

"You ready for three? I want you nice and open for me," he murmured and David shivered again with arousal, watching Chris' face with hooded eyes as he removed his two fingers and returned with a third.

Breathe

David closed his eyes and took a deep breath through the stretch and slight burn, Chris distracting him by kissing him thoroughly again, his teeth tugging at his bottom lip again in a way he knew would make it swollen.

"Still doing okay?" Chris asked again as they parted

"Yeah, doing good," David nodded. He had felt a brief moment of panic that had quickly died down and he knew Chris must have picked up on it.

"You can change your mind at any time and I'll stop, I'll always stop," Chris promised sincerely and David nodded, tears stinging at his eyes that he willed back.

"I know you will."

"Good," Chris responded, David hissing as he felt him spread his three fingers apart a little as he pulled them out, repeating this a few times before removing his fingers and getting more lube, causing the younger man to shiver as the cold fluid contacted his sensitive flesh before the fingers retreated again.

"Always feels so weird. I almost forgot," David chuckled.

"I know. I probably could have got away with not adding more I just… I don't want you to be uncomfortable," he said sincerely and David nodded, glancing down he noticed Chris' hand was on his own cock, slicking it.

Before he could lose his nerve David shifted forward a little and took hold of Chris, shivering again as he positioned himself over him properly and closed his eyes. Chris' clean hand came up to rest on the side of his face, his other hand settling on the small of his back. David realised his hand gripping Chris' shoulder was leaving finger-indents in his flesh.

Look at me, and breathe

David kept his eyes on Chris' as he lowered down very slightly, wincing at the larger intrusion but not stopping until he got a couple of inches down, his heart pounding. Chris watched intently for any sign of fear in the steely blue eyes he'd come to know so well but instead was met with only concentration and trust.

"How do you feel?"

"F-full… kinda uncomfortable," he responded quietly, trying to get his body to relax a little more. He winced as he tried to move down further and Chris' hand on his back indicated he should stop. Chris felt a wave of fear quickly pass through their bond and he raised his hand to caress the side of his bondmates face.

"It's ok, I don't think I could handle a dick this big either," Chris chuckled and David huffed a laugh before rolling his eyes, the wave of fear backing down a little.

"Modest as ever," he grit out, relaxing a little and lifting himself up fractionally before sliding himself down the rest of the way until he was fully seated, gasping as he got there.

"David, you have no idea how incredible you feel," Chris sighed, fighting the urge to spill immediately into the tight heat surrounding him.

"Don't know if I can move," David breathed.

"That's ok I don't mind, you can stay there forever," Chris smirked and David shoved his face with his hand.

"This is really intense," David giggled, adrenaline well and truly taking over, his heart thudding in his ears.

"Yeah, it kinda is. You're worrying me that you're laughing at me though," Chris smirked.

"Definitely not laughing at you, more laughing at the ah- ridiculousness of the situation," David winced as he began to move, lifting his hips a little before lowering down again. He'd gone mostly soft and Chris noticed, shifting his own hips forward in a way that changed the angle just enough to allow him to brush against David's sweet spot.

"Oh god damn," David groaned, eyes closing instantly and his grip on Chris tightening as his arousal overtook his uncertainty. He repositioned, curling his legs around Chris carefully so he was sitting fully in his lap, holding him for leverage.

It took a long few minutes for David to relax and begin to move against his bondmate, the two of them falling into a slow, reverent pace that built in intensity as Chris began to rock up to meet David's every movement, driving him even deeper and causing David to let out a half-stifled moan.

"That's it, want to hear you," Chris encouraged.

"Mm, s'good," David sighed, picking up the pace a little and causing Chris to moan in response.

"You think you're going to come?" Chris asked and David looked uncertain. He was fully hard now, his cock rubbing pleasantly between both their bodies.

"Need some help with that?" Chris asked and David nodded, Chris sliding his hand between them and gripping him with the exact right amount of pressure, beginning to slowly jack him off in time to their movements, touching him in a way that made David's toes curl.

"You feel so good, I'm so close," Chris sighed, fighting to stop his eyes rolling back in his head as David squeezed around him. David repositioned slightly again, unwrapping his legs from where they were holding on around Chris' lower back and placing his feet on the bed, holding Chris' shoulders securely as his new leverage allowed him to move completely differently. He angled his hips just right and began to chase their release, driving himself up and down with strong strokes of his powerful legs, bouncing up and down and causing Chris to mutter a constant stream of absolute filth through their bond that had David all the more desperate to come.

Fuck damn you look so good riding me like that. You gonna come for me? Come on, want you to come all over me. Get it, nice and deep, come on David, a little harder.

"Fuck!" David cried out as his orgasm hit him, his whole body singing with it as he pumped thick ropes of pearly white over Chris' chest and belly. Chris watched hungrily before following a moment later as David ground down on him, moaning loudly as he twitched and spent himself inside his bondmate. David slumped bonelessly on top of Chris, careful to keep any of his weight off his belly.

"No talking dirty, no fair," David panted and Chris chuckled breathlessly, holding David close to his chest and stroking the sweaty hair at the back of his neck.

"Then don't give me such a show," Chris smirked, looking at him mischievously. David kissed him as best he could with them both still panting for breath.

"Does that cardio balance out our pizza?" Chris asked and David chuckled.

"Absolutely." David's legs were beginning to tremble from his position and Chris gave him a knowing look.

"I don't want to move, because it's going to be uncomfortable," David winced and Chris nodded sympathetically.

"I know, sorry." David lifted himself up and off Chris, hissing in discomfort as he did so. He stepped off the bed and offered his hand to Chris to help him up.

"Shower?" he asked, surveying the mess on Chris' torso. Chris glanced down with a smirk and ran his finger through it, bringing it up to his mouth and licking it off, David groaned and his cock twitched.

"God damn you're going to be the death of me," he groaned as he hauled Chris out of bed and took him to the shower so they could both clean up.

"Seriously?!" David groaned as Chris stepped in behind him under the spray and pressed his erection against his lower back.

"I don't have a refractory period, you know this," Chris smirked and David rolled his eyes.

"I can't go again yet."

"S'ok, I can do it myself," Chris' smirk widened as he took himself in hand, David's eyes lowering and watching him, unable to look away.

"Can I… I want to-" Chris started to ask but couldn't seem to verbalise what he wanted.

"I uh… I'm kinda sore," David said uncertainly and Chris shook his head.

"No, no I wasn't going to do that, something else. I really want to suck you. Can I?" he asked and David raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know if I can go aga-"

"It's ok, just humour me," Chris said, dropping to his knees in front of the younger man and gently lapping at his spent cock.

David found himself tangling his fingertips in Chris' wet hair, his back sagging against the shower wall as Chris continued to gently suck and lap at him. Slowly, he lost himself in it and found himself rock hard and desperate under Chris' ministrations before long.

"Can I ask you to do something for me?" Chris asked, voice ragged as he pulled away with an obscene slurping sound for just a second.

"Right now I'll say yes to pretty much anything," David groaned, shifting his weight and reaching his right hand to tug at his balls, trying to bring himself back from the edge.

Chris looked up at him from his knees, left hand working rapidly on his own cock and confident smirk on his face.

"Will you fuck my face?" Chris asked and David sighed in frustration and arousal.

"I don't want to hurt you, I need to be gentle with you-" David began and Chris shook his head.

"No, honestly, you won't be able to hurt me, please just… I've been thinking about it, I want you to really go for it," Chris asked, fluttering his eyelashes.

"How the fuck am I supposed to say no to that?" David growled, taking hold of Chris's hair again and sliding back into his waiting mouth. He thrust experimentally, hitting the back of his throat and not causing him to gag at all, just look up at him expectantly with dark eyes blazing.

"God damn it Chris," David sighed, gripping his hair more tightly and thrusting forward again, harder this time, Chris moaning with pleasure.

"You sure you're ok?" David panted out and Chris looked up at him, sending him a strong message through the bond.

I'm fine. Now please just do it already, I need it.

With a guttural sound David complied with his bondmates wishes, thrusting into his mouth with abandon and causing Chris to moan around him.

"You have such a pretty mouth," David groaned, slipping his thumb into one side of said mouth and stretching his lips open wider, feeling Chris' answering spark of arousal through their bond.

It didn't take long for Chris to lose his composure completely, gasping around his mouthful of cock as he came, the water of the shower instantly washing it away.

"On my face, I want you to," Chris panted as he pulled off, replacing his mouth with his hand and quickening the pace. David's knees almost gave up as he came with a yell, spurting weakly over Chris' open mouth and onto his cheek. Chris lapped it all up greedily as David leant against the wall and caught his breath.

"Are you trying to kill me?" David demanded as Chris pulled himself back to standing using his grip on David's hand for leverage.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm just crazy horny today," Chris giggled breathlessly.

"Really? I mean you're being very subtle about it," David responded sarcastically, picking up the shower gel and squeezing a handful into his palm, beginning to lather it up and work it into his body. Chris took it from him and started to wash his back, creeping lower until he was just holding onto the two round cheeks of David's muscular rear end.

"What do you squat now?" Chris asked, voice low and very close to David's ear in a way that made him shiver.

"A lot," David answered shortly.

"You look incredible," Chris sighed, his hands now trailing around to the front and stroking over David's abs which were finally beginning to show some definition after all his hard work. David smiled to himself and leant his head to the side, capturing Chris' lips in an affectionate kiss over his shoulder. He could feel Chris' belly pressed against his back and his still semi-hard cock pressed against his ass.

"Woah holy shit," Chris suddenly gasped, stopping his insistent feeling-up of his bondmate. David turned quickly to face him.

"What's wrong?" he asked concernedly.

"I uh… I think he likes it when we do eachother," Chris smirked, taking David's hand and placing it on his belly to feel the flurry of small kicks there. David laughed and leant down to place a kiss on Chris' belly.

"Is that normal?" David asked and Chris nodded.

"Uh huh, my book from Jim says it is. Something about hormones and some other stuff, I forget," Chris said absently, picking up the shower gel and beginning to wash himself.

"You feel ok though, right? Just tired?" David asked and Chris nodded insistently.

"Yeah. Just tired and swaying between emotional and horny. And kinda nauseous still. Only gotta make it a few more weeks right?" Chris responded, a definite nervous edge creeping into his voice.

"Yeah, pretty crazy that in a few weeks we're going to have another little person to take care of," David said, his mind beginning to wander to what that would even feel like, bringing home a whole new person.

"We'll do okay," Chris said surely, finishing off washing his hair and then working a handful of shampoo into David's dark hair, lathering it with firm circles of his fingertips that made David feel instantly sleepy.

"Yeah, we will. M'so tired," David yawned, tilting his head back under the water to rinse out the suds.

"Me too, let's get to bed. We can enjoy not being woken up by being kicked in the face or bladder," Chris smirked and David pouted.

"But it's weird him not being here overnight, this is only like the second time."

"I know, but you gotta admit too, it's nice to get a little privacy. I don't really want to have to explain to Thomas what we're doing if he ever walks in on us," Chris laughed as they shut off the water and got out of the shower, each grabbing their towel and beginning to dry off.

"It is, plus it might be the last privacy we get for the next… uh… eighteen years," David smirked and Chris hung his head.

"I'm gonna have to bribe Leo so much to get some overnight babysitting."

"Do you mean blackmail?" David asked and Chris' smirk widened.

"I've got his baby pictures and could release them to the media! Of course I mean blackmail."

***~~~***~~~PAGE BREAK~~~***~~~***

The days were forty-one hours long on Earth's time and blisteringly hot thanks to the two suns, the nights roughly seventeen hours and cold enough to make Delta Vega seem positively pleasant.

Jim did as he was told in order to lead the quietest life possible, he knew he needed to bide his time and hope for an opportunity to escape or be rescued. He worked in the mines with the others held captive, and stayed almost entirely silent for most of his waking hours. He wasn't even exactly sure what he was mining, some kind of mineral. He suspected it was radioactive given the short life expectancy of any human who found themselves at the camp. He'd noticed only a handful arrive before they deteriorated quickly, their skin peeling and their eyes yellowing and then he would stop seeing them around. Khan's blood must have been preventing the effects from getting to him too.

The only time he spoke was when he mumbled to himself, a few words here and there some in standard and some in Vulcan. He spoke to Spock, told him he missed him and thought about him every day. He talked to Leo about all the wonderful things he must have seen by now. He talked to Chris about how successful he must be by now. He talked to Seren about how much she must have accomplished by now.

By his best guess his children were now his own age.

The planet he was currently residing on was close to a black hole, and without the facility to carry out the calculations he needed to work out the time differential, he was left with what he could do as best he could in his head, which worked out as the twins being roughly in their forties by now with Seren a couple of years ahead. Spock would be nearing ninety, unless he hadn't survived one of his Pon Farrs and the thought of that was just too much to bear. The thought of Spock dying in such a way. Jim found it easier to tell himself that Spock had just moved on and was bonded to someone else now, and was still there for their kids and likely grandchildren by now too.

Sometimes as Jim worked his mind wandered and he imagined his kids now with their own families. He imagined Seren with a husband, a Vulcan because he couldn't imagine her ever finding peace with marrying a human and all of their illogical behaviours, he imagined her with a young family, a boy and a girl with straight dark hair and angular eyebrows and their human part shining through in the occasional cheeky grin.

He felt in his heart that Chris and David would have made it. They had always been so close, and Jim was fairly certain they were true T'hyla. He pictured them having moved out to the country somewhere, somewhere out in red desert with endless sky and enormous horizons, living in a big farmhouse with a couple of kids running around, some looked like David, some looked like Chris, and some looked like neither as they came from other worlds. Jim wondered if Chris had yet figured out just how much of big teddy bear he really was. He'd always struggled with his emotions especially as a teenager, but Jim hoped by now he had learned to embrace them and cherish them. He always imagined Chris would make the best dad and he took a lot of comfort in the thought that he and David had made it and now had their own family.

Jim found he had two versions of Leo's life in his mind. In one Leo was aboard a ship a high ranking officer, most often chief engineer. He was single and preferred it that way and was fulfilled by his work. He and Emily hadn't worked out in their younger days but neither held any resentment over that.

But in the other version of Leo's life he was at the beach with Emily, running barefoot through the sand and the shallow water, playing with their young daughter who had a full head of bouncy blonde curls and the sweetest little laugh. He could see her face so clearly in his mind, her one eye a clear blue, the other tinted with green. He often found himself straying to the beach when he was asleep, revelling in the sound of her laughter and watching Leo and Emily play happily with their daughter in the water. Whenever he had a dream about them he always woke with a strange headache that made him feel a little uneasy for the next day or so. It felt like the sort of headache he would get after a meld, a nagging, anxious headache that felt a little bit like someone was still inside his mind and watching his every move and thought.

*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~*~*

"Did you have that dream again?"

Leo glanced over at Emily in bed as he returned from the bathroom.

"Huh? What dream?" he asked as he towelled off his face.

"The dream about Jim, and the beach, and the little girl?" she asked as he threw the towel in the vague direction of the hamper and crawled back into bed, cuddling up behind her and wrapping her in his arms.

She sighed contentedly and relaxed, waiting for him to answer.

"Uh… yeah, I did. It was weird. He was like… asking me about my life and I was giving him answers that felt like they were the truth, but it was all things that haven't happened, or at least not yet. I feel weird every time I have that stupid dream," he sighed and she turned to face him, placing her hand on his chest and resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Soren said when bonds break traumatically they can leave a trace, maybe your mind is still trying to find the bond?"

"Maybe," he agreed, closing his eyes.

"But that's our kid, right? In the dream?" she asked and he opened his eyes again to find her giving him a strange look.

"I would guess so, given that she calls you 'mama'," he said, shifting a little uncomfortably.

"What's her name?" she asked and he shook his head.

"I don't know, I've never heard anyone say it in the dream. Maybe she's David and Chris's baby, and she just calls you mama because you're like a mother to her?" he suggested and Emily frowned.

"They're having a boy which kind of kills that theory," she pointed out and he nodded in agreement.

"I don't remember that night all that clearly. I wasn't feeling too well," he admitted and she nodded, her hand settling lower on his chest and into his side, protectively over his heart.

"You're better now right?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, feeling pretty much back to full strength, and all the bruising is almost gone." He pushed the blanket down to expose his chest, the area previously covered by dark bruising was fading into a light green and yellow smattering across his skin. He'd also stopped getting the occasional racing heartrate he had been experiencing.

"I'm fine, if you need to go back and resume your tour. I know the guys must be pissed you've taken so much time off, and I'm sure you must be done with hiding in my childhood bedroom with me by now," he said and she frowned, holding him closer.

"They have to understand you're more important than them or the band. When my dad called me to tell me to come home I was so scared Leo," she said and he kissed the top of her head gently.

"I know. I didn't mean to scare you, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologise, it's not like you did it deliberately," she soothed.

"Do you know what you're doing yet? About Starfleet?" she asked and he looked at her. He knew what she wanted to hear but he just couldn't give her that answer.

"What happened is terrible, and I've been having nightmares about that fucking weird Doctor Hunt guy, but I'm not leaving 'fleet," he said flatly and she nodded, keeping her expression forcibly neutral though he felt the flash of hurt through the bond.

"When they find out what you're really capable of-" she started and he interrupted her sharply.

"I don't even know what I'm capable of. Not really. I feel like I should find out though, just in case I ever need to use it," he said and she frowned.

"Or you could accept another round of the inhibitor and not have to be worried about getting… abducted by some insane doctor and admiral and becoming their lab rat," she suggested and he sighed.

"I don't want it. I can't explain why, but my gut feeling is telling me I shouldn't take another dose, something is telling me I'm going to need these abilities, whatever they are," he said and she remained silent.

"I'm sorry Em, I know you want me out of Starfleet, I know you do. I just can't… I need to… I need this connection, y'know to… to y'know," he trailed off.

"To Jim," she said softly and he nodded.

"You don't need 'fleet to be connected to him, you always are, right here," she said and placed her hand over his heart. He swallowed hard and nodded.

"I want him to be proud of me. I want to make chief engineer. I can go out on a ship in three months' time once I finish my final certifications and I'm so ready for that. And I need to get back to work, to cover for Scotty," he said insistently.

"Scotty has more senior people than you covering for him, Ensign," she said firmly and he chuckled, pulling her close.

"I love it when you pull rank on me baby," he smirked, kissing her neck and causing her to giggle.

"Get some more rest, that's an order," she insisted and he pouted.

"No Leo, nothing that elevates your heartrate," she said sternly and he groaned, burying his face into her neck.

"But I wanna," he said, muffled by her skin.

"Sleep," she said softly and he shifted around to get more comfortable before finally settling curled around her again. Emily lay awake as Leo slept, her own mind going over and over Leo's dream as it had leaked through their bond.

It didn't make sense to her. They had agreed to wait a few more years before thinking about kids, to let her secure her career and to let him achieve a higher rank. They wanted to get married first, travel, enjoy each other's company before starting a family. But in the dream they looked almost the same age as now, and Jim looked no older than when he had died. Of course, it was only a dream, but it felt so real and always left her feeling uneasy after Leo had the dream and she could feel the traces of it inside her own mind.

~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK ~*~*~*~*

"I miss my bike and I'm getting too fat for all my pants," Chris groaned as he sat in the passenger seat of the car and popped the button on his slacks. Emily rolled her eyes from the driver's side, with a day off she was accompanying Chris to his appointment that day, David having gone with him last time but unable to clear his schedule for the appointments every three days.

"That's good though, right? I mean David's been on a cooking spree since you guys found out, does he force feed you?" she asked and he laughed. She handed him a hair tie that she had been keeping around her wrist and mimed looping it through the button-hole of the pants and around the button, giving him a stretchy extra few centimetres of room. He did it correctly and sighed in relief.

"Pretty much. He's just become a feeder. Literally I have five minutes where I'm not eating and he's there trying to shove a donut in my mouth," he sighed and she laughed as she backed them carefully out of the driveway. Thomas was already asleep in his car seat in the back. Something about being in the car worked magic on him and made him pass out almost immediately every time.

"I'm so happy for you guys," she said fondly.

"Yeah? Leo still seems mad, not that I've seen him much still," Chris sighed.

"He's been sleeping like fifteen hours a day. I've almost had to force feed him myself. He said he's feeling better now though, we talked late last night," she said and Chris nodded.

"I know. He had that dream again right? About a beach?" he asked and Emily frowned, stealing a glance at him.

"How did you know about that?"

"He doesn't shield at all when he's sleeping so I see pretty much everything if I'm also not sleeping, it's kind of a curse for life," he laughed and she nodded.

"Yeah, I can see that being annoying. How come you weren't sleeping either?" she asked and he shrugged.

"Was just thinking about work stuff. I made the mistake of looking at my comm halfway through the night and reading some stuff I'd been sent and it was a pretty mixed bag. Some great offers for all sorts of stuff ranging from reality TV to document my pregnancy right through to photographers I worked with in the past who want to take pictures of me naked now, fans contacting me, and some not so great- people telling me they hope I bleed to death during my C-section and the baby is an abomination… y'know, the usual stuff," he chuckled and she reached across and touched his arm supportively.

"People are shit," she said sympathetically, having received her fair share of hate mail on a regular basis herself.

"Yeah, but most of the stuff I've been getting is positive. I know David's worried about all the attention but I could literally do a couple more interviews and photo deals and then we could have our own place, so I think he's starting to come around to it," he said and she nodded.

"I guess it makes sense, so long as you're selective," she said and he nodded eagerly.

They chatted easily the whole way to the clinic where Emily carefully extracted a sleepy Thomas from his car seat and the three went inside.

Seren came out to greet them.

"I'll be taking a look today, just to see if I support Doctor McCoy's previous observations from earlier in the week," she explained and Chris smirked.

"Seems like you're being a little overprotective, sis," he gave her Jim's patented shit-eating grin.

"Just want to make sure my nephew gets here as healthy as possible," she gave a small smile. Chris followed her into the exam room whilst Emily hung out in the waiting room with Thomas.

"You've put on weight," Seren noted immediately once Chris had removed his shirt.

"David is feeding me up," he smiled and she nodded, beginning to attach the small scanners to his abdomen just as Bones had done a week ago.

She looked at a PADD for a few long moments before she spoke to Chris.

"Percentile is up from the 6th when we found out to the 15th and now again today to the 18th, you're doing better," she commented and he smiled, touching his belly fondly. He only had a small bulge but it was definitely starting to become more pronounced.

"How's the nausea?" she asked and he grimaced.

"Still there," he admitted and she nodded.

"I think you're likely going to have it the whole time, sorry."

"I'm sure he'll be worth it."

"Absolutely. Have you noticed his mind at all yet?" she asked and he looked uncertain.

"Maybe? I get these kind of weird bursts of emotions which I don't think are mine or David's. Nothing coherent, not like how Jim described us being able to send him clear messages," he explained and she nodded, making a note.

"I guess it would make sense, the Vulcan traits are only getting further diluted so it's entirely plausible that as Spock said that he'll be nearly psi-null. Have you been back into the Academy yet since?" she asked and Chris shifted uneasily.

"Uh no… I haven't. I haven't felt able to. David is just trying to get on with stuff but I can feel how nervous he is all the time, but I need another few days I think to just let everything settle down."

"You must have been scared with what happened that night."

"Yeah… I was. More that they were going to take Thomas away. I knew they weren't going to harm me, they wouldn't get away with that."

"They harmed Leo," she pointed out and Chris looked even more uneasy.

"That whole incident in engineering just doesn't make sense to me. It seems like they deliberately hurt Scotty to see how Leo would react, to test his strength."

"Maybe. Or maybe it was an accident after all."

"But he called for med help and they sent an armed response unit? Nope, that's not a coincidence," he said firmly and she looked thoughtful.

"Have you been able to view the security footage from the engineering bay during the incident?"

"No I don't have clearance for anything like that as a cadet. I'd need to be really senior… some like…"

"An Admiral?" Seren asked, hinting heavily.

"I can't ask Carol to risk her position digging around in this mess-"

"I wasn't suggesting Admiral McCoy. Archer, you could speak to Archer."

"Archer is far too old to be bothering with this shit."

"I think he would argue otherwise. Despite his retirement he retains a lot of influence, a lot of contacts, and I am certain the ability to hack into the security feed mainframe,"

Chris gave a weak smile.

"Y'know considering we all thought you didn't have Jims rebellious streak, this sounds a lot like Jim talking."

*~*~*~*~*PAGE BREAK*~*~*~*~*~*

Leo groaned and pulled the pillow tighter over his head. Whoever was at the door just wouldn't quit. He had dragged himself out of Spock's house earlier in the day while Emily was at the appointment with Chris. He knew he was hiding behind Spock and it needed to stop, and he wanted to sleep in his own bed. He felt if anyone from any strange branches of Starfleet was going to come after him they already would have after a few days.

The constant pressing of the doorbell paused for a few moments and he optimistically removed the pillow obstructing his ears. He groaned a second time when his comm started to sound instead. He reluctantly reached out his arm for it and flipped the device open without looking at the screen.

"'Lo?"

"Leo? It's Molly, are you home? I gotta talk to you," she spoke quickly, sounding panicked.

"Is that you breaking my door down?" he asked and she made an affirmative sound.

"Can't you just hack the panel? I don't want to move," he sighed and she practically growled. The comm. cut off and a few moments later Leo heard the front door lock release and the door swing open.

"You should really upgrade your security, a four year old could probably hack into this place," she scoffed, rounding the corner into his bedroom and placing her hands on her hips. Her eyes roamed over his shirtless, dishevelled state, sheets rumpled around him.

"I'm tired," he explained and she nodded.

"Me too," she sighed deeply, slumping onto the edge of the bed.

Close up he could see the dark circles under her eyes and that her glossy dark hair lacked its usual shine.

"How's your dad?"

"He's doin' ok. Says he'll see how he goes with his leg, but he's open to amputation if he needs it, says he don't mind a robo-leg," she chuckled weakly but he could see a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Molly, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't get him out of there quicker," he said sincerely and she turned her head to look at him.

"Not your fault, you probably saved his life by getting him out at all," she said flatly and he reached out to touch her arm in what he hoped was a comforting manner.

"We'll all take care of him now, whatever happens, I know it's been a crazy couple of days since it happened but we're all here for you. And I can pick up the slack in engineering while he takes some time off, I'll be back on my feet in a day or two more," he reassured and she nodded, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

"He was already stressin' about his stupid engineering department when I saw him," she said weakly and Leo nodded.

"That's Scotty. Absolute champion when it comes to keeping that place running no matter what. But he needs to focus on himself now. The other engineers and I can pick up the slack for him," he reassured and she nodded, sniffling.

"Ah c'mere," he said, pulling her down by her arm so she was laying in the bed alongside him and wrapping her tightly in his arms, facing away from him.

"What are you doing?" she asked flatly.

"I'm hugging you, I'm trying to be nice," he answered, sounding mock-indignant.

"Just a wee-bit strange, that's all. You're not usually one for actually touching other living beings," she pointed out, relaxing a little into his hold.

"You're my friend and you're upset, I'm trying to comfort you," he explained and she nodded, yawning widely and wiping away a few more tears.

"Nap with me," he said quietly, his deep voice rumbling through her chest.

"I shouldn-" she started and he shushed her.

"You stay here and get an hour's sleep, you really look like you need it, just let yourself relax for a while. I know you're trying to be so strong for your parents right now but you need to rest Molly," he said, voice trailing off like he was already falling asleep.

She sniffled and relaxed further. Leo's bed was comfortable and warm and the rise and fall of his chest against her back was so soothing.

She woke with a start later, as something banged loudly in the room. Her eyes snapped open to be met with Emily McCoy standing in the doorway having slammed the door against the wall to make the loud noise that woke them both.

"Leo. What the fuck?" she demanded bluntly, her eyes glaring intently at the two of them.

Leo stirred behind her and Molly climbed out of the bed, feeling dazed.

"Emily… nothing happened, I just… I was upset about my Dad and I didn't know who else to talk to-" Molly began and Emily shut her up with a very stern look.

"What's the matter Em? We were talking and we fell asleep," Leo explained and it seemed to serve to only rile Emily further.

"Oh yeah, you were having a casual conversation in our bed with your arms around her… honestly? You expect me to believe that's what happened here?" she asked, anger rising in her voice.

"Well… yeah, I'd expect you to trust me. You know nothing would ever happen. Molly is one of my oldest friends, Scotty's hurt, she's scared and worried and I was trying to comfort her," he explained, sitting up.

"Oh, and you're not wearing a shirt too, great," Emily scoffed. Leo glanced down at his shirtless state and then back to his girlfriend incredulously.

"I never wear a shirt when I sleep. Are you ok?" he asked her, a trace of laugh clinging to his words.

Molly could immediately see this was a mistake. The laugh had seemed to turn her anger up to a new level and Molly quickly slipped from the room, hurrying downstairs as an act of self-preservation so she wouldn't be caught in their argument any further.

She opened the door to let herself out and jumped as she came face to face with David McCoy who was just arriving home.

"Hey Molly, what's up? You look terrified," he laughed uneasily and she swallowed hard, not needing to explain as Emily began yelling upstairs and David glanced upwards towards the source of the sound.

"She came home and… and I'd been here to talk to Leo… I'm so worried about m'dad and she's got the wrong idea and-" she sniffled and trailed off. David looked sympathetic and pinched the bridge of his nose as Emily yelled again. Leo wasn't raising his voice in return.

"I'll straighten things out with her, you get out of the blast radius," he chuckled, clapping her on the shoulder as they passed in the doorway. She took his advice and hurried off in the direction of home, terrified she was responsible for causing an irresolvable argument. She knew running away was hardly constructive, but she was intimidated by Emily McCoy enough as it was. She'd been increasingly more cold towards her the longer she spent working with Leo in the engineering bay, and she had no idea how to deal with the elephant in the room that McCoy obviously felt she was a threat to their relationship. She loved Leo, sure, but like the love she would have for an annoying older brother. She'd never felt anything other than platonic affection towards him and knew that Emily was unlikely to accept this explanation, especially now.

David kicked off his shoes and closed the door, able to hear Emily's indistinct yelling from upstairs. He made his way slowly up, feeling exasperated at the situation already.

Leo and Emily's relationship was far more fiery than his own with Chris, and he regularly found himself mediating stupid arguments between them.

"-I'm sick of hearing it Leo! Every girl that walks by you and you look at them!" Emily yelled.

"I'm just looking! For god's sake, you don't think I'm curious to look at people after spending twenty years wishing I could look at them? People are interesting! I look at women and I look at men, I just like to see faces! I look at guys too!" Leo responded, not yelling but certainly not softly.

"You're supposed to be faithful! What is all this bullshit in my head for if you can't even be faithful to it!"

"I am faithful, if anything happened between me and anyone else you would know because you're in my head too. It's not my fault you're so crazy jealous and insecure of my friendship with Molly," Leo spat. David inhaled sharply. That comment was not going to sit well with Emily.

Just as Emily began to yell again he barged into the room.

"Calm down, both of you! What's going on?" he asked and Emily ignored him, yelling over him and becoming upset.

"Emily come on, what's the matter?" he asked, trying to get some sense out of her.

She shook her head and took a moment to compose herself, taking slow, deep breaths.

"Are you ok?" he asked her and she finally looked at him and nodded.

"I will be," she said firmly. Leo was sat on the edge of the bed, still shirtless and bed-headed and looking extremely confused.

"Leo I'm sorry I can't deal with this kind of bullshit from you anymore, so either something changes or we need to have a conversation about our future," she said in a forced calm voice.

David looked to Leo to see how he'd respond.

"You're being unreasonable. I'm allowed to have friends, and if I'm not then I don't want to do this anymore," he said flatly.

"Ok well there's having friends and there's having friends in your bed. How would you feel if Emily had a dude from her band in that bed? I bet it'd make you feel like shit. So maybe you guys need to just make an agreement of no friends in the bed, right?" he offered as a solution, feeling like he was dealing with Thomas rather than two grown adults.

"Get out David, this is none of your damn business," Leo hissed.

"It's plenty of my business if you guys are arguing in the house again and I have to listen to it. And it's my business if you disrespect my sister," David responded and Leo stood up, drawing himself up to his full height and squaring up to David.

"Leo, leave him alone!" Emily warned. David squared up in return.

"I'm not backing down Leo, you don't get to disrespect my sister and not answer to me about it," he said firmly. Leo took a step closer and David didn't back away.

"Leo I swear to god if you touch him-"

"Shut up," Leo spat, not looking at Emily but straight at David.

"Don't speak to her like that Leo or I swear-"

"You swear what?! You'll start crying in the bathroom at night again? Or you'll have a panic attack and have to leave the academy halfway through your day? Or you'll take a ground posting as a god-damn fitness instructor because you have one bad experience in space and are too scared to try again? Captain Crossfit, right? That's what they're calling you around campus," Leo goaded and David felt his face grow hot.

"Fuck you," he growled, unable to think of anything more witty as rage built inside him.

"You wish," Leo sneered and David stepped forward so they were near enough chest to chest.

He could hear Emily trying to get them both to calm down but it was mostly drowned out by the rush of blood in his ears.

"What you gonna do? Cry about it?" Leo sneered and before he could think about it any further David raised his right hand and punched him square in the jaw.

Leo took that as all the invitation he needed and punched him back with dizzying force. David was able to land a few more punches before it just turned into messy grappling with Emily trying to pry them apart. Leo's one hand caught David's throat and he gasped for air and struggled, breaking Leo's grip but resulting in the same hand landing on his face and everything turning black.

David came to laying on his back in Leo and Emily's bedroom. Emily and Chris were both kneeling over him and Leo was nowhere to be seen.

He jolted to try and sit up and Chris held him still.

"Easy, just take it easy," he said, helping him slowly into a sitting position and supporting him. He looked around the room, disorientated, his eyes eventually landing on Emily who looked like she had a bruise on her face.

"Did he hit you?!" he asked, all his rage immediately flooding back even through his disorientation.

"Yeah with his elbow as I was trying to separate you idiots. I don't think it was deliberate," she said weakly and he opened his mouth to start before Chris stopped him.

"Are you ok?"

"I think so? My face hurts. My head feels weird," David sighed, trying to push himself into a kneeling position so he could stand.

"Your head feels weird? in what way?"

"I don't know, I feel…" David trailed off as a wave of nausea rose, he retched before he could stop himself, bile rising in his throat. His eyes burned as tears began to roll down his face and he gagged again.

"Em, can you grab me something a trashcan or just anything?" Chris asked quickly and Emily scrambled around before quickly handing something over just in time as David threw up violently.

It felt like a long time later David came back to himself and he was on his hands and knees now, panting for breath with Chris' hand rubbing slow circles into his back.

"Hey, you back?" he asked and David nodded weakly.

"Ok, we're gonna get you cleaned up and into bed to lay down for a minute," Chris said assertively and before David could really protest Chris had him up on his feet and was helping him to the bathroom and cleaning his face, helping him brush his teeth because David realised absently – his hands were trembling too much to do it himself.

His mind continued to reel as Chris gently helped him down the hallway to their room and peeled his shirt over his head, wiping his chest and neck and face again with a warm washcloth he must have picked up without David noticing.

"Here c'mon, put this on, it isn't covered in puke," Chris instructed, helping him into another t-shirt by pulling it over his head for him.

"I'll be right back," Chris said, leaving the room for a moment before coming back and peeling his own shirt over his head and changing into a fresh one.

"Did I puke on you?" David asked, horrified.

"Yeah, but it's fine I don't care. I think Leo melded with you. You had kinda a… I don't know how I'd describe it, kinda like a seizure maybe?" Chris explained gently as he pulled the blankets around his shivering bondmate.

David could hear his sister talking in the hallway.

"-No I don't think he needs to go to the hospital. He didn't hit his head when he fell, Chris is taking care of him now."

"Am I ok?" David asked, confused and disoriented.

"Yeah, of course you are, I got you," Chris said easily, slipping into the bed beside David and scooting up close behind him, wrapping him in his arms.

"Our Dad is gonna come look at him," Emily said, poking her head around the doorway.

"Sure, probably a good idea," Chris agreed. David felt like he was too exhausted to even use his voice, still trembling uncontrollably and feeling cold right to his core.

"Are you guys ok? I gotta go clean up all the puke," Emily winced and David opened his mouth to protest.

"Yeah, we're ok. I can clean in a little bit if you don't want to do it," Chris offered and Emily shrugged.

"Can't make preggers clean up someone else's puke," she shrugged and Chris smiled as she left them, closing the door.

"Did I really puke tha' bad?" David slurred, feeling like he was falling asleep again.

"Yeah, it was like something off that old movie 'The Exorcist'" Chris taunted and David nudged his shin with his foot.

"M'so tired," David yawned, closing his eyes.

"Yeah, I bet. Would you mind if I just melded with you really quick just to make sure everything is ok in your head?" Chris asked and David blinked his eyes open sleepily, meeting Chris' dark brown ones which were staring at him with concern.

"I d'no," he hesitated.

"What about just like this," Chris offered, leaning his head forwards until their foreheads were touching, closing his eyes and nuzzling his face against David's in a way that instantly relaxed him.

"Tha's nice," David slurred, able to just about feel Chris at the edges of his consciousness, the haziness Leo had left behind clearing where he was.

"I need a little bit more to figure out what's going on altogether, is that ok?" Chris asked, his fingertips appearing seemingly out of nowhere and settling on David's face gently. He nodded weakly and let himself go, completely trusting his bondmate as he carefully delved into his mind.

David came to his senses again a while later, with no concept of how much time had passed. He could hear Chris and his father talking outside the room and it was dark so he must have slept all afternoon.

"He's lucky there's no permanent damage. Damn idiot could have left him braindead," his father grumbled and Chris sighed.

"I don't understand what even all happened, I got back after it was all over. Emily said Leo touched his face and he just hit the deck. He couldn't have melded with him for more than two or three seconds at most," Chris said quietly, able to sense David was awake through their bond.

"If he has any more seizures you call me straight away."

"Course I will Bones. He'll be ok right? What I did helped?"

"Yeah. His brain was still misfiring every which way until you straightened it out by the sounds of it. You feeling ok?"

"Yeah, just tired. Really took it out of me," Chris chuckled.

"Yeah I can imagine puttin' out a fire in someone's brain cell by cell would do that. Get some rest kid, when he wakes up tell him to go back to sleep and that's an order. He needs a few days off work too, needs to properly recover, we'll watch Thomas tonight. I'll take some new scans tomorrow and we'll go from there," he said and Chris made an affirmative sound before a startled one.

"Kid is kicking the hell out of me tonight," he chuckled.

"That's good. Let's hope he keeps it up."

"Yeah. Alright Bones, I'll keep an eye on him and let you know if anything happens. Night."

David heard a few more indistinct words spoken by both men before Chris slipped back into the room and then back into bed. He smelled like fresh shower and minty toothpaste and David sighed contentedly, shuffling closer and cuddling up to him.

"Thomas is gonna stay over at his grandparents house tonight," Chris mumbled and David nodded.

"You feeling ok? Need anything?" Chris offered and David shook his head.

"No I'm supposed to be taking care of you," he mumbled in response, his hand settling low on Chris' small belly.

"Well today I'm taking care of you, and I can tell that you're thirsty so I'll get you a water and be right back," he said, kissing the top of his head gently and getting back out of bed.

Deciding he really wanted to brush his teeth again David stretched his whole body and slowly got out of bed, feeling a little wobbly on his feet still. He walked slowly to the bathroom, one hand on the wall for balance. He used the bathroom and brushed his teeth before edging his way back to bed still holding the wall. He got there to find Chris already there, glass of water on the side for him. He picked it up and gratefully sipped from it before replacing it and crawling into bed.

"I think Leo took every thought and memory you've ever had," Chris said bluntly once David had laid down.

"Really?" David asked.

"Yeah. He'd literally ransacked your memory and thoughts, it was upside down in there and I had to put it all back," he sighed heavily and David shifted, feeling very vulnerable.

"What the hell would he do that for?" he asked and Chris shook his head.

"I don't think he meant to, and it will have hurt him as much as it hurt you, because melds aren't supposed to convey that quantity of information in that length of time." Chris moved closer so his front was pressed entirely along David's side, his one arm draped across his chest.

"Did I sleep all day?"

"Mmm yeah you were kind of in and out," Chris replied, breaking off into a yawn. Against David's side he could feel tiny thumps as the baby kicked.

"He's really going for it," David chuckled.

"Going to be a soccer player or a kickboxing champion," Chris winced. David nudged him gently so he rolled onto his other side, David rolling with him so his front was against Chris' back, holding him close with one hand covering his bell protectively.

"Isn't it crazy in a few weeks he'll be here?"

"Uh huh," Chris replied vaguely.

"What's wrong?" David asked, able to sense the change in Chris' tone and mood.

"Just kinda worried about the surgery. I might need half of Leo's liver if mine doesn't stand up to the next couple of weeks, he's already been giving blood that Bones is storing up for me for when I need it," he said quietly.

"I'm sure Leo will come back before then. I really don't know what the hell happened today but I know he'll come back. And I know it's all going to go fine, you're both going to be fine," David reassured, kissing Chris on the back of the neck.

"Let's just get some sleep ok? And tomorrow you're staying here and hanging out with me all day, doctors' orders."

"Mmm ok, night Chris, night kickboxing champion," David mumbled, falling rapidly into a deep sleep.

A couple of miles away Leo huddled in the shower cubicle, turning the water as hot as it would go and scrubbing his skin aggressively. He'd run off and checked into a motel, needing somewhere to try and re-centre his mind. He'd touched David's face as they fought and somehow it had basically downloaded his entire memory in full into Leo's own mind and it was causing him a huge amount of pain and confusion as he tried to settle his own mind down.

He was unable to overcome one image that seemed to have burned into the forefront of his mind. A memory that didn't belong to him.

He was on his back, he was fighting, he was in pain and then the fighting stopped, glancing next to him a man was beating his attacker, a dishevelled man with wild golden hair and the bluest eyes in existence. He caught his eye for just a second but he was without a doubt.

The man he was looking at in David's memory was James T. Kirk.

David and Jim had crossed paths and the only sense that Leo could make of it in his jumbled mind was that David had repressed the memory of his attack, and wasn't consciously aware of it.

Leo's heart was pounding as he willed himself to observe the memory over and over again, becoming more and more certain.

Jim and David had crossed paths on the Orion ship.

Jim Kirk was alive.