Reading Time: 101 Minutes

Title: Beyond the Last Dance
Author: Meri
Fandom: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Drama, Family, First Time, Future Fic / Post-Canon, Romance, Slash
Relationship(s): Leonard McCoy/ Christopher Pike, James T. Kirk/Spock
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: *No Mandatory Warnings Apply, Canon level-violence, Attempted kidnapping of adults and children, Discussions of child trafficking but no explicit violence against anyone.
Author Note: Note 1: I believe canon is a suggestion, not a rule. This story is an alternate universe. Note 2: Given how close Spock is to Chris Pike in Discovery and Strange New Worlds, I can’t believe that Spock wouldn’t do everything he could before the accident to help or save him, especially knowing what he does about Pike’s sacrifice.
Beta: Thanks to my beta: Regan_V! Also useful were Grammarly and Text Aloud.
Word Count: 78,000
Summary: Dr. McCoy and Captain Pike spent one extraordinary night together. The following day, McCoy saved Pike’s life after a baffle plate ruptured during a cadet inspection tour. After that, neither can forget the night they spent together. Eighteen months later, Admiral Pike boards the Enterprise for a diplomatic mission to Xahea to help secure the planet’s entry into the Federation. When Pike and McCoy meet again, their response to each other surprises them both (and everyone else as well).
Artist: Saydria Wolfe

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Chapter Six

Day 4

The first session went well. It was mainly introductions and agreeing on the general ground rules for the negotiations. Each team was tasked with working on a first draft of sections of the treaty separately, within guidelines set in advance.

Chris left his negotiators to work on that and sought out Erica in her office in the Galactic Transportation Building. She ran the entire organization for Xahea. It wasn’t a traditional job for the princess consort, but she’d pushed hard to have a career. And this one made sure she got to fly regularly. Not a starship, but there were plenty of other crafts. Both she and Po worked at demanding careers outside the monarchy.

Erica ushered him into her office. “What can I do for you, Chris?”

“I’ve got some questions about the bond and a question about how it might work,” he said as he sat on the sofa.

She took a seat in the chair next to it. “I’m not an expert by any means. What happened?”

He told her about the conversation he’d had with Len last night. “I don’t even begin to know what to do with that.”

“Po and I were apart for that year after we met, and then we were together. There was no worrying about anything like that because I was leaving Starfleet. I knew that when I left here after I met her. It seems like a good thing that you could work it out with Dr. McCoy.”

“It is. Can you give me any information on the bonds here?”

Erica looked thoughtful for a moment. “I can. I read a lot about it after I met Po. But it’s all specific to Xahea. I’m not sure it’s going to be much help with two humans from Earth.”

“I think it will be a place to start,” Chris said. “Also, would you send it to Dr. McCoy as well?”

“Sure,” she said and then cleared her throat. “I actually have something else to discuss with you. This should probably be done as an official briefing, but I have you here now, and you can relay the information to Captain Kirk and Starfleet.”

“What’s on your mind?” Chris was just as happy to not discuss the bond anymore. It was far too personal and fraught with too many different emotions.

“It’s something that’s going to come up in the treaty, but I wanted to give you this information up front. We have a problem with people trafficking children.”

“What kind of problem?” Chris knew this was one of the many issues that was galactic-wide. There were worlds where it was, if not legal, then people looked the other way, when children or young adults were sold or stolen and ended up trafficked or sold into slavery.

“It’s not legal here. In fact, we take enforcement of our laws regarding children’s safety and welfare very seriously.” Erica looked troubled. “But we are at the edge of the quadrant and get all sorts of beings stopping at our space station for repairs. We scan ships for children, and we seize anything that has too many children or too many people in a hold without an explanation. We act first, apologize later.”

“I hadn’t heard that about Xahea.” Chris approved of the approach. “How do you decide who to scan?”

“We scan everyone, and it’s in the manifest of the station. It’s also published widely. Though most people coming here don’t bother to read the small print.”

“What do you do when you catch someone?”

“We prosecute them. The station is part of our sovereign planet. That’s also publicized. It’s the children we need help with. We make every effort to locate their families, but we don’t always succeed. Some of them are simply adopted by Xahean families. But some children are not as adoptable. Some who can’t live comfortably in the environment of our world.”

“How can we help?” This was something Chris was very interested in, both personally and professionally. The federation would be happy to provide whatever resources it could to help get victimized children home.

“I know there are many galactic agencies that work with families of missing children and identifying children’s families. But we don’t have the contacts. Specifically on Earth, Vulcan, or some of the other member worlds that are too far away from us.”

“I can probably help you with Earth. I’m not sure you know this, but my mother runs the Pike Foundation. Which, aside from doing medical and scientific research, also has a children’s hospital, and a section of the foundation that works with the agencies on Earth to help victimized children.”

Erica smiled. “I actually did know that. Which is why I’m talking to you about it. I was hoping you’d get in touch with your mom and see if she’d like to come out to Xahea as our guest and help coordinate our efforts.”

“How many children?” Chris asked. “And what other information can you give me to send to her?”

She picked up a padd and pressed a few buttons. “I just sent you everything I have on the latest seizure. There were over a hundred children on the last ship. Many different species. Many different ages. We are literally overwhelmed with this.”

“When did it happen?”

“Three or four days ago. We already had a few children who we could not place, and this pushed the limit on how many we could take in. Usually, it’s not more than ten to twenty children at a time. These kids were half-starved and dirty. They were packed together in several holds of a decrepit cargo ship. Some had been on the ship for more than a month. They are all traumatized.”

Of course, they were. Chris felt sick. “What happened to the perpetrators?”

“Well, unfortunately,” Erica said, sounding like it wasn’t unfortunate at all. “Several were killed when we raided the ship. The captain and first mate were taken alive, and they are locked up and going to stand trial for several felony level Xahean crimes. If they are convicted, they will end up mining dilithium with picks and shovels for the rest of their lives.” Erica looked grim. “Hurting children is one of the highest crimes on Xahea. We value our children. They are our future.”

After some of the places Chris had been and some of the things he’d seen, he appreciated Xahea’s attitude. “I’ll get in touch with my mother. And I’m going to report this to the Federation as well. They can send Xahea resources, doctors, child psychologists, and other personnel to help you. Why didn’t you get in touch sooner?”

“I was only made aware of the situation two days ago. And I knew you would be here the following day, and I knew about your mother. Truthfully, I didn’t want the request to get lost in the proceedings for the treaty. We’re not in the Federation yet.”

That made some sense to Chris. A day either way probably wasn’t going to matter. “All right. I’ll see what else we can do about this. Is there anyone who needs special attention? Or something I need to request?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Erica said and then sighed. “That’s the part that I wanted to talk to you about. The part for Captain Kirk is more complicated.”

“Would you like me to call him and have him meet us? If he’s not busy, he shouldn’t be more than a few minutes.”

“You know, yes,” Erica said after a moment of clearly thinking about it. “I think I’ll ask Po to join us as well. Maybe the Enterprise’s Chief of Security, if they are available.”

“I want to say that Captain Kirk mentioned to me that he didn’t have a chief of security. The last one left a few months ago, and he hasn’t been able to replace her. I have a Chief of Security on my staff who was Chief of Security on the Lexington.”

“That would be great,” Erica said. “Let’s coordinate to meet in about ten minutes.”

Chris called Jim and Derek and asked them to meet him in Erica’s office. They both were available and beamed down. Chris spent a few minutes briefing them on the issue with the rescued children. And Jim volunteered his ship’s pediatrician to help out where and when she was needed.

*****

“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” Po said, standing at the head of the conference table. “Have you all been briefed on the situation with our rescued children?”

Everyone nodded. “Xahea’s Planetary Intelligence Agency has alerted us to a problem with six of the children. They are aged three to nine, and they are all part Orion male children.” She looked around and probably could see that no one knew what that meant.

Given who his mother was, Chris understood the implication.

“I can see that the admiral knows what I’m talking about. I’m going to have the head of our PIA explain to those who don’t know,” Po nodded to the person at the table, and he stood as she sat down.

“I’m Lano Ika Miri Ka Lo-Amo. We have been given credible evidence that the Orion Syndicate is interested in retrieving the six young boys. They would have no status anywhere in the Orion Empire, and we believe they are wanted for the slave trade. We believe that the six of them were kidnapped from a breeding farm where they were conceived and raised for this purpose.”

“The incarcerated traffickers hit an Orion breeding farm, and now the Orions want the kids back,” Jim asked, sounding outraged.

“Essentially correct, Captain Kirk,” Lo-Amo said. “We believe that the traffickers were using the other children as decoys to transport the six boys back to Orion and that they got greedy and kept taking other children.”

“We believe the Orions are going to attempt to take back the boys,” Erica said. “We don’t have any idea what kind of firepower is going to come at us or when it’s going to happen.”

“What do you need from us?” Jim asked. “Depending on what kind of firepower they have, the Enterprise itself might not be enough.”

“After I explain the situation to Starfleet and the Federation, I’m sure we can get another ship or two. What kind of planetary defenses do you have?” Chris directed the question to both Erica and Lo-Amo. She seemed to have her finger on the pulse of this.

Erica cleared her throat. “We have sufficient planetary means to defend ourselves, but our space navy isn’t as robust as Starfleet’s. If they attempt to come to the planet, they will have a fight on their hands, and they will be at a significant disadvantage. If they use a strike force and get hostages, we can give chase, but not as well, especially with a ship with hostages on it. We’ll need some assistance with that.”

“I’ll report this to Starfleet immediately after the meeting. We should be able to help in this situation.” Chris looked at Lo-Amo. “Do you have any kind of timeline?”

“We believe it’s going to happen while the negotiations are going on,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s all we’ve been able to find out.”

“I’ll check with Starfleet Intelligence and see what I can find out from them,” Derek said.

“Very good. We should probably meet back tomorrow after lunch to discuss strategies for this,” Chris looked at his watch and stood. “Right now, I need to get back to the negotiations.”

“Thank you, Admiral,” Po said and stood as well. “We appreciate the support.”

*****

Chris buzzed the door to Len’s quarters. It took a second for Len to call, “Come in.”

“Hi,” Chris said as he came in, looking around. They had spent most of their time in Chris’ quarters, and when he’d been here previously, he hadn’t registered anything beyond his need for Len. “How was your day?”

“Good. I talked to Jim about the children that were rescued and took Candice off the schedule in Sickbay so that she can work with them,” Len said as he stopped outside of Chris’ arm’s reach. “She went down there this afternoon to see what she can help with.”

“Thanks. I’m sure they are going to appreciate that.” Chris was a little startled by the distance. “Is something wrong?”

Len shook his head with a slight smile. “No. But if I get too close, we’re not going to talk for long. And we do need to talk to each other. What else happened today?”

That was true, and even if Chris didn’t like it, having some distance between them made some sense. “Okay.” Chris took a deep breath. “I sent a note to my mother about coming out here. Did you know about the children’s hospital and resources part of the foundation?”

“I did know,” Len replied. “I also sent a message to my momma. I asked her to get in touch with your mom to see if she could help out.”

“What does your mom do?” Chris was surprised that Len would involve someone else in this.

“She’s the executive director for Atlanta Children’s Hospital.”

Well, that sort of dovetailed. “Why would she want to come out, though?”

“I thought that would have been obvious,” Len said, looking surprised by the question. “To help out.”

“Just like that?” It annoyed Chris that Len had done it without even speaking to him about it first.

“Why not?” Len asked, folding his arms over his chest. “I’m not sure what you think the problem is with that.” It was pretty clear that Len could tell he was annoyed by it. “I assumed that we needed to formalize the bond sooner rather than later, that says marriage to me. I’m not going to do that without her being there.”

“If we get married here, and I agree that we probably should. We could just have another ceremony when we get back to earth.” Which actually seemed like a good solution to Chris.

Len shook his head. “It won’t be the same at all. And I eloped with Jocelyn. Which, of course, was a mistake in so many ways that it doesn’t bear speaking about. Apart from that, I promised my momma that if I ever got married again, that I would make sure she was there.”

“She does know you work in space, and that her being there might not be feasible,” Chris pointed out. Their families had to know that things happen in space.

“I doubt that will make a difference to her. I promised,” Len said. “I plan to keep that promise one way or another.”

Chris breathed out, trying to control his irritation. “You might have cleared that with me first.”

“Why would I?” Len glared at him. “I don’t have to ask your permission to do anything like that. You are not the fucking boss of me, Admiral. And you need to learn that right now.”

Well, that certainly told him, didn’t it, Chris thought furiously. “I might not be the boss of you, as you put it, but I am the commanding officer for this mission.”

“Before you say anything else, stop a second and figure out why you are so angry?” Len said, so fucking reasonably. “You need to take a step back. This is not job-related in any way. It’s personal.”

Chris disagreed. “It is job-related –”

“No. This isn’t about anything that has to do with what’s going on with Xahea. It’s about you and me.”

Chris took a breath. He could feel Len’s suppressed anger. What did he expect from Len? “How is it about us?”

“This is really about me. You’re angry I didn’t clear it with you first –”

“Why didn’t you even ask me about it?”

For a second, Len was very angry at him, but then he sighed. “Because it never occurred to me to even consider asking you first.”

“Maybe that’s the problem?” Chris held up his hand before Len could say anything. “Neither one of us has ever had to consider someone else. Now, we don’t have a choice.”

“Probably. I was married, but there’s a reason it didn’t work out, and maybe it wasn’t all on Jocelyn,” Len agreed. “You and I can’t talk to each other for more than a few minutes without ending up in bed. Maybe we needed to be angry enough to actually talk about something.”

“That doesn’t say much about either of us, does it?” Chris sighed. But it was true.

“We’ve been compelled by this bond. Some of it has been just wonderful, but it’s also been damned hard,” Len said, frowning. “Even now, I want to touch you so damned badly I can barely keep myself from doing it. But I think we need to resolve this first.”

“I agree that we have to work it out.” Chris shook his head. “I don’t know how. I know I’ve said this before, but I am not great at talking about things like this.”

“I am not either.” Len looked at him. The desire written on his face was nearly tangible.

And it was probably on Chris’ face as well, because he was certainly feeling it and was sure Len knew it. “Do you think we have enough of this resolved now to let me kiss you?”

“We haven’t actually resolved anything,” Len pointed out and took a step towards him. “There’s no calling the letter back from my momma. She hasn’t replied yet, but I’m sure she will. I also think she could be very helpful to your mom.”

“I guess there’s nothing I can do about any of it now. Truthfully, you’re right. Xahea probably needs all the help it can get. I’m sure your mom would be welcome.”

“Plus, it means we can get married on the bridge, and Jim can marry us.”

“We’ve known each other for four days,” Chris pointed out. “And we haven’t even discussed it. Not really.”

“I know. I also know that it’s what needs to happen.”

He knew Len was right, but it was still too huge to think about. And so fucking fast. “We’ve barely agreed that we’ll live on Starbase 1.”

“True, but that was a compromise. I don’t think there’s a compromise on this.”

“We could get bonded on Xahea,” Chris suggested. “That might help.”

“If we are going to go that far, we should just get married,” Len said. “You know, I swore I’d never get married again. And now, somehow, I’m okay with this.”

“I wish I were,” Chris said. “But I can see every one of the pitfalls that exist.”

“Tell me you don’t want to get married,” Len said. “Because even with everything against it, I think it is going to become an imperative for us. Tell me you don’t feel that, too.”

“You know I do.” Chris breathed out a long sigh. “I just don’t like feeling like we’re being pushed or manipulated into something.”

“I agree with that, at least in theory,” Len said. “But what if it is a soul bond of some kind? We’re going to have to work it out.”

“You really do need to look into what you can find out about all of this,” Chris said, and he couldn’t conceal his smile at the thought of them actually being soulmates. It was silly and romantic, and he had never been accused of being either of those things, but damn, there was a part of him that wanted that. He glanced at Len, who kind of smirked at him. “You know what I was just thinking?”

“Not know, not exactly.” Len’s brow wrinkled, and he paused before meeting Chris’ eyes. “But the idea of soulmates holds some appeal to you. And as much as it kills me to admit it, it does for me, too.”

“Two grownups caught in a fairy tale,” Chris murmured. “How does this even happen to us?”

Len snorted. “I don’t know. It’s not anything I ever expected for myself.”

He stepped forward, holding his hand, and Chris reached out and took it, pulling him forward until he was right against Chris’ chest.

Len put his hand on Chris’ face, nudging him forward a couple of inches so that they could kiss. Something deep inside him relaxed as Len’s mouth touched his. Whatever else there was between them, whatever problems they had, this was perfect.

*****

The Next Day

Day 5

The negotiations were underway, and so far, there hadn’t been any significant glitches. But it was only the first few days. And there were long stretches when the negotiators had to report back and wait for replies. Less so for Xahea than it was for the Federation.

In the meantime, Chris had reported to Starfleet what Erica had told him about both the children and the Orion Syndicate and sent a comm to his mother with all the information Erica had asked him about. He hadn’t told his mom what was going on with Len or the bond. The truth was, he wasn’t ready to talk about it or its implications with his family yet.

He had been informed that Starfleet would be sending another ship, and should they need it, a third ship would be in the area to help with whatever situation might arise. The Federation was ready and willing to help defend Xahea.

“Admiral Pike,” Uhura’s voice came over his comm.

“Yes, Lieutenant,” Chris said.

“You’ve got an incoming communication from Amelia Pike,” she said. And she sounded amused.

Uhura knew who his mother was. She’d routed enough of her calls to him over the years. “Please send it to my comm here,” Chris asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“Computer, engage privacy protocols.”

“Engaged.”

He flipped open his comm and attached it to the view screen. “Mom?”

“Christopher?” She called him by his full name in that same tone that she used when he was a kid and in big trouble. “What is going on?”

“Context, please?” He asked. But he noticed she wasn’t in her office. Or anywhere that he recognized. “Where are you?”

She folded her arms over her chest. “Apparently, I’m getting ready to go to Xahea. I’m an hour out from launching.”

That was unfortunate. Despite Chris’ reluctance, maybe he should have mentioned Len and his family in his note to his mom. “Already? I actually wanted to talk to you about a few things before you left –”

“Yes, like Doctor McCoy, perhaps. Or maybe you could have mentioned that you and he had developed a powerful bond.” She had that slight edge to her voice that said she was not pleased with him.

Chris resisted the urge to put his head on his desk. “Yes, about that. Maybe we could also talk about how you even know Doctor McCoy.”

“You’ve taken your time to even ask me about that, so I’m assuming it’s a deflection and that you already know how.” She stared at him right through the screen.

“I know some of it, truthfully,” Chris said. “But obviously, I don’t know exactly how he ended up with a grant from the foundation, especially since you don’t even handle any aspects of funding.”

“I’m still the chair of the board of directors for the entire foundation. If I want something done, it will get done,” Amelia said tartly as if he should know that.

Chris supposed that was true, but he didn’t think of her that way. “How did you find out about it?”

“Spock came to my office more than ten years ago. He suggested that I should have the foundation fund a research project on healing radiation exposure and gave me the names of three people who were currently working on it. One of whom was a doctor in Starfleet. I think you know the rest of this story.”

“I didn’t know anyone other than Len was working on it.”

“The other two went on to other things within a year,” Amelia said. “Was there something else? If not, maybe you can explain a few things to me.”

“I think some of this can wait. If you know about Doctor McCoy and me. I was hoping you’d bring his mom and some of the rest of his family here as well. He and I are going to have to get married, sooner rather than later,” Chris said.

Now, Amelia looked shocked. “Is it the bond pushing you?”

“Yes. I think so. We think so,” Chris said. There was still so much they didn’t know.

“Do you have any information on it?” Amelia asked.

Chris shook his head. “Not a lot. And it concerns me.”

She snorted. “I’m sure it would.”

“Who is coming with you from the foundation?” Chris wanted to get on to the business at hand. “There are a lot of children who need to be identified and hopefully have their families found for them.”

“I’ve already spoken with the Princess Consort,” Amelia said, giving him a look that said she knew what he was doing, but was going to let him get away with it. “My ship has access to all of Earth’s resources as well as most of the Federation’s resources. And there will be volunteers to run the information through those resources.”

Chris could not imagine how she’d gotten all of that done in so short a time. “Thank you. I’m sure Xahea will be relieved to hear that.”

Before she could say anything else, the door to his quarters slid open, and Len came in. As Chris glanced his way, Len crossed the room and bent over, tipping Chris’ chin up to give him a quick kiss.

Len stepped back and looked at the screen.

“Doctor McCoy,” Amelia said. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Ma’am,” Len said, smiling. “You didn’t tell me that by saving his life, he would end up being mine.”

Her eyes widened, and her lips twitched. “I didn’t know that.”

“I didn’t either,” Chris said, and they should definitely talk about that statement. Soon. Clearly, though, not this minute.

“As to your question about bringing Doctor McCoy’s family with me. How do you think I found out about your relationship with him in the first place?”

Yeah, Chris should have realized that. Last night’s issue wasn’t quite resolved between them — once again, they had had wonderful sex instead of talking about what happened — or really any of the other things that had happened in the last five days.

“I did know he sent a message to his mom.” Chris glanced at Len.

“So, yes. I’ll be making a stop at the spaceport in Atlanta, and Eleanora is coming with me,” Amelia said with a pointed glance at Chris. “I don’t think you knew, either of you, that Eleanora and I have known each other professionally for years.”

Given what he already knew, Chris shouldn’t have been that surprised by the connection. “Obviously, I had no idea.”

“That’s great,” Len said, smiling. “It’s good you both know each other and have worked together since you’re both going to be related at some point soon.”

“I’ll explain more of that when we see you both. The rest of Doctor McCoy’s family will be coming on board my ship as well,” Amelia said.

“Beth and Billy-Ray?” Len asked.

“And their children,” Amelia said, and glanced at Chris. “Along with me, your dad and your sister are here as well.”

“Did Ron come with Emma? And what about their kids?”

“I asked Emma to come to help out. And yes, Ron came with her. None of the children. They all had prior commitments. Jon is not on board. He’s still on Delta-Gamma IV, but he’s left that academic center he was working for, and is currently unemployed,” Amelia said.

Chris chuckled at her tone. “You say that like he won’t have another job as soon as he wants one. He told me the constant bickering and backbiting finally got to be intolerable.”

“I told him the same thing,” she said, and sighed. “He said he needed some time to decide what he wanted to do next.”

“How is Jon getting here?” Chris asked.

“I’m not sure, but he didn’t seem to think it was a problem when I talked to him.”

“He could hire a shuttle, but I think Una and the Yorktown are close enough to pick him up on their way here,” Chris said. “I’ll call her and ask.”

“That would be great. I need to get moving,” Amelia said. “I’ll see you late tomorrow.”

*****

“They will all be here tomorrow,” Len said, yawning. “I think it’s time for us to go to bed.”

“I still have some reading to do,” Chris said, and Len plucked the padd out of his hand. “What –”

“Nope. Sleep now. Or other things. You are so keyed up and stressed that you’re going to be wasting time trying to read or do anything until you’re more relaxed.” Len folded his arms over his chest and gave him a look that said there was no arguing with him, but he could also feel Len’s amusement.

And instead of it annoying him, Chris found it kind of adorable, which he supposed was better than being irritated. A glance at Len showed he knew what Chris was feeling. “The problem is that if you relax me too much, I won’t get anything else done tonight. I’ve still got the negotiations to deal with in the morning.”

“I know you do,” Len said, smiling at him. “But you’re not going to be doing anyone any good, if you can’t concentrate. Even if you try to brute force it, you won’t be as effective.”

“How do you know that?” Chris asked, amused too. Something about Len’s humor at him was infectious.

Len just looked at Chris. “I’m a doctor. I know a thing or two about stress. And fortunately for you, I also know how to relieve it.”

Well, he might have a point there. And really, like he always did, Chris wanted what Len was offering. “Okay.”

Now, Len blinked in surprise. “Just like that?”

Chris laughed. “Oh, you bet. I can concede the point.”

“Plus, it’s in your best interest.” Len smiled, invitingly. “And your pleasure.”

“That remains to be seen.” Chris stood and took off his jacket. “Do you want to do the rest?”

Len’s grin widened. “Absolutely, Admiral. I’m at your service.”

“I thought I told you not to call me that, especially not when you’re taking my clothes off.”

“Did you?” Len kissed him deeply and then stepped back to pull Chris’ shirt and undershirt over his head. As Len’s fingers brushed across Chris’ chest, he closed his eyes and moaned as his pulse picked up.

After he dispensed with the rest of Chris’ clothes, Len dropped to his knees and took Chris’ cock into his mouth. Chris sucked in a deep breath. Oh, dear God, that was so amazing. He pressed forward. As the tension built higher, his mind slid away on the pleasure of Len’s tongue.

Len pulled back. He turned Chris around, kissing the back of his neck, and pressed him down over his desk. Chris was amused as hell and very aroused by what Len had in mind. He never failed to surprise Chris.

A slick finger pressed into him, and with his last remaining working brain cell, Chris gasped out, “Computer, lock the door. No override.”

“I can get past that, and as he’s already proven, so can Jim,” Len said with a snicker.

Chris didn’t say anything else because he couldn’t think well enough to form words. He just moaned again. “No more,” he whined.

Len held his hips and pressed slowly into him. Chris grunted.

“Okay, m’darlin’?” Len’s hand ran over his back and down his thigh.

“Yes. Yes,” Chris muttered. “Now move.”

And Len pulled out and pressed back in harder. Those electric flashes burst through Chris’ as the pleasure and arousal swelled. He pushed back into each thrust, looking for more, chasing those sharp sparks. The tension spiked higher and higher, and he gritted his teeth to keep from coming. Len’s hand reached around and stroked his cock, and Chris was just done. He came, hard, moaning and swearing.

Len moved faster and harder for a few more seconds, and Chris felt him let go. For a moment or two, he lay face down on his desk, trying to catch his breath. That had been so good. He’d needed that.

“Thanks,” he murmured. “How did you know?”

“I felt how tense you were, and knew I should do something about it,” Len said, standing and pulling him up into his arms.

“You didn’t take off your clothes.” Which Chris had to admit was kind of sexy.

“Ever been naked with someone fully clothed before?” Len asked, kissing him softly.

“Did you enjoy that?” Chris smiled back at him. “And yes, I’ve probably done everything you can think of at least once before. And if you think of something I haven’t done, we’ll need to discuss it before you try it out with me.”

“How do I know if you’ve done it before?” Len asked. “And yes, I did enjoy that.”

“If you can think of something that out of the ordinary, then you will know to ask.” Or Chris hoped he would.

“I’m pretty sure you don’t have to worry about that,” Len said with a laugh. “I’m not into pushing anyone’s limits. My own included.”

“Good to know,” Chris said, picking up his uniform and hanging it up. “I need a shower. Coming?”

“Already have. But yeah,” Len said, finally taking off his clothes.

*****

Chapter Seven

Day 6

The following evening

“Energize.”

The beam caught them and deposited them on the Pike Foundation ship. Len had no idea what its name was.

Amelia Pike was standing beside the console. She was tall, with short gray hair, and she projected the kind of confidence that said she knew her place in the world. Len had always liked that about her.

Standing next to Amelia was Momma. She was very similar in temperament to Amelia. He expected them to become good friends over time. Len hadn’t seen her in almost two years. There might be a little more gray in her still mostly dark hair.

“Mom,” Chris said, stepping off the pad, as Amelia came forward. He hugged her tightly.

Eleanora came forward at the same time, and Len met her at the bottom of the transporter platform and wrapped his arms around her. He held her close for a moment.

“Lenny,” Eleanora murmured against his shoulder and pulled back.

Chris turned and smiled at him, beckoning him forward. “I know you know Doctor McCoy.”

As he let go of his momma, Len was surprised when Amelia hugged him. “It’s good to see you again, Doctor –”

“Didn’t I tell you to call me Len?” he interrupted her.

“Amelia, for the moment at least,” she said, smiling.

He stepped back and took Chris’ hand. “Momma, this is Christopher Pike, my partner. Chris, honey, this is my momma, Eleanora McCoy.”

“Very pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Chris said.

“Eleanora, and it’s good to meet you too, Admiral –”

“Chris, please,” he said as he stepped forward to hug her. “You’re about to become my mother-in-law.”

“True enough,” she said with a slight southern accent. “There are some people who want to meet the two of you.”

Chris turned towards his mom. “Where is everyone else?” he asked.

“Your dad and the rest of the Pikes and McCoys are in the reception room,” Amelia told him.

They made their way down the corridor and into the reception room. The door slid open, and Chris’ dad and the rest of his family were waiting.

“Dad,” Chris said, hugging a large, gray-haired man with startlingly blue eyes. “It’s good to see you. How have you been?”

“Good. It’s good to see you as well, son,” he said, glancing towards Len.

“Dad, this is Len –”

“Your new partner? I’m delighted by that,” Grant said, stepping up to hug him.

In a way that most people didn’t, Grant felt safe to him, and Len held on for a second. “I am, too,” he said, pulling back.

“There are more of us to introduce to your intended,” Beth said, smiling. She hugged Len. “And a surprise for you, Lenny.”

“Daddy?” Joanna stepped from behind Billy-Ray and rushed into his open arms. He held her tightly.

“Oh, Daddy, I’ve missed you so much,” she murmured against his shoulder.

“Oh, my darlin’ baby girl,” Len choked. “I was not expectin’ to see you. How did you get past –”

“I told Jocelyn that I was taking Joanna to see her daddy get married,” Eleanora said tartly. “And, in case you missed it, Joanna turned eighteen last month. There is no arguing with that.”

“I most certainly did not miss that fact,” Len said, smiling down at Joanna. “I sent her a present, and we talked the day after, didn’t we, sweetheart.”

“We did,” Joanna said, still holding on to him. “So, are you going to introduce me?”

“I guess I’d better,” he said, and let her go and turned to Chris, who was smiling widely. “Christopher Pike, meet Joanna McCoy. He’s –”

She reached out a hand to Chris, and he took it. Her expression changed quickly to surprise, and then she smiled at Chris. A bright, genuine smile that pleased Len no end. And she pulled Chris into her arms to hug him tightly.

“Pleased to meet you, sir,” she said, pulling back, still grinning at Chris, her eyes sparkling. “Very, very pleased.”

Something about the way she said it silenced everyone in the room. And now they were all looking at her. Most of them looked surprised or amused.

Chris smiled. “Thank you. I’m pleased to meet you as well. And why don’t you call me Chris? I’m going to be,” Chris stopped and cleared his throat. His expression shifted to a mix of overjoyed and shocked. “Your stepfather,” he finished hoarsely.

Everyone around laughed, and the tension dissipated.

“Maybe you can just be my co-dad. The stepfathers I’ve had haven’t been that impressive,” Joanna said with a deep sigh, and then looked up at Chris. “Not like you’re going to be.”

Chris smile dimmed a little, and he looked at Len. At this point, Len couldn’t tell him anything, so he just nodded and mouthed ‘later’.

“I would be honored to be your co-dad,” Chris said, and she hugged him again.

A rush of joy went through Len. He hadn’t thought that Joanna wouldn’t like Chris, but that she seemed to know who and what he was, so easily pleased Len more than he could express. “So, where were we?” Len asked, sliding an arm around Joanna to keep her close.

Beth raised her hand. “Beth, honey, this is Chris,” he said, giving up on titles or even full names.

Beth smiled at that. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chris.”

“And you, Beth,” he said, and reached out to hug her.

As she pulled back from Chris’ embrace, Len turned slightly. “This is my brother-in-law, Billy-Ray Carson.”

“Billy-Ray. It’s good to meet you.” Chris held out his hand, but Billy-Ray hugged him, too. “You’re family. You have to hug all of us.”

“Is that a McCoy rule or something?” Chris asked, laughing.

“I am sure it is a rule.” Billy-Ray smiled at that. “These are our kids, Melissa and David.”

“Good to meet you,” Chris said. And hugged each of them in turn. They were in their late teens. David was going to start college in the fall, and Melissa was entering her final year of high school.

Len looked around, and a woman with ash-blond hair came forward with a man with graying red hair. They both hugged Chris tightly and then turned to Len.

“This is my sister and brother-in-law, Emma and Ron,” Chris said, turning to Len.

He had to let Joanna go to hug both of them. But she seemed content to stay beside him.

“We are delighted beyond words to meet you, Len,” Emma said.

“We’d all but given up hope on him ever finding anyone who would put up with him,” Ron said and smiled at Chris. “Chris, we’re all so pleased for you.”

“How are you both, the kids? Anything new that I haven’t heard through mom?” Chris asked.

“Nothing other than Jenni starting the Academy in the fall,” Emma said with a smile.

Chris grinned, looking delighted. “That is wonderful. Why didn’t you tell me she was applying?”

“She asked us not to tell anyone,” Ron said. “You know how nervous she is about anything important like that.” Emma and Ron stepped back. “I’m sorry Jenni couldn’t come with us. She’s about Joanna’s age.”

“I don’t know if I mentioned it, but Emma is a doctor,” Chris said.

Well, that was a surprise. Len had no idea. Not that he would have, since they’d met again a couple of days ago. “What is your specialty, Emma?” Len asked. At least he’d have something to talk about with her.

“I’m a pediatrician,” Emma said with a smile.

“I’m Chief Medical Officer –”

“Of the Enterprise. I’d be pretty thrilled to meet you even if you weren’t going to be joining my family,” Emma said. “That you are is icing on the cake.”

Len looked down. Sometimes, he didn’t know what to do with that kind of recognition out of context like this. He knew how good he was at what he did. And truthfully, expected a certain amount of acknowledgment of that when he met someone who knew as well, but this was not that circumstance. “We can talk later, if you’d like.”

“I would,” Emma said, clearly delighted by the idea. “I am working with a couple of hybrid Vulcan-Human children, and I know you have some experience treating an adult. I’d like your take on some of what is going on with them.”

“Of course,” Len said, pleased. Then it hit him who she was. “Wait, Emma Pike? I can’t believe I didn’t make the connection immediately. I’ve read some of your papers on ways of treating traumatized children. You’ve done some stellar work on finding unique solutions –”

“Before this gets too far into shop talk,” Ron said, interrupting him. “There’s food and drinks and plenty of time to talk later.”

Emma looked a bit disgruntled, but then laughed. “Fine. Fine. I finally get to meet another doctor who can understand what I’m doing, and no one is going to let me talk to him.”

“Emma, he’s joining our family,” Chris pointed out. “You’ll have years and years to talk to him.”

“Exactly. Eventually, we’ll be at Starbase 1, which isn’t that far from San Francisco,” Len said, trying not to sound too annoyed. But he acknowledged that this wasn’t the time or place for a detailed discussion. “If you have any time in the next few days, come over to the Enterprise, and we can talk without interruptions.”

“Let’s get something to eat and mingle,” Chris said with a smile. “I’m sure you want to talk to everyone, too.”

Len supposed he could be polite. He turned to his daughter. “Well, Joanna, what do you say? Are you hungry?” Len asked her as they followed Chris to the table at the back.

“I am,” she said. “I’ve been too excited to eat much.” She took a plate and started down the food table. Len did the same.

After he filled a plate, Chris turned to his mother. “Are you putting everyone here to work?”

“That was my plan,” she said. “Be grateful you have other things that need to be done, or I’d be making use of your skills as well.”

Len smiled as Chris laughed at that.

*****

For a while, everyone seemed to be talking at once. But when the first round of how have things been going since I last saw you was past, Len drifted towards the wall and stood there, slightly away from the fray. Chris’ family was talkative, and his family wasn’t much better. They all wanted to know everything about his life in twenty seconds. He’d much rather have just talked to Emma about her last published paper.

Joanna smiled at him as she leaned on the wall next to him. “You know, I remember when I was little, and momma would have a fit when you would lean on a wall and watch her parties, rather than participating.”

“You couldn’t have been more than three or four,” Len said. And Len was not going to tell her how boring he’d always found Jocelyn’s parties. “And you were supposed to be asleep.”

“I’ve got good recall for conversations, even if I didn’t really understand them when they were happening. And I used to stand in the hall above the ballroom, and she never saw me. Not that she looked.”

“So, what is going on with your stepfather?”

Joanna pursed her lips. “Which one?”

“Yeah, there’s that,” Len muttered. “But they never hurt you, did they. Or –”

“No,” she said. “Of course not. I would have told you, and if I couldn’t get you, Grammy would surely have brought hellfire down on anyone who would have hurt me. They were just…not very good people. I could tell that they were more interested in Momma’s credits than in her. I’ve told you about most of it. One wanted to send me to a boarding school off-world. Another wanted to adopt me because he thought it would make him rich somehow. The current one just ignores me. Not that I cared that much. They weren’t you.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” Len sighed. “You have every right to be angry with me about that.”

“Except I’m not,” she said. “I actually know about what she, they, did to you. And I’ve never blamed you for that. I overheard the conversation between Momma and her father.” ‘Her father’ was said in a repulsed tone, with a scowl on her face.

Even if she didn’t blame him, Len blamed himself. “We should not talk about that here. How could you even remember that?”

“When I said I had good recall, I meant nearly perfect. I didn’t understand what they were saying then, but I remembered that conversation a few years ago, and I did understand it at that point. But I always knew there had to be something awful to keep you away from me,” Joanna said and met his eyes. “I know just how much you love me. And how much it hurt you to have been away from me when I was growing up.”

“I do love you so very much,” he choked out and then sighed. “This isn’t the place for this conversation. Come by my office tomorrow, and we’ll talk more. To change the subject, have you decided on a school?”

“I am not sure I told you this, but I got into Starfleet Academy as well as the list of universities we talked about last fall. Coming here on Amelia’s ship has been amazing. I have always wanted to see the galaxy.”

“You mentioned in passing that you applied, in such a way that I knew you didn’t want to talk about it. So, what do you want to do?” Len asked. “Do you want to serve?”

“Yes. I am going to the Academy. One more thing about that. I tested high for empathy and for an eidetic memory,” she looked at him. “Both of which I’m pretty sure I inherited from you.”

Len inclined his head. He didn’t think he was as empathic as she seemed to be with that little scene with Chris. “I guess you did.”

“They will train me to use both,” Joanna said. “I’d like to go into some kind of public health. I don’t want to be a doctor, per se. But I want to help people. And I want to travel through the stars and see all there is to see.”

“It’s ironic,” Len said. “I’m going to be closer to Earth after this mission. Chris lives in San Francisco, but he and I are talking about living on Starbase 1.”

“I’m going to be at the Academy for four years,” she said. “I’ve heard they have classes and a ship at Starbase 1.”

“It will be nice to see you more regularly,” Len said. “I’d like for you to get to know Chris.”

“I know how much you care for him –” she held up a hand when he would have said something. “I also know he cares for you just as much.”

That was a surprise. That she’d said it out there like that. If she were empathic, then she’d know, even if he wasn’t going to admit it to anyone, maybe not even himself. “Did you need to touch him to know that?”

“It’s not something I can control at all. Not yet. That’s another reason I need to be trained. When I touch most people, nothing happens. I never know.” She sighed. “Even wanting to know about Chris, I wouldn’t have done it on purpose. That would be an invasion of his privacy.”

Len had no idea what to make of that. “It sounds like you’re struggling with this.”

She nodded. “It seems to be getting stronger, too. What I felt with Chris was the most I’ve ever felt with anyone. When I get back, I’m going to start working with Starfleet Medical on training this, even before I start at the Academy.”

“That sounds like a good plan. How are you doing with the kids who are traumatized?” Len asked. That could be a real problem for her.

“I haven’t dealt with any of them yet. We only had an introduction to what we’ll be doing today. Amelia and Grammy are like generals in a major battle campaign. They had everything mapped out with the Xahean hospital people by the time we came here today. Pretty much everyone is going to do what they tell us to do,” Joanna said, in a slightly awed tone.

Len chuckled. “I see that. It sounds like all of you will be doing a lot of work on this.”

“It will be,” Joanna said, sounding excited. “But it’s also going to be great to hang out with everyone and to be helping out,” Joanna yawned. “Sorry.”

He was tired, too. “So, you’ll come by tomorrow, so we’ll talk more about this?” Len asked.

“I will. But I’m not sure when, though. As I said, Amelia plans to keep us all busy,” Joanna said with a laugh.

“I’m sure she does,” Len said. He reached out and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad Grammy asked me to come with them,” Joanna said. “I’m going to have a talk with Chris about Starfleet while I’m here.”

“Not me?”

“Nope. You’re a doctor before you are anything else. Starfleet is secondary. As far as I can tell, Chris is Starfleet.” Joanna sounded very sure of that. “What Starfleet means.”

“You’ve got that right, sweetheart.” Len laughed. “He really is.”

*****

The Enterprise

Later That Night

“I saw you talking to my mom. What were you talking about?” Chris asked as he settled into bed beside Len.

“I think your mom was trying to sell me on giving her more grandchildren.”

That was not what Chris was expecting. “Don’t you think it’s a little early to be talking about that?”

While Chris loved children, they were other people’s children. He’d never considered having any of his own. The memory of Juliet — the child he’d had with Marie in the vision she had given him — didn’t haunt him as much as it did when it first happened. That had been a perfect life, and she had been a perfect child. He was sure that raising a child was a lot harder than it had seemed. Up until now, his life choices hadn’t allowed for that.

“I told her that. I’m not opposed to it per se,” Len said. “If we did decide to do something like that in the future, then we’d need to both be all in on it. I would not want to do the father at a distance that I ended up doing with Joanna. I missed too much of her life. And I deeply regret the necessity of that.”

“Seems like Joanna turned out pretty well. I spent a few minutes talking to her.” Chris found her charming and a little more mature than he had expected.

Len smiled. “She told me she thought you were a good man.”

“She’s empathic. That was why she took my hand,” Chris said. “I’m glad I passed her test.”

“It wasn’t deliberate on her part,” Len said. “She said most people don’t register with her the way you did.”

“I felt her emotions brush against mine. I didn’t do anything to block her,” Chris said. He was surprised that she couldn’t control it, but to be fair, Joanna was relatively young. “Is this a new development?”

“She said it’s getting stronger,” Len said, and explained about what she’d told him.

“I think she was trying to protect you. The empathy goes both ways. When she touched me, I could feel her reach out to me and that she was worried about you.”

“And you just let her read you?” Len seemed incredulous that he would.

“I knew she wanted to be reassured that I cared about you,” Chris explained with a shrug. He did want to reassure her.

“Thank you. She’s only eighteen,” Len said. “I do understand that she wanted to make sure. And she wasn’t wrong about you. While you’re not perfect, you are a good man.”

That he knew that pleased Chris. He wanted Len to think well of him. And no, he didn’t want to think about why it might be important. “Joanna told me that she’d been accepted to the Academy.”

“She wants to see the galaxy.”

“That’s how it always starts. The urge to travel never completely leaves you. Even after you spend most of your life doing it. Does that bother you that she wants to travel?” Chris asked.

“No. I was hoping that, when I was closer to Earth and stationary, I’d see more of her. I guess I will for a few years. But she’s got to live her life for herself. Just like I do.” Len looked at him. “Your mom also offered me a job.”

“Doing what?” Chris was surprised that she’d done that already, but maybe she was just getting to the front of the line that was going to form of people offering Len jobs once it became known that he was leaving the Enterprise. Emma had told him something similar to what Christine had said about Len’s talent.

“Pretty much anything I wanted, I think. She said she’d create one for me, if there was nothing that I wanted that was presently open,” Len said, sounding a little surprised.

Chris snorted. “As far as I can remember, she’s never done anything like that for anyone. You must have seriously impressed her.”

“Well, I hope so,” Len said. “I’m good at what I do. And I did save you. Though, to be fair, I didn’t know it was you when I was doing it. Or how important you would become to me.”

Chris leaned in to kiss him, his arms going around Len’s shoulders and waist, gathering him close.

Len came into his arms easily, kissing him back. Chris sighed against his mouth. “I love the feel of you in my arms,” he said, his hands moving down Len’s back and over his ass and then back up.

“Well, Darlin’, I do hope that’s not all you love about me,” Len said in that lazy southern accent he had.

But they hadn’t gotten to that yet. “We haven’t said those words yet,” Chris pointed out, easing Len down onto the bed.

“I know,” Len said, his tone more serious. “It’s too soon for them. I’m not ready for that.”

There were times when Chris felt like he’d known Len forever. “Do we need to talk about it?”

“Too soon,” Len kissed him and rolled them so that Chris was below him. “We should talk about it and a host of other things at some point soon. Right now, we should just have more magnificent sex and call it good.”

“I think that’s what we’ve been doing,” Chris said, spreading his legs so that Len settled between them. “But I have no objection to that.” In fact, it would be just the ticket to help him not think about any of those other things.

*****

Chapter Eight

On the Enterprise

Day 7

Len was just closing out a file and thinking about getting some lunch in the galley when Uhura commed him. “Doctor McCoy, just to let you know, Joanna McCoy is on her way to sickbay.”

“Thanks, Lieutenant. I’m expecting her,” Len said, standing and moving out of his office. She came in just as he got to the main room.

“Joanna,” he said, hugging her tightly. “Do you want to come into my office, or maybe we can get some lunch in the galley?”

“Lunch sounds like a plan to me. Is there any privacy there?” Joanna asked.

“Yes, we can sit at one of the sound-dampened tables.”

They got their lunch and found a table in the corner of the room.

“Why don’t you talk about what happened with your momma?” That seemed to Len to be as good a place to start as anywhere. “When you were talking about it yesterday, it felt like that was upsetting for you. Did you ever talk about it with Billy-Ray or anyone else?”

“No. Because it was about you. I didn’t want anyone to know.” She frowned. “I heard her father –”

“Are you sure it was Richard?” Len had never cared for him at all. Richard made no secret of his belief that Len was not good enough for his precious daughter. And Len hadn’t cared enough about his opinion to try to convince him otherwise. “He died when you were very young.”

“Well, she called him daddy, so I am pretty sure. She told him that she missed you. I think it was after you left her. And he said that the way to get you back was to force you back.” She sighed. “I can’t believe she agreed to it. They were going to take all your credits and then ruin your reputation and make sure you were fired.”

It came back to Len why he’d hated Richard Treadway so very much. He’d been a disgusting, repugnant man, and Len knew that Treadway would have enjoyed hurting him without a reason. The only surprise after that was that they’d talked about it openly. “They tried to get me fired,” Len remembered. “But I was a better doctor than either one of them realized. So, it wasn’t that easy to get me dismissed from Atlanta General.”

If he’d kept at it, Richard might have succeeded. But Len had been recruited into Starfleet before that could happen.

“What about your credits? I know they got some of it,” Joanna said.

This wasn’t a subject he felt he should be discussing with her. But she had brought it up, so she knew at least some of it.

“I put most of my family credits back into those accounts. But they made me pay alimony and child support. That was some of it,” Len said without inflection. He’d wanted joint custody, and that was the price of it. So, he’d paid it.

“Instead of bringing you back to them,” Joanna said softly, anger in her eyes. “You had no choice but to leave Atlanta. Fortunately, he had no reach outside of it and probably no idea where you’d gone.”

“That’s true. How do you know all of this?” Len wondered how she was putting this together so succinctly.

“Weeks after her conversation with her father, I heard Momma cryin’ about you being gone. She was so furious with him for chasing you away, rather than bringing you home to her,” Joanna said. “In that way of hers, I think she did love you.”

Len was quite sure that Jocelyn loved the idea of him more than the reality of him. “I suppose she might have. I don’t want to talk about my relationship with your momma. I’d rather hear about your relationship with her. I always thought she loved you. That was why she fought so hard to make sure you were with her.”

Joanna sighed. “I know she loves me. And yeah, I think it’s me, not some version she has in her mind. Like she has for most people. Especially you. She’d take you back, even now.”

What? Not fucking ever! Len took a breath. “Once I left her, I was done. There will never be any going back.”

“Of course not. You’ve got the real deal with Chris.” She grinned at the look of surprise that was on his face.

“That’s not an appropriate subject for you and me to discuss.”

“Daddy, don’t be so old-fashioned. I think it’s wonderful. What you have with him is going to be amazing. I know you’re both going to be very happy together.”

Len wondered if that was true. But it wasn’t for him to discuss with Joanna. “Enough of that, sweetheart. Tell me about being tested for empathy and your eidetic memory.”

“If you ask for it when you apply, they will test you, and if you have a skill they want or need, they will train you.”

“I hadn’t heard that.” But the way he came to join Starfleet wasn’t the usual route, either.

“You have to read the fine print of the application. I saw it and checked the box to be tested. They got in touch with me, and I went to the testing center in Atlanta.”

“Would you share the results with me?” Without her permission, Len had no reason to look it up himself.

“Of course. Now that I’ve been accepted, I don’t mind talking about it.” Joanna pulled a padd out of her carryall. And played with it for a few minutes. “There. I’ve sent it to you.”

“Thanks. We should get back to my office. I don’t want to be gone too long. We’re a doctor short because our pediatrician is helping out with the children on Xahea.”

“I met her. She’s very good with the children. And there were a couple of Vulcan children who were glad to see her.”

“Are you enjoying working with Grammy and Amelia so far?” It hadn’t been that long.

“Yes. Grammy is great, but Amelia is amazing. I want to do something like what she does. Helping people. But first, I want to see the galaxy. There’s so much out here.”

Len smiled indulgently at her. “Starfleet isn’t going to know what hit them.”

*****

Late That Afternoon

Chris went into the galley, looking for a cup of coffee. He could have gotten it from the replicator in his rooms, but he also needed to stand and walk a bit. There was residual stiffness that crept in anytime he spent too much time sitting. Between the negotiations and the work he had to do after them, he was spending too much time on his ass.

He got a double espresso and had taken a sip, but it wasn’t as good as real brewed coffee. That said, it was good enough for what he needed it for right now.

As he moved towards the exit, he saw Spock sitting by himself, which normally wouldn’t be unusual, but he was staring off into space. The only time he’d ever seen Spock do that was when he was trying to work through a problem, and it wasn’t working.

“Spock.” Chris modulated his voice so as not to startle him.

“Admiral.” Spock looked up at him. “What can I do for you, sir?”

“You look puzzled,” Chris said. “Like you have a problem?”

“I…” He trailed off without finishing his thought. “I do have an issue for which I am unsure of how to proceed with.”

“Can I sit?” Chris asked. He didn’t have time, but this was Spock, and well, he would make the time for him. It wasn’t as if he could walk away without trying to help.

Spock nodded. “I am uncertain what to do with a situation I find myself in.”

“Personal or professional?” That might narrow it down. He could tell already this would be one of those times when he would have to pull the information out of Spock.

“It is both, I think.” Spock glanced around. “I have been thinking of leaving the ship.”

Chris blinked at that. “Why?” he finally asked. “I mean, has something happened? Something I haven’t heard about?”

“Not as such. I do not believe this is the place to discuss this.” Spock looked around again.

“We can move to one of the tables that are sound-dampened, or we can go to my quarters,” Chris suggested.

“I believe one of the sound-dampened tables might suffice.” Spock stood and picked up his tray. Chris followed him across the room.

“So, why do you want to leave the ship? I had thought you were happy here.” To say that Chris was surprised would be an understatement. It must be something epic. But nothing had happened that he knew about.

Spock looked right at him. Chris had the distinct impression he was frowning, but his face hadn’t changed from what it had been, which was curiously blank. “Recently, I have come to understand that I have,” he paused. “Unwanted feelings for someone on the ship.” Spock looked down, and his cheeks were tinged with faint green.

That was a surprise. Both that Spock was admitting to feelings he had and that he wanted to leave the ship over it. “Go on,” Chris said.

“I do not believe that my feelings could be returned. Even if they were returned, the other being would not act on it. And once I became aware of the extent of the emotions, I have been unable to purge them.”

“And you can’t unknow them.”

“No. I cannot.”

“Before you attempt a transfer, I would let them, the other being, know how you feel, or at least that you’re thinking of transferring. They may be more responsive than you suspect.” Chris took a breath. He knew who it was. And that Jim might make an exception to his own rules for Spock.

Spock sighed. “I will consider it. I am aware that these…feelings are getting stronger.”

“How long have you known about this?”

“I’ve known for quite some time, and I believed I had successfully put the emotions aside. I did not think this would change. But in the last week, it has.” Spock sounded confused, well, as much as a Vulcan could sound like that.

“I don’t mean to pry, but this is concerning. Can you describe how it’s changed?” Chris asked. “I wonder if it has something to do with being on Xahea?”

Spock looked startled by the question and raised an eyebrow at him. “I do not follow. How would that be possible?”

“I don’t know how. It was just a thought I’ve had,” Chris said. He thought about calling Len to ask, but he wasn’t going to violate Spock’s trust by telling anyone else. That included Len. “I think that what is going on with Dr. McCoy and me has something to do with the planet. I’m not sure what yet. But it might be causing a reaction in you as well.”

“I am uncertain how the planet could do such a thing?” Spock sounded disbelieving.

Well, it did sound a little crazy even to Chris. “I spoke with Erica.” Chris went on to explain the situation with the planet and the inhabitants. “That’s why Erica left Starfleet and came to Xahea.”

“I knew she had met the queen and had left Starfleet to pursue that relationship, but I had no idea about the rest of this. I am surprised.”

“You and me, both. But I’ll ask Dr. McCoy if he knows anything more when I see him later.” Chris stood. “Talk to whomever this is and tell them what you’re feeling.”

“I am not sure that would be a good idea,” Spock said. “Thank you for the advice.”

“Anytime.” Chris looked at his watch. He had a few minutes before he had to get back.

*****

As he walked back to his quarters, he pulled out his communicator. “Pike to McCoy.”

“McCoy here. What can I do for you, sir?” Len asked.

Despite it being protocol, being called sir by Len inexplicably irritated him. “Can you meet me in my quarters?”

“Business or pleasure?”

“Business, I’m afraid,” Chris replied. “Well, mostly business anyway. I need to know if you’ve found any place other than Xahea that has spontaneous bonds?”

“Give me a few minutes, and I’ll take a look. There probably isn’t much that I haven’t already found. McCoy out.”

The door pinged open soon after Chris had sat down at his desk.

Len came in. “Admiral.”

After an afternoon apart, just looking at Len made Chris want to kiss him. He took a breath and let it out slowly, pushing away the inappropriate thought. Focus. “Did you find anything?”

“Not much. Xahea officially doesn’t even admit to having empathic bonds, and certainly not spontaneous ones,” Len said. “But there are some reports of Illyrian worlds that have spontaneous bonds and vague, mostly anecdotal reports of some of the older Earth colonies, but not much evidence for either. So, there wasn’t much verifiable information that I could find.”

That was not a surprise. “When you get a chance, can you reach out to Una Chin-Riley and see what she has to say about the Illyrians?” Chris asked.

“Sure. I’m going to use your name for that,” Len said with a smile. He looked at Chris. “Why are we looking into this right now?”

Chris sighed. “Given everything, I think it could be a problem.” He stood and took a step towards Len.

Len moved to stand in front of him, taking his hand and stepping against his chest. He slid his arms around Chris and leaned in, kissing him. At first, it was soft and sweet, but Chris deepened the kiss, and Len’s tongue slid into his mouth. His arms tightened around Len’s shoulders and pulled him even closer. But after a few more moments, Len pulled back, easing away slightly.

Reluctantly, Chris stepped back as well. He still had a great deal of work to do. The negotiations were moving at a glacial pace. Every sentence in the agreement had to be perfect and agreed to.

“I saw Spock walking away from the galley,” Len said. “He looked, something, and I’m not sure what. Upset or unhappy both seem like the wrong word in any context to describe him. I’m assuming the spontaneous bond information was for him. And Jim, I suppose.”

“I am surprised at how preceptive you are, and really, I shouldn’t be. Pretty much everyone I’ve spoken to has told me just how exceptional a doctor you are.” Chris smiled at him.

“You didn’t know that before?” Len asked with his eyebrow raised.

“I knew you had to be a very good doctor, and you saved my life, but I would have no way of knowing how skilled you are, not without being told.” Because how would Chris even know that Len was at the superstar level?

“Yeah. As I’ve said, I’m good at what I do.” Len cleared his throat. “Did Jim finally admit what’s between him and Spock? Those two have always had a dynamic between them that was,” Len paused for a second. “I don’t know what. There was always something there. I could tell almost from the first time I saw them together.”

“I should let you get back to work,” Chris said. Because what he wanted was to lead Len back to his bed, strip him, and spend the rest of the afternoon fucking him. But that could not happen again, if they could manage to avoid it. And while the need was intense, it was not compelling enough right now that he had to do it.

“Unfortunately, you do,” Len said, taking a small step back and dropping his hands from Chris’ body. He sighed. “There is a part of me that wants to stay here the rest of the afternoon and do exactly what you’re thinking about. I can resist it. Barely.”

“I can, too,” Chris agreed. It was a close thing for him, too. “We’ve never spoken about that or what happened that first day.”

“What is there to say about it? It was fantastic and wild.” Len looked down and then back at Chris. “I don’t think it’s going to happen that way again.”

Yeah, Chris thought it felt like once that level of need had been satisfied, it would take a long time for it to build again. “There is something in me that doesn’t want to let you go right now.” Chris took a steadying breath. “Though I wonder if we resist it now, will it make the desire stronger the next time?”

“I have no idea,” Len said. “But I have to get back to Sickbay.”

“And I need to get back to work, too.”

They looked at each other, and Chris stepped back while he still could. They couldn’t do this now.

*****

After he left the galley, Spock was not sure whether to take Chris’ advice or just transfer off the Enterprise without saying anything to anyone. Applying logic to this situation would do him no good. There would be no solution to this, because emotions, even his, were not logical.

That left him without a way forward.

So, he would have to leave the Enterprise. He had been told more than once that he could have a place at Starfleet Academy as an instructor. It was not his first choice of postings. But he supposed he could take it and perhaps find another ship to serve on. Not that there were any other ships as fine as the Enterprise.

If he asked her, Captain Chin-Riley would probably give him a posting on her ship. Perhaps not first officer, and maybe not even Chief Science Officer, at least not right away. He would have to tell his current captain of his decision. Perhaps he should contact Captain Chin-Riley and ask her first. Then he would have something in hand before he confronted his captain.

He looked up and was surprised to find himself at the captain’s door. As he was about to turn away and head back to the bridge, the door opened, and Jim — the captain — came out.

“Mr. Spock,” Captain Kirk said with his usual pleasant tone. “What brings you to my door?”

For a second, Spock did not know what to say. But this situation could not go on as it had. “I believe I should speak to you about an important matter.”

“Sure,” the captain said, stepping back. “Do you want to come in?” He put his hand on the plate, and the door slid open.

Spock followed him back inside. Even after three years, it never failed to surprise him how austere the captain’s quarters were. When Chris was the captain, they were much more…comfortable, perhaps. It might have been more in keeping with Chris’ personality.

“What can I do for you?” the captain asked. “I get the feeling you’re troubled about something?”

How would he even know that? Was the situation, whatever it was, getting worse? “I believe I am going to have to transfer off the ship.”

“What?” the captain said, his expression was shocked. “Not without a really good reason. Do you have another position you’re more interested in?”

“No. I have no new position yet,” Spock said. Maybe he should have tried to lie. “Though I do not believe I will have a problem finding one.”

“I’m sure you won’t. But I want to know why?” The captain looked at him and seemed determined.

And Spock could almost think he was looking for an answer without asking for one. “I sense you’re upset about something. Maybe it can be fixed,” Jim…the captain said.

“I am not upset about anything. I do not become upset.” He would have said he did not have emotions, but he did not believe that the captain would believe him. And there was some justification for that.

The captain continued to look at him as if he were trying to figure out what was going on. “I still sense something. I’m not even sure what or how. But something is disturbing you. Something, I don’t know…something.”

Spock was not going to go into it with him. He could not. “I wish to request a transfer.”

The captain’s eyes widened, and he sucked in a breath. “I know that you’re lying to me. And I don’t know how I know that.” He stared at Spock. “How do I know that?”

It was all Spock could do not to gasp himself. He knew what the captain was feeling. The emotions were evident on his face. His fear was visible. “I do not know. I know what you are feeling. I am not feeling it, like I would if I were touching you, but I know.”

“Why do you want to leave the ship? Tell me the truth, and I’ll let you go. Otherwise,” the captain paused. “I won’t allow it.”

A wash of anger slid through Spock. He hadn’t been this angry in a very long time. With the anger starting to fill him, he tried to tighten down his emotions even further. It should not be this hard. “You have no right to keep me here, if I do not wish to stay,” Spock said evenly.

“I am not going to lose two of my best officers in the same week. Not without a very good reason. I understand why Bones needs to leave. But not you. You don’t have something else to go to, that means –”

“I want to go. I can resign, if I must.” But Spock did not want to do either of those things. Not at all.

And by his look, the captain knew that. “What is going on with you, Spock. I am getting all of these — I don’t even know what — feelings maybe. Directed at,” he looked at Spock and blinked. “Directed at me. Really?”

Spock was not sure he could be more disturbed by this. He did not understand what was happening. A touch telepath did not project, and he had learned long ago to shield his mind against the possibility. How was the captain reading him?

But instead of the disgust or horror that he would have expected, the captain was smiling at him, eyes gleaming in delight. Like he’d been given a prize.

“Spock, stop. You look like you’re about to panic. It’s not a good look for you.” The captain laughed. “Try to pay attention to what you’re feeling from me. Seriously. Do that.”

Spock stopped and took a breath. He concentrated on the captain intently, and he felt a wave of emotion directed toward him. Pleasing, warm, desirous emotions. The captain felt more than friendship for him. That was…surprising. But not unwelcome.

“Now tell me the truth,” the captain, no Jim, said. “Do you want to leave the ship? Or me?”

“I did not believe my feelings could be returned. And even though they are, I know of your rules about your subordinates.”

Jim looked down. “That’s true. But you and I are only one rank apart, and even though I’m the captain, I think–” He stopped. “I don’t think I can let this, or you, go. It’s more than I think anyone can ask of me.”

“You do not have to do this,” Spock said, in a stark whisper.

“Oh, I think I do,” Jim said, with a slight smile on his full lips. “If you’re willing, that is. I want to do this.”

“I believe that we might be in this situation because of our proximity to the planet. Spontaneous bonds are, apparently, the norm on Xahea.”

“We’ll need to look into that. But my feelings for you, and I think yours for me, didn’t originate here. This might be what brought them to each other’s attention,” Jim said. “I can tell you’ve felt this way for a while and didn’t ever say anything. I have also felt this way for a long time.”

This was happening too fast. Truthfully, he never expected this to happen at all, not like this. He knew that Jim might have given him a fight about leaving, but he had not expected that his feelings would be returned. He was surprised at the strength they suddenly had and that there was no logic or control that he could summon to mitigate it. This was worse than dealing with the emotions that Michael’s departure had engendered in him.

But maybe this was what she meant about reaching out, and there was a whole world of people who would reach back. He felt the familiar pang of his sister’s loss.

And Jim looked up. “What? What were you just thinking about? You feel so sad. Like you’ve lost someone that you loved.”

“I did. Some years ago. And I was thinking of her now,” Spock said. “I am uncertain of how we should proceed.”

“It depends on what you want to do. I think that what’s between us is going to be very powerful. We’re probably going to consider marriage very soon. Well, if Bones and Chris are any indication.” Jim chuckled. “I wonder if Chris could marry us. If you wanted that.”

“Are you asking me?” Spock asked. And he was thrilled with the idea of Chris marrying them. “Hold out your hand, please.”

Jim held out his hand, palm up. Spock put his hand on Jim’s palm down and interlaced their fingers. Jim’s emotions washed through him. There was no subterfuge, no lying, nothing but his pure emotions. And he could feel that Jim also felt what was coming from him.

“Is this a Vulcan kiss? I have always heard that your hands are very sensitive to touch.”

“Vulcans kiss as humans do.” Or at least T’Pring kissed him that way. And his father kissed his mother. He’d never seen any other Vulcans kiss. But all Vulcans were very private about such matters.

“Then, do you want to kiss me?” Jim asked. “Because I would like for you to do that.”

“I am surprised you have not initiated a kiss already.” He had never known Jim to be anything other than enthusiastic about such things.

“I think this needs to come from you,” Jim said. “Please.”

Spock could not ignore that plea, nor the desire to be kissed coming from Jim. He leaned down slightly and pressed his mouth to Jim’s. The emotions that washed over him were both his and Jim’s, and he recognized something happening between them that was more than a kiss. But he was not interested in contemplating anything other than the feel of Jim’s lips and tongue as it slid into his mouth. He tightened his arms, carefully, because Jim was human and therefore more fragile than he was. A shiver went through him as Jim continued to respond positively to him.

Jim pulled back. “Wow. Do you feel that?”

“I believe I am feeling what you are.”

“This is going to be amazing.”

Spock could only agree. He leaned down to kiss Jim again.

*****

Jim pulled back from the kiss, which had been delicious, leaving him out of breath. He wanted more. And he could feel that Spock did as well. But how much more and what? “I want you,” he finally said.

“I am aware of that. And you are aware that I want you, too. We are both off duty tonight and without other obligations.”

“I like the way you think,” Jim said. “So, before we get too far, let me…I feel like I should ask you what you want to do with this.”

Spock leaned in and kissed him again and then pulled back slightly. “I believe I have said that already.”

“No. I want specifics. Have you ever been with a man before?” Because, depending on the answer, that would give Jim some idea of what they might do.

“Not with a male, no. I have only been with a handful of females. T’Pring,” Spock hesitated. “La’an Noonien-Singh, and Christine Chapel.”

Jim had known about Christine’s feelings for Spock. But that they had ever been returned in any manner surprised the hell out of him. La’an was something of a surprise, too, especially since he’d dated her on and off as well. “I’m sure there’s a story or three there. But not for tonight, I don’t think.”

“No. I will explain at another time. And to answer the rest of your question, Vulcans are not opposed to physical pleasure attained from a partner or bond mate,” Spock said.

Well, that certainly relieved Jim’s mind. Not a virgin. Familiar with pleasuring a partner.

“Perhaps,” Spock said, leaning in again and kissing Jim. “We should just go with our instincts and find ways to pleasure each other.”

Jim could feel Spock’s excitement growing. It was on a par with his own. Though he was nervous about getting it right with Spock. Jim stepped back and took Spock’s hand again, leading him into his bedroom, and then taking him into his arms, and kissing him deeply. His hands strayed under the back of Spock’s shirt to touch his warm, bare skin.

He let out a shuddering breath. It felt almost as if he were sinking into Spock, as if something were connecting them.

“I believe this is the empathic bond,” Spock said, his voice a hoarse whisper. “I can feel and read your thoughts, now that we are touching.”

“Okay. This is new to me. I can feel the same thing,” Jim panted. He tightened his arms and resumed the kiss.

Spock moved his mouth from Jim’s lips to his neck, and Jim shivered as Spock’s warm tongue moved along his skin.

He took the edge of Spock’s shirt and undershirt and pulled them over his head. Then, leaned forward to kiss his chest. Spock trembled a little under his mouth, a moan escaping him. But he could feel Spock’s pleasure at what he was doing, so he continued. Until Spock moved back a little to take off his shirt, and then pushed off his pants and underwear. He dropped to his knees and pulled off Jim’s boots and socks, continuing to strip him.

Jim waited until Spock stood back up and then returned the favor. But he remained on his knees and pulled Spock’s hips towards him. His mouth watered with pleasure and desire as he took Spock’s cock into his mouth for the first time.

Spock made a very Un-Spock-like sound, and Jim decided that was his new favorite sound in the world. He knew he was pleasing Spock and that his excitement grew exponentially with everything Jim did to him.

Finally, Spock moved in and out of Jim’s mouth, his hand tangled in Jim’s hair, but gently. Spock panted and groaned as he came. Jim swallowed and leaned his head against Spock’s hip. He could almost come from that.

“Ashayam,” Spock murmured as he pulled Jim to his feet.

Beloved. “Oh, I like that,” Jim said, kissing Spock, and was surprised to feel that Spock was turned on by the taste of himself in Jim’s mouth.

“Let me help you with that,” Spock said, reaching down to take Jim into his hand and stroke him lightly a few times. “We should move this to your bed.”

Jim lay down and held out his hand to Spock, who took it and lay down next to him, gathering him into his arms, and kissing him. His tongue sliding into and out of Jim’s mouth, making him moan softly.

Spock’s hands were gentle as they moved along his body, exploring and feeling the reaction in Jim. “A lubricant?” he said.

And could feel Jim’s surprise at the request.

“For my hands?” Spock said, no doubt reading his slight discomfort with the idea.

“Bedside drawer,” Jim said, and reached over to get it and hand it to him.

Spock kissed him again, intensely. He moved down Jim’s neck to his chest and then down his body with a purpose and finally took hold of his cock and licked him several times, before taking him into his mouth. There was no hesitation or awkwardness. It was hot and surprisingly sweet. Something Jim would not have thought possible with the two of them. Spock moved his hand up and down in time with his mouth.

But it didn’t matter what he was going to do. Jim was about two seconds from coming, and when a slick finger slid into him, he groaned and came.

He was still trying to catch his breath as Spock moved back up and held him. “Good?” he asked.

Jim nodded. “Very good. I have been wanting this for so long.”

“As have I.” Spock paused and then cleared his throat. “We will need to file consent paperwork.”

“You had to bring that up now?” Jim complained. But Spock was right. Even though there was only one rank between them, he was Spock’s Captain. That was always tricky. “At least we’ll have an understanding Admiral to file them with.”

Spock didn’t say anything, but Jim felt his discomfort. “What?”

“I am uncertain how Admiral Pike will feel about this.”

“Oh, I think he’ll be fine with it. He and Bones are in the same boat. Actually, it’s worse for them since it’s three ranks.” Jim smiled at him. “He’s very reasonable.”

“As you say,” Spock said, still feeling unsure about it. “We must do it right away, I believe that the Admiral or Doctor McCoy will be able to feel the bond on us.”

“Yeah, we should certainly get it done before our shifts start tomorrow morning, anyway,” Jim said, stifling a yawn. “But right now, I think we should go to sleep. It’s already been a long day.”

“But a productive one,” Spock murmured as he gathered Jim close to him and kissed him one more time.

*****

Chapter Nine

Day 8

Chris was working through his comms the following morning when he saw something from Jim. He opened it and read it. And then read it again and laughed. Well, he hadn’t expected that quite so soon after talking to Spock yesterday.

“What’s so funny?” Len asked as he came out of the bathroom, and pressed a kiss to Chris’ head as he walked past him to go get dressed.

He glanced at Len, opening his mouth to tell him, and then paused and shook his head. “It’s a personnel issue. But I’m sure you’ll hear about it at some point.”

Len laughed as he pulled on his clothes. “I’m not going to ask.”

“Thanks,” Chris said, wondering if he could keep anything from Len at this point. It felt like he probably couldn’t. Which would not be ideal, given the amount of classified information he had. But Len probably wouldn’t push the issue.

After he was dressed, Len came back, leaning down to kiss him again.

For a few seconds, Chris just enjoyed the kiss. He loved the feel of Len’s mouth on his. But this could be dangerous as the desire started to build again. Regretfully, he pulled back. “This is not a good idea if we want to get anything else done today.”

Breathing out heavily, Len nodded. “You’re right. I’ve read everything I can find on this.” He waved a hand between them. “And even with the information that the princess consort gave you, it isn’t a lot. I tried to talk to some of the doctors and researchers about it. They didn’t know more than what was in what I’d already read. They did say some researchers are looking into it. And gave me their names. I am going to follow up on it sometime today, I hope.”

“Do you know anything from what you’ve read so far?” Chris asked. Given the impact it had already had on him, he was damned curious about the whole thing.

“I think that there’s something on the planet that causes the bond to happen between compatible beings or could possibly deepen an existing one. So, the more compatible the beings are, the deeper the bond is, and probably the quicker it happens. Look at you and me, it’s been a week. We’re practically married already,” Len said. “Not that we’ve talked about it or acknowledged it, but it’s there, and I feel it.”

“Yeah, I do too. Maybe we should talk about it,” Chris conceded. “I don’t think whatever it is, it’s going to magically go away. Do you?”

“No,” Len said. “I think we really need to figure it out. But I have so little time right now.”

“Can we find some time?” Chris got out of bed and reached for his uniform to get dressed.

Len gave him a look that was dubious to say the least. “You tell me?”

After he was dressed, he turned back to Len. “I think we’re going to need to make some time. It’s that, or we’re going to end up married without ever talking about it.” And God, Chris could not believe he just had to say those words.

“Well, I’m not sure it’s going to be that bad.” Len laughed. “Or maybe I’m wrong.”

“I will admit there is a part of me that is okay with the whole concept of marriage to you. And I think you feel the same way.”

“Not that I want to admit it, by any means. But yes, I think that’s true too.” Len pointed at him. “I think we can just move along and get through this with the minimal amount of angst possible.”

Chris knew Len was right. “As far as I can see,” he said, and got a cup of coffee from the replicator. He was not going to make it through the morning without it. “I got something from this planet, and you possibly inherited something from your family, and whatever it was, we both had the possibility of a bond. And because we were pretty compatible, that is probably what created a bond between us. Is that what you just said?”

“That’s a very good summation of what I’ve said,” Len said, sounding shocked that Chris had put it together.

And Chris wasn’t sure if he should be amused or frustrated by it. He sat down at the table, took a sip, and let the caffeine work on him. “You don’t have to sound so surprised. You had to know I was good at my job, too. And understanding my circumstances, is and was one of my top priorities.”

Len laughed again and leaned down to kiss him. “I know. I appreciate that. But I am almost out of time right now before I have to be in sickbay. You know what, I think I want to look at a full-body scan of you before you went to Xahea the first time, and then maybe compare it to the one Christine did a few days ago. And maybe after the radiation therapies for the accident, as well.”

That was a strange request, but Chris didn’t mind giving him that information. “I get one every year or two as part of my physical. Also, I went to Xahea for the first time, maybe five-six years ago. Those scans should be somewhere in my medical records.” Chris knew Len had access to all of that as CMO of the ship Chris was on.

“I want explicit permission. I adhere strictly to all of Starfleet’s privacy protocols for patient information. For a nonemergency issue, I need permission from you to even look,” Len said. “All medical records are private. I should look at my own, too. Though if it’s something I inherited, it would have always been there.”

“I give you permission to look at anything you want in my medical records going back as far as you need to,” Chris said. “I think you should start talking to people on the ship. And maybe Erica again.”

“I don’t think what’s going on is necessarily a bad thing. People want this kind of compatibility with a partner. But it’s the not being asked about it that is the problem.”

“If it’s inherent to the planet, then the Xaheans have probably never thought twice about it.” Chris thought of something else. “Actually, according to what Erica said, they consider it a gift.”

“Yeah, I got that from the researchers that I spoke to, and they might not take it very well hearing that it might be something else altogether, especially from an outsider.” Len sighed. “Let me get to work on getting those scans and taking a look at them. It probably won’t take me too long to examine yours and mine.”

“Let me know what you find out,” Chris asked. “I’ve got the negotiations in about an hour, and I want to touch base with Una. They should all be here in a few days.”

“So, even though it is insanely too soon. We’re going to get married anyway?” Len asked, a little amused smile playing on his mouth.

And Chris had no idea what he was thinking about. “I believe that we need to do this. Don’t you?”

“I do. And well, we need to agree to it, so,” Len knelt beside his chair. “Will you marry me?”

Well, that was a surprise. He’d thought Len was more reluctant than he was, but clearly, he was getting ahead of the curve. Something warm and sweet invaded his chest, and he liked that feeling. “Yes. I will. I would be honored.” He leaned down and kissed Len. After he pulled back, he put a hand on Len’s face and leaned in to kiss him again.

When he sat back from the kiss, he opened his jacket and pulled out a chain with two rings on it. “We can’t get engaged without rings.”

Len’s eyes widened. “You knew –”

Chris stood and took Len’s hand. “No. When I was captain, I wore these rings whenever I was going planetside for a first contact or a diplomatic mission. It was so that I could show that someone who was not on the ship had a prior claim on me. Most cultures respect that, and it allowed me a graceful exit if I needed it. Not every time, of course, but most times.”

“Wow. I know Jim has been in that kind of situation several times, but he seemed to be okay with whatever he had to do,” Len said. “At least in the past.”

Chris was glad that Jim and Spock were going to be there for each other now that Len was going to be leaving the ship. “You’re very close to Jim?”

“Yes. We’ve been friends since the Academy and stayed close for all these years. Truthfully, I’m probably the only person on this ship he can talk to and be honest with, especially when things go wrong. And they do, often enough.” Len glanced at him.

“We’ve gotten a little sidetracked. Hold out your hand,” Chris said.

As he held out his hand, Len smiled a little tentatively. Chris pulled the chain apart and took both rings off. He put one on Len’s left hand and then handed him the other, holding his hand out. The ring slid home, and a flash of joy washed through him, and he could tell by the look of surprise on Len’s face he’d felt it too.

He leaned in to kiss Len. The kiss lasted a long time as they moved leisurely against each other’s mouths, enjoying the tension as it built again between them. Chris was literally one second from pushing Len to the floor and climbing on top of him when Len pulled back.

“We had to do this now, when we’ve got a whole day of work ahead of us?” Len’s tone was husky and his eyes dark.

“You started it,” Chris said, amused. And aroused. He didn’t want to think about going out in this condition. By now, he only had half an hour, barely enough time to get another cup of coffee and get down to the negotiations. “But I have to go, now.”

“I know. I do too.” He leaned in and kissed Chris again, quickly, and then stepped back.

Chris let him go.

*****

Early afternoon

“Doctor McCoy to Admiral Pike,” Len said into his communicator.

“Pike here. What can I do for you, doctor?” Chris said, perfectly professionally.

And Len wanted to tell him exactly what Chris could do for him. In explicit detail. But no, sadly not now. “If you have time this afternoon, can you come by sickbay for a scan?”

“Did you find something?” Chris sounded curious.

“I know what I’m looking for now. But I’ll tell you about that when I see you,” Len said.

“I have time now. We’re on a break, and it will be a few hours before I need to get back here.”

“Perfect. This won’t take quite that long,” Len promised. And maybe they would have time for other things. Though that probably wasn’t likely until tonight.

Twenty minutes later, Chris came into Sickbay. “Are you busy?”

“Not for you, Admiral. But let’s do the scan before we talk.” Len patted the biobed. “Lie down.”

Chris sighed and lay down on the bed.

“This is only going to take a second.” Len had set up the scan before Chris arrived, and now he just ran it. “All done. Let’s go into my office to discuss it.”

As soon as the door closed, Chris pushed him against it and kissed him, pressing into him. Len just closed his eyes and gave in to it. He was completely caught up in Chris’ touch, every damned time. But right now, he needed to regain some control.

“Before we get too far with this, I want to look at the results and the comparisons,” Len said between kisses.

“Always the doctor, aren’t you?” Chris laughed as he pulled back. “I can’t seem to help myself sometimes with you.”

“I am always a doctor. Even when it comes to you,” Len said with a regretful laugh, and gave him one more kiss before putting his hand on Chris’ shoulder and nudging him back a step. “You know that I feel the same way. But this is my office, and that door never works right.”

“Can’t someone fix it?” Chris let him go completely.

Len wanted to step back into his arms so damned badly. “They have tried. More than once. Last week, Spock did something, and it seemed to be working better. But they will probably have to reprogram the entire door frame and mechanism to fix it. And that won’t happen until after I leave the ship. So, user beware.”

Len sat down at his desk and pulled up Chris’ scan, trying hard to ignore the throbbing in his body from Chris’ kiss.

“What are you looking for?” Chris asked, sitting in the chair on the other side of his desk. “Have you found something?”

“I’ve spoken with a couple of the doctors on Xahea. I think I told you that I’d been given their names, and I asked for information on the bond. They were very helpful in showing me what they thought was the indicator of the bond. Apparently, the two people who are bonded have a similar size and shaped protein marker. You and I have virtually the same marker.”

“What does that mean?” Chris asked.

“The marker wasn’t there in the previous full-body scan before I met you that night. And it was there three months after I met you when I had my next full body scan.”

“How did it happen?” Chris’ voice was choked with shock.

“I can only surmise that by having sex, highly emotional sex, we completed the bond. I think that is what did it, not just kissing. Though I might be wrong about that. But I think that my own genetics and something we did that night caused me to develop the marker,” Len said and held up his hand. “When we met again this time, we were already bonded. I think that was why we reacted the way we did. I think the compulsion came from us, and the bond we had was desperate for us to connect, and that’s what made us as desperate as we were. At least that’s my working theory, anyway.”

Chris’ mouth dropped open.

“And I think the reason I could develop the marker and bond with you at all was as much due to our compatibility as it was my own genetic makeup.” Len blew out a long breath.

“Just how compatible would we have to be for that to happen?” Chris asked, his tone still full of shock.

“Pretty damned compatible. Like nearly perfectly so,” Len said. “I don’t know how it figures that out. But maybe there’s a chemical resonance or something similar. I mean, no one has ever figured out what attracts one being to another.”

The rest of this was going to sting. Len looked at him and steeled himself. “There’s something else they said. The bonds here don’t last more than a few weeks, if you ignore it.”

Chris blinked. “How did that work? Because we didn’t see each other –”

“I know. I told them that, and they were perplexed. Even having sex, which many of the young people do after the kiss, they could still walk away. They said that sex made it harder for the bond to fade completely. It took a few months. For Xaheans, the longest it ever took for the bond to fade was about six months.”

The expression on Chris’ face was a whole host of things, starting with disbelief and ending with annoyance. “What the hell happened with us?”

“They had no idea. It might have been our age, or the fact that my half of the bond came from somewhere else — though they had a few humans from other colonies. But the others either bonded and stayed, or they left without coming back. There are years of research.”

“Xahea is much older than that,” Chris pointed out.

“It’s only in the last hundred years that they have been studying it. It was considered religious and sacred before that. Actually, it still is considered sacred by everyone I talked to.” Despite the frustration at the lack of an answer, Len had been very grateful for the information.

“We’re never going to know, are we?” Chris asked.

“I don’t think so. Not beyond what I said earlier,” Len said, coming around the desk, and kneeling in front of Chris’ chair. He slid both hands onto Chris’ thighs. “I think I needed an answer, even one I didn’t like. I am ready to accept this. And you.”

“When you asked me to marry you earlier, I assumed you’d accepted it then. I mean, what else can we do?” Chris leaned over to kiss him.

For a minute or two, Len let the kiss just happen. That warm, sweet feeling started to spread through his chest, and he pulled back. “I’ve accepted it, and truthfully, you should too. I think our acceptance and formalization will let the bond settle completely.” Len slid one hand the rest of the way up Chris’ leg, his thumb stroking lightly.

“I have accepted it,” Chris said, a little breathlessly. “Mostly. I don’t care as much about the science of it. Despite what I feel for you, which is ridiculous after so short a time, but I can’t deny it’s there and that I feel it. And it does feel good.”

“So, you’ve accepted it, too?” Len wasn’t sure what Chris was saying.

“I guess I have. Maybe not as willingly as you have, but there’s no railing against our fate.”

“It’s not such a bad fate to have someone compatible with you.” Len was okay with all of it at this point.

Chris leaned forward and kissed him.

And there was a part of him that wanted to get lost in that kiss. “How much time do you have?” he asked a little breathlessly when Chris pulled back.

Chris looked at his watch and sighed. “Probably not enough for what you’re thinking about.”

“We can be quick,” Len suggested, leaning up to kiss him again. He could feel Chris give in and was about to stand and take Chris with him when the door opened.

Jim appeared in the doorway, took in the scene, and grinned. “We need to get this door fixed. It should lock.”

Chris cleared his throat. “To be fair, we didn’t lock it. Did you knock?”

“I don’t knock,” Jim said. “I wouldn’t have come in if the door was locked. But since it wasn’t –”

Len stood and looked at Jim. “What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to talk to you about something,” Jim said and glanced at Chris. “That I don’t think you know about yet.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Chris said, also standing and straightening his jacket. “I have to get back anyway. And Captain, he doesn’t know. That’s privileged personnel information.”

Len was not pleased with this turn of events. “What don’t I know?” he asked, probably more sharply than he should have.

“That’s why I am here, sir,” Jim said, looking a little amused. “I wouldn’t have assumed anything else.”

Chris nodded and seemed to relax a little. “Of course not. I need to get back down to Xahea.”

Len watched Chris walk away, regretfully. Then he focused on Jim. And there was something there. Something new. “What did you do? And with whom?”

Jim smirked. “I filed consent forms for Spock and me this morning.”

“Congratulations,” Len said, smiling. It was about time one of them figured it out. He concentrated on Jim again, and he could identify the emerging bond on him. “I need to scan you right now?”

“What? Why?” Jim looked concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m trying to figure out what the planet does to our people. How the bonding happens when it’s not two Xaheans who bond,” Len said, and he took hold of Jim’s wrist and pulled him out of his office. “I’m serious about this. Let’s get you onto a bed, now.”

“Okay, okay,” Jim said, lying flat. “I can’t believe I’m letting you do this.”

“It’s for science,” Len said.

*****

After he walked away from Sickbay, Chris realized he had time to call Una about all the details he wanted to tell her this morning, when he got caught up in his engagement to Len. He still hadn’t had time to tell anyone about that yet, either. He wore his ring, but so far, no one had noticed it. Len had been wearing his, too.

He went back to his quarters and asked Lieutenant Uhura to put a call through to the Yorktown.

“Admiral,” Una said as she came into focus on the view screen, and it looked like she was in her ready room. “Good to see you.”

“And you, Captain.” There was something off with her; he could tell, even over the comm and with so many light-years between them. “How are you?”

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “How are you?”

“I asked first,” Chris said, trying not to smile at her.

“I’m…better than I have any right to be? You?”

“The same,” he looked closely. While he couldn’t feel anything, he could see there was something in her expression. “Have you met someone?”

She nodded. “I have. I’m still deciding what to do about it. And I hear the same is true for you.”

“I have decided what to do about it,” He grinned at her and held up his hand.

Her eyes widened. “Seriously? Congratulations. Who? I had no idea you were seeing anyone.”

“I wasn’t. Not until about a week ago,” Chris said.

She went white and shook her head minutely.

It was clear she didn’t want to talk about it over the ship’s communications.

“Are you okay?” Chris asked.

She shook her head again. “What are the chances of two different sets of people finding something like that within a few days of each other?”

“More than the chances of three sets of people finding it.” Chris needed to get back to Len about this. He didn’t understand how this was even possible.

“We’ll be there in thirty-six hours.” She took a deep breath. “We’ll talk in person.”

“I’m going to report this to Starfleet,” Chris said. “What do you want me to say about you?” Whoever it was that Una had met had probably not been to Xahea, though Una had, but she was also Illyrian. God, this was a mess.

She breathed out. “As little as possible. I need to speak to my potential partner. As you might imagine, he came as a tremendous surprise.”

Chris nodded. He could not remember a time when he’d seen her so rattled. “I will be back to you as soon as I know more. Pike out.” The view screen went dark. He didn’t have time to go back to Sickbay and tell Len this in person. He sent off a quick written comm.

The negotiations that afternoon went as expected, as did the hurried status meeting on the Orion Syndicate. The NIA liaison had no new information on anything. They were in a wait-and-see mode, hoping for more details to surface. He’d talked to Starfleet Intelligence again, and they had no new information, either.

*****

Sickbay

Later That Afternoon

After Jim left, he looked at the scan and identified the marker. Since his door was open, he heard Christine come into the main Sickbay. It wasn’t his business to say something to her about Jim and Spock, but Jim said that they weren’t going to try to keep it a secret. Not that they could, since Spock spent last night in Jim’s quarters, but Christine could be hurt finding out from gossip.

“Hey, Len,” Christine said as he came back out of his office.

“Yeah, Christine, I want to talk to you quickly. If you have a second,” Len said. “In my office.”

For a second, she looked startled, then raised an eyebrow with that telltale smirk. “Sure thing, doctor.”

She settled into the chair in front of his desk and didn’t say anything.

“Look,” Len said. He was terrible at this, but he respected Christine enough to not let her be caught unaware by what was going on with Jim and Spock. “I want to tell you something. I don’t know if you’ve heard –”

“That the Captain and Spock have gotten involved? There’s talk about a bond and something to do with the planet,” she said.

“You know? How. It just happened last night.” That didn’t seem like enough time for her to have found out.

“Of course, I know. You have to know that this ship is notorious for its gossip. There have been at least three people who told me this morning alone,” she said, sounding amused more than anything else. “But thank you. I appreciate that you’d let me know privately.”

“I just didn’t want hysterics.” Len huffed so that he wouldn’t smile. “You don’t seem unduly upset.”

“I’m…not sure what I am,” Christine said with a sigh. “I admit I am slightly surprised. I could tell Spock had feelings for the captain –”

“How on earth did you know that?” Len asked. He’d known about Jim, of course, but would have said, until very recently, that Spock didn’t have those kinds of emotions at all.

“I could tell. I’ve known Spock for more than a decade.” Christine met his eyes, serious now. “I’ve had plenty of time to get to know that look.”

“You’ve implied that in the past.” But he wasn’t going to ask about that. It wasn’t his business.

“It’s true. We were involved, briefly. Near the beginning of my first tour with the Enterprise.” Christine let out another long sigh.

“I can see that it’s bothering you. Do you want to tell me, and I won’t tell anyone.” He wasn’t great at that, but he could listen, if she wanted to talk about it.

She laughed, and it sounded a little bitter. “Everyone you know already knows. I’d tell you to ask the Admiral, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t tell anyone about it.”

“Probably not. He’s very good that way.” And if she wasn’t going to tell him, then he wasn’t going to ask anyone else. It was her story. Well, hers and apparently Spock’s.

“The admiral has a lot of integrity, and that whole doing the right thing going on. But yeah, so when I came on board in 2258. It was just over a year after the end of the Klingon war. Spock and Una had already been on the ship for the first five-year mission. Captain Pike had just gotten back from spending several months as the temporary captain of the Discovery before it was destroyed.” Christine paused and looked at him. “Now, there’s a story that I don’t know anything about, and would love to know the details. That’s for some other time.”

That was okay, Len didn’t need that part. But he hadn’t known about Chris being the temporary captain of the Discovery, which, if he remembered correctly, had been a science vessel of some kind and had been destroyed. The details of how, had never been clear. “Go on,” Len told her.

“During the Klingon war, I first met and served with Joseph M’Benga,” she said, looking at him.

Len nodded. He knew about Dr. M’Benga. And hadn’t Chris mentioned him as a possible replacement for him when he left? At least, Christine would know him.

“I couldn’t cope with anything too serious, and that wasn’t just my romantic life either,” Christine said. “Spock and I had a few adventures, and some horrible stuff happened, but that was life on a starship. So anyway, T’Pring broke up with him for a while. And in that time, he took me up on what I’d been offering.” She breathed in sharply. “I should have known he’d take it more seriously than I could. I got the fellowship with Roger Korby, and you know what happened with that.”

Len nodded again. Yeah, he’d been there when they discovered that Korby had turned himself into an android who had pretty much lost all of his humanity. He’d destroyed himself in the end, along with the rest of his creations. “So, what happened with Spock?”

“I broke up with him in a song when we were caught in that subspace rift that had half the quadrant singing,” Christine said, looking pretty forlorn.

“I remember that. My ship was on the other side of the quadrant, so it never got to us. Which is a good thing since I do not sing.” Len laughed a little. It was a horrifying thought. “Weren’t there Klingons involved with that one?”

“God, yes,” Christine said, grimacing. “It was pretty funny. But what I did to Spock was very public, and he is very private. I will never forget his face as he walked away from me. I felt terrible. But I couldn’t fix it. I left the ship with Captain Batel and the Cayuga right after that. And then, the Gorn attacked the ship, and I barely survived it. Spock and I ended up on what was left of the saucer section of the Cayuga, fighting an adult Gorn. We sent the saucer crashing through the atmosphere to knock out the force field that kept the people on the surface from beaming up to the Enterprise. It was a mess.”

Len could surmise the rest. “So, by the time you got back, Spock had returned to his unemotional self –”

“More like he got there for the first time. It was like he was a different person altogether.”

“And you realized you’d made a mistake,” Len said.

“Actually, not then. That came later. But suffice it to say that Spock and I already had our moment, and even though I regret what happened, it didn’t matter. He’d gone back to T’Pring when she asked, and then there was the whole incident with her issuing the marriage challenge when they were supposed to get married. And then she made Captain Kirk her champion and forced him to fight Spock. Spock was so deep in the blood fever that he couldn’t do anything else. The whole incident was completely unforgivable of her.”

Nothing Len could say to that since he’d been there for that, too. That incident had been too damned close. Under normal circumstances, Spock was twice as strong as Jim, or any human, really, but during the fever, Spock was an order of magnitude stronger, and Jim didn’t have a choice about the fight. It was only the ruse with the tri-ox compound — which gave Jim a boost — that saved his life. “Are you okay?” Len asked.

“I can accept what happened if that’s what you mean. There isn’t much I could do about it. Though I’ve been thinking about leaving the Enterprise. I’d like to go to medical school.” She sounded serious about that.

“I’m surprised. I never thought being a doctor would be something that would interest you,” Len said.

“It’s the next progression, I think. I’m interested in medical research, and getting funding is so much easier if you’re a doctor,” Christine said.

“Do you think you’d stay with Starfleet?”

“I’m thinking of OCS once I finish. I could probably go in as a full commander given my previous experience.”

“Probably. I’ll write you a recommendation if you’d like,” Len offered. She was a stellar nurse and would probably make a damned fine doctor, especially given her interest in medical research.

“I was going to ask you about that. When are you leaving the Enterprise?” she asked.

He considered prevaricating and saying he didn’t know, but it was clear she knew. Which probably meant everyone knew or guessed. “When the Admiral goes back to Earth, I’ll be going with him. In the end, I think we’ll probably end up on Starbase 1. That’s the plan, anyway.”

She just smiled. “Of all the people who I’ve served with, I have to say that you and Chris are the two most unlikely people to find what you’ve found together. And yet, it radiates off both of you when you’re together. I can see it.”

Even though he knew it was true, Len couldn’t address it. “You know, if you’ve been down on the planet, you could find the same thing. I believe it’s about recognizing compatibility.”

“I don’t know. Do I even have whatever it is that you’re looking for?” Christine asked. “And if I do, I feel like I’m just too old for this kind of thing.”

Len laughed. “I’m older than you are, and Chris is older than I am.” He looked at her. “Do you want to know?”

“Oh, hell, yes,” Christine said with a grin. “Absolutely. I would like to think there might be someone out there. Maybe. It would give me hope that I haven’t fucked things up that badly.”

“All right, then. Let me scan you, and I’ll let you know if you have the marker.”

She looked incredulous.

“I’m serious. Anyone who wants to be scanned can add to my knowledge base of how this all works.” Len stood, and the door opened partway when he got there. He stepped back and then forward again, and it opened all the way and then stayed open once both he and Christine had gone through it.

He did the scan and sent the results to his comm.

“So?” she asked, sounding more than a little curious.

“You have the same marker as the rest of the humans I have scanned, and you also are from Alpha 3, correct?” Len looked at her for confirmation, and she nodded.

“Does that matter?”

“I think it does,” Len said. “If you meet someone and you feel a pull. You’ll probably recognize it, and you can either go forward or walk away. I wouldn’t do anything with them if you don’t want to end up bonded. I’ve heard that the bonds will fade if you break up right afterward, but because you’re from a planet that does have bonds, it might not. And of course, if you stay together, you’re bonded.”

“Is that what happened with you and Chris?”

“Yes,” Len said. “But it happened eighteen months ago, and while it was supposed to fade after a few months, for some reason it didn’t. Now, we have to formalize the bond. But more than that, I have thought about him nearly constantly since that night.” And Len was pretty sure he could not have been with anyone else after they’d established the bond. That was kind of terrifying.

She smirked at him. “You know, there’s a joke in there somewhere.”

“The joke was on us, that is for damned sure.”

“You don’t seem like you’re complaining,” Christine pointed out.

“I’m not. While I’m not totally pleased with the situation, I’ve pretty much accepted it as a fact of my life.” Len looked down and smiled to himself. So, maybe it was not without its compensations.

*****

Chapter Ten

*****

On The Enterprise

Early Evening

Len met Chris on the transporter pad. They were going to dinner on the Pike Foundation ship. They still needed to tell their families about the engagement. And what results Len had found today.

“Good day? Doctor,” Chris asked as he stepped up on the pad.

“Interesting, Admiral.” Len stepped up beside him. “I’ll tell you about it soon.”

“Energize, Chief,” Chris said, and they were transported to his mom’s ship.

“You know,” Len said as he followed Chris out of the transporter room. “That is my least favorite thing about being in space. I hate having my atoms scattered all over hell and gone.”

“I know.” Chris smiled indulgently at him. “You’ve made that plain. You’ll have to do a lot less of it soon.”

“One more thing I’m looking forward to when we are on the Starbase, and I don’t have to do it on a regular basis.”

“What else?” Chris asked.

“Real Kentucky Bourbon.” Len leaned closer to him, whispering salaciously, “You, my darlin’, will also figure largely in my list of things to thoroughly enjoy.”

Chris took a breath and forced away the images of what that sweet, slow southern accent evoked. “I thought you were already doing that.”

“Not like I’m going to,” Len promised. “I’m gonna keep you in bed for days, doin’ nothin’ but eatin’, sleepin’, and fuckin’. We are going to have so much fun with that.”

“Well, I’ll be looking forward to that, too.” Chris looked at him. “You’ve certainly gone all in on the acceptance.”

“At this point, why not? I’m going to enjoy the things that are good, and well, we’ll deal with the rest as it comes along. Given how compatible we are supposed to be, I think we’ll learn to deal with each other.”

He wasn’t wrong. “I guess we will. Just right now, we don’t know each other that well. For all intents and purposes, we met a week ago. I find myself wondering how this is even going to work. How can we possibly do this without knowing each other better than we do right now?”

Len looked at him. “I wonder about that quite a lot myself, but we’ll make it work. But time is going to be the big thing with this. We’ll need to work at it.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Chris said. “I just don’t know what to do with it. I think we’ll make our excuses soon after we eat. We need to be alone for a while and actually have a conversation or two about some of these things.”

Len leaned forward and kissed him, taking his mouth in a deep, slow kiss. After he pulled back, Chris leaned in and kissed him quickly. “We should go in. We’re late already.”

“I love my family, but I’d like to be alone with you for a few hours,” Len said, not moving.

“Soon.” There was something else, too. “Let’s not say anything about what you’re researching, okay?” It made sense not to say anything until they knew something. He didn’t expect Len to argue with him.

Of course, a displeased look appeared on Len’s face. “All of them, including Joanna, Beth, and Billy-Ray’s kids, have been on the planet. And are likely exposed to whatever it is that causes the marker.”

He was right, but Chris didn’t want to argue with him about it. And it looked like Len might dig his heels in on this. “As far as we know, there is no threat of any kind associated with it. I’m going to talk with Starfleet about it soon.”

“If it were your child, wouldn’t you want to know that?”

Fair enough. Chris knew that he would. “Do you know enough about how it’s going to affect anyone who is not from Xahea to say anything yet?”

“Not really,” Len said, sounding reluctant to admit it. “I scanned both Jim and Spock today, as well as Christine. I found the same type of marker on both Jim and Christine, but Spock had something different, made up of a slightly altered marker. I need to talk to him about his bond. So, no, I don’t know anything concrete yet.”

“I told you that I spoke to Una briefly and that she’s met someone,” Chris said, and Len nodded. “I think it might be the same circumstances with her and whoever she met.”

“She’s Illyrian. And they have spontaneous, empathic bonds. She may be in the same situation as Spock, where being on the planet enhanced something that was already there. I wonder if she’d let me scan her?”

Chris had no idea how she’d react to the request. “It sounded like she was surprised by the connection. And she wouldn’t be unless it was outside of what she was expecting. I also have to wonder who it is.”

“Well, it could be anyone. What about your brother?”

“Well, given Jon’s ongoing grief from losing his partner, I’m pretty sure it’s not him,” Chris said, and that was too bad. He’d like to see his brother more settled than he had been since the last of his kids had left home to start a career somewhere else. “So, let’s not say anything yet. I plan to call Admiral April tonight when we get back to my quarters.”

“So much for our plans for after dinner,” Len said, sounding disappointed.

“Oh, it won’t take that long. And then we can celebrate our engagement privately.” Chris grinned at him and tried hard not to think about what he wanted to do with Len later. He’d never get through dinner.

They reached the room where dinner was being held. It was the same room as the reception the other night.

*****

Back On the Enterprise

A Few Hours Later

Len stepped into the shower and let the heat soothe away the stress of the day. Dinner had taken longer than expected, but that was fair, since they were late getting there. Despite the quickness of it, everyone seemed to be thrilled by their engagement, and given that the bond probably radiated off them, no one mentioned that they had only known each other for a week.

During dinner and the socializing afterward, he noticed that Billy-Ray and Beth seemed to kiss and touch each other more than he’d seen them do in a long time. It wasn’t enough to be noticeable to anyone, except maybe him. He wondered if the planet had worked its magic on them. But it was probably too late to talk to Billy-Ray about it.

Chris was talking to Admiral April right now. And Len had vacated the room so that he could do so in private. Plus, he wanted a shower and to just relax for a few minutes. He was so tired. Dry and clean, he stepped from the shower unit and headed to bed. Hopefully, Chris would wake him up when he got into bed, and they could continue their conversation or maybe not talk at all, which would be Len’s first choice.

Len woke when Chris started to get into bed.

“Everything good with the admiralty?” Len asked sleepily.

“Fine. Bob said congratulations on our upcoming wedding and that he was sorry to miss it. And we’d better have a big reception when we get back to Earth, or no one will ever forgive me. He also said that you should carry on with your research about how the planet affects those not from Xahea,” Chris said, and then laughed. “Oh, and he also ordered you not to even think about leaving Starfleet. He said they’d probably give you any position that you’re interested in at the ‘Fleet hospital on Starbase 1. And the same for me. He didn’t put it quite like that, of course.”

“I hadn’t thought they’d be pleased that I was leaving the Enterprise so abruptly,” Len said. He appreciated that he’d have options on what he wanted to do.

“He also asked you to let him know the results as soon as you know anything more. But since this wasn’t a threat to anyone, we should not consider it a problem. I need to continue with the negotiations for Xahea’s entrance into the Federation. Everyone needs to keep an eye out for anything suspicious with the possibility of the Orion Syndicate making a move on Xahea.”

“So, basically, keep moving forward with everything.” Len moved closer and leaned in to kiss him.

Chris’ arms slid around him, pulling him closer and holding him. “Now, shall I let you go back to sleep. Or should I do something else to wake you up some more?”

Len was awake, and he wanted what Chris was offering. He pressed further into Chris, turning him onto his back and settling on top of him. “Maybe I should be the one waking you up.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.” Chris pushed his hard cock into Len’s thigh.

Yeah, he was all in on that. Len leaned down to kiss him. Slowly at first, but with some feeling as the need in him started to pool. God, he hadn’t gotten enough of Chris today. “So, my darlin’, what can I do for you?”

“What would you like to do?” Chris asked, in between slow kisses.

“You,” Len said. “I only want you.” His excitement ticked up as he contemplated all the possibilities. But really, he just wanted to kiss, touch, and taste.

“I’m a given.” Chris chuckled and kissed him sweetly, his lips molding to Len’s, his teeth pulling gently at Len’s bottom lip.

Len let the kiss play out for a while, enjoying the slow heat and sweetness. But soon, his need grew, and he moved his mouth onto Chris’ neck, kissing down his chest, licking along his skin, as he knew Chris liked that. He got a moan of appreciation for his efforts.

Every sound Chris made heightened Len’s enjoyment of what he was doing, and he was enjoying it. But maybe a little too much, time to stretch it out, a bit. He slowed his kisses, taking time to taste completely. After a little while longer, and many more kisses, his arousal was high, and Chris was whining with it. Now it was finally time to slide Chris’ cock into his mouth. God, he loved the feeling of it, giving Chris pleasure, that taste and smell of him as he moved in Len’s mouth.

Chris came, groaning out Len’s name. It was almost enough to set Len off.

Chris drew him back up into his arms and kissed him, long and slow. Heat slid along Len’s spine, heightening the arousal he was already feeling from Chris’ enthusiastic response to him. Chris put him on his back and started the same trail down his body that Len had done with him. His head pressed back into the pillow, and his body tensed in response to each touch of Chris’ hands or mouth.

All too soon, Len was on the edge, and finally, the pleasure crested, and he was falling into it. He swore as he came.

Truly, Chris could keep doing that for the rest of Len’s life, and he would never get enough of it. Afterward, they held each other for a long time, exchanging soft kisses, drowsy and sated, not saying anything. Len was close to falling asleep again.

“Sleep,” Chris whispered, kissing him one more time and then starting to ease away.

“Aren’t you tired? After this whole day?” Len asked, yawning. He cuddled closer to Chris. “I’m completely done.”

“I’m good. I have some work to do.” But he didn’t try to pull away again. “Go to sleep.”

“Stay here,” Len ordered. “You need to sleep. Whatever you think needs to be done can wait until morning.” Len could not believe Chris sometimes. He could almost hear Chris having an internal debate about what needed to be done.

“Perhaps you’re right,” Chris conceded. “You’ve worn me out.”

“My job here is done,” Len said, tightening his arms and putting his head down on Chris’ chest.

*****

Day 9

The Next Morning

Chris woke, rolling over and stretching out his hand to find a sadly empty bed. Fuck. Sometime in the middle of the night, someone had an accident, and Len had gone to do emergency surgery. Well, that was going to be his life as the partner of a doctor, and there was nothing he could do about it. Chris sat up. It was time to get dressed and start his day.

While he drank some coffee, he started going through his comms. He opened the one from Erica first. Her request for a meeting sounded a little more formal than he was used to from her. Chris replied in the same tone, telling her he’d meet her after the first session this morning. This was already shaping up to be a long day. He wanted to check in on his wayward doctor on the way out this morning, as well.

“How are you doing, Doctor?” he asked when he came into the main sickbay area.

“Fine, Admiral,” Len said. “Can I speak to you for a few minutes?”

There was a note in Len’s tone that told Chris that he wasn’t happy about something. “Sure. Let’s go into your office,” Chris suggested.

Len held out his hand toward his office, and Chris went in.

“Computer, lock the door,” Len said.

“Are you okay?” Chris asked, wanting to reach out and take Len into his arms. But Len was radiating don’t touch so loudly that Chris could almost hear it. That was…surprising.

“I’m fine. But Billy-Ray contacted me this morning and asked to see me about a private matter. And I need to know if I was ordered not to say anything about the situation that we’re in with the spontaneous bonds and Xahea. Or if it was a suggestion. Or what the fuck it was, Admiral.” Len’s tone was annoyed and possibly frustrated.

Chris wasn’t sure what to say to soothe him. “It wasn’t an order. I could order you to do something, but I would frame it that way. And there would have to be a very good reason for it. You’re not in my chain of command, and as a doctor, I can’t think of a reason for me to order you to do anything if we weren’t in an emergency situation.”

“So, what was it then, because I have no idea?” Len folded his arms over his chest with a deep scowl on his face.

“Probably a suggestion,” Chris said. “I expected you to listen to what I had to say. You seemed okay with this last night.”

Len snorted, and not in an amused way. “I’ve had some time to think about it. It felt like an order. You’re too used to being the boss. As you’ve reminded me more than once, you’re still the admiral on this mission, and I don’t need to remind you that I would be required to obey an order.”

Chris took a deep breath. This was not what he wanted to deal with right before he started negotiations this morning, but this felt too important to put Len off. “Tell me what you need out of this conversation.”

“I need you to let me know if I can talk about this issue with Billy-Ray,” Len said through his gritted teeth. Clearly, he resented having to ask. “Or anyone else for that matter.”

He could appreciate that resentment. Chris also sensed that whatever the conversation with Billy-Ray was about, it was important, too. “You don’t know anything yet.”

“It doesn’t matter. I think he wants to talk about something related to all of this, and I need to know if I’m going to be able to tell him something, anything about what I’m working on.” Len’s tone was still cold and angry.

Chris looked at his watch. He had hoped to just give Len a quick kiss and get down to the planet. Now he might be late. “I have to go. You know what, Doctor, go with your best judgment on this. Admiral April doesn’t think it’s a problem. I will defer to him on this.”

“Thank you,” Len said. But he was still frowning, and he didn’t seem satisfied with the answer.

And there was nothing Chris could do about it. “I have to go, now.” And he turned around and walked out of Len’s office.

He wasn’t sure what to make of that conversation, other than he hadn’t liked it. And he wasn’t sure what he could do about it, either. He’d almost made it to the transporter room before Len caught him.

“Look,” Len said, a note of frustration still in his voice. “I have a bad temper, especially when I feel pushed on something.”

“No. You have a point. I am letting my concerns about what is going on bleed all over this. We need to sit down and talk about it. But I don’t have any more time this morning. We have a three-day break after today –”

“Which will do us no good because our families have come to see us get married,” Len pointed out.

“If you still want to?” Chris hated the uncertainty he was feeling.

“I do.” Surprisingly, Len laughed, and some of the tension in him seemed to ease. “You’re going to have to learn to fight with me. I’ve been reliably informed that I’m very difficult to deal with when I want to be. And you are too used to everyone giving way to you. I am not going to be like that.”

Chris laughed too, relaxing a little. “Oh, I’m learning that about you. And I’m sure you’re right about me being in charge.”

“It doesn’t mean I don’t like you anymore. It just means I’m annoyed. I get annoyed a lot,” Len said with a shrug that said Chris would just have to deal with it.

Surprisingly, Chris was okay with that. “Noted,” he said. “I still have to get down to the planet. Like ten minutes ago.”

Len pushed him against the bulkhead and kissed him. Some part of Chris relaxed into the kiss, and his heart started to pound, need pooling inside him. He was less than a second away from pushing Len to the floor and climbing on top of him.

“Not in the corridors, Admiral. You’ll upset the crew.” Jim Kirk’s amused voice startled Chris enough so that he pulled back from the kiss.

“Indeed, Admiral. I do not believe this to be a good idea in public.” Spock also sounded very amused with them.

“Haha,” Len said, sounding more like himself. “I was just saying goodbye for the day.” Len let go of him and stepped back.

Chris adjusted his jacket and took a breath. “I have to go. Seriously. I have five minutes to get to the negotiations.” He stood up straighter. “Doctor, I’ll see you later. A pleasure as always, Mr. Spock, Captain Kirk.”

He went through the door and up on the padd. “Energize,” he ordered.

*****

“Bones,” Jim said. “What the fuck was that?”

“Just what I said it was, me kissing the Admiral goodbye for the day.”

Spock looked like he didn’t believe that. “I will be on the bridge if you need me, Captain.” And he held out two fingers, and Jim matched them, smiling. Then he turned around and walked away.

“I know a Vulcan kiss when I see one,” Len said, laughing.

“At least, I’m not making a spectacle of it. And actually, according to Spock, Vulcans also kiss in the regular way, too.” Jim smirked at that.

“I’m sure you’d know a lot better than I would.” Len could feel the joy coming off Jim. He started back to sickbay, and Jim fell into step with him.

When they got to his office, Jim followed him inside. “So, what was that?” Jim asked again and sat down.

“Computer, lock the door,” Len said. “You obviously felt something else between us.”

“Yeah. Before we came out of my quarters, I could feel that something was wrong between you two. Spock said something about you, and I focused on you for a second, and I could tell you were upset about something. Upset with Chris.”

“We had an argument. Well, I had an argument with him. And despite our previous minor disagreements, it was pretty clear to me that he wasn’t used to having arguments with anyone.” He and Chris would have to work on that.

“Admiral, and before that, Starship Captain. People obey him, me, without question most of the time,” Jim pointed out.

“Yeah, that’s going to be a habit I’ll have to break him of when it comes to me.” Because Len wasn’t going to let something seethe between them.

Jim laughed. “Good luck with that. It’s going to be harder than you think it is. We’re trained to be in charge, to take responsibility for everyone and everything in our orbit.”

“Not with me,” Len said. “But this isn’t a discussion I should be having with you. It’s one I need to have with him. But right now, it feels like we’re on a rollercoaster and there is no way off it. His brother will be here by tonight.”

“I suggest you both find the time. You’re supposed to be getting married soon. Do you know when exactly?”

“I don’t know. I guess I should find out.” Len shrugged. “Did you need to speak to me about anything in particular or just to ask about what you’d seen or felt?”

“No. Although we haven’t had a chance to talk since I told you about Spock and me.”

“What are you doing with that?” Len asked. “I mean, aside from the obvious that he spent last night with you.”

“He wants to take it slow. And I can’t argue with that. We’ve known each other for years, but not as lovers.” Jim smiled, looking happier than Len had seen him in quite a long time.

“I think that’s sensible. I wish Chris and I could do that. We’ve already spent too much time apart,” Len said and sighed. “I wish I’d been there when he was recovering. I think it would have helped us both navigate this better.”

Jim nodded. “It’s got to be hard to suddenly be in love with someone you don’t know.”

God, Len did not even want to think about being in love. “We need to have a bunch of long conversations about everything lovers talk about over the years, and just know, and we don’t know.”

“It’s still going to take time. And I don’t think you can rush that.”

“No. You’re right about that,” Len agreed.

“Anything else?” Jim said and stood. “I should get to the bridge.”

“Just that Chris said he’d talked to Una Chin-Riley, and she’s also met someone. Like Chris and I did. Or you and Spock, though that wasn’t as immediate as the rest of us.”

“I’m going to assume she’d been to the planet,” Jim said.

“Same way Chris had. For the Queen’s coming-of-age party, maybe six-seven years ago, and then for the bonding of the Enterprise’s navigator, a year or so later.”

“So, the same exposure. Though she’s Illyrian. I wonder how that figures in. She was pretty empathic to start with,” Jim said thoughtfully.

“I’m hoping she’ll allow me to scan her. And that whoever the person is that she’s bonding with, will as well.”

“No idea who?”

“None. Apparently, she didn’t tell Chris.”

“I’ll see you later,” Jim said and left his office.

*****

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