Reading Time: 97 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 Eleven

Sickbay

A Few Minutes Later

 

Before Len could do more than get a cup of coffee and take a few sips, his comm chimed. “Doctor McCoy,” Uhura said. “William Carson just beamed aboard and is on the way to your office.”

“Thanks, Lieutenant,” Len said. “I’m expecting him.”

By the time Len stood and got to the main area, Billy-Ray was coming through the door. He embraced him. “What can I do for you, my brother?” Len asked.

“Can we talk?” Billy-Ray’s voice was more subdued than he’d heard it in a long time.

Len led him into his office and locked the door. “What’s the problem?”

“I’m not even sure it’s a problem. You know that I’ve been recovering from some health issues.” Billy-Ray looked down and sighed. Len knew the last year had been challenging for him.

“The Hardtack Fever Syndrome, last fall. You said you’d been fatigued, which is not an uncommon side effect. And that you hadn’t been feeling as amorous as you previously had been.” Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do for Billy-Ray with that. The symptoms eased slowly.

“I thought my age might have been catching up with me with my recovery from that, and well, being past forty.” Billy-Ray kind of smiled. “But recently, and I do mean the last few days, things have turned around. Significantly.”

“You’re feeling better?” Len asked. “That’s a good thing.”

Billy-Ray looked a little uncomfortable.

“You do know you know all of my secrets and everything else there is to know about me,” Len pointed out. “And I know way more about your marriage to my sister than I should.” But Len didn’t have a problem with Billy-Ray telling him anything. They’d been close their whole lives. And there were very few secrets between them.

“True. So, yeah. I’ve been feeling a lot more sexually inclined, and the thing is, Beth, has been too. It’s great. But weird. I feel like something has changed. And I don’t know what it is. Which also worries me.” Billy-Ray looked right at him and seemed to understand right away. “What do you know?”

Len met his eyes. “I might have a guess. But it’s going to sound wild. There’s something on the planet that generates an empathic bond between compatible couples. I’ve always thought you and Beth had to have had something like that. Generally speaking, you don’t meet your wife in high school, marry as young as you and she did, and stay married. Almost all of those marriages end in divorce.”

“I’ve always thought that there was something more between Beth and me, too, but there was no way to prove it. So, how does it work? Being on the planet causes the development of something?” Billy-Ray asked. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Len explained what he’d found in himself and in Chris and some of what he’d learned from the doctors on the planet. “So, I’d like to scan you and Beth, if you’re both willing. I would also like to review your previous Starfleet medical records. You’d need to approve that.

“I thought I already had, and then again last year, after I got sick,” Billy-Ray pointed out.

“I need explicit approval each time I pull any records for a nonemergency reason. Even though it’s related to last year, I don’t feel comfortable assuming. Even for you.”

“I appreciate that,” Billy-Ray said with a slight smile. “And yes, you’ve got my approval to look for anything you need to know about me.”

“Thanks. Now, come let me scan you.” Len stood and led him out into the central sickbay. “Just lie back.”

“One more thing,” Len said as he adjusted the scanner for Billy-Ray. “Do you mind if I talk about this with Chris and possibly Starfleet. They are tracking what I’m doing.”

Billy-Ray was silent for a count. “I guess since Chris is family, or almost so, I don’t have a problem with him knowing whatever you know. And Starfleet is a given.”

“About this specifically, I’m not going to tell him a lifetime of your secrets,” Len said. It took less than a minute to find what he was looking for. The marker was there. “Do you want to come back into my office and discuss this more?”

Billy-Ray shook his head. “No. I want to get back to the ship. I want to talk to Beth about this. It means the kids were also exposed to whatever this is.”

“Starfleet does not believe it’s harmful. And so far, between Chris and me, it’s been…” Len wasn’t sure what to say. “Challenging on the one hand, but on the other, it’s been something I didn’t even know I wanted. Now, I wonder how I lived without it for so long. But it’s also going to be a fuck of a lot of work.”

That made Billy-Ray laugh at him. “You do know that all relationships are a lot of work, right?”

“Before meeting Chris, I wouldn’t have known that,” Len said, honestly. “But I guess I’m going to find out. You’d know, though, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, I would. Trust me on this. It’s always hard, even when you’re as compatible as you and Chris obviously are. It’s still going to take a lot of effort.”

“Well, thanks for that advice,” Len said, scowling. As much as it confirmed what he’d already guessed, he’d rather not have heard that after the morning he’d just had with Chris.

Billy-Ray laughed again as he left.

*****

As the morning session finished, Chris looked up and saw that Erica was waiting for him. He still had no idea what had happened. But he guessed he’d find out soon enough.

She approached him as soon as he stepped away from the table. “Shall we take a walk, Admiral?”

“As you please, Princess,” he said, bowing slightly and holding out his hand. She led him out of the conference room into the extensive gardens that surrounded the palace, and they walked for a while. Away from all the people. The garden was beautiful, a riot of colors with many flowers and plants in bloom.

“What is this about?” Chris finally asked.

Erica let out a deep sigh, then dropped onto a bench and waved him to sit, too. “It seems that Doctor McCoy has been asking a lot of questions about the bond, and that has the potential to offend some people. Oh, he’s been perfectly polite, but he’s starting to get into questions that,” she paused, “that could potentially step on the toes of many people who believe that the bonds are sacred and a gift from the planet herself.”

“I can talk to him about it, if you’d like. Or you could.”

“I don’t know him. But I do know you. And while I don’t want to discourage him from what he’s doing, I just wanted to give him a heads-up. For myself, I’ll admit to being very curious about how it all works. And I think the scientist in Po is curious as well. Though she does believe the planet herself has chosen to give us this gift. And there isn’t a person on this planet who does not believe that it’s a gift in some way or other.”

“I have to agree that it’s a gift. I am grateful beyond words for Doctor McCoy’s presence in my life. But,” Chris sighed and couldn’t find the words to express his uncertainty about it.

“But?” Erica finally asked.

“But this is not easy to do. He and I barely know each other. And it took some time to even accept what was going on. We’ve already started to step on each other’s toes.” Chris hadn’t had a chance to even begin to process what happened this morning.

“I was in much the same place when I came back here and bonded with Po. We’d spent one night together, and then I left and came back a year later to bond with her. We were only able to see each other a handful of times in between that night and the bonding. While I did know that I was coming back, and we did spend a lot of time talking during that time, it was a lot of work to find middle ground.” Erica looked at him and smiled. “It was more than worth that effort.”

Chris understood what she was saying. “I have no doubt that it will be worth it. But getting there –”

“Yeah. That. Okay, so I can only tell you to go slowly. We formalized the bond immediately because Po insisted that we could not be apart any longer.” Erica blew out a long breath. “I knew on some level she was right. But I don’t think we ever pushed it in any way.”

“We’ve argued a few times.” Chris hadn’t planned on telling her about the discussion this morning. At her look, he gave her a high-level description of what happened.

“Yeah. Again, we didn’t have that problem. Even though she was the queen, she kept that separate from me as I adjusted to life here. After we bonded, I was told what was expected of me, and I just did it. Mostly. I had to draw some lines about the work I wanted to do and what I was willing to wear. But I adapted.”

Chris nodded. He wondered how he could work this out with Len, because it didn’t seem like Len would adapt any more than he would. Maybe they could both learn to compromise. But it was time to move on from this. “The Yorktown arrives today. Una is the captain, and La’an is the first officer. I’m sure they would love to see you.”

“It will be great to see them, too,” Erica said, smiling delightedly. “I’m assuming the Yorktown will be the second starship helping us.”

“Yes,” Chris said. “Bob April told me he’s got a few more ships of various sizes that are less than a day from here. And if something happens, and we can’t mitigate it here, they can deploy after whatever Orion vessel they have to.

“That’s a relief to hear. It’s hard out here on the edge like we are,” Erica said. “Joining the Federation is going to help with that.” She looked at her watch. “I need to get back to the palace to see Lani before her nap.”

“She looks like both of you,” Chris said. He’d been curious about that.

“Xahea has technology that allows any two beings to have children together. I can send that information to you.” Her eyes sparkled. “Do you think you and Dr. McCoy would be interested in children? We also have artificial womb technology that would mean neither of you would have to try to carry the child.”

“Which would be good because I think physically, we are both too old for that,” Chris said, or at least he was. “So, yes, please send it. I think many people would love to have children with their partners, but haven’t been able to for one reason or another.”

“When we’re part of the Federation, we’ll share our technology,” Erica said. “It can be adapted to most species. Or cross species. Xaheans have no prohibitions about bonding with anyone. And we just integrate those beings into our society.”

“I wonder if the bonding aspect won’t make this a popular honeymoon spot for couples. The capital city is very beautiful. I’d love to see more of the countryside.”

“Tourist credits will never be a bad thing. We get some explorers out this far. But not a lot of tourists,” Erica said, and then looked thoughtful. “Although I’m not sure how our people would feel about advertising the gift.”

“Or if anyone would even believe it,” Chris said. “It’s sort of something out of a fairy tale or a romance novel.”

Erica laughed. “When you put it like that, yes. But it’s very, very real to our people. And I don’t think I’d want it advertised.”

“I’ve already relayed what I know to Starfleet. It’s affected more than just me and Len, too.”

“I’d ask who, but that’s probably private,” Erica said. “Do you need help finding your way out of the garden?”

“It is private at least for the moment.” Chris looked around. “And no. Would it be okay if I walked around a bit more before I go? I have a lot to think about.”

Erica smiled. “That is what it’s here for. I’ve found it very easy to lose myself in thought while I’m walking through it.”

Before Erica could step away, an explosion shattered the quiet of the garden, the sound echoing through the grounds, and the outdoor lights flickered. Chris’ heart jumped, and he pulled out his communicator.

“Pike to Swender-Vance. What just happened?” Chris asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.

At first, there was nothing but static that dragged on for a couple of long seconds. Then, Commander Derek Swender-Vance’s voice finally came through, “Admiral. There was an explosion at the hospital, and it’s bad. We believe the Orions have infiltrated at least one of the pediatric wards, and we assume we’re going to be dealing with a hostage situation shortly.”

Chris’s pulse quickened. “Who?” he asked. With so many of his family members down here, he already knew he wouldn’t like the answer.

“Unknown.” Derek sighed. “We don’t have any information at all. Well, beyond the explosion, and they have already locked down the first ward.”

“Can you evacuate the rest of the hospital?”

“I’ll let you know what’s happening when I know something more. Give me a few minutes.”

Chris took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping for calm. “All right –”

Erica put a hand on his shoulder, her face pale. “We need to act fast,” she said. “These people are going to be desperate. And that will make them too likely to do something rash.”

Yeah, he thought that, too. His stomach tightened. “Where are you, Derek?”

“I’m in the palace’s main conference room,” Derek said. “Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock just beamed down. We’re working out a way to break through the defenses that the Orions put into place around the pediatric ward.”

“I’m on my way.”

*****

Xahean National Medical Complex

Ten Minutes Earlier

Len moved through the ward, looking for Candice and Amelia. He wanted to check on them and see if there was anything he could do to help. As he went by, he checked the vital signs on the monitors above each child’s bed. There were only about twelve children in this ward, and he couldn’t tell how they were grouped. Some of the other wards he’d seen had more than twenty children.

He smiled at a very young Vulcan girl, her dark eyes filled with a mix of fear and hope. She couldn’t be more than three or four.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Len said softly as he passed her. She didn’t smile back, but she did nod.

Amelia was sitting at a terminal near the back of the room. It was clear that she was in charge here, and it looked like she was still getting things organized. His momma was in one of the other wards. Beth, Billy-Ray, and Chris’ brother-in-law, Ron, were doing the initial data input to find information on each child. Joanna, Missy, and Dave were running between all the different wards where they had placed the children from the raid. The kids were all making sure that everything was where it was supposed to be. Len was so proud of them for stepping up to help this way.

“Candice,” Len said. “I was down here to meet with some of the doctors about the bonding issue I’m working on. So, I thought I’d check with you, and see how things are going?”

She looked up, her eyebrow raised, a hint of a smile on her mouth. “Things are going well here, at least for the moment. We have got about ten Vulcan children in total. I have already found family connections for at least seven of them. But for the other three, there are no parents listed, and the children are too young to know that information.”

“How old are they?” Len asked.

“Between three and five standard years, but without the usual Vulcan education, they are behind in their milestones. It will take them some time to catch up. That said, I believe they have been bred for intelligence and stamina.”

“What? They were bred, not –” Len stopped. “How have you found families, then?”

“Their DNA matches with some clans on Vulcan. Despite what you may have heard, most Vulcan families will not care where they came from as long as they are part of their clan. I have already contacted the clan’s leadership, and they are on their way here to take charge of the children that belong to their clan. They will be adopted and have families who will care for them.”

“I’m relieved to hear that. What about the other three Vulcan children?”

“Unfortunately, they do not have matches in the DNA database. They are mixed species as well. Which is fascinating, because viable mixed-species children are still hard to accomplish. And without a clan match, it makes it less likely that we will find a Vulcan clan to claim them. Though in theory, they should be able to find homes either on Vulcan or where their other parent is from.”

Suddenly, a sharp sound echoed through the hall outside. The lights flickered momentarily before going out entirely and plunging the ward into darkness. The emergency lighting turned on, filling the room with a gloomy blue cast.

The ward’s double doors burst open.

A group of six heavily armed beings in dark, rugged armor stormed into the large room, weapons raised. Len and everyone else in the ward froze in place.

The leader was tall and dressed in all black, with his face covered, but his exposed skin was green. Obviously, the Orion Syndicate that Chris had been briefed about. Fantastic. Just what Len needed right now.

“Everyone down! Now!” the leader shouted.

The children screamed. Len moved quickly, positioning himself in front of a small group of children. Candice moved toward another group of children as well. It looked like each of the other doctors and nurses had a small group of children they were trying to protect and keep them calm.

“Get behind me,” he ordered softly to the rest of the children near him. He glanced quickly at Candice. She had a group behind her as well.

Amelia stepped forward with her hands raised, appearing calm. “Please, don’t hurt them. They are just children,” she said, her tone pleading, but her eyes were hard, furious.

The leader sneered, pointing his phaser rifle at her, and Amelia didn’t even blink. “You don’t give the orders here, woman. The kids are the payload to take back what’s ours. Now, everyone into the center of the room — all of you. Move!”

Even Len could see the Orion leader’s desperation. Len picked up the smallest of the children, and he nodded for the rest of them to follow him.

As slowly as he could get away with, Len moved the children towards the center of the room, which had been made into a small play area. Amelia met him there. They were outnumbered, and any resistance right now would only endanger the children. Candice and her group also stood beside her. She was holding the smallest child as well.

Each group moved to the center of the room with the children between them.

The Orions moved much more quickly, securing the exits and disabling the hospital’s communication systems. One of the men shoved a nurse toward the group. She looked as terrified as everyone else probably felt.

The leader stepped forward again, this time addressing his men. “Prepare for transport. We’ll work out a trade with the Federation. They’ll give us what we want, and maybe we’ll give some of the other brats back to them.”

But the Federation didn’t negotiate for hostages. Len guessed there were other people who would.

Two of the attackers grabbed Amelia roughly by the arm. She stumbled, but her eyes flashed with anger. “You won’t get away with this,” she hissed. “The Federation will come for us.”

“Oh, I’m counting on it,” the leader said and flipped open his communicator. “Beam them out.”

There had to be a way out. Len looked around, trying to threat assess the situation. It wasn’t his strong suit, but he’d gotten into and out of enough tight situations in his years in Starfleet to see a weakness. They couldn’t just allow themselves to be taken, not with so many children at risk. But any surprise moves could set the Orions off, and looking at them, that was probably the last thing they wanted.

The room was filled with the high-pitched whine of transporter beams. The air shimmered as the Orions activated a portable transporter device. And then, nothing happened. No one moved. No one breathed.

The lead Orion yelled into a communicator. “Tharak! I said, get us out of here.”

“We can’t,” Tharak came back. “Ganzar says there’s some kind of shield blocking your transport out. There’s nothing we can do. We need to abort.”

“No,” the leader shouted. “Not without some way to get our cargo back.”

“There’s nothing you can do. We’ve got a ship on our tail. We have to go,” Tharak screamed back. “Fuck. They are targeting our engines. We have to get out of here.”

“Engage the fucking cloaking shields!” the leader yelled. “They shouldn’t be able to see you.”

“We’re under attack. We can’t do anything,” Tharak yelled.

“I will have your head for this,” the leader promised. Tharak screamed something about it being too late for that.

Len could hear an explosion through the communicator. “Well, that’s interesting,” Len whispered to Amelia. She just nodded.

The leader turned to the rest of his people. “We’ll hold them until we can get a transport out of here.” He looked around. “Juraav and Gudah, stand guard outside this room. Shoot to kill anything that moves.”

The room was at the end of a long corridor, so that would let them see anyone coming well in advance. The corridor was narrow, too. It would be easier to defend.

*****

Chris followed Erica, moving quickly through the corridors of the palace, finally reaching the palace’s main briefing room.

The door opened, and Jim Kirk stood next to Spock, who had a holo-map of the hospital complex up in the air in front of him. Derek was pacing, looking like he’d aged ten years in the last few minutes since this happened, which told Chris that his wife was among those taken.

Po stood nearby, also looking shaken by what had happened. Erica stepped beside her, and they shared a look. She held out her hand, and Po took it.

Chris moved to stand beside Jim. “Tell me we have a plan.”

Jim turned to him. “We’re working on one. The Orions have locked down the entire ward, and the hospital shields prevent anyone from beaming in or out. We’ve evacuated everyone anywhere near the ward to other parts of the hospital complex.”

“And the explosion?” Chris asked.

“Targeted from the ship to take out a section of the hospital generator. That disrupted the shields long enough for them to beam in from their low orbit,” Jim said. “There were two casualties, and four other people were hurt working in the area.”

“Do we know who and how many were taken?” Chris asked.

“Doctor McCoy, Amelia Pike, and Doctor Candice Swender-Vance,” Jim said with some sympathy and no small amount of worry in his eyes.

Chris’ breath caught, and he closed his eyes and concentrated. He could feel that Len was alive and uninjured. He was also annoyed as hell. That was enough for Chris to push aside his own fear and anger. “The others? The children?”

Jim continued, “They’ve captured everyone on the ward — three nurses, and another Xahean doctor we haven’t identified, and about twelve to fourteen of the children. We’ve lost contact with the entire ward at the hospital. It looks like they might have a communications jammer of some kind set up so that no one can use their communicators. They were unable to beam the hostages out to their waiting ship, and they did not get the Orion boys they were looking for. The Orion ship has been disabled and captured by the Enterprise and the Xahean Space Navy.

“We will need to physically breach the area before we can extract anyone. The hostages are being held in the secondary pediatric wing, in the upper level of the hospital complex,” Spock said, his voice calm and professional. It was comforting and helped to cut through some of the tension in the room.

Chris listened carefully, trying to concentrate on what was being said. “The hostages? Do we know anything about their condition?”

“Scans show they’re all alive. The Orions are heavily armed,” Derek said, all emotion suppressed.

Erica stepped forward. “The Orions — if they’re desperate enough to storm the hospital, there’s no telling what they’ll do, and we can’t wait to find out.”

Chris knew that. His first instinct was to take charge of the rescue operation himself, but he knew that he couldn’t go in. While he was damned grateful to be alive, and he’d recovered from the accident as much as he could be, he wasn’t what he once had been.

Jim looked at him, and it was clear from his expression that he could tell what Chris was thinking. “Admiral, I understand how hard this is for you,” Jim said sympathetically.

With the children’s lives at stake, as well as his mother’s and Len’s, there was no choice. Knowing all of that didn’t make standing down any easier. “I want to be linked in by comm. And I want to go in as soon as you clear the room.”

Jim nodded. “Agreed.”

The plan was set. All Chris could do now was wait. He trusted that Jim, Spock, and Derek could take out the Orions and bring everyone else back out safely.

*****

The seconds ticked by, and Len glanced around. Everyone was still standing in the middle of the room, guarded by armed Orions who were looking increasingly desperate, right on the edge. The longer this went on, the better the chances that one of the Orions would erupt and do something stupid.

He kept his focus on the children. They were the priority. He needed to keep them safe, and it was clear that all the rest of the hospital personnel were thinking the same thing.

The shielding surrounding the ward flickered and then dropped altogether with an audible pop. “What the fuck,” the leader muttered, and all the Orions tensed, shifting their weapons toward the door.

A crackling hum filled the room, and Len assumed Jim’s team had disabled the panel on the other side of the door.

“I think they’re coming in,” Len whispered to Amelia.

The door to the ward burst open as Jim and his team rushed into the room. “Down,” Jim called, and Len put the child he was holding down and motioned for the rest of them to sit on the floor. Fortunately, they did, though some of them were crying.

Phaser fire erupted as Jim’s team engaged the Orions in a fight. One by one, the Orions were taken out, but not before a stray shot struck Len in the back of the shoulder. The force of it turned him around, and he dropped to his knees, gritting his teeth against the pain. It never failed to surprise him how much getting hit by phaser fire hurt.

Amelia moved to his side, and he tried to stand. “Hold on, Len. Don’t move. You’re going to be okay.”

Len wasn’t so sure of that. It hurt pretty badly and probably damaged the muscles in his shoulder. That was not good.

Candice was already moving towards him with her medical kit in her hand. She dropped down beside him, pushed him back into a sitting position, and began treating him. “You’ll be fine shortly,” she promised in the same tone she used on the children.

Len wanted to roll his eyes at her, but he was actually pretty grateful for the pain relief she was providing. “Thanks,” he said instead and closed his eyes for a second.

*****

Len woke again in a biobed that was not on the Enterprise. Chris was standing over him, looking pretty worried. “What’s going on? How long have I been out?”

“About an hour. Do you remember being shot?” Chris asked in a tone that was somewhere between worried and angry.

“Yes,” Len said. The bond between them felt needy, and he wasn’t sure what to do about that now. They probably needed to talk, and that wasn’t going to happen here. He held his hand out, and Chris took it, raising it to his mouth for a kiss. That felt really good, and he could see that Chris also thought so.

“What were you doing at the hospital, anyway?” Chris asked.

“I was planetside for another meeting about the bond. And since I knew that Amelia had started work with the children and that Candice was down there, I wanted to see what I could do to help,” Len said. “The children?”

“Fortunately, all were uninjured. In fact, you were the only one who was injured at all.” And Chris sounded a little annoyed at that.

“I assume I’m going to be fine.” Len was okay. He moved his shoulders, and the pain was gone. The muscles were a little stiff, but it felt like that would fade in a day or two.

Before he could ask anything else, the door opened. “Good, I see you’re awake. I’m Doctor Daryl Corvin. How are you feeling, Doctor McCoy?”

Len rolled his shoulder again. “Pretty good, considering.”

“You’ll need to take it easy for a few days. No more getting kidnapped.” Doctor Corvin smiled as he said it.

“I’ll second that,” Chris muttered beside him.

It wasn’t like he’d done it on purpose. “When can I get out of here?”

“You’re good to go,” Corvin said after glancing up at the biobed display.

Chris lent him a hand as Len sat up. He could feel Chris’ need to touch him and his own need to be touched.

“I’m surprised to find a human working in a Xahean hospital,” Chris said casually.

Yeah, Len wondered about that, too.

“I worked for Starfleet for a few years, and then we came here on an exploratory mission. I met my wife here, maybe ten or twelve years ago,” Corvin said with a smile. “I stayed.”

“Of course. Are you bonded?” Len asked. “I hadn’t realized there were other humans here besides Erica Ortegas.”

“Given how far out Xahea is, there aren’t many. But there are a few. Xahea has no prejudice of any kind toward who your spouse is. Everyone is welcome in whatever variety you come in.” Corvin laughed. “They have amazing technology for creating children regardless of species. Well, humanoid species.”

“I can see how that could be a wonderful thing,” Chris said. “Erica, the princess consort, mentioned it to me, as well.”

Len looked at Corvin. “If you have some time, I’d love to talk to you about the bonding gift.”

“I’ve spent a little time looking into that myself. It’s another amazing thing about this planet. I’m still not exactly sure how it works.” Corvin looked at Len. “Do you know?”

“I have some thoughts on it, but I’ve not confirmed anything. I’m deeply grateful for it but also very curious.” Len glanced at Chris.

“Don’t push too hard,” Corvin advised. “Most Xaheans believe it to be sacred.”

“I’ve seen that,” Len agreed, and he could also feel that Chris had something to say about it. But that was for later. “Thank you. I’ll be in touch with my questions.”

Corvin nodded and left.

“Let’s get out of here,” Len said, sliding off the biobed. “I want to get back to the Enterprise. Have you talked to your mom? Or Candice?”

“I actually haven’t met Candice, and yes, my mom is fine. She’s shaken up, of course, but she’s still down here, working with the now doubly traumatized children. And I think Candice is with her, along with your mom. And Billy-Ray, while not a child psychologist, has some training with that, and is trying to help out with the kids who were kidnapped again today.

“I should go try and see what I can do to help, as well –”

“You need to get some rest first.” Chris gave him a stern look.

It was all Len could do not to laugh at him. But he really was dead tired, and that was going to make him less useful. Damn, but being healed like he’d been always drained him. “I could use a nap.” He looked at Chris. “And you and I need to have a couple of conversations about what’s happened.”

“I know,” Chris agreed. “But Una’s ship should be here later today –”

“One thing at a time, darlin’. Let’s go back to the ship.”

*****

The Enterprise

A Little While Later

“The afternoon negotiations have been canceled due to what happened,” Chris said as they went into Len’s quarters, and he nodded for Len to take a seat. “That might give us some time to talk.”

“About which thing first?” Len asked and yawned. He looked exhausted.

“Maybe we should hold off until you’ve had a nap. You look dead on your feet.” It had waited this long. It could wait an hour or two more, Chris decided.

“Well, I’ve been up since 0300 hours. So yeah, I kind of am pretty tired,” Len said. “But we should also talk about what just happened as well as what happened between us this morning.”

Chris hadn’t thought about that, and he should have. But once he’d heard the explosion, it was as if everything other than making sure everyone was safe was all he could concentrate on. “That too.”

“Maybe we should start with the kidnapping and go backward,” Len suggested. “I don’t know. I’m sure there are going to be all kinds of repercussions from it politically.”

“If it works out like most of the Federation’s dealings with the Orions, we’ll end up turning all of them over to the Orion government, and they’ll probably be executed for having failed in their task,” Chris said with a sigh. “They are probably all slaves of whatever female’s household they belong to, and there’s nothing we can do about that.” Chris was sure he knew all of this. As did everyone else in Starfleet.

Len nodded. “We also now have six Orion boys who are going to need a home that doesn’t include anything to do with other Orions. I’ve heard they are hard to place.”

“They need more attention than other children their age, especially initially. I think that they will all do better in a group home together,” Chris said. “Preferably on Earth, where they will be protected and educated.”

“Your mom can probably make that happen,” Len said. “And there are three Vulcan children who don’t have a hit on the Vulcan DNA database. Candice said they were going to see if they could get a hit on the other parent.”

“Good. Are you okay with what happened?”

“Of course.” Len glanced at him. “There is no not being okay. I’ve been exploring deep space for a long time. I cope. Also, it helps that no one was hurt.”

“You were.” Chris could feel he was steady, and of course, what he said about coping because you had to was true.

“But I’m healed now, so it’s all good.” Len leaned his head back on the sofa, closing his eyes.

“Do you want to talk about what happened this morning?” To Chris, that seemed like it was so damned long ago. But they needed to talk about it, too. He didn’t think it could wait any longer if Len was okay with what had happened at the hospital, and for the moment, it seemed like he was. Something else might come up later, but people who explored deep space knew how to roll with whatever trauma happened because something always happened out there.

“I was probably out of line this morning.” Len lifted his head off the back of the sofa and looked at Chris. “I have a terrible temper. And because of who I am, I’ve never had to learn to control it. I’m not sure I can anymore, not at my age. But I shouldn’t blame you for being you.”

Chris laughed at that. “Me, being me?”

“You are all about doing the right thing, and I’m all about solving the problem in front of me.” Len sighed again and closed his eyes. “Sometimes I wonder how we could possibly be so compatible, but it’s pretty damned clear to me that we are. That said, I have never had to put so much effort into being understood by anyone as I have had to do with you. Ever.”

After the morning and afternoon he’d just had, Chris was annoyed by the comment, probably more than he should have been. “Well, thank you so much,” he snapped. “I’m so honored you’d consider me worthy enough to put any effort in at all.” He didn’t even try to contain the sarcasm and had a passing thought that it might annoy Len even more. Maybe they needed to postpone this conversation until they were a little more rested.

But instead of anger, the comment made Len laugh, and he smiled widely at Chris. “God, I love it when you do that.”

Chris had no idea what he was even talking about.

“You can snark at me all you want. I just adore it.” Len was smiling. “And in case I haven’t said it out loud, I adore you. You’re probably everything I could have ever wanted in a partner and never even thought about looking for.”

Chris wondered if he should be irritated or amused, but the truth was, he was utterly charmed, as he almost always was. Well, when he wasn’t annoyed. “I think you know that I feel the same way about you. But there are a hundred other things we still need to talk about. But why don’t you tell me what else you’ve found?”

Len told him about Billy-Ray’s results. “I need to get Beth scanned. And maybe Captain Chin-Riley and her partner. I wonder if Dr. Corvin would agree –”

“That reminds me,” Chris said. He told Len about the conversation he’d had with Erica. “That said, she said she was very curious about what you were doing. So maybe she might also agree. Possibly some of the other humans who live on Xahea.”

Len was thoughtful. “I think that might make them the controls. Especially the Princess Consort because she’s a human from Earth. Most of the rest of us who have been affected by the planet are human, but many are not from Earth or have other close relatives not from Earth. I wonder how that figures in here.” He looked at Chris. “Are you sure you don’t have any close relatives who were not from Earth?”

As he started to say yes, Chris paused and thought about it. He actually didn’t know the answer. “I should ask my mom about it.”

“You should,” Len said. “I think that might be why our bond is so strong without me having been to Xahea before.”

“You should ask Erica, too,” Chris said. He knew Erica was born on Earth, but that didn’t mean her parents weren’t born somewhere else.

“Thanks. I’ll touch base with her and Dr. Corvin tomorrow,” Len said. “So, getting back to us, what are we going to do about you and me?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that,” Chris said. They had a lot to discuss, so much that needed to be said that they hadn’t even started yet.

“I mean that you’re the Admiral, and I’m three ranks below you. I guess it won’t matter as much when I work for Starfleet Medical on Starbase 1,” Len said and sighed. “But having to ask to talk about something I felt was my area of expertise to begin with was deeply irritating to me.”

“I understand that. I don’t think about being in charge or what I say. I do expect to be obeyed if I give an order. But I’ve always considered myself pretty laid back for a captain. Or an admiral now, I suppose.” Chris sighed. “Why don’t you just ask? Or if you don’t like what I’ve said, you can argue with me.”

“I am not going to argue with an admiral in public. It is beyond rude and bad form. I have to respect the chain of command even if I’m not a part of it,” Len said. “And the whole point is that I shouldn’t have to ask.”

“You are very respectful of my rank, but you have no problem calling your captain by his first name in public,” Chris pointed out. “And I am sure you argue with him all the time.”

“That’s true, but as I said, you’re a damned admiral,” Len said and then paused for a second. “And it’s not the same thing at all. He and I have an old and established friendship. He comes to me for advice. And I’m also ten years older than he is. And never, ever had any kind of romantic interest in him. And yes, I tell him what I think all the time. Sometimes he takes my advice, and sometimes he doesn’t.”

The way Len said he’d never had an interest in Jim struck a chord in Chris. “Is there something more to that?”

Len shrugged. “When we were first roommates at the academy, Jim hit on me pretty hard. I was such a mess after the divorce from Jocelyn, and I was having trouble coping with starting all over again. Even if he was attractive, he was too young and traumatized himself. There was just no way I could respond to that. We ended up being good friends, brothers really, and we helped each other learn to cope. We both got a lot of comfort from our friendship.”

There was something more than that, but Chris could see that Len did not want to talk about it. So, he wasn’t going to ask. “How were you both even roommates at all? He would have been an incoming freshman, and you were already a professional. You should have had your own room in a different dorm.”

“Yeah, so there were only a few weeks between when Phil Boyce recruited me and when I started classes. All the rooms in the professional dorm were taken. I got a double in a regular dorm and no roommate. He moved in after that.”

“He should have had his own dorm assigned to him,” Chris said. “How did he get around that?”

“You know, I have no idea. There were times when he just got things done. He asked me if he could move in, and I was okay with that.” Len glanced at him. “We’ve gotten off track again.”

“True. So, where does that leave us?” Chris asked because he didn’t know. All of this shouldn’t be as difficult or contentious as it was turning out to be.

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to work it out as each situation comes up. What else can we do?” Len looked at him with longing in his eyes. “I need to touch you now, okay?”

“Please,” Chris said, starting to cross the distance between them. He held out his hand, and Len stood to take it, wrapping his arms around Chris and leaning in to kiss him. Len’s hands were under his uniform jacket, stroking his bare back, and his hands were fisted on Len’s shirt.

It took a little time for their hands to loosen, and then they just kissed, touching each other more tenderly as the passion started to build. It had been too long. Chris needed this.

“It has already been a long-assed day, and I know we don’t have time, but–” Len panted out against his mouth.

“Yeah,” Chris said, letting Len go long enough to pull off his jacket and drape it over the desk chair. “Let’s go to bed for a little while.”

“You’ll get no argument from me.” Len leaned in and kissed him again. Then he took off his jacket and put it over Chris’ on the chair.

*****

Chapter Twelve

A Few Hours Later

The Yorktown was in orbit when Len and Chris finally left his quarters. He called his mom to say they were coming to the Pike Foundation ship for dinner. She told him that Jon had arrived. But he knew from her tone that something wasn’t quite right. Well, after today, she was entitled to be a little off.

They beamed over, and just the transporter chief met them. “Madam Pike asked me to let you and Doctor McCoy know that they are in the reception room.”

“Thanks, Mr. Roberts,” Chris said, taking Len’s hand. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, but…” Len sighed. “I’m still exhausted. I’m a little out of it, especially after a day like today.”

“I’m sure everyone is going to understand that.” Chris knew that while he reveled in having his family around and wanted to talk to everyone for hours, Len found the situation stress-inducing, and that was before what he’d had to deal with today.

“I am looking forward to meeting your brother,” Len said. “Maybe I’ll get a chance to talk to Emma again, too. I was glad she and the rest of our combined families weren’t with us this afternoon.”

“Just worrying about you and Mom was enough to give me nightmares for a long time,” Chris agreed. They hadn’t even begun to address that, but like Len said, being in Starfleet as long as they had been, they had learned to roll with what happened. His mom, though, he’d need to talk to her and see how she was handling it.

Chris stepped through the door, and everyone in the room turned to look at them.

“Well, at least you got here eventually,” his father said with a smile. “Did you get lost?”

“No,” Len said. “A bit sidetracked by events but not lost.”

“We held dinner for you both,” Grant said.

They were more than half an hour late, but it had been necessary. “Thanks, Dad.”

Chris glanced around quickly and, surprisingly, saw that Una was talking to his mother. Before he could even begin to process that, he moved farther into the room, still holding Len’s hand.

Joanna came flying across the room and practically threw herself at Len. He caught her, holding her close. “I’m fine, darlin’,” Len said softly.

“Amelia said we should all stay and finish work for today, and I agree with that, at least in theory, but I was so scared for you. You got hurt,” she said and stepped back, touching his shoulder.

“As I said, I’m fine,” Len said. “I did send you a message –”

“Which I appreciate, but,” she shivered. “I was just so worried.”

“I know, my darlin’.” Len leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I appreciate it.”

As soon as he let Joanna go, Emma waylaid him and gave him a hug. “Chris. Len, are you all right? That had to have been terrifying. I was so scared for you and Mom.”

Len gave her a wan smile. “As I said, I’m fine. Really. It could have been a whole lot worse. No one was hurt –”

Emma looked pointedly at Len. “I assume that’s why you’re late?”

“Partly,” Chris said honestly. “What’s going on?”

“Well, you’re never going to believe who Jon ended up with,” Emma said, her expression changing from concern to glee.

That certainly explained why Una was here, and he should have known that. “So, tell us,” he said. But he saw Una and Jon coming towards them.

Jon came across the room and got there first. He wrapped his arms around Chris, holding on for a few seconds before letting him go. “Chris, so good to see you and looking so well, too. You must be Len? I’m Chris’ brother, Jon. How are you doing after this afternoon?” Jon held out his hand, and Len took it.

“I’m good,” Len said. “As I told Emma, it could have been a lot worse.”

“I’m glad that it wasn’t any worse than what it was.” Jon looked back at Chris. “You were still using the cane the last time I saw you.”

“I finally ditched it about three months ago. You look good, too,” Chris said, putting his hands on Jon’s arms. “I see you have a surprise.”

“I started out the day before yesterday by myself, and then somehow ended up with Una,” Jon said, laughing. “Strange how life works out.”

Una came across the room and hugged Chris. “I heard about your adventure this afternoon. I’m sorry we didn’t get here sooner. We could have helped. I’m sure La’an is sorry to have missed the firefight.”

“La’an?” Len asked.

“La’an Noonien-Singh, my former chief of security and Una’s first officer,” Chris explained. “She’s excellent to have on your side when you’re in a fight.” He took her hand and looked at the ring she was wearing. “It’s great to see you, and I’m thrilled for both of you.”

“Thanks,” Una said.

Jon smiled. “It was a surprise.”

“I bet he just handed the ring to you, didn’t he?” Chris guessed with a laugh.

Jon looked a little chagrined. “Why not? I didn’t think she would want a whole sappy scene. Especially since we just met.”

“Yes. He did. It turns out that was the exact right way to do it. Because he was right. I did not want a sentimental scene under any circumstances, but even less so in these.” She leaned into Jon a little, and he put both hands on her shoulders for a moment or two, then let her go. She stepped back.

In all the years Chris had known Una, he’d never seen her do anything like that with anyone. Even someone she was deeply involved with.

Across the room, he saw his parents kiss. And his dad’s hand was on his mom’s back. Something about the intimacy of it surprised him. And really, he didn’t even want to think about that.

He mingled with the rest of the family and Len’s family, saying hello and hugging everyone.

“Dinner,” his mom said.

They had set up a buffet with a wide variety of foods. Chris grabbed a plate and found Una again.

“How are you doing?” he asked her. “I am pretty surprised by this.”

“I can say the same. I didn’t know you knew Doctor McCoy.” Una smiled.

“Yeah. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I spent the last night before the accident with him, and then I met him again when I beamed aboard for this mission.”

“That must have been a big surprise,” Una said, nodding. “The bond on you feels old.”

“You are not the first person to say that,” Chris said and then sighed. “It is also a problem because Len and I don’t know each other. And yet…” he waved his hand to encompass the whole group gathered in the room.

“I believe Jon and I are in the same predicament. Of course, we’ll have some time to get to know each other before we get married. He’s going to stay on my ship. But we’ll probably get married on Earth later this year.”

“Yeah. Len and I need to get married now. Jim Kirk is going to marry us. That’s why everyone is here. I’m not sure how they will all fit on the bridge of the Enterprise.”

Una laughed. “Yeah, that’s going to be a tight squeeze.”

“And now that you’re engaged to Jon, that’s going to make you my sister-in-law,” Chris said. And that was strange to think about, but he guessed it worked, too.

“That’s very true, Admiral,” Una agreed with a slight smirk.

That look coming from her might not be a good thing.

*****

Len kept Joanna with him for a while, but these kinds of crowds were not conducive to talking with anyone. Joanna said that she had been enjoying her time as she helped Amelia and Eleanora with the rescued children, but that today’s violence had really surprised her. He told her it was a fact of space travel.

Not long after he’d eaten something, Len was half asleep. He and Chris had laid down together, but even after some sweet, soft sex, he hadn’t slept.

A few more minutes went by, and he drifted to his favorite position on the side of the hall. It would be rude to pull out his padd and work on it, even if it would keep him awake. But no. He just leaned his head against the wall and sighed. Between getting up at 3:00 am to do emergency surgery and then his meeting at the hospital, that alone would have been enough to do him in for this type of gathering. Add the conflict with Chris, and what happened with the Orions, he was at the point where he was just done. He had nothing left to give to anyone.

A familiar laugh drifted towards him, and he looked up. Chris was chatting with Beth and Billy-Ray, and he looked like he was having a great time. Where did Chris get all that energy? But of course, when a person was as outgoing as Chris, he drew energy from those around him. Chris could talk all night with their combined families, but not only did Len not have the energy to move away from the wall to join any of them, but he didn’t have the brainpower to have a conversation.

“Are you all right?” Jon asked him, also leaning on the wall next to him. “I know today had to have been rough on you.”

Len shrugged. “Honestly, my biggest worry was the children. They were doubly traumatized at this point.”

“They are probably going to need some specialized counseling,” Jon said. “Though I understand your brother-in-law has started to work with some of them.”

“He’s had some specialized training to deal with trauma victims, and has also had some training with children, but mostly he treats adults.” Len was sure Billy-Ray could at least begin to help, but Jon was right about the children who were traumatized again today. They were going to need very specialized care.

“What about you? I heard from my mom that you were shot,” Jon asked.

“I’m fine. I have been in space for a long time and have learned to deal with what happens.” Len waved a hand around. “I’m not good with crowds under the best of circumstances, and right now, I’m about done.” Len was surprised he was that honest with someone he didn’t know. But there was something about Jon that reminded him of Chris. Well, brothers.

Jon snorted. “I’m sure my family can be overwhelming at times.”

“Are you quieter than the rest of them?” Len asked. He’d thought they were all like Chris.

“I’m not as outgoing. I need a certain amount of quiet after something like this,” Jon said. “So does Emma. Her husband Ron is more like Chris.”

“Can I ask you about your bond?” Len said, changing the subject on purpose. “I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with that. Would you consent to a scan?”

“Sure. I can come to your office tomorrow if you’d like,” Jon said, agreeably. “When do you think you’ll be getting married?”

“That would be great, thanks. And I’m not sure when it’s going to be. I guess I should find out.” Len would show up where he needed to be, in his dress uniform, but other than that, he didn’t care that much.

“Did you have any other questions about the bond?” Jon asked, looking curious.

“Just how it happened.” Len was keeping track of all the different ways that people had met, and what they had felt about it.

“I met her eyes across the transporter room, and it felt like recognition. Like I knew her,” Jon said. “And I had never met her before. I’m going to assume that we recognized something in each other and that resonated.”

That was different than what he’d felt with Chris. He needed to ask the princess consort and Doctor Corvin what they felt when they met their partners. “I suspect that is what happened with your brother and me.”

“How did you meet him?” Jon asked.

Len smiled at him. “We met the night before his accident and established the bond without realizing it.”

Jon nodded, and it was clear that he understood what Len had told him. “I can feel the bond on you and him.” He laughed. “I love my brother, but I doubt he’s easy to be in a relationship with. He’s way too used to being in charge.”

“You’ve got that right,” Len said, shaking his head. “And worse, despite my years in Starfleet, I’m not used to taking orders from anyone. It’s already something of a challenge.”

“I’m sure it is,” Jon said. “I’ve read just about everything I could find in any Federation databases on empathic bonds and what comes with them, and unfortunately, there isn’t much out there. I feel like there should be more information.”

“I agree with that. But I’ve looked into it as well and haven’t found much either,” Len said. “I’ve talked to some of the people on Xahea about it, too.” Len went on to explain what he’d found.

Jon looked thoughtful. “Some of the human colony worlds have bonds? I wonder if Chris and I have some connection to that.”

“It would explain how he and I ended up with such a powerful bond.”

“I believe my bond with Una is also very strong,” Jon commented and then looked at Len. “I’ll speak to my mom about it. She’s likely the only one who would know anything about our first parents.”

Len nodded. “I think Chris said he would ask her about it, too. Any information on that would be very helpful.”

“I’ll let you know,” Jon said. “I also looked you up after my mom told me about you. I’m pretty impressed with your credentials.”

Len was never sure what to say in situations like this. “Thanks,” he said. “Is there something you want to ask me about that?”

“No. I’m just mentioning it.” Jon shook his head. “Are you coming back to San Francisco with Chris?”

“No. I hated living there,” Len shivered. “Too wet, too cold, and foggy. I think your brother and I are going to end up on Starbase 1. Well, if everything works out.”

“And Chris agreed to this?” Jon asked, sounding surprised.

“Well, since I wasn’t going to move to San Francisco, we had to find a compromise.” Len looked at him. “Why are you surprised?”

“I’ve never known him to change his plans for someone else. I assumed that he wanted to live in San Francisco since most of our family lives there.”

“He didn’t mention that part,” Len said. “But I’m still not going to live there.” Maybe he should talk to Chris about maybe living in Montana. It was cold, and a long commute, but at least they’d be within an hour’s shuttle ride of San Francisco, rather than three hours or more from Starbase 1.

“When would you like me to come to see you tomorrow?” Jon asked after Len hadn’t said anything for a minute or two. “I am staying on the Yorktown rather than this ship.”

“You could ask the CMO to do the scan. I could send over the specifications I want. Or you could come by anytime tomorrow,” Len said. “I know Chris is off for three days, but I still have to work, at least tomorrow.”

“I’ll come over. I want to catch up with Chris. And it’s hard to get a word in edgewise with this crowd,” Jon said, waving a hand around.

Len agreed with that.

*****

Chris looked up and saw that Len was still standing against the wall, and it looked like his eyes were closed, now. He wondered if he could fall asleep with the din in the room, given what Len said before, Chris thought he probably could.

“I think I should get Len back to the Enterprise,” Chris said to his mother. “I’m sure he’s completely exhausted after today.

She looked over at Len and nodded. “He looks like he’s about to fall asleep. Is he okay? I didn’t get a chance to talk to him after?”

“Yes, I think he’s fine with that,” Chris said, and he knew that was mostly true. It also led to something he’d been hoping to have a chance to bring up. “Len can roll with the punches as most of us who have been in deep space can.” He looked at her. “How are you doing with this?”

Amelia snorted. “You don’t think this is the first time I’ve been threatened, do you?”

His jaw dropped. “Honestly, I thought your job was pretty safe –”

Her look was incredulous. “I’ve been the head of the children’s trafficking division for more than twenty-five years. I’ve dealt with a lot worse than what happened today. And like Len, or you, I assume, I know how to respond and how to deal with a major threat. I’ve worked with the San Francisco Police Department for years, too. That’s how I met your father — ”

“I knew that part, but I had no idea you were in any danger –”

“Not always, not even a lot,” Amelia said. “I have been threatened quite a bit over the years, and a couple of times, someone faster than I am lands a punch or two.”

“Faster than you?” Chris had no idea that she knew how to fight at all. “You’re the matriarch of the Pike family. Why do you even know how to fight?”

Amelia laughed at his shock. “Because my job isn’t always safe. I won’t say I could take you down easily, but I am not the pushover most people looking at me would think.”

This was a side of her he’d never seen. But he also hadn’t been there for years to see it. “How well trained are you?”

“Pretty damned well,” she said decisively. “I can run very fast, and in street shoes, too. I have been studying mixed martial arts for many, many years. I also know how to fight dirty.”

“Why didn’t I know this?” he finally said.

“You never asked,” Amelia pointed out. “I’ve always thought you slotted me into a mom category and never reexamined that.”

That was true. Chris laughed. He could see she was thin, but had long, ropy muscles, and he’d never thought about it, but she carried herself like she was light on her feet. Like one of his security people. Like La’an. “I think you’re right. I never thought about it.”

“Maybe you should have,” Amelia said, and sounded amused. “Or talked to me about what is actually going on with you once in a while.”

“Yeah, that too,” Chris admitted. “What did you want to know?”

“How did you meet Len?” She paused and glanced at him. “You’ll have to work hard to shock me,” she said. And after everything else she’d said tonight, that resonated as true.

It still wasn’t her business, but if she wanted to know, well… “Fine,” Chris said. And told her about it. “And we bonded, then.”

She didn’t even look surprised. “I knew it had to be something like that, because you never mentioned him before last week. You usually at least mention someone important.”

He’d told her about Marie, and a few others, but only in passing. “He is important.”

“Since you’re marrying him after knowing him for less than two weeks, I got that part,” Amelia said tartly and laughed at him. “Have you or Len figured out what is going on with that?”

“Len seems to understand it better than I do,” Chris said. “Which reminds me, is there anyone from our family directly related to me who came from one of the older Earth colonies? Like Proxima or Alpha Three?”

Amelia nodded. “My mother, your grandmother’s family, came from Alpha Three. And I want to say that Willa, your biological mom, came from Proxima or one of the other Earth colonies. I don’t remember which one.”

“Wait, why didn’t I know about my mom?” Chris asked, glancing at Amelia. He should have known that about her. Someone should have told him.

“You were seven when she died. The reason that I knew she hadn’t been born on Earth was that was why your father divorced her. He was quite xenophobic.”

“You’ve never talked about him, either,” Chris pointed out. But right this second, he was focused on what she had told him and the implications of that.

“Are you going to tell me what this is about?” Amelia asked.

He told her as much as he understood. Finishing with, “And I think that is why our bond hit so hard and stuck with us, even though the Xahean bond fades if you don’t accept it.”

Amelia nodded, looking thoughtful, but she didn’t say anything else.

After another minute or two, Chris cleared his throat. “Circling back, you’re okay with today? Really?” Chris glanced over at Len. He needed to get him back to the Enterprise.

“Yes. I’m fine, really. Thank you for asking.” Amelia nodded at Len. “Go fetch your doctor. I’ll see you tomorrow, son.” She leaned up to kiss his cheek.

Chris moved over to the wall and leaned against it next to Len. “It’s time to go back to the Enterprise,” he said softly.

Len’s eyes blinked open. “Finally.”

“You can sleep anywhere, can’t you?” Chris said, taking hold of Len’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“I told you I could,” Len mumbled. “I can meet you at the transporter if you want to say goodbye to everyone.”

“I think I’m done too,” Chris said, taking his hand and leading him out of the room.

*****

The Next Morning

Day 10

Len rolled over and cuddled up to Chris’ bare back. He slid his hand over Chris’ side and encountered his pajama bottoms. Sadly, Chris rarely slept naked on the ship. He’d said something about being awakened one too many times and having to get dressed in too much of a hurry. Len was sure there had to be a funny story attached to the comment, but he hadn’t heard it yet.

There were so many things he didn’t know about, so many funny stories and unfunny stories that he hadn’t heard yet. Len wondered how he was going to learn all of it and when he would know Chris well. A year after they got married, maybe two years later?

He cuddled a little closer, and a calm certainty rolled over him. They’d work it out. There was no not working it out. They were already bound. With or without getting married, they were in this together. And while it could be frustrating at times, it could also be wonderful. At this point, he was ready to revel in it.

“You know, I can almost hear you thinking,” Chris said and turned over into his arms. He kissed Len softly, sleepily. “I don’t think it’s good thoughts, either.”

Len tightened his arms and rolled on top of him. “It’s not bad. And now that you’re awake, hopefully it’s going to get even better,” Len murmured, leaning down to kiss him. And then again. His hands trailing down Chris’ sides and over his back.

Chris’ hand slid down his back to curve around his bare ass, squeezing softly. “Nice,” Chris said.

“It would be nicer if you were naked too.”

“Apologies. But your hands are freer than mine, do something about that,” Chris ordered, both his hands on Len’s ass and one finger rubbing, just teasing.

Len shivered. This was one order he would willingly obey. He leaned up a bit and nudged Chris to lift his hips. He got the offending pants down and off Chris without completely dislodging his hands. Chris rolled him onto his back, kissing him again. He held the kiss for a long time, Chris’ tongue teasing him, and making promises that Len was sure he’d keep.

With great attention to the details, Chris slowly worked his way down Len’s body, licking, sucking, biting gently, and generally taking his time about getting to his destination.

“Move it along, Admiral,” Len complained.

“I’ve told you not to call me that in bed,” Chris said. “It might make me stop what I’m doing.”

“No, it won’t. You like it. I know you do.” Len knew Chris found it amusing, just as he did with most of the things he teased Chris about. When he didn’t like something, Len knew it immediately.

Chris didn’t say anything else, but he spread Len’s legs, and the finger that had been teasing him slid into him.

“Fuck,” Len said, pushing into it. He loved that feeling when Chris crooked his finger just right, which he did, and Len shuddered, his eyes closing.

Chris bent his head down to suck his cock, and wet heat surrounded him, and it was all Len could do to not lose control completely. He was that close. Chris had a way of pushing him to the edge in a very short time. And this time wasn’t going to be any different.

He pressed his head into the pillow and clenched his fingers into the sheets. There was no holding it back, and finally, the pleasure crested, and he came hard. “Fuck,” he drew the word out long and harsh.

A couple of minutes later, he opened his eyes, and Chris was looking down at him, satisfaction on his face. Len leaned up and kissed Chris, pushing him onto his back, and then crawled over him. “What can I do for you, my darlin’?”

“Whatever you want,” Chris said. “That enthusiastic response is always such a turn-on.”

Len would have liked to have drawn it out some more, but he suspected that Chris was too close for that. He leaned down and kissed Chris softly, wrapping a hand around his cock. Chris hips bucked up a little into his hand.

Len stroked him, probably not as hard or fast as Chris might have liked, but he went with it, and it took a lot less time than Len was hoping it would. Chris made an incoherent sound and shuddered under his hands as he came.

They kissed for a few more minutes, slow and easy. “I’ve got to work today.” Len sat up reluctantly.

“Didn’t Doctor Corvin tell you to take it easy today?”

“He might have, but I’m fine. All healed up so that I don’t even feel it.” Len rolled his shoulders, and it wasn’t even stiff. “I’ve got a lot to do.”

“I’m sure you do. Though I’m glad to have the three days off we have. Do you want to get married tomorrow?”

“I suppose we should. I don’t think we can wait much longer,” Len said. “Come by later, I might have more things to talk about with regard to the bonds.”

“Which reminds me, I talked to my mom about my family,” Chris said, telling him about the conversation he’d had with Amelia.

“You know, from what I’m finding, that makes a lot of sense. I think we might have bonded even if you hadn’t had the Xahean gift. And it might have faded over time if we hadn’t seen each other again.”

“And because we did, all of it together created a perfect storm,” Chris guessed. “And then, there was no getting out of it.”

Len looked at him, trying not to take it wrong. “Do you still want to get out of it?”

“No. I would have liked to have known what was happening going in, and I would have liked to have been able to take this slower.” Chris sighed. “I think that we would have ended up in the same place, but without having to get married eleven days after we met again.”

He had a point, Len conceded. “I would have liked more time, too. But these are our circumstances.”

“They are, and we’ll deal with it and each other,” Chris said. “So, who are you scanning today? And I forgot to mention that my parents were going to come by to be scanned.”

“I am surprised. Did they have some kind of bond?” Len asked. “I’ve wondered if there was something else in your family history that might explain this. And maybe I should talk to Emma, too.”

“You should ask Jon about it, too,” Chris suggested. “I think my parents had something. They met young, in their early twenties. Mom said that she was working for the child protective services of the Pike Foundation, running the anti-trafficking division. And she met Grant, who was just starting out as a police officer. Both of them were working on one of their earliest cases.”

“How did that work out?”

“As I understand it, they were inseparable from practically the moment they met and were married shortly thereafter. It was quite the scandal that the future matriarch of the Pike Family married a police officer from San Francisco. It didn’t matter that his family was all police officers going back generations or that no one in the Pike family — no matter who they were — ever married for any reason other than love.”

Len snorted. “I can’t believe it was a scandal. I thought we’d gotten rid of those ideas a long time ago.”

“I think Earth talks a better game about utopia than we actually are,” Chris said. “Think about it. We’re not supposed to have crime on Earth anymore. Which is bullshit. We have plenty of crime. We just don’t have the same kinds that the twenty-first century had.

“The food replicator has made sure that no one was stealing food because they had to or doing other things to make illegal money to feed their family. Everyone has a basic income to live on and housing that is affordable and available to everyone. Medical care isn’t an issue because everyone has access to the medical attention they need. And yet, there’s still child trafficking, and people kill each other for other reasons. And there are still greedy people out there who try to get more. The police are more than peacekeepers.”

“I suppose so,” Len said, and pushed himself up, standing and stretching his arms over his head. “But I need a shower.”

“Maybe, I’ll join you,” Chris said, looking at him like he was something delicious that he wanted to eat.

“I think you should stay in bed and let me get on with my day.” Len laughed at his disappointed look. “You’ve had some already.”

“I’m sure I can handle more of that,” Chris said, laughing, too. “So could you.”

Len knew that was true for both of them. “You know, two guys our age shouldn’t be able to do what we’ve been doing. I mean, as constantly as we have been.”

“You are not complaining about that, are you? I’m all in on that part,” Chris said and grinned at him. “That part has been great.”

“Oh, I am too.” Len leaned in and kissed him. And Len could feel desire rising in him again. But he had to pull back.

“Go have your shower,” Chris said.

Len leaned in and kissed him one last time. Someday soon, he wanted to lie in bed with Chris all day and not do anything other than eat, fuck, and sleep. Sadly, that day was not today.

*****

Chapter Thirteen

Later That Morning

After Len left, Chris called his mom to ask if there was anything he could do to help, but Amelia said that she, Eleanora, Emma, and the rest of her team, which now also included Billy-Ray, had it covered.

So, Chris had breakfast with Jon, then went back to his quarters to go through his comms. He had one from Derek Swender-Vance and another from La’an Noonien-Singh, so much for a relaxing day.

“Come,” Chris called to the chime. Derek’s request had sounded strangely formal. Not that Derek wasn’t pretty formal most of the time anyway, but this sounded even more so. Also, Derek didn’t usually ask to see him in the way he had.

“Good morning, sir,” Derek said, coming to stand in front of Chris’ desk with his hands behind his back.

“Good morning, Commander. Please sit,” Chris said. “I’m not on duty right now. So, let’s not stand on ceremony.” Not that it usually worked with Derek.

Derek sat and let out a sigh. “If you’re not on duty, why did you agree to see me today?”

“Because you asked,” Chris said. “And I sensed that it was something important. But before that, why don’t you update me on where we are with the Orions?”

“The Xahean Space Navy took charge of their ship, and the captain and crew have been incarcerated and are waiting for an arraignment on various charges,” Derek began. “The strike team that actually carried out the attack is being held in a separate and much more secure location. They will be charged with what the crew will be charged with, as well as carrying out a terrorist attack on Xahea’s sovereign planet. Also, with kidnapping and other charges related to the children.”

“Xahea takes crimes against children very seriously,” Chris said. “The ship’s crew will likely be turned back over to the Orions, but the strike team will go to prison on Xahea.”

“I hear they make their prisoners mine dilithium by hand.” Derek didn’t sound quite casual about it.

“Not only that, but the prisoners are not mistreated. The Xaheans want to make sure that the prisoners live a long time, so they have time to contemplate the errors of their actions.” Chris looked at Derek. “So, what can I help you with?”

“I am not sure what to do with this…” Derek trailed off and seemed to be gathering his thoughts. “And I don’t think there’s any precedence for it either.”

“Do about what exactly?” Chris asked. Because a flustered Derek was never going to be a good thing.

For a count, Derek didn’t say anything. “I have a problem. Actually, it’s both my wife and I who have the problem.”

Chris raised an eyebrow at him. “Why don’t you just spell it out for me?”

“I believe that my wife and I are no longer going to be able to be apart.” Derek didn’t look at him at all when he said it. “After yesterday, it’s worse than it was.”

That was not in the realm of things he expected Derek to say. “Explain that further, please.”

“We have been bonded for four years –”

“Bonded, not married,” Chris asked.

“Bonded. On Vulcan with full bonding rites. We’ve known each other for years before that. As I mentioned, being apart has been…challenging. But since we’ve been on the planet, we –” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t even know how to describe it.”

“After being on the planet, you now feel you won’t be able to be parted from your wife? Why do you think that?” Chris asked carefully.

“We both think it. We thought it before yesterday, but since then, I know it with a kind of desperate certainty. We have spent every night together since we came on board the Enterprise.”

“Who is your wife? I saw you talking to a Vulcan woman at the reception the first night we were onboard. She is the pediatrician on the Enterprise, and she treated Dr. McCoy yesterday afternoon before he was transferred to the hospital. I was too focused on him to notice anyone else.” Jim had mentioned her name, and so had Len, but Chris didn’t remember it. Which was odd for him, because usually he was very good at remembering people’s names and titles.

“Yes, she treated Dr. McCoy right after the incident,” Derek said. “We had been looking forward to seeing each other, but once we got to Xahea, we have been unable to be apart for anything more than about twelve hours before it starts to get uncomfortable.” Derek met his eyes. “I don’t understand what is happening with us.”

“First off, this is probably something that happens to beings who have been on Xahea,” Chris said. “Second, you and your wife should talk to Doctor McCoy. He is looking into what is happening with that. But I also think that if he verifies that you both can’t be apart, you’ll have to transfer to the Enterprise.”

“What about my assignment with you? I don’t want to leave you without security. Especially when there could be a threat.”

“The threat, whatever it was supposed to be, has never materialized. So, I’m good with you transferring. I can find another security chief. You aren’t going to have a choice about being together.”

“She could leave –”

“No. I am not going to leave the Enterprise without a doctor at all. I’ll speak to Captain Kirk about finding you a place. At least in the short-term, your wife — what is her name? — needs to stay on board.”

“Candice. T’Kand, legally, but no one calls her that. She was raised on Earth,” Derek said. “Which is where I met her.”

“I think you need to go see Doctor McCoy,” Chris said, pulling out his communicator. “Pike to Doctor McCoy.”

“McCoy here. What can I do for you, Admiral?” Sometimes when Len called him Admiral, pronouncing all the syllables slowly, Chris’ heart skipped a beat, and he had to hide his smile.

Chris cleared his throat. “I’m sending Derek Swender-Vance to see you. He’s my chief of security,” Chris said.

“I’ve already talked to Candice this morning. So, yes, please send him. Will he agree to be scanned?” Len asked.

Chris looked at Derek, and he nodded. “Yes. He’s on his way to you now. Pike out,” Chris said, and Derek stood.

“Thank you, sir,” Derek said, relief in his tone.

“We’ll take care of this,” Chris promised.

*****

“Captain Kirk to Admiral Pike,” Jim’s voice came over his intercom almost immediately after Derek left his quarters.

“Pike here,” Chris said.

“I hear we have a problem,” Jim said, and there was a sigh in his voice.

How had he heard that fast, Chris wondered. “Yeah. You could say that. I hope you have a place for my chief of security.”

“I do, but he turned it down nineteen months ago,” Jim said.

Fuck. Chris knew that, but hadn’t thought about the implications. “So, you can’t re-offer it?”

“I didn’t think I could do that,” Jim said with a shrug, but at least he didn’t sound like he didn’t want to. “Once rejected–”

“Maybe we can make an exception,” Chris said. “If you’re willing, I’ll speak to Admiral April about it since he was the one who put Derek in as my chief of security.”

“Given there was a very valid reason that he rejected the position, I would be fine with him taking it now. Especially since I don’t currently have a chief of security. Truthfully, even if I wasn’t happy with him, I cannot lose a second doctor, especially one as talented or as well-liked as Doctor Vance.”

“Fair enough. I’ll work on pushing it through,” Chris said.

“Thank you, Admiral.”

******

Sickbay

Midmorning

Len was going over some of the information he’d received over the last few days from scanning various crew members. His door chimed, and he looked up as Spock stood in the doorway of his office. “What can I do for you, Mr. Spock?”

“I would like to speak to you, if you have time,” Spock said, sounding something, and Len wasn’t quite sure what.

They hadn’t really spoken since they had argued the day after Chris had come on board. Of course, Len had been so busy since then that maybe this might have been the first chance that Spock had to see him.

“Why not sit down?” Len suggested, waving a hand towards the seats in front of his desk. And Spock came all the way into his office but didn’t sit down. The damned door closed completely.

Spock had his hands behind his back.

“What can I do for you?” Len asked again after waiting for him to say something.

“Are you well after yesterday’s incident?” Spock finally said. “I was very concerned, especially after you were shot.”

“I am fine, thanks,” Len said, not really sure where this was going. “Candice did a good job with the initial treatment of the wound, and Doctor Corvin fixed the damage to my shoulder.”

Spock nodded. “I am relieved to hear that.”

“Are you going to sit down and tell me what the problem is?” Len asked. Usually, he had a lot more patience when someone wanted to talk to him, but he couldn’t get a read on what Spock was feeling. He had a lot of work to do today.

“I am uncertain how to approach you on this –”

“By now, I think you should know me well enough to tell me straight out whatever you need or want to know. I’m good with anything, well, except another argument about Admiral Pike. He’s pretty much off limits.”

“I understand that,” Spock said, not looking at him. “I also understand better what is between the two of you now.”

Maybe Len was still tired from yesterday, but he wasn’t tracking what Spock was trying to say.

It must have shown in his expression because Spock actually sighed and finally sat down. “I wish to apologize for my behavior after the Admiral first came on board. I had no idea what you both might be experiencing –”

“There’s that,” Len muttered. Truthfully, he hadn’t held it against Spock, especially given what he knew about Spock’s relationship with Chris. “I knew that you didn’t understand what was happening between the Admiral and me. I was trying not to engage with you over it.”

“I did not realize that at the time. I was,” Spock paused and looked down. “I was deeply concerned about Admiral Pike. And while I did not think you would hurt him. I also did not know that for certain. And I was –”

“Worried? Protective?” Len could see how uncomfortable Spock was. And Len wasn’t sure what to do or say to alleviate that. “I think you understand now what was going on between us.”

“I can feel the bond between you both. I can also feel the joy it brings you and him. I am very pleased for both of you.”

Len closed his eyes for a moment, and he could feel the bond on Spock. He’d felt it with Jim immediately. “You’re letting me feel your bond with Jim, aren’t you?”

“I am. I did not understand it before. I could not ascertain how or why you might be so connected after so short a time together. It was not logical to me, and I could only assume it was not consensual despite what you both had said.”

“Well, you know, on a certain level, neither of us gave consent to have that happen to us,” Len said. And certainly not eighteen months ago, when he and Chris had met and bonded. “But I’m grateful to have him in my life. There will never be anyone else. For either of us.”

“Nor for myself and Jim,” Spock said quietly.

“I think that might have been something that would have happened at some point in the future anyway, but coming here brought you both together much sooner,” Len said. “There has always been something between the two of you.”

“I believe you are correct, and that it would have taken much longer for us to find it,” Spock agreed. “You do not believe that you would have met the Admiral?”

“I don’t know. If you had not arranged for me to be there to help Chris after the accident, I am not sure we would have met,” Len said. Because in all likelihood, Chris would have died in that accident, and that was a horrifying thought. One that Len could not even think about right now.

“I am glad I was able to bring you together,” Spock said, standing. “I will miss having you on the ship.”

“I’m going to miss you, too, Spock. Take care of Jim for me?”

“Of course,” Spock said, nodding. He left, and the damned door only slid halfway closed. Len just sighed.

*****

Xahea Palace Gardens

Early Afternoon

Chris beamed down to the palace and made his way into the gardens. He found La’an sitting on a bench, waiting for him.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me off the ship, sir,” La’an said, standing. She’d said she’d gotten Erica’s permission to use the gardens for this meeting. “How is Dr. McCoy?”

“He’s fine. Back to work this morning as if nothing happened,” Chris said with a sigh. “My mom, too. She and my sister came back to the hospital to keep things going. Those kids are the ones we need to worry about.”

La’an nodded and looked out at the gardens.

“What can I do for you, La’an? I’m intrigued that you’d ask to speak to me like this,” Chris said, holding out a hand for them to walk. “I’m assuming it’s off the record.”

She pursed her lips. “Yes, sir. Permission to speak freely. I’m going to ask for a favor,” La’an said.

“Granted. What do you need?” Chris asked as they slowly walked along the paths of the gardens lined with beautiful, blooming flowers.

“I need to transfer off the Yorktown without destroying my career in the process,” La’an said with a deep sigh.

He would have asked why, but he could make a guess. “You feel that strongly about her?”

La’an bit her lip and nodded. “I already find the situation…challenging. I don’t believe it will get any better. It’s very clear what is between them. And with the rumors about what is going on with the planet, that is going to make it even more so with them.”

Chris started to say something, but she shook her head. “I don’t resent them. I’m actually pleased that she’s found the right person for her. But I’m not sure I can watch it happen with them. Especially since he seems to be such a nice man.”

“Why would that make it worse?” Chris asked, carefully. He agreed his brother was a great person and would likely be a perfect partner for Una.

“Because I can’t even hate him,” La’an said, frowning. “He’s probably everything she would ever want in a partner. Truthfully, I think he’ll be a better partner than I would.”

“What kind of position do you want?” Chris asked, changing the subject because he wasn’t going to comment on that. “Another first officer position isn’t going to be that easy to find, at least not immediately. But a position on a ship as a security officer would be easier to find. Though maybe not on a Constitution-class starship at first. There are other positions, too.”

“I heard that the Chief of Security on the Enterprise was open. But that wouldn’t be ideal for me either,” she said.

“No. That wouldn’t be ideal for some of the same reasons. Although I don’t think you feel the same way about that captain,” Chris said and cleared his throat. “Or Spock.” It was common knowledge that La’an had an on-again, off-again relationship with Jim Kirk that neither of them could commit to. And she’d had a brief something with Spock before she’d actually dated Jim. Chris looked at her for confirmation that she knew what he was talking about.

“I’ve heard about his bonding to Spock. That actually makes it easier. But you know, there is a history between all of us,” La’an said. “I’m perfectly fine with their bond to each other. But there might be some residual awkwardness there.”

Chris nodded. Yeah, that kind of thing could be a problem. “I can’t go into the details, but I am sure that the security position is going to be assigned shortly,” Chris said. Probably as soon as he talked to Admiral April about it. “Have you spoken to Una about this?”

“Yes. I told her I was going to look for something off the ship. I didn’t mention why, but I’m sure she knows. She seemed to understand and said she would write me a recommendation. Which I will need. I guess I’ll have to wait.”

“The chief of security position on my staff is going to be open shortly,” Chris said. “I don’t know if you would be interested in that.” Chris thought of something else. “I could change it to be Chief of Staff, which would be equivalent to a first officer position. There would be fewer personnel to supervise, but it would be for an admiral.”

“What would it include?” La’an asked and then shook her head. “You know what, never mind that. I’d be happy to take that. I’d put in for the security officer position on your staff when it first came up, but Admiral April chose Derek Swender-Vance. Despite how good he was, I was kind of annoyed about that.”

Now it was Chris’ turn to be surprised. “Just like that?”

“Sure. You are easy to work for. There will be plenty for me to do,” La’an said. “You need someone for security, and I can roll that in with the rest of my duties. Maybe pick up a junior-level security officer.”

That would work better. He’d be grateful to have her on his staff. “I would be delighted to have you. You do know it’s going to be mostly on Starbase 1.”

“But that’s pretty close to Earth, so that I can get there in a few hours. I’ve only been to Earth a couple of times, for very brief visits. Earth is big enough that I could spend a long time exploring the different cities,” La’an said, sounding like she was excited about doing that.

Which would make Chris happy, too. “I’ll talk to Una about setting up a direct transfer. Won’t you miss exploring space?”

“You’re going to be going out to do the diplomatic contacts and treaties. That will get me off the starbase a couple of times a year. I want to see new things, but I’m almost forty already. I’ve been doing this for twenty years. I’d like to,” La’an paused and then shrugged. “I’d like to stop moving all the time. Maybe meet someone compatible with me.”

“You should talk to Doctor McCoy about –”

“I was going to do that. I hear he’s been scanning people for some kind of marker that being on the planet makes you develop,” she said. “I’ve been on the planet at least three separate times.”

Chris nodded. “You should go talk to him.”

She smiled. “Now that you’ve got me sorted. Can I ask how you’re doing?”

“Very well, as you can see. So much better than I ever thought possible after it happened.” But he rather thought she meant Len. “And I am quite pleased to have Doctor McCoy in my life.” Which, despite everything against it, was the truth.

“The whole situation can’t be easy,” she said. “But I can almost feel your happiness. I’m glad this has worked out for you.”

He couldn’t hold back a grin. “He and I are getting married tomorrow.”

“They are going to live-view it to everyone. I’m on duty tomorrow, so I’ll have it on the main screen for anyone who wants to watch it.”

“Are you off for the reception?” Chris asked.

She shook her head. “We’re running a skeleton crew so that most people can go to the reception. I volunteered to stay on board with a few other people.”

“I’ll make sure someone brings you back a piece of the cake,” Chris said.

“Thanks,” she said. “I know there are a lot of people who are looking forward to a party.” She smiled at him. “And thank you for doing this for me, sir.”

“Not a problem,” Chris said. “We’ll probably make the switch when the Yorktown leaves to deliver some of the children back to Earth. So, about five to seven days.”

La’an nodded. “I’ll be ready, sir.”

*****

“Admiral Pike,” Uhura said. “Sorry to bother you, but you’ve got an incoming call from Admiral April.”

“Thanks, Nyota. I guess telling him I’m off duty wouldn’t do much good.” That was a joke, of course, since Chris had gotten in touch with him first.

Uhura laughed. “No, sir. I don’t think it works that way.”

“Send him through,” Chris said. “Privacy protocols in place.”

Bob’s image formed on the screen. “Chris, what’s going on? And aren’t you off today?”

“As you know, the work is never done. I’ve got some personnel issues to deal with.” Chris told him about Derek.

“What do you want to do about that?” Bob asked.

“The Enterprise has a chief of security position open.”

“Except that Commander Swender-Vance turned down that position.”

“I say we make an exception. This wasn’t supposed to hurt his career. And without going into privileged details, he needs to be on the Enterprise now. His wife is there. And Captain Kirk needs her to stay on board the ship. He’s already going to be down a doctor when he gets to Earth.”

Though Chris knew that Joseph M’Benga wanted to come back to the Enterprise. It would take a couple of months to process it. So, hopefully, by the time they got back to Earth, Joseph would be ready to come on board. But that wasn’t a certainty.

Bob grimaced. “I’m going to defer to you on this. I’m assuming this is related to what is going on with the bonding of people on the planet.”

“It’s directly related. And the commander’s wife is half-Vulcan. Which adds another layer of complexity to the whole thing.” Chris sighed. “I’m going to tell Captain Kirk to start processing the transfer. I’ll sign off on it.”

“I’d like a full report on what is going on with the planet as soon as possible,” Bob said.

“Can you give me a few days? I am getting married tomorrow.”

Bob chuckled at that. “I did know that. But I do want to know what’s going on when Doctor McCoy figures it out.”

“Of course, sir,” Chris said. “Also –”

“There’s more?” Bob glanced at him and sighed.

“Yeah. This is just an FYI. I’m going to start the paperwork to detail La’an Noonien-Singh to my staff for one hundred twenty days, or until I can make it permanent. She’s agreed to become my chief of staff.”

“Why would she want a lateral move like that? How does this relate to the commander’s problem?” Bob looked a little perplexed.

But Chris wasn’t going to break La’an’s confidence by saying anything that could potentially embarrass her or hurt her career. “I want someone I know and trust as head of my staff, and she can coordinate the security team as well.”

“Well, obviously, it’s your decision and hers.” Bob still sounded pretty curious.

Chris knew Bob wasn’t going to ask about it, either.

*****

Later in the day, he found Len in Sickbay. As he approached the door, it opened about halfway. He stuck his head inside. Len was at his desk, and Jim was sitting on the other side, with his feet up on the desk.

“Am I interrupting anything important?” Chris said, stepping around the door. Which did open completely when he moved through it. But then, it didn’t close again at all.

Both of them jumped to their feet. “Admiral,” Jim said. “I was just informing Bones here that I was going to marry both of you tomorrow evening, about 1800 hours.”

“At ease, I’m off duty today. And unless I miss my guess, both of you should be off as well,” Chris said. He waved Jim back to his seat. “I was coming to tell him that, myself. That and there will be a reception at the palace, hosted by Po and Erica, immediately after.”

“Well, that’s a surprise. Did your mom arrange that with them?” Len asked.

“Our moms, apparently.” Chris laughed. “Along with both families, the crews of both the Enterprise and Yorktown are invited.”

“They are going to live-view the wedding to anyone who wants to watch it. And send it back to Earth as well,” Jim said.

“So, how many people are we going to be able to fit on the bridge?” Because Chris knew that it was going to be more than regulations would allow.

“We’ll squeeze as many as we need to,” Jim said. “How many?”

Len glanced at him and then back at Jim. “Maybe fourteen? And we’ll need the command crew as well.”

“I think we can have the alpha shift command crew on the bridge. Who is going to stand with you, Bones?” Jim asked. “Or you, Chris?”

“Well, since you’re going to marry us, I’ll ask Joanna,” Len said. “Who are you going to ask?”

“I haven’t thought about it. Phil is going to be pretty pissed at me for getting married without him, but there is no way he can make it out here by tomorrow. Neither can Bob April,” Chris sighed. “So, probably Una.”

“You don’t sound very sure of that?” Len said, looking a little surprised.

“I want to ask Spock as well. I am kind of torn on it.” In the absence of Phil or Bob, he couldn’t decide between the two of them.

“Why not ask them both? I’ll ask Billy-Ray to stand with me as well. If Joanna wasn’t here, he’d be my first choice anyway. And they are all going to be on the bridge anyway.”

“Perfect.” Chris leaned over Len’s desk to kiss him. “Are there any other details that we should know about?”

“Just be on the bridge tomorrow at 1800 hours. Oh, and don’t forget to wear your dress uniform,” Jim said, smiling. He stepped towards the door. “I’ll leave you two to talk. Which I am assuming is what you came in here for in the first place.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Jim,” Len said. “Thanks.”

“Good night, Jim,” Chris said.

Jim left, and the door finally closed all the way. Len stepped around his desk and wrapped his arms around Chris and kissed him.

“How was your day, darlin’?” Len asked as he pulled back, but not out of the embrace.

“It was busy. I dealt with Commander Swender’s issue. After lunch, I hired a new Chief of Staff.”

“Who?”

“La’an Noonien-Singh. She was Chief of Security on the Enterprise when I was Captain,” Chris said.

Len tipped his head. “Isn’t she the first officer on the Yorktown?”

“She is. But she wants to leave the ship, and I have a place for her,” Chris said. “How was your day?”

“Busy,” Len said. “I had a chat with Spock –”

“Did that go all right?” Chris knew there was some tension between them, and he didn’t really know if it was something that was ongoing or if it was just because of his sudden relationship with Len.

“It went fine,” Len said. “We are not as adversarial as it sometimes looks like we are.”

“How is that, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“You can ask me anything you want,” Len said, kissing him again. “I might not always answer, but you should always go ahead and ask.”

“Okay, then?” Chris prompted.

“So, he was worried about you. And now that the shoe is on his foot, as it were, he understands what’s between us.” Len sighed. “I think sometimes we all forget that Spock is still very young for a Vulcan.”

“He’s only half Vulcan,” Chris pointed out.

“I know, but he is physiologically much more Vulcan than human.” Len wasn’t going to go into it with Chris beyond what he’d said. He knew that despite that extraordinary intellect and sheer physical strength, Spock had still been an adolescent when he’d graduated from the Academy.

“I’m glad you got it worked out with Spock,” Chris said. “What else did you do today?”

Len was glad of the change of subject. “I scanned a bunch more people. Some of the Enterprise’s personnel who had heard about what was going on. La’an came over to be scanned as well. So did some of your family.”

“And?” Chris prompted when he didn’t say anything else.

“To the person, they all had the marker. So, basically anyone who went down to the planet has developed it. In non-humans, it shows up in various ways. And I think the effect is slightly different. I want to track some of the non-humans to see how it works out with them.”

“Have you been able to get permission?”

“Surprisingly, they were all interested. I think most are hopeful about the potential for meeting a compatible partner,” Len said. “On another subject, I’ve been meaning to ask you about something Joanna mentioned. Have you heard of an aptitude test that tests for things like eidetic memory, empathy, telepathy, or other traits that would be deemed useful?”

“Um…yes,” Chris hesitated. “How did they know to test her?”

“She told them,” Len said. “Her empathy developed after she started puberty. And after she was a teenager, I saw her maybe once every year or two. I mean, I talked to her every few weeks, sometimes more, sometimes less.”

“And if you can say, what were the results?”

“Nearly perfect for memory. Much more so than me,” Len said.

“You’re upset? That she didn’t tell you sooner?”

“Yes. But I wasn’t there, and she was never going to tell Jocelyn.”

“I’m surprised,” Chris said. “But I don’t know Joanna very well.”

“She’ll probably come talk to you tomorrow. She has some questions about Starfleet. She’s already decided to go, so I think this might just be some reassurance.”

He wondered why she didn’t want to ask Len. “Whatever she needs. Are you good with that?”

“You’re going to be her co-dad, according to her,” Len’s voice held a trace of amusement.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know her,” Chris said. And that went for Len, too. “Have you come to any conclusions yet about the bond and how it manifests?”

“No. Nothing more than what we’ve already discussed. I don’t have enough data yet to really make any assumptions. I haven’t had time to do more than form the most basic hypothesis.” Len sighed. “Speaking of time, I still haven’t had any time to talk to Emma about her work, either.”

Chris smiled. “Emma always wanted to be a doctor. Did you?”

“Yes. At least partly because Daddy was a doctor.”

“What was he like? You haven’t talked much about him or growing up?”

“He considered himself an ‘old country doctor’. And he had his own practice. We lived in rural Georgia outside of Atlanta. But it wasn’t that rural, though it did have a touch of that slow southern pace. Momma commuted to Atlanta to work at the hospital. We lived on the family farm, though none of us had been farmers for generations. The farm itself was run by the McCoy corporation.” Len kissed him, then kissed him again. “What about you?”

“I was born in Mojave, but as I told you earlier, my mother was killed in a shuttle accident when I was seven –”

“Your father?”

“My parents were divorced. He disappeared when I was five. I don’t remember him very well. And pretty much no one talks about him. Mom mentioned to me yesterday that he was xenophobic, which is something of a surprise coming from my family,” Chris said. The lack of knowledge about his father had always bothered Chris, but there was no public information, and his parents were not forthcoming with any information about Charles Pike. Though maybe he should have asked again after he was an adult.

“Knowing your mother as I do, I agree about it being a surprise. But there can be all kinds of personalities that can come out of a single family,” Len said. “Did you always know you wanted to go into space?”

“Yes. And my family encouraged me. And they were always there when I got back.” Chris appreciated having that.

“I never wanted to go into space. But ended up there anyway. After the divorce, I just needed something else, something different.” Len paused and cleared his throat. “Also, I had to get away from Jocelyn and her daddy, Richard.”

“Did Joanna’s presence here remind you of something?”

Len shook his head and looked down. “She flat-out told me. I think I didn’t ever want to acknowledge how bad they’d made it for me.”

“You said they’d taken everything in all of your bank accounts.” This was probably something Chris needed to know and maybe something Len needed to talk about.

“It was worse than that,” Len said. “Richard tried to get me fired from my job at Atlanta General. And I didn’t deal well with any of it. I was drinkin’ myself sick most nights. I just couldn’t understand how they could do that to me.”

Chris put his hand on Len’s. “What happened?”

“My daddy died, and I fell apart completely. But God love him, Billy-Ray got Phil Boyce to come out to Atlanta and recruit me, and I was so desperate that I just signed my name and left. I stayed with Phil and Adreana until I started at the Academy a few weeks later.”

“How was Joanna involved? She couldn’t have been more than three or four,” Chris asked.

“That perfect eidetic memory. She heard Jocelyn and her daddy talking. And Richard promised Jocelyn that he’d make sure I’d have to come back to her.” Len looked appalled by that.

“But how did she understand it?” Chris asked because a child that young could not understand an adult conversation of that nature.

“She didn’t then. A couple of years ago, she read an article about memory, and it asked what was her earliest memory. She could go back further than that incident, but that came back to her, and she wrote out the conversation, like she’d just heard it. And of course, at sixteen, she understood what they had said and were trying to do.”

That could not have been easy to discover, especially as a teenager. “Dear God, how did she take it? Is she okay?”

“She has always been very independent. I know she talked to Billy-Ray about it, and he’ll never discuss that with me.” Len shrugged. “She says she’s fine with knowing about it. But she needed to learn to cope with all the memories on her own. And that she knew her momma loved her, but she couldn’t talk to her about any of this.”

“Same way she knew about me?”

“As far as I can see, she is closer to a telepath than an empath. But I’ve got no say in what she does with it. She thinks Starfleet will help her.”

“Are you okay with that?” Chris asked.

“Yes,” Len said. “I agree that being in Starfleet will help her. I hope so.” Len glanced back at him. “Are we going back to your mom’s ship tonight?”

“I think you and I should just eat in the galley tonight and then make it an early night.” Chris put a hand on his cheek and kissed him. “I think we both need a good night’s sleep.”

“I would appreciate that,” Len agreed. “I love our families, but I definitely need a good night’s sleep.”

“I think they all understand that. Jon told me he and Una are going to stay on the Yorktown tonight for dinner too,” Chris said. “Emma has been working with my mom. So, she’s got to be exhausted.”

“Dealing with traumatized patients is hard, and it’s so much worse when it’s children. I also asked your mom if she needed any more help since I have two days off. But she said that with the doctors on Xahea and the ones Starfleet and the federation had provided, they had enough pediatricians to get through all the exams in a few more days.”

“Thanks for volunteering.” It didn’t surprise Chris at all that he’d asked to help.

Len shrugged. “All the doctors on both ships offered to help where needed. The rest of my team and I have been picking up the slack for the last few days. It’s why I’ve been working so steadily. Everyone here wants to help out.”

Chris nodded. “But I think you need some rest, don’t you?”

“And some relaxation,” Len said, with a slightly salacious smile.

That had Chris’ heart beating a little faster. “Maybe a meal before that?”

“I could be convinced of that.” Len leaned in and kissed him again, then stepped back and took his hand. “Shall we?”

They walked to the galley. Dinner was quick, and they were both tired. They held hands like schoolboys on their way back to Chris’ quarters. “A drink?”

Len shook his head and smiled. “I think that relaxation needs to come right now, Admiral.” Len leaned forward to kiss him, tightening his arms around Chris.

“What would you like?” Chris asked as the first kiss ended.

“What do you want to give me?”

“Just about anything you could name?”

“I think what I’d like is,” Len paused for a second, and then met Chris’ eyes. “I think you could be all admirally, and strip me bare. Then, use your mouth and hands to tease me for a while, and then use your fingers to get me ready really slowly, even when I whine about it, and you know I will. And then fuck me as hard as you please. Does that sound good to you?”

“Is admirally even a word?” Chris asked, trying not to laugh. Because really, that was exactly what he wanted to do right now. “So, yes, that sounds delightful.”

“It is a word, if I say it is.” Len laughed and held his arms out. “Go to it.”

“I think we should move this into the bedroom before we start,” Chris suggested, taking Len’s hand again.

“As you please, Admiral.”

Chris was starting to actually like the way Len said Admiral in these situations. Len had been right when he’d said it would start to take the sting out of it when he had to say it in public.

*****

Chapter Fourteen

Day 11

The following morning, Len went over to the Pike Foundation ship to talk to Billy-Ray and Joanna about standing with him that night. And Chris went to look for Spock. “Pike to Spock,” he said into his comm.

“Spock here. How can I help you, sir?”

“Do you have a few minutes to talk right now?” Chris asked.

“Of course, sir. I am in the captain’s quarters. Do you want to meet me here or should I come to your quarters?”

“I’ll come by now,” Chris said. “Pike out.”

The door to Jim’s quarters opened as soon as he buzzed the door, and he walked in. Chris hadn’t been in the captain’s quarters since he’d left the ship over three years ago. The rooms seemed more austere than his quarters had been, and of course, the kitchen was gone. But it had taken him a few years to really get his quarters the way he’d wanted them to be. And he expected that Jim, with his exuberant personality, would find his own way.

“Good morning, Admiral. What can I do for you?” Spock asked as he met Chris in the living room. “Jim has left for the bridge, but he said that I should just meet you here instead of my quarters.”

“That was nice of him. I just came by to ask you to stand with me this evening. I’m going to ask Una as well.”

“I would be honored to do so.” Spock seemed very pleased without really looking that way. “Though I hadn’t realized it was a human tradition to have two people.”

Chris laughed. “It’s not. But I wanted both of you to stand with me. And since Len didn’t mind asking a second person, we’re both going to do it.”

“Jim said he was pleased to marry you both.”

“Len wanted that, and I like Jim, too. I can see you’re happy with him.” He was so damned pleased for Spock and Jim as well.

“I am. I am hopeful for the future for him and me. I believe we are well-suited.” Spock didn’t quite smile, but he let his pleasure become evident.

“I think so too,” Chris said. “It’s pretty clear to me that he cares deeply for you. And I believe you care for him as well.”

“He is not what my father would have chosen for me, but I believe my mother will be pleased with my choice.” Spock looked down.

“Well, your father may not be pleased. But I am delighted. And I hope you and Jim find all the happiness and love in the world. I know what this will mean to you. Both of you.”

While Chris didn’t know the details of what exactly the future-him had meant when he said Spock would come into his own sooner and do more good with it, Chris suspected this was what he was talking about. If Spock had not come to Xahea again, then it would probably have taken many more years for Jim and Spock to have come together as they had. And Spock could only have come to Xahea again, if Chris had been healed enough to be the chief negotiator for the treaty, which only happened because of Spock’s intervention.

Spock nodded again with something that looked like it might be a smile lurking on his face. “Our bonding will be on Vulcan, sometime in the next year, and will be a private affair with only family in attendance. Once the actual date is known, I will let you know in enough time to be there.”

Well, he hadn’t expected to be invited to the actual bonding on Vulcan, just the standard marriage ceremony that Jim would have to have. “Thank you. I’m honored to be invited.”

“I would not want to be bonded without you there,” Spock said gravely.

And Chris appreciated and returned the sentiment. “Thank you.” Chris smiled at him and stood. “I need to head over to the Yorktown and talk to Una. So, I’ll see you at 1800 hours on the bridge.”

“I will be there,” Spock promised.

*****

VIP Quarters

Early Afternoon Before The Wedding

 

“Come,” Chris called when the door to his quarters chimed.

“Hi…” Joanna cleared her throat. “I’m not exactly sure what I should call you.” She gave him a small, kind of awkward smile.

“What about Chris for the time being, at least? Truth is, I’ll answer to most things.”

“Are you busy?” she asked, stopping on the threshold of the room.

“I’m not busy at all. I still have a few more days off. Though the wedding is tonight.”

“Daddy told me that when he asked me to stand with him this morning.” Joanna stepped farther into the room. “I’m glad I brought a nice dress with me.” She laughed. “And I wonder how we’re all going to fit on the bridge.”

“Captain Kirk says we’ll manage it, so I guess we will,” Chris said, though really, it was going to be a very tight fit for half an hour.

“I was going to ask you about Starfleet.” Joanna stood in front of his desk, and he waved her to a seat.

After another second or two, she said, “I want to know if I can trust all of them. I mean, with training me. I felt like I could when I was speaking to them, but I think you’d tell me the truth.”

“I think it depends on the being. Some of those in charge are more interested in the big picture than the individuals who make up Starfleet or the Academy. And some do the right thing for the right reason –”

“Like you?”

Chris smiled and inclined his head. “I try to, but I’m not perfect, and neither is anyone else who makes decisions in Starfleet.”

“It just scares me a little that I have to trust someone I don’t know with my empathy. I don’t have a problem with the eidetic memory because I’ve always had that.” Joanna let out a sigh. “But the empathy is different. I’ve always known when people didn’t feel right to me. But the knowledge of why they don’t, and what they actually think, that’s new. It just happened in the last few years. As I get older, it seems to get stronger. And what happened with you was even more different.”

“How was it different?” Chris asked carefully. He was surprised she’d come to him with this. But maybe after what happened when they met, she felt she could trust him.

“I didn’t mean to do it at all. But,” she paused. “You let me. I could feel you doing that. Why?”

Chris was surprised she felt that so explicitly. “I felt you reach out, and I knew it was out of a deep concern for your father. I didn’t think it would do either of us any harm to allow you to know how I felt about him.”

“Could you have blocked me?” Joanna asked, sounding a little anxious.

“I could have. I’ve had some training to block out an unwanted invasion of my mind.” Chris could block people even better in the last week since he’d renewed his bond with Len. “But that’s not why you’re here.”

“I wanted to apologize for that,” she said. “I was worried about Daddy, but I wouldn’t have wanted to do that on purpose.”

“Starfleet will give you training on that. And it will help you get control of it,” Chris said. “They taught me, but I don’t have the same level of empathy that you do.”

She smiled and seemed to relax. “That was what I wanted to know. You were much more than I expected.”

“What exactly did you expect?” Chris asked, not sure what he could or should say to her about his relationship with Len. On the one hand, it wasn’t her business, and on the other, it was her beloved father. He was surprised to find no resentment toward Len for going into Starfleet and leaving her with her mother.

“I expected you to be a nice, decent man. And I knew you had to be sweet on Daddy. I don’t think he’d tolerate anything less. But you’re more than that. You’re honorable and kind. And you love him.”

All of that was true. “Where does that leave you?” Chris asked.

“Pleased beyond words that he found you. And that you will take care of him. He needs that. You won’t betray him –”

“No. I won’t,” Chris said. “But anything that needs to be said about what happened with him and your mom needs to come from him. Not you.”

“I understand that,” she said. “You asked where it left me. That’s where I am. Reassured.”

“Do you have any other questions about Starfleet?” Chris asked.

“I’ve read everything they sent me, and I know that I will be able to leave campus and can see you both pretty frequently. If you want to see me.”

“Of course, we do,” Chris said, smiling. “I have a house about a mile from the Academy, but your dad and I will probably be on Starbase 1. You’re welcome to join us there any time you want. But while you’re in San Francisco, I’ll give you the codes to get into my house. You’ll be able to use it to get away, if you want.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? Thank you. It would be good to have a place to sneak off to when I need to study. And maybe to store a few things I won’t be taking with me to the dorm.” She huffed out a laugh. “Living with that many people is going to be very different.”

He would have expected some trepidation or nervousness about that. “It sounds like you’re looking forward to it.”

“I am. I like people, and living in that big old house in Atlanta, I didn’t have many friends over. It was kind of ostentatious and from another time.” Joanna wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips. She looked so much like Len when he was grumpy that Chris laughed.

“What?” she asked, looking up at him.

“You just looked so much like your father with that expression. It’s adorable,” Chris said.

She smiled at that. “The whole thing between you two is kind of amazing,” she said and stood. “I have taken up enough of your time –”

He stood too. “As I said, in a few hours, you’re going to be my stepdaughter. You can interrupt me anytime you want.”

“I guess you know that part of the curriculum at the Academy is taught on Starbase 1. When I’m there, I’ll come to your office and make you take me out to lunch,” Joanna said with a snicker, again so much like Len’s.

“It’s a date,” Chris promised. “I’ll put you on the list of people who can interrupt me.”

“There’s a list, seriously?” She looked a little surprised at that.

“Yeah. Apparently, admirals get that sort of thing,” Chris said. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Do you think it’s safe to hug you again?” she asked, taking a step closer.

Chris smiled. “I think we can chance it.”

She moved into his open arms, and he hugged her.

“Good,” he asked as she pulled back.

“Yes. I’ll see you later,” Joanna said and moved toward the door.

*****

The Enterprise Ready Room

1800 hours

“You know, you’re not supposed to see each other before the ceremony,” Jim said, looking at Chris and Len.

“I’ve never understood that tradition. Do you know where it comes from?” Len asked, tugging a little at the collar of his dress uniform.

Chris smiled at that. “I don’t know. Jim?”

“I think it has to do with arranged marriages in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries on Earth. They didn’t let the couple see each other until they were at the altar.”

Len snorted. “Damn, Jim, you really are a font of esoteric information.”

“I would like to know why it’s still considered traditional?” Chris asked. “Even a hundred years later, most couples knew their intended. And four hundred years later, why would it still even exist?”

“It does, though probably just for tradition’s sake, not because anyone even knows or cares what it means anymore,” Jim said.

“So, where are we going to stand on the bridge?” Len asked.

“You’re going to face the view screen in front of the rail, and I’ll stand in front of you both on the other side of the rail. Your attendants will flank you when you both get there.”

“Have they been told?” Chris asked.

“Yes. I let them know before I came in here,” Jim said. “Are you both ready?”

Chris looked at Len and smiled. “Yes,” he said.

“Thanks, Jim.” Len took Chris’ hand, and they exited the Ready Room onto the bridge, which was packed. They had managed to fit the fourteen extra people. Which was really against regulations. But Chris was pleased to have them all there.

He and Len took their places, and Spock and Una flanked him on one side, and Joanna and Billy-Ray stood on the other side of Len. Una put a hand on his arm and squeezed a little as she stood next to him.

Jim had his back to the view screen. Chris looked at Len and could feel the joy in him. It was a mirror of what he was feeling. All the trepidation about how little time they’d known each other fell away because this was what was important. This commitment. The rest would work itself out. Chris knew that without question.

The wedding ceremony was a blur to Chris. He answered the questions correctly when Jim asked him.

Joanna handed Len a ring, and Len slid it onto his finger. A feeling of rightness washed over Chris as he put the ring on Len’s finger. And then it was done. He leaned forward to kiss Len, and it felt like he was sinking into him. He knew what Len was feeling and that Len was feeling what he was feeling as well. It was a glorious connection. It took a lot of willpower to pull out of that kiss.

Chris was breathing hard when he did. And so was Len. Their eyes met, and there was that recognition again.

Len reached out and ran his fingers down the side of Chris’ face, before leaning in and kissing him one more time.

*****

The reception hall on Xahea was a grand expanse of space. The ceilings rose high above the room, with intricate patterns carved into the concrete arches, and recessed lighting cast soft shadows on the polished marble floor. Most of the personnel from both the Enterprise and Yorktown, as well as the negotiators and some of the hospital staff from Xahea, had been invited to join in the festivities.

At the front of the hall, a lavish buffet stretched out over several tables, filled with an array of dishes from Xahea, Earth, and other places. There was a live band playing soft music at the back, and an open space for dancing.

Chris and Len sat with his parents, Len’s mom, and Joanna, along with Erica and Po, at the front table.

After they finished their meal, he and Len got to dance their first dance together. It felt so good to take Len into his arms and move slowly to the music. Chris drifted with it for a while, just enjoying the moment.

“You know,” Len said, leaning in to kiss him quickly. “I think this is the first time we’ve danced, well, since that last dance the night we met.”

“Yes. I wanted to dance with you at the reception last week, but by the time you found me, we had other things to talk about.”

“And then, not talk,” Len said. “It’s still so hard to believe how quickly this happened.”

“Does that still worry you?”

“It should more than it actually does,” Len leaned his head against Chris’. “I think whatever happens now, we’re committed to doing it together.”

Chris leaned in and kissed him softly. “We are, and I am. The bond feels settled.”

“I feel it too.” Len pulled him a little closer. “You know, we’re pretty much destined to fall in love.”

“I think we’re most of the way there already,” Chris agreed. “In eleven days.”

“Can you imagine what it’s going to be like after a few years?”

“If we don’t kill each other, you mean.”

Len laughed. “Won’t happen. That whole being in love thing is going to make us compromise and maybe talk to each other until we work out the problems.”

“I’m sure it is not going to be that easy. I’m still me, and you’re still you.”

“But we’re together. So, there’s an us now, too.”

And Chris supposed he was right. “You’re a smart guy.”

“You are not the first person to tell me that, you know.”

“I’m sure I’m not,” Chris said. He loved the feel of moving with Len. “Hopefully, we’re only going to be on the ship a few more weeks, and then we’re going back to Earth, and I’m not sure when we’re going to end up on Starbase 1.”

“Has Admiral April said anything?” Len asked, sounding curious and maybe even a little excited about it.

“Just that the request had been made and approved. He also said that he was going to retire in the next few years, and I’ll be up for taking over.”

“Well, that sounds promising,” Len said. “I got a note this afternoon from Sarah April, she runs the hospital there. She had a couple of suggestions about what I might want to do.”

“Was there something you wanted to do in what she offered?”

“All of it sounded interesting to me.” He snickered. “And the best part is –”

“What is the best part?” Chris prompted.

“Aside from no transporters for months at a time, and you in my bed every night, the best part is that I am going to get to do surgery and research, and no one is going to actively try to kill me.”

“It’s funny, the thing I miss the most is the exploring, angry natives, and all.”

“Sometimes, I wonder how we think we’re compatible at all.” Len leaned in to kiss him again.

“And that would be a big reason why,” Chris said as he pulled back from the kiss.

“I guess you have a point with that. We should get out of here and go back to the ship. We are entitled to a wedding night. And I might have some plans for that.”

“I like how you think,” Chris agreed. “We’ll need to say our goodbyes and thank everyone.”

Len groaned. “That’s going to take a while.”

Yeah, Chris knew that.

*****

As soon as they were alone in his quarters, Len took off his jacket and pulled his shirt over his head. Chris only had time to glimpse his chest before he did the same for Chris. Without a word, Len took his hand and led him into the bedroom.

He eased Chris onto the bed, on his back, and slid on top of him, still mostly dressed. Len kissed him softly. Softer than Chris was expecting, lush and sweet. His tongue just touched Chris’ lips and retreated. He could feel Len’s need for him, which mirrored his own desire. They kissed slowly, letting the tension start to pull tighter. Something delicious washed through Chris, tightening his stomach as the hunger pooled inside him.

After a moment more, Len moved off him, standing and pulling off the rest of his clothes. Chris looked at him, his heart pounding, wanting him badly.

“Let me,” Len said, and removed the rest of Chris’ clothes, then got back into bed and embraced him, holding him tightly.

Chris could feel what Len was feeling, that he wanted to stretch it out. And Chris was entirely on board with that. Len pulled Chris closer, one hand running through his hair, the other holding his neck, as Len leaned forward to kiss him.

“What is your pleasure?” Len asked.

“You are my pleasure.” Chris leaned in to kiss him again.

At that, Len smiled at him, rolling Chris onto his back, and moving on top of him again, but he didn’t linger in any spot. Slowly, he started to move down Chris’ body, first his hands, then his mouth. Heat moved through Chris. He spread his legs and leaned back into the pillows as Len settled inside them, sucking kisses into the top of his thigh. He seemed in no hurry to move things along, and Chris was content to let him build the tension between them as he chose to.

“Turn over,” Len said, and Chris complied. The pleasure was rising, easy and slow. Len started again at the top of his back, slowly licking down his spine, and then, further down, his tongue made slow work of teasing him. Chris’ hands twisted in the sheets, and he was starting to pant.

Len’s fingers teased into him, opening him up and finally pressing them deeply into Chris. His body knew what to do, knew what he wanted. Chris trembled, pushing back. But Len wouldn’t take the hint.

“Now,” Chris said, breathing out sharply.

“Not yet,” Len panted. “Soon.”

“Not soon enough.” Chris was turned again, his legs pressed forward, and finally, finally, Len’s cock eased all the way into him. They both held still for a moment, letting him adjust, the pressure sharp and sweet at the same time.

Len moved, slowly at first, but picking up speed and power as he pressed in. Each sparky jolt lit up Chris’ entire body and built the pressure up to new heights. At the top, there was just the pleasure of them coming together. And it was extraordinary. And even as Chris tried to grasp it, it was slipping away into a stunning release.

As Len moved off him, Chris lay back, still breathing hard, his mind still not ready to function yet. He pulled Len close and managed to lean over to kiss him. There were no words needed.

Len smiled at him and cuddled a little closer, putting his head on Chris’ chest and an arm over his belly. “Sleep now.”

On the edge of sleep, as well, Chris nodded and closed his eyes.

*****

Epilogue

Starbase 1.

Five Months Later

“Good afternoon,” said the yeoman guarding Chris’ office. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Doctor McCoy –”

“The admiral’s husband. I recognized you from the holopic he has of you on his desk. He said to send you in any time you came by,” she said, smiling. She waved him back towards the door to the office.

Len laughed, too. “Thanks.”

The door slid open as he approached, and Chris looked up when he came through the door and stood.

“Well now, m’darlin’ Admiral,” Len said in what he hoped was a slightly sexy tone. He grinned at Chris. “How are you doing this afternoon?”

From Chris’ smile, Len could tell he had heard it. And appreciated it.

Len took a look around, and the room was huge with big windows that looked out on the biospheres that were attached to the starbase. Chris had a large wooden desk that his parents had given him, and Len was sure was an antique. There was even a conference table off to one side, and a sofa and chair on the other side.

“What can I do for you, doctor?” Chris said, moving towards him.

“Many wonderful things, my love. But probably not here,” Len came forward, and Chris met him in the middle of the huge office.

“No, definitely not here,” Chris agreed, putting a hand on his arm and leaning in to kiss him. The kiss held for a count or two, but not long enough to start anything. “So, if you’re not here for the fun times, then what brings you to my office this afternoon?”

“Just came to visit. I haven’t had time for the last week to come by to see you.” And he’d missed his afternoon kisses and conversation they had gotten in the habit of having over the last few months.

“I had meant to ask you about that before now,” Chris said. “But I have been busy, too.”

“There was some drama at the hospital, that of course, I can’t talk about, so there’s no one to complain to who is impartial,” Len said with a sigh. “But it is resolved as of this morning. So, hopefully, I will be making my afternoon visits again. Or at least today is good for that.”

“This is so different than being on a ship,” Chris said.

“I’m enjoying the differences. And the lack of danger and darkness and everything else that tries to kill you out there.” He looked at Chris. “I know you must miss it, even if I don’t.”

“I do. Sometimes. But we’re still in space, and I’ll be going out again maybe next year to work on something else.” Chris glanced at him. “What?”

“I guess you can tell there’s more,” Len said. They read each other very well, now. He supposed it was another part of the bond. They were still learning about it and what it meant to them.

“What’s wrong?” Chris asked.

“Nothing’s wrong, but I’ve finished the preliminary report on the bond,” Len said. “And interestingly enough, they are going to classify the information as need to know.”

“Xahea requested that. They don’t want what they consider a gift to be commercialized or somehow cheapened by people coming there just to see what happens. I can understand that. It’s classified as religious,” Chris said. “But anyone going there on official business is in the need-to-know category.”

“I can see where they are coming from with that, too,” Len agreed. There were too many people out there who would try to exploit it.

“What’s in the report?” Chris asked.

“I’ll send you a copy, but it’s what it looked like it was. Not at all harmful to anyone,” Len said. “I finally have a lunch date with Emma. She needs to come up for a conference, and I’m going to clear some time to see her. We’ve talked several times, but it will be nice to do it in person.”

“She said as much when I talked to her. Since Joanna is staying with us, she will bring Jenni with her so they can meet. They will be in the same incoming class at the Academy in a few weeks,” Chris said. “I was going to make dinner for them this weekend.”

“You know, when you said you could cook, I never expected it to be at this level. You have completely spoiled me for replicator food,” Len said with a laugh. “I should have known you’d be this good.”

“Thanks. I’ve always liked cooking for an appreciative person,” Chris said, kissing him again. “Is the new job still good?”

“Not so new anymore. But it’s very good. Also, since I’m heading the trauma department at Starfleet Medical, I’m getting promoted to Captain. So, in a few weeks, it’s only going to be two full ranks.”

“Well, you’re getting there.” Chris laughed. “I suspect we’ll be of equal rank at some point. But we should celebrate your promotion.”

“Any chance of your getting off the rest of the afternoon? We could go back to our quarters,” Len suggested, giving him a look that sent a shiver up Chris’ spine. “Joanna is going to be out the rest of the day and into the evening.”

Now that was an offer he would love to take Len up on. He walked back to his desk and picked up his padd. “I’ve got nothing pressing this afternoon, so why not?”

“Oh, I can assure you there are some matters you need to attend to,” Len said.

“Let’s go get a late lunch. At home.”

“I’m onboard with that, Admiral.” Len grinned and licked his lips.

“I thought you would be,” Chris said.

*****

–finis

1/16/2023 – 4/29/2026

 

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