Author: Drusilla Dax (drusilladax@free.fr)

Rating and notes: R18. This is an impossible crossover between the movie Empire Records and Star Trek - The Original Series. This takes place after the end of season 3.

Main pairing: "Joe Reaves" as the security officer in charge of the Vulcan ambassador and "Lucas" renamed "Sulak" in this story. Mention of Spock/McCoy (do not kill me!)

Summary: A Vulcan ambassador is sent on a delicate mission, but he ends up lost on a deserted planet on the other side of a wormhole. What could be worse than being stuck with a male human being - possibly for years?

Disclaimer: I'm just playing with other people's toys and nothing you think you know is mine. May I be forgiven in my next incarnation! Flamers will be adopted by my family (if you don't believe it's a threat... too bad for you!).

Editor: Starkindler. The remaining mistakes are all mine, and I apologize for those.

The Final Frontier

Captain's log, stardate: 5669.3

Starfleet assigned us a new diplomatic mission.

One of our ships met the Berkians and this secretive race has offered to trade new technologies for information about our cultures. We don't even know what they look like, but the Captain of the USS Empire mentioned many intriguing devices that justify our going to Vulcan to fetch a young ambassador who will lead the negotiations.

Sulak will be the only one sent on this mission.

We'll reach Vulcan in a day according to Mr. Sulu.

James T. Kirk's private log, stardate: 5669.4

Something disturbs me about this mission.

I completely trust Captain Berko from the Empire, and if he says that a deal with the Berkians could be a good thing, I do not doubt him - and it's not the first time we're going to have to work with a race who's that secretive and overcautious.

What disturbs me is what's going on on Vulcan.

I was expecting Mr. Spock's father to be at the very least invited to join the mission, but when Spock told me his father had been asked to stay on their home world, I asked my first officer to enlighten me on this Vulcan mystery.

From what Spock told me, or rather did not tell me, I could gather that Ambassador Sulak is very young and that it's unusual to send such an inexperienced diplomat on such a huge mission.

It feels as if someone is trying to test Sulak, or maybe get rid of him at the expense of Starfleet - which would not be a first.

I have a strange feeling about all this. I will assign our new Security officer, Joe Reaves, to the protection of the Ambassador.

Tomorrow, Spock's parents have invited me, Dr. McCoy and Lieutenant Reaves for dinner. I look forward to seeing them again. I think Amanda has planned to invite Sulak as well.

I really have a strange feeling, but I don't feel dread. I trust my team to complete this mission successfully.

The next day, Lieutenant Uhura received a private message from Captain Berko to Lieutenant Reaves.

She chuckled as she recorded it.

"Uhura?" James Kirk called her, pivoting his chair towards her station.

"Did you know that Berko is Reaves's cousin, Captain?" she asked.

"Joe may have mentioned it when I asked him to be Ambassador Sulak's personal officer after we were given the mission. He said he'd do it, but added that he wondered what surprises he'd find on the way. Apparently they've been on different sides of the galaxy for years and yet Berko finds ways to keep in touch and amaze his cousin," Kirk said.

Uhura laughed softly.

"What's going on?" Kirk wondered, unable to suppress a wide smile from blooming on his lips.

"I'd say Joe is in for surprises as predicted," Uhura answered.

"Nothing bad?" Chekov intervened.

Uhura beamed at him and shook her pretty head.

"Since he's going to be very busy once we arrive to Vulcan, maybe I should go and deliver the message myself," Kirk said.

He got up and was next to his Communication officer in three steps.

She handed him the message and whispered, "You're worse than a cat."

Captain Kirk felt more than friendship for her, but the bridge of his ship was not the place to play cat and mouse.

"I don't purr that well," he murmured into her ear.

He took the message and headed for the turbo lift.

"I'll be having lunch with Lieutenant Reaves," Kirk announced. "Mr. Spock, the bridge is yours."

"Yes, Captain," the Vulcan answered.

Kirk disappeared behind the doors.

Uhura got a message from Vulcan.

"Sir," she called Spock.

"Lieutenant?" he answered.

"There is an electro-magnetic storm over your home region, and Ambassador Sarek advises you not to beam down," she said.

"Tell Mr. Scott to have a shuttle ready for us," Spock ordered.

Uhura sent the request and told him that the Chief engineer had already prepared one after checking the weather conditions on Vulcan.

For a few minutes, only beeping sounds were heard on the bridge, and then curiosity got the best of Chekov.

"Joe isn't in trouble, right?" he asked Uhura.

Sulu looked at Spock and rolled his eyes; his friend could sometimes really behave like a teen.

Uhura shook her head and said, "He's getting news from home through Captain Berko."

She wouldn't tell anyone what was in the message.

Captain Kirk found Lieutenant Reaves having lunch with Nurse Chapel.

"May I join you?" Kirk asked.

Joe and Christine traded a look, grinned and invited their captain warmly.

Joe had joined the USS Enterprise for only two months, but the nurse and he had immediately become friends. In the beginning, Christine was rather puzzled because there was only Spock in her heart, and yet, she craved Joe's company.

During the second private dinner they shared on Joe's third day on board, she confessed her troubles. Joe told her she must see in him a confidant who could give her tips about males. She retorted that she had feelings for someone - someone who was not Joe - and he pointed out she must have felt he was not interested in females of any species.

When Christine was done gaping, and after Joe stopped making fun of her, they'd started talking about their secrets.

Christine found in Joe a man who would never try to convince her that a Vulcan male was a bad choice for a lover.

Joe found in the gentle nurse a woman who would never try to make him tie the knot or convince him that he hadn't met the right female yet.

Their friendship went beyond gender or background.

Kirk could not begin to imagine that he'd interrupted a conversation that would have made even the quietest and strongest Vulcan blush bright green.

Kirk grabbed something to eat and sat down next to Joe.

"I have a message for you from Berko," Kirk said, handing it to Joe.

"Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes," Joe said, taking the message nonetheless.

"I'm from Iowa; I don't have a drop of Greek blood in me," Kirk joked.

Joe chuckled and said, "Yeah, but this is from Berko, Captain. I have reasons to be afraid."

Chapel knew everything about Joe's cousin, and she suggested he read the message.

Kirk agreed.

Joe read the message and hit his head on the message pad several times.

"Bones is going to kill you slowly if he's got to play neurosurgeon on you in emergency before you start protecting Ambassador Sulak," Kirk joked.

"Bad news?" Christine asked.

"Weird news," Joe said.

"What did Berko tell you?" Kirk inquired.

"Just that the second my daughter came of age, she took her brother with her and moved into my house, leaving my ex shouting at her, but unable to do anything against it. The kids have been living alone for a month now, and the house is still standing. Berko wanted me to know they're doing well," Joe said.

"I didn't know you had children," Kirk said.

"I found them," Joe said.

"I beg your pardon?" Kirk gasped.

"To make a long story short, Captain, I married a charming alien who needed to be emancipated from nosy relatives. We're still good friends, but that's all. Ten years ago, I was visiting my ex on earth and when I came back home, I found two kids hiding in the tool shed of my house. Debra was eight and Warren was three. They'd lost their parents and their files had been lost in a fire. They were abused in the place where they'd been sent and they tried to escape. I took care of them with my friends and family's help. Deb gets along with the whole pack, but my ex," Joe explained.

"Why doesn't she like her?" Kirk inquired.

Joe looked at Christine and she nodded minutely, encouraging him to trust their captain.

"Debra doesn't like him because she thinks he shouldn't have left me after he was fully free from his family. She doesn't understand that we're only friends and that's all we've ever been," Joe said.

Kirk's cheeks turned pink.

The captain cleared his throat and asked, "What about Warren?"

"Well, you know how it is when puberty hits you like a ton of latinum. He's got his own problems. He worships his sister, but he doesn't care about my ex," Joe said.

"It must be tough to be so far away from them," Kirk said.

"That's why Berko sent me the message. He knows which assignment you gave me and he didn't want me to worry if Deb writes me. I know the kids are fine and well cared for. Besides, even if Berko is unconventional, I know he'd take care of them were anything to happen to me," Joe said.

"Well, if you want a message relayed to your daughter, I could say a word to Spock's mother. She'll be happy to twist her husband's arm to help you," Kirk suggested.

"Thank you, Captain, but I trust Deb. There's no need for me to contact her. I'll send her a message through the usual channels," Joe said.

Kirk didn't feel comfortable asking Joe more questions about his kids - or his ex-husband. He steered the conversation towards their future mission and the impending dinner with Sarek and Amanda.

Captain Kirk finally left them to go back to the bridge and he told Lieutenant Reaves to report to him an hour before they had to go.

Joe had been asked to prepare for this specific mission and he'd started gathering information about the race of the man he'd have to protect. He'd read everything that was in the ship's computer about Vulcan and its people. Joe knew he should ask his friend Christine what she could share with him, but he didn't want to remind her that Mr. Spock was not taking any step towards her - even if he was kind and as nice as could be expected from a logical Vulcan.

"Maybe you could come with me to sickbay. I'm sure Dr. McCoy would be delighted to tell you everything he knows about Vulcan people," she said.

Joe shrugged.

"Silly," she said fondly.

He gave her a small smile.

"There's one thing I understood about him," she said softly.

"What?" Joe whispered.

"The philosophy of his people is very important. From what I understand, it's every Vulcan's goal to abide by it. He's got two heritages and he tries to conform mainly to his father's. It's a good thing his mother is so open-minded," Christine said.

She paused and there was something awkward that Joe spotted.

"What's bothering you, Christine?" he asked.

"I'm sure you read that the key-stone of their philosophy is Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination," she said.

Joe nodded.

"Well, from where I stand it's not working. I mean... It's a beautiful philosophy. It's something I could easily embrace," she said.

"We have something similar on earth and my Deb believes in that," Joe said.

Christine smiled.

"From what I've seen, it's not good to be different on Vulcan. Their I.D.I.C. works if you fit in the cast; if you're dissimilar, you're rejected," she said bitterly.

Joe took her hand and she clasped it.

It was so obvious that the nurse's feelings for the First officer were strong. It hurt Joe to see the fire in her eyes.

Joe was a very quiet and discreet man. He observed people, and that made him one of the best Security officers in Starfleet. Since he'd joined the crew of the USS Enterprise, he'd taken to watching the crew.

Joe knew that his Captain had deep feelings for Uhura and Rand, which disturbed Kirk, but the Enterprise was the winner of the captain's heart in the end. Joe had reached conclusions about all his colleagues.

Joe was convinced that Christine and Spock would be life-long friends, but never more, because there was something in Spock that prevented him from accepting Christine's love. According to what she'd just told him, and adding the fact that Spock was not fully Vulcan, maybe he didn't dare take a non-Vulcan mate. Maybe there was something else. Maybe Joe's conclusions about Mr. Spock were right, but those were irrelevant here and none of his business.

"Nothing's perfect in this universe," Joe said.

"Joe..." she said, her voice trailing off.

"I meant it when I said you can ask me or tell me anything," Joe said.

"I know nothing is ever going to happen. I know it. Am I stupid for loving him nonetheless? Is it silly to have the feeling that he'll be the only one, ever?" she asked softly.

Joe caressed her hand.

"No... it's not stupid," he answered.

She smiled, but her eyes were very sad.

"You know," Joe whispered, "I was married once and I've got two adorable kids - though I'll deny ever saying so - and I'm still looking for Mr. Right. I hope this is not going to sound very wrong, but I'd like to know what you're experiencing one day."

"It doesn't sound wrong. It hurts like hell, you know, and yet it's the most beautiful thing in my life," she answered.

"We're quite a pair," he said.

She chuckled and this time the feeling reached her eyes.

"You should go and take a crash course in Vulcan physiology. You never know; it might come in handy," she said.

"Considering how little we know about those Berkians with whom Ambassador Sulak will have to negotiate, it might be wise - even if I do hope I won't have to try and remember what Dr. McCoy will tell me," Joe said.

The two friends went to sickbay.

It was a very quiet day, and McCoy shared what he knew with Joe.

"So," Joe concluded, "Vulcans are always quiet and controlled."

"Mostly, yes," McCoy said, looking away from Christine.

"I'll go and check the medical supplies in the shuttle you'll take to Vulcan," Christine announced.

She grabbed a kit and left the two men alone.

"What was that?" Joe inquired.

"I seriously doubt you'll need the information I'm about to share with you, and it's only because I've seen how discreet you are that I'll tell you what happened a few months ago," McCoy said.

Twenty minutes later, Lieutenant Reaves had been told some of the secrets of the Vulcan sexuality. What McCoy told him of Spock's reactions confirmed a handful of Joe's conclusions about the calm Vulcan.

"There's one last thing I'd like to know," Joe said.

"What would that be?" the doctor asked.

"I am not ashamed of my preferences, but I wonder if I should avoid mentioning that to Ambassador Sulak. I read about the Vulcan philosophy, but do they accept homosexuality?" Joe asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. Spock could tell you - if he were not such a prude. Your best shot would be to manage to have a word with his mother after dinner. Otherwise, I'd advise you to keep personal information to yourself. Spock is quite open-minded compared with the other Vulcans I met," McCoy said.

Joe smiled and nodded.

He'd gathered all he needed to do his job and protect Sulak as best as he could, and he'd been given a glimpse of the odd friendship the doctor felt for the First officer.

At the appointed time, Lieutenant Reaves reported to the bridge.

When the shuttle left the ship, Kirk, McCoy, Spock and Reaves were in grand uniform.

"Do you realize that your mother is going to scold us for dressing up?" McCoy told Spock.

"She will do no such thing because Ambassador Sulak will be present. Had it been only the four of us, even my father would not have objected to normal uniforms. Tonight we meet the Ambassador, and we represent Starfleet," Spock said.

"But it is an informal gathering and I'm sure your mother would prefer us not to show up in such uniforms," McCoy insisted.

Both men kept arguing as Lieutenant Reaves piloted them.

Even Spock was impressed when Joe maneuvered the shuttle through the storms plaguing Vulcan.

They landed near Sarek and Amanda's home.

Spock and McCoy kept arguing as the four men headed towards the main door. Kirk grinned and winked at Joe. The evening promised to be interesting.

Joe was eager to meet Spock's parents and to meet Sulak.

Joe had met many aliens, but Vulcans fascinated him. He was all the more fascinated since McCoy had told him that there was a latent fire in their veins - a fire that burnt them and claimed its price throughout their adult lives. McCoy's explanations had confirmed to Joe that there was more than meets the eye about the people of Vulcan.

"Where did you learn to fly like that?" Kirk asked Joe as Spock knocked on the door and walked into his parents' main residence.

"Chasing Berko around the galaxy before we joined Starfleet," Joe answered with an impudent grin.

Kirk chuckled and said, "I can picture that."

Spock's parents welcomed their son and their human guests.

Both Sarek and Amanda were delighted to meet Lieutenant Reaves. They both felt how strong and reliable a man he was.

Amanda was about to offer them a drink when Ambassador Sulak arrived.

Sulak was dressed in traditional clothes that were dark green and complimented his pale skin. His hair was very short and as black as the night. His eyes were more alive and expressive than Spock's or Sarek's - Lieutenant Reaves realized that Sulak was only the third Vulcan he met, but there was something different in the young man.

Joe fought with himself not to shake his head. From the files McCoy had shown him, he knew how old Sarek and Spock were, and Joe knew Sulak may look like he was about twenty, but it was only an illusion.

Joe had to fight harder with a certain part of his anatomy that became very interested in the heavenly apparition on the threshold.

Joe felt the electricity of the storms outside course through his veins the instant his eyes met Sulak's.

Remaining professional would be a real nightmare because right then and there Joe felt that he'd want nothing better than to be very unprofessional with Ambassador Sulak.

The Vulcan was a sin on legs.

Joe felt that Sulak was everything he'd always been looking for.

The storms raged outside, covering Joe's embarrassment to all but Amanda.

Joe thought of Christine and his heart ached for his friend as he experienced her ordeal firsthand.

Sulak walked to his hosts and saluted them.

Sarek introduced his younger fellow to the Starfleet officers.

One of Sulak's elegant eyebrows rose when Joe acknowledged him in rather good Vulcan.

Amanda invited her guests to follow her. She felt this evening would be very interesting and important - even if she couldn't explain why.

Dinner was very pleasant and they spoke about everything from space exploration to arts.

Joe was astounded when Sulak mentioned Vendellian poetry and both ended up quoting the same sonnet. The young ambassador confessed a deep interest for Shakespeare and Chopin.

"I tried to give good tastes to my children, but with Captain Berko for uncle by proxy, they developed an interest for loud music. Some of the music to which they undulate makes me feel old," Joe said.

"I never had that kind of problem," Amanda deadpanned.

"I certainly hope not," Sarek retorted.

Spock traded a look with his mother and she laughed for the two of them.

"Amanda, you are impossible," Sarek protested.

She held out her hand to him, her index and middle fingers peace offerings and reminders of their soul-bond. Sarek touched her fingers and he let a small smile grace his lips.

They were enjoying a dessert that Sarek and Amanda had invented, mixing Earth and Vulcan recipes and using products from both worlds, when the storm raged even more dangerously outside.

Sarek went to check the screen linked to the weather program.

"You will have to stay here tonight," Sarek announced.

"I'll go and have the rooms prepared," Amanda announced.

"I'll try to contact the Enterprise, but I'm sure Lieutenant Uhura has been monitoring the area. Scotty won't be surprised if we don't bring him his shuttle back tonight," Kirk said.

"If we are to stay here, maybe we could offer Ambassador Sulak a ride to the ship with us," McCoy suggested.

"That is very kind of you, Doctor," Sulak said, "but I was counting on this night to pack and settle a few things in my home. I cannot ask you to wait for me tomorrow morning."

"It would be a pleasure to wait for you," McCoy said.

Kirk chuckled and added, "Since Lieutenant Reaves has to pilot the shuttle back, he could wait for you to be ready. I'm sure our dear doctor would be happy to keep you company and be spared the ordeal of being beamed up."

McCoy glared at his best friend.

"I don't want to slow you down, but if it's not an issue, I'm curious to travel in one of your shuttles," Sulak said.

"It's settled, then. Joe will pilot you, and Bones and Spock will keep you company. I'll be waiting on board to welcome you officially," Kirk said.

"I could beam up with you, Jim," Spock said.

"If you don't, you can stay a bit longer with your mother and I'm sure she'd like that," Kirk said.

Spock opened his mouth to protest.

"That's an order," Kirk said.

Spock nodded.

Kirk took his communicator and tried to contact his ship, but to no avail.

"May I try to call T'Cor?" Sulak asked Sarek.

"You may use my study," Sarek said.

Sulak nodded and said to the other guests, "Excuse me, I need to try to reach my home."

"Of course," Kirk said.

Amanda was coming back as Sulak reached the door.

"Try several frequencies if you can't reach T'Cor immediately," Amanda said.

"I will," Sulak answered.

"It's your first mission and it must be tough for her," Amanda said.

"She is strong," Sulak praised T'Cor.

"Listen to the mother in me and tell her that you'll spend the night here with us. When you speak with her, remind her that she may come and see me for any reason at any time," Amanda insisted.

"Yes, Ma'am," Sulak answered obediently.

Joe imagined that Sulak's wife must be sad to see him assigned a mission that didn't require her presence. Joe found himself wondering if they were a happy couple and how long they'd been together.

Joe was torn between his wish to have a complete stranger as happy as a Vulcan can be and his desire to become more intimate with an alien male he'd just met and he was to protect.

Joe didn't exactly believe in any God or divinity, but like his beloved Debra would put it, he had a pretty screwed karma - Joe smiled when he imagined Warren telling him that he was just screwed.

It had been ages since Joe had got laid, and he bet that the Vulcan storm and the gorgeous man he was to look after were not helping one bit. He really hoped they'd get separate rooms for the night because he needed some privacy to release some of the tension.

Joe was a very good observer. He felt the love and trust between his hosts when Sarek took a deep breath to tell his wife something - apparently related to Sulak and T'Cor - and she stopped him with just one look. Sarek closed his mouth and surrendered; after all, his wife must know what it feels to be the companion of a Vulcan ambassador.

"The storm is very impressive," Joe said.

"Fortunately, it is a rare phenomenon in this region," Sarek told him.

"Are there books on the geography of your planet, sir?" Joe asked. He looked at Sarek's amused expression and added, "And not written in your language."

"There is one. I'll make you a copy of it," Sarek said.

"Thank you, sir," Joe said happily.

He'd fallen in lust with Sulak, but he truly found Vulcan a fascinating place.

"May I ask you how long you've been learning our language?" Sarek asked.

"Only a fortnight, sir," Joe answered.

"You have a very good accent," Sarek praised him.

"To say the least," Amanda said.

Joe smiled and said, "I used to play music and have a very good ear. It must help."

Sulak came back at that moment.

"So?" Amanda asked.

"I got through the first channel I tried. She will be packing what I need," Sulak announced.

"And?" Amanda insisted.

Sulak looked straight at Amanda. Joe could have sworn that there were fireworks in the young ambassador's bright eyes, but it must have been a trick of the storm - it couldn't be mirth.

"I gave her your message," Sulak told her.

Amanda beamed.

They all kept on chatting for another hour, and then Sarek suggested they went to rest.

Sulak had apparently been invited several times for he knew where to go once Amanda told him which was his room. Spock guided McCoy to a guestroom that was close to his own and Sarek escorted Kirk.

Amanda looked at Joe and smiled warmly.

"It's a good thing Sulak will have you with him," she said.

"You are too kind, Ma'am," Joe protested.

"The others are gone, you may call me Amanda," she said gently.

He smiled and nodded.

"Amanda, you are way too kind," Joe said. "Being assigned to the protection of the ambassador charged of such an important mission for Starfleet is a great honor."

"No one warned you," Amanda declared cryptically. "Shall we have a drink in my study?"

Joe blinked, but nodded.

Amanda led him to a very pleasant room that she protected from prying ears with a strong field.

"Starfleet doesn't have a clue why Sulak has been assigned to this particular mission," she said, pouring a brandy for Joe and a blue liquor for herself.

They sat down on the sofa she'd placed in front of her window.

"I thought he was somewhat young for such a job, all the more since it's his first mission," Joe answered.

Amanda laughed softly and asked Joe his age.

He answered, wondering what she meant.

"Sulak is older than he looks," she said.

"But he's young by Vulcan standards," Joe added.

She nodded and said, "It is not my place to betray his trust and tell you his story, but in spite of what my beloved husband thinks, I think some of it must be revealed - and I think you're exactly the right man to be told that secret that's not really a secret."

"I'm all ears," Joe said.

"To give you a fair picture of the situation, Sulak was forced to accept this mission. Sarek and I have absolutely no doubt that he's got everything he needs to be a good ambassador. Unfortunately, someone here would like to see him disgraced - or even possibly killed. It's a twisted family issue," Amanda explained.

Joe could see how sad she looked.

"So if he fails with the Berkians or is killed, someone here will end up doing the Vulcan equivalent of a happy dance," Joe stated.

Amanda nodded.

"Green blood, but greed is the same throughout the galaxy," Joe said.

"They're not that different," Amanda whispered.

Joe looked at her, wondering if he'd heard more than was meant to be here.

"I'll deny ever saying so," she added with a smile.

Joe laughed softly.

"So, if I get this straight, Ambassador Sulak has to negotiate an intricate deal with a strange race while his family could be almost harassed here," Joe said.

"That's why I wanted him to remind his sister that I'm willing to help her. I'm just a woman from Earth, but T'Pau is a good friend of mine and that frightens most males around here," Amanda said.

Joe took a sip. He could have kissed Amanda for giving him that particular piece of information about Miss T'Cor, sister of Sulak - not his wife.

"Family issues can be so disturbing," Joe said.

"You sound as if you're going through tough times yourself," she pointed out.

Joe decided to trust his guts and spilled all the beans about his past to his First officer's mother. He only kept his sudden crush on Sulak secret.

Amanda wasn't shocked about Joe's former husband; in fact, she found his story rather romantic.

"I have an idea," she said.

"Um?"

"Let's try to contact your children. I'm sure you'd like to check for yourself that they're doing fine," she said.

"But..." he began.

"An astounding communication network is the privilege of an ambassador's household," she announced. "Are you listed in the intergalactic directory?"

Joe nodded.

"Computer," Amanda called. "Open a connection to the private home of Lieutenant Joe Reaves on Earth."

"Connecting," said the female voice of the computer.

"It's very kind of you," Joe said happily.

"Family is important, and it's only a call," Amanda said. "I'll leave you."

"It's just my kids. You can stay," Joe told her.

Amanda smiled and went to sit on the sofa.

Amanda's computer connected the main screen to Joe's house. A pale woman with short brown hair and incredibly blue eyes answered the call.

"Jane?" Joe gasped.

She was his ex-husband's twin. If she was in his house, it meant that the kids were in trouble deep in spite of Berko's message.

"Greetings, Joe," she said. "I'm surprised that Starfleet already managed to contact you."

"What happened? The last message I got was from Berko telling me Deb had taken Warren home. What's going on, Honey?" Joe said.

"You don't know, then? It's just by chance that you're calling now?" Jane said.

When tears started rolling down her cheeks, Joe knew that something was very wrong and his blood turned cold.

"Jane, what happened? Are the kids okay?" he asked worriedly.

She nodded, but couldn't speak.

By then, Amanda had left the sofa and was standing near Joe.

Another woman came on screen and Jane left the room.

"Gina? What's going on?!" Joe almost shouted.

Berko's wife was usually very cheerful, but she looked as if she'd spent most of the day crying. She worked in Australia; it wasn't customary for her to visit Joe's place when he wasn't there himself.

"There's been an accident, Joe," she murmured.

"Deb?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Warren?"

She shook her head again.

"Not Berko, right? Captain Kirk would have been told officially," Joe said.

"Joe, Honey... I'm sorry. It's Jane'l; we lost him," Gina sobbed.

Joe froze.

His best friend and ex-husband could not be dead.

"No!" he wailed.

"His shuttle crashed. It was all over the news. Deb thinks it was her fault because they fought again yesterday and she cursed him. Warren called me and I brought Jane here with me. I'll take care of them, Joe. Do not worry," Gina said.

Joe shook his head and closed his eyes.

Amanda placed one hand on Joe's shoulder and squeezed.

"Could you call the kids, please?" Joe finally asked.

"Of course, Joe," she said.

She left the room.

"I am so sorry," Amanda said. "I offer you my deepest condolences."

Joe nodded. "Thank you. I married him only to help him, but he's my best friend," Joe said softly. "He was my best friend," Joe corrected himself.

"He'll always be your friend," Amanda said.

Tears were shining in Joe's eyes, but he gave her a small smile.

Voices could be heard in Joe's home and he fought with himself not to show his pain to his children.

A young boy came on screen.

"Dad!" he shouted.

"Warren," Joe said warmly.

"Debbie was such a mess after we saw the news. She shaved her head, Dad!" Warren said.

Joe gasped.

"It must have been her way to mourn, Baby," Joe said.

"I had to call Aunt Gina," Warren said.

"You did very well. I'm proud of you," Joe said.

Warren beamed and nodded his thanks.

Jane came back on screen and wrapped her arms around Warren, and the teen didn't protest - that alone showed Joe how much his son was disturbed.

"Gina is convincing Deb that you really want to speak to her," Jane announced.

"Thanks," Joe answered.

"Deb said I should stay here with them," Jane added.

"I'd like you to stay together," Joe said. "I must complete my current mission, but I'll ask for a leave to come to his funeral. I might resign and stay home."

"Really?" Warren asked eagerly.

That settled it for Joe.

"Yes, Baby. I will resign and stay with you," Joe promised.

Warren started crying, and Jane rocked him gently as she held him.

Joe held out one hand towards the screen. He wanted to be home and hold his kids.

"Jane'l wants a traditional burial. The ceremony will start in thirty-three days and end in ninety-nine," Jane said.

Joe nodded. He knew their culture very well.

Gina brought Debra into the room.

"Oh, Baby!" Joe exclaimed when he saw what his beloved daughter had done to her hair.

"I'm so sorry, Daddy!" she wailed, tears rolling steadily down her cheeks.

"It's not your fault, Dearest," Joe said softly.

"I was so awful and now he's dead," she cried.

"You know what he'd say," Joe countered her.

She sniffed loudly.

"It was meant to happen that way," Jane said as she opened her arms to the young woman.

"But..." Debra started to protest.

Jane pecked the tip of Debra's nose and said, "Jane'l's passage onto the next plane will guarantee that he never dies in our hearts. You will help me with the ceremonies until your father comes back home."

Deb sniffed again and looked at her father.

"I finish this job and I'll come back home for good, Dearest," Joe said.

Debra looked stunned.

"Jane and I will stay here and wait for you," Gina said.

"Promise you'll take care of them until I'm back," Joe said solemnly.

Gina used the secret sign they'd invented years ago and gave her word.

"Debra, Warren, I want you to obey Gina and Jane. I'll come back as soon as I can," Joe said.

"Promise, Dad," both swore.

"You're my babies and I love you," Joe said.

Neither protested; usually when Joe called them that they became quite loud, but not today.

"I'll try to be home before the first ceremony," Joe said.

"The first is not as important as the last," Jane said.

"I know, but I want to be with you," Joe said.

"We'll wait for you, Honey," Gina said.

"Bless you," Joe whispered. He looked at his children and added, "Be good."

They both nodded.

Joe looked at Gina. She knew him so well that she knew she'd had to break the communication on her side - Joe would never be able to do it.

The screen went blank.

Joe let his tears flow.

Amanda held him as he cried for the friend he'd lost and the man he'd loved.

She took her handkerchief and dried his face. She cupped his cheeks and kissed his brow.

"Stay here as long as you need," she said. "Would you like me to tell Jim what happened?"

Joe nodded gratefully.

Amanda handed him the soft material with which she'd dried his tears and squeezed his arm.

She walked to the door.

"Computer, reset the privacy field when I'm gone and obey Lieutenant Reaves's orders," she said.

The door had already closed behind her when Joe looked in her direction.

Joe walked back to the sofa and looked at the garden where the storm was still raging. He wondered why he had to meet Sulak and lose Jane'l on the very same day. Life sucked - big time.

Joe reflected that going home to his kids would be the wisest thing to do. There was no future for a male human with a male Vulcan, and his babies needed him home, not warping around the galaxy.

Joe cried the seven seas and fell asleep on the sofa.

Once outside of her study, Amanda asked the home computer where James Kirk was.

She found him in her husband's study with Sulak, discussing the young ambassador's mission.

"Amanda?" Sarek said worriedly.

He could feel through their bond how shaken she was.

"May I interrupt you a moment?" she asked.

The three men nodded.

"I offered to allow Lieutenant Reaves to call his children and it turns out his ex-spouse has been killed in an accident today. I left him in my study, but he allowed me to broach the news with you," she said.

"Poor Joe," Kirk said softly.

"He'll ask for a leave when the mission to the Berkians is completed. He might resign," she added.

"There's no need to sugar-coat the truth," Kirk said. "When Ambassador Sulak and Joe are back from the negotiations, I'll be short one Security officer."

Amanda nodded.

"I could go and meet them alone if he needs to be with his family, or another officer could be assigned," Sulak offered.

"Joe has been preparing himself for this mission, and he'll shoot you if you even suggest going alone. He takes his job very seriously," Kirk declared.

Sulak wasn't used to aliens, so Kirk's directness surprised him a bit, but he had to admit that he liked it.

"Is there anything I could do for Joe?" Kirk asked Amanda. "I don't even know from which planet his husband was."

"According to the ritual he and his former sister-in-law mentioned, I think his companion was from Vendellia," Amanda said.

"That might explain why he could quote Inius's works," Sarek pointed out.

Sulak reflected that it explained why the Security officer could quote Vendellian love sonnets with such a perfect pronunciation. He wondered if Joe's husband recited those pieces to him. Vendellians were said to be very spiritual and sensual - somehow, Sulak wasn't surprised that the lieutenant had associated himself with such an alien.

"From what I gathered," Amanda intervened, "Joe rescued a friend from nosy relatives. Otherwise I don't think he'd have let him go."

"You're right," Kirk simply said.

Silence fell in the room.

"Are there rituals that could help soothe his soul?" Sulak asked.

"I don't know, but you could go and lead him to his room. He's staying in the room in front of yours. Since you're going to work together for a few days, it could be an opportunity to interact in a less formal context," Amanda suggested.

Sulak nodded and excused himself.

"I'll go and tell Spock and Bones," Kirk announced.

Sarek and Amanda nodded. Kirk left once the computer told him that his friends were playing chess in Spock's room.

"What is bothering you, my wife?" Sarek asked.

"Something important is going on, my Dear, but I cannot begin to imagine what it is," she answered honestly.

They went to bed.

The computer had informed Sulak that Joe was asleep.

Sulak bypassed the security and entered the study.

Joe woke up when he heard the door open.

The Security officer was expecting to see Amanda and he almost gaped when he saw Ambassador Sulak walking towards him.

Joe rubbed his eyes and sat up. He knew he couldn't have been asleep long because his cheeks were still a bit wet.

Joe looked at the other man and said, "Amanda sent you here."

Sulak nodded and said, "She asked me to show you to your room."

"This is very kind of you, Ambassador, but the computer could help me find my way," Joe said.

"I know better than to not obey Amanda," Sulak said. "And I wanted to offer you my condolences, Lieutenant Reaves."

Joe gulped and said, "Thank you, Ambassador. I lost a dear friend and the universe lost a great man."

Joe spotted something in Sulak's eyes when the other man nodded.

"We're from very different cultures, sir, and we're to work together for some days at the very least. I hope this is not a diplomatic faux-pas on my side, but I'd like to assure you that you can ask me anything you want," Joe said.

"You are a very perceptive man," Sulak said.

Joe chuckled and said, "My family is highly entertaining and since I adopted my two kids, I had to develop antennas."

Sulak's left eyebrow attempted to disappear under his bangs.

"Which is just a figure of speech," Joe added.

Joe decided to trust his guts and patted the sofa next to him. Sulak sat down.

"I would understand if you'd rather go back home to your relatives," Sulak said very softly.

"No, sir. I taught my kids to keep their word and I will not break mine to Captain Kirk. I will help you complete your mission, and only then will I quit and go back home," Joe said.

"I am grateful for your help," Sulak whispered.

There was something utterly disturbing in such a simple statement.

"Permission to speak, sir?" Joe asked.

"Of course," Sulak said. "And even though I am a Vulcan, I hope you will not attempt to change your reactions to attempt to please me. You should remain yourself."

If Joe hadn't been stunned because of Jane'l's death, he'd certainly have blushed or made a fool of himself.

"You were tricked into accepting this mission," Joe stated.

Sulak looked away when he answered, "It is my duty to complete this mission."

"That must be the Vulcan way to say "someone's twisting my arm into doing it while I'd want nothing better than stay home", I imagine," Joe said sadly.

Sulak looked at him and Joe almost had the feeling that Sulak was fighting some internal struggle with himself. It looked as if Sulak wanted to confide in Joe - a total stranger - but his Vulcan education prevented him from doing so.

Joe understood some of the things Christine had told him about Spock.

"Well, I'll be there to help you and maybe you can tell me how you rubbed the nose of whoever's making you do this in it when you're back and you've got a great deal with the Berkians," Joe said.

"You have faith in my abilities when I obviously do not," Sulak stated simply.

"It comes with raising two kids," Joe explained.

"It must be useful to be able to do that," Sulak said.

Joe tilted his head and tried to decipher the gorgeous alien who was being so incredibly cryptic.

"I've been observing people for many years. It's like playing poker. You learn to read the signs," Joe said.

Sulak nodded very slowly and this time Joe clearly spotted sadness in the extremely expressive eyes of the young ambassador.

"Maybe I can give you tips as we work together," Joe offered.

"I would be grateful," Sulak simply said.

Joe gave him a small smile. When Sulak pointedly looked at the floor, Joe had the strange feeling that the other man wanted to smile back.

"Amanda will come and make us go and rest if I don't follow you soon," Joe said.

"Do you think?" Sulak asked.

"You're only the third Vulcan with whom I've interacted and I don't know how to decipher your people, but I do know women from my home world and Amanda is worried for me," Joe explained.

"Will you be all right?" Sulak asked kindly.

Joe sighed and said, "Jane'l is the dearest friend I ever had and I will miss him. I cried for me earlier. Selfishly, I know that I'll never get to see him again in this life. At least, he was a Vendellian and I can say goodbye during the passage rituals of his people."

"How does it work?" Sulak asked.

If he'd not just lost Jane'l, Joe would have grinned widely. Spock was their First officer, but he was their Science officer first of all, and now Sulak was showing interest for another culture. If things had been different, Joe would have been tempted to compare Sulak to a feline being.

"Vendellians do reincarnate. They learn a lot in one life, and then go on to their next incarnation when they find a family that suits their needs. They bring in their new life what they liked from the prior ones. When the sum of their knowledge is too vast for one person, they create a new soul by gifting a new being with their favorite knowledge. There are two passage rituals that allow the departing soul to say goodbye to family and friends," Joe explained. "I was there when Jane and Jane'l's father went on. The imprint of his soul as we'd known it became visible and we could wish him a nice passage."

"It is a good thing. Our katras never die either, but we seldom get to touch them again," Sulak said.

"Touch them?" Joe said.

"Some families keep a mind bond and when a relative dies, the bond disappears," Sulak said.

"I heard about mind-meld," Joe said.

"It goes deeper in families and it's constant," Sulak said. He paused and whispered, "Sometimes."

"Is your loss recent?" Joe asked.

Sulak flinched.

"I apologize," Joe said.

"Do not. I'm surprised and that feeling is disturbing. That's all," Sulak said.

Joe nodded, but remained silent.

"It was six months ago," Sulak finally said.

"Are there Vulcan rituals to deal with the loss?" Joe asked.

"We are not supposed to experience loss. Death is a part of life," Sulak answered.

"That sounds like a cold statement from a book," Joe said.

Joe looked straight into Sulak's eyes. Behind the cool mask of a Vulcan ambassador, Joe could see deep feelings. The human wondered what the people of Vulcan hid behind their philosophy and their alleged cold demeanor.

"I don't know much about your people, but my Debra would say that even Zen monks need a break sometimes," Joe said.

Sulak looked at Joe again, and Joe felt once more a sort of pull towards the other man - the storm had to account for a part of that strange feeling.

"I look forward to working with you, even for only a few days," Sulak said seriously.

Joe was speechless.

A bright flash of lightning broke the spell.

"You must rest," Sulak said. "Allow me to guide you."

Joe nodded and followed the other man.

On their way to their rooms, they saw Amanda and Joe traded a look with Sulak.

Sulak told his future bodyguard that he would meditate and that if Joe wanted to speak, he could come and see him.

Joe thanked him and said he'd try to get some sleep.

Once he had the door of his guestroom firmly closed and locked, Joe allowed himself to groan. Nothing could ever be simple in life, could it?

Joe lulled himself to sleep reciting Vendellian poetry - those love sonnets that Jane'l had written for them.

In the morning, there was no sign of the storm.

They all shared breakfast and then Kirk beamed back up to the ship.

Amanda was delighted when Sulak said the Starfleet officers could stay there and he'd beam over to his home and retrieve his luggage.

Joe offered to go with him and Sulak accepted.

"Why are you smiling?" Sarek asked his wife after Sulak and Joe left.

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

Sarek looked at the mystery that his beloved wife could be and he only arched one eyebrow.

Amanda's smile widened and Spock told McCoy he could show him something somewhere else.

"What was that?" Sarek asked.

"Pieces of the puzzle falling into place," Amanda answered.

She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"You are my favorite puzzle," he said.

Amanda beamed.

Sulak and Joe arrived in a house that looked nearly as big as Ambassador Sarek's.

"This is a beautiful house," Joe said.

"My sister's," Sulak pointed out.

Joe felt that there was much more than it sounded in such a simple statement.

They walked into the house and Joe heard someone running towards them. A moment later, a very young woman with long dark hair and eyes as expressive as Sulak's came in.

"T'Cor," Sulak said, "this is Lieutenant Joe Reaves of the starship Enterprise."

Sulak's sister saluted Joe.

"Lieutenant, this is my sister, T'Cor," Sulak said.

Joe saluted her in Vulcan and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss."

"I trust you to protect my brother," T'Cor said.

"I'll die to protect him," Joe answered seriously.

"This should be a simple mission," Sulak protested. "I'm not going to go and ask the Klingon Emperor if I can replace him."

"Nothing is ever simple," T'Cor pointed out.

"Do not worry, Miss. I promise your brother will be back here before you even miss him," Joe said.

T'Cor looked at Joe and said seriously, "I trust you with my brother's security, Lieutenant Reaves."

Sulak walked to his sister and placed his hands on her shoulders.

Joe saw her shiver, but he guessed it was not surprise; in fact, now that he looked at the young woman, Joe had the feeling that T'Cor was trying to hide something.

"I will be fine," Sulak said softly.

T'Cor nodded.

"Be strong when I'm gone," Sulak added.

Joe saw an old woman walk into the room. Her shoes and cane should have made some noise, but she was more silent than a cat. Joe saw wisdom and understanding in her eyes; he truly wondered why the people of Vulcan felt the need to hide the fire in them.

Joe finally recognized the old woman from the files he'd read.

The powerful T'Pau was a guest in T'Cor's home.

"She will be. Now, child, I advise you to go and complete your assignment as fast as possible. I shall stay with your sister and take care of her," T'Pau said.

Joe registered the surprise in Sulak and the accent T'Pau put on "care" in her statement.

After rapid introductions, both men beamed back to the shuttle.

Spock and McCoy joined them; Sarek and Amanda saluted them from one of the house's balconies.

"So, how was your trip over to Sulak's?" McCoy asked Joe.

"Fast and efficient," Joe said.

Sulak was impressed when Joe refused to say another word about what happened when he went with Sulak.

The shuttle arrived on the Enterprise and Captain Kirk welcomed Ambassador Sulak officially.

Lieutenant Reaves escorted Ambassador Sulak to his quarters and stayed with him to work on the mission with the Berkians.

It would take only three days at full speed to arrive to the Berkians' territory.

Sulak had read Captain Berko's reports over and over again, and he went over them again with Joe's help.

"Do you know what might help you?" Joe finally said.

Sulak shook his head.

"We should call Julian," Joe said.

Sulak tilted his head.

Joe thought the other man looked so lost it was utterly cute.

"My cousin," Joe explained, "Captain Berko. After all, he's the one who spoke with the Berkians."

"It might be a good idea. After all there are disturbing details about the encounter," Sulak said.

"Disturbing details?" Joe asked.

"We know nothing about them - except that the samples they gave your cousin are extremely valuable. We do not know what their true form is and they called themselves the Berkians after Captain Berko identified himself," Sulak pointed out.

"A bit too much for my cousin's ego, that," Joe joked.

"It could be a way to honor a visitor and a new race, or it could be a trap and something to leave no clue as to their real identity," Sulak explained.

Joe considered what the Vulcan had just said.

"You are cautious," Joe said simply.

"I know quite a lot about traps and it might not be an innocent choice to send me," Sulak declared.

Joe looked at the other man for a moment and asked, "Permission to speak, sir?"

"I meant it when I asked you to be yourself with me, Lieutenant. And you may use my name if you wish," Sulak said.

Joe smiled and said, "Only if you stop calling me by my grade. Maybe we could use our names in non-official situations?"

Sulak nodded.

Joe smiled again and if the Vulcan's face remained impassive, his eyes expressed warmth and friendship.

"Sulak," Joe said, "I don't know what happened to you on Vulcan and who's twisting your arm and why, but you should use your experience to kick their asses - or whatever is the equivalent in your culture."

Sulak froze for one second and then relaxed.

"The image works in both cultures," Sulak answered.

Joe grinned this time.

"I think you might be right. I'm glad you've been assigned to work with me," Sulak said.

"I'm happy to help you," Joe said.

The fire in Sulak's eyes danced merrily.

"Should I ask Uhura to call Julian then?" Joe asked.

"Yes, please," Sulak said.

Uhura got them a connection on screen within the hour.

Captain Berko looked very young, which surprised Sulak. He got an explanation when Berko briefly spoke Vendellian with Joe.

"Pardon me," Berko told Sulak, "but I had to offer traditional condolences to my cousin. My father is Jane'l's godfather."

"Your father is Vendellian," Sulak stated.

"And Mama is from New Jersey," Berko said. "It must be strange for you."

Sulak appreciated Berko's honesty.

"My father was from the mountains, my mother from the plain. You can't find more different on Vulcan; two different planets wouldn't be more different," Sulak explained. "Your heritage suits you."

"Yours is heavy," Berko stated.

"Your Vendellian side is sharp," Sulak said.

"I certainly hope so," Berko joked. He smiled and said, "I imagine you want to know what I think about our mysterious new friends."

"If you do not mind," Sulak answered.

"They do have things to offer, but they haven't stated their price clearly and I wonder if it's worth it. Of course, Starfleet is so eager to acquire more technology that the bureaucrats don't give a damn if we get stuck in space with faceless aliens who might well be the latest threat," Berko declared.

Sulak nodded. "What should I expect?" he asked.

"You want a piece of my mind off the record?" Berko asked.

"Why do you think we called?" Joe growled.

Berko smirked and said, "Well, I think they've got some hidden agenda, and you'd better watch each other's asses."

"Colorful, but straightforward," Sulak said.

Berko laughed softly and said, "You're quite an unusual Vulcan, Ambassador. I hope you successfully complete this mission fast."

"So do I," Sulak simply answered.

"I hope you can join us for Jane'l's passage rituals," Berko invited Sulak. "I'm sure he'd like to meet you."

Sulak was truly surprised.

"I thank you, but as soon as the mission is completed, I must go back to my family," Sulak said.

"Wife?" Berko inquired.

"Younger sister," Sulak explained.

"You can bring her along," Berko declared.

"We can discuss this when I'm back," Sulak answered politely.

"Ambassador Sulak, since we have a good connection, would you mind if I spoke to my cousin in my native language?" Berko asked.

"I understand your need to talk about your common loss," Sulak said.

The Vulcan saluted the Starfleet captain and went to the bedroom.

//What do you want to tell me, cousin?// Joe asked in Vendellian.

//How are you faring?// Berko asked.

//I'll quit after this mission, Berko. The kids need me and life's too short,// Joe answered.

//Gina told me. Jane said Deb is going mystic and waits for the rituals to apologize to Jane'l,// Berko said. //How are you, Vend'?//

The word Berko had used was to express blood bonds and fondness.

Joe sighed; he knew Berko would never leave him alone before he'd told him how he really felt, and his Vendellian heritage allowed him to know if Joe was truly telling the truth and how he felt.

//It hurts like hell to lose him. The last time I saw him, we had a quiet lunch and we said goodbye as if we had all the time in the world - and now he's gone to his next incarnation and I couldn't say goodbye to his carnal form,// Joe said.

//You can say goodbye during the rituals,// Berko pointed out.

//I'm human. It won't have the same meaning and impact for me,// Joe sighed.

//We'll be there for you,// Berko said.

Joe nodded.

//And maybe the cute Vulcan will come and join us,// Berko added.

//He's a Vulcan,// Joe growled.

//It didn't stop you from falling for him,// Berko smirked.

//It will prevent him from being interested in a human male,// Joe spat. //I'll see you on Earth.//

Joe broke the connection between the ships.

Joe was very pale when Sulak joined him again.

"I'm sorry your cousin troubled you," Sulak said softly.

"He's my cousin; that's what he does," Joe said.

Sulak looked surprised, but he didn't say another word.

Both men tried to imagine what could happen during the meeting with the Berkians until they reached the appointment location.

The Berkians hailed the Enterprise and Captain Kirk introduced the Berkian spokesbeing to Sulak on the intercom.

The Berkians offered to give many devices in exchange for just one meeting with Sulak.

The ambassador agreed. Joe made Sulak tell the Berkians that he'd come along.

The Berkians beamed the devices on board the Enterprise and gave coordinates for Joe to bring a shuttle to their home planet.

The devices were dreams come true.

"Timeo Danaos," Joe said softly before he boarded the shuttle.

"We don't know if they got Greek blood," Kirk said. "Be careful, Joe."

"I will, Captain," Joe answered.

Sulak and Joe left the Enterprise.

Five minutes later, their shuttle disappeared through a wormhole.

"Fuck!" Joe hissed when he saw the wormhole open in front of the shuttle.

"The odds are it is a trap," Sulak said calmly.

"Let's hope we make it alive to the other side and the Berkians don't plan to have us for dinner - literally," Joe said.

Joe piloted the shuttle through the wormhole.

On the other side there was nothing but a planet. No stars, nothing... Only one green and blue planet.

Joe tried to reach the Enterprise or the Berkians, but to no avail.

"Okay," Joe said. "Shall we land?"

"What does the scanner say?" Sulak inquired.

"That this planet is almost like earth. It might be a bit cold for you, but it's inhabitable," Joe said.

"Maybe the Berkians are waiting for us to land," Sulak said.

"And maybe I'm the Klingon Empress," Joe snorted.

"It looks like a trap, doesn't it?" Sulak said.

"Yeah, and I hate feeling like a mouse," Joe said.

Joe landed the shuttle and they started to explore their huge prison.

The planet was very nice.

It even would have been a great place to settle down - if it had not felt like a jail.

"They want to observe us," Sulak stated after one hour of exploration with Joe.

"You've got to be right," Joe granted him. "It must be their idea of learning about our cultures."

Sulak nodded.

"It doesn't mean we have to like it," Joe added.

"What can we do?" Sulak asked.

"Well," Joe sighed, "since we were brought here - wherever here actually is - through a wormhole, there is no point in taking the shuttle and trying to find a way out. I say we make ourselves comfortable until the crew comes and rescues us - provided that the Berkians didn't give them proof that we've been killed in a crash."

"They can't pretend that," Sulak said.

"They could do anything. They seem to have enough power to play with us as they please," Joe growled.

"No, I mean that if they make the Enterprise believe that we're dead, Captain Kirk will have to contact my family and my bond with T'Cor hasn't been severed. She knows I'm alive," Sulak explained.

Joe blinked.

"That's one handy thing you got there," Joe said.

Something happened to Sulak and Joe hoped the other man wasn't getting sick, but Joe finally realized that Sulak's cheeks were a bit green, which had to mean that he'd made a Vulcan blush.

Joe didn't want to embarrass his companion in adversity and he didn't comment on Sulak's reaction.

"I think we should make ourselves comfortable and wait for the cavalry," Joe suggested.

"What makes you think they're going to come and find us?" Sulak asked.

"Let's imagine the worst case scenario," Joe started.

Sulak nodded.

"The Berkians fake our death and Jim contacts your sister," Joe said.

"But she knows I'm not dead," Sulak added.

"So the Enterprise comes back to Berkian space to get us back and if it takes too long, Berko is going to join the fun - even if he has to steal the starship Empire to do so. If the Berkians are being unreasonable, they'll end up with Gina on their non-existent backs and I think even I wouldn't wish them that," Joe said.

"So, we just have to wait," Sulak said.

"Uh, uh," Joe answered, nodding several times.

"I haven't visited many planets. I can survive in the desert on Vulcan, but I don't know what to do here," Sulak said.

"Lucky for you I'm a very good camper and I know a lot about survival," Joe answered.

"Do you?"

Joe faced the other man and said, with a grin, "I take the kids camping each year and before Berko decided it'd be fun to join Starfleet, we traveled a lot throughout the galaxy."

"Why did your cousin want to join Starfleet?" Sulak inquired.

"To have a bigger ship than the cruiser we had," Joe chuckled.

"What is so funny?" Sulak wondered.

"May I tell you a secret?" Joe asked.

Sulak nodded.

"We told Starfleet we were merchants when we enlisted, but smugglers would be more accurate," Joe explained.

"Doesn't Starfleet suspect anything?" Sulak wondered.

The Vulcan was deeply surprised.

"I think everybody knows, but Berko is such a good captain that no one really cares. Besides we never dealt with truly illegal or dangerous stuff. For Berko it was all about having fun in space. This was how he met Gina," Joe explained.

"Really? What happened?"

Joe told how they rescued a young human years ago and how Julian Berko fell for her on the spot, how he wooed her and married her and how happy they were and what a great family they were for him and his two imps.

Joe shared some of his life with Sulak while they went back to the shuttle only to discover that it was gone.

They found tricorders, medical supplies and blankets and weapons, but no sign of the shuttle.

"At least they don't want to test us in extreme conditions," Joe pointed out. He turned to Sulak and asked, "This weather is not too cold for you, is it?"

"I can adapt my metabolism," Sulak said.

"You did not answer my question," Joe retorted.

"You are very observant," Sulak said.

"Sulak, I do not fancy having to remember what McCoy told me about Vulcan physiology. I don't even remember if you guys can catch a cold. What I do remember is that you don't like to be touched, but if you don't tell me if you're cold, I'll have to check myself," Joe declared.

"The temperature is bearable, but if it drops at night, as it should, I might be cold. Yet, I can assure you that I can adapt to stand it. You will not have to remember what Dr. McCoy told you," Sulak said.

"I hope to find us a shelter of some sort long before the night and I'll make a roaring fire to keep you warm," Joe promised.

"I'll help you as much as I can," Sulak said.

Joe smiled. Hell, if things were different, it might be pleasant to be here with the other man.

"Let's find a place to sleep tonight. We'll need to find our next meal, too," Joe said.

"I'll have to rely on you," Sulak apologized.

"I'll share my training with you," Joe said pleasantly.

"Thank you," Sulak said.

There was something in the Vulcan's tone that bothered Joe.

"Sulak?" he said softly.

"Under different circumstances, it would be a nice experience," Sulak confessed.

"I had the exact same thought," Joe admitted.

Sulak looked at Joe and saw in the human's eyes that he wasn't lying to please him.

Sulak smiled.

Joe found the other man so incredibly beautiful that his heart skipped several beats and he forgot to breathe normally.

"I'm sorry that you're trapped with me, but I'm happy not to be alone," Sulak said.

"It's my job to protect you," Joe said.

Joe looked at what the Berkians had left them and divided the load between them. Joe gave a tricorder to Sulak and picked one himself.

"I'll find us a place to stay, and you keep your eyes open for edible things. Just fruits and vegetables are fine - though I hope it won't last too long," Joe said.

"You could have meat or fish if you want. Do not change your diet on my account," Sulak said as they started walking towards hills that looked very nice.

"I know your people are vegetarians," Joe said.

"When survival is at stake, let's be practical," Sulak answered.

"I think there are enough non-breathing things to eat on this planet," Joe said. "You won't have to go through that because of the Berkians."

Sulak huffed, which prompted Joe to turn around and face him.

Sulak's big, bright eyes looked deep down in Joe's.

"You told me a secret, so may I share one with you?" Sulak asked.

Joe gulped and nodded.

"During my initiation, I spent months in the desert and at one point I had to eat flesh to survive. I told no one. I kept that from T'Cor when we formed our bond," Sulak said.

"Dear God, what happened to you?" Joe gasped.

Sulak opened his mouth to answer, but shook his head instead.

"Why is it so easy to confide in you?" Sulak asked seriously.

"You must have felt that I'm a good listener, that I never judge anyone and that I never spill the secrets shared with me," Joe answered.

"I don't know where to start," Sulak admitted.

"Take your time; I'm not going anywhere," Joe said.

They kept on walking, gathering fruits for their next meal. Soon enough they found a very nice cave that was near a wood and a source of fresh water.

They decided to settle there.

After checking the cave, which was covered with a very nice and warm variety of moss, Joe managed to get a field up to protect them from unwanted visiting furry animals - not that they'd seen anything bigger than a kitten.

"What do you know about the history of Vulcan?" Sulak finally asked Joe as they were gathering wood for the evening and the night.

Joe repeated what he'd read from the ship's computer files.

"There was a time when we were violent. We almost annihilated ourselves, but we were saved," Sulak said.

"Surak's teaching," Joe murmured.

Sulak nodded and went on, "We slowly became the way we are now, but we're only keeping our feelings in check. Deep down, we haven't changed one bit and sometimes it takes only the smallest thing to make us revert to what we were then. When I was weaned, I was sent to a master in the desert. It was only the two of us out there and there were few visitors. He taught me well and he taught me everything I needed to know about the desert. When I was fifteen, my master was attacked by a wild le-matya. I took care of his katra and I waited for someone to come and visit us."

Joe was rendered speechless. He accepted that different races had different ways to raise children, but to send a baby to be taught in the Vulcan desert that sounded harsh even by Vulcan standards.

"After some seasons, I ran out of seeds to grow what I needed. My master told me that someone was bound to come within a month because he'd missed a ceremony. He urged me to hunt to survive. I did," Sulak said. "I never told my father when he came to fetch me and I know my master's katra kept my shameful secret."

"It's never a shame to survive. You just did what was necessary," Joe protested.

"I should have died and not taken lives to sustain mine," Sulak retorted.

"It's only because you can't hear the banana shout its despair as you bite it," Joe said.

"I beg your pardon?" Sulak asked.

"Five years ago, I'd taken Deb, Warren and Jane'l camping. Deb didn't want to eat fish, saying that she would not feed from another being and Jane'l told her that it wasn't because she couldn't hear the vegetables and fruits scream as she ate them that they weren't alive. He told her to thank her food for the life and energy it gave her. Period," Joe explained.

"It's a good thing my parents never knew what I did to survive. My mother would have understood, but not my father," Sulak said.

"Surely, he couldn't blame you for staying alive," Joe said.

"He did blame me for being born," Sulak answered honestly.

Joe was stunned.

"Okay, I apologize if I'm rude, but what the hell happened to you?" Joe asked.

"My family history is extremely complicated," Sulak answered.

"Did the same thing happen to your sister? She looked shaken when you said goodbye," Joe said.

"She's very young and she just inherited a huge estate," Sulak said.

"How old is she?" Joe asked.

"Seventeen."

"That's young," Joe whispered. He paused and looked at Sulak before adding, "It's got to be worse by Vulcan standard."

"She had to prove she could be the head of our late parents' estates," Sulak said.

"Poor angel! I understand why she looked so lost. Is your family a matriarchy?" Joe asked.

Sulak shook his head and whispered, "Quite the contrary. Our father's elder brother tried to take everything from T'Cor. He wanted our father's estate and even our mother's. T'Cor had to go through a kind of initiation last week." Sulak paused. "It feels like it was a century ago," he added softly.

"Would your uncle be the one who had you assigned to this farfetched mission?" Joe wondered.

"Through some of his friends, though I cannot prove it," Sulak said.

"You are T'Cor's elder brother," Joe stated.

"I am not legitimate."

Sulak's voice was too neutral, his face was a mask of stone and his eyes were cold.

Joe felt that his travel companion could do with a slight change of topic.

"Our dear Amanda hinted that you're older than you look, but she never said your age," Joe said.

"How old do I look?" Sulak asked.

Joe could spot a bit of amusement in the Vulcan eyes and it made him happy.

"Honestly?" Joe teased him.

"Please."

"Well, you look twenty," Joe answered.

"Do I?" Sulak asked.

"My, my... This is a good day, I managed to surprise a Vulcan," Joe chuckled.

"You did, indeed," Sulak said.

"How old are you?" Joe asked.

"I'm thirty five," Sulak answered.

"No kidding!" Joe exclaimed.

"I swear it's true," Sulak protested.

Joe laughed softly and said, "I believe you, but you do look so young. Then again your people live so much longer than human; I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Besides, I'm just a year older."

"Are you?" Sulak inquired.

"How old did you think I was?" Joe teased Sulak.

"I thought you were about thirty."

"Well, I am your elder," Joe said.

"Appearances do not mean much," Sulak declared.

"Paraphrasing Shakespeare?" Joe asked.

"I don't know him well enough," Sulak admitted.

"I wanted to ask you," Joe began to say, but he stopped.

Sulak picked some more pieces of wood to give Joe time to gather his thoughts, but when Joe remained silent, he decided to be bold.

"Joe?" he called softly.

"You know Vendellian poetry," Joe said.

"When I came back from the desert and before I could really bond with T'Cor, I read quite a lot. Mother gave me access to everything. I remember, one day I was reading an essay on Earth haikus and there was a comparison with Vendellian pieces of poetry. I started reading those," Sulak explained.

"Your Vendellian sounds good," Joe said neutrally.

"I understand the nature of some of the poems I read - especially those I quoted with you," Sulak said.

"Vendellian poets must choose a new name to publish their work. It is the tradition," Joe said.

"I didn't know," Sulak answered.

"Their other name is a part of their art," Joe added.

"An interesting concept," Sulak said.

"The one you know as Inius, the one we quoted together," Joe's voice trailed off.

"Yes?" Sulak encouraged him.

"Jane'l," Joe murmured.

"Did he?" Sulak could not finish his question either.

"Some of his poems were written for me, but most of them were for the person he hoped to meet someday, and now only his words remain," Joe said.

"Why did you divorce?" Sulak inquired.

"We were not in love," Joe explained. "There is an old law on Vendellia that says that anyone who's not betrothed at twenty can be wooed by anyone. Official wooing is atrociously intricate and annoying. It's mostly a thing of the past, but Jane'l is... was so astounding that his aunts tried to have him wooed by charming girls. I knew him and his twin through Berko's family and I offered to help him."

"Did he like both genders?" Sulak wondered.

"Yes, he's..." Joe paused again and shook his head. "Damn! He was an old soul and he liked both male and female."

"He's not completely gone, so there's no need to use the past," Sulak said gently.

"Jane'l is gone."

"Not completely, and he'll come back. You'll meet again," Sulak said.

It was such a sweet thing to say that Joe was tempted to hug the other man - only it was a bad idea.

Joe took a deep breath and asked, "So you liked Jane'l's poetry?"

"He speaks of love and understanding. His style is warm and tender. His words move me," Sulak confessed.

"You are such a gentle soul," Joe said.

Sulak shook his head.

"Jane'l kept looking for his soulmate, and so did I. It's what's beyond Debra. She can't understand the love between us, but the lack of that little something that would have made us a couple," Joe said.

"It must be nice to find one's mate," Sulak whispered.

Joe had the feeling that Sulak had spoken aloud without his noticing, but he felt compelled to say something.

"Weren't you given a mate?" Joe asked.

"Only legitimate children of important families are given mates before they become adults," Sulak answered.

"And you were not acknowledged by your father," Joe said softly.

"And I'm young," Sulak added.

"If your sister gets to keep your parents estates," Joe could not bring himself to finish that sentence.

"I have no real status. T'Cor offered to share everything with me, but she found a good mate thanks to what our parents left her. She is engaged to a good man and I think he might well love her already, though I don't think they'll fully bond before a few years," Sulak said.

"What will happen to you?" Joe asked. He realized he was too curious and said, "Sorry, none of my business."

"I have years to worry about that," Sulak answered.

"You are really young by Vulcan standards," Joe said.

Sulak nodded.

"Fascinating," Joe said.

"That sounded like Spock," Sulak said.

Joe smiled.

They brought wood and supplies to their cave and Joe was delighted to see that the Berkians hadn't played with their camp.

"Do you have allergies or dislikes?" Joe asked Sulak before he started preparing their next meal.

Sulak shook his head.

"You should see Spock with Bones," Joe chuckled.

"They tease each other, but their trust is deep," Sulak said.

"Spock is more comfortable with him and Jim than with Christine," Joe said.

"It's understandable," Sulak said.

"Care to enlighten me?"

"I am certain you understand his situation," Sulak declared.

"I'm rather good at observing people, but when you don't know much about the culture of the person you're observing, it's tough. I try not to use the cultural references I was given as a child, but it is difficult," Joe explained. "And you guys are so secretive; I don't want to make assumptions about Spock."

"Some positions in the most important families are difficult to hold. Spock is the main heir of Sarek's line and it would be near impossible for him to show interest for a non-Vulcan woman," Sulak said.

Joe snorted.

"Joe?"

"So much for I.D.I.C., I guess," Joe answered.

"I guess," Sulak granted.

"So, come one day, Spock will be given no choice," Joe added.

"He can choose his mate, but she will have to be a Vulcan," Sulak said.

Joe snorted again.

"Your blood may be copper-based, but the inside isn't much different from us," Joe said.

"Really?" Sulak wondered.

Joe looked at Sulak and only nodded. The other man looked so young, innocent and caring - and adorably curious - that it was painful.

"Oh," was all Sulak said.

Joe was dying to ask Sulak what would happen to him when the urge to mate hit him, but he didn't dare.

"What's on your mind?" Sulak asked.

"And you said I'm a good observer," Joe chuckled.

"Complimenting me will not allow you not to answer," Sulak said.

Joe almost had the feeling that Sulak was practically smirking. If Sulak hadn't spent all his time with Joe on the ship, Joe would have been tempted to believe that Spock had given the other man lessons.

"You said T'Cor is now engaged, but what about you?" Joe asked.

"I take it you know what happens to us when we reach maturity," Sulak said.

Joe nodded.

"Hopefully, when that happens, I will have built a name respectable enough for a family to take pity on me. Otherwise, the need to mate might well kill me if I don't have a mate to help me through it," Sulak answered honestly.

"Nothing can be done to help a Vulcan going through that?" Joe asked.

"Only mating takes the edge off. I think it is the price for repressing our nature so much," Sulak said.

Joe nodded again and then looked away. Right now he really hated the Berkians for trapping him with a man who might well be his One, but who would never be even remotely interested in him because his heritage would make him try to find a female to soothe the fire in his blood come one day.

"I have time," Sulak said softly. "Who knows what the future holds?"

"Sometimes I think even the gods don't know the answer to that question," Joe said as he lit a fire.

"The gods? Plural form?" Sulak asked.

"Well, there are so many beliefs all around the galaxy," Joe said.

"You're really tolerant."

"I'd be the worst hypocrite if I weren't," Joe said.

Joe looked up from the fire and his heart decided to attempt an escape from his ribcage - Sulak of Vulcan was smiling at him.

If any Berkian had been near Joe at that moment, Joe would have kicked him so hard the Berkian would have ended up orbiting the planet.

Joe steered the conversation towards survival techniques and things they could do while waiting to be rescued.

Night fell and it was time to get back to the cave and attempt to sleep.

Joe would have loved nothing better than a session with Mr. Left, but with a Vulcan close enough to hear his heartbeat and his gasps, it was completely out of the question. Joe really hoped that the crew would rescue them fast because he wouldn't be able to stand the tension for long.

Joe handed one survival blanket to Sulak and took the other.

"I hope it'll be enough for you," Joe said.

"It should be," Sulak answered warmly.

Sulak started to meditate and Joe tried to imagine what he would tell Jane'l during the rituals.

Joe was the first to fall asleep.

When Sulak was sure that Joe was in deep sleep, he rose up, got rid of his traditional Vulcan robes and left the cave.

He reached the pond of clear water near their camp and he put his thin shirt off. He dipped the soft material into the pond and wrung it out.

He was about to clean his injury when Joe spoke.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Joe asked softly.

Sulak flinched.

There was a nasty cut on the Vulcan's back and it was still bleeding a bit.

"What happened to you?" Joe asked in a whisper.

Even though there was no visible satellite, the night was not complete - just like the day had been bright without a visible sun.

Joe saw the pain in Sulak's eyes.

"In spite of her age, T'Cor was allowed to prove that she can be the head of the family, the heiress of our parents. She was shipped to the desert where I grew up; she had to survive there for a week alone, but I followed her secretly. A nocturnal beast attacked her and I helped her. She was cut, but not poisoned - I was," Sulak explained.

"This is why she flinched when you touched her. She was in pain," Joe said.

Sulak nodded.

"Poor lamb," Joe said kindly. He looked at Sulak and feasted on the heavenly sight in front of him. Joe stored the image for later use and asked Sulak what the poison did.

"I spotted plants that can counter that effect," Joe said.

"Clear water helps a lot," Sulak stated.

"Let me help you. I swear I won't tell a living soul what you did for T'Cor," Joe promised.

"Her life is in your hands," Sulak said. "If anyone discovers that I helped her, our uncle will seize her heritage."

"I could never hurt you. Either of you, I mean," Joe said.

"I trust you," Sulak said.

"All right, then let's get you something better than your shirt to clean that wound and I'll crush the plants I noticed earlier," Joe said.

Sulak nodded and followed Joe obediently.

Half an hour later, Joe had improvised a balm for Sulak and he'd dressed the wound.

"I'm not a doctor, but I got good training between Berko and Warren," Joe said.

"I can feel it working already," Sulak said.

"Your secret is safe with me, and I'm glad I could help. I hope you heal fast now. When we're back on board, I'll borrow what you need from sickbay," Joe promised.

"Why are you so kind?" Sulak asked innocently.

Joe shrugged.

"Don't be a difficult patient and go to sleep now," Joe said softly.

"Yes, Joe."

Sulak obediently closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep.

Joe wrapped the other man in the blanket and in his robes, and then he tried to fall asleep again.

A couple of hours before dawn, Joe woke up because he felt cold. He thought they'd have to find a way to keep more warmth inside their cave for the next night if they weren't rescued.

In the morning, Sulak looked greenish.

"You're pale," Joe stated. "Is it because of the wound?"

"No, I'm feeling much better. The balm you made is purging me of the poison. I am cold," Sulak admitted.

Joe added wood to their fire and went to retrieve his blanket inside the cave. He gently wrapped it around Sulak's shoulders.

"Thank you," Sulak said softly.

"We'll need more wood, and I'll try to find something really nutritious for lunch," Joe announced.

"I can take care of the wood if you want," Sulak suggested.

Joe nodded.

"Would you like to bathe first?" Joe asked.

"You could go first, while I warm up a bit," Sulak said.

Joe wrapped the blanket tighter around Sulak.

"Sorry, I caught bad habits with my family," Joe apologized.

"There's no need to be sorry for taking care of me. I am grateful for your help and gentleness," Sulak said.

"You are a gentle soul," Joe said.

"Am I?" Sulak whispered.

Joe nodded.

Joe couldn't say another word. He wondered how Sulak's parents could send their son to the desert to hide him or possibly send him to his death. There was so much care and warmth in Sulak's eyes that Joe wondered how anyone could not wish to be near such a truly gentle soul. Sulak might become a good ambassador, but Joe had the strange feeling that Sulak would make a better philosopher or poet.

"I'll take a swim in the pond," Joe said.

He stood up and walked to the pond.

The water was tepid and it washed away some of Joe's worries.

When Joe walked back to his companion, Sulak had started gathering branches and twigs.

"The pond is yours and it's not too cold," Joe said.

"How deep is it?" Sulak asked.

"Not too deep," Joe said. "Can you swim?"

"I never tried," Sulak admitted.

"Either you keep to the side or I'll stay with you. I will not have you drown," Joe declared.

"Maybe I can swim," Sulak said.

"Let's try," Joe answered.

Joe really hated the Berkians when Sulak undressed. Joe may find that Sulak's soul was beautiful, but he was a gorgeous man as well.

Within five minutes, Sulak was swimming like a dolphin. By then, Joe had invented new curse words exclusively for the Berkians.

Joe was completely torn. Sulak didn't mind spending all his time with Joe - and Joe loved spending time with the other man - but at the same time, it was stressful to spend each and every hour with Sulak.

Sulak was a very good student and Joe shared with him all he knew about survival.

Sulak discovered that in spite of the cold at night he quite liked the weather and nature of the planet.

Two days turned into four and then six and Joe was becoming a bit edgy. On the morning of their eighth day, Joe left the cave before dawn after making sure that Sulak was asleep and not too cold. Joe needed some privacy to jerk off or he'd blow a fuse before long. Joe walked out of Vulcan ear-range and he lowered his pants. His arousal was pulsing and it didn't take him long to reach orgasm. He almost sobbed when he was done because he'd visualized the pretty eyes of Sulak when he came and it hurt.

Joe thought that Sulak was attractive the instant he saw him, but now that they'd shared most of their lives, tastes and beliefs, Joe was falling for Sulak - badly.

Joe had woken up when Sulak went out to wash his wound, and Sulak followed Joe that morning. The Vulcan understood the needs of his human friend.

Sulak had spent most of his life alone and he was enjoying Joe's company. They might be from different cultures, but Sulak enjoyed Joe's honesty, kindness and understanding.

Stuck together in the same trap, they developed a true friendship that went beyond Sulak's wish for companionship and Joe's attraction to the other man.

After each passing day, they organized themselves better and better. They explored their new territory and learnt together to make the most of everything they had at their disposal.

After a week of trips before dawn, Sulak gathered all his courage and managed to tell Joe he not only knew what he was doing, but also he didn't have to leave the warmth of the cave to do what his body demanded. Joe blushed bright red.

"I don't want you to catch a cold," Sulak explained softly.

"I couldn't... with you next to me... No," Joe murmured.

"I don't understand the urge, but I know it's a part of your nature. Don't mind me," Sulak said.

Joe groaned. Sulak was way too innocent - and beautiful - for Joe's good.

"I'll keep this routine," Joe answered.

"As you wish," Sulak said.

Joe's endurance was tested again when he saw that he could erase the scar on Sulak's back. The wound had healed and there was exactly what Sulak needed in their medi-kit.

The time it took Joe to work on his friend's back was long enough to allow him to notice how silky the Vulcan's skin was.

As Joe erased the very last trace of the wound, he finally felt that Sulak's temperature was not high enough for a Vulcan.

"Are you feeling ill?" Joe asked worriedly.

"I'm just not used to such a cool place," Sulak lied.

Joe tried to find better things to eat for Sulak and he kept a roaring fire in the evenings, but it was not enough.

Twenty days after their abduction, Joe sighed deeply as Sulak tried to hide the fact that he was shivering with only one blanket.

"Sulak," Joe called the other man just two feet from him in their cave.

"Yes, Joe?"

"We should share the blankets," Joe simply said.

Sulak didn't protest. He didn't say a word when Joe spread his blanket over his and slid next to him.

Joe knew something was wrong with Sulak the moment he held him and he noticed Sulak was colder than him.

Joe didn't know what to do to help the man for whom he'd fallen and he hoped Captain Kirk would find a way to trick the Berkians very soon. Joe didn't think he could stand it were anything to happen to Sulak.

More days went by.

There was no rescue, but Sulak's temperature did not drop more thanks to Joe's good care.

Then, the day of the first ritual for Jane'l's passage to his next incarnation arrived.

"Is there anything we can do?" Sulak asked Joe as his human hot-water bottle woke up at his back.

They'd built such a deep closeness that Sulak didn't have to say more for Joe to know what he meant.

"We can make our own ritual," Joe said.

Sulak nodded and they spent the day preparing everything.

That night, they shared a dream for the first time.

Sulak dreamt about his past and Joe got to witness some of it.

Most of the dream took place in the desert where Sulak grew up.

Joe got to see how well Sulak's master took care of him. They may not have had one strand of DNA in common, but the old master cared for the child as if he'd been his own son.

Sulak dreamt about the important moments of his life with his master. Sulak remembered how it felt to harbor his master's katra and Joe felt how important that period had been in Sulak's life. Sulak had dared ask his master's soul what he'd never dared to ask when the old man was alive.

Joe was really grateful that Sulak listened to his master and resorted to eating flesh to survive.

Sulak had been grateful for his master's trust and he'd been happy not to be completely alone.

After Sulak was rescued, he was forced to surrender his master's katra and the young man had been depressed because of the loneliness.

Joe understood how difficult Sulak's position had been.

Sulak's father had a legitimate wife when he begot his only son with another woman. Sulak reminded his father that he'd betrayed his legitimate wife with a woman who was from a different region and heritage. Sulak reminded his father that he hadn't been able to resist another woman and that his body had won over his mind. Instead of punishing himself, Sulak had been the one to pay the price of his birth and the innocent baby had been shipped as far away as possible.

Sulak's mother was too respectful of old traditions and she'd agreed to protect her lover's reputation.

Sulak remembered seeing his father's first wife. The good soul tried to make her husband change his mind and she came to see the child. She'd never given birth and she would have loved to have Sulak stay with them. It wasn't meant to be.

The good heart died when Sulak was a teen. His father didn't even need the help of any of his relatives to survive to the loss of his bond-mate. In spite of that, Sulak's mother married him and gave birth to T'Cor.

It was because Sulak's master was missing at an important celebration that Sulak was finally rescued, not because he finally had a sibling who was legitimate.

Against his father's advice, Sulak's mother allowed her first child to form a bond with his sister so they could be in touch with each other.

Their parents had both died in an accident leaving the young T'Cor a potential prey for their greedy uncle.

Sulak shifted in his sleep and he started holding Joe as much as the human was holding him. It was no longer because Sulak was cold; it was because the Vulcan was beginning to crave contact.

The scenery in their shared dream changed and both Sulak and Joe found themselves walking towards a fire that was lit in front of their cave.

A man was tending to the fire and when he recognized him, Joe ran to him in their dream.

"I can't materialize where you are, but I found a trick to come and visit," Jane'l said.

Joe hugged him and cried in the dream and in his sleep.

"Everything's going to be okay, Joe," Jane'l said.

"Promise?" Joe asked, drying his tears.

"Would I lie to you?" Jane'l asked.

"This is just a dream," Joe said.

"I don't think so," Sulak intervened.

"Your unconventional Vulcan is right, Joe. This is a part of the oldest Vendellian passage ritual. This is about saying goodbye to the past and welcoming the future," Jane'l explained.

"What do you mean?" Joe wondered.

"I mean that I have already found my next family and I can come back very soon. You'll never get to see me in this form again, but we are bound to meet again soon," Jane'l said.

"Rescue is on its way to us?" Joe asked.

"Things have to happen first," Jane'l said.

The Vendellian held out his hand to Sulak, who took it.

Joe and Sulak instantly woke up in each other's arms and practically nose to nose.

"Sorry," Joe murmured, his voice hoarse.

"Did we just share a dream?" Sulak asked.

"Do you really remember meeting your father's first wife?" Joe asked.

"That answers my question, and yes, I do," Sulak said.

"Wow."

"The ritual must have triggered a mind-meld of some sort," Sulak said.

"Strange and unusual," Joe whispered.

"I could almost feel and see why you are so nice with me," Sulak said softly.

"You are a good man and a fascinating soul," Joe stated neutrally.

"I can feel there's more. You can tell me when you're ready," Sulak offered.

Joe nodded minutely, but remained silent. How could he tell a Vulcan male that he'd fallen in love with him?

Now that Joe knew the most important things about his past, Sulak decided to confide in Joe even more.

Trapped with just each other to talk to, both men shared all their secrets over the next fortnight.

At one point, Joe was really afraid for his friend because Sulak was getting colder and colder, but his condition improved all of a sudden and Joe thought Sulak was getting used to the planet.

After two months, Sulak's temperature was more than normal by Vulcan standards. They could have stopped sharing the blankets and their bed of moss, but both men were reluctant to do so.

With each passing day, both men became more and more edgy.

On Joe's part it was because the second ritual for Jane'l's passage was coming closer and he wouldn't be with his family as he'd said and he was way too preoccupied to really notice Sulak's odd reactions.

Ninety-nine days after Jane'l's death, Joe and Sulak improvised again the second part of the ritual.

Joe completed the last part of the ritual with Sulak's help.

When it was over, Joe sighed deeply.

"You hoped he would materialize," Sulak declared.

Joe sighed again and nodded.

"Could he be with his twin right now? Would it be possible for him to appear to you later?" Sulak wondered.

"I don't know everything about those rituals, but I don't think we'll see him today," Joe said.

Joe was sad not to see Jane'l, but he was happy not to be alone right then. More and more, both men referred to themselves as "we"; they were stranded together and they became friends. Joe knew that he felt more than mere friendship, but he didn't want to spoil that - friendship with Sulak would have to be enough; it was already so precious.

"Maybe you'll dream of him," Sulak suggested.

Joe shrugged, but nodded.

Sulak placed his hands on Joe's shoulders and Joe smiled.

One strand of hair slid from behind Joe's ear.

"I should do something about that," Joe chuckled.

"I don't know. It suits you," Sulak murmured.

"Does it?"

Sulak bit his lip and nodded once.

"I wouldn't mind a more military cut," Sulak stated as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Want me to help you with that?" Joe offered.

"Please."

Joe left his improvised altar as it was and went back to their cave with Sulak.

"How short?" Joe asked.

"Very short, please," Sulak answered.

"No more bangs," Joe teased his friend.

"Honestly, I hate that. My father wanted me to look like him, but it's not practical and I really don't like it," Sulak answered honestly.

Joe smiled and gave a thorough haircut to Sulak. As he brushed small hair away, Joe felt how hot Sulak was now.

"Please, tell me you don't have a fever now," Joe said softly.

"I'm not sick," Sulak promised.

"When we're back on board, I'll ask Spock to shake my hand so I have a point of comparison," Joe said.

"It's been too long. We're lost now," Sulak whispered.

"We've been stuck quite a long time, but now the Berkians are going to have to face Gina's wrath and I think Berko, Deb, Jane and possibly Warren are going to join the fun. It may take time, but we're going to be rescued," Joe said. "Do you still feel T'Cor? Couldn't you contact her through your fraternal bond?"

"For some unknown reason - though I imagine that T'Pau recommended it - my sister completed her bond with her fiancé. There was no place for me in their bond," Sulak said.

"When did that happen? Why didn't you tell me?" Joe asked.

Joe placed his hands on Sulak's shoulders.

Sulak placed one hand on Joe's and both men shivered.

"I didn't want to worry you with that," Sulak said.

"Anything about you is not a worry!" Joe said.

"Why are you so nice with me?" Sulak asked again, his voice thick with emotion.

Joe gulped and stopped touching Sulak; there was no way he'd ever tell the other man about his feelings.

Sulak didn't push his friend.

The rest of their day was quiet.

They fell asleep on their shared bed of moss.

Joe dreamt of Jane'l. He didn't wake up when Sulak left the cave with one of their tricorders.

In his dream, Joe was back to Earth and he was walking towards a fire. Joe ran towards it when he saw that his dear Jane'l was tending said fire.

Jane'l hugged him.

"I was so sad not to see you after I ended the ritual," Joe said, deeply moved.

"You must have been channeling Jane because you and she performed the ritual at the exact same time. You were only two on your side, so I was drawn towards Jane, Berko, Gina, the kids and all your friends outside of your pretty trap," Jane'l explained.

"You saw them? How are they?" Joe inquired.

"They're fine. They'll get you out of here very soon," Jane'l chuckled.

"Gina," Joe simply said.

"Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't hear her yell at the Berkians," Jane'l laughed softly.

"Are they all really fine?" Joe insisted.

"Your friends from the military are bound by Starfleet, but Gina took her old ship out of dock and your old crew came with her. Jane tagged along and Deb and Warren refused to stay home," the Vendellian explained.

"The kids?"

"They're doing fine. Warren matured all of a sudden and I swore to Deb she'd see me again before next year," Jane'l said.

Joe tilted his head as he held his best friend.

"You know I wouldn't lie to you," Jane'l said.

Joe bit the corner of his lower lip and said, "Yeah, I know."

"Deb understands why it was meant to happen that way. I shared my last secrets with her and she's going to be fine," Jane'l said.

"Good... it's good," Joe whispered. "And I'm so glad to be able to say goodbye."

"We'll meet again very soon, Vend'," Jane'l promised.

Joe smiled and held his friend tighter. He inhaled Jane'l's unique scent, hoping to remember it for a very long time.

"Will you grant me a wish and do something for me, Vend'?" Jane'l asked seriously.

Joe knew and understood the depth of a promise made at such a time. He nodded.

"When you're rescued, Jane is going to ask you something unusual, but I want you to accept - however weird it may sound when she asks. Will you do as she asks, for me?" Jane'l asked.

Joe looked deep down in his friend's eyes and seriously said, "I trust you. I'll do what she asks."

"You're my angel, my Vend', my rescuer," Jane'l said fondly.

Joe felt himself blushing.

Jane'l tightened his hug in his turn.

"I know that you just promised me something really huge, but do you really trust me?" Jane'l asked very seriously again.

"Yes, I do trust you. The instant I met you, I knew you'd be one of the most important souls in my life," Joe answered as seriously.

"Do you trust me with you heart, your soul and your life?"

"I do," Joe declared.

"Then you must open your heart to Sulak and tell him how he makes you feel. You have found your other half, my Vend', and he's in danger if you don't show him how much you love him," Jane'l said.

"What do you mean?" Joe wondered.

"Wake up and you'll see," Jane'l said.

"But I don't want to wake up just yet! There are so many things I want to tell you!" Joe protested.

Jane'l laughed softly and kissed his friend and ex-husband one last time.

"I'm already on my way back to you. This won't be the last time you hold me in your lifetime," Jane'l declared cryptically. "Now wake up and make your soulmate yours for all eternity."

Joe shivered and woke up.

He had no time to mourn the end of his dream because he instantly realized that he was alone in a cold bed and it wasn't normal.

Joe got up and left the cave, calling Sulak.

He immediately spotted the blipping tricorder on a rock and he read Sulak's message. The Vulcan begged him to forgive him, but he had to leave before he ended up hurting Joe. Sulak added that he was really sorry.

Sulak had a better sight than Joe, but he never had to chase after teens in a wood at night and Joe's training with his kids came in handy.

Joe caught up with Sulak just before dawn, miles and miles away from their camp.

Sulak was shivering when Joe grabbed him and he was burning - even by Vulcan standards.

"Did you catch something? Are you afraid that I won't be able to help you?" Joe asked.

He knew he should have been angry with the other man, but he loved Sulak too much by now to hold a grudge for any length of time.

"Joe," Sulak panted, "you must go as far away from me as possible. I might survive what's happening to me but I'd never forgive myself if I hurt you."

Joe cupped Sulak's burning cheeks and forced the other man to look at him.

"What's going on?" Joe asked gently and patiently.

"Run as far as you can. I'd die if I survive only to discover I hurt or killed you," Sulak said.

The Vulcan looked about to cry.

"I'm going nowhere, Honey," Joe declared seriously, not even noticing the endearment he used.

"Please," Sulak begged.

"Why are you feverish?" Joe asked.

"It's a Vulcan plague. I may live through it," Sulak answered.

"I will not abandon you."

Sulak escaped Joe's grasp, but he was so feverish that he fell on the ground.

"Go away!" Sulak yelled. "I can't stand the idea of hurting you and very soon I won't be able to control myself. Go, please!"

Sulak started sobbing.

Joe knelt next to him and held him. Sulak was surprised to feel soothed by the touch instead of angered as he'd feared.

"You need to bond," Joe said softly. "You're going through Pon farr."

Sulak sighed and said, "I need more than a bond. I need to mate."

"Is there nothing you can do to lessen that need?" Joe asked. "I know this is very personal, but you are way too dear to me, and I'd do anything to help you."

Sulak placed a scorching hot hand on Joe's cheek and murmured, "So sweet and gentle."

"Even if we're rescued immediately, there are no Vulcan females on the Enterprise. Can't you do something to fight this?" Joe asked.

Sulak shook his head.

He looked in pain and it hurt Joe to see the man he loved in such a state.

"Would you consider it a threat if I touched you to relieve some of the tension?" Joe asked.

"You're a male," Sulak stated.

Joe flinched.

Sulak caressed Joe's cheek and added, "It was just a statement."

"Would it help if I touched you?" Joe asked again.

"This should not be happening. I'm too young. Maybe it's the way I was brought up, maybe it's this planet," Sulak said. He whispered as well, "Maybe it's you."

"What?" Joe asked.

Sulak shook his head and said, "Run away from me. Soon I'll be deep in plak tow and I could hurt you. I couldn't live knowing I hurt or killed you."

"And how could I live without you?" Joe gasped.

"Maybe the Berkians will end the experiment if I die," Sulak said.

The Vulcan tried to move away from Joe, but the latter remembered Jane'l's words and he held Sulak tight.

"I could not live without you, Sulak. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you," Joe said.

Sulak froze.

"You..." Sulak's voice trailed off.

"I love you," Joe said.

Tears rolled down Sulak's cheeks and Joe wiped them away.

"I need to mate," Sulak said.

"Can't I be your mate?" Joe asked.

The whole situation was completely surreal.

"You're a male," Sulak protested.

"I will not become pregnant, but I think I can take care of your physical needs," Joe said.

"A child," Sulak murmured.

"Another thing about which not to worry with me," Joe said rationally.

"You don't get it," Sulak protested.

"Do you want a child?" Joe asked.

Sulak fought to focus and shook his head. It was becoming more and more difficult to be coherent.

"I need to bind my soul with the soul of my mate. It's unbreakable," Sulak said.

"Sulak," Joe whispered tenderly.

"Um?" the Vulcan said, almost surrendering.

"I want to be one with you," Joe said.

"Why?"

"Because you are a bright and gentle soul and I can't imagine my life without you now. I'd leave Earth and bring the kids to Vulcan to be with you," Joe said.

Sulak paled.

"Or whatever you prefer," Joe added.

"If we are ever rescued," Sulak started.

"Jane'l said help is on its way to us," Joe interrupted him.

"If we are ever rescued, I will no longer be a Vulcan citizen because of the illegal bond between us," Sulak said.

"Illegal?" Joe gasped.

"The sole purpose of mating is to have children," Sulak explained.

"You could come and stay with us, then," Joe suggested.

Sulak blinked.

"The death of one of the bond-mates triggers the death of the other - except if there are family members to rescue the one who's surviving the dying mate," Sulak added.

Joe gasped.

"I don't know what to do," Sulak whispered softly.

"Let me save you," Joe said. "I love you so much."

Sulak caressed Joe's lips and said, blushing bright green, "I don't know how to bond or how to mate."

"I can help you with the mating part. Can you figure out how to bond?" Joe asked.

"Maybe it's like a mind-meld," Sulak answered.

"Will you bond with me?" Joe asked.

"Do you really want me?" Sulak asked incredulously.

Joe cupped Sulak's face and kissed him.

In the beginning it was just lips against feverish lips, but since Sulak was not trying to push him away, Joe soon deepened the kiss.

As their tongues danced together and Sulak melted in Joe's arms, they knelt in front of each other.

Sulak placed his fingers on Joe's face. Joe felt a pull and mirrored the gesture.

Sulak's instinct kicked in and he started the bonding with Joe.

Soon enough, their souls were wrapped around each other and their bond was complete.

Joe could feel Sulak's deep need to mate, but his quiet soothed his mate enough to make Sulak regain some control.

Their fingers left their faces and their lips parted.

They opened their eyes and saw that they'd been brought back to their camp.

"We are one now," Sulak whispered.

Joe caressed one pointy ear and kissed his mate's neck.

"I can feel you in my thoughts," Joe murmured in awe.

"And you are in mine," Sulak answered. "As always."

Joe felt one of Sulak's memories brushing his and he gaped.

"We fell for each other the day we met!" Joe said.

"I didn't know it was even possible to feel that," Sulak admitted innocently.

That earned him another kiss that got more heated than the previous one.

"I need you," Sulak panted.

Joe stood up and helped his mate up.

"Let's complete the bonding," Joe said simply.

Joe cut a leaf of the succulent they used as soap and led Sulak into their cave.

The depth of Joe's love was appeasing Sulak and he hoped their mating would be pleasant for them both.

Joe was astounded to feel what his bond-mate felt. The bond was so strong - maybe because it was so new - that they shared their thoughts.

Sulak was afraid to hurt his human mate when he finally surrendered to the needs of his body, but Joe managed to calm him down with his quiet and deep love.

"I don't know what to do," Sulak whispered.

Joe knew everything he needed to know about Sulak's past through their bond.

"Let's discover what you like, shall we?" Joe suggested.

Sulak looked at his mate through his eyelashes. Joe felt the anticipation, eagerness and love of his bond-mate; Joe could feel the other man's surprise as well. Sulak had never taken the more primal needs of his body into account. Joe was absolutely floored that Sulak had never touched himself and experienced with his own body.

Sulak had never questioned his lack of interest for a female bond-mate and Joe wondered just how many Vulcans never acknowledged their interest in their own gender because of the primal need generated through Pon farr.

Joe felt how much Sulak had come to love him and that could have made him melt on the spot.

"Jane'l was right," Sulak said.

Joe grinned and dropped on the moss the leaf he'd cut earlier; when he'd discovered this local form of natural soap, Joe had noticed that a leaf, if pressed, not rubbed, produced a clear liquid that he hoped would act as a lubricant.

"Telling you how much I love you is the best thing I did in quite a long time," Joe said.

Sulak smiled at his mate and Joe's heart threatened to explode with glee.

"My blood is about to betray me. Hurry, please," Sulak begged.

Joe toed his boots off, got rid of his top and undid his pants and got rid of them and his underwear in record time.

Since they'd found themselves stranded there, Sulak had seen his mate naked, but his time Joe was aroused and hard for him. Sulak could feel that he was pretty much in the same state.

Sulak had been so hot because of the blood fever that he'd left his robes in the cave. Joe unbuttoned Sulak's shirt and caressed Sulak's silky chest. Sulak shuddered and started panting.

Joe knelt in front of his mate and undid Sulak's shoes; the Vulcan's pants were next.

Joe could feel that Sulak's control was holding by a thread. He was so afraid to hurt Joe that Sulak was fighting with all his willpower not to fully surrender to the need he didn't completely understand.

Anatomically, they were not much different on the outside.

Joe could not resist the warmth he felt through their bond and he started needing to claim Sulak as much as Sulak needed to claim him.

Joe looked up and was astounded to see so much love in his mate's eyes.

Sulak held out two fingers, just like Joe had seen Sarek do with Amanda and when Joe touched Sulak's fingers, their bond deepened and almost made Joe come on the spot without another touch from his mate.

"Lie down, Baby; I'm not sure I could hold you," Joe pointed out.

Sulak knelt and then lay on the moss.

Joe was the first to snap and he started a deeper claiming.

Joe covered Sulak with his body and plundered the Vulcan's mouth quite thoroughly. Joe couldn't remember if there were feline-like creatures on Vulcan, but Sulak was meowing quite nicely.

The pretty sounds Joe drew from his mate were driving him crazy.

Sulak was burning under him; he was like lava undulating under him. Sulak may not know how to make love, but he had a damn sure instinct; his fingers trailed down Joe's back, causing the human to shiver in spite of the sizzling heat emanating from Sulak's fingers.

Their pricks were pulsing against each other.

Joe had the feeling that their hearts were trying to beat at the same speed and that made Joe feel like he was running a marathon or something.

Joe spread his legs and moved to and fro to get more friction between their arousals.

Sulak started speaking in Vulcan, but right now their minds were one and Joe perfectly understood what his lover said - the lessons Sulak had given him in his native language since the beginning of their captivity helped, but Joe's understanding of his mate's language went deeper than that now.

"Feels so good... More... Please," Sulak begged unashamedly.

"Anything you want, Baby," Joe answered.

Joe discovered that Vulcan ears when properly stimulated could be erogenous zones, but that Vulcan male nipples scored close to nil. The pulsing skin right where Sulak's heart was beating was a big hit and Sulak almost flew off the moss when Joe started licking that spot.

Sulak's brain was nearly fried when Joe's lips reached his arousal and licked him as if he were an ice cream and Joe had just been stuck in a desert for a couple of days.

By then and because of his new soul-bond with his mate, Joe was completely on autopilot.

Sulak didn't know what was happening to him as he was spiraling towards his first orgasm, but Joe's pride in his abilities to please his alien lover and his relative quiet allowed the Vulcan not to be afraid of the new sensations he was experiencing.

Joe would never have imagined that Vulcans could be so vocal, but Uhura on the Enterprise probably heard Sulak's shout of ecstasy.

Joe eagerly drank everything Sulak had to offer. His mate's come was much more salty and bitter than human come, but one taste had Joe already addicted.

Joe wished that Sulak would allow him to repeat the experience before his next mating cycle. That thought prompted Sulak to encourage his lover to keep claiming him.

Joe felt that Sulak was promising him more physical love than the average Vulcan could offer - then again, Sulak was not the average Vulcan; he was so, so much more. If he'd not been so deep in their bonding and claiming, Joe would certainly have cried because of the incredible gift Sulak was bestowing upon him.

Joe groaned when he saw that Sulak had barely softened. They were in for a rough session.

Joe grabbed the leaf and pressed some of the liquid on Sulak's arousal. Sulak gasped and panted when Joe coated his shaft.

Now that they were linked, Sulak blushed bright green when he saw Joe maneuver and press the rest of the liquid in his opening.

"Until you get the mechanics, I'll ride you, Honey," Joe explained as he positioned himself above Sulak.

Joe whimpered when he impaled himself on his mate's arousal.

It had been a long time since Joe last had a lover and on top of that, he was claimed by his mate, the man for whom he had fallen and who had bonded his soul with his. It felt like melting inside a lover - the physical and mental connections were almost too much for Joe.

When Joe intertwined his fingers with Sulak's to steady himself, it strengthened their bond and for one moment they were one soul flowing between the two linked bodies.

Joe didn't remember who started moving, but when he could think again as Joe Reaves he was riding Sulak like there was no tomorrow and the blood fever of his mate was spreading in him. Joe felt as if he were burning.

Sulak felt scorching hot in Joe and once his mate had located Joe's prostate, Sulak had taken it upon himself to aim for that spot with each thrust.

Joe couldn't stand it anymore and he came all over Sulak's stomach. Joe collapsed on his mate, but now that Sulak had been given the directions, he was far from being done with Joe.

When Joe opened his eyes again, he was still linked to his mate and he was the one on his back then. Sulak was pounding in and out of him.

Joe felt feverish. His legs were hurting him and at one point he started trembling with nervous spasms, but Sulak kept them going. Now that Sulak had had a taste of love and physical love, it was as if all Vulcan barriers were gone.

Joe came until he shot blanks.

Sulak came only once in all those hours, but Joe's ass was so sore that his mate's load felt like liquid metal and soothing balm at the same time.

Joe wondered if he was bleeding because he felt really sore and raw, but he was unhurt; the plant must have had hidden properties for which Joe was grateful. Joe didn't have to ask Sulak to check his condition aloud; his mate did so without a word, and Joe knew that they were both all right.

They also felt that their deep feelings and their activities before Sulak was too far-gone in the blood fever had sealed their bond and most certainly saved Sulak.

Sulak maneuvered Joe until his mate was resting on his belly in his arms.

They closed their eyes and woke up after nightfall.

"I could eat an elephant," Joe said when they woke up.

"Shall I bring us something to eat?" Sulak inquired.

"It would be very kind of you. I feel too sore to move. I think we'll have to mourn my ass," Joe joked.

"I hope not, I have plans for you and you have quite a lot to show me," Sulak deadpanned.

Joe grinned as he shook his head and said, "Cheeky."

"I can blame it on you," Sulak retorted.

Joe smiled. He felt shy when he said, "I love you so much."

"I am proud that you bonded with me," Sulak whispered. "You're making me complete and I love you. It's a pity I didn't know the name of that feeling I felt for you the evening we met."

"My precious lover," Joe purred.

They each felt in their minds the depth of their feelings.

"Is it that intense because of your going through Pon farr?" Joe inquired.

"Maybe, but the blood fever is gone, so I think that as long as I don't shield my mind from yours the way I have been taught to, the link between us will remain that strong," Sulak explained as he brought some food to their bed.

"I like to feel you so acutely next to me, in my mind," Joe declared.

"I like it as well," Sulak said.

"No shield between us?" Joe asked.

The wave of love Joe sent to his mate almost knocked Sulak off.

"Just our bond," Sulak promised, caressing his mate with his mind.

Joe beamed.

"Shall I bring more leaves?" Sulak asked.

Joe was elated that his mate and lover wished to keep making love even when the fatal urge had disappeared. He groaned nonetheless.

"I don't think I can welcome you before tomorrow, at least," Joe confessed.

"I can feel how sore you are, my love. I was hoping that you'd reciprocate and take me," Sulak declared.

Against all odds, Joe's cock twitched with anticipation.

Sulak felt it and went out to retrieve more leaves.

Sulak had never paid much attention to the succulent Joe had found to use as soap, but now the Vulcan caressed the one from which Joe had taken a leaf in the morning as if to thank it and he cut two leaves. He felt himself blushing, and he felt Joe's love and warm chuckle inside him. It felt marvelous to no longer be alone.

Sulak walked back into the cave and threw the leaves at his mate.

Joe grinned and admired his mate; it was only then that Sulak registered that he was still naked.

Sulak looked at his robes and then at the fruits they'd gathered - it was just the day before and yet it felt like a lifetime ago.

"Why should you cover yourself if you're not cold? And I know you're not," Joe said.

"It's strange," Sulak said. "It doesn't bother me to be naked, but at the same time I keep thinking that it's inappropriate."

"You are a work of art," Joe murmured.

Sulak told his mate how much he loved him in a thought and Joe beamed.

Sulak grabbed their basket of fruits and joined his mate in bed again.

They ate the native fruits in silence. It was only then that they realized how famished they both were.

They shared the last one between them, and Joe opened his arms to his mate.

"Being naked never was an issue in our family," Joe said as Sulak slithered into his arms.

"Really?" Sulak asked.

Joe kissed his mate's brow and shook his head.

"I was a bit prudish until my mom decided to ship me on vacation with my cousin Julian. God! Berko really got me out of my shell!" Joe chuckled.

Sulak smiled and Joe thought that he was becoming addicted to that particular sight.

"I think I can see some of your memories," Sulak declared, clearly in awe.

"Isn't it normal with a Vulcan soul-bond?" Joe inquired.

"Not that much," Sulak admitted.

"Maybe it is so because you're still welcoming me near you and you placed no shield between us and I'm perfectly incapable of screening you," Joe suggested.

"Highly plausible," Sulak granted.

"What do you see?" Joe asked, a grin blooming on his lips.

"I can see Berko making you comfortable with nudity. I see Gina swimming naked with you two and I see your children running around your house," Sulak said.

"We usually swim in our birthday suits. There's a big pond near the house and when the summer is too hot, it's great to dive and splash all together," Joe said.

Sulak smiled again.

"By the way," Joe's voice trailed off.

Sulak knew perfectly well that his mate was about to tease him, but Sulak played the game.

"Yes, Joe?"

"The kids are yours, too, now," Joe said.

"We're trapped here," Sulak protested.

"When I dreamt of Jane'l he said rescue was on its way to us, which means that soon we can go home - provided you tell me where you want to live," Joe retorted.

"Do you really think we're going to leave this planet?" Sulak asked.

"Yeah, Baby," Joe answered.

"It is completely selfish, but I could get used to the idea of spending my life with you here," Sulak said.

Joe remembered what his mate had mentioned before.

"If we were to remain here, I'd mean there would be no one to help you survive when I inevitably die long before you," Joe said.

"I don't want to live one second without you," Sulak stated.

Joe was ashamed with himself to understand how his mate felt. On the one hand, he didn't want Sulak to follow him in death, but on the other hand, he wouldn't wish to be kept alive if anything were to happen to Sulak.

Joe took a deep breath.

"Well, I believe Jane'l told me the truth. We'll be back to the Enterprise very soon and from what he said, I can introduce you to most of my pack," Joe said.

"What will they think of me? Our bonding is a surprise and a first in the entire Vulcan history," Sulak said.

"With just one look at me they'll see how happy I am and they'll adopt you on the spot," Joe promised.

"Really? But I am no one now. I no longer have any status," Sulak said.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're my mate and if you want I'll share everything I have with you," Joe said.

"I'm nothing. My sister is an orphan and I have no citizenship," Sulak said. He sighed and added, "According to Vulcan law, I'm even no longer Sulak."

"I love you more than life, Baby, but your people are really a bunch of twisted people," Joe sighed.

Joe held his lover gently and caressed him.

"Gina can make you a ship-mate officially. She was born in the Teworsol quadrant and has intergalactic citizenship, which is something she can share with whoever pleases her as long as she lives. That would settle your citizenship issue and if you need a name, I'll marry you officially so you can share mine," Joe said.

Sulak pecked his mate's lips and asked, "What did I do to deserve such a kind mate?"

"You stole my line, Baby," Joe chuckled.

Sulak smiled again.

"Will it be okay with you to come and live on Earth? With the kids?" Joe asked.

"I'd go and live in Romulan territory to stay with you," Sulak declared.

"Deb and Warren and the rest of the tribe do make things interesting, but it won't be that bad," Joe said.

"Do you really think your family will accept me?" Sulak asked.

"Yes," Joe simply said, his voice strong. "And my kids are also your kids now."

Joe could feel Sulak's anticipation and he briefly wondered if there was a Vulcan equivalent of hell because Sulak's father deserved to spend all eternity there for shipping his son to the desert where only an old man took care of him for years.

Joe just knew that Sulak would be a great father for Deb and Warren.

"I hope T'Cor will be fine," Sulak said.

"She has friends and a mate to protect her," Joe pointed out.

"You don't understand the repercussions of what I did by bonding with you," Sulak murmured sadly.

"Do you mean that your sister could be bothered even though she was on the other side of the galaxy?" Joe asked.

Sulak nodded and said, "She's not on the other side of the galaxy; Vulcan is not that far."

Joe chuckled, kissed his mate's cheek and said, "It was just an expression, Baby."

"Oh."

Joe felt that his mate was embarrassed and he held Sulak tighter.

"The bottom line is that your sister could be bothered because we bonded," Joe said.

Sulak nodded and said, "Our uncle could try to have us declared no longer citizens of Vulcan."

"I might shoot that man if I ever meet him," Joe said. He paused and added, "I have an idea."

"I know," Sulak answered cheekily.

Joe decided that the best way to retaliate was to lick his mate's ear and that rendered Sulak speechless.

Joe chuckled and asked, "So, do you think that we could hide our bond from the other Vulcans until we can snatch you away from them and take you safely to Earth?"

"It would be better if I could report and resign from the Enterprise. It would be too dangerous to go back to Vulcan. Someone might ask me to mind-meld with me to know everything that happened after our disappearance and there would be no way to hide our bond," Sulak said.

"Not even if you shielded it momentarily?" Joe wondered.

Sulak shook his head and said, "I can't. I love you too much and it would be painful to shield my mind from yours."

Joe mentally wrapped his mate in love and Sulak melted against Joe.

"So... once we're out of here, you give an official report for those who sent you here and you contact your sister to give her your new address and in the meantime, I'll have Gina plan something to make you disappear and bring you home. Once I resigned, we can take our time to figure out what we want to do for a living. That okay with you?" Joe asked.

"Won't people report seeing you with a Vulcan?" Sulak wondered.

"The house is secluded so we can hide until people forget about our little adventure here. Besides, I count on Gina to give you a new citizenship and identity," Joe said.

Sulak turned a bit to look at his mate and he said, "I trust you."

Joe melted, but at the same time he felt sorry that his mate had to leave his home world.

"Don't be sorry. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. My dear sister is bonded and protected. I'll stay with you wherever you go," Sulak said.

Joe could practically taste Sulak's trust and it was powerful, addicting and arousing.

Joe's cock twitched.

"Rested enough?" Sulak asked.

The combination of keenness and innocence in Sulak turned Joe on in three seconds.

"Oh, yeah," Joe purred.

Joe's arousal made Sulak blink. Joe's love was as burning as the Vulcan's had been during Pon farr, but instead of frightening Sulak, the fire in Joe fed his own love and he surrendered to their unique bond.

"What do you want?" Joe purred into Sulak's ear, licking the point for good measure.

Sulak took one of the leaves he'd brought and said, "I want you to show me how to..." Sulak paused, looking for the right word in Joe's thoughts. "Ride you."

Joe moaned and told his mate how much he loved him using their bond.

Sulak held out his fingers and Joe touched his mate. That particular Vulcan touch was becoming one of the sexiest things Joe had ever done.

"Got to prep you," Joe told his mate.

Sulak handed Joe the leaf. Joe maneuvered them until he was above Sulak.

Joe moaned when Sulak spread his legs. Joe pressed some of the liquid from the succulent leaf on his fingers and aimed for his mate's opening. Teasing would have to be for later encounters because they were both hard and needed to make love again.

Sulak might have felt ill-at-ease to have his human mate prepare him to be taken, but he was too deep in love to be embarrassed.

Joe found little resistance, which was a very good thing. He didn't find a Vulcan equivalent of the human prostate and was a bit disappointed; he hoped it would be good for his mate.

Joe tried to find the best position for his mate's first time and he finally decided that it would be best to allow Sulak to ride him at the pace that would suit him.

"Ready?" Joe asked.

Sulak was busy panting, so he only nodded.

Joe lay on his back and guided Sulak above him.

Joe meant to coat his shaft with more liquid, but Sulak had figured out what to do and the head of Joe's arousal was already swallowed into Sulak's tight heat.

Sulak moaned when he was fully seated on his mate's shaft. Joe was busy gaping and wishing his brain would not leak out of his ears before the end of the night.

Making love with Vendellians had been very sensual, but mating with his Vulcan soul-mate was frying Joe's nerves; his body and soul were both stimulated and he fell even more for Sulak.

Joe gurgled when Sulak used his astounding control on his body to make his inner muscles wrap and massage Joe's arousal in him.

Satisfied with the result, Sulak started a slow riding of his mate.

Joe became extremely vocal and that pleased Sulak beyond words.

As Joe offered his hands to his mate to feed their bond and offer support, Sulak modified his angle and yelped.

Joe's arousal had just poked near Sulak's heart and the feeling was even better than what Joe's prostate could do. With a feral grin, Joe flipped them over and started pounding in and out of his mate, aiming for his heart, literally.

At one point, their pleasure mixed together and they couldn't have said where they each began and ended. They were one when they came at the exact same time.

They warped into love and light and exploded in orgasm.

Joe softened and slid out of Sulak, who settled on Joe's chest and fell asleep.

It was late morning when they woke up again.

Joe and Sulak learnt to enjoy their bond.

Joe would have kicked himself for reacting like a teenager if he hadn't been so incredibly happy.

Sulak was discovering love and he enjoyed each and every little thing with his soulmate.

They formed certainly one of the most improbable pairs in the galaxy, but their bond was working.

They kept their minds linked and when they were not gathering food, swimming, or just talking about the future, they were deepening their physical bond.

"Do you have cats on Vulcan?" Joe asked his mate before they fell asleep after making love again that day.

Sulak snuggled closer to his mate and chuckled. The sound was so warm and rich that Joe felt incredibly proud to be able to bring that into Sulak's life.

"No cats per se. Why?" Sulak asked.

"You make me think of a big cat," Joe explained.

Sulak rubbed his cheek against Joe's chest.

"That's why," Joe said with a soft laugh.

Joe felt Sulak's smile on his skin and in his heart.

"I love you," Joe said.

"I love you, too, Vend'," Sulak whispered.

Joe wrapped his mate in thoughts of love.

"We can team up to convince the children that we need a cat," Sulak said.

Debra and Warren were regularly trying to convince Joe that they needed a dog at home, but Joe wanted a cat. Maybe Sulak could convince the kids that a cat was much better.

"Or we could have both," Sulak said, literally reading his mate's thoughts.

Joe groaned as he fell asleep. He just knew that his mate would team up with the kids and it would be... challenging. Suddenly Joe imagined what the holiday with all his family around would be like and he dreamt of warmth and fun.

It was not Gina and Uhura's voices over the com that woke Joe up.

It was not either the cold metal of the shuttle floor on which he'd been sleeping with his mate in his arms that brought him back from the land of dreams.

Joe opened his eyes and registered that he and Sulak where back in the shuttle and fully clothed. That was a good thing.

Well.

It should have been a good thing to be out of the Berkians' trap, but there was another Vulcan in their shuttle and Joe could feel his mate's raw fear - which was understandable since Sulak's uncle was sporting a nasty smirk.

Instinct kicked in and Joe touched his badge to activate the com.

Joe knew that no one on the Enterprise could help him.

"Gina, I need you here pronto, Vend'!" Joe growled.

Five seconds later, a lean, blond woman in a tight and revealing suit was beaming into the shuttle between the couple and the potential threat.

Joe got up and helped his mate, who was trying to school his expression. It tore Joe's heart to see his precious mate so afraid.

"Gina, we need to talk, in private," Joe announced.

She grinned, activated her com and said, "Eddie, lock on me and our adventurers. Mark, beam us over and leave the other here."

Sulak's uncle stopped smirking when Gina's orders were obeyed almost at the speed of light and he found himself alone in the shuttle.

He called the Enterprise with the badge he borrowed from the starship to be beamed back on board.

"Our transporter is offline, Sitheck. You will have to fly back to us, for which I'll be grateful," Captain Kirk said. "It shouldn't take you long."

Kirk signaled Uhura to close the com and he sighed deeply.

"The man is way too annoying," Captain Berko commented as he stepped closer to Kirk on the bridge of the Enterprise.

"Good thing I closed the channel before he had the opportunity to ask the Empire to beam him over here," Uhura said.

"I'm not suicidal, Lieutenant," Berko declared.

"Neither am I," Kirk said. "I've seen your wife deal with the Berkians and if she wants to beam a Vulcan ambassador and even one of my officers on board her ship, I'll let her have her way."

"Besides, it must be for the best. I don't like that man. Way too arrogant and exasperating," Berko said.

"Who could like him?" Spock declared.

Everybody on bridge turned to him. If Sitheck could bug someone like Spock, it meant that the man was just plain evil.

"What I'd give to be on the Speed Records," Sulu whispered to Chekov.

Gina's ship was a small legend, and everybody had the strange feeling that the former pirate ship was about to witness a page of history.

Except Berko, who was on the Enterprise, Joe's pack was on the Speed Records, waiting for him to be brought back by the Berkians after Gina found the ultimate threat against them.

The moment Joe materialized, he found himself wrapped in a huge group hug. He hoped Sulak wouldn't freak out more than he already did.

Joe still had an arm wrapped around Sulak's waist.

Debra looked at the Vulcan and smiled.

"Jane'l said you'd love us as if we were yours. Just like Dad does," she said softly in the ship's sudden silence.

Sulak looked at her. Her hair had grown back a bit and she looked afraid.

Sulak forgot everything about his uncle. He was back to the other side of their trap, he could feel Joe's unflinching love, and he could build the family he wanted.

"If you want me, of course," Sulak said.

Deb beamed and tears threatened to roll down her cheeks. She threw herself in Sulak's arms and then froze.

"Sorry," she whispered.

Sulak wrapped his arms around her and didn't let her go.

"It's okay, little one," Sulak said gently.

Warren laughed softly and said, "You look her age!"

"I'm just a year younger than your father," Sulak pointed out.

Warren gaped.

Joe grinned.

"Okay, we don't have much time before the royal green pain in the ass - no offense, Sulak," Gina said.

"None taken," Sulak chuckled.

She winked at him and went on, "Before he starts bugging us. What happened to you while you were wherever your abductors kept you? Why the emergency call, Joe?"

Joe looked at his mate, who nodded.

"Let us sit. It's going to take a while," Joe said.

Joe told them everything about their stay on the planet.

He shared with them what they found when they explored it, how the shuttle disappeared, and how they managed to survive together.

Joe paused briefly when he reached the part where Sulak was affected by Pon farr, but both were spared the inquisitive questions when Gina simply stated that they'd been forced to bond.

"Not the most accurate verb, but the result is the same," Joe said.

Joe and Sulak looked at each other and their friends could practically see love flow between them.

Gina knew quite a lot of things about the Vulcan population and their laws and customs. She hinted that she'd traded the information with a Romulan spy - she didn't say what she traded it for.

"So," she said, "you were planning to give an official statement and then go and hide on Earth before Sitheck could hurt either Sulak or T'Cor."

"That was the initial plan, but those fucking Berkians took that opportunity from us when they shipped us back here without warning," Joe said.

"Language, Joe," Jane scolded him. "Even though I understand."

Joe smiled at her.

"You must have been in deep sleep not to wake up when Sitheck beamed into the shuttle," Warren said.

"I bet it was the Berkians who had us in that state," Joe said.

"What woke you up? I know that I must have been yelling loud enough to be heard in my native quadrant, but you didn't seem to react," Gina said.

Joe felt the wave of sadness, fear and shame that hit his mate full force. He held out his fingers to offer support and love, and, much to Joe's relief, Sulak welcomed the gesture in spite of the number of witnesses.

"He touched me," Sulak said in a sad murmur.

"Why does it sound that bad?" Mark wondered.

The relatively young man looked like a puppy poodle on a bad day and he was incredibly innocent, but he was one of the best ship engineers of the entire galaxy - and Gina was fond of him (even if she had to be regularly convinced that trapping him with Eddie in a cupboard was not a good idea and that Mark would eventually catch the clue shuttle).

Sulak looked at Mark and saw only childlike curiosity and kindness.

"He knows we bonded," Sulak explained.

The string of Vendellian swearwords Gina used told those who didn't know Vulcan laws just how bad the situation was.

"Drat! I hate it when I've got to find a good plan in so little time!" Gina complained.

"That's a bleeding lie," Joe chuckled. "You love it... and you're the best. That's why it's you I called to our rescue."

Gina grinned and said, "Okay, I won't lie. Berko taught me to love situations like this and I would love to kick that arrogant Vulcan's ass. You can't imagine how much he bugged me during my negotiations with the Berkians."

"I can imagine," Sulak whispered.

"You're in our family now, Dear. We'll protect you. I'll start the paperwork to help you two, but you should beam to the Enterprise. Jim will be on your side, and I'm sure Bones wants to make sure your stay in the Berkians' territory did nothing to your DNA," Gina said.

"I'll stay with them," Warren said, his voice firm.

"Do not worry," Jane said, "we will stay with them."

"You, Deb and I?" the teen asked.

Jane nodded.

"I'm not sure my captain can allow you on board," Joe said.

"This is a family matter and Jim already told me he doesn't know much about Vendellian customs, so I can always say that we need to stay with you," Jane said.

"I didn't keep my word to you," Joe said sadly.

"Jane'l told me you witnessed his passage," Jane said.

"He said something about you. He said you'd ask me something," Joe said.

"Maybe we could discuss this in sickbay on your ship," she suggested.

Joe nodded.

Gina gave orders to Eddie and he rushed to contact the people who could help Sulak.

Joe contacted Uhura and announced they'd be beamed straight into the ship infirmary. Captain Kirk granted that request, saying he hoped they were all in good shape and promising that no one would bother them until Dr. McCoy gave them a clean bill of health. For good measure, Kirk sent Spock to sickbay and had security officers go and guard the door - allegedly to prevent the former abductees from escaping the infirmary, but in fact to keep Sitheck out of it.

Just before being beamed by Eddie, Joe and Sulak signed the one document Gina needed to help her new cousin.

"Mind if I go and see my cousin?" Berko asked Kirk.

"Be my guest," Kirk said.

They were all just arriving when Berko reached sickbay.

There were only Bones, Christine and Spock inside besides the travelers from Gina's ship. Two guards were already outside the door, very much ready to stop a rather pissed off Vulcan when Sitheck came back from his little, unexpected trip in space.

"Joe!" Berko exclaimed joyfully as he hugged his cousin.

"Berko," Joe said softly as he held his relative.

Joe held his cousin back, but he was still holding his mate's hand and that allowed Berko to feel what happened to the two men. Berko first blinked, and then he smiled warmly at his new cousin.

"Jim?" Berko called as he touched his badge.

"Julian?" Kirk answered immediately.

"I need you to stop the computer's recording here. I need to talk with our adventurers - off the record," Berko said.

"As you wish," Kirk answered.

Jim gave the appropriate order to the computer, and it announced that privacy was complete in sickbay.

"Do you trust them?" Berko asked Joe, a thumb pointing towards the other shipmates of the Enterprise.

Joe looked at his mate. Sulak was trying to ignore the other Vulcan in the room and Joe felt how afraid his companion was once more.

"I trust them," Joe said. He paused and looked straight at Spock when he added, "But if Sulak gets hurt, I'll kill the culprit with my bare hands even if it takes me ten incarnations to do so."

"Sitheck's mother might have been my father's cousin thrice removed, but it doesn't mean that I share his philosophy," Spock answered coldly.

"What the hell happened to you while you were prisoners?" Christine asked.

"We got another Dad," Warren answered proudly.

The teen wrapped his arms around Sulak's waist. Sulak then felt just how afraid and distressed Warren had been while Joe was captured - especially so soon after Jane'l's death; Joe got to feel that through their bond.

Suddenly, Joe's love and the well-being of their children became more important than anything else and Sulak forgot his fears.

"Do you really want me?" Sulak asked.

Warren looked at his father's companion and nodded several times.

"There is something we do in my family to always stay in touch," Sulak said gently.

"Yeah?" Warren asked.

Sulak nodded and reached out to touch Warren's face. Sulak waited for Warren's permission to touch him, and the teen leant forward eagerly.

Sulak looked at Deb and tilted his head.

"I'm a big girl," she said bravely.

"So what?" Sulak asked.

"You're channeling Dad," she chuckled.

"I'm bonded with Joe," Sulak answered.

Sulak extended his other hand and Debra took two steps to meet his gentle fingertips.

Joe was astounded by the ease with which his mate activated a family bond between the four of them. It was nothing as intense as their mating bond, and Joe could feel that the kids could not spot that bond through theirs, but it was a pleasant and soothing feeling, a bit like a constant hug.

Sulak smiled as he stopped touching his newly adopted children.

"There, now we're a family," Sulak said.

Warren was grinning and Deb was blinking.

"Sorry, but what is going on?" Christine asked.

"I was attracted to Sulak the instant I saw him and we bonded while we were on the planet where the Berkians sent us," Joe explained.

"I didn't know it was possible," McCoy said, looking at Spock.

"It's not supposed to be," Spock answered.

"That's only because of your stupid laws," Joe growled.

"I didn't make them," Spock retorted.

"You're right. Sorry," Joe said. "It's just that I couldn't stand to see anything bad happen to Sulak."

"I don't really understand your choice, but it's one of the various possibilities," Spock said.

McCoy snorted and Spock almost glared at him.

"You had to bond," Christine said, making it sound as a statement.

Sulak blushed bright green, which made Joe chuckle softly.

The look Joe traded with Christine made him flinch. She was happy for him, but at the same time, her poor heart was aching and Joe remembered how he'd felt when he feared nothing would ever happen between Sulak and him.

"All right, you're going to tell us why Sulak looked so afraid when you arrived while I check that you're both fine," McCoy ordered.

It didn't take long to do either.

Spock added some historical facts to Sulak's statement and all the friends of the new couple were growling by the time they were done.

"Gina is going to help us," Sulak declared confidently.

"She's something all right, isn't she?" Berko said proudly.

"She got us out of the Berkians' trap," Sulak said.

"I heard she had another name for them, now," Berko chuckled.

"I'm afraid to ask," Joe intervened.

"It's rather colorful," Jane murmured.

Joe looked at his former sister-in-law. Now that he really took a good look at her, she looked paler than usual and almost frail.

"How are you, Vend'?" Joe asked.

"I'm dying without my twin in this world," she explained.

Joe had feared as much and shared his fears with his mate.

"What may we do for you?" Sulak asked.

Jane looked at him and her irises slightly changed color, showing how moved she was.

"I need Joe to help me move to Jane'l's soul and be one with him again," Jane said.

Joe and Sulak looked at each other, not knowing what they were about to get themselves into, but willing to help the gentle Vendellian.

"I never heard about such a ritual," Joe said.

"I'm not surprised," Berko said. "It doesn't happen that often."

Joe and Sulak talked through their bond and agreed.

"I will help you," Joe said.

Joe was sitting on one of the exam tables next to his mate. Jane walked towards him and held out her hands.

Joe took her hands and let her do what she wanted.

Everybody, but Berko, gasped when Jane passed through Joe. She still looked solid, but she obviously was not.

Joe blinked at her when she resumed her initial position in front of him. Jane looked radiant - almost literally.

"You saved us," Jane declared. "This is going to be for the best. You have to trust us."

"Of course, I trust you," Joe said.

"We just have to wait now," Jane stated cryptically.

Berko started laughing softly, and Joe began wondering if he'd been right to agree to the ritual without knowing what it entailed exactly.

"Wait for what, Vend'?" Joe asked Jane.

It was Berko who answered first, "Wait for her to deliver your child, their next incarnation. It should take about three months."

Joe nearly missed the table as he sat down again.

"This is great!" Warren and Deb exclaimed at the same time, which made them grin at each other. "We'll help with the baby!"

"No."

Sulak's voice made them all speechless and they turned to him.

"I felt the energy," Sulak said, as if it explained everything.

Jane heard him loud and clear and placed one hand on her belly.

She beamed and asked Sulak, "Are you okay with this?"

Sulak nodded.

"What?" McCoy growled.

"I created twins," Jane said. "One belongs to Joe, the other to Sulak."

"How?" Warren asked.

His sister cuffed the back of his head slightly and he blushed when he understood what must have happened.

"I know you'll be good parents for us," Jane said.

"What?" Joe gasped.

"I can't keep this form, Vend'," Jane explained. "My soul will be reunited with Jane'l's when our new incarnation is brought into this world."

"What about the other baby?" Warren asked worriedly.

"We will give a new soul the gift of poetry. The result should be interesting," Jane said.

Joe took a deep breath and asked, "Is this really what you wanted?"

"This is what was meant to be," Jane said.

Joe sighed, but nodded.

Sulak chuckled.

They all looked at him.

"Life became quite an adventure with you, Vend'," Sulak told Joe.

Joe grinned - he felt his mate's love and it was exhilarating.

"I can't wait to hear from Gina so I can resign and take you home," Joe told Sulak.

"There will be so much to do," Sulak answered.

Joe took Sulak's hand just when his mate started being beamed out of sickbay. Joe didn't let go and was abducted again with Sulak.

The alarm resounded throughout the ship immediately because of the unauthorized transportation.

"McCoy to the bridge!" the doctor barked.

"We're trying to lock on the ship," Kirk replied sharply.

"You'd better, because they took Sulak, Joe and Spock!" McCoy yelled.

It was obvious that only the Vulcan signatures in sickbay had been targeted.

"Enterprise to unidentified Vulcan ship," Kirk barked. "Beam the Ambassador and my two officers back immediately!"

The other ship warped away faster than the Enterprise could follow.

"So?!" McCoy barked at Jim through the com.

"We lost them," Kirk announced sadly.

"Captain, we must go to Vulcan. Sitheck is going to try something against Sulak, and possibly against T'Cor," Christine said.

"Why?" Kirk wondered.

"Sulak breached an old law," Christine explained.

McCoy was blinking at his nurse. He didn't know she knew so much about Vulcan.

"How bad is the situation, Nurse Chapel?" Kirk asked.

"Sitheck didn't hesitate to kidnap them. He'll do anything. He could even kill them," she growled.

Kirk ordered Sulu to follow the Vulcan ship and told Uhura to contact Sarek.

In the infirmary, Deb grabbed her brother's hand, told him to hold Jane's hand and seized Berko's wrist.

"Eddie!" Deb yelled.

Without a communicator, she was heard nonetheless and they were all beamed over to the Speed Records.

Sitheck's life would end the instant Gina caught him if he did anything to hurt her family, and the members of said family who hadn't been captured all wanted a piece of the action.

Berko called the Empire to be beamed on board.

"Sure you don't want to stay with us?" Gina asked her husband.

Berko pecked her lips and said, "Sure, Vend'. I want the Empire there to help you if necessary."

She nodded and Berko went to his ship.

"Can you reach your fathers through your new bond?" Jane asked Deb and Warren.

Warren shook his head.

Debra frowned.

"Deb?" Jane said.

"I can feel Sulak's mind, but I don't think he's awake," Deb said.

Eddie walked to her and held his hand out; Deb took it. Thanks to Eddie's gifts, Deb could concentrate on the family bond.

"Wow!" Deb gasped when she broke the contact.

Eddie smiled shyly and went back to his station.

"I knew I'd spotted something between you," Gina chuckled. "So, what news?"

"I told Sulak we're going to rescue them. He knows that they're not alone," Deb said.

"Good," Gina said. "Now, Mark, Eddie, let's catch up with that Vulcan ship that stole my cousins."

Her two friends just nodded and started to work.

"Gina," Mark said, "whatever we do, we'll reach Vulcan an hour after them."

"Let me guess," she growled, "their ship is smaller and they got the latest engine."

"That, and a cloaking device," Eddie added.

"Which means Sitheck or some of his nasty friends have been trading with Klingons," Gina growled again.

Eddie nodded.

"I'm going to do something very final to Sitheck when I catch that slimy pain in the neck," Gina said.

The Speed Records was right behind the Vulcan ship, closely followed by the Enterprise and the Empire.

On board the Vulcan ship, Sitheck was trying to find a way to get rid of Spock without having too many problems. Of course, the man was only half-Vulcan, but he was the son of Ambassador Sarek, which meant that he could not be disposed of as Sitheck was planning to deal with his nephew and the human who'd been beamed over with him.

Sitheck and the crew of the ship had forced Sulak to reveal his bond - the mind-meld was performed while Sulak was still knocked out from the shot the three abductees got when they arrived on board. The strength of Joe's feelings forced the Vulcans to stop the mind-meld; on the one hand, they wouldn't dare try again for fear of being overwhelmed by the mates' feelings, but on the other hand, it confirmed that Sulak had bonded with a male and that allowed Sitheck to start the legal procedure against his nephew and his niece - or so he thought.

The shuttle warped towards Vulcan and their respective fates.

Amanda was answering letters when she felt her husband's distress. She rushed to his study as he was telling Jim Kirk that he'd take the appropriate measures.

Sarek ended the communication and turned to face his wife.

"What happened to Spock?" she asked.

One of Sarek's eyebrows rose.

"You're my husband, and I'm his mother. What's wrong?" Amanda asked.

"Sulak and Lieutenant Reaves were rescued about an hour ago, only to be abducted by Sitheck. They targeted Vulcan signatures on the Enterprise and Spock was taken, too," Sarek said.

"And Joe was taken, as well?" Amanda asked.

"Sulak bonded with him," Sarek explained, blushing slightly.

"Remind me how many laws he breached by mating with an alien male, will you?" she said.

Sarek gave her a thorough explanation.

"This is completely stupid," Amanda declared finally.

"Amanda," Sarek said softly.

She looked at him kindly and let her love for him flow through their bond.

Sarek gave her a tiny smile.

"What is bothering you?" she asked.

"I fear Sitheck is not going to care about what happens to our son," he said.

"What do you think could happen?" she wondered.

"By now, it is obvious that Sitheck wants to claim T'Cor's heritage. He's going to have Sulak tried by the High Council to have the citizenship of his brother's children annulled. I don't think Lieutenant Reaves and our son will stand by silently as Sulak is tried," Sarek said.

"Our son will not stand an injustice and Joe will want to protect his mate, like I would, were anything to happen to you," Amanda said.

Sarek felt his beloved wife's love and anger and that made him proud of his mate.

"Amanda, I would deny ever saying so, but I think you should handle this. I don't know what to do," Sarek admitted.

Amanda smiled at him and said, "Use your connections to locate that idiot Sitheck and do your best at the High Council. I have people to contact."

She was walking out, but she turned around on the threshold and added, "If that greedy incompetent tries anything against my son, I'll find a way to have him shipped to Romulan territory. Mind you, I think Gina would do it for free."

After that, she turned and left.

Sarek blinked once and regained his composure to contact members of the High Council. He knew that Amanda was a gentle being, but if anyone threatened her only child, she became fiercer than a demented wild sehlat - which said a lot.

Amanda practically ran back to her study.

She used her husband's privileged connection to contact Gina, with whom she'd talked from time to time after Joe and Sulak's kidnapping.

It turned out to be an excellent idea, because Gina could share her plan with the other woman.

Amanda's next call was for T'Pau, because she thought the matriarch would be deeply interested in the actions indirectly taken against T'Cor.

Before leaving her home for the headquarters of the Vulcan High Council, Amanda called T'Cor's house and warned Sajeek, the young woman's husband, of what was going on.

Amanda saw Sajeek smirk and she wondered what caused such a reaction.

"Do not worry for my wife," Sajeek said. "She is protected by more powerful connections than Sitheck's."

"I do hope you're right, but be careful," Amanda advised him.

"I will contact someone who has power over Sitheck," Sajeek said confidently.

Amanda bade him goodbye and hoped he was right to be so confident.

Sajeek was a charming man, but his family was far from being powerful, or even wealthy, or what was considered nobility on Vulcan.

Amanda hoped that between T'Pau, Gina and herself they could retrieve Sitheck's abductees.

Sitheck and his petty friends were in for a big surprise, but it was all a question of timing now - and Sitheck's deviousness was an important factor, too.

When the Vulcan shuttle reached their home planet, Sitheck had adapted his initial plan to include Joe and T'Cor in Sulak's downfall.

Sarek had been wrong about Sitheck, and since Sulak's uncle didn't want to face charges for hurting Spock, the Starfleet officer was kept in the shuttle. It didn't take Spock long to trick the man Sitheck had left to guard him. Spock stole the shuttle and went on two rescue missions.

As soon as Sitheck arrived on Vulcan, he had T'Cor beamed to the shuttle. She was sent with Joe in a region infested with wild sehlats without any weapon while Sulak was still drugged. Sitheck's plan was to expose Sulak's illegal bonding to the High Council at the same time as Joe would have to fight for his life - with Joe dead, Sulak would follow suit and Sitheck hoped that T'Cor would die as well, thus allowing him to claim the heritage. At least, if T'Cor couldn't be brought to her brother's side as his mate died, no one could save Sulak, and if it came to that, Sitheck would have Sulak's infamy fall upon the young woman.

It was a good plan.

It should have worked.

It might have worked if Spock had not contacted the High Council as he flew towards Joe, who still had his com-badge to help Spock locate him. That call started actions that made Sitheck's plan backfire nastily.

T'Pau entered the High Council chamber as Spock told them what Sitheck had done to T'Cor and Joe.

"Do you realize that you have endangered my protégé?" T'Pau asked the arrogant man coldly.

"Her brother bonded with a man - and a human!" Sitheck spat. "She should share her brother's fate."

Amanda, who was standing next to T'Pau, flinched.

"How dare you judge Sulak and T'Cor and dispose of them as you wish?" T'Pau growled. "It is for the High Council to decide what should be done. We know nothing of the circumstances surrounding that bonding - provided it is proved that Sulak did what you accuse him of."

"I saw everything when I did a mind-meld on Sulak when he was freed by the Berkians, and later when I had him beamed to my shuttle," Sitheck said.

"I guess you performed the mind-meld without Sulak's knowledge."

Everybody turned towards the woman who had spoken.

She was a priestess and a respected Elder.

She dressed in light colors that complimented her skin and made her hair look whiter than it actually was; she walked without a cane in spite of her respectable age.

Sitheck had the decency to gasp as he said, "T'Pol!"

She looked at the man in charge of the High Council and said, "Send guards to rescue T'Cor. She's the One."

The man paled and ran to obey.

"What is going on?" Sitheck growled, digging himself in even deeper.

T'Pol had dealt with harsher men in her time after she'd joined Archer's crew. She walked to Sitheck, power radiating from her.

"In your silly course to claim what is not yours, you never stopped to consider to whom your niece had been bonded," T'Pol said.

"Sajeek is good enough for her," Sitheck spat.

T'Pau almost growled.

Sarek was totally at sea, but he knew that if T'Pol had left her monastery it was because Sitheck had done something that would badly backfire.

"If anything happens to T'Cor, your life won't mean much and your name will be branded with shame," T'Pol answered cryptically.

Sitheck had brought the unconscious Sulak to the High Council chamber and the younger Vulcan had been tossed on the floor.

In spite of the amount of drugs in his system, Sulak regained consciousness when Joe was attacked by a sehlat.

Right after their being beamed down, T'Cor grabbed Joe's sleeve and forced him to run near rocks that might hide their scent from the hungry and angry sehlats in the desert.

Joe was badly out of breath because of the scorching hot air.

"Why is my uncle doing this?" T'Cor asked.

"Something happened when Sulak and I were held prisoners by the Berkians," Joe said.

T'Cor tilted her head like her brother did, and that made Joe smile.

"What happened?" she asked.

Sulak was Joe's elegant panther, but T'Cor made him think of a gentle kitten. Joe decided to trust his instinct and he told her everything.

"So, our uncle is ready to have the three of us killed so he can legally seize what our parents gave me," she said sadly.

"I'm afraid so. From what Sulak told me, he'll die when I die and Sitheck wants to use that," Joe said.

They heard the cry of a sehlat and T'Cor paled dreadfully.

She instinctively placed one hand on her belly.

"Are you?" Joe gasped, one finger pointing at her.

She nodded.

"I can't die," she whispered.

"I'll die before I let anything happen to you," Joe promised.

She tilted her head again and asked, "Do you realize that I'm probably stronger than you?"

"How could I face my mate if I did nothing to protect you?" Joe asked.

"You really love him," she stated.

"He's more than my life," Joe said.

"May I touch your bond?" she asked.

"How?" Joe wondered.

She extended two fingers and Joe shyly touched her fingertips with his. It was a gesture he'd associated with his mate and doing the same thing with his sister-in-law was somewhat strange.

T'Cor only brushed their bond and she let Joe feel hers with Sajeek.

"Your bond feels different. Is it...?" Joe couldn't bring himself to ask that question, but T'Cor understood.

"Love is love," she said. "My bond feels different because of quite extraordinary circumstances."

Joe tilted his head, which made her smile.

"I can see my brother in you. Your bond is strong and pure," she said.

Joe beamed.

"Do you know that we can keep katras alive, don't you?" she said.

Joe nodded and said, "Sulak explained a bit."

"Some are stored in priests or priestesses. Surak's katra was kept that way," she went on.

"Was?" Joe asked.

"The One, the person who keeps his katra, is chosen among worthy people. Surak always ends up choosing his host and his teachings are kept alive that way. My husband was the latest recipient of Surak's katra. Surak was the one who encouraged Sajeek to woo me and then complete our bond when Sulak and you disappeared. Sajeek is in love with me," she said.

"It sounds like a kind of symbiosis of some sort," Joe said.

"Nearly," she granted him. "And when we bonded, Surak's katra migrated into me and settled in the child we created. I had a long talk with Surak and he likes the idea of being incarnated again. I have the honor of carrying the spirit of Vulcan."

Another sehlat shouted nearer to their hiding place.

"I'll protect you," Joe swore.

"I don't want to die," T'Cor said softly.

Joe reflected that she was a lot like her brother; boldly, he decided to hold her. She was surprised, but she didn't protest.

"I can feel Sulak through our bond, can you do the same with Sajeek?" Joe asked.

T'Cor nodded and called her husband to their rescue.

"What about Sulak?" she asked.

"Still out cold," Joe said.

She looked terribly puzzled.

"Not awake," Joe explained.

She nodded and said, "I could try to shield us from the sehlats, but I don't know how long it would fool them."

"T'Cor, I want you to do that for you alone. Understood?" Joe asked.

She blinked, surprised.

"Understood?" he insisted.

"Not really. I must try to protect you if I can," she said.

Joe smiled and explained, "It must be a human need to protect damsels in distress."

"You are strange," she said.

That made Joe chuckle.

"Dear Gods, I hope we have many long years to get to know each other," he said.

After some convincing, T'Cor entered a meditative state that would make her invisible to hunting beasts.

Joe wouldn't have been sehlats' first choice normally, but the ones in the area spotted that piece of strange walking meat.

Joe was trying to escape a preying couple when Spock arrived followed by the Speed Records that was violating Vulcan airspace.

Spock used the shuttle to frighten the male sehlat, but the female attacked Joe and planted her claws in his leg, causing Sulak to feel his mate's pain and wake up in the High Council chamber.

Gina was the first to beam down and rescue Joe.

The sehlat didn't want to let go of what she considered her next meal, but Gina yelled so much and she was so pissed off that the beast decided it wasn't worth an argument with that creature with fair fur.

T'Cor rushed to Joe's side and offered him the comfort of a family bond until Eddie joined them down and healed the deep cuts.

"We must go and rescue Sulak," Joe said.

"We could ask Mark to beam us where he is," Gina suggested.

"The High council chamber is protected," Spock said.

Gina called Mark on board her ship and asked, "Markie, can you trick their force field?"

"Whatcha think?" came the cheeky answer.

"I think that you're wasting time and you could have us already there," she said.

They heard Mark laughing softly and they all materialized next to Sulak, who was panting because of what he'd felt through his bond with Joe.

Joe rushed to his mate and soothed him.

"T'Cor!" T'Pol exclaimed joyfully. "Are you unhurt?"

The young woman looked at her protector and said, "No."

"What happened to you?" T'Pol asked, her voice full of concern.

"Once more I see my teaching corrupted."

I was T'Cor who spoke, but T'Pol immediately understood that it was another katra giving a piece of his mind.

"What does she mean?" Sitheck asked haughtily.

T'Pol snorted.

T'Cor faced Sitheck and declared quietly, "Your niece is harboring my katra. Before my body died, you knew me under the name of Surak."

"Impossible!" Sitheck spat.

"How your brother begot such good children with the foul blood they were given is beyond me," T'Pol said.

"How dare you?!" Sitheck exclaimed.

"Remember your place!" one of the members of the High Council said coldly.

Sitheck stood proudly and opened his mouth only to have Sarek speak first.

"Sitheck abducted two Starfleet officers and their captain is on his way here to demand justice," Sarek declared.

"My actions were justified," Sitheck retorted.

"Greed is never justified," Surak said through T'Cor.

Sitheck glared at his niece.

"How do you justify beaming your niece and I in the desert to be eaten alive by wild beasts?" Joe growled.

"Sulak deserves to die," Sitheck said.

"Hell! Why?!" T'Pol spat.

Everybody looked at her as if she'd turned into an Andorian all of a sudden.

Gina liked the Elder for her reaction.

Sitheck pointed an accusing finger towards Sulak and said, "He bonded with the human who was taken with him by the Berkians."

"Did you pause to consider that their abductors might have forced them to do so," T'Pau retorted.

Sitheck snorted and said, "I saw that they wanted it."

"Only the men of this planet could make love the final frontier," T'Pol declared sadly.

"The law you mean to use here should have been repealed once our people were no longer at war and our number was secure," Surak declared through T'Cor.

The rest of Joe's pack arrived then, forcing the doors.

"At last!" Gina chuckled.

"They blocked me when I tried to beam us over," Mark mumbled.

Deb and Warren ran to their fathers and Jane stood by Gina. Eddie hugged Mark, who looked so disappointed that he couldn't beam them inside the High Council a second time.

"How touching!" Sitheck said.

"Watch your tongue!" Jane barked.

Sitheck opened his mouth again, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Sajeek, Kirk, McCoy and Berko.

Sajeek was relieved to see his wife unhurt. Surak let T'Cor surface again and trusted the people present to find a solution.

"I demand justice," Sajeek said.

"We will examine the situation carefully," the Head of the High council declared.

"What is there to examine?" McCoy growled as he tried to check Spock's condition.

"I can assure you, Doctor, that I am fine," Spock said as he tried to avoid the medical scan.

"When did you get your degree in medicine?" McCoy growled.

"I can assure you that I can assess my condition and if anything were wrong with me I would tell you, or my mother would ask you to check my signs," Spock said.

McCoy growled, but Amanda beamed as she stood closer to her husband.

"Starfleet is going to want Sitheck to be questioned. He kidnapped two of my senior officers," Kirk declared.

"I had to bring Sulak here to be tried," Sitheck said.

"From where I stand, I can only see charges against you," Gina told Sitheck.

He glared at her.

T'Pol laughed softly when she finally noticed the medallion around Gina's neck.

"Elder?" the Head of the High Council said.

"This lady must be right," T'Pol answered.

"She can't be! Sulak must lose his Vulcan citizenship!" Sitheck shouted.

"Sulak?" Gina chuckled. "There is no one answering to that name here. Now I'd be happy to bring my Teworsolian cousin back to our ship. There must have been a mistake."

Sitheck blinked, totally at sea.

Gina walked to T'Pol, winked and handed the other woman Sulak's new identity and citizenship.

T'Pol smiled and looked at Sulak.

Joe took his mate's hand.

"Congratulations and blessings for your newly registered wedding, Mr. Reaves," T'Pol said.

"Er... Thank you, I guess," Joe said, not knowing what Gina had done exactly.

"Congratulations and blessing to you, too, Lieutenant Reaves. I was complimenting a new Teworsolian citizen, Mr. Lucas Reaves," T'Pol said.

Sulak was blinking.

Joe looked at T'Pol and asked, "Official and registered?"

She nodded.

Joe looked at Sitheck and said, "Asshole."

Jane sighed, but grinned.

"What is going on here?" Sitheck asked.

"You abducted my new cousin and two Starfleet officers just before attempting to kill your niece and Joe. I say you're deep in it," Gina stated.

With a wave of his hand, the Head of the High council had Sitheck arrested.

"I'm afraid you will have to stay for his trial," the Head said.

"My pleasure," Gina said happily.

"This should be interesting," Jane whispered.

T'Cor looked at her brother shyly.

Sulak nodded slightly and said, "You look happy."

She bowed, and bright eyes shining with unveiled emotions.

Sajeek felt her love for her brother through their bond and as he held his wife closer to his chest he said, "Lieutenant Reaves, you protected my wife, and I'd like to thank you for that."

Joe felt how puzzled his mate was; he'd gone from criminal to respected Teworsolian citizen in five seconds. Joe decided to test Sajeek.

"It was my duty to protect her, and T'Cor is family now," Joe said.

Sajeek's eyes conveyed all his kindness as he said, "I had the honor of harboring Surak's katra long enough to know that he will be challenged to have you for uncles."

"Maybe all this happened to bring a new dimension to Surak's philosophy," T'Cor said.

T'Pol smiled and said, "My next challenge will be to have our laws reviewed. It's high time."

"Are we really out of danger?" Sulak asked.

"The High Council will never try anything against a Teworsolian," T'Pol assured him. She turned towards Gina and asked, "How could you arrange this so fast?"

"I was born in the quadrant and the Matriarch unofficially adopted me. She's like a grandmother and she knows that when I ask for a favor, it's never for a trifle. She knew that my cousin had been abducted with your Ambassador and when I told her my new cousin needed help she signed all the papers immediately," Gina answered.

"What does 'Lucas' mean in Teworsolian?" Berko asked.

"Isn't it just a rearrangement of 'Sulak'?" Joe wondered.

Berko snorted and asked, "With the Matriarch and Gina having a hand in this?"

Joe shrugged.

"Is there a meaning to my brother's new name?" T'Cor asked innocently.

Gina beamed and said, "It means 'precious' and 'cherished'."

"Gina," Joe chuckled.

"Hey! We had to find a great name for him," she pretended to protest.

"Lucas Reaves," Sulak whispered.

"You don't have to use it if you don't want," Gina told him. "You're still Sulak for us."

"Give us time, Gina. So much happened since this morning," Joe said.

Sulak felt his mate's exhaustion, reaction to stress and to the drugs Sitheck forced into them and the shock of the selhat's attack. He caught Joe as he was about to collapse.

"You should rest and eat," Amanda said. "Come home with us."

"All of you," Sarek added.

"We can beam back to our ship," Gina and Kirk said in synch, which made them laugh softly.

"By the way, where's your ship?" Mark asked Berko. "I saw the Enterprise right behind us, but not the Empire."

"Weird story," Berko answered, one corner of his mouth rising.

"We have much to share and we must discuss Sitheck's trial. T'Cor, Sajeek, you should stay with us; our household is used to post-mission whirlwinds," Amanda said.

"I suggest you all obey my dear wife," Sarek said.

"You make it sound like I'm a dragon, my dear husband," Amanda teased him.

"I would not dare. I'm being practical and I'm trying to save time," he answered.

"I must find out who betrayed my protégé," T'Pau said.

"Call us if you need help," T'Pol said.

T'Pau bowed and left.

"Will you stay with us?" Gina asked T'Pol.

"I wouldn't miss this evening for all the latinum of the Ferengis," she answered.

"Amanda," Gina said, "if you go with Mark, he'll beam us over to your home, and he'll add some crates of delicacies."

"You don't have to," Amanda protested.

"We have so many things to celebrate," Gina said.

Amanda smiled.

"Scotty could beam us once we step outside of the building," Kirk told Gina.

"No offence, Jim, but Mark is the only one I trust to beam pregnant women," Gina said.

"Women?" Kirk asked, insisting on the plural form.

"Yes, Jim; T'Cor, Jane, and me," Gina said.

McCoy caught Berko before he sat down on the floor.

Sulak carried his mate, giving them the signal to start moving.

Mark walked faster with Amanda in tow.

It was going to be a long evening, but a fascinating one.

As soon as they stepped outside of the High Council building, Mark beamed them all over to Sarek and Amanda's home.

"Are you going to be all right?" McCoy asked Berko, who gurgled something that sounded vaguely positive.

"I'll take care of him. Go and check Joe's condition," Jim said.

A still speechless Berko walked to his wife and nodded repeatedly as if to ask her if she'd really told the truth. Gina grinned and nodded.

"Mark spotted it when he beamed her into the shuttle," Eddie explained.

"So, it just happened," Berko mumbled.

"Looks like our little escapade to celebrate my tricking the idiots who'd taken Joe and Sulak was... erm... fruitful," she chuckled.

Kirk laughed softly because he figured out when and where Berko had become a future dad.

"Not a word, Kirk," Berko growled.

"Not one, I'm too busy laughing," Kirk retorted.

Berko glared, but Gina slithered into his arms and he forgot about anything else.

"It must have been meant to happen that way," Gina said softly.

"You okay with that?" Berko asked his wife.

She nodded, smiling, and said, "We're going to have a lot of kids in the family all of a sudden."

Joe was asleep in Sulak's arms and the Vulcan sat on one of the low benches in his hosts' reception room.

McCoy was finishing his check up when a shy Warren walked near them.

"Dad's going to be fine, right?" Warren asked barely above a whisper.

"He's just terribly tired," Sulak answered before the Starfleet physician could say a word.

Warren felt Sulak reach for him through their family bond and the teen felt that Joe only needed to rest, wrapped in the love of his darling mate.

Warren grinned at his new father and tried to send him love through the bond, which made Sulak smile.

"What are we going to call you?" Warren asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Sulak wondered.

"Dad is Dad. We can't call you Dad, too," Warren said.

Sulak was puzzled, and his mate couldn't help him.

"I do not know," Sulak answered.

"A'nirih would be a good name," T'Cor suggested. "It is the male who takes care of a child."

"A'nirih," Warren repeated.

T'Cor nodded.

Warren looked at his new father and Sulak nodded in his turn.

"I think I'm about to get the headache of the millennium," Debra announced.

"Come here," Eddie told her, waving her to move near him.

She obeyed and he skillfully massaged her shoulders and neck, making the pain go away.

"Gods! I could purr," she said.

"Eddie!" Gina growled.

"It's not because you're going to be hormonal that you can think I'm going to forget my own nature," Eddie said, obviously hurt.

"Uh?" Warren said.

"Thanks for your trust, Gina," Deb added, hurt as well.

Before the situation could grow into a family argument, Joe groaned, sat up with his mate's help and said, "Eddie's too young to father a child and they're going to need time to get used to the idea."

"What idea?" wondered Sulak.

"I'm not human," Eddie explained.

"So?" Sajeek asked.

"He needs to build a triad," Joe explained.

"With Mark and Debra," Sulak said neutrally.

Debra looked pointedly at the floor and Eddie turned bright red.

Gina was about to add something, but Joe stood up slowly and said, "Give them a break, Mommy."

Gina sobbed nervously as she said, "I'm going to be a mother."

Berko held her tenderly and grinned like the Cheshire-Cat.

Debra looked at Eddie and smiled timidly.

"This is great!" Warren exclaimed joyfully.

On cue, Mark arrived.

"Amanda is having dinner prepared," Mark announced.

No one said a word.

"What?" Mark wondered, completely lost.

"Nothing, Sweetie," Gina said gently.

Mark shrugged and looked at Sarek as he said, "Your wife didn't want me to help her."

"I'm not surprised. She doesn't like to share her kitchen," Sarek said. "Let's go to the dining room and settle comfortably. I imagine Joe and Sulak will wish to leave us early."

They all followed Sarek and sat around a huge table. Sarek served various liquors and beverages.

"How is your daughter?" T'Pol asked T'Cor.

"We're both fine," the young woman answered softly.

"What is bothering you?" Jane asked T'Cor.

"I have a special link with my child, because I met her future katra before she was made, and she doesn't like the expectations those who know about her incarnation have," T'Cor said softly.

"I'm only worried about you," T'Pol protested.

T'Cor looked at the Elder and said, "I know you are, but none of the others are - not even T'Pau."

"I hope you're not counting us in that lot!" Warren exclaimed.

T'Cor looked at her brother's adopted son and looked lost.

"It is an unusual alliance you made," Sajeek told Sulak.

"It is the best I could dream of," Sulak answered.

"Your blood will still exist thanks to T'Cor," Sajeek said.

Jane laughed heartily.

"You're a bit wrong, here," Gina chuckled.

Berko explained the Vendellian ritual Jane had used, and both Sajeek and Sarek ended up stunned.

T'Cor smiled at Jane, who beamed happily.

"Pardon my curiosity, but is the second child going to be half-Vulcan, half-Vendellian?" Sajeek asked.

"It's more complicated than that," Jane said. "Biologically one of the children will be human and the other Vulcan, but their souls will be Vendellians."

"Fascinating," McCoy said.

"It is a great gift," Sarek declared.

McCoy saw Spock flinch.

"I will go and help mother," Spock declared.

"You didn't tell me where you left your pretty bird," Mark told Berko.

Half the guests were focusing on the children that would be born soon, the other half listened to Berko as he told them how Scotty managed to boost the Enterprise and he was invited to beam over to catch up with Sitheck as soon as possible.

McCoy followed Spock. He was expecting to find his friend in the kitchen, but Spock was in the interior garden.

"Spock?" McCoy called softly.

"Is there something you need, Doctor?" he answered.

"What's on your mind? Why did you almost flee?" McCoy asked.

"There is nothing on my mind and I can assure you that I did not almost flee," Spock retorted.

"Spock, use my words against me all you want, but tell me what's bothering you," the physician growled.

Spock walked to his room and his friend followed him.

"Spock?" McCoy insisted.

Spock remained silent and went to sit on his bed; his eyebrow rose when the human doctor sat down next to him.

"Are you shocked that Sulak's bonding is accepted so easily?" McCoy asked.

"Do not be stupid, Doctor!" Spock almost spat. "Some of my compatriots might be limited bigots, but my parents made me more open-minded than that, thank you."

"From what was said, it's illegal for a Vulcan to mate with one's own gender," McCoy pointed out.

"That law pre-dates Surak's time, it's obsolete. I must admit though that I didn't know it was possible," Spock admitted.

McCoy was taken aback by the confession. "You mean there are extra-marital relationships, but that they're all heterosexual?" he asked.

"As far as I know," Spock answered honestly.

McCoy felt how troubled his friend was, and for once he did not joke. "What's bothering you?" he kindly asked.

"I don't know, and it's not logical," Spock complained.

"Are you jealous of Sulak because he's different, but everybody accepts him?" McCoy inquired.

"Vulcans don't experience jealousy," Spock retorted.

"Tell that to Sitheck during his trial," McCoy answered back.

Spock closed his eyes.

"You have feelings. You're just hiding them or trying to ignore them," McCoy said.

"Maybe you're right," Spock conceded.

"I never realized the weight of your education and your heritage," McCoy went on.

"And you don't know everything," Spock murmured.

The doctor placed his hand on Spock's and McCoy felt a wave a sadness course through him.

"I apologize," Spock said softly, moving his hand away.

McCoy was too stubborn to let go and he deliberately took Spock's hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

"Tell me what's wrong, damnit!" the doctor growled.

"Everything is linked to our biology, doctor," Spock declared.

"Could you try to be a bit more cryptic?" McCoy said.

Spock felt through his unexpected contact with his unusual friend that McCoy only wanted to help him and that he was deeply concerned about him.

"My conception and my birth were almost a medical miracle and you must know that I might not be able to conceive myself," Spock said.

"It would be difficult with someone not Vulcan or human, but it might be helped when you want to have a child," McCoy said.

"In spite of what my parents achieved, I will always be the mistake my father begot in his second marriage. Even if my father would like his blood to remain alive and if my mother would like to be a grandmother, I think I only might resort to adoption in many years," Spock said.

McCoy was beginning to feel the effect of the mental link formed through their fingertips. "T'Pring was a disastrous choice, but there are others who could stand by you," he said.

"I was a disastrous choice for T'Pring. I could achieve the greatest things for my world; I would always remain a hybrid child, an alien in my own home. In spite of what Christine says, I can't do that to her. I..." Spock's voice trailed off.

McCoy just pressed his friend's hand, offering friendship, comfort and understanding.

"I wish I knew how to make her forget me. I like her too much to imagine her bound to me; even though she doesn't want to believe it, life here would destroy her," Spock explained.

"And Sulak comes into our lives, finds his mate, bonds with him and gets a nice family," McCoy added.

"I never stopped to consider the possibility - even..." Spock forced himself to stop and freed his hand from McCoy's.

"Spock," McCoy said gently, "I could tell you that I'm going to pester you until you tell me what's wrong, but I'd rather tell you that you should know you can trust me."

"Something strange happened to me while I was suffering with the blood fever," Spock began.

McCoy waited patiently.

Spock looked pointedly at the floor when he said, "I remember the raw need to mate and how surprised I was by the power of that primal need. I remember being drawn to T'Pring because of the partial bond we had. I remember I wanted to keep Christine as far away from me as possible so I would not hurt her and I remember I never wanted to try and kill Jim, even for the one who should have been my wife."

"Sexuality is intricate on any planet," McCoy stated.

"I'm already too different. I don't need more differences," Spock said sadly.

"Oh, spoken like a son of Earth. Maybe I can apply some elementary psychology to you finally," McCoy said.

"This is not a joke," Spock said coldly.

"You should know I never joke with important things," McCoy retorted even more coldly.

Spock looked at him and said, "You're right. I'm sorry."

"I knew you could never live with what you'd done if you'd killed Jim, so I found a way to protect you," McCoy said.

Spock was surprised; he'd always thought the doctor had found a way to help and save their captain.

Now that the doctor felt he had Spock's undivided attention, he went on, "I know most people like to think they belong to a group, but that's by choice. Biology is an incredible thing that makes us all unique. Maybe to your fellow Vulcans you're not as purely Vulcan as they are, but I defy anyone not knowing your parents to tell you're only half-Vulcan with only one look at you. You are the product of two worlds and you can choose some of your options, while some others are biologically imposed on you."

"What do you mean exactly?" Spock inquired.

"I mean that you can decide to follow Surak's philosophy, but you can't help having green blood and the heart where humans have their liver," McCoy said.

"What's your point?"

"Did it ever occur to you that you might be attracted to both genders?" McCoy explained.

Spock blinked and answered honestly, "No, never."

"And now?"

Spock blinked again.

"Sehlat got your tongue?" McCoy joked.

"I... I don't know," Spock admitted.

"It happens to people throughout the galaxy, you know. Maybe Vulcans don't act on those urges, but half of your heritage is from a planet where it's rather common and in spite of your pretty green blood, your body might acknowledge that taste," McCoy suggested.

Spock looked still lost.

"We should go back to the dining room before your mother hunts us down," McCoy said.

"She would not," Spock stated.

McCoy smiled.

Spock looked at his friend, gathered his courage and asked, "Do you wish to have children someday?"

"Not alone, and I don't think I'd have enough patience for most women now, so I guess that leaves adoption if I find someone interested," he answered.

"I didn't know you..."

"Not even Jim knows," McCoy answered.

"Jim's your friend," Spock pointed out.

"He's my best friend, but that does not entitle him to know all my secrets," McCoy said.

"Why did you tell me?" Spock wondered.

"Figure it out," McCoy answered neutrally.

McCoy stood up and Spock followed him.

"Will you tell me more after dinner?" Spock asked.

"If you invite me then, I'll follow you here," McCoy said.

They went back to the dining room, where Amanda was about to serve the first course. McCoy could see Spock's brain cells twist and twirl in his skull and he hoped the invitation would be repeated so he could spend some more time with the one who'd become more than just a friend. McCoy reflected that Sulak and Joe's adventure might well have been a benediction for them all.

Amanda looked positively thrilled to have so many people in her home and Sarek smiled at her.

"Sarek?" Sulak said softly.

"What is on your mind?" Sarek kindly asked his guest.

"I know that our uncle tried to trap me with this strange mission, but to whom should I report what happened to us?" Sulak asked.

"You no longer have obligations towards us - and those who sent you into that trap do not deserve to hear any useful piece of information you might have," Sarek said.

"Well, I have nothing to say about what happened after our abduction. I even think Gina had more contact with those people than I ever had," Sulak said.

"You have no debt here," Sarek stated kindly.

"Are you going to leave forever?" T'Cor asked.

They all looked at her. She may have been given an adult status, be a married lady and a mother-to-be, but right then as she feared that she'd never see her brother ever again, she looked even younger than the number of her years.

"Absolutely not!" Joe exclaimed.

Sulak and Sajeek smiled at each other.

"I'll follow Joe to Earth or anywhere in the universe, but we can come and visit," Sulak promised his sister.

"And we can visit them if they want," Sajeek added.

"Really?" T'Cor asked barely above a murmur.

"Of course!" Warren exclaimed quite loudly, making everybody smile.

"We are family," Jane said.

"This is going to be very interesting," Berko chuckled.

"I hope you'll keep us posted on your next adventures," McCoy said cheerfully.

Eddie laughed softly and said, "I bet you'll hear from us through Starfleet, one way or the other."

McCoy grinned and said, "I can't wait."

"Jim," Joe called his captain, "speaking of Starfleet."

Kirk interrupted him and said, "I'm going to miss you, but you can leave as soon as you want."

Joe grinned happily and nodded.

"I'll empty my quarters and I'll go back to Earth on Gina's ship," Joe said.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to know you'll be here to keep an eye on her until I can hand the Empire over to another captain," Berko said.

Gina punched her husband's arm and growled.

"I worry about you, okay?" Berko said. "I trust you guys, but you don't have a doctor on board."

"Joe and Sulak know enough to help us through the deliveries," Jane predicted.

"Hey!" Eddie protested.

"And Eddie can help, of course," Jane added with a broad, happy smile.

"Why?" Mark asked innocently.

Eddie leant towards Debra and placed his head on her shoulder.

"It's one of Eddie's gifts," Deb said.

"Oh," Mark said, "and what's going on between you two?"

Eddie almost wailed.

"We knew we're not out of the wood," Deb said softly.

"What?" Mark asked.

"We'll tell you tonight," Deb promised.

"Really?" Mark said.

"We will," Eddie answered.

Mark smiled.

Joe shook his head, but smiled.

"Strange day," Joe said to no one in particular.

Sulak wrapped him in his love through their bond.

Eddie looked at Sulak and the Vulcan nodded and smiled. Apparently, everybody agreed to Eddie wooing both Mark and Deb.

Suddenly, Jane glowed, making the non-Vendellians gasp.

"It's normal," she reassured them. "The babies just linked with their new souls."

McCoy opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by Berko, "She's fine and won't let you examine her."

"He only wanted to help," Gina said.

"You know how Vendellians are with their rituals," Joe chuckled.

Gina sighed theatrically.

"Will you be able to communicate with your babies?" T'Cor asked Jane.

"Yes, but that's because my twin and I are going to be one and we're gifting the other with a part of our soul. Otherwise, it'd be impossible," Jane explained.

"Fascinating," Spock and McCoy said in synch, which made everybody smile.

"Can you communicate with yours?" Gina asked T'Cor.

The young Vulcan nodded and said, "Yes, but it is because I was harboring his katra first."

"Okay, it's official, I'm jealous," Gina chuckled.

Berko laughed heartily.

"What?" Gina wondered.

Berko was laughing too much to say anything, so it was Eddie who explained it all, "With Julian's blood, you could end up talking with your baby even before it's born."

Gina's eyes acquired saucer proportions.

"We'll have a lot to do before the babies arrive," Warren said.

"Gina can come up with a list before the end of dinner," Joe praised his cousin.

She beamed and started making a list.

Spock saw that his mother looked really happy and that made him happy, too.

It had been a very long day, so they all went to bed soon after dessert.

The guests could have beamed back to their ships, but they were to stay in Sarek and Amanda's home.

Joe and Sulak were delighted to be given the opportunity to rest in a bed after so many nights spent on moss.

Berko took to worshipping his wife for the great gift she was giving him.

Kirk stayed with Sarek, Amanda and T'Pol; they spoke about diplomacy and former missions.

Warren found himself with Jane while Deb went to talk to Mark with Eddie - it was time for them to mention the possibility of a triad to the other human in the equation.

Spock invited McCoy back to his room.

"Would you like something to drink?" Spock asked his friend.

"Yes, thank you. Surprise me," McCoy said.

Spock poured two glasses of blue liquor and gave one to McCoy.

"To what shall we drink?" the doctor asked.

One of Spock's eyebrows rose; he wasn't used to toasts. Then, he had an idea.

"To infinite diversity in infinite combination," Spock said.

"An excellent choice," McCoy said softly.

Spock was at a loss for words; he nodded and drank some of the liquor.

"You look so lost, my friend," the doctor declared.

"I am," Spock answered bravely.

"This certainly won't mean much to you, but I'd never hurt you on purpose," McCoy promised.

"I know," Spock said in a whisper.

McCoy smiled widely.

They sat together and played chess in silence. They drank the liquor Amanda had given her son years ago and fought each other on the chessboard; in the end, Spock won.

"Damn! You're good!" McCoy said good-naturedly.

Spock looked at his friend and said, "If you knew Vulcan strategy, you'd beat me."

"Really?" McCoy asked.

"I would not lie to you," Spock answered.

McCoy grinned and said, "Then maybe someone could teach me Vulcan strategy."

"What would be the point if I were to teach you that?" Spock wondered.

"We'd get to spend time together and no one would wonder why if we play chess together in the rec room from time to time," the doctor said. "Unless you don't want to."

"I'd like that," Spock murmured.

Once more, Spock looked lost.

"Is there anything I could do to help you?" McCoy asked.

"Could you help me understand?" Spock said.

McCoy nodded.

"May I?" Spock asked, bringing his right hand near his friend's face.

McCoy gulped, but allowed the mind-meld; he openly shared his past experiences with Spock and the inexperienced Vulcan began to understand what he felt.

The doctor was a bit sad when Spock's consciousness left him, but then he saw the most beautiful thing in the world when Spock smiled at him.

"I understand better," Spock declared.

"One last thing," McCoy said.

"What?" Spock wondered.

McCoy's hands gently framed the Vulcan's face and he slowly leant towards him until their lips brushed.

Since Spock did not push him away, McCoy held his friend closer and deepened the kiss. Spock was so surprised that the sensual contact made him generate another mind-meld with McCoy. If the Vulcan was puzzled by the feelings brought up by such a supposedly simple contact, the human was astounded by the love he felt for the other man - and acknowledged finally.

When their lips parted, the contact broke; Spock gasped and McCoy whimpered.

Spock brought his fingers to his lips and touched them.

"Fascinating," Spock whispered.

McCoy blushed.

"Thank you," Spock added softly. "I didn't know it could be so nice."

McCoy realized that he'd just given Spock his very first kiss and he blushed even more.

"The bond I felt," McCoy started, but he could not end his sentence.

"I guess a full bond would make everything much stronger," Spock said.

McCoy didn't say another word.

"There's a catch with such a bond," Spock added.

"What is it?" the doctor asked neutrally.

"If you don't have family members to help you cope with the loss of your bond-mate, you don't survive the death of your mate," Spock explained.

McCoy looked at Spock and said, "Joe and Sulak are going to have biological children."

They didn't need to say that such a thing would never happen to them.

Spock took a deep breath and said, "The link doesn't need to be biological."

McCoy blinked, wondering if he was reading the fine lines correctly. He decided to take another bold step and asked, "You have time before you're forced to make a decision and bond, right?"

"I have time, indeed. Years at least. Years before I am forced to bond with someone I might not want to bond with," Spock said.

"You can bond before that," McCoy said very neutrally.

"I can," he answered.

McCoy smiled. "And you let me kiss you," he said.

"I did," Spock answered.

McCoy chuckled and said, "You're infuriating, you know."

"Would you like it any other way?" Spock asked.

"No," McCoy said.

The doctor leant towards Spock and gave him another kiss.

"I'll go to my room now," McCoy announced.

"As you wish," Spock said.

"I do not have your self-control," McCoy apologized.

"And this is not the time and place to explore this," Spock added.

McCoy nodded and walked to the door. Spock followed him and the doctor placed his hand on Spock's arm and squeezed. "Good night, Spock," he said.

"Good night, Leonard," Spock answered.

McCoy beamed and left; he knew he wouldn't find sleep before long - too much had happened in just one day.

Spock went back to sit on his bed and he tried to meditate, but instead his thoughts wandered. His lips were still tingling and his future seemed a bit brighter thanks to the most exasperating human he knew.

While Spock and McCoy were discussing chess, Julian and Gina were celebrating.

Berko kissed her as if the universe would end in the next minute.

"I take it you're happy we'll be parents soon," she panted with a smile.

He nodded several times; he was grinning so much that he couldn't speak.

"It must have been meant to happen. I know we both got our shots," she said.

"It's a blessing and I love you," he said softly, deeply moved.

"We really have an incredible family," Gina said.

"And it's going to be even more incredible," he added.

"I'm really happy that the four cousins are going to be approximately the same age," Gina said.

Berko said nothing and Gina felt that his silence meant something was bothering him.

"Julian?" she said softly.

"I hope we can make all those kids happy," he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Our baby is going to be human and Vendellian," Berko said.

"That shouldn't be too tough to live with. Vendellians and humans get along fairly well," she stated.

He smiled and went on, "I don't worry too much for Joe's kid."

"Maybe you should," Gina chuckled. "Or maybe you should worry for us. Jane is going to give birth to a human child with the reunited soul of Jane'l and hers."

"That kid is going to be a challenge, but Joe's kids are a challenge," Berko said, laughing. "I worry much more for Sulak's child; a Vulcan with a Vendellian soul, it's going to be tough for the poor kid."

"I'm sure Sulak will find a way to make his baby acknowledge his two heritages - and Surak's soul his going to be his new cousin. I'm sure Lucas's kid is going to give the universe some great poetry. We'll be there to love them all," she said.

He chuckled and looked away.

"Vend'?" she purred.

He looked at her and there was so much love and mirth in his eyes that Gina felt like making love to her husband then and there, right against the door.

"I wonder what's funnier," he said, "picturing Joe and Sulak making use of the bed in their guestroom or Mark gaping as Eddie explains his sexuality and announces that Mark and Deb are both meant to be his mates."

Gina groaned and said, "It's a good thing our triad is too young to procreate, otherwise I think we'd be in trouble."

"Jane and you are going to produce Vendellian hormones very soon and we're all going to be affected," he chuckled.

"Affected?" she asked.

"We're all going to be very horny," he explained.

She groaned again.

"Wanna train for when it happens?" he asked, caressing her.

"I'm not in the mood to train for that," she said quietly.

Berko blinked.

"I'd rather celebrate. What do you say you activate the privacy field?" she suggested with a saucy grin.

He did just that as fast as he could.

In the room next door, Joe and Sulak were trying to realize just how much had happened since they woke up in the shuttle.

Joe laughed softly.

"Joe?"

"It's nothing, Lucas," Joe chuckled.

The half-glare, half-pout Sulak gave him made Joe's laughter explode.

"You're impossible," Sulak said.

Joe gathered his mate in his arms and kissed him softly.

"Are you all right with our new life?" Joe asked his mate seriously.

Sulak nodded.

"About every aspect of it?" Joe insisted.

"Everything, from the new name to our future children, passing by my outing and my uncle's trial," Sulak said.

"I'm still a bit shaken by whatever Sitheck gave me, but I'd love to make love to my husband," Joe whispered sexily. "We'll be awfully busy even before we realize it."

Sulak caressed his mate's arms and said, "I'd like nothing better, but could we first check that Jane is fine?"

Joe wrapped his mate in his love and kissed him.

"Joe?"

"You are going to be a fantastic father," Joe declared.

Sulak smiled, which made Joe melt.

"Let's go and see Jane," Joe said.

Hand in hand, they went to the room occupied by Jane, Warren, and - in theory - Deb.

Warren answered the door. "Dad, A'nirih!" he exclaimed joyfully.

Sulak smiled at his adopted son, who beamed at him.

"Already worrying for me, Joe?" Jane teased her former brother-in-law.

"I was the one wishing to make sure you are all right," Sulak announced.

She looked at him and knew he wasn't covering for his husband and mate's wish. Jane grinned.

"Would you like to meet your child's consciousness?" she asked as if it were the most natural and common thing in the world.

"So soon?" Sulak asked.

"The advantage of being a Vendellian," she answered.

Sulak nodded.

She took Sulak's hand and placed it on her heart, which allowed him to feel a spark of something - a particle of life that acknowledged him.

Jane took Joe's hand and he got to feel his child.

"I can tell it's yours and Jane'l's soul!" Joe exclaimed.

"It's good to be one again," she said.

Joe and Sulak looked at Warren; they wanted to invite him to share that experience, but the teen only smiled.

"He was on my lap, talking with them when you knocked," Jane said.

Warren nodded - his grin could put the Cheshire-Cat to shame.

"I take it Debra is helping Eddie explain the situation to Mark," Sulak declared.

"Yeah, so it allowed me to be the first to talk with my future brother and sister," Warren said.

"Now, now, Warren, we can't tell them everything," Jane chuckled.

Joe looked stunned. Sulak smiled.

"I'm happy that you're going to stay in our family," Sulak said.

Jane smiled and said, "I'm really happy, but now go and rest - or whatever."

They left them and went back to their room.

"Satisfied?" Joe asked his husband.

"It is extremely strange to be introduced to one's children that way," Sulak answered.

"I've always had Vendellians in my life, so I guess I'm a bit used to this kind of situation," Joe said.

Sulak frowned.

"Vend'?" Joe said softly.

"Do you think that Jane'l was right and that it was a good idea to have children?" Sulak inquired.

"Warren just met you and I can tell he already worships you. We won't be perfect - because no one can - but I bet we're going to be good fathers for those," Joe said.

"It's not logical, but I'm afraid," Sulak admitted.

"Why?" wondered Joe.

"We're both male and we're having a son and a daughter. You're human, I'm Vulcan and the children are going to have Vendellian souls. What kind of life are they going to have?" Sulak asked.

Joe wrapped his arms around his mate and kissed him tenderly.

"We're going to love them and prepare them to face the universe, but life is never easy, Vend'. Look at us. I have a great family, but my heart was a sad void until I met you. Look at what's going on in the galaxy; our kids would be killed on Staveniok 32 and if we ever bring them to Bonikel 8, they're going to be revered like Gods," Joe said.

Sulak sighed, but nodded.

"You're right - and as long as we're together to live this adventure, I know I can do anything," Sulak said.

Joe grinned.

"So, before we start worrying about what we'll have to do to feed our family, what do you say we check how good we are in a real bed?" Joe suggested with a saucy smile.

"I don't know," Sulak answered.

Joe felt something through their bond and he finally identified the feeling - Sulak was trying to tease him.

"Oh," was all Joe said.

"I know I'm going to miss our pond, but I'd love to take a shower," Sulak said.

"Let's go and see what kind of lubricant we can find in the bathroom," Joe said.

They went to the nice, typically Vulcan bathroom together, only to discover that the two kinds of cream the computer could synthesize were meant to be absorbed by the skin almost immediately. They tested everything they could only to discover there was nothing they could use as lubricant.

"We're screwed," Joe stated.

"Though not literally," Sulak deadpanned.

Joe shook his head.

"I've got an idea," Joe announced. "But since this bathroom is really no fun, let's take a very quick shower and go back to our bed."

Sulak nodded and two minutes later they were naked and clean and heading back to the bedroom, their lips locked and their tongues talking in a language known only to them.

Sulak landed on the bed, under his mate.

"I miss our succulent right now," Sulak said.

Joe's grin was feral.

"The very good thing when you love your relatives is that you get to know all their little secrets. Don't move, Vend', I'll be right back," Joe said.

Joe wrapped himself in a kind of Vulcan robe he'd found on their bed and he asked the computer if he'd risk meeting anyone in the corridor. Once assured there was no one wandering, he ventured out and came back within a minute with a pot of something.

Joe disrobed at the speed of light - or possibly faster - and joined Sulak in bed.

"What's this?" Sulak asked, pointing at the pot.

"Cream. Generously given by our dear cousin," Joe chuckled.

"Was Gina bothered when you asked her?" Sulak asked.

Joe laughed heartily.

"Joe?"

Joe fought to stop laughing and he managed to say, "It's Berko's. He's got dry nipples and I know he always brings cream wherever he sleeps."

"It was kind of him to share it with us," Sulak declared.

"I bet he's still blushing," Joe chuckled, "and he said we could keep it. This is what's funny with him - he was already about to start round two with Gina, but mention lubricant and you've got a blushing Berko."

Sulak blinked once and Joe felt how puzzled his bond-mate was.

"He doesn't mind one bit what we do, but he tends to have a very wild imagination, and I bet Gina is enjoying some inventive horizontal action right now. We'll have to be careful with Berko. I'm sure he'd love to watch," Joe explained.

Sulak almost blushed.

"Tough for him, but I am not sharing," Joe announced in a sexy near-purr that made Sulak melt.

"I don't want to go back to what I was before," Sulak declared. "I love you and what we share is making me whole at last."

Joe gathered his mate in his arms and used the cream to prepare him to be taken.

As he caressed his mate and sent him thoughts of love, Joe told Sulak how much he loved him and how happy he was to have him in his life. Words naturally came to Joe in Vendellian, which Sulak understood now even better than when he first met Joe.

Sulak was physically ready for their lovemaking, but Joe felt that Sulak's emotions were dangerously bubbling, like they had when his mate was suffering from the blood fever.

"Sulak?" Joe said terribly softly.

"What you just said," Sulak started to say, his voice trailing off.

"I meant each word," Joe swore.

"It was a Vendellian sonnet," Sulak whispered.

"Are you sure?" Joe asked, unable to believe he could compose poetry. He looked at his husband and added, "Of course, you're sure."

"Claim me," Sulak begged.

The strength of Sulak's love and need almost overwhelmed Joe. Almost.

Much to his surprise, Joe found himself on his back with his bond-mate riding him.

It took Joe not even two minutes to reach bliss, and Sulak soon followed him. Their connection was so intense that it felt like they were exploding like a sun.

Sulak would always be a Vulcan, but there was something in their love that made Sulak something more than just a Vulcan, and Joe was honored that his husband gave him so much love so freely and easily.

"I'm the luckiest bastard on this side of the galaxy," Joe purred with a silly grin pasted on his face.

"If so, we share the title," Sulak declared.

Joe's softening prick was still planted in his mate.

"May I try something?" Sulak asked.

"I'm yours," Joe said.

Through their bond, Sulak stimulated his husband and the physical and mental feelings aroused Joe again in record time.

Joe groaned.

"Are you all right?" Sulak asked.

The Vulcan found himself on his back with Joe pounding in and out of him at a frantic pace. Sulak ended up feeling boneless with his human mate passed out on him - apparently, the Vulcan heat had been too much for Joe.

Sulak sighed deeply when Joe slid out of him, but even unconscious, Joe's mind reached out for him and sent thoughts of love and desire.

They fell asleep in each other's arms, sharing their affection freely.

Eddie started pacing in the room as soon as he retreated there with Mark and Debra.

Mark was beginning to be very tense and Deb decided it was a silly situation because there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Eddie, Dear, just sit down and explain what's going on to Mark. You could make even Uncle Julian tense, pacing like that," Deb said.

"But there is so much at stake," Eddie answered nervously.

Mark was blinking, lost.

"Do you really think we'd let you go?" Deb asked kindly.

"I'm so afraid," Eddie admitted.

"Why?" Mark asked.

"I'm not human," Eddie told his friend.

"I knew it the day we met, when you talked to the plant Gina had put on the bridge at the time and it waved its leaves to answer you," Mark said. "You're my friend - wherever you're from."

Mark looked so young and innocent that Eddie almost backed off, but there was Debra to help him.

Deb went to sit next to Mark and she took one of his hands in hers.

Mark put the pieces of that mystery together in the wrong order.

"Oh," Mark said softly. "I get it."

Mark was instantly on the verge of tears.

Eddie forgot his nervousness and rushed to his friend, sandwiching him with Deb.

"It's normal. I understand. I could beam back on board right now and I'll be gone in the morning," Mark said.

"What are you talking about?" Eddie inquired.

"Now that Joe is leaving Starfleet and he got married, he needs a job. I'll be gone tomorrow," Mark said.

He tried to stand up, but Deb and Eddie grabbed him and hugged him so tight that they almost crushed him.

"We need you on board. Hell! I'd leave the Speed Records if you were not there. And Gina would hunt you down if you even tried to leave us. You're more than a friend, Mark," Eddie said.

"I don't understand," Mark said.

"We've known one another for years now," Deb said.

"Yeah," Mark answered, still lost.

"You remember where Eddie is from," Deb went on.

Mark nodded.

"Then you know that his people need more than two persons to make a family," Deb added.

"Yeah, I know that. In his home world, they're always three or they're not complete," Mark said.

"I will reach maturity soon," Eddie explained.

"So you'll have to leave us?" Mark asked with a small voice.

"Okay, if you don't spell it out for him very clearly, I'm going to bang my head on the wall until he gets it," Deb told Eddie.

Eddie took a deep breath and took Mark's hand.

"You became my friend the moment I met you, but over the past months, I started developing deeper feelings for you, Mark. And when we saw Debra again, everything was clear. I fell for her as well. I hope you will both allow me to woo you and when we're all ready, we can become a triad," Eddie explained.

"Triad?" Mark squeaked.

"I said yes," Deb announced.

Mark blinked.

"I'll understand if this is not what you want," Eddie told Mark.

"I don't know," Mark answered honestly. "How do triads work?"

Eddie blushed, but he started explaining, "Even though it can be A with either B or C and B with A or C and C with either one, Cembres' triads tend to have regular interactions between the three people involved in the triad. If I'd fallen for people from my world, we'd know if we're compatible just thanks to our scents. It can't work that way with you and Deb. Deb agreed to try, and now I'm asking you if I can woo you."

"Really?" Mark asked.

"I fell in love with you," Eddie said.

"If you agree," Deb added, "it'll be the three of us. I don't want it to be Eddie and I and you and him. It's got to be you and I as well, if we're in the mood. We've got to become a real triad, not two couples with one member in common."

"And there's one last thing you must know about my species," Eddie added.

Mark squeaked.

"You can have a child with Deb, but I can't be a father alone and since I'm the only one from Cembres, I would be the one carrying our child - a child who would get DNA from the three of us," Eddie explained.

Mark blushed deeply and said, "That's why you're so different... down there."

Eddie blushed in his turn.

"Different?" Deb inquired saucily.

"I have three... er... appendixes," Eddie declared.

"Three?" she asked.

"In normal lovemaking, they're intertwined together, but when mating aims at making a child, they separate and penetrate each member of the triad and the stronger one carries the child," Eddie explained.

"Even though Dad would kill me for saying so, I'm eager to feel that," Deb said.

Silence fell in the room.

"Mark?" Eddie said.

Mark looked at Deb and saw a young woman he liked a lot - and more than liked maybe. He turned to look at Eddie and saw the mate with whom he'd been living for the past years, the man he trusted most and the one who truly cared about him and never judged him.

"I'm completely lost and I don't know how to love, but I'm willing to try," Mark said bravely.

Eddie beamed.

Deb grinned and said, "I'm sleeping with you two from now on."

"Joe is going to kill me," Eddie almost wailed.

"He said he was okay with what you were planning," Mark pointed out.

Eddie smiled and said, "Yeah! You're right!"

They all smiled.

Eddie asked, "So, may I woo you?"

Mark nodded.

Deb grinned and said, "Don't be too slow."

"Saucy," Eddie said fondly.

Boldly, she pecked Eddie's lips and then Mark's.

Eddie thought it was a good idea and gave one thorough kiss to his potential future mates.

Mark practically melted and Deb put an option on purring.

They undressed and settled together in the same bed with Eddie in the middle.

The Vulcan weather was so hot that they wore nothing in bed.

Deb and Mark took a good look at Eddie's nether regions and they wrapped themselves in his arms.

Sometimes during the night his two human mates synchronized themselves on him and their three hearts started beating at the same rate. That alone told Eddie that he'd found his two mates.

Eddie started wondering how short the wooing period could be; making love with his mates sounded like a damn good idea.

T'Pol and Amanda went to Amanda's study when Kirk and Sarek retreated to their bedrooms.

"Would you like some tea?" Amanda asked.

"Am I that old?" T'Pol chuckled.

"Brandy?" Amanda suggested.

"Yes, please," the Vulcan said.

Amanda poured two glasses and went to sit down next to the Elder.

"Is there something I can do for you?" Amanda asked.

T'Pol shook her head.

"I just wanted to thank you and enjoy your company a bit more. I know I can trust you," T'Pol said.

"So, some of the rumors about you are true," Amanda said.

T'Pol didn't answer, but she didn't have to.

"I had a great time in Starfleet," T'Pol declared in a whisper.

"But you can't say you miss your friends and you can't associate with too many humans," Amanda stated. "If you mean to reform the laws, my husband could help you and then you'd be forced to see me."

T'Pol smiled warmly.

"Wouldn't you mind entertaining an old woman?" she asked.

"If we take into account the average life on Earth and on Vulcan, I'm not that much younger than you," Amanda said. "And I wouldn't mind having another woman around."

T'Pol bowed her thanks.

"We really need to change the laws," T'Pol said softly.

Amanda looked at the other woman and she understood the Elder better. It had been difficult for Sarek to impose his human mate over three decades ago, but it looked as if it had been impossible for T'Pol to follow her heart - for whatever the people of Vulcan pretended, they had hearts.

"Soon you will have Surak to help you," Amanda said.

"We must keep his secret for as long as possible and when his new incarnation is old enough to bring more changes to our society, I will no longer be here to see that," T'Pol said.

"Your katra will remain," Amanda said.

T'Pol nodded, a small smile gracing her lips.

"I have friends waiting for me to join them, and my dear husband," T'Pol said.

"Our children will benefit from the changes you'll bring," Amanda said.

"I have the feeling that something important is going to happen. That's why I wished to stay with you tonight," T'Pol declared.

On cue, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," Amanda called.

T'Cor, Sajeek, Jane and Warren came in.

"We need witnesses," Sajeek announced.

"How may I help you?" Amanda asked.

T'Pol stood up and said, "It's the priestess in me you need."

Jane grinned and said, "My Vulcan child needs your protection."

T'Pol and Amanda helped and the ceremony T'Pol witnessed was registered through the official connection of the house.

T'Cor invited T'Pol to stay with her to talk with her child if she wanted. Sajeek helped them thanks to his former link with Surak.

Warren escorted Jane back to their room.

Amanda walked by Spock's room and she asked their computer if her son was asleep, but Spock was too troubled to even pretend to meditate.

Amanda knocked on the door and her son let her in.

They sat together on a sofa.

"Are you disappointed in me, Mother?" Spock asked.

"Why would I be?" she asked incredulously.

Spock looked at the wall in front of him, trying to find a way to mention his former fiancée.

"Oh!" Amanda exclaimed. "Please, don't tell me you think I wanted you to marry T'Pring!"

"But... you chose her for me," Spock said.

Amanda laughed softly and said, "You know, it is times like this that you look so much like your father. Sarek and his relatives chose T'Pring for you. They thought she'd be a good wife for you, but even when you started the bond, I could tell she wasn't the one for you."

"Really?" he asked, stunned.

Amanda nodded and added, "The only thing I want for you is you to find as much happiness as your nature allows you. Whatever form it takes."

Spock looked at his mother, clearly surprised.

"I do mean that," Amanda said.

"I thought," Spock began to say.

Amanda chuckled and took her son's hand.

"I am not your conventional human, my dear son. I fell in love with your father and fought to win him and convince him it was a good idea to bond with me. Then I had to convince him that we could have a child and you are my precious miracle. You are the proof that Sarek and I are in love, but your happiness is the most important thing for me. T'Pring was not the one for you, but the more I observe you and the more I think you are too much of a challenge for anyone from this world - even if it is your home while Earth never really was," she said.

"Mother," he started.

"Shsh... I just want you to be happy and have the life you want and chose for yourself. If you decide to become a priest or want to mate with a male Romulan, you will never cease to be my son," she declared seriously.

Spock gulped, but asked, "Isn't that a bit extreme, Mother?"

She chuckled.

"Don't let happiness go by you, my son. If I'd listened to anyone and hadn't followed my heart, I wouldn't have your father and you," she said.

"I'm lost, Mother," Spock said.

"No, you're not. Maybe you're concerned about Sarek's and my reaction, but you finally put one and one together tonight," she declared.

Spock froze.

"Sarek will never tell you, but he's very proud of you and he loves you," she said.

"Really?" Spock asked.

"Yes, as much as I'm proud of you and I love you - whoever you chose for mate," Amanda said.

"I am lost, Mother," Spock said.

"As we all are, my son. I would advise you to stay in touch with the Reaveses, they might inspire you or help you," Amanda said.

Amanda patted her son's hand and stood up to leave him. Spock followed her swiftly and held her; he hadn't done that since he was four.

She melted against her son when he pecked her cheek.

"I know I never said it, Mother, but I love you," Spock said.

"My treasure," she murmured happily. "I wish you to find what I have with your father."

"Thank you, Mother."

"Good night, Spock."

Amanda left and Spock ended up even more puzzled than before she came in.

Spock knew that he'd never dare to ask Sulak to help him, but staying in touch with the Reaveses informally sounded like good advice.

Morning finally came and Sarek and Amanda's guests shared a pleasant breakfast.

They could plan everything for Sitheck's trial, which would take place three days later.

In fact, it sounded like a mere formality.

Sitheck was guilty of abducting Starfleet officers, who would be represented by Captain Berko, since Kirk could not do so for his men.

T'Pol herself would represent T'Cor and the judges had been told that the young lady was now the One - and the one who would give Surak a new incarnation.

In theory, Gina Berko was to represent her cousin Lucas Reaves, but the Teworsolian Matriarch herself came to the trial. It was rather impressive to see a bubble-gum pink sphere bounce into the court. Dr McCoy was quite amused to see the Vulcan judges so impressed by the Matriarch.

T'Cor wanted nothing from her uncle, so his entire estate was given to his son and Sitheck lost his Vulcan citizenship. However, he would not have to worry about finding a new status in the galaxy because he was to be shipped to a Starfleet jail and when he'd done his time there, he'd be sent to the Teworsol quadrant to yet another jail.

Sitheck's last straw was to see Sulak be offered the position of Ambassador for the Matriarch, which gave more power to the young man than anyone could dream of on Vulcan. The job offered to the Teworsolian Lucas Reaves would give him fame and respect - and he could work with his husband, since Joe found himself a Teworsolian through marriage and the spouse of the official ambassador for the Matriarch.

Soon after the Empire arrived, Berko went back to his ship and he started working on convincing admirals that his first officer would make a splendid captain.

Gina, Jane, Warren, and the future triad beamed back to the Speed Records.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy went to the Enterprise with Joe and Sulak. The couple stayed only long enough for Joe to pack his possessions.

Joe went to sickbay alone to say goodbye to Christine and promise her to stay in touch. They'd become such good friends that she just knew Joe would contact her from time to time.

Spock managed to have lunch with Christine soon afterwards.

Spock was about to make promises of friendship when she interrupted him.

"Are you really my friend?" she whispered.

He nodded once.

"I swear I will never bother you with my feelings, but will you allow me to cling to my dream? If I lose that, I'll have lost everything," she said.

He nodded again.

They ate in silence, but before she left, he said, "I know you'd be strong enough to stand the pressure and all the pettiness, but I'm not."

"Sulak changed everything since he arrived in our lives," she stated. "I hope it will not take another generation to see the principles of Surak fully applied on your home world."

"You're really a friend," Spock said.

"And I will always be," she promised. "All I want is you to be happy, whatever it takes."

Spock was deeply moved by such a statement. It was his human doctor who made him feel better when they next meet to play chess.

Before the trial and two days after it, Joe and Lucas stayed with T'Cor and Sajeek.

Lucas was really happy that T'Pau had managed to have T'Cor bond with Sajeek. He may not come from a prestigious or rich family, but he really was a good man and the Reaveses had absolutely no doubt that Sajeek was deeply in love with his wife.

Once there was no more danger, T'Cor started quietly beaming. She had her family around her and she already loved her daughter.

The Vulcan family and the human-Teworsolian one promised to visit each other at least once a year - and Gina even said that Sajeek and T'Cor could use the Speed Records because they were family.

By the time the Speed Records was back to Earth, Julian Berko no longer was a Starfleet officer and Eddie Voossay had started claiming his triad. Gina had ordered Mark not to travel too fast because Jane and her felt a bit space sick; one morning, Joe had found Deb and Mark wrapped around Eddie, and he didn't need a picture to know his little girl now was in an active and steady relationship. Lucas, as they now called their favorite ex-Vulcan, got used to the triad as well; he had a lot of help from Jane who shared her thoughts in regular mind-melds that were half-Vulcan, half-Vendellian.

When they all settled on Earth, Lucas Reaves was acknowledged by Starfleet as the representative of Teworsol on Earth.

Deb wanted to stay near her family, so Eddie and Mark moved into her room. Jane stayed in the Reaveses' home throughout her pregnancy, spending most of her time with Warren.

Gina and Berko didn't want to be alone on the other side of the globe in their house, so they moved into a new house next to Lucas and Joe's.

Gina was talking with her first child, but she wasn't showing yet when Jane announced that she would very soon give birth to the twins and just the next night Warren woke everybody up and brought them all to Jane's room. She was glowing and looked translucent.

"Come and sit with me," she invited Joe and Lucas.

They obeyed and the others gathered around her bed.

"Sulak," Jane said seriously, "it's time to welcome your son, Surak."

"I won't be allowed to give him such a name," Lucas said.

"It's been taken care of. Warren will explain once I'm reborn with Jane'l," she answered cryptically. "Now see your son in me and take him in your arms."

Lucas did as he was told and retrieved his son from the sort of fog that Jane had become.

Surak didn't even cry when he was born.

"Welcome to this universe, little soul," Warren said in Vulcan to his baby brother.

"Welcome Surak Reaves," Joe said.

"It's time for me to go," Jane said happily. "Ready to catch me, Joe?"

He was too moved and only nodded.

Jane smiled and looked solid again. She wrapped her arms around her future fathers and pecked their cheeks. She turned foggy again and took a solid form again - only it was Jane'l.

"I'm so happy to spend this new life with you again, Vend'," Jane'l said.

Joe gave him a watery smile.

Jane'l kissed Joe's lips and turned to Lucas and he kissed him, too.

The Vendellian dissolved completely and Joe caught in his arms his daughter, who cried loudly.

"She said she'd like to be called Lena," Warren declared.

"Welcome in our universe, Lena Reaves," Lucas said.

"They're so cute," Gina said.

"Adorable," Eddie purred.

There was so much fire in Eddie's eyes that Joe groaned - he guessed the young man was ready to carry his triad's first child after all.

"Why is Surak a proper name for your brother?" Lucas asked Warren.

"Because Surak's katra said it was okay and T'Cor and Sajeek agreed. T'Pol and Amanda were their witnesses. It was very impressive to see Jane link with T'Cor; more impressive than when Jane made the babies. Surak," Warren said, pointing at his brother, "is already promised to T'Lan. Surak's katra said he could feel my brother's soul calling his out. The katra said they'd be a perfect match and would make great things for Vulcan."

Joe was gaping.

Lucas established a family bond with Lena and then with Surak, and touching his son's katra restored his link with T'Cor, which proved that the future T'Lan and the new Surak were meant to be soul-mates.

All the Reaveses and their Vulcan relatives found themselves linked through the same family bond in spite of the parsecs between them.

Lucas and Joe looked at their two babies and smiled.

"This is the beginning of new adventures," Joe said.

"This should keep us entertained for about two decades," Lucas said.

"Don't worry, we're here to help," Warren said.

"And keep entertaining you," Deb added.

"Sweet Lord," Joe said, pretending to shudder.

Deb kissed his cheek and he grinned.

These are the continuing adventures of a happy family; its mission is to provide love, tolerance and understanding for free in the hope to bring up better children to give the universe so that frontiers - any kind of frontier - disappear.

They're all so unconventional that Starfleet will hear from them - one way or the other.

Lucas looked at their sleeping children (the six of them) and told his mate in a thought, 'I can't wait for them to make us grandfathers.'

Joe kissed his husband's cheek and said, "You're as mad as a born Teworsolian."

Lucas Reaves chuckled and it was the loveliest sound in the universe.

Joe and Lucas Reaves's love would never die as long as one of their descendants told the tale of their incredible marriage.

Finis