Ambassador Pax and Admiral Kirk's Quarters

Where Ambassador Pax and Admiral Kirk stay when aboard the Enterprise.

Pax stepped into the room they had prepared for her, examining it quickly before turning to Pock and the captain, who entered behind her. "The room is lovely," she said. "Thank you."

Pock nodded at her older counterpart. "Of course, Ambassador."

Jim smiled brightly. "You're welcome, Ambassador." There was a hint of sadness in Pax's eyes that made Jim want to hug her every time he saw her, but every time, he refrained. Instead, he just stepped a tad bit closer to Pock, hoping that that sadness never made its way into her eyes.

Pax nodded at Jim as he stepped closer to his companion. Pax was standing alone at the other side of the room, a world away from her own companion. Nonetheless, her eyes were warm with the knowledge that these two would have some image of what she and her Jim had had, once.

"If it is agreeable to you," Pax said, "I believe I would like to rest for a while."

Jim nodded, smiling slightly. "Of course Ambassador," he said, voice warm.

The intercom rang, and Jim answered it, "Kirk here."

"Uh, Captain," Uhura said, "I have Admiral Archer on the line and he's insisting that he talks to you and Ambassador Pax..."

Jim sighed. "Did he say why, Lieutenant?"

"No, sir. He's just insisting that the Ambassador join you."

"We'll be there in a minute. Kirk out." He turned to Pax. "Ambassador, I'm really sorry, but could you accompany us to the Bridge?"

Pax sighed, then nodded. "Of course," she replied. "Admiral Archer may have something important to say. I doubt it very highly, but it is a possibility." There was a tired playfulness to her voice.

Pock, on the other hand, was curious.

"I wonder what he wants to speak to you about, Ambassador," she said.

"There is only way way our questions might be answered," Pax replied. "Come. Let us go to the Bridge."

((NEW THREAD))

Pax stepped into her room, unsure of what to do with her new company. He was her husband, he was her Jim, and yet it had been so long that she had forgotten how to be his wife. What did they talk about? What should she do? It had been too long.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked finally.

James sighed mentally. He had to remember he had been out of her life for nearly 100 years, and while it had only been a few months for him, it had been much longer for her. "Tea would be lovely, kitten, thank you." He hoped she didn't mind him slipping back into the habit of calling her kitten.

Pax let out a slow breath, moving back to the replicator. For all she had forgotten, she still remembered how he took his tea. She made his, and then hers, then turned back to him.

She approached and extended the cup.

"Here," she said warmly. "I believe I prepared it correctly."

James gave her a grin, accepting his cup. He moved over to the table that was set up and sat down. He took a sip. "It's great," he said, sincerely.

A pause that was, at the same time both awkward and familiar. "How did this timeline come into being?"

Pax sat down across from him, her back straight and her posture lingering in the place between familiar and formal. She took a sip from her own tea to fill the void of the silence.

"This timeline is an alternate to our own," she explained, "though when Nero came through, he altered the sequence of events. Your father was killed aboard the U.S.S. Kelvin. This altered many things, most notably the course of your life."

James frowned. "Who was Nero? How old was I? What all changed?" He was truly curious and the best way he remembered to get his wife to relax was to get her talking about different things.

"Nero was the captain of a Romulan mining ship that survived the destruction of ch'Rihan," she explained coolly, sipping her tea. "When the planet was destroyed, he vowed vengeance, and the black hole used to neutralize the supernova that destroyed Remus and Romulus also acted as a bridge between our world and this one. He passed through, and I followed."

Another sip. "You were born on the day your father died, Jim. And everything changed."

James took a sip of his tea. It explained a lot about his young counterpart, to be quite honest. "How the hell do you destroy a planet? Obviously something happened to Romulus." He leaned forward. "There's something your not telling me." Pax's voice was cool, and the only time she was ever cool towards him was when she was hiding something.

Pax quirked an eyebrow. "I have 96 years of things I have not told you, Jim," she said, a slight smirk to her voice. "You will have to be more specific in your informational requests."

Jim rolled his eyes, smiling at her. "I realize that. But I'm talking about the situation in this universe. You explained that Romulus was destroyed and that Nero wanted revenge. Did he get his revenge? What happened?"

Pax sighed. "Many things, Jim. Romulus in our world was destroyed by a star going supernova. I could not prevent it, and Nero blamed me for that. Thus, when I arrived here, I was..." She chose her words carefully. "I was captured."

She took caution to keep the emotion off her features.

James' eyes flitted over her face, taking in the carefully blank look and her words. "You were captured," he said slowly, voice hard. "Care to explain all what happened after you were 'captured'?" That bastard had better be dead, he thought, because if he hurt Pock in any way...

Pax sighed. "I was marooned on Delta Vega," she explained. "Nero... he wanted me to see what he had planned. He wanted me to feel the pain he thought that I had forced onto he and the rest of his crew. He wanted retribution."

He wanted blood.

James stared at her. "Did he hurt you?" he asked, voice still hard. One hundred years or not, she was still his wife, and goddammit, he could be protective if he wanted. "What did he do for retribution. Pock, talk to me, please."

"If you are asking if he tortured me," Pax said, voice cold, "not for long. He did not care to. Physical pain was not what he sought. As I said, he had lost a world. So, for retribution, he saw fit to take mine from me. He forced me to watch as he destroyed the planet Vulcan and all its inhabitants."

"Hurt doesn't always have to be physical," James said, softly. His mind whirled. How the hell did the crazy son of a bitch destroy an entire planet?

Before he could think through his next actions, he had already stood and moved around the table. He pulled her to her feet gently and wrapped his arms around her, lending her his strength and support. He pressed a kiss to her temple as he frowned. "I'm so sorry, kitten," he murmured.

Pax bristled before allowed him to hold her as he desired. How deeply she had sought for an embrace like this in that cave on Delta Vega, just after her planet's death, with the screams of her people still echoing through the all-too-acoustic tunnels of her mind. How she had desired for him to hold her, to kiss her temple, to murmur those words in a way that soothed the hurt with the warmth of love.

"I am too," she murmured softly, lacing her arms around him. "I am too."

His arms tightened around her as she spoke. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you bear this burden," he said, voice soft. "I wish I was." James continued to hold her, just cuddling her against him. He wished he could take the pain away and restore Vulcan. But there was no way that could happen. It wasn't physically possible.

"There's obviously a lot I need to be caught up on," he said, slowly. "But I could always look it up on a computer if I need to. I don't want to hurt you by making you talk about this. You can tell me to shut up at any time, okay?"

Pax shook her head. "No," she said. "I am perfectly comfortable answering your questions, Jim. If I am made too uncomfortable to continue with your questioning I will inform you of such developments. I thank you for your concern."