#multiple universe

Ten minutes ago, they had detected an ion storm and the transporters were declared off limits until the storm passed. No one wanted to meet up with their sinister counterparts from the mirror universe ever again. Kirk shuddered at the remembrance of an evil bearded Spock holding a knife to his throat.

Then suddenly two life forms appeared in the transporter room. “What are they, Scotty?” Kirk had barked.

“Humans, Captain.” Scotty replied, sounding shellshocked, “specifically, Jim Kirk humans.”

Spock’s eyebrows shot up. “It appears this ion storm has affected multiple universes, Captain. Fascinating.”

“Don’t let them out of that room Scotty, I’ll be there in a second. Kirk Out. Mr. Spock, you have the conn. I’m going to see what’s up with my other selves.”

Kirk practically ran to the transporter room, then peeked around the door, cautiously checking his phaser. It didn’t sound like Scotty was threatened, but one could never be sure. But when his eyes focused on the newcomers, caution went out the window. “What the……” was the only thing he could say.

There, chatting easily with Scotty and eying each other with amusement, stood two Jim Kirk doppelgängers. They looked exactly like himself, except neither wore command gold. The Kirk on the left wore science blue and thick glasses. He apparently was expounding on the scientific marvels that had just occurred, while the Kirk on the left sported a red shirt and a short beard, grease stained fingers signaling he spent a lot of time in engineering.

They both started when Jim walked in. “Gentlemen, may I ask how you ended up on my ship?” He felt so strange talking to himself. These guys were him, and yet not him.

Red shirt Kirk answered easily, “Ion storm came up suddenly on the way to back to my ship. That must have been one powerful disturbance to bring two of us to yet another Enterprise.” He smirked “I never saw myself as captain material before now.”

“Me neither,” spoke up the third Kirk, “I look so much better in blue.” He cleared his throat rather nervously. “You’re not the evil version of me, are you? I had a nasty encounter with my mirror counterpoint once.”

Bearded Kirk chuckled, “I don’t think so, although my wife swears I am frequently.”

“Wife?!!!” exclaimed the other two Jims simultaneously.

“Sure,” Red Shirt replied, “Captain Nyota Uhura. Amazing woman. She can speak a bunch of alien dialects and is extremely gifted in negotiating. Fantastic leader. She’s also gorgeous, but I bet you already know that.”

“Well, yeah,” admitted Captain Jim, when he had recovered from the shock, “but she shut me down really fast when I tried anything. She and Commander Spock are an item and no one with any sense of self-preservation tries to mess with a Vulcan’s bond mate.”

First Officer Kirk spoke up. “That’s a universal truth, I think. I got hit on by some horny Orions awhile back, and he came up and gave them the Vulcan death glare and strongly suggested that they stay away from me, if they valued their health. It’s kind of hot actually.” He smiled rather fondly as the other Kirks gaped.

“Well, if you’re into that sort of thing,” shrugged Captain Kirk. “I’m more into a hot southern Doctor myself.”

“Even though he lives to stab us with hyposprays?” Science Kirk looked uneasy at the mere thought of the dreaded device.

“It’s totally worth it. Trust me.” Regular Kirk looked smug.

“I don’t doubt it,"red shirt Jim replied easily,” judging from the way Carol raves about his hands. But I’ve never swung that way.“ More shocked gaping resulted.

At this interesting moment, Scotty broke in. "Captain, you may want to take your…um….other selves somewhere you can sit down. This may take a while.”

“Okay, Scotty,” The captain said with a cunning grin,“I’ll take them to see Bones. It’ll drive him insane. Three versions of me!”

When Leonard McCoy saw the unexpected guests Jim had told him about over the comm, he wasn’t sure if he hadn’t died and gone to heaven—or hell. Much as he loved Jim, one James T. Kirk in a universe was plenty for him to deal with.

“Hey Bones!”,chorused the three Jims in unison, clearly on purpose. Seeing three pairs of devilish blue eyes staring at him, Leonard felt faint, and sat down quickly.

“I think we overwhelmed him” the Jim wearing a blue shirt said, looking worried. The captain ran over and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“You okay, Bones? You looked pretty flabbergasted at the sight of three Jims. I’m a force of nature, aren’t I?”

“Yes, I’m fine”, Bones grumped, “and so is your ego. How in the world did you two get here?” He asked, staring hard at the other Kirks.

“Severe ion storm."answered Commander Kirk. "I was attempting to take readings for the report to Captain Spock when—”

“Captain Spock?” interrupted the astonished Doctor. “Must be a very logical universe you’re from.”

“It is”, agreed Science Kirk, “but you’re there to keep us from forgetting we’re human. You chew me out every time I stay up too late working on experiments or blow myself up in the lab.”

“Good thing” Leonard muttered, then turned to engineer Kirk. “What about you? If you’re a Kirk, I bet you have the same predisposition for bodily injury, especially working in engineering.”

“Right on”, said red shirt Jim cheerily. “It drives you and Nyota crazy.”

“Why would Uhura care?” asked Leonard bluntly,“ She’s not known for being very fond of you.”

The Captain choked back a snort. Talk about understatements.

“In my universe, she liked me enough to marry me. We made friends in the academy and ended up falling for each other. We tied the knot two years ago.” Kirk got a far away look as he said this, remembering how gorgeous Nyota looked in that white gown. “She’s probably tearing the universe apart trying to find me.”

“Well, I find it hard to comprehend, but more power to ya.”

Bones shrugged, almost wishing he could see how this Jim and Uhura looked like as a married couple. The fights were probably rough, but likely the makeup was fantastic. No, he was NOT going to imagine that.

“What about you, Commander? Anybody tearing space apart for you?”,He inquired of the highly intellectual looking science officer Jim.

“Spock. I can feel his anxiety through our bond. I’m trying to reassure him, but I don’t know if it’s getting through.” The bespectacled Jim looked troubled, rubbing the back of his head nervously and knocking his glasses askew.

“Bonded to Spock, huh?” asked Leonard, running a tricorder over the guest Kirks (they’d just had their molecules scrambled, after all).

Jim grinned a little shyly. “Yes, three years now. He’s trying to teach me some Vulcan, but it’s slow going. The pet names are great though.”

He smiled to himself, thinking of Spock calling him T'hy'la or Ashayam in an almost tender tone.

The Doctor was skeptical and indicated so. “I find it hard to imagine the hobgoblin calling anyone pet names, especially you, Jim.”

He poked his captain playfully, resulting in the classic Kirk pouty face.

“Aw, come on Bones, look how lovable I am!” He pointed at his blue clad alternate self. “Besides, you’ve got your own pet names for me.”

He winked, leering shamelessly, causing his boyfriend to flush.

“Dammit, Jim! They don’t need to know that!”

“Yeah, We really don’t,” chimed in engineer Kirk, looking somewhat queasy at the thought of his very platonic best friend calling him ‘Darlin’ or 'sugar’ as McCoy did with Carol in their universe.

In the slightly awkward silence, Captain Kirk’s comm went off. Science Kirk perked up at the sound of Spock’s voice over the device.

“Captain, have you discerned the intentions and identities of the life forms?”

“Yes, Commander Spock. They are humans and non-hostile. Bones is checking them for injuries and Scotty is working on getting them home.”

“Their identities, Captain?”

“Um… they’re me from other universes.” A long silence followed and Spock said rather shortly “I will proceed to Medbay. Spock out.”

Captain Kirk grinned. “I think we broke his brain” he said, with great hilarity, wondering what was going on between those pointy ears at the information he’d received.

When Spock strode into Dr. McCoy’s office minutes later, he stopped very abruptly and stared.

“Hey Spock!"greeted two Jims cheerily, (science Jim, however, looked sad and wistful).

"This is most remarkable, Captain,” the first officer replied, “I did not think such a thing was likely to happen again.”

“Well, it did, Spock. Meet Commander Jim Kirk and Lieutenant Commander Jim Kirk. Bones says they’re physically fine, just displaced.”

Spock then proceeded to question the two other Kirks which led to all three comparing life stories. All of the major events were the same, but the different roles and reactions led to very different paths.

Engineer Kirk had been orphaned at 10 when Winona died suddenly. He was then sent to live with an aunt and uncle on an ill fated colony, Tarsus IV. Upon his return to earth at 15, emaciated and traumatized, he was placed in a foster home after he got out of the hospital. The foster parents were very patient and caring to him and eventually broke through the walls the angry teen put up. His foster father taught him how to repair engines, developing his love of tinkering at a young age. He then went through the engineering track at Starfleet academy, befriended a fantastic command track woman, helped save earth, and ended up on the Enterprise under the new captain (who happened to be his new girlfriend) Nyota Uhura, who he married three years later.

Science officer Kirk was fascinated with the subject also early on in life. His mother had retired from Starfleet and saw that her sons received the best education they could. Jim’s papers and research impressed many at Starfleet, including a certain Vulcan Instructor. But he did not get assigned to the Enterprise when the distress call came and was on the Farragut when it was destroyed. Jim survived, and so did Vulcan, and when he woke up, there was a familiar pair of brown eyes watching him with definite emotion. When Spock was made Captain, he immediately appointed Jim First Officer.

Last of all, Jim (the captain) told his story: the lonely childhood, the harsh stepfather, the rebellious wandering and Captain Pike’s dare.Then he recounted meeting Bones on the shuttle, the Kobayashi Maru(which tickled Engineer Kirk greatly) and the battle of Vulcan.

There was silence after they finished and then Bones commented wryly, “You may be from different tracks, but you’re all darn good at cheating death. Send the other McCoys my sympathy when you get back.” Three Jims grinned back at him.

When Scotty called and said that he was ready to send the other Jims back home, the Captain insisted on taking a photo for posterity. “Egomaniac,” Bones muttered to himself as Beardy Kirk and Brainy Kirk stepped onto the transporter pad.

“Live long and prosper,” said Spock, holding up his hand in the Vulcan salute. “Peace and long life” answered science Kirk, returning the gesture with a fond smile.

As they disappeared, The captain could be heard shouting “I am so AWESOME!” Bones face palmed, knowing Jim’s ego had just inflated to even greater proportions.

Spock simply remarked “that was a fascinating experience, but I fail to comprehend a world where Nyota Uhura is in any way agreeable to your advances.” He left the room to Jim’s protests and Bones’ laughter. Bless that hobgoblin, he thought.

“Are you certain you suffered no ill effects from the occurrence? Captain Spock asked his First Officer.

"None at all Spock”, sighed Jim. His hand was held tightly in the Vulcans and Spock was practically purring in his ear as they snuggled.

“Did you meet my alternate self?” Spock inquired, rubbing Jim’s hand in a manner that would have scandalized any Vulcan, causing Kirk to close his eyes in bliss. “Yep. He’s not MY Spock, so don’t worry.”

“Worry?” Scoffed Spock, sending waves of affection to his t'hy'la, “why would I. Most Illogical.” Jim smiled and held out his fingertips for a kiss.

@Oh, Jim, you do have a crazy way of attracting weird happenings", sighed Captain Uhura, as she held her husband tightly, relieved to find him safe and in one piece.

“Yes I do,” Jim replied softly, content to gaze into her big brown eyes and grateful to be home. “I basically saw what my life could have been, if things had gone differently.”

“Did it make you want those lives?” she asked, looking him in the eye.

“No” He responded, kissing her breathless, “no I didn’t want those other Jim’s lives, because they don’t have you.” And he began intently kissing up her neck which led to other things and Nyota forgot about everything else for quite awhile after that.

“Ow!” squealed Jim, rubbing his neck which had just been ruthlessly hypo’d. “What was that for, Bones?”

“For your incessant narcissism today” grumped the doctor. “It was making me sick.” Jim threw himself on his bed, stretching his long limbs playfully.

“Aww, come on, Bones,” he wheedled. “Didn’t you think it was interesting to hear how my other lives went?”

“Yes, but I don’t want you to regret the one you have.” Bones squeezed Jim’s hand protectively and a trifle possessively.

“I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life, but you are definitely not one of them, Bones”. Jim was staring at him now earnestly, blue eyes honest. “Do you believe me?”

but

but I love the theory of multiple universes. I find it extremely comforting and amazing and it really kind of helps dull out reality which i need sometimes.