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Spock stiffened, suddenly coming to a halt in the corridor. As though some life-changing realization had just struck him, or as though his brain had been commandeered for a moment by some higher force."Captain," he said, voice oddly flat. "Doctor McCoy. There is . . . certain information, regarding my family, which I feel you should be made aware of."The other two men looked at him apprehensively. Coming from Spock, this could hardly lead to anything short of a Red Alert."Yes, Mr. Spock?" Kirk prompted, after a slight pause.Spock drew himself up even more. "I have a sister. An adopted, fully Human sister."There was a moment of frozen silence. Then McCoy sighed, massaging his forehead. "Oh, blast it. Not another of these stories."Kirk's eyes had a slightly hunted look, but he carried on as though Spock's announcement were ordinary ship's business. "I . . . see, Mr. Spock. Since it's . . . rather unlike you to volunteer personal information when not absolutely necessary, may I presume we'll be meeting this . . . sister . . . of yours in the near future?" His voice acquired a tinge of sarcasm. "Perhaps she's a rising young prodigy within Starfleet's ranks, being transferred to the Enterprise because she can outperform the entire bridge crew?""What's her name this time?" McCoy said wearily. "Madison? Christabelle? Bethany? Or maybe this one's abandoned subtlety completely and is just Mary Sue II."Spock almost looked pained at this. "Her name is Michael," he said stiffly. "Michael Burnham."Kirk let out a poorly-disguised snort. Bones just stared at him. "Well, I'm sorry to break this to you, Spock," he said, one eyebrow slowly rising. "But a minute ago you said you had a sister.""I am well aware of what I said, Dr. McCoy." Now Spock looked definitely frustrated. "Certainly I do not need your reminders."Jim was pinching the bridge of his nose, face hidden behind his hand. "Michael," he moaned. "Spock, please tell me this isn't your new transgender human sibling."Spock glanced away. "As of yet, Captain," he admitted, "I do not know.""What?" Bones asked, eyes widening in barely-exaggerated shock. "You don't have her entire biography on the tip of your tongue, ready to dazzle us with her greatness?""--And bulldoze over our resistance with endless praise, until we're hectored into unqualified admiration?" Jim added. He looked taken aback. "That's hardly like you, Spock.""By which he means it's completely like you, but not when we're in one of these stories," Bones clarified. "She's not some kind of 'secret adopted sibling' you just found out about, is she?"Spock exhaled, in what might have been a sigh in a Human. "You misunderstand the situation, gentlemen," he said. "I know she is, indeed, in Starfleet, or at least was ten years ago, though I do not believe she will be coming aboard the Enterprise.""Well, thank Heaven for small favors," Bones muttered. "No offense, Spock, but I personally am pretty sick of falling in love with your sisters and childhood friends.""No offense taken, Doctor," Spock said blandly. "I myself have had more than enough of playing the reluctantly accepting go-between or 'protective big brother' in these . . . star-crossed romances."Jim groaned at that. "Gentlemen, please. You're not helping." He shook his head, as if to clear it. "Anyway. Didn't you have more to say about . . . Michael?""Indeed, Captain." Spock's tone was pained, but he continued. "As I said, I know that she has, or had, a career in Starfleet. She was the first Human to attend the Vulcan Learning Center, as a child, and the Vulcan Science Academy in adulthood. She also has a far better relationship with my father than I have, as he apparently supported and encouraged her plans to join Starfleet. Aside from that, however, I know very little about her, and nothing more recent than ten years ago. The remaining facts have not yet . . . coalesced.""How do you mean, Spock?" Kirk was listening intently, expression concerned.When Spock replied, however, it was not a direct answer."Do you remember, Captain, how the knowledge of Jonathan Archer's command of the early Enterprise first came to us? It was not an instantaneous, but a gradual, process, expanding from the beginning of the ship's voyages to the end. This . . . is a similar process."Kirk and McCoy's brows furrowed, as they tried to work out what Spock wasn't saying. Then, practically in the same moment, both their expressions turned to horror."You mean she's canon?" Jim yelped, voice rising embarrassingly high.Spock only looked away. His silence was answer enough."Oh, lord," McCoy whispered, raising his eyes to the figurative heavens. Then he started down the corridor again, with a determined tread. "C'mon, you two."Spock and Kirk followed him, more as a reflex than anything else."Where do you intend for us to go, Doctor?" Spock asked after a few moments."My cabin," was the reply. "I've got some stuff in there that'll burn your taste buds clean off, and if you don't ask what distillery it's from I won't make you ask for refills.""Doctor," Spock pointed out, almost reluctantly, "you must know that alcohol does not effect me as it would a Human.""I know that, but I figure this stuff's strong enough it might effect you anyway. And if it doesn't, we'll get you something that does. If ever a man needed a drink, Spock, right now I'm pretty sure it's you."Spock considered this, then cocked an eyebrow. "At the moment, Doctor," he admitted, "I am inclined to defer to your medical expertise."Even in his current state of shock, Jim smiled. "You can't pass up an opportunity like this, Bones," he pointed out."Believe me, I don't plan on it," the doctor said wryly. "Come on, the both of you."He snorted."Adopted Human sisters," he muttered under his breath. "Good lord."