Kirk watched the people surrounding the booth. It was good to see that they smiled as they looked at the pictures of his brothers, though the lady who ran the booth spoke in a tone that indicated that the men from Aerie were different and dangerous.

Well, she wasn’t wrong. They were surely different, though they were trying with all their hearts to assimilate Earth’s culture.

And they were horribly dangerous. Not because they were a brutal people, but because the leaders of their planet were watching. If the citizens of Earth came up lacking by his leaders’ measurement, they would annihilate this young planet with little effort, and no more regret than -Beatrix had when she tossed an unacceptable sketch into the trash.

“Do you want to leave?” Kate whispered to him.

“Yes,” he said.

They turned from the display and headed out toward security.

Kate seemed to understand why he was quiet. She made no attempt to interrupt his thoughts as they moved through security and down the enormous moving staircases to the street.

It was bright outside, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. The sun was still high in the sky despite the hour. Dr. Bhimani had explained about the seasons, how summer days seemed to go on and on.

On Aerie this bright afternoon would have seemed dim.

Earth’s nearest star seemed to burn in loneliness. She was so far from even this, her satellite. On Aerie, the stars were so close that Kirk felt he could almost touch them.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Kate said softly. “I hope you won’t judge us too harshly.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“People are… curious,” she said carefully. “And we love a good story. That’s why the lady said your brothers were different - not because she meant it, only because she knew it would build dramatic tension. Do you understand?”

“I do,” he said. “But she was right. Maybe not about being able to spot us, but we are different, though we try not to be. Does that frighten you?”

He liked that she didn’t answer right away, politely denying her fear without thinking.

Instead she bit her lip.

“No,” she said at last. “I’m not frightened of you at all. I’ve trusted you from the moment I met you, even before I knew. I think I’m afraid for you though. Afraid of what could happen to you here.”

“I’m not as innocent as I may seem,” he told her.

His brothers had warned him that their lack of familiarity with Earth’s customs, combined with their overall good-naturedness, would cause many humans to view them as innocent or even child-like. Indeed, most people he interacted with seemed to forget all about the fact that he came from a race that had mastered intergalactic travel long before the first human walked the Earth.

Kirk found it endearing.

She looked up at him for a moment, and he wondered what she would ask him.

But movement ahead of them took his attention.

Spencer Carson walked toward them on the sidewalk.

The man’s face was twisted into an ugly scowl, fists clenched at his sides. He was definitely a threat.

“Kate,” Kirk murmured, stopping and placing a hand in front of her to hold her back while he assessed the situation.

“Katie Bly,” Spencer drawled.

“That’s not my name,” Kate said in a clear, firm voice.

“I don’t know who your new guard dog is, but you can tell him to heel,” Spencer said. “I can walk you home from here.”

“I don’t want you to walk me home,” Kate said.

“That’s not what you said before,” Spencer said. “I don’t want to be alone. Walk with me, please.”

“Those were lines in a script,” Kate said wearily. “It wasn’t real, Spencer. We were actors.”

“We might have been on a TV show, but we weren’t acting and you know it,” Spencer said angrily. “There was a connection between us, and I know you felt it too. I don’t understand why you’re playing hard to get. But it stops now.”

Kirk had heard enough.

“Spencer Carson, it is time for you to leave,” he said in a tone that was calm but firm.

Spencer looked up at him, eyebrows lifted slightly as if in surprise, as if he had forgotten Kirk’s existence.

“Fuck you,” Spencer said. His voice was pitched a bit higher than before.

“Miss Henderson does not wish to speak with you,” Kirk informed him, although it seemed to him that she had made her wishes perfectly clear. “It’s time for you to move on.”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Spencer shrieked.

“Please just go,” Kate said softly, breaking Kirk’s heart with the note of hopelessness in her tone.

Spencer stepped forward, reaching for Kate.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that.

Kirk blocked Spencer’s arms, pinning them down against his body.

Then he reached out with his mind to envelope the man’s mass. It was distasteful to stretch his consciousness around someone like Spencer Carson, to take him in. But it was a necessity.

Kirk used his innate ability and reduced Spencer’s weight to something more manageable, then wrapped his arms around the man and lifted him as if he were a pile of clothing. He moved Spencer out of their way and set him down beside the marble wall of the nearest building.

Once again he called on his gift, this time slamming it down in reverse.

“Don’t come near Kate again,” he whispered to Spencer.

“Wh-what did you do to me?” Spencer moaned, going down on one knee under his newly increased weight.

“Leave her alone,” Kirk repeated, and pushed down just a little harder for emphasis before returning the man to his original heaviness.

He turned to Kate.

She stood on the sidewalk a few feet away, her mouth forming a tiny o.

“Are you okay?” Kirk asked her.

She nodded.

“Let’s go home,” he said gently.

She nodded and they began to walk.

Kirk snuck a peek over his shoulder and saw that Spencer was leaning against the wall, an odd look on his face.

Though he hoped the scare he’d given the man had been enough, Kirk was glad Kate was walking quickly. The shock of the experience would wear off soon and he didn’t want her anywhere near Spencer when that happened.

“Thank you,” Kate said.

“You’re welcome,” he told her. “It is my job.”

“You’re very strong,” she noted. “I’m glad you could subdue him without hurting him.”

He nodded.

“Not because I like him,” she said quickly. “Only because I don’t want you to hurt anyone on my account.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone at all,” Kirk said, smiling down at her.

Kate was an amazing person. She had been hunted and harassed by this man, yet her desire to protect Kirk from felling guilt was greater than her wish for her own safety. There was not a hint of petty vengeance in her. Kate was pure and kind.

A perfect mate.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

“Only that I admire you,” he told her.

“Well, I admire you too,” she declared. Then she blushed pink for the third time in a day.

“I love when you do that,” he told her.

“What?”

“I love when you blush.”

Her cheeks grew rosier still and he had to restrain himself from bending to brush them with his lips.

“Here we are,” she said.

So much for his alertness. They had reached the apartment without him even noticing.

He had never been one to let his guard down so easily.

But then, he had never met anyone as damned distracting as Kate Henderson.