This story is sort of Once Upon A Time-ish.
James Kirk keeps having these strange dreams that he's someone else, a Captain on board a space ship. Always centered around retrieving a criminal. But when he wakes, he goes to work as a bartender, everyday, as usual. Until the criminal from his dream walks in to his work...
Chapter One
"Let me explain what's happening here. You are a criminal! I watched you murder innocent men and women. I was authorized to end you! And the only reason why you are still alive is because I am allowing it. So shut your mouth." I said, my voice low, but full of pure rage as I stared at the handsome man behind the glass. Black hair, slicked back out of his pale face. Dressed entirely in black and so… dangerous.
"Oh, captain. Are you going to punch me again over and over until your arm weakens? Clearly you want to so tell me. Why did you allow me to live?" The look in his crystalline eyes was wonder, but at the same time it was like he showed no emotion. Like it was locked away behind those eyes that I stared in to.
"We all make mistakes." I said quietly, but I knew it was a lie. I just didn't want to be a bad guy and kill him with no mercy. And he knew it.
"No." He said, turning from me for a second. "I surrendered to you because, despite your attempt to convince me otherwise, you seem to have a conscience, Mr. Kirk. If you did not then it would be impossible for me to convince you of the truth." What truth could this evil man possibly convince me of?
"23 17 46 11. Co-ordinates not far from earth. You want to know why I did what I did, go and take a look."
"Give me one reason why I should listen to you." I said, apprehension filling me.
"I can give you seventy-two. And they're on board your ship… Captain." He said my title almost as an after thought. "They have been all along. I suggest you open one up."
I sat up, panting from my otherwise innocent dream. It wasn't a nightmare, so why did I react this way every time I had one?
It was always the same. I was Captain of a space ship, sent to retrieve a criminal who blew up a building and was now hiding on an enemy world. My coworkers at the bar were my crew, with some regulars mixed in. The only person who I hadn't met before was the criminal. The one who I had so much hate for in the dream…
I shook my head, looking at the time. Seven p.m.. I had an hour to get ready and run to work!
Deciding to forgo an entire shower, I quickly wet down my hair and towel dried it before brushing my teeth and running to the kitchen. Fuck! Didn't do groceries… I didn't have time for this…
Rushing out the door, barely remembering to lock it, I rushed in to the elevator before running to work.
The Enterprise was a lame ass name for a nightclub. But people seemed to like it here. Maybe it was the smoky mirrors that lined all the walls, or the pounding music that seemed to pulse through you. Or maybe it was the laser lights that came out of nowhere from the ceiling. Either way, it was one in the morning, an hour before closing and it was still packed.
My stomach was starting to protest not feeding it and I tried to focus on Leonard, or Bones as I liked to call him. He was a regular here, a heavy drinker ever since his wife left him, taking everything but his bones.
"I don't get it Jim, why do you work here?" He asked. I rolled my eyes, he asked me this almost every night. "You told me you only make nine dollars an hour."
"Again, I say, look at my tip jar." I said, pointing my thumb over my shoulder. I knew without looking that the mason jar on the counter behind me was filled with coins and even a few bills. "I make my rent in one nights worth of tips. Even on a weekday."
"Still think you'd be better off making something of yourself." He grumbled. I rolled my eyes again and the mood shifted with the music.
It started out low and quiet, but then an almost haunting beat filled the air, followed by lyrics that almost called to me. We had never played this song before…
I could corrupt you. In a heart beat. You think you're so special. Think you're so sweet. Want to try it? Don't even tempt me. Soon you'll be crying! I'm wishing you dreamt me!
I looked towards the door, trying to shake the goose bumps off, just as it opened and he walked in. Black hair, slicked back, black shirt beneath a black leather trench coat. I was transfixed as he looked around the room.
You'll be calling out my name. When you need someone to blame.
Suddenly, his eyes flicked to mine and I felt my breathing stop as slowly, a cruel smirk formed on those… Perfect lips…
I could corrupt you. It would be easy. Watching you suffer, oh girl it would please me. I want to touch you, with my little finger. I know it would crush you. My memory would linger.
He started to move and he was so graceful and slow that he reminded me of water, slowly moving over a rock.
You'd be crying out in pain. Begging me to play my games.
A girl stopped dancing, staring openly as he moved through the people, somehow not touching a single one. So it wasn't just me who he affected.
I could corrupt you. It would be ugly. They could sedate you. But what good would drugs be? I want to touch you, put my hands on your hips. It would be too much to place my lips on your lips.
He reached the bar and my lips parted slightly at the close up sight of him. It was the same, identical, all except there was no glass between us. He smiled again, his eyes staying on mine as he slowly leaned across the bar.
You'd be calling out my name. Begging me to play my games.
"I'd like a rum and coke." He said, tilting his head. "Please." He practically purred. I nodded, finally breaking away from his gaze and grabbing a glass, scooping some ice in to it. Turning around, I tried to ignore how I could see him in the mirror, his eyes roaming my body.
I poured the shot of spiced rum over the ice before spinning around and pouring coke from the wand in to the glass.
"4.50." I said, surprised that I kept my voice even and calm. He pulled out a five dollar bill, putting it on the bar before taking his drink and turning away. He stayed there, leaning against the bar, his elbow on it, his lips gently caressing the glass.
I pulled myself away, turning around and punching it in before grabbing the fifty cents and putting it on the bar. He turned around, looking down at the change and looking confused.
"Keep the change." He muttered, still looking confused. I managed a half smile and felt my cockiness return. I confused him by not just throwing the change in my jar.
"Thanks." I said, my voice sounding more normal. He raised an eyebrow and the smile was back as I threw the change in the jar.
"How long have you worked here?" He asked, sliding on to the stool. Bones motioned for another and I stared at him for a second, his head on the bar.
"A year." I responded, before turning to my friend. "You're cut off, go home."
"Ah, come on Jim!" He slurred, trying to sit up. He grabbed on to the bar and blinked before nodding. "Nope, you're right. I'll see you later kiddo."
"Text me when you're home so I know you aren't dead in a ditch!" I yelled after him. He waved me off and I chuckled, taking his glass and dumping the ice in the sink.
"Are you going to cut me off if I ask for another?" The man from my dream said, sliding the glass towards me. I snorted, shaking my head and confidently meeting his eyes.
"Are you stumbling like an idiot and barely able to hold your head up?" I responded, grinning before turning and fixing him another drink. This time he handed me a twenty and I turned away again before returning with fifteen dollars and fifty cents.
"Keep the change." He said quietly before I could set it down on the bar. I raised my eyebrow, staring at him incredulously. Usually I wouldn't argue, drunk people tip well, but he was sober and I didn't want to scam him. Something about him… It made me feel… Odd.
"There's enough money here for at least three more of those drinks." I said, shaking my head and putting his change on the bar.
"You have to be the only bartender in history to refuse a tip." He mused, taking a sip of his drink.
"You have to be the only sober man in history to tip a bartender 15.50 for a drink." I shot back, smirking.
"James." My manager, Spock, said, calling me over. I held up a finger and walked over, looking up at his professional hair cut and pale skin.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"I pay you to serve drinks, not flirt with the customers." He said quietly, no emotion on his face. I flinched, taking a step back.
"Just because I am talking to a customer, does not mean I am flirting." I growled. His eyes narrowed and I couldn't help that wish my dream was true at this second. I was his Captain, I was in charge of him.
"Be careful James, or you'll be out of a job." He growled.
"No, you listen to me. How much more business have you had since I went behind that bar." I said, glaring. He blinked and it was my turn for my eyes to narrow. "The regulars? They come to me. If I leave, they'll follow."
"You're on thin ice." He said, turning and leaving. I rolled my eyes before turning and walking back to the bar where someone was waiting.
"Sorry about the wait, what can I get you?" I asked over the music. I busied myself taking the girls order and when she left I noticed that the man was gone, and on the ledge of the sink, hidden by the bar, was a note and a twenty dollar bill.
I looked around, but the empty glass was on the bar and he was gone. I sighed, turning and placing the tip in the jar. I saw Spock come out of the back room and slipped the note in my pocket. It was almost closing anyways, I'd read it when I got home…
I collapsed in my bed, exhausted from standing for six hours. At least I was able to grab a quick burger from an all night fast food restaurant on the way home.
I groaned, pulling my shirt over my head before reaching in to my pocket to remove my keys. My fingers felt the paper in my pocket and I blinked, turning over and turning on the light. I pulled it out, blinking in surprise.
I could corrupt you. In a heart beat. You think you're so special. Think you're so sweet.
The lyrics tickled my memory and I gasped, looking down at the next line.
Café' Noir, Noon.
Khan
I blinked and, without thinking, set my alarm for ten instead of five. I slept a lot usually, but I needed to know this man who made my core tremble.. I closed my eyes, the paper still in my hand, the image of the smirking man at the bar, Khan, danced behind my eyelids.
"Who the hell are you?" I asked, staring at him. A name flashed for a second in my mind, but I couldn't grab it.
"A remnant of a time long past. Genetically engineered to be superior so as to lead others to peace in a world at war. But we were condemned as criminals, forced in to exile. For centuries, we slept. Hoping when we awoke things would be… Different. But as a result of the destruction of Vulcan, your Starfleet began to aggressively search distant quadrants of space, my ship was found adrift. I alone was revived." He explained.
"I looked up John Harrison." I said. "Until a year ago, he didn't exist."
"John Harrison was a fiction created the moment I was awoken by your admiral Marcus to help him advance his cause. A smoke screen to conceal my true identity." He said, staring in to my eyes. "My name is Khan."
Alright! Thank you for reading, please tell me what you thought!