His precious, little secret
Captain Christopher Pike was waiting. Not for the recruits, nor the fellow officers to talk about the cadets and the issues of the Starfleet Academy. He was waiting for someone who was very special to him. Looking around, he saw a few kids in the park, playing with each other or their dogs. He smiled, but that smiled faded as soon as he glanced at his watch.
"Hello," he heard a sing-song tone from behind. He turned around and saw a young woman smiling sweetly at him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to keep you waiting for half an hour, but I had to do some research for the upcoming anthropology exam," she told him quickly, throwing her arms around his neck.
"I was late as well," he replied with a smile as he put his hands on her back.
Raising an eyebrow, Denise gave him a serious look. "Oh, then I won't apologize."
"I didn't say you don't have to," he said with a short laugh, pulling her closer. She knew what he wanted as an apology so, without a moment of hesitation, she kissed him then a few seconds later she pulled back with a smile on her face.
"Funny," was all she said, taking a step back. "Now where?" she asked after he put a hand behind her back and started to lead her toward the entrance of the park.
"I'll meet your father in a bar an hour from now, so we should go there," he said, earning a questioning 'hm?' sound from her. "This way we can spend more time together," he explained and she nodded. He loved her, and all her actions told him she felt the same way. After a quite long time, he was happy again, even though a part of him still couldn't get used to the face they were together.
Denise was really young. Or, we could say, he was way older than her. She studied anthropology at the Starfleet Academy. And there was something else that had bothered him in the early stages of their relationship: she was Captain Jeremy Mercer's daughter. Jeremy was a very good friend of his ever since they went to the Starfleet Academy a really long time ago. But still, her chocolate brown eyes hypnotized him every single time he looked into them and he couldn't get himself to put their relationship to an end. Their relationship, that was still a secret after about five months.
As they got closer to the bar - which was full with Starfleet cadets and officers -, he let his hand slid from her back to his side. The sight of the two of them together wasn't new for a lot of people because of Captain Mercer, but they still didn't want to push their luck. It had worked so far. Christopher got themselves a table, while Denise went to get something to drink.
"Need some help?" a guy asked her as he leaned against the bar. He was checking her out as she let out an irritated groan and rolled her eyes. He fixed his eyes on the back of her black skirt.
"No, thanks. And don't stare at my ass, please," she added flatly, signaling to the bartender that she wanted two beers.
The guy gave her a questioning look. "Than why are you wearing such a short skirt? I swear that's a crime," he said, his voice making it obvious that he was drunk.
"Cadet," came Christopher's firm voice from behind the guy.
He gulped and turned around. "Sir," he said quietly.
"Is there a problem?" he went on. Denise couldn't help but smile a little as she watched the poor guy's shocked expression.
"No, sir," he replied.
"He just doesn't understand the word 'no', sir, but I can handle it," she told him, flashing a reassuring smile at him.
His eyes were now locked onto hers. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir," she said with a nod.
"I'm sorry," the guy told her before he grabbed his drink. "Excuse me," he added and walked away.
Denise started to laugh, finally breaking eye contact with him. The bartender gave them the beers and they made their ways back to the table. "So you can handle it, huh?" he asked with an amused smile as he watched her playing with the bottle.
"Thanks," she replied with a sigh. "It was faster that way," she added, admitting that maybe she couldn't have handled it after all. "What is it?" she asked sweetly with a warm smile, because he seemed to be lost in his thoughts.
All he wanted at the moment was to reach over to her side and take her hand. And, of course, he wanted to kiss her, but that was something he really couldn't do. They had agreed to keep their relationship behind closed doors and in order to keep that promise, they had come up with several rules. Actually they had already cheated that day: the quick kiss in the park and the way he put his hand behind her back on the way to the bar was against the rules. He couldn't risk everything by holding her hand. Not when he was supposed to meet her father in half an hour.
Letting out a sigh and slowly shaking his head, he flashed a faint smile at her. "Nothing, I'm just thinking about a way to cancel this meeting with your father," he replied.
"Oh my God, that would be awesome," she admitted dreamily, instinctively reaching for his hand but stopping in the very last moment and grabbing the bottle instead.
To avoid the personal topics, they debated about the only person who always seemed to be a good choice in these situations: James T. Kirk. Christopher believed in him - that's why he had talked him into joining Starfleet. But there were times when Jim's behavior made it almost impossible for him to believe he will ever become a captain. That day was exactly like that.
"Kirk still thinks he can become an officer in three years," he stated in a disapproving tone after a while.
Denise thought for a second. "Three years to become an officer? Hmm… I think I heard about someone who became a captain in four," she said with a playful smirk. "Oh, wait, it was you, right?" she asked in fake disbelief.
"That's not the same, Denise. He's talented, I admit it, but he's way too arrogant-"
"Chris, that's exactly the same thing," she interrupted him, her voice still kind and warm. "I'm pretty sure you were almost the same at his age. I mean, there had to be a reason why you became a captain in such a short amount of time."
She was right, he had been the same. Still… "But I wasn't that arrogant," he replied.
"Yeah, right. But he really wants it. I'm a graduate, but I haven't heard about anyone who took the Kobayashi Maru test twice. And even though Jim failed both times, I heard he wants to try it again. If he fails again, he will still have his last year to try."
"You're right, he'll fail and he'll try again. And again and again and again. He's stubborn and that's why he won't realize the real purpose of the test."
Denise shrugged. "You were the one who recruited him," she stated simply, taking a sip of her beer, almost spitting it out when she noticed her father. "Shit," she said quietly, ready to stand up and leave.
"Don't," was all he said, making her ease up a bit. She gave him a questioning look, her gaze shifting between Chris and her father. "You only came here to say 'hello' to him, didn't you?" he asked, earning a smile from her that almost made him break the rules.
The captain reached their table and looked surprised by his daughter's presence. But he didn't say anything, only sat down on an empty chair. "Jeremy," Chris greeted him with a small smile. When they weren't at Starfleet, they simply left the formalities.
"Christopher," he replied shortly, turning his attention to Denise. The captain excused himself and left to bring him a beer, smiling reassuringly at the woman. "What are you doing here, Denise?" he asked kindly, happy to see his daughter again after a few days.
"I met Captain Pike this afternoon at the Academy and he told me something about meeting you here, so I thought I'll jump in and say hello," she lied happily.
He nodded with a warm smile. "And how are you? How's the Academy?"
"I'm fine and things at the Academy are great," she replied shortly, finishing her beer and standing up.
"You have to go?" he asked.
"Yeah, party with my friends," she said quickly, automatically coming up with a lie.
Jeremy laughed then gave her a serious look. "Tomorrow. Dinner," he stated.
"I know, dad," she replied, rolling her eyes.
"Have fun."
"Thanks, bye!" she said, walking away. A few steps later she got close to Chris and, for some strange reason, she trapped in her own leg, ending up in Christopher's arms. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said quickly, forcing back a smile.
Chris shook his head as he helped her standing on her own feet. "Nice move," he said quietly.
"Nice catch. Call me when it's over," she whispered, taking a step back. "Again, I'm sorry sir," she said a bit louder, looking over at her father with a nervous smile.
"Don't worry about it, cadet," he replied. She left the bar and Chris occupied his previous place.
Jeremy took a sip of his beer. "She can be such a klutz sometimes," he remarked with a small smile, tapping his fingers on the glass.
He didn't say anything, only nodded. There was only one thing he could think about: how long could they play that game? She deserved a normal relationship; a boyfriend she could go out with, someone from her own age group. And with him being on such good terms with her father, it was just more difficult. Right then, he made a decision: he will end this relationship before things get out of control.
Author's note: I should be studying for my finals and I should be writing the next chapters for my fanfictions, but I couldn't help myself. I have ideas for another chapters - or one shots - but I don't know.
Author's note 2: I changed one thing. Denise is not Admiral Archer's daughter.