Title: Meant for Something Bigger
Summary: In Spock's original timeline, James Tiberius Kirk had been a great man - but that had been another life. Spock Prime reflects on the two Kirks he's known.
Word Count: 645
Date: May 25th, 2009
Author's Notes: My first Star Trek fic – YAY! Also, English is not my native language and this is not beta-ed, so feel free to point at any errors you find.
I've always been a huge Star Trek fan, but I'm more of a TNG girl. Picard has always been my favorite captain and I'd never imagined I'd fall in love with Captain Kirk, but Chris Pine is so absolutely brilliant in this new movie that I just couldn't resist.
Disclaimer: I own nothing or no one. JIm Kirk's been following me around by his own will, I'm not forcing him into anything.
--o--
From a higher and discreet position, Spock watched a young Kirk being commissioned with the position of Captain of the Enterprise. It was a historical moment, even though most of the people clapping their hands to the youngest captain in the Starfleet were oblivious to it. His mind wandered to another historical moment - the moment James Tiberius Kirk from Spock's original timeline took over the bridge of the same yet different ship.
Ever since he'd met this young Kirk, Spock couldn't help comparing the two versions of the same man he'd seen. The mind meld had provided him with enough information about this young man to know that, though he had the same personality as the Jim he knew, this Kirk had lived a completely different life so far. The attack to the USS Kelvin and the consequent sacrifice of Lieutenant George Kirk had made an enormous difference, and Spock wandered about the massive impact that single turn of events had had in this Kirk's life.
In Spock's timeline, Jim had grown up in a sheltered home, having his father present and imposing a great influence in his formation years. This young Kirk had carried the burden of his father's sacrifice from the moment of his birth, and it had raised his rebellious free spirit to levels the other Jim had never experienced.
The other Jim had smoothly found his place as the middle ground between Spock's logic and McCoy's emotions. During his long years on board of the Enterprise, it always fascinated Spock how he and the Doctor were the two opposite figures sitting on Jim's shoulders, and how Jim had always managed to transit between them to find his own way. The thought of the doctor brought a faint smile to his old Vulcan face, and Spock searched the crowd for Bone's young features, easily finding him next to Chekov, Sulu, and many other friends. Their lives would be different as well, because Kirk's life was different here and now. This Kirk was far wilder than the Jim from Spock's original timeline. He was the extreme opposite to the young Spock, and he still would have to go a long way to find his own middle ground. This young Kirk had deeper drives that had never even occurred to the Jim Spock knew.
While the Jim from his timeline had cheated on the Kobayashi Maru test because he could, because he didn't believe in no-win situations and this test would be no different, this young Kirk had done it for the same reasons - the same innocent arrogance that was so typically Jim's - but there was also something else. There was this secret drive to prove himself over and over again - prove himself better than his heroic father. An urge to prove he could win a battle his father had lost.
That was something the Jim Spock knew his entire life had never needed to prove. And that was the real difference between them. This young Kirk had already reached the edge in ways the other Jim had never been forced to during his whole lifetime. This young Kirk had deeper reasons to be the arrogant punk kid he was. He also had needed to find a deeper strength to bring himself to be the man he was fast becoming. And that strength was the reason this young Kirk was assuming the captaincy of the Enterprise six years before the Jim in Spock's timeline.
As the ceremony reached an end and Spock looked down, his eyes briefly locked with those familiar blue ones, and he felt his heart fill with affection for the young man. In his original timeline, James Tiberius Kirk had been a great man - but that had been another life. This young Kirk was meant for something even greater. And that would be something worth watching.