Chapters: 1/?
Rating: PG – PG-13
Warnings: Unbeta'd.
Pairing: Eventual K/S with very, very little U/S in the beginning.
Summary: When Spock became Kirk's second-in-command he had no idea what he was getting into.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek.
AN: I don't normally write from first person. This is unbeta'd so any mistakes I make are my own. A.K.A., if you see any glaring mistakes please tell me and I'll try to fix them. This is my first attempt at a Star Trek fanfiction. I accept con crit.
Chapter 1
After the incident the Federation had begun to refer to as the Nero Incident, I had been planning on resigning from Starfleet. It would have been the logical action for me, with so few Vulcans left; everyone was needed to rebuild the Vulcan culture.
The talk with my counterpart confused me. His actions during the Nero Incident had been illogical and dangerous. He could not have guaranteed that his plan would be successful. We might share the same DNA, but we were from different universes and were different people. He could not have been sure I would react the same way he would have.
Yet, I did not resign from Starfleet as I had been planning to. It was as logical for me to stay with Starfleet as it was for me to leave it. After the Nero Incident, Starfleet was also lacking in available resources. Many of the more experienced officers had been piloting the starships that were destroyed in the attack of Vulcan.
I stayed with Starfleet, but elected to return to instructing at Starfleet Academy. At my request to return to teaching, Starfleet Command countered my request by offering me a command of my own, but I declined. I believed myself too emotionally compromised to captain a starship.
Under normal circumstances, I would have no problems with the stress a command offered, but since the destruction of Vulcan, I had not been able to meditate properly. Therefore, I was not sure I could handle the stress. I was not willing to risk my subordinates' lives, hence my request to be transferred from active duty. Starfleet decided that from the loss of personal in the actual battle to the Vulcans resigning from Federation projects to settle on the new colony, they would rather have me employed then not so my request was granted. As the U.S.S. Enterprise left for its newest mission, I began to instruct a new class of Starfleet cadets.
Admiral Pike, who had been confined to desk duty, requested I track the progress of the Enterprise despite my position at the Academy. His reasons were unknown to me, none of the projects I contributed to or monitored relevant to the Enterprise. The only connection I still had to the Enterprise was Nyota, but it was a personal connection. It did not require me to track the official progress of the Enterprise on its missions as Admiral Pike had requested.
I consider Admiral Pike an intelligent being though. He must have had some reasoning behind his request for me to watch the Enterprise. No matter how many angles I considered it from, I could not see his reasoning, but I did not ignore his request and checked on the Enterprise's status twice daily.
It was because of Admiral Pike's request that I knew of the Enterprise's return to Earth after a string of small missions. So, when I returned to my office late after an evening class I was expecting to find Nyota waiting outside my office, instead, I Found Captain Kirk waiting for me inside my office.
Captain Kirk was sprawled on the couch set against one of the walls of my office. He appeared to be asleep. I took a moment to study him because it was a curious anomaly to find him in my office. One would have expected him to be at a bar or having sexual intercourse with whoever he deemed attractive that night. Since the captain did not appear to have been drinking, have had sexual intercourse, or to have been involved in an altercation involving sexual intercourse, I wondered as to his purpose. My office had been locked.
He appeared to be asleep until I closed my office door behind me with more force than necessary. My action proved successful in startling him out of his doze. His whole body tensed as he jerked upwards at the sudden noise. He looked around with a guarded expression until he spotted me and relaxed back against the couch with a sleepy smirk on his face.
"About breaking into your office," Captain Kirk maintained his smirk, but it lost the sleepy aspect, "I was tired and didn't know when you'd be back. I figured I'd wait somewhere more comfortable then the hallway. Also thought that this option would get less questions asked."
"Have you gone through my records?" I questioned. I ignored the Captain Kirk's statement about having less questions asked because I would not have put it past him to give into the temptation my records presented. I wanted to know if I had to redo any of my lesson plans his investigating might have compromised.
"Nope." Captain answered in one word. "Uhura couldn't make it by the way. The Enterprise is leaving again tomorrow night and it's not fair to authorize shore leave for only one person. We only need a few last minute updates before our newest mission." Captain Kirk explained as if I had been going to ask where Nyota was. I had not been planning on asking, but I did not mind the explanation either.
"Is there a reason for your visit?" I inquired aloud. He had yet to offer an explanation for breaking into my office and that was what I was most curious about.
Captain Kirk's smirk grew into a wide grin. He stood up and stretched before moving around my office. I remained standing in the middle of my office with my hands interlocked behind my back. I watched Captain Kirk as he settled to lean against the edge of my desk. Once he was comfortable, he looked back at me. His blue eyes regarded me with a relaxed but equally guarded expression. It was a curious combination of emotions to be displayed.
"Long story short, I lost my science officer during the first of the most recent string of missions," Captain Kirk started, "and Bones…" I assume he noticed my disapproval of Dr. McCoy's nickname when he corrected, "I mean Dr. McCoy told me I needed to find a new one. Now Command is telling me the same thing…."
He stopped. I wondered if he was waiting for me to comment, but since he had not finished with his point, I saw no reason to say anything. Captain Kirk waited for a few moments before shrugging and continuing.
"I want to ask you something." Captain Kirk said slowly. I wondered if the question was at all related to his unfinished thought about not having a science officer.
"Yes?"
"Will you be the science officer on the Enterprise?" Captain Kirk asked quickly. He seemed nervous, an emotion I had not associated with Captain Kirk. He should not have been nervous. It was only a simple yes or no question.
"I will not take the position." I answered.
Captain Kirk's face adapted a confused expression. "I've already cleared it with Command though."
"I will not take the position," I repeated.
"Why?" Captain Kirk asked.
"I do not wish to serve on a starship." Captain Kirk eyed me suspiciously.
"I'm not asking you to take command." He growled. I merely raised an eyebrow at him. "Bullshit, Spock, you're the most emotionally stable person I know. I don't see any problems with you serving on the Enterprise," he stated seriously. I wondered if he had forgotten I tried to kill him.
"I did not say I was unfit to serve on a starship, only that I did not wish to serve on one. There is a difference," I pointed out. "But if I am the most emotionally stable person you know, Captain Kirk, I wonder as to the emotional state of your crew. It would seem there is another reason behind Starfleet Command's numerous requests for me to return to active duty."
Captain Kirk looked at me for a long moment as if he was not quite sure what I had just said. Then, he laughed. His emotions did not follow any kind of pattern. I had just insulted something he cared about yet he was laughing over it. It was not the normal pattern of human emotions I had observed. I observed most humans were offended, not humored.
"You just insulted me." Captain Kirk crowed triumphantly. "You just insulted me!"
"I heard you the first time you stated your accusation, you did not have to repeat the statement a second time."
"You questioned my emotional state." Captain Kirk leaped up from his my chair. He started forward with hands on his hips.
"If I had any question to your emotional state, I would have reported my concern to Starfleet Command already." I commented matter-of-factly.
"But you said that if you were the most emotionally stable person I knew, you wondered as to the emotional state of my crew."
"Yes. I know what I said. You did not have to repeat it."
Captain Kirk paused to think of a response and when he could not, he opened and closed his mouth several times. Some humans relate this look to a fish, but I do not believe Captain Kirk looked at all like a fish considering he was neither underwater nor did he possess scales and gills. Finally, when he could not think of anything to say, Captain Kirk sat back in the chair behind my desk. Propping his feet up on my desk, Captain Kirk just looked at me.
"What's your answer Spock?"
I did not recall having missed a question. I had answered his original question. "My answer, Captain?"
"Will you be the Enterprise's Science Officer?" Captain Kirk asked again. He had already asked this question and I had already answered him.
"No," I stated. "Now will you please leave my office? I have several hours of work left to complete."
Captain Kirk simply linked his hands behind his head and smiled at me. I felt my suppressed irritation rise. Captain Kirk's persistence to his inquiry was impeding on my ability to finish my work before the morning, the reason for my irritation.
"You're sure you want to turn this down Spock? This is the last time I'm going to offer. Do you want the position as the science officer on the Enterprise?"
My hands tightened their hold on each other behind my back involuntarily. I was glad Captain Kirk could not see them. I had already answered his question twice. My answer would not change; I did not understand why he continued to ask. My mind began to formulate a theory on how long it would take for Captain Kirk to understand I would not change my answer.
"I am quite pleased with my position at the Academy. I do not want the position." I paused. "Why would I even desire the position?" I questioned. It was a legitimate question. My service record would show I only worked on a starship when it was required of me for time at the Academy and most recently for the Nero Incident.
"Why not? A chance of adventure, meet new people, observe new scientific discoveries, etcetera, etcetera. Plus, you would see Uhura more often and in person too. Who knows how long you would go without seeing her given the current state of the Fleet." Captain Kirk listed.
"I do not see how the reference to my personal relationship with Lieutenant Uhura is related to why I should desire to serve on the Enterprise," I growled. Captain Kirk had no concept of personal privacy.
He raised his hands as a sign of surrendering, not that there was any reason or anything for him to surrender to. "Okay, I get the point, stay out of your personal life when reasoning with you, and no, you won't accept the position."
Without more protesting, surprising me, Captain Kirk left me to the work I still had to complete.
Half an hour before classes started the next morning, there was a knock on my office door. I had been working since Captain Kirk had left my office with only a short break of sustenance, so I determined I could take another short break to answer the door without falling behind in the work I had yet to complete. When I bade the person on the opposite side of the door to enter, one of Admiral Pike's assistants crossed the threshold of my office. The young cadet looked nervous and was carrying a message that I was to see Admiral Pike as soon as I got the message.
"Please convey that I would like to comply with Admiral Pike's summons, but I am unable to see him now because the proximity to the time of the start of classes." I told the cadet.
He shifted uneasily as he tried to decipher what I had said. "Admiral Pike insists that you come to see him now. He says it won't take long and you'll be able to get to class on time."
I held back a sigh. I could complete the work I had left in the time I had before class began, but the summons to Admiral Pike's office took precedence over my work. Setting the stylus to my PADD into its holder, I gathered the other materials I would need for instructing and followed the cadet to Admiral Pike's office.
When I entered his office, Admiral Pike glanced up and immediately stopped his work to dig through the unorganized stack of PADDS on one edge of his desk. He finally held up a PADD for me to take. I walked across the office; the cadet had left and closed the door behind him, and took the PADD from Admiral Pike's hand. I glanced at it long enough to read it before sharply returning my gaze to Admiral Pike.
"I do not understand." I said more calmly then I felt. The hand not holding the PADD was curled in a fist, held at the small of my back.
"That's a new one on me." Admiral Pike gave me a weary smile. "I was told to give you the news because the other admirals thought you would take the news badly." I continued to stare at him as emotionlessly as I could. "It's a transfer, Spock. You're being transferred to the Enterprise as its science officer."
"I turned down Captain Kirk's offer." I felt it was necessary to point out.
"In case you haven't figured out, Kirk went above your head to request you though Command. Command couldn't think of a reason to refuse their newest poster boy." Admiral Pike explained the obvious. He knew my silence was a sign that I was less then pleased with the order. He tried to convince me I should be happier with the transfer. "Spock, you should be pleased. The Enterprise has the brightest future of any ship in Fleet. There are many who would kill to be in your position."
"I might find it safer to have people set on killing me for the job offer I do not want rather than being on the Enterprise itself." I commented offhandedly. Admiral Pike let out a dry chuckle at I am sure was at the shocked expression I was displaying. The expression shock from how I had let the comment slip so easily from my mouth.
"Spock?" Admiral Pike questioned. He face still held an amused expression. "Is there a problem with the Enterprise that should be repaired before it leaves tonight?"
The question was a challenge in a way. Admiral Pike was challenging me to say what I really thought of Captain Kirk. He knew I would not outright insult the captain.
"Permission to speak freely, Admiral?"
"Granted." Admiral Pike agreed almost instantly.
"I find no fault with the Enterprise." I answered respectfully. "I find the Enterprise's captain most illogical though. The actions Captain Kirk took during the Nero Incident put more people than necessary at risk. I find it irrational for Starfleet to continue to employ Captain Kirk as a captain if they do not want to lose their best and newest ship."
Admiral Pike sighed. "You lost."
"Lost, Admiral?" I asked him to elaborate.
Admiral Pike chuckled again. "You're not going to be able to get out of the transfer.
"I think that your logic is the only reason Starfleet Command transferred you to active duty. I don't pretend to understand the Command's inner workings, but I know Command is hoping you will keep Kirk logical and bail him out of trouble when he needed."
"Most illogical." I muttered. Starfleet Command would know Captain Kirk and I did not work well together. We had both filed reports about the incident that had led to my resigning command. I resolved, in my mind, to find some regulation in Starfleet's numerous policies that would allow me to have Starfleet retract the transfer order with no consequence to Captain Kirk or me.
"There's no point in trying to get out of it. I pointed out before; you're not going to be able to get out of it." Admiral Pike informed me. He had either worked with me long enough to predict my line of thinking or my emotions must have started to show. To be sure it was not the latter, I quickly schooled my features. "You might as well accept your fate. Short of defying a direct order or quitting Starfleet, you're stuck on the Enterprise until it's decided you should be taken off it."
My suppressed irritation rose to a level that almost allowed it to leave the carefully constructed box for it in the back of my mind. It did not escape though and I was able to push it back. I did send a glare in Admiral Pike's direction, as much as an emotionless façade would allow at least.
"Fate, Spock. It's fate. Stardock 6B at 2000," Admiral Pike announced as the bell for the start of classes rang.
"I do not believe in fate." I snapped before storming out of the office to my first class of the day.