DISCLAIMER: All chapters of this work are fiction using characters from the Star Trek universe. I do not claim any ownership over them or any of the many Trek universes. This work is solely for entertainment purposes and is not considered canon (not by a long shot).


In the moments before his death, George Kirk learned that he had a son and that he was an alpha. He and his mate, Winona, named him James Tiberius Kirk. Despite knowing that he would have taken the same actions given a choice, George did regret deeply that he would never know his son nor the man he would become.


Jimmy Kirk was nothing if not a trying child. His mother, grief-stricken, opted to throw herself into her work and was off-world a great deal. Jim grew up knowing he was little more than a reminder of quite possibly the most horrific moment in his mother's life. Still, Winona did not want to be alone and so she married a man named Frank. It was an error that Jim would pay for with bruises and the occasional concussion.

Frank was an alpha. Two alphas rarely remained in one household if they weren't related by blood and Frank constantly reminded Jim he was not his son. Jim agreed wholeheartedly and did everything to demonstrate his understanding. Driving his father's vintage Corvette over a quarry cliff before his stepfather could sell it was one such demonstration. Jim never knew if his mother noticed the marks on his body – if she did, she never mentioned it.

A child possessed of a frighteningly clever and intelligent mind, Jim learned early how to get what he needed or wanted by being unpredictable and using methods no one else would consider because they were too dangerous. He had more than a few broken bones, but Jim also learned how to take a hit, a fall and to swallow any pain life gave him. He developed a motto of get them before they got you – an antagonistic attitude that earned him even more injuries as he grew older.

By the time he was 26, Jim Kirk was infamous in Riverside, Iowa. People came to him but rarely stayed, which was fine with Jim. As an alpha, he never wanted for bed-mates – male or female. Despite his reputation or maybe because of it, Jim was often sought out by omegas during their heats – and he was more than willing to oblige. He did, however, take great care to avoid impregnating or claiming one. Jim Kirk had little desire to take a mate regardless of the many offers.

Jim was also well-known as a rather disappointing shadow of his father. The entire planet knew who George Kirk was – and Jim was not him. Jim was not even close to being him. That knowledge, coupled with the many other voices that reminded him daily how pointless he was, ate at Jim. He buried the pain under sex with random strangers and a lot of alcohol.

It was the desire to escape, yet again, that drove him to a nearby bar. He drove his Harley and strode in completely sober. Jim then spent two hours drinking himself stupid and trying to scent a willing companion for the night.

When the tall woman with black hair and mocha skin walked up to the bar, Jim instantly scented her as a beta. She gave the barkeep her order and Jim took his chance.

"That's a lotta drinks for one woman," Jim said, blinking.

The woman immediately assessed him and dismissed him. Looking back at the bartender, she said, "And a shot of Jack straight up."

Jim continued his attempt to struke up a conversation. "Make that two. Her shot's on me."

"Her shot's on her," the woman said with an amused look. "Thanks but no thanks."

Jim shook his head. "Don't you want to at least know my name before you completely reject me?"

"I'm fine without it," she replied.

Jim had to agree. "You are fine without it. It's Jim. Jim Kirk."

Jim watched the beta carefully. She was amused with him but it was more indulgence than anything, which now made her a challenge. Jim loved challenges. "If you don't tell me your name, I'm gonna have to make one up."

"It's Uhura."

"Uhura? No way, that was the name I was gonna make up for you!" Jim said with a surprised expression on his face.

Uhura rolled her eyes but, like so many before her, she found herself being sucked into the Jim Kirk charm radius.

"Uhura what?"

"Just Uhura."

Jim frowned. "They don't have last names in your world?"

"Uhura is my last name."

Another frown. "Well ... they don't have, um, first names in your world?" Uhura chuckled and Jim decided to move a little closer. "So, you're a cadet, you're studying. What's your focus?"

"Xenolinguistics. You have no idea what that means," Uhura said smugly.

Just as smug, Jim replied, "It's the study of alien languages. Morphology, phonology, syntax – it means you've got a talented tongue."

Uhura smiled. "I'm impressed. For a moment there, I thought you were just a dumb hick who only has sex with farm animals."

Jim smirked. "Well ... not only ..."

A large man walked up behind Jim and, speaking to Uhura, said, "This townie's not bothering you, is he?"

Uhura was still laughing at Jim's joke. "Oh, beyond belief ... but it's nothing I can't handle."

Jim grinned. "You could handle me ... that's an invitation."

"Hey!" the man snapped. "You better mind your manners!"

Jim scented another alpha and sighed. "Oh relax, cupcake, it was a joke."

The man grabbed Jim's shoulder and spun him around. "Hey, farm boy. Maybe you can't count, but there are four of us and one of you."

Jim's eyes narrowed as he took in the alphas and betas coming up behind their leader. His smile was definitely cocksure. "So get some more guys and then it'll be an even fight."

Jim felt his blood rising but he was no where near a full-on alpha rage so he counted that a good thing. Alphas who fought enraged tended to kill people. Lost in his musings, Jim took the first punch full on. His blue eyes sparked and he entered the fight in earnest. Bodies and punches began to fly. Jim would later classify the fight as not a total loss – one punch sent him spinning to the bar where he landed hands on Uhura's breasts. It would have been more enjoyable if she hadn't sent him flying back into the fray off-balance.

Jim lay sprawled out on a tabletop when Pike arrived. The young alpha watched the older one take charge and corral the cadets. He watched all of this with his head hanging off the edge of a table. Later, nose bleeding and napkins attempting to staunch it, Jim found himself on the end of yet another 'why aren't you doing more with your life' speech. He would have ignored all of it if it weren't for the alpha's final words.

"I dare you to do better."

Jim Kirk spent the rest of the night driving and thinking. He looked at the star-filled sky and he wondered if he would ever see them up close. In that moment, James Tiberius Kirk made his decision – he never looked back.


When he got on the shuttle, Jim simply saluted the cadets that had beaten the hell out of him the previous night. He was bruised and battered but Jim Kirk now had a purpose. He was going to see how far it would carry him. Finding a seat, he occupied himself with figuring out the straps.

Voice raised in protest caught his attention and he watched as a rather scruffy looking male specimen was led out of his hiding place in the bathroom and none-too-gently forced to find a place to sit.

"You need to get back to your seat."

"I had one ... in the bathroom with no windows!"

Jim regarded the man with some wariness as he argued with the pilot. "I suffer from aviaphobia. That's a fear of dying in something that flies!"

The pilot was duly unimpressed. "Sit down or else I will make you sit down!"

The man regarded the beta who was a good head shorter than himself. He sighed with a deep resignation and stalked off to find a seat. As luck would have it, the only open seat nearby was beside Jim.

Falling heavily into the seat, the man turned blearily to Jim and muttered, "I may throw up on you."

Jim blinked, startled. The man's scent tagged him as an omega. He wore no collar but the faint shadow of where it had been was still on the man's neck. Jim re-evaluated the man – older than himself but not by much … dark hair and bloodshot hazel eyes. He was attractive in a down-on-his-luck way. His scent was all smoke and liquor and Jim didn't think it was just where he'd been lately. Interesting.

"I think these things are safe, you know," Jim offered.

"Don't pander to me, kid," the omega growled. "One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in 13 seconds. A solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. And wait until your sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles and your eyes are bleeding. Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence."

Jim rolled his eyes. "Well, I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space."

The defeated look on the omega's face caught Jim's attention. He could suddenly scent pain bleeding off the omega and a surge of protectiveness flared through him. Jim immediately pushed it down.

That was odd.

The omega sighed deeply. "Yeah, well I got nowhere else to go. My mate took the whole damn planet in the bond-severing. All I got left is my bones."

Jim regarded the omega for a moment and watched as he took a drink from a flask he pulled out of his jacket. The man glanced over and offered it to Jim. Jim took it with a faint smile.

"Jim Kirk."

"McCoy. Leonard McCoy."

Jim smiled again as he handed the flask back. He was intrigued by Leonard McCoy. People didn't intrigue him. Jim figured out what they wanted and left it at that. Now this gruff man with the five o'clock shadow had him curious and feeling strangely 'alpha'. As the shuttle took off, Jim noticed the blood drain from McCoy's face. He took a chance and gave the terrified man's shoulder a squeeze. It was considered rude for an alpha to ever lay hands on an omega unless invited or if the circumstances were life-threatening – but Jim found himself wanting to comfort the omega and ease the fear scent rising off him.

At his touch, the omega flinched but he didn't tell Jim to get his hands the hell off. Instead, he seemed to relax somewhat so Jim kept his hand resting lightly on the omega. No claim, no intent … just reassurance. It seemed to work and Jim felt an alpha's contentment. It was odd but it felt right somehow. Jim decided he was going to get to know this strange omega with the smoky smooth scent.


When Leonard McCoy staggered onto the shuttle, he was prepared to hide out until they reached San Francisco. That failed spectacularly, so Leonard fell into a random open seat. When he leaned over to warn the man next to him that he might just humiliate them both by throwing up, he had to force himself not to spike at the scent coming off the alpha next to him. If sunlight had a smell, it would have been this alpha's. He made sure to never look directly at the man and was grateful he wasn't so drunk that he couldn't dampen his own scent.

The alpha tried to reassure him and Leonard found himself wanting to climb into the man's lap so those arms would go around him. Jocelyn had been his alpha for so long and things had been bad for so long, Leonard had forgotten what it was like to have an alpha comfort him. His omega instincts were screaming at him to submit and do it fast before this one got away. Instead, he rattled off something about death and disease.

Andorian shingles? Good God,… man probably thinks I'm a lunatic.

Then he offered the alpha a drink which was accepted with a faint smile and eyes bluer than the sky. Leonard knew he was in trouble. He wondered if the alpha had an omega. Then he wondered why the hell he cared.

I just went through three weeks of withdrawals because of a severed bond … what the hell am I doing?! Leonard asked himself miserably.

He didn't wonder for long as the shuttle lifted off the ground and McCoy felt his heart slamming in his chest. He gripped the arm rests and tried not to think … normally he was fairly good at that. He was also normally far more drunk than he was at present. Leonard could feel the panic beginning to set in and he prepared himself for the humiliation of either fainting or just plain cracking up.

Jim's hand landed on his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. Leonard flinched at the man's touch … God it had been too long since an alpha touched him out of kindness. He could smell that warm, fresh scent again and he used it to help calm himself. Leonard's shoulders slowly relaxed and he found that he was able to breathe again. He didn't protest when the alpha left his hand in place. It was a little breach of manners, but Leonard wasn't about to complain.

Fuck my life, Leonard thought unhappily. He was hopelessly smitten with the alpha with the dark blonde hair and sky-blue eyes that smelled like sunshine.


And didn't his heart just go into his throat and lodge there when he opened the door to his dorm room and found Jim Kirk sprawled out on one bunk?

'What the hell, kid?"

"Hey, Bones! You finally done with orientation?"

"'Bones'?" McCoy queried with a cocked eyebrow.

Jim lowered his voice to a rough growl, "'All I have left is m'bones'."

Leonard rolled his eyes. When he sat down on the bunk across from Jim he decided he'd better clear the air – figuratively and literally – between them.

"So, kid, in case you didn't already notice, I'm an omega," McCoy said softly.

"And I'm an alpha … so?" Jim asked innocently.

"First off, how the hell did you even get this room assigned to you? Starfleet doesn't room omegas and alphas unless they're mated … oh wait, kid, you're not –" Leonard suddenly had a spike of fear that Jim intended to claim him.

Jim looked affronted. "Hey, I might be from the sticks but I wouldn't do that!"

Leonard sighed. "Ok, kid, ok. Sorry, but you know as well as I do it's a concern."

"Yeah, I get it – and to answer your other question, I hacked the housing system and assigned myself." Jim said cheerfully.

"You did what? Why would you do that?" McCoy asked.

Jim's smile faded and Leonard decided he'd never hated his inability to stay silent more than that instant. "I can change it back if you want to room with someone else, Bones."

Leonard ran his hand over his face. "No, Jim, that's not what I mean … hell, you're the only person I know in this place and beyond your name and that you like scotch, I don't know all that much."

"And I'm an alpha and that has you freaked."

"I'm not freaked. I don't get freaked."

"Sure … what I'm scenting is you not being freaked?"

McCoy sighed and held up a hand. "Ok, let's start over … hi, glad we're gonna be roommates, Jim."

Jim's return smile was brilliant as he sat up and shook Bones' hand – it matched the sunshine he smelled like. Bones knew he was lost. Still … the alpha had requested to room with him. Maybe he was interested after all – McCoy let himself wonder and hope.


Three weeks into their semester, Bones got a text as he was walking across to the dorms. He chided himself at the flare of excitement when he saw it was from Jim. The excitement faded as he read the message.

Bones, got company. 2 hrs? Owe you.

Leonard McCoy wasn't blind. He'd seen the way Jim attracted women and men with his easy charm and smile. Only three weeks and he'd managed to find someone to share his bed … Leonard supposed if it was any other alpha he'd be amused and more than a little annoyed that he had to avoid his own room for two hours.

But it wasn't any other alpha. It was Jim. And he'd still hoped.

I never learn, McCoy thought dully.

Walking to one of the many benches dotting the quads, Leonard lay back with a deep sigh and stared at the quickly darkening sky. He knew he had a choice to make. Either find a new roommate and avoid Jim Kirk altogether … or he could just man up and accept reality. He was only recently severed from his mate of several years, it was understandable he'd fallen for the young, vibrant alpha. He was older and nowhere near as attractive as his friend … what the hell had he expected? The kid was heading into the black … how would that even work? Leonard hated space flight and he had little inclination to bash around the universe 'exploring'.

Doing what he did best, Leonard McCoy shoved all of his misery down deep in his gut. He pushed the pain there as well. Jim would never want him for a mate, but they were already well on their way to building a close friendship. Leonard decided in that instant that he would take Jim any way he could have him – platonic relationship included. McCoy was nothing if not loyal to a fault and he was learning that Jim hadn't had a lot of that in his life. He'd be the best damn friend the kid would ever have.

Leonard wondered how long it would be before his chest stopped aching.