Cut me some slack, guys. This is my first Star Trek fic, I'm kinda nervous how you all might find it. The only Star Trek background I've got was the three movies in the Kelvin Timeline, and a ton of fics. Nearly all the fics I read were superbly good, and yeah...then there's this. You get the idea. I hope you like it though, I had plenty of fun writing it. Tried my best.

Enjoy!

If the crew thought they knew their Captain well, then they were wrong. There was this one secret that even the closest of the command crew never did discover until a few days ago. Three days, to be exact. Spock might've even known the exact time and date of that moment down to the second if they dared to ask, but as it is, said First Officer seemed too deep in thought that they thought it would be most unwise to distract him over such small matters.

Okay, fine. It's not like the crew was distant from their Captain. Quite the contrary actually, they were like a close-nit family. They looked out for each other, they bickered – like how close friends did – they yelled at their Captain when he did something utterly foolish (it was mostly Doctor McCoy who did a substantial amount of yelling and cursing), they risked their lives for each other, which meant putting themselves on the verge of bleeding out and all that stuff (fine, it was mostly the Captain's heroic antics to provide them with enough drama on their five year mission).

But well, yeah. You get the idea. All of them would've traded anything in the world to be on the Enterprise, serving under Captain James T. Kirk.

That goes to show how close the crew of the Enterprise were. The command crew also had a rough idea on their Captain's daily schedule. If he wasn't on the Bridge, there was just about a ninety-five percent chance that they could find him in Medical, with IV tubes sticking out everywhere and Doctor McCoy hustling around him, frequently throwing out phrases like 'Dammit Jim' and 'one day you're gonna be the death of me'. And in the unlikely event that their Captain was not in Medical, he would probably be chatting with Scotty down in Engineering or getting his butt whooped by Sulu in a sparring session, or getting his butt whooped even worse by pulling a cheeky line or two on Uhura just for the fun of it, or getting his butt whooped so bad by Spock's raised eyebrows when he was caught in the former act.

So one day, when Chekov tripped on god-knows-what on the floor with a full mug of hot coffee clutched in his left hand and fell spectacularly onto the floor with the scorching hot mug and contents soaring into the air, high above his head, did he stumble upon that particular secret that sparked off a chain of events after.

That's because as Chekov let out a very manly shriek of surprise as he lost balance and tipped forward, the Captain who happened to be sitting in an elusive corner just nearby with his First Officer indulging in a game of chess, heard him and acted instinctively.

It was with no surprise that although the Russian teen found himself lying on the floor, thankfully with no bruises since his arms were quick enough to break the momentum, there was no thick scalding liquid cascading down on him. Instead, after his brief moment of shock, he found himself looking up at the Captain, who in his outstretched arm, had somehow caught the mug of coffee with all its contents intact.

"Fancy some coffee?" The captain said smoothly.

Embarrassed that he'd managed to trip – what made him trip? There was nothing offending that Chekov could see on the ground – on literally nothing apparently, right in front of his Captain, he felt his cheeks tingle.

"Thanks, Keptin." He said hastily.

"Jim," The Captain corrected, "We're off duty, so it's just Jim."

Chekov smiled and nodded before taking his mug of coffee and continuing on his way.

No harm done. Or is there? Because that was exactly the moment that news started to spread that their Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock sat together in a quiet and often overlooked cozy corner and poured over a chessboard during their free time.

It took, say, half an hour before the entire command crew and most of the other crew on board the Enterprise to were aware of a heated chess game going on, give or take a few minutes.

Needless to say, most of the command crew who were also off duty during that time, came rushing to that cozy corner that Chekov had last seen the Captain. Although the match that Kirk and Spock was already rounding up, with a triumphant grin on the Captain's face and an almost undetectable frown on Spock, the spectators were just pleased that they managed to get here on time to hear the conversation between the two.

"Checkmate." Kirk declared, crossing his arms.

As Kirk reached out to tap on the tile where Spock's helplessly surrounded king stood on the chessboard, he looked at Spock with mirth in his eyes.

"So, who's the winner now, huh, Spock?" Kirk said as he turned off the electronic display.

Spock merely turned his head a fraction to the side, "I believe it is only considered to have won if a person has had conquered more matches than his opponent. As I have won the previous two matches, and you have only won the current match, it is accurate to say that I am the overall victor of the game."

"You're a sore loser, Spock." Kirk replied, but the crew could tell that he was joking, "I will win you the next two times. I can promise that."

"It is not possible for you to predict a situation that occurs in the future, Jim. That is simply does not happen."

"It will. I'll win the next two consecutive rounds. You can bet on me."

Spock probably found it pointless to argue, because he remained silent.

Kirk took that as a minor victory and added, "Tomorrow night, after our shift. We'll meet here again. Two matches."

Spock stared back at his Captain, wondering what on earth had driven his friend to become so competitive all of a sudden. As for the crew, they were crossing their fingers behind their backs and hoping to see another match between their Captain and First Officer. They'd all along known that Spock was a genius when it came to logical thinking, so chess was naturally his game. They, however, had never imagined that Kirk played chess as a hobby, and much less with Spock as an opponent.

Spock nodded once, "As you wish, Jim."

Chekov was on the bridge, doing up his last few things before the shift was over for the day, when the Captain came out of nowhere behind him – goodness, he really needed to keep an eye on Kirk, that man could jump out of thin air – and put an arm around his shoulders.

Alarm bells rang off immediately in his head. It was waaaay too friendly a move, even for Kirk.

Stranger danger, stranger danger, stranger dan –

"So, Pavel, do you maybe remember that one time yesterday when I saved you from being burnt to a crisp by that hot coffee?" Kirk started off.

"Yes Keptin – uh, I mean Jim." Chekov corrected himself quickly.

There was a twinkle in the Captain's eye as he continued, "Good, so are you going to offer to do something for me in return?"

This could not mean anything good, and Chekov could feel it coming. It was totally unlike the Captain to say something like that. Even that one time when they were on a field mission and things went all wrong in less than a second leading to the Captain diving in front of him before Chekov could even react, and getting impaled in the stomach by a blunt arrow. The gallant an instinctive move from the Captain landed Kirk in Medical with a four hour surgery and left Chekov unscathed but feeling guiltier than ever. If he'd just ducked in time, he wouldn't have even needed saving in the first place. But when he'd gone to visit Kirk the second he gained consciousness thanks to McCoy, Kirk told him not to beat himself up about it. But that was another story.

Chekov remembered that the Captain was waiting for an answer.

"Anything. I will be glad to do anything for you." Chekov replied slowly.

Kirk grinned wider, "Perfect. Now listen very carefully."

The Captain, with his arm still around Chekov's shoulders, leant in closer to his ear and dropped his voice to barely a whisper, "As you probably already know from yesterday, I have two chess matches with Spock and I need to win both of them, got it?"

Chekov got a feeling he knew exactly what Kirk was asking of him, but he wanted confirmation. After all, at least if somehow Kirk was discovered cheating, he wouldn't be in trouble. It was just a matter of pointing fingers.

Chekov replied, "I don't understand…"

Kirk sighed, "Look, don't you dare tell anyone, but I know I was lucky to win that one match yesterday. But I need to be sure I win this two matches. We can't leave anything to chance."

"Jim –"

"I know you can hack pass the system. I want you to reprogram it so that the Black pieces will automatically calculate the best possible strategy. That way I will have a sure win."

"Jim –"

"Got that? Make the Black pieces win. That's all you have to worry about. I'll take care of the rest."

"Jim –"

"That's an order. Understood?"

"Jim –"

"As Captain of this vessel, I command you reprogram it. It is a direct order."

"Yes, sir."

Kirk smiled and retracted his arm from around Chekov's shoulders, gave him his trademark charming wink and said loudly, "Catch you later, Pavel."

Chekov rolled his eyes in return, laughing inwardly at the ridiculous length Jim would go just to win Spock in a game of chess.

So it was by no coincidence that the hour found the crew huddled in a circle around their Captain and First Officer as they sat opposite each other with a small table laid out with a chessboard in between them.

They were a little tight for space, since it was a small corner. But the Captain seemed to realize that he'd got a small crowd of spectators who eagerly wanted to watch the match, so they shifted their table a little more into the open, where the crew could surround the two of them like in a boxing match. It was still fairly cluttered, but at least everyone got a good view.

Jim knew his First Officer so well that he expected Spock to offer him the choice of his colour.

"I believe it is customary to allow a superior to choose his colour first, Captain." Spock said.

"That's not necessary, Spock. C'mon, it's about having fun." Jim pushed it aside. He never really did like to be treated in a different manner just because he was Captain. "I insist."

"If you insist, then I will pick Black. This will allow you an advantage by having the first move." Spock said. And if any of the command crew looked close enough, they would have sworn that the corners of Spock's lips were curled upward.

Jim saw it. And he was quick to retaliate. "No. I don't need a handicap to win you, Spock. I changed my mind. I want to choose Black."

Spock raised his eyebrows in amusement. "If that satisfies you, Jim, then I shall take white. Which mode would you like to play in?"

"Blind Chess." Jim said immediately. "You don't get to see which piece move during the opponent's turn. Of course, unless you memorize exactly where all the pieces were before and after the move."

"Certainly."

One game lasted at least an hour. Two games took nearly two hours and by that time, it was already pretty late at night. Yet the players were still very alert. Spock sat stiffly with his back poker straight, while Jim was leaning on one of the armrest of his seat.

Spock, having lost his first game and could sense that the second game was not going quite his way, frowned and stared so hard at the chessboard that made everyone think it might combust spontaneously in a second.

Jim meanwhile, was using every ounce of his mental brilliance to defeat Spock.

Kidding.

But at least everyone watching, including Spock, thought he was outsmarting the Vulcan in the game of chess. Since the table they were playing on was built for the specific function of playing chess, it was able to facilitate Blind Chess mode. There were built in little walls that would protrude from the table during the players turn to shield their movements such that only the player could see the pieces. This sort of privacy screen allowed only Jim to see his side of the board during his turn.

And that also meant…only Jim knew he was cheating in the game. Well, other than Chekov.

Jim had to give Chekov credit for his superb programming skills. The Russian was a whiz when it came to the technical stuff, but considering he'd only given Chekov less than an hour to design a sequence that would always allow the Black pieces to be a step ahead in the game.

So whenever it was Jim's turn, and the privacy screens were up, a Black piece would move automatically and all Jim had to do was to put a good show of moving his hands and looking as though he was really wrecking his head to come up with a strategy. Pretty simple.

"For the second time, Checkmate." Jim said with a smirk.

He tapped Spock's White king and the game ended.

"Well done, Captain." Spock said.

Jim reached out one hand to pat Spock on the shoulder, "It was a good game, Spock. But I'm afraid I have beaten you three times to two."

There was no expression on Spock's face that anyone could read.

"Jim, if I may, I would like to ask for a request." Spock said suddenly.

"Of course."

"I would like to invite you to another two matches tomorrow, and call it a final. If you win, then I will no doubt declare you the victor. However, if I win, you will tell the crew exactly how you won this match."

Dang. Crap. Spock knew. Oh, Jim was so dead.

He knew all along. But when did he suspect? Shit, he was in for some serious trouble.

If he was caught cheating….

No, no, no. All he had to do was to request that Chekov kept his little code programmed for the next two matches tomorrow. That was it.

Just two more rounds. Spock could never beat a computer, especially if it was programmed by Chekov.

Or could he?

"Captain, do you agree to the terms I had stated earlier?" Spock repeated patiently, not taking his eyes off Jim.

Why, Jim knew Spock was just baiting him. He could just refuse the offer and call it a win as it is, but his ego just wouldn't allow it. Worse of all, Spock knew it. And Jim could almost hear the gears whirling in Spock's head as he calculated the possibility of his Captain backing down to a challenge.

Damn, maybe Spock knew him too well.

"Yes, Commander. I agree, we will play another two matches tomorrow." Jim sighed.

Spock made his way down to his quarters. He was tired, and all he wanted to do was to take a quick shower, jump into bed and call it a day. Perhaps he would spend some time thinking of how he could develop a good enough application to use as a leverage against Jim during their next game?

No. First of all, he could not even ascertain that Jim was cheating to begin with. Sure, he had his suspicions, and had drawn conclusion that there was an eight-three percent chance that Jim may have engaged in deceptive actions during the two matches earlier. However, as Spock did not have direct prove, it was illogical, and not morally correct for him to attempt to win through dishonesty.

The Vulcan's profound thoughts were put to a stop when he nearly walked into Lieutenant Scott just outside his quarters.

Spock stepped back hastily, "My apologies, Mr Scott."

"I'm fine, Commander. I though' maybe yer would like to know somethin'," said the engineer.

So Spock waited, tilting his head to a fraction to signal the Lieutenant to continue.

"Well, I dun mean to be a rat an' all, but the Captain did some tinkering with the replicator las' week an' it took me a whole two days to get it to stop sloppin' porridge all over the floor." Lieutenant Scott launched off, waving his hand animatedly in frustration.

Spock hesitated, not quite sure what the human was trying to convey, "Would you like me to reprimand the Captain for you?"

"Nah, Jim wouldn't listen anyway." Scott said, "But I'm saying, it's payback time, ya know what I mean?"

"Lieutenant, I'm afraid I do not –" Spock tried to say.

"He cheated." Scott burst out, "Jim cheated when he played chess with yer today. I was standing directly behind 'im earlier. The board was rigged, Commander. I jus' though' yer should know."

Silence.

Except in Spock's mind, he was secretly whooping in suppressed joy that now that he had confirmation that Jim cheated, he could return the favor without feeling too guilty. Of course, he made sure none of that un-Vulcan-like expression showed up on his features.

He composed himself, "Thank you for telling me this, Lieutenant Scott, I will do my best to resolve the matter."

"Sir, if I may, I would like to offer ter make some changes ter the program so that Jim does not cheat in the next match." Scotty said suddenly.

Spock raised his eyebrows. This idea was even better than what he had in mind. He could pretend he had no part in this if Jim asked later. It was a win-win scenario.

"Permission granted. What changes will you be making to the chessboard?"

"Nothin' too fancy. I will be programming a sequence that will inhibit Jim's code from aiding him. That's all."

Spock found it hard to keep his lips from twitching into a smile as he replied, "Carry on, Lieutenant."

Spock observed the game carefully. It was Blind Chess mode again, upon Jim's request. But Spock took pleasure in noticing how Jim took longer during his move compared to the day before. The smallest of smirks formed on his face as he thought about how Jim was actually using his full brainpower in the game. On a side note, the Captain was probably in a total loss as to why his rigged chessboard wasn't working the way he'd wanted it to.

On an even smaller side note, Spock was impressed that Jim was getting better in this game, even without the aid of a computer to work out the best strategy. It actually took Spock some time to counter Jim's unorthodox attack strategy. His respect for the Captain grew as he managed to take down Jim's king two steps his own would have surrendered. It was no doubt why Jim had been promoted so quickly to a Captain.

In the meantime, Jim struggled as he tried his best to outsmart his First Officer. Why on earth was Chekov's program not working? It was supposed to. He knew Pavel Chekov well enough to trust that hacking the system was within his capabilities. The seventeen year old was reliable and Jim just could not fathom why the code is failing at such a dire time as this.

Perhaps…? What were the chances? Jim found himself thinking. It would seem very unlike a Vulcan for Spock to cheat. But if Jim knew his friend well enough, he was ready to bet that Spock might have done something of that sort.

For the second time that day, Jim found his Black pieces wiped off the board and his Black king cornered by Spock's rook and a bishop.

"Checkmate." Spock said coolly.

The match ended and the privacy boards slid back into the table. The crew exploded into applause and then dispersed, leaving only the Captain and his First Officer, as well as two crew members in particular; Chekov and Scotty.

Well, if Spock had hacked the game to ensure Jim didn't cheat, it was safe to say that the Vulcan won fair and square.

"Nice game, Spock." Jim concluded, giving his First Officer a genuine smile.

"You seem to be improving with your strategy, Jim. I'd say you are a formidable opponent." Spock replied with a small bow of his head.

Jim gave a small nod in appreciation, but then he sat up straighter in his chair.

"Tell me something. Truthfully, got it?" Jim said casually, with a hint of a playful smile on his lips.

"Of course. What would you like to know?" Spock replied, his eyes locked on the man sitting opposite him.

Jim paused for a full second before blurting out, "Did you cheat?"

Spock gave him that analytical look that Jim was oh-so-familiar with.

"No, I did not cheat."

Jim raised his eyebrows, "Vulcans do not lie, correct?"

"Affirmative."

Pause. Jim briefly had a flashback to the one time the disgraced Admiral Marcus asked Spock a similar question, only to have Spock confirm that Vulcans indeed do not lie. Turns out, that bit was true, but Vulcans were sneaky.

Or at least….this Vulcan was sneaky.

Jim tilted his head, "Did you...I don't know…maybe ask someone to cheat for you?"

Spock paused again. "No, I did not."

Jim sighed. "Dammit Spock, I'm sorry I accused you of cheating. Congrats for winning. I'll admit I asked Chekov to program the system for my benefit."

Chekov, who was standing just beside him, said, "Jim, zere seemed to be some problem with the code just now…someone had owerwritten my program. Zat's why it did not work."

Jim's eyes lit up, and he leapt at the possibility, turning back to Spock.

"Do you know if anyone cheated on the game, Spock?"

Again, the hesitation. There was certainly something fishy right here. If Jim wasn't so focused on deciphering Spock's words, he might have realized Scotty holding his breath.

"No."

Jim was stumped. He'd phrased the same question in many different ways just to try and catch if Spock so much as cheated in the chess game.

Cheated? Wait a minute, maybe that was the wrong word he was using. For one, Jim knew Spock might have a different understanding of that word. Again, had he looked close enough, he might have caught Scotty letting out a long breath of relief.

"Okay, last one, Spock. Do you know of anyone who might have tempered the game in any way?"

Spock waited for one second…two seconds…three seconds…

"Yes. I am aware that Mr Scott had requested to 'program a sequence that will inhibit your code from aiding you'." The Vulcan's raised eyebrows showed that he was impressed by Jim's ability to wheedle the information out of him.

"Now look 'ere, Jim. You messed with the replicators! I ain't having none o' that!" Scotty said in his defense.

"That would be Captain for you, Scotty." Jim laughed. He'd definitely asked for this one. He should've seen it coming.

"Cheater," he added to Spock.

Spock looked amused, "I did not cheat, Jim. The term cheat is defined as a violation of rules or regulations. As Mr Scott and I had the intention of making sure you kept to the rules, we merely ensured that you did not use any type of code to win. I did not give myself any advantage over you."

Jim snorted, "all right, Spock, you win."

Spock stood up from his chair and made to leave, but as he passed Jim, he bent down to whisper something in Jim's ear.

"Cheater."

Jim could've sworn he caught a glimpse of Spock's smile widening as he walked away. He'd get Spock back on this…soon.

How'd you find it? Good? Bad? Need's improvement? Please leave a review! I'd love to know what you think :)

And to the kind souls who favorite my story, I wanna thank you in advance!