(The only thing of this story that is my property are the words themselves. The names, the history, the genre is all from the man, the myth, the legend Gene Roddenberry and the Star Trek franchise. It's a mix of Canon TOS, AU TOS and my own madness.)

Looking back on his past record, he never knew how he got himself into these sort of things. As the son of Star Fleet's most decorated capital and current admiral and the grandson of the famous officer who saved the USS Kelvin from imminent doom, David Marcus Kirk should probably have more aware of his surroundings that night in the bar. It was his last night of freedom before joining the newest ship in the fleet, and reflecting on it, he really should have been enjoying himself.

Instead, he was brooding. Over a glass of beer, too, which normally would have put him in better spirits but at this point just made him sad. The next morning, he would be aboard his first starship as an officer and he knew that it would be a rough journey either way. This ship was brand new, the USS Serenity, and it was captained by the newest and roughest of the Starfleet captains – and he had never met her. She, unlike all of the other captains he could have been assigned to, was one that was only an image in his mind; delicate auburn hair, hazel eyes, a smile that said both "Hello" and "Go to hell" at the same time. A woman that, in any other respect, he would have went after like a bee to honey.

But they'd never even met before, and he supposed that is what bugged him. He'd met every other captain in the fleet, but she'd been too busy studying Klingon anatomy and working on the relationships between the Federation and Klingon to even meet his father on Earth as everyone else had. She, the youngest person ever to be awarded title of Captain by , with every hair in place, every admiral in awe, and almost every decoration an officer could receive, would tolerate none of his crap. In fact, his father had met with him earlier to tell that unlike any of the other captains that he would have served with, he'd been assigned to the Serenity because Captain Joanna – no last name, that's how unique she was – was not a pushover or a kiss-ass. She got work done, and the Serenity was hers because she was off to negotiate peace with the Klingons after getting the first ship she commanded on blasted up because of rough Romulans who thought it best if the Klingons and the Federation did not have an informal treaty. She'd been in Starfleet since she was eleven and is the onlyperson to ever get their medical license and be captain of a starship before turning twenty one. As it was, his father was quite smitten with her because she'd even beaten the Kobayashi Maru without cheating. She would not let him get off easy because his last name was Kirk.

He took a sip of his drink, and snapped out of it. For once in his nineteen years of life, he'd be a normal ensign in the Starfleet program, getting work loaded onto him and doing physics and generally getting out of everyone's way. Honestly, what more could a man ask for?

"David!" A voice called, and he turned around quickly, the back of his left hand along with his beer glass running smack into the forehead of someone he hadn't seen. A crack was heard, a small noise of pain came out of that person while they covered their eyes with their hands in pain. She, and it was most definitely a she, was a brunette with red undertones, her bright green dress on the edge of suggestive but also familiar, black boots to her knees. She had two men next to her, the one on her left pulling her back to see what was wrong.

"Are you an idiot?" The other asked; he was a tall man with short, cropped black hair; he looked like a regular human but by the elegant way he was dressed, it was obvious he was something more than that, David just couldn't identify him. "Assaulting an high ranking officer of Starfleet will get you nowhere in life, especially since it seems like you're a cadet. Listen, sonny,"

"Excuse me? Sonny? My name is David, if you don't mind-"

"Sorry then, David, but hitting the captain of a starship with a glass of what looks like beer when you look about twelve isn't going to get you anywhere except court marshalled-"

"Again, I apologize, I didn't mean to hit her, nor did I know of her being a captain of a ship, I was merely turning to the sound of my name. I'm also nineteen and a ensign on a ship that leaves tomorrow, and I would appreciate it if you had let me apologize to the lady before jumping down my throat about being out of line …. You never mentioned your name, sir."

"Taggart, Commander Taggart Gignac, and ensign, I in no way meant to insult you, it was just very disrespectful and you look-"

"Well isn't that old adage 'Don't judge a book by it's cover' a good lesson here, Commander? I'll apologize to the lady and I'll be on my -"

"Be on your way? Why, you should leave this bar, as obviously your emotions are screaming that you -"

With that, David lunged forward to get in the man's face, his blue eyes blazing"You, sir, know nothing of me, or how I am feeling -"

"Taggart!" A third voice rang out, and the two men broke off their staring competition to look for the source of the voice. The brunette, her hazel eyes steeled on Taggart, continued "You forget that you read people like books when sometimes you invite yourself into minds where you are not welcome. You also are pushing a fight on someone who seems to wish to apologize for his behavior and leave the bar, as we were doing. Back off."

The tall man stood back, and as he brushed himself off, Taggart noticed that there was a sort of look of sorrow on his face.

"Seriously, Taggart, I've never met a Betazoid who liked to fight as much as you."

"Well, J, I've never met a woman whose as crazy as you." The man retorted, his eyes locked back on David. David noticed it seemed like he didn't have irises, just black orbs, which were staring at him intently "We're even. And I suppose I should leave Ensign David alone."

"Please, leave Ensign Kirk alone and let's go. I prefer to have the officers on my ship not beat each other to a pulp before our mission has even begun." David met her eyes, and they sparkled with secrets of something he wasn't quite sure of, "I'd rather he made an ass out of himself on the ship doing something stupid like his father said he would than whip your tail now and have to deal with being stuck on a starship with you for months on end."

Taggart shrugged in what could only be a signal of defeat, then bucked slightly at David, who backed off, half empty glass of beer still in his hand. Then, he turned abruptly and stalked out of the bar, the brunette and the other man, who looked vaguely familiar, holding hands and giggling behind him.

That moment, when they walked out of the bar, he felt as if he'd been saved, but at the same time, it was not going to be a pleasant experience when he stepped onto the ship the next morning. Instead of seeking out the voice that had got him in trouble in the first place, he just went back to his quarters to sleep. And by sleep, he meant think of the ways he was totally screwed.