A Perfect Universe
Author: Bitten
Title: A Perfect Universe
Fandom: Star Trek 2009 AU
Rating: NC-17 for language, suggestive situations and graphic het sex (eventually)
Pairing: Kirk and OFC
Feedback: Encouraging comments are welcome! I also am interested in improving my writing, so please provide any constructive criticism via PM. If you say anything really mean to me, I'll send the Borg after you.
Archive: VinXperience and fanfiction . net - nowhere else please.
Author's notes: Thanks to FuryanGoddess for all the encouragement and support, the ideas and the beta. I wouldn't have attempted this without her bad influence.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu or anyone else from the Star Trek universe. I make no money by this and I mean no offense. Lea Archer is my own creation, based on my silly fantasies and research from various Trek fansites. Autumn belongs to FuryanGoddess (from Human Emotions and Pon Farr, which can be read here or at VinXperience), and I thank her for letting me play with her character.
Disclaimer 2: I've been a huge Trek fan ever since I was a kid, and I hate it when people foul up the established continuity. I tried to include "real" Trek elements in this story, but I probably made a few errors. If you see that I've made a mistake, please PM me. I'll fix it if I can.
Disclaimer 3: Despite my current lust for New Kirk, my 'first love' will always be Original Kirk. And Shatner still rocks!
Summary: Kirk Prime shared company with many women over the years, but he never truly fell in love. The Enterprise was the object of his obsession; no woman could ever capture his passion the way the starship did. But in this new, alternate universe, can Kirk find a love to rival the Enterprise?
A Perfect Universe
Chapter 1
Starfleet Headquarters, San Francisco
"An' another thing," Scotty said. "These beer nuts are great! Food is definitely better Earthside."
Bones held up his drink in salute to Earthside bar food, while Kirk shook his head and ordered another drink.
"Gentlemen, are you saying the food aboard the Enterprise isn't up to your standards?" he said as he took his fresh whiskey in hand.
"Well, the Enterprise, she's a fine lass, ye know," Scotty mumbled around his mouthful of food. "Sleek, fast, full of raw power."
"But she's not equipped with beer nuts, is what I think he's trying to say," Bones continued for his friend. Kirk started to laugh but winced at the pain in his jaw.
"Ow. Damn," he mumbled, signaling the bartender again. "Hey, can I get a glass of ice?"
"Face still hurts a wee bit, eh?" Scotty said with a cheesy grin.
"Try not to be too filled with compassion, eh, Scotty?" Kirk grumbled.
"Why don't you let me take a look at that, Jim?" Bones interrupted. "It's already turned purple. Must hurt like hell."
"I'll live," Kirk said as he wrapped an ice cube in a napkin and held it up to his face.
"You sure about that?" Bones said under his breath, surreptitiously watching someone from under a hooded brow. Kirk turned slightly to see who Bones was watching, but quickly turned back when he saw Admiral Pike enter the officer's club. Bones was right; Kirk might not live if he ran into the Admiral again today.
"Gentlemen, let's find ourselves another bar," Kirk said, downing his drink in one gulp. He grabbed a couple more ice cubes for the road and started to thread his way through the crowd, opposite the way Pike had gone.
"Wait, I nee' ta drain the weasel," Scotty said as he darted off toward the head.
"Damn it," Kirk muttered. He really needed to be gone and the sooner the better.
"Come on, Jim, we can wait for him outside. In the bushes," McCoy added in a wry voice.
"Oh, ha ha," Kirk said, but he didn't hesitate to follow his friend outside the officer's club. They found a spot near the main doors, partially secluded by trees. Starfleet Headquarters was a huge complex, with lush landscaping around the building that held the officer's club and formal ballroom. Apparently there was some big shindig going on tonight, because a stream of people in dress uniform were entering the building. Kirk risked a glance back through the huge transparent doors to see most of the well-dressed people heading for the grand ballroom.
"Wonder what's up?" he asked.
"Don't you ever pay attention, Jim?" Bones said in exasperation. "The dinner for Fleet Admiral Burke's retirement is tonight."
"Oh, yeah," Jim muttered. His jaw still hurt, and so did his leg. He absentmindedly rubbed the inside of his thigh, wishing he'd taken some pain meds.
"What, did that Andorian Ambassador hurt your leg too?" Bones said with a scowl of disapproval.
"No, it's just a pulled muscle," Kirk said, regretting the show of weakness in front of his friend.
"A pulled muscle? You mean you pulled a muscle trying to get out of there?"
"Actually, I pulled the muscle before he got there."
Bones' eyes widened at the implication. "A sex injury?"
Kirk couldn't help the sly grin, but he quickly tried to hide it.
"Jim, whatever possessed you to sleep with an Ambassador's wife?" Bones said. Kirk was a womanizing egomaniac, but he usually didn't poach married women.
"Did you see her, Bones? She looks like she's about nineteen. I honestly thought she was the Ambassador's daughter, not his wife."
"And you thought that was okay? Sex with a teenage member of an Ambassador's family?"
"Well..." Kirk didn't have an appropriate response, so he just shrugged.
"Damn it, Jim, it's a wonder Pike didn't kick you out of Starfleet. You do realize that someone shot video of you and the Ambassador's wife? It's all over the subnet. And of all the places for an illicit affair, did you have to do it on the balcony?"
"It's on the subnet?" Kirk asked. There was just a hint of pride in his voice, which McCoy quickly squashed. "Yeah, including the scene where Ambassador Gnash punched your lights out."
Kirk rubbed his jaw again and muttered, "Lucky shot."
"Well, your hands were a bit, um, full, at that particular moment," Bones said. He tried to maintain his serious glare, but an amused grin tugged at his mouth. His life had certainly not been dull since that fateful day when he met James T. Kirk on the shuttle from Earth.
Both men finally laughed out loud, despite Kirk's wincing, when a few more people hurried past to join the festivities in the ballroom. It was starting to rain, adding extra speed to their steps.
"Where the hell is Scotty?" Kirk complained. "I really shouldn't be here right now. Pike ordered me directly back to the ship."
"Oh, you know how Scotty is. Probably got sidetracked by some pretty girl."
"Or some pretty sandwich," Kirk replied. "Hey, that reminds me, I've been meaning to ask you --
His words trailed off as he stared at two people approaching the building. They were moving quickly through the rain, sharing a large black umbrella. The man was older, wearing a Starfleet dress uniform. Kirk didn't recognize him, but he wasn't looking at the man anyway. He was struck dumb by the woman with him.
She had long legs, framed by black high heels and a short black skirt. His eyes followed her legs all the way up, past her petite waist to her breasts, where he couldn't help but focus his gaze. 'Magnificent' was the only word he could think of; firm, almost gravity-defying, but not too big. He sucked in a hoarse breath as he heard her laugh at something the man said, his eyes finally drawn to her face. Light blonde hair, full lips, and slightly slanted eyes. Her features were almost delicate, but her sparkle of ... life, for lack of a better word, belied the illusion of delicacy.
She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he could do nothing but stare. A tiny drop of water splashed onto his pant leg as the couple passed; he heard her laugh again and then they were gone, lost among the crowd that was milling inside the building.
"That asshole," Bones said. "He could at least have apologized for splashing water on us."
"Who was that?" Kirk said, still staring after the woman, hoping to catch another glimpse of her in the crowd.
"I don't know," Bones replied while brushing the dampness off his uniform. He suddenly glanced up at his friend. Suspicion clear in his voice, he said, "Why?"
"That girl..." Kirk's words trailed off again.
"Damn it, Jim! Not again! You haven't even recovered from last night's fiasco. This is not the place or time to be chasing another skirt!"
"Especially that skirt!" Scotty said as he slid into the tree-lined overhang with his friends.
"Don't underestimate me, gentlemen," Kirk said as he took a stride toward the entrance, but Scotty grabbed his arm and jerked him back into the darkness of the trees.
"It's no' that, Jim, but trust me, ye don' want ta be courting that kind o' trouble!" Scotty continued in a hushed voice.
"What? Why?" Kirk was annoyed at being sidetracked.
"Don' ya know who she is, lad?" Scotty's accent grew even thicker as his agitation increased. "It's Admiral Archer's niece!"
Kirk quirked a brow at this announcement, but McCoy was the first to respond. "If she was Archer's niece, she'd be a hell of a lot older."
Scotty rolled his eyes in exasperation. "All right, all right, great-niece if you prefer. Let me repeat that: Admiral Archer's great-niece. You don' need ta be bringing any more trouble on yourself right now, laddie."
"So what if she's related to the old guy?" Kirk said belligerently and took another step toward the building.
"So what?!" Scotty said, almost apoplectic now. "So what? Do you remember what he did to me? That crazy old bastard transferred me to that outpost on Delta Vega, in the freezin' cold with hardly any fewd and no one fer comp'ny!"
"Uh, wasn't that after you used his pet beagle in a risky transporter experiment?" Bones said.
"See! He's a spiteful old thing! Standin' in the way of military science! And what do ye think he'll do to ye if he finds video of ye sporking his favorite niece?"
"Ah, he's got a point there, Jim," Bones agreed.
Kirk didn't hesitate. "He's not going to do anything to me. I just want to talk to her." He nimbly avoided his friends' hands as they tried to intercept him, making a fast break for the entrance to the building. He could see the girl inside, near the grand ballroom. If he hurried, he could catch up to her before she went in. Limping slightly from the pulled muscle in his thigh, he made his way through the crowd. When he got close enough, he started to call out to her, realizing belatedly that he didn't know her name.
"Uh, excuse me!" he half-shouted over the heads of the well-dressed Starfleet elite.
She hesitated, looking back into the crowd. Kirk caught her eye and waved, so she'd know he was indeed talking to her. Her brow furrowed as if she were puzzled, so he started to call out to her again, when his view was suddenly blocked by a very large Starfleet security uniform.
"Excuse me, sir, but Admiral Pike has requested your attention," the guard said in a monotone. He motioned to the side of the room, where Pike waited with a nasty glare on his face.
Kirk took one last look into the crowd, but the girl was gone and the guard now had a second standing next to him. Heaving an annoyed sigh, he turned smartly and approached Admiral Pike. He saluted, waiting for what he assumed would be another bawling out.