Author's Note: Oh my gosh, people already seem interested in this story. :O And I already have my first review? .3. I legit wasn't expecting that at all, but I appreciate it so much! And no, Sforzanna, I don't think it's odd at all, because those little dorks are adorable af, lol. In any case, I'm glad you like it and I am absolutely grateful for your review!

xoxo

Iowa, 2255

Winnie didn't hate going to the bar. On most occasions, she really enjoyed it. She'd have a few glasses of spiced rum - her go-to drink - and maybe, if she was drunk enough, go and dance with some face she wouldn't remember the next day. That last part was a rare occurrence, but it had been known to happen every now and again. Tonight, however, Winnifred Kirk was far from happy. She hadn't wanted to go in the first place, having had a long and tiring day at work, but James had insisted. Being unable to say no to that stupid pouting face, she agreed. And now here she was, having to painfully listen to her brother attempt to flirt with an uninterested cadet. And really, it was very painful.

"You are good without it. It's Jim. Jim Kirk." There was a long and awkward silence before Jim continued, "If you don't tell me your name, I'm gonna have to make one up." And it was then that Winnifred stood up and walked away from the bar, half empty glass of rum in her hand. She'd find a more suitable place to sit. Away from her brother's flirting. God only knew he'd find a way to charm her, and then they'd be off. She didn't need to witness that.

It had literally only been a minute since Winnie left Jim at the bar that there was a commotion. She turned around just in time to see her brother kick some cadet away from him and all hell seemed to break loose. The only thing she could think of was: Not again. It wasn't like Winnie was the picture of perfect behavior - she was a Kirk after all - but with Jim around she looked like a damned angel with a shining halo and all. Why was he always getting into trouble? She couldn't take him anywhere without him getting into a fight.

Winnie could only stand to watch for so long as the cadets ganged up on her brother; the pleas for them to stop from the cadet Jim had been hitting on was falling onto deaf ears.

Placing her drink down on the closest table, Winnie strode towards the brawl. Jim could handle himself, there was no doubt about it, but there were times when he got far too cocky. This was one of those moments, and he wasn't going to able get out of this without at least some help. No matter how much he would deny it.

"Oi, you, cupcake," Winnie tapped one of the fellows on the shoulder. He turned around, eyes running up and down her. Winnie was a lot shorter than her brother, standing at 5'3" - in her current heels, she stood at maybe 5'5" - and she had a generally petite build. All in all, she wasn't exactly the picture of intimidating, no matter how well she wore her signature leather jacket. "Leave him the fuck alone."

The man snorted. "And what're you going to do about it Princes-" Winnie reeled her arm back before launching it forward, cutting him off mid-sentence. It made contact with his face, causing him to stumble back. He lost his footing as he came in contact with a chair and fell straight on his ass. She could tell she had done some real damage as he yelled out in pain. She might not have been as strong as her brother, but he had taught her a thing or two on how to hold her own in a fight.

Win started to engage with another cadet. She ducked down low, narrowly avoiding his fist, and stuck out her leg to kick his out from under him. Just as he made contact with the floor, there was a loud whistle. The whole bar fell silent, eyes on the man that stood in the doorway. Winnie stood from her position, not nearly as intimidated by his presence as everyone else seemed to be.

"Outside, all of you." There was a pause, no one moving. "Now!" At that, everyone started to file out. Echos of Yes, Sir! followed them. Winnie wasted no time to rush over to her brother, who was currently semi-conscious and hanging off of a low table.

"Jim, the fuck is wrong with you," Winnie murmured, taking in his injuries. The guys had really done a number on him. She was so focused on trying to help her bloodied brother up on his feet that she hadn't noticed the man had come up behind her.

"Y'alright son?"

"You can... whistle really loud, y'know that?" Jim slurred, causing Winnie to let out a loud sigh.

It had taken quite the effort to get Jim steady, but he was soon sitting at a table with bloodied tissues sticking out of his nose. He tried to ignore Winnie's attempts to get a better look at his face. Every now and then he pulled his head out of her hands, leaving her to bark at him to sit still. Eventually, she just gave up, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back in her chair.

"You know, I couldn't believe when the bartender told me who you two are," the man - who had identified himself as Captain Pike - spoke up. The bar was just about empty at this point, leaving the three alone to talk in privacy.

"And who are we, Captain Pike?" Jim questioned, unamused as he brought his glass to his lips.

"Your father's children." Jim had little to no reaction, but Winnifred was now sitting straight up in her chair, eyebrows furrowed.

"Excuse me?" She questioned as Jim hailed for another drink.

"For my dissertation, I was assigned the USS Kelvin," Pike clarified, "Something I admired about your dad... he didn't believe in no-win scenarios."

"He sure learned his lesson," Jim said sarcastically. Winnifred's jaw set, her gaze leaving the men at the table. Had George Kirk, Sr.'s final moments really been a winning scenario? He died. He left behind a wife and three children. Said wife, mother to his children, delved herself so deep into her work that she couldn't see what her children had to deal with when she wasn't around. Yes, she was a good mother when she was home, and Winnie loved her. But the fact that she didn't know what Frank was really like still hurt her to this day. Winnifred just couldn't help but think that their childhood hadn't been a 'winning scenario.'

"Well, depends on how you define winning. You're here, aren't you?" The captain's gaze wandered from the twins to the bartender, who had brought Jim another drink. "You know, that instinct to leap without looking, that was his nature too. And in my opinion, it's something Starfleet has lost. We're admirable, respectable, but overly disciplined."

"It's reckless," Winnie spoke up, finally looking back up at Captain Pike, "it's stupid and reckless and it never ends well."

"Perhaps," Pike drew out. "Look, those cadets you took on, they'll make competent offices, but you can bet your ass they'll run home to momma the minute they're looking down the barrel of a Klingon phaser cannon."

"Look, why're you talking to us, man?" Jim interrupted him. He didn't like all of this beating around the bush, and he wanted Captain Pike to get to the point. He was just ready to go home, as was Winnie.

"I looked up your files while Jim here was drooling on the floor. Both of your aptitude tests were off the charts. So what is it, d'you like being the only genius level repeat-offenders in the midwest?"

"Maybe I love it," Jim told him offhandedly. Winnie sighed, rubbing her forehead. She was absolutely sure that he did love it. As for her, well, she went where Jim went. She had taken interest in different things during high school, but hadn't gone much further with it since graduating. She studied psychology and languages in her spare time, but she just called that light reading. Honestly, if she were to ever admit it, she'd have to say she was just too scared to be away from Jim. Ever since they were young, he had been her protector. What would she ever do without him? He was her crutch.

"So your dad dies, you can settle for a less-than-ordinary life," there was a pause as the twins tensed. One of Winnie's hands formed a fist, her nails digging into her palms, "or do you feel like you're meant for something better? Something special?" There was a fraction of a pause before Captain Pike suggested, "Enlist in Starfleet."

"Enlist?" Winnie laughed. Was he honestly asking them to enlist? Like, this wasn't a dream? Winnie hadn't gotten punched in the head and was lying unconscious on the bar floor, was she? How stupid did he really think they were? Starfleet took their father away from them.

"You must be way down on your recruiting quota for the month-" Jim added, only to be cut off by Pike.

"If you're half the person your father was, Starfleet could use the two of you. You could be officers in four years and have your own ship in eight." Jim's face had lost all humor. He was done with this conversation, and so was Winnie. "You understand what the federation is, don't you? It's important. It's a peacekeeping and humanitarian armada-"

"Are we done?" Jim interrupted him once more, and hopefully for the last time. He wanted to hop on his motorcycle, head back to their apartment, and go to bed. Although, he had a feeling it was actually going to be Winnie who drove them home, and she'd probably want to make sure he didn't need stitches anywhere before she actually let him go to bed.

"I'm done." Jim nodded, glad, as he brought his drink up to his lips. He wanted to finish this before he went. Winnie watched silently as Pike stood from his chair. "Riverside shipyard. Shuttle for new recruits leaves tomorrow, 0800."

"Good for them," Winnie said while Jim raised his glass to the captain. Winnie could only describe the look on Pike's face as disappointed, though she wasn't bothered by it. It reminded her of when she was a kid and an adult would say, I'm not mad; I'm just disappointed. She hated that phrase. She thought it was stupid.

"Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes," and here Winnie had been so sure that Pike had been done. She'd have to look up the definition again, just to see if it still meant that same thing, "he saved 800 lives, including your mother's and yours. I dare the two of you to do better." The twins sat in silence as Captain Pike left the bar.

"What a load of bullshit," Winnie mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest in a humph, "bringing up Dad like that? I don't like him." Her eyes fell onto her brother, who was uncharacteristically quiet. He brought a salt shaker shaped like a Starfleet ship up to his face, examining it, and Winnie couldn't believe her eyes. "What, Jim, no."

"I didn't say anything," Jim said after a moment, putting the salt shaker down.

"No, but you've got that look in your eye! I've known you for twenty-two years and I know that look!"

"I have no idea what look you're talking about!" Jim raised his hands defensively. Winnie's green eyes narrowed as she glared at him. She reached out and gave him a quick and sharp poke to the chest, causing him to wince.

"That look that says you were just dared to do something and you can't back down. You're going to join Starfleet on a freaking dare!" Winnifred exclaimed. She honestly couldn't believe it. All Pike had to do was dare him, and Jim fell right into his lap.

"Okay, but Winnie, what if we-"

"We?" She cut him off. Now it wasn't just Jim who was joining Starfleet, but Winnie too? Where in his right mind did he think she was going to join Starfleet?

"Winnie, you're not happy here. You pretend to be happy, but you're not. You serve food to locals at the diner and hope that they'll tip you in more than just a slap on the ass. You go home and you shove your nose into books on human and alien brains and how they work. You've learned two languages since you've gotten out of high school, but what are you using them for?" Winnie stared at him in shock. Not once had she ever voiced her complaints to Jim. Not once had she told him that yeah, maybe she'd like to get out of Iowa and do something with her life. She kept that to herself, but somehow, all along, he had known. "Think of what you could do if you enlisted in Starfleet? And I'll go with you."

"But it's... it's Starfleet, Jim."

"Big ol' scary Starfleet," Jim smiled at his sister, "It ain't got nothin' on us Kirks."

Winnie was anything but a morning person. She preferred long nights reading and late mornings of staying in bed. She had planned on doing nothing this morning, as it had been her day off, but things had taken a different turn. While she had stayed up late, it wasn't because she was reading, but because she was freaking out over what she and Jim had decided. And instead of sleeping in late, here Win was in the early morning, holding onto Jim's middle as they rode into Riverside Shipyard.

Riverside Shipyard, where there was a shuttle with new recruits for Starfleet Academy. Starfleet Academy. She had tried to grasp the concept of it all throughout the night, but she still couldn't believe it. She and Jim were going to enlist. At twenty-two years old, the Kirk twins were finally doing something with their lives. Of all the things Winnie had imagined, Starfleet had honestly never been one.

It was both exciting and terrifying, at least to Winnie anyway. After she got over the initial freak out, she thought about what enlisting would entail. She'd be able to further her education. She could study psychology and learn, not just languages of the Earth, but of other planets! It was fascinating and amazing and exciting! And then there was the terrifying bit. For one, Starfleet operated in space. The last time Winnie had been in space was on the day she was born, and while she clearly didn't remember a single thing about it, it wasn't like it had been a good day. It had been the day of her father's death.

Winnifred hadn't been on a shuttle since then, and she hadn't had any qualms over the matter. She had been happy enough to have both feet on solid ground. The thought of flying made her stomach queasy and she couldn't help but think of all of the things that could go wrong. When she had voiced her unease to Jim the night before, he had just taken her hands in his and told her that everything was going to be alright. After all, he was going to be right there with her. That was all she needed to help ease her anxiety enough to actually go through with this crazy idea.

Winnie tightened her grip around Jim's waist as he drove his bike through the bustling shipyard. Everyone seemed busy preparing for the flight, but she was most in awe of the shuttle that they were approaching. She was broken from her thoughts as Jim shut the bike off, and she quickly climbed off.

"Nice ride, man," one of the workers commented, evaluating the bike. Winnie was just as surprised as the worker when Jim tossed him the keys. It only made her realize just how real what they were doing was. They were leaving their life behind. Win had paid their apartment's rent for the next couple of months and had boxed up as much as she could. After phoning her mother - who had been in absolute shock when she told her what they were doing - it was resolved that Winona Kirk would put her belongings into storage when she got back home. Jim hadn't gone to such lengths, ready to get rid of everything from his old life.

"Keep it." Jim told the worker before he made his way towards Pike. Winnifred followed close behind. "Four years? I'm gonna do it in three," he told the captain, who was grinning widely. Honestly, though, Jim's cockiness was almost too much for her to handle. Three years? She was not going to compete with that. She wanted to savor her education, not jump head first into action.

"I'm just following to make sure he doesn't get himself killed," Winnie told Pike, who had a look on his face that said he didn't believe her for a second that that was the only reason she was here.

Inside the shuttle was a wonder to be seen with the amount of recruits. There were rows and rows, some of them even alien. And it wasn't as if Winnie had never seen an alien before, but it still made her giddy all the same - which was good, considering she was still trying to conceal the mass of anxiety that was bubbling up in her stomach.

Winnie caught back up with Jim after lingering back a little too long. She reached him just in time to see him bang his head, causing her to wince. That looked like it had hurt. "At ease, Gentlemen," Jim smirked. Win followed his gaze to see that there was Cupcake and his gang, all looking a little worse for wear. Win flexed her hand, wondering for a moment if Cupcake's jaw hurt more than her hand did. She hoped so.

Jim was the first to sit down, his attention immediately taken by the pretty cadet from the night before. "Never did get that first name," he smirked. Winnie just rolled her eyes at Jim's never ending pursuit.

"And you never will," the cadet grinned back at him.

As Winnie took her seat next to Jim and buckled herself in, she tried not to think too much on the actual flying business. She reached out, gently taking James' hand into her own. She needed the level of comfort that his presence provided for her. He was her protector, and she felt she needed protected.

"You know," the cadet spoke up once more, "it's really kind of shameless." Win's eyes turned to look at her while Jim raised an eyebrow, questioning her. "Flirting with someone in front of your girlfriend. You better keep an eye on this one."

"I'm sorry, what?" Winnie's eyes widened, not sure if she had heard her right.

"My girlfriend?" Jim echoed, just as confused as Winnie had been. It took her a moment to realize in full what the cadet had thought.

"Oh, gross!" Winnie retracted her hand from her brother's. "Why'd you put that picture in my head. I'm going to be sick."

"What, did I say something wrong?" The cadet's head was tilted to the side in confused, eyebrows pulled together. She had assumed that, because they had been holding hands and seemed comfortable and close with each other, that they had been… dating. Oh, Winnie just couldn't even think about it anymore.

"Yeah, I'm not his girlfriend, I'm his sister. His twin sister." Win clarified, causing the other woman to let out a small gasp.

"Oh, god, I'm sorry! I didn't realize-"

"And who is stupid enough to flirt with another girl in front of his girlfriend?" Jim questioned. Winnie thought about it for a moment before coming to a resolve.

"Y-yeah, no, that actually does sound like something you would do, Jim." That was, if he ever stuck with one woman long enough to actually call her his girlfriend. He just very noncommittal.

"What? No, I wouldn't do that."

"Jim, you flirt with pretty much anything that walks. If you had a girlfriend, I wouldn't doubt you would flirt with someone else in front of her." Jim gave her incredulous look.

"Why are we even talking about this? Let's just get off of this topic, okay? Look, we're about to take off." Jim quickly tried to change the subject. Winnie turned her head to look out the window, but her attention was quickly diverted to a scene happening by the bathrooms.

"Are you people deaf? I told you I don't need a doctor, dammit! I am a doctor!" A flight officer was trying to get a man, who looked to be a bit older than she and Jim, into a seat. And here Winnie thought she had been freaking out earlier.

"You need to find a seat-"

"-I had one, in the bathroom with no windows-"

"-sir, you need to get back to your own seat, now-"

"I suffer from aviaphobia, case you don't understand big words, it means 'fear of dying in something that flies'-"

"Sir, for your own safety, sit down or I will make you sit down. Do you hear me? Right now!"

The twins watched apprehensively as the man seemed to give him. He nodded, an annoyed look on his face, before he took the empty seat next to James. Winnie watched curiously now as he turned to Jim and told him, "I may throw up on you." Oh god, she really didn't need that. She was a sympathetic puker, and if he threw up, well, it was going to be hell. Mostly for James.

"I think these things are pretty safe," Jim tried to reassure him.

"Don't pander to me, kid," the man cut him off, "one tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds! Solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. And wait'll you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles, see if you're still so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding!" Jim let out a sigh, trying not to focus on the fact that his sister was currently squeezing all feeling out of his left hand. He had kept her relatively calm up until this point, and now he could feel her freaking out beside him. "Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence."

"Well, I hate to break this to you," Jim told him rather curtly, "but Starfleet operates in space."

"Yeah, well, got nowhere else to go. The ex-wife took the whole damn planet in the divorce. All I've got left is my bones," he told Jim as he took a swig from a small flask. Afterwards, he handed Jim the flask, who took it graciously. He'd take a sip, and then maybe, just maybe, getting a little bit of alcohol into Winnie would calm her down.

"Jim Kirk, and this is my sister, Winnie Kirk," Jim introduced them, handing Winnie the flask. She gave him a small smile before taking a swig, making a face as the alcohol burned down her throat - but it was a good burn, a familiar burn. At this point, even she hoped the alcohol would help her calm down.

"McCoy. Leonard McCoy," Leonard introduced himself in return, eyes falling onto the deathgrip the poor girl had on her brother. Alright, maybe he shouldn't have been ranting.

Jim passed him back the flask, eyeing him warily. "Are you really going to throw up?"

"Maybe." And with that the shuttle took off, taking them to Starfleet Academy. Who could imagine what their future might hold.

Author's Note: Alrighty! Second chapter done! Next chapter should start the Kirk twin's time at the academy. For that, I'm going to break from the movie and add some of their academy days. Because I don't want this story to just read like the script. Anyway, until next time!

xoxo

(ps, sorry for any inconveniences, the format kept getting all fucked up for whatever reason. hopefully it all works out now...)