Disclaimer: Star Trek belongs to Gene Roddenberry. The movie rights belong to J.J. Abrams and Paramount. Thanks to Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine for inspiring me to write about the young versions of Spock and Kirk!
A/N: Again, thanks to all my wonderful reviewers. You all sound so enthusiastic, lol. I'm pretty proud of this next chapter cause it's definitely more slashy than the first two. My plan is to post the fourth and final chapter before I go see Star Trek late this Thursday. Only 2 days left… I can barely contain my excitement as I watch Zach and Chris's interviews this week. Lord help me when I actually sit down to watch the movie...
I hope you guys like this one!
Ch. 3: The Game
The past three years after my initial encounter with George Kirk's son flew by in a blur. I was in my final year at Starfleet Academy and frankly I just wanted to be finished. As if things weren't bad enough with the teasing I'd had to endure from most of the students (thanks to a certain brash human male) my workload had almost stretched me to my limits. Teaching several sessions of two courses as well as designing variations of the Kobayashi Maru test program was taxing enough, and to top it off I had my scientific studies to continue. Even for a Vulcan, the stress level was sometimes unbearable. But I knew it was worth it – for when I had attained the needed credentials, I would be given an assignment on as starship!
Thanks to my rigorous schedule, I barely had any time to myself for meditation and recreation. My duties as president of the Three-dimensional Chess Association took up many of my weekends as I endeavored to teach new minds about the complexity of the game. It was my one refuge where I could relax somewhat being surrounded by fellow intellectuals. As I was the reigning chess Grandmaster, the other club members treated me with the utmost respect. Knowing that some service I provided was valued by others helped me get through some difficult times. But all that changed when he decided to invade the one place where I truly belonged.
I remember the day well when he swaggered in to my domain, emotions blazing at full power as usual. It took a great deal of effort to mentally shield myself from him, especially when he trained those eyes on me. Then he graced me with his trademark smirk, the one that secretly made me go weak in the knees. But I knew that he and I could never be. I wasn't about to let my emotions get the best of me and allow myself to become one of the many short-lived conquests of Jim Kirk.
Then of course he had to go and impress me yet again with his keen intellect. Jim Kirk is certainly no slouch at chess. That much I learned upon our first shared game together. He was fiercely competitive and so was I. I was bound by my responsibilities as president to teach him alternatives strategies and maneuvers. I cannot lie and say that I did not enjoy those times shared between he and I. Soon Kirk was playing almost at my level. There were intimate moments during our games where I almost felt like Mr. Kirk enjoyed my company, but those moments passed quickly as we rebuilt our defenses. Outside of the chess club, we remained bitter rivals as usual.
When time came to sign up for the annual Starfleet Three-dimensional chess tournament, Mr. Kirk entered the contest as I knew he would. Not surprisingly, the final game came down to a match between Mr. Kirk and myself. It had been extremely difficult for me to keep my emotions in check during the match, as Mr. Kirk had employed an alternative strategy, one that was almost my undoing. He subtly would catch my eye and I was unnerved by the invisible connection that inevitably flared between us. When I would make my moves on the board, his hand would reach out to brush mine as he immediately made a move after me. Each time our fingers brushed I was flooded with a full range of his emotions. If that weren't bad enough, he would also sporadically lick his lips when he knew I was watching. I have to give him points for creativity, as his was a very effective strategy.
But eventually my logic prevailed and I was able to win the match. But when I rose to shake his hand in congratulations, I couldn't help but immediately recoil from the seductive promise of his touch. Kirk smirked in triumph as our audience began to speculate on why Commander Spock was acting so rudely towards his defeated opponent. As he walked away shooting me one last gaze, why did I feel like I'd won the match but not the game?
But all of this havoc that Kirk had created in my life was nothing compared to what he'd done today. Today, James T. Kirk had set a new Starfleet record. He succeeded against a supposedly unbeatable test program, the Kobayashi Maru, a program that he knew that I designed. That alone was enough cause for my anger. Yet Kirk hadn't stopped there. When he reprogrammed the test, he had to make his revenge personal, changing the planet in distress to Vulcan, home planet of his ship's science officer. The implied meaning of this was not lost on me, nor other members of the board. I believed that was the extent of his damage, but I was dead wrong. After Cadet Kirk had saved the crew of his starship in the test, he stowed away with said science officer in an escape pod. The tiny two-person shuttle shot them and the critical Starfleet military secrets safely out of reach of the Klingons and deep into the rocky surface of the red planet. In short, he'd conveniently marooned us in a cave on Vulcan. It was too embarrassing a scenario for me to contemplate further…
To my complete frustration, the Starfleet board had commended Mr. Kirk for his original thinking. I was the only one in the room that did not offer my congratulations. After all, he had deliberately embarrassed me with his reprogramming of the test. Due to this infraction, I felt that it was within my rights to request a private meeting with Mr. Hotshot.
"Cadet Kirk." His golden head spun around at the sound of my voice.
"Why hello, Spock," he said, his blue eyes blazing with mischief. "I didn't even know you were here." Right. Every time we were in close proximity we could feel it. It was a seventh sense that I'd found extremely distracting during the past three years.
"There is no need for false pretenses," I stiffly replied. "I wish to see you in my office to discuss exactly how you overrode my programming so I can correct my security measures for the next training group." He nodded and turned to address the board members, presumably to ask permission to leave.
"Excuse me everyone, but I am being summoned," Kirk explained. From his sly tone of voice I knew there was going to be trouble. "Spock and I need some alone time so I'm afraid you're going to have to carry on without me." The board members had a good chuckle at that while I nearly boiled over. I did the only thing that I knew to do in such a situation – I hightailed it out of there. I could feel Kirk's presence about 1.6 meters behind me as he chased me into my office.
The door slid closed behind us as we tried to catch our breath. At that moment I could case less about suppressing my emotions as he had pushed me past my limits. James T. Kirk was about to receive the wrath of one very angry Vulcan! He tried to move out of the way but I was too quick for him. Hands shaking with fury, I grabbed him by the shoulders and held him up against the wall.
"Is this what you wanted?" I growled. "To humiliate me beyond belief? To cause me to show emotion?" Kirk wisely remained silent. I shook my head in disgust. "If that was your intent, then you have succeeded." I glared at him, waiting for what was no doubt going to be a smart-aleck answer.
"That was my intention at the beginning," he finally admitted. I didn't loosen by grip on him, not for a second. He wasn't getting away before he explained everything. "But as I got to know who you really were, my motives changed."
"You do not know me," I said, allowing a tinge of sadness to seep through in my voice. "I am not even considered to be your friend." Kirk chewed on his lower lip and once again I unconsciously absorbed his pain from that accusation.
"I wouldn't necessarily say that's true," he mused. "Don't our times spent playing chess count for something?" If only that were so, I thought. Nevertheless, I felt my anger beginning to fade.
"Mr. Kirk, every member of Starfleet knows that you - what is the Terran expression - 'hate my guts' thanks to our disastrous first meeting."
"Everyone is wrong," he said calmly. "I realized that you didn't know I was George Kirk's son at the time and if you had known you would have understood my behavior. I forgave you for that a long time ago." His acceptance of what had passed between us bathed me in a warmth I hadn't felt since I last hugged my mother in early childhood. I reveled in the feeling for a moment before I came back to myself, trying to conceal my shock.
"You did?" Kirk nodded. Slowly I set him down but I did not remove my hands from his shoulders. "Then why did you make me suffer so these past few years?"
"Because I knew that the only way that I could get you to fully recognize the depth of our connection is if I got you angry enough. It was the only way to break through your logical façade." He smiled wryly at my look of surprise. "And it looks as if my plan finally succeeded."
"You feel it too," I whispered, finally daring to speak of what we both already knew.
"How could I not feel it?" He countered, giving me a smile so bright that it could melt even the coldest, unfeeling heart. I swayed a bit at his initial outburst of emotion – the affection he felt for me was most overwhelming. His strong arms steadied me, resting comfortably on my shoulders. "Spock, just being around you has been just… intoxicating."
He closed his eyes briefly and then reopened them. "It was torture knowing that I could have anyone else I wanted but not the one who I truly desired." My eyes grew wide at his admonition and I had to stifle a gasp that was threatening to escape. "Yes, Spock. It's you," he breathed. "Since the day we met it's always been you. And since I knew you would not want me in your present state, I found gratification elsewhere. Hence, the women." I nodded slowly. Suddenly his risky human behavior was beginning to make sense.
"But Mr. Kirk," I protested. "You –"
"Please call me Jim," he begged. "It's what all my friends call me. All this Mr. Kirk business is getting annoying."
"I am… your friend?" I hesitated. He nodded, his expression as serious as I'd seen it.
"You have been for years. I've just hid it well."
"Jim," I said, blushing at how much joy I felt just at being allowed to use and speak his first name. "You are not telepathic by nature. I do not understand how you can sense my emotions." He smiled.
"Do you believe in dreams, Spock?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Vulcans do not dream."
"No, but humans do. And… part humans as well," he added. "Do you believe that dreams hold some sort of value?" I nodded cautiously.
"Perhaps certain dreams are an answer to questions we do not yet know how to ask." I waited patiently for him to explain further.
"Spock, I had a dream… about us."
"Us?" I asked hoarsely.
"Yes. Only it was us in an alternate universe. We'd forged a permanent connection so that we were both receptive to each other's thoughts and feelings." A Vulcan lifebond of some sort! What other explanation could it be? I almost grew dizzy at the mere thought.
"So since we had this- ," I paused to clear my throat, "this bond in another universe, we would have some form of it in this one?"
"Something like that," said Jim. "I don't fully understand it myself. But I do remember that I'd been cruelly parted from you in that universe and I wasn't about to let it happen again." I flushed at the intensity of his revelation, as I'd experienced similar dreams about us.
"We may not be meant to understand it," I mused. "It is enough to know that it exists."
"Yes," he agreed. "The question is now that we are aware of this connection, what do we do about it?"
It was during that second that I became acutely aware of how close we were standing. I watched a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead and without thinking reached up to brush it away. Jim trembled slightly at my cool touch. I realized I must be sweating as well. As the fascinating smell of him threatened to overwhelm my senses, I had to mentally recite the principles of Surak to keep my thoughts on the present situation. Hadn't he asked me a question? I tried in vain to remember it. When I recalled his question I blamed his advances for my temporary loss of memory.
"To start with, I believe it would be most prudent to strengthen our friendship." A safe answer, if not the one he was hoping for.
"A most logical idea, Spock." We locked eyes again. "And after that?" I couldn't meet his eyes.
"I could not say."
"Do you trust me, Spock?" I did. As illogical as it might sound, I would give my life to save his if the need ever arose.
"Strangely, I believe I do."
"Hold out your hand and close your eyes." I took a few steps away from him, bringing my arms to my sides. Hesitating briefly, I raised my right arm towards him and shut my eyes.
Without warning, he tightly grasped my hand in both of his. This action threw open our connection and I was flooded with the full spectrum of his emotions which took up residence in my chest. (I could only assume the same phenomenon was occurring on his end, but my senses told me it was.) Our simple act was a conduit for a transfer of pure energy between two beings who had been so desperately lonely for most of their lives. As odd as it may seem, at that moment I felt complete. It was rather unexpected for me to feel as such as we weren't even sharing our minds. And yet it wasn't unexpected at all. I had finally found what I hadn't realized I'd been searching for, and I found it in the unlikely human source of Jim Kirk. Such a simple, wonderful feeling…
Then he relaxed his firm grip on my hand and began to lightly trail the tips of his fingers over the back of my hand. His gentle touch rendered me completely helpless and my head began to loll backwards as I experienced a sensation similar to that of weightlessness in zero gravity. Turning my hand over so that he could have better access, he brushed his index and middle finger across my fleshy palm in the perfect imitation of a Vulcan kiss. As I was not in my right mind, I responded in kind by rubbing my two fingers against his. Our fingertips met in a searing explosion of fire as we both bit back a moan. My logic just had to choose that moment to kick back in. Where had it been just moments before? My logic had failed me just when I had needed it most. Or had it? As these thoughts warred in my head, Jim Kirk continued to stroke my fingers with his.
What was I doing? I could not allow this to go on. According to certain Vulcan biological functions of mine, I was in enough trouble as it was!
"Stop," I cried out, my eyes flying open to find a very worried (and flushed) Jim Kirk before me.
"Spock, what's wrong?" I could feel his genuine concern for me and knew this was no simple seduction attempt on his part. He wanted more, perhaps more than I could give at present.
"Jim, I-I cannot continue," I choked out, frightened by my own animalistic reaction. "There is much you must learn about Vulcans before we pursue this course of action, pleasurable though it may be." I prepared myself for his ultimate disappointment in me, but nothing could have prepared me for what he said next.
"You mean about mind-melding, lifebonds, and your time of Pon Farr?" If Vulcans swore, I would've sworn that Jim Kirk would some day be the death of me. He knew! Somehow, Jim knew about all of the complications that could force us apart, and yet he seemed unconcerned. "I know Vulcans don't do casual relationships," he continued. "And believe me, Spock, this is anything but casual."
"How did you…" I was at a loss of words.
"How did I know about those things?" He smirked yet again. "Research, my friend. Lots of research. I have a certain way of persuasion that helps me to attain what I want." I raised an eyebrow at him for that, as I certainly knew that first hand. He laughed softly, a slow rich laugh that I wished to hear again and again.
Suddenly the communication console beeped.
"Headmaster to Commander Spock. Please report to my office within the next five standard minutes."
"They're calling you," Jim whispered.
"Affirmative." And yet I made no move to go.
"Don't leave, Spock." I knew he was not referring to my summons from the headmaster. "I don't think I could take that kind of rejection. I don't open up like this to just anyone." I knew. I hoped he knew the same was true for me as well.
"You have just returned to me," I softly replied. "It would be illogical for me to discard your loyalty and your trust." And affection…such deep affection.
"I'll be right here when you get back," Jim promised. "That is, if it's alright with you."
"I would like nothing better than to spend more time with you," I said honestly. He grinned at me.
"I'm glad. Perhaps we could play our first round of chess as real friends. You can teach me all the tactical information you've been withholding from me." He shot me a wink.
"I would be most interested in learning your strategies as well, Jim," I responded in kind. "Perhaps you could teach me something for a change." I shot him the Vulcan version of a smirk and exited my office before I could change my mind. I hurried down the corridor to take care of my obligation. If I had anything to say about it, this was going to be the shortest meeting I'd ever had in my entire Starfleet career.
Jim, my friend, was waiting for me.
End Ch. 3
A/N: Let me know what you thought! It's really hard to capture the essence of Kirk and Spock 2.0's relationship before seeing the movie so I took my best guess. I hope it works!
P.S. You have actually just read a minor spoiler for the movie but I had no idea that was the case when I wrote it. I actually came up with that idea on my own, I'm proud to say. PM me if you're curious what it was.
