A/N: Again, thank you all so much for the reviews, I really appreciate them and am thrilled to see you all enjoying this story. :D
This chapter is a little longer, so I do hope you enjoy it. Sorry for the wait. I sort of hit a kind of writer's block. Also, to those of you recognize the name Finnegan, it is the same Finnegan who is mentioned in The Original Series for bullying Kirk, although while in The Original Series Finnegan was a bully at the Academy, I changed it up a bit here, seemed to make sense and figured it'd be alright seeing as this is a different timeline.
Disclaimer: Still own nothing
The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted up to the room, waking Kirk from a sound sleep. Blearily opening his eyes he glanced up at the white ceiling and then frowned. He never woke to the smell of coffee, in a bed so comfortable as the one he was in and a white ceiling. Pushing himself into a sitting position he surveyed the room. Then he remembered, he was home in Iowa, just that another him, a younger him was there and his mom was alive and healthy.
Reaching up to his nose, he was pleased to note that there was no fresh blood, Maybe it had been a fluke. The headache he'd had after they'd beamed down could've just been from lack of sleep and hunger and the nosebleed he'd woken up to in the middle of the night, could've just been a nosebleed. He wasn't normally prone to them, but they happened and there wasn't always an explanation.
"You are awake, Captain." Spock's voice startled him.
"Yeah, I'm awake. Where've you been?" he asked, glancing over at the doorway where his First Officer stood stoically.
"I have been outside to survey our surroundings as well as talking to a Frank Boyd, who I would assume is your stepfather." Spock told him as he shut the door and came to stand next to the bed.
The captain was pale and seemed to have taken on what he had come to know as his hard look. Other than these two negative appearances, the captain seemed healthy.
"What'd he have to say?" Jim's voice had taken on an emotionless tone. It was unusual, as Spock had often noted how emotional the captain seemed to be.
"He informed me that we are to stay out of the way while Winona is off on a mission."
"She's gone?"
"It would appear so, yes."
"Oh, ok." Jim was silent for a brief moment as he looked at a spot on the carpet. Then, looking up to the face of his first officer he came to his feet.
"I'm hungry. Lets get breakfast."
"Jamie at school?" Jim asked Frank as he took a bite of the replicated eggs in front of him. It was easy knowledge to him that the real, from a chicken eggs that were collected on the farm, were off limits. The eggs were sold weekly. Those that still enjoyed the taste of real food, usually local restaurants or neighbors, would buy the eggs. Not many people in Riverside and the surrounding towns owned top of the line equipment, often times food replicators were at least a decade old.
"Should be. You two have someone you can call?" he questioned, his voice gruff.
"Our equipment is not working. With a little time and some supplies, I should be able to connect us with our ship." Spock told him. A bowl of fresh fruit sat in front of him as he sat next to Jim at the kitchen table. Frank looked at him from under a baseball cap.
"Why not just go to a local station. Didn't Winny tell you we're about ten miles from a Starfleet recruiting center." Jim grimaced at the name his stepfather had given his mom. He often used it when he was trying to be sweet or just plain annoying. It seemed he was trying a mixture of both now.
"We're sort of trying to stay on the down low with Starfleet right now."
"Ya two in trouble? Cause I won't have troublemakers in this house, not if I can help it at least."
"We sort of absconded with a shuttle pod about a month ago from one of the federation planets. Spock here actually just got in my way, I was trying to get away, he tried to stop me, I took off with him still on the pod." Jim lied smoothly to the man. He was glad when Spock made no move to deny the story.
"Winona mentioned you were unwell." Frank looked pointedly at Jim causing him to try hard not to look away or swallow in fear.
"I was feeling a little under the weather yesterday. Nothin' a little sleep couldn't fix."
"If you're so much better then, maybe you could find a motel to stay at." Jim cursed silently. He hadn't thought about his stepfather kicking them out if he was well.
"Sir, it would be easier if we could stay here. The Captain and I will gladly do chores to maintain our keep." Frank seemed to think about it for a minute while Jim fought the urge to clap Spock on the back for being such a genius.
"Alright. I guess I could give you a couple of Jimmy's chores. Why don't you start now? The barn needs cleaning out. Think you can handle that."
"We'll manage, sir." Jim pushed his chair away and stood up. Spock followed suet. They were stopped from going outside when they heard Frank let out a laugh. Spock shot Jim a curious eyebrow while Jim shrugged in response.
"Don't tell me you're gonna go out like that. The heat'll kill you." He was referring to their clothes. They were still in Starfleet uniforms.
"These are the only clothes we have." Spock informed him.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." Frank mumbled under his breath before speaking louder, "I've got some clothes you can borrow."
STSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSSTSTSTSTSTSTSTSTST
Jim was surprised at how normal his first officer looked in jeans and the light weight, gray button down Frank had given him. If it wasn't for the ears, he could almost pass for human, or at least a human android. He smiled at his own thoughts.
"Grab the shovel there." Jim said with a nod of his head as he pushed the sleeves up on the red plaid shirt he was wearing. He glanced over the hay-covered barn, taking in the smell of horses, hay and even manure. It was in this barn that he'd always felt safe. Frank never came out to the barn, not after the incident when Jim had been nine.
Jim had been brushing one of the horses. Music flowed quietly into his ears from the music player attached to his belt. Without thought he sang softly to the music, the horse seemed to enjoy the combination of the singing and the brushing. At nine he knew enough about horses to never make sudden movements or noises because if you did the horses went almost wild with fear. This seemed to be a bit of information that had been lost on Frank.
A large hand had clasped down with force onto the nine year old's shoulder. Jim froze mid-brush, as fear made its way through his veins. He swallowed a lump in his throat as his eyes clenched shut.
"Better turn around, Jimmy, don't want this to be worse now, do you?" taking a deep breath, Jim turned and looked up at the man's scruffy face, blue eyes trying hard not to show fear.
"Yes, sir?"
"I got a call from your school today, something about a fight, plus a detention." Jim immediately felt the need to defend himself.
"Finnegan, he pushed me and told me mom doesn't care and dad was a lowlife for only lasting twelve minutes. I had to fight back." That had been the first of many fights that he fought back in although it hadn't been the first, and definitely not the last, that Finnegan bullied him.
"I don't care boy. I won't have a troublemaker in this house, you got that?" Jim didn't respond right away as he unconsciously backed into the sidewall of Chester's stall.
"You hear me?" he nearly shouted. Chester stomped his foot as he snorted with what sounded like exasperation. Frank glared at the brown horse.
"Shut up, you." Frank made a move to slap the horse, and before Jim could do anything, the man's hand landed hard against the horse's side. Chester whinnied as he raised his front legs up startled by the slap. His left hoof caught Frank slightly in the cheek, causing him to reel back. Quickly cursing the animal, Frank scrambled out the barn, barely looking back. Jim never saw Frank in the barn again.
"Jim." Spock's voice brought him back to the present. He blinked as he came face to face with what appeared to be a concerned first officer.
"Are you alright, I have been trying to get your attention for the past minute and eighteen seconds." Jim smiled slightly.
"Fine, Spock, just….hey, you called me Jim and I didn't even ask you to."
"It seemed the proper course of action at the time." Jim rolled his eyes at the logical Vulcan. Shaking his head of the memory he'd been so entranced in he stood up straight.
"I believe we have a barn to muck out." Jim grabbed the other shovel as he stepped over to an empty stable. If he was going to forget he had to work up a well earned sweat. It was something he hadn't done in a long time.
To Be Continued...