Disclaimer: I don't own the Rights to anything regarding Star Trek- this is just me having fun in a really fun genre created by G. Roddenberry.

Note: This is an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, and a FRIENDSHIP FIC, there is NO ROMANCE. (Despite the fact that it is Kirk's chapter, and he's a major flirt.)

Also, there will be a shift from present to past and then back again. This is also a long chapter, because Kirk has a lot more things to do than the other Characters, being the captain . . .


"Foreign Earth language translated to Standard."

"Alien Language translated to standard."

"Voice being listened to through a communicator."

'Telepathic speech.'

Thoughts.

"Occasionally, a foreign/alien word will be in a sentence."


"Friends are relatives you make for yourself." ~Eustache Deschamps


True Friendship- James T. Kirk

Kirk had spent hours with Yeoman Rand right next to him, sorting out sleeping arrangements for the civilians on board. He'd spent the past 2 hours dealing with a couple civilians who weren't happy with not getting back to Earth right away.

"Think of it this way, you're alive." He finally growled. "We'll do all we can, but you're not the only ones who've got troubles."

"We didn't ask to be saved!" The blonde woman snapped back, her husband was obediently nodding his head in agreement.

"Oh shut up!" Another woman, this one with auburn hair interfered. "If I hear another word out of you, I'll tell your husband exactly what you get up to every Saturday! Don't think I won't!" She added in a snarl. The blonde went silent, wide-eyed. "Now take the room assignment and go!" Kirk barely hid the sigh of relief. "Alright, now where am I sleeping?"

"Name?"

"Stella. Stella Mudd. My husband's not with me, the bastard, left me a week ago, and I can't find him to do anything. Can't even divorce him, the good for nothing lout!" The woman was growling.

"Well, if you need a job, Starfleet has an opening for a no-nonsense woman like yourself." Kirk smiled as Rand gave her a slip of paper with the number of the available room and the key code to get in (as well as a temporary Replicator card, for food and clothes.)

"Put me in security, that way I can legally stun and lock him up when I find him!" But she returned his smile and left.

"I like her." Kirk turned to Rand with a smile. Rand returned it.

"You just like her because she got rid of the Moaners- I mean, Monroe's." Rand blushed.

"I believe I'm the last one, Captain." Selek looked amused as well.

"Instructor Selek- are you sure you don't need to go to Sickbay? That limp hasn't gotten any better." Kirk dropped his acting Captain persona now that it was only the three of them. (And Barrows, who was waiting to escort Selek to his room.)

"It is fine, Captain, I'm old enough to know my limits. I suggest you try and learn your limits for yourself."

"I'll keep that in mind, here." Selek blinked at the piece of paper, and frowned.

"Sir, I believe these quarters are in with the officers."

"We've lost a lot of people, and unfortunately, we don't have the beds necessary for everyone, with the damage that's been done." Kirk stood and stretched. "The rooms closest to Sickbay have turned into private rooms for the less injured, and more than a few crew have doubled up with the younger cadets." Selek nodded. "Go get some sleep, it's been a long ten hours."

"What about you, Captain?"

"I need to stop in Sickbay for a bit, double check on everything there, and I've got a few things to check on everywhere else, for that matter, before I can turn in." Kirk gave a wry smile. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

"I won't Captain." Jim saw the small smile in Selek's eyes, before he turned and left with the young woman.

"Rand, if you need to take a rest-"

"I'll rest when you do, sir." Rand absently touched her messy hair.

"Well, then let's take a five minute break before we go anywhere." Kirk strode over to the replicators. "Tea or coffee?"

"Coffee, black, one sugar."

"No cream?"

"At this point sir, even if I took it straight black I wouldn't wake up anymore than I already am." She struggled to fix her hair.

"I've been meaning to ask, is there a cultural significance to your hair style? It's pretty elaborate."

"My Grandmother was a big fan of the 1960's hairstyles, and she was from a culture where woman only wear their hair down and/or cut short if they're married. Believe or not, my mother had a worse style than I did." She shuddered, as if remembering something horrible.

"Was your grandmother human?"

"No, Grandmother was technically my mom's step-mother, but as my mom's mom died from radiation poisoning when she was little . . . you see where it went." Rand blushed. "Promise you won't tell? I can take people making fun of my hairstyle, but if I change it, my Grandmother would make my life difficult."

"I promise, but you might want to consider just wearing it in braids for the time being." Kirk sat down in front of her as she finished getting her hair down. "Do you sleep with it up like that?"

"No, that would be difficult, it's pretty easy to style, despite the way it looks." She blushed again. "Um . . . could you do me a favor?"

"After all the help you've given me today, sure."

"Can you start a braid? I can tell you how if you need it . . ."

"Let me get this straight- you can do what looks like a basket weave, but you can't braid your hair in a simple braid?" His amusement made her scowl.

"Sir, if-"

"I'm teasing, Rand. You've got to admit that's a little strange though." He got up, and Rand blinked up at him as he had her tilt her head back. Some part of his mind was yelling at him to do more than just braid her hair and make small talk, but the majority of him was just too tired to do anything but make a friend. "Joanna, you know, McCoy's daughter? She likes her hair braided. I was forced to learn how."

"What happened to her mother?"

"Divorced, it was pretty messy, but the harpy just wanted the money she could get, and McCoy only wanted Joanna. Thankfully, it worked out that way. McCoy would've been destroyed if he hadn't been able to keep Joanna." He gently pushed her head back up.

"He looked ready to collapse when he saw her. You'd have thought his heart had been ripped out." Rand agreed. Kirk gave a wry smile. That's what he had thought when he'd found McCoy, talking to one of the volunteers.

It had been more than a little disturbing to see the growling, snarky, sarcastic doctor he had known reduced to an exhausted man who looked ready to give up on life. Kirk had needed the memory erased from his head, so he hadn't come right out and told McCoy like he wanted to, instead he had dragged his friend so he could see for himself.

He knew McCoy, if he had tried to say Joanna was alright, he would have growled and snapped at him, not wanting to get his hopes up.

"There, you've got a lot of hair . . . ought to call you Rapunzel."

"Very funny, Captain." She stretched and stood up to pin up the braid into a bun. "Though, with your reputation, I ought to call you Casanova." Kirk couldn't help it, he laughed. (This woman and Uhura would get along just fine!)

He made no secret that he liked to flirt (and occasionally date or sleep with) with women- didn't even matter the species, either. Bones had suggested that it was related to the 'relationship' he'd had with Ruth when things went to hell on Tarsus IV- flirting was a comfort to Kirk, though Bones felt it was only a temporary patch.

But either way, the rumors of how many people (and their genders) were really exaggerated.

"I won't deny all the rumors, just the ones that aren't true, Yeoman." He stretched. "Besides, right now, the only lady I'm concerned about is the lovely Enterprise. Your virtue is safe with me . . . unless braiding your hair is considered foreplay in your Grandmother's culture. Then we might have an issue." He joked, earning a laugh (and a reassurance that 'no, it wasn't,') from Rand as they headed toward sickbay.

The jokes weren't that funny, but they were both tired and stressed, and any type of humor was better than none. Kirk's thoughts kept slipping to other topics as they walked.

Having Rand by his side reminded him of Ruth- he hadn't really thought about her much, between recovery and Starfleet. He kept in contact with most of his children- Todd, the toddler they had found had been adopted, his name changed, and so he couldn't find him, but Tilainya (Her species identified as K'lazz) and Rose (who was part shapeshifter) kept him updated on what was going on in their lives. Kevin, he could only keep an eye on through various channels, the Riley's (who Kirk was only related to through marriage) had been quick to hide him away from everyone, even his cousin. The only update he's gotten was a short note from them saying that Kevin had blocked out the memory, and they didn't want him seeing Kirk in case it brought it back. (That didn't stop him from watching from afar, though.) Chay the Andorian, who's real name they had never gotten, had also been out of his reach, though Archer knew where Chay was and had assured Kirk several times that he was fine and on track for Andorian development.

Tommy he could only monitor through science journals, his friend had forcibly pulled away, but Kirk had no doubts that Tommy was monitoring him from afar as well.

Ruth on the other hand . . . She'd come to San Francisco while he was a lt. Commander and trying to help McCoy deal with his upcoming divorce, and Kirk had thought they could try and start a new relationship.

They tried, but there was nothing there. Oh, they still loved each other, and they could still enjoy each other's company, but they could not have a workable relationship.

Ruth had put it like this: "You want the stars, Kirk, more than you want me. You would never be happy on the ground, and as much as I like stars, I would never be happy being among them. I hate space travel, and I couldn't travel to you even if you needed me to . . . nor could I wait for you to come back down."

It had hurt being told by the girl he loved that he didn't love her enough, but she was right. Worst of all, he knew it, too. He couldn't ask any girl he liked to wait for him as he put Starfleet and whichever ship or crew he had first. It wouldn't be right, or fair to the girl. So, he settled for flirting and casual dating after that. Half the time he ended up matchmaking instead, the girls too shy to do much but bat their eyes and engage him in the latest pop-culture. (Currently, according to the last girl he dated, they were watching a show called 'Star Trek' about a writer named Gene Roddenberry and the hassle he went through to try and create a Science fiction show that he dreamed up)

Rand, on the other hand, was clearly willing to throw barbs right back at him. He liked that in people he made friends with (Chekov was currently the exception, the only thing he threw back on was insults to Russia, or attempting to argue whether or not something was invented in Russia- bottom line anything Russia or even country related, Chekov would argue on, otherwise he took Kirk's (and sometimes Spock's or Scotty's) word as gospel) and Rand was capable of keeping her head in a crisis and doing what needed to be done without being told, professionally and efficiently.

"Captain? Paging Captain Casanova, are you in there?" He blinked, and realized he'd been staring at Rand.

"Oh, sorry about that- Rapunzel." (If she was going to call him Casanova, he was going to call her Rapunzel.) "Just thinking about what I have to do still."

"Sickbay, Bridge, and then you're going to bed, sir."

"Mm, No, I was actually thinking about promotions."

"Sir?"

"Everyone was efficient, those that knew what needed to be done stepped up to do it, and despite our long list of problems, everyone is still working efficiently. Even some of the cadets we have that are 1st and 2nd years are performing admirably. It's amazing given the situation." Kirk forced out thoughts of Ruth- he didn't know where she was anymore, and Rand was not her, but a crewmember and coworker he worked with. The ship and crew came first, not him. "So, I need to start thinking of recommendations for promotion. Sulu could go straight to Lieutenant, Junior grade at the very least. Scotty could finally be promoted to Lt. Commander, and Spock could be made a full Commander. You could be promoted even up to Ensign or Lieutenant, with that cool head and attitude of yours, and I think the admirality would uphold the field promotions."

"Oh- Wait, what about you? Shouldn't they uphold your promotion as well?"

"Depends, we managed to beam out Pike, but that was completely by luck, and I haven't had a chance to check on him yet. If he's capable of duty, they'll give him the Enterprise back, and I'll return to being Tactical officer and XO. Actually, you'd be a pretty good Tactical officer yourself."

"Me? I'm officially at the bottom of the yeoman ladder, sir, even if I'm acting like the head." Rand objected, and Kirk grinned.

"My point exactly." They entered Sickbay, and Kirk saw the woman who was talking to Bones helping a young man sit up to sip some water. "How are things doing?"

"As well as can be expected. We've got a couple spare bio beds in case someone comes in that needs one, the nurses are either sleeping with- and by that I mean, in the same rooms- some of the less damaged patients, or on the spare bio beds." She helped the man back down. "Um, I wasn't properly introduced, I'm Nancy Peach . . . do you need me to get Nurse Chapel?"

"No, I just wanted to check in on everything here, Rand, could you," He waved at the area around, some of the patients were stirring. Both women nodded and moved to check on them. "How are you doing?" Kirk turned his attention to the man on the bed.

"I've been better- you're the acting captain, right?"

"Yes, I am- James Kirk."

"Gary Mitchell." The man gave a wry grin. "I was supposed to stay behind at the Academy and watch over the cadets."

"I was supposed to be a first officer and Nancy was supposed to be a civilian, I don't think any of us are doing what we're supposed to be doing right now." Kirk glanced at the chart, and tilted his head. He'd been in hospitals enough times to know how to read a chart.

"Yeah . . ." Mitchell shifted, and winced. "Captain, did an old Vulcan and little girl make it?"

"Yes, Instructor Selek and the girl he was carrying are fine, why?" Kirk turned his attention back to the man on the bed.

"Last thing I remember was I was supporting the old Vulcan as he was carrying the little girl to the shuttle. Couldn't remember if he made it or not." Mitchell stopped moving. "I think that's when I got hurt."

"Well, according to this you've temporarily lost your left kidney, some shrapnel tore into your side and tore it up." Kirk paused. "You saved Instructor Selek's life, did you know?"

"Did I? I was just helping him to the shuttle."

"Vulcan physiology is different from humans, their hearts are where our kidneys are, Ensign." Mitchell's eyes widened. Kirk gave him a grin, completely agreeing. They spent a couple minutes chatting, before Mitchell drifted off and Kirk went in to check on Pike.


Pike was still out from surgery, but Kirk sank into the chair beside him. "Hey Chris, it's Jim, just letting you know that I might have scratched up the Enterprise, but it's still functional and taking us back to Earth. Narada's been destroyed with Nero, thankfully, so maybe Dad and the rest of those who didn't make it out of the Kelvin can rest a little easier." Kirk sighed.

Pike had been on a mission when Kirk had joined the Academy. He had returned in time to be labeled Kirk's advisor after Kirk had gotten into a fight with the blond-haired Finnegan (and a couple of the jerk's groupies), and Pike had broken it up. (Spock had been busy in the labs that day, and so hadn't been there to watch his back). Quite honestly, Kirk hadn't trusted Pike all that much. Pike occasionally looked at him like he was seeing a ghost, and Kirk had gotten enough of that from his mother.

The next time Kirk got into fight (again, Spock was busy elsewhere, otherwise he would have calmed Kirk down) Pike had made the mistake of bring up George Kirk. Kirk had lashed out at that, and it had ended with Pike daring him to do better than his father. They had barely spoken to each other for a couple months after that, the next time had been at the Kelvin memorial service (Spock had thought it would be good for him to attend, but he had gone in civilian dress clothes, not his uniform). Pike and Kirk had stayed as everyone else had left, just looking at the memorial. Kirk hadn't said a word, just listened as Pike told him stories about the type of people his mother and father had been, and how George Kirk had been like a brother/mentor to him and Pike had never gotten the chance to pay him back.

After that, the two had steadily grown closer. Christopher Pike also mentored Spock at the same time, so occasionally all three of them would meet up to talk as they went through school.

When Selek was brought to the campus to teach, at Admiral Archer's suggestion, Pike had been the Captain that they selected to know the truth.

Kirk had been stunned when he learned that not only was he getting promoted to Commander (and Spock wasn't, though Pike had simply said that Spock wasn't quite ready for a higher command position yet) he was also being promoted to Pike's first officer.

He had initially disagreed, (despite Selek saying he was meant to be on the Enterprise) because he had thought that Pike had only done that because he owed George Kirk. It had come as a surprise when Admirals Barnett and Komak (the latter and Kirk didn't always see eye to eye, but they were professional about it) called him in and told him the promotion hadn't come based on Pike's recommendation, but Garrovick's recommendation that he become a commander and the admirals decision on where he should go.

Kirk shook his head to clear it from his all too frequent trips down memory lane. He was tired, but he couldn't rest just yet. He stood up. "You know what sir, I'm really glad you allowed me to pick half the cadets for this crew- Gaila was perfect on the bridge at the engineering station, completely professional, Chekov managed to plot a course with the absolute bare minimum information, Sulu's flying was spot on, and Uhura was right at home at the communication station. Every single one performed admirably . . . I wish you had gotten to see it, sir, you'd have loved it." Kirk glanced out the partition, making sure no one was too close. "And sir . . . you were right." Kirk gently squeezed the hand he had grabbed. "Wake up soon." He left, and Rand was waiting by the Sick bay door.


The stop at the bridge took very little time, Giotto had everything under control, and Kirk took a few moments to respond to a couple messages from the surviving admirality, before exiting with Rand.

"You going to follow me into my quarters to?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"If that's what it takes to make sure you sleep, then yes. I know your type- you'll find excuses not to sleep and continue to do work until you collapse or hurt someone." Rand informed him.

"When did you have time to talk to McCoy?"

"When I went to get the casualty list earlier, Captain." She replied smartly. Kirk just gave her a tired smile.

"Keep this up, I will have to promote you to Lieutenant." He made a quick stop to talk to Spock, but found him already in a deep sleep. He sighed and made his brother more comfortable, absently squeezing his hand to offer comfort (and hopefully prevent nightmares), before exiting the room. Rand was still there. "Seriously?"

"Like I said, sir, I want to make sure you get some rest. You've got roughly 500 people to look out for, at least one of us needs to watch out for you. And since it's apparently McCoy's usual job, and he's not here, you'll have to deal with me."

"This has to count as insubordination . . ." But Kirk was privately agreeing with Rand- it was McCoy and Spock who usually badgered him into resting when he started to push his limits to the extreme, but both of them were out like a light. Which said something if the Vulcan had already fallen asleep. "Alright, you win, but I'm getting up about two hours early so I can check on engineering. And Rand . . . your punishment for insubordination is going to be being my acting yeoman for the next four or five days, so go to your quarters and get some sleep, understood?"

"Perfectly sir." Rand saluted and left. Kirk made it into his room and collapsed on the bed.

Well, Dad, today could've gone better, but at least I got rid of the Romulans. He fell asleep before he could finish thinking, but thankfully, his dreams were nightmare free.


Phew, Damnit, why does Kirk have to be such a talker? This chapter went a little long, and I humbly apologize for that, but Kirk wouldn't stop talking to people or thinking.

Confession time: I honestly think that Rand's hairstyle in TOS looks good on her. Make fun of me if you want, but I honestly like the style. So, instead of bashing it or making it so that her hair ended up short in this universe (like several other people who've written Rand's character in have done) I decided to keep it. I just added in the culture aspect to it, because there are a few cultures here on good old earth where women aren't supposed to have their hair down, cut short or even shown to anyone unless they're married. (and then there are some cultures were the reverse is true)

Again, Kirk and Rand are just starting out as friends, yes they're teasing each other, and Rand's looking out for Kirk, and Kirk's allowing it, but Kirk is perfectly capable of recognizing potential friends- they're the ones capable of taking his personality and pitching right back. (Think about it, Spock, he likes to debate; Bones, with the grouchy personality, doesn't take no for an answer; Scotty likes to tease him; Uhura didn't shy away from a confrontation; Pike and him argued- and the list goes on.) So for Kirk, the quickest way to earn his respect/notice is to take what he dishes out and toss it right back at him- without trying to actually hurt. Rand's done that, and thus, he's impressed with her.

He's still a flirt, of course, wouldn't be Kirk if he didn't flirt, but he's not going to pursue the women on his ship for any sort of relationship beyond flirting and comraderie, especially right now with everyone spent from trying to cope with the Narada's attack.

I had initially planned on killing Mitchell off, you know, so he could have really given his life in the line of duty, like Kirk noted in TOS 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', but then I decided to let him live. What roll he's going to play in future fics, I don't know, but some thing's telling me not to kill him off just yet.

And yes, Pike still ended up being a mentor to Kirk, though initially it was out of a debt to George Kirk, before the two got a chance to know each other.

So, any other possible questions? (I'm sure you all recognized the name of the woman in the beginning, while not everyone, including Kirk, likes her husband, a lot of people forget about her, so I thought I'd bring her in . . . Let me know if you want to see her again in the future, cause I already have an idea of what could happen with her.)

Next Chapter is in 3rd person point of view- meaning you will see the events of the chapter from all the characters points of view.