"Every human being is worth more than the worst thing they've done. All life has dignity. Guilty life too."
I'll be Good
Chapter 9
Who knew it'd be so damn hard to find a place to wash clothes? Or maybe it's just him. An hour ago he was released from his warp design class, and if he's honest with himself, he's not sure if he's going to enjoy that class. It sounds like more work he's willing to give, and Captain Pike was right, the professor is a jerk. Professor Brayton.
Sighing, Jim turns around, wanting to rip the hairs from his head. If he doesn't find somewhere to wash his clothes soon, he's going to start smelling, and not in a good way. Jim adjusts the gym bag on his shoulder; he put his dirty clothes in there, hoping to find the stupid washing place, though it's becoming an incredibly impossible task.
He's glancing about when he runs straight into someone, causing the person to stumble and fall over.
"Kirk?" The voice growls and Jim's eyes pop, well, until he realizes its Uhura. He grins, pulling her to his feet, "Sorry, didn't see you there." Jim apologizes, but the fair lady before him shrugs it off, "No surprise, your big ego probably got in the way."
Jim rolls his eyes, snatching her shoulder when she turns to leave. Once contact is made, she gives him a pointed, yet curious look.
"I need somewhere to wash my clothes, got any ideas?"
Must have been the last thing she'd think he'd say, because she bursts out laughing. Holding her stomach as she can barely breathe after a few moments.
"Okay, I don't think it was that funny." Jim sulks, not enjoying all the glances shooting their way.
"Did you just assume since I'm a woman I'd know where to get clothes washed around here?" Uhura chuckles, her look incredulous, yet Jim can't help but feel drawn to her.
"Well, am I correct in assuming?" He prompts, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. Her smile falls and she glares at him, "Yeah, I'll show you." Uhura admits, slightly defeated.
Jim grins and follows her, brushing through the crowd, Uhura casting frequent glances over her shoulder to make sure he's still following.
"You know they made announcements about this crap." She says and Jim skips up to match her pace, "What crap?" He pries and his puzzlement causes an eye roll, "Where to wash clothes, get more things, that sort of stuff."
Jim shrugs, "I'm not very observant."
Uhura shakes her head, "So I can see."
There's a pause as Jim chews his lower lip in a nervous habit, "Are you friends with Gaila?" He asks and she snorts his way in response, "Do you know where I can find her?"
"Kirk, just stay away from her, it'll only mean more trouble for you. She told me what happened Saturday." Uhura explains. "Is she dating someone already?"
She sighs dramatically, flicking her hair over her shoulder, "Yes."
"Who?"
"Kirk you're gonna get your head pulled from your spine if you don't stop asking questions."
Jim whines with a moan, "C'mon Uhura, what will happen? I can handle myself?"
She smirks, "Like you got handled on Saturday?"
"Uhura."
The African decent shakes her head, "Not today Kirk, I'm not going to be the one responsible for your funeral. Stay away from Gaila and you won't get pounded into the earth."
"Alright, some other time then?"
"Sure, whatever makes you happy."
Despite not really getting a true answer, Jim seems quite content as he follows Uhura along the path, heading around the main building and past the library, practically on the opposite side of his dorms.
When they arrive she just gestures him towards it, "Hopefully you can find your way from here."
"I can handle it, thank you very much." Jim gives a childish salute to her and marches off, leaving Uhura to chuckle behind him.
He enters the one story building, finding it to look more like a house, with carpeted floors and richly painted walls. One room has a small eatery with vending machines, while another has a pool table along with a ping pong table, neither are occupied. This place is probably busier at night.
Jim heads down the right hall, finding an old storage room, transformed into a working laundry room. There are two girls inside and they only spare him a mere glance before going back to talking. Swallowing he steps forward and finds an empty washer, across the room from the girls. He swipes his ID card over the sensor to unlock the door; he then proceeds to dump his clothes into it. Closing the door, he activates the washer, debating whether or not he should stick around, or leave.
If he leaves, he'll more than likely forget. Plus, how long can it really take?
To Jim's surprise, it's long. He sits around, scanning the room, sighing when the only thing to stare at is the only other occupants in the room, and neither of them seem interested in him. Actually, ten minutes in he realizes they're lesbian, he saw the kisses they planted on each other's cheeks.
Now he's hunched over, cheeks blushing in embarrassment, as he berates himself for staring at the couple.
Heaving a sigh, Jim snatches his PADD, scrolling through a few settings and apps already downloaded onto the PADD. Unfortunately, Starfleet runs a tight ship, restricting most actions on the device, including downloading new apps onto it. Of course he can simply hack into it, but he figures the security right now is probably on high alert for that, seeing that most hackers would probably be changing their PADDs right now, so he figures if he lays low until later into the year before messing around with it, would be best.
Jim swipes through the announcements and school news, not finding anything worth reading, but as he sees he's not going to be going anywhere soon, he starts reading.
He's there for about an hour once he gets his clothes out of the dryer, and he's pretty sure in some places they're still damp, but once the couple left, the place felt bleak, and slightly unnerving.
The blond gathers to his feet and swings the bag over his should before leaving the room completely. As he leaves, he notices a couple people in the eatery, though he doesn't stop by, he simply exits the building and makes the long trek back to his dorms. Luckily he gets home without incident and the only person in the room is Francis, who's passed out on the couch, snoring loudly.
Jim rolls his eyes and places his belongings in his room, and checks the time. He still has half an hour before seven. Groaning, Jim brings himself to actually clean up, grabbing a trash bag and stuffing all of the empty pizza boxes, beer bottles, fast food wrappers, and leftovers, inside of it. He throws Francis' things in his rooms and makes the room somewhat decent before there's a knock on the door.
To say he was surprised, would be an understatement, he practically jumped out of his skin at the noise. Cursing himself, Jim comes to the door, opening it and welcoming the sight of Sulu and Chekov.
"Ready?" Sulu inquires, Chekov peaking over his shoulder. Jim nods hurriedly, "Yeah, lemme grab a few things."
He leaves them at the doorway, snatching his card and wallet before reappearing before them.
"Alright, let's go." Jim replies, all sorts of mischievous popping into his mind.
The overly joyous group skips down the stairs and into the evening air. The sun is hanging low, beginning to cast long shadows over the Starfleet campus. There are a few students walking by, carrying books, bags, holding hands, bickering, shouting, all that good stuff.
"So, we walking or getting a ride?" Jim prompts, following Sulu with Chekov hopping excitedly up and down beside him.
Sulu scoffs, "There's no way in hell I'm walking all the way to San Francisco."
"We called a taxi." Chekov explains.
Jim nods and Sulu leads them to their ride, all three of them cramming in the back, Chekov in the middle with the Asian giving the directions. They all buckle up and Jim can't help but notice the redhead shaking with anticipation.
"You okay Pavel?"
Chekov's glances at him, "Yes, just a bit nervous."
"I always forget you're just fourteen." Jim laughs, slapping the Russian on the back with a grin, "Fourteen or not, I'm gonna show you how to live a little." He declares and a confident smile spreads across the boy's face, "Sounds great."
They go across the Golden Gate Bridge and welcome the shimmering lights of San Francisco. Buildings tower over them, their peaks reaching up for the darkened sky. Traffic stoplights flicker with colors and shuttles bustle to and fro. The noise is a constant buzz and despite the lateness in time, people still whisk about in the streets.
The three of them share a single glance, all nodding knowingly. First stop, get Chekov inside a club.
Sneaking the teenager in is the easy part, simply bribery handled that one, keeping Jim in check is the hard part.
Loud music, drunk people, and hot waitresses blend together once inside. Chekov's eyes light up and he glances anxiously about, even Sulu seems somewhat unsure, "C'mon guys, live a little." He says, pushing them forward towards the mass of people dancing.
"I don't dance!" Chekov shouts, "Nonsense! You're dancing tonight." Jim declares.
Twenty minutes in, they're all separated, but Jim doesn't care, he's too busy getting himself into another girl. Usually Jim waits until he's drunk, but he can still do it sober. The girl on the other hand is utterly drunk, but hey, she came onto him. He's just helping her.
They do it in a booth, him on top of her, pushing his lips onto hers. Her nails claw into his short mused hair and her legs wrap tightly about his waist. Jim grins down at the brunette before biting at her neck.
Suddenly he's being torn from her body, hefted on his feet and pushed into the wall. Dazed Jim blinks, preparing to be punched in the face, but it's just Chekov and Sulu, glaring at him.
"Hey! I was in the middle of something." He complains, but Sulu sighs at him, "Chekov hates it here, I'm gonna take him to a bar, wanna come?"
Jim ponders, glancing over to the annoyed girl and back to his friends, "Yeah, bros before hoes right?"
The three of them scamper off, leaving the club behind them and finding the closest bar.
It only takes about ten minutes for them to get comfortable. Sulu lounges back in the bar seat with Chekov beside him. Jim is elsewhere, snatching more drinks for the three of them. Tonight isn't as exciting as he thought it was going to be. The thought of picking a fight is lingering within his mind. He's restless, maybe slightly overwhelmed with this whole "schooling" crap, but he can't fight, not here, not with Chekov and Sulu. He can't be responsible for them if they get hurt. It wouldn't be fair. Also McCoy would have his neck if he gets injured.
The blond snatches the drinks, shuffling back over to his companions.
"I don't know…" Chekov begins, but Jim smacks him playfully onto the shoulder, "Nonsense, drink up kid."
He slides the drinks over smoothly and they all take a sip at the same time. Chekov still seems somewhat skeptical, but he joins them nonetheless.
"Any ideas?" Sulu prompts, giving them a glance.
Jim shrugs nonchalantly, "We can do anything you want to do."
Sulu hums, tapping his chin, "We should teach Pavel how to hit on a girl because you should've seen him at the club. Pretty sure he hit on a few guys."
The Russian's eyes pop out of his skull, "No-no-no, I would much rather not." The boy protests, making Jim chuckle, "C'mon Pavel, we'll pick you an easy one."
"I'm-I'm not good with girls." Chekov insists, but Jim and Sulu have their mind set, "No it's alright, I'll play your wingman."
Chekov turns to his best friend, "Hikaru, please I don't want to do this."
Sulu laughs, standing up with Jim, "Don't worry Pav; I'll be watching you the whole time."
They're all making their way over to the front of the bar, when Jim's name is shouted out from across the room. They all pause, Sulu and Chekov looking at the blond's confused face.
"Who was that?" Sulu asks as Chekov peeps around them.
"I don't know." Jim admits, but the dread churning in his gut tells him otherwise.
A tall lanky African America reveals himself from the crowd, its Arendse, "Jimmy! What brings you here?" The man sneers, slinging an arm about his shoulders, "Oh ya'know, just the usual. What brings you here, so far away from you daddy?" He quips back.
Arendse huffs, his breath smelling of liquor, "Oh Finnegan's here. Passed out drunk."
"I'm glad you acknowledge the fact he's your dad." Jim replies, brushing the arm off.
"Jut humoring you." Arendse explains, crossing his arms, "Well, what do you want?" He pries, Sulu and Chekov standing behind him.
"Oh, I just wanted to apologize to your little friend. The Russian boy."
Jim becomes more defensive, "Stay away from Pavel."
"Just lemme see the boy. I won't touch him."
"No." Jim urges firmly, causing Arendse to frown, "Jimmy-"
"No, I said no. Just leave before I make you."
"Jim!" Sulu whines from behind him.
The last thing they need is a fight; they'll surely get kicked out of the bar. Though Jim doesn't appear to be listening. His fingers curl into fists and his eyes harden into a glare. Arendse freezes, he came here to mess with the blond, not start a fight, but the 'daddy' comment has him tied up. Punching James Kirk is the least he can do to get revenge.
"Let's take this outside. Be civilized?"
"Jim what are you doing?" Sulu snaps, snatching Jim's arm before he turns to follow Arendse, "Being civilized." Jim grins that stupid grin and Chekov freezes. He recognizes that grin. It's the same one Jim used right before he got forced to drink klingon ale. That didn't go well for either of them.
"Please, Jim." Chekov says, gazing up at the man's bright blue eyes, "Don't worry Pavel. I'm gonna take care of you guys."
With that, Jim strolls confidently after Arendse, Sulu and Chekov trailing behind him. Whatever's about to go down, it's not good. Though, the way it turns out, nobody expected.
It starts with Arendse and Jim discarding their jackets, with the other two making themselves comfortable within the alleyway. The redhead is nervous to say the least, but Sulu is being more observational, watching Jim's tense movements as he struggles to loosen up, while Arendse seems ready to punch a hole through the blond's face.
Then Sulu sees it. Arendse has a knife.
Jim rolls his shoulders back, craning his neck to pop it.
"You ready?" Arendse teases, keeping the blond's attention up at his face, rather than his hands, "Always." Jim responds, offering the man a smile.
Arendse makes the first move, landing a fist into the blond's arrogant face.
Pain flares up in his previously bruised eye socket, and he's left blink away the pain as he straightens back out. But he's slow. His body's been through a lot in the past couple days, he's sore and still aching in many places.
By the time he can even stand upright to fight back, Arendse is bringing a knife down onto him. He freezes in terror, expecting his life to be ended within that moment, but Sulu dives headfirst into Arendse, causing the man to fall and drop the blade.
Jim kicks the knife away before Arendse can reach for it and stab Sulu who's got him pinned on his back. The man bucks, kicking Sulu off of himself, only to collide into Jim.
The blond grabs him by the shirt and sends a fist into the man's face, kicking him into the ribs for good measure.
Sulu's getting up, having had smacked his head against the wall. Chekov's beside him, helping the Asian to his feet.
"Jim you okay?" Sulu says, strolling over to Arendse and bringing the man up to thrust him against the alleyway wall, "Yeah, I'm okay…" Jim mutters, picking up the knife and stashing it in his boot, "No thanks to you." He adds with a smile, joining Sulu's side.
Chekov on the other hand seems too stunned to move an inch.
"Are you okay?" He asks, noticing the blood trickling from a cut on the back of the Asian's head. "Yeah, I'll live."
Jim nods, looking towards Arendse.
"What are going to do with him?" Chekov finally pipes up, staying behind Jim just in case.
"Let's give him back to Finnegan."
Jim snatches Arendse by the collar of his shirt and drags him back into the bar, "Where's Finnegan?" He demands and Arendse points his finger over to him.
Chekov and Sulu follow eyes widen as they approach the school bully, Jake Finnegan.
Finnegan's slouched over, coolly sliding a bottle between his lips to swish it back, he pauses when he notices the group coming over, "Jimmy boy, what brings you here?" He slurs drunkenly, grinning as he watches Arendse be pushed forward onto the bench, "Just returning your property." Jim smiles smugly, making Finnegan glare at him, "Do you have Instructor Nimoy tomorrow?"
The question catches him off guard, and Jim swallows slowly, "Yeah."
Now it's Finnegan's turn to smile, "I'll see you tomorrow morning then pretty boy."
Jim simply shrugs and turns and leaves. He doesn't need this. Not today. Tonight he, Sulu and Chekov are going to have the time of their lives.
"Sorry about that, guys." Jim apologizes once they've gone back to their original seats, "I think Leonard's right." Sulu sighs, applying a napkin to his head to staunch the bleeding
"Right about what?"
Sulu almost looks at him pitifully, "You attract too much trouble for your own good."
"Sometimes it can't be helped." Jim defends himself, leaning back in the seat, facing Chekov and Sulu who sit side by side, "Actually, you didn't have to fight him." Chekov points out quietly, afraid to speak out against the group leader.
Jim chews his lower lip thoughtfully, "I didn't want him to hurt you Pavel." He says honestly, but the redhead shakes his head, "I can defend myself Jim."
"Seriously doubt that. Need I remind you what happened last time you ran into those guys?"
Chekov flinches, eyes downcast. Of course they all remember that terrible night. It was only yesterday it took place.
"Maybe we should head home?" Sulu suggests, seeing the time. They left around seven, it's not well past nine, but Jim's not having any of it, "We can go somewhere else. Wanna grab some dinner?"
Chekov frowns, "Who has money?"
Jim grins, "On me."
"Well, then it's a deal." Sulu chuckles, throwing out the napkins since his head has stopped bleeding.
They head back outside into the cool night air, starlight blocked by the tall tower lights. San Francisco has grown to be much like New York, only being in the west of course. Jim leads them through, crossing a few busy streets, Jim almost getting hit by a shuttle, Sulu tripping on the curb, and Chekov getting distracted by a stray cat. All in all, it's a normal night.
The blond takes them to the most generic burger place in the whole of the galaxy, McDonald's.
Sulu wrinkles his nose as he enters while Chekov bounces up and down, "Oh I love this place!" The redhead squeals excitedly, and it dawns on them once more, he's only fourteen. Basically a child.
"Alright, I ain't dropping a fortune on this shit, so order only one or two things." Jim grumbles, finding a booth to climb into, "Aren't you gonna order something?" Sulu says, looking over at him.
Jim sighs, putting his head in the crook of his arm, "Just get me some fries, my head is killing me." He mumbles, handing the Asian his wallet.
Sulu nods, patting him on the shoulder before scurrying away with Chekov.
The blond groans, burying his face further. The knock to the face, mixed with the alcohol consumption probably induced this.
A few minutes pass before his head is being pulled up and fries and his wallet appear under his nose, "Thanks."
Chekov squeezes in beside him, happily munching down on his Happy Meal, while Sulu has ordered a McChicken and a chocolate shake.
"Here, I got you this." Chekov says, sliding the plastic cup of water.
Jim nods, offering a soft grin, "Thanks…Sorry this night has turned so shitty. I should've kept my head screwed on."
Sulu purses his lips thoughtfully while the redhead shrugs.
"It's alright. You bought us beer and food, what else could a man ask for?" The Asian replies and they all laugh, "Well, you got me there." Jim shakes his head with a smirk.
He sits upright and takes a sip from his drink, then proceeds to chew on some fries.
Sulu goes on and on about his new classes while Chekov makes his comments here and there. Jim just laughs, smiles, and nods when it's an appropriate, adding a few comical stories of his own to keep the conversation going. The night comes to an end when the Russian boy gets sick and Jim and Sulu are left hauling him out of the stalls and back home.
Jim calls a taxi and they all jam into the backseat.
"Starfleet Academy please." Jim mutters, making sure they're all buckled as the man drives back onto the road.
"Hey Pav, you gonna be okay?" Sulu pushes the boy's shoulder to get his attention, "Yeah, I think I ate my cheeseburger too quickly."
By the time they get back, it's almost one in the morning and campus security is out. But with Jim's secret ninja skills, they manage to dodge all the guards and make it inside Roddenberry dorms.
He walks them to their room, "Hey, thanks for letting me come and I apologize again for the fight." Jim says, scratching the back of his neck.
Chekov lumbers inside the room, leaving Sulu to answer, "Yeah no problem man. And don't worry about it. I'm kinda glad you did it, that guy's an ass."
Jim nods, "Alright, thanks Sulu, night."
"Night Jim."
The blond gets back to his own room in one piece, thankfully having his ID card. Francis is nowhere in sight, but at least the dorm room is still clean, just how he left it. Jim sighs, going into his room and stripping himself of his clothes. He refreshes in the bathroom before going to bed and he can only hope Wednesday morning will be a peaceful one.
Disclaimer: I fixed the days, it's not Thursday morning but actually supposed to be Wednesday, my mistake!
Author's Note: Hopefully you guys are still out there waiting! Sorry for taking so long, I've been super busy and have had crazy writer's block for the past couple of weeks. I don't like this chapter as much because I couldn't remember what I originally had planned, because when I started this chapter I got writer's block and couldn't write worth crap. So I apologize once more for my tardiness, but I hoped you enjoyed the chapter and wait for the next one. Live Long and Prosper.
