Wow! Thanks everyone for your positive feedback! I don't really have an excuse for not updating yesterday. Just wasn't in the right state of mind, I guess.

I'll try to double-update today, but no promises. You may not get an update tomorrow because I'm leaving for camp (there's computer access, but I doubt we'll have much free time the first day).

At any rate, hope you enjoy!

10. Evasion (otherwise known as, Three Times Jim Avoided Talking About His Childhood in Front of His Crew)

A. ~After the Battles of Vulcan and Earth~

The newly-promoted senior staff of the Enterprise were all gathered in a bar, as according to Acting Captain Jim Kirk they had all "dang well earned it."

Said Acting Captain now downed his shot, then tilted his chair back and waved a hand expansively around in the air.

"You all are probably wondering why I brought you here." He paused, and after receiving a nod or two in confirmation, he continued, "Well, I figured we should all get to know each other better, and it's one of my personal beliefs that a Captain - Acting or not - shouldn't just 'kinda' understand where someone is coming from, he should know his crew through and through. So..." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah. Suggestions for icebreakers, anyone?"

Uhura crossed her arms over her chest. Spock gave him that strange I-am-a-logical-Vulcan-and-this-is-highly-illogical frown of his. Chekov looked puzzled and Sulu looked like the cat had gotten his tongue. Meanwhile, Scotty was completely focused on his bottle of scotch and Bones... Well, Bones just rolled his eyes. Typical Bones.

"All right, fine then. I'll just have to come up with something," Jim said, voice imbued with the obnoxious cheer he was infamous for. (All a part of the mask. Yep.) "How about..." He paused and pretended to concentrate, then perked up as a solution 'came' to him: "I know! Truth or Dare!"

A collective groan went up around the table, but Jim wagged a finger at them. "Ah ah ah! None of you came up with an idea or even attempted to, so we're going with mine!"

"Fine then," Uhura said, scowling fiercely. "Truth or Dare, Captain?"

"Well, I'd say Dare, but -" here he looked sidelong at his best friend sitting right next to him - "Bones here would probably kill me, so... Truth, then."

"Tell us your favorite childhood memory."

The prompt came as a surprise to Jim, in two main ways. Number one, the prompt itself was a rather... unusual one, as far as Truths usually went. They were usually far more embarrassing and/or private, though in his case he was fairly sure it actually was private). Number two, the speed with which she came up with the prompt was astonishing.

Noticing his questioning look, the Comms Officer shrugged. "There's always time for the actually humiliating questions later."

Jim pouted, pretending to take her words the wrong way. "So you're saying that you don't think I can handle those absolutely humiliating questions."

Uhura huffed in annoyance. "Fine then, Captain. What's your biggest regret in life?"

Jim raised an eyebrow. "Is that the best you've got, Lieutenant? I thought it would be obvious." He paused just to make sure he had their full attention (all right, all right, also for dramatic flair, geesh!), then continued quietly, "That I screwed my life so royally up before Chris found me and set me straight. If it weren't for him, well..." He trailed off and mentally cursed himself for talking too much as nearly shuddered as his mind imagined himself becoming like Frank. "Let's just say that, even though you clearly don't like me now, you really wouldn't want to know me by this point in time if Chris hadn't helped me out three years ago."

Uhura narrowed her eyes. "And why ever not, Captain?"

"Hey, he already answered your Truth! You want another one responded to, wait your turn!" Bones cried irritably.

Jim met his best friend's searching gaze and sent him an unspoken yet clear message of gratitude, even as he exclaimed, "Geez, Bones, I thought this stuff was supposed to cheer you up!"

The doctor scowled. "More like just loosen my tongue even more. Dang it, Jim, what the heck did you order for me, anyway?"

"Hey, it's my turn, Bones, remember?" Jim protested. "So, Chekov... Favorite childhood memory?"

He'd successfully avoided talking about anyone in his Iowan family and Tarsus. Score.

B. ~After Gary Mitchell's death~

"He was a dear friend, and he will be sorely missed." Jim choked back a sob as he closed the funeral service with the last sentence of the eulogy. "Goodbye, Gary."

Later, after their debriefing of the disastrous mission, Jim and his senior staff remained in his Ready Room.

"You miss him," Spock said quietly, observing the slump of his Captain's normally proud shoulders and the palpable grief in the blue eyes that were normally so alive and full of energy.

Jim nodded once. No words were necessary, and he felt that talking would have been a little difficult anyway, taking into account the huge lump in his throat.

"How long did you know him for?" Sulu asked hesitantly.

In spite of himself, a fond smile spread across Jim's face as he remembered his first Xenobiology class (normally reserved for second-years, but with his accelerated course track...), on his very first day at the Academy. "We met in third period when I started at the Academy back in '55."

Spock (and the rest of the senior staff, he strongly suspected) was illogically glad that, for several moments at least, their Captain would be happily distracted from his mourning.

"Dang," Sulu whistled. "If you guys became that close after only four years of knowing each other, I can't imagine how strong your friendships from childhood are right now!"

Friendships from... childhood?

The smile on Jim's face turned bitter then. Sulu hastily apologized and changed the subject to Gary's many merits as the backup Navigator, having sensed (along with the others in the room) that something he'd said had triggered the extremely negative response from their Captain.

Except for Bones, however, they couldn't possibly imagine just what had flipped the switch. After all, Jim must have had a wonderfully delightful childhood, right? He must have had a loving mother who was highly protective of her dear baby boy born in the crisis of the decade, a doting mother who clung to him all the more now that her husband was dead and gone.

Right?

C. After that incident, the topic of growing up mysteriously popped up less and less. Jim realized sometime (he wasn't sure exactly when anymore) that he had Bones to thank for that, but he did hope that the gruff surgeon hadn't permanently scarred anyone in his crew due to his... creative threats.

At any rate, one night several weeks later, after a particularly long and stressful mission, Jim and a fair amount of his crew (including his senior staff, of course) were gathered in the Rec Room whilst the ship made its way to Vega III, where the crew would take their much-earned shore leave.

Inevitably, a discussion of the crew's favorite recreational activities began. And from there, it was only a matter of time before people began talking about their favorite games to play while they were growing up.

"Legend of Zelda for the win!" someone shouted. "I remember us having a party when we reached the part of the game where Link finally, actually talks!"

And of course, following that statement a rather large argument began over which holo game was the best, until someone broke it up by bringing up classic card games: Uno had stood the test of time, as had Bang, Rich Man Poor Man, Egyptian Rat Slap, Hearts, and (of course) the age-old War.

Jim was pondering his next move in his 3D chess game against Spock when someone shouted from across the room, "Hey Captain! What was your favorite game to play as a kid?"

Jim moved his hand away from the chess board and considered the question carefully. He couldn't tell them the truth, he already knew that much. After all, how could he possibly tell them that when he had been half their current age, the activity he most found enjoyment in was research? He'd pretty much made it a game to himself; he'd enjoyed seeing how much better and deeper he could know and understand a subject than the people around him did in as little time as possible.

Then again, he had researched a certain strategical game very often back then...

He chuckled. "This is going to sound so nerdy, but honestly -" he winced inwardly - "I'd have to say..." He grinned at the expectant puppy-like expressions on their faces. "3D chess."

Simultaneous cheers and groans went up around the room. The members of his crew who had groaned - among them Scotty and Chekov - then reluctantly paid up to those who had cheered, such as Uhura and Sulu.

At that, Bones facepalmed. "You gotta be kidding me. Your crew - even some of your senior officers, for crying out loud - were betting over what your favorite childhood activity was, Jim! Kids these days..." The CMO continued grumbling to himself as Jim just grinned.

The grin remained on his face as he moved his rook to a highly logical place on the board.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Spock... but that looks awfully a lot like checkmate."

As his First Officer stared at the board in shock for the next several moments, Jim reflected that he'd been right to lie about his favorite childhood activity. Because if he'd told the truth, well, he would have had to explain just why research was so much like a game to him.

And then he would have had to explain where his competitive streak, his pathological need to be the best and to never make a mistake, came from.

And then...

Forbidden territory.

Someday, he'd tell them. Probably not his whole crew, but at the very least his senior staff who were already beginning to feel more like a part of his family than any of his real blood relatives on Earth ever did.

One day, he'd sit them down and begin talking. Just start from the very beginning and bring them up to the point in his life when Chris found the broken pieces of his soul and put them back together again.

When he was strong enough, and they were close enough to him, he'd tell them about his past. But not here, not now.

Not today.

About the Legend of Zelda series - has Link actually spoken yet? Because if not I hope it happens eventually. XD

Anyway, hope you liked it! Everyone who reviewed for the previous chapter, I'll reply sometime in the next couple of days. XD Thank you all for your continued support!