Jim and Spock were sat outside of a conference room back at the Academy. The two of them had been sent out while the Admirals reached their verdict. That had been half an hour ago.
Jim had been tying himself in knots ever since the two of them had sat down. Honestly, he'd been fairly calm in the lead up to their court martial. Even during it he'd felt fine, as he and Spock had presented all of their evidence, but now…Now that it was out of his hands, Jim felt sick.
"You're bouncing your leg again," Spock said, braking the silence between them.
Jim glanced down, he hadn't even realised he was doing it, "Sorry," he said, "It's a nervous tick,"
"I am aware," Spock replied.
Jim let out a sigh and leant against Spock, "How much longer do you think they're going to be?" he asked,
"I cannot speculate," Spock replied, "there is no situation like this in Starfleet history I could use to give a rough estimation,"
Jim groaned and turned to bury his head in Spock's shoulder, "I'm so sick of waiting if this is it, I just want to know," he said,
Spock nodded, "This waiting period is indeed…unpleasant,"
Jim smiled, "Well that's definitely an understatement,"
"How would you describe it if not unpleasant then?" Spock asked.
Jim sat up straight and hummed thoughtfully, "I don't know," he said, "it's just…my stomach feels like an endless black pit and my heart is beating so fast it feels like it might literally explode out of my chest,"
"Literally explode out of your chest?"
Jim rolled his eyes, "I'm just telling you what it feels like," he shrugged, "Anyway, I'm not sure what the right word is but the word 'unpleasant' doesn't feel like a strong enough word to describe how I'm feeling right now,"
Spock didn't say anything in reply, but he did reach out and take hold of Jim's hand.
Jim smiled to himself as he looked down at their linked hands resting on the bench between them, "Hey, Spock," he said, "If this is the end, I'd just like to say, it's been a pleasure,"
Spock turned to gaze at Jim, "It has Captain," he said quietly causing Jim to beam at him. Just then their tender moment was interrupted by the door to the conference room opening and an alien woman with pale blue skin and gold hair stepping out,
"James Tiberius Kirk and S'chn T'gai Spock," she said, pronouncing Spock's name flawlessly, "the admiralty will see you now,"
Jim glanced at Spock who gave him a slight reassuring smile before letting go off his hand and walking towards the alien woman. Jim then took a deep breath and stood up.
The two of them followed the woman into the room to find themselves face to face with a panel of twelve admirals.
"Kirk, Spock," Admiral Paris greeted them,
"Admirals," Jim replied with a nod of his head,
"We have reviewed the reports submitted by the two of you and Cadets Uhura, McCoy, Sulu and Chekov once you returned to Earth," Admiral Archer started, "We also received a testimony from the Vulcan Elder Selek,"
"We also reviewed the file on the Tralurians," Admiral Price weighed in.
Archer nodded, "Because of this and your help with Vulcan we have decided not to expel you from Starfleet,"
Jim broke into a grin,
"However-"
Jim's face fell,
"The two of you have confessed to steeling a Starfleet science vessel, so the two of you shall be put on report and, Commander Spock," Spock straighten up slightly at the sound of his name, "You will be demoted to Lieutenant and Cadet Kirk, you will graduate with the rest of your class in two days however instead of taking the rank of Lieutenant you will be granted the rank of Ensign,"
Jim nodded,
"What about ship postings?" Spock asked,
Admiral Jones frowned slightly, "Captain Pike has requested the two of you for the Enterprise," she said.
Jim grinned at Spock and who smiled back slightly.
"The two of you are dismissed," Admiral Price said.
Jim and Spock turned and walked out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind them Jim threw his arms around Spock,
"We're still in Starfleet!" he cried.
Spock nodded, "We are," he agreed,
Jim took a step back and ran a hand through his hair, "Oh, I really thought we were going to get kicked out," he said with a breathless laugh, "We should throw a party, we need to celebrate,"
"I am surprised, you don't seem to be upset at no longer being Captain," Spock remarked,
Jim shrugged slightly, "I'll be Captain one day," he said, "I'll just have to earn it this time around, like in the original timeline,"
Spock nodded, "You are destined to become Captain," he said, and Jim beamed at him,
"And you are destined to become my first officer," he said, "there's no universe where we aren't Starfleet's greatest command team."
The two of them smiled at each other again and set off away from the conference room to go and inform the others of the admirals ruling.