He could just look at her for one second and tell her neurons were firing all at once. She was in the midst of explaining to him the logic of using the air vents of the library to find a way out of their precarious situation. When they first met, it was rather difficult for him to meet her eyes. Of course, that was understandable. To put it bluntly, he had caught her off guard that night in her dormitory. Felicity had her eyes cast mostly to the floor. He did not intend to make her feel uncomfortable.
All his life, Jim prided himself on having a certain effect on women. He valued his good looks. But, with Felicity Clark, it was not something he could necessarily stroke his ego with. She was nothing like the girls back in Iowa. She was especially nothing like the girls he would pick up for a casual roll in the hay. Jim found that his one-night stands used him for pleasure just as much as he used them. Jim even knew how empty and shallow it was for him to only seek sexual pleasure but at least there was a mutual selfishness and mutual shallowness that was understood between him and his late-night escapades. However, with Felicity, Jim felt a mutual respect as well as a mutual authenticity. He could be real with her and she could be real with him. Felicity was a breath of fresh air in comparison to the other Starfleet cadets on campus.
Jim had only been on the Starfleet academy grounds for a couple of days and he was already weary of the inauthenticity that surrounded him. The Starfleet recruits Jim interacted with were very transparent about the fact that they cared more about advancing their careers than advancing Starfleet's mission to be a peacekeeping humanitarian armada. The recruitment posters and radio calls desired to attract noble and honorable recruits. Their results varied and Starfleet recruits were definitely hypocrites. Jim had the bruises on his face to prove it. The sea of red Jim saw the moment he arrived made him want to vomit. He wondered what his father ever saw in this place.
In spite of his misgivings, Jim had to suck it up. He was here now and there was nothing he could do about it all thanks to Captain Christopher Pike. Jim remembered the surprised look on Pike's face when he arrived at the Riverside shipyard shuttle. In that moment, Jim had felt he had bested Pike, telling the aged officer with sheer bravado, "'Four years?' I'll do it in three." Before Jim had decided to strut off into the shuttle, shedding off his bravado as soon as his head collided with the shuttle's low risen ceiling. He was glad Pike did not see his shuttle blunder because the last thing Jim needed was for Pike to make a sniding remark about how Jim was getting his ass beaten by both Starfleet recruits and inanimate objects.
Although Jim had not known Pike for too long, Jim had to admit that he liked the old man. Pike knew just how to pique Jim's interest. Pike knew how to challenge Jim. And, Jim was more than happy to accept Pike's wagers no matter how big or small they were. Jim liked a challenge. He had yet to ever refuse one and he was not planning to start anytime soon. He was going to do better than his father ever did, hoping the victory would make him feel closer to the father he never knew. The folder Jim had in his hands was definitely a step forward in making his aspiration a reality. And, he had Felicity Clark to thank for it. He made one-step closer to Felicity, laying his hand on her shoulder. His movements made her pause from speaking.
"Felicity," he said, giving her a gentle squeeze. "You don't have to give me a whole lecture. I already trust you." His hand then gently squeezed her shoulder.
Suddenly, Felicity's throat went dry. Trust? When was trust a part of anything? She was suddenly very confused. How long had she known James Tiberius Kirk? Had it really only been a couple days since she had performed the childish action of reading over her father's shoulder to see the face of a "genius level repeat offender" who actually was the son of Starfleet hero, George Kirk? It was a small world after all. Plus, it was less than two days that she had met Jim in person for the first time…in her dorm…half naked…And, now she was stuck in the library with him…Things had certainly escalated for Felicity. Her relationship with Jim Kirk was far from conventional. He gave her another squeeze on the shoulder, her heart swelled.
"Come on, Felicity Clark," he eyed her with a playful expression. "Do you trust me?"
His question struck a chord in her mind. It should not have been a difficult question to answer. Nevertheless, Felicity was having trouble answering. She did not know why. Felicity was a star student and that meant she was great at answering questions. Sure, it made her appear somewhat of a know-it-all to her classmates in her younger years, but answering questions was her forte. It was her niche. That said, her time with Jim truly tested her resolve. "Know-it-all" Felicity seemed nonexistent while another Felicity took her place. Her stomach turned sour. William Shakespeare's Hamlet famously proclaimed the words, "to be, or not to be, that is the question." Felicity found herself in a very similar situation. To be, or not to be, Felicity Clark or Felicity Pike was the question. Her eyes were firmly locked with Jim's.
"Do you trust me?" he asked her again, his blue irises peaking beneath his dark eyelashes.
Right then and there, she finally found her answer. Yes, she trusted him. She trusted him from the moment she deciphered the playful expression he emoted in his mugshot. The mugshot she had only been able to get a closer look at because she had stolen away to her room with her father's datapad in hand.
Felicity clutched her locket, she knew in her heart that she did. But, Felicity didn't think she was worthy of his trust. He had no idea that she was actually Felicity Pike, the daughter of his advisor, Captain Christopher Pike. The Pikes were Starfleet royalty in the same way the Kirks were. She was the only one who knew what was in store for Jim during the rest of his time at Starfleet. She was the only one who could relate to him. Why should she continue to let him feel alone? She took a deep breath, "Yes, but, Jim there's something I need to tell you-"
A soft smile formed on his lips in reaction to Felicity's admission. "Felicity, you trust me," he said, stopping her. "That's all I need to hear. Plus, it was your idea to use the vents and right now I don't have any better ideas so that is what we are going to do."
"No," Felicity said. "It is something else. I-ahh!"
A small scream had escaped her lips when Jim grabbed her by the hips, lifting her towards the ceiling. She wanted to hit him for lifting her without warning.
"Sorry," Jim said. "I didn't mean to make you scream." A blush creeped on her cheeks, realizing just how physically close they were. His arms were wrapped around her hips and her midsection touched his chest. She could also feel the fabric of his shirt against her bare knees. Uneasiness washed over her.
"Jim," she breathed out with hands on his shoulders. She looked down at him with her brown eyes meeting his blue. "No funny business in the vents, please."
He caught the nervousness in her voice and the apprehension in her eyes. He felt a hint of shame. He did not mean to make her feel uncomfortable. After all, she had already done so much for him. She had given him closure on his father's death. She gave him more than his mother and stepfather ever did growing up. He wished he had met her sooner.
He simply nodded, granting her a small smile. "No funny business. Scout's honor."
Jim swears there was no funny business. None. Whatsoever. But, he couldn't even speak to defend himself to Captain Christopher Pike. But that didn't change the fact that he felt like a scolded child. He felt he had done so much wrong. But, the thing was…he had not done anything wrong. All he could do was watch the show displayed before him. He had never seen a father and daughter argue before. There was a first time for everything.
"Dad," Felicity said, "Nothing happened." Felicity slammed her hands on top of Pike's desk. Jim cringed at her use of the word 'dad.' It was all still too awkward for him to acknowledge that Felicity and Pike were even related. Everything was just too good to be true. The girl that he had interacted with so many times-and not exactly in the best of circumstances was Captain Christopher Pike's daughter? What were the chances? It was indeed a small world. Jim was relieved to see that the Starfleet Officer was now standing at a safe distance behind his desk. Jim certainly did not want to be manhandled again.
Felicity's chin was up, making her look even more defiant towards her father. "He didn't do anything wrong. We didn't do anything wrong-"
"Except the destruction of school property!" Pike spat back, chin up as well. "What were you thinking, Felicity?"
"I was thinking that I didn't want to be stuck in the Archives room the entire night." Felicity held her ground. It was only until now, Jim could finally see a familiar resemblance between the two. They had similar mannerisms especially when it came to speaking defiantly. Felicity took a deep breath, she did not want to lose her temper; "The destruction of school property was the last thing that was on our minds."
She tried to further reason with him. "We were stuck in the Archives room and we needed to find a way out. It must have slipped the librarians' minds to sweep that part of the library. We had no choice but to go through the ventilation system. What were we supposed to do? Spend the night together and wait till morning?"
No! That would have been terrible, Pike came to realize. No matter how much older she got, he would always see her as his little girl. Seeing Kirk on top of his daughter moments ago was enough to throw Christopher Pike into a blind fury. He had pulled Kirk by the collar of his shirt to get him off of his daughter. The image bared similarity to an instance in which Pike had to grab Admiral Archer's pet beagle by the neck of his fur coat. When Felicity was a little girl, the dog had been aggressively licking Felicity's face during one of their play sessions. Although Felicity was giggling on the floor at the tickling sensation of the dog's many kisses she was stuck underneath the dog. It was clear the dog meant no harm. But, it was obvious that Pike needed to break up the love fest and pull the dog off his daughter. However, while the situation with Kirk may have been reminiscent of Admiral Archer's beagle, the situation was definitely not cute. It was anything but that.
The reality was it looked as though Pike was going to strike Kirk. Luckily, Felicity was quite quick to come to Kirk's defense. Actually, if Felicity had not stepped in to stop her father from making any moves on Kirk, who knows what Pike would have done? Maybe he would have continued to treat Kirk the same way he treated Archer's beagle? Maybe he would have taken Kirk to the local Animal hospital to be neutered? She gathered herself quickly off the floor, scraping her knees against the carpet, and threw herself in between the two men. She placed both of her hands on her father. One was braced on his shoulder to keep herself grounded while her other hand attempted to alleviate his hold on Kirk. Felicity knew she needed to get her father to think rationally. She needed to calm him down. He was thinking with his emotions and not the mind of a Starfleet officer. He needed to come back to his senses.
"And, since when was using the vents the destruction of school property? I recall you doing the same thing when you were my age."
What? Jim thought as he remained an innocent bystander. Pike was a troublemaker? Perhaps, he and Pike had more in common than he thought. He wondered what else Pike did as a young cadet.
"That-"Pike stopped himself, biting the inside of his cheek. He regretted filling her in on that story from his academy days. Why did she have to have such a good memory? He should have known that she would use something like that against him. From now on, he would be more hesitant to tell her his stories. Pike was stumped. Felicity felt that she had garnered a small victory by alluding to her father's history.
"That is not fair." Pike mustered to say.
"Now, you know how I feel," Felicity said softly. "Dad," Felicity said again. "Don't you trust me?" Subconsciously, Felicity reached for the pendant of her necklace.
In that moment, a light had emerged from his office window. He was captivated by the light as it shined on his daughter. But, more noticeably, Felicity's necklace reflected on him as if it was calling to him. The name of his late wife emerged in his mind, Flora.
Now, Christopher Pike was the one that felt ashamed. "Just go," Pike said, rubbing his hand across his forehead. He was tired. He no longer wanted to talk about this anymore.
"What?" Felicity and Jim said, confused. Why was there a sudden change of heart?
"You heard me," Pike said. "You are dismissed cadets. Goodnight."
Cadets? Felicity caught her father say. Was he now regaining his composure as a Starfleet officer?
"Wait a second," Jim said, finally regaining the ability to speak. "Weren't you just chewing us out over what happened-"
"Cadet Kirk," Felicity grabbed Jim by the arm, silencing him. Her eyes met his, "You heard the Captain's orders, lets go." Jim was dumbfounded as he found himself getting whisked out of Pike's office and into the Academy grounds. What had Jim gotten himself into?
Finally alone with the office doors closed, Pike dejectedly fell into his desk chair. He then smothered his face in the palm of his hand. "Flora," he whispered. "Why are you always right?"