A/N: Hey guys! :D I still have no idea where this story is going but some people seem to be liking

it! So here it continues. I think it might be more then 3 chapters, but we shall see ;) Reviews are always welcome. I swear I am having the worst writers block ever now D:

Disclaimer: Still do not own any characters of the Star Trek Franchise.

"I still don't get what you want from me, 'cause if you're thinking of giving me a whole lecture on how fucked-up my life is and how I'll never amount to anything or you're tryin' to recruit me or something it isn't -" CJ said after a few minutes of a rather awkward silence.

"Hey," Jim cut in "I'm the last person to judge someone on their "fucked-up" life and I can tell you I would never tell someone they'd never amount to anything, I know how degrading that is to hear every day of your life. And I'm not a recruiter for Starfleet, I stick to my job, simple as that."

The kid gave Jim and odd look, and probably the first look that wasn't a glare all night. He was silent for a moment and finally managed to ask "Then what do you want?,".

Jim honestly had no idea. This idea was crazy, it was ludacris. This kid was worse then he had been, what were the odds he'd ever sit here and listen to some guy who had just saved the planet and lead a "perfect life", as he had put it? "You remind me of two people I know," he finally said, not really sure what he even meant.

"If my scumbag of a Grandfather set you up for this...,"CJ growled.

"No one put me up for anything, kid. Look, I don't know who told you your grandfather was a scumbag, but that's not the guy I know. He turned my life around, and maybe you can use a little push too," Jim said. That was too daring, fuck. He was totally prepped for the punch in the face he deserved right now. Hell, he didn't even know if they were refering to the same person. Luckily, that was the one thing he did get right tonight.

Surprisingly, the kid looked down at the table for a long moment. "Well, I don't get why I am opening up to you, I don't even know you, but to be honest I've never met my Grandfather. All I know is that my Dad hated him, I was raised hating him assuming that if your son hated you, well then you were probably a scumbag. I don't understand why he hated him, I never found out, it was something to do with Starfleet but my dad died eight years ago," he finished.

"I can promise you that he is far a scumbag, but I think I can understand why your father hated him. He mentioned it to me once. He knew very little about my past, however, he did know my mother was off-planet all the time and I had a less-then-ideal relationship with my stepfather. He said he wouldn't let the absence of an important person destroy someone else's life and relationship with said person if he could help it. Hell, I didn't know what he was talking about then, but I do know that he was probably off-planet a lot when your Dad was growing up," Kirk replied.

"Maybe that's it, but he never talked about it. My mom kicked me out so long ago, I still talk to her periodically, but it always ends in a fight. I live in an apartment with 6 other guys with equally screwed up got it out of me, I live a dead-end life. I get a job a month, and I'm lucky if it lasts that long and have no relations with any of my family. Here's the crazy part, I don't have any misdemeanors yet," CJ chuckled a bit at that. "So now, if that's all you wanted – I can take care of myself, thanks." he finished with the same hostility he had started with. And here Kirk had thought he was getting somewhere. He smirked, "and this is why you remind me of another person," he stopped the kid from getting up right in his tracks.

"Oh, really? Enlighten me," Wow, this was really getting weird now. Had he really been this fucking annoying?

"Oh, he was a good-looking guy. A guy with a torn up family, whose mother couldn't stand the sight of him because he reminded her too much of her dead father, who thought his life was best spent hanging around bars and getting into fights all the time. He thought he could take care of himself all the time, you know, figuring he'd never need anyone - turns out he was way wrong. Sadly, he just discovered this about 4 years ago," Jim finished trying to hide the pained look that was threatening to encroach his face.

"Look, I've heard this speech a hundred times, it's getting old. I know I'm never gonna amount to anything, okay? You don't need to go rubbing it in about how some random screw-up I've never met found his "way" in life. That's NEVER gonna be me," CJ stated flatly. Okay, had this kid been listening to him at all?

"Oh, you've never met the guy, really? 'Cause I am pretty sure he's sitting right next to you," Kirk said, getting quite annoyed with CJ's arrogance. 'Just keep remembering Spock handle that bitchy Andorian Ambassador...' he though, trying to keep his composure. A flip-out would be the last straw of this conversation.

"Well, didn't see that coming..," CJ said without looking up. 'GOT 'em!' Jim thought. No one said anything for a long time. This reminded Jim of one to many conversations at the mess back on the Enterprise, normally involving a hung-over Engineer, an angry Doctor, and an overly-logical first officer all of whom never quite agreed on anything.

"To answer your question about what I wanted from you, well let me start by saying, I'm not telling you to join Starfleet for anyone, I'm telling you to do it for yourself. It's a new start somewhere else, that..well I could tell you need. I was the same way, but look where it's gotten me in four short years. I know you were raised with resentment towards your Grandfather, but he is really a good man, a really good man. I can tell he has some regrets under his exterior, and they aren't exactly small. Some things can't be fixed, but some can. Perhaps I need to repay him for everything he's done for me, and maybe this is the way to do it. He believed in me, he believed I was destined for something better then bars and misdemeanors. I got more then I expected, and you could do. You could be out of this dead-beat place in less then a week. I know this isn't a decision you're gonna make lightly considering all your Dad has told you, and it will be difficult at first, but you will get something better then you ever expected out of it. You don't have to believe that, but you choose your own destiny, I dare you to make yours better then this." Kirk said holding up a beer and gazing around the place. He knew now, that either CJ would punch him here and now, get up and leave, or respond with something short of a miracle.

The younger man looked at him squarely in the eye. "I'm not one to turn down a dare, except I've never actually won this game," And with that, he got up.

"It's not whether they think you have won. It's whether you think you've won," Kirk said. And with that, CJ left the building. Something told Kirk he didn't need to follow him, but he wasn't exactly sure where he was going either. He could only hope that meant the same thing he had decided all those years ago.

Jim Kirk honestly had nothing left to do in this town anymore. He messaged Bones back to tell him he was going to be arriving in Georgia tomorrow morning via shuttle. He didn't bother going back to his Mom's, he knew that he wasn't running from his past anymore. Maybe this was the mark that he was really just looking towards the future.