Not mine. Do not own. No money made.

~*~*~*~*~

He managed to keep everything professional between them for several months. Kirk needed post-regeneration muscle therapy, particularly in his left shoulder, and wasn't able to make the off-planet conference. Pike mollified him by allowing him entrance into a summer symposium on command psychology and diplomacy.

He also personally arranged for the best physical therapist to work with the boy several times a week, and juggled a way for the kid to make up for lost classes in defense during a holiday period, even though he had tested into advanced and was already way ahead of most of his year.

Kirk, like the handful of other cadets on an accelerated track, wasn't able to take the six weeks of summer downtime allotted to everyone. It didn't seem like a big deal, since he didn't really have anywhere to disappear to for the vacation period, but students generally went with a lighter load than usual.

Not Jim Kirk.

Most students would have been close to a psychotic break, but during their Friday appointments he always appeared relaxed and confidant. He maintained the same insane number of hours he had during the fall and spring, plus signed up for extra hand-to hand to get him back into his previous physical conditioning.

And suddenly Pike had a problem.

Because he was teaching that course in tandem with Captain Franz.

"Are you listening to me?" Kirk looked annoyed.

"Does anyone?"

Kirk huffed. "They at least try to pretend. Especially if they want in my pants."

"I need to speak with you about that."

The surprise on Kirk's face only lasted a moment before it dissolved into the smarmiest shit-eating grin Pike had ever seen. "Really? Do tell." He leaned forward over Pike's desk.

"Special combat. I'm one of the instructors."

Kirk leaned back again. "Ah."

"Now we both know you don't mean it," Pike ignored the dubious look on Kirk's face, "but I don't need the shit storm that would result if you say something like that to me during the class. Either I would have to come down hard on you in public and that goes on your record, or I give you a slap on the wrist and it looks like we're fucking."

"I behave in public."

"I know you do, but this is a bit more than the occasional brush in front of others. We'll be working closely with each other for a good while."

"I get it."

"Just- see that you do."

Pike changed the subject, but he still had reservations.

And when Cadet McCoy came by the office to pick up Kirk for therapy; well, he had reservations about that too.

~*~*~*~*~

Dead.

Kirk was dead.

He was in a regulation black t-shirt and grey gym shorts, but he must have traded uniforms with someone because the shirt was tight enough across the chest to make out nipples, and the shorts, though well fitting, were worn thin and soft and draped in the front as if presenting the kid's dick at a fancy buffet.

Pike was lecturing on the advantages of going to the ground in a one-on-one fight, but his attention kept getting pulled back to Kirk every time the little bastard asked for clarification or a demonstration or just fucking breathed.

"I practice Sambo and Muay Thai. Captain Franz practices Krav Maga and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We will also familiarize you with several different xeno arts, but some are impossible for a human to master. Several, like Vulcan Suus Mahna, require superior strength coupled with a knowledge of neuropressure that is only known to touch telepaths." Pike moved as he spoke, familiarizing himself with the other students while trying to ignore the smirking one at the end.

"We will concentrate on Klingon Mok'bara. There are several variations of the style, but the basic moves are consistent. It is an effective art, but it can be countered by a variety of styles used in combination." Pike looked over to Captain Franz, who had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Franz walked over to take over the next part of the lecture, detailing the class structure and schedule.

Pike dutifully kept his eyes on Franz as he spoke, even though they were both familiar with the lecture. Teaching wasn't horrible, but he couldn't wait for his ship to be ready. Earth was good, but space was dynamic, exciting- home.

And probably far away from James fucking Kirk. He'd put that boy on the Farragut. Cleaning the head if he kept this up. If he made the Enterprise it was over Pike's mangled body.

"Now we're going to have to measure your abilities. I'm going to pair you off so we can ascertain your skill levels." Franz walked over to him as he spoke. If Pike had been paying attention, he might have been able to stop it, but as it was, he couldn't halt the bottom from falling out of his stomach as Franz dug him a shallow grave.

"Eleven Cadets, so we need the odd man out to spar with Captain Pike. Kirk. You tested highest. You get the honor."

Shit.

And he had been speaking about taking the fight to the ground?

Kirk didn't speak, but Pike could see the yes, you did, old man look in his laughing eyes.

He fucking hated the color blue.

"I'm going to be walking around, taking notes. I need to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. You'll be suited for some technique better than others." As Franz walked around he pointed from one student to another to pair them off, then directed them to an area of the gym where they wouldn't interfere with other teams. Pike found himself and Kirk in a far corner.

"You little shit," Pike hissed out of the corner of his mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing." He rolled his head and loosened his shoulders, moving several feet from Kirk. "Lets get this over with." When he turned back towards Kirk he was unsurprised to find him falling into a defensive position, knees loose and bent, hands up, guarding the neck and the face, chin down.

"C'mon old man." Kirk said it quietly.

"I'll show you old. Shut up and fight." Pike threw a right, starting close to his chest and twisting into the throw. Kirk defended, but it was quickly followed by a left, which glanced, then another right.

He couldn't help but laugh as Kirk threw his own punch. It connected, and hurt, but there was no follow-through. Kirk was pretty damn good, but rhythm was not something learned in a bar fight.

Kirk must have realize it too, and backed off a bit before lashing out with a leg to get Pike in the shin. Smart move, trying to take the leg out, but he had telegraphed his intention too much. He did it again, and Pike dodged. And then again, except that this time Pike realized it had been a feint and instead Kirk dived into him.

There wasn't a takedown, but it had been a near thing. Kirk now had him in a clinch, pressed chest to chest. Neither could punch anything but the back of a head, but Kirk had the advantage because he could work his knee up into Pike's abdomen.

"Oof."

Kirk paused in his assault, and shifted them a bit so that he had his back to the rest of the room. To anyone else it would look like they were at an impasse, or catching their breath. Pike could feel Kirk's breath, hot and heavy, fast. It was- distracting.

"Should I go easy on you, Old Man?" Kirk whispered, then shifted against him, and fuck if he couldn't feel Kirk half-hard against him. Pike grit his teeth against the way his own cock responded. Pike punched Kirk in the skull, but it was half-hearted. Kirk merely groaned and ground his erection into Pike's thigh a little harder.

"Goddamn it, Cadet. We had an agreement. Quit humping me like a dog. That's an order."

The answering chuckle was so quiet, Pike felt it more than heard it. "I agreed not to harass you where others could see." Then some mischief possessed him and lit his eyes for a split second before Pike felt his legs being swept and Kirk's weight brought him down heavy.

Kirk was good, but Pike had more experience. He twisted as they fell and they ended up on their sides, facing. Pike recovered from his surprise quicker and had Kirk on his back in a half-mount in seconds, as Kirk struggled and bucked. Pike applied more pressure and shifted, trying to get a full mount so he could bash the kid's pretty face in, but the kid bucked up again, and Pike froze as their hard lengths met and brushed and, oh god, he still wanted to bash in that smiling face but now he wanted to add fucking into the mix and that just was not going to happen. Instead, he froze, pinning Kirk with a look more than anything else.

He removed one hand from the kid's chest, and Kirk let him as he saw it snake down. He wasn't prepared for when Pike grabbed him and squeezed hard, wrenching a pained cry from him. Pike leaned in so he could speak into Kirk's ear. It was just a bonus that it also put more pressure on the painful grip Pike maintained.

"Do not do this. I will kick you out of this class so fast you'll mistake it for a temporal anomaly."

Kirk nodded, and refused to meet his eyes.

"This is for your own good kid, " Pike was trying to be kind, but Kirk just continued to glare over his shoulder. "Trust me." Pike thrust down a little, and the noise Kirk made in the back of his throat was intense. "You think you want this, but you don't. You couldn't handle this."

And they both knew they weren't just talking about fucking.

Pike pushed himself up and stood, brushing himself off and adjusting things down south before offering a hand to Kirk.

"I went easy on him, " Pike called over his shoulder. "He's still a little slow from that injury."

"I can take it!"

They both knew Kirk wasn't talking about fucking either.

"Right." Pike turned away from Kirk and spoke to Franz as he approached. "I've seen him fight though. It's streetfighting, but talented and creative. I'd recommend Krav Maga to build on what he already has, and some grappling to round it out. He has good cardio and fair standup, but we need to work on ground skills. I think you should direct most of his training."

Kirk's face was blank, but he could feel the way the kid was fuming at being pawned off. Pike turned to go survey the other students, figuring that he should get away before something stupid and incriminating and just plain wrong left the kid's mouth.

But a devil had crawled inside him, and he couldn't resist a parting shot even though he knew it would be like lighting a fuse.

"And son? Learn not to block a strike with your face."

It was nice getting in the last line. It felt like he hadn't had the upper hand in a while. The almost happy feeling it engendered lasted till the end of class, when doctor McCoy showed up and slung an arm around Kirk, ruffling his hair and jerking him out of his bitter mood.

Suddenly, it felt like he hadn't had the last word after all.

~*~*~*~*~

Kirk shifted, uncomfortable with the silence and the piercing way Pike was looking at him. He'd been sitting there for at least five minutes, and in that time Pike had finished up a piece of paperwork, then fiddled with a pencil while just looking at him.

It was almost a relief when Pike spoke.

"You've put in a request to take the Kobayashi Maru early."

Ok. Not what he was expecting.

"Yes."

"You think you can handle it? It's a no-win scenario."

"You make a terrible shrink. I'll do fine."

Pike was still playing with that stupid pencil. "I'm not going to approve it."

"What?"

"You aren't going to be able to graduate a year early, son." Pike shook his head. He didn't seem pleased, or angry, or anything, really. Just resigned. "It's not possible."

Panic. Jim shot to the edge of his seat and gripped the arm rests to keep himself from jumping up and doing something- anything. "Why not? I can do this! Just look at my grades. All of my professors have said-"

"I'm your Professor too."

That shut him up.

"You said you would behave in my course and then you pull this kind of stunt. What am I supposed to think?"

"You're punishing me? For one little thing that didn't do any harm?"

"Didn't. Not couldn't. This is my career." Pike shook his head. "No. More than that. This is who I am. You can't separate the Captain from the man. You'll make a fine officer someday, as long as you keep your personal business out of command, but you're still just a cadet."

"What does this have to do with graduating early?"

"You've signed up for several of my advanced courses, but I can't teach you if you are trying to distract me. It's not fair to you or the other cadets."

Jim leaned back in his chair, resting his head against the back as ran a hand through his hair. "Look. I know I messed up. I knew it was stupid when I did it. It won't happen again." He looked up again, and let out a shaky breath. "Please. I'll be a model student. "

"Just how many chances am I supposed to give you? Anyone else would have been out on their ass after the first month. We've already had this conversation."

Kirk suddenly looked weary. "I need this. Hell, I'd swear to you on my father's grave except he doesn't have one."

That made Pike pause. Kirk never mentioned his father except in the most abstract of ways. His eyes narrowed. "What is it? Really? Why so desperate?"

The sudden shift in tension was obvious to Kirk, and he tightened a little around the edges, wary. "What do you mean?"

"Is this about McCoy?"

Kirk gave a bark of laughter. "Huh?"

"He's medical with a previous med career. His track is only three years. Are you trying to stay with him?"

"I don't understand."

"For posting after graduation. Are you trying to stay together?"

Kirk's eyes widened in surprise. "What? Are you seriously-"

"I'm just asking about the nature of your relationship."

"Oh, my fucking god. You are." Kirk laughed again, but his eyes creased in anger. "I can't believe this shit."

"That's enough Cadet."

"Oh, rich." Kirk said, acidic. "My relationship with Bones isn't any of your fucking business. But I think it's rather shitty for you to hold graduation over my head like this. I made a mistake and I'm fucking sorry. I will never hit on you again; is that what you want to hear?"

Pike couldn't reply.

"I'll be a perfect prince in your classes. I will even pass the goddamn Kobayashi Maru. The sun will shine out of my ass and I will join the priesthood. Just. Let. Me. Stay. On. Track."

They faced one another, one pensive, the other a curious combination of defiant and pleading. They felt balanced on a knife's point, both leery of making a move.

Pike spoke first.

"I don't think I can do that."

Kirk shot up in his seat, volatile and angry. "So that's it? You get a little nervous and a little jealous and take it out on me? Because I'm fucking Bones? Or because I'm not fucking you?"

"That's not it."

But Kirk wasn't listening. "Because I've got to tell you. There isn't one person in this place that doesn't already think we're fucking."

Pike paled slightly.

"You hadn't heard?" The accompanying smile was brittle.

"Pike's boy on the side. Your fixer upper. Your new pet project." Kirk was on a role, gesticulating with jerky hands, pacing a bit. "I get it on with anyone I'm alone in a room with, and we're together once a week, all cosy and shit. Kept on a long leash so I can bang everybody else, just as long as I come back to daddy dearest. I'm bent over a table and horny for you."

"You're full of it."

"Really." Kirk came to a halt and just glared. "All of that shit, all of the rumors, but you don't do a damn thing until you start imagining me fucking Bones? And you think I have issues?"

"You seem the model of mental health at the moment."

"Don't turn this back on me. Don't punish me for one thing, when you're really punishing me for something else."

"It's not punishment."

"Isn't it? This is about you, being a dick. Yeah, I get that I was an ass. But don't treat me like a two year old and tell me it's for my own good."

Kirk paused to think, then braced himself as if resolved.

"Well, fuck you, Captain."

Then he stalked out.

Pike sat there for a long moment, looking at a PADD. He shifted it to the side and went back to working on other paperwork. He kept a steady pace, wading through protocol and jargon and a killer headache, but the PADD in his peripheral vision kept taunting him with its presence.

He thought about moving it, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

Fuck.

He hated introspection. It was a part of command that irritated him like a sore tooth.

He hated it almost as much as he hated being a jackass.

He signed off on the PADD and submitted the information before he could talk himself out of it.

Kirk took his first Kobayashi Maru two days later. He may have failed it, but it was spectacular.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Fuck!"

Leonard barely looked up from his notes as Jim let himself into his room and started to throw himself around the small space.

"Fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck."

Len continued his studies.

"I said - fuck, never mind." Jim threw himself onto Leonard's bed and covered his face with a pillow.

The thing about Jim is never giving him the upper hand. It took a week for Leonard to learn but after his epiphany, Kirk management became, if not easy, then doable. "Excuse me. Did you say something?"

Jim removed the pillow and glared. "Fuck."

"I gathered that." He paused."It don't tell me squat. The sex variety, the fight variety or the cluster variety?"

"All of the above?"

Wait a minute. "Hey. Weren't you just with Captain Pike?"

The pillow was back on the face but Leonard could see it move as if Jim was nodding.

"Because if this is just you being a dumbass, I have to study." He gave his xenovirology notes a filthy look.

"Pike! He won't approve the Kobayashi Maru. He's going to juggle me around so I'm not in any of his classes. I'll have to be here an extra year!"

"Well, there ya go. I don't like to say I told you so, but, there you are."

"Shut up. It's totally not like that. He didn't do it because I fucked up. He's jealous."

Leonard snorted. "Kid. The ego- it's horrendous. Why the fuck would he be jealous? Your great wealth? That charm I've heard about but never seen hide nor hair of?"

"Jealous of you, you ass."

Leonard actually looked up at that. "Huh?"

"He thinks we're fucking. He thinks that I want to fuck you."

Bones sighed. He seemed to do that a lot lately. "Jim. Get out."

"What?"

"I'm busy, dammit."

"That's more important than Pike thinking I want to fuck you?"

"Yes. Because you do want to fuck me. I'm alive and at least vaguely humanoid. Just tell the nosy parker that I don't want to fuck you and everything's peachy. Now go away."

Jim looked a bit offended. Well tough.

"What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing a gag couldn't fix. Now you have ten seconds to get your ass out of here before I test that theory with a dirty sock."

Jim threw the pillow at him. "Fine. Fuck. Last time I come to you for sympathy."

"Christ. I hope so."

You couldn't slam automatic doors, but damn if Jimmy didn't give it his best try.

A minute later the door slid open once more, and Leonard let his face fall into his palm.

"Um. Bones? We still on for tomorrow night?"

"Yes. Leave."

When the door shut for the last time, Len vaguely wondered if he had been wrong about space travel. Sometimes putting a few light years between him and Jimmy sounded like a cold beer on a hot day.