Disclaimer: I don't own. I don't profit.

Did you think Jim being promoted from cadet to captain was some of the worst bit of military writing ever? Yeah, me too! This is for you, fellow "realists".

Promoted

Jim stood staring at the double doors outside the Admirals' Receiving Chamber. Two guards stood at attention on either side of the doors scrupulously avoiding eye contact, phasers ready at their hips.

Resisting the urge to pull nervously at the sleeves of his dress uniform, Jim "pulled a Spock", and put his hands behind his back.

It had been weeks since the Enterprise had returned to Earth. In that time nothing had been said about the Kobayashi Maru incident. He'd received a commendation from Starfleet, very publicly, to make the press happy, but Kirk was certain eventually the shoe would drop.

Starfleet was too busy dealing with survivors from the Battle of Vulcan to deal with something so trivial, but when they did -

He wanted to be heard. He wanted, no needed, everyone to understand that the test was rigged. It was a cheat. And that was wrong. Because it was wrong, taking any means necessary to expose it's unfairness was right.

A bead of sweat prickled on his neck. He ignored it.

Instead of completing the open hearing before all and sundry he was being drawn into a closed meeting with the Admiralty. This did not bode well.

The doors in front of him slid open. A man in the grays of Starfleet Intelligence nodded at Kirk and said, "You may enter now."

Kirk nodded and stepped forward. He was damp with sweat beneath his clothes and at the same time suddenly chill.

The Admiralty chamber was lit only by a few flood lights above. Kirk stepped into the beams of light and heard someone say, "Halt."

It was difficult to make out the faces of the men and women beyond the brightness. Kirk blinked. He was being interrogated.

"I suppose you're wondering why you're here," said the familiar voice of Captain Pike.

Squinting in the direction, Kirk straightened. "No. This is about the Kobayashi Maru. I would like to remind the Admirals that by order of Starfleet regulation 6789B I deserve an open hearing before my peers."

The room was absolutely silent. Kirk heard his heart beating in his ears.

He swallowed.

"This is not about the Kobayashi Maru," said Pike.

For some reason that made more sweat prickle on Kirk's collar.

"You're being promoted from cadet to Captain of the Enterprise, son," said Pike.

The air left Kirk's chest in a rush. "What?"

He knew his psyche evaluations, he had as healthy a dose of narcissism as any command candidate. But this...this was wrong. He was too young, too inexperienced. He had the right kind of crazy to get lucky once. He wouldn't get lucky twice. He'd seen the memories of old Spock. Still got them mixed up in his head with his own, and sometimes he thought he was that other man, that other man who had seen so much, done so much. But he wasn't. Not yet.

There was more silence.

He blinked in the light at the figures partially obscured by shadow. He began to feel as though he might actually have stumbled into a dream and not the Admirals' Receiving Chamber.

He tried to identify the admirals in the dim light behind him, and thought he recognized them all...but one. Small, hunched and - Vulcan? He was almost certain he saw the outline of pointy ears.

The figure straightened, "You will be Captain of the Enterprise." The voice was feminine, older...familiar. He shook his head, the only Vulcans he knew were Spock, old Spock and Sarek.

Kirk huffed, and then smiled. "What is this, some sort of joke?"

"No." It was Admiral Barrett's voice, Kirk was sure.

Jaw tightening, Kirk tilted his head. "What is this then, some sort of publicity stunt?"

"That's how we plan to explain it to the pols" said Admiral Keating.

Kirk turned the offer over in his mind. He was being promoted to captain and offered the best ship in the fleet...with the commission, even if it was just for show and he spent the rest of his life doing milk runs he was a made man. He could live off the fame of the defeat of Nero, the commissions from book offers, and holo movies until the day he died. He didn't need to do more.

Jim wasn't particularly Christian, but he had a grandmother who made sure he knew the Bible and the stories in it. He suddenly knew what it was to be Jesus on the mount. His soul was on the line here. Narrowing his eyes, Kirk said, "Then I don't accept." He smiled, suddenly feeling wicked, right, and lighter than air.

The Romulans were massing on the border, and Starfleet needed all hands there. He'd be there too, in the thick of it. He'd prove to them that Nero had been more than a fluke and still be the youngest captain ever.

"You will accept the position. It has already been decided." It was the voice of the older Vulcan woman...the voice he could almost place.

Tilting his head he smiled, "No it hasn't. And I can't refuse a demotion, but a promotion...Starfleet 7389C."

There was a cough. It might have been Barrett, or maybe Chu.

"You know..." said Pike. "Delta Vega is undermanned right now."

x x x x

A month later Kirk stood before all of Starfleet and a large contingent of the press and tried to look brave. As he accepted his captaincy he reminded himself he didn't believe in no win scenarios.

A face caught his eye off to the side of the Admirals, a Vulcan woman, frail, older. He knew her, no he didn't know...his vision swam red and he saw Spock...older than he was now on a planet that did not exist anymore. Jim blinked and he was in the amphitheater again.

He suddenly knew whose voice he had heard in the Admiral's Receiving Chamber. "T'Pau," he muttered under his breath.

A/N:
To everyone reading Appearances...I'm really sorry. It is really difficult for me to focus right now on a long story. I'm thinking I maybe just should have done snapshots like I did with "Logical Propositions". With a baby in the house I just don't know when I will have a moment to write, and it's hard to sustain the momentum of a long story. It's wearing me out.

So yeah, this story will just come and go as some inspiration strikes me too.