I don't know how this chapter happened. You'll understand when you read it. It just did. I wanted Jim to have a cute friend on his level. Bones is too much like a father/older brother. I hope you like it, I really do.
:3
"I believe in you." Those words echoed constantly in Jim's mind, despite the numerous months that had passed. It made Jim giddy and excited to have such trust from someone.
And, maybe, Jim had a bit of a tiny -massive- crush on Spock.
He tried to resist. He really did.
How could someone be that attractive? Half the student population (probably the faculty as well) were enamoured by the mysterious Vulcan. The rest lived in fear of the 'hardass professor'.
Having sat in on more than one of his lectures, to give Bones moral support, he did agree that the guy seemed a little unapproachable. However, he knew Spock wasn't all that bad.
A kid in his advanced astrophysics class, Pavel Chekov, was sponsored by the Vulcan when the admiralty decided he was too young to join Starfleet, despite his amazing test scores. The Russian teen only spoke the highest of praises. They were currently exchanging languages. When he found out, Jim walked straight into Spock's office and requested to tutor Pavel. They'd made a deal.
If Pavel learnt Vulcan before Spock mastered Russian, he would teach them the ancient language, Golic. If they lost, they had to join the chess club.
Joke was on the Vulcan, they both enjoyed chess.
Going to the club would probably ruin his, carefully cultivated, playboy image.
Joke on the Humans, they were both nerdy dorks. And everyone would know it.
Jim smiled to himself wistfully, Spock really was too smart for his own good. By far, the most intelligent Vulcan Jim had ever met. Not just anyone could turn down the VSA.
Jim and Pavel were both considered genius', by Human standard. They were in the top percentile, by Vulcan standards. They got along because, more often than not, they were the only ones who understood what the other was going on about. And Pavel was only 14. Young and impressionable. He played into every protective 'mothering' instinct Jim had.
Actually, that was probably the reason he was allowed to spend so much time with him. Spock had become pretty attached to the kid.
As if that didn't make Jim like him more.
Jim scrubbed a hand down his face, turned away from the window and continued down the hall.
He had no idea what he was doing here.
Half an hour earlier he's gotten a comm from Pav asking for his advice on a 'pet' project. What that meant, he had no clue. Nor did he understand why the whiz kid was working on a project for the Engineering department. All he'd been told was that they'd appreciate his expertise.
Who were they?
Weren't there more qualified people at Starfleet Academy who could pitch it?
Jim had a masters in both theoretical physics and mechanical engineering. He'd also co-written a few papers in the electrical engineering field. He supposed he was useful as a bit of an all rounder.
He half jogged down the hall and into the labs.
Pavel's excited squawk headed him into the right room.
When he walked in, Jim looked around with a bright smile. Oh yeah, he'd forgotten what the long term rooms looked like. This was awesome. To anyone else, it would look like every available space was covered in the writings of someone undergoing psychosis. To Jim, it was genius.
He read the equations closest to the door with a slight frown. With the slightest turn, he could see a rough sketch. Transwarp beaming. To this point, no one had been able to come up with a formula to implement it. And if they did, a starship's shields would always have to be raised. Warp generally let the crew relax. It was relatively safe at warp. If they succeeded, nothing would be the same.
Jim observed the three people crowded around a number of PADDs scattered across the central floor.
Spock and Pavel, if they put their pretty heads together, could take over the universe. They could probably do it individually but there's safety in numbers - maths freaks that they were.
Recognising the guy in the middle of the madness, Jim pinched the bridge of his nose.
"What the hell, Scotty?"
This was one guy he knew. Possibly too well.
"Aye, kiddo, nice for ye to join us." The Scotsman glanced up with a wide smile and gestured around the room.
"What do ye make o our work?" Jim shook his head. How did he expect anything else? Scotty was an... acquired taste. He had also been Chief Engineer Kirk's protégé. Her eccentric shadow in the belly of the USS Reliant.
"There's certainly a lot of it." Pav grinned up at him from the floor, bouncing in place like an eager puppy. Not even a Klingon could resist that look.
Jim rolled up his sleeves.
What do you get when you put a maths genius, physics genius, engineering genius and a Vulcan in a room? Transwarp beaming.
I'm getting somewhere with this. Promise.
