With the short burst of drama over, the speaker on the stage hastily apologized for the incident and continued with his speech as if nothing had ever occurred. Jim blinked, seeming to come of a daze and instinctively backed away from the edge of the wall incase someone spotted him watching. He took Carol by the crook of her elbow and pulled her away as well, stopping only when they were a meter away from the opening.

'What did you hear?' he asked her.

'What?' Carol asked, confused.

Her mind was only just trying to comprehend what she had seen and was struggling to decipher Jim's question.

'Before, when you were eavesdropping – what did you hear?' Jim repeated, agitation creeping into his voice.

'Uh… oh, that,' Carol said, hoping he wasn't angry with her – she could probably guess what happened to people who did, 'sorry, I only followed you to see if you were Ok… I just wanted to help.'

Jim sighed in frustration and chucked a quick glace sideways to ensure that no peeping Tom would go unnoticed this time – he had already learnt his lesson with the Captain's daughter.

'I don't care why you followed me and I'm already beyond anyone's help – I asked you what you heard,' he shot out impatiently.

Carol felt a spike of fear shoot through her at Jim's hostile expression but immediately berated herself; she wasn't some porcelain doll or a stereotypical blonde – she was a Captain's daughter and damned well act like one if she ever had any hope of rising the ranks of Starfleet. She jerked her arm free from Jim's grasp and gave a glare of her own.

'Everything after you kicked the wall,' she said.

Jim's eyes narrowed and he suddenly turned wary.

'So everything,' he muttered bitterly.

Although, his brain told him, perhaps not everything… there's still your past before Tarsus IV.

'I'm not an idiot, your secret's safe,' said Carol.

'Yeah, but for how long?' Jim snapped back.

'As long as you want me to keep it,' Carol replied calmly, unfazed by the teenager's angry distrust.

Jim frowned and clenched his knife more fiercely. Carol may not have meant any harm and Jim had analyzed her long enough to decide that she wasn't someone who would blab his secret but he still didn't trust her word. Words were so disastrous, unpredictable and uncontrollable. They formed promises that you intended to keep but so easily slipped from your lips – sometimes without you even realizing it. Jim knew of secrets and words all too well. He's had been ripped from him by the promise of freedom from agony. Kodos had been relentless in the pain he had inflicted upon J.T until the location of his kids had slipped from his lips. Thankfully, they had long since moved locations as per J.T's warning and had survived until he had found them again.

Carol, seeing Jim's self torment decided to intervene his thoughts.

'What of Lieutenant Pike?' she asked quietly, 'is he any better at keeping your secret than I am?'

'What?' Jim asked distractedly.

'He knows your secret or you wouldn't be staying with him,' Carol assumed, 'why would you trust him and not me? How are we any different?'

'I know Chris, knew him before I left earth – I barely even know you, let alone trust you'.

'But the lieutenant was once a stranger to you too, there was a time when you didn't trust him. You grew to trust him though, how would it be any different with me?'

'That was before I went to Tarsus and got screwed up-.'

'And your still the same person,' Carol interrupted, 'look, I meant what I said, alright? I won't even tell my father.'

Jim's eyes drilled into Carol's as he contemplated the truth behind her words – To trust or not to trust? That is the question thought Jim.

Trust Shakespeare to fuel his indecision.

'Fine, I believe you,' he said quickly before he could change his mind.

Jim flicked his knife around and slid it back into his boot. He clenched his hand so that it was pointing and waved it vaguely towards the hallway's second entrance; the way Carol had entered from.

'Go out that way, make a wide berth and go back to the service from the right side,' he said.

'What about you?'

'I'll wait a few more minutes before I go back,' he replied.

Carol nodded. She glanced one last time at the troubled teenager before walking away out the way he'd indicated.

[break]

Alexander Marcus glanced up as his daughter slid into the seat beside him.

'You missed a bit of drama,' he murmured.

'I know, I saw,' she replied.

'Do you know anything about it?'

'No'.

'What about Jim?'

'I don't know – He turned around a corner and I lost him. I walked around the building to try and find him and when I got back I saw security arresting someone'.

Marcus nodded thoughtfully and turned his attention back to the current speaker on the stage. Carol mimicked her father's actions but her mind was processing all the information she had learnt about J.T.

Ten minutes later she noticed Jim walk past her row and return to his seat. He appeared to exchange a few words with Pike and Carol was grateful that Jim had the lieutenant to heal him.

[break]

After various presentations and recounts, the commandant of midshipmen in Starfleet Academy stood up from his seat and walked to the lectern. He concluded the service with a two-minute speech and then thanked the crowd for their attendance.

Pike and Jim stood up as the people and aliens around him dispersed. They moved with the flow of people in their row that slowly moved towards the nearest aisle. Pike knew of Jim's knowledge of the earlier situation but wisely chose to remain silent about the matter until they were in a more private location.

On their way back to Pike's parked vehicle, Alexandra Marcus spotted him.

'Great, wasn't it?' his friend asked, walking up from behind Pike and slapping him on the shoulder.

Pike turned in pleasant surprise.

'Ah, Alex – never thought I'd see you again in this crowd. Yeah, it was good as always.'

Jim glanced sideways and caught Carol looking at him but he gave no response to her inquiring expression and kept his eyes glued to the front, showing no sign of having talked to her.

'Perhaps not exactly the same as normal,' Alex hinted.

'You mean the explosive incident halfway through,' Pike stated.

Marcus nodded. Jim felt Carol's gaze burning into the side of his head. Stupid girl he cursed, if you want to keep our conversation a secret don't go around goggling at me and if you think you're getting anymore answers your wrong.

'Unusual thing for someone so young to do… you wouldn't have any idea what brought him to such a low point?' he asked.

'I would have the foggiest,' Pike said.

'Alright then,' Marcus gave the lieutenant one last pat on the shoulder, 'well, I best be off, my car's parked over there,' he pointed in the direction he meant to leave in.

'Good seeing you,' Pike said and Marcus smiled before walking off, his daughter in tow.

Pike watched them leave for a moment then turned to Jim.

'Carol seems like a nice person, why don't you talk to her? After all, I may be human but I'm no teenager. You must get bored talking to a middle-aged man all the time,' he said.

'I'm not bored, you're a blast to talk to,' Jim said, 'and I already did.'

Pike allowed his eyebrow to rise briefly before letting it drop. He gave no other indication that Jim's answer was unusual but knew that the teenager would explain it to him once they were apart from listening ears.

Soon, they reached Pike's car and were safely inside on their way back to his house.

'I left the service, she followed me,' Jim began flatly.

Pike nodded thoughtfully and waited for Jim to continue.

'One of the kids from the ward… he kinda ran into me and recognized who I was – said my name. I didn't know it then but Carol was hiding close by and heard.'

'And would it be safe to presume that this kid was the same bomber today?'

Jim nodded. He didn't tell Pike Tyker's first plan or the fact that he knew Jim's real name. After all, he was in jail – what could he possibly do to harm Jim's identity now?

'Yeah, Tyker's his name. Not surprising though, always unstable that kid. Hard and easy to predict at the same time, got a bloody headache trying to figure him out when we were still in the ward.'

'Do you know if Carol is going to tell anyone?'

'Na, she said she wouldn't and her eyes said she wouldn't too.'

'Well, if she knows you're J.T then a computer search will bring up your whole history.'

Jim grunted.

'Yeah, you were right about the whole media stuff.'

'Maybe, it isn't such a bad thing,' Pike said carefully.

'Huh?' Jim sounded confused.

'Maybe, it's not such a bad thing that she knows your past. Like I said, I'm not the most fun person to talk to and Carol's your age. It might be good for you to talk about it with someone like her. After all, she's the only other person besides me who knows and the only other person you can be yourself around without fabricating your past.'

Jim grunted again but made no other indication that he had heard Pike's suggestion.

Pike shrugged mentally, it was worth a shot.