Chapter Two
Three hours had passed since the Enterprise had landed and the crew was all but done with debriefing. Most of the Enterprise's officers had finally made their way to their respective homes. All but one notable exception: the ship's vastly irritated young captain.
James T. Kirk was dieing a slow, painful death by paperwork. An engine malfunction was apparently a huge deal to Starfleet's higher ups--something Jim vowed would change immediately if he ever got promoted. In addition to forms he needed to sign for the engine mishap there was a large amount of work that Jim had shrugged off earlier that he now had to catch up with. The final equation was a pissed off captain and a massive headache.
Said captain was currently seated in Starfleet's library struggling through a stack of white sheets that seemed to be never ending. He could ask for a temporary room in Starfleet lodging to finish the work. However, a combination of laziness and a long held fear of being tied down kept him from making the request.
As the hours slipped by he realized that he would soon be done with work-- and be left with nowhere to sleep for the night. The shuffling of students and professors working in the library slowly stilled as more and more people returned to their dorms and homes. In an earlier time Jim would have been grateful to be among them. Starfleet was a family, although a large and slightly intimidating one. However, Jim feared that returning to his old rooms would be sentencing himself to living the rest of his life on a detached, professional level. He was James Kirk for christ's sake! He had a reputation to uphold. The thought of ending up like the bureaucratic assholes that had given him his paperwork made him wince.
No. That would not be his fate.
He glanced sleepily at the large digital clock on the wall. It was 12:30, and ungodly hour by some standards and an unusual time to reserve a hotel room.
He briefly considered calling his mom, announcing he was home to see her and regaling her with stories of his daring dos. However, the time of night stopped him. His mom might not even be awake for all he knew. It seemed incredibly rude to call her for the first time in months only to pester her for a place to stay. Jim wondered with a pang of regret if she was still living in the same old house or if one of her friends had let her move into their place. He hoped that was the case. The last memories of her house were of a sad, run-down thing.
The sight of the last student sleepily packing up their books snapped Jim back to the present. He needed to solve this problem before he began to look like some creepy loiterer type.
Suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him. Quickly he fished through his civilian coat for a small, battered cell phone. It had been an antique even when he was a teenager and he had never found the desire or need to replace it. All it was useful for anymore was storing contact information. Including his brother's number which boldly popped up onto the small screen after a few seconds of searching. Jim stared at it for a long time, memories of an older life threatening to overwhelm him.
He quickly swallowed a small surge of unease and dialed the number. As he did so he glanced around hoping the ever-watchful eye of the librarian was otherwise occupied. He turned in his seat in an attempt to shield the conversation from her.
The phone rang several times. Each time a small jolt of excitement and anxiety coursed through him. Finally his brother's smooth tenor greeted his ears. The answering machines voice was short concise, rude and arrogant--everything he remembered about his older brother.
"Obviously I'm not here. You should leave your name and number after the beep. I might get back to you…if I have the time."
His voice tightened painfully and he coughed once to clear it before starting. "Hi Sam. It's me, Jim. Just got back to Earth and it would be great if I could crash at your place for a night or two. I promise I wont wreck anything intentionally while I'm there. I guess your not there right now so I might just come over and surprise you. Peace out."
He smiled slightly and closed the phone. Yes he would have to surprise his brother unless he was planning on living in a homeless shelter for the night.
He quickly made his way over to the librarian to ask for directions to what his phone told him was Sam's address. He would have to work under the assumption that his brother hadn't moved in the four years since Jim had seen him. Hopefully Sam's tendency to avoid change had stuck with him through the years Jim had been gone. The librarian kindly obliged and gave him a neatly highlighted map with instructions to the closest shuttle.
Holding a carefully marked map in one hand and a cell phone in the other Captain James T. Kirk made an inconspicuous escape to the nearest shuttle out of the city. He was returning to his home much the same way he had left it. Firstly he was leaving like a stowaway in the early morning. Secondly he had not much else but the clothes on his back since he kept his space clothes in, well, space. He wasn't a huge fan of the Starfleet uniform. It tended to make even the best-looking officer look like a bit of a prick. A prick in muted, slimming clothes but a prick nonetheless.
He spent most of his time on the long shuttle ride entertaining himself with the idea of his crew in civilian clothing. Spock in particular made a funny picture in his mind as he tried to picture the uptight Vulcan in formal clothing. A tux seemed distinctly out of place on the man. However, he couldn't completely drown out the worried thoughts that nagged at the back of his mind. Most prominent was the issue of whether Sam would be as keen to see Jim, as Jim was to see him. There was also the issue of his own reluctance to be around Starfleet. Whether it was his own reluctance to being tied down or the fear of his newfound fame, or something else…well Jim wasn't quite ready to face it.
The shuttle slowing brought him quickly back to reality. The shuttle bay was clearly and old outdate one and probably the only one for miles. Luckily it was close to where he believed his brother's house was which was basically on outskirts of a town neighboring Riverside. This meant that his brother basically lived on a secluded farm in the middle of nowhere. Jim liked to think the place was charming despite its run-down, shady appearance.
He slung his jacket over his shoulder and hopped out of the bus nodding in thanks to the driver.
"You sure this is your stop kid? There wont be any shuttles after this one." Warned the elderly man. One eyebrow was raised in apparent skepticism. Clearly not that many people traveled to deserted towns in the middle of the night these days.
"Yup. Thanks for the ride old man." James replied easily despite the worry in the pit of his stomach.
The shuttle sputtered and moved off leaving Jim alone on the side of a dusty road. He turned and rapidly made his way up the long winding road he knew would end in the dilapidated white house his brother owned. His anxiety grew the closer he came to the house and he tried in vain to reign his unreasonable fear in. He still didn't know what his brother's reaction would be, but there was no reason to expect the worse.
Finally he made his way to the small porch. Hesitation clung to him for a second and he struggled to control a sudden urge to run very far in the opposite direction. Why did his own brother make him so apprehensive?
He raised his hand and gave the door a firm rap.
Barking coming from indoors began. A volley of footsteps grew louder and suddenly the door was unlatched and Jim was staring into the face of an angry older brother.
"What in the hell?" exclaimed Sam as he attempted to restrain the large barking doberman that was currently glaring daggers up at Jim.
Jim could only let out a startled "hi."
His brother's eyes widened.
"James Kirk. Who knew I'd ever see your scrawny ass back in this town."
Kirk nodded before he realized that his brother's comment might merit a response. "I've…uh, just got back from work. I needed a place to stay. And I wanted to see you." He added hastily hoping he hadn't come off totally rude.
"I get it. You can't find a place to stay after becoming some big shot captain. So you hit your brother up expecting family connections are something you can rely on." His brother's words seemed harsh but his eyes seemed to be laughing. Or at least Jim hoped so.
"You got me." Jim said holding his hands up in a placating gesture.
"I always have."
Jim stared at his brother and smiled in happy surprise. This wasn't so bad.
"So, ah, I can stay?" He ventured.
"Yeah, yeah we got some room. Couldn't have hurt to call ahead could it? And how did you find your way here anyway?" His brother's questions overwhelmed Jim and maybe the other man noticed that because he ushered Jim in and quickly led him to the guest room.
"You can sleep here for the time being. If you had called ahead I could have set something better up." The man continued to grumble as Jim sat gratefully down on the bed.
"That doesn't mean you can just come waltzing on back expecting room service. Get some sleep. Then you're going to work. Margie needs some help with the weeding anyways."
Margie? Jim wondered who this new development could be. A girlfriend perhaps? Or maybe an old flame. Sam had trouble ending old relationships.
Seeing Jim's look of confusion Sam thankfully continued. "My wife'll have her work cut out feeding you tomorrow. I've forgotten how much of a pig you are."
If he noticed how Jim's eyebrows shot up he ignored it. They tacitly seemed to agree to not mention how little they still knew each other.
Eventually Sam left, still muttering about rude guests and his dislike of surprises. Jim smiled slightly as he collapsed in exhaustion on top of his sheets. The sense of foreboding he had experienced earlier erased from his tired mind. Loneliness and isolation, emotions he often felt with regards to his family were pushed to the back of his head. He'd deal with them tomorrow.
Little did he know that miles away his Vulcan first officer was ironically having less success pushing similar feelings aside.
Authors Note
I apologize for the boring chapter. It has absolutely no Kirk/Spock interaction, which is really the most fun part in my opinion. They will eventually be together (As in "interacting" with each other, not as in a couple) in 2 to 3 chapters so no worries. I'll try to keep updating so we get there soon!
Oh yes. I took total liberties with Sam. I know he has a personality from the original series but I'm not familiar with any Star Trek stuff besides the new movie so I used my imagination. Hopefully that's acceptable considering the movie is in an alternate time period.
I changed the format due to some requests, hopefully it's easier to read! Thanks for the reviewing!!