Loss

Victoria looked across the table as she sat next to one of the older men, making her groan inwardly. The Captain of the USS Constitution was a…rather severe man, almost worse than a Vulcan when it came to the rules if that were even possible. She was just oh-so thrilled to have been assigned as his First Officer…it was going to be hell, she could tell. She glanced over, catching sight of Kirk beside her father, the boy offering her a small nod and a sad smile for her distance from him. This meeting, sitting there beside their respective Captains…it made it real, it just made it all the more solid to know that they were going to be separated after this meeting, that they already were separated and this was like a formality to prove it or something.

"Admiral Marcus, Sir," they both looked over, hearing Frank Abbott greet the stern looking man as he approached the table, all of them rising in respect.

"Thank you for convening on such short notice," Marcus nodded at them, gesturing at the table, "Be seated," he sat with them, letting out a breath and turning on the monitors set up before them all, displaying the information about why they were there, "By now some of you heard what happened in London," they frowned at that, they were well aware that there had been some sort of explosion in London, dozens of people had died when the archive went down but no one knew what had caused it or why it had happened, "The target was a Starfleet Data Archive. Now it's a damn hole in the ground. 42 men and women are dead. One hour ago, I received a message from a Starfleet officer," the young black man popped up on their monitors along with his information, "Who confessed to carrying out this attack, that he was being forced to do it by this man," another image replaced his, of a what man with black hair and blue eyes, he had high cheekbones and pale skin, his face very angular and sharp, "Commander John Harrison. He's one of our own," Victoria let out a low whistle at that, cutting it off quickly when her father sent her a look and shifting without looking up at the others sitting there, probably frowning at her by now, "And he is the man responsibility for this act of savagery," Marcus said that last part more firmly and Victoria could tell two things, the first was that he was sending her a look for her whistle as well, and the second was that Kirk was likely smirking at her for it by now, "For reasons unknown, John Harrison has just declared a one man war against Starfleet. Under no circumstances are we to allow this man to escape Federation space. You here tonight represent the senior command of all the vessels in the region. And in the name of those we lost...you will run this bastard down. This is a manhunt, pure and simple so let's get to work."

Victoria shifted again at that, it didn't…seem right. She understood that it was a terrible crime, truly savage as Marcus had said but…the way he was talking, it didn't sit right with her. It sounded like it really was going to be a HUNT and not just them trying to apprehend the man. Starfleet regulations were very clear about dealing with someone like Harrison and it just felt like Marcus was taking this all a little too far.

"Earth's perimeter sensors has not detected any warp signatures leaving the system," Marcus continued, "So we know he can't be far. You will park ships at blockade formation and deploy search vehicles and landing parties to run down every lead. This man has shown a willingness to kill innocent people so rules of engagement are simple, if you come across this man you are authorized to use deadly force on the subject."

"Deadly force, sir?" Victoria had to ask, hearing Kirk whispering about something to her father, something about Harrison's bag. There were images on the monitors now of the bombsite, of Harrison leaving with a bag in his hand.

"Yes, Officer Pike," Marcus looked at her.

"But Starfleet Regulations state that deadly force is ONLY to be used after being attacked by the subject, not before," the way he'd said it made it seem like they were meant to attack Harrison first and foremost and use the deadly force instead of just knocking him out. The way he said it made it seem like they were meant to use that force before he even had a chance to react. To say that 'if they came across him' was not the same to say that if they were 'engaging' the subject.

"I think you, of all people, Officer Pike, should be the LAST person to quote rules and regulations," Marcus's eyes narrowed at her.

"I have to know the rules to know which one's I'm breaking, don't I?" she shot back.

"Tory," her father called across the table, a firm note in his voice that told her to 'knock it off.'

"Doesn't it seem odd to you that he targeted an archive?" she could hear Kirk whispering in the silence that fell afterwards, "It's like bombing a…a library."

"Chris," Marcus rolled his eyes, looking over at Captain Pike this time, "Is everything ok there?" he was honestly starting to question Pike and his decisions near the end of his recruiting run. Here were two of his own recruits, one the boy he kept defending till he was red in the face and the other his own daughter, both having been written up for disregarding the prime directive, them and their First Officer all having been reassigned and demoted for their actions. That didn't engender trust in Pike's choices, especially not when said daughter just talked back to him and his own First Officer was whispering behind their backs.

"Yes, sir," Pike nodded, "Mr. Kirk is just acclimating to his new position as First Officer."

Victoria frowned though, she'd heard what Kirk had said and…it WAS suspicious that Harrison, if he was one of their own, would attack an archive. It wasn't just like a library, it was more a museum too…it was old and ancient and there was no reason to really blow one up. All the information there was public record, the people who worked there no higher up in the Fleet's command than the average civilian and wouldn't have any access to secret information and wouldn't need to be targeted…it really didn't make sense.

"If you have something to say, Kirk, say it," Marcus called, "Tomorrow is too late."

"I'm fine sir," Kirk said instead, seeing a look from Pike, "My apologies."

Victoria nearly rolled her eyes at that. Her father would listen to anything in private, discuss anything, hear our concerns and make decisions that way, even tell them how proud he was that they'd broken rules. But when he was in front of others, especially other Fleet officials, he had to be the rule-abiding Captain and the one in control of his crew. He'd already had three of his former crew (one of them being his daughter) 'shame' him with how thoroughly they'd broken the rules, and he'd had two of them speaking out against Marcus just now. He had to appear that he had control over his First Officer at least. He'd listen to Kirk after the meeting, she knew, hear him out, but right now he needed Kirk to be seen and not heard.

Unfortunately Marcus was the sort of man where if someone was going to defy him or whisper behind him, he wanted to bring it to the forefront, "Spit it out son, don't be shy."

Kirk sighed, seeing no option but to speak out, whether it was to follow his Captain's orders or the one who called the meeting, it would have to be the meeting's organizer than his Captain, "Why the Archive? All that information is public record...if he really wanted to damage Starfleet…this could be just the beginning."

Victoria stiffened at that, she hadn't thought of that. For a moment she thought that it might just be someone trying to make a point, to show…displeasure with the Fleet or something. She hadn't considered what Kirk was implying. An attack on the Archive…it might have just been the first step in some sort of plan. And if THAT was the case…she could guess what the second step might be.

Attacking something related to the Fleet meant that an immediate meeting would be held to discuss it and try to come up with ways to protect other areas of the Fleet that were similar to the one attacked. And if someone attacked the post knowing that…then they knew exactly where the meeting would be held…right there, right then.

"Beginning of what, Mr. Kirk?" Marcus frowned, clearly not able to understand Kirk the way Victoria was, but then again…she'd said it when they'd first met, they were quite a like in how they thought and how they acted.

"Starfleet regulations state that should an attack occur, the senior officers father in Starfleet Headquarters," Victoria recited, seeing the smallest of smiles on her father's face for her memory of the rules. That had always been one thing he'd always been proud of when it came to her.

She knew every rule, every regulation, every code that the Fleet operated on. She'd spent hours, days, weeks memorizing every single one of them. He was even proud of the reason she'd done it too, which had surprised her. According to him, she showed ingenuity, resourcefulness, creativity, and logic in doing what she had. She knew every rule backwards and forwards because then she could argue against them, she could find loopholes, different ways to interpret them. She knew which rules to avoid, which rules could be stretched, which rules were so laughable that they deserved to be broken so that they could be tightened up.

The first time she'd been caught breaking the rules, he'd been so angry at her, he'd stormed into her hearing, thinking he'd have to try and use his name and rank (something he was loathe to do) to get her out of trouble, only to stop short at seeing her defend herself and go through rule after rule after rule. He hadn't even known that some of the rules actually countered other regulations till he'd heard her dismantle the prosecution and contradict them. It had been a sight to behold, according to him, to see her standing there and using the Fleet's own rules against them. He'd been both proud and sad, he'd admitted to her later, because he was proud she could defend herself like that, but sad because it meant that was one more thing she wouldn't need his help for, that she wouldn't need HIM for. She'd hugged him and told him she'd always need her father.

"And Starfleet's Headquarters," Kirk added, "Is right here. In this room," he slowly got up and started to walk around the room, looking at it critically, Victoria stiffening more as she watched him, knowing he was looking for some sort of bomb like the one that had taken out the archive.

"It is curios Harrison would commandeer a jump ship without warp capability..." Spock agreed.

Kirk stopped in front of a large window, frowning out as he saw a light approaching them, his eyes widening as he realized what it was, "Clear the room!" he shouted, turning and running back, throwing himself at Victoria the second she stood like the others had and tackled her to the ground, covering her as the glass shattered behind him, bullets and lasers flying into the room as they were attacked.

"We need air defense team!" they heard Pike shout into a comm., a handful of the other Captains and Officers already lying dead on the ground from the volley of fire, "Daystrom conference room!"

Victoria looked around, seeing one of the fallen Captains and grabbed their phaser from their belt, turning onto her back to fire at whatever it was that was attacking them, though it seemed like some sort of shuttle firing at them.

"I'm gonna try and get around it!" Kirk called to her over the sound of the attack.

"Go!" she pushed him on, "I'll cover you!"

Kirk nodded, grabbing another Captain's gun as he ran out of the room, Victoria moving to her knees and firing, trying to draw the fire away from Kirk as he rushed out. She glanced over for only a moment when she heard Spock shout.

"Captain Pike!"

Victoria felt like she'd been punched in the gut when she saw her father fall to the ground, having been hit by one of the lasers, "Dad!" she screamed, trying to make her way across the room, needing to get to him but the firing still happening made it hard. She could vaguely see shots being fired at the shuttle from the side, pulling its direction away from the room that was now nearly full of corpses and groaning men, and towards it instead. Spock was already at Pike's side and pulling him out of the room to protect him should the fire return, Victoria pushing herself to her feet to run, ducking and wincing as her move seemed to draw the fire back, but she didn't stop, she had to get to her father.

She was panting by the time she reached the hall, "Dad!" she gasped, seeing him lying on a small bench, Spock beside him with his hand to the man's temple, Mind Melding with him. Her heart pounded in her chest as she dropped her phaser and ran for him, dropping to her knees beside him and grabbing his hand, "Dad," he turned his head to look at her, moving it out of Spock's touch, and she felt tears gather in her eyes a the sight of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, matching the blood pouring from the wound on his chest, "I'm sorry…"

He tried to talk but ended up coughing, his eyes wide as he looked at her, squeezing her hand weakly, his grip getting looser, "No," she shook her head, trying not to sob, "Dad, don't go, please…"

But she could see it through her tears, the fear entering his eyes as the life left them.

She flinched, looking back as there was an explosion and a crash from outside, the shuttle that had been attacking clearly taken out now, but pulled her attention back to her father in a split second, feeling his grip loosen too much.

She let out shaking breath, "I love you dad," she whispered, her voice breaking, NEEDING that to be what he heard…before his head lulled to the side, his eyes staring unseeingly out at the ceiling.

Victoria remained strong for only a moment before she crumbled before Spock's very eyes, the Vulcan watching her completely lost as to what to do to help her as she sobbed in front of him, clutching her father's hand in her own, shaking and hardly able to breathe. Her face scrunched in pain as the tears fell, her mouth falling into a wide grimace as she wept yet she refused to let go of Pike's hand even as she bowed her head.

Spock had just reached out to close the man's eyes…when Kirk ran around the corner.

"Oh my god," Kirk breathed, Spock able to hear him even above Victoria's cries, "Tory!" he ran to her side, pulling her into his arms as she wept, shivering and shaking, him trying to rock her back and forth to calm her. He wound an arm around her, his other hand brushing through her hair before curling in it, holding her head to his chest as he tried to comfort her.

Spock could see it though, see how Kirk looked at Pike's body over her head, his eyes filling with tears he knew Kirk would refuse to let fall as he stared at their fallen Captain. No, their friend. Pike wasn't just a Captain to Kirk, Spock knew, he was like a second father to the man, even more so after he'd learned of his daughter's relationship with Kirk. He was also Kirk's friend, his recruiter, the reason he had the life and future he did…he was, as he knew from his future-self, Kirk's father-in-law as well, even if he was not actually that in this universe he was as good as though.

And now the man was gone, leaving a heartbroken daughter and a stunned First Officer.

"It's ok Tor," Kirk whispered in Victoria's ear as he rocked her, for the first time not knowing if he was lying to her or not, "It'll be ok," pulling his gaze away from Pike, though the tears remained, he swallowed hard, trying not to cry, trying to be strong for her, because where he'd lost so much in the man…

Victoria had lost a father.

~8~

Kirk was staring at the ceiling as he laid in his bed, on Earth, his right arm wrapped around Victoria as she curled up beside him, her head resting on his chest, staring at his wall, her eyes still red though she wasn't crying at the moment. He was holding her light hand as it rested on his chest with his left, his right hand was running up and down her back soothingly as she just…stared. Both of them were silent, having stayed awake all night just lying there, still awake even now as the sun rose, it had been…a long night.

Yesterday was the funeral for all those who had died in Harrison's attack, it had been confirmed it was Harrison, Kirk had seen him when he'd taken out the man's shuttle. It had been hard for all involved, all the Cadets and officers and commanders, everyone who had ever been recruited or served under Pike had attended his funeral, everyone...excpet for his ex-wife it seemed, her own mother hadn't attended, which he knew both relieved her and broke her heart at the same time. Victoria had been quiet the entire day, so unlike her, but then again so had he, standing at her side, holding her hand so tightly both their knuckles had nearly turned white but they said nothing about it. She hadn't cried in front of the others, he knew she hated crying, so she'd stood as stoic as she could, but he could see there were tears in her eyes and only through sheer force of will was she able to keep them in.

She'd cried in front of him though, the moment they returned to his room, their room he insisted to think of it. She'd cried in his arms, everything getting to her and he'd done his best to comfort her, she'd returned the favor, able to see, even through her own grief that HE was hurting too. Both of them felt guilty, they'd both been trying to stop Harrison and hadn't been able to protect Pike in the process, they both blamed themselves for his death, but more so…they blamed Harrison.

"Thank you."

Kirk looked down, hearing the hoarse whisper coming from the girl, "For what?" he honestly couldn't think of anything she needed to thank him for.

"Being here," she took a shaky breath, "For…staying," she blinked but didn't move beyond that, "I know you aren't very good when girls cry."

He was abysmal when they cried. He had no idea what to do when it happened, what to say, how to act, and often ended up making it worse or getting slapped or getting kicked out. She often used to laugh at him for it, how many flubs he could make in the span of a minute when the girls started crying. But last night, and the time before when it had happened, he'd been so…different than he usually was, it was like he just…knew what to do to help comfort her. She liked to think it was because he cared about her more than the other girls who came before her and it was more important to him that SHE stop being sad and he be the one to make her happy again, but she knew it might just be because he'd known her longer than the others, he knew what she was like and what it took to get her to feel better.

"You not just a girl Tory," he murmured, looking down at her, "You're MY girl," she looked up at him for that and he moved his hand from her back to her hair, stroking it a moment before pushing a strand behind her ear, "It's different."

Victoria had just started to truly smile at that, when the comm. went off and she dropped her forehead onto his chest, shaking her head, "They couldn't even give me 12 hours?" she mumbled into his chest, making him twitch at the ticklish sensation.

He pushed himself up and reached over for the comm., "Yeah?" he called into it.

"Commander," Spock's voice sounded after a moment, clearly having expected Victoria to answer her own comm., "Mr. Scott has found something in wreckage of Harrison's ship, he's asked to see us right away."

Kirk sighed and turned the comm. off, looking down at Victoria, "We should go," he told her gently.

She nodded, getting up, feeling a flash of anger rise in her at the mention of Harrison, she knew what it was, the shock…was starting to wear off.

She honestly wasn't sure what emotion would follow.

~8~

Spock looked up as he stood by Scotty, seeing Victoria and Kirk walking towards them across the small courtyard outside the housing where the Fleet members often resided when staying on Earth. Both were wearing their black mourning outfits, Kirk in a long black shirt and pants, Victoria in her long-sleeved black uniform, but with black leggings along with her black boots.

"Victoria," Scotty began, for once not using some sort of silly name for her as he stepped over to her and hugged her tightly with one arm, ignoring how Kirk didn't let go of her other hand so she could hug him back fully, "I am…SO sorry lass," he pulled away, looking at her, "Pike was a good man," even though HE hadn't served under the man, he and Victoria did talk whenever she worked with him in engineering, he knew about Pike and he WAS a good man.

"Thank you Scotty," Victoria murmured, stepping back as Kirk tugged her closer, moving his arm around her waist in comfort.

"What did you want to see us for?" Kirk looked at him, running his thumb along Victoria's side to comfort her more, they both knew it would just be worse wherever she went, whatever crew she ended up a part of, there would be hundreds more people offering her condolences but the only difference would be…he wouldn't be there to comfort her when they did.

"Right," Scotty nodded, "Captain, I found this in the crashed jump ship, sir," he held up a small device to show them, "This is how the bastard got away."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a portable transwarp beaming device."

Victoria blinked a few times and shook her head, going through the implications and schematics of such a thing, "A portable one?"

"Aye," Scotty nodded.

"Can you figure out where he went?" Kirk looked at Scotty seriously.

"I already did, sir, and you are not going to like it. He's gone to the one place we…we just can't go."

~8~

The second Scotty told them exactly where Harrison had gone, Victoria had looked down, completely hopeless…the Klingon Homeworld was…truly a place they couldn't go. It was too dangerous, too reckless, and it could mean bigger consequences than anyone was prepared for and Kirk could see it in her eyes, she felt like she couldn't ask anyone to risk going there for her just so she could see the bastard who killed her father taken down.

Oh she'd raged last night about Harrison, screamed about how she felt like she'd betrayed her father because she'd been thinking that Marcus was going to have people attacking Harrison before he attacked others and she'd actually thought that wrong. And there he was, attacking again, showing no compassion for human life, and her father had died with her thinking that Marcus was wrong to authorize deadly force upon just seeing the man. Her father was dead and Harrison was alive and she wanted revenge, he could see it as she cried, she wanted to take out the man who took her father…

And now that entire hope of seeing Harrison brought down was being taken away from her. The Klingon Homeworld? It was impossible to get to Harrison there and that meant her father would go unavenged, Harrison would be left at large till he attacked again and more people would die, and her heart would keep beating broken. No one in their right mind would go there on such a mission.

It was a good thing though, that one James T. Kirk was not in his right mind…because the girl he cared for more than anything was hurting, and all he could think about was making it stop and seeing her smile again.

And if that meant going to Kronos to hunt Harrison down…he'd do it.

He'd do anything for her.

"Admiral sir," Kirk ran into the headquarters once more, seeing Marcus and a few other men, those who would be taking over for the men who had died, gathered to go over how to deal with Harrison again. He and Victoria and Spock had not been required to attend as they had been there the other night. He'd taken off the second Scotty had told them about Kronos, the moment he'd seen the look on Victoria's face at the impossibility of getting Harrison, he'd taken off and run for the headquarters, Spock and Victoria running after him, "He is not on Earth. He's on Kronos, sir. I request my command to be reinstated and your permission to go after him."

Marcus looked at the other men behind him, "Give us a minute," he waved the other men out, waiting till they'd left before focusing on Kirk again, "Kronos?"

"Yes, sir," he nodded.

Marcus let out a long breath, "So Harrison's gone to the Klingon home world? Is he defecting?"

"We're not sure, sir."

"He has taking refuge in the Keth province," Spock added, "A region uninhabited..."

"He got to be hiding there, sir," Kirk cut in, not willing to sit there and listen to a lecture about the geography of Kronos by the Vulcan, time was far too precious, the longer they took the longer Harrison would be out there and the longer Victoria would be suffering.

"He went there because he knows we can't follow," Victoria said quietly, speaking for the first time since Scotty told them where Harrison had gone, her voice cracked at that, at the knowledge that the man who murdered her father might never be captured because of where he was, "Of course," she gave a bitter laugh, "We take a single step into Klingon space and…war," she shook her head, "Starfleet can't go after him."

"But I can," Kirk took her hand, squeezing it as he looked at her, promising her with that single gesture that he'd get Harrison, he'd stop the man, he would do…whatever it took to bring the man down. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, reassuring her that he WOULD see Harrison taken out, before he turned to Marcus, "Please, sir."

He had to do it. He HAD to. Pike meant too much to him and Victoria to just…let his killer go free.

"War with the Klingons is inevitable," Marcus thought out loud, "No matter what we do, Miss Pike," he hesitated, seeing her wince, even though it was her name, to hear it said out loud…he knew it made her think of her father, of course it would, "They will always look for any excuse to attack. Harrison just BEING there is reason enough for them," he shook his head, "War has already has begun. Since we first learned of their existence, the Klingon Empire has conquered and occupied two planets that we know of, fired on our ships half a dozen times. They are coming our way," he glanced at the three of them standing before him and took a breath, needing them to know the truth, the girl especially deserved to know given it was her father who had died in the crossfire of it all, "London was not an archive. It was top secret branch of Starfleet designated to…"

"Section 31," Victoria cut in, startling Marcus, making the two other men look at her, "You really think I didn't hack in to find out why Harrison targeted that? Why he wanted us to be there?" she shook her head, "He could have picked ANY archive on Earth and we would have gathered there regardless. Why THAT one?" she looked at him, "It was one of your secret development facilities too, wasn't it?"

Marcus nodded, though Spock could see the man tense as though he hadn't been expecting (or aware it was possible for) her to hack into their files, "They were developing defense technologies, training our officers to gather intelligence on Klingons, and any other potential enemy who means to do us harm. Harrison was one of our top agents."

"Now he's a fugitive," Kirk nodded, "And I want to take him out."

Spock looked at Kirk, hearing a distinct growl in the man's voice, spotting Kirk's grip on Victoria's hand tightening.

Marcus looked at Kirk a long while, "Pike always said you were one of our best and brightest. You should have heard him defend you," before his gaze drifted to Victoria, his expression softening as he saw the hard look her face had set into, the determined glint in her eyes as she heard Kirk talking about taking Harrison out, seeing the…hope in her eyes that it might happen, "And you…" he shook his head at her, "You are, and always will be, his pride and joy Victoria," he tried to keep his voice steady as he saw the tears gathering in her eyes, an unbearable guilt settling in his stomach the longer he looked at her, "You were…his entire world, the Fleet always came second to you."

Victoria looked down at that, Kirk moving his arm around her instead of holding her hand, reaching up to brush her hair behind her ear, her leaving it down for once instead of in her bun. He leaned over and tilted her towards him, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple, Spock and Marcus looking away as Victoria turned her head to rest her forehead to his, her eyes closing for a moment to gather her strength, both men feeling like they were intruding on a private, intimate moment.

Marcus cleared his throat, the two of them looking over at him once more, "He's the one you both joined the Fleet for, wasn't he?"

"Yes, sir," Kirk answered as Victoria could only nod.

"Did he ever tell you who talked him into joining?"

"You," Victoria answered, "You were like a father to him."

Marcus closed his eyes at that, barely containing his wince to hear that said out loud, "Recruiters and Cadets tend to end up like that," he stated, Spock frowning as it sounded more like something Marcus was saying to convince himself than something he was trying to not let affect him, "But it doesn't change that his death is on me," he looked at them again, "And yours can't be."

"Admiral Marcus please," Victoria began, sounding desperate, seeing their opportunity to avenge her father fading away, "You…"

But Marcus held up his hand to quiet her, before glancing at Spock, "Mr. Spock, you said that the province where Harrison is hiding was uninhabited?"

"Affirmative, sir," Spock nodded.

"As part of our defensive strategy, 31 developed a new photon torpedo," Marcus told them, "Long range, untraceable. It will be invisible to Klingon sensors. I don't want you hurt," he looked specifically at Victoria, then Kirk, "But I want to take him out," he agreed, "You park on the edge of the Neutral Zone, you lock on to Harrison's position, you fire, you kill him and haul ass."

Kirk nodded at that, hearing Victoria breathe a sigh of relief from beside him, "Permission to restate Mr. Spock as my First Officer and Victoria as my Engineering Liaison."

"Granted," Marcus answered promptly.

Victoria closed her eyes for only a moment at that, at having been given permission to do this. She knew it was against the rules and regulations to do what Marcus was telling them but…this was her father. Her father as dead because of Harrison. She was no stranger to breaking the rules, usually for the most trivial things.

But not this time.

This time…to hell with the rules, she was going to find the man who murdered her father and kill him if it was the last thing she did.

A/N: Poor, poor Tory :'( Poor Kirk :( This chapter killed me to write :( I think I'm almost afraid for Khan having TWO people after him who break the rules }:) I can say though that there'll be quite a few changes in events because...Kirk was fighting to go after Khan for his captain...just imagine what Victoria will do to avenge her father }:)

Some notes on reviews...

No worries, Victoria was reassigned, I couldn't keep her away from Kirk for too long ;) But I did have to lose Pike :( I really feel like half the things Kirk did to get to Khan was driven only by the fact that Pike died and without it he wouldn't have been willing to risk half of what he did :(

I couldn't put Pike in a coma, no :( With the chance of recovery or even just being injured, I don't think Kirk would have reacted like he did or been so driven to get Khan. The death was a trigger for the events of the movie so I felt like I had to keep it. And...it would be a major factor in seeing the difference between what Kirk is willing to do for his fallen captain and what Victoria is willing to do for her father }:)