Re-Engineering
Bones rushed through the hanger of the Fleet Headquarters, having spotted Kirk and Victoria storming through, both of them looking like they were on a mission of some sort, "Vicky!" he made his way behind them, "Jim. Where were you two? I mean I KNOW where Vick was…" that woman's dislike of the medbay and the rest of his team would be the death of her one day if she kept refusing to get treated and checked out whenever she was ill or hurt.
"For what?" Kirk barely paused in his stride.
"Your medical exams," Bones rolled his eyes, "You were at damn fire-fight! Now it's my duty to..."
"We're fine," Victoria cut in.
Bones scoffed at that, she always said that, she could be bleeding with her bone sticking out of her skin ready to pass out and she'd swear to god that she was 'fine' as though anyone would believe her, "The hell you are."
"Look," Kirk spun around to face him as Victoria headed into the shuttle first, "We're fine," he told the man, before dropping his voice, "Just…leave it Bones, for once just…leave it."
"Jim you can't ask me not to worry about the two of you," Bones frowned at him, "Not only are you my crew, you're my friends, you're…like a brother to me."
Kirk let out a breath, "You are too," he admitted, "But…" he glanced back at the shuttle, "We just can't deal with this right now, ok?"
Bones's jaw tensed at that, "Fine, no medbay."
Kirk nodded, turning to follow Victoria into the shuttle, not seeing Bones pull out a portable scanner, he may have promised no medbay…didn't mean he couldn't bring the medbay to them.
"Status report, Mr. Spock," Bones heard Kirk call as he entered the shuttle, seeing Victoria sitting one seat beside the aisle, Kirk in between her and Spock with Spock near the window. He could guess the sitting pattern reasons. None of them would have been in Daystrom if it hadn't been for Spock's report, no…that wasn't true, Kirk and Spock would have been the only ones there if Spock had never sent the report in. The only reason Pike had been reassigned as Captain had been because of Kirk being dismissed, the only reason Pike was in Daystrom was because he was the Captain.
Kirk would have always been there, if the report hadn't been sent, Spock would have been there too and he knew that Victoria firmly believed, given that they'd both survived the attack, that they'd have survived then as well. The only difference would have been her father wouldn't have been there to get shot, and she wouldn't have been there to watch him die in front of her.
He sighed, moving to sit on the row behind them, if he sat on Victoria's other side, he wouldn't be able to reach Kirk to check him out either, but sitting behind them and turning around would let him examine them both properly.
"The Enterprise should be ready for launch by the time we arrive," Spock assessed.
"Good, good," Kirk reached out to take Victoria's hand as he sat back, squeezing it, running his thumb on the back of it.
"Captain," Spock continued, "Thank you requesting my reinstatement."
"You're welcome," Kirk glanced over when he felt Victoria squeeze his hand to see Bones was trying to scan her.
"Bones get that thing out of my face or I swear to god I will bite you," Victoria warned.
"As I am again your First Officer," Spock went on, not seeming to notice what Bones was doing, "It is now my duty to strongly object our mission perimeters."
"Of course it is," he muttered...only to laugh when Bones let out a rather unmanly scream and pulled his hand back, rubbing his wrist where Victoria really HAD bit him, "She warned you," he shrugged at the doctor.
"There is no Starfleet regulation that condemns a man to die without a trial, something you, Admiral Marcus, and surprisingly Victoria are forgetting."
"Oh I'm not forgetting anything Spock," Victoria cut in, "I am WELL aware of the rules and regulations. I am choosing to ignore them."
Spock frowned at that, he knew that Kirk and Victoria seemed to have a penchant for doing just that but…her tone indicated it was not for a joking or justified reason, justified in the sense that it was for the greater good and not revenge, "You would do well to remember though, that preventively firing torpedoes at the Klingon Homeworld…"
"You yourself said that the area is uninhabited," Kirk shot him a glare clearly meant to tell him to shut up, yet Spock didn't seem to catch that, "There is going to be only one casualty. And in case you weren't listening, our orders have nothing do with Starfleet regulations."
"Wait a minute," Bones looked up from where he was examining the teeth marks on his wrist, "We're firing torpedoes at the Klingons?!"
"Regulations aside this action is morally wrong," Spock stated.
"Harrison's actions in Daystrom were morally wrong as well," Victoria shot back, "Are you defending him, Mr. Spock?"
Spock stiffened at the accusation, "Never," he told her earnestly, "I was merely saying, regulations…"
"Yeah, well, regulations aside, pulling your ass out of a volcano was morally right," Kirk countered, "And no one won any points for that."
"Jim, calm down," Bones muttered, seeing a spike in the scanner he was holding up to the man now.
"I'm not going to take ethics lessons from a robot!" Kirk snapped, taking a breath when Victoria squeezed his hand…only for Bones to reach through the chairs and put the end of the scanner right on Kirk's cheek, "I WILL bite you too."
"Resorting to name calling suggests that you are defensive," Spock tilted his head as he eyed Kirk, "And, therefore, find my opinion valid."
"No one asked for your opinion Spock," Victoria grumbled.
"Bones, get that thing off my face!" Kirk shouted, slapping the scanner away.
"Captain," Spock tried once more, "Our mission could start a war with the Klingons, and is, by its very definition, immoral. Perhaps you should take the requisite time to arrive at this conclusion for yourself and discuss it with Liaison Pike."
"V?" a voice called as a blonde woman in a blue uniform stepped up to them.
Kirk was about to open his mouth to ask who she was and what she wanted, when Victoria looked up, "Carol!?" she stared, before leaping to her feet and hugging the woman tightly.
"Vick," the woman, Carol, smiled, hugging her back before pulling away, "I am so sorry," she told the girl, Bones looking up at that, as far as he knew HE was the only one who called her 'Vick' or 'Vicky,' but the woman paid him no mind, "I came as soon as I heard about your dad."
"You didn't have to," she murmured.
"I did," Carol insisted, "You were there for me when my mum…passed," she offered delicately, "I couldn't let you go through this alone."
Kirk cleared his throat, "She's not exactly alone," he informed the woman, "She's got the entire crew," he stood up, "And me," before offering his hand to the woman, "Captain James T. Kirk."
Carol gave him an appraising look, already knowing who he was but having to tease her friend just a little more, "Oh, so THIS is 'James' eh?" she nudged Victoria, "You were right, he is rather hands…"
She was cut off by Victoria putting a hand over her mouth, "Don't say another word or I'll tell them about the time you had a crush on a F…"
Victoria was cut off as well by Carol returning the favor, "Deal," she laughed, pulling her hand away and hugging Victoria once more.
"Handsome am I?" Kirk grinned, already able to guess what Carol had been about to say.
"If you squint," Victoria countered playfully.
Kirk reached out and put his arm around her, "Well you're gorgeous."
"Please don't start," Bones pleaded, "Please," even though it had made Victoria smile, seemed to have made the two forget, even for a second, their sorrow…he couldn't stand the sickeningly sweet version of them. After years of them trying to murder each other…to see them being playful was still very jarring.
"I take it you know each other?" Kirk, thankfully for Bones, got back to point, looking at Carol.
Victoria nodded, "This is Carol…"
"Science officer Wallace," Carol said more formally, Spock tilting his head as he saw Victoria frown at how the woman had introduced herself, "I've been assigned to Enterprise by Admiral Marcus. These are my transfer orders," she handed Kirk the necessary documentation to look over as he sat back down, Victoria still standing though.
"You requested an additional science officer, Captain?" Spock frowned at him.
"I wish I had," he muttered, at this point he was almost regretting taking Spock back on, but he shook his head, skimming the files, "Lieutenant Carol Wallace, Doctor in Applied Physics, specializing in advanced weaponry."
"You finally got the doctorate then?" Victoria glanced at Carol, "Congratulations."
"Thanks," Carol smiled at her, proud of herself.
"Impressive credentials," Spock remarked.
"Thank you," she nodded to him as well.
"But redundant now that I'm back onboard the Enterprise."
Kirk shot Spock a look, before smiling at Carol, taking Victoria's hand to tug her down beside him once more, "The more than merrier," he welcomed her.
Victoria sat down, patting the seat beside her for Carol to join them, "I missed you V," Carol told her quietly.
"I missed you too," she gave the woman another hug, a one armed one.
She and Carol had met a few times growing up, when their fathers would serve on the same ship. Both their fathers had been very dedicated to the Fleet and they'd grown up much the same, moving from ship to ship, growing up with Cadets and Crew instead of many other children. They found a kindred spirit in each other, both being girls, with their fathers as high ranking officials, both with similar backgrounds and experiences and familiarity with the ships. She and Carol had tried to keep in touch whenever one of them had to leave a ship, they always seemed to see each other every three years or so, their fathers would just happen to get reassigned to the same ship. There had been one time Marcus had been the captain of a ship with her father as his First Officer, she and Carol had seen each other every day watching their fathers working about. They'd always talked about how much they felt they'd enjoy being assigned the same ship and being crew together.
Now, it seemed, they just might get that.
Kirk glanced over at Carol as one of the pilots came on the speakers, "Shuttle crew standby for lift off."
He could tell that there was more to Carol's transfer than just Marcus assigning her to them, he wasn't sure entirely what it was, but he knew at least one part of it was her obvious friendship with Victoria. He'd heard mention of a Carol here and there, he wasn't sure if this was the same woman, but if it was…he would gladly welcome her as one of Victoria's closest friends.
Because right now, she needed that more than anything.
He looked over at Victoria again, squeezing her hand once more as she turned to him, "It'll be alright," he murmured to her, needing her to know that it would be, that he'd take care of it, that Harrison wouldn't get away with anything.
Victoria smiled, "Thank you," she swallowed, shifting a little in her seat to rest her head to his shoulder, just...needing a short nap, despite all the energy she'd wasted the last few days, all the adrenaline sapping her strength, she just...hadn't been able to fall asleep, but...she really was tired and she trusted Kirk enough to drift off on his shoulder, not seeing Kirk smile and close his own eyes, resting his head against hers.
As a result, neither of them noticed Carol watching them for a moment, before she smiled herself.
~8~
Victoria looked over as she and Kirk stepped off the shuttle into the engineering bay of the Enterprise to see Scotty having some sort of heated debate (shouting match) with one of the representatives that Marcus had sent to deliver the torpedoes to the ship.
"No!" Scotty was yelling, "I'm not signing anything, now get these bloody things off of my ship!" he suddenly quieted when he saw Kirk and Victoria approaching, "Captain, lovely lass," he greeted.
Kirk rolled his eyes at Scotty's newest name for Victoria, "Is there a problem, Mr. Scott?"
"Aye Sir," Scotty nodded, "I was just explaining to this gentlemen. That I cannae authorize any weapons onboard this ship without knowing what's inside them."
"Mr. Scott rises yet another point," Spock commented as he approached them.
"Report to the Bridge," Kirk ordered the Vulcan.
Spock's lips pursed but he gave a short nod, "Captain," and turned to go.
"Mr. Scott," Kirk sighed, turning back to Scotty, "I understand your concerns but we need these torpedoes onboard."
"Due respect, sir," Scotty argued, "But Photon torpedoes run on fuel. Now I cannae detect the type of fuel that's in the compartments on these torpedoes, because it's shielded. Now I asked for the specifications, but he said..." he pointed back at the man.
"It's classified," the man repeated.
"It's Classified. So I said, no specs no signature!"
"Captain," they looked up, hearing and seeing Sulu above them, "Flight checks complete. We're good to go, Sir."
"Thank you Mr. Sulu," Kirk nodded.
"Yes sir."
"Now, if you'll excuse me, sir," Scotty continued, "I have a warp core to prime. If you'd like to join me Lassie?" Scotty glanced at Victoria, knowing that she likely didn't want more people giving her condolences and just…needed something to get her mind off of everything…only to see Keenser sitting on top of equipment behind her, "Get down!"
"Jim," Bones cut in, "Your vitals way off. Report to the medbay."
"Scotty," Victoria stepped up to the man, "Please…I wouldn't ask this of you, believe me, I KNOW how dangers having these torpedoes onboard is, but…we NEED them here."
"Do you know what that is?" Scotty just pointed at the warp core.
"The warp core," she stated flatly, "I get it Scotty, it's radioactive to the point where even the smallest change in the magnetic output can set off an explosion that would kill us all."
"Oh yeah," Scotty rolled his eyes, "A small change…like firing one or more of 6 dozen torpedoes with an unknown payload," he shook his head, "Victoria you KNOW how dangerous this is!"
"And Harrison is much more dangerous than that," she countered.
Scotty sighed, "I'm sorry sir," he turned to Kirk, "But letting those torpedoes onboard the Enterprise is the last straw."
"What was the first straw?" Kirk scoffed.
"What was the...there are plenty of straws! How about Starfleet confiscating my transwarp equation? And now some madman's using it to hop across the galaxy! Where do you think he got it from? DO you have any idea how guilty that makes me feel," he looked at Kirk, "To know that MY device, MY equation was used by some high and mighty Fleet officer to attack Daystrom?" he swallowed hard, "Harrison used MY device and now Captain Pike is…"
"Scotty," Kirk cut in with a hard note in his voice, his eyes narrowing at the man as he saw Victoria flinch, "We have orders, Scotty."
Scotty was silent a moment, offering Victoria an apologetic look before turning to Kirk once more, "That's what scares me. This is clearly a military operation. Is that we are now? Cos I thought we were explorers."
"Sign for the torpedoes. That's an order."
"I'm sorry sir, but I cannae do that."
"Fine, then I will," Victoria cut in, "Give me the board," she held out her hand for the datapad in the official's hand.
"You cannae do that lass!" Scotty tried to stop her.
But she pulled her arm away and stepped back, "As Liaison to the Bridge, I supersede the authority of the acting engineering officer," she mumbled under her breath a rule she had never thought she'd ever use, least of all against Scotty, signing the pad and handing it back to the man.
"Thank you ma'am," the official nodded, turning to head out, leaving the torpedoes behind.
"Right, well then, if you clearly don't need me," Scotty frowned, watching Victoria look at the torpedoes, never having thought she, of all people, would do that to him, "You leave me no choice but to resign my duties."
"Come on, Scotty…" Kirk shook his head.
"You and Liaison Pike have given me no choice, sir," Scotty defended, not sure how he felt when Victoria didn't flinch at the formal use of her title, something he knew she hated, having spent so long not being referred to as Pike, knowing that the repeated use of her last name was just digging up memories of her father.
"We're giving you a choice…"
"You're just making the wrong one," Victoria looked at him, a hard, dark look in her eyes that broke his heart to see mixed with the pain of loss.
"Do you accept my resignation or not?" Scotty merely looked at Kirk.
Kirk let out a breath, "I do," he swallowed, "You are you relieved, Mr. Scott."
Scotty seemed almost shocked that Kirk had really done that, really accepted his resignation, hadn't even fought against it really, "Jim, Tory," he looked at them pleadingly, "For the love of God, do not use those torpedoes."
Victoria merely held out her hand expectantly, Scotty sighing as he handed over his own datapad, he and Keenser heading to the shuttle that would return them to Earth, none of them aware that Spock was watching the entire confrontation from the Bridge.
~8~
Kirk and Victoria stepped onto the turbolift to take it up to the Bridge, Uhura already within, "Tory," she immediately hugged the girl the second the doors closed, "I'm so sorry…"
"Thanks," she murmured, closing her eyes tight till she felt someone take her hand and tug her back, making her release Uhura. Kirk moved her closer to him, winding an arm around her, knowing how much everyone repeatedly telling her how sorry they were got to her and just kept forcing her to think about what happened, and how sorry she felt as well.
"We all are," he added quietly.
"Are you ok?" Uhura reached out to rub Victoria's arm comfortingly, "Both of you?" she added when Victoria gave her a small nod, Kirk just remaining stone faced.
"Fine, thank you Lieutenant," he answered, before letting out a huff, "Actually, Scotty just quit, we need a new engineer," he refused to let Victoria be down there, not just because he didn't want her around the torpedoes if they were really as dangerous as she and Scotty had mentioned, but also…he just…he was being selfish. She was the most qualified to take over for Scotty but he wanted her with him, on the Bridge, where she always was. He couldn't help but feel like that sense of normalcy, to be in the same job and station she always was might…help, "And your boyfriend's second guessing us every chance he gets."
"James," Victoria shook her head, not wanting him to take his frustrations out on Uhura, it sounded like he was blaming her for Spock or something.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, "That was inappropriate. It's just…sometimes I want to rip those things off his head. Hell maybe it's me."
"It's not you," Uhura muttered quickly, making Victoria smile a little more.
"It's not?" Kirk frowned.
"Ny…are YOU ok?" Victoria glanced at her, "Are you and Spock fighting?"
"I'd Rather not talk about it," Uhura said diplomatically, though Victoria knew she meant she'd rather not talk about it in front of Kirk.
"Oh my God," Kirk blinked, justifying Uhura's lack of willingness to bring it up around him with just that reaction, "What is it even like?" the doors opened to the Bridge to reveal Spock standing there, waiting for them. Uhura gave him a hard look and took Victoria's arm, stepping out of the lift with her, leaving Kirk to face the Vulcan down, "Your ears burning?" he quipped, moving to leave the lift after the girls…but Spock grabbed his arm.
"Captain," he began, turning Kirk around to face him, making sure that he was listening before he continued, "I understand that attempts to reason with you by means of citing the violations of the rules may not be the most efficient way to convince you of the immorality of this mission…" Kirk rolled his eyes, but Spock wasn't done, "I have thought, however, to try a different, more…human tactic."
Kirk scoffed, "Take your best shot."
"Victoria Pike," Spock stated, making Kirk freeze, the smug smirk falling off his face, "In encouraging her, in enabling her pursuit of Harrison, and in agreeing to the terms set out by Admiral Marcus…are you not ensuring that she will become a murderer, just as Harrison is?"
"She is NOTHING like Harrison," Kirk glared at Spock.
"To murder someone else in cold blood, in an attack, is much like Harrison," Spock pointed out, before tilting his head, "Would Captain Pike be proud of her, of you, of either of you if he were here to see what you are planning?" he paused a moment, "Would he wish to see his daughter become that which you are leading her to?"
Kirk's eyes narrowed, his jaw tensed, his hands clenched into fists…all of which Spock noticed, before the Vulcan gave a curt nod and headed to his post, seeing that his point had been made, that Kirk had listened to his argument…he would not be reacting if he were not considering the words that had been spoken.
"Captain on the bridge!" Chekov's voice called as Kirk turned to follow Spock with his glare, taking a step into the Bridge.
"Captain," Sulu greeted, their calls shaking Kirk from his thoughts.
The man turned and headed for Chekov, "Mr. Chekhov. You've been shadowing Mr. Scott and Liaison Pike, you are familiar with Engineering systems of this ship?"
"Affirmative, sir," Chekov nodded, before smiling, "Wictoria believes I have a talent for engineering."
"Good," he patted Chekov on the back, "You're my new chief, go put on the red shirt."
Chekov blinked at that, dread filling him at the thought of putting on the cursed red shirt. There was a myth surrounding it, that those who wore it tended to end up being the ones who died the most often. Victoria had reassured him it wasn't a myth…it was reality. It was actually based in the area of focus that the red shirt represented that explained why so many who wore it tended to die. Engineers, who toiled away in front of what was essentially a nuclear disaster waiting to happen and seeped in radiation, and Security, who were the front line of defense and the soldiers of the ships, were the ones in the most dangerous professions while onboard a starship. They were put in the most deadly situations on a regular, they WOULD be the ones to die most often.
But Victoria had also promised that she would teach him a few tricks she'd picked up from watching engineers her entire life that would help him.
…she hadn't quite gotten around to it though.
"Aye, Captain," Chekov breathed, before rising and heading out of the Bridge in a daze of apprehension.
"Retract all moorings, Mr. Sulu," Kirk called, after quite a few minutes of sitting contemplatively in his chair.
"Yes, sir," Sulu nodded.
"Lieutenant Uhura, open the ship wide channel."
"Yes, sir," Uhura clicked a few buttons, and nodded at him.
"Victoria?" he glanced at her.
"Chekhov," she called, handling the lines to Engineering, "How is everything?"
"All systems nominal, Wictoria," Chekov responded, recalling her earlier order to just call her that instead of all the Liaison Pike business, and he suspected 'Pike' was the LAST thing she wanted to hear right now.
"And our warp capabilities?"
"Warp available upon command," He confirmed.
"Thanks Chekov," she smiled, before turning in her chair to face Kirk, "Engineering is a go."
He nodded, "Alright, let's ride," he pointed to Sulu.
"Yes, sir," Sulu reached out and sent them into warp.
"Channel open, sir," Uhura added, bringing up the ship-wide broadcast.
"Attention, crew of the Enterprise," Kirk began, "As most of you know, Christopher Pike, former captain of this ship, and father to one of our own," he swallowed, seeing Victoria flinch at that, "Is dead. The man who killed him has fled our system, and is hiding in the Klingon Homeworld. Somewhere he believes we are unwilling to go. We are on our way there now. Per Admiral Marcus, it is essential that our presence go undetected. Tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire have been high, any provocation could lead to all out war," he hesitated a moment, glancing at Victoria as she turned to see why he had stopped talking.
He let out a breath, seeing it now, seeing the dark determination in her eyes…she really would kill the man, with her bare hands if necessary (he didn't doubt she'd be able to either), the second they found him. And…he couldn't do that to her. Not her. Victoria Pike wasn't a killer, Captain Pike's daughter was not a murderer, and…if he could keep her from falling into that darkness…he'd do it.
He would NOT let her become the monster they were hunting.
And so he took a breath, and continued, even knowing his words would disappoint Victoria inordinately, "I will personally lead a landing party to an abandoned city on the surface of Kronos. There we will capture the fugitive, John Harrison, and return him to Earth so he can face judgment for his actions," he looked at Victoria, mouthing 'I'm Sorry' to her as she looked down, almost as though she expected him to do this, "Alright, let's go get this son of a bitch. Kirk out."
"Captain," Spock called as Kirk stood, "I believe you have made the right decision. If I can be of assistance, I would be happy to accompany you on the away team."
"You, happy?" he scoffed.
"I was simply attempting to use your vernacular to convey an idea."
"Thank you, Mr. Spock," Kirk rolled his eyes and headed over to Victoria, "Listen, Victoria…I'm sor…"
"I get it," she cut in, not looking at him though, "It's too dangerous, it's too great a risk," she shrugged, trying to hide the crack in her voice, "My father's dead…and we're just going to go capture his murderer," her words turned bitter.
"I want to take him out as much as you do," Kirk tried to talk to her.
"No," she turned to face him, making him flinch to see tears in her eyes, "You don't. Otherwise we'd be prepping the torpedoes right now and taking that bastard out in a firefight like he did to dad."
"How does that make us better than him?" he countered, hating that he was essentially using Spock's arguments.
Victoria just shook her head and stood up, striding out of the Bridge, unable to stand being there any longer. She knew that Kirk was right, how would murdering Harrison make her any different than him murdering her father? But she couldn't think like that, she couldn't let herself, one slip in her thoughts…and Harrison wouldn't pay for his crimes at all. She knew it was terrible to think like that, she knew it was wrong, but…her father was dead, she'd seen him die in front of her eyes and all she wanted to do was see Harrison go the same way, and know he couldn't ever hurt another person the way he'd hurt her, that he'd never take another person's loved one away from them in such a horrible manner.
~8~
"Carol?" Victoria called as she entered Engineering, needing just…something to do to keep her occupied or she'd go storming back to the Bridge and probably punch Kirk, and she didn't want to hurt him just because she was cross. Well…not physically hurt him, she knew her words before had been biting and bitter, but…she couldn't understand why no one seemed to be willing to avenge their former Captain!
Both Spock AND Kirk had been able to avenge their mother and father respectively, had been able to take out Nero…why couldn't she have the same courtesy?
"Vicky!" Carol gasped, turning from where she was scanning one of the torpedoes to face her friend, "You startled me."
"You were too focused," she nudged the woman, "No my fault," she came up along the torpedoes and looked down at one of them, "Why are you here?"
"I wanted to verify that the torpedoes…"
"Carol," she cut in, giving her a look, "You KNOW what I meant. Introducing yourself as Wallace?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Like you've never tried to stay away from using YOUR father's name," Carol rolled her eyes, before realizing what she'd said, "I'm so sorry…"
"Stop," she shook her head, "Please, just…stop with the sorrys. I just want people to stop apologizing, it's not going to bring him back."
"Sor…" Carol caught herself before sighing, "You hacked into my transfers didn't you?"
"Your dad would NEVER assign you here," Victoria shrugged, "And you were TOO insistent that they call you Wallace. The Admiral has no idea you're here does he?"
"No," Carol admitted, "I had access to some of the research done in Section 31 but…"
Before she could finish, there was a terrible jolt that sent them both falling to the floor, one Victoria was familiar with, a jolt that only happened when someone in engineering dropped a ship out of warp manually.
"Mr. Chekov, did you break my ship?!" Kirk's voice came over the comms..
"Sorry, sir," they saw Chekov rush over to the comm., goggles on his head, "I don't know what happened…"
Victoria ran over to help him with the scans and readings, knowing the flashing lights and alarms that had started were probably NOT helping the poor boy focus, "It's the core," she reported, "It overheated."
"Aye," Chekov nodded, "I had to actiwate the emergency stop."
"If it's overheated, it has to be a cooling leak," she turned to Chekov, "You need to find it as soon as possible."
Chekov nodded, "Understood," before calling out to Kirk, "Sorry, Captain."
"Damn it," they could hear Kirk over the comms., clearly he'd forgotten they were still open, "Mr. Sulu, time to our destination."
"20 minutes sir," Sulu reported, "That's 20 minutes in enemy space that we weren't counting on."
"Alright, we better hop to it. Mr. Spock you're coming with me to Kronos. Lieutenant, how's your Klingon?"
"It's rusty but it's good," Uhura responded.
"Good, you're coming too. This isn't going to be a problem, is it? You two working together?"
"Absolutely not."
Spock though, paused, "Unclear."
There was a moment before Kirk was on the comm. again, "Victoria?"
She sighed, rubbing her head, "It won't be a problem for us either," she answered, knowing that he had called out to her because he wanted her to go with them. If they were going to take out Harrison, SHE was going to be there to see it happen.
"Meet you by the shuttles," he called, before the comm. clicked off.
Victoria turned to head over to them…only to see Carol smirking at her, "What?"
"Nothing," Carol shook her head, amused, "Just…you let him call you Victoria?" she started to smirk more knowingly now, realizing what that meant for her friend to allow the man to do so.
Victoria just shook her head, knowing that Carol was all too aware of how much she usually hated when people called her by her full name, the implication that Kirk wasn't just 'people' to her, "Shut up."
A/N: Poor Kirk/Victoria...Kirkoria? Virk? Tork? Kiry? Hmmm...no idea lol :) But at least Kirk seems to have snapped out of it a little :) Look at Spock being all sly there lol :) But tomorrow...Khan! }:)
Sorry this was so late :( My great-uncle died on Saturday and it's been a mess of family and wakes and the funeral is today so I haven't hade as much time to edit :( I got up extra early today before the funeral to try and get this out before I have to go :(
Some notes on reviews...
Oh Tory will be uber-angry when she finds out what Marcus has done }:) Especially because we find out here that she sort of knows him more than she let on, she's friends with his daughter, she grew up around the man as well...I feel so bad for both women when they find out what he did :(
I was debating Kirk's reaction, whether to have him be more distant and unnoticing of Carol, like is (now) with all women who aren't Victoria or the crew, but given her friendship with Victoria, I feel like he'd just try to be a friend to her :) I can say we'll see a bit of Carol bonding with another member of the crew ;)