Kronos
Kirk closed his eyes, not entirely sure how he felt about Victoria joining them. He knew that it was only fair she come. Harrison had killed her father in the attack, of all of them she was the most closely and deeply affected by the events, she deserved to be there. On the other hand…he just couldn't help but feel like he should do everything in his power to keep her as far away from Harrison as possible. Spock was right, he and Victoria had been so angry that they would have killed the man, they would have been willing to start a war to do it. Victoria still was, but he…he still wanted to end Harrison, but he could see that doing so in the same manner the man had, with a firefight on the Klingon Homeworld would only make them more like him.
He didn't want that, he didn't want Victoria to fall into that trap, but she was hardheaded at the best of times, it would take more than just him telling her about his fears for her to wake up herself. If he did…she'd just fight him more, it would push her to go after Harrison herself. So he had to keep her close, so he could watch over her. She was too important to him to let her fall through the cracks like that.
"I'll meet you in the shuttle bay," he called into the comms. while also speaking to Uhura and Spock, who nodded and headed out of the room.
"Jim," Bones moved in front of him to stop him following, "You're not actually going down there, are you? You don't rob a bank, when the getaway car has a flat tire! Believe me, I know, Vick and I learned that the hard way."
Kirk was in the middle of rolling his eyes when Bones's words caught up to him, "When did you two rob a bank? And why wasn't I invited?"
"Not the time Jim," Bones reminded him, not about to tell him that adventure. It hadn't exactly been a bank but they HAD stolen some things, small things.
"Look, Victoria will get Engineering to have us all patched up by the time we get back," Kirk sighed, "Isn't that right, Tor?"
"I'm giving Chekov a crash course as we speak," she called back the affirmative.
"Yes, Captain," Chekov agreed, "I'll do my best, Sir.'
"Mr. Sulu," Kirk turned to the pilot, "You have the comm.. Once we're on route, I want you to transmit a targeted comm-burst to Harrison's location. Tell him you have a bunch of real big torpedoes pointed at his head and if he doesn't play nice you're not afraid to use 'em," he glanced at Sulu to see him sitting there stiffly, staring at him with what looked like apprehension, "Is that a problem?"
"No, sir," Sulu answered promptly, "I've just…never sat in the chair before."
"You'll hate it!" came Victoria's shout, the comm. still open.
Kirk shook his head at her, that as one of their biggest differences, he'd always wanted to be a captain, even when he'd been on Earth in Iowa, not that he'd ever admit that to anyone. He'd always wanted to be like his father, a captain, saving people, commanding a crew…except without the dying part. And now he was, and he loved it, he loved knowing his crew looked up to him, that they respected him. He even enjoyed being in charge of them, knowing his decisions affected so many people. It was and incredible feeling to be able to be responsible for so much and so many and that ship! The Enterprise was the jewel of the Fleet.
Victoria was the opposite, she hated being in charge of the entire ship, she could barely handle being in charge of engineering, hence why she'd focused on being a liaison instead of one of the main chiefs. She'd rather be on the Bridge and helping the captain than in the engine room where the others were. Oh she loved engineering too, she enjoyed making things and fixing things and the hum of the warp, but she was content in working there. She didn't want the responsibility of being in charge of so many people. She'd be more likely to hide behind the chair than willingly sit down upon it.
"You're going to do great," Kirk offered Sulu, turning to go…only for Bones to get in his way again.
"Jim, wait. You just sat that man down on high stakes poker game, with no cards and told him to bluff. Now," he shook his head, "Sulu is a good man, but he is no Captain…"
"For next 2 hours he is," Kirk cut back, "And enough with the metaphors, alright. I get enough of that from Victoria and yours are worse than hers!" he honestly hadn't thought that was possible, but Bones continuously proved him wrong, "That's an order. Mr. Sulu," he added to the man again, "Make sure that the knormian ship is ready to fly."
Sulu nodded and moved to the chair as Kirk left the room, "Acting Captain Sulu to shuttle-bay 2," he called into the comm., "Please have the trade ship we confiscated during the mud incident last month fuelled and flight ready. Captain Kirk is on route to you right now."
~8~
Kirk looked around the hanger to see Victoria speaking with another engineer, a Mr. Hendor if he recalled correctly. He stood there a moment, watching them converse about the shuttle, before he nodded to himself and headed over to her. He wound his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her head and giving her a squeeze. He knew she was likely in NO mood for such displays now that they were closer to finding Harrison, but…he just wanted her to smile again, to feel safe and warm and loved…and hope that it would pull her out of the thoughts of revenge that had led to her current state.
"How's it looking?" he asked her, smiling when she lifted her arms to rest her hands on his forearm around her front,
"The shuttle should be ready to deploy in a few minutes."
"Right," he nodded, before glancing at the two other engineers, "Lieutenants lose the red shirts. You are khormian arms dealers, put those on," he gestured to Uhura as she and Spock, dressed more like the arms dealers, walked up with spare uniforms, Uhura handing one to each man, Spock giving Victoria hers.
"Sir?" Hendor blinked, confused.
"Look if this thing goes south, there can be nothing, tying us to Starfleet," he warned, "Unless of course you want to start a war, Mr. Hendor?"
"No, sir."
Kirk glanced at the second man, "No sir," he bowed his head like the first soldier had done.
"Good, me neither. Victoria," he squeezed her a moment till she looked up at him, "Need help changing?"
An elbow to the gut was the answer he got.
"I'll take that as a no," he managed to ground out.
~8~
"I am detecting a single life sign in Keth Province," Spock reported a short while later as they flew the shuttle over the landscape of Kronos, everyone oddly silent and serious, something that actually made the crew shift to hear Kirk so on task, though they all felt they should have expected it, when it came to Victoria and things that affected her…he was very one-track minded, "Given the information provided by Mr. Scott, this is most likely John Harrison.'
"Mr. Sulu," Kirk called over the comm., "I think we found our man, you let him know you mean business."
"Aye, captain," Sulu cleared his throat, all of them able to hear his next words despite them being directed and transmitted to Harrison, "Attention, John Harrison. This is Captain Hikaru Sulu of the USS Enterprise. A shuttle of highly trained officers is on its way to your location. If you do not surrender to them immediately, I will unleash the entire payload of advanced, long-range torpedoes currently locked on to your location. You have two minutes to confirm your compliance. Refusal to do so will result in your obliteration. If you test me…you will fail."
"Mr. Sulu," Bones spoke a moment after the transmission to Harrison cut off, "Remind me never to piss you off."
"Could have told you that Bonesy," Victoria muttered, though Kirk smiled a little at hearing it, her sense of humor was peeking through and that was a great sign in his book that she was still in there, the real her, not the angry, bitter, vengeance seeking (both admittedly reasonable for her to be that, and also incredibly attractive in his mind to see her sort of dangerous like that…though a danger he was not going to let her fall into completely if he could help it) mourning daughter.
"We will arrive at Harrison's location in three minutes, Captain," Spock added, "It's unlikely that he will come willingly."
"Don't worry about that Spock," Victoria remarked, "I will drag him out of there kicking and screaming and in pieces if I have to."
Kirk winced at that, he should NOT find the image of her doing so as appealing as he did, it was just…he and Victoria were so alike but also so different. Where he was the main flirt in the relationship, her only teasing him back, flirting to counter him, she didn't usually start the flirt attacks. She usually just retaliated and sometimes teased him to torment him. But she was remarkably controlled over herself, when the weren't bickering or letting it purposefully escalate into an agreement. To see her losing a little of that control, even with it being for such a dark situation…he could admit it WAS appealing to see, to see such raw emotion out of her.
"I would not suggest such a course of action," Spock warned, "I calculate the odds him attempting to kill us at 91.6%."
"Fantastic," Kirk grumbled.
"Good thing you don't care about dying," Uhura muttered.
"I am Sorry, Lieutenant," Spock glanced at her, "I could not hear what you..."
"Oh, I didn't say anything…" she said quickly, before thinking better of it, "Actually I'd be happy to speak if you're willing listen to me."
"Guys…"
"Just let them hash it out James," Victoria cut in, "Better they do it now than let it fester longer or do it in the middle of a truly bad situation."
Kirk sighed but stayed quiet as Spock spoke again, "Lieutenant I would prefer to discuss this in private."
"You would prefer not to discuss this at all," Uhura snapped.
"Our plans..."
"At that volcano you didn't give a thought to us," Uhura cut in, "What would it do to me if you died, Spock. You didn't feel anything. You didn't care. And I'm not only one who's upset with you, the captain's is too. Tory's probably furious…"
"No, no," Kirk shook his head, "Don't drag us into this."
"She's got a point though," Victoria countered.
"Your suggestion that I do not care about dying is incorrect," Spock stated, sounding more like he was about to start a lecture rather than offer a heartfelt apology for frightening the woman who loved him the way he had, "A sentient beings optimal chance to maximizing utility is a long and prospers life."
"Great," Uhura rolled her eyes, seeming to sense that as well.
"Not exactly a love-song, Spock," Kirk remarked, his mind racing for all the ways he'd LOVE to say he was sorry to Victoria if ever they fought like that.
Well, that was a strange thought to realize. They'd never actually fought that terribly before that they were at such odds to be so angry. They fought all the time when they first met, but the very next day it would be like it hadn't happened. They fought even now but it ended up being more with a playful undertone to it. They hadn't actually fought fought like that, and he was almost interested to see what might happen if they did.
Making up would, undoubtedly, be a phenomenal experience.
"You misunderstand," Spock repeated, "It is true I chose not to feel anything upon realizing that my own life was ending. I apologize for speaking of this, Liaison Pike," Spock glanced at her, the formal title meaning he was trying to keep this as personal as he could for him and Uhura and as professional for all other parties involved, "But as Admiral Pike was dying I joined with his conscience, and experienced what he felt at the moment of his passing…anger, confusion, loneliness. Fear. I had experienced those feelings before, multiplied exponentially on the day my planet was destroyed, such a feeling is something I choose never to experience again. Nyota," he turned to her, seeing her listening, "You mistake my choice not to feel as a reflection of my not caring, while I assure you, the truth is precisely the opposite."
Uhura opened her mouth to remark on that when the ship jolted suddenly, nearly sending them flying out of their seats had they not been strapped in, "What the hell was that?" Kirk shouted.
"An attack James!" Victoria turned to her controls, checking the readings of the ship, "What else could it be?!"
"We are being pursued by a D4 class Klingon vessel," Spock reported.
"I thought this sector was abandoned," Kirk glanced at him.
"It must be a random patrol," Uhura frantically tried to keep their comm. line open with the Enterprise.
"Hold on!" he winced as the ship was hit again, reaching out to grab Victoria's hand as the ship shook.
"James we don't have any weapons on this shuttle," Victoria reminded him, having made it her duty to memorize the schematics and capabilities of all shuttles and vessels that the Enterprise took on.
"She's got us," he squeezed her hand before letting go to focus on the controls before him, "Give me all six fuel cells."
"Aye captain!" Hendor rushed to get it done.
"Damn it!" Kirk winced as they were struck yet again.
"We don't have any real shields either!" Victoria had to add.
"And they are closing fast," Uhura responded, "Bearing 285."
Kirk glanced down at his scanner, showing a 3D map/grid-like image of the area, helping him pilot, and revealing a fracture of sorts between two mountains, ""Right there! There! We can lose them there."
"If you are suggesting we utilize the passage between the approaching structures, the ship will not fit," Spock warned.
"We'll fit."
"Captain we will not fit!"
"Spock shut up!" Victoria shouted, grabbing the arms of her chair as they flew right at the crack.
"We'll fit," Kirk gripped the steering tightly, "We'll fit!" before letting out a shout, the shuttle flying through the crevice, literally barely making it in the end, knocking off a rather big piece of the craft in the process, till they emerged on the other side. Kirk grinned, lying back in his seat, impressed and relieved, "Told you we'd fit."
"Never doubted it," Victoria pushed herself out of her seat to give him a quick kiss on the cheek for it, only for Kirk to reach out and touch her face, holding her there as he gave her a kiss on the lips instead.
"I am not sure that qualifies," Spock remarked, making Victoria roll her eyes at that, though Kirk smiled more, seeing some of the old Victoria coming back from the murderous thoughts of Harrison.
"Any sign of them?" Kirk looked over at Uhura.
"No," she answered, "Which worries me."
"We lost them," Kirk let out a breath.
"Or they're jamming our scanners."
"You're being a killjoy again Ny," Victoria told her, Uhura had always been a bit…more strict and sensible than she was. It probably helped keeping her out of trouble just a little in the time they'd been at the Academy, but not by much. She sighed though, "And probably right."
This was turning out to be a little too much like when Vulcan had been attacked. Uhura hadn't been able to hear any transmissions at all from any of the Fleet ships before warp was over. The silence was what had alarmed the crew the most, that NOTHING was coming through. And then, moments after that, they'd entered the middle of an attack. She was afraid this would be the same, that there was silence…and then they'd be fired on again or some sort of ambush would happen or…
"Or we lost them," Kirk insisted, starting to lead the ship up to continue on their quest…only for them to fly right before three Klingon ships that were waiting for them. The lights on the other ships turned on, trapping them in the spotlight, giving them nowhere to fly off that they wouldn't be spotted.
Uhura frowned, listening to the guttural Klingon that sounded from the other ships, translating for them, "They're ordering us to land."
Kirk sighed and nodded at that, the ship slowly descending, the other Klingon ships moving with them till they were all on the ground of the Klingon world.
Victoria stared out the window at the other ships, the Klingon words starting up again, "That…doesn't sound very good," she muttered, glancing at Uhura, "And it's not, is it Ny?"
Uhura swallowed, "They're going to want to know why we're here," she summarized what she was hearing, "And they're going to torture us, question us, and they're going to kill us."
"So, we come out shooting," Kirk decided.
"How?" Victoria shook her head, "I'm all for a challenge James, but we're too outnumbered. We have what? A handful of phasers? They have gunships," she gestured out at the make of the ships, it could be nothing else.
"There's no way we survive if we attack first," Uhura agreed, turning to Kirk, "You brought me here because I speak Klingon. Then let me speak Klingon."
Kirk shook his head, "No."
~8~
Uhura stepped out of the ship, slowly making her way towards the Klingon vessels, alone. She was very grateful for Victoria for convincing Kirk to let her at least try this…she honestly wasn't sure how the girl had done it, looking at Spock before she'd left, he hadn't known either, not even KIRK seemed to understand how he'd gone from refusing to let her out to opening the door for her. They'd all sort of just given up trying to work that out. Victoria seemed to have little ways that she did that, made Kirk agree to things, depending on the situation it could be a look, a touch, a kiss, a plea…they just let her go with it and if it benefited them, who were they to complain?
"This isn't going to work," Kirk let out a breath as they watched Uhura from the shuttle.
"It is our only logical option," Spock stated, though his gaze was locked on Uhura as well, watching as she approached the ship with her hands in the air, the door to the Klingon ship opening as what looked like a small army stepped out, "And if you interrupt her now you will not only incur the wrath of the Klingons, but that of Lieutenant Uhura as well."
"Trust me James," Victoria mumbled, "If you think I'M bad when I'm angry…" she shook her head, "Ny scares ME when she's furious."
Kirk gave a low whistle at that, Victoria could be…very scary when she was angry at him. To find out that Uhura scared even HER…he really did NOT want to see the woman truly angry if that was the case.
"What's she saying?" Kirk frowned, trying to make out what the two were discussing, Uhura's comm. sewn into her uniform was on, one of his conditions to let her go.
"I am here to help you," Spock translated for them.
Kirk rolled his eyes at that, Spock's voice was monotone even when he translated things. He turned and moved to the back, grabbing a few phasers, before he handed them out. One of the Klingon had stepped up to address Uhura and that made him nervous, the Klingon being so close to her. He just…wanted them to be ready to help her if she needed it.
He paused though when he turned back to see Victoria had taken a seat in his chair, "That's MY chair," he mock-pouted at her.
"Don't be selfish James," she countered, her gaze on Uhura.
"Says the woman not sharing her chair," he rolled his eyes, handing her a phaser.
"Like you share your chair," she scoffed.
"Ok, compromise…" he walked over to her and yanked her up, tuning to sit and half spinning her around to pull her down with him.
"I like this compromise," she offered him a small smile as he wrapped his arms around her.
"If you could refrain from speaking," Spock cut in, a hint of an edge of frustration to his voice, "I would be better able to hear the Lieutenant."
"Sorry," Kirk cleared his throat, gesturing Spock to continue his translations.
"With respect," Spock began for Uhura, "There is a criminal hiding in these ruins. He has killed many of our people."
"Did he just take off his helmet?" Kirk leaned forward, shifting Victoria to do so, the two of them squinting as one of the Klingon, the one addressing Uhura, did in fact remove his helmet.
"Why should I care about a human killing humans?" Spock translated for the Klingon, switching to Uhura, "Because you care about honor. And this man has none. You and your people are in danger…"
He cut off suddenly when the Klingon standing in front of Uhura grabbed her face, pulling a knife out and holding it against her.
"Go!" Kirk gave the order that send all of them running for the doors to go after her. But just as they reached them, they heard a blast.
They paused for only a moment, looking out the window to see someone had just attacked the Klingons, taking out the one that had been grabbing Uhura. Unfortunately that meant that the Klingons were now returning fire and Uhura was caught in the middle of it as she tried to get back to the shuttle.
"Not again," Victoria breathed, seeing the firefight, seeing one of her closest friends trapped between it, and turned to bolt out the door. She couldn't do this, she couldn't stand there, she'd stood there before focusing on the enemy instead of the people in a room and her father had died because of it. Not again.
"Victoria!" Kirk called as he raced after her out of the shuttle, the men following, to see her firing only at the ones that were right behind Uhura and aiming at her and followed suit.
The Enterprise crew ran into the fray, trying to get to Uhura who had taken cover, all of them firing at any Klingon they saw while the figure that had first attacked took out quite a few of their numbers. They ended up separated, all of them, Victoria managing to make it to Uhura's side…only to have the woman steal her phaser and fire at the Klingons herself, she knew what a terrible shot Victoria was and truly her aim HAD been just that bad. She hadn't managed to take out any of the Klingons nor land any fatal wound but Uhura certainly was. She hadn't cared though, she just needed to make it to Uhura's side and get her out of there, which she was.
"Come on!" she grabbed Uhura, pulling her towards where she could see the crew gathering…only Kirk was missing. She looked around, trying to find him, only to see him crash to the ground as a Klingon attacked, "James!" she screamed…
When a blast flew right into the Klingon about to attack him, sent at the Klingon by the figure who pulled down his mask to reveal himself to be Harrison.
Victoria swallowed the bile at the thought that the man who had killed her father had just saved another man she loved, before she ran to Kirk, helping him up and pulling him back towards the grew, all of them watching as Harrison took out the rest of the Klingons singlehandedly, whether with a phaser, a knife, or just himself as a weapon…
And then he turned his sights on them, striding towards them with a gun, Kirk and Victoria having fallen to the ground when they reached the crew, panting, while Uhura crouched beside them.
Spock, though, grabbed a gun and moved to defend them, aiming it at Harrison, "Stand down!"
"How many torpedoes?" the man asked, completely ignoring the gun aimed at him.
"Stand down!" Spock repeated, glaring.
Harrison merely turned, firing at Spock's gun to knock it away, and returned his attention to the crew, "The torpedoes! The weapons you threatened me with in your message, how many are they?"
Spock glanced at Kirk and Victoria and Uhura to see them glaring at him, all unwilling to answer and so he did instead, "72."
Harrison glanced at him for that, before dropping his gun and holding up his hands, "I surrender."
Spock, not trusting the sudden move, grabbed Harrison's gun and aimed it at him to be safe.
Kirk swallowed, looking at Victoria who was glaring at the man and squeezed her hand, patting it before he stood, glancing at Uhura and giving her a small jerk of the head towards Victoria. The woman nodded and took his place beside her, putting an arm around her, able to see the tears in the woman's eyes, able to even see the murderous thoughts reflected in them against Harrison. Kirk turned to Harrison, "On the behalf of Christopher Pike, my friend, my father-in-law," he added with a glare, Harrison tilting his head at that in curiosity, as though able to tell Kirk was NOT married, "I accept your surrender…"
And then Kirk punched him in the face, making Harrison's head jerk to the side but it did little else. So he punched him again, and again, and again, and kicked him and hit his stomach and attacked him every way he could till he felt like he couldn't move his limbs any more…and Harrison just stood there, like he hadn't even been touched.
"James," Victoria whispered, halting Kirk's next attack.
Kirk panted, staring Harrison down, seeing the man giving him a smirk, "Cuff him," he ordered Spock.
"Wait," Victoria pushed herself to her feet, taking a step towards Harrison, standing before him and staring him down, the man eyeing her a moment…before she punched him across the face.
Kirk immediately reached out and grabbed her hand, seeing her wince, and tugged her away. He knew it was unfair that he had been able to hit the man so much but not Victoria, but…he knew that wince, it was the wince she always gave when she'd just hurt herself. He pulled her a few feet away, shaking his head fondly at her before he gently lifted her hand to see it was stiff, her fingers still curled, "I thought you said you weren't going to punch people for me anymore," he murmured.
"That wasn't for YOU," she countered quietly, staring at her hand, wondering just how broken it might be and if she could get away with not letting Bones know about it.
~8~
Kirk and Victoria followed behind a set of guards that were leading Harrison through Engineering, taking him to one of the holding cells to wait for them, both of them wanting to see him locked up…well, one of them wanted to see him dead by her hand, the other did want him dead but would rather the Fleet sanction it in a trial than for the girl beside him to turn into a murderer.
"Bones, meet me at the Brig," Kirk called into a comm..
"I'll be right there," Bones replied.
"And bring your portable scanner."
"Got it."
"James," Victoria frowned at that request, knowing what it was for as she tried to uncurl her fingers but couldn't.
"No medbay," he looked at her, "No doctors, but BONES needs to look at your hand," he gave her a small smile, "Don't make me order you Liaison Pike."
She rolled her eyes at that, "As though I'd listen to you Captain Kirk."
He smiled at that, seeing her thoughts seemed, for the moment, off of killing Harrison, and turned to Uhura, "Lieutenant, contact Starfleet. Let them know we have Harrison in custody. And we will be on our way once the warp core is repaired."
"Yes, Sir," Uhura nodded, watching as the two walked off for the Bridge.
~8~
"Why the hell did he surrender?" Bones asked a she followed Kirk and Victoria through the halls, towards the holding cells, Victoria's hand in his own as he worked on wrapping it up along the way. Luckily it wasn't broken or sprained, but her knuckles were heavily and badly bruised, he needed to make sure she didn't hurt them more.
"We don't know," Kirk answered, "He just took out squadron of Klingons single-handedly. I want to know how."
"I want to know how hard it'll be to kill him," Victoria mumbled as well, low enough for only Bones to hear her. She'd punched him hard enough to take Cupcake out, harder than she'd punched Spock, and the man hadn't even flinched.
"I do too Vick," he sighed, "But it sounds like we have a Superman onboard."
"You tell me," Kirk muttered, heading right up to Harrison's cell.
Bones tied the last part of Victoria's binding and moved up to the cell, dragging a small metal hole to the middle of the glass, "Put your arm through that hole, I'm going to take a blood sample."
Harrison rolled up his sleeve and did just that, his gaze on Kirk, "Why aren't we moving, Captain?" he tilted his head again, "An unexpected malfunction?" and then looked at Victoria, now in her red engineering uniform, "Perhaps in your warp core, immediately stranding you on the edge of the Klingon space?"
"How the hell do you know that?" Bones frowned, more shocked than the other two were that the man knew.
"Bones," Kirk sent him a glare not to speak.
"I think you'd find my insight valuable, Captain," Harrison smirked.
"Are you done?" Victoria looked at Bones, not wanting to be there any longer, she was torn between feeling the desire to strangle the man and just…run away from him.
Bones nodded and moved the hole back where it was, closing it, as Harrison pulled his arm back out.
"Let us know what you can find," Kirk ordered Bones, reaching out to put a hand on Victoria's shoulder, turning her around to lead her out, his hand drifting to the small of her back…when Harrison called out the one thing that made them both freeze.
"Ignore me, and you will get everyone on this ship killed."
A/N: Poor Victoria, to have Harrison within reach and unable to kill him or even hurt him, her poor hand :( I can't believe the story is halfway over! O.O Wow! Lol.
On that note, I wanted to say that I'm going to put a poll up tomorrow of different pairing names for Kirk/Victoria, so if you have any suggestions for a pairing, let me know and I'll add it and announce the official name in the last chapter :)
Some notes on reviews...
Just wanted to say thank you all again for your well-wishes and condolences :')
Aww, thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story :) I have no idea where the inspiration came to write this, I sort of just watch a show or movie and end up picturing an OC in there :) As for writing, I just love it :) I have a bachelor's in Literature and I've applied (fingers crossed) for a Master's so we'll see how that goes :) I also edit a lot of documents for my parents and siblings so I try to keep an editing eye open as I go and tend to read/edit a chapter about 3-4 times before posting :)
I sort of feel like Victoria is her own person, but if you could point out specific ways she's a carbon copy of Kirk that aren't explained from her upbringing or history/personality, I'll be more than happy to give them a look and see if I can't do something about it in the future :)