Partnerships

Two years ago…

"This is all YOUR fault James," Victoria grumbled as she sat in the stark white room, the 'detainment' room of the Academy.

It wasn't really a 'detainment' room but that was what all the Cadets called it when they were forced to sit in it. In old terms, it was probably better to call it 'detention.' But as they were all adults, or the Academy liked to believe they were (she had some SERIOUS doubts about James T. Kirk), they were too old to have detention. So they had decided to call it detainment instead. The Cadets that is. The Academy itself preferred to think of it as pre-probation, it was where the Cadets that didn't quite break a serious rule but still broke a minor one were taken.

It truly was essentially the detention of old though. They were expected to sit in the room, either actually writing lines or just…sitting there, wasting time, while another minor official of the school supervised them. Their current supervisor was a rather old man, so old he was literally sleeping sitting up in his chair at the head of the white room. The two of them, the only ones there, the only ones who typically ended up there, were sitting there bored out of their minds. The room was old, the chairs were nearly ancient and creaky and…hard. They really hurt the bottom after a while, the back as well, and a majority of the Cadets that ended up there were entirely convinced that the chairs themselves were some sort of medieval torture device meant to discourage the Cadets in question from committing more unruly behavior.

Clearly, it hadn't worked on the two of them.

"Oh yeah, how's it MY fault Victoria?" Kirk rolled his eyes at her, slouched in his chair with his arms crossed, having lost feeling in his back an hour ago.

"If you had just let Cupcake off, we wouldn't be here," she remarked.

"And if YOU had just told him to leave you alone, we wouldn't be here either."

"Oh, so now it's MY fault?"

"You're so keen to blame ME," he countered.

"Because it's YOUR fault! YOU were the one who punched him!"

"Because he was harassing YOU, if you hadn't noticed."

"Of course I noticed," she hissed at him, dropping her voice when she saw the old man shifting in his sleep, "If you had just kept out of it I would have handled it just fine."

It really had been the most ridiculous situation she'd ever been caught in detainment for, and she'd been there plenty of times. Half the time she wasn't even sure WHY she was there, half the time she wasn't sure if she was actually trying to end up there either. It was like…despite deciding to try for the Fleet, a part of her didn't want to be there even still. Like a part of her kept fighting against her placement, getting her in trouble as though in the hopes of getting her kicked out.

It never worked though.

All it really served to do was make her father even more disappointed in her.

She hated that, when he felt that way about her. But…she'd noticed that he just got that way more and more ever since she'd gotten into the Academy. She tried, she actually DID try to not get in trouble…but it just seemed to happen. But it wasn't her fault! Most of the time it was Kirk's fault. Despite how much they seemed to grate each other's nerves and how often they both got into little tiffs, they both seemed to just…end up there together. And it wasn't even that their own arguments got them into the situations where they ended up there, it was just…they tended to end up there together.

One time it had been because Kirk had been irritated with another Cadet trying to interrupt him talking to her, essentially goaded the man into attacking him first. And because she had been caught pulling Kirk off the other one, the professors thought she'd been a part of it. She was starting to think that Kirk should stop coming up with nicknames for other Cadets, 'Sugarlips' had been the chosen one for that particular Cadet. She truly did NOT want to know why he had chosen that name for the boy, she was truly hoping it was because the Cadet in question had some sort of weird chapped lips thing going that made them look like he'd just eaten some sort of powdered thing or some sort of sugar covered substance. It had nothing to do with her though, Kirk just didn't like people constantly interrupting him when he talked to any sort of woman.

Another time she'd caught a girl Kirk had been 'dating' cheating on him and the girl's engineering project just…happened to blow up in her face. Not a huge explosion, it was really very small, the girl just lost her eyebrows that was all! But it had been enough of a claim of 'sabotage' and fingers pointed to get her in detainment as well. And of course, because Kirk had been laughing his head off at it, the girl had pointed fingers at him as well. It wasn't even that she cared that Kirk was being cheated on, it was just the principle of the thing, cheating was just…wrong.

She had ample experience with that, with people cheating on the ones they were supposed to care about. She wouldn't EVER stand for anyone doing that to someone else. Not ever.

This time though, it had been a mixture of the two of them for once. Usually one of them often got sucked into the 'crimes' of the other, but this was…both of them. 'Cupcake' as Kirk had identified the one Cadet in the bar so long ago, a Cadet he refused to learn the name of and one she didn't care enough to hack into for more information for (and he rather did reminder her of a cupcake at times), was bothering her. Well, more like harassing her, that much was true.

Apparently the man had been quite impressed with how she had managed to take him out with a punch…despite the fact it had sprained her hand to do so. It wasn't anything special, she didn't have any sort of incredible strength, she wasn't the best fighter in the Academy. It had been one technique her father had taught her himself. Her father HAD enrolled her in a few self-defense classes through the course of her life, a more rigorous one when she'd been younger and then more a periodic refreshing of her techniques. She knew how to defend herself, she could fight if she had to, but it was all very basic. There really was nothing to be impressed with.

But because he was impressed, Cupcake hadn't left her alone.

At all.

For the last year.

At first it was fine, he'd pass her in the halls and stop to chat, or he might spot her in the canteen a time or two and stop to say hi before continuing to his friends. But slowly he started talking to her more, trying to sit with her despite the fact she was clearly uncomfortable around him. He, at one point, took a class that had nothing to do with his own focus path and she was fairly certain it was only because it was a class SHE was in, given how he'd wanted to partner up with her for a project or two. She'd only just managed to keep the work for that project confined to the study tables of the library and research centers instead of working on it in either of their rooms. Which had been an enormous relief in the end.

She'd had to ask Uhura, Gaila, and her own roommate, Taplin, to sit with her when they were in the canteen just so that Cupcake wouldn't try to join her. It had worked for the most part, she'd avoided him in the halls as well and hoped that, the longer he didn't see her or interact with her, the less he'd want to and try to. All it seemed to do though was make him more agitated with why she was avoiding him, until he'd finally confronted her in the middle of one of the courtyards.

She'd been outside, sitting there, just going over notes for a class…when he'd walked up and started trying to talk to her. She'd been short with him, curt, tried to subtly tell him that whatever he might want from her she was not going to give, not even friendship. It was her personal belief that he wasn't the right fit for a Cadet, even Kirk was better suited as Kirk hadn't been the one to start the fight in the bar last year. All he'd done was call the man 'cupcake' when he was clearly inebriated and patted his arm…and the man had attacked. If a Cadet, no…if a member of the Fleet EVER acted like that in a negotiary situation or even in a hostile situation, that would be it. War would break out and that was not something the Fleet tolerated.

She didn't want to associate herself with someone like that and had even told him so, gone so far as to tell him she'd rather be handcuffed to Kirk for the rest of her time at the Academy than have to partner with him ever again. Low and behold, just the mention of the man's name and Kirk had popped up. Granted, he'd been walking past and hadn't been stalking her like Cupcake seemed to, but he'd just been there. He'd, of course, HAD to ask what they were talking about as he'd heard his name, and Cupcake had responded it wasn't any of his business.

She'd rolled her eyes as the two men had gotten into their own bicker-war and turned to go, only for Cupcake to grab her wrist and claim they weren't finished speaking. Kirk had felt the need to jump in and remark that he was sure she'd made her point clear and that they WERE finished speaking. And then, of course, the moment Kirk laid a hand on Cupcake to pull the man's wrist off her…Cupcake attacked again. And because Kirk had 'touched him first' (despite the fact Cupcake had grabbed HER first) he'd been the one to blame for the altercation that had followed. Very much like the bar scene, the fight was, save that Kirk had been sober this time and had a better chance of fighting back, that and Cupcakes goons were mysteriously missing. He'd fought Cupcake off better than before, and by better she meant he didn't end up with a bloody nose again.

But they'd both ended up in detainment when she'd tried to break them up and been elbowed in the face by Cupcake himself. The man had seemed shocked he'd hit her, even accidently, and started to apologize…only for her to 'kick him into submission' by utilizing a very…specific area of the anatomy. It was probably a low blow to hit below the belt (literally and figuratively) and she'd been pulled into detention with a Kirk who hadn't stopped laughing till they'd reached the room. They'd been left there for hours so far and it was getting to them. Neither of them did well with such silence, and it was SO boring! Both of them could FEEL themselves getting slower and slower, both physically and mentally the longer they sat there just watching the old man sleep.

And so, to her, it really WAS Kirk's fault.

If he'd just kept walking she would have been able to deal with Cupcake herself. It wasn't like the man could just grab her in the middle of the courtyard, with other Cadets right there, and do anything to her. But Kirk hadn't seemed to realize that, he'd just HAD to get started on Cupcake instead of trusting that she could handle herself. She was a Cadet, she'd gotten into the Academy on her own and had to meet all the requirements for application, of which, basic self-defense was one of them. There were courses taught there at the Academy of course, with the...dangers of space, some of which were still unknown, every member of a crew needed to know at least a basic idea of how to protect themselves. But it seemed Kirk had conveniently forgotten that detail merely because she was a woman.

And now they both were in detainment…again.

"Yeah, you had it handled alright," Kirk shot back sarcastically, "You had Cupcake's hand on you."

"And I would have removed it myself if you'd left me alone. I can fight my own battles," she huffed, "If you'd just let me punch him myself maybe I'd get out of here."

Kirk fell silent at that, "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked after a moment of just…looking at her. It didn't even seem like SHE realized what she'd said just then.

She sighed and rubbed her face, "Nothing. Just…forget it."

"No," he sat up more, "You don't want to be in the Fleet?"

"Yes," she answered, before wincing, "No. I don't know."

"This isn't like some sort of girl mind-changing thing that happens when you're P…"

"No!" she snapped, it irritated her more than she could express when people did that, assumed that just because a girl was confused that it meant she was being visited by a certain friend, "Does it mean, when you change YOUR mind, that you're…"

"No," Kirk cut in, clearing his throat.

"Then don't assume that for women!"

"Sorry," he offered, before looking at her more intently, "You really don't want to be here though?"

She let out a breath, "I thought I didn't. And then I did. But things keep happening and I can't help but wonder if it might just be that I really didn't after all."

Kirk blinked at that, "Come again?"

She turned in her seat to look at him, debating for a moment whether she should actually talk to HIM about this, Kirk, James T. Kirk, the one who caused her the most problems and seemed to make her question everything. She supposed…it couldn't hurt…Kirk himself hadn't wanted to be there at first. She knew Pike had been trying to recruit him, she knew she had likely been the one to convince him to at least try…or challenged him to try. It…would sort of only be fair for him to know her own doubts about the Fleet like he'd had his.

"At first I thought I wouldn't want to be here," she explained more, "But…a certain recruiter changed my mind…"

"Pike," he guessed, recalling how he'd been the one assigned to the recruits in the bar last year.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I decided to try, to give it a chance and…it was ok. I…fit in, I liked it, I was doing well. But…" she shook her head, "This?" she gestured around the detainment room, "This isn't something I want to experience every other week. I just want to get through this program and get into the Fleet. Every time I end up here, I just keep wondering if maybe it's something I'M doing that's trying to tell me I want to be sent away."

Kirk nodded slowly at that, "I used to do that in Iowa," he admitted to her as well, "I'd steal my stepfather's car, I'd commit other felonies…it was like I wanted to stay," he cleared his throat at admitting this to her, "Like you noticed, but at the same time I wanted out and I was hoping…"

"If you committed one that was just bad enough they'd move you," she finished.

"Yeah."

They fell silent a moment, both stewing over what they'd gleamed off the other. This was…probably the most they'd actually talked, meaningfully talked, to each other since they'd met, since she'd challenged him to join the Fleet, since he'd warned her he'd work out the sort of girl she was.

He had to admit, he was failing at that rather abysmally though. In all the time he'd been at the Academy the last year, all he'd seemed to do was argue with her and pick little fights with her…and get in trouble over her. That much he DID know about her, she was trouble. She WAS just like he was, crafty and creative and trouble. But that was all he really knew about her to be honest. He knew she had dark ash blonde hair, blue eyes, that she was in engineering, and that she was a Cadet like he was. But that was all he really had gathered. He'd spent more time trying to bait her and get her riled up than actually fulfilling her challenge to work out what she was.

He'd learned more about her in just a minute of conversation than he had in a year of trying to irritate her. And…he had to admit, they were quite similar in that regard. They'd both been hesitant to join the Fleet, they'd both been approached by Pike, Pike had been their recruiter and gotten them in. They'd both struggled in being there. It made him consider exactly why he was getting into trouble like this now. It wasn't like in Iowa, it wasn't that he wanted to stay but also wanted to leave. No, he…sort of liked being there, learning about the Fleet about the starships and codes and responsibilities. In a way…it was a little like getting to know his father through it.

His mother would tell him stories when he'd been younger, before she'd remarried, of his father, the sort of man he was, the sort of Cadet. His mother hadn't been a member of the Fleet, she'd been a waitress in a local eatery that the Cadets usually frequented. His father, according to her, would come in every other day and order something, anything, even if it was a cup of coffee, and start up a conversation with her. It had taken his mother a year to realize he'd been coming in so often because of HER. She hadn't known he didn't enter the eatery when she wasn't working as she hadn't been there. It hadn't been till she'd forgotten her scarf once and gone back the next day, on her day off, and noted that he wasn't there at his normal time. She hadn't realized she'd noticed he had a 'normal time' till then either. She'd asked him about it the next time she saw him and he'd stuttered out some excuse or another and finally blurted out that he liked her company and just wanted to get to know her.

His mother, the sassy woman she was, had just told him he'd get to know her better over dinner than taking his lunch order. And that had been the beginning of the end for his father. As the man had learned more about his mother, his mother learned more about him and his passion for the Fleet. She hadn't wanted to board the Kelvin while she'd been pregnant, but he'd convinced her it was safe, had sworn he'd KEEP her safe…and he had. The conviction and dedication his father had for the Fleet…it had to mean that the Fleet was worth being a part of and he liked to think he was getting closer to his father in his journey through the Academy, that he was making his father proud in working towards officer and then perhaps captain of his own ship.

He was determined to be captain longer than his father had been though, MUCH longer.

His mother had already lost one man she loved, he couldn't let her lose him too.

Which brought up the question as to why he kept ending up in detainment as well. It wasn't like he WANTED to be there. He actually didn't. He was trying to use this as a fresh start, or at least he'd intended it to be. He'd wanted to prove that he wasn't just a repeat offender but he WAS a man with genius level intellect like his scores showed. But it seemed like the past just kept coming back to haunt him in how he was repeatedly back in detainment. He honestly wasn't sure why it kept happening. Maybe he was just being too obvious, maybe he should try a little more subtlety.

"So why didn't you?" she asked him, glancing over as she unknowingly interrupted his thoughts.

"Why didn't I what?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, "Commit a larger crime."

"Because if I had…" he sighed, "If I'd been taken away…my mom would have been crushed."

She nodded, "And you didn't want to disappoint her," she sighed, "I know the feeling."

"You stayed for your mom?" he looked at her.

"My dad," she corrected, taking a breath, "He'd be…so disappointed if I got kicked out, if I'd decided not to go to the Fleet at first."

"Just your dad?" he frowned.

She swallowed hard, "My mother's not in the picture."

"Sorry," he winced, "I didn't know."

"She's not dead James," she rolled her eyes, "She just…didn't love my dad enough," she scoffed, "Cheated on him with another man, then left him. Didn't even try to cover up what she'd done, didn't apologize, didn't even try to make it work."

"Ouch," he frowned, "Sorry."

She shrugged, "It was years ago. I'm over it."

"You don't sound over it," he remarked, hearing a strain in her voice.

"And you don't sound torn up over your father's death either," she snapped back, proving his point that she wasn't over it at all.

How could she be though? Her mother was…her mother. And she'd betrayed their entire family. And for what? Because her father was committed to his job? Because he was determined to see space a safe place for them both to live and grow in? It wasn't a good enough reason for her, not at all, for her mother to do what she'd done just because she wasn't 'getting enough attention.' She knew that it was a terrible thing for a woman to feel, neglected, but…the thing that truly made it hard to forgive her mother was that she hadn't even TRIED to talk to her father about it. All she'd needed to do was just bring up her concerns, voice her insecurities, and she knew her father would have done all he could to change his ways.

She had seen it, before her mother had really started to drift away from them, before (she felt) her father realized what her mother was doing, he'd have done anything for his wife, to make her happy. But when it became all too clear to him (not to her though as she'd been too young to understand the signs) what exactly her mother was getting up to…that was when he'd started to change as well. That was when the Fleet had REALLY started to become a focal point in his life. That was when the Fleet had started to become an escape for him.

She sighed, rubbing her head, "Sorry," she offered, grimacing at the thought of what she'd just said, at the line she'd just crossed, that was...not right of her at all, "That was out of line."

Kirk just shrugged at that, "We're in the same boat," he remarked, "Both lost a parent, both trying to please the other one…"

"And failing miserably at it," she added with a small laugh, getting him to chuckle as well.

"Look at that," Kirk grinned at her, "Who knew we could actually talk without trying to kill each other."

"Bones," she said instantly, starting to smile as well, "Remember, he thought we were married."

"Oh yeah," he nodded, "Imagine the horror."

"Are you trying to say it's a terrifying thought to marry me?" she crossed her arms at him, sitting up in her chair to face him.

"Yes," he said instantly, "You're scary as hell Victoria."

"Well it wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park to be stuck with you James," she shot back, though they both had a small smile on their faces now, less bite in their words than they'd had before.

"You know what though," Kirk began, "It DOES give me an idea…"

"So they finally replaced that bulb above your head then?" she quipped, "It only took them, what? 23 year?"

"Bite me Vicky."

"You wish Jimmy."

Their eyes narrowed at each other for a minute before they started laughing, "What's your idea?" Victoria conceded. She had a vague idea how his mind worked, and if it was anything like she feared it might...this ought to be good.

"Marriage…"

Ok...NOT quite what she was expecting...at all.

"I'm NOT marrying you," she cut in, "Not even with your blue eyes and your perfect hair."

He rolled his eyes at that, "I don't want to marry you either Miss Button Nose-Bright Smile. If you must know, I wasn't proposing marriage."

"Good, cause you'd definitely have to buy me a drink first," she smirked, "Rounds and rounds of drinks for an entire night to get me THAT drunk."

"Ha, ha, no," he deadpanned, rolling his eyes, "I meant…a partnership."

Victoria eyed him a moment, seeing he actually appeared to be serious about it, "I'm listening."

He grinned, "We both get in trouble, a lot."

"Exponentially," she corrected.

"And half those times have something to do with each other, right?"

"More than half," she rolled her eyes.

"So if we weren't going for each other's throat half the time and getting into fights with other people because of the other…I think we'd make a good team."

"It WOULD keep the detainment to a minimum if we weren't fighting against each other," she had to agree.

"And you have to admit, we DO compliment each other when we're forced to work together."

She nodded a little at that, they'd been paired together for one project in the last year. Their teacher had been one of the newest additions to the Academy and had...not had a clue as to the animosity that seemed to radiate off of them. They'd been paired up and nearly the entire class had feared for their lives at the two of them being forced to talk to each other and work together. For that moment only they'd put aside their disputes and focused on the project, both of them actually taking their studies seriously. Their presentation had been one of the best in the class in the end. The teacher had actually commented on how great a team they made...which had just made them look at each other and stick out their tongues before storming off in different directions.

"Our energy would be better spent focused on other things instead of pestering ourselves."

"So I propose a truce," he offered, "Just imagine what we could accomplish if we join forces."

She started to smirk, "James…I think this'll be the start of a wonderful partnership."

"Victoria, I was hoping you'd say that," he held out his hand to her, the two of them shaking on it, smiling at each other as they did so, not even realizing, as their shaking died down, that they were just smirking, holding the other's hand.

It really WOULD make more sense, not just in the less energy they spent bickering and arguing with each other the more they would be less likely to get caught in the middle of one and sent to detainment. It also meant that…two heads would be better than one. They both had…skills in different areas, skills they'd both noted over the course of the year whenever they landed back in detainment together or heard about how one made it there without the other. If they joined up…they could pool their skills, they could work together and there'd be less chance of them getting caught if they did.

She was brilliant at engineering things and hacking, where as he was good at the more physical aspects, sneaking and manipulating the situation, fighting and hiding. If they could work together, form some sort of partnership…well, the Academy wouldn't know what hit it…

And maybe, just maybe, one day…that partnership would turn to friendship.

And then the Fleet would have something else to worry about.

A/N: I can say something in this chapter will come back to bite them later in the series }:) Speaking of the series...I can't believe this story is halfway over! O.O Time flies lol :)

On a lighter note though, I love how all the little things slip through, the comments, their actions, the way they get each other...and they can't quite see it lol :) It's very fun to write :)

Some notes on reviews...

I do plan to do a Cora-Tory crossover one day yup :) For this year, I'm planning the SuperWhoLock (Michelle-Proffy-Leena) and I'm considering a second one in October as a second installment of WWTW (featuring all the 11s). But for next year there's always the possibility that we'll get a Star Trek crossover...or a Merlin/DW crossover ;) I might make 2015 a sort of dual crossover thing, like...Cora-Tory for April and Kona-Athena for October, not sure yet, but I do have one planned ;)

I won't say who her father is just yet. I can say it IS someone from the movies, but I won't say if it's someone from this movie or the next one }:) We'll have to wait and find out when Kirk does ;)

I could see them married too :) But I won't say what they're like in the Prime-Universe just yet ;)