Regime Change

Kirk nearly stumbled back as Victoria tripped against him, both of them unsteady from the sudden shift in transport without a proper pad to balance them…not to mention that they'd just transported onto a ship mid-warp, it was enough to knock anyone on their backside, but luckily Kirk had been there to catch her.

"Honestly," he rolled his eyes playfully, "Always falling for me huh?"

"More like falling ON you," she countered, pushing herself off him to stand on her own, before noticing something, "Where's Scotty?"

Kirk nearly rolled his eyes again at that before seeing that she was right, Scotty WASN'T there, "Mr. Scott!" he called out. There was a soft banging noise from somewhere but they still didn't see him, "Mr. Scott can you hear us?!"

They both froze, hearing something like a pounding behind them and turned to see Scotty trapped in one of the large coolant pipes distributing water. The poor man was banging his fists against the glass, trying to get out, holding his breath.

"Uh..." Kirk blinked, "Uh…hold on a second!" he looked around, but Scotty was sucked further down the pipe.

"No!" Victoria took off running upon seeing that.

"What?" Kirk ran after her.

"James I'm in engineering!" she called back to him, "I know the ship's internal systems, and that pipe…it leads to the turbine!"

Kirk nearly stopped running at that, but kept going, looking back over his shoulder to see Scotty being pulled through the current, his gaze rushing ahead of the pipe to see…a giant, spinning turbine, just like Victoria said.

"What do we do?" he looked back at her.

"I've got it covered," she ran right of one of the control computers, quickly inputting a command, and looking up as a loud buzz went off.

"Turbine release valve activated," a computerized voice announced and suddenly one of the panels only feet away from the turbine opened, releasing Scotty and a splash of water, before closing quickly again.

"You alright?" Kirk ran for the man, but Scotty wasn't moving, "Mr. Scott!"

"Scotty!" Victoria ran to his side as well, the two of them turning the man over, but he wasn't breathing. Victoria quickly looked at Kirk, "CPR! Now!"

Kirk nodded and clasped his hands together in the proper position, before doing compressions on Scotty, counting to five before nodding at Victoria, who took a breath and leaned in, tilting Scotty's head back and pinching his nose, breathing into his mouth…

It surprised them both how quickly Scotty coughed up the water and rolled on his side, "You alright?" Kirk asked, patting the man on the back as he helped him sit up.

"My heads buzzing," Scotty coughed a little more, "And I'm soaked, and now my ribs hurt…but otherwise I'm fine!" he glanced at Victoria and gave her a cheeky grin, "Got a wee kiss from a beautiful Lass to make up for that though."

Victoria blinked a moment, frowning, "Were you…faking?!"

Scotty grinned slyly at that, "Maybe…" he answered slowly, "How else would I win a kiss from a fair maiden."

Victoria raised an eyebrow at that, "Why settle for one then?" she crossed her arms, he could have kept pretending to be dead, she'd have to have kept giving him mouth-to-mouth as Kirk did the compressions.

"Like I'd risk anymore on Mr. Chiseled Chin over there," he nodded back at Kirk who was now glaring at the man, "No hard feelings Laddie," Scotty grinned, "You'd best expect quite a few men to want to steal a kiss from a girl like her."

Kirk's eyes narrowed as Scotty picked himself up, whistling impressed as he looked around the room.

Victoria watched Kirk a moment, feeling a sort of warmth spread through her at his expression…he looked like he wanted to drown Scotty for real, "Come on," she reached out to take Kirk's hand, both using it as leverage to get up and also momentum to pull him up too, "We need to get to the Bridge."

"Ooh she's a beautiful ship," Scotty grinned, not at all perturbed with Kirk's glaring.

"We're in the coolant system, not the actual ship," Victoria reminded him.

"You can tell a lot about a ship from the minor components," he countered, "If this is just the coolant system…I cannae wait to see the rest of her!"

Kirk grumbled under his breath something about showing the man the airlock, when he looked down, feeling something in his hand…to see Victoria had taken his own in one of hers, "Stop it," she said quietly to him, "You're acting jealous."

"I'm not jealous."

"SO jealous."

"Of what? A shrimpy Scotsman?"

"Yes."

He rolled his eyes, "NOT jealous."

"Fine then," she shrugged, "You're not jealous."

"Good."

"You have no reason to be."

"No reason?" he looked at her sharply, "He kissed you! He said that others would try to steal kisses from you too!"

"And I've learned my lesson," she said dryly, "If anyone's drowning, YOU can be the one to kiss them next time. You know me James, have I ever let anyone get a kiss out of me?"

"You kissed me in the club," he reminded her with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah," she laughed, this was…amusing her, very much so, to see the oh-so confident and cocky James T. Kirk actually bitter and cross that some other man had managed to trick a 'kiss' (which really wasn't one at all) out of her, "YOU," she poked him, "I kissed YOU," she sighed, wincing a little, "You're going to make me say it aren't you?"

"Say what?" he frowned.

She hesitated only a moment, not…used to this, "No matter if someone, in a very rare instance, manages to 'steal' a kiss from me…YOU are the only one I would GIVE a kiss to and have it mean something."

He blinked, starting to smile at that, before teasing, "So the kiss in the club…it DID mean something then?"

She smiled, "Oh it meant imagined murders for all the women you flirted with from that moment on."

He laughed at that, she said it jokingly but also with a serious tone to it, "It meant non-imagined punches to the precious faces of all the men who harassed you," he added.

"You two are just the sweetest things," Scotty spoke, cutting into their thoughts. They looked up to see him walking backwards, grinning at them, "Can I have an invite to the wedding? I love parties."

Kirk and Victoria looked at each other before laughing, recalling the future-Spock's words…knowing they were married in one reality…but nowhere NEAR it in this one. They had to make sure they could actually BE in a relationship without offing the other one first which…knowing their tempers…might actually happen.

~8~

The small trio was ushered onto the Bridge of the Enterprise to face Spock, having been caught halfway through engineering by a few other Cadets/security and 'escorted' away on Spock's command.

Spock turned, his eyes narrowing at Scotty, "Who are you?"

Kirk and Victoria could see security feeds up on the main monitor, of engineering, of the coolant room, clearly they'd been detected and observed on their quest when Spock ordered them captured.

"I'm with them," Scotty pointed at the two of them.

"He's with us," Victoria added, Spock giving her a momentary glance before focusing on Scotty once more.

"We're travelling at warp speed. How did you manage to beam aboard this ship?"

"You're the genius," Kirk cut in, "You figure it out."

Bones glanced at Victoria, frowning as he gave her a curious look, one she caught and returned with a small shake of the head. All it served to do was make Bones's frown deepen at seeing it. Normally she'd be hissing at Kirk to shut up or keep quiet or literally put her hand over his mouth to keep him from instigating a fight…but not this time. He really, REALLY hoped they both knew what they were doing in trying to provoke Spock to do something.

"As acting Captain of this vessel, I order you both to answer the question," Spock narrowed his eyes at them.

Victoria blinked, "You were standing there at our academic hearing," she reminded the Vulcan, "We're not exactly the epitome of taking orders."

"Yeah, we're not telling, Acting Captain," Kirk crossed his arms, "What di...what, now, that doesn't frustrate you, does it? Our lack of cooperation. That…that doesn't make you angry?"

Spock seemed near rolling his eyes before he looked at Scotty, "Are you a member of Starfleet?"

"I…um…yes?" Scotty shifted, as though able to sense something serious and tense going on, "Can I get a towel, please?"

"Under penalty of court martial, I order you to explain to me how you were able to beam aboard this ship while moving at warp."

"Well..."

"Don't you dare tell him Scotty," Victoria stepped up.

"You will answer me."

"I'd rather not take sides," Scotty stepped back a little, trying to avoid the imminent confrontation.

"What is it with you, Spock?" Kirk looked at the Vulcan intently, "Hmm? Your planet was just destroyed, your mother murdered, and you're not even upset."

Victoria put a warning hand on Kirk's arm for that, she knew very well that the death of his father, even having not known him at all, hit him hard. They both knew that it would be infinitely harder for Spock to deal with the murder being so recent, right in front of him, and with him having known his mother his entire life…to bring that up now…it was going to have explosive consequences, they knew.

"If you're presuming that these experiences in any way impede my ability to command this ship, you are mistaken," Spock stated, though he stiffened at the words.

"How did you ever pass the Kobayashi Maru then?" Victoria wondered, "YOU created it to force a captain to feel fear, yet you claim to always be in control."

"You were the one who said fear was necessary for command," Kirk agreed, "Did you see his ship? Do you see what he did?"

"Yes, of course I did," Spock's eyes narrowed.

"So, are you afraid or aren't you?"

"I will not allow you to lecture me about the merits of emotion."

"Then why don't you stop me," Kirk took a step to him.

"Vick…" Bones called, trying to get her to stop him, but she held up her hand to quiet him.

"Step away from me, Mr..." Spock began.

"What is it like not to feel anger or heartbreak or the need to stop at nothing to avenge the death of the woman who gave birth to you?" Kirk glared at him.

"Back away from me..."

"You feel nothing! It must not even compute for you! You never loved her!"

"James!" Victoria gasped as, with a vicious cry, Spock lunged at Kirk, punching him across the face, viciously attacking him as Kirk tried and failed to defend himself.

"Vick no!" Bones rushed forward to grab her, pulling her back as he saw her injured hand bound tightly and knowing she'd try to punch Spock out again and probably REALLY break her hand (if it wasn't broken already).

"Bones let me go!" she struggled in his hold, but the man refused to let up, forcing her back and out of the way as Kirk and Spock fought, until Spock pinned Kirk against the helm console, trying to strangle him with one hand…

"Spock!" one of the older Vulcans, Spock's father, called.

Spock froze, seeming to come back to himself, before he released Kirk, the man panting as Victoria yanked herself out of Bones's hold and rushed over to Kirk, gently touching his neck as the man gasped for more air. Spock looked at her a moment, as though seeing her touching Kirk's neck had reminded him of what he'd just done. He stiffened and looked back behind him, observing the tense and shocked reactions of the crew.

Spock swallowed hard, "I am no longer fit for duty. I hereby relinquish my command, based on the fact that I have been emotionally compromised. Please note the time and date in the ship's log."

They all watched as the man turned and left the Bridge, his father following him.

"I like this ship!" Scotty said brightly, if just to cut the tension, "You know, it's exciting."

"You alright?" Victoria asked, touching Kirk's tender neck.

"That…is not something I'd like to experience again," he mumbled.

"I wouldn't think strangulation would be," she cracked wise.

"No I mean…yeah, that's bad," he nodded, glancing at her, "I just meant…I'd rather YOU make me breathless than that."

She blinked at that and started to smile, "Don't go getting all soft on me James," she poked his shoulder, "I'd rather bicker than be 'sickeningly sweet,'" she joked, making him grin.

"Oh that won't stop," he agreed, "I like fighting…" he gave her a suggestive look, "Means the most incredible make-up se…ow!" he winced as she flicked his ear.

"Congratulations, Jim," Bones cut in, really not sure if he wanted to know what had happened between the two of them just yet, maybe when this was all over, but for the moment there were better and more important things to deal with, "Now we've got no Captain and no goddamn first officer to replace him."

"We do," Victoria countered, smirking as she helped Kirk up, the man moving over to the Captain's chair.

"What?" Bones blinked, praying to every deity he could think of that this wasn't what he thought it was.

Sulu closed his eyes a moment, "Pike made him First Officer."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Thanks for the support," Kirk muttered sarcastically.

Uhura headed for the door to go after Spock, stopping to glance at Kirk a moment, "I sure hope you know what you're doing, Captain."

"So do I," he sighed.

"I can help, if you need it," Victoria offered, "My dad's been a captain of a few starships…" she swallowed hard, at that, looking away, now that the adrenaline was wearing off and they were actually GOING after Nero…she just…she was starting to get a little scared.

"Be my First Officer?" Kirk glanced at her.

"Just till Spock snaps out of it," she agreed, she really didn't want to be a captain or close to one, she really did prefer her strengths in engineering, acting as a liaison, but…for this, this mission needed them teamed up as much as possible, because it was Pike's life in danger if they failed. They both refused to believe the man was dead and they were fully intent to rescue him.

"Thanks," Kirk winked at her, before he turned and hit a button, opening the ship-wide comms., "Attention crew of the Enterprise, this is James Kirk. Mr. Spock has resigned commission and advanced me to Acting Captain. I know you were all expecting to regroup with fleet, but I'm ordering a pursuit course of the enemy ship to Earth. I want all departments at battle stations and ready in ten minutes. Either we're going down, or they are. Kirk out," he closed the comms. and sighed, rubbing his face, before he saw Victoria smiling at him, "What?"

"Nothing just…" she nodded at him, "The chair suits you."

"Well you know what suits both me and the chair?" before she could even answer, he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her onto his lap, winding his arms around her so she couldn't escape…not that he knew she'd want to.

Bones glanced over at one of the other Cadets, "You see it too right?" he whispered, half-afraid he'd finally lost it after being out in space so long, that he was imagining this scene before him…either that or the Vulcans had poisoned their water with some sort of hallucinogenic. But the Cadet nodded.

"What the hell happened to you two down there?" Bones stared at them.

"We got married," Kirk grinned, the two of them laughing as though sharing a private joke between them as Bones tried to work out if they were joking.

~8~

Victoria was standing with Scotty off to the side of the Bridge, showing him the Engineering liaison's command panel that would connect them to engineering, the two of them talking quietly, Scotty making jokes about some of the names for the different parts of a ship's 'engine' all the while the two of them pretended not to notice Kirk watching them like a hawk. Victoria had to smirk to herself, she knew what her being there, right next to Scotty, instead of him, was doing to the man. And she loved it. It was just like their entire relationship in a nutshell, they irritated each other, but it just meant they affected the other profoundly. And…if this happened to make Kirk a little more jealous, so be it. She was thinking she should take a leaf out of the sciences and do a little experiment, classify the different types of kisses Kirk could give when he felt different emotions and see how they ranked.

That would be…very fun.

Kirk took a breath, seeing Victoria glance back at him and knew she was doing this on purpose, hanging around Scotty, so he tried to not think about it and play right into her hand…she was crafty like that, always knew how to get under his skin. He turned back to the others he was speaking to, "Whatever the case, we need to get aboard Nero's ship undetected."

"And just go in there guns blazing, Jim?" Bones scoffed, "No..."

"I'm telling you," Sulu rolled his eyes, "The math doesn't support…"

"Captain Kork, Captain Kork!" Chekov called, rushing over to them from where he'd been writing calculations on a clear board, pulling Scotty and Victoria's attention back to them, leading them to walk over as well.

"Yes, Chekov," Kirk turned to him, "What is it?"

"Based on the fastest course from Wulcan, I have projected that Nero will travel past Saturn. Like you said, we need to stay inwisible to Nero or he'll destroy us. If Mr. Scott and Wictoria can get us to warp factor four, and if we drop out of warp behind one of Saturn's moons, say…Titan, the magnetic distortion from the planet's rings will make us inwisible to Nero's sensors. From there, as long as the drill is not actiwated we can beam aboard the enemy ship."

"Victoria?" Kirk looked at her for confirmation, making her smile.

"It's sound," she agreed, following the logic and calculations easily enough being in engineering, "Right Scotty?"

"Aye," the man nodded, "That might work."

"Wait a minute, kid, how old are you?" Bones shot Chekov a look.

"Sewenteen, sir," Chekov grinned.

"Oh, oh good, he's seventeen!" Bones remarked sarcastically.

"I hacked into the USS Farragut when I was 15…from Earth," Victoria shrugged…and they all looked at her, "It's not that hard! And if I could do it then, why can't Chekov work that out at 17?"

"Doctor," a voice called from behind them. They looked back to see Spock step onto the Bridge, "Mr. Chekov is correct. I can confirm his telemetry. If Mr. Sulu is able to maneuver us into position, I can beam aboard Nero's ship, steal back the black hole device, and if possible, bring back Captain Pike."

Kirk shook his head, "I won't allow you to do that, Mr. Spock."

"Romulans and Vulcans share a common ancestry. Our cultural similarities will make it easier for me to access the ship's computer to locate the device. Also…" he took a breath, "My mother was Human, which makes Earth the only home I have left."

"I'm coming with you."

"I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it."

"See," Kirk smirked, "We are getting to know each other."

"I'm coming too," Victoria stepped over to them.

"No," Kirk turned to her.

"James…"

"YOU'RE my First Officer," he reminded her, "You have to stay here Victoria and command the ship in the Captain's absence…"

"You don't understand…I HAVE to go with you to get him back."

"Why?" he shook his head, "Victoria, this is too important for you to…"

"To what?" she glared, "Tag along? Prove myself? That's NOT why I need to go!"

"You don't NEED to go! I, as the acting captain, am ordering you, as my First Officer, to stay here."

"Fine, then I resign, Bones can be your First Officer then. I am GOING with you!"

"Why!?" he started to shout, well, they'd been shouting for a while now, but Bones seemed to know enough of their spats to stay back and gesture the others NOT to get in the middle of them, "What's so important about this mission that you…"

"He's my father!" Victoria snapped, cutting him off, the entire room falling silent.

"I am…confused," Spock said after a moment, glancing around at the Cadets staring at her, "You were…unaware of this?" he looked at Kirk. He had done some digging about the two Cadets, seen just how often they got in trouble, how often they got in trouble together. With a bond as close as they appeared to have…how could Kirk NOT know her last name was Pike?

"Your…father?" Kirk started blinking rapidly as he stared at Victoria, noticing, for the first time that there were tears in her eyes.

He should have known…he really should have. Victoria was…very defensive when it was something that affected her deeply. She shut down, she turned it off, she pushed it down and ignored it and pretended like she was fine so as not to let on about how much it affected her. If it had been any other person, besides him, Uhura, or Bones, she'd be noticeably upset and worried. But for the three of them…she'd turn it off. Because if she thought about it, if she let herself worry about it…she'd be useless in helping. She always did that, just…shut it all down, locked it away and put it on a shelf till it was over.

He should have realized she was doing the same with Pike. It was what she did with her mother, whenever he talked about her or brought her up or asked about her. She would go emotionless, or wave it off, or act like she didn't care at all about the woman…and he knew she really DID still care no matter how much she let on. She'd done it with Pike, she'd pushed her fear for his wellbeing aside, he was almost sure that a small part of her punching Spock to get kicked off was because it would have killed her to be ON the Enterprise and KNOW there was nothing she could do to get them to go help the man. If she was trapped on Delta Vega, it would be physically impossible for her to do anything and it wouldn't be her fault if nothing happened and Pike was hurt.

"You spent three years, James, trying to figure out Nyota's first name?" Victoria shook her head, gesturing absently at Uhura, Kirk not even noticing she'd said the girl's first name, "You never even realized you didn't know MY last name."

"Your father…" he repeated, feeling the air sucked out of him, "You never said…"

"You never wanted to use YOUR father's name to get anything," she reminded him, swallowing hard.

It made sense to him now, her vague references to her father, how he was obsessed with the Kelvin…like Pike was. How he'd researched it, like Pike had. How he was a captain of a ship, had a history in the fleet, was divorced, and so many other things that she'd randomly mention in passing…it was all about Pike. She'd said that her recruiter had convinced her to join the Fleet…he'd just thought it was because Pike was the recruiter, and it was…but it was more because Pike, her recruiter, was her father as well.

And now he was being tortured by Romulans and SHE had a chance to go help him.

"Please James," she whispered, "The last thing he said to me…was that he was disappointed in me," her voice broke at that and she cleared it quickly, not wanting the others to hear it, though she knew they all had, "I just…need this…" she looked at him pleadingly, "I just want to…make him proud and help him."

Kirk looked at her a long while, he understood her hidden words as well. If he'd had the chance to save his father…he'd take it in a heartbeat. If Spock could have saved his mother, he would have. And now…Victoria had that chance…how could he turn her down?

"Ok," he nodded, "Bones," he looked at the other man, "Keep an eye on things."

Bones nodded.

"Let's go then," Victoria turned and strode out of the room, Spock and Kirk behind her.

~8~

Kirk, Spock, Victoria, and Uhura entered the transport room just as Sulu's voice came over the comms., "Transporter room. We are in position above Titan."

"Really?" Scotty, who had beaten them there to get things ready while they'd gone to go get phasers, called, "Fine job, Mr. Sulu. Well done."

"Are we ready Scotty?" Victoria looked at him.

"Unbelievably the ship is in position."

"Whatever happens, Mr. Sulu," Kirk called through the comms., "If you think you have the tactical advantage, you fire on that ship, even if we're still onboard. That's an order."

"Yes, sir," Sulu replied.

"Otherwise, we'll contact the Enterprise when we're ready to be beamed back."

"Good luck."

The comm. cut out and Kirk glanced at Victoria, reaching out to take her hand before they headed for the transporter pad, only to see Spock was already standing on one…with Uhura before him, the two kissing.

"Don't," Victoria pointed at Kirk as they took their places, the man turning to her with his mouth open, "Get any ideas," she warned, "You get us all out of there alive, the three of us and the captain…and THEN I'll kiss you."

Kirk smiled at that, actually pleased nothing had really change between them even after they semi-told the other their feelings, "Challenge accepted."

"And you still owe me that drink," she muttered.

He laughed at that, and glanced at Spock and Uhura…STILL kissing, "Any time you're ready Mr. Spock," he cut in, if HE couldn't kiss Victoria, then Spock shouldn't be able to kiss Uhura.

"I will be back," Spock whispered to the woman as he pulled away.

"You better be," Uhura told him, before stepping back off the platform, glancing at the three of them, "I'll be monitoring your frequency."

"Thanks," Victoria smiled as the woman nodded and rushed out.

"Okey-dokey then," Scotty cheered, "If there's any common sense in the design of the enemy ship, I should be putting you somewhere in the cargo bay. There shouldn't be a soul in sight."

Victoria let out a breath at that, knowing that when someone said something like that, it was almost always wrong.

"Energize," Kirk ordered and the lights of transport swirled around them, depositing them in the middle of the Narada Cargo Bay…that was FILLED with Romulans who started screaming at them in their language the second they noticed the trio standing there.

The Enterprise team quickly ducked to the side, rushing to hide behind whatever cover they could find as the Romulans opened fire, the three of them trying to hit them back.

"Captain!" they could hear one calling over the shouts, "We have Starfleet officers aboard the ship. One of them is Vulcan."

The trio aimed as carefully as they could, managing to take out the Romulans in the area, the ones they could see at least.

Victoria leaned over, spotting a Romulan lying injured a few feet before her, she really was a really bad shot when facing someone dead on. It was like…if she was facing them and they were heading for her, she ended up hitting them everywhere but the heart or head, like…the shoulder, the knee caps, the side…she didn't know why, but she was better at reactionary shots. Like when someone snuck up behind her and she just turned and pulled the trigger…then she was a fair shot…but the Romulan currently squirming on the ground and clutching his leg had been one she'd struck down.

"Spock," she nodded at it, "We'll cover you."

Spock nodded and got up, heading over to the Romulan and quickly slamming the butt of his phaser across its face to knock him out, allowing him to reach out and touch the man's temple, mind melding with him, seeing what he knew.

Kirk jumped forward and blasted a Romulan that was trying to sneak up on the man, making Spock spin around, "Do you know where it is? The black hole device?"

Spock nodded, standing, "Yes," before he glanced at Victoria, "And Captain Pike."

Victoria swallowed, "Let's go then."

A/N: Some of you guessed it, Victoria Pike ;) Congrats to you! I hope, even though you sort of knew, that you enjoyed the little twist of him being her father...because...Into Darkness... }:)

Sorry this was late :( I lost internet at my house and had to wait till I got to work to post this :(

Also, I just wanted to say I'm so sorry to anyone who reads my DW spin-offs but...I'm going to have to put a temporary hold on updating them just for this month (I hope). Work/real life has really sucked up my time and I've fallen about a week behind in my planned writing :( I just want to try and use the rest of February to catch up with that (on top of not falling more behind in the process) and I haven't been able to manage the spin-offs while doing that :( I'm really SO sorry that we won't be getting updates for February :'( But I'll be posting the chapters as soon as I've caught up :)