Author's Note:
Hello everyone and here is another chapter. It focuses on Admiral Archer and Pavel and sort of explains how Archer fits into my 'verse'. Thank you for your continued support of this story and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
As always, I own nothing.
Complicatedly Simple
Some people thought that Admiral Archer had a complicated relationship with Pavel Chekov.
Archer had been the first person the boy had been comfortable with after his uncle's criminal acts had been uncovered but he'd never been given Pavel's full trust. He was the one the boy went to for guidance in his lessons throughout his time at the academy but he could never calm the teen when he was plagued with nightmares. He was the one Pavel ran to tell about what he'd achieved in classes that day but the boy never said a word to him when other cadets were bullying him. He was the one that took the teen out for a celebratory meal whenever Pavel passed his exams or important tests but the boy never confided in him about his deeper emotions or what little he remembered of his parents.
In short Archer was one of the few close adult figures Pavel had in the Academy but could never be the one that the boy could consider a father. That role would remain unfulfilled until Jim Kirk came along and in some ways Archer could almost consider being envious of the young captain but he never was for one reason.
It was the right thing.
Despite the closeness of their age Jim was the best to take the role of father since he had more life experience than even those closest to him could guess. He also could relate to the boy in ways that Archer with his stable childhood could not, meaning that Jim actually had an understanding of what Pavel had been through and what he was feeling. This gave the boy someone to open up who would not feel awkward or unsure of how to respond and without the empty pity or sympathy born out of ignorance. Jim could supply a feeling of emotional safety that most counsellors would kill to be able to give.
In light of all this Archer had suggested to hand Pavel's guardianship to Jim and, with a lot of help from Pike, had got the rest of the admiralty to agree much to the surprise, and delight, of Jim and Pavel. Though no longer involved in the boy's day to day life Archer was far from being out of touch with him since he was one of the few people planet side that Pavel was in regular contact with. This meant that he was privy to a lot of thing that happened on the Enterprise that somehow didn't make it to the official logs and he found himself starting to feel like a granddad hearing about the latest family shenanigans from his grandson. As such he and Pike, who was also starting to feel a similar thing, spent a lot of time together discussing what the Enterprise crew had told them about recently and when the whole crew were on shore leave they decided to spoil them rotten and treat them to a huge meal out.
When it came to his birthday Archer was surprised to receive a package from the Enterprise, he opened it to find a variety of small gifts and birthday cards from different crewmembers and one card which was larger than the rest from Pavel. It simply said 'Happy Birthday to a Wonderful Granddad' but it brought a huge smile to Archer's face.
Some people thought that Archer's relationship with Pavel was complicated but in reality it was incredibly simple.
PS-So please let me know what you thought of this and I'll try to update soon.