"The force is strong with this one. What do you think, Princess Leia?" Hiri asked after she flipped him on the mat.
Jamie chuckled, "I'm Han."
He shook his head, "No, I'm Han and you're Leia."
"Why, because I'm a girl?" she put her hands on her hips and looked at her boyfriend.
"No. It's because I'm the kickass pilot and you are my kickass girl who leads us against the evil-doers."
She groaned, "I'm more Luke than Leia if you think about it."
"Leia was a princess, adopted by Senator Organa or His Serene Highness, Prince Bail Organa, First Chairman and Viceroy of Alderaan and his wife, Queen Breha Organa of Alderaan. She grew up… rich and cared for by her adopted parents," Hiri sighed.
Jamie smiled, "Yep. And Luke was given to his uncle. Then one day he met a wise man, Obi Wan, who convinced him that he was a lot like his father and they set off to save everyone from the Empire. Who does that sound like?"
"You and Pike. Pike would be Obi Wan. Okay... That kinda makes a lot of sense now. He showed you the way of the force, Starfleet, before he was killed. And like Obi Wan died goin' up against Vader, Pike died fighting Marcus and Khan. You avenged his name and saved 'the Rebel Alliance' from getting creamed by the 'death star'. Let's just hope one of them wasn't your father," Hikaru told her.
"That would be… problematic and I doubt I would be happy about it. Anyway, the original point I was trying to make is that I have more in common with the guys in Star Wars than I do with Leia, but I suppose I could be her if you were my Han," she told him.
The pilot chuckled, "Okay. I gotta warn you though, I'm a firm believer that Han shot first."
"That's because he did. It doesn't matter how many times they remastered or rebooted it in the last three hundred years, Han shot Greedo and Greedo didn't get a shot off in the original version. Who knows what George Lucas was thinking."
"The Albino. What kind of name is that?" Bones asked.
Hiri sighed, "The kind that belongs to a Klingon who got his plans trashed by an eleven year old. He's a criminal, his real name is Qagh."
"If my name meant 'mistake', I'd go with Albino too," Jamie chuckled.
Bones nodded, "How do you know him, Sulu?"
"He tried to raid Ishikawa on Ganjitsu when my family lived there, he almost killed my mom and he killed my friend. I disabled the power in the lab and helped people get out before he blew the place up. That is one angry Klingon. He was raised by Orion pirates so I'm not surprised. Why?"
"His name came up when we talked to the brass this morning. They might be sending us after him," she told him.
The helmsman nodded, "Won't bother me, I owe him one for Jelani." Bones raised an eyebrow.
"His first love, she was killed by this guy," Jamie smiled.
"We were just friends, Jamie," Hikaru told her.
The southerner laughed, "If they send us, the Albino better watch out, Jim will kill him just because he hurt someone you cared about."
"I know she will, that's what makes her Jamie," her boyfriend said.
She smirked, "We all can't be this cool."
"They're Pinky and The Brain. Yes, Pinky and The Brain. One is a genius, the other is crazy. They're laboratory mice, their genes have been spliced. They're rinky and dinky. They're Pinky and The Brain, Brain, Brain…" Jamie and Hikaru sang as they stood on the transporter.
Bones rolled his eyes, "How old are you two, again?"
"Twenty-nine and twenty-five. Why?" Hiri asked her best friend.
"Just trying to figure out why the senior command officers in this tin-can keep reverting back to their childhoods," her best friend said.
Jamie sighed, "I didn't actually have a childhood, Bones. I was too busy being abused and trying not to starve to death… but thanks for the reminder. I had a nightmare, it put me in a really bad mood and Hiri's just trying to cheer me up."
"I'm sorry, kid," Bones grumbled.
She rolled her eyes, "Yeah… You know what… you guys don't need me on this mission. Mister Spock, it's all yours." She stepped off the transporter pad and handed Scotty her phaser. Jamie was not in the right mindset to go anywhere and since she wasn't actually needed, they could do without her. Her thoughts kept drifting to her nightmare and it made her uneasy. It wasn't even the worse nightmare she's ever had, it just felt like it was foreshadowing something really bad coming their way.
Jamie blinked her eyes open and found herself on the ground in Riverside. She slowly pushed herself to her feet and looked around. The sun was shining bright and a gentle breeze was blowing, it was a beautiful day. Then, for no reason at all, everything changed. The sky darkened and the cornfields started to burn. She ran through the rows of corn as fast as her legs would take her towards the shipyard until she was cut off. Jamie turned to avoid the flames in front of her and kept running. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, like when she was in the warp core, but she kept running. She came to a small clearing but it was surrounded by fire. It closed in on her and she could hear 'all good things…' whispered on the wind. Then the flames overtook her. That's what woke her up.
She spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling and watching Hikaru sleep. He knew something was wrong the second he woke up and saw her face. It took some convincing but she told him about her dream and he'd been trying to cheer her up since. He was making some progress until Bones opened his big mouth. She loved the doctor dearly but sometimes she wants to smack him in the back of his head.
"You okay, Captain?" Uhura asked her. Jamie nodded as she sat in the command chair but didn't say anything. Uhura knew she was lying but the other woman didn't say anything. The shift was mostly quiet while they monitored the away team down on the planet doing their agricultural study. Kevin Riley walking onto the bridge made Jamie's heart sink. He doesn't come on the bridge for no reason.
"Permission to enter the bridge," the young engineer said before he walked into the room. Jamie just gave him a nod and a wave, she was waiting for the hammer to drop. "Do you have a minute, Captain?" he asked her.
"Yeah, Riley. Uhura, take the conn." Jamie and her childhood friend stepped into her ready room. "What's up?" she asked him.
He handed her his PADD, "When I woke up this morning, I had this message in my inbox." Jamie looked at the device in her hands.
-Kevin,
I know Jai is a big shot and they have her contact information blocked. I have to ask you to take this to her since I don't trust Starfleet to relay a message for me, even though I know they won't do it. I know you'll read it, so stay with her when you pass it along. I'll owe you one, brother.
Love you.
Tom
-Jai,
I hope you're sitting down for this one. If you aren't… get there. So, I went to a play last night with Martha and we saw a mutual friend of ours in the production. He was a little older but we're both sure it was him. I tried getting through to you through Starfleet but the one person I got to talk to told me that I had to be family, like family's just blood. You need to tell them what's up and get your ass to Planet Q, ASAP. I'm sorry I don't have better news. Me and Martha will keep an eye out until you guys get here.
Love you.
Tom
"I think I'm gonna be sick," she whispered. The fact that Tom didn't name their friend was telling. She knew he was talking about Kodos, even if she didn't want to believe it. That explained the ominous nightmare. Jamie looked at Kevin, "You okay?" She knew the question was pointless but she had to break the silence in the room.
He shook his head, "Nope… neither are you."
"Nope. Forward that to me. I'm gonna comm Barnett and see if they'll let us head over and check it out. If Tom and Martha recognized him, than there's a good chance that it's really him. I'll get Uhura to run the audio samples Tom sent with the message. Take the rest of the shift off, I'll handle Scotty," she told her friend.
Kev nodded, "Yes, ma'am."
"What's wrong?" was the first thing out of Hikaru's mouth when the away team materialized on the transporter pad.
Bones looked at her, "Jim, I'm sorry abo…"
"The whole world doesn't revolve around you, Doctor. Mister Sulu, we're headed to Planet Q, hit the bridge," she ordered.
Hikaru nodded, "Yes, ma'am."
"We were given an assignment to Planet Q, Captain?" Spock asked.
"Not exactly," she said.
Hiri took a breath, "This about your nightmare?"
"Riley got a message for me today from a childhood friend of ours that… Tom saw him. Archer's letting us detour to be sure."
"Oh, shit," Bones muttered.
Hiri reached out to touch her arm but she stepped back. He sighed, "What do you need us to do?"
"Just get me there." Jamie walked out of the transporter room, she didn't realize that Bones was right behind her.
"You know, shutting us out, especially Sulu, isn't gonna work. That kid would walk through fire for you and you know it," her friend told her.
She glared at him, "Leave it alone. Please, just leave it alone." Jamie kept walking but he grabbed her arm, on instinct, she twisted his wrist and arm behind his back while and pinned him against the bulkhead, "I said 'leave it alone'."
"Captain!" Spock called, he and Hiri both looked at her. Jamie took a step away from Bones, letting him go. "Lieutenant, please escort to captain to her quarters," her first officer ordered Hiri.
She glared at the half-Vulcan, "I gave him an order."
Spock nodded, "And I have given him a counter order under Starfleet regulation six-one-nine. I will see to our departure, it is best that you collect yourself." She really should've expected it but she didn't like it.
"You have no idea what you're dealing with, Spock, but I'll play along… for now."
Jamie stepped into the turbolift with Hikaru. They didn't say anything during the whole ride or as they walked into her quarters. She kicked off her boots and went to change out of her uniform.
Hiri leaned against the wall, "Tell me the rest."
"The rest of what?" she asked without looking up.
He took a step closer to her, "The rest of what happened. I know you edited the story when you told me and since the records list you… or Jai Dawson as killed, I know those are wrong too. So tell me the rest."
"You don't want the rest. Trust me… I don't want to know the rest and I lived it," she whispered. He sat on the end of the bed as she pulled on a shirt.
"Jamie, there is nothing you can tell me that's gonna change how much I love you. I know what happened isn't pretty and I know you don't like talking about it, but that's why you should."
"I can't. I tried but… I can't go back there. It's not just what happened, it's everything that came after it. It's the feeling under my skin of being... I can't… I…" she said.
Hikaru sighed, "I know I'm not gonna like the answer to this question but I'm gonna ask it and you're gonna tell me the truth." Jamie looked at him and waited for the one question she never wanted to hear but knew it was coming. He took a breath, "What did Kodos do to you?"
"It wasn't just him," Jamie closed her eyes. She didn't want to see the look on his face right now. "We left Martha with the kids while me, Tom and Sam went out to find food. The Enforcers found us… that's how Sam died. They just… shot him. We managed to hide in a house long enough for him to bleed to death in my arms. Tom had just covered him up when we were grabbed. They took us back to Kodos. He kept us prisoner for five weeks, allowing his men to do what they wanted to us. Sometimes he watched, sometimes he touched and other times…"
Jamie felt Hikaru move and his arms wrapped around her. "It's okay," he whispered.
She shook her head, "It's not okay. He tortured and raped us… he was trying to break us. And in a way, he did. At first, I was sad. Then, I was just angry and I stayed that way until Pike showed up. Kodos shaped my life and even though I got away from him… Sometimes, I can feel him. The only solace I had was the fact that Starfleet thought they killed him. That's gone. I'm terrified that I'm gonna get to Tom and Kodos will be waiting for me. I was always his favorite."
"Does McCoy know?" Hiri asked.
"Only pieces of it. It's not like I go around talking about it. Chris knew and Tom… but he went through the same thing. That's what made it worse, they made one of us watch as they did things to the other, trying to make us tell them where the others were. I'm not strong enough to face him again."
"You are Jamie T. Kirk, Captain of the Federation flagship Enterprise. Your name pisses off Romulans and makes Klingon's blood boil. You save worlds and fight for people who can't fight for themselves. You shouldn't be scared of Kodos, he should be terrified of you. He had to resort to… to raping you and your friend for answers and you still didn't give him what he wanted. You have no idea how strong you'd have to be to do that and you did it. Right now, you keep thinking that you're alone but there are hundreds of people that would gladly kill him just to put you at ease. You aren't alone in this, babe. I'll slit his throat if it'll make you feel better, I'm sure I'm not the only one either."
"I feel like a weak, helpless child, Hiri," she said against his chest.
He held her tighter, "I know. But you're not weak. Not even close. You're the strongest person I know, Jamie. You literally came back from the dead, you got this. Even if you convinced yourself that you can't handle it, I got you."
A shootout, seriously? Jamie was just pissed off now. Kodos must've recognized Tom because he was dead by the time the Enterprise got there. Martha managed to show Jamie –plus Hiri and Bones because they refused to let her go alone- were Kodos was. Sure enough, it was the man himself. What's more, he knew she was there for him. That's when his men started shooting up the theater they were in.
Kodos, the coward, hid behind cover and let his men do the heavy lifting. The three Enterprise officers and Martha were picking off Kodos' men until Jamie saw an opening and went for it. She really should've known better. He spun on her and stabbed her in the side with a small dagger. "Hello, Miss Dawson… or should I say Kirk?"
His voice was just as she remembered it, gruff and dripping with undue authority. She pulled the blade out of her side, "Thaddeus."
The man who shaped her being and made her what she was sized her up. Kodos leered at her, "You have grown beautifully, my sweet girl."
Jamie glared at him, "This is the end, Thaddeus."
"Indeed it is."
She expected the lunge he made at her but not the strength behind it. It didn't make a damn bit of difference when he hit her in the stab wound. Jamie tried but she couldn't find her leverage, "What was on the blade?" She felt like she was sinking in quicksand.
Kodos chuckled, "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" The young captain used every ounce of strength she had to swing at him but it was no use. Kodos pinned her to the ground, "I'm gonna kill you, then sweet Martha and little Kevin."
Jamie saw Hikaru in her peripheral vision and gave him a weak smile, "No you won't."
"Who's gonna stop me?" Kodos challenged.
"He will," she said as Hiri stabbed Kodos through the back and out his chest.
The helmsman pulled his blade out of the older man and pushed him off from Jamie, "Get away from my girl." Hikaru pulled her up from the floor, "We're gonna have to have another talk about you doin' stuff alone. You okay?" She shook her head,
"He poisoned the dagger."
His hand went to her side and he looked over her shoulder, "Doc, she's hurt."
"Hiri… I…" she didn't have the words.
He smiled, "He tried to take your life, I've killed people for a lot less. Now, do what doc tells you or I'll kick your ass."
"You'd only win because I'm hurt," she chuckled. "I love you."
Her favorite pilot smiled, "Love you more."
AN: I don't own Star Wars (that would be awesome!) or Pinky and The Brain.