1.

Sunnydale was still there. In a way. The vampires and demons still held a foothold, but the town was different. Modernized. Contained. And it had a new slayer. Tall. Willowy. Dark haired and a single mother. Her name was Olive…something.

Olive was good. Buffy had noticed it from the handful of times she had visited her old stomping ground and lurked around. Olive was quick. Smart. And she had what Buffy had before she traveled centuries into the future. Olive had family and friends, reasons to stay alive. To fight harder and be better. To make her more than just a weapon against evil.

Just like Buffy had.

It was why she jumped from the scaffolding into the portal that had been opened by Dawn's blood. To save the world. For her family. For her friends. It wasn't Buffy's strength and powers that stopped the worlds blending together. It wasn't Buffy's slayerness, it was her humanness. Her blood. Her love. It was what saved them.

And it was what brought her here. Lost and alone in a time and place she was grasping to learn. And Buffy wondered if maybe she should have just died that day. She had no friends, no family, she had nothing…what was there for her to live for now?

Two years later…

A bar fight.

Of all things, a bar fight.

This was not what she had agreed to when she was told to keep an eye over the new recruits.

Mid-brawl, Pike had walked in and gave a very impressive whistle that stopped everyone from doing anything.

"Outside, all of you. Now," he ordered, and bodies began to scramble to the exit.

Buffy, who watched the fight near the bar and decided to do nothing, leaned over to the bartender and nodded toward the body draped over a table. "Who's the idiot?"

"Jim Kirk," he replied casually as if this was a common occurrence.

She whipped her head back at the sound of the last name and the bartender gave her a passive look like he knew she would be surprised, because that last name was one for the ages.

Pike stood in his spot as he stared at the bloody face of someone who looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place. He didn't even look up when he heard the taps of Buffy's boots as she walked toward him.

"You know, you could've stopped it," he said, knowing very well Buffy's ability to make a person three times her size beg for mercy.

Buffy silently gave him a look that said he must be joking, a look he gladly ignored and took the PADD device she held out to him. His eyes widening slightly in disbelief after looking at the information.

"Is this right?"

"In shiny, glowing letters," she replied. "Bartender told me who he was. That bleeding bag of broken bones is James Tiberius Kirk."

In tandem, they looked over to James T. Kirk, still draped over a table and trying to shake off his disorientation.

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "Prideful little thing, isn't he?"

After quickly scanning Kirk's history of impressive aptitude tests results, Pike handed her back the device. "Make sure all the recruits get back."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna talk to him."

And with that he walked away and helped cleaned up a potential new Starfleet recruit.

Buffy never really did was she was told – even if they were direct orders. So, it was no surprise that after his conversation with Kirk, Pike found her loitering in the hallway by the door.

"Enlist?" she questioned, judgment dripping off every letter.

"He has potential."

"To be a pain in the ass."

"Then you two should have a lot in common."

Buffy gave her best deadpan expression. "You're hilarious."

"And don't you forget it," he teased.

"You know the other Pike I knew was a lot smarter."

"No, he wasn't," he responded as he placed both hands on her shoulders, leading her out of the bar.

Buffy had been curious about Iowa since Riley. She pictured cows and fields of corn, hunky men being shirtless wearing overalls with only one strap holding them up. They would be tossing bales of hay and smelling like apple pie. Of course, Buffy hadn't seen any of that since she arrived. She saw the shipyard, the dorms, and the bar. It wasn't really much of an exploring trip; it was a help Pike with the new recruits trip. A clever way to get her out of the academy and around other people.

What Pike failed to see was that Buffy did socialize…occasionally…when she had time. She had a few drinks here and there and definitely lunch with some of her classmates on occasion. It wasn't her fault she was pulled centuries into the future after diving into a portal that converged with a black hole and she had to relearn how the world worked and how everything was technologically way past her skillset, all while being a cadet at Starfleet and how that takes up a lot of person's time, okay.

Pike should be thankful she hadn't gone catatonic after he explained what a stardate was.

By the time Buffy reached her temporary bed for the night, her thoughts had traveled back in time. Riley. She hadn't thought of him much; on the occasions when she wondered how the people in her past had lived out their lives – even then he rarely featured a cameo. He had been right to leave. She hadn't loved him, not in the way he wanted her to. She hoped that he had lived out the rest of his days on a farm in Iowa with cows and corn, with a loving wife and kids and many grandkids. A nice life after all the demon hunting she hoped he survived. They would've never fit in the long term, Buffy knew that now. She wondered if maybe she wasn't meant to fit with anyone at all, considering her past relationships.

Angel. Riley. Scott. Even Parker. They all ended with her being alone. Being left. And Buffy wondered if maybe…maybe her being alone had nothing to do with being a slayer, maybe it was just her fate. It was why she was pushed into the future, away from her friends and family, away from everyone she knew, because being alone was the one thing she was good at. The one destiny she would never escape.

Early the next morning the shuttle was set to sail. Recruits were on board, and they were doing their final check before liftoff.

Buffy had been ordered to make sure everyone was in their seats, which mostly were – except for one.

"I told you people, I don't need a doctor. I am a doctor."

"Uh-huh," she replied to his ranting, one arm pushing him forward.

She found him locked in a bathroom and how fun it was for her to pry him out. Someone suggested getting him a doctor and that's when his arguing began. He had been arguing with her, and continued to argue with her, despite her non-committal grunts and heavy shoves, the whole time. Buffy was close to sewing his mouth shut.

"I suffer from aviophobia. It means fear of dying in something that flies."

"Okay," she casually replied and forcefully pushed him into his seat. "Sit."

The man, who was clearly not going down without a fight, opened his mouth, got up – and Buffy shoved him back in his seat with enough strength to make him second guess himself and that was that. Leonard McCoy gave up and relented to the tiny blonde person in front of him.

Last one down. Buffy felt very accomplished, she had completed an order with nearly no fuss. Pike would be very proud. She did a onceover of the seated crew and it was then that she saw the one and only James T. Kirk sitting beside the bathroom man. He had witnessed the entire debacle and was now at looking her with the most charming smile he could muster.

Kirk had a front row seat to the entire show and he found it very entertaining. He looked at the female…officer? cadet?...he wasn't sure, but he did know that she was very pretty and he wondered, if he had struck out with one Starfleet member what were the odds he would strike out with another?

Answer: Very High.

She didn't smile back. The look on her face said it all. She looked at him like she knew him, had made her decision about him and that it was not in favor of Jim Kirk. Interesting. He had just opened his mouth when she walked away and out of sight, completely disregarding him. Jim had been rejected before, usually verbally, countless times even, but this…this was something different…

Out of sight out of mind, Buffy entered the front of the shuttlecraft, and the first words out of Pike's mouth were, "He showed up."

Well, there went her mind.

"I know," she said. "Doesn't mean he'll pass."

"I don't know, said he'll finish in three years."

Buffy nearly snorted. "Like that's gonna happen."

"You're going to," he said, pride on his face and that softened Buffy's bitterness a bit.

Pike turned back and fiddled with panel in front of him. "Don't forget to clean my office next week. Seeing as I won."

And there the bitterness was again. Stupid, Kirk.

Buffy went to her seat and decided to divert that bitterness into something useful – studying. It had become the usual path whenever she felt annoyed, angry, lonely, or any other emotion she couldn't fully express, which was why she was able to graduate a year ahead of schedule. Burying one's emotions did have its benefits. Strapped into her seat, she tapped her device just as the shuttle was taking off, settling in for a few good chapters on the ride.

The shuttlecraft landed smoothly and docked at Starfleet Academy in good time. Cadets and crewmembers disembarked, Buffy waiting until Pike finished with his after-check duties to leave.

"You know that ride was a little bumpy."
"No, it wasn't," he replied playfully, tapping things on the screen.

"And that turn, whew, that was a rough one."

Pike smiled but ignored her.

And Buffy persisted, "I mean, are you sure you didn't cheat on your driver's test? Because you almost hit those crows."

"There were no crows."
"See? You didn't even see the crows. You could've killed them."

"Buffy."
"I think I should report you, maybe get your license revoked."

He looked back at her. "For what? A crow infraction?"

"So, you admit, there were crows."

Pike quickly finished powering down the shuttle and stood from his seat. "I'm leaving you home next time."

Buffy merely smiled and headed out with Pike right behind her.

The cadets had gathered near the shuttlecraft waiting for instructions. Jim looked around the bay and took note of other crafts that had landed with even more recruits. There were officers posted nearby observing the newcomers and recording information into logs. The place was a lot bigger than he imagined it would be. His eyes had just finished scanning a seating area next to them when his eyes caught sight of blonde hair. Sure, she wasn't looking anywhere near his direction, but he couldn't help but watch as she walked by.

"Friend of yours?" McCoy asked.

"Not yet," Jim replied, his focus unwavering.

"I'd be careful with that one. She's a lot stronger than she looks," he added, rubbing his chest. "Believe me."

Jim looked back at him, a smile on his face, as if the revelation was more of a challenge than a warning. And McCoy rolled his eyes.

Buffy felt him staring. She saw him out of the corner of her eye as she passed him, pretended not to see him, and moved on. Buffy had been in this kind of boat before. It was a game to him, the more she ignored him the more interested he became, and Buffy didn't have time for games in her life. She didn't have time for much of anything in her life. Luckily, she was two years ahead of him, enough berth to fend off any charm he wants to throw her way.

"Okay, so I'll see you later," Buffy quickly bade, ready to walk away from Pike.

"Wait – you said you would help."

"I did. I got everyone here in one piece. So, my good deed for the day is done."

Pike was all ready with a retort when she turned her back and headed out. Now realizing he should've bribed her with ice cream. Rookie mistake. Mentally, he waved her off and then headed to the front of the group.

"Welcome to Starfleet Academy."

Author's Ramble: I'm a fan of Star Trek but not a fanatic of Star Trek so I apologize in advance if I get a few things wrong or if I move things around for the sake of the story. Star Trek lore is huge and elaborate and I am by no means an expert, but I will try my best to align with the mechanics of its universe. I was inspired to write after rewatching the Star Trek Kelvin movies and imagining Buffy living in their world. It's been a while since I've written fanfiction, and I'm trying to stretch my writing muscles again, so I'm mostly free writing it as I go using the movies as a vague outline. So be forewarned, there most likely will be some plot holes and errors, but this story is just for fun (especially for me). And thank you for taking time to read it so far 3

Note note: The reference to the other Pike is from the Buffy movie and not Spike from the tv show ;) I know the movie isn't cannon, but I couldn't pass up referencing the name.