FIC: Prompt Response: Star Trek (Reboot)/Labyrinth (Part 14)
Title: I Can Never Remember That Line: Part 14
Author: 3988akasha
Fandom: Star Trek (Reboot)/Labyrinth
Pairing: Spock/Kirk
Warning: Jareth/Kirk
Ratings: PG
Spoilers: 2009 Movie & 1986 Labyrinth
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these ideas/people/stories.
Beta: alanndra
Author's Note: Written in response to the prompt from bones_2_be
I Can Never Remember That Line: Part 14
"What have you done, Spock?"
"Your query is vague. Please specify."
Jareth's nostrils flared. The Vulcan's damn calm had returned to him, which heightened Jareth's fear. He assessed the Vulcan silently. He no longer appeared concerned about his restraints, or Jim, or the labyrinth. Jareth's blood went cold.
"What did you do to Jim?"
"I have done nothing to the Captain."
"Do not lie to me, Spock."
"Lying would be illogical."
"He remembered you, Spock. I gave him everything he ever wanted, things you could never offer him...I gave to him freely, and he cried out for you. He had command of his ship, he had his father, he had an amorous commanding officer. I rearranged the fabric of his reality and it wasn't enough. I wonder if you understand my frustration. Tell me, Spock, have you ever tried to please your precious Captain? Have you ever found your efforts less than satisfactory? What do you do to please him? Tell me your secret."
While he had no intention of responding to any of Jareth's questions, he pondered them nevertheless. It shocked him to discover he could think of no logical reason for Jim's affection. In most respects they were incompatible. Jim was highly emotional, prone to brash decisions (more than most humans), and relied too heavily upon human instinct. He knew the Captain's reputation for promiscuity was not unfounded. He was also aware of the Captain's preference for women, but unlike Doctor McCoy, knew the Captain would not limit himself to one sex. Even if the Captain were to become monogamous, Spock felt he would be an unsuitable partner for Jim, due to his sexual inexperience.
Looking back through their time together, Spock could identify no moment which would account for their current closeness. In fact, outside their chess matches, they spent little free time with each other. He briefly wondered if Jim maintained this distance because he believed Spock and Nyota were still romantically involved. That was a logical conclusion given what Spock knew of Jim's character. Fleetingly, he wondered if the termination of his romantic relationship with Nyota was information the Captain should have received. The nuances of human friendships still escaped him. He found them difficult to follow, there was no pattern or clearly outlined protocol. It seemed as though certain factors affected the depth of the bond more than others. For some it was a length of time, with longer acquaintances equaling deeper friendships; while for others, one shared experience superseded time and created a deep bond.
It was possible their time on this planet would count as a shared experience. He glanced down at his hands, the memory of the pain lingering in his mind. Certainly, they both had experienced scarring events, which he concluded had an 89.785% chance of leading to a human’s idea of a deep friendship. If he continued to ignore presence pressing against his mental barriers, it was due to the logical conclusion that to remove the carefully erected barriers would be a mistake, not due to the emotional fear of rejection - no, he was Vulcan. His decision was logical, not emotional.
* * *
“Captain Kirk!” Sir Didymus called. “We have found you at last!”
“Friend back,” Ludo added.
Jim looked around, a bit disoriented. “Where are we?”
“Why look just there,” Sir Didymus pointed beyond them, “the gates to the Goblin City lie before you.”
Expecting to feel relieved, Jim wondered at the trepidation he felt seeping into his system. The goal was within his sight, mere feet from him, but he wasn’t happy about it. It gave him no pleasure. For a moment, he simply stood there stupidly. He wanted to get Spock and get back to the Enterprise. He wanted to get off this planet. So, why wasn’t he moving - running into the Goblin City? James T. Kirk was no coward. That didn’t stop him from fearing another encounter with Jareth. Not that such an encounter could be avoided. He needed to get to Spock - get back to the Enterprise (the real Enterprise). Not knowing how much time remained, he knew he had no time to over-analyze his feelings on the situation. Spock would be proud of that logical decision.
Jim climbed down out of the trash heap. The Goblin City loomed before his vision, causing everything else to fade. The image before him expanded and contracted; he felt his heat beat faster, hammer against his ribcage. Beneath him, the ground tilted. Jim lost his footing and landed on his back, blinking stupidly up at the red-stained black sky. Not two feet closer to the city and Jareth had already beaten him. Jim knew he had fallen due to his own stupidity, his own insecurities. Jareth had been right; Jareth had won.
“’Bout time you figured it out,” Hoggle said.
Jim blinked up at Hoggle.
“Jareth’s never had no one beat his labyrinth, and it sure wasn’t going to be you,” Hoggle continued.
Jim groaned. He hardly needed the good coward to remind him of his failure.
“Captain Kirk,” Sir Didymus called from somewhere near Jim’s feet, “this creature is incorrect.”
Jim and Hoggle both turned disbelieving eyes toward him.
“You have beaten the labyrinth, sir. You are in its heart; you have reached the Goblin City. The gate is just there.”
With his eyes, Jim followed Sir Didymus’ outstretched arm. The gate stood mere feet from where Jim lay on his back, wallowing. He had no reason to wallow. Sir Didymus was correct; he’d beaten Jareth’s labyrinth. He’d reached the Goblin City. He’d make it to Spock in time.
“Alright, boys,” Jim announced, “we should hurry. No telling how much time we’ve got left. Knowing Jareth - ” Jim paused, shook his head. “No, this won’t be easy at all.”
The group, trailing behind Jim, descended to the gate of the Goblin City. Jim assessed the gate; one guard slumped against the wall, asleep. The door was made of wood, but he guessed would be reinforced on the inside, at least with a cross bar. A low stone wall surrounded the city. Jim wondered if it would be worth it to attempt a quiet sneak into the city. Jareth knew he was coming; Jareth knew how close to the gate he was. No, now was not the time for subtle.
“Hey, you!” Jim poked the guard with his foot. “Open the gate. Wake up!”
The guard moved restlessly, fighting consciousness.
Impatient, Jim grabbed the guard’s shoulders and shook him. The sound of the helmet knocking against the wall and the shoulder guards set Jim’s teeth on edge, but he merely shook the guard harder.
“Hey, stop that!” the guard squeaked.
Jim released the guard.
“Open the gate.”
“I can’t open the gate.”
“Open the gate.”
“I can’t open the gate.”
Jim moved to grab the creature again. Defensively, the guard held his arms up in front of him.
“No more shakin’,” the guard squealed. “I can’t open the gate. Don’t have a key.”
Jim moved back a step, deflated. He shook his head. Only Jareth would post a guard at the gate and not give him a key. He turned to Ludo.
“Can you open the gate?”
Ludo moved to the gate, lifted one giant, orange leg and kicked it open. The wall on either side of the gate vibrated with the force of the kick. Wooden splinters flew inward, scattering uselessly to the ground.
Jim smirked. Subtle.
“Know what you’re doin’?” Hoggle asked. “Won’t be catchin’ him off-guard. Not now.”
Jim glowered down at Hoggle. “I don’t intend to catch him unaware, Hoggle. Jareth knows I’m coming. Now, I want him to feel me coming.”
Hoggle muttered about foolish humans under his breath as he moved off to the side. Jim squared his shoulders and strode into the city. He made it about five feet into the city before another set of doors began to close. A wall within the wall. Hands on hips, Jim looked at this second set of doors. They were larger than the gate doors, and not wood. In fact, as they came into better view, Jim moved back a step. The doors were two halves of a giant metal goblin. At least ten feet tall, the machine towered over Jim. It held a double-headed axe, the blades of which were as big as Jim. With a wry smile, Jim tipped his head to Jareth. Of all the things Jim had expected to find inside the Goblin City, this thing in front of him was not one of them.
As the axe came down in a giant arc, Jim jumped out of the way. Fortunately, he was small enough he could easily maneuver around the large, awkward swings. He ducked and rolled to avoid the deadly end of the axe as he formulated a plan. Without any weapons, Jim was struggling to find a plausible solution. Sir Didymus continued to weave in and out of the machine’s way, stabbing uselessly at the metal feet. Ludo cowered in the far corner, hoping to remain unnoticed. His plan appeared to be working. The machine seemed intent upon removing Jim’s head from his body; the others went ignored.
“Hoggle!” Jim hollered, not wanting to lose sight of the axe blade.
“What?”
“Know anything about this thing?”
“It’s bigger ’n us.”
“Anything useful?”
“Got a goblin inside, driving.”
A slow smile spread across Jim’s face. Finally, something he could work with; something good. A plan formulated in his mind. It was probably a bad plan, in fact, he knew Spock would disapprove of his plan, but he knew it would work. Just like his plan with Nero, he just knew. Plus, he didn’t have anything else, and no time to come up with a better idea.
“Distract him,” Jim commanded Hoggle.
“Me? I ain’t gonna go anywhere near it.”
“If you would allow me, Captain Kirk, I would be most pleased to offer my assistance,” Sir Didymus told Jim.
“Very good.”
With that, Jim slipped between the giant machine’s legs and moved swiftly along the wall. With his hands, he felt around for a good place to climb. Once he found a suitable place, Jim scaled the wall as fast as he could manage. From the top, Jim watched Sir Didymus chase his “steed”, Ambrosius, around the machine’s legs. Confused, the machine ambled in a rough circle.
Jim moved across the top of the wall, placing himself near the machine’s head. It was an assumption (he hoped it was a good one) that he would find the controls in the machine’s head. It’s where he would put it. Wishing he’d come up with a better plan, Jim leapt from the wall and onto the machine. His aim wasn’t exact, and all the air was pushed from his lungs as he landed on the its massive shoulder. He allowed a few moments for his lungs to regain oxygen before moving to the machine’s head.
Knees pressed against the neck, Jim fumbled around, searching for a latch or a button or a knob - anything to help him get inside the head. If there was a goblin driving it, there was a way in…and he would find it. He wished he could tell Sir Didymus to stop making the thing move around, as he was having some difficulty maintaining his balance. Finally, he felt the latch, felt it pull. The head fell forward on the hinge, the nose touching the chest. Startled, the diminutive goblin looked up, eyes wide. Jim grinned, hauled the critter out by the shirt, and unceremoniously dropped him.
The little goblin bounced once, twice before righting itself. Black, beady eyes looked up at Jim. “That wasn’t very nice.”
Jim rolled his eyes. He was beyond caring about the inhabitants of the planet. If Jareth sent them after him, then they would receive the same treatment. The time for games was gone. He refused to be afraid, he refused to be cowed into submission, he refused to give into Jareth and his tricks.
After squeezing himself into the driver’s seat, Jim stared blankly at the controls. Of course, nothing was labeled. Tentatively, he reached for one of the controls and moved it forward - the machine began to walk forward. Good. Jim worked his way through each of the controls, nearly dropping the axe on Hoggle. Once he felt comfortable with the way the machine maneuvered, he turned it toward the center of the city.
Bending over, he hollered down to the others, “Stay behind me. I’m going to cut a path straight to Jareth.”
Jim led the small troop further into the city. Armored feet clamored against the cobblestone streets, Jareth’s troops coming out to meet them. Jim ignored them. Their arrows bounced harmlessly off the armored body. The world on either side of him could have dissolved into nothing and he wouldn’t have noticed. His entire being was focused on the castle, which stood dominating his line of vision. The din of small skirmishes being fought bravely by Sir Didymus, reluctantly by Hoggle, and fearfully by Ludo barely registered on the fringe of Jim’s consciousness. Not all sounds failed to register, however. Jim distinctly heard the fall of each footstep the machine took, and he felt each vibration as the ground beneath the giant feet trembled. This was good; he wanted to create a ruckus that would threaten the foundation of Jareth’s power. This was a good start.
The castle’s door was discernable for the first time. Jim felt nearly weightless with his relief, lightheaded from the cacophony of emotions which fought each other for dominance within his being. He would see Spock. He would face Jareth. His audacious confidence returned to him as he reached the door. For the first time in many hours, Jim once more believed he would leave this planet with Spock.
A grin on his face, Jim lifted the machine’s leg and kicked in the front door.
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