Rest of my prompt fics
Title: Quiet
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike
Prompt: Fallen leaves
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/a
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
Normally, autumn is a bustling time at the Academy. Cadets are usually bustling about, greeting friends if they are returning or learning the grounds if they are new. The air often has a bite to it in the evening, a sign of the cooler weather ahead.
Not so this year. The Academy is silent and nearly empty. The younger cadets are still at home, resting in the arms of their families. The older ones are either on the Enterprise, preparing to ship out on its first mission, or are now, literally, atoms being sucked into a black hole that used to be Vulcan.
Chris sits on a bench, hating that the only sound on the Academy grounds is that of leaves that should be crunching beneath the boots of people who are not there.
Title: Details
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike, James T. Kirk
Prompt: Noise
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/a (well, aside from Jim Kirk being silly, but does that really count?)
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
Chris knew every detail about the Enterprise. He knew the exact specifications for the engineering deck (and thus knew that the designers had added a little room for ‘research and development’ but was really for a still). He knew how many crew members could safely inhabit one of the dorm decks (seventy was the maximum according to regulations, but eighty could fit in a pinch).
He also knew that the bulkheads were supposed to be soundproof. ‘Supposed to’, being the operative phrase.
The rapid, rhythmic beat that pounded out from the very walls gave lie to the ship’s specifications, and the further he walked the corridor, the louder it became. He was clearly coming closer to the sound’s origins.
He stopped at the doors of one of the cargo bays, which slid open at his approach. The moment they did so, however, Chris was nearly knocked backward by the enormous wave of sound that knocked into him.
The cargo bay resembled nothing of what it was intended for. The lights had been altered to give off a strobe effect. The containers, which held spare parts, non-perishable food, and other supplies, had all been shunted out of the way, clearing the majority of the floor. The noise was even more deafening, and while much of it came from the crowd gathered inside, even more of it came from the music.
The cargo bay had been turned into a fucking night club.
Chris gaped in the door way for several seconds, until Jim Kirk appeared in front of him, a bright grin on his face and a shot glass in his hand.
“Hey, Admiral!” Jim greeted cheerily. “Welcome to the party!”
Title: Revelation
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike, James Komack
Prompt: Burn
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Allusions to canon genocide
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
The fury is red hot inside him as he stares at the classified report in his hands. He’s read it through once, twice, three times, and still the anger does not abate.
“Why was I not told?” Chris bites out. He congratulates himself on at least sounding calm, but when James Komack flinches, he realizes that he may not be as calm as he thought after all.
“It was need to know.” At least Komack has enough backbone to not allow his voice to waver.
“I recruited him,” Chris protests. “I was his faculty advisor at the Academy.” He pauses to glare at Komack before adding, “I had to talk you and several of the others into keeping him on whenever he shoved Starfleet’s inadequacies in your faces! Damn it, James, I, of all people, should have known!”
The other man stares at him, matching Chris’ fire with his own. Glaring, he snaps back, “The truth is he didn’t want you to know, or anyone else for that matter!” Komack nods to the PADD in Chris’ hands. “Look at the security surrounding that report and anything that links Kirk and Tarsus Four, Christopher. Starfleet’s programmers can’t even begin to make heads or tails of it, and only a few people are able to access any of the information it protects.”
Chris looks down again at the report. He hadn’t wanted to believe any of this, hadn’t wanted to think of what a teenage James Tiberius Kirk would have had to do to survive Kodos and his death squads. He’d known that Winona Kirk hadn’t been in the best state of mind in the years after the Kelvin’s destruction (in truth, she’s still not, which probably explains why Jim refuses to speak of her, even when asked), but he’d never thought her so unstable that she packed off one of her sons to a colony that had been showing signs of instability for years.
“Kirk put those protections up himself, Chris,” Komack continues, unaware of the direction Chris’ thoughts have gone. “On the files of the other eight survivors as well. He wanted to make sure that no computer-savvy reporter got their hands on their names, or, worse, some supporter of Kodos that slipped through the cracks.” The other admiral stares at him intently. “Kirk agreed to let you see these files because of the anniversary and the memorial ceremony. Since you’re to be Admiralty’s representative and the Enterprise is to be your escort, he felt it best that you know beforehand.”
Jim Kirk - encouraging cooperation and the exchange of information, Chris thinks, wishing he could be amused by the irony. “Just in case,” he mutters.
“Exactly. And because he trusts you to keep your mouth shut, just like the rest of us.” Komack’s mouth is set in a grim line.
“Who else knows?” Chris asks sharply.
“Besides us? Archer, Barnett, and Ortiz. Barnett and Ortiz were part of the relief effort sent to Tarsus,” Komack replies.
“And Archer is C-in-C now and gets automatic access,” Chris adds himself. There’s no need to add why Komack knows. He’s in charge of special operations. The man may be a blowhard, but he’s good at his job.
“We don’t expect anything to happen at the ceremony, but you and Jim are the ones most likely to spot anything unpleasant and be able to head it off before it gets out of hand.” Komack stands up, ready to take his leave of Chris. “Try not to be too pissed off at the kid, Chris. This isn’t going to be easy for him.”
Chris nods absently, barely noticing as the other man leaves his office. He looks at the PADD yet again. Everyone has always said that Jim Kirk is a survivor. He snorts to himself. Apparently, they don’t know the half of it. The anger inside him still churns violently, even more so as he thinks about Jim's behavior in the years that he's known him.
I don't believe in no-win scenarios. In the past, Chris has often thought that Jim came on that belief due to his father's sacrifice, once he'd stopped resenting George for dying and leaving him to grow up without him. Now, he realizes that there is much, much more to it. Jim has looked in the face of what should be one of the ultimate no-win scenarios of the twenty-third century and beat it. Where Kodos sought to destroy him and all the others like him, Jim survived. Small wonder he reacted to the Kobayashi Maru test the way he did.
Title: Remember
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike (allusions of Christopher Pike/George Kirk)
Prompt: Smile
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/a
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
George’s smile had always captivated him. It was always so free, so beautiful that even after over two decades of seeing it only in holos and vids, it still could take Chris’ breath away. He still dreamt about that smile.
It was funny, how easy it was to take something as simple as a smile for granted, and to miss it like you missed a lost limb once it was gone.
The first time he met Jim Kirk, the kid’s features were marred by blood and bruises, and most of his resemblance to his father was corrupted by bitterness and derision. It wasn’t difficult, then, for Chris to differentiate between the two men. George had never had a bitter moment in his life. The majority of Jim’s life, on the other hand, had been one bitter moment after another.
But the first time Chris saw Jim smile - really smile, not smirk, not grin, but smile - he froze. For a brief, frozen moment, it was like he’d been transported back in time, before the universe had gone insane and let crazy Romulans appear out of nowhere and kill people that Chris lo - cared about.
In that single moment, he began to understand just why Winona had spent the past twenty-odd years running from her younger son. He might not like it, might actually despise her it, but he understood it.
Title: Undaunted
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike
Prompt: Gravity
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/a
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
Sweat poured down Chris’ face and the muscles of his arms screamed in pain, but he refused to let it stop him. He could do this. He would do this. Closing his eyes, he concentrated.
His physical therapy had been difficult. The Centaurian slug had done a number on his body, and his physicians had all warned him that his recovery was in uncharted territory. He could easily recover completely, or not at all. He could end up walking just as he always had, or be stuck in the wheelchair for the rest of his days.
Chris was determined to be closer to the more positive extreme, rather than the negative one. He would not be stuck in that god damn chair for the rest of his life. When Kirk and the Enterprise returned to Earth after the end of the first year of their mission, he was going to be standing there, waiting to greet them.
Gravity, however, was an even more difficult opponent than his own injuries. When he finally slumped back down, Chris could barely catch his breath. Still, he remained undaunted.
Title: Infectious
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike, George Kirk, James T. Kirk
Prompt: A twist of fate
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/a
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
“I relieve you, sir.”
Chris stared up at Kirk and smiled faintly. “I am relieved.” He was. Who else was he to trust with his girl but the one man who loved her as much as he did?
He struck out his hand, which Kirk met in a firm handshake, saying, “Thank you, sir.”
Chris nodded. “Congratulations, Captain.” He paused, and glanced to his left, out into the crowd of cadets, officers, and family members. When he spotted the person he was looking for, he chuckled. “I think your father is proud.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Chris saw Kirk turn to follow his own gaze. Admiral George Kirk, hero of the Kelvin, stood in the midst of the other Admirals, his eyes on both of them. He was beaming at them, his pride so bright that Chris couldn’t help but grin himself. George’s moods had always been infectious.
Kirk didn’t reply, just smiled as everyone broke into cheers. Chris let his escort pull his chair back, letting the kid have his moment. George may have inspired his second son to join Starfleet at eighteen, but the young officer had earned this adulation all on his own. George had saved the Kelvin crew and gone on to become an admiral, but Jim had saved the Federation and had been awarded with Starfleet’s pride and joy.
It wasn’t orthodox by any means, but Chris had a feeling it would work out.
Title: Hero
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike
Prompt: Spin
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Language
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
They call him a hero, saying that his decision to obey Nero’s summons saved his ship and the lives of his crew. The news channels may focus their attention on Jim, Spock, and the command crew (nearly all of them a pack of children not even officially graduated from the Academy, which makes for a thrilling story), but they always have a moment for him too, pointing out that his faith in Jim and his subsequent decisions saved the Enterprise and her crew from suffering the same fate as the rest of the fleet at Vulcan.
Chris doesn’t feel like a hero. When he closes his eyes, he sees the wreckage of fleet, burning hulks floating around the Narada. He sees Vulcan collapsing in on itself (Nero took great pleasure in using that to soften Chris up before he actually started interrogating him), taking billions of lives with it, one of the Federation’s greatest races. All of them dead because he wasn’t fast enough.
The Admiralty places no blame on him for it, saying there’s no way he could have known (Chris notices that they are silent on the matter of the defense codes that Nero wrested from him), but he knows that isn’t true. Jim knew because he’d read the dissertation. Chris fucking wrote the damn thing, helped make sure that the term ‘lightning storm in space’ became one of the most recognizable phrases in the past quarter century. He should have caught it long before Jim staggered onto the bridge, shouting about Romulans.
But he didn’t. He was as oblivious as the other captains who led their crews and ships to their deaths.
And they call him a hero.
They have no fucking clue.
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike
Prompt: Fallen leaves
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/a
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
Normally, autumn is a bustling time at the Academy. Cadets are usually bustling about, greeting friends if they are returning or learning the grounds if they are new. The air often has a bite to it in the evening, a sign of the cooler weather ahead.
Not so this year. The Academy is silent and nearly empty. The younger cadets are still at home, resting in the arms of their families. The older ones are either on the Enterprise, preparing to ship out on its first mission, or are now, literally, atoms being sucked into a black hole that used to be Vulcan.
Chris sits on a bench, hating that the only sound on the Academy grounds is that of leaves that should be crunching beneath the boots of people who are not there.
Title: Details
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike, James T. Kirk
Prompt: Noise
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/a (well, aside from Jim Kirk being silly, but does that really count?)
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
Chris knew every detail about the Enterprise. He knew the exact specifications for the engineering deck (and thus knew that the designers had added a little room for ‘research and development’ but was really for a still). He knew how many crew members could safely inhabit one of the dorm decks (seventy was the maximum according to regulations, but eighty could fit in a pinch).
He also knew that the bulkheads were supposed to be soundproof. ‘Supposed to’, being the operative phrase.
The rapid, rhythmic beat that pounded out from the very walls gave lie to the ship’s specifications, and the further he walked the corridor, the louder it became. He was clearly coming closer to the sound’s origins.
He stopped at the doors of one of the cargo bays, which slid open at his approach. The moment they did so, however, Chris was nearly knocked backward by the enormous wave of sound that knocked into him.
The cargo bay resembled nothing of what it was intended for. The lights had been altered to give off a strobe effect. The containers, which held spare parts, non-perishable food, and other supplies, had all been shunted out of the way, clearing the majority of the floor. The noise was even more deafening, and while much of it came from the crowd gathered inside, even more of it came from the music.
The cargo bay had been turned into a fucking night club.
Chris gaped in the door way for several seconds, until Jim Kirk appeared in front of him, a bright grin on his face and a shot glass in his hand.
“Hey, Admiral!” Jim greeted cheerily. “Welcome to the party!”
Title: Revelation
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike, James Komack
Prompt: Burn
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Allusions to canon genocide
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
The fury is red hot inside him as he stares at the classified report in his hands. He’s read it through once, twice, three times, and still the anger does not abate.
“Why was I not told?” Chris bites out. He congratulates himself on at least sounding calm, but when James Komack flinches, he realizes that he may not be as calm as he thought after all.
“It was need to know.” At least Komack has enough backbone to not allow his voice to waver.
“I recruited him,” Chris protests. “I was his faculty advisor at the Academy.” He pauses to glare at Komack before adding, “I had to talk you and several of the others into keeping him on whenever he shoved Starfleet’s inadequacies in your faces! Damn it, James, I, of all people, should have known!”
The other man stares at him, matching Chris’ fire with his own. Glaring, he snaps back, “The truth is he didn’t want you to know, or anyone else for that matter!” Komack nods to the PADD in Chris’ hands. “Look at the security surrounding that report and anything that links Kirk and Tarsus Four, Christopher. Starfleet’s programmers can’t even begin to make heads or tails of it, and only a few people are able to access any of the information it protects.”
Chris looks down again at the report. He hadn’t wanted to believe any of this, hadn’t wanted to think of what a teenage James Tiberius Kirk would have had to do to survive Kodos and his death squads. He’d known that Winona Kirk hadn’t been in the best state of mind in the years after the Kelvin’s destruction (in truth, she’s still not, which probably explains why Jim refuses to speak of her, even when asked), but he’d never thought her so unstable that she packed off one of her sons to a colony that had been showing signs of instability for years.
“Kirk put those protections up himself, Chris,” Komack continues, unaware of the direction Chris’ thoughts have gone. “On the files of the other eight survivors as well. He wanted to make sure that no computer-savvy reporter got their hands on their names, or, worse, some supporter of Kodos that slipped through the cracks.” The other admiral stares at him intently. “Kirk agreed to let you see these files because of the anniversary and the memorial ceremony. Since you’re to be Admiralty’s representative and the Enterprise is to be your escort, he felt it best that you know beforehand.”
Jim Kirk - encouraging cooperation and the exchange of information, Chris thinks, wishing he could be amused by the irony. “Just in case,” he mutters.
“Exactly. And because he trusts you to keep your mouth shut, just like the rest of us.” Komack’s mouth is set in a grim line.
“Who else knows?” Chris asks sharply.
“Besides us? Archer, Barnett, and Ortiz. Barnett and Ortiz were part of the relief effort sent to Tarsus,” Komack replies.
“And Archer is C-in-C now and gets automatic access,” Chris adds himself. There’s no need to add why Komack knows. He’s in charge of special operations. The man may be a blowhard, but he’s good at his job.
“We don’t expect anything to happen at the ceremony, but you and Jim are the ones most likely to spot anything unpleasant and be able to head it off before it gets out of hand.” Komack stands up, ready to take his leave of Chris. “Try not to be too pissed off at the kid, Chris. This isn’t going to be easy for him.”
Chris nods absently, barely noticing as the other man leaves his office. He looks at the PADD yet again. Everyone has always said that Jim Kirk is a survivor. He snorts to himself. Apparently, they don’t know the half of it. The anger inside him still churns violently, even more so as he thinks about Jim's behavior in the years that he's known him.
I don't believe in no-win scenarios. In the past, Chris has often thought that Jim came on that belief due to his father's sacrifice, once he'd stopped resenting George for dying and leaving him to grow up without him. Now, he realizes that there is much, much more to it. Jim has looked in the face of what should be one of the ultimate no-win scenarios of the twenty-third century and beat it. Where Kodos sought to destroy him and all the others like him, Jim survived. Small wonder he reacted to the Kobayashi Maru test the way he did.
Title: Remember
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike (allusions of Christopher Pike/George Kirk)
Prompt: Smile
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/a
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
George’s smile had always captivated him. It was always so free, so beautiful that even after over two decades of seeing it only in holos and vids, it still could take Chris’ breath away. He still dreamt about that smile.
It was funny, how easy it was to take something as simple as a smile for granted, and to miss it like you missed a lost limb once it was gone.
The first time he met Jim Kirk, the kid’s features were marred by blood and bruises, and most of his resemblance to his father was corrupted by bitterness and derision. It wasn’t difficult, then, for Chris to differentiate between the two men. George had never had a bitter moment in his life. The majority of Jim’s life, on the other hand, had been one bitter moment after another.
But the first time Chris saw Jim smile - really smile, not smirk, not grin, but smile - he froze. For a brief, frozen moment, it was like he’d been transported back in time, before the universe had gone insane and let crazy Romulans appear out of nowhere and kill people that Chris lo - cared about.
In that single moment, he began to understand just why Winona had spent the past twenty-odd years running from her younger son. He might not like it, might actually despise her it, but he understood it.
Title: Undaunted
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike
Prompt: Gravity
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/a
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
Sweat poured down Chris’ face and the muscles of his arms screamed in pain, but he refused to let it stop him. He could do this. He would do this. Closing his eyes, he concentrated.
His physical therapy had been difficult. The Centaurian slug had done a number on his body, and his physicians had all warned him that his recovery was in uncharted territory. He could easily recover completely, or not at all. He could end up walking just as he always had, or be stuck in the wheelchair for the rest of his days.
Chris was determined to be closer to the more positive extreme, rather than the negative one. He would not be stuck in that god damn chair for the rest of his life. When Kirk and the Enterprise returned to Earth after the end of the first year of their mission, he was going to be standing there, waiting to greet them.
Gravity, however, was an even more difficult opponent than his own injuries. When he finally slumped back down, Chris could barely catch his breath. Still, he remained undaunted.
Title: Infectious
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike, George Kirk, James T. Kirk
Prompt: A twist of fate
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/a
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
“I relieve you, sir.”
Chris stared up at Kirk and smiled faintly. “I am relieved.” He was. Who else was he to trust with his girl but the one man who loved her as much as he did?
He struck out his hand, which Kirk met in a firm handshake, saying, “Thank you, sir.”
Chris nodded. “Congratulations, Captain.” He paused, and glanced to his left, out into the crowd of cadets, officers, and family members. When he spotted the person he was looking for, he chuckled. “I think your father is proud.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Chris saw Kirk turn to follow his own gaze. Admiral George Kirk, hero of the Kelvin, stood in the midst of the other Admirals, his eyes on both of them. He was beaming at them, his pride so bright that Chris couldn’t help but grin himself. George’s moods had always been infectious.
Kirk didn’t reply, just smiled as everyone broke into cheers. Chris let his escort pull his chair back, letting the kid have his moment. George may have inspired his second son to join Starfleet at eighteen, but the young officer had earned this adulation all on his own. George had saved the Kelvin crew and gone on to become an admiral, but Jim had saved the Federation and had been awarded with Starfleet’s pride and joy.
It wasn’t orthodox by any means, but Chris had a feeling it would work out.
Title: Hero
Fandom: STXI
Characters: Christopher Pike
Prompt: Spin
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Language
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of its respective owners. I make no claim on it and write this purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended.
They call him a hero, saying that his decision to obey Nero’s summons saved his ship and the lives of his crew. The news channels may focus their attention on Jim, Spock, and the command crew (nearly all of them a pack of children not even officially graduated from the Academy, which makes for a thrilling story), but they always have a moment for him too, pointing out that his faith in Jim and his subsequent decisions saved the Enterprise and her crew from suffering the same fate as the rest of the fleet at Vulcan.
Chris doesn’t feel like a hero. When he closes his eyes, he sees the wreckage of fleet, burning hulks floating around the Narada. He sees Vulcan collapsing in on itself (Nero took great pleasure in using that to soften Chris up before he actually started interrogating him), taking billions of lives with it, one of the Federation’s greatest races. All of them dead because he wasn’t fast enough.
The Admiralty places no blame on him for it, saying there’s no way he could have known (Chris notices that they are silent on the matter of the defense codes that Nero wrested from him), but he knows that isn’t true. Jim knew because he’d read the dissertation. Chris fucking wrote the damn thing, helped make sure that the term ‘lightning storm in space’ became one of the most recognizable phrases in the past quarter century. He should have caught it long before Jim staggered onto the bridge, shouting about Romulans.
But he didn’t. He was as oblivious as the other captains who led their crews and ships to their deaths.
And they call him a hero.
They have no fucking clue.