Star Trek FF: Getting the Band Together [Kirk gen, Kirk/Gaila; PG-13]
Title: Getting the Band Together
Fandom: Star Trek: Reboot
Pairing: Kirk&Everyone, some Kirk/Gaila, read in whatever other pairings you like
Rating: PG-13, maybe R for language.
Length: 4,200 words
Disclaimer: Star Trek belongs to Paramount and Gene Roddenberry
Spoilers: General movie.
Warnings: Language, sexual implication/references, some drunkenness.
Summary: This is officially the most work Jim has put in to get a yes out of anyone. It turns out assembling your first crew is harder than it looks.
He asks Gaila first, waiting for just the right moment.
“Hey, baby, want to ride the Enterprise?”
She rolls out from underneath him. Jim squawks.
“Lights.” The lights turn on and she stares at him. They’ve been breaking in his temporary quarters while they wait to officially graduate and get his ship back in working order. Gaila says, “Yes to the innuendo, no to the job offer.”
“What? Why?”
She doesn’t look like she’s kidding. “Because, Jim. Hard as it is for you to believe, not everyone wants to ride your ship. The Enterprise wasn’t everyone’s dream assignment.”
“Gaila. C’mon. This isn’t still about….?”
She slaps him irritably. “God! No. Do you even-?”
“Hey, I don’t know how women-” Jim cuts himself off before he makes the situation worse. “So what is it then? Another ship? Baby, I’m hurt.”
“Jim… Never mind. Now, do you want to keep trying to persuade me or do you want to have sex?”
It really hadn’t (all) been about the Kobayashi Maru. Jim’s always admired how straightforward Gaila is. She’s sincere which, okay, he maybe took advantage of a little bit when he needed to. But he likes that about her.
“I can persuade you while we have sex?” Jim suggests.
“You can sure try.” Generous, too.
* * * *
“Can you believe that, Bones?” Jim just about avoids accidentally slamming his hand into the wall when he waves it about himself.
“What? That Gaila finally came to her senses and turned you down? No, Jim. That’s a stretch.”
“Not me,” Jim clarifies. “The Enterprise.”
Jim hadn’t even known what he was looking at that first time. She was a ship and she was beautiful, even in pieces in the Riverside Shipyard. But he hadn’t been like Uhura, waiting for them to call his name with Enterprise alongside it. He had just been waiting for them to call his name. It had only been later: feverish and nauseous, lolling up against Bones and then that, “Look, Jim.”
Jim continues, “Even you noticed her, Bones. That’s how good my ship is.”
“God, they’re going to have to pry you away from her with a crowbar when they want to promote you, aren’t they?”
“Aha! So you do think they’ll promote me. I knew that pessimism was all talk.”
“Jim.”
“Anyhow. I’m still working on Gaila. How’s medical going?”
“Jim.”
“You found a head nurse yet?”
“Jim!”
“What?”
Bones runs his hand over his head. “I haven’t said yes yet. You haven’t gotten around to asking me yet, to be perfectly honest, but I’ll ignore that. I haven’t said yes.”
That takes Jim a moment to process. “It didn’t occur to me that I needed to ask.”
“Yeah, well, that’s just your problem, isn’t it?”
“Apparently!” They’ve both raised their voices by this point, and the other people in the diner are starting to stare. Jim breathes out slowly. “Bones. You don’t seriously want to-”
“I don’t like ships. I don’t much like space, Jim.”
“You’re in Starfleet. Get over it.”
Bones opens and closes his mouth. “God. You can be a real asshole, kid, you know that?”
“Don’t call me kid. I could be your-”
“Not like this. I’ve got other offers, Jim. From people who actually bothered to ask me. Stations. Even the Academy. Things that don’t go too fast and then explode.”
“Fine.”
“Jim.”
“No, fine. I hope you’re happy bossing around snot nosed cadets while I’m dying of one of those horrible space diseases you’re always bitching about.”
“Jim.” Bones looks like he can’t decide whether to laugh or cry.
Jim pushes his chair back and leaves. He even pays for the burgers, just to be spiteful.
* * * *
Scotty is maybe a little the worse for alcohol when Jim runs into him. It’s okay - Jim plans on getting that way as soon as possible. Scotty says, “Captain! “What brings you to this fine establishment?”
“Hey, Scotty.” Jim looks around them. It’s the closest dive bar to the Academy, though suspiciously empty of uniformed personnel right now. “Reminiscing about my misspent youth. You?”
“I was trying to show Keenser the sights. But the little bastard abandoned me for some buxom thing with a waterfront apartment and a smile.”
“Good for him,” Jim says, before realising this was the wrong response. “Sorry. Just glad someone’s having a good night.” He orders a beer and turns back to Scotty. “You want something?”
Scotty nods at his half-full glass. “Still good. So what happened to make you look like the fly on the Enterprise’s viewscreen?”
Jim shakes his head. “Just… Bones. Gaila. You wouldn’t think it would be so fucking difficult to just- Hey.”
“Hey?”
He braces himself. “Hey, Scotty. You want to be my Chief Engineer?”
“Oh, thank Christ, I thought you’d never ask.”
Jim laughs with the sheer relief of it. “I know, right? Enterprise. That’s a sweet gig, right there.” He hums into his beer. “Fucking Bones.”
“I do have a few modifications I’d like to make, now,” Scotty says. “Minor things. Wee trifles, really. But I should get on them right away. Now that you’ve asked and all.” He jumps off the barstool. “Keenser too, though maybe you’re right. I’ll call him in the morning.”
“Scotty.”
“She’s going to purr when I’m done with her.”
“Scotty.”
“Not that she didn’t before, of course. Captain.”
Jim speaks before Scotty can get going again. “Scotty. Answer me one thing? Why’d you say yes?”
Scotty leans his head to one side and regards Jim thoughtfully. “If it wasn’t for you I’d still be on Delta Vega. Or dead, maybe. Or crazy. One of those things.”
“Okay?”
“I was bloody marooned on an outpost. I’m a ship’s engineer, Captain. And she’s a damn fine ship. I’m honoured to serve on her.”
Jim nods. “Okay. Yeah, okay. Thanks.”
“Can I go talk to the repair crews now?”
He laughs. “Go.” Scotty dashes off. Jim murmurs, “Dismissed, Commander.”
* * * *
Spock turns him down straight away, which Jim had pretty much expected by that point. He tries not to be offended and goes to see Uhura. He wants to get that rejection over with too - might as well get both nos out of the way before dinner.
Uhura looks at him for a long, long moment. “Yes. All right.”
“What?”
“I said yes. Should I have been more clear?”
“I heard you say yes, I just didn’t- Seriously?”
She slides her ponytail over her shoulder. “I’m not sure what you’re having trouble with.”
“You know Spock said no, right?”
Her expression turns icy. “The very fact that you think I would allow personal feelings to interfere with my desire to serve on the flagship of the fleet speaks to your-”
“Your desire to serve on the Enterprise is a personal feeling, Lieutenant. And I was just checking. I can do without a Communications Officer mooning over my bridge.”
There’s a low throat noise that isn’t quite a growl, but it’s getting close to it. He really didn’t go into this conversation trying to upset her. Uhura sighs deeply and pulls herself under control. “I can assure you that won’t be a problem. Captain.”
“You could try and sound less disgusted by my rank, you know. I’m as surprised as you are.”
“I doubt that.” She bites off the end of the sentence, looking a little remorseful about it. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s just that… especially because Spock declined the position... Don’t you think you could do with some more… maturity… on the command crew, at least?”
“You’re mature enough for both of us. Hey, that wasn’t why…? Uhura, tell me you’re not taking this post because you think I’m going to screw it up. I don’t need a babysitter either.”
“Of course not. Captain.” He really doesn’t believe her.
* * * *
“I hate you,” he tells Gaila conversationally.
She pulls back. “Are we role-playing? Because you really should warn a girl if you want kinky hate-sex.”
“No. I really hate you. You started this whole… This is the Enterprise. She’s a beautiful ship.” He’s aware that he’s whining now, but she drove him there.
Gaila looks at him. Her expression softens. “She is. And you’re a very young captain.”
“I know that! I’m pretty sure the only reason Uhura said yes is because she thinks I need someone to keep an eye on me. And Scotty would probably have said yes if Cupcake was Captain - he just wants the chance to put the engines back together sideways.”
“All I mean is- It’s not you. It’s just that- Do you even know how many people died on the Enterprise during the attack? How many of those were engineers?”
“Gaila.”
“I mean, medical was hit pretty badly too. You’re lucky McCoy got out of there okay. But the engineering labs took a lot of the damage. My computer lab? The one you used to get past your test? There were two of us left after that.”
“Gaila.” Jim runs his hand down her arm. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
“I know,” she says. Her voice is warm. “But you need to listen. Not everyone wants to be on the Enterprise. It’s full of ghosts. Maybe that’s why Spock said no to you.”
“How did you know-?”
“Jim. Everyone knows. Like they know McCoy said no and Nyota said yes.”
Great. Everyone knows he can’t even convince his best friend to join his crew. At least he’s used to being the talk of Starfleet.
* * * *
He tries to talk to Bones again, now that he’s not so pissed off.
“Hey,” Jim says. He’s looking cautiously through the doorway into Bones’ quarters. “Look, I know you’re a little nervous about the whole… space thing. And after what happened with Puri and all… But it won’t always be like that.”
“And another thing,” Bones says, not even looking around from the computer screen, “I have a kid, Jim.”
“Okay?”
Bones continues to talk as though they hadn’t actually stopped that first argument. “And you just act like that doesn’t matter. Like it’s completely unreasonable that I might want to see my girl more than once a year. Or that she might want her Dad to be somewhere that’s not in constant danger of exploding in midair.”
Jim says, “My ship won’t explode. What’s with this exploding obsession of yours? At least mix it up a bit occasionally.” Bones maybe turns his head a little at that one. But he fixes his eyes back on the screen a moment later.
Jim walks away again.
* * *
He leaves a pretty drunken voice-message on Spock’s computer: “I’m not gonna screw this up, you know. Just cause everyone thinks that I- Bones won’t come because he thinks I’ll screw up and Uhura’s only coming because she thinks I will. But I won’t. If I do though, it’s totally going to be your fault. For leaving me all… first officer-less. There’s no one else on my fucking list, you bastard. And you know that. … You know what? When you change your mind, and come knocking looking for a job, I’m going to ask for references. Yeah. That’ll teach you to… Oh, come on, Spock.”
* * * *
Sulu and Chekov are in one of the gyms. They’re both in workout clothes, although they’re just sitting on one of the weight-benches talking when Jim finds them.
“Good,” Jim says, “I was hoping you’d both be here.”
“We are not always in the same place,” Chekov protests mildly. “Hikaru is helping with hand-to-hand combat.”
“With or without katanas?” Jim asks.
Sulu grins. “We’re starting without. It seemed safer.”
“Okay,” Jim says. “You’re coming with me, right?”
“Now?” Sulu asks.
“No, not now.” God, people make this so much harder than it should be. “Next month. Enterprise. Pilot, navigator, any of this...? I swear, you turn this down too and I’m going to go tell Pike to get someone else to run this thing.”
They both look a little bewildered, though Sulu grins. Bastard. Kirk would put good money on Sulu knowing more than he’s letting on. Pilots are the worst gossips.
“Captain?” Chekov asks.
“For God’s sake, Pavel. Yes or no?”
Chekov stands there for a moment unpicking Jim’s ranting. “Yes? You are asking me if I wish to take assignment on the Enterprise?”
“Yeah.”
“As her navigator?”
“You can do whatever the hell you want, as long as you still pull the occasional miracle out of your ass when we need it.”
Chekov’s smile is bright and surprised. Sometimes Jim forgets what a kid he still is. His train of thought derails. He’s really not used to being on the ‘adult’ side of that line.
“Sulu?” Jim asks.
“Of course. I wasn’t sure you were going to ask after the whole… Well, the thing with the inertial dampers. Which I’ve got the hang of now, so you don’t need to-“
“Hikaru?” Chekov interrupts Sulu, who turns to look at him. “Captain was not actually on bridge when you- When that happened.”
Jim can’t help laughing. “What the hell did you do? Pike never mentioned….”
Sulu’s flushing, which just makes the whole thing funnier. “I hadn’t- With a real cruiser. You know I can handle it now.”
Jim’s expression sobers. “Yeah, I do. That’s why I’m asking.”
“We are honoured, Captain,” Chekov answers. Sulu nods. They sit in silence for a minute or two before Chekov and Sulu go back to hand-to-hand practice.
Jim sighs in relief, tapping his fingers on the bench in time to the solid blows of flesh on flesh. At least those two were easy enough.
* * * *
Pike calls Jim into his offices.
“Admiral.”
“Mr Kirk. Once again, your recent activities have been brought to my attention. People seem to think I’m in possession of some mystical ability to ‘rein you in’. I suppose I should just be glad you’re not bleeding all over the floor this time.”
“Sir?”
“You have anything to say for yourself?”
“Si-”
“So help me, kid, you ‘sir’ me again and I’ll make you eat it.”
“I’m recruiting. Which - do I really need to get everybody? Shouldn’t some of this be Starfleet’s job?”
“Traditionally, Starfleet captains have been reluctant to cede control of crew selection over to HQ. So officially you submit requests and we approve them. But you’ve got to submit them first. Get your senior officers to get their picks to you, and then you pass them up.”
“Okay.”
“You’re still missing a few.”
“I’m working on Bones. Doctor McCoy. Sir.”
“You need a first officer.”
Jim looks down. “Yeah.”
“And a Security Officer.”
He had sort of forgotten about that one. Jim doesn’t mention that to Pike. “I’ve got my Chief Engineer,” he protests. “And Communications Officer. Pilot and Navigator.”
Pike raises his eyebrow. “Yeah? So I’ll see that paperwork cross my desk today, will I?”
“Um. Yeah. Sure.”
“And Security teams?”
“Of course.” Jim pauses. “You don’t, maybe, have some kind of shortlist for security personnel? I never got on so well with those guys. Don’t know why. Some sort of personality clash.”
Pike hands him some files wordlessly. Then: “Three days, Kirk. I need to see a crew roster in three days.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * * *
He had tried to do the security thing right. Pike had given him a list of qualified candidates and Jim sifted through them looking for someone who would fit in on his ship. Someone who will be able to deal with the shitload of weird they’ll bring back onto the Enterprise, and able to back-up a smash and grab when they need to go planet-side to rescue someone. (Jim’s been looking at some of their prospective first contact missions and already he can tell that there’s a reason Command are letting him take the best of the best.)
One of the names crops up on nine out of ten lists. Jim had only cursed a little when he saw the face that went with it.
Cupcake is standing in front of him.
“At ease, lieutenant,” Jim tries.
“Captain.” He should take lessons from Uhura - the edge in that tone trips over from barely hidden disdain into downright insubordination.
Jim puts on his best smile. “We got off to a bad start. That was maybe my fault. Then there was some stowing away which really only compounded the situation. How about we start over?”
“There are more postings than qualified officers right now.” Cupcake gets straight to the point.
“Yeah. About that.”
“Yeah?”
“Mine’s better.”
That at least gets him to blink. “I don’t-”
“Lieutenant Sommers.” Hah. Another blink. “I’m offering you a position aboard USS Enterprise. You are, of course, welcome to decline that in favour of the other assignments open to you at present. But I’d like to hope that if you do, it’s not because of any petty personal difficulties we might have had in the Academy.”
“You could just get Admiral Pike to approve the posting.”
“I could. But there’s no fun in that. And he gets really pissy when I ask him to do my job for me. I need to get some security teams together. Want to help me out?”
Sommers takes the files from Jim. “I’ll get you a list.”
Jim nods.
Sommers walks to the door and then turns to look at Jim. “Captain?” A little better that time.
“Yeah?”
“Try not to get all my men killed.”
That one almost certainly crossed into insubordination but Jim nods once more. “Lieutenant.”
* * * *
Jim corners Bones in a much nicer restaurant, twelve hours before Pike wants that list. “Are you hiding from me?”
“No, Jim,” Bones sighs. “I just wanted some real food.”
Jim looks at Bones’ plate and is unconvinced. He doesn’t allow himself to be distracted. “Bring Jo with you.”
“What?”
“Bring her with you, I don’t care. I’ll put her on the payroll. I’ll put your ex-wife on the payroll if it’ll get her off our backs.”
“Jim. ”
“You can stay on the ship when we go on away missions. Or not stay on the ship, I don’t know. Whatever makes you less worried about explosions and disease and death and all that crap you were talking about that first day.”
“Jim, you really should-”
He’s kind of making a scene. Luckily Jim grew out of the capacity to feel embarrassed years ago. “Come with me. Please. I can’t do this without you.”
“Jim. Can we maybe talk about this somewhere-?”
“You want me to beg? Cause I can do that.” Jim puts action to word and drops out of the chair, on one knee by the side of the table.
There’s a hush in the restaurant as the people around them really start to get the wrong idea. Jim doesn’t care. “Please. Please do this with me. I’ll stop asking you to do all the rest of the stupid shit, I’ll take this seriously. But this is me asking, okay?”
Bones looks down at him, back around at the restaurant, and grabs Jim’s hands to pull him up. “Oh for God’s sake, yes, if it’ll shut you up.”
There’s a smattering of applause: the right response but a particularly Bones-like way of expressing it.
Jim lets Bones pay for the meal in a hurry, and is then dragged out into the street.
“How is that not doing stupid shit, Jim?” Bones asks.
“I never said I wouldn’t do it,” Jim says. “Just that I’d try and leave you out of it.”
“And let you get blown to pieces?”
“Only a little blown to pieces. You can be there to put me back together when I’m done.”
Bones sighs. “I really hate you.”
“Love you too. Now, you’ve got about eleven hours to populate medical. How quick can you interview nurses?”
“Chapel,” Bones says.
“The blonde?”
“No.”
“No she’s not blonde or no…”
“No.”
Jim grins. “Like I can do anything right now. I hired all the best looking cadets and now I’m screwed over by the chain of command thing.” That’s not quite accurate, but he’s definitely going to have to be a lot more careful. Luckily, Chapel really isn’t his type. He had kind of hoped she might be Bones’ type, but if he’s hiding a flame for her he’s doing it pretty well. Though it could just be that he’s already pissed off at Jim again.
“Jim.” Bones starts into one long tirade about responsibility and recklessness and (as ever) the dangers of space.
Jim doesn’t exactly tune it out - it washes over him like familiar music. He quickens his pace a little and smiles when Bones stretches his to match. Better.
* * * *
Gaila is happy - when she’s happy she laughs in bed. That’s another thing he likes about her.
“Uhura’s coming with me.” Jim tries one last time for luck.
“I know. You told me. She told me. She’s pretty excited about it. I would have thought that part would have worn off by now.”
“Gaila.”
“I like new.”
“I know,” Jim says. “So what are they offering you?”
“They’re rebuilding the fleet and they need qualified computer engineers to get those systems running,” Gaila says. “And you know what? It turns out I’m really good, and that you don’t get to have all the best officers.”
Gaila smiles at him; Jim can’t help smiling back.
She kisses him. “And I heard McCoy finally gave. Go you! Did you try Spock again?”
He rolls back onto the sheets. “Yeah. He’s started ignoring my calls. Pike wants me to name a first officer before we go but…”
“What?”
“It’s meant to be him. I just… like I knew I needed Bones onboard. And Uhura and everyone,” he hastily adds. “It’s meant to be Spock.”
Gaila shrugs, making her red hair resettle against her shoulders. “Maybe he’ll change his mind.”
“And you?”
Her smile is beautifully clear. “‘Brave new world that has such people in it.’ Who knew that would be useful? But I want that.”
“You realise that’s pretty much the Enterprise’s mission statement, right?”
She laughs at him. “Jim.”
He leans up on his elbows to kiss her. “I swear the only person to say no to me this many times is Uhura. And Bones, but that’s not quite the same.”
“It’s good for you.”
“And now you sound like them too.”
She kisses him again on the corner of his mouth. Gaila whispers, “Except I’m still saying no.”
Jim rolls her gently to the other side of the bed. “Well, you were always the smart one.”
* * * *
He runs the pre-flight checks slowly. If anyone asks, he can tell them that he’s being careful, this first time out.
Bones is glaring at him, but he’s on the bridge for really no reason at all, so Jim ignores the expression. Bones is here which the only important part.
Jim holds off for one more minute. It’s worth it. Spock is there, not-smiling at Jim and proffering references. His bridge is at full complement. There’s a moment where he just sits there taking it in. Then: “Take us out.”
They’re at warp and cruising before Jim walks to Spock’s station. “What changed your mind?”
“Captain. Did you realise that Lieutenant Gaila was a member of my programming team for the Kobayashi Maru?”
“You know I know that. Wait. You spoke to Gaila?”
“I visited my father and the remainder of the Vulcan Council. I was seeking… advice,” he says, though Jim fills in ‘blessing’ in his own head. “When I returned it was to a number of increasingly animated messages you had left in your attempts to make me reconsider. Lieutenant Gaila also expressed a desire to speak to me. She seemed to believe that you were liable to get into trouble without a more-”
“Tell you what. How about you don’t finish this sentence and I retain at least the pretence that I’m in charge here?”
Spock raises his eyebrow but nods. “Captain.”
Jim nods back - Spock can infer the thanks from that. He walks to stand and look out of the viewscreen at nothing.
The ship is patched up from near wreck, his first officer is in mourning, and the rest of the crew are still battle-weary from the last time he was allowed in charge. There’s a good portion of Starfleet Command who think this thrown together crew are going to fail. Jim would bet good money that somewhere aboard the ship, someone’s running a book on how long it’s going take before they’re ordered home early or forced there. It doesn’t matter.
It’s not new in the way Gaila means and Jim understands why she wants that. But it’s new for him - the sharp thrill of mine that means the Enterprise and everyone in her. My command, mine to protect. And our new mission, whether we’re scarred from the last one or not. We push through, we make it work. It fits them - fits him - like nothing else has before.
Jim sits in his chair and spins around once. He can see everything from here: Spock, Uhura, Bones, Chekov, Sulu. They look at him like he’s varying degrees of crazy and he laughs. That’s never going to get old either.
FIN.
Fandom: Star Trek: Reboot
Pairing: Kirk&Everyone, some Kirk/Gaila, read in whatever other pairings you like
Rating: PG-13, maybe R for language.
Length: 4,200 words
Disclaimer: Star Trek belongs to Paramount and Gene Roddenberry
Spoilers: General movie.
Warnings: Language, sexual implication/references, some drunkenness.
Summary: This is officially the most work Jim has put in to get a yes out of anyone. It turns out assembling your first crew is harder than it looks.
He asks Gaila first, waiting for just the right moment.
“Hey, baby, want to ride the Enterprise?”
She rolls out from underneath him. Jim squawks.
“Lights.” The lights turn on and she stares at him. They’ve been breaking in his temporary quarters while they wait to officially graduate and get his ship back in working order. Gaila says, “Yes to the innuendo, no to the job offer.”
“What? Why?”
She doesn’t look like she’s kidding. “Because, Jim. Hard as it is for you to believe, not everyone wants to ride your ship. The Enterprise wasn’t everyone’s dream assignment.”
“Gaila. C’mon. This isn’t still about….?”
She slaps him irritably. “God! No. Do you even-?”
“Hey, I don’t know how women-” Jim cuts himself off before he makes the situation worse. “So what is it then? Another ship? Baby, I’m hurt.”
“Jim… Never mind. Now, do you want to keep trying to persuade me or do you want to have sex?”
It really hadn’t (all) been about the Kobayashi Maru. Jim’s always admired how straightforward Gaila is. She’s sincere which, okay, he maybe took advantage of a little bit when he needed to. But he likes that about her.
“I can persuade you while we have sex?” Jim suggests.
“You can sure try.” Generous, too.
* * * *
“Can you believe that, Bones?” Jim just about avoids accidentally slamming his hand into the wall when he waves it about himself.
“What? That Gaila finally came to her senses and turned you down? No, Jim. That’s a stretch.”
“Not me,” Jim clarifies. “The Enterprise.”
Jim hadn’t even known what he was looking at that first time. She was a ship and she was beautiful, even in pieces in the Riverside Shipyard. But he hadn’t been like Uhura, waiting for them to call his name with Enterprise alongside it. He had just been waiting for them to call his name. It had only been later: feverish and nauseous, lolling up against Bones and then that, “Look, Jim.”
Jim continues, “Even you noticed her, Bones. That’s how good my ship is.”
“God, they’re going to have to pry you away from her with a crowbar when they want to promote you, aren’t they?”
“Aha! So you do think they’ll promote me. I knew that pessimism was all talk.”
“Jim.”
“Anyhow. I’m still working on Gaila. How’s medical going?”
“Jim.”
“You found a head nurse yet?”
“Jim!”
“What?”
Bones runs his hand over his head. “I haven’t said yes yet. You haven’t gotten around to asking me yet, to be perfectly honest, but I’ll ignore that. I haven’t said yes.”
That takes Jim a moment to process. “It didn’t occur to me that I needed to ask.”
“Yeah, well, that’s just your problem, isn’t it?”
“Apparently!” They’ve both raised their voices by this point, and the other people in the diner are starting to stare. Jim breathes out slowly. “Bones. You don’t seriously want to-”
“I don’t like ships. I don’t much like space, Jim.”
“You’re in Starfleet. Get over it.”
Bones opens and closes his mouth. “God. You can be a real asshole, kid, you know that?”
“Don’t call me kid. I could be your-”
“Not like this. I’ve got other offers, Jim. From people who actually bothered to ask me. Stations. Even the Academy. Things that don’t go too fast and then explode.”
“Fine.”
“Jim.”
“No, fine. I hope you’re happy bossing around snot nosed cadets while I’m dying of one of those horrible space diseases you’re always bitching about.”
“Jim.” Bones looks like he can’t decide whether to laugh or cry.
Jim pushes his chair back and leaves. He even pays for the burgers, just to be spiteful.
* * * *
Scotty is maybe a little the worse for alcohol when Jim runs into him. It’s okay - Jim plans on getting that way as soon as possible. Scotty says, “Captain! “What brings you to this fine establishment?”
“Hey, Scotty.” Jim looks around them. It’s the closest dive bar to the Academy, though suspiciously empty of uniformed personnel right now. “Reminiscing about my misspent youth. You?”
“I was trying to show Keenser the sights. But the little bastard abandoned me for some buxom thing with a waterfront apartment and a smile.”
“Good for him,” Jim says, before realising this was the wrong response. “Sorry. Just glad someone’s having a good night.” He orders a beer and turns back to Scotty. “You want something?”
Scotty nods at his half-full glass. “Still good. So what happened to make you look like the fly on the Enterprise’s viewscreen?”
Jim shakes his head. “Just… Bones. Gaila. You wouldn’t think it would be so fucking difficult to just- Hey.”
“Hey?”
He braces himself. “Hey, Scotty. You want to be my Chief Engineer?”
“Oh, thank Christ, I thought you’d never ask.”
Jim laughs with the sheer relief of it. “I know, right? Enterprise. That’s a sweet gig, right there.” He hums into his beer. “Fucking Bones.”
“I do have a few modifications I’d like to make, now,” Scotty says. “Minor things. Wee trifles, really. But I should get on them right away. Now that you’ve asked and all.” He jumps off the barstool. “Keenser too, though maybe you’re right. I’ll call him in the morning.”
“Scotty.”
“She’s going to purr when I’m done with her.”
“Scotty.”
“Not that she didn’t before, of course. Captain.”
Jim speaks before Scotty can get going again. “Scotty. Answer me one thing? Why’d you say yes?”
Scotty leans his head to one side and regards Jim thoughtfully. “If it wasn’t for you I’d still be on Delta Vega. Or dead, maybe. Or crazy. One of those things.”
“Okay?”
“I was bloody marooned on an outpost. I’m a ship’s engineer, Captain. And she’s a damn fine ship. I’m honoured to serve on her.”
Jim nods. “Okay. Yeah, okay. Thanks.”
“Can I go talk to the repair crews now?”
He laughs. “Go.” Scotty dashes off. Jim murmurs, “Dismissed, Commander.”
* * * *
Spock turns him down straight away, which Jim had pretty much expected by that point. He tries not to be offended and goes to see Uhura. He wants to get that rejection over with too - might as well get both nos out of the way before dinner.
Uhura looks at him for a long, long moment. “Yes. All right.”
“What?”
“I said yes. Should I have been more clear?”
“I heard you say yes, I just didn’t- Seriously?”
She slides her ponytail over her shoulder. “I’m not sure what you’re having trouble with.”
“You know Spock said no, right?”
Her expression turns icy. “The very fact that you think I would allow personal feelings to interfere with my desire to serve on the flagship of the fleet speaks to your-”
“Your desire to serve on the Enterprise is a personal feeling, Lieutenant. And I was just checking. I can do without a Communications Officer mooning over my bridge.”
There’s a low throat noise that isn’t quite a growl, but it’s getting close to it. He really didn’t go into this conversation trying to upset her. Uhura sighs deeply and pulls herself under control. “I can assure you that won’t be a problem. Captain.”
“You could try and sound less disgusted by my rank, you know. I’m as surprised as you are.”
“I doubt that.” She bites off the end of the sentence, looking a little remorseful about it. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s just that… especially because Spock declined the position... Don’t you think you could do with some more… maturity… on the command crew, at least?”
“You’re mature enough for both of us. Hey, that wasn’t why…? Uhura, tell me you’re not taking this post because you think I’m going to screw it up. I don’t need a babysitter either.”
“Of course not. Captain.” He really doesn’t believe her.
* * * *
“I hate you,” he tells Gaila conversationally.
She pulls back. “Are we role-playing? Because you really should warn a girl if you want kinky hate-sex.”
“No. I really hate you. You started this whole… This is the Enterprise. She’s a beautiful ship.” He’s aware that he’s whining now, but she drove him there.
Gaila looks at him. Her expression softens. “She is. And you’re a very young captain.”
“I know that! I’m pretty sure the only reason Uhura said yes is because she thinks I need someone to keep an eye on me. And Scotty would probably have said yes if Cupcake was Captain - he just wants the chance to put the engines back together sideways.”
“All I mean is- It’s not you. It’s just that- Do you even know how many people died on the Enterprise during the attack? How many of those were engineers?”
“Gaila.”
“I mean, medical was hit pretty badly too. You’re lucky McCoy got out of there okay. But the engineering labs took a lot of the damage. My computer lab? The one you used to get past your test? There were two of us left after that.”
“Gaila.” Jim runs his hand down her arm. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
“I know,” she says. Her voice is warm. “But you need to listen. Not everyone wants to be on the Enterprise. It’s full of ghosts. Maybe that’s why Spock said no to you.”
“How did you know-?”
“Jim. Everyone knows. Like they know McCoy said no and Nyota said yes.”
Great. Everyone knows he can’t even convince his best friend to join his crew. At least he’s used to being the talk of Starfleet.
* * * *
He tries to talk to Bones again, now that he’s not so pissed off.
“Hey,” Jim says. He’s looking cautiously through the doorway into Bones’ quarters. “Look, I know you’re a little nervous about the whole… space thing. And after what happened with Puri and all… But it won’t always be like that.”
“And another thing,” Bones says, not even looking around from the computer screen, “I have a kid, Jim.”
“Okay?”
Bones continues to talk as though they hadn’t actually stopped that first argument. “And you just act like that doesn’t matter. Like it’s completely unreasonable that I might want to see my girl more than once a year. Or that she might want her Dad to be somewhere that’s not in constant danger of exploding in midair.”
Jim says, “My ship won’t explode. What’s with this exploding obsession of yours? At least mix it up a bit occasionally.” Bones maybe turns his head a little at that one. But he fixes his eyes back on the screen a moment later.
Jim walks away again.
* * *
He leaves a pretty drunken voice-message on Spock’s computer: “I’m not gonna screw this up, you know. Just cause everyone thinks that I- Bones won’t come because he thinks I’ll screw up and Uhura’s only coming because she thinks I will. But I won’t. If I do though, it’s totally going to be your fault. For leaving me all… first officer-less. There’s no one else on my fucking list, you bastard. And you know that. … You know what? When you change your mind, and come knocking looking for a job, I’m going to ask for references. Yeah. That’ll teach you to… Oh, come on, Spock.”
* * * *
Sulu and Chekov are in one of the gyms. They’re both in workout clothes, although they’re just sitting on one of the weight-benches talking when Jim finds them.
“Good,” Jim says, “I was hoping you’d both be here.”
“We are not always in the same place,” Chekov protests mildly. “Hikaru is helping with hand-to-hand combat.”
“With or without katanas?” Jim asks.
Sulu grins. “We’re starting without. It seemed safer.”
“Okay,” Jim says. “You’re coming with me, right?”
“Now?” Sulu asks.
“No, not now.” God, people make this so much harder than it should be. “Next month. Enterprise. Pilot, navigator, any of this...? I swear, you turn this down too and I’m going to go tell Pike to get someone else to run this thing.”
They both look a little bewildered, though Sulu grins. Bastard. Kirk would put good money on Sulu knowing more than he’s letting on. Pilots are the worst gossips.
“Captain?” Chekov asks.
“For God’s sake, Pavel. Yes or no?”
Chekov stands there for a moment unpicking Jim’s ranting. “Yes? You are asking me if I wish to take assignment on the Enterprise?”
“Yeah.”
“As her navigator?”
“You can do whatever the hell you want, as long as you still pull the occasional miracle out of your ass when we need it.”
Chekov’s smile is bright and surprised. Sometimes Jim forgets what a kid he still is. His train of thought derails. He’s really not used to being on the ‘adult’ side of that line.
“Sulu?” Jim asks.
“Of course. I wasn’t sure you were going to ask after the whole… Well, the thing with the inertial dampers. Which I’ve got the hang of now, so you don’t need to-“
“Hikaru?” Chekov interrupts Sulu, who turns to look at him. “Captain was not actually on bridge when you- When that happened.”
Jim can’t help laughing. “What the hell did you do? Pike never mentioned….”
Sulu’s flushing, which just makes the whole thing funnier. “I hadn’t- With a real cruiser. You know I can handle it now.”
Jim’s expression sobers. “Yeah, I do. That’s why I’m asking.”
“We are honoured, Captain,” Chekov answers. Sulu nods. They sit in silence for a minute or two before Chekov and Sulu go back to hand-to-hand practice.
Jim sighs in relief, tapping his fingers on the bench in time to the solid blows of flesh on flesh. At least those two were easy enough.
* * * *
Pike calls Jim into his offices.
“Admiral.”
“Mr Kirk. Once again, your recent activities have been brought to my attention. People seem to think I’m in possession of some mystical ability to ‘rein you in’. I suppose I should just be glad you’re not bleeding all over the floor this time.”
“Sir?”
“You have anything to say for yourself?”
“Si-”
“So help me, kid, you ‘sir’ me again and I’ll make you eat it.”
“I’m recruiting. Which - do I really need to get everybody? Shouldn’t some of this be Starfleet’s job?”
“Traditionally, Starfleet captains have been reluctant to cede control of crew selection over to HQ. So officially you submit requests and we approve them. But you’ve got to submit them first. Get your senior officers to get their picks to you, and then you pass them up.”
“Okay.”
“You’re still missing a few.”
“I’m working on Bones. Doctor McCoy. Sir.”
“You need a first officer.”
Jim looks down. “Yeah.”
“And a Security Officer.”
He had sort of forgotten about that one. Jim doesn’t mention that to Pike. “I’ve got my Chief Engineer,” he protests. “And Communications Officer. Pilot and Navigator.”
Pike raises his eyebrow. “Yeah? So I’ll see that paperwork cross my desk today, will I?”
“Um. Yeah. Sure.”
“And Security teams?”
“Of course.” Jim pauses. “You don’t, maybe, have some kind of shortlist for security personnel? I never got on so well with those guys. Don’t know why. Some sort of personality clash.”
Pike hands him some files wordlessly. Then: “Three days, Kirk. I need to see a crew roster in three days.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * * *
He had tried to do the security thing right. Pike had given him a list of qualified candidates and Jim sifted through them looking for someone who would fit in on his ship. Someone who will be able to deal with the shitload of weird they’ll bring back onto the Enterprise, and able to back-up a smash and grab when they need to go planet-side to rescue someone. (Jim’s been looking at some of their prospective first contact missions and already he can tell that there’s a reason Command are letting him take the best of the best.)
One of the names crops up on nine out of ten lists. Jim had only cursed a little when he saw the face that went with it.
Cupcake is standing in front of him.
“At ease, lieutenant,” Jim tries.
“Captain.” He should take lessons from Uhura - the edge in that tone trips over from barely hidden disdain into downright insubordination.
Jim puts on his best smile. “We got off to a bad start. That was maybe my fault. Then there was some stowing away which really only compounded the situation. How about we start over?”
“There are more postings than qualified officers right now.” Cupcake gets straight to the point.
“Yeah. About that.”
“Yeah?”
“Mine’s better.”
That at least gets him to blink. “I don’t-”
“Lieutenant Sommers.” Hah. Another blink. “I’m offering you a position aboard USS Enterprise. You are, of course, welcome to decline that in favour of the other assignments open to you at present. But I’d like to hope that if you do, it’s not because of any petty personal difficulties we might have had in the Academy.”
“You could just get Admiral Pike to approve the posting.”
“I could. But there’s no fun in that. And he gets really pissy when I ask him to do my job for me. I need to get some security teams together. Want to help me out?”
Sommers takes the files from Jim. “I’ll get you a list.”
Jim nods.
Sommers walks to the door and then turns to look at Jim. “Captain?” A little better that time.
“Yeah?”
“Try not to get all my men killed.”
That one almost certainly crossed into insubordination but Jim nods once more. “Lieutenant.”
* * * *
Jim corners Bones in a much nicer restaurant, twelve hours before Pike wants that list. “Are you hiding from me?”
“No, Jim,” Bones sighs. “I just wanted some real food.”
Jim looks at Bones’ plate and is unconvinced. He doesn’t allow himself to be distracted. “Bring Jo with you.”
“What?”
“Bring her with you, I don’t care. I’ll put her on the payroll. I’ll put your ex-wife on the payroll if it’ll get her off our backs.”
“Jim. ”
“You can stay on the ship when we go on away missions. Or not stay on the ship, I don’t know. Whatever makes you less worried about explosions and disease and death and all that crap you were talking about that first day.”
“Jim, you really should-”
He’s kind of making a scene. Luckily Jim grew out of the capacity to feel embarrassed years ago. “Come with me. Please. I can’t do this without you.”
“Jim. Can we maybe talk about this somewhere-?”
“You want me to beg? Cause I can do that.” Jim puts action to word and drops out of the chair, on one knee by the side of the table.
There’s a hush in the restaurant as the people around them really start to get the wrong idea. Jim doesn’t care. “Please. Please do this with me. I’ll stop asking you to do all the rest of the stupid shit, I’ll take this seriously. But this is me asking, okay?”
Bones looks down at him, back around at the restaurant, and grabs Jim’s hands to pull him up. “Oh for God’s sake, yes, if it’ll shut you up.”
There’s a smattering of applause: the right response but a particularly Bones-like way of expressing it.
Jim lets Bones pay for the meal in a hurry, and is then dragged out into the street.
“How is that not doing stupid shit, Jim?” Bones asks.
“I never said I wouldn’t do it,” Jim says. “Just that I’d try and leave you out of it.”
“And let you get blown to pieces?”
“Only a little blown to pieces. You can be there to put me back together when I’m done.”
Bones sighs. “I really hate you.”
“Love you too. Now, you’ve got about eleven hours to populate medical. How quick can you interview nurses?”
“Chapel,” Bones says.
“The blonde?”
“No.”
“No she’s not blonde or no…”
“No.”
Jim grins. “Like I can do anything right now. I hired all the best looking cadets and now I’m screwed over by the chain of command thing.” That’s not quite accurate, but he’s definitely going to have to be a lot more careful. Luckily, Chapel really isn’t his type. He had kind of hoped she might be Bones’ type, but if he’s hiding a flame for her he’s doing it pretty well. Though it could just be that he’s already pissed off at Jim again.
“Jim.” Bones starts into one long tirade about responsibility and recklessness and (as ever) the dangers of space.
Jim doesn’t exactly tune it out - it washes over him like familiar music. He quickens his pace a little and smiles when Bones stretches his to match. Better.
* * * *
Gaila is happy - when she’s happy she laughs in bed. That’s another thing he likes about her.
“Uhura’s coming with me.” Jim tries one last time for luck.
“I know. You told me. She told me. She’s pretty excited about it. I would have thought that part would have worn off by now.”
“Gaila.”
“I like new.”
“I know,” Jim says. “So what are they offering you?”
“They’re rebuilding the fleet and they need qualified computer engineers to get those systems running,” Gaila says. “And you know what? It turns out I’m really good, and that you don’t get to have all the best officers.”
Gaila smiles at him; Jim can’t help smiling back.
She kisses him. “And I heard McCoy finally gave. Go you! Did you try Spock again?”
He rolls back onto the sheets. “Yeah. He’s started ignoring my calls. Pike wants me to name a first officer before we go but…”
“What?”
“It’s meant to be him. I just… like I knew I needed Bones onboard. And Uhura and everyone,” he hastily adds. “It’s meant to be Spock.”
Gaila shrugs, making her red hair resettle against her shoulders. “Maybe he’ll change his mind.”
“And you?”
Her smile is beautifully clear. “‘Brave new world that has such people in it.’ Who knew that would be useful? But I want that.”
“You realise that’s pretty much the Enterprise’s mission statement, right?”
She laughs at him. “Jim.”
He leans up on his elbows to kiss her. “I swear the only person to say no to me this many times is Uhura. And Bones, but that’s not quite the same.”
“It’s good for you.”
“And now you sound like them too.”
She kisses him again on the corner of his mouth. Gaila whispers, “Except I’m still saying no.”
Jim rolls her gently to the other side of the bed. “Well, you were always the smart one.”
* * * *
He runs the pre-flight checks slowly. If anyone asks, he can tell them that he’s being careful, this first time out.
Bones is glaring at him, but he’s on the bridge for really no reason at all, so Jim ignores the expression. Bones is here which the only important part.
Jim holds off for one more minute. It’s worth it. Spock is there, not-smiling at Jim and proffering references. His bridge is at full complement. There’s a moment where he just sits there taking it in. Then: “Take us out.”
They’re at warp and cruising before Jim walks to Spock’s station. “What changed your mind?”
“Captain. Did you realise that Lieutenant Gaila was a member of my programming team for the Kobayashi Maru?”
“You know I know that. Wait. You spoke to Gaila?”
“I visited my father and the remainder of the Vulcan Council. I was seeking… advice,” he says, though Jim fills in ‘blessing’ in his own head. “When I returned it was to a number of increasingly animated messages you had left in your attempts to make me reconsider. Lieutenant Gaila also expressed a desire to speak to me. She seemed to believe that you were liable to get into trouble without a more-”
“Tell you what. How about you don’t finish this sentence and I retain at least the pretence that I’m in charge here?”
Spock raises his eyebrow but nods. “Captain.”
Jim nods back - Spock can infer the thanks from that. He walks to stand and look out of the viewscreen at nothing.
The ship is patched up from near wreck, his first officer is in mourning, and the rest of the crew are still battle-weary from the last time he was allowed in charge. There’s a good portion of Starfleet Command who think this thrown together crew are going to fail. Jim would bet good money that somewhere aboard the ship, someone’s running a book on how long it’s going take before they’re ordered home early or forced there. It doesn’t matter.
It’s not new in the way Gaila means and Jim understands why she wants that. But it’s new for him - the sharp thrill of mine that means the Enterprise and everyone in her. My command, mine to protect. And our new mission, whether we’re scarred from the last one or not. We push through, we make it work. It fits them - fits him - like nothing else has before.
Jim sits in his chair and spins around once. He can see everything from here: Spock, Uhura, Bones, Chekov, Sulu. They look at him like he’s varying degrees of crazy and he laughs. That’s never going to get old either.
FIN.