Rise Above This (Big Bang for J.J. Verse)
Title: Rise Above This
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, teensy bit of angst
Characters: Spock/ Kirk, Winona Kirk
Spoilers: Um... For the movie, I suppose?
Word count: 2,719
Summary: Jim takes Spock home for shore leave.
A/N: The longest fic I've ever written, which is rather sad. Done for the big bang over of J.J. Verse. Also, this isn't beta'd. At all. I wrote this in about an hour, so sorry for any mistakes.
All of the crew on the U.S.S. Enterprise had been granted two weeks of shore leave on Earth. The excitement flying into space dock had been palpable on the bridge. Everyone was anxious to be on their own solid ground, to be on the planet they know as home.
Jim had announced the leave a week before, and the ship had been buzzing since. No one could wait to get off the Enterprise and see the family they hadn't had physical contact with in over a year. Even Kirk was planning on visiting his estranged mother. He had barely talked to her in his academy days, and had had little chance to in deep space. But now, he was going to see her as the captain of his own ship, and as something even more important- a boyfriend.
After the initial month of awkwardness with Spock, things got better. Spock had discovered Kirk had been captain of the chess team in the academy, and had challenged him to a match of 3D chess. Jim, never backing down from a challenge, of course agreed. That one game of chess had turned into a game once a week, which had turned into a game once a day, which had turned into daily meals together, which had eventually turned into a relationship after they were forced to mind meld in an emergency and their mutual loving feelings were exposed.
Now Spock was coming home with Jim to meet his mother. At first, Spock hadn't wanted to intrude on Jim's family time. Jim had insisted. Their conversation went something like this;
"Hey, Spock, come home with me."
"I do not wish to intrude on your reunion with your mother."
"Maybe I should rephrase that. How about 'Hey Spock, come home with me so that I have an excuse to leave if I need one. Also, I love you and want to spend time with you.'"
"I still do not think-"
"Spock. You're coming with me."
Sighing, Spock had relented, saying, "If you insist."
Finally, it was time for Spock and Jim to go home to Jim's childhood home in Iowa. Grabbing both of their bags, Kirk hopped on the shuttle that would take them there, with Spock following him a moment later.
The ride through one of the last countrysides in Northern America was extremely boring for Kirk, at least. Spock seemed fascinated by the endless fields of grain and wheat.
After an hour, they exited the shuttle. At the shuttle port was a hover car rental place, which they made use of. Another ten minutes later, they had arrived at the old country farm house that had been Jim's home for the first nineteen years of his life.
Again grabbing hold of their bags, Kirk jumped off the side of the hover car, landing with a slight 'thud' that caused dirt to billow up around his feet, covering the bottom of his jeans and his shoes in a light brown colour. Spock, much more gracefully, stepped out of the hover car after him. Walking in sync together, shoulder to shoulder, they trekked up to the rickety porch.
Dropping the bags to the side of the door to free his hands, Jim typed in the entry code his mom and sent to his PADD earlier that morning. With a click, the door slid open revealing a homely living room and a staircase leading up to the second floor.
Jim once again picked up their luggage and moved it to sit just on the other side of the doorway.
Motioning for Spock to sit down on the couch or one of the surrounding chairs, Kirk walked around the first floor looking to see if his mom was in. He began to worry when he didn't find her in any of the five rooms. Calling out "Mom!" a few times into the still air didn't bring his mother out, either.
Moving back into the living room, he looked around frantically for a note. Kirk finally found one lying underneath a random PADD on the coffee table. Feeling foolish for his unneeded worry, Kirk looked at Spock with a sheepish smile, to which Spock simply raised his eyebrow.
The note gave an excuse that Winona had gone out for food for the week and that they would be back around 18:00.
Satisfied that an axe murderer hadn't stolen his mom from the house, Jim settled into the couch beside Spock, wrapping his arm lightly around the other man's shoulders. Grabbing a remote off the the side table, Jim turned on the television that the couch was facing.
Flipping through the channels revealed nothing but cheap reality shows and shopping networks until he hit upon a show on a science channel talking about the possibilities of time travel and possible repercussions. Spock turned his head to Jim and silently nodded his agreement to the choice. Smirking, Kirk set the remote back in it's place and snuggled into his lover further.
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A couple of hours later, Jim woke up to the beeping sound of the front door being unlocked. He groaned slightly and lifted his head off of Spock's shoulder.
"What time is it, Spock?" he asked with a yawn. The Enterprise had been hours ahead of Earth, so Kirk was used to having been asleep at this point.
"It is approximately 17:56 and 27 seconds," Spock replied.
Laughing, Kirk kissed him on the cheek. "Only you would give the time up until seconds and still refer to it as an approximation."
Merely raising an eyebrow, Spock elicited another light laugh from Jim.
Winona walked in as Jim finished untangling his arms from around Spock, and Jim turned around, still grinning.
"Hey, mom. We got here a little early, so we watched some TV." Jim stood up to give his mom a hug. Spock stood as well. She returned his embrace, but had a slightly confused look on her face.
Pulling back, Jim gave a small, questioning frown. "What? Do I have something on my face?" Reaching up to rub his face, Winona gave a small laugh and shook her head.
"No Jim, I'm just a little surprised is all. You didn't mention you were bringing home anyone."
Now was Jim's turn to look confused. "I could've sworn I'd told you. I sent you a comm a few weeks ago."
"I believe, Jim, that that was during the time where we were ambushed by the strange bright blue cloud entity. Nothing was damaged, if you recall, except for our network. Your communication may have been lost during the incident." Spock spoke up from his position next to the couch.
Slapping a hand to his face, Jim shot his mom an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. I really thought that comm had sent. Anyways, this is Commander Spock, my first officer."
"If need be, I may procure other lodgings. I do not want to intrude, Mrs. Kirk," Spock interjected stiffly.
"No need, dear. I have plenty of food. I know how much Jim eats, so I made sure to get extra. Now he just needs to eat normal portions and we should be fine," Winona assured Spock with a smile.
"If you are certain," Spock replied, looking anything but.
"Don't worry about it, Commander! It'll be fine. And please, call me Winona. I insist."
"Thanks, mom," Jim said, looking relieved that everything was sorted out.
"It's alright, Jimmy. I'm just glad you're finally home." Jim stiffened slightly at that, but kept a grin on his face. Winona didn't seem to notice, but Spock did. Spock stored the information in his head to ask him about later.
"So, I was thinking I'd make a big stew for dinner tonight. How does that sound?" Winona asked the two of them.
"Spock's vegetarian, mom," Jim sighed, looking worried again. It wouldn't be good if there wasn't anything Spock could eat.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing I've been buying meat substitutes along with real meat recently, then," she replied.
"Why have you been buying meat substitutes?" Jim asked, perplexed.
"Don't give me that look! It's healthier! Anyways, it should be fine. Actually, I'll go start on that now."
"Do you require any help, Mrs. Kirk?" Spock asked.
"No, no, I'm fine. I enjoy cooking for guests. And really, please call me Winona. 'Mrs. Kirk' makes me feel old," she answered with a small grin, "You boys just watch some more TV or explore the house. I'll be fine." With that, Winona exited the living room and headed to the kitchen. Calling from the kitchen as an after thought, she hollered, "Actually, could you two grab the grocery bags from the truck? I forgot all about them!"
Complying with her request, they went out front and began bringing the bags in in companionable silence.
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An hour later, Spock, Jim, and Winona were eating dinner and discussing some of the adventures the Enterprise had been on. Jim could tell that talking about the ship upset his mom a little bit, as it reminded her of his father, but she wasn't saying anything asking him to stop, so he didn't.
A few minutes later, Winona moved to gather up the bowls they had used during the meal. Walking from the dinning room to the adjacent kitchen, she began cleaning the bowls and other things that had been used to prepare the meal.
Jim followed her and wordlessly began helping her. Spock, in turn, followed Jim.
Turning to look at Spock, Winona said, "If you still want to help, you can dry."
Nodding in return, Spock picked up the dishtowel laying next to the sink and began drying the first bowl Jim handed him.
"So, I didn't expect you, as you know Spock, so I'm afraid I don't have the guest bedroom made up yet. It may be a few minutes after we clean up in here before it will be ready," Winona said in between scrubbing utensils.
"M-om," Jim began, extending the word into two syllables, "We're not teenagers. Spock will be sleeping with me." He rolled his eyes while grabbing the utensils his mom had just finished washing and began rinsing them.
After Jim said this, Spock started blushing. His pointed ears began to flush a light green. As he handed off the utensils he'd finished rinsing to Spock, Jim noticed his blush. Barking out a laugh, he shook his head in amusement.
Winona looked less amused at Kirk's words, and Kirk could tell instantly that the atmosphere had changed for the worse.
"Looks like we're done here. Jim, could I have a word with you in the living room?" she asked with a slight edge to her voice.
Jim, a frown on his face now, nodded swiftly and moved to leave the room. As he passed, he extended two fingers to Spock, which Spock reluctantly did in return. After a slight touch, he continued out of the room.
Winona, giving a tight smile, exited the room as well.
Trying not to eavesdrop, Spock returned to drying the already dry bowls. Even though he attempted not to hear, his Vulcan hearing meant he couldn't help it.
From the other room, he heard an angry sigh from Jim, and then speaking.
"Mom, I don't know why you have a fucking problem with this!" Jim spoke in an angry voice.
"I have a problem with it because you're in the same command track! And there's such a huge chance of one of you dying! Dammit, you may not know what it feels like, but I do! I can't stand the thought of how hurt you would be if you lost him! This isn't a good idea."
"Mom, I'm not you, and I'm not dad. I'm me, and I love Spock. You're projecting your emotions and experiences on to me, and it pisses me off."
"How do you know you 'love' him, Jim?", she asked, frustrated at his inability to understand how she felt.
"You may not get how I love him, but I just do. Love doesn't need a reason, and love doesn't need to be justified, least of all to you. And if you don't understand that, then I have nothing left to say to you." With that, Jim spun on his heel and headed back to the kitchen.
Whispering, "Let's get out of here," softly in Spock's ear, Jim grasped his hand and pulled him towards the living room to grab their bags and leave.
Spock, looking in his own way upset, gave a tiny nod and was led by Jim out of the room.
On their way out, Winona watched them leave with a sad look on her face. Right as Jim was about to slam the door, she said, "Wait."
Turning to look at her incredulously, he snapped back, "What could you possibly want after that?".
The look on Winona's face softened slightly and she replied, "I don't want you to go. Maybe I don't understand this," she gestured between the two of them, looking pointedly at their clasped hands, "but I do understand loving someone. I get that you don't choose who you love. I just... I just don't want to see you get hurt. I love you, Jimmy, and I want the best for you. I didn't think that having your heart broken would be the best for you, is all."
Jim's frown lessened as he said softly, "Not having Spock would break my heart more than losing him ever would. 'Tis better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all', right? You taught me that."
Nodding a few times, Winona gestured behind her. "Please, come back in. Stay at least a few days. I can't lose you again. You were gone for so many years. Not physically, but mentally, and I can't watch you leave again. Not if I can help it."
She looked so hopeful and sad that Jim gave her a half smile.
"A few days," Kirk nodded, dropping his bag back down but tightening his hold on Spock's hand.
"I'll bring those to your... I mean you two's room, then." Winona noticeably faltered at 'you two's', but still moved to lift the bags.
"Thanks, mom," Jim said, and Winona could tell he meant 'thanks' for more than just taking the bags.
Kirk finally lessened his death grip on Spock's hand. Spock looked relieved.
Winona left the room, heading up the stair slowly, presumably heading to Jim's old room that she had prepared for his stay.
Jim turned and hugged Spock. He rested his head on Spock's shoulder and released his hand to wrap his arms fully around his waist. Spock stayed stiff for a moment before bringing his arms up to wrap around Jim's torso in return.
His voice muffled into Jim's hair, Spock said, "I would never want you to lose contact with your mother. I-I do not wish you to lose her as I have lost mine."
Jim said nothing. He just tightened his arms around Spock's waist and breathed deeply. After a moment, he said, "I don't want to lose her either. But I would chose you over anyone in a heartbeat. That may be wrong and maybe that's not how it should be, but I would all the same."
Another moment passed before Spock said, "And I would place you above anything else, my t'hy'la."
They stood in each others arms for a long time after that, holding each other like it would keep them together forever, like their embrace would protect them from anything that could break them apart. Like love could beat all odds, all fears, all anger, and even death.
And maybe it could.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, teensy bit of angst
Characters: Spock/ Kirk, Winona Kirk
Spoilers: Um... For the movie, I suppose?
Word count: 2,719
Summary: Jim takes Spock home for shore leave.
A/N: The longest fic I've ever written, which is rather sad. Done for the big bang over of J.J. Verse. Also, this isn't beta'd. At all. I wrote this in about an hour, so sorry for any mistakes.
All of the crew on the U.S.S. Enterprise had been granted two weeks of shore leave on Earth. The excitement flying into space dock had been palpable on the bridge. Everyone was anxious to be on their own solid ground, to be on the planet they know as home.
Jim had announced the leave a week before, and the ship had been buzzing since. No one could wait to get off the Enterprise and see the family they hadn't had physical contact with in over a year. Even Kirk was planning on visiting his estranged mother. He had barely talked to her in his academy days, and had had little chance to in deep space. But now, he was going to see her as the captain of his own ship, and as something even more important- a boyfriend.
After the initial month of awkwardness with Spock, things got better. Spock had discovered Kirk had been captain of the chess team in the academy, and had challenged him to a match of 3D chess. Jim, never backing down from a challenge, of course agreed. That one game of chess had turned into a game once a week, which had turned into a game once a day, which had turned into daily meals together, which had eventually turned into a relationship after they were forced to mind meld in an emergency and their mutual loving feelings were exposed.
Now Spock was coming home with Jim to meet his mother. At first, Spock hadn't wanted to intrude on Jim's family time. Jim had insisted. Their conversation went something like this;
"Hey, Spock, come home with me."
"I do not wish to intrude on your reunion with your mother."
"Maybe I should rephrase that. How about 'Hey Spock, come home with me so that I have an excuse to leave if I need one. Also, I love you and want to spend time with you.'"
"I still do not think-"
"Spock. You're coming with me."
Sighing, Spock had relented, saying, "If you insist."
Finally, it was time for Spock and Jim to go home to Jim's childhood home in Iowa. Grabbing both of their bags, Kirk hopped on the shuttle that would take them there, with Spock following him a moment later.
The ride through one of the last countrysides in Northern America was extremely boring for Kirk, at least. Spock seemed fascinated by the endless fields of grain and wheat.
After an hour, they exited the shuttle. At the shuttle port was a hover car rental place, which they made use of. Another ten minutes later, they had arrived at the old country farm house that had been Jim's home for the first nineteen years of his life.
Again grabbing hold of their bags, Kirk jumped off the side of the hover car, landing with a slight 'thud' that caused dirt to billow up around his feet, covering the bottom of his jeans and his shoes in a light brown colour. Spock, much more gracefully, stepped out of the hover car after him. Walking in sync together, shoulder to shoulder, they trekked up to the rickety porch.
Dropping the bags to the side of the door to free his hands, Jim typed in the entry code his mom and sent to his PADD earlier that morning. With a click, the door slid open revealing a homely living room and a staircase leading up to the second floor.
Jim once again picked up their luggage and moved it to sit just on the other side of the doorway.
Motioning for Spock to sit down on the couch or one of the surrounding chairs, Kirk walked around the first floor looking to see if his mom was in. He began to worry when he didn't find her in any of the five rooms. Calling out "Mom!" a few times into the still air didn't bring his mother out, either.
Moving back into the living room, he looked around frantically for a note. Kirk finally found one lying underneath a random PADD on the coffee table. Feeling foolish for his unneeded worry, Kirk looked at Spock with a sheepish smile, to which Spock simply raised his eyebrow.
The note gave an excuse that Winona had gone out for food for the week and that they would be back around 18:00.
Satisfied that an axe murderer hadn't stolen his mom from the house, Jim settled into the couch beside Spock, wrapping his arm lightly around the other man's shoulders. Grabbing a remote off the the side table, Jim turned on the television that the couch was facing.
Flipping through the channels revealed nothing but cheap reality shows and shopping networks until he hit upon a show on a science channel talking about the possibilities of time travel and possible repercussions. Spock turned his head to Jim and silently nodded his agreement to the choice. Smirking, Kirk set the remote back in it's place and snuggled into his lover further.
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A couple of hours later, Jim woke up to the beeping sound of the front door being unlocked. He groaned slightly and lifted his head off of Spock's shoulder.
"What time is it, Spock?" he asked with a yawn. The Enterprise had been hours ahead of Earth, so Kirk was used to having been asleep at this point.
"It is approximately 17:56 and 27 seconds," Spock replied.
Laughing, Kirk kissed him on the cheek. "Only you would give the time up until seconds and still refer to it as an approximation."
Merely raising an eyebrow, Spock elicited another light laugh from Jim.
Winona walked in as Jim finished untangling his arms from around Spock, and Jim turned around, still grinning.
"Hey, mom. We got here a little early, so we watched some TV." Jim stood up to give his mom a hug. Spock stood as well. She returned his embrace, but had a slightly confused look on her face.
Pulling back, Jim gave a small, questioning frown. "What? Do I have something on my face?" Reaching up to rub his face, Winona gave a small laugh and shook her head.
"No Jim, I'm just a little surprised is all. You didn't mention you were bringing home anyone."
Now was Jim's turn to look confused. "I could've sworn I'd told you. I sent you a comm a few weeks ago."
"I believe, Jim, that that was during the time where we were ambushed by the strange bright blue cloud entity. Nothing was damaged, if you recall, except for our network. Your communication may have been lost during the incident." Spock spoke up from his position next to the couch.
Slapping a hand to his face, Jim shot his mom an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. I really thought that comm had sent. Anyways, this is Commander Spock, my first officer."
"If need be, I may procure other lodgings. I do not want to intrude, Mrs. Kirk," Spock interjected stiffly.
"No need, dear. I have plenty of food. I know how much Jim eats, so I made sure to get extra. Now he just needs to eat normal portions and we should be fine," Winona assured Spock with a smile.
"If you are certain," Spock replied, looking anything but.
"Don't worry about it, Commander! It'll be fine. And please, call me Winona. I insist."
"Thanks, mom," Jim said, looking relieved that everything was sorted out.
"It's alright, Jimmy. I'm just glad you're finally home." Jim stiffened slightly at that, but kept a grin on his face. Winona didn't seem to notice, but Spock did. Spock stored the information in his head to ask him about later.
"So, I was thinking I'd make a big stew for dinner tonight. How does that sound?" Winona asked the two of them.
"Spock's vegetarian, mom," Jim sighed, looking worried again. It wouldn't be good if there wasn't anything Spock could eat.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing I've been buying meat substitutes along with real meat recently, then," she replied.
"Why have you been buying meat substitutes?" Jim asked, perplexed.
"Don't give me that look! It's healthier! Anyways, it should be fine. Actually, I'll go start on that now."
"Do you require any help, Mrs. Kirk?" Spock asked.
"No, no, I'm fine. I enjoy cooking for guests. And really, please call me Winona. 'Mrs. Kirk' makes me feel old," she answered with a small grin, "You boys just watch some more TV or explore the house. I'll be fine." With that, Winona exited the living room and headed to the kitchen. Calling from the kitchen as an after thought, she hollered, "Actually, could you two grab the grocery bags from the truck? I forgot all about them!"
Complying with her request, they went out front and began bringing the bags in in companionable silence.
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An hour later, Spock, Jim, and Winona were eating dinner and discussing some of the adventures the Enterprise had been on. Jim could tell that talking about the ship upset his mom a little bit, as it reminded her of his father, but she wasn't saying anything asking him to stop, so he didn't.
A few minutes later, Winona moved to gather up the bowls they had used during the meal. Walking from the dinning room to the adjacent kitchen, she began cleaning the bowls and other things that had been used to prepare the meal.
Jim followed her and wordlessly began helping her. Spock, in turn, followed Jim.
Turning to look at Spock, Winona said, "If you still want to help, you can dry."
Nodding in return, Spock picked up the dishtowel laying next to the sink and began drying the first bowl Jim handed him.
"So, I didn't expect you, as you know Spock, so I'm afraid I don't have the guest bedroom made up yet. It may be a few minutes after we clean up in here before it will be ready," Winona said in between scrubbing utensils.
"M-om," Jim began, extending the word into two syllables, "We're not teenagers. Spock will be sleeping with me." He rolled his eyes while grabbing the utensils his mom had just finished washing and began rinsing them.
After Jim said this, Spock started blushing. His pointed ears began to flush a light green. As he handed off the utensils he'd finished rinsing to Spock, Jim noticed his blush. Barking out a laugh, he shook his head in amusement.
Winona looked less amused at Kirk's words, and Kirk could tell instantly that the atmosphere had changed for the worse.
"Looks like we're done here. Jim, could I have a word with you in the living room?" she asked with a slight edge to her voice.
Jim, a frown on his face now, nodded swiftly and moved to leave the room. As he passed, he extended two fingers to Spock, which Spock reluctantly did in return. After a slight touch, he continued out of the room.
Winona, giving a tight smile, exited the room as well.
Trying not to eavesdrop, Spock returned to drying the already dry bowls. Even though he attempted not to hear, his Vulcan hearing meant he couldn't help it.
From the other room, he heard an angry sigh from Jim, and then speaking.
"Mom, I don't know why you have a fucking problem with this!" Jim spoke in an angry voice.
"I have a problem with it because you're in the same command track! And there's such a huge chance of one of you dying! Dammit, you may not know what it feels like, but I do! I can't stand the thought of how hurt you would be if you lost him! This isn't a good idea."
"Mom, I'm not you, and I'm not dad. I'm me, and I love Spock. You're projecting your emotions and experiences on to me, and it pisses me off."
"How do you know you 'love' him, Jim?", she asked, frustrated at his inability to understand how she felt.
"You may not get how I love him, but I just do. Love doesn't need a reason, and love doesn't need to be justified, least of all to you. And if you don't understand that, then I have nothing left to say to you." With that, Jim spun on his heel and headed back to the kitchen.
Whispering, "Let's get out of here," softly in Spock's ear, Jim grasped his hand and pulled him towards the living room to grab their bags and leave.
Spock, looking in his own way upset, gave a tiny nod and was led by Jim out of the room.
On their way out, Winona watched them leave with a sad look on her face. Right as Jim was about to slam the door, she said, "Wait."
Turning to look at her incredulously, he snapped back, "What could you possibly want after that?".
The look on Winona's face softened slightly and she replied, "I don't want you to go. Maybe I don't understand this," she gestured between the two of them, looking pointedly at their clasped hands, "but I do understand loving someone. I get that you don't choose who you love. I just... I just don't want to see you get hurt. I love you, Jimmy, and I want the best for you. I didn't think that having your heart broken would be the best for you, is all."
Jim's frown lessened as he said softly, "Not having Spock would break my heart more than losing him ever would. 'Tis better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all', right? You taught me that."
Nodding a few times, Winona gestured behind her. "Please, come back in. Stay at least a few days. I can't lose you again. You were gone for so many years. Not physically, but mentally, and I can't watch you leave again. Not if I can help it."
She looked so hopeful and sad that Jim gave her a half smile.
"A few days," Kirk nodded, dropping his bag back down but tightening his hold on Spock's hand.
"I'll bring those to your... I mean you two's room, then." Winona noticeably faltered at 'you two's', but still moved to lift the bags.
"Thanks, mom," Jim said, and Winona could tell he meant 'thanks' for more than just taking the bags.
Kirk finally lessened his death grip on Spock's hand. Spock looked relieved.
Winona left the room, heading up the stair slowly, presumably heading to Jim's old room that she had prepared for his stay.
Jim turned and hugged Spock. He rested his head on Spock's shoulder and released his hand to wrap his arms fully around his waist. Spock stayed stiff for a moment before bringing his arms up to wrap around Jim's torso in return.
His voice muffled into Jim's hair, Spock said, "I would never want you to lose contact with your mother. I-I do not wish you to lose her as I have lost mine."
Jim said nothing. He just tightened his arms around Spock's waist and breathed deeply. After a moment, he said, "I don't want to lose her either. But I would chose you over anyone in a heartbeat. That may be wrong and maybe that's not how it should be, but I would all the same."
Another moment passed before Spock said, "And I would place you above anything else, my t'hy'la."
They stood in each others arms for a long time after that, holding each other like it would keep them together forever, like their embrace would protect them from anything that could break them apart. Like love could beat all odds, all fears, all anger, and even death.
And maybe it could.