fic: Haven 4/?
Title: Haven
Rating: Teen to R
Pairing : No Pairing, gen,
Summary -- Christopher Pike is on the crew of the ship that relieves Tarsus IV. He finds a young orphan Jim Kirk in a cell, and decides to adopt him. Very dark at first.
WARNING. ....Torture. Genocide....Also, language. It's a dark chapter. The fic will get lighter eventually, but for the next couple chapters, it's a way dark piece of fiction. If this is going to bother you, please don't read it.
Notes: Please review.
back to: part one / part two / part three /
Pike wondered if he should put Jimmy down and let him walk. It would probably make things easier. But the boy did not have shoes. Pike didn't want Jimmy to be any more hurt than he already was.And Pike didn’t want to put him down.
Pike wanted to keep him safe. And if he had to use his own body as a shield, so be it.
Pike cursed himself for getting emotionally involved.
Things like this always happened.
And now here he was, in the middle of nowhere, a boy on his back, not sure what he was walking into.
Pike had reported to his captain. He had met with his security team, and through it all, Jimmy had remained quiet in the background. The boy had to be exhausted, but he stayed alert, just watching, observing the processes.
They had as yet found no other survivors in the compound.
Pike had the presence of mind to wonder if he ought to have sent the boy away for the planning processes. But Jimmy probably wouldn’t have gone. And Pike also knew that there was no one else for whom Jimmy was going to reveal his secret. Pike was pretty sure that if he took someone from security, Jimmy would lead them on a wild goose chase.
Pike was a pretty good judge of character. This boy wasn’t going to lead him into a trap.
Pike hoped the boy would lead him to more survivors. If anyone on this god-forsaken planet could do that, it would be Jimmy Kirk.
Captain Moritari had been difficult to convince, but in the end, he’d given his blessing, which was how Pike had ended up here, stuck in the middle of the woods, with a twelve year old boy who was clearly better at orienteering than he was.
And Pike was damn good.
But he was better in the desert. Trees always started to look the same to him after a while. Now cacti, those you could count on. They looked unique.
They were against a cliff wall, surrounded by forest. They had stopped in a grove of trees that looked vaguely similar to every other grove of threes that Pike had witnessed.
Pike hated this planet.
Jimmy had started making a strange whistling noises. Pike was about to ask him about it, when Jimmy put a hand to his lips. He shook his head. Okay, so the boy did not want him to speak. Then Pike realized: Jimmy was calling to someone.
There was a sound of moving, scraping rock. A fissure which Pike had not even noticed in the cliff wall grew wider and eventually revealed an opening about half the size of a man.
Of course. A cave.
Pike gently lowered Jimmy to the ground. He moved a step toward the cave, but Jimmy's pressure on his hand drew him back. He'd agreed to let the boy lead, after all. But Jimmy stayed still beside the cave, just waiting.
Jimmy tugged nervously at the golden shirt, half-turning to make sure that it covered his entire back. Whoever it was that Jimmy was meeting, the kid didn't want the others to know about his torture. Interesting. "Oh, um," said the kid, "Don't call me Jimmy in there, ok?"
Pike's eyes widened in shock. Curiouser and curiouser.
He nodded, whatever Jimmy was up to, he would help the kid if he could. And if the kid didn't want to be called Jimmy, then he wouldn't be. But the boy had introduced himself as Jimmy. Pike decided to leave it alone for now.
Jimmy tugged again on the tunic and straightened his shoulders. The boy took a deep breath.
Even as Pike watched, Jimmy shed the mantle of blank-eyed pain and exhaustion that he'd been wearing since Pike had seen him. The eyes grew animated, and the hollow expression morphed into one of strength and determination. Where the child had looked exhausted, now he looked energetic. Where he had seemed stooped and broken, now he stood tall and confident. But most of all, where there had been a child, there was now a leader. The entire transformation had taken only seconds.
It was a feat of acting unparalled in Pike's experience.
If he had not known that the child before him was the same one from the cell, then Pike would not have recognized him.
A brown haired boy, maybe Jimmy's age or perhaps a little younger, emerged from the cave. "JT," he cried. "We thought you were a goner! Matt said he thought he saw them catch you but he wasn't sure if you got away or not. "
Jimmy moved forward quickly, catching the other boy in a hug. "Nah, Josh, it's ok. I'm ok. I got some bread for everybody."
Pike started. Who was everybody?
He soon found out. Drawn by the sentinel's shout, a group of kids poured from the fissure in the wall, each and every one of the exclaiming in delight at the site of their friend.
No. That wasn’t quite right. Jimmy wasn't their friend.
He was their leader.
Pike could see it on the faces of the other kids. They trusted Jimmy, JT, whatever they called him. They revered him. And they idolized him. The other kids had been certain he was dead, or as good as. Pike could see how diligently Jimmy must have cared for the group in the expressions of profound relief on their faces.
Pike could further see it in the way they didn’t scramble for the bread. Just for JT. They all wanted to be near him, to touch him, to reassure themselves that he was still alive.
God, there had to be like, thirty of them. They just kept pouring out of the cave.
Had Jimmy kept them all alive for this long? The famine was into its ninth month. Six months in, Kodos had issued his execution orders for half the colony. Had these thirty been among those selected?
They had to be. Or they wouldn’t be hiding.
Pike stayed at the edges of the group, not wanting to interrupt what was so obviously a private reunion. He could that the kids were malnourished but none of them looked as thin as Jimmy did. He wondered if that had happened because Jimmy never ate his share or if that was a result of his time in Kodo’s dungeon.
Jimmy had kept thirty kids alive in hiding for six months.
Damn.
Pike realized he had zoned out as he heard Jimmy call his name, expectantly, "Chris."
Jimmy spoke. “Guys, this is Lieutenant Pike. He’s with Starfleet. They're here to help us.”
Pike waved at them awkwardly. What was he supposed to say in this situation?
Most of the children just looked at him. They huddled around Jimmy, not coming forward. “Oh for the love of Pete, guys…” Jimmy sounded exasperated. The boy walked forward and took Pike’s hand. “I told you, he’s alright.”
Several of the children had moved forward with Jimmy, probably not wanting to allow himout of their sight again, and those that had, examined Pike cautiously. Then all at once a young girl, maybe six or so, grabbed him Pike by the knees and started crying. And then they were all hugging him, some were crying and some were laughing and all of them were hugging Jimmy and somehow both of them ended up laying the grass under a dogpile of kids that were too grateful and too emotional for words.
It must seem so much better to them. Starfleet had arrived. JT was safe. The worst of their ordeal was over. And while some of them probably knew that it wouldn’t be better right away, they at least could know it wouldn’t be worse.
Even Pike laughed in relief. But he might not have, if he had known what was coming.
part five
Rating: Teen to R
Pairing : No Pairing, gen,
Summary -- Christopher Pike is on the crew of the ship that relieves Tarsus IV. He finds a young orphan Jim Kirk in a cell, and decides to adopt him. Very dark at first.
WARNING. ....Torture. Genocide....Also, language. It's a dark chapter. The fic will get lighter eventually, but for the next couple chapters, it's a way dark piece of fiction. If this is going to bother you, please don't read it.
Notes: Please review.
back to: part one / part two / part three /
Pike wondered if he should put Jimmy down and let him walk. It would probably make things easier. But the boy did not have shoes. Pike didn't want Jimmy to be any more hurt than he already was.And Pike didn’t want to put him down.
Pike wanted to keep him safe. And if he had to use his own body as a shield, so be it.
Pike cursed himself for getting emotionally involved.
Things like this always happened.
And now here he was, in the middle of nowhere, a boy on his back, not sure what he was walking into.
Pike had reported to his captain. He had met with his security team, and through it all, Jimmy had remained quiet in the background. The boy had to be exhausted, but he stayed alert, just watching, observing the processes.
They had as yet found no other survivors in the compound.
Pike had the presence of mind to wonder if he ought to have sent the boy away for the planning processes. But Jimmy probably wouldn’t have gone. And Pike also knew that there was no one else for whom Jimmy was going to reveal his secret. Pike was pretty sure that if he took someone from security, Jimmy would lead them on a wild goose chase.
Pike was a pretty good judge of character. This boy wasn’t going to lead him into a trap.
Pike hoped the boy would lead him to more survivors. If anyone on this god-forsaken planet could do that, it would be Jimmy Kirk.
Captain Moritari had been difficult to convince, but in the end, he’d given his blessing, which was how Pike had ended up here, stuck in the middle of the woods, with a twelve year old boy who was clearly better at orienteering than he was.
And Pike was damn good.
But he was better in the desert. Trees always started to look the same to him after a while. Now cacti, those you could count on. They looked unique.
They were against a cliff wall, surrounded by forest. They had stopped in a grove of trees that looked vaguely similar to every other grove of threes that Pike had witnessed.
Pike hated this planet.
Jimmy had started making a strange whistling noises. Pike was about to ask him about it, when Jimmy put a hand to his lips. He shook his head. Okay, so the boy did not want him to speak. Then Pike realized: Jimmy was calling to someone.
There was a sound of moving, scraping rock. A fissure which Pike had not even noticed in the cliff wall grew wider and eventually revealed an opening about half the size of a man.
Of course. A cave.
Pike gently lowered Jimmy to the ground. He moved a step toward the cave, but Jimmy's pressure on his hand drew him back. He'd agreed to let the boy lead, after all. But Jimmy stayed still beside the cave, just waiting.
Jimmy tugged nervously at the golden shirt, half-turning to make sure that it covered his entire back. Whoever it was that Jimmy was meeting, the kid didn't want the others to know about his torture. Interesting. "Oh, um," said the kid, "Don't call me Jimmy in there, ok?"
Pike's eyes widened in shock. Curiouser and curiouser.
He nodded, whatever Jimmy was up to, he would help the kid if he could. And if the kid didn't want to be called Jimmy, then he wouldn't be. But the boy had introduced himself as Jimmy. Pike decided to leave it alone for now.
Jimmy tugged again on the tunic and straightened his shoulders. The boy took a deep breath.
Even as Pike watched, Jimmy shed the mantle of blank-eyed pain and exhaustion that he'd been wearing since Pike had seen him. The eyes grew animated, and the hollow expression morphed into one of strength and determination. Where the child had looked exhausted, now he looked energetic. Where he had seemed stooped and broken, now he stood tall and confident. But most of all, where there had been a child, there was now a leader. The entire transformation had taken only seconds.
It was a feat of acting unparalled in Pike's experience.
If he had not known that the child before him was the same one from the cell, then Pike would not have recognized him.
A brown haired boy, maybe Jimmy's age or perhaps a little younger, emerged from the cave. "JT," he cried. "We thought you were a goner! Matt said he thought he saw them catch you but he wasn't sure if you got away or not. "
Jimmy moved forward quickly, catching the other boy in a hug. "Nah, Josh, it's ok. I'm ok. I got some bread for everybody."
Pike started. Who was everybody?
He soon found out. Drawn by the sentinel's shout, a group of kids poured from the fissure in the wall, each and every one of the exclaiming in delight at the site of their friend.
No. That wasn’t quite right. Jimmy wasn't their friend.
He was their leader.
Pike could see it on the faces of the other kids. They trusted Jimmy, JT, whatever they called him. They revered him. And they idolized him. The other kids had been certain he was dead, or as good as. Pike could see how diligently Jimmy must have cared for the group in the expressions of profound relief on their faces.
Pike could further see it in the way they didn’t scramble for the bread. Just for JT. They all wanted to be near him, to touch him, to reassure themselves that he was still alive.
God, there had to be like, thirty of them. They just kept pouring out of the cave.
Had Jimmy kept them all alive for this long? The famine was into its ninth month. Six months in, Kodos had issued his execution orders for half the colony. Had these thirty been among those selected?
They had to be. Or they wouldn’t be hiding.
Pike stayed at the edges of the group, not wanting to interrupt what was so obviously a private reunion. He could that the kids were malnourished but none of them looked as thin as Jimmy did. He wondered if that had happened because Jimmy never ate his share or if that was a result of his time in Kodo’s dungeon.
Jimmy had kept thirty kids alive in hiding for six months.
Damn.
Pike realized he had zoned out as he heard Jimmy call his name, expectantly, "Chris."
Jimmy spoke. “Guys, this is Lieutenant Pike. He’s with Starfleet. They're here to help us.”
Pike waved at them awkwardly. What was he supposed to say in this situation?
Most of the children just looked at him. They huddled around Jimmy, not coming forward. “Oh for the love of Pete, guys…” Jimmy sounded exasperated. The boy walked forward and took Pike’s hand. “I told you, he’s alright.”
Several of the children had moved forward with Jimmy, probably not wanting to allow himout of their sight again, and those that had, examined Pike cautiously. Then all at once a young girl, maybe six or so, grabbed him Pike by the knees and started crying. And then they were all hugging him, some were crying and some were laughing and all of them were hugging Jimmy and somehow both of them ended up laying the grass under a dogpile of kids that were too grateful and too emotional for words.
It must seem so much better to them. Starfleet had arrived. JT was safe. The worst of their ordeal was over. And while some of them probably knew that it wouldn’t be better right away, they at least could know it wouldn’t be worse.
Even Pike laughed in relief. But he might not have, if he had known what was coming.
part five