Star Trek: Reasons
I have no idea where this fic came from, it just ambushed me. I don't know why, it just...ah, hell. On with the fic, already. The Star Trek index is here.
Title: Reasons
Series: none
Word Count: 938
Rating: G
Disclaimer Post
Summary: Jim Kirk does not care about Starfleet.
Notes: Yes, I know Bones would probably not be able to say anything of the sort to Starfleet brass, but realistically, what are the odds Jim would get to keep the Enterprise anyway? Dust off the ol' suspension of disbelief. That aside, feedback would be most welcome. This was originally part of Misadventures, but I don't think it fits with everything else I'm doing in that series. It's set right after the movie.
Starfleet pulled them all in for questioning, afterwards. They said they simply wanted to get everyone’s testimonies on record, but that didn’t fool anyone. It certainly didn’t fool Leonard McCoy, who’d been friends with Jim Kirk long enough to know what a snow job looked like from a mile off.
“We saved this whole damn planet,” he muttered while he waited for his turn, “what more do they want?”
“To be the ones who gave the order,” Jim replied just as softly.
“They didn’t even see it coming.”
“Yeah. That’ll make it worse.” Jim sighed heavily, then smiled, lightning-fast and twice as bright when one of his crewmen turned in confusion at the sound. Bones rolled his eyes and summoned his best “yes, he’s really that much of an idiot” look. He hadn’t gotten the kid’s name, and he doubted Jim had, either, but they tried to reassure him as best they could without words. McCoy didn’t see how this could turn out okay after they’d gone so far off their leash, but he still didn’t have it in him to lie about it.
He turned back to Jim as soon as they were no longer being actively watched, but, predictably, Jim didn’t let him get so much as a word in.
“Lay it all on me,” he said, quietly, intently. Bones knew that voice. It never boded well.
“And just why should I do that?” he asked.
“Maybe I just don’t want anyone else to go down with me.”
“Should have thought of that before you decided to become a captain.” The door opened and Leonard went through it before he had to turn around and look at his friend’s face.
Once inside the “interview,” he faced a long, narrow table full of people who hadn’t seen what they’d all seen and couldn’t do what they’d done. It hit him then, what was really happening.
No. Not what was happening. What had to happen. Starfleet needed this ship and this crew and this captain, and after the disaster with Nero, they damn well knew it. They just needed someone to show them a diagram and point out which end was their head and which end was their ass.
Well, it was a good thing he had some practice in that, wasn’t it?
Leonard stepped forward once the bailiff had finished informing him that he’d be forfeiting his immortal soul if he so much as thought about lying to the honorable stiffs sitting at the table. His eyes fixed on Pike, wheeled up to the seat to the left of the center. Pike had somehow intuited what it had taken McCoy weeks to learn. He was probably the only one who wouldn’t be surprised.
“You know what happened,” Bones said by way of introduction. “At this point, you probably know better than I do. I was in sickbay for most of it, trying my damnedest to piece back together what Nero tore apart. So I can’t tell you what did happen any better than anyone else you’ve heard. But I can tell you something no one else knows.”
“And what might that be?” Pike asked, although he surely already suspected.
Leonard ruthlessly suppressed the urge to take a deep breath. He wasn’t about to jump off a cliff and he didn’t want to give them such an obvious tell, anyway. Bones met Pike’s eyes; he decided right then and there to tell the rest to the one person who had seen it first hand.
“I can tell you about Jim Kirk. Not what’s in his file-what’s in his head.”
In his peripheral vision, Bones saw half the table sit forward in obvious interest. “We’re listening.”
“Jim Kirk does not care about Starfleet,” he said, because pulling your punches never got you anywhere with Jim, whether he was in the room or not. “He does not care about the Federation and I’m not sure he cares about this planet any farther than wanting it to still be here when he gets back.”
“Why do what he did, then?”
What did that have to do with anything? It was Jim, were they looking for logic? “Who knows?” he shrugged. “The important thing is, he did. Now he cares about that ship and everyone who was on it with him. And whattaya know? Turns out he can really bring home the bacon.”
“What are you trying to say, Dr. McCoy?”
“Just this: if you give him a damn good reason, Jim will give you everything he’s got. He’ll give his crew everything he’s got. Or, if you don’t, you might be staring down the next planet-killer with nothing on your side but a wing and a prayer.”
There was silence for a long moment as Bones tried to figure out just how badly he’d just screwed up his career and where the hell he was going to go this time. Then, just as he was about to have a proper meltdown in front of God and everybody, Pike spoke up.
“Thank you for your testimony, Dr. McCoy. You may go.”
“Sir.” McCoy turned and left the room without another word. Jim was waiting for him about a foot on the other side of the threshold.
“Well?” he demanded.
I just gave a roomful of people you hate all they need to get their hooks into you, or I just gave them a reason to let you keep your ship. Either way, I don’t think you’d forgive me for it.
“Captain’s orders,” he said, forcing a grin.
Jim laughed and slung an arm around his shoulders. “Like you ever followed orders.”
Title: Reasons
Series: none
Word Count: 938
Rating: G
Disclaimer Post
Summary: Jim Kirk does not care about Starfleet.
Notes: Yes, I know Bones would probably not be able to say anything of the sort to Starfleet brass, but realistically, what are the odds Jim would get to keep the Enterprise anyway? Dust off the ol' suspension of disbelief. That aside, feedback would be most welcome. This was originally part of Misadventures, but I don't think it fits with everything else I'm doing in that series. It's set right after the movie.
Starfleet pulled them all in for questioning, afterwards. They said they simply wanted to get everyone’s testimonies on record, but that didn’t fool anyone. It certainly didn’t fool Leonard McCoy, who’d been friends with Jim Kirk long enough to know what a snow job looked like from a mile off.
“We saved this whole damn planet,” he muttered while he waited for his turn, “what more do they want?”
“To be the ones who gave the order,” Jim replied just as softly.
“They didn’t even see it coming.”
“Yeah. That’ll make it worse.” Jim sighed heavily, then smiled, lightning-fast and twice as bright when one of his crewmen turned in confusion at the sound. Bones rolled his eyes and summoned his best “yes, he’s really that much of an idiot” look. He hadn’t gotten the kid’s name, and he doubted Jim had, either, but they tried to reassure him as best they could without words. McCoy didn’t see how this could turn out okay after they’d gone so far off their leash, but he still didn’t have it in him to lie about it.
He turned back to Jim as soon as they were no longer being actively watched, but, predictably, Jim didn’t let him get so much as a word in.
“Lay it all on me,” he said, quietly, intently. Bones knew that voice. It never boded well.
“And just why should I do that?” he asked.
“Maybe I just don’t want anyone else to go down with me.”
“Should have thought of that before you decided to become a captain.” The door opened and Leonard went through it before he had to turn around and look at his friend’s face.
Once inside the “interview,” he faced a long, narrow table full of people who hadn’t seen what they’d all seen and couldn’t do what they’d done. It hit him then, what was really happening.
No. Not what was happening. What had to happen. Starfleet needed this ship and this crew and this captain, and after the disaster with Nero, they damn well knew it. They just needed someone to show them a diagram and point out which end was their head and which end was their ass.
Well, it was a good thing he had some practice in that, wasn’t it?
Leonard stepped forward once the bailiff had finished informing him that he’d be forfeiting his immortal soul if he so much as thought about lying to the honorable stiffs sitting at the table. His eyes fixed on Pike, wheeled up to the seat to the left of the center. Pike had somehow intuited what it had taken McCoy weeks to learn. He was probably the only one who wouldn’t be surprised.
“You know what happened,” Bones said by way of introduction. “At this point, you probably know better than I do. I was in sickbay for most of it, trying my damnedest to piece back together what Nero tore apart. So I can’t tell you what did happen any better than anyone else you’ve heard. But I can tell you something no one else knows.”
“And what might that be?” Pike asked, although he surely already suspected.
Leonard ruthlessly suppressed the urge to take a deep breath. He wasn’t about to jump off a cliff and he didn’t want to give them such an obvious tell, anyway. Bones met Pike’s eyes; he decided right then and there to tell the rest to the one person who had seen it first hand.
“I can tell you about Jim Kirk. Not what’s in his file-what’s in his head.”
In his peripheral vision, Bones saw half the table sit forward in obvious interest. “We’re listening.”
“Jim Kirk does not care about Starfleet,” he said, because pulling your punches never got you anywhere with Jim, whether he was in the room or not. “He does not care about the Federation and I’m not sure he cares about this planet any farther than wanting it to still be here when he gets back.”
“Why do what he did, then?”
What did that have to do with anything? It was Jim, were they looking for logic? “Who knows?” he shrugged. “The important thing is, he did. Now he cares about that ship and everyone who was on it with him. And whattaya know? Turns out he can really bring home the bacon.”
“What are you trying to say, Dr. McCoy?”
“Just this: if you give him a damn good reason, Jim will give you everything he’s got. He’ll give his crew everything he’s got. Or, if you don’t, you might be staring down the next planet-killer with nothing on your side but a wing and a prayer.”
There was silence for a long moment as Bones tried to figure out just how badly he’d just screwed up his career and where the hell he was going to go this time. Then, just as he was about to have a proper meltdown in front of God and everybody, Pike spoke up.
“Thank you for your testimony, Dr. McCoy. You may go.”
“Sir.” McCoy turned and left the room without another word. Jim was waiting for him about a foot on the other side of the threshold.
“Well?” he demanded.
I just gave a roomful of people you hate all they need to get their hooks into you, or I just gave them a reason to let you keep your ship. Either way, I don’t think you’d forgive me for it.
“Captain’s orders,” he said, forcing a grin.
Jim laughed and slung an arm around his shoulders. “Like you ever followed orders.”