Star Trek: Misadventures: Out of the Chair
I've been tweaking this and sitting on it and fussing with it for-freaking-ever, and it's never seemed to click. Today, I opened the file and gave it a reread. And guess what? It's been finished for weeks and I just didn't realize it. Go figure. You can find the rest of the series at the Star Trek index.
Title: Out of the Chair
Series: The Misadventures of James T. Kirk
Word Count: 836
Rating: PG
Disclaimer Post
Summary: There are only three people-two, if he’s not counting himself-that Jim trusts with command of his ship.
Notes: Swear to god, I will elaborate on why Jim is so dead set against Bones being in command. Just not in this fic. I just have to beat the other fic into submission so that it'll actually make sense.
There are only three people-two, if he’s not counting himself-that Jim trusts with command of his ship. One of them (of course) is Spock, but Jim thinks that hardly counts. They haven’t even known each other long, but he already trusts Spock with everything he has. It’d scare him shitless if he ever had the time to worry about it. Jim figures by the time he does, it won’t be an issue anymore.
Of course this means that Spock is also the person Jim trusts the most at his back in a fight, (or anywhere else) and with the way away missions usually go… Spock can do a hell of a lot, but he can’t be in two places at once. So Jim has to learn to trust at least one other person with command. Scratch that, only one other person: Sulu.
Sulu has a good head on his shoulders, thinks on his feet and a half-dozen other metaphors for being competent in the area of not getting himself and others killed. Plus, he knows when to do what Jim wants and when to do what Jim tells him to do. (“Listen to what people are saying, kid, don’t pay the words any mind,” as Bones is so fond of saying when he’s drunk.) That’s a useful trait, indeed. Jim can be exactly the kind of captain he’s going to be anyway, and not worry that anything’ll get lost in translation.
But that is it as far as acting captains go. Chain of command be damned, it’s Jim’s fucking ship and he’ll be as picky about who sits in his chair as he wants to be. Besides, no one else on the command staff fits.
Bones, as he’s so fond of saying in as many permutations as he can think up, is a doctor, not a captain. And they’re best friends. Jim gave his word; he’s not going to do that to Bones.
Chekov is seventeen years old, for god’s sake. Jim still gets a shivery, uncomfortable sort of feeling whenever he thinks too hard about how young that is, and how many ways there are to never grow any older in their line of work. It’s a good thing for all concerned that Chekov is a fucking brilliant little bastard, because otherwise Jim’d have to come up with some other reason to never, ever let him off the ship. Bad things happen when Jim has to get creative. Bones will vouch for this.
Scotty is physically capable of saying “fire phasers” and any number of other captain-y things, but Jim’ll never put him in command. Actually, Jim will never put him anywhere other than his beloved engine room. At this point, he’s half-convinced that the ship will fly apart if he does. She’s a jealous sort, when she wants to be. All that aside, Scotty’s not command material. Jim isn’t either, on some level, but his some level and Scotty’s some level are completely different levels. It’s an important distinction, and Spock will back him up on this.
Uhura could command his ship if she wanted to, and when Jim’s sober, he doesn’t even mean that in a sexual way at all. She’s definitely got it in her. She’s also-and Jim is amazed whenever he stops to think about this-she’s also got a ridiculous number of alien languages and linguistic thingamabobs all in her head. She’s the best damn communications officer in the entire fleet and Jim is well aware of both how lucky he is to have her and how screwed he’d be without her. Also, Uhura is one scary woman. Jim isn’t sure he’d get his ship back.
This all leaves very few people sitting in the big chair in Jim’s absence-especially given the way he structures away teams. After one particularly…eventful away mission, Spock apparently decides to Take Steps. It leads to some rather interesting conversations on the bridge, like that’s anything new.
“Spock, Sulu, you’re with me and-ooh, thought. Kirk to McCoy.”
“What, Jim?”
“Wanna go on a field trip?”
“No.”
“Great! Meet us in the transporter room in ten.”
“Jim-“
“Kirk out. We ready?”
“Captain.”
“Right, right, someone’s gotta mind the store. Lessee…Spock, who’s this?”
“Masterson, Captain. He scored in the ninety-fifth percentile on the Academy’s leadership assessments.”
“Betcha he didn’t pass the Kobayashi Maru, though.”
“No, Jim. He was never caught cheating on an exam.”
“It’s not cheating if there are no rules against it. Masterson, you have the conn. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Sir?”
“Maintain orbit and do not fire unless fired upon. Let us know when Mr. Scott finishes his analysis.”
“Yessir.”
Jim isn’t crazy about leaving his girl in some young Starfleet punk’s hands, but he’s also not oblivious to the way the whole crew gives a collective sigh of relief whenever he plays along. Either way, he’s done a hell of a lot stupider things in his life than trust Spock to do right by him.
Title: Out of the Chair
Series: The Misadventures of James T. Kirk
Word Count: 836
Rating: PG
Disclaimer Post
Summary: There are only three people-two, if he’s not counting himself-that Jim trusts with command of his ship.
Notes: Swear to god, I will elaborate on why Jim is so dead set against Bones being in command. Just not in this fic. I just have to beat the other fic into submission so that it'll actually make sense.
There are only three people-two, if he’s not counting himself-that Jim trusts with command of his ship. One of them (of course) is Spock, but Jim thinks that hardly counts. They haven’t even known each other long, but he already trusts Spock with everything he has. It’d scare him shitless if he ever had the time to worry about it. Jim figures by the time he does, it won’t be an issue anymore.
Of course this means that Spock is also the person Jim trusts the most at his back in a fight, (or anywhere else) and with the way away missions usually go… Spock can do a hell of a lot, but he can’t be in two places at once. So Jim has to learn to trust at least one other person with command. Scratch that, only one other person: Sulu.
Sulu has a good head on his shoulders, thinks on his feet and a half-dozen other metaphors for being competent in the area of not getting himself and others killed. Plus, he knows when to do what Jim wants and when to do what Jim tells him to do. (“Listen to what people are saying, kid, don’t pay the words any mind,” as Bones is so fond of saying when he’s drunk.) That’s a useful trait, indeed. Jim can be exactly the kind of captain he’s going to be anyway, and not worry that anything’ll get lost in translation.
But that is it as far as acting captains go. Chain of command be damned, it’s Jim’s fucking ship and he’ll be as picky about who sits in his chair as he wants to be. Besides, no one else on the command staff fits.
Bones, as he’s so fond of saying in as many permutations as he can think up, is a doctor, not a captain. And they’re best friends. Jim gave his word; he’s not going to do that to Bones.
Chekov is seventeen years old, for god’s sake. Jim still gets a shivery, uncomfortable sort of feeling whenever he thinks too hard about how young that is, and how many ways there are to never grow any older in their line of work. It’s a good thing for all concerned that Chekov is a fucking brilliant little bastard, because otherwise Jim’d have to come up with some other reason to never, ever let him off the ship. Bad things happen when Jim has to get creative. Bones will vouch for this.
Scotty is physically capable of saying “fire phasers” and any number of other captain-y things, but Jim’ll never put him in command. Actually, Jim will never put him anywhere other than his beloved engine room. At this point, he’s half-convinced that the ship will fly apart if he does. She’s a jealous sort, when she wants to be. All that aside, Scotty’s not command material. Jim isn’t either, on some level, but his some level and Scotty’s some level are completely different levels. It’s an important distinction, and Spock will back him up on this.
Uhura could command his ship if she wanted to, and when Jim’s sober, he doesn’t even mean that in a sexual way at all. She’s definitely got it in her. She’s also-and Jim is amazed whenever he stops to think about this-she’s also got a ridiculous number of alien languages and linguistic thingamabobs all in her head. She’s the best damn communications officer in the entire fleet and Jim is well aware of both how lucky he is to have her and how screwed he’d be without her. Also, Uhura is one scary woman. Jim isn’t sure he’d get his ship back.
This all leaves very few people sitting in the big chair in Jim’s absence-especially given the way he structures away teams. After one particularly…eventful away mission, Spock apparently decides to Take Steps. It leads to some rather interesting conversations on the bridge, like that’s anything new.
“Spock, Sulu, you’re with me and-ooh, thought. Kirk to McCoy.”
“What, Jim?”
“Wanna go on a field trip?”
“No.”
“Great! Meet us in the transporter room in ten.”
“Jim-“
“Kirk out. We ready?”
“Captain.”
“Right, right, someone’s gotta mind the store. Lessee…Spock, who’s this?”
“Masterson, Captain. He scored in the ninety-fifth percentile on the Academy’s leadership assessments.”
“Betcha he didn’t pass the Kobayashi Maru, though.”
“No, Jim. He was never caught cheating on an exam.”
“It’s not cheating if there are no rules against it. Masterson, you have the conn. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“Sir?”
“Maintain orbit and do not fire unless fired upon. Let us know when Mr. Scott finishes his analysis.”
“Yessir.”
Jim isn’t crazy about leaving his girl in some young Starfleet punk’s hands, but he’s also not oblivious to the way the whole crew gives a collective sigh of relief whenever he plays along. Either way, he’s done a hell of a lot stupider things in his life than trust Spock to do right by him.