James T. Kirk

Fuck, no. FUCK no you are not coming near my god damn first officer. Spock if he takes another step I order you to GET OUT OF THERE. He was screaming at Spock in his head as if Spock would hear him.

Fuck it, if that bastard took one more step he was coming in there himself.

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Spock stood where he was, watching Pike stand. His hand tightened over the handle of the phaser--the only response to the intimidating aura the man had now assumed. This cell was far, far too small.

"I cannot assume how he will deal with you, though with your knowledge of the ship and its personnel, he will not allow you to roam freely." He wondered, briefly, if Pike knew he was being watched, if Spock's resistance to come near him was any indication. Then, surely, Pike would know that attacking him would simply result in more imprisonment, and likely a swift death through an airlock.

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Pike tilted his head slightly, studying Spock with an intense, curious look. "...He knows you've been here." Came the quiet tone, more quietly then the cameras might be able to pick up. "Doesn't he? He's waiting for your report or is watching even now? Is that why you will not come closer? Or... are you simply afraid? Afraid of me? Afraid of yourself?"

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His gaze matched that look from Pike, trying to remain steady for the cameras, for Jim who he could just picture leaning in to the monitor, turning up the volumes on screen. Spock felt something ice-cold sinking through his stomach, and the grip on the phaser tightened even more. "...yes." To every one of his questions; his lips barely moved, almost just a breath, reaching into the levels beyond the cameras' sensitivity.

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"Didn't harm you when you came here last time, did I?" Pike kept that so-so-soft tone, knowing a Vulcan could hear it where the cameras might not. "You broad casted in my mind just how much you enjoyed every second of it, even when logic told you otherwise."

Another tilt of his head, quizzical. "...You don't want you Captain to see your fear or your enjoyment."

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"Shit!" Kirk whispered, turning up the volume as high as it would go. "What the hell, why can't we hear them?!"

"Sir, the microphones will only pick up so--"

"We're getting better ones as soon as possible!" Kirk snapped, not even looking away from the monitor, his hand clutching the phaser at his side.

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"No, I do not," Spock matched his tone, which only made the otherwise silence that much louder in his ears. "And I cannot allow myself to enjoy this, sir." Though his voice wavered on this declaration, this half-refusal.

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"...Do you want to remain beneath his hand, Spock?" Pike asked, so quiet, his gaze unwavering. "You're a creature of habit, of need, of having your place. There's a reason your alternate hasn't removed me from being captain, even though he could have a long time ago."

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"...no." His eyes flickered, for a millisecond, away--and then back at him. "But there is no other option. I will not betray him, just as he has not betrayed you." Despite the quiet voices, each word between them rang loud in his mind, accompanied by rushing thoughts and a heart beat that was gradually picking up in his mental distraction.

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"Not betrayed me." Repeated, slow, distinct. "I'm a man of many things, of training... while the young Kirk, in my universe, is ruthless and intelligent, he's completely reckless. If not you, he wouldn't have lasted anyway."

His voice dropped in tone, rumbling, as he took a half-step closer, hands at his sides. "If I can't return home, I want a life. Here." His gaze was piercing, dark, intense.

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He could feel every muscle in his back and shoulders stiffen with Pike's small approach. While his hand remained on his phaser, the tension running down his arm, coupled with the fear and loyalty he did not want, prevented him from actually drawing it. His left had, likewise, unconsciously prepared for a neck pinch, though he knew it would be an unsuccessful maneuver. "You are too dangerous to remain aboard this vessel, and will remain a hazard to the Federation anywhere else."

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"Why would I remain a hazard?" Pike questioned in turn, "Here, the Empire doesn't exist. I might know its teachings, its ways, and live them, but I'm far from being able to learn more."

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"You would find opportunities to manipulate people and systems." Like now, he thought in the back of his mind. "Placed anywhere in the Federation, you would either sink into the criminal underground and threaten stability from there, or you would warp the politics of the planet to best serve your needs...and obsessive desire for power."

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Pike simply watched Spock for several moments of silence, their eyes met, holding. Finally, he shook his head. "You're wrong." And stepped back away from Spock, replacing the glove on his hand in a smooth motion. He sat down on the bed again, and removed his gaze from Spock. He laid back, relaxing into the thin mattress, and watched the ceiling.

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He blinked. That simple phrase had thrown a wrench in all the thoughts he was preparing for Pike's retort. No one told him he was wrong, just like that, with no dependent clause to say why. Now he had to find out for himself, to poke and prod and needle until he learned how he could be 'right'--no matter who he was talking to. Spock stepped forward. "Sir?"

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"Yes, Spock?" Pike said calmly, closing his eyes. He knew exactly what he had done, knew how to break Spock's train of thought in many different ways. How to spark that curiosity that was so much more unrestrained in this younger counterpart.

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What the fuck is going on in there!? What the fuck just happened?! Kirk actually grabbed the edges of the monitor and leaned forward, "Why are you stepping towards him?!"

The guard was just staring at the Captain.

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The hesitance could be felt more than it could be seen, the pause in his spoken and mental words. He looked to the side for the moment, and then back to Pike. The focus of his attention was more Pike's hands than his eyes. "Why do you say I am wrong, sir?"

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"Because, Spock... you are. About me, you're wrong." Pike did not look to speak those words, putting his hands up behind his head to pillow it.

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This had to be the most uncomfortable feeling of his life. Not going to his knees after a forced mindmeld, not being shoved up against the wall, but this: being told he was wrong and doubting himself, not actually knowing for sure if he was wrong or not. What did he have to work on? A surprise attack that--while a little overblown for this universe--had been within Pike's right, and an assault that he was not entirely guiltless of (though his actions had failed, unlike Pike's retaliation). Other than that, he only had conjecture from others, speculation, and comparisons to a man that Pike was and simultaneously not. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he was being manipulated. Maybe it was both.

There was that hesitance again; the phaser felt cold under his grip and heavy on his hip and...odd, once again. After a long silence, he spoke up, in that concealing, quiet voice. "...if you want to be allowed outside the brig, I suggest you request an audience with the captain. Though I cannot say whether he will accept it, or be receptive to the idea." This wasn't betrayal--this was diplomacy.

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"...the difference is, in the end... that he will trust your word over mine." Pike said quietly, tilting his head just enough to look at Spock. "As it stands, he has been told half-truths and half-lies and very little solid. But, that's entirely up to you."

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"He will not take my opinion as valid, after what he suspects you have done to me." To keep his voice low he had to be calm, even if this was technically an argument. Arguing over something he mostly did not want, but that was all feeling. Logic dictated that there wasn't enough evidence to convict him of any wrongdoing, given the circumstances. "And there is no benefit to the ship from letting you roam." Besides, of course, his own enjoyment--but even that he did not fully want to acknowledge, not with the relationship he already had.

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"Whether or not he'll believe you, you will plant the seed if you spoke up." His eyes closed, deciding on something. "You may tell your captain, in particular if he is listening, that I would be willing to trade information for at least clearance for my own quarters on this vessel and freedom to roam."

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Spock studied him for a moment, and then nodded once; it was more for himself than for Pike. "I will see what can be done. Sir." That was all the good-bye he was going to give him before he backed out of the cell, followed immediately by extending a hand to activate the barrier again. He stepped out of sight of the cell, took a breath to get his thoughts in order, and then walked out of the brig proper, towards the office where he knew Jim was waiting. Probably with something to yell at him.

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