James T. Kirk

"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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Kirk didn't even give him a chance.

Kirk dismissed the guard with a snapped command as soon as Spock started to leave. They were alone.

The second Spock rounded the corner, Kirk stepped forward, brought his hand back, and slugged Spock as hard as he could in the jaw. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" He snarled darkly, his eyes absolutely blazing.

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Despite being a Vulcan, despite all the sayings about strength and what not, the fact was that he was still caught by surprise and Jim packed a mean punch when he was angry. His head snapped back from the blow, throwing off the balance of the rest of his body; he hit the ground, hands not even having the signal to brace himself. The curved, white-lit walls of the room turned over themselves accompanied by black velvet edges and blue lights he was sure he hadn't ever seen before, and his jaw flared with pain. Spock closed his eyes, but that didn't really help much.

"Captain...?"

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Kirk actually stopped in surprise for just a second, surprised that had worked so well. He had been prepared to go for a gut-jab immediately after but the Vulcan had actually taken the hit as terribly as any human. The surprise was quickly flooded by pride, which was taken over by the anger that had made him throw the punch in the first place.

Kirk bent down and wrapped both hands in Spock's shirt, picking him up with a deep grunt and pressing him against the wall. "What the fuck is wrong with you!? You're hiding MORE shit from me after what we'd just talked about! YOU FUCKING LYING SON OF A BITCH. You went in there with him! You fucking let him get that close after what happened last time... WHAT. THE. FUCK!?" He brought his face up close, snarling his words, every part of him filled with a sense of betrayal, anger, rage.

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No, such quick elevation from the floor to over two meters with that acceleration was not a good idea, neither was being pushed up against a hard an uncomfortable wall--and to top it off, Jim's three point five times as obnoxious because it was ten times as loud voice was invading his knocked-about mind. The only thing that very clearly penetrated through the haze was the primal Vulcan instinct to wrap his hand around Jim's throat and squeeze until that insolent human throat folded in on itself like a tin can.

Sadly, Spock only got as far as blindly fisting one hand in Jim's gold command shirt before his mind screamed at him that it wanted just a second or two more to recover without anything moving, please, if he didn't mind. He kept his eyes closed. "If you can recall, Captain," Something was pressing at his temples and he didn't like the sensation at all. His voice was soft and strained. "I was...unharmed, until now."

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"You were fucking physically unharmed but you're being such a fucking idiot about all of this! You asked me to trust you, you fucking asshole, you asked me to trust you again and I gave you the chance! I trusted you to be able to separate yourself from that fucker because you told me you could!"

Kirk knew he was rambling but just didn't give a shit. He'd been wrong. Wrong about all of this. Wrong about thinking Spock was okay enough to come back down here. Wrong about thinking they could do this. Wrong about Spock not lying to him, about Spock being a traitor to him...

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He forced his eyes to open, regardless whether Jim's angry face still listed from one side to the other and his ears felt somewhat pained by his constant yelling. "Jim," Apparently his mind had also installed some sort of stop-gap in his throat, as that didn't come out as strong as he wanted it to. "What gives you the impression I am not separated from him?...That I will not tell you what he said to me?"

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