Family Matters

[boldygoing]

There's a starship captain in the Plaza, sitting at an outdoor cafe style table which bears a half-consumed cup of coffee and a glowing, transparent datapad. Jim Kirk is not in uniform, clad in well-worn civilian clothes, though given that his shirt says PROPERTY OF STARFLEET ACADEMY in faded text, he's probably not trying to be covert. He's fairly focused on the datapad, and one might assume that he's catching up on reports or requisition forms during his off-hours if not for the quietly contemplative look on his face.

And, of course, the fact that he's chosen to take a break here rather than anywhere near Starfleet property.

His thoughts don't remain a mystery for long, as this does tend to be the place to go for advice, no matter how small the matter. "How's your relationship with your family? Have you ever tried to reconnect after spending years apart?"

There's an empty chair on the other side of the table. Feel free to have a seat, if you'd like.



[OOC: Tags don't seem to work, but dupes are okay!]

Comments

[primelogic]

"You never had an unkind word to say about your mother that I know of, Jim."

Spock folds his hands in front of himself on the table, concern etched in his aged face while he looks across at his oldest friend. He still looks so young. Too young to have been made to suffer through as much as he has had to. Though Spock does not know all of this Jim's past, he knows enough. And even what he does know is too much for a single man, let alone one so young.

"I...wonder if my previous reassurance might have been misplaced. You should not feel obligated to compare yourself to the James Kirk I worked with. He was you, yes. But his life and yours are two very different paths."

[boldygoing]

"Yeah, I know." It'd be hard to deny it, wouldn't it? But Jim gets the feeling that the two of them are looking at the situation quite differently, and he's silent for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts in a way he hadn't had time for, when they'd first met. "You know how humans are... always wanting what we can't have. I know I'll never be the exact same person you knew. That ship sailed a long time ago, and it's not like I think about it all the time, but it does happen."

He looks across the table at the old Vulcan, and takes a guess where Spock's thoughts have taken him. "You know it isn't your fault, right?" He can never forget the mind meld between them, hearing so much more than a simple explanation of events, permeated with the fresh grief and crushing guilt that his actions had led to the destruction of his home planet. And Jim knows damn well that those feelings don't just disappear, no matter how well you hide them from the world.

[primelogic]

How could it not be?

His failure instigated all of this. The displacement of Nero, the evacuation of the Kelvin, the destruction of Vulcan. So many deaths he must answer for. How much different, better, would Jim's life be if not for him? He has touched some of the pain Jim Kirk keeps close in his heart when they mind melded on Delta Vega. Knows much of his own pain was shared with the young man at that time too.

"I know no such thing but it is gratifying to hear you say so." What would be the point in arguing semantics with Jim? The young captain has him more well figured out than even he knows.

"It causes me great pain when I think of how many lives were altered or ended because of all of this."

[boldygoing]

For Jim, who has now experienced first-hand the devastating consequences that can come in pursuit of revenge, the answer has never been clearer. "You didn't save Romulus, but it wasn't because you didn't try. Everything after that is on Nero. He choose more bloodshed instead of trying to stop the destruction. He had over a century to work with; he could've evacuated the planet, or waited for you and used the red matter early. He could've saved his people. He chose otherwise."

The young captain looks across the table at him, his mind on a similar loss, a similar revenge sought in retaliation, which ended with too many casualties along the way. Far, far too recent. "Maybe my dad would still be dead. But Nero had twenty-five years to think about what to do next, and he chose revenge. That's not on you."