Dreamwalking
Nov. 14th, 2017 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Star Trek (the 2009!movie verse) Cambion AU
Summary: Pike first started suspecting something was different about Jim Kirk when he confronted the horrors of planetary genocide...
Word Count: 1152
Rating: Teen, probably
Star Trek (the 2009!movie verse) Cambion AU
Summary: Pike first started suspecting something was different about Jim Kirk when he confronted the horrors of planetary genocide...
Word Count: 1152
Rating: Teen, probably
Pike knows there are certain things that Starfleet doesn’t need to know. He learned that some secrets are better being kept quiet, from some adventures such as Tarsus IV and Talos IV.
He does his best to convince Starfleet that the fact that the Kelvin baby was supposedly dead for seven days—no breath, no heartbeat—was a clerical error. Luckily, it’s in their best interest to believe him. He spoke directly to the doctors involved, and with the scramble and lack of good instruments on the shuttle, it seems like a decent enough excuse.
George, though, had been a friend. He hadn’t advertised it, because unlike some people he considered it more important to give the dead the respect they deserve. It’d also been why he chose the topic of his dissertation, to understand why and prevent it from happening again. It had, however, involved looking into everything surrounding the destruction of the Kelvin, so while he had publicly dismissed it and hadn’t written about it in his dissertation, he had looked into it on his own.
He hadn’t been given the keys to the puzzle until years later, when rescuing a young Jim Kirk from a failed agricultural colony. Jim was utterly silent, refusing to speak. He was also incredibly skinny, and according to the doctors, eating wasn’t helping him much. He was still, somehow, suffering from malnutrition.
And then, for the second night in a row, he dreamt of Number One. As she touched his shoulder, he grabbed her hand, and was surprised at how real it felt.
“Get out of my head,” he growls, aware of the similarities between this and the Keeper’s illusions.
Her face becomes upset, which is probably another good indication that she isn’t the true Number One. “Are you sure?” she asks, and it’s probably meant to be playful but all it comes off as is desperate and scared.
“…I want to see the real you,” he decides, because the instincts that make him a great Captain are screaming at him that something’s wrong. That someone with the ability to control his mind and dreams shouldn’t feel, well, vulnerable.
“What, so you can know I’m a freak?” she shoots back, cocky and arrogant and oh-so-afraid.
He doesn’t have much of a reason for his guess. It’s instinct more than anything. But he has a feeling he’s right. “Jim?” he asks, and the shock is enough to tell him he’s right, before the illusion slips away, leaving a malnourished, scared teenager in its wake.
“Was I that obvious?” he asks, scared and bitter, doing his best not to look at all concerned, but not being at all successful about it. Still, he’s speaking, which is a success of sorts.
“The ‘rebel against the world’ way you speak is a little memorable,” he responds, and lets no trace of the satisfaction show on his face at the small trace of a smile that appears on the young Kirk’s face. “What were you doing, anyway?” He keeps his tone neutral, because he has a feeling it’ll get more results.
Jim’s face crumbles and he pulls his legs to his chest, hiding his face in the crossed arms. “I’m hungry,” he mumbles.
Pike sits. “I don’t understand.”
“That’s a surprise,” Jim snipes, but Christopher doesn’t take it personally. He just waits patiently, and Kirk continues eventually. “I…I’m honestly not sure. I’ve ended up in Frank’s and Sam’s dreams before, but it was a little too weird, so I left pretty quickly.” He makes a face. “Frank dreams about us and Mom about equally, but he hasn’t actually acted on them. I’m happy he just hurts us rather than anything else.”
Pike clenches his jaw. It seems like, once he’s decided to speak, Kirk drops all the shocking bombshells he can, trying to drive people away. “Do you need me to do anything?”
“Don’t feel like you have to do anything. I told you, yeah, but it’s in a dream; it’s not like you have to act on it,” Jim responds, and it’s like he’s just following a script.
Well, he can’t have that. “What about doing it because I’m a Captain who’s been trained to be a nosy bastard and look after crew and planet native alike?”
Brilliantly blue eyes glance up, wide in shock, and this time Pike allows himself a smirk.
It takes a few seconds before the blond smirks back, and the transformation is astonishing. For the first time, Kirk looks like he might be okay. “Well, okay, that’s the kind of reasoning I can get behind.” He settles back, body language more open. “It’s the kind of thing that’s hard to hide. He hasn’t acted on it, and I don’t think he will. Erotic dreams people don’t intend to act on…feel differently, I guess?”
So he doesn’t have to give The Talk. That’s something.
“Of course, I didn’t spend much time in there, either. Too creepy.” He grins. “You and Number One were a lot better.”
“That’s private,” Pike responds sternly, and the cocky grin disappears as Kirk looks away.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Jim mutters. “I’m not a telepath, or anything. Winona made sure I took the test, and I didn’t do too well. When I came here, to the colony…I’d had the dreams before, but once I got here. I don’t know. Tom was living with us, and he wasn’t related to us, and he had a lot of dreams. Everyone started to get hungry, but I didn’t need as much as everyone else, as long as I was going in people’s dreams.” He looks up, and as much as he might be trying to hide it, his eyes are unhappy and pleading. “When everything started going wrong, the dreams were mostly of death and dying and I…I got so hungry.”
It sounds like Jim actually needs to experience these dreams, and without them he withers away. “How hungry are you now?” he asks. He’s not likely to give permission, himself. The idea of someone showing him illusions and controlling him isn’t one he’s comfortable with.
“I’m…a lot better? People get really lonely out in space, and if I can make them feel happier…” Kirk answers uncertainly. “I’m still really hungry, though.” He pauses again. “I’m not really human, am I?”
“Well, you’re probably at least half human, but it’s not like that makes you any less of a person, right?” he asks, and the smile lights up those blue eyes and is dazzling. It’s a good sign, after all the horrors of Tarsus. “I’ll see what I can find. We’ll figure this out, so you can control it better and understand it. In the meantime, you should start actually talking to at least Phil—Dr. Boyce—if you want to avoid all the psychologists.” He smiles. “Trust me, kid, Phil’s a lot better than a shrink any day.”
He does his best to convince Starfleet that the fact that the Kelvin baby was supposedly dead for seven days—no breath, no heartbeat—was a clerical error. Luckily, it’s in their best interest to believe him. He spoke directly to the doctors involved, and with the scramble and lack of good instruments on the shuttle, it seems like a decent enough excuse.
George, though, had been a friend. He hadn’t advertised it, because unlike some people he considered it more important to give the dead the respect they deserve. It’d also been why he chose the topic of his dissertation, to understand why and prevent it from happening again. It had, however, involved looking into everything surrounding the destruction of the Kelvin, so while he had publicly dismissed it and hadn’t written about it in his dissertation, he had looked into it on his own.
He hadn’t been given the keys to the puzzle until years later, when rescuing a young Jim Kirk from a failed agricultural colony. Jim was utterly silent, refusing to speak. He was also incredibly skinny, and according to the doctors, eating wasn’t helping him much. He was still, somehow, suffering from malnutrition.
And then, for the second night in a row, he dreamt of Number One. As she touched his shoulder, he grabbed her hand, and was surprised at how real it felt.
“Get out of my head,” he growls, aware of the similarities between this and the Keeper’s illusions.
Her face becomes upset, which is probably another good indication that she isn’t the true Number One. “Are you sure?” she asks, and it’s probably meant to be playful but all it comes off as is desperate and scared.
“…I want to see the real you,” he decides, because the instincts that make him a great Captain are screaming at him that something’s wrong. That someone with the ability to control his mind and dreams shouldn’t feel, well, vulnerable.
“What, so you can know I’m a freak?” she shoots back, cocky and arrogant and oh-so-afraid.
He doesn’t have much of a reason for his guess. It’s instinct more than anything. But he has a feeling he’s right. “Jim?” he asks, and the shock is enough to tell him he’s right, before the illusion slips away, leaving a malnourished, scared teenager in its wake.
“Was I that obvious?” he asks, scared and bitter, doing his best not to look at all concerned, but not being at all successful about it. Still, he’s speaking, which is a success of sorts.
“The ‘rebel against the world’ way you speak is a little memorable,” he responds, and lets no trace of the satisfaction show on his face at the small trace of a smile that appears on the young Kirk’s face. “What were you doing, anyway?” He keeps his tone neutral, because he has a feeling it’ll get more results.
Jim’s face crumbles and he pulls his legs to his chest, hiding his face in the crossed arms. “I’m hungry,” he mumbles.
Pike sits. “I don’t understand.”
“That’s a surprise,” Jim snipes, but Christopher doesn’t take it personally. He just waits patiently, and Kirk continues eventually. “I…I’m honestly not sure. I’ve ended up in Frank’s and Sam’s dreams before, but it was a little too weird, so I left pretty quickly.” He makes a face. “Frank dreams about us and Mom about equally, but he hasn’t actually acted on them. I’m happy he just hurts us rather than anything else.”
Pike clenches his jaw. It seems like, once he’s decided to speak, Kirk drops all the shocking bombshells he can, trying to drive people away. “Do you need me to do anything?”
“Don’t feel like you have to do anything. I told you, yeah, but it’s in a dream; it’s not like you have to act on it,” Jim responds, and it’s like he’s just following a script.
Well, he can’t have that. “What about doing it because I’m a Captain who’s been trained to be a nosy bastard and look after crew and planet native alike?”
Brilliantly blue eyes glance up, wide in shock, and this time Pike allows himself a smirk.
It takes a few seconds before the blond smirks back, and the transformation is astonishing. For the first time, Kirk looks like he might be okay. “Well, okay, that’s the kind of reasoning I can get behind.” He settles back, body language more open. “It’s the kind of thing that’s hard to hide. He hasn’t acted on it, and I don’t think he will. Erotic dreams people don’t intend to act on…feel differently, I guess?”
So he doesn’t have to give The Talk. That’s something.
“Of course, I didn’t spend much time in there, either. Too creepy.” He grins. “You and Number One were a lot better.”
“That’s private,” Pike responds sternly, and the cocky grin disappears as Kirk looks away.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Jim mutters. “I’m not a telepath, or anything. Winona made sure I took the test, and I didn’t do too well. When I came here, to the colony…I’d had the dreams before, but once I got here. I don’t know. Tom was living with us, and he wasn’t related to us, and he had a lot of dreams. Everyone started to get hungry, but I didn’t need as much as everyone else, as long as I was going in people’s dreams.” He looks up, and as much as he might be trying to hide it, his eyes are unhappy and pleading. “When everything started going wrong, the dreams were mostly of death and dying and I…I got so hungry.”
It sounds like Jim actually needs to experience these dreams, and without them he withers away. “How hungry are you now?” he asks. He’s not likely to give permission, himself. The idea of someone showing him illusions and controlling him isn’t one he’s comfortable with.
“I’m…a lot better? People get really lonely out in space, and if I can make them feel happier…” Kirk answers uncertainly. “I’m still really hungry, though.” He pauses again. “I’m not really human, am I?”
“Well, you’re probably at least half human, but it’s not like that makes you any less of a person, right?” he asks, and the smile lights up those blue eyes and is dazzling. It’s a good sign, after all the horrors of Tarsus. “I’ll see what I can find. We’ll figure this out, so you can control it better and understand it. In the meantime, you should start actually talking to at least Phil—Dr. Boyce—if you want to avoid all the psychologists.” He smiles. “Trust me, kid, Phil’s a lot better than a shrink any day.”
