Chapter Eighteen

Kirk seemed to make it down to the holding cells in record time. Even the guard that was posted there was surprised by his sudden appearance. The guard immediately stood at attention, looking anxious as he looked at his agitated superior.

"I want to see him."

"Sir, with all due respect..."

The guard's sentence died prematurely as Kirk shot him a glare, brushing past him to begin walking towards the cells. He had no idea what he was going to say to his father, but figured that he would figure it out on the spot. He was one of those types of people.

He soon found where Bones and Spock had situated his father, though situated wasn't the best word. It was true that they had placed him in a cell, but he was in no way settled in. He was currently pacing back and forth across the cell like a stalking lion, waiting for the right time to pounce now that he had been freed.

"Dad," he said; the word sounding so foreign on his tongue after not having been spoken in so long. Not in the right way, of course.

That one word caused his father to stop dead in his tracks and turn to look at him. The glare that was shot Kirk's way was one of such intense anger and hatred that he found himself taking a step or two back despite doing his best not to appear intimidated.

"Dad? Who are you?"

"James," he said. "James Kirk. I'm your son."

That caused his father to let out a bark of laughter then before giving Kirk a dismissive wave of his hand to be able to resume his pacing ways. That only caused Kirk to get angry. He wasn't willing to be treated in that regard. No matter what he had done before this, no matter how wrong it had been to say this man wasn't his father, he wasn't about to stand there and be treated that way. He walked closer to the glass enclosure his father was in, slapping his palm against the glass once in anger.

"I am your son."

"No. My son is still in the womb," asserted George then, stopping the pacing once more only to stalk closer to the glass. "You're keeping me from him…"

"That was well over two decades ago when I was in the womb. I'm not keeping you from your son. I am your son," Kirk said, staring straight at his father. "You almost just choked a friend of mine to death. Do you know that?"

The smirk appeared again as his father finally opted to sit down on the cot that was jutting out of the wall. He pressed his hands down onto his kneecap, running the palms back and forth for a moment as he let his face speak for him. Kirk hated seeing his childhood hero looking like a villain.

"Friends just get in the way. You're a captain after all, aren't you? You don't have time for friends."

"They aren't just my friends," said Kirk; anger flashing in his ocean blue eyes. "They are my family. As are you."

"Family is a vulnerability. How do you expect to be a strong captain when you have such an obvious weakness?"

"Dad, this isn't you..."

Even though Jim Kirk hadn't ever met his father in his lifetime before this, his mother had kept him alive in stories. As a young boy, he remembered sitting on the porch bench alongside his mother as the sun set; watching as she flipped through a weathered photo album in her hands. Even then, he could tell that it had seen better days. She obviously had looked at it a lot, and loved the man captured there even more. Kirk remembered hearing stories about how they first met; about multiple dates they had gone on that hadn't necessarily gone according to plan. He had idolized the man that was held captive within those photos. That was, until his mother met Carl and made him the center of her world. Her heart break had finally been too much for her to deal with, and Kirk had had to deal with a monster of a boyfriend. During that time, Kirk's idolization of his father had turned to anger at his abandoning him. He had to have known that what he was doing would be potential fatal to his life. He had taken the risk anyway. He had chosen to leave them. At least, that was the juvenile thought that he had allowed to run through his mind. It was the same juvenile thought that he had clung to until Pike made him change his mind.

"How do you know this isn't me?" asked his father then. "You know nothing about me."

"You saved my life back on that ship, and I'm going to prove that to you."

"Prove that? Captain, do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?"

"Do you hear the words coming out of yours?"

Kirk didn't wait for another snide remark from his father. It was the effects of the drugs in his system talking, after all. Kirk moved to where they kept the stash of emergency weapons. They hadn't ever had to use them, not having kept many prisoners in their cells before, but they were luckily still housed there. He grabbed one of the stun guns out before moving towards the cell. His father now watched him with keen interest as an alarm started to sound out. Kirk paused at the pad that would allow him entrance to his father's cell. He had obviously triggered an alarm when he had opened the panel for the emergency weapons.

"Spock..." He muttered.

Spock was always taking precautions. Kirk remembered the argument about installing the alarms for the emergency weapons panel. It was to alert the crew that there was a threat that needed their immediate attention. Spock had insisted that the alarms would be necessary, and would neutralize the situation faster, while Kirk had insisted that all the alarms were going to do was going to worry the whole ship for nothing. Kirk always thought whatever threat was needed for the emergency weapons wouldn't be that hard to fix. He still thought that.

Kirk's fingers began to fly over the pad that would unlock his father's cell. He quickly slipped through the doors when they swished open, turning to click a combination on the pad on the other side that would lock everyone else out. Sometimes it helped to have the access to the Enterprise that being a Captain granted you. Now, despite the alarms blaring out in the way they were, no one would be able to interfere with what Kirk was about to do next.

His father was only a few feet away from him now; having stood up off the cot while Kirk had been running about. Kirk flipped the stun gun off stun, throwing it at his father's feet. He held both arms up in an act of surrender as he lessened the gap between them with slow, steady steps.

"If I'm not who you think I am, then I dare you to put your money where your mouth is." Kirk nodded towards the stun gun lying on the floor by his father's feet. "If you sincerely believe that I'm keeping you from getting home to your son, kill me."

George watched Kirk stepping closer to him in an act of surrender. Meanwhile, on the other side of the glass, Spock and Bones immediately rushed into the room; an outfit of other Enterprise personnel behind them with guns. Bones' eyes widened when he saw that Kirk was in the cell with his father, slowly moving to stand right in front of him.

"What are you doing, man?!" yelled out Bones then, causing Kirk's eyes to move from his father's face to look out the glass towards Bones. "Are you trying to commit suicide?"

"I'm winning my father back," said Kirk before turning back to focus on his father again, moving to kneel in front of him.

"Spock," said Bones, turning to grab Spock gruffly by the shoulders. "Do something! Talk him out of it."

"You and I both know that there is no talking the Captain out of anything that he sets his mind to."

"You are telling me that you are just going to stand here and watch him get killed?"

Spock shook Bones' grip off of him, turning his full attention back to what Kirk was doing on the other side of the glass.

"I trust in the Captain's ability to make gut decisions."

"Gut decisions aren't logical, Spock," muttered Bones. "This is not the appropriate time for the human part of you to come to the forefront. Are you out of your cotton pickin' mind?"

Not getting another answer from Spock, Bones sighed in a disgruntled manner, moving quickly towards the pad. When he tried to type in the number that would open the cell, it refused to grant him admittance. Bones cursed, slamming his hand hard against the face of the pad as if that would grant him the access he wanted.

"SPOCK! Are you gonna come help me out, or are you going to watch Kirk play a sick version of Russian Roulette with a loaded gun that he is not in control of?"

"That was a poor metaphor, Bones..."

"Is that seriously what you are going to comment on right now?"

As the garbled noise of Bones' and Spock's argument could be heard outside the cell, Kirk looked his father in the eye as he stayed on his knees in front of him. George Kirk had bent down to claim the stun gun in his hands, looking towards it silently. Kirk was now doing the same sort of thing his father had done; putting his own life on the line for a worthy cause. Now being more mature than he used to be, he could now see that that juvenile thought he had had towards his father before had been misplaced. His father hadn't been abandoning them. He had been being brave.

Kirk's blue eyes were reflected in his father's matching gaze as George's head came up from the gun then to finally lock his eyes on him. The stun gun in his possession was slowly turning until it was pointed right at his forehead.

"Dad..." said Kirk softly, looking at his father. "It's me...I know somewhere inside you realize it's me..."

Kirk could see a brief bit of conflict in his father's eyes before they became completely hardened. Sighing, Kirk bent his head; closing his eyes to prepare to be resigned to his fate. Bones was on the other side of the glass, trying hard to get in but failing. Spock was still watching the scene with a sort of meditative ease. Spock didn't look in the least bit alarmed by what was happening right now.

As George pointed the gun at Kirk's forehead, snatches of memories started to peck at his mind. He could remember sitting on the porch with Winona, wondering what kind of son they'd have. The man kneeling before him was brave, stubborn...like Winona and like him...He paused; the hand holding the gun now starting to tremble slightly. Tears stung his eyes as more memories pricked at him. He had been captured and tortured. He had been ripped away from his family for years. This wasn't the enemy. This was his son.

Kirk was still kneeling on the ground with his eyes closed, not knowing what kind of inner turmoil his father was going through at that moment. All he could think about was how much of this situation was all his fault. He shouldn't have denied his father as long as he had. He had hurt him, and it was no doubt his fault that his father had given in to the drugs so quickly. His father wouldn't want to hold out for a son that didn't believe in him. Kirk was still feeling guilty as he heard a 'clink' followed by arms wrapping about him in an embrace. He lifted his head and opened his eyes to see that his father had dropped the gun and was now hugging him tightly to him as he too was now on his knees. Kirk soon moved to hug him tightly back. Bones stopped his frantic attempt to get into the cell, watching what was happening inside the cell. Bones turned back to look at Spock after a second, still seeing that he was standing in the same stoic position he had been.

"I'm not about to admit that you were right, pointy. It's not going to happen."

After a moment or two of hugging, Kirk pulled back to see that his father had tears in his eyes as he looked back at him.

"I'm sorry for doubting in you before… I was in shock," said Kirk; his father shaking his head the whole time.

"No...I'm sorry too. I almost killed you..." said his father.

"We're both sorry," said Kirk then, locking his eyes on his father's again. "We're going to be okay though."

Bones finally managed to override the lock that Kirk had placed upon the pad, making the cell doors slide back so that he could have entrance. Bones looked at the reunion going on in front of him; a few other personnel having filtered in behind him just in case something were to happen. Kirk didn't care about that now. He had accomplished the purpose he had set out to. His father was back.