Title: Something in the air
Fandom & Pairing: Star Trek IX, Pike/Scotty
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Genre: humour, mild crack
Word Count: Around 2500
Author's note: I found this on my harddrive and realised that rather than wait to 'finish' it in some way I've long forgotten about, it actually works as it is.
Summary: Admiral Pike's on his first official inspection of the Enterprise and is rather taken aback by how many of the senior crew seem to want to spend private time with him.
Pike looked curiously around the luxurious cabin that was the parking spot for Admirals, ambassadors and other important but transient guests on the Enterprise. It was not a cabin that he had ever imagined inhabiting.
Pouring himself a drink he thought back over his day, his first official inspection as an admiral and the first inspection of the Enterprise since her launch. The ship was just as beautiful as he remembered and all the better for being fully utilized. The crew, while alarmingly young, were capable and confident, and proving all their critics wrong with their ability to do their jobs.
Still, it was not what he'd hoped for. He sighed and took a deep gulp of whiskey. No good mourning what would never be.
A knock on his door pulled him out of his melancholy thoughts. He opened it to find Jim Kirk at the entrance. The captain had changed out of uniform and was now looking rather attractive in an Academy hoodie and old jeans soft enough to cling to the young man's strong thighs. "May I come in, sir?"
"I'd have thought you'd had more than enough of me after an entire day of inspections," said Pike, standing back.
"Oh no, sir," said Kirk, his voice low and sultry, turning to look at him in a speculative way quite different from his exemplary behavior on the bridge during the day. "Not nearly enough."
"Meaning?" queried Pike.
Kirk stuck his hands in the back pockets of his jeans, rocking back onto his heels. "Well sir, remember all those times at the Academy when I propositioned you and you told me you didn't do cadets? I'm not a cadet any longer...." He let the sentence trail away suggestively.
Pike looked at Kirk in surprise. He'd always received plenty of offers, even since the events of the Narada and despite the exo-skeleton support he now wore to assist his weakened legs and damaged nervous system. He'd had a lot of fun when he was younger but over the years he'd become pickier about which offers he accepted.
He looked at Kirk, young, brilliant, disconcertingly handsome and oozing sexuality. He'd no doubt it would be a memorable romp. But Kirk was in a direct line of command beneath him, and furthermore in a difficult position as the captain of the Enterprise. He was likely to need all the help he could get from Pike. The game at stake was far more important than any one fuck.
He smiled gently at Kirk. "Son, it's a very flattering offer, but not one that I'm going to take up."
Kirk stared at Pike incredulously. "You're turning me down?" It didn't sound as if this happened to him very often.
Pike pushed Kirk firmly towards the door. He really didn't want the young man to start trying to wheedle his way into Pike's bed. He suspected Kirk could very persuasive when he chose, but the short-term benefits of this were heavily outweighed by the long-term complications. "I'm sure it's a novel experience Kirk, but yes, I'm turning you down."
Once Kirk had been pushed firmly out into the hall, Pike leant against the closed door and grinned to himself. Well, that had been good for his ego, if nothing else. His mood of wistful regret had been blown away by Kirk's offer and he took himself off to bed, to enjoy in his imagination the things he had chosen not to enjoy in real life.
* * *
The next morning Pike extended his inspection to the other senior departments, starting with medical. Once McCoy had toured him around all the facilities, they retired to the doctor's office, where he wanted to know all about Pike's current state of health. And then of course he wanted to see the exo-skeleton and look at how it plugged into Pike's own nervous system so that it could be controlled either by his mind or by an external control.
It was the very latest in medical technology and as such McCoy had only heard about this most recent model. Which was how Pike came to find himself standing with his pants down round his shins and his shirt pulled up to his chest while McCoy made a meticulous examination, filled with exclamations of admiration.
McCoy was crouched down, his head level with Pike's thigh, when he suddenly commented, "So, you turned our wonder boy down. He was most taken aback."
"How do you know that?"
"He came to my cabin and whined about it for an hour afterwards. I told him it was good for him to have his outsized ego taken down a notch or two." McCoy looked up at Pike, warm hazel eyes fringed by long dark lashes. "So is it men in general you don't do or just Jim in particular?"
"I've nothing against men. But I don't do officers in a direct line of command under me."
"Is that right?" McCoy moved his hand off the exo-skeleton structure and onto the warm skin beside it. "Now CMO's aren't exactly in the line of command."
"Come off it doctor," laughed Pike, trying not think how close that lush mouth was to his groin. "You lot can't be that desperate that you all need to jump on the first ancient admiral who comes your way."
"Ancient is not the word that comes to mind sir," replied McCoy, his fingertips rubbing gently across Pike's thigh. "Sex on legs is the way Jim describes you and just sometimes that man is spot on."
Pike moved away and pulled up his pants. If it was too complicated to have sex with Kirk, it would make things even messier to then accept an offer from his best friend. "Thank you but no. But you two are doing wonders for my self-image."
"Pity," said McCoy, standing up with an easy grace that Pike had to envy. "It would've been fun."
* * *
Pike offered focused attention to Spock's meticulous tour of the science facilities but in the back of his mind he was still wondering about Kirk and McCoy. It had to have been some kind of bet between them. He wondered if they were doing each other. And wouldn't that make a pretty picture... He had to force his attention back to Spock's report.
At the end of the tour Uhura joined them in a quiet corner at the back of the research lab. "Well sir," she said, "word is that you've turned down both Jim and Leonard."
Pike boggled at her. "Do you all have nothing better to do with your time than swop rumors?"
She grinned at him. "Only thing that travels faster than the speed of light sir. Gossip on a starship. Turning them both down shows quite some restraint." She looked him over speculatively. "When we stop anywhere for shore leave, those two cut a swathe through the impressionable locals. Not much left for anyone else by the time they're done."
Pike cast a puzzled glance at Spock who seemed as composed as ever. Spock and Uhura's relationship was public knowledge and registered with Starfleet. Yet he could swear the communications officer was flirting with him in front of her boyfriend.
"The thing is, sir, Spock told me about the conversations you had with him when he served under you on the USS Yorktown." Her voice dropped suggestively.
Pike looked at Spock in astonishment. The Vulcan's face was as impassive as ever but the tips of his ears did seem to be flushed a pale shade of green. Pike remembered those conversations as being deeply embarrassing, with the young Vulcan wanting a detailed and exhaustive briefing on the intricacies of human sexuality. He'd not seen the topic as any different from any other aspect of human culture and Pike had battled to damp down his own discomfort and answer with care and detail.
"We've discussed them at quite some length," continued Uhura. Pike's mind immediately supplied an helpful image of the two of them, naked and speculating about Pike while they did unspeakable things to each other. They must look beautiful together. "If you wanted to discuss them with both of us in private, you'd be very welcome...."
Pike's mind short-circuited. He'd done plenty of adventurous things in his time but this left him speechless. "Chain of command..." he managed to splutter, "very kind of you... not appropriate..." He made an escape back into the corridor, heading for the recreation room and somewhere as public as possible. There had to be something in the air on this ship. Or maybe he should have the water supply checked out.
* * *
Rumors spread fast, no doubt about it. He spent the evening in the rec room, taking the time to get to know more of the crew. Within an hour or so of his having turned down the Enterprise's power couple, he was getting more offers to get to know him than he'd had in months.
"This ship is awash in testosterone, sir," offered Nurse Chapel, off-duty in a remarkably low-cut top. "If you fancy something a little more feminine..."
"Or a little less feminine," suggested Dr M'Benga over her shoulder, giving Pike a wink.
"Sir, we've never had the chance to thank you properly for what you did for us all in going to the Narada. We'd be delighted to thank you personally...." That came from Lieutenant Sulu with a blushing Ensign Chekov at his side.
At that point Pike fled to his cabin and used his admiral's override to double-lock the door.
* * *
Touring the engineering department the next day with Scotty was rather more relaxing, at least once they got right into the bowels of the ship. In the more public areas Pike still felt as if every single crew member was giving him the once over. Every smile seemed suggestive, every comment a double-entendre. Scotty however had eyes only for his lady and her inner workings.
Pike relaxed in the face of the chief engineer's infatuation with the Enterprise engines. He had always enjoyed the mechanisms that powered these gigantic space crafts and he wished once more than he could have had Scotty serve as his chief engineer. Between them they could have achieved extraordinary things with a ship of this power.
Still, as the tour progressed, Pike was slightly surprised not to be propositioned by Scotty. Other than the ship's cat - which everyone studiously pretended didn't exist, despite her winding her lithe white-and-tan body between their legs in the canteen - he could swear that everyone else had made him an offer. Damn this crew and their sky-high libidos, now he had sex on the brain too.
Scotty stopped when they finally reached the massive plasma coolant tanks. He put both hands flat on the perspex and then after a moment pressed his forehead against it as well. "It's my favorite corner of the entire ship," he said. "There's power in the engine rooms and potential, but this feels like the peaceful heart of my lady."
Pike put his hand on the perspex next to Scotty's. He could feel the warmth coming off the aquamarine fluid, could feel the steady vibrations that emanated from the depths of the ship. "I've always loved this place, too. When I needed to get away from the pressure of command on the Yorktown, I used to come and hide down here, although her tanks were a good deal smaller."
Pike noticed that Scotty flicked a quick look at Pike's hand which was resting right next to his own, and then looked away again, a faint blush rising up above the collar of his uniform. Interesting. Suddenly feeling devilish, Pike said, "You know Mr Scott, you're the only member of the senior crew not to have come on to me in the last two days."
Scotty chuckled. "Aye, I've heard." After a pause he continued. "You know, I'm good at what I do. Bloody good. I'll bow to no one when it comes to my lady's engines. But I'm also realistic. I look in the mirror and I see an ordinary bloke. On the very ordinary side of ordinary, to be honest. It is hard, sometimes, to serve on a ship where everyone is so young and beautiful."
Pike looked across at the sad expression on the engineer's face. Now that just wouldn't do, not on a man who loved the Enterprise just the way Pike had. He slid his pinkie finger up and over the same finger on Scotty's hand. He could still feel the warmth of the water and the gentle vibration through Scotty's skin. "It's not an order, or an obligation, Mr Scott, but if you're willing..."
Scotty turned his face so that his cheek was pressed against the perspex and he could look directly at Pike. "Sir, I may know a lot about engines and not much about other things but even I know an offer that is too good to refuse when I hear it."
Pike smiled at him, moving his hand so that it lay over Scotty's with their fingers interlaced. "Is there anywhere here that's out of sight of the security cameras? Because if there is, I've got an idea."
"Do you now, sir? If we got right round into the corner, there's a dead spot."
Pike pushed him gently towards the corner in question, stopping once Scotty judged them to be out of sight. Pike stood behind the engineer with a hand on his neck, his mouth close to Scotty's ear. "Now Mr Scott, I'm fancying you with your shirt off and your pants round your knees, pressed up against the perspex and me fucking you right up against our lovely lady. What do you say?"
"It'd be an honor, sir. Now I know why you're considered to be a tactical genius."
* * *
"Good lord." Ensign Nkurunziza looked up from her console, where, among other duties, she oversaw the video feeds from the security cameras. "Commander Spock, what do you make of this?"
Spock walked across to Nkurunziza's station. "Fascinating," he said at last. "Lieutenant Uhura, you will wish to see this."
Uhura joined them. "Oh my god, is that what it looks like?"
"I can see no other logical explanation," replied Spock.
"But Scotty?" Uhura stared at her boyfriend in astonishment. "We must have missed something."
"What's up?" demanded Kirk, finally noticing the small huddle. He bounded up to join them. "Fuck me sideways! Is that Pike doing Scotty?"
They all looked at the grainy video feed. The two heads were almost out of sight but the way they were positioned and the rhythm of their shared movement left little room for doubt.
"How did Scotty get to be the lucky bastard?" demanded Kirk. "He never occurred to me. Maybe he's worth a second look."
"You just get in line, captain," said Uhura. "Spock and I spotted him first."
- THE END -