•g r a v i t y • ~ jim kirk

Covert Mission

The elevator slowly made its way down to the boarding station. A blanket of silence laid upon us as we stared straight at the metal sliding doors. My heart leaped out of my chest while I wrapped my head around the event that just occurred.

I looked down at my hands, clenching them as hard as I could, trying to forget. Trying to calm down. Opening my hand, I watched as my fingers turned from white and pale, to tan and fleshy. A small tear streamed down my face. How could Pike do this?

As the elevator doors slid open, I quickly wiped the water off of my face, leaving no trace of sadness.

"Suit up gentlemen, Ari." Pike instructed as he held out our outfits.

I sighed and grabbed a black suit from his hands. Examining the article clothing, I felt Pike's eyes staring at me tempting me to look back. But I didn't. I couldn't.

I turned around and entered the changing room, leaving Pike behind speechless.

I slipped the suit on. Well 'slipped' isn't exactly the right word to use. The suit was skin tight, showing off all my curves, even my insecurities. I tried stretching it out, but it just made it tighter. I exhaled and examined myself.

The more and more I looked at it, the more I liked it. I smiled and put my hair in a loose braid, leaving a few strands to frame my face. Glancing at my reflection one more time, I grabbed my helmet and jogged to the shuttle.

Hearing my footsteps on the metal platform made me jump. I know this sounds strange, but I am terrified of heights. I can't explain it and I don't know why I'm comfortable with being in space and not with high altitudes.

Taking a deep breath I stepped into the shuttle where Sulu, Engineer Olsen, and Kirk were strapped in, ready to go.

Before I could sit down, a quiet whistle rung in my ear. "Damn Ari." Olsen admired. "You know after this whole mission-"

"Olsen, as I told you multiple times, I'm not interested." I stated, cutting him off.

Jim laughed, patting Olsen on the shoulder.  I glanced at him, raising my eyebrows.

Clearing his throat, he ran his hands through is hair.  "So what type of training do you guys have?"

"Fencing." Sulu said, earning a concerned look from Kirk.

I chuckled. I've seen Sulu fight in one of the training rooms, he was pretty good.

"Hand-to-Hand combat, ju-jitzu, Karate, and anything to do with guns." I replied, buckling myself into my chair in the middle of Sulu and Kirk.

Before Jim could respond, Pike interrupted him. "Ari, can you come here for a second?"

I grunted. This was the conversation I was trying to avoid. And I just finished strapping myself to the goddamn chair.

I unbuckled myself from the seat and walked to the head of the ship, fiddling my thumbs. There Pike was, looking at his hands nervously. The anger that I once felt diminished. My eyes softened as I my heart slowly started to break.

"Pike." I choked out. He sadly looked up at me.
"Ari." He said, his voice wavering. Before he could say anything else, I pulled him into a tight hug.

"Don't do this." I cried into his shoulder. "You can't. They'll kill you."

He pulled out of the hug and cupped my face, a tear streaming down his cheek.