Chapter Text
There was one thing that really,
really
sucked about being the current most-famous Captain in all Federation history. Everyone knew him. His face, his name, the way he walked even. It meant that no matter what, people recognized him. Sometimes that was great, most of the time it was annoying as fuck. Jim couldn’t count on both hands the times, per trip to any starbase, he was asked something or another for just walking.
Even in civvies he had no relief.
So when Jim stepped through the mysterious field of energy on accident, ‘ there was a rock Bones, I tripped!’, and no one on the other side even blinked, he knew something was up.
Nevermind the blue shirt he was wearing instead of gold, or the fact that he had no stripes. At all.
‘Not even lieutenant aw man.’
Jim sighed, and then jumped at the hand that clapped his back. “Kirk! Good to see you back in one piece- though that’s a bit debatable. You look- rough.”
Jim blinked, looking over Sulu. He looked fantastic himself, and Jim noted the Commander stripes on his gold shirt. “Commander,” he answered cautiously. “I would look a bit rough- I think I bumped my head.” He rubbed it for extra effect and Sulu simply sighed.
“Knowing you, definitely. Well, if you’re not feeling well, we could send you up to Doctor M’Benga. Or your buddy up there.” The relief on Jim’s face at knowing Bones was still on the ship must’ve been obvious. “Wow, you really bumped your head to be wanting to head up… Tracy, beam up with Ensign Kirk and help him to Sickbay, and everyone stay away from the rock! It’s obviously not an actual rock!”
Jim watched a flustered security officer jump back, his hand having been on the rock. And then he blinked. “Wait, it’s solid now?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, turned solid after you slipped out of it. You had said something about- temporal displacement.”
Jim cocked his head, and then looked down at his tricorder readings. Then he sniffed, holding air in his expanded chest as the date hit him. The rock itself- had been created five years from now. The exact stardate he recorded in his Captain’s log that morning. Somehow, Jim not only traveled back in time but into another timeline entirely, like a diagonal slide on a 3D version of
Chutes and Ladders
.
“Yeah… Temporal displacement…” Sulu’s hand on his shoulder pulled him away from the readings, his eyes soft at the corners and his frown replacing the jovial smile he was used to.
“Ensign Kirk. Go.”
Blinking, he recognized he couldn’t necessarily not disobey, but… that didn’t stop him from being a
Kirk
, pulling his biggest, water-iest eyes he could. “I’m just worried about missing a chance to investigate this, sir.”
“You and the Captain both- we aren’t heading anywhere, and once you’re cleared by Dr. M’Benga, you can come back down. Probably.” Jim nodded, and stepped over to Tracy, the only one watching them with an amused smile. He caught the lookover and rolled his eyes, very used to people checking him out.
Then he realized something as they beamed. The good doctors would know instantly he was not their Kirk. “Fu-”