Kirk argued enough with young Spock that he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was to be having an argument with old Spo, er, Selek.

Normally, Jim Kirk didn't enjoy it when the Enterprise was used for her symbolic value, rather than because her abilities were crucial to the mission. Ferrying ambassadors, delivering supplies, showing up at coronations and inaugurations — those were things that any decent ship could do; those missions didn't require the Enterprise's fourteen science labs or her impressive armament of phasers and photon torpedoes. But Kirk had a personal interest in the welfare of New Vulcan, partly because he still felt guilty about having been unable to save the original Vulcan, partly because he had a friend there. So when the admiralty decided that they wanted to underline New Vulcan's importance to Starfleet and to the Federation by having the flagship deliver a load of supplies that any cargo ship could have delivered, Kirk didn't just fail to complain, he actually thanked the admiralty for the privilege.

Putting Sulu in charge of the delivery gave the young pilot some experience that would help him when he came up for promotion ... and also left Kirk free to visit that friend. Mentally reminding himself that Old Spock was going by "Selek" these days, Kirk had had himself beamed down to the transport facility that was closest to Selek's small house. Selek had welcomed him warmly — very warmly, indeed, for a Vulcan, though Kirk thought that perhaps Selek was a lot more relaxed about the whole Vulcan thing than Spock was — and had escorted him into a room that had been cooled to human-tolerable temperatures in preparation for his visit. Tea (iced for him, hot for Selek) and cookies had been set out in readiness, all of which made him feel valued and cherished, though not as much as the look in Selek's eyes when he'd welcomed Jim to his home.

But here he was, having an argument with Selek, and he was surprised, because he thought that what he'd just said was obvious, self-evident, unarguable. It was just a fact, wasn't it, that he and Spock were very, very different? So different as to be nearly exact opposites? Not that he was complaining — that was the thing, he'd thought he was showing how much he'd grown as a captain, telling Selek how much he appreciated the way Spock complemented him by being entirely different.

And then Selek had raised The Eyebrow of Kirkian Ridiculousness.

Kirk fumed. "Why are you giving me the 'you're being ridiculous' eyebrow? Spock and I are extremely different; I thought everyone agreed on that."

Selek shook his head. "You are far less different from one another than either of you currently supposes, and you will realize more and more of your commonalities as you continue to work together."

"Naw, I'm not gonna let you get away with that." Kirk pointed at the Vulcan. "You can be all general and non-spoilery about other stuff; I actually understand why you do that. But not about this. Put up or shut up. Tell me how we're alike."

Selek gave him the small smile that still looked so very wrong on his First Officer's face. "Suppose you tell me in what manner you believe the two of you to be different. Begin with a single characteristic."

"Ha! Easy one! Spock is by-the-book in every conceivable way, and I'm a rebel from the bones out; I only obey the rules I agree with."

Selek's face wore the look he got when Kirk had just walked into a carefully laid trap in chess. "On the contrary, you are more alike in this than different. Spock is a greater rebel than you will ever be, and he knows this and deflects attention from it by following the exact letter of the law in small things so that the rules will be bent for him when he breaks those rules in a large way."

Kirk grinned. "I'm sorry, buddy. I know there's that whole 'Vulcans can't lie' thing, but you're gonna have to prove that before I'll buy it."

Selek inclined his head. "Of course. And just for the record, it is a myth that Vulcans are incapable of lying. We prefer not to lie and avoid it when possible, but you will find that Spock is quite capable of lying — and does so rather well, if I may say so — whenever such is required."

Kirk opened his mouth, then closed it again. "We'll get into that later, but you're not gonna distract me by talking about Vulcans and lies. Proof, I said. Proof!"

Selek regarded him with fond amusement. "If Spock were not a rebel at heart, you and he would never have met. Our father greatly desired that we would attend the Vulcan Science Academy, yet both my counterpart and I ended up in Starfleet."

Kirk snorted. "That's it? You didn't go to the university your dad wanted you to attend, and that's a big fucking deal?"

Selek shook his head. "This goes far beyond attendance at any particular institution of higher education. The Sarek of my timeline was an absolute pacifist, one who believed that violence was always wrong. He was against my joining Starfleet because Starfleet possesses weapons and employs those weapons when the situation warrants it. Since my Sarek believed that the situation never warrants it, he disowned me when I joined Starfleet, and he refused to speak to me for eighteen long years. We reconciled only when an emergency gave me the opportunity to save his life at the risk of my own."

Kirk whistled. "An eighteen-year rift IS impressive."

Selek nodded. "And Jim, I ask you to think more carefully about the circumstances. You have met the Sarek of this timeline, and he is an impressive individual. The Sarek of my timeline was even more stately, even more dignified, and considerably more intimidating. Imagine defying such an individual at the tender age of seventeen, after having been raised by that person. Imagine defying him knowing that you have been a disappointment to him for your entire life."

Kirk gave a cocky grin. "If I were such a big damned disappointment to him, I'd enjoy defying him. You think I'm such a goddamned disappointment, then take that — I'll join Starfleet!"

Selek inclined his head. "Precisely."

Kirk looked at him in surprise. "That's how you felt? But that's ... that's the kind of thing I would have done."

Selek's amusement was palpable. "Indeed."

"Okay, but this is you-you, not young you. Damn, it's hard talking about the two of you! This is Selek-Spock, from the other timeline, not the Spock I know from this one."

"Correct, Jim. But the Spock you know also defied his father to go into Starfleet. His father did not repudiate him as thoroughly as mine did me; I conjecture that Nero's unprovoked attack on the Kelvin may have moderated Vulcan attitudes towards violence as a mode of self defense. But it was still defiance. And while I was offered admission to the Vulcan Science Academy in an uncomplicated fashion and declined that admission with extreme politeness, when the Spock of this timeline was offered admission to the VSA, he was congratulated on having achieved admission in spite of the severe disadvantage of half-human ancestry."

Kirk clenched a fist. "That's bullshit!"

Selek nodded. "Indeed it is, and Spock saw it as such. I was not there, but I am told by those who were that when Spock declined his admission, he did so in a manner that would not seem remarkable to a human but that was extremely rude by Vulcan standards."

Kirk smiled. "So he did the Vulcan equivalent of telling them to go fuck themselves?"

Selek's eyes crinkled in a Vulcan near-smile. "He did. His reaction was justified, given the provocation, but it is highly unusual for a young Vulcan to intentionally alienate the entire Vulcan Science Academy. Even I did not rebel to that extent."

Kirk cocked his head to one side, considering. "Well, okay, so you both rebelled by enlisting in Starfleet. Still, one rebellious action in thirty years doesn't make a person a rebel."

"You are making an unfounded assumption, Jim."

"You mean there's more?"

Selek raised a brow. "Of course. Would your Science Officer draw a conclusion from a single data point?"

Kirk sighed. "No, I guess he wouldn't. Okay, what else?"

"In my timeline, without the Narada's incursion, I served under Captain Christopher Pike for eleven years, four months, and five days; he was promoted to Fleet Captain after that. Captain Kirk took command of the Enterprise on Captain Pike's promotion, and during Kirk's tenure as captain of the Enterprise, Captain Pike was gravely injured. He was so disabled as to be unable to move or speak, yet his mind was completely unaffected by his physical injuries, leaving him effectively trapped inside his own body."

Kirk grimaced. "Sounds awful, but how is this relevant?"

"I am getting to that," Selek said. "During my service under Captain Pike, the Enterprise visited a planet of telepathic illusionists, illusionists so powerful that they could make people see, hear, and feel anything the illusionists wished. They were so dangerous that after Captain Pike's report of that mission was received by Starfleet, the planet was completely proscribed, and General Order 7 was issued."

Kirk blinked. "General Order 7? There is no General Order 7."

"Not in this timeline, no. Not yet. But in my timeline, after our visit to the planet of illusionists — and no, I will not divulge which planet harbors them — contact with that planet was completely proscribed, and anyone who went there was subject to the death penalty."

Kirk looked astonished. "The death penalty! But we don't have a death penalty; there hasn't been one in my lifetime."

"Nor was there in mine, until it was reinstated specifically to proscribe contact with this particular planet."

Kirk whistled. "That's a pretty strong proscription."

Selek inclined his head. "It is. So it may surprise you to hear that I kidnapped Captain Pike, stole the Enterprise while Captain Kirk was at a starbase, and took Captain Pike and the Enterprise to the planet of telepathic illusionists, so that Captain Pike could have an entire planetful of beings with which to communicate, beings who could construct illusions that would give him a semblance of the life that had been taken from him."

Kirk's jaw dropped. "You committed mutiny and courted the death penalty, to take Pike to a place where you knew they'd kill you for going?"

Again Selek gave Kirk his disconcerting small smile. "I did."

"But you're alive! They ... they clearly didn't execute you."

"My record of following the rules was so strong, and Captain Pike's service to Starfleet was so exemplary, that General Order 7 was waived on this one occasion."

Kirk ran a hand through his hair. "Holy shit! I've never gotten away with anything anywhere near that big!"

Selek raised a teasing brow. "Perhaps if you accumulated a reputation for being 'by-the-book in every conceivable way,' the rules would be waived for you when a truly important occasion required that you break them."

Kirk grinned at Selek. "Damn, but I'm proud of you! You fooled them all into thinking you were a good little boy and then used that reputation to break the biggest rule there was. I guess I just haven't been thinking far enough ahead. But you ... you always do, don't you?"

Selek sighed, and for the first time during their conversation, he looked as old as he actually was. "I endeavor to do so, though I am not always successful. My presence in this timeline proves that my record of success is far from unbroken."

Kirk shook his head. "That wasn't your fault, and you know it. Supernovae aren't completely predictable in the first place, and you aren't to blame for the actions of an insane Romulan."

"Perhaps not. But"

"No! We're not discussing this! You can beat yourself up on your own time if that floats your boat, but I'm not gonna sit here and listen to it. You did the best you could, and that's all anybody can do. Nero's actions are 100% his responsibility, not yours."

Selek took a deep breath. "Let us return to our previous topic of conversation, then."

Kirk picked up a cookie. "So, okay, you're a bigger rebel than I've been giving you credit for, both you-you and young-you."

Selek looked pained. "Could you please use an alternate form of nomenclature for my counterpart and myself?"

Kirk laughed. He'd intentionally spoken in a way that he knew would annoy Selek, to get his mind off of his role in the destruction of Vulcan. "Oh, all right. Both versions of you are bigger rebels than I've been giving you credit for. Is that better?"

"Much."

"So tell me another way we're alike."

Selek's eyes crinkled. "I believe I should allow you to discover the rest through living on the Enterprise with my counterpart."

Kirk made a face. "I should have known you'd hold out on me."

"Jim." Selek looked at him seriously but with obvious fondness. "Your future holds great things, and one of those things is the opportunity to connect with people from different cultures and to find the commonalities among you." He shook his head. "I would not take that from you, and I say that not from a desire to withhold but from a desire to give — to give you the latitude to come unspoiled to the experiences that will invigorate and exhilarate you."

Kirk smiled. "Is young you gonna love me like this someday?"

Selek gazed at him fondly. "Live, my young friend, and find out."

.

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Author's Notes

1. Thanks for reading!

2. I am not actually saying that this is what Spock Prime felt when he defied his father and left to attend Starfleet Academy. I think it's quite likely that what Spock Prime really felt is sorrow that the path he felt was best for him was so at odds with what his father wanted. I think that in this conversation with Kirk, Spock Prime could well be misrepresenting his emotions on that long-ago day, because he's focused on the larger truth, that Kirk and Spock are really very similar, and in his mind, that justifies taking some liberties with the smaller truth. :-)

3. I had planned to write a much longer story, detailing the many ways in which Kirk and Spock are alike, but Spock Prime didn't want me to; he wanted Kirk to have the fun of discovering all of this for himself. And who am I, to argue with so august a personage as Spock Prime? :-)

4. I see a lot of fanfics that talk about how Kirk and Spock are opposites, and they're just NOT. Sure, they do have some differences, but these guys are far more alike than they are different. Rather than write a boring essay on the topic, I decided to write a (hopefully non-boring) little story.

5. I imagine that most of the people who read this story are familiar with the events of the two-part TOS episode "The Menagerie." The events that Spock Prime talks about here — stealing the ship and going to the planet of telepathic illusionists — are taken from that episode. I encourage anyone who hasn't seen it to check it out at once!

6. This story was written for love, not money. I only wish that the script for Reboot #3 would be written with as much love as fanfic authors have for the subject. ;-)

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