Probation Officer

by Starsinger

Prompted by Beamirang's "Free Radicals" (hope she's alright, hasn't updated in over a year, and she was expecting when she stopped posting. Used to post every day). Jim finally meets up with his probation officer. Five years too late… Don't own them.

"Well, the good news is, we've finally tracked down one of your probation violations, one James Tiberius Kirk," Stoops secretary informed him.

Officer Stoops looked at his Secretary, "Well, have you had him arrested?"

"Well, no," Lisa told him. "It's kinda complicated."

Stoops sighed, he'd heard complicated before. "What? Did he join Starfleet and is currently on the other side of the Alpha Quadrant?"

Lisa looked at him startled, "Well, you're half right. He did join Starfleet…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Officer Stoops looked down at the sleeping man. Unsure what to do next. He'd put in a call to Warden Coots, who'd known Kirk the longest while in jail, and Judge Bernholdt, who'd issued the arrest warrant when Kirk never showed up. This wasn't quite what any of them were expecting. "Why is he asleep?" Coots finally asked the doctor.

"He's recovering from a serious illness, Your Honor. He should be fine. He has a long road ahead of him," Bones replied with a sigh. Chris had assured Jim that he'd taken care of this matter. Unfortunately, Chris was dead. So, Bones had put in a call to Admiral Archer.

"He belongs in jail," Coots muttered. "He's violated the terms of his probation!" he exclaimed.

Jim, who had always been a light sleeper, woke at that point. Bones could have sworn that Jim would have jumped out of bed and run if his disused muscles would have cooperated. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed.

"Jim, do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?" Coots asked him.

"Why?" Jim asked. "I straightened my life out, straight and narrow so to speak," Bones snorted at that statement.

"Oh, I'm sure Starfleet would love to hear how one of its officers is a repeat offender, and currently has a warrant out for his arrest for failure to report to…" Bernholdt's voice trailed off as another voice joined in.

"Failure to report to his probation officer?" Archer asked as he entered the room. "Jim's probation was transferred to San Francisco, where he regularly reported until he was discharged three years ago," Jonathan Archer said smoothly.

"I never heard anything about that," Bernholdt replied. "Why wasn't I notified?" Stoops nodded, he was as much in the dark as the rest.

"The paperwork was sent," another voice joined in. Jim recognized Starfleet Lieutenant Sorman, Judge Advocate General. "We made sure he kept to the terms of his probation," she told him.

A vociferous argument broke out over Jim's disposition. None of them, except Bones, noticed that Jim was becoming distressed. Bones whistled catching everyone off-guard, "I don't care who has jurisdiction. This man is my patient. It's likely to be next year before he's able to appear in court, Judge," Bones said. He was exaggerating, but he didn't want to see his friend carted off to prison before the Enterprise left orbit. "I hope you don't expect us to let you arrest a Starfleet Captain," Bones replied.

A throat cleared at the doorway. Everyone turned to find Ambassador Sarek standing there. "If I'm not mistaken," he told them. "Any probationary status is discharged if the offender dies during that time?" Sarek asked.

"Well, yes," Bernholdt said, perplexed. "He's clearly not dead."

Bones seized upon the momentary distraction to pull up the Death Certificate he had made when Jim landed on his table. To be more precise, Dr. M'Benga had done it, semantics and all. He presented his PADD to the judge. "You were dead?" he asked Jim.

"More precisely," McCoy said, actually relishing this moment for the first time since this horrific ordeal had begun. "He died of acute radiation poisoning while getting the engines of the USS Enterprise back on-line before it also crashed in San Francisco."

Silence greeted this statement. "Well," Judge Bernholdt finally pronounced, "I have no real choice. The Arrest Warrant is rescinded, and your record, Captain Kirk, is now expunged. We cannot keep records of a dead man." The judge turned and left.

"You really did it," Coots said, "you escaped the system." He shook his head. "Good luck, Captain," he held his hand out and Jim shook it. Coots was shocked at how weak the man's grip was, remembering how strong it had been years back. He turned his back and left the room. Stoops trailed behind him making notes on his own PADD.

Jim chortled, "Thanks, Ambassador."

"The least I could do for the man who saved my son's life," Sarek replied before leaving. Jim sighed, it had been a very eventful day.