Room 1442

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Room 1442
Author(s):	Charlotte Frost
Date(s):	1988
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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Room 1442 is a Kirk/Spock story by Charlotte Frost. It was nominated for a Surak Award.

It was published in the print zine Within the Mirror #1.

Summary

"Spock makes an offer to bond with Kirk that, surprisingly, Kirk is willing to consider."

From the Author

What I felt was one of my very best stories, at the time I wrote it. (Don’t know what I’d think now.) A mirror universe where caustic characters in an evil environment struggle to find some tenderness.

Reactions and Reviews

The Mirror Spock and Kirk aren't very far from our own. However, it is made clear that Kirk's reasonable attitude is not simply his normal response, as it might be with our Kirk. It's his unadmitted interest in Spock that makes him consider Spock's proposal. I liked seeing them work out their relationship; their sexual misunderstandings seemed quite likely, given that they were not in telepathic contact. And Kirk's memories, especially of his mother, were a painfully convincing reason for his distrust of tenderness. Good distinction he makes between truly believing Spock's tenderness is a deception and merely not being able to imagine any other motive. Oh, and the scene where Sarek out-logics Spock to get him to propose to Kirk was priceless. I enjoyed this story thoroughly; the only negatives I can find are that the ending was a little weak and that some adjectives could have been cut. I loved the initial conversation where Spock was making his proposal to Kirk, with his habit of only saying a little at a time making Kirk curious and exasperated enough to want to hear more - very believable and true-to-character. A couple of other high points for me were Spock's surprise that their spontaneous love-making was better than his pre-planned effort; and the scenes of Kirk's memories of past betrayals showed just why he was so suspicious of anyone who tried to get close to him. The end was nice, too. I hope they made it.

I'm not "ahhhing" and "ooohing" over this story just because the editor of LOC CONNECTION wrote it. This is a well-drawn story, long enough for us to really see the complexities of the developing relationship between Kirk and Spock. The author took her time, not rushing into the main conflict but carefully setting it up and resolving it. The ending was nicely open-ended, letting us know that this complex relationship will have many turns in the road ahead. One VERY minor quibble: it is not quite made clear whether the various betrayals that Kirk had suffered were typical in his universe, or whether he had been exceptionally victimized. The idea that it was a series of events rather than just one event was quite plausible.

This is a largely believable portrayal of Mirror K/S. Mirror Kirk is as austere as a Klingon would be in the mainline universe. That's very well-done. Unfortunately, when Kirk finally broke down and let him know about all the traumas that had shaped his distrust, Spock shouldn't have taken advantage of Kirk's vulnerability. I would have accepted this if Spock had shown some awareness that he was engaging in unethical behavior. Charlotte had portrayed Mirror Spock as a sensitive and gentle soul up until then. I don't understand why he didn't even feel guilty about manipulating Kirk emotionally. Ideally, Spock should have shown vulnerability in return, or just held Kirk until he recovered. That would have definitely shown Kirk that it was safe to be vulnerable with Spock. Then when Kirk demanded that they bond, and Spock agreed, Spock was again taking advantage of Kirk for his own purposes. For Kirk's sake, he should never have permitted a bond until Kirk learned to shield. Spock is not nearly as honest with himself as I would like in this story. He should at least examine his own motivations before making such questionable decisions.

Spock is approached by Sarek regarding taking a new bondmate after T’Pring’s death, who Spock had killed for challenging. At the time Sarek had noticed the regard Spock and his captain seem to hold each other in, and correctly surmises that Spock wishes to bond with Kirk. Since Spock and his father are both working for the fall of the Empire, Sarek feels that Spock bonding with Kirk would bind the human to them to the rebellion’s advantage.

Spock thinks so, too. And though he fights the suggestion at first, not at all sure of Kirk’s feelings, he finally decides to approach his captain with a “proposal.” They meet away from the city while on shore leave, where Spock proceeds to tell Kirk what it is he wants from him.

Kirk is suspicious at first, but surprisingly agrees to having sex with Spock in order to ascertain their compatibility. They return to the city to take a room, room 1442 to be exact. The rest of the story centers on how they manage to work through Kirk’s distrust to uncover the lonely man beneath.

I did like this story, but I felt Kirk’s “conversion” rather sudden. Within minutes of Spock finally finding out what it was that embittered Kirk and made him distrust everyone, the Vulcan is able to break down all Kirk’s barriers. It’s something Kirk has wanted, the closeness, but he gets over the traumas of his early childhood too fast to be really believable.

I did like that he’s portrayed as a basically decent person. One who has had to live his life by the rules of the Empire, but not a sadistic monster that only someone deeply neurotic could love. I have to be able to like the Kirk and Spock of the mirror universe, or else I can’t find it in me to care what happens to them.

It deals with a decision by Spock to ask his captain to bond, and the results of that decision. One of the most interesting parts of this story is Kirk's memories of his childhood and how he learned that tenderness wasn't to be trusted. He and Spock have problems building a relationship, but they solve them calmly and rationally. Even Kirk, though temperish and foul-mouthed, is essentially a rational person in this story. And, characteristically, once his decision is made, it's made—no more soul-searching, and no patience with Spock's hesitation. These people are essentially our Kirk and Spock as they would be if they'd adapted to a different universe.