What are the Odds

Star Trek AOS Fanfiction
Title:	What are the Odds
Author(s):	mattmetzger
Date(s):	Updated: 02-08-11 - Published: 01-22-11
Length:	16,570 words
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek (2009)
External Links:	online here
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What are the Odds is an Kirk/Spock story by mattmetzger.

Summary: Formerly 'Love and Fate.' Spock's life is abruptly destroyed, and it is immediately apparent that things are never going to be the same. Jim finds himself caught between two terrible outcomes, and about to take the greater of two evils.

Recs and Reviews

This story, like all this author‘s stories, is based on the 2009 movie and while I am not a big fan of the movie and never thought I‘d be reviewing a 2009 movie story, I am doing so for two reasons. The first is that this author is quite talented and her stories are, for the most part, really quite good, and the second (and main reason I‘m reviewing this story) is that for me, it illustrates the distinct differences between the Kirk and Spock we see in the move and the Kirk and Spock from the original series.

This story starts out rather pleasantly enough. Kirk and Spock, in an established relationship, are on a routine planet survey when tragedy strikes. Now I don‘t want to give the story away, so I won‘t go into too much detail other than to say as a result of which, Spock‘s injuries are so severe they spell the end of his career in Starfleet. But that is not what prompted me to write this review. Rather, it is Kirk‘s reaction after Spock has been injured. To me, it is a clear indication of the vast differences between the Kirk and Spock as portrayed in the movie and how they were portrayed in TOS. In this story, from the moment Spock is wheeled into Sickbay until his eventual departure from the ship, Kirk makes absolutely no attempt to visit, or even contact him. Not even McCoy‘s rather unorthodox means of cajoling him has any effect:...

[two pages of dialogue snipped]

...For me, this scene, more than any other, stands as a perfect example of the stark contrast between the two Captain Kirks. I cannot believe that Kirk from the series would even think of avoiding Spock if faced with the same situation. If anything, only a red alert would pry him from the Vulcan‘s side and I wouldn‘t put it past him to resign his commission rather than stand by and watch as Spock‘s injuries left him no choice but to leave the ship. And while this is probably the strongest example of the differences between the movie Kirk and the Kirk from TOS, the same can be said for any K/S story based on the movie as opposed to TOS. And the most worrying part for me is that the former is and has been outpacing the latter. After being involved in this fandom for almost 30 years now, while I don‘t want K/S to ever die, neither do I want it to turn into something I don‘t recognize anymore. For the talent is still there, the passion is still there, the desire to create is still there, but I have to wonder, will the Kirk and Spock I came to know and love through the series still be there?