When Johnny Comes Marching Home

Fanfiction
Title:	When Johnny Comes Marching Home
Author(s):	Addison Reed
Date(s):	1989
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
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When Johnny Comes Marching Home is a K/S story by Addison Reed.

It was published in the print zine As I Do Thee #12.

Summary

"An invitation to be guest of honor at a school reunion in his home town has Kirk regretting his absentmindedness in not refusing the 'honor'... and has Spock in his own type of turmoil over the prospect of facing his bondmate's old friends... But it's not only Kirk and Spock who are surprised by events in Iowa."

Reactions and Reviews

1989

When Jimmy comes marching home to Iowa, he has a strange bout of precognition, calls it "a memory of something that never happened", and Spock says it makes no sense. Pardon me, but I think Spock's reaction makes no sense. He knows that Kirk has "hunches" that should never be disregarded. Surely Kirk is a prime candidate for precognition, and Spock should be alert for any sign of it in him. That is he should if he understands psi phenomena, and a Vulcan should have some understanding of these matters.

This is one of the author's best stories, and I was particularly touched by the way it handled Spock's feelings of alienation. I don't believe Spock has ever before been treated in such an insightful, tender manner. The most poignant moment for me was, when preparing to go to his high school reunion, Kirk entered the bedroom to find that, rather than getting dressed, Spock was on the back porch, looking dejected because he had second thoughts about going to Kirk's reunion and being stared at — as he had in his childhood for being 'different' — despite his earlier decision to accompany Kirk... The human's reaction is wonderfully gentle and understanding. Sure enough, when Spock does go to the reunion, he quickly feels out of place — despite Kirk's best attempts — and the author painfully tells us, "Early in their delicate and precarious relationship, he had entertained visions of himself as suddenly imbued with Kirk's particular style of charisma, as if by osmosis he might be able to dazzle and entertain without the slightest hint of self-consciousness or awkwardness. It was not to be." Ouch. The author also excellently describes the way Spock separates from his environment —the former classmates noisily and excitedly drooling over Admiral Kirk's presence — by studying the wall: "...he wanted to disappear, to become as immobile and unnoticed as the cases of war relics on the walls. Seeking escape in any form, his eyes were drawn to a row of flags.... Able to appear occupied by doing so, he studied them intently...." The remainder of the story emphasizes action — Addison Reed is one of few K/S authors who not only includes action in her stories, but writes it well — though I think this aspect may have gone on slightly longer than necessary, and I, personally, found it less interesting than the earlier section of the story that concentrated so much on the relationship. A few minor flaws caught my attention: 1) Near the bottom of page 178, we are told that Spock notices that Shondhari "appeared to be studiously avoiding the man she had gone to a great effort to invite..." How would Spock know she'd gone to such an effort? 2) After scene breaks, I sometimes had difficulty placing the characters. For example, at the top of page 167, the reader doesn't know where Kirk and Spock are having that brief conversation. Is it inside the house? What room? Outside in the yard? On the porch? 3) This is a pre-STII:TWOK story and mention is made of Kirk having a vision of Spock's death. This precognitive event was out of synch with the rest of the plot and served no purpose. Overall, I found this to be a beautifully-told, established relationship story; gentle, tender, memorable and captivating, and I strongly recommend it for anyone who has painful memories of 'not fitting in'. A remarkable piece of work.

1992

I enjoyed this story immensely, not so much for the energetic plot that I have come to expect in an Addison Reed story, but for the exceptionally loving portrayal of the characters. In fact, I had some major problems with the plot of this story that I will describe in a minute, but first, here are the things I liked:

This Kirk is the Kirk of the series — strong, dignified, gentle, passionately alive, and completely masculine. He doesn't whine, he doesn't make a fetish of his own rear end, and he's no more inclined to use four letter words while in bed with Spock than he would be when speaking to Edith Keeler or Miramanee or Rayna Kapek.

The portrayal of Spock is equally sensitive, capturing Spock's blend of toughness and fragility. An especially wonderful glimpse of Spock was provided in the scene where Spock, after giving bread to a turtle, immediately starts apologizing when Kirk asks how the turtle got the bread. The knee-jerk apology is profoundly revealing of Spock's character. Actually, it occurred to me when I read this scene that the apology would have been even more revealing if it had been inspired by Spock's conditioned guilt at being observed in a moment of emotional vulnerability. And Spock's hand feeding the turtle when he should instead be getting ready to go to the dreaded reunion was an act of emotional withdrawal that brought this vulnerability eloquently to life. In fact, what made this scene even more wonderful was that the turtle Spock is feeding, and that he apologizes for feeding, symbolizes himself. It's a rare pleasure to encounter a K/S story written at a level where the writer either consciously or unconsciously employs such literary devices as theme and symbol, and this is one such instance.

Another memorable moment was provided by the story's first sex scene. It was very different from the usual, and, as with almost every scene in this story, deeply revealing of the characters' personalities. I liked the very tender conversation during the scene, Kirk's self-denying effort to hold back, his willingness to put Spock's pleasure first. This is not a sex scene for fans who want pornography; it's for fans who are interested in the deep bond that can exist between sex and love. I have a general impression that this author tends to initialize sex scenes in her writing, but if this scene is any indication, I certainly hope she writes more of them.

Now for my problems with the plot. By far the most interesting part of this story was Spock's tension at the prospect of attending the reunion. The action plot with the terrorists was far less engaging. In fact, the plot concerning the terrorists felt as if it had been superficially grafted onto the story of Spock's social unease. It did not seem like an organic part of the story. I frankly think that this would have been a much tighter, cleaner piece of writing if it had concerned itself solely with Spock's reluctance to go to the reunion and the reasons for his reluctance, and had dispensed with the terrorist angle as unneeded baggage.

Another problem I had with the plot concerns the ending. Forgetting for the moment any question about the inclusion of the terrorist subplot, that subplot needed to be resolved differently. Kirk, who has been shot in the leg and suffered blood loss to the point that his blood pressure is "appallingly low," manages to "easily" wrest Shondhari's weapon from her, then get up off the floor and handily subdue the rest of the terrorists. This scene made me wonder whether in some former life Kirk might have gone by the name Clark Kent. Having Kirk, the man of action, be the leader in overcoming the terrorists is satisfyingly faithful to the spirit of Star Trek. I agree with it one hundred percent, But, I think it needed to be done in some more realistic manner.

A final criticism concerns the writing, which occasionally became confusing. For instance, at page 171, Spock "went to retrieve his civilian attire." In the very next paragraph Kirk bolts through the bathroom door to find Spock dressed for the reunion with no indication that there had been any lapse of..time. Because no passage of time was indicated, I read Spock's search for his civilian clothes and Kirk's bolting through the bathroom door as being more or less in immediate succession. I eventually figured out that some time must have passed, but a reader shouldn't have to stop and figure out what a writer means. Another example: at the reunion, Spock begins to "silently hurry the meal preparations."

When I read this I falsely assumed Spock was no longer standing at the display case and had sat down to eat, but then it turned out he was still at the display case. The problem here is that insufficient cues are given for the reader to visualize where Spock is and what he is doing, and so the reader can "lose" him. One way to have located Spock for the reader would have been to have him look at the rusted grenade launcher in the display case as he is "silently hurrying the meal preparations." Then the reader would know that he's still at the display case.

Above criticisms aside, this story's richly insightful handling of the characters makes it one I expect to reread again and again, and the scene with the turtle stands out in my mind as one of the gems of K/S.

1998

A wonderfully engaging story of Admiral Kirk and Captain Spock returning to Kirk's hometown in Iowa for a class reunion and encountering a terrorist takeover instead. Before the reunion, Kirk and Spock engage in heavy petting during a sudden thunderstorm. I always love that scenario in all its forms—the intense energy of a storm combined with hot sex—a good combination. At first, this is a very needy Spock, acutely uncomfortable at the reunion as Kirk is swept away by the crowd. At one point, in a nicely tense scene, Kirk announces to a drunken classmate that he and Spock are bondmates and the entire room falls silent. Later, as Kirk is on stage speaking, the woman who organized the event, suddenly reveals herself as a terrorist and fires at Kirk. Spock fights off the accomplices during the bedlam and the whole room is taken over by armed rebels. This is all very exciting and tense, especially when Kirk is shot and Spock doesn't know how badly. The woman tells Spock to throw away the phaser or she'll kill the others. The scene is very involving as Spock tries to take care of Kirk who is bleeding from his wounds and to stop the terrorists. It turns out the woman is the daughter of a rebel leader and the situation is very believable and well shown. Kirk's leg is still bleeding badly and he and Spock quickly devise a plan to overcome the terrorists. Nice use here of their unspoken connection often seen in the original series, where they don't have to talk about what they're going to do—they are both so in tune with other—few words are necessary. The woman leader comes over to the fallen Kirk and Kirk pulls her off her feet and takes the weapon away and then knocks her out (yeah!). Finally Starfleet security comes in and there's a gorgeous moment as Kirk lets himself collapse into Spock's strong, protective arms. The last part of the story is wonderful—Kirk awakens in the hospital with a hard-on for Spock. "I am unable to comprehend how you manage to emerge from the effects of an anesthetic in this condition." "You know the old Boy Scout motto, Spock; 'Be prepared'." "T'hy'la, you were never a Boy Scout." What a lovely last scene as they lie in bed together.

2002

This is a terrific story, written by one of fandom's original K/S authors and like many of her works, is written in an expressive and flowing style that has become her unique signature. It is an established relationship story, taking place right after the events of ST:TMP.

The plot is gripping, where a simple high school reunion becomes a deadly event for Kirk when a former classmate, the daughter of a Rigellian mercenary, chooses to make him the target of her revenge. The events that follow are guaranteed to keep the reader on the edge of her seat as Kirk and Spock face what appears to be a hopeless situation. And the preceding scenes of Kirk and Spock visiting Kirk's boyhood home before attending the reunion, are guaranteed to melt even the coldest Vulcan heart.

The caring and love the two men share is so wonderfully expressed in this story and as always, the reader is never left feeling cheated once she reaches the end. Another breath-taking piece of work from one very talented K/S author.

2007

“When Johnny Comes Marching Home” by Addison Reed is all about when Kirk is invited back to Iowa for his high school reunion, and Spock goes with him. They’re already a well-established couple. I know, I know, you aren’t too crazy about established relationship stories, you prefer the excitement of the first time, but there’s a terrorist attack woven into this tale, and believe it or not, our heroes can be heroes even in Iowa. You really should give it a try.