There was this... phenomenon, almost six years ago. A time traveling incident set a sequence of events into motion that came to create my reality, a divergence from a main timeline that had already been established. I existed on that reality too, but things were different.

A lot... of things were different, and are different.

[ He takes a deep, slow breath. He knows that there are things he can't say, or rather he would prefer not to say as to not cause her unnecessary pain and grief. So he decides for not the whole truth, but the truth nonetheless. ]

Christopher Pike was Captain of the Enterprise for only a short while, and Spock as his First Officer. Soon after, he was promoted to Admiral, and the command of the ship was passed onto me.

[ Whether or not that was the right decision, he can't say. But he believes he's done more good than harm, that he's become a good Captain, even if he didn't get the chance to rise through the ranks, evolve and learn in the same way that his counterpart did. ]

So— I'm Captain of the Enterprise. I've never met my universe's version of you, so I can only assume you were assigned to a different ship for whatever reason.

[ Beats thinking that she died during Nero's attack, that would be an awful possibility to share, so he keeps it to himself. ]