"Name?" The uniformed woman asked the young woman in front of her.

"Annabel Carro." Anna looked at the woman, hoping for the best. She was going to be a pilot for a real spaceship; she just hoped she got the right one….

"Carro..Carr- oh here you are. You've been assigned to the Enterprise to join their 5 year-mission. Here are the official documents. Good luck!" She handed the Ensign a stack of papers and started to greet the next person in line.

Anna was completely ecstatic, but didn't want to make a big scene. She tugged on her suitcase, adjusted the bag on her shoulder, and made her way to the shuttle. She could finally join her best friend, Hikaru Sulu. The pair had become friends four years prior. He was 2 years ahead of her, but they were in the same track. Bonding over space-flight, lead them to bond in general. Now, four years later, they would get to serve for the same ship! Not only was it the same ship, but it was also the best ship in the fleet!

Stepping onto the shuttle, Anna saw the only thing that could bring down her mood, Ensign Pavel Chekov. Of course he had to be assigned to the same ship as her; everyone loved him and thought he was a genius. She made sure to sit as far away from him as she could. She was supposed to be the young genius, graduating from high school early. Instead, Pavel Chekov came around at the same time as her and skipped high school altogether. She had declared him her rival from the moment she heard about him. He barely knew who she was, which wasn't surprising. They were in different tracks and he had gotten all the attention, not her.

Trying to distract herself from her rival, Anna started to fiddle with her bushy red hair. Unfortunately, it was hard not to overhear him bragging to the person next to him. "I am going to be one of zier lead nawigators!" His accent was thick and almost like music to her ears. Normally, she loved accents, but her hatred towards this younger prodigy overruled that love. Forcing herself to listen in on other conversations eventually worked. Someone was talking about their theory that Apollo and the other Greek Gods were really aliens, which amused her. She didn't believe in wild theories, but she loved to listen to them. Even though some people's theories turned out to be correct, she preferred to stay realistic.


Upon arrival, the bunch of newly grads were told their quarter assignments and when to report to work training. Once Anna had settled in her quarters, she looked over all the packets she had been given. "Supervisor: Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu", the paper read. By this point, all thoughts of Chekov were out of her head, plus, she was finally alone. Anna allowed herself to squeal like a child seeing as no one around to witness it. She was an introvert and prefered the outside world to only see her professional side.

Using her PADD, she sent Sulu an instant message to see if he was free to catch up. They talked most days and hung out during his shore leaves, but working on the same ship was much better! Waiting over an hour and almost forgetting that she had sent a message, Anna finally got a reply. "Hey ENSIGN Carro, I just finished my shift. I'd love to meet up. I'll be in the dining hall in 20 minutes. :D" The ship was hard to navigate for first timemers, so she was glad that she had 20 minutes to make her way to the dining hall.

When she arrived, Sulu was already there, waiting for her. He was talking to a tall man in a red shirt, but seemed to be actively keeping his eye out for Anna. Spotting her, he waved her over. Her excitement for seeing him was more powerful than her natural reaction to be self conscious. She didn't run over to him or something like that, but she did give him a huge hug. "It's so good to see you!" She exclaimed.

"You too! How does it feel to finally be an Ensign? Or should I say my Ensign, little miss Pilot?" Sulu was grinning from ear to ear. The closest thing he had to a little sister had achieved something she had wanted for a long time. He was very proud!

"It feels right. I'm finally where I belong." Anna suddenly became very aware of the red shirt who was still standing there. She turned to him and introduced herself in a very formal manner, "Hello, my name is Ensign Annabel Carro. Who might you be?" She stuck out her hand for him to shake.

He shook her hand with both of his. "The name's Montgomery Scott, but you can call me Scotty. By the way, you can drop the charade lassie. Sulu here has told me all about you. Yeh don't have to be formal with me." Normally Anna would get pissed off at men trying to tell her what to do outside of work, but he didn't seem to be saying it for himself. He actually seemed like he wanted her to feel comfortable. On the other hand, she was a sucker for accents and his Scottish one was beautiful. "Anyway, I'll leave yeh two tah catch up. I'm sure you've got a lot to talk about." He bid his farewell and left for some other part of the ship.

"So, how many people did you talk about me to?" Anna raised one eyebrow in an eerily similar way to her superior officer, Spock.

"Just the higher-ups. Don't worry, I know you don't like people to know more than they need to about you." Sulu reassured his best friend.

"You know me so well." She sighed with relief and then took her turn at the replicator. She ordered salmon, challah, and vegetables.

"When do you get to join me on the bridge?" Sulu asked as they sat down.

"In two days, I believe." She had looked over the important details of her packets, but she didn't have them on her. She was right, but just getting used to the new schedule, she didn't want anyone taking her word for it.

As they dug into their food, they let the conversation carry itself in any direction it pleased. They ate again together the next day, but Sulu was pretty busy on the Bridge outside of meals. At dinnertime on Anna's second day on the Enterprise, Sulu made a poor conversational decision. "Hey, you know that guy you've been complaining about for the last four years? Pavel Chekov?"

"Yeah… what about him?" Anna hoped this wouldn't go in a displeasing direction.

"Well, I met him today. He's actually pretty cool. Maybe if you just talked to him you wouldn't hate him so much." Sulu did not catch the "don't-go-there" vibe from Anna. However, he did know why she hated him and respected her side, but he also thought she should be over it by now.

"Maybe." They both knew she was lying. The rest of dinner was awkward seeing as Anna's mood was no longer a good one. She left as soon as she finished her meal, saying goodbye to Sulu, but not giving him a hug. She headed for her room, annoyed that Chekov had managed to win over her best friend. She was almost there when she bumped right into the person coming out of the quarters next to hers. It was the devil himself, Pavel Chekov.