Chapter One

It's so cold. She's always hated the cold but with the added hunger that claws at her insides it just makes it worse. The young man who's with her just adds to her irritation. Jim doesn't understand how he made it so far in his academy training. He's been difficult to deal with at the best if times but now it's almost impossible to remain civil with him. He didn't ration like Jim and as a result she had to share her supply, balked at the edible fungi and flowers that she had located for food. He wouldn't eat until Jim had located some berries and caught a fish the next day. He complained about everything. The most irritating had been when he had whined about not having clean clothes. Jim had shoved him into the creek they had been collecting water from after that.

"Why is it we're traveling at night?" John Albright rolls his eyes but continues to follow her.

"Because we're trying to avoid capture and get to the checkpoint. We're less likely to be spotted at night. Now shut up and keep your ears open." She hissed and threw out her hand to stop their movement.

The dark made the shadows loom and the trees surrounding them seem to move in the moonlight. It was playing tricks on her eyes. Jim's grateful they're in a forest rather than the desert or the arctic. She's always hated the cold. A crack sounds from behind them and immediately Jim tenses. She'd been so careful about leaving tracks.

"Come on!" Whispering urgently, she drags the man with her and shoves him down to the ground. Quickly covering him with dead leaves, she moves a few feet away and covers herself and waits.

It wasn't long before she saw the men hunting them. One was at least six feet with long black hair tied back, his large hands were holding a phaser rifle and a scowl was etched on his tanned face. His companion was smaller but not by much. He was dark skinned and thick muscled. Both their boots stomped by Jim's head by a matter of inches. She held her breath and watched as the got nearer to Albright's location. She could see him shaking from her location, his eyes bright in the dark.

Jim waited with baited breath as they continued to walk and sighed with relief as they left. She was surprised they hadn't heard her heart pounding. After waiting another ten minutes she signaled to Albright and they moved on in a modified route.

After three more hours she decided to set up camp. An overhanging rock face provided ample shelter and it was hidden. Albright immediately laid down and Jim struggled to suppress her glare.

"Got anything to eat, Kirk?"

Ok. Now she couldn't suppress her glare. She flung her pack on the ground next to him.

"There's some berries in there I picked yesterday. Get a small fire started and I'll be right back with some more wood and water."

Jim grabbed her rope, water canteens and knife. She stormed off with a huff and barely restrained punching him when he asked if that was all they had.

A quick wash in the creek and Jim felt refreshed enough to deal with whatever was thrown her way next. She'd even been lucky enough to spear a fish and find a good amount of dried sticks.

The way back to their camp had uneven ground that made her boots slip and as soon as she got close she knew something wasn't right. She crouched behind a fallen tree and scanned the campsite. Her pack was strewn across the ground, contents everywhere. A large campfire was burning and areas of the grass were flattened and torn up. Albright had been captured. Jim debated grabbing her pack but the crack of a twig nearby made the decision for her.

She needed to plan. Even though Albright was a prick and an idiot, he was still her team mate. She moved further up the creek and set up her trap. All she had to do now was wait.

Oooooooooooooo

Alexander Marcus was watching the feeds to the SERE training. It was always an interesting challenge for young cadets to complete the course but this particular group were more intriguing than usual. He sipped his coffee and replayed the last six hours of video when he had to pause in shock and surprise.

He watched as a young blond girl carefully set up her camp but with some...interesting modifications. She darted around and set a loop of rope tied to a tree branch, covering it with leaves. She then took off her jacket and hat and secured it around an upright log. After stuffing it with leaves to resemble a humanoid shape she looked at it from behind. She tilted her head and shook it before pulling her knife out and cutting her ponytail above the tie. The cadet then stuck it under the hat of her make-shift dummy before starting a large fire.

She was making a large amount of noise, shuffling leaves and breaking sticks before her head suddenly snapped up. It reminded Marcus of a deer detecting a hunter but with the confident movements, she was more like the hunter rather than the prey. The girl quickly tucked herself behind the trees and next to her rope. Marcus frowned and quickly smiled in interest as the two trackers hired for the course stepped out.

His coffee sat forgotten as he watched the takedown of some of Starfleet's best at the hand of a mere wisp of a girl. It was almost like a synchronized dance. Abey Sigo was quickly hoisted into the air by his foot and before Commander Phillips could react Kirk had the dropped weapon trained on him. A lesser man would have cringed at the dangerous glint in her bright blue eyes.

"Drop it!" Kirk ordered. A flash of teeth showed her satisfaction when Phillips let his rifle drop and kicked it to her. His eyes were wide in surprise. The blond didn't touch the phaser at her feet. Didn't even flinch as Sigo's fingertips brushed her back in his attempt to grab her. She merely stepped out of the way but kept her eyes and pilfered weapon trained on Phillips.

"Where did you send Albright?" She asked politely but her stance read hostile.

Phillips looked to Sigo for an answer and received a a shrug. Kirk jerked her rifle in a gesture of impatience. Marcus knew Phillips was thinking hard. Never had a cadet fought back and captured the team tracking them. There wasn't a protocol set for it. It wasn't what the exercise was designed for.

"We're just for tracking and capture. Once we tag you then you're beamed out. I'm not sure where." He answered. The blond nodded.

"Ok." She pressed the trigger and Phillips dropped to the forest floor stunned. She spun around and stunned the hanging man and cut him down. Marcus watched her raid their pockets for their food and take Phillips's jacket before leaving. He had to give her points. She was savage but at the same time civilized.

He pressed his comm button and smiled. He was impressed.

"Yes, Admiral?"

"Put me through to Fitzgerald. I have a cadet I want to discuss with him."

"Aye, Sir."

It wasn't long before an older gentleman's round face popped up on Marcus's screen. His eyebrows were drawn down in confusion.

"Alex." He greeted.

"James." Marcus returned it with a nod.

He took a deep breath and leveled Fitzgerald with a smooth expression.

"I take it you've been watching Kirk's training feed?"

"An interesting development to say the least. I've been watching from the beginning. I see loyalty to her team and ingenuity with what little resources she had available. Creativity and impressive tactics, too."

High praise from Fitzgerald. He was a fool though. He didn't realize just what he was truly seeing. Marcus knew though. He saw a weapon in it's rawest stages. A tool that would be useful even though it had the impurities of concern and conscience but even that weakness could be exploited.

Marcus nodded and placed his hands on his desk, steepled his fingers and leaned forward.

"I'm curious as to her full abilities. I want to up the ante and bring her in. I'm thinking she can handle more than what this course originally intends, don't you think?"

Marcus watched as the other man frowned and shook his head.

"I don't think so. This course is meant to empower cadets not break them. She'll go through the basic interrogation at the end and that's that."

Marcus folded his hands on the desk and shifted in his seat, making sure his admiral stars were visible to the captain on the other end of the line.

"I was calling as a professional courtesy, James. I want to see how she responds. I need to know who I may be working with in the near future. I'm sending one of my men to take over. Marcus out."

He hit the button to disconnect, the screen flicking to black on the outraged captain. He had been wondering about Kirk ever since his nephew's difficulties last year with her. He had been surprised when he saw her file and it made for interesting reading. Kirk may be more useful than he had originally thought. The child she had had been a deterrent in his mind but looking at her now it may be worth the added baggage to have such a resourceful officer.

He knew about her Tarsus experience and had read the reports so he knew the standard interrogation at the end of this course was too easy. She needed a challenge. He needed to test Kirk's limits and raise the bar higher. He typed in his orders and sent them off. Leaning back in his chair, he started the feed and set it to play in the background. It was going to be an interesting week.

Oooooooooooooo

It was late evening and Jim had spent the past two days on high alert. She was finally at the edge of the beam out point. Suspicion was blooming in her gut at the utter lack of people at the retrieval area. With little to go on, Jim had no choice but to get to the co-ordinates. It had been a long, grueling two weeks in the forest. She missed Ella and she missed Bones.

At two, Ella was getting to be quite a handful. Jim wondered how McCoy was handling it by himself. The night before Jim's training had begun had been difficult to say the least. Bones had forgotten to keep Ella's food separated and had forgotten her purple puppy at daycare so she wasn't too happy. It had been her first night without it and it had taken hours to settle her down. And then...after all that, he had wanted to talk. The past few months he'd been hinting at moving in with them. It wasn't that Jim didn't want him there. It was more like she needed the space sometimes.

She wasn't used to living with someone else other than Ella and the idea of having another person there all the time was unnerving. She was also afraid that he'd grow bored with her or change his mind when he got to know her better.

The whole domestic lifestyle was still new to her and he'd seen some of her more unsavory behaviors. The first night McCoy had spent the full night with her he'd ended up with a black eye and a busted lip. Her nightmares had been more frequent since Finnegan and since then she'd been working herself to the point of exhaustion to keep the nights dream free.

Bones had a tendency to worry too much and to nag her into submission. It was funny sometimes but irritating others and Ella was picking up on McCoy's habits in her own way. When Jim was studying and forgot to eat then she would worm her way onto her lap to where Jim couldn't continue. The thoughts of home warmed her and made her smile. She knew Bones was going to have a fit when he got his hands on her and it was going to be soon. It was strange that she had managed to get to the beam out point without being captured by the "enemy". In all of her reading, that had never been documented but she was glad it was over.

With one last sweep of the area Jim hoisted the phaser rifle and ran out from her hiding place, her feet crashing through the undergrowth. She kept her pilfered rifle at the ready and as she arrived she hit the button on her wrist signaling for transport. The feeling of dematerialization took over and she sighed in relief. The forest around her fading to be replaced with a dark room and three figures in black. Jim saw the weapons pointed at her and didn't even have time to raise her own weapon before searing pain turned into black.

"Ah shi-"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

AN: Hi all! I am so sorry for not updating sooner! This story needs a title so I'm shamelessly begging for title suggestions. This story is set during the end of Kirk's second year. It's a sequel to "Don't I Know You?" And focuses more on adventure than on getting to know the characters. Ella us now a vibrant two year old, McCoy and Jim have been together a year and this is my version of how Kirk receives the Palm Leaf of Axanar Medal for Valor.

I hope it's alright and I live for reviews!

Tishbing