The first semester at Starfleet Academy was rapidly coming to an end and Jennifer Kirk was feeling the effects of trying to complete the command track course load in three years very much so.

She'd been spending the last week and a half studying more than she'd ever studied in her life. It wasn't that the first semester courses were difficult, although she did admit only to herself that the classes were finally the first that she'd ever had to actually pay attention in, it was that there was so much information to process and even her eidetic memory was starting to feel like it was being overloaded.

She wasn't too concerned about her Advanced Astronomies class, mainly because it was a survey of star systems already mapped out by the Federation and her eidetic memory would let her sail through the mapping final, where she had to identify systems by star and also fill in planets and major system identifying features from memory. The fact that only one person in the past ten years had been able to get over an 80%, actually obtaining a perfect score, didn't scare her. She'd been studying the stars her entire life.

Basic Engineering Principles was another final that did not frighten her. While she had never actually taken any engineering classes, she'd been taught by her mother at a young age, before she'd left her life for good, and she enjoyed fixing things almost as much as she enjoyed hacking computer systems and programming. She still made a point to study the finer details, however, just to make sure they were truly burned into her memory.

Command 101 was a class she both hated and loved. For one reason, really, they liked to talk about prominent figures in Starfleet command, one of which was her father. A man she'd never met, never gotten to know, and a man that she was constantly living under the shadow of.

Federation Policy and Federation History were probably her least favorite classes. Both classes told her what she couldn't do and why she shouldn't do them respectively. And there was nothing fun about either of them. They were classes which forced the students to memorize an enormous amount of information and that was basically it. Yeah, having an eidetic memory was certainly helpful for that part, but it also sucked, because when she wanted to think about pointless information all she could dredge up were rules, regulations, and annoying bits of history that she already knew anyway.

The final she was most concerned about was Federation Languages 101. This semester, well this year actually as it was a year-long class that she would have to take every year, was concentrated on the Andorian Language and its usefulness and applications. It wasn't just memorization, which was easy enough, it was actually speaking Andorian, and how to speak to Andorians in a multitude of circumstances. Plus, there was the whole actually being able to pronounce the language itself, which was significantly more difficult than reading or writing it.

It didn't help that while she was studying up for finals she was also studying for the tests for classes she was hoping to test out of over the winter break. She hadn't slept the last week and her first finals started on Monday. The day after her last final on Wednesday, she was going to be testing out of the first Tactics course that was required in the command track.

The only reason she could even test out of the tactics courses she could was due to her MACO training, so her test out for Tactics 101 would be a combination of a written test and a situational practical, in which she would have to demonstrate understanding of the course material and apply it accordingly. As she was taking it during the winter break, where most cadets and faculty were going home for Christmas, her options of 'team members' were strictly limited and would be comprised of people she didn't know, or those who had failed their tactics 101 final and needed to take their one and only retest. The prospect was less than thrilling.

Her weapons test out was much the same. She would take a short written test, which would be multiple choice, thank heaven, and a practical. The practical would include disassembly of the basic issued weapon, a phaser, reassembly, correct configurations, and target tests. Which she could do half drunk and high on oxycodone, because, well, she had before. Thank MACO for taking weapons training seriously for every member.

The only final she was actually looking forward to was the Advanced Programming and Computing 301 final. She hadn't needed to test out of Programming 101 or 201 due to her MACO training and occupation, but because she wanted to take the hardest programming course offered by the academy, she needed to prove her skills in at least one class, at least testing out of the course to show her scores as they currently would. The only problem was, scheduling the class would be difficult as a first year student, well technically second year. The class was highly sought after by serious by serious programmers at the academy, so even if she did well on the Advanced Programming 301 test out, she still might not get the class she wanted.

It was a Friday night and Jennifer Kirk was sitting on the floor of her personal room with the door open when Bones sauntered in grumpily.

"God I need to go out tonight. Hey, Jenn, you coming with?" He called out, and Jennifer could hear the sound of the replicator humming and buzzing, apparently Bones was going to pre-game before allowing himself to actually got to the bar.

He didn't do it often. Go to the local bar. But when he'd had a particularly stressful week, or one of his patients had died, he'd drag Jennifer out to the bar with him. And because Jennifer had a tendency for finding trouble, especially if she'd been drinking, she'd always managed to find the one fight in which she was outnumbered and would get hurt. Which would cause Bones to have to treat her injuries, yell at her, and ultimately make him feel better by the end of it.

So, even though she'd rather stay in this weekend, drink in their dorm room, and maybe possibly catch a little bit of sleep, she would go out with him.

"Yeah. Sure. When do you want to leave?" She yelled back.

"Um, soon? You do know it's already after nine right?" He popped his head into her open doorway so they wouldn't have to raise their voices anymore. "God, do you ever sleep? You were in the same position when I left like eight hours ago for my shift." And she hadn't changed positions, or slept for that matter. She'd been studying, since she didn't have classes on Fridays.

"Um, no? I thought we covered this. I'm fine. So, when we leaving? I need to change, obviously." Jennifer replied, she was still wearing her Starfleet Issued sleeping gear, a cadet red-t shirt and grey sweatpants with the word Starfleet written vertically on one leg. It was actually a pretty comfortable outfit to lounge in, and was very close to the Starfleet issued physical training clothing they'd been issued for cooler weather.

"Ugh. You know what, I don't even feel like arguing with you about your health right now. How many times do I have to tell you that if you keep going on like this you're going to die before you even reach twenty-five? I don't even know how you managed to convince the academic board to allow you to take the command track in three years. It's insane. Most people only take three or four classes at a time. You're taking six, on top of physical training every morning, and having to test out of classes over breaks. Which should be just that! A break from school! But oh no, miss I want to take every class I can is pushing herself to the point of exhaustion. Well, it stops now. You're coming out with me tonight and we are going to get plastered and then I'm going to tell you about the patient I lost today because he was a dumbass and succeeded in pumping his body full of drugs to counteract exhaustion. And you're going to learn something from his stupidity and yeah."

Jennifer looked at him softly, having known something was up. But she didn't realize he'd actually lost someone today. And she knew from past conversations the idea of suicide was something Bones thought was reprehensible. He'd lost a sister to suicide, so this was doubly taxing on him.

"I promise that tonight I will sleep. But first I am going to get you so intoxicated you won't even remember your own name. Now, are you going to let me change first, Bones? Or are you going to drag me out to the bar in my sweats? Because I can assure you, that is not the way to go. I mean, I'm too fucking pretty to go to the bar in sweats!"

"Yeah, I'll let you change. You egotistical little shit. Hurry up!" Bones closed the door and turned around to walk into his own room to change.

After about twenty minutes Jennifer walked into the common area to find Bones waiting on her. The look he gave her made her smile widely.

"So, do I look okay?" She asked him, feigning innocence. She'd decided to dress up for him tonight, be his arm candy. He needed it too, by the look on his face, his eyes widened in shock, his mouth hanging open.

It wasn't like Leonard McCoy, Bones, didn't know that Jennifer Kirk was drop dead gorgeous, he knew. Hell, he'd seen her half naked at least six times in the past few months. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her in a red dress, the female cadet's uniform did wonders for her figure, and he saw it nearly every day. But something about seeing her in a simple little red strapless dress with stiletto black heels, makeup on and her hair down, well that was something he hadn't quite seen yet, and he didn't think he'd ever recover from the image she was presenting him with right now.

"I'd say. Shit woman, where were you hiding the last six months? I've seen you half naked but you look… stunning. God help me." He said as she started to put on a black leather jacket she'd been holding draped over her right arm. It didn't distract from the appeal at all, in fact, it added to it.

"Thanks, Bones. You know, you don't look too bad yourself. I think blue looks pretty sexy on you, if I say so myself." She replied. Because, well, it did look really good on Bones. He was wearing a simple navy blue button up collared shirt and nicely fitting dark boot cut jeans over a pair of dark brown leather cowboy boots.

"Well thanks, darlin'. Glad to know I have your approval. Now, you ready to go? Because I can already hear the non-synthesized bourbon calling my name."

"Yeah, let's go."

At the bar Jennifer and Bones sat down next to each other, ordered drinks, and decided it was best if they sat in a comfortable silence until such a time that they were sufficiently drunk enough to talk. It wasn't an agreement that was spoken of, but rather an agreement that had come to develop on its own, mutually, over the past six months. While Bones warmed up to begin spilling his pain, Jennifer would flirt with whoever had the metaphorical testicular fortitude to speak to her first, it was a game of sorts. She enjoyed flirting. There was an unusual gratification she got from the experience, but in the end, she would always go home with Bones and she would always go home alone. However, there were unforeseen consequences to her lax attitude and flirtatious manner. Rumors had already begun to spread about her promiscuity.

"So when he was found, he was already almost dead. Because he didn't have a roommate like you do, someone who would know what was wrong. When he didn't show up for his third and final class for the day, that's when someone went looking. Poor kid, only eighteen. Fucking eighteen and couldn't hack the schedule. His friend, the one who I got to talk to after the kid already died, told me that he was stressing out over finals and wasn't sleeping so he could keep up with the coursework and study. The kid was only taking half of what you're taking right now, and he died Jaemi. He fucking died trying to stay awake like you do and get his shit done."

"Bones, I'm sorry. I'm sorry you lost a patient today. But I'm not him. I can handle the course-load I'm taking, I promise. If I start to feel like I can't, I'll let you know. And I would never, not ever, try to take drugs that would help me stay awake. I have that problem on my own, without help from substances. I promise that I won't die on you. I promise." I tried to make him understand, let him know he wouldn't lose me. Not to something so preventable.

"It wasn't just the drugs, Jaemi, it was the fact that his body was shutting down because of the sustained periods of wakefulness. The drugs just prevented him from crashing until they didn't. Pumping his stomach was the least of our concerns, because the damage had already been done, the drugs, he took so much, much more than he should've anyway. I- you don't know what that's like, to just lose someone like that, after doing everything you can and it still not being enough. I'm good, Jaemi, I'm really good, and I couldn't save him. It just… it makes me worry about you. What's going to happen when you finally give out? I don't think I could take that. I didn't even know this kid and it's hitting me hard. But he reminded me so much of you. His desire to do better, to do too much for him, not sleeping, I couldn't help but see you on that table."

"Bones. I. Won't. Die. I promise. I'm only doing what I can handle. You aren't going to lose me."

He looked at Jennifer, seriously, even in his drunken state.

"We're not even a year through the academy and you're already a pain in my ass. How many times have I saved you from your own bodily deficiencies in the past six months?" He asked her, knowing she knew the answer well enough. It was meant to be rhetorical, but she answered anyway.

"Twelve. Twelve times, Bones. But those were allergies. It's not my fault I'm allergic to practically everything. Apparently the only thing I'm not allergic to is Space."

"Yeah, well, I guess we'll find out. I'll be damned if I let you go off on a duty tour without me. Ever."

"Awww. That's so sweet. You're volunteering to be stuck with me!"

"Yeah. Someone's gotta make sure you survive, and no one knows your medical craziness better than I do."

"We do make a pretty good team. I save you from your self-loathing and cheer you up by making you keep me alive." She beamed at him.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'll be doing that a lot? Keeping you alive that is."

"Because I'm just awesome like that." She smiled again, wickedly.

Jennifer waited outside Captain Pike's office following the final class test out she had to do during winter break. If all went well, which she was sure it had, since the finals she'd tested out of had seemed relatively easy for her, she would still have about a week of break left to enjoy and not have to cram for finals/final test outs. She was only extremely grateful that Bones had decided to head to Georgia after all and spend some much desired time with his daughter Joanna.

Tactics 101 had been a simple exam done in two major components. The first part was a written multiple choice exam which took little time and effort to complete, followed by a second, more interesting series of practical exercises. She first had to go through separate practical exercises on her own prior to the final team engagement, however. She filled roles in each exercise that each member of her team would eventually fill and was required to find a tactical solution to a given scenario. Only after she completed the first three individual exercises would she then command the small tactical team made up of herself and the professors.

Jennifer felt that she was in a unique position as far as the practical exam went, for she did not have any classmates with which to participate with her as was normal for the class. Instead, a few of the remaining professors that were no involved in grading her practical and were not on winter break already filled the roles her classmates would have had she taken the full course at length. It was a novel experience for her, but not one she was unprepared or unused to. Her MACO exercise training had definitely come in handy due to the strict protocols given to the professors acting as her teammates during the exercise. They were not to act without her orders, as she was the leader of the team exercise in tactics, nor were they to use any knowledge outside of what would normally have been their scope, so if Jennifer didn't know what their role was and could play it herself, neither could the professors.

She passed the final exam with flying colors, passing the record times for the completion of the practical course exam in the past ten years.

The weapons 101 exam was very similar to the tactics 101 exam in that it was done in two parts. First a written multiple choice exam, followed by a series of practical exercises. Of course the weapons exam was completed prior to the tactical exam to ensure weapons competency. The practical exercises were remarkably similar to the MACO qualifications tests she'd already done. The first weapon she tested out on in the practical exercises was the phase pistol, commonly referred to as a 'phaser'. The target qualification was actually the same that MACO used during basic training, but not set to the high level she was trained to, therefore she passed with ease and had no issues hitting all her targets within record time. The next weapon she tested on was the phase rifle, designed for longer range engagements, and rarely used in Starfleet. Of course her MACO training more than made up for her score in this practical, due to phase rifles being regularly issued for MACO missions. The target qualification was set at one of the lowest levels, and therefore quite easily passed. The next and final practical was designed for a larger scale weapons unit, on a ship as opposed to an individual weapon. MACO of course trained all their operatives on the basics of operating a ships primary phaser banks, but only the basics. As Jennifer did not have much more specialized training operating a ship's primary phaser banks systems, this final practical was not quite as easy as the first two, but still she managed to pass more than acceptably.

The final class she tested out of during the first week of winter break was programming 101. She decided there was a trend to final exams within Starfleet Academy period. A written test and practical exercises. Programming 101 was no different. There was indeed a written exam, which was much more thorough than either the tactics 101 or weapons 101 classes, but she managed to, she believed, pass acceptably. The practical exercise, however, was admittedly more difficult than she had imagined it would be.

The practical exam was not overly difficult in concept, however, it was that the level at which she was expected to perform in order to pass acceptably to obtain credit for the class. The scenario set up was basic in idea however but more complex in application. She was to find a virus in a simulated ship's systems and find the quickest and easiest way to either eradicate the virus or nullify its effects. Nullifying the virus was perhaps the easiest and quickest way to stop the virus from spreading, but it would leave holes in the security systems and protocols of the simulated ship's systems, not to mention pay no mind to the damage that had already been done to said systems. Realizing that taking the easy way out of the exam, while allowing her to pass, would never be what she would do in a real life situation, she opted for eradicating the virus completely. Eradicating the virus in this particular simulation would restore the security and safety protocols to their original setting prior to the virus having taken affect and thereby reverse any damage that had been done.

Jennifer was given a set amount of time, four hours, in which to track, locate, and either destroy or nullify the virus in the simulated ship's systems. There had been no instruction as to improve the coding of the systems afterwards, however, she did so due to the extra time she had during the exam after eradicating the virus. She finished the exam with two minutes to spare.

So Jennifer waited patiently after her last test out exam in programming 101 outside of Captain Pike's office, knowing she had passed each exam, but unknowing if she would receive credit for each class or be resigned to take the courses anyway. She felt good about her results, but could not deny the trepidation she felt towards hearing the results for herself. It was not usual that such finals would be graded immediately, but as she was on a fast track of sorts, her finals, such as they were, had been afforded the highest priority to be graded, due to her needing the proverbial 'pass' in order to complete further courses in the next semester.

"Cadet Kirk, the captain will see you now." A yeoman opened the door of Pike's office.

Jennifer jumped slightly, taken out of her memories, of mentally going over the past week of tests, and finally stood up.

"Alright." She replied walking confidently into the captain's office, trying her best to exude confidence and control when she felt anything but.

"Yeoman you may go, thank you for your assistance." Captain Pike addressed the yeoman that had followed Jennifer into the office. "At ease, cadet, take a seat." Pike said addressing Jennifer.

The first thing Jennifer noticed was that she was not alone in the office with the captain. There was, sitting in the chair next to the one she'd chosen to sit in, a very rigid figure, a very Vulcan figure. The same Vulcan who she'd seen on the first day she'd arrived at the academy. Commander Spock. She remained silent as she sat down, wondering why the commander was present at this meeting, wondering if she had failed some exam, or was in some sort of trouble.

"First of all, allow me to introduce Commander Spock." Pike said formally gesturing to the Vulcan sitting in the chair beside her. "He is a professor here at the academy while work is being done on the Enterprise, which following the completion of he will assume to role of my chief science officer."

Jennifer turned her head to meet to commander's vacant gaze which had turned to her in response. "Commander." She did not offer a handshake, as she was sitting down, furthermore she didn't want to, something felt off about him, as if he was about to explode for some reason. She couldn't pin point it, but she had a feeling she wouldn't like him very much. It was a good thing she wasn't taking any strictly science courses at the academy.

"Cadet Kirk." He said, acknowledging the introduction.

"You're probably wondering what he's doing in here, right Kirk?" Pike asked, a smile behind the question.

Jennifer was indeed quite curious. "Not to be disrespectful sir, but I don't see the relevance of the commander's presence. I'm not on a science track." The cheeky attitude she'd been taught to control and conceal couldn't help rear out sometimes, and as she hadn't slept much lately, apparently that attitude had chosen now a perfect time to come up. "No offense, commander." She added quickly, trying to disguise her confusion and annoyance.

"No offense is taken where none was intended, cadet. As it is, I will allow Captain Pike to explain my, no doubt confusing to you, presence at this meeting." The commander replied evenly.

Jennifer was even more annoyed at his nonchalant attitude than she was at his presence, but kept quiet.

"Commander Spock here assisted with your test out exams. As an unbiased and unknown to you professor he helped to grade your tactics practical exercises and was wholly the figure of authority over your entire programming exams. As such, I have deemed it necessary that he provide you with personal feedback regarding your results as opposed to just hearing it from me. I would also like to appoint him as an assistant academic advisor to you due to your accelerated course track and the fact that I will not always be available due to the construction of the enterprise. Commander?"

Jennifer turned her head in shock, mainly at the fact that this Vulcan had apparently been involved in grading her exams, and braced herself for the inevitable failure she thought she most likely received. It was a well-known fact the Vulcans were cold and calculating when it came to matters of intelligence, and applied the strictest of logic to every situation.

"As the captain pointed out, I was involved with the grading of your exams which you took in place of taking an actual course. Although I do not agree with his insistence on providing you with personal feedback, being that the grades themselves should present suitable evidence of competency levels, I do agree with the insistence that I meet you in person as I will be assisting him in advising you academically when he is away attending to the duties required of him as captain of the Enterprise." Jennifer still did not understand whether this meeting was a good one or a bad one. All she wanted to know was if she'd passed her test out exams or not. She did, however, take note that the commander was as opposed to the idea of his personal involvement with her as she was and that, even being a Vulcan and sounding as if he were merely discussing warp theory equations, he definitely had an attitude. She would have laughed if she wasn't so anxious for her results.

"Mr. Spock, would you just tell the poor girl what you told me about her exams? I'm sure she's dying to know whether or not she can still maintain her goal of graduating in three years as opposed to four." Captain Pike laughed.

"Very well, captain." The commander replied. "As I was not involved in the review of your weapons exams I cannot give you any personal feedback except to say that you have passed that exam in its entirety with exceedingly high marks." Jennifer sighed a bit, mostly in knowing that she had at least, passed that exam easily. "While I did not grade the written portion of the final exam, Captain Pike has informed me that you passed that portion of the tactics exam with exceedingly high marks as well. I was, however, able to watch and review the practical exercises. He has deemed it necessary that I import to you the findings of your practical exercises in person myself. As such, I shall simply say that your competency is measurable as high on paper as it is practically. Next-"

"What Commander Spock means to say is that," Pike interrupted and Jennifer found herself letting out a breath of relief at the same time, "he was extremely impressed with you. What he fails to mention is that your pretty much broke the record on each practical portion in regards to time and are currently placed in the top position of that class of this year above anyone else who's taken it." Pike laughed, as if he had but hadn't expected the outcome.

"Sir?" Jennifer finally asked, confused by the shared narrating.

"Kirk, you didn't even take that class but tested higher than anyone who's taken it this year, as well as anyone who's taken it in the past ten years. While he doesn't outright say it, the commander is extremely impressed with your quick wit and decisive action displayed in that exam. He's not easily impressed."

"Vulcans, as a rule, are not easily impressed, captain." Commander Spock informed the captain, and Jennifer thought it was some version of an inside joke because Pike laughed boisterously once more.

"Don't I know it? Anyway, continue on, commander, and please, this time, tell the cadet exactly what you told me about her programming exam." Pike finished seriously. His final tone made Jennifer question whether or not she did as well as she thought she had during the programming exam. "Commander Spock here graded the whole thing, and the only reason you are sitting in my office today as opposed to later on next week is because he finished grading the exam as soon as you were done practically, adding in a few notes afterwards."

"As she was the only student taking the exam at the time, I thought it the most efficient and logical course of action to grade her exam as soon as she was finished."

"Naturally." Captain Pike offered. Jennifer was almost shaking with anxious energy.

"Cadet Kirk, it is easy to assume you passed the written exam with high marks, as is the case with each of your other exams. What Captain Pike wishes me to confer to you are the results of your practical exam. As you should recall the scenario which you were given was to track and locate a virus in a ship's security and safety protocols system. You were then given a choice, either nullify the virus as soon as you were able to locate it within the programming, effectively halting its destructive effects, which would still leave the virus in place to be dealt with at a later time, or to completely eradicate the virus which would then activate the safety protocol to return the system's programming to its default settings, allowing any damage done to the internal programming of the security system to be reversed. You were given four hours to complete this task. You took 3 hours 58 minutes to complete the exam. While this is not the fastest time recorded for the completion of the exam, you chose the more difficult solution to eradicate the virus and restore systems to their default settings, thereby reversing the damage done to the internal programming. I should ask, as this is a chance for me to learn as well as yourself, why you chose to second option instead of the quicker route?"

Jennifer thought for a moment that the commander was extremely long winded, but very precise, and that perhaps her response, should exhibit the same level of precise language. She however, was not long winded. So she posed a question instead.

"Why would I only stop the virus from spreading when I could completely take it out of the system in general? I had enough time." She replied nonchalantly, as if there were never any other option to employ in the first place.

"Why indeed? While your choice of option was within the parameters of the test, none of your peers had chosen to take that route this semester. In fact, only one other person in the past five years chose the same option as yourself."

"And who might that be, commander?" Jennifer asked, starting to get an attitude at his cool and even tone, regarding it as if he meant his statements with disdain instead of the opposite.

"Myself. I am the only other cadet to have taken the exam and chosen to eradicate the virus completely as opposed to just stopping the damage where it stood." Jennifer's eyes grew wide at his confession but this did not deter the commander from continuing. "Eradicating the virus within the time allotted was the most logical choice to make, as it would reverse all damage done. However, I would like to impart that given the nature of the exam, you understood exactly how much time you had to complete the task. In a battle scenario you may not have that luxury." So he was impressed but not impressed, was the general idea Jennifer was gathering from his statements.

"Spock tell her what you told me about the last bit." Pike chimed in, smiling broadly.

"Very well. What Captain Pike wishes me to inform you of was the last part of your exam. You made changes to the initial programming that were not required of you." Due to the commander's complete lack of inflection in his voice Jennifer couldn't tell whether this was a good thing or not, so, of course, she immediately went on the defensive.

"I get it was a simulation and all, but the simulations are supposed to test what we would do in real life, right?" The commander simply nodded in agreement. "So, if I really was faced with a destructive virus in the security systems of a ship that caused damage to the system as a whole and safety protocols, and I knew I had four hours to fix as much of the problem as I could, wouldn't I do my best to prevent a future occurrence from happening? I mean, obviously if a virus was somehow introduced into the programming itself, there was a problem with the programming. Someone with access to the security and safety protocols of the ship wouldn't have been likely to introduce the virus because that would put themselves in danger as well as the whole ship, so it was an attack, just not a physical one. So obviously it was a standard attack from an outside source, well most likely anyway. But it all comes down to the same thing, doesn't it?" Jennifer took a breath.

"If it were a physical attack and you just stopped the attack at a certain point but did nothing else, the damage to the defenses would still be there and the potential for the attack to continue would be present as well. Which is why merely nullifying the virus, a temporary fix, isn't the best option, especially because there's time to do better. If it were a physical attack you would want to destroy the potential for that attack to continue and rebuild the damaged defenses, naturally, which is why eradicating the virus from the programming and allowing the safety subroutine of reconstructing the damaged protocols was the best option for the exam." Jennifer took another breath, looking to Captain Pike for a non-verbal cue of permission to continue, and got it because he smiled and nodded once. She turned back to Commander Spock and continued with her explanation.

"But that still isn't enough. The attack itself points out a weakness in the defenses. If it were a physical attack you wouldn't simply just rebuild the same defenses, would you? That would be stupid. Because even though you were able to stop the attack at a certain point, and even repair the original defenses, the attack getting as far as it did points out several aspects for improvement. Why then, if there was enough time, would you not seek to improve upon the already constructed defenses? Which is exactly what I did. I noticed several weak points in the standard default programming and decided that since I had more time remaining to improve upon the already existing protocols, or defenses if you will. I did pass, right? I mean that wasn't a bad move was it?"

Jennifer waited in silence as the commander seemed to consider what she said but Captain Pike interrupted the silent unease with loud hysterical laughter.

"This is why I wanted you in here, Spock. It wasn't that I thought Kirk needed personal affirmation of her competency," Jennifer smiled then, realizing that she had passed all exams with high marks, and most probably including her regular finals as well, "she doesn't need it, her ego is large enough as it is." Jennifer's smile transformed into a frown, but she kept silent anyway.

"I do not understand, captain. If you did not wish me to explain to her in person that her test results did indeed conclude she was competent enough to receive credit for the classes, why then was I required to present that information to the cadet?" Apparently the meaning of what Pike was saying was lost on the commander still.

However, before Pike could offer a reply Jennifer decided to interject, not really appreciating the cold detachment the commander exhibited.

"He wanted you to see that there's always room for improvement. That just because you're given two choices doesn't mean there isn't a third one. Commander."

"Not to mention, I wanted you to understand in person why I want Kirk here. On the command track. That is what Starfleet has lost. The ability to think beyond what regulations demand. The ability to improvise and improve. That is what I wanted you to see. Now, if we're done here, I think it's about time I address a separate matter with the cadet. Commander, you are dismissed." Jennifer wondered what Pike could possibly want to discuss with her as the Commander stood up at attention from his chair.

"Captain. Cadet." He nodded and walked out of the room gracefully.

"Captain?" Jennifer addressed, wondering what else he could possibly want from her.

"It's Chris when we're alone and you're not in trouble. At least I don't know of a reason you should be in trouble, do you?"

Jennifer thought for a moment, recalling the implementing of a program she had installed in her room's replicator, but then thought she would have heard about that by now if she'd been found out.

"Um, no?"

"That didn't sound very reassuring. Well, anyway, I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming ceremony, after break."

"Ceremony?"

"Commemorating the Kelvin, and more specifically, your father."

"With all due respect, captain," Jennifer was definitely not using his first name now, "I have no desire to attend said ceremony."

"Jennifer, or is it Jenn, or Jenny?" Pike did not seem perturbed by her response.

"Jenn or Jennifer is fine. Never Jenny." Kirk shot him a glare of narrowed eyes.

"Alright. Well, Jenn. Jennifer just seems too formal. I wanted to talk to you about it because Starfleet wants you there. But, before you interrupt again, I can make an excuse of some sort if you really don't want to be there. I can see both sides. Starfleet now has you in the academy and wants to capitalize on your enrollment as a sign of continuing in your father's footsteps, you don't want to. It's painful for you and I get that. So, I was just trying to give you a head's up, and the chance to tell me whether or not you'd consider to go."

"Honestly? It's not about it being painful. It's annoying really. Why everyone measures me against my father. I didn't know the man, I didn't have the opportunity to. Yeah, he did something great, sacrificing his life so that his crew had the chance to live theirs. But I didn't know him. Everyone expects me to be this great… something because of him and it's annoying. I am not my father. Hell, I'm not my mother either. They were both somewhat of a legend in Starfleet as far as I recall, but I am not them. I am me. I am Jennifer Kirk. Not George Kirk or Winnona Kirk, and I don't want to be them. You dared me to do better than my father, but how is that going to be possible if all anyone sees when they look at is them?"

"Alright. I'll make sure to make an excuse. As far as your classes for next semester, after receiving the results of your final exams, both regular courses and test out exams, I've taken the liberty to compile a list of courses you can and or should take next semester. I've already sent them to your account and you can review and choose which ones you would like to take as soon as you get back to your quarters. I would chose fast though, since most cadets have already had their plans for the next semester set before they started this first one. You're dismissed."

And with that Jennifer Kirk set out to her quarters to review her next semester class list and replicate a drink. After dealing with the unemotional and detached Vulcan as well as being informed about the Kelvin commemoration ceremony, she was in need of one.