Charlie was standing near the Enterprise in Hangar 7 when she heard footsteps behind her. She sighed, hoping it wasn't one of the eager engineering cadets that were threatening to drive her crazy with their incessant yammering on about her need for an assistant. She would dutifully remind them that she was someone's assistant and to have an assistant of her own would be rather redundant. They would sulk for about thirty seconds before walking out of the hangar as she stared them down. She would sigh and return back to her work.

"Lieutenant," she heard in a cheerful tone, thankful for a familiar voice that didn't belong to one of Starfleet Academy's many students. The heavy Russian accent was music to her ears after hours of students coming in and out of the hangar. Charlie turned to smile at the young Ensign.

"Hey Chekov," she said. "How are things?" Chekov stood next to her and followed her gaze up to the ship.

"Things are well," he said. "How are things down here?" Charlie sighed deeply. She had been working on the ship for almost a week now. She had been more than a little frustrated when she heard about Kirk's prediction that she would have the ship ready in under a week. Even though the command staff was more than willing to help and had been very beneficial in moving forward the progress of the repairs, Charlie still wasn't happy with the pace the project was taking.

"Things are going okay," Charlie explained. "Captain Kirk is happy with the progress as well as Scotty."

"But you are not happy with the progress?" Chekov asked, sneaking a glance at his fellow young officer. Charlie smiled and chuckled slightly. The young Russian Ensign was very perceptive when it came to her. He would always know when she was getting too tired to properly work on the ship without an immediate break. He had guessed her love of chess right off the bat and regularly challenged her to games that they would have to break from in order to keep working. She always had someone to eat with, even though Scotty regularly joined her at meals so they could discuss the progress of the ship. Chekov would be there though, listening and taking in all of the information that passed between the engineers. They had only known each other less than a week and already he could read her like a book. She never caught half of the Russian expressions he would throw out in conversations and such, but he had promised to help teach her his native language.

"I wish we could be farther along now than we are," Charlie admitted. Chekov nodded.

"I assumed as much," he said. "Otherwise, I don't think you would be here in the early hours of the morning." Charlie looked at him with her brow furrowed.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"It is almost three in the morning," Chekov said.

"Shit." Chekov laughed at the defeated tone in Charlie's voice as she uttered the expletive. Charlie sighed very heavily and dropped the towel and wrench she was holding onto the ground. The clinks of the metal wrench hitting the concrete echoed through the hangar.

"Come along," Chekov said. "We can get some food and then I'm making sure that you go to bed." Charlie nodded and she and Chekov walked out of the hangar together.

On the way to the officers' mess hall, Charlie turned to Chekov as they walked down the hallway.

"What are you doing up this late?" she asked. Chekov turned his gaze from her face to his shoes and the floor as they kept walking down the corridor. If Charlie looked closely, she would have seen a patch of pink start to spread across his left cheek. But she wasn't looking closely and therefore the momentary blush went unnoticed.

"I promised Captain Kirk that I would make sure that you weren't overworked and got your rest," Chekov admitted. "I am supposed to make sure that you sleep. Scotty told the captain that you used to work very hard on projects and go for long periods without sleep."

The two officers entered the mess hall for the Enterprise officers and looked around at the food selection that was still available to eat. After grabbing a pint of milk, a bag of chips, and a sandwich, Charlie joined Chekov in the seating area of the mess hall. Chekov hadn't grabbed any food.

"Eat up," Chekov said. "I promised I would have you in bed soon." Charlie looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

"Did you now?" she asked. "You promised you would have me in bed?" Chekov immediately began to sputter out an apology and looked very nervous as he tried to come up with an excuse for his words.

"Lieutenant – " Chekov began. Charlie put a hand on his and he stopped talking.

"First, call me Charlie," she said. "I've told you that already. And second, I was just kidding. It was a joke." Chekov laughed nervously and smiled.

"Charlie is not your real name, is it?" he asked after a moment. Charlie stopped chewing the bite she had taken from her sandwich for a moment. She finished chewing and swallowed quickly before answering.

"Charlie is a nickname," she explained. After not adding anything else to the conversation, she turned back to her sandwich, picking at it and tearing off pieces to chew.

"What is your name then?" Chekov asked. Charlie looked down at her sandwich for a moment, lost in silent thought. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, if I have offended you. I was just curious." Charlie didn't look up from her sandwich for a moment.

"It's Charlotte," Charlie answered. "My name is Charlotte Elizabeth West."

"Charlotte," Chekov tried out the name for himself. Charlie watched him, filled with an unknown and unfounded anticipation. After a moment he smiled. "I like it. Why don't you go by it?"

"I was always called Charlie," she explained. "My brothers and my dad called me Charlie. My mom was the only one who called me Charlotte." Charlie looked down again, diligently working to finish her sandwich, occasionally taking a sip of milk.

"It is a beautiful name though," Chekov said. Charlie smiled.

"What about you? All I know is that you are Ensign Chekov, the Enterprise's Russian wunderkind," Charlie said. "Tell me more about you." Chekov smiled brilliantly at her.

"I am Pavel Andreievich Chekov," he said proudly. Charlie couldn't help laughing at the proud posture Chekov threw himself into upon his announcement of his full name.

"Don't forget Ensign," she told him through barely contained laughter.

"Yes, of course," Chekov agreed. "However, I was not born with the officer title and shall refrain from using it in this instance."

"Okay," Charlie agreed. "I will accept that."

"Good," Chekov said as he shared a grin with Charlie. "I was born in Russia and grew up there, going to the St. Petersburg Academy. It was a school for very gifted individuals. I then went to Starfleet and became a navigational and tactical officer. I am very good with numbers."

Charlie smiled at the young man. Done with her sandwich, Charlie grabbed the bag of chips still sitting on the table and opened it. She offered some to Chekov, who politely declined any. After taking a chip for herself, Charlie left the bag in equal distance between them, a continued offer to Chekov.

"How old are you?" Charlie asked, unable to contain her curiosity any longer.

"I'm nineteen," he answered proudly. Charlie tilted her head slightly as she looked at Chekov and then nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. "And what about you? How old are you, Charlie?"

"I am twenty three soon," Charlie answered. "Next month in fact." Chekov's young and handsome face lit up so brightly that Charlie was momentarily startled.

"Brilliant!" he exclaimed. "We can celebrate on the ship and then you can have your first birthday in space!" Charlie couldn't help but laugh.

"That sounds good," Charlie said, not wanting to take away the joy that was etched on the face of her young companion. "But I'm more fond of quiet birthdays. Usually ones where no one else knows that it's my birthday." Chekov dimmed slightly.

"I won't tell anyone," he said. "But you won't be mad if I come to see you and wish you a happy birthday on that day, right?"

"No, I won't be mad," Charlie said with a soft smile. She suddenly found that she was incapable of being angry with the young Russian. "Just don't tell anyone else, okay?"

"I promise," Chekov said, putting a hand over his heart and repeating his earlier proud posture. Charlie grinned. Chekov turned his head to look at the clock on the wall of the mess hall and sighed. Charlie turned her head to follow his gaze and groaned.

"Almost half three in the morning," Chekov stated. Charlie nodded. She grabbed the pint of milk and gulped down the remaining liquid content. Chekov had already picked up the sandwich wrapper and chip bag. They stood and walked toward the trash and recycling receptacles. After tossing the offending items into the containers, they left the mess hall and turned in the direction of the officers' quarters.

***

The next morning Charlie walked down the sidewalk toward Hangar 7. She idly leapt over puddles of rain that had fallen the night before. As she entered the hangar, she heard sounds of people working on the Enterprise. She looked at her watch – thankful she had remembered to put it on – and looked around for some sign of the life that was going on around the hangar. From all of the voices, she could easily pick out two very familiar ones. Both had thick accents; one was Scottish and the other was Russian.

As she walked farther into the hangar, Charlie watched as Scotty jumped down from somewhere on the ship and start walking to her.

"Ah! You're awake earlier than we expected," Scotty said as he detoured to get a cup of coffee that was sitting on a workbench. He handed her the coffee – which she took thankfully – and grinned at her. "We continued working. I didn't think you'd mind." Charlie looked up at the ship.

"No, no. I don't mind at all," she said. She took a sip of the coffee and then turned to Scotty after a bit. "Who's 'we'?"

"No cadets," Scotty clarified. "Just the command staff and McCoy. The ship's in good hands." Charlie nodded and took another sip of coffee, allowing herself to feel the warmth as the liquid streamed down her throat and to her stomach.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were getting rather attached to this here ship," Scotty said. "She is a beauty."

"She is," Charlie agreed. She sipped some more coffee before setting the cup on a nearby workbench. Then she turned to her old friend. "Where do you need me?" Scotty turned to her and smiled.

"I need your wonderful computer skills that you keep hidden behind all of that physics and engineering knowledge," Scotty said. Charlie looked at him, confused.

"The transportation pad went down?" she asked. "I thought we fixed that."

"We did," Scotty answered. "We need your help on the bridge." Charlie nodded and followed Scotty toward the ship. She followed him with more than a little excitement in her step. She deduced that she had been almost everywhere on the ship – save personal quarters and the bridge. While she didn't care about most of the personal quarters on the Enterprise, she desperately wanted to see the bridge.

It was without question that she eagerly took in her surroundings once she and Scotty stepped off of the elevator and onto the bridge. Scotty turned to his young assistant and smiled at the look in her eyes and her slightly open mouth as she took in the bridge of the large spacecraft.

"Go ahead," he said as he nudged her shoulder with his. "You can say it."

"Holy shit," she said as she cautiously stepped forward. She saw that they were not alone on the bridge. The confident captain sat languidly in his chair as Chekov and Sulu tried to get their stations to work again as normal.

"Boys," Charlie heard Scotty say to Chekov and Sulu. "Move away. Let her do what she needs to do." Charlie stepped forward cautiously once more and took Sulu's vacant seat. She turned to the men that stood and sat around her.

"I can't promise that I'll be able to fix this," she warned. "This isn't tightening nuts and bolts. This is reprogramming a computer. I don't know if I can quite get that done. But I promise that I will try."

"Lieutenant, have a bit more faith in yourself," Charlie heard Kirk say from behind her. "After all, we do."

"Great," Charlie muttered. "That makes four of us." She sighed and turned toward the station. She could see that the main computer system was working but some other components weren't quite up and running yet. She looked over some of the settings on the computer.

Kirk watched Charlie as she combed through the computer looking for a solution. He watched as she swept up the length of her long brown hair and took a hair tie from her wrist, twisting it around her hair making a messy bun. Kirk could see the back of the three piercings in the lobes of each ear. Something aside from the gleam of the light on the silver of the earring backs caught Kirk's attention and he turned his head to the side to look at it. It was Chekov intently watching Charlie's actions on the computer. She seemed unaware of his gaze and that made Kirk smirk to himself.

"Any improvement, Charlie?" Kirk asked his new crew member. Charlie glanced back to her captain quickly before turning back to the computer as she bit her lip lightly. Kirk saw Chekov's gaze shoot to Charlie's mouth before going back up to her eyes.

"I think I may have found something," Charlie began. "I might need to find someone with more computer knowledge than me."

"I don't know if we have someone who will be capable of that," Kirk replied. Charlie was suddenly pushing buttons fervently as her eyes flew all around the screen in front of her.

Then she suddenly stopped, just as quickly as she had been working.

"I think I got it," she said in a whisper more to herself than anyone else. Chekov, who had been watching her hands fly across the touch screen in front of her, suddenly looked at her face.

"You got it?" he asked, excitedly. Charlie looked at him.

"We need to do reboot the computer system to make sure that all the changes are taken and give the system a reset before we can fully get going," Charlie explained. She turned around to look at Captain Kirk. "It will be a long shot and we'll have to check every single other system after the reboot but I think it could solve the problem." Kirk nodded.

"Do it," he told the others. "Shut the entire system down and then start up manually."

"That should help," Charlie added. Kirk nodded again and turned his attention to talk to the computer screen.

"Computer," he said. "Shut down."

* * *

Charlie walked with her hands in her jacket pockets as she followed the rest of her fellow crew officers toward a bar near the Academy. It was a Friday night and Kirk had convinced his command staff, his favorite doctor, and his favorite engineers to join him out on the night on the town. Even Spock had agreed to come, deeming it logical to go as there would be no one for Uhura to talk to when she didn't want to discuss things with Kirk and the rest of the crew. Charlie was very suspicious about that answer from the half-Vulcan commander.

Charlie's military style jacket kept her warm as she still refused to wear the regulation uniform out to the bar and while working on the Enterprise. So far she had not yet donned the uniform for a single second. As they approached the entrance to the bar, Admiral Pike – another surprise on the trip to the bar – held the door open for the rest of the officers. Pike's gaze toward his crew drifted to the female Lieutenant engineer that had taken a sudden and vested interest in the vintage sports cars parked in the lot of the bar.

"Charlie," Pike said from the door. "Come on, Kirk said he'd get the first round and you need to get your drink order in or he's not going to pay for it." Charlie's gaze broke from the fast vehicles and she picked up her pace to make it into the bar as Pike followed her in and let the door close. Charlie and Pike walked through the bar, quickly finding the group they came with taking off their jackets and other outer garments around a large table. Charlie picked a seat on the end of the table. Kirk was at her right and Scotty at her left. Charlie sat down in the chair and found that she had a very good view of the bar. She scanned the occupants and quickly found the owners of the vintage cars parked outside. She was broken from her thoughts when a shot glass found its way in front of her. She looked up at the owner of the hand still resting on the glass and found Captain Kirk's face smiling down at her.

"Can you hold your liquor?" Kirk asked with a grin. Charlie narrowed her eyes at him and nodded as Scotty stepped around her chair and sat down next to her.

"Can she!?!" Scotty exclaimed. "She out drank all of us Scotsman while at Cambridge." Kirk and Charlie didn't tear their gazes from each other as Scotty kept talking about Charlie's earlier drinking escapades. "She could probably out drink every one of us in this table. No! In this bar!"

At that exclamation Charlie saw the group she suspected to be the car owners turn their attention toward their table. She moved her gaze from Kirk and raised an eyebrow at one of them. He smirked and got up from the table. Charlie turned back to Kirk.

"Are you in a betting mood?" she asked him. Kirk looked stunned by the question.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you in a betting mood?" Charlie repeated her question. Kirk looked at the man that was approaching their table, his eyes only for Charlie. Kirk looked back to Charlie.

"I don't know why, but I really trust you, Lieutenant," he said. "And, yes, I'm in a betting mood." Charlie nodded.

"Good," she said. "Besides, I heard you like fast cars." Charlie cut off that conversation with Kirk as she kicked his chair toward him so he would sit down. Kirk did sit down and watched as Charlie looked up at the man who had just approached her chair. Charlie was very aware of Admiral Pike watching every move from the opposite end of the table.

"There's a little rumor going around that you can out drink anyone in this bar," the man said with what he hoped was a charming grin. Charlie had to hand it to him, it was a pretty charming grin, but Charlie was used to the charming grins.

"Is that so?" Charlie asked, fingering the still full shot glass in front of her. "I'm not quite sure that that rumor is accurate."

"Should we test it?" the man asked. Charlie pretended to be in thought for a while.

"As much as I would like to, I'm here with some friends and as a Lieutenant for Starfleet, I'm sure it's going to be against protocol," Charlie said. "But if it's okay with my captain then I'm sure that we can work something out." Charlie looked pointedly to Kirk, who had been watching the conversation with an air of amusement.

"I'm sure we can work something out," Kirk said to the man. "Are you and your friends the owners of those vintage cars out front?"

"What if we are?" the man asked. Charlie put a hand on one of the man's hands that were resting on the table. The man turned immediately back to Charlie, unaware that the entirety of the command staff of the USS-Enterprise was watching.

"How do you feel about a little bet?" Charlie asked. The man smiled. "Good." Charlie took the shot that had been placed in front of her earlier and downed it quickly before turning back to the man.

About an hour later, Charlie and the man – Shawn – were sitting at either end of the table previously occupied by the Enterprise crew. The crew was behind Charlie, cheering her on. Shawn's friends were behind him, supporting him. A large pile of shot glasses littered the table and it seemed that most of the bar was getting in on the betting action. Admiral Pike bent down from where he was standing behind Charlie to whisper to her.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Certainly," Charlie answered.

"I enjoy a fast car as much as the next person," Admiral Pike began, "but I'd rather not have to send you to Sickbay to get your stomach pumped."

"We've got McCoy here," Charlie said. "And, besides, I'm only feeling a little fuzzy. We've got this in the bag."

Pike nodded and resumed standing. Two more shots were placed in front of the competitors. Charlie and Shawn stared each other down, each daring the other to take their shot first.

"Ladies first," Shawn said, slurring his words and making a rather large sweeping gesture with his hand. Charlie chuckled darkly. She picked up the shot glass and brought it to her lips. Then she paused and looked Shawn directly in the eye.

"I'm not a lady," she answered before she opened her mouth and poured the shot in. She coughed a little and brought a hand to her chest. Money was exchanging hands and whispers were going around. She held up a hand and let out a deep breath before looking at Shawn. The Enterprise crew let out a big cheer. Kirk was the loudest of all and patted Charlie on the back.

"Don't do that," she muttered to him as she swayed a little in her chair. Kirk just smiled back at her and laughed.

"Shawn," Kirk said, "I believe it's your turn." Shawn nodded and Kirk thought he looked a little green. There were no signs of him being Vulcan so Kirk knew the Enterprise crew were going to walk… well, drive… away with some new cars.

Shawn put the shot glass up to his lips and sighed deeply. He contemplated the shot like one would contemplate a gun while playing Russian roulette. He started to pour the shot into his mouth but then stopped. All eyes were on him. Charlie was rising slightly in her seat, her eyes wide open. The bar was silent.

"Fuck," Shawn muttered before putting the shot glass back on the table. "She wins." Charlie slumped back into her seat as her supporters cheered and Shawn's supporters groaned.

"Hand over the keys," Kirk said, holding his hand out to Shawn and his friends. Shawn reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys. He pulled his arm back before he put the keys in Kirk's hand.

"She has to beat me by a full shot," Shawn said. Charlie looked up at him quickly and then grabbed the table with both hands as she felt her head spin.

"What?" Kirk scoffed. "She beat you! You couldn't finish the shot." Kirk felt a hand on his arm and saw Charlie looking at him.

"Just go get another shot," she said. Kirk bent down so he was at eye-level with her and glanced at Shawn before turning back to her.

"Charlie, I don't want to have to carry your dead body out of here," Kirk said. "I'm willing to carry your still live body out of here, as that's looking very likely. However, I'm rather fond of having you on my crew. One more shot is going to kill you."

"So pessimistic," Charlie said as she chuckled a little. She patted Kirk's cheek probably slightly harder than she had intended. "Go get the shot. Captain." Kirk nodded at her and left to get one more shot.

"This is illogical," Charlie heard Spock say to Uhura behind her. "However, it is very entertaining. I seem to be conflicted."

"I just hope she beats him," Uhura replied. "It'll show the boys that we are perfectly capable of taking care of ourselves."

Charlie absently nodded a little too much and then stopped when another shot glass appeared in front of her. Kirk bent down to whisper in her ear.

"Take it quickly," he advised. "It'll be better that way." Charlie over-nodded again and took the glass in her hand. There was no time for anticipation as Charlie quickly threw the shot of liquor into her mouth and swallowed. She began coughing and then stopped. She put a hand to her chest as she felt her gag reflex kick in. However, all that escaped her mouth was a small burp. And then the bar erupted in cheers again, causing Shawn and his friends to reluctantly hand over car keys. Shawn's friends helped him up and exited the bar. Kirk had let them keep one car.

Charlie cautiously stood up and braced herself with her hands on the table. She looked at Kirk in the eye as best she could.

"I get first pick of the cars," she told Kirk. "As soon as I get back from the bathroom, no matter how long that will take." Kirk nodded. Charlie looked to Uhura, who nodded and followed Charlie in the direction of the bathroom.

"She is going to have a serious hangover, Jim," McCoy said to Kirk. "That much alcohol in that small a stretch of time is too much for one person."

"Well, she's probably getting rid of most of it right now," Kirk observed. "Make sure she's taken care of tonight and in the morning." McCoy nodded.

Uhura looked away from the toilet as she held back Charlie's hair. Charlie's stomach heaved once more and then she sat back, wiping her mouth with the paper towel Uhura handed to her. Charlie dropped the used paper towel into the toilet and waved her hand over the automatic flush sensor.

"How are you feeling?" Uhura asked. Charlie looked at her.

"Better," she answered. "Still drunk, but better. Tomorrow morning is going to suck." Uhura laughed.

"Yes, it is." Charlie smiled weakly at her. "Why'd you do it?"

"Aside from getting a fast car?" Charlie asked. Uhura nodded. "I wanted to drown my disappointment after having fried the computer system on the ship. I really thought that shutting it down and rebooting the system would fix the problem."

"It made sense," Uhura supplied. "Spock even agreed with your reasoning." Charlie tilted her head as she looked at Uhura.

"You and Spock, huh?" she asked. Uhura grinned. "I still can't wrap my brain around that."

"It's all about the ears," Uhura said. Then she laughed along with Charlie. Then Charlie suddenly stopped laughing and put a hand to her stomach. Uhura stopped laughing too. Charlie shook her head and sat up straighter.

"I'm good," she said. "I'm good." Uhura nodded and helped Charlie to her feet.

"Let's get you home," Uhura said. "I think you've been tortured enough for one day." Charlie nodded in agreement and allowed Uhura to help her out of the bathroom and back into the bar.

Charlie had passed out in her new car by the time the crew made it back to the Academy. Luckily she was sitting in the front passenger seat of the newly acquired vehicle. Kirk had promised to drive her back and make sure she got to her room in one piece. Uhura had challenged him but he affirmed it so greatly that Uhura was taken aback by the sincerity of the promise.

She watched as Kirk gently picked up Charlie from the passenger seat of the car and nudged the door shut with his hip. Kirk shifted the small woman in his arms and carried her out of the car garage. Uhura and Spock followed Kirk as he carried Charlie into the officers' dormitory quarters. In the corridor that housed the Enterprise crew, Spock put an arm around Uhura and turned her away from following Kirk toward Charlie's quarters.

"Come on, love," he said to her. "He will treat her with the utmost respect and will only place her on the bed before leaving. If you wish we can watch from the door of my room." Uhura turned to Spock.

"No, you're right," Uhura said. She put a hand on his chest and reached up to kiss the Vulcan representative. Spock kissed her back and then broke away, taking her and hand leading her to his room.

Kirk was quite the gentleman when it came to Charlie, something he wasn't quite used to. He used Charlie's hand to wave over her room's sensor and the door opened. Kirk was surprised to find a very clean room. He put her down on top of the bed and moved to her feet. He unlaced and then took off her Converse sneakers, putting them by the side of the bed. Charlie was still asleep as he walked back around the bed to look at her face. He leaned down and brushed some hair from her face before kissing her forehead.

"Thanks for the cars, kid," he said. He watched Charlie shift into the pillows a bit more. There was a knock on the doorframe of the room and Kirk turned to see McCoy standing there with a cup in his hand.

"For the hangover," McCoy explained as he walked into the room and put the cup on the dresser. He dropped a note next to the cup and turned toward the door, leaving the room. Kirk allowed himself one last glance at Charlie's sleeping form before leaving the room and shutting the door.

* **

Kirk stood at the entrance to the bridge of the Enterprise at a loss for words. He checked his watch. Then he shook his wrist and checked his watch again. It still told him that it was just before nine in the morning. If it was that early, then why were his navigator, helmsman, and assistant engineer all sitting around the control board in front of his captain's chair? He saw Sulu glance back at him and smile slightly.

"Captain," Sulu said. "We weren't expecting you. Charlie and Chekov were just working on the computers."

Kirk came and sat down in the captain's chair as Charlie and Chekov were sitting next to each other at the control board. Charlie was working away at the touch screen.

"How are things?" Kirk asked Chekov. Chekov turned to Kirk and grimaced.

"Not very well, Captain," Chekov admitted. Kirk turned to Charlie.

"Charlie," he said. Charlie didn't even turn around. All she did was sigh and lower her head so it hit the touch screen with a groan. All of a sudden the computer on board the Enterprise began to make a lot of noise consisting of beeps of various pitches. Charlie sat up and watched as the computer came back to life and the images projected on the various screens around the bridge looked normal again.

Kirk grinned and clapped a hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"Good work, kid," he told her. "I'll tell the rest of the crew and then we can get back up in the air." He laughed to himself and then stood up to leave the bridge. Charlie just looked around her at the screens lit up and ready to function.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," she said. She didn't even bother glaring at Chekov and Sulu when they started laughing. In fact, she joined in.