Disclaimer: I only own Rosie.

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After her encounter with Commander Spock, Rosie had taken just a moment to think before rushing off to the next person she could confess to in the hopes of halting the disciplinary action against Jim before it could go any farther. Her efforts proved to be futile however. Every person seemed to be in agreement with Spock, that although she designed and created the majority of the override program, Jim was the person who went ahead and installed it, so he was the one at fault. Rosie however, was getting the feeling that this had more to do with the fact that pinning it on Jim, a cadet, would go over much easier and look better than accusing a seasoned Starfleet researcher, even if she was the one confessing.

When she finally was certain that implicating herself wouldn't work, she began desperately trying to find Jim. That proved to be just as big of a challenge. She searched everywhere she could think of, from his living quarters to the library, even Medical, but he was nowhere to be found. Probably out sleeping with another random girl as celebration, she thought to herself, shaking her head. She had no choice but to give up looking for him when all of the cadets were summoned to the auditorium for the impromptu meeting. She sighed, running a hand over her face, and began following the throng of cadets in the correct direction.

Once she entered the auditorium, she stayed standing towards the back of the room and began scanning the crowd while all the other cadets sat. It took a few minutes, but she finally spotted Jim, sitting next to Bones, towards the front of the room. She was about to go down the stairs to him, but Commander Spock caught her eye from the other side of the room, and his stoic facial expression somehow managed to exude so much disapproval, it rooted her to her spot.

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"Cadet Kirk," the man leading the disciplinary council called Jim out in front of all of the assembled people, "evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting that you have violated the ethical code of conduct as stated in Starfleet regulation." Jim looked around somewhat confusedly as he climbed out of his chair and headed towards one of the podiums at the front of the auditorium. He managed to spot Rosie in the back, his eyes searching her for some sort of answer.

Sorry, she mouthed to him, shrugging her shoulders, as if to say she tried.

"Is there anything you have to say for yourself?" the man continued on once Jim had reached the podium.

Jim took a few moments to think before responding, "I believe I have the right to face my accuser?"

Behind him, Spock stood up and tugged his uniform top down. The Vulcan calmly walked himself down the stairs and stood next at the podium across from Jim. "This is Commander Spock," the man leading the council introduced the man. "He's programmed the Kobayashi Maru for the past four years."

The pointy-eared man gave Jim a once over before he began speaking, "Cadet Kirk, it has come to our attention that you managed to install and activate a subroutine program that changed the conditions of the test."

"Your point?"

"You cheated," the council leader stated simply.

"And your proof?" Jim spat at the commander defiantly.

"A woman has implicated that you coerced her into installing and activating the program for you." Jim kept his best poker face on, in an attempt to give nothing away. "Another has come forward indicating she helped you create the program, but we have dismissed her claims." Spock glared at Jim, daring him to admit he worked with Rosie.

Instead, Jim took a different route, "The test itself is a cheat, isn't it? It's unwinnable."

"Your argument precludes the possibility of a no-win scenario."

"I don't believe in no-win scenarios."

"Then you also failed to learn the principle lesson of the exam, as well as violating the rules."

Jim looked ready to argue back, when a man interrupted. "Excuse me, sir," he muttered as he walked across the front of the auditorium to hand a PADD to the man that was leading the disciplinary action council.

A moment passed as the man read the information, concern flashing across his features before he announced, "We have received a distress call from Vulcan." Rosie noticed Spock's body tense up, almost imperceptibly. "With our main fleet engaged in the Laurentian system, I hereby order all cadets to hangar one immediately. Dismissed." He stood up and quickly exited the room.

As everybody else was filing out of the room, Rosie and Bones made their way down to Jim. "Who was that pointy-eared bastard?" Jim asked them both.

"I don't know," Bones said as he watched the Vulcan leave the room. "But I like him."

"Come on," Rosie told Jim, tugging his arm. "I'll explain on the way to the hangar."

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The trio walked at a brisk pace through the halls of Starfleet. "Commander Spock," she told Jim and Bones, "the Vulcan I told you about. The one who programmed the Kobayashi Maru, as the council also told you today."

"So?" Jim shrugged.

"So?" Rosie was so enraged that she stopped walking. "So? I told you he wasn't an idiot!" Her voice jumped up in pitch and volume. "You're so stupid sometimes, Jim! So stupid!"

"I agree with that," Bones piped in, not really helping to calm Rosie's growing anger.

"How am I stupid?"

"You slept with some twit and tricked her into installing the program, didn't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

"No," Jim tried to play it off as if it never could have happened. "No, I would never…"

"Yes, you would, Jim." If looks could kill, Rosie would've killed him a hundred times over by now. "Don't you dare lie to me."

Jim knew he was in big trouble. Defeated, he admitted it, "You're right."

"You're so stupid!" she shrieked again. "How could you? I told you I wanted to install it! Did you not stop to think I knew how to make it untraceable? Did the girl you had install it know how to do that? Did you think she wouldn't rat you out when she found out what you did? If you had let me, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

"Rosie," he tried to find something, anything to say, but nothing came to mind. He reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to find the words to apologize with for his biggest screw-up yet.

She shrugged his hand off of her and began walking again. "Let's just get to hangar one," she said quietly, all the fight gone from her voice.

Jim looked to Bones for some kind of answer on what he was supposed to do. "Sorry, man," the doctor told him. "Can't get you out of this one." And he started following Rosie down the hall.

Jim stood for a few moments, watching the pair walk away from them. When they were far enough away, he let out a growl and swung his arm. When his fist made contact with the stone wall, the pain that surged up his arm shattered all of his frustration. He stood there for a few moments, staring at his throbbing hand, before shaking his head and jogging down the hall and around the corner to catch up with his friends.

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A/N: Sorry for not updating yesterday! It was a busy day (had to meet with the DJ for my wedding!). Also, just fyi for any of the returning readers, a reviewer gave me some good constructive criticism the other day, so I updated the prologue to try to make Rosie's personality a little bit clearer. I'd encourage everybody to go back and reread it :)