Bones and Jim walked down the steps of one of the buildings, Jim's step a lot peppier than usual. Bones turned to look at him out of the corner of his eye while continuing to look for Luna. "Why are you so happy?"

"I do not know what you're talking about." He almost laughed out.

Bones rolled his eyes, but then he saw Luna across the way. "No, I don't suppose you do."

When Jim saw Luna, he got a big smile on his face. She was glowing and he could only guess why. When he looked at her, he was reminded again why he was taking the test. He was doing it for her. "I'm taking the test again."

Bones stopped walking to look at him just as Luna joined the group. "You've got to be kidding me."

Luna's eyebrows furrowed as the two men continued their conversation. "Yeah, tomorrow morning," Jim turned to look at Luna, giving her a big smile, "and I want both of you there."

Luna turned to look at her father, almost in a bored way before looking back to Jim. "What are we doing?"

Bones turned to look at her with a smile on his face. "We got another front row seat to Jim humiliating himself by a third attempt on the Kobayashi Maru."

Luna's mouth dropped before turning to look at him. "Are you serious?! Are you out of your mind?!" Jim began walking away from them with a big smile on his face. Luna and Bones just kept following him. "Do you remember how you felt after the last one?"

"Yeah," Bones scoffed. "And we have better things to do than to watch you fail a third time."

"That's also true."

"Wasn't it you," Jim began while half turning around to look at Luna. "Who told me I could do it if I tried hard enough?"

"Yeah," Luna scoffed. "Before you failed a second time."

"I'm a doctor, Jim." Bones spoke as Jim finally turned around to look at the two McCoy's, stopping his walk. "I'm busy."

"It doesn't bother you two that no one's ever passed the test?"

There was a pause, Jim waiting on a yes, but that wasn't what he was going to get. "No." Luna spoke obviously before giving him a shrug. "Because I don't care. I don't care about being captain. I don't care about being middle seat. I just want to be a pilot."

Jim looked her up and down, not expecting that outburst. "I take it Pike's been hounding you again."

"Ever since I," Luna pulled out her PADD, flashing her newly signed certificate. "Got my piloting certificate this morning."

Both of the men gave her a huge smile. "That's amazing!" Jim spoke, taking the PADD from her hands to study the certificate in full.

Luna moved her head to mock a hair flip since her hair was in a high bun. "I am officially a pilot for the United Federation of Planets."

"Darling!" Bones spoke before wrapping her in a huge hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

When they finally pulled away, Luna looked back to Jim. He was grinning from ear to ear and glowing with pride at her news. "We're celebrating…" he thought for a moment. They couldn't tonight. "Tomorrow night. We'll celebrate both of our victories."

Luna rolled her eyes slightly before looking back and forth at the two. "And I'm…really considering taking Pike up on his offer."

"I think you should." Jim told her with a shrug. Luna gave him a little smile. It kind of hurt that she was going to take the job because that meant she didn't have a baby tying her to earth anymore. Jim felt that hole too. "Because we're all getting assigned onto the Enterprise no matter what."

"Okay," Luna sighed out, remembering how upset she was that he was doing this to himself again. "Back on topic. It's the Kobayashi Maru, no one passes."

"And no one goes back for seconds." Bones scoffed while shaking his head. "Let alone thirds."

Jim just had this look that Luna picked up on. It was like he was in on a joke neither of them knew yet. She knew Jim was cocky, but he had never looked this sure about the test before. She crossed her arms, her eyes squinting with suspicion. "You know something, don't you?"

He gave Luna a little wink before turning back to Bones, clapping him on the shoulder with that smile again. "I've gotta study."

As he walked off, the two watched him, not sure what to make of his attitude. Bones ended up throwing his hand in the direction he went. "Study my ass."

Luna chuckled a little bit before turning back to her father. "He's up to something."

"Yeah," Bones scoffed before looking back to her. "But you and I are going out to a celebratory dinner." Luna wanted to roll her eyes, but she couldn't. Her dad had come a long way to accept her career choice, and she was proud of him. And of herself. "And idiot is just going to miss out on it."

Luna smiled to him. It had been a long time since she had dinner with just her father. She was going to take it. "That sounds perfect." She looped her arm through his and the two had a nice night out, but Luna just kept thinking back on what exactly Jim was planning.

Jim was doing something he wasn't necessarily proud of. He hadn't been with anyone but Luna in so long, it was hard to start this, but he had to pass this test if he was going to have any type of shot with Luna again. A lot of the times, he pictured Luna while in the act. Today, though, Gaila was being extra talkative, and it was hard to picture Luna when it wasn't her voice. "Jim," she breathed out as he was kissing her. "I think I love you."

That stopped Jim right there. He was on top of her, just blinking. He reserved "I love you" to people who were special to him. Luna being number one. "Wow," he breathed out, gulping, knowing he couldn't tell her that. That would make everything he had with Luna seem meaningless. "That is so weird."

Gaila's face went blank, her hands falling from his forearms with a sigh. "Lights." The lights came on and she began to sit up, Jim sitting up with her. "Did you just say 'that is so weird'?"

"Yeah," Jim spoke, trying to reason with her. "I did – "

"You don't love me too?" She questioned. "I thought you said you were over Luna."

Jim gulped as he looked down, thinking about how he was going to lie through his teeth. That's when the door to her dorm opened. "Oh no." Gaila mumbled under her breath. "My roommate."

"What?" Jim questioned, seeming more annoyed than shocked like her. "I thought you said she was gone for the night."

"Well, obviously she's not." Gaila panicked while smacking Jim's bare arm. "Just get under the bed."

"Under the – "

"Look, just get under the bed." Jim gave her a dramatic eye roll before slowly trudging to get off the bed. "She can't see you."

"Why not?" Jim whined.

"Because I promised her I'd stop bringing guys back to the dorm."

"Wait," Jim spoke, his voice confused, matching the look on his face. Didn't she just say she loved him? "How…how many guys have you – "

"Just!" She began waving her arms as Jim did as she said. "Get down!"

Gaila laid out on her bed, her elbow propping her head up, giving her roommate, Uhura, a big smile. "Hey." Uhura mumbled, distracted with the PADD in front of her.

"Hey." Gaila said it extra cheery so even if she did find out, she wouldn't be too mad at her.

Jim knew that voice immediately. He still didn't even know her first name, but he knew that voice. Luna's best friend. Uhura. After the two girls got through their small talk, Jim moved closer to the bed, wanting to make sure it was Uhura, but she ended up undressing.

"Strangest thing," Uhura whispered before looking back to her friend. "I was in the long range sensor lab – "

"Yeah," Gaila spoke, wanting to get Uhura out of there as fast as she could. "I thought all night..."

Uhura was just going to keep talking though. She had to get this out to someone even if she knew Gaila wasn't going to actually listen. "I was tracking solar systems and I picked up an emergency transmission."

"Really?" With that, anyone listening would have known that Gaila wasn't truly interested, but Uhura just couldn't stop talking about it.

"Yeah. From a Klingon prison planet." The girls kept talking, but Jim couldn't help thinking over what she just said. It sounded familiar. He couldn't place it, but he knew he knew it from somewhere.

"So, you're not going back to the lab tonight?"

Uhura stopped what she was doing, turning to her friend with a knowing smile. She knew what this was about. "Gaila, who is he?"

Gaila blinked, trying to play innocent. "Who's who?

"The mouth-breather hiding under your bed." Uhura spat out.

That got Jim right up from under the bed, giving her a confused look. "You could hear me breathing?"

Uhura gasped, suddenly very aware she was in just her underwear at the moment. "You."

That's when Jim knew he messed up. "Big day tomorrow."

Both Uhura and Jim began going for his clothes. "You're gonna fail." She taunted.

"Gail, see you around." She gave him an excited nod as Uhura turned to her and shook her head vigorously.

"Get out." Uhura spoke as she continued to try to push him out. "Wait until Luna finds out about this."

"Yeah," Jim spoke with a slight shrug as she continued to push him out without his clothes on. "Well, we're technically not together." He then got a good idea, turning to look at her in excitement. "If I pass will you tell me your first name?"

"No!" She growled. "Good night!"

"I think the fact that you picked up a transmission is very impress – "

"The fact that you two aren't together anymore isn't going to make it hurt her any less." And with that, Uhura slammed the door in his face.

Jim stood there for a moment, taking a huge gulp. Would she really tell Luna about this? She would. He knew that. Uhura hated Jim. That would hurt Luna so much. She would give him a chance to explain, right? Or would that ruin everything they had built?

Jim left the apartment before either Bones or Luna woke up which is impressive since Bones usually gets up at five in the morning. He didn't want to talk to either of them. Most of all, he was scared Uhura had told Luna what happened last night. It was a little over seven, and he was sitting in the simulation room, in the captain's chair, thinking about how today was going to go.

Closer to the examination time, Bones and Luna walked in. They were laughing, so Jim was taking that as a good sign. When they noticed him they both gave him an excited smile and a wave before Bones took his spot as navigator and Luna at weapons. He couldn't stop looking at Luna, though. He was so scared everything between them was going to work out horribly. When she turned to look at him, he offered her a big smile which she gave back, but her brows were furrowed in confusion. She didn't know why he was being so weird today.

When Uhura walked in, Jim had never got up from a chair so fast in his life. "Uhura," he whispered, causing her to turn around on her way to the linguistics chair. "Did you – "

"No." She spoke cutting him off. They both turned to look over at Luna who was turned around, talking to Rachel. She had just thrown her head back in laughter "I hate you, but I'm not going to hurt her because of it."

Jim turned back to her, his eyes soft as his shoulders fell, relieved. "Thank you." He breathed.

Luna happened to look over at the two, her brows furrowing. Since when did Jim and Nyota talk? "I didn't do it for you. I did it for Luna." Luna couldn't hear what Uhura said, but she definitely heard her name. She was about to get up and ask the two, but the test administrators walked in. Jim and Uhura immediately hurried to their seats and everyone who was turned around turned right back to the front.

The test administrators gave their usual speech. Luna felt like she could recite it in her sleep at this point. After they were done, they went upstairs into the observation room, and the lights dimmed. Uhura took a deep sigh before turning around with the most sarcastic smile she could manage for Jim. "We are receiving a distress signal from the USS Kobayashi Maru. The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet command has ordered us to rescue them."

Luna smiled at her voice before looking back to Jim, waiting for his orders. "Starfleet has ordered us to rescue them…captain."

Both Luna and Bones shared a look before rolling their eyes. Different alerts began to go off in the simulation room, everyone clicking away at their duties. "Two Klingon vessels have entered the neutral zone and are locking weapons on us." Bones reported.

"That's okay." Jim spoke with a shrug.

Everyone slowly turned around to look at him, puzzled. "That's okay?" Bones repeated.

"Yeah," Jim spoke with a shrug. "Don't worry about it."

The administrators on the observation deck all looked to each other in confusion. "Did he just say don't worry about it?"

Another one went up to the window, looking down to Jim as Jim looked up at him with a big shit eating grin. "Is he not taking the simulation seriously?"

"Three more Klingon war birds decloaking and targeting our ship." Bones turned back to Jim, his face irritated. "I don't suppose this is a problem either?"

"They're firing, captain." Luna reported as Jim let out a little hum. He loved when she called him captain.

Jim picked his hand up to Uhura, Uhura really starting to debate on not telling Luna. "Alert medical bay to prepare to receive all crew members from the damaged ship."

She spun around to look at him. "And how do you expect us to rescue them when we're surrounded by Klingons, captain?"

She spat out "captain" making Jim smiled as he swiveled his chair to look at her. He was still wearing that shit eating grin proudly. "Alert medical."

"Our ship is being hit." Luna almost sang out, Jim turning back to her, Luna giving him an irritated smile. "Shields at sixty percent."

"I understand." Jim spoke as he began to pull an apple out of his bag.

Luna was beginning to get frustrated. Did he really blow off her celebratory dinner to simply do this at the test? "Should we," She was completely turned away from her post now, getting upset with him. This is what he wanted more than anything, and he was just blowing it off. "I don't know, fight back?"

Jim hummed like he was considering what she said before replying. "No."

He took a big bite of his apple as Luna threw her hands in the air before turning back to her controls. "Of course not."

The lights then dimmed and everything shut off for a moment. Everyone looked to each other, Luna turning around to look at Jim, but he looked…pleased. He was sitting there with a smile, still eating his apple.

The test administrators began to go into a frenzy. "What is this? What's going on?"

When everything came back on, everyone went back to their controls, trying to fix everything. "Hm." Jim spoke like he was confused, but for some reason, Luna didn't believe that for one second. "Arm photons. Prepare to fire on the Klingon war birds."

"Jim," Luna spoke, turning back to him.

"Yes, love?"

Luna rolled her eyes at his retort before getting back to business. "Their shields are still up."

"Are they?"

Luna opened her mouth, about to argue with him when Bones spoke, his eyes glued to his own screen. "No, they're not."

Luna turned to look at her father, her eyes wide. "Fire on all enemy ships." Jim commanded to Luna, making her roll her eyes. She knew something wasn't right. She knew Jim was cheating, but she just didn't understand how. He wasn't the tech savvy one. She was the tech savvy one. So, how in the hell did he pull this off. "One photon each should do, let's not waste ammunition."

Luna did as he said anyway, knowing one thing. She was going to do her job. "Target locked and acquired on all war birds. Firing." As all the ships in front of their screens blew up, Jim began to put his finger out as a gun, making noises when each ship was fired on. Once it was done, Luna turned to look at him with a tight smile. "All ships destroyed, captain."

"Begin rescue of the stranded crew." He said quickly before standing up and looking at everyone in the room. "So, we've managed to eliminate all enemy ships, no one on board was injured," He clapped Bones on the back, making him roll his eyes as Jim moved to Luna. "And the successful rescue of the Kobayashi Maru crew is," he took Luna's hand, giving it a little kiss on the back, making her smile as she shook her head at him. "under way." When he was done, he took another bite of his apple before looking up to the observation deck.

Everyone up there was speechless, not knowing what to do, one of them finally speaking. "How in the hell did that kid pass your test?"

Spock just stood there, in awe like everyone else. He began to purse his lips as he looked down at him. "I do not know." He had a good idea though.

Later on, an assembly had been called, everyone in their red cadet uniforms sitting side by side, the whole room full. "What do you think this is about?" Jim asked, leaning over into Luna's ear.

"Oh, I don't know." She spoke sarcastically before turning to look at him. "Maybe the fact that you cheated on the Kobayashi Maru."

"I won." He spoke with a shrug.

Luna looked at him. She wasn't sure she knew who was sitting next to her at the moment. "By cheating."

"I thought you wanted me to pass."

"Fairly." She corrected. "I wanted you to pass fairly because I know you can be a great captain." She shook her head before looked forward again, letting out a deep sigh. "I never wanted you to pass like this."

"Luna – "

"Sh." Bones spoke, leaning over to the two. "It's starting."

Admiral Richard Barnett looked out at all the cadets before speaking, but Jim's face was still locked on Luna's. "This session has been called to resolve a troubling matter. James T. Kirk, step forward."

That brought Jim to look to the front. Both Luna and Bones turned to look at him. Sure, Luna wasn't particularity happy with him at the moment, but she was still worried for him. She didn't want anything bad to happen. Jim took a deep gulp and looked to Luna for support before getting up. Luna's heart was pounding in her chest as he stepped up on the podium, and Luna reached for her father's hand. "Cadet Kirk," the Admiral began, "evidence has been submitted to this council, suggesting that you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuing to regulation 17.43 of the Starfleet code." Luna shut her eyes when she heard that. She knew this was going to bite him in the ass. "Is there anything you care to say before we begin, sir?"

Jim looked to Luna quickly before looking back to the council. "Yes. I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly?"

The Admiral looked over to where Spock was sitting, motioning for him to step up. "Step forward please." Right when he stood up, Luna sunk into her seat even more. This was Professor Spock, the hardest teacher she has had in her entire life. She barely got a B in his class, and of course Uhura got an A. "This is commander Spock. He is one of our most distinguished graduates. He's programmed the Kobayashi Maru exam for the last 4 years." Luna rolled her eyes. Of course one of the hardest professors programmed the hardest test ever.

"Cadet Kirk," Spock began, getting comfortable at the podium right next to Jim's. "You somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine in the programming code, thereby changing the conditions of the test."

Jim let a moment pass before speaking. "Your point being?"

"Oh, come on, Jim." Bones whispered. "Don't be a smart ass to a Vulcan."

"In academic vernacular," The Admiral stressed. "You cheated."

There were murmurs that spread through the risers, Luna taking a deep sigh. "Let me ask you something I think we all know the answer to. The test itself is a cheat, isn't it?" He turned to Spock, Luna nodding, knowing he was going into a good argument. "You programmed it to be unwinnable. Your argument precludes the ability of a no-win scenario? I don't believe in no-win scenarios."

"Then not only did you violate the rules, you also failed to understand the principle lesson."

Jim was obviously getting upset, but Luna was proud about how calm and professional he was remaining. "Please, enlighten me."

"You of all people should know, Cadet Kirk, a captain cannot cheat death." Luna's mouth dropped. She was now just as mad, or even madder, than Jim. How dare he? Murmurs spread through the cadets again as Luna looked around, wishing they would all shut up.

Jim seemed to fall into a shell slightly as he looked around to the murmurs as well. He gulped hard as he looked down before speaking. "I of all people?"

"Your father," Those words seemed to pain Jim more than anything, Luna wishing she could go down there and punch that damn Vulcan before pulling Jim out of there. "Lt. George Kirk assumed command of his vessel before being killed in action, did he not?"

Jim looked to him, deciding to let him know he wasn't getting to him when that was the exact opposite. "I don't think you like the fact that I beat your test."

"Further more you have failed to define the purpose of the test."

"Enlighten me again." Jim almost spat it out, everyone in the room beginning to feel nervous for what was happening and anticipation at finally knowing the purpose of the test.

"The purpose is to experience fear. Fear in the face of certain death." Jim's eyes slightly drifted down again. His father's legacy was seeming farther and farther away. "To accept that fear and maintain control of oneself and one's crew. This is a quality expected in every Starfleet captain." Jim let out a deep sigh as Bones and Luna looked to each other in worry again.

That's when a man hurried through the door and went straight to the Admiral, handing over a PADD. When the Admiral looked up, he looked panicked. "We've received a distress call from Vulcan." Spock looked to the Admiral with fear in his eyes as all the cadets began to have panicked conversation. "With our primary fleet engaged in the Laurentian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to hangar one immediately." The conversations just got louder. "Dismissed."

Everyone stood up and hurried out, but Jim just kept watching Spock as he walked off in the other direction. Luna and Bones hurried to Jim, Luna immediately putting her hand on his shoulder when she reached him. "Are you okay?

"Fine." He sighed out while turning to look at her. Luna gave him a look, knowing Jim was not fine. "Who was that pointy-eared bastard?"

"I don't know." Bones spoke while putting his hand on his other shoulder. "But I like him." Luna and Jim both shot him a look before the trio hurried off towards the hanger, ready to ship off to space for the first time.

Ziggy55: Your fanfic sounds awesome! I went and bookmarked it so I can read it when I have time. And yes, a little girl! I always think it's so cute when the dad wants the girl and the mom wants the boy. I actually got Star Trek Beyond as one of my Christmas presents so I have been watching it non stop lately and figuring out how to weave Luna into the plot. It's a work in progress.

rebootfan: You just caught me at a good time! I'm off school right now and the inspiration is really good at the moment so that's why I'm updating so fast! Thank you so much for your suggestions by the way. I love when people tell me what they want to see. I'm also glad that I made you laugh. I love drunk Luna!

ImsebastianstanButter: Luna did fall asleep in the bathroom with Jim, but she woke up before him and let him sleep. Sorry I wasn't more clear! I'm glad you loved the chapter, sweetheart!

Love. Fiction. 2016: Thank you so much!

Okay, we've finally got to meet Spock. I always love incorporating my OC with the plots to movies. It's so fun to me! So, I'm glad we're here! I hope you all liked the chapter and remember to review! Also, on Tumblr I put up some moodboards lately, so make sure to check that out. You can always find it in the "luna mccoy" tag on my blog. I hope everyone has a lovely New Year! See you in 2017!