After the test, Bones went after Romi. If she did what he thought she did, he had to hear if from her. Besides, Jim had gone off with Gaila again. If he didn't know any better he would say the two were dating.

"What did you do?" he asked her, Romi kept walking at a brisk pace.

"With my hair? Oh, I did change my shampoo, thanks for noticing, originally I was thinking of going with the coconut but then I discovered-"

"No, what did you do back there with Jim's test?"

"I was at tactical, I blew up the Klingon Birds-of –Prey, unless you were too busy with the shields, of course."

"Romi-" he stopped her, "I know you helped Jim cheat," he whispered. Starfleet Academy had a zero tolerance cheating policy, it was automatic expulsion for anyone caught cheating, or in Romi's case, helping someone cheat.

"Who said anything about cheating?" she gave a coy smile then kept on walking.

"Romi, you know as well as I do that the test is unbeatable, therefore the only way to beat the test is to cheat. Now, Jim is a lot of things but a hacker certainly isn't one of them. You're the smartest person he knows, so naturally he would go to you for help."

"You're selling yourself a little short there, Bones," Did she just compliment me? He thought. Save the middle school bullshit for later, McCoy

"I'm a doctor, not a computer programmer, now what did you do?"

"Leveled the playing field," she said, a fire in her eyes that he had never seen before. He'd be lying if he didn't say it freaked him out a tiny bit.

"So, I'm curious, what did Jim offer you in exchange for doing this for him?" Romi DiValdi didn't cheat, nor could he see her realistically helping someone cheat, even if it was Jim. Naked photos? His brain reminded him. Nah, not for something this big.

"Who said I didn't do this just for fun?" he grabbed her arm again; they were by the girl's dorm at this point.

"Because the Romi DiValdi I know doesn't break the rules 'just for fun'."

"Well then, you obviously don't know me as well as you thought you did," her tone of voice was vaguely threatening, and she looked at him as if she could eat him for supper. Okay, do not go there right now. Later maybe, but definitely not right now.

She easily escaped his grasp and walked into the dorm. He watched her go, and sighed in annoyance. Why did he have to surround himself with people who only exasperated him? Jim was a child trapped in a man's body, not to mention a totally man whore. Romi just confused the hell out of him, being a sweet, if snarky friend to a fire-eyed harpie the next. He shrugged women.

An academic hearing was called the next day. "Cadet Kirk evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to regulation 17.43 of the Starfleet Code." Kirk glanced back to where Romi and Bones were sitting. "Is there anything you wish to say before we begin, sir?" Though Romi knew Jim would never rat her out in a billion years, she couldn't help but feel worried.

Jim paused, "Yes, I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly." She let out the breath she'd unknowingly been holding. Professor Spock stood up. Jim didn't seem to recognize him, but then again he'd never taken any of the Vulcan's classes.

"Step forward, please. This is Commander Spock, he is one of our most distinguished graduates. He's programmed the Kobayashi Maru exam for the past four years." The two men met eyes for a moment. Romi had never spoken to the Vulcan and only had his class freshmen year, but she knew how intimidating he could be. Kirk, to his credit, didn't blink.

"Commander," the Admiral prompted.

"Cadet Kirk, you somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine in the programming code thereby changing the conditions of the test." Romi and Gaila locked eyes. The Orion looked nervous, and had her arms crossed over her legs. Romi mentally tried to tell her not to panic. Bones grabbed Romi's hand. She looked over at him, but he seemed to be totally focused on the hearing. She followed his example, but also didn't let go.

"Your point being?" Kirk asked.

"In academic vernacular," the Admiral said, "you cheated." A murmur rose up among the cadets.

"Let me ask you something I think we all know the answer to," Kirk said after a moment, sounding wholly professional, which was weird coming from him, "The test itself is a cheat, isn't it? You programmed it to be unwinnable." It was a rhetorical question, and one everyone knew the answer to.

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

"I don't believe in no-win scenarios." He said, with the typical Kirk confidence that Romi had come to know and love.

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

"Please, enlighten me,"

"You of all people should know, Cadet Kirk, a Captain cannot cheat death," Uh-oh Romi thought, and squeezed Len's hand. Bringing up Kirk's past was a huge no-no. Almost like how she couldn't stand anyone outside her family calling her 'Romisha' but way worse.

"I of all people?" she could see the old anger and sadness radiating from him. It was like an old wound, scarred over but still ached after all these years. She knew the feeling all too well.

"Your father, Lieutenant George Kirk assumed command of his vessel before being killed in action did he not?" again, a rhetorical question.

"I don't think you like the fact that I beat your test," Ah, typical Kirk deflection, trying to bury the pain under humor.

"Furthermore you have failed to divine the purpose of the test," she had a feeling Spock was getting annoyed as well.

"Enlighten me again,"

"The purpose is to experience fear. Fear in the face of certain death, to accept that fear, and to maintain control of oneself and one's crew. This is a quality expected in every Starfleet Captain."

Before Kirk could respond, the door opened, and a man walked in. He spoke faintly, but with her pointed ears, Romi was able to make out what was being said. "Excuse me sir," he addressed the Admiral. He glanced at it then addressed the cadets gathered.

"We've received a distress call from Vulcan," Spock looked surprised, or at least the Vulcan equivalency of it, "With our primary fleet engaged in the Lorenchian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to Hanger One immediately, dismissed." Romi let go of Len's hand to go down to rush down to Jim.

"Who was that pointy-eared bastard?" Jim asked, his voice dark and laced with bitterness and subdued anger.

"Hey!" Romi said, indicating her own ears.

"Sorry, Pixie." He muttered.

"I don't know," Bones said, "But I like him."

Romi appraised her appearance in the mirror. After leaving the academic conference, she had gone to report to the hanger bay. Discovering, to her delight, that she had been assigned to the USS Enterprise, she had been in a happy daze, which was probably why her uniform had came out a bit... off. Instead of covering her neck, it actually exposed it, revealing her collarbone. She shrugged, it was such a small difference that she doubted anyone would really notice.

Wanted Romi's uniform to mimic more the TOS woman's uniform rather than the 2009 version. If you want an exact image, look at the cover art.