I had to get my head into gear. This might be the third time of doing the same test but I still needed to concentrate which wasn't very easy, not when I knew my thoughts were fighting against each other; either fight or not fight my feelings. Even though, it should be a very easy question to answer – Especially, if it involved hurting my friend but it still didn't stop my mind from going around in circles.

"We are receiving a distress signal from the USS Kobayashi Maru..." Nyoto's voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts. "The ship as lost power and it's stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them."

I was truly grateful for Nyoto clearing my head; this wasn't, cloud 9 and the examiners weren't just testing Jim, they would be taking notice of all the cadets in the room. I waited for the first message that would soon appear on security console.

"Starfleet command as ordered us to rescue them... Captain!" Jim stated in an amusing tone.

"Two Klingon vessels have entered the Neutral Zone and are locking weapons on us," I added as the warning flashed up on my screen.

"That's O.K," Jim answered.

I instantly took that moment to turn around to see that everyone had either frozen in their seats or turned to stare at Jim, in shock. Which was just what I was doing and he just sat there smiling back.

"It's O.K?" Leonard responded back in a sarcastic way.

Jim took that moment to wink at me before waving his hand indifferently towards Leonard, with that usual cocky grin. "Yeah, don't worry about it."

Jim seemed to have too much confidence; during the last two Kobayashi Maru tests, he had been concentrating really hard, as he was finding different ways to pass this non-winnable test, but this time he was back to being his usual cocky self as if he knew how to win it this time or just got to the point where he didn't care, that was more like Jim.

I knew this was just a simulator, but they still tested you as if it was real life. I noticed another warning message flashing up on my screen, but I didn't need to read it, to know what it said; after having the same words come up a third time, now, I could read it with my eyes closed. "Three more Klingon warbirds, decloaking and targeting our ship."

Out the corner of my eye, I saw Leonard spin around in his chair to face Jim again, but I couldn't see the expression on his face. "I don't suppose that's a problem either? Oh and they have now started firing," Leonard quickly added, quoting my next line, before spinning back around in his seat and slowly shaking his head.

Leonard was now acting like, how I felt; what's the point in caring if your words weren't even sinking in. This moment suddenly reminded me of what Captain Pike had said to Jim at the bar that night before we both had started at Starfleet – He had said Jim could be an officer in 4 years and have his own ship in 8 years. This situation proved I had been correct... Starfleet would be insane to give him his own ship. If Jim did get his own I just hoped I wasn't on it, or anyone else for that matter; he would just end up getting everyone killed!

"Alert medical bay to prepare to receive all crew members from the damaged ship," Jim ordered.

"And how do you expect us to rescue them, when we're surrounded by Klingons... Captain?" Nyota asked in her own annoying tone.

Jim just stared back at Uhura with a small smile on his face. "Alert medical!" He ordered once again.

"We're being hit, Captain," Brit stated as the room started to shake a little.

I quickly glazed over at Brit to see her smiling brightly at Jim, who returned that same smile back towards her. Jim surely was treating this like a game, but Brit would still be happy with him, she always was; Jim couldn't do anything wrong in her eyes. I bet she won't be saying that if this was real, but knowing Brit, she would still forgive him even in the afterlife. Jim had no faults in her eyes.

"Shields at Sixty per cent," Leonard warned.

"I understand!"

Brit and Jim continued staring at each other as they were in a world of their own. Jim was properly just happy that someone was on the same wavelength as him.

"Should we at least... Oh, I don't know... Fireback?" Leonard sounded just as annoyed as everyone else.

Jim turned back to Leonard with an annoyed look on his own face which I was certain that Leonard had seen countless times before.

"Mmm, no!" Jim now sounded bored.

"Of course not." Leonard continued to be just as cocky as Jim.

The examiners certainly would not yet Jim take the test again or even get a command on a ship, because who would with the way he was acting and only last night did I think he had changed but of course, he was only being sweet to me. Next time, I won't fall for it so easily!

In that next moment, my monitor suddenly went dead and the main lights started flicking; for a second there, it had felt so real and Jim really had gotten us killed... I slowly shook my head, quoting to myself that it was just a simulator.

I could see that everyone was having the same problem with their monitors and a few people were looking up at the examiners in the booth, at the top corner of the room. The only person who was acting so cool about this was none other than Jim himself; he just sat in the command chair still grinning away, munching away on an apple. God, knows where got that from. The next minute all the monitors came back on and I quickly turned back to my monitor.

"Mmm, Arm photons, prepare to fire on the Klingon warbirds." Jim suddenly added.

"Jim, their shields are still up," Leonard quickly warned him.

"Are they?"

"No... they're not!" Leonard quickly corrected himself.

"Fire on all enemy ships. One photon each should do it, let's not waste munitions ."

"Target locked and acquired on all warbirds... Firing!" Leonard stated.

I couldn't help but turn to look out the main screen as the Klingon vessels were destroyed one by one; I was gob smashed. What just happened? It had been so fast... I couldn't believe that Jim had done it, he had managed to beat the Kobayashi Maru; the non-winnable test.

"All ships are destroyed, Captain... YOU DID IT!" Brit suddenly shouted.

I could see that Brit was now standing up with a wide grin on her face and Jim was casually sitting in the command chair, continuing to munch on his apple, but one thing he didn't do this time which wiped the smile of Brits face, he didn't look her way, he was more interested in the main screen with a confident smile on his face, as if he knew this would all happen.

"Begin rescue of the stranded crew!" Jim suddenly added as if the thought just came to him.

I couldn't help feeling sorry for Brit; she stood there with a sad look on her face as Jim spoke to her without looking her way, but she quickly turned around and put in that command on her monitor, but I knew it was to stop people from seeing how this was affecting her.

Jim took that moment to stand up and started going on about how he had won the test, he even clapped Leonard on the back, who was just as shocked as the rest of us, but he still had a smile on his face for his friend.

As Jim turned and smiled at me, I could see Brit was making her way over to him or was it to me? she was smiling, the way she usually did around Jim so I knew it wasn't me. Brit also had a determined glare on her face.

Jim suddenly noticed that I wasn't paying any attention to him, so he turned around and was surprised to see Brit standing right there, up close to him. I wondered how Jim would deal with this, but it seemed he was in that much of a good mood, that he just wrapped his arm around Brit and pulled her to his side and looked up, towards the examiners in the booth, as he munched away.

"You did it, Jim, I knew you could." Brit sounded more excited than she had been in a long time.

I sat there watching them as Jim had turned his head to face Brit, now that the examiners were speaking amongst themselves; Jim looked straight into Brit's eyes, leaning his forehead against hers and they started having a quiet conversation which for some reason was building a knot in my stomach... it must be something I ate, so I slowly looked away and found Leonard staring back with a concerned look on his face, but there was also a hint of something else, as if he saw something else in my glaze, that must have been from Jim sharing a private moment with Brit.

At that thought, I found myself looking back at Jim, who was now hugging Brit and was grinning with a wide smirk we all knew and loved, towards... Me! If was if he knew the same as Leonard did. But they were both wrong, I was sure they were, weren't they? What would it matter to me if Jim and Brit were a real couple? I should be pleased as a friend would be.

"Are you alright Miss Curtis, you don't look so good?" I heard Leonard ask me.