Three years later, she wished she had her answer, but she didn't. What she did know was that Kirk was insane and she had a lot of studying to do. She had to talk to Uhura about something that had to do with a comm device; she wanted to checked in the lab because they said that they needed her help. Studying to be an engineer was something she had always thought about. Actually being one was a dream come true. She hadn't thought that meant that every one of her friends would use her as fix it all.

She had been walking the academy grounds when she saw her two favorite men coming towards her. For the last three years, her life had been a dream. These last few days had been impossible though. Kirk had fail a test. A test that everyone failed, that was the whole point of the test. Yet for some reason Kirk had decided he would be the first person to pass it. Even if that meant being the only person to fail it more than once.

"So you'll do it for me, right?" said Kirk as he walked up to Lydia putting an arm around her. He had been talking to McCoy about the Kobayashi Maru. He needed to pass that test it had become an obsession to him.

"I have no interest," he said without looking up from the papers he was looking through. Jim had been trying to convince him for hours. He was hoping having Lydia around might actually get Jim off him.

"I didn't ask if you have interest, I asked if you'd do it," Kirk said taking something from Lydia's hands who had been trying to open a candy bar with her arms full. The same candy bar that Jim took, opened, took a bite and gave back to her. "Here."

"Thanks," she said smiling up at him. She hadn't eaten anything in hours, she was starting to feel the effects, and if she was supposed to get to the lab and finish another project she had on hold she needed to, well, not faint.

"I'm about to ask you an obvious question: why bother?" said McCoy. He had seen it once more, that smile that seem to linger whenever either one of his two friends looked at each other. It was funny because it almost took Jim a whole moment to look away from Lydia. McCoy wasn't really sure if either of them had notice, but lately the looks were longer and more intense than normal. Jim could look at her for hours as Lydia worked. Just like Lydia could spent hours listening to Jim telling people the same story over and over again. Uhura and McCoy had been watching them for some time now.

"Because I've failed the test twice," Jim said as if it was the most obvious thing to say.

"And you're determined to make it three. We've all failed it – everyone has, and that's the point! No one goes back for seconds, let alone thirds – it's not like you need to pass it to graduate."

"So why do they make us take it Bones?" Kirk asked.

"Don't call me Bones."

"Because," Lydia said, speaking up for the first time trying to stop the argument she knew was coming. "They are trying to teach us that there are some situations you can't get out of. You know no win scenarios."

"Yeah well I don't believe in no win scenarios," Kirk turned with a smile toward her.

"Yeah I know that's why I will be there," said Lydia. She had no problem with trying to help Kirk pass for a third time. Besides, if she was there she could make fun of him for failing once more. She had to admit it was one of her favorite pass times.

With a kiss to her forehead Kirk said, "You are the best. See Bones that's why she is my favorite."

"Yeah that's why," McCoy mutter with a look at his friends. It had nothing to do with who Lydia was and what she meant to Jim. Then he seemed to remember what Jim called him once more. "I told you to stop calling me that. You're very annoying."

"Thank you Bones," he walking away.

"Kirk you need to study this time," Lydia said looking up at Kirk.

"Actually I got a date," he said.

"A date? Listen as smart as you are, which ain't much, if you don't prepare…" said McCoy. This was the James Kirk he knew. Sometimes he had to wonder though if Kirk just did this to annoy Lydia or he actually didn't realized how she didn't like it when he talked about dates. To be fair no girl had ever been more important than Lydia. When she called; he came running that was it no matter what. Any girl who thought that she could get rid of Lydia was in for a rude awakening. Jim had literally walked away from girls who had tried to talk bad about her without a second glance. Still he had to wonder when Kirk was going to realized that he loved his best friend.

"You have no idea how prepared I'm gonna be, no idea," and with a smile Kirk left them on the steps watching him go.

"He is so going to fall flat on his face isn't he?" McCoy asked Lydia who smile up at him.

"Oh yeah, but the best part is that we are going to be there to see it happen." With a laugh, they walked off.

McCoy and Lydia had develop a good relationship through the years. He had actually given her some first aid training and everything, completing the basic the academy gave them. Through the years, she had become like his little sister. As they walked back into the Academy, they kept talking about everything they were working on at the moment. She may had been a little brunette but McCoy had realized she was just as insane a Kirk and that she had the tools to make things happen. That actually scared him more. After all half, or more, of Kirk's plans wouldn't work if he didn't have a little evil genius that could help him carry them out.

Lydia was mad, she was really mad. The stupid thing was supposed to fit and it didn't. Here she had been the whole night trying to finish this stupid step, just one-step and she couldn't get the mechanism to fit into its proper place. Therefore, she started doing the one thing every engineer qualified on every level of the academy could think about always does when something doesn't fit. She pounded on it like there was no tomorrow.

"Well is a good thing that the future of Starfleet is in such careful and delicate hands." With a glare, she turned to her friend who had just walked in.

"Yeah well," she said turning back to the stupid mechanism. "At least this one will not explode if I keep hitting it," she said going back to hitting it.

"Yeah we wouldn't want that now would we?" Uhura said as she sat next to her friend.

The girls had become friends their first year in the academy when they had been dorm neighbors. It had become clear pretty early on that Uhura's roommate was a little too liberal. So, when Uhura was without a room to stay she had found a place to crash with Lydia and they had become best friends pretty easily. It help that no guy wanted to actually have a whole relationship with Lydia because they all knew that Kirk was already half in love with her and wouldn't go there. Even if neither Kirk nor Lydia would admit to any feelings themselves.

"I'm going to the long range sensor lab is there any way I can convince you to stop pounding on this and come with me?" Uhura asked her picking up something that at one point resemble a part of the ship.

"I can't I am looking into a new calibration for the new ship going into deep space travel. If I could find the right combination I might just be able to finish this before tomorrow morning."

"Lydia you do remember that you are not the only engineer working on this. Plus you have two other projects they are asking you to look into. You need a break," Uhura said taking her friends hand and pulling her away. She needed to get her friend away from her toys, now.

"I know, I know." Finally looking away from the mess that used to be a motherboard. She had been so stress about this whole thing it was insane. She really wanted to stop for like an hour, just long enough that every cable and every code didn't jumble in her head.

"Uhura look, I can't right now I swear. You are going to be at the lab the whole night though right?"

"Yeah."

"So I'll come around in like three hours and I promise I will bring caffeine, enough for the whole night."

If you wanted to say something about Lydia was that she was one of the hardest working engineers in the program. She had been in Starfleet the whole of three year and she already had consultation request from other systems. She lived up to her name too. If she said, she was going to help you she never let you down. So with a last smile Uhura looked at her friend and decided to let her be.

"Alright, but you have promise caffeine and I will expect it. Don't make me come find you." With a laugh, she started leaving the lab only to look back at her friend. Except for the height and the skin color they could pass for sisters. Lydia was so small Uhura sometimes forgot that she could take care of herself. She had seen this girl take on guys that wouldn't take no for an answer, and she had done it without breaking a sweat. Still if she hadn't arrived at the lab in two hours she was going to send someone for her.

As Uhura left, Lydia decided to take a minute break from the board in front of her. It was so hard to keep herself upright when she stood up. Her legs felt like gelatin. As she got something to drink, she heard her computer ping. Well back to work, the code was not going to test itself. With a shake of her head, she sat back down at her desk. She really needed to rest.

There was something to be said about Uhura. She was a good friend there was no question about that, but she could get as wrap up as anyone else. She only remembered about Lydia as she watch Kirk trying to save face after finding him with her roommate.

"Shit," she said trying to put her clothes back on. She was supposed to make sure Lydia didn't pass the night in the lab and here she was.

"What? I said I am leaving," Kirk said putting on his pants.

"Not you idiot, Lydia. She never came to see me last night like she promised and I am pretty sure she passed the night at her lab." As she talked, she turned to Kirk to explain why she was leaving again only to find herself looking at the door as it close with Kirk leaving a determined look on his face.

"Kirk wait..! I can't believe he left after you said you were leaving. I swear that girl has something on him." Yes, Uhura was a good friend, which is why as her roommate turned away from her Uhura picked a pillow and hit her with it.

"Shut up."

As Kirk entered the lab he wasn't really sure what he was going to find. Lydia was a mess when she spent a whole night at the lab and he definitely didn't want her to be mad at him for touching something he shouldn't have. Kirk found her asleep on top of a pile of stuff in a position that he knew could not possibly be comfortable.

"Lydia," he said moving next to her. Her hair was in her face and he took a moment to brush it back. "Lydia wake up." She stirred a little and started to wake up. "There you are," he said with a smile as she opened her eyes.

"Well there could be worst things to wake up to." He laughed and helped her to get up.

Just as she was standing, she fell again and Kirk almost had a heart attack. "Lydia, my god what is wrong?"

"Haven't eating anything all night sorry," she said sitting back down on her chair.

"I thought that the agreement to staying here all night was that you had to eat and have something to drink," he said pulling a chair closer to make sure that he was sitting close enough to her. He wasn't going to let he fall out her chair as well. "Do you want me to tell Bones that you aren't listening to him? That would knock you out of first place for being his favorite you know." He smile when Lydia looked at him with her own little smile. It had been a struggle their whole lives. He took care of her that was his most important job nothing else mattered. Yet here she was not being taken care of.

"I brought food… I swear… it's just… I didn't eat it."

"Yeah well unfortunately for you that's not how food works." He said looking around trying to see where her dinner was. She needed something in her system, soon.

Guessing what he was looking for Lydia pointed to a place behind him and said, "it's over there."

Turning around Kirk saw what he was looking for and decided that she seemed stable enough for him to go get it. Making sure Lydia wouldn't fall in the three seconds it would take him to get her food he stood almost ran there and back.

Getting a small laugh from Lydia, he started getting everything ready so she could eat something.

"What are you laughing about might I ask?" He asked as he passed the utensils to her so she could start eating. "Oh and make sure you eat everything or I will call Bones down here to make him look you over."

As she started eating her dinner/breakfast she looked at Kirk.

"Nothing just thinking that I have seen you do that with more grace."

"Yes well every other time I wasn't trying to make sure you didn't fall of your chair in completely exhaustion. The fruit too."

"I wasn't going to fall out of my chair. I was just dizzy that is all," she said taking a big bite out of her orange almost like she was trying to make a point to him.

"Yeah well I remember that the last time you spent the night here you swore to us all that you would not let yourself go hungry. Am I going to have to spend my nights here now? Should Bones and I take turns?"

"Yesh calm down, I am a lot better now. It just that last night I had so many thing and the simplest one was working and I just wanted to… you know…"

"No I don't know. You are important and everything blah blah blah. I am pretty sure that Starfleet wouldn't like it if you decided to collapse from exhaustion so you can't do this any more." He was worry. Kirk didn't have to tell her or any one really how worry he gets with her. She was brilliant one of the most important minds in the fleet so she got a lot of projects from personal to consulting. Sometimes he wondered if Lydia even wanted to have so many people asking for her help like this but she wasn't one to turn anything away.

"So what wasn't working for you last night?" She had finished her dinner and was now on the last of her orange so he thought it would be all right to ask her now.

Without looking, she grabbed something from her desk and put it in his hands. It was a mess of wires by now and he wasn't even sure what it was or what it did.

"So at the risk of sounding stupid and embarrassing myself in front of you so you finally realize that I am not as awesome as you seem to think…what the heck is this?"

Lydia laughed as she looked at him. He was trying so hard she knew but he was no engineer and even so, a mess of wires on a board would only made sense to the person who made it.

"Nice laugh at your friend that was so worried about you that he sat next to you while you finished eating."

"It's nothing until it fits in here," she said pointing at something behind her. "Once it's in place it's going to help with the air filtration system on the ships so that it doesn't over …" she stopped looking at Kirk who had a strange face at that moment. "It's going to make it easier for the filters to do their job without taking so much energy. But the stupid piece will not fit in the place it's supposed to and I can't make it smaller, before you ask," she said with a smile.

"Well there goes my only solution then," Kirk said giving it back to Lydia. "How are you felling now?"

Lydia took a minute to stretch in the chair before she even attempted to stand. "Yeah I am good." Her body had fallen asleep at a funny angle and she was definitely going to feel it later but until then yeah she was good.

"Well that is good," said Kirk as he stood with her still trying to make sure she didn't fall over. "Seriously Lydia," he said taking her hands in his. "Don't do this again please. You may not believe it but there are more than a few people who would be very mad at you if this ever happened again. So please, just take care of yourself. That's all we want."

Lydia had to smile up at him. She knew Kirk cared for her more than anyone else did. They had been abandon to each other while they were really young, and that had made feel like they were all each other had.

"Jim don't worry I promise I will take care of myself. Never going to happen again."

"Yeah right come on," Kirk said pushing her out of the lab to get her some sunlight. He laughed when he heard her laughing. He wouldn't admit this, ever, but that sound was definitely one of his favorites.