A/N: I know, I said this was finished already. And it was, even back then when I started posting this all that time ago. Yeah, I'm terrible, and while I finished this on my Archive of Our Own profile, I kind of forgot to update it here as well. I know, I'm so ashamed of myself.

No Such Thing As a No Win

At least Leonard thought so. That was until Jim's first try at Kobayashi Maru simulation. The fact that Jim was able to hold his own for longer than anyone else before (even if half of his crew was pretty unwilling to work with him, see the girl at communication console) was just not good enough for the kid. Few months later Jim took the simulation again. He pulled them through for even longer than before – only to have the whole ship destroyed, when he ordered evacuation of the ship.

"You did well, kid," he said quietly to Jim, when they were sitting in their room. The daylight was already chased away by darkness of the night, when they got out of the simulator.

"No, Bones," said Jim, turning to face him. "Not good enough." He started to pace around the room. "You know," he added conversationally, "the test is just a big cheat. I mean, you can't be tested about something when you can't best it."

"Jim," protested Leonard, "that's what the test is about. It can't be beaten."

"It can," said Jim, resolution shining in the blue depths of his eyes, "and it will."

He didn't see much of Jim for the next few weeks, the kid always staying in the library as long as he could, returning to their room only to grab a few hours of sleep and disappearing in the morning once more. If it wouldn't be for that incident when Jim marched into their room, clad only in his underwear, the rest of his clothing packed into a bundle in his arms, he wouldn't even realize Jim was preparing something.

"Just you wait, Bones," he answered his question about 'what the hell did you do this time, Jim?!' with a grin. "Just you wait for a few days, and you'll see it for yourself."

And he did. They were in the simulator again, the consoles flicking into darkness… only to blink into life again with the same startling light. "Load the torpedoes! Fire at my command… now!"

The enemy ships were destroyed. The simulation ended. When Jim turned around and flashed him his patented cocky smile, he knew that the kid was in trouble. And big trouble this time. The Academy hearing which proved him right took place the next day in the morning. Jim had been pale, when he was called forward – but otherwise, he was as resolute as always.

"I believe I have the right to face my accuser."

It wasn't that Leonard was xenophobe or anything like that. He liked other races just fine. Vulcans did not like to be touched; Andorians were pretty protective of their antennas… The list could continue. But this man, this Vulcan, he despised on the very first sight. People were generally nervous when Vulcans were around; their presumed coldness and the feel of supremacy which radiated from them in waves did that to most of the humans. This one was radiating the same feel as much as at least four Vulcans would.

"Captain cannot cheat death. You, James Tiberius Kirk, should know this better than anyone else."

That green-blooded, pointy-eared son of a bitch. He was so going to stab him with hypos into the next century, once he will have the chance. To pull this card… kicking Jim in the balls would be less painful. Even the admirals sitting there looked at Spock incredulously. Pike certainly looked as a little kid who had been told not to play with his food and finish that spinach, please, darling.

It remained unknown what more would have been tossed between the accuser and accused, because that was when there is a yeoman running to the admirals, waving a PAD around excitedly. Vulcan is facing geological catastrophe and in desperate need of help. Well, as desperate as Vulcans could ever get. Everyone was to report on his or her ship and prepare for launch.

Each class had someone to report to, so they knew to which spaceship they were assigned to. But while Leonard's name had been said in the list of those who were assigned to Enterprise, Jim only found out that due to him being on academic suspension, he was taken out of the assignment lists. The kid looked so lost at the moment that he just looked around quickly and jabbed him with a hypo.

"Fuck, Bones! What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Mud-flea vaccine. It will make you look ill, so as your primary physician I have to take you with me on the ship."

It didn't seem to be such a good idea, when Jim got allergic reaction to something in the vaccine, his hands swelling dangerously. Before he could do anything about that, though, another of the miracle working children on Enterprise started speaking to the whole ship over the comm, telling them what exactly is going on. Before only slightly agitated Jim now jumped to his feet, running from sickbay in search of Uhura, Leonard chasing after him with a hypo which should counter the allergic reaction, returning Jim's hands to normal and help him breathe more easily. He didn't manage to do that until Jim finally located Uhura and then he finally stabbed him with hypo. Well, he may have used more force than necessary but no one could really blame him for that.

The kid then dragged them both to the bridge – only to find himself facing his accuser again, together with rather surprised looking Captain Pike. After some frantic shouting Jim finally told Pike everything he realized when he was listening to Chekov's report. Uhura added the necessary ring of truth to his words, when she confirmed the Klingon transmission about their fleet destroyed just few days ago. That was when the ship jumped from warp and field of destruction unfolded before their eyes. It was not long before they were attacked by a ship which was way too advanced for this age; their communication jammed, just like their transporters.

Leonard was unsure what the hell was happening on the bridge, once the ship was hit. He had been running to the sickbay, where already the wounded started to show up.

"Where is Puri?" he shouted at one of the nurses. Speaking in his normal voice would leave his question unheard, but part of him winced at the tone of his voice.

The woman looked to be nursing a serious case of shock, as she looked up to him. She just pointed to her right: "He was there, when the ship was hit."

He looked the way she pointed to. That piece of ship had been missing. Meaning Puri was dead. And that meant that he just became the Chief Medical Officer. Not wanting to waste any more of the precious time they had, he sent another doctor to do the triage, Chapel to prepare surgery, other to gather supplies. They were in the middle of at least stabilising of those who will need their turn in surgery, when the comm beeped.

"Sickbay," he snapped into the communicator.

There had been short silence on the other side of the comm. "Doctor McCoy?" sounded Spock's voice. "What happened to doctor Puri?"

"The part of the ship he was in is currently missing. Does that answer your question?" It obviously did, since Spock said: "Then you are the new CMO," which led to Leonard snorting: "Tell me something I don't know," before he ended the connection.

The biggest rush was already ending, when he was called to the Bridge. The ship's gossip mill was working wonders even in crisis, as he learnt on the way that Spock's mother had been lost during transport from Vulcan, before the whole planet collapsed. All of that had been too much to wrap his mind around, so he mostly focused on small things. Get to the bridge. Listen to what they want you to hear. Say something. Return to sickbay. It was just some sick luck that Jim, who was not even supposed to be on the ship, got himself marooned on Delta Vega for trying to mutiny. And he was torn between supporting his friend and taking care of the patients in medbay. And as a doctor he had to choose his patients. He only hoped that Jim will forgive him. It still made him twitchy, he thought of Jim alone on some frozen ball, so when Spock took it to himself to thank him for siding him against Jim, he just snapped.

"Damn that pointy-eared, green-blooded hobgoblin," he grumbled, as he rushed back to sickbay. He heard something about plotting course towards Laurentian system. 'Jim thought it wrong, to go there…' he thought as he was sewing someone's hand together. Luckily, all the critical patients were stabilized – or in the worse case dead, which made him angry. But at the same time, he remembered what his father told him.

"You know, Leonard, you can never be quick enough, brilliant enough, to save absolutely everyone. But never let that stop you from trying your best."

That was when he was called to bridge again. And there… Jim, somehow worse to wear but alive was there, together with some completely strange man. Acting Captain Spock was obviously demanding some answers – while Jim was being Jim at his worst (or best, that depended n your point of view). Cocky, arrogant, no manners and bluntness sticking from him as spines sticking from a hedgehog. He kept on needling Spock, the whole bridge watching the whole scene with fascination usually reserved only for watching car crash.

Jim had been watching Spock intently with each word he said, with each step he made into the Vulcan's personal space. Only once his eyes flicked away, for a microsecond, to seek out him – the deepest blue with stars in them. When they returned to their target, Jim's lips twisted into ugly grin. "But you do not care, do you? You never even loved her!"

In that moment the tension on the bridge finally snapped – the sudden silence broken by inhumane roar. Jim was thrown around few bits, while all of them jumped to their feet, shocked cries escaping them. Apart from several pained whizzes Jim made when Spock's fists connected with his torso or when he got punched in the face he was completely silent, staring directly into Spock's face, as the Vulcan was strangling him over the helm console. Right in the moment when Leonard's hand slipped to his belt, towards the sedative hypo, the other Vulcan, Spock's father Sarek, finally spoke:

"Spock."

That one word conveyed so many meaning to Spock that he released Jim's neck and dazedly stepped aside. And he renounced his captainship, too. Leonard obviously didn't sound as if he believed in Jim's leadership skills too much, because there had been hurt briefly flashing in his eyes. Uhura voiced similar sentiment ("I hope you know what you are doing, Captain), only to be rewarded by laconic reply "so do I."

He then broadcasted ship-wide announcement. Basically 'everyone prepare to fight. Enterprise is going after Nero,' speech. Fuck.