Hey guys, sorry it took a few weeks! I was sick and started my full time job finally, so it's been crazy. Hope you enjoy! Thank you to everyone who left reviews, and for the favorites and follows!

Three Years Later

"Bonesy! Hey, hey, wait up!" Jasmine was a red blur as she raced through the halls and out the doors. She hastily threw an apology to an Andorian girl that she almost knocked over, but kept her sights firmly planted on the doctor.

"No." That's all he had to say when she appeared at his side.

"No what?" Incredulously her face snapped to his, trying to hide her guilt. They stopped at the bottom of the staircase and he turned to the tall cadet. She crossed her arms and squared her shoulders, trying to match his stance.

"No. Whatever it is, no. I know that look Jim, and I don't like it." She smirked slightly at the nickname before trying to hide her grin again. "That's the look that comes right before expulsion."

"Oh don't be dramatic, Bones! Where's your sense of adventure?!" Exasperated, she threw her hands up in the air and rolled her eyes at her friend, the wet blanket.

"Why are you so happy then?" Leonard countered. He had to admit, he was pretty curious. She was in rare form- the girl looked like she was glowing. Her hair was more crazy than usually which meant she had been a) running around like a maniac, and/or b) playing with it like she does when she's excited or nervous about something. Her big blue eyes were shining and she was practically squirming with whatever she had to tell him.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She bit the inside of her cheek to keep it in. Jazzy had been waiting all day to tell him, but she was not going to let him win.

"No, I don't suppose you do." The two had a quick staring contest, which was broken only when a Betazoid with tight pants passed by.

"Well hello, Mr. Ass-I-Just-Want-To-Eat-Pancakes-Off-Of..." She tilted her head to admire his toned assets. "Someone plays soccer..."

"Oh jesus Jim!"

"Hmm?" She turned to him slightly dazed before snapping back to reality. "Fine, fine- you win."

Rocking back on her heels she blurted out, "I'm taking the test again."

Bones groaned loudly. "You've got to be kidding."

"Yeah, tomorrow morning, and I want you there!"

"You know, I've got better things to do than watch you embarrass yourself for a third time."

"No you don't." She told him flatly, but he ignored her easily.

"I'm a doctor, I'm busy!"

"Bones," Turning serious for a moment, she stepped closer to him and dropped her voice slightly. "It doesn't bother you that no one's ever passed the test?"

"It's the Kobayashi Maru!" He stated like that explained everything and she found herself trying not to roll her eyes again. "No one passes the test, and no one goes back for seconds- let alone thirds!"

The tanned girl rocked back on her feet in place a few times before leaning forward to peck him on the cheek.

"I gotta study, I'll see you later!"

"Study, my ass." He mumbled back, and she made sure to snap back, "It ain't your ass I'm studying, baby!"

Dodging between people she made her way to the library with her mind on a completely separate plane. Third time is totally the charm. One hundred percent. It's going to work. Yep. For sure.

Will's mouth was hot against hers and she moaned as he playfully slid his hands down her back and grabbed her rear. He pushed her up against the wall of the broom closet and took advantage of the position to rub his body against hers. She moved her hands down and pushed his shirt up, dragging her fingernails down his stomach and biting his lip at the same time. He grabbed at her hair and yanked her head back, placing little nips and kisses at the nape.

"Jazz..." He breathed out between kisses. "I think I love you."

Briefly she was pulled from the sensation and her heart raced. "That's... That's weird." She laughed awkwardly and went to pull him back in for a kiss but he yanked himself back like he had been burned. He quickly reached up and pulled the cord and light flooded the room. Jazzy flopped back against the wall as he pulled away. She sighed and started fixing her hair, knowing exactly how this was going to go.

"Did you just say that's weird?"

"I mean it kind of is, it hasn't been that long." She shrugged nonchalantly and looked down to pick at her nails.

"So you don't love me too?" He crossed his arms and stared at her, but it was much more fun when she and Bones did it. Jazzy met his eyes before reaching down to fix her clothes quickly. His face fell a little as she reached for doorknob.

"I'm sorry." She offered him a smile and squeezed his shoulder. Not being completely heartless, she actually meant it. "I'm promise it's not you."

"What the hell does that mean?" He snapped back and recoiled from her touch.

She hesitated but managed to keep up the sad smile. "Good bye Will."

With that, she flounced out and ignored the stares from people passing in the halls. In some ways, the academy was like high school- like it or not, everyone always knows your business so you may as well embrace who you are and what you do.

Outwardly she was smiling, but she honestly did feel bad. Will had been surprisingly sweet from the very beginning, yet very flighty. The love confession wasn't exactly something she had planned on happening.

It had less to do with him and everything to do with her father. Love was as destructive as it was constructive, and that was something she was not prepared to face. She was born from a destroyed romance and, even though she hadn't known her mother before her father passed, she had seen enough pictures and spoken with enough of her parents' old friends to know that Winona was not the same woman she once was.

No no, emotional loss was not for this Kirk, no sirree! Just playing and looking and liking, that's all she needed. No one special- just herself and the occasional distraction. Everyone knows that you can't get hurt if no one can get to you.

The comfort from that, as always, outweighed the loneliness.

For now.

"Gaila, seriously, I don't want any more guys in our room!" She was broken out of her reverie by the familiar voices and she craned her neck to find them in the crowded cafeteria she had wandered into. Gaila and Uhura were sitting a few tables over, probably wasting time before their history classes. The green Andorian girl was half-heartedly nodding to Uhura and pretending to care, but when she noticed Kirk she quickly jumped up and moved around the table to hug her.

"Jazzy! Hey, I've been looking for you!" As she leaned in she made sure to whisper, "Help me, she won't stop!"

"I heard that!" Uhura snapped and crossed her arms, nodding to Jazzy as an afterthought. She grinned back and sat down next to Gaila.

"So what did you do now?" She leaned in to tease her friend who immediately bristled.

"I brought one guy to the room, just on-"

"One this week! It's the seventh this semester and I-"

"I have a lot of friends-"

"They are not friends, don't-"

"It's not my fault you're not getting any!"

Jim struggled to hold it in and not laugh, but when Uhura's face turned red from the last comment she lost it and giggled wildly.

"Hey, what are you laughing at? You're not any better than me!" Gaila snorted, turning away to pout.

"Probably not, but you're both ridiculous." She winked at Uhura whose jaw was ticking like a bomb.

There was a short silence before the alien girl groaned and leaned towards the earth girl. "Fine, you win. No more roosters in the hen house!"

Uhura's face immediately cracked into a smug smile and she picked up her veggie burger. "Thank you!"

She went to take a bite but her eyes widened and she snapped up to meet Jazzy's eyes. "Oh! So guess what?"

"Hmm?" She raised her eyebrow in response as she moved to steal a drink of Gaila's milkshake.

"I figured you'd find it interesting! It was the strangest thing... I was in the long-range sensor lab, tracking solar systems, and I picked up an emergency transmission."

"Really? From who?" She furrowed her eyes in curiosity and swatted Gaila's hands away as she tried to steal the chocolate drink back.

"A Klingon prison planet. A Klingon armada was destroyed, forty-seven ships."

She blinked in surprise and Uhura nodded in understanding agreement.

"Any idea what happened?"

Uhura shrugged, frowning. "No idea. The professor said it's probably something home-grown, like a territory issue."

Jazzy leaned back and frowned back at her. "That's terrible. Let's hope it's a one time thing."

"No kidding, can you imagine how bad that could get?" The other two girls nodded in agreement before continuing onto lighter topics.

"We are receiving a distress signal from the U. S. S. Kobayashi Maru. The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them." Jazzy struggled not to laugh at Uhura's bad acting and the slight sarcastic tone. Her parting words to the blue-eyed cadet before they had begun were 'good luck, dumbass.'

"Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them, "Captain"." She spun her chair so she could look Uhura dead-on, but miscalculated and swung to face Bones. Not amused, he rolled his eyes and turned away at once before starting his part.

"Two Klingon vessels have entered the Neutral Zone and are locking weapons on us."

She took great care to readjust herself then, using the chair to brace her arms and tuck her legs underneath her. Highly doubting that flashing the judges her underwear would get her any points (even though they were super cute and lacy) she moved to the side so her legs swung over the arm, and crossed her legs daintily.

"That's okay!" Jazzy chirped back, earning the doctor's raised eyebrows.

"That's okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it, s'all good."

A few of the people in the simulation glanced at each other but she ignored them. She rubbed her knuckles somewhat nervously and reached for the celebratory muffin she had placed on one of the consoles.

"Three more Klingon warbirds decloaking and targeting our ship. I don't suppose this is a problem either."

"Ooh good boy, you got it!" She winked at him and he stared back at her like she had grown an extra head.

"They're firing Captain!" Another cadet interjected. Her heart sped up and she rolled her shoulders back confidently.

"Alert Medical Bay to prepare to receive all crew members from the damaged ship!" She called dramatically, making sure to place emphasis on the word 'all'.

"And how do you expect us to rescue them when we're surrounded by Klingons?"

Jazzy stared her down until Uhura bitterly added, "Captain."

She spun her chair away and replied in a sing-song voice, "Alert Medical!"

"Our ship is being hit. Shields at sixty percent."

"I understand!" She broke off the first piece of the muffin.

"Well, should we- I don't know- fire back?!"

"Nope."

"Of course not." He muttered and she snickered into her snack.

Right then, the screens flickered out and the sound tapered off. She spun slowly in her chair to double check that all the screens went dark, somehow maintaining a neutral face. Another bit of her muffin and she was pleased to find chocolate chips in it as the screens came back to life- right on time.

"Oooo-kay, arm photons. Prepare to fire on the Klingon warbirds."

The cadet nodded at her, but Bones argued back. "Jim, their shields are still up!"

She licked chocolate off her fingers casually. "Are they?"

He glanced back at the screens and she felt her heart sputter as he mumbled that they were, in fact, not.

"Fire on all enemy ships! One photon each should do it, let's not waste ammunition." She took a big bite and chewed giddily as all of the simulated ships were shot and annihilated. On the last one she made a gun with her fingers and mouthed 'pew pew' at Uhura, who sent her an irritated look.

"Begin rescue of the stranded crew." Jasmine popped up and walked towards the glass where the judges were peering in. "So! We've managed to eliminate all enemy ships, no one onboard was injured, and the successful rescue of the Kobayashi Maru crew is underway." Smirking at the judges, she tossed the last bit of muffin in her mouth.

"How the hell did that kid beat your test?" The lieutenant asked disbelievingly.

Spock stared down at the girl, meeting her blue eyes briefly before turning back to him. "I do not know."

"This session has been called to resolve a troubling matter. Jasmine T. Kirk, step forward."

Shit. Shit shit. Shit shit, shittily shit, shit shit.

She swallowed hard and stood up, smoothing out her skirt as she did so. She could feel hundreds of eyes on her as she made her way to the podium. Once she looked up and met his eyes, she knew immediately what was happening. She rolled her shoulders back to feign some confidence and took a deep breath.

"Cadet Kirk, evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting that you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to 17.43 of the Starfleet Code. Is there anything you care to say before we begin, miss?" Her heart was racing and a low buzzing filled her head, but she masked it very carefully.

"Yes, I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly?" The council leader nodded and moved his gaze to the side. Jazzy glanced back and watched as a tall Vulcan man stood up and made his way towards the opposite podium. He looked startlingly calm and, for the first time in a long time, she actually felt a little intimidated.

"This is Commander Spock. He is one of our most distinguished graduates. He has programmed the Kobayashi Maru exam for the last four years." The man's eyes bored into the side of her head as she turned to him and she felt a flash of anger fly up her spine. With his eyebrows raised like that she thought she was about to be given a stern talking to followed closely by a trip to the timeout chair. "Commander?"

"Cadet Kirk, you somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine in the programming code, thereby changing the conditions of the test." His voice actually made her grind her teeth, it was so infuriatingly calm.

"Your point being?" She tossed back icily.

"In academic vernacular, you cheated." This time the leader spoke up, but this was something she had already considered herself.

"Let me ask you something I think we all know the answer to." She felt the warning look he sent her for the sarcastic tone, but she continued and projected her voice to be louder."The test itself is a cheat, isn't it? I mean, you programmed it to be unwinnable."

"Your argument precludes the possibility 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 principal lesson."

Dear god this guy was patronizing. Her head snapped up so she could narrow her eyes at him. "Please, enlighten me."

"You of all people should know, Cadet Kirk, that a captain cannot cheat death."

Blue eyes widened in shock before they darted away. She could see Gaila in the audience staring in surprise as well, and Bones was nearby looking angry as hell. Her entire body bristled and she looked down, trying to control the building anger. Before she could stop, she couldn't help but ask, "I of all people?"

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

Son of a bitch, how dare you? Something in her snapped and she turned to him sharply.

"Did I actually miss the point Commander, or do you just not like the fact I beat your test? That's a sensitive ego you've got there."

"Furthermore," Spock spoke louder, speaking over her. "You have failed to divine the purpose of the test."

"Enlighten me again." Jazzy growled.

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

"That's quite interesting coming from you." This time her eyes met his, she could see concealed anger flicker in his eyes for just a moment.

A cadet interrupted them, walking quickly to the council and leaning towards the head. She took the moment to try and collect herself.

Bones watched carefully as his friend squirmed in place. He had seen her best and worst, and knew how sensitive she was about her father. It wasn't surprising in the slightest and most people never brought it up because, well, it was common sense. He took a moment to gauge the Vulcan's stance too. Judging by how tensely his shoulders were squared, Jim had also managed to hit a nerve.

"We've received a distress call from Vulcan," The head stood up quickly and handed off papers to his fellow council members. "With our primary fleet engaged in the Laurentian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to Hangar One immediately. Dismissed."

She felt a pang of empathy for Spock momentarily, but it evaporated as he gave her one final scan over and walked past, clearly unimpressed.

"Who was that pointy-eared bastard?"

"I don't know, but I like him." She sent Bones the nastiest look she could as he winked back at her.

Hangar One was a noisy, chaotic beehive of activity. There were so many of those who had never stepped foot inside an actual starship before. The fresh-faced cadets stood in clusters here and then, talking fast and excitedly while comparing ship stats. Jim would have been one of them- had she heard her name announced.

"Commander?!" She moved quickly, her ankle boots tapping noisily on the ground. "Sir, you didn't call my name! Kirk, Jasmine T."

"Kirk, you're on academic suspension. That means you're grounded until the Academy Board rules." The officer winced when he saw her face crumple at the news. "I'm sorry."

Bones grazed her back with his fingers comfortingly. "Jim, the board with rule in your favor." A pause. "Most likely."

Jazzy swallowed thickly, trying to comprehend what just happened. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of white and blue, and she moved without thinking. Ignoring the doctor's calls behind her, she marched straight up to the man at the computer in front of the Enterprise shuttle.

"Excuse me, Mr. Spock?" She spoke sweetly, folding her hands behind her so as to not beat the shit out of the Vulcan. "I need to talk to you."

"It can wait, cadet. The board is not present." She gritted her teeth when he did not even turn around to acknowledge her.

"It seems I am unable to join in on this mission."

"As per suspension policy, Cadet Kirk, you are correct. Without reaching a verdict it cannot be determined if you are ready for a Starfleet mission."

"Sir," Jim was really struggling not the pinch a pointy green-toned ear right now. "I don't think that's a fair assessment."

He sighed and turned to face her, staring her down without responding. This gave her a moment to look him over and assess him.

As all Vulcans do, he had short dark hair cropped close to his head and incredibly pale skin, and she took note of how he was actually taller than her. Jim Kirk was a leggy woman and was usually on par with most men but he dwarfed her. His pointy ears were odd, but strangely cute in an exotic way. Not a bad looking man by far, she begrudgingly admitted. Just a little intense.

"You are not above the rules, regardless of who your father was."

And he was an asshole.

"That's not what this is about!" She snapped, practically hissing the words at him. When he lifted an eyebrow she hastily added a quick"sir".

"Then why should you go?" Spock stared at her for another moment before walking speedily away, but she kept on his tail.

"I'm assuming you read my file?"

"Yes, but I do not have time to go over your test averages with you."

"Am I not one of the top students?"

He conceded easily, "Indeed you are."

"And did several professors not leave notes in my file describing my adaptability, my resourcefulness, my attention to detail, my passion for the cause, my ability to take charge of the situation, and my unparalleled ability to do any position needed as part of the crew?"

"Yes they did, but I do not see-"

"And did Captain Pike not personally leave a letter detailing why I belong in Starfleet?" She pushed him, now desperately diving in between people just to keep up with him.

Jazzy was very surprised when he turned on a dime and she almost ran into his chest. Righting herself quickly, she realized how close they were and automatically stepped back feeling flustered.

"Cadet Kirk, I do not fully understand why you came to me about this."

"You misunderstood why I did what I did on the test, for one thing." It tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"And how is that?" That same stupid eyebrow lifted and she knew right away he didn't believe her.

"You said it's because I don't accept fear. You stated it like that was a failure on my part." Jazzy waited for him to nod, and continued. "I don't accept fear because it's not an option. I will not accept death. I was raised to fight, Commander, and I won this fight."

He went to respond, but she kept going. "I did what I did because there is always a choice. Not an obvious one, but a choice nonetheless. A captain fights for their crew until the very end. They fight until their blood has drained out, all the air has escaped from their lungs, and their souls have long since departed. They don't just roll over and die."

Spock was admittedly caught off guard by the cadet's words. She had put a surprising amount of thought behind her reasoning. He took in her determined eyes and set jaw before answering.

"That is admirable to say, cadet. Not very logical, but I would expect nothing less." Jim searched his eyes pleadingly, but his eyes never softened. "I cannot do anything for you. It is out of my hands and not my decision. While I still do not agree with the results of the test, I will say I admire your persistence."

"I'm sure you mean that Commander, but that still leaves me stranded here, where I am of no use to anyone."

Spock added with finality, "That is all I can do for you."

She spent a moment searching his gaze for anything that could give her hope, but he nodded to her and walked away without a second glance. Staring after him, any part of her that was flattered was immediately outdone by disappointment. She felt Bones's presence behind her and felt even more alone.

"Jim, are you alright?" Straightening herself up she took a deep breath and forced a smile before turning to her friend.

"I'm great, great. You should go, I think they're getting ready to leave." She could tell he knew she was lying. She leaned forward and hugged him, followed by a chaste kiss to his cheek. "Be safe, I can't have my Bonesy-poo dying on me!"

He hugged her back tightly before walking away towards his ride. He turned back and watched her turn slowly in a circle, staring at the departing ships with a sad and bitter smile. Her big blue eyes pooled with tears and his stomach clenched in response.

"Dammit." He mumbled and walked back quickly to the cadet before grabbing her hand tightly in his. She jumped but obediently followed when he demanded, "Come with me!"