Dang, I was so close to finishing this chapter at like, 1 this morning, and it just didn't happen. Hahaa.

Disclaimer: I only claim T'Pel.

"McCoy, U.S.S. Enterprise! McGrath, U.S.S. Wolcott! Petrova, U.S.S. Enterprise! Radar, U.S.S. Hood! Welcome to Starfleet, and Godspeed." The Commander announced and everyone dispersed, save for T'Pel, McCoy, and Kirk.

"He didn't call my name." said Jim, running after the Commander. Bones took T'Pel's hand and led followed after Jim.

"Commander?" said Jim. "Sir, you didn't call my name. Kirk, James T."

"Kirk," said the Commander, operating a computer. "You're on academic suspension. That means you're grounded until the Academy Board rules." He ran off.

"Oh, no." T'Pel whispered.

"Jim, the Board will rule in your favor." Said Bones. "Most likely. Look, Jim, we gotta go."

Jim hesitated, but swung around to face them, his face confident, but obviously hiding sadness. "Yeah. Yeah, you guys go." He shook Leonard's hand. He looked at T'Pel, who gave him a small smile and he extended his arms. She slid her arm around his waist. He held her there a moment.

"Be safe." He whispered to her. She looked up at him with sad eyes and smiled, giving a small nod, not trusting herself to speak. She stood on her toes and he leaned down and she kissed him on the cheek.

"Come on." Bones took her hand like the big brother he was and they walked away towards their shuttle craft. But he stopped halfway there.

"Bones?" asked T'Pel.

"Damn it." He turned back towards Jim and she had to run to catch up.

"What are we-"

"Come with me." He pulled on Jim's arm and they fell in step behind him.

"Bones where are we going?" asked Jim.

"You'll see."

Kirk and T'Pel exchanged looks as they entered the medical bay.

"What are you doing?" Kirk asked again.

"I'm doing you a favor." McCoy walked over to a cabinet with vials of different kinds of medication in them. "I couldn't just leave you there looking all pathetic. Take a seat. T'Pel, help me with this."

Kirk sat down in a chair behind him and T'Pel ran to help him with whatever he was planning.

"I'm gonna give you a vaccine against viral infection from Melvaren mud fleas." He continued. T'Pel thought about it, and then it clicked in her head. She took the vaccine from McCoy's hands and mixed the different medicines required. Leonard grabbed some other different vials in another cabinet.

"Sorry about this." T'Pel shot Kirk in the neck with the vaccine.

"Ow! What for?" he jerked away and pulled at the collar of his shirt

"To give you the symptoms." Said McCoy.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're gonna start to lose vision in your left eye." Said T'Pel, grabbing some medicines of her own.

"Yeah, I already have."

"Oh, and your gonna get a really bad headache." McCoy pulled a strap over his head for his tricorder and walked over to Jim.

"And probably a flop sweat." T'Pel added.

"You call this a favor?" Jim was almost incoherent as McCoy held him up.

"Yeah." McCoy replied. "You owe me one."

T'Pel followed McCoy and the stumbling Kirk to the shuttlecraft across the hanger. They walked up the steps, dragging Jim pretty much the whole way, and were stopped by the Commander at the door.

"Kirk, James T. He is not cleared for duty aboard the Enterprise." He said.

"Medical code states the treatment and transport of a patient is to be determined at the discretion of his attending physician, which is me." Said McCoy. "SO I'm taking Mr. Kirk aboard. Or would you like to explain to Captain Pike why the Enterprise warped into a crisis without two of its senior medical officers?"

"Two?"

"Cadet Petrova is my assistant physician. And, as she is part of my team, she stays with Kirk, too."

The man hesitated. "As you were."

"As you were. Come on." He headed onboard the shuttlecraft, but the man stopped T'Pel.

"Wait," he said. "You're Cadet Petrova?"

"Yes, that's me." She looked confused.

"Well, Captain Pike was particularly interested in your accommodations at the Academy. You might want to go see him once you're on the ship."

"Okay, thank you."

She looked at McCoy, confused as they continued on. "Do you know what that was about?"

"Not a clue."

XxX

The shuttle landed in the hanger of the Enterprise and let the cadets off almost immediately. T'Pel

helped McCoy drag Jim through the halls and into sickbay.

"Where are we?" Jim was definitely drugged now.

"Medical Bay." Replied McCoy.

"This isn't worth it."

"A little suffering's good for the soul. T'Pel, get 20 cc's of Sonambutril ready."

"Okay." She took off to find a nurse.

"My mouth is itchy. Is that normal?" asked Jim as Bones sat him down on a table.

"Thos symptoms won't last long." T'Pel came back with the hypo.

"T'Pel's gonna give you a mild sedative."

"I wish I didn't know either of you."Jim wavered in his seat.

"Awe, sure you do!" T'Pel smiled.

"Don't be such an infant." Said McCoy. "T'Pel."

She stuck the hypo in his neck and he yelped.

"How long is it supposed to…" Jim fell unconscious.

"Unbelievable."

"You got that right." T'Pel giggled.

"Cadet Petrova, report to the bridge." Captain Pike's voice came over the ship's intercom.

"And so it begins." She said. McCoy smiled at her and she smiled back. They hugged, and he watched her leave the room for the bridge. His best friend and his little sister reporting for duty aboard the Starship Enterprise was a lot harder to handle than he thought.

XxX

"Engines at maximum warp, Captain." Said the helmsman, Hikaru Sulu.

"Russian whiz kid, what's your name?" said Captain Pike. "Chanko? Cherpov?"

"Ensign Chekov, Pavel Andreievich, sir." Said the young navigator in a thick, Russian accent.

"Fine, Chekov, Pavel Andreievich. Begin-"

"Sir, Cadet Petrova is here." Another cadet reported to the captain.

"Oh! Good, bring her in. Chekov, stand by on that order."

"Yes, Captain." He said, turning back to his station.

"You needed me, Captain?" T'Pel stood next to Captain Pike.

"Yes, I just wanted to meet you in person. I've heard a lot about you."

"I hope good things, sir." She smiled.

He chuckled at her sense of humor. "Yes, all good. Now, I hear you've applied to more than one field of work aboard this ship."

"Yes, sir. Assistant Medical, Assistant Engineering, and Assistant Communications. I have degrees in anatomy, I specialize in xenolinguistics and I'm proficient in 79.84% of official Federation languages and regional dialects. I have taken some of Mr. Spock's Advanced Phonology and Interspecies Ethics classes, and I also have degrees in Engineering as well as have taken Admiral Archer's Advanced Relativistic Mechanics class." She explained. "Sir."

"Well, that's quite an arsenal, there, Cadet. So, I've decided to place you on all duties. Can you handle that," he looked her in the eye. "Lieutenant."

T'Pel's face lit up. "Oh, yes, sir!"

"Great. Chekov."

"Yes, Captain." He turned in his chair to face Pike and he caught sight of T'Pel. She looked back at him and their eyes seemed to lock for a moment. Pike noticed the connection and chuckled to himself. The two youngest students in history fall for each other. It's like it was meant to be.

"Begin ship-wide mission broadcast." He continued.

"Y-Yes, sir. Happy to." Chekov reluctantly spun back in his chair to his station.

"Lieutenant Petrova," Pike added. "I've had a special uniform made for you. You can pick it up on deck eight."

"Yes, sir. And thank you, again." She smiled and took one last lingering glance at Chekov before heading into the turbo lift. She hit the button for deck eight and once the door was closed, she sunk into the floor, biting her lip. She giggled, hoping that wouldn't be the last time she would see Chekov while onboard the Enterprise.

Long? Yep, I thought so, too. :]

Cally