The Kobayashi Maru

Three Years Later…

As luck would have it, it was NOT the last time one James T. Kirk encountered Victoria or vice versa, as it turned out, both had nearly every class together, a fact which both amused and irritated Uhura and Bones through the course of their three years in the Academy. The two had an…odd relationship, an even odder friendship that had grown in those years together. Bones was still convinced that they HAD to be married secretly and were just denying it out loud for the sake of covering themselves, perhaps disapproving parents or some other such thing. Everyone who encountered them tended to think the same.

The two bickered worse than an old married couple, so much so that it was almost a sport to watch them go at each other at times. And it was the weirdest thing as well as, half the time, they'd end up screaming at each other one second and the next their argument would turn into a rather loud discussion of something different, like what they should eat when they arrived in the cafeterias or who should take what part of an assignment. It was ridiculous to see them go through the process of fighting and have it end up with neither of them actually fighting about anything anymore.

But whatever way they resolved their issues and kept from murdering each other was good in the books of most Cadets.

They didn't actually argue in a full on row all that much, not for about two years now, but more…bickered and shot things back at each other. But there always seemed to be some sort of…affection, if that were the right word, behind their tones and digs. There was a respect that had grown between them and the friendship that had been forged was truly something remarkable for Bones and Uhura to witness.

It really did confuse quite a few Cadets how Victoria and Kirk could get into a tiff about how she was acting like a 'sourpuss' as Kirk would call her and they'd shout at each other, till it was revealed that some boy had insulted her in a way where she was genuinely hurt by the comment…and then the next thing they'd hear about, Kirk was facing suspension for punching another Cadet. Or the times where Kirk would be 'gloomy,' a term that Victoria would insist was not right for him, and they'd bicker and 'sass' each other till Kirk admitted that it was his mother's birthday or some other major event and he wasn't there to celebrate it with her or eat some of her famous pie that she made on special occasions…and then hours later a pie would be sitting outside of Kirk's dorm room.

Their friendship made no sense to anyone, they fought like cats and dogs…but then went out of their way to protect and cheer the other up. And it didn't help that the 'behind the scenes' moments were done with the effort of not revealing who had done it or why. Kirk would proclaim he'd punched a Cadet because the boy attacked him first (not adding on that he'd egged the person into 'attacking' him first) and NOT because said Cadet had been a jerk to Victoria, much like Victoria would deny having any sort of pie-making knowledge, swearing that she could burn water if left in a kitchen by herself.

Bones and Uhura especially had given up long ago trying to define exactly what Kirk and Victoria were to each other. Important, they knew that much, but exactly how they felt…well they could guess. There were little things that the two did, when they thought the other or other people weren't looking, that gave them away. Kirk would look at her when she studied, when she sat there with a book before her, a pencil across her mouth, chewing on it as was her bad habit. He'd watch her at times when she was focused or concentrating on something, and there would be the smallest of smiles on his face, the softest of looks in his eyes. He'd stutter and stumble over his words when he was caught looking, sometimes even when Victoria and he spent time together outside of classes or the Academy, when they were allowed to wear their civilian clothes instead of their uniforms. Outside the Academy, the two seemed to gravitate towards each other, sticking close when they were in large crowds, keeping near each other when they entered bars or one or two clubs that the other Cadets frequented.

There had been one time that had nearly given Bones a heart attack, a time that Uhura STILL teased Victoria about. They'd been in a club only a year ago, where a man had been shamelessly trying to get Victoria's attention, only to have her reject him time after time, and the man STILL kept trying. Kirk had stepped up, the two of them forced to resort to the old 'this is my boyfriend' ploy to keep the man back. It had been…amusing to see it happen as HE'D been standing right next to the woman when it went down as well and she'd essentially not even given a thought to HIM as her boyfriend before pointing across the scene to Kirk as he brought them drinks back on his round, claiming Kirk was her boyfriend. To be honest, Bones was quite glad that she hadn't selected him as her beau given what happened later when Vicky, as he took to calling her, knowing it irritated her almost as much as Kirk calling her by her full name (apparently she'd gotten her fill of 'icky Vicky' when she'd been growing up), had nearly reached her wit's end with the man. He'd still not gotten the hint that Victoria was apparently taken and…she'd been forced to take desperate measures to convince him of that.

She'd turned when the man had proclaimed she was just lying to try and play hard to get…and grabbed Kirk, kissing him full on the lips for quite a long time…really just until the man had walked off, but he knew that her claim of it lingering on a few moments after the man disappeared as being 'to make sure he was gone' was a load of bull. He'd honestly never seen Kirk as flustered or shocked over a kiss (and he'd seen Kirk go after plenty of women) as when Victoria had pulled away, acted as though it hadn't happened, stood up and offered to buy the next round to celebrate the man's departure before walking off.

He had truly thought that she'd broken Kirk that night, he'd just been…off…the rest of the night.

He and Uhura had expected awkwardness galore the next day, but it hadn't come. It seemed like both Victoria and Kirk were just…acting their normal selves. To that day they both had NO idea what might have happened or gone through the minds of their friends that the kiss was all but forgotten and they'd gotten on with their lives. But…that was the start of the affection.

At first, Kirk and Victoria couldn't seem to stand each other after their start at the Academy, but slowly they had seemed to develop a respect for each other, and then a friendship, and after that kiss…an affection for the other. Oh they still bickered, but they didn't quite scream-argue as much as they had before.

And speaking of bickering, Bones rolled his eyes as he walked on Kirk's right, Victoria on his left, down the stairs of the Academy and outside, the two going back and forth about something that was clearly making Kirk very happy. Oh he knew the man was happy not just in his grin but in how he wasn't actually bickering with Victoria but more exchanging witty retorts instead.

And when Kirk was grinning…it was never a good thing.

"Why are you so happy?" Bones glanced at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kirk just kept smiling.

"No, I don't suppose you do," he rolled his eyes.

Victoria scoffed, "You should have remembered who you were talking to Bones," she quipped, "James hardly knows anything."

"Hey!" Kirk mock-pouted at her, "I'll have you know I know loads of things."

"Oh yeah?" she gave him an amused smile, crossing her arms, "Give me the proper name of one of the emergency failsafes that can be found in the programming of a warp drive?"

Kirk blinked, "I know IMPORTANT things."

"And YOU want to be a captain?" she rolled her eyes, that would probably be one of the most important things to know about, "Then tell me, oh Captain my captain, what are these oh-so important things that you DO know?"

"I know you can only chew pencils when you're focusing," he shot back, "Ever since that pen exploded in your mouth at least," he laughed as she rolled her eyes, "I know you hate red candies because they make people's mouths too red like they've been sucking blood or something. I know your ankle cracks when it's about to rain because of a injury during a self-defense class. I know…"

"I said tell me IMPORTANT things James."

"I just DID, Victoria," he mimicked the dragging out of her name like she'd dragged out his.

Victoria blinked at that, realizing…he had been blurting out facts about HER when she'd demanded that of him. She nearly smiled, almost touched by the fact that THAT was where his mind had gone when talking of importance…had two women in Cadet uniforms not walked by for Kirk to shoot a grin and a 'Hello, ladies,' at. So she settled for rolling her eyes at him instead.

"He's all excited because he's taking that stupid test again," Victoria told Bones.

"You got to be kidding me," Bones looked at Kirk, incredulous.

"Yeah," Kirk just grinned, "Tomorrow morning and I want you there. The both of you," he pointed at him and Victoria, "Which means no sleeping till noon Victoria."

She rolled her eye at him again, "Like you can talk James. I had to throw water at you to get you out of bed during the last fire drill."

Bones snorted at that, that had been…quite an experience too. He'd noticed that, in the middle of the night, when the drills went off, when Kirk or Victoria were dead asleep and woke to the jarring noise of the alarm…they were disoriented, yes, but more so…they didn't run for the exits like the other Cadets. Instead they pushed their way through the crowds towards the other's room, almost like they were trying to check that the other got out safely. The last time Kirk had only just fallen asleep an hour before the alarm went off and was dead to the world. Victoria had run in on him trying to wake the sleeping Kirk…and run to the bathroom to throw water on him to wake him. It had been one of the chillier nights so the water soaking his hair and skin hadn't helped. It hadn't helped even more when he'd given his jacket that he'd grabbed to Victoria, the girl standing there in rather short pajama bottoms and a tank top with socks on. Kirk had gotten a cold from that, and the next morning a small thermos of homemade soup was sitting outside the door to the room…with his jacket folded up under it.

But it hadn't been Victoria at all, she swore it, not her, no.

"You know, I've got better things to do than to watch you embarrass yourself for a third time," Bones remarked, "I'm a doctor, Jim, I'm busy."

"Bones, it doesn't bother you that no one's ever passed the test?" Kirk had to ask.

"Jim, it's the Kobayashi Maru," Bones deadpanned, "No one passes the test, and no one goes back for seconds, let alone thirds."

Kirk shook his head, smirking, "I got to study."

Victoria scoffed, "Study my ass," she muttered, only for Kirk to spin around and grab her hand, whirling her around so she was facing away from him, "Care to explain James?" she sighed, unamused.

Kirk just smirked, stepping closer to her so his back was pressed against her, still holding the hand he'd grabbed, turning his head to speak quietly in her ear, loving how he could feel her tensing against him at his proximity, "You DID tell me to study your ass," he joked, stepping back to look down at a lower part of her anatomy, "Best study session ever."

Victoria rolled her eyes, already used to comments like that from him, before she turned, using the hand he was still holding to pull him closer, stepping to the side and wedging his arm up his back, making him wince and let out a hiss of pain, though they both knew she wasn't actually holding him firmly enough to harm him, "You're studying the clothing OVER my ass," she whispered in his own ear, "That's not studying, that's cheating," and with that she let go of his arm and stepped past him, walking off.

"And when can the REAL study session begin then," he called after her, absently rubbing his arm.

She turned, walking backwards, "After you buy me a drink," she joked back, turning to continue on.

Kirk smirked and shook his head, watching her go and LOVING it, Bones rolling his eyes as he saw his friend's gaze drifting a little lower than was proper…and smacked him in the back of the head for it, "Keep looking at her ass Jim, and you'll be studying my fist."

Kirk rolled his eyes at that, he knew that Bones was protective of Victoria, though it was just a little weird because he was mostly that way when HE had something to do with the girl instead of every other boy in the Academy.

"Well then, my books await," he grinned, turning to head off as Bones sighed and rubbed his head.

Those two, if they didn't admit they were crazy about each other soon…were going to drive him insane.

~8~

"Did you get it?" Victoria asked as she stood outside the door to the Kobayashi Maru simulation control room.

Kirk grinned as he held up the card he'd swiped from Uhura's roommate Gaila, "Did you doubt me?"

"Knowing you?" she raised an eyebrow, "Yes."

"Must you hurt me Victoria?"

"Must you have a boy-brain, James?"

"How do I have a boy-brain aside from being a boy?"

"You thought the best way to swipe if off Gaila was through, what, making out with her on her bed?"

Kirk was silent, "And what would a girl-brain do?"

"Spill a drink on her and then, while she's distracted trying to clean herself off and you're scrambling t help, slip it out of her pocket."

Kirk blinked, "…would she be taking her shirt off to clean herself up?"

"No."

He shrugged, "I like the boy-brain plan."

"Of course you would," she sighed, "Just open the door, we don't have a lot of time, the guards check the halls every ten minutes and you're already 3 minutes late."

He rolled his eyes at her, her pet peeve about specific timing was really annoying, and swiped Gaila's key into the door lock, letting them in, they had quite a lot to get done and only minutes to do it in, "Right, what do I do?"

"Just stand there and don't touch anything," she called, moving to the command controls and turning the monitor on, the only light in the room being from it.

"I DO have a genius level intellect," he defended, "I can help."

"You also have a boy-brain," she countered, "And being a boy, in a dark, small room with a girl…you'll end up screwing it up."

"I take offense to that," he stated dryly, "It's like you think I have no self-control at all."

"You don't."

"Do."

"Don't."

"I control myself around you all the time," he grumbled, before stiffening, realizing what he'd said.

"Because if you so much as tried any of your tricks with me I'd have kicked you into submission," she shot back, too focused on putting the hack she'd worked on with him into the system.

Kirk cleared his throat, "Is there ANYTHING I can do?" he asked.

She sighed, "Just…take out the security feeds, erase the last few minutes so they won't know we're here. The hack shouldn't be trackable, but if that won't mean anything if they've got us on security footage."

He nodded, moving to another terminal and turning the monitor on to do just that.

"I don't even know why you're so obsessed with this test," she remarked, typing away, "It's not meant to be beatable."

"How do you figure?" he wondered, absently searching the security feeds for the room, ever since he'd joined the Cadet program he'd just…felt like he had to prove himself to everyone. Well, everyone except Bones, Uhura, and Victoria, but still…if he could beat the unbeatable test, it would mean he was meant to be there and others would see that too.

"The test puts you in the worst position imaginable, you and your crew, in a hostile situation, about to be destroyed. It's just meant to make sure that you, as a captain, can focus enough on seeing your crew safe, despite being scared out of your mind, to do something to save them. It's supposed to make you realize that you have to push past being scared and think things through. That's all."

"And where'd you get that from?" he glanced at her.

She shrugged, "Obvious isn't it?" she muttered.

He watched her a moment longer before he shook his head, that was just a Victoria thing to say. She could bicker and bicker and tease you and tease you till the cows came home, but every once in a while, when it was just them, and there was something important to one of them…she'd get all wise-woman on him.

"You done?" she glanced back at him, seeing him nod before looking at her watch, "Good, we've got barely a minute to get to the end of the hall ahead of the guards.

He headed for the door, both of them turning off their monitors, and cracked it open, looking up and down the hall to make sure the guard wasn't there yet, before reaching back instinctively to take her hand and pull her out of the room. They closed the door and rushed down the hall…JUST reaching the corner and turning down it as a guard stepped into the hallway, missing the man's sight by mere seconds.

~8~

Kirk could barely keep the smirk off his face as he sat in the captain's chair of the Kobayashi Maru simulation, looking around at the crew that he'd selected, Uhura, Bones, and Victoria among them.

"We're receiving a distress signal from the USS Kobayashi Maru," Uhura began the simulation, seeming as exasperated as Bones did to be there yet again, "The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them."

"Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them, Captain," he corrected, sending Uhura a smirk.

"Two Klingon vessels are entering the neutral zone," Victoria warned, "They appear to be locking weapons on us."

"That's ok," Kirk nodded.

Bones blinked and turned in his own chair beside Victoria's to stare at him, "That's ok?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

"Three more Klingon warbirds decloaking and targeting our ship, Captain," Victoria called, making Kirk smirk, her being the first to remember to call him 'captain' for this test.

"I don't suppose this is a problem either?" Bones asked dryly.

"And now they're firing," Victoria sighed.

"Alert medical bay to prepare to receive all crew members from the damaged ship," Kirk turned to Uhura.

"And how do you expect us to rescue them when we're surrounded by Klingons?" Uhura gave him a narrow-eyed look, rolling her eyes when he shot her a pointed look, "Captain."

"Alert medical," he repeated.

"Our ship is being hit!" Bones shouted as the simulated room shook, sparks going off, "Shields at sixty percent."

"I understand," Kirk nodded, FAR too calm for this to be normal.

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

"Hmm…" he hummed, pulling an apple from his pocket and taking a bite out of it, "No."

"Of course not," Bones grumbled…

All of them froze, looking up as the lights flickered above them, the power seeming to go off for a short moment before coming back on. Kirk glanced at Victoria as she looked over her shoulder at him, giving him a brief nod that had him smirking, "Hmm...arm photons, prepare to fire on the Klingon warbirds," he ordered.

"Yes, Captain," Victoria smirked, turning around to do just that.

"Jim, their shields are still up," Bones reminded him.

Kirk's own smirk just widened, "Are they?"

Bones frowned at the look and turned back to his monitor, blinking at the new readings now staring up at him, "No. They're not."

"Fire on all enemy ships," Kick stood, "One photon each should do it, so don't waste ammunition."

"Aye Captain," Victoria nodded, leaning in to tap the commands in, even though she was an engineering Cadet first and foremost, all crew members were trained in how to at least put in basic commands in the Bridge, in the event of an emergency, "Target locked and acquired on all warbirds. Firing."

Uhura blinked, watching as the simulation on the monitor before them all, where the windows would have been if they'd really been in space, were showing the warbirds blasted to pieces, "All ships destroyed, Captain."

Kirk nodded, pleased, "Begin rescue of the stranded crew," he looked around, "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," he turned to a small window through which he could see the programmers of the simulation gaping at him and winked.

~8~

Kirk sighed as he made his way into one of the lecture halls of the Academy where some sort of hearing was about to take place. Some poor soul had to have REALLY messed up for an academic hearing to be called. He'd just reached his seat, hadn't even sat down...when a voice rang out.

"This session has been called to resolve a troubling matter concerning two Cadets," Council Member Barnett stated to the group of Cadets gathered, "James T. Kirk, if you would join your peer."

Kirk frowned, looking at the 'defendant's' podium where a familiar ash-blonde girl was standing, and made his way down to her, "Any idea what this is about?" he whispered to her.

She rolled her eyes, "The hack on the Kobayashi Maru."

"You said they wouldn't be able to track your access, Victoria," he accused.

"And YOU said you'd taken out the security feeds, James," she hissed right back, knowing they'd be lucky if they didn't get expelled for this, "This is all your fault," she huffed, though not entirely serious, she knew she'd had an equal part in it, but...she was always rather bad at accepting her own blame in things. And now she might be expelled for all of this. Of everything she and Kirk had done in the last three years, THIS was what might do them in.

Oh that would be just wonderful, truly fantastic for her to get expelled. Her father would never be more proud of her for accomplishing that. It would be the greatest honor to befall her family if she were the first in generations to actually be kicked OUT of the Fleet. Just…fantastic. Though, if she was kicked out, she would be free to murder Kirk and make it look like an accident then without facing the added punishments dealt by the Fleet for it.

"Cadets," Barnett continued as Kirk and Victoria looked at the man, "Evidence has been submitted to this council, suggesting that you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to Regulation 17.3 of the Starfleet Code. Is there anything you care to say before we begin?"

"Don't you da…" Victoria began to Kirk, but he'd already opened his mouth.

"Yes, I believe we have the right to face our accuser directly."

They heard a small shuffling behind them and looked back to see a pale man with dark hair, wearing black, with pointed ears and eyebrows stand up. Victoria nearly groaned and face-palmed as she saw who exactly it was. As far as she knew there was only one Vulcan in the Academy, a Commander Spock. He was a very respected graduate of the Academy himself and often taught courses there. Uhura raved about the man whenever they got together with their roommates to eat. She was half-sure there was more going on between Uhura and her former professor, but that wasn't any of her business.

Ok, so she'd begged for the details and Uhura had been quite forthcoming with them.

But that was NOT something she would ever bring up in a situation like this just to discredit Spock. That would only end up hurting Uhura in the long run and she didn't want to do that to her friend. If worse came to worse though, she was more than prepared to allude to what she knew if it would throw Spock off.

"Step forward, please," Barnett gestured Spock down to take the other podium as he introduced the man to others who were unaware who he was, "This is Commander Spock. He's one of our most distinguished graduates. He's programmed the Kobayashi Maru exam for the last four years. Commander?"

"Cadets," Spock began, "You somehow managed to install and activate a subroutine to the programming code, thereby changing the conditions of the test."

"Yes, and?" Victoria shook her head, if they were about to be expelled, they might as well go out with a bang. And if the security feeds hadn't been erased like she thought they had or if her access and hack had been able to be traced...then they already knew both she and Kirk were guilty of the crimes they'd been accused of."

"In academic vernacular…you cheated."

"WE cheated?" she scoffed, she may not outright say what Uhura had told her, but she could at least make Spock aware she knew and warn him to back off, "Wouldn't you say…favoritism is a cheat as well?" she gave him a pointed look, seeing the man frown at her, confused by her words…till her gaze flickered for only a second in Uhura's direction, making Spock stiffen as he gathered what she meant.

"Let me ask you something," Kirk added, "I think we all know the answer to. The test itself is a cheat, isn't it? You programmed it to be unwinnable."

"Your argument precludes the possibility of a no-win scenario," Spock defended.

"I don't believe in no-win scenarios," he smirked.

"Then, not only did you violate the rules, you also failed to understand the principle lesson."

"Yes, yes, we know, the point of the simulation is that a captain cannot cheat death," Victoria rolled her eyes, "Everyone is well aware that is the point."

"Everyone?" Kirk leaned forward to whisper to her.

"Everyone without a boy-brain," she hissed back.

Spock nodded, "Cadet Kirk, of all people, should know this."

Kirk stiffened at that, "I, of all people?"

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

Kirk's jaw tensed at that, but he could feel Victoria rest a hand on his behind the podium, "I don't think you like the fact that we beat your test."

"Furthermore, you have failed to divine the purpose of the test," Spock just kept talking, ignoring Kirk in the process.

"To experience fear," Victoria cut in, "That's the purpose, neither of us failed to understand that. Fear for yourself, fear for your crew, fear of death…to accept it and push past it so that you can at least try to save your crew. THAT's the purpose, isn't it?"

"Yes," Spock admitted after a moment.

"Then please, do enlighten us as to how we failed to divine the purpose behind it?"

Before Spock could even counter, a young man ran in from the side doors, "Excuse me, sir," he rushed to Barnett, handing him a note. Victoria frowned as she watched the young man more so than Barnett, he appeared rather nervous, wringing his hands, and...glancing at Spock.

Barnett looked at it for only a moment, reading through it quickly, before he stood, "We've received a distress call from Vulcan," Spock stiffened at that, "With our primary fleet engaged in the Laurentian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to Hangar One immediately. Dismissed!"

Kirk and Victoria continued to stand there as all the other Cadets rushed out of the room, Spock quickly moving to Barnett to speak to him as they too headed out.

"Who was that pointy-eared bastard?" Kirk grumbled as he watched Spock disappear.

"I don't know, but I like him," Bones smirked, all too amused to see Kirk finally get called out on something stupid he'd done, something he knew he'd probably dragged Victoria into too.

"Commander Spock," Victoria sighed, "He's a Vulcan," she looked at them, giving them both a pointed look, "No matter what you think of him…his planet might be in danger and it's our duty to help him. Right?"

"Right," Bones nodded.

Kirk sighed, "Let's go," before the three of them rushed off to join the other Cadets.

A/N: I love the little slips Kirk and Victoria seem to give, apparently it's not the first time they do it either ;) Much more of that to come :)

Some notes on reviews...

I can say that Spock Prime might just know Victoria yup ;) I thought it would be an interesting twist to have her help him with the simulation and SO blaming Kirk for it. That'll actually be a little running theme with them :)