A month had passed since the incident, and most aspects of Charlie's life had returned to normal. There were still occasions when other cadets on campus would snicker at her, but it was better than the outright fits of laughter that used to follow her around every corner. Today, her main concern was the fact that she had to be in the same room with Kirk while he took the Kobayashi Maru for the third time, which undoubtedly meant that he was insane. However, her larger concern than Kirk's mental health was the fact that he was friends with Leonard McCoy and, more than anyone on campus, enjoyed torturing them both about the incident. She could only begin to imagine the types of stunts he would pull if they were in the same room together. If there was one thing she agreed with Uhura on, it was that Kirk was an ass.
Nyota, if at all possible, was even more upset about being assigned to take the test with Kirk. "I cannot believe I have to do this again! He's going to insist that everyone calls him captain, and I guarantee he is going to fail."
"While I agree with you, there is nothing we can do about it now and it is way too early to be yelling. Save your rant until after the test. After all, you'll have more to rant about then, anyway." Charlie had forgotten to program the coffee pot for the earlier wake up call. Coffee would just have to wait until after Kirk's exam.
Once they arrived, everyone was milling about and beginning to sit in their assigned seats. Just as Charlie was beginning to get comfortable, Kirk arrived with McCoy. "Isn't it a lovely morning, Bones? I am so happy that you were able to come!" Kirk had an apple in his hand and he definitely looked as if he had caffeine in his system. "Oh, and would you look at that! It appears that you have been assigned a seat next to your favorite fellow medical officer. I wonder who could have arranged that." Charlie assumed, due to the devilish gleam in his eyes, that Kirk had something to do with it. "I'm sure you two have a lot of catching up to do, Bones, but do me a favor and try to keep things PG. I need all of my officers with their heads in the game." He then smirked as he took a bite out of his apple.
Charlie felt her body go warm as McCoy awkwardly sat down next to her and the test began with the Kobayashi Maru requesting help. All of Nyota's responses to the orders of the 'captain' were sarcastic and angry.
Despite the embarrassment that 'the incident' – as it had been labeled by Charlie – brought on her, she felt twice as bad for McCoy because she had thrown him under the bus, too. Plus, he had to be around Kirk a lot more than she did, which must have been completely insufferable. She decided that she had to apologize to him because it was simply the decent thing to do. Now would probably be the only time she would be able to talk to him just out of Kirk's earshot.
"I've spotted Klingons, captain, what should we do?" she asked monotonously.
"Absolutely nothing," he replied, as he took another large bite out of his apple and chewed noisily.
"Are you crazy?" asked McCoy.
"He's taking this test for a third time, isn't he?" Charlie whispered, only just loud enough so that McCoy could hear. She cleared her throat quietly. "Um, McCoy, I'm very sorry about the night at the boxing tournament. I realize that I put you in an incredibly difficult situation, not only with the academy but also with the torment from Kirk and others on campus. Once again, I'm sorry and I hope you understand that it was entirely out of character for me. Please accept my apology," she begged. She had whispered this all very fast, not only to get it over with, but also because she didn't want Kirk to notice that they were talking and give him even more ammunition for teasing.
Before McCoy could answer, all of the systems went down, sending everyone on the 'ship' – with the exception of Kirk – into a wave of confusion. Kirk simply took another nonchalant, noisy bite out of his apple. Then, just as suddenly as the systems went down, they rebooted themselves.
"Fire photons at the Klingons," Kirk ordered.
"But sir the shields are still up," began McCoy.
"Are they?" the blonde asked mischievously.
"No, they're not." At this McCoy's eyebrows knit together as he stared at the screen, uncomprehending.
"Fire away," said Kirk with a wink towards Charlie. All she returned was a very clear frown.
As she and McCoy fired their photons at the Klingons, he whispered back to her, "I accept your apology." She had expected his reply to be terse or forced but it was undeniably genuine. "I realize that you were not yourself and I think we've both suffered enough for that night. Let's be done with it."
"Thank you," she said as her body relaxed with relief. She then turned her attention back to the matter at hand, only for her face to contort into an expression similar to McCoy's. "Do you understand how Kirk did this?"
"I have no idea."
At this, the man in question stood up, and swaggered towards the commanders that were observing the test. "I have just successfully defeated the Klingon ships with no casualties, and the rescue of the Kobayashi Maru is underway." He took another noisy bite out of the apple, and smirk to himself, clearly pleased with his handiwork. He turned to McCoy and Charlie. "Oh, and how could I forget?" he asked quietly. "I have also just reunited two lovebirds that are clearly destined to be with one another. Isn't that right, Bones? He talks about you all the time, Charlie. He can't get that kiss out of his mind." He was very nearly laughing out loud, now.
"Don't believe a word this moron says," grumbled McCoy.
"I disregard everything that comes out of the mouth of Jim Kirk as a rule. Thank you, once again, Dr. McCoy, but I have other things to do today apart from watching Kirk strut around and cheat on a test." She and Uhura then left for lunch together and Charlie desperately hoped that this lunch would include coffee.
"I can't believe that Kirk would cheat on a test like that!"
"Why not? It's clearly in character. Besides, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your boyfriend is probably filing a report on him as we speak. He is the one who programs the test, is he not?"
"That's true. We were planning on meeting later on, but he'll probably be delayed now."
"Negative, Lieutenant. I am here as planned, but I am curious as to why Cadet Jacobs is here, also. I had wrongly assumed that we were to meet in private." Spock had appeared out of nowhere to join their conversation once again. Damn, thought Charlie, this Vulcan was truly a master at filling out forms. She had seen the types of reports that he would have to file on Kirk and those sheets would have taken a normal person at least an hour to fill out. She could only assume that Spock had filled out all the proper forms so quickly because of a lot of practice. It also occurred to her that he had a knack for turning up without being noticed.
"Spock, Charlie knows about us. There is no reason to be so formal." At this, Spock stared at Uhura in apparent disbelief.
"I thought we had agreed to make attempts to keep our personal relationship private as it is – " the Commander protested.
"Look, Commander Spock, I am not going to tell anyone about you and Nyota and besides, I've known for a while now so it's a little late to be critical. Your secret is safe with me." While Charlie was doing her best to assure him, the Commander did not seem impressed.
"I'm afraid that I cannot trust your judgment due to your most recent personal history, Cadet. I find it unfortunate that Nyota has informed you about our relationship."
"Nyota, I forgot that I have a class in ten minutes that I need to get to." She grabbed her coffee on the way out. She figured she couldn't be written up for insubordination because of the informal setting, and she hated to leave in the middle of a conversation, but at that point she could not take any more criticism from Spock.
"Once again, it seems the Cadet has proven herself to be irresponsible. The fact that she has forgotten about a class is another testament to this, although it is incredibly fortunate that she did not forget completely."
"She doesn't have a class right now, Spock." Nyota looked at the Commander with an exhausted expression, not wanting to have to explain yet another human tendency to Spock.
"Why would she lie about a class?"
"I think she was getting tired of being insulted by you. Charlie would never tell anyone about us and because I trust her more than anyone else."
"I believe your trust is misplaced." She could see that there was no changing his mind.
"You're going to have to ignore her mistake at some point because she is a very competent officer and deserves recognition for that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I forgot that I have a class, too." Uhura then left the room, leaving Spock wondering whether or not she actually had a class or if she was simply leaving because she was angry like her friend.
The very next day, Charlie found herself in a very familiar room: the one in which she had had her own disciplinary hearing. Except, this time, Kirk was the one being accused by Spock of unscrupulous behavior. There were a lot of eerie similarities between the two hearings, except that Kirks was considerably less embarrassing. At least he didn't have a video tape of himself making out with a fellow cadet. On the other hand, Jim Kirk probably would not have found that situation as embarrassing as Charlie did. However, despite her dislike for Kirk, she felt empathy for him, having been in the same position.
"You of all people ought to understand," insisted Spock. Now that was a low blow, although she doubted that the Vulcan would understand this. She still didn't understand why cadets were forced to watch each other's hearings, but all she knew was that she would have preferred not to witness Kirk's. It painfully reminded her of her own mistakes.
Thankfully and unfortunately – she couldn't quite decide which – a possible disaster on Vulcan demanded the attention of Star Fleet and due to the actual fleet because occupied elsewhere, the cadets would have to man the ships. She and Uhura quickly made their way to the hanger, only to be thoroughly disappointed, as they were both assigned to the Farragut.
Charlie heard a loud and irritated sigh escape from Uhura as she grabbed Charlie and pulled her in a different direction than that leading to the Farragut. "Nyota, where are we going?"
"We are going to get this fixed. You and I both know that we deserve to be aboard a better ship than the Farragut."
Charlie immediately understood what she meant. "Please tell me that you are not dragging me over to Commander Spock, again. I have had enough of him for a while." Right as she said this, they were within earshot of the Vulcan. How was it he was around whenever she least wanted him to be?
"Commander, a word?"
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
Uhura then listed off all of her positive attributes, then went on to list Charlie's. "Has not Charlene Jacobs been described as incredibly sensitive and astute to the needs of patients and describes as a walking encyclopedia of injuries and illnesses?"
"Yes she has?"
"Is she not also second in her entire class only to Dr. McCoy who only above her due to more experience in the field?"
"That is also true."
"Then how is it that two completely competent Star Fleet officers have found themselves aboard the Farragut?"
"In your case," Spock lowered his voice. "It was to avoid the appearance of favoritism." He raised his voice once again to a normal volume. "As for Cadet Jacobs, her assignment was due to her recent disciplinary issues. I deemed it best that she not be aboard a ship of any major importance."
"No. We are both assigned to the Enterprise." Charlie had always admired how fiercely Uhura went after something she wanted and was utterly impressed at the way she addressed Spock.
The Vulcan in question paused for a moment, as if thinking it over. "Yes, it appears you both are."
"Thank you," Uhura said as she dragged Charlie with her aboard the Enterprise to change into their uniforms.
As they did so – Uhura slipping into red and Charlie slipping into blue – Charlie smiled at her friend. "Thank you for helping me out. You didn't have to do that, you know. I would not have objected to being aboard the Farragut as punishment. Oh, and if I ever make fun of you for dating Spock again, you both have my permission to punch me."
Uhura beamed at having accomplished two long-term objectives of hers in one fell swoop. "I'll be sure to inform the Commander. Now, we both have to report in. You know where the Medical Bay is, correct?"
"Yes. I check in with Dr. Puri, there. Jacobs, out," she joked, scarcely believing the thrill she felt at being aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, the pride of the fleet.