"Are you sleeping with him?" the southerner asked her.
Jamie almost fell over laughing at her new roommate as he asked about Pike. They had walked to Hernandez Hall and found themselves in the building used for low-ranking officers, married cadets and medical cadets. Their 'dorm' was a furnished, two-bedroom apartment with separate rooms on either side of a small kitchen and living area; miles beyond the couch she spent the last week sleeping on.
"No, guess he feels like I'm his responsibility or something. Long story." She didn't say anymore on the subject and Bones didn't push. Bones, she liked that one, it fit him.
They got themselves settled in relative silence, mentally preparing for their classes the next day. Jamie had tested out of a lot of stuff –yay for master degrees- so she didn't have to take some of the basic classes, Bones on the other hand, got to skip the basic medical stuff. They agreed to help each other out. She'd teach him engineering and he'd teach her what he could about basic medical. They grabbed dinner and even made a quick trip to a market off campus for food –mainly coffee- and toiletries before calling it a night.
"Thanks for letting me room with you," she said to him before she went to her room and promptly fell asleep.
The next morning, she walked into the kitchen to find her roommate, "Look who cleans up nice."
She just rolled her eyes at him and moved to make a cup of coffee, "Look who's talking, Bones."
He looked at her, "Bones?"
"Yep, came up with it last night. You said they were the only things the ex-wife left you with," she told him. He chuckled at her, told her not to call him that and glanced at chronometer.
"We better go, if we're gonna make it to class. Don't want to be late to the first class of the first day," the doctor told her in that sexy ass accent.
Twenty minutes later they found themselves sitting next to each other in orientation; all cadets had to attend and it bled right into the 'Intro to Federation History' course. As a command cadet, Jamie would have to take the next three classes in the series. She was a little surprised to see Pike as their instructor. She had found out that morning that he was also going to be her advisor.
"Maybe he wants to sleep with you," Bones whispered.
Jamie shook her head, "I highly doubt that, Bonesy."
"Don't call me that."
She rolled her eyes and listened to Pike welcome the room to Starfleet Academy, he began with a question to the class.
"What is Starfleet?" the captain asked the room full of cadets.
It should have been simple but the other cadets -kids- in the room were giving him the answers that you would find in recruitment materials.
Bones whispered in her ear, "Where my ex-wife wouldn't look for me."
Jamie laughed quietly and drew Pike's attention, "Miss Kirk, what do you think?"
She shrugged as the whole class looked at her, "Well, the officer who recruited me said something about 'humanitarian and peace-keeping armada.' I could also go with the whole 'boldly go where no one has gone before' thing, too. I guess I'm supposed to say something like, 'the function of Starfleet is to explore unknown territory on the behalf of the Federation government. It's job is to defend the Federation and its allies from threats, as well as to further Federation policies and interests throughout interstellar space. Starfleet can also initiate first contact with newly-discovered worlds and to engage in diplomatic negotiations on the behalf of the Federation.' That's just the function, though. To me, Starfleet is an idea. A place where people from all over the galaxy could work together to explore the vastness of space. And no matter what world we come from, we are all responsible to and for each other, sir."
Pike smiled and nodded, "Nicely put, Miss Kirk; and very accurate." Pike moved to a full explanation of what Starfleet really is and what it means to be an officer; not the worst class Jamie's ever been in.
It was a good day, tiring but still good. Jamie was sitting on the couch reading some chapters for a class when Bones got back. He had classes in the morning and then a six-hour shift at the hospital after lunch. He sat down at the other end of the couch, "Why the fuck did I decide to join Starfleet?"
She just looked at him, "How the hell should I know? We've known each other for like a day."
He glared at her, "And yet, you gave me a nickname. I think I might give you one."
Jamie smirked, "as long as it's not ridiculous, go for it." He nodded and moved into the kitchen, Jamie made dinner about an hour before he got to their apartment, all he had to do was heat it up.
"If I ask you a question, will you answer it?"
She looked at him and shrugged, "I guess it depends on the question."
He sat in his original spot, "What's the deal with you, Pike and this stuff about him being responsible for you?" Jamie thought for a minute, they were going to be roommates for a while, she might as well tell him.
"I can't give you details but something bad happened to me when I was younger, Pike saved my life. You don't know who my dad is, so I won't tell you for now but he died a long time ago. I guess Pike decided to keep an eye on me, I had no idea until he showed up in Riverside."
Even though she stayed under the radar for the last nine years, he kept track of what she was doing. Jamie got the chance to talk with Pike around lunch, turns out that she was the only cadet he was the advisor for, he wasn't supposed to have any but requested her. She had no idea why he added something else to his workload, the man was teaching a class four times a day and keeping track of a ship in construction.
By the time Jamie got to Tarsus at eleven, she was working on her first bachelor's degree at Iowa State University. Most people thought she was a dumb blonde; so she let them but the truth was, she loved learning new things. She didn't have to go to school with the other kids on the colony and found herself working on equipment or computers with her uncle most of the time. She swore to herself that she would go to school like she promised her aunt, uncle and Hoshi. Jamie got her master's in engineering from the Academy of Engineers on Vulcan and her master's in computer programming from University of Bologna in Italy. She was still trying to decide if she was going to get her doctorate degree, Pike thought she could do it, maybe she will.
"I still think he wants to sleep with you," Bones muttered. Jamie just laughed.