The test was set for the next week. Pike and Bones both had cautioned her against it, but Jim was determined. She would pass the Kobyashi Maru. She spent countless hours in the campus library preparing, looking at old captain's logs and watching reenactment videos.

On the day of the Kobyashi Maru, Jim and McCoy woke early, dressing in their grey simulation uniforms. He kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, taking in every detail to look for signs of nerves.

"Bones, you give me that Southern side eye one more time, I may have to punch you."

Bones froze. Guess he wasn't so subtle after all. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "How you doing?"

Jim adjusted the collar in the mirror. She turned and looked at him and curtly replied, "I'm fine."

He dropped the subject. He'd never get a straight answer out of her. They locked their rooms and headed to the test center.

A mock bridge was set up, overlooked by large glass mirrors. Behind these the adjudicators for the test observed. Two humans and a man with the pointed ears indicative of a Vulcan stood commenting on the absurdity of a cadet making a second attempt at the test.

"She's gotta be up to something. Didn't Pike explain to her that it's unwinnable?" one man laughed.

The Vulcan merely looked down at the bridge set up, observing the cadets preparing it for the exam. "What importance is it? It is logical that a second attempt would lead to better results."

The woman scoffed. "Well then, Mr. Spock. Wouldn't it be more logical to heed the advice of your advisor and everyone else? Take a look at the track record of the test."

Spock turned to her, hands behind his back. "It is illogical that everyone would know about this test as it is only for the Academy, but your point is valid." He resumed his observation of the set below. The male hid a smile at the woman's obvious discomfort.

The students that made up the bridge crew slowly entered and sat at their stations. One of the cadets, Uhura at the communications seat, was employed as a class aid for him. Spock noticed her eyes flick from her station to the mirrors above her and back. He did not smile, but a close observer would have noticed his eyes warm slightly.

Cadet Kirk and the "helmsman" walked in together. He saw the male cadet grab Kirk's shoulders and force her to look at him. They exchanged a few words and he nudged her on the shoulder, moving to take his seat at the helm. Fascinating. Kirk exhaled and rolled her shoulders and, after checking that each position was filled, sat in the Captain's chair. The test began.

"Captain," Cadet Uhura said. "We've received a distress call from the Kobyashi Maru. They've had an engine malfunction and request assistance."

"What's their location?"

"They've drifted into the neutral zone," the helmsman stated.

"Scan the surrounding area."

"Sir, any breach of the neutral zone would break the treaty."

"Noted. Scan the area."

The helmsman pressed buttons on his screen. "Negative, sir. No ships in the area."

Cadet Uhura turned from her station to face Kirk. "Sir, they're losing power. Estimated thirty minutes of life support left."

Kirk rubbed her forehead. "Get us as close to the neutral zone as possible. Would that be close enough to use the tractor beam?"

Helmsman shook his head. "Negative. At the rate they're drifting, our only option would be to beam over or use shuttles." He plotted a course. "Arrival at the neutral zone in three minutes."

"Alert medical and engineering. We may need to send people over."

"We're at the neutral zone, sir."

An alarm sounded. "Sir, we're picking up a major surge in energy," cried the weapons station.

"Red Alert! Uhura, send out a transmission on all channels. This is Captain James Kirk of the USS Felton. We are on a rescue mission to assist a stranded Federation ship. Repeat, we are on a rescue mission."

"Two Klingon warbirds have decloaked. They're surrounding the Maru and are locking weapons on us."

"Uhura, hail them! Shields up!"

"Yes sir!" A moment passed. "They're not responding."

"Keep trying. McCoy, we haven't crossed into the neutral zone, have we?"

The cadet at the helm said, "No sir."

Kirk's face pinched. She rubbed a hand over her head. A second alarm sounded and her head shot up. "What is it?"

The weapons station turned. "Sir they're firing on us."

"Uhura!"

"Sir, they're not responding."

The bridge rocked as the "ship" was hit by photon torpedoes. A cadet yelled that decks four through six were heavily damaged. Kirk ordered a return of fire. "Be careful not to hit the Maru. Divert as much power as possible to the shields. Uhura, how much time left on life support?"

"Ten minutes, sir."

Kirk glanced at the mirrors. The ship rocked again as they were hit. "Shields at 12%. Another hit and we'll be done," the cadet at the weapons station said.

"Shit." She paused, thinking. "Are we close enough to beam their crew over?"

"It would take too long sir," McCoy said. Our transporters can only move three at a time. The Maru has a crew of sixty."

"Sir, we're being hailed!"

"Onscreen. This is Captain James T Kirk of the USS Felton. You have violated the treaty by firing on a Federation ship in Federation territory on a rescue mission. Cease fire and we can discuss terms."

An instructor dressed as a Klingon appeared on the screen. "This is Kogar, commander of K'Ratak. Your fellow ship broke the treaty line first. Surrender or die."

"They didn't breach the treaty, Commander! The ship malfunctioned and if you do not allow me to aid them, they will die in five minutes."

The Klingon sneered. "Let them die."

Kirk straightened her posture. "You leave me no choice, Commander. End transmission." She turned to her weapons station. "Fire everything."

"Yes sir." A barage of torpedoes launched themselves at the Klingon warbirds. At the same time, the Klingon ship K'Ratak fired a single torpedo at the Kobyashi Maru. The ship erupted into flames, the hull exploding in several places.

Uhura pulled the earpiece from her ear. "Sir, I've lost contact with the Kobyashi Maru and can find no life signs."

Kirk nodded and watched the screen as the Klingon ships turned and cloaked. The machines powered down and the fluorescent overhead lights brightened.

Spock turned to the other adjudicators. "Any comments?"

The man and woman looked at each other. The man spoke up. "I'll speak with Cadet Kirk."

McCoy turned from his station and looked at Jim. She had her hands clasped in her lap and her eyes were closed. Hearing footsteps, he turned his attention towards the adjudicator. He nodded at the man and stood up. "Jim? I'll be outside." Jim made no notice she'd heard him, and he vacated the room.

He paced outside the room. Five minutes passed until Jim exited the room. McCoy went to her side, unsure as to how to comfort her. "Bones, I don't want to talk about it. Can we just go?"

He sighed. "Yeah, Jim. Let's go."

They walked back to their rooms in silence. Jim kept replaying the scenario over and over in her head. McCoy knew the toll it was taking on her. She was sullen and withdrawn when they reached their room and if this followed the same path as her other fits, like those around her birthday, he'd be getting a phone call at 4 in the morning from a bar downtown.

They sat in the living area for an hour, neither of them saying a word. Jim avoided eye contact and Bones pondered what to say to her. When he was finally ready to approach the subject, Jim stood and declared she was going out.

True to form, Bones was roused by a call from an unknown number. Strange, Glass's was saved to his contacts for just this reason. He rubbed a hand over his face and hit the answer button. He yawned, "McCoy here."

A woman's voice answered. "Doctor McCoy?"

He sat up in bed. "Yeah. Who's this?"

"My name's Gaila. We met a while back, through Jim?"

"Right right. What's going on?"

There was a shuffling on the other end. He got up and began dressing as the young woman spoke. "Jim's in the emergency room. She got in a fight and broke her arm. She's also drank herself into a blackout. I've never seen her like this."

"Shit. Which hospital?"

"St. Francis."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Can you stay until I get there?"

"Of course. They're taking her back, I have to go. Gaila out."

McCoy ran from the dorm. He found a street and hailed a cab. "St. Francis, as fast as possible."

He reached the hospital in under ten minutes. On his way there he received a call from a nurse at St. Francis. Apparently, Jim had put him as her emergency contact at some point. He went to the desk and asked for Jim. The night receptionist gave him her room number. McCoy thanked her.

Gaila sat at Jim's bedside chewing on her nails. He knocked on the door and she stood. "Doctor. I didn't know who else to call."

He entered the room and took the seat beside her. "It's fine. She's got me as her emergency contact anyways." Gaila raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. "Go home, Gaila. I'll stay with her."

She nodded and placed a kiss on Jim's hand. Then she was gone.

Bones rubbed a hand over his head. "Oh Jim," he whispered. "Why do you do this to yourself? I'll never understand you."

Jim stirred. A groan escaped her and she tried to open her eyes but the lights were too bright. "Bones?"

He scooted closer to the bed and took her hand in his. "I'm here."

"What happened?"

He huffed out a small laugh. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

She tried to sit but he pushed her back down. She scowled. "I don't know. Last thing I remember was drinking with Gaila and some guy came up and started getting rough. From there I don't know. Is my- Is my arm broken?!"

"Yeah, broken. Looking at your scan it's a clean break which is lucky. Gaila called me thirty minutes ago saying you were in the emergency room and that you'd blacked out from drinking too much. I got a call soon after from the hospital. When were you going to tell me I was your emergency contact? Why not your mother?"

Jim froze. "Soon? It made more sense, you being here and her being gone all the time. And you know we're not close."

"True." He sighed and laid his head on the bed. "Jim, this has gotta stop."

"What?"

"Your drinking. You're going to kill yourself doing this."

Jim scoffed. "Like you're one to talk." She winced. "Sorry. Sorry. That was uncalled for."

McCoy raised his head and looked her dead in the eye. "Medical opinion? You're on a fast track to needing a liver replacement or worse, brain damage. Personal opinion? You're beating yourself up over things that aren't your control." She started to speak and he cut her off. "So you failed the Kobyashi Maru. Jim, EVERYONE fails the Kobyashi Maru. And no, not everyone has a famous martyr of a father. But none of that is your fault."

Jim was silent. She felt small under his intense gaze. "You going to say something?" he asked.

"No." She whispered.

"Why?"

She threw her hands up in the air. "Because you're right? Is that what you want to hear, Bones? Alright!" She sighed. "Alright."

He reached up and cupped her cheek. "Atta girl. Promise me you'll stop drinking like this?"

"I'll try?"

He smiled. "It's a start."

"Your bedside manner needs some work."

He laughed. "So I've been told."

The doctor entered and did a few tests on Jim. He wanted to keep her under observation for the night, but saw no reason to keep her longer than that. As McCoy was a doctor, he was allowed to stay the night despite visiting hours.