It was safe to say that at this moment, this very moment, Andromeda Haddock had never been more nervous. Hands practically vibrating as she ran them around the edges of her cap, eyes glued to the cold tile floors. After being cleared from the medical team that she was going to be fine, the only major repercussions of her near-drowning being the shock she had gone into shortly after (mere minutes before the medical team arrived for evacuation—almost perfect timing in her mind). Some slight mobility issues with her hands and feet from the cold, shortness of breath and a horrible cold being the only things she figured would be hard to live with, but she would deal. Andy had bigger things to worry about.

Nearly immediately after regaining consciousness from the shock spell, Andy requested an audience with Captain Pike, sure she would be denied. Yet here she sat, shaking, in uniform, and absolutely terrified. She had never been one to report things or even request audiences, always too afraid that she would somehow mess things up and make a fool of herself. Years and years of holding her tongue had set this mindset into her permanently. Samuel had always told her that if she wanted to be a captain, she was going to have to get used to talking to people on the regular. Even if her few months at boot camp had changed her, she, by nature, was still the same shy and innocent girl underneath. (She would admit that the few times she did stand up for herself felt amazing, however.)

"Miss Haddock?" A man said, peering his head out of the door to look at her. Lieutenant Echen, she hadn't seen him in a while. "The captain will see you now." Swallowing hard, she nodded, convincing herself that she would be fine, that it was nothing more than a casual meeting. Pushing herself to her feet, she took a deep breath, placed her hat underneath her arm, and nodded at the man holding open the door for her. You can do this, you can do this, you can do this.

Swiveling around in his chair, the captain stared down at a file in his hand, one she immediately recognized as her own. A quick surveying sweep of his desk and she noticed the folders of several others out as well, blood rushing from her face when she realized them as the members of her little team. Oh no. "Miss… Haddock, was it? How may I help you?" He asked, throwing the folder onto his desk and looking up at her with his arms crossed.

Andy shifted on her feet, nodding hesitantly. "Yes, sir. Thank you for granting me an audience. The reason I'm here, however, I'm sure you're already quite aware of." Good, yes, you sound professional. Keep that up.

Captain Pike raised an amused eyebrow. "I do, now? Please, then, cadet—enlighten me on what you feel we both know." His question was nearly mocking, the slight smile on his face allowing her assumption to continue. He wanted to hear her say it, wanted her to have to put the reason why her team failed into words. Evil bastard.

Words rose in her throat like vomit, and she couldn't control herself. "I should be dead right now." She said in a rush, flustered as she paused, watching a slightly taken aback look form on his face. Taking a deep breath, Andy closed her eyes for a moment and regained her composure.

"Five hours ago, if I was left in that water for three more minutes, I would be dead. I don't have a family, and the only family I did have is dead now as well. At that point in my life, I was accepting death. I had come to terms, and I was willing and ready to see my older brother again. Mere seconds before I came to consciousness once more, I saw him. Believe me, I know it sounds crazy, but I did. I heard him in the voices of the people who sat around me, worried that I wasn't going to really and truly wake back up again. In those small, fleeting moments before I went out once more from shock, it was sadly one of the only times I've ever felt truly cared about since Samuel passed. Those people shouldn't be punished for my mistake."

The older man, greys showing in the sides of his temple, said nothing. Andy assumed that he was either confused, embarrassed for her, or pondering her words. Either way, she was going to continue. Her hand shook at her side, and she was thankful that her other was busy holding the cap under her arm. "Which is why," she stammered out. "I'm willing to give up my position in the Academy—if I for some reason was to advance, of course—up to them."

At this point in time, the captain's eyes went wide for a split second, an amount of interest that had been hinted at in amused tones earlier. Andy couldn't help but feel like this entire time the Captain had been laughing at her in the back of his mind. She was probably right. Pike sighed, untangling his arms and standing, holding back a little smile when he realized how incredibly small the girl truly was. He would sadly have to admit that he and his fellow men had had a slight laugh on it the previous night while grouping people based on athletic and academic skill. Having far surpassed her peers in academic skill, she was grouped with some of the highest in her class. "Let me see if I heard you right," he said, walking around the desk and leaning against the front of it, arms crossing once more out of habit. "You, Andromeda Haddock, one of the highest academic scoring cadets we've ever had, younger sister to Samuel Haddock who was one of the greatest men I've ever met and had the honor to assess and become friends with, the girl who was always told she would never amount to anything, and the one who lied about her age entry to join Starfleet early, are willing to give up your spot at the Academy for three men and women who previously hated you?"

Andy swallowed hard. She didn't know how much she amounted to in this man's eyes, but she could imagine that Samuel would have stretched the truth about her slightly. The whole "never amounting to anything" part was completely true, however, and she remembered seeing him at her brother's funeral. She knew she had been found out about her age, but seeing as she turned sixteen whilst in the program, she supposed someone decided to leave it, as it was the legal age for entry. Starfleet often had a lot of situations where turning their head was merely… appropriate. "Yes, sir." She said, voice slightly weaker now that she had thought about it. "I am."

Pike stared at her for a few seconds, not saying a word. "Mr. Echen," He called, eyes never leaving her as his head peered in from the once-closed door. "Call the rest of Miss Haddock's team in."

All of the color drained from her face, and she felt a little lightheaded. Pike looked like he was up to something, and she was sure it wasn't going to be good for her or the others. "Sit," he said, finally looking away and returning to his original position in his chair. "This will only take a moment." And surely enough, it did. The rest of her team—she had noticed the other two members of her team hadn't arrived, or hadn't been invited—had entered the room, all of them now standing in official dress, stone faces and in a row.

"Do any of you know why you're in my office?" He asked after a long, the cloud of silence having settled so thick it could barely be cut. No one really wanted to answer, all knowing exactly what reason they were in here for. Andy had received a less than kind look from Kaliena when Pike wasn't looking, causing her regret to grow. It was her fault.

The blonde spoke up—Jim was his name, she had learned. "On Andy's behalf, it wasn't her fault—"

"I didn't ask whose fault it was, I asked if any of you knew why you were in here." He cut off, eyeing them all and waiting for answer if they had one. When no one spoke again, he started. "You're all here for an explanation. An 'I'm sorry', as well." Everyone in the room was immediately confused. An apology? For what? Kaliena combined what they were all thinking with a very confused "Sir?", none of them really sure what he meant.

Nodding, Pike's eyes went to the desk for a moment as he tried to gather what was the easiest way to explain himself. "Every year, a group of captains and your commanding officers during training gather to discuss teams, each with a specific reason. You're all evaluated before you come into the camp, assessed without your knowledge for weaknesses and fears. All completely legal, don't worry. But, each of these teams are usually created with five people in mind." He said, taking time to pause.

"The heart," he said, eyes locked on Jim. "The soul," Leonard. "The mind," Kaliena—no surprise there. "And the most important part, the body. The reason they're one team, instead of four parts working alone. The fifth is someone who we know wouldn't sacrifice themselves for the sake of any member in the team, in this instance being the other two in your team. Miss Haddock, in this particular situation, you were the body. You're the very reason this team had to come together."

Kaliena was the first among them to realize what he was saying. "Captain, are you saying that you're the one who—"

"Yes," he replied, cutting her off. "Every year, the weakest among you, whether it be by one certain fear or by physical strength, is chosen to be… I can't think of a nicer word than 'sacrificed', but that's not what is happening at all. Miss Haddock, I can assure you that you were never going to die, we were in fact thirteen seconds from extracting you when Miss Laurel entered. We let the rest play out as it did, but I promise you were in good hands."

Andy would admit she was surprised when Kaliena was the most bluntly angry out of all of them. "You mean to tell me that in this world, it's logical and fair to nearly murder one of your own for the sake of training? I—"

Holding up a hand, the captain silenced her immediately. "Miss Laurel, while I understand that rises in anger are merely part of your race, I recommend that you let me finish if you want to stay in my office." Kaliena quieted nearly immediately, and Andy could feel the strange heat coming off of her once more. Pike scanned them all, noticing the looks of anger and shock mixed on their faces, holding back another small laugh when he noticed the completely accepting look on Andy's face. "As your observer and mentor, I feel that you should all know that whenever we do these tests, one of the members of the team usually comes forth and attempts to sway the decision I've made on them for the well-being of the team. Miss Haddock has already done so, and I'll admit that sometimes I do not allow teams to advance simply because they want to for their own selfish reasons."

A lump formed in Andy's throat, and she started to grow more and more nervous. Had she been convincing enough? Were her reasons selfish? Had she doomed them and Pike was simply attempting to let them all know that she was the reason why? "You should all be glad that Miss Haddock is a good person, seeing as she's just given up her position in the Academy for the three of you." Her shoulders stiffened in mild fear, knowing they had all snuck glances at her. Crippling anxiety instilled in her as a child made her fear a lot of things, and she prayed that it would get better than it was now, considering it had since she was a little girl. Over the past few months, huge progress had been made in her mind. "She'll be joining you all at the shuttle to the Academy tomorrow morning. Unless you have any more questions or things to explode over, you're dismissed."

Saluting them as a whole, they all walked out together, Jim being the only one to stay behind to talk to the captain. McCoy caught her by the shoulder as they were walking out, giving her the closest to a smile as she presumed possible for him. "Thanks, kid." He said gruffly, patting her shoulder awkwardly and walking off.

"Sure," she called back, voice too low for him to hear as he walked away. It wasn't that her anxiety was taking over, oh no. That only happened whenever she was placed in the spotlight or had to speak to a person of authority. Andy was merely floored by the fact that she was going to the Academy. She had done it! She had made it to the Academy! Samuel would have been screaming in excitement alongside of her if he was here, and she liked to imagine that he was, somewhere. Her immediate knowledge of what would happen after leaving camp was limited, but enough.

Kaliena would still be her roommate, seeing how they had graduated together and continued to be matched evenly in the academics aspect, a fact she was still none too happy about, but hoped that the blonde's image of her had somewhat changed. Three days were allowed to gather things needed for the classes scheduled, also allowing time to rest and gather other things to suit the apartment housing they would be staying in. Hopefully Kaliena wouldn't attempt to strangle her once more and they could get along just fine with a simple head nod and a faint word of acknowledgement every so often. Not like Andy was complaining.

Since their meeting with Pike, three hours had passed of Andy's rambling thoughts as she attempted to pack her few items in their room, completely oblivious to the fact that Kaliena has been staring at her for the last thirty-two minutes of the past hour. "I thank you." Kaliena said, the words like poison in her mouth. Well, maybe not poison. She just didn't like admitting her faults to a child-sized mouthbreather.

Snapped out of her trace, Andy looked over at her and stopped packing. "What?" she said, confused, earning an eye roll from Kaliena.

"I said, 'I thank you.'" Kaliena replied, the words becoming less and less bitter in her mouth. "We would have not made it into the Academy without you. Therefore, I thank you for being so kind, even when you have had no kindness in return. A trait most valued in my world." The blonde nodded in respect, showing how truly grateful she was.

Andy hesitated awkwardly. "Of course," she replied. "My older brother always told me that even when someone wrongs you, the right is to help them in their own time. Even if it means that you give up your own dream. Besides, you only tried to kill me once and embarrass me publicly seven times. No big deal." The last few words ended in a laugh from Kaliena, making Andy smile.

"A fact I am immensely regretful of. Hopefully I haven't tarnished your image of me too far. You're a kind girl, Andromeda. A kind heart." Now there was no doubt in her mind that this girl was a princess. When they had first met, you could nearly smell the aura of wealthiness, but as time went by she noticed it wasn't simply your run-of-the-mill rich, this was inherent rich. The kind that only power and status could fill. Andy couldn't say she had ever experienced that herself.

She smiled at Kaliena, holding her hand out to her. "It's Andy."

((Hello everyone! The author here. I know most people don't put author's notes down here, but fuck it. I'm so sorry about the long wait for a new chapter, and I'm really sorry about how if there has been one, it's quite short! But here's a really long one for you, written on my plane to Arizona. I've also noticed a lack of commenters, and it makes me feel like people aren't really enjoying my stories. Please, please, please, please, please comment! Give me feedback on what you did or didn't like, it means the world to me. If it gets to the point where I'm truly upset about it, I may even stop posting (How childish of me, I know. But I have to know if you like it, and if you aren't commenting I don't!). Let's try to get five comments on this one, yeah? Thank you lovelies! Enjoy!))