An Altered Destiny

**Hi! This is in the same 'verse as "Don't I know you?" Kirk and McCoy are in an established relationship, they have a three year old child Ella together. Also, this will be freakishly close to the movie. I'm not going to focus too close to it because it's been done many times. I am changing certain things around though so I hope you like it! Please don't expect updates very frequently because things do get a bit hectic for me sometimes so I do apologize in advance. Thank you for reading and please review. :) **

Chapter One

"Dammit, Jim! This obsession is not healthy! Taking the test a third time is downright stupid."

Jim ignored McCoy as she finalized her strategy. It was the night before her third attempt at the kobayashi maru. The quarters they were in were silent apart from McCoy's rantings. Gaila had been unofficially adopted by Jim's impromptu guardian Cathy Jameson and had taken Ella with her to give the two of them a break. Cathy had noticed the strain between Jim and McCoy and had offered to take Ella to give them some time alone.

Unfortunately, Ella's absence had done the opposite and had made it to where Jim had started to focus solely on winning the simulation. Gaila and Kirk had been busy. Before the elderly woman had whisked away her orion friend, the two of them had planted a subroutine over two months ago that affected the programming of the kobayashi maru simulation. It wasn't cheating per se but it gave every student since then a chance, not just her. It wouldn't kick in until a certain amount of objectives were met. So far, it hadn't kicked in for any other student.

Sending Gaila away had been for her own protection so if the subroutine had been discovered then Jim would take the fall if things went south. Gaila was slated for the USS Farragut in a month's time and had already completed all of her school credits so a small vacation wasn't totally unexpected.

Even though the odds were still stacked against her, Kirk was determined. She was re-reading her tactical plans when her PADD was snatched from her hands. "Hey!"

Jumping up and reaching for the document, she glared as McCoy held it out of reach. "It's time for bed, Jim."

"I'm not done." She lunged again and cursed herself for being so short when the document remained out of reach in McCoy's hands. Crossing her arms she openly glared at him and he sighed, handing it back to her.

"Why is this so important?" He groaned.

"Doesn't it bother you?" She held the PADD tightly at her side and tilted her head.

"Doesn't what bother me?"

Jim let out a frustrated huff. "That no one's ever passed the test. It's discouraging. It's like they want you to give up before you even try."

"It's just a test!"

Jim's hands clenched and her eyes flashed in annoyance. "It is _not_ just a test. It's a lesson that teaches cadets that when the going gets tough, accept it and give up and I will be damned if I do that. There is always another way. I just can't believe in a no-win scenario." Jim's shoulders shook and McCoy's dark brown eyes were watching her with an intensity that she knew he was trying to understand her obsession but failing.

McCoy moved closer and put a hand on her shoulder, gently steering her to the couch. "If it's that important to you I'll support you but I need to know why."

She looked down at her hands, unable to keep Bones' gaze. It was too knowing and he was too smart for her bullshit so she resorted to the truth. "It's because of hope. People have to have hope even in an hopeless situation. That you can never give up no matter what. I've seen what happens when people lose hope. Tarsus was a no-win situation and if I'd have just given in and accepted it like how this test is encouraging then not only would I be dead but so would so many others. It's not about winning some stupid test, it's about giving people the hope that you can sometimes win against unbeatable odds."

Her eyes burned with unshed tears at the memory. She had been so scared and it had been one of the worst experiences of her life but it had taught her, more than anything, that you could never give up.

Warm arms wrapped around her and Jim relaxed into them, the smell of sandalwood mixed with antiseptic was a strange but comforting scent. It was home.

Warm lips descended on her neck while large hands moved lower, gently running fingertips on her hips and waist where her shirt had ridden up. Jim shuddered and leaned into his touch, tilting her head back as he pressed open mouth kisses up her neck, behind her ear and moved closer.

"I understand, Jim but let's got to bed." He pulled her closer, as if he could erase the pain of her past and ease her worries about the future with his gentle caresses and kisses and she melted into his touch, allowing him to pull her into the bedroom, PADD and tactics forgotten in McCoy's arms.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"You're lucky I get extra credit for this. This third attempt is stupid and childish, Kirk." Uhura hissed at Jim as she took her seat. McCoy looked at Jim from his position at environmental and pursed his lips in disapproval at the whole thing. He didn't like it but he supported Jim even when she was being stupid.

A last minute switch up had a young Russian navigator she'd never worked with before and Susan Jorski, her co-pilot from her red-squad flight team at the helm. Jim's hands shook with nervousness as the lights dimmed and the sim began.

"We're receiving a distress call from the _USS Kobiyashi Maru_. They've lost power and are stranded in the neutral zone. Starfleet has sent orders that we are to rescue them." Uhura didn't even bother to hide her irritation at being dragged into this sim for a third time. Jim grit her teeth.

"We have orders to rescue them, captain." She snapped.

Uhura grimaced at the tone but didn't reply.

"Helm, set course for the last location of the _Kobiyashi Maru _and engage, warp one."

Both helm and navigation acknowledged and Kirk straightened in her seat. She knew what was going to happen.

"Crossing the border now, Keptin."

They had maybe a minute to see the damaged ship before all hell broke loose.

"Keptin, three Klingon birds of prey off our port bow. They're powering up weapons!"

"Shields up! Red alert. Uhura, send them our message of peace, that this is a rescue mission." The comms officer nodded.

"They're firing." The sim room shook slightly and Kirk turned to the helm.

"Put us in between the klingons and the Maru, return fire!"

"Shields at 80%."

Time to start her plan. "Chekov, plot a course that will put us within tractor range of the ship on the left. Warp two for one second should do it. Helm, get ready. Then put a tractor beam on that Klingon and use the momentum to pull and force that ship to remain in between us."

Jorski looked at her like she was crazy. "It'll look like there's two ships for a split second, they won't know where to fire and the torsional stress with the tractor beam will rip the other ship apart and give us a hostage while we fire on the remaining two."

Chekov looked excited while Jorski looked nervous. "Engage!"

It went to plan. The two ships on the right moved in to attack but only hit dead space. Two consoles at the science station sparked and fizzled at the sudden power fluctuation while they latched onto the Klingon ship and swung around.

"Fire full spread of torpedoes and full forward phasers." Kirk snapped.

The two ships didn't even have a chance to turn around before they were destroyed. Kirk knew the one they were latched to couldn't fire, they were too close together.

"Tractor beam failing. The Klingon ship is breaking apart!" McCoy looked up from his console in surprise.

"One more pull should do it the back us off."

Kirk watched as the neck of the warbird snapped, setting off a chain reaction and the ship exploded.

"_Bohze moi!_" Chekov whispered.

Her bridge was silent but Jim knew it wasn't over. That was too easy.

"Uh...should I lower shields to beam survivors aboard?" Mccoy asked hesitantly. Jim jerked her head.

"Scan for more ships."

Uhura stood. "I'm not detecting-"

"_Three more birds of prey, coming up fast!_" The Andorian from the science console shouted and Kirk braced herself and hit the button to call engineering.

"Engineering, can we vent plasma from the nacelles? I also want our running lights out. Make us look injured, _now_!"

"Playing possum? Plasma's a dangerous thing captain." The engineering rep on her right replied.

Jim smiled, her teeth a vibrant white and it made McCoy shudder. It reminded him of the sharks he saw when he was a kid at the aquarium.

"Jorski, keep us between the plasma and those ships and change our movements. Make us look damaged." Jorski nodded. The viewscreen mimicked the orders put in, the star scape swinging sluggishly from side to side.

"They're entering weapon's range." McCoy told her and Kirk nodded.

"They calling for our unconditional surrender. No terms." Uhura waited for Kirk's response.

"Are they entering the plasma cloud?"

"They just entered but one is holding back."

That'd have to do.

"Increase rear shields to maximum, fire full spread at the cloud and execute defensive pattern omega three."

The screen showed their path as the ship rolled and pitched, the explosion from the plasma cloud pushed them off course slightly but they came up under in a complicated swoop and directly in front of the remaining warbird.

"The two ships have been destroyed!" McCoy sounded shocked.

"Fire everything we have at the remaining warbird, target propulsion and weapons." She could see the last ship hadn't been prepared for the explosion, it was on it's side struggling to compensate but she wouldn't let them. Red volleys of phasers struck out hitting the ship in key areas and small explosions shook the surface of the warbird.

"Their shields are down, weapons are out and propulsion is damaged. They're dead in the water."

Kirk smiled. "Communications, send out a message to the remaining ship. Let them know that we are willing to provide assistance if they surrender."

"They said they'd rather die than face that dishonor." Uhura replied quietly.

McCoy was watching the remaining ship in his viewscreen when he saw a sudden power surge. "_Captain! _They're self destructing!"

_Shit. _"Put us between them and the Maru, now! Extend our shields over them."

The flash on the screen caused the lights in the sim to flicker and the screens to show a jumble but it quickly resolved. "Damage report."

Uhura looked shocked, her earpiece hanging from limp fingers.

"Damage report!" Kirk snapped and Uhura jumped and righted herself.

"Shields at 40%, tractor beam non-operational, 2 casualties and 30 injured. Transporters are out. The Kobiyashi Maru didn't sustain any further damage. Only minor bumps and bruises reported."

So much for an easy exit. "We're going to have to tow the Maru. Use the grappling system."

Jorski and Chekov looked puzzled and Kirk rolled her eyes. "It's a backup system. Old fashioned and almost never used but it works. Here, let me show you."

Kirk leaned over the young navigator and showed him where to aim and how to tighten the leads. Jim watched as the two lines shot out and attached to the hull of the other ship.

"Now, let's get the hell out of here." Kirk grinned and the entire bridge crew whooped in celebration as they slowly pulled the ship under impulse. Ten minutes later, once they'd "entered" federation space the sim ended and every person on the sim was jumping in joy. This was exactly what Kirk had wanted.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

On the observation deck Lieutenant Commander Spock was struggling to remain calm. He had, in the four years he had managed the program, never seen anyone succeed. Nor had he seen maneuvers like that.

"How in the _hell_ did that kid beat your test?"

Spock watched the young cadets celebrate their "victory".

"I do not know." He resolved to get to the bottom of this. He would not allow cheating and, even though the tactics displayed were impressive, it still was not possible for one ship to defeat six Klingon ships and survive. He had attempted to add more after the last one had been destroyed but his program had locked him out. He had never been stopped before but, then again, the Lt. Cmdr. had never had a need to add more to his program.

Bright blue eyes snapped up and met his from the floor if the sim. The cadet smiled defiantly at the team observing her and walked out, shoulders back and proud as she left with her team mates. Spock would not accept this.


End file.
