"I'm a swabbie?!"

Jim lay on his stomach with his homework watching Celine pace back and forth in his dorm room. Dave leaned against the door frame to the bathroom with a thoughtful expression.

"I mean, the official title is 'Cabin Girl,' right?" he asked," Its more than just swabbing the deck."

Celine got into his face. After getting to know her, Dave cowered far less under her glares. He just gave her an awkward smile as she yelled.

"I don't know how to do that! I've been trained to be a Captain or First Mate! He is doing this to screw everything up. He knows I'll fail because I never learned the basics of normal living. I can't even cook!"

"That is unfortunate," Dave told her gravely," What kind of wife will you make?"

Jim rolled off the bed and got to Celine in time to catch the slap she was aiming at Dave.

"Ooookay, let's sit calmly and talk about this," he said, giving Dave a look.

He maneuvered Celine to sit on his bed while he sat in his desk chair. Jim turned to talk to Dave again, but the male just waved and went back to his room.

"Yes, yes, talk alone, I got it," he called.

Jim rolled his eyes as he heard Dave's door shut. Celine crossed her legs and arms, peeved. He wheeled himself closer to her.

"Don't let him get to you."

"He already has, Jim. He wins. I'm stuck here. I'm going to fail."

Jim raised an eyebrow at her.

"And I'm not? Making me Captain after being at the academy for a month can lead to our certain death."

Celine shook her head.

"No, there is going to be a supervisory Captain, so you can't fail. And that Captain will tell my father exactly what he expects: that I can't do my assigned job."

As she sulked, Jim leaned back in his chair. If her mother had left so early and her father had started her at the academy early, it made sense that she didn't know how to do household work.

"I'll help you," he told her.

Celine made a face at him.

"You'll be too busy doing your Captain duties."

Jim nudged her foot with his own.

"Hey, don't be like that. My help won't come free. You'll help me, too. We split the work and we'll get it done."

The girl got up and began pacing again, making Jim sigh.

"And what supervisory Captain is going to just let that happen?"

A lightbulb went off in Jim's head at her words. He rolled back over to his desk, grabbing a pen and paper.

"I've got an idea. We don't leave for a week, right?"

He began scribbling on the paper. Curious, Celine went over and peeked over his shoulder. Her eyes widened.

"Wait, really?! You think-?"

"I can at least try. If I explain the situation, I know they'd help!"

Jim was taken off guard as Celine hugged him around his shoulders.

"If this works, I owe you big time," she said from his shoulder.

Clearing his throat, Jim hoped he wasn't blushing.

One week later, Jim carried both his and Celine's bags up to the deck of the ship. Celine walked ahead of him at a fast pace with Morph floating by her. Once he had put down their items, he looked around the deck with her, attempting to find the Captain. The ship's crew dashed around, setting things up for takeoff. Jim glanced about, hoping to see a familiar face. Not seeing anyone just yet, he watched an excited Celine examine as much as she could on the ship. He was amused as she took in everything, doing her best to dampen her heightening excitement. Her pure joy made a warm feeling grow in his chest. At one point, her eye caught his, turning her face pink.

"What?" she asked, embarrassed.

"Nothing," he responded, nudging her shoulder.

The two had agreed that they were on equal footing for this trip, so should could drop the superior officer persona. Jim was greatly amused at how much she was finally acting her age. Worse for him, was that it was making him like her far too much.

"Jimmy!"

Jim's face devolved into confusion upon hearing a familiar voice that he did not expect.

"B.E.N.?"

He almost tumbled to the deck as he was tackled by the robot. Celine stared at the two of them with wide eyes. Jim tried to pry the robot off of him, but his arms were firmly pinned.

"Oh, Jimmy! How I've missed you! You look taller. Who is this? Is she your girlfriend? She's very pretty."

"B.E.N., I'm happy to see you, too, but you need to let me go. And that is Celine, my Superior Officer at the academy, not my girlfriend. Have a little respect."

B.E.N. practically dropped him as the robot turned to salute the girl. Jim smiled as she held a hand to the robot to shake instead. B.E.N. eagerly shook her hand, almost shaking it off.

"So, wonderful to meet you, Ma'am. I'm B.E.N., Bio-Electronic-Navigator, helping with navigation on this voyage!"

"Celine Griffiths. Reporting for Cabin Girl duty," she told him, good naturedly curtseying.

As B.E.N. suddenly got hearts in his eyes, Jim smacked him upside his metal head. The robot looked at him and smiled.

"I like her!" he announced.

"I can tell," Jim grumbled.

Celine laughed, finding the robot entertaining. She moved close to Jim.

"Captain Flint's?"

"Yeah."

Celine and Morph were bumped at that moment by a crew member who started yelling at the crew to handle the vegetables with more care. Jim caught the girl before she hit the deck while Morph chirped indignantly. Jim laughed when he saw who it was.

"Silver, you're here too?"

The cyborg looked over at the two teenagers. He got excited once he realized who had spoken to him.

"Oh, Jimbo, my boy! Good to see you again. When Captain Amelia mentioned she had decided to Captain this voyage for you, I couldn't help but request to go along. Any good ship needs a good cook, no? Hello, there, Celine. Morphy."

He pulled both of them into a bone breaking hug while Morph flew up to nuzzle his cheek.

"That'll be enough fiddle-faddling around for you, Mr. Silver," a stern female voice stated," I hope everything is all squared away below."

Silver put the two teenagers down to turn and bow to the Captain.

"Of course, Captain! I'll be checkin' on that now."

Silver gave Jim and Celine a wink before moving off with shouts again. Morph chose to stay with Silver as he left. Captain Amelia came up to the teenagers with a smirk.

"Mr. Hawkins, good to see you again."

"Captain," Jim said, smiling and saluting her.

Captain Amelia leveled an interested gaze on Celine.

"Ms. Griffiths, I presume?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am. It is an honor to meet you."

Jim couldn't help but laugh to himself as she saluted, completely star struck. The captain looked between the two of them with a pleased expression.

"I look forward to a relatively leisurely stroll through space. A month will go by quite quickly, no doubt, and I'm positive the two of you will be exceptional students, based on your academic files. Mr. Hawkins made sure to inform me of the situation and promised that you both would be pulling double duty as captain-in-training and as cabin boy and girl, yes?"

"Yes, Captain," they answered in unison.

The teenagers could practically hear her purr with satisfaction.

"Well, I had another idea about that," she stated.

Jim and Celine looked at each other in surprise. The captain eyed them seriously before a smile returned to her face.

"I'd like one of you to be our First Mate. That way, we can avoid any nonsense that principal tries by saying that we needed a role filled. What do you say?"

The two teens were so shocked that they weren't sure how to respond.

"I'll meet you two up at the wheel once you've decided. Mr. Hawkins, you'll see a familiar face at the wheel. And don't worry, he has been practicing."

"Yes, Captain."

With a smile, she sauntered off to finish preparations. Celine turned to Jim, her face flushed with admiration.

"I can't believe you know her personally," she strained out.

"I can't believe you never told me how much of a fan you were," Jim teased, "So, about jobs…"

Celine put a hand on Jim's shoulder.

"You should definitely be Captain. That was your assignment after all. Like Captain Amelia said, the less my father can complain about the better, right?"

Jim frowned.

"But isn't it your dream to be a captain?"

Celine smiled at him.

"Yes, but I can just work up to it. And anyway, I don't mind being a first mate as long as I'm under a captain I trust."

Jim nodded, looking up at Captain Amelia.

"Yeah, she is one of the best."

Celine laughed, catching Jim off guard. Her eyes sparkled with amusement.

"I meant you, Captain Hawkins."

She then marched off toward the wheel. Jim was rooted to the spot, trying to stop staring at Celine as she walked. He looked away quickly when she turned back to him.

"Aren't you curious as to who is steering this thing? Let's go."

Doing as she said, he bounded after her. Upon reaching the wheel, Jim took in B.E.N. working at the navigation and just behind him was…

"Delbert?!" Jim asked, incredulously.

The humanoid canine turned around, adjusting his spectacles.

"Ah, Jim! Good to see you. I know this must come as a surprise, but I wanted to learn a useful skill to go along with my studies of the galaxies. After steering us out of Treasure Planet, I figured why not take it up for good?"

Jim shook his hand quickly before asking another question.

"What about the kids?"

"Oh, well, they're on the ship. Now, I know you are thinking that bringing babies on a ship is a dangerous idea, but they are not even walking yet. We hired a great babysitter for the journey. Now, is this young lady Celine Griffiths?"

Celine shook his hand.

"Hello, sir, it is nice to meet you."

"You as well, young lady, I'm Dr. Delbert Doppler. I'm an old friend of Jim's mother and Captain Amelia's husband. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be getting back to preparing."

As Delbert went over to speak with B.E.N., Celine turned to Jim.

"With one letter, you got a crew of friends together. That's incredible."

Jim felt pleased. It made him feel good to know that he had so many friends to support him and his future. What made him even happier was that they were doing this for him and for Celine, despite not knowing her.

"They are pretty great," he responded.

Celine moved close to him, making his heart race.

"Though, seriously, how old are these children?"

"A few months. They have three girls and a boy."

The girl gave him a skeptical look, but didn't say anything more.

It was not long before Captain Amelia came up behind them. She nodded at the teenagers.

"Well?"

Celine stepped up.

"First mate Griffiths reporting."

"Very well then! Think you got the chops for it?"

Jim laughed.

"Oh, she does."

The women both turned to glare at him, making him look down in shame.

"Yes, Captain."

"Well, I've been told we are clear for takeoff. Call them in, Ms. Griffiths."

"Aye, aye, Captain. All hands to stations!"

Jim grinned as all the crew members scurried off to their positions. He was getting a flashback to when he first took off for Treasure Planet. Mr. Arrow, R.I.P.

"Loose all solar sails!"

Celine kept the commands going until their feet lifted off the deck. Captain Amelia looked to Jim.

"Remember what happens now?"

He grinned and instructed the crew member below at the machine.

"Engage artificial gravity."

Landing, Jim looked over to see Celine getting excited again. Captain Amelia gave the coordinates herself to B.E.N. and Delbert. She then turned to Celine.

"Full speed ahead, Ms. Griffiths."

Celine relayed the message to those below. As the ship gave a jolt, Jim grabbed the side of the boat as they sped forward. He held down the urge to shout with glee. Celine leaned out the side to look out into space. Captain Amelia got the attention of the teenagers.

"Let's get this internship underway, shall we?"

The two followed her to her quarters where she spent most of their first day on instructing them on the jobs of First Mate and Captain.

Note: While I want to keep working on this story, it would be nice to know if anyone out there is still reading it. Please leave a review and let me know that you are and maybe a bit of what you'd like to see as far as interactions between Celine and Jim.