James was angry. The emotion was volatile and dangerous, not dangerous like a gun or a phaser, more like the sort of danger of a brick wall on a highway. Unfortunately, Eliza was driving blind. She didn't understand why he was so mad.

They had never gotten along. They were not the poster children for the close bond between twins. Years with their jerk of a stepfather had pit them against each other one too many times, especially when James' bad behaviour would get them both punished.

Eliza finally found a way out. She was top of her class, her scores were phenomenal, only to be matched by James. Starfleet was the best way, a free education, an all but guaranteed job at the end that paid well, a chance to follow in her father's footsteps? Eliza saw little downsides. James disagreed.

"I'm not doing this again James," Eliza said. The argument had barely begun, but already she had been pushed to her limit. "Dad left us, and mom left us, and now we have nothing. I'm just trying to take my own life back!"

"By running away?!" James shouted back.

"I'm not running away! I'm moving on! If you want to stay here and breath the dry dusty air of Iowa, and end up as a skeleton in the desert then be my guest! But I am not going to let you take this from me!" Eliza yelled. She grabbed her bags and left. She started the long walk to the shuttle station that would take her to San Francisco, as she had no other means of transportation.

About halfway there, a small shuttle with no markings stopped beside her on the road.

"Excuse me miss," An older man spoke from inside. "Do you need a ride somewhere?"

Eliza looked up at his kind face, she suspected that he could be trusted, but she'd been wrong before.

"No, I'm nearly there anyway. Besides, it's probably out of your way," Eliza said as kindly as she could.

"Where is it you're heading?" The man asked.

Eliza paused for a moment before thinking of a response, "The Starfleet shuttle station, they'll be expecting me there soon."

The man then grinned widely, "I'm Captain Christopher Pike, please, let me give you a ride, we are going to the same place after all. And I expect that you won't want to get caught up in that dust storm."

Eliza looked back over her shoulder, and sure enough, on the horizon, she could see a storm rising. If she were to continue on foot, she surely would not reach the station before the storm.

Eliza smiled graciously, "Then thank you, Captain Pike."

She climbed aboard and they sped off. "So," Pike started, "What's your name Cadet?"

"Eliza Kirk, sir," She replied.

Pike's eyes widened, "Kirk?"

Eliza looked at him strangely, "Yes sir."

Pike smiled slightly bittersweetly, "I knew your father very well, I was honoured to call him a friend." Eliza looked at him in surprise. She didn't really know how to respond. "He would have been very proud to see you here."

At that, Eliza smiled and replied: "I hope so."

Pike smiled and nodded. A confused look then passed over Pike's face, "Correct me if I'm wrong... but you have a twin brother don't you?"

Eliza's face soured and she looked away, "James," She spoke tersely, "Would rather drink himself to death."

Pike could tell he had started a topic of conversation that was unsavoury to the young Kirk, and so he immediately switched the subject.

"What are you going to be taking at the academy?"

Eliza smiled, putting the previous topic of conversation behind them. "Tactical command and analysis," She replied.

"Ah, so you're a fighter then," Pike commented with a grin.

"Yes, sir."

They arrived at the shuttle station not too long later.

"Well kid, I wish you the best of luck, and I'm certain I will see you around the academy, and maybe one day as my first officer," Pike said with a smile.

"Thank you," Eliza paused, "Captian."

She boarded the shuttle alone and gazed out the window as she headed out towards her new life.

The first thing that the new Cadets did when they arrived in San Francisco was drop off their bags in their rooms. Eliza was surprised to see that her room was listed to be in a different building than the rooms of the other cadets. Uncertainly, Eliza followed the directions on the pad. She eventually was standing outside door 501.

Before she could even knock, the door opened and revealed a tall Vulcan.

"Hello, I am Spock," He spoke.

Eliza smiled, "Hi, I'm Eliza... um... I think I have the wrong room."

Spock smiled slightly in return, "On the contrary, it seems that we are in fact roommates. I assume that, given we are of two different sexes, we were given a larger space with two separate bedrooms."

"Oh," Eliza said, "Yes, that would make sense." Eliza stuck out her hand, "It's nice to meet you."

Spock shook her hand and said, "Likewise."

It soon became apparent that the two of them were quite a good pair. She was emotional, impulsive, strong, loud. He was cool, calm, genius, quiet. Spock learned a great deal from Eliza, and the same could be said on the flip side. They shared two classes together, xenolinguistics and survival techniques. Spock was quite brilliant at languages, yet he struggled with survival, where sometimes the logical choice wasn't the best one. Eliza was alright with some of the languages, but usually, Spock had to help her out, but in repayment, she helped him with survival.

Spock was often taunted or teased by other cadets, something that didn't seem to bother him, but something that infinitely bothered Eliza. This all came to a head when, for their survival class, they were sent on a one-week survival mission to the Himalayan mountains. They had one week to make it to the extraction point and they had the bare essentials of gear and food.

They were put into teams of four, Spock and Eliza were, unfortunately, paired with two of Spocks worst tormentors. Greg and Markus were in a lot of the same classes as Spock and generally were very jealous that he was constantly at the top of their classes. They were dropped off at night and were given an old map of the area and a compass.

Eliza turned to her team, "Does anyone here have any mountaineering experience?" Spock shook his head along with Markus and Greg. Eliza then thought for a moment, "Okay, you all should set up the tent, I'm taking the headlamp, rope, map and compass and I'm going to chart out the first part of our route. I'll be back before the morning, you all should get some rest."

Spock gently grabbed her arm before she turned away, "Eliza, isn't it very dangerous to go alone in the dark? What if something happens to you? How will we know to signal for help?" Spock questioned. "It is only logical that I come with you."

Eliza smiled and put her hand over his, "As much as I would like not to go alone, it would be more dangerous to bring an inexperienced climber with me."

"And how are we supposed to know if little miss experienced climber gets herself killed in the night?" Greg asked mockingly.

Eliza's eyebrow twitched, "Well Greg if I'm not back by the time the sun rises then it's safe to assume that I've gotten myself killed in the night." She grabbed the supply bag, removed the things she didn't need, and then marched off into the darkness.

Greg and Markus set up the tent while Spock watched the light from Eliza's headlamp slowly disappear into the darkness.

"Come on pointy ears!" Markus called from inside the large tent, "Your girlfriend told us to get some rest."

...

Eliza was making good time, there were actually two different ways that she could have gone to get to her desired point on the map, while one was faster than the other, it was significantly more dangerous. She roped the safer way, and then made the trek back to the tent, following her footsteps leading away from it. She made it back just as the sun was beginning to peak over the mountain tops.

As she approached the tent she heard arguing from within.

"Eliza specifically said that she would return before the sun rises, we must signal for help," Spock's level-headed voice spoke.

"Well I'm not getting a fail in this class, give her a minute, we all know she's the cockiest cadet in Starfleet. Always over exaggerating her skills. She probably hasn't even mountaineered before," The arrogant voice of Greg said.

"Well if you refuse to call for assistance, we should at least push forward and see if we can find her ourselves," Spock said.

"Fine," Markus agreed.

The three men exited the tent to find that Eliza was sitting in the snow drinking from her water bottle.

"Ready to go?" She asked.

Spock met eyes with her, and she could tell that he was relieved, "I thought that perhaps something had gone wrong."

"No, it's fine. The map's just a little out of date is all," Eliza replied with a small smile. She then turned to Greg and Markus, "Let's go."

She led them through the pass that she roped out, helping them along the way.

"So where'd you even get so good at this anyway?" Markus asked.

"I had a friend when I was a kid, and her dad was a climber, he taught me the ropes," Eliza replied.

The journey was about five hours long, and went by in relative silence, besides Spock occasionally pointing out certain things about their surroundings. They arrived at a good area to set up the tent at about 5 pm.

"I'm going to get some sleep, then I'll rope the next leg. If we keep going at this pace, we'll make it to the extraction point in two more days," Eliza said.

"Yes, but is it realistic to ask you to continue going at this pace for three more days?" Spock asked.

Eliza looked at him and thought for a moment, "I guess we'll find out."

Eliza climbed in the tent and began to sleep. About four hours later she emerged, and Spock looked surprised to see her.

"Am I incorrect in my understanding that the average human requires between 6 and eight hours of sleep?" Spock asked her.

Eliza shrugged, "I'll be fine." She grabbed the bag of climbing gear from beside the tent. "I'll see you in the morning," Eliza said to Spock.

The pattern repeated for the next two days, and Spock could see that Eliza was not going to be able to keep going like this. Luckily, that morning they were set to arrive at the extraction point.

Eliza looked at the map and then looked around in confusion, "I... I don't understand, it should be right here..."

Spock looked over Eliza's shoulder and looked at the map. "I agree that according to the map, we should be in the right place. However, have we not previously established that the map is out of date? Perhaps so are the markings."

Eliza rubbed her forehead, while Spock dealt with Markus and Greg.

"So what are we supposed to do now?!" Greg shouted.

"I knew she was going to screw this up for us!" Markus added. "I bet this doesn't even matter for her, she's probably sleeping with all the professors anyways."

Spock shook his head, "I do not understand, she is not-"

Greg shook his head in disgust, completely ignoring Spock. "It's the only way she would be top of the class with a Vulcan freak like you there too."

"Eliza is very intel-"

"Yeah, Spock, even a Vulcan, who has no business in Starfleet, isn't beating a little girl who only got accepted because Starfleet killed her daddy."

Eliza then lost it. She had been trying so hard to reign it in, but the insults to Spock and her father... she's done.

In a few quick steps and movements, she had kicked Markus in the groin, then kneed him in the face. She turned to Greg, who swung and missed, she tripped him so he landed on his stomach in the snow, and she kicked him in the armpit.

Both men were writhing on the ground, and Spock was looking between them and Eliza with some shock and concern.

"You realize that we will all need to arrive at the extraction point together and that their injuries may cost us more time?" Spock questioned.

Eliza rolled her eyes, "They're fine..." She paused, "Do you want to take a shot? A nice kick in the side?" Eliza asked Spock.

"Why would I wish to injure them further?" Spock asked, even more confused.

"Because they were saying absolutely awful things about you... doesn't it bother you?" Eliza asked.

"No, I know that they are simply ignorant of my culture, and jealous of your intellect. If anything... I pity them," Spock said.

Eliza looked at Spock with a blank expression, "I... you're right... you must think of me as quite ignorant as well..."

Spock shook his head, "On the contrary, I find that you are very accepting and open to people and their experiences. You are simply defensive of yourself and... your friends."

Eliza smiled widely, this was the first time Spock acknowledged himself as her friend, "Yeah well... I've only got one good one. I'm a little protective of him."

Spock smiled slightly at her, "I am... appreciative of it."

Eliza smiled softly before looking around, refocusing on the original goal. "I'm going to climb up that mountain, see if I can find the extraction point from there. If you could handle these two... that would be nice."

Spock nodded his head and sent a small smile her way before she left to climb the mountain.

...

Spock wasn't worried when Eliza didn't come back within a few hours. He was a little busy trying to aid the other two members of their team. When night fell again, and it had been more than seven hours, Spock became worried. It appeared that he wasn't the only one. Greg and Markus had a change of heart after Eliza beat the crap out of them. They realized that she was likely the only way they would find their way out of the survival and extraction mission, and so were suddenly invested in her wellbeing, even if they remained displeased about what happened the last time they saw her.

It had been eight hours, and Spock was beginning to gather up some remaining supplies to go out and look for her when he heard a strange whizzing sound coming from above them. Spock stood as the noise became louder and more intense. His mind went to the most likely conclusion, an avalanche.

"Greg, Markus! Wake up! I believe there is an avalanche approaching," Spock called out to them in the tent.

He heard several profanities being cried, followed by a frantic exit of the tent.

"What the hell should we do?!" Greg cried.

"I cannot determine that until we know the source," Spock replied, trying to remain calm. "I am struggling to see in the dark."

Suddenly, Greg spotted lights coming around the side of the mountain, "What's that?!" He yelled, the noise suddenly becoming louder as a shuttle flew into view.

"Well, it's not an avalanche!" Markus shouted.

The shuttle landed and the three men waited in anticipation as the doors opened. A figure was backlit and very difficult to see, but Spock recognized her voice immediately.

"Get in! Bring the tent!" Eliza shouted over the noise of the engine. The men quickly complied. Once everyone was safely inside the shuttle Eliza turned to Spock, "You can fly this right?"

"Yes, I assume that the intended destination is Starfleet Academy?" Spock asked.

Eliza nodded as Greg and Markus looked very confused. "Can someone explain what's going on here?" Markus demanded.

"The objective of the mission is to survive and make it to the extraction point, but it was never specified who was to be doing the extracting. I believe the purpose is to teach us that we are responsible for our own fates an the fates of our crew," Spock explained.

Eliza smiled and unravelled the scarf around her head and face. Spock noticed that she had blood slowly running down the side of her head.

"Eliza, you're bleeding. Are you injured?" Spock asked.

"Only a little, while I was climbing some rocks came loose and hit me. It's not bad, just a little cut," Eliza said.

Markus then stepped forward, "And what about our injuries?" He questioned, "How are we going to explain a broken nose and several ruptured blood vessels?"

"We're not going to explain it. We're going to tell the whole truth. Especially the parts where you implied that all of our professors were engaging in sexual activity with students for academic gain, and when you were culturally ignorant and offensive to Spock. I think that any academic council will surely think that is to be more of the focus than your mild injuries," Eliza spoke with angered eyes.

Markus and Greg were silent the rest of the ride to Starfleet. In the end, a council did meet to investigate the incident and it resulted in suspensions for both Greg and Markus. Spock and Eliza were the only students to receive a pass on the field assignment.