Hey everyone! Sorry it took so long for this chapter.. I know it's been a while. I've just been super busy with packing up for school, finals, work, and bartending school. Craziness. But I have finally found the precious time to type this up and post it up =] So without further ado.. Here's chapter three!

A/N: MRE stands for 'Meal Ready to Eat'. It's food in a bag that you cook by heating up the food with hot water. They come in all meals with multiple foods for each. They are often eaten by members of the military while active zones. Civilians can buy them in certain catalogues or online.


There's no question of heroism in all this. It's a matter of common decency. That's an idea which may make some people smile, but the only means of fighting a plague is – common decency.

The Plague

"Why didn't you tell us that?" McCoy exclaimed, "That could be important!"

"Well, forgive me for not noticing a subtlety when I have a fucking plague on my hands!" she replied, "Thanks, though. That's useful information."

"What's the percentage of personnel who've fallen ill who are human or humanoid?"

Stonewall thought about it for a minute, obviously thinking hard. Finally, she said, "Now that I think about it, all of them are. Think that's important, Chief?"

"I'm sure it is," McCoy replied, "We'll make sure to send some blood samples up to the Enterprise. Your lab's swamped."

"True story. Alright, I can send it up with someone in about half an hour."

She flipped open a communicator and called for Reyes.

"What?"

"I need you to do me a favor, Tati…"

"What?"

"Can you take several blood samples up to the Enterprise?"

"From who?"

"Make it a surprise. Do it ASAP, 'kay?"

"You got it."

"How many is she going to bring?" Spock asked, "You did not give a specific amount."

"Oh," she replied, "she'll bring somewhere between eight and twelve."

"How can you be sure?"

She gave him a look before responding, "Simple. We've come up with a system. It's on the wall."

Stonewall returned to her paperwork as they turned around. Jim found the sheet, and it read as follows:

'A' = One

'A couple' = Two

'A few' = 3-4

'Some' = 5-8

'Several' = 8-12

'A lot' = 12-18

'A load' = 18-36

'A ton' = 36-50

'A shitload' = 50-100

'A shit ton' = 100-200

Anything higher will be specified.

Spock seemed confused again, saying, "This is an extremely illogical system, Dr. Jackson."

"It's been workin' just fine for us," she answered with a smirk.

Spock simply raised an eyebrow. Jim was smirking too, obviously amused by their argument; McCoy had to admit it was pretty funny. The three of them stood around the office until she yelled at them to leave so she could work in peace. A five-foot-two, blonde, twenty-four year old woman had never cleared a room so quickly. They decided to go back to her room and wait for her to finish.

"She's pretty scary, Bones. Was she your protégée or somethin'?"

"Nah, she was always that scary. I guess ya have to be when you're a genius, thirteen-year old, high school senior. Scared people almost as much as me… almost."

Jim snorted and picked up a book off the floor to peruse, as did Spock. McCoy decided that it was a good idea and grabbed one for himself. Stonewall didn't come back for another two hours. She looked worn out under the smile she offered. A young man was following close behind her. He had short, auburn hair and warm, honey-colored eyes; he was about a foot taller than Stonewall.

"This is my XO, Ltc. Danny McNabb. Works in Communications. He's gonna take y'all over to the mess. I have work in quarantine to do."

"I'll come with ya," McCoy said, "You should come have dinner with us though. You look like ya need it, Stonewall."

"I'm fine, Chief."

"When was the last time you ate?"

"This morning."

"What did you eat?"

She paused a moment, lips pursed, before replying, "I ate half an MRE for breakfast."

"What? No, you need to eat. You're gonna work yourself ragged. You just told me yesterday you barely sleep."

"I get a few powernaps during the day… sometimes."

Jim and Spock were watching their conversation with interest. McCoy puffed up a little, saying, "Dammit, Cay! You're lucky ya haven't collapsed yet!"

"Well, I don't exactly have a lot of free time! I'm busy! I'm doing twice the amount of paperwork I should, plus I've had to do about 575 death reports! I'm lucky to get what I do, Leonard!"

The other two seemed stunned by her use of McCoy's first name. They almost appeared uncomfortable with the whole situation, now determinedly looking anywhere but at them. The two doctors were glaring at each other, and McCoy decided that this was no different than dealing with his (incredibly stubborn) nine-year-old daughter… or Jim for that matter: threats of something they hated.

"You're coming to dinner before you work, Cay," he said slowly, "or I will sedate for the next two days and shove a feeding tube down your throat."

McCay's eyes narrowed, a sign that she knew she wouldn't win. Without letting up on her glare, she replied, "Fine," and turned on her heel to walk out of the room. McCoy heard Jim sigh in relief. Stonewall was fidgety all through dinner, jiggling her leg and picking at her food, obviously not pleased to be there. McCoy tried another tactic: placation.

"You know what you're doin' isn't healthy, Stonewall," he said quietly.

"Yeah, I guess… but I can't bring myself to do it. I just feel… I need to keep working until I can fix this," she explained, "I feel like I'd let these guys down otherwise."

"They ain't gonna collapse in on themselves if you ain't there. Your staff's gonna be fine on their own for a few hours… and they sure won't begrudge you a little more food or another two or three hours of sleep. Trust me. Eat up."

Her lips twitched, and she popped a few forkfuls of potato into her mouth. McCoy had to admire her work ethic, and he knew he would be the same way in the same situation. However, he found he'd always been quite protective of her, seeing her as a little sister or even a daughter. He'd be damned if he was going to let her work herself to death… or exhaustion. He followed her to the quarantine after they finished eating, suiting up in a lab coat, gloves, and mask to avoid catching the disease; Jim and Spock chose to stay away. McCoy was once again stunned by the smell. Stonewall seemed unaffected.

"After about a week, you get used to the smell," she said, "Just part of life."

"Yeah, I guess… still pretty bad though," he replied.

Stonewall didn't reply. She just jerked her head toward the patients and muttered, "Come on," gently tugging his sleeve. McCoy was astounded by how little could actually be done for the men. He spent five hours in the hangar just administering hypos of painkillers and sedatives and various other drugs to about 175 patients. There were only five other people working; it was exhausting. By the time they left, Cay looked utterly worn, pale with dark bags under her eyes and heavy lids. She completely ignored Jim and Spock when she and McCoy returned, simply collapsing on the bed in her uniform and curling up against the wall. She fell asleep immediately.

"Rough night in quarantine, Bones?" Jim asked quietly.

"With seven staff and 175 patients? Yeah… you could say that," McCoy replied.

He gently pulled off her boots and set them down beside the bed.

"I believe we should rest now," Spock said, "Tomorrow is going to be an important day."

The other two men offered their agreement and crawled into bed.

What's true of all the evils in the world is true of the plague as well. It helps men to rise above themselves. All the same, when you see the misery it brings, you'd need to be a madman, or a coward, or stone blind, to give in tamely to the plague.

The Plague


There it is! Hope you all enjoyed it! Reviews are always appreciated to let me know how it is!

Updates will probably be sporadic because I'm not sure when I'll be able to type, so just be on the look out! Thanks so much!