The morning bell was a brash, unnecessary, wasted instrument on the Enterprise. It was easy enough to wake up on one's own accord on time without such a horrendous racket. Chekov shifted under his covers as the bell's horrific tones resonated in his ear. His eyes were bleary and unfocused. Sleep had not come easily to him that night. He kicked his legs over the side of the bed and walked into the bathroom. He looked into the mirror and frowned. Bloodshot eyes, untidy hair, he was always a sight to behold in the morning. He ran a comb through his hair, jumped into his uniform and brushed his teeth. He exited his quarters and entered the Enterprise's busy hallways. He had thirty minutes before his shift began. He walked past Ondine's quarters debating wether he should enter or not. After getting his ear chewed off by the Doctor, the last thing he wanted was to get him upset again. He continued down the hall and made his way to the food stations. Oddly enough, Ondine was nowhere to be found. Although it was a large ship there were not many places a naive Romulan ensign could be. Chekov decided it may be better to leave Ondine out of his mind as he began his shift. Concentrating on work when she was her old self was hard enough, but now that she is a responsibility of his, thoughts of her plagued him even more.
As Chekov entered the bridge he was met with a shocking sight. Ondine sat at her normal post, upright in her chair, delicate fingers extended over the switchboard. Chekov took his normal seat next to her and cracked his neck. The sound perked Ondine's interest as she quickly turned her head towards him. She smiled demurely at him. "Good morning Pavel" she said softly.
"Good morning Ondine" he said sheepishly. "Did you sleep vell last night?" he asked.
"Oh yes, very well" she responded, her hands folded in her lap graciously. There was silence. Chekov felt the heat rising in his cheeks. Ondine refused to take her eyes off of him, she gazed at him without reserve.
Chekov bit his lower lip and attempted to break the silence. "I see you are back at your normal post."
"She is simply observing Chekov" Sulu responded for her. "She still has no idea what she's doing here after all."
"Well she shouldn't even be observing" Kirk said curmudgeonly shifting in his seat in the center of the bridge. "She's a distraction for the operating members of this crew."
Ondine looked slightly taken aback. "Am I not a member of this crew Captain?" she asked softly pressing her hand to her chest. "But that is what I was told."
"Not anymore your not" Kirk said fiercely. "I do not berate socialization on this ship, but not when you're on duty. And Ondine, all you've been doing is diverting the crew members from their work. So if you don't plan on doing any work, I will have to ask you to leave the bridge." Kirk's love for his job and his ship had gotten the better of him. He knew she didn't understand what her job on the Enterprise was, but she had to stop keeping others from doing their job.
Ondine's eyes darkened, her small chest began to heave. She furiously surveyed Kirk, sizing him up. The room was quiet, but the silence emitted such an incandescent energy Checkov thought his head would explode. This kind of radiant outrage, a white hot fury you could feel all around you, seemed to emanate from Ondine. She stood up, her body turned to angles. Tense legs, squared shoulders, balled up fists, her unlit eyes fixated upon Kirk.
He swallowed hard, but remained seated. He wasn't afraid of her. What more of a disturbance could she make? She had already resorted to taking off all her clothes, it was only up from here. He wasn't about to let one out of commission officer hamper the progress of their mission. No need to afflict the whole crew with the issue.
Without any warning, Ondine swiftly uprooted her chair from the ships floor, pried it out of the ground from which it was attached to, and flung it at Kirk. It missed him by a few inched but crashed into one of the ship's communications boards. The board flashed and sparked. Uhura screamed as she jumped up from her seat and ran next to Spock. Ondine then ripped a panel out of the navigation desk and flung that in the opposite direction. It came into contact with one of the monitors which instantly died and began to smoke. "You are correct, clearly there is nothing for me here. I will take my leave" she said evenly and dashed out of the bridge before anything else was said.
Two security guards instantly went after her and Kirk stood. "What the hell was that?" he questioned angrily.
"Captain, I don not think you took into account what Dr. McCoy had stated the other night" Spock began. "He reminded us that Romulan's are violent in nature and we do not know when Ondine's mood is going to change. And their physiology is quite similar to that of a Vulcan, which would include superior physical strength then that of a human. Because Ondine is only half Romulan, her nature is not constantly violent or war minded, but it still exists within her." Spock paused in order to pull the chair from the communications board. "And it appears she is having a far harder time fighting it than she used to."
"Im just in shock" Uhura said placing her well manicured hand over her heart. "Ondine would never do anything like that."
"Well it's a shame that she isn't that Ondine anymore" Kirk interjected. "McCoy was right. She's a completely different person, different personality, different way of thinking."
"She holds herself differently," Spock continued. "When in a relaxed state she lets her hips fall to one side or her arms hang down loosely. Her pattern of speech is different as well."
"So, there is nothing left of the old Ondine?" Uhura asked. "Will she be like that forever?"
"Hopefully not" McCoy said entering the bridge. "I'm working on a few formulas that, when successfully administered, will reanimate the old Ondine. It's still far too soon to be able to tell if any of these will work, or if I'm even on the right track, but hope is coming," he said with a weak smile, his blue eyes strained and fatigued.
"Do you have a solution in the mean time Bones?" asked Kirk. "Something to curb her anger? We can't have another outburst like that. She could have severely hurt someone."
"Apart from sedating her, or a well done lobotomy there is nothing I can do for her."
"Well why not sedate her?" suggested Kirk. "She would be safe in her quarters without running the risk of any more damage to the ship."
"I don't know how well the sedatives will mix with her Romulan blood. In the long run Jim, it could do more harm than good" McCoy responded. "I think all you can do Jim is let this go. You can't be in control of her, only she can control herself."
"So what do you suggest we do in order to avoid outbursts like that one?" asked Kirk.
"Just try to be as reasonable with her as possible. She doesn't need to be babied but she does need to be handled carefully. Never let your guard down with her," McCoy offered.
Kirk sighed and sunk back into his chair. "Alright, thank you Bones." He massaged his temples. "Handling things delicately has never been my area of expertise. Lets hope she can still be negotiated with."
"Judging from what the Doctor said, Captain, we can, just not as maturely or eloquently as we would have in the past. She is after all still in the mind set of an adult. A far different adult than she used to be, but an adult none the less" Spock said, his arms folded neatly behind his back.
"Spock, is this whole situation not even phasing you at all?" Kirk asked in distress.
"No Captain" Spock responded. He was totally unaffected by Ondine's change. Nor did he seem to have any remorse for the lost Ondine.
"She should take a lesson or two from you then" Kirk mused.
"Meditation is self administered Captain. No matter how many periods of instruction I were to tutor her, she would need to have the desire herself" Spock replied.
Kirk frowned and rolled his eyes. Sarcasm was wasted on his Vulcan friend, but Spock made a valid point. Kirk could not make her do anything, no matter how hard he tried. And any compromises he made, would most likely be more in Ondine's favor than his. He rose and made his way to the broken screen. He took the panel firmly with two hands and tugged on it. With a little effort it slipped out of the monitor which was broken beyond repair. He would need to dock at the next space station in order to get it replaced Luckily the communications board was easy enough for Scotty to put right. He pressed a button on the intercom and called him. "Mr Scott? Mr. Scott?"
A moments pause, then the thick Scottish brogue of Montgomery Scott drifted over the intercom. "Aye Captain? What can I do for ya?" he asked.
"I need you on the bridge Scotty. Part of the main communications board is unable to function. It looks pretty bad but nothing you can't handle" Kirk said leaning against the wall, on hand on the intercom button the other stroking his forehead.
"Aye Captain. I shall be up in a moment" Scotty responded.
"Alright, Kirk out" he said taking his hand off the intercom and walking back to his chair. He sat down again, thinking of a better solution than just simply letting Ondine run amok. He turned and looked at Chekov, shaken but still active on his post. He was very pale but composed. He was as distressed as everyone else over Ondine's situation, perhaps even more so. "Mr. Chekov" Kirk called over to him.
Chekov instantly turned around "Yes Keptain? Vhat is it?" he asked, his large brown eyes wary of the Captain's request.
"Don't look so scared boy" Kirk said with a smirk. "I think you'll like this job."
"I like the one I have sir..." Chekov said cautiously.
Kirk laughed. "Thats good. But this one's a little different, we can call it field training if you like." Chekov looked both at a loss and terrified. "Remember when I asked you to just check up on Ondine ever so often?"
"Of course Keptain" he replied.
"Well, after today's events I feel like Ondine needs more than just a push in the right direction. More than just a friendly visit. Do you catch my drift?" Kirk asked, standing and strolling over to where Chekov sat.
"Not exactly Keptain" Chekov said shaking his head and looking up at his looming employer.
"Pavel" Kirk said kneeling, placing an arm around Chekov. "I think Ondine needs more assistance then she has right now. She can't be wandering around the ship on her own. She needs a babysitter of sorts."
"But the Doctor instructed us to treat her as an adult" Chekov responded nervously.
"Well, we can find a better term for it then. But Chekov, I feel you're the best guy to take the job" Kirk said earnestly.
"Vhy me Keptain?" Chekov asked in all seriousness.
"Because, I believe you are better suited to look after her than anyone else on the ship. I know you care about her, and she seems more inclined to respect you than anyone else. So I'm asking you to look after her. Spend time with her, keep her in check and after this whole ordeal is over, you can return to your normal navigation post. This is only temporary, but I truthfully feel you are the best for this position. And you won't be with her one hundred percent of the time, you will still have shifts on the bridge. What do you think?" Kirk asked.
Chekov thought about it. In theory this is all he could ever ask for. His job was now to spend every day with the love of his life. Protecting her from harm, re-teaching her about Starfleet, making her smile. Spending almost every waking moment with her, without being dubbed inappropriate or strange. But he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable about the situation. Something whether it was the intensity of his feelings for her, or her untamable fury, or perhaps a combination of the two that terrified him. But he could do nothing but agree to the Captain's request. "I will do my wery best sir" Chekov said wholeheartedly with a strong nod.
"Thats wonderful" Kirk said thumping him on the back and standing up. "In the mean time Mr. Sulu will take over your post. Now you can begin your new position, and look after Ondine, I know you will do your best."
Chekov rose and exited the bridge. He slowly made his way towards Ondine's quarters. 'I only hope my best is enough' he thought to himself. He stood outside of her door and gazed at it in silence. He heaved a sigh "here we go" he spoke aloud as he walked through the automatic doors. Ondine sat cross-legged on her bed brushing her long silver hair. The two security guards were both sprawled out along the floor. One had a black eye, the other a bleeding lip. Their unconscious bodies were still, save for the rising of their chests in breath. She had subdued two full grown men by herself. He stood in front of the two men and stared at her. Ondine looked up at and smiled at him captivatingly. He had every reason to be frightened.