Annie awoke with a sharp pain in her right temple. As she continued to gain lucidity, the pain worsened and she reached her hand up to grasp her head. Upon touching her head, she felt the raised bump of a scar she had not previously noticed.

She pushed herself up and tried to ignore the pain surging in her head. She noticed now that she was in some sort of cave. It had a high ceiling and was square in shape. One side had no wall but upon walking up to it, she realized it dropped off steeply into a cliff.

"Don't try it," the voice from before said. "I won't revive you like I did when you were little." She turned around a bit confused. Upon seeing his slightly amused expression, a memory flashed to her eyes.

She was laying on a bed. The man stood over her shaking his head.

"You know this is the fourth time this month you've tried this," he said. "I don't know what you think this will accomplish." Annie couldn't help feeling relieved. He doesn't think I've figured it out, she thought.

"Why won't you let me die?" She spat, shrinking from his hands that were currently attending to her healing knee. He said nothing in response and left the room.

"What did you do to me?" She asked, trying to interpret the memory.

"I simply removed the block I'd placed on your memory," he answered. Annie unconsciously reached back up to her scar.

"Block?" She repeated softly. The man slowly walked toward her and chuckled darkly.

"I placed it there before you escaped so that if you did manage to run away, you would have no memory of your time here," he explained. "You were becoming too powerful and I figured it was only a matter of time before you found your way off this planet."

He continued to advance and she backed up until she reached to edge of the cliff. "You'll remember it all in time." Her eyes grew wide and she considered jumping. But he stopped all at once. "It's nice to have you home." At that, he turned and walked away.

She watched him walk right through the wall and she sunk to her knees. She wondered if any of her friends knew what had happened to her. She hoped that they would come to rescue her but she knew better than to get her hopes up. She was quite sure that wherever she was being kept, it was off the map.

Deciding there was nothing she could do, she made her way over to the bed she hadn't noticed before and curled up, willing sleep to claim her. Just before she fell asleep, she realized she remembered the name of the man.

Ubel, she thought. Finally she fell fast asleep.

She stood before a massive rock formation. She knew what Ubel wanted her to do but she still couldn't figure out how to do it.

"God dammit you stupid girl," his voice boomed in her mind, "it's just some damn rocks." She felt her veins catch fire and she fell to her knees in pain. "Do it and the pain will stop," the voice warned.

Annie looked back up at the rocks and reached her hand toward them. She focused as hard as she could and slowly the rocks lifted off the ground. The pain increased and she began to lose her grip on the rocks. She managed to move them a few feet before she collapsed into a ball. She felt the pain leave her body.

"Good," Ubel sneered. "Very good."


Annie realized as she gained consciousness again that she was not alone.

"You don't think they hurt the lass, do ya?" A Scottish voice asked.

"No, the wound appears to have been professionally taken care of," a gruff, southern voice chimed in. "Whoever did this is well trained in medical practice."

"So she's not hurt?" Another man asked.

"No Jim, just sleeping," the southern man answered. She moved slightly as she came to and felt the bed shift under her as if someone had been sitting on it but had gotten off. She focused her attention on the voices she heard.

Then it all came rushing back to her and her eyes snapped open. She was met with the relieved expressions of her close friends.

"How?" She squeaked out. She threw the sheet off of her and jumped off the bed. She embraced each of her friends in turn, spending an extra few moments in the arms of Jim and Leonard respectively.

"Jimbo insisted we all drop everything to come get you," Scotty joked.

"But how did you end up here?" She asked.

"Well now that we don't really know," the Scotsman answered. "One moment we're on a transport in dust as thick as soup and the next, we're here. I think we fell through the roof." Annie looked up but saw only sold rock overhead.

"Yeah, we don't know either," Jim said. Annie sat back down on the bed.

"So what does he want?" Leonard asked no one in particular. "Why didn't he just kill us?"

"It is surprising that our captor did not terminate us on site however it is also plausible that Annabelle may have something to do with it," Spock thought aloud. Annie felt all eyes once again on her.

"No, that can't be it," Uhura said defending Annie.

"Actually, Spock is right, this is all my fault," she whispered. Uhura came over to her, wrapping her in a hug. Annie knew she had to explain everything but she found the words dying in her throat.

"Zere are tally marks all over zee walls," Chekov noticed pulling everyone's attention from Annie, a fact that she was grateful for.

"Good god," Leonard remarked, looking at them. "How many are there?"

"It would be illogical to count them," Spock warned though it didn't stop Jim from starting.

"Don't bother," Annie interjected keeping her gaze on the ground. "There should be a little over two-thousand of them." Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"How did ya figure that one out?" Scotty asked. Annie took a deep, shaky breath.

"I cut them," she answered. The room immediately went silent. No one knew what to say.

"Don't be silly, you haven't been here that long, Annie," Jim tried and Annie hoped he was intentionally trying to be naive.

"That is not what she meant," Spock said.

"Annie?" Leonard prodded, sitting on her other side. Annie squeezed his hand and stood up to inspect her handiwork. It was easier to get the words out when she wasn't looking at them.

"I grew up here," she said. "Six years, I think, training whatever powers I have. Although I don't think I was born with these powers. The man who put us all here, Ubel, he said he created me. And I think he's right." She suddenly felt weak at the knees.

She saw flashes of needles, scalpels and wires. The pain in her head surged and she slid down the wall to her knees. She remembered now what was done to her, what he had done to her and it was too much.

"Annie, what is it?" Jim looked down at her as he asked. Annie's heart continued to race and she began to breathe sporadically. Leonard rushed over to her and sunk down to his knees. Annie continued to see flashes of the torture she had once known but she also saw other memories: her parents on a starship, the crash, being dragged here and pain, lots of pain.

Leonard began to panic himself. If he didn't get her to calm down, she could go into shock. He grabbed her shoulders to steady her but she looked everywhere but at him. She dug her nails into her scalp, pulling her knees to her chest. He took her face in his hands instead and forced her to look at him. She relaxed slightly.

"Annie, I need you to slow your breathing down. Take a deep breath with me," he said in a soothing voice but she continued to panic. "Please Annie, look at me. You have to take a deep breath for me and calm down." Annie nodded slowly. "Good, now breathe with me," he instructed, taking deep breaths himself.

Once she had calmed down, she lightly touched his face.

"Thank you," she whispered, leaning into his right hand. He nodded and gave her a small smile, kissing her forehead lightly. He took a seat against the wall next to her, sliding his arm around her shoulders and pulling her to lean on him. The crew all finally relaxed a bit and they all took seats around the room.

Jim looked at Bones and Annie and was surprised to feel a twinge of jealousy. He let it go, however, as Bones nodded to him. He sat down on the bed as the crew members each tried to strategize how to get out of the cave.