It Begins pt.1

Life went on for her as normal. Granted she had to heal, recover, and rehabilitate from the attack that left a nasty scar on her entire back, but that aside she had moved on since the incident. Too bad her father hadn't. His hovering and constant doting over her increased as she finally started work. Calling in to check on her every 5 minutes, making sure she was feeling alright and if she had taken her medication were constant daily annoyances to her. She was fed up with his over protectiveness, wishing he would just leave her alone. But as the saying goes, she should have been careful on what she wished for.

"Where are the bloody reports on the Karnian Slime Gutter's reproduction rates?" Dr. Cosmos yelled as she looked threw her desk drawers. A hand holding the folder popped into her line of vision. Looking up, she smiled at the young woman before her. "Thank you, Ms. Lightyear." She replied as she snatched the folder from the girl's hand. Reading the findings, she grabbed the younger woman's shoulder as she turned to leave. "Hold on a tick Ms. Lightyear." Gabby said, eyes never leaving the folder. Jill looked at the older woman questioningly.

"Something wrong, Dr. Cosmos?" Gabriella pointed to a chair in front of her desk.

"Sit." And like an obedient dog, Jill sat in the plush office chair as the doctor sashayed to hers. Pressing her fingertips together, she peered at the girl with her mood ring like eyes. "Jillian, how are you doing?" Jill blinked a bit in surprise. "And I want an honest answer. None of that malarkey you've been feeding to your father and the doctors." She said sternly, pointing a scaled finger at her. For a few minutes, Jill just sat there dumbstruck at her mentor's request. Looking down at her hands, she remained quiet for a bit longer before answering.

"I've been uneasy since I return from the hospital. I'm still having nightmares from when I was on the operating table." Lowering her glasses, Gabby watched the girl for a bit as she waited for the rest.

"What kind of nightmares?" Taking a deep breath, Jill prepared herself to reply.

"It starts out I'm in a field." She started. "It's warm and relaxing. There's the smell of flowers and a gentle breeze sweeps over us."

"Us?" Gabby asked.

"Another woman and myself." Jill responded. "I've never seen her face but I have my head in her lap as she caresses my hair while I sleep." Gabby hummed as she tapped her cheek. None of this seemed to be nightmare material. "Then it changes." The doctor perked up. "Suddenly it's dark and cold. The flower scent is replaced with smoke and the lap is hard and cold. The woman's gone and a hooded skeleton is there. I try to escape but it grabs me and digs its hand into my back." Gabby nodded as she pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose.

"I see. Well then, it seems to me that this dream is your response to your near death experience. Perhaps you should get it looked into for deeper meaning." A light knock alerted the two to the door. A young sky blue male with reptile characteristics was in the doorway.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's a call for Ms. Lightyear" Jill turned her head to him.

"Again? Unless it's somebody other than my father, I'm not answering it." The poor boy looked torn over what to do.

"But, he's insisting on speaking with you." Groaning in embarrassment, Jill placed her head in her hands and sighed deeply. Dr. Cosmos took a sip of her coffee as she picked up the Karnian Slime Gutter report.

"Go ahead Jillian, we're done here." She said warmly. Getting up, Jill walked down the hall to her desk. Sitting down, she picked up the video com's phone. The image of her father popped up on the screen. Here we go.

"Hey Jelly Bean!" His cheery voice rang in her ear; she had learned the hard way to always use the phone attachment on her computer when her father called. She still got post-it notes with 'Jilly Bear' scribbled on them.

"Hey Dad." She said annoyance in her voice. "I'm fine, I'm feeling fine, everything around me is fine, so bye."

"Hold on young lady." She groaned as she returned the phone to her ear. "I'm calling to tell you I may be coming home a little late tonight." She perked up at this. "But that doesn't mean you can have a party or stay out all night, alright?" Blowing a lock of hair out of her face, she smiled.

"Yeah, cause I'm little miss party girl." Buzz smiled back. "Anything else you'd like to tell me?"

"I love you." She smiled sweetly at him.

"I love you too, dad."

"Also take your medicine." And with that, the screen went blank. Sighing in annoyance, Jill grabbed her medication bottle next to her. He was so obnoxious.

=[+]=[+]=

Buzz smiled as he pressed the end button on his communicator.

"Come on Lightyear!" Warp called out. "Those LGMs aren't going to find themselves!" Helping his partner unload the Ranger Rover, Buzz started his mission log.

=[+]=[+]=

Saving her files to her flash drive, Jill shut her computer off for the night. Stretching her tired back out, she grabbed and headed towards the exit.

"Ms. Lightyear?" She groaned in frustration at the messenger. She was finally going to go home and have the night to herself. What in the world did that man want now? Turning around she saw the messenger boy rubbing the back of his neck as he pointed towards the hall. "They want to talk to you." She looked confused as she walked towards the hallway. She froze when she saw Commander Nebula and her father waiting for her. The first thing she noticed was that her father looked like he went to the sun and back.

"Dad? Sweet Venus, what happened? Are you alright?" The second thing she noticed was the somber looks they had. "Dad, what happened?" She asked quietly. The words seemed jumbled as her bag fell to the floor. Staring in pure shock, she was forced into a bear hug by her father. It was then she felt her body go limp as her tears ran freely.