There was a knock on the door and I knew without having to ask that it was George. Only George would knock on a door in this century. Carefully extracting myself from Caiden's arms and legs-the boy must also be related to an octopus from the way that he sleeps-I moved to the door and signaled for it to open. George stood on the other side, looking dashing in a Star Fleet blues uniform. Spock had suggested that for as long as we remained onboard we should try to blend in as much as possible. Not everyone on the ship knew the truth of mine and Caiden's existence and a new face like George's in old fashioned clothing—as handsome as he is—was bound to get looks of curiosity and no doubt set tongues a wagging far beyond what we wanted.
"Hey," he rubbed the back of his neck, "is he asleep?" George craned his neck to see around me into the darker interior of the room. My nod answered the question and he settled back onto his heels. "I can't sleep, for obvious reasons." I nodded again. "Would you mind walking with me? I don't like the thought of being here without you, you know? It's just so…"
"Weird?" I offered and George sighed, his nod tired and his shoulders slumping under the weight of his new reality. "Yeah we can walk. I think Caiden is out for the night." I moved past my brother into the corridor and gestured towards the right; I knew down this direction was the ebonics lab and perhaps some "green" time would help settle George's nerves.
As we walked, silent for some time, I reflected back on the past few hours since we'd arrived. The Romulan warbird had towed us for some distance and then cloaked itself, once we had been able to contact Starfleet and alert them to our "malfunctions" from the barrier they'd promised to send a ship with parts for repairs. James had adjourned somewhere to consult with his Romulan wife/mate/person/significant other/complicated relationship woman and I'd had the last few hours to myself, well myself and Bones for a good part of it.
When James had disappeared after our "talk," I'd looked for Bones and my brother. When I'd arrived in sickbay George had been set up in a corner on the computer, catching up on the missed centuries of events, and Bones had already poured two glasses of bourbon, as if he'd known I was coming. We'd adjourned to his office, leaving George in relative peace as he studied-he'd always liked school, unlike me who'd rather burn a book than read it. Bones hadn't really asked questions about what James and I had said, though most likely he gathered from what I did say that things were as complicated as always.
"So," Bones had polished off his second glass and leaned back in his chair, the material rustling in a familiar way I'd nearly forgotten about in my time away, "where to next?"
"For me or for George?"
Bones had looked back out into sickbay, for a moment silently watching George study, before he'd shrugged and returned his attention to me, "For you of course. I get the feeling that George isn't going anywhere."
Poor George indeed had his own kettle to clean. He'd insisted that I bring him here, for what else did he have back in our old life? He was single and though he had genius level intellect—he got the brains AND looks curse him—he worked at a dead-end job for a marketing company. We had loans and mortgages and bills and seriously, who would choose that over the adventurous unknown of this? I wouldn't be surprised if Nurse Chapel took a shine to him eventually, she was his type after all: sharp as a knife, pretty as a button, and subtly hilarious.
"Well I figure I should check in with the other timelines and make sure everything worked out okay. Since we aren't currently being tortured or destroyed, and since neither Q or Oma have contacted me, and to my knowledge Caiden, I'm fairly certain we were successful." I'd tipped my head back and finished off my own drink, licking unladylike at the edge of my glass and earning a bemused smirk from Bones. "After that...well I don't know. I mean I've been at the beck and call of Q for so many years, I'm not quite sure what to do with myself now that he's isn't, or may not, be needing and/or wanting me to do something. Then there's Caiden to think about. He's just as capable of bouncing from timeline to timeline and with his father here, and with friends in multiple timelines, I'm pretty sure he'll be content to maintain a gypsy lifestyle."
"Are you content with that lifestyle or would your prefer roots of some kind?"
"Bones, if you're asking if I'm going to challenge this Romulan chick to a duel in order to win over the father of my child and former lover then the answer is no."
"Brenna," Bones had feigned an affronted look, "I'd never ask such a thing, though thank you for appeasing my latent curiosity."
"And if you're asking if I'll want to root down in this timeline then the answer is no as well."
"Oh really?" Bones had raised an eyebrow and I'd resisted the urge to tell him how much like Spock he looked when he did that.
I'd scratched my forehead, "Yeah, I'm thinking that maybe I should, well I don't know, go back." I'd dropped my hand too hastily and banged it on the edge of the desk.
"Back where?" Bones watched me cradle my hand in my lap and sway back and forth for a moment as the pain began to dissipate. "Do you have another man on your hands or something?"
"Um," I shook my hand out to lessen the pain, avoiding eye contact, "yeah. Kind of weird telling you though, seeing as he's, well, your counterpart."
Bones had blinked at me for a few moments before he'd thrown back his head and guffawed. I'd heard George twist in his chair, most likely curious over what sort of antic I'd done to cause such a reaction. The conversation with Bones had continued for a few minutes more, with him grilling me about what his counterpart was like and me trying to not die of embarrassment. I'd ended the conversation when Bones tried to give me advice on how to seduce himself in the other timeline, that was just too much.
After that I'd found Caiden and we'd eaten dinner with George, Sulu and Chekov coming over and joining us eventually. Caiden had disappeared with the two trouble makers for some time after that, leaving George to further explore the ship and Spock to find me and grill me about the particulars of the fight he'd not been privy too. By the time Caiden had come back to sleep-it seemed having powers such as ours didn't keep us from getting tired, hungry, or emotional like other humans-I'd had a headache from Spock's interrogation.
"Brenna." George's voice brought me back to the present, reminding me that I was in fact supposed to be the one to lead him around the ship. Instead, as I'd reflected on my day, I'd nearly walked into a wall and George was standing just behind me by the ebonics entrance. "Are you okay?"
I chuckled, "Sure." I turned around and keyed in the code to enter the green room, George trailing behind me. "What about you?"
"I think for finding out that fiction is reality and reality is fiction, I'm doing pretty good. I'm starting to get excited about what I can learn and do here." He stopped and rubbed the back of his neck, looking unsure. I'd never really seen him look uncertain about anything before so to see him like this was, well, strange. "I, uh, wanted to thank you actually."
"Thank me?" I moved around a palm tree on the winding path through the room. "For what?"
"If it weren't for you screwing up and getting your heart broken then you would have never have come here originally." I glared at him but let him finish, since I figured insulting me hadn't been his original intent. "And then I never would've come here and I'd still be stuck at that horrid job, living each day wondering if this is it."
I giggled, "And now you can live each day in a skin-tight blue jumpsuit wondering, 'Is this it?' when green-skinned ladies are throwing themselves at you on an away mission."
"Exactly." He caught my sarcasm and returned my grin. We walked silently for a few minutes longer before he touched my arm and waited for me to turn to look at him fully. "Stop stalling and go, Brenna."
"Huh?"
George shook his head, reached out and ruffled my hair like he used to do when we were kids. "I know you're stalling and you know it too. This isn't where you belong. Just like you didn't belong in the past, in our old timeline, you don't belong here in this one either. You can't go back and then move forward while you're back."
"Um, George, that doesn't make sense."
"It makes perfect sense, you dolt." He lightly punched my shoulder. "So stop stalling and go get him."
"Him?"
George shook his head, "You're such an idiot."
Before I could respond, the world began to shimmer and fade. I made eye contact with George one more time before his image, and the scenery of the ebonics lab, faded away completely. Perhaps my subconscious had activated my powers, latching onto the truth of George's words, and transported me away. When the world came back into focus I found myself still in the ebonics lab but from the design I could tell it was on a different Enterprise. Everything was silent, aside from the hum of the engines, but then an unfamiliar voice came on over the intercom system.
"You cannot hide from me, Kirk," the voice was like liquid silver and from the sound of it I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, "I can feel you and I will find you. This ship is a tin can for me to crush, I have no need for it Kirk. Your crew, I have no need for them either." There was a pause and in the background I could hear the familiar whirl and chirp of the bridge. "Come out and play, Jim; I'm in want of some entertainment. You have ten minutes to surrender yourself to me or all that you value in this world, your ship and your crew, will be destroyed, and you along with them."
The transmission ended as abruptly as it began. I suddenly felt a presence behind me and whirled around, hands at the ready for defense or offense. Khan stood there, staring at my hands with a near bored expression.
"Nice of you to return, after one fight and before another."
There was a rustling and behind him I saw Kirk emerge from a jeffries tube that apparently emptied out into the lab. He stood up and brushed off his pants before turning to face Khan and I.
"You're back." He came forward and slapped me on the shoulder before moving past me towards the door. Yup, definitely no romantic ties with this Kirk.
I nodded and looked between the still bored looking Khan and the prowling Kirk, "Yeah so I am. Hey, what's going on? Who has control of the ship?"
"Gary Mitchell." Khan crossed his arms over his chest. "It seems I was not the only one who expressly desired the demise of our dear Captain James Tiberius Kirk."
"Hey," I reached forward and awkwardly patted Khan's arm, earning an eyebrow raise from him in response, "in your defense you weren't exactly gunning for Kirk's death so much as for the death of the Federation."
"A perverse oligarchy I'd still gladly destroy." He glared at where my hand continued to rest on his arm until I pulled it back with a blush on my cheeks. "I also don't need or want your defense of my actions."
I waved a hand in the air between us, as if to wave off his...whatever...before I turned towards the still pacing Kirk, "Who's this Gary Mitchell and why does he have control of the ship?"
"Gary Mitchell was Sulu's replacement as helmsman during the attack on the barrier." Kirk sighed and leaned against the far wall, in between a ficus and a rose bush. I refrained from giggling, since this was definitely not the time to giggle at the image of manly Kirk between two girly plants. "Sulu had been injured during a power fluctuation we'd encountered when we first met with the barrier. After the explosion, before Khan could tug us free, there was another power fluctuation and that time Gary was injured. Unlike Sulu, who made a perfect recovery without any side effects some hours later, Gary began to display odd abilities."
I frowned, "What sort of abilities?"
"Let's just say he's almost as annoying as you." Khan grumbled from behind me.
I flicked my wrist and heard a satisfying thunk from where a palm tree had dipped down and swatted Khan in the head with its branches. Aside from our defense of the galaxy, I had yet to use my powers for mature things.
"We tried to make it to Delta Vega, the closest inhabitable planet to here, where we could leave Gary to evolve in peace."
"Evolve?" I interrupted him, visions of goo changing to monkeys to humans to...Gary Mitchell swirling in my brain.
"He can't be killed, Brenna. He's much like you, or the Q. He's telepathic, telekinetic, can control energy and matter, seems to be invulnerable to phaser weapons, and its almost like he can see things before they happen."
"It's a shame Kirk," the liquid silver voice was suddenly off to our right and we all turned to face a handsome though psychotic looking man, "that you would waste your last ten minutes on earth explaining away things to this creature instead of trying to stop me. I thought you'd be entertaining, Kirk, but instead I find you to be a complete bore."
Khan picked up the palm tree I'd used to swat him and threw it at Gary. The palm tree stopped moving in mid-arc before it suddenly switched directions and came crashing back towards Khan. Khan dove out of the way and picked up another plant, and another, and began tossing them haphazardly towards Gary. Did Khan not realize that Gary was not about to die from a plant allergy? Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Kirk pull something from his waistband and circle around behind Gary. Obviously Khan and Kirk had some sort of plan, and hopefully whatever device Kirk had in his hands now would prove useful.
To be helpful I also began to "pick up" plants, though using my powers, and began to swirl and twirl them towards Gary, though I didn't always try to hit him with them so much as just float them around him like an annoying mosquito. He turned his silver eyes towards me in what might have been surprise when he realized that I was also controlling the floating plants. Most likely he hadn't known I had powers-a lot of people on this Enterprise still knew me as the ship's counselor. There was something familiar about him, about his powers and the general storyline surrounding how he got his powers, but I couldn't remember the details, at least not while I was playing tag with flying plants.
Gary concentrated on me then and with lifted hands in my direction began to shoot out little tendrils of energy. They tickled like the dickens when they hit me, but otherwise proved harmless. I was about to respond in kind when I saw Kirk launch himself at Gary, press a button on the device he held, and together they shimmered out of ebonics. The floating plants crashed to the floor in a messy heap and I stared over at Khan in curiosity.
"Where'd they go?"
Khan moved past me towards the door. When he glanced back and saw that I wasn't following he returned to my side, grabbed my wrist, and jerked me along behind him. His initiation of physical contact surprised me but I wasn't about to point out the inconsistent nature of his general disagreeable nature. He had nice hands and it was "agreeable" having someone tug me along behind them, considering how long it'd been since someone else had taken control of a situation and I'd merely been back seat observer.
As we quickly moved through the corridors I was surprised that no one was rushing about. I tugged at my hand finally, figuring it's been long enough holding hands with a psychotic megalomaniac, and without question Khan dropped my hand from his grasp.
"He transported them down to Delta Vega. The crew has been locked up in air locks, the brig, their quarters, and various other nooks and crannies. Gary was holding them hostage against Kirk." He opened up a jeffries tube and began climbing.
"Um, why don't we just take the lift?" I called up after him.
He glared over his shoulder, "Until we get your engineer free we won't have any sort of working power aside from these emergency lights, and that includes the lift."
I mouthed an, "oh" before I climbed up after him. That explained the lack of rushing crew. As we made our way to engineering I went over my mental DVD collection to figure out which episode had featured Gary Mitchell and how Kirk and the others had eventually defeated him. I remember I'd always thought the ending of the episode had been far fetched and unlikely, especially for such a powerful being as Gary Mitchell.
"Brenna." Khan's curt voice cut through my mental wanderings. "Why don't you make yourself useful and release everyone with your mind, it'd save us time running about wasting time. Or is that too much of a challenge for you?"
I glared at him, my hands on my hips, before I closed my eyes and concentrated. I probably did have the power but did I know how to access it or channel it? Nope, not a clue. So I did what I knew how to do, which was improvise. I imagined each of the doors I had seen and remembered on the ship, the cargo bays, the mess hall, sickbay, and etc., and I imagined them unlocking and swishing open. After a few moments of doing this I began to hear distant voices down the corridor, closer to engineering, and so I opened my eyes and smirked at Khan. He looked unimpressed, even as crew members began to return to their posts around us.
"Brenna!" I turned toward the sound of Scotty's voice and sighed in relief when I saw that he and Christine were unharmed, and surprisingly holding hands as they came down the corridor towards us. "Where have ye been lassie? We thought you were gone for good, taken by the barrier or something."
Before I could answer Khan cut in, "While this is a most touching reunion, wouldn't you agree that finding your captain and neutralizing Mitchell as a threat is more imperative than knowing the reasons for Miss Jones' miraculous return?"
Scotty glared at Khan and I noticed Christine squeeze his hand, most likely to keep the man from making a biting retort. For some reason watching this exchange rang the final bell of memory in my brain and I quickly spoke up, "Elizabeth Dehner!"
"What?"
"Who?"
Scotty and Khan spoke up at the same time, giving each other pointed stares for a moment before I continued. "Is there a woman named Elizabeth Dehenr on board and did she get exposed to the shock wave?" When none of them immediately spoke up I growled, "We need to find Elizabeth Dehner. I get the feeling only she'll be able to stop Mitchell."
"Why do you say that?" Khan's question had me halting in my steps towards the now working turbolift.
"Because she's the one who stopped him in the other timeline." I waved towards the lift. "Come on, you said it yourself Khan, we don't have time to discuss the details." This time I marched back and grabbed his wrist and tugged him after me towards the lift. I saw Christine smother a smile while Scotty gaped at the proceedings. "Get to engineering and make sure everything is in working order. I have the strangest feeling we'll need to be able to jet outta here ASAP."
Scotty gave me an old fashioned salute, "Aye aye."
I chuckled as Khan and I entered the lift and punched in the code for the bridge. I figured Spock was most likely up there already and since he didn't know I was here he hadn't called for me-though whether or not he'd actually do so or want me on the bridge remained to be seen. I heard Khan clear his throat and glanced over at him. He gave me another one of his bored expressions before he lifted his arm and I saw that I still held onto his wrist. I blushed slightly and let go, giving him suavest grin.
"I shudder to think what sort of leader you'll prove to be in this matter."
My smile widened, "Oh it'll be fun!" I slugged him in the arm as the lift doors opened, belching us out onto the bridge.
