Scotty was charging down the halls, cursing quietly to himself as he went.

"Please be alright? Oh god please…"

He bolted round a corner so fast that he smashed into the wall, but he couldn't care less about himself.

There was only one person who he was concerned about at this moment in time, someone who he just wanted to be with.

And that person was Lexie.

She along with Kirk and McCoy had beamed down to explore a new planet, but of course it didn't take long for something to go wrong.

Scotty had been on the bridge, talking with Lexie about what she and the others had found, when she suddenly screamed.

That was it. That's all Scotty heard before Kirk requested an emergency transport, stating Lexie had been hurt. Seriously hurt.

"I knew I should have gone with them…" Scotty muttered as he reached the doors to the transporter room.

He entered just in time to watch Kirk and McCoy lift Lexie's motionless body onto a stretcher, before she was rushed out of the room.

Blinking away the tears which were forming in his eyes, Scotty turned to see Kirk sitting on the pad. "What happened down there Jim?"

"We were just exploring near a cliff face when there was a sudden landslide, Lexie saw it first so she…" Kirk felt his throat dry up.

But he soon managed to carry on, "So she shoved Bones out of the way, in turn getting buried."

Once again Scotty could feel tears swelling in his eyes, he wanted to speak but every time he opened his mouth no words came out.

Kirk slowly got from where he had been sitting and walked over to Scotty, placing a hand on the Scotsman's shoulder.

"Go and be with her, she needs you." Kirk knew that Scotty was worried sick about his young friend, the two of them were very close after all.

They were almost family, no. They were family.

Scotty simply nodded before bolting out of the room, he just wanted to be by her side. To see she was alright, he prayed she was alright.

He rushed into sick bay, frantically looking around. Hoping to see her sitting up in a biobed, laughing about the whole thing.

But it soon became clear that wasn't going to be the case, since she was nowhere to be seen.

"Please don't be in surgery…" Scotty whispered to himself, as he wiped his eyes before the tears which had gathered under them had a chance to fall.

Then the door just in front of him opened slowly and out walked McCoy, who clearly had seen Scotty but chose not to say anything.

"Leonard, please tell me that she's…" Scotty's voice broke several times as he spoke, but he didn't really mind nor care.

McCoy waved him over and the two of them stepped into the small room, a faint bleeping could be heard repeating in regular intervals.

Scotty's eyes widened at the sight that he was greeted by, laying in a bio bed and hooked up to a variety of machines was Lexie.

If he was unable to hear the bleeping which was a sign she was alive, Scotty would have assumed she was dead.

She was just lying there, completely still. It didn't even look like her chest was rising as she took a breath.

"Is she… even alive?" Scotty questioned, McCoy walked over and placed a hand reassuringly on the Scotsman's shoulder.

"She is Scotty, don't worry she's still with us. Even if she isn't awake."

Scotty faced McCoy, a panicked look in his eyes. "What do you mean she isn't awake? What, is she in some sort of coma?" He blurted out.

"No she's not in a coma Scotty, she just hasn't woken up yet that's all." McCoy replied softly.

"Will she wake up?" That was all Scotty wanted to know, "She will yes, when that will be we just don't know."

That was half what Scotty wanted to hear, he really wanted to know when she would wake up.

Scotty sniffled quietly, "Can I stay with her?" Even if McCoy said no he was going to anyway. He didn't want to leave her.

McCoy gestured over to a chair which sat next to the bio bed, "Sure, maybe having you near will speed up her recovery."

"Thanks Leonard." Scotty said as he pulled the Doctor in for a hug, "Don't mention it Scotty, just call if you need anything."

The Scotsman nodded as he released McCoy, who swiftly left the room. Allowing for Scotty to be with Lexie alone.

When he had sat down, Scotty reached over and grabbed a gentle hold of Lexie's hand.

"Heya lass…" He muttered as he softly squeezed her hand, he really wanted her to do the same back.

Tears slowly dripped off his cheeks and plopped onto the bed, Scotty was trying to hold them back. But he just couldn't.

"Please Lexie, open your eyes or at least squeeze my hand…" But Lexie didn't move, not even the tiniest bit.

Scotty hated seeing her like this, he hated not being able to do anything. It was killing him inside.

It brought back the terrible memories of the time himself and Lexie were kidnapped by her abusive uncle.

When Scotty had to sit back and watch as Lexie took a beating, while he couldn't do anything.

"I should have gone down with you, I should have been there…"

Just then the door opened, Scotty turned to see Keenser standing in the doorway.

Of course, the little guy had been in Engineering and must have heard about Lexie from someone else.

"Come here lad." Scotty gestured for Keenser to come and stand beside him, he knew he should have told him what happened personally.

Since Keenser and Lexie were really close friends, they worked together almost every single shift they shared.

Keenser placed a hand on Lexie's leg and grunted sadly, Scotty wished he didn't know what he said. But of course he understood every little noise the Engineer made.

Scotty placed an arm around Keenser's shoulders, "Don't worry wee man, the lass is going to be fine. McCoy just doesn't know when she'll wake up, but she will."

He wasn't just saying that to reassure Keenser, Scotty was also saying that to reassure himself.

Once again Keenser grunted, this time Scotty pulled him in for a hug. "Lexie's a strong kid lad, she'll wake up soon. You'll see."

As Scotty spoke, he felt tears swelling in his eyes again but he didn't move to wipe them away. Keenser had seen him cry before, so he didn't mind if he saw again.

Scotty didn't let go of Keenser for several minutes, mainly since his alien friend had started to cry himself.

When he finally let him go Keenser wiped his tears away, "You best get back to Engineering lad, I'll call you if the lass wakes up."

"Promise?" Stuttered Keenser, Scotty nodded as he wipe a tear from under his friends eye. "I promise laddie, now off you go."

Keenser nodded before walking slowly out of the door, Scotty turned back and once again gently grabbed Lexie's hand.

"Please wake up soon Lex…"

Several hours past by and still Lexie still hadn't woken up, nor had Scotty left her side.

He had even fallen asleep, his head resting on the bed next to the girls hand which he held tightly.

Just then the door opened and in walked McCoy, he was about to start talking but when he saw that Scotty was asleep he didn't bother.

McCoy couldn't help but smile at the sleeping Scotsman, he knew that Scotty wasn't going to leave Lexie's side so almost expected to see him asleep at some point.

With the smile still on his face, McCoy walked over to another bed which was located in the room and pulled off the cover. He then walked back and softly laid it over Scotty.

"Don't want you to get a cold now do we." McCoy whispered as he tip toed out of the room, to allow for the Scotsman to sleep in peace.

He closed the door and went back to his office, where he saw Delta sitting on his desk. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't have let myself in…" Delta muttered sadly.

"It's alright kid, you're welcome in here any time." McCoy replied sweetly as he sat down, "Take it you heard about Lexie?"

Delta nodded, "Pavel told me… Is she… is she OK?" He asked stepping closer to the Doctor.

"She'll be fine Delta, I just wish I could tell you when she'll wake up." McCoy replied sadly. "I'm sorry Delta, I really am."

Delta was confused, why was McCoy apologising? "You don't need to be sorry McCoy, you did nothing wrong."

But McCoy shook his head, "You don't understand, I'm the reason she's laying there. She saved me from that landslide and got buried herself, it should have been me…"

For the first time, Delta was seeing McCoy cry. He had never seen him cry before, it was something the robot hoped he never saw again.

As McCoy continued to cry, he felt something hug him tightly. He looked down through his tears to see Delta clinging to his shirt, hugging him as tight as he could.

"Please don't cry Leonard, none of this is your fault. It was just an accident, besides it could have easily been you laying in that bed instead of Lexie. Either way we would all be crying and feeling upset."

McCoy could hardly believe it, he was getting comforted by a robot. Then there was the fact that Delta had called him by his first name, he never did that.

After a few minutes, Delta let go of McCoy who wiped away his tears. "Thanks Delta, I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome Leonard." Delta replied as he gave the Doctor a gentle 'boop' on the nose, which McCoy found adorable. So adorable in fact that he gave the robot one back, which caused Delta to giggle.

"Can I see her?" Asked Delta, McCoy nodded as he rose from his desk. "Course you can, Scotty's in there with her but he's asleep."

Delta followed McCoy out of his office and into the other room, Scotty was still asleep and still was holding Lexie's hand.

McCoy could see that Delta looked distraught, "Don't worry kid, she's alive. Just not awake yet, you can go lay with her if ya want."

It seemed like the robot didn't need to hear anymore, he flew over to his creator and quietly laid down next to her head.

"Hey Lex, it's me Delta." He whispered as he closed his own eyes and quickly fell asleep.

McCoy couldn't help but smile slightly, they all looked so peaceful. Maybe with Scotty and Delta by her side, Lexie's recovery would go even faster.

That's what McCoy hoped anyway, he wanted nothing more to see her back at work. To see her joking and messing around with Kirk and Scotty. To even hear her play her guitar.

Slowly wiping a tear from his eye, McCoy left the room once more. He didn't want to wake Scotty or Delta.

He had only just sat back down at his desk when the door opened, McCoy was expecting it to be Kirk but it wasn't.

Instead it was Scotty who was standing there, the bed cover wrapped around his shoulders like a cape.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" McCoy asked, Scotty shook his head. "You didn't wake me Leonard."

McCoy could see how sore Scotty's eyes were, not only was the skin around them red but his eyes themselves were red and blood shot. Most likely from all the crying.

"You can sit down you know, you don't need to wait for an invitation." McCoy said as he waved to the chair which sat opposite him.

Scotty wanted to smile, but he just couldn't. So instead he just nodded as he took a seat.

The two of them sat in silence. McCoy didn't want to force Scotty to talk, that was up to him.

"I should have been there…" Scotty muttered suddenly. "I should have been there to stop Lexie from getting hurt…"

"Scotty, none of us knew what was going to happen." McCoy said as he lent across the desk and held the Scotsman's hand.

"But I could have stopped…" "Lexie is just as stubborn as you, no one could have stopped her doing what she did."

Deep down Scotty knew that McCoy was right, she was just like he was. Stubborn. Which he understood, since she did have Scottish blood.

"Aye, you're right Leonard. But, it doesn't make seeing her like this any easier."

McCoy patted Scotty's hand gently, "I know it doesn't Scotty, believe me I hate this as much as you do."

"I've never felt so useless, I just…" Just then they heard someone yell out Lexie's name.

"That was Delta." McCoy stated as he leapt from his chair, Scotty did the same and bolted out of the room.

Scotty darted into Lexie's room to see his young friend sweating and crying, however she was still asleep. "I don't know what's wrong?" Delta stated quickly.

"I do…" Scotty muttered as he stepped over to the bed. He gently picked Lexie up and held her in his arms, while he rubbed her back.

"You're alright lass, everything's OK. I'm here, you're safe." Scotty whispered quietly.

It didn't take McCoy long to understand what had happened, since Lexie was basically in a deep sleep she was still able to dream. Which sadly meant that her regular nightmares were still able to haunt her.

She soon calmed down and Scotty laid her back in bed, one of her hands tightly in his.

He would be lying if he didn't wish for her to now be awake, after realising she could still suffer from her nightmares Scotty wanted her to wake up even more.

"You're alright lassie." Scotty muttered as he wiped away a tear which was looming under Lexie's eye.

McCoy placed a hand on the Scotsman's shoulder, "See? You're not useless Scotty, I sure as hell wouldn't have known what was going on or what to do."

Scotty forced himself to smile, even if it was only ever so slightly. "Thanks Leonard." He then turned to see Delta, who was sat beside his creator with one of his tiny hands on hers.

"Oh Lexie…" Delta suddenly felt himself being picked up, he looked up to see it was McCoy who had grabbed him.

McCoy didn't say anything, he just hugged the robot gently. Even Delta needed to be held and comforted at a time like this.

Once again Lexie began to cry, so Scotty just squeezed her hand tighter. McCoy still was amazed at how the Scotsman was able to comfort the youngest member of the crew, even when she was in such a deep state of sleep.

"Don't cry lass, he can't hurt you anymore. It's just a nightmare, you've got nothing to be scared of, I'm here."

It took a little longer this time around for Scotty to calm Lexie down, but soon she was back to sleeping peacefully. But once again Scotty wished she was awake.

McCoy had decided to take Delta back to Lexie's quarters to allow the little guy to rest, he had also tried to persuade Scotty to head to bed.

"I'm not going anywhere Leonard, I'm going to stay right here until she wakes up. Besides, what if she has another nightmare? I want to be here to comfort her." That was the Scotsman's reply to McCoy.

So the Doctor didn't argue with him, since he kinda understood his reasoning.

Five days had past by, but still Lexie hadn't woken up. Let alone even moved.

During that whole time, Scotty hadn't left her bed side. His hand was still holding hers, as if he was scared to let her go.

McCoy was growing concerned about the Scotsman's own wellbeing and he wasn't the only one, Kirk was also worried.

"He hasn't moved from that chair in five days, I'm worried he's going to make himself ill." McCoy said sadly.

Kirk felt the same, "Has he even eaten in the last five days? Let alone had a proper night sleep?" McCoy shook his head.

"Can't you just order him to bed? You are the ships Chief Medical Officer after all Bones." Kirk replied.

The look that McCoy gave Kirk was a dead give away of what the Doctors reply was going to be.

"I maybe a dam Doctor Jim, but I'm not a bloody boxer. If I try to order Scotty to go to bed, he'll most likely end up punching me."

Kirk could understand that, "I get that he wants to be with her, I really do but…" He stopped as he stared through the small window which was set in the door.

"The Enterprise needs its two best Engineers back, there's only so much Keenser and Chekov can do down there without them."

McCoy just nodded.

Scotty was half asleep and half awake. He was struggling to keep his eyes open and his head up.

He wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to take, it had already been five days and Lexie had shown no signs of waking up any time soon. The waiting was killing him.

"Come on lassie… Open your eyes… Please…" Scotty pleaded. He hadn't just been struggling to stay awake, he had also been fighting back his tears.

But as more began to fall from his sad brown eyes, Scotty just couldn't hold them back anymore.

"Please Lexie, wake up! I don't know what I'll do without you!"

"You're one of my best friends but more importantly you're my family!"

"We've been through too much together for you to leave me! Please… I love you…"

Scotty buried his head in his own hands, tears pooling in his palms before trickling down his arms like tiny shimmering rivers.

Just then he felt something stroke the side of his head, it felt like a hand.

Scotty quickly lifted his head up and glanced over to see it was Lexie's hand, she moved!

"Lexie?!" He exclaimed excitedly.

He looked over to see her eyes were ever so slightly open, but they were open enough for Scotty to see their unique pigments glisten in the bright light.

She smiled at him as she placed her hand on his slightly wet cheek, oh how Scotty had missed that smile. It made his heart buzz with joy and happiness.

"And I love you Scotty…"

His once tears of sadness were now tears of joy, as Scotty quickly hugged her tightly.

"You're awake! Oh Lexie!" Scotty muttered, snivelling several times as he spoke.

Kirk and McCoy had heard the commotion and rushed in. Only to be overwhelmed with joy at the sight that greeted them.

"Lexie, you're finally awake." Kirk stated, Lexie just smiled. "You had us all worried." McCoy said as he scanned her over.

"Sorry, I didn't mean too." Scotty let her go and wiped his eyes.

Word quickly spread across the ship that the young Lt. had woken up and Lexie was quickly visited by countless officers.

First it was Sulu, saying he couldn't wait for them to have a fencing match someday soon. When she was up for it of course.

Followed by Spock and Uhura, who were so happy to hear that she would be able to return to work in a couple of days.

Then it was the turn of Chekov and Keenser, the pair of them burst into tears when they saw her.

And finally Delta. Who was more than a little happy, the little guy was over the moon. So much so that he simply flew around the room, he was so happy.

Once everyone had their turn to see her, McCoy made sure that Lexie and Scotty were left alone.

Which Scotty was thankful for. "I've been told that you haven't left my side." Lexie stated.

"Aye that's true lass, I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Lexie grabbed a firm hold of the Scotsman's hand, "You are aware that I could hear you talking to me?"

Scotty's cheeks instantly turned red, "You… You could?" Lexie nodded, "Yes, your words did reach me and they helped me to wake up."

"Not only that, but you help drive away the nightmares which were haunting me while I slept. Even when I'm not awake, you're still looking out for me and protecting me from the ghosts of my past."

"I'm glad to hear that lassie." Scotty stuttered. As tears slowly ran down his face, which confused Lexie.

"Why are you crying Scotty? I'm alright." "I thought you were never going to wake up, I thought I was going to lose you. That almost happening once was bad enough."

Lexie smiled as she gently wiped the tears from her friends face, "I would never leave you Scotty, ever. Like you said, we've been through too much together."

Scotty smiled before he hugged her tightly, "Oh Lexie, I've never been so happy. I love you so much."

With her own cheeks blushing now too, Lexie hugged the Scotsman back. "I love you too Scotty and I promise, I will never leave your side. You're stuck with me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way lassie."