[Disclaimer: The movies and its characters don't belong to me. I don't own them. They belong to their rightful owners and I'm just borrowing them for this one-shot.

A/N: Yet another story featuring Lexie, the awesome OC created by StarLightCrystalix. I'm actually not too happy about how the story turned out, but I hope it's okay. Please enjoy!]

/Sleeping Beauty Syndrome/

McCoy stood in front of the door leading to the part of sickbay they had quarantined.

It was horrible to look at all these motionless bodies lying in biobeds. Even though the Doctor knew they weren't dead, it was a gruesome sight. All these crewmembers asleep, maybe never waking up again.

The Sleeping Beauty syndrome.

That's what Bones had called it when the strange sickness had started spreading across the ship.

It had happened down in Engineering. Fifteen men and women, all working in the same room, had suddenly fallen asleep without any reason. The first medical personal to arrive had suffered the same fate, so McCoy had immediately told Kirk to seal the area, already fearing what the nature of this strange occurrence could have been.

A virus.

Why else should all these members of the crew suddenly fall asleep at the same time?

They had gotten the bodies out of Engineering, wearing protective suits themselves and putting them on their crewmates too. But they couldn't leave them in these overalls, since McCoy had quickly realized that the bodies needed to be monitored in biobeds so that they could find out about the nature of the virus.

All that had happened three days ago and McCoy still hadn't been able to find a promising cure.

So now all their friends looked like they were simply resting peacefully, the monitors beeping quietly. Some people smiled, apparently they had good dreams, but there was one person McCoy was worried about.

Lexie.

Even though the girl seemed to be sleeping peacefully at the moment, Bones knew that it probably wouldn't take too long for her usual nightmares to start haunting her. And the problem was that he couldn't wake her from it, tell her she was fine. It was a horrible feeling of helplessness.

And McCoy knew that one person on board would feel even worse than him. And that man was putting on a protective suit at the moment, standing next to him.

"Remember, it's important that you wait for the decontamination process to be over when we get out-", McCoy started explaining but he was cut off by the thick Scottish accent.

"I know, I'm not a wee lad anymore, Leonard!"

Bones sighed. It wasn't Scotty's usual soft, mischievous voice but an annoyed reply. McCoy couldn't blame the man for it. He was stressed and desperate. A great part of all these men and women in there worked under him and Lexie was like family to the Scotsman.

"Alright. Let's go."

McCoy opened the door and stepped into the small chamber made of glass which served as last separation between quarantined area and normal sickbay.

Scotty was following him and soon they stood next to Lexie's bed. The Scotsman grabbed her hand and squeezed it softly.

"Hello, lass. How're you doin'?", McCoy heard him ask gently and he felt a big lump in his throat, getting bigger and bigger. This was horrible! Why couldn't he help her?

"I... I don't know if you can hear me, but I... I want you to wake up, Lex. The crew needs you. Delta needs you."

The CEO's voice nearly broke towards the end and Bones didn't have to look at him to know that there were tears streaming down his face.

"I need you. So ya better open your eyes, right now."

It kinda sounded like an order and even though Scotty had to know that it wouldn't help, he still tried it. But Lexie didn't react.

And suddenly Scotty's behavior changed within seconds.

"Wake up! Please, wake up! Lexie!"

The Scotsman grabbed his friend's shoulders and shook her, his voice so loud, it could have been described as screaming.

"Scotty...", McCoy was surprised by that sudden outburst and he tried to calm him but the Engineer continued his yelling.

"I cannae lose you, Lex! Not after everything we've been through! Wake up!"

"Scotty!"

"Wake up, Lexie! Wake up! Wake up! Wake-"

What the heck was going on?! Why did Scotty suddenly behave like a mad man? Bones didn't understand. Until he remembered the last conversation he'd had with Christine who'd been part of the first medical team a few days ago. He had talked to her via communicator about what was happening down in Engineering. And then she had suddenly started to panick. McCoy had thought of it as normal reaction to seeing all these lifeless crewmates, but what if it had been a first symptom of the syndrome?

"Shit!", he cursed as he grabbed the Scotsman by his shoulders, pulling him away from Lexie's bed. But he struggled in his arms.

"Wake her up, Leonard! Do your job and wake her up! You have to-"

Scotty didn't get to finish that sentence before he broke down, pulling Bones with him to the ground.

"Scotty?"

McCoy looked at the motionless man in his arms and he cursed once again, his eyes widening in shock as he saw a small fissure at the leg of Scotty's overall.

How? How did that happen? He looked around and found a nail sticking out of a crate standing next to the entrance.

'Dam it! Scotty must have ripped the fabric when we walked in together!'

"Scotty, come on, not you too", McCoy begged his friend, but of course he didn't get any reply. He had already been infected so there was no turning back.

Bones carefully stood up and gently carried the Scotsman over to the free biobed next to Lexie's. He put him down and took off the protective suit Scotty was wearing. He wouldn't need it anymore.

McCoy couldn't believe it. How could he fail like this? He was supposed to help the crew. Help his friends! And now he'd lost yet another one of them. He could feel tears filling his eyes as he looked at the sleeping Engineer's face. But he quickly shook his head, blinking the moisture away.

"I'm a doctor, dam it, not a crybaby", he mumbled while he activated the machines to monitor Scotty's vitals. He had to stay strong! Focus and find a way to help them!

There was a strange sound coming from behind him and McCoy turned around to see a certain small alien standing in the self made decontamination chamber.

"Keenser?"

The small man had apparently been searching for Scotty and had entered the area all by himself... without a protective suit! And now he was about to press the button to enter further...

"Keenser, don't-"

McCoy tried to stop him, but it was already too late. The door opened and Keenser hurried over to Scotty, making a sad noise.

Bones felt his heart sink as he watched his alien friend standing next to the Scotsman, holding his hand. Apparently he hadn't thought about the danger of entering or maybe he simply didn't care. Maybe he just wanted to be with his friends again.

"What have you done, Keenser? You're gonna be sick."

Bones knelt down next to the Engineer and put a hand on his shoulder, making the alien turn his head towards him. He grunted softly and even though McCoy didn't understand it, he knew the meaning of it.

"But it's not okay for me, man! I can't lose more of my friends due to their stubborn carelessness!"

A minute of silence past. Keenser had turned his attention back to Scotty while McCoy had sat down on the floor, burying his head in his hands.

And out of nowhere a realization hit the doctor. Time was passing... but Keenser neither seemed to panic nor get sleepy. McCoy lifted his head up and stared at the alien.

What if...

He pulled out his medical tricorder and scanned Keenser's body all over. Nothing! No trace of the virus!

"Keenser! It's you!", he exclaimed and the alien simply tilted his head, looking at him in a questioning way. So McCoy started to explain what he meant.

"You... you're immune! The virus can't do anything to you!"

Keenser blinked a few times when Bones grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him, smiling happily.

"Don't ya understand? With your blood I can create a cure for all of them! I can save them with your help."

That was it! That was the solution for their problem. Keenser was the key!

A few days passed after that event and the latest horror seemed to have been a nightmare. Everyone was awake again. And all of that had only been possible because of Keenser and McCoy - the new heroes of the Enterprise.