Kirk had scrambled the entire crew back onboard the Enterprise, no one really questioned it since he was their Captain after all. Kirk was in the turbo lift, heading towards the bridge with McCoy, Scotty, and Lexie. Kirk hurried over to the command chair which Spock was rising from, "Captain, is what Mr Chekov told me correct? Has Delta really been taken?" Kirk sadly nodded as he sat down. "It is Spock and we're going to get him back. Chekov can you track him with the information that Lexie has provided?" Chekov didn't bother turning around, instead he just continued to stare at his computer. "Yes Sir." "Sulu, get us moving. Best possible speed on the heading provided by Chekov." The Helmsman just nodded, Uhura then turned from her station. "Captain, Star Fleet has new orders for us. What do I tell them?" Kirk muttered something under his breath, he really had hoped that Star Fleet would just leave them alone for a few more days but sadly that didn't seem to be the case. "Tell them that we're on an important mission already to recover a member of the crew who was taken while on shore leave and if they have a problem with that they'll have to wait to complain."
Uhura just nodded slowly, the reason Kirk hadn't said Delta's name was because Star Fleet didn't know about him since Kirk knew they would probably demand him to be removed. "Do we know who has taken him? Questioned Spock, but no one answered him so the Vulcan took that as a 'no'. Lexie was stood on the steps just a little bit away from the command chair, she was staring at the view screen as the Enterprise bolted through space. Lexie was trying to hide her tears, she didn't want any of the crew on the bridge to see her cry, she just wanted them to focus on trying to find Delta. But there was one person she couldn't hide her tears from and that was Scotty. He had noticed them almost instantly so he stepped over to her and placed a comforting hand on Lexie's shoulder, "You don't have to supress your emotions Lex, we all know that you are upset a great amount by all this so it's alright to cry." He said softly.
"I should have been there." Lexie muttered, Scotty moved closer to her. "There's no way you could have known this was going to happen lass." "I should have heard him jump down off the vanity in the night! I should have heard something was wrong!" Lexie couldn't hold back her tears any more, she buried her head in her hands. "This is all my fault!" She muttered, Scotty quickly pulled her in for a hug. "None of this is your fault lass, there's no way you could have known something like this was going to happen." Lexie muttered something but Scotty couldn't understand it, so he just continued to comfort her. "We'll find him lass, who ever took the wee lad won't get away with this." Kirk had noticed this point his young Engineer crying, he stood up from his chair and walked over to her. Lexie had heard him approach so had pushed herself away from Scotty, "Sorry Sir, I know it's unprofessional for an officer to be crying on the bridge." Lexie said quickly as she wiped her eyes, Kirk just smiled. "No need to apologize Lexie, I can only imagine how hard this is for you, but…" He placed a hand on her shoulder, "I swear to you now, we will find him and when we do I'll make whoever took him pay. No one kidnaps any member of my crew and gets away with it."
Lexie felt tears slowly start to run down her cheeks, but she didn't bother to wipe them away. Spock then came over to them, McCoy watched on hoping that the Vulcan wouldn't say anything too insensitive. "Lieutenant, Mr Chekov told me that you said that Delta had been hurt. To what are you referring to? I was under the impression that since he is an AI program he cannot feel pain." Spock asked. McCoy just pinched the bridge of his nose, it was going so well up until the last part. "He maybe an AI program but he is capable of feeling pain, I coded that into his programming when I created him." Lexie replied as she sat slowly down on the step, Scotty just looked down at her. "Why did you choose to do that?" He asked, "I guess I just wanted him to be as close to a human as possible, he was already programmed to have emotions like a human so having him being able to feel pain just felt the right thing to do." Spock wanted to ask how she managed to program that, but with the look McCoy was giving him Spock chose not to. "While you were on Lilo did anyone seem to take an interest in Delta?" Asked Kirk but Lexie quickly shook her head, "No, I mean a few people stared at him a couple of times but I think that was just because they had never seen something like him before." She sighed loudly.
"Of all the bloody days this could have happened, it had to be today." McCoy tilted his head a little to the side, "What do you mean?" "It was on this day eleven years ago that I created Delta." Everyone's mouths hung open. "You mean, it's his birthday?" Questioned Chekov, Lexie nodded slowly. "In a way yes, that's why Delta has wings. They were his present, I had been meaning to make him a pair for years but never got the chance to." Scotty could see that she was getting upset again, every time she mentioned the little guys name more tears seemed to form in her eyes. "It feels like yesterday when I first saw him open his eyes, he was my rock throughout my time living in Ohio, when I was at the Academy and he's still my rock even now onboard the Enterprise." Lexie said sadly as she slowly began to cry again, she couldn't help it. She just wanted to have Delta back, "Maybe it's best if you go and try to get some sleep Lexie." Kirk stated. Lexie told him that she was fine, but Kirk wasn't convinced. "Lexie, you need sleep. I promise we'll wake you if anything happens." Lexie went to argue but Kirk spoke first, "And that's an order." He said softly. Lexie still wanted to argue, but she knew her Captain was right. She had been worrying so much she had grown extremely tired and the fact she had been woken up so early wasn't helping. "OK Sir and thank you." Scotty helped Lexie to her feet and said that he would walk with her, Lexie would normally argue with the Scotsman but she just didn't care at this point, she was too worried about Delta.
For the long walk to Lexie's quarters no one said a word, they were both silent. Scotty wanted to speak several times but he didn't really know what to say, so chose not to. Lexie was too busy thinking about Delta to really think about starting a conversation which she knew was worrying Scotty, just by the look on his face Lexie could tell he was worrying about her. They soon were standing outside Lexie's quarters but still no one said anything, Lexie's head was hung low while the Scotsman stood with his hands behind his back. "Scotty… Do you think we'll actually find Delta?" Lexie finally said, "Of course we will lass, Delta will be back aboard the Enterprise soon, you'll see." Scotty replied. "Do you really believe that?" Lexie then felt her head being gently lifted up, when she glanced her eyes up she saw Scotty smiling softly. "Aye lass, I do. Believe me even if I have to go out there in a shuttle I promise we will get the wee lad back." "Thanks Scotty." Lexie replied as she went to wipe her eyes when suddenly something got shoved into her hand, Lexie glanced down to see a tartan handkerchief in her hand. "This is becoming a regular occurrence." She chuckled as she wiped her eyes, Scotty smiled. "Aye it is, keep it for a while." Lexie nodded, "Get some rest now lass and if you need me just call." Scotty said sweetly. Once again Lexie nodded before heading into her quarters while Scotty returned to the bridge.
Almost immediately Lexie wandered over to her bed and just flopped down, she didn't bother getting changed since she wanted to be ready just in case something happened. Lexie wanted to sleep but every time she closed her eyes the only thing she saw was Delta smiling at her, tears were once again forming in her eyes. Lexie placed her hand over the star which hung on the necklace her digital companion had gifted her, "Oh Delta…" She whimpered as she sat back up and reached over to grab something off her desk. It was her music box, she flicked open the silver latch on the front and slowly opened the lid. As the lid rose higher the boxes calming melody began to drift softly out and floated around the room, Lexie then laid back down and placed the box in front of her face. She watched the two crystal dolphin's spin gracefully at its centre, Lexie wasn't the only one who adored the melody, Delta also loved it. She knew he would often listen to it while he was alone, it also helped him to fall asleep much like it did with Lexie. "Please be alright Delta…"
She whispered as her eyes slowly began to close, it wasn't long until she was completely asleep, the music box still playing it's tune and the dolphins still spinning. Lexie wasn't really dreaming about anything, it seemed like her mind was just showing her memories from her life and this went on for about an hour. There was no sounds with these memories, but for a moment Lexie swore she could hear Delta's voice. She believed it was her subconscious mind messing with her, that was until she heard it again. "Lexie…" "Delta?" Lexie was confused, why was she hearing her friends voice. "Lexie, help me, please! Please Lexie!" Still struggling to understand why she was hearing him in the first place Lexie tried to reply, but it seemed that Delta couldn't hear her. "Tencamaria…" That was the last thing Lexie heard before waking up, "Delta!" She cried. What just happened? It was if the two of them were linked for a moment. But she could figure that out later, for now she had to get back up to the bridge. She had just the information they needed to find Delta… She hoped.
Lexie had almost ran into about ten other crew members on her sprint to the bridge, she darted into the turbo lift to find it already had a passenger. It was McCoy who was just staring at her, "Lexie? What the hell are you doing running about?" He asked. "You'll find out shortly McCoy." Lexie replied as she bolted out of the doors as soon as they opened, "Captain!" She cried. Kirk quickly span round from talking to Spock to see Lexie almost fall down the steps in front of him, "Lexie? I thought I told you to get some sleep?" He said sternly. "You did Captain, but I know where Delta is." Kirk just stared at her, along with most of the command crew. "Where is he?" "A place called Tencamaria, apparently." Kirk turned to face Chekov, still slightly confused. "Pavel, see if you can locate a place or planet called Tencamaria." The young navigator nodded as he began to type away on his screen, it wasn't long before he spoke again. "Captain, I've found it. It is a M-class planet and it's not too far from us, about four hours at our current speed." Kirk smiled, "Set course Chekov and Sulu maximum speed, get us to that planet."
Both of the officers just nodded as they followed their orders. Kirk then turned his attention back on Lexie, "How in the world did you know where to find him?" He asked. Lexie rubbed the back of her neck nervously, how was she going to explain this? "It's a little hard to believe Sir, Delta kinda spoke to me in my dreams." She watched as one by one everyone's mouths just hung open, even Chekov and Sulu had turned around to face her. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?" McCoy asked, so Lexie repeated herself. "It would appear that the bond the two of you share subsequently led to a mental connection between the two of you." Spock stated calmly, "Would ya kindly explain that in English for us Mr Spock." Asked Scotty who had no clue what the Vulcan was going on about. Spock raised an eyebrow before answering, "What I mean Mr Scott is that Lieutenant Smith and Delta have such a strong bond it somehow allowed their minds to become connected for a brief moment, in doing so Delta was able to tell Lieutenant Smith where he is located. The exact reason for this 'bond' is still unclear." Scotty still didn't really understand but he didn't ask Spock to explain it again.
Kirk didn't try and get Lexie to go back to bed, he knew it wouldn't work so she stayed on the bridge. Scotty was talking to McCoy when a sound diverted his attention, it sounded like, singing. He quickly glanced over at Lexie who was sat at an empty console, singing quietly to herself. Both Scotty and McCoy exchanged a look before wandering over, "A miracle starts whenever you dream, believe and…" Lexie stop suddenly when she noticed the others stand beside her. "Sorry." She said quickly, her cheeks slightly flushed. "It's alright lass, you have a great voice." Lexie's cheeks blushed even more, "Thanks." "What were you singing?" Asked McCoy. "A song my mother use to sing for me, it's Delta's favourite song alongside the one my music box played." Lexie stated as she wiped a tear from her eye with the handkerchief Scotty had given her. "It's strange." She said suddenly, "What is Lex?" "What Spock said about mine and Delta's minds being connected for a moment, but I think they've been connected for much longer." Scotty was confused (again), "What do you mean by that?" Lexie placed a hand on her necklace.
"I've always been able to sense Delta in a strange way, I guess the bond we have really is strong." Just by the way Lexie had spoken, Scotty could tell there was more. "There's a 'but' isn't there?" Lexie nodded, "But I don't understand how I can sense him, I mean after all he is an AI program." Scotty placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just because he's an AI program doesn't mean he's not a living thing lass, you made him have free will, the ability to feel pain. You created much more than a program, you created a person and a friend." McCoy smiled. "Scotty's right kid, it's only natural that the pair of you share such a strong bond. I can honestly say, the pair of you have a stronger bond than most people have with their friends." Lexie smiled, "Delta's much more than a friend to me McCoy, he's my family." Scotty patted her on the shoulder. "We know he's your family lass, he's part of our family too."
McCoy had wandered back over to Kirk while Scotty stayed with Lexie, he could tell that there was something she wasn't telling him. It was clearly about Delta and what he had spoken to her about, "What else did the lad say to ya Lex?" He asked sweetly trying not to sound too insensitive. "Nothing, he didn't say anything else." Lexie replied quickly, Scotty knew she was lying he could tell by the look in her eyes. "Please don't lie to me Lex, I can tell." He replied as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "What else did the lad say to you?" Lexie took a deep breath before answering. "He… He said 'help me'… He was basically begging for me to help him." She whimpered, tears streamed down her cheeks once again but she didn't bother to wipe them away. "He sounded so scared Scotty, he was pleading with me to help him. I've never felt so useless."
The Scotsman quickly leapt from his seat and wrapped his arms around her, "You're not useless lass, we're going to find him and you're helping us do that." Scotty moved Lexie's hair out of her face and hooked it behind her ear. "Delta needs you to be strong lass, you need to have faith." "I do have faith Scotty, that's what that song I was singing is kinda about." Scotty smiled. "There ya go, believe you me I'm missing the wee man so much too. At least with him I don't have to yell for him to get down every bloody minute, unlike the other wee man I know." The Scotsman's comment made Lexie chuckle and smile. "See, there's the Lexie I know." Lexie then saw over Scotty's shoulder Kirk walking towards them, "We'll be at Tencamaria shortly, will you be up for coming down with us?" Lexie quickly nodded. "Yes Captain, Delta needs me so I ain't gonna just sit around." Kirk smiled, he had hoped she would say that. Kirk left the two of them alone, Lexie looked out of the view screen and smiled. "I'm coming Delta."