Author's Note: Wow, it's been a while since I last posted. I'm sorry for the wait, but I wanted to let you know that it was for a happy reason. I was finally able to get a permanent job in the library field, so that has taken up a lot of my time lately. Hopefully this chapter makes up leaving you on a cliffhanger. Thanks to everyone for staying with me and as always, constructive feedback is appreciated!

This chapter we finish up "Charlie X" and see some more original content.

Chapter 6: Finding a Place

"That's great news Kat! Hey honey, Kat got an offer for that job up in Maine!" Her dad's voice rang out from her phone as it sat on her kitchen table. It drew a small smile onto her lips as she listened to her mom's excited squeal in response to the announcement.

"Sweetie, that's amazing! We're so proud of you! Are you excited?" Her mom asked. Katherine could perfectly imagine the scene on the other side of the line. Her dad would be sitting in his recliner in the living room, a book open across the arm of the chair. Her mom would be standing behind him and leaning over the chair to yell into the phone. Neither of them could ever quite get the hang of using the speaker phone.

"Yeah, I'm pretty excited. It'll be nice to finally get my hands dirty again, you know? Watching webinars only teaches you so much."

Her dad's voice chimed in again. "I bet. Now you can get your career started. Maybe you'll be able to apply to the Library of Congress again someday once you get the experience you need."

"Oh that would be so exciting! And then you could go back for your PhD like your cousin. Then we'll have two doctors in the family," her mother added.

Katherine's smile twitched. She reached a hand up to absentmindedly rub at the slight pain in her chest. "Yeah, maybe. We'll have to see how it goes," she said. "But let's just get through this job first. I've got a log of planning to do with finding an apartment and all."

"Of course, just let us know if you need help with anything. We're so proud of you, honey. Don't ever forget that. You'll do great things up there," her dad told her before handing off the phone to her mom.

"We'll talk more later about everything when we see you next. Love you so much!" She said before hanging up the phone. Katherine sat at the table in silence as she stared down at her phone. She sighed and placed her head in her hand while she closed her suddenly tired eyes.

Katherine's eyes snapped open onto pitch darkness. She blinked her eyes repeatedly to be sure that her eyes were open, but the only thing she could see was black void. She tried to turn her head only to find that the rest of her body wouldn't move. It almost felt like her body was floating, but her limbs were numb to whatever held her aloft. She couldn't tell if the numbness was a result of the void or whatever Charlie had done to her.

She internally shuddered at the memory. The pain Charlie had inflicted was like nothing she had felt before. Each muscle was simultaneously ripped and then stitched back again and again. The torture could have lasted a few seconds or a few minutes. She couldn't be sure. She was just thankful that wherever she was, the pain had finally ceased. Did he kill me? But I'm still thinking, so I can't be dead. How long have I been here?

Katherine's thoughts began to drift along with the rest of her body. First to come to mind was the confrontation that just occurred between her, Janice, and Charlie. The whole thing felt like a blur, the adrenaline bringing everything into sharp relief at the same time. She could recall Kirk and Spock running into the room before being flung aside towards an opposing wall where their bodies hit with a sickening thud. Her body had reacted almost on autopilot after that. The next thing she knew, Charlie was on the ground nearby. She remembered the sudden shock at her own behavior as she looked down onto him and at her own hands. She had never lifted a hand against someone before. Her stomach twisted as the memory replayed in her head. She was glad that she stood up for her new friends, but what was happening to them now? Was Charlie torturing them? Was he doing something worse in revenge for what she did? She had no way of knowing.

Her mind drifted to the memory of her parents that had awoken her. It was the day she had called to tell them about her new job at the historical society. They had been so excited for her that day, and remained that way ever since. She wondered what they were up to now. Did they know what happened to her? Did they miss her?

Katherine's thoughts were cut short as something bright suddenly burned into her eyes. She rapidly blinked to clear the tears and take in the glowing form beginning to take shape in front of her. To her shock, it morphed into a large, glowing face. She briefly thought it reminded her of the Wizard of Oz before she began to hyperventilate.

"Don't be alarmed," a deep voice boomed out. It simultaneously felt like it was shouting into her ears and whispering from far away at the same time. The disorientation it caused made the young woman feel like she was going to vomit. "I have taken this form in order to communicate with you."

"Who are you?" She questioned. Her voice croaked out of her as if she hadn't spoken in a long time. "Where am I?"

"I am a Thassian, one of many from the planet Thasus. You are currently in a pocket in the universe, removed from the constraints of time and space. We apologize for the trouble the boy has caused you," the giant head explained. It had no expression on its face from what she could see, making her dubious of its apology.

"Boy? You mean Charlie, right? How did he do this?" She asked.

The head continued to give nothing away as it further explained, "We gave the boy some of our powers so that he may survive on our planet, but we did not expect more of your kind to come for him. He will destroy your kind or else force you to destroy him. You have experienced this already." Katherine hummed in agreement as she took in the words. If Charlie was capable of escalating his powers more than he already had, he probably would end up destroying them all.

"I see. Speaking of which, what's going to happen to me? I can't stay here. I need to get back to the Enterprise." Katherine shuddered as she felt something flow across her body. It felt like some sort of wave, almost like she was falling underwater.

"We will return you to your friends and return everything to what it once was," the head stated to Katherine's relief. She breathed out shakily as the being before her faded back into the void. And just as suddenly as it had happened before, she popped back into existence on the Enterprise. She found herself hovering for a brief moment before dropping down onto the floor of the bridge.

The young woman let out a small groan as she struggled to push herself up. She heard footsteps rush over to her position and she peered up to see the worried faces of Janice, Nyota, and McCoy. The two women quickly assisted her into a sitting position while the doctor began checking her over for injuries. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kirk and Spock standing around the captain's chair. Kirk's face was stretched into a thankful grin while his first officer's face remained passive. Katherine would have thought him completely unmoved if she hadn't noticed the slight slump to his shoulders.

"It's alright, Katherine, we've got you. It's all over now," McCoy assured her with a light pat on the back. She wanted to roll her eyes at the statement, but her body decided that passing out was the better option.

It was at moments like these that Katherine couldn't help but think that Kirk and Spock were right about keeping her from returning to her own time. If she ever managed to make it back, there was one thing for certain that she would prevent ever being invented, time-space continuum be damned.

"Enough with the hyposprays! I'm telling you, I feel fine." She glared over at McCoy who was approaching her with another set of injections. Apparently the good doctor felt that after the debacle with Charlie and her trip into non-existence, a stay in sickbay was in order. Nothing she did could deter him from doing rounds of tests and injecting her with med after med meant to deal with everything from her blood pressure to her hydration levels. If she was being honest with herself, she wouldn't be surprised if he was just doing it at this point for his own research rather than her own health. She didn't want to test that theory, though.

"Oh, calm down. You won't be complaining when you walk out of here healthier than a horse. Besides, a little hypospray here and there never hurt anyone. Well, not when it's properly done." McCoy just returned her irritated look with a smug smile as he stuck the last needle to her arm. From outside of the examination room, the sound of the sickbay doors swishing open and shut caught their attention.

During her observation period over the last couple days, Nyota and Janice had taken every opportunity to visit the young woman. Janice profusely apologized for her involvement in the whole fiasco and brought her plenty of snacks from the mess hall while Nyota kept her updated on the status of the ship. Katherine couldn't help but feel simultaneously flattered and mortified at all the worrying. To both her and the doctor's surprise, the person stepping through the doorway was not one of her usual visitors. Instead, it seemed that Captain Kirk was the one seeking her out for the day.

"Bones, Ms. Katherine. How are we doing today?" He stopped next to her bedside and noticed all of the used sprays littering a nearby tray. "I see that Bones has gotten a bit carried away with himself. Don't worry, he means well, but you know how old men tend to worry." Katherine couldn't stop herself from sniggering at the captain's remark.

"Very funny Jim, very funny. But if you must know, Katherine is fine. Why, I was just about to release her-"

"That's perfect then! I actually have someone that I need her to meet. Get yourself ready, I'll meet you outside." The captain clapped his hands together in a pleased manner before walking back out of the sickbay as quickly as he came in. Katherine had been quick to learn that there was no time for dilly-dallying once Kirk had set his mind to something. Today seemed to be no exception. She glanced to McCoy who just rolled his eyes and went to grab her normal clothes for her to change back into.

Once Katherine was changed into her usual attire and standing in the hallway, Kirk began leading her through the ship. The duo walked silently side by side at a casual pace. The young woman found her mind swirling with possibilities about why the captain wanted to speak with her. She had been on the Enterprise for a short while now, and not a single time had Kirk sought her out. Was she going to be reprimanded for putting herself in danger? Would he force her to stay away from the rest of the crew? The thoughts kept coming a mile a minute until the captain's voice finally filled the space.

"I wanted to apologize for everything that happened the other day. As the captain of this ship, it is my responsibility to make sure that my crew and everyone aboard the Enterprise is safe and accounted for," Kirk said in a solemn voice. He raised his hand to stop Katherine's protest before she could fully open her mouth. "You'll probably say that there was no way I could have controlled Charlie, but I should have found a way regardless. The fact you were put in danger in the first place is my fault. However, I also wanted to thank you." Katherine stopped in the hallway and could only blink in surprise.

"Thank me? I didn't really do much," Katherine muttered. Kirk gave her an amused look and motioned for her to continue with him down the hall.

"You stepped in and protected Spock and me from Charlie. And Yeoman Rand of course. If I'm being honest, I didn't really expect that from you." Katherine gave Kirk a pointed look for a moment, though he didn't seem to notice. Despite her irritation at the comment, she was for the most part surprised at receiving thanks at all. She hadn't even really known what she was doing at the time. It just…happened. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel a small spark of warmth deep in her chest.

"Oh. You're welcome then I guess. It was the least I could do after everything the crew has done for me," she reasoned as she brushed off the compliment. Her eyes glanced away from him and her hands twisted into the ends of her dress. Kirk just nodded as they came to a sudden stop outside of a nondescript door. Katherine quickly eyed the nameplate and was pleasantly surprised at the label. In clear, bold print was the phrase "Operations Division: Library and Records Department." The captain chuckled as he saw Katherine's eyes light up in thought.

"Good, I'm glad to see you're interested. I have a bit of a proposal for you. The records department is in a bit of a bind. With all of the...recent events, most of the records crew has been tied up with processing the reports and forms. They're starting to fall behind with some of their main tasks, so I assigned the lead historian to help pick up the slack. Since you've proven fairly trustworthy and happen to be free of responsibilities…" Kirk trailed off as he met her eyes with a look that was sly and expectant.

"You want me to help her out with the backlog," Katherine confirmed as she mulled the idea over. She couldn't deny that she was interested in the prospect of working again. Even though she had tried to keep herself busy with her lessons and tagging along with the other crew members, she had to admit she was feeling fairly useless. Reading and learning about the time period she now found herself in could only fill up so much of her time. Now, she found herself faced with the golden opportunity to make herself useful, to get back to some semblance of her life before. "Why?"

Kirk just crossed his arms and gave her an easy smile. "Well, you did say that you worked as an archivist in the past, didn't you? I'm sure you can pick this up quickly. I'm sure records management hasn't really changed as much as you'd think in two hundred years. Besides, Spock suggested the idea to me and he's usually not wrong. Don't tell him I said that though." Katherine just stared in shock as the captain finally opened the door and walked into the room beyond.

Spock recommended me? Her mind flitted back to the conversation she had with the first officer in the rec room the other day. I didn't think he took me so seriously. A small smile crept onto her face as she followed behind Kirk. Well, if Spock and Kirk both thought that this was a good idea, she would do her best to prove them right.

The inside of the room was more spacious than many of the other rooms she had seen. The back wall was lined with large computers and databanks while the other walls were lined with shelves holding hundreds of different colored discs. A few tables with personal terminal stations were set up throughout the room. They were outfitted with PADDs and other sorts of machines she hadn't seen before. Red-clad crew members darted about the room sliding different discs into and out of the various machines or typing furiously on various keyboards. To her disappointment, not a single physical book or paper was to be found; however, she supposed she shouldn't be that surprised. Even in the 21st century, more and more libraries and archives were incorporating electronic versions of their holdings as people went digital. Erica would have been so disappointed…Katherine was snapped out of her thoughts as a woman came up to her. She was about as tall as she was, but smaller in frame and with a pixie-like face. Her ginger hair was pinned up in elegant curls behind her head to keep them out of the way, and she wore a red dress as well.

Kirk cleared his throat and gestured to the stranger. "Ms. Katherine, this is Lieutenant-" He paused for a moment, clearly having forgotten her name. Both women lifted their brows in an expectant look but the captain continued to say nothing for an awkward second.

The stranger reached out her hand for Katherine to shake and gave a smile, a bit tight in the corners which made the younger woman think that this happened more often than it should. Perhaps Kirk didn't really think often of the records department. "McGivers. Lieutenant Marla McGivers. I am the Enterprise's historian. And you must be Katherine, it is such a pleasure to meet you."

"Yes. Lieutenant McGivers, this is Katherine Wilson. She is the new assistant I told you about. And I'm sure you've heard about her background already." Katherine gave the captain a side eye as he introduced her.

"You've already told her you're assigning me here? I just agreed to it a few minutes ago," she questioned. Kirk just shrugged and ignored the slightly annoyed tone in her voice.

"Well, I made an assumption that you would take the job. Captain's intuition, so to speak. Technicalities aside, Katherine is going to be working with you for the duration of our voyage. I'm sure you'll find plenty of things for her to do. Carry on then." With that, Kirk gave Katherine a short push forward before exiting the room, leaving the two women to their own devices.

"So Katherine, I have been informed that you were a historian and archivist in your own time, back on Earth. You'll have to tell me all about it! It's not every day you meet someone from the past, and a fellow professional at that! This is so exciting! I'll give you a quick tour and then I must interview you. For professional interests of course." Marla swiftly took her by the hand and began dragging her around.

Katherine had to hand it to Marla. She was very thorough, if not a bit too exuberant for her tastes. While unfortunately she would not have the time or ability to do any archival tasks, Marla explained, she would have plenty to do learning about and assisting the records team. The historian led her through the purpose and care of every single machine in the room, explaining how the discs were used to transfer records data to every part of the ship. If a crew member needed information of some kind, one of the records team would locate the correct disc and transfer the information over. They would also record information to create new disks using data from the bridge or other departments. Additionally, crew members would come down and check out disks for their own personal use or research, so Katherine would be responsible for handling those requests.

Despite being pretty familiar with the basics of the process, the new systems and protocols made Katherine's head swim. She would have liked to take more time to really learn how it all looked, but Marla shot down the idea with the excuse that there would be plenty of time to do that later. You're going to be here for five years after all, the historian had said. The young woman's stomach started to churn at the thought as Marla sat her down beside one of the terminal stations.

"That's enough about work for your first day, now what about you? What was it like living in 2019?" Marla began. She first asked about Katherine's career as an archivist back in Maine. How much professional training did you have? What kinds of things did you work with? What was it like working with primarily physical collections and papers? As she answered each question, she found herself growing more and more at ease. She had always enjoyed talking about her work, but had never felt comfortable doing it with other people in case they might grow bored with it. Speaking with a fellow professional who knew what she was talking about was like a breath of fresh air. It was nice to feel like she wasn't some vulnerable child, which if she was being honest with herself, was hard to come by when trapped in another time period.

Unfortunately, the joy was fleeting as Marla's train of questions turned away from her work towards more personal topics. The churning feeling in Katherin's stomach deepened. What was your childhood like? What was your family like?

As she answered each of Marla's questions, Katherine's mind focused more and more on those she left behind and the memory she had seen in the void. She hadn't let herself think too long about any of it while on the Enterprise. Ignoring the thoughts made it easier to deal with since she could stay in relative denial about her situation. She was in the future, who knows how many miles away from Earth. Even if she could go back, Spock and Kirk would never let her. She would remain on this ship for five years…and then what? Katherine's thoughts turned to her mother and father. She loved them dearly, but their relationship hadn't been the closest in recent years. She called them every once in a while, but rarely went to see them in person in favor of pouring herself into her work. She wanted to face them with pride when she went back to see them. Now I'll never get the chance…

Katherine tuned back into her surroundings as Marla stopped talking and someone clear their throat behind them. She shifted around and saw Spock standing there with his hands behind his back. "Lieutenant McGivers, Ms. Katherine. I apologize for the interruption, but I am in need of the records I requested to have ready. Repeated attempts at contacting you went unanswered so I came down to see what the delay was." Marla went white at the blank expression on Spock's face. Katherine would say that he looked almost annoyed. Her stomach flipped once more.

"Oh! My apologies, I have them ready for you. I'll go get them" Marla sputtered as she scurried off to the data banks to retrieve whatever it was that Spock wanted. Katherine sat quietly as she tried to quell the burning feeling.

"I see that Captain Kirk took my advice and assigned you as Lieutenant McGiver's assistant. I trust it is going well?" Spock gave her an interested look. Katherine in return glanced up to him from her seat with a weak smile.

"It's going well so far. Thank you for suggesting it," she spoke in a slightly strained voice, causing Spock to raise an eyebrow at her unexpected demeanor. He said nothing, to her relief, and the two of them remained silent as Marla came back with a stack of discs in her hand.

"Here we are, Commander. I apologize for the delay once again. I suppose we just got caught up in talking about the past." Marla looked thoughtfully off into the distance and did not notice Spock's eyes flicking between her and Katherine, a questioning flash lighting them up.

"So long as it is just this one time…but perhaps in the meantime you should focus on training rather than talking about history. It would not do for either of you to become distracted." Spock admonished in his usual straightforward demeanor before taking his leave. Marla was left with a face flushed with embarrassment while Katherine could only sink into further into her chair. And to think this day had started off so well…She snorted lightly to herself as Marla shook off the stupor and began to drag her around once again.