Captain Archer caught her with an inarticulate exclamation and picked her up, lifting her carefully into the shuttle and lying her limp body on one of the seats. Then Malcolm piloted the shuttle quickly back to the Enterprise, making sure that Phlox would meet them. He glanced back at Buffy and smiled wryly in admiration.
Buffy groaned and tried to sit up but was held down by large gentle hands.
"Not just yet darlin'. Let Phlox check you out." Trip's voice seemed to come from far away and she sighed.
"Trip?"
"Yep."
"Tell Doc I could use one of them hypo things." She moaned quietly. She heard a warm chuckle then she felt the hypo spray.
"Much better." She sighed and opened her eyes, though one didn't seem to be working as well as usual, Trip and the Dr. looking at her in concern.
"I beat 'em." She smiled and Trip rolled his eyes.
"Yes, you beat 'em. Now rest." Trip smiled.
"I don't want to." Buffy whined and Dr. Phlox smiled.
"You'll need to stay here until I am sure you can be by yourself." He smiled cheerfully. Buffy nodded, ignored him and tried to stand, before slithering down to almost hit the floor when Trip caught her. Buffy looked at him out of her good eye, "Nice catch ace." She said and passed out cold. It wasn't until the next evening that she came around again. Trip was back in medical quietly chatting with Dr. Phlox when Buffy said, "Give me my shoes and let me go to my quarters." She was hungry enough to eat a horse.
Trip sighed and walked over to the bio bed, "Your shoes had too much Klingon blood and muck in 'em."
"Shoot, I liked those shoes." She pouted. She looked over at the Doctor, "I want to go back to my quarters. I feel better, I promise." She used her best wheedling voice and the Doctor nodded. "If you wish. You are healing satisfactorily, but I want you to rest tonight so I'll have your meal sent to you."
"I'll be good." She was going to slide off of the bio bed but remembered just in time. She looked at Trip, "Carry me home?" She smiled sweetly. Trip looked at the Doctor disapprovingly, "I don't think she should be by herself." He stated. The Doctor smiled, "I'll let the Captain know where you are."
Once Buffy was back in her room she bullied Trip into letting her take a shower. He stood outside the bathroom with a smile on his face as he listened to Buffy curse quietly, letting the hot water pound her sore and tired muscles, any dried blood washing off and running down the drain. She shakily washed her hair, stepped out of the shower before dressing in an oversized t-shirt and underwear. Trip helped her back to her bed and she lay down with a sigh of relief.
"I feel like I've been squished flat." She said and Trip shot her a look.
"You just about were. You had a cracked orbital bone, severe concussion, bruised kidneys, a bruised lung, sliced up palms and a whole bunch of colorful bruises." He remembered his terror as Jon walked out of the shuttle bay, Buffy cradled in his arms, her fingers dripping blood down the passageway.
Buffy just smiled, "I've actually had worse. I died twice, and once or twice was stabbed by a sword." She watched with amusement as his face paled. "Relax Trip. In a couple of days I'll be a better Buffy." His eyes met hers and she could feel them almost like a physical punch to the gut.
The door chimed and Buffy called, "Come in!" It was Hoshi who had a covered tray.
"Yay food! What do I get?" Buffy asked.
"Aside from that spectacular shiner? You have grilled chicken, rice pilaf, salad and the cook gave you the last piece of pecan pie." She shot a mischievous look at Trip who yelped. He turned to Buffy with a glare, "Have you been stealin' my pecan pie?" He demanded.
Buffy dug into her dinner with gusto, "Stealing is such a harsh word. Let's consider it a gift." She waved her fork at Hoshi who laughed and said, "I'll see you later Buffy." And she left to report for bridge duty.
Trip sighed and sat down beside Buffy on the bed, he leaned forward and cupped the uninjured side of her face in a warm hand, "I've got Engineerin' duty. I'll see you later." He could feel her pulse begin to race the longer he touched her and had to wrench himself away. He touched her nose with a fingertip, tracing her black eye, then turned away and left.
"Whew." Buffy sighed, willing her racing pulse to calm down. She finished her meal, enjoying the stolen pie with a guilty smile, then sat her tray on the floor.
She slowly eased her legs over the side of the bed and grimaced in pain. She sighed and was about to stand, wondering if she was going to fall down when the door chime rang.
"Come in! Come in!" she called. The door slid open and Malcolm stood there. Buffy raised her eyes to the ceiling, "See? There is a God."
Malcolm strode in, taking in her situation at a glance. "Where do you think you're going?" An impatient sigh. "The bathroom." Buffy replied tartly.
"Oh." Malcolm said lamely.
"I could use some help, my legs are still shaky." She asked and watched Malcolm get all flustered as he took in her bare legs. "Just help me to the door, I can do the rest myself." She said, rolling her eyes.
He walked her to the bathroom slowly then waited nervously until she was finished. The door opened and Buffy was sagging in the doorway.
"Bloody hell." He muttered and threw a bracing arm around her and helped her back to the bed. He could feel her trembling and see the pain in her eyes as she finally got arranged.
"Thanks Malcolm." He nodded and turned his head to the door when the chime sounded, "Come in." Malcolm snapped, about to chew anybody out that was here to bother Buffy. The door slid open to reveal the Captain. Buffy thought she could actually hear Malcolm snap to attention.
"Captain Archer."
"Malcolm."
"Come on in, I need to talk to you both anyway." She said and both men settled themselves onto the only chairs in the room.
"So, you look better than the last time I saw you." He quipped and Buffy smiled, "I'd have to wouldn't I." She smiled over at Malcolm who shook his head. He remembered the paleness of her face when they arrived back on the Enterprise.
Buffy fidgeted with the edge of her blanket before starting, "When I was 15, around 1995 I think, I was approached by a man called a watcher. He told me I was a Slayer. A Vampire Slayer." Her eyes went to the men, the Captain with calmly accepting eyes and Malcolm with disbelief in his.
"Vampires? Those are mythical creatures from literature." He said.
Buffy smiled at the disbelief in his voice, "Yeah yeah. That's what I thought until I dusted my first vamp. They're real all right. Anyway, with the help of my watcher and my friends I became the world's oldest living slayer, having averted apocalypses and being dead twice." The men looked at each other and Buffy continued before she lost her nerve, "When a Slayer dies a new one is called. The last battle I fought in 2003, I battled the first evil and with my friends we used the magic stored in a weapon made for the Slayer and activated all of the potential Slayers worldwide. We won." Buffy took a drink of the water the Captain offered and quirked an eyebrow at her audience.
"So now I wasn't the only Slayer. I could go anywhere, do anything. I ended up in Cleveland." She sighed, "Nice enough town. It's on Lake Erie you know. Got myself cursed and ended up here." She indicated the room with a wave.
The Captain shook his head, "The Slayer and Watcher Chronicles are classified codename top-secret but I had heard rumors." He said softly and Malcolm looked at him in shock. "It's true?"
Buffy laughed, "With the Slayers it's unlikely that you will ever even run across a vamp or demon. It's been easy to keep the secret. People don't want to know." She shrugged. The men nodded in understanding.
"So your abilities are part of being Slayer?" The Captain asked and Buffy nodded, covering a huge yawn with the back of her hand. "Sorry." she blushed. The Captain stood and Malcolm followed, "We'll let you sleep." Buffy nodded and said, "G'night." And the men let themselves out.
Buffy carefully got out of bed, staggering over to the computer and made the connection, using Hoshi's code. "Wolfram, Hart and Harris"
"This is Buffy Summers, I need to speak to Angel." Buffy said and realized the woman was staring. Buffy touched her face, "I'm ok, just a fight but I won." The woman nodded dumbly and Angel appeared on the screen.
"What in the hell happened?" Angel asked harshly, noting her uneven pupils that indicated a concussion and her spectacular eye. Buffy rolled her eyes, "I have assorted injuries from a battle I fought. Now shut up and listen." She snapped and Angel subsided, his eyes flashing dangerously, "Is it dead?" and she nodded, sliding a finger across her throat. "You bet." She then wrote something on a piece of paper and held it up to the screen.
Angel smiled a little, "It's backwards Buff." She looked at it confusion and then realized. "Oh, but could you read it?" He sighed, "Let me have another look."
.ocsicnarF naS, teelfratS ta selcinorhC rehctaW & reyalS ehT
He wrote it down and puzzled it out, "Oh, that's where they are? What do you want me to do?" He asked. Buffy wrote again, this time a little sloppily but the right way. "Steal 'em."
He nodded, "Consider it done. Now lay down before you fall down."
"Thanks Angel!" and Buffy closed the connection. She lay back down, thinking hard. There was nothing back on earth for her. Her family and friends were gone. Except Angel. Buffy sighed; she just didn't feel the same way about him that she did when she was 17. No, it was better to stay here and make a completely new life for herself. She smiled slightly, plus there was Hoshi, Travis, Trip, and even Malcolm was warming up to her. The Captain was something else entirely and she let that go for now.
