Hey y'all, I'm obviously still working on reposting all of the stories I'm moving over from other accounts, but here is The Soldier! I hope you still enjoy it, and as soon as I'm done uploading all of the stories, I'll be updating the ones that need to be finished!

There's an interesting smell to hospitals, something both sick and sterile at the same time, something that burns the nose and stains the skin, and makes you desperate to get better if only so you don't have to smell the sterile sickness.

It was that smell that was the first thing Alex Ramirez smelled, the first thing that seemed to break through the thick layer of fog in her consciousness. She was in a hospital her brain managed to surmise, but aside from that, there was nothing, nothing immediate, it was like there was a nagging thought that was just beyond the touch of her conscious mind.

When Alex came to consciousness again the fog was a little clearer, though the smell was the same. Still in the hospital.

Letting out a small huff she tried to fight her way to full consciousness, tried to open her eyes, but there was something- something that kept her from getting there. Then there was nothing, darkness again.

It was like that for a time, Alex didn't know how long she was fading in and out of consciousness. Sometimes there were beeping noises, sometimes the sounds of people talking, but then it faded away, it always faded away.

It was infuriating, not being able to sit up, to open her eyes even. When she was conscious she fought against her body, fought to open her eyes and see what was happening in front of her.

The doctor said that this might happen; he told her to fight the drugs and to keep fighting until she was able to wake up.

It felt like coming off of anesthesia after getting her tonsils removed, the fogginess, the inability to be aware of what was happening- she was so tired still and at the same time so restless.

Fighting her brain, fighting the drug, it was imperative to her mission, so she fought.

The first time she opened her eyes the room was dark, she blinked a few times, the blurriness she was seeing taking some time to focus, no doubt another side effect of the drugs, but when she was finally able to see properly she could tell it was evening.

She couldn't sit up, not yet, but she was awake, and that was good enough for right now.

She licked her lips, her tongue feeling thick and dry and not providing the moisture she had been looking for- in fact everything felt dry, her hands, her arms, her legs were itchy and her feet felt swollen.

"Mm," Alex's throat felt dry and scratchy, a year of not being used would leave her vocal cords feeling kind of rough she decided, and she closed her eyes, just for a moment.

When she opened her eyes again it was daylight, she could tell from the window, and there was movement to her left. Turning her head she was startled to see a person in what looked like a hazmat suit. She must had jerked away because the person in the suit looked over at her, the window in the suit letting her see it was a woman who looked surprised.

"You're awake!" she exclaimed and Alex flinched at the sound.

"Mhmm," it felt rough to make any noise but she had to try. "Water?" she rasped and the hazmat woman turned to a pitcher on a counter and poured a small measure of water into a plastic cup, handing it over to Alex who took a moment to clumsily grab the cup with both hands. Closing her eyes for a moment she took a deep breath and then opened her eyes, shakily lifting the cup that she was happy to see hadn't been filled very much to her lips.

Her hands felt clumsy and swollen, but she could see they weren't swollen. After carefully sipping the water she closed her eyes again, this time in relief. She greedily tipped the water back, swallowing the mouthful of water before lowering the cup and looking back at the hazmat person.

"More?" she asked and Alex nodded. Filling the cup up enough for another mouthful Alex drank it greedily before moving to hand the cup back to the hazmat nurse who took it and set it down on the table. She wanted more, she wanted to chug the whole pitcher of water but she knew better, she knew drinking her fill would probably make her throw up. "Do you know your name?"

Alex looked over at her before nodding slowly. "Ramirez," she answered. "Airman First Class Alex Ramirez." her voice was rough but steady as she spoke. "Where is Dr. Sandoval?"

The nurse was quiet for a moment before she patted Alex on the knee gently through the blanket that covered her. "I'll be back soon. Get some rest."

Alex frowned as she watched the nurse move to a door and step through it, into what looked like a chamber where she was able to take off the hazmat suit and then looked back at Alex who watched with narrowed eyes as she looked away, almost guiltily and then walked away.

Alex threw the blankets back from the bed and stared down at herself. She wasn't wearing what she had gone to sleep in, back then, it had been a pair of Air Force issue sweatpants, and a tank top, now she was wearing a hospital gown.

Her hair had been in a bun when she went to sleep and bringing her hands up she could feel her dark chocolate curls hanging around her shoulders.

Her body was stiff and painful, and it almost felt like she was throbbing, or like she had sat on her foot until it fell asleep, and then she shook it making the blood flow back to it.

She lay there, the blankets kicked to the bottom of the bed and crossed her arms as she thought about what was going on. There had to be something, some sort of answer.

Closing her eyes she sighed and tried to think of what to do, what she could do before the infuriating darkness took her over again.

When she woke up again there was a different hazmat nurse in there, this time in the process of giving her a shot from a very strange looking syringe.

"What are you?" with a hiss the shot had been pulled from her arm and she looked at the hazmat nurse with a frown.

"I'm Dr. Greene," the man said as he looked down at her, then sitting on a small stool near the bed so he was eye level with her.

"Ramirez," she replied.

"Alright Ramirez," he looked at the clipboard he'd been holding and read something on it before nodding. "You had to be given a full range of immunizations and boosters, as well as a new immune system." he explained. "Now do you know what year it is Ramirez?" he asked.

"It should be the year 2020." she said after a moment of thought.

"And what year were you hoping to get to in your stasis?"

"2020."

"And how long were you supposed to be asleep?"

"One year."

"I see," he spoke softly before picking up a rectangle and running it over her body, it letting out beeps as it ran over her body.

"Sir?" she asked. "Where is Dr. Sandoval?"

"I'm afraid I don't know a Dr. Sandoval," he spoke softly. "What was your mission Ramirez?"

"I'm afraid that's classified." Alex replied, narrowing her eyes as she looked at the man suspiciously. He looked over at her in surprise and she stared back at him.

"Ramirez, I need to know your mission to help you."

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're on Earth." Alex narrowed her eyes at him before shaking her head.

"What base am I on? Who is your superior officer?"

"I'm afraid Ramirez," he said slowly "that's not how it works anymore."

"Sir?"

"You went to sleep in the year 2019." he explained as he faced her. "The year is currently 2270." he explained, Alex just staring at him in silence before she looked down, clearing her throat. A million thoughts crossed her mind as she thought about how to respond.

"So I- I've been asleep for two hundred and fifty one years?" she asked slowly.

"Yes,"

She was quiet again for a moment, pulling her knees to her chest as she thought about that, drumming her fingers along her legs before looking at him again. "My first instinct is to ask if you're fucking with me, but the Air Force doesn't have a sense of humor," she said slowly. "So instead I'll ask if this has something to do with the sleep test."

"The stasis experiment," Dr. Greene nodded. "So from what we've been able to tell your people were trying to create a drug that would allow the body to be put into a sleep so you could achieve interstellar travel?"

"Yes Sir," she replied, frowning as she thought back to the day she had gone to sleep. "I was asked to give one year of my life, my service to do this." she explained. "They wanted someone in peak medical condition, medically and physically."

"Well," he said thoughtfully as he looked at his clipboard. "Your people had the right idea, they were able to get to space in that manner for a time."

"Did they all fall asleep for one hundred years?" she asked and he chuckled softly before shaking his head, which looked really stupid in the hazmat suit.

"No," he said softly. "No, what happened to you, we believe the drug they developed was correct, but we also believe that it was developed and tested at a concentrated level. It was enough to keep you asleep and alive, but unfortunately it kept you asleep and alive much longer than anyone could have anticipated."

Alex swallowed as she listened to that before tapping her fingers against her leg again. "I see," she said stiffly. "So, what do we do from here?"

"Well, as you were technically property of the US Airforce, which is no longer active, that makes you property of Starfleet." he explained. "This hospital you're in is a Starfleet hospital."

"I understand Sir," she said, though her head was spinning. "And where do we go from here?"

"That's a good question," Dr. Greene smiled at her from inside the hazmat suit.

As it turned out where they went from there was building her immune system to the current time, providing her with reading material to start learning the history of the time she had missed and creating a personhood for her.

Becoming declared a legal human was an interesting process and not too unlike getting a new social security number for an infant, however with the added concern that she would be given the proper military rank fitting what her station would have been.

After weeks of learning, recovering, arguing and demanding her place in this new world she was given just that.

A place in the world.

Because of her military service and because they had deemed her their responsibility Starfleet had her sent from where she woke up to San Francisco to the Starfleet Headquarters where she was given quarters to stay on the Headquarters campus.

The first day on campus she was brought to her quarters, what looked like a small studio apartment, She had been given the things she'd been found wearing, her air force sweats, tank top, her dog tags, the boots she'd worn, hell even the rubber band that was holding her hair in a bun had been given back to her all in a backpack that one of the nurses from the hospital had given her to hold her things in.

She also had an old fashioned duffle bag, with clothes that the nurses from the hospital had donated to her, along with some things that they insisted she needed, and admittedly when she saw the things they had gotten her, she had to admit they were right, mostly toiletries some of the girls had even thrown in a few things like perfume, some makeup, and a scented candle that smelled like a cactus flower, something that one of the nurses got her because she remembered Alex saying she had been born and raised in New Mexico.

The studio apartment was unpacked quickly, it was furnished, and someone had even filled the fridge. As much as she knew she should have been thankful it was all frustrating to her. Being passed around like something to deal with was frustrating and being told over and over again that they didn't know what else to do with you was demeaning.

In the apartment Alex was able to get to a schedule, she woke up with the dawn, she ran, she worked out, and she had breakfast. At nine am she would go make use of the file library in the Starfleet Headquarters, having been given permission so she would start to learn about the time she was in now.

After that on Tuesdays she had therapy, she would have lunch after that, she would read more in the quiet solitude of her apartment and she would just… exist.

It was hell.

Existing in this time, not having anything to do, it was hell.

Alex sat on the couch with her therapist, looking at her as the therapist looked back.

"You need friends."

"I heard you." Alex replied as she stared at the therapist.

"So what have you done to make friends?"

"I'm not really the friend type." Alex shook her head.

"Alex, you need to try."

"Doctor, friendship is a bond based on shared experiences and connection because of those shared experiences." Alex explained. "I'm a soldier who signed up to be experimented on and as a result got thrown two hundred and fifty years into the future." she said, raising one foot and putting it on the edge of the couch. "So please, tell me, how am I supposed to find someone to befriend when I'm completely useless to this time, I'm completely out of my element and I have no shared background or experiences with anyone in this time."

"You know you may be surprised." Alex huffed, the frustration of being spoken to like a child made Alex's cheeks flush as she looked down. "Why do you think you don't want to try and make friends?"

"I never said I don't want to make friends." she replied and the therapist looked back at her doubtfully. "I didn't, I have never said the words 'I don't want to make friends'." Okay that was a lie, but she hadn't said them in this century.

"You don't have to say it for it to be true." the therapist pointed out. "Homework for this week, have a conversation with someone." Alex looked up at that making the therapist speak again "Someone who is not me." Alex deflated slightly before nodding.

"Fine." she stood up and walked out of the room, finding her way out of the building and to her quarters.

Alex would ignore the homework as much as she could, if the therapist was anything like her teachers in high school she wouldn't be able to tell that Alex had done it last minute- and last minute her conversation would take place.

It was Tuesday morning before the conversation took place, seven day later. She had gone out for her run and was surprised to see there were more people around than normal, but she continued with her run, running on her usual path, going around a corner where a man had evidently just come out of an apartment building, when her surprise (and his) Alex went crashing into him. She apologized quickly, and then seeing his uniform realized that the man she'd run into was a higher rank than her, quickly saluting the man, she knew that the customs had changed, but she hadn't. She was still a soldier.

"Excuse me Sir," she spoke. "I wasn't looking where I was going Sir,"

"Well how could you?" the man smiled good naturedly. "You were running much too fast to expect a man just standing around on the sidewalk weren't you?"

"Yes Sir." Alex didn't break salute, he hadn't saluted her back, and she knew, she knew inside that he wouldn't, he wasn't like her, he wasn't the same kind of soldier she was, but it was not an easy thing to break.

"You can uh, you can stop doing that." he chuckled as he gestured to her salute. "Where are you from? Not many people really salute around here."

"When are you from is more apt Sir," she explained as she rested her hands on her hips.

"Ah- you're the uh, the time traveler huh?" he smiled as he looked her over. "I've heard about you- of course most in command have. I've had my own experiences time traveling myself- you're an old Air Force girl right?"

"Yes Sir," Alex nodded as she looked at him before clearing her throat. "So you've heard of me, who are you?"

"Oh, just a lowly ship's captain." he smiled. "How are you liking the future?"

"I don't really see much of it Sir," she admitted with a small smile. "They keep me on planet and taking classes to help me learn about what I missed out on. They said I'm acclimating but," she shrugged. "This isn't what I wanted to spend my time doing."

"What did you want to spend your time doing?" he asked, leaning against the wall of the building he had come out of.

"I'm a soldier sir," she explained. "I would have hoped that Starfleet would at least put me to work- but they're saying no self respecting captain would have me on board for at least another ten years so I have time to catch up on what I missed out on, and by that point, I wouldn't be a soldier anymore." Alex didn't know why she was telling this man all of that, she didn't even talk about this with her Starfleet organized psychiatrist, but something about the amusement in his face, the fact that he didn't just stand there and treat her like a relic, that he spoke to her like a person- it made it easier for her to open up.

"Well I'm a ship's captain and I don't see why a captain wouldn't want another soldier on board." he shrugged.

"Well, they want to make sure I'm adjusted and they don't want to shock me." she explained to him as she leaned against the wall next to him, resting her head back against the wall.

She hadn't slept the night before, she had barely slept since waking up. "I've done enough sleeping" she'd tell anyone who asked her about it, but that answer didn't satisfy anyone- especially not the therapist.

"What is it you want Soldier?" he asked and she looked over at him, thinking about the question for a moment as she looked away, at the dew covered grass that was glistening in the rising sun.

"I want-"

"To go home?" he offered after she paused and stayed quiet.

"No," she replied. "I know that's impossible. The only reason I'd have to go home is to see my parents, and I am sorry that they died not knowing what happened to me, but what I really want?" she looked back at him. "I want to do my job, I'm a soldier, I just want to be able to be a soldier, if that means being a space soldier now, then so be it, but I want to do what I was trained to do, and I wasn't trained to sit around and do nothing all day." she sighed as she wrapped her arms around her middle, a chill starting to set in, but she didn't care.

"What's your name Soldier?" he asked after a moment of thought.

"Ramirez Sir," she told him, looking over at him. "Alex Ramirez." no one even bothered asking that anymore- she was practically like the Harry Potter of this time, the girl who lived, but more like the girl who slept? The girl who accidentally lived? Well Harry Potter technically wasn't supposed to live either so-

"I'm Kirk," the man thankfully interrupted her train of thought. "James T. Kirk. Captain of the USS Enterprise."

"The Enterprise?" she questioned with a slight frown. "I thought she was decommissioned back in my day?"

"You mean the Old Earth Naval Ship?" he asked after a moment of thought.

"Yes Sir," she nodded.

"Ramirez, this is a whole new kind of ship," he smiled as he gestured for her to follow him. "So tell me, what have they told you of the stars?"