Notes: Hey, it's been almost a year since my last update! I guess it's about time I got this chapter out. Enjoy and please review when you're finished.

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Noel began to wake up yet again. She'd had a strange dream, but couldn't remember it. It was unusual, but not scarily vivid like her normal dreams. She saw faces in this dream that she didn't recognize, and wondered what the dream was about.

She opened her eyes, expecting to find herself in her bedroom, in her own bed, the sun pouring through her open window, a cool breeze blowing her soft blonde hair. But that was not the sight she saw. There were bright lights all around her and she was on a bed that seemed more like a hospital bed than a real bed. She remembered what she thought had been a dream, but now she was unsure. She had a headache and when she tried to sit up a rush of dizziness came over her, but she refused to lay down again. 0When she had gotten over the initial dizziness she swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, still a little tipsy.

After a few minutes she was able to walk, though only very slowly. She held onto a wall as she did so and when she turned the corner she saw someone sitting in what looked like an office. It was a man wearing a black suit with a blue stripe across the top and a balding head. He was talking to someone else, another man, who was sitting across from him. This man was wearing a similar uniform but black and red. He looked a lot younger with blonde hair.

The two men suddenly noticed her and both jumped up and came over.

"Hi, Noel." the older man said as he took her arm to help steady her. "How are you feeling?"

Noel tried to ignore the fact that he was touching her, reminding herself that he was just helping. "A little dizzy." she said as she surrendered her weight to him. The other man came and took her other arm and they helped her back to the bed she had been sleeping in.

"You should stay in bed for now," the bald man said as he picked up a strange object and waved it in front of her.

"What is that?" she asked him, a little unsure.

"This is a tricorter." he said and turned to the blonde man. "Get me 20 mg of Benepramaline, and let Captain Janeway know she's awake." The younger man nodded and left. The older man, clearly the doctor, turned his attention back to his patient's question. "I use this to scan the inside of your body. It's quicker and less invasive that some of the methods doctors in your time use."

"Time?" she asked, confused. She thought that everything here looked a little futuristic, but she didn't think that she was in a different time period. She remembered them telling her this but she thought that she must have heard wrong or was dreaming. How could she have traveled through time?

The doctor's arms fell to his side and his voice became less cheery than it had been. "Noel, after you took those pills, for some reason, you were taken to the future."

"The future?" she was getting more and more confused. Could this really be a dream? Time travel is a ridiculous explanation because it was impossible. "What year is it?"

The doctor seemed hesitant, but responded. "The year is 2376." he told her. Noel's jaw dropped. "You're on board the Federation Starship Voyager."

Just then the younger man came in with another strange object in his hand and gave it to the doctor.

"Noel," the physician said softly, "Noel, are you alright?"

"I-I-I…" she couldn't find the words to explain what she was feeling at that moment. If she were in another time how would she get back home? "I don't know," she said, her voice beginning to shake a little.

"You told her?" the younger man asked. The doctor nodded and the aforesaid man put his hand on her shoulder, not noticing her flinch as he did so.

The Doctor put his hand on her other shoulder and said, "I'm going to give you some medication that should help with the dizziness." He proceeded to press the strange object to her neck and she didn't seem to notice. He saw through the corner of his eye a woman walk into the larger room and excused himself.

"It's alright, Noel," the blonde man told her in a soothing voice, "We'll try and figure this out." He attempted to look into her eyes, but it was clear she was avoiding eye contact with him.

'Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry…' she told herself over and over again. 'You can't cry. Change the subject. Think of something!' she screamed at herself inside her mind. Then, she thought of something that could change the subject for at least a minute or so. She finally looked at the man wearing the red. "You know, I still don't know your names." she was attempting to sound cheery, but didn't do a very good job of it. Okay, so it wasn't very creative, but at least it turned the attention to them.

"Oh," the blonde said, a little alarmed by what she said. "I'm Tom Paris, and that is our holographic doctor who has no name. We just call him Doctor." he said and smiled at her. She looked confused.

"Holographic doctor?" she asked very perplexed. "Is that like a hologram or something?"

"Yes." Tom said, relieved that he didn't have to explain it too much. "He's an interactive hologram with a personality and loads of information. He's the best doctor anyone could get, save for his cold bedside manner."

"And why doesn't he have a name?" she asked, ignoring the last comment.

"He can't decide on one." Tom said with a slight chuckle.

There was a strange silence, but not awkward. Neither Tom nor Noel knew what to say. Finally, Noel spoke.

"What's going to happen to me?"

Tom sighed. He knew this question would come, but he'd hoped that she would ask either The Doctor or Captain Janeway. But, she asked him, so he had to answer her, though he didn't know exactly what was going to happen either.

"Well," he started, "First we need to get you to a point where you don't need to stay in here." He waved his arm to show that he meant Sickbay. "That will be up to The Doctor. After that, you'll probably have to go to some kind of counseling, although we don't have a Ship's Counselor. I'm sure they'll find someone."

"But am I just going to live here for the rest of my life?" she interrupted.

Tom wasn't sure what to say. He didn't want to lie and say they would get her home. "Honestly, I don't know." He reluctantly told her. "But we're working hard on finding a way to get you home."

Noel seemed disappointed.

"In the meantime we're going to get you well." Tom told her. Just then the Doctor came back into the room, the woman right behind him.

"Noel," he said, "This is Captain Janeway." The doctor introduced the woman. "She runs this ship."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Noel." She smiled as she extended her hand. When Noel didn't reciprocate, she took it back. She looked at the doctor who nodded and the two men left.

"Sweetie," the woman said gently and sat down next to her, "I know you must be scared." She took Noel's hand into hers. "This is a lot for a girl your age to handle." No response.

"Noel," Janeway said turning Noel's head so as to look her in the eye, "I want you to know that I am doing everything possible to get you home. There's someone I know who can help and I'm going to talk to him hopefully soon."

"Alright." Noel said and hung her head again.

There was a silence but Janeway broke it. "Noel, sweetie," she said, "Can I ask you something?"

The girl shrugged.

"Why did you want to kill yourself?"

Noel looked up, alarmed by the question. She hadn't expected that they cared. She didn't want to talk about it so she shrugged again looked at her feet again.

"There must have been a reason." The woman said. Janeway suspected something, but she wanted Noel to tell her herself.

"Did something happen to you?"

"Yes." Noel whispered. She figured that if anyone she'd met so far could empathize it would be the woman. "I-I…" she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Did someone hurt you?" the woman found tears beginning to form in her eyes. Noel nodded, crystalline drops falling from her eyes onto the blue gown.

"I'm so sorry." Janeway said as she pulled the girl into a hug. Noel sobbed. No one had ever held her that way before. This was the first person she told about that night, and she didn't even have to say anything. The emotions that had built up in her since that night were finally let out. The way this woman held her reminded her of how her mother held her when she was young. She felt a bond with this woman that could only be described as a mother-daughter bond.

Notes: Well, that's all for now. I'll try to write more soon. Please review.