"Return fire!" Jon shouted as the ship rocked, throwing Kelly from her seat. She tried to stay upright, but failed miserably, ending up sprawled on the floor behind the tactical station.
"Malcolm, get up here!" Trip shouted through the comm. Seconds, later, Malcolm burst through the turbo lift doors, fighting for footing as the ship rocked again. As Trip helped her to her feet, she noticed that he looked a little haggard. He looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his hair was sticking up at odd angles.
"Return fire!"
"They're targeting the warp core Captain!" Malcolm shouted. Time seemed to slow for Kelly.
"Second ship has dropped out of warp!" Malcolm shouted as a panel showed sparks down on himself, and Kelly who was clutching the back of his chair in an effort to stay upright. "Both ships are firing at the warp core!" An explosion suddenly rocked the ship, and Kelly could feel the deck ripple under her feet. Time slowed for her so much now that she could see the ball of fire ripping through the people around her. She suddenly felt incredibly helpless, with nothing to do but stand there and watch as first Jon, then Trip were swallowed by the flames. She felt her heart stop, and she opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out, for the fire had suddenly engulfed her as well. Funnily enough, it was only her arm that was screaming in pain. Everything else was just fine. She could suddenly hear voices.
"Phlox, what's going on!"
"I don't know Captain, now let me work!" She heard Trip say something, but she couldn't hear what he muttered. Something pressed into her neck, and her heart started again. Her lungs filled with air, and her eyes flew open. She could feel people's hands on her shoulders and legs, holding her down. Her body felt like it was on fire. Slowly things came into focus. Both Jon and Trip were holding her down. Her breathing was fast and shallow, but she felt like every nerve in her being was on fire.
"Doc!" Trip shouted as her mouth opened in a silent scream. Trip supposed that was worse than if she had been shouting. Though it would have been hard on the ears, he would have known she was breathing. Phlox rushed over with another hypo, and pressed it into her neck. Kelly suddenly stilled under his hands.
Phlox pushed him out of the way, none to gently. Kelly's breathing had slowed the second the contents of the hypo had flooded her system like cool water over a burn. She closed her eyes for a second, then looked over at her cousin.
"What -- happened?" She managed. Her body suddenly felt heavy again, but she was afraid to go back to sleep, for fear that she might see the ship exploding again. She felt Jon's hand on her arm.
"Just get some sleep Kell." He said quietly. So quietly, that she suspected there were more people than himself and Trip in the room. For a moment, she wondered why, but her mind fell asleep before she had a chance to object.
Trip looked up at Jon and shook his head. They had just left sick bay. Actually a more accurate term would be they had gotten kicked out of sick bay. Phlox had been running some test on Kelly, and Jon and himself had been getting in the way. Shaking his head again, he hurried after Jon.
"Cap'n, she's gonna be okay." He said. Jon looked over at him.
"We can't know that."
"Cap'n-" Jon seemed to ignore him as he pressed the button for the turbo lift. "Jon!" He turned around, and Trip could tell he was worried. "You need to get some sleep. You've been up for almost two days."
Jon set his jaw. "I'm not going to get any sleep until I know she's all right." He said, and got into the lift when it arrived seconds later. Trip rolled his eyes, and suddenly realized that he hadn't eaten all day. He turned around and headed to the mess hall. Malcolm and Hoshi were sitting at a table toward the windows. He grabbed the last piece of Pecan pie and walked over.
"You mind if I join you?" He asked. They both shook their heads.
"Commander, if you don't mind me saying, you look tired."
Trip nodded. He knew that was Malcolm's polite way of saying You look like hell.
"How's Kelly doing?" Hoshi asked. Trip shook his head, and put down his fork. He didn't have much of an appetite at the moment. Malcolm eyed him worriedly. If Trip wasn't eating the pie, there was definitely something wrong with him.
"Phlox said she'll be fine, but I'm not so sure I believe him." He said. Malcolm and Hoshi glanced at each other. They knew that Phlox was reserved about telling the senior officers, especially the Captain how a patient was doing, knowing how they all tended to blame themselves, but he had never been known to lie to anyone. "You guys know what I mean. I've just got a feeling he's not telling us everything, and I can't say I blame him. The Cap'n's not lookin too good at the moment." Hoshi looked up at him.
"How so?"
Trip shrugged, picking up the fork again. "He hasn't slept in a couple of days, and I don't think he will until Kelly's conscious enough to have a conversation." He shook his head. "It's just like him, blaming himself for this. He couldn't have done anything. I was over there." He glanced up and saw that Malcolm was staring down into his steaming mug. "Aw, come on Malcolm, it wasn't your fault. She actually seemed to know where she was this time." Hoshi grimaced at Trip's words. In the week and a half since Kelly had been attacked, and she had been conscious for a few minutes at a time. The first time she had gone with Malcolm to see her. Trip had been sitting next to her bed, and had been asleep in the chair. It hadn't looked like it was incredibly comfortable. A suddenly gasping noise had startled him awake.
"What the hell is goin on?" Trip asked, suddenly wide awake. Kelly's body was arching off the bed, her mouth opening and closing as though she was a fish out of water. She about thrashed herself off the bed when Trip and Malcolm grabbed her arms, pinning them to the table, and though it may have kept her from rolling off the table, she kept writing under their grip, a look of excruciating pain on her face. Her gray eyes suddenly flew open and looked around wildly. Phlox pressed a hypo spray to her neck, and she slowly stopped writhing. Hoshi noticed that Malcolm's hands were shaking slightly as he stepped back from the bed. Trip looked pale as he looked at Kelly's once again unconscious form.
"Commander, may I suggest you inform the Captain?" Phlox said, his normal cheery tone flat, and frankly a little worried. Malcolm was the first to move.
"Commander, if I may be the one to speak with the Captain. . ." He trailed off as Trip nodded numbly. Hoshi put a hand on Trip's shoulder.
"I'll let you know if there's any change." She said. Trip nodded.
"I'll be in engineering if you need me." Trip said.
"Commander, I must request that you get some sleep." Phlox said. Trip shook his head.
"Nothin short of knocking me out is goin to be able to make me sleep right now." He said, and left before Phlox could say anything else.
"Commander?" Trip jumped at the sound of Malcolm's voice. He shook his head as though to clear it.
"I don't think the Captain's the only one who needs to get some sleep." Hoshi said. Trip shook his head.
"I don't think I can sleep." He said, shaking his head. "Not after seein her like that." He paused a moment, and bit his lip. Hoshi and Malcolm glanced at each other again. Trip had apparently forgotten that either of them were there. "I thought having to see her like that was goin to be a thing of the past." He muttered, letting his head drop into his hands. Hoshi put a hand on his arm.
"Why don't we go get you a sedative from Doctor Phlox Commander, I'm sure you'll be able to sleep then."
Malcolm frowned as he looked at the screen. Something had been pulling at him in the back of his mind for a while, one of those annoying pulls that was there at the back of his mind. He shook his head, and tried to turn his thoughts to other things, but found himself unable to. The chirp of his door chime interrupted his flood of thoughts, and it felt rather like someone had turned off a faucet.
"Come in!" He called, and looked up to see Commander Tucker standing in the doorway, looking uneasy. "Commander, is there something I can-" He saw that Trip still looked pale, and trailed off. "Have a seat." He said, and Trip stepped in.
"Sorry to barge in on you like this Malcolm, but I don't think I can sleep." Reed shook his head.
"Nor I." He said. Trip sat down in the chair at Malcolm's desk and once again put his head in his hands.
"I should've been able to do somethin." Malcolm suddenly felt uncomfortable. When people confided in him, it made him more than a little uneasy.
"Commander, wouldn't you feel more comfortable talking about this with someone, say the-"
"Stop calling me commander." Trip said. He was still staring intently at the floor. "And the Captain doesn't want to be reminded of what could have happened to her." Malcolm raised an eyebrow at him, but stayed quiet for a minute.
"If you don't mind me asking, reminded of what?" He asked. Trip grimaced.
"Look, if I tell you, you have to promise you'll never repeat this. Ever." Malcolm nodded, still unsure what this was about. Trip nodded, and began to recount the events.
Lieutenant Trip Tucker walked down the hall, a grin on his face. He had just had a horrible date. Usually that would have been cause for deep despair, and good couple hours worth of moping, but he had been the reason things had gone wrong. Him and his own heart's damn ironic timing. He had been talking with the young lady he was on the date with, and found himself comparing everything she said and did with someone else he knew. Kelly, his best friend's cousin. He knew Jon would kill him, but at that moment, he didn't care. That idiot Talbot should have had her back by now, and he was on his way to her room to tell her everything, how he felt. As his hand reached for the chime, he heard a sound from inside, a muffled shout.
"Get the fuck off me!" It was a feminine voice. Kelly. Trip hit the door chime, but no one answered. His heart began to pound. He tried the button that was supposed to open the door, but nothing happened. He heard a crash from inside the room, and more shouting. He hit the button for the door again, then input the override code Kelly had given him a few weeks ago. Still nothing happened. He heard another crash and shouting.
"Don't think you can get away from me that easily you bitch!" Trip could clearly hear Alex Talbot's voice through the door. Panicking as he heard another shout from inside the room, he pulled of the panel, and quickly unlocked the door. It opened about an inch, but that was enough to see Talbot advancing on a shadowy figure, lying still on the floor on the other side of the room. He grabbed the edge of the door and pulled it open faster than he had anticipated.
"Get away from her!" He said, and Talbot looked up at him, a shocked look on his face. His eyes flickered to Trip's balled fists, and the look of pure rage on his face. Trip's eyes shifted down to Kelly's form, still and crumpled on the floor. He had no idea if she was even still alive, he could only pray that she still was. Because if he didn't feel bad enough, Jon was going to kill him.
Though Kelly's cousin was far ahead of him on the command ladder, Trip knew him vaguely, and they got on well enough. When Jon had asked him to keep an eye on Kelly, he thought it was going to be boring, following some air-headed chic around, but they had started talking, and he found out she knew a lot about engineering, and they had spent hours upon hours talking about it.
Talbot's suddenly movement brought him back to the present. Jon was most definitely going to kill him. If Talbot didn't do it first. Kelly moaned softly as Trip grabbed Talbot by the shoulder and threw him out her door into the all. He slammed into the wall on the other side of the hall.
Talbot lunged at him, trying to get back inside Kelly's room. Trip could hear people shouting down the hall, but he didn't care. The only thing that seemed to matter to him right now was beating Talbot's face into the floor. Hands were suddenly pulling him off of Talbot, and he could see two security picking a badly bruised Talbot up off the floor. Trip wrenched himself free of those hands and lunged at Talbot again. Those hands were suddenly doubled, and he was pinned against the wall. The only thing he could do now was shout at Talbot.
"You damn bastard!" He shouted, and noticed the security officer nearest his head flinch and cover her ear was one hand. "She wouldn't give it up, so you just decided to take it!" A crowd was gathering in the hall, staring at the usually mild-mannered engineering student. Commodore Forrest suddenly was standing on the edge of the crowd, looking from one cadet to the other.
"Everyone, back to your rooms. That's an order. Now!" The crowd immediately dispersed. "Someone mind explaining what's going on here?" He asked. Trip suddenly relaxed, surprising those holding him enough he was able to pull away.
"That bastard attacked her!" He said, ducking into Kelly's room, and dropping beside her. He put a hand on her shoulder. Her gray eyes fluttered open a fraction and she shuddered. Commodore Forrest was standing in the doorway, staring in horror at Kelly.
"Is -- Is he gone Trip?" She asked thinly, as though it hurt to speak. Trip nodded, and reached down to take her hand.
"He's gone. Kell." He said. "He's not going to come near you again. Ever. I swear." She grimaced and smiled at the same time, and Trip felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest.
A few hours later Jon ran into the hospital waiting room, looking incredibly pale.
"Kelly Archer." He said to the receptionist. She looked up at him blandly.
"Are you family?" She asked. Jon nodded, and saw Trip walking numbly down the hall.
"Yes, I'm her cousin!" He said. "Trip!" Trip looked up at his friend, his normally dancing blue eyes dull. "Trip, what happened?" Trip shook his head, muttering something under his breath.
"Should've been there. . . Stupid bastard." He said, and continued to go on. Jon grabbed his shoulders.
"Trip!" Trip seemed to realized Jon was there for the first time. He shook his head.
"I should've been there damn it!" He said.
Jon stared at him. "Trip, what happened?" He asked. "Nobody's telling me what happened to her!" Trip swallowed, suddenly looking like he might throw up. Jon searched his face for some indication as to what happened, but he couldn't find any. He only knew it had been very bad. "Trip, what happened to Kelly?" The use of her name seemed to snap Trip back to reality.
"The damn bastard Talbot attacked her." He finally managed. Jon froze in place. "She's in surgery."
"What do you mean, attacked her? He tried to kill her?" Trip shook his head.
"No sir." The color was gone from Jon's face, leaving his skin a grayish color.
"You said 'tried.' He didn't-"
Trip shook his head vigorously. "No. Bashed his head into the wall."
"Took six officers to pull him off the bastard." Forrest said, coming up behind them. The receptionist stood up and walked over to the three of them. "That was off the record gentlemen."
"Miss Archer just got out of surgery." She said. "The Doctor said you may see her. If you'll follow me." She led the two anxious men down the hall, and they were followed by Forrest.
Trip shook his head. "She had three broken ribs, two bruised ones. One of the broken ones came dangerously close to puncturing her lung. She had some internal bleeding, and a bruised kidney. She suffered some head trauma too, but she was never quite the same after that." He said. Malcolm raised an eyebrow.
"How do you mean?"
Trip shook his head. "She was so damn talkative, and chipper. Almost like Travis. More even, but after that, she just stopped talking to everyone. Shut herself in her room for a week after she got out of the hospital. After that her mentality was a hell of a lot like yours. Work, duty sleep. God." She shook his head. "And just when she was starting to pull out of it, Jon and I got assigned here." He shook his head. "Cap'n got so wrapped up in all things Enterprise, he forgot to call her for nearly a year. She should've been at least Commander if not Captain by now, but she just didn't seem to care." He looked up at Malcolm suddenly. "You tell anyone about this and I'll beat you to a pulp, then Kelly will kill you. She had the incident wiped from our records. Even the medical files are gone." Malcolm nodded, still a little stunned.
"I'm just finding it hard to believe that she could ever be that helpless." He said. Trip shook his head.
"It was right after that that she decided to take some self defense classes. She kept thinking about what could have happened to her if I hadn't decided to go over there. I should have left sooner."
"Comman - Trip, I'm sure she doesn't blame you for what happened." Trip shook his head as he got to his feet and began pacing the length of Malcolm's quarters.
"See the thing is Mal, I still feel the same way about her." He said, and looked over at the Lieutenant, who had suddenly become very quiet. Not that he wasn't before, but he wasn't watching Trip, as he had been as he had recounted the tale. "Oh crap." He said. Malcolm looked up at him, a question on his face that he didn't voice. Trip opened his mouth to say something, but didn't get to finish, as the comm chirped.
"Doctor Phlox to Lieutenant Reed." He said. Reed pressed the button to reply.
"Yes?"
"Lieutenant Archer has left sick bay." Both men froze at the statement.
"What?" Malcolm asked, the first to recover.
"Miss Archer woke up while I was in the middle of some tests. I had to remove her restraints. She woke and left."
"And you didn't try to stop her?" He asked.
"The Lieutenant is stronger than she appears." Phlox replied. "Now will you stop questioning me, and find her? She may not know what's going on, and in her dazed state, she will most likely remeber nothing at all." Trip looked over at Malcolm.
The two of them rushed out into the corridor. They split, running in opposite directions. Malcolm somehow found his way to the armory. He stuck his head inside, then vanished again, leaving several people looking very confused and stunned. He turned and took off at a run down the corridor, trying as fast as he could to get to sick bay. He passed a turbo lift as the doors opened, revealing a very tired-looking Captain.
"Woah, Malcolm, what's the hurry?" He asked. Malcolm skidded to a stop.
"Lieutenant Archer left sick bay sir." He said. Jon's face paled. "Phlox said she probably doesn't know where she is." He took off again, not caring about the Captain's incredulous look. He ran into sick bay where Phlox was waiting with a hypo.
"Mr. Reed, wait a moment. This is the antitoxin to what was in the creature's claws. Be careful with it, I was only able to synthesize enough for one dose. Be careful where you use it too, it has to go directly into her bloodstream." Malcolm snatched the hypo and was about to leave when the comm beeped. "Trip to Malcolm!"
"Go ahead Commander!" Malcolm said, slamming his finger down on the button.
"I found her Mal! She's in cargo hold three, and she's-" Malcolm had heard enough. He streaked out of Sick Bay and made for cargo bay three.
When he got there, he found a strange sight. Kelly was in the corner of the room, a wild and terrified look on her face, like a cornered rabbit. Malcolm felt his heart skip a beat as she looked up at him. They locked eyes for a moment, then he heard Trip talking.
"Kelly, it's me, Trip." She and Malcolm continued to stare at each other. She suddenly jumped to her feet, backing away from Trip. He swallowed, and glanced over at Malcolm. "What's that?" He mouthed.
"Antidote from Phlox." Malcolm said quietly, sliding it across the floor to Trip, and standing in front of the door, so Kelly wouldn't be able to get out without having to go past him. She was watching him again, and he saw something in her eyes. Trip began inching closer to her.
"Kelly, look at me." He said. Those large gray eyes snapped back to Trip's face, her face was suddenly hard and frightened again. Trip took a couple steps backward so he was even with Malcolm. He pressed the hypo into his hand. "Think you're a bit more calming." He said, and gave Malcolm a small nudge forward. Malcolm locked eyes with Kelly, and started inching forward. The door to the cargo bay opened, and Jon ran straight into Trip, who grabbed his arm. Kelly jumped up, and ran to the far side of the bay. Trip cursed under his breath.
"K-" Trip clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Cap'n-" Jon pushed Trip off of him. "Jon!" The Captain turned around. "She doesn't know where she is." Trip could clearly see the mix of pain,fearand determination on the Captain's face. He had seen that look before. When the first test of his father's engine failed. It was that exact same look that was now on his face. "Jon, just hold on. Malcolm seems to make her a little calmer." Jon nodded, watching as Malcolm slowly got closer and closer to Kelly. He slowly extended his hand to her when he was a few feet away.
"Kelly." He said. Her gray eyes flickered from his hand to his face, then his hand again. After a moment, she lunged off the wall, and fell against him. He froze for a moment, stunned, and looked to Trip and Jon for help. Trip curled his hand into a fist and was fiercely jamming the side of into his neck, and Malcolm suddenly remember the hypo in his hand. He pressed it against Kelly's neck, and she slumped against him. As he picked her up, Jon ran over, and took her from him, heading back to sick bay.
Kelly opened her eyes to see the dim light of sick bay. She sat up, though she felt no pain in her arm. She looked down at it, and saw that it was almost completely healed. Wondering how that had happened, she sat up. Phlox poked his head through the privacy curtain.
"Ah. Hold on a moment." He vanished again, and Kelly's head swam. She could remember brief periods of intense pain, but nothing else. The doctor returned with a scanner, and was silent.
"Doctor Phlox-" She began, but he cut her off.
"Well, the toxin appears to have been completely removed from your system." He said, and gave her a small smile. "The creature that attacked yourself and Lieutenant Reed had a dangerous toxin in it's claws, which was released into your system. It caused you intense periods of pain when you were conscious." Kelly nodded. She could understand that, because she remembered it. She noticed a large purple bruise on the side of his face.
"What happened?" She asked. He gave her a small smile.
"Apparently you are stronger than you look Lieutenant." He said. "Wait here for just a moment." He disappeared, reappearing a moment later with Jon at his shoulder. Kelly could see the tired look on Jon's face, and the wave of relief that washed over it as he realized she was lucid.
"How're you feeling?" He asked. Trip's head appeared over his shoulder.
"Been worried about you." He said. Kelly gave him a weak grin. "Gave us quite a scare." He added. Kelly gave them both a smile.
"How long was I out?" She asked. Their faces darkened a little.
"All together or do you want us to count the hours between your little minutes of consciousness?" Trip joked, though he sounded more tired than he usually did. Kelly grimaced. She could remember those short but painful returns to reality. She shuddered. Trip and Jon glanced at each other. They along with Malcolm had decided to keep what had happened in the cargo bay to themselves. They knew it would only make Kelly uncomfortable.
"All together." Kelly said. She almost called Trip and really nasty name, but then remembered that he was in fact her commanding officer, and Jon was standing right there. Trip cleared his throat, and glanced at Phlox.
"Captain, there was a question I want to ask you. . ." He said, leading Jon away from Kelly and Trip. Trip looked like he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how. Kelly rolled her eyes. She had seen this look before. It had been when she had woken up after Talbot attacked her.
"Trip, whatever it is, just say it." She said. He chewed on his lip and stared to pace the length of the curtained off section, which was only about a meter and a half wide. "Trip-"
"See the thing is I don't think I can Kell." He said suddenly, looking up at her. "I've got to go." He said suddenly looking pale. He turned and walked out very quickly. Kelly saw him push past a very surprised Malcolm, and vanish down the corridor as the doors to Sick Bay closed. She caught Malcolm's eye as the curtain closed, and found an odd expression on his face. She shook her head as Phlox came back in.
"The Captain has requested that you be released from Sick Bay, and since I can find no medical reason for you to stay here, you're free to go." He said. Kelly nodded.
"Thanks Doc." She said, taking her boots from him, and pulling them on. She pulled back the curtain stiffly to see Jon and Malcolm talking in low voices.
"We agreed not to Lieutenant." Jon said shortly. "I'll make that an order if I have to." Malcolm nodded stiffly, and looked up as she came over.
"Glad you're feeling better." He said, then left at a hurried pace. Kelly shook her head.
"Did something happen that I don't know about?" She asked. Jon shook his head.
"Nothing you need to worry about." He said.
They were both silent until they reached her quarters. "By the way, I called Harrison the other day, to let him know what happened." He said as she opened her door. Kelly's face drained of color and she spun around to face him.
"Why'd you do that?" She sputtered, looking like she'd just seen a ghost. Jon looked confused.
"Kelly, in your last letter, you told me you were-"
"We were Jon, and it's frankly none of your business!"