"We were Jon, and it's frankly none of your business!" The door hissed shut slower than she would have liked. What she really wanted was to hit something. She punched her pillow, but that didn't help. She could feel the anger building up inside her, and knew she had to do something, or she was going to explode. Phlox had reminded her she needed sleep, but she couldn't sleep now. Not that Jon had brought up Harrison. As she changed into a tight black tank top and black shorts. She headed down to the gym to find Ensign Sato on one of the treadmills. Kelly chose one at the other end of the row, and inserted a data disc into the port, and closed her eyes as the heavy metal music blasted into her ears. She climbed up on the treadmill and began to run as fast as she could. After a few moments, she backed the speed down a little and continued to run, though her eyes were still closed. When her long legs began to ache, she pulled the earphones off and backed the speed down until she was walking. Glancing at the time, she sighed. She was supposed to be on duty in a little over five hours, she'd been running for nearly four hours. Shaking her head, she turned the machine off and looked around. Hoshi was gone, and a suddenly crash sounded behind her. She whipped around to see Malcolm standing in front of a bunch of scattered weights and grimacing. She sighed, and walked over to help him.
"You can run all you want." He said. "But I don't think you'll ever outrun it." He said, Kelly's head jerked up so she was looking at him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked fiercely.
"Whatever was bothering you. Running isn't going to help." Kelly grabbed up the last weight and placed it back on the stack with the others.
"It makes me feel a hell of a lot better." She said, snatching the data chip out of the treadmill. She paused, suddenly getting the feeling that if anyone could understand, it would be Malcolm. She looked up at him. "Have you ever been so sure something would work with someone, and it all fell apart?" She asked. Malcolm nodded, looking a little confused.
"You want to talk about it?" He asked. Kelly suddenly decided she had to, or her head was going to explode. She sat down heavily on the edge of the treadmill and drew her knees up to her chest.
"He called him. I can't believe he called him." She muttered. Malcolm hovered near her, trying to decide if he should try to comfort her or just listen. He compromised for sitting down next to her and listening.
"Who called who?" He asked. Kelly let her head fall so her forehead was resting on her knees.
"Jon. He called Harrison while I was out." She said. She could feel Malcolm's confusion, and was glad when he didn't say anything. "Harrison was my fiancee." She said suddenly, unsure of why she had just told Malcolm that. "We were supposed to get married next week, but when Jon came back and asked me to come along with him, Harrison told me that he wasn't going to let me." She shook her head. "No offense, but men can be real bastards sometimes." She said.
"None taken."
"Then I told him I had already agreed to serve on Enterprise, and he got really mad. We got into this big fight, and I haven't talked to him since." She shook her head. "I have no idea what they said to each other, but from the look on Jon's face, it couldn't have been good." She took a few deep breaths, blinking back the burning sensation in her suddenly dry eyes. She shook her head again and looked over at Malcolm. She had figured that he would have objected to her confiding in her, she had figured him for the standoffish, silent type. She had seen the way he interacted with the crew, even if it had only been for the little while she had been conscious on board. He was formal with everyone, including Trip, who seemed to be his closest friend. They had served together for a couple years, and he was still calling him Commander. She sighed and looked at the clock on the wall.
"Damn. I'd better get some sleep." She said, and looked over at Malcolm. "Thanks." He nodded sleepily, stifling a yawn. She picked up her data disc and left the gym.
Kelly sat down heavily at her desk, her stomach filled with apprehension at what she was about to do. It had been two weeks since her talk with Malcolm in the gym, and after a few more workouts, which consisted of her running herself to exhaustion for a few hours, Malcolm's worried gaze on her while he was there, she had made a decision. She had asked Hoshi to link her with Harrison that evening, and not tell Jon if she could avoid it. She and Hoshi had actually been getting on really well. Her hands were shaking as she pressed the button that would connect her with her ex-fiancee.
Harrison's face filled her screen. His expression darkened when he saw her. "Heard you didn't tell your cousin about us breaking up." He said. Kelly felt her stomach churn, and her eyes were burning.
"Are we really broken up?" She asked. "Because we didn't really say anything about that after you told me to get the hell out of your life." She could feel the pain she'd been trying to bury rise to the surface.
"Kelly, I think getting married is a little out of the question, considering that you're not even on the same damn planet anymore." His voice was calm. Too clam for Kelly to understand. She was still hurting from leaving a relationship that had lasted over two years. Suddenly someone moved in the background.
"Honey, aren't you coming to bed?" A voice asked. Kelly could literally feel the blood drain from her face, leaving it feeling cold. Harrison looked uneasy.
"Be right there!" He called back, then turned once again to the screen. Kelly could feel her hands shaking. "Kell, it's not-"
"I've got to go." She said, and fumbled with the keys, effectively hanging up on him. She stood, suddenly feeling like she wasn't getting enough air. Her comm chirped. She pressed the button.
"Yes?"
"I've got an incomming message for you Lieutenant." Hoshi's replacement on the bridge said. Kelly's stomach twisted. "It's marked urgent."
"From who?" She asked. There was a pause while the crewman checked.
"A Harrison Foreman. Shall I put him through?"
"No." Came the flat reply. "Thank you crewman." She sat down on her bed, then stood up again, pacing. The room suddenly felt too small. She had to get out of her room.
Malcolm was staring at his data pad blankly. He just couldn't get his mind to focus. The unprofessional part of him kept slipping back to the dream he'd had last night. He wrenched his mind back to his work, but it slipped away from him again, and he couldn't seem to bring himself back.
She stood there looking beautiful in her long dress. It hugged her body and the silver and black sequins sparkled as she moved, turning to look at him. He could feel himself smiling as her thin lips curved up in one of her small smiles. Her smile always seemed to be hiding something, a pain that wouldn't go away. Her gray eyes were the same way, but the pain was there just the same. His body seemed to root itself to the spot as she walked toward him, her heels clicking on the plating of the mess hall floor. It suddenly occurred to him where they were. Why was she wearing a dress in the middle of the mess hall? As she got closer, the thought went straight out of his head, along with every other coherent thought in his head. She reached out a hand and touched his shoulder. Something akin to an electric shock ran through his body as she pulled herself toward him. Her slim hand curled around his neck, and pulled his mouth to hers. He could feel something stir deep in his chest, something he hadn't felt for a long time.
The doors to the mess hall opened and she walked in. Malcolm was snapped out of his trance, and brought crashing back to reality. Shaking his head, he tried to push the dream out of his head, finding it easier now that she was actually in the room. What made it harder was the fact that she looked so pale and scared. She got a cup of something steaming and turned to leave again, when she spotted Malcolm. He must have looked worried because she made an obviously painful attempt at a smile as she vanished through the quietly hissing doors.
Kelly's hands shook violently as she set the cup down in her quarters. She clasped them in her lap, but that just made her entire arm tremble. She got up and started pacing, trying to blink back the tears that threatened to fall. Her door chime chirped, but she ignored it, continuing to pace. It chirped again, and Kelly silently cursed, wondering if Hoshi had decided to tell Jon. She pressed the button and the door slid open to reveal Trip, frantically inputting data on a pad.
"Kell, I wanted to run some of these equations for the warp core past-" He looked up at her and froze. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. "Kell?" He asked. "What's-"
"Trip, run those past me tomorrow, okay?" She said, and the door closed, leaving Trip standing in front of her door, completely bewildered. He stood there another moment, trying to decide what to do. Over the past few weeks, working with her, he had found that he did still lover her, but not in the same way. He thought of her like a sister, and she reminded him a lot of Lizzie, except that he had never seen Lizzie look like that. He hesitated for a moment, then decided that in her current mood, she was more likely to knock him out than talk about whatever happened. Biting his lip, he made up his mind and turned, jogging off down the hall. He stopped in front of the Captain's quarters, pausing a moment before he hit the chime.
"Come in!" He heard the Captain say. He was sitting on his bed, throwing a ball against the wall. He paused when he saw Trip. "Something wrong?" He asked. Trip sighed as he stepped inside, letting the door close behind him.
"Cap'n, is something goin on with Kelly?" He asked. Jon shook his head, shrugging as he tossed Porthos a cube of cheese.
"Not that I know of, why?" Trip hesitated for a moment.
"Because I just stopped by her quarters to ask her about something," He waved the data pad vaguely, "And she looked really upset, and all pale. She told me to ask her tomorrow and shut the door in my face." Jon paused, a cube of cheese in his hand halfway to the dog. Porthos jumped up and nipped it from his fingers.
"Trip, you remember Harrison?" He asked. Trip nodded.
"That guy Kelly was seeing when we left? Yeah, why?" He asked. Jon shook his head.
"They were going to get married a couple of weeks ago, but they broke it off."
Trip stared at Jon, his brain attempting futilely to process this information. "Why?" He finally managed. Jon shook his head, patting his whining dog on the head.
"Because I asked her to come aboard. Harrison didn't want her to go, so he-" The door chimed, and Jon stood up, dumping Porthos to the ground. "Come in!" The door slid open to reveal Hoshi, who looked a little unnerved.
"Captain, Lieutenant Archer asked me not to tell you about this, but I thought it might be important." She said. Jon and Trip looked at each other, then at Hoshi.
"Go ahead Hoshi." Jon said. Hoshi nodded nervously.
"Well, earlier this evening, she called someone."
Trip eyed her. "Is this 'someone' named Harrison Foreman?" He asked. Hoshi nodded slowly with slightly narrowed eyed.
"Thank you Hoshi." Jon said, and sat down heavily on his bed.
"Cap'n, should we-"
"No." Jon said. "I think we've done enough to screw up her life."
"Cap'n-"
"Dismissed Commander." Trip threw up his arms in surrender, and left. He knew Jon was feeling guilty, and there was nothing he could do about it, except wait. He shook his head. His two best friends were both probably sitting in their respective quarters, beating themselves up for not being strong enough.
The chime sounded, and Kelly began to grow annoyed. Trip had left a little under five minutes ago. She knew he'd be back. She pressed the button on the door, and opened her mouth to give Trip an earful, but instead found Malcolm standing in the hall. She froze, then remembered to close her mouth.
"Malcolm, why are -- what are you doing here?" She asked almost incredulously.
"I thought you looked a little off in the mess hall, I thought I'd see if you were all right." Kelly shook her head. Malcolm had not ceased to surprise her. She had been helping him with upgrades in the armory, and they had had more meaningful talks over the past two weeks than she and Trip had had since she come on board. She had begun to enjoy his company, and they were known to eat together in the mess hall frequently, (much to the dismay of some of the other female crew members).
"I'm-" She'd started to use his usual 'I'm fine,' phrase but she couldn't get the last word out. Stepping back, she let him in, and sat down on her bed and put her hand into her hands. "I'm not fine." She said, and felt Malcolm sit down next to her. "I called Harrison tonight." She said. "It's only been two weeks since we were supposed to get married, but she was there."
"Who was where?" Malcolm asked.
"I don't know. Some girl, and she wasn't wearing all that much." Malcolm grimaced as he ground his teeth. He had a sudden and nearly uncontrollable urge to find out who this Harrison guy was and beat the living daylights out of him, but all he did was put a hand gently on her shoulder.
Kelly jumped at the hand placed on her shoulder and suddenly couldn't take it anymore. The tears just came, and she was helpless to stop them. She just slumped to the side, her head on Malcolm's chest. This took him so completely by surprise, he almost fell over, and would have, had his shoulder not hit the post of her bed. He sat there for a moment, looking down at Kelly's dark head, unsure of what to do. He knew he couldn't get up and leave. He knew she would look at him, and he'd stutter out a flimsy excuse, and she'd know how he felt. He couldn't do that, so he just put an arm around her and let her cry.
After a while her sobs subsided, and Malcolm was surprised to find that her breathing was deep. She was asleep. Moving slowly, he moved her so her head was on the pillow, and pulled a blanket up over her, then slipped out of her quarters quietly, thankful for the late hour. If anyone saw him coming out of her quarters at this hour, he would be dead. Not only afraid of the loss of rank, he was certain that both the Captain and Trip would kill him.
When Kelly's alarm sounded the next morning, she sat bolt upright in bed, her eyes wide. The last thing she remembered was crying. Malcolm was there. Oh god, she had cried in front of Malcolm. What would he think of her now? She shook her head. No, couldn't think about that. She reminded herself as she turned on the water for the shower, stripping off her uniform. She had fallen asleep in it last night. Oh god, she had fallen asleep on Malcolm! She let the hot water run over her body longer than she intended, and was late for her shift. Jon and Tip looked up as she arrived on the bridge. Trip thought she still looked a little pale, but otherwise fine.
"Lieutenant, can I see you for a moment?" Jon asked. Kelly nodded and followed him into his ready room. He sat down in his chair and eyed her. She shifted under his gaze. "I know you talked with Harrison last night." He said. "Why?"
Kelly bit her lip. "I've been thinking about it for the past couple weeks, and I decided I needed some closure."
"Trip said you looked pretty upset." He said. Kelly nodded.
"I was, but I'm over it."
"Mind telling me what happened?" He asked. Kelly swallowed.
"I'd rather not, if it's all right." She said. Jon nodded, apparently satisfied.
"Okay then." He said, trying to sound relieved, but he knew there was something more than Harrison bothering her. "Anything else you want to talk about?" He asked. Kelly debated asking him what to do about Malcolm, but suddenly decided that would be a huge mistake.
"No."
"Good. Lieutenant Reed has some more upgrades to work on. He's down in the armory. Why don't you help him with that?" He asked. Kelly hesitated. "Or you could help Trip in-"
"I'll be in the armory." She said. SHe wanted to see Trip even less than Malcolm at the moment. She knew he'd have a bunch of questions for her, and she didn't think she could take it.Jon nodded, and Kelly fled the room, striding quickly across the bridge to the turbo lift. Hoshi got up from her station.
"Lieutenant, I-"
Kelly smiled at the young Ensign. "I know you told the Captain Hoshi." She said, and the girl suddenly relaxed. "I'm kind of glad you did, in a way. Thanks though." Hoshi looked thoroughly confused as the doors closed.
As Kelly walked into the armory, she looked around for Malcolm, but couldn't find him. There were several other personnel in the bay, so she decided just to look around for him. A young Ensign came up behind her.
"Lieutenant Reed is over there Lieutenant." She said, pointing to a bank of photon torpedoes. Kelly gave her a smile when she saw Malcolm was standing by a table covered with pieces of a particle weapon. She walked over to him so quietly he didn't even hear her.
"The Captain asked me to help you with the upgrades." She said, causing Malcolm to nearly jump out of his skin. He ended up scattering half the contents of the table. Cursing under his breath he bent to pick them up.
"Havin a clumsy day Malcolm?" Trip laughed, coming up behind Kelly. Malcolm felt his face burn, as he hit his head on the bottom of the table. He cursed again and stood up, rubbing is head and depositing the pieces of the phase pistol on the table.
"Was there something you wanted Commander?" He asked. Grimacing.
"Yeah, but I plum forgot what it was. I'll probably remember when I get back to engineering, but I'll call you." He said. He put a hand on Kelly arm.
"You okay?" He asked. Kelly gave him a small smile and nodded.
"Trip, I'm fine." She said. He nodded.
"All right then, but if you need to talk about it-"
"Thanks Trip, but I kind of talked to someone about it already." She said. He nodded.
"Just so you know." He said, and strode away. She looked over at Malcolm, who was still rubbing his head.
"You all right?" She asked. He nodded, but didn't say anything. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air. "Malcolm, I think we should-"
"There's a component missing, but I can quite seem to figure out what it is." He said. "Something small, and. . ." He trailed off. "It's throwing the particle stream off." Kelly sighed and started piecing the pistol back together as Malcolm watched. She was halfway through it when she suddenly set it down and walked over to a supply drawer, pulling out something small that looked like a spring. She inserted it, then finished putting it back together. Handing it to him, she sighed.
"I'm going to see if Trip needs help in engineering." She said, and left.
Malcolm watched her leave, then down at the phase pistol she had just put back together in under two minutes. It would have taken him probably at least another five. He knew she was going to say they needed to talk, but he was afraid if they did he'd end up telling her how he felt. He almost had last night, but he knew that if anything had happened, he would have wondered if it had been because of her ex-fiancee. Wait, what was he thinking? Nothing could happen with Kelly. Nothing. Trip and the Captain would have his head removed from his body and both dragged behind the ship. He grimaced at the thought.
"Lieutenant?" He sighed and looked up at the Ensign to see what the newest problem was.
Kelly's stomach churned as the ship rocked. She turned and ran to the nearest comm panel.
"Lieutenant Archer to the bridge!" She shouted over the commotion that had suddenly erupted in the corridor. "What's going on?" There was no response. "Bridge, respond!"
"Captain Archer and Commander T'Pol are unconscious sir!" She heard the tremor in Hoshi's voice. "They were just taken to sick bay!"
"The ship is coming around for another attack!" She heard someone shout. Her feet carried her to the turbo lift, then to the bridge. Commander Tucker hadn't arrived yet, and she assumed Reed was on his way up here as they spoke.
"Return fire!" She said. She knew this would happen. She had switched into command mode. The Ensign at tactical hesitated for a second. "Ensign!" The ship rocked, and the panel above tactical exploded. The young officer was thrown from his chair, burns on his face. "Sato! Get a medical team up here!" Kelly dove for the tactical station, and managed to keep herself in the seat long enough to return fire. The panel that had exploded burst into flames. She was hurled from the chair, and landed hard on the deck as the lift doors opened.
"We've got a warp core breach!" Kelly couldn't tell where Trip's voice was coming from. He wasn't on the bridge. Malcolm was suddenly next to her, lifting the top half of her body off the cold plating.
"Kelly!" He said. She could feel herself fading. "Stay with me!"
"The core's gonna-" Kelly blacked out, and her world faded to black.
"Warp core is breaching!" Malcolm heard Trip's words ringing in his ears, but couldn't bring himself away from Kelly. Her gray eyes were wide, and suddenly closed. "Kelly, stay with me!"
"The core's gonna blow!" He heard Trip shout. Malcolm suddenly realized he was in command. Carefully he lay Kelly back down and ran to tactical. The entire ship went dark. Nothing was on, not even auxiliary power all over the ship. This would give Trip about ten seconds to fix the problem before auxiliary power came back online. He counted to ten, praying it would work. Main power was restored, and the annoying blare of the alarms were gone. Malcolm powered up the phase cannons, but the ship that had attacked them was gone. He looked up at Kelly to find Phlox and a few of his personnel were loading Kelly onto a stretcher. He felt his heart twist, but reminded himself he couldn't get emotionally involved. With Commander Tucker off the bridge, he was in charge. He couldn't afford to make mistakes, not when that could mean the lives of the crew.
Pain.
Pain was good.
Pain meant she was alive.
"Lieutenant, she's moving again!" Strong hands pressed into her shoulders, trying to keep her pinned down. Her eyes flew open, and as she squirmed under the hands, pain screamed through her leg. Her breath left her, and something cold pressed against her neck. Cold, blissful relief flooded through her body, and she opened her eyes. Phlox was standing next to her holding an empty hypo spray, and Malcolm's hands were still on her shoulders. He didn't say anything as he stepped back, suddenly looking uncomfortable.
"Lieutenant Reed, the Captain wishes to see you." Malcolm nodded, and headed deeper into sick bay, instead of towards the door.
"Jon, is he-?" SHe started to sit up, butPhlox pushed her back down.
"Lieutenant, he is fine. Just a minor head injury. He's conscious, but I'm keeping him here. Now I need to make sure that your leg is not broken anymore." He shook his head.
"Doctor-"
"Lieutenant Reed!" Phlox called. Malcolm poked his head back into the curtained off section. "She needs to not move. If her leg doesn't set properly, she probably won't be able to walk again!" At those words, Kelly froze.
"I'm not going to move." She said, her voice shaking. "Jon, how is he?" Malcolm nodded.
"He's fine. Insisting on getting out of Sick Bay. Trip is going ballistic in engineering, which is understandable, considering we almost had a core breech." Kelly started to sit up, but Malcolm gently pushed her back down.
"I need to help him." She said.
"Trip is going to manage just fine." Malcolm reassured her. "Your leg just may not, so don't move."
"Who's in command?" Kelly asked. "If you're down here, Trip's freaking out in engineering-"
"T'Pol woke up about an hour ago. She's on the bridge." Malcolm shook his head. "You haven't even been on the ship for a month, and you've been knocked unconscious twice! I think you're turning it into an art form." Kelly managed a weak smile, and jumped as Jon limped in.
"Kell! Thank god!"
"Captain, bed!" Phlox demanded, shooing him out of the room. He muttered something about humans and stalked off. Malcolm gave her one of his small smiles as the comm chirped.
"T'Pol to Lieutenant Reed." Malcolm punched the button.
"Yes Commander?"
"Ensign Gregory is requesting your assistance in the armory."
"I'm on my way." He said, and terminated the connection. With a worried glanced down at Kelly, he started to open his mouth.
"I'm fine Lieutenant." She said, rolling her eyes. "Go. We'll need all the help we can get if those guys decide to come back. We don't even know why they just ran anyway." Malcolm knew that when she called him Lieutenant, there was no question about whether or not he could argue. He couldn't. Shaking his head, he hurried off to the armory.