Disclaimer: don't own wish i did...aren't making any money...
Kelly's head was pounding, and her wrists ached. "Kelly!" The sound of Malcolm saying her name brought her back to reality, however slowly. "Kelly!" This time it was more insistent. "Wake up!" She moaned softly to let him know she was awake. "Oh god." He said. "Are you all right?"
"I'll be fine once someone stops using my head as a warp drive." She made a feeble attempt at a joke. "What's going on?" She asked, opening her eyes. Even in the dark she could make out the shapes of the equipment in the gym.
"I don't know." Malcolm said. "I was going to the mess hall to meet you for lunch and someone shot me from behind. I'm thinking it was the killer."
"Brilliant deduction my dear Watson." Kelly muttered, and she could feel Malcolm laugh. She moved her hands to find that they were tied together, then looped to the tie of his. "It was Bower." She said. "And I'm beginning to think I know why." The lights came on as she moved her hands closer to her uniform.
"Just beginning?" Bower's voice rang through the gym. "But -- to continue the joke -- it's only elementary." She laughed as she held the pair of Malcolm's sparring gloves up in front of his face.
"When they find these, they're going to believe it was you." She said. "And they're going to believe that you beat Captain Archer's cousin here to death." She said. Kelly felt Malcolm tense behind her. She had almost gotten her hands to her pocket. Just another half an inch. She brought her legs to her chest, and the slim metal slid into her hands. With a small flick of her wrist, the knife flipped open. She cut through the ties binding her hands first, hoping that Bower would forget that she had tied them together. She closed the knife and gripped it in her hand. She hoped she wouldn't have to use it again.
"I won't let you hurt her."
"Oh. Nothing can hurt the great Kelly Archer." Bower sneered, waving the phase pistol in her hands around. "Not even a bomb meant for her. Instead it kills an innocent man."
"Jack and anything but innocent Paula." Kelly said, using Bower's first name. "We both know that." Bower's face twisted.
"So you do remember." She said. Kelly closed her eyes.
"Your brother was a bastard Paula." She said, and Bower's grip on the pistol tightened. "But he was one of the bravest men on my team. He gave up his life to save literally hundreds of lives." Bower's face twisted even further.
"Don't talk like you knew him." She said. "Because you didn't."
"Paula, I was his CO. Of course I didn't really know him. He was my subordinate. Fraternization was frowned upon. That's why coming here is so relaxing."
Relaxing? Malcolm thought. She thinks this is relaxing? She's spent a third of the trip unconscious, and this is relaxing?
"That bomb was meant for you and the Admiral." Bower's voice was shaking. "You should have been the one to die." She grabbed the front of Kelly's shirt and hauled her to her feet. Kelly's hand suddenly shot out, slamming into the side of Bower's neck. Coughing, Bower dropped her and stumbled back several paces.
"You're damn right Bower." Kelly said. "I should have. I would have had your idiot of a brother not shot me!" She leapt into the air, landing a spinning kick on the Ensign's shoulder. She flew back a couple paces, landing flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. "You don't know how many times I replay that moment in my head, trying to figure out where I went wrong." She shrugged. "It was after I came on this ship that I realized that there was nothing I could have done differently. I couldn't have moved any faster than I did. Even if I could do it over again, Jack would still be dead. It was his decision, not mine so stop blaming me." Bower lunged at Kelly. It was a good, clean attack, but the way Kelly moved to avoid it was so fluid, it made Bower look incredibly clumsy.
"What are you two talking about?" Malcolm asked.
"I'll explain later." Kelly said. She sent another spin kick at Bower, only this time it landed on her temple. She hit the ground and didn't get up again. Breathing hard Kelly jammed down the button.
"Lieutenant Archer to the Captain."
"Kelly! Where have you been for the past four hours? We've been looking for you!"
"Unconscious. We found our killer."
"Unconscious?" That was Trip in the background. "Why were you unconscious?"
Kelly felt something press into her back, and decided not to answer. She could tell it was the barrel end of a plasma rifle without even seeing it. "Terminate the connection Lieutenant." Bower said softly. By the stunned silence on the other end of the line, Kelly knew that Jon and Trip had heard her. Kelly cut off the connection, and started to turn around.
"Don't. I know they heard me. Don't pretend that you don't know that they'll be down here in about a minute." Bower grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her harder into the rifle barrel. "And you're going to get me out of here. Neither of them would dare shoot with you in the crossfire."
"Then you don't know my cousin very well." She knew that was a lie, she just hoped that Bower would buy it. She didn't. Flinging an arm around Kelly's neck, she dragged her backward away from the door, seconds before Trip and Jon burst into the room with what looked like half the armory staff behind them.
"Take one more step and I'll kill her!" Kelly's hands were pulling instinctively pulling at Bower's arm to try to take the pressure off her windpipe. It wasn't helping. She was gasping for air. She maneuvered one hand to her pocket, and flipped open the knife. Bower hit it out of her grip easily, though she had to move the rifle to do so. Kelly hooked her foot around Bower's knee, tripping her. They tumbled backward, Kelly throwing her weight back onto Bower. Kelly threw Bower's limp arm off her chest and scrambled to her feet, trying to let Jon or Trip get a clear shot at the Ensign. Bower grabbed Kelly's ankle, knocking her to the ground, her rifle pointed at her head. Kelly bit her lip and looked around for her knife, but it was gone.
"This is for my brother." She said. "I only wish I didn't have to do this." She said. "But it was him who died last year. Not you. So you die now." Her finger tightened on the trigger. Kelly rolled out of the way as she fired, and the burst set to kill scorched the mat and part of her uniform. She rolled backwards onto her feet, and lunged at Bower, tackling her to the ground. Bower's feet slammed into her stomach, sending her flying. Kelly twisted in midair, landing in a forward somersault, and bouncing to her feet. Kelly glanced over at Malcolm who was staring at her in shock.
"Kelly!" Kelly ducked as a beam of blue energy went over her head. She dove to the left, staying inches ahead of the deadly beam. She suddenly ducked and rolled to the right, coming in for the attack before Bower could react. She slammed her elbow into her stomach, grabbing the rifle with her other hand. She twisted it, bringing it down to meet her knee. The rifle fell from her grip. Twisting around, Bower landed a solid kick to Kelly's kneecap. She fell back and collapsed on the ground, her leg screaming in pain. Bower had the rifle in her grip again, and was pointing it at Kelly's head. This time she didn't hesitate. She just fired. Kelly squeezed her eyes shut, anticipating the end, but she felt herself continue on breathing.
"Kelly!" She opened her eyes to see Bower was lying on the ground, her eyes wide and staring. Kelly's knife was buried in the side of her neck and a pool of blood was forming underneath her. Malcolm was kneeling next to her. She wanted to reach out and just let him hold her, but she couldn't. Jon and Trip were there. They couldn't know, she liked Malcolm with a head.
"Come on." He said. "We'd better get you down to Sick Bay." Jon and Trip arrived at her side a second later.
"Can you walk?" Trip asked, and he and Malcolm helped her stand on her uninjured leg. She gingerly put weight on her other leg, and gasped, falling into Malcolm. He managed a small smile.
"I'll take that as a no." He said, lifting her into his arms. Kelly shivered, latching her arms around his neck to help keep herself from falling as Malcolm carried her to Sick Bay.