-1Title:
Hallee
Author: Cassie Valentine
Rating: PG
Codes: Tu/S,
All
Summary: I don't have a plot for sure yet and you think I'll
have a summary?
Author note: Oh God, attack of the Mary Sue all
over again. I think I'm gonna end up with another Trilogy here, I can
see it now. I thought I had beat this with Andromeda and the third
part of the Cassie trilogy that I can't finish. Sigh
Thanks:
Pip, the first Beta who is the first Beta who has gotten BACK to me
about something I've sent off.
Disclaimer: Paramount owns the pond
I'm just skinny dippin' in it.
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with her, Captain," Phlox said as he looked at the read outs once more.
"Except for the fact that we don't know where she came from or how she got here," Archer said as he glanced at the small girl on the bed. He let his eyes wander to the red hair that was resting on the pillow and briefly wondered if there was a pair of bright green eyes to match the hair. His eyes stayed on her face before he looked away and sighed.
"Let me know when she wakes up,"
"Certainly," the doctor said as he went off to tend to his strange animals.
Archer glanced behind him once more before leaving sickbay for the bridge. Archer retreated into his ready room after leaving orders to find out how the girl had ended up on his ship.
"Why is it always us, Porthos?" he asked.
Porthos looked at his owner for a moment and then went back to sleep. Jonathon laughed to himself before turning to look at some scans him self.
"And what can I do for you Ensign?" Phlox asked when Hoshi came into the med bay.
"I was just wondering how our guest was," she said.
"Curiosity got the best of you?" he asked. She smiled and blush.
"Maybe a little," she admitted.
"Go right ahead," he said with a smile of his own as he watched her.
Hoshi sighed as she looked over the small girl, who laid on the bio-bed, fast asleep. She watched for a moment before adjusting the covers slightly and turning to leave.
"She's all yours, doctor," the linguist replied.
"Thank you ensign," Doctor Phlox answered and walked to the girl just as she woke up.
"Why hello there," he said.
The girl blinked a few times and her eyes grew wide when she saw Phlox. Then she let out an ear piercing scream, in utter horror.
"Oh my," Phlox said as he tried to calm her down, succeeding only in making her more agitated.
Hoshi watched the situation for a moment before coming over to Phlox's aid.
"Hey, it's okay. We won't harm you," Ensign Sato soothed the girl as she ushered Phlox away for a moment.
The petite girl calmed down a little when she saw Hoshi, but quickly moved her eyes back to Phlox to keep an eye on him.
"I'm Hoshi," Sato said. The girl simply stared back at her. "What's your name?"
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," the girl whispered.
"That's a good rule," Hoshi said. "But I'm pretty sure you'll be safe here."
The girl let the word sink in before she made her decision. "I'm Hallee."
"Welcome aboard Enterprise, Hallee," Hoshi replied, with a smile on her face.
Hallee stared at Hoshi for a bit longer.
"What is he?" she asked, turning her gaze to Phlox.
"He's a Denobulan."
"A what?" she asked.
"He's an alien," she simplified. "He's also our doctor."
"Oh."
"He's a nice guy. He doesn't bite."
"Hard," Phlox threw in with a smile.
Hallee shrunk back onto the bed and stared at him, horrified at the thought of being bitten.
"He's kidding." Hallee looked at Hoshi. "He doesn't bite at all. I swear," she told her.
Hallee turned her bright green eyes away from Hoshi and looked at Phlox for another moment and watched as he puttered around with all the cages and other storage containers for his creatures. She listened to him talking to the creatures and decided that maybe he wasn't so bad. So far.
"Okay," she answered finally.
"Okay," Hoshi said with a nod. "I think we should go and introduce you to Captain Archer."
"Is he an alien too?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to face something new again already.
"Nope. He's as human as you and me," Ensign Sato replied.
Hallee smiled a little. "I like the sound of that."
"Captain Archer will be waiting for you in his quarters," Phlox told them as he moved away from the communications panel. "And if you two will excuse me, I think I'll go and see what Chef has made for lunch."
"I think we'll manage," Hoshi said with a smile as she lifted Hallee down and took her hand. "Come on, I'll show you around a bit."
Hallee hung on to Hoshi as they walked.
Very little was said as she worked on taking everything in. Everybody was wearing the same thing and it was starting to remind her of some of the science fiction movie she had watched with her brother. Hallee let a little sigh go when she thought of home.
"You okay?"
"I guess."
"You guess?" Sato asked as she stopped off to the side of a corridor.
"I. . . I guess I kind of miss home," she admitted quietly.
Hoshi sighed.
"I kinda miss home too," she admitted.
"Really?"
"Yep. It's hard to be away from home. Especially when you weren't expecting it." Hallee
thought this over for a bit. "Should we keep going?"
"Yeah. I'm ready," the little girl replied as she took Sato's hand once again and the two continued on their way as she took in the other officers and they did the same of her.
PART 3
The two continued on their way to Archer's quarters as Hoshi tried to keep up a conversation. Hallee, caught up in her attempts to take everything in at once was giving mostly one word answers. Hoshi stopped talking when she felt Hallee start to lag behind. She looked ahead and smiled a little as she saw T'Pol exiting a corridor in front of them.
"That's Sub-Commander T'Pol. She's a Vulcan."
"Oh," said Hallee as she watched her disappear down another hallway without noticing them.
"Havin' some Show and Tell, I see," Trip said as he came up behind the two.
"Just a little," Hoshi said as she stopped to let him catch up.
She didn't need to turn around to see who it was, she'd recognized that southern accent anywhere.
"Well, how 'bout lettin' me play too?" he asked.
"What would you like to know?"
"First of all, who's yer friend?"
"This, is Hallee," Sato said as she gave her a little push forward.
"Commander Charles Tucker at yer service," he said as he offered a hand to shake. Hallee
took it timidly. "But you darlin', you can call me Trip."
Hallee giggled a little and Hoshi sighed as she shook her head.
"He's also nothing but trouble," she threw in.
Hallee smiled again. She'd have to remember that.
"I most certainly am not," he said in self defence. Hoshi laughed under her breath.
"Anyway, where are you two fine ladies off to?"
"We're on our way to meet Captain Archer."
"Ah, maybe if he thinks you're cute, he'll let ya play with Porthos."
"Porthos?" Hallee asked, intrigued.
"His dog," Hoshi filled in.
"He has a dog? Is he big? Small? Is he cute? Does he bite? Does he? "
"Whoa! Slow down there darlin'," Trip said with a smile.
Hoshi shook her head. Leave it to Trip to take Hallee's mind off of things.
"Come on then, let's get goin'!" he said as he started to jog towards the lift.
Hallee giggled and wiggled out of Hoshi grasp as she took off after Trip. The poor ensign called out for them to slow down, but when they didn't listen, she sighed and took off after them.
PART 4
Trip and Hallee came to a stop when they got to the lift and waited for Hoshi who quickly caught up and glared at Trip.
"What?" he asked defensively.
"You're going to be a bad influence aren't you?" she asked as she took Hallee's hand again and led her into the lift.
Trip just shrugged and smiled a little. Hallee giggled, but quickly stopped when she got a glare of her own.
"Sorry," she said.
The fact that she was still wearing a bit of a smile wasn't lost on Hoshi.
"Come on, let's go," she said as she ushered then out of the lift. "Behave," she warned the two as she rang for entry.
Hallee quickly remembered why there were here, felt the apprehension sink in again and she quickly glued herself to Hoshi's side, hiding as far behind her as she could.
"Come," Archer called from within. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting you," he said to Trip.
"Just thought I'd come along fer fun," he said with a smile as he sat down.
Porthos perked up at the sound of Trip's voice and wandered over. He received a pat on the head from Trip, a smile from Hoshi and found a newcomer. Now this was an unexpected treat. He started sniffing to figure out where she came from and was rewarded with a giggle. Porthos bounced back over to John, wagging his tail with glee before quickly bouncing back over to the newcomer.
Hoshi sat down beside Trip and Hallee sat down on the floor, as Porthos came back to her and sniffed her a little more before deciding she was okay and flopped on the floor, looking for a tummy rub. Hallee snickered a little as she gave the beagle a rub.
"Well, now that yer dog has found the kid, I suppose we can move on," Trip said as everyone laughed.
"Of course," Archer said. "I'd like to know who I'm going to have to share Porthos with."
"This is Hallee," Hoshi explained to the captain. "We didn't get much past that."
Hallee looked up at the mention of her name and Porthos rolled over on to his stomach when the little girl stopped rubbing his stomach. He nuzzled her hand, but sighed and put his head on his paws when she didn't respond. He watched her shuffle a little closer to Hoshi and he followed. John and Trip chuckled at Porthos.
"How are you Hallee?" Jon asked.
The girl stared at him for a moment and he was pleasantly surprised to see that he had been right about the green eyes to match her red hair.
"Okay," she said as she turned her attention back to Porthos.
"Just okay?"
"Yeah," she said as she smiled at the dog again. Jonathan looked to Sato for answers and she shrugged. "I like your dog, even if he does have a funny name," Hallee told John.
"Well I'm glad. Porthos is always looking to make a new friend," he said as he watched her for a moment longer.
"How did you get here Hallee?" he asked straight out.
Hallee paused again and Porthos gave a big doggy sigh. He didn't like his rubs being interrupted.
"I was lookin' for a ball that Hayden threw into the bushes," she said. "Hayden's my brother. He's eight," she explained. "He told me to find the blue one too and told him that we were only playin' with the green one an' then he said we were playin' with them both now an' I guess he threw it cause I saw something bounce a little farther away so I went after it and slipped and fell down the hill into the cave we're not supposed to go in," she said with a shrug.
She looked to the adults to see their reactions before she turned back to Porthos.
"That's it?" Trip asked.
"Yep," she said. "When can I go home?" she asked.
The three paused.
"Later," Trip answered quickly when the other two had no answers.
"Oh. Can I take Porthos for a walk?"
"Why not?" John said after a moment. "It's almost lunch time anyways and I bet he's
getting hungry."
"So am I," she said, after thinking about things for a moment.
The Captain stood up and found the leash and hooked Porthos up.
"Be gentle, she's not used to you," Archer warned as he handed it to Hallee.
"Trip, if you wouldn't mind sticking around, I'd like to talk to you and T'Pol," the captain continued as he headed over to the comm panel.
"Sure thing," Trip said. Hoshi got up and started to herd the small child and the animal out.
"I guess we'll talk later then," the ensign replied.
"I'll fill ya in," Trip assured her.
"Thanks," she smile as she watched Porthos pulling on the leash to go faster as Hallee laughed, trying to keep up with the small dog.
Hoshi said her good byes quickly as she left to try and help Hallee stay connected to her arm.
PART 5
"Was that all she said?" T'Pol asked after John had explained everything to her. "What were the deposits in the cave?" Trip chuckled.
"She's about four T'Pol, maybe five. All she knows is that she's not supposed to play in there on punishment of certain death."
"She's hesitant to give out information as well," John threw in. "She's not sure who to trust, although Ensign Sato seems to be falling into the position of a confidant."
T'Pol came as close to sighing as Vulcans do before starting again. "Depending on where this cave is and the composition of the minerals in the rocks, it is possible in theory to cause a rift of some kind."
"I thought time travel was impossible," Jonathon said.
"I never specifically said that she had traveled through time, Captain."
"As arrogant is this is gonna sound, she didn't know who any of us were, she's never seen an alien before and doesn't understand that she's out in the middle of outer space," Trip threw in. "She has to be from the past."
T'Pol stayed quiet for a moment. "I suppose logic dictates that I must agree to this . . . .
Assumption," she said, finally admitting defeat.
"Well," Archer said, breaking the silence. "Now that we have our hypothesis, what do we do about it?"
"We must find out exactly where the girl lives," T'Pol said.
"We're going to have to figure out exactly how long 'later' is," Archer said, thinking back to Trip's answer to Hallee's question about going home.
"We're gonna have to find her some where ta live while she's here," Trip said.
Archer paused. He hadn't thought of that. "Well, where should we put her?"
"I think the easiest thing ta do might be to lend Hoshi some of the guest quarters fer a while. Hallee seems pretty well glued ta her."
"If Hoshi agrees, we'll do that. If she doesn't?" John asked.
"We could solicit volunteers from the crew," T'Pol suggested.
"I'll take'er," Trip said. John and the sub-commander just looked at him. "Is it so hard ta believe that I could watch a kid?"
"It's definitely not something I thought I'd hear you volunteer for, Trip."
"I've watched my nephew lots of times over night."
"Your nephew has never been stranded somewhere with people he does not know," T'Pol rationalized.
"I can handle the tears. If it comes to that," he said, starting to wonder about this.
"Besides, why aren'tcha worried 'bout Hoshi havin' to deal with that?" Archer smiled a little but didn't answer. He was pretty sure Trip knew the answer coming would be something along the lines of stereotypes. "That's what I thought," he said as he stood up.
"So, are we done fer now?"
"For now. Dismissed," Archer said as the two left. "Trip, I never meant to doubt you're competency at something like this."
"I never said ya had Cap'n. I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to frazzle T'Pol," he said with a smile as he left.
John shook his head and followed Trip to the Mess for something to eat.
PART 6
"Stop feedin' the dog," Trip said as he came and sat down.
Porthos looked at Trip and quickly laid down as Hallee put the piece of meat in her mouth and swung around to face her plate.
"You stop feedin' the dog too!" he told Hoshi with a smile as he saw her passing a piece of cheese under the table.
She blushed a little at being caught and Hallee laughed at her.
"So how did it go?" she asked.
"There's still gonna be some questions, but I guess you'll be asked later since the Cap'n seems to be distracted for a while. T'Pol decided she had to talk to him again right away, so he's stickin' around with her. I do have some good news for ya."
"And that is?"
"Yer gettin' some bigger quarters fer a while," he told her as he started eating.
"Got myself a room mate, huh?"
"If ya wan'er. If not, I'll take 'er," he said as he stopped eating and looked at her.
"It's okay, I'll take her."
"Take who where?" Hallee asked as she finished her cheese and tried to figure out how to get rid of the carrots.
"Take you to sleep with me," Hoshi said.
Hallee looked up.
"But I'm going home later," she said.
"Hallee, we haven't figured out when later is yet," Trip told her.
"Oh," she said as she paused. "Are you ever gonna figure out when later is?"
"Of course," Hoshi said.
Hallee didn't look quite so upset over that, but she was still fairly displeased with this.
"I'm done," she announced.
"Why don'tcha go see if Chef's got somethin' sweet for ya," Trip told her.
She smiled and slid off her chair, but paused.
"Go on, he's a nice guy. Tell'm Trip sent ya."
She wandered off again and worked up the nerve as she went.
"It's going to be a long night," Hoshi sighed.
"Cap'n says you can have tomorrow off if things go real bad. You do have to finish off a shift today tough," he explained.
"Where do I send her?" she asked. Trip paused mid chew.
That hadn't been thought of before T'Pol interrupted.
"Uhhh. . . Know anyone you can rope inta it?"
"Malcolm's off duty right now," she said and Trip nearly choked.
"She'd be better off with me in engineerin'," he replied.
"Great," she said as she jumped up. "I'll pick her up after my shift is over," she said as she dashed out of the mess hall.
"Son of a bitch," Tucker said under his breath. "I've been left holdin' the kid."
