Three

When asked how raising a child on a Starship could change one's life, Selene Hayes never knew how to answer that question. She had quickly discovered there were risks involved with raising a child on the Atlantis. Whenever red alerts went up, she would have to force herself into hiding with the infant girl bundled in her arms. It took months for her to finally stop switch Emily from a bottle to solid food. Since Emily had not been conceived naturally, her body never had the chance to adapt to a normal pregnancy. She couldn't produce milk for Emily, and as a result she was forced to bottle-feed the infant throughout the first few months of her life. The first few nights with Emily had not been easy, not just because it meant readjusting to an entirely new schedule, but it also meant having to carry her own weight around the ship.

Matthew was no help to raising their newborn child. He refused to take any part in raising Emily during the first few months of her life. When asked why, he would later explain that Emily was not his child. It hurt to know that he wanted nothing to do with the newborn child, but Selene resigned herself to the fate of raising Emily alone.

Her life was already hectic enough without the needs of an infant making it that much worse. She tried making the most of those first few months by bonding with Emily. It hadn't been difficult seeing as the newborn was cuter than anything she had ever seen. Yet there were subtle signs of Emily being different that Selene had begun picking up on.

For one thing, Emily rarely fussed unless Matthew got too close for comfort. Selene had begun noticing that she was not like any other infant she'd seen before. It seemed as though Emily was far more aware of her surroundings than most newborns. It was almost as if she was empathetic towards the fact that Selene had been forced to raise her on her own. It left her filled with renewed wonder and fear. Wonder over the fact that Emily's abilities were beyond that of scientific knowledge, and fear over the fact that she was so unknown to the world.

Emily was forced to grow up far too quickly with both of her parents working on the Atlantis. By the time she was a toddler she had begun to develop unusual abilities. When Selene woke one morning to find objects hovering in the air and the power spiking because of the toddler, it had been a shock to her. She hadn't known what to do with the little girl at the time, other than pass her on to someone who was better-suited at handling a mess such as that. Matthew had been keen to figure out where her powers came from and why she was able to lift objects with her mind or connect with people the way she had. Selene was the only other human she had the most contact with, and through her mother she had created a faint bond that could be felt between mother and daughter.

His determination to figure out where her powers came from was what led to many hours in the lab with the toddler. Since he was the Chief Medical Officer on the ship, he was given higher clearance than most doctors. As a result, he would usually lock the doors to his office and run experiments on Emily during late hours. When his experiments had been discovered, Matthew usually brushed off the warnings that were sent his way. He used the excuse that she wasn't technically human, and that seemed to be enough for anyone who tried intervening.

Whereas Selene was normally gentle and somewhat patient with Emily, Matthew had little patience and would often snap at the little girl. He'd begun jabbing her with hyposprays when she least expected it, grabbing blood sample after blood sample. He was determined to find more information on where she came from and why she was able to do what she did. Her ability to move objects with her mind was fascinating and terrifying. If she could be controlled somehow, he would find a way.

Of course, it was also within that time that she had begun developing a fear towards doctors. Matthew was usually dressed in his medical blues during those late hours. She kept mostly to herself out of fear he would lash out at her, but even that didn't seem to be enough. He would sometimes lash out at her simply because she was an object to take his frustration out on. Her silent submission was far more satisfying than he would ever admit out loud. That topped with the fact that outsiders rarely saw her hadn't helped. The few outsiders that did visit were usually informed that they had no children, or that she was already put to sleep for the night. One instance had changed those excuses, though.

Matthew happened to be good friends with Commander Christopher Pike. The two of them would sometimes spend long hours discussing the latest away team mission or what plans they had the following day. Pike rarely paid their quarters a personal visit. In fact, few people did. Matthew did this on purpose out of fear that Emily would be found. He made the mistake of inviting Pike over for drinks one evening. The conversation between them had been light and casual, consisting of plans for the following day. However, everything changed within a split second when Matthew punched in the code to their quarters and found Emily sitting on the floor.

His face twisted into a scowl when he saw objects flying around the room. Emily was nonetheless wiser to the new arrivals, clapping her hands together in delight as she watched the objects with amazement. Hearing her carefree laughter was enough for Pike to almost smile. He'd known about the little girl since the ship's roster was constantly being updated. He'd heard stories of how the CMO would often be found leaving the labs with her in toe late at night. While he never once questioned those strange occurrences, he knew something was off after noticing the doctor's scowl. Or the way Emily's demeanor changed almost immediately upon seeing her father standing there.

"I'm so sorry," Selene quickly took hold of Emily when she realized they had visitors. The young doctor seemed equally perplexed as her husband while keeping Emily close. Matthew's piercing glare seemed to bore right through Emily, who all but shrank under her father's stare. "Normally she's in bed at this hour; I only just got back from my shift."

"It's only 1900," Pike pointed out. Though he was no stranger to parents often finding a schedule that suited children her age. His brows furrowed together when he noticed how nervous Emily seemed around her father. "How long has she been able to do that?"

"They started developing a few months ago," Selene explained while Matthew grumbled under his breath and ordered a drink from the replicator. "We've been trying to keep them contained, but she seems to lose control whenever she gets excited."

Pike couldn't help but look at the girl with renewed interest. He'd heard enough stories of how some humans were born with enhancements or even the X-Gene. While such occurrences were now considered rare, it was still a possibility. Yet for all the grander Selene brought up with the girl, it was clear that not everything was as it seemed. Pike wasn't the first to notice the tension brewing between Selene and her husband. Or that Emily seemed to shy away from her father whenever he was too close.

"Have you thought of contacting someone with similar abilities?" he asked curiously. "It might help in the future."

He already knew the answer. The look written across Selene's face told him everything he needed to know.

Emily was nothing more than wasted space on the ship, as far as Matthew was concerned. He hadn't given any intentions of providing help for her. His only plan was to find a way to control her. He continued his work for following year when they were finally assigned to the Kelvin. By the time she was three she had fallen silent around those who acknowledged her presence. The only time she spoke at all was when she was ordered to speak, and that was usually when her father tried running experiments on her. When he couldn't seem to find any way of controlling her, he'd given up on her.

Eventually, Emily was resigned to the fact that she was alone on the Kelvin. Her mother had returned to a strict schedule as the Chief Science Officer, with her father being the new CMO. Since she was left to her own device, Emily began wandering the different departments of the ship. She made a point to avoid the science labs and the medical bay for fear of running into her parents. Engineering and security had been her favorite departments. She was fascinated with the way technology worked, and the way engineer officers seemed to invent new ways of keeping the ship from falling apart. She quickly learned how to work around the pipes and the computers, taking everyone by surprise with her intelligence.

The few crew members who did notice her presence had taken it upon themselves to ignore her presence entirely. She was perfectly happy with that notion, preferring to focus on what loomed ahead of her than whoever was trying to instigate a conversation. She'd never had a real conversation with anyone, if she was being honest with herself. The few times she tried talking to someone had ended in miserable failure on her part. They either reacted badly to her presence or shooed her away for being nothing more than a burden. Eventually though there were a couple of engineers who finally took notice of her work. Those who did were startled to find that she had already designed a prototype phaser with the parts that were scattered around engineering. They were even more amazed that she'd figured out where everything went and how the weapon itself worked with ease. The phaser itself worked perfectly, catching everyone by surprise.

"This kid's gonna go places when she's old enough to enlist," one of the engineers exclaimed after noticing the weapon in question. "How many kids aside from Stark are capable of designing a phaser like this?"

"Her presence on this deck will only lead to disaster," another pointed out. "She will only get in the way when a red alert occurs."

It didn't take her long to realize that they saw her as nothing more than a nuisance. Like her parents, they wanted nothing to do with her. The few officers that took notice of her were annoyed that she had gotten in their way. They kicked her to the side whenever an emergency went up, either ignoring her or pushing her to the side as though she was nothing. She finally had enough with being pushed around by those bigger than her. She left before they could kick her again just like her father had at the labs.

"Where are your parents?"

She froze when someone finally cut through her racing thoughts. Emily wandered down to the mess hall in an attempt to avoid the hectic crowd of officers. She knew that part of the ship at least was somewhat safe. But it also meant running into someone else who might be curious as to why she was alone. And sure enough, someone had noticed her.

The newcomer in question happened to be a man with light blond hair, brown eyes and a golden shirt. She recognized him almost immediately as the First Officer on the Kelvin. She had seen him enough times in the labs whenever he got a complaint from one of her father's coworkers. The man hadn't said a word about her presence in the lab, but she knew from the look of disapproval written across his face that he wasn't happy with her.

Instead of answering, she clenched her jaw and looked down at the floor warily. Four years of putting up with her father had taught her not to retaliate against anyone. She normally refused to speak to anyone as a result. She was terrified of receiving some form of punishment as a result. But the moment the man in question saw her freeze was when he frowned in concern rather than annoyance.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?" he reassured her after realizing why she was frozen on the spot. When she didn't respond, he suddenly knelt down so that he was within eye-level of her. Emily couldn't help but flinch when his eyes met hers. "What's your name? Mine's George Kirk."

It wasn't until he introduced himself that Emily finally looked at him warily. She knew it was just a ploy for him to gain her trust. It was a tactic she'd seen other officers use when they saw her for the first time. Usually by the time her father found out that someone had grown close to her, they disappeared days later. She swallowed hard at the realization.

"Emily," she finally replied.

Kirk rose an eyebrow in surprise when she spoke up for the first time. He'd heard about the girl through the grapevine more than enough times to know who she really was. His stomach twisted with pity when he realized she was terrified of him. He held back a sigh of frustration and suddenly reached out with his hand, knowing full-well he couldn't let this sort of behavior continue.

"Well, Miss Emily, you're more than welcome to join myself and my wife in the mess hall if you'd like," he said after she reluctantly took hold of his hand.

She wasn't sure where he was headed with this revelation when he finally led her to a table where a beautiful looking woman with light blond hair was sitting. The woman eyed the pair in surprise until Kirk explained the situation to her. That was when her demeanor seemed to change immediately. Her face seemed to fall when she realized that he'd found her wandering down the halls alone, looking hurt and afraid.

It was the first time anyone had treated Emily as anything more than a child. Kirk went out of his way to try and coax her out of her shell. His wife was just as helpful, often jumping into the conversation whenever she had the chance. It took weeks for Emily to finally begin opening up to them. Even then she rarely showed her true-self, feeling resigned to the fact that they would eventually abandon her like everyone else had.

"I don't get how anyone could raise a child like that," the woman, who she later learned was Winona Kirk, let out a heavy sigh when she thought Emily wasn't listening. "I know Sam has his problems at home because we're often off planet, but we always go out of our way to keep in touch with him."

"I'd give anything to have him here right now," Kirk admitted with a heavy sigh. "He'd probably be a good friend of hers if they met. I'm gonna have a word with her parents and see if we can arrange something."

Emily was only half-listening at that point. She knew they were likely trying to coax her parents into being better at their jobs. The truth was, she knew neither of them wanted that role. Her mother had been fine with the task of raising her for a short time. But once she was old enough and independent enough, her mother resumed work in the labs. Her father was worse. He didn't want anything to do with her aside from figuring out a way to control her abilities. When he realized he couldn't, her father finally abandoned her as well.

She had long-since given up the idea that she would ever be a part of a real family. It was simply outside of her vocabulary. Kirk had gone out of his way to provide a better life on the ship, and so had his wife. But she knew it wouldn't last. Once her parents found out they had been spending so much time with her, there would be trouble. And sure enough, trouble did seem to follow her wherever she went.

She had only just recently turned four when the ship was on route to Andoris to avoid the Klingon homeworld, Kronos. Emily stood on the bridge along with a few other commanding officers, including Kirk himself, as they observed the anomalies that had recently been reported. The ship had been assigned the task to figure out what was causing said anomalies, such as lightning storms and dangerous looking ships that were seen in the distance.

She narrowed her eyes at the viewing screen. Lightning storms rarely happened in space – in fact, the odds of them appearing in the middle of space were slim to nothing. She knew something was wrong the moment they received that report. To make matters worse, the strange anomaly they had been reading seemed off, just like the lightning storm itself.

The Captain was beginning to get annoyed with the fact that she was on the bridge with the rest of the command crew. Emily hid herself in the corner of the bridge, hoping to make herself scarce when he threw her a stern look. George Kirk was the only one who saw her as more than just an asset, and his expression was filled with guilt when he too looked at her.

"I don't care if the kid is a gift sent from God Himself, that doesn't mean she should be on the bridge," the Captain argued when Kirk explained what she was doing there in the first place. Emily couldn't help but flinch when she felt his accusing glare bore through her. "This is a working class vessel, and we can't afford to let kids become a distraction to any crew member."

"I'm sorry, sir," Kirk quickly apologized, looking more than frustrated with himself and the situation they were in.

Guilt stabbed her in the chest as she wondered if she was the reason behind said frustration. It seemed as if anything she ever did was get in people's way on the ship, and today was no different. She wanted nothing more than for a hole to open up and swallow her at that moment. She knew it was too good to be true. From the way Kirk and his wife had been talking about taking her back with them to the fact that he was getting more irritated with her each passing second.

Before anyone could remove her from the bridge like the Captain had ordered, the ship suddenly jolted violently. Emily bit back a yelp of surprise when she was sent crashing to the floor, pain surging through her skull in the process.

Her head began throbbing the moment she heard the panicked shouts of crew members around her on the bridge. A Romulan ship had appeared on the viewing screen, massive and ominous looking. Then, a Romulan known as Nero had appeared on the screen seconds later, demanding that the Captain himself would man a shuttle to their ship.

Everyone stood around the bridge while holding their breaths. The tension she felt on the bridge was almost overwhelming. Emily looked around warily as she noticed a few were waiting to see what would happen to the Captain. The navigator was keeping an eye on the Captain's vitals, waiting to make sure nothing serious happened to him on the ship.

She knew then and there that their lives were in mortal danger. The Captain had followed through on the Romulan's demands. But he was killed shortly after, and torpedoes were fired upon the ship. Eventually, Kirk had been forced to order a ship-wide evacuation.

Panic quickly swept through Emily as the red alert went off. Officers were already headed off to the nearest escape pods where they could flee from the onslaught. Emily remained on the bridge, gripping a nearby chair as she stared wild-eyed at the viewing screen.

It wasn't until a shadow had fallen over her that she looked up to see Kirk standing over her. His expression was eerily calm, despite the obvious danger they were in. The ship wasn't going to survive more than a few more rounds of torpedoes. She knew they would likely be killed before they could reach an escape pod.

She tried hiding herself further in the corner as she watched flames erupt around them. The Romulan ship had been firing torpedoes at the ship as crew members evacuated on the escape pods. Her whole body was shaking with fear as she stared at Kirk anxiously. She didn't want to leave that spot – she knew nothing good would come out of leaving it. But it seemed as if Kirk wasn't giving her a choice in the matter.

"Come on, I'm not letting you stay on the ship," he said after gently taking hold of her hand.

She couldn't say anything even if she wanted to. Her throat suddenly felt dry as she was led from the corner of the bridge to a nearby escape pod. It was the only escape pod left on the bridge, and her heart suddenly raced with dread when she realized what Kirk was planning. The escape pod wouldn't likely hold both of them. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized he deserved to be on the escape pod while she went with the ship.

"Please don't leave me there alone," she whispered, her voice cracking as tears threatened to follow.

Kirk suddenly pulled her in close, wrapping his arm around her in a tight embrace as she let out a quiet sob. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she was vaguely aware of him reassuring her that everything would be okay. She wasn't given the chance to protest when he suddenly pushed her into the escape pod and launched it away from the ship.

She barely had enough time to register that the Kelvin crashed into the Romulan ship and imploded from the impact. Her head was already beginning to spin as she felt her powers spiraling out of control. The last thing she saw was the lightning that streaked across the space around her, and the escape pod hurtling towards Earth at an impossible speed.

.

.

Emily wasn't sure how much time had passed since the escape pod had crash-landed on Earth. She wasn't even sure if the escape pod had crash-landed on Earth in the first place. The only telltale signs that there was life around her was the computer that would beep every now and then, alerting her that she should wait in the area until she was found by Starfleet. The fact that it was warning her that the area was unsafe told her that sticking around wasn't a good idea, and she nearly scoffed at the thought of Starfleet finding her in whatever inhospitable place she was.

Like they're going to care what happened to me, she thought bitterly.

She didn't even know if they knew where she ended up after the escape pod launched from the Kelvin. A shudder went down her back as she pictured the ship going into flames upon crashing into the Romulan ship. Kirk had still been on board. A lump formed in the back of her throat when she realized that Kirk had likely perished with the ship.

She sat there in the escape pod for a few more seconds until deciding her next course of action.

Staying obviously wouldn't get her anywhere. She had already decided that the Fleet wasn't going to try looking for her. Most of the crew members on the Kelvin had been able to use the escape pods and were already likely back where they belonged.

The only reason she was in a separate escape pod in the first place was because Kirk had thrown her in one. She knew he should have taken her place, but instead, he bought everyone enough time by crashing the Kelvin into the enemy ship.

Another lump formed in the back of Emily's throat when she thought of what would become of her. She doubted her parents would want anything to do with her once she somehow managed to find civilization. Even if she did survive wherever she was, the odds of being found were slim.

The moment the escape pod doors latched open was when the alarm went off. Emily's teeth ground together as she stumbled out of the escape pod, wincing at the sudden pain that stabbed her forehead. She'd nearly forgotten about falling over on the bridge when the ship was struck with torpedoes. A thin cut had formed along her forehead, with fresh blood oozing from her injury. Plaintively, Emily touched the spot where the cut had opened to find that it had scabbed over.

Once she managed to figure out that her injury had already mostly healed, Emily tried getting her bearings.

She suddenly found herself standing in the middle of an impossibly dry mass of land. The ground underneath felt rough and gritty when she tried touching it. Spiky looking plants grew around the area, though they didn't exactly look welcoming. She looked around anxiously for any signs of civilizations nearby. The only thing she could see was a mountain that jutted towards the sky, and that was kilometers from where she stood.

Emily let out a heavy sigh when she realized she had a long journey ahead of her. She slowly but surely began making her way towards the mountains, hoping that they would somehow lead her to water or civilization. She knew she wouldn't last long in the scorching heat that surrounded the area. The sun burned her skin, causing blisters to form in certain areas. Her lips were chapped and dry beyond recognition.

She smacked her lips together a few times as she reached what appeared to be a body of water one morning. Only, the closer she reached the water, the more it looked like sand rippling in the hot sun. Her shoulders sagged in disappointment when she realized that the sun was playing tricks on her eyes. It was also around that time when Emily had decided to travel mostly at night. She'd begun to notice that the night was much cooler, and the sand didn't hurt to walk as much on when her shoes had to be discarded.

She'd lost track of how much time passed when she finally collapsed from hunger, thirst and exhaustion. The only recollection she had of someone hovering over her was a shadow falling over her. She hardly had time to react when she felt a pair of arms pull her from the ground. Or the anxious voices that whispered around her. By the time she was found by what appeared to be humans, she'd all but lost consciousness.