"Kirk?"

The surprise resounded through the single syllable of his name. He looked around from the desk and met the gaze of a young woman. His gaze flicked along her frame, trying to connect the brunette in front of him to any woman in his memory. She didn't wear star fleet uniform but she did have the look of a young cadet. There was something in the way that she stood, hands folded behind her back, impeccable posture, chin tilted up, that seemed to suggest she knew she was talking to someone that outranked her. The woman smiled at Kirk's confusion and offered up her name. "Catriona Pike. Admiral Pike's niece? We met at his funeral," She prompted. The recognition suddenly hit Kirk, and he turned to face her fully, greeting her politely.

"Yes, of course," Kirk smiled at her, accepting the outstretched hand. "Is there something I can help you with?" Catriona retracted her hand and tried to bury her laughter by biting her lip.

"Forgive me. I've been assigned to the USS Enterprise - did you really not recognise me?" Her question burst forth with a laugh that she smothered with a hand over her mouth. The giggles bubbled around her hand uncontrollably. She turned away from the Captain and brought her laughter under control, breathing in shakily and deeply before turning back to face Kirk with a straight face. She bit her lip once more as Kirk's confusion, holding in the laughter this time, and raised an eyebrow at her new Captain.

"Oh, I didn't," Kirk blurted out as the memory resurfaced, finally her face merging with that of the girl he had flirted with at Pike's funeral. Catriona nodded gleefully, loving Kirk's obvious discomfort. "I am sorry, Catriona-"

-"It's fine, your reputation had preceded you," She laughed, brushing off his apology with a wave of her hand. She sat on the desk Kirk had been poring over before she entered, and looked at her, laughter still dancing in her eyes. "I only came here to say my uncle spoke very highly of you. I'm looking forward to working with you, Captain Kirk." With those final words, Catriona slid off the desk, and waved a farewell over her shoulder. Kirk was left in the office, bewildered and uncomfortable, as Catriona danced away from him, humming lightly under her breath.

A few days later, The Enterprise was preparing for its departure; a five year mission in deep, uncharted space. Ensigns, Lieutenants and Commanders alike bustled on to the spaceship, often carrying heavy crates and bags. Greetings were exchanged happily between crew mates, people glad to see each other again, excited for another mission with their crew. A family of many species, hundreds of individuals all unified with the curiosity that drove them to join the crew of the Enterprise. Catriona paused on the steps that led into the ship itself, breathing in the last Earth air she'd breathe for a long time, and smiled to herself. A quick glance behind her reminded her all the reasons why she was leaving, and all the reasons why she was going.

"See you on the other side, Uncle Chris," she murmured under her breath, and stepped on board.

She headed to Sick-Bay to report for duty, but barely reached Engineering before she ran into Kirk again.

"Hello again, Ensign Pike," Greeted Kirk. Catriona raised an eyebrow at the Captain.

"Whilst I'm glad to see that you've remembered my name this time, Kirk, maybe next time you'll get my rank right too," She teased, a wry smile lighting her face. Kirk frowned, trying to remember the rank that was listed on her profile. Catriona laughed, and disappeared down in corridor into a sea of writhing people. A message appeared on the PADD in Kirk's hand as he tried to find the bobbing of Catriona's light brown hair in the swarm of people. He glanced down at it, a message from Catriona filling the screen.

Message me when you remember my rank and name at the same time, Captain James Tiberius Kirk. Cat x

McCoy was, naturally, pleased to have another senior doctor on board the Enterprise, and showed it in his typical Southern-Belle manner.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my Sick-Bay?" He demanded, as he tried to keep track of all the medicines being thrown haphazardly into shelves and cupboards. Distracted, and not in the mood to have to mollycoddle this newbie, McCoy snapped his questions at her tersely. Cat stood with her hands folded into each other behind her back, same straight-backed posture that she had when she had ran into Kirk.

"Dr Catriona Pike," She informed him, knowing better than to offer a hand. "Though, I believe proper introductions can wait till a less hectic time. What system of organisation do you use, Dr McCoy?" McCoy enlightened her, and Cat nodded once, abruptly. She turned on her heels, and picked up the nearest box, pulling out a tray with her other hand, and sorted the contents neatly. The hum of the engines suddenly increased in volume and intensity, the signal that the Enterprise was beginning its departure. Cat looked up from the tray of syringes she was reorganising and grinned at the nurse next to her.

"Allons-y," She said with a wry grin. "Guess there's no turning back now."

McCoy and Cat got to know each other as they unpacked the array of medical supplies that had been left, somewhat abandoned, on various worktops. Nurses bustled around them, a junior doctor, still trying to learn the ropes, hovering aimlessly in the background; trying to be useful and managing to be the largest hinderance possible.

"So," McCoy began, in an attempt at lighthearted conversation. "Who did you transfer from?"

"I trained at Barts, with Pomperoy" Cat answered with a grin over her shoulder. "But this is my first time on board an actual starship." She spoke with a nonchalance that allowed her comment to flow over McCoy's head, causing his only response to refer to their shared tutor. That was until he realised the second half of her answer, and stopped dead in his tracks. Holding his hand in mid air, the clatter of the tricorder resounding in the bustling Sick-Bay, McCoy turned to look at her, incredulous. Cat, much like the quadruped that shares her name, pretended not to have noticed the sound, yet her shoulders tensed slightly, her head tilting slightly towards the sound of the noise. Short of rotating her ears towards the source of the noise, Cat couldn't look more like a kitten that had just heard the food bowl being filled if she tried.

"Your first time?" Echoed McCoy. Cat chirped an affirmative back to the CMO, before turning quickly to find something else to tidy. "You choice a five year mission to be your first trip into space?"

"Yes."

"Are you insane?"

"Quite possibly," beamed Cat, physically turning the junior doctor milling around to face the opposite direction, placing two hands on his back, and firmly pushing him into the isolation chamber. "Disinfect bed. Now. Go. Do." She shooed him away with a sweeping hand. She turned back to McCoy and laughed audibly at his shocked expression. "I like to explore, and your captain amused me. Why not throw myself in at the deep end?"

"Because it's the deep end?" Returned McCoy with a raise of his eyebrow. "Five year missions are difficult for those of us used to space, never mind a newbie," he scoffed. Now Cat retaliated with the raised eyebrow. "I'm just saying, when the silence deafens you and the endless void makes you claustrophobic, don't come running to me for help. I'm a doctor, not a therapist." Cat laughed at McCoy warning, dismissing his concerns with a light thump on the shoulder.

"Don't you worry, Dr McCoy, I come from a family of explorers. Before we wandered the stars, we wandered the seas. Exploration is in my blood."

Cat was a fan of making people uncomfortable. She knew she had a youthful face and an easy laugh that made people always think she was younger than she truly was. When people forgot her or dismissed her, that was when she could have her fun, making slightly cryptic comments which people interpreted in whatever way they would. She was oh-so-glad to see that Kirk assumed that he'd slept with her and forgotten about it, rather than remembering the truth. That she had been the doctor to treat him after that catastrophe with Khan. That she'd also been the doctor who'd created the serum which ensured that Khan and his fellow crew members would stay in a coma even if the cryotubes failed. That, technically, she out-ranked every single person on this ship, Kirk included.

That was something she'd keep to herself until he remembered who she had been at the funeral and every moment afterwards. After all, Chris Pike had told her enough of Kirk to know that his response to finding out she was his superior would be worth any awkwardness she'd encounter prior to his realisation. She'd even allow McCoy to boss her around if it meant that she could wind up the famous James Tiberius Kirk.

"Somehow," Cat mused aloud, throwing a small circular device up in the air and catching it easily, her feet resting on the handle of a drawer. "I expected the Med-Bay of the Enterprise to be chaotic already."

McCoy looked at her over his PADD, warningly.

"Don't. You'll ruin the peace and quiet by taunting the universe like that," McCoy said, not entirely insincere. Cat grinned, catching her latest toy and placing it at the side.

"You aren't tell me you're superstitious, are you, Leonard McCoy?" She teased, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. McCoy held her gaze, unimpressed, for a long moment, then returned to his PADD. "You're a highly trained scientist, Dr McCoy, pull yourself together." She grinned widely, her tone still eternally joking.

"Hey," McCoy held up a hand in his defence, continuing to scan his document. "This is your first time in space, you have no right to mock me. Tell me you don't believe in superstition a year from now."

Cat beamed at him, and wandered over to his desk, resting her elbows on a small pile of paper that had already accumulated there.

"I'll make a note to remind you that I still don't believe in voodoo," she laughed, peering at McCoy's tablet. "I'm sure space can't be all that bad. What are you look at anyway?"

McCoy shut down the screen, moving it to the small unit behind him and folding his arms at Cat. He narrowed his eyes at her, scanning her frame slowly as he leant back in his chair.

"How does someone who has never been to space become a vice-admiral?" McCoy asked in response. Cat straightened, placing one hand on her hip as she met McCoy's gaze with an equally searching look of her own.

"How did you work that one out? My rank isn't on my record. I checked before I boarded." She tilted her chin up slightly, challenging him silently. McCoy merely raised an eyebrow at her, avoiding answering the question. Cat stared at him, her gaze suddenly solid and unmovable. Slowly, she lowered a hand to her side, and leant over to pick up McCoy's PADD, answering lightly: "And isn't it obvious? Nepotism."

There was an injury in Engineering. There was always an injury in Engineering. The entire department was filled with people who were stupid enough to think that there would never be any consequences to their actions - Bones would not have been surprised if one of these days the idiots decided to strap two warp cores together and see if it made the Enterprise go super fast.

Bones sent Cat to go deal with the injuries, daring her to refuse by dangling that one piece of information over her. He didn't know why she wanted to keep her being a vice-admiral a secret, but to go so far as to erase it from her record? Well, that spoke of something intrigue worthy and so Bones would be holding it against her for as long as he possibly could.

"Pike."

Cat gritted her teeth slightly, as she glanced over her shoulder then turned back to the injured ensign who whimpered softly as she pressed her thumb to his thigh.

"Can it wait, Captain?" She said to the thigh in front of her. "I'm a bit busy." She didn't so much as glance at Kirk again as she dove into her small bag, hunting for a vial amongst the mess of glass and metal. She could feel Kirk's eyes remain on her as she snatched up the small vial and snapped it into place, warning the poor ensign that it would probably hurt. It wouldn't, but the ensign didn't need to know that. He could think that he was just very brave for the two minutes following his injection, a small ego boost would do no harm when it had been shattered completely by him pressing one wrong button and getting attacked by discharge from the warp core. She replaced the syringe to her bag and pulled out a medical tricorder, running it lightly over his leg, some of the anger fading from the exposed red flesh. Cat ran her thumb over the skin once more, satisfied at the superficial healing that had begun.

"You should be able to walk to Sick-Bay now. Ask Dr McCoy," she paused and then snapped her fingers in front of the ensign's eyes. He started and looked back to her, his gaze sliding away from the Captain. "I'm sorry, Ensign Leigh, am I being inconvenient? Am I disrupting your daydreaming about our dear Captain?"

Cat heard Kirk choke behind her, and fought the urge to smile, instead staring firmly at the ensign before her. The ensign who burned a bright red and muttered an apology. She accepted it with a brusk shake of her head and finished her orders. She was certain that the boy would not have remembered what he was supposed to tell McCoy, but that was irrelevant. McCoy was smart enough to see burn and know what Cat had done - she'd worked with him for all of five minutes when Kirk was unconscious which was long enough for her to know he was the only person she'd be willing to have treating her.

The boy stood, his leg shaky, but usable, and hurried out of Engineering. Cat took her time in sorting out her bag, placing the vials in neat rows that would be disrupted as soon as she heaved the bag on to her shoulder. Finally, she finished, and stood, turning to Kirk with a winning smile.

"Aren't you supposed to be on the bridge? Captain?" She asked lightly. The slight frown on her face was normally enough for people to question whether or not she was serious, and she was disappointed that no flicker of doubt clouded Kirk's face.

"Who are you?" Kirk asked, leaning against the pillar, his arms crossed across his chest, an inquisitive expression on his face. Cat tilted her head to the side slightly.

"Catriona Pike, daughter to Susan and Alexander Pike, niece of the late Admiral Christopher Pike. Qualified Doctor and the previous CMO of Starfleet Headquarters," she said calmly, raising an eyebrow. "It's all in my record." She smiled winningly at him, and moved to walk back towards the Sick-Bay.

Kirk followed.

"And yet," he said, running a few steps to catch up with her, "there is no mention of your rank, your training or your experience in space. So, I'm at a loss as to why you are on my ship."

Cat paused, blocking the busy hallway. She placed one hand on her hip and looked up at Kirk.

"You are embarking on a five year mission and the only half-way competent doctor on board prior to my arrival was Dr McCoy," she held his gaze, raising an eyebrow in challenge. "I would have thought you'd have been glad of the back-up medical assistance given the number of scrapes you've gotten this crew into since becoming its captain."

Kirk watched her face closely, waiting for any sign of her telling him anything other than the truth. Cat rolled her eyes and added.

"My god - I sealed aspects of my record because people get jumpy at someone with my rank wanting anything other than a desk job. They get suspicious and dismiss me, and I get stuck at headquarters where nothing ever happens - until you showed up." Cat hit Kirk's chest with the back of her hand as she spoke. She tried not to notice how firm it was, how even with the double-shirt of Starfleet uniform she could feel the curve of muscle flex in response to her touch. She sighed dramatically. "I wanted adventure and I got stuck in California."

Kirk raised an eyebrow at her.

"You picked a five year mission as your first venture into space?" He asked. Cat shrugged in response, waiting for a response she could react to, even vaguely. "It's ballsy, I'll give you that." Kirk finally laughed, before striding away - presumably back in the direction of the bridge.

The Enterprise was headed out of the limit of explored space, headed out towards something that would later be named the 'Gamma Quadrant' by Starfleet. Eventually, there would be a space station known as 'Deep Space Nine' built over where they were headed, but as of this moment, there was just the wide expanse of space. There was just endless nothingness as far as the eye could see - void of stars, of light, of life. This was were our starship was headed, still eager-eyed and open-hearted about what they might find out in the wasteland of space. This nothingness was what awaited them - nothingness interrupted only by a single nebula which sprawled and consumed ship after ship. This nebula had no name as of yet - no Starfleet ship had found it to name it, but in a stardate far in the future of our narrative, it would be named the Badlands. A fitting name.

For now, the Badlands is merely the nebula that begins the Enterprise's troubles, flinging them from 'outside known space' to 70,000 lightyears away from Earth and they are rapidly approaching it. The Badlands is a two day flight away from the Enterprise.

The collision course is set.