Three months had passed since Lexie first came aboard the USS Enterprise and only a handful of crazy things had happened. Those events ranged from her almost drowning in Engineering, to the ship being in a fire fight with several hostile ships who all had a grudge against Captain Kirk, to some new alien life form trying to take control of the ships computer, which had happened that often that the command crew just came to expect it. All of these events (besides the first one) were normal occurrences while abord the Enterprise, according to Scotty, so Lexie had quickly learnt to be ready for anything. But despite the time that had passed, she hadn't made any other friends, apart from a few crew members (Chekov, Scotty, and Keenser) and her digital friend Delta, she didn't speak to anyone else which made her Commanding Officer concerned.
Scotty couldn't explain why he felt that way, he had never felt like this towards any other officers before, so why was Lexie any different? He believed that maybe it was because of how young she was and the fact that she had been through so much in her life which resulted in her losing her family so young. But it wasn't just Scotty who had noticed this, both Kirk and McCoy had also noticed the Lieutenant's strange behaviour and they too were concerned as to why. Kirk called Scotty up from Engineering to the briefing room, hoping that he would be able to provide him with some answers since he was her Commanding Officer. Scotty would be lying if he said he didn't feel slightly nervous, it was rare for the Captain to call him away from Engineering but, it was even more rare for him to call him to the briefing room, after their normal morning meetings and it was almost never that he called him so late during the artificial night, so either something was wrong (seriously wrong) or he was in trouble, both options weren't very appealing to Scotty.
Scotty soon made it to the briefing room, but he hesitated at the doors, he was trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever was about to happen. After taking a deep breath he entered, with a quick glance around the room he found that it wasn't just Kirk who was there, McCoy was also there standing with his arms crossed as normal. Kirk noticed the look of worry on the Scotsman's face, "Don't look so worried, you're not in trouble Scotty." He said reassuringly, however, the look on Scotty's face didn't change. "Dam it Scotty, what's the matter?" Asked McCoy quickly, Scotty folded his arms behind his back. "It's just, whenever the Captain calls me up here it's either because there's something wrong or because I've done something and the fact it's so late makes me even more concerned."
Scotty's reply made him sound like a guilty child, Kirk smiled softly at him. "Like I said Scotty, you're not in trouble, nor is there anything wrong. Sorry for calling you up here so late." Scotty just gave his Captain a blank look, "Then why the bloody hell did you call me up here Sir?" He cried, if he found out that he came all the way up from Engineering for nothing then he was going to be more than a bit upset. Kirk didn't take offence to Scotty yelling at him, he could understand his frustration. "I called you up here Scotty to discuss some matters involving one of your Officers." Kirk replied, "Who?" Scotty replied still staring blankly at Kirk, who said the officers name. "Lexie." Scotty sighed as he walked over to the nearest chair. "Take it the two of you have also noticed as well?" He said as he sank into the chair. Kirk, and McCoy we're both glad that the three of them were all on the same page. "Yes and we were wondering if you know why." Kirk said as himself and McCoy sat down.
Scotty sighed quietly to himself, "I think Lexie just finds it hard to make friends or even talk to people at all. I think it's because she's always worrying about what they will say about her eyes." Scotty replied sadly, "I asked the Academy how she behaved there and it's the same as she is acting here, but they also told me about some incidences that happened while Lexie was there." Kirk said, Scotty looked up quickly. "What would that be?" "Lexie was subjected to a huge amount of bullying according to the Academy, but she never made a fuss about it, apparently she kept herself to herself, mainly focused on her studies and spent most of her time outside of the classroom either in her room or in the city, but also was known to spent many nights in the library." Kirk replied, Scotty had a strange feeling that she had been bullied at some point during her time at the Academy, but by the way Kirk spoke, it sounded like it was almost for her whole time there. McCoy turned to face Scotty, "Does she speak to anyone from Engineering, besides you?" He asked, Scotty had to think for a moment. "Not really, the only other Engineer she talks to is Keenser, since they work together a lot." McCoy sighed, "Who does she talk to on the Enterprise then?" He questioned, yet again Scotty had to think, however it didn't take very long to come up with an answer. "She talks to Keenser, myself, and Chekov but other than that I haven't seen her talk to anyone else." Scotty of course knew that Lexie had Delta to talk to, but he didn't wish to tell his Captain that nor the CMO, since he was unsure as to how they would take it.
McCoy was about to speak when the doors suddenly slid open and in ran Chekov. "Mr Scott!" He yelled, the three officers span round in shock, Kirk had made sure that there was a clear 'Do Not Disturb!' sign on the doors, which the Navigator had completely ignored. "Yes lad, is everything alright?" Scotty asked slowly, Chekov was trying to catch his breath, it was obvious that he had ran a pretty long way to reach the briefing room. "No, it's Lexie Sir." Scotty leapt from his seat so quick it made McCoy jump, "What happen?" He asked quickly, "I was walking past her quarters on my way to my own after my shift when I heard her screaming and crying, I tried to get her to open the door but she wouldn't let me in, so I came to find you." Scotty felt his heart begin to race; he had a good idea as to why Lexie was acting this way. Kirk was about to say something but he didn't get a word in before Scotty had ran, full sprint out of the door. Completely forgetting what he was originally going to say he just told McCoy and Chekov to follow the Engineer.
Scotty raced down the halls, thankfully they were basically empty otherwise he was bound to have slammed into someone along the way, since Lexie's quarters weren't exactly close to the briefing room. He soon came to a stop outside her quarters, closely followed by the others, "McCoy." Kirk said, the Doctor nodded as he reached over to the keypad, since he was the ships CMO he had an override code which allowed him to open any door on the ship, but as he neared the pad he was stopped by Scotty, who then turned to face Kirk. "Captain, let me go in. Alone." Kirk was unsure but nodded, McCoy opened the door and Scotty quickly darted in. He didn't speak until the door had slid shut once more, even then he whispered. "Delta, can you hear me?" "Yes, I'm beside you. On the dresser." Scotty turned to see the little robot sitting beside him, his eyes brightly illuminated but the look of concern was clear for Scotty to see. "Lexie had a nightmare, a really, really bad nightmare, she won't talk to me and…" Delta blurted out, reaching over to him Scotty patted him gently on the head, "I know lad, listen, there are other officers outside and they may come in, so its best if you hide alright? I'll deal with Lexie and I promise I will take care of her." Delta nodded before scurrying off to hide, he knew that Scotty would be able to help. Scotty could hear Lexie crying and the soft melody coming from her music box, he glanced around the room to see if he could find her, which didn't take long, she was huddled in the corner of the room. Scotty smiled faintly as he walked slowly over to her.
"Lexie?" He spoke softly, as he didn't want to scare her. "No! Please don't hurt me!" She yelled, Scotty stopped just a few steps away from her, he knelt down so he didn't appear too threatening, in her current state of mind Lexie probably couldn't tell who was a friend and who was a foe. "I'm not going to hurt you lass. I promise." Lexie lifted her head upon hearing the familiar voice and turned to face Scotty, who could see her eyes were sore from crying, "Scotty?" She muttered, "Aye lass, it's me." He replied softly, Scotty hadn't realised that the others had stepped into the room and were watching on, they had rushed in after hearing Lexie cry out. Suddenly Lexie threw herself at the Scotsman, hugging him tightly. Scotty managed to prepare himself enough so he wasn't knocked over. "He was going to kill me!" She sobbed loudly into his chest; Scotty wrapped his arms around her protectively. "No one's going to hurt you lass, you're safe." He said reassuringly as Lexie continued to cry, "You're alright lassie, I've got you. It was just a nightmare." Scotty said, Lexie muttered something quietly, however, Scotty couldn't understand it, so he just hugged her tighter to make her feel safe.
It was several minutes before Scotty let Lexie go. She sunk back against the wall, still with tears running down her face. It was then she noticed the others standing at the other end of the room, she leant forward and whispered something to Scotty. "They're going to see Delta." Scotty smiled, "No they're not lass, I told him to hide when I came in." Lexie was relieved to hear that. "Come on, let's sit somewhere more comfortable. I'm getting too old to be sitting on the floor." Scotty joked which made Lexie laugh slightly, the two of them got up from the floor and moved to sit on her bed. She then turned her attention to the other officers who were in the room, she knew that they must have seen and heard everything, "Sorry you had to see that." She said quietly.
Kirk step forward with a smile on his face. "It's alright, it must have been some nightmare." Lexie nodded, "It wasn't really a nightmare Sir, it was more a memory." Scotty turned to face her, "You can tell them if you want to lass, that's entirely up to you." Lexie nodded, "When I was six, both my parents and my older brother were… They were murdered while they slept, in their own beds." Kirk's mouth hung open much like McCoy's and Chekov's, "I'm so sorry to hear that." Kirk replied, "Do you have nightmares about this often?" Questioned McCoy, "Almost every night, but some nights are worse than others." Lexie looked at McCoy, "I know I should have told you about them, but you've got to understand, I find it hard to talk about them." Lexie cried out. McCoy smiled at her, "It's ok kid, I know this type of thing is hard to share with people, especially people you only met three months ago." Lexie couldn't help but smile, even if it was only a little one, the kindness that they were all showing her almost made her cry again.
Kirk and McCoy decided to leave Scotty and Chekov with Lexie, since the three of them seemed to be good friends which allowed them to return to their duties. Lexie and Scotty were still sitting on her bed, while Chekov had pulled over a chair to sit with them. "How did you know I had another nightmare Scotty? I thought you were still on shift?" Scotty smiled, "I was, but the Captain called me up to the briefing room which is when Chekov came barrelling in and told me that something was wrong." Lexie looked over at Chekov, who was sitting silently in his chair, "But how did you know?" Chekov smiled faintly, "I was walking passed your quarters when I heard you crying and yelling, I tried to get you to open the door but you didn't answer so, I located Mr Scott. I knew he would be able to help." Lexie just stared at him, "That's true, he ran all the way to the briefing room." Scotty said. "You scared me when you didn't answer, but I'm glad that you're alright now." Chekov said softly, his accent slightly thicker than before. Lexie blushed slightly, "I'm sorry Pavel, I never wished to scare you. Are you mad that I didn't tell you?" Chekov was shocked that she had asked that, "Of course I'm not mad, it was up to you if you told me." Lexie smiled.
"Thanks Pavel, and since we are on the subject of telling things, there's someone I want you to meet." Scotty knew who she was referring too, Lexie once again glanced over to her Commander, almost as if she was looking for reassurance. "It's up to you lassie, but you can trust Pavel to keep it a secret." Chekov was confused as to what they were referring to. Lexie turned to face the headboard, "You can come out." She said sweetly, Chekov looked over and was amazed to see a small robot emerge from behind the headboard. It walked over and sat neatly on Lexie's lap, "Delta, I would like you to meet Pavel Chekov." She said to the robot who simply waved at Pavel, "It's nice to meet you Mr Chekov, Lexie has told me about you." Delta said happily. Chekov was still shocked but answered, "It's nice to meet you too Delta, but you don't have to call me 'Mr'. Pavel will be fine." Delta held out one of his metal hands and Chekov shook it gently, "Take it Mr Scott already knew about him?" He question, Scotty nodded. "Aye lad, I met the little fella about three months ago but this is a secret so, no telling the Captain, alright?" Chekov quickly nodded, "Of course, I won't tell a soul." Lexie smiled, "Thanks Pavel."
Chekov soon had to return to the bridge for a shift, leaving Lexie and Scotty still sat on the bed. They hadn't spoken for a little while and Delta had grown tired, so was now resting on the desk. "Scotty?" Lexie finally said, Scotty turned to face her, "Yes lass?" Lexie didn't turn to face him, "I'm sorry that you're the one who has had to deal with all this. A five year mission is stressful enough without having to deal with me as well." Scotty could hear her starting to quietly cry again, so he quickly placed his arm around her shoulders. "You have nothing to apologise for lassie. Nothing." Lexie tried to stop herself from crying more, but she just couldn't. "Why have you been so kind and caring towards me?" She asked quickly. Scotty leapt from the bed and knelt in front of her, "Why would you ask that? Lass, what's wrong?" Lexie wiped her eyes before answering, "Because, no one has ever cared about me. Since I lost my family, I've been alone." She sobbed, she then felt someone hug her tightly. Lexie knew it was Scotty, since he was the only other person in the room. "That's not true, I care. What you've been through is horrible, no one should ever feel alone, no matter who they are. You're not alone anymore Lexie because you have me, I'll always be there for you."
Scotty let her go, "Please don't think I'm trying to replace your family because I can't, I just want you to know that you don't have to deal with this on your own anymore, because you have me and the whole command crew, not to mention wee Keenser. You can come and talk to any of us, about anything at any time." He lifted his hand up to her face and wiped away the tears which had formed under her eyes, "Thanks Scotty. Can I tell you something?" Lexie sniffled again, "You sure can lass." "I actually see you as a sort of parental figure." Scotty's mouth quickly hung open, "Does that make you feel weird?" Lexie asked quickly, Scotty shook his head. "Not at all lass, I'm honoured that you see me that way. Everyone needs someone to look up to." Lexie smiled as she gave Scotty a hug, "Thankyou Scotty, I know you can't replace my family but I will always consider you as family." Blushing slightly, Scotty hugged her back. "You're welcome Lexie and I consider you family as well."