Lexie had just made it down to Engineering with Scotty and almost instantly they were bombarded by Keenser who was fussing over them like a mother-hen. He had clearly heard about what had happened, Scotty knelt in front of him. "We're alright lad, just a few cuts and burns but nothing too major." However, Keenser didn't seem too convinced. He glanced over to Lexie; it was almost like he was asking her to confirm what the Chief had just said. "He's telling the truth Keenser, we're both fine and have been given the all clear by McCoy." That seemed to calm the Engineer since he stopped being fussy. Scotty was happy to see that his friend was safe, clearly the intruders didn't get down to Engineering, which was also a relief for Lexie.
On their way down Lexie had told Scotty that she had damaged the panel that she had used during her unplanned rescue and that she would be more than happy to go back up there and repair the damage, with protective gloves this time. Scotty didn't mind that she had cause some damage and he was more than grateful for her offering to go back up and fix it. Lexie was just about to collect a pair of gloves and a set of tools when Scotty came over to her, "Lexie, the Captain wants to have a wee word with ya, up in the briefing room." Lexie couldn't help but feel nervous, even after Scotty assured her that it wasn't to do with anything bad. So, she set off to the briefing room all the while trying to figure out why Kirk would want to talk to her and why he had waited for her to get all the way down to Engineering? It wasn't as if it was a short walk to the briefing room.
She soon arrived at the briefing room, smoothing out the creases in her uniform she then knocked on the door. "Come." Called a voice from inside. Lexie walked in to see Kirk sat at the far end of the table, he glanced up with a smile on his face. "Thank you for coming Lieutenant, how are the hands?" He asked as Lexie walked over, "My hands are fine Captain, just a few cuts and a little burnt. Mr Scott said you wanted to speak with me?" Kirk pointed to a chair which sat opposite him, "Yes, please sit." Lexie took a seat; she was still nervous about what her Captain was going to say. "I must commemorate you on your fighting skill Lieutenant, have you done any form of fighting before?" Lexie nodded, "Yes Captain. Mainly karate, and judo for the hand to hand combat, but I also do fencing and are skilled with a range of different weapons." Kirk smiled, "What level are you in your martial arts?" "Black belt Sir, I started before I joined the Academy and continued it during my time there. It was a great way of relieving stress."
Kirk tapped the screen of his PADD to bring up Lexie's file, "With that level of skill you would have made an extraordinary security officer, why did you choose to become an Engineer instead?" He questioned as he scrolled through her file, "To be an Engineer is what I joined Star Fleet to become Sir." Kirk tilted his head as he pushed the PADD towards Lexie, "But while you were at the Academy you made sure to study at least the basics of every sector, including Security. For most of those sectors you passed with some of the highest scores in years, why put yourself through that amount of stress and effort, just to choose one of them?" Lexie sighed as she glanced down at her file, "I guess I just wanted to keep other career paths open Sir, just in case. But I would never swap being an Engineer for anything, because its who I am. My father was an Engineer for Star Fleet as well, even if he did never go into space, so I guess it's in my blood." Kirk smiled, "I understand Lieutenant, you are free to return to duties." Lexie nodded as she stood up and wandered over to the doors, but before she left Kirk called out to her. "And Lieutenant." She turned to face him, "Yes Captain?" "Thank you for today, the crew owes you a great deal of gratitude and I owe you my life." Lexie just smiled in reply then quickly left, before her cheeks got any redder.
It wasn't long before Lexie was back down in Engineering, however she wasn't down there for very long. She had only come back down to grab the pair of gloves and the tools she was getting earlier, before heading back up to the bridge to repair the damage she had done. As she walked the long walk back up to the bridge Lexie was regretting not just bringing the gloves and tools up with her the first time, she was sure that Kirk wouldn't have minded. She was also trying to figure out how she was going to tell Delta about what happened, without giving him a power overload, Lexie knew that he would go crazy when she told him about that day's events. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost walked straight past the Jefferies Tube that she needed.
Snapping back to reality she clambered into the opening, due to her hands being wrapped in bandages and the fact they were burned and covered in cuts, Lexie took her time crawling towards the panel, her hands were painful but she didn't really seem to mind, it was as if she just blocked out the pain. Lexie soon came to the panel but before setting to work, she glanced down through the hatch to see Pavel and Sulu both back at their stations. She smiled happily, just then she noticed Chekov look up, obviously seeing her. He gave her a small wave which Lexie returned before setting to work. She was still annoyed that she was having to do this again, but like Scotty had told her 'Nothing stays fixed for long on the Enterprise.' Which she was starting to understand, if something got fixed you could guarantee within a week (which is the current record) it would be broken again. She was about half way through her repairs when someone yelled up to her, at first she thought it was coming from the bridge, however soon realised it was coming from the opening. Lexie set down her tools and began to clamber back down the tube, she didn't want to yell back as she didn't want to disturb the bridge crew.
Stepping out of the tube back into the hall way Lexie saw the person who had called her, it was Uhura. "I'm sorry, did I disturb you?" She asked when she saw that Lexie was still wearing her gloves, "Not at all Lieutenant, can I help you?" Lexie asked sweetly. Uhura smiled at how professionally she had addressed her. "There's no need for you to call me Lieutenant, you can call me Nyota." Lexie nodded in reply, "I just came by to ask if you're coming to the party tonight?" Lexie tilted her head, what was Uhura going on about? "Umm. What party?" She questioned, "Didn't Scotty tell you? Every time the Enterprise sets off on a new mission the Captain insists on having a party about three months in, why this is the case I'm not too sure. Scotty told me he would inform you about it but I guess he forgot."
Lexie nodded, "He sure did, but it sounds fun, sure I'll go." Lexie couldn't believe she had just said that, she had never been to a party before in her life, but knew if she didn't go then the whole command crew (Minus Spock) would be all over her and would probably end up dragging her there. "Great! It lasts a whole twenty-four hours, just so the whole crew can spent some time there. But also, we can wear normal clothes instead of our uniform, so there's a reason for us girls to dress up. If you like, I could pop by your quarters so we can go together?" Lexie smiled, "That would be great, thanks Nyota. I'll drop you a message when I'm almost ready?" Uhura nodded, "Sure thing, see ya later Lexie." Both girls waved happily goodbye and when Uhura was out of sight Lexie climbed back into the tube to continue her work.
Lexie had just gotten back to the panel and was about to start working on it again when she heard a knocking noise. Confused she glanced down at the hatch, thinking it was coming from the bridge, but she almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Kirk's face pressed up against it. Lexie slowly opened the hatch which allowed for Kirk to stick his head up into the tube, "How's it going up here?" He asked with a chuckle, Lexie was still in disbelief. "Fine Sir, was I disturbing you?" She asked, "Not at all Lexie, just popped up to ask if you're going to the party?" Lexie smiled. "This is an odd way of going about asking me Sir, there's a reason we have communicators." She replied. Kirk grinned at her, "Where's the fun in that Lex, it's much more fun sticking my head in the ceiling to ask you." Lexie should have seen that answer coming, she was talking to James T. Kirk after all. "Are you going?" "Yes Sir, I will be going." She answered, Kirk smiled as he glanced back down at the bridge, "Good news peeps, she's going!" There was an eruption of cheering, which Lexie could immediately tell was coming from both Chekov and Sulu.
Just then an all too familiar voice yelled crossly on the bridge, "God dam it Jim! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" Lexie couldn't help but giggle, clearly the good Doctor wasn't a fan of the Captain's current position. "I would never dare do that to ya Bones, I was just asking Lexie if she was going to the party tonight." Lexie glanced down to see McCoy standing below Kirk, who was standing on the back of his command chair, McCoy had his arms crossed as normal. "I don't care, get down! Before I drag you down like the giant child you are!" Kirk turned to face Lexie and whispered something to her. "I think someone's a little grumpy." "I heard that!" Lexie tried her hardest to hold back her laughter, "Ok Bones. I'm coming down, see ya tonight Lex." Kirk said with a smile, "Of course Sir, may I suggest you run as soon as you're back down, I think I can see a hypo in the Doctor's hand." Kirk winked at her before disappearing back through the hatch. "Now I know how Scotty feels." McCoy muttered under his breath. It seemed that Kirk had taken Lexie's advice of running from the Doctor because from below she heard a now very angry McCoy yell out once more. "Dam it Jim! Get back here!" Chuckling to herself quietly, Lexie closed the hatch once more and continued with her work.
It wasn't long until Lexie had fixed the wiring in the panel, but there was only one way of finding out if it was working correctly. She opened the hatch and stuck her head down, which grabbed the attention of Chekov almost instantly. "Oh, hi Lexie. Wasn't aware you were still up there." Lexie chuckled, "Yep, I just finished with the wiring. Could you tell me if any of the lights are flickering or just ain't on, please Pavel." Her friend nodded as he glanced around the room, "They all seem fine to me Lex, not a single one is flickering and every single one is on." That was a relief for Lexie, "That's good then, take it you two are going to the party as well?" Chekov nodded once again. "Sure are, I'm happy you're going too." Lexie smiled, "I know you are and so is Sulu by the way you cheered when the Captain announced it to the whole bridge." Sulu looked up at her with a smile. "It wouldn't feel right without you being there." He exclaimed. Lexie blushed slightly, "Aww, thanks Sulu. I'm sure it will be great fun; it will be a good chance for me to see what you guys are like when you're not working." Just then Lexie could see someone walking over to the command chair, even though they were upside down for her, she could tell who it was. The pointed ears gave it away. "I assume you have completed your repairs Lieutenant?" The Vulcan asked.
"Yes Mr Spock, I was just checking with Mr Chekov here if all the lights were functioning normally. I apologize if I disturbed you." Spock shook his head, "You did no such thing Lieutenant, but your method of communication is very illogical." Lexie should have expected that from the Vulcan, in every sentence she had heard him say the words 'logical' or 'illogical' came up at least once or maybe even twice. "It was much quicker than coming down Sir." Spock simply raised an eyebrow at her reply, but lowered it again before speaking. "A most logical answer, however I suggest you remove yourself from this position before Doctor McCoy returns to the bridge. I can almost guarantee he will not be very pleased to see you hanging from the ceiling." Lexie knew Spock was right and she didn't want to get on the wrong side of the Doctor, not knowing he had a hypo at hand. "Yes Sir, right away. See you later you two." Chekov and Sulu waved goodbye as Lexie disappeared back into the hatch, closing it behind her.
Lexie had returned to her quarters despite having to return her equipment to Engineering and to report to Scotty, but she didn't see the point of going all the way down there, to return a few things which she can take down on her next shift and she could tell Scotty that she had completed the repair by sending him a message, she was sure he would understand. Delta was asleep when she had come in and he still hadn't woken up, clearly he had been very busy himself but Lexie knew she needed to tell him want happen. So, she walked over to him and tapped him gently on the head. "Delta, wake up." The little robot suddenly burst into life, "I'm awake!" He cried. "Sorry to wake ya Delta, but there's something I need to tell you and show you." Lexie said, Delta looked up at her. "Does it have something to do with that alarm earlier?" He questioned; Lexie nodded. "Yes, the ship was boarded by hostiles, now don't panic I wasn't hurt by them but I did get hurt while conducting a rescue of the command crew, that's why my hands are wrapped up. But I'm alright, it's just a few cuts and burns nothing that won't heal over time."
Lexie was waiting for Delta to reply, but he didn't say anything. He just stared at her, blinking his eyes occasionally, until he did finally speak. "That's probably the craziest thing you've done, but I've come to expect this type of thing from you. I'm glad that you're alright, what about the Command Crew?" Lexie sighed in relief, "They're all fine, the Captain got a bit beaten up but nothing to serious and Scotty got hit in the head, but again its nothing too serious, he just had a cut on his head." She replied, Delta smiled. "That's good then." "By the way Delta you'll have the room to yourself for a few hours tonight." "Why Lexie? You got a late shift?" He asked. "Not tonight, I'm going to a party." Delta jumped in surprise, "You're what? Lex that's brilliant! You're starting to come out of your shell more each day." Lexie laughed; she knew that Delta had been watching her grow more comfortable on the ship. "Thanks Delta, I know I haven't taken you out much in these last few weeks, but tomorrow you can come down to Engineering with me." Delta jumped for joy; Lexie smiled at him before heading off to get ready. All she had to do was to figure out what to wear.