It had taken Lexie about an hour to settle on an outfit, not because she wanted to make sure she looked alright (what she did) but she wanted to make sure that whatever she did choose to wear wasn't going to reveal her scar to any degree. Eventually she decided on what to wear. A white crop top, a skirt which resembled a clear blue sky (Which covered her scar), a pair of white lace leggings which ended just below her knees and a pair of white pumps. She also wore a pair of silver heart earrings, a long neckless with a dark blue, crystal pendent, a set of silver and crystal anklets and a belt of gold with leaf ornaments which hung at her side. Lexie had also styled her hair; she had curled it and had put a section of it up in a pony tail. A leaf hair clip kept it from falling onto her face. Lexie was almost ready, so sent a message to Uhura, the only thing she had left to do was to re-wrap her hands since she had managed to soak the old bandages which she had on.
Thankfully, she could do this type of thing herself, so there was no need for her to head down to sickbay, even though she was pretty sure that McCoy would have preferred her to. As she was wrapping her hand the door 'Buzzed', knowing it was probably Uhura she told Delta to hide before calling her in. Uhura stepped in with a smile on her face, "Hey Lexie, wow you look beautiful!" Lexie blushed as she continued to wrap one of her hands, "Thanks Uhura, I won't be a minute just need to finish bandaging up my hands." Uhura came over and sat on Lexie's desk chair, "Did you do that when you took back the bridge?" Lexie nodded gently, "Sort of, it was when I messed with the circuitry in the Jeffries Tube. Since I was doing it bare handed resulted in me cutting and burning both my hands, but they won't take long to heal." Lexie had finished wrapping her left hand and had moved on to her right, which was the worse of the two since she was right handed. "I bet that hurts?" Uhura chuckled, Lexie nodded. "It does, but it's nothing I haven't delt with before." Uhura was amazed at how positive she was. Soon both of Lexie's hands were wrapped, it almost looked like it was part of her outfit according to Uhura which made Lexie smile. Arms interlinked they headed off to the party.
The two officers walked into the Rec room which was already full of officers enjoying the party. Lexie looked around in amazement, it was strange seeing all these officers not in uniform, it almost made her forget that she was on a star ship at all. Uhura then led her over to a table which sat in the corner of the room, Sulu and Chekov were already there with drinks in hand. "We were starting to think that you two weren't coming." Chekov said, "No way, we're only a little late as I had to re-wrap my hands." Lexie stated holding her hands out so the two men could see. "O, мой!" Chekov muttered; Lexie chuckled. "Oh my indeed Pavel." The others were amazed, "You can understand Russian?" Questioned Sulu. "Only parts of it, but don't ask me to speak it, that part I cannot do." The group all laughed, "What ya drinking Lexie?" Asked Uhura, "I can't drink Nyota, I'm not even twenty one." Lexie stated quickly, even though she was originally from the UK she had always went by American laws, since she had been living in the country for most of her life.
Lexie didn't mind that she wasn't legal to drink while she was at the Academy, since she was too busy with her studies. "If you're old enough to be on a Star Ship, you're old enough to drink in my eyes Lieutenant." Said a voice from behind her, Lexie turned to see Kirk, McCoy, and Scotty standing behind her, all with drinks in their hands. "I agree with the Captain lass." Said Scotty, McCoy simply nodded. Lexie knew she wasn't going to win an argument, so told Uhura to surprise her since she didn't really know what she wanted. McCoy then noticed her hands, "I see you got your hands re-wrapped." He stated, "Actually I did them myself. Medicine was among the extra sectors I studied at the Academy; you never know when it may come in handy." McCoy chuckled quietly to himself, he should have seen that coming. Uhura then came back with the drinks, as she handed them out one by one they all sat around the table. "You scrub up well lassie, you look very bonnie." Scotty told Lexie, "Thank you Scotty, you don't scrub up to bad yaself." Scotty grinned as he took a sip of his drink, which was clearly scotch, what else would Scotty be drinking?
The group were having a great time, they were all laughing and having fun. Lexie was enjoying herself, for the first time in what seemed like forever, which was a pleasant sight for Scotty who was happy to see her come out of her shell. He was stood at the pop-up bar which had been put up for the party, getting another glass of scotch, as he watched Lexie dance with Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov. "You seem very happy? Are you sure it's just scotch they've put in your glass?" Scotty turned to see Kirk and McCoy standing at the bar next to him, he smiled as he picked up his drink and took a sip. "Just pure scotch in this glass, as for me being happy Sir, how could I not be. Lexie is enjoying herself; I don't think I've seen her so happy." Kirk smiled, as he gestured to the bar tender (which was one of the security officers) to pour him another drink. "She does seem to be enjoying herself, to think all we had to do was bring her to a party." McCoy stated. Kirk and Scotty laughed, "I'm just glad to see her happy and not worrying about her past." The Scotsman stated, Kirk placed a hand on Scotty's shoulder.
"You really do care about her don't you?" He asked, Scotty blushed slightly, but he also almost choked on his drink. "Aye Sir, she's such a wonderful lass and I think she needs to know that there is someone in this world who cares." McCoy took a swig of his bourbon, "You've got a good heart Scotty. Lexie really seems to look up to you." Scotty's cheeks blushed brighter. "Aye, she told me that she does. But she also told me that she sees me as a parental figure, which made me feel honoured." Kirk and McCoy smiled happily. "That's great Scotty." McCoy replied as he raised his glass up, Kirk followed suit, so Scotty did the same. The three glasses 'clinked' together quietly and then the men emptied them of their liquor. Kirk went to get them all another, but Scotty told him to hold off on getting him one since his head was still aching from when he got hit.
The three officers stood at the bar for a few drinks, watching the younger officers dancing. Scotty was just finishing his drink when Lexie came over, with a huge smile on her face. "I'm glad to see you having fun lassie." Scotty pronounced, "Right back at ya. Come and dance with us Scotty." Lexie laughed, Scotty was about to decline but he felt Lexie grab him by the arm, dragging him away from the bar. Clearly he didn't have a say in the matter, as he was pulled away McCoy reached over and removed the Scotsman's empty glass from his hand, much to Scotty's disappointment since he was hoping the good Doctor would save him. Scotty couldn't even remember the last time he danced, he believed it was when he was in a nightclub back in San Francisco after a disagreement with Kirk. It wasn't as if Scotty dislike dancing because he didn't, but he had never danced in front of his fellow crew mates before, in fact he was sure that the only Star Fleet officer who had seen him dance was Keenser back in the nightclub and possibly occasionally on Delta Vega.
However, as soon as he began to dance he didn't want to stop, he couldn't tell if it was the liquor or because he was happy (Or possibly a mixture of both). Scotty was dancing away happily with Lexie and the others, while McCoy and Kirk stuck quite close to the bar. "Enjoying yourself Captain?" A voice called loudly from behind Kirk, he turned to see Spock standing behind him. "Spock? Never knew you were one for parties?" Spock raised an eyebrow. "I'm not Captain, I just came by to check on things." McCoy rolled his eyes as he drank his drink. "Everything is fine Spock." Kirk reassured his first officer. Spock then glanced over at the others who were still dancing away, "I see that Mr Scott is enjoying himself, along with Lieutenant Smith." McCoy nodded, "They are indeed, who have you left in charge of the bridge anyway?" "I have left the com to Lieutenant Jones, with strict orders to report to me if anything arises." McCoy gave a small smile, "Has anything happened?" Spock shook his head. "Not presently Doctor, there has been no unusual phenomenon either on the ship or outside the ship." McCoy rolled his eyes, "A simple 'no' would have been fine, instead of a speech. Dam hobgoblin." The last couple of words of the Doctor's sentence were muffled since he had spoken into his glass as he took a swig of his drink. Not like Spock didn't hear the Doctor's insult, because he did, however Spock was used to him saying that.
By some sort of miracle (according to McCoy anyway) Kirk managed to persuade Spock to stay at the party for a little while. Of course, he stayed clear of any alcohol and stayed as far away from the dance floor as he could, that was until Uhura saw him and dragged him over for a little dance. McCoy couldn't believe he was seeing the Vulcan at a party and he was dancing, sort of. Kirk tried to control his laughter by keeping himself occupied with drinks, which wasn't working very well. Scotty hadn't even noticed Spock dancing since he was too busy talking to Lexie and the boys. "So, are you enjoying yourself Lex?" Asked Sulu loudly so he could be heard over the music. "Yes I am, I'll be honest with you lot, this is my first party." Scotty stared blankly at her, along with Sulu and Chekov almost spat his vodka out. "What?! You've never been to a party before?" He asked, Lexie shook her head. "No, I've never been invited to one before. If every party is this fun, then I've been missing out." Sulu grinned, "Well I can't guarantee that every party is like this one, however I can guarantee that you will be invited to a lot more over the next five years." Lexie smiled. "Thanks Sulu."
At that point Uhura and Spock walked over arms linked (More like Uhura was dragging the Vulcan). "I am glad to see you enjoying yourself Lieutenant." Spock said, "Thank you Sir, I never saw you as a party person?" Lexie stated. "I'm not I assure you, however I decided to come by to see if everything was going well. I was actually just about to return to the bridge to resume command." Uhura hugged the Vulcan's arm, "I brought him over to say hi and goodbye before he left." Uhura stated. Spock stayed for a few minutes before walking off with Uhura. Sulu and Chekov had made their way over to the bar for another drink, which left Scotty and Lexie at the table. "Is this what it feels like? To be happy I mean?" She asked, Scotty nodded. "It is lassie, it's a feeling every living being should feel. Even them Vulcan's." Lexie giggled at the Scotsman's remark, "It's a feeling that I want to last forever." Scotty placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well, I can promise you that it will last for the duration of this mission. For the next five years, this feeling will burn like a fire within you and I'll make sure it does." Scotty said with a soft smile. "Thanks Scotty, for showing me that my past doesn't need to prevent me from being happy and for showing me that I'm not alone." Lexie lent over and hugged him warmly and Scotty returned it.
Around an hour later, Lexie had decided to call it a night. She was growing tired and knew that if she didn't get some sleep soon, she would be tired for her shift tomorrow. Lexie told Scotty that she was thinking about heading to bed, he said he would walk with her since he too was thinking of turning in for the night. The two of them said goodnight to Chekov and Sulu as they left the table, half way across the dance floor they bumped into Uhura and said goodnight. Their last stop before leaving was the bar, to say goodnight to McCoy and Kirk. "You two calling it a night?" Asked McCoy, Scotty nodded. "Aye we are Doc, just came over to say night." Lexie smiled as she saw Kirk take another drink.
"Alright, see you guys tomorrow and I'm glad you came Lex." "Same here Captain, see you tomorrow." The two Engineers left the rec room and walked side by side down the halls. "I pray that Delta has behaved himself while I've been out." Lexie said quietly, as she didn't know who was around to hear. Scotty chuckled. "I'm sure the wee lad has kept himself out of trouble lassie. He'll most likely be asleep when you get back." Lexie knew that Scotty was right, Delta knew that his existence on the Enterprise was a secret, therefore he wouldn't cause any trouble. "I noticed Keenser wasn't there tonight, why was that?" Lexie asked, "He had a late shift last night and he tired himself out worrying over me, so he turned in early." Scotty replied, he knew that if Keenser wasn't so tired that he would have come. They soon came to Lexie's quarters, "I'll see you tomorrow on shift." She stated, Scotty nodded. "Aye that you will lass, sleep well and remember if you have another nightmare, I'm only a call away." Lexie smiled. "Thanks Scotty, have a good night." The two officers hugged one last time before heading their own ways.
As Scotty had predicted Delta was asleep on the desk when Lexie walked in, however when the door slid shut he quickly woke up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake ya." She stated as she walked into the bathroom to change. Delta blinked his eyes several times, "It's alright Lex, you didn't really wake me, I'd only just went to sleep. How was the party?" He asked. Lexie wandered out from the bathroom in her PJ's, brushing her hair slowly. "It was brilliant Delta; I've never had so much fun with other people before. Oh, I wish I could have taken you with me, you would have loved it." Delta chuckled. "I'm glad you enjoyed it Lex, tell me what was it like?" He asked, Lexie had wandered back into the bathroom to put away her hair brush, but she answered Delta. "Very lively. I was dancing with Chekov and Scotty. Dancing Delta? Can you believe it?" Delta chuckled again; it was then he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, before I completely forget, you got a message on your computer Lex. I didn't open it since I didn't know what it was." Lexie came back into the room with a puzzled look on her face, she wasn't expecting any message. "Thanks Delta, I'll take a look before I head off to bed." She replied as she wandered over to her computer and flicked it on.
"You have a new message." It said, "Computer, what format of message?" "Written message." "On screen." Lexie had turned her back to the screen as she placed her shoes back next to the desk and scanned over the message when she looked back. Lexie immediately wished she had never opened the message or even had read it. Delta could see that she had turned almost white and she had a look of fear in her eyes. "Lexie, what is it? What's wrong?" Lexie's breathing had sped up, sweat was beginning to drip down her forehead, she lept from the chair with such force it tipped over. "It's from him Delta." She stuttered. Delta knew who she was referring to, but he didn't reply. "He found me… How did he find me?" Lexie questioned as she read the messages again. It read: 'You can run, but you can't hide. I will always find you.' It even said who had sent it, that was the part which was scaring Lexie the most. The name at the bottom of the message was Kyle John Malone, her uncle. Lexie felt her scar begin to burn upon reading his name, she never considered him family, ever. He was a monster, a man who only looked out for himself and his greed was what cost him his career in Star Fleet, many years ago. He had been a Security Officer however was dismissed for misconduct. Lexie placed her hand over her scar which was still burning, but she knew this was only psychosomatic due to the message she had read. So, she choice to try and ignore it, after reassuring Delta that she was alright she climbed into bed, but she knew she wasn't going to sleep not after that.