Lexie was more than a little relieved to be back at work down in Engineering the following day. The only thing she didn't approve of was Scotty not moving more than a few feet from her side, she knew he was only doing this because he was worried about her, which she appreciated but it was a little annoying. Thankfully, it was only the CEO who was doing it, since Keenser knew better. Lexie was trying to put up with the Scotsman's behaviour, but it was becoming harder and harder to ignore. However, when Scotty asked her if she was alright for what seemed like the fiftieth time that hour, she snapped. Not angrily, but she did give him an ear full. "Scotty, can you stop fussing over me, please. I know you're only doing it because you care and because you're worried about me, but I'm fine. I'm no longer in pain, besides McCoy has cleared me to work." As she spoke, she saw Scotty's eyes sadden. Feeling slightly bad, Lexie placed her hands on his shoulders. "I don't mind you working with me or even near me, but please don't fuss over me. I promise I'll let you know if something's wrong." Scotty smiled slightly.
"I'm sorry I made you feel like that lass, I didn't mean ta. I'll stop, promise. Now could you please go and take a reading from the anti-matter computer?" Lexie nodded quickly. "Sure thing Scotty, be right back." She replied, giving Scotty a quick hug before heading off. The anti-matter computer wasn't that far away from where the two of them had been working, she pulled out her PADD to type in the reading which the screen was showing her. It was a very quick thing since she only had to take note of a series of numbers. Lexie was soon ready to head back to Scotty, but as soon as she turned her back on the console and took several steps it was then she felt something, it was a feeling she knew all too well, someone was behind her, she just knew it. "No, please god no!" She cried in her head, Lexie slowly turned around to see a man standing behind her, it was her uncle. Lexie froze in fear, her throat immediately went dry preventing her from making any noise, and tears instinctively formed in her eyes. Her uncle chuckled before speaking. "Found you." Lexie dropped her PADD in fear.
Scotty had been working on some panelling when he heard something which made him shiver. "SCOTTY!" A voice cried out; Scotty knew who it was instantly so took off like a bullet while calling out their name. "LEXIE!" Kyle had grabbed Lexie, with one of his hands over her mouth to prevent her from screaming any more than she already had, the other wrapped tightly around her torso. Lexie struggled but to no avail, she was nowhere near as strong as her uncle who she was sure was stronger than before. "Still as feisty as ever." Kyle said smugly as he tightened his grip. Lexie squinted her eyes in pain, "Scotty, where are you? I need you!" She whimpered to herself. Suddenly she heard a voice calling her name which ignited a spark of hope, it was Scotty. He came charging down towards her, anger burning in his eyes at the sight that greeted him, he wasn't sure who was restraining Lexie and to be honest he didn't care. "Leave her alone!" He yelled in a thick Scottish accent, still charging towards them. Lexie believed that this whole thing would be over in a few seconds, however when she heard her uncle laugh she knew he had more planned. Lexie glanced up to face him, then back at Scotty just in time to see him get shot by a phaser.
"Scotty!" Lexie yelled as she watched the Engineer fall lifelessly to the ground, with a loud thud. That spark of hope was gone. "I hope you had that thing set to stun. Killing a Star Fleet Engineer isn't what I asked of you, this time around anyway." Kyle asked, Lexie was confused as to who he was talking to, until someone stepped out from behind one of the tanks, phaser in hand. It was one of the other Engineers, Alex Simmons was his name or so Lexie thought it was, she very rarely spoke to him or even saw him during her shifts. The only time she had ever seen him properly was when he was talking to Scotty one time. "Don't panic, I made sure it was set to stun. I always follow my orders; now may I suggest we get out of here before someone finds us." He said, Kyle nodded. "Couldn't agree more. Let's take our leave and bring him along too, he saw too much for us to leave him here. Besides, he may come in handy." Alex nodded as he flung the unconscious Scotty over his shoulder. Lexie knew she had to grab another Engineers' attention, otherwise no one will know that they were being or had been kidnapped. Thinking fast she bit down hard on Kyle's hand which was covering her mouth, once he had removed it out of pain Lexie screamed as loud as she could. "KEENSER! HELP! KIDNAPPERS!" That was all she managed to cry out before Kyle knocked her unconscious with a blow to the side of the head. "You'll pay for that!" Muttered Kyle as he was surrounded by swirls of light, along with the others. They soon vanished from the deck; Lexie could only pray that Keenser had heard her cries.
Thankfully Keenser had heard her and was hurrying over. He let out a sad whine when he discovered he was too late, he noticed Lexie's PADD laying on the floor, the screen smashed. Keenser picked it up and hurried off up to the bridge. Kirk was staring at the view screen in boredom, he hated not doing anything for long periods of time. He would normally fill this time with a few practical jokes, but after the last joke he pulled ended up with half the crew sneezing bright pink bubbles, he had been band from doing anymore. Unlike McCoy who was enjoying the peace, "I wish something would happen?" Kirk sighed loudly. McCoy smiled faintly, "Careful what you wish for Jim." Kirk turned to face his friend, but before he could answer he saw Keenser run onto the bridge. He hurried over to Kirk and began to wave his hands around frantically. Sadly, neither Kirk nor McCoy could tell what he was trying to say. Seeing he wasn't getting anywhere by simply waving, Keenser hurried over to the console which controlled the view screen and pulled up some footage from one of the security cameras. This caught the attention of the whole command crew as they all watched the screen, what was Keenser so desperate to show them?
It was then they watched two of their own officers get kidnapped, from onboard the ship. "Well, you wanted something to happen Jim. Seems like you got your wish." Stated McCoy, Kirk didn't look at the Doctor, he was too focused on the screen. "Yes, but not this. Anything but this!" It was then Kirk switched from being bored, to yelling orders around the bridge. "I want to know how the hell someone managed to beam aboard this ship, undetected and how they pulled off a double kidnapping!" The authority in his voice was clear which made everyone scramble to their stations. "As of right now this is the Enterprise's top priority, screw any orders Star Fleet may give us. I want Scotty and Lexie found." He said sternly, the command crew couldn't agree more. Kirk had risen from his chair to give the orders, but was slowly starting to settle back down. He watched the view screen again, re watching his friend's kidnapping. Kirk didn't know who any of the kidnappers were, however he knew that one of them appeared to be one of his own men and an Engineer. Kirk clenched his fist tightly as it rested on the arm of the chair, if there was one thing Kirk despised more than his crew getting kidnapped, it was when a member of his own crew is the one conducting it. He despised treachery and when he found them, he had every mind to maroon them on the closest planet for their actions.
When Lexie finally did wake up, her head was still banging from when Kyle had hit her, she could feel something wet dripping down the side of her face, but when she went to wipe it away she discovered that her hands were bound behind her back by thick ropes, which were tied up so tight they were digging into her skin. Lexie then heard a grunting noise coming from her right, glancing over she noticed Scotty leaning against the same wall as herself slowly regaining consciousness, his hands also bound behind his back. "Scotty!" Whispered Lexie as she watched his eyes slowly flicker open, then suddenly they opened fully. "Lexie!" He called. "I'm here Scotty, next to you." She said, Scotty quickly turned to face her relieved to see her. "Are you hurt lass?" He asked, "Just a bang to the head, are you hurt?" He shook his head slowly, "No lass, just a little sore. What hit me?" Lexie sighed. "A phaser set to stun." Scotty had a feeling that's what it was, he knew that feeling all too well. "Who shot me?" He questioned; Lexie was hesitant to answer since she didn't know how he would react to finding out it was one of his own Engineers. "It was Alex Simmons, one of the Engineers." Scotty was surprised, that was clear by the look on his face, what reason would another Engineer have for shooting him? But there was a more pressing question, where the hell were they? Scotty could feel the floor vibrating gently which could only mean one thing, they were on a ship, clearly in its cargo bay. "I see that the two of you are finally awake." A chilling voice called out. Lexie felt fear take over her body as she turned her head to see a figure walking towards them.
"Who are you?" Scotty yelled hoping to get some answers. The figure stepped into the light, "Who I am is of no concern to you Scotsman, I only matter to young Lexie here." He knelt down as he spoke, placing a hand on Lexie's face. She flinched when it touched her skin. "I told you didn't I Lexie, you could run but you couldn't hide. Not from me. You may have escaped me once but I assure you, that will not happen again." Scotty watched on in anger, he could hear Lexie whimpering. It was clear that she wasn't just afraid, she was terrified. Despite being scared, Lexie plucked up enough courage to talk back, "If you think I'm gonna just sit here and allow you to hurt me again, you need a reality check." Suddenly Kyle smacked her around the face, with such for she fell over. "That will teach you to talk back to me. Do it again and I'll leave another reminder and I will make it much more painful." Kyle yelled; Scotty clenched his fists. If his hands weren't restrained he would have lunged for the man some time ago. Lexie was trying to sit back up when Kyle kicked her in the stomach, smack bang where her scar was. A searing pain burned across her abdomen; tears poured down her face as she cried out in pain. Scotty felt awful since he was powerless to stop it, so he just had to watch on.
Kyle soon seemed to grow tired of watching Lexie huddled up in pain on the floor, since he had walked off. Scotty could clearly hear Lexie whimpering quietly in agony. Somehow, Scotty managed to get himself to his feet by shuffling up the wall and hurried over to Lexie, well more like he stumbled over, since he was still a little stunned from that phaser blast he had been subjected too. She was still awake when he got to her which was a good sign, so Scotty slid down the wall next to her. Lexie instinctively curled back up, "It's alright Lexie, it's Scotty." Lexie uncurled herself and looked up at him, managing a tiny smile. "Lexie, who was that man?" He asked. Lexie sat herself up slowly, "That was my father's brother…" She whimpered, clearly not too comfortable with admitting that; Scotty just stared. "You mean, that monster is your uncle." Lexie nodded slowly. "When my family died, it was discovered that my only living relative was my father's brother who was living in Ohio. Since I was so young he gained custody of me and became my legal guardian, within a couple of days I moved to the States, it started almost instantly after that." She stated, Scotty still couldn't believe that her own uncle was the man who just hit her, let alone just kidnapped not only her but him too, but he was confused as to what the last part meant. "What do you mean by the last part?" Lexie sighed before answering, "As soon as I moved in he began to abuse me, both physically and emotionally. But it only got worse as I grew older, since I would stand up to him more." Lexie was slowly starting to cry.
"How long did this go on for?" Asked Scotty, trying not to sound too insensitive. "For almost ten years, the last time was when I was fifteen, just before I left for the Academy." She replied, Scotty asked what he did. Lexie sniffled several times but she continued. "He… He stabbed me with a kitchen knife." She whimpered again, not only in fear but because her scar was starting to burn again; Scotty just stared. "So that scar?" Lexie cut him off, "Yes, that scar is a result of his abuse and it serves as a permanent reminder of the years of hell I lived through at his hands." Lexie then dropped her head onto Scotty's shoulder, "I'm scared Scotty! I'm scared he's going to try and kill me again! Just like that day!" She cried, all Scotty wanted to do was to wrap his arms around her, but since he couldn't do that, he just rested his head against Lexie's. "I know you're scared Lexie; I'm going to get you out of here. I promise." He said reassuringly, "And I can guarantee that the Enterprise is already aware that we're gone and are trying to find us. Believe me, Kirk doesn't take too kindly to members of his crew getting kidnapped, especially if they're his close friends." Lexie didn't speak, she just continued to cry. That was understandable in the current situation, so Scotty tried his best to comfort her by telling her it was going to be alright. He wasn't too sure himself how true that was, but knew that having hope was the best thing to have in these times.
It had been almost three hours since Scotty and Lexie were kidnapped from onboard the Enterprise and Kirk was growing more and more concerned with each second that passed by. Why would someone want to kidnap two Engineers? Who had he ticked off recently who would plan their revenge by doing this? There were so many more questions swimming around in Kirk's mind, but he didn't have the answers for them. He was then snapped out of his thoughts by someone calling him. "Captain?" The voice said, when he was finally back in reality Kirk found out it was Spock who had been trying to get his attention. "Yes Spock, what is it? Did you find something?" Kirk asked quickly, Spock didn't waste any time. "We have discovered that there was an Engineer working in the same section of Engineering at the time of the kidnapping." Kirk's eyes lit up almost instantly, "Brilliant Spock, where are they?" Spock raised his eyebrow ever so slightly. "The Engineer in question isn't aboard the Enterprise Captain, it would appear that he was the one who we saw assisting in Mr Scott's and Lieutenant Smith's kidnapping." Kirk slammed his fist down on the arm of his chair. "Who was this Engineer?" He asked, "Their name was Alex Simmons, however Captain there is something strange about this officer." Spock stated. Kirk lent forward in his chair. "Explain?" He ordered; it was then the Vulcan handed him a PADD.
"I checked with Star Fleet records Captain, according to them there is no Officer under that name even in Star Fleet. Which leads me to only one logical explanation." Kirk knew where he was going with this, but he let the Vulcan explain. "This 'Alex Simmons' somehow snuck onboard the Enterprise when our mission first started under a fake name, however with the help of the Star Fleet data base and some intervention from Mr Chekov, I believe we have found out who he really is." Kirk flicked his eyes over to Chekov and gave him a small smile before turning his eyes back to his First Officer. "Then who is this man Spock?" He questioned as he glanced down at the PADD as the Vulcan answered. "He's true identity is Shawn Johnson. According to Star Fleet files he was once an Engineer, however was dismiss several years ago for reasons not stated. After that he hadn't been seen, until now of course." Kirk bolted out of his chair in anger, "You're telling me that we've had an Officer onboard this ship for over three months under a fake name and it didn't raise any flags!?" He cried angrily; Spock just nodded calmly. Kirk knew that getting worked up wasn't going to help them, so he sat back in the command chair and calmed himself. "Do we have any leads?" He asked to no one in particular. "Yes Sir. We have detected a faint warp signature from another vessel." Chekov announced. "Follow it, my guess is that Scotty and Lexie are on that ship since there ain't no planets close by." Kirk ordered; the Navigator nodded as he turned back to his station to plot a course.
Over the course of the last three hours Kyle would come in and drag Lexie away. Scotty didn't know where he was taking her, all he knew was when he brought her back, Lexie looked more beat up than she did before she was dragged away. Scotty had wanted to stop him every single time, however he didn't want to give Kyle an excuse to hurt Lexie any more than he already had. The last time Lexie was brought back Kyle was basically dragging her, he threw her onto the ground as if she was just an object. But it was also the only time that he had spoken, "I will break you, I'll make sure of that." Scotty didn't know what he meant and he honestly couldn't care. He was more concerned about Lexie, she seemed to be the focus of Kyle's attention since he hadn't laid a finger on Scotty since he had woken up, but he would happily take Lexie's place and suffer at his hands instead of her. Scotty had waited until Kyle had left before stumbling over to Lexie, to make sure she was alright. This time around he noticed that her hands were no longer bound behind her back, either she had somehow managed to free them herself or Kyle had released them for some reason only know to him. "Lexie, how ya holding up?" Scotty asked as he watched her slowly get to her knees, "I'm doing alright with all things considered Scotty, here let me untie your hands." She replied with a small smile as she moved around to Scotty's back, "How did you free your hands?" He asked as he slowly felt the ropes loosen around his wrists.
"I didn't do it, Kyle did." Lexie replied as she tossed the rope off to the side, Scotty rubbed his wrists gratefully. He thanked Lexie for freeing him, "Are you alright? He hasn't hurt you has he?" Lexie exclaimed quickly; Scotty placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm fine lassie, he hasn't touched me. Not yet anyway." Lexie was relieved that he hadn't hurt the Scotsman, because if he had she vowed to make him pay. Helping her to stand, the two of them walked over to the wall and sat down against it. Just then Scotty noticed someone walking around the room, as they walked into the light it revealed that they were wearing a red Star Fleet uniform. Slowly the two of them got to their feet, "Alex! Why would you do this?" Scotty yelled upon realising who it was, the man laughed. "Firstly, the names Shawn, not Alex. Secondly, why not? I got paid a lot to keep an eye on the girl while she was aboard the Enterprise. It was so easy to sneak my way onto the ship, who would question an Engineer Ensign. It's a shame that my original plan failed to get rid of you, like the boss asked." Scotty blinked his eyes in confusion, "What do you mean?" Shawn made his way over to them. Scotty stood in front of Lexie, to protect her. His eyes burning with rage. "Have you really forgotten? I'm talking about the time the pair of you almost drowned tragically in that water tank. Do you really believe that was an accident?" Scotty's softened, "You mean to say that…" He didn't get to finish his sentence before Shawn interjected, "Yes, I did that." Lexie and Scotty exchanged a look of horror, before staring back at the rogue Officer.