DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS OR PLOT/SUBPLOTS YOU MAY RECOGNIZE. IZZY IS MINE, AS ARE RAYNE AND SIERRA.

Chapter Seven

"She's what?" Bones asked, dumbstruck.

"In heat," Rayne replied. "And this quirk can't be blamed on the Klingons."

"Then what is it?" Jim asked.

"It's a direct side-effect of her pyrokinesis," Rayne said.

"How does her pyrokinesis land her in heat?" Bones asked.

"She can create and control fire," she said. "If powers such as ours didn't have nasty drawbacks, we'd have taken over the universe long ago. Has she told you about Sierra?" She waited until both men nodded before continuing. "Whenever she would have a vision, it was physically impossible for her to lie about it. Even my abilities have their issues. I can't block out any kind of inner voice, even if I don't understand the language one is thinking in. If I focus on a certain person, the rest of them are muffled, but still there. With Izzy, she goes into heat. One thing most people don't realize is that all creatures are born of one of the six basic elements; earth, air, water, fire, light, and dark. Humans are generally born of the dark, with the exception of those like Izzy, who are born of whichever element they come to control. Izzy was born of fire. Those of us humans that were born of an element other than dark tend to share traits with other creatures born of that element. Izzy shares certain traits with cats, who were also born of fire. If any of you have ever seen her fight, you'd understand a bit of what I'm talking about."

"So," Bones said before the telepath could jump to another tangent, "she jumped me because she's in heat, and I just happened to check in on her?"

"Pretty much," Rayne said with a smirk, "though I'm sure there's more to it than that."

"What do you mean?" Jim asked. Rayne guffawed.

"I'm her best friend," she said. "Why would I tell you something like that?"

"How about something I'm pretty sure you can answer," Bones said. "Why is it in her file as dracorian mumps?"

"She's extremely paranoid," Rayne said, "though not without reason. She's afraid someone would read that and take advantage of her situation. It didn't come into being until about a year before Starfleet rescued us, but that one month of the last year was worse for her than the first two years put together."

"Did the Klingons…?" Jim asked, too disgusted at the thought to finish his question. The two men were both struck dumb when Rayne nodded sadly.

"In all honesty," she said, "I'm surprised she's let the two of you in on as much as she has."

"What do you mean?" Jim asked, while Bones was busy thinking.

"Have you ever heard of PTSD?" she asked. Jim shook his head, and Bones continued to think.

"It's an old, mental disorder, been around for as long as there have been bad people," Rayne said. "PTSD is an acronym for post-traumatic stress disorder. Look it up for more info on it, I've got a class to get to. But you two be sure that no one, and I mean no one, under any circumstances, is to enter her rooms. Or even speak to her through the door, for that matter. For her safety, and that of anyone that tries."

With a nod, she cut off the transmission. Jim turned to Bones, who still seemed to be lost in thought.

"Well that was… educational," he said.

"What?" Bones said. "Oh, yeah. Interesting."

"Hard to believe, too," Jim said.

"Not really," Bones said. Jim looked at him, and he continued. "She explained everything, and it made perfect sense to me. Though she did tend to ramble."

"You noticed that too?" Jim asked. "I was wondering if maybe I just haven't listened to any lectures recently."

"No, she was a rambler," Bones said. "But that may have been just another drawback of hers. She's a mind reader, remember? She's probably used to listening to long, drawn out ramblings."

"So what are we going to do about Izzy?" Jim asked, returning to the topic at hand.

"Leave her be, maybe?" Bones said. "Post a 'do not disturb' sign on her door? Other than that, I don't think there's anything else we can do?" Jim nodded, but another question came to his mind.

"Wait," he said. "What's PTSD?"

"What?"

"PTSD," Jim said. "Rayne brought it up there at the end. Said Izzy had it. What is it?"

"Look it up," Bones said. "And give me some privacy. I've got some thinking to do."

Jim gave his friend a knowing smirk before leaving the quarters. As soon as the door closed, Bones began pacing.

That kiss… that kiss had been almost more than he could take. If she hadn't shredded his shirt the way she had, he probably would've let it lead where she'd been going. And that was a troubling thought. His ex-wife hadn't had that kind of control over him, yet she'd still turned his world upside-down. The thought of Izzy being able to do the same thing, with only a kiss, made him shudder. And yet he knew Izzy was nothing like his ex, even in her current state, or even as Jocelyn had been when they'd first met.

But there seemed to be even more to it than that. If he'd met her on the street, he probably would've asked her out on principle. But they worked together. They'd see each other probably every day for as long as they were both on the same ship. If they did get together, and it went horribly wrong (which, with his luck with the fairer sex, it probably would), there wouldn't be any getting over this one. There would be the constant, daily reminder of what once was, what could've been. No, he was better off just letting it be. They both were.

A/N: Hope you liked it. :P

Live long and prosper.