Olivia cheered as the panel she'd spent the last hour and a half reconfiguring flared to life. She exchanged high fives with the young ensign, Chekov if memory served her right, and smiled. Her face was dirty from the sweat and grime mixture. Her shoulders were sore from having to be bunched together down in the crawl space. The long hours had spread a dull pain in her joints that, when stretched, increased the pain ten fold. The limp to her walk was apparent, signaling a need to visit sickbay. Olivia's eyes narrowed as her vision swam slightly out of focus from exhaustion. She'd been working nonstop since 0800 yesterday, twenty-four hours ago according to her watch. Erin was going to be pissed at her for missing lunch and dinner but if that's what it took to get the ship operational again, she really didn't care.

She'd limped back to her quarters where she had her quarters replicate some soup. She ate the meal in silence. Olivia knew avoiding him wasn't the answer but she was too damn stubborn to face him after what he'd done to her. McCoy had tried every excuse in the book, including denying he'd been there. When she asked where he'd been, the bastard had the nerve to tell her he didn't remember. Didn't remember, her ass. If he didn't want to tell her fine, let him be miserable without her. She slammed the empty bowl onto the table and pushed it away from her. Her legs could barely hold her weight as she stood and stumbled over to the bed.

Olivia fell forward, climbing toward the multitude of soft and fluffy pillows. Her pounding head rested on two of them. For several moments, Olivia allowed the anger to enter her. Still, even after all these years, the anger never sat right with her. It didn't matter how hard she tried to be angry. Every time Olivia closed her eyes, she remembered the night when she heard that bitch call out his name. Yet, she couldn't stay angry. A part of her, the hopeless romantic that wished none of that had happened, wanted to throw herself back into his arms and apologize for ignoring him. Thank goodness for her sensible side. She knew what she heard; there was no doubt in her mind.

Since the incident, as she had nicknamed it, Olivia hadn't developed a relationship with anyone else. Mindless sex was good enough for her. While Erin approved of the guys she drug back to her room while on shore leave, she found every opportunity to chastise her for not seeking a relationship. Olivia scoffed; like that sex addict had any room to talk. Erin and Hallon's number of one-night escapades combined was more than three times her short twenty-nine years of age. Her lips formed into a smile against the pillows at the thought, yawning as sleep began to pull her into unconsciousness.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

The pounding at the door elicited an irritated groan from the chief engineer. Why? Why was it that anytime Olivia was about to go to sleep, someone always HAD to have something? Her mind flashed through the list of sorry suckers that could be calling for her after her shift was already done. Olivia groaned and punched the pillow closest to her. It didn't matter who had decided to try to wake her, they'd be getting an earful, maybe a slap if it was Erin or Hallon.

"Who is it?" She called out.

Don't you sound like a bucket of sunshine.

She grumbled. It was Hallon's voice. "Enter." The doors whooshed open and shut softly. Hallon's light footsteps took him to the edge of the bed where he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You should know better than to wake me when I'm off duty."

"I thought you should know that our warp engines are back online. You and that Scottish hunk know how to work a machine."

Olivia raised an eyebrow, her voice edging toward anger. "You woke me for that?"

Hallon's smile widened. "I also have a message from Jackson. Look…Liv…I still don't understand. I come back to find Erin dying of laughter, claiming you punched the other ship's medical officer right in the jaw. I didn't think you could hurt a fly."

Her cheeks flared with heat. Truthfully she didn't think she'd be capable of such violence. Hallon's hand brushed the hair out of her face so they could both see each other. His playful smirk was gone, replaced by a concerned frown and furrowed brow.

"What happened, luv?"

That's when the tears came, hard and fast and unmercifully. Hallon pulled the shaking Olivia into his strong embrace, almost on the verge of tears himself. Being omnisexual had made him very in touch with his emotions. Of course being on a ship where men made up only a third of the crew hadn't helped. Nature had a sick sense of humor when the female crewmembers' biological clocks began to synchronize. He'd rather be eaten alive by the sandworms on Xenalanos II or have his insides boiled from exposure to a solar flare than stay on the ship with one hundred crazed, emotional human females for that one oh so special week.

Olivia cried like she'd always wanted to but had never allowed herself to. She muttered unintelligible curses into Hallon's shirt, pounding his chest with clenched fists. The moment passed and Olivia was left to simply let the tears fall. Her breathing was slowing but her pulse remained high. Hallon stroked her hair and held her close. When she was ready to talk, she'd talk. The thing he admired about Olivia was her ability to keep hold of the situation when every one else panicked. This time she needed someone to hold onto while she lost it, which Hallon was happy to oblige.

"Leo, er, Doctor McCoy and I were involved for six months at the Academy. I had a rival there. Sarah McKinley. I went down to the dorms to surprise him and when I got there, I opened the door." She could practically see herself reliving the situation within her mind. The smell of sex and beer hung flared in her nose. "I could hear voices, a man and a woman. I immediately recognized McKinley's voice when she…she…" her voice cracked. Hallon opened his mouth to say something but Olivia quickly shushed him. "…when she screamed his name."

"Oh, honey…"

"I ran back to my room and told Erin everything."

"Did you talk to him about it?"

"About a week later I got the courage to stop avoiding him. I asked him about that night and he said he wasn't at the dorms. I asked him where he was and he said he didn't remember. Kirk didn't remember that night either."

"That's a little too convenient."

"Ya think? I said I didn't believe him and he had the gall to get angry at me. Neither of us spoke to each other ever since. I really shouldn't have been surprised. It's not like I'm good in bed anyway. Before Doctor McCoy there's only been two other men and both of them dumped me to be with another man. McCoy fixed my broken heart. I was so happy. Why does it hurt, Hallon? Why does it hurt to remember being so god damn happy?"

Hallon swallowed the emotion building in his throat. Had Olivia not been holding his shirt with a death grip, he'd have ran and smashed the bastard's head in with the closest heavy object he could lift. As it was, he was cradling Olivia as she dissolved into a hysterical wreck and began sobbing uncontrollably.

"The worst part…the worst part, Hallon, is," her voice squeaked.

"You love him."

Olivia nodded and broke down ever further. "My heart…." Olivia finished the sentence in a voice too high pitched for even dogs to hear. "It hurts so much."

"I know."

"It's not fair. It's not fair. Goddamnit, it's not fair. What the hell did I do wrong, Hallon?"

"He's an idiot for doing that to you. I'm only glad you didn't see it."

"Oh yeah, cause hearing it is so much better."

They laid there for five minutes until Olivia had calmed down. The tears were gone and her breathing was back under control. Hallon handed her the entire box of tissues, both for her and himself.

"You said you had a message for me?"

"Captain Jackson wants to speak with you when you have a chance."

Olivia sat up, wiping away the tears from her jaw and cheeks. Her hands rifled her already messed up hair. Sighing, she crossed the room and pulled on a clean uniform.

"I'm sure he'll understand if you report to him in the morning."

"Really, Hallon, I'll be fine. We still on for tomorrow?" He nodded. "Good. At least something's gone right."

Captain Jackson was pulling up old reports when Olivia reached his quarters. She pressed the call button, which was met with a slightly fatigued 'Enter'. The door opened and Jackson immediately noticed the tear trails on her face.

"This can wait until morning."

"It's alright, Captain."

"Please, have a seat." Olivia nodded and sat with crossed legs in the chair directly across her captain who watched her with wary gray eyes. "Do you want to tell me what happened in sickbay?"

"I assure you it won't interfere with our dealings with the Enterprise."

Jackson's brow furrowed. He'd accept the answer for now. He stretched his arms above his head leaned back into the chair. The informal posture had a calming affect on Olivia. Her shoulders lowered slightly while she released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"Then this news won't be as bad as I thought."

"What news?"

"You remember that Starfleet has instructed us to retrieve the research team?" Olivia didn't nod but Jackson continued. "They've sent new orders. The Enterprise is to aid in any way they can with our mission. They'll be tagging along with us."

"With all due respect, we don't need their help."

"Is that the engineer talking or Olivia?" Her silence reassured his suspicions. "Again, I ask you…do you want to tell me what happened? Before you answer, know that I probably will make it an order."

"Please sir, don't. I'll be fine with them sticking around. Their Engineering Officer is quite brilliant. With him and the others, we should have everything repaired in a couple of days."

"Excellent, Lieutenant Gellar. Dismissed and for God's sake get some sleep. Can't have my Chief Engineering Officer passing out from exhaustion, now can I?"

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"There she is, sir. Zontolar III."

Jackson leaned forward. "Are you seeing this, Captain Kirk?"

Yes I am. She's beautiful. It's a shame they're prewarp, but you say they've encountered Starfleet vessels before?

"Yes. That's the only way Starfleet got a research team down there. They probably became too busy with a strange looking rock and forgot to answer our calls. In any case, we need to find out what happened to them. Emperor Zolaff is waiting for us down on the surface. Did you get the coordinates we sent you for the landing site?"

Loud and clear. I'll see down there, captain.

Jackson smiled and stood. "Hallon, you're in charge until I get back."

Hallon smiled playfully as he took the captain's chair. "Good luck, sir."

"Thanks." He headed into the turbo lift and walked briskly toward the transporter room. Erin and Olivia were waiting for him, already on the transporter pad and looking quite impatient.

"About time," Olivia scoffed.

"Yeah, we were about to tell declare a mutiny. Who wants to work for a captain that's late?"

Jackson laughed as he joined the girls on the pad. "Energize."

A bright light flared around them. When it died away, the three were greeted with the image of a desert. Normally they would be alone. This time, however, two groups were waiting for them. The first group of which there was three consisted of the Enterprise's captain, engineer and…her face froze. The agreement had been to send down an engineer and medical officer, so Olivia wasn't surprised to see Doctor McCoy standing with Scotty and Kirk. A low pain twisted in her ribs when their gazes met.

"It is nice for you to join us, Captain Jackson." The dry, official voice brought Olivia back to reality. Her eyes left McCoy for Emperor Zolaff. The man was around three hundred years old, ninety in Earth years. His hair, what was left of it, was gray like a sky during a storm. Dark purple eyes surveyed the group of six with a stern stone-faced expression. "Please accompany us," he indicated to the guards by his side, "to my humble home and we'll discuss the matter at hand."

Olivia had to suppress a laugh when he mentioned his home being 'humble'. The place was grandiose even by human standards. But apparently their ancestors had been even more lavish and wasted no expense to ensure their being comfortable. The palace was five stories and reminded Olivia of an Ancient Chinese design. They walked inside and were guided to an ornate room Olivia remembered as their council room. Six other individuals were already there, looking just as emotionless as their Emperor. Funny, the first time they met these people, Olivia was reminded of the Vulcans. Except, unlike the pointy-eared sacks of logic, this race showed emotion on occasion.

The council rose and waited for them to take their seats. Once everyone was settled, Emperor Zolaff allowed a small smile.

"Captain Jackson. What is it this council can do for you?"

Jackson kept his head bowed. "Your graces, the research team we sent about six months ago to your planet…"

"Yes, we remember them." Olivia caught the disdain hovering in Zolaff's voice.

"We have lost contact with them."

"We know this."

Kirk was the next to speak. "How?"

Zolaff narrowed his eyes. "Forgive us but we don't know three of your party. Rise and introduce yourselves."

Kirk rose first. "Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise."

Scotty next. "Chief Engineer Officer Montgomery Scott of the starship Enterprise."

Olivia bit her lip when McCoy rose. "Chief Medical Officer Doctor Leonard McCoy of the starship Enterprise."

"On behalf of my crew and . . ."

Zolaff raised a hand. "You will sit."

Kirk looked slightly taken aback but bowed his head and returned to his seat as did the other two.

"Captain Jackson. You assured us they would be no trouble."

Jackson looked confused. "They have caused trouble?"

"One of the females. I believe you call her Sarah McKinley. She had relations with a young man who was betrothed. Such behavior would have been ignored had she and the others left our history records alone. They found a legend and were warned to keep out of it. This Sarah persisted and found where the ancient, sacred caves are." Olivia rolled her eyes. Relations with a man who was betrothed. Sounded like Sarah all right. "Your research team was drawn to these caves and used violent means to enter them."

Captain Jackson and Kirk looked confused. The research team knew how important relations with this society were. Even if they didn't, they sure as hell knew to respect the practices of other cultures. Something was not right here.

"I offer my sincerest apologies."

A councilwoman looked down her nose at the earthlings. "Your apologies will not have changed anything."

"Then let us at least beam them out."

"It is impossible," the same councilwoman said while pushing back her graying hair. "The composition of the cave makes it impossible for anything to come in or out."

"With all due respect, how would you know?"

"Lieutenant," Jackson hissed.

"Your engineer? A female?"

"Yes, Emperor Zolaff."

Zolaff's gaze scanned the others, looking for god knows what. He blinked twice, slowly, and released a sigh. "We will discuss your offer. In the meantime, you will be escorted to guest quarters."

Olivia opened her mouth to argue when Erin gave a soft kick to her ankle. Everyone rose and bowed as the council members and Emperor Zolaff left the room.

"Lieutenant Gellar."

Olivia gulped, knowing she had it coming. "My apologies, sir."

"Are you emotionally compromised for this mission?"

"No, sir."

He advanced with his captain's face chiseled into his hard features. "Then don't say another word next time. One wrong move and we lose the chance to get the research team back. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly." Olivia's eyes shut once Jackson had pushed past her. Red-hot embarrassment flooded her cheeks. Grumbling she turned and was faced with a very concerned Erin. Every one else had left the room. Good. Olivia was glad McCoy hadn't seen the little show.

"We better hurry. They're waiting."

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It took the council six hours to reach a decision. There was no word from either ship as the council didn't allow communicators in with them and they couldn't leave. Both of the captains were pacing the floor while Erin and Olivia were sitting by a window, watching the sun's rays go down behind the mountainside. Bright orange beams of light stretch out over the town below, powering down for the long night (twelve Earth hours on this world). Scotty and McCoy are watching the captains pacing, the first with amusement, and the second with annoyance.

"Goddamnit Jim, I'm a doctor not a tennis fan. Will you stop that?"

"It helps me think. What could possibly be taking this long? Seems to me they're stalling for something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know…something."

Jackson looked out the window. "We need to get them out of there. I only—"

Just then the doors opened and Zolaff stood with his personal guard on either side of him.

"The council is ready to give their answer."

Olivia fell into place behind Captain Jackson while the Enterprise crew was behind Erin, excluding Captain Kirk who walked by Jackson's side. They were led back to the council room and made to observe all of their ridiculous rituals yet again. Annoyed and short on patience, Olivia sat next to Erin.

Zolaff rose. "We will speak to the leader."

Captain Kirk and Jackson rose. "We are both captains of our vessels."

A councilman, the youngest of the bunch but still elderly by Earth standards, glared at the remaining four. "You will leave while we discuss."

Olivia wanted so desperately to say something in their defense. Surely anything that could be disclosed to the captains could be disclosed to them. Ok, that was not exactly true but still, this was beyond frustrating. Olivia reminded herself to keep her head. She wasn't young anymore or at the Academy where to speak your mind was somewhat accepted. Being here in the far reaches of space meant that she had to watch what she said. She took in an even, deep breath and felt ten times better. Back in the waiting room, the four played the waiting game once again.

Two hours later, Kirk and Jackson entered. McCoy was the first to stand.

"Well? What's so damn classified they couldn't tell us?"

"We tried our best to negotiate. They wanted to execute us. With a little diplomacy, we convinced them that if they let us get our research team to safety, they'd never hear from us again. The planet would be blacklisted."

Kirk sighed. "There's only one problem. They won't let us choose who goes into the caves. That's part of the deal."

Erin raised an eyebrow. "Did they choose?"

McCoy noticed Kirk's gaze flicker to the other ship's doctor. "Yes, they did. Can't say I'm disappointed with their choice."

Olivia looked between all of them. "Well? Who is it?"

"They choose you and Dr. McCoy."

Both of the people in question allowed their eyes to widen before concealing the emotion bubbling to the surface. Olivia shook her head.

"We don't know the first thing about those caves."

"They're going to give you both a briefing. Captain Jackson informs me that Lieutenant Gellar is a fine engineer and can fix equipment while Bones is one hell of a surgeon. If anyone is hurt, he can fix them up before you head back. Their reasoning was quite logical."

McCoy scowled. "Don't talk like that green blooded hobgoblin."

Captain Jackson advanced on Olivia, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I can see your anger, but I can't change this."

"I understand, sir."

"Good. The guards will be coming any moment."

Olivia turned to Erin and said her goodbyes to her and the captain just as the doors were pushed in. Three burly guards twice McCoy's size stood cramped in the doorway with weapons held tightly to their sides. They looked first to Olivia and then McCoy.

"You will come with us. Others will return to space."

Olivia kept her head held high while the guards took them in one big massive set of concentric circles. By the end of it, her ankles were killing her. Couldn't they have made the boots more comfortable to walk in? Still at least the situation couldn't be worse…oh wait, it was. Being stuck here with McCoy wasn't ideal in the least bit.

The guard dropped them off in an empty bedroom chamber. Olivia took the seat by the window while McCoy stretched out on the bed. Olivia bit her lip and dared a glance at McCoy sprawled out with his eyes closed. His scowl was just as she remembered and stirred up feelings Olivia had thought long forgotten.

McCoy did not like this situation one bit. He was a doctor, damnit. How the hell was he supposed to be able to stumble through a set of caves and rescue the idiots who dared go in there in the first place. AND….to make matters worse, he was going to have to spend the time holed up with Olivia. She was just as beautiful as he remembered her. To be honest, he wasn't shocked by the punch she'd given him. After a week of avoiding him, she comes up to him and accuses him of cheating on her. The whole night was a mess of stress and alcohol…he just couldn't remember what happened. But, he'd put his medical license on the line and swear he didn't cheat on Olivia. She claimed to have heard whatever her name was call out his name during sex. There were angry words shared and neither of them had spoken since. He knew he was supposed to be angry but something inside him still stirred when her gaze fell on him. He sighed…this was going to be a LONG mission.

Olivia couldn't have agreed more with the above statement. The thought of being alone with him in a closed, confined space was enough to be driving her mad. Fortunately she still had the good sense to keep her frustration from breaking through to her face. Her hands clasped themselves behind her back. Whatever it took…no matter how hard the challenge…Olivia would endure. She didn't care if he showed up shirtless and with that ruffled up hair and wild hazel eyes that were burned into her memory. The thought made a small smile twitch at the corners of her lips. Furrowing her brow in pain, she placed her thumb and forefinger to the bridge of her nose, biting her lip and giving a soft sigh.

Dear God, I'm pathetic aren't I?

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Author's Note: Hey guys!! So I totally thought I'd be ready for constructive criticism and could bounce right back from it. Well, first time being wrong really, really sucks. I was completely shocked, though some of the person's points were true I'll admit,when I received a 12 paragraph review on Drowning in Darkness detailing everything wrong about my story. I may be overreacting but I really didn't know how else to react but seriously consider deleting the story. As I was writing this recent chapter for this story, I started doubting every word I wrote. I finally decided to post this chapter because I finally realized there's nothing I can do to please everyone. All I can do is write my best and use my own judgment calls. I'll win some and lose some. Anyway, you probably don't want to hear my ranting so I'll continue on…

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A big thankx to all my reviewers: thebloodrose, LaFemmeQuiRit, CaffeineKid, Steff7, The Psycho Pyro, and sunny9847. YAY for reviewers!!!! You guys can cure a rainy day….or days that I now deem EPICALLY UNFAIR!!!!

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Anyway, I really hope you guys are enjoying this. If at any point you see Olivia becoming one sided, or Mary Sue-ish, please give me a virtual smack alongside my head and I'll find a way to change her.

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-Trekky17