Title: Uninvited Guests

Genre: Drama
Author: Phoenix Fangor
Summary: Destiny drops out of FTL and an incoming wormhole raises a number of questions for her crew.
Pairings: Rush/OC
Rating: T

A big thank you to my beta readers TheSoliloquy and Anne McSommers.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides the plot, and Callista.

It was a matter of a few minutes before Doctors Rush and Young were back on their own Destiny.

Callista smiled and greeted everyone who wished it of her and Colonel Young made a speech in the mess hall. She knew she should be grateful, but she felt detached. She slipped out early, hoping no one would notice. She fell upon her bed with a "whump", and fell asleep.

She woke up a few hours later, long after everyone had gone to bed. She walked quietly down to the command center. There sat Doctor Rush, fast asleep, hunched over the consoles. She placed a hand gently on his shoulder and shook him a little, "Doctor Rush?"

"Callie?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.
"I think you should go to bed."
"I was just resting my eyes."
"Liar."
"Thank you for waking me, now I can get back to work. You should help me."
"I should send you to bed, but I don't care to argue. What were you working on?"

She moved to the console next to him.

"The medical bay, the real one, it's not far from the gate room, but it's in need of repairs to the equipment."

"Why do we need a medical bay?" She turned to face him, and he did the same.

"Callista, Lass, you almost died. You needed a blood transfusion, one you very nearly did not receive. Without knowing that your blood type is O, they were quite at odds with what to do. If Colonel Young had not given you a transfusion, you would not be standing here. We need better facilities, and quickly."

"No, they would have given me a transfusion from the Colonel anyways, because type O is the universal donor." She held him by the shoulders and said, "Go get some sleep. You're no good to anyone if you're exhausted," she pleaded.

He shook his head, looking at nothing in particular, and especially not her, "I can't. I wouldn't be able to sleep anyways." He rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck a bit. "See, all better! Thank you for waking me from my nap," he smiled at her, but his expression faltered when he looked at her; her eyes were misty and bloodshot, her shoulders were slumped. He took her hand in his own, and she was shaking. He checked her pulse and it was weak. "Callie, you're shaking. You should sit down, maybe even lie down." He guided her over to the bench seat on the wall, and sat down next to her. She rested her back against the wall for a moment, and then shifted and rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes closed.

"Callie? Are you going to pass out?"

"I'm okay..." she mumbled.

"You don't sound okay."

She sighed and embraced him, and she cried. "This isn't like me..." she sobbed.

"Being upset that someone hurt you, that someone used you? No, that's very like you." He held her close, consoling her as best as he could.

"I feel a sense of loss..." she said, confused by the emotion.

"That's more natural than you know," he said listlessly.

After a while, Callie had cried herself to sleep on Doctor Rush's shoulder. He didn't dare try to carry her; he hadn't the strength, of which he was regretting just then.

"Callie," he whispered. She stirred, and looked up at him, her eyes still swollen and puffy.

"I must have fallen asleep... I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for, nothing at all. However, you should be getting to bed."

"And what about you?"

"I will be turning in as well," he said with a small smile.

Callie stood up, sniffling a bit. She yawned, and said, "Good night Doctor Rush. And thank you."

"Good night, Callie."

Callie awoke to someone shaking her shoulder, "Callie? Are you alright? Wake up, Callie."

She grunted in reply and shook off her unwanted guest.

"Callie, talk to me," Lt. Johansen said.

"I'm fine. Can I go back to sleep?" she mumbled.

"Are you sure? It's nearly noon."

Callie bolted upright, throwing off the covers. "What?" she squeaked.

"I said it's nearly noon," Lt. Johansen said with some amusement, as Callie took to making her bed. "Now, Callie, Doctor Rush informed me about what happened in the alternate reality."

"What? He did what?"

"When you didn't show up this morning, he was concerned."

"That's not his place!" she said vehemently. She flushed red, and stared daggers at T.J., but then her expression shifted to one of horror, "Who else knows?" she asked quietly.
Lt. Johansen took a breath and paused for a moment. "I'm required to inform Colonel Young about medical issues like this."

"You haven't yet?" she asked hopefully.

"Not yet, no," Lt. Johansen assured her.

"Let me tell him, please."

"Alright, but you have to tell him today."

Callista and Tamara exchanged a long look, and Callie nodded. A range of emotions crossed her face as she stood there, staring at Lt. Johansen. "What do I do now?" she asked quietly.

"You talk to Colonel Young. It's his job to handle situations like this. And then you talk to someone about how you're feeling. You can talk to me if you need to. You could talk to Doctor Rush if you want to. Maybe you could talk to your aunt, or Colonel Young if you want."

"Talking sounds like a good idea, I guess."

"Come on then. Lunch is just starting," Lt. Johansen said, tossing a presumably clean tee-shirt at Callista.

As the door shut behind the lieutenant, Callista said, "Save me a seat!"

Callie hurried to catch up with T.J. but was stopped by someone calling her name.

"Callie?"

"Colonel Young?" she turned to see he was walking towards her.

"You slept in awfully late."

"Can we talk about this another time? I'm just about to eat lunch…"

"No, I just read Doctor Rush's report. We should talk now."

"Doctor Rush's report? He wrote a report? Since when does he write reports?"

"Callista… you can be angry at him later. Right now we need to handle this situation."

"That's your job. My job is to go eat, and then go assist Doctor Rush."

"Callie. I need to get some facts straight. Stop being so difficult! I'm on your side!"

He took her by the arm and tugged her into the nearest empty room. He shut the door behind them, and then faced Callie, gently holding her by the shoulders.

"Do not lie to me, Callista. Have you had any sort of sexual relationship while on this ship?"

"No."

"Not even with Doctor Rush?"

"While my relationship with Doctor Rush may be at times romantic, and admittedly unprofessional, it is not sexual in nature."

"Has anyone has sexual intercourse with you against your will that you can recall?"

"No."

"Then it was probably the communication stones—"

"Probably!"

"Callie, listen. We can't start pointing fingers just yet. We do this right, we get the facts, and we'll end this game of cat and mouse. But if we run to command and start pointing fingers and we are wrong, we bring way more trouble on ourselves than you'd imagine. I need you to talk to Wray."

"Wray? You never want anyone to talk to Wray."

"Getting the IOA involved isn't ideal, but I'm too involved with this. We need to do this by the book."

"You don't want egg on your face!"

"I have enough dirt of my own, Callista! I can't have my indiscretions mucking this up! You deserve better than to be dragged through the mud. I'm trying to help you avoid that."

She sighed, looking away. "Fine, I'll talk to Wray."

"Answer all her questions; all of them. Don't worry about anyone but yourself." He let her go, and opened the door.

She nodded curtly and they parted ways.