Oooh boy! I'm getting close to the end of this series, there's going to be 25 chapters, but worry not! I will be doing a sequel!
Alarms were blaring, and Alex paused, huddled in a service hatch just inside of a doorway, her head was pounding, and her heart was racing. Of course- of course she'd be hung over for the first time in two hundred years while all this shit was going down. But that's what he had wanted. This was his plan, and Alex was not going to let him get away with this. She took a deep breath and exhaled, fighting back the wave of nausea that hit her, running her fingers through her hair as she tried to work through how they had gotten to that point.
Kirk looked at Alex, the question hanging in the air and then glanced at Dr. McCoy who looked a little chagrined, the doctor was obviously regretting his canid conversion about Alex's medical results in comparison to Singh's, but it was Spock who spoke up. "There are things you don't know about your old friend," he told her. "We thought it would be best to shield you from this information,"
"Well, I want to know," she replied as she looked at Spock.
"Lieutenant McIvers is the historian," he took a look at the woman who was staring at the door that Singh had left through, then looked at Spock, then to Kirk, who just gave a wary nod.
"After you went to sleep, there was a period of normalcy in your time, before the riots started happening. There was unrest, then complacency, but during that time, there was a lot of experimentation from what we can tell- the records are a little unclear, like Mr. Spock and myself said-"
"What kind of experimentation?" Alex asked as she looked at Lieutenant McIvers.
"Human experimentation," she answered. "There was a lot of testing done to make humans better- more capable of pushing their limits to being something new- something," she faltered for a word for a moment before looking at Alex. "Remarkable."
"So like Super Soldiers?" Alex asked and the other woman nodded. "I never did anything like that- I never had any experiments done on me, I never had anyone do any sort of thing like that," she said as she looked at the men at the table.
"You never did anything like that to your knowledge," Spock replied softly, a hint of something in his voice that sounded almost like pity.
"You think they experimented on me while I was asleep?" she asked as she looked at Spock who stared back at her.
"It would be logical to use someone they didn't intend to wake up as a vessel for experimentation," he pointed out as he put his hand over hers, his fingers curled around her hand and she stared at their hands for a moment before she glanced at Dr. McCoy who gave her a small nod.
"It is something we feel is a possibility," he admitted.
"And you think Singh did that to me? That he experimented on me while I was asleep?"
"When you first woke up," Spock said and she looked back at him. "You asked about a Dr. Sandovol," she thought back to that day, it felt like so long ago, and in reality, it was over a year before. So much had happened since she had woken up, and it would occasionally sneak up on her, realizing how much time had passed, how much had changed. And at the same time, how much all the change was starting to feel normal to her. It really was proof of a human's ability to accept things when they're presented as normal, and as that human's new version of normal.
"I remember," she said softly.
"On the ship we found a Mr. Rudolph Sandovol," he told her and she closed her eyes for a moment.
"He was working with Singh," she said and Spock nodded.
"We believe so," he told her.
"What I don't understand is why?" she looked at Spock again and he stared into her eyes. "Why would Singh know that I was doing the sleep stasis test, why would Dr. Sandovol-" she stopped and then lifted her free hand to her forehead. "Oh," she said softly. "Oh it was never about that was it?"
"We think," Kirk spoke up and she looked over at him, grateful to have his thoughts on the subject. "We think that the test was set up by Kahn, to see if his plan was viable,"
"Of course," she breathed, the realization sinking in that all of this, her entire life now, it was all because of one man who had a plan that he wasn't willing to let her in on, despite part of it at least hinging on her and her involvement. But a nagging question remained. "Why me?" she asked as she looked at her and Spock's hands.
"I believe you answered your own question earlier tonight," Spock told her and she glanced at him and then at Lieutenant McIvers, then back to Spock.
"You think he did all of this, because of his feelings for me?" she asked in disbelief. Lieutenant McIvers bristled slightly at the comment, Alex could see it, but she didn't react, she didn't care, the woman could be jealous all she wanted, it wouldn't change the fact that Alex had never, and especially now would never be interested in him in that way.
"It is a theory," Spock admitted and she stood up. Spock was quick to stand as well, and the other men stood too as she stepped away from the table.
"I need some time," she told them all. "I need to think about this, I need," she looked at Spock, and realized that he hadn't spoken to her about any of this before that night. And he knew, he knew what Kahn was, he knew who he was from the beginning. Suddenly it all made sense and she felt her shoulders stiffen. "I need some time to myself," she said before she turned and walked from the room. The same room she had met Spock's parents in months before.
Alex made her way down the halls of the Enterprise before she found herself outside of a door, and when she looked at the nameplate next to the door she realized that this was what she needed. She knocked on the door and a moment later it swished open and Mindy stared at her, in surprise. "Hey," she said and Alex sighed.
"Can I come in?" she asked and Mindy stepped to the side.
For her credit, she didn't push Alex for answers or to find out what was going on, she just let Alex walk into the room, and after giving her a once over she simply asked. "You want something else to wear?"
"Yeah," Alex said and Mindy went to her bedroom. When she returned she was holding a pair of clothes that Alex gratefully took into the bathroom, when she came out she was wearing the pair of capri pajama shorts and a tank top, and she had the dress hung over her arm, which she laid over the arm of Mindy's couch.
"You want to talk about it?" Mindy asked as she sat on the couch and Alex sat down on the other side of it. Mindy looked so comfortable, curled up on the couch, leaning back against the arm of the couch so she could face Alex who sighed and then turned to face her.
"Are you sure you want to hear about it?" She asked and Mindy nodded.
"Yeah, if you want to tell me about it," she said.
Alex thought about that for a moment, she knew her problems were complex and honestly, just weird, but Mindy was one of the few people she could still call a friend- even after coming back with Thal. So she told her everything, everything from having known Singh in basic training, to what had happened that night; and to her credit, Mindy didn't say anything, even after Alex stopped speaking, Mindy was silent, absorbing the information, mulling on it.
"Did I just lose you as a friend?" Alex asked softly when the other girl made no movement or said anything.
"I'm just thinking," Mindy replied. "I can't imagine how hard this is for you to go through," she told Alex softly. "I mean, you just found out that everything that has happened to you is the result of a centuries old crush, and the guy who had a crush it turns out was one of the most prolific terrorists and would-be dictators of your century,"
"That is a very concise was of summing up the last two centuries," Alex agreed as she looked at Mindy.
"I mean, fuck, I can't even imagine what you're feeling right now. You lost everyone because of this guy because he is a total psycho," Mindy continued and Alex stared at her as the realization of what she said hit her.
It was true. Because of Singh, she had lost everyone, her entire family, all of her friends, she had lost the ability to chose her future because this guy took some shit they had talked about as teenagers to a dangerous level.
The realization of that hit Alex hard, and she felt her chest tighten as tears welled in her eyes.
She had never mourned her life before, she had never mourned what could have been, her family, her friends, seeing her nieces and nephews grow up, parties, get togethers, holidays, maybe even dating and marrying someone, having kids of her own, it was all taken away from her because of Singh.
Her face crumpled and Alex felt the hot tears roll down her face as the weight of what Mindy said overwhelmed her, her shoulders shook and she put her face in her hands as she let out the first sob, her chest ached, her heart broke for her stolen future and Mindy gasped as Alex began to sob into her hands.
"Oh- Oh honey," she sighed as she moved closer to Alex and wrapped her arms around her. Alex wrapped her arms around Mindy's middle, gripping her shirt and crying into her friend's shoulder as Mindy held her close.
It was like a dam had burst, held strong for two hundred years, and now the floodgates were open, and Alex could really truly begin to mourn the life she never had the chance to live.
The next morning Alex woke up in bed with Mindy, the two had stayed up, telling stories, talking about Alex's family, crying, and laughing and mourning together, before they fell into bed sometime late, and slept hard. Alex stared at the ceiling, feeling emotionally raw from the night before, but then looked over when she heard the door to the bathroom open and she sighed when she saw Mindy walking out dressed for work.
"Hey," she said softly and walked over to the bed. She sat on the edge of the bed and reached out, brushing a hand over Alex's hair. "How you feeling?"
"A little raw," Alex admitted as she looked up at Mindy. Sweet, sweet Mindy who spoke in that soft voice and stared at Alex with her bright baby blue eyes. She smiled softly at her friend before she sighed deeply. "You have to go to work?"
"Yeah," Mindy said before biting her lip. "I mean, I can call in if you need me,"
"No," Alex shook her head and sat up. "I'll be okay. I should head back to my room."
"Okay," Mindy agreed. "Well, you just get those clothes back to me whenever,"
"Sounds good," Alex chuckled softly as she ran her hands over her face. "Ugh, how rough do I look?"
"You look like you've been crying," Mindy admitted. "But after the night you had- I don't think anyone in their right mind could blame you,"
"Thanks," Alex said as she got out of bed and then looked at Mindy. "Seriously, thank you. For everything."
"What are friends for?" Mindy asked before smiling at Alex. "I'm off at six, if you want to talk then?" she asked and Alex sighed before turning to face her again.
"I'll let you know how I'm feeling," she said as the two women walked over to the living room. Alex grabbed her clothes and shoes from the night before and walked with Mindy to the door to her quarters before there was a knock on the door. Mindy glanced at Alex and Alex noticed the blush that creeped up on her cheeks. "Who is it?" she asked and Mindy cleared her throat before pushing the button next to the door and letting the door slide open. On the other side of the door stood Thal who looked a little surprised to see Alex there.
"So this is where you ran off to last night," he commented and Alex gave him a questioning look.
"What are you doing-"
"Thal walks me to my station sometimes," Mindy cut Alex's question off quickly and cleared her throat. "Um, you sure you don't need me?"
"I'll be fine," Alex assured Mindy as the two stepped out of her quarters. Mindy looked up at Thal in adoration and Alex realized that she had been so focused on her own insured as of late that she hadn't even realized there was something blossoming between the two, for a moment she felt like a bad friend, but seeing the way the two looked at each other, she smiled softly, watching them walk down the hall of the ship together.
When Alex got back to her and Spock's quarters she opened the door to find the room empty, Spock of course had to work, and so she hung up her dress and took off the pajamas she had borrowed from Mindy and threw them into the laundry with the intention of getting the whole laundry bag to the ship's laundry within the hour. She took a long, hot shower, and scrubbed her body and her face as she thought about the night before. It was hard to really work through all that had happened, and she thought back to everyone's instance that she get therapy while she was on the ship- hell it was a prerequisite to her joining and she had ignored it.
After she got out of the shower, Alex dried off and got dressed, she still wasn't on shift so she could wear whatever she wanted, and she did, opting for comfort with a pair of harem pants and a tank top. She left her hair loose and gathered up the rest of the laundry that would need to be done and grabbed the laundry bags that she and Spock shared before she slipped on a pair of shoes so she could go to the laundry and get this all taken care of. As she slung the bags over her shoulders she pressed the button to leave the room, and stepped back when she saw Thal standing there with his fist raised to knock on the door.
"Uy, me asustaste!" Alex gasped, dropping the bags she had been holding. Thal looked startled himself and then grinned at her.
"You dropped your clothes," he pointed out and Alex put her hand over her heart and her other hand on her hip.
"No Shit," she replied before she turned and picked the bags up. She tossed one to Thal who caught it and then looked at her. "Walk with me," she said and he did just that, walking alongside her as she told him about what had happened after she left the dinner the night before.
Thal was a good listener, he didn't comment on her grief, he didn't show any signs of disapproval, or of thinking her weak, instead he just listened. "Even I do not know much about this Singh," he told her. "But I know that Kirk and the others did what they thought was right," he told her and she glanced up at him.
"Look at you defending them," she said simply as they made their way to the laundry. She picked up two cards and started to fill them out as she thought about everything from the past twenty four hours. "I think the thing that really bothers me is the not knowing," she said finally as she finished the first card and slipped it into the front pocket of the laundry bag so the laundry could be delivered when it was done and she started to work on the second card.
"Not knowing what?" Thal asked as she slipped the card into the second bag of laundry and then took the bag from him and put both on the counter.
"Two day wait," the laundry woman told Alex who nodded.
"That's fine." she said and took the receipt the laundry woman gave her. "Thanks." she and Thal turned and walked out of the room, silent while Alex folded the laundry receipt and tucked it into her pants.
"Not knowing what?" Thal pressed and Alex looked at him then back down the hallway.
"Not knowing who Singh really is," she replied. "I mean, they kind of told me, I know he was a terrorist, and a dictator, but who the hell is he? What did he do?" she asked and Thal looked at her for a moment before looking away.
"Your Library computers have all of that information," he reminded her. "You could find out on your own." She stopped in her tracks and looked up at Thal, the realization that she could just look it up made her feel like and idiot and she sighed before letting out a small laugh.
"You're completely right," she said and Thal gave her a slight nod. "Let's go, let's go look him up right now,"
"No." Thal replied and Alex frowned slightly.
"No?" she asked and he shook his head.
"No," he reiterated. "First you must have some food, and then go see the head doctor,"
"Dr. McCoy?" she asked, confused why Thal would want her to see Dr. McCoy.
"No, the one who talks to you about your thoughts and feelings," he explained and Alex stared at him for a moment.
"Are you seriously telling me I need to go to the therapist?" she asked and then sighed as she leaned against the wall. Maybe he was right- maybe they were all right. She looked at him and then shook her head. "Okay," she agreed.
"And I will wait outside the door to ensure you do not escape,"
"What the hell did Mindy tell you?" Alex asked as she pushed away from the wall and started to follow Thal again.
"Only that you are not to be trusted when it is your health on the line," he replied simply and she scoffed but smiled. Damn that girl knew her well.
After eating and after making an appointment with the ship's therapist Alex and Thal walked back to her quarters to look up Singh, she had to know just how bad it was, she had to know what had happened in the 200 years since she'd been asleep. It hadn't really mattered to her before, nothing could change the fact that she was here, nothing could change the fact that she was now technically one of the oldest people on Earth, not counting species who lived much longer than humans regularly, but now she needed to know all those things she'd turned a blind eye to.
As they walked down the hallway together, Alex was telling Thal about basic training, and about what she had remembered of Singh, before she suddenly felt his hand on her arm. She looked up at him as they stopped and then looked down the hall, and seeing Singh standing outside her door she stared for a moment before swallowing and then straightening up.
"You with me?" she asked Thal who nodded.
"Always," he replied and the two marched up to her door.
"You have a lot of nerve showing up here," Alex said as she looked at Singh who looked chagrined to see her.
"I know," he replied and she blinked in surprise. "I'm here to apologize,"
"You're here to apologize?" she repeated in surprise. "What the hell makes you think you deserve my forgiveness?"
"I'm not here for your forgiveness," he told her. "But if someday you find it in your heart to bestow it on me, I will cherish that moment. But no- I am here to make amends, and perhaps fill in some of the blanks for you," he explained and Alex stared at him skeptically. "I brought whiskey," he added as he held up the bottle. Alex sighed as she looked at it and then at him before she held her hand out. He placed the bottle in her hand and she looked at it. It was real whiskey, not synthahol, and for that she was grateful.
"Where'd you get this?" she asked and he shrugged.
"Lieutenant McIvers gave it to me," he replied. "She has been very attentive to my needs since I was woken up,"
"Yeah I bet," she muttered and Thal snorted behind her. "You know Lieutenant McIvers gave this to you with the expectation of drinking it with you," she added as she punched in the code to the door, unlocking it.
"I know," Singh replied as he stepped closer, but stopped when Thal stepped closer to him. "But I'd rather drink it with an old friend,"
She sighed and looked at the door to her quarters and then back to Singh. "You promise if I let you in, you'll fill in the blanks?" she asked and he nodded.
"Scout's honor," he said, for a moment seeming like the young kid she had known all those years ago and she couldn't help but smile softly before she nodded.
"Okay, fine," she said as she stepped into her quarters. Thal and Singh followed behind, Singh looking a little put out by the presence of the Klingon who only returned the look of annoyance with an intimidating look of his own.
"You can even look up the historical records if you want, I'll answer every question you have," Singh assured Alex who nodded and then pulled down three glasses.
"I just might," she told him.
Of course. Of course he had gotten her drunk on purpose. He had planned that, everything he had done was behind her back, and she was the idiot who let him do it to her all over again. She heard someone speak just past where she was hiding and she listened intently.
The speaker was someone she didn't know- not surprising given the fact that while she and Singh were talking and drinking, she now knew that Lieutenant McIvers was on the other ship, waking up all of the super soldiers.
"-Cut the air to the Bridge-" was all she heard and she felt her blood run cold. She had to make her way to engineering.
Alex slipped out of her hiding spot and looked down the halls before she started to run down the hall, god she was hung over, but she had to find a way to warn them. Communications had been jammed, she'd discovered that first thing, so her only hope was that Engineering would be able to help.
She turned the corner at the end of the hall and gasped as she crashed right into someone, the two fell to the floor and Alex looked over to see herself staring at Lieutenant McIvers who looked shocked to see Alex.
"How- How are you out?" she asked and Alex jumped to her feet, kicking the phaser out of McIver's hands.
"If you ask your sentries I haven't left my room at all," Alex said as she went to pick up the phaser. It was then McIvers decided to attack, she wrapped her arms around Alex's legs at the knee and pulled, knocking Alex onto her ass.
The instant the shock wore off Alex kicked McIver's hand away from the phaser and got to her knees, scrambling to the phaser, but the other woman wrapped her arms around Alex's middle and went limp, dragging Alex down with her.
"Oh- You crazy bitch!" Alex swore as she tried to grab the phaser.
"You're not going to stop him," McIvers said as she dragged Alex back. "He's too smart for you to stop all on your own."
"Get the fuck off me!" Alex said as McIvers stood up and grabbed Alex by the ankle. She started to drag her away from the phaser and Alex turned over before she pulled her free leg back and kicked McIver's hands holding her ankle. The heel of her shoe made McIvers gasp and draw her hands back while Alex flipped over and started to crawl for the phaser again before she was suddenly slammed to the ground as McIvers had jumped on top of her.
"You don't deserve him!" McIvers said as Alex reached for the phaser.
"I don't want him!" Alex replied. "You two psychopaths can have each other," she grunted as the two girls fumbled, reaching for the phaser. Finally Alex's hands wrapped around it and she checked the phaser, before she pressed it to McIvers' skin and pulled the trigger. Immediately the woman went slack on top of her and Alex panted as she lay there for a moment and then pushed McIvers off of her back. "Bitch," she said softly as she got to her feet.
Alex stepped over the unconscious body of McIvers and then resumed her journey down to Engineering. If she was lucky, the fight between her and McIvers hadn't fucked her over badly enough that Singh's people had already stared to cut the air on the bridge.
Alright, what do you think the sequel will be about? Let me know your theories in the comments!