Jeck: Hey hey hey hey hey hey… GUESS WHAT?
Raxsah: You got laid?
Jeck: Well… no… unless that's an offer? :D
Raxsah: Well… NO. No offense, but let's wait for senior week for that. ;P
Jeck: Mmmm… will do! But no, that's not it. Tomorrow is Saint Patty's Day! Oh… AND WE'RE BACK!
Raxsah: Yes we are. We apologize for taking so long. We had a competition thingy at our school. Then… I got my hair done and we saw Alice in Wonderland. Then we both got sick at the same time…
Jeck: We share everything. Men would not be one of them since only one of us likes men. But the germs, we're all over that. We can't help our love!
Raxsah: Sometimes you make me wonder if you're on crack… Anyway, we enjoyed the couple of reviews we received. If you left a lengthy one We will reply to it at the bottom. Please feel free to give us more. They make us happy.
Jeck: That's not the only thing that makes you happy… puppies and kittens do too! :D And me, I make you happy like an orgasm makes a hooker happy! :D
Raxsah: Can't deny that. I love how you're always the one getting off topic. By the way, We'd like to thank all those who added this to their alerts and favorites list.
Jeck: If you haven't done so already, you should. We're pretty awesome and I'm sure if you're not feeling a certain part of the story now, you'll probably enjoy it later. And if you still don't like it, then stop reading. (dumbass)
Raxsah: Be nice. Enjoy the story!
Chapter 4; Dead On Arrival
"Attention all members of the Enterprise, this is your Captain speaking. We just reached a distress called from the U.S.S. Mercury. They are currently under attack by a rouge Starfleet ship. We're the closest ship to them, so we're going to go help them. We expect to arrive in fifteen minutes."
"A rouge ship?" Alex asked, Claire looked up from her patient and frowned.
"You think it'll be bad?" she asked. Alex shrugged.
"I don't know… we'll just have to wait and see." Just then the Chief Medical Officer walked up to them.
"Doctor McCoy, do you know what's going on?" Pam asked. McCoy raised an eyebrow at her, but looked at Alex and Claire.
"No, and don't ask me. You two, go get a few beds ready and get extra supplies… it's going to get real messy around here pretty soon." Claire and Alex began to get everything together when the Captain walked in.
"Bones, there you are." Doctor McCoy rolled his eyes.
"Doctor Conaway, if you are anywhere within eyesight of Captain Kirk, I'll make sure you are on graveyard shift for the next two weeks," McCoy said, not even looking up from his patient charts. There was the sound of someone dropping something then the closing of a supply closet door, along with Alex's laughter.
"Why did you go and do that Bones?" Jim said, frowning a little.
"You damn well know why I did that. You need to control your damn hormones." Jim rolled his eyes and watched as Alex walked over to the supply closet and open the door, causing Claire to glare at him. He saw then whisper to each other, and saw a wicked smile erupt on Alex's lips while Claire turned bright red.
"What's up with those two?"
"Jesus, Jim… we are about to head into battle, and the only thing you can think about is what you're wannabe flavor of the month is doing with another man? What the hell is wrong with you?" Jim rolled his eyes.
"Come on Bones, give me the scoop." McCoy glared at him and slammed the patient chart down on his desk.
"I don't know what the hell is going on, I'm too busy working to pay attention to that kind of bull. Jesus," McCoy muttered.
"Maybe you should get laid Bones, you're getting a little antsy." McCoy crossed his arms.
"It's not my business what goes on between my doctors and their boyfriend, girlfriend… whatever. Now get out of my sickbay and go do your job." Jim's eyebrows rose.
"Boyfriend? Really?" he glanced back at Clair and Alex, who were still talking in hushed tones.
"Jim, get out before I give you another hypo spray, and I won't give you the vaccine either. I'll make you go through the whole damn thing. Now get out!" Jim frowned and turned around.
"You're no fun," Jim said, leaving sickbay. After a minute McCoy picked up his charts.
"Conaway, he's gone. Get back to work!" he shouted. Claire made her way out of the closet, Alex right behind her.
"You know he's going to come back… right?" Alex whispered.
"Shut up! I'll stop giving you my pudding if you bail on me," Alex frowned.
"That's just mean," She rolled her eyes.
"Both of you, get back to work." McCoy snapped.
"Sorry Doctor McCoy," Claire muttered, getting out a few supplies.
"Good to see that you're doing okay, Conaway." Ryan opened his eyes to see the emotionless blue eyes of his former best friend.
"Ugh, what happened?" He asked, slowly rising from his bed. He looked around and realized that he was in the Berlin's sickbay.
"I was forced to take evasive action so that Captain Shay's orders could be carried out." Griffin explained as a doctor came over to check Ryan's vitals.
"What?" He asked, clearly not understanding Griffin's words.
"Please calm down, Mr. Conaway," the nurse asked as she tried to force him to lie back down, but Ryan refused.
"I needed to knock you out so we could destroy the ship." Griffin rephrased, causing Ryan to push the nurse away and jump to his feet.
"WHAT?"
"Keep your voice down, Ryan." Griffin said, trying to help the nurse push Ryan back onto the bed.
"You destroyed the Federation ship?"
"Yes, ten minutes ago. The U.S.S. Mercury turned out to be a rouge ship and-" But Ryan cut him off and shoved Griffin over the patient's bed next to his.
"That's bullshit!" Ryan cried out, pushing the nurse away who kept trying to keep him calm. Griffin rose from the floor and glared at Ryan.
"Ryan, please…" Ryan checked his belt for his phaser, which appeared to have been removed. Without a second thought, he slid across the patient's bed and grabbed Griffin's phaser instead. He pointed it at Griffin and the nurse as he backed up to the entrance of sickbay.
"No, I have to do something!" He cried out as he took off in a mad dash. There was no time to lose. Obviously, Captain Shay couldn't be trusted, but Ryan knew people who could. He had to do something. He could hear footsteps behind him, but didn't turn around. A phaser shot was fired and just barely missed his head, so he increased his speed. He was thankful that he'd decided to do track during high school. Another shot was fired, but was far off course, giving Ryan a chance to turn a corner and burst into the main dining hall. The hall was filled with other officers who all turned to look as another shot whirled past Ryan's head.
"Everyone listen to me!" Ryan cried out as he jumped onto a table that a few medical personal were sitting at.
"Ryan, what the hell are you doing?" Rupert hissed.
"You all know this is wrong, you all know that destroying that ship was complete bullshit! It all started with us attacking that Aenar ship! You honestly think that they were going to attack us?" he snapped.
"Ryan, get down now!" Griffin hissed. Ryan turned toward him.
"Or what? You're going to shoot me? In front of the whole crew?" Griffin glared at him.
"Ryan…" he snapped. Ryan turned back to the crew.
"Going after that Klingon planet was wrong, and destroying that Starfleet ship was wrong. This is not what we came into space for. We came into space so we could make a difference, and this isn't a way to do it. The U.S.S. Mercury wasn't the rouge ship, we are!" Ryan called. He saw half the crew glare at him, while the other half shifted uncontrollably.
"That's enough, Ensign Conaway," a voice sounded. Ryan turned around to see Captain Shay himself holding a phaser up to him, and it wasn't set to stun. Ryan glared at him and dropped the phaser to the ground. Griffin walked up and grabbed it, shaking his head at his friend.
"You should've left it alone," he hissed. Ryan frowned as he jumped off the table and watched a few security personnel walk up to him.
"You should've gotten rid of him when you had the chance," Paul whispered to Griffin. Ryan glared at Griffin before he turned to Captain Shay, who was walking up to him.
"You can't throw me in the brig, I have done nothing wrong," Ryan snapped.
"Starting a mutiny and disobeying your commanding officer, that's enough to send you into the brig," Shay said.
"And what about you? Firing on an unarmed ship of a peaceful race, and destroying a federation ship… what does that land you in? Sounds like a court-martial to me." Shay looked at him for a moment before using the bottom of his phaser and smacking him across the face, causing a few people to hiss with their own pain.
"Be silent Ensign, before the brig is the worst of your problems…" he snapped. There was a silence in the room before a voice broke through.
"Bridge to Captain Shay."
"Captain Shay here…" Ryan continued to glare at him, ignoring the look Griffin was now giving him.
"Sir we have reports that another federation ship is heading our way," the voice said.
"What ship?" Captain Shay asked.
"The U.S.S. Enterprise, Sir." There was a collective pause and Ryan's eyes went wide. A few of the commanding officers exchanged looks before Captain Shay spoke.
"Well then, get us out of here. The last thing I need is to deal with that arrogant, son of a bitch, Kirk again," Shay muttered .The security officers holding Ryan tugged on his arms and tried to lead him away when a voice spoke up.
"You can't do this!" The voice cried. Everyone turned to see Liam standing up from where he was.
"Might as well take that one too," Shay said, but a few more members of the crew stood up.
"If you take them, then you'll have to take me too," Colleen said. Rupert stood up as well, grabbing Oliver by his collar and forcing him to stand as well. Pretty soon, half of the members of the ship in the dining hall were standing as well.
"What is this, a mutiny?" Griffin asked angrily as Paul and Harry pulled out their phasers.
"I do believe it is, Mr. Patterson," Ryan said to him as all the crew started pulling out their phasers. Before Griffin could say another word, phaser blasts began ricocheting off the walls of the dining hall. Those who were unarmed began charging at those who were trying to defend Captain Shay's orders. Liam fired his phaser at Harry, but just barely missed. Harry elbowed a medical Ensign in the face as he held up his own phaser and fired multiple shots at Liam.
"I'll kill you, queer!" Harry shouted angrily. Paul went to help Harry, but Colleen jumped in front him, her own phaser out.
"You're too pretty to shot, princess," he told her, lowering his phaser slightly. She smiled at him, winked, and fired a shot at him.
"You're too stupid to live," she muttered as she ran to help Liam. Rupert had his hands full with Dom who fired his phaser, hitting him in the shudder. Rupert cried out in pain as the flesh on his shoulder slowly began to burn away.
"Take it like the Brit you are," Dom muttered as he prepared to fire on Rupert again. Before he could, a person flung himself on Dom. Dom's head hit a chair on the way down and he became unconscious. Oliver stood up probably and smiled at Rupert.
"Mr. Ruffles and I are swinging from the lights!" Oliver said happily as he motioned to grab a hand beside him that wasn't there.
"This has to be the one time that I'm happy that you're not taking your meds," Rupert breathed out as the pain in his shoulder intensified. The dining hall was completely chaos as Ryan looked at Griffin, who held two phasers in his hands.
"Look what you've done! You've ruined everything!" Griffin yelled furiously. Ryan crossed his arms and glared.
"You knew it was wrong. What good what it have done?" Ryan shot and Griffin tossed a phaser at Ryan, his anger getting the better of him. The phaser struck Ryan in the head, who was already bleeding from all of his former wounds that day.
"It would have started a war throughout the galaxy. The Federation would have easily won and then we would be the dominant race of the universe," he shouted, practically pulling his hair out. He started towards Ryan, flipping stray chairs that were in his way trying to get to him. Phaser shots continued to fly through the air and loud screams follow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harry punch Colleen in the face. As the blood poured down her face, Ryan saw red. How could these monsters do these things to their own shipmates?
"You're wrong, Griffin. We're here to do good and keep peace. You're way out of line," Ryan said as his eyes shot to the phaser that now lay by his feet. He dropped down, grabbed it, and rolled to the side as Griffin fired as shot at him. Ryan sprang to his feet and fired a shot at Griffin, knocking the phaser out of his hands. He cried out in pain as the skin on his hand began to burn and sizzle.
"I'm unarmed, what are you going to do? Attack me like we attacked that ship today? You're not better than we are!" Griffin cried out, holding his hand as the pain intensified. Ryan dropped his phaser to the floor and walked up to Griffin.
"No," he said simply and punched him in the face. Ryan felt bones crack under his knuckles, but said nothing as Griffin fall back onto the floor. Part of him was dying instead, hurting his friend like he was, but his morals were stronger than his friendship with Griffin. He joined Starfleet for a reason, to do good and he sure as hell was going to do it.
"Ryan! Shay is getting away!" Colleen screamed. Ryan picked up a phaser and ran out of the cafeteria. He followed Shay to the lift, giving a frustrated groan when the doors shut before he could get to him.
"Computer… where is Captain Shay heading?" he asked.
"Captain Shay is heading to the bridge." Ryan gave a heavy sigh and ran toward the next lift. Shay wasn't getting away so easily, not if he had anything to say about it. He entered the lift and heard the sound of a torpedo firing from the torpedo bay. He accessed the computer and saw that the Berlin hadn't been able to get out before the Enterprise showed up, and was now attacking them. Ryan ran out onto the bridge as soon as the doors opened, taking out two security officers in the process.
"Give up, Shay." Captain Shay turned around, a phaser of his own in hand.
"What are you going to do? Shoot me?" Ryan glared.
"Don't tempt me," he hissed. "The Enterprise will destroy this ship before you even have a chance to fire."
"Kirk is a fool, he is no match for me. Stand down Ensign… you are wasting your time." Ryan shot the ground in front of Captain Shay, then aimed it right back up.
"Sir, I'm asking you to put down your weapon, or I will fire." Shay held his weapon up and smirked evilly.
"Do your worst," he hissed. Aiming for Ryan's chest and firing.
"Claire! I need help!" Alex called, trying to calm down a patient. Claire looked over before she gave her own patient a sedative. She ran over and helped Alex hold down a man who was screaming at the top of his lungs.
"NO! THEY'RE GOING TO GET US! FIRE! FIRE!" His arm slipped from one of the nurse's hands and his fist landed right across Claire's eye, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Jesus, you alright?" Alex asked. She nodded and grabbed a sedative, stabbing it in the man's leg and backing up before he could kick her. When he finally laid limp Alex walked up to her.
"I'm fine," she said. Alex inspected her face before shaking his head.
"You ever hear of ducking?" she pushed him away.
"Shut up! You're an ass," she muttered. She surveyed the remaining crew from the U.S.S. Mercury. There was a grand total of seven people, two of which were currently stable, three were in critical, and the other two were sedated to avoid any more injuries to themselves. She ran a hand through her hair and shook her head at the amount of survivors.
"Who would do this?" she asked softly.
"A rouge ship, that's who," Alex muttered, handing her a ice pack. She placed it on her eye, but she felt it was useless, she would still have a black eye either way.
"Yeah… but… which ship? Do we even know?" she asked. Alex shook his head.
"No, not yet." Claire threw the ice pack aside shook her head. Alex simply frowned and patted her shoulder.
"Captain to sickbay, prepare to receive survivors and injured prisoners from the U.S.S. Berlin," The whole sickbay became silent, and Claire froze. Before she could even comprehend what was going on she saw Alex go to the computer and read something over. She turned to him and waited as he gave her the answer she dreaded to hear.
"Claire… the rouge ship, it… it's the Berlin," he told her. She felt her heart stop as she held onto the counter of the Medical station.
"No…" she whispered.
"Claire…" Alex began, but he was cut off by Doctor McCoy.
"Conaway, there are a few people injured in Shuttle bay 6, go and make sure they are alright." Claire stood straight and furrowed her eyebrows.
"What?" McCoy stopped and raised an eyebrow.
"You damn well heard me, go do your job!" he snapped.
"But sir, the Berlin is the ship my brother is stationed on," she told him.
"I don't care, you are required to go to shuttle bay six, and I don't want to hear any protests." Alex stepped forward.
"Sir, I'll go down to the shuttle bay," he offered. McCoy fixed him with a nasty glare and stepped toward Claire, getting right in her face.
"Listen Conaway, around here I make the rules, and you're probably not going to like them half the time. You know what, I don't care. You will have to do a lot of things you don't like in life, but you are going to do them anyway. Is that clear?"
"Sir, my-"
"Doctor Conaway, you either do what you are told, or I will personally make sure you never set foot out of a brig so long as you are still in Starfleet." Claire's stony grey eyes clashed with his hard brown, and it looked like they mentally battled it out before Claire took a step back.
"Yes sir," she replied, her voice breaking just a little. McCoy nodded before walking off to a patient. Claire grabbed a travel medical kit and turned to Alex. She didn't have to say anything before he spoke.
"I'll look out for him, but if I find him, you owe me you're dessert for the next four days," he told her.
"Hell, you find my brother and make sure he isn't dead, you can have my dessert for the next two weeks," she told him, walking past him and out to the shuttle bay. Alex went to go back to his patient when McCoy grabbed the collar of his shirt.
"You are going to the Berlin with the away team," he said. Alex nodded.
"Uh, yes sir…" they paused for a second before McCoy spoke once more.
"Well, get moving!" Alex jumped.
"Yes sir!"
"Does that hurt, Ensign?" Captain Shay sneered as he stood over Ryan. Ryan's chest was bleeding profusely through his red engineer shirt. His hand was trying to cover the wound, but his body was already going into a state of shock.
"S-Shay..." Ryan stuttered as he began shaking from the blood loss. Captain Shay leaned down and slapped the phaser out of Ryan's hand.
"You've messed up everything and now I'm going to watch you die a slow and painful-" Ryan was surprised to see a light shot over his head and hit Captain Shay in the chest, sending him flying back and over the railing in the bridge. Ryan glanced behind him to see none other than Captain Kirk standing in the doorway of the lift. A phaser was held in his hand.
"Security, arrest former Captain Richard Shay and get this fine young man to the Enterprise. We've got a riot to go straighten out." A few officers exited the lift from behind Kirk. Two men ran over the Shay while one young officer ran over to Ryan.
"Are you okay, Ensign?" He asked, checking Ryan's vitals. Ryan weakly nodded and his Stony eyes met a pair of hazel. A closer look at his uniform he saw he was a doctor, though he must have been from the Enterprise, because he didn't recognize him.
"Ensign, I'm Doctor Chambers… tell me your name," he said. Chambers, that sounded familiar. Where the hell had he heard that name before. "Ensign, answer," he snapped, his voice a little harsher.
"Ryan… Ryan…" he began to cough and let his head fall back on the floor.
Alex glanced down at the Ensign in front of him. Ryan? No… it couldn't be. He grabbed the Ensign's head and looked him in the eye. The grey eyes were unmistakably similar, but he had to get the last name.
"Your last name, Ensign… I need to know you're last name," Alex told him. Ryan took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Conaway," he whispered, passing out. Alex paused before he realized that he had passed out.
"Shit," he hissed as he began to put pressure on the wound.
"Captain, I need to get him to the Enterprise now!" Alex shouted. Kirk turned around and walked over to him, watching as the young doctor began to try and patch up the large wound.
"Uh, I'm not a doctor, but it doesn't look like he's going to make it," Kirk said sadly. Alex shook his head and checked for a pulse, frowning when he felt it slow down.
"No, damn it! If I bring him back dead she is going to kill me, or worse… never give me her pudding!" Kirk raised an eyebrow.
"Who?" he asked. Alex gave a frustrated sigh.
"CLAIRE! If I bring her brother back dead, I'll be dead! And I want to get laid at least one more time before I'm dead!" Alex hissed. Kirk looked down at the young Ensign, recognizing his face almost immediately. He pulled out his communicator and contacted the Enterprise.
"Scotty, I need you to transport Doctor Chambers, and Ensign Conaway to sickbay immediately," he ordered.
"Right away Captain," Scotty replied. Alex felt as if his body was getting lighter, and the next minute he was on the floor of the Enterprise sickbay. McCoy walked over to him and crossed his arms.
"Chambers, what the hell do you think you are doing?" Alex got a few nurses to pick Ryan up and place him on a medical table.
"I'm saving my patient," he snapped. McCoy walked over and looked at the wound. It was pretty deep, and there had been a lot of blood loss. He would be lucky if the patient made the night.
"Chambers… this patient-"
"Is Claire's brother! I can't lose her brother sir," Alex replied as he began to repair the wound. McCoy was about to argue, but the look of determination on his face was enough to leave him alone. Hopefully the young doctor would get lucky. If not… he would rather not think about it.
Claire looked around as she saw more people pile into Shuttle bay 2. She was supposed to be back in sickbay two hours ago, but was forced to help the flood of Berlin survivors. They were all stuffed into shuttle bay 2, and she was stuck with most of the work. She finished healing the wound on one man, before she turned to see a small group of huddled together. Two were men, one was dressed in red, the other yellow. And next to them sat a woman, also wearing red, and her uniform maybe even shorter than her own. She walked up to them and kneeled in front of the first guy.
"Hi," she said, the three of them looked at her. The guy in front of her had a pretty bad shoulder injury.
"It's not that bad," he said, his British accent cutting right through. She offered a kind smile and pulled away his shirt.
"Okay, well… bad or not, I'm going to take care of it… alright?" the man rolled his eyes and looked at the other two, who were watching her carefully.
"Fine, whatever you say, love." Claire flinched at his substitute for her name and looked up at him.
"It's Claire, but you can call my Doctor Conaway," she told them. An awkward silence filled the room as the three people from the Berlin exchanged looks. "Um, is there a problem?" She asked, noticing the looks.
"We know your brother," the woman informed her. Her face covered in dried blood with a few nicks on her face. Judging by the odd angle her nose was bent, Claire figured the woman's nose was broken. At the mention of her brother, Claire froze.
"W-What? You know Ryan? Is he okay? Where is he?" She asked, her voice going from curious to panicked and worried. The woman rubbed her arm awkwardly as the man in the yellow shirt stood up next to her and rubbed her shoulder in support.
"We don't really know where he is. The last time we saw him, he was beating the crap out of Griffin in the dining hall before he took off after Captain Shay," the man explained. Claire began to shake and grabbed onto a gurney for support. The British man stood up and helped Claire take a seat.
"We understand this is probably really hard for you, Claire. Your brother never stopped talking about you and what an amazing person you are. He loves you so much, you must understand. It was thanks to him that the Berlin was stopped before blowing up the Klingon exile planet and before it attacked the Enterprise," he explained, rubbing a soothing hand on her back. Claire couldn't control the tears that began pouring down her face at the logical fact that her brother could be in a lot of danger right now.
"My name is Liam," the man in the yellow shirt said as he kneeled down to be eye level with her. "That's Rupert and over there is Colleen. We've gotten to know Ryan pretty well in the past month and if I know one thing, it's that Ryan would not let anything happen to himself without getting the chance to see you again," Liam explained. Claire nodded as she tried to choke back the sobs that overtook her. She knew that she should be treating Ryan's friends, but she couldn't control herself.
"It'll be okay, sweetie," Colleen whispered as she took a seat next to Claire and put an arm around her shoulders. Claire's head fell on Colleen's shoulder as she let herself be overcome with the sobs trying so hard to break free.
"Claire, this is no time to make new friends! There are patients here who-" Pam stopped mid-sentence when the three former members of the Berlin glared at her. Claire didn't even look up.
"I think you can handle it," Rupert shot angrily.
"Excuse me?" She asked.
"Just turn around and walk away," Liam told her.
"You can't tell me what to do," Pam defended.
"No, but honey… if you don't turn around and leave, I swear to go I'm going to have a B.F." Pam paused before turning around and leaving, not sure how to respond to that. Claire began to take a few deep breaths and sat up straight, regaining her breath.
"You alright?" Rupert asked. She nodded and wiped away her tears.
"I'll… I will be fine," she muttered. She looked over at Colleen and flinched.
"What?" Colleen asked.
"You're nose," Liam told her.
"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty sure it's broken." She muttered. Claire stood up and went through her medical kit.
"I'll fix it, just give me a second," she told them.
"Sweetie, you really don't-" Liam started but Claire cut him off.
"No, I really do need to go back to work. The last thing I need is more graveyard shifts," she told him, going to fix Colleen's nose. The whole room flinched as the sickening crack echoed through the noise and Colleen's cry of pain. It was soon followed by Clair's voice.
"Oh, suck it up… your nose is fixed."
Five hours later, Alex found himself studying Ryan Conaway's chart very carefully. It had taken forever, but he finally closed up the wound and was able to give the man some blood in order to keep him stable. There was a few cuts and bruises on his face and a few other parts around his body, but all in all he would make it through. That is, if he would ever wake up.
As it turned out, Alex didn't have to wait long before Ryan began to stir. Alex walked over and watched as his began to wake up. It almost made him laugh when he realized that he was just as strong, and stubborn as Claire. Though, this also meant that he would probably refuse to stay in bed too. Oh how he couldn't wait for that to happen.
"Where…" Ryan muttered. Alex leaned over and made sure his pupils were blown or dilated, which they weren't.
"Conaway, how many fingers am I holding up?" he asked. Ryan looked at his hand before looking at Alex.
"It's Ryan, and you're holding up four fingers," Ryan said.
"Correct. Congratulations, you don't have brain damage," Alex muttered. Ryan tried to shift his weight, but hissed when a pain erupted in his chest.
"Damn," he whispered.
"You're going to have to take it easy and stay in bed for a few days, you're healed, but you're going to be sore." Ryan sighed ran a hand through his hair.
"Good luck with that, Doc…" he muttered. He moved to sit up, but Alex smacked the folder on his chest, causing him to fall back on the bed. "Shit!" he hissed.
"Lay back down, or I swear to God I'll get Claire up here," Alex said. Ryan paused and looked at him.
"Claire? As in Claire Conaway?" he asked. Alex nodded and wrote a few things on his chart.
"Yup, she's a bit busy. I'm sure once McCoy let's her back into sickbay she'll be right over. Wait, shit I forgot to tell her. She's going to kill me, and I'm not going to get her pudding," Alex frowned at the thought.
"Her what?" Ryan snapped, instantly getting defensive. Alex put the file down for a moment to look at him
"Seriously, chill out. Her pudding cups from dinner. I do nice things for her and she gives me her desert. It's a system. Now relax or I'm going to have to knock you out. The stress really isn't good for your heart right now," he explained as he turned back to Ryan's chart. Ryan let his head fall back onto his pillow and sighed.
"So Claire's okay? Thanks to Shay being all crazy, I haven't been able to get in touch with Claire for awhile," Ryan asked, feeling very drowsy.
"Oh yeah, she's find. She's been extremely worried about you and almost jumped off the ship when she found out about the rebellion on the Berlin. She'll be happy to know that you're okay. And perhaps I'll get some more food out of her when she finds out that I saved your life." The last bit was more to himself than to Ryan, but Ryan didn't care too much.
"I'm glad. How's the Berlin situation?" Ryan asked, struggling to keep his eyes open. His had too many questions before he could let himself fall asleep.
"More Federation ships showed up a little while ago to arrest the rouge members of your ship. Those who were fighting back are being treated medically on this ship and the U.S.S. Fireraider," Alex told him, putting his chart down and checking Ryan's pulse. Ryan nodded as a goofy smile was plastered across his face. Alex looked up to see Ryan's struggle to stay awoke.
"It's okay, dude. Go ahead back to sleep. We'll fill you in more on what's going on when you wake back up. Besides, we want you to be all wide awake and stuff when Claire gets here," Ryan's smile grew wider and he fell asleep without another word. Bones walked in just in time to see Alex putting away Ryan's charts.
"How's he doing?" He asked, causing Alex to jump.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. He's doing fine now. His blood pressure is elevated, probably from stress and adrenaline from being on the Berlin, but his wound is healing up quite nicely," Alex explained, double checking Ryan's chart. Bones nodded and looked down at the boy.
"You know, I'm kind of surprised. I'll be honest; I thought he was as good as dead when you brought him aboard. I don't normally say this kind of thing, so pay attention kid. You did a good job here. We might even consider you for that promotion." Alex smiled.
"Really? You think so?" he asked. Bones shot him a look not to push it.
"Yes, you're still a young and inexperienced doctor, but you show promise in the trauma field. Keep up the good work, and don't tell anyone I told you that," Alex nodded.
"Thank you sir," Alex said. McCoy nodded and walked away, leaving Alex alone with his patient. Alex smirked and put the chart down, figuring he better get ready for Claire to burst in before McCoy gave her the graveyard shift again.
Silence is what she needed. She had been stuffed in a room full of sick people for so long, all she wanted was silence, and a hot shower. Claire entered the lift and hit the button to take her back to sickbay. With luck, McCoy would give her a break, and she would be able to look for her brother.
She closed her eyes and let her head rest against the wall. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this tired, not even when she was studying in the academy. No, this past month had been the most exhausting month she had ever experience. Her hair was pulled back, hiding the many knots and tangles that seemed to be permanently embedded in her hair. She was sure she looked deathly pale and sick from all the stress she was going through, and lack of sleep.
The lift stopped and she opened her eyes just in time for someone to walk it. If she were in her right mind, she would've gotten out of the lift. If she wasn't so tired, she would've tried to be as far away from him as possible. Maybe, if she wasn't so stressed and worried, she would've been able to ignore the rush of butterflies that erupted in her stomach when his bright blue eyes met her stony grey.
"Claire…" he said. He pressed a button on the lift and turned to look at her.
"Captain," she replied. Even her voice sounded tired. Kirk didn't seem to notice as he surveyed her. His eyes rested on her black eye and moved forward, causing her to freeze.
"You get in a fight with a patient?" he asked. His voice held a light humor, but it was soft and soothing, and it seemed to wash right over her. He reached out and let his fingers trace over the ugly bruise, causing her to shy away a little.
"I uh… I was helping Alex out when a patient accidentally hit me," she told him. Their eyes met once more and she felt her heartbeat quicken.
"Bad luck…" he whispered. She took a deep breath and looked down.
"Captain…" she mumbled.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked. He couldn't help the smile that reached his lips.
"Sir… I just. I'm seeing someone, and after what just happened you're just…" she shook her head. He backed off a little and watched her try to keep herself under check. She was probably right. Now was not the time for flirting. She had just tended to hundreds of people, most who probably wouldn't make it through the night. Not to mention the horror of not knowing whether your brother was dead or alive.
"Sorry," he said, walking to the other side of the lift. Claire looked up and watched him stare at the door. She would be lying if she said she wasn't surprised, she took him for the type of guy who would try and take advantage of her in this situation. Yet there he was, being a complete gentleman and giving her space.
"Thank you," she whispered. Kirk nodded and after a moment turned toward her.
"So… who is this guy you're seeing? I bet he's not half as sexy as me." Claire rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her tangled hair. At least he was more than three inches away from her.
"I'm seeing Alex. We started out as friends, but we're official now," she explained, doing pretty well at not letting a stutter escape her mouth. Truth be told, she was a pretty bad liar when it came to hot guys, but she figured that she was doing pretty well. Honestly, she was too tired to really care whether he believed her or not. Kirk appeared to be deep in thought for a minute when a look of realization crossed his face.
"Right, right. That other doctor who came onto the ship the same time as you. I just saw him earlier today when I boarded the Berlin. He's not really as good looking as me though and I doubt he's as good in bed." Claire chuckled to herself, not really because she thought that he was funny, but because she was too tired to argue.
"Yeah, I'm sure," she told him sarcastically. He shrugged.
"There's only one way to find out," he offered, opening his arms and motioning for her to stand next to him. He had the famous Kirk smile on and Claire found it extremely hard to resist.
"Sorry, Captain, but I need to head over to sickbay to see if I can find my brother," Claire said as she glanced up at the floor monitor on the lift. Just three more floors.
"Your brother? I saw him today. You both have the same eyes and the same features. Well, not the exact same. Obviously you're far more attractive and I'm not ga-" Claire whirled around at the mention of her brother.
"You saw him? When?" She asked, restraining herself from latching onto him. It wasn't very appropriate, though temping, and see needed to find Ryan.
"Yeah, I took out Captain Shay right before he could finish him off. Your boyfriend was there bringing him back to the ship. You'll have to talk to him," he said, clearly not liking the idea of making Claire's 'boyfriend' sound heroic or anything. "But I was the one protecting him," he added, just for good measure.
"He's on the ship? And Alex didn't tell me?" she snapped. Kirk had to resist the urge to smile as she saw she was getting a little annoyed.
"Yeah, that bastard didn't tell you!" he shot.
"Well, was he okay? Wait… why did Alex have to take him to the ship?" she asked. Kirk frowned and said nothing at first, which caused Claire to begin to worry as he remained silent.
"We was…" Claire could practically feel the blood drain from her face as she assumed the worst.
"What happened?" Kirk looked down for a second before looking back up at her.
"I don't know how he is now but… he looked pretty bad, Claire," He said.
"How bad?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. Kirk sighed.
"It's… pretty bad." Claire looked to the lift, the next floor was sickbay. She needed to get there immediately and see. She had to be sure the doors opened and Claire ran out, not bothering to say goodbye. She soon arrived and looked around to see either of the two people she needed to see. She saw Alex first and ran to him, practically tackling him to the ground.
"Jesus Christ!" Alex cried, almost falling to the floor.
"Where is he?" Claire asked.
"Hi Claire, nice to see you too," Alex muttered.
"Damn it, Alex. Where is he? Is he alright?" she asked. She knew that if she found out that her brother wasn't alright, she would probably break down right here.
"He's fine, Claire. A little worn out, but that's his own damn fault. The guy refuses to lay down and take it easy," Alex muttered.
"You're talking about Ryan right? Ryan Conaway?" she asked.
"You're very stubborn and annoying brother? Yes. I spent a half an hour repairing a hole in his chest and already he is trying to drag himself out of bed. The guy is crazy!" Claire's eyes went wide.
"A hole? WHAT?" Alex rolled his eyes.
"He was shot in the chest, don't worry, I repaired it and got him stable, and he should be just fine," Alex told her. She paused for a minute, trying to figure out how getting shot in the chest was 'just fine,' but shook that thought away quickly.
"Where is he?" She asked. Alex gestured over to a patient who was currently trying to get a nurse to let him walk around.
"Over there, stubborn son of a bitch. If you can't get him to take it easy, we're going to have to sedate him," Alex told her. Claire didn't hear a word Alex said after he pointed out her brother. She immediately ran over to him and practically jumped onto his bed, embracing him. For a moment, Ryan couldn't speak.
"You stupid… I was so worried about you!" She cried as she buried herself into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her as well, but she noticed the grunt of pain he let out.
"Claire… I was shot… chest…" He breathed out and she realized that she had been squeezing herself into his injured chest.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Nurse, get me his charts! Don't look at me like that, DO IT!" Claire ordered, sending the frightened nurse off to fetch Ryan's charts from Alex. Ryan smiled down at his sister who was lying off to his side and trying very carefully not to put any pressure on his chest.
"Jeez, calm down Claire. I'm alright," Ryan said in a weak voice. Claire glared up into her older brother's tired grey eyes.
"You couldn't even spare me a call? It's been over a week, Ryan! And then today I find out that your ship went rouge all of the sudden. What's been going on?" She asked, but Ryan's smile from seeing her turned into a frown.
"It's a long story. I did try and call you, but after everything went down with Griffin and The Captain-"
"Griffin? What's wrong with Griffin?" she asked. Before he could answer, Alex walked over with the charts, giving Claire a disappointing look.
"This is so against procedure." Claire glared and grabbed the chart from him.
"Leave me alone," She snapped, opening the chart and looking it over.
"Claire, if McCoy catches you-"
"Alex, I'm off duty. I got the message from McCoy an hour ago," Alex paused then rolled his eyes, grabbing back his chart.
"Then you can't look at that," he snapped, turning around and going to another patient. Claire rolled her eyes and looked up at her brother.
"What's wrong with Griffin?" she asked. Ryan leaned his head back, but let Claire lean against his arm.
"He… he was one of them," he whispered.
"One of the rouge dudes?" she asked. He nodded and closed his eyes, trying to block out the memories of his friends betrayal from his mind.
"Yeah…" Claire frowned and tried to lightly give him a hug.
"That sucks…" Ryan let out a small chuckle but nodded.
"Sure does," he muttered. Claire sat up and smiled at her older brother.
"I'm so glad you're okay, you really had me worried. It's not like you not to message me at least once every other day," she said. Ryan laughed but had to stop, due to his chest hurting from it. Claire frowned when she realized that making him laugh was actually hurting him.
"Don't worry about it Claire… I know you only mean well," he muttered. She simply frowned and took a hold of his hand.
"I met a few of your friends," she told him, trying to distract him.
"Really? Which ones?" he asked. Claire thought it over for a minute before answering him.
"Uh… Rupert, Liam, and Colleen I believe," she said. She didn't fail to notice the small blush that came to his cheeks. Before she could say anything about it, he spoke.
"Did you find Oliver?" he asked. She furrowed her eyebrows.
"Who is Oliver?" she asked. He shook his head.
"Never mind, you would know if you found Oliver."
"Should I be concerned?" She asked, but he just smiled and shook his head again.
"Trust me, there's no need to be concerned. Well, unless he's not taking his medication." Claire gave her brother a worried look as he started chuckling to himself.
"Anyway, they all seem very nice. I was just wondering though, is Liam… well…" Ryan smiled.
"Yeah, he's gay." The siblings broke out into laughter, despite the throbbing pain in Ryan's chest. He was always happy on the Berlin, but never really at peace like he was when he was with his sister.
"I was just wondering because I saw the eyeliner," she said, wiping a few tears out of her eyes from laughing so hard.
"It's funny because that's how I found out too. Griffin and his friends confirmed it for me," Ryan explained, but his face fell at the mention of his old friend. Claire noticed this and gave her brother a small peck on the cheek.
"I know that this must be tearing you up inside, but maybe it's for the best. Griffin obviously wasn't that good of a guy if he could just turn on you like that," she said, trying to comfort him.
"I know, but he was still my best friend. Perhaps he didn't think as highly as I thought of him, but you can't just let a person like that go overnight. I trusted him and respected him. He betrayed me without a second thought." Claire frowned but squeezed his hand.
"I can't imagine what that's like," she muttered. Ryan sighed and leaned back against his bed, letting his eyes close.
"Hopefully, you'll never have to," he said. She smiled and watched as he began to drift off.
"Night Ryan," she said softly. Ryan didn't reply as he soon fell asleep, which let Claire move so she was sitting next to the bed. She didn't stay there long before someone smacked a chart to the side of her chair.
"You need rest, Conaway… and a shower," McCoy muttered. Claire shook her head.
"I can't just leave him alone," she argued. McCoy rolled his eyes.
"You can, and you will. You are in desperate need to get some rest and to shower. He'll be here when you come back." Claire pressed her lips together and continued to look at Ryan. After a very nasty look from McCoy, she got up and left. When she got to the door, she saw Alex waiting for her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. He shrugged.
"I figured you could use the company. Not to mention I expect a huge thank you for saving your brother from death." Claire smiled and walked with him to the lift.
"Well, I guess I'll be giving you half my dinner for a week," she said. He looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging.
"I'm thinking more along the lines of… meet me in bed later, type of thank you." Claire raised an eyebrow as they entered the lift.
"How about I pretend you didn't say that, and we can stick to the half of dinner deal." Alex frowned but shrugged.
"Sounds good enough for me," he replied. They stood in silence as the lift sped through the ship.
"Is it just me, or do these things seem to be moving slower and slower every day?" Claire asked angrily as they moved up a single floor.
"It's a big ship. With a lot of hot babes, I might add," Alex said as he slipped his hand into Claire's. Claire pulled her hand away as if a snake had jumped out and bit her.
"What do you think you're doing?" She asked in shock which quickly turned to anger. She glared at him and Alex just shrugged, giving her a look of indifference.
"We're fake going out, remember? You don't have to like me, but I figured you'd want to at least pretend like we're a couple," he stated, offering out his hand again. Claire looked at it as if it were someone's smelly underwear before hesitantly sticking her hand out and grabbing it.
"This is really weird," she said after a minute of holding his surprisingly soft hands. He nodded.
"I promise that I won't bite, unless you're into that sorta thing. In which case, I'll have to whisk you back to my room. I have higher standards than doing it in a lift." Claire leaned over and smacked Alex with her free hand, earning a soft 'ow' from him.
"You need to back off a bit," she ordered, turning to glare at him.
"Fine, fine. I'll back off, but I suggest we kick it up a notch whenever the Captain is in the room." Claire raised an eyebrow at him.
"Define kicking it up a notch."
"You know, we can kiss here and there. Oh, and maybe I can give your butt a slap when you take up my tray for me at dinner." Claire twitched, trying to resist the urge to beat the crap out of Alex until he explained himself.
"What do you mean, when I take your tray up for dinner? That wasn't part of our deal," she told him, giving him a chance to save himself. However, Alex continued on completely oblivious to Claire's increasing anger.
"Well, you're the woman and I'm the man. So by nature, it's your job to pamper me." She raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, I still don't understand." Alex rolled his eyes.
"Look, as your boyfriend, you are required to do a few things for me. Since you refuse to do the most important one, you have to make up for it," Alex said, now speaking his mind. They both were sure that if he had gotten more sleep, he wouldn't be speaking his mind. But 48 hours of no sleep wasn't good for keeping someone's mouth shut. Claire paused before snaking her hand away from his and quickly hitting his groin quickly, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to the floor. She crossed her arms.
"Okay, you are an jackass if you think that I would actually buy that bullshit. You can take your own damn tray up, and if you think you will be getting anything other than a glance at… you can be sorely mistaken. I hope you can figure out a damn good apology after this, because other than you being an asshole, you're a pretty decent guy." Claire snapped.
"Jesus fucking Christ." Claire rolled her eyes. When the lift doors opened, she was met with none other than the Captain and his first officer, whom she still hadn't met. Kirk smiled but looked down upon hearing a few groans of pain. The Vulcan did the same and raised an eyebrow at the young man.
"Uh… do I want to know?" Kirk asked. Claire stepped off the lift.
"We got in an argument," she told him.
"Oh really, I guess I don't need to ask who won…" The Vulcan tilted his head to the side.
"It would seem to be a very redundant question, Captain." Kirk nodded.
"I suppose so," he muttered. Claire simply held her head high and walked past them to her quarters.
"Your choice of women is quite interesting, Jim." Kirk nodded.
"I think that's a bit of a redundant statement, Spock." Spock paused before nodded.
"Yes, I suppose so."
So, since we had one or two lengthy reviews, we should answer them here.
WhatsGoingOn:
Raxsah: I agree, I think this story is horrendously under review. Thank you for agreeing.
Jeck: More reviews can never hurt. Bad reviews are better than no reviews. And pudding cups are the ultimate awesome. Just saying. Thanks for the review!
Parallel Days:
Jeck:I'm glad you're loving our stuff so far. Don't worry, the good stuff is coming up soon. And so far, there's plenty of it. :D And if you keep reading, we'll keep ranting.
Raxsah: Yes, we're glad you liked all out OC's, we like them too. The 'Fun' stuff will eventually come. But when dealing with a virginal writer it takes a bit. It will come soon enough.
Jeck: Don't worry, I'm working on her. She'll be writing like a slut soon enough. 3
Bunnychica9 :
Raxsah: We're working on it, we promise.
Jeck: More what? Potatoes? Olives? Oh wait… yeah, more will be coming to a theater near you.
Raxsah: So… That's the end of this chapter. We made it long just for you guys.
Jeck: Yeah. It was either multiple chapters or a really long one. Either way, it's the same amount. Lol
Raxsah: Pretty much. We apologize that it took us so long. Keep sending reviews and maybe we'll post something Friday. Maybe…
Jeck: Maybe? Like most definitely… maybe… yeah…
Raxsah: Right. Review, favorite, alert… whatever. Hope you enjoyed it!
Jeck: Yes indeed! R & R peoples! :D