Hush now, the story is waiting...

Scythe groaned and forced herself to sit up and look around. She didn't see anything and looked down. She was covered in blood and dirt. Her leg was twisted to the side and reaching up, she felt a lump and small crack in her skull. She let her arms slump back down before trying to twist her leg back into place. She soon gave up, lacking the strength to do any good. She glanced around again and realized that what she had thought was dirt or a table was actually Sarge. He wasn't moving and it took her a minute to figure out that he was dead. A sharp pang went through her chest at the thought, but the thought that Reaper was waiting for her to return buried it. She'd have time to think about it later, for now the priority was getting outside. She tried to move and groaned, falling to the ground in a heap. She whimpered slightly and forced herself to slowly crawl forward. She made it to the door and stopped, looking up at it and wondering how she would open it. She shuddered and leaned against it before reaching slowly to the side and grabbing the data. She took a deep breath and began to climb up the door. She finally stood on a shaky leg and got it open. She shuddered and fell down again before beginning to crawl outside.

Jim sat on the bridge, watching the crew get ready to blow up Olduvai and warp out of there. He twitched on occasion before giving up and walking out, gaining a raised eyebrow from Spock as he followed.

"Something is bothering you Captain."

"Thanks Spock, I hadn't noticed." This earned him another raised eyebrow.

"Where are you going?"

"Transporter room." Spock followed him out of the lift and then blocked his way.

"Doctor McCoy told me to take you directly to sickbay if you attempted to once again go to the transporter room. As such I must request that you follow me." Jim groaned.

"I am going to the transporter room. Move Spock."

"I cannot do that Captain. Doctor McCoy has ordered me to take you to sickbay as a medical override of your command." Jim scowled and tried to push past him.

"Get out of my way Spock." He managed to push past only to have Spock apply a nerve pinch to him and carry him to sickbay. Bones glanced over at them when they entered and waved at a bed at random.

"I was wondering how long it would take." He took another swallow of brandy and looked at Spock. "How much longer?"

"Approximately 1.43 minutes." Bones nodded and looked back at the brandy.

"Okay…" Spock turned and left. Bones took another swallow as Scotty called him.

Scythe lay outside of the door, feeling the sun and hoping she had made it far enough out, and in enough time. She closed her eyes and passed out.

Bones ran to the transporter room, barreling in and instantly going up to the pad. He gingerly brushed hair out of Scythe's face and checked her over.

"Help me get her to sickbay. Don't worry about jostling her, you can't make it any worse." Scotty went up and grabbed her, picking her up easily.

"She's a light one."

"Just hurry up." Bones was out the door and making sure the path was clear as Scotty came running behind him. They made it to sickbay easily and she was set down on the nearest bed. Bones pulled a table stacked with medical supplies over and began to run a tricorder over her. He had Scotty go to make sure Olduvai blew up. He leaned back after making sure the skull fractures were healing well and looked at her leg. Hoping she wouldn't wake up, he twisted it into place to let it heal. Then he started giving her hypos. Vitamins mainly, but also things to help with the loss of blood and anything else he could think of. He also gave her a few immunization shots. Done, he sank into a chair to wait for her to wake up. He looked over at Jim, knowing he would stay asleep for a while longer. He looked back at Scythe as her eyes slowly blinked open. She groaned slightly and turned her head.

"Bones?" She croaked out.

"I'm here Scythe. Glad you made it out in time."

"How close?" He sighed.

"Perfect timing, as always Scythe. Right at the last possible second." He paused and pulled his chair closer. "We're destroying Olduvai. You sure you're okay with that? With staying here with us?" She nodded shortly.

"Yes… With you." Bones smiled and patted her hand.

"We still have to talk with Starfleet, but yeah. What happened down there? Did you run into Sarge?" She looked away.

"Yeah… It's over… All over… I killed my commanding officer…" She shuddered again as it completely sunk in. Bones waved a hand over her face.

"He stopped being your commanding officer when he was infected and crazy. I took command. You destroyed a monster that had nothing of the original Sarge left. Look Scythe, you weren't there after we had gone back through the Ark, but Sarge had gone mad. He was killing everyone, infected or not. He killed The Kid, only because he refused to kill some people that hadn't even been really hurt." She glanced at him.

"But… why? Not everyone could be infected…"

"We told him that. He didn't care. His sole purpose was reduced to killing them all and taking the data back." She turned her head away from him.

"That idiot." She froze, her eyes widening. Bones looked at her curiously before he heard something.

"Bones?" He looked over to see Jim sitting up and staring at him with wide eyes. "What are you talking about Bones? How could you know any of that?"

"Jim… I think you're hallucinating. I've only been making sure she's okay. We just got her up here." Jim glared at him and swung his legs over the side to stand up. "Damn it Jim! You shouldn't be getting up!"

"And you should tell me what's going on." Scythe jumped off the bed and grabbed him.

"Doctor said to stay down. I came back for both of you… Jim… You have to be calm… I'll explain if I need to…" She wobbled and Bones grabbed her arm, keeping her steady.

"Okay Jim… I'll explain. But later, after she's had some rest and gotten some actual food in her, okay? Plus she needs a shower and some new clothes. If we can find any that'll fit. Then we should talk to Pike…" He trailed off and looked at her. "The data?" She looked down and uncurled her hand.

"Yes… It's fine…"

"Good. Then we'll talk to Pike and see how everything goes." Jim twitched in Scythe's hold.

"And just when do we get to the part where we talk about you?" Bones sighed.

"Why couldn't you just believe that you were dreaming or something?" Jim rolled his eyes.

"You should know me better than that. Of course… you're probably distracted by Scythe." Bones' hand twitched towards a hypo.

"Just what do you think you're implying Jim?" He pushed Scythe off and smirked.

"Nothing. So, care to fill me in? Because I want to know before we talk to Pike." Bones sighed.

"Fine, we'll talk before showing Pike the data. She still needs some sleep, food, a shower, and some clothes. I'll take her to my room to show her the shower and you can find her some clothes, okay? Just remember, she's small." Jim frowned, but nodded anyway.

"All right. I'll meet you in your room in ten minutes." Bones nodded and grabbed Scythe's arm, leading her away. She followed without protest until they got in his room.

"This is yours?"

"Yeah, come on, I was serious about a shower."

"I can't smell that bad... I was able to wash down there."

"I have no idea how you can't smell it, but you stink. And the water you had down there was horrible."

"I boiled it!"

"I believe you, however, you were also just in a fight and are covered in blood. Besides, it'll make me feel better." She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Of course Bones. As long as it makes you feel better." He grinned and grabbed her arm.

"Good. Now strip and step in. It's a sonic shower. Normally it wouldn't take any longer than ten minutes, but in your case… Well, we'll see." She scowled at him and carefully removed her clothes, taking way too long in Bones' opinion. He rolled his eyes and reached over, tearing them off.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"Helping. We're getting rid of them anyway. Honestly, I'm amazed they haven't just fallen apart…" She finished stripping and looked back at him.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?" He shook his head.

"Damn… you really have starved… Nothing but skin and bones… literally." She looked down at herself in confusion.

"I'll be fine."

"Just get in the shower." She backed into it slowly at the sudden change in tone. He seemed angry for some reason. He waited for the shower to turn on before cursing and gathering up the dilapidated clothes. He had just thrown them away when Jim let himself in, carrying a stack of clothes.

"Okay. I had no idea what size she is, so I grabbed a couple different ones. You said small, so I made sure that nothing was bigger than what Uhura would wear. And I couldn't get much smaller than some of these because she's taller than a kid." Bones looked at the clothes that were being spread on the floor and shook his head.

"Too big."

"What? Even this one?"

"Even that one. She's been starving Jim. There's nothing to her." Jim frowned at the clothes.

"Well… There's nothing else. She'll have to deal with these until we can get to a planet that can make her some to size."

"All right. Take the three smallest sizes and put them on the bed. That's the best we can do." Bones chuckled as they heard Scythe yell at them.

"What the hell?! How do you stop it?! No damn you, turn off!"

"Third button down from the left Scythe!" There was a pause and then she walked out.

"Got it… Jim?"

"Whoa… Bones was right… You are starved. Well… I'll leave you two alone. Meet you in the cafeteria in about 15 minutes, okay?" She nodded and Bones smirked and turned to her.

"That proves it. You are completely starved."

"What?"

"You came out completely naked and Jim didn't stay to stare at you. The state you're in has taken over."

"I don't quite understand, but I don't think I care…" She swayed slightly and Bones went to steady her. She waved him off and stretched, bones cracking everywhere. Bones twitched.

"Did you just break something?"

"Maybe… Probably broke it back in place…" Bones grabbed her arm and twisted, breaking it easily. She jerked away, retaliating automatically and backhanding him. "Why? Why did you do that?" He rubbed his jaw slightly.

"Proving a point. Damn Scythe, no wonder you needed the knives so bad. You have little muscle left. Hardly any strength in that hit at all. And the fact that your arm broke so easily is such a bad sign." She backed away from him.

"You bastard… I am not weak!" She tackled him, but he caught her and held her down.

"I remember even in training where this was difficult. After we had been in RRTS for a while, it was a 50-50 chance of pinning you down. Now, not even a challenge."

"Let me go you bastard! Let me go!" She struggled under him until he shifted, breaking a few ribs. She gasped slightly and he got off her.

"Scythe…"

"Leave me alone Bones. My welfare is no concern of yours."

"Actually, as the CMO, it is."

"Only for the crew of this ship… I am not part of the crew…" Bones pulled her up.

"Not just for the crew. For anyone on this ship, and you are on the ship. And if nothing else, because we're friends, right?" She went over and looked at the clothes for a minute before grabbing at random and putting them on, feeling them hang loosely on her. She turned back to him.

"I'm not the same Bones. Neither are you."

"Doesn't mean we're not friends." She walked to the door.

"Where's the cafeteria? Jim's waiting." He sighed and opened the door.

"I'll show you, come on." She followed him closely, feeling everyone's eyes on her.

"Bones… we're still friends." He smiled as they walked into the cafeteria and headed towards Jim.

"Good to hear." Jim grinned as they sat down.

"So Scythe, anything you want to eat? What do you like?"

"Jerky and water?" Jim's smile faltered.

"I mean what do you like? Or liked? Not just what you're used to. You know, things before you were stuck there for 200 hundred years." She shrugged.

"Not sure. What can I have?"

"Anything. We have replicators."

"Replicators?" Jim blinked.

"Okay… Um… They synthetically make food. Almost anything."

"Bread?"

"Of course."

"Okay. Then I want a piece of bread." Jim paused.

"Is… is that it?" Bones looked at her.

"Of course it's not." She frowned.

"Milk?"

"Okay… anything else?" She shook her head.

"No." Bones stood up.

"I'm going to get you some food. You're going to eat it. And yes, it's going to be more than a piece of bread and some milk." She started to protest when Bones poked the arm that he had broken and walked off. She frowned and looked down at the freshly healed arm. Jim stared at her until she looked up.

"What?"

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." He groaned.

"Oh come on, I'm not an idiot. I know when something's happened" She shrugged.

"He decided to get me more food than is necessary, I was going to protest and he stopped me."

"I got that, but how did he stop you? All he did was poke you in the arm."

"Proving a point." Jim was about to ask more when Bones returned and set a tray in front of her. She stared at it before looking up at him in shock.

"That's a lot of food… Enough for a week at least…" Jim stared at her.

"But… that's a small meal. Like you're on a diet or something."

"She is on a diet of sorts Jim. Not being used to eating makes it harder to do so." Scythe stared at them both.

"You… want me to eat all of this? Small meal?"

"Yeah, eat it all. Or at least give it your best effort." Jim shook his head and stood.

"Well… hate to leave, but I have to get back to the bridge. You gonna be okay Scythe?" She nodded, her eyes never leaving the tray. Jim bit his lip and left.

"Come on Scythe, just try to eat it." She nodded and poked at it.

"What is it?"

"Nothing bad for you. It's all healthy. I figured you'd still be fairly health conscious, regardless of being on Olduvai for so long." She nodded.

"Yes… I never understood how you could eat a… triple bacon burger with cheese." She shuddered at the thought. "Horrible."

"Don't worry, I'm a bit more health conscious now. Probably from being a doctor." He smiled and pointed at her plate. "No more stalling. Eat." She scowled at the food and picked up some bread.

"Are you sure it's all healthy? Not… trying to fatten me?"

"Yes it's healthy this time. And yes, I am trying to fatten you up." She sighed and bit into the bread, swallowing hard.

"Full." He twitched.

"Scythe… Eat it. Now. Because if that's your best effort, you really are useless." She shot a sidelong glare at him.

"Mean. Is there a gym on this ship?"

"Yes, but you can't use it."

"Why?"

"You'll hurt yourself, and I don't need you burning off anything you eat." She sighed and finished the bread.

"Fine. I hate it when you have a point." He smirked.

"Sounds like you hate me all the time then."

"Not at all. Only on the… very rare occasions where your point is actually valid." She picked up a piece of the baked chicken and took a small bite to taste it. She paused and looked down at it.

"Something wrong?" She shrugged and finished it.

"I can't taste it." He groaned.

"That's not a good sign Scythe." She shrugged.

"It'll be fine… Get better... eventually." Bones patted her shoulder and stood up.

"I have to get back to sickbay." He turned to see who was around. "Sulu, can you come here?"

"Yes Doctor?"

"This is Scythe, the girl we brought up from Olduvai. Can you stay here with her and make sure she eats? I have to get back to work."

"Of course Doctor. Just make sure she eats right?"

"Feel free to talk to her. You like fencing and swords right? So does she." He walked away and Sulu sat down. She watched him warily before deciding he wasn't a threat and turning back to the tray.

"So, you like fencing? Are you good at it?" She turned to him and regarded him coolly.

"I've never actually fenced. There are rules to it." She turned back to the tray again and picked up something that looked remotely like fish.

"I could teach you if you'd like. I wouldn't mind having a fencing partner." She blinked at him and slowly smiled.

"All right. Normal swords right?" Sulu grinned and they launched into a discussion about different swords. Scythe kept eating as they talked until the tray was empty. She barely spared it a glance before pushing it out of the way and asking to see his sword, fascinated that it folds in on itself. He grinned.

"All right. I left it in the Botany lab. We'll go get it."

"Botany lab?"

"You like botany?"

"Very much so. I would love to see it."

"Let's go then." She followed him eagerly out of the cafeteria, neither one thinking of telling Bones first. Sulu explained about the different plants after showing her his sword. They were just discussing crossing two different species when the intercom crackled to life.

"Sulu and Scythe. Since you didn't feel the need to tell me you even left the cafeteria, let alone where you were going, get to sickbay. Now." They looked at each other and Sulu went to the door.

"We'd better go."

"He's mad." Sulu laughed.

"He's still the doctor, and you're his patient. Come on." She sighed and followed him.

"Doctor or not, he's mad." He just smiled and led the way. She made sure to stay behind Sulu when they got into sickbay. Bones twitched slightly.

"Where were you?"

"Sorry Doctor, I was showing her the Botany Lab."

"And didn't feel the need to inform me of the whereabouts of my patient obviously."

"Sorry."

"You can go Mr. Sulu." He nodded and left, giving Scythe a sympathetic pat on her shoulder. She sighed and looked up at him.

"Sorry?"

"No you're not. How was the food? Was I right about the training still in effect?"

"Training? … Oh, from when we were required to eat… Something about unconsciously eating while in an adequate conversation, right?"

"No, the training in the park." He rolled his eyes at her and she smiled.

"I liked that training. It was… unique." His mouth tried to quirk up into a smile, but he managed to stop it.

"Maybe we'll do something like that again one day. And yes, the conversational eating was what I had referred to in the first place."

"Yes, it worked. I ate the entire plate, and I'm not even sick over it. Aren't you proud?"

"Extremely. Now all you need is some good sleep and then we can tell Jim the truth."

"Are you nervous?" He shrugged.

"Can't be helped." She raised an eyebrow and watched him. He sighed, "A little." She closed her eyes for a moment.

"It should be fine. From what I've observed of Jim, he seems to take things well. He will most likely become angry with you, but actually understand. And keep it a secret unless absolutely necessary."

"Probably, but there's always the chance he'll freak out or something." She shrugged.

"True… you could always join a circus." He glared at her and she laughed.

She woke up next to Bones the next morning and blinked around in confusion, having not slept properly for 200 years. She stretched and winced, feeling bruises that weren't able to heal. She looked over at Bones for a while before getting up. She smiled when he didn't wake up and went to figure out the shower again. She came back to see Bones groggily sitting up and smiled.

"Morning Bones. Did I wake you?"

"No, did you expect to?" She shrugged.

"Not really, but never hurts to check." He just yawned and walked past her. She slumped down on the bed and stretched out on it to wait for him. He came back and sat next to her 15 minutes later.

"I have to tell Jim today."

"No, we do." He nodded and granted her a relieved smile.

"Right. So, should we tell him before or after breakfast?" She stretched again and sat up.

"Would my opinion actually count?"

"Breakfast it is." She rolled her eyes and followed him.

"I knew you were fattening me up."

Uh-oh, I wonder how Jim's going to react! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!