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“Well, this place looks ominous.” First words out of Bones’ mouth when they beamed down onto the surface.“It should. It’s where we keep the extra bad guys.” It was alarming to see an exact copy of yourself standing in front of you. Other Kirk smiled. “Don’t know why you’re here to see this one. She’s not exactly our main tourist attraction.”“I must agree; I cannot sense the appeal,” the other Spock added.“Well, I - “ Jim started but the other Bones interrupted.“Ah, let’s just take them back. The sooner we get away from that maniac the better.” The rest of the crew laughed or smirked.“C’mon. Bones is right.” The other Kirk turned around and began leading them into the building. The other Sulu muttered to the Chekov standing next to him.“You checked the phasers?”“Da, they are all fully loaded,” he muttered back. “It would not be a good idea to go back there without them.”Jim’s Sulu and Chekov exchanged a glance. They followed the other crew towards the basement of the building.“Her cell’s down here. Farthest away from everyone else,” Other Kirk called over his shoulder as they walked out of the turbolift. “Didn’t want her convincing anyone to let her out.”They neared a large metal door at the end of the hallway. Other Kirk and Other Spock placed their hands on two panels on either side of the door. The locks disengaged, and it slowly slid open. They stepped through into a large chamber with one half separated by glass. Jim squinted at the cell on the other side of a large window.The walls were padded white, the floor seamless tile. Everything was white, except the girl crouched in the middle of the room.She was wrapped in some kind of fabric. Her head was down, legs folded under her. Jim walked closer to the glass, trying to see what she was wearing. His mouth dropped open.“She’s in a straightjacket, yeah.” The other Kirk stepped up beside him. “Only way of restraining her that worked. That way there’d be no accidental contact. I’m surprised she isn’t part Vulcan.”“I see no basis for such a hypothesis.” Spock turned his head to look at Other Kirk.“The prisoner has been able to successfully carry out psychic attacks with only physical contact,” Other Spock explained, “therefore a need to eliminate this possibility presented itself.”“You know that’s not the only reason,” Other Kirk said. “She’s really strong. Abnormally strong.”“Are you suggesting she fought back when you arrested her?” Spock raised an eyebrow.“Aye.” Other Scotty folded his arms. “Nearly took out the ship’s warp core.”“Why’d the lassie do somethin’ like that?” Scotty frowned. “I cannae see that happening.”“Because the kid’s a damn maniac,” Other Bones growled, “I’m surprised she didn’t just blow up the ship.”“Well, it’s a good thing we caught her.” Other Kirk clapped his Bones on the shoulder. “Before she and her team could destroy us all.”Kirk and his crew exchanged glances. Chekov walked up to the glass and gingerly placed his hand on it. He winced in pain as Other Sulu snatched it back.“What are you doing? That forcefield could’ve fried you in a second!” Chekov stared at the other man as he awkwardly placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry, just didn’t want to see you get hurt.”Other Kirk smirked. “Even across universes those two care about each other,” he muttered to Jim.“Why do you have a forcefield around this cell?” Jim glared at his double.“Did you not just hear everyone telling you how dangerous this kid is?” Other Bones gestured around. “At least tell me you put Khan in a cell when you arrested him.”“Of course we did,” Bones scoffed, folding his arms. Uhura frowned.“What does that have to do with - “She was interrupted by a beeping as Other Kirk’s communicator went off. He opened it.“Kirk here.”“Did you see the readings from the meter? Apparently, there’s some crossover happening.” Another voice rang out from the communicator.“Yeah, there’s another Enterprise Crew here. Sorry, should’ve reported.”“Okay. I’ll put it in the record.”He flipped it shut. Sulu frowned. “You’re monitoring inter-dimensional activity?”“Well, we weren’t gonna let them do it.” He turned to Other Chekov. “Phasers?”“Aye, Captain.” He produced a case and handed it to Other Kirk. He set it on the ground and opened it up. Rising, he began handing out phasers.“Here. You’ll need these if you’re going in.”“What?” Jim turned the phaser over. “Why would we need these?”“Because you’re stupid enough to go into that cell with her.” Other Bones shook his head. Other Kirk grabbed one and headed towards a panel towards the end of the window. The rest of his crew crowded the other end. Jim glanced uneasily at Spock before slowly moving towards his double, who was going over the phaser settings.“Spock, when I say go, open the door.” Other Spock nodded. Other Kirk took a deep breath and turned around, phaser up. “Go!”The panel slid open. He immediately aimed the phaser inside and fired at her shoulder. It struck her, jostling her sideways and discoloring the fabric.“No!” Uhura tried to rush forwards but Spock stopped her.“I do not believe there is anything we can do now,” he muttered. The girl hadn’t moved. Other Kirk aimed his phaser at her head.“Slowly, come on.”He walked in slowly, still aiming his phaser at her head. Jim glanced at Spock before following him in, phaser at his side. Spock followed, then Uhura, then Sulu, then Bones, then Scotty. Chekov glanced at the other Sulu before following them. The girl didn’t seem to register that there were more people in her cell. Jim looked her over carefully. The straightjacket kept her arms bound to her sides. Her feet were bare and almost covered by white fabric. His attention was broken when his right foot was crushed.“Hey!”“Get your phaser up.” Other Kirk moved off of his foot. “C’mon, I wanna get out of here.”“What?”“Take my place and aim your phaser at her.”“Why would I do that?”“Because otherwise I have to stay in here and she really hates me.”Jim and Bones made eye contact. From the sounds of it, this Kirk had a very different relationship with the girl than Jim did. Reluctantly, Jim held the phaser up and mirrored his double’s position. Other Kirk lowered the phaser and strode out.“Spock, close the door!”The panel slid shut. As it did, the figure finally moved. She raised her head slowly, hair slowly moving away from her face. She didn’t look surprised to see the phaser trained on her. She squinted slightly when she registered two Bridge Crews; one inside and one outside. Other Kirk spoke up from behind the window.“New visitors. These guys are from the canon universe. They’re the most powerful versions out there.”Jim glanced at Spock. The girl tried to look up further but only succeeded in jarring her shoulder. She winced and looked back down. Bones swore under his breath. “Dammit, kid.” He started forwards.“What the hell are you doing?” Other Kirk shouted from behind the glass.“She’s in pain, you idiot!” Bones gestured to her arms. “She probably hasn’t moved from that position for a long time, meaning she can’t move her arms due to either muscle stiffness or excessive blood pooling!”“Ah, let him help her,” Other Bones said, “he’s right. Plus, she’s not gonna do anything from in there.”Other Kirk huffed and waved his hand in an ‘on-your-own-head’ gesture that Jim recognized. Spock walked behind her, looking at the restraints that held her arms inside the straightjacket. The buckles were secured tightly across her back, the metal rucking up the cloth into wrinkles up and down the length of the jacket. Her feet were chained to the back of the jacket with large metal cuffs and a heavy chain. He changed a few settings on the phaser and fired at each of the cuffs, melting the links to the chain. Crouching, he pried the cuffs off of her, moving them backward and unraveling the chain. She didn’t move. Spock looked up and nodded to the doctor.“Alright, kid,” Bones said, carefully setting the phaser down and making his way over to her. “I’m not gonna hurt you, I’m just gonna get you outta that jacket.” He knelt down next to Spock and reached forwards, unfastening the first buckle.“Are you crazy?” Other Uhura shouted from behind the glass. Bones ignored her, fiddling with the next buckle.“I don’t know about you, but I’m gettin’ a little tired of them treating you like a damn bomb,” he muttered to the girl, slowly moving around to the front of her. “Okay, let’s see if we can some circulation back into those arms.”Bones reached for her right arm. “Now, I don’t know how long you’ve been like this, but I’m pretty sure it’s been a long time. That means,” he said, beginning to straighten her arm, “you may experience some muscle and bone stiffness when you first move.” He encouragingly rubbed her upper arm when she winced in pain. “There you go.”Moving beside her, he began to move her arm outwards, opening up her chest. He continued until her arm was outstretched and brought it up, stopping when she hissed in pain. “I know, kid, come on. You can do this.” Eventually, he got her arm stretched over her head, bending and unbending it a few times. “Alright, can you rotate your shoulder a few times for me?” She winced but complied, rolling her arm backward and forwards a few times. “Good girl.”Jim watched as Bones tended to the girl, smiling as she slowly built up her mobility. As Bones moved to work on her left arm, she turned her head slightly, and the collar of her straightjacket slid down. He dropped the phaser and rushed forwards. The girl looked up, startled and jerked backward when his hands went around her throat.“What the hell are you doing?” Bones said, having braced the girl’s back as she jolted away. Jim didn’t answer except to tug the collar of the jacket down to reveal a black band around her neck. Spock’s eyes widened.“That is the same silencing collar Admiral Floyd forced Alex to wear when she was arrested.”“Yeah, except it’s been given an upgrade.” Jim began fingering the band. “What the hell did they do to you, kid?” He turned. “Chekov, Scotty, come see if you can get this thing off.”“Aye, Captain.” Chekov and Scotty came forwards. Bones finished stretching her left arm and moved backward, giving her side a reassuring squeeze. Scotty crouched down and carefully guided her head to the side.“Let’s have a look see.” He squinted at the collar. “Lassie, you've got one hell of a pissed off crew here.”“Mister Scott, I do not believe that it is necessarily her fault.” Chekov began looking for a release mechanism. “From what I have seen, this universe is very different from ours.”“You're not wrong there, laddie.” Scotty ran his fingers around the collar. “This here’s a nasty piece of work.”The other Bridge Crew were clearly unhappy.“You take that collar off, you’re basically signing your death wish!” Other Sulu yelled from behind the glass.“Based on what?” Sulu retorted. “She hasn’t done a thing except get shot at!”“Whilst I acknowledge the prisoner has not been violent to you personally, I must insist you do not remove the collar,” Other Spock said.“Hey!” Uhura yelled. “You put that collar on her and left her tied up in a straightjacket. You have no right to talk.”“Dammit, man, you need to shut them up,” Bones muttered to Jim from where he was crouched. Jim nodded and jerked his head to Spock. They stood and turned to the window.“What the hell are you thinking?”“Dammit, Jim, you’ll kill us all!”“That is a very bad idea!”Spock cut them all off. “You are unaware of the true nature of your ‘prisoner,’ as you have called her. I must say I do not regret to inform you that we will be taking her with us.”“What?” Jim smirked at the sheer amount of noise that remark generated.“Where did she come from?” His Spock continued.“Uh, I don’t need to explain to you how human reproduction works, do I?” Other Bones snarked.Jim rolled his eyes. “What universe?”“This one,” Other Spock said, “which is why she is here.”“How do you know that?”Silence.“See, because we know who’s from our universe because of the energy signature. I’m assuming, because you’re monitoring inter-dimensional activity, you’ve got the Complex tech to do it.” Jim produced a tricorder and scanned his Spock, Sulu, and Uhura, showing Other Kirk the readings through the glass. He squinted at the tricorder before looking up. Jim jerked his head towards the other crew. “Scan your crew.”Other Kirk frowned but did as he was told. Sure enough, the energy signature was different. “Now, let’s see what energy signature she has.”He turned and walked over to her. Chekov scooted backward so Jim could scan her, running a hand over her head, mouthing ‘don’t worry’ as the tricorder beeped. He stood.Other Kirk took a step forward as the tricorder was pressed against the glass. Other Spock glanced at him. “Those energy readings are consistent with the canon universe, Captain.”“You’re damn right they are. She’s ours.” Jim put down the tricorder and tucked it away. “And we’re taking her home.”“You’re not taking her anywhere,” Other Jim retorted.“Got it!” They turned towards Scotty’s shout. The engineer wrested the collar away from the girl’s neck as Chekov held it open. When it came away from her skin she gasped, panting, and moving her neck from side to side. Bones quickly tucked his hands around her shoulders and pulled her upright. As she came to, she looked up at Scotty and Chekov, who were still crouched around her. Slowly, she reached up, wrapping her fingers first around Scotty’s hand, then grasping for Chekov’s. She gave them a weak squeeze.“Ah, you're welcome, lassie.” Scotty rubbed her head.Chekov knelt down in front of the girl and leaned forwards, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder. “It is no problem. We will get you out of here in no time.”“You bet your ass, lassie.” Scotty took the collar and handed it to Jim. “This one’s a lot more sophisticated than the one from Admiral Floyd. What d'you want to do with it?”“Destroy it. Once we get back to the Enterprise, we’re dropping it into a black hole.”“I do not recommend placing the Enterprise in close proximity to that particular spacial anomaly,” Spock commented. “Perhaps we can jettison the collar into a star instead.”Jim chuckled. “Yeah, that’ll work.”“Aye, Captain.” Scotty took the collar back. Jim turned his back on the glass.“Come on, kid. We’re getting you out of here.”Bones nodded, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “C’mon, kid.” He gestured to Chekov, still holding onto her. “Let’s get her up.”“Aye, sir. Come on,” Chekov tried to get an arm around her waist, “up you get.”“No.”The room went silent. The girl began to unfold, first rising up onto her hands and knees, before gingerly moving one leg, then the other. She slowly stood up, head raising, until she was staring directly at the Bridge Crew behind the glass.Jim glanced behind them. The other crew was frozen. The girl took one step forwards, slightly shaky but steady. Her next step was firm. She began walking towards the door.“You can’t get out!” Other Kirk called. “She can’t get out, right?” He muttered to Other Spock.“Not unless we open the door,” he clarified.“That is correct,” Spock said, “we are trapped in this cell unless the crew outside opens the door.”“Are you sure?” Jim gestured to the girl. She was standing next to the panel. There were two screens on the wall, like the ones on the other side of the wall. “Because it looks like we can open those.”Spock nodded. They hurried over. Other Jim cursed. “We need to get those deactivated.”“Spock to Starfleet security, deactivate the panels inside the prisoner’s cell!”“Which prisoner?”“Prisoner 57.”“Yes, sir!”“Too late,” Other Sulu muttered as the panel swung open. Jim and Spock removed their hands. The girl stepped through, ignoring the Other Crew as seven phasers were aimed at her. She looked at them, blank face.“Get back in your cell,” Other Spock said. She stepped closer. “Now!”She walked up to him. The phaser was still aimed at her. She reached out her hand, palm upwards. Other Kirk didn’t move.Silence.He sighed, lowering the phaser. “You better hurry. The next guard rotation isn’t too far behind.”“Captain, what are you doing?” Other Spock asked, not lowering his phaser.“Phasers down.” The other crew looked around at each other, not moving the phasers. “Phasers down!”They slowly lowered them.“Dammit, Jim. So what, we’re just gonna let her walk out of here?” Other Bones asked.“They’re right. She’s not ours. She doesn’t deserve to be locked up in there.” Other Kirk looked up at her. “I’m sorry. We should’ve…figured that out sooner.”She didn’t move, only left her hand where it was. Other Kirk looked at it, before carefully placing his hand in hers.“Jim, what the hell?” Other Bones yelled as Other Kirk gasped and tightened his grip on her hand, stumbling. “Dammit, kid, let go of him!”“No!” Other Kirk choked out, getting his feet back under him, waving his Bones away, “it’s okay, she’s not hurting me.” He grimaced, before exhaling and steadying himself. “It’s just…haven’t felt that much emotion in a while.”He laughed, shaking his head. “After all that? Still?” She nodded, squeezing his hand. He smiled sadly at her and jerked his head towards Jim’s crew. “Take care of them. God knows we don’t deserve you. Whoa.” He leaned back and laughed again. “Alright, stop it. Go on, get out of here. Before the guards come to put you back.”She nodded, giving his hand another squeeze and turning to go out the door. Other Chekov opened the door. Jim turned to follow, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to see his double holding him back.“Look after her. Please.” Jim nodded. “And I know he’ll do this anyway, but have Bones look her over.”“I will.” Bones headed out after her. Jim waved goodbye to the crew as they walked back outside the cell.“Captain, if she originated in the canon universe,” Other Spock muttered as they left, “then the question of where the one that originated in our universe is currently hiding arises.”Other Kirk’s face fell. “Crap.”Jim called over his shoulder as he left. “We’ll look into it. Odds are, we’ll find her sooner or later.”“Affirmative.”They exited the building. The girl stopped just outside the door, looking up into the sky. Bones smiled when he saw her face go slack at the sight. “Feels good to see the sky again, huh?” She nodded. The quiet was interrupted by an alarm, starting in the belly of the building and rising, mounting as multiple sirens began sounding, shaking the structure.Bones called to Jim. “Let’s get out of here before they try and arrest us.”Jim nodded. “Energize!”The outside disappeared in front of them, replaced with the tritium walls of the transporter room and the familiar red shirt of the technicians.Jim sighed as he stepped off the pad. “Well, now we’re out of that place. I’m never gonna get used to those universes.”“Yeah, well, that makes two us,” Bones grumbled.“I concur.” Spock stepped up beside the Captain.“What have I told you about agreeing with me?”“Oh dear.”They almost missed it. The three of them turned around. The girl hadn’t moved from her spot on the pad. She was staring at the ground a few feet away from the transport technician.“What’s wrong?” Kirk swiveled to face her.“I think I’m about to fall,” she stated bluntly.“Are you expecting one of us to catch you?” Spock asked, hands still folded behind his back.“No,” she said, gaze not moving, “but it would be appreciated.” As she spoke, her voice began to trail off. Before she finished the last syllable, her knees buckled and she began to slump down onto the pad.Kirk blinked. In an instant, Spock looped one arm behind her knees and lifted, cradling her and turning back to face the two men still by the transporter bay.“Damn hobgoblin strength,” Bones muttered as they made their way through sickbay.“At least she didn’t get hurt from that fall.” Kirk waved to clear the rest of the Medical staff away from one of the private rooms at the back. Most of them had carefully moved out of the way beforehand. Bones had a good crew. “I’ve gotta go sort this mess out with Blackburn.”“Okay. Tell him to make sure to find their kid.” Bones opened the door to the back room.Spock laid her down on the bed as Bones grabbed the scanner. Opening it up, he moved it over her chest and began slowly moving down. He shook his head. “There’s something wrong with her digestive track, but I can’t really tell from this angle.” He glanced up at Spock. “Could you sit her up?”Spock nodded, holding her upright. He positioned her so her upper body was resting against his; his weight offering her something to lean on. He moved his hand away from her waist to her side.“Thanks.” Bones moved the scanner back, looking through it. “She might have a minor case of diverticulosis. But,” he moved it over the rest of her body, “I think that’s all.”“Can the problem be treated?” Spock asked.“Yeah, sure. Got the hypo in my office.” Bones set the scanner away and turned to leave. “Be right back. Keep an eye on her, would you?”“Of course, doctor.” Bones left, leaving Spock alone with the girl. Spock looked down at her head lolled against his chest. Her expression was inscrutable. The only sounds that could be heard were the quiet beeps from the equipment and the thrumming of the ship. Spock glanced up at the ship’s walls. Did the other crew’s Enterprise look like this?His attention was drawn by the girl in his arms suddenly tensing. He looked down. Her face had contorted into a very readable expression. Her brow was furrowed, eyes clenched shut, and her mouth was slightly open. She began muttering to herself quietly. He placed a hand on her forehead and gasped. He screwed his eyes shut and unconsciously tightened his grip on her. Bones walked back in and stopped.“What’s wrong?” He rushed over, setting the hypo down on the side and grabbing the tricorder. “Dammit, man, what’s happening?”“I believe Alex is currently undergoing a mental flashback. It is an expected side effect from her recent time spent in the alternate universe.” Spock didn’t open his eyes. “I am currently trying to determine exactly which element of her stay is triggering this current attack.”“Well can you fix it? Do your mind-meld thing and get her out of it?”“That is not an advisable course of action. If Alex detects a foreign presence it will no doubt worsen the effects of the attack."“So what can we do?” Bones started scanning her head, wincing at the readings.“The only possible course of action is to attempt to elicit a sense of calm externally.” Spock took a deep breath and dropped his shoulders. The girl was still shifting against him, fists clenching and unclenching, head shaking slightly from side to side. Slowly, Spock moved his hand to the top of her head and began running his fingers through her hair. Initially, she flinched at the contact, before slowly sagging back into him. Bones watched the readings on the tricorder slowly go back to normal. He sighed.“It’s over. She’s stabilized.” He retrieved the hypo and began rolling up her sleeve. “How’d you do that?”“She uses an image of someone stroking her hair associated with warmth and safety to calm her down.” Spock continued rubbing her head. “I simply replicated the experience.”Bones glanced up at him before injecting the hypo into her arm. She barely twitched. “I have no idea what that must have been like.”“The brief amount I was able to experience was…very unpleasant.”“What the hell were they thinking? Why would they do something like that to her?”“Possibly, they incorrectly assumed she was involved in something with negative impacts.”“Her? Are you kidding me?” Bones’ tone became incredulous. “She’s never done anything that didn’t start with ‘it was to help so and so.’ I have a hard time believing that.”“Then possibly it was Blackburn.”“Again, why would Blackburn do something that bad?”“Because that’s not our Blackburn.” Kirk dropped a PADD on the table. “Just finished talking to AIDAN. Turns out she’s been staying in an alternate universe in which the team is evil.”“Blackburn's team? Are you kidding? My god, do you have any idea how dangerous that would be?” Bones took the PADD and peered at it. “Ah, hell.”Spock looked at Kirk. “Then how did she come to be arrested?”“According to the files, which there aren’t many of, their version of her committed suicide, trying to take the Enterprise out with her. So when ours went through and stopped it, they thought it was her.” Jim reached over and tucked an errant strand of hair back into place. “Poor girl.”“My God.” Bones rubbed a hand over his face.“But it is still a remarkably powerful organization,” Spock argued, “therefore it is sensible to assume that something else triggered her arrest.”“Yeah. She broke the team.”“Elaborate.”“She destroyed the team. Disabled AIDAN, dumped the databanks, and let herself be arrested.”“What about Blackburn and the rest of them?”Kirk gave Spock a look. “In that universe they’re dead. No one knows how.” Spock was quiet. “She’s been there ever since. It’s hard to tell how long because, as we all know, the team likes to mess around with time.”“So why’d she stay?” Bones asked.Jim shrugged. Spock carefully ran his hand through her hair again. “The logical explanation is that she stayed to ensure a sense of catharsis.”Bones cursed under his breath. “It would’ve made everyone happy. She wasn’t kidding.” He shut the tricorder. “She really is very protective.”“Yeah, well,” Jim helped Spock ease her down onto the bed, “so are we.” Can’t move.Tied-up.Prison.Can’t move.Hate.They all hate you.All of them.She opened her eyes, panting heavily. She tried to move her arms but couldn’t, bouncing off an invisible barrier that pinned her in place. Beeps filled the room. Her ears flooded with the sounds of alarms. Handcuffs. Straightjacket. Phaser. Hate.The door burst open. Bones rushed in, setting a PADD down on the side and pressing a button on the underside of the table. The air shimmered and the barrier faded. She flailed violently, almost whacking Bones upside the head. He carefully caught one of her arms and cupped his other hand around her cheek. “Shh, wake up kid. It’s okay, you’re safe now.”It took her a few seconds to make eye contact with him. She blinked a few times before her brain registered who it was. “Sir?”Bones smiled, before gently squeezing her arm. “What did I say about calling me that?”“Leo?”“That’s better.” Slotting his hand under her neck, he helped her into a sitting position. He took a tricorder from the side and began running it over her body.“I’m sorry. I forgot I was here. I thought I was still there. I thought you were the other you.” She buried her face in her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay.” Bones took one of her hands in his as he continued scanning. “I’m not angry. If something’s not your fault, or if it doesn’t matter, don’t apologize. It’s okay.”“You hated me. You all hated me,” she whispered. Bones lowered the tricorder, squeezing her hand.“Well, physically,” he said, setting the tricorder aside, “you’re healthy as a horse.” He laid her hand flat on top of his. It was shaking. “Not so sure about your emotional state. The hobgoblin seemed to be able to help you earlier. Maybe he can do some of his mind voodoo and help you out.”His cynical phrasing worked a giggle out of her. She shook her head sadly. “That’s not something that you can really…fix.”“Well, what is it, darling?”“I still feel like you all hate me.” The room went silent. “Is there a treatment for that?”Bones went quiet for a minute, before guiding her hand to his shoulder. “Yeah,” he said, stepping closer, “there is.” Cupping her head, he pulled her into a hug, holding her tightly against him.She stiffened when her head hit his shoulder before sagging into him, exhaling a shaky breath and moving her arms to hug him back. He felt her relax and adjusted his grip as she moved, one arm going around her waist and the other up around her ribcage. “Now, I don’t give this out a lot, but there’s no limit on the dosage, which,” he said, holding her tighter, “is a good thing because I think you need a lot of it.”“Yay.” Her reply was muffled slightly by the fabric covering his shoulder, but the sentiment was clear. Bones chuckled, vibrations thrumming against her chest as he gave her a squeeze.“Now, this ain’t exactly regulation, so don’t go around tellin’ people you’re getting it, alright?” He ran his hand up and down her side. “Don’t want everybody asking for it, what’s that gonna look like?”“Will the Captain mind?”Bones laughed. “Well, considering he gets the most of it, I’d say no, probably not.” He thought for a moment. “You could probably get it from him as well.” She huffed against him, butting her head against his shoulder. “Christ, you’re like a dog. Always eager to please.”He went quiet. “I told you once that I didn’t think you cared about the people you worked with. That they were just tools to you.” She stiffened and raised her head away from his shoulder. He let her pull back enough to look directly at her. “Do I have to say I don’t believe that in the slightest anymore?”She shook her head. “It’s okay.”“Kirk to sickbay, how’s she doing, Bones?” The comm went off in the room. Bones let her go, giving her shoulder one last squeeze before going over.“Yeah, she’s awake.”Kirk exhaled sharply. “Oh thank god. We’re on our way down.”“Jim?”“Yeah?”“Tell Blackburn, would you? Don’t really want to piss him off.”“I will.”Bones sighed as he headed back to the bed, grabbing the tricorder as he went. As he started scanning her again, her brow wrinkled. “What?”“Didn’t you just do that?”“Yeah, but did you not just hear me say I don’t want to piss off Blackburn?”She huffed a laugh. Bones smiled. “It’s good to see you laughing again.”The door hissed open. Jim and Spock stepped through; Spock going over to Bones to look at the readings. He glanced at the PADD before looking up as Jim held his arms out. “Hey, kid. You’re looking better,” he said as he hugged her.Bones smirked. “Told you.”Jim frowned. “What? What are you talking about?”“Nothing.”Jim glanced at the girl in his arms. She didn’t say anything, just buried her head into his chest and cuddled closer. He shook his head before tightening his hold protectively. The room went quiet for a few minutes before the girl let out a jaw-cracking yawn against Jim’s shoulder. He laughed.“That squeak is adorable.” She didn’t react. Spock ran his hand through her hair, making her sigh and shift further into Jim’s arms.“I believe you require additional sleep in order to fully recover. Do you agree, doctor?”“Yeah. Judging by that yawn, I’d say so.”“Captain?”Jim coaxed her head away from him and held her by her shoulders. “Sleep well, sweetheart.”Spock rested his hand on her shoulder. She looked up and wearily opened her mouth to protest, but Spock cut her off.“Good night, Alex.” She felt a squeeze on her shoulder before she went limp.Jim carefully laid her back down onto the bed, smiling when she unconsciously curled up into a ball. “Sweet kid.”“Poor thing’s gonna be jumpy for a while.” Bones set the tricorder down. “Best not to work her too hard.”“Try telling her that.”“I recommend either transferring her into Blackburn's care or bringing Blackburn onboard the Enterprise,” Spock said, “that way we can have someone who is familiar with this type of experience as a guide in order to properly care for her.”“Good idea. I’ll ask.” Jim turned to leave. “I think the other me was right.”Bones looked up. “About what?”“She is really strong.” He looked back at her. “I think we may need to remind her she doesn’t have to be, not all the time. No one does.”“That’s some advice you should take, Jim,” Bones said.“Yeah. Maybe we all should.”
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“All of the timelines we’ve experienced are systematic,” Blackburn says. He looks at the faces of his team. Adalwolf Ajun, Kaya Davidson, Traveler Barker, Scott Rendram, and Joye Minta. He’d drilled the names into his head before the meeting.
Know your team.
“There is a high probability the canonicity of this timeline will be at odds with the Flux Capacitor Postulate,” he continues, “so the majority of your tech will be useless as they have been designed to use the postulate in its raw form as opposed to the adapted version. That being said, one of the aims for this mission is to get acquainted with the constraints of this timeline’s canon. However, I don’t want you relying on your tech. Stars know tech’s amazing, but alcohol is also amazing, and we all know what happens when you rely on that.” He swipes his finger across the PADD to bring up the next set of images. “Stars know the universe ain’t as pretty as we’d like it to be, and every single sentient being has some darkness. Get used to seeing a lot of it.” He ignores the looks on Joye’s and Kaya’s faces. They need to see this. “Despite what Carr may tell you, and he’s a great man, don’t get me wrong, but people aren’t inherently good. They’re inherently people, which means they fuck up and don’t wanna deal with the consequences.” He spreads his arms wide. “Well, we’re those consequences.” “Blackburn,” Ajun says, “we get it. People are people. They got flaws.” She gestures to the screen. “What flaws do we gotta worry about?” Blackburn nods and points to the picture in the upper corner. “These guys are developing disruptor technology from the Next Generation Canon, which means it’s well over our Canon Divergence Limit. And because they don’t know how to use it, they’re a threat.” “To…?” Joye asks. “To everything,” Blackburn says. Joye starts to smile but it vanishes quickly at the sight of Blackburn’s stony expression. He leans onto his hands. “Look, I wish people weren’t like this either. But if you give people something new to play with, they’re either gonna call you out for being different, pass it off as their own, or try to hurt someone else with it. And when the next thing comes, they find the flaws and tear it to shreds.” He takes care to soften his expression when he sees Ajun sit up straighter and Scott shoot him a warning look. He doesn’t mean to yell at Joye. “I hate it too. But no people I’ve ever met are that genuinely sweet.” The door bangs open. Blackburn looks up to bark at the intruder to get out this is a highly confidential debriefing but stops with his mouth open. “Good morning, everybody!” Widogast Ottmar. Another member of his team. “Sorry I’m late,” Gast says, closing the door, “but Hypatia just finished this code for a biological scanner and then Mark had to talk to me about the negotiations for the Saritans and then Chi wanted to talk about the new program she’s developed for Joye — oops!” He covers his mouth with one hand and shoots Joye a look. It’s made quite obvious that he totally did that on purpose. “Well, anyway, I just popped by ‘cause I’ve actually gotta go, K’s running this mod for a new time stream and he needs input on the calibration of the creature software, so I really can’t stay long.” “Blackburn’s just giving us the schpiel on the latest timeline,” Rendram explains drily, “you know, basic stuff, all people are terrible, blah, blah, the usual.” “Has he gotten to the part about his horrible drinking habits yet?” “Hey!” “It’s true, dear, you really shouldn’t drink so much,” Gast says reproachingly. He looks at Kaya, who’s been giggling steadily for the past two minutes. “His alcohol tolerance is incredible though. He once bet a Romulan that he could out-drink him in a game of Sprata-Ka and woke up married to the bouncer. The Romulan…didn’t wake up.” Gast looks back at Blackburn. “You got married on our honeymoon, dear, it was quite embarrassing. Luckily Chi managed to get the whole thing thrown over on account of some legality concerning the intoxication of parties before legally binding contracts in Sprata-Ka.” Even Rendram snorts at that. Barker’s given up trying to stifle her laughter and openly cackles. Joye and Ajun aren’t much better. Gast, seemingly unaware of the state of havoc he’s brought into the briefing — and is probably totally aware and just doesn’t give a shit — continues his musings undaunted. “The point I’m trying to make is: don’t believe he’s all cynicism and doom. He’s a big fluffy teddy bear once you get through all that asshole —“ At this, Blackburn’s gone bright red and is attempting to hide behind the PADD — “and he does care about you lot. A whole bunch. So, you know, you’ll be fine. He knows that too. He’s just gotta schpiel a bit first. Keeps his image up.” With that, Gast heads for the door. “If there’s anything else, I’ll be with K in the court!” The door closes. Blackburn, who’s been blushing ever since Gast brought up his drinking habits, coughs awkwardly and attempts to resume his briefing. At the sight of the smirks on everyone’s faces, however, he abandons it. “Ah, get going.” He waves them towards the door. “Draco and them’ll probably fix you something that’ll work around the postulate.” That’s apparently good enough for Joye, Rendram, and Ajun, who head right for the door as soon as they’re dismissed. Kaya stays behind for a second to grab the PADD before she’s out too. Barker stays seated, at least until the door shuts again. Before she can say anything, Blackburn raises a finger at her. “Not. One. Word.” “But you guys are so cute!” she gushes, knowing how much it ticks him off. He tries, he really does, to get angry, but then he remembers how fond it makes Gast when he tries to get angry and he knows his husband is right. Even when he won’t admit it. Death before dishonor and all that. He can’t help the little smile that comes across his face either. Barker sees it, of course, and asks: “no people that sweet, huh?” Blackburn looks at the door. “Well, maybe some people.” "Incoming transmission." "What is it, AIDAN?" Blackburn looks at the screen. "From The Enterprise, Canon Timeline for AoS. Regarding Alex." "She finished her mission and everything fine?" Blackburn starts reading. "She ended up...in a Mirror!verse...okay, nothing new...but - oh." They read the rest of the report in silence. Barker's hands clench and Blackburn bites out a curse. "She had to kill us," he whispers, "all of us." "So soon after K, too," Barker murmurs, "they want to bring you onboard to look after her." Blackburn looks back at the mission briefing. They need to get this timeline problem sorted. There's a high probability this set of headcanons won't be applicable unless they figure out the minutia with the tech differentials. He looks up at the screen with Kirk's request. "Never get attached to anyone in this damn job," he snarls, startling Barker, "they'll become liabilities that others will use to exploit your sensibilities and soon you won't be able to tell the difference between the duty to yourself and duty to your cause." She doesn't say anything, just looks at him. He sighs. "Tell Scott he's taking the lead on this one. I've got a specialist to take care of." "Sure thing, John," Barker says softly. She takes his PADD and nudges him out of the room. He lets her manhandle him out of the room, even though he's frantically reassuring himself it's because she's Barker and not because he's not-so-subtly freaking out.
Hold on, Alex. I'm coming.