DISCLAIMER: Alexa is mine; born right from my head as for the others; I don’t own ‘em, I just like ‘em… A LOT. And as someone (don’t remember who) said before… they have more fun in my world than they ever had in Paramount’s world!
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Split Seconds
By The Other Liz
Part One
Alexa opened one eye…
*Groan*
She couldn't think of anything worse than waking up. Well… maybe Gagh.
"Wait..." she said aloud. "What the hell is Gagh?"
She shook off the thought and stumbled into her bathroom unconsciously rubbing her forehead. With a mighty stretch she began changing into her work clothes. Another day… another fucking round of old people who were never satisfied with their food. What a year to be alive… 2004, even in its earliest months was not proving to be any better than 2003 or even what she remembered of 2002.
"Dogh qan ghotpu Je chaH dogh wa' Deloqpo Qleb!" she spewed under her breath.
Alexa smiled to herself and then couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Where the hell do I come up with this stuff?" She wondered to herself.
The incoherent language made sense to her but when she had asked other people about it and then researched it on the internet she couldn't come up with anything. It was her own little language. She liked speaking the language and she couldn't help but smile when she thought about how nobody knew what she was saying when she cursed about some of the old people that came in. The… P'taqs at work nearly had her at wits end. She was nearly ready to run away again.
She'd been found passed out in a park by herself when she was six; she'd bounced around from foster home to foster home before landing in this one when she was 12. Her foster parents, while they were nice people in general, were never home and she was the only child there. She'd learned quickly how to fend for herself and find her own way. Of course she saw these people in passing, they made sure she had clothes on her back and food in her belly and they'd also given her a car on her 16th birthday but other than that she barely knew them. When her report cards came in she left them on the counter and they got signed. They didn't care that she was pulling straight A's and was Valedictorian.
"Gotta love being a tax write off." The girl grumbled as she walked out her front door. Climbing into her car she sighed once more as she caught sight of her 'flair' that she had to wear at work. "I really hate my job."
The two unseen beings exchanged a mildly amused glance with each other. While Alexa's rant had been under her breath, it was no match for their superior hearing abilities.
"Stupid old people and their stupid one dollar tips?" One said to the other. "I didn't know her Klingon was that advanced."
"It appears that she still has not recovered any memory previous to where and what she was before the… incident." The other said. "When do we tell her?"
"Soon Be'nal, Soon." She soothed her mate. "The Captain doesn't want to startle her."
"I do not think it is possible." She took a breath. "Unless we decloak directly in front of her."
"I don't think Janeway would appreciate that." The smaller one smiled. "But soon enough we'll have her back."
"It disturbs me that she is not at all what she was." The taller one said. "She was not as… reserved on Voyager as she is now. What made her change?"
"I'm not sure… whatever it was. It really changed her up good…" she was interrupted by a chirp.
*Janeway to Lieutenant Torres*
B'Elanna sighed and tapped her comm. badge.
"Yes Captain?" she said.
*I think we've found a way to bring her home.*
"How?" her taller counterpart interrupted.
*Well it's actually thanks to you, Seven.*
"Clarify." Seven said, already losing patience with her diminutive Captain.
*Once you and B'Elanna are back on board, we believe we can use a transporter lock on Alexa's nanoprobes if they are active.*
There was a slight pause as Seven collected her thoughts on the matter.
"Her nanoprobes are not active Captain; I would have to activate them myself."
"Wait a minute." B'Elanna interrupted. "Are you saying we now have permission to make contact with her?"
There was a long pause before Janeway answered.
*Yes and no.*
"Explain." Came the order from the two women.
*You'll have to wait a week before you can contact her. The Doctor, Azan and Harry are still making adjustments to the transporters.*
"A WEEK?!?" roared the pint sized Klingon. "We've observed her for a month already, I know her every move sometimes before she does. I know when she sleeps, when she eats, when she works, when she plays her video games…"
*Lieutenant!*
"Captain, I apologize for B'Elanna." Seven interrupted. "She misses Alexa very much, as do I. I will also attempt at reactivating Alexa's nanoprobes while she sleeps tonight. "
With that Seven closed the link. B'Elanna looked as though she was going to break something or perhaps someone. Seven sat on Alexa's bed next to her wife and took her hand. She kissed it lightly before continuing.
"Bella…" She began.
"It's not fair!" B'Elanna said.
"I know."
"I want to give her all the answers to all her questions."
"We will."
"Why she knows a language that nobody else here knows, why she craves banana pancakes and apples, why she loves to fight, design and build stuff, why she's so good at math and science, why she has a deep rooted love for all things music…"
At this time Alexa's cat chose to walk into the room.
"And why she named that cat Tika!" B'Elanna finished with a choked sob.
Seven pulled her wife into a tight embrace and began to rub soothing circles on her back.
"I know Bella, I know." She said. "We will also explain to her why she knew how to put these 'glow stars' in accurate constellational configurations and why she has an odd fascination with these 'Star Wars' spacecraft building sets."
"That too." B'Elanna's muffled reply came.
"Let's go back to Voyager and see what we can do with the transporters."
"Okay, wait." B'Elanna said, wiping her eyes. "Klingons do not cry."
"I know, Bella." Seven said with a small smirk.
Seven tapped her comm. badge.
"Seven to Voyager, two to beam up."
*Transporting now*
----One week later----
Alexa was nestled into her favorite spot at Starbucks. The very back corner away from every person in the restaurant. She was working, yet again, on a Star Wars spacecraft. This week she was building a Tie Fighter, an X Wing fighter and an Imperial Cruiser. She really only liked the ones that flew. Not that she could come up with a logical reason for it. She just did. She had hung all the ones she'd built previously from the ceiling in her room.
'At least I've got a reason for doing that.' Alexa thought to herself. 'Space ships look stupid sitting on a shelf.'
A couple other teenagers walked by on their way back from the bathrooms.
"She's always there, building those stupid sets." One said.
"Does anyone even know her?"
"No, she goes to school with us, she's apparently really smart but all she does is sit there all the time, either drawing these really weird space ship looking things or building those Lego things."
"What a loser."
With that the group of teens were out the door and into the warm night. It had been B'Elanna's turn to grab her wife and keep her from attacking the teens when they had degraded Alexa in such a way.
"Did you hear what they said?" Seven asked, trying to keep a grip on her emotions.
"I heard, but an invisible being attacking them would only cause a scene." B'Elanna said.
Alexa couldn't hear them talking since they were still cloaked. But she had felt them the entire time they had been there. While she couldn't put her finger on it, she felt as though she was being watched. Though that wasn't any difference from the recent usual, she had felt this way for the last month. She had heard what the group said and had cursed their families in her language. Then she had just let it go.
B'Elanna and Seven had gone into the bathroom to decloak. After making sure there was no one around they hailed Voyager.
"Captain, we are preparing to decloak and make first contact." Seven said.
*Acknowledged.*
"Kah'less Seven, you make it sound like we're going to talk to some alien race not our own daughter."
"She is a teenager, is she not?" Seven asked.
"And?"
"Then she is indeed an alien race." Seven said, a small smirk appearing on her face.
"Remind me later to laugh." B'Elanna said.
"Acknowledged." Seven said, raising an implanted eyebrow.
"Oh shut up." B'Elanna smiled. "Are you ready for this?"
"I believe the term is 'as I'll ever be'."
"Kiss for good luck?"
Seven wrapped her arms around B'Elanna and kissed her. Then kissed her chin, her nose and lastly her forehead. Seven pulled back and raised an eyebrow again.
"What is it?" B'Elanna asked.
"I believe I like you better with your Klingon heritage fully intact."
The Doctor had 'hidden' B'Elanna's ridges so not to raise any alarm while she was uncloaked on Earth. B'Elanna had put up quite a fight about until Seven had pointed out the logic.
"I know… I feel a little… naked." B'Elanna said.
This elicited another raised eyebrow and a smirk.
"Shut up." B'Elanna smiled.
"Indeed." Seven said.
They both took a couple deep breaths and then headed out the bathroom door. Alexa felt their presence but had not looked up yet, she was trying to get the wings of her X Fighter to snap together, but they were being somewhat difficult. B'Elanna and Seven exchanged raised eyebrows and then looked back at their daughter.
"Okay, Jesus, what do you want?" Alexa finally said, still not looking up.
"Can we sit down?" B'Elanna asked.