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 Fifteen
As previously seen (or read…) on Split Seconds: Tuvok and the Captain come to a conclusion on Alexa's predicament and the family bonds and remembers over breakfast.
In her quarters Alexa was studying her DNA makeup. Holograms of two DNA strands were floating above an emitter, seemingly twirling in mid-air. One strand from herself when she was six, compliments of the hairbrush that had been stowed in a drawer in her room and the other from the hair on her head. She was looking for anything that might have changed her melatonin structure. It seemed that she was getting nowhere and that the last 3 hours had been a complete waste of time.
"Inefficient." She smiled to herself.
The door chimed just as she was beginning to stretch for a break, Alexa jumped at the sudden sound. Arching an eyebrow she answered.
"Come." She said.
Naomi stepped over the door's threshold with a new blush beginning on her cheeks.
"Hey," Alexa greeted her with a meaningful albeit brief hug. "What's up?"
"I was having difficulties concentrating on my work; Seven gave me the rest of the afternoon off." Naomi paused. "She said I should check on you."
Alexa smiled.
"Well as long as you're here; are you hungry?"
"A little. Are you?"
Alexa widened her smile.
"Always." Alexa paused, poring over the double meaning. "What're you in the mood for?"
Naomi's blush had spread further up her face but she was not going to be daunted.
"What about nuggets?" she said, saying the only thing that came to mind.
"That's good for me." Alexa smiled. "I can always get down on some nuggets."
Alexa watched as Naomi crossed in front of her to the replicator.
'You are the biggest… putz Alexa Torres; just tell her. Or show her…'
"Something wrong?" Naomi asked.
"Ah; no. Just thinking." Alexa smiled.
"Oh; anything important?"
"No… Yes… No."
"Are you sure?" Naomi smiled as she handed Alexa a plate.
"No." Alexa smiled back. "I've got a few things on my mind." Alexa gestured towards the coffee table.
The table contained a few pads; some notes and what appeared to be two strands of DNA floating in mid-air.
"What's all this?"
"Promise not to tell anyone?"
Naomi nodded.
"I'm serious; my parents might kill me if they knew what was going on for real." Alexa laughed.
"I promise I won't tell."
"Okay; do you remember how absolutely white my skin was when I got here?"
"Yes."
"Okay so I got sick of being white with…" Alexa pointed to her ridges. "these."
"Why?"
"They just looked… funny, I guess. Anyway I didn't like it." Alexa chewed her lip for a moment. "I went to the Holodeck where we have our Heaven and created a tanning bed."
"Is that what that… thing is in the corner?"
"Yep." Alexa smiled again. "I used to go every week, when my tan would start to fade and retouch it; then it started fading slower so I started going every two weeks; now I think I've really messed up because I havent been back in a month and… as you can see I'm not fading back to white."
"Oh jeez." Naomi bit her lip. "Tanning beds do exactly what? I mean besides make you tan?"
"Well it's like being in the sun; just more concentrated."
"So you willingly exposed yourself to UV rays… that were concentrated." Naomi arched an eyebrow. "Without protection?"
Alexa scowled and crossed her arms.
"I had lotion on."
"What kind of lotion; did it have a protective element to it?"
Alexa slumped on the couch.
"Is that a 'no'?" Naomi smiled, then came to another realization. "Oh Kah'less. Lex! It concentrates the rays even more?!"
"No, well… kind of; it makes it spread out; for an even tan." Alexa blushed.
"Well, look have you seen the doc about it?"
"I was supposed to go so he could look at my nanoprobes but I got… busy."
"Busy?"
Alexa furrowed her brow even more. This almost made Naomi laugh, almost. Even thought the young Norcadian was worried about Alexa's exposure to UV rays it did not seem to have a major effect on her object of affection. She decided to take Seven's advice and 'leave it.'
"Okay, okay, so your nanoprobes are?"
"Active."
"And that means?"
"I don't have Borg enhanced everything else just… my brain I guess." Alexa chewed her lip a moment. "I can tell when somebody's heart rate, respiration, body temp all that increases or decreases, I tend to learn pretty quick and…" Alexa stopped there, not wanting at all to reveal all her true secrets.
"And what?" Naomi reached out and took Alexa's hand.
Alexa's heartbeat quickened when she felt Naomi's touch. But she still just couldn't reveal all of herself. It wasn't that she didn't trust Naomi or didn't like her. It wasn't any of that. It was simply that she herself wasn't comfortable with the things she knew how to do.
"And I guess that's it." Alexa finished quietly.
Naomi knew just by Alexa's body language that wasn't everything but again just left it alone and went with what she already was told.
"Okay; all of that is from your nanoprobes; they give you the ability to sense all of that. They also give you the advantage of picking new things up quickly; retaining information, well that's more an eidetic memory but it depends on how Seven programmed the nanoprobes. But anything else you might think is odd; they're probably responsible for it." Naomi smiled as she saw Alexa visibly relax. "But I think you should still go see the Doc, we can go after lunch."
"I thought I was confined to quarters." Alexa said fervently trying to get out of it.
"Yep. But that doesn't mean he can't come to you." Naomi laughed as the poor girl's face fell. "Hey, I'll be right here with you, besides if you really love me you'll do it."
Alexa arched an eyebrow, not expecting the last sentence at all.
'NAOMI! You 'tard. If you love me!?!' Naomi screamed at her self, though she kept her face passive "What?"
"Nothin'." Alexa pouted for a second. "Fine. I'll do it, but he's so irritating. And freaky."
At this Naomi laughed and shook her head and began to eat her nuggets. While the two girls began noshing on their lunch it was an entirely different story across the ship. Janeway had just hailed two of her senior officers for a probable not so pleasant meeting.
Seven and B'Elanna met in the corridor just outside the Turbolift, both wearing the same worried look of a mother whose child is in trouble.
"Bang'wi." Seven said. "Do you think everything will be alright?"
"I hope so." B'Elanna replied pulling Seven into a warm hug.
"She is well within her rights." Seven said quietly; more trying to reassure herself and B'Elanna than state a fact.
On arriving outside the Captain's ready room they rang the chime.
"Come." Janeway called and then on seeing who it was entering. "Sit down."
"You called for us Captain?" B'Elanna asked as she sat.
"I did." Janeway took a breath. "I think that we have come to a half-way decision."
"Half-way?" Seven asked.
Janeway held up her hand.
"Now look, by halfway I mean that because of Klingon laws she is entitled to defend herself and her honor if she feels that she has been slighted therefore is not guilty of murder." Janeway took a slight pause. "However, I think that something should be done to reign in that temper of hers a little. Tuvok has suggested some counseling like the kind you had B'Elanna, just something to give her so she doesn't go around killing crew members."
"She didn't just… kill him for no reason Captain." B'Elanna said. "He freely admitted to causing her disappearance as well as completely humiliating her in front of half the crew."
"I understand and hence the Klingon laws for honor have saved her from a more severe punishment."
"That's not what I meant," B'Elanna sighed. "I mean, she would never do that just randomly or just to anyone who irritates her, if she did she'd have done something when Naomi split her lip or when she and Mizoti argue."
"I see." Janeway said. "So you two are on the definite that there is not a temper problem."
"Yes Captain." Seven said. "If you got to know her, you would know that she is not only mild mannered but essentially one of the calmest people on board."
"I think that she lashed out because she felt threatened not only physically but mentally, she has expressed a blatant fear of being "disappeared" again." B'Elanna said. "She won't admit it, but Seven and I both know that she also harbors a fear of Ensign Paris."
"She's afraid?" Janeway asked, arching an eyebrow. The young hybrid she had seen before seemed unafraid of anything, not even her own Captain.
"Yes, if counseling were to be something that was needed, it would not need to be for a temper adjustment, it would be for her fears." Seven said with a sigh, "but I believe as her parents that we are able to do that on our own."
"Very well, I'll leave you both to that aspect of the problem." Janeway sighed. "As for time in the brig, we do not have the resources to confine her or Paris to the brig indefinitely; therefore she is officially released into your custody. Either one of you or a member of the Senior staff must be with her at all times."
"What about… other family members?" B'Elanna asked. "Or close family friends?"
"I will make the exception for her brothers and her sister," Janeway fought a smile and continued. "as well as Naomi Wildman if you feel it could help the counseling process."
"Captain, I don't think we could possible express the gratitude for the grace you're showing us and our family." B'Elanna said honestly.
Janeway sighed, the difficult parts of this meeting being out of the way she dropped her command mask.
"I love you two as if you were my own, and the kids as if they were grandkids, you know if it were up to me I'd ship Paris out an airlock. But I can't, what I can do is let Tuvok finish his investigation, which is leaning very hard on the bad side for Tom, and let him decide Tom's fate." Janeway rubbed her head. "My heart broke when Alexa disappeared and soared when we found her again. When I heard what happened in Sandrines I knew this was going to be a long process. Just between us, the constant supervision on Alexa is more for her own safety rather than Tom's. I know she's a good kid, and one hell of an engineer, but I had to do my job first and let the emotions come in second."
B'Elanna smiled and squeezed Seven's hand.
"I believe that you should get to know her better now that she is home." Seven said. "Perhaps dinner tomorrow night?"
"I'd love to." Janeway smiled and stood. "Just let me know what time. Now, I've got a meeting with Tuvok about Ensign Paris so you'll have to excuse me, but I do look forward to dinner."
B'Elanna and Seven both stood with Janeway and exchanged hugs with their Captain.
"Thank you again Captain, you have no idea how much we appreciate this." B'Elanna said.
"Indeed, thank you." Seven echoed.
"It's not a problem, now go let her know that she's got her freedom back, well at least most of it."
The Captain led the way out of her ready room and the trio parted ways. As soon as the Turbolift doors slid shut Seven and B'Elanna reached for each other and sighed in relief.
"That was close." B'Elanna muttered.
"Indeed." Seven whispered. "That was… clever."
"What?" B'Elanna asked Seven pulling away a little.
"Getting Naomi as one of Alexa's guardians."
"Oh that." B'Elanna laughed. "Well, I figure lots of forced together time should help things along in that area."
The turbolift came to a stop and the pair headed for their door.
"I think it should do the… trick as well."
The two rounded the corridor and B'Elanna keyed in the code to their door. As the door swished open the two girls on the couch jumped at the sudden intrusion.
"Mama, Sos'Oy." Alexa smiled. "Why are you back so early?"
"We came back to tell you the good news." B'Elanna smiled, accepting the hug her youngest was giving her.
"Good news eh?" Alexa grinned and transferred her hugs to Seven. "They pushed Tom out an airlock by mistake?"
Seven released a smile and planted a kiss on her daughter's head. "No, not today."
"Then what?"
"The Captain has agreed to relent on your punishment." B'Elanna said. "You can leave the quarters as long as there's a senior officer or family member with you."
Alexa's face fell as she instantly realized that Naomi was neither a senior officer or a family member. B'Elanna and Seven both bit back smiles as they saw her face.
"Have no fear your Sos'Oy saved the day." Seven said.
"What do you mean?" Naomi asked her face also seeming a little crushed.
Seven smiled and sat down to the spiky headed girl.
"She convinced the Captain to let you also be one of Alexa's guardians."
Alexa and Naomi blushed the same color at the same time.
"That's not good?" B'Elanna asked, knowing full well that they were pleased.
"No, that's not it." Alexa smiled. "I… that's awesome!"
"Good. So do you think you could come help me in Engineering today? I could use an extra pair of hands." B'Elanna said.
"Actually we were just getting ready to get the doctor to use his holo-emitter and do my check up." Alexa said. "But I could probably come in there afterwards."
"The Doctor?" Seven asked. "Are you ill?"
"No, no nothing like that," Alexa cringed. "I… I just never really went when I was supposed to… like last month."
To her surprise both her parents cracked smiles and shook their heads.
"Guess she inherited both of us on that one." B'Elanna joked. "It's okay, go and see the Doc and I'll see you later."
"Okay." Alexa smiled.
She then pecked both parents on the cheek and headed out the door with Naomi.
"Wow, I so thought that they'd be way pissed at me for not going to the Doc yet." Alexa said.
"Well, they're probably thinking that they can't get to upset with you for doing something that they do all the time."
"I guess…" Alexa sighed. "I really have to go see the doctor?"
"Yes, you are so going." Naomi smirked. "I'll be right there with you, he's really not so weird as he is rude."
"Great, a rude doctor that I already don't want to see."
Naomi laughed at this and slipped her hand into Alexa's as they got onto the turbolift. As soon as she had done it she realized what she'd done. She hadn't meant to do it, but it felt so natural to hold her hand. Alexa's eyes widened slightly and she picked up on Naomi's accelerated respiratory rates but she didn't pull away. She'd been waiting for Naomi to do this but she wasn't sure she would. Seeing the panicked look on Naomi's face made her want to just scoop her up and take her back home. But since that wasn't going to be happening she instead simply squeezed Naomi's hand.
"Deck 5." Alexa said, then turned to Naomi. "What am I going to tell my parents if that stupid thing really did mess up my DNA?"
"I have no clue for you on that one."
"I mean, they're going to spaz if I like realigned my chromosomes or something." Alexa sighed. "What the hell was I thinking?"
"You were thinking you wanted to fit in better." Naomi said.
"Yeah…" Alexa thumped her head against the Turbolift. "Some child of brilliant minds I am."
The turbolift came to a halt and Naomi dragged Alexa out of it.
"C'mon, he's not going to do anything but run a tri-corder over you." Naomi laughed. "It's not like he has bad photonic breath or anything."
"I hate doctors." Alexa muttered as the Sickbay doors swooshed open.