Sleeping Beauty, Sleep no more?

[drcarolmarcus]

A few weeks ago to this exact date she had been on THE REGULA I Starfleet’s special science division space station, and she had been in charge. Being on Earth or remotely near it again had been refreshing to say the least. THE REGULA I had been nearly destroyed. The people she knew who she had lived around had died. When Starfleet found her she was all that was left crumpled in an EVA suit, her oxygen supply almost entirely out. A scary ordeal indeed and one that made her afraid of the void beyond the sturdy decks, the hauls and the viewing portals. She silently thanked God that she was safe on the Enterprise. Safe from the bloodcurdling void beyond called space. Stars tiny points in space millions and billions of light years away that she was fine with, the space a few meters past the ships haul not so much. Having air and bodies being sucked out into the cruel blackness of space was a harrowing event to witness. Seeing space rushing in to claim everything around you it was something that just didn’t go away, and it was something that terrified her.

It petrified her to think that the space outside the Enterprise could so easily find her, and only the life support of an EVA suit would keep her blood from boiling as she froze to death in mere minutes. Space could kill you in so many ways and thinking about it paranoid her, after all it had only been a few weeks. She nervously stared out the viewing portal, as her shaking left hand carelessly spilt coffee on the table, the floor and on her shirt right on her left breast. The stainless steel metal cup nearly dropped from her agitated grip she held on the handle. She looked away trying not to remember the details of what happened in her mind. Her friends turning brighter then the sun as they burned with fire then fell as ash. They were and then they weren’t. She had been lucky to escape such a death. The rest of her friends were claimed by the vacuum of space as the station around them was ripped apart by enemy phaser banks. She set the coffee cup down taking a deep breath. She placed her hand over her heart to feel her elevated heart beat and took a deep calming relaxing breath of air, air regulated by the flittering systems aboard the Enterprise.

She pulled her hand away as she felt wetness, no not blood, coffee. She had split coffee on her uniform. She rubbed her eyes hoping to wake herself up. She hoped no one noticed the dark circles under her eyes or her lack of makeup this morning, or her slightly out of placed blond split ends. She was not having one of her better days. Sleeping was only invitation for her nightmares to revisit REGULA I, and something she had tried to avoid as long as she could. She just hoped no one would notice that she didn’t look her best this morning. Shit, by the ships clock settings she should be asleep by now having worked the late shift again last night because one of nurses feeling ill and she had covered her shift working a double. She should be tired but she wasn’t. She drummed the table ever so slightly with her fingers impatiently. Maybe you should turn in Carol, she told herself, a little sleep couldn’t hurt.

Carol decided she needed to get the hell out of sickbay so she stood and walked to the door as best as she could on two tired stumbling stubs for legs she had. She stepped into the hallway, thankful the doors were in good working order, being stuck in sickbay wasn't her idea of a good morning. She stood against the wall crossing her arms over her chest, feeling almost too tired to walk all the way to her quarters just to fall onto the soft bed and sleep. She’d give herself a minute first, after all didn’t the hard working Doctor deserve that much. Shore leave wasn’t for everyone, and Carol Marcus had come back from hers early. “Come on wake up Carol,” she didn’t realize she had said that out loud. Her eyes were half closed now as she slowly drifted off to sleep against the wall outside sickbay.

[LT. CMDR. MONTGOMERY SCOTT]

Scotty walked, quietly, silently, down the hall, running a hand along the wall beside him as he did. He had his head tilted slightly to one side, and one eye was squinted, the combined effect being the eternally inquisitive look he always got when he thought he was on the verge of figuring something out. Today, it was a noise he was looking for. Well, actually, he'd found the noise, that wasn't the mystery. What was the mystery was that the people who'd drawn the ship schematics he was in possession of had seen fit to live out an entire air conduit. Scotty knew this because one end of the air conduit began in engineering. He'd set out to discover exactly where the other end was, by following the sound of air rushing through said conduit. He had followed it down this particular hall, and could hear the quiet whoosh of air on the other side of the wall. He had to be getting close, didn't he?

He was in a pretty good mood, and probably would have been humming or whistling had he not been listening to the sound of air humming through a vent instead. It was a good thing that not many people were this particular hall at this particular moment, but unfortunately for the one who was, Scotty wasn't looking where was going in the slightest, and nearly ran her over as he came around the corner outside of sick bay. He felt something solid, yet yielding at the same time, hit him, and with a start, he realized that it was a woman.

Scotty put out a hand to catch her by the arm before he could knock her entirely to the floor, but he was horrified. He wasn't the sort of fellow who went around running into women as an excuse to get their attention; he wasn't that desperate for physical contact, either. He felt awful, and looked at the ground, as if the right thing to say might be etched into the floor conveniently. I'm sorry!" he said, because it was the first thing that came to mind. An apology couldn't be that offensive, not after he'd just accidentally assaulted her. What else was there to say? He wracked his brain for the words.

"Terribly sorry," he reiterated. "Before you ask, I'm not in the habit of runnin' around corridors without lookin' where I'm goin', but it's only that there's this air conduit that seems to have escaped the blueprints, and if I can just find where it goes..." He trailed off, realizing that she probably didn't give a hootenanny about escaped air conduits. "Beggin' your pardon, but I don't know if we've been introduced." That was the truth. He honestly didn't remember if they'd been introduced or not. She looked familiar; well, everyone on this ship looked at least slightly familiar, but he'd met so many people lately, what with the comings and goings of shore leave, that he couldn't possibly be expected to recall them all, could he? "Montgomery Scott." he said, by way of introduction. "I won't ask you to shake my hand if you don't want to, seein' as how I nearly trampled you just now."

[drcarolmarcus]

If her eyes had been open she would have moved out of the way to avoid being almost entirely caught off guard then she wouldn’t have been almost knocked to the floor. She knew that the hallways were no place for sleeping. She simply was too tired to walk all that way to the turbo lift and then another long hallway to her quarters. She stared wide eyed in horror as she felt her self tip off balance, but then someone caught her, and good thing to, because Carol wouldn’t have liked the outcome of being knocked to the floor. She hadn’t been as the nice man had caught her arm before she fell. She looked around as if seeming dazed. She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep against the wall. The nightmare had come again and being snapped out of it so suddenly confused her. She had been glad that everything wasn’t exploding around her and that the air around her wasn’t being sucked into space. No she was breathing normal now as she realized she was still on the Enterprise. Where she was perfectly safe and in no danger. She wasn’t scrambling to pull on the EVA suit, she wasn’t watching her friends and fellow scientist die, no she was right here in the hallway outside sickbay, and she was fine. Perfectly fine, so why in God’s name was she seriously panicking?

Her heart beat was elevated to uncomfortable levels, and she was sure her blood pressure wasn’t normal. She was having trouble breathing at this very moment. Only a male voice apparently Scottish snapped her out of it, still she was pretty badly shaken. She hands were shaking but she tried to hide it as best she could. The man apologized to her. He didn’t mean it so Carol kept her cool. Carol smiled brushing her blond hair out of her face with her fingers. She hated her long hair when it got in the way. Yes he was sorry and so was she as a matter of fact. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I shouldn’t have been sleeping here in the hallways. Long shift in sickbay and I’m afraid not much sleep goes with it.” In fact she hadn’t been sleeping because of the nightmares. “I was in your way.” She was very nice about the whole ordeal then this was Carol for you, the nice girl who was really friendly and she easily forgave him for almost knocking him over.

“I wasn’t planning on asking, seriously I didn’t peg you as the type of guy that enjoys knocking woman over. Or use cheesy pick up lines to try and get me to get in your bed. Seriously it’s my fault. I shouldn’t be sleeping in the hallways and for that I’m truly sorry.” He was easily a gentleman, and very kind. She found herself easily not offended. No she didn’t think they had met or if they had she would have addressed him by name. “No I don’t think we have Sir,” she was speaking to a senior officer so she addressed him with some respect. “Carol Marcus.”

Of course she would take his hand and shake it with a firm hand shake of her own. “Of course I’ll shake your hand,” she said holding her hand out to him. “Lay it on me sailor.” She was being kind and she really didn’t care that he had nearly trampled her. “Seriously it’s nothing forget it. It’s no big deal.” It wasn’t to her. Still tired Carol was still waking herself up. "So an air conduit huh," she smiled. "My Father taught me about engineering and ship design. He worked on her, the Enterprise I mean, back when she was being built. Maybe I can extend my services to help."

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[LT. CMDR. MONTGOMERY SCOTT]

Scotty accepted her offer for the handshake, rather enthusiastically, at that. Once he was sure he wasn't going to be punished for something, he was quite amiable, even more than he was initially. He was a little skittish when it came to repercussions of his actions. When he wasn't blinded by the draw of discovering something new, he was quite painfully aware of the horrible memory of the time he'd spent on Delta Vega. That was, of course, the most extreme example of what happened when Scotty got carried away, but it stood as a solemn warning as to why he should probably be a little guarded when he'd done something wrong. But she'd set him at ease, mostly, and he shook her hand, his larger hand dwarfing her smaller (and much more feminine) one. "It's a pleasure." he said, nodding to emphasize his point.

"And don't dare try and pin this one on yourself, I'm the one walkin' around not watchin' where I put my feet. Or the rest of me, for that matter," he added, rubbing his shoulder where he'd run into her. She mentioned engineering, and that was all it took for him to remember exactly why he had been wandering through the hall without looking where he was going.

"Aye, the thing starts in the engine room and I've followed it here, but now..." He cocked his head to one side again, and frowned. "Oh, now it's stopped and I'll never find it, not now anyway. It'll probably be tomorrow before the bloody thing turns on again." Well, if he couldn't look for his mysterious air conduit, he could ask her about something else she'd said that had intrigued him. "Did you say your father worked on this ship?" he asked, his curiosity piqued. "What's his name, then?" He wasn't familiar with her surname, but in all fairness, he'd been marooned on a chunk of ice for six months of the time during which the Enterprise had been built, so he could hardly be expected to know all of the people who'd played a part in it.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, suddenly, impulsively. "I don't want to alter your perception of me and make you think I've got dishonorable intentions, but if you're hungry, I wouldn't mind a bit to eat myself, and I'm sure we could dig up something in the mess, eh?"

[drcarolmarcus]

Big strong hands for handling big strong engines. Okay, Carol’s mind was so not going down that road. She wasn’t going to even think of the Lt. Commanders hands like that. While she found them rough and strong like her Fathers, she quickly pulled away her own hands because she was reminded of her Father, and she didn’t want to be reminded of her Father. She had for a moment but she quickly brought her mind back into control. Thinking about her Father reminded her that he was gone. She pulled her small feminine hands away and smiled. “It’s nothing don’t mention it, really its great meeting new faces around here. I‘m new on the Enterprise, see I just got reassigned here.” Come to think of it Carol was always quick to make new friends, she was just so friendly and open that it was very easy to like her. She seemed to get along with everyone. Pin this on herself, damn him for being the perfect gentlemen. Carol would have argued the point but she didn’t, as she didn’t have the energy to debate that she had been sleeping in the hallway and he just happened to be walking by. Seriously she would have told him that it was her fault, but somehow he felt he wouldn’t let her, and that was really nice of him. She wasn’t about to show that she was hurt slightly from almost being knocked over, as she didn’t wish to make him feel any worse then he had already for almost knocking her over. “I should be glad then that you were here to catch me then right?”

That was surely a long way to follow some air vent she thought, and she found it amazing. Ship design however was not her thing, maybe her eldest Brother but not her in the slightest. She enjoyed science and helping children, because she had become a Doctor. Though her field was more along the lines of creating life in a test tube. Dallas Marcus was her Father who had worked on the Enterprise, who had been an Engineer, and a very good one at that. He was also a Major in Starfleet and had a long career of service aboard three different vessels, and during his service on one of those vessels he served as chief engineer. “Sounds like you have kept busy. Working an extended shift in sick bay because a nurse is sick, or most likely sneaking off to enjoy partying with the rest of the crew is not how I imagined spending the rest of this leave.” Working kept her mind off REGULA I, and off her Father, and while she worked she didn‘t once give it anyone thought. At least not as often as she did when she lay alone at night in bed trying new ways to get herself to fall asleep. “I’m sure you’ll find it in no time.” Yes she had said that her Father had worked on the Enterprise. Then he asked for her Father’s name, and at first she wanted to quickly change the topic to avoid having to talk about her Father. She seemed nervous when he had asked her.

“Dallas Marcus,” Carol said quickly. She held her breath waiting for him to say something more about her Father. Did he know that her Father had died of cancer shortly after the Enterprise was finished? She hoped he wouldn’t. It was a touchy topic with her. Then he asked her if she wanted to get something to eat, and she would have easily said no but it wasn’t in Carol to b rude and turn down an offer. It was just eating. Nothing else but just getting a bite to eat, she told herself. She wanted to crawl into bed after a steamy hot bubble bath which would feel oh so good on her tired aching body. She would have said no but her stomach was in agreement with his offer. “Yes I’m hungry.” She could eat a horse as the saying goes. “I wouldn’t think anything like that Mr. Scott, or can I call you Scotty?” Yes she knew who he was. “You have done nothing to warrant me even thinking something like that at all. Last time I checked getting something to eat didn’t warrant thinking dishonorable intentions. Besides you have been nothing but kind. I would gladly join you if you like.”

Her stomach rumbled. She could picture what they might find. “Oh I’m sure we can find something worth eating in the mess hall. If not we could always cook eggs.” She was craving scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. “Pancakes they have to have pancakes, as pancakes are a must. Coffee wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe toast. God I love toast and peach jam. My mouth waters just thinking about it.” She pulled herself away from the wall. If she wasn’t going to sleep she might as well enjoy her time off. She had planned to enjoy herself for a few days at least. Maybe she’d go down to Earth to the beaches even if she had to go alone, or maybe she’d talk a few friends into going with her. “Carol Marcus by the way, that’s my name in case you might be wondering. I guess were off to the mess hall then. Lead the way.”

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[LT. CMDR. MONTGOMERY SCOTT]

In spite of the fact that his instincts regarding the female mind were sadly lacking at times, Scotty sensed that she might be avoiding the issue of her father. That was the kind of thing you could pick up regardless of what gender you were conversing with, so he simply nodded and answered one of her other questions. "You're just lucky, I suppose." he teased, a characteristic wink accompanying that jesting statement. He was equally interested to have someone to talk to, even if he'd had to run into her to recruit her company. The least he could do was be polite and ensure her that it wasn't her fault. One thing a lot of people liked about Scotty was his eternal desire to make other people feel at ease around him. It didn't always work, and sometimes, he just made them uncomfortable, but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying. He was very laid-back himself, and when other people were uptight or stressed, it just made him want to tell them to sit down and relax. Maybe that wasn't always the best course of action, but he could at least try, and if they didn't like it, well, that was their problem. He was considerably less adept at that when he was drunk, but lucky for Carol, Scotty was entirely sober right now, and the only thing not quite right about him was that he was quite hungry. And she'd agreed to go along with him to remedy that, so he wasn't complaining. If he was lucky, they'd have some sort of sandwich. He was in the mood for a sandwich, he thought, one with roast beef.

Her father's name rang familiar, but Scotty couldn't quite place whether it was just because it was one of those names people threw around - like Zephram Cochrane - or because he'd ever actually met the man. He decided to err on the safe side and not presume that he'd known this woman's father, especially not when she seemed so touchy about it and was likely to ask him questions about it. "'Course you can call me Scotty." he said, deciding to reply to something else instead, once more. "Don't know if there's a person who's met me who hasn't at one time or another, anyway."

Scotty's rank was something he wasn't particularly picky about; it was nice to have, he supposed, but he wasn't going to pitch a fit and throw things if people didn't use it when they addressed him. She'd introduced herself, too, though, and it was only polite to acknowledge that. "Very nice to meet you." he added, with all the manners his mother had instilled in him. "I was thinking some sort of egg sandwich." he added, envisioning a poached egg smushed between two steaming biscuit halves. Oh yes, if that was waiting for him in the mess, he was quite willing to hurry up the walk down there. At her acceptance, he started down the hall, heading in the direction of their agreed destination, trying to walk casually so he didn't appear to be in too much of a hurry.

"So, you're a doctor, eh? Dr. McCoy keep things pretty orderly in there?" He wondered what sort of doctor she was; surely they wouldn't have hired two doctors who did the same thing, so she probably had a different specialty than McCoy did, he guessed. "What sort of things do you do?" He wasn't trying to interrogate her, but it felt awkward walking down the hall saying nothing. Maybe she'd have questions of her own after she'd answered his, and he wouldn't have to keep coming up with them.

"You plannin' to head down to the surface atall, then?" he asked momentarily, thinking that he could give her several topics, and she could choose whichever one she wanted and run with it. He hadn't quite decided if there was anything worth going down to the surface for, at least for him. He was a little tentative to go walking around where the people who had marooned him on Delta Vega could see him...especially Admiral Archer. He wasn't too excited about the idea of Archer accosting him about that bloody beagle again.