15Synopsis: Buffy and Dawn are flung far into the future by Glory's portal. What will they make of their new lives on the Enterprise D.
A/U: Set after BTVS Season 5 Finale, The Gift and starting mid season 1 of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Pairing: None Chosen currently. Will take suggestions.
Disclaimer: BTVS is owned by Joss Whedon and Star Trek is owned by CBS and Paramount Studios.
Prologue: Out of Time
Buffy looked out past the edge of the platform at the sun as it began to rise over the horizon. She knew the portal below her was waiting as Dawn's blood fed it. She turned to look at her baby sister.
"Buffy ... no ..." Dawn said as she realized what Buffy intended to do.
"Dawnie... I have to –" Buffy replied.
"NO!" Dawn half screamed, half choked out.
"Listen to me! There's no time, Dawn, please listen." Buffy said as she pulled her sister close to her so that she could speak into Dawn's ear. "Dawn listen to me. Listen. I love you. I'll always love you. But this is the work I have to do. Tell Giles I ... I figured it out. And I'm okay. Give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now - you have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn. The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."
Tears began to fall down Dawn's face as she nodded. "I will Buffy," she said, "and I love you."
Buffy smiled giving her sister a quick hug. She then turned and ran toward the end of the tower and jumped. Behind her a tendril of energy that had erupted from the portal hit Dawn who vanished in a flash of light.
Everyone on the ground suddenly looked up and saw Buffy falling toward them. They watched as she entered the portal and disappeared in a flash of white light just as the portal closed.
"Where's Dawn?" Giles asked looking around.
"She was up there," Willow said looking up at the platform high above them. "You don't think that Buffy was too late?"
Giles didn't believe for a second that Buffy had been too late. He remembered the conversation they all had in the Magic Box. How Buffy would quit if Dawn was dead. He was sure she would have welcomed what the portal unleashed in hopes it would reunite her with Dawn. "No I don't," he said. "I don't think Buffy would have jumped if Dawn was dead. I think Buffy jumped so Dawn wouldn't have to. She sacrificed herself for her, sister. Still where is Dawn?"
"Did you guys not see the flash of light," Spike said from where he sat in the shadows. "Not talking about the one when Buffy disappeared but before. There was another just before up there I would bet that Dawn and Buffy are somewhere else. I would bet that they are in another dimension somewhere. I just hope wherever they landed it wasn't a hell dimension."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Commander William Riker walked into Main Engineering of the USS Enterprise D. They saw that Beverly Crusher, the ship's Chief Medical Officer was looking over a being known as the Traveler and that he was not conscious.
"What is it Captain?" Riker asked. "Why are we at General Quarters?"
"I had to get everyone's attention," Picard said as he moved over to a panel on the wall. "This was the quickest way." He touched the panel shutting of a klaxon. "This is the captain. This is not a drill. It seems that in this place, the physical universe and... and the world of ideas are intermixed. What we think also becomes real. Therefore, we must, repeat MUST begin controlling our thoughts. We will report all this to you more fully as our understanding increases. The Enterprise will stay at full alert until this crisis is solved."
What they didn't know was not only was the place they were in a world intermixed with ideas, but it was also a place where time had no meaning. And it was at the exact moment elsewhere on the ship a portal opened and two young women; one blond 20 years of age, the other brunette and only 14 years of age – came flying out of a portal.
Picard turned to Kosinski, who had been working on Starfleet vessels to increase their warp drive. "What did you do?" he asked with venom laced in his voice.
Kosinski turned to face Picard his face showed what he was feeling, disgraced and embarrassed.
"It wasn't him," Riker said. "It never was. It was his assistant."
"What are you talking about?" Picard said as he looked at his first officer.
"Kosinski wasn't the one controlling the warp experiment."
"It was me!" Kosinski objected.
"The equations he punched in were nonsense, just as we thought," Riker told Picard.
"I honestly thought it was me," Kosinski said nearly to tears. "I thought somehow ... somehow that I was operating on his level."
Picard turned his attention to the Traveler.
"It's also my fault, Captain," Argyle, one of the ship's engineers, said. "I should have realized it wasn't Kosinski."
"How could you?" Picard asked. "How could anyone ...?"
Riker sighed. "Wesley did."
Picard whirled to face Wesley Crusher, the son of Beverly Crusher. "If you knew something, why didn't you say so?!"
Wesley hesitated in answering as he glanced at Riker, he didn't want to make the first officer look bad in front of his commanding officer.
"He tried," Riker said, "twice. But I didn't listen."
Picard could understand how that might happened. He stepped closer to Beverly and looked over the Traveler. "He's unconscious. Why?"
Beverly shrugged. "I'm not certain yet ..." she told him.
"He phased," Wesley interjected.
"What does that mean?" Picard asked as he turned to the boy.
"Parts of him just disappeared, and then came back. No one else was paying attention to him the first time."
"When we saw it this time, he seemed to be struggling ... fighting it ..." Riker added.
"He's dying," Beverly said as she looked up from her tricorder.
"Save him!" Picard ordered. "He's the only one who can get us back!"
Beverly sighed, she wasn't sure it was even possible. "Realistically, it does not seem possible."
Suddenly an alert klaxon sounded as Picard tapped his combadge, "Picard to Bridge, report."
"Sir we have intruders near your position," came security chief Tasha Yar's voice. "Two human females."
Picard and Riker made their way out of Engineering to find the two women lying on the floor ten meters away just as a medical officer came running up behind them
"Sir?"
"Go ahead," Picard said.
The medical officer nodded and took the tricorder and scanned both of the females. To Picard and Riker they could easily see that the blonde was in her twenties and the brunette was likely in her teens. It was a mystery how they could get out here, let alone on the Enterprise.
"Their alive, sir."
Picard nodded. "Take them to sickbay, with a guard. When they are awake notify me immediately."
"Yes, sir," the medical officer said as he and a couple others took the two females to sickbay.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Captain's log, supplemental. Our position is unknown and our only chance of returning to the known universe is a dying alien ... who is generally humanoid but with a physiology sufficiently different from our own to create medical problems in caring for him. We also seem to have another dilemma. Two women have mysteriously appeared on the ship. They are currently unconscious and hopefully once they awaken we can get some answers as to how they got here and maybe a way home as well."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Picard followed by Riker and Kosinki stepped into Sickbay and walked over to Beverly. They looked at the room and saw that the guards were posted at the doors as Picard had ordered and that both the blond and brunette along with the Traveler were laying on a three of the biobeds.
"Cause?" Picard asked as he motioned toward the Traveler.
"I don't know," Beverly replied. "My equipment here does not register his kind of life signs. I would have to guess exhaustion, fatigue."
"Is he going to be all right?" Wesley asked with a twinge of concern over the Traveler's wellbeing.
"What's the boy doing here?" Picard asked irritated at Wesley being there.
"Mom ... he's my friend," Wesley said.
"You may want him here before we're done sir," Riker said as he indicated the Traveler. "He seemed to feel some kind of relationship with the boy."
Wesley sighed. "My name is Wesley, Commander Riker."
"He knows..." Picard snapped. He let out a sigh and the said more softly. "...We all know." He turned back to Beverly and once again indicated the Traveler. "Will he live?"
Beverly shrugged, she wasn't sure of anything when it came to the Traveler. "I'm not sure," she replied.
"Wake him."
"I recommend we let him come around in his own time," Beverly objected.
"We don't have that luxury," Picard said. "Wake him."
Beverly glanced toward Wesley as if considering her course of action. "He could die and with him any chance we have."
"Doctor ..." Picard said before realizing that Beverly was talking as much to him as to her own son. "Wesley ... You and I have other friends aboard this ship, too. If we remain in this place any longer we may lose the ability to tell the difference between thought and reality. Regardless of the risk, we must wake him ... now."
Wesley recoiled slightly. His mother had schooled too well to say anything to the Captain, but his concern for the Traveler was evident without him saying anything. He watched his mother applied a stimulant to the Traveler and hoped his friend would be fine.
"Do you recognize me?" Picard asked when the Traveler had come around. "I'm the captain... I need answers."
"Do my best ... to provide ..." the Traveler replied.
"Who are you? Or what?"
"I am - a Traveler."
"A traveler?" Picard asked confused. "What is your destination?"
"Destination?" The Traveler asked, seemingly growing stronger with every second.
"Yes, what place are you trying to reach?"
"Place?" the Traveler said with a shake of his head. "No, there is no specific place I wish to go."
"Then what is the purpose of this journey?" Picard asked wondering why someone traveled without having a destination.
The Traveler smiled. "Curiosity."
"That's not an answer," Picard responded. "What is it that you want?"
"I have certain ... abilities. They give me an understanding of—propulsion. I have been trading this for passage on Starfleet vessels."
"Allowing Kosinski to take the credit for what you did," Riker said as he began to understand what was going on.
"It seemed the sensible way," the Traveler answered.
"Until now," Picard said.
"Captain, I seek only transportation in order to see and experience your ... your reality. I am not a threat to you, your ship or your crew," the Traveler said before looking at the young women on neighboring biobeds. "Or to them."
"He isn't, Captain," Wesley agreed. "I know he isn't."
Even though Beverly knew her son was correct, she also knew he was out of line and so she silenced him with a look that said to be quiet.
"Our reality?" Picard said. "And in satisfying yourself, you have put my ship and my crew at great risk."
"I have made some mistakes," the Traveler agreed.
"Some mistakes?" Picard said as his voice rose an octave for but a moment. "What kind of mistake can cause these incredible explosions of velocity?"
The Traveler paused as if weighing his choice of words or even how to answer the question to begin with "... I don't know if I can put it in terms you'll understand." He looked toward the brunette on the farthest table from him. "She probably could if she remembered … before …"
"I believe that there may be a warp speed that could have gotten us to Galaxy M-Thirty-Three ..." Picard said, "but there is no velocity of any magnitude which could bring us to wherever this is. Can you tell us if our navigation sensors are right? Is this millions of light years from where we were?"
The Traveler nodded. "Yes."
"What got us here?"
The Traveler hesitated again as if trying to choose the right words. He noticed Kosinki move closer. "Thought," he finally said. "Just as thought brought them here."
"Thought?" Picard asked confused. "And how could thought have brought them here?"
"You do understand don't you that thought is the basis of all reality?" the Traveler asked. "The ... energy of thought, to put it in your terms, is very powerful."
"That's not an explanation," Kosinski objected.
"I have the ability to act like a lens which focuses thought," the Traveler explained.
"That's just so much nonsense," Kosinski argued. "You're asking us to believe in magic."
The Traveler chuckled. "Yes—this could seem like magic to you. Much as it seemed to them when they came here."
"No, it actually makes some sense to me," Picard said. "Only the power of thought could explain what's been happening. Especially out here."
"Thought is the essence of where you are now. You do understand the danger?"
"Chaos. What we think is what happens."
"It pains me I was so careless, Captain," the Traveler said as he sighed with regret. "My intent was only to observe, not to cause this. You should not be here until your far, far distant future. Certainly not until you have learned control."
"You are from a different time, aren't you?" Riker asked before motioning toward the blonde and brunette. "And they are as well?"
"Well—no—not exactly from another time. Although as you understand the concept ... yes, perhaps that term fits as well as any," the Traveler said before looking at the blonde and brunette. "And they are from a reality that yes could be considered another time one that would be three hundred years in your past."
Just then the blonde began to stir as Nurse Alyssa Ogawa moved to her.
"And you have this ability to ... ah ... travel?" Riker asked.
The Traveler nodded. "Yes..."
"And others of your kind can also travel? I assume they are of your kind?"
"Yes," the Traveler answered. "But they are of your kind not mine."
"How do you feel?" Alyssa asked as she ran a tricorder over the blonde.
"I'm feel fine," the blonde answered. "Where am I? Is this a hell dimension?"
"Then, why—in all of our history—has there never been a record of you or someone like you having visited us?" Riker asked the Traveler.
The Traveler laughed. "What wonderful arrogance. There is no record because we have not visited you before."
"Hell dimension?" Alyssa asked confused. "You are onboard the starship Enterprise. You and the brunette mysteriously appeared aboard. Some of our crew found you and ..." she motioned toward the brunette, "and her unconscious."
The blonde looked to where Alyssa pointed and saw the brunette and smiled softly. She looked back toward Alyssa. "Is Dawn alright?"
"Why not?" Riker asked the Traveler.
"She's still unconscious, but otherwise alright," Alyssa answered the blonde.
"Ah. Well, up until now ... if you'll forgive this ... when compared to many others in the universe, you have been ... uninteresting," the Traveler answered Riker. "It's only now that your life form begins to merit serious attention. I'm ... sorry ..." He fell back onto the bed asleep.
"No, no—none of that," Picard objected.
Beverly moved to the Traveler and began hurriedly checking him over. "He's unconscious again."
"Revive him," Picard ordered.
Beverly hesitated as she looked at her commanding officer and saw Picard's determination. She gave the Traveler another stimulant and he began stir back into consciousness. She gave Picard a concerned look. "Whatever you need from him, you better get it soon."
"I suggest, sir that the first jump out of our galaxy was as he said a mistake ..." Riker suggested.
"Or he was distracted by something," Picard agreed. "That doesn't explain how they got here though."
"But it weakened him in some way, leading to the incredible jump out here," Riker continued. "And maybe he knows how they managed to get here."
"Theory!" Kosinski objected.
"Not that this isn't all fascinating, but would someone tell me what is going on?" the blonde asked.
"Can you propose some facts that fit this?" Picard asked Kosinski, who obviously couldn't. He turned back to the Traveler who had regained consciousness. "Can you get us back?"
"We are stuck somewhere trying to get home," Alyssa answered the blonde. "What's your name?"
The blonde smiled. "Buffy … Buffy Summers."
"Wait, Captain. Not so fast," Kosinski objected. "We have an opportunity for scientific discovery here ..."
"I'm Nurse Alyssa Ogawa," Alyssa said before waving at each of the others in the room. "That's Captain Picard, Commander Riker, Mr. Kosinski, Doctor Crusher and her son Wesley."
"And report our observations how?" Picard asked Kosinski. "To whom? Can you get us back?!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you under the circumstances," Buffy said..
"I will try," the Traveler said as he motioned toward Dawn. "With her help it would be easier."
Picard turned towards his first officer. "Number One, you'll take the Traveler to Main Engineering," he said before turning to Beverly. "Doctor wake …" He looked to Buffy as he tried to remember the parts of the conversation he had overheard between the nurse and Buffy. "Dawn correct?" Buffy nodded as he looked back at Beverly. "… Dawn and take her to Main Engineering as well. I'll be on the bridge ..."
"He is very weak," Wesley objected.
"I know," Picard replied.
"The Captain is right," the Traveler said. "We don't have much time. But first, I request a moment with the captain and Ms. Summers. Alone!"
Picard reflected on the request before nodding to the others who turned and left him alone with the Traveler, Buffy and the still unconscious Dawn. "Strange how he seems to care for you," Picard said noticing Wesley's hesitation before leaving also.
"He will forget me in time," the Traveler said. "Which is as it should be. Wesley and Dawn are what I wanted to speak to you both about."
"The boy?" Picard asked as Buffy said, "Dawn?"
"It's best you do not repeat this to the others ... especially not to the mother," the Traveler said. "Whatever may happen, it is best it proceeds naturally."
"I must get my ship back; do we have time for this?" Picard asked hurriedly.
The Traveler nodded. "Yes. They and a few like them are why I travel. You have it in your power to encourage them without interfering ..."
"Encourage them in what?" Buffy asked.
"How shall I explain? Are you both acquainted with the intricacies of what is called here... music?"
"Yes," Buffy answered while Picard said, "Somewhat."
"And musical genius such as I saw in one of your ship's libraries. One called Mozart, for example?" the Traveler asked as Picard and Buffy nodded. "Who as a small child wrote astonishing symphonies as you call them ... whose genius made music a tangible reality to be not only heard, but also seen and felt beyond the ability, the understanding, of others?" He slid off the table as Picard helped him to stand. "Your Wesley …" He looked at Buffy, "… and Dawn are such people. Not with music but with the equally lovely intricacies of time, energy, propulsion ..." He looked to Buffy, "… dimension..." He gestured around him. "... and the instruments of this vessel which allow all that to be played."
The Traveler began moving weakly toward the door leading to the corridor. Buffy got off of her own bed and followed him and Picard toward the door. "You are right, I must hurry now … You are right in something else. He is also just a boy as she is just a girl for now. They should be encouraged ... but told none of this."
As Picard and the Traveler exited Sickbay Beverly came back in and gave Dawn a stimulant.
As Dawn woke she looked around her before spotting her sister. "Buffy," she said as a smile graced her lips.
"Glad to see you're awake, Dawnie," Buffy said as she hugged Dawn.
"Where are we?" Dawn asked.
"I'm not sure. Maybe the future," Buffy replied.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Buffy and Dawn followed Beverly as they made their way to Main Engineering. As they listened to Picard over the ship's intercom the sister marveled at the look of everything around them.
"I must have your full attention. In a few moments as we attempt to warp back home, it is vital… absolutely vital, that you center your thoughts on your duty… or upon the welfare of the one called the Traveler. Think of giving him some of your strength. Urgent this is an order you must try to do this." Picard said as Buffy, Dawn and Beverly entered Main Engineering. "You will attempt now to concentrate completely on either your duty of the moment … or upon the Traveler … on his wellbeing. Think of him as someone you care deeply about. All decks, all stations, go to Battle Stations."
Red lights started blinking around them as the Traveler looked toward Kosinski, "I will need Kosinski back on the main computer," he said before looking at Dawn. "And Dawn I need you to stand beside me. I want you to reach deep inside yourself, where the Key is buried."
Dawn frowned unsure of what the Traveler wanted or needed of her. "But …" she started to say as she glanced toward Buffy for a second.
"Don't worry," the Traveler said. "When the time comes you will know how and what to do."
"You need me?" Kosinki asked tentatively.
"Yes…" the Traveler said as he noticed that simple gesture filled a part of the man's ego.
"You're looking better," Riker said looking over the Traveler.
"I'm feeling better," the Traveler said with a smile.
Bridge to Engineering...Standby, came Picard's voice over the intercom.
Riker tapped his commbadge. "Engineering to bridge, we're ready."
The Traveler and Kosinski begin their work for a moment it appears nothing is happening and then the Traveler began to phase into and out of existence.
Dawn looked toward Buffy unsure of what she needed to do. Her sister after all was the one that saved the world, not her.
Buffy seemed to pick up on Dawn's thoughts as she leaned over and whispered. "It's going to be alright, you can do it."
As the Traveler stopped phasing a look of concern crossed his face. He looked up just as he noticed Wesley touch his shoulder. He smile gratefully and then shook his head at the hand and Wesley removed it. It would only be a moment before the Traveler would begin phasing in and out again. It was at that moment that Dawn seemed to feel the Key inside her reaching out like it was trying to touch a kindred spirit. She mentally reached down deep inside herself as she too began to phase in and out of existence.
"Dawn!" Buffy shouted as she started to move toward her sister. A hand on her arm stopped her and she looked up to see that the hand belonged to Riker. "What?"
"Don't," Riker whispered. "We don't know what interrupting her will do."
Suddenly Dawn stopped phasing in and out as the Traveler disappeared completely.
Dawn looked toward her sister as she mentally reached down to where she had felt the Key resided moments earlier and found that it had gone.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Riker stepped onto the bridge and walked toward his seat next to Picard and sat down. He looked briefly at everyone before turning his attention to his commanding officer. "The Traveler's gone, sir," he said.
"Gone?" Picard asked in confusion.
Riker nodded, "He phased completely out of existence ... at least out of our existence."
"And the girl, Dawn?" Picard asked.
"For a moment she began phasing just like the Traveler," Riker said as he quickly related what had happened to Picard in Engineering. "But she didn't disappear. Doctor Crusher took her back to sickbay. She and her sister are both still with us."
"Attention all decks," Picard said after a moment of consideration. "This is to inform you that the Traveler has left us. With your support, he and one of our newly arrived guests has returned us to our galaxy. Wherever the Traveler has gone, we wish him well." He looked toward his first officer. "Have the boy come up on the bridge, Number One. As well as our guests."
Riker started to either object or comment on this. Then he decided instead to obey the order. "Wesley Crusher, report to the Bridge. On the double. Bridge to sickbay. Doctor Crusher please escort our guests to the bridge."
"Our next assignment is on this heading?" Picard asked as he briefly smiled.
Riker nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Mister Data, Mister La Forge," Picard said. "Increase to warp five. Same heading."
"Warp five, sir," Data said as Geordi added, "Same heading, sir."
The turbolift doors snap opened to reveal Wesley, Beverly, Buffy and Dawn. Beverly stepped out onto the bridge followed by Beverly and Dawn who noticed that Wesley was hesitating.
"Come onto the bridge, Wesley," Picard said as he too noticed Wesley hesitating. "Move!"
Wesley hurried onto the bridge past his mother, Buffy and Dawn and approached Picard. All the Bridge Crew watched with interest, wondering what Picard was going to do.
"Commander Riker told me how supportive you were in Engineering. Well done." Picard said as he noticed Wesley stiffen with pride. He motioned toward a bench next to Counselor Deanna Troi. "At ease—sit here in Command."
Riker noticed Wesley hesitate again and new why. Picard had after all issued orders about children being on the bridge of the Enterprise. "Captain—that's not allowed," he reminded Picard. "Your orders."
"Oh, that's true," Picard said with a nod. "I can't waive them again. Only commissioned officers."
"It's quite all right, sir, I understand," Wesley said.
Picard glared at Wesley. "Please don't interrupt me, Wesley."
"Sorry, sir..." Wesley said with a nervous glance at his mother.
Picard looked at Riker, then to Wesley and finally back to Riker. He knew that Riker was orchestrating what he was about to do, but he didn't mind, after all it would fulfill the Traveler's suggestion of encouraging both Wesley and Dawn. "Any commission rank? Even an ensign?"
"Then they would have authorized access to the bridge," Riker answered.
Picard nodded, he had been right. Of course to make it fair what he was about to do would need to be extended to Buffy as well. After all both of the sisters had three hundred years catchup learning to do. "Well, then, I'll have to make him an Acting Ensign," he said as he touched a button on the armrest of his chair. "Captain's log, Stardate 41263.4. For outstanding performance in the best of Starfleet tradition—Wesley Crusher is made acting ensign. With all the duties and privileges of that rank." He hit the button switching off the recording and looked at Wesley. "And Mister Crusher, whether the rank becomes permanent is up to you. At the first opportunity your entrance application will be tendered to Starfleet Academy. Until then you will learn this ship. Every operation–every function. Commander Riker–a duty schedule for Mister Crusher. Heavy on study."
Riker smiled. "Aye, sir," he said.
"Meanwhile, you can sit and learn something here," Picard said as he glanced back toward Wesley.
Wesley looked up at his mother who was beaming with pride as he took the seat Picard indicated next to Troi.
Picard looked toward Beverly, Buffy and Dawn and motioned for the sisters to move in front of him. "And you young ladies. You are both new to our century."
"Yes," Buffy and Dawn both agreed.
Picard looked to Riker and he nodded as he noticed the smile on his first officer's face. "What do you think, Number One," he asked. "Shall we make it three for three? They will have to be heavy on study as well seeing how neither of them are from our century. But it would allow them both access to the materials to get up to speed. As well as able to learn shipboard operations."
"I think that is a good idea, sir," Riker agreed.
Picard nodded looking toward Dawn. "What is your name?" he asked, even though he had overheard it in sickbay, not that Dawn had been awake to hear her sister say it.
"Dawn Marie Summers," Dawn answered.
"Captain's log, supplemental, Stardate 41263.4," Picard said. "For both outstanding performance in the best of Starfleet tradition as well as to integrate them into this century. Dawn Summers and Buffy Summers are made acting ensign. With all the duties and privileges of that rank." He looked to Buffy and Dawn, "Now let's see what we can do about getting you two caught up. Number One again a duty roster for Ms. Summers, and Ms. Summers heavy on study both current and historical. They do have over three hundred year's catch-up learning to do."
"Yes, sir," Riker answered.
Picard nodded and motioned to the bench next to Riker.
"Go ahead, Dawnie," Buffy told her sister. She watched as Dawn sat down on the bench. She then moved to stand next to Dawn as she thought about their friends. She knew that short of a miracle they would not see them ever again and that she and Dawn would miss them. So she bid them a silent goodbye.
