Alien
With a groan, the girl woke. She locked eyes on Spock.
They both froze. Spock had seen those eyes many times. They were an unusual deep forest green. His father’s eyes. His sister’s eyes, before she–
The girl lurched forward, staring unblinking at Spock. She reached out to him, hands almost cradling his ears, but not touching.
“You look like me,” she whispered. “I’ve never…I’ve never met anyone with…” Her eyes were glued to his ears, his eyebrows. “Why are we different?”
“We’re Vulcan,” he said.
“Vulcan?”
“Yes.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Vulcan is our home planet,” said Spock.
“Planet?” She stared at the items in the room, and then out of the window. Something shocked her.
It was odd to see so many expressions on the face of a Vulcan. Something was very wrong.
They were startled by a nurse breezing into the room.
“Well, now. We didn’t expect you to be awake yet. The medicine hasn’t had time to finish working yet,” said the nurse. He reached toward her neck with a device Hari didn’t recognize. She leaped from the bed and ran from the room.
Hari ran down the hallway. She couldn’t let herself use magic. It didn’t seem like any muggle facility she’d ever seen, but it certainly wasn’t a magical hospital. And someone had sedated her. And run tests on her. She shivered.
She heard a door behind her thrown open and ducked into the first room on the right. It wasn’t empty.
“--be more careful and not eat food you’re allergic to,” a man grumped. He was wearing an odd white outfit. Must be a doctor, thought Hari.
“Bones,” said the patient, tilting his head in Hari’s direction.
The doctor turned around.
“Miss, this is a private–”
She could hear someone nearing the room, so she inched toward the window.
Spock entered the room.
The doctor recognized the new intruder. “Professor Spock. This is a private exam. I must ask you and the lady to–”
Hari interrupted. “I’m not going back there. That guy was trying to jab me with something. I don’t know where I am, but what little explanation I’ve had leans toward me being kidnapped by aliens who performed medical tests on me, so…”
The other patient snorted.
“You are at the Starfleet Academy Hospital,” said Spock. “You appeared in my lecture at 9:32 this morning. You were having difficulty breathing, so I brought you here for emergency medical treatment.”
“How did I appear?”
“I do not know,” answered Spock. “I have spent a great deal of time trying to find out.”
“A great deal of time today?”
“A great deal of time since the vortex phenomenon took you away as an infant,” said Spock.
Hari blinked at him in confusion.
The door banged open, and the handsy nurse from earlier popped his head in the room. “What were you thinking running off like–”
“Stay away!” said Hari.
Spock moved between Hari and the nurse.
The nurse huffed. “The medicine to alter the oxygen saturation of your lungs hasn’t had time to–”
Hari cut him off. “What did you do to me?!”
The other doctor sighed. “Nurse James. What is the patient’s file identifier?”
“T’Aria,” said the nurse.
The grumpy doctor started tapping on a handheld device. Hari inched closer to the window and looked out. This was definitely not London. Or anywhere she recognized. And she was too high up to jump out of the window without magic. Maybe if she could find a restroom, she’d disapparate – surely they didn’t surveil restrooms. But where would she go?
The doctor was talking. “--mostly repaired the lungs by now. While the rest of the process will be uncomfortable, the patient can decide for herself whether to be sedated or not.”
“Not!” said Hari. “I choose not.”
The doctor said, “Well then. I’d be willing to release you into your brother’s care as long as he monitors your–”
“Brother?” asked Hari. She tried to strengthen her Occlumency shields, but they felt unsteady.
“I am your brother,” said Spock.
“Is she experiencing memory loss?” asked the doctor.
“No,” murmured Hari. “Why do you think you’re my brother?”
“Your DNA matched,” said the doctor.
Hari blinked. “You took my blood?” It had never been more difficult to cling to Occlumency.
“Noooo,” drawled the doctor. “They scanned for your genetic code. It is common practice if a patient comes into the emergency department with no identification. It helps identify pre-existing medical conditions, allergies…”
Hari wanted to learn about the man who looked like her. She needed answers. But it felt like a trap.
“What do you need?” Spock asked her.
Hari looked him up and down. He was completely focused on her. His eyes were kind. The deciding factor was when Hari thought, there is absolutely nothing creepy about him.
It was probably stupid, but Hari told the truth. “I need a place to meditate without worrying about people touching me or injecting me with anything. And then I need answers.”
Spock nodded with military precision. “Very well.”
The doctor and Spock were talking to each other, but Hari tuned them out. The more she tried to reach for her Occlumency, the more it seemed to crumble.
Soon, Spock was leading her out of the building, into the strangest car she’d ever seen, and then into a large, quiet building. He directed her into a set of rooms; the door closed behind them.
“This is where I meditate,” Spock said quietly. “May I meditate in here as well, or should I leave you alone?”
Hari’s head was buzzing. She felt foggy, and hardly knew what she said. “You can stay. Just on the other side of the room. And no touching.”
She sank down on a meditation mat and closed her eyes.
Hari tried to focus on her breathing. Small, unfamiliar sounds kept pulling at her attention. It took longer than it had since she was eleven, but finally she focused all of her attention on her breath. Motherfucker, her lungs really did hurt. She was used to pain, though, and eventually was able to accept the feeling in her lungs.
And then her mind drifted to other thoughts. Spock. This felt like a trap.
Hari inspected her mind. No, this wasn’t a projection or attack from an outside influence. Her mind was secure. Something in her eased.
And her mind went back to Spock. A BROTHER! She needed to focus on her breathing for a while to return to a sense of calm. It felt like her mind was an ocean, and she was doing a pretty good job at taming the waves. But on the ocean floor there was a volcanic eruption starting. And she didn’t know what to do about that. Vulcan. Another planet. Strange technology. A brother.
Finally, Hari was able to sink into a cold, clear state of calm. Eventually, she opened her eyes. Spock was on the other side of the room, facing her, but eyes closed in meditation.
After taking a minute to check in with her body, Hari was surprised to find how relaxed she was. The lights weren’t too bright. Sounds didn’t intrude. The meditation mat was more comfortable than she’d experienced. The colors in the room were soft. And she was fairly warm. She knew from experience that this temperature would have people shedding clothes, demanding cold drinks, and begging for cooling charms or a swim in cold water. But she just felt her muscles slightly relax.
Vulcan. Alien. A brother.
There was a rumor that the killing curse had changed her as a baby – giving her pointed ears, strength, and blood as green as Aveda Kedavra. Malfoy joked that she must be part House Elf. Or Goblin.
She shifted her leg and Spock’s eyes snapped open.
She had been looking for answers all of her life. It was finally time to get them.