Disclaimer: I have nothing clever to put here. Obviously I don't own Star Trek.

A/n: So back in the summer of '12, I did the Het Big Bang over on LJ again, and produced this beast. I intended to come here and post it right after, but some really tough real life stuff happened, and anyways, I'm posting it here now. I'll be posting a couple chapters right off to get 'er going, and the rest will follow in coming weeks. This fic has several OCs running around, but trust me, give me a chance, and let me know whatcha think! (The Enterprise will show up in chapter 2!)

Major thanks to stars_inthe_sky, morgieporgie and inkspire89 for cheerleading and helping me fix this beast. These three were seriously amazing (and put up with my whiny flailing)! Any mistakes, holes, and flaws remaining are all mine. And thanks to other Het Bangers - you know who you are - for being generally awesome.

(Fic originally posted on AO3, August 2012)

The Land Between Solar Systems

Chasing black holes and storms in space was dangerous work, but it was the kind of work that Holly Cameron enjoyed. Sure, the ship was a bit ramshackle, and the crew was a diverse mix of civilians and Starfleet Officers, but it had been her home for the past couple years. Despite a number of close calls and near-death experiences, she didn't think there was any place she'd rather be.

"Holly Cameron! Report to bridge now."

As the captain's voice boomed over the intercom, Holly winced. Kryst, angled beside her and holding the light so she could use both hands on the tools, chuckled.

"Uh oh," he said. "That doesn't sound good."

"Not with that tone," she agreed. She popped off a second panel and began inspecting the machine before her.

"How bad is it?" Kryst asked. "The engine, I mean."

"That thermo-coupling is loose again." Holly swore under her breath. "And the other one is cracked. Hand me the sealer."

"It's almost empty."

She sighed. "I'll have to get Jem to make some more temporary stuff."

Though Jem primarily worked as the medic on the ship, she was very adept with chemicals and, as Holly liked to call it, making crap out of thin air. Living on her own in the wild forests on Saxis, Jem had gathered a wide array of skills that allowed her to do that. Holly wished she knew half as much about survival as her friend.

Kryst tightened the loose coupling while Holly sealed up the other one. They changed out several wires, patched up a few more, and adjusted the polarization on the auxiliary nacelles. Once satisfied they'd done as much as they could for now, they slid out from under the large section of the engine. Kryst started flipping switches while Holly wiped down her hands on some rags.

"I think that will do until the next storm," said Kryst. "Those casings on three almost came entirely off during the last one. We can't take another hit like that."

Holly nodded. "I know. We'll have to make it work until the next supply run, though."

"Which could be as far away as seven weeks," he said grimly as his deft fingers told the computer to run diagnostics on the engine. "We should have got something when we were planet-side last month."

"The casings weren't a problem then," Holly reminded him, setting her tools aside, but knew he was right. "And neither was the inner plating on C deck."

It came with their current line of work, she supposed. Black holes, worm holes, space storms—they went after them and studied them, which took a heavy toll on their ship. Space was unstable and full of extreme forces that could pull you in faster than maximum warp or try to blow you apart like a super nova. Or sometimes even the bigger ones did both—that was particularly exciting.

The warp drive aboard their ship was extremely experimental and part organic; she'd never seen anything like it when she first came aboard almost two years ago. The drive's main purpose was to create a dynamic field around the ship that allowed them to get close to the space storms without getting destroyed. So far it had worked, but not without a couple dozen near misses and an incredible amount of wear and tear. It probably didn't help that the ship was an eclectic mix of old and new technology. At the rate it was going, she figured it wouldn't be too long before it was held together by faith, willpower, and little else.

All in all, it wasn't hard to see why they had stressed the risky nature of the mission before she'd signed up, or why the small crew was an odd mix of Starfleet officers and civilian volunteers, all with overlapping duties and skills. If something happened, there was always someone who could pick up the slack. Holly's duties therefore were not just limited to repairs and mechanics, but she also tended to the hydroponic garden and was part of the core research team in command that handled the storms the ship came across.

When her name was barked over the intercom a second time, Kryst shot her an amused look.

"You better get going or the captain will come down here and get you himself."

"I'm going. Don't start engine four without me." Holly winked at her red-haired companion and immediately set off for the bridge.

Once on the middle deck, she made a quick stop at her quarters. She wished she had time to shower, but it was a better idea not to keep her brother waiting any longer, especially since he'd already called her twice. In the bathroom mirror, she grimaced at the streak of oil on her cheek and proceeded to scrub it off. It never failed—no matter how many or few hours she spent in the engine room doing repairs, no matter how careful she was, she always managed to end up with oil on her face (a fact her fellow crewmember Dal never failed to point out).

At least it's not in my hair. Holly thought. She took it out of her usual ponytail, letting the tangled brown mess fall to her shoulders, ran a brush through it, and threw it back up as she hurried out the door.

"Are you in trouble again?" Jem asked with a wide smile, as she passed her friend in the corridor before the turbolift. Her incredibly large eyes were bright and twinkling. Even after all this time, Holly had to admit her friend's height caught her slightly off guard—Holly barely came up to Jem's shoulder, and Holly wasn't short. Though Jem was only part Saxian, she shared many of their traits, including the dark skin, sharp cheekbones and lithe, slender build.

"Apparently." Holly replied, then added, "By the way, we're almost out of that engine sealant. Do you think you can make some more for us?"

Jem raised an eyebrow slightly. "We went through that awfully quick."

"Yeah, the ship can't take hits as well as she used to."

Jem nodded and inclined her head down slightly. "I shall see what I can do."

"You're the best." Holly grinned, getting into the turbolift.

She didn't have the chance to say anything when she reached the bridge, as the moment the turbolift slid open, the captain swivelled around his seat.

"You certainly took your time getting here. What took you so long?"

"I was elbow deep in engine parts. Those engines won't fix themselves, you know." She settled into the empty seat beside her brother, Captain Charlie Cameron. "Kryst and I have been fixing engines one through three all day. We had to make sure everything was still holding together before another storm hits."

"And? How did you make out?" Charlie swiftly set the controls to autopilot then returned his attention to Holly.

"We'll be all right for another bout or two, but we need supplies as soon as possible." She answered. "And a new repressor coil couldn't hurt."

The captain sighed and ran his hand through his close-cropped dark brown hair. "We just did a supply run to Karth less than four weeks ago."

"I know, Charlie, but four weeks ago we hadn't gone through three category sevens in a row."

"All right, I'll send a request to Starfleet and maybe we can alter our course a bit to arrange a pick-up on Fa'ar."

"Thank you." Holly smiled, then leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. "Now what did you page me up here for?"

Charlie glared at her and held up his PADD, its screen dark.

"What?" Holly shrugged.

"It's dead again."

"Well, you should charge it."

"I shouldn't need to charge it, Holly. Not nearly as often as I find myself needing to charge it. And it shouldn't be in any other place than the last spot I put it, yet it always manages to find its way down to engineering or some other spot on the ship where I did not take it."

Ah. She could see where this was going now. Holly at least had the grace to wince and mumble an apology. She knew this was one of her brother's biggest pet peeves.

"What happened to yours?" he asked.

"Powercells are dead." She admitted with another wince.

"Because you leave it on all the time, and never charge it. Then you use mine, and never turn it off, which drains the powercells, and then I can't use it to get organized, do reports and logs and other Captain-y things. When I can't do all those Captain-y things on my PADD because it's dead, then I get cranky, and you always tell me how much you hate it when I'm cranky." He eyed his sister, who was fighting not to roll her eyes.

"So the moral of the story is turn off your PADD when you're not using it, so it doesn't die, and then you don't need to use mine." As an afterthought, he added with a small smirk, "Or you could just borrow Dal's instead."

Holly chuckled. The thought was certainly appealing, as she and Dal were constantly getting on each other's nerves. Anything to annoy him—especially because she knew he thought the same about her. Jem said it was something about their energies clashing, but Holly was pretty sure it was because Dal was a bitter, old ass.

"All right, I will try to remember to turn my PADD off so I don't kill the power cells. And I will refrain from borrowing yours so I don't mess up your Captain-y things."

"Thank you." Charlie exhaled. "And Hols? Try not to drop yours so much too while you're at it. I don't know how many more times Kryst will able to work his magic and fix that thing."

"Hey, no promises," she teased. "Just be glad I haven't broken yours yet."

"I am very glad."

Holly shot her brother a warm smile. Not for the first time, she glad he was back in her life. After he'd left Corinth IV for a top-level university program off-planet, followed by his years with Starfleet, they had had a bit of a falling out and completely lost touch. They'd been close as children and though they steadily grew apart as teens, he was still her older brother, and she had always been counting on him being there for her, no matter what. His decision to leave had been the start of the fighting—in hindsight, she'd been extremely selfish about the whole thing, but then again, she'd only been 15 at the time.

When Holly had signed up to go on this research mission, it was mostly because she'd been drifting from pointless job to pointless job, unable to feel grounded, unable to settle. She was restless and angry at the world. Her parents, though caring enough, had never been terribly warm or gracious people. They didn't know how to help Holly, except when she came home with a flyer in her hand for an experimental scientific mission in deep space for intelligent, dedicated, risk-takers looking for a new challenge, insisting that she was going. Then, they had given her money and driven her to the spaceport.

Afterwards she'd learned that she was accepted to go on the mission, then discovered that not only was the mission being led by a Starfleet officer, but the particular officer was none other than her older brother Charlie.

There was an awkward few months after the mission began where she still tried to be mad at him for leaving and he tried to apologize while still holding his ground. There was a lot of tension and unease, until one night after dinner when they were alone, the dam burst. She'd yelled and cried, and it ended when he'd hugged her tight. She'd come to understand his side of things—she wasn't 15 anymore and she was no longer angry. From there, they started over at square one, and had been rebuilding their friendship ever since.

"Hey, I was thinking of heading to the gym for a bit. You want to do some sparring?" Charlie asked.

"That would be really good, actually," replied Holly. "You can pick up where you left off in our lessons."

Before he had a chance to answer her, alarms started going off as lights flashed across the panels and screens on the bridge. Holly rushed forward as Charlie pulled up a holomap.

"It's the four we've been tracking," she said. "Looks like she's graduated to a five."

Charlie switched on the intercom at once. "Research personnel to the bridge immediately. Repeat: research personnel to the bridge immediately. Ensigns Torres and Pace to Engineering."

Holly swiftly took her place at the console to the front and right of Charlie. He made some quick adjustments at the helm, before settling in his captain's chair. Dal arrived first and walked directly to take the empty pilot chair. He brushed past Holly roughly, jarring her from the calculations she was making and almost knocking her with his elbow.

She glared at him. "Oh, hi, Dal. Nice to see you, too."

He didn't spare her a glance and merely grunted as he laid in the necessary course for pursuing the latest space storm.

"Thanks Holly, how has your day been?" she continued sarcastically. "Not too bad, and how about you?"

Finally he replied gruffly, "I saw you at breakfast. What do you want from me?"

"It's common courtesy. Oh, I forgot, you don't know what that is since it was only invented in the last couple centuries."

Dal was in his late fifties and therefore only truthfully about twenty-five years older than Holly, but he was very prone to treating her like a child, so she in turn opted to treat him like he was ancient.

"We're about to chase down a category four—"

"Five." She corrected but he ignored her.

"—and you want me to pander to you and ask you how your day was, when we both know I couldn't care less? Come on, princess."

Holly opened her mouth to retort when Charlie said warningly, "Children…"

She settled for another quick glare in Dal's direction before returning her full attention to the screens before her.

Jem entered the bridge next, taking up her post at the set of consoles and stations on the far left. Because her limbs and fingers were much longer than a human's, and her sizable eyes could take in more information, she had the ability to cover twice the number of panels and consoles than her human counterparts. Kryst came in right behind her, and clapped his hands together loudly.

"Showtime!" He took up his position towards the back of the bridge and put his headset on.

"On my mark, thrusters on full," Charlie directed and Holly noticed he was using his "captain" voice now.

"Sensors online, operating at 100% capacity," Holly reported. "All systems functional and active."

"Noted," her brother confirmed, then commanded Dal to set the ship full speed ahead. They blasted forward and in seconds they were in tactical range of the roiling anomaly.

"Dropping into communication blackout in three…" Jem's long fingers flew across the keys and buttons before her as she counted down. "Two… one."

This, Holly supposed, was probably the part that made her the most uneasy. It wasn't so much chasing black holes in space, dangerous though it may be. It was the electrical interference and magnetic distortion caused by the storms, making it impossible to communicate or transport in or out the moment they were in range of a storm, that worried her. Especially when they were this deep in space, the idea of being unreachable (or unable to call for help should they need it) was not a good one. She was very adept at not thinking about it, however. She'd had a lot of practice.

Dal maneuvered the ship closer to the singularity and the crew got their first good look at the storm now that they were in visual range.

Some of the storms and black holes they chased were a fireworks display of light and color. Others were more like giant voids, with no stars, ringed by swirling arms like a whirlpool. They all tended to vary in size as well, though of course the more major the category, the bigger, more unstable and violent they tended to be. This one was expansive and flickering with tendrils of orange and yellow, making Holly think of fire burning a hole in space.

Holly turned her attention back to the screens before her, her eyes scanning the read-outs. They were at a good speed and going any faster meant getting too close. She called over her shoulder to Dal, "Take it down a few, Dal."

He didn't acknowledge her and when she didn't see an immediate decrease in their speed, Holly snapped, "I said we're coming in hot—level out!"

"I heard you the first time, princess!" he shot back.

He eased back on the navigation controls, expertly turning the ship so that they were more alongside the storm, while still keeping it in visual range. As the ship began to shake and vibrate, Holly gritted her teeth, thinking of the casings she and Kryst had repaired earlier.

Kryst kept up a steady stream of dialogue with Torres and Pace down in Engineering, as they reported that the warp drive was holding steady.

"Data is now being collected," said Jem. She watched the blue bars on a small monitor and gave the tiniest of smiles. It was always a relief when the drive did it was it was supposed to: kept them safe while pulling in loads of data to be researched.

"Hold steady, Dal," commanded Charlie. "We need as long as you can give us."

Dal snorted then replied, "As always, Captain."

A yellow flashing light caught Holly's eye to her right and she quickly brought up several screens that were measuring the status of the singularity.

"Problem," she said. "Storm's moving away from us—and fast, too."

"We have not reached minimum levels of data yet, sir, we cannot let it go yet."

Charlie nodded at Jem and told Dal, "Don't let her get away."

The older man tilted his head with determination. "Not while I'm piloting, she won't."

He gave the engines a push, sliding the ship forward quickly to keep pace with the retreating storm. It seemed to be curling larger, with more tendrils snaking off this and way that. The ship abruptly gave a violent shudder that nearly unseated them and caused Kryst to stumble to his knees.

"Holly," Charlie said through tight teeth as the ship lurched again. "About those repairs you were making earlier –"

"She'll hold together, don't worry!" she shook her head. "I'll be making them all over again as soon as we're done, I know."

The look on his face indicated that he wasn't sure if he trusted that, but she knew they'd survived far worse. Besides, she fixed those thermo-couplings herself—they'd hold.

They'd better, she thought.

A good minute or so passed. The ship continued to take hits, and though Dal's forehead was glistening slightly, he kept the ship almost perfectly close to the storm. Suddenly a number of alarms started whining and flashing, and blinking lights across Holly and Jem's panels joined them.

"New problem!" Holly shouted above the din of the shaking ship. "It's not moving away anymore!"

"Then what is it doing?" Charlie yelled back.

"Coming right at us!"

Dal jammed switches furiously and pulled back hard on the navigation controls, while Holly just as hastily made adjustments on the screens before her, though there was truly little at this point she could do to help, except call out the rate at which the storm was shifting and gaining on them. The ship was turning fast, but she feared not fast enough.

"Increase the field by point eight!" Kryst ordered as the ship was buffeted hard with another burst from the storm. "We're getting hammered up here!"

"How close are we, Holly?" asked Charlie.

"Still too close!"

Dal used one hand to make some quick modifications while still hauling back on the controls. He abruptly changed tactics and Holly felt the ship swerve one way then the other. There was a sharp dip, and then the storm disappeared from the view screen. She watched the magnetic levels start receding as Dal managed to put some distance between them and the unstable force.

After a tense few seconds, she reported, "Clear. It's changed directions again, but it seems to be losing strength."

Dal relaxed his hold on the navigational controls slightly, but didn't back off the throttle. They needed to reach a safe distance away from the singularity before proceeding to warp. After that, Jem and Charlie would sit down and plot out a new course based on the data gathered to find a new storm.

"It appears we came onto it as it was reaching its peak, sir," Jem confirmed a moment later. "We have encountered very few storms at this stage before, and we were able to recover a significant amount of data."

Charlie exhaled. "Well, while I don't think I needed the ulcer that little hiccup just gave me, that's good to hear." He glanced behind him to Kryst. "How's our engine?"

"Still in one piece," Kryst chuckled. "A few fissures in the cooling tank from the hits we took back there, but nothing else major as far as they can tell."

The captain turned to Dal. "That was some excellent piloting as usual, my friend."

He nodded curtly in thanks but otherwise didn't respond, still focused on getting them free and clear. Once they reached a safe distance, Charlie tasked Dal with taking the ship to warp to a set of coordinates where they would return to low power to make repairs.

Kryst removed his headset. "If we're good here, I could really use some food."

"We're done for now, yes. Make me something while you're at it," Charlie said teasingly and sent his friend on his way.

"I will retire to my quarters to meditate," Jem stood and bowed slightly to the captain before following Kryst into the turbolift.

Holly tended to feel a little bad for Jem after incidents like the one they'd just had. While she was good at remaining extremely calm and cool under any pressure (even that one category eight they had run into five months ago), Jem always had such a troubled look on her face when the action died down. She said that her kind often found it easy to compartmentalize during something intense, but the emotions would always hit afterwards. To deal with it, she chose to meditate. Holly on the other hand, much like Kryst, enjoyed the mix of fear and excitement that swept over her whenever they tracked a storm.

"That's because you're reckless," Charlie would say. "You get a thrill out of real danger too much, Hols."

She would usually change the subject or ignore him because she wasn't reckless, just… couldn't sit still and all right, was maybe too curious for her own good, which maybe sometimes lead to bad decisions. It could be worse, she figured.

"Still up for that sparring session?" asked her brother, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Absolutely. I just want to stop at my quarters and change first."

"That's right princess, you need to put the correct clothes on for wrestling around on a gym mat." Dal remarked.

Holly scowled at the back of his bald head. "I'd rather not wear my greasy engineering coveralls, if that's all right with you."

"Guys…" Charlie began warningly.

"And speaking of all right with me," Dal switched on the autopilot and turned in his seat to face Holly. "When we're in the middle of chasing down a goddamn storm, you don't need to bark orders at me more than once. I'm not deaf, you know. And you don't sit that far away, I can hear you just fine."

"You didn't do anything to indicate you'd heard me, and we were going in too fast—"

"I know how fast we were going, I've been piloting for longer than you've been alive—"

"Guys."

Holly crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes, play the age card, you haven't done that yet today."

"When you're good enough to fly this boat on your own, sweetie, you let me know."

"Big deal, Dal. These things practically drive themselves."

She didn't honestly believe that, but she said it anyways. She hit a nerve with that one, she could tell. He'd started this one though, and he'd cut her plenty of times before. Besides, this is what she did with Dal: argue (usually about nothing).

"And sitting at your little station watching screens and pressing buttons is so terribly taxing and requires a lot of skill, does it?"

"Guys." Charlie cut-in, annoyed, before Holly had the chance to retort. "Give it a rest. Don't make me order you to." He faced his sister. "Let's go have that sparring session—now."

The captain assigned the conn to Dal, and hauled Holly into the turbolift with him by her elbow, not letting her get the last word in.

A/n: Interested? Like it? Hate it? I'd love to hear from you! ;) Next up, Kirk and McCoy... and a really big problem...