An Imaginative View Of The World by Chris, admin
Chapters 1 to 5 by Chris
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, Pretender, Buffy, Profiler, Harry Potter or Stargate or any other TV series or book or anything I mention. They belong to their creators. Reality belongs to everyone. I belong to myself, so does Kyla and the idea for this story - and of course this story. This is a piece of non-profit fan fiction and I don't get any money out of it so please don't sue.

Title: An Imaginative View Of The World - when worlds collide -
By: CHris
Rated: PG
Category: Star Trek / Pretender / Buffy / Profiler / Harry Potter / Stargate / Reality Crossover

Thanks to:
Nadja, Mela, Micha, Gena Barton, KRYSTAL McDERMOTT, MYRA TRUE, KATHERINE BRUCE (KB), KYLIE LEADBITTER, MALLORY and MANDY from the pretendfic mailing list, The whole PRETENDFIC MAILING LIST, the people from stboard.de, JAMIE, MARTIN "KENNY" RAAB (I love you!!), MY MOM and DAD and EVERYONE I FORGOT TO MENTION and whose ideas I stole for this story (i.e. Tinkerbell and some other more or less small things...). No copyright infringements intended so please don't sue...
I feel like I've forgotten a few people. Have I?
Last but not least:
ALL THE ACTORS AND ACTRESSES who gave life to our beloved characters from all the series we love so much. You did such a great job!! And this book wouldn't have been written without you so I should dedicate it to the actors, shouldn't I?





She walked through the house with her head stuck in a book. The world around her didn't exist. It was just she and the book. Only when she felt something at her feet she looked up. A shoe was lying on the floor, but she didn't see the shoe for her it looked like an alien artefact. An alien artefact that needed to be explored. In her thoughts she was still caught up in the story she read. The phone rang and she was dragged back into the reality she had wanted to escape from.
"What?"
"Kyla?"
"Yup. Hi Michael."
"Hi. What’ ya doing?"
"Reading, I have to finish the book by tomorrow, I have to give it back."
"Any plans for tonight?"
"Reading. Returning to DS9, meet with Dax and the others."
"You’re crazy, they don't exist, they’re only fiction."
"Maybe for you, for me they are real just as you and me."
"Well then, enjoy your evening. I'll find someone else to spend my evening with. Bye."
Michael hung up before Kyla could reply. She sighed. Why couldn’t he believe that Star Trek was as real for her as everyday life? In her mind she had been travelling to the station a hundred times.
Her parents wanted her to see a psychiatrist, to help her find back to reality. How ridiculous! And now Michael was starting to get angry with her just because she couldn’t stop talking about it. He liked Star Trek as well but he wasn't such a maniac as she was. Fine. She would go to the psychiatrist and tell him that she was fine and then go back home, back to her book. A look at her watch confirmed that it was already past noon and that she had to start walking if she wanted to be on time. She didn't want to be on time, but she had to. She stored the book in a bag and went outside. Her cell phone rang again.
"What?"
"Just wanted to remind you of--"
"I’m already on my way, mom."
"Sorry, honey, have a nice day."
"Nice? You must be kidding. Bye."
She hated her mother for doing this. For sending her to a head shrinker. A cruel, heartless person. She knew that her mother did it for her own good but she didn't want to accept, that it was a mental condition that needed to be taken care of. She wasn’t crazy. At least not in the sense her mother thought.

She looked up at the house where she had her appointment. It was still half an hour before she had to see the Doctor, so she sat down on a bench in front of the house and continued to read her book. When she looked at her watch again she had only two minutes left is she didn't want to be late. She ran up the stairs and nearly ran over a young girl.
She turned away and wanted to go to the reception but stopped in mid-walk. Slowly she turned around to look at the girl again. She had seemed so familiar. She had looked almost like Naomi Wildman from Voyager. But the girl was gone. Kyla rubbed her eyes and turned.
"The Doctor’s already waiting for you, young lady, you’re late."
"Sorry," she said and went into the room the woman had indicated.
"So, you have a problem," the elderly man said when she had closed the door behind her.
"Do I? I didn't know I had one. My mother seems to have a problem with me."
"Please sit down over there."
He indicated her to sit down on the couch. What a cliché. A psychiatrist needs his couch or else he can’t play counsellor. Wonderful, where the hell did her mother send her?? She looked at the Doctor with unhidden interest.
"What was your name again?"
"Kyla, and yours?"
"Dr. Greene. Kyla, your mother told me that you could no longer discern reality from fiction, is that right?"
"Dr. Greene? Dr. Sydney Greene? I’ve heard that name before."
"Don't try to change topic. Is it true what I just said?"
"No, it’s not. So, is your name Sydney Greene or not?"
"Yes, it is. Do you have a problem with that?"
Kyla shook her head and closed her eyes for a second. She sighed and opened her eyes again.
"Kyla, please tell me about that other reality."
"You really wanna know? Cool. Well, there are two realities to be exact. One is here, on Earth, in this time. The other one is somewhere in space, in the 24th century."
"Tell me about that one in the future."
Kyla closed her eyes and let the images flow that came into her mind. She described every one of them: The space station Deep Space Nine, Quark’s bar, office, Odo’s office, Dr. Bashir’s sickbay, Benjamin Sisko, Jadzia Dax, the Promenade, Jake, the Defiant. She was in her element, talking about Star Trek and her fantasies what she would do if she were there.
"What if I told you that all this was real?" a voice said.
She had heard that voice before, but it wasn’t Dr. Greene who was talking to her. It sounded almost like --- No, that couldn’t be.
Of course it was his voice. That was Bashir’s voice. She opened her eyes and looked directly in Bashir’s face.
"Are you feeling alright now?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.
"What happened?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.
"You were hallucinating, talking about a Dr. Greene and talking to yourself. You were hyperactive. I had to sedate you for a while, until you calmed down.
"Who am I?"
Bashir looked at her and then turned to Dax, who was standing behind the door.
"Jadzia, it’s worse than I thought. I need to supervise her for a while. I’ll send her back to duty as soon as she’s fit. Maybe you want to visit her later the day."
Jadzia looked around the corner and shot Kyla a smile before she disappeared. Oh my God, she smiled at me!! Kyla thought before she collapsed.

"Parker, wake up!"
She felt someone slapping her face and slowly opened her eyes. He was still there. It wasn’t gone. What the **** had happened? Where was she? Had she gone completely nuts?
"Ensign, can you hear me?"
"Who am I?" she asked with a hoarse voice. Why didn't her voice comply the way she wanted it to?
"You’re Ensign Kyla Parker and you’re aboard DS9. How do you feel?"
"Like a puzzle with a dozen missing pieces. I am not sure if I really am the person you take me for. I don't belong here. My home’s Earth in the beginning 21st century, not here, aboard a space station somewhere in Bajoran space."
"Well, at least you know where you are."
"How should I not know the place where I’ve been a hundred times in my dreams?"
"Ensign – Kyla, what are you talking about?"
"Doctor, I am not Ensign Kyla Parker and I don't have a duty assignment aboard DS9."
"Who do you think you are?"
"Well, I am Kyla Parker, but I’m living on Earth in the 21st century. I’m a high school student and considered nuts from most people I know. I’m far from being the reasonable person you take me for. I’m known as a dreamer and someone who doesn’t listen to her mother. She has told me a dozen times to stop dreaming about DS9."
"I think your stay here in sickbay is gonna take a while longer, Ensign."
"I am no Ensign!"
"Ensign, please—."
Before he could react she had jumped up and was running out of sickbay. Bewildered looks around the Promenade followed her. What a luck that she knew where she had to go. Well, not exactly. She had seen and studied the blueprints of the station but where was her quarters? If she really was an Ensign she must have a room to live in. She entered a turbo lift.
"Computer, where does Ensign Kyla Parker live?"
"Habitat Ring, section Beta four six."
"Bring me there."
The turbo lift sprang into action and the doors opened only seconds later.
"Where do I have to go?"
She followed the computer’s directions and then stood in front of a door. Why didn't the door open? In the series it did, when someone approached the door. She searched for a button with a Starfleet insignia on in. There it was, and she pressed it. The door opened and she was faced with the room that was supposed to be her quarters. The room seemed familiar. Not like a Starfleet issue quarters for crewmen, more like – more like Miss Parker’s living room. The door closed behind her and suddenly it was gone. The doors that had just slid shut behind her had suddenly turned into a heavy wooden door that fell shut.
"Is that you, Kyla?" a familiar voice asked from what she assumed to be the kitchen. A quite familiar voice to be correct.
"Yes, I’m back. Where are you?"
"In the kitchen."
She went into the direction where she had heard the voice and peered around the corner. She nearly suffered from a heart attack when she saw Parker standing there, with an apron tucked into her blue bleached jeans, smiling at her. A sharp scream escaped Kyla’s lips when Parker turned around and shot her a broad smile.
"Are you alright, honey?"
Kyla leaned against the doorframe, her face ashen, her knees shaking. That couldn’t be true. She was slipping from one nightmare into another. If she knew for sure that if it were a dream she would have loved it but now that she wasn’t able to discern dreams from reality everything shocked her. Parker crossed the distance between them and took her by the arm.
"You better sit down. What’s the matter with you?"
"I-I’m fine, really."
"So, what’s your name?"
"What do you mean?"
"What’s your name," she repeated her question.
"Kyla Parker."
"Very good, who am I?"
She felt as if she would drift out of consciousness again, she felt the blood draining from her face and saw the changing look on Parker’s face. Everything seemed to move slower than usual and she saw Parker lift her hand as if in slow motion. She slapped her into the face and Kyla snapped back into the "normal" world.
"Come on, let’s get upstairs. You go to bed."
"I don't want to," Kyla protested weakly.
"No use, come on."
Parker took her by the elbow and dragged her up. Kyla’s knees went wobbly and suddenly she found herself sitting on the floor feeling like a complete idiot. Parker crouched down beside her and brushed her forehead with her lips.
"It’s alright, honey, don't you cry," she whispered.
Kyla felt hot tears that started running down her cheeks.
"Come on, you can lie down on the sofa as well."
She helped her up and Kyla sat down on he sofa.
"Don't be angry with me," she sobbed.
"Why should I be?"
"You will be, when I have asked you a question."
Parker looked at her and cocked an eyebrow.
"Who are you?"
"You’re kidding, aren’t you?" Parker laughed.
"No, I’m not," Kyla said, tears running down her cheeks.
"No need to cry, Kyla. Are you sure you’re alright? Maybe I’d better call a doctor."
"No! Not again a doctor. I’ve had enough of them for one day. Just tell me who you are."
"I am Michelle Catherine Parker, your psychiatrist, your aunt and your friend. We are living in the same house. What did they do to you at school? I know you don't like it there but it’s never been that bad before. I know of people who have suffered from partial amnesia because of a shock, so please tell me the truth. What happened?"
"Nothing. You’re a psychiatrist? I didn't--." She’d wanted to say, ‘I didn't know’, but decided against it, it surely would have sounded – wrong. She was her aunt and living in the same house. But what about DS9? Where did it go? What was real now and what wasn’t? She didn't know anymore.
"I’ll prepare a hot chocolate for you to calm down. You stay right were you are! I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me."
Parker left the room and Kyla closed her eyes. So much had happened and she didn’t know if she understood what was going on around her.

***

She must have fallen asleep because someone slapped her face. She felt cold hands on her face but those hands didn't feel like Parker’s hands, they had been soft and warm, those were cold and – larger.
"Wake up, Ensign!" Bashir’s voice again. Where was Parker? Why was HE back again? She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him and Dax. She was lying on the floor of her Starfleet issue quarters.
"Are you alright, Ensign?"
"Why did you run away?"
Kyla looked up at them and slowly sat up. She looked around the room. It looked unfamiliar but it was supposed to be her quarters. Some things seemed a little familiar, like the photo of Miss Parker on a shelf.
Dax and Bashir helped her up and walked her out of her quarters.
"Where are we going?"
"Back to sickbay."
She sighed and looked down at the ground. When she looked at herself, she couldn’t help but smile. A Starfleet uniform. She was really wearing a Starfleet uniform. How often had she wished to own one of them.
They re-entered sickbay. Kyla had no idea what would happen next. She had clearly disobeyed orders from the CMO. Would they reduce her rank to crewman? Take her pip away? Somehow she was afraid. But afraid of what? She still had no idea what was real and what wasn’t. Nothing really bad could happen, she hoped. She was deep in her thoughts and didn't hear Dax and Bashir talking about her, about the possibility of her suffering from some kind of multiple personality.
"She’s been talking to herself and to someone called Dr. Greene. And she insisted on being from the 21st century."
"I don't know what happened to her. One minute she was working on her computer terminal, the next she started to talk to herself. Then she jumped up and ran around the room. She looked like a caged animal. Can you do something about her condition?"
"I have to conduct some examinations to find out what’s been happening. I’ll call you when I know more, OK?"
"Alright. Kyla, I'll leave you again. Don't you run away again! Kyla? Kyla, are you listening to me?"
Her head snapped around and she looked at Dax.
"What?"
"I said, that I'll leave you again. Don't run away again," Dax said and shook her head in disbelief. How could someone change that much in such a short time? She walked out of the room and Kyla retreated into her memories.
"Lie down and relax, Ensign. We have lot of work to do to find out what’s the matter with you."
*RELAX?? You must be kidding,* she thought and closed her eyes. What a day. What the hell was real now? Was she already lying somewhere in a loony bin, imagining all this? Think back, she told herself. What was the last thing, you remember from the real world? Right, Dr. Greene, the head shrinker. It was all his fault! He had drugged her and brought her to the lunatic asylum, that’s why she had these hallucinations. Another ridiculous thought. Was this real? The beeping of the computers around her made her sleepy and she dozed off.

***

"Wonderful story, Kyla, but are you sure that that makes sense? Slipping from one reality to the next? I don't think so. Your mother was quite right, we have to do something about it. You won’t like it, but I have to set you under psychological supervision."
Kyla looked around, completely confused. Where was she now? Did she tell all those things to Dr. Greene? She didn't imagine it? She just told it to him and to her it became real? What did he just say?
"What did you just say?" she asked.
"I have to send you to a clinic where you will be under constant psychological supervision."
"You’re kidding, are you? You can’t force me to go there."
"I’m sorry, but I can. First I’ll call your mother and then an ambulance, they will bring you there."
Kyla hid her face behind her hands, tears starting to run down her face. She heard Dr. Greene get up and expected to feel his hands on her shoulder or something like that. But he rummaged around somewhere behind her and she suddenly felt the prick of a needle at her upper arm.
"You’ll calm down", he said and went to his phone. She could hear him talk to her mother and then asked his assistant to call an ambulance. The world around her seemed to be wrapped in cotton wool. Voices began to sound hollow, her surroundings seemed out of focus. Had he really drugged her to bring her to a loony bin?

***

She felt strong arms lift her up, felt a blanket being wrapped around her and the she was carried out of the room. They went down the stairs, out into the cold air. Hadn’t it been warm, when she had arrived? She opened her eyes a little bit to see where she was. She closed them again. That wasn’t real! She opened them again, only to see the same face as before. She was carried around by Jarod! It was dark outside and he heaved her into the car. She was lying on the backseat, her head in Jarod’s lap. Whoooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!! No, she was definitely dreaming.
"Is she alright?" she heard her mother’s voice from the driver’s seat.
"She will be", Jarod assured her.
Oh God, they were working together. So this had to be real, she’d never imagined her mother before. True or false? Well, her mother had appeared in her dreams before, but always as the bad guy. Now she was the good guy. Once again she opened her eyes and looked directly into Jarod’s dark brown eyes.
"Hey there. How do you feel?"
"Where am I?"
"You’re save. I had to kidnap you from the hands of the psychiatrist. Well, I think that the police will be searching for us soon."
"What’s gonna happen to me now?"
"We’ll meet with Rachel to find out what really happened."
"With whom?"
"Rachel Burke, she’s a Profiler and I hope she can help us. She can somehow reconstruct the happenings of the past."
Definitely a dream or a hallucination. First Star Trek, then an alternate Pretender universe, then back to Star Trek and now another reality where all of her favourite series were mingled? This couldn’t be true.
"But why are you here?"
"Me? Your mother called me to ask for my help. She has asked me to stop the psycho doc. She didn't want you to end up in a lunatic asylum."
The car stopped and Jarod helped her to sit up. Her mother got out of the car and stretched her body. Kyla watched her and knew that something was wrong. That wasn’t her mother, the woman only had her mother’s voice. Slowly she got out of the car on wobbly legs. Jarod got out as well and fetched a bottle of water from the trunk. He gave it to Kyla who smiled thankfully. The woman had stopped her stretching and came to stand beside the two of them. A familiar face but at first she didn't know where she had seen the woman before. It definitely wasn’t her mother, even if she had her voice. She was thinner and a few years younger. The hair-do was nearly the same, but she had brown hair instead of blond and her eyes were brown while her mother’s were blue. That was -- yes, now she knew where she had seen the woman before. It was Kira Nerys, the First Officer aboard the space station DS9. But what was she doing here? Dream. Definitely.
"Kyla, what’s the matter?" she asked, "Anything wrong?"
"You’re not my mother", she stated.
"Not that I know, why?"
"You have her voice."
"Do I have to apologize for that?"
"No, it’s just -- it seems somehow wrong. What’s your name?"
"Kira. Kira Lewellyn."
Kyla tried to figure out what was happening around her. She knew how it would be possible to find out whether she was in her own reality or somewhere trapped in her mind or something like that. The Internet and the pretendfic group. They could answer her questions, hopefully.
"Do you have access to the Internet?" she asked Jarod.
"My laptop is capable of establishing a communication link, yes. Why do you ask?"
"Would you mind if I use this to ask someone a favour?"
"As long as you don't tell them where you are. I’ll show you how it works when we’re back in the car."
"It’s working in the car as well?"
Jarod nodded and got into the car. Slowly Kyla followed him. She couldn’t help but think of being somewhere else, and all this being a hallucination.

***


"She’s slowly regaining consciousness", she heard a voice from somewhere far away. It was bright day, the light was too bright. Keep your eyes closed, she told herself.

***


"Kyla, what’s the matter?" Jarod’s voice whispered close to her ear. She opened her eyes. She was sitting in the car beside Jarod, Ms Lewellyn in front of her.
"Wanna lie down again?"
"No, I’m fine. Fine - really. May I use your computer?"
Jarod only looked at her and handed her his laptop. Kyla only hoped that it would work the way she had thought it would. She was able to access her mail account, ok, so far it was working. This had to be real, her mailbox was filled with mails from her mailing list. So what now? Should she tell them what had happened to her? Maybe they would see it as a new story or ban her from the group for talking such nonsense. It was worth a try. She wrote about her day, about sitting next to Jarod (and it was the real Jarod, not the actor). Now she could only wait for an answer. And that answers came only minutes later. Myra had written back. She said that she were in the same universe, that she was trapped there as well and had no idea how to get back to her own reality.
*Maybe we can meet,* she suggested.
Jarod, who had read along only shook his head when Kyla looked up at him.
"It’s too dangerous."
"Oh come on, you don't even know her."
"Do you? You only know her through her mails. How can you tell that this is not a trap? That she’s really the person she pretends to be?"
"Jarod, who knows that I’m a member of this list? What are we playing? Hide-and-seek? You’re not telling me the whole truth, are you? There are some things you’re keeping to yourself. Why don't you tell me what’s the matter here?"
"OK, arrange a meeting with her, we’ll talk about that topic later."
Kyla went through her other mail. Four more girls had written, telling her that they were experiencing the same dislocations. They arranged to meet the next day. Something was wrong, she just couldn’t put a finger on it.
"Jarod, where are we?" she asked.
"What do you mean? We’re in the car."
"No, I mean, what country."
Jarod looked at her as if he hadn’t understood the question. After a short pause and exchanged looks with Ms Lewellyn, he sighed.
"We’re in the US, what did you expect me to answer?"
"I don't know. But something’s wrong. I’ve arranged a meeting with KB, Mandy, Mallory, Kylie and Myra for tomorrow. KB, Mandy and Kylie are definitely Australian, how can we meet here in the US?"
"Maybe they’re on holidays?"
"That sounds stupid," Kira said from the front.
"Exactly," Kyla said, "Something wrong. Jarod, are you real?"
"Uuuh, what?"
"Are you real or are you an hallucination?"
"Of course I’m real. Do I look like a hallucination?"
He took her hand and placed it onto his chest.
"Do I feel real?"
Kyla nodded and instinctively pulled back her hand. Somehow she was afraid of him, even though she had often dreamed of being with him. What if this was a dream? What if she was lying in her bed and dreaming all this fuss? Maybe it worked the way it sometimes did, if she just told herself to wake up, to open her eyes and make the dream end. She tried but it didn't work. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again. She only got some confused gazes from Jarod and a concerned question if she were alright. Well, so much for the dream-theory. That only left the hallucination or the fact that she had gone completely nuts. She preferred the hallucination. What would Michael think about her now? He had often told her that she were crazy, what if he was right? Would there be a chance that he would love her again? Would she ever come back into her own reality to see him again? That kind of thinking somehow made her sleepy. She closed the laptop and gave it back to Jarod. Then she leaned her head against the window and looked outside into the pitch-black darkness. She closed her eyes and dozed off.


t.b.c


This story archived at http://www.pretendercentre.com/missingpieces/viewstory.php?sid=337