Parts 7 to 9 added on 17 Jun 2002
Disclaimers are in part 1.
Rating: PG13
Part 7
'So it's settled then? Dinner?' Anna asked, looking at B'Elanna.
The half-Klingon realised she'd been staring and shook herself out of it. 'Dinner, but ...' She paused, thinking of the words, and Anna took the opportunity to gently lever herself out of bed. When B'Elanna realised what the other woman was doing, she leapt upright and took her elbow, carefully leading her to her own bed where Anna sat down with an undignified groan.
B'Elanna settled herself once more and looked up. She caught the other woman studying her face and returned the look until Anna gave her a bemused smile. 'You were saying something?'
I was? 'Oh ...yeah. I was just wondering ...where would we go for dinner? I mean it's not like they're just going to let us out of your base to go to a restaurant with a pat on the back and a 'don't let the police see you.'!'
Anna chuckled. 'You can cook, can't you?'
The chuckles turn to laughs as B'Elanna's face fell. 'I ...uh ...'
'How about a picnic? Then you wouldn't really have to cook at all,' Anna suggested.
'I can probably ...do that,' B'Elanna managed, still not quite able to get the look of horror of her face. She was an engineer, not a chef!
A wide smile parted Anna's full lips and B'Elanna's eyes were drawn to them before she could stop herself. She glanced upwards and found blue eyes looking into hers. She had the irrational urge to apologise for staring but smothered it quickly, feeling like she needed to re-gain at least the semblance of control over herself.
She grinned with a confidence only half there and nodded once. 'Yes, I can do that. But, going to back to the "where" problem. Like I said, I hardly think your lot are going to let us roam the streets.'
Anna tapped the side of her nose. 'I think I have just the spot in mind.'
Slightly intrigued, B'Elanna stood and said, 'I'd better get started.' She'd already turned and was a half step away before Anna's hand locked around her wrist.
'I didn't mean right now - you're in here for a reason, remember?' She nodded to B'Elanna's injury.
Trying to ignore the gentleness in Anna's touch, B'Elanna swallowed. 'It's fine. Besides, I'm making sandwiches, what could possibly happen?'
'Knowing you, just about anything,' Anna said, smirking. 'I'd feel better if you let Peter check you over before you left.'
B'Elanna finally gave in a was taken behind Peter's partition, where the likeable doctor gave her a thorough once over, checking the bandage and handing her a new plain white shirt. He tried to convince her to wear a sling but she refused flat out and it was clear he didn't have the heart to force her.
'No strain,' he said, trying to look stern but failing miserably. 'And no sudden movements.'
Smiling, the half Klingon nodded. When she went back into the main medical area, she saw a familiar looking person talking to Anna. The blonde Seven-look-a-like through her head back and laughed, and B'Elanna picked up her pace, wanting to know what the joke was.
Sarah looked up when she approached. 'Hello again,' she said, smiling. 'I hear you're going for a picnic.'
The way she said the last word, not to mention the overly sexy wink delivered with it, made B'Elanna think that Sarah's idea of a nice picnic would probably involve foodstuffs that were designed to be eaten without using plates at all ...shaking off the rest of that thought before she began to flush, she nodded.
'Would you like a hand?'
'Sorry?'
'Well, you hardly know you're way around, do you? I'd be happy to help you sort things out,' Sarah said, standing and grabbing hold of the hybrids elbows. Before she knew it, she'd been led out of the room and into an unfamiliar corridor.
Realising she hadn't said goodbye to Anna, B'Elanna tried to steer them back to the medical wing, but Sarah had already led them to her room.
'Sorry about the mess,' she said as B'Elanna eyed the quarters with a curios gaze. They were large but not particularly well furnished - the term 'Spartan' came to mind. A large bed was in the middle of one wall, with a few cupboards and other pieces of furniture scattered about. Clothes were draped across just about every spare area, including a good-sized portion of the floor.
'So she finally cornered you hey?' Sarah asked, catching B'Elanna off guard.
'What?'
Sarah grinned, 'she's been talking about you pretty much since you got here.'
'She has?' B'Elanna felt her jaw drop open.
'Don't tell me you haven't noticed,' Sarah said, looking disbelieving.
'I ...no ...I mean ...I have a boyfriend,' B'Elanna managed, although a small part of her piped up and said she hadn't thought of Tom since she'd woken up there. A wave of guilt passed over her, and she shook it off. 'I have a boyfriend,' she said again, her voice stronger.
'Really?' Sarah winked. 'Could've fooled me.'
~~~~~
There was a knock at the door. 'Are you decent?' Sarah asked, already through the door and staring at her impromptu charge.
She'd lent B'Elanna some of her clothes, and the half-Klingon had to admit that they fitted in all the right places. It wasn't like she was unaware that she had curves, but somewhere along the line on Voyager the mental picture she'd had of herself had swapped the title of 'woman' with 'engineer.'
She smoothed down the cream coloured stop and asked, 'how do I look?'
Sarah eyed her up and down, 'I tell ya, if I swung that way, Anna would have serious competition.'
B'Elanna couldn't help but laugh at Sarah's cheeky expression. 'I told you, we're just getting to know each other better,' she said.
'Yeah, but how much better, hey?' Sarah nudged her in the ribs lightly and laughed.
'You've got it all wrong.' B'Elanna insisted, turning to look at herself in the slightly grimy full-length mirror once again. She was wearing a pair of charcoal trousers, quite tight, a form fitting cream shirt and a green silk scarf was tied around her head.
'Okay, okay, you're just "getting to know each other better".' The other woman made air quotes, and B'Elanna chuckled.
Sarah handed her the wicker basket full of food they'd prepared and B'Elanna took a deep breath as Sarah led her through the base. She hadn't dared to ask herself exactly why she was so nervous about this, and she didn't intend to start now. We're just ...getting to know each other, She thought.
Sarah opened a pair of big double doors and B'Elanna followed her out, gasping at the area laid out before them. Large, healthy trees dominated a huge area, surrounded by buildings. Small ponds were laid out in strategically, the reflections of tree branches seeming to dance across their ever-moving surfaces. B'Elanna looked down into one as they passed and saw a flash of silver scales.
'Michael made sure this area wasn't harmed when we took over the buildings,' Sarah said, smiling at the surroundings. 'He said it was important for us to have somewhere to relax and feel safe outside.'
'So he's a good leader?' B'Elanna asked.
'The best,' Sarah agreed. 'We'd be nothing without him.'
Despite knowing that this Michael was about as far as you could get from her Harry Kim, she had sudden sense of pride toward the man who shared her friends face. At least this man had had a chance to prove himself - to prove himself worthy of more than the title of ensign, as it were - and it sounded like he was doing well.
'Well, here we are,' Sarah bought them to a stop and B'Elanna shook herself out of her thoughts. Opening her mouth to greet Anna, but then she looked down ...
The words froze in her throat as she saw Anna sitting on a red and white checked blanket, wearing a tightly fitting light blue summer dress with thin straps. The blonde unleashed a dazzling smile on the stricken engineer, and B'Elanna didn't even notice when Sarah slipped back the way they had come.
'Aren't you going to sit down?' Anna asked. 'I'm really looking forward to getting to know you better.'
B'Elanna choked and dropped the picnic basket on her foot.
Part 8
B'Elanna didn't register the pain for a moment, but when it did make itself felt she had to bite her lip to stop a wave of expletives a sailor would've blushed at.
'I ...Fu ...Oh ...' She managed, hopping around and trying to bend down and grab the foot while not pulling too much at her injured shoulder.
Anna stared at her for a full twenty seconds before bursting out laughing. 'Are...you ok?' She managed between breaths.
'Me? Oh, yeah.' B'Elanna tried to complete ignore the pain coming from her foot and made it to the blanket, bringing the basket with her. 'I'm fine, didn't feel a thing.'
'Really?' Anna reached out, placing a comforting hand on the half-Klingons' foot. B'Elanna flinched in pain. 'Not a thing?'
Realising the other woman was teasing her, B'Elanna allowed herself to grimace in pain. 'Who knew sandwiches could weigh so much?'
'I told you: anything could happen if you were in charge!' Anna exclaimed, rubbing B'Elanna's foot.
Even thorough her boots, B'Elanna felt the comforting movement of Anna's hand, and she felt a slight flush colour her cheeks. 'Hey, I made it here didn't I?
Anna smiled. 'Yes, you did.'
They shared a silent moment before B'Elanna started to feel uncomfortable. She opened the basket and started fishing out all the food she and Sarah had prepared.
'Are you sure you made enough?' Anna asked, hiking up an eyebrow. The expression reminded B'Elanna so strongly of Seven that for a moment she was overcome by homesickness, but she shook it off.
~~~~~
Is this what Seven would have been like? If she hadn't been assimilated? The thought took B'Elanna by surprise as she watched Anna eat, the blonde checking the filling of each sandwich before she bought it to her lips. If she'd of had a chance to grow up normally?
Anna looked up and caught her watching. 'Penny for them?'
'It's nothing.' B'Elanna took a bite of a ham sandwich.
'Come on, you can tell me,' Anna said.
'It's just ...you remind me of someone,' B'Elanna felt a wave of sadness pass over her as she thought about how far away she seemed from her beloved ship. She'd give anything to get back there, and with that realisation a pall suddenly marred her enjoyment of her food, and the company. So far, she'd - pretty successfully - managed not to think about her predicament.
'An ex?' Anna asked softly, as if sensing B'Elanna's growing discomfort.
'What? No! I mean ...I can barely stand her most of the time ...' The half Klingon sighed, looking up into the face so familiar, yet so alien.
'Oh ...' Anna smiled at her. 'Ohhhh ...' And then she started laughing, something that took B'Elanna completely by surprise.
'So you think it's funny?' B'Elanna snapped, her temper getting the best of her. She threw her half-eaten sandwich down and started to stand, ready to leave.
'No! No, I'm sorry,' Anna said, still not being able to disguise the laughter in her tone. 'I didn't mean to laugh like that.'
B'Elanna was already standing at this point, her back turned, ready to stride away. She heard Anna move behind her and then an exclamation of pain. Whirling, she saw the blonde frozen mid-way in the action of standing, pressing her hand against her side.
She moved forward, kneeling down and helping Anna to sit back down. 'You okay?' She asked, grudgingly sitting down once more.
'Yeah, just a twinge,' Anna replied, her breathing returning to normal and colour returning to her cheeks.
They sat in silence once again until B'Elanna said, 'look, I'm sorry, okay? I thought you were laughing at me.'
'I was ...but not for the reason you're thinking,' Anna said, smiling.
B'Elanna couldn't help but move the corners of her mouth upwards in response. 'So why were you?'
'Because ...the expression on your face. If you hadn't of had a little tantrum, my next question would have been 'How long have you liked her?''
'I told you, sometimes I can't even stand her,' B'Elanna said confusedly.
'No ...not like, like.'
'I said ...' B'Elanna paused as her brain caught up with her ears. 'Sorry, what?'
Anna's eyes widened. 'You mean you don't know? It was written all over your face not five minutes before,' the woman said.
'I ...Err ...Sorry, what?'
'Are your ears malfunctioning?' Anna laughed at the shock on B'Elanna's face. 'Do you want me to shout it?'
As she opened her mouth to retort, a huge explosion rocked the compound, a column of fire and dust exploding from the building on B'Elanna's left. 'I heard that just fine!' B'Elanna exclaimed, helping Anna to her feet as quickly as she could.
Faintly, in the ringing silence that followed the explosion, a voice cried out. 'We're under attack!'
Part 9
B'Elanna automatically leapt across, protecting Anna from any more explosions and when it became clear there were going to be no more, she helped the blonde up. Moving as fast as her injury would allow, Anna led the half-Klingon toward a squat, solid looking grey building on the south side of the compound.
'What the hell is going on?' B'Elanna cried over the noise of the next explosion.
'Your employers are attacking us! Did you lead them here again?!' Anna cried.
B'Elanna dearly wanted to round on Anna for being so stupid, but she held on to her temper tightly and spat 'You know I didn't!'
They reached the building, and B'Elanna noticed many other people hurrying from all over the base into it. Anna and the engineer followed them in, and they ended up in a low, long room full of shelves. Anna pulled off her dress without a hint of modesty and quickly pulled a pair of black combat trousers from a shelf, slipping into them. She tossed another pair to B'Elanna, who stared at them for a moment before making up her mind and getting them on. A black shirt followed, along with a reinforced bullet-proof vest and a pair of boots. Once they were in their kit, they went into another room and B'Elanna was armed with a large projectile weapon.
'If you're not with them, you won't mind defending this place against them,' Anna said as she loaded her own shotgun. B'Elanna noted the way the mechanism worked and mimicked the procedure easily. Before she knew it, she was in the middle of a pack of people running for the boundary of the base. They ran through a patch of scrubland and then hit small copses, the trees affording them at least some cover. Behind them, the base was at the centre of an ever expanding circle of black clad people - it looked like every person in the base was out.
Anna was on her left, a man on her right. The blonde was obviously suffering with her injury but refused to let in show, keeping pace with all of them, her face a grim mask. As they rounded a small hillock, B'Elanna gasped.
Laid out below them, about half a mile away, a huge task force of specialist police units were laid out, their formations perfect. The leader of B'Elanna's unit called a halt and they dropped into the scrub around them.
'Thank god we've only got another hour or so until darkness,' Anna whispered. 'They've really pulled out all the stops this time!'
B'Elanna peeked up again, this time with a pair of binoculars that were being passed around, and saw something that made her blood run cold. Strutting in front of a unit of tough looking individuals, Claudia was obviously making some sort of speech, her arm movements wide and enthusiastic. The men and women in front of her were stood to attention, their eyes following her every move, and their faces all held an expression that B'Elanna was all too familiar with.
She could see the loyalty, the pride of being led by that strong, capable woman in their eyes. She knew they would do anything for her - a Janeway tended to inspire that kind of feeling in their subordinates.
Swearing slightly under her breath, she checked her weapon nervously, aware that deep down she didn't really want to have to use it. At least with phasers you could make the shot non-lethal. This time she didn't have that option. She turned to Anna.
'Isn't there anything we can do?' She whispered. 'Can't we talk with them?'
Anna shot her a look that was half understanding, half anger. 'We've tried. They sabotaged the meeting and nearly killed three of us the process.' The blonde watched B'Elanna's face as her words sunk in, and then she gasped as a realisation hit her. 'You don't get it do you? Words ...they don't mean anything. People lie. People twist things. Whatever anyone says, they usually don't mean it; they're just trying to get what they want; what they need; what they think they deserve. Actions count. Actions don't lie. Words ...words mean nothing.'
B'Elanna reeled, Anna's impromptu speech hitting her hard. You've spent too long in Starfleet, a voice inside told her. She's just recited exactly what you thought while you were with the Maquis. Don't you remember? And then, you join Starfleet and you get caught up in their words of diplomacy and unity ...you know the real world isn't like that ...
'You wrong,' she said, a steely undercurrent to her tone. 'I do understand.'
As if sensing B'Elanna's turn toward her sensibilities, Anna nodded. 'Are you ready?'
'Yes.'
'Good. Because they're coming.'
B'Elanna gasped and poked her head up out of the cover. Sure enough, the ranks of people below them were slowly and inexorably marching forward. She saw the first line hit the trees and immediately begin to use the cover, staying in the shadows and making it hard to pick them out.
'What are we going to do?' She asked.
Anna squinted up against the setting sun and sighed. 'Whatever we can.'
~~~~~
It was damp, the moisture from the loam seeping through the engineers clothes as she lay on her belly, covered by leaf-mould and netting. The unfamiliar material of the ski mask she was wearing itched, and her head was aching from wearing the heavy night-vision goggles for too long. Her shotgun was lying beside her, ignored, as she adjusted the sight on the silenced rifle stretched out in front of her in the darkness.
Her ears were pricked for the slightest movement around her, but all she seemed to be able to hear was her own heartbeats thudding crazily.
Suddenly, a twig snapped. Desperately trying to control her breathing, B'Elanna looked for the source without being able to move, swinging her eyes back and forth over her area. Just as she had finished, a foot appeared, treading lightly and carefully by her left cheek. It had missed her by a hairs breadth, and B'Elanna felt sure that the owner of the foot would be able to see her.
Apparently not, as the foot was joined by its partner, and the owner of the feet carried on. B'Elanna became very aware of the feel of the rifle in her hands as the person came into view, walking slowly and wearing night-vision goggles. In her world of fluorescent green vision and painfully controlled breathing, B'Elanna realised that she would have to kill this person. She didn't want to - Kahless knows she had, when she had been with the Maquis - but she didn't want to.
You are a warrior! She told herself. Act like one!
Slowly, rising out of her camouflage like a vengeful demon, she raised her gun and fired. It was a different kind of fighting, she realised as the bullet left the gun in slow motion. Gone was the honour of facing an battle-ready and expectant foe; she was shooting people in the back.
The gun bucked in her grip, and made a flat 'Phhhuutt!' sound, the silencer effectively deadening the noise of the shot.
She saw the person jerk as the bullet entered their chest, falling to their knees. Played out in the green of her night vision goggles, B'Elanna saw the person fit one last time, and then their body was still. For at least a minute she stood and watched, waiting for them to groan, to roll over, to breath.
When she came back to herself, she found she'd fallen to her knees, and a small patch of vomit was soaking into the forest floor in front of her. She groaned, and, keeping her eyes averted from the person she'd shot, she stumbled deeper into the woods. It didn't matter how many times you fought and killed, it never got easier.
You'll never be a true Klingon! A disgusted inner voice called.
I don't want to be! She replied. And I don't need to be to be a warrior!
She dropped the gun, wishing for a bat'leth or anything else. She would rather have been in the Tsukante ring, fighting someone face to face to the death, than sneaking around in the woods and shooting people in darkness.
You've done it before, a part of her argued. When you were with the Maquis, you had to do many things like this. What's changed?
I have.
~~~~~
'You! Stop!'
Cursing her inattention, B'Elanna raised her hands and laced her fingers over the top of her head.
'Turn around and take off your mask!' The voice ordered.
As she did so, B'Elanna realised that she knew that voice. She took off her mask and goggles and then strained into the near complete darkness.
Suddenly, torchlight blinded her. Stepping into the circle of it cast by an unseen torch-holder, Claudia circled B'Elanna, her mouth a thin, angry line.
'I should have known you'd be here!' She hissed. B'Elanna shrugged and didn't answer, even as she was grabbed roughly by two more of Claudia's team and dragged behind them. It wasn't long before they were out of the trees and cresting the same small hill that Anna and B'Elanna had been lying on not so many hours before. B'Elanna couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the blonde. That train of thought was utterly derailed once they crested the hill and they could see the complex beneath.
B'Elanna gasped, her heart sinking. The compound, lit up by floodlights to combat the darkness, was over-run. She could see military vehicles surrounding the buildings, shouts and commands floating up in the cool night air. Worse, she could see all of Anna's people being herded into the central area, row upon row of handcuffed rebels lined amongst the tress where, not too long ago, she and Anna had been enjoying their picnic.
She suddenly realised she had nothing left to lose - in this era anyway - and she waited until one of her guards let his grip on her elbow relax slightly, and then took her chance. Without letting herself think about what she was doing, she threw herself down the hill, pulling her other guard with her. They rolled head over heels, hitting the ground with bone bruising force while trying to grapple with each other. They rolled to a halt finally, and luckily B'Elanna ended up on top. She head-butted the man viciously, breaking his nose, and then leapt off him and ran for cover.
Continued in next part ....