This is my version of Nothing Human. In my story, we see how both Kathryn Janeway and B'Elanna Torres react to seeing a Cardassian in Sickbay, and the memories they relive at the sight of him. What will happen when they come together to share their terrible stories?
Doctor Crell Moset shimmered into existence in the center of the holodeck. Harry Kim glanced up and saw the Cardassian, and had to hide his shock.
"Uh, Doc? Did you happen to mention to anyone that he was a Cardassian?" he asked.
"No. Why should that matter?" The Doctor looked over at the ensign curiously.
"Well, some of the crew may have had some…unpleasant…experiences with the Cardassians."
"Have you?"
"Well, no, but I know of one or two people that have." Feeling uneasy, Harry went back to work.
********
Kathryn Janeway sat in her ready room, going over reports. But her mind was not on the padds strewn over her desk, it was on her chief engineer. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate on the reports, her mind kept wandering back to her friend, her form deathly still on the biobed. Finally, she set the padd down on her desk and rose from her chair. She crossed the bridge to the turbolift, nodding to the bridge crew. She stepped onto the lift, rode it down to deck four, and stepped off. She strode down the hallway until she reached the door to sickbay. She entered to find the Doctor and his 'assistant' bent over their patient, conversing quietly. Suddenly, they both straightened, and the Doctor turned.
"Captain!" he exclaimed, rushing to her side. "I didn't realize you were here! Is there anything wrong?"
"No, just checking on your patient. How's she doing?"
The Doctor's shoulders sank. "We're still working on it, but we haven't met with much success. We were about to go back to the laboratory and see if we could find out anything more about the creature. I'm afraid Lieutenant Torres is not doing well. I've been injecting her with the necessary vitamins and such, but she's quite weak. You may speak with her if you like, but only for a few moments, please. I don't want to tire her out any more than she already is." Kathryn nodded, and moved towards the biobed B'Elanna lay on. She stopped short when the assistant turned to face her. Dear God, he's a Cardassian! The color drained from her face.
Seeing this, the Doctor asked, "Captain, are you all right?"
Kathryn didn't answer. The Doctor caught her as she fell, a wave of memories, long buried, washing over her.
***Flashback***
Kathryn Janeway struggled as the two Cardassians dragged her down the long corridor, but it was no use. They held her in vice-like grips that she couldn't break. Finally, they came to a door. It slid open with a hiss, and they shoved her inside. She quickly picked herself up off of the floor, huddling in a corner of what she now saw was a cell. She had been there for what seemed like hours when she heard a horrible sound—screams. They were pain-filled, and somehow familiar. Suddenly, the gruesome realization hit her—it was Admiral Paris whose cries she was hearing. She pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to make herself as small and compact as possible. The screams grew louder, and she realized they were in the courtyard outside, probably for her benefit. Damn them. Damn them all to hell. She looked up as light flooded her small, dark cell. They were back. She tried to fight them as they reached in and seized her upper arms, pulling her from the tiny enclosure, but, once again, there was no point. They held her too tightly. She was left in a room that gave her the chills. There were no so-called instruments of torture. No devices of pain. Nothing except a bed. She whipped around as the door opened once more, admitting a large male Cardassian.
***End Flashback***
The Doctor stood over his captain's bed, a worried frown on his face. He didn't know why she had suddenly collapsed. Suddenly, he remembered Harry Kim's words on the holodeck.
"Well, some of the crew may have had some…unpleasant…experiences with the Cardassians."
"Have you?"
"Well, no, but I know of a few people that have."
On a hunch, he went into his office and sat down in front of his computer.
"Computer, bring up all files pertaining to Kathryn Janeway's experience with Cardassians."
***Flashback***
In an attempt to ignore what Gul Sevak was doing to her body, Kathryn let her mind wander. She stifled a gasp as he bit painfully into her neck. The feel of his scaly skin sliding across hers repulsed her, and she had to force herself not to pull away. The life of Admiral Paris rested in her hands. If she resisted, he would be killed. She would rather die than let that happen. She could not hold back from crying out in pain as he entered her in one swift movement. Gul Sevak plunged in and out of her several times before collapsing against her. She could feel his fluids mixing with her blood as it ran from her body. After a few moments, he collected himself, climbing off of her and dressing quickly. For a while, everything was hazy. A doctor came in and healed her wounds quickly. Then, the Gul reentered the room. He smiled down at her, a cold, heartless expression that made her blood run cold.
***End Flashback***
The Doctor leaned back in his chair, shocked. He couldn't believe what he'd read. How could such a thing have happened to the captain? No wonder she'd reacted the way she had when she saw Crell. Steeling himself, he began reading again.
***Flashback***
Kathryn was carried to a large room, full of other women like her. She was left on the ground beside a young girl who couldn't have been more than nine or ten. She looked to be half-Klingon, half-human, if her softly pronounced ridges were anything to judge by. Kathryn rolled painfully onto her side.
"How did you end up in a place like this?" she asked. The girl turned slowly to her, her deep brown eyes filled with pain.
"I was kidnapped—" She got no further. A large group of men had entered the room, looking around. Their eyes landed on Kathryn and the half-Klingon girl. They were forced to their feet and brought to the sickbay, where they were further healed. They were then brought to another room. There, the men who had brought them took turns with each of them, some twice. By the time they finished, Kathryn and the girl were barely conscious. They were brought to the sickbay once more, where they were quickly healed. They were then thrown into a cell together.
"My name's Kathryn. What's yours?"
"My friends call me B'Ela, at least they would if I had any." Sky-blue eyes met earthen-brown as they silently shared their pain.
***End Flashback***
The Doctor rose from his desk and walked out to where his captain lay on a biobed, sleeping fitfully. Something he'd read in the report stirred at the back of his mind. B'Ela. Half-Klingon, half-human. B'Ela. B'Ela? Half-Klingon? His gaze suddenly turned to his other patient, and his eyes widened. B'Ela was B'Elanna. Suddenly, everything was clear to him. The automatic, although unknowing, closeness between the two women. Their ability to work so well together. Their similar reactions to seeing Crell Moset. Although he knew the two women must sense the familiarity between them, he also knew that each had absolutely no idea that the other had been the one present during those few days.
********
Kathryn's eyes snapped open, and she sat up quickly. What was she doing in sickbay? Why was she lying on a biobed? She slid off the bed, only to be pressed back down by firm hands. Suddenly, she remembered seeing the Cardassian, reliving those horrible days. Embarrassed, she turned away from the Doctor's inquisitive gaze, looking around for the consultant.
"I took him offline, Captain," the Doctor said gently. She turned to him quickly, eyes sharp.
"You should be working. Get him back online." Before he could object, she edged her way out of sickbay.
********
Kathryn entered her quarters silently. As the doors slid shut behind her, she sank down against the wall, burying her face in her hands. How could she have let that happen? And in front of a member of her crew, no less. She had learned to semi-control the flashbacks long ago, and hadn't had one for years, but, today, seeing that Cardassian in sickbay had triggered a major episode. What happened fifteen years ago was between her and that young girl, B'Ela. B'Ela. Now, why does that sound familiar? B'Ela. B'Elanna. B'Elanna? She jerked out of her daze. Dear God, she thought. It was B'Elanna all those years ago.
********
B'Elanna drifted into consciousness, feeling as if a shuttle was resting on her chest. She remembered the creature jumping on her, remembered the doctor saying he'd found a way to create an assistant—oh, God. The assistant. He was…Cardassian. A slimy, scaly, Cardassian. She would have shuddered, had she had the ability to move. Her mind was suddenly thrown back in time, fifteen years, to the time she had been captured by Cardassians. A single tear coursed down her check as she recalled the horrible violations set upon her during that time…but there had been a light in all that darkness…a woman, so kind to her, despite her obvious mongrel appearance…what had her name been? Kath—Kathryn? Why did that sound so familiar? Kathryn. Kathryn? Kathryn…Janeway—Janeway? Kathryn Janeway? Captain Janeway? Oh, God…
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