Disclaimer: the characters are obviously not mine.

If you prefer to read on AO3, this story is on there too now. I'm missyhissy3 on there too.

AN: This story grew out of a prompt northernexposure sent me that I'll post at the end. Big thank you to her for beta reading this and for the prompt itself, and to Photogirl1890 for her invaluable post-messing typo check.


Set Season 7 - Alternative ending for 'Natural Law'

Unexpected

"Report!" barks the Captain, as the ship finally stops rocking.

"They haven't detected us, Captain," Ensign Kim replies. "This nebula is too dense. But that last volley took out the shields and there's severe damage to lower decks where it hit. The Ledosians hit us with pretty much every weapon they had in their entire planetary defence arsenal as we left orbit."

"Is the Delta Flyer back on board?"

"Yes, and Tom is on his way to sickbay to stand in for the Doc. He went off line during the last attack."

"And engineering?"

"No change yet. I can't get into any systems at all down there and I'm still trying to shut the core down remotely. Engineering was evacuated when we detected the breach, but Tuvok reports that Chakotay and B'Elanna are still inside. His teams are standing by."

"Janeway to Chakotay."

"Go ahead, Captain." The channel is full of static and his voice is barely audible on the bridge.

"Why are you and B'Elanna still in there," Janeway shouts over the red alert klaxons.

"We mistimed it. We rolled for the doors, but- it doesn't matter now. There's no way you'll shut the core down remotely. There's nothing left to interface with – all the controls are fried. I'll have to do it manually."

"Get engineering on the main viewer, Harry," the Captain orders briskly.

Chakotay goes on, "We need to get B'Elanna out right now. She cracked her head against the doors. She's out cold and the radiation levels are rising fast."

He can be seen on the viewscreen propping B'Elanna up against the main doors; then he heads back to a workstation.

"I'm setting up a forcefield just inside the door. This console is the only one still functioning. Tell Seven to link bridge controls to it and enhance the forcefield. That'll contain the radiation long enough for Tuvok's team to lift the emergency doors and get B'Elanna out."

"Harry, how long have we got?" Janeway demands.

"The radiation is interfering with internal sensors in there," Kim reports urgently. "Based on the last readings I have, there can't be more than eight minutes until the core breaches. Radiation will be beyond safe tolerance levels way before that though– six minutes max."

"You have five minutes, Chakotay," Janeway warns. "And we need to know the radiation levels in there now!"

Before he has time to reply, Seven begins firing instructions at him. Janeway takes a step back and watches on the screen as Chakotay's fingers fly over the control panel.

"Reinforcements complete, Captain," Seven announces.

"It's working!" Chakotay shouts. "It should hold, Captain. Get those doors up now!"

Kathryn is just about to comm Tuvok to give the order when B'Elanna's voice cuts in.

"Chakotay!"

Janeway looks back to the viewscreen. B'Elanna's dragging herself to her feet, shouting at Chakotay from the other side of the forcefield.

"What the hell..."

"They're getting you out," Chakotay tells her, his eyes never leaving the console.

"Are you crazy?" She reaches towards him and her fingers come into contact with the forcefield. "Drop this damn forcefield now so I can shut down the core."

"You hit your head. You're going to sickbay." His eyes still don't leave the control panel.

"I'm fine. You need me to do this."

"No. I need you out of here now."

B'Elanna slaps her combadge and yells, "Captain! Talk some sense into him. I'm fine. I can do it twice as fast as he can and he knows it. He isn't even familiar with the new protocols – we only finished installing them this morning!"

"Chakotay, I-" Janeway begins.

He looks up. "We don't have time for this! Get her out of here now!" he bellows. "Radiation levels are rising. If you don't do it soon they'll be too high even for Seven's Borg-enhanced forcefield to contain."

"Damn it, Chakotay, I'm the chief engineer!"

"Yes, you are. But you're injured. And you're also Tom's wife and you're soon to be a mother. You're indispensable."

"And you're not?"

"I'm the first officer of this ship and I'm ordering you to get yourself through that door the second it goes up, Lieutenant."

"Listen to me-"

"This isn't a debate, B'Elanna."

"Captain, tell him-"

"The Captain agrees with me."

"Get out of there now, B'Elanna," Janeway shouts over the static. "Chakotay has time to shut it down."

"But-"

"Damn it, B'Elanna - I swear I'll knock you out again myself if I have to."

"This is madness!"

Janeway watches him leave the console and move right up to the forcefield so he and B'Elanna are face to face. His voice drops to a level that is barely audible on the bridge.

"It'll be all right," he insists, regaining his calm. "The Captain can talk me through the new manual protocols. You need to get to sickbay to check the baby is OK."

B'Elanna holds his gaze. Then her eyes drop to her pregnant belly before they close for a moment.

Janeway gives Tuvok the order. As she watches the emergency doors go up, she's barely able to breathe lest something goes wrong and the entire deck ends up flooded with radiation. Immediately the emergency doors recede into the bulkhead, Tuvok and Ayala can be seen on the viewscreen guiding the unsteady B'Elanna out.

"The forcefield is successfully containing the radiation, Captain," Seven reports.

Janeway's head snaps round. "Harry, go down to sickbay and get the Doctor back online somehow."

"Aye, Captain," Harry calls, already halfway to the turbolift.

"Commander, we have less than 5 minutes now." Janeway takes a deep breath.

She opens a ship-wide channel. "All hands, this is the Captain. Get to the escape pods and prepare to abandon ship. Wait on my final order before launch."

Then she looks back to the viewscreen. "Chakotay, I've ordered the crew to stand by at the escape pods."

"Understood. But it's unlikely the pods would have time to clear the kickback from a core breach even if you launched them now."

"I know."

"I'm into the systems. Talk me through the new procedure."

"The first sequence is unchanged. By the time you've completed it, I'll be down there." She turns to her protégé. "Seven, find a way to enhance that forcefield to hold back twice that level of radiation, in case it keeps on rising. And work on a way to get Chakotay out of there once he's shut down the core."

"I will try. But I must warn you, Captain, it is unlikely I will succeed in enhancing the forcefield much further."

"Try."

"Yes, Captain."

XxX

Deck 11

As she rounds the corner at a run, Janeway is met with the sight of Lieutenant Ayala, now clad in an environmental suit, and Tuvok scanning engineering with a tricorder.

Her order arrives a little in advance of her. "Report!"

"The forcefield is stable, Captain," the Vulcan replies. "The small amount of radiation that leaked into this section when Lieutenant Torres exited is within tolerance levels. But I am unable to scan inside engineering due to both the forcefield and the radiation. The Commander will have to monitor the situation himself while he works."

"And?"

"He has yet to provide us with that information."

Janeway moves level with the forcefield. Chakotay is still leaning over the workstation nearest to the door.

"Chakotay, how long before the core breaches and what's the radiation level now?"

"Just under four minutes," he replies without looking up. "I've completed the initial stage, now I need the new protocols."

She takes him through the short new sequence and he enters it swiftly. "We can't scan in there, Chakotay. What are the radiation levels now?"

"The final commands, Captain!" he shouts.

She finishes the instructions.

Twice he has to ask her to repeat, and she can see him fighting to maintain his focus, sweat dripping into his line of vision as he enters the sequence.

Then Seven's voice cuts over the comm.. "Seven to the Captain."

"Go ahead, Seven."

"I have successfully established a stable interface with the partially functioning console Chakotay is using. Radiation levels are continuing to rise. They exceeded maximum exposure levels recommended for humans 0.4 minutes after Lieutenant Torres was evacuated."

"Damn it! I knew it!" Janeway shouts at no one and anyone.

Chakotay continues working. Several interminably long seconds later he turns towards the doors and shouts, "It's done. The manual shutdown is complete."

Janeway closes her eyes for a heartbeat, then they snap open again and she focuses on Chakotay.

"I want those levels now, Commander. We need proof the core shutdown was successful and that they're starting to drop so we can lift this forcefield and get you out," she shouts over the static-ridden comm link.

She watches as Chakotay braces himself on the console.

"Chakotay," she barks. "Can you still hear me?"

He gives his head a shake, rubs a hand across his face and mumbles something unintelligible in reply.

"Commander Chakotay! Listen to me. You need to tell me what the radiation level is now."

He doesn't reply, and his eyelids droop suspiciously.

"Seven!" she barks, "the radiation-"

Seven cuts in immediately. "Radiation levels are now falling, Captain. Chakotay succeeded in shutting down the core. The procedure is complete. At their current rate of decrease, in 5.8 minutes levels will be low enough for Lieutenant Ayala to go in and retrieve the Commander."

"That's far too long, Seven! Can't we transport him out before then?"

As Kathryn watches, all of a sudden Chakotay's legs seem to give way, and he crashes to the floor like a felled tree.

"Oh God," she gasps. "Get up!" she shouts. "Chakotay! Do you hear me! Get up now, Commander, that's an order!"

Chakotay pushes up from the floor onto all fours. Then, with dogged determination, he claws his way up the panel towards the controls.

"No Captain," Seven replies. "A transport would not be successful."

Janeway turns to Tuvok, eyes wild. "Tuvok, you and I need to get off this deck immediately. Then Ayala can lift the forcefield and get-"

Tuvok steps in front of her and is opening his mouth to interject when suddenly another voice beats him to it.

"Torres to Janeway. Captain, I can do it!"

"B'Elanna? Are you-"

"I'll be fine, Captain, and the Doctor says the baby will be fine too. We've been listening in for the last few minutes. I can do it from here."

"Do what? Transport him out?"

"Yes. As soon as the level drops below 4.5 thousand units I can transport him out of there."

"Safely? How?" Kathryn looks down, pinches the bridge of her nose and inhales deeply. "Actually, maybe it's better I don't know the details of whatever Maquis manoeuver you're about to use that'd get us both court martialled one day. Just tell me it'll work."

"Well, if I screw up it'll kill him, but if we wait much longer he'll be dead already anyway."

"Seven, how long until the radiation drops to 4.5 thousand?"

"3.1 minutes."

"That's still too long," Janeway snaps back.

"You are correct, Captain," the ex-Borg confirms. "In approximately one minute Commander Chakotay will have been exposed for a period of time in excess of the amount documented as eventually fatal to humans."

"Damn it Seven, it's still better than leaving him in there for another six minutes almost!" B'Elanna cuts in again. "We have to try, Captain!"

"Do it, B'Elanna. Do whatever you can."

Tuvok silently withdraws from the position he had adopted between Janeway and the entrance to engineering.

Kathryn turns back to face her first officer.

"Hang on, Chakotay. We're going to get you out of there," she tells him, although it's doubtful he hears her, as he is sitting slumped against the wall, arms loose at his sides, eyes closed. However, a beat later his eyes open again and he turns his head towards her.

"B'Elanna is going to transport you out," Janeway tells him, her calm expression belying the pounding of her heart.

"She's OK?"

"She's fine. You got her out less than a minute before the radiation would have harmed her and the baby."

"Thanks for backing me up."

"It was the right call."

"Seems she still doesn't have much faith in my engineering ability."

"Well, she'll have to change her tune now."

"Guess so."

"How do you feel?"

"Hot," he replies, leaning forward so he can manoeuver himself out of his jacket and turtle neck. Then he rests back against the wall again. "And a little shaky. My head is pounding."

Tuvok and Ayala retreat a few paces down the corridor and confer over a control panel in the wall.

"Just another two minutes now," Kathryn tells Chakotay.

He nods.

She moves to lean against the wall close to the forcefield, suddenly feeling the need for support.

"Tuvok is probably going to relieve me of duty after this."

"Why?"

"I got halfway through ordering him to open the doors just now."

"Glad you listened to him. He has his uses."

"He does."

Kathryn just watches Chakotay for a moment. Then his head lolls forward suspiciously.

"Don't go falling asleep on me, Chakotay. You know you need to stay awake."

He holds his head up again. "Understood."

"We'll get you to sickbay soon. Then you can rest all you like."

"Sounds good."

He coughs and shifts position again to sit with his long legs stretched out in front of him and turns his face towards her. "When I woke up in that Ventu cave this morning, I can't say I expected I'd be sitting here less than twelve hours later."

"You've had a tough few days." She manages a weak smile to accompany her understatement.

"Tell Seven I'm sorry, but it looks like I'll have to take a rain check for tomorrow night."

Kathryn's mind goes blank for a split second. "You can tell her yourself when we get you out of there," she forces unconvincingly.

He coughs again, this time the convulsions wrack his broad frame and as they subside his eyelids droop again.

"Hey! Stay with me Chakotay," Janeway orders. Keep him talking. Keep him conscious. "So, what plans did you have with Seven?"

"The Doc told B'Elanna she's got to quit hoverball 'til after the baby comes -"

He's cut off by the shudders of another racking cough. Immediately Kathryn shifts away from the wall to kneel opposite him and her hand reaches out instinctively towards the forcefield.

Once he's regained enough breath he goes on, "Think Seven felt sorry for me – for losing my partner for my 'insufficient amount of regular exercise' – so she offered to take me on."

Kathryn clasps her hands in front of her body to still them. "Well I wish you luck. You'll need it." She turns and allows her back to slide down the wall until she's sitting, knees bent up, with only the forcefield between them. "I'm amazed she still finds me a challenging enough opponent at velocity these days."

"I'm not. I'd bet on you any day."

She turns her head towards him, grateful he's still talking.

"It's quite a while since we last played. I'm not as fit as I was then."

"Maybe so," his eyes close again as he's speaking, "but I'd still put odds on you."

He looks so flushed now, and he's scratching at his arms. Just watching him in this condition makes Kathryn feel as if she's crawling out of her own skin, and she shifts uncomfortably.

"Not much longer now," she reassures him softly, willing Seven or B'Elanna to contact them. Another few seconds pass and Kathryn can't just keep on waiting.

"Seven, report!"

"I was conferring with Lieutenant Torres, Captain. The levels have now dropped sufficiently for her to attempt transpo-."

"Tell Chakotay to stand by, Captain. I'm on it," B'Elanna cuts in, sounding more than a little agitated.

Kathryn gets up off the floor immediately.

"B'Elanna's ready, Chakotay," she tells him. "Any second now and you'll be in sickbay."

He doesn't reply. His eyes have closed and he appears to have finally lost consciousness. Kathryn holds her breath as a heartbeat later he dematerialises, slowly – very, very slowly. Probably far too slowly.

"Doctor, do you have him?" she asks, as the last of Chakotay's molecules finally disappear, before anyone has had the time to report.

"Yes, Captain. We have him. Lieutenant Torres's unorthodox transport seems to have been successful. I'm beginning my assessment now."

"Very good, Doctor. I'll be there soon. Janeway out."

She knows she needs to follow Tuvok to the bridge immediately, but for several seconds Kathryn leans back against the cool metal of the bulkhead. She closes her eyes, willing the wild beating of her heart to slow, and just breathes.

[TBC]