Forgetting

Chapter 1

By frusciantefan

This story has been posted before, yet now Kristin betaread it as English is not my mother Tongue. But please read it as the content is a different one, too. Furthermore I've divided it into several Chapters. This is the first.

Thanks to my friends and family and John Frusciante and several other artists (It would be way too long to mention them all). But biggest thanks go to Kristin, who made this all possible!

Disclaimer:The characters belong to Paramount.

"I am an innocent man." Lepido had repeated that sentence over and over again and he was convinced of it. Yet he had been captured by this alien race and he didn't even know why. But while being brought to his cell that he often sarcastically described as "home sweet home", taken away from his beloved friends and family, he had gotten a pretty good idea of the prison, where he had been held for two weeks now. The most important thing about it was that this jail was divided into three parts and even if he knew neither details nor any functions, or the differences between those parts he knew exactly where he had to go if he was given any chance to break free. As the cell was bound by iron bars he could observe the prisoners and the guards. Although he had never been a good observer, he felt like this time it could save his live and ensure him freedom.

Just a few minutes ago a new foreigner was brought to a cell that confirmed their fate, and although the alien struggled and tried to fight it, there was just no way out. A few minutes later it was quiet in the new inhabitant's cell. The complete silence in the cell seemed peculiar as everywhere else there was noise you could never get used to.

As it was night, the guards started to take their round-tour through the prison that they took every night. A minute after they were gone, the lights were shut down immediately. Lepido was getting used to it by now, but he could tell that the recently captured prisoners didn't feel comfortable. As he was sitting there, he couldn't help but staring at the new inhabitant.

As it was almost pitch black, it would be easy to overlook the young woman huddled in the corner. Her hair was dark brown, and so were her eyes. On her forehead were ridges that were small, yet noticeable. Her black and yellow outfit was in a bad condition and showed signs of the fight she had gone through recently. No one was with her as she desperately started to moan.

/\

"Tom!" B'Elanna shouted loudly but she couldn't hear a single sound coming from her boyfriend. "Doc? Neelix?" Due to the darkness she wasn't able to see if they were with her in the room, which B'Elanna Torres guessed to be some kind of brig.

The only thing the half-Klingon was pretty sure about was that she was in danger. B'Elanna tried to contact Voyager again, as she had done so many times before. Not that she had expected them to answer, as it was one of those rather rare occasions that the combadge did not work. B'Elanna assumed that she was held in some kind of caves or under the surface, where it was almost impossible to get in touch with Voyager. Furthermore she was all by herself and she wondered how many days Voyager would spend looking for her. She knew that they would do everything possible to get her home safe but if she really was under the surface it wouldn't be easy for them to find her.

She wondered how much time she could stand to spend in that cold, grey and foreign room. The whole situation was so typical but as she thought about it she assumed that her life as the chief-engineer of the starship Voyager, lost and far away from home, brought these experiences with it.

But how did she get in this brig? She wondered but then she remembered...Right, a few days ago they had been on an away mission to get some dilithium back to the ship. Since she had needed it in Engineering she had been the leader of their mission and she'd been fine with that. She was happy that her captain finally had faith in her, faith that had been extremely hard to earn. But she couldn't blame her captain for that matter. The first impression she gave Kathryn Janeway was Joe Careys' broken nose.

Her team including Tom, Neelix and the Doctor, who had been keen on taking pictures of practically every stone his holographic eyes were able to see, had taken the Delta-Flyer and had been expected back soon as the planet had seemed to be uninhabited .

Since Tom had been with them too, she'd been happy to lead the mission and hadn't been overly concerned with unknown risks or dangers. That had been a stupid mistake and an irresponsible too; especially for a Starfleet officer like her. She had looked at it like some kind of holiday and she had been happy about the change that would come along with it. Besides, or so she had thought before, she could do with a few hours of breathing fresh air after getting the dilithium back to Voyager. Janeway had even allowed Tom and her a day off, after they had retrieved the dilithium, of course. But now she just wanted to get home to Voyager. She was all alone and had no clue how, not to mention where, the rest of her team was. She just hoped everyone was alright...Especially Tom...Gods how she missed him. She didn't know what she would do if he was...she didn't dare think about it.

Usually B'Elanna even liked adventures but this one was in no way fun, not anymore. It had changed into a horror trip right after she had been captured by this alien species which wasn't supposed to be on the planet, at least, according to the sensors.

Suddenly she saw a ray of light coming closer and closer, towards her direction. She hoped it was someone from her team and it became obvious that it was, because as the door opened she recognized the Starfleet uniform. B'Elanna could also see that the person was followed by an alien of the species that had captured her and her team. It was tall and thin, with red skin and an uninviting glare.

When they got closer, she saw that the person was Tom. As she caught sight of his face, she saw he was not in good shape. His eyes were red and a little swollen and he was covered with black and blue marks all over his body...he looked terrible.

The alien ordered him to enter the cell while he threatened him with a phaser, and it seemed Tom didn't even think of giving the alien any trouble. Yet B'Elanna considered that the right decision as the alien's features betrayed that he wouldn't hesitate to shoot if Tom refused the order.

"Is there a reason we are being confined here?" B'Elanna asked, struggling to keep the anger out of her voice. She had learned long ago that her anger would make many situations, especially situations extreme as this one, worse.

However, when the alien just laughed at her as a response she gave up and started yelling at him.

"Are you crazy? Let us go! We haven't done anything wrong!"

Calm down, B'Elanna she told herself as she wondered considered the repercussions of her outburst.

To her astonishment the alien just closed and locked up the door again.

"Tom, are you alright? Have they hurt you?"

He seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

"Tom?" she asked again.

"What?" Now he looked right into her eyes.

"Are you alright?"

"Well some bruises ...but nothing serious."

"What about Neelix and the Doctor?" B'Elanna asked, the worry obvious in their voice.

"They've taken the shuttle to get back to Voyager and bring help," Tom answered but still he was deeply lost in thoughts.

"Tell me what's bothering you," she asked as she was sure something was making him scared.

"They gonna sell us as slaves. I met other… prisoners… and they told me." After an exhausting sigh he continued, "At first, I thought this was a jail. I came here looking for you. I spoke to some...prisoners...and they told me. But apparently I didn't pay enough attention and got captured myself."

"I know that might sound selfish but I'm happy that you're here with me...I was scared...I had thought that maybe they had..." B'Elanna couldn't finish that sentence. She was close to tears both because of relief at seeing Tom again and also because she was in fear of their lives.

"Don't think about it...We just have to get outta here. Immediately!" Tom seemed to be a bit more positive.

"Great plan, Tom. Do you think we're able to just walk out? It's a prison cell remember?" She couldn't believe he had really suggested that of all things.

"Jeez, you're in a bad mood." Tom noted, exasperation in his voice.

"You can't expect me to be happy after I've heard this. So under these circumstances my mood is just great," B'Elanna retorted.

"You're just a little..."He tried to use the right word, "...testy?"

"Yes. I guess I am. I mean, it scares me that it's possible that I'm going to be sold. It scares me that I don't know what they're going to do to us. Aren't you afraid?" She asked, her voice rising.

"Of course I am – just the thought scares the hell out of me!"

"I think we need a plan."

/\

When the doorbell rang, Captain Kathryn Janeway was thinking about what had happened to her two senior officers Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres. She assumed that they've gotten into some trouble as they weren't back yet, although the Doctor and Neelix had returned the last evening which gave her cause for concern. She just hoped that they weren't seriously injured and could handle their situation.

When she answered "Come in," she didn't seem surprised when it was her first officer who entered her ready room.

"Some news of B'Elanna and Tom?" She asked, hopefully.

He shook his head and she could see that he was worried about them. She could understand it, B'Elanna and him had been friends since they joined the Maquis together and he'd always felt very protective of her. Like the father the Half Klingon had never had. She knew that some months ago, he hadn't liked the fact B'Elanna and Tom were spending time together and were becoming a couple. To him Tom Paris had been the womanizer, the traitor, the cheater.

Chakotay had similar thoughts as the Captain and before his inner eye he could see the pilot and himself arguing about B'Elanna. "If you dare to hurt her, you're a dead man." Before he had continued, he had given Tom the best death glare he could manage. "She has been through so much trouble in her life. She doesn't need or deserve another one who breaks her heart, just like her father did when he left her."

Then Tom replied, "Chakotay, for the first time of my life, I really love someone. I am certainly not going to hurt that person."

Before Tom had turned to go, they had exchanged looks and it had been the first time Chakotay thought he had seen honesty in the eyes of Tom Paris. Since then he had started to respect the man he'd once disliked. Now though, he even called him a trusted friend.

"Can I offer you something to drink?" The Captain snapped him out of his thoughts.

"If you're asking me like that, I won't resist Captain. A tea would be fine."

"I've spoken to Neelix," Chakotay told her as she made her way to the replicator.

"What did he say? Some news?"

"Yes, he told me some things about the species down there. They are called the Ratans. They mostly earn their money with slavery. Even if there weren't any life signs on the sensors there are definitely inhabitants of that planet."

"But how did Neelix find out?"

"Well, he told me something about a fugitive he met. The slaves I just told you about are captured strangers, people of another origin."

Now it was clear that the two lieutenants were in danger.

"Then we have to get them out. Immediately!" Unbeknownst to the Captain she echoed her imprisoned crewmates words.

/\

When a young officer of the so called blue unit, called Mikar, opened one cell to bring food and water to the slaves, he didn't expect any attacks coming from the foreigners. However when he entered the cell he fully experienced the realisation that he was terrible wrong.

He was hit hard and fell to the ground, struggling to stay conscious. The last thing Mikar noticed was that the two cell inhabitants stole his weapon and ran out of the door, leaving him alone when the darkness descended upon him.

/\

They had pulled off their plan. Tom's relief was evident.

"Let's get out of this cell, I can't stand spending any more time in here!"

They ran from the cell and were relieved to find a console only a few meters away that could possibly send their coordinates to Voyager to get, once more, rescued by their crew.

While B'Elanna tried to contact their ship, Tom stood sentry.

"I think I've succeeded in contacting the ship but I believe that we're under the ground, so we'll have to get to the surface in order for them to be able to beam us up."

"You could be right. At least it would explain, why the sensors didn't detect any kind of civilization."

"I agree...I think we'd better hurry up, our captors might notice that we aren't where they want us to be. This way!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Call me that again and I'll break your nose."

He wondered if she was serious about it, but there was just one way to find out. "I think ma'am suits you, at least it's cute, don't you think?"

"Don't push it, Paris!" and then, Tom could see the fire in her eyes he loved so much.

He knew that they enjoyed both those conversations, it was almost like a competition but when he looked into her eyes he was the winner, no matter what.

"Alright, alright!" He raised his hands in mock surrender.

/\

Captain Kathryn Janeway was sitting on a comfortable chair in her ready room, reading a book and just starting to relax after a long and exhausting day when her comm badge chirped.

"Captain?" The voice of Ensign Kim was unsure as he didn't want to disturb his captain.

"What is it Harry?"

"Could you please come down to the bridge? We picked up a signal from the planet. It's possible that it's from Tom and B'Elanna..."

"On my way!"

So her book had to wait, but the life of two members of her crew, of course, had the precedence.

As she entered the bridge, she wasn't prepared to meet an euphoric Harry Kim.

"Captain, I just confirmed the signal was sent by Tom and B'Elanna. Now, we've got their current position but they'll have to surface because according to the sensors they're far under the ground, then we'll be able to beam them aboard."

"Finally, good news," she said while giving the Ensign a wry smile.

"How much time do you think they'll need until we can get them out?"

"I don't know, but if I had to guess, I'd say three minutes!"

/\

They were running. Running as fast as they could through the narrow corridors while they passed what seemed like hundreds of cells. "Come on B'Elanna! Hurry up!" yelled an out of breath Tom. He didn't know why, but the distance between him and his girlfriend was getting bigger and bigger. He took a look over his shoulder to gauge the distance between them. What he saw didn't lift his spirits at all.

Two Ratans were following them and began to shoot at the Starfleet Officers. "Come on B'Elanna! Looks like we're living targets!" When Tom tried to return fire with the phaser he had taken from the guard they incapacitated he succeeded; one of the two ratans fell. B'Elanna, in the mean time, had turned around as well. She was standing at least 8 metres away from Tom. When the other Ratan fired his phaser he hit B'Elanna, who fell instantly. "No!" Tom wanted to make the alien pay for that, but suddenly blue small sparks appeared all around him...

And now review, please!