Acknowledgements, Disclaimers, and Warnings please see chapter 1.

"Isn't this sweet?"

B'Elanna's eyes snapped open to see a disruptor pointed directly at her face. She and Janeway had both fallen asleep sitting on the floor, and now Camet and his three henchmen stood around them in a small semi-circle. She squeezed Janeway's hand to rouse her. "What the hell do you want now?"

Camet chuckled. "Klingons. It doesn't matter what time of day it is, they're always surly."

"You haven't seen surly yet, Camet." Janeway's voice was rougher sounding than usual as she sat up.

B'Elanna didn't dare take her eyes off the disruptor that was almost touching her ridges, but she didn't hear any fear or weariness in Janeway's voice. She could easily imagine the look on her captain's face. She almost felt like smiling as she saw a quickly suppressed look of surprise cross Toreth's face. They didn't know Kathryn Janeway as well as they thought.

"Get up," Daveek said, motioning with his weapon.

Using the wall for support, Janeway and B'Elanna both made it to their feet, but it took more effort than either would like to have shown. The uncontrollable twitching of B'Elanna's muscles had stopped, but her entire body felt sore all over. Janeway moved stiffly but refused to wince as her muscles reminded her of the punishment she'd taken earlier.

Toreth and Partek paired off to guard Torres, while Daveek kept his weapon trained on Janeway. Camet gestured away from B'Elanna. "Join me for a walk, Janeway."

Her eyes darted over the forms of the Romulan and Cardassian guarding B'Elanna, and she didn't move. She wasn't about to let happen to B'Elanna what happened to her. Not without a fight anyway. Camet had taken a few steps away and Daveek gestured with the weapon again insinuating that he would use it on her. "Get moving, Admiral."

"No."

B'Elanna glanced at her. Daveek raised the weapon. "Don't make me shoot you, Janeway."

"Go ahead."

"Admiral," Torres said quietly.

Camet turned back and assessed the small group noticing Janeway's defensive stance slightly in front of the Klingon woman. Daveek's finger twitched back on the trigger, and Janeway gave him a feral grin.

"Stop." Camet's voice cut across the room freezing everyone. He crossed back to the group and addressed B'Elanna. "Commander Paris, if you would please, move to the corner."

He indicated a small circular platform in the corner near the door. B'Elanna glanced at him and then Janeway. Camet moved swiftly for a man his age, plucking the disruptor out of Toreth's hand, and thumbing it to its highest setting. He pushed it into B'Elanna's abdomen.

"At this range, this won't kill you if I pull the trigger, but I imagine a hole burned through your midsection will not feel very good. Your admiral is under the impression that I intend to let my associates cause you harm, and she's planning to try and protect you from it. I have no such intentions at this time." Camet spoke quickly. "Now, move to the corner before she does something incredibly stupid."

As soon as Camet had moved so did Daveek, insinuating himself between Janeway and Camet's back. Toreth moved aside as B'Elanna grudgingly walked to the corner. Once she stood on the platform, Camet pushed a small box into her hand and then stepped back. Keeping the disruptor trained on her, he pushed several buttons on the wall and a force field sprang up around the platform completely encircling B'Elanna.

"Now then," he turned back to the small group. "Toreth. Partek. Prepare the skiff for launch. I do believe we should be gone prior to the Federations arriving."

Janeway eyes widened as she exchanged a quick glance with B'Elanna. Had he just said…

"Oh, not to worry Admiral," Camet laughed. He knew exactly what she was thinking. "They're still a day away from here. You will have prayed for death long before they arrive."

Janeway had only let her hope show for a moment before concealing it, but apparently it had been enough. She knew that Camet was still going to carry out some atrocious plan, but knowing the Federation was close gave her hope. She could last long enough for someone to arrive. Couldn't she? Even if those were the longest twenty-four hours of her life.

"Daveek, if you would," Camet said, gesturing towards Janeway breaking her away from her thoughts.

She only managed to turn her head in his direction, before he seized her arm wrenching it up behind her back and slamming her against the wall. Dazed, she just barely managed to turn her head to the side before she felt his entire body weight pressing her against the stone wall. Her eyes watered as pain knifed through the shoulder she had so recently dislocated, and her other arm became trapped between her body and the wall. Daveek kicked her feet further apart giving her even less leverage and then his legs trapped her as well.

Kathryn could hear B'Elanna shouting in outrage. She could feel the panic rising in her chest at Daveek's proximity, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to concentrate as she was barely able to breathe. And then Camet's face was the only thing she could see. Reacting instinctively in pure flight mode, Janeway reared back trying to get away from Camet and was able to shake Daveek's steel hold on her for a second. Again she was slammed against the wall as Daveek regained the centimeters she'd been able to move. Camet smiled and stroked a finger down the side of her face. "I thought you might remember my face."

He looked towards Daveek. "I need her conscious so you have to at least allow her to breathe."

Janeway felt the pressure holding her minimize by the slightest of degrees, but she was able to draw in enough oxygen to chase away the darkness that had begun to tunnel her vision. She blinked a few times and slowly regained her senses. Camet's gaze never left her face, watching her closely, waiting for her eyes to meet his before he began speaking again.

"Good. Now that I have your undivided attention. I have some things to tell you. Our time together is almost at an end, but I'm going to leave you with a few parting gifts." He held up a blue vial where she could see it and then loaded it into a hypospray. "This my dear Admiral is a very powerful hallucinogen."

He administered the vial against her neck eliciting a small grunt. Then he held up a yellow vial. "And it works in conjunction with this. It took me several years, but I was finally able to come up with the perfect poison. It works two-fold. One chemical acts like acid in your body continually destroying you slowly while the second chemical attacks your central nervous system causing increasing bouts of intense pain."

Daveek's hold tightened having felt Janeway's muscles tense up as Camet moved forward and administered the second injection. She felt the hiss of the injection and then Camet's cold hand on her face. "These two drugs work so well together because they are learning drugs. They contain nanoprobes that communicate with each other. You will experience episodes of severe pain followed by hallucinations ripped from your own memories. The longer the drugs stay in your system the more the severity increases until eventually your body shuts down."

Camet leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Goodbye, Kathryn Janeway. I do hope you enjoy your trip to hell."

"You son of a bitch!" B'Elanna railed against Camet as he strode up to the other side of the force field surrounding her. Daveek was a few steps behind him keeping a weapon on the unmoving form of Janeway.

B'Elanna hadn't been able to see everything or hear what had been said, but she had seen Janeway drop to the deck after a particularly viscous knee strike to the kidney courtesy of Daveek. "What the hell did you do to her?"

Camet glanced over his shoulder before responding to the question. "Oh, she's just unconscious for the moment. I'm sure she'll be up in no time."

B'Elanna crossed her arms disbelieving.

"But once she's awake," Camet continued. "That's when things are going to get really interesting. Have you inspected the package I gave you?"

She nodded. The small box had contained two vials and a small hypospray. "I hope you don't think I'm going to kill myself with them."

"Well, I suppose you could use one on yourself, but it won't do much good." Camet indicated the Admiral. "Each of those vials is an antiserum for drugs I have just administered to Janeway."

"You bastard," B'Elanna snarled.

He made a tsk-ing noise. "Careful half breed or I won't tell you all the rules of the game."

He waited for her nod before continuing.

"She's going to die, but it's up to you how the last few hours of her life will be. One of those vials will neutralize the very painful and slow poison that is killing her. The other vial will counteract the effects of a powerful hallucinogen coursing through her system that will eventually cause her heart to stop." He paused for dramatic effect enjoying the mixture of hate and pain on Torres' face. "What you hold in your hand is a choice. That hypospray will only administer one of the two antiserums. Either way…she dies. It's up to you whether she dies after excruciating physical pain, or if she dies from experiencing the worst living nightmares a human mind cannot endure."

B'Elanna felt like her own heart had stopped in her chest. Her mind raced, but she was able to come up with one coherent question. "Which is which?"

"You know I considered not telling you, but that would take away your choice wouldn't it." Camet smiled at his own cleverness. "The darker one will cure the physical symptoms. The lighter one will nullify the hallucinogen."

B'Elanna nodded, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Camet watched her seemingly waiting as well. Janeway groaned and stirred, causing everyone to look in her direction. She rolled onto her back, but that was as far as she made it.

Camet looked back to B'Elanna. "We'll be leaving now. She'll never make it long enough for the Federations to get here, but I am hopeful they find her body. I do hope it's that Maquis officer of hers that finds her. I'll enjoy watching his expression."

"Oh yes, I'll be watching," he continued, noticing the question on her face. He pointed at three different wall mounts throughout the room. "I may not be able to stay and personally enjoy the festivities, but I do look forward to being a voyeur."

"You're disgusting." B'Elanna spat at him. "You better be long gone before you release me."

"Oh, but that's the best part. I won't be releasing you." He smiled at her confusion. "You see this is where I get back at that old admiral. I don't actually believe you'll survive this either."

"What? Then why…" B'Elanna sputtered.

"The energy running through this force field is enough to kill a human. Turk actually made it through, but he wasn't right for several days afterwards." Camet smiled at her comprehension. "And well, you being nothing more than a half breed, I doubt you'll survive. I imagine your synapses will fry and your muscles will contract until they break your spine, but I have no doubt that you will try. Especially once she starts screaming. After all, you are her only hope to have a slightly less excruciating death. And I certainly can't imagine any Klingon, even a half blood, having so little honor that they would sit behind a force field while their comrade lay dying."

B'Elanna's blood ran cold. She'd already tested the force field while they'd been holding Janeway. Her hands were still tingling from the shock. She narrowed her eyes at the still smiling Camet. "Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam!"

"Exactly! After all, there are ways to die and then there are ways to die. Perhaps Klingons know this better than any of us." He motioned to Daveek that they were leaving. "No matter how this situation plays out, I win."

Camet was at the door when he called back to B'Elanna. "If somehow you do survive this, give Admiral Paris my regards."

B'Elanna watched the two men leave before she dropped her façade of arrogance. She tentatively reached out and brushed her hand against the force field again. The resulting pop and shock of energy to her hand left her swearing and shaking her fingers. She sighed, "Perhaps today really is a good day to die."

She looked through the force field at the figure still lying on the floor. "Kathryn, can you hear me?"

She was relieved to see the Admiral's head twist around in her direction. Very slowly, Janeway got to her feet. She took three very unsteady steps towards B'Elanna before stopping again and squinting. "B'Elanna? You shouldn't be here."

The relief B'Elanna had felt quickly evaporated at Janeway's slurred words. She watched as her captain stumbled forward several more steps. Sweat was rolling down Janeway's face and her eyes looked feverish. She reached out a hand towards B'Elanna.

"No! Don't!" B'Elanna was too late. The energy of the force field arced at Janeway's touch sending energy coursing through her body at the prolonged contact. She cried out and fell to her knees clutching her hand to her chest.

B'Elanna knelt down so that she was level with her. "Kathryn? Please hear me. I need you to listen."

Janeway shook her head side to side refusing to look up. Her voice was husky. "No, you aren't here. No."

B'Elanna took a deep breath and tried again. "Kathryn, where do you think you are?"

Kathryn looked up again her hands dropping to her sides, and B'Elanna could see the tears in her eyes when she whispered. "I died."

"Oh boy."

Kathryn continued mumbling. "I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't hold on. I let everyone down."

"Kathryn, listen to me. You are not dead. And neither am I. But I will be if you don't help me now." That got her attention.

Janeway's face went blank, and B'Elanna thought maybe she'd gotten through to the woman in front of her. She was about to keep talking and move on to the next part of the plan when Janeway squeezed her eyes shut and balled her fists.

"Admiral? What's going on? Talk to me."

Janeway wrapped her arms around her midsection and bent double over them. "Oh….God…..."

"Breathe admiral, breathe. Come on." B'Elanna was beyond frustrated trapped behind the force field. The serum she clutched in her hand felt like it was branding her with her inaction. "Concentrate on my voice. You can do this. Just listen to me."

Janeway's head snapped up, and she sucked in a deep breath. When she looked at B'Elanna her eyes narrowed. Her voice sounded strained. "Torres."

"Yes," she nodded. "Do you know what's happening to you?"

Janeway gave a curt nod. B'Elanna could see her jaw muscle clenched tightly against the pain she must be feeling, but for the moment she was back in control. "Do you know….where the panel is…for the….force field?"

"It's over by the door. You need to hurry." B'Elanna watched as Janeway once again got to her feet. After several teetering steps, she collapsed against the wall near the door. "Open the panel and tell me what you see."

Janeway didn't move or acknowledge her. She kept her forehead pressed against the wall with her hands braced against it.

"Admiral, listen to me. Concentrate on my voice. I need you to do this." B'Elanna exhaled regretfully when the woman in question started shaking her head again.

"No! I can still save them. I just need a few more seconds."

"Kathryn, you did save them." B'Elanna closed her eyes wondering if she was lying, but she didn't know what else to say. "And now I need you to save me. Please, listen to me."

"I can't choose between them. They'll both make it." B'Elanna winced as Janeway thudded one fist against the wall and then the other. She cried out and slumped to the floor. "I lost them both."

B'Elanna waited, her gut twisting in reaction to the moan of pain that emanated from her captain's crumpled form. Swearing in every language she knew, B'Elanna condemned Camet to all the hells of every culture she'd come across as she was forced to listen to the wounded sound. She hoped Janeway could shut down the force field so that she'd be in good enough shape to get them both out of here, but it didn't look like that was going to be possible.

"B'Elanna…."

"I'm here, Captain," she answered the whispered call. She watched as Janeway raised her head and began to pull herself up. Her jacket sported several damp spots on it as sweat continued to pour off her body. B'Elanna waited for her to be level with the mechanism. "Open the panel. See if you can shut down this force field."

B'Elanna watched as Janeway barely nodded, but reached out a trembling hand to the small control box. After several agonizing seconds, she managed to get it open. "There's…three wires."

"Pull them out. All of them."

Janeway glanced over her shoulder and B'Elanna was heartened by the dubious look. She nodded, encouraging her, but cursed when nothing happened and the Admiral was left standing holding wires in her hand.

"Any…other ideas?" Janeway asked, her breathing labored as she leaned against the wall.

B'Elanna glanced around at the force field. "Guess I'm just going to have to force my way through."

"No."

"You don't understand. I have to."

"You can't…help me, Torres."

B'Elanna ignored her trying to decide if there was any noticeable difference in any section of the field.

"You are not…to risk your life…Commander…that's an…order."

B'Elanna turned back to stare at Janeway, and was surprised to find her on the move again. She stopped when she stood toe to toe with B'Elanna with only the energy field arcing between them. B'Elanna could see how her entire body was trembling and the palms of her hands had little cuts in them from her nails. Janeway's normal blue gaze was still feverishly bright which made it even harder than normal to hold.

"Do you….understand me…Torres?" Janeway asked breathlessly.

B'Elanna nodded.

Janeway wasn't deterred. "I didn't…hear your…answer."

"I understand your order, Admiral." B'Elanna answered quietly dropping her chin.

"Give me…your word."

B'Elanna looked up. "No."

Janeway swayed on her feet. "Damn it, B'Elanna."

Before she could even argue her point, Janeway ended the stare off by squeezing her eyes shut. Her fisted hands pushing against her closed eyes. Her voice trailed into a small moan, and it seemed like her entire body shrank in size as she sank to the floor. B'Elanna followed her down watching her face carefully for some hint of what she was experiencing. Anger and fear warred with each other on Janeway's face. She always kept her emotions so controlled that this naked display was another nail in Camet's coffin as far as B'Elanna was concerned.

"Goddamn you to hell!" Janeway yelled at some unseen foe, startling B'Elanna. Kathryn's arms were stretched out above her head with her fists flat against the floor. She thrashed from side to side doing her best to escape from whatever hell her mind was making her see.

"Captain! There's no one here!" B'Elanna tried assuring her. The sleeves of Janeway's jacket bunched up as she struggled, and B'Elanna could see deep bruising around her wrists. B'Elanna could only watch as Janeway's body seemed to be forced to move against its will. Her legs pulled up until her feet were flat on the floor with her knees raised. Janeway lifted her head off the floor letting out an inarticulate cry of rage, but her hands remained against the floor as though they were stuck there.

"You son of a bitch!" Janeway yelled, and her face rocked to the side as though it had been struck. B'Elanna watched in dawning horror as the unseen force pushed her captain's knees further apart, and she realized what the woman in front of her was enduring in her mind.

Janeway's scream echoed in the room as her hips lifted off the floor and her body jerked against the force of the hallucination. B'Elanna felt sick. She stopped trying to call out to Kathryn and stood. She could feel the rage for what had been done to her captain building inside her. The same woman that changed B'Elanna's life for the better. A woman that she had grown to love and respect. All the teachings from Tuvok about controlling her emotions were tossed aside as she thought about what her friend was being forced to go through.

Again.

The anger that had been simmering inside of B'Elanna for all of her life was now burning through her veins, and she welcomed it. Staring at the shimmering energy of the force field in front of her, B'Elanna's lip curled and she snarled. The energy paled in comparison to the all consuming flame that was her hatred of Camet. With a battle cry her mother would have been proud of, B'Elanna charged at the force field.

Pain.

That was her entire world. Nothing else existed. White hot agony surrounded her but would not release her back to unconsciousness. She felt like she was drowning and she wanted to go under and stay there, but she couldn't and so the waves continued to pound her. Mercilessly.

Even her hearing was not spared as a scream echoed in her head as though it were on a continuous loop. Why was is it when she didn't want to die she found herself on that damn barge, and now, when she would've given anything to be free of the pain coursing through her, she couldn't even find the damn gates to Gre'thor?

Miral.

The word echoed through B'Elanna's consciousness searing away all her desires to give up. Tom's face floated to her, fanning the flame inside her that would not let her go under. He gave her a smile and his blue eyes lit up as he whispered to her.

"Don't leave me."

B'Elanna stared into his blue eyes until his face slowly faded away, and she found herself staring into Kathryn's tear stained face. The blue eyes were almost identical, but the voice that reached her now was filled with fear.

"Don't leave me. Please…don't…leave me."

B'Elanna couldn't reconcile the small scared voice that reached her ears as coming from the captain that she knew. Surely the pain that continued to race through her blood was still playing tricks on her. She vaguely wondered how long she had been lying on the floor. The red headed woman leaning over her wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into an embrace.

B'Elanna's entire body screamed at the contact. The movement alone made her want to dive beneath the surface once more, but the pressure of touch against her skin was even worse. She felt a scream rip from her chest. The red headed woman that looked like her former captain dropped her fairly quickly scurrying back. Lying flat on the floor again and gasping for air, B'Elanna caught a glimpse of the still intact force field humming near her.

Despite the burning sensation it caused, B'Elanna laughed. She'd made it. She was outside her own little circle of hell. She couldn't recall exactly why she despised it so, but she at least remembered now that she had desired to go through it. She heard whimpering coming from her right, and she lolled her head to the side feeling bile rise in her throat at the movement. All she could see were knees and arms, and then a face lifted to gaze at her. B'Elanna's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't been having a pain induced delusion. It really had been the Captain hovering over her.

Kathryn Janeway sat two meters away with her arms wrapped around her knees. She rocked slightly and ducked her head back down, but not before B'Elanna saw the fear and the tears on her face. She was the reason.

Medicine. She needed medicine, and B'Elanna had it. Somewhere. In her pocket. She just had to get it. And think. What was it Camet had said? Which was which? Lighter one. That's the one she wanted. Kathryn Janeway could deal with pain even if it killed her, but these hallucinations were a different animal entirely.

B'Elanna looked down at her hand by her side. All she had to do was reach into her pocket. Her hand barely twitched. Oh hell. She concentrated as much as she could on her hand, but all she managed to do was curl her fingers slightly. She sighed and closed her eyes. It was getting harder to concentrate. She couldn't hold onto a thought.

And then the sounds she'd been hearing changed. The Admiral's whimpers changed. B'Elanna shifted her gaze away from her hand and back to her captain. Janeway was laying on her side with her body tucked in on itself, and B'Elanna realized her captain was no longer frightened. She was in pain.

B'Elanna swallowed with difficulty and concentrated again. It amazed her how difficult it was to speak. "Cap…tain."

It took a minute before the woman across the floor from her was able to open her eyes, but B'Elanna was for once thrilled to see the Janeway glare. She didn't care if the woman was still pissed at her or not, but one of them was going to have to move. Janeway's gravely voice that sounded more like a growl reached her before B'Elanna could figure out how to tell her why she had disobeyed a direct order.

"Torres…you better…damn good…reason…"

Janeway was having as many problems as B'Elanna was when it came to speaking coherently, but the engineer understood her perfectly. "Meds…serum…for you."

Her captain's eyes widened and B'Elanna knew she understood. She just wished she could take them to her, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Janeway always had been quick on the uptake though. Grimacing, she stretched one arm out and began pulling herself towards B'Elanna. Not that a small thing like unendurable pain would stop Janeway from having the last word though.

"Not…good…enough…could've…been…killed."

As much as B'Elanna wanted to retort, she just rolled her eyes. She managed to move her hand towards her pocket, but she lacked the muscle control to retrieve the vials. "Pocket…one chance."

Janeway reached her side and tugged the medicines out of her engineer's pocket. She frowned at B'Elanna when she held the two vials and the hypospray. "Only one…will work?"

B'Elanna was able to shake her head. She stared at the instrument. "It'll only…work once."

She was relieved when understanding lit Janeway's eyes. "Two drugs…two meds."

"Darker…for pain," B'Elanna said. At least she didn't have to make the choice now, but she was glad to see she was right as Janeway fumbled and then loaded the lighter colored serum. Kathryn injected herself and flung the hypospray away as it started to disintegrate from some sort of acid.

Janeway lowered herself, letting her face lay on the cool stone floor near B'Elanna. "No more…nightmares."

B'Elanna nodded and closed her eyes as her own pain rushed over her again. It was getting worse. Her medical knowledge was limited, but she was pretty sure that without medical help her body wasn't going to be able to recover this time. She felt like she was being watched and she opened her eyes. Once again, she saw the blue eyes of her captain.

"We've…both…got to…hold on."

The pain that radiated across Janeway's features was easy to see. Everything about her screamed tension, and B'Elanna knew that if she could put a hand on her captain the feel of her skin would be like touching fire. Staring into her face, B'Elanna imagined Tom's eyes again. "They'll come…for us, Captain."

"At least…bastard is gone," Janeway said, rolling to her back. It was better if they didn't acknowledge that the rescue team would probably be too late.

B'Elanna gasped, "Camet's…watching."

Janeway flinched at the name and B'Elanna almost regretted mentioning it.

"How?"

"Three…cameras," B'Elanna said, staring at the wall.

Janeway glared and then looked back at her engineer. "Not for…long."

She stood tall in front of the last camera. It took quite a bit of effort on her part, and she knew she probably looked like hell, but Janeway leveled her best glare at what she imagined was Camet's face. He may have killed her already, but she'd be damned if he was going to sit light years away and watch. If he wanted to see her last moments, she'd make the coward be in the same room with her. Janeway reached back with her fist and drove it straight through the lens of the camera.

Collapsing against the wall, Janeway slid down it until she found the floor. She really shouldn't have exerted so much energy in destroying the cameras, but it had been worth it. She squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth against the burning sensation inside her gut. Her abdomen felt hard and distended, and having already thrown up blood once she could only assume it was from internal bleeding.

The burning was the problem that was killing her, but it was the one pain she could handle. It was constant and she could push it to the back of her mind. When the pain lashed out unexpectedly as though someone were carving the marrow out of her bones, those were the times she'd screamed. She'd almost passed out when that sensation had wrapped itself around her skull, but B'Elanna's voice calling out to her had brought her back from the brink.

Janeway glanced towards the corner of the room where B'Elanna still laid. She needed to get back over there, and then she could rest. Then they could both rest. She almost smiled as B'Elanna craned her head around looking for her, managing to raise her hand slightly as though she were waving.

"You got…awfully quiet."

"He wants…to see," Janeway stretched out along the floor and began making her way across it. "He'll just…have to…come here."

B'Elanna snorted. "I'd kill him."

"Me…too." Janeway collapsed next to B'Elanna's side, panting with exertion. "I'm so…tired."

"Know the…feeling," B'Elanna said between breaths. "Getting harder…to breathe."

"Same here." Janeway grunted and bit down on her lip as another red wave of pain passed over her. She curled in on herself knowing it was a futile effort to decrease the pain. She was surprised to feel B'Elanna's hand in hers, and managed to open her eyes again.

"They're coming…for us." B'Elanna reiterated. "We can't…disappoint them."

Janeway couldn't speak, but she tried to at least nod so B'Elanna would know she heard the words. Chakotay would come. She knew it. The same as B'Elanna knew Tom would come. She just wasn't sure what they'd find when they arrived.

B'Elanna felt a tear roll down her face. It was quiet except for the Admiral's shallow breathing. She wasn't sure how much time had passed since the Captain had destroyed the cameras, but it had been long enough that Janeway's voice had been reduced to a harsh whisper before she'd finally passed out. The screams that Janeway hadn't been able to hold back any longer had almost been more comforting than the raspy breaths she now took. B'Elanna still held her captain's hand despite the breaking sensation she'd felt earlier as Janeway had borne down on it. She couldn't feel Kathryn's fingers anymore than she could feel her own so it didn't really matter, but the sight of the two hands intertwined gave her comfort.

Her own breathing was labored, and she had to concentrate just to take a breath. She felt another hot tear slide across her cheek. She hoped Tom would forgive her for leaving him. She was glad he would at least have Miral, but she worried about who Chakotay would turn to for comfort. She hoped this wouldn't destroy him. Thinking about Chakotay, B'Elanna tore her gaze away from their joined hands to look at Kathryn's face. Her eyes were rimmed with dark circles and her lips had crusts of dried blood on them. The bruising on her neck had darkened over the past several hours so that the outline of a hand was easily visible. B'Elanna almost hoped it wasn't Chakotay that found them so he wouldn't have to remember her this way.

"I will see you again…Kathryn Janeway…" B'Elanna's vision darkened to nothing. "In…Sto-vo-kor."