It's really late here so if there are many mistakes in this chapter I apologise in advance. Please be gentle with me though as I thought an update was better than no update.
Kathryn stole through the house, pulling her shoes on as she went. They were not exactly her Starfleet issued boots, but they weren't the high heels either. The first pair she had found were her house shoes. Simple flat pumps that would offer little protection from the ground outside, but under the circumstances Kathryn decided beggars could not be choosers. Slipping down the staircase, Kathryn hugged the wall as she rounded the corner and made a dash for Tom's room. She was positive that Elderon was asleep, and would likely remain that way for the foreseeable future. She gave a little shudder at the thought of what he had fallen asleep in the middle of. Not knowing whether to thank whoever might be up there looking down on them for that little miracle. Or curse them for letting it get so far in the first place. Kathryn had chosen to forgo any display of gratitude in favour of getting the hell out of there.
Getting to Tom's room Kathryn was extra quite, in fear that Kaylore had yet to succumb to the effects of the drugs. Turning the lock on the outside of his door she pushed open the door a crack and allowed the small shaft of light to fall upon his bed. Seeing the lump move slightly Kathryn darted into the room and ran to Tom's side.
"What." Tom managed to mumble out before Kathryn's hand clamped down on Tom's mouth to hush him.
"We need to go now, get dressed." Kathryn ordered in hushed tones, but one Tom knew well. It was a request he was more than happy to grant. Climbing out of bed quickly and rushing to his wardrobe, Tom flung on his clothes without hesitation. Pulling on his pants he sat down on the bed to pull on each shoe, nothing that Kathryn was looking increasingly nervous.
"Should we check the alarm this time?" Tom enquired as he stood up ready to go as Kathryn returned to the door and poked her head out.
"No I don't think it has been set tonight." The certainty with which she said it made Tom wonder just how she knew. This however was not the time or the place to be having that discussion, so without another word he followed his Captain through the darkened hallways towards the kitchen. Kathryn was grateful that Tom had not probed her into how she got out of her room, or how she knew that the alarm was not set. She also knew he wouldn't remain silent forever on the subject, moving into the kitchen Kathryn pulled out the set of keys she had been stowing in the single pocket of her dress. They jingled slightly at their removal and Kathryn winced at the sound, which inside the silent kitchen seemed more like the sound of a brass band than a simple set of keys.
Kathryn glanced at Tom, she could see the question dancing in his eyes, but he remained silent as she unlocked the door. Moving out into the night Tom quietly closed the door behind them, but Kathryn left the keys in the lock, they had no use for them now, and they would only serve as evidence of their escape if they should be caught.
Crossing the gravel path quickly neither of them ran until there was grass beneath their feet. The slight dampness of it seeping into Kathryn's thin shoes as they raced for the boundary of the estate. It was marked by a stone wall, only a few meters high and would be easily traversed. Beyond that was a large wooded area, neither Tom nor Kathryn knew how far this expanded and yet it seemed the safer option compared to heading towards the city.
Tom's breath came in short puffs of smoke from his lips as the night air quickly chilled his hot breath upon contact. The race across the grass had not been particularly taxing physically, but mentally exhausting, and somewhat exhilarating. The thought of finally being free was making Tom's head spin slightly as they reached the base of the wall. Tom cupped his hands together as Kathryn looked at him and took the hint. Reaching up Kathryn used Tom's offered stirrup and boosted herself onto the wall. Reaching don to help Tom up they both sat there for a moment looking back at the still quite and dark house. Kathryn was the first to turn away, dropping down onto the leaf littered floor on the opposite side of the wall and looking back up at Tom.
"Come on we need to put some distance between us and them." Kathryn hissed as she ignored the icy wind that cut straight through her thin dress and beckoned Tom down from the wall.
"I know." Tom said simply, now turning his back on the nightmare that he had been living for the last week. Dropping down next to Kathryn he looked at her briefly and could tell that she was cold. Wanting to say something, but knowing that he could not change the situation Tom once again kept his council. Moving next to her now off into the forest. The tress seemed to close in on them as soon as they had gone several yards and now it was becoming increasingly difficult to see. The canopy's of the trees not allowing much light to penetrate to the forest floor, yet Kathryn still moved forward at an alarming rate. Tom was having a hard time keeping up with her as she dashed round rocks and between tress. He had no idea why she was in such a hurry, but he suspected that it had something to do with how she came to have a set of keys, and knew that the alarm had not been set that night. For now though Tom knew he would have to just follow Kathryn and hope that they stopped before one of them did themselves some serious damage.
Tuvok and B'elanna landed on Darfur just as the sun was rising, the transport their contact hand managed to get them on was the only one leaving for Darfur for the next week. Neither of them had any objection to having to leave so quickly. Tuvok had managed to contact Harry before they had to leave, his message was brief but B'elanna could tell from the tone of Harry's voice that he had received the message loud and clear.
Stepping off the transport, B'elanna and Tuvok went towards the town, hoping to find some lodgings so they could begin their search of their missing Captain and pilot. It did not take them long to find a suitable place, it was simple yet clean and most importantly somewhere they could blend in. Moving into their single room B'elanna thought nothing of sharing with Tuvok any more, they had been doing it for nearly a week now, and had proved to be the perfect cover. As she sat on the bed exhausted from the transport and all the excited energy she had built up over the discovery of the captain and Tom, the half Klingon allowed herself to collapse against the soft pillows.
"If we wish to find Captain Janeway and Lieutenant Paris we should begin our investigation immediately." Tuvok said unpacking his triquarter from his small case and slipping inside his coat pocket.
"I know and I want to find them , but I haven't slept in two days and I could really use a shower." B'elanna said which caused only a slight eyebrow arch in Tuvok before he moved towards the door.
"Then you should rest, I will go out and make some enquiries, I will not require your presence for this." Tuvok said and for a moment B'elanna thought she detected a hint of sympathy in the Vulcan's voice. As soon as she thought she heard it though he was gone and B'elanna fell back onto the bed and allowed her eyes to slip closed.
"God when we find you guys I am going to sleep for a weak." B'elanna mumbled as her body finally gave into her exhaustion and she sagged into sleep.
It was not the lack of light that finally slowed Kathryn down, it was the pain in her feet. Little stones, twigs, and god knows what else were pressing into her soles with every step and the pain had finally gone beyond what she could ignore. Finding a downed branch Kathryn perched on it and looked up at Tom with a masked expression.
"It's getting thicker, we should rest now and try to make more ground when it gets light." Kathryn said knowing that Tom knew she was lying and at this point not caring either. All she wanted from him right now was to be a good officer and follow her orders. They had already made good ground, Kathryn had estimated they had gone almost two kilometres and in this thick forest, tracking them would be near on impossible. Tom sat down next to her, and even had the decency to look grateful for the break. They had been cutting a pretty fast pace, and she knew because of the dark circles that had ringed Tom's eyes for the past few days that he had not been sleeping well. It was a state Kathryn was all too familiar with, and her own lack of sleep was not uncharted territory. Operating on no sleep was one of her strengths, but Tom was not so well versed in that particular talent.
"We should find a safe place, we are too exposed here." Kathryn said after a moments silence and Tom nodded his head. They were both well aware how ill prepared they were for going on the run, they had no food, no water, and their clothing was offering them little protection from the night time temperatures. So far the effort of running through the forest had staved off the cold, but now as they sat still the chill was beginning to seep in.
"Ok, we should find somewhere covered, get us out of this wind." Tom said looking around but not seeing anything suitable insight. Getting off the log Tom moved into the forest and continued his search. Checking back to see if he could still see Kathryn a few times, he noted that she was looking at him. Knowing she would call if he went out of sight Tom refocused his efforts on looking for some kind of cave or hollowed out tree. Moving forward once more Tom spotted an out cropping of some kind. It was too dark to make out at this distance and he moved further into the scrub.
"Tom." He heard his voice hissed through the trees and he realised that Kathryn could no longer see him. Moving back he raised his arm and beckoned her over. He watched as she got painfully to her feet. Her steps laboured and with a slight hitch in her stride, and it hurt Tom to see her like that. Pushing the thought to one side, knowing that once again he could do nothing about it, and that she would not be grateful to him for pointing it out Tom waited silently for Kathryn to join him.
"Over there I think there is some kind of cave." Tom said pointing to the darkened shape in the distance and Kathryn nodded. Moving quicker now and still in silence they approached the outcropping of racks and dirt and saw that there was in fact a small hole in the side. Kathryn crouched down and peered into the hole, but it was pitch black inside, anything could be living in there, and neither of them knew what the local wildlife was like.
"Maybe not." She said standing upright, but she was getting no argument from Tom. He didn't want to climb in their either and he quickly backed away from the dark cave. The forest suddenly seemed oppressive, not the sage haven they had both initially thought. The trees seemed to be looming in over them casting long ominous shadows in the moonlight. The floor beneath their feet felt alive with nocturnal bugs and the hissing of the wind made the leaves sound like they were whispering. Kathryn stood stick still and watched as Tom's face paled slightly and she moved towards him. Unable to simply watch him any longer, her own fears grabbing her at the pit of her stomach and refusing to let go. It was then she realised that she needed Tom as much as he needed her right now. Not thinking about it Kathryn wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Clinging on to his chilled body as her own shivered right alongside.
Tom didn't know of it was the hug, or the feeling of Kathryn's tiny frame shivering against his own, but Tom snapped out of whatever reprieve he had been in and returned her embrace. Pulling her close and trying to at least stave off the cold. Resting his head atop hers Tom was content for now to remain this way. Just knowing they were in this together was already making the dangerous sounds of the forest ebb into background noise. As his eyes focused beyond the woman in his arms Tom noticed a dip in the side of the rock face they had come across.
"Kathryn." Tom whispered as she tilted her head up to regard him with tired eyes.
"Yes." She breathed out feeling like this was going to be that conversation, the one she had been dreading since she collected Tom from his room.
"I think I found our bolt hole." Tom grinned physically spinning her around to look at the shallow cave he could see as the trees swayed in the wind and for a moment revealed their hidey hole. Kathryn's half smile was all Tom needed to move forward, pulling Kathryn along with him they moved until they were standing at the cave edge. They could see inside ok as the moonlight was less obstructed here and was shining into the cave. It was about five feet wide and maybe four high, knowing there was nothing in there Tom got down on his hands and knees and crawled inside. It was warmer in the cave, out of the wind and inside the small shell he could already feel the change in temperature. Looking behind him he could see Kathryn get to her knees and follow him. Her shadow for a moment blocked out the light until she moved next to him. The rear of the cave was maybe six feet beyond where they sat as Tom felt around for any other off shoots to the cave, making sure they were not going to be approached from behind by some animal or other. Kathryn could not see him in the dark, but she could hear him mumbling to himself about things he had found on the walls.
"I think we hit the jackpot." Tom said making Kathryn jump slightly at his proximity as he settled in beside her, his hand briefly coming into contact with her leg as he felt around for her in the darkness. Tom did not let her shy away from his touch go unnoticed, but it did go unsaid as he made a quick comment on their current find and settled down.
"Maybe we should take some time to consider our strategy, now we have found this place we can't run forever and with no food or water, we have to know we can't stay here forever either." Kathryn said almost thinking out loud now, and Tom smiled slightly, thinking he quite liked seeing this unguarded side of his Captain. Perhaps it was the darkness, the lack of being able to see who they were talking to. or maybe it was the simple fact that they were alone, but Tom felt the words slipping from his mouth before he could prevent them from doing so.
"I never wanted to rape you Kathryn, I never wanted to see that look on your face because of something I had done." Tom said and as Kathryn's voice filled the darkness that surrounded them Tom found himself silencing her so he could continue.
"No let me say this before I go insane. I was given a choice, Elderon told me I could either go down to you and.." his voice trailed off and Kathryn's hand on his own let him know he did not have to say the word.
"Or I could watch him do it, but I was not allowed to speak to you, and I only had fifteen minutes, it's not an excuse, but I needed you to know why." Tom said feeling his own hot tears running down his face as Kathryn's thumb brushed against his hand in a soothing manner.
"I'm glad it was you Tom." Kathryn said into the darkness, her voice coming out unusually quite as Tom turned his face so he was sure he was looking at her. He could see her shadow slightly as the light outside their small cave began to brighten as dawn approached. For a moment Tom was shocked by her words, he had been sure she had felt betrayed by him, but the feel of her entwining her fingers within his own and the shift of her eyes to his let Tom know she was telling the truth.
"If it had been Elderon I am not sure I could have survived that in tacked." Kathryn admitted and she was now grateful for the darkness, it hid her silent tears at what had been done to them, what Elderon had tried to do.
"He was trying to put a wedge between us, he thought if I hated you enough I would give myself to him. I guess he under estimated how close we have become over the past few years." Kathryn said a slight caution to her voice as she spoke. Tom's hand tightened on hers slightly and Kathryn released the breath she didn't even know she had been holding.
"So did I." Tom replied as the wind rushed past outside and Kathryn gave a small shudder at the thought of it. Tom immediately and without thought pulled her closer to him, pulling her body almost onto his lap and leaning back against the cave wall.
"Sleep now yeah, and when we wake up we can talk about what to do next." Tom said already feeling better now Kathryn was willingly resting against him, her breathing caressing the exposed skin on his neck as she rested her head further on to him.
"Are you giving me an order Lieutenant?" Kathryn said her voice full of humour as she spoke, but it did not mask her weariness completely.
"If that's what it takes to get you to sleep then yes Captain it is." Tom said emphasising her rank as a gesture of humour as well, but the slight shaking of her head was the only reply and so Tom allowed his own eyes to slip closed and for the first time in a long time he body fell into contented sleep.
Hope that was worth the wait. So they are free, and on the run just as the rescue party arrive. What will I put them through next? As ever all feedback is welcomed and I love to read it, thank you for reading XxX