Disclaimer: Not saying it this time.

A/N: And here we go...


"That's a pretty tight squeeze," Harry stated as they all examined the cave entrance.

Chakotay wasn't sure it was as much of a cave entrance as it was a hole in the side of the mountain. Naomi Wildman would have plenty of room to get through, but for a grown humanoid it would be more difficult. It could be done, but at least half of them would come away with some bruises. It was either this or keep looking for another cave entrance. They couldn't be sure where the next entrance would be though or how long it'd take to find one.

Thanks to having several talented trackers in the group they'd managed to find a trail of broken twigs and displaced mud. Following it hadn't been easy, but they'd managed to get a good distance covered at which point Harry informed them of the increasing energy readings he was picking up. After that they'd followed the energy readings and it had brought them here. It may not have been the most failsafe way of going about it, but after running out of broken twigs it'd been the best bet. If they were lucky it was the away team inside producing the readings as a way of getting Voyager's attention. He doubted it, but it wasn't impossible either.

"I'll go in first," Chakotay said. "Once I give you the go ahead then the rest of you follow. Understood?"

After a chorus of acknowledgments he ducked down, nearly to his knees, and began sliding himself through the opening. It took some work, but eventually he made it through with only bumping his head a couple of times. Once inside the cave fortunately opened up so he could stand up all the way.

He was slightly surprised by the amount of light, having expected to have to use his wrist light, and the passageway he found himself in seemed more or less flat and easily traversable. "Come on in," he called through the entrance.

It took a couple minutes for everyone to get through, but once they were they followed the energy readings down the passageway. The path twisted for a while and then sloped downwards, but eventually they saw an opening in the cave wall up ahead. It was a strangely perfect rectangular opening, he thought.

As they drew closer he heard voices. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but there was definitely more than one. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end at the sound. One glance at the Vulcan beside him and he knew Tuvok had heard it too.

"Everyone quiet," he ordered in a whispered voice as he came to a stop. "Listen."

The sound of hushed talking could be heard from the other side of the opening, but the words weren't clear enough to understand through the partially opened doorway.

"Do you think it's the away team?" Harry whispered.

"It might be," he answered just as softly. "Or it might not be. Those energy readings and distortions have to be coming from someplace and if it's not naturally occurring than someone is creating it."

"Whoever is responsible may have taken the away team," Tuvok added. "Which would explain why they were missing from the camp site."

Chakotay didn't like the thought, but Tuvok could be right. "We're going to go in," he said to the group. "Carefully. Phasers at the ready."

They started moving again, trying to walk more silently than before, and once they were just about to the door Chakotay stopped and held up four fingers. With phaser in his other hand he began counting down.


Tom POV:

When the footsteps stopped again just outside the door Tom was no longer so sure it'd been such a brilliant idea to stay put. Maybe Sofin had been right. At the moment running seemed like a viable option. Every muscle in his body was tense. He felt a shiver go done Tal's back from where she was so close to his side, but he had a feeling that was due more to the coldness of the caves and her still fresh injury than anything else.

He heard breathing.

Like someone taking a deep breath.

His grip on the phaser tightened and he raised it a little more. In the next moment the door was being flung open the rest of the way and in stormed a swarm of people. Tom jumped forward, his phaser aimed, but then suddenly realized something...

Those were Starfleet uniforms.

He lowered his phaser just a fraction as he stared disbelievingly at almost a dozen uniform clad Voyager personnel. Their phasers were drawn and they were looking around as if searching for a threat. Tuvok was the first to turn in their direction. As he did one of his eyebrows arched towards his hairline and his phaser lowered to his side. Tom blinked a few times as the rest of the swarm turned just as Tuvok had.

Beside him Tal started laughing and on his other side Sofin stood with spear still at the ready while staring blankly at the group. He was pretty sure Jarvin had lost the ability to make any sound at all. Of all the things he'd expected, all the options he'd gone over in his head seconds before they'd charged in, this wasn't one of them. He hadn't even considered a rescue team. Let alone a rescue brigade. How did they even get here? How'd they know to come? When had they arrived...how'd they get through the distortion...why was Chakotay looking so confused...

"Tom!"

His heart fluttered…actually fluttered...at the wonderfully familiar voice. Sure enough B'Elanna pushed through the group and ran up to him, throwing her arms around his neck in the process. He instinctively lowered the phaser at her approach and could only hope whoever lived in this mountain didn't come along anytime soon because his arms were firmly wrapped around his wife, holding her close to his chest as he buried his face in her neck, making the phaser all together useless anyway.

He and B'Elanna had been in many dire situations before and had been separated for periods of time that left one or the other feeling worried and depressed, but at this very moment it felt as if he'd been gone forever. The intense relief that washed over him was so strong that he realized he'd really begun to believe they'd never make it off this planet and that he'd never see her again.

Her unique smell, her warmth, the sensation of her body against his, her breath against his neck, and the feeling of her arms holding him tightly...it was an all-encompassing perfection. With his eyes shut tightly against the rest of the universe he could easily believe that they were the only two people in existence.

"Where's the Captain?"

His comfort and feeling of safety came crashing down faster than the shuttle had and once again his apprehension washed back tenfold. Begrudgingly he let go of B'Elanna and turned to face Chakotay. As the others hugged their lost friends Chakotay looked around with dark, miserable looking, eyes. At the Commander's question everyone stopped smiling though and grew silent as they realized there was still one more person missing.

"That's what we were here to find out," Tom answered. He could feel B'Elanna's eyes on his face, no doubt taking in the days old burns, but she seemed satisfied enough with his being alive and didn't mentioned it. She did, however, tense along with him when she realized the Captain really wasn't anywhere to be found.

"You mean you don't know where Captain Janeway is?" Harry asked with a mix of concern and disbelief.

Tom had been so wrapped up in B'Elanna he hadn't even noticed his best friend standing so nearby. He started to explain as best he could with the limited time they had, but Tal beat him to it.

"Something took her." She glanced around the room before adding, "We're pretty sure it was a 'someone' actually."