The Doctor arrived before Janeway could call for him.

"What in the galaxy happened?" he said in shock as he arrived on the turbolift, looking between her and B'Elanna, "There was only supposed to be one patient."

Janeway stared at him as best she could with over half of her vision burned away, "Go to Ariti," she ordered, gesturing, "That way, I don't know how bad it is," she said with a hitch in her voice, hoping there had not been another death.

The second….no the third in 36 hours.

B'Elanna was standing, but rubbing at her eyes violently, and her right shoulder was disfigured by a brutal burn.

"We had better get you down to Sickbay," ordered Janeway, moving her hand out to take B'Elanna's. B'Elanna fumbled for it, and it was clear the woman could not see at all.

Janeway maneuvered them into the turbolift and ordered a transporter as soon as they were far enough away.

She soon found herself sitting on a medical bed facing B'Elanna as the Doctor's assistants attended both of them. B'Elanna was batting at the assistant's hands as he approached her face, and Kathryn realized the woman was frightened.

"I don't want anyone messing with my eyes until the Doctor takes a look," hissed the woman, with less fervor than usual, continuing to bat at the assistant's hands.

"Let him take a look B'Elanna," ordered Janeway, "Then if it isn't urgent or it's more complex you can make a decision."

"Fine," hissed B'Elanna, letting her eyes be examined as Janeway's face was lifted up and a light was shined at it.

"Did you see what happened to Hargrove?" came B'Elanna's voice a moment later.

"I….."

That's right she couldn't see it for herself.

"She's dead, yes?" said B'Elanna frankly, "I heard her footsteps and the reactor hiss violently. And you didn't say anything to her after that."

"Yes," said Janeway sadly, "She's dead."

"She was an idiot," hissed B'Elanna, slamming her fist so hard against the medical bed that it indented, and turning her head away.

There was another light in Janeway's eye, as her head was held very still with the assistant's holographic hand. She saw her vision slowly returning, and she could make out better the haunted, desolate look on B'Elanna's face.

"I hope Ariti is alright," continued the Klingon hybrid, "The Doctor wouldn't stay with her this long if she were dead?"

B'Elanna tried to give her a look, but it was clear that she still couldn't see.

"I imagine you're right, B'Elanna," said Janeway evenly, "If she wasn't killed immediately the Doctor should be able to help her."

"She wasn't" said B'Elanna firmly, "Hargrove shoved an Engineering tool through her lung. She was on the floor, but she was clearly still alive when I saw her."

"Why did she?" said Janeway before she could stop herself and spare B'Elanna the pain in her current state. The assistant was now working on B'Elanna's shoulder, but he had abandoned her eyes with no comment.

"Athena Ariti is the prettiest engineer on this ship," said B'Elanna, so frankly that it took Janeway back.

"What does that….?"

"Hargrove was jealous of her," stated B'Elanna frankly, "Had been since her boyfriend hit on Ariti the first week we joined with Starfleet…..Ariti didn't want anything to do with him, why should she?...He always came off as scummy, and Ariti had standards, as you might imagine…..Ariti wasn't the last woman he tried to leave Hargrove for, but Hargrove never forgot she was the first….."

"They finally broke up permanently when some flighty woman in Astrometrics said yes,"

Janeway started to speak.

"Not Gretchen," said B'Elanna in increased annoyance, "Though I did hear he hit on her at one point, right after she was getting all of those waking visions and seemed vulnerable….."

Janeway thought she would bust her top for a moment.

"Chaktoay took care of it," said B'Elanna waving her hand, "He threatened to punch Rogers back to the Caretaker Array if he didn't back off."

"How come I never heard about any of this?" asked Janeway darkly.

"Rogers had been pulling the same crap since he was in the Maquis," said B'Elanna, "And I guess I made it sound like he would wait until Gretchen passed out or something and assault her, but he wasn't like that…..I don't think. He accepted a no, it's just you had to have enough self-confidence to tell him to go jump in the…..to go away in the first place. If you were like Hargrove and fell for his lines well…..then he was a real piece of work…..boy did he mess with her over the years….."

"And no one ever filed a report on his inappropriate behavior?" said Janeway in shock.

B'Elanna exhaled noisily, "Look Captain, I don't put up with harassment of my staff, but they have to want help. I can't do anything about their private lives… And let's face it, most of the Maquis have…..issues you don't find with people who managed to make it all the way through the Academy.…Hargrove had just as many issues as he did, maybe more. No one can save you from your own bad taste in men, Captain."

That's…true….thought Janeway sadly, feeling odd.

The holographic assistant finished with B'Elanna's shoulder and walked off, leaving B'Elanna's eyes untouched.

I hope that's not a bad sign.

A moment later the Doctor appeared in Sickbay, saying nothing as he tapped buttons on a medical bed.

"Is she alright Doctor?" said Janeway in concern.

Just then a figure was transported into the medical pod, and Janeway sighed in relief as she could see that Athena Ariti was still unconscious, and wearing an awful looking brace around her chest, but definitely alive.

"Her right lung needs an unpleasant amount of reconstruction, along with several ribs," he snapped as he worked, "She lost a lot of blood, and went into shock before passing out. It's quite a lot of damage and it won't be quick….."

"However I do expect a full recovery," he added softly.

"When you get her stabilized," said Janeway, with both relief and tension in her voice, "You need to look at B'Elanna's eyes."

"Oh?" he said as he worked, "Didn't my assistant fix them?"

"B'Elanna insisted you look at them," said Janeway, "But…..they may be more serious than he was comfortable with."

"He's not sentient enough to be uncomfortable with anything," said the Doctor haughtily, still focused on Ariti, "But he is a good surgeon, you shouldn't be so stubborn."

"You don't even know which one it was," said B'Elanna from the bed.

"It doesn't matter, they're all good surgeons," said the Doctor, finally turning, as he surrounded Ariti in a closed medical pod.

"I suppose I should be flattered you think so highly of me," he added, moving a few feet, and bringing a scanner up to B'Elanna's eyes.

He frowned, and continued bringing different tools up.

Finally he turned, and Janeway could see his dismay.

"I…..you're half Klingon, there's a lot to be considered here, their optic nerves aren't quite the same as humans…..and they have shown amazing powers of regeneration….."

"Cut to the chase Doctor," hissed B'Elanna temperamentally.

He sighed deeply, "I have every hope that they'll heal on their own but…right now I'm very sorry to say you're blind."

B'Elanna slumped and instinctively Janeway rushed off the medical bed and stood beside her, almost hugging her as she propped her up.

To her relief and dismay, the Klingon woman did not shake her off.

"But my damage was healed Doctor," pushed Janeway, "Are Klingon eyes so different? Surely there's something you can do?"

"Klingon eyes are better than humans'," said the Doctor, "In the sense of being more resilient...if she were completely human there would be no hope. As for yours," said the Doctor, "I'm told you were attacked with a laser torch…..my only conclusion is you were far enough away that it didn't do nearly the amount of damage."

"I looked for too long," said B'Elanna suddenly, blankly, "I knew it. I knew I did…..but it didn't stop me."

She was in the middle of a fight…..of course she tried to keep her eye on Hargrove for a few seconds too long, in addition to being so close…

"When do you expect it to heal Doctor?"

"I….I'm not sure. I'll do some research….but B'Elanna's neither human nor Klingon, there's not much research on Klingon hybrids."

"Do what you can Doctor," said Janeway. He nodded, and left them, staring at B'Elanna guiltily as he did so.

B'Elanna sagged again deeper as he left, and Janeway put her arms around her and pulled her close.

She thought the woman might cry for a moment, but she lifted herself up after a second and said evenly, in a voice that was almost dead, "I want to go back to Engineering."

"B'Elanna,"

"Engineering, now. You can give me an assistant or something, but I'm not staying here."

"Alright," said Janeway, giving her a squeeze before she let go, "We'll get you an assistant."

She thought of Gretchen suddenly, and her stomach churned as she realized she would have to tell the woman what had happened.

After how paranoid she was last night and I specifically refused to let her be my bodyguard in Engineering…..three Voyager crewmen including myself attacked, one crewman dead….and B'Elanna blind…

She breathed in deeply, trying to evaluate the situation.

"Gretchen," she said clicking her combadge.

"Yes, Captain?"

"A Voyager crew member confessed to the murder of Alexander Rogers,"

She could hear an exhale of relief over the combadge, then, "Who was it?"

"Rachel Hargrove,"

"What?"

She deserves a full explanation but….B'Elanna needs our help right now, and she probably needs to stay busy too.

"Unfortunately Hargrove struggled with B'Elanna and seriously injured her."

A breath that sounded like fear came over the combadge.

"She's not in any danger," continued Kathryn quickly, "But….she can't see right now."

B'Elanna fidgeted uncomfortably.

"She needs your help in Engineering. Are you up to it?"

"Of course Captain," said Gretchen, "I'm on my way."

"I don't want you staying more than a half shift," ordered Janeway, as the doors to Sickbay opened a few minutes later, "That's my requirement for your going back there. You both need your sleep. The Doctor can put you under with a hypospray."

"Yes Captain," said B'Elanna, a bit dejectedly, but Janeway sensed her acceptance.

I'll have the Doctor make sure they leave Engineering just in case. They both like to work during emergencies….but there's a limit to that.

Gretchen entered though Sickbay's doors and as the woman took in B'Elanna Janeway could see sadness, anger, despondence, and fear war on her face for a long moment.

But Gretchen breathed in silently and clenched her hands, and when she spoke there was none of that in her voice, "Did you find anything on that warp core diagnostic you were going to run?"

Janeway saw B'Elanna's shoulders snap into place, and in her voice, underneath the evenness, there was relief, "I didn't get a chance to run it, thanks to how ridiculous this shift has been. You had better read all the numbers to me right, we don't need a core breach."

"Yes, ma'am," said Gretchen, as B'Elanna hopped off the medical bed and stood.

"Half a meter to the right," said Gretchen evenly, "Two meters forward to the door,"

Janeway stared at the doors as they closed, feeling suddenly sick.

...I'm not sure that was very fair of me...I didn't even tell her Rachel was dead...

...I hope they're alright...

She sat on the medical bed for a moment, as a shining light appeared in the back of Sickbay, another transport from Engineering.

Janeway gulped, and suddenly saw all of the opaque pods anew, as if she were swimming in a sea of bodies.

...Nothing on Voyager is alright...