Disclaimer: Star trek voyager belongs to paramount.

Okay, if the only original invention was the wheel, and the only original question was something like: "What is a wheel and how do I make one?" then everything after is only an improvement. So technically every thought and invention belongs to the person that invented the wheel.

But seriously, paramount does own Star trek voyager, and I'm not disputing that, I'm just saying that, in another dimension.

V

Chapter 9: Caffeine addiction

Felicity came to the door, it was Tad. "Hi," she said, wrapping her wet hair in a towel. She walked further inside her quarters, leaving him at the entrance. He followed her inside, the door closing automatically behind him.

"I was just taking a bath," she said disappearing back into the bathroom. Tad waited outside, sitting himself down on the sofa. Minutes later she re- emerged, hair still wet, but she had changed from her dressing gown to black trousers and a buttoned up white blouse. "What are you doing here?" she asked, "I thought that you were in Switzerland with Kathryn."

"I was," he said, picking up a rock from the table in front of him and studying it. "Hey Tad," he looked up and in a mock high pitch voice, "how are you? What was Cardassia like? I missed you."

"Yeah, so?" she ignored his impression of her lack of enthusiasm and grabbed a comb from her beside table and ran it through her damp, blond hair.

Tad mused at her attitude, "it was hot," he said, "and yeah, before you actually ask, I'm fine."

"Good to hear," she said half heartedly, "can you see my hair dryer anywhere?"

"It's on your bed," he pointed in the direction behind her, she looked round, saw it, and picked it up. "So how's the academy?"

Before she answered she turned the hair dryer on, and began drying her hair. Minutes later she was done, "yeah, it's okay," she walked towards the replicater, "cola, chilled," she said and a glass of cola with a couple of ice cubes in it appeared. "At the moment Admiral Kemp, Alex to you and me, is convinced that someone in the academy is responsible for playing some practical joke on him, the details of which are still to be revealed," she rolled her eyes, "and he is interviewing cadets, so far he has narrowed down the suspects to about twenty of us."

"Of us?" Tad enquired.

"Yeah," Felicity took another sip of her beverage, "he thinks that I may have had something to do with it."

"And do you?"

She gave him an exasperated look, "what do you think?" Tad gave her a look which indicated that he thought that she was responsible, "okay," she lifted a hand, and waved it to one side, "I may have had some- okay, entire influence over the practical joke, that man really needs to take a chill pill."

Tad smirked.

"So what are you doing here anyway, you and Kathryn had an argument or something?" she sat down on the sofa next to him, tucking her legs up beneath her body.

"Came to keep an eye on you," he said.

She raised an eyebrow quizzically, "ah," she eventually nodded, "the whole over-protective-big-brother thing that you do, well, as you can see I'm fine, why are you really here?"

Tad laughed, "you know who you're exactly like don't you," he smiled widely.

"No, but you're going to tell me," she said and finished her glass.

"You know that you're becoming just like mum." Felicity pulled a face which just made him laugh harder, as he had seen his mother pull it so many times.

"Tobias," she scolded as she stood up, "I'm nothing like her," she walked over to the replicater, "cola, chilled," she said for the second time that evening. "I hardly know Kathryn, so how can I be anything like her! Any way, are you going to tell my why you're here before or after you die of laughing?"

"There's just some trouble at the moment, I told Kathryn that I'd come and keep an eye on you, make sure that nothing happens to you." Felicity shrugged, and took another sip of cola.

"Do you think it's genetic?" Tad looked genuinely quizzical.

"What, personality? No I don't," Felicity brushed the idea to one side.

"No," Tad began laughing again, "caffeine addiction," and again she pulled a face which made him double over onto the floor.

V

"The fucking little creep," Alex muttered under his breath as they made their way down another corridor. The corridors all sloped downwards indicating that they were going underground. They had been walking for maybe five minutes, but had not once come across any form of security officer. "It's a trap," Alex whispered so that only Kathryn could hear, "let's just knock him unconscious an get out of here," he nodded in Raphael's direction.

"I heard that," Raphael muttered.

"Oh sorry," Alex said, "I forgot you were a mutant."

"Gentlemen," Kathryn interrupted, feeling that they might start fighting, "could you maybe keep your voices down."

"Kathryn," Alex started in a matter of fact sort of way, "I don't think that they can hear us." And to prove his point he shouted, "Paul, you little fuck-wit, where are you?"

He turned to Kathryn and smiled as if he had proved his point, when an alarm went off. "See what you've done now!" Raphael started.

"Argue later," Kathryn interrupted again, "we had better find somewhere to hide."

V

Chakotay woke again with a start, his body and forehead dripping with sweat. The floor beneath him was cold and hard, and he made to sit up, only to find that his arms gave way when he attempted to use them.

Giving up on trying to sit up, he lay with his back against the floor, calming himself down. He hated waking up in pure darkness, the only consolation was that the room that he was being kept inside was small, so if he stretched any of his limbs out from the position that he was in, he would be able to reach one of the four walls.

Again he tried to sit up, but it wasn't any use, his arms wouldn't take his weight. Come to think of it, his whole body felt like that; unable to support any weight. He could move his limbs, but even when he did, he didn't have total control, his whole body felt heavy and tired.

There was a jolt from the door, and all of a sudden the room was flooded with light, as a reflex action he closed his eyes. "He's in here," said a voice. Chakotay squinted and saw the shadow of a man standing in front of the light. Another figure appeared from behind the first, and became bigger as it came closer.

A shadow was cast over his face as the figure leaned over. Still recovering from the sudden entrance of light, the details of the face remained unclear to him, but he recognised the smell, the sweet fragrance of a familiar perfume. "Chakotay can you hear me?" he recognised Kathryn's voice.

He felt a hand gently touch his face, and gradually the details of her face became clearer. He reached up a hand to touch her, but couldn't find the energy, Kathryn grasped his hand and kissed it. She turned away from him, and towards the other figure, "I think he's been drugged," she said.

"Do you think he can walk?" it was a man's voice.

"Do you?" she asked rhetorically.

"I'll carry him," the figure came closer, as Kathryn stood, and left the room. Chakotay noticed that she carried what looked like a phaser in her hand, and was a little shocked when he saw her lift it, and fire it in a direction to the left of the door.

Chakotay felt his upper body being sat up, and eventually one of his arms was slung over the man's shoulders, and an arm came around to support his upper body. With a swift movement Chakotay was standing, with a huge help from the man. Raphael felt Chakotay's weight increase as he became unconscious, and so readjusted the way he was holding the man, so that he would be able to carry him more successfully.

He heard firing from outside the room, and so took his own phaser from it's holster on his hip in one hand, and walked cautiously to the entrance of the cell. "It's clear," he heard Alex shout, and so made his way out of the room.

V

End of chapter 9.

Okay, these speculations that Raphael is a pimp have been going on way too long. No, he's not a pimp, I don't even know where that idea came from.

When I say mutant, I'm not talking about the X men type of mutant, although that would be a good plot line- but, anyway, I'm talking about Bashir (can't spell his name), the doctor from DS9. That type of mutant, genetic enhancement sort of thing.

Thanks for reading and reviewing, and reading and reviewing, it's really interesting for me to know what you're thinking as I go along.