Author's note: Wow- this thing is going to be very long story. Hang in there with it! Thanks for the reviews- and I'm not promising a JC ending- but you'll just have to wait and see. I actually don't know what's going to happen at this point in the story. Thanks for the reviews! Now- to boldly go! Oh and the song is Enya's…

The Present:

The blood trickled down her cheek as she let the wind sting her open wound. It all seemed so useless now, Q had won the game, and there was no way to save Chakotay. She had tried everything, everything within her power. But the charge of treason was too strong and Dudley was too hated in court for her to retract her order. They would call her weak, and pathetic, every day would be living hell for her, and she knew, eventually she and Chakotay would die anyway. There was no escape, only pain and suffering and she knew that Q was up there laughing at her. Laughing at her pain. As the wind whipped the snow around her, she fell to her knees letting the tears finally fall, leaving dents in the snow.

Tom had been walking in the castle when he heard a loud bang and in an almost surreal instant he had witnessed a most terrible incident. As B'Elanna clung to his arm they watched Chakotay being taken away, shackled, as the Captain stood unmoving, blanched a ghostly white. In her trembling hand she held a piece of paper and as the door slammed and Chakotay was gone, she dropped the letter to the ground and ran out of the castle. He thought she was going to save him, but B'Elanna had picked up the letter and as she read it out loud, he knew that the Captain was not going to be able to save the Commander. He would die. There was no way to stop it. He held B'Elanna as she cried, but he was more worried about the Captain. She loved Chakotay, not like a brother, or a friend, but only as a lover could. Her passion for him shook her very soul; he could see it in her eyes. He could see it in the way, no matter where they were, her hand always found its way to him… always. He saw in him too, and though he was jealous at first, he had come to accept that they were meant for each other. Kathryn could not survive without Chakotay, and Chakotay could not survive without Kathryn. As Kes had said it five years ago… the relationship between them was magical. As B'Elanna clung to him he watched the Captain from the window. As she collapsed onto the ground a song from the luteist could be heard from down the hall.  

I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls
with vassals and serfs at my side,
and of all who assembled within those walls
that I was the hope and the pride.
I had riches all too great to count
and a high ancestral name.
But I also dreamt which pleased me most
that you loved me still the same,
that you loved me
you loved me still the same,
that you loved me
you loved me still the same.

I dreamt that suitors sought my hand,
that knights upon bended knee
and with vows no maidens heart could withstand,
they pledged their faith to me.
And I dreamt that one of that noble host
came forth my hand to claim.
But I also dreamt which charmed me most
that you loved me still the same
that you loved me
you loved me still the same,
that you loved me
you loved me still the same.

He stared out the window, the bars obscuring his vision. He was to die. He knew it, the guards had told him it was by order of the Queen, but he knew better. He knew it was Q. Everything was just too complicated now. There was no way out of this mess, at least not a way he could see. He only wished that Kathryn was with him, by his side, as he had always been beside hers. He wished he could hold her in his arms, kiss her, just one last time, just once before he died. He wondered if Q would let him die…

"Of course I would you feeble human, after all… what's one less measly little, pathetic creature… After all Kathryn turned down my father, what for you and your tattoo? Or was it the fact that you're such a cuddly Indian with all that extra weight? They sure didn't starve you in the Maquis." Chakotay could here Q's cruel laughter, his enjoyment at the pain and suffering of others. So it became clear to Chakotay that he would die. There was no escape from his doom. No way to save Kathryn from the pain, unless they could beat Q at his own game. But I am watching you, so it will be harder than you both can imagine. Q's laugh could be heard resonating through the continuum.