Kathryn jerked awake. There was a sharp pain shooting down her legs. She looked around for the Doctor. She could see Chakotay asleep in a chair beside her biobed. He was still holding her hand. She made to squeeze his hand reassuringly but she couldn't move her hand. Panicked, she took a deep breath and tried again to move her left arm. Nothing. Kathryn called out frantically;

"Computer. Activate emergency medical hologram."

"What is the nature of the medical emergency?"

"Doctor. My arm. I can't move it..."

The Doctor whipped out a tricorder and began to scan her. He frowned and went to his office to access the computer. Kathryn eased herself into a sitting position using her right arm and gingerly cradled her left one. The pains were still shooting down her legs and they felt clumsy and stiff. Chakotay woke up.

"Are you okay?"

"I can't move my arm."

He could see the fear etched on her face. This was far, far too soon. He rubbed the damaged arm reassuringly. Her look intensified.

"I... I can't feel your hand."

Chakotay gripped her hand fiercely, willing her to feel it. She shook her head sadly and mumbled in a small voice.

"Too soon..."

Chakotay opened his mouth to try and say something comforting but at that moment the Doctor re-emerged from his office with a grim look on his face.

"Captain, I have both good and bad news. Firstly; the progress of your illness has again sped up. I have not yet discovered a treatment for it, but I have at last found out what disease you are suffering from. It is the Cardassian Sidereal Virus. I am hoping that, equipped with this information, I will be able to access the Starfleet database of Cardassian medical knowledge and find a remedy. However, given my experience of viruses it is likely that the only possible cure will be... if we are able to gain a blood sample of a Cardassian who is immune to the virus. So far, I have encountered no records of any other species being affected."

Kathryn tried to take all of this in. Beside her, Chakotay had frozen.

"Is... is there any other way Doctor?" she asked.

"I cannot answer that yet Captain and I do not like to speculate. I am giving you something for the pain and I recommend that you rest."

He injected a hypospray into her neck.

"I will be working as quickly as I can Captain. I assure you that you will have the best care possible."

He moved towards his office, but Kathryn called him back. She looked over at Chakotay, who was stroking her unfeeling hand tenderly without looking up. He seemed to be lost in thought. It didn't take Kathryn two guesses to figure out why. She took a deep breath.

"Doctor, if this is a Cardassian disease, then how did I contract it?"

"I don't know Captain. We have not encountered any Cardassians in the Delta Quadrant. It is possible, but improbable that you somehow contracted it on an away mission. Besides which..." at this point he seemed rather uncomfortable "due to the nature of the virus, it is transmitted in a very specific manner."

She gave him her reputed death glare and spoke in a deadly serious voice, all her captain's authority returning.

"Go on."

"There are several possibilities. For the virus to infect your bloodstream it would have had to be either directly injected, entered your system via an open wound or..." he dropped his eyes from her gaze "transmitted sexually."

Kathryn's eyes blazed.

"I assure you Doctor, only your first suggestion is remotely possible. As you will note in your logs, I have not been injured during any recent away missions."

She deliberately chose not to refer to the third possibility.

"Very well Captain, but you do realise the implications of this?"

He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Shall I spell it out for you?" Chakotay interrupted angrily, breaking his silence. "Someone is trying to kill her."

"We will explore all the possibilities in due course Commander. In the meantime, her health is my primary concern."

But Chakotay wasn't listening. He was gripped by an uncontrollable rage.

"Chakotay to Tuvok."

"Yes Commander."

"Report to sickbay immediately. We have a serious security situation on our hands."

The Doctor attempted to reason with him.

"Really Commander, even if the Captain has been deliberately infected with the virus, which we have not established yet, it is highly unlikely that it was done by a member of the crew. It is the middle of the night, there is no need to disturb the whole ship."

Chakotay turned towards him with a hellish fire burning in his eyes.

"If only Cardassians can cure it, then only Cardassians can give it. The planets we have visited had no remote Cardassian connections. If there is a Cardassian spy on this ship, I want to know who."

The Doctor refrained from further comment. The running of the ship was not his business.

"I'll be in my office Captain."

Kathryn nodded. Memories were coming back to her. Horrible memories, long repressed. A dark cell... hunger and thirst... beatings, and worse... The memory of her captivity...

Chakotay was standing now. His anger had not subsided. He walked back and forth agitatedly, waiting for Tuvok to arrive. Kathryn didn't know what she could say. Finally, the swish of the door announced Tuvok's arrival.

"What is the problem Commander?"

"Tuvok, I need to run a security check on the entire crew."

"Commander, what is going on?"

"Someone is trying to kill the Captain. She needs to remain in sickbay and I want you to guard her. Do not leave her until I return under any circumstances."

"Very well Commander, but may I suggest..."

"No."

Tuvok gave the Captain a look of concern but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at her knees, with one arm held tenderly in the other. Was it broken?

Chakotay went to Kathryn before he left. He knew what must be going through her mind. Anger consumed him, but it had not clouded his thinking. He sat on the chair beside the biobed and spoke to her gently.

"Don't think about that now."

She gave him a look of surprise. Often, she forgot just how well he knew her. She became aware that there was a look of considerable pain on her face and she quickly donned a look of resolve. They had both suffered at the hands of the Cardassians before. If anything, his pain was greater than hers. She wanted to show him that her memories couldn't scare her, or control her.

Chakotay saw through her expression. Those memories still hurt her deeply.

"I won't let anyone hurt you" he said fiercely.

"I know." she said quietly. Taking his hand in her healthy one, she laced her fingers through his in the same way that she had done on New Earth. Chakotay gave her a look of determination. Reluctantly letting go of her hand, he turned and strode from sickbay.

The moment was not lost on Tuvok. Both of his eyebrows were raised this time. Even for a Vulcan, this was all a lot to take in in under 2 minutes.

---------------

Okay so this is the new and improved version! I finally have an ending but I'm too tired to type it up tonight. Will do tomorrow. Some people have been asking timeline questions... its set roughly in the 5th series but not specifically an add on to any episodes. Also, I have edited and consider Chakotay's reaction to be quite appropriate considering his past. If that was me I'm sure the word Cardassian would make my blood boil, never mind hearing that they were trying to kill someone that I loved. As for all the questions about access to the virus, no Cardassians in the DQ and blah de blah; I have thought this through and I didn't just throw it together! I promise some decent plot in the next chapter that should start to fill in some gaps but I can't tell you everything until the end now can I? )