"Captain? Captain can you hear me?"
The voice seemed to call from the end of a long tunnel, it echoed in her head.
"Her synaptic functions have almost completely returned to normal, she should be awake." Came another voice.
She focused on the voices and pulled herself towards them. Slowly she blinked and her eyes adjusted to the light of sick bay.
Shadows focused into people and she saw Kes and Be'lanna leaning over her, slowly she became aware of pressure on her hand. She looked down the bed to her side and there stood Chakotay.
The corners of her mouth tugged at a smile, but the searing pain that shot through her head turned it into a grimace.
"Doctor she's awake." called Kes.
"Ah good, see Commander? I told you it was nothing to worry about." He said as if she had come in with a scraped knee.
The pressure on her hand tightened momentarily, then she was brought sharply awake by a shot of pain that went through her head and down her spine. She cried out in pain.
The Doctor's expression was no longer one of mild indifference and now matched that of the others in sick bay. He ran his tricorder over her, "There seems to be residual nerve damage." he said.
"That's impossible, the system shut down without issue, the interface couldn't have harmed her." Said Be'lanna.
Nerve damage… what nerve damage? Janeway tried to speak but was met with another shot of pain.
The hand she had felt earlier was back on hers and she squeezed it hard in pain, not wanting to move again and get another shot she refrained from asking an questions.
She closed her eyes and just listened to the commotion around her.
"Chakotay how did she take you out of stasis? Did she use the recall subroutine?" Be'lanna asked.
"No she didn't, I'm not entirely sure how she managed it…" He thought for a moment then added "We just banished fear from our minds. He lived on the fear already inside our heads, and drew power in the simulation from that wavelength." Understanding was beginning to dawn. "Once we were able to take control of our feelings, he lost control of the simulation. It seemed to respond to the Captain's wishes instead, and I guess the system shut down, letting us out."
"That makes sense," chimed Kes. "Why else would he have to torture and create delusions for the people hooked up to the machine? He had to have control of the system and their fear gave him the control."
"That may also explain why none of the original overrides worked, once he had control of the system he would have changed the inner workings of the machine so that they only responded to him. When we left the system the first time, when the hologram of Kathryn entered, Harry and I were still…" She paused, not wanting to admit weakness, but continued anyway, "afraid… we shut down the machine but," another pause, and Kes, the Doctor and Chakotay looked to her in anticipation, then she exclaimed, "Of Course! The backup system! The one that was to take over in case of power failure! It had it's own interface and battery cells. He was able to store himself in there along with the copy of the Captain's brain and the hologram and restarted the system!"
"That makes sense, there was enough power in the reserve to get the system turned on again and to sustain at least one occupant. It was enough to power the brain, the hologram, and therefore him." said Kes nodding her head as the events of the last few hours began to make sense.
"Right, it must have been the lure to draw in more minds since the batteries couldn't have run the system for long and the copied brain functions couldn't take the place of a real brain. Once Chakotay hooked himself up, the original system took over again and powered it. When you and the Captain shut it down this time, there was nothing to give the computer commands and it shut off. All the power in the backup system had been drained." She looked to Kes and the Doctor, "There was nothing to power him once the Captain and Chakotay were able to isolate the emotion, control it, and the system shutdown." Be'lanna concluded.
"Tuvok would be so proud." Huffed the Doctor as he continued to scan the Captain.
"What happened to the hologram?" Be'lanna asked, pausing in her celebration.
"I think it was shut off the second the Captain entered the system, the power was rerouted to keep her in stasis. When she entered the system she said the simulated brain sort of, synced, with her somehow, and she was able to remember everything the hologram had experienced."
This gave them all pause.
"How is that possible?" Asked Kes.
"I don't know, Doctor?" Chakotay responded honestly.
"I will have to look into it more when my patient is not in severe pain."
The mention of the Captain drew them from their musings and back to the situation at hand.
Chakotay focused on the woman beneath him. He looked at her face, relaxed as she listened to the officers around them. True she probably didn't want to move, but she was also content, she was safe. He doubted that she cared how it all went down, just that it was over.
He held her hand a bit tighter, not wanting to hurt her but reassuring her that he was there, he received another squeeze in response.
"Well, that was all fascinating and I will get around to figuring out how the brains merged with the help of engineering in a bit." Pipped the Doctor. "But none of that helps the present situation."
"You're right, of course Doctor." said Kes respectfully. "Why would there be nerve damage if the computer was switched off after Fear couldn't power or control it?"
It was then that Chakotay perked up, all eyes turned to him as he spoke. "Because… because Kath- the Captain may have shut down the power supply so to say, but not before he did some... Damage."
He had yet to tell them all the details of what happened in the simulation and he could feel their curiosity, but none of them pushed, and Kes saved him from any further questions. "Of course, similar to how the other occupants suffered heart attacks, she must have suffered nerve damage."
This worried Chakotay, she had seemed strong in the simulation, but the visions must have hurt her more than he realized.
Clearly unsatisfied by any of the presented explanations the Doctor grimaced and all but rolled his eyes but relented, "Yes well, no matter, we must set about repairing it. Kes I require your assistance, Be'lanna, you may go, and Commander-" He was met with a death glare set to rival the Captain's, and took the hint. "Fine, you may stay but keep out of the way."
Kathryn felt the pressure on her hand slack and she gave him a reassuring squeeze, she knew he wouldn't be too far. He took the hint and let go, stepping to the side so the Doctor and Kes could get to work.
Kathryn felt a hypospray press into her neck, and she fell unconscious.
When she awoke again there was no pain, just a heavy exhaustion that made her want to fall right back to sleep.
She blinked and looked around, on her left was Chakotay, exactly as he had been when she awoke the first time. Sitting on a plain stool, back up against the wall, and looking even more tired than she felt. He had been staring at something on the other wall, but when she stirred his eyes snapped to hers and relief spread across his face.
She couldn't help it, a smile crept across her lips, "Good Morning Commander, report." He smiled, if she was well enough to crack even a simple joke, that was a good sign.
"More like good evening." The tender moment was broken as the Doctor came strutting over.
Instinctively the Captain pulled her hand away from Chakotay, she didn't even realize she had reached for it, but the action was not missed by the Doctor who raised his eyebrows slightly before continuing to scan her.
"The procedure was a success, how are you feeling Captain?"
Slowly she started to sit up, "Better, my head doesn't hurt nearly as bad anymore." Her hand traveled to her forehead and rubbed her temple. It didn't hurt as bad but she still had a headache. The Doctor noticed her discomfort and held up a hypospray.
"Some residual headache is to be expected, this should help but," he pressed the hypospray into her neck. "The only way to get rid of it completely of course, is to get a good night's sleep." He glared now at Chakotay, "Something you BOTH could use."
"Of course, thank you Doctor." Janeway swung her legs over the edge of the bio bed and stood. Chakotay stood too, ready to lend her support if she should need it, but she stood fine and he relaxed.
Her eyes softened at the gesture, he was still worried, but they were safe.
"Remember, you both are not to return to duty for at least 48 hours and I want to see you back here tomorrow, I need to-" The Captain cut him off, "Yes Doctor, I know, standard two days to recover from a trauma, daily check-ups, you don't need to convince me this time!"
Reluctantly the Doctor held his tongue as the command team walked out of sick bay.
They walked in silence, side by side, into the turbo lift at the end of the hall. Once inside Janeway instructed the lift and it began to move.
Chakotay was stoic beside her, she couldn't take it any longer, "Halt turbolift." It took a moment after the lift had halted for Chakotay to react, only when he felt her hand on his arm did he turn to her.
"Chakotay, what is it?" she asked softly. He wouldn't meet her gaze and she pressed again. "Chakotay… what's wrong?"
Before she knew what was happening he had scooped her up into a crushing hug. Surprise gave way to relief as she melted into him. The real him, not an image, not broken or hurt, just him.
They stood like that for a long moment, just enjoying the feel of one another, and it was Chakotay who came back to reality first, slowly releasing her and looking sheepish. She stepped away, her face unreadable.
"S-sorry, I just-" he was silenced when Kathryn slide her arm around his back, and called for the lift to resume.
It was his turn to be surprised, even as the turbolift opened she did not withdraw her arm, and cautiously he drapped his over her shoulders.
They walked like that down the empty corridor until they reached the Captain's quarters.
Slowly they stood to face each other. Chakotay had regained a bit of his thinking ability and began to talk, "Kathryn I know it's been a long day, or however many days…" He honestly wasn't sure what the stardate was, "you need rest, will you be okay?"
"Yes Chakotay I am alright, you need to rest too." Neither made a move to go inside, and it was Kathryn who spoke next. "Chakotay, would you care to have breakfast with me? I think we need to… talk, about everything that's happened."
"Um, sure, that sounds lovely." He tugged at his earlobe, not wanting to give away how excited he was that she wanted to talk about what had happened and not just ignore it.
She gave a small smile, "0800 sound alright?"
"Yes, just fine."
"Sleep well Chakotay."
He looked directly into her eyes now, "You too Kathryn, sweet dreams."
She turned to the door but hesitated, quickly she placed her hand on his arm and squeezed, she looked like she wanted to say something but she quickly keyed in her code and went inside.
Surprised by the touch, Chakotay stood outside her door for a moment, just thinking.
Would she talk about what had happened in the simulation? She had said she was afraid of losing him, and he was afraid of losing her too… But in what way did she mean? Did she admit what he thought she did?
It was too much to process. He shook his head and made his way to his quarters for a well-deserved rest.