Warning: Last time we saw Kathryn, she was in a bit of trouble. Now it's time to pay the price. If violence against our favorite captain isn't your thing, you might want to skim this chapter and tune back in for the next one.

Ch. 9

Kathryn's legs were barely supporting her. They probably wouldn't be holding her up at all if it weren't for the hand fisted into the front of her shirt. The same hand that had dragged her back to her feet in the first place. She tried to focus on the face that was in front of her, the face that was close enough to hers that she could feel the moist warm breath of the person exhaling, but all she could see was a blur. Licking her swollen lips, she managed again to ask the one question she so desperately wanted to know the answer to. "Where's…my…daughter?"

All she got in response was a laugh. It amused them to ignore her questions, knowing her own imagination was tormenting her by coming up with answers of its own. A tightening of his grip was the only warning she had before his forehead cracked solidly against the bridge of her nose, causing pain to explode behind her eyes. He released the hold he had on her shirt, and she dropped to her knees, barely registering the blood flowing freely down her face before the other guard drove a knee into her chest, slamming her bodily into the railing behind her. All the air rushed from her lungs, and she slumped forward, falling face down onto the upraised grill of the walkway, gasping for air.

She had to admit they'd taken her by surprise. She hadn't been expecting Milo to physically hurt her since he'd been trying so hard to make her look presentable for his detestable auction. When she'd first regained consciousness, she'd found herself on a grated, elevated walkway that appeared to be one of many in a structure that went above and below her for many levels. The center of the structure seemed to be open with some sort of massive equipment grinding noisily away as it repeated a pounding motion and issued billowing smoke into the air. The wall to her other side was lined with grilled, blackened metal fixtures, some of which glowed red with heat while others had steam idly spilling out of them, further polluting the seemingly stagnant air. The walkway itself seemed to wrap around the entire length of the building, utilizing staircases on either end to reach the other levels. She could only guess it was some sort of ore processing factory, but whether it was one of Milo's holoprograms or not, she couldn't have been sure.

With sweat beading on her skin, Kathryn had finally managed to pull herself to her feet using the double side railings of the walkway for support. Her muscles had still been shaky and weak, and she couldn't help but admonish herself as the chain of events that had led to her waking up here came at her in a rush. She'd seen a chance for a possible escape and she'd seized it, as decades of training had taught her to do. But it hadn't paid off. Milo had been there, and she had been well and truly caught in a mess of her own making. And then to be marched back to her quarters to find Sheila sitting so close to Madelyn. Touching her, even. Milo's ominous words of a few days ago rang continuously in her ears, "Any time that you choose not to act appropriately, it will not be you that suffers the consequences."

Unfortunately, the last thing Kathryn remembered clearly from her quarters was Maddie, kneeling on the floor next to her, pleading for her to get up. But the drugs had kicked in, and she'd been unable to move or even reply. Then, just as her vision had been clouding over, she'd seen Maddie being dragged away from her. That thought alone had gotten Kathryn up and moving towards the stairs in front of her on the walkway. She hadn't any idea of where they led, but she'd had to move, had to believe she was making some progress towards finding Maddie. Her fears and imagination continually supplied her with dreadful thoughts about what was being done to her child or had already been done to her while she herself had been unconscious. She had to find Maddie.

She'd only made it a few steps when she heard a metal clanging sound above her, followed by heavy footsteps. Bracing herself against the railing, she'd watched and waited until the two guards that had accompanied Stefan earlier came in to view at the top of the staircase.

That had been the first time she'd asked about her daughter. Not surprising, really, that they'd completely ignored her as they'd slowly descended the staircase. In short order, they'd stood beside her, one on each side. The musky smell that accompanied them and the sweat beginning to stain their clothes made Kathryn believe that they, at least, were not holograms. Despite their menacing behavior, she hadn't believed they'd strike her, and she'd drawn herself up to her full height with every intention of pushing past them.

That belief had been a mistake, and the first blow, a punishing fist to her abdomen, had taken her completely by surprise. The beating had continued from there, with Kathryn barely able to defend herself against them in her weakened state. The guard that she had kicked earlier had taken great pleasure in throwing her down the staircase when she'd tried to do it again. Her head striking the metal step as she careened downwards, followed quickly by the excruciating snap of one of the bones in her arm, had been enough to send her once again into oblivion. They'd simply waited for her.

Just as they waited now.

"Come on, Janeway, get up," a voice growled above her. It didn't need to, really. She would've pushed herself up regardless of his taunts. She had to get to Maddie, and in order to do that, she had to get past them. Reaching out with shaky determination, she planted one of her hands on the metal grating for support and tried to push herself up. She only made it as far as her knees and elbows before she had to pause for a moment to catch her breath. The heel of a boot stepped on her hand and began slowly grinding into it. The pain was intense as the sharp grating of the floor dug into the palm of her hand, but she managed to keep the cry of pain buried in her throat.

The voice above her was laughing in amusement. "Come on, Janeway. Show us how an admiral gets on her knees."

She didn't bother wasting her breath on uttering the scathing response that came to mind, but worked to pry her hand free while they continued to mock her.

"You should get used to it. I hear you're going to be on your knees a lot once you get bought," the other voice chimed in. "What do you think, Skor? Think the Cardassian will buy her?"

"Could be," Skor agreed, lifting his boot heel, causing her to lose her balance. "It's been about two weeks; he's due for a new purchase."

"Yeah, his never last long, do they?" Growing bored with waiting, he reached down and hauled Janeway to her feet. "You want that, Admiral? You want to be the whore for a Cardassian?"

Their taunts were getting to her, and she forced a burst of struggle through the vertigo and pain, earning herself nothing but a shake by the man holding her.

Skor chuckled, leaning back against the rail. "And just think, Krat, for a little extra, he'll get the girl, too. Can you imagine what that sick fuck will do to her?"

Even knowing they wanted to see a reaction, Kathryn couldn't help the horror that raged through her at his suggestion, and she spat murderously, "Where is she?"

"Oh, I don't know," the one called Krat drawled, watching Janeway rage at Skor's suggestion even as he easily continued to hold her upright. "Maybe I'll talk to Milo myself, see if we can't arrange to have the kid stay with us. It's been awhile since we had a little gi–"

Janeway's knee rammed into Krat's groin cutting off his foul comments. His hold on her released as he bent over in pain. Staggering back, Kathryn caught herself on the railing, struggling to remain upright even as Skor laughed uproariously. Krat leaned against the railing himself, swearing at her. "You…bitch…"

"I told you to watch out for her," Skor said, still laughing. "Didn't you see her kick me earlier?"

Krat straightened and hit Janeway with a backhand hard enough to send her to the floor again. Face down on the deck, Kathryn scrambled to try and push herself back up, but a heavy boot pushed into her back, pinning her down. Metal grated against metal, and then the red-hot, glowing end of a metal bar touched the ground in front of her face, close enough that sweat beaded on her nose and above her lips.

"You're going to pay for that," Krat said softly, leaning over her, his face still looking pained.

"Come on, man. We're just getting started," Skor whined half-heartedly, his body weight pinning Kathryn down. "Save the face for later."

Krat looked momentarily disappointed. "Fine. Let's strap her to the railing."

"Works for me."

Skor's boot lifted, and Kathryn renewed her struggles to no avail. The two guards made quick work of leaning her over the top rail that ran alongside the walkway and lashing her wrists with some sort of cord to the bottom railing, despite her fighting them with all she had. The pain in her arm was excruciating as she pulled against the restraints, but she knew it was nothing to what was coming. Her knees and shins scraped against the flooring as she fought to find purchase, but the awkward angle made it impossible.

"Lift her shirt for me."

Her heart skipped more beats at Krat's cold comment from behind her, and she renewed her struggles despite their futility.

Skor used one leg to pin both of hers down as his hand found the hem of her shirt, raising it up, exposing the flesh of her back. His other hand twisted painfully in her hair, pulling her head back. "You really shouldn't have done that."

It was the only warning Kathryn had before searing pain ignited across her lower back. She screamed and bucked against the railing as she heard the sizzle of her skin against the super-heated metal now pressed against it. Krat removed the bar after only seconds, but the agonizing burn pulsed deep into her tissue, feeling as though he had burned a hole straight through her body. Skor and Krat's laughter washed over her as she gulped and choked air into her lungs, trying desperately to regain some measure of control as her entire back shuddered and spasmed in pained reaction.

Kathryn felt the black edges of unconsciousness closing in on her. Maddie's frightened cries, echoed through her memory again, screaming for her to get up…but she couldn't. The siren's call of oblivion pulled her in, and she could only pray that her daughter had been left unharmed.