Ch. 25

Chakotay paced. The amount of time it was taking Tuvok to arrive with Milo in custody felt like it was stretching out to an eternity. The walkway and scaffolding were not that large. He could only take ten steps or so before running into a staircase. He'd even had to remove two of the holograms just to give himself room. But he'd left two as well. Milo and Kathryn were still visible on the walkway. Milo with his foot holding Kathryn down. Kathryn with a grimace of pain on her blood flecked face. Every time Chakotay turned he saw them. Sveta was there too, standing off to the side, but she was practically invisible to him. He only had eyes for those two central figures. No one else mattered. Nothing else mattered. Kathryn and Milo. His wife and his enemy. Only one knew where the other was.

The door a level above them creaked open and Tuvok appeared pushing a captured Milo through the opening, guiding him down the stairs.

"You people have no idea who you are dealing with…" Milo's ranting voice trailed off as he cleared the small cloud of steam that obscured the stairwell from the rest of the platform. He stuttered to a halt upon seeing the four figures awaiting his arrival.

Sveta saw no discernible reaction from the Vulcan at the scene laid out before him, but the fact that he prodded Milo forward, closer to Chakotay spoke volumes.

"Mister Cyronius informed me on the way here that Admiral Janeway and your daughter are no longer aboard the ship," Tuvok informed them.

Sveta's glance flicked to Chakotay, he didn't seem to register that Tuvok had even spoken. His dark eyes were focused solely on Milo, who for the moment at least seemed to grasp the inherent danger he was facing. Sweat beaded and rolled down his pasty white face, his hands twitched nervously by his side, and his eyes continually searched the room, looking anywhere but at the man in front of him.

"I…I know what this must look like…" Milo stammered, still not quite meeting Chakotay's gaze, "but I didn't hurt her."

A twitch of Chakotay's cheek was the only indication he heard Milo. His voice was flat, almost emotionless if one didn't know better. "Where is my wife?"

Milo hesitated, his eyes again flickering over the holographic figures behind Chakotay. "I…heh…uh she, she isn't here."

With an explosion of force and a modicum of movement, Chakotay's elbow smashed into Milo's face, dropping him to the floor. Tuvok took a step back, letting the man fall. He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Milo yelled in pain as he rocked back onto his heels, his hands cupping his face. "You son-of-a-bitch…you broke my nose."

Chakotay squatted down far enough so that he was eye level with Milo. "Tell me where my wife is."

A sobbing laugh bubbled out of Milo as he removed his hands from his face, revealing his profusely bleeding nose. "You are done. I'm going to have your balls for this." He laughed again and spat blood on the floor. "You have no idea-"

He yelled again as Chakotay's fist struck him in the face, crunching further into the broken cartilage and knocking the man backwards. Milo rolled onto his side, cupping his face in anguish.

"What did you do with my wife and child?" He asked again, but Milo didn't answer. Chakotay pursed his lips before nodding to himself. He stood and retreated a few steps from the sobbing man on the floor.

Sveta heard metal scraping against metal and saw Chakotay lift the round metal bar that lay on the floor next to the holographic representation of his wife. His eyes barely even strayed to look at her. Sveta crossed her arms over her chest. She truly thought she'd put these days behind her. Days of uncomfortable situations where you worry about how far over the line you can go before you become like your enemy. But even in those days, she'd never seen Chakotay this cold. This determined. It bothered her immensely that it had come to this, but she also knew better than to try and stop him.

Tuvok apparently still felt the need. "Captain, I do not believe Admiral Janeway would approve what you are about to do."

"Stay out of this, Tuvok," he said curtly, walking back to Milo's side. Using his boot, he pushed the whimpering, overweight man on his back and held him there mirroring what Milo had done to Kathryn. Chakotay hefted the bar in his hand high enough that Milo could see it clearly. "Where did you take Kathryn Janeway?"

"Please…please don't," Milo stammered. From his position on the floor he beseeched Sveta and Tuvok. "You can't let him do this."

Sveta shrugged, pretending indifference to the man's plight. She had no feelings for Milo, but it pained her to see Chakotay take this path.

Tuvok's eyes never left Chakotay as he addressed the man on the floor. "The Captain's actions are his own, Mister Cyronius. I suggest you answer his question."

"Tell me where she is."

Milo's mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air, but he said nothing. Sveta closed her eyes when Chakotay gave another small shrug and raised the bar higher. She knew what he was going to do with it, but she didn't want to watch. She heard the bar as it whistled through the air, striking downwards towards its victim. The resulting clang as it struck the metal stairs instead of Milo's soft body took her by surprise and made her jump.

Sveta opened her eyes to see Milo gaping at the bar that had landed only centimeters away from his face. He looked as surprised as she felt. Glancing upwards, Sveta caught Chakotay staring at her. His eyes were so full of pain. And she understood. This was destroying him. The need to hate. The need to hurt. Everything he'd worked so hard to put behind him. He had let it consume him earlier at Milo's house in the heat of the moment, and she was glad she hadn't been witness to it. But this time was different. He'd had time to think about it this time. He'd had time to plan his actions. If he let his anger consume him now, it would be a conscious decision to do so, and she had no doubt he'd get the information he so desperately needed.

But Tuvok had been right.

Kathryn wouldn't want him to do this.

And so he was looking to her to understand. Not approve. Never that. But to understand that he could not just sit and do nothing. His wife. His child. They'd been taken from him. And time was not on their side. They needed the information now, before it was too late. If it wasn't already.

Swallowing tightly, Sveta managed to give him a small nod. She did understand. So much so that she moved forward and took the bar from his unresisting hand.

"Go wait for me in the corridor," she whispered to him, curling her fingers tight around the bar.

Chakotay's chest was heaving and pained confusion crossed his features. "Sveta?"

"Let me protect you, brother," she said, and pushed him towards the stairs, motioning for Tuvok to join him. Looking down at Milo, she said, "I'll only be a few minutes."