A/N: I've now hit the deadline that I was holding me up, so with luck the rest of this should come out much more quickly before I disappear again… Thanks to those of you who have reviewed so kindly, it is much appreciated. Thanks also to MissyHissy3 for her fab betaing skills!

Chapter Six

Janeway stood beneath the water, feeling the grime of weeks slough from her tired skin. Over the pervasive odour of her own body, she became aware of the smell of something slightly chemical. It was only when she allowed the water into her eyes and felt them sting that she realised it was soap, pouring onto them with the stream. Kathryn was too relieved at the chance to be clean to even care about the sudden soreness in her eyes. Besides, the rapid blinking that ensued as they watered seemed to clear her vision.

Shapes began to move in her dimmed sight. She made out the glitter of water against a dull white background; the quiet movement of Chakotay's bulk as he showered beside her. He had his back to her, she realised. His form came into focus like the image of a distant constellation sharpening through a sensor adjustment. The first thing she saw was that her first officer had lost weight. Inevitable, of course – she had, too – and on such a big man it was especially noticeable. His hair was longer than she had ever seen it before, too: now wet, it brushed against his earlobes and rested against the back of his neck.

Janeway felt strangely emotional at the sight of him. They had spent so long now in such close proximity, reliant only on each other for companionship and sanity. He'd been beside her for days - weeks, even. During that time, his face had always been in her mind. Coupled with the sound of his voice in the darkness and the frequent, light touch of his hands, memory had taken the place of vision. Now, though, she realised that memory, however vivid it had seemed, had been inadequate. What she had seen in her mind when she conjured his face was a watercolour version of him – adequate, but not real, not whole. Janeway tried not to let that thought extrapolate in her mind, extending to what that meant for her memories of home. She focused on him instead. Kathryn etched a new portrait of him into her mind while she had this chance. Just in case.

Chakotay, oblivious both to the return of the Captain's sight and her musings, turned slowly, scrubbing his hands through his hair. As his torso came into view, Janeway heard herself draw in a sharp breath.

A network of deep scars was slashed across Chakotay's ribs, pale against the natural bronze tone of his skin. They were long healed, but the viciousness with which the injuries had been inflicted was so distinct, even now, that her blood ran cold to imagine their delivery. Knife wounds she thought, mainly, but there were burn marks, too: a remnant of those three long weeks at the hands of the Cardassians from which his only escape had been near death.

After a moment Janeway realised Chakotay had dropped his arms to his sides. Her eyes flashed to his face and found him watching her, eyes dark, water trickling from his hair. She wondered what expression was on her own face – shock, no doubt – because he studied her for a moment, eyes searching hers, before he smiled slightly.

Under his gaze, Kathryn suddenly felt awkward – reminded anew of her nude state. Part of her wanted to turn away, or make an attempt to cover herself, but these actions seemed both pointless and foolish. His sight had returned before hers: he'd already seen her just as she'd now seen him, and anyway, given their situation, worrying about something so insignificant seemed to be the height of frivolity. So she stood still and kept her eyes on his face, instead.

"We have to work out what we're going to do," she said. "When they come for us."

"You want to fight?"

She glanced down at herself – weak, unclothed, vulnerable.

"I think we have to be prepared to. I'd love to believe this," she gestured to the water still streaming around them, "is a prelude to our release, but-"

He nodded. "But."

As if on cue, the water ceased to flow. In its absence, the cold of the room returned with full force. The brutal drop in temperature immediately made Kathryn begin to shiver with a violence that set her teeth chattering. Chakotay stepped towards her, reaching out to rub his hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm her.

The door opened behind them and they both turned towards the noise. Six figures entered, but despite Janeway's returned sight there was nothing to identify them. Each figure was wearing a floor-length brown hooded cloak that covered every inch of their body and face.

"Look," Chakotay said, stepping in front of her with his hands raised as if to placate them. "Why don't you tell us who you are? What you want? We-"

The closest being didn't even hesitate before ramming home a punch to Chakotay's exposed solar plexus. He uttered a muffled cry and dropped to his knees, bent double.

"Chakotay!" Kathryn reached for him, but they were instantly surrounded. Something was thrust at her as she struggled, the same rough garment as her attackers wore forcibly wrapped around her by impatient hands. Then two of them held her arms, and a third produced a thin strip of black fabric.

She realised what they were going to do a split second before they did it. Kathryn had a moment to see that Chakotay was back on his feet before the blindfold was tied behind her head.

"What do you want?" she asked, still struggling. "We have no idea who you are or what you want!"

They dragged her out of the room. From the sounds ahead of her Janeway assumed Chakotay was being moved with her. They turned, apparently entering another room. Then, abruptly, she was pushed into what seemed to be a chair and tied to it. Something was thrust into her lap – it felt like a tablet of some kind, propped against her torso and facing out – but she couldn't move her hands to touch it.

There was a strange moment of quiet, as if all of their captors had stopped at once. Janeway twisted her head from side to side, trying to loosen the blindfold, but without success. Beside her, she could hear Chakotay, apparently trying to do the same.

Then, a voice came out of the calm around them.

"State your name and rank."

Kathryn's head whipped towards the tinny sound. The voice was not inside the room with them. It was being piped in via microphone from elsewhere.

"State your name and rank."

Janeway was still so cold that she struggled to keep her voice steady. "I am Captain K-Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship V-Voyager."

Chakotay followed her lead, imparting the only information Starfleet personnel were permitted to relay in the event of incarceration by enemy forces.

"Have you been given food?"

"What?"

"Have you been given food?"

"Look, w-we have t-to-"

"Have you been given food?"

It's automated, she realised. It's not a person asking these questions, it's a computer.

"Y-yes."

"All must answer."

"Chakotay," she prompted quietly. "Answer the question."

There was a pause, and then Chakotay said, "Yes."

"Have you been given water?"

"Y-yes."

"Yes."

"Are you currently in need of medical assistance?"

"N-no."

"No."

Kathryn waited for more questions, but none came. A second later, they were being manhandled again, untied and dragged back out of the room and along the corridor, still blindfolded. The garments they had been given were heavy, but her feet were bare and she was still shivering – shaking, now, with abject cold. Janeway became aware of a faint hum – a distant rumble, somewhere above their heads. She focused on it, trying to pinpoint its source. They hadn't been able to hear it inside their original cell, or in the shower room.

Abruptly, they were pulled to a halt. Their blindfolds were removed, but their arms were still held so tightly that there was no chance of escape. She recognised the door they had stopped outside - it was the entrance to their miniscule cell. Janeway's heart plummeted into her aching, frozen toes.

"Captain."

Chakotay was standing directly in front of her. His eyes were moving over her face, as if committing it to memory anew. Their eyes locked, both understanding what was coming next.

Seconds later they were alone again, in the dark.

Kathryn stood, shivering, clenching and unclenching her hands.

"Kathryn?" Chakotay's voice asked, softly. "Are you all right?"

"I'll be fine," she said, annoyed by the shakiness she could still hear in her voice, "just as soon as I can stop this damn shivering."

She heard him move closer. Chakotay reached out and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly against his body. She wound her arms around him, too, hugging back as she realised he was also trembling with cold.

"That was a Proof of Life display," she said, turning her face so that her cheek was against the rough fabric covering his chest.

"Yes," he agreed, his chin resting on her hair. "Possibly even a live broadcast."

"Voyager's still looking for us."

He hugged her a little tighter still. "Yes. Yes."

[TBC]