THANK YOU to everyone who has stuck with me on this story. Getting back to writing after losing my creativity during pregnancy has been wonderful - and a LONG time coming. I hope you enjoy this chapter of Closure. More to come soon. XO

Sharp, intense pain radiated down his arm as the sickening memory of cracking bone echoed through his head. Holding the injured limb, he rolled quickly to his side concealing himself behind a cluster of thick underbrush as his adrenaline worked to ease his discomfort. Based on the angle, his forearm was most certainly broken. The surge of adrenaline would only provide a temporary relief, but he would take what he could get. Drawing in a deep breath, Drew berated himself for not noticing the steep change in elevation. Not noticing he was essentially walking off a small cliff as his attention had been focused on the direction he had come verses where he was going. Gritting his teeth, he contemplated his next move.

He was injured, he was tired, he had no idea where he was…and he was also out of ideas. Closing his eyes he concentrated on his surroundings, listening for even the slightest snap of a twig or rustle of branches that would indicate he was not alone. Not hearing any movement, he let himself relax into the soft bed of leaves that covered the warm, soft ground beneath him, soaking in a ray of sunlight which danced across his face.

Sighing, he let his mind wander back to the events that led him to this precise moment. The day he started running began just as every other day had during his time at the farmhouse. Every day had been the same – him patiently waiting for the moment when there would be a knock at the door and the necessary paperwork and secure transportation he sought were confirmed. That night, however, as the sun began to set, there had been a loud knock at the door to the main house above him. He remembered hearing angry voices barking orders and cries from scared children. Knowing the visitors were most certainly after him – and wanting to create a reason for his hunters to leave his kind friends in the house alone – he loudly made his way out of the cellar and into the evening light. As he took off towards the forest he heard heavy footfalls behind him. Heard them get closer and closer as he desperately searched for a place to hide.

It was pure luck that had saved him that night. As he was running, he fell through a soft patch of earth into a large stone cavern which concealed him. A cavern that would prove to be essential for his escape, as it was a part of a large underground cave system. He had followed the safety of the caves until they ended, hoping they would lead him far enough away where he could successfully find a way off the planet and to the only place he could remember – Caldos. He had barely started maneuvering through the thick trees outside of the cave when he fell, clearly breaking his arm.

Caldos. At the thought, the smell of homemade vegetable soup filled his nose, and the sound of laughter echoed through his memory. Maybe a fireplace as well? Yes, he could definitely remember the smell of the hearth as the logs popped and the flames danced to only music they could hear. His stomach grumbled in response and he laughed to himself, wondering when the next time he would be able to eat a proper meal. He didn't know who was on Caldos, but it was one of the only memories he had, so he figured it was the best place to start. Getting to Caldos, however, was proving to be more of an issue than he had anticipated.

Escaping his captors and hitchhiking his way through the galaxy had led him to this planet, a place called Bajor, where he was told there were people who could assist him in arranging the necessary credentials and transportation. He had nothing. He was no one. He needed an identity and was extremely grateful for the help he had received so far. Hopefully he would be lucky enough to find another kind soul who could help him once again.

Groaning, he used his good arm to push himself up. He didn't have the luxury of wasting any time lying around. He needed to find help, and fast. He could sense those hunting him were not far behind.

The overwhelming taste of dry smoke and smell of burnt plastic invaded her senses as her mind struggled to push through the confusion swirling within her mind.

Moving slightly, she realized she was lying on her stomach, the itch of rough fabric scratched her face as she opened her eyes and blinked, encouraging her vision to return to normal. Once clear she found herself staring at the familiar carpet of the shuttlecraft. The shuttlecraft!

Instantly she pushed her upper body up and urgently scanned the small space around her as recent events flooded through her mind. The mission. Drew. Isabel. The sting of the phaser as it hit her in the chest, instantly knocking her out cold.

Spotting both Jean-Luc and Wesley still unconscious near the conn she slowly crawled her way towards them. As she did, she noticed thick, black smoke emanating from the panel, obviously an attempt by the Cardassians at destroying any hope of their contacting reinforcements, delaying their efforts in finding Isabel.

"Mom?" As she approached his side her blue eyes caught his brown and she watched him go through the same mental process as she had. Assessing surroundings, allowing memories to surface, figuring out next steps.

"We're back on the shuttlecraft?" The sound of Jean-Luc's smooth voice pulled her attention from her son as she turned to focus on her husband. Reaching out, she grabbed his hand and squeezed, letting him know she was okay.

"It appears we were not of any need to your friend, Jean-Luc." Quirking her eyebrow, she smirked ruefully as she helped him into a sitting position. "Though, unfortunately, they made it certain we would be stuck here for a while." Nodding towards the conn, she watched as both men took note of the damage that had been done. Their faces falling as hers had as they realized the extent of damage and the time it would take to repair.

"Wonderful." Wesley shook his head as he stood, wiping his hands on his pants as he began scanning the panel to assess the work that needed to be done.

"Well, by the looks of our shuttle I think we can safely assume they've taken Isabel off the planet." Wincing, Jean-Luc reached up to grab his shoulder, massaging the area lightly as he watched Wesley try and reboot the system. "Wesley, can you tell how long we've been unconscious?"

Shaking his head, Wesley turned and sighed. "Not until I can get the system up and running, but considering the light outside I would estimate at least twelve hours. The good news is I can fix the damage enough to fly the shuttle with limited navigation, the bad news is that it's going to take a few hours." Tapping his watch, he cursed under his breath at the futile attempt at activating his comm badge. "I guess that was too much to ask for, huh?" Shrugging, he turned back to the conn, kneeled and began removing the necessary panels to begin his task.

"Come on, let's fix that shoulder." Helping Jean-Luc into a chair, she pulled the medkit from the wall and rummaged through it to find the tricorder. Sitting next to him, she placed a soft kiss on his cheek as she carefully began removing his jacket.

He smiled up at her. "Trying to get me out of my clothes already?"

She was just about to respond with a sarcastic comment when Wesley's muffled voice floated through the air. "Trying to fix the ship over here. Would love not to throw up all over these control chips…"

Jean-Luc laughed, then just as quickly she watched his mind shift. Reaching up, he gently grabbed her forearm. "Beverly…I don't remember anything after the barrage of phaser fire. Do you recall hearing anything of importance? Anything that would indicate their plans or where they were headed?"

Pursing her lips, she thought back to the bridge. "No. It all happened so quickly. As soon as you were unconscious they took Isabel and before I knew what happened they fired on me as well. Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't kill us, Jean-Luc."

"Which meant that he wants – or needs – us alive." Raising his eyebrows at her, she smiled as the realization perhaps not hope was lost after all.

"Which means he knows we'll eventually catch up to him. This," she gestured around the wreaked shuttle, "was simply an attempt at delaying our departure, giving him a chance at a head start." Pausing her efforts with the tricorder, she rested her fist on his shoulder. "But why, Jean-Luc? Why play this game?"

Shaking his head, he shrugged. "I will never understand the twisted workings of that man's mind, but you're right, this is a game to him and one we need to be very careful with our next move. The question now is, how do we figure out where he is going? I assume by now they've confiscated and deactivated her comm badge."

Clearing his throat, Wesley's head popped up from underneath the console, catching their eye and smiling sheepishly as he did so. Closing her eyes, Beverly knew that expression could only mean one thing. "Wes, what did the two of you do?"

Smiling widely at her comment, Wesley enthusiastically explained. "We didn't tell you before the mission, but I have been working on an organic tracking device that can be implanted directly into bone marrow, making it virtually undetectable. You would need to know exactly where to look and what you were looking for to notice it on any scanner."

"And let me guess," Jean-Luc paused as he ran his hands over the shortly cropped hair on his head, "Isabel volunteered to be the first one to try out this new device."

Nodding, Wesley continued. "We implanted it in her femur since it's the largest and thickest bone in the body. There's no guarantee it's working, but once we get back to the Insurgent we can access the tracking logs. We thought this would be the perfect time to test its range…" His voice trailed off as the gravity of the situation washed over him. "Even if she's too far out of range, we'll be able to determine the direction they headed."

Beverly looked at her son in partial disbelief, partial anger. Narrowing her eyes she crossed her arms, sighing. "Considering our current situation I'm going to refrain from being upset that you and Isabel didn't clear this by either of us. However, once this is all over we are going to have a serious conversation about experimenting on your sister."

Grinning, Wesley turned to focus his efforts back on the conn. Jean-Luc shook his head as he turned towards her, a grin plastered across his face as well. "He really is too smart for his own good."

"Between the two of them, Jean-Luc… I fear they are going to put me into an early grave." Smiling, she cocked her head as she continued her original task of attending to his shoulder. "Of course, it's hard to stay mad at them when their schemes end up paying off. If this works…"

"…we'll be able to catch up to her much faster than they are expecting." Finishing her sentence, he leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips, giving her the hope and support she needed to survive the next few hours.

Blinking rapidly, her mind fought to fully wake from the paralyzing effects of the phasers.

She was alive.

Taking a deep breath, she assessed what she could of her surroundings. The familiar feeling of a biobed underneath her centered her, but from the sounds filling the room she knew without a doubt she was not on a Federation ship. The hum of the warp core was different, and the annoying beeps that usually roused her from unconsciousness were absent. A sudden, homesick pang in her chest reminded her to never again take those beeps for granted.

Concentrating, she listened for any movement in the dark room. After a few minutes of uninterrupted silence, she shifted to sit up, but was met with unexpected resistance as she realized her wrists and ankles were tightly bound to the bed.

"Good morning." Snapping her head to her left her heart sank as she watched Gul Madred step menicingly out from the shadows, an armed guard flanking his right side. A maneuver she assumed he had perfected in the years he'd spend torturing poor, unfortunate souls.

Yanking her wrists up, the metal bands clinked together as they pulled taught. "A little dramatic, don't you think? Feels like we're on a ship…so I don't know where you think I could run off to."

Laughing, Madred slowly made his way towards the bed, hands clasped behind his back. "You are a feisty one, aren't you?"

Isabel rolled her eyes, tired of his games and desperately wanting answers. "Where is my family?"

Ignoring her question, he shook his head as his mouth quirked into a smile. "You were hard to track down, I will tell you that." Goosebumps shivered across her skin at the tone of his voice. She caught his eye but said nothing in return. "Honestly, we didn't even know you existed until a few months ago. Interesting how things work out, isn't it?"

She knew he was baiting her. She knew she shouldn't play into his game, but her curiosity and sharp tongue won out. "You know, I get that you like playing these little cryptic games, but do you think maybe you could get to the point already?"

Clicking his tongue he reached out to drag a chair next to the bed, the metal of the legs creating an excruciating scraping sound against the hard surface of the floor as he did so. "What do you know of Project Lazarus?"

"You know I can't answer that."

Nodding in understanding, he looked at her. "Oh, I think you'll tell me in time. Do you know what the key is to Project Lazarus?"

Swallowing hard she stared hard into his eyes as her heart began to race. "Where is Drew? Is he still alive?"

Laughing, Madred leaned back in his chair, confidence flowing off of him in waves. "Hmm. Maybe you don't know as much as I assumed you did."

Glaring at him, she spat out a response before she could think twice. "We both know you need Drew to complete whatever little experiment you are working on, so cut the crap, stop playing these stupid games and just tell me where he is."

"Oh child, don't you know? Don't you realize by now what's going on?"

Not knowing what to say, not wanting to play into his game, she simply stared at him with hatred in her eyes.

"My dear, personally I don't care where Drew is – though we do know his whereabouts and are in the process collecting him before continuing on to our final destination. Drew is irrelevant to what we are so close to achieving. It's you we want, you we need. You are the key to Project Lazarus."

She shivered as the cool air of the room slid across her skin, now damp with sweat. Not breaking eye contact, she steadied her gaze at Madred, trying to muster as much of a brave face as she could. How was she possible the key? Drew was the one they kidnapped, the one they had turned the galaxy upside down to find.

Standing slowly, Madred carefully pull a syringe from the pocket of his thick, black coat. "So you see, if you don't cooperate I really don't have any other option than to inject you with this." Holding up the needle he wiggled it between two fingers. "And trust me, this isn't like any truth serum you may have experienced. This, so I'm told, is rather…painful. Excruciatingly so. Just a little burning cocktail we cooked up to teach a lesson to those who choose not to comply. I trust we won't need to go down this path?"

"Is that supposed to impress me? Are you going to ask me to count lights as well?" She rolled her eyes at him.

Ignoring her comment, he began to slowly pace at the foot of the bed. "We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. It's entirely up to you."

Drawing a deep breath Isabel clenched her teeth and focused on the dim light above her head. There was no way she could divulge information, and from what she knew about Madred even if she did confess, he was going to inject her anyway simply to satisfy his sick desire for torture. She closed her eyes and wracked her brain for ideas. There was a way out of every box, a solution to every puzzle…at least that's what her father used to say.

"Your decision?"

Slowly opening her eyes she caught his gaze again. Even after everything she had discovered about them, there was no way she was going to betray the Federation. "I'm not going to tell you anything. I don't care what you do to me." She was irritated. She hated this cat and mouse game.

"You know, I could have easily injected you with this as you slept, but I thought we could try talking first." He shook his head. "However, if you're not going to cooperate, we can just skip to the painful part. I've had a very frustrating day and have been yearning to take my frustrations out on something…or someone." Nodding at the guard next to him, he moved to hover over her, a sadistic smile creeping across his face.

Grabbing her jaw tightly, the guard shoved her head forcefully into the bed. Crying out, she closed her eyes as immeasurable pain radiated down her spine, into her arms and legs. Instantly a bright, white light erupted behind her eyelids as another suppressed memory unexpectedly made its way to the surface of her mind.

By the sounds around her she knew she was in sickbay. Her eyes were closed, she wasn't able to move, but her hearing seemed to be fully intact. Listening carefully, she heard her parents talking quietly across the room.

"But it's ready, right?"

Sighing, her mother answered. "Yes, but I haven't had a chance to test it extensively. I'm still not sure if there will be any side effects. I'd prefer to wait until – "

Her father cut her off. "But it will work. You've tested it."

"Yes."

"Okay then, give it to her."

"Jean-Luc…"

"Beverly, we have to do this. We have to protect her."

Isabel's eyes snapped open as the pain began to subside and her focus returned to the stillness of the dark room. The rest of the memory played out in her mind. Anger and fear soared through her veins, brought on by the forthcoming torture and the realization of what had been done to her in the past.

Shaking her head, she looked urgently at Madred, pleading with him with her eyes. Her voice cracked with fear as she spoke. "You have to let me go. Something's wrong."

He looked at her incredulously. "I give the orders around here. If you want to leave, then you have to answer my questions."

"No, you don't understand. I'm not who you think I am."

"Wesley."

"I'm sorry, Sir. I'm going as fast as I can."

Inhaling deeply Jean-Luc ran a frustrated hand over the once-again smooth surface of his head, letting it rest at the back of his neck. Squeezing the tense muscles tightly, he sighed and turned to face the small warp core, urging his mind to relax as he looked at the soft blue pulse of light in front of him. They had been in engineering for over an hour trying to lock on to the location device implanted in Isabel's leg, and he was growing increasingly agitated as the minutes passed. It had taken them five hours to repair the shuttlecraft, contact the Insurgent, and get back to the ship. Five hours. Entirely too much time had passed, and now they were at a severe disadvantage in catching up with Madred's ship.

"Wesley, if you need help I'm sure Lieutenant Data would be more than happy to…"

"Got it!" Spinning around sharply, Wesley grinned triumphantly as he pointed to the screen. "You're never going to believe this, Sir, but she's in orbit around Bajor."

"Bajor?" Crossing his arms across his chest he let the air out of his lungs in disbelief. He had assumed they would have headed for Cardassia, or another planet deep within Cardassian space. "That's almost twenty-four hours away at max warp. How could they have possibly reached Bajor already?"

Shaking his head, Wesley continued. "I don't know, sir, but according to the tracking device, she's been in the same location for the past three hours."

Not wanting to waste another minute, Jean-Luc tapped his comm badge. "Picard to Bridge. Change course to Bajor. Maximum warp. Also, please contact the Enterprise and let them know our estimated arrival time so they can meet us there."

After the confirmation from the Bridge, he turned towards Wesley, a mixture of concern and curiosity in his eyes. "How could they have possibly traveled that distance in less than a day?"

Wesley looked up at him from the console with a blank stare. "I have no idea, Sir, but I just ran a spectral analysis and there are recent traces of a Borg warp trail."

"Borg?" Jean-Luc reached out to find the wall next to him, letting the cool metal radiate into his skin. Taking a deep breath he caught Wesley's eye. "It seems as though our friends the Cardassians have somehow harnessed a new Borg technology we were unaware existed."

Wesley simply nodded back, seemingly at a loss for words at this new information.

"Wesley, I need this ship to go faster. I don't care what corners you have to cut or what protocols you have to break, but we need to get to Bajor as fast as possible."

A flicker of excitement crossed across Wesley's face as his eyes lit up at the challenge. "Yes, Sir!"