Title: Thrown Through Time Authors: R. Mason & Joanne Collins Codes: C/P, C/P/M (only once), M/I (implied) Ratings: G – NC – 17 (depending on where in the story) Feedback: mchakotayparis@yahoo.com Summary: See Chapter 1 Thrown Through Time Chapter 22 Two weeks later Voyager discovered another planet, this one was uninhabited by people but had plenty of animal and planet life. Captain Janeway sent Chakotay, Harry and several members of Tuvok‘s security team down to the planet to survey it and search for minerals they might use. As it turned out the planet had a population, but it also had developed some kind of shielding that blocks Voyager‘s scans from detecting them. The planet was embroiled in a civil war and it was during one of their food gathering expeditions that they were attacked. Suddenly they were surrounded by a group of angry looking aliens. "Commander?" Harry called as he noticed the men. "Nice and slow, Harry. Hello, I am Commander Chakotay of the Federation Star Ship Voyager. We don‘t mean you any harm," said Chakotay as he took a step forward. One of the aliens mistook his gesture and opened fire-hitting Chakotay in the stomach. "Voyager, emergency beam out!" Harry called. One of the men ran over to where Chakotay lay and placed a small device on his arm. Just as the transport beam took hold of them Harry noticed that Chakotay stayed behind. "Captain, we‘ve got all but Commander Chakotay. I can‘t get a fix on him," said the man in the transporter room. "Try again, find him!" yelled Janeway. "Aye, Captain," he replied. A few moments passed as he tried to find the Commander. Finally, he commed Janeway. "Captain, I can’t find Commander Chakotay. He‘s gone," the man reported. Janeway looked over at Tom as his face paled at the news. "Don‘t worry, Tom. We‘ll get him back," said Janeway as she came over and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know you will, Captain. I‘m just worried about Melody. She expects him back tonight and in her condition..." Melody was in her seventh month now and she had begun to have some difficulties with her blood pressure and asthma when she got excited or upset. Everyone was trying to keep her stress down to a minimum by telling her only what she absolutely needed to know. The Doctor had been monitoring her heart and lungs weekly and had voiced concern over wither Melody would be able to deliver the twins naturally as they had planned. "Do you want me to talk to her, maybe if I..." "No thanks, Captain. I‘ll tell her, computer. Locate Melody Chakotay-Paris?" asked Tom. "Melody Chakotay-Paris is in holodeck two," replied the computer. "Chakotay‘s hiking program, she been spending a lot of time there recently. Oh, well. Might as well go get it over with," said Tom as he stood up. "Don‘t worry Tom, we‘ll get him back." "I know you will, Captain," said Tom as he left the bridge. Tom took longer than necessary to reach the holodeck, not because the corridors where crowded he just didn‘t know what to tell Melody. This had been one of his biggest nightmares finding love and happiness with someone then having them snatched away from him. He didn‘t really know if he could live without Chakotay but he had to a least try for Melody and the twins. She had all ready had so much taken away form her, he didn‘t know if she would make it through this if they lost Chakotay. He had to be strong for her no matter how much he was hurting. Tom opened the holodeck doors to find one of Chakotay‘s favorite programs running. The hiking trails of New Mexico so much like him you could almost feel his presence here even when he wasn‘t. The scenery was so strong and wild, but it also had an underlining beauty to it that sometimes took you breath away if you saw it in all it‘s glory. Tom looked around, then walked over to an over hanging rock and called out. "Melody! Where are you, sweet?" A few minutes later she appeared walking up the path. Even though she was seven months pregnant she still looked good. Except for her protruding stomach she looked just like she did when they had first found her. She had gotten her golden tan back and in the last few weeks she had began to gain weight again. According to the Doctor she was still dangerously underweight but except for that had her recent problems she hadn‘t had many problems. He feet swelled at night and her back hurt occasionally but she rarely complained. As Tom looked at her now he saw the glow of impending motherhood on her face and hated to break her mood. He and Chakotay had promised each other and Melody that no matter what happen they would always tell her the truth. She‘d had so many people lie to her in her life that she deserved nothing less. So as Melody neared Tom her took her hands and led her to a rock to sit down and rest. "How you feeling, Mel?" "I‘m fine, a little tired but OK. Why?" "Maybe you should come home and rest for awhile," Said Tom as he pulled her to her feet. "Tom, what‘s wrong. Something‘s happen hasn‘t it!" said Melody excitedly. "Now calm down, Mel. You know what the Doctor said," replied Tom as he reached for her. "No! Tell me, Tom. You promised, remember?" yelled Melody. "All right, Mel. There was an accident on the planet and Chakotay..." "He‘s not dead is he?" asked Melody weakly. "No, Mel! He‘s not dead, but he had been hurt and captured by a group of natives on the planet." "But I thought you said the planet was uninhabited?" exclaimed Melody. "That‘s what we thought, it seems they have some kind of shield our scans can‘t penetrate." "So now they have Chakotay, you‘ve got to find him, Tom. You can‘t leave him there!" "We‘re not going to Mel. Harry and B‘Elanna are working on finding him right now," explained Tom. But Melody wasn‘t listening, she had retreated into herself and was mumbling about being bad and losing him. When Tom touched her shoulder she exploded with rage. "You lied! You both lied to me! You promised that you would never go away. You lied!" yelled Melody. "Mel, listen!" "No!" yelled Melody as she broke out of his grip and ran off down the path. "Melody!" called Tom as he followed her. Even in her condition she managed to stay ahead of him for a good fifty yards, then she stopped and knelt by a big boulder clutching her knees and crying. Tom stumbled over to her side and took her into his arms. "Oh, Mel. I‘m sorry. I‘m know we promised, but things like this happen," said Tom as he held her gently rocking her in his arms adding his tears to Melody‘s. "It‘s not fair, I knew something was wrong. She told me... but I didn‘t understand. She told me..." cried Melody softly. "Shhh, baby...it‘s OK. It will be OK," crooned Tom. When both Tom and Melody‘s tears were spent he called for a sight-to-sight transport and put Melody to bed. That night neither Melody nor Tom got much sleep, but when Melody finally drifted into a restless sleep Chakotay‘s spirit guide visited her. She found herself in some thick woods with a clearing near by but she couldn’t find her way out of the trees. Melody could see the outline of a gray wolf on the edge of the trees and followed it until she found her way out of the trees, standing in a peaceful green clearing. It was so calm and peaceful that she lay down and fell asleep instantly. After a while she felt a cold wet nose on her leg and shifted slightly hearing a little laugh. "Why are you frightened young one. I will not harm you?" said a voice in her mind. Melody sat up to look straight in the face of the gray wolf. She was beautiful, she mostly gray with spots of white intermixed. Melody slowly backed away until she heard the voice again. "Don‘t be afraid, young one. I will not hurt you." "Who..." started Melody, then she discovered that all she had to do was think the words and the wolf would hear her. "Who are you?" "I am a friend, I have come to tell you not to fear. Chakotay is alive." "You... you can feel him?" asked Melody. "Touch my fur and you will feel his presence," replied the wolf. Melody slowly reached out and laid her hand in the wolf‘s thick fur. In that instant she could feel all of Chakotay‘s pain and fear as if it were her own. He was worried about Tom and her, and the twins. "He‘s in pain?" "Yes, he is worried about you and his mate and the unborn children you carry." "Will we see him again?" "When the time is right, you will find him." "I wish I could let him know we’re all right and how much we love him?" "You can, think of him and he will feel your love." Melody scooted closer to the wolf and concentrated on Chakotay and how much she loved him. "That is enough, young one. You need to rest." Said the wolf nudging her hand away. "Lay your head on my back and sleep, young one. I will protect you." Melody laid down with her head lightly rest on the wolfs back and drifted into a restless sleep. It took two more days for B‘Elanna and Harry to break through the planets shielding and find Chakotay. He was being held in a small underground complex on the northeastern most part of the planet. Janeway, lead the rescue team of B’Elanna and Harry that found Chakotay. "Rescue team to Voyager, Four to beam up," called Janeway as she stood over the beaten body of her First Officer. "Acknowledged, Captain. Transporter room, lock on rescue team and beam them directly to sick bay." "Aye, Captain. Energizing. Lt. Tuvok, we have them," replied the voice from the transporter room. "Lt. Paris, I believe you are needed in sick bay," said Tuvok as he watched the young man leave the bridge. When Tom entered sickbay he could see the Doctor and Kes working frantically over Chakotay. His face and chest were all bloody and it looked like several of his fingers had been broken. His right leg lay at and awkward angle to his body and his feet were covered in cuts and burns. "Tom, I don‘t think..." said Janeway as he started towards the bed. "Captain, I have to know. How was it down there?" asked Tom. "Pretty bad, Tom. This planet may have a planetary shield that our scans can‘t penetrate, but their methods of fighting are barbaric," replied Janeway. "Does Melody know we‘ve got him back yet?" "Not yet, I was going to tell her as soon as I‘d seen him myself." "Tom, I‘m not sure that‘s such a good idea right now. Maybe later..." "No, Captain. I promised her that as soon as we had him back I‘d call her. Paris to Melody." "Melody here. Go ahead, Tom." "Mel, we‘ve got him back. He‘s in sick bay." "I‘m on my way. Melody, out." A few seconds later the doors opened and Melody rushed in. She had headed straight for his bed, but stopped when she saw what condition he was in. "Oh my god!" exclaimed Melody as she covered her mouth and ran to the sickbay bathroom. The Doctor had seen Melody enter, then turn and run to the bathroom. "Mr. Paris, would you take care of Melody while I finish with Commander Chakotay?" asked the Doctor as he looked over his shoulder at the two. They could hear Melody vomiting in the bathroom even now. "Sure, Doc," said Tom as he disappeared towards the bathroom. A few minutes later a severely pale and trembling Melody was lead to an empty biobed. Captain Janeway helped Tom lift Melody on the bed and rubbed her back while Tom gave her a sedative. Soon Melody was sleeping peacefully under sedation and they turned their attention back to the Doctor who was working on Chakotay. Several hours later an emotionally exhausted Tom sat watch between two biobeds. He sat closest to Melody but within sit of Chakotay. The sight of Chakotay had really shaken Melody when they first beamed him aboard and he‘d had to give her a strong sedative to calm her down enough to sleep. Now only time would tell who woke up first Melody or Chakotay. The Doctor finished working on Chakotay and told him that he was stable but critical. He quickly scanned Melody and found that except for her emotional state she was not harmed. They both decided that it was best to let her sleep. A noise from Melody‘s biobed launched Tom towards his daughter. She was whimpering softly in her sleep and trying to get comfortable. "Shhh, Mel. It‘s all right, I‘m here," said Tom as he climbed on the bed and pulled her into his arms. He sat with his back to the wall and let her rest against his chest. She snuggled into his arms and quieted down into a peacefully sleep. Tom looked down at the young woman in his arms then closed his eyes as exhaustion over took him he closed his eyes and fell asleep against Melody‘s head. Several hours later Chakotay awoke to find the Doctor standing over him. "Welcome back, Commander. How are you feeling?" asked the Doctor as he ran a tricorder over him. "Like I‘ve been beaten and tortured for two days. How are Tom and Melody?" asked Chakotay as he looked over and saw the pair asleep on another biobed. "Melody‘s fine, Commander. I have not examined Lt. Paris," replied the Doctor. "Tell them..." At Chakotay‘s voice Tom was instantly awake and tried to scoot out from under Melody without waking her. At his movement her eyes popped open. "What‘s happened?" she asked sleepily. "Chakotay‘s awake. Do you want to see him?" asked Tom. "Yes, Tom. Please." Tom got off the bed, and then helped Melody down and together they walked over to Chakotay‘s side. "Hey, love," smiled Tom as he kissed Chakotay lightly on the forehead. "Hi, how are you feeling?" asked Chakotay weakly. "Were fine, Cha. You rest now; we‘ll talk later. OK?" said Tom as he saw Chakotay‘s eyes close. "Love you, Daddy," whispered Melody as she kissed his cheek then felt Tom pull her away. "Mel, why don‘t you go home and get some real sleep. I‘ll call you when he‘s ready to come home." "Tom, I want to stay. Please." "There‘s nothing you can do here, Melody. He‘s on the mend now and you need to get some rest. I promise we‘ll call you. OK?" Melody looked back at Chakotay, then over at Tom. She knew that there was nothing really that she could do here but she hated to leave him. But her back was beginning to hurt and maybe lying down on her bed would help some, and she was still a little tired. "All right, but you promise just as soon as he can come home. Right?" said Melody covering a yawn. "I promise, Mel. Now go and get some rest," said Tom as he kissed her head then pushed her towards the doors. Melody looked back once then stumbled out heading towards their quarters. Tom watched as the doors closed then followed the Doctor into his office. The Doctor was sitting at this desk waiting for Tom. "All right, tell me the truth. How bad is he?" "I told you the truth about his physical injuries before, but what I didn‘t mention in front of Melody was the psychological state his brain is in." "Psychological state, he seemed fine to me when we talked to him?" said Tom. "That was because I had him full of anti toxins. But they seem to be no longer working and his brain is converting to the state he was in when he first arrived." "Which was?" exclaimed Tom. "Highly agitated and very aggressive. It seems that he has a large amount of psychological altering drugs in his system. They are making his aggressive and very unpredictable." "Do you think he could be dangerous?" asked Tom. "I don‘t know, given the state he is in I would prefer to leave him here in sick bay. But I know if I do that would put undue stress on Melody because she would be spending all her time in sickbay and given her condition right now that is not best. So I will agree to you taking him to your quarters. I suggest that he not be left alone and watched very carefully." "Fine, when can we take him home?" asked Tom. "Tomorrow morning. I want to run a few more test to see if I can identify the drug." "I‘ll tell the Captain, then pick him up tomorrow," said Tom as he looked back at the biobed that held Chakotay then left. After breakfast the next morning the Doctor transported a very agitated and incoherent Chakotay to his quarters. He left detailed instructions for his care and said that there must always been two people with him, and when he became very agitated he was to give a sedative. Captain Janeway reworked the duty shifts where there was at least one person from the command staff with Melody at all times. Most of the day Chakotay spent ranting and shouting at his alien captures, not realizing he had been freed. At times he would throw things that were within his reach against the walls, then he would curl up into a ball and be absolutely silent. Melody spent most of the day sitting in the chair dodging the thing he threw her way. When he finally quieted down she carefully crept over to the bed and crawled on the end. She made her way carefully to his side. "Daddy, Chakotay. Are you all right?" asked Melody as she reached for his arm. Instantly she was grabbed and thrown off the bed while he sprinted towards the open door. "Chakotay, stop! Daddy, Please!" yelled Melody as she got up and raced after him. Chakotay made it halfway to the doorway before Harry was able to stun him. Melody was coming out of their bedroom when she saw him fall. "No!" yelled Melody as she ran over to his side." "I had to, Melody. I‘m sorry," stammered Harry. "I know, Harry. I know," cried Melody as she cradled his head. Harry looked down at the young woman holding Chakotay then punched his COM badge. "Kim to Paris" "Paris, here. Go ahead Harry." "Tom, I think you need to come to your quarters," replied Harry. "I‘m on my way. Paris out." A few minutes later Tom entered to find Melody and Chakotay still on the floor. "What happened, Harry?" asked Tom as he came over to them. "I had to stun him, Tom. I heard a thud in your room then he came running out of your bedroom heading for the door," explained Harry. "It‘s all right, Harry. You did the right thing, now help he get him back into the bedroom," said Tom as she reach for Melody‘s arm and pulled her to her feet. When Tom touched her arm, he put his hand on the same place where Chakotay had grabbed her throwing her to the floor. Melody flinched a little pulling back. Tom released her arm but turned her gently to face him. "What‘s wrong, Mel? What happened?" asked Tom with concern. "Nothing, Tom. You just startled me that‘s all," said Melody as she stepped back. "Mel!" warned Tom as he gently pulled her closer and pushed up her sleeves to relieve a large purple bruise on her upper arm. It was just forming but you could see the unmistakable impressions of fingers on her arm. "Did Chakotay...did he do this to you, Mel?" asked Tom. "He didn‘t mean to Tom...I startled him, he didn‘t know what he was doing," cried Melody quickly. "It‘s all right, sweet. It‘s all right. I‘ll deal with that later, right now I need to get him back to bed before he wakes up again. Come on, Harry. Help me carry him," replied Tom as they lifted him up and carried him back into the bedroom. Tom settled him under the covers, then turned to look at the door. "I think we are going to have to keep the door closed for now on. Maybe even restrain him if this keeps up," said Tom with a sigh. "Good luck explaining it to, Melody. Do you need me for anything else?" asked Harry. "No thanks, Harry. I can take it from here," said Tom as he sat down and stared at the man on the bed. Looking at him now he didn‘t look any different from the Chakotay he knew four days ago. But with all those alien drugs in his system he was a totally different person. Unpredictable and violent, Tom wasn‘t sure that if was safe anymore to let Melody help take care of him. In her condition he could easily hurt her without meaning to. The first thing he had to do was take care of Melody, he stood to find Harry still standing in front of him. "I‘m all right, Harry. Really." "All right, If you‘re sure. Call me if you need any help?" said Harry as he left. Tom looked one more time at the man lying on their bed, then went to face the young woman waiting for him in the living area. Melody had gotten an ice pack from the replicator and was sitting on the couch holding it to her arm when Tom came back in. He walked over beside her and sat down, taking the pack out of her hand and looking at the bruise. "I don‘t think it‘s to bad, I could use the..." "No, thank you. I‘ve had worse than this before," said Melody as she took the pack from him and reapplied it to her arm. "Mel, I‘m sorry if I sounded angry before. I was just worried about you, he could have hurt you." "Oh, Tom. You know Chakotay would never hurt me," said Melody as she leaned against him arms. Tom shifted his body so Melody was leaning against his chest, then looked down at the young woman in his arms. "Normally, yes I know that. But Chakotay‘s body is full of alien drugs and it‘s those drugs that are making him so unpredictable." "But we can help him, I know we can. Please, Tom. Let me keep trying, please!" "All right, Mel. But I‘m going to have to insist on a few restrictions." "Like what?" asked Melody as she sat up. She didn‘t like the way this was sounding. "I want him restrained, Melody. And a open COM links so someone can monitor you too make sure you’re all right. Plus I don’t want you left alone with him, someone will be with you at all times" "All right, but I still want to stay in the room with him. I‘ll stay in the chair, when he‘s violent and you can shorten the chains so he can‘t reach me." "Are you sure, Mel? It may get pretty rough?" "I have to Daddy, somewhere in there is our Chakotay and I have to help him to find his way out." "OK, I‘ll call the Doctor and tell him what has happened? Why don‘t you go rest while he‘s asleep, I‘ll call you when he wakes up," said Tom as he kissed her head. "It will be OK, Daddy. You‘ll see, he‘ll be just fine," said Melody as she turned in his arms and gave him a hug, then got up and went to her bedroom. Tom watched as she went to her bedroom knowing full well that he had only compromised and not really solved the problem. If he told Melody that she could no longer take care of Chakotay then she would get upset. And if he let her stay there was still the chance that the emotional strain of taking care of him would affect her. The only thing he could hope for was that two people together would be able to control Chakotay until those drugs left his system. Right now it was a no win situation both ways but this seamed the leaser of the two evils. Chakotay awoke to find himself chained to the bed. Whatever they had knocked him out with left his head hurting and his very angry. He sat up looking around and noticed that his arms were chained to the headboard while his leg was in an iron cuff on a long chain. He pulled on the chain trying to get it lose but it held tight. Then he saw the girl asleep in the chair; she looked like she had swallowed a beach ball. Chakotay moved off the bed towards her when he saw her awaken. She stretched slightly, then looked at him with big gray-blue eyes. "You might as well forget it, Chakotay. There‘s no way your going to break that chain," replied Melody as she saw him pulling on it. He stopped, but sat glaring at her with his brown eyes full of hate. "I‘m sorry we had to do that, Daddy. Tom was afraid you were going to hurt yourself or me, so we didn‘t have much of a choice." Chakotay scooted back onto the bed to ease the tension on the chain, but still sat glaring at her. "Hopefully the Doctor can find something to counter act the drugs that are in your system. Until then, I‘m afraid you stuck with me," said Melody. Chakotay reached over and threw a pillow at Melody, then curled into a ball mumbling. In the corner sat B’Elanna Torres ever watchful just incase Melody needed help. TBC