Title: The Bodyguard 8/9
Author: Maxine

See introduction of disclaimer, summary and pairings.
 
 

Revenge

Larry Baatz a.k.a. Lawrence Whitman lived on Cora
Prime with his wife, Teresa. It was a small planet,
lush and green. The inhabitants weren't as
technologically advanced as those on other plants, but
that suited Lawrence just fine. While he enjoyed most
of the modern conveniences that came with living, say,
on earth, he preferred the quiet life that Cora Prime
offered. 

Teresa, she was so special. When Lawrence met her he
was on the verge of complete and utter despair. He had
lost his parents in an accident, which was later
deemed not to be so. It turned out that they were just
in the wrong place at the wrong time. Another
passenger was the target of a death contract. The ones
who carried out the order didn't care who else was
hurt, as long as their enemy was eliminated. 

The news hit Lawrence extremely hard. His desire for
revenge as so great, it consumed him. Teresa happened
along at the exact time, when he needed to either be
pull back to reality or forever be lost in the abyss.
Gently, she brought him back. Gave him reasons to live
and love again.

   He was happy, *they* were happy.  That was until
Teresa got the idea in her head that she *had* to help
a small band of renegades fight against the formidable
forces of the Federation and the Cardassians. Teresa
found the Maquis, and her need to help the underdog
came back in full force. At first, Lawrence believed
it was a passing fancy. She was bored; life was a bit
too slow on Cora for her. After living her whole life
on Earth and the all bustle that went with it, it was
hard to for her to adjust. 

    After a while Lawrence began to realize that her
helping the band of fools may be more than just a way
to while away the hours. Teresa began leaving earlier
in the morning and arriving home later and later in
the evening. They argued many times over her
involvement. Their last argument happened on a night
she came home well after midnight. He had been pacing
the floors for hours, when she came busting through
the door, his relief was great but his anger was
overwhelming.

    "That's it Teresa, I'm putting a stop to this
foolish flight of fancy of yours right now. I forbid
you to continue helping those malcontents. No more! I
refuse to allow you to put our life on hold for them,'
he roared at her.

     "Lawrence, they aren't malcontents. They are
people who want their lives and homes back. As long as
there is breath in my body, I'm going to do all I can
to help. I love you dearly, but you can't stop me.
Please don't try," she said in a voice more steady and
determined that he ever remembered.

"We have a good life here. Why risk it? You know what
happens to anyone who helps this Maquis in their
fight."

"Why? Because of all the lives lost before now and
those who will die if the Cardassians aren't stopped.
We owe them all we can do."

"No! *We* don't owe them anything. The Cardassians
and the Federation have worked through their
differences and a treaty has been signed. *We* just
have to live our lives in quiet and peace."

"I can't live in peace, knowing that at any time the
Cardassians could come to *this* planet and take it
from us."

"They won't do that. They have an agreement with the
Federation," he roared.

"No, Lawrence. You haven't been listening to the
reports. They are slowly making their way across the
DMZ, taking whatever they want and the Federation
isn't doing anything to stop them," she explained. 

"And you believe that a bunch of ragtag idiots are
going to stop them? The Federation will do that."

"No. They haven't and they won't. They don't care
about us out here. As long as the Cardassians stay
away from the larger planets, they'll turn a blind
eye."

"Well then we are going back to Earth. If they aren't
going to show up there, that's where we need to be.
That way you won't feel the need to help every wounded
stray that shows up on your doorstep."

"I'm not going to fight with you and I'm not going
back to Earth. Besides the Maquis have found alliances
there also. People are leaving Starfleet everyday.
Turning their backs on the Federation because of their
refusal to believe they may have made a mistake."

"Teresa, please just stop," he begged.

"I can't and I won't. I love you Lawrence, but I have
to do this. You go back to Earth if you wish. I'll be
in touch when I can. I met someone who said he might
know of a cell that could use my help. Ken Dalby is
his name and he is introducing me to a Captain
Chakotay. This Maquis Captain has been doing some
damage to the Cardassians. I want to do more. He's the
one I want to help."

An old anger came back to visit. "You leave and it's
over. I won't be here when you get back. You'll have
nothing," he yelled.

"If that's what you want Lawrence, fine. I'd prefer
it if you weren't on this planet when the Cardassians
show up. I love you, Lawrence," she said softly then
went to pack.  She believed in her heart that Lawrence
didn't mean what he said. He'd always be there for
her.

Lawrence made a decision. He had to stop his wife
from making the biggest mistake of her life. He would
contact a Cardassian outpost and tell them of the
meeting. He'd hand this Maquis Chakotay over to the
Cardassians. That'd give them reason enough to leave
his world alone. 

How wrong he was, the Cardassians showed but the
Maquis didn't. They'd intercepted the transmission.
They called a warning to any that were planning on
being at the original location. All but three received
word, Teresa was among those who hadn't been found in
time. The reptiles captured her and took to a prison
camp. A few days later, Chakotay's cell invaded the
camp rescuing as many as they could. Teresa didn't
make it, she was killed by one of the Cardassian
guards. 

When her husband received word of her capture and
subsequent death, he crumbled. He fell into the abyss
that he'd hovered over all those years ago. Captain
Chakotay must die, was all his mind would say. It was
his promise to all the gods and spirits of all the
planes. The vow to the children he and Teresa would
never have. They would have their vengeance.   

Not long after that his thunder was stolen from him,
the Maquis cell that his enemy captained was gone,
killed it was reported, along with a crew from
Starfleet. Voyager had gone after him and they
perished too. Unable to feel any sorrow for the lives
of the Starfleet crew, Lawrence felt joy in knowing
that the scum was dead. Not the death he had planned
for Chakotay, but he was dead and that's all that
mattered. 

Lawrence became a recluse, he cut himself off from
the worlds around him. Lived in the memories of
happier times with Teresa. His life was, as he wanted
it now. No one would get near him again. For seven
years, he continued to live on Cora Prime. Sometimes
he would tell Teresa 'see you were wrong, the reptiles
didn't come for us.' She would never argue with him,
she knew he'd been right. 

Seven years of quiet living, then it was shattered.
Lawrence had made his way into town one day and what
he heard there made his blood boil. Voyager hadn't
perished nor had that Maquis cell. They had been
stranded in the Delta Quadrant all this time. But they
were back now, being hailed at the miracle crew. Two
separate crews joined to fight together, and stay
alive. Working together to get everyone home. Not
everyone who left came back, when Lawrence read the
names of the returning survivors the depth of his
hatred grew. Chakotay had made it, lived seven years
away from the pain he caused. 

The Maquis were all pardoned, given medals of
bravery, offered positions within Starfleet. Chakotay
refused his and it seemed that many followed in his
footsteps. The foolish still bowing to the murderer's
lead. Lawrence's need for revenge boiled within him
once again. He planned, calculated and gathered all he
needed. The former Maquis was about to find out, that
there were those who wouldn't turn a blind eye to his
murderous past.

The first to send the message was his adopted sister,
the half-klingon. She died in an accident. It was so
easy to fool the 'experts', just a few wires
innocently crossed the right way and the transport
blew. So, a few others died, also. Isn't that the way
it was? Sometimes, people not involved had to be hurt
too. All was fair in war.

Next, the female singer his nemesis was hired to
protect. He didn't do such a good job there either,
did he? The added bonus of killing her *and* his spawn
made the end all the more perfect. Neil Forman was so
easy to manipulate. Lawrence had no trouble at all
convincing him that Rose Benson was his property, to
do with what he pleased. As her owner, Neil had to
make her pay for her disobedience with death. 

It wasn't so hard, once Lawrence informed him that
she was sleeping with the scum of the world. He pulled
the trigger without a moment hesitation. Once the deed
was complete, Lawrence simply faded into the
background. He had done his job well, Neil believed it
was all his own idea. Lawrence was never named at all.
 

The grieving avenger watched from a distance as
Chakotay lost himself in a life of loneliness. 
Somewhat pleased with the former Maquis' solitary
life, Lawrence began finding his own way back from the
beyond.  A year passed, when he learned something of
great importance. While stranded in the Delta
Quadrant, Chakotay had a lover, Tom Paris. Turns out
that the half-klingon had stolen that lover from him.
But now she was no longer around, nor was the singer.
There was a chance that the two would and could get
back together. Not if Lawrence had any say in the
matter.

This one Lawrence would take great pleasure in
killing himself. So began his plan. It took a bit of
time and patience, but now he was in. He was close
enough to Paris to know everything, but still far
enough away that no one would connect him to the
death. One of the results of his plan was better than
he could hope. Paris' people called on Chakotay,
himself, to come and protect Paris from the menace. 

It was all too perfect. Chakotay would actually be
there to watch this one die. Perhaps the murderer
should die too. Yes, Chakotay of Dorvan V, former
Maquis Captain, the bane of Lawrence Whitman's
existence would die. Finally paying the price for
killing Teresa all those years ago.
 
 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chakotay woke to the quiet sound of a knock on the
door. Coming to, he noticed he wasn't in his room.
Then he felt a warmth wrapped around him, brought the
realization home, he'd spent the night with Tom. After
he stepped in the blonde's room, time stood still yet
sped by so quickly. Or so it seemed. They reacquainted
themselves with the other's body, slowly,
deliberately. When they were done, they fell asleep in
each other's arms.

Another knock startled Chakotay and roused Tom.
Chakotay smiled a bit, bent over and kiss his lover's
cheek. He then got up, wrapped a blanket around
himself and went to the door. Nayib was on the other
side grinning like an idiot.

"Good Morning, Chaos," he laughed.

"Morning, Nay. Is there a specific reason for waking
me at this hour? Or did you just want to gloat for a
bit?"

"Actually, a bit of both. Kathryn is on the comm line
for you, but gloating is on the menu for the morning
also," Nayib smiled and left his little brother
standing there grumbling. 

"Tell her, I'll be right there," Chakotay shouted
after him. He then went back into the room, to find
Tom sitting up in bed smiling.

"Morning," Chakotay said as he reached for his
sweatpants.

"Morning, Chak. What did Nayib want?"

"Kathryn is on the line. I need to speak to her,"
Chakotay answered. He put his robe on and turned
towards the door. 

"I'll come with you. I want to make sure everything
is okay there." Tom had this feeling that Chakotay was
pulling away from him. "No kiss good morning?"

"Oh." Chakotay turned back and gave the blond a quick
kiss on the cheek. Not what Tom had in mind, so he
grabbed his lover's face and kissed him on the mouth.
The response he received was, again, not what he
expected. Chakotay pulled quickly away and left the
room. 

Tom shook his head and followed the big guy
downstairs. Nayib greeted him with a cup of coffee,
then he heard Chakotay curse. He quickly went over to
him. "What's wrong?" Chakotay looked at him, his face
screwed up in anger.

"Ann Delaney, she was beaten up last night. Jenny
found her, she might not make it," Chakotay seethed.
"Jenny said, the only person they know that was
suppose to visit her was her boyfriend Larry. No one
can find him now."

"Shit," Tom exclaimed! "You don't think...." He
couldn't even say what was running through his mind.

Chakotay turned back to talk to Kathryn on the
commlink. "Does anyone have a picture of him? Did you
get the information I asked?"

"I've transmitted what Ken and I found out. You're
not going to like it." She paused for a moment. "I'll
talk to Jenny and Megan, maybe they have a picture
from some party."

"Fine, keep us updated," Chakotay said. "Oh, one more
thing, next time you contact me use a different
location."

"All right." Kathryn looked past him at Tom. "Don't
worry Tom. The doctors are doing everything they can."
With that her face faded away.

Chakotay downloaded the transmission from Kathryn,
then turned and walked past Tom, not saying anything.
Tom stood shocked, Ann Delaney, sweet kid, near death.
"God! I hope this has nothing to do with me!"

Chakotay and Nayib stood in the kitchen, quietly
talking about what was in the communiqué. Greg and
Harry came in a few minutes later. Both instantly
knowing something was wrong. 

"Boss. What's up," Greg asked?

"Ann Delaney was beaten last night. She's in the
hospital, they don't know if she's going to make it.
And Kathryn sent me this," Chakotay said as he handed
Greg the padd he was holding. He took it and scrolled
through it. "Go to the end. There's a couple of
interesting holoimagines there," Chakotay growled.

Greg did as instructed and his mouth fell open when
he got to the pictures. Harry was looking over his
shoulder; he reacted the same way. Staring back at
them were two images, the same man but two different
names. The first was a picture of the employee from
the Transport Company. The one who inspected the
transport that B'Elanna was killed in. The second was
that of an employee who worked at Rose's doctor's
office when she found out she was pregnant. 

"It would seem we have found a connection, wouldn't
it," Chakotay asked sarcastically?

"Do you recognize him," Greg asked?

"No." The voice in which the answer was given caused
a shiver to run down Harry's spine. It was dripping
with loathsome contempt. When he looked up at the man
the shiver immediately became a tremble. The hatred
was plain to see. 

Tom came in the kitchen at that moment. He felt the
hostility in the air as soon as he stepped through the
door. "What's going on," he asked? No answer was
given, just a padd shoved in his hand by Greg. When he
looked at it, he automatically dropped it. "That's...
that's Larry Baatz."

"What," Chakotay growled?

"That's Larry, Ann's boyfriend. How did you get a
picture of him so quickly?"

"I didn't," Chakotay snarled as he picked up the
padd. He handed it back to Tom. "Read the names and
employment referrals," he demanded.

It only took a few seconds for Tom to do as ordered.
"Oh my god," he wailed as the information sank in!

Nayib heard the commlink beep, he went to answer it
and call to Chakotay. When the other man entered the
room, he found himself looking at Ken Dalby. A very
shaken Ken Dalby. "What's going on Ken?"

"Boss. Umm, I know... who Larry Baatz is... and where
he might have gone," he stammered. 

"Tell me," Chakotay ordered!

"Remember that Cardassian ambush on Cora Prime we
avoided?"

"Vaguely."

"Well, his name is really Lawrence Whitman, his wife
was one of the three that were captured. She died
during the raid on that prison camp a couple of days
later."

"I see. You said you thought you knew where we could
find him," Chakotay said, tension riddled his body.

"Yes, I think he might be back on Cora Prime. As
Tuvok would say, 'that would be the logical thing for
him to do'."

"Fine. Thank you, Ken." Chakotay closed the link. He
stood quietly, trying to tame the rage inside. He
couldn't speak, he knew if he did the rage would boil
out. This madman was going around hurting people,
because of something that happened more than twelve
years ago.  B'Elanna and Rose died because of
something *he* had no control over, yet was being held
responsible for. 

The others in the room, similar thoughts running
through their head, could see that the former Maquis
captain was going to blow and soon. Tom making a quick
decision spoke quietly to Nayib. Instead of answering
the older man went to the terminal and keyed in a
code. With a gesture, he told Tom his request had been
done.

Tom sat at the terminal and waited. Suddenly his
father's face appeared before him. "Tom? What is it?
Are you all right? You're mother said you canceled the
concert and disappeared. Where are you?" The Admiral
fired off the questions without taking a breath. Tom
couldn't help but smile a bit at the noted concern in
his father's voice. To think that all he had to do to
get his father's approval, was to go out on his own
and make a name for himself. Well, that and have a
little girl who took every opportunity to tell her
grandfather what a great dad Tom was.  

"Dad, relax. I'm fine for now. Listen I need a favor.
We need to get to Cora Prime as quickly and as quietly
as possible. My vessel won't do, it'd be noticed and
well we need to get in undetected. Can you help us?"

"Can you tell me why?"

"Not right now, dad. Please don't ask too many
questions. Just know that my safety and that of
Miral's depend on your help." Tom knew using his
granddaughter on the Admiral was dirty but desperate
times call for desperate measures. He wasn't letting
Chakotay go it alone. 

"All right, how soon do you need it?"

"Yesterday."

"I'll be ready in two hours. I have a couple of
favors I can call in. Where is Miral?"

"She's at home with Neelix and Nick. She's fine.
Thanks dad, we appreciate the help," Tom said with a
smile.

"You know I'll do whatever I can to help the two of
you," Admiral Paris answered. "Contact your mother and
me as soon as you can. A ship will be waiting at the
San Francisco space dock for you. See you soon."

"Thanks. Talk to you later. Bye, dad." Tom signed
off. When he looked up from the terminal, Chakotay was
staring at him, with an unreadable expression on his
face. "I did what I thought was necessary," he said
with a shrug.

"You aren't coming with me," Chakotay growled. 

"Yes I am. That is *not* open for debate," Tom threw
the other man's words back at him. "Chak, you can't
expect me to sit around here and wait to hear if
everything is fine or I've lost you. That is
unacceptable," Tom demanded.

Chakotay sighed, as much as he wanted to argue, he
knew Tom would go whether he agreed or not. He was
also aware that Tom could hold his own in a firefight.
Or at least he hoped he still could, because Chakotay
was positive things were going to get to that level,
quickly. 

"Fine." Chakotay turned to Greg. "Call Ken, John and
Gerron. Tell them to meet us at the space port," he
ordered. Then he spoke to Nayib, "Charlie still have
his stash?" Nayib nodded. "Get it. We're out of here."

     Without another word he walked out of the cabin,
followed closely by Nayib. They went to a smaller
building set about twenty meters behind it. Greg
contacted the people he was told to. Harry and Tom
went to the hover-car and waited. Neither spoke, they
didn't really know what to say.  Greg soon joined
them.

     "Harry, I don't want you to come with us," Greg
whispered.

"Greg..." Harry began to protest, but Greg held up a
hand to stop him.

"Babe, please don't argue with me. You just finished
recovering from an injury, this bastard inflected.
Just go back to the house and wait, I promise, I'll be
home as soon as we're done." Greg sealed his promise
and his demand with a deep searing kiss.

When he was allowed to breathe again, Harry could do
nothing but nodded his agreement. He hated it when
Greg did things like that to him. His lover knew a
kiss like that would send him to his room, if that was
where Greg wanted him. 

Tom sat back and watched the show before him. He
snickered to himself, he so loved it when Greg
controlled Harry like that. He could only hope that
one day, soon, Chakotay would do the same to him. He
was stopped from taking that thought any further when
the man of his fantasy and Nayib got in the car. 

"We'll come back for our things when this is over,"
Chakotay stated matter of factly.  The hover-car was
powered up and they were gone. 
 

TBC