Title:
In the Light of Day
Author: Kim Riley a.k.a. MYSTIC
Pairings: (DS9/Voy) C/P, B/m
Notes: Sequel to Shades of Gray
and part XI of the Dark Desire
series.
Disclaimer: Ok, as usual, none of
these characters, besides Nolan
Osgood, belong to me, they belong
to Paramount, and again I'm getting
them out of the `closet' to let
them be happy.
Rating: R
Feedback: Mysticmcknight@hotmail.com
Please!!!!!!!!! Pretty please?
In the Light of Day
Captain
Janeway felt nervous at the thought of facing
Chakotay; now that she knew that
a lot of what was going on started
with her being too insecure in her
command and pushing the Commander
into the shadows. But she also knew
that this might be the only
opportunity to start making amends
and perhaps gain more answers to
this bizarre situation. The signal
from the Veil had arrived and it
was time for her to go meet her
former First Officer. "Mr. Tuvok, you
have the bridge," she said as she
stood up and headed to the
turbolift.
"Captain!"
panicked voice rang out over the com channel. "We
have problem!"
It
was Ensign Martin from the transporter room. "What is it,
Ensign?" she asked.
"Commander
Chakotay…his…his signal…"
"Take
it easy, what happened," she replied and then gave a
nod to Harry to see what he could
figure out from his console.
"He
arrived, but only for a moment and then he was gone. I
thought at first the transport didn't
work, but there is no more
signal to lock on…he's…he's gone!"
replied the grief and panic-
stricken ensign.
"Gone?"
Janeway looked over to Harry Kim and to Tuvok who
also was on top of the matter.
"I'm
seeing that the transport was complete, Captain," Harry
stated.
"I
concur. What ever happened does not seem to be linked to
the transporter," Tuvok added.
"Just
relax, Ensign. I'll send Mr. Kim down to double check
you equipment, but from here it
doesn't register as a malfunction.
Janeway out."
"What
do you think happened?" Harry asked.
Janeway
stood her ground for a few moments in thought. Then
her eyes narrowed as she turned
slightly to the viewscreen where the
Veil could be seen leading the way
to the Wormhole. "I don't know,
but I would bet a life time supply
of ration credits that what ever
did happen was no accident."
"What!"
she exclaimed as she moved to the helm and looked
over the pilot's shoulders. Sure
enough they were turning away from
the wormhole at warp seven with
speed increasing.
"Janeway
to engineering, what is going down there?"
"Captain,
the Veil is hailing us. They want to know why we're
leaving?" Harry stated.
"Janeway
to engineering!" Still no reply, so she turned to
Tuvok, "get a team down there. Harry,
go with him."
She
waited till Harry's back up, got to her station. "Get me
the Veil!"
It
took only a few seconds, when the screen lit up and she
could see Tom piloting, the First
Officer standing dutifully next to
Prince Julian. "What the hell is
going on!" she demanded. "Chakotay
said he wanted to talk and now Voyager
is out of control!"
All
three looked surprised, but it was Tom that spoke
first. "He said it was 'just' to
talk," he replied, starting to
understand some of what was happening.
He looked back at Julian, "if
we don't follow, we're going to
lose them!"
Julian
nodded, "Match course and speed, Tom."
"Tuvok
to Captain Janeway."
"Go
ahead," she growled.
"I
have been locked out of engineering and all override codes
will not by pass it. From what I
can hear, the engineering crew is
responding to a warp core breech."
"Warp
core breech?" She looked over at Alaya, who simply
shook his head no, that according
to his sensors that was not the
case.
"But
that doesn't explain way helm was locked out," Janeway
added.
"Nolan,"
Julian replied as he stood up from the command
chair.
"What
did that bastard do!" Tom roared from his chair, still
maneuvering the Veil to keep pace
with Voyager.
"I
don't know but I'm going to find out," Julian replied
tightly.
"I
hate to be the barer of bad news here, but the wormhole
won't last for ever," Rebecca St.
Cloud adds. "You said your self it
was 'made' for the trip and time
was of the essence."
"That
I did," Julian said, then pressed his lips
together. "You have the bridge and
keep a count down," he said
quieter so Voyager didn't hear him.
//No matter how much I care about
Voyager, I can't let one ship stand
above an entire quadrant. When
the time comes and we have to leave…we
leave, understood?//
Rebecca
just nods to Prince Julian's silent commands and
takes the Captain's chair, and quietly
sets a count down clock.
"Captain,
it seems you have a problem and with all due
respect, I'm coming over to handle
it."
"I'm
coming with you!" Tom snapped and stood up to go.
"No,
Tom. You are staying here, and that's an order," Julian
replies. Then before Janeway can
get two words out he disappears in a
wisp of mist only to reappear on
Voyager's bridge next to
Janeway. "Sorry, Captain," he says
and once again disappears.
Captain
Janeway turns to bark orders when suddenly the ship
lurches to a complete stop and she
just catches herself on the edge
of her chair. Then the bridge lights
and all control panels go dark.
Only the emergency lights were functioning.
"What the hell is going
on!"
"Captain,
we're dead in space and there is no power to the
bridge except for the back up lights,"
Greg Alaya states.
"Get
down to engineering and find out what the hell is going
on. Sam, see if you can reroute
some of the emergency power to the
computer," Janeway replies. She
turns to see that the communication
channel was also closed.
"Captain,"
Greg states.
"Lieutenant,
didn't I …" she was about to say order him to
engineering, but seeing that the
turbolift also didn't work, she
understood what he was going to
say. She gave a nod and watched him
move to the hatchway that would
lead to the long climb down. They
were trapped up here and she didn't
have a clue as to what was going
on in engineering, and for the first
time, knowing Chakotay was down
there brought fear instead of the
comfort it once had done.
************
"If
we can't get the warp core under control, we're going to
have to dump it!" B'Elanna shouted
over all the noise of the warning
klaxons that we're sounding.
"I
can't reach the bridge. They must have their hand's full,"
Joe Carry replied as he was franticly
trying to repair the burnt out
console before him.
"B'Elanna!
Readings are off the scale!" Sue Nicoletti shouted
from her station, as she watched
the core readings climb into the
red. "We're going to have to dump
it!"
"How
much time?" B'Elanna asked as she franticly worked the
controls.
"One
minute, if that," Sue replied.
"It's
too dangerous to dump the core at this speed,"
Interjected Joe.
"We
don't have a choice. We either dump at this speed or we
cut power and pray that Voyager
isn't being attacked," B'Elanna
replied.
"I'm
showing weapons are off line," Donna shouted.
"B'Elanna!"
Sue shouted, letting her know time was almost up.
"I'm
dumping the core, brace yourselves!" Then B'Elanna
dumped the core and prayed they
would get far enough away from the
explosion. After thirty more seconds
the ship rocked violently.
B'Elanna turned to see that all
her team was well and in one piece,
but there was work to do.
Little
did she know that Chakotay had just finished his work,
as he stood silently in the shadows
with a dark grin on his face.
Chakotay posses the power of shadow
melding, and once he was on board
Voyager he used it and made his
way to engineering were he now stood
overlooking his handiwork.
//You
made them dump the warp core?// Julian asked silently
from the shadows were he found Chakotay.
//That's
right. I also had them lock out the helm and move
Voyager too far away so they couldn't
get back to the wormhole on
impulse in time,// he replied darkly.
//It will take them at least a
week to find out what they really
did and fix it, // he laughed
quietly, for in the shadows not
a sound was made.
//Nolan
put you up to this, didn't he?//
//What
my Lord wants, he gets,// Chakotay growls
back. //Something you should remember!
//
//Tom's
not going too easily forgive you for this.//
//Yes
he will, he's mine.//
//No!
He belongs to a good and decent man. I don't know who
you are, but you are not the Chakotay
who would have risked his life
to get this crew home. //
//I
didn't hurt them! // He snapped coldly.
//No,
you did worse. You've taken them to the doorway to home
and slammed it shut in their faces!
How could you…you of all people
do that? Nolan or no…how…how could
you crush them like this? //
It
was small, but it was there, a waver in Chakotay's
presence, as if a wave of grief
hit him, but then it was gone. //They
would only interfere! // He growled
back and then moved away, so he
could exit the shadows and return
to the Veil, but first he had one
last stop.
Julian
stood silent in the shadows watching a desperate crew
doing their best to fix a problem
that only existed in their minds,
and therefore was causing more problems
than they possibly could
know. He didn't know anything
about engineering and frankly there
wasn't time. He needed to get back
to the Alpha quadrant before
Vladimere gained too much ground
in his absence. That meant he
couldn't send over a team to help
nor did he have time to battle
Chakotay and retrieve it from his
mind. Seeing what the Captain and
former First officer did here today,
Julian knew Chakotay was no
slouch and would make a formidable
opponent, but still he was no
prince. Only time was their real
enemy here at the moment. There was
only one thing Julian could think
of that he could do, and then he
too moved from the shadows back
to the bridge of the Veil.
***********
"Having
a problem, Captain?"
Janeway
turned around from the computer console where she was
trying to help Sam reroute some
power, toward the familiar voice that
was coming from the Captain's chair.
"What the hell did you do!" she
seethed as she stormed down to become
face to face with Chakotay, who
had the nerve to be sitting in her
seat.
"Oh,
a bit of this a bit of that, but no one was hurt. It's
the least I could do," he smirked.
At
this moment she didn't care, she reached out to slap that
smirk off Chakotay's face, but found
she couldn't move her arm. It
was paralyzed in mid swing. "You
bastard!" she growled. "How could
you…you of all people do this?!"
Chakotay
slowly stood up, his dark eyes locked with Captain
Janeway's, a dark gleam in his eyes.
"That's the second time in a
matter of minutes I've been asked
that question, but for you, I'll
answer it." He moved up on the Captain,
and anyone that attempted to
make a move toward him froze in
his or her spot. He leaned down his
lips close to her ear and whispered
something and then vanished,
leaving a stunned and paralyzed
Janeway behind.
****************
"How
much time do we have?" Julian asked as he appeared on
the bridge of Veil.
"Just
enough time to get there and get back. I was about to
contact you," Rebecca states as
she gets up from the Captain's seat.
"What
about Chakotay? What's going on over there?" Tom asked
with desperate concern for his love
and for his friends.
Julian
gave a quick glance around the bridge; this was not
the place to discuss this, openly.
"They will be okay," he says
stiffly and turns to Rebecca. "Their
computers are down. I want a
hard copy of your original destination
made and taken to Voyager
stat. Then we have to go," Julian
orders, feeling a part of his soul
ache at the thought.
"We
can't leave them here!" Tom protests.
Julian
sees that Rebecca is handling his orders, and starts
for the ready room, "With me," he
says, knowing Tom understood it was
directed at him. He entered in the
office and turned just in time to
see Tom already standing there.
"Long story short. Chakotay made the
engineering people believe there
was a warp core breach, while having
them lock out the helm and take
them off course. Then he had them
eject the core and who knows what
else. He said it would take them a
week, I have no doubt he knew what
he was doing."
Tom
stood stunned, "He…he could do that? He could make them
think…all of them?"
"Tom,
I told you he was powerful, especially with his mind
and on the spirit plane," Julian
sighed. "I'm sorry, but I think we
may have lost him."
"NO!
No, if we did, he'd blown up Voyager, not just put her
out of commission," Tom replied.
"That
would be too easy, they wouldn't suffer that way, now
would they? He wanted them to hurt,
Tom, don't you understand?"
"I
can't believe that."
"I'm
sorry," Julian replied and tried to rest a comforting
hand on Tom's shoulder, but Tom
brushed it off.
"No,
don't be sorry. He wouldn't…he couldn't…"
"Tom,
he did. All I can do is send Voyager the coordinates to
the other wormhole and hope for
the best. It may take them a few
months, but at least they'll still
get there."
"Couldn't
we tractor them?"
Julian
folded his arms around himself, "Do you really think
it would work?" he asked, wanting
Tom to reason this question out.
"Why
not we could…" then it hit him. "If I thought of it…"
"Then
Chakotay would have too. You can check but I bet the
tractor beam is broken and we don't
have time to fix it. I'm sorry,
Tom. But an entire quadrant is at
risk…"
"I
know," Tom said in a pained whisper. "Where is he?"
Julian
looked at Tom puzzled. "Didn't he come back here?"
"No."
Julian
hit his com unit on his wrist, "Rebecca, track the
Captain."
"He's
in his quarters, your Highness and he's not alone,"
Rebecca responded after a few moments.
Julian
didn't get a chance to say a word when he felt the
breeze of Tom blurring out of the
ready room. He knew were he was
going, and Julian knew he was going
that way too, but he had a faster
method, as he turned to mist and
vanished.
****************
The
doorway to the room where Chakotay and Tom summoned their
Lords was open were bronze skin
glistened from the flickering of
candlelight, as a figure knelt huddled
in the center, while another
circled them like a vulture.
"NO!"
Chakotay cried, his face covered in his bloodshed
tears. His naked body was shaking,
and tiny droplets of blood dripped
from his pours like sweat. "Why?"
he asked his voice in pained
anguish.
"Because
you are mine, Chakotay. It is that simple," Nolan
replied with some anger in his voice.
"There is NO going back."
"But
why? Why did you…"
"Why
did I enter your mind and then did what you should have?
To show you the way, that's why!"
Nolan growled. "To show you that
what needs to be done can be, and
I didn't have to hurt anyone…I kept
my promise."
"They
all think I betrayed them!"
"They
thought that of you already!" Nolan snapped. "But it
was all right for you to consider
betraying me? You didn't think I
would have sensed the deception
when you said you would take care of
Voyager?"
Chakotay
hung his head in sorrow and pain. The moment he said
the words, the moment he had tried
to deceive Nolan, his soul caught
fire. No matter how angry he was
at some of the people on Voyager,
they were a vital part of his past,
and him…he understood this now
more than ever. The moment he felt
the burn, he could see what he had
been doing more clearly than ever
and what Nolan was doing to him,
and the revelation was truly a painful
one. Nolan had whisked him to
this room and was suppose to help
him through this torture, but it
was getting worse, not better. "This
is inhuman!" Chakotay gasped
out, the pain was getting worse.
"Big
flash for you, Chakotay, we're not human, remember!"
Nolan stormed up to Chakotay and
glared down at him, but a sense of a
pending visitor detoured his current
actions. "I will deal more with
you later," he growled as he moved
by the weakened state of his
creation and exited the room and
sealed it shut moments before Julian
appeared.
"What
do you want?" Nolan snarled his irritation and
impatience clear in his voice.
"I
want to know why you are such a fuck!" Julian growled. "I
told you 'I' could handle Voyager!
I also don't know what you did to
Chakotay…"
"I
did nothing to him, you little upstart!" Nolan replied and
with a gesture of his hand, Julian
went flying across the room and
into the bulkhead and were he remained
in the air and hard
pressed. "You better remember who
you are talking too. I gave you a
warning, don't think I'll be forgiving
a second time!" Then Nolan
took a step forward and turned toward
the cabin doors as they
opened, "As for you!" another gesture
and it was Tom's turn to hit
the bulkhead. "You serve one purpose
here. The only reason I do not
dispatch you here and now is because
I 'do' care what Chakotay and
Julian feel. I take the care and
responsibility of my people very
seriously! Now hear me and hear
me good. I am Lord and I rule Dark
Haven. You both serve me, and I
will not tolerate another
transgression, for I have been way
too lenient as it is. I also
demand that what ever you have done
to place the black fire on
Chakotay you fix it, or he will
die! And so you both understand this,
it will not be my doing! It was
the two of you that brought this on
him and it will be your fault if
he dies and so help the two of you
and your precious Alpha quadrant
if that happens!" Then Nolan let the
two men fall to the floor and then
turned and entered into the room,
allowing Tom and Julian just a glimpse
of the state Chakotay was in
before the room was closed off to
them again.
"That
son-of-a-bitch!" Tom growls as he gets up from the
floor and helps Julian up. "What
has he done to Chakotay?"
Julian
let Tom rant and rave for a moment as he closed his
eyes to gather his thoughts of what
he saw what he heard and what he
felt on this matter before speaking.
"You were right, Tom," he
finally said.
This
revelation startled Tom into silence as he looked at
Julian, "About what?"
Julian
gave a weak smile, "That Chakotay couldn't do what we
saw occur today. It was Nolan on
Voyager, not Chakotay."
"How
do you know this?"
"Because,
Chakotay is suffering from a server case of Black
fire. Remember what I told you about
it? Well, it someone fights it,
it gets worse and it could kill
him or her. That is what is happening
with Chakotay now, which means he
couldn't have done it. He wouldn't
be in such a state if he did what
Nolan had wanted," Julian replied.
Tom
gave a small smile knowing that he was right all along
about his love, but it was quickly
replaced with concern. "How do we
help him?"
Julian
just looked at Tom for a long moment; "He has to stop
fighting Nolan. He has to once more
allow himself to be one with him…
to…accept him again."
"How
do we do that after trying so hard to get him back?"
Julian
sighed, "I don't know," he replied softly. Then after
a moment he added, "But when we
get back to the Alpha quadrant, I
know someone who will."
************
Nolan
entered the room where he could see Chakotay was still
struggling with their bond. He has
spoken the truth; for it was
because of Chakotay and Julian that
he speared Voyager and not just
out right destroy them. This time
as he moved to stand next to
Chakotay, a good portion of his
anger spent, he was able to see how
his love was suffering, and that
was the problem…he really did love
Chakotay, but now the man no longer
believed him.
He
knelt down next to the big man he had come to care for so
deeply so fast and used his powers
to dry his love's body from the
bloody sweat. "Love, please stop
this foolishness. You are not only
hurting me, but others who love
you…please. I 'do' love you. Why do
you think I have lied to you? Why
have you turned against me so? Have
I not done all that I have said
and promised?"
"Perhaps,
but you have tried to force me on a path I do not
wish to travel again," Chakotay
replies.
"I
only did it so you would be strong enough when you face
Vladimere. I know you can defeat
him, but I don't want to lose you in
the process of destroying him,"
Nolan replied, genuine love in his
voice.
Chakotay
looked at Nolan and saw some tears of his own
falling down the strange beautiful
face looking back at him. "If you
really love me, then let me go.
I can't think…I…let me go, please."
Nolan
closed his eyes, the ache in his heart was strong, "It
doesn't work that way, Love, and
for once I wish it did. I can not
let you go till a year of your time
has passed for only then will the
bond break. It is not my doing,
it is the way it is…I'm sorry."
"I
am too," Chakotay whispered, before passing out.
***********
There
was no joy in anyone's eyes as the stars of the Alpha
quadrant shined before them. For
Julian and Tom, and some others, it
meant knowing they left others behind,
while for the rest it meant a
new world and the beginning of what
could be an all out war.
The
celestial beings did as promised they created a Wormhole
that took them near Earth, which
now appeared on the view screen,
steadily rotating as if nothing
had ever happed to it. Tom didn't
care if he ever got back here, for
he had nothing waiting for him,
but being here while those who dreamed
of it remained behind, filled
his heart with pain and guilt. "Now
what?" Tom asked, as he fought
against the anger and guilt he was
feeling, while keeping the Veil in
orbit and undetected thanks to it's
advanced technology.
Julian
sat in the Captain's chair, not feeling very
comfortable. He was to be a doctor,
but destiny had determined
another path for him. //Good question,
// he thought, for all he was
told was to get them here to Earth.
Just what was he to do next? He
reached out his mind, //Cain? //
//My
sweet treasure, you have arrived, // Cain's thoughts
replied, filling Julian with warmth
and love.
//Yes,
I have arrived with the Veil…but there have been
problems. //
//I
know. //
Julian
couldn't help but really smile, he knew the crew was
staring at him, and would know he
was talking mentally. //Did I tell
you…//
//It's
rude of me to read your thoughts, yes you have. But I
told you, centuries of a bad habit
is not going to stop over
night, // Cain chuckled back, sensing
his treasure understood.
//What
do we do now? //
//It
has taken me some time, but I have gathered a list of
where Vladimere has his people.
If you allow me, I will transfer this
information via thought to you were
you then can organize the teams
to take them out. //
//Okay.
But we have a situation…//
//Yes,
I know, but one thing at a time, my Treasure. When you
have finished sending the teams,
I will discuss with you and Tom what
we can do for Chakotay. Now, hurry,
Vladimere will be able to sense
you and Nolan, as do I, for I can
sense him near you. //
Julian's
thoughts became concerned, // he will not be too
happy to know of you. //
//Not
to worry, my sweet. I can conceal myself for a short
time, and that is all the time we
will need after that, it will not
matter. Contact me when you are
done, // then Cain was gone.
*************
Julian
and Tom sat in the ready room of the Veil. The teams
were sent off in shuttles to their
assigned destinations while a
skeleton crew, headed by Rebecca
remained behind. Nolan had made an
appearance and was pleased to hear
the report, thought Julian could
see the suspicion on his face as
to how he possessed this knowledge
of Vladimere's people. However,
he was easily side tracked when they
asked about Chakotay. The
Lord stated in an icy tone that Chakotay
was not well and that if he thought
it would really help he'd let
them see him, but he would not,
and with that he left the room,
leaving the matter of Vladimere
at the moment in Julian's hands. Once
the Lord had left, Julian told Tom
about Cain and how he was the one
who, if anyone could help Chakotay.
Julian
and Tom were sharing a drink of wine to calm
themselves when Cain appeared. It
took Tom's entire composer not to
drop to his knees and ask the guy
if he could suck him off at the
sight of the gorgeous stranger.
The man was totally stunning, and if
it were not for the fact that he
was totally in love with Chakotay,
he would have dropped to his knees.
Julian
moved straight into the arms of the man he knew he was
falling for, "It is so good to be
here," he said softly.
"It
is good to have you back," Cain replied warmly, then
kissed Julian soundly to prove it.
Then after a moment he turned his
attention to Tom. "So, you are Chakotay's
Tom," he smiled warmly.
Tom
found the strength to stand and greet the man, the
legendary icon from centuries gone
by. "Yes." Then hearing his love's
name brought him back to himself.
"Can you help him?"
"Can
you?" Julian asked.
Cain
turned to look at Julian then at Tom, "Can you give us a
few minutes," Cain said to Tom.
"Then I'll answer your question."
"All
right," Tom said and then left the room.
Cain
turned to Julian, and without warning kissed him deeply
one more time. //I want to make
love to you, // he thought while his
mouth explored the other man's beneath
his.
//I
want nothing more, // Julian sighed as his body responded
fully to Cain's touches. //but…//
It
was enough to cause Cain to end the passionate kiss. "Yes,
I know," he said with some regret
in his voice. Then he looked deeply
in Julian's dark eyes; "I have come
to feel for you that which I have
not felt in eons. For that…I thank
you."
Julian
looked puzzled. "Thank me?"
Cain
stepped back and with a wave, the doors to the office
opened, "Tom," called out. When
Tom entered the room and the doors
closed behind the young pilot. Cain
walked up next to Tom and looked
back at Julian, "to save Chakotay
from the black fire, tell him that
Vladimere has his Tom."
"But
he won't believe that," Julian replied. "He'll know…"
"Oh,
he'll believe it. Especially if it's true," Cain states,
and in a blink of the eye, he and
Tom vanish.