This is my first posted fanfic ever. Reviews are always welcome. Enjoy!

Captain Kathryn Janeway was cursing in every language she knew. In her head. Outwardly she was calm and in command as she ordered Tom Paris to compensate for the altitude they were rapidly losing.

"Doing my best Captian," Tom said, his voice strained. "They irrevocably damaged the left rear thruster and totally knocked out shields."

They being the Kazons and they had showed up during a normal scouting mission Kathryn using to 'metaphorically stretch her legs' as she had explained to Tuvok when he questioned her motives for accompanying Tom.

"Can you land?"

"Yeah, but it's going to be rough."

"Do it Mr. Paris."

Tom tried valiantly ease the shuttle down, but it was near impossible due to the amount of damage they had sustained. They hit down hard. Tom smashing face first into the consol before him, Janeway tumbling across the compartment, this time cursing aloud as she felt ribs snap. Tom was vaguely shocked at her language as he slipped into blackness.

It was the pounding headache that woke her up. Knowing she most likely suffered from a concussion, she didn't try to move just yet. Instead she catalogued her injuries, judging from the amount of pain radiating from her thigh, side, and head she had broken ribs and deep gashes along with various other minor cuts and bruises. Next she tried to open her eyes and found herself confronted with one of the most hideous faces she had ever seen to date.

A dark skinned leathery face with contrasting white paint in swirling designs bared sharp teeth at her before jabbering to its companions in what sounded sort of like cat noises. She began to slip back into unconsciousness as more of the strange beings surrounded her and lifted her up.

The next time she came too was no less painful then the first time but she was filled with relief to hear Tom calling her name. "Kathryn… Kathryn… Kate!"

"That's Captain to you Mr. Paris." She said in her gravelly voice.

He laughed in relief. "Of course captain. That knock to my head must have rattled some stuff around." She turned her head slowly to take him in. His nose was broken for sure and blood was drying on his face. "You look like hell."

He laughed again, "Well we can't all look as pretty as you." She was glad to see he was no hurt enough to diminish his flirtatious manner.

"Help me up," she ordered, struggling to sit up.

"Your injuries are pretty severe Captain, you should stay down."

"I'm fine," she said, but couldn't stop the automatic reaction to grab her side and grimace in pain. "We have to find a way out of here." She looked around the primitive yet effective wood cage they were enclosed in.

"I already tried," Tom said, shrugging. "You should really lie down. Conserve your strength for later. I think the locals have something planned for us." He indicated the bustle of activity occurring outside their cage in the center of the village. "I think it's safe to say it is not a welcome feast."

She gave him an odd look. "It's only a matter of time before Voyager discovers we're missing and starts following our trail."

They must have fallen asleep because tom was rudely awoken by hands roughly grabbing him and dragging him from the cage. He struggled instinctively and noticed Janeway doing the same. They were bound with thick vines of some sort, one thrust into their mouths forcing them to gag on the bitter sap they secreted. Immobile and unable to protest, they were dumped in front of a simple stone alter as the rest of the village formed a silent circle around them.

A shaman stepped up behind the alter clad only in some sort of large animal skin. He lifted a ceremonial knife to the sky and began to chant in the strange local language as Kathryn was dragged forward and lifted onto the alter. Both her and Tom struggle futilely. Her hands were untied and held above her head as the shaman dragged the knife down her body, cutting her cloths from her.

Even in this nasty situation Tom couldn't help but notice how beautiful Kathryn was. He watched helplessly as designs were drawn on her lithe, curvy body, the white chalk barely showing up on her pale skin.

The shaman handed the knife off to an assistant and picked up a claw like object. The chant grew stronger as the people of the village joined in, adding a booming tempo from an instrument closely resembling a drum. Kathryn watched with horror as the shaman brought the decorated claw down on her with a shout, dragging deeply into her shoulder. She screamed in pain, swallowing more of the vine sap. A bowl was held out to catch her blood.

Once the bowl was half filled, Kathryn was moved off the alter and Tom forced into her place. More Natives were needed to control Tom's wild flaying. Kathryn watched through a haze of pain and buzzing that was numbing her limbs.

The same ritual was performed on Tom, filling the bowl all the way with the human's blood. It was then passed through the crowd, each dipping their fingers in and tracing their white designs, coloring them red. When the bowl reached the shaman, he took the remains and stirred it with the claw adding a powder.

First Kathryn, then Tom was forced to drink the concoction, brilliant red liquid spilling over their faces and down their bodies. They were untied, but both were too exhausted and sick to do more then to slump to the ground as the natives danced around them.

Faces and limbs swirled around the pair in a dizzy pattern of colors and shapes, their senses all out of whack. Kathryn closed her eyes to block out the confusing tableau. The pain numbed and Kathryn felt as though her skins was crawling and shivering, but she couldn't seem to focus on the sensation for long. It was as though something was lurking at the back of her mind, pacing like a caged lioness, and the presence of it was growing strong as the chanting natives continued in the background.

Tom was feeling similar sensations. His skin felt itchy and uncomfortable, like he wanted to shed it. He also had a strange desire to get closer to Kathryn and protect her, a desire that seemed to come from the presence growing within him.

Something was happening, the new presence in their minds, were overwhelming them. Kathryn tried to scream as she felt bone and muscle shift and change, although painless was disconcerting all the same. The crowd went silent as they witnessed the two humans shift into huge mountain cats. The female, smaller then her companion, closely resembled a lioness with tawny soft hair covering an elegant body built for hunting ending from blunt face with big gray-green eyes to tail tipped with a tuff of golden auburn hair. The bigger cat was of similar coloring with deeper spots of gold scattered across his massive body.

Tom was dazed and confused about what had happened to him, but his new cat instincts overrode his human cogitative thought process for the moment. He had to protect his mate from the strange beings who stared at them. He stepped in front of Kathryn, curling his body protectively around hers and growled menacingly, showing off lethal fangs.

This seemed to bring the villagers out of their trance. With a growing shout, they moved to grab weapons and move in on the two cats. Tom, recognizing a threat in overwhelming numbers, nudged Kathryn with his nose knowing they'd have to make a break for it if they wanted to live.

The danger forced Kathryn from her shock and she snarled at the advancing natives and swiped at the nearest one with wickedly sharp claws before spinning around and charging at the weakest point of the circle, scattering their predators like dominos. Tom followed close behind with a growling laugh because even as a giant cat, she was still Kathryn.

They bolted for the trees, running with a loping ease. Their strength, reflexes, endurance, and senses had increased exponentially, allowing them to leave their hunters far behind them. With the danger lessened, Tom began to enjoy the run, the effortless strength of his muscles carrying him almost silently through the forest, the wind and a thousand other scents rushing by. He glanced over to Kathryn easily keeping pace with him and could sense she felt the same.

Kathryn didn't know what to think. Indeed a big part of her was enjoying the run, but another part- her human part- was telling her this was wrong, she shouldn't be a cat. Humans don't turn into cats. It is physically impossible on so many levels starting with simple biology.

Deep in thought, her pace slowed and Tom automatically slowed down as well. Knowing she was starting to panic and starting to feel the same, he went over to where she was scowling into the distance and began to nuzzle his face against hers, giving and taking comfort.

Tom abruptly stopped, smelling something on the air. Kathryn looked up at him questioningly, as smelling it. A stronger whiff traveled on the faint breeze and they could feel the hair rising on the back of their necks. It was the same stench of the unwashed natives. They had caught up sooner than they expected. Obviously these people knew how to hunt whatever they had become. Tom and Kathryn exchanged a look, knowing now that they'd have to be more careful in order to survive.

Kathryn nudged Tom in one direction and herself moved in another. And although her instincts were screaming for her to go back to his side, she knew they should mess up the trail to make it harder for their hunters to follow.

Kathryn was exhausted. She has been running for hours, and as far as she could tell, the hunters were held up once her and Tom began confusing their trails. She was slinking through the undergrowth, a belly crawl, when she heard a slight rustle. Quicker than the human eye could blink she had leapt forward and twisted midair to meet the new threat head on. She landed on all fours hissing and spitting only to confront Tom sitting on his haunches huffing with laughter.

Annoyed she charged him, head-butting him in the chest, sending them rolling together across the forest floor. They wrestled playfully for a few moments, unreasonable glad to see one another again before Tom abruptly climbed to his feet and set off deeper into the forest this time expecting Kathryn to follow.

She did so and he led them to a cave he had found while avoiding the natives. He went to the back of the shallow cave, and squeezed himself through a narrow crack barely discernable in the darkening light. Kathryn squeezed in behind him and found herself in a larger cave; old evidence of campsites gave proof that this used to be a shelter for the natives before the entrance collapsed.

Grateful for the hiding place Kathryn curled up in a ball, chin over tail. Tom settled down behind her causing her to involuntarily relax into him. Before she drifted off she noticed a faint rumbling coming from him. He was purring.