Stranded

Kathryn and Chakotay are splashing around in the water with B'Elanna, Tom, Harry, Samantha and Naomi Wildman, Beverly Crusher, Will Riker, Deanna Troi and most, if not all, of the children from the Enterprise.

Chakotay ducks Kathryn beneath the water, and she resurfaces, gasping for breath. She splashes water at him, and jumps onto his back, covering his eyes with her hands. B'Elanna grins, and climbs onto Tom's back, and Deanna climbs onto Will's, all laughing, shrieking and squealing as they splash water over each.

Seven, Tuvok and Geordi have their heads together, examining a PADD. Seven points at the screen and inputs something into another PADD that she holds in her hand.

The Doctor stands at the edge of the clearing, facing into the trees, scanning something with a tricorder, a bemused, puzzled expression on his face.

The children tumble out of the water, scrambling towards the large picnic blanket laid out with food. The adults stumble out next, talking and laughing, Kathryn riding on Chakotay's back, squealing as he tickles behind her knees. All are soaking wet and flushed, trailing a small river of water from the lake up to the picnic blanket, where they settle down on the ground behind the children.

Seven, Tuvok and Geordi explain the contents of their PADD's to B'Elanna. Sam, Beverly and Deanna converse quietly about childcare. Tom and Harry crack jokes and entertain Naomi and the children of the Enterprise. Will and Jean-Luc discuss cuisine with Neelix and Kes. Kathryn and Chakotay studied the Doctor's tricorder readings, frowning.

The Doctor, Kathryn, Chakotay, Will and Worf push their way through the overgrown bushes and low-hanging tree branches, wading through the tall plants and grasses, the sticks and twigs scratching at their skin and tangling in their hair.

The sunlight that filtered through the canopy above them was fading as the sun set over the horizon beyond the lake to their left. They had been walking for hours.

Kathryn stopped. Chakotay, Will and Worf crashed into her. The Doctor kept walking for a few paces before he stopped and turned, having realised that they were no following him. She's heard something, in the bushes up ahead, on the left hand side of the faint and fading footpath. She slips carefully, silently, down the path and around the Doctor, peering into the dark bushes where she thought the noise had come from.

The sound of a primitive twenty-first century handgun firing throws them off-guard. Kathryn screams out in pain, staggering and falling backwards, blood spilling from her side and pooling over the grass and bracken that coated the ground. Her eyes flutter and her skin starts to turn pale.

"Kathryn!" Chakotay yells, dropping everything he holds in his hands and running to her side, taking the hand that she desperately tries to hold out to him. He brushes the hair sticking to her forehead out of her eyes, his lower lip trembling in shock and distress. The Doctor pulls out his tricorder and scans Kathryn over Chakotay's shoulder.

"We need to get her back. It's going to be dangerous moving her, but we can't leave her here. Come on, Chakotay, lets get her home."

She's unconscious, almost in a coma. Chakotay watches over her, sitting by her side, always holding her hand and never moving, unless it's to whisper in her ear or to accept food or drink, though he barely eats. He sleeps with his head on her shoulder, and never complains.

Sometimes, she stirs, but only briefly. She whispers his name, squeezes his hand and tells him that she'll be alright, she promises. Beverly smiles at the irony of it all. They reminded her of Will and Deanna, when she had first met them; they had tried to deny their feelings for each other, but their love and caring for the other had always showed on their faces, and they would often remain with each other, stuck like glue together, even when one or the other was injured.

In the small space of time that she had known Kathryn and Chakotay, she had noticed many similarities between them and Will and Deanna, yet Kathryn and Chakotay were more open about how they felt, more relaxed and laid back about letting others see their wild emotions, although many of their crew said that this was one of the few times that they had seen their Command Team so happy.