Light the Fire
(Parts 1  2  3  4)

Disclaimer
This episode is based on the original episode The Cloud... BUT there is another storyline mixed in. This is sort of a prequel to the Season 3 episode New Earth. It doesn't matter which one you read first. Also I over exaggerate with Janeway's character in this series. Don't threat if you think she's too out of character

Episode Synopsis
As Janeway scares some of the crew with her hyper behaviour, James & Jessie try to sort out their relationship. Meanwhile Janeway confirms her terrible secret which causes chaos

 
Written By
Marill

Written
13th - 15th & 18th June 2002

Episode Based In
October 2370 (early season 1)

Last time on B4 Fifth Voyager
"Ok, give me all the Cherry Coke you have stashed here!" the guy yelled.

"But we need to rip off addicts with this stuff by not selling as many big bottles as the other brands," a woman said.

"Don't be stupid, we've got that new Diet Coke with Lemon to rip people off with. We'll just distribute that instead. Release it in June," the manager said.

"With only one bottle it ain't going to last long. Fifth Voyager's losing it's insanity," Raichu said.

"In recent days it has been nearly impossible to get a hold of any Cherry Coke. Addicts have been going crazy," the smoking man said.

"The Coca Cola Company are denying all knowledge of this new plan to replace Cherry Coke permanently with Diet Coke with Lemon," the woman said.

The screen showed the Coca Cola Manager. "That's crazy. Cherry Coke is a very important part of our mission to take over the world... er I mean it's a very important brand to us. Diet Coke with Lemon is just the replacement for Cherry Coke until we can make all the Cherry Coke that was stolen by a crazy man with a space ship over a month ago."

"Do you really think it's not someone we know. Think about it, Fifth Voyager has been less insane since the Cherry Coke shortage, plus less stuff has been written during that time. Somebody against us must want this to happen," Marill said.

"For what reason?" Raichu asked.

"To finish Fifth Voyager," Marill replied.

"Marill, you said something similar before.. remember the finishing Fifth Voyager remark," Raichu said.

"Oh, ha ha.. Raichu, you're so funny. If you must know I can write serious stuff," Marill said.

"Yeah, with a depletion of Cherry Coke on your side," Raichu said.

Marill smiled slyly. "There is, let's go to Voyager."

"I thought we already discussed the faults of that plan," Raichu said.

"No, I've got a different plan," Marill said.

**
They both took a bottle and they went into the Living Room. They sat down on the sofa. "Do you really think Voyager will be alright, we did take an awful lot from their replicators?"

"Oh yeah, they'll be fine. I doubt there are as many addicts back in this season," Marill replied.

**
"Those annoying writers, I will get them for what they've done to me... some day," he said to himself. He started shaking uncontrollably and he went over to the computer. He turned it on and after a few minutes he had a Fifth Voyager episode on the screen.

After he finished it he screamed. "The insanity! Evil, evil!" he screamed and he started to run around the room. He tripped over an unopened Cherry Coke bottle and he fell into a huge pile of 2 litre bottles.

**
"This was my own personal dining area. This was not suppose to be a kitchen," Kathryn said.

"But there was no where else to put a kitchen," Neelix said.

**
"Crap, he'll go all evil Slayer on me now," Tom muttered.

"Shut up Tom!" everyone yelled again.

"Oh yeah, that's Season 3 material... I think I'll just fly the ship," Tom muttered and he turned back to his station.

"Evil Slayer? Where do you get those ideas from?" Jessie muttered to herself.

**
"Cos I want to," James replied. Everyone groaned.

"It isn't because you're so disgusted with me that you'd rather be somewhere else," Jessie said.

**
"It would take more than 2 hours to complete that mission, Neelix will be long dead then. But it wouldn't hurt to send an awayteam," Kathryn replied with a devious smile on her face.

"I don't get what you mean," Chakotay said.

"You know that we've been having problems with four loud mouthed Marquis teenagers. They've been a bit of a distraction among the crew, it wouldn't hurt to be rid of them for a few hours," Kathryn said.

**
"In the mean time we can have a sensible episode parody. We'll do all we can to get back Neelix's lungs," Kathryn said.

"Sensible episode parody? Janeway please, we're talking about Fifth Voyager here," Chakotay said.

"That last Season 3 episode was mostly serious, so was bits of the movie and the last episode," Kathryn said.

"Yeah, think about it. Those damn writers will want to make up for lost insanity. That's why this one's had more or less no seriousness in so far," Chakotay said.

"It will, I know what those writers are like. They'll be too busy writing insane stuff for their characters that they'll forget about us," Kathryn said.

**
"So, what was the point in this little trip. We didn't ask anybody to be a donor," Jessie asked.

"I did, nobody volunteered," Tuvok replied.

"We go to a planet filled with thousands of Talaxians and we go back to Voyager empty handed. What's the deal?" James asked.

Tuvok sighed and he turned his chair around. "You four were sent on this mission to get away from Voyager for a while. This had nothing to do with Mr Neelix's lungs."

**
"The whole point in getting rid of those four was to have a sensible episode. Was it so sensible it had to be axed?" Tom asked.

"Shut up, Tom," Kathryn said.

"No I have a good point here," Tom said.

"There's no point in having a Fifth Voyager episode exactly the same as the original. We have Aggressions for that," Chakotay said.

"So what's the point in having it called Phage if the Vidiians weren't even shown in the episode? We barely even had the Neelix losing his lungs storyline in," Tom said.

"Tom, there is a reason why we keep telling you to shut up," Kathryn said.

"You said that we Aggressions for the 'the episode that is exactly the same as the episode parodied' thing. But we already have 'the episode that has an original episode name, but shows nothing of the original storyline' thing with Hunters," Tom said.

And now the conclusion
The Mess Hall:
The room was much busier than usual, every table was taken. Tom and Harry were near one of the doors drinking... no not Cherry Coke, just normal Coke.

"This sucks, this really sucks," Tom muttered.

"Er, Tom.. this is B4 Fifth Voyager, only an odd few characters are obsessed with Cherry Coke in this series," Harry said.

"As I was saying, this really sucks," Tom said.

On a nearby table Faye was sitting on her own. Her head suddenly fell on the table with a huge thud that surprised the neighbouring tables. Neelix rushed over to her.

"Faye, what's wrong?" Neelix asked in a worried tone of voice. He thought, "I knew I should have taken it easy with the pepper."

Faye tried to raise her head, "Cherry Coke, need Cherry Coke," she just managed to mumble.

"Just get some from the replicator," Neelix suggested, secretly relived that his cooking wasn't the problem.

"Can't... haven't had any today.. replicator says... have reached my daily dosage," Faye mumbled against the table.

"You too, everyone's having that problem. Someone must of overused the replicators," Neelix said.

"Cherry Coke," Faye mumbled, then she fell unconscious.

Neelix tapped his commbadge. "Neelix to Sickbay, another addict has collapsed."

In: "Very well."

A few seconds later Faye disappeared. Neelix went back over to his kitchen.

Kathryn rushed into the room, she looked around. She saw where Neelix was, then she rushed to the replicator. She was there for about ten minutes. She turned around with a huge hyper smile on her face.

"Oh god, Janeway's hyper again," Tom said.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Harry asked.

"Yeah.." Tom replied.

"Fake a sick day," they both said in unison. It was too late, Kathryn had already spotted them. She went over to the table.

"Hiya boys, what ya doing?" Kathryn asked.

Tom and Harry glanced at each other nervously. "We are erm, sitting," Tom replied.

"How interesting!" Kathryn exclaimed, she patted Tom on the shoulder, hard. "Wanna hug?"

Tom's eyes widened and he moved his chair further away from her. "No thanks." He turned to Harry, "distract her," he whispered.

Harry looked nervous but he nodded his head anyway. "Captain, er.."

"Yes sweety," Kathryn said.

"Er.." Harry muttered. He saw Tom put something in Kathryn's coffee cup when she wasn't looking. "We have to go to our duty shifts," Harry said quickly.

"Oh yeah, have fun," Kathryn said. She turned around and she nearly tripped over thin air. She drank the rest of the coffee in her cup and she dumped it on someone's table.

"Tom, what did you put in her coffee?" Harry asked as he stood up.

"Just something that'll hopefully make our day a little more bearable," Tom replied. They both headed towards the door.

Kathryn stood at the kitchen watching Neelix. He spotted her and he went over to her cheerfully. "Want some coffee, ma'am?"

Kathryn smiled in a hyper way, "of course not, I haven't had any today but I can live with that."

"You're hyper... Captain I told you, we have to save the replicator energy. Now here have some real coffee," Neelix said. He started pouring some coffee into a cup. It looked really thick, something actually plopped into the cup.

In: "Chakotay to Janeway..."

"On my way, Janeway out," Kathryn said quickly, and she ran out.

Neelix shrugged and he drank some of the coffee. He grinned in a hyper way, then he collapsed with coffee smudges all around his mouth.

Seska walked in, she looked towards the kitchen, she saw Neelix unconscious. She then rushed over to the replicator and she replicated some actual food. She looked around the room, she saw Jessie sitting on her own at a table. She went over to it.

"Can I sit here? There isn't anywhere else," Seska asked.

Jessie looked up at her, "whatever."

Seska dumped her plate on the table, she sat down opposite Jessie. "So, where's James?"

Jessie looked back up at Seska. "Er, what?"

"I said, where is James," Seska said.

"I don't know, how do you know him?" Jessie asked.

Seska smiled and she started to eat some of her food. "We go back a long way."

"Really, if that's the case I would of met you before now," Jessie said.

"Maybe you would of if you hadn't of ran away from Manchester," Seska said.

"I didn't run away, god. I was chased away," Jessie said. She took a drink of the normal coke she had. "I take it you know him from college then."

"Sort of. I was just visiting, he was at college at the time. Poor lad was depressed, lonely and heartbroken so I started talking to him," Seska muttered and she continued to eat.

"Heartbroken? Where do you get that idea from?" Jessie asked.

"I didn't get the idea from anywhere. I know these things. You know how it is, you get talking to a lad, you make friends with him, then.. you know," Seska replied.

"No, I don't know," Jessie muttered.

"Didn't he mention me at all? I was his first girlfriend after all," Seska said.

Jessie slowly put her bottle back onto the table, she stared at Seska with a disgusted look on her face. "You? I don't believe it, you're at least five years older than him. I got the impression that the girl he mentioned was his age."

"Believe it, age don't matter," Seska said.

Jessie watched Seska eat some more of her food, she stood up. "You ugly little tart... how could you do that to him?"

Seska looked up at her and smiled. "Do what?"

"You know what. He was depressed, the last thing he needed was you making it worse," Jessie replied.

"You know he talked about you a lot, I knew you'd react like this. He said you became very protective over the years," Seska said, she continued eating.

"Yeah. Ever since I met him again in the Marquis, I regretted ever leaving Manchester. I've been wanting to meet you ever since he told me about this," Jessie said.

Seska smiled. "Touching, nice to meet you too."

"I didn't mean that I wanted to meet you so we could be best pals, I want to kill you for what you did to him," Jessie said.

Seska put down her fork, and she stood up. "I'd like to see you try, but I don't waste time with little girls like you. See you later." She headed out the door. Jessie sighed, and she sat back down.

The Bridge:
Chakotay was standing beside Tom at the helm. Harry was all nervous at opps. Tuvok was even looking nervous at his station.

"Tom, why didn't you warn me?" Chakotay asked quietly.

"I put something in the coffee to sober her up, I didn't think it would take this long," Tom replied. They both turned around.

Kathryn was standing on her chair yelling, "hugs, anyone!" Nobody obviously stepped forward, she just shrugged and she started jumping on her chair. She fell off it and she started giggling like a drunk teenager.

"How much coffee did she have?" Harry moaned.

"She was there for 10 minutes, it couldn't of been much," Tom muttered.

Tuvok raised his eyebrow. "In 10 minutes Captain Janeway can drink over fifteen cups of coffee."

"Wow, she must have an asbestos mouth," Harry commented.

"Do you think we should get out of range of that nebula? The last thing we need is her getting her hands on more coffee," Tom asked.

"That maybe a good idea. Trouble is she'll notice. Somebody will have to distract her," Chakotay replied. Everyone but Janeway, of course, stared at him. "I didn't mean me, crap."

"Can't get you out of my head, la la la la," Kathryn sang (offkey), while still on the floor. Chakotay went over to her.

"Er, Captain... I need to talk to you in private," Chakotay said.

Kathryn suddenly jumped to her feet which made every jump out of their skin. "Ok!" She then ran into the Ready Room. Chakotay looked rather scared as he went towards the Ready Room himself. Tuvok passed him a phaser.

"You'll need this if she has two more cups," Tuvok said.

"Oh god... ok," Chakotay muttered. He took the phaser, and he went into the Ready Room. Kathryn was already at the replicator drinking another cup of coffee. "It's going to be one of those episodes."

Kathryn finished her cup and she threw it over her shoulder. She rushed over to her desk and she jumped on it to sit down. "Time for my chat, Commander Bear."

"Bear?" Chakotay said in a worried voice.

"You look like a cute big cuddly bear," Kathryn said and she giggled.

Chakotay looked even more scared, if that's possible. "Er, four crewmembers have failed to come to duty."

"I see, you want me to smack their bottoms," Kathryn said.

"Er, no. I just thought I'd tell you so er, I don't know.." Chakotay said.

"Who are they then, cuddly bear," Kathryn said.

"Er, Danny Scott, Ian Richards, Jessie Rex and er James," Chakotay said.

"Ok! Call the first three to the Bridge, I'll go see James myself. I think he's been neglected with not enough spankings," Kathryn said and she giggled again.

"I'll just call them all, spare you the embarrassment," Chakotay muttered.

"Whatever, you're da man," Kathryn said, she slipped off the desk and landed really hard on the floor.

Chakotay tapped his commbadge. "Chakotay to Scott, Richards, Rex and Taylor. Please report to the Bridge, I don't see why you can't put up with this torture when I have to."

In: "Oh crap, I slept in again!"

"Danny, please hurry up, this is the second time this week," Chakotay muttered.

In: "Whatever. Scott out."

"What is everyone else's excuse?" Chakotay asked as Kathryn tried to sing again.

In: "Would you believe that I'm allergic to coffee? Richards out."

"No, Ian, get to the Bridge," Chakotay muttered.

In: "I slept in too, ok Chakotay."

Chakotay sighed, "ok, Jessie. James, what's your excuse?"

In: "I'm kinda busy here. Taylor out."

The door opened and Seska strode in. "Hi Chakotay," she said in a flirty voice.

"Oh, hi Seska," Chakotay said. Seska put her arm around him.

In: "Oh crap, it's slut face. Rex out."

Chakotay glanced at Seska. She shrugged, "Jessie doesn't like me."

"Ok, will you come back later. I've really got to sort this out," Chakotay said and he glanced at Kathryn. She was crawling along the floor, she spotted a coffee stain. Chakotay rushed over and he stopped her from licking it by pulling her to her feet.

"You know, we'd be better off with a tree as Captain than this coffee obsessed lunatic," Seska muttered.

"No Seska, I'm not having a mutiny... ok," Chakotay said.

Seska rolled her eyes, "we'd be better off with you in charge and that's saying something, remember my tree comment."

"No more wood jokes, please Seska... or I will really dump you for good," Chakotay said.

"All right, I'll try to restrain myself. See you around," Seska said and she walked out.

Kathryn pulled herself out of Chakotay's hold on her. "Why can't you mutiny, it'll be fun!"

"Er, no it won't. Why don't we go back to the Bridge," Chakotay said.

"Ok, just let me get one more coffee," Kathryn said, she headed back towards the replicator. Chakotay grabbed her arm and he dragged her out of the Ready Room.

"16 is enough, ok," Chakotay said.

Kathryn giggled, "I've had 20."

"Crap," Chakotay muttered as they came back to the centre of the Bridge. Tom turned to Chakotay and he nodded at him. Chakotay sighed in relief.

 

End of Part I


Part II

 

Holodeck 1:
Jessie went through the main doors. She found herself in a large hall of some sort. She sighed when she spotted who she was looking for. James was at the far end of the hall, fighting against holographic people. "Computer freeze program."

"Unable to comply," the computer replied.

Jessie rolled her eyes, and she got closer to the fight scene. James just managed to knock out the last guy. The computer said, "end of level 12." That's when he spotted Jessie.

"Computer, freeze program," James said. The program seemed to freeze. Jessie went up closer to James.

"What's this all about?" Jessie asked.

"What do you mean?" James replied questioningly.

"This program, what's it about?" Jessie asked.

James glanced around the room, then he glanced back at Jessie. "It's simple, it's a typical fighting game."

"No, I mean why are you in this program," Jessie said.

"It gets my mind off things for starters," James said.

Jessie then noticed he had a large cut on the side of his face. She pointed at it, "how the hell did you get that?"

"The level before this one, one guy had a knife," James replied.

"With the safeties on? It shouldn't of hurt you," Jessie said.

"The safeties are off, the game was too easy with them on," James said.

Jessie groaned and she glanced down at the ground, she looked back up at James. "Are you trying to hurt yourself?"

"No, why would I want to do that?" James asked.

"No reason, just a question," Jessie replied.

"Well the answer is no, anymore questions?" James asked.

"Yeah, why Seska?" Jessie replied.

James sighed and he turned away.

"Why her? She's an ugly alien who, for starters, is a lot older than you?" Jessie asked.

James turned back to her. "It just happened, I didn't want it to happen. I'd rather not talk about it."

"Fine, what would you rather talk about? Huh?" Jessie asked.

"I'd rather get back to what I was doing," James replied.

"What, getting the crap beaten out of you?" Jessie said questioningly.

"Believe me, it feels a lot better doing this than just sitting around and sulking," James said.

"You're not still mad at me for that incident the other week? Jessie said questioningly.

"Why should I be? I mean, it was my fault to start with," James replied.

Jessie looked puzzled, "it was? I was the one who caused all the bother."

"You wouldn't of done what you did if it wasn't for this god damn crush I have. All I want is to be friends with you, but there's that part of me that was disappointed that, that kiss was only a test. It won't go away.." James said and he turned away again.

"Hurting yourself won't make it go away. Besides, we can still be friends. I just did that test because I was curious, and I didn't believe it. That's why I wasn't expecting that reaction I got on the Bridge the other week," Jessie said.

"I don't think we should be friends as long as I have this feeling inside me. It's already caused us some bother already, I don't want it to happen again," James said.

"So what? Friends argue all the time, we used to fight non stop when we were at school and college. I'd be worried if we didn't fight. Besides how long are you willing to keep our friendship on hold for, you don't know how long this so called crush will last," Jessie said.

"It should go away soon, it's been going on long enough..." James muttered.

They both heard the doors opening and closing again. Jessie and James both glanced at the door, and they started to fear for their lives.

"Hi, you naughty kids you!" Kathryn exclaimed as she clumsily came over to the pair. "Why aren't you in that place where all the consoles are?"

"You mean the Bridge?" Jessie said questioningly.

"Yes, that's it!" Kathryn yelled.

"Erm, we had some things to sort out," Jessie said.

"Fine, I'll stay here until you're finished," Kathryn said, she sat down on the floor but she fell backwards in the process. She started giggling her head off again.

James and Jessie glanced at each other nervously. "I think we're on the voyage of the damned," James muttered.

"Do you think so?" Jessie said sarcastically.

"No, I don't think so at all. Anyway I think I should finish this game off, there shouldn't be that many levels left," James said.

"What for, you can save it and play later," Jessie asked.

"Yeah, but that's not really the point. I may as well start over then," James replied.

"I don't know, you just won the last one... do you really think you're going to win the next one so easily?" Jessie asked.

"Just let the lad play, I want to see how good he is," Kathryn said from the floor. James and Jessie glanced nervously at each other as Kathryn tried to pull herself to her feet, and failing.

Meanwhile, in a nut house.. er I mean Marill's house:
Marill was sitting on her own on the sofa watching the Big Brother contestants sleeping. The one called Jade got up, still with her eyes closed, she seemed to be sleep walking. She picked up a knife and she killed everyone then went back into bed.

Suddenly Marill jumped out of her skin when two phones started ringing. She looked to her side and she saw both of her mobiles ringing. One said Roxanne (Vulpix if you're wondering) and the other Unknown Number. She picked up both and she answered them, the old one at her left ear and the new one at her right.

"Ok, Vulpix hang on..." Marill said to the new phone. She turned to the old one, "call back."

"Remember me?" the voice from the old mobile said.

"Ooh, I like Halloween," Marill said in a hyper voice.

"Ahem.. I'm trying to sound scary here. I got your number," the voice said.

"Duh, of course you have. Doesn't matter anyway, this is my old phone," Marill said.

"Oh crap.. oh who cares. I'm back to haunt you," the voice said.

"Will you hurry up, I've got more important things to do," Marill said.

"Er... hahahahahaha," the voice laughed.

"Look, if you're just going to play Halloween in my ear then I'm just going to hang up," Marill said.

"No wait, I have to threaten you first. Ahem, you're never going to catch me so I may as well say this... uhoh, who is that insane looking girl at my door," the voice said.

"Hehe, I got your house number," Vulpix's voice came from the younger phone.

"Oh nooooooooooooo," the voice from the old mobile screamed. Then he hung up.

Anyway, back to sanity, well less insanity... Voyager:
As Kathryn was STILL trying to get up off the floor, Jessie was standing looking rather peeved and James was once again 'playing' the holodeck fighting game.

"Woah, what is that!" Kathryn exclaimed as she pointed at Jessie. Jessie just rolled her eyes.

"Stupid writer, I wish she'd stop wasting time like this," Jessie muttered.

"Sorry everyone, I'll get back to the story," Marill's voice said.

Kathryn grabbed Jessie's arm and she pulled herself to her feet. "Hey, that's better," Kathryn said.

"Don't do that again," Jessie muttered. Kathryn ignored her.

They both just watched James. This level had about four people, this time two had a knife. There were only two left of the four. The one without a knife was knocked onto the ground. The one with the knife hit James in the face, which made him stumble a bit, then the guy swung the knife at him. The point slashed straight across his eye. The guy took advantage, he knocked him to the ground.

Jessie stepped forward but Kathryn stopped her. "He can do it, silly," Kathryn said, still hyper. She noticed that James wasn't getting up, he was definitely unconscious. "Ok, maybe not," Kathryn muttered.

Jessie then rushed over to where James was. She beat the crap out of the remaining hologram. The computer said, "end of level 13."

"Computer save and end program," Jessie said.

"Cannot save program," the computer said.

"Just close it then!" Jessie yelled. She tapped her commbadge, "Rex to Transporter Room, beam James to Sickbay, quickly."

The Bridge:
"Commander, we still need the energy from the nebula. Mr Neelix's cooking is already starting to cause health problems among the crew," Tuvok said.

"Ok, fine. We'll just have to be secretive. We can't go in now, she may come back. We'll have to do it tomorrow," Chakotay said.

"How do we know that this'll make her replicate less coffee?" Tom asked.

"Well, we just have to improvise... now won't we," Chakotay replied.

Sickbay:
The Doctor appeared out of thin air. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"That is getting annoying, Doc. Just treat James," Jessie muttered.

The Doctor glanced at the biobed where James was, he picked up a tricorder and he started to scan him. "What the... how did he do this to his eye?"

"Does it matter, baldy, how many drugs do you have here?" Kathryn said.

"Oh god, how much coffee has she had?" the Doctor asked as he treated James.

"God only knows," Jessie replied. The Doctor handed her a hypospray.

"Inject her with this, this'll hopefully bring her back to normal," the Doctor said.

Jessie took the hypospray and she quickly injected Kathryn with it. She fell onto the floor. Jessie and the Doctor sighed in relief. Kathryn quickly woke up again and she stood up.

"What happened?" Kathryn asked.

"Woah, that worked quickly," Jessie said.

"You got hyper Captain, I treated you," the Doctor replied as he continued his treatment.

"I never get hyper, Doctor," Kathryn said.

"Erm, whatever," Jessie said.

"What happened to him?" Kathryn asked as she glanced at James' biobed.

"He's just a little hurt off a holodeck program, that's all," Jessie replied.

"Hurt? How could he get hurt when holodeck's have safeties?" Kathryn asked.

"Never mind," Jessie muttered in response.

"Indeed. Jessie, can you leave? I need to talk to the Doctor alone," Kathryn said.

"No, I'm staying here until he wakes up," Jessie said.

"I order you to leave, now," Kathryn said harshly.

"I'm staying here, ok," Jessie said and she folded her arms.

"No you're not! Now get out of here before I call Security," Kathryn exclaimed.

Jessie gave Kathryn a horrible look before storming out.

"Captain, is there a problem?" the Doctor asked.

"I need you to do something for me," Kathryn replied.

"Okay, but I'm in the middle of a treatment," the Doctor said.

"It shouldn't take long, I need you to do a DNA test," Kathryn said.

The Doctor looked puzzled. "A DNA test, what for?"

"I need to know who James' parents are," Kathryn replied.

The Doctor looked even more confused. "I don't understand, why?"

"I think.. I have reason to believe that he's my estranged son," Kathryn replied.

The Doctor looked gobsmacked, he quickly tried to hide it. "I see, Captain. It shouldn't take long to do the test." The Doctor got out another hypospray, he pushed it into James' arm. He then went over to the nearby console. The computer made the usual noises as the Doctor worked. A few minutes later he turned around with a confused look on his face.

"Well, Doctor?" Kathryn said questioningly.

"According to the DNA scan, you are his mother," the Doctor said.

Kathryn still seemed shocked, she glanced down at James, then she glanced back at the Doctor. "Thank you, Doctor," she said as she slowly made her way over to the computer. She quickly keyed in some commands, then the Doctor disappeared.

She went over to the other side of James' biobed, she didn't notice Chakotay walking in. He just watched her from the doorway. He tried his best to keep a straight face when Kathryn started talking to herself, well talking to James.

"I'm not usually that good at stuff like this, but I just want to say that I'm sorry for leaving you at such a young age. I didn't leave you because I hated you, I left you because it was best for you. I hope when I do find the courage to tell you the truth, you'll forgive me," Kathryn said softly.

"I take it you haven't fully sobered up, talking to your unconscious son is the first sign of madness," Chakotay said.

Kathryn jumped a little and she turned towards the door. "What are you doing here?" she asked angrily.

"I have no idea, the writer just wanted me here," Chakotay replied.

"Well I'm trying to have a serious moment here, I'd appreciate it if.." Kathryn said.

"Serious moment, Janeway I don't think so. This episode has been rather silly in places, serious scenes haven't lasted long enough," Chakotay said.

"Can't you see that I'm trying to build up angst, be a little more considerate," Kathryn said and she put her hands on her hips.

"Oh sorry," Chakotay muttered.

Kathryn turned back to James, she couldn't think of anything to say. "Aw crap, now look what you've done. You've ruined the moment," Kathryn said angrily.

"I said sorry, geez, it's not like you can say much. He'll be waking up soon," Chakotay said.

Kathryn rolled her eyes and she walked out. Chakotay followed her. "I take it you managed to go through the DNA test."

"You take it right, I erased the Doctor's memory. The less that know about it the better," Kathryn said. They both reached the turbolift, they stepped inside it. It went into motion. They stayed in silence all the way to the Ready Room. As soon as Kathryn stepped inside she burst into tears. Chakotay, who was behind her, rolled his eyes.

"You know the lad isn't that bad," Chakotay said jokingly.

"You don't understand, I haven't seen him in 19 years yet I still needed a DNA test to see if it was him. I'm a horrible mother," Kathryn said as she sat down on her sofa.

Chakotay tried his best not to feel sorry for her, but it didn't work. He went over to the replicator. "I'll get you a coffee, maybe that'll cheer you up." Chakotay ordered a cup of coffee, he brought it over to Kathryn. She drank it all down very quickly, she started crying even more afterwards.

"How am I going to tell him, how... I'm so horrible," Kathryn cried. Chakotay once again tried to not to feel sorry for her. He put his arm around her.

"It'll be ok, you can do it. If you can Captain a ship like this, you can tell him the truth," Chakotay said.

Kathryn continued to sob, she threw her arms around Chakotay and she started to cry on his shoulder. He hugged her back. He felt rather worried as he hugged her, one part of him wanted to insult her for being so sensitive, but another part of him wanted to make her feel better.

Back in Sickbay:
Jessie came in, she looked confused as she looked around the room. "Computer activate the EMH," she said.

The Doctor appeared out of nowhere. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency. Where's the Captain, why did she deactivate me. I was in the middle of a treatment," the Doctor ranted. He went over to his patient, he looked confused again. "Hey, I don't remember treating that scar on his face."

"Er, can you just wake him up, Doc," Jessie said.

"Well I must of treated him, nobody else could of done it," the Doctor ranted as he pushed a hypospray into James' neck. He walked away, rating on and on. Jessie groaned, she went over to James' side. He slowly started to wake up, as soon as he saw where he was he started to sit up.

"How did I get here?" James asked as he looked around the room.

"Well you were beamed here. Promise me you won't go to that program ever again," Jessie replied.

"I can't really promise that.." James said. He noticed Jessie glaring at him, "ok, promise."

"Nobody treats me with any respect. I maybe merely a hologram but that doesn't mean that people should treat me like crap," the Doctor ranted.

"Want to go?" Jessie asked.

"Why not," James replied.

They both quickly headed for the door while the Doctor was still ranting on. They both passed Kes on the way out.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Kes asked.

"I am tired of people just deactivating me whenever they feel like it. I was just deactivated while in the middle of a treatment," the Doctor replied.

"It's all right, Doctor. I'll talk to the Captain about this," Kes said, she turned around and went straight back out.

"She was the one that did it," the Doctor said to an empty room.

 

Go to Parts Three and Four