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Episode Synopsis
Voyager is plagued by a confusing murder spree that doesn't make any sense.

Guest Stars
Adam Blaustein
Jake Wood

Written
26th February, 1st, 6th - 11th, 14th & 17th March 2005

Episode Based In
July 2372 (early season 3)

Captains Log Supplemental: Finally a distraction worth logging about. Voyager has docked with a trading station, the crew are taking the chance to take shore leave.

The Bridge:
The entire room was chaotic as a lot of alien guests were rushing around in groups, chatting amongst themselves. Chakotay, Tom, Harry and Danny were hanging around, talking to the guests.

"No, I'm 'afraid' we're not all like that. That's just a rumour," Chakotay said, eyes shifting nervously.

Kathryn fell out of the Ready Room. She pulled herself up, she looked back. "Stupid thing." She stood back up. "Those things have a mind of their own, ey Chakotay?" she giggled.

"Is that your captain?" one guy asked.

"Uh no," Chakotay stuttered. "She's our um entertainment, like a clown."

"I thought I was that," Tom pouted.

One woman moved over to Harry, "is it true that this ship is a death trap? You know like vampires and stuff, lots of people die."

"Don't be silly, we're just a normal ship with a normal crew," Harry replied.

Kathryn picked a flask up off her chair, "oh yeah baby." She opened the flask and poured the contents into her mouth. "Mmm lime coffee, what a great idea."

Danny walked over to the turbolift, "I think we should be more worried about having strangers on the bridge." The doors opened as she passed, something fell out of it and crashed into her. She screamed, then backed into tactical, everyone turned their attention to her.

"What is it?" Tom asked.

Danny pointed her finger shakily at the floor, "there's a... it's a..."

Everyone slowly made their way closer to her. In front of the turbolift lay a man, lying face down on the ground.

Tom tapped his commbadge, "Paris to Sickbay."

The Conference Room:
Most of the senior staff were watching the Doctor on the wall panel, while sitting around the table. Chakotay stood in front of the window.

"Mr Anders was strangled, a DNA test should reveal who did it easily," the Doctor said.

"When will it be completed?" Harry asked.

"Not long, about ten minutes," the Doctor replied.

"Well surely that can't be it for the episode," Ian commented.

Chakotay sighed, "this couldn't have come at a worse time. All of the people on the trading station now have proof that the ship's a death trap." He turned around to face the others. "I don't know why I'm surprised though, we're one big freak show."

Tom rolled his eyes, "no we're not, why say that?"

"Hmm, is that a trick question?" Chakotay muttered.

"Not too little, not too much," Kathryn muttered. She scooped up some coffee in a jar with a little tea spoon. "That's it," she said before pouring the whole jar into a big cup. Then she put the tea spoon granules into the jar. With glee she opened the flask and poured the water into the cup.

"Janeway isn't a good example," Tom said.

"Who are you kidding Tom?" B'Elanna groaned. "We've got a streaking Talaxian, a coffee nutcase Captain, and we've even got our own personal psychotic Slayer. What other starship has all that?"

"Good point," Harry commented.

Kathryn slammed a fist on the table, "Slayers are people too, unlike you soulless ones!" She started crying and ran out.

"What's up with her?" Harry asked. "She hasn't even touched her.. um cup of coffee."

"She'll be back," Chakotay said. He walked around the table, "Tuvok and I will be in Sickbay, everyone dismissed."

Sickbay:
Tuvok and Chakotay stood nearby the station as the Doctor worked on it. "Crewman Marsen," he said with a sigh.

Chakotay frowned, "Marsen? Not possible, the guy gets along with everyone."

"DNA doesn't lie Commander," the Doctor said.

Tuvok raised his eyebrow, "indeed." He tapped his commbadge. "Tuvok to Security Team Three, confine Crewman Marsen to the brig."

In: "What, why? The guy's a hoot."

Chakotay rolled his eyes, "just do it." Tuvok re-tapped his commbadge. "How come our crew have security members with personalities, annoying ones."

"Present company excluded of course," the Doctor smirked.

Danny's Quarters:
Ian and Danny were sitting on the sofa facing each other. Danny had a cup of hot chocolate in her hands.

"And then it fell on me. I still feel a little shaky," Danny was saying.

"Yeah I bet," Ian said. "So do we know who did it yet?"

"I don't know. Honestly, this ship is getting less and less safe every day," Danny replied. She sipped her hot chocolate. "It's no wonder Jessie likes to stay in her new room."

"So how is she anyway?" Ian asked.

"A little quiet, too quiet," Danny replied. "I was just about to check on her actually. Seeing as you're in one piece, I take it you changed your mind about confronting James."

"No I did go," Ian said. "He's a bit of a mess, but hey at least this one deserves to be."

"Ian, he was drunk... it's not fair to say that he deserves it," Danny said.

"Oh come on, he's been drunk lots of times and has never done anything like this," Ian grumbled.

"True but he wouldn't do it sober," Danny said.

Ian climbed off of the sofa, "why are you taking his side? You saw the state Jess was in."

"I'm not taking any sides. We don't know what's been going on between them to judge or get involved. Lets leave it at that," Danny said.

"Oh I do and I can safely say that the guy's turned into a right asshole. The Slayer crap must be getting to his head. I can't wait until Jess finally dumps his so called superior ass," Ian muttered.

"Ian, you were one of his best friends," Danny said.

"Yeah, cos he was all right to start with. Jessie is one of my best friends too and..." Ian muttered. "You know that if I did that to you, those two would be on your side 100% and they'd be right to."

"You don't know that. A lot of people do stupid things while drunk, he just had more than usual ok," Danny said. "If he is in a mess like you said, no doubt he's the one that hates him the most."

"Dan, haven't you paid any attention to him and her lately? Jess has been treat like crap, she's just let him walk all over her and that's not like her," Ian said.

"No it's not but.." Danny said.

"That's all been happening ever since he was told what he was, it's not a coincidence," Ian said. "I don't get what happened to Jessie though."

"Maybe she fell for him, you know she's been acting different for a while," Danny said.

"This keeps on getting better and better," Ian grumbled.

Danny sighed into her left hand, "oh god, poor Jess."

"There, you are where I am right now," Ian said. "I've got to go anyway." He walked out of the room.

Danny stood up, she headed over to one of the bedroom doors. Inside Jessie was sitting on the bed, looking out of the window. "Hey, how are you doing?"

Jessie glanced at her, she could tell she'd been crying recently. "You don't want to know," she said before turning back.

"No, but it might make you feel better if you talk about it," Danny said as she sat down near her.

"No, I know how that conversation is going to go," Jessie muttered. She turned herself around so she had her back to the window. "Your comments will be what, I can't believe it or are you crazy?'"

Danny shrugged, "try me."

"Ok fine, you want to know how I feel?" Jessie questioned.

Danny nodded, "I asked didn't I?"

"Well putting it mildly I feel like crap," Jessie replied.

"Um ok... what, are you crazy?" Danny said with a smirk.

"Funny," Jessie muttered. "It's the reason why I feel crap that'll make you say that."

"I know the reason," Danny said.

"No, I feel so bad because I keep thinking about my future. Because of all of this, James is never going to risk coming near me," Jessie said. "Weird thing is, I miss him."

Danny looked shocked, "um... thinking, thinking. Uh huh?"

"You can say it," Jessie said.

"Thanks, are you crazy?" Danny stuttered.

"I don't know. I know that he wouldn't do that normally. For the last hour I've been thinking of what my life will be like without him," Jessie replied.

"Is that what you've been crying about?" Danny asked.

"Now that you mention it, yeah," Jessie muttered in response.

"Ok, the thing is Jess, drunk or not James did a terrible thing to you. Right now I'm finding it hard to understand, and I've been the one trying to defend James the most, as far as I know. Other people will think you're nuts," Danny said.

"I don't care what they think," Jessie said.

"Come on Jess, Ian's noticed it and somehow I haven't until today," Danny said.

Jessie frowned, "noticed what?"

"That whenever James does something to you, you quickly let him off and continue like nothing ever happened," Danny replied. "For example the Zare incident, Ian mentioned something on New Earth where he went off to fight some vamps, and well. Right now I can't think of other times."

"Ok firstly, both Zare incidents he didn't do anything wrong, it was that whore's fault. Secondly he told me he had to do that, or the vampires would have attacked and killed us in order to get to him," Jessie said.

"Ah you see, that's proof enough," Danny said. "What's your excuse or reason for this incident? Oh he had too much to drink and I led him on, or something."

Jessie stared at her, eyes slowly filling with tears. "I thought you'd understand eventually," she muttered.

"What's to understand? If you try and get him back this soon, he's going to think it's ok to do horrible things to you," Danny said.

"No he won't, get out," Jessie muttered.

Danny climbed off the bed, "I'm just trying to help, Jess. I don't like seeing you like this." Jessie's stare turned into a little glare. "All right fine." She turned around and stepped back out of the room.

The Bridge:
Chakotay watched as Kathryn stirred a bowl of rice pudding. She put her spoon in the bowl, then she picked up a half full jar of coffee and started pouring some of it into the bowl. After putting it back where it was, she used the spoon to stir it again for a little while before digging into it.

In: "Team Three to Tuvok."

"What now?" Chakotay groaned.

Tuvok tapped his commbadge, "Tuvok here."

In: "We found Marsen sir, he's dead. You have to see this."

"That sounds ominous," Kathryn said with a mouth full of pudding.

"No it doesn't," Chakotay commented.

Deck Six:
Tuvok and Chakotay walked down the corridor, they turned the corner and were greeted by the pale Security crewmembers.

"I don't get it really. Why would a guy like Marsen kill someone and then..." Chakotay said.

"Kill himself? Oh no, I doubt he did this all on his own," one Security guy said as they moved to one side. Lying nearby was the bloodied corpse of Crewman Marsen.

In: "Sickbay to Commander Tuvok. My patient has obviously just woken up, he snuck off while I was in my office."

Chakotay smiled and shook his head, "well it's a rare thing that an unknown ever gets out of there alive."

Tuvok tapped his commbadge again, "I will get a team to find him, he might be able to tell us what happened." He re-tapped his commbadge.

"It looks like whoever did this kept going when he was already dead. No way this was suicide," the Security guy said.

"Something tells me we've got one of those complicated murder mysteries on our hands," Chakotay said.

The Ready Room:
Kathryn, Tuvok and Chakotay were in front of her desk, the desk's computer was facing them.

"Did I mention that your hair is lovely today Captain?" the Doctor asked nervously.

"Yes and thanks again, but can we have the results?" Kathryn snapped.

"Marsen was punched first before being stabbed," the Doctor said.

"Ok, did Marsen really kill Anders or is this the handy work of a serial?" Chakotay asked.

"Marsen's DNA was found around Anders neck, he was definitely responsible. It's more complicated than you think," the Doctor said. "Where the bruise on Marsen's face is, I found Anders DNA."

"What the hell is going on here?" Kathryn grumbled.

"So these guys killed each other? How does that work? Which one died first?" Chakotay asked.

"Anders. Marsen was killed during the time the teams were searching for him," the Doctor replied.

"Yes but Anders was in Sickbay though. Anders probably just fought back when Marsen was trying to kill him," Tuvok said.

Chakotay nodded his head, "glad that's cleared up, but we need to find the weapon. Then we'll know who got Marsen."

"I already have a team searching for it," Tuvok said.

The Mess Hall:
Kes was holding a cup of tea while standing nearby the window, she glanced over at one of the doors just when Jessie walked through them. Kes headed over but she bumped into a guy, he passed her an icy glare while she stared at him with wide frightened eyes. He walked towards the other doors.

Neelix stopped next to Kes who still looked a little scared. "Are you all right sweety?"

"No, who was that?" Kes asked.

Neelix glanced briefly at the guy who just walked out. "Anders I think, why?"

"Something's wrong," Kes quietly said. She continued on her way over to Jessie, who was now by the replicator.

She came over just as she was finishing off her order. "Sandwich," she finished off. A plate with a small baguette on appeared in the replicator. Jessie took it, she turned around and jumped when she noticed Kes. "Kes, don't do that."

"How are you doing?" Kes asked.

"I'd rather not," Jessie muttered, walking towards the nearest empty table. "What's up with you?"

She and Kes sat down at the table. "What do you mean?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Jessie replied.

Kes sighed, "sorry, Crewman Anders, he just felt weird."

"Don't know him," Jessie said with a shrug. "What do you mean by weird?"

"I don't know, it was a sense.. can't explain it," Kes replied. "I'm sure no.. yes he was the crewmember who was dead in the turbolift. Danny found him."

"And he's alive now? That's different," Jessie commented.

Kes frowned a little, she got up slowly. "Will you excuse me? I have to go," she stuttered.

"Yeah sure," Jessie replied.

"Thanks, enjoy your um.." Kes said, glancing at the baguette filling, which looked like light green and brownish mush. "I'm not even going to ask what kind that is."

"It's just tuna," Jessie muttered.

Kes sighed in relief, "oh, I guess that's ok, I thought your weird cravings were starting."

"Nope I'm as normal as I can get. It's just a plain tuna, apple sauce and egg sandwich," Jessie said.

Kes pulled a face, "um yeah, plain. I've got to go." She rushed off. Jessie looked confused, she took a bite out of her sandwich.

Neelix walked over, "do you know what's bothering her?"

"Somebody feels weird," Jessie replied, moving her chair further away from him.

Neelix looked confused, "why are you... oh right, sorry I'll leave you alone." He eyed the sandwich, "that looks nice, what's in it?"

Sickbay:
Kes rushed in, "Doctor, I need to talk to you."

The Doctor emerged from the office, "Kes, isn't this your lunch break?"

"Yes but this is important," Kes replied.

"Go on," the Doctor said.

"I saw Anders in the Mess Hall earlier, I bumped into him and I felt a strange cold sensation. It was like I was looking at something that wasn't there, I can't explain it," Kes said.

"You think it might be your telepathic senses?" the Doctor questioned.

"Yes I do. I know what you're going to say, my telepathic abilities are undisciplined, but I'm telling you, I've never felt like that before," Kes replied.

"That's something that Mr Tuvok would say," the Doctor said. "I'll have a look at my scans of him, we might be able to find something."

Half an hour later:
Faye and Claire were walking down one of the corridors, holding a drink each.

"Yeah well, watch your back," Claire said in a teasing voice. The two of them split up at the next junction.

"No problem, I'll hear anybody who's following me or nearby thinking," Faye said quietly to herself. She took a swig out of her bottle, as she lowered it there was a light banging noise nearby. She frowned as she turned to the source, the jeffries tube.

"Great," Faye muttered. She walked over to one of the jeffries' doors. Quickly she opened up the door, something leaning on the door fell as a result. She backed into the nearby wall, with a shaking hand she tapped her commbadge. "O'Tani to Sickbay.. you'll never guess what I've just found."

A few minutes earlier, Sickbay:
"Um care to repeat that," Kathryn muttered.

"I haven't said anything yet," Kes said.

"Oh good," Kathryn sighed.

Kes raised an eyebrow, "somebody else is inside Anders body at the moment. When I bumped into him it felt like I was looking at something else."

"We had trouble reviving him, but that's normal. When we did get him back he disappeared. Of course everybody likes to do that, so I didn't think of it as suspicious," the Doctor said. "But when Kes told me about her encounter I double checked his scans, I found a brainwave that didn't belong there. I wouldn't have noticed this normally."

"So Anders is possessed, right. Can we get whatever it is out of him?" Kathryn asked.

Kes glanced at the Doctor. "Captain, the only brainwave there is, is the one we detected. Anders is gone."

"He probably died when he was strangled, we just revived the body and whoever the person is inside him," the Doctor said.

"Well, did he really kill Marsen then? He did leave Sickbay really soon after he was revived," Kathryn asked.

"That theory is back on the table yes, but there's no real proof yet to know for sure," the Doctor replied.

In: "O'Tani to Sickbay.. you'll never guess what I've just found."

"I give up," Kes said.

In: "A body in the jeffries tube."

"Stay really close to him or her, I'll try and lock onto it," the Doctor said. He wandered over to the station nearby. "Wait, why do I always have to do it? Don't we have transporter people?"

"You don't always, usually people call the transporter room. Doesn't happen often though," Kes replied.

The Doctor shook his head as he keyed in a few commands. A body appeared on a neighbouring biobed.

"Uh Doc.." Kes stuttered as she walked over to the second body's biobed. The Doctor turned around as did Kathryn, they both gasped.

Everyone gathered around the body. The Doctor pulled out a tricorder and scanned the body, "strangled, just like Anders."

Kathryn frowned, "well this is familiar."

Kes closed her tricorder, "unfortunately, this means we've got a serial killer on our hands."

"I'll perform a DNA test," the Doctor sighed.

"How long will it take Doctor?" Kathryn asked.

"Actually it could have been Anders," Kes said.

"Who is she?" Kathryn asked.

"Barely," the Doctor replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Barely what?" Kathryn questioned.

The Doctor groaned, "that was her surname Captain."

"Oh sorry," Kathryn meekly said. "Just let me know the results, I'm calling for another meeting."

"What for?" the Doctor questioned. "We don't know much more since the last one."

"Because.. we could theorize and stuff. Plus Tuvok can tell everyone how his investigation is going," Kathryn muttered. She stormed out still muttering to herself.

Conference Room:
Kathryn sighed, she folded her arms. "What does everyone think?"

"These meetings get better every single week," Danny commented.

"Come on people, think.. I can't do all the work around here," Kathryn snapped.

"What have you done exactly?" Tom asked.

"I will share my thoughts when everyone else does," Kathryn replied.

Harry shrugged, "sounds to me like alien possession. Kes said someone was inside Anders, plus there's a common theme for the murders."

"What? Go strangle somebody, frame it on somebody else and then stab the framed to death. Brilliant," Tom said.

"Ok, that just happened once. We don't know what happened with Barely," Ian said.

"Tom you forgot the last part. Frame again, but frame it on the strangled corpse," B'Elanna muttered.

"What for though? To confuse us," Danny questioned.

Kathryn groaned, "I'm hearing everything I've already heard, but no theories or ideas."

Chakotay glanced at her, "I know it's frustrating, but we don't have enough evidence to figure this out yet. Once the Doctor gives us the DNA results we'll know more."

In: "Sickbay to Conference."

"See this is it," Chakotay said.

Kathryn tapped her commbadge, "go ahead Doctor."

In: "Barely has gone."

"Hmm, and you all doubted my theory," Harry said smugly.

Kathryn glanced at Tuvok, "go and find her quickly."

A little while later
Engineering:
A crewman handed B'Elanna a PADD. "It'll take another two hours to get it back online."

She growled as she walked off, she tapped her commbadge. "Torres to Bridge, we have a problem."

In: "Now what?"

"Somebody has tampered with some of the systems. I don't recommend leaving the station just yet," B'Elanna replied. She got onto the lift.

In: "Great, does that mean I have time to get that trinket that looked like a TV remote?"

"And you wonder why no one wants to date you Tom," B'Elanna muttered as the lift got to the second floor.

In: "What, I like old stuff."

In: "Ahem, let's us know when the problem's solved. Chakotay out."

B'Elanna walked over to the station in front of the warp core while reading the PADD. She nearly tripped over something as she got to the bottom of the steps, her eyes widened. She gasped as she covered her mouth with her hand.

Sickbay:
The Doctor walked out of his office, and made his way over to Chakotay and Kes who were waiting nearby the station.

"Exactly the same as Anders. She got up and left, but this time I completed the DNA test after she did," the Doctor said.

"It was Anders that strangled her?" Chakotay questioned. The Doctor nodded. Chakotay groaned, "so someone is about to be, or already has been stabbed brutally to death."

The Doctor sighed, "I don't understand this at all. What is it's plan and motive for this?"

"It sounds simple enough to me. He or she is just trying to kill off the whole crew," Chakotay said.

"So how are we supposed to stop it?" Kes asked.

In: "Transporter Room One to Sickbay, we have an incoming."

"Oh, so they do, do it," the Doctor muttered. A body dematerialised on the biobed.

As Kes was the nearest she scanned him with her tricorder, "same as Marsen, guess who this is."

"Anders," Chakotay muttered as he walked over. "Great, just as I thought. We need to stop this thing and fast."

Deck Thirteen:
Crewman Barely stepped out of the turbolift. She was immediately confronted by a group of vampires.

"This better be good, I've got somebody to kill you know," Barely said.

Frenit pushed his way to the front of the group. "Do you realise how many of my guys are here?"

"Um, five?" Barely said, raising an eyebrow. "Did I pass?"

"No sweetheart. On board this rust bucket I have a lot more than five," Frenit grumbled.

"So why exactly did you bring me here?" Barely asked.

"Well I paid you to send us meals. One guy's blood isn't enough," Frenit muttered.

"It's better than nothing. If it's not good enough why don't you do your own dirty work," Barely said.

"We can't," Frenit said.

"Why? Slayer boy has got you whipped, huh. It's actually quite pathetic," Barely said. Frenit growled as he grabbed her by the front of her shirt. She just smiled sweetly. "He won't get in your way anyway, he's locked himself up."

"Really?" Frenit said, smiling deviously. "Boys, I think it's time for a well earned buffet. But first, a starter." He pulled her close and stuck his teeth into her neck.

The Bridge:
Kathryn paced the centre of the bridge with her hands on her hips. "So who is it now?"

In: "Crewman Barely. Anders has already been stabbed, obviously very soon somebody is going to get strangled."

"Computer locate Barely," Kathryn sighed.

The computer responded, "Barely is located on Deck Thirteen."

Kathryn glanced back at Harry, "what is she doing there?"

"Obviously she's way ahead of us Captain, there's no lifesigns there," Harry replied.

"So it's a trick," Kathryn muttered. "Is there anyone missing?"

"Not so far," Harry said with a frown. "Captain without a commbadge, Security's going to have a hell of a time tracking her."

"Indeed," Tuvok said.

In: "Security to Tuvok. Intruder al.. aaaaghhh! Can't you wait until I'm finished!?"

In: "Oh sorry."

In: "Ahem, alert. Aaaaghhh!" Some phaser firings were heard.

"Captain, the intruders must have masked their lifesigns. The only lifesigns here are our own," Tuvok said. The intruder alert siren sounded.

Tom and Kathryn turned a shade paler. "Captain it's probably.." Tom said.

"I know Tom. Mr Tuvok, let out our prisoner and then join a team," Kathryn ordered.

"Yes Captain," Tuvok responded. He stepped into the turbolift.

Meanwhile
The Brig:
The security guy paced a while before going towards the door. "Great, phaser fire is getting closer." He headed back while getting out his own phaser.

"Do you know what it is?" James asked, stepping closer to the field.

"I don't know yet," the guy replied.

A crashing sound startled them, that was followed by phaser firing and yelling. There was a scream which got louder, the door started to open but something crashed into it half way. The door opened fully and the item in the door fell to the ground.

"Oh my god, Walter," the security guy stuttered, walking closer. The item, which was a guy, got kicked out of the way. Three figures stepped over the body to enter the room. The security guy fired at the lead one, he rubbed the place he was shot.

"Don't do that, it tickles," Frenit sneered.

James groaned, "oh great, not again."

Frenit turned his way, "we should stop meeting this way, or not at all suits me." He aimed his own phaser at the station, the blast destroyed one of the panels and knocked off the power on the rest. Meanwhile the security guy was fiddling with his phaser. "Well that should stop any meddling. See you later." He headed back the way he came. "You two watch him, just in case."

"For god's sake that won't work, get something sharp," James muttered.

"Um right," the security guy stuttered.

"That is a good idea," one vampire said with his eyes lighting up.

The other one leapt forward to grab the security guy.

Another phaser shot hit the first one in the back. He pouted as he rubbed it, "hey, watch it." He turned around just to get a smack from Tuvok. He shook it off and hit right back.

The other vampire meanwhile had lifted the security guy up, then he threw him in Tuvok's direction. The other vampire got out of the way in time, but Tuvok was knocked to the ground.

"Great, now I just need to find a way to walk through forcefields," James muttered to himself.

The Bridge:
"So it's beheading, heart stabbing, anything else?" Tom asked quietly.

Kathryn shrugged, "I don't know, I'm not the one to ask." She walked away from the helm.

"Captain, do you and Tom know what we're dealing with?" Harry nervously asked.

"We have a theory," Kathryn replied.

Both turbolifts opened, a group of vampires came out of both. All were holding phaser rifles.

"Ok people, stand over there!" Frenit bellowed, beckoning his head and pointing towards the command chairs.

"No, what do you want from us?" Kathryn questioned, as she stepped forward.

"Hmm, that spoils all the fun of guessing," Frenit sighed. He started making his way down, while the other vamps grabbed the people at the back, including Harry. Everyone was dragged to the centre of the bridge.

"Computer restrict all computer access, command code authorisation only," Kathryn quickly said. All the consoles powered down. Frenit by instinct grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"That's easily solved honey," he said as his face changed to vampire form.

"You don't want her, her coffee tasting blood will make you yak. Not that I'd know personally," Tom said.

"What, these guys are blood donors? Whatever happened to the volunteer system," Harry muttered.

"Well we did have donors, I guess you could call them volunteers," Frenit said. "You lot keep an eye on these people, we'll need them for now."

"Yes sir," one vamp said.

Frenit roughly pulled Kathryn away from the others, "and you, let's talk business." She struggled against him, failing miserably. He pointed at the ready room. "This one yours, oh well." They stopped at the door. "We can't be disturbed, see to it boys." They went inside.

"You, can you put up one of those fields around that door?" one vampire asked in Harry's direction.

"Not without the captain," Harry replied.

"So, what can you do without her?" another vampire asked.

"Anyone up for a game of Pacman?" Tom asked sheepishly.

"Pacman? Interesting, load it up," vampire one ordered.

"I was joking," Tom muttered. The vamp glared menacingly at him. "Sure, you can have two players."

The Ready Room:
Kathryn worked at her computer as Frenit watched. A forcefield appeared around both doors. "Good girl," he said as she pulled her away. "Now, let's discuss that computer access."

"Unless you can impersonate my voice, perfectly, you don't have a problem," Kathryn said.

"Hmm, can I at least use your replicators to replicate cigarettes," Frenit questioned.

"No, it's a fire hazard... hey!" Kathryn snapped.

Frenit smiled, "I see you're just as sharp as your son, ey?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Kathryn stuttered.

"It's a vampire thing, we can smell blood and with you two it's more obvious. It's a shame he hates your guts," Frenit said.

The Bridge:
Vampire one slammed his hand down on the station behind the command chairs. "Damn, the title of this game is misleading."

"Shh, trying to concentrate," the vamp beside him grumbled.

"Misleading, what did you expect? Packed lunches with men in them?" Tom sniggered.

"Yes damn it!" vampire one snapped. "I thought it was a virtual game."

Meanwhile in the Brig:
One of the vamps backed away from Tuvok's unconscious form, and crashed into the other one. "This guy tastes weird.. look."

The second vamp groaned as he glanced over. "Green? Oh you're such a wuss, let's swap."

"I wouldn't touch the green blooded one. Rumour has it he caught the phage but he escaped confinement," James said, as he leaned on the wall next to the field. The second vampire looked worried. "And now that the other guy was thrown into him, he'll probably have it too."

"Ugh, those Vidiians tasted really weird the last time," the first vampire muttered. He pulled a face, "much worse than those Romulan dudes."

"Romulan? Tuvok's race is related to them, don't you notice the difference? There isn't any," James said.

The two vampires looked at each other. "Eew, I knew that horrid taste was familiar," the first one said.

"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to prevent their deaths," the second one groaned.

"Not really, I don't like them," James said.

"See, you're so paranoid," the first one muttered.

"And you're so stupid," the second one grumbled. "Ugh, I hope you shut up soon, your voice is grading on me."

"It's grating you moron!" the first one snapped. The two vampires stood up and started punching each other.

James shook his head as he glanced at the wall he was leaning on. He moved his hand away, leaving behind a dent in the wall that exposed some wires. While watching the vampires battling it out, he started to slowly pull them out.

"Well you look like a Vidiian, did you get your looks from your mother?" the first vampire snapped.

"Don't insult my mother, biological or sire one!" the second guy yelled, he punched the other guy really hard.

"Your sire was a gay guy, that doesn't count as a mother," the first one laughed. The second one punched him again. The first one grabbed him, he managed to get him in a head lock.

James pulled one last wire out of the wall. He walked back over to the opening.

"Get off my hair you pansy!" vampire two screeched.

James meanwhile put his hand out, instead of getting the usual shield shock he got nothing. He smiled smugly as he stepped out, then grabbed a hold of vampire one.

"How are you doing that!?" vampire one grumbled.

Vampire two pulled a face, "doing what, I can't do anything!"

"Maybe if you two stopped yelling so much," James muttered.

The two vampires looked worried. "Uh... oh crap," vampire one stuttered.

A little while later:
Jessie was walking down the corridor with folded arms. A girl ran around the corner, she bumped right into her. "Oh god, if I were you I'd run fast," she stuttered.

"Why, what's going on?" Jessie questioned.

Three vampires ran around the corner, the girls backed off.

"Ooh look, tasty looking girls," one vamp snarled.

The girl jumped behind Jessie, "what are these things?"

"They're uh..." Jessie stuttered. The vampires leapt forward and they grabbed a hold of the two. "Hey, hands off," she said. She stamped on one guys foot, but the two that had a hold of her kept a tight grip on her.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," the other girl stuttered. She screamed loudly, "somebody help us!"

Somebody jumped on the vampire who was holding her back, he put one arm in front of his neck and pulled him off the girl. The girl ran off screaming hysterically.

"You're welcome," James muttered, he tightened his arm's grip on the vamp's neck. He turned to dust.

Jessie meanwhile elbowed one guy in a sensitive place, he stumbled back. The second vamp kept a tight grip on her, he dragged her into the wall.

James turned around to face the other two. The guy who was kneed was limping around nearby the other guy. The able vampire charged at him, they both exchanged blows for a minute. James grabbed him by the neck, and pushed him into the wall panel. Using his other hand he grabbed a big bit of broken glass, then pushed it into him.

"Good god, that woman has a bony elbow," the last vampire groaned. He stood up straight just in time to get the glass thrown at him. "Oh damn it," he grumbled, then he disappeared.

Jessie groaned as she pulled herself to her feet. James casually turned her way, "hey are you..." She then looked up at him with wide eyes, his eyes did the same. "Jess?"

Jessie tried not to look nervous, "I'm fine. You asked so. Uh, thanks."

"It's ok, don't worry I'll get away from you," James quietly said. He turned away.

"No wait," Jessie said. She took a few steps closer to him. "I was going to talk to you, you know visit you."

James looked confused, "I wasn't expecting a visit for a few days." He turned back around, "let's get this over with."

"What? Are you expecting me to yell or hit you?" Jessie muttered. "I don't want to do that."

"Ok kick me, whatever's good, I deserve it," James said.

Jessie walked over to stand right in front of him. "James I don't want to hurt you. I haven't spent the last day or however long it's been, cursing your name or planning some nasty comeback. All I've been thinking about is how my life would be without you, you know cos you'll avoid me like this. I imagined it while trying to get to sleep last night, but I didn't in the end, you know why?"

"Um well, I dunno," James muttered uncomfortably. "Cos you um, had a party or something?"

Jessie eyes narrowed, she took one step closer. "No, stop being like that!" she snapped.

"Sorry I just don't know," James said.

"I cried ok, usually I'd cry myself to sleep but it was too..." Jessie said. "I don't want that life. I want to be with you."

"But Jessie, I did something horrible to you. I don't deserve to have you back," James said.

"Ok, I don't see it that way. Yeah it hurt, but the thing is you weren't yourself," Jessie said. "I know you'd never hurt me normally. Besides if you had really wanted to rape me, you wouldn't have had a problem doing so. You didn't even get close. And this is what I want, I don't know about you."

"I don't know if I could ever forgive myself for this," James muttered.

Jessie placed a hand on his shoulder, she used her hand to stroke his right arm. "No, don't say that. You may not but I already have. You're not going to punish me by avoiding me because of that, are you?" She started to get tears in her eyes. "Don't you want me?"

"Of course but that's not the issue," James replied uncomfortably.

"Then what's the problem?" Jessie asked. She moved the hand on his shoulder to the side of his face. "We're great together, don't you remember? I know you were freaked out about the baby, but you don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

"Right, I know I'm a bad guy but..." James muttered. "I do want to be involved like I should be, and I do want to be with you more than anything else. I just..."

"I know, you don't deserve me," Jessie muttered. "Don't give me that."

"A lot of people would agree with me," James said.

"I don't care what other people think. This is simple you know. Yes or no questions," Jessie said. She moved her right hand by her side. "Ok, do you want to be with me?"

"Yes, you know that but..." James replied.

"Ah," Jessie interrupted him by raising a hand. "Next question, if I want to be with you, do you really want to hurt me by rejecting me, just because you can't forgive yourself?"

James shook his head, "no."

"I can help you with that. I doubt you're ever going to feel better by lying around in the brig voluntarily," Jessie said.

"I guess but..." James said.

Jessie sighed, "don't feel too badly ok, we've both done stupid things."

"You haven't done anything wrong," James said.

"Actually there's something you need to know," Jessie nervously said. "I lied about when I got pregnant, and that was wrong. If I had told you, this wouldn't have happened. You wouldn't have gotten drunk, you wouldn't have badly try to come onto me."

"Jess, don't do that shifting blame thing. When are we talking about?" James questioned.

"Um, two months," Jessie replied.

James looked uncomfortable again, "two? Ok, at least we weren't drunk, that's good."

"Yeah that's why I shouldn't have lied, I think we both played a part in this," Jessie said.

James reached out his hand to stroke the side of her face. "Don't, it's not your fault and it's all mine."

"Think about it James. I'd better leave you to fight vamps," Jessie said.

James' eyes widened, "oh god, I really should. I've got to go." He started walking backwards.

"Yeah sorry, I distracted you and I should have waited until later," Jessie said. "Just think about what we talked about. If you decide to, come and see me. If not, don't. I'm not ready to get hurt again." She watched him walk away, he nodded before turning around.

The Bridge:
The turbolift opened, the vampires nearby raised rifles and pointed them at it. Chakotay and Tuvok walked in, they immediately got rifles in their faces.

"Over there!" one vampire snapped. Some of the vampires dragged them both over to the others.

Chakotay glanced around at everyone who was there. "Where's the Captain?"

"The leader took her into the Ready Room. She restricted access to the computers, only her and you can do anything," Tom whispered.

"Yeah, better keep the part about you down," Harry muttered quietly.

"So uh, did you get James out of the brig?" Tom asked quietly.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow, "three men attacked the room. The station was destroyed so the forcefield wouldn't go down, I and another crewmember got knocked out. When we both came to the men were gone, and so was Taylor."

Harry glanced at Tom with a smirk on his face, "you want him to save you like you're a damsel or something?"

Tom frowned, "hey, you don't know what's going on. We've faced people like this before, and all of us but him got knocked out easily. They're super strong, you know like him."

"Who are you talking about?" a vampire asked angrily.

"Uh, some dead guy, yes he's not a threat or anything," Tom replied.

Meanwhile:
James walked into his quarters, then headed straight into his room. He knelt down beside the bed, he pulled out a big bag from underneath it. He pulled out a few weapons then he stood back up. James sighed as he headed back the way he come and started go down the corridor.

The turbolift door opened, two people ran out of. They ran right into him looking all panicky. "I think we lost him," one said as they continued running off. A vampire jumped down from the ceiling of the turbolift.

"For god's sake," James muttered as he pulled out a small circular metal bar. He pressed a little button, a long blade shot out of one side of it.

The vampire meanwhile ran towards him, he noticed the blade and stopped dead. He turned around then he ran back the way he came. James threw the sword so it plunged into the wall next to the turbolift, it blocked his escape.

James walked closer to him, "ok I'm not going to kill you yet, I need to know a few things."

The vampire turned around, "I'm not telling you jack."

"I'm not called Jack, so that's not a problem," James said. "Now, how many are you are there?"

The Ready Room:
"Why didn't you just kill us?" Kathryn asked.

Frenit smiled, he sat down next to her and slipped an arm around her. She pushed it off. "Well you see, there's not enough of you people to keep us going for a week. This is the perfect place to set up shop, and I can't kill the people who know how to keep the shop up for business."

"You're going to use this ship to do what exactly, attack colonies or something?" Kathryn questioned.

"No, that's too basic," Frenit shook his head. "You'll see. All I need now is the bridge all to myself. No I'm not going to tolerate more of your friends coming by like it's a public room."

"You know what's easier, leaving," Kathryn said.

Frenit put his arm around her again, his hand raised up to grab a hold of her hair. "Something even easier is you getting rid of that command code problem."

"You don't know the meaning of the word easier," Kathryn said.

"Yes, you for example are easy. You can't argue with that," Frenit said. He pulled out a knife and placed it against her neck. "Give me the codes."

Kathryn smiled, "if you kill me you'll never get them."

"Look Kathryn, if you don't give up the codes we'll just have to settle for eating you all right now. It's your choice," Frenit said. "We can start with that annoying blonde guy out there, then the gelled haired one."

"I know how to stop people getting to the bridge," Kathryn said quietly.

Frenit smiled deviously, "that's a good girl." He pulled himself up, dragging her with him. "Get on with it."

Meanwhile:
The turbolift seized violently. "Computer report," James said.

The computer responded, "access to Deck One has been restricted."

"Great," James groaned. He reached up to push the panel on the lift ceiling away. He jumped up and pulled himself onto the top of the lift. Nearby there was the emergency ladder going up to the next deck. He started to climb up it until he got to the top, then grabbed a hold of something above him. With his other hand he put the sword away into his pocket.

Meanwhile on the bridge:
Tom looked uncomfortable, "but I don't wanna."

"You made us play that irritating game, now dance!" one vampire snapped.

Tom groaned, "ok, but how is me dancing going to entertain you?" He started doing a dodgy arm routine.

Everyone jumped at the sound of a massive crash come from the turbolift. Now standing in front of a massive hole in the turbolift doors was James. "Hi," he said politely. A few vampires raised their rifles, while some of the others ran towards him.

Tom stopped dancing, the vampire next to him slapped him so he had to continue. Chakotay and Tuvok attacked the vamps with the rifles. Chakotay wrestled one onto the ground, Tuvok snatched the rifle out of one of the vamps hands.

James elbowed one vampire, while punching another one on his other side. He pulled the sword back out, a quick press of the button made blades come out of both sides. The two vampires were stabbed easily enough with it.

The vampire wrestling with Chakotay turned the tables on him. He leaned in to try and bite him. James pulled a crossbow out from behind his back, the vamp turned to dust. He pointed it at another guy just before getting pushed to the ground by one of the last two. He dropped both of his weapons.

Tuvok tried to do a neck pinch on the other one. The vamp just gave him a funny look, then he punched him to the ground.

James stabbed the one he was fighting with a knife, as soon as he was dust he jumped back onto his feet. He threw the knife at the last vampire.

"Ok what just happened?" Harry stuttered.

"What's he doing?" James asked.

Everyone stared in Tom's direction, he was still dancing. Chakotay slapped him across the back of the head. "You can stop now."

Tom blushed, "I was celebrating."

James walked over to join the others, while putting the bow back behind his back and put the sword back to normal. "There's still two left, one is outside the shuttle bay. Where is the other one?"

Tom looked nervous, "it's that guy who you fought in the cave on New Earth."

"I know that, where is he?" James asked.

"He's with Janeway in the Ready Room," Tom replied.

Chakotay sighed, "there's a forcefield around the door. Somebody remove it, I need to get her out." Harry nodded, he headed back over to opps.

"Good luck," James commented. "Frenit is too tough for you. Nobody's going in but me."

"Ok, you don't care about her. You're just going to go in recklessly and get her killed," Chakotay said.

"And you going in will get you and her killed," James muttered.

Chakotay shook his head, "look I've had it with this superiority complex of yours. I'm going in and you stay behind."

"Chakotay, Frenit will crush you like a big fat ugly bug," James muttered.

"He's right, the guy knocked us all out," Tom said.

Chakotay rolled his eyes, "come on. You, Foster and Thompson aren't exactly good macho fighters."

"Listen Chuckles, I'll explain this in a way you'll understand. The thing you do best is be all Indiany and being all commander type. Harry's a science geek so the thing he does best is, uh science stuff," James said, he glanced at Tom who smiled. "Um Tom's best at being annoying and flying the ship."

"Hey," Tom grumbled.

"Indiany?" Chakotay muttered.

"Doesn't matter, the point is that the thing I do best is this," James said.

"I'm not disputing that, but you don't care enough about Janeway to get her out of there safe," Chakotay said.

"I do care," James muttered. "She's one of the few people who doesn't treat me like a freak. Yeah I can't stand her sometimes, but I'm not the only one Chak."

Chakotay narrowed his eyes, "I can only not stand the coffee version of her."

"Well it's the same with me," James said.

"The shield is down," Harry said.

"Nobody follow me, it's for your own good," James said. He headed towards the Ready Room.

Meanwhile:
"I'm not telling you," Kathryn grumbled. "You'll have to kill me before I let you take my ship."

Frenit groaned, "we're going in circles. You can only have it one way. It's take your ship or eat everyone."

"You know that won't last long," Kathryn said.

"Right, the only possible threat is your brat but he's permanently locked up," Frenit said.

Kathryn smiled, "oh I see, you're afraid of him aren't you?"

Frenit narrowed his eyes, "I know what you're trying to do, you're trying to annoy me."

"No, why else would you attack while he's locked up?" Kathryn said.

Frenit grabbed a hold of her arm then pulled her over to him. He placed the knife against her neck. "I am a lot stronger than your brat, he's no match for me."

The door opened, James walked in while raising the crossbow. He fired it at them, Frenit caught it at the last second.

"Do that again and this gets dug into her neck," he muttered.

"Let her go," James said as he moved closer.

"Ah ah, stop right there," Frenit snapped. He turned Kathryn around so her back was facing him. "How did you get out?"

"Easily," James replied, lowering the crossbow. "Now let her go, and I'll take it easy on you."

Frenit developed a smirk on his face, "now James, you don't care about her. If you want to stop me, go ahead, attack me."

Kathryn struggled, she put a hand on one of his arms to pull it off but failed. "James I... you should."

"Yes he should, he doesn't give a rat's arse about you and he never will," Frenit muttered.

"Let her go," James said sternly.

"Let me think about that," Frenit said.

Kathryn closed her eyes, "just do it, he needs to be stopped."

"Yeah, you can't stand her right. Why not get rid of her and help the ship at the same time," Frenit smiled.

James threw a knife that was behind his back, it plunged into Frenit's leg. He yelled out in pain, Kathryn kicked him there and he loosened his grip. She pushed away from him as James headed over to attack.

Frenit quickly recovered and threw a punch, he ducked and hit him in the stomach. James pushed him to the ground, Frenit attempted to kick him with his good leg, he grabbed a hold of his foot then he twisted it and pushed it. You could hear the bones breaking in them. His other leg pushed him away, he nearly bumped into Kathryn.

"You should have..." she said.

"You're welcome," James muttered. He took out the sword just as Frenit still managed to get back onto his feet. James pressed the button on the weapon, just one blade came out. Frenit lunged forward and punched him hard, James tried to swing the sword at him but he grabbed a hold of his wrist. He twisted it enough to loosen the grip so he'd drop it.

Kathryn grabbed something that was the closest, but it was only the vase. She groaned as she put it back, then she ran off towards the desk.

Frenit grabbed a hold of him by the neck, he hit him hard in the stomach then he pushed him into the wall. His face changed to vampire form, "this was way too easy. You disappoint me."

Kathryn came up behind him and smashed the computer over his head. He pushed her to the ground. James punched him in the face, he punched back. They continued exchanging blows. Frenit strengthened his blow, which knocked him to the ground nearby the glass divider.

Frenit made his way over, James kicked him in the broken leg, making him stumble backwards. He jumped back onto his feet, then threw another punch. Frenit quickly grabbed the sword by the blade and hit him with the handle of it.

"You know I'm already bored with playing with you," Frenit snarled. He hit him harder than before, right after he hit him again with the sword's handle. James stumbled backwards again, and crashed right through the divider and onto the side of the desk. "Face it, I'm stronger than you'll ever be."

"Oh Frenit," Kathryn said from behind him. He gasped as something sharp penetrated his arm. "Damn, this thing is hard to aim," she muttered while lowering the crossbow.

"Kathy, one at a time pet. I'd rather kill him with you watching," Frenit grumbled. He turned around to grab her, he threw her towards the sofa. Then he turned back to find James had stood back up. He raised the knife he had quickly, just as quick Frenit blocked his attack with the sword. "Nice toy you have here, does your mummy know you play with such things?"

"You're an idiot Frenit, besides she's dead," James muttered. With his other hand he punched him.

"Did you hear that Kathy, such harsh words," Frenit sniggered. "I'm not playing games anymore.." He backed off and threw away the sword. "Are you man enough to throw away your toys?"

"Fine," James said, he tossed the knife to the side.

"Now let's see how long you'll last without them. You know full well that I can do more damage like this. I'm going to enjoy this."

"I've got a word of advice Fren. Get over it, she's gone. I didn't kill her, you did," James muttered.

"Who?" Kathryn questioned.

"She was my little girl, you..." Frenit grumbled.

"You sired your own daughter, she was already dead when I got her," James said.

"All right, I'm not going to kill you just yet. I'll find that girl of yours and cut her open, see how you like it. Two for the price of one," Frenit said.

"Trust me, you won't get passed me. I won't ever let you touch her," James said.

"You don't know how wrong you are. My child's just dust, when I'm through that'll be what's left of yours," Frenit said. James narrowed his eyes, he lunged forward for him. Frenit smirked and grabbed him by the throat easily. "You can't ever begin to imagine the max of my strength. Don't make me show you boy." He lifted him up easily and forced him into the desk. It collapsed under the strain.

Frenit walked over to him with a stony look on his face. He climbed over him and grabbed a hold of his hair. He lifted his head a little, then smashed it into the desk. He lifted it and pushed his face back into the table.

Kathryn pulled herself up a little using the sofa, "no, stop that!"

Frenit just laughed, he did it one more time and lifted himself off the table. "Fine, why don't we get out of here." He jumped onto the table, knelt down to lift James up as he straightened himself up. "It's too cramped in here to do this, ey?" He then threw him as hard as he could towards the wall.

Bridge:
"I wonder why a vamp would hang out near the shuttle bay," Harry muttered from opps.

"Back up plan maybe," Chakotay said as he paced nearby the Ready Room door. He glanced over at Tuvok, who was with Harry. "Tuvok, get rid of him. You'll need a sharp weapon."

Tuvok nodded, he stepped into the other turbolift.

"Lets hope Frenit doesn't notice you switched everything back on," Tom said.

Chakotay frowned, "I didn't, oops."

Harry nervously glanced out of the permanently open turbolift doors, he looked down and saw Tuvok lying on top of one of the turbolifts.

Everyone jumped as another loud crashing sound came from nearby Tactical, this time it was much louder.

"Holy Moses," Tom stuttered as he glanced over at the new big hole in the wall.

The Ready Room:
Kathryn was staring with wide eyes, "James..."

Frenit glanced back at her, "yeah by the way, nice choice of names Kathy. Bye." He jumped down from the desk and headed towards the new big hole in the wall.

Bridge:
"Stay back, if that was James going through the wall we're in trouble," Chakotay said.

"Hell yeah, if it was Frenit we still are though. The guy's really resilient. He bounces right back with everything," Tom muttered.

"What a nice thing to say," Frenit said as he stepped out. "He's right too."

"Then how are we supposed to kill him?" Chakotay muttered in Tom's direction.

Tom shrugged, "I don't know, stake him or behead him quick as you can."

Frenit stood over James as he lay still on the ground. He raised one of his feet up just above James' head. At the last second James grabbed it, twisted it a little and pushed as hard as he could. This made him stumble back through the hole.

"What happened?" Tom asked.

Kathryn stumbled through the Ready Room doors, Chakotay quickly joined her. "Are you all right?" She nodded lightly while watching the Tactical station.

James pulled himself back up using the Tactical station. Now he had a massive bruise all the way down the left side of his face, blood coming from his nose and a deep cut along the right cheek. He also had a few cuts and bruises on his arms.

Frenit got his balance back, and stared at him in shock. He tried to shake it off. He lunged for him, but James quickly jumped onto Tactical and rolled onto the other side.

"What now, are you afraid to fight me?" Frenit sneered.

"Fight, I thought you were trying to hug me," James said with a shrug.

Frenit growled as he made his way around the station, James met him half way and they continued trying to and punching one another.

Kathryn headed towards them, Chakotay quickly blocked her from going further. "No, don't."

"What? I have to help him," Kathryn muttered.

"You can't, this is something he needs to do on his own," Chakotay said.

"Plus have you seen the state of James? Imagine how we'd look if we decided to fight Frenit," Tom commented.

Kathryn ignored him, "what if he kills him. No, I have to help."

"You can't do that. He needs to get this out of his system," Chakotay said.

The fight had now moved to behind the command chairs. James threw another punch, but Frenit grabbed him by the wrist. Like he was expecting it, he punched him as hard as he could with the left hand.

Frenit shook it off and kept a tight hold of his wrist. He pulled him closer, he used his other hand to drag him so he had his back to him. He bent his arm back as hard as he could. He yelled out as the arm twisted at an angle it wasn't supposed to go anywhere near. A few people like Tom cringed. Chakotay tried his best to keep Kathryn back.

"That's for doing that to the leg," Frenit growled. "Now, why don't we go and find your girl, then I can finally kill you."

"You're forgetting one thing," James muttered.

Frenit pushed him into the bar, "and what's that?"

"The Masters," James said.

"What about them?" Frenit questioned. James lowered himself, dragging Frenit with him, he used his good arm to help throw him over his shoulder. He crashed into the chairs and collapsed onto the floor.

James quickly went over the bar and joined him, he pulled a knife out as he held Frenit down. "This is how I killed one."

Frenit struggled to get away, "I didn't know they were so weak."

In: "Jertin to Frenit. I've lost contact with the others, I think they're dead."

"But how?" Frenit stuttered. He quickly grabbed the knife by the blade, but he couldn't pull it away.

"That was as easy as insulting you," James replied.

Frenit got his stony glare back, "what?"

"You're not too smart are you Fren," James muttered.

"Initiate code 37," Frenit said.

In: "Aknowledged sir."

"Be seeing you," Frenit said with a smirk. He disappeared in a transporter beam.

"What the?" James said as he climbed back onto his feet.

"Did we win?" Tom asked.

Harry frowned, "a ship has just uncloaked in the bay, it's heading out."

"I'd say seal the doors but we all know what they're going to do," Chakotay groaned. "Get a tractor beam on it as soon as it leaves."

"Aye sir," Harry said as he worked at the station. His eyes widened, "ok, they cloaked again. I can't get them."

"Well technically we did win, right?" Tom questioned.

"We? All you did was dance," Chakotay muttered.

"And very well might I add," Tom commented.

"Ok um, now that's that over, I'll go back to the brig," James muttered, walking away slowly.

"I was thinking Sickbay," Kathryn said.

"No, I'm fine," James said. He got as far as Tactical, then he stopped to lean on it. He then collapsed to the ground.

Kathryn was the first to react, she rushed over to kneel by his side. Chakotay, Tom and Harry gathered around. "Call Sickbay," she ordered.

"No I'm fine, I should go to the brig. That's where I belong," James said, trying to sit back up. Kathryn gently made him lie back down.

"No you don't. You've just saved the ship," she said softly. "We're proud of you, aren't we?"

"Actually yeah, that was cool. You kicked ass," Tom said.

Harry sighed, "Captain, the transporters won't work remember. Command codes."

"Oh. Chakotay, you do that," Kathryn said.

Chakotay nodded, "gladly." He turned away.

Sickbay:
The Doctor walked into his office with a frown on his face. Kathryn watched him looking just as worried. "He's a bit beaten up but he should recover, just a little bit of bed rest and he should be fine."

"Good," Kathryn said. She turned to look at the biobeds. "What did he..."

The Doctor sighed, "his arm was bent way out of shape, nose bones were all more or less smashed in. He also has a concussion, a lot of deep cuts and bruises. How come he got like this, didn't anyone tell him to back off or help him?"

"I tried but there was nothing we could do," Kathryn replied.

"I recommend that he get some bed rest, but I know he's going to get up and walk out as soon as he wakes up. Permission to put a forcefield around him," the Doctor said.

"Granted," Kathryn said with a smile.

"There's something else," the Doctor said.

"What?" Kathryn questioned.

"I contacted the morgue. Apparently Marsen and Anders blood was drained from them," the Doctor replied.

Kathryn turned around to face him, "what?"

"Obviously the vampires hired this alien to send them packed lunches," the Doctor said.

Kathryn nodded, "well I just don't understand why they didn't just attack. They did anyway so what took them so long?"

"I guess we'll never know," the Doctor said.

Kathryn turned back around to look at the three biobeds. "No, we won't."

The Mess Hall:
Danny, Ian and Jessie were sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the quiet room.

"Jess you're crazy, he's a monster," Ian muttered.

"No he's not, for one thing he just saved the day right? Besides you can't judge a person by their drunken flirting," Jessie said.

"No but that's not the only reason why I'm calling him that. Jess you deserve a lot better than him," Ian grumbled. "He's not the same guy you knew."

Danny covered her face with her hand, "Ian back off."

"I'm just trying to protect her," Ian said.

"Ok stop it. I don't need protecting, I can take care of myself," Jessie said. "You guys have no idea what he means to me still, maybe if you did you'd stop giving me such a hard time."

Danny took a hold of her hand, "I do Jess, it's ok." She glanced at Ian with narrowed eyes, "we understand perfectly. He made a mistake, it's no use punishing him for life."

"Right," Ian muttered.

Jessie took her hand away, she placed them both across her face. "He hasn't come back to talk to me, obviously he's not..."

"Well I'll give him that. He has the sense to stay away," Ian said.

"Don't listen to him, he'll come around," Danny said.

Jessie shook her head, "no, he would have talked to me by now or... What am I going to do?"

Danny smiled a little, "if you want my advice, I'd get up and walk over there."

Jessie moved her hands away, "what?" She glanced around towards one of the doors. James had come through them, he was slowly making his way over. He hesitated, then stopped next to the kitchen. Jessie quickly got out of her chair, then headed over to him.

"Great, don't listen to Ian. He's just going to hurt her again, and I don't want to see that," Ian muttered. Danny placed a hand on his arm.

"Hey, you're not in the brig," Jessie said quietly.

"No, after what happened with the vamps it's not a good idea," James said. "And hey."

Jessie smiled weakly, "hi, um have you thought about, you know us?"

"Yeah I have," James replied.

"Well can I just say one thing first?" Jessie questioned. "I hope you don't think I'm being all demanding or grabby, I don't want to be that kind of girl. I think it's just..."

"Don't worry, I don't. I've put you through a lot," James said.

"Ok um, then what do you think?" Jessie asked nervously. "Oh um, I'd understand if you'd want more time. You probably didn't want me to come over, my bad. Just give me a signal and I'll go aw..." James stepped closer to her, he leaned in to kiss her on the lips.

"Please don't," he said as he pulled away.

Jessie put an arm around his neck, "I won't."

"Unbelievable," Ian grumbled as they continued kissing.

Danny's eyes were wide, "I know, don't they know where they are?" She glanced around at everyone in the room, most were watching the pair.

About a minute later they pulled apart, but only by a few centimetres. "People are watching," Jessie whispered.

"So, it'll count as another rumour," James whispered back.

Jessie smiled, "true."

"Ian, just leave it," Danny said.

Ian sighed, "ok ok."

"I made myself worry a little there, I thought you'd never want me back," Jessie said.

James smiled, "that'll never happen."

Jessie's smile turned into a small grin, "do you think you'd be able to handle the mood swings? I sure as hell can't."

"Yes, it's worth it isn't it. You know I'll help you through this the best I can," James replied. "Not faking this time, I promise."

"I know that," Jessie said. They both hugged each other while most of the people in the room watched.

**** THE END ****

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