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Episode Synopsis
Tension runs high as Janeway discovers something James has been hiding. The group soon realise that New Earth isn't the safe paradise they thought it was.

Written
25th - 27th September 2003

Edited for Reboot
7th November 2012

Episode Based In
March 2372 (mid season 2)

Day 44
Lisa's room:
Ian groaned as he turned over, he fell off the bed as a result. Lisa jumped awake at the sound of the resulting thud. Ian pulled himself back up, "ow... wait, why am I here?"

Lisa yawned, "you fell asleep again, I didn't want to bother moving you."

Ian pulled himself onto his feet, "sorry, I didn't miss anything did I?"

Lisa shrugged, "I'm not sure exactly. I heard a monkey, I heard Chakotay moaning about it and that's about it."

"Oh damn it," Ian muttered. He left the room.

Lisa shook her head as she pulled herself out of bed.

Ian opened the door to the shelter, and stepped outside. Chakotay was standing nearby using his sander on a large plank of wood. "Hey Chakotay," Ian said.

Chakotay rolled his eyes, "hey, what do you want?"

"Nothing," Ian muttered in response.

Chakotay glanced at him looking confused, "did you just come out of my shelter?"

"Um no, of course not," Ian replied nervously.

Chakotay shook his head, "ookay."

"So how was your night?" Ian asked.

"You're asking the wrong guy," Chakotay replied.

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

"Well nothing happened last night, so it was the same kind of night I've had for weeks," Chakotay snapped.

Ian looked nervous, "um sorry."

"No I'm sorry, you didn't deserve to be snapped at," Chakotay muttered.

"So you had a bad night I take it, how?" Ian questioned.

Chakotay sighed, "that monkey, I hate it."

"What did the monkey do?" Ian asked.

"Nothing... it just annoyed me," Chakotay quickly replied.

"Hey I'm not as dumb as some people say I look. What did it do?" Ian asked, folding his arms.

"Kathryn and I were talking about important matters, then the thing bursts in making strange hand signals, and of course Kathryn takes it seriously, gets angry cos she thinks that something happened so I spend half an hour trying to calm her down," Chakotay rambled.

"What did she think happened?" Ian asked.

Chakotay shook his head, "nothing really worth all of that."

Ian looked disappointed, "oh ok. See you around." He headed towards his own shelter, Chakotay continued to sand. Ian walked into the shelter, sat down on his bed, glancing around the room looking confused. "Ookay," he muttered before standing back up again.

Meanwhile outside Kathryn stepped out of the other shelter, "morning."

"Morning," Chakotay muttered.

Ian stepped out of the shelter, "um have you guys seen James? He usually tries to sleep in until ten, but he's not."

Kathryn glanced at Chakotay, "see I told you."

Chakotay rolled his eyes, "calm down. I always see him coming back from a walk around about this time."

"No he doesn't. My alarm goes off and he's still in bed," Ian said.

Chakotay shrugged, "then he must go back to bed afterwards, what's up with you two?"

"Well I'm not usually a late sleeper, and well James being up before me is pretty suspicious. What if the people who knocked the power off got him," Ian replied.

"In a way that's better than what the monkey said," Kathryn whispered to Chakotay.

"I'd better go look for him," Ian said. He rushed off into the woods.

"May as well, he's probably just running late," Chakotay said, shaking his head.

"Why don't you think the monkey was telling the truth?" Kathryn asked.

Chakotay turned to her, "look Kathryn, it's a monkey. It probably wants attention, that's all."

"I guess," Kathryn said calmly. "And how would it know if it was true?"

Chakotay smiled in relief, "there you go, nothing to worry about."

Kathryn nodded her head, "by the way, do you know who hid my coffee supplies?"

Chakotay stared blankly, "I didn't even notice they were gone. Go and ask Jessie and Lisa." Kathryn nodded, she went back into her shelter.

Ian rushed back into the clearing, "this planet is totally screwed up." He opened the shelter door.

"What's up?" Chakotay asked.

"It's really cold nearby the lake," Ian replied. He went inside the shelter again, headed straight to Jessie's room, and he knocked on the door. "Jess, you awake?" He walked straight into the room.

Jessie looked over the cover looking pretty tired, "what, what is it?"

"Hey I'm sorry I woke you, I'm just wondering did James come back last night?" Ian questioned.

"Yeah I think so," Jessie replied.

"Chakotay's probably right, oh well," Ian said. He was about to leave the room, but he changed his mind. "Oh Jess?"

Jessie groaned, "what?"

"Do you know what day it is today?" Ian asked.

"Ian I'm trying to sleep here," Jessie muttered in response.

"Sorry, I was just wondering if you got me a present or something," Ian said with a sneaky grin on his face.

"Oh... your birthday, yeah I did... I just want another hour sleep. Please?" Jessie said.

"Sure thing," Ian said. He disappeared through the door.

Jessie tried to keep a straight face as James appeared on the side her back was facing, from under the cover. "I think he's looking for you," she said.

"Meh, let him look," James said. He put his arm around her, while kissing her several times on the cheek.

"What if he finds you?" Jessie asked.

"Jess, he's been in here already. He had no idea I was here," James replied.

Jessie glanced at him, "yeah, you have a good point." She turned over, placed a hand on his cheek and they both kissed, totally oblivious to the sound of the door opening.

"Oh... my god," Kathryn gasped.

James and Jessie quickly separated, they looked in her direction. "I could say the same thing," Jessie stuttered.

"I knew I should have listened to that monkey," Kathryn muttered, turning around to look in another direction.

"Monkey?" James muttered, he glanced at the window, "son of a..."

Jessie glanced at the window too, she glared at James, "next time you hang around my window at night, close the curtains please."

"I did," James muttered.

"I can't believe this," Kathryn stuttered.

James and Jessie looked at her again. "You're still here, what's your problem!?" Jessie exclaimed.

"That's what I should ask you, isn't he your friend?" Kathryn muttered.

"It's none of your business," James said.

"Keep out of this," Kathryn snapped.

Jessie shook her head, she shuffled over to the edge of the bed, she picked up some clothes from the ground. "If she's going to hang around, I'd rather have something on." She picked up a dressing gown that was lying folded nearby, she put it on under the covers.

"Yes I'd rather you had something on too," Kathryn grumbled.

Jessie climbed out of the bed, she glared at Kathryn before going out the door.

"So, you're sticking around, are you?" James muttered.

Kathryn knelt down on the ground, she picked up some things and she threw them at him. "Oh I'm sorry, did I ruin the mood?" James gathered the clothes Kathryn threw at him, he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She rolled her eyes before turning her back to him, "Jessie I can understand, but you, I expected better from you."

James moved the cover away from him before standing up, "I don't see what this has to do with you."

"Can I turn around yet?" Kathryn mumbled.

James rolled his eyes, "yes."

Kathryn turned around, "I just don't get it. I thought you were friends with this girl. Is this the new trend these days?"

"Why... I mean, this isn't a new thing to you, remember? You knew we are having a relationship, right?" James replied.

Kathryn shook her head, "no, no, practise one, you don't do this as practise. It's just sick."

"No, getting pregnant via a guy who's married to someone else is sick," James said.

Kathryn gasped, "how did you know about that?"

"You told me!" James yelled.

"I did... oh god, damn coffee, mmm coffee. So you know why I'm mad at you then," Kathryn said nervously.

James looked confused, "no... what? What's that got to do with that?"

Kathryn sighed in relief, "oh I remember telling you, yes. It's got nothing to do with it, I just slipped."

"Fine, why are you mad at me then?" James asked.

"Well isn't it obvious?" Kathryn replied.

"Yes actually, I just asked for the hell of it," James muttered sarcastically.

Kathryn groaned, "this is serious James, no sarcasm."

"Well answer my question and get the hell out of here," James said.

"Because what you did is disgusting," Kathryn replied.

James raised his eyebrow, "what?"

"Firstly she's your best friend. I mean what happens if you two break up, it'll be impossible to be friends again," Kathryn said.

"I don't think so," James muttered.

"Secondly, you're only a kid," Kathryn said.

James stepped closer to her, "a kid? I'm bloody twenty two!"

Kathryn cringed, "oh that's right. You look young for your age... you're still very young."

"Please, a lot of people in my college class were sixteen or something when they..." James said.

"That's enough out of you!" Kathryn snapped.

"Fine," James muttered. He left the room. Kathryn put her hands on her hips, she followed him not looking very happy at all.

They both left the shelter, when they did Kathryn caught up with him, she grabbed a hold of his arm to stop him. "Hey don't be like that with me, I'm interfering for your own good," she said.

Chakotay stood away from his work, "what the hell is going on?"

Kathryn folded her arms, "it seems that the monkey was telling the truth after all."

"Oh yes, tell everyone why don't you," James muttered.

Chakotay shook his head, "I'm staying out of this." He headed towards the shelter.

"Look I just want to know what you were thinking," Kathryn sighed.

"Well I figured that we should before I... I don't see why I have to explain myself to you," James said.

"Before you what?" Kathryn questioned.

James looked down at the ground, "nothing."

"Come on, before what?" Kathryn said calmly.

James looked up at her, "doesn't matter, I didn't do anything wrong. I was scared ok."

"Scared... of what?" Kathryn asked.

"Dying, are you happy now?" James muttered in response.

Kathryn looked confused, "dying? Don't be like that, you have your whole life ahead of you."

"That's the thing, I don't. I just have today," James replied. Kathryn narrowed her eyes, she slapped him across the face. "Hey, why did you do that?"

"What is it with you men and your mind games. I bet you told Jessie the same thing before, you know," Kathryn replied.

"For your information I didn't tell her anything about that," James said.

"You know what, I can't believe how disgusted I am with you! Why make something like that up?" Kathryn yelled.

"I didn't, a couple of guys who have tried to kill me twice before are coming to finish the job," James muttered.

"Why would anyone want to hurt you?" Kathryn asked.

"Duh... Slayer, not many bad guys like them," James replied.

Kathryn shook her head as she glanced at the ground, she looked back up at him, "why was it so important to sleep with your best friend before all of this? Did you ever stop to think about her at all?"

"I don't get it, what do you mean?" James asked.

"Well the first question was pretty obvious," Kathryn muttered in response.

"I chose not to answer that one," James said.

"If you really are going to get killed tonight then how do you think she'll feel about it. Without the incident last night she'd still feel awful," Kathryn said.

"I never really thought about that," James said quietly.

"I didn't think you did. What you did was very selfish, keep that in mind," Kathryn said. She headed towards her shelter.

Jessie walked out of the other shelter, James went straight passed her and slammed the shelter door closed behind him. Jessie headed towards the other shelter, she opened the door. Kathryn and Chakotay looked in her direction.

"What did you say to him?" Jessie asked, folding her arms.

"Oh it's not over," Chakotay muttered.

Kathryn glanced briefly at Chakotay, she sat down at the table. "Who are you talking about?"

"James of course. What did you say to him?" Jessie asked.

"That doesn't matter," Kathryn replied.

Jessie leaned on the table, "yes it does. He seemed pretty upset."

"Ok the last thing I told him was that he was pretty selfish," Kathryn said.

"What, how is he selfish?" Jessie questioned.

"Well it seems like he was the one who started it, but you'd have to talk to him to get the rest of that explanation," Kathryn replied.

Jessie stopped leaning on the desk, "I don't get it. Whatever we do has nothing to do with you. Why do you insist on trying to ruin things for us... wait..."

"I'm not trying to ruin anything," Kathryn quickly said.

"I said wait, I do get it actually. You're jealous," Jessie said.

Kathryn stood up, "jealous? Of what?"

"You're jealous cos we're happy and you're not, plus you're all alone," Jessie replied.

"I'm not jealous," Kathryn muttered.

"Ok this is getting stupid," Chakotay grumbled.

"You're damn right it is. You have no right to interfere with either of us. Since you're probably doing it so everyone can be miserable just like you, I'd say you're the selfish one," Jessie said.

Chakotay quickly stood in between the two. "Ok that's enough."

"No I haven't finished," Jessie said. Kathryn rolled her eyes. "You want to know why you're alone and miserable? The only thing you'd date is coffee, and if that was alive it wouldn't be interested in you anyway."

Kathryn gasped, "how dare you! Take that back!"

Chakotay groaned, "Jessie, I think you should go."

Jessie shook her head, she turned around and left the room.

Kathryn sighed, "for a moment when I was talking to James I felt sorry for that girl, I don't understand why now."

Chakotay raised his eyebrow, "if I understand what happened then I think she had every right to be mad at you, same with James."

Kathryn turned to face him, "oh thank you very much. Do you have any idea what I'm going through right now?"

"No I'm sorry, I don't," Chakotay replied.

"I walked in on them, it's something a mother should never see," Kathryn said.

Chakotay's eyes widened, "you don't mean you saw..."

Kathryn gasped, "no it wasn't that bad, god. They were kissing when I walked in though."

"Look Kathryn, I know it must be hard to accept but your son is a grown up, even though he doesn't act like it sometimes, but he is," Chakotay said.

"Yes but I only knew him for two years as a child, and over a year as an adult. I've missed over twenty years of his life, those years didn't fly by at the time, but when I look back at them..." Kathryn said.

"It seems that when you saw him again it had only been a few weeks. Am I getting it right?" Chakotay said questioningly.

Kathryn smiled, "yes you are."

"I'm sorry Kathryn, but try to see it through their eyes. To them you're just their ex-Captain making a huge fuss out of something that Captains don't need to get involved in," Chakotay said.

"I guess but James said he was... oh I'm sure he wasn't serious," Kathryn said.

"There's not many times when he is," Chakotay said.

Kathryn tried not to laugh, "I guess, but it was a serious conversation."

"So why do you think he was making it up?" Chakotay asked.

"Because there's no one else here to do what he said will happen to him," Kathryn replied.

Chakotay looked confused, "what did he say?"

"He said that a group of men are going to kill him, it just sounded so unbelievable," Kathryn replied.

"I doubt that he would have said something like that just to make him look better. Why would he lie about it?" Chakotay said. He headed over to where some tools were lying. "I'll have a scan around, just in case."

Kathryn nodded, "I'll go too."

"I thought you didn't believe it," Chakotay said.

"Like you said, he wouldn't have just made it up to make him look better. To me it makes him seem worse," Kathryn said.

"How so?" Chakotay asked.

Kathryn groaned, "do you men not understand feelings or something? If I was in a relationship that has just gotten as serious as that, and the guy was killed, I'd be pretty upset."

"Oh... oh I get it," Chakotay said.

"He said it himself, he never thought about how she'd feel about it," Kathryn said.

"Come on, let's just do some scanning," Chakotay said. He headed towards the door. Kathryn sighed, she followed him.

Meanwhile, James/Ian/Jessie's shelter:
Jessie closed the main door behind her, she found James sitting at the table. Jessie sat opposite him, "hey... whatever she said, it's not true."

James sighed, "yes it is."

Jessie pulled the chair closer to him, "what exactly did she say?"

"She said I'm selfish, and she's definitely right," James replied.

"Ok now you're worrying me, why do you think you're selfish?" Jessie asked.

James stood up, "I just am ok, there's no point in explaining it."

"I don't understand, we both wanted it to happen. It wasn't just your decision only," Jessie said.

"You're close, but not close enough," James muttered.

Jessie pulled herself out of the chair, she placed her hand on his arm, "ok then, if I'm right about my second guess then you've got it wrong, I would be the selfish one there."

"Now you've just gotten me confused," James said.

Jessie glanced around like she was expecting somebody else to be there, "trying not to sound crude here but I barely did anything, get my meaning?"

"I think I do, but it's not that," James replied.

"It's got to be that, I mean I can't think of anything else. You could have easily gotten confused about it," Jessie said.

"What if it was that?" James asked.

"Well you don't have to worry about it, you're not the one who's selfish," Jessie replied. "I mean you shouldn't be ashamed or anything, you were pretty amazing."

"Jess... you've already said part of that before, remember?" James muttered.

"Yeah well my point is, I didn't really do anything for you," Jessie said.

"Look Jess, you didn't have to. You were with me, and that's all I needed from you," James said.

Jessie glanced at the room blushing slightly, "I'm going to go for a walk, pretty cold so I need a coat." She headed for her room.

"I'm sorry that came out all wrong," James said.

"No no, it made sense in a way, I guess we're both even then. I just need to walk ok, I don't think my legs are working properly, so I'd better walk," Jessie stuttered before disappearing into the room.

James sat back down at the table, "ok."

Jessie came back out wearing a black jacket, "going now. See you later." She quickly left the shelter, passing Ian as she did.

"Ok, what's eating her?" Ian questioned.

James glanced behind him with wide eyes, "what's whating her?"

Ian raised his eyebrow, "eating her, yeesh. Wait, where have you been? I've been looking everywhere."

"Walking, I do that every morning," James replied.

Ian shrugged his shoulders, he sat down on the chair next to James, "that's what Chakotay said. I was just worried that's all."

"You want your present, don't you?" James said questioningly.

Ian grinned cheekily, "ok you got me."

James climbed out of the chair, "what's wrong, has no one else given you one?" He opened one of the small drawers nearby one of the beds.

"No, but I wasn't expecting anything from Lisa, and I wasn't expecting Janeway and Chakotay to even know about it," Ian replied.

James handed Ian his present, he sat back down in his chair. "Sorry it's not much, with just replicators around and no shops, it's kinda hard to pick something."

Ian placed the present on the table, "I'll wait until Jessie comes back, it could be like Christmas morning with just the three of us."

"Except you'd be the only one opening presents," James said.

"It would make a change from your usual morning tree wrestling," Ian said.

James glanced at him again, eyes wide again, "what wrestling?"

Ian stared blankly at him, "what's wrong with you? I only said it would make a change from your usual tree wrestling in the morning."

James calmed down, "oh good, I think I've finally lost it."

"Oh good for you, how was it?" Ian teased.

James stared at him again with wide eyes, "what, no no I meant I've probably lost my mind."

Ian burst out laughing, "oh I miss winding you up, we should do it more often."

James groaned, "you miss it? You do it all the time."

"I know, but it's still been a while," Ian sniggered.

James stood up, "that's it, I'm going out."

Ian's face dropped, "what... no, no I'm sorry. It's my birthday, I don't like being alone."

"It's ok, I was going to go anyway. I know how to solve something now," James said.

Ian looked confused, "solve what?"

"Nothing you would care about, I just want to prove Janeway wrong," James replied. He walked over to his bed, knelt down and pulled out a large bag from underneath it.

"Oh I heard her voice being raised, plus yours, makes sense now," Ian said. He stood up, "geez, does that woman ever leave you alone?"

"Obviously not," James replied. He glanced around the room, "um have you seen my black jacket?"

"Actually I have, I just don't know where and when. You know when you lose something and you think 'oh I saw it on the table' but then it's not," Ian replied.

James groaned, "oh Jessie took it, it's ok I remember."

"No, that's not where I remembered it being at," Ian muttered.

"Doesn't matter, I'll just wear this one," James said as he picked up a different jacket.

Ian glanced down at James' bed briefly, "hang on, did you even sleep last night? Your bed's untouched."

"Don't be stupid, I did use it. I went to bed late, you probably didn't hear me come back in," James replied.

Ian smiled, "if that's the case then you'd know I didn't even sleep here."

"Um if that's the case, where were you?" James asked.

Ian blushed, "nowhere, um we'd better stop this or we'll be here all day."

"Yeah good, I have better things to do," James muttered. He headed for the main door.

Ian sulked, "damn, this birthday sucks." He quickly followed James out of the door.

A little while later:
Kathryn and Chakotay came back into the shelter. "Well that was a waste of time," Chakotay muttered.

"Yeah, no lifesigns in the entire area except for monkeys," Kathryn said.

"Why do I get the feeling that James just told you that story to throw you off a different one. I mean you must have asked the 'what were you thinking' question, and well I doubt he'd tell you," Chakotay said.

Kathryn sighed as she sat in one of the chairs, "I guess you're right."

Meanwhile:
James came into the clearing with the lake, something rustled in the bushes behind him. He pulled out his knife before turning around to find Ian following him. Ian quickly put his hands into the air, "I surrender."

James groaned as he lowered the knife, "Ian, why are you following me?"

"I told you, it's my birthday and I want to hang with my friends. Is that too much to ask?" Ian replied.

"I guess not, but I just want some time alone for a while," James said.

"You've already had that today, right?" Ian questioned.

"Not since Janeway decided to slag me off, no," James replied.

"Oh I see, what was that all about anyway?" Ian asked.

"Nothing you'd be interested in," James replied. He turned around, the two started walking along the lake.

"You'd only say that if I would be interested, and you don't want me to know," Ian said.

James glanced up at him, "so you're actually going to follow me?"

"Yeah, we don't hang out much anymore," Ian replied.

"Fine, but you can only tag along for so long, then you'll have to go," James said.

"Why, where are you going?" Ian asked.

James stopped in his tracks, Ian stopped to face him. "Ian, why must you ask questions all the time?"

"Because I don't know what's going on," Ian replied.

"Ok fine. There's a good chance that I'll die tonight, and you're spoiling my chances," James said.

"Ok, even more confused than before. What makes you think you're going to die?" Ian questioned.

"Because the only two times these guys tried, they only sent their goons to do it and they were very close," James replied. He pushed passed Ian, "I can't fight them in the way I am now, I need to be prepared."

Ian turned around, he started to follow him, "how are you going to prepare exactly?"

"By killing the messenger," James muttered in response.

Ian picked up his pace, "but there's no one else here."

James stopped again, "there is, you just can't scan them."

"Wait a minute, does Jessie know anything about this?" Ian asked.

"No, she doesn't have to know either," James replied.

Ian gasped, "oh my... I just worked it out."

James turned around looking confused, "worked what out?"

"That jacket of yours... it was in Jessie's room and now she's wearing it," Ian replied as he glanced at the ground.

James stared blankly at him, "ookay, I think we're off that subject now."

"When I went into her room this morning the jacket was on the ground near the door, she was definitely hiding something. Later she was pretty nervous about something, and you... you kept staring at me like I was saying something dirty about you..." Ian said.

James tried his best not to look nervous, "what you getting at Ian?"

Ian ignored him, "that monkey keeps telling everyone when kissing's going on, and when I was in Lisa's room eavesdropping on Chakotay and Janeway, I heard it, Janeway talked to it. There was arguing which was all muffled." Ian looked up at James, "you were missing from your so called walk later than usual according to Chakotay. Plus I'm pretty sure when I walked into Jessie's room, she was not wearing anything with sleeves or straps, infact it looked like she was wearing nothing under that cover."

"That's nice Ian, I've got to go and... um kill something," James stuttered, he quickly turned around again and continued walking.

Ian gasped and pointed at him, "you had sex with Jessie last night, didn't you?"

James turned around, "do you want everyone in the forest to hear you?"

"You're not arguing against me, you did, didn't you?" Ian said.

"Yeah I did, just because I did..." James muttered.

"I won't tell Lisa and Chakotay, geez. I'd rather not work for an entire day," Ian said.

"No, I was going to say just because I did, doesn't mean you should hate me, or treat me differently," James said.

Ian folded his arms, "and why would I do either of those things? Cos you're going to get murdered, so you say? It couldn't have been the only reason you guys did it."

"It's not as bad as that, really," James said. "Who am I kidding, yes it is that bad. I'm a terrible person."

"Not really, she agreed to it and... oh yeah she doesn't know," Ian said.

"Exactly, there's no point in hanging around with someone as sick as me. See you later," James said. He walked out of Ian's sight.

Ian shook his head, "it's not sick, it's just not fair." He turned around and headed back the way he came.

Not long later, the cave opening:
A voice echoed through the cave, "hey, what are you doing he..." All that was heard from the outside of the cave was crash sounds, basically a lot of commotion was heard. A guy appeared near the opening, he turned to dust. A knife dropped down onto the ground. James came near the opening of the cave, he knelt down to pick up the knife, another guy came up behind him.

"Now that's not nice. I didn't trespass in your home," Frenit said.

James stood up, he turned around to face him. "I know, but what are you going to do?"

"Now here's a question I shouldn't ask. Why aren't you back in your safe little home, safe and sound in the arms of your lovely girlfriend?" Frenit said questioningly.

"What makes you think I have one?" James asked.

"Just cos I'm a vampire doesn't mean I can't get out and about during the day, blankets can be quite useful," Frenit replied.

"You haven't..." James said.

"No no, I haven't went near her, not exactly. I went to your camp area to see if you'd gone into hiding yet, but no you were still hanging around," Frenit said. He stepped closer to James, "I didn't know you Slayers were allowed to, how can I put it, sleep with people."

"What makes you think I did anything like that?" James stuttered.

Frenit softened his voice, "oh you're so amazing, I didn't really do something for you." He cleared his throat, "you being with me was all I needed." He smiled, "nice work buddy."

James glared at him, "I came here to kill you, but now I really want to hurt you."

"I'd love to see you try little boy," Frenit said.

James stepped closer to him, he tried to hit Frenit but he grabbed his arm. Frenit punched him hard in the face, knocking him onto the ground. James pulled himself half up, he placed his left hand on his lip, which was bleeding.

"Aaaw, little boy got a boo boo. I'm sure your girlfriend will kiss it all better," Frenit said.

James pulled himself up the rest of the way, "that's the last time you're going to call me that." He tried to hit him, again Frenit caught his arm in time.

"Ah ah ah," Frenit muttered. James used his other hand to punch him in the face, this time Frenit fell to the ground. "Hey, that's cheating."

James raised his knife, "so's this." He threw the knife at Frenit, he quickly moved but it plunged into his side.

Frenit looked at the knife, "oh so glad red goes with black." James went over to him, he kicked him in the head. Frenit grabbed his leg, he stumbled into the cave wall. Frenit jumped to his feet despite the knife wound. He pulled the knife out of himself, and quickly placed it against James' face. "So where do you want it boy? Face, neck or the more slower and painful death, just in the stomach?"

"How about your head, that sounds good," James replied.

Frenit pretended to think about it, "no that wouldn't look really good for my face, I'll work on your face though." He punched James one last time before literally throwing him out of the cave. He went as close as he could to the entrance, "next time you decide to visit, there won't be anything left for the Masters." He walked out of sight.

James/Ian/Jessie's shelter:
Jessie and Ian were sitting at the table, Ian kept glancing at her. "Will you please stop doing that," Jessie grumbled.

"Oops sorry," Ian said.

"If you want your present then why didn't you say so," Jessie said.

"Actually I wasn't doing that because of that..." Ian said.

Jessie stood up, "it's ok I just forgot, I'll get it." She went into her bedroom.

The main door opened, James walked in. Ian glanced in his direction, he quickly stood up, "ok what the hell happened to you?"

"I told you I was going to kill something, and I did ok," James replied.

"Yeah but whatever you killed seem to fight back a little too well. Your eye's a bit bruised, plus your lip," Ian said.

James sat down, "it's ok, the ones I killed didn't do this."

"I hope you killed something evil, I'm getting quite worried about this whole thing," Ian said.

"Yeah they're evil, if I explained you'd think I was even more crazy than I actually am," James said.

"You're already playing on that tune mate," Ian muttered.

Jessie walked back into the room, she quickly handed a present to Ian. "James, what happened to you?" she asked as she knelt down in front of him.

"Yes James, why don't you tell her," Ian replied.

James shook his head, "I got in a fight."

Jessie glanced up at Ian, "hey don't look at me, I didn't hurt him."

"Was it Janeway?" Jessie asked carefully.

James tried not to laugh, "yeah right."

"I wouldn't laugh, she's suppose to be a toughie," Ian said.

"It can't be Chakotay. Last time he hit you there wasn't really anything on your face to prove it," Jessie said.

Ian headed over to one of the cupboards, "doesn't really matter in the end, we'd better get you treated."

"No, I don't want to be treated," James said.

"And why not?" Jessie asked.

"Cos I don't care, it doesn't really bother me," James replied.

Ian walked back over to James and Jessie, "I doubt that, I mean I've seen people hit you before, and really hard too, and it didn't damage your face this badly. It must have been one hell of a punch, in other words a very painful one."

"No it's good, I really deserve it so it feels kind of good," James said.

Jessie stood up, "I don't understand this. Not one of us five hit you, whoever did hit you hard, but you think you deserve to be like this."

"That's right," James muttered.

Ian folded his arms, "I wouldn't go there Jessie."

James stood up, "is it getting dark already?"

Ian and Jessie glanced behind them to look out the window. "Seems like it, why?" Ian questioned.

"This planet's really screwed up," James muttered.

"That's exactly what I said," Ian said.

"Maybe another storm is coming," Jessie said.

"No I doubt that, the winters come quickly here supposedly and since we're really close to their north equator, we get very short days," Ian said.

"Explains why the sun set at three pm yesterday," Jessie muttered.

"Yeah but there's one heck of a difference between today and yesterday's sunsets," Ian said, he noticed James looking through his bag again. "What are you doing?"

"I've got to go back out," James replied.

He headed for the door but Jessie grabbed his arm to stop him. "And why would I let you do that after this?"

"Jess I have to," James replied. He easily pulled his arm out of her grip, then he walked out of the shelter.

Jessie turned around to face Ian, "I just don't get it." She stepped closer to Ian, "you know something about this don't you?"

"A little, in a way I'm just as clueless as you," Ian replied.

"Care to enlighten me then?" Jessie said.

Ian sighed, "he said some guys are coming to kill him tonight, he must have meant at sunset."

"Why didn't either of you tell me earlier about this?" Jessie asked.

"Well I didn't think he'd hide it from you for this long. He seems to think that all he did was use you, if you get what I mean. Hence the 'I don't care that I'm hurt' mood," Ian replied.

Jessie's eyes widened, "used me... what, how did you know about that?"

"I kinda figured it out, but that's not the main problem here," Ian replied nervously.

"He's not going to die while I'm around, don't worry about that," Jessie muttered. She went over to James' bag, she started to look through it.

"What does he keep in there?" Ian asked.

Jessie pulled out a knife, "obviously weapons."

"Look Jess, he seems convinced that these guys will tear him apart, not literally, and he's a Slayer, whatever those are. What makes you think you can do anything to help?" Ian questioned.

Jessie stood back up, "I am only thinking that my best friend's in trouble, and I have to help him. An extra pair of hands may make a difference."

"What about three pairs then?" Ian said.

"No, you stay here just in case we need treating quickly," Jessie said.

"Ok, you got it," Ian said.

A little while later:
James arrived back at the lake just as the sun finished setting. Not long later Frenit and several other guys emerged from the trees.

"Oh please, don't tell me that you're the Masters," James muttered.

Frenit put his left hand in the air, he and the others stopped. "Of course not, they're just running a bit late."

"They weren't coming today anyway," one of the guys laughed.

Frenit smacked him across the head, "damn minions."

"Why do I get the feeling there are no Masters?" James said.

"Oh no, there are. I just get a lot of respect and stuff whenever I kill Slayers," Frenit said.

Meanwhile:
Jessie made her way through some of the trees, looking a little bit lost. "Stupid sunsets, should have brought a torch."

Three familiar dark figures suddenly appeared in front of her, she stopped quickly to avoid crashing into them.

"Oh my god..." Jessie stuttered.

The three figures glanced at each other smiled evily. "This one looks familiar," the second one said.

"Yeah, what should we do with her boss?" the third one said questioningly.

The first one stepped in front of the other two, "oh I don't know, kill her maybe?"

****TO BE CONTINUED****

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