Thanks Dawn for keeping it real and for all your encouragement! 

Title:  Blood Makes Noise

Author:  Captain Katie

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: uber J/7, intimations of J/T and 7/f

Summary:  Kathryn Janeway must put aside her complex feelings regarding the mysterious Annika Hansen in order to find a vicious killer.   

Disclaimer: Paramount owns anything relating to Star Trek, and the writers, and actors/actresses. 

Feedback: Yes please!!! Katie_x@hotmail.com

PROLOGUE

The cold wind and rain whipped at her face as she ran.  She could feel the slices tree branches left on her skin as she moved through the dark forest at a speed no human could ever hope to achieve.  She heard the clomping of footfalls close behind her.  Too close.  The muscles in her legs flexed and strained as she pushed herself to run faster.  Her life literally depended on it.

She tried to scream when a cold hand wrapped around her throat, but she had no breath to make a sound.  Her dark brown eyes widened as she looked upon the face of her killer.  Her killer smiled broadly, which showed off gleaming white pointed teeth.

“What are—”

The pain in her neck radiated to the rest of her body as she felt her life being drained from her with a blade ripping through her.  This wasn’t supposed to happen.  Not to her.  She had the mark of the Queen.  She was powerful, protected, the predator not the prey.

Her head fell to the rain drenched ground a moment before her body did.  Her dark brown eyes were wide with fear, fury and desperation for she could only watch as her body was doused with an accelerant.  She wanted to scream as her killer lit a match and smiled at her broadly before dropping it, causing her body to go up in flames.  And then her head was lifted from the ground roughly, her crimson colored mark on the back of her neck touched and then the last thing she saw was a red blaze before her death.

“We were right.  The Queen’s here.”

CHAPTER 1

Kathryn Janeway’s pale skin and auburn hair glistened in the sunlight drenching her small studio apartment.  She slept on her stomach with only a dark blue sheet covering her petite, nude form from the waist down, one leg exposed as it hung off the side of her bed.  Kathryn’s forehead creased with annoyance as an unrelenting buzzing noise filtered into her alcohol idled head.  She came awake with a groan as the obnoxious sound continued.

Kathryn did not open her eyes as she slammed her hand against her nightstand a few times before she found her alarm clock and tossed it to the floor.  She groaned when the buzzing sound didn’t stop and realized it had nothing to do with her alarm.  She licked her dry lips and grimaced at the stale taste of whiskey in her mouth.  The evidence of her indulgence the previous night was an empty bottle on the floor that had been full when she had begun drinking.

She held a hand to her forehead as her headache thumped painfully behind her eyes.  She cursed herself, but knew it was no use.  She would do the same thing tonight.  She always did.  Anything to forget, to not feel the loss so acutely, to punish herself for not being able to save Lanna.

Kathryn pulled the sheets away from her naked body as she pushed away her discomfort and removed herself from her bed.  She cursed the bottle of whiskey when she had nearly tripped over it on her way to her bathroom.  She didn’t turn on the light, but even with the dim lighting she could see her tousled appearance in the mirror before she opened it to retrieve a bottle of aspirin.  What she really wanted was another drink, something to take away her headache but she had to work and she didn’t have any liquor left.  Coffee, that’s what she really needed.

Kathryn was in the shower when the phone call came.  There was only one person who had her home phone number; Harry Kim, her assistant.  She dripped with soap and water as she rushed to answer the call.  A case would mean being able to pay him what he actually deserved.

“What?”

“Homicide.  I think you’d better take a look at this right away.”

“Fine.  I’ll be there in fifteen.”  Kathryn hung up the phone with an uneasy feeling in her stomach that had nothing to do with the alcohol she had consumed.  There had been something in Harry’s tone, something ominous and knowing.  She hated the case already.

****

Her coffee long forgotten, Kathryn sat in her office and continued to stare at the case file Harry had given her.  It was a homicide that had occurred two days ago.  She felt cold, numb as her blood pounded loudly in her ears and her face flushed with heat.

The picture of the murder victim, an Ezri Dax, aged twenty-seven, took Kathryn back to the worse day in her life.  The day she had gone to her lover’s apartment and found her dead, tied to the bed, violated and mutilated.  The burn on the back of Ezri’s neck was the exact same one that had been on Lanna’s.  It had obviously been made with a branding tool, which created a red claw like mark on the skin.  It was a symbol, a marking of territory.  Kathryn had never found Lanna’s killer and that failure had destroyed her.  And now the killer or killers had returned.  Another woman dead, raped, mutilated and drained of all her blood.

Kathryn had to control herself, she would not break down in her office with Harry just on the other side of her door.  She would not show how the image of Ezri Dax made her want to heave and throw things against the wall as hard as she could.  How when she looked at the dead girl she saw the woman she had loved with all her heart.  That she feared she had loved too much.  Kathryn felt dead inside.  The happiness and the light she once had been filled with had been taken, stolen from her.  She had wanted to find Lanna’s killer, torture him slowly before she ripped him apart.  But she had experienced the same problem the police had then and with this new murder.  There was just absolutely no forensic evidence to go on.  No semen, no hair fibers, nothing.  The lack of blood made the cops think it was a cult or some sort of satanic worshipper perpetrating the crime but Kathryn wasn’t convinced.  She just thought there was a monster out there, one that was laughing at her failure to catch him.

“Not this time you fucking bastard.”  Kathryn closed the file before she stood.  Her legs were steadier than she had expected them to be, but she didn’t question it as she rushed out of her office to where Harry was dutifully typing on his computer.

“Call your girl on the force.  I need to talk to the Chief.”

****

“Hiya, Harry.”

“Hey, Lynds, thanks for doing this for me.”  Harry smiled broadly at Lyndsay Ballard, but peripherally he saw his boss walking straight into the Chief of Police’s office without so much as a knock.  He had to be impressed with her boldness, if not everything else that made him want to work for her rather than the actual police department. 

As a private investigator, Kathryn Janeway had made a name for herself that had nothing to do with her father who had been in charge of the business prior to his death.  Kathryn, like her father, got results.  That was why the police department had reluctantly asked for her help on more than a few occasions.  But that was before B’Elanna Torres’ death, before Kathryn Janeway became a shadow of the woman she once was.

“How’s she doing?”  Lyndsay kept her voice low even though she and Harry were the only ones by her desk.  She actually worried that Janeway might have superhuman hearing or something.

Harry shrugged in an attempt to seem nonchalant though it was much too forced.  It had been obvious to him that Janeway had spent the previous night drinking as she has done so many times before.  His voice was just as quiet as Lyndsay’s.  “You know.”

“Yeah.  I know.”  Lyndsay smiled sadly.  Everyone on the force, despite how grudgingly, held respect for Janeway.  She seemed to be able to piece together a case faster than anyone at the police department.  But she had been a different person then.  Now, well, now Lyndsay didn’t really know how the other woman got out of bed in the morning.

Lyndsay had been a rookie detective a year and half ago when the call had come in and she and her partner, Tom Paris, had gone to the residence of B’Elanna Torres.  What she had seen that day still haunted her.  She still had nightmares about it.  She had never seen anything like it before and until Ezri Dax’s case had come in she had been happy to never have seen anything like it again.  It had been a slaughter.

“Hey, Lynds, I’m sorry if us being here is going to get you in trouble.  She insisted.”  Harry didn’t need to say any more.  Anyone who knew anything about Janeway was made aware quite quickly that it was her way or no way.

“Don’t sweat it.  Besides it wasn’t me who sent you that file.”

“It wasn’t?”

“Nope.”

****

“Why?  Why give it to me?”  Kathryn’s eyes were ablaze as she glared at the Chief of Police whose impassive features just made her angrier.

“Miss Janeway—”

“Don’t call me ‘Miss’, Tuvok, just give it to me straight.  Do you have anything at all to go on this time?”  Hope instilled itself into Kathryn’s harsh voice, but her features were still hard and cold.  She had failed Lanna and so did the man before her. 

“No.  There is no forensic evidence at all.  The only thing we have to go on is what you believe to be a symbol burned into the back of the victim’s neck and of course the complete absence of blood that connects this case…, connects the two cases together.”

“You’re still thinking it has something to do with the occult?”  Kathryn crossed her arms over her chest.  Her voice and stance showed her incredulity.

“There is a ritualistic undertone to the murder inescapable even to a novice.”

Kathryn turned slowly towards the cold, arrogant voice of the icy blonde woman standing in the open doorway of the chief’s office.  Her slate gray eyes took in the intruder’s appearance quickly and finally dismissed her as irrelevant as she turned her attention back to the chief. 

“Cut the bullshit, Chief.  One person did this.  And I’m gonna find the sick bastard.”  Kathryn didn’t like being manipulated and she knew that was exactly what the Chief had done.  He had sent the file to Harry knowing full well what it would do to her.  He knew that she would have to stay sharp, focused… sober so she could work as she had before Lanna had been killed, unrelentingly and efficiently.  And he knew she wouldn’t rest until this case was finally solved.  She would have her justice, her revenge. 

Kathryn fumed as she nudged her way past the blonde and out into the main floor of the precinct.  Her gait didn’t slow a bit as she ground out words between gritted teeth to Harry.  “We’re leaving.”

Kathryn ignored everyone and everything, even the pale blue gaze that had followed her retreat.

CHAPTER 2

Annika Hansen sat very still as her eyes moved over the petite form of the auburn haired woman who had just entered the precinct with a young, dark haired man in tow.  Her breath caught in her throat and her light blue eyes never wavered.  Even with dark circles under her eyes and a body thinned by undernourishment Annika still could see the beauty the other woman possessed, but she cared not for the physical appearance but what laid beneath it. 

Annika had been born different.  She had the ability to see things no one else could and right now what she saw radiating from this woman was breathtaking.  A soul damaged and marred by pain and tragedy but still bright and strong was revealed to Annika.  But what captivated her, made her ache and feel a terrible pain in her chest was that she knew this soul.  She had seen it before.  A long time ago in a woman she had loved more than anything.  A woman she had lost.

Annika stood almost beyond her conscious control and moved towards the Chief’s office.  She heard them speaking, heard the woman’s husky tones so different from the light, melodic voice of the woman she had loved but there was no mistaking this brusque woman possessed Lucy’s soul. 

“There is a ritualistic undertone to the murder inescapable even to a novice.”  Annika injected just enough arrogance in her tone to ensure that her cover would remain intact.  She was here as an expert in the occult.  At least that’s what the Chief and the rest of the precinct believed.  What her mission truly entailed was known by only a handful of people and it would remain as such.

Annika almost took a step back when angry, gray eyes filled with pain met her own gaze.  She wondered what could cause a soul to be so fractured, so dark with tragedy.  She wondered if it had been a loss like the one that marred her own soul.

And then those disturbing eyes left hers and the husky voice was harsh and earnest.  “Cut the bullshit, Chief.  One person did this.  And I’m gonna find the sick bastard.”

Annika knew despite the other woman’s words that she was not capable of finding who had committed this particular crime.  It was not meant to be solved by the police or a private detective as Annika surmised this woman was.  No, it was meant to be taken care of by people like her and her cadre.  People whose mission it was to seek out what other’s deemed as the paranormal or supernatural.  To seek out and destroy what lurked in the darkness.

Annika had to force herself to remain perfectly still, completely impassive as Lucy’s soul brushed against her own as this latest vessel for it stalked past her.  She had almost forgotten how beautiful Lucy had been. 

Fiery anger burned within Annika.  She now knew why the Council had been reluctant to give her this assignment even though she was the best, most qualified person for the job.  They knew.  Somehow they had been aware that Lucy’s soul was here, in this city of angels.  Kes must have seen it, told the Council members.  Why Kes didn’t tell her would be answered tonight when she returned to their headquarters housed in the abandoned textile factory by the docks.

“I apologize, Ms. Hansen.”  Tuvok stood as he motioned for Annika to take a seat.  “I appreciate you coming all the way from England to assist us in this matter.”

“Of course.  I will do everything in my power to find this monster.”  Annika didn’t add that she would also do everything in her power to leave a false trail for the police to follow.  She couldn’t have their lives to worry about when she was on the hunt. 

Annika had already killed one of the Queen’s drone, an easy kill, but not the person responsible for this latest murder.  She would just have to find him and then she could leave and ignore the fact that there was a woman who possessed Lucy’s soul and thus Annika’s as well.  The vessel was irrelevant to Annika, completely and utterly irrelevant.  Even saying these words to herself she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep from watching over her, protect what she had been unable to do so many years ago. 

****

“We didn’t want to upset you.”

“Do I look upset to you?”  Annika’s narrow gaze and clenched jaw actually did make her look quite upset to Lewis Zimmerman, but he didn’t voice the positive.

“Did you make contact?”  Kes melodic tones were low, soft like a breeze.  She already knew the answer to a certain extent but she wanted to hear it from Annika.

“Minimal contact.  She’s a private detective called in by the Chief of Police to assist in this murder.”  Annika despised the all-knowing look Kes possessed and it showed in her gruff tone.  “What do you know?”

“I know many things.  Regarding Kathryn Janeway I know enough to advise you to make no further contact.  I see much strife and discord if you do.”  Kes didn’t add what else she knew.  The future was so mercurial, changing all the time and she was quite aware that Annika would not want to know what else Kes saw, even if it was an intimate relationship with the corporal vessel of Annika’s lost love’s soul.

“Is she going to die?”

“Of course.”  Kes ignored the annoyed look Annika shot her as she continued.  “Will the Queen kill her?  Perhaps.  I see many different paths in her future.  Some journeys will be longer if taken.  Others very short indeed.”

“What about Chakotay?”  Annika spat out the name of the monster that had ripped apart her Lucy.  “Have you found him?” 

Annika knew very well that it was the Queen’s right hand man who had killed Ezri Dax.  It had his handy work all over it.  Not a drop of blood spilled, nothing like the blood baths infant vampires left, and the woman he had chosen was young, lovely and what he considered unspoiled.  He had a preference for what he thought of as virgins but what the modern world knew as lesbians.

Chakotay was powerful, second only to the Queen herself.  Annika had spent so many years trying to track him down, kill him, but he had abilities beyond that of a normal vampire.  He could change into animal form and Annika could not seek out things so small especially since he had no soul for her to see.  None of the bloodsuckers did.  Where there should be light, warmth of humanity, there was only a void.  A dark pit.

“No, his path is being hidden from me.”  Kes’ eyes went from completely white to their normal light hazel shade and her voice was stronger as she looked sympathetic rather than entranced.  “I’m sorry, Annika.”

“Let’s just find him.  So we can leave this city.”  Annika slid her dagger into the scabbard attached to her belt before she drew on her long, black leather coat.  The coat wrapped around her slim powerful body garbed in all black leather from her vest to her tightly fitted pants and thick soled boots.  She cut an imposing figure.  “I’ll take first patrol.”

Lewis looked gravely at the woman warrior before him and though he spoke truthful words of concern he knew out of all of them she was the most capable to handle what the night held.  “Be careful, Annika.”

“Of course.”

****

Annika watched the flames finally extinguish once the vampire was mere ashes upon the ground of a long abandoned junkyard.  She had led the young bloodsucker to her, used herself as bait and then she had cut off his hands and then his head before she burned his body, killing him forever.

She smirked at the easy kill, but she wasn’t satisfied.  This vampire wasn’t Chakotay.  He wasn’t the vicious animal she had sworn on her life that she would kill herself, or die trying.  She would avenge Lucy’s death.  Seek vengeance for what he had done to her love, what he had done to countless women in the course of his long undead life.  Ezri Dax was an unusual case for the L.A. Police Department, but for Annika she had seen the same crime so many times she had nearly lost count.  In Beijing, Prague, Sydney… all over the world.  She had seen this death a hundred times over and it never failed to bring Lucy’s desecrated image to her mind.

Annika forced the tears to remain trapped even as her body shook with sobs unvoiced.  She would never stop, could never stop until Chakotay was dead.  Until she watched him burn until he was nothing but a pile of ashes.

He was close, still in the city.  Annika could practically feel the monster’s presence.  Hear him laughing at her failures to catch him over the years. 

Annika touched the blue stone imbedded in silver that was held by a thin necklace as she spoke aloud into the night sky.  “I’ll find him this time, Lucy.  I swear it.”

CHAPTER 3

Kathryn didn’t walk so much as stumbled out of the dive bar she had just spent two hours drinking in until she ran out of cash.  She had tried not to drink, hadn’t even bought a bottle of Jack Daniels on her way home from the office.  But then she had looked at the Ezri Dax case file, had seen the image of Lanna’s dead body in her mind, that had made her take as much money as she could find in her small apartment, then find the nearest bar to drown her memories with glass after glass of whiskey, gin… it didn’t matter as long as it numbed her body and more importantly her mind.

In her drunkenness Kathryn Janeway wasn’t as sharp as she usually was, not as intuitive, but even half-blinded with alcohol and having to hold on to the walls of buildings for support she still knew she was being followed.  The fine hairs on the back of her neck were standing up and she could hear the faint rustling of fabric on the evening breeze.

She pretended to trip and fall.  In the maneuver she unholstered her weapon as she whipped around to face her stalker.  Her brow creased and she lowered her gun so it pointed at the ground when she saw no one.

“What the hell?”  Kathryn had been certain someone had been tailing her.  She waited for a moment or two more before she put her gun back in its holster.  She worried that she had been made paranoid rather than more perceptive over the years.

The backhand to her face was fast and strong and propelled Kathryn to the ground in a heap as a pained gasp left her and blood dripped from her nose.  Not so paranoid after all.  She quickly pulled her gun on her attacker, but he was too fast and the weapon clanked as it hit the ground when a foot connected with her wrist.  She held her wrist as pain burst within and knew it was probably broken.  And then she was off the ground, being held by a strong hand around her throat to the cold, damp brick wall with her feet flailing in an attempt to kick him.  Her foot connected but it didn’t faze him in the least, in fact he just smirked through her attempts to injure him.

“What’s a nice girlie like you doin’ in a place like this?” 

Kathryn knew she was going to pass out from lack of oxygen but she fought it, like she had never fought in her life because she knew that if she did lose consciousness she was dead or worse his prisoner.  She tried to loosen his hold around her neck, but it was no use.  He was too strong.

Somehow Kathryn always knew her death would be something like this.  She wasn’t one to go quietly like her father had when his cancer devoured his body.  No, she was going to die kicking and screaming in a filthy alley where no one cared even if they did hear you.  Tears sprang to her eyes when her shirt fell in tatters on the ground and she could feel his hot breath on the top curve of her left breast.  And then the world turned black and she knew she would soon see Lanna again.  She welcomed her death with open arms at the thought.

****

Annika pushed herself to run even faster despite the muscles in her legs beginning to burn from the exertion.  She would have come running from hearing anyone’s screams, but she knew she was aware that this was different.  She wasn’t so much saving a body as she was the soul contained within it.

She saw Kathryn’s shirt fall to the ground.  Fury burned within Annika as she screamed and launched herself at the vampire before he could begin feeding.  She had surprised him and that gave her the upper hand as she knocked him to the ground and pulled her blade out of its scabbard.  The element of surprise was soon lost as was her advantage.  He threw her against the nearest wall with a hard kick to her stomach.  She gasped as she fell to the ground next to Kathryn’s unconscious form before she quickly stood and threw her knife into the retreating vampires back. 

The vampire fell to the ground with a snarl after he had lost his hold on the side of the building he had been climbing up with nails deeply imbedded in brick.  He tried to extract the knife from his back that was gushing out stolen blood from his body.  He growled as he thought about his lost meals draining from him as his eyes turned red with animalistic rage and he propelled himself at his attacker.

The curved blades flashed in the moonlight as Annika sliced through the vampire’s neck before she flipped the knives in her hands in fast circles to get as much blood as she could off of the sharp metal before she returned the pair to the scabbards on her back hidden beneath her black leather trench coat.  Annika pulled out a slim container filled with accelerant from the inside coat pocket and doused the vampire’s body and disembodied head with it before she lit a match and the vamp quickly went up in flames, burning hot and red until only ashes remained. 

Annika’s attention was not on the vampire’s death, it was solely on Kathryn Janeway.  She pulled the unconscious woman securely into her arms before she began running.  Kathryn seemed almost weightless to her as she sprinted as fast as she could through the empty streets towards Kathryn’s residence. 

Once she had entered the building, Annika ignored the telling fact that she knew where Kathryn lived as she climbed the stairs up to the apartment two at a time.  She found the keys in Kathryn’s jean pocket, unlocked the deadbolt and pushed the door open wide until her foot kicked it closed again.  She moved quickly into the kitchen, pushed the light switch up with an elbow before she gently laid Kathryn upon the dining room table, under the harsh fluorescent lighting. 

Annika forced her hand to be steady as she brushed just the tips of her fingers across the upper curve of Kathryn’s left breast.  She sighed in relief when she felt only two tiny, almost miniscule puncture wounds that had barely broken through the pale, creamy skin.

Kathryn’s low, pained groan made Annika remove her hand from the soft flesh as if she had just been scalded.  She took a few quick steps back as she watched Kathryn’s return to consciousness.  Annika knew she shouldn’t be here.  She knew Kathryn was fine.  So, why was she staying?  The answer made a wave of anguish wash over her.  Lucy’s soul embodied in this woman called out to Annika, made her begin to care for the vessel.  She had known it before when she had followed Kathryn from her apartment to the bar. 

Annika had grown weary of the hours Kathryn seemed to intend spending at the bar so she had gone on patrol, swearing to herself she would not continue her watch.  But she had come back and that’s when she had heard Kathryn’s screams, saw the vampire and had acted before she even realized she was upon them.

“Shit…”  Kathryn didn’t want to open her eyes, she didn’t want the burning light to be even brighter and so she didn’t.  Instead she rested her hands over her stomach, willing the queasy feeling to dissipate.  But it didn’t.  Her eyes shot open.  She was unmindful of where she was, who she was with and how she had gotten there as she bolted to the sink.

After violently depositing the contents of her stomach she fell to her knees on the tile floor, with her hands still clutching at the rim of the sink as she tried to get her bearings.  She needed to wash her mouth, her body, she needed to tear her clothes off and fall into bed.  She also needed to know why she wasn’t alone.

“Who…” Kathryn’s tongue felt heavy in her mouth as she licked her lips and attempted to form words, as sluggish as they came to her.  “The hell’re you?”

Annika couldn’t hide her grimace, her disgust.  This woman, who held something so perfect, so lovely and special within her was utterly repulsive in this inebriated state.  Annika could easily detect the whiskey, the gin, the beer and tequila this woman had imbibed and it made her own stomach turn.  The contents of the sink weren’t helping matters much either. 

“Wait, wait… I know you…”  Kathryn finally managed to pull herself to her feet after a few failed attempts as wobbly as her legs were, but her glare was quite steady.  “You’re the ice bitch the Chief brought—”

Kathryn’s entire thin frame shuddered with the force of the expulsion of fluids that expelled violent and unexpectedly from and her and splashed into the sink.  This time her hold on the sink wasn’t as strong and she fell in a heap on her kitchen floor.  Her head pounded painfully and her wrist throbbed, it was swollen but not broken as she had initially suspected.  But still hurt like hell. 

“Hey!”  Before Kathryn realized she had been picked up off the ground she was being carried through her apartment.  She closed her eyes as the movement threatened to make her sick again. 

Annika didn’t look at the woman in her arms, closed her senses off to everything but getting Kathryn not to reek so terribly so she could stand being in the same room with her.  Despite the voiced and physical protests Annika’s hold on Kathryn was unflinching.  She deposited Kathryn, clothed in her jeans and bra in the bathtub none to gently before she turned on the shower.  Cold water flowed from the shower head before Annika could adjust the setting.

“Fuck!”  Kathryn hugged herself against the unrelenting chill as she glared and screamed at Annika.  “Fucking bitch!  What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“You smell bad.”  Annika didn’t look at Kathryn as she grabbed the nearest sponge and liquid soap to wash the vomit that had fallen upon Kathryn’s upper chest and the dirt and blood from her pale skin. 

“Don’t touch me!  Ahh!”  Kathryn held her wrist in her hand after her failed attempt to grab the sponge from this strange woman’s hand.  “Shit…”

“It is not broken.  Wash yourself, I will retrieve ice for it.”  Annika dropped the sponge into the warm water surrounding Kathryn before she walked steadily out of the bathroom back to the kitchen to obtain ice and also to rid the sink of its contents.  She felt Kathryn’s hot glare upon her but found herself to be uncaring of it.

“Damn it.”  Kathryn picked up the sponge after she had watched Annika’s departure. 

Heat from embarrassment and anger flushed her cheeks, her neck and her upper chest but she did as she had been instructed to do.  She tore the black bra from her body.  The wet jeans that clung to her legs were a bit trickier, but with a few curses she managed to divest herself of them.  She let the sodden mass of denim fall uncaringly to the green rug.

The hot water and the sharp, clean smell of the soap helped to clear away some of the fog in Kathryn’s mind.  She recalled leaving the bar and then…  “Oh God!”

Water splashed over the side when Kathryn started when Annika reentered the steamed up bathroom holding a glass of water in one hand and an ice pack in the other.  Kathryn looked up at the other woman with wide eyes as her soft voice quaked with uncertainty.

“Wha—What happened?  In the alley?”  Kathryn slowly took the icepack from Annika’s hand while still trying to piece together the events that had just transpired.  She couldn’t remember much, but if she was still alive and safe in her apartment it seemed to be because of this woman.  “How did you—”

“That is not your concern.”  Annika stood stiffly, purposefully avoiding looking upon the expanse of pale flesh exposed to her as her voice remained icy, unyielding.  “You are now safe, be satisfied with that knowledge and do not ask me anything further for I will not tell you.”

“Like hell. Who are you?  What happened?  Where’s that sick bastard? You didn’t let him go, did you?  Did you!”  Kathryn’s voice that had started as a low growl, rose with each passing second, her glare continued to bore into Annika who refused to speak, to even look at her. “Hey, I’m talking to you here.  I deserve some answers!  Talk to me!”

“No.”  Annika’s cold eyes closed as she fought to maintain her patience with the infuriating woman, her voice grew rough under the effort. 

Kathryn threw the sponge and the icepack into the soapy water as she stood, uncaring of the water splashing onto the bathroom floor.  She grabbed a towel before she stalked towards Annika with her gray eyes blazing with indignation and aggravation.

“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, but—” Kathryn cried out in horrified surprise as her feet slipped out from beneath her as her arms flailed wildly in the air and the towel fell to her feet on the sodden mess on the bathroom tile.

Annika easily caught Kathryn’s diminutive form in her arms before the other woman could hit the floor despite the slickness of Kathryn’s soap covered skin.  Kathryn fell against the smooth leather of Annika’s vest, which made both of them gasp aloud at the contact.  Kathryn gasped because of the forceful contact, the feel of cool leather against her breasts and the strong grip on her arms.  Annika gasped not so much from the physical feelings of the moment but the contact seen, felt, only by her.

Annika had felt it in the alley, when she had carried Kathryn home, but she had been more able to block out the feel of Lucy’s soul because of the hot adrenalin pumping through her body.  She had been distracted by her fear that the Queen knew Kathryn’s involvement in the Ezri Dax murder, that she had sent that vampire on the hunt, for Kathryn.  Now, with Kathryn pressed so tightly to her, Annika felt Lucy’s soul as if it were something physical touching her.  And it felt good, too good.

“Let me go.”  Kathryn’s voice was low, threatening as anger and embarrassment burned hotly through her small frame causing it to shake ever so slightly.  She needed to get away from Annika, get dressed and regain her equilibrium so she could force Annika to tell her what had happened.  She had to know, she had to know how far it had gotten before Annika’s apparent intervention.  “Now.”

“You are drunk, unsteady on your feet.”  Annika’s voice was hard, unrelenting as derision colored her tones.  “I do not want you to injure yourself… further.” 

Annika’s hands tightened around Kathryn’s slim arms as she kept the other woman steady, a small muscle in her jaw jumped and she forced herself to ignore the warmth and softness of the small woman in her hold.  Heat permeated Annika’s form, but she told herself she didn’t feel it.  She couldn’t feel anything good for this woman.  Not the woman who denigrated the perfect soul trapped within her.

“Fuck.”  Kathryn moved her face close enough that her hot, unpleasant breath wafted across Annika’s chin.  “Off.” 

Kathryn yanked her arms out of Annika’s grip and yelped as pain shot down her arm from her wrist.  She held her injured arms in one hand as she moved quickly away from Annika to grab her robe, but mostly to hide the fact that her equilibrium hadn’t quite been restored.  She gripped the lip of the sink as she steadied herself and pushed down the nausea threatening to make her heave again.  She took a few cleansing, heaving breaths and closed her eyes tightly which helped to keep the bile down.  She pulled on the robe quickly, angrily when she felt able to face the infuriating woman once again.

“What the hell?”  Kathryn’s eyes scanned her bathroom and her brow creased with agitation when she saw no one. 

Kathryn moved through her small apartment as fast as her inebriated form would take her.  It was illogical for her to be looking so long since her studio subsisted of a single large room, but she still took a few moments to ensure herself that the strange woman had really gone.  Anger warred with her confusion until finally she just fell onto her couch as the world spun around her.  When the room finally stilled Kathryn leaned over and grabbed the receiver to the nearby phone.

“Yeah, it’s Janeway.  Get me the Chief.”  Kathryn pressed one hand to her hip as she rolled her eyes in annoyance.  “Harry, do you think I give a damn about what time it is?  Just do it.”

****

The rising sun cast red and golden light across the horizon when Annika made it back to headquarters.  She cursed herself the entire way there and continued to do so even in her bedroom where she stripped off her leather clothing that smelled like the floral-scented soap that had covered Kathryn’s wet skin.  She grabbed a long red silky robe and roughly put it on to cover her nakedness.  She would have to face the others soon and tell them of her mistake.

Annika had been unwise in staying with Kathryn.  She should have just left the infuriating woman safely ensconced in her shabby, one-room apartment and been done with Kathryn Janeway altogether.  But she hadn’t.  She had been too concerned for Kathryn’s safety and that lapse had revealed herself to the private detective.  Annika had no doubt in her mind that her cover had been blown.  Kathryn would call the Chief and demand to know who the hell that ‘ice bitch’ was that had been in his office the day before.  Annika also knew Kathryn would not be satisfied with the answer.

“What’s wrong?”  Kes’ warm, velvety voice flitted into Annika’s bedroom before the pixie like woman stood in the doorway. 

“You don’t already know?”  Annika’s rough voice filled with irritation was more for her own lack of judgment than Kes’ inane question.

“I know a bit, yes, but I’d like to hear it from you.”  Kes’ voice never lost its warmth, its understanding tone, but a glint in her eye told Annika that she was in no mood to have her question left unanswered. 

“The private detective, I saved her from a vampire tonight, took her to her residence, stayed too long.  She is suspicious and she will soon know that Anna Hansen is much more than what the LA Police Department has been told.  She will come after me, for answers…”  Again Annika cursed her lapse.  Why had she stayed?  She had just put her mission in jeopardy.  “She will be relentless.”

“Are you in love with her?”

“She is an impetuous, reckless drunk.”  Annika nearly spat out the term.  She continued with venom in her voice.  “She is repulsive.  A foul being who succumbs completely to her vices.  I find little about her that I do not find repellent.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, Annika.”  Kes purposefully gentled her tone, made it coaxing, understanding.  “Are you in love with Kathryn Janeway?”

Annika forced herself to look at Kes.  To see the wisdom on features that appeared so young and yet possessed an all-knowing expression that always irritated Annika.  And she knew as Kes smiled sadly that the answer was already known to the seer.  Annika’s voice was soft, barely audible even in the quiet stillness of her bedroom, but Kes heard it all the same.

“Of course I am.”

CHAPTER 4

Kathryn sat very still despite the anger and frustration heating her entire body as she registered what the Chief had just told her.  When she did speak her voice was harsh and gravelly, skeptical and exasperated.  “No information.  That’s what you’re telling me?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t buy that for a second.”  Kathryn stood abruptly before she pressed the palms of her hands on the Chief’s desk and leaned over with a hard, unrelenting glint in her stormy gray eyes.  “Who is she?  Tell me.  I need to know.”

“No, you do not.”  Tuvok’s expression remained impassive, but his voice was commanding rather than coaxing.  “Leave it alone, for all our sakes.”

“What the hell is that suppose to mean?  She let a perp get away.”  Kathryn purposefully ignored that fact that she would probably be dead or worse if it hadn’t been for the mysterious woman.  She chose to ignore that fact in favor of her ire, which only increased by the second as Tuvok continued to refuse answering any of her pertinent questions.  “What business does she have on my streets anyways?”

“Saving your life apparently.”  Tuvok rose from his desk before he moved to his door, opened it and motioned for Kathryn to go through it.  “I suggest you not pursue this.”

Kathryn stopped in the doorway before she turned back to look at the Chief.  He had already seated himself seemingly indifferent to her still being in his office.  “I think you know me better than that.” 

The heat of her anger and frustration seemed to be radiating off of her and thus Kathryn was given a wide berth as she moved through the precinct.  She ignored the looks and the whispers as she drew out her cell phone and pressed a single button to get in touch with Harry, who was at the office waiting for her word.

“Hey, Boss, what’d the Chief know?”

“Plenty.  But he’s not telling me any of it.”  Kathryn pulled on large, black glasses before she pushed the door open to meet the bright sunshine that awaited them.

 The sunglasses only partially covered the bluish-purple bruise on her left cheek.  The bruise that kept Harry from thinking she had tried to off herself when she had arrived at the office only a few hours ago with a bandage around her wrist.

“Did he tell you her name at least?”

“Anna Hansen.  I want to know everything about her, Harry.  She knows something about the Dax murder, I’m sure of it.”  Kathryn knew a few places where she could begin her search, but something told her the Chief would be contacting Anna soon.  “Tap the Chief’s line.  He’s bound to give her a call sooner or later.”

“Consider it done.”  Harry smirked, he liked being bad.  Well, as bad as hacking the phone lines was on the list of criminal offences.    

“I want lease records for the last month, hotel sign-ins, the works.  I want her found, Harry.”  Kathryn unlocked the door to her 1969 Oldsmobile 442, which gleamed brilliantly under the bright morning sun.  “I want her found yesterday, got me?”

“Sure, Boss.”  Harry smiled confidently already knowing the codes to break into every single computer system in the city.  Hotel and leasing records were a snap.  “It’ll be done within the hour.  We’ll find her.” 

Harry liked this side of Janeway, purposeful, unrelenting.  He had missed it.  There was a new energy around her.  Maybe it was because of the pursuit of this mysterious Anna Hansen person or perhaps because he suspected Janeway thought she was fitting together a puzzle that would solve the Dax case and of course B’Elanna’s as well.

“Of course we will.  Let’s just do it quickly, hmm?”  Kathryn closed her phone, stuck it back in her leather coat pocket before she turned the key.

The black muscle car purred to life.  She shifted it into gear before her foot pressed down on the gas and her beloved vehicle beneath her rumbled throatily and roared with power that suffused her body with warmth.  She felt a tingling sensation when she felt the vibrations beneath her, the raw strength of the car she loved so much.  Perhaps even lusted after, if such a thing was possible.

The tires screeched as a cloud of dust was swept up into the air in a turbulent mass as she peeled out.  Her hand held the bulbous end of the stick shift lovingly, but with purpose as she directed the car to do her bidding.  And it did, without question.  Kathryn smirked, she liked taming such a powerful thing, making it hers, owning it completely.  And at the same time she freely accepted the fact that this thing she loved so much was so much stronger than her.  She didn’t mind, she liked feeling dominated as well.  Such a complex relationship, but one she would never give up.  She liked the give and take too much. 

Kathryn was brought out of her reverie when her cell phone vibrated against her body.  The ringtone made her smile.  “Good old reliable Harry.  You really should be paid more.”

Harry chuckled on the other end and shook his head.  He definitely liked this side of his boss.  He had forgotten at times what she had been like before, well before B’Elanna’s death. When Janeway had been happy.

“You were right, the Chief called her right away.  Told her you were on her trail and for her to be careful.  I have to say she doesn’t have a lot of nice things to say about you.”

Kathryn rolled her eyes at that.  Her voice was a low rumble deep in the back of her throat.  “Just tell me where she is.”

The tires of the Oldsmobile squealed as she did a sudden U-turn.  She ignored the honks made by angered motorist as she pushed the gas pedal further down to the floor mat.  In the light of day and her sobriety Kathryn Janeway was going to finally get some answers.  Or kill someone trying.

****

“She’s coming.”

“What?”  Annika’s brow creased as she looked up from the crossbow she was in the process of fixing. 

“Kathryn Janeway.”  Kes turned her eyes made white with her visions towards Annika, her voice was soft and even.  “She knows our location, your location.  She is coming for you.”

“Well that’s just great, isn’t it?”  Lewis’ annoyance overshadowed his concern for Annika for the moment.  He turned his attention to Kes and measured his tone.  “When will she get here?”

“Soon.” 

“Well, that’s awfully useful.”  Lewis rolled his eyes as he sighed overdramatically in long suffering annoyance.  “We have to leave, now.”

Annika was not one to run and hide from anything, but the idea of Kathryn finding her did cause an unsettling feeling to grip her and freeze her in her indecision.  That was until she heard a roar of a motor indicating a car approaching.  She had to make her choice fast. 

“Conceal us, do it quickly.”  Annika moved next to Kes and Lewis quickly as he spoke his spell that would hide them from Kathryn’s senses.  He was a skilled mystic and so the illusion was well in place before the front door to their safe house opened to reveal Kathryn Janeway.

Kathryn shoved the lock-picks back in her pocket before she unholstered her weapon, an all black Smith and Wesson Sigma, and held it out in front of her as she entered the dimly lit house.  Her slate gray eyes scanned the living room, sparse in its furnishings, but ornate and lovely all the same.  Kathryn cared not for the antiques held within the room, she sensed presences and so she silently exited the foyer and walked through the hallway to the kitchen.  She pushed the door open with her foot and led with her gun into the room.  Besides it being immaculately clean, Kathryn saw nothing of note. 

She was becoming frustrated and it showed on her hard features as she swiftly moved through the two-story old brick house and found nothing.  No evidence that people were even living there.  Perhaps Annika had been a step or two ahead of her and had rerouted the phone signal.  Kathryn knew Harry could easily do something like that so it stood to reason this Anna Hansen woman or someone perhaps working with her had the same capability.

Kathryn stood in the foyer once again with her gun at her side and her eyes roaming the living room once more.  She swore she could feel something strange, but it went away like a loosely remembered dream.  She finally resigned herself to the fact that if Anna had been here she was long gone now.  Kathryn holstered her gun before she gave her ire voice.  “Damn it.  You goddamn ice bitch, I’m gonna find you.  Bet on it.” 

“Well.”  Lewis dropped the glamour spell after the roar of a large, most likely phallus shaped car screeched out of their driveway signaling Janeway’s quick departure.  “She’s a wholly unpleasant woman.”

“Indeed.”  Annika knew this wasn’t the end of it.  Kathryn Janeway would be relentless.  “We cannot stay here.  Shut it down.”

“Hey!”  Lewis had wide eyes as he watched Annika grab her coat and gear.  “Where do you think you’re going?” 

“The hunted becomes the hunter.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  Lewis knew Annika was already gone so he turned his eyes to Kes.  “What do we do now?”

“We pull up stakes.”

****

It had been easy enough for Annika to track down Kathryn and to follow her throughout the day which had consisted of Kathryn trying to find her and going over the evidence of the Dax case.  Annika had stealthily followed Kathryn from the coroner’s office just as the sun had been setting over the horizon.  Pain enveloped the other woman that darkened her soul, which had made Annika’s own chest fill with a long suffering anguish.  Chakotay was nothing if not consistent.  The injuries, the violations, they were all the same as the ones Lucy had suffered.  Annika’s entire reason for living was to end Chakotay, but she was always one step behind and there was always a body left in his wake.

This time was going to be different, Annika was sure Chakotay was still in Los Angeles.  She could almost feel his presence, but she had to know for certain.  She had tried to gain an audience with an individual who knew more about vampires and this city than anyone, but Annika had been rebuffed for not bringing the proper… accessory and hadn’t been prepared to fight her way in.  So, she had to wait and see if the Queen would send someone after Kathryn as Annika suspected she would or if the vampire from the previous night had just been out on the prowl.  If the Queen did send another then Annika would try to capture rather than kill.  That was until she got the information she needed from the bloodsucker.

Shrouded in shadows, Annika watched Kathryn exit a seedy back-alley bar after spending hours within it.  As she had been the night before, Kathryn was nearly debilitated in her inebriation.  Annika watched with narrowed eyes as Kathryn stumbled along the sidewalk towards her apartment.  It was only a few blocks away, but still Annika thought after the attack the previous evening Kathryn would be more careful.  Apparently not for Kathryn was in much the same state.  Annika could smell the strong alcohol wafted from the other woman as she followed close behind.

Even drunk Kathryn knew she was being followed.  She could feel eyes upon her and it made the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she braced herself against the side of a brick building and crouching over as if she were about to be sick.  In reality she was taking her gun out of her holster.  But before she had it all the way removed she was on the ground with a heavy weight upon her.

“She wants you alive, but said I could have a little taste.”

Kathryn gasped for air and struggled to push the woman off of her with little success since her arms were being sufficiently pinned above her head in a tight grasp.  That was until suddenly the weight vanished in a flash and blur of movement. 

“What the hell?”  Kathryn pulled herself to her feet as quickly as she could before she took her gun out and held it on the two women.  The dark haired one who snarled while being held to a wall Kathryn didn’t recognize, but the blonde one, the one who had apparently saved her yet again was all too familiar.  Anna Hansen.

Annika cried out with pain when she was thrown hard against the opposite brick wall.  She fell to the ground in a heap before she managed to lift her head when she heard Kathryn’s steely voice.

“Don’t move or I’ll shoot.”  Kathryn’s hands were steady as she faced off with the woman who had just tossed Hansen across the alley as if she weighed nothing.  She wasn’t sure what the hell was going on but knew that out of the two the brunette was the bigger threat.

Mariah smirked with confidence before she licked her lips and spoke.  “I could snap your neck before you even get a shot off.” 

“But you won’t.  Someone wants me alive.”   Kathryn registered Annika getting to her feet behind her, but her eyes were unwavering as she spat out her words.  “Who?  Who sent you?”

Mariah’s movements were a blur to Kathryn, but not to Annika as she stopped Kathryn’s would be attacker with an arrow to her chest that made Mariah fall to the ground with a shriek of pain.  Mariah hissed and snarled when Annika bent down and twisted the arrow, pushing it further into the vampire’s body.

“What does the Queen want with her?”  Annika ignored the squeals of pain coming from Mariah as she pushed the arrow even further causing the pointed metal head to emerge from the other woman’s back.  Annika brought one of her curved, long knives from her back before she pushed the blade up under Mariah’s chin causing stolen blood to seep out of the thin slice she was making.  “You will tell me or I will remove your head.”

“Who do you think you are, you can’t just kill a perp.”  Kathryn realized with a mixture of relief and disgust that Annika had probably killed the man who had attacked her the night before.  “Damn it!  Let her go.”

Annika ignored Kathryn as she opened the cut on Mariah’s neck a little more so that blood began to trickle down her throat.  “Tell me.” 

“Let her go or I’ll shoot you.”  Kathryn leveled her gun on Annika.  “Do it.  Now.” 

Kathryn’s eyes went wide, but had no time to even cry out in surprise when she was hoisted into the air and thrown halfway down the alleyway before she landed on the wet, dirty ground with a grunt of agony. 

“She didn’t say the vessel had to be in one piece.”

Kathryn’s eyes were closed tight as she spat blood onto the ground.  She tried to get back to her feet but strong hands were already on her, lifting her up and throwing her to the ground again.  Kathryn knew she was going to black out, she felt blood dripping from a gash on her temple and her vision was becoming blurred. 

Annika snarled as she faced off with the two vampires that were apparently Mariah’s backup.  Mariah’s disembodied head was ignored for the time being.  Annika would have to burn it up later, if she were still alive.  These weren’t little sewer vamps like the one who had attacked Kathryn last night.  No, these were the Queen’s personal drones.  Old vampires.  Vampires who knew how to fight and survive.

The two long bladed daggers in her hands shone under the streetlamps and moonlight as Annika kept her keen narrowed blue eyes on Dalby and Gerron.  She needed her eyes to remain on them and not on Kathryn who was lying so still on the ground that Annika feared the worse. Humans were a lot more fragile than vampires sometimes remembered. 

Dalby moved first, he was older than Gerron and Mariah and incredibly fast.  Annika’s daggers swept across his body creating long red streaks across his chest, but it didn’t deter him in the least as he barreled into her and sent her careening to the ground. 

Gerron went to help his sire hold Annika to the ground and to keep the blades away from Dalby’s throat.  He grabbed Annika’s arms and nearly wrenched them out of their sockets as he slammed her hands against the hard, dingy ground until her injured hands were forced to drop the daggers.  Gerron held her wrists to the ground as Dalby grabbed one of the fallen daggers and held it above his head intent on impaling Annika with it as he grinned.

A single shot was fired into Dalby’s shoulder as Kathryn fought to maintain her consciousness.  Kathryn held her weapon steady despite her confusion and panic due to the fact that Dalby didn’t seem all that fazed by the bullet that had impacted him.  He was still holding the dagger, but his head was turned so he was looking at her.

“That tickled.”  Dalby smiled wickedly before he stood and turned towards Kathryn.  He twisted the dagger in his hand in circles, the dim lighting reflected off the blade as he walked languidly towards Kathryn with a smirk to his lips.  “We’re going to have fun tonight.  You and me.”

The suggestion in his cruel tones was unmistakable and made Kathryn’s stomach turn, but her hands remained unaccountably steady as she fired off two more shots:  one to his leg which staggered his stride for only a moment and then one right to his chest. 

Blood erupted from Dalby’s chest and he snarled an animalistic sound as he pressed a hand to his seeping wound.  His eyes blazed red as he felt his lunch leaving his body.  “You’ll pay for that, bitch!  You’ll be screaming for death before I’m done with you.”

“Not tonight.”  Annika swung her blade swiftly as she spoke and severed Dalby’s head from his body.  It fell by her feet and she kicked it away as she moved quickly to Kathryn’s side.  “Are you able to stand?”

“No… I don’t… think so…”  The adrenaline that had kept Kathryn conscious finally drained away and she slumped upon the ground as darkness claimed her.

Annika gently lifted Kathryn so that her face wasn’t in a dirty puddle and braced her against a relatively clean and dry wall as she went about the business of disposing of the Queen’s minions.  She lifted the three bodies and the heads into a small dumpster, poured an accelerant over them and lit a match.  Vampires burned hot and fast.  Soon only ashes remained and the stench of burnt flesh. 

Annika pocketed the bullets and made sure the site would be clean of any evidence that she or Kathryn had been there before she heard the sirens approaching.  She lifted Kathryn’s limp form into her arms before she broke out into a run.  She had been lucky this night.  And had gained valuable information; confirmation that the Queen did in fact want Kathryn Janeway.  Annika knew that despite her aversion to the woman in her arms she had to protect her.  Kathryn seemed to be the key to why the Queen was in L.A.  Annika needed to know why.

****

“Oh… damn.” 

Kathryn willed the sun away as she buried her face into a pillow clutched in her hands.  She had a pounding headache and her entire body ached.  The smell wafting up from her clothing wasn’t pleasant either.  A mixture of alcohol, dirt and something herbal scented that made her stomach turn.  Her tongue felt heavy and dry in her mouth, the taste of coppery blood and stale liquor tested the stability of her stomach as well. 

Her eyes shot open as the events of the evening came back to her.  She was sure it had all been a dream, even though she hardly dreamt when in a drunken state which was one of the main reasons why she drank so much in the first place.  She lifted her head before she pushed herself up slowly into a seated position on the rumbled bed.  It took her a moment or two to realize she wasn’t in her apartment and that she wasn’t alone.

“You!”  Kathryn’s voice was accusing as was her glare as she looked upon Annika, who was seated at a desk with an inexplicable expression.  “What the hell is going on?  Who were those people?  Who the hell are you?  I want answers.  Now.”

“I don’t believe you are adequately prepared to know the truth.”  Annika remained very still, her features remained impassive as did her voice despite the conflicted and turbulent emotions warring within her.  It had taken everything she had not to have just taken an unconscious Kathryn Janeway to her apartment and left her alone.  But Annika knew she couldn’t do that.  They were after Kathryn and the apartment was no longer safe even in daylight.  They could be waiting.

So Annika, against her better judgment, had taken Kathryn to the underground safe house her cadre was using as their new headquarters.  Kathryn had sustained injuries and so Annika had summoned Doctor Zimmerman to address the worst of them.  After he had finished with his healing spells and herbal remedies Annika had been told Kathryn would be sore in the morning, but not seriously impaired.  Annika had simply nodded her head but had not been able to leave Kathryn’s bedside.  She had felt compelled to stay. 

Kathryn while in deep slumber, whether it was sustained because of the amount of alcohol in the other woman’s system or the doctor’s ministrations, appeared infinitely more relaxed and at peace than Annika had ever seen while the acerbic woman was conscious..  Annika had felt her chest ache and warm with the loveliness of Kathryn Janeway when in repose and also the beauty of the soul seemingly untarnished with darkness when the body was asleep.  It glowed brightly, painful in its familiarity, but Annika couldn’t look away.  Annika knew her own soul was reaching out towards the one Kathryn possessed, hers was hungry for what it thought it had lost forever.  It’s mate.

But now Kathryn was awake, her soul was overwhelmed and marred with darkness, and Annika was able to push aside her feelings for the most part.  Though she knew she would be lying if she thought she still wasn’t deeply affected by the woman before her.  Kathryn’s irritation that was clearly displayed upon her features and voice fueled Annika’s, though her expression and tone were much more controlled, icy rather than heated.

“That’s bullshit!”  Kathryn tore the sheets and blankets away from her as she stood from the bed.  If her footing was a bit unsteady she ignored it as she continued to glare at Annika with her finger pointed.  “I need to know, damn it.”

“It is unlikely you would believe me even if I did tell you the truth.  You know nothing of the darkness that this city hides.”

“Well that’s all very… cryptic, but I need to know what the hell I’m dealing with here.  I shot that man three times.”  Kathryn forced her voice to a less frantic register as she added a slight pleading tone to her rough voice.  “Look, someone’s after me.  I need to know who and I need to know why.  I think you owe me that much.”

Annika made a decision.  It was against her cadre’s beliefs but if it meant keeping Kathryn alive and out of the Queen’s hands then so be it.  “I don’t know why.  But I do know who wants you.  She sent her drones to capture you.”

“She?  Who’s she?  I need a name.”  Kathryn felt anticipation bubble up within her.  Finally, she was getting somewhere with the ice queen. 

Annika wondered how much she should really divulge.  Kathryn, like so many others, was ill-prepared to know that vampires actually existed and for the most part lived as normal of lives as undead beings could.  Kathryn had probably even had dealings with some, but the Queen, she was something altogether different.  She was ancient, evil and ruthless. 

“I don’t know her real name.  She is known as the Queen.  She is very powerful and very dangerous.”  A cold chill of fear skittered down Annika’s spine but she kept her voice carefully modulated as to not let her concern show.  Concern for this woman she now felt obligated to protect.  Not only because of the soul kept within Kathryn but also because if the Queen wanted Kathryn it wasn’t for any benevolent reason.  “She will stop at nothing to get what she wants.”

“The Queen, huh, some sort of crime lord?”  Kathryn’s brow creased in confusion.  She hadn’t broken a major case in a long time.  She was mostly paid for uncovering cheating husbands or wives.  She couldn’t remember the last time she had had a case involving any organized crime.  But then again grudges were held for a long, long time in the underworld. 

“In a fashion, yes.”

“Look.”  Kathryn’s lips pursed in annoyance from what she found to be infuriatingly vague answers.  She fought to maintain her control over her temper but it was becoming difficult because all she wanted to do was pull her gun on Annika and force the other woman to give her some straight answers.  “I don’t know what your angle is in all this, but you and I seem to be more or less on the same side.  So stop fucking with me.  I don’t give a damn if you think I can handle this so called truth or not.  Just tell me what the hell is going on here.”

“Is it not enough that I saved your life on two separate occasions?”  Annika could easily tell by the glare she was receiving that it was not.  She sighed softly as she continued with evenness in her tone and a hard glint in her eye.  “Just trust me when I tell you the night is no longer safe for you.  Especially if you indulge in your… habits.” 

“My ‘habits’.”  Kathryn snorted and rolled her eyes. 

Annika’s jaw tightened as her teeth ground together before she spoke with more fire in her voice.  “You are in more danger than you can possibly realize.  You must be more vigilant or your life will be lost.” 

“Just answer my question.  Why are you following me?”  Kathryn placed her hands on her hips, as she looked knowingly at Annika.  It was impossible to think Annika had just coincidentally been there to save her life twice.  The rescue was something Kathryn knew she should be grateful for but at the moment her ire and need for information overruled everything else.  “How did you know I was a target?  Is it—is there… some sort of connection between the Queen and the Dax murder?”

Kathryn’s eyes went large as she already saw the answer on Annika’s all-knowing expression.  She felt blood pumping hotly through her body and her ears buzzed with it.  If this so called Queen was somehow involved in Ezri Dax’s murder than she was also connected to B’Elanna’s. 

“There is a connection.”  Kathryn felt the air rush out of her as she breathed those words.  The implications of how close she was, how a big piece of the puzzle of B’Elanna’s death had just been given to her.  Adrenaline rushed through her body and Kathryn had her hands wrapped around Annika’s biceps before she had even realized she had crossed the short distance to where the other woman was still seated at the desk.  Logically she knew she couldn’t shake the information loose, but she wasn’t thinking clearly.  Her voice was pitched high and her words left her quickly in desperation.  “Tell me what it is!  I have to know!”

Annika moved quickly, much faster than Kathryn could ever imagine.  Before she could even realize Annika had moved Kathryn was forced face first down upon the bed with her hands held in a tight, painful grip behind her as Annika imprisoned her wrists.  Annika’s angered voice wafted hotly against her ear as Kathryn felt the weight of the other woman pressing her down.

“You presume to demand things of me?  You have no idea who you are dealing with.”  Annika knew she was causing Kathryn pain, despite that knowledge she tightened her hold which elicited a sharp cry from the woman held in her grip.  “There are monsters in this city.  More monstrous than you could ever hope to imagine.  And the leader, the Queen, the most powerful of them all wants you.  If not for me you would be within her grasp and suffering a fate far worse than death.”

Annika was off of Kathryn in an instant and was leaning against the window frame as her glowering eyes watched the other woman gingerly moving off of the bed before turning so they were face to face again.

A fiery blaze of fury filled Kathryn as she looked at the smug woman who undoubtedly held all the answers Kathryn was desperate for.  Her petite body shook from her rage and her voice was tremulous, gravely and demanding but also pleading.  She was so close to knowing the truth.  She was close to knowing the identity of B’Elanna’s killer.

“You don’t understand.  I had a—a case awhile back.  A murder.  I never solved it.  There was no evidence, nothing, not a single break… until now.  The MO matches the Dax case to a T.  You know who killed Ezri Dax, don’t you?  It’s the same person who…”  Kathryn had to swallow past the lump that formed in her throat as flashes of B’Elanna, dead and violated body came uninvitedly to her mind’s eyes.  She forced the images away as she continued.  Her voice was even more tremulous than before.  “You’re right.  There are monsters in this city.  Whoever killed Dax, he’s a monster and when I find him nothing will stop me from killing him.  Just tell me who he is.”

Annika feared the fire, the passion she saw in Kathryn’s eyes, her features, heard in her voice.  A part of her appreciated it as well, but her concern won out.  Kathryn didn’t stand a chance against Chakotay and like so many of his other victims he would have his fun before she was dead.  Annika couldn’t let that happen.  Not again.  Never again.

“No.  I will not be responsible for your death.  You must leave this city.”  Even as Annika said the words she knew that wouldn’t help Kathryn.  The Queen’s collective had Kathryn’s scent.  They would follow her to the ends of the Earth, relentless and tireless in their pursuit.  She needed to know why the Queen wanted Kathryn.

“You’re crazy if you think I’m going anywhere.”  Kathryn wasn’t afraid, this was it, this was what she was living for.  She would avenge B’Elanna and if she died while doing so then so be it.  “I’m in this now.  So you can either help me or I’m going it alone.  Either way, I’m finding the sick bastard.  And I’m going to make him pay.”

“No.”  Annika shook her head, frustration and guilt made her look away from Kathryn’s determined, impassioned features.  Her voice was low, regretful but firm.  “You won’t.  Your weapon is useless.  He would disarm you before you even managed to get the gun from its holster.  The fact that his queen wants you alive wouldn’t stop him from breaking your arm in two, your legs, every bone in your body as long as you were still alive.  He would then strip bits of your skin off either with a knife or his own teeth.  He would be slow and deliberate with his torture.  He would rape you for days and never tire of the sounds of your screams.  He’ll—”

“Stop!”  Kathryn’s voice raised in protest as images of B’Elanna invaded her mind’s eye.  She forced the nausea and guilt away as best she could.  After her initial outburst, Kathryn’s voice fell to a whisper filled with pain as she almost sounded pleading.  “Just… stop.  I’ve seen what he does.”

“Then you know why I won’t allow you to pursue him.”

“You won’t… ‘allow’ me?”  Kathryn’s stormy gray eyes blazed with indignation.  The softness of her voice was gone replaced with a deep husky rumble.  “Who the hell do you think you are?  To dictate what I can and cannot do.”

“I am the one trying to keep you alive and out of the Queen’s hands.” 

“That’s not good enough.  Not by a long shot.  Get me some goddamned answers.  Not this cryptic bullshit.  Who were those people?  And what’s with the crossbow and broadsword?  Are you a medieval knight or something?”  Kathryn knew knights wore all black leather though she thought the analogy was apt.  “You killed those people.  Self-defense might work, but I have a feeling you didn’t call it in.  I don’t give a damn if you think I can handle it or not.  Tell me the truth.”

“Those ‘people’ were already dead.”

Kathryn was rendered speechless for only a moment before her tone clearly indicated that if Annika was joking she did not find it funny in the least.  “I think you’d better explain that.”

“They have had many names, but for the present they are what are known as vampires.”

Kathryn wondered if she had suffered a concussion and was merely dreaming this odd conversation.   She almost hoped that was the case because she saw nothing but honesty upon Annika’s features and heard the frankness in her tones.  Kathryn felt the air leave her by way of a gasp and the world around her tilted.  She felt numb and the sound of her blood thumping loudly in her ears was her only indication that she was still conscious. 

“You—you can’t be serious.”  Kathryn possessed a smirk to her lips despite the pounding of her heart and the chill moving across her skin.  Her smile was not kind as her voice grew hard and cold.  “Stop fucking with me.  And tell me the truth.”

“I am.”

“Vampires!  That—that’s crazy.”  Kathryn shook her head in attempt to clear away the words, the impossible words Annika had just spoken.  “I don’t believe you.”

“You do not need to believe me, for it to be the truth.”

Kathryn raised her chin in defiance.  Her husky voice was harsh, challenging.  “Prove it.”

“Has it not already been proven?”  Annika raised one eyebrow as she looked upon Kathryn with frustration.  “How many times did you shoot your attacker?  Three?  And I suppose what, you believe he was on PCP?  Yes, I thought not.”

Kathryn rolled her eyes in annoyance at how easily Annika could read her.  Kathryn did not in fact think it was PCP that kept the man she had shot three times from dropping to the ground, dead or dying.  But vampires, her mind wasn’t quite ready to accept such an absurd notion.

“If what you are saying is true, and don’t think for a minute I believe any of it, then what the hell are you?  Van Helsing?  Some sort of vampire hunter?”  Kathryn nearly snorted derisively at the notion that was until Annika merely stared at her.  “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Van Helsing is a fictional character, but the comparison is not without merit.”  Annika nearly smiled at the disgruntled look her words caused upon Kathryn’s features.  Nearly.  “No one, no humans will come looking for those three vampires.  They’ve been considered dead for a very long time.  Do not concern yourself with them any longer.  The Queen is our concern now.”

“She’s a vampire too?”  Kathryn couldn’t quite believe how easily her question had escaped her lips.  But she felt inclined to go with Annika’s odd notions if it meant getting closer to B’Elanna’s killer.

“Yes.  One of the oldest and most dangerous in existence.” 

“Charming.”  Kathryn rolled her eyes even as a chill of fear rolled down her spine.  She had nearly died at the hands of the Queen’s minions.  “And she wants me.  Well isn’t that just fantastic.  Why?  Why would she want me alive?  Why doesn’t she just kill me?”

“I have already told you, I don’t know.”  Annika’s frustration made her jaw clench.  She needed to know why the Queen wanted Kathryn.  She needed to know now.  There was only one person in the city that might hold that answer.  It troubled Annika that she was actually entertaining the notion of enlisting Kathryn’s help.  But there was only one way into the club.  Annika’s eyes narrowed as she looked upon Kathryn almost critically. 

“What the hell are you staring at?”  Kathryn felt uneasy under such scrutiny and she shifted as she stood wanting Annika’s hard, icy blue eyes off of her.  Heat suffused Kathryn’s cheeks and she didn’t know whether it was from anger or the sudden tingling feelings moving from her fingertips up her arms.  She ignored what those tingles could mean as her eyes narrowed and her voice grew rough with irritation.  “Stop looking at me like that!”

Annika ignored Kathryn’s demand as she continued to take in the other woman’s appearance with a careful eye to every curve and line of the petite, feminine body before her.  Kathryn’s diminutive form, her wiry muscles beneath pale skin lightly dusted with light brown freckles and her elegant features all forced Annika to acknowledge that Kathryn Janeway, despite the dirt upon her haggard appearance, was quite beautiful.  Yes, Annika knew, she would do quite nicely as her accessory, her ticket into the underground club.

“If we are to discover the answers to our questions there is someone we must speak with.  You could assist me in that endeavor.  It will not be easy, but I believe we will be successful.”  Annika raised her chin, her gaze hard and penetrating as she spoke her words with a tone that brook for no argument.  “There are things you must understand first, regarding vampires.”

Kathryn stopped short of rolling her eyes though her voice was sardonic as she smirked with derision.  Vampires, she grumbled to herself, what a pile of shit.  “And what’s that?”

“Believe me when I tell you that not all vampires are a threat to you.  Or at least an immediate threat.  There are some who live relatively normal lives amongst the humans.  Your own police chief has an agreement with a few of the more powerful factions here in Los Angeles.  The vampires keep to themselves and the police department turns a blind eye when a few petty criminals show up dead.  I say they are not a danger to you only insofar as you don’t threaten them.  The woman we are about to meet is in charge of the largest and strongest faction in the city.  She runs an exclusive club.  There are rules to entering and existing in her establishment.  Strict ones.  So…”  Annika raised a brow, her expression almost challenging.  “Are you prepared to do as I instruct you to do, without question?”

Kathryn gritted her teeth before she reluctantly nodded her head unable to agree to such a demand verbally.  Her eyes flashed a warning that clearly told Annika not to trifle with her.

“Acceptable.  You may use the shower through there, I will return in one hour.  My companions, Kes and Lewis, are downstairs if you should have any requirements during my absence.”

“Hansen, wait.”  Kathryn pushed aside her suspicions, her doubt and her uneasiness with the woman before her.  She knew she would have to defer to the other woman for the time being so she could get closer to B’Elanna’s killer.  And Kathryn had to admit her life had been saved on two separate occasions.  Though her words were gruff she spoke sincerely.  “Thank you.  For saving my life.  And… for helping me now.”

“You might regret your words after I return.”  Annika almost smiled.  She was aware of what it cost the brash woman to admit that she needed help much less speaking gratitude to her.  Annika slowly turned away from the door, her features less severe than ever before as she debated her next move.  She took a long breath before she spoke.  “Call me Annika.  And you are welcome.”

Kathryn stood frozen for a moment even after the bedroom door closed behind Annika.  She shook herself out of her reverie and after digging around the bundle of sheets she found her phone.

“Harry.”  Kathryn had to smile even as she rolled her eyes at the concern in Harry’s voice.  He worried too much, she figured it would eventually turn him prematurely grey.  Her interruption was brusque and cut through his ramblings.  “Yeah I’m fine, listen, I need you to look up a name.  Annika Hansen.  I need all the info within an hour.  Great.  Bye.” 

Kathryn closed the phone and tossed it on the bed again before she began to peel her grimy clothes from her body.  Aside from some stiffness and a few aches she felt relatively unscathed.  She pulled the bandages from her midsection and knew why.  Aside from the greenish residue cover her skin she was unmarred.  She would have thought there would be some bruising, but whatever Annika had done had healed her faster than she thought possible.

She tossed the bandages in the garbage as she made her way to the shower.  Kathryn groaned as torrents of hot water cascaded down her body, washing away the soap she had liberally spread across her skin.  She washed away the dirt, the dried blood and the healing substance and reveled in the feeling of being clean again.  However, her relief was short lived as she felt a headache forming behind her eyes. 

Kathryn really wanted a drink; something strong like whiskey.  Anything that would calm her nerves, dull her mind because at the moment it was racing.  The fact that her stomach ached and she felt agitated and restless was chalked up to her strange circumstances and not the possibility that her body craved a drink.  That she thirst for one, needed it for Kathryn Janeway thought herself above such weakness.  No, she just wanted something to take the edge off.  To help her relax.  If her hands were shaking it wasn’t due to anything but her unease with her situation, nothing more.

Kathryn was ignoring much of what her body was telling her.  She forced herself to forget about how a chill had skittered down her spine when Annika had had her pinned to the bed.  It was such a display of unbridled strength, forceful and threatening and it had excited Kathryn with the feeling of danger and the familiarity.  There had been a number of times B’Elanna had thrown her to the bed, torn her clothes off and taken her without preamble, without gentleness or ease, but with a ferocious passion that would completely engulf them both.  Kathryn ignored how her fingers had tingled and how an acute ache had been felt between her legs when Annika’s threatening voice sounded in her ear, her hot breath across her neck.  No, Kathryn was above her hungers, her thirsts.  She had to be.

After finishing up in the bathroom and washing the stale tastes from her mouth, Kathryn dried herself off before she found the white terrycloth robe to put on before she walked back into the bedroom.  She was startled and disconcerted by the fact that laying upon the changed and made up bed was a tray with a bowl of assorted fruits, a plate with toast, two fried eggs and bacon.  Her stomach rumbled with appreciation despite her unease with the fact that someone had entered the bedroom unannounced and unnoticed.  Next to the tray of food was a neat stack of clothes.  It further disturbed her that they were her own clothes that she had left strewn on the floor of the bedroom only thirty minutes ago fresh and clean.

Suddenly concerned that she was being watched, Kathryn dressed quickly before she sat on the bed and devoured the food above her.  The crisp, greasy bacon tasted salty and delicious on her tongue.  She released an appreciative moan when she took the first sip of her coffee.  It nearly burned her tongue, but she didn’t care.  Aside from a stiff drink, it was just what she needed.  She drank two more cups full of the caffeinated brew before she was finished with her meal.  She poured the rest of the contents of white carafe into her porcelain cup before she moved away from the bed and opened the thick, dark blue curtains.  Kathryn was surprised to see the sun was already beginning to set.  It made her wonder how long she had been in this place before she had woken.  From Harry’s tone she figured it was probably the better part of a day.

Just as her fingers were touching her phone to see what time it was it vibrated upon the nightstand and beeped once indicating bad news since Harry would text her instead of speaking directly to her when he came up empty handed.  She opened her phone and saw just two words: Nada, sorry.  Kathryn closed the phone and threw it on the bed in frustration.  She knew she wouldn’t get a straight answer from Annika.  Kathryn rolled her eyes at herself for even beginning to believe that anything Annika had said to her was true.

“Vampire.”  Kathryn’s brow creased as she forced the strange word from between her lips once again.  “Vampire.  You have to be kidding me.”

There had to be another explanation.  Maybe she had been drugged at the bar and was hallucinating.  Maybe the guy had a Kevlar vest on.  Maybe she was simply going crazy.  All of those options seemed more plausible than what Annika had told her.  Vampires, the very notion was ridiculous. 

As Kathryn turned back towards the window to watch as the outside world turned dark when the last hints of sunshine left the horizon she grew more and more agitated.  Her fingernails tapped on the windowsill unevenly as she considered her options with growing unease.  It was obvious Annika knew much more than she let on, more than what she was willing to tell Kathryn.  At the same time it seemed that Annika was willing to help her stay alive and to find out what this Queen person wanted with her.  And if what Annika said was true and that the owner of an exclusive club could shed some light on the Dax case and more importantly lead Kathryn to B’Elanna’s killer she knew she had to let Annika take the lead despite her loathing to do so.

The knock on the door startled Kathryn and broke her out of her reverie as she tried to calm her nerves.  She pressed her hands to her hips, hoping her tremors weren’t visible as she turned to face the woman entering the bedroom with a few shopping bags and a black garment bag in her hands.

Kathryn realized her anxiety must have shown on her features because Annika tilted her head and looked at her with a touch of sympathy on her usually severe features before she spoke words meant to prepare, and perhaps, reassure.  “I have obtained the… costumes we will need to gain access.  You have done undercover work before, yes?”

“Yes.”  Her curiosity piqued, Kathryn moved towards the bed where Annika was in the process of unzipping the garment bag.  Her eyes grew wide when she saw the black leather dress Annika was pulling out of the bag.  “You don’t honestly expect me to wear that, do you?”

“I do not.  I will be wearing the dress.”  Annika nearly smirked at the relief on Kathryn’s features, but she maintained her serious expression as she placed the dress to the side and pulled out the outfit Kathryn was to wear.  “You are wearing this.”

Kathryn’s mouth went dry as it opened in shock as her wide eyes took in the appalling shiny, red leather garment now laying on the seemingly innocuous dress causing a feeling of deep dread within her.  To call it an outfit at all was being generous.  The strapless corseted bodice was steel boned with black laces running up the front.  She snorted at the sight of the matching crimson skirt that she knew would barely cover her ass and the slits on the sides weren’t going to help with her modesty either.  She gave the outfit one final look of disgust before she narrowed her eyes and turned her glare to Annika.  Her voice dripped with contempt, sounding from deep within her like a growl.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

(to be continued)