Chapter Text
Everything was dark.
The alarms were blaring. The sounds emitted were a muffled echo it seemed.
Short flashes filled her sight as she tried hard to force her eyelids open.
Trying to sit up, she winced in pain. There was a sharp pain in her left leg. Luckily, she was able to see her leg during the short flashes of electricity, noticing a piece of metal that had lodged itself into her shin. She knew she needed to get help soon before she bled out, assuming she hadn’t been doing so for some time already considering she had no idea how long she was unconscious for.
She quickly looked around her to see if anyone else was injured. Unfortunately, everyone who was on the bridge with her, was also unconscious. Voyager had been put dead in its tracks, all engines offline. She couldn’t hear the familiar humming that typically made it’s way through the ship.
She rolled over to her right side and used her right, uninjured leg to help her stand.
The sight before her was a devastating one. Tom Paris was on the floor, on his back, his head bleeding due to a cranial injury. He clearly had impacted with his console.
She furrowed her brows together as she glanced over the bridge, in a hurry.
She reached to her side and grabbed a hold of the railing when she noticed underneath it, Chakotay.
Her eyes widened and she immediately knelt beside him, keeping her injured leg laying out straight to avoid further harm.
He looked so serene even when he was unconscious.
“Chakotay.” She spoke to him, louder than she expected.
Her heart was beating so fast in her chest at this moment.
Please wake up.
She didn’t know what she would do if anything happened to him.
Even though she tried, her efforts to wake him were useless. She immediately tapped her combadge.
“Janeway to sickbay.”
No response.
“Janeway to The Doctor.”
She closed her eyes in relief when she heard The Doctors voice speaking through.
“Captain, are you alright?”
She glanced down towards her leg for just a quick moment and immediately her balance began to falter.
“My left leg is severely injured. Everyone else on the bridge is unconscious.”
She lifted her head towards Harry’s station, pain striking her heart yet again. He had been thrown down beside the console. Her mouth opened for only a moment as if to speak but a knot formed in her throat, preventing any words from escaping her lips.
“I will be there as soon as I can, Captain. There are several injured, Kes and I have been moving about the ship, helping who we can-“
“Kes is alright?” She interrupted.
“Yes, she only has a few bumps and scrapes. “
Finally, some good news.
Suddenly a hand grabbed her injured leg, and she cried out in pain. She looked down to see Chakotay with his eyes open, staring up at her. He was trying to speak but he couldn’t. She immediately grabbed his hand, removing it from her leg and cowled it in her hand before sitting beside him.
“Chakotay, are you-?”
Wheezing came from his mouth.
He’s suffocating.
“Doctor how soon until you or Kes can get here?” She threw out her words, her eyes scanning all over him to see if there were any signs of penetrated injury anywhere on his person.
“I’m on my way right now, what’s happening, Captain?” He spoke, rushing towards the bridge, leaving Kes with a few of the other crewmen.
“He can't breathe, please hurry.” Janeway spoke hurriedly, closing the comm before taking Chakotay’s face in her hands.
“It’s going to be okay…” She spoke in a hushed tone, trying to soothe him.
His eyes started to close, the light fading from his eyes. He loosened the grip on her hand that was once gripping her like a lifeline.
You can’t leave us.
Her eyes rapidly scanned his face, seeing his consciousness flee with each passing second.
“Chakotay!” She called out to him.
She ran her hands quickly over his torso, feeling suddenly a shard of metal sticking out of his chest. She cursed aloud, shaking her head.
His lung must have collapsed. Tears were pouring now from her eyes now, streaming down her cheeks.
You can’t leave ME!
Her heart ached, her stomach turning. She began to feel physically ill. She could no longer speak; the lump in her throat started to force it’s way up her throat. She shakily covered her mouth in disbelief, smearing his blood on her face but she didn’t notice, nor would she care in this moment.
Her hand caressed the tattoo that shaped his face, like the sun that shaped the crescent moon. Only now the shadow that her “moon” succumbed to was Janeway’s foe, death.
✶
Her eyes shot open wide; a thin layer of sweat coated her body. A gasp filled the room, Janeway sat upright fast, her head turning from side to side, checking every inch of the bed she was laying in.
My bed?
She pulled the Starfleet-issued covers from her body revealing her uninjured leg. Was it all a dream? A nightmare? The realization sunk in; her heart struck like a ship stopped suddenly by an anchor.
“Damnit…” She whispered as she ran her fingers through her hair.
Just tell him.