Be warned this will be a huge story once it's finished. (If it gets
finished)
Disclaimer: *sighs* Unfortunately, I don't own Voyager, but
fortunately Paramount doesn't own our imaginations.
Rating: If you are old enough to watch the show, you are old enough
to read this. Just some deep kissing and little romance. Have fun.
Therefore, I rate this as PG.
Scavenger Hunt part 17
By Lissa
When they stepped out the hall was quiet. They were the only ones not in a course. Kathryn unzipped the backpack and dropped the batteries in. "Where to next, love?" Kathryn asked.
"Upstairs, seeing as we've been to everyone down here." This time Chakotay took the bag from Kathryn, adjusted the straps and slipped it onto his back. "Oof, this is getting heavy."
"Why do you think I let you take it?" Kathryn said as she raised her eyebrow. Chakotay grinned at her and they went up the spiral staircase to the second floor. When they were half way up, Chakotay decided to surprise Kathryn. She had her hand on the railing and was stepping up...then Chakotay quickly picked her up and laughed loudly. She made a little shriek to say the least. Then she laughed as Chakotay carried her up the rest of the stairs. "It's your back. Just give me a little warning next time, please."
"Nah, I like having you surprised. You make funny faces and noises," he grinned at her. At the top of the staircase her set her feet gently on the ground and let her stand under her own power. But, he still had his arms around her waist. She turned around and smiled sweetly at him.
"You make some interesting noises, too" she said and began to tickle him. He snorted and tried not to laugh. Then he bit his lip and began tickling back. Kathryn giggled and squirmed, but she couldn't get away. "Alright! Truce! Please!" He didn't stop. So, Kathryn started to mock-deathglare him. Chakotay finally relented, but kept his arms firmly in place.
"We'll continue later." Chakotay smiled slyly. "Which door do we choose?"
"Which one haven't we been in?" Kathryn asked seriously, because she could not remember for the life of her.
"I'm pretty sure that we haven't been to that side," Chakotay said as he gestured across the room.
"Good enough for me." They managed to walk to the other side of the room without mishap, but barely. Kathryn opened the door and slipped out of Chakotay's arms to go through the doorway. She looked back at him and smiled. He caught her hand and followed her in.
Bright white lights blinded them. There was a large and raucous crowd. Everything was red, white, blue, or some mixture of those colors. There were sickeningly muscle-bound people all around. Each was smiling like an evil demon. "Oh, no. We're on *American Gladiators*!" Kathryn said, horrified.
"What is that?" Chakotay asked then looked down, "Oh! Look at what we're wearing!"
"It's a show from the 20th century. It's a contest of strength and physical skill. It's rigorous and hard to win. Tom told me about it. If I ever get my hands on him, I will wring his neck!" Kathryn said vehemently. Chakotay laughed.
"Can I help?" he asked. "Just what are we supposed to do?"
"Climbing, obstacle courses, anything hard or stressful." Just then a cheesy guy announced that it was time for the partner wall climb. "Well, at least we'll be working together," Kathryn said.
"Big relief, Kathryn. Big relief." They were led to the wall and hooked into harnesses. Kathryn and Chakotay watched their opponents wearily. Then the shot was fired and they were monkeying there way up. The wall was at least two hundred feet high and the handholds were either awkward or sparse. A fourth of the way up, Chakotay slipped, but at the last moment managed to pull back to the wall. By then Kathryn was a third of the way there. He marveled at her ease and agility. Chakotay moved as fast as he could and when Kathryn was three fourths there, he was right behind her.
Suddenly, Kathryn's feet slipped from the holds. Chakotay reacted quickly and grabbed her foot. He deftly placed it on the nearest handhold and moved up to steady her. She smiled and gave him a breathless, "Thanks." He smiled back and took the lead. Not for long though. The other team, that was almost forgotten, was neck and neck with Kathryn and Chakotay. Kathryn let her competitive nature assert itself, and she was shortly pulling ahead of both Chakotay and the other team. When she finally slung her leg over the top she was grinning broadly. She helped Chakotay up with a hand from one of the nicer Gladiators.
"Thanks," he said. Just then a loud bugle sounded announcing their triumph. They grinned and they went down to receive their prize. A prize that just so happened to be the proof they needed to get on to the last course. They stood on top of a three level platform and had medals put around their necks. Kathryn and Chakotay stepped down from the platform and grabbed the backpack before fleeing to the main room.
"I'm *so* glad that we weren't stuck wearing those awful outfits for the rest of tonight," Kathryn said when they crossed the threshold and they automatically got their own clothing back. "Hey, I just noticed, the paint in your hair is gone."
"Same for you," Chakotay said as he took the medal off his neck and put it into the backpack. He smiled fondly at her as he took the medal off of her. Then her stroked her cheek and kissed her forehead. "I love you." She smiled and kissed him on the lips gently. After a few seconds of standing there, they quietly went to the next and last course.
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Scavenger Hunt part 18
By Lissa
They approached the door to their last course to complete. The hall was quiet and dreadfully still. They almost tiptoed to the entrance. Chakotay smiled slightly at Kathryn and opened the door for her with flourish. Kathryn managed a grin and slipped through the portal easily with Chakotay right behind. It was a pitch-black night. Everything had an eerie feel to it. There was a black fog in some places and an airy mist in others.
"I don't think I like this one so far." Kathryn grabbed Chakotay's hand and held on tightly.
"Neither do I."
They were walking along a dirt path that had an overhang of barren trees. The plants all looked long dead. There was not one sign of an animal being by at all recently. A cold breeze rustled the branches and dead leaves. Kathryn shivered and moved closer to Chakotay. Around them the trees were thick, but up above they could see the clouded sky.
Silent lightening flashed, illuminating a house at the end of the path. It was once a Queen Anne style house, but now, it was a weather beaten creature of nightmares. Where the house must have been brightly painted, it was now gray decaying wood. What must have been beautiful gardens and flower boxes is now nothing but gathering places for dust. The steps are broken and splintered. All but one of the windows is broken out, and that one is cracked. Lightening flashes again showing someone looking out of that window. Kathryn gasps and clutches Chakotay.
"I don't want to go in there. I don't like this," she said while holding Chakotay from going further.
"It is really creepy. We just have to remember that this is just a program," Chakotay kissed her hand while his heart was beating wildly.
"Tell that to the adrenaline racing through my veins," Kathryn smiled nervously. They continued to the decrepit door of the abandoned house. Kathryn stepped ahead of Chakotay while he was looking in the house, and pushed the door open. The hinges squealed as the door swung slowly. Kathryn and Chakotay felt their hair prickle, and told themselves that it was just rust that caused the noise.
They were unaware that they were being watched. Something that moved with quiet, sickly, dragging sound that was barely in the couple's perception. It watched with unseeing eyes and heard without hearing.
They entered the house with trepidation. A thick acrid smell permeated their beings. Chakotay almost coughed at the dust in the air. Kathryn breathed shallowly to keep from inhaling it. The furniture was torn, broken, overturned, or simply shredded like it had been attacked by demons. They walked through the battlefield of a parlor and ended up at the foot of some stairs. The carpet covering the stairs was torn and ripped. The wood beneath had deep fresh grooves in it. Kathryn and Chakotay slowly and cautiously climbed to the second floor. Their blood was rushing. On the wall were old frames holding yellowed photos. Each plate of glass was shattered.
Unbeknownst to the couple was that they were still being followed. Just as they stepped onto the landing, black claws curled around the doorframe. A harsh labored breathing was emanating from that spot. The unseeing ears listened til they were talking again to move.
"What could have done all of this?" Chakotay asked. He was staying very near Kathryn. He knew, rationally, that they were okay, but emotionally, he sensed danger.
"I don't know. I would say kids, but some of the damage is almost animal-like," Kathryn was getting skittish. Lightening flashed and showed the pale complexions this adventure had earned both of them. It also showed an unbroken mirror. Kathryn's brow wrinkled in interest as stepped closer to the one piece of undamaged glass in the whole house. "Chakotay, come here, take a look at this."
"Wow..." he said. The mirror's reflection showed a clean, bright, spring day. Nothing was broken or dusty. There was a clean bed with sunflower bed sheets spread neatly over it, and cheery yellow paint on the walls. It showed nothing of Kathryn and Chakotay's world. The mirror seemed to be ignoring them. Kathryn reached out to touch the mirror and it rippled like a pool of water. When she pulled back, her fingers had silver liquid covering them.
The floor outside of the room creaked loudly. They jumped and squeezed through the portal to the light world. The couple stumbled hand in hand onto the bed. Quickly, fearfully, they looked back to the mirror. All it showed was Kathryn and Chakotay on the bed.
"How long does it take to pick up a mirror and take put it out with the garbage?" a loud, but kind voice called up the stairs.
"We're coming!" Kathryn shouted down. The voice laughed and moved away. Chakotay grinned.
"Shall we?" Chakotay laughed and picked up the mirror off of its place and turned it sideways. Kathryn giggled nervously and took the end.
"Let's go." They walked down the cleanly kept stairs and through the open front door. Kathryn and Chakotay just stood on the porch looking at the vast difference. Flowers covered every free patch of earth. The trees were leafed out and blooming. The air smelled of freshly cut grass, flowers, and apple pie. To the far right there was a street and driveway with two plastic bags off to the side.
They walked across the soft grass and deposited their burden on the ground. In the bright sunlight, the mirror looked almost sinister. The wood was dark and intricately carved. Nothing was obviously wrong with it, just a sense of evil. Kathryn and Chakotay walked back to the house. They were still a little jumpy, but feeling much better.
"So, did you have a problems getting it downstairs?" the owner of the gentle voice asked. She was a sweet old lady with a bright smile. The lady was carrying a box of gardening tools in one hand and a pair of gloves in the other.
"No, none at all," Chakotay said.
"Well, I thank you kindly for your help. And, I have a small gift for you. You see that rose garden? You can take any one you want. Those are my prize winners, too." The lady smiled brightly and walked over to a bush of pink roses.
"Can we have that one?" Chakotay gestured to one in full bloom.
"Certainly." She expertly cut the rose. She cut off the thorns and said, "Is this for the beautiful lady?"
"Yes, it is," Chakotay grinned and kissed Kathryn's cheek. The lady laughed and handed it to Kathryn.
"Come back soon," she said as she turned to tend to her gardens. Chakotay and Kathryn walked under the canopy of branches back to the exit. They laughed and smiled as they remembered their first walk through here.
"I think we won," Chakotay said softly as he opened the door.
"I agree." Kathryn grinned and sniffed her rose as she stepped into the hall.
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Scavenger Hunt part 19
As they let the door close behind them, they noticed that the hall was blessedly empty, no competition for first place in sight. They ran laughing down to the first floor where the sole judge was. Chakotay swung the backpack onto the table and unzipped it.
"We've made it through twelve courses," Kathryn grinned as she reached into the bag and started laying objects on the table. Batteries, a sculpture, a rose, medals, a picture, and a fuzzy spider were included in the bounty that was shown to Sean Connery
"Well done, well done. Sixty replicator credits have been assigned to each of your accounts. Now, I'll make the announcement, much to the chagrin of the other teams, I'm sure." He walked over to the back wall and pressed gently on a panel of wood. It swung open revealing a red phone. Next to it was a large red button. Sean Connery gently pressed it and a loud siren wailed throughout the hall and echoed after he released it. Then he picked up the phone and said, "Kathryn and Chakotay have completed twelve courses and have won first place." This, too, loudly echoed around the hall.
"Thank you. Goodbye," Kathryn said as she picked up her empty backpack and started for the doors that led outside.
"Thank you. Goodnight," Sean Connery said as he gathered the proof of the courses in a box and put it behind another panel in the back wall.
"Bye," Chakotay smiled as he held the door for Kathryn. They immediately noticed that it was dry and clear outside. Kathryn stretched and breathed the crisp air in.
"Are you tired?" she asked.
"Not really," he replied. They left the holodeck and entered the corridor. "Want to get something to eat?"
"Where?" Kathryn asked smiling.
"How about my quarters? I know a quick and wonderful pasta recipe," he said as he wrapped his arm around her.
"Works well for me." They entered the lift and kissed briefly before the doors slid shut. "Deck 2." They kissed until the turbolift made it to its destination. The couple walked to Chakotay's quarters and quickly entered. Kathryn kissed Chakotay gently. "I'm not really hungry. I'm going to bed." She walked past him and into his bedroom. Chakotay laughed and followed her, but not until locking the doors and taking off his commbadge.
"Any day now," Kathryn called to him. She laughed as he jokingly skidded into the room. She held out her arms out to her love. He came and wrapped her up in his arms. They kissed passionately. "I love you," Kathryn said into his ear.
"I love you, too, my Kathryn."
The End
