Title: Words mean nothing 5.1/?

Author: quew

Disclaimer: See previous sections.

Rating: R

Notes: Writers block hit quite hard during this one, and to try and get rid of it I've written a few things that may or may not get posted (one of them already has ;)…including...well. I don't think I should tell you if I want to come out of this with even a /smidge/ of dignity ;) Sufficed to say, they're probably all worse than the poem *eg*

#

The man paused, the gun not quite trained on her. 'I don't believe you,' he said bluntly, 'you're just trying to get yourself out of this. Just hand me the key-card and we'll be gone. We're not monsters you know, no matter what you've been trained to believe.'

'That's just it!' B'Elanna snapped. 'I haven't been trained to believe anything. I don't remember anything before I woke up in your cell!'

'You're lying,' he snarled, poking her with the gun. She nearly reacted on instinct, reaching forward to snatch the gun out of his grasp, but she stopped herself at the last minute. This was a game of trust, and she didn't know the rules. She wished she was better at stuff like this.

'I'm not lying,' she growled, gently pushing the barrel away from her. 'I don't want her in there any more than you do.'

'Why? Why would you risk your life to help her? To help us?' He asked.

'This isn't my life.' B'Elanna said. For a moment, she felt a stab of guilt for doing something that she was sure the owner of this life wouldn't do. It grew into a dull ache as she realised she was breaking so many Starfleet rules it didn't bear thinking about. She had no right to mess around with whatever was going on in this timeline…these lives were not hers to help.

'You want to help us?' The man asked, his eyes searching out B'Elanna's in the dark of the room.

You never worried about Starfleet rules before, she thought. Are you turning into a model officer?

A sly grin stole across B'Elanna's face. 'I do.'

Didn't think so.

#

The man led her back to the workout room, where another person was rummaging through the cupboard. They were dressed the same as the first guy, and was of indeterminate sex. As they stepped back, B'Elanna saw that it was full of weaponry - big guns, small guns, knives, a machete…it was a veritable arsenal right here in her home.

'If you want 'em, take 'em,' she said to the first man. He shot her look and then nodded to the other person.

'We were going to anyway.'

Suddenly, a fierce knocking interrupted them. B'Elanna shared a glance with the man. He didn't seem to know whether to shoot her and run or to trust her to open the door.

She made the choice for him as the knocking continued. 'Hide. I'll take care of it.'

He held her gaze for a second and then nodded. His gaze, however, said if you cross us…

She ignored it and went to the door, wrenching it open with slightly excessive force, but hey, she wasn't in the best of moods.

Claudia stood on the doorstep, her hand raised to knock again.

'What's the problem?' B'Elanna asked as nicely as she could.

'I was worried about you. You didn't answer my call, so I thought I'd come over. I bought you a gift,' she added, holding out a bottle of red wine.

'I was in the shower when you called,' B'Elanna said, crossing her arms, 'and I'm a little…exhausted. I really just want to sleep, Claudia. No offence.'

'None taken. I'll see you tomorrow, right?'

'Sure.' B'Elanna said. With one last exchange of goodbyes, Claudia backed away from the door. Suddenly, a crash resounded through B'Elanna's apartment.

'What was that?' Claudia asked, trying to see past the Klingon's compact form.

'Oh…mice?'

'Mice?' The older woman sounded thoroughly disbelieving, and she tried to walk past B'Elanna into the apartment.

'Hey!' B'Elanna stood her ground.

'What's going on, Charlotte?' Claudia asked. 'You've been acting strangely ever since we picked you up!' he started eyeing her suspiciously.

B'Elanna bridled. 'Nothing! Nothing is going on! I'm tired!' She snapped. 'All I want to do is rest, okay?'

'I don't believe you! You've been gone so long, anything could have happened to you!'

'Will you let it go! Nothing is wrong.'

'I'm coming in. I want you to come down to the station, and I want you to let the Doc and Owen to look at you.'

'No.'

'Charlotte…'

'No!'

'Hey…what's goin' on?' A sleepy voice called out. 'C? Who are you talking to?'

A woman appeared from B'Elanna's bedroom, apparently only wearing one of her shirts. B'Elanna's eyes nearly popped out of her head, as the woman looked remarkably like Sam Wildman. "Sam" came right up to B'Elanna and wrapped her arms around her from behind. 'Hi,' she said, looking at Claudia. 'Are you one of C's work friends?'

'I…Yes. I'm her superior,' Claudia shook herself out of her shock and straightened her stance. 'I just came by to say get well soon.' Without preamble, she shoved the wine into B'Elanna's shocked hands and strode away.

For a second, B'Elanna found herself wanting to go after the woman and make something up…just say that she didn't want Claudia in because she had company, but the other woman pulled her back into the apartment and shut the door.

'So your names Charlotte huh?' She said, wandering back into the bedroom to retrieve her clothes.

'Apparently,' B'Elanna said. She tried it on for size…and then decided she didn't really like it. 'What's yours?'

'Sarah,' she called. A few moments later she re-emerged, fully clothed in her black outfit. 'Sorry I had to do that, but that noise was me tripping over something. I thought I'd better do something before she pushed her way in.'

B'Elanna nodded at her as the guy came out from his hiding place.

'I'm Michael,' the man said, stepping out of the gym room and pulling off his ski-mask. As she stared at him, Harry's youthful face stared back.

#

After picking up a few things, they left separately, meeting up a little way down the street. Sarah and Michael blindfolded B'Elanna, and despite her instincts screaming at her to rip off, she grit her teeth and it stayed on. They drove for what seemed to B'Elanna to be a stupidly long time, until finally the car ground to a halt.

Once she was out of the vehicle, she'd assumed the blindfold would be removed, but it wasn't. They each took one of her elbows and led her through passages that seemed to twist and turn a lot, and B'Elanna was soon convinced she would've been lost even without the blindfold. The way their feet echoed off the walls let her know they were underground, however.

Eventually, she was allowed to sit down, and they carefully undid the blindfold. She blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust to the light, and then looked around. She was in a room remarkably like the one she'd woken up in before, except this one was furnished. A few locked cabinets lined the walls, and she was sat on one side of a large, commanding desk.

Michael sat down on the other side and clasped his hands. 'Why do you want to help us?' He asked.

'I don't agree with the way the police treat their prisoners,' B'Elanna replied. It was true…sort of.

'You are the police,' he replied.

'Not really. I don't belong there any more than Anna does,' B'Elanna said.

He nodded and waved a hand at Sarah. She walked over to him and bent and he whispered something in her ear. Nodding once, she left the room.

'I still don't trust you…but…' he sighed …'the last attack depleted our forces. We need more able bodies. You're coming with us, tonight, to get her out. But…if you deceive us in any way, I will hunt you down and shoot you myself, understood?'

The words almost didn't make sense to B'Elanna, as strong and harsh as they were, coming from her friends face. Michael, not Harry, she reminded herself, and she gave him a curt nod.

'Here's the plan…'

#