Title: words mean nothing 5.2/?

Author: quew

Disclaimer: Paramount, Paramount.

Rating: R

Notes: Posted in two parts because…I can't remember. Was aol playing up? Yeah, probably.

#
'Get outta my way!' B'Elanna snapped at a clerk. He jumped like she'd set fire to his pants and flattened himself against the wall as she dragged her prisoner through the station.

'What's going on?' A uniformed policeman stuck his head out of an office. 'Oh, Sarge! It's you! I thought you were on sick leave?'

'I am, but I found this jerk trying to break into an apartment in my building, and I couldn't resist bringing him in myself. You know how it is.' She grinned toothily, and the uniform nodded.

'Well, hey, do you want me to take him the rest of the way?' He asked, but she shook her head.

'Feels good to get back, you know?'

The man grinned back and ducked back into his office, and B'Elanna breathed a sigh of relief. She picked up the pace, almost dragging the man in handcuffs behind her in her haste.

Soon, they were in front of the double doors that led to the cells, and she used her 'card to unlock the door. They were inside.

The man immediately stood straight and smiled at B'Elanna. 'Good job.'

B'Elanna didn't know his name; they'd sent someone not yet discovered as a supporter of their cause to be her warden, so that he didn't get recognised.

She strode up to Anna's cell and saw the woman sitting in a corner, apparently asleep. She looked back to where her 'prisoner' was striping off his clothes to reveal a uniform underneath. He looked back and smiled again.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile and opened the cell, slipping inside. 'Anna!' she hissed, but got no response. She prodded the woman lightly and got a small groan in answer. The blondes eyes fluttered open and slowly focused on B'Elanna.

'You!' She tried to lunge forward and latch her hands around B'Elanna's throat but something bought her up short. 'You…' She gasped, clutching her belly tightly.

'Can you walk?' B'Elanna whispered, daring to move closer again. Anna gave her a look, and she continued: 'I'm here to get you out.'

'Yeah, right…' Anna's breath turned into a wheeze, and she coughed violently for a second. B'Elanna was disturbed to see specks of blood on Anna's chin.

'We don't have time for this,' she muttered. Without warning, she put her hands under Anna's armpits, heaving her upright. Anna almost cried out in pain, but she coughed it down at the last minute. 'Now, are you ready to get out of here, or would you like to take another shot at me?'

Anna looked at her sidelong as B'Elanna positioned herself under one arm. 'Let's go.'

'That's what I thought you'd say.'

#

The plan was, dress Anna in the clothes that Tim - the other guy - had come in in, including a hat that would cover her distinctive and eye-catching blonde hair. Then B'Elanna and Policeman Tim had to take Anna and escort her out of the building as if she was a petty criminal they were realising with a warning. Sounded good on paper, but…

'Will you please look like you at least know how to use your legs?!' B'Elanna hissed in Anna's ear as they strode through the building, the Klingon on one elbow and Tim on the other. For a few moments at a time, they were having to carry their charge between them, whilst making it look like they weren't carrying her. It was certainly turning into a fun experience.

'Well…I know who to kick next time they're down,' Anna gasped, trying to find her footing.

'Charlotte? Is that you?' The woman froze as she heard Claudia call out.

'Keep going!' She said, letting go of Anna's elbow and turning back to her superior. 'Claudia! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!'

'What's going on…? She waved a hand at the two disappearing around a corner.

'That? Oh, just some officer helping some idiot back out to litter the streets. He swore at an officer or something. I said I'd help.'

'That's just like you,' Claudia agreed, 'you want to have your fingers in every pie.' She hocked an eyebrow at B'Elanna as she spoke, and the Klingon got the feeling they weren't just talking about work anymore. Taking a second to shake off an image of her fingers anywhere near the Captains pie, B'Elanna shuddered and then smiled at Claudia.

'Look, about that…I'm sorry. I'm not quite sure how it happened…'

Claudia held up her hand. 'It's me who should be apologising. I had no right to get so…'

'Protective?' B'Elanna supplied, and Claudia smiled sheepishly.

'Yeah. I realised as I was leaving that you didn't want to invite me in because you didn't want to hurt my feelings. You always did have a sensitive side.'

B'Elanna gave Claudia her best charming, crooked smile and watched the poor woman almost melt into a puddle at her feet. 'Couldn't have said it better myself. Hey. I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm supposed to be on sick leave…'

'Yeah, go on, get out before you get dragged into something else,' Claudia said. 'I'll see you in a few days.'

'You betcha,' B'Elanna winked, and grinned at herself as she hurried out. Making poor Claudia sweat was almost as fun as winding up Janeway.

Just as she was about to turn the corner, she heard someone cry out. 'Detective! Detective!' She turned in time to see Claudia's head pop back out of her office.

'What is it?'

'The prisoner! The one from the raid! She's gone!'

B'Elanna waited only to see what the Detective's reaction would be. Claudia's head came round as if in slow motion, her gaze hitting B'Elanna and stopping. Claudia's mouth fell open, and she glanced toward where Tim and Anna had disappeared.

Busted!

#

B'Elanna hit the doors running, bursting out onto the street and leaping down the stairs. She started sprinting down the street, aware that at any second Claudia would be out of the building and after her. She was suddenly very aware she didn't know how to get to her apartment, and she definitely didn't know how to get to the base of Anna's people. She was screwed.

She heard feet hit the pavement behind her and tried to speed up. Risking a glance behind her, she saw Claudia, surprisingly fast in her heels.

Well, it's what she does, she chases people. I stand around watching an engine. Not much of a contest, B'Elanna thought, trying yet again to increase her speed.

She scrambled round a corner and continued running, aware that it sounded like Claudia was catching her. Inch by inch the older woman gained on her, and not even B'Elanna's Klingon physicality was helping her out.

She glanced back again: Claudia was closer than she'd thought, and she could see two uniforms just coming round the corner. A few more metres and she was going to be caught. Fear of what they'd do to her if she went back spurred her on, and she changed direction suddenly, sliding across the bonnet of a parked car and sprinting across the road. Cars honked and skidded to a halt but she kept on regardless, weaving across the road. Once across, she dove into a nearby alley and ran all out, her breath coming in harsh pants. Halfway down she heard the harsh clicking of Claudia's smart shoes, amplified by the proximity of the walls.

She'd just reached the end of the alley when a bullet smacked into the brickwork by her head. 'Freeze! Do not move!' Claudia called.

Slowly, B'Elanna raised her hands over her head, lacing her fingers. She turned around and saw Claudia, chest heaving and hair free of its confines, pointing a pistol at her. She took a step backwards toward the end of the alley and freedom.

'Don't make me shoot you!' Claudia called, her voice cracking slightly.

B'Elanna kept eye-contact with the other woman as she took another step back, and then another. Claudia shook her head in a silent plea and took two corresponding steps forward.

B'Elanna let her eyes flutter shut for just a second, taking a deep breath. Then they snapped open, and without warning, she turned and ran for the end. She bent over slightly, arms pumping at her sides. A bullet cracked the cement by her back foot, and she leapt sideways and kept going.

She heard another bullet fly past, and another, and then she was out.

The car stopped in front of her so fast she ran into it, bouncing off a door. The same door flew open. 'Get in!' Someone shouted.

She dove for the door just as Claudia came into view, still shooting. A window smashed, and bullets thudded into the car around B'Elanna's position. She bunched her legs underneath her and leapt into the back seat, colliding with someone else. The car skidded away from the alley so quickly that B'Elanna and the person she was lying on were thrown into the back of the back seat.

She heard groaning and looked up as the ride smoothed out. Anna was spread out underneath her, and B'Elanna suddenly realised that her head was level with Anna's not un-abundant cleavage. She got off the other woman as quickly as she could without being over-enthusiastic and throwing herself back out of the car. She helped the other woman to sit up. Anna groaned again.

'You just keep happening to me, don't you?' She said, rubbing her injury. She looked up and saw B'Elanna's apologetic expression when it was clear she'd been expecting a barb in return. For a moment, they stared at each other, blue eyes meeting brown. What Anna was trying to say was transparent in her gaze - the blonde hadn't trusted her, but B'Elanna had come through.

'I'm sorry,' they said simultaneously. Then they looked at each other again, and a smile started on Anna's full lips. B'Elanna found herself wondering why Seven didn't smile more often.

Just then, Anna's eyes skittered across to something on B'Elanna's body.

'Oh my god! You're hit!' She cried.

#

end part five