Title: Phoenix Rising: Ashes 2/2
Author: Jessica
E-mail Address: Jessa5@aol.com
Size: 22K
Category: A, U; K/T, slight P/T and K/f
Rating: PG
Teaser: On a Voyager that is run by the children of the original crew, where
protocol is disregarded and a 22-year-old can be a commander, Harry Kim
has settled into life as a Captain.  And though it seems to his impressionable
crew that his life is complete, there is a deep sadness that lurks inside . . 

See Fall part one for disclaimers

PART TWO: Ashes

Harry awoke in a small cell with the worst headache he'd ever had in his life.
He started to sit up, but froze as a sharp pain shot through his chest.  
Mentally 
checking himself over, he recognized the pain as a broken rib.   Harry winced 
-- 
if he *did* find a way out, trying to run with a broken rib or two would 
certainly
slow him down.

*B'Elanna--*  He abruptly remembered the presence of the half-Klingon, and,
forcing himself onto his hands, he looked about the room for her, taking in 
every
detail.  There--  She was unconscious; judging by the darkening bruise on her
forehead, one of the aliens had hit her with something -- most likely a 
phaser.

After deciding that she wasn't hurt seriously, Harry turned his mind to escape
possibilities.  In a situation like this, he didn't want to allow himself to 
be
concerned with anything but getting out alive.  As a result, he managed to 
kick in
his defensive mechanisms and block out all the emotion that threatened to 
flood his
system.  The first thing to do, obviously, was try to contact Voyager.  He 
tapped his
comm-badge and whispered a "Kim to Voyager," but was met with only a light 
buzz
of static as a response.  *The facility must have some sort of sheilding . . 
. *

There was a guard posted at the end of the long hall, obviously too far away 
to be 
aware that Harry had woken.  Gazing about the room, he noticed that there was 
a 
small grating in the ceiling that apparently led to the surface.  This was 
definitely 
an underground prison; it was obvious from the way the walls were solid rock, 
and 
the lack of windows on the walls.  Harry glanced out into the hall.  Yes, 
vents were 
lining the ceiling as far as he could see.  Perfect . . . as long as there 
was no 
structure above, on the surface, the vents led directly out.  And if there 
had been a 
building there, they surely would have seen it or found it in scans.

He carefully judged the distance from the floor to the grate.  If he gave her 
a lift, B'Elanna
would be able to pull herself through.  However, Harry himself wouldn't be 
able to
fit, and with his injury . . . 

A stirring from the form on the other side of the cell caught his attention.  
He pulled
himself over to the waking Lieutenant's side.  "B'Elanna," he whispered.  
"B'Elanna,
are you awake?"

"Harry?  Is that you?"  Her voice was muffled as she fought her way to 
consciousness.

"Yeah -- I think I may have found a way out of here.  But we're gonna have to 
be really
quiet, okay?"

B'Elanna pushed herself up to a sitting position.  "Alright, Starfleet, 
what's the plan?"
Harry leaned back, quenching the feelings that the very sound of her voice 
woke within
him, and gestured towards the grate.

"There's a vent up there.  As far as I can tell, it leads directly outside.  
Why they'd be 
stupid enough to leave a vent like that in a cell, I have no clue, but the 
fact remains that
if I give you a hand, you ought to be able to fit through.  Once you're out, 
contact Voyager."

"What about you?" she asked, brow furrowing.

"I wouldn't fit -- besides, I think I may have a broken rib or two.  I'd slow 
you down.
Once you get to safety, maybe Voyager's sensors can find this place and you 
can beam
me up.  They've got to have some sort of defensive sheilding, because we 
didn't notice it
before and it's interfering with our communications."

"You want me to just leave you here?"  B'Elanna's whisper was harsh and 
accusing.

"Trust me, B'Elanna.  It's the only way."

Surprisingly, she laughed.  "When did you get so knowledgeable about escaping 
alien
prisons?"

His only response was a smirk.  "Let's go.  The guard's far enough away that 
unless
we make a racket, he shouldn't notice."  She nodded and got to her feet.

Grimacing at the pain in his chest, Harry joined her.  "Ready?  It looks like 
you should be
able to break the grate off."  Another nod.  Not willing to wait any longer, 
he grabbed
her around the waist and *lifted,* thanking the gods that she was light 
enough for him to lift
without *too* much pain from his ribs.

B'Elanna pushed at the grate, but it refused to budge.  Pulling back for a 
moment, she gathered
her energy for a hard hit with the palm of her hand.  As her hand connected, 
the grating
popped off and clattered to the floor loudly.  She winced as the guard could 
be heard running
down the hall.

"Hurry!  Get up there NOW!" came the voice from below her.  Grabbing on to 
the sides of
the hole, B'Elanna tugged herself up and over.

Once on the surface, she began to run.

***

A scream echoed through the corridors of the underground base.  A man 
chuckled as he
wiped blood off his knife.  "Have you had enough yet?" he asked, his voice 
sweet and 
teasing.

Harry glared at the man in the black uniform, breathing heavily and trying to 
see past
the blood that was pouring into his eye from somewhere near his temple.

The man hmmed and tapped the knife against his hand.  "Not very cooperative 
today,
are we?  Just remember, *you* trespassed into *our* territory.  We don't 
*like* visitors.
Now why don't you just tell me where your little friend went so we can find 
her and
this will all be over?  Who knows, we may even return you to your ship as a 
thanks for
giving us some information . . . "

Harry narrowed his eyes to thin gleaming slits, and refused to say a word.

"How very unfortunate.  You know, *I* have no problem with continuing this 
forever.
I've been trained by the best, and I know all sorts of interesting things I 
can do to
you without killing you.  It's possible to skin someone alive, you know . . . 
"  As if
to illustrate his point, the man traced the edge of the knife along Harry's 
shoulder.
"This is a nice place to start, isn't it?"  The knife wandered down his 
chest, a thin 
line of blood following its path.  "Or maybe down here . . . "  He abruptly 
flipped
the knife over and rammed the handle into Harry's stomach.

The muffled sound that escaped his lips appeared to please the interrogator.
"Do you like that?  Maybe you'd like me to do it again?"  Harry grimaced as 
the
hard metal was again shoved into him, managing to hit the bottom of his broken
rib.  The interrogator paced around the slab of rock that his victim was tied 
down to.
He hooked the knife under the bottom of Harry's pants.  "You're very pretty . 
. . 
I wonder if anyone has ever thought to take you for a ride . . . "

Harry closed his eyes.  Maybe if he didn't look, he could block everything 
out.  The
threatening pressure of the knife left his pants.  "Hmm . . . I think I'll 
save that for
later.  For now, though . . . "

There was a resounding crack as the hilt of the knife slammed into his 
kneecap 
with surprising force, shattering the bone.  Harry couldn't hold back his 
scream,
and cursed himself for his weakness.  If he could just hold out a bit longer 
. . . 
B'Elanna should be safe by now, and she'd be working to get him back.

When he opened his eyes, Harry saw the man pulling out a collection of long,
pin-like objects.  "Now, let's see what I can do with these . . . "  Grabbing 
at Harry's hand, he positioned the needle at some invisible point on his 
fingertip
and slowly pushed it into his skin.  A tingle of pain grew stronger and 
stronger until
fire was racing along his nerves.  His body grew taut and his hips rose off 
the
table with the intense effort of trying to block the needle out.

Through the haze of the pain, Harry could feel gentle fingers stroking down
his stomach and over his groin.  "My, my . . . I can think of all *sorts* of
interesting things to do here . . . " the interrogator purred.  The last 
thing 
Harry saw was the knife descending before the all-too-welcome tingle of 
a transporter beam engulfed him.

***

"Ensign Kim?  Ensign Kim, can you hear me?"

Light.  Light and colors and sounds.

"Ensign Kim?"

Harry squeezed his eyes shut against the light, then blinked blearily and
decided that if he opened them right away, the pain would be sharper but
pass more quickly.  The Doctor's face swam into focus above him.

"Doctor?" he queried, throat dry.  All Harry wanted was to go back to sleep,
in a nice soft bed with a warm body curled up next to him . . . Maybe Megan
would be free later in the evening . . . 

Wait a minute.  *Ensign* Kim?

Memories of the past day flooded back through him.  Voyager blowing up,
and then waking up decades in the past.  B'Elanna, and--  B'Elanna!

He tried to sit up, but was firmly pressed back by holographic hands.  "Not
yet, Ensign, you're still too week."

"Is B'Elanna alright?" Harry asked urgently.

"She's fine.  She contacted us right after escaping, and in fact she managed
to find a way through the aliens' shields so that we could beam you up.  And
it's a good thing she did, too, or else there wouldn't be much *to* beam up."

Relief washed over him.  So she *had* managed to get out safely.  Suddenly,
all his worries over messing with the time stream seemed ridiculous, overshone
by the fact that B'Elanna was *alive,* that they had gotten through it, that 
he 
wouldn't spend the next twenty-some years retreating into a shell of his own
creation.

"Thanks, Doc," Harry mumbled, before passing out.

***