Collection of Changes to Star Trek Voyager *Revised edition*

Caretaker Part 1 & 2

They took off running to find the rest of the crew when they came across a white house. An older woman walked down the steps and yelled out "Welcome everybody! Make yourselves at home." Janeway raised her head and responded "No thank you...Ouch!..Where are we?" She was fading and everyone could see it. The woman motioned for Paris to come forward, and asked Janeway "What happened to you, my dear?" She didn't answer when suddenly the rest of the "neighbors" arrived on the scene. They started welcoming everyone, but the crew never left their captain's side. Tom could see she was getting weaker, and decided to ask "I don't mean to be ungrateful, but do you happen to have a bench or something that I could lay our Captain down? I also need a medical kit, if possible?" The woman nodded to a couple of the younger neighbors, and they took off running. "They will bring you something, so she can rest." He smiled and looked down to see her using her right arm to squeeze her side, and could feel her left arm squeezing his shoulder.

When the two men arrived with a fainting couch, Toma was quick to sit her down, while some of the crew took off their jackets so she could use them as a pillow. "Thank you everyone..." She said with a pain-filled voice. She then ordered her crew to scan the area to try and find any other life signs. Most of them split into teams, but Paris stayed by her side and continued to try and help her. "I'm sorry we do not have any medical supplies." The older lady said. He nodded and reluctantly ripped a piece of his own jacket off and pressed it down against her side. She bit further down on her lip. "Captain? I wish I could alleviate the pain, but they have no medical supplies." She nodded her head, reached out to squeeze his hand saying "Tom! I'll be fine...I promise...Now, go and help with the scans...have someone else take over for a while." He nodded and motioned for Ensigns Celes and Billy to come to take his spot. He smiled and ran to meet Harry, who was waiting by a tree. The two of them took off running, while Janeway kept fighting her way up in order to help her crew. Suddenly her combadge chirped "Paris to Janeway" She quickly brought her left hand up to smack it responding with "Janeway here!" Before he could respond she heard him fall to the ground. The com went dead.

She instantly reached out and gripped Celes's and Billy's shoulders ordering "Help me up...We have got to find out what happened." They reluctantly helped her to her feet and took off running towards the barn that was around back. The crew all worked together to keep their captain safe. The neighbors started flashing in. The older lady irritatingly said: "Well, since nobody cares for anything. We'll just have to proceed ahead of schedule." One by one the neighbors started to disappear along with her crew. She was still mildly aware of her surroundings, but couldn't move, or make a sound. Suddenly a quiet scream erupted from her throat as something was being pushed into her chest.

After what felt like forever she awoke to find herself on the floor of Main Engineering. Her hand flew right to her side and wasn't surprised to still feel blood pool through her uniform. Paris came running through the doors yelling out "Lieutenant Cary! Where's the Captain?" She pulled herself up and cried out "right here...Mr. Paris." She was on her feet in a matter of seconds, but lost her balance a bit and grabbed onto the nearest console to steady herself. Tom quickly ran over and helped her to lean back against the console. "Let's get you to sickbay!" She agreed, but felt her legs about to give out. "Captain!" He called out catching her before she fell. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around his neck; which he knew meant she could not walk to sickbay. Having her admit that made his decision to swoop her up off the console undebatable. When he got her all settled in his arms for the second time today, they took off running for the nearest turbolift. In the turbolift, he tried to keep her awake, but she was having a hard time. "Come on Captain, just hold on a bit longer." She raised her head up and said "I'll try" She replied and smiled.

The turbolift doors couldn't open fast enough for him, as he took off running down the corridor and nearly ran into Chakotay, who was heading to find her. Once he heard that she was badly hurt, he knew he had to find her. Somehow in the time it took for him to see her through the viewscreen, and the moment she stepped in between him and Paris, he knew that he loved her. He called out her name in relief that he wasn't too late. He took her hand and found that she didn't fight against this action; they continued on their way to sickbay where the rest of the Maquis crew members were getting checked over. When the two men burst through the door the doctor noticed that the Captain seemed almost lifeless. "What happened?" he asked as Tom and Chakotay helped her get settled onto a biobed. "She was hurt by a support beam that fell on the bridge when we first arrived here. She's been losing blood since, and nothing I was doing was helping. She's been conscious most of the time," Tom told him, as Chakotay tightened his grip on her hand and let his other hand brush the top of her hair. The doctor scanned her and immediately yelled out "We need to start surgery NOW! Mr. Paris, go and get the materials." he ran from his spot and into the adjoining room. "Captain I'm going to sedate you for the surgery. You're about to feel a slight tingling sensation on your neck." She nodded as he pressed the already ready hypospray to her neck. The last thing she remembered was everything fading to black.

She started to come back around three hours later and found that Chakotay had not let go of her hand. "Kathryn?" He called out as he bolted out of his chair and right into view. "...Captain Chakotay?...Shouldn't you be with your crew?...Why are you here?...Why are you holding my hand?..." He debated to tell her the truth or to lie. "Well Captain Janeway, since I first saw you appear on my viewscreen I was convinced that you are my soulmate." She attempted to pull herself up, but the pain was interminable. "Help me sit up, please?" she asked, giving him and Tom a chance to raise the bed up a bit. The doctor came rushing in with two pillows to put behind her to help her relax. Once she was settled in Chakotay asked "Better?" She just smiled as he never left her side. She was not completely happy, but it was a start. "When can I go back on duty?" She asked, and everyone laughed except for the doctor.

The End