Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't

"Sick Bay to Rebecca. Report here at once!" the Doctor's voice chimed, breaking the illusion that I was trapped in.

Panting from the strain that I had been under, I tapped my badge and said, "I'll be there as quickly as I can."

I glanced to my side, but Echo was still lost in her own mental trap. With a sigh, I looked over at the person responsible for Echo's state, and my previous state. He sat at a simple café table, snacking on Chocos, a chocolate cookie sandwich with a thick vanilla cream between them. His skin was green, his eyes were solid red, and a blue cape hung off his shoulders.

"Don't think that you are ready yet. I allowed the call to come through," J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, remarked with a light smile.

He was the newest member of my Council of Chaos, though he was the kindest of them all except for, perhaps, Tsunade. Although he did not fit the Chaos mold that was the bulk of this group, his telepathic abilities were second to none throughout the DC Universe, and the Marvel Universe. Since he was actually a kind man, unlike a certain monkey and Norse god, he had become my main trainer against Mental Magic; I drew in Echo after a week of bullying her with mental abilities alone.

"Rating?" I sighed.

"Six point two... You seemed to be improving, but this matter pulled me away from giving you a full ranking," he replied.

Six points out of ten was my current best, but my Mental Stamina seemed to be much weaker than my physical stamina, which was why I was so low against a mortal, of sorts. Both Loki and Sun Wukong were Gods in their myths and, sadly, leagues above J'onn in all categories. He was simply reasonable with his training, so I preferred him over the two gods.

"Let Echo know what's going on if I don't come back before our time ends," I said, standing up.

"I will," he replied.

"Thanks," I responded then headed out of the lounge room, which was actually the holo-deck.

I made my way to the turbo lift and up to Deck Five, but I was surprised when I walked in. Katye always worked with the Doctor, and Raven had been pulled into helping him as well to help with the work on the Borg nanoprobes. The shock was from sensing a strong, foreign mana signature radiating from the two of them as well as Kes. Finally, it made sense how Kes was able to increase her power so much during this time because that magical beacon was trickling mana through her body at a constant rate. It was not a lot, but if it stayed active like it was for a few weeks, her unique body constitution would raise her internal reserves to eclipse my own, likely matching the amount of mana that I had when I first transformed into my Dragon form.

"What happened?" I asked, walking up to them.

"We had several visions... of piles of dead Borg, the destruction of many Borg cubes, and... the destruction of the Voyager," Katye replied slowly.

While she did seem a little unsettled by the vision, I had warned her that Kes would have these visions. Even if she and Raven had them too, I knew her well enough to know that what bothered her was the tracker on the three of their bodies.

{I can't remove it and I can sense it probing my mind from time to time.} Katye explained silently.

Before I could say anything, Tuvok walked into Sick Bay as well. Now was not the time to discuss the problem, and Katye and Raven both understood that as well. Kes told him about her visions and even showed him when he used a mind meld, which gave us the chance to see that the tracker did not move to him during the connection. I asked Tuvok to relay a message to Janeway for me, that I was going to take my group onto our ship for the time being; I had already informed her that we would likely need to hide on our ship as we had done with Suspiria in order to hide our presence from the Borg, hoping that Fae's cloak would hide us from their scanning technology. We would still defend Voyager if it was attacked, but until then, we did not need to draw any extra attention from the Borg.

I called Echo on our way back to the Fae Dragon, and told her to meet us onboard. She already knew that hiding on our ship was a plan, but that did not make her happy since she could train more on the holo-deck than on the Mental Plane. Luckily, Janeway already gave us the time off if we needed to retreat onto our ship.

"Finally," Katye sighed with relief as she walked onboard the Fae Dragon.

"Does that mean that the shielding protects you from the tracker?" I asked.

"I'm not sure if it completely does, but it's weakened enough that whoever placed this on us can't get at my mind anymore," she replied as she sat down on her usual couch. "Filigree, come in here."

The small pixie flew out of the bedroom but frowned when she saw Katye and Raven. "Why do you both have foreign mana in your bodies? It feels cruel, unforgiving, and dangerous."

"We drew the attention of a group of aliens who are in the middle of a war that we are heading towards," Katye sighed. "Do you recognize the energy?"

"It's certainly a Yang-based spell, but unlike any from my inherited memories... foreign, twisted... It doesn't feel like the Yang of our universe," Filigree explained.

"Well, they aren't from this universe, so that's probably why," I replied. "My Chaos is different than the Chaos that exists within Tori's Inner Realm, so he could have tweaked the Yang concept to create this difference; not sure why though, unless you are still trying to match his version of 'Order'."

"Hmm... I hadn't noticed a difference, but then again, Alkatyenia guides me a lot when I meditate," Katye remarked.

"So, what's the plan now?" Echo asked.

"Marked or not, this doesn't change things. If the Fae Dragon blocks them from reading Katye's and Raven's memories, then we have all the more reason to stay on the ship. Our training speed may drop a little, but you only need to stop during meals," I replied.

Echo shrugged and sat down on her own couch. Katye did not waste any more time and pulled out her Mind Linker. Echo copied her actions which left Raven and I still in the waking world as Filigree and Nyka both quickly found themselves drawn into the Mental Realm to train as well.

"You okay? You've been awfully quiet," I asked, sitting next to her.

"There were a few extra visions on top of the ones you told us about... I saw you get killed in your Dragon form as we fought off three bio-ships of Species 8472, alongside the Borg," she said softly, snuggling into my chest.

I chuckled and ran my fingers through her hair and reminded, "Kes also saw the destruction of Voyager. These visions are what Species 8472 want to happen, not the true future."

"I know, but you try getting the image of my dead body out of your head," she retorted.

I snorted with frustration, unable to refute her claims. She chuckled and wrapped her arms around my waist, enjoying herself completely. I was not going to complain since I loved it when she, or any of my group, was overly affectionate with me. Most times, I had to pull myself back to ensure that I was not suffocating and nagging them, but if Tori gave me the option, I would spend hundreds of years tending to their every need. We sat like that for a time, but Janeway approached the ship an hour later, so Raven excused herself to the Mental Realm, leaving me to deal with Janeway on my own.

"Evening, Captain," I said, walking over to the replicator.

"Are your people okay?" Janeway asked.

"Yes, they are, but Katye and Raven seemed to be marked by a mana signature, so Kes is likely to be as well. Neither of them has been successful in removing it, but we've only just started looking at it and, since it's a form of Tracking, I'm hoping that Echo might be able to provide some help," I explained as I replicated a cup of black coffee, then passed it to her.

"Do you know who placed this tracker on them?" Janeway asked.

"I have a pretty good idea of the race that are responsible, yes," I replied, sipping on my drink.

"And you aren't going to tell me about them."

"You're the type of person who needs to see, rather than believe, when impossible decisions are to be made," I sighed.

"Rebecca, I've indulged your desires to keep things quiet, but I need to know about the danger ahead of us!" she demanded.

I chuckled and took another sip of my drink then taunted with a chuckle, "And how do you plan to force me to tell you? Throw me in the Brig? Kick my group off the ship? Face it, Kathryn, you need me and my group, even if I don't tell you everything. It's not out of malice, but rather because my knowledge is a double-edged sword, as I've told you before. I warn you of one thing and you react differently, another changes to balance out my action. That's part of the danger that comes with being a Vazukuru; you know the story, but Chance is unforgiving when you give it an opening."

Janeway huffed with annoyance because, like I said, she needed whatever help that I could give her. She was a Starfleet Captain with the accompanying pride and confidence that came with the rank, though she was just as dedicated to the well-being of her crew as she was to holding up those Starfleet ideals. I had vital information that she needed to help protect her crew, but I had seen how acting too early on life-saving information can blow up in your face.

"I have a proposition for you, though... I won't just tell you what I saw, but let you see the 'vision' that I had; I've learned a way to share memories similar to the Enarans. But, before I am willing to impart these memories to you, I want you to promise that you will allow Katye to seal away your memories of this matter along with any knowledge about us, ANY knowledge of us, until we are safely outside of Borg Space, though she won't do this until you've seen the responsible party of who marked Katye and Raven... I will also ask that Tuvok undergo the same sealing, but I assure you, seeing the memories will make you understand why Tuvok cannot remember us. What I'm asking of you is to trust in your original decision and trust that I, and my group, will act in your best interest," I offered.

Janeway sighed and took a long drink of her coffee, weighing out her options. This had been a topic of debate for my group for a while now because this would be a turning point for Voyager. We were at a major plotline of the show that would affect the rest of our time here. The Borg and Species 8472 would appear numerous times, with the show finale ending with a major blow to the Borg that was even felt in the Picard series that came out much later. If we did not stick to the original episode as much as possible, a lot of things in our future would be affected, so we came up with this idea to get us back on track.

"I'll agree after I see these memories," Janeway stated.

"You probably will, but I'm not taking any risks. My requirements stay the same," I retorted, crossing my arms. "I'll say it plainly. If we do not follow your original method, I don't think that we can make it through Borg Space, but that's only one small piece of the puzzle. My group has done this before, Kathryn; we stopped several very dangerous events from happening to our people, only for another to rise up and take its place every time. The two options that I would present to you is to simply turn around and look for another way home, or trust yourself, and me, to get Voyager passed this hurdle."

"Why wait to seal my memories? I feel like there may be more to this than just wanting to come up with some strategies with Tuvok," Janeway asked.

I chuckled since she was right, so I was honest and said, "Because, there are things more dangerous than the Borg in this universe, and I don't mean the Q. I don't know the strength of the group ahead of us, but they are giving the Borg one hell of a fight. I'm honestly not sure how I'll do against them since my main weakness is telepathy. I'm not going to lose to Tuvok, or any other common telepath, but no common telepath could place a mana signature dozens of light-years away. I could possibly be incapacitated or, at worst, turned against Voyager and the Fae Dragon. Katye should be able to disrupt any attempt if I can't manage, but the possibility remains."

"And you are asking me to trust you against them?"

"I'm not going to lie and say that everything is going to work out perfectly. There are going to be unexpected variables with my group in the mix. All I can promise you is that my group and I will do everything within our power to help Voyager, and that this is the best advice that I can give you now since we are already a part of your crew. You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't, so it's your choice, Captain. Trust yourself, and me, or this conversation ends here and what help like this that I could provide in the future will be severely lacking if you make this big change."

She sighed and finished the last of her coffee then sat down the cup. Instead of speaking right away, she instead walked to the stairs and said as she descended, "I'll have a decision for you in the morning."