Disclaimer: No infringement is intended. I simply enjoy the universe that these characters inhabit.

Notes: Written for the VAMB Secret Santa '09 Exchange. This started with the single thought of "What if (in Killing Game) Seven really had been a spy?" And then it just kind of morphed from there. Many thanks to QS my beta extraordinaire, you're awesome!!

The Lion's Lady by Cheshire

The man emerged from the shadows in the alley. "What news do you have?"

"Tomorrow morning I am to buy a high frequency oscillator. It will extend the range of their radio."

"Where?"

"A house just past the third bridge. It belongs to a Monsieur Goulot."

"Goulot," he noted. "After you leave, we'll make our own visit to his home."

An orange flame flared into existence, and the woman moved it closer to her face, lighting a cigarette. "Why not go tonight?"

The flame reflected off the ornamental metal she wore on her face and he wondered again why she wore it. "It will help your standing in the cell to return with the part they need. We need to maintain their trust."

She exhaled a breath of smoke. "They suspect nothing; they are trusting fools."

"Do not under estimate them." He regarded her closely. "Especially the leader. She is cunning."

"Katrine." She said the name as though it were a curse. "I grow tired of her giving me orders. She believes herself superior."

"Not for much longer. Her time will come."

Mademoiselle LeNeuf stubbed out the cigarette. "When?"

"Soon," he assured her. "The Kommandant has already given the order."

"Maybe you're right about her."

"The evidence is increasing. She was present today when our courier was shot down in the street, yet somehow, she was unharmed. And now, on the eve of our liberation, she becomes uncooperative."

"Leave this to me."

Katrine stood in the darkened alleyway, staring out at the dimly lit cobblestone street. The light from the gas street lamp was faint but she was glad she'd already discarded her jacket. Her white ensemble clashed garishly with the darkening street enough as it was without adding the sequenced lapels for the light to reflect off of. The Coeur de Lion was closing, and for the moment St Claire was quiet as all the reasonable citizens settled down for a peaceful night. Idly, she flicked ashes from the cigarette she held loosely in her right hand. She'd heard the back door of the Coeur de Lion open quietly moments before, and now she listened to the soft step of Brigitte's shoes against the hard stones of the alley as the woman made her way to Katrine's side.

They stood silently side by side for a few minutes before Brigitte spoke up. "I don't trust her, Katrine."

The hardened resistance leader smiled slightly, reaching up to undo the bow tie she wore around her neck and unbutton her collar. "I know."

"Do you trust her?"

Katrine took a long drag on the cigarette, holding the smoke in her chest for a moment before exhaling. "We'll see what happens tonight."

Brigitte kicked at the ground. "It should be me that's going with you."

Katrine cast a sidelong glance at her young friend. "I'm trusting you to take care of things here if something goes wrong."

The young woman nodded a bit sullenly. Everyday Katrine hated the fact that Brigitte had taken it upon herself to get involved in a relationship with a Nazi bastard. She couldn't deny the valuable intelligence it had garnered them, but the price was more than any member of the resistance should have to bear. "Are you doing all right?"

Brigitte was caught off guard by the question, instinctively running her hand over the considerable bump at her midsection. "I'm fine."

"Is there anything you need?"

"No, of course not." Brigitte looked down. "Like I said, I'm fine."

Katrine took a last drag on the cigarette before tossing it down and crushing it out beneath the toe of her shoe. "You should go back inside. We wouldn't want to be accused of breaking curfew."

Brigitte turned to head back towards the door but stopped when she realized Katrine hadn't moved to join her. "Are you coming?"

Katrine tapped another cigarette out of the small case she carried. "Not yet."

Brigitte watched her turn into a doorway and carefully light the cigarette, shielding the open flame from the light breeze of the alley. "Watch your back out there tonight."

Katrine nodded. "I intend to."

Brigitte walked the few remaining steps to the door and pulled it open. She took one more long look at the pale silhouette of her leader. The woman that had saved her from certain death two years previous was obviously capable of handling herself, but Brigitte had a bad feeling about tonight's operation. She felt sure that the earlier death of their baker friend was a bad omen, but premonitions and superstitions were not things Katrine believed in or wanted to hear about. Seeing the small cloud of smoke form at the end of the alley as Katrine exhaled once again did not help Brigitte's nerves. Katrine only smoked before they undertook dangerous operations, claiming the smoke helped her think. Brigitte knew it also steadied her nerves and gave her something to do when all the planning had been done and there was nothing left to do but wait. She sighed and closed the door; Katrine had never been good at waiting.

Katrine glanced at her watch again and nodded to herself. They still had a few hours to go, but she should get changed. The street had become deserted while she had thought through her decision. If LeNeuf made a single mistake tonight, she'd have to kill her. There were just too many things that weren't adding up. And the loss of their courier was at the top of the list.

Katrine had only taken a moment to mourn for him. Anything more would be a distraction, and that was something she could ill afford tonight. When the war was over, she'd take the time to mourn for all those she had lost. But for now, she dropped the cigarette and stubbed it out before turning to head inside. It was only then she saw the two soldiers making their way up the alley from the opposite end.

She didn't panic. She'd seen several two-man patrols walking through the square every evening, but still, she hadn't seen them in the alleys before. Surreptitiously, she moved one hand to the small of her back and cursed at herself when she realized she hadn't brought her pistol with her. She put a smile on her face. "Good evening, gentlemen. I'm afraid you're a little late. We've already closed for the evening."

The soldiers did not reply as they continued to stalk towards her, their boots now making a hard staccato sound as they grew closer. As they passed the door to her establishment and kept coming, Katrine took a step back, moving towards the mouth of the alley and the open street. Behind her, she heard movement and spun around to find herself face to face with two of the large deformed soldiers she'd only recently begun seeing around town.

Her old friend Remy had hypothesized that the brown pockmarked soldiers were some sort of super soldiers that were a result of German self experimentation. Whatever they were, she hated them as much as she hated the pretty blond-haired blue-eyed Nazis. She especially hated the way the new Kommandant's solid black eyes had bored into her from across the table as if he was looking into her soul. Just as the ones that stared coldly at her now were doing.

There was a muted thwop sound as something hard struck the back of her head. A pained grunt escaped her lips as she fell against the wall, sliding down it as the dark cold eyes tracked her movement, their owners making no move to catch her. The side of her face hit the hard stone of the street. She didn't lose consciousness though as pain blossomed across the back of her skull and small bits of gravel dug into her cheek. She groaned and grabbed reflexively at her head, hoping like hell that no one inside had heard anything. She didn't want them coming out and getting captured, too. There were voices above her and although they sounded muffled to her throbbing head, she understood part of what they were saying. LeNeuf. Katrine managed to lift her head and glare up at the four soldiers.

"So, she is a traitor?" Her voice was a growl. Now she knew. It was too late to do anything about it, but at least she knew. One of the super soldiers made a quick gesture, and she saw both of the other soldiers shift their rifles. The butt of a gun sliced quickly through the air and a sickening crunch echoed in her ears. The pale street light on the corner swam in her vision before fading completely into darkness.

Brigitte sat silently fuming, glaring at the blond woman behind the bar. It was all her fault. After thirty minutes had passed and Katrine had still not come back inside, Brigitte had gone back outside to look for her. All she had found was now clenched in her fist. The white bowtie Katrine had loosened from around her neck had been lying on the ground. It was hardly white anymore. Dirt and grime stained it light brown in spots, but the spots of dark brown were what concerned Brigitte more. Remy had argued that they couldn't prove that the dark spots were blood and that, even if they were, they didn't know if it was Katrine's, but his logic had sounded hollow. She didn't think that he even believed himself. They all knew that Katrine would not have gone down without a fight, and it looked as though that fight had drawn blood.

And to top it all off, they were now another person short for tonight's crucial mission.

No one had bothered suggesting LeNeuf go by herself to set the explosives. Remy was going to go with her, and Brigitte didn't really expect the blond to return. As usual, Remy appeared impassive, but she knew his emotions for Katrine ran deep. Brigitte only wished that it would be her pulling the trigger tonight when LeNeuf's treachery was exposed, but she was still going to stay behind. It was her job to destroy all evidence of the resistance if they failed in their mission tonight. And that outcome was beginning to seem all the more likely with every passing hour.

The Alpha had to duck slightly as he came down the worn steps into the small underground room. The single bare light bulb that hung from the ceiling barely produced enough light to fill the room. A flood lamp had been brought in for illumination, but it was not yet turned on. For the moment and for the current purposes, the single bulb was enough. Enough for the Alpha to be able to see the hard earthen floor, the damp stone walls, and a lone set of shelves with a few dusty bottles along the far wall.

And it was more than enough to see the single figure sitting slumped on a chair in the middle of the room.

He circled the unconscious human female, studying her. Her solid white outfit was now soiled in places with dirt, and dried blood stained the shirt collar below her hair line. There was also some bruising around her jaw despite the report that she'd only been hit on the back of the head.

She'd been the captain of this vessel before he'd taken it over. Janeway. A curious Alpha. He'd thought it pitiable at first that these humans had chosen a female as their Alpha, but he'd learned to grudgingly respect her as prey. He had, of course, bested her in every scenario he'd put her in, the Vulcan Time of Awakening, the Crusades, the fall of Rome, but still, he was almost saddened that when she awoke this time she'd no longer be the leader of this recreated French resistance.

No, this time when she awoke she would once again be the leader of the human resistance on Voyager. The irksome holographic doctor had somehow managed to "awaken" several of the humans, and the Alpha assumed that Janeway would no doubt be one of the ones the doctor would have chosen to "free". It was a shame, really; he had looked forward to this hunt playing out as the history had indicated.

A rumbled explosion sounded in the distance and he knew he should be going, but Turanj could handle the humans for a few more minutes without him. He wanted to see her expression when she woke to find herself still trapped.

He gestured to the two holographic officers that were in the room with him. "Wake her."

With a curt nod, the closer officer snapped his fingers towards the small set of stairs. Two more men, obviously lower in rank, came in the room, both carrying buckets that sloshed water onto the floor. One man set his down while the other glanced at the officers for confirmation before reaching back and throwing the contents of the bucket at the woman.

A wall of water cascaded over her still form, and she gasped in shock, her head shooting up from its slumped position. Her stunned reaction was almost enough to tip over the chair she was tied to, but it settled back onto four legs just as the glaring light of the flood lamp snapped on, effectively blinding her as she blinked rapidly against the water and the light.

The Alpha felt his pupils constrict. The corner he stood in was darkened by the new flood of light, and he knew she wouldn't be able to see him, but he could see her perfectly. He could see the slight movements of her arms and legs as she pulled at the ropes binding her to the chair, and he could see the shift in her muscles as she tested the strength of those bindings even as she continued to feign confusion. "Why have you brought me here?"

There was a shiver in her voice that the Alpha felt was probably real enough. The room had already been cold before she'd been soaked to the skin. He gestured with his hand for the holographic officers to continue their routine.

"What is your name?" the first one demanded.

"My name?" she repeated, still blinking water out of her eyes. "You know my name. You come into the bar every ni–"

A hard slap across her face. "Answer the question."

The slap had snapped her head to the side and she slowly, methodically brought it back to center before answering the demand. At this measured and controlled response, the Alpha had the distinct impression that this was not the first time this prey had faced interrogation.

"My name is Katrine...Katrine Joulin."

The Alpha straightened. She was still playing the game. But why? Surely, the holographic doctor had freed her from the implant's control.

Oblivious to the discord, the Nazi officer continued his interrogation. "What is your occupation?"

"I run the Coeur de Lion," she answered, eying him balefully. "You order two whiskeys every night as your first drink and you ensure that you have a good view of Mademoi–"

Another slap. "We know who you are, Fraulein, and it is not some simple barkeep. Now tell us about the Resistance."

Her head hung down, and she chuckled darkly. "Is that what this is about? The Resistance?" She raised her head to the questioning officer. "There is no resistance in St. Claire. You've got it wrong–"

The officer's hand flew out again, a backhand rocking across her face, but then the officer stood back as the Alpha stepped away from the shadows, placing a heavy hand on the woman's shoulder. He felt her tense under his touch, and he was pleased that she hadn't known he was there. She tried craning her neck around to see who he was, but he gripped her jaw roughly, keeping her head turned away from him as he ran a small instrument over the scar on her neck. She groaned slightly as his fingers dug into the bruised flesh of her jaw. The instrument he held beeped, signaling its findings, and the Alpha was pleasantly surprised with the results.

Not only was Janeway's implant still working, it had been damaged, most likely when the Nazi soldiers had subdued her, and it was now fused to her spinal cord. He snapped the scanner closed and pocketed it; he would be able to finish this game after all. Nothing short of a surgical procedure would disengage Janeway from the scenario now.

The Alpha released the hold on her jaw, pushing her head away as he circled behind her. He could hear the pulse of her heart increase and her respirations become shallower. She hadn't yet been able to see him, and it worried her. His nostrils flared and he breathed deeply, smelling fresh blood in the air. That last backhand across her face had ruptured the delicate skin around her mouth, and his blood raced at her distinct scent tingeing the air in the small room.

With deliberate movements, the Alpha came to stand in front of the human captain. He stood directly in front of the light, forcing her to look into its glaring brightness if she wanted to see his face. As she strained to see him, he saw the thin line of red that now stained her chin and felt the blood lust burning inside him at the sight of it.

"K-Kommandant?" she asked, squinting up at him, forcing herself to look up at the light and still only being able to make out his outline.

"Yes," he said and took a step to the side, allowing the full force of the light to hit her. She flinched and closed her eyes against it. Now she'd be able to see even less. He began to circle her, knowing his movements would add to her unease. "Once again, you were excellent prey, Captain. I enjoyed the hunt, but your rebellion is now over."

Still blinking rapidly, she repeated his unusual phrases. "Captain? Prey? I don't know–"

One of the officers lurched forward, grabbing her hair and yanking her head back to silence her. "You do not speak when the Kommandant is speaking."

"Release her!"

The officer looked surprised at the Alpha's terse command, but immediately let go of Katrine and stood back.

Part of the Alpha was really tiring of these human recreations. Inferior beings that suffered from unjustified, inflated egoism. He reached out and skimmed his hand down Katrine's face, enjoying her flinch at his touch while noting again the darkening bruise he saw along her jaw. "I was told she had been struck in the back of the head," he ran his hand through her hair as he spoke to his officers, "and yet I see bruising along the side of her face. Tell me, how many of you did it take to subdue this one female?"

The officers exchanged a guilty look between them before one managed to stutter out a response. "Sh-she resisted, sir. We had to–"

"How many did it take, Kapitan?" he growled.

"Four, sir."

"Four?" he repeated, the disgust evident in his tone. "And were any of them hunters?"

Again the man paused before answering. "Y-yes, sir. Two, sir."

"I shall have to speak with them," the Alpha muttered, more to himself than anyone else in the room. He was still stroking his hand along Janeway's neck, enjoying the feel of her pulse.

More than once over the past several days he'd kept his hand on her neck as the lifeblood from her body had pooled beneath her until she'd lost consciousness. That was actually his favorite part. Seeing the look in her eye as her body betrayed her will to live. Feeling the pulse in her neck fade from frantic and strong to stuttered and faint. He'd always called sickbay before it was too late, but watching the light in her eye fade was as close to coming to the kill as he allowed himself to get with her. One day he would make the kill complete, but for now he was still looking forward to hunting her in more of the programs he'd found. She was...intriguing prey.

Releasing the hold he had on her, he questioned the officers. "Now that you have her subdued, what are your intentions?"

The officer that had spoken the most swallowed nervously. "We know the location and members of her cell, but as their leader, this one has information our source did not. Information that could lead us to others of her ilk."

The Alpha nodded. "And you believe this information is worthwhile to our cause?"

"With her cooperation, we can disrupt the Resistance for the entire region," the second officer spoke up with a nod towards Katrine.

"You can go to hell," Katrine growled, drawing angry looks from the two officers.

The Alpha regarded her curiously. "And you believe that you can...convince her to give up this information?"

"Of course, sir." The two men both nodded confidently.

The Alpha circled Janeway, regarding her and the words of the holograms. He was, of course, familiar with the concept of torture and interrogation, but as Hirogen so very rarely had cause to use such methods, he was curious. "Very well. Conduct your questioning." He watched Katrine take in a deep breath and straighten at his words. "But I alone will make the kill, do you understand?"

The officers answered in unison. "Yes, sir."

Chakotay was running out of patience, and there was nothing he could do about it. B'Elanna was working as fast as she could and he knew that, but it didn't make waiting any easier. Resisting the urge to ask her again for an update, he instead looked out across the small bar where they had taken up residence for the time being.

Seven and Tuvok stood at the bar, working together to determine if the holographic explosives could be enhanced. The two of them had woken from the mind control to find themselves pointing guns at each other. Apparently, the timing had been a close thing. Chakotay found it fortunate that it had been the two of them to awaken in such an awkward position as neither of them found it logical to reflect further on the situation. They'd simply dismissed the incident and immediately begun working together to find the others.

Chakotay wasn't so sure that if he'd woken to find Tom holding a gun on him that he'd be able to dismiss it quite as easily.

Luckily, that hadn't been the case as he and Tom had apparently been on the same side. They'd simply stared at each other in confusion for a minute before confirming that neither had any idea what was going on. They'd called for the end of what they assumed was a holodeck program, but nothing had happened. At that point, one of the holographic soldiers huddled in the darkened street with them had reported that all units were in position and awaiting orders. That hadn't done much to make the situation any more understandable, but before Chakotay could question the soldier further, gunfire had erupted all around them and all hell broke loose.

Soldiers swarmed past his and Tom's crouched positions, returning fire at unseen assailants as explosions rocked the buildings of the small town. One soldier hurriedly pointed out a street front cafe that he said was the coordinates for the Resistance before swearing and moving past them. Chakotay had had no idea what he meant by "Resistance" but felt the building was their best chance of being able to take a minute and figure out what exactly was going on. Walking into the building, which turned out to be a bar, had almost gotten he and Tom killed again as a very confused but pissed off B'Elanna had been in the building wielding one of the ancient firearms quite effectively.

Chakotay glanced over his shoulder again at B'Elanna, who was still working furiously at one of the control panels they'd managed to find within the simulation. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her how she was doing when sparks flew out of the panel, causing her to swear and lean away from it before diving back in again. The considerable baby bump was not helping the Klingon's disposition at all, and she had already sworn that, as soon as she accessed the controls, her holographic pregnancy would be one of the first things to disappear. But Chakotay was more concerned about the people they hadn't found yet and how they'd managed to be in this situation in the first place.

Tom had answered some of their questions when he'd gone out on a patrol with one of the holographic soldiers, suggesting that he was the best suited to go out and interact because he was at least familiar with the scenario. He'd been the one to bring back Tuvok and Seven as well as Ayala and Jarvin, although the latter two were still completely immersed within the program and continued to call Chakotay "Captain Miller". It seemed that, so far, for whatever reason, only the senior staff had been released from the control of the program.

Another piece of information that Tom had brought back with him was who they were fighting. Hirogen. This information at least matched up with the last thing any of them could remember. Seven related to the group that she had been on deck three when she'd been shot in a phaser fight. B'Elanna could remember being in engineering when the sealed doors had exploded inwards. Tuvok had been in the armory, and the last thing Chakotay could remember was being on the bridge with Tom, Harry, and Kathryn.

They'd all had their phasers drawn and had taken up defensive stances when the bridge had erupted in weapon's fire. They'd held their own for a few minutes, but at the same time he saw Tom fly backwards; Chakotay had felt a weight fall against his back. He'd immediately turned to try and grab for the weight that was sliding towards the floor, knowing that it was Kathryn, but he'd been too late. Pain had erupted in his chest, and Kathryn's pain-filled blue eyes had locked with his as they'd both fallen to the deck. Shadows had moved above them, kicking phasers away from their grasp, and he'd been close to passing out. He'd barely been able to reach out a hand when Kathryn was hauled away from his side. The last thing he could clearly remember was seeing Kathryn being held up by a hand around her throat and hearing a rough voice shout a command. "KasKree!"

At the time he'd hoped the alien phrase had meant "stop", but for all he knew it could've been someone's name. And now all he wanted was to find Kathryn. There were too many of the senior staff in the simulation for her to not be here somewhere as well. Surely, the Hirogen would want to hunt her. She was the captain after all. A resilient prey that had opposed them.

But would their desire to hunt a worthwhile prey have been enough to save her from becoming a trophy for their bulkheads?

"I've got sensors!" B'Elanna's shout immediately got his attention, and he returned to her side as she poured over the panel. "Whoa...there's eighty-five Hirogen on board," she read off the panel, "with the majority of them being on decks two through nine."

"What about the bridge?" Chakotay asked.

B'Elanna took a minute. "Four Hirogen...and Harry!"

"Well, now we know how the mind control wore off," Tom commented, standing next to Chakotay's side. "Harry must've done it."

"While Mister Kim's skills are exceptional, your conclusion is not logical," Tuvok said, joining them. "We do not even know if we were under 'mind control'."

Tom rolled his eyes. "What about everybody else, B'Elanna? Where are they?"

Chakotay's chest tightened. "Where's the captain?"

B'Elanna shook her head. "There's over a dozen human life signs registering on the holodecks aside from ours. Without the comm. badges, I can't pinpoint if one of them is the captain or not." She huffed out a laugh. "But I can tell you there is one Talaxian in the other holodeck."

"I wonder if Neelix knows who he is," Tom commented.

"Tom, use the jeffries tubes and go over to the other holodeck," Chakotay ordered. "If Neelix or anyone else over there knows who they are, bring them back with you. To get out of this, we're going to need to work together."

"Ahhh...that's better."

They all looked back to B'Elanna to see the holographic baby bump had disappeared. Chakotay nodded. "Better. B'Elanna, see if you can figure out a way to talk to Harry. I'm sure he could tell us more about what's going on than we're going to find on our own."

"Seven believes that she can enhance the rudimentary explosives that we currently have, but she must travel to the cargo bay to retrieve supplies," Tuvok added.

Chakotay nodded. "Go with her."

Tuvok left, leaving Chakotay standing alone while B'Elanna worked behind him. "Torres," he clapped his hand on her shoulder, "I need you to find a way to talk to Harry, but I also need you to find the captain."

She heard the gravitas in his voice and saw the concern in his eyes; she nodded gravely. "We'll find her, Chakotay. We'll find her."