Disclaimer: Paramount owns Star Trek and all its characters. I'm just playing with them.
Copyright rebel_jediknight, July 2000.
Pleeeaaase email me at [email protected] and tell me how I'm doing!!!!!
Thanks to the JetCJr9 pondies (especially Coral, Loz, Jamie, Quin, and Bec) for all their support and inspiration, listening to me ramble on endlessly about this, and for all the "awwwwws" (those of you who were in the chat room that night, you know what I'm talking about!!) :)
Big hugs and huge cups of coffee go to Coral and Bec for beta-reading for me. Thanks guys!!!!!
N.B.- A ~ before a name signifies a Voyager (A/U) crewmember, a normal name signifies a Maquis crewmember.
Part 2
"Ensign?"
"Sensors show no sign of any life on the planet."
"Try again," ~Tuvok ordered. He was unwilling as yet to accept that the Captain and Commander were dead, but it was looking more and more likely that he would have no choice but to do so.
"Still no sign."
"Have the storms cleared?"
"Almost. They'll be completely gone in about ten seconds."
"Run one more scan at that time, and if you do not find anything, we will set a course back to the Alpha Quadrant."
"Aye, sir. Running scan."
"Well, Ensign?"
"Nothing."
~Tuvok sighed reluctantly. "Make a note in the log. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were lost, presumed dead, during an atmospheric storm at 1530 hours, on an unnamed planet in the Delta Quadrant. Mr Paris, set a course for home."
"That's it?" ~Harry asked unbelievingly. "You're going to give up, just like that?"
"Ensign, in the Captain and Commander's death the responsibility falls on me to get this crew home. I must put that before anything else. It is my duty. Now you have your orders. Mr Paris?"
~Tom knew better than to argue. "Setting course."
"Wait!" ~Harry suddenly called, hope in his voice as he eagerly checked the sensor output. "I'm reading two lifesigns, in a cave at approximately the last known position of the Commander. They're faint, but they're there." He was unable to keep the grin off his face.
~Tuvok rose. "Can you transport out of the cave?"
"No. The storms have cleared, but there is still some interference. It's blocking transporters and I have no idea how long it'll take to clear."
"In that case, we'll have to take an away team. Tuvok to the Doctor- meet me in the second transporter room, and bring an emergency medkit. Mr Paris, you have the bridge."
"Aye, sir."
Kathryn and Chakotay stood shoulder to shoulder in the cave, at a loss for words, simply watching as ~Chakotay groaned and forced his eyes open. He was lying about ten feet away from ~Kathryn, having obviously been blown away from her during the storm. Barely able to move, he grabbed on to a rocky outcropping and pulled himself up gradually.
He started to walk shakily towards her, but his legs buckled when he was halfway there and he fell.
"Kathryn..." he moaned in despair.
That woke her up. She opened her eyes, raised her head, and, knowing she could not walk, began to crawl laboriously towards him, panting with the effort. She reached out her hand as she dragged herself the last few feet, her fingers just touching ~Chakotay's at first and the grip becoming stronger and stronger until their hands locked together and he pulled her the rest of the way into his arms.
She fell on top of him sobbing, shoving her arms around his neck and crushing him to her. He returned the embrace equally tightly, squeezing till both their chests hurt from the pressure, but neither wanting to let go. "Oh, Chakotay, I'm so sorry," she whispered shaking, scared by the experience.
"For what?" He moved one hand up to wipe away her tears, and rolled onto his side, still holding her as close as ever.
"For pushing you away for so long... ignoring what happened between us on New Earth... not telling you my feelings until now, when it's too late..."
New Earth? Kathryn thought. What's that? She glanced at Chakotay and knew he was wondering about the same thing.
Suddenly they became aware of just how close to each other they were standing. Embarrassed, they moved apart slightly and their eyes met again, but this time Kathryn couldn't hold Chakotay's gaze and had to look away. There's nothing between us, she told herself in annoyance. We're just friends- or are we? She couldn't answer that.
Luckily, ~Chakotay was speaking again, unknowingly sparing her from any further deliberation.
"Shh, Kathryn," he said. "It's never too late."
~Kathryn smiled sadly, laid her head on his arm, and both closed their eyes, falling asleep in a few moments.
Kathryn turned to Chakotay and was about to say something when they heard footsteps approaching and ~Tuvok hurried in with a medkit, followed by a bald man in a Starfleet medical uniform. The man knelt down by the sleeping couple and began to worriedly scan them with a tricorder. His face looked familiar to Kathryn, but she couldn't place it- until Tuvok spoke.
"Doctor?"
That was it- he was Voyager's emergency medical hologram. But how was he able to leave sickbay, let alone the ship? Kathryn realized it must be the triangular metal device he wore on his left sleeve that gave him that freedom.
"Severe bruises to both their bodies, mild concussions, at least three broken bones each," he said as he scanned them. "I don't know how they do it."
~Tuvok looked mildly exasperated, even for a Vulcan. "Will they be all right?" he asked.
"They'll be fine. That is, as long as somebody can untangle them long enough for me to treat them," he said in disgust, standing up and snapping his tricorder shut. "And as long as they haven't squeezed the life out of each other by then." He dropped the tricorder back into the medkit, slammed it shut, and slung it over his shoulder.
"Charming personality," Chakotay muttered dryly.
~Tuvok half raised an eyebrow and slapped his commbadge. "Tuvok to Voyager. Ensign Kim, has the atmospheric interference dissipated enough for you to transport from inside the cave?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then beam the four of us directly to sickbay."
"Stand by."
As they dematerialized with the others, Kathryn and Chakotay could have sworn they heard Q's voice saying, "Two days later..."
They were standing in a room- a first officer's quarters, from the size of it. Still, Kathryn recognized the place immediately.
"Voyager," she breathed, looking around in awed amazement.
"What?"
"Voyager. This was my ship, remember?"
Before Chakotay could answer, the door opened, to reveal a fully healed but still slightly weak command team.
"At least we're finally out of sickbay," ~Kathryn was saying as she walked in, then stopped. "Actually, I'm going to go back to my place, freshen up a bit."
~Chakotay nodded. "I'll see you later," he replied as the doors slid shut.
Only then did he notice the message indicator light flashing on his computer terminal. Intrigued, he walked over, followed by Kathryn and Chakotay, hit a few buttons, and instructed the computer to play the message.
~Kathryn's face appeared on the small screen. "Chakotay, if you're seeing this, then I'm dead. I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "I never told you this, but you've been the light of my life ever since New Earth. I want you to know that I love you. I love everything about you- your twisted sense of humor, your damned smile, the way you look at me on the bridge and tease me about the amount of coffee I've had in the day." She smiled briefly at the memory. "Please, don't... don't remember me as your captain, remember me as just Kathryn... Because I'll always be with you, Chakotay, wherever you are, and I'll wait for you for as long as it takes." Crying, she wiped her eyes, then took a big shaky breath and continued, "I love you. Don't forget that. Ever. No matter what happens to you." She kissed her fingers and pressed them to the screen. "Please, don't forget me." She took another shaky breath. "Don't forget me, Chakotay... my sweet angry warrior..." Tears were streaming down her face as she jabbed the off button.
~Chakotay realized what had happened. ~Tuvok had logged their deaths before he detected their lifesigns, and their last messages to each other had been automatically sent to their respective terminals.
~Kathryn walked in the door with wet, sad eyes, still in the grimy and torn unifom she had been wearing on the planet. ~Chakotay turned, the same look on his face, and knew that she'd seen his message as well.
Without a word, they were in each other's arms again, clinging to each other as if their lives depended on it.
"I never knew you felt that way," he murmured.
"I did... I was just too afraid to tell you."
"Afraid of what?"
"Afraid... of losing you."
~Chakotay held ~Kathryn's face in his hands. "Kathryn, you will NEVER lose me. Do you understand?" He brought his face to hers and kissed her as she cried for joy.
Kathryn felt a tear roll down her cheek. She was happy for her and Chakotay's counteparts, but still wished she had somebody like that, who would always be there for her...
As if reading her mind, Chakotay slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her into a soft hug. At first she stiffened reflexively, but then relaxed, thinking how safe and comfortable she felt standing like that.
She turned to face him. Their eyes met-
And in that instant, she knew she loved him with all her heart.
Kathryn reached up to caress his face, running the back of her hand down his cheek. He raised his own hand to catch it, interlacing their fingers and stroking his thumb over her skin as he kissed her lightly.
They broke apart, moved into a hug again and Kathryn whispered, "I love you," knowing how true it was.
Chakotay smiled happily- all his dreams of the last six years had finally come true. "I love you too," he whispered back.
"And... I suppose I should apologize like my counterpart here, for keeping you waiting..."
"It's all right." He kissed her again, softly, and she tightened her grip on him as he did so.
Neither noticed they were back on the Liberty, in Kathryn's quarters, until the door opened and an annoyed B'Elanna Torres walked in, PADD in hand.
"Chakotay, I've rung that chime twice and nobody's answered," she began, then broke off, her jaw hitting the floor, as she noticed that he and Kathryn were kissing.
"Oh! Sorry! These, uh, reports... can wait. Um... enjoy yourselves," she spluttered, hastily backing out the door as she flushed bright red, and Kathryn had to laugh as she heard their chief engineer banging her head against the wall outside in exasperation.
"Hungry?" Chakotay asked.
"Mmmmm, sort of."
"Here, I'll whip up something." He moved over to the replicator and began to punch out a recipe.
Kathryn came up behind him and slid her arms around his chest. "I love you," she muttered in his ear.
"I love you too, Kathryn." The replicator beeped and two plates of steaming rice and vegetables appeared. He picked them up, turned around, then walked down and set them on the coffee table as they sat down on the couch.
He put his arm around Kathryn and she snuggled closer to him. "Tell me a story?" she asked.
"What do you want to hear?"
"Tell me... tell me why you joined the Maquis."
"Why that particular choice?"
"Because... I'm coming with you, when we get back. I'm going to fight with you. With our crew." She couldn't help smiling again, looking at the ecstatic grin that was plastered over Chakotay's face and knowing she was the cause of his happiness.
"I'll tell you in a bit, let's eat first," he said.
As evening wore into night, Kathryn and Chakotay sat on the couch, looking forward to a new future... together.
The End
