#the way chakotay follows janeway with his face as she moves | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

myenterpriseisparked · 3 years ago

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The Voyager Bunch

Or, Rascals: Voyager Edition

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Based on this post

This is dedicated to @jellybeansarecool @bizships @emilie786 @joyful-voyager and @subtle-spock for providing ideas, encouragement, and for generally being really awesome people. Also they are the nicest folks ever. Go follow them.

This ain’t my first fanfiction rodeo, but it is my first Star Trek fanfiction rodeo so I beg for your patience. Also, I am perfectly aware that there are some plot holes in here. This is because I am an animal scientist, not a Starfleet physicist/biologist/whateverist. Swiss cheese also has holes and swiss cheese is good so please consider that.

Click here to read on AO3, if you prefer. Thanks for reading!

-----

Despite having only been a captain for a few years, Kathryn Janeway had seen more unusual occurrences, courtesy of the Delta Quadrant, than most Starfleet captains combined. Some days, she felt a little overwhelmed by the summary of the last three years of experiences. Other days, she was grateful for the callouses such challenges had built over her nerves, preparing her to face even the strangest incidents without panicking.

Today was a day to be grateful, because without having seen everything she had seen, the prospect of her Chief Engineer, Chief of Security, Head Helmsman, and most brilliant Ensign being reverted into child-like versions of themselves would have launched her straight into a spiral of panic.

“How-” Janeway paused for a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose, “how exactly did this happen?”

“Well, ya see, ‘Lanna and Harry and I were in that shuttle and then this big black thing showed up and we flew into it and there was a big flash and-”

Janeway held a hand up, cutting off the shockingly fast string of prattle. “I think I understand that part, Tom, thank you.” She spoke as gently and patiently as possible. “What I don’t understand is how Tuvok got into this.... predicament.”

She turned toward the tallest of the four children, who stood with his hands behind his back in a way that would have been exactly like Tuvok, if the pre-teen boy weren’t fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and looking around the bridge, open mouthed and starry-eyed. “Tuvok?”

The Vulcan turned toward her. “The shuttle was stuck in the anomaly and the tractor beam wasn’t working, so I rammed my ship into theirs to dislodge it.” Tuvok nearly smiled, which was jarring to see on his features, no matter how much younger he looked. “It worked, but I got sucked into the anomaly too. When we came out the other side, we looked like this.”

He motioned to Tom and B’Elanna, who were standing next to him, both of which appeared to be around the age of 5 or 6. Harry, who looked to be about a year old, was currently tucked into Chakotay’s arms, playing contentedly with the rank bar at the large man’s throat.

Janeway looked the group over, ignoring the humored smiled playing at her first officer’s lips. With a sigh, she turned to the members of her senior officer team that were not currently under the age of 13. “I’m open to suggestions.”

“I would like to run some experiments first, but I am wondering if I can age their DNA back to the correct age in a process similar to the one I used to turn you and Mr. Paris back into humans after the, ah, Warp 10 incident,” The Doctor said.

“That might put their bodies back at the right age,” Kes said, brow furrowing, “but their minds appear to have reverted to their new biological age as well. Will the DNA reversal process fix that?”

The Doctor tilted his head. “I’m unsure. I need more time to research and run simulations.”

Janeway nodded. “Get started on that right away. In the meantime,” she turned back to the children and her commander, “let’s get you four something to eat.”

Neelix jumped to his feet, practically lighting up the room with his enthusiasm. “I’ll fix you kiddos up something real nice!” He dashed over to the door with a wild grin. “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll have the best grilled cheese sandwich you’ve ever smelt!” He saluted the whole room and practically bounced out the door.

Janeway glanced over at Chakotay who, for the first time since he had picked up baby Harry, looked nervous. His worried glance met her own and he tilted his head.

“Well,” Chakotay sighed, “hopefully these guys aren’t as picky of eaters as I was.”

-----

As unappealing as Janeway found Neelix’s cooking to be, it was, apparently, perfect for kids, as evidenced by the unrestrained glee with which Tom, B’Elanna, and Tuvok devoured their sandwiches.

The captain couldn’t help but smile as Tom downed the second half of his sandwich in a few bites and think how the older version of Tom would have been appalled to see himself eating Neelix’s cooking with such enjoyment.

As the older children ate, Janeway found herself spooning some kind of mashed vegetable mix into Harry’s waiting mouth. At first, she was a little uncomfortable with the idea of feeding one of her best officers, but, once she was able to get past the strangeness of the entire situation, she found herself enjoying the funny expressions and eager attitude of the baby in front of her.

“Gosh, he’s such a cute baby.” She said with a grin for the fourth time.

Chakotay leaned over, his shoulder brushing hers as he smiled at Harry. “I’d like to agree with you, Captain, but you keep hogging him so I can’t get a good look.” He turned to look her in the eye, raising his eyebrow teasingly.

She shoved him playfully with her elbow. “You got to hold him earlier in the conference room. It’s my turn.”

“I think your turn ended about ten minutes ago,” he grinned.

“I think I can find something else for you to do if you’re going to take Harry away from me, Commander.” She returned his grin.

“Fine,” Chakotay shook his head with a chuckle, “but I get him later.”

-----

Several hours had passed since lunch and, much to Chakotay’s disappointment, baby Harry was still firmly in Janeway’s possession, perched on her hip and looking for all the world like he belonged there.

Chakotay tried not to think too much about how naturally Kathryn had taken to caring for Harry as he watched her pace the bridge, checking on various scanner readings and flight paths, from his position on the floor by their command chairs. Beside him, Tom and B’Elanna rolled a ball back and forth between them, excitedly chattering about... well... everything.

“Do you think the whales were really THAT big?” Tom spread his arms out to the side.

“Yeah they were!” B’Elanna exclaimed loudly enough that the entire ship could probably hear it. Despite Chakotay’s best efforts to get her to lower her voice, the young girl seemed to only have one volume. “I saw a big fake one in a museum once and it was HUGE!”

“Whoa!” Tom’s eyes widened. “Bigger than this ship?”

B’Elanna tilted her head. “I don’t know, but it was definitely bigger than me!”

The two kids laughed, rolling the ball back and forth faster.

“Hey Tom?”

“What?”

“You’re my best friend!” B’Elanna suddenly reached forward and gave Tom a hug.

Chakotay glanced up at Kathryn to exchange a look of awe before he turned back to the kids on the floor. “But B’E, I thought you just said a few minutes ago that I’m your best friend.” He raised an eyebrow, hiding his smile.

The young girl gave him a look that he had seen far too many times on her older counterpart’s face whenever he said something particularly dumb. “I can have two best friends, duh.”

He laughed. “Fair enough.”

Suddenly, he saw Kathryn’s purposeful walk stop out of the corner of his eye.

“Chakotay,” her voice was even and tense, “where’s Tuvok?”

Eyes widening, Chakotay glanced around the bridge. Tuvok was no where to be seen.

“Chakotay to Tuvok.” He stood as he tapped his commbadge. “Tuvok, please acknowledge.” They waited a moment and, upon receiving no response, moved simultaneously toward the turbolift.

“It’s possible he hasn’t figured out how to use his comm.” Janeway tucked Harry closer to her side as they stepped into the lift. “Computer: locate Tuvok.”

“Unable to comply.”

Janeway gave the ceiling a glare. “Why?”

The computer did not respond.

“Maybe the de-aging effect has made it difficult for the computer to locate him.” Chakotay rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s alright; he’s probably just exploring the ship; you saw how amazed he was by everything in the conference room earlier.”

She nodded tightly. “Let’s hope so. Where do you think he’s gone?”

“Maybe to the holodeck?”

“Or his quarters.”

“What about the mess hall?”

“He just ate.”

They both paused, mulling it over.

“Alright.” Kathryn straightened. “I’ll check holodeck one and his quarters, you check holodeck two and the mess hall.” She turned back to the lift door. “Holodeck one.”

Chakotay swallowed around the lump in his throat, trying not to think of all the ways a small child could get hurt on a spaceship like Voyager. As the turbolift began to move, Janeway’s badge chirped.

“Kes to the captain.”

Her brow raised as she tapped the emblem. “Go ahead.”

“I think I’ve found something you’re missing.” Kes’s usually lighthearted tone was even lighter, clear amusement seeping through.

Kathryn turned to look Chakotay in the eye, a hopeful smile brightening her face. “I’m on my way.”

-----

Honestly, Janeway was a little ashamed of the fact that she didn’t think to go looking for her best friend among the orchids and other plants in the aeroponics bay, considering his horticulturally-related hobbies. As she and Chakotay stepped into the room, smiles crept onto both of their faces as they watched Tuvok carefully transfer one of Kes’s sprouts to a bigger pot. After patting the soil around the plant firmly, he wiped a hand across his forehead, smearing dirt on his face to match the dirt on his uniform.

Kes smiled up at the command team. “He came down and asked about a hundred questions about our system and then offered to help me with my work while we talked because its ‘more efficient to talk and work than simply talk.’”

Janeway chuckled at Kes’s approximation of Tuvok’s speech pattern. “Thanks for letting us know, Kes.” She reluctantly handed Harry to Chakotay, who flashed his dimples, and crouched next to Tuvok. “Hello there.”

Tuvok glanced up quickly before resuming his work. “Hello, Captain. Did you know that these Talaxian green beans take only a week and a half to reach maturity?”

“I did not.” Janeway raised a brow and tilted her head. “That’s very impressive.”

“I thought so too when Kes told me.” He patted the soil around another plant and set it aside, retrieving another sprout.

“Tuvok,” the captain reached forward and rested a hand on his shoulder, “I’m glad you’ve found something to do, but you have to tell someone where you’re going before you wander off. We didn’t know what happened to you and Chakotay and I were really worried.”

Behind her, Chakotay’s heart flipped. There was something rather... intimate about the way she had referred to both of them being worried about a child.

“I’m sorry, Captain.” Tuvok nodded his head. “It won’t happen again.”

“Good.” Janeway smiled and stood. “Why don’t you help Kes down here for a while and then come back up to the bridge when you are ready?” She looked at Kes. “That is, if Kes is alright with that.”

The young woman smiled. “Of course, I’d love some help.”

Janeway nodded and turned back to Tuvok. “Be sure to let us know when you’re on your way back up.”

“Of course, Captain.”

She patted him one last time on the shoulder and turned back to Chakotay. They fell into step beside one another and entered the elevator.

As the doors whooshed closed, Janeway turned to Chakotay with the intention of reclaiming Harry, but stopped. A smile grew across her lips as she watched Chakotay bounce Harry gently, allowing the little boy to palm his tattoo in curiosity. Even as one of Harry’s chubby fingers poked him in the eye, Chakotay simply chuckled and took the tiny hand in his own.

He finally turned to look at her. “What?”

Kathryn just shook her head, grinning wider. “I was going to take Harry from you, but I can’t bear to break up this cute little arrangement.” She motioned to the two of them with a long finger.

The corner of Chakotay’s mouth kicked up a little higher. “Captain, did you just imply that I’m cute?”

Her brow arched, but her smile didn’t diminish. “It would be hard for anyone to look unappealing with a cute baby in their arms.”

Her heart stopped suddenly as she realized what she had just said. From the look of Chakotay’s face, he had caught it too. Implying that he and the baby were cute was one thing; calling him “appealing” was another. Before she could say anything else she might regret, Kathryn turned back to the lift door, schooling her features back into the face of the Captain.

If she had turned but a half-second later, she would have seen a wide smile break across Chakotay’s face.

-----

“I’m sorry, Captain, but I need more time. I won’t deactivate myself until I have a solution, but this situation is very delicate and I can’t risk rushing my tests. You’ll need to find somewhere for the children to sleep. Hopefully I’ll have a solution tomorrow.”

Kathryn nodded. “Of course. Thank you, Doctor.”

With a grim smile, the feed from sickbay switched off, leaving her to look at her dark reflection in the black screen. Something like relief swept over help alongside a touch of regret. On one hand, she could really use her senior officers back in functioning shape. On the other hand....

Her eyes drifted back down to Harry, who had pulled a bit of her hair out of it’s ponytail and was curling it around his tiny fist in unbreakable fascination. A smile tugged at her lips as she cuddled him a bit closer.

She could get used to this.

The thought struck her before she even knew what she was feeling and, as soon as she admitted it to herself, she took that feeling and shoved it as deep into the recesses of her mind as she could. She was the captain of a ship that was constantly in danger and she shouldn’t dwell on things she couldn’t have.

Kathryn sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Well, Harry, looks like we need to find you a place to sleep.”

Turning back to the computer, she moved to set him down so she could use both hands to search the crew quarters layouts for a suitable place to keep the children overnight. As soon as Harry’s feet touched the ground, a wail rose from the back of his throat and his face scrunched.

Kathryn quickly scooped him back up. “Harry? What’s wrong?”

The boy’s cry of protest faded into whimpers and he buried his head in her shoulder, clinging to her tightly.

A warm feeling washed over her. “Ah,” she smiled, “I see.”

She pulled him closer and turned back to the computer, tapping buttons with one hand. “You can stay up here with me, then.”

The door to her quarters chimed.

“Come in.”

Before she could turn to greet her guest, mischievous giggles rose from the door. Eyebrow raised, she whirled around to find Chakotay standing in the doorway, a stack of PADDs in his hand, a tiny engineer on his left leg, and a tiny helmsman on his right.

He stepped forward with far less difficultly than she would have expected, given the extra weight on his legs. He crossed the room quickly and passed the PADDs to her. “The crew reports you requested.”

“Thank you.” She smiled, glancing down at the still giggling forms. “Not to alarm you, Commander, but it would seem that you have a couple of lifeforms attached to you.”

Chakotay’s eyes grew wide in mock surprise. “Really?” He turned his head and shuffled around, as if to look at his back. “Where?”

Tom and B’Elanna’s laughter grew. Suddenly, Chakotay leaned over and scooped the two of them off his legs, lifting them both up over his shoulders as their shrieked in delight.

He turned back to Kathryn with a wide smile. “Not to worry, Captain, I’ve apprehended the life forms.”

She smiled back with a soft chuckle. “We need to find a place for the life forms to stay tonight.”

Chakotay’s smile faded into a more serious, but not displeased look. “The Doctor doesn’t have a solution yet, then?” He lowered Tom and B’Elanna to the ground. They scampered off to the viewport, excitedly chattering about the stars.

“No, he needs a bit more time.”

Chakotay nodded. “Maybe I could take them for the night, that way someone is there to keep an eye on them.”

Kathryn shook her head. “I have no doubt in your babysitting abilities, Commander, but four children is a lot for one person to watch alone and your quarters are not big enough for Trouble 1 and Trouble 2 to run around in.” She gestured to the kids at the window.

“Fair point. Maybe I should take Harry and Tuvok then, and you could take Tom and B’Elanna?”

She turned Harry away from Chakotay. “Trying to take my boy again, are you Chakotay?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Do you have another idea, then, Mom?”

Her breath caught in her throat, but she managed to smirk at him and continue speaking without any indication that his previous sentence had impacted her. “My quarters are the largest on the ship. If we set up cots here in my living room we could easily both keep an eye on the children overnight.”

“Sounds good to me.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall. “How about I go collect Tuvok from aeroponics and some food from the mess hall while you get the cots set up?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

He gave her one last lingering smile, which she returned, before heading out the door and down the hall.

-----

Apparently the lunch they had shared earlier that day had been misleadingly easy. Supper was, to put it lightly, a challenge.

“B’Elanna, eat your own food and stop taking from Tom’s plate,” Kathryn said firmly.

“But Tom isn’t eating it!”

“I was going to eat it! I’m just a slower eater than you are!”

“Well eat faster then!”

“B’Elanna!” Chakotay set down the spoon he had been using to feed Harry and fixed her with a stern look. “That food isn’t yours, and Kathryn already asked you to stop taking Tom’s food. You won’t be asked again.”

B’Elanna mumbled out an apology and stuffed another bite of her own meal into her mouth.

Kathryn shot Chakotay a grateful smile and turned to Tuvok, who was holding up one of his vegetables to the light. “Tuvok? What are you doing?”

“I’m looking at the xylem and phloem of this plant.”

She bit back a smile. “I appreciate your curiosity, Tuvok, but I need you to stop studying your food and start eating it.”

The young Vulcan turned to her and nodded. “Of course.” He politely chewed and swallowed his food and turned back to the captain. “Did you know that this particular plant is a distant cousin of Terran broccoli? You can tell by the-”

Chakotay smiled as he watched Kathryn listen to Tuvok’s fourth lecture of the evening on plant biology. Neither of them were certain of what he was talking about most of the time, but his enthusiasm for the subject was nearly infectious and neither of them minded listening.

“Chakotay?”

He turned away from the scene across the table and looked at Tom next to him. “Yes?”

“After dinner, will you read to us?”

“Of course.” Chakotay smiled and ruffled Tom’s hair. “Anything particular you want to hear?”

“I want to hear about your missions with the Maquis!” B’Elanna bounced in her seat, all of that barely-contained Klingon energy starting to spill over.

“Or perhaps you could read to us from a classic story,” Tuvok raised a brow. “I’m fond of the works of Tolkien, maybe Tom and B’Elanna would like ‘The Hobbit’ too?”

“What’s a hobbit?” Tom’s face scrunched in confusion.

“Maybe,” Kathryn interjected before Tuvok could give a detailed recounting of the beloved childhood book, “Chakotay could tell us a story from his tribe.” Her eyes met his across the table. “He is pretty good at recounting ancient legends.”

Heat crept up the sides of Chakotay’s face as he held her stare. “Maybe.”

“Nah,” Tom’s voice broke through the pleasant tension between them. “I wanna know what a hobbit is!”

Chakotay chuckled. “Alright, ‘The Hobbit’ it is.”

-----

It took some time to get the older three to settle into bed, but finally, they began to yawn and snuggle deeper under their blankets. As their heads grew heavier, Chakotay wrapped up his story telling and the command team began to tuck their young companions in for the night.

As Chakotay wished Tom and Tuvok a good night’s rest, Kathryn carefully extracted B’Elanna from where she was snuggled into her side and took her over to her cot. As she got the small girl settled, she suddenly reached up and captured Kathryn in a tight hug. Surprised, Kathryn’s eyes widened, but she returned the gesture in earnest.

“Kathryn?”

“Yes, B’Elanna?”

“You’re my best friend.”

Kathryn blinked and pulled back to look B’Elanna in the eyes with a small smile. “I thought Chakotay and Tom were your best friends.”

“I can have more than one best friend.” B’Elanna’s voice was filled with deep confidence, despite how sleep-laced it was.

“Fair enough,” Kathryn chuckled, pulling the blankets tightly around the girl. “Goodnight.”

She met Chakotay in her bedroom, Harry still in his arms.

“Any time I try to set him down he starts crying.” Chakotay grinned sheepishly.

She grinned back. “I had a similar experience earlier today.” She reached up and brushed hand over the boy’s soft, black hair. “Its a good thing he weighs next to nothing.”

At Kathryn’s gentle touch, Harry stirred. His dark eyes found Kathryn’s and he reached out for her. With a look of mock hurt, Chakotay transferred the boy to his desired location.

“I’m trying not to be offended right now, Harry.”

Kathryn simply grinned and bounced the baby in her arms gently. “It’s alright, Chakotay. He has excellent taste.”

Chakotay shook his head, dimples flashing. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.”

She turned toward the bed and settled herself on one side, her back resting against the pillows and Harry resting against her chest. “Let’s see if we can get this one sleepy enough to not notice if we set him down.” She looked back at Chakotay, who was still standing, rather awkwardly. She patted the bed next to her with a smirk. “Come on, Commander. Get some rest. We’ve has a big day, wrangling the kiddos.”

He smiled and crossed the room to the other side of the bed, gently sitting next to her, his legs stretched out. “It has been a long day,” he said with a sigh. “But, I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed it.” He tilted his head to look at Kathryn, who was already looking up at him.

“Nor I.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Suddenly, Chakotay was very aware of how close their faces were. He watched as Kathryn’s eyes slid down to his lips. Before he could do something he couldn’t take back, he took a deep breath and turned away.

“Well,” Kathryn cleared her throat, sounding more like the Captain now, “it’s been fun but we should get some sleep. I’ll keep an eye on Harry here and take him to his cot in a few minutes. You should go ahead and rest, Commander.”

“Of course.” He tilted his head and gave her a small smile. “Goodnight, Kathryn.”

She grinned back. “Goodnight, Chakotay.”

-----

Apparently, Kathryn didn’t stay awake long enough to take Harry back to his cot, as evidenced by the weight on her chest as she stirred awake the next morning. She slowly became aware of her surroundings and the previous day’s events came flooding back to her.

She also became distinctly aware of the warm, comfortable presence beside her. As she opened her eyes, she realized that her first officer’s arm was settled around her shoulders and that his shoulder was currently her pillow. His head rested atop hers and the hand that was not draped around her shoulders was resting on top of Harry’s back next to her own.

The situation was all rather snuggly and, were it not a violation of every professional barrier Kathryn had erected between her and the commander, she would have had no issue in savoring the moment.

Then again.... maybe she could allow herself just a few moments to pretend that the baby in her arms wasn’t her star technical officer and that the man holding her close wasn’t her XO and that this was a perfectly normal situation.

Before she could get too far into her fantasy, however, Chakotay stirred next to her, his dark eyes fluttering open to find her own.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice huskier than her own as sleep clung to it.

“Good morning.”

They looked at each other for a moment before Chakotay carefully extracted himself from her side, helping her up so she could carefully place Harry in his cot in the living room without waking the boy or the other children who were still sleeping. Without a word, they quietly prepared breakfast and coffee, steeling themselves for another day of handling the kids.

-----

“I’m afraid I’m a bit.... stuck,” The Doctor ground out with obvious difficulty.

The captain raised an eyebrow. The EMH admitting that he was struggling to solve a problem was a rare instance indeed. “How so?”

With a huff, The Doctor turned back to his desk, flipping through experimental results from a stack of PADDs. “Kes was right; the DNA reversal process I initially thought might work will not account for the de-aging of the officers’ brains, so I decided to look at the type of radiation that might have caused this and, to be completely honest, Captain,” he turned back to look her in the eye, “I have absolutely no idea how this even happened. There’s no evidence of radiation, the temporal energy around them is unidentifiable, and I can’t figure out how their cells and their minds were reversed.” He lowered his head. “I’m unsure of how to even proceed from here.”

Kathryn nodded, taking the emotions that were beginning to tumble in her chest and stuffing them as far down as she could. “Very well, Doctor. Take a rest and we can all come back to the issue later once we’ve had time to think.” She rested a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up. “Don’t despair yet; there’s a lot of other brilliant minds on this ship besides your own. We’ll figure it out together.” She smiled and gave his shoulder a squeeze before heading into the turbolift.

As the doors slid open, she found Tuvok waiting in the lift for her. She smiled down at him and stepped inside, calling for the bridge.

“Chakotay to the captain.”

She tapped her badge. “Go ahead.”

“We need you on the bridge, there’s a bit of a situation.”

She raised a brow, glancing down at Tuvok, who was gazing at her intently. “On my way.”

-----

“So they want to.... interview us?”

“They want to interview you specifically.”

“To see if we are worthy of going through their space.”

“Something like that.”

“And going around their space isn’t an option?”

“It would add another 7 months to our journey, so this interview is our ideal option.”

“No pressure, eh, Commander?” Janeway shifted Harry from one hip to the other with a long sigh. “Alright. Hail them.”

After a moment, a blue and red humanoid alien appeared on the screen.

“Greetings, Ambassador.” The Captain flashed a polite smile. “I’m Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager.”

The alien woman inclined her head. “Hello, Captain Janeway, I’m Ambassador Tel Parah of the Doonian Delegation.” Her eyes swept the bridge. “You’re ship is heavily armed, which, according to the laws of our people, requires that we do a personal interview of the commanding officer to ensure that violence or other manners of chaos will not be instigated as you pass through our space.”

“Of course, I understand.” Janeway smiled again. “What questions may I answer for you?”

Over the course of the next 30 minutes, Janeway was grilled on their purpose in passing through Doonian space, the types and numbers of weapons they carried, and the journey they had made so far. Just as Janeway thought there wasn’t possibly anything more she could tell them, Ambassador Parah paused and looked up from the computer device in her hand to study Janeway. After a moment, she spoke again.

“Just one more thing, Captain Janeway,” a slow smile slipped onto her face, “What’s your son’s name? He’s absolutely precious.”

Janeway raised her eyebrows in surprise and glanced down at Harry, who she had nearly forgotten was still in her arms. At some point, he had removed her combadge and was currently turning it over and over again in his tiny hands, taking a moment here and there to bite parts of the object he must have found particularly interesting. Kathryn exchanged an amused glace with Chakotay, who shrugged off screen, before turning back to the ambassador.

“This is Harry.” Janeway smiled, turning the boy so the ambassador could see him better.

The other woman smiled widely. “How adorable. He has the brightest eyes.”

“He does.” Kathryn smiled back down at him.

“You know,” Parah leaned back in her chair, “I usually don’t allow anyone through our space that isn’t from a system or planet we are already know and trust and so I wasn’t planning on letting Voyager pass. However, when I saw your baby and how well-cared for and happy he seems, I felt that I could trust you somehow.” She smiled again. “We value children highly in the Doonien Delegation. Children are often a reflection of a parent’s character. I can tell by Harry’s disposition and curiosity that you are of a fine character, Captain.”

Janeway cuddled Harry a little closer, heart warming. “Thank you, Ambassador, I take that as a high compliment.”

“As you should.” Parah leaned forward again. “You may pass through our space. We will have you stop at three checkpoints on your way though which I will send you the coordinated for in a moment. Have a safe journey.”

The screen went blank and Kathryn turned to Chakotay.

“Should I feel bad that I let her believe Harry is my son?”

Chakotay chuckled, stepping close enough and lowering his voice enough that the rest of the bridge could pretend not to hear him. “Are you saying he’s not?”

Her gaze grew softer. “I guess he’s sort of been like a son to me since we got on board.” She looked back down at him. “I feel very protective of him.”

Chakotay rested a hand on her shoulder. “I know.”

They smiled at each other again. Chakotay opened his mouth to say something more but, suddenly, there was a tug at Kathryn’s elbow.

“Captain? Now that the negotiations are over, I think I have an idea about how to fix Tom, B’Elanna, Harry, and me.” Tuvok’s eyes were bright and eager.

“Alright,” Captain Janeway smiled down at him. “Let’s get The Doctor up here and we’ll hear your idea together.”

-----

Chakotay exchanged glances with The Doctor and the Captain over the table as he bounced both Tom and B’Elanna on his knees. “Could that really work? It seems almost too easy.”

“Well, if this is a phenomena that’s inexplicable and is tied only to the anomaly the shuttles passed through, I feel like sending the children back through isn’t our worst idea.” The captain rubbed the back of her neck. “Doctor?”

The holographic man continued typing into his PADD for a moment before stopping and reading. “I- I honestly think this could work.” He slid the PADD over to Janeway. “It’s hard to predict, since we have no idea what exactly caused this, but if we send the shuttles through the anomaly opposite of the way they first went through, I think it just might turn them back to their usual ages.”

“How do we know it won’t just make them even younger?” Chakotay watched as B’Elanna slipped off of his knee, pulling Tom along with her to go play in the corner.

“We’d have to run some tests to be sure that they don’t. Perhaps we could send a plant through first, or some other organic life form.” The Doctor took the PADD back and made a note.

“We would also have to make sure that, if the tests show some promise, Tuvok can take the shuttle back through the anomaly.” Janeway turned to the boy sitting at her right. “Well, Tuvok? Do you think you could pilot the shuttle?”

He shook his head. “Since I don’t have my older self’s memories I don’t think I could.”

“We could use the tractor beam to send the shuttle through,” Chakotay said. “If we give them enough of a push to go through the anomaly, they should be able to pilot themselves back to Voyager once they get out the other side and have returned to their normal ages.”

Janeway raised her eyebrows. “Well, it’s worth a shot and I don’t have any better ideas. Commander, set a course for the anomaly. Doctor, prepare the experiments.”

-----

Tom and B’Elanna seemed to sense that something was up as they suddenly became even more clingy. The whole trip back to the anomaly, B’Elanna shared the captain’s chair with Kathryn, insisting with all of her Klingon passion that the older woman tell her more stories from earlier in their journey through the Delta Quadrant. At the helm, Tom hung on to Chakotay’s arm, watching the stars go by and asking Chakotay a hundred questions about piloting starships. Tuvok sat in Chakotay’s usual seat, interjecting with questions of his own here and there, and Harry sat on Kathryn’s knee, chewing on her jacket sleeve, her combadge still clutched tightly in his left hand.

After they reached the anomaly, it took a couple of hours for The Doctor to complete his experiments and, once he had declared that plants that had gone through the anomaly twice were returned to the same age the started as, they began preparing the children to enter the anomaly themselves.

“Will it hurt?” B’Elanna asked in the smallest voice she had ever used in her life as Kathryn tucked the small Starfleet uniform that she had come through the anomaly with around her shoulders.

“It won’t,” Tuvok said. “It didn’t hurt when we came through the first time, did it?”

She shook her head, but didn’t look very reassured.

“It’s okay, ‘Lanna!” Tom grabbed her hand. “I’ll be right beside you.”

Kathryn stood and took a step back, feeling almost as if someone had filled her chest with some of Neelix’s heavy stew. She had to let them go, of course, this wasn’t the way they were supposed to be, but she was certainly going to miss seeing the level of innocence her officers had now. B’Elanna was unburdened by trust issues, Tuvok was passionate and bright, and Tom - well, she supposed he hadn’t changed all that much, but at least he seemed to be genuinely happy, not just putting up a front of humor to protect himself.

It would be hard to see them go back, but maybe, now that she understood how the world and time had changed her friends, she could help them.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a tug at her collar. She looked down to see Harry pulling at her pips, completely enamored by the gold metal.

“Oh, Harry.” She nearly choked on his name. Since he was so young now, she didn’t have any insight into his personality after having seen him as a baby, but she was going to miss his innocent curiosity and familiar weight on her hip.

Before she could think too much about it, she handed Harry over to Tuvok. The younger boy scrunched his face up and whimpered at the change of hands, but Tuvok bounced him gently and he settled down, reaching for the pointed tip of Tuvok’s ear.

Kathryn took a step back, feeling Chakotay step up behind her so that they were nearly touching. “Best of luck, you four.” She gave them her most reassuring smile. “See you on the other side.”

She and Chakotay hurried up the bridge and gave the go ahead for the ensign who had taken over Harry’s post to begin using the tractor beam to move the shuttle out into the anomaly. They stood side-by-side on the bridge and watched the shuttle go through. At come point, they grabbed each other’s hands and squeezed each other tightly.

There was a flash as the shuttle passed through the anomaly. After a few terrifyingly quiet moments, the shuttle came bursting out of the other side and a voice crackled over the comm.

“Cochran to Voyager,” confusion leaked through Tom’s voice. “What the hell just happened?”

Kathryn and Chakotay smiled at each other in relief. “What’s the last thing you remember, Tom?” Chakotay asked.

“B’Elanna, Harry, and I were coming back to Voyager when we- wait a second, how did you get here, Tuvok?”

Janeway laughed. “Why don’t we get you four back on board and then we’ll explain everything.”

“Copy that. See you in a few.” Tom’s voice grew quieter, like he was leaning away from the comm. “I have a feeling this is going to be one heck of a story.”

-----

After everyone had been debriefed and left to process the last two days of strangeness, Chakotay found Kathryn in her favorite spot; on her couch and staring wistfully out at the stars as they drifted past. She had shucked her jacket and taken her hair out of it’s clip, leaving her in her grey turtleneck with her hair falling around her shoulders and face.

“Got a lot on your mind?”

She turned to smile at him, a note of sadness in her eyes. “It’s been an interesting couple of days.”

He settled on the couch a ways down, turning to face her. “It sure has.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’m going to miss our kids.”

“Me too. It was fun having little ones around, playing at being a parent.” She fidgeted with the seam on the couch. “It was different and they sure did give us some challenges,” she chuckled, “but I loved it.”

“Have you ever thought about having kids of ou-” he coughed, “your own?”

Her crystal blue gaze caught his. “Yes.” She smiled and looked out the window again. “I always thought someday I would be a mother.” With a snort and a smirk, she continued; “Of course, I never thought I’d be mothering my helmsman, security officer, engineer, and technical officer.”

Chakotay laughed softly. “I think you were mothering them before they were turned into actual children.”

“Perhaps.” A pause. “What about you? Did you ever think about being a father? Outside of the whole instance with Seska, of course.”

He nodded. “When I was in the Maquis, no. My life was too fast-paced to be a proper father. If I was going to be a dad, I wanted to do it right and I couldn’t have done that from a Maquis ship.” He took a deep breath. “After joining this crew, though.... I’m in a better place now, and I think I’d be thrilled to be a father.” He looked over at Kathryn to find that she was already looking at him with something like wonder in her eyes. He held her gaze for a moment and, finally finding a bit of courage, he said: “I’m more at peace.”

A smiled played at the corners of her lips, and her eyes looked a little like they were silver-lined, though Chakotay couldn’t quite tell for sure in the low light of her quarters.

“You were really good with the kids. You would make an excellent father, I have no doubt.”

He smiled. “You would make an excellent mother. You’re a natural.”

“Thank you, but I barely felt like I knew what I was doing.” She chuckled.

“You could have fooled me.” He grinned for a moment, before his countenance grew more serious. “I hope you get your wish someday, Kathryn. I hope you get to be a mother.”

She was quiet for a moment, and Chakotay suddenly felt his chest tighten. Had he said too much.

Before he could fall too far into his panic, her hand slid over to his, giving it a squeeze. He looked up into her eyes, which definitely had tears in them now.

“I hope you get to be a father too Chakotay. Someday.”

He squeezed her hand back and they both fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the view of the stars outside Kathryn’s window.

#whew okay that got emotional there at the end #lets all take a breather and remember cute little Harry #Okay that's better #anyway #thanks for reading!#hopefully this wasn't too plot-hole-ridden #star trek voyager #kathryn janeway #captain janeway #janeway #chakotay #harry kim #b'elanna torres #tom paris #tuvok #neelix #kes #the EMH #the doctor

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curator-on-ao3 · 5 years ago

Text

A Little Bit More

Ooh ah, just a little bit Ooh ah, a little bit more Ooh ah, just a little bit You know what I'm I'm looking for -- “Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit” by Gina G

Recently, the ladies of the @voyager-book-club shared recommendations for fics they felt deserve some extra lovin’ -- by authors outside of book club. But book club is a powerhouse of fic writing and here is a list of fics by book club authors that other book clubbers nominated as excellent pieces of storytelling that deserve “a little bit more” readership, love, attention -- you name it. Please consider reading and giving these fics some lovin’.

Evasive Action (M) by IceCream_Junkie: Katrina Cornwell/Gabriel Lorca; This is a great little fic that focuses on THAT scene in the first season of Disco. You know you liked it, you know you need more of it, you know you want those feels. So read this fic .;) (recommended by @killermanatee)

Quicksilver (G) by Helen8462: Harry Kim/Seven of Nine; K/7 in general deserves more attention than it gets, and this is my favorite K/7 fic. It’s heartbreaking in the way you’d expect from Course: Oblivion, but it one-ups the episode with the ending and gives us a beautiful relationship to root for—and grieve for—that we didn’t get in canon. (recommended by @cnrothtrek)

Across Oceans (M) by BlackVelvet42: Chakotay/Seven of Nine; On the show, the relationship between Seven and Chakotay came seemingly out of nowhere and because of that felt forced. However, in this story BlackVelvet lets it build slowly over time making it so much more believable. It's an enjoyable story even if, like me, you don't ship them. (recommended by @icecream-junkie)

War Torn (T) by Curator: Kathryn Janeway & Miles O’Brien, Kathryn Janeway/Mark Johnson; This fic is such a meaningful story about a mission in the Federation-Cardassian war that connects two pieces of canon (one from TNG and one from VOY) in a way that is brilliant and heartbreaking and ALL THE THINGS. Drop everything and read it, and give it some much-deserved love. Hands down, my favorite fanfic ever. (recommended by @cnrothtrek)

A Patient Man (G) by Helen8462: Kathryn Janeway/Mark Johnson; I love explorations of the beautiful, tragic love between Kathryn and Mark, and this one stands out for following Mark as he faces canceling their wedding and later makes the heart-wrenching decision to move on. Plus Ben Sisko makes a short appearance, which is wonderful. (recommended by @cnrothtrek)

uncharted (E) by killermanatee: Christopher Pike/Kathryn Janeway; It is the ONLY fic with this pairing and dang it I LOVE this pairing!! Also, Killermanatee writes Kathryn Janeway like no other. I love her version and I love how she explores her. To get to read her put my rare pair together was just awesome! (recommended by @ariella884) Also recommended by @allthewians, who says, “This is a lovely Janeway/Pike fic. It was the first time I'd read that paring, and I'm into it,” and by @icecream-junkie, who says, “Time travel shenanigans leading to sexy times. What’s not to like? ;-)”

160 Shades of JetC (Series) (G) by khurst: Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway; So to be honest it's been a really long time since I read this entire series, but I remember really enjoying all these small moments from each episode. I want this to get some more love, because maybe she will come back to it and finish ALL the episodes! (recommended by @ariella884)

The Prisons You Inhabit (T) by MiaCooper: Chakotay, B’Elanna Torres, Ayala, Kurt Bendera; Mia is arguably the most popular writer in the Voyager fandom, so I don’t understand how the fuck this fic has such low stats. It’s amazing! She deftly provides us with a look into Chakotay’s harsh experiences in the Maquis, his “angry warrior” moniker, and his thoughts/feelings when he agrees to be Janeway’s XO. It’s a much-needed insight into one of the show’s most short-changed characters. (recommended by @cnrothtrek)

Where There is Love There is Life - Fictober 2019 (G) by arcadia75: Carla Johnson/Mark Johnson, Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway, Kathryn Janeway & Mark Johnson, Carla Johnson & Kathryn Janeway; These drabbles were my true introduction to the form and they have stayed with me ever since. Each of these eighteen, 100-word explorations of Carla and Mark’s relationship is a gem. Read them all and you’ll feel richer. (recommended by @curator-on-ao3)

Air (G) by cnroth: Marla Gilmore & Joe Carey; Remember the first time you finished Equinox II and you thought, wow, it’s going to be interesting watching this new crew integrate into Voyager? Well, where the show failed you, cnroth has your back with this gorgeous exploration of Marla Gilmore’s strength and fears. Bonus: Joe Carey being awesome (because, hello, he’s Joe Carey). This fic has lived in my heart since the first time I read it, and I think it’s worth a place in yours. (recommended by @curator-on-ao3)

The Sun and the Other Stars (T) by ariella884: Kathryn Janeway/Mark Johnson; This fic offers everything you hoped their relationship was. It's sweet and romantic and knowing that their relationship was doomed makes it also bittersweet. I just adore this moment between them and fully accept it as headcanon. (recommended by @killermanatee) Also recommended by @arcadia75, who says, "I have such a soft spot for Mark and this is just a lovely story of a pre-series moment between Mark and Kathryn."

The Dying of the Light (T) by cnroth: Janeway/Chakotay; Okay. You guys. I will eternally tell everyone who will hold still long enough just what a beautifully heart-breaking piece of art this is. It's based on the TNG episode "The Inner Light" but about 500 times better. At least. This fis is beyond fantastic and it's a fandom crime that it doesn't have more comments and kudos. (recommended by @killermanatee)

Fatal Mistake (T) by muldy: Janeway/Chakotay, Tessa Omond/Chakotay; This is the only reading of Tessa I will ever accept because it's perfect. It's the Timeless fic I've always wanted and that this fandom deserves. How on earth this gem currently stands at 39 kudos and 11 comments is beyond me. It's such a wonderful reading of Tessa and it deserves so much more love. (recommended by @killermanatee)

to falter (M) by Miss_Mil: Janeway/Chakotay; This is a gut-wrenching, but wonderfully poetic addition to Full Circle focused on Chakotay. I love every single word in this fic. Everyone should read it and comment and leave kudos. Even if you haven't read Full Circle, because this fic is just so damn good. (recommended by @killermanatee)

Take This Waltz (M) by BlackVelvet42: Janeway/Chakotay; Part of the 2019 Cohen fest, I hope you know what to expect from this. ;) Because it is certainly dark and painful and a punch to the gut. But it is also incredibly beautiful at the same time. It's such an honest depiction of depression and loss and how it impacts the love you feel. Just a wonderful fic. (recommended by @killermanatee)

Severed Hearts (M) by Devovere: Chakotay & Torres, Chakotay/Torres, Janeway/Chakotay, Torres/Paris; THIS FIC! YOU GUYS! How can it possibly only have 46 kudos???? This is a brilliant piece showing what getting older does to these characters, how their lives have changed them and how they struggle to cope and it's so, so, so beautiful in all its pain. Read it!! (recommended by @killermanatee)

In plain view (E) by Icecream_junkie, Killermanatee: Sylvia Tilly & Number One, Christopher Pike/Christopher Pike, Christopher Pike/Sylvia Tilly/Christopher Pike; A very kinky and very good BDSM AU, that deserves so much more love (recommended by @allhewians)

formal wear (E) by Killermanatee: Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Christopher Pike; Hot dudes in dress uniforms being kinky, I love it (recommended by @allthewians)

For You (E) by Killermanatee: Philip Boyce/Christopher Pike; It's sex with feels, and I couldn't ask for more, everyone should take a read:) (recommended by @allthewians)

Within my reach (I could have touched!) (E) by IceCream_Junkie, Killermanatee: Christopher Pike/Sylvia Tilly; A great Pike/Tilly AU. It's funny and sexy and just amazing. One of my favourites (recommended by @allthewians)

A thing that can ignite (E) by IceCream_Junkie, Killermanatee: Christopher Pike/Sylvia Tilly; Another very sexy Pike/Tilly AU. I love the way the characters are written so much (recommended by @allthewians)

You Make It Easy (E) by TheShorty: Christopher Pike/Sylvia Tilly; Sexy and sweet Pike/Tilly fic (recommended by @allthewians)

Begging Angels for a Sin (E) by TheShorty: Christopher Pike/Sylvia Tilly; I really love the way both Pike and Tilly are written, and I like the sexyness (recommended by @allthewians)

Lighthouse (E) by Wians: Philip Boyce/Christopher Pike; This isn't just any Pike/Boyce fic. It's a DISCO-SPECIFIC Pike/Boyce fic. On top of that it's sweet and sexy and such a perfect add-on to season 2 of Discovery. It is labelled as incomplete, but I promise you won't be left hanging. (recommended by @killermanatee)

Every New Beginning Comes from Some Other Beginning’s End (G) by curator: everyone; This is an amazing sequence of portraits of what you didn't see in Endgame. Very in-character and very striking. (recommended by @amoderngirl)

Yaala (E) by Prixin47: Janeway/OC; I used to run away from OC pairings, and this is the story that changed my mind about them for good. Super sexy and fun, with a great Tom and Harry moment as a bonus. (recommended by @amoderngirl)

Red Queen Running (T) by Caladenia: Janeway/Chakotay, Janeway, Seven, B'Elanna; This is a cracking fun adventure that builds off of one of my favorite episodes, "Distant Origin." Read this to see the Voyager ladies kick some ass! (recommended by @amoderngirl)

The road ahead (T-E) by Killermanatee & Wians: Christopher Pike/Sylvia Tilly; The first story is tagged "It gets worse before it gets better" and it does, but all these stories are so beautifully written that I happily accepted the heartache. If you don't want to read the whole series, at least read the third story "To not lose heart", because it is absolutely amazing. (recommended by @icecream-junkie)

When the West Wind Moves (M) by Devovere: Katrina Cornwell/Gabriel Lorca; I may be biased, because this story was gifted to me, but it hit me right in the feelz – repeatedly. I love how the relationship between Lorca and Cornwell is portrayed here and how much they care for each other. (recommended by @icecream-junkie)

Venom (T) by Helen8462: Kathryn Janeway, Chakotay; A delicious dark snack (recommended by BlackVelvet42)

A Long Journey’s Night (G) by Curator: Kathryn Janeway & Kathryn Janeway; Pick any fic from this writer and prepare yourself for a pleasant, refreshing surprise. (recommended by BlackVelvet42)

Shattering Glass (T) by Devovere: Janeway/Chakotay; This is a brilliant reinterpretation of the first scene in the Full Circle relaunch novel. So heartbreaking and beautifully written. (recommended by @arcadia75)

#star trek fanfic recommendations #voyager book club

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summahsunlight · 5 years ago

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This Way Became My Journey, CH. 15

Two weeks after Voyager is taken from the Alpha Quadrant...

Tom Paris stumbled on his way out of the holodeck thanks to a horribly placed vending cart in Rome circa 1920. Things hadn't gone according to plan, hell they never seemed to go according to plan for him. Perhaps he should have told Harry the truth from the beginning, but Harry wouldn't have ventured down to the holodeck if he had told him the truth. So he had told a little white lie, what was the harm in that?

Apparently a lot because Harry was stalking off down the corridor to the turbolift. "Harry, wait up!"

Harry Kim shook his head. "No way, Tom. "

"Aw, come on Harry, I've been smoothing out the details for this date for days now! You can't leave me in the dust like this!"

"Oh yes I can," Harry snapped, pressing the button to call for the lift.

Tom caught up with him as the lift opened and pressed the button to send it on its way before Harry could step inside. His friend turned to glare at him. "It's the Delaney sisters, Harry, they come as a package. It's a double date or no date, Harry."

"I never agreed to a date of any kind."

"Sure you did," Tom replied. "Last night."

A blank expression passed over Harry's face. He couldn't recall ever have such a conversation. Of course, he was so tired last night he probably would have agreed to jumping out of an airlock. "I never agreed to any date last night. We ate dinner with Lieutenant Barrett, who told me to enjoy some recreational time while she was away to quell my homesickness. There was never anything about a date in that conversation Tom."

Tom grinned mercelessly. "Well, dates are recreational. You're following counselor's orders."

"She didn't order me. She suggested recreational activities," Harry fumed. "Why am I arguing with you on this? I have a girlfriend back home, I don't need to go on any dates."

"Harry, Harry, Harry, you honestly think she's going to wait for you?"

"Yes!" He exclaimed quickly.

"That's rather selfish of you, don't you think?"

"Look who's telling me about being selfish," Harry hissed. "It was rather selfish of you to think I'd go on this date so you can get with Meghan Delaney."

Tom shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, it was rather selfish of me, but you are my best friend Harry, who else would I ask to go on a double date with me?" He looked innocently at his friend. Harry rolled his eyes doing his best imitation of Sarah Barrett when Tom got this way. "Can I help it if I thought I was helping my best friend out?"

Harry grunted. "Helping me out with what?"

"Moving on!"

"Tom, we've only been out here two weeks, you think Libby's moved on that quickly?"

"Well of course not," Tom retorted, "but she's going to, eventually, Harry. You know it."

He did know it but he didn't want to acknowledge it. He wasn't ready to accept that Libby was going to move on without him, that she was going to think that he was dead. It seemed rather unfair to be so far away from home and going out on a double date with Tom when Libby was probably grieving for his loss back on Earth. Why should he be happy when he knew that his loved ones were not? Tom on the other hand didn't have this dilemma. He could care less about his family and had no girlfriend back home. Girlfriends just weren't Tom Paris' style. Harry wondered how long the chase of the Delaney sister's was going to last. He opened his mouth to speak, but no word came out.

Tom grabbed him by the arm. "Now come on, they're waiting for us and I only have forty five minutes left of holodeck time saved up."

Harry allowed Tom to pull him all the way back to holodeck, the whole time awestruck that he had every intent on not going back there but Paris found some way to drag him along. Every time, he thought as they entered the holodeck, he gets me every time with the moving on and selfish of me to think she'll wait bit. But even as he was dragged towards the candlelit table, with a very smiling Jenny Delaney, he wondered just how much trouble Tom had really gotten him into. It's going to be a long night.

The constant thrumming of the engines was soothing to him as the tiny shuttlecraft cruised along to the home world of the Karvaians. Voyager had made first contact with one of their scout ships two days before and the Captain wanted to immediately send out a diplomatic party to speak with them. The first officer had been given the mission, taken a shuttle, and departed from Voyager. Chakotay had always found that piloting a ship manually was a good source of therapy and relaxation, better than sitting in a chair and talking to a psychologist for hours on end. Maybe that was why he was having trouble getting to know Sarah Barrett.

It wasn't that he didn't like her; she was a bright young woman with a strong personality. However, she was a psychologist and whenever he opened his mouth to speak he wondered if she was taking silent notes about his mental state. It was this reason, that he was uncomfortable around her, that he believed Captain Janeway had sent them on the mission together. She was hoping that the time alone would help them work up a little bit of a rapport aside from the first officer/counselor relationship. Well, it was proving to be hard to do just that since Barrett was barely speaking to him. She had helped him with preflight and everything else that Starfleet protocol demanded of her, but once they were well on their way she had barricaded her self so to speak in the aft cabin of the shuttle, reading over PADDs.

Her eyes were narrowed, reading over the material vigorously, as if she felt that she didn't have enough time to read through it all. He recalled her concern for Neelix not being allowed on this mission, but Janeway had not felt comfortable allowing the Talaxian on another away mission just yet, not after what had happened on Ocampa with Neelix deceiving them to help rescue Kes. So, instead, Sarah had been handed stacks of PADDs on the data that Neelix had on the Karvaians right before they left.

He had been trying to get her to talk about what she was working on, to break the ice, but she had responded coldly that once she had a better grasp on Karvarian culture she would let him know, and the discussion had ended there.

But despite the lack of communication on this trip, he could see why Janeway liked the young woman so much. She could switch from hard and calculating, to soft and caring when the situation presented itself. And, he admitted, she had a wry sense of humor. But other than her personality, he didn't know much about her, except what her service record had indicated, and even then that didn't go into depth. He did know that she had a dark past, one that she was trying to turn her life around from. Like so many other people on this journey, he thought with sudden realization, as he made a course correction.

He had also tried asking her about her time at the Academy, perhaps make a connection between the two of them there. She had remarked, perhaps another time.

Looking at his panel he concluded that had been over two hours ago, just after they had cleared Voyager and been on their way to Karva. They would be reaching the planet in about thirty minutes. "Captain Janeway tells me you were a part of a team that studied the Borg," he spoke up, hoping to get something from her. It seemed that if they didn't have the integration of the Maquis into Voyager's crew to talk about, then they had nothing to talk about. And he didn't know why, but that bothered him.

"I was the head psychologist on a research vessel that composed of some of Starfleet's top engineers, science officers, and doctors," came her subdued reply. "Our mission was to collect as much information about the Borg as we could, such as their psyche and their technology and bring it back to Starfleet in the hopes that a better defense against the Borg could be made and spare us from another disaster like Wolf 359."

"Really? What made you want to study the Borg?" Chakotay asked her, brown eyes peering up for only a few seconds. "They aren't exactly the warmest species in the galaxy to be hanging around with."

"My mother was killed at Wolf 359," Barrett replied, a bit of pain etched in her voice. "I guess I wanted to justify the reason they had killed her."

Her answer had deadpanned the conversation, just when he felt like he was getting somewhere with her. The console blared suddenly and the ship lurched to the left. Perplexed, Chakotay corrected their course thinking that they had run into some form of spatial distortion; another blare and an even more violent lurch.

"A ship just appeared off of our port nacelle. They're firing on us," Barrett announced. She had jumped up from her seat in the aft cabin and into the one besides Chakotay. Her fingers were running over the console. "I don't understand why sensors didn't pick them up coming in!"

"I've never seen this type of ship before, it's not Karvaian," Chakotay said. "I'm going to try out running them. Try hailing them on all frequencies."

"No response," Sarah replied as the shuttle was hit again, this time causing sparks to emit from the conduits.

The shuttle craft in reality was no match for the alien ship. The readings were showing them that they were up against a ship that had vast technological advances, superior to their own, but perhaps, if they could get in communications range of Karva, their new friends could assist them. But with the next hit, the port nacelle caught fire, sending the shuttle into a downward spiral. Chakotay tried to right the shuttle with the only engine he had, as smoke filled the cabin. Barrett was screaming that the aliens were trying to take out their engines, causing the hull to breach around the nacelle, in affect, ripping it off the tiny ship. They were hurtling towards the surface of a small planetoid.

"Can we land?" Chakotay asked her.

"Land?" Barrett repeated. "We're going to crash before we do that!"

"Is the atmosphere compatible for us?"

"It's a Class L atmosphere," Barrett replied, sapphire eyes roaming the readings the computer was giving her. "The surface consists mostly of mountains and rock, not a lot of water; high concentrations of carbon dioxide. Can we survive down there? Yes, but that's only if we survive the crash first."

Chakotay shook his head, looking at the controls determinedly. "We're not going to crash."

Sarah looked up him skeptically. "How can you say that?" Her body lurched about violently as the tiny ship entered the atmosphere. "We only have one engine and those aliens are doing everything they can to take the other one out! Commander, if we hit the rock at this speed it will tear the ship apart and us with it!"

"Not if I can help it!"

"Commander! Even if we survive the crash or landing as you put it, we don't know if those aliens will come after us," Barrett pointed out. They had only been in this part of space for a couple of weeks, but already they had learned that most of the species in this quadrant weren't friendly, the Kazon, for example, were not to be trifled with and they hadn't gotten off on the best of terms with them.

"We're going to make it look like we've been destroyed. On my command I want you to vent the plasma," Chakotay instructed her, eyes running over his console, trying to find a good place to put the shuttle down. They were coming in fast towards a very rocky region. It was not going to be a smooth landing. "Hang on!" he cried out as the aliens fired across their bow. Sparks emitted from the aft cabin and he could see Barrett gripping the console, however she held a calm expression. No doubt it was something that she had learned while studying the Borg. Who knew that experience was going to come in handy now?

"Chakotay, we're going in too fast," the Counselor rasped out, anxiously.

"Unidentified ship, surrender."

Chakotay slapped at the comline. He didn't want to hear them implore surrender. They weren't out of tricks just yet. If they were lucky the alien ship wouldn't follow them into the atmosphere. The shuttle began to quake violently as it entered the upper atmosphere. "Vent the plasma, Sarah, and target phasers on it. Fire when I tell you too."

"But that would ignite the plasma," Sarah said, even as she followed through with his orders.

"I know, I want them to believe that we've burnt up in the atmosphere."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Sarah replied.

Me too, Chakotay thought as the shuttle hurtled faster and faster towards the surface. "Fire now!"

Phasers burst forth from the shuttle craft, igniting the plasma into a fireball behind them. The alien ship backed off, whether or not they believed that the shuttle had indeed exploded and were avoiding exploding themselves, the two officers couldn't be sure. They had other problems. Chakotay noticed on his fading sensors that the alien ship was reversing course. For the time being the threat had been eliminated, but now they were spiraling out of control towards a rocky planet. "Dispatch an automated distress signal to Voyager!"

Sarah moved about so she could record a message and send it to Voyager. It was brief, seeing how they didn't have much time before the ship hit the surface, but she hoped that it was effective. Turning back towards the Commander she only had a few moments to grip the console as he cried out to brace for impact.

Despite Chakotay's best efforts, and even though he managed to slow the ship's descent, the shuttle hit the rocky soil hard and both officers felt their bodies being thrown about against the panels and controls as the shuttle tore a path through the rock. It swayed back and forth, first the port nacelle was sheared off, and then the starboard nacelle came ripping off as well, exploding in a ball of flame that sent both Chakotay and Sarah flying from their seats as the shuttle slammed into a solid rock wall. In a blinding flash of light, both officers were knocked unconscious, the shuttle coming finally to a stop, crumpled against a mountain side.

He awoke with the taste of blood in his mouth and smoke in his eyes. Chakotay blinked, trying to take in his surroundings. The lights were flickering on and off, the consoles as well, and the memories began to return to his jostled mind. Rising up on to his elbows he peered out the view port. The shuttle was in shambles, but lucky for them, the shields had held long enough to protect them from the fires and explosions of the nacelles. Now, they were rested against a solid bed of rock. It hadn't been his best landing, but at least they had managed to get down in one piece.

They. He suddenly realized that he had no idea where Sarah was. Turning about, which sent a shooting pain up his right leg, he tried to locate her. She was a few feet from him, plasma burns covering a part of her face and hands. There was a huge gash across her cheek and she did not appear to be breathing. Grabbing the emergency medical kit he pulled out the tricorder and ran the hand scanner over her body. She was breathing and alive, but she had not faired as well as he had when it came to the crash landing.

She had several broken ribs, one had punctured a lung. The burns on her face and hands were second degree plasma burns that he could easily treat with a deremial regenerator, but that was the least of his concerns, she had suffered massive internal bleeding as well. If Voyager did not find them and find them soon, the young woman was going to die. Her eyes opened then and she looked at him, confused.

"We made it?"

"We made it," Chakotay replied, helping her sit up slightly. She winced in pain. "You were injured in the crash."

"How bad?" Sarah asked, trying to grit her teeth and bear the pain.

"Nothing too serious," he lied to her, reaching in the medical kit for a hypospray.

"You're a terrible liar; didn't they teach how to lie with the Maquis?"

He laughed, giving her a warm smile. "Should have known I couldn't fool you," he whispered, pressing the hypospray to her neck. "Here this will help with the pain. I'm afraid that's all I can do for now, besides treat your burns. You need surgery."

She nodded her head as the pain began to dull. "What about Voyager?"

Chakotay shook his head. "I'm not sure our message was received and I'm not sure I can send another one. It looks like our systems took heavy damage." He wiped some sweat from his brow and glanced around the cabin. He wasn't sure how they were going to get out of this one. Pulling himself up to his feet he moved towards the communication panel and saw that it was burnt out, probably where Sarah had received the burns from. So much for trying to send another message out to Voyager; he realized that even if he were able to get another message out, the aliens that had attacked them may pick the transmission up and come back to finish them off. Then they'd be in more trouble then they were now.

It was best to try and survive on this planet and wait for Voyager to find them. Glancing at Sarah he wondered how much time she could hold out. He wasn't a doctor, knew some basic first aid, but even he knew that she didn't have time on her side. One thing was for sure, they were going to need something to keep them warm and water. They had enough emergency rations to last them a few days, but a quick glance at the systems told him that the replicator was down and so weren't environmental controls. Once they lost the sunlight, it was going to get cold in that tiny shuttle. He grabbed a tricorder and a phaser. "I'm going to go look for water and something to start a fire with."

"You really think we'll be here that long?"

"There's no telling how long we'll be here," Chakotay responded, opening the hatch. Before he left he turned about and offered her a smile. "Don't go anywhere while I'm away."

A small, pain filled smile spread across her face. "Don't worry, Commander, I won't."

#star trek voyager #star trek voyager fanfiction #kathryn janeway #chakotay #tom paris #sarah barrett (oc)#tuvok #harry kim #b'elanna torres #kes #neelix #the doctor (emh)#janeway x chakotay #tom paris x ofc #this way became my journey

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lodessa · 5 years ago

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Fics I Managed to Post During the 2018-2019 Teaching Year

Salvation and Rapture For the Lonely, Doctor Who, Ninth Doctor/Martha Jones, 34,133 words (10/10 Chapters Complete), Explicit.

Fresh in his grief and his guilt following the end of the Time War, the remarkably capable and insightful Martha Jones reminds Nine of why he loves the human race. After her traumatic time with Ten, Martha worries that spending time with Nine is a bad idea but finds she can't resist, especially as the differences between the way the two of them regard her becomes increasingly clear. Traveling together they find the strength to face their respective grief and inspiration to move forward.

a hundred thoughts to make this one disappear, Game of Thrones, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, 16,758 words, Explicit.

Jaime arrives at Winterfell and struggles to explain himself. Some things are easier for others to accept than they are for Brienne. (Divergence from TV Canon Pre-Season 8), Explicit.

The Troublesome Heat of the Indian Subcontinent, the Insufferable Gabriel Lorca, and His Rather Fine Eyes: A Katrina Cornwell Story, Star Trek: Discovery, Katrina Cornwell/Gabriel Lorca, 4,864 words, General.

When Miss Katrina Cornwell agrees to accompany her good friend, Philippa Georgiou, to visit their mutual friend, Afsaneh Paris, in Calcutta, she in no way anticipates the type of heat she is about to encounter. (Victorian Era AU)

In the Arms of Justice, A Song of Ice and Fire, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, 2,428 words, Explicit.

When the person you love saves your life, there is only one thing to do next. (PWP with feelings)

Punishment and Rewards, RPF, KM/RB, 2,008 words, Explicit.

Kate and Robert enjoy their lunch break on set a great deal.

k’war’ma’khon, Star Trek: Discovery, Philippa Georgiou and the House of Sarek, 13,679 words (6/13 chapters Posted WIP), General.

An Alternate Universe in which Philippa Georgiou survives to become the captain of the Discovery.

Crisscrossed Boundaries, Star Trek: Voyager, Kathryn Janeway/Chakotay, 4,194 words, Explicit.

Chakotay confesses a fantasy he's had for a long time and Kathryn is more than willing to fulfill it.

The Stranger Unveiled, Game of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen/Jorah Mormont, 1,103 words, General.

Daenerys faces the afterlife.

Sleeplessness, Game of Thrones, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, 890 words, Teen.

An exploration of what it is that keeps Jaime up at night.

A Bane of the Heart, Game of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen/Jorah Mormont, 8,823 words, Explicit.

Ser Jorah Mormont survives the battle with the Night King, forcing Daenerys to suddenly realize a great deal about her true feelings. (Part One of Season 8 Canon Divergence from the end of 8x03 series Game of Fixes)

A Keeping of Oaths, Game of Thrones, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, 9,885 words, Explicit.

In a better timeline, Jaime sticks around at Winterfell after he and Brienne finally give in to their mutual feelings for one another, and they sort out what they want their future to look like together. (Part Two of Season 8 Canon Divergence from the end of 8x03 series Game of Fixes)

take this time (to set the record straight), Game of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen/Jorah Mormont, 2,336 words, Explicit.

Like so many at Winterfell, Daenerys also spends her final hours before the battle with the Night King with the person who means the most to her. (Missing Scene for 8x02)

#lodessa writes fic #you can tell where my mind is right now #jaime x brienne #dany x jorah #lorca x cornwell #martha x nine #janeway x chakotay #philippa georgiou

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kjaneway115 · 6 years ago

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Star Trek Voyager: Counterpoint

Episode 5.10 “Counterpoint”

The episode begins with a Devore inspection. Janeway tells the inspector that they know the drill. Kashyk appears in Janeway’s office. He’s playing classical music, Mahler Symphony 1. He has replicated coffee for both of them and then dismisses Prax and the other guard. The inspectors are both thorough and rude. The Devore do not embrace strangers. Kashyk asks about Tuvok and Vorik and the Betazoids, Suder and Jeroth. Janeway tells him that they are all dead. Kashyk says that if she was harboring telepaths he would have to arrest her. Kashyk asks Janeway if she trusts him, and she says she does not. Prax suggests they impound the ship for deviating from its course, but Kashyk lets them go. He offers his friendship to Janeway. Kashyk leaves and Janeawy rolls her eyes. Janeway has been storing Tuvok, Vorik and several other telepaths in the transporter.

They can’t continue to go into transporter suspension. They are supposed to rendezvous with a transport vessel, but the transporter vessel changes the rendezvous coordinates. KJ and Neelix have a great relationship. She can be almost coy with him at times.

Kashyk approaches Voyager in a ship, alone. He meets her in her ready room. Chakotay looks at Janeway with obvious concern. Kashyk tells Janeway he’s defected and asks for asylum. He tells her the rendezvous is a trap and that he knows she has 12 refugees aboard. He says he could have exposed this at any time, but he wants to protect them. He says his people know about the wormhole and are looking for it. Kashyk gives Tuvok their patrol schedule so they can avoid inspections. Janeway tells Kashyk she must remain under guard. One of the aliens knows about an alien named Turat who may be able to help them find the wormhole.

Janeway questions Kashyk about his motives for his change of heart. He says he’s been looking for an opportunity to leave; he says she was the perfect opportunity because she’s a humanitarian. She tells him she doesn’t trust him. She says she’ll get him to the wormhole, but with some restrictions. He says he’s used to being surrounded by armed guards. “Except this time they belong to me,” Janeway tells him. “Consider them a reminder that Voyager is my ship.” Kashyk replies that no one could doubt that. She is powerful, suspicious, poised.

They find Turat but he evades them. As they are discussing what to do, Kashyk moves to stand at Janeway’s shoulder. Chakotay watches them. Janeway offers Turat a valuable material in exchange for his knowledge. Janeway and Kashyk play a game to get Turat to reveal what he knows; the chemistry between them is undeniable. Turat tells them that the wormhole moves all the time. Janeway holds the valuable material hostage and looks at Turat coyly, flirting with him. She and Kashyk exchange a heated glance when they win.

KJ and Kashyk search for the wormhole, late at night in the messhall. She’s wearing her turtleneck but no jacket. He clearly excites her. He says he’s going to miss coffee; she offers to share the recipe. “I suppose you like me better in uniform,” he says to her. “I haven’t decided whether I like you at all,” she replies. Kashyk asks Janeway if she’ll be welcome when she does get home, because of the Prime Directive. She replies she’ll sort it out later at the Board of Inquiry, and says she’s on a first name basis with many admirals. Kashyk tells a story about a child he had to condemn in a ship. He looks out at the swirls in the sky and tells her that they’ve never looked so beautiful… “Could be the company I’m keeping,” he says. They walk back to his quarters. He invites her in. She looks past him at his quarters; a million emotions cross her face as she considers the offer. She exchanges a glance with the security guard outside Kashyk’s quarters who has heard the entire exchange.

They try to cross a Devore detection grid with Kashyk’s help, but they are detected. Tom hails Janeway and tells her that the Devore ships are on their way. She and Chakotay look right at each other. She touches him and tells him to take the bridge, then calls for Kashyk. Kashyk tells her they have to talk. In his quarters, he tells her he’s going back to rejoin the warships; it’s the only way he can guarantee their safety. He says he can take command of the inspection teams and allow them to get through the wormhole, but she says no, “It’s too dangerous.” “Kathryn…” he says. She tells him she brought him on board on the condition that he would follow her orders. He says if he stays their best chance of escape will be lost. She says she was planning to ask him to stay after they got through the wormhole. “I wouldn’t mind having someone around who appreciates a bit of Tchaikovsky now and then.” He says he wouldn’t fit in on Voyager, either. She tells him his shuttle will be ready for launch within the hour. They both look hurt.

Kashyk assures Kathryn that the inspection will be quick. Tuvok tells Kashyk, “Live long and prosper.” Only Kathryn is with him in the shuttle bay. She tells him she’ll wait for him at the wormhole for as long as they can. “I may not be able to join you this time,” he says. “Try,” she replies. He kisses her, and then she kisses him back, long and deep. He takes her hand and kisses it twice before boarding his shuttle. She watches him board the shuttle. How much of their kiss is real, for either of them?

The inspection begins, and Janeway tells Chakotay that they follow protocol. Kashyk has Janeway report to her ready room. Prax and the other guard are there. Kashyk plays Tchaikovsky; he says it’s his favorite. “Mine, too,” she says. Kashyk asks Janeway why she entered this sector. “Exploring can sometimes be hard to resist, Inspector,” Janeway says. Kashyk dismisses Prax. Janeway tells Kashyk that she found the wormhole. He calls Prax back in and tells him he will find the telepaths in transporter suspension. Janeway appears to be genuinely hurt by Kashyk’s betrayal. She tells him he gave a masterful performance. He tells her he’s impressed by her selflessness and humanity. Kashyk has Janeway escorted back to the bridge under armed guard. Her bridge has been taken over by Devore. She sits in Chakotay’s chair while Kashyk sits in hers. She sits silently, watching Kashyk open, and then destroy the wormhole. In the cargo bay, Prax says he has isolated the biopatterns. Kashyk orders the ship to fire to open the wormhole, but it doesn’t work. “You created false readings,” he accuses Kathryn. “That is the theme for this evening,” she throws back at him. Prax reports that there are no telepaths, only cargo containers filled with vegetables. Janeway tells the computer to play Mahler’s 1st Symphony. Janeway has sent all the telepaths on 2 shuttles. They escape through the wormhole before Kashyk can get to them. Janeway sits silently during all of it. Prax says he’ll have Voyager confiscated, but Kashyk tells Prax he’s dismissed. He says this won’t look good on either of their records, and Kathryn looks at him, surprised. She leans over towards him, and he looks at her. “Well played, Captain. It seems I never did earn your trust,” he says. She tells him she had to take a few precautions. “Better than anyone,” he replies. “I never lied to you,” Kathryn admits softly. “My offer to take you with us was genuine, and it would still stand if you'd kept your part of the bargain.” “For what it's worth,” he admits with a small smile, “you made a tempting offer.” He stands. “The bridge is yours.” She watches him leave, and then once again sits back in her chair, alone.

When do they come up with their contingency plan? Although she forms a contingency plan, I do think she really is hurt by Kashyk’s betrayal. She doesn’t completely trust him but it’s like discovering that what she feared is true and she wishes it wasn’t. Is she surprised when Kashyk lets them go at the end?

Original Airdate: December 16, 1998

Production Number: 204

#voyager #star trek #star trek voyager #kashyk #counterpoint #janeway x chakotay #kathryn janeway #captain janeway #devore #episodes #episode guide #kj115's episode guides #episode summary #s05e10

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delwin47 · 6 years ago

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Arcs (ST:VOY fic)

Something I found in my drafts folder while looking for something else. Or rather two somethings that I found, both partial answers to a prompt sent by @pg1890 probably a couple years ago. I grafted them together and sent her the result. She was kind enough to beta her shamelessly belated gift and so posting it here as well for anyone who might care to take a look…

(if you prefer, now on AO3 here or on FFN here)

Arc, def. in Astronomy, the part of a circle representing the apparent course of a physical body across space and time...or something like that...

...

“I don’t have time for this.”

Tom means to give her some space, to try again later. He reaches out to grab her hand – to give a quick squeeze before getting back to his own long list of repairs -- and stops dead.

Because there is blood on her knuckles.

“What happened to your hand?”

B’Elanna snatches the hand back, covers the blood on the knuckles of her right hand with her fingers of her left. “Nothing.” Tom’s eyebrows climb. “I mean,” she gestures before again covering her hand, “we got shaken around a lot down here. You know.”

“And that caused you to throw your fist into a bulkhead?”

Two crewmen pass between them; that’s all the time it takes for B’Elanna’s confusion to morph into quiet fury. “Back off, Tom.”

“What the hell did Burke mean to you?”

Somewhere in Tom’s mind he knows that he’s crossed a line – crossed it a couple of steps ago in fact. And, anywhere else, they would already be at each other’s throats. But they’re in Engineering and its chief remains dangerously quiet.

“Fuck you.”

She spins on her heel, melting into the composed chaos of her staff and her engines. Swinn and Mendez close ranks behind her, blocking her from view, leaving Tom standing alone and ignored.

A year ago would he have left it at that?

Had he? Had he walked away – let her walk away – when she was bloodied and wounded?

Hell, a year ago he hadn’t even noticed the blood.

But it isn’t a year ago and he finds her deep in the guts of her ship, somewhere along Jefferies tube 47 between the ninth and tenth intersects. She has a flux coupler in hand and is standing under an open panel, but she’s staring into space, unmoving.

“B’Elanna?”

She starts at the sound of her name and then, with a snarl, reaches up to the open panel and becomes very busy with the work she was ignoring a moment before. “How’d you find me?”

“We’re on a ship; you have a communicator.”

She grunts. “You wouldn’t get a clear reading on me down here.” He guesses she’d made sure of that. “Who gave me up?”

It had been Carey, who had also noticed his chief’s bloodied knuckles and drawn conclusions similar to Tom’s own. But the information had come with no little reluctance and at the cost of a more than well-deserved berating for the boorishness of Tom’s earlier behavior.

“Now you know I’m not going to tell you that.”

She responds with a barrage of muttered Klingon and the tool she is using slips, causing a cascade of sparks to explode over her hands. “Fuck,” she yelps, slamming into the opposite wall of the narrow space as she jumps back, clutching her now twice-injured hand to her chest. Tom winces but dares not move toward her to help: the next move needs to be hers.

He waits, giving her what time and space he can, bracing for whatever she has to throw at him.

Instead, she gives a half-strangled sob and slumps down onto the floor of the tube, her spine hunched against the wall, her knees drawn to her chest, still cradling her hand.

It’s as much of an invitation as he’s going to get. He folds himself down on the floor beside her, ignoring the protest of overly long limbs.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

She nods, not looking at him. “I know.”

“I saw the blood and I stopped thinking. I never should have…”

“I know,” she repeats, but now tilts her head and shifts tired eyes toward him. “It’s okay, really.”

And maybe it is.

“Can I see your hand?”

To his surprise, she holds it out to him. With herculean effort, he manages not to react as he examines the cuts and bruises and now the burns.

“I assume you brought a dermal regenerator?”

Tom looks up in further surprise: he had, but with little to no expectation that she would let him treat her injuries.

She shrugs almost imperceptibly. “It hurts.”

He nods and reaches into his jacket pocket to extract the instrument and a small flask.

“This might help with the pain as well.” He unscrews the top before passing it for her to take awkwardly in her left hand while he begins work on her right.

She sniffs the contents. “Drinking whiskey in a Jefferies tube. Do I even want to know how many regs this violates?”

“Probably not.” His attention is on her hand.

Shrugging, she takes a long swallow. He’s done what he can with the dermal regenerator. Returning it to his pocket, he gives her a long look.

“It’s traditional,” he says: “A drink to fallen friends.”

She’s already swallowed or he’s sure she would have spit out her mouthful.

“Max.”

He waits. Time and space; space and time. He’s a pilot; these are his media. He waits.

“Not much of a friend,” she finishes her own thought but takes another drink.

“He had been.”

“Not at the end.”

Her face is dry. He’d once thought B’Elanna Torres didn’t cry; he knows better now. But her tears are rare, rarer even than that particular smile which he sometimes thinks is for him alone.

Or had it been for Max Burke as well?

Grow up, Thomas.

“Tell me about him.”

She shakes her head, no.

“It could help.”

She turns, her eyes bright. “Tom. You of all people don’t want to listen to me talk about Max.”

“I want to listen to you,” he says, almost evenly. “About Max Burke or anything else.”

She considers and then nods, handing back the flask.

Tom takes a healthy swallow.

“He was ahead of me at the Academy, going into his fourth year when I was coming in for my first.” She tilts her head, thinking. “A year behind you.”

Commander Maxwell Burke. First officer of the Equinox. Max Burke had been pinning on his third pip while Tom had been landlocked, staring up at the backwards spinning stars of the southern hemisphere. And he’d have been accepting his lieutenancy while Tom was drowning nightmares of spiraling shuttles with whatever local poison could be found on the cheap.

“How did you meet?” He fidgets with the flask in his hands, wishing he could somehow inconspicuously take another swallow. Or three.

“Running. The Decathlon team,” B’Elanna clarifies and then almost smiles, caught in the memory. Tom’s fingers crush against the hard surface of the flask. “He was the team captain and responsible for setting up training schedules for the first year cadets.” She glances at Tom. “We argued. A lot.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Tom manages to keep his tone light – there is a script to follow here after all - as something small and unpleasant claws its way through his gut and he unwillingly envisions where those arguments probably led.

“What was he like? Back then?”

B’Elanna turns away and that makes it a little easier. “Ambitious but easy going. Confident.” She shrugs. “A natural leader.”

Tom parses that: the math doesn’t work out, not completely.

“Why did you like him?” He doesn’t want to ask, doesn’t want to know.

Another shrug. “He was a friend when I didn’t have anyone else. Someone who wouldn’t let me drive him away.” One corner of her mouth quirks, hovering between grin and grimace. “He could even make me laugh, sometimes.”

Fuck.

He takes a long drink of whiskey then and almost leaves. Almost sends her Chakotay or Harry or anyone else.

But then she pulls the flask out of his hand and takes another swallow herself. “What a fucking idiot I am. How could I not have seen what he was?”

He’s back on script: “Maybe he wasn’t that then.”

“Of course he was. People don’t change. Not that much.”

And Tom’s world freezes, time and space collapsing in on themselves.

…standing in the bright autumn Auckland sunlight, informing Janeway he has no problem helping to track down his Maquis friends…

…finishing off the last of his foul tasting Breshtani ale and surveying the dimly lit border colony dive for any opportunity to sell himself for another…

…his thumb hovering over the imprint button as he stares at the fabricated incident report, wishing that signing it could make it true…

“Shit. Tom – I didn’t mean…”

Endless stars surround them as they float weightlessly through space and what time they have left slips away. “Do you think I’ve changed?”

Tom shakes his head. “It’s okay.”

“In his place, you could never have…”

“You don’t know that. He thought it was a matter of survival.” And for his crew, not just himself. How much had Tom done for so much less?

“He betrayed me, Tom. You would never…”

She stops. Tom can all but feel the late afternoon heat of the Auckland sun burning his skin. He holds her gaze. Steadily.

“Shit.”

She slumps back against the wall.

Tom waits again as the universe slowly stretches itself back out. He considers the force of coherent tetryon beams that bend time and space to catapult starships across the galaxy and pull on the arcs of human lives, flexing and transposing until a hero becomes a monster and a dispossessed mercenary might find his way back to a family and a home.

At last, B’Elanna holds out her good hand and Tom passes her the flask.

She raises it in a toast: “To the Maxwell Burke I knew.”

She takes a swallow and then hands the flask back to Tom who joins her in a tribute that is without absolution.

#things i find in my drafts folder #(wishing it was)spring cleaning #fanfic #star trek voyager

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admiralkatcornwellfan · 6 years ago

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for @ejc74656 who Sent me prompt #158'this is awkward'

from the prompt list https://admiralkatcornwellfan.tumblr.com/post/178440529455/nearly-200-writing-prompts-feel-free-to-reblog

'This is awkward'

wasn't the first thought came to Kathryn's mind when she literally bumped into Chakotay on DS9. but after initial greetings and smile that felt stretching too much instead of being genuine , Kathryn began to feel the sheer awkwardness of this situation.

He was alone, of course. And she wouldn't even think of the awkwardness if she managed to bump into..well,both of them.

Not that it would happen anyway, according to the scuttlebutt of Voyager (which was functioning at optimum capacity even after the abrupt return to Alpha Quadrent) she had left Earth for Vulcan, for a prestigious position in Vulcan science Academy. and for him , he had disappeared from Earth not a moment to soon their three month debriefings had ended.

Not even B'Elanna knew where he was and Kathryn didn't had the need or the energy to dissect the emotions and feelings his sudden departure made her experience. Instead, she bent her head down, posed for Starfleet propaganda, her own promotion as a vice Admiral and worked until she forgot she ever left Earth in the first place. Not that it worked anyway, if her all too familiar night terrors and Panic attacks were any sign.

It hurt like hell when she was 'not so gently' told by her own charming future self that he was with her, of all people he could choose to be with , he chose the one that hurt her most.

Kathryn Sometimes wondered if he did it by purpose, a move to hurt her back , after all the pain and heartbreak she caused him through years. She did want to forget she wasn't to be blamed but her guilty conscience reminded her too often the look in his eyes when she was with Kashyyk or 'the-alien-of-the-week' and she Never missed the jealousy undertone of his amused voice , when he told her to have 'fun' with Michael Sullivan.

All the thoughts she mulled over countless glasses of wine in Quiet evenings for past 8 months came back to her in a rush , and it was overwhelming , so to speak.

She didn't know what to feel; anger, sadness, betrayal or happiness that he hadn't blown himself up with another shuttle. So she choose awkwardness. that was way better and she had an image to uphold.

Even in a place like DS9, Face of the golden girl of Starfleet was never going to go unnoticed and to add up to it, she was in her full uniform as well.

Chakotay tugged at his ear and Kathryn knew he was feeling the same thing and she also knew the water under the bridge was far too Deep when it came to their relationship. Or lack thereof.

But how much she missed him, oh God how many times she turned to her left to say something to him and found the cold empty space instead of the familiar warmth and strength his presence provided? or the dinners and lunches he would drag her into, despite her protests but she'd thoroughly enjoy nontheless? Or the comfortable silence inbetween them while they worked, sipping their favorite beverages and Chakotay breaking the silence to tell a new rumor he heard via the scuttlebutt (how he get to know all that, she never knew) or just stories from his Academy days and she'd join in with a full laugh or a small story of her own. Gods, she missed her best friend, and she was determined to get back that, at least.

So she found herself almost dragging him to her VIP quaters and what a sight that must've been. The Hero of the Delta Quadrent , a vice Admiral , dragging her former first officer, a tall, dark ,handsome civilian , dressed in black leather through Quark's bar.

Chakotay followed suit, never even questioning her once.

And once they were safely inside her darkend quaters, and the door shut behind them, she turned to get a good look at him.

He was much leaner than when she last saw him, his face gaunt and a few new lines added here and there, the skin turned to a darker brown instead of the golden hue she was used to.

She could feel the roughened palms of his underneath her own softened ones, and she could take a clever guess where he had been over all this time.

'Have you finished looking, Kathryn'?

he asked finally, amusement evident in his voice as he smiled at her, full dimples on effect.

Kathryn found her face was getting more heated that she liked and almost felt annoyed at herself for being this responsive to him. She was never immune to those beautiful dimples for all the years in DQ and it seemes she was still the same , despite the long absence Between.

'Have you'? she countered his question with her own because she knew and already felt his gaze lingering on herself and as always he was a gentleman in that as well.

'Never will be'

His answer gave her more questions as now she followed him to the couch and almost flopped on it, a defeated sigh escaping her lips.

'What do you want from me Kathryn? I'm not saying that seeing you here is a thought that crossed my mind. but I want to know .... ' he ended in a softer tone , unsure how to procede,because this scenario was not even in his mind by lightyears whenever he thought about his meeting with Kathryn. He was prepared for a cold shoulder , heck even anger. but not a Marathon through corridors of a Deep Space station and ending up in her quaters. Not that he minded anyway.

Kathryn licked her suddenly dry lips and swallowed a knot that was in her throat (which came always when she thought about him) along with her pride and answered quickly. Janeways were Never cowards and they were all 'straight shooters' but she had been a coward for far too long when it came to him. And all technicalities and semantics aside, she owed him the truth.

'I want you back , Chakotay. I need you in my life. I missed you so much and I'm so sorry...' her voice failed her as she avoided his gaze, stood up and walked to the viewport to look at the still-stars outside.

Chakotay was shell-shocked for a moment, unsure of what he heard. Kathryn Janeway he knew, had a hard time admitting her faults and expressing her vulnerabilities. Just when he thought he figured this woman out, she just can surprise him with a move he Never even anticipated from her. He was thinking about going to Earth, staying with Parises for couple of days and then going to find Kathryn to at least salvage what was left of their friendship.

but here he was in DS9, just an hour after his shuttle from Dorvan landed, listening to a confession from the person he didn't even dreamt of listening to . In his mind, he had dishonoured a vow he made , despite what ever she did, he swore to stay by her side and bear her burdens. but what did he do? In guilt and shame over his actions, ran to the furthest corner he could think of like a kicked puppy.

He sighed and almost smiled as he stood up to join her at the viewport and placed his hand on her shoulder.

Startled, Kathryn almost jumped but relaxed when she realized it was just him.

'It is I who should apologize to you. I promised that I would be there for you and look what I did'. he chuckled humorlessly.

Kathryn looked into his eyes and saw a myriad of emotions swimming in Those dark depths she always found mysterious and intriguing. And just then she knew she didn't want to be part from him for another day. She waited for 7 long years for this, to be free of protocols an regulations that strangled her.

'we both have lot of things to point out if we are going to do just that. but I don't want to waste anymore time, Chakotay.

Are you with me?'

and he replied with the answer she was well used to hearing from him before finally gathering her in his arms and kissing her on the lips.

'Always'.

Also on Ao3 ( for some reason I can't link it)

#wordsofjc #j/c forever #j/c fanfic #janeway x chakotay #admiral janeway #chakotay

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rikerssexblouse · 6 years ago

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Six Deadly Words: Writing Prompts 38 and 34 J/C if you are taking these prompts

Janeway/Chakotay. AU. Set approximately sometime in season two.

Part 1: To Be Delivered Upon My Death

It was a task usually performed as a matter of course when a captain received a new ship or a new first officer: the captain would record a message for the first officer, offering comfort and words of wisdom, to be delivered in the event that the captain was killed in the line of duty and her first officer had to take command of the ship.

Kathryn didn’t know what had taken her so long this time. They’d been so overwhelmed when they’d first arrived in the Delta Quadrant, it would be reasonable to believe that she simply hadn’t had the time to spare.

But she didn’t think it was that.

It could have been an inability to accept her own mortality. It certainly wasn’t an unheard of challenge for Starfleet captains, and in her more reflective moments she could admit she could be a little reckless. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to believe that she thought she was a little invincible and hadn’t bothered because she didn’t think it was necessary. But she didn’t think it was that either.

She’d only come up with one other explanation.

When she’d chosen Chakotay as her first officer, it had partially been a political move to unite the crews. But that didn’t necessarily mean she didn’t also think he was fully qualified, able and ready to take over if something were to happen to her. And yet, here she was, more than a year later, and she was only just now ready to follow through on the implications of her choice.

Had she trusted him at the time?

Had she actually wanted him as first officer, or had she wanted a figurehead to quell the unrest?

After all the time they’d spent together in the last two years, she felt guilty for not trusting him fully. Even if it had been reasonable at the time, things between them had changed so much…

Smiling, she hit save. Better now than never.

The message had been the usual, not tremendously different from the one she’d recorded for Cavit before Voyager had left on its maiden mission. But after only a small hesitation, she began to record a second message.

The one was more personal, reflecting on what they’d been through together, and on their relationship. Her last words to a man she depended on every day of her life. But it just didn’t seem quite right. She deleted recording after recording, finding each one to be an inadequate expression of her feelings.

Her feelings. What were her feelings? She frowned. It wasn’t that she hadn’t admitted to herself, usually late at night in the darkness of her own bedroom, that she found him attractive. That in another situation, things might have been different. But things weren’t different. They were the same as always, and she simply couldn’t justify a relationship with a subordinate. There were too many risks.

But if he was receiving this message in the future, the situation would be different. Not in a way that she would ever be able to take advantage of. But… didn’t he deserve to know the truth? What harm would there be in finally being honest?

It would be her last and possibly only opportunity to tell him how she felt.

Taking a deep breath, she hit record.

Part 2: It’s The Morning After You Died

When Chakotay woke up the next morning, he somehow felt even worse than he had the night before.

The hours had not lessened his grief in the slightest. The sight of Kathryn’s broken body haunted him no matter where he turned. He saw it when he closed his eyes, seared into the back of his eyelids.

He’d barely slept.

And now they were supposed to move on, as though anything could ever be the same without their captain.

As though anything could ever be the same without Kathryn.

He forced himself to shower and shave, but it was only the responsibility of putting on a brave face for the rest of the ship that motivated him. Someone needed to show them that things would be okay, even if he didn’t really believe it. If it hadn’t been for that, he would have stayed in bed.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t faced death plenty of times before, both in Starfleet and in the Maquis. But something about this was different.

Something about Kathryn was different.

He tried to push the thought from his mind. It wouldn’t do him any good to wallow in regret now. No point in dwelling on what he’d done, or what he hadn’t done. Kathryn would never be back. It was too late.

He was about to walk out the door when he saw the light blinking on his console.

Frowning, he sat down and opened the message.

When her image popped up in front of him, it was a punch to the gut. He couldn’t breathe, frozen by the power of her smiling face. He wanted to turn it off, but he couldn’t move his hands. He watched in silent panic as she began to speak.

He barely noticed as the tears began to stream down his face.

None of the words even penetrated his brain. He saw her face, heard her face, delighted in her smile, but the words were too difficult to process. When it was over, he blinked, finally able to move. He was reaching up to turn it off when the computer spoke to him.

“Next message.”

A second message started - also from Kathryn. There was something different about the way she looked at him in this one but he didn’t know what it meant.

“Chakotay,” she began, “if you are watching this, I am so, so sorry. I hope that you never have to watch this. But if you do, that means that these are my last words to you. And I don’t want to leave this world without having told you the truth.”

Her image paused for a minute and Chakotay didn’t dare breathe.

“Chakotay, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Send me a prompt and I’ll write about death.

#Kathryn and Chakotay #fanfic #writing #admiralkatcornwellfan

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secretvixen83 · 6 years ago

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Quieter Souls

Chakotay felt reenergized after his session using the Akuna. Some questions were answered, while other questions were raised. He was right about his necklace, yes he was right about the glow from the stone. Ironically, he realized that the glowing hue was identical to Kathryn’s eyes. Smiling to himself, he silently wished her “good night”. Crawling into bed himself, he stared at the ceiling. It seemed lighter than it should be and he thought it was odd. He dismissed it though, and rolled to his side, and fell asleep.

He was dreaming. He knew he was, but the smell of fire still made him jumpy. He was in the cargo bay, and the computer wasn’t responding to his orders. Had Kathryn lost trust in him? Had she removed his status? He turned and looked around him. Fire everywhere. It wasn’t that he had been removed, but that he was trapped, and systems were malfunctioning to stop the fire. He tried to make it to the wall to manually override the computer. As he moved there was a flash, and a massive white fireball knocked him down. The air knocked out of him, he struggled once more to his feet. He wouldn’t die like this, dream or not. Silently, he called on his spirit guide to help him. He looked around again and noticed the flames had changed. They were completely white. Burning yes, but not moving towards him. They stayed static. Not wanting to tempt fate, he began to quickly move to the wall. In front of him a shape suddenly appeared. It was approximately 5ft in stature, maybe more. Pointed ears like an Ocampa, but lanky like an elf. It was almost like a statue but had been painted. He looked at it but was more anxious to handle the flames. Making his way to the wall finally, he pulled open the panel and began redirecting the circuit power. Just when he was ready to give up, the foam shot from the walls at floor level and extinguished the flames.

As the smoke cleared, the statue remained unharmed. He walked towards it and stopped about a foot away when he heard the voice. “This is not Borg space as she thinks.” It hissed. “Beware star seeker, you shall make friend and foe here.” The voice wasn’t scary, it just caught him off guard. As soon as the voice stopped a huge rush of wind seemed to envelope the room, and the statue shattered, then dissolved. Chakotay was picked up in the wind and thrown.

With a jump, Chakotay woke to find himself on the floor in his quarters. Sweating just as if he had gone back to the Holodeck to work out, his shorts clung to his legs, and the heat from his skin radiated out. Slowly getting up, he took a deep breath. The words replayed in his head “Not Borg space, friend and foe”. Chakotay tried to shake himself of the dream and looked at the clock. 0530. Great time to get ready for work. He ate breakfast quickly and replicated coffee. Not for himself, but for her. It wasn’t much, but he would give anything to see the light back in her eyes. The necklace glowed again. As blue as Kathryn’s eyes. Smiling, Chakotay grabbed the coffee cup from the replicator, and headed out the door.

Kathryn had just passed Chakotay’s door, and he saw her rounding the corner. He carefully trotted to catch up. The light demand on his muscles making them rebel after the workout yesterday. “Kathryn!” He called to her so she would turn. As she did, his heart sped up, and he could feel the stone against his chest cooling rapidly. He could see she hadn’t slept well the night before, and he realized that it bothered him. It never had before. Or was he so dense he had never noticed it? Either way, he was sorry he had never noticed it before now. As he stepped up to her, he took her right hand in his left, and carefully set the coffee cup in her hand. “I thought you might need this before duty.” He said smiling slightly. She looked down at the cup, and back at him. “Thank you.” It was almost a whisper. A weary whisper. He walked with her in silence as she drank, and he realized the stone was colder than usual under his uniform. So cold in fact, it made goosebumps on his skin.

As they made their way onto the bridge, Chakotay felt the shift in her. No personal feelings, only work. Tom caught his eye and gave a questioning look. Chakotay smiled and shook his head, as if to say “It’s nothing.” Kathryn had settled in her chair, still cradling the coffee cup he had given her, and if someone caused her to spill it, Kathryn decided she would probably just eject them into space. She wasn’t showing it, but it touched her deeply that he had used his rations on her. As Kathryn listened to the din surrounding her, she let her mind wander to the place where she kept everything she knew about Audrey’s disappearance. The police seemed to not be willing to help, her mother was crushed, and had blamed herself, Kathryn admitted she just quit feeling after the first 30 days.

Audrey’s father, Shane had been a promising officer at the Academy. Their romance had been a whirlwind. He had turned rogue though and took up a position as a no name Maquis. Kathryn understood the Maquis cause far more than Chakotay would realize. When she found out she was pregnant, she was terrified to tell anyone. Shane found out one night after they had gone dancing, and she fell extremely ill. While being checked out by medical, the truth came to light, and he had asked her; “Is it true Katy? Are you? I mean, are we?” When she had answered in the positive, she was sure he would be enraged. Instead, he swept her up off the bed in his arms and held her tightly. It was the safest she had felt the entire time she had been pregnant. Then came the night when she was seven months 3 weeks along, when the police came to her door with the announcement that Shane was gone. She thought she had lost her soul then but carried on anyway. When Audrey was born, she struggled to find a middle name, and Shane had been adamant that the baby should have a noble, and respectable last name. So, Audrey Shane Janeway was born.

Kathryn jumped as she felt Chakotay’s light touch on her arm. She looked up at him, and knew he saw her tears and pain. Quickly, she blinked them away, as she realized Tuvok had been calling to her concerning an approaching vessel. She went through the motions and could feel Chakotay just over her left shoulder as she stood to listen and speak back to their newly found species. Curious travelers were what they were. No hostility. No war. No fighting. Several times as Chakotay would speak she caught herself looking up and slightly back at him. On purpose, she took half a step back and gently bumped into him. Then as he spoke, she studied his profile. Just looking at this man calmed her. Calmed her, alarmed her, confused her. Running her teeth across her bottom lip, she forced herself to look away from him, and back to the screen. They said their goodbyes to this new species and went on their way. As soon as the screen went back to being just darkness and stars, Kathryn made a subtle break for the Readyroom.

Chakotay watched her go. He wasn’t sure if he should follow. The words from his dream repeated. “This is not Borg space as she thinks.” With that, he handed off command to Tuvok, and followed Kathryn. She was at her desk staring at her computer when he entered. “Captain” he said, and she looked up. Emotionless. That’s how she was looking at him, and it scared him. “I need to talk to you about where we are in the quadrant.” He said, trying to illicit a reaction from her. She blinked and motioned to a chair. “Borg space.” She said as he sat. “We have been through this before.” Her tone was flat, and still emotionless. “I don’t think it’s Borg space we will be entering.” As he said that, there was a flicker in her eyes. Barely. “I am not sure what we will find here, but I doubt it will be Borg.” As he said that, Kathryn’s brow furrowed as she processed what he was saying. “Commander,” She started, as she came around the desk and stood in front of him, leaning her hip on the edge. “What do you base your findings on?” She was curious. Still guarded, still numb, but curious.

He knew how his answer would sound but he had to say it. “A dream after my meditation last night.” He repeated the dream, every part of it. Kathryn listened actively. Again, a flicker, but this time it stayed. When he was done, Kathryn was silent for a minute as she walked to the window. Turning back to face him, she said, “Commander, at this point I say we prepare for Borg—but hope for whatever your dream may mean.” Just then Seven’s voice came over their Combadges. “Captain, Commander, The readings from the probe have returned. There are no Borg in the distances tested.” Seven said in her usual, factual tone. “Very well, Seven, thank you for letting us know. Please ready the probes again to be used in the next couple of days after their data has been loaded into our records.” Chakotay said as he watched Kathryn.

She looked like if she stood still long enough, she would sleep standing up. There was about five feet between them. Kathryn felt as if it could have been a hundred. Chakotay stayed where he was, not wanting to rush or frighten Kathryn. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to smell the intoxicating soap she used, to feel her weight against him. She looked back at him, and then back out the window. He shifted and began to stand. Before he was all the way up she was in front of him. He raised his eyebrows, letting her make the first move. Her gaze said it all. She was tired, hurt, confused, scared, and underneath it all, she trusted him. She reached out her arms to him, and he quickly pulled her to him, kissing her forehead as she let out a sigh. He coaxed her into taking a nap on the couch in her office. Promising her if anything major happened he would wake her. He stayed until she fell asleep. He started to leave, instead he walked to her, kissed her forehead, and sat back down in the chair he had been in, kicked his legs out, leaned back and took a nap along side his Captain. Along side Kathryn.

#wordsofjc #star trek voyager #delta quadrant #kathryn janeway #chakotay #j/c fanfic

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impalaanddemons · 6 years ago

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Ad Astra - Chapter 2

A/N: Keva has a very bad day Story: Keva Scofield is a young member of the relatively fresh Department of Temporal Investigations and prides herself in being a temporal agent. She is sent with Junior Agent Lorilee, temporal agent in training, to investigate the destruction of the freighter Mercury and the vanishing of its Captain and First Officer. It is there at a time rift she makes first contact with an entity that calls itself Q. around 3500 words This Chapter is on Ao3

Chapter 1

Chapter 2: Unless acted upon by another Force

Uneasiness became fright at the look of his wicked smile. Fright became fear at the whisper of his voice. Fear became terror at the inevitable.

Gravity gripped down at her body. A force that clenched down on her flesh, crushing and squeezing until she howled with pain - tears streamed down her contorted face, teeth bared in pain and hate and utter terror. Something poured liquid lead into her mouth. The rift burned as it swallowed her whole. It bit down on her, chew, ground her body with forces that were never meant for a human to be endured in just a suit. The gravity well of the temporal rift crushed her bones. The rift and darkness swallowed her, eradicating what it meant to feel warmth and light and human touch. She screamed and whimpered and begged, defenselessly tossed around by an uncaring universe. And then, mercifully, thankfully, graciously - she lost her consciousness, surrounded by nothing at all.

Her temporal tricorder blinked red.

Stardate: Unknown

Gravity was a curious thing. It was the great actor of the universe. That what was and moved and caught and let go. In sufficiently empty space anything could be enough mass to attract another object. Be it an asteroid on it’s lonely journey through the universe, or a lost human in it’s space suit. Kevas Life support systems were glowing orange with the soft hum of an early oxygen alert. Were the inhabitant of the suit awake, she would have been able to read instructions on getting back to the nearest shuttle immediately to replenish her oxygen reserves. But Keva Scofield was unconscious, mind and body exhausted and twisted from a trip no human should have survived. Yet, here she was - one object among million floating in endless space. Lost and forgotten to humanity. Only attracted by the next source of mass, like any other object. Driftwood in an ocean designed to kill her. Sooner or later.

She would have died - forgotten and frozen for future explorers to find her, nothing more then a footnote in the books of history - if she hadn’t been dropped in this particular part of space, at this particular moment. She would’ve died if the rift had transported her there two weeks earlier - or two weeks later. She would’ve died in any other part of the delta quadrant.

But here at this time and place she showed up as a blip on the sensors of an Intrepid Class starship. The ship was nearly as lost as she was, thrown into this part of the galaxy by chance and bad luck. Ensign Harry Kim at first thought the blip was just a fidget of his mind, an imagination brought upon by lack of sleep or something he ate at Neelix’ canteen. „Captain, short range scanners have registered an organic object.“ „Really?“ Janeways voice perked curiously at the notion. „Ensign, run a deep scan on the object.“ Turning her head to her number one she smiled an agitated smile. „A mystery. How Lovely.“ „Second scan …“ Kim did not finish his sentence. Instead he stopped himself, did a double take at the results and only then spoke again: „Permission to run a third scan for confirmation, Captain.“ „Ensign Kim, please report and rerun second scan for confirmation.“ she commanded raising her eyebrows ever so slightly. „It’s… I’m sorry Captain, but sensors confirm the presence of a humanoid floating in space approximately one hundred clicks ahead of us.“ A murmur rose on the bridge, ebbed from Ensign Kim away much like the tide and came to a sudden end when the Voyagers Captain rose her voice again. „Ensign send coordinates to the transporter room.“, she touched a button on her commanding chair. „Transport room, are the coordinates I just send you within range?“ A moment of silent followed. Swift fingers scurried over control panels and recalculated energy output, distance, guessed the approximate weight of the object before answering.

„We can beam aboard, Captain.“ - that was B’elanna Torres voice. Sharp and all business. „Prepare for transport in one minute.“, Captain Janeway touched another button on the display of her chair. „Bridge to Sickbay, prepare for emergency transport of unknown humanoid and medical assistance.“ „Aye, Captain“ - it was Kes, gentle and soft immediately mediating the Captains message to the Doctor. Expectant eyes lay on Janeways back. She felt the tense atmosphere on the bridge. Every day another adventure, she thought. Whatever they encountered here, whatever they found - they could never be sure if it would prove a simple distraction or a direct threat to the ships and crews safety. „Transporter room to bridge, we are ready for transport. Class two containment field is in place.“ „Beam abord, Lieutenant Torres.“

Silence fell in the transporter room when the object was beamed aboard. Janeways voice had to pierce through the confused haze that had befallen the crew in engineering twice before B’elanna managed to answer her. „I’m initiating an emergency transport to sickbay, Captain. It’s … you better have a look for yourself.“ „Quite a mystery“, Janeway said as she got up. „Number One, you come with me. Tuvok you have the bridge.“

The Doctor and Kes were already at work when Janeway and Chakotay arrived in sickbay. The captain immediately felt her brows furrow in confusion - much like the expression of her Number One. „Now, what do we say to that?“ „You know what I have to say about chance, Captain“, muttered the dark haired man, his eyes practically glued to the form in front of them. „Doctor?“ Janeway lifted her voice and the medical hologram didn’t even bother looking up from his patient. „All our scans confirm her as a female human.“ he simply stated. „I assume that you will want to keep her equipment for scan and research?“ „You assume correctly, Doctor.“ Janeway answered. She would’ve sounded bemused were it not for the figure on the biobed before her - the spacesuit she wore was not old-fashioned, it was antiquated. She had seen a thing like that in starfleet academy archives. And the women within. She sure wore a uniform of the United Federation, but the overall impression was that of a person that had stepped right out of a holo novel. The Doctor transported the body of the human out of her suit onto another biobed. His assistance began immediately to carefully remove the clothes from her body.

„She looks bad“, sad Chakotay close to Janeways right side and she nodded along in confirmation of his assessment. The body in front of them was covered in bruises - dark blue and red splotches on her skin, almost giving the impression of someone only related to modern humans. Where she was not bruised, petechia covered her, giving the distinct impression of her skin glowing. Her right ankle was twisted in an unnatural angle and dried blood covered her face and had her short hair in dirty tangles. The list of visible injuries didn’t end there - in short, she was in a miserable condition. „Can you say what has happened to her, Doctor?“ „Massive trauma“, he answered - which was more then a bit vague. „I must confess I am not quite sure what would cause such a massive trauma. Her body must have endured extreme pressure.“ he continued calmly while directing Kes at the same time. „It will take a few days, but I expect her to make full recovery.“ was his last addition after which he focused back on his patient. "Looks like we’ll have to quell our curiosity for just a few days more. Mr. Paris will collect the suit and her equipment later, he has a knack for antiques. Maybe he can tell us more.“

It was loud outside her mind. She didn’t want to wake, not yet. As soon as she had passed out what was left of her awareness had fled from terror and pain into the relative comfort of her memories. She was sitting on a large boulder, overlooking a red skyline with Junior Agent Lorilee at her side. Silver trees littered the horizon. Were they on a training trip? She couldn’t say with certainty. But the lights and the voices outside her mind were so loud, so intrusive, diluting the peace of her deep sleep. Maybe she was dead. Maybe she was hallucinating her last seconds, her scared consciousness stretching moments into eternity to avoid the inevitable.

„Elevated alpha waves indicate she’ll awake within the next few minutes.“ „We’ll learn more about our mysterious Jane Doe.“ Two male voices, discussing. One of them very matter-of-factly, the other almost … cheerful. And a female voice, one that demanded respect, a dark timbre in contrast to everyone else. Keva shifted slightly. A faint trace of pain shot through her leg and she groaned. Could she be alive? There was no way she could have survived that and yet … here she seemed to be. Surrounded by voices and light and life. „Gentleman, give her room to wake up. Everyone that is not my Number One, Tom Paris and the sickbay crew is dismissed.“ So a ship had picked her up. Her mind started to pick up speed. Slowly. Very slowly in fact, but better then never again. „Her breathing indicates that she is awake.“ „Thank you, Doctor.“ the female voice said, maybe a notch too pointedly. Feet shuffled in the background. God, it was so bright. Carefully, slowly she pried her eyes open, lifted her right hand in an attempt to block out the light. Another moan escaped her mouth involuntarily. Every muscles hurt and ached as if she’d run a marathon that had ended with her in a junk press. How was she alive. That was impossible. A gross violation of the laws of physic. Her eyes took their sweet time to adapt to their surroundings and she blinked for a long moment until the shapes and colors in front of her fell into a sensible form. There was a woman in a red uniform - a sleek design, fitted tightly around her slender body. Next to her a man with short black hair, a tattoo covered part of his face and his inquiring eyes followed every moment closely. He stood close to the woman. Kevas gaze hovered further - another man, clad in a blue uniform of the same design, almost bald and checking the readings on what was perhaps a PADD. Her doctor, she thought. Next to her bed was another woman - a small delicate creature maybe a head shorter then Keva herself was. Something about her was odd and she made a mental note to enquire about her species later. Maybe some Vulcan hybrid. Lastly there was another man - taller then the other two with light blond hair and a confident, no, cocky expression to himself. She blinked a few more times, looking back to the woman who had her arms crossed in front of her chest, head cocked lightly in an expression of restrained curiosity.

„Welcome back to the living and aboard the USS Voyager.“ her voice was pleasant to listen to, if a bit unusual at first. It was a voice that was used to the burden of command and it made her feel at safety almost immediately. Starfleet, the young agent concluded and suppressed a groan. „USS Voyager…“ Kevas voice croaked hoarsely. She coughed a few times and almost at once the petite young woman handed her a glass of water, which she eagerly drank.„I am Captain Janeway. My Number One - Chakotay and Mr. Paris. The Doctor and Kes have been attending to your health over the last week.“ Keva nodded to each of them, only pondered a second over the strange introduction as ‚The Doctor‘ and then looked around some more. Everything was off. Uncertainty settled in her gut. Everything here was polished. The uniforms strange. Had she been picked up by an experimental vessel? „Is this …“ the young woman stopped herself to remind herself of manners. „I am sorry, Captain. I am Keva Scofield.“ she said then and offered a weak smile as an excuse for her near Faux Pas. Should she disclose her affiliation just yet? She couldn’t remember protocol. Everything she knew and held dear was still in that heavy fog surrounding her. „It is our pleasure to have made your acquaintance.“ the Captain smiled kindly in return. It was almost motherly. „I am sorry to intrude upon your ship and have taken up a place in your sickbay.“ Keva continued, now very careful, her eyes once more wandering through the unsettling room. Everything was off just enough to make her wonder. „Are you…“ taking a deep breath, she collected herself once more. It was difficult to decide which question to forward first. „Can you provide me with a secure channel to federation headquarters?“ she then asked and provided her most convincing smile. „I’ll gladly explain everything afterwards.“

There was little more as unsettling as a group of people exchanging knowing glances without being part of said group. The woman actually sat down on the edge of her bed now, her grey eyes searching Kevas face with caution. „I am afraid that won’t be possible, Mrs. Scofield.“ „Agent.“, the young woman snapped and almost immediately regretted it. There was no reason to be irritated at the Captain, she told herself. „It’s .. Agent Scofield, Captain.“ Great. Another starfleet captain with whom she was off to a very good start. Before the captain, or anyone else really, could open their mouth she spoke up once more: „Captain, are you on a five year mission? Where is the next communication relay?“ „Relays?“ the tall young man muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Keva to hear. „There is no contact to the Federation or Starfleet command. It must sound strange to you, but we are stranded in the Delta Quadrant.“ Keva blinked once. Keva blinked twice. Stupefied silence was all that left her lips. The delta quadrant? Impossible. „Delta“, she muttered then and eyed them all once more, with more suspicion then before. The hair, the uniforms, the room that was somehow off. Her breath quickened enough for the Doctor to look over to her. „This must be very difficult for you to process.“ the Captain continued with a soft voice. „Delta Quadrant.“, the agent muttered once more, pressing her lips together until all that remained was a thin white line. She drew a couple of heavy breaths through her nose. „Doctor, her heart rate is elevated, oxygen levels are dropping.“ Kes whispered to the Doctor, her face concerned now. Keva took another deep breath, her nostrils flaring. „Captain… starfleet has not advanced to the Delta quadrant.“ And then she looked around again and slowly the pieces of this puzzle fell into place. It struck her, right into the chest, like a phaser hitting her in full force. „Keva… what stardate is right now?“ the woman with the grey eyes didn’t even mind the use of her first name right now. The young agent knew what was coming next. She dreaded it. „Doctor…“ the blonde alien began again, but the Doctor lifted his hand to cut her off, shaking his head. He knew and monitored the castaway closely. Keva drew on her training. Deep breaths. Counting. Her hands shook and before she could do something about it the older woman put a hand on her shoulder. The weight of it was comforting. Anchoring her in reality. „It’s August the 15th.“ Another deep breath. „2271. A tuesday.“ Another exchange of looks between the group. How far uptime was she? Ten years? Twenty? The Doctor walked over to them. God, they knew. They knew. She looked up into the Captains eyes, into those warm eyes, barely hiding the pity she felt for her. She counted to four while breathing in. Held for a second. Waiting for the final blow. And then slowly counted to eight while breathing out again. „I am so sorry … Agent.“ the Captain paused for a second. Sorry. She wanted to spew the word back to the captain, but what had that woman done to her? No. It was a job hazard. Came with the description of her position. Thirty years? The thought crossed her anxious mind completely uninvited. „But the current year is 2372.“ A hundred years.

„Oh.“ she could feel her heart skip a beat. „Do you remember what happened?“ A hundred years uptime. Scofield burst into a humorless barking laughter that nobody joined into. The contraction of her muscles was painful to endure and tears welled up in her eyes, real but involuntarily. She was temporally displaced. No. Not only that. She stopped laughing as suddenly as she had started and looked into all those concerned faces around her. The pain that lingered in her bones and muscles despite the medication she had undoubtedly received felt strangely real and comforting. She was also displaced in the most traditional sense of the word - completely cut off from her friends and family, from her home, her planet - her quadrant even. A hundred fucking years uptime. Still owing the Captain an answer, she began to explain. „I am from the Federation Department of Temporal Investigation.“ A few eyebrows were raised, which was oddly reassuring as it probably meant that the DTI was still kicking about. „Me and my partner were sent out to investigate a time rift a few parsec from vulcan space. The freighter mercury was destroyed and it’s Captain and First Officer were missing.“ She carefully watched the expression of her listeners, but nobody seemed to recognize the name mercury. Which probably meant that they were displaced somewhere else. An unstable rift? She filed the information back for later, threw that bit onto the ever growing pile of thoughts demanding a closer inspection. „I collected the telemetry logs from mercury and then went out to … deploy the monitoring drones to get chronitonic readings on the rift.“ „You got too close to the gravity well of the rift?“ the tall blonde asked, a little bit too eager for her taste. Keva gasped, as if she just remembered herself, feeling the shock once again. „I was pushed.“ The Doctor cleared his throat pointedly. „Pushed?“ Chakotay raised his voice now in surprise. „Pushed“ confirmed the agent once again and rubbed her temples. „By a man. There was a man on the ship.“ The Doctor cleared his throat once more. "I think it is time for my patient to rest.“ he put a heavy emphasis on the ‚I think‘. The captain rose from Kevas bed unwillingly. „Yes, I think that should be enough for today. Tomorrow…“ she exchanged a look with the Doctor. „I’ll be back tomorrow. Rest well, Agent Scofield. If you have any questions … we’ll answer all your questions tomorrow.“ The Doctor scooted them all out of her room now, looking thoroughly disapproving of the whole situation and the additional stress everyone had put his patient under. But Keva Scofield had already fallen back into a deep, dreamless sleep. A hundred years.

„Mr. Paris.“ prompted Janeway once they were outside. „I understand you had no luck in extracting any information from her equipment?“ „It was pretty beat up, Captain.“ he shrugged apologetically. „Which does not surprise me any more, to be honest with you.“ „Hm.“ Janeway nodded and glanced over to Chakotay who seemed to be waiting for her to make a decision. „Go over her equipment again with Lieutenant Torres. See what you can salvage. I have a feeling we’re not through yet.“ „I will get right to work.“ With Mr. Paris gone, Chakotay seized his captain up once more. „You think someones intervening here?“ She nodded grimly. „She’s from a hundred years in the past. And conveniently drops in the delta quadrant right in scanner range? A little too convenient for my taste.“ „You’re right“ he conceded. They both walked down to the bridge in silence for a moment. „This is going to be tough for her. Keva. She looks like she's barely out of her twenties.“ The dark haired man sounded thoughtful. „We'll have to be gentle.“ Janeway bowed her head in agreement, sounding equally thoughtful. „How should we tell the crew?“ She turned her head to look at him. „We had Tom in the room and nothing was declared confidential yet.“ Chakotay mused. „If you don’t intervene, Neelix will want to interview her for his news program come tomorrow morning.“ The captain chuckled at the thought. „We should prevent that.“ „Yes. Yes we should.“ Both laughed for a moment and then entered the bridge.

„Tuvok, to my ready room please. Chakotay, take the bridge.“

TAG LIST! LEMME KNOW IF YOU WANT ON OR OFF!

@flowerbunbunny @winterknightdragon @poetictrekkie @foxyverse @meganlpie

#ad astra #q (star trek)/ofc #q (star trek) x ofc #ofc #star trek voyager

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firstofficerchakotay-flute · 7 years ago

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A conversation

Ken Dalby: Hey man, damn we have all been worried sick about you. Do you...what's that?

Chakotay: That's...Kathryn's posthumous message... it was delivered to me just 10 minutes ago...

Ken Dalby: What? Oh...right. (moves to sit next to Chakotay) Right, look we are... hell really worried about you, Old Man. You shouldn't shut yourself away. We are here for you. Mike , B'Elanna, Tom, all of us. I know it's hard, you wanna scream, and show, damn the world to hell. You shouldn't be on your own, that makes it worse, believe me. When I lost Mia...

Chakotay: It's not the same, Dalby! Kathryn is not dead! I'd know if she was dead! I'd feel it.... I have to find her....

Ken Dalby: If the Captain...If your Kathryn is alive, we will find her, but I just don't wanna see you torturing yourself like this!

Chakotay: What do you mean by ''if''? She is alive! Don't you understand, Ken? I'm not shutting myself away...I have to work hard. We have to find them....it's been days...and we all know what these bastards are capable of...

Ken Dalby: Damn, I know that, I can't stop thinking about poor Freddy! Poor Torres is blaming herself, she won't ever admit that, but it's etched all over her face.Look, you are doing a damn good job right now. No one can't fault you! You are our Captain right now,our leader! I'm not saying give up, I'm saying you gotta be prepared for ...

Chakotay: Be prepared for what?

Ken Dalby: You gotta be prepared she might be gone. I'm sorry man, everyone else is afraid to say it. Hell I am. I am not saying we give up, but right now you’re a God damn machine! Yes lead, command, whatever.... But keeping it all in is gonna end bad! Hell I know, I became a man I didn't recognise.

Chakotay: She's not gone. You don't understand...but I just know it. And I don't have many choices at the moment, Dalby. I can't fall apart. I gave her a promise....I can't start grieving and thinking of the possibilities right now, it won't help us. I have to command this ship in the best possible way. Look, we found her ring yesterday. The doctor gave it to me after his analysis. I'm trying hard not to collapse, Ken.

Ken Dalby: A ring, I didn't know you gave her a ring. Was it an engagement ring? Man... (rubs face, trying to keep it together) Chakotay: Yeah, nobody knew. I told B'Elanna the other day...the day we lost them... it wasn't an engagement ring. You don't know, but Kathryn really hates engagements. Anyway, it was just a gift I made for her. I wanted to show her my love and my respect for her. I hope...I hope she knew...she knows...how I feel about her.

Ken Dalby: Damn the lady knows. We all know. It's clear for all to see Old Man.You don't know this, but it was you guys getting together FINALLY that prompted me to ask Kes out. Look I'm not trying to get you give up, but the crew is worried about you. Hiding away isn't helping us. People follow the leader. We take our call from you man. The crew need to see you.

Chakotay: You're right. I'll try...I'll really try. But she's okay, Dalby. Isn't she? Ken Dalby: She's Captain Kathryn Janeway, man....I'm more worried about the kidnappers. (smiles at his old Captain, touching his shoulder) Chakotay: Yeah, Ken. I couldn't agree more...

@rebelwithoutacausedalby

#space drama #conversation #dalby #chakotay #voyager crew

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hannah-deserved-better · 4 years ago

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Multi Fandom Extravaganza Ch. 1

This multi fandom fic is going to be a little different than my other fics in the past in that it’s not really a plot. It’s more of a collection of one shots. Each chapter will contain a collection of small drabbles which with move the story along. These are all of my favorite characters in all of my favorite fandoms. Here are the timelines from each series.

Supernatural: Season 15, they are battling Chuck. Pairing is Castiel/Hannah/Meg.

The Legends of Drizzt: takes place after the events of the novel Exile by R. A Salvatore. Pairing is going to be Drizzt Do’Urdon/Ellifain Tuuserail

Rurounni Kenshin: Takes place sometime in season one of the anime. No romantic pairings, just a platonic bromance between Kenshin and Sanosuke.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: Takes place in season seven. Pairing is Picard/Crusher

Star Trek Deep Space Nine: Takes place in season six. Pairing is Kira/Odo

Star Trek Voyager: Takes place in season seven. Pairing is Janeway/Chakotay

X-files: takes place some time in season seven. Pairing is Mulder/Scully

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Takes place sometime in season four. Pairing will be Willow Rosenburg/Charlie Bradbury from Supernatural

Hobbit: Takes place during the battle of the five armies pairings will be Fili/Original Gnome character from the Forgotten Realms series, and Kili/Original Hobbit character

Lord of the Rings: Takes place during the battle of Helm’s Deep. No pairings, just Faramir, Legolas, and Aragorn bromancing together. There may be a Faramir/Aragorn thing but we’ll see.

Note: This story is not canon in anyway. It falls somewhere between canon divergence and AU.

Note Two: I don’t own any of these characters (except Asphodel and Brenna, they come from my novel so they are mine, but I adapted them to fit into the Tolkien and Forgotten Realms verse and changed their backgrounds to fit. Everyone else belongs to their associated creators.

Note 3: No haters. This is a collection of rare-pairs for the most part. If you don’t like them, or their fandoms, then don’t read it.

Note 4: there is no real plot, I’m kinda writing as I go, letting my muse do the writing. I would love to have an idea beta, or two, or three for this so let me know if you are interested.

Warnings: There will be plenty of violence, survival themes, struggles, etc. Some of the characters have trauma, some of them start out as enemies. Some of them have violent backgrounds.

The first chapter is kinda boring, there are a lot of characters and I wanted to quickly introduce them all.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27217501/chapters/66485341

FFN: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13729681/1/Around-the-World

Chapter One: Introductions

Part One: On the shores of unknown

When Castiel woke up, his head throbbed with pain. But the sun beat down on him. As he opened his eyes, he found himself on the shores of a strange ocean; its sea-green waves crashed onto the sand as two suns hung in the air.

“When did Earth get a second sun?” the angel wondered as he got slowly to his feet, glancing around him. As he did, he noticed three other figures lying prone on the beach. Quickly, he hurried to the first one. An agile looking creature with the darkest skin Castiel had ever seen, and his long hair was a stark white color as it spread out on the sand around him.

Castiel knelt, touching the man, trying to see if he was alive. His touch provoked an immediate response, and the man, or creature, whatever he might be, was suddenly sitting up, brandishing a curved scimitar sword so quickly that Castiel nearly stumbled backward in an attempt to back away and avoid having his arm chopped off.

“Who are you!” the man demanded as he got to his feet. “Where am I?” He blinked as he gazed around at his surroundings, and Castiel was perplexed by his strange purple eyes and his pointed ears.

“I could ask those same questions,” Castiel told him as he stood in front of the man. “My name is Castiel, but I just woke up here, like you.”

“I’m Drizzt Do’Urdon,” the man stammered, as he put a hand to his head and looked around, trying to get his bearings.

“I believe we are all in the same predicament,” came another voice. Castiel glanced at the other two men. One appeared to be an Asian man with slightly feminine features. He was short and slim. He wore a burgundy men’s kimono with white hakama pants. His red hair was pulled into a ponytail.

The other man almost looked artificial. He looked as though his face had been sculpted out of clay. He wore a strange tan and yellow uniform jumpsuit.

“I gather that we aren’t on Earth,” Castiel surmised as he glanced around at the strange faces. Of course, he was wearing his usual beige trench coat and blue tie, but he doubted any of them suspected he wasn’t human.

The clueless looks on all of their faces most likely mirrored his own. Castiel wondered if maybe this might be one of Chuck’s other worlds. It concerned him, considering that Chuck was busy destroying all of his worlds one by one. This one didn’t seem to be in any danger at the moment.

“I believe we should introduce ourselves,” Castiel told his companions. “And then we can try to find out where we came from and how to get back.”

“Where I am makes no difference, I suppose,” The samurai responded. “I’m only a wanderer, after all. I do have friends I would like to get back to, however. You can call me Kenshin.”

“I’m Constable Odo,” said their last companion. Castiel turned his attention to Odo. He glanced at him curiously, and he explained. “I am a shapeshifter. I’m afraid I don’t do faces very well.”

“Shapeshifter,” Castiel pondered that. He had no reason to doubt that these people were who they said they were even if he had no idea what sort of beings they were. They all seemed to be from different worlds, perhaps even other realms altogether. “Well, you should all be aware that I am an angel, although I’m afraid I don’t have my wings.”

“I’m only a samurai,” Kenshin replied. “Just a wandering swordsman.”

“I am a drow,” Drizzt explained as he put his blade away. Castiel noted that Drizzt and Kenshin were both armed with swords. Kenshin wore a long katana on his waist while Drizzt wore two scimitars, one on each side of his belt.

Drizzt wore his thick white hair long and flowing. As the wind picked up, his hair danced around him. He wore a thick green cloak, high boots, and a unicorn bone carving around his neck.

With the introductions concluded, Castiel looked towards the treeline of what looked like a forest. A small stream appeared to be flowing across the sand towards the waves.

“I think if we follow this stream, we may find some clues,” he suggested.

“I could just fly out and see if I can see anything,” Odo suggested. Castiel nodded, feeling envious. He missed his wings.

Odo quickly morphed into a bird and took off soaring high above the trees. Castiel glanced at the others as they all waited for Odo to return. He could tell that these two both had stories to tell, and he thought maybe their being here was no coincidence. Perhaps he was connected to them somehow. He hoped he would find out soon.

Part Two: A desolate town

Hannah found herself lying in the middle of what appeared to be some sort of convenience store. It seemed to be abandoned, the rows of paper products and candy had been scattered about the floor, and the glass refrigerating walls containing various beverages were all smashed in. Hannah thought maybe there had been a struggle here, and the eerie quiet kept her on her guard.

She’d spend so long in the endless darkness that was the empty. She had endured the moans and cries of dead angels and demons as they called out into the darkness. Their sorrows, their regrets, she wished they could all be silent.

But in an instant, she was dropped from the empty and left here on Earth. She had no idea why or how, only that she was an angel again. Glancing around her, she heard what sounded like voices outside. Carefully, she walked through the glass and debris towards the door.

The sun was bright and hot as she stepped out onto what appeared to be the concrete surface, which seemed to be a gas station. It looked so much like the many way-stations she and Castiel had visited that she almost expected to see him standing there, or perhaps leaning on his vehicle.

But he wasn’t there. Instead, Hannah found three women standing in front of the gas pumps, chattering to one another. They all glanced over, and one of them quickly produced what Hannah assumed was a weapon.

“Who are you?” the woman wearing a red jumpsuit and pointing a strange weapon at Hannah demanded. She wore short red hair, and as Hannah came closer, she noticed the strange markings on her nose.

“I’m an angel,” Hannah replied softly, holding her hands up as the three of them walked up to her. One of them appeared to be a child, being of much shorter stature, but as she got closer, Hannah could see she wasn’t a child at all, though she appeared young. She had thick curly red hair, large pointed ears, and she was barefoot.

“An angel?” the third woman was a petite red-haired woman wearing a business suit and a long dark trench coat. Hannah seemed to fit in the most with her, as she wore her grey blazer, dark blue shirt, and jeans. “Even Mulder wouldn’t believe that.”

Hannah felt confused. “I don’t know who Mulder is, but I assure you, I am telling the truth,” she insisted. “My name is Hannah; I am an angel of the lord.”

“Prove it,” the woman insisted, crossing her arms across her chest and raising a brow. Hannah frowned as she realized her powers were weakened. The return from the empty must have drained her. But she gathered what strength she had and focused on a newspaper stand, and suddenly, it burst into flames.

Hannah was quick to put the fire out, and when she turned to the women, they all looked impressed and bewildered. “Is that enough for your approval?” she asked. The red-haired woman nodded.

“I’m special agent Dana Scully,” the woman introduced herself, coming forward, her eyes wide as she looked Hannah over. “I can’t believe I am meeting an angel.”

“My powers are weakened,” Hannah explained, and she glanced at the others. “I assume you all have names as well?”

The taller of the two nodded. “Kira Nerys,” Kira introduced. “I’m a Bajoran. I don’t exactly have any powers.”

“And I’m Asphodel Breeswillow. I’m a Hobbit of the shire,” said the short young woman. “This world is so strange. I knew I shouldn’t have wandered too far from home.”

“We will find our way back to where we belong,” Hannah assured her. “If we work together.” Hannah wasn’t sure of her own words. She didn’t know where they were or where they had all come from. And she wasn’t all that familiar with Earth anyway. But she sensed all these women were reasonable, and maybe with their help, they would all be able to find familiarity.

Part three: Cave of Wonders

Beverly Crusher had thought she had gone to bed in her own quarters on the Enterprise last night, but when she woke up, she was anywhere but.

It didn’t take her long to learn that she was in a cave and that her companions were as lost as she was. Faramir, captain of Gondor, Meg, a demon, and Ellifain, a pretty black-haired elf, had all been close by when she opened her eyes.

The mouth of the cave they were in was wide, and it provided adequate shelter for the insufferable heat. But as the four of them ventured outside into the vast grassy plains, which seemed to stretch on forever, they had little protection. The suns above them were relentless.

“This seems to be a binary system,” Beverly commented as she walked through the tall grass. “Whoever transported us must be nearby.”

“I will be returned to the Moonwoods so I can complete my quest,” Ellifain demanded as she gripped her longbow.

“What kind of quest are you on, Milady?” Faramir asked as they all walked close to one another. They were all strangers, but every Starfleet survival training course she’d ever taken had always emphasized the importance of working with others.

And in her travels, Beverly had encountered so many different species; these beings and their diverse cultures didn’t feel too strange to her. Though given Faramir and Ellifain’s clothing and attire, Beverly worried that she had stumbled upon a pre-warp society.

“I’m on a quest for vengeance,” Ellifain explained angrily. “I was hunting him before I was brought him; I must find his trail again.”

“Ooh vengeance, eh?” Meg, the demon lifted a brow. “Sounds sexy. Do tell more.”

“It is not anyone’s concern but my own,” Ellifain retorted as she stormed ahead of them. “And I do not need anyone’s help.”

“I don’t think we should go too far from the cave,” Beverly spoke up as she came to a stop in the grass and turned back towards the direction they had come. A line of towering mountains loomed before them in that direction; the cave had been carved into the rock. “We might need the shelter. The heat can be dangerous.”

“I think she is correct, Milady,” Faramir said politely as he reached out and brushed a hand on Ellifain’s shoulder. The intense glare told Beverly that the elf didn’t approve of the touch. “We don’t know where we are. You may have to put your vengeance on hold for now.”

Ellifain seemed to think about that for a moment and then reluctantly agreed. Beverly was relieved. The cave was much cooler.

Part Four: Forest brook

Kathryn Janeway found the babbling of the brook comforting as she and her three companions sat on its banks, trying to decide on their course of actions.

It didn’t take long for them to understand that they weren’t where they ended up. They all seemed to have similar stories. They were minding their own business, going about their lives, when they’d all woken up here on this strange planet. Their only belongings had been what had been on them at the time.

Janeway was in her uniform, but as she had been off duty at the time and in her quarters, she was unarmed, and she wished she had a tricorder. She did have her communicator, but it seemed to have been damaged.

As she sat on a rock, trying to fix her communicator, the women around her tried to figure out their next course of action.

“My phone isn’t getting any reception,” Charlie Bradbury said as she turned the device over in her hand, flipping her red hair over her shoulder. Willow Rosenberg, who had claimed she was a college student from California, sat beside her, trying to operate her own phone. The two of them seemed to be from the same world- or same time perhaps, as their sense of fashion seemed similar. They both wore jeans and t-shirts. They had also revealed something significant. That they were from Earth… but not the Earth Janeway had been hoping for. 300 years ago.

The fourth woman had been a very short-statured young woman with a brazen attitude. Brenna was a gnome from the north, at least that is what she had told them all. But she was quick to bark orders at everyone; her sharp tongue seemed to make up for her short stature tenfold.

“If we follow the river, it might lead us to a village,” she explained as she perched on a rock and put her hands in her lap. “They could at least tell us where we are.”

“If there are other people on this planet, we don’t want to startle them,” Janeway explained calmly. “And some of my crew may have ended up here; I want to get my communicator fixed. They’d at least be able to pick up my signal.

“I don’t care for strange human devices,” Brenna sneered. “I was about to lead my people on a caribou hunt; I must return.”

“Oh, poor Rudolph,” Willow commented quickly as she glanced up from her phone. “Caribou are so cute.”

Brenna shrugged. “My people have lived off of them for as long as we have lived in the north,” she replied. And Janeway noted that she was wearing thick animal hides and furs, no doubt to keep her warm in the cold climate which she had described.

It was then that as Janeway used a long hair clip to manipulate the controls in her communicator, everyone heard the familiar chirp. Eagerly, Janeway opened the comm, knowing it was a long shot.

“This is Captain Kathryn Janeway to anyone who is in range,” she spoke into the communicator as Willow and Charlie watcher her curiously. “Does anyone read my signal?”

“Kathryn?” came a familiar voice through the communicator. Janeway smiled with relief at the sound of Chakotay’s voice.

“Chakotay, where are you?” she asked, “I don’t know how I ended up on this planet, but I’m not alone.”

“Neither am I, Captain,” came Chakotay’s static-filled answer. “We’re in some sort of farmhouse in the middle of a pasture. We all just woke up here.”

Janeway frowned. Did Chakotay end up stranded on this planet too? They had to find each other. “I’m in a forest, near a stream,” she reported. “Stay where you are; we’ll try to make it out of here and try to find you. You must not be far.”

“We’ll do what we can, Chakotay out.” The comm disconnected, but Janeway felt a whole lot better knowing there was at least someone she was familiar with on this planet, and the comm signal told her that they weren’t too far away.

“How are you even getting service?” Charlie asked as she held her phone in her hand. “I’m not getting anything.”

Janeway didn’t know how to explain. The archaic-looking device looked primitive compared to her comm. “Futuristic technology,” she explained as she got to her feet. “Come on, we have to find Chakotay, and with any luck, we will be able to find Voyager.”

With that, the four of them headed along the river. None of them knew where they were going, and Janeway hoped that they were heading in the right direction and not further away from Chakotay.

Part Five: Desolate plains

Fili was glad that when he had woken up, his brother had been there—seeing Kili there beside him looking as confused and lost as he had made him feel better about their situation, precarious though it was.

But now, they were in real trouble. The two of them and their two companions- a human named Fox Mulder and a human named Sagara Sanosuke- had found themselves in the middle of a prairie, and it seemed to go on forever.

The suns were becoming dangerous. Fili was so thirsty, and beads of sweat trickled down his face as he pressed on. They had to keep going, he told himself. There had to be relief for them somewhere.

“Brother,” Kili groaned as he stumbled along. “I… I can’t.” Fili turned and grabbed him before he fell. Kili gasped as he gazed up at his brother.

“Come on, brother, we have to keep going,” Fili insisted as Mulder and Sanosuke turned toward them. “We’ll find something soon.”

“Hey, I think I see something,” Sanosuke spoke up as he turned to gaze out towards the horizon. “It might be a town.”

Fili groaned. “It’s probably a mirage,” he suggested as he pulled Kili to his feet, and the four of them started walking again. “I am sure this prairie must go on forever.”

“We should head in that direction anyway,” Mulder said as he draped his trenchcoat over his head, shielding his head from the relentless suns.

Fili let out a breath as he complied. His legs felt like lead as he concentrated on stumbling along as Kili followed him. He worried about the battle that the two of them had left behind.

“Do you think Uncle held the mountain against Azog?” Kili stammered, voicing Fili’s thoughts. Fili couldn’t be sure. And he wasn’t even sure this wasn’t the afterlife. He remembered Azog grabbing him; he remembered the fiery pain as he felt the orc’s blade enter his body. He was prepared to die; he thought he was going to die.

And then… he woke up here in the middle of this field with Kili and two strangers who were dressed very strangely.

“I don’t know, Kili,” Fili said after a pause. “I hope so.”

All Fili knew is that no matter what happened, he had to look after his brother. He didn’t know if he could trust Sanosuke with his strange spikey hair or Mulder with his strange black coat, but they seemed as lost as the dwarves were and Fili felt compelled to follow them towards the horizon.

Part Six: desolate farm

Chakotay finished inspecting the farmhouse he had woken up in. It felt as though it had been there for ages. There were no signs of life except for the three he had woken up close to—two men from Middle Earth, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard whom Chakotay only knew by reputation.

“We found human remains,” Chakotay glanced up from his communicator after he ended his conversation with Janeway. He felt so relieved to hear Kathryn’s voice, and to know that she was here somewhere on this planet made him feel a lot better.

But when he turned to see Picard, he focused on the tasks at hand. “Remains?” he repeated as he followed the captain along. He found Legolas and Aragorn out behind the house in the rocky pasture field; they seemed to be examining the bodies.

“They have been dead for far too long,” the blonde-haired elf explained as Chakotay looked at the skeletons lying in the dirt. “Perhaps years.”

“They must have been the previous inhabitants of this place,” Chakotay surmised as he turned to look at the farmhouse. They had examined the interior already. It was a large house in an advanced state of decay. The wood was rotting, the furniture inside and the rugs had all turned to mold and dust. The glass windows were broken in. The wood had been in such bad shape that none of them would risk venturing upstairs to inspect the rooms. At the ground level, they had found an old antique kitchen with a wood-burning stove and furnishing that looked as though they belonged in the 19th century.

Chakotay was curious to explore this place, being that he enjoyed archaeology. He had learned quickly that Picard shared that particular interest with him, and the two had set about trying to determine what kind of people these long-gone inhabitants were and how they lived.

“They may have died of old age,” Chakotay suggested. Legolas and Aragorn knew one another from whatever world they had come from; they claimed they had been in a battle before they arrived here. And their simple hide leather outfits seemed to fit the part.

“I got ahold of Captain Janeway,” Chakotay reported to Picard. “She’s on this planet, in a forest somewhere. I suggest we wait here for her.”

“There seemed to be little else to do in any case,” Picard agreed. “Except look for more clues about the people who lived here.” As Chakotay watched, Picard pulled out his tricorder, scanning for any clue to where they are. Chakotay felt relieved that at least one of them had been equipped with a tricorder before being brought here.

“I am reading other life forms,” Picard explained. “More than a dozen humanoid life signs within a 10-mile radius. It’s hard to get a clear reading here, and I am picking up a faint federation signature coming from north of here; it's heading in our direction.”

“That has to be Captain Janeway,” Chakotay said. He didn’t know who these other life forms could be; they were all too far away for anyone to see. But many of them were heading in their direction, so Chakotay could only hope that they will be friendly.

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summahsunlight · 5 years ago

Text

This Way Became My Journey, Ch. 19

"Tuvok to Janeway."

The Vulcan's steady, strong voice cut through her slumber. Kathryn opened her eyes and immediately realized that sleeping on the chaise lounge had been a big mistake; her neck was aching terribly. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes, and pressed her combadge. "Go ahead, Tuvok."

"The modifications are complete. We're ready to proceed into Rupor space on your orders, Captain."

Was it morning already? She felt like she had just laid down and had gotten no sleep at all. Stretching her neck, she told him, "I'm on my way. Hold our position until I get there."

"Understood, Captain. Tuvok out."

Kathryn climbed off of the chaise lounge and went into the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face. There would be no time for a shower today; a fresh uniform change, fixing of hair and makeup was all she had time for today. But being a mother she was used to not being able to shower in the morning. Speaking of the children, where are they? Kathryn peeked into the mirror, which gave her a clear view of the living room. Ava had moved from the chaise lounge sometime in the night and was now sprawled out on the sofa. Kathryn had no doubt that Michael was still sleeping peacefully in his room.

That won't last for long; I better take advantage of it.

She quickly slipped out of the rumpled uniform that she had slept in, pulled on a fresh one, and shook her hair out, reaching for her brush. As she did so she heard the doors to the living room swish open and she smiled. "Morning, Tal."

The young Bajoran's face appeared in the mirror, watching as Janeway did her hair. "Good morning, Captain. Are the children still in bed?" A frustrated cry from the sofa indicated that Ava was no longer asleep. "I'll get her, Captain. Keep getting ready."

Kathryn watched in the mirror as Tal picked Ava off of the sofa and went to the dining area, picking out some ration pack that was suitable for children. After we retrieve Chakotay and Sarah, those damn replicators are getting fixed. Pinning the last bit of hair back into her bun, Kathryn touched up her make up, splashed on some perfume that had been her husband's favorite, and went out into the living room. A sleepy-eyed Michael had joined Tal and Ava at the table, and both children were looking at the ration packs pensively. Tal was telling them, quite animatedly, to just pretend that the ration packs were in fact, the best thing they had ever tasted before.

"The best thing Ava's ever tasted is that goopy cereal Mama gives her," Michael said, moving his fork about the dehydrated food. "I don't think this game is going to work, Tal."

"Oh come on," Tal interjected. "I did it this morning."

Michael looked up at his mother, pleading in his eyes. "Mama, do I really have to eat this?"

"I'm afraid honey, until the replicators are fixed, you do," Kathryn replied, leaning down to kiss the top of his dark hair. "I'll see you later."

She ruffled Ava's hair on the way out of the quarters and proceeded to the turbo lift. In a few short hours the nightmare of the past two days could be all over, she didn't know why that wasn't making her feel any better. Perhaps she was afraid of what they were going to find once they got back to that planetoid. Ensign Kim's long range sensor reports indicated that it was Class L, not the best place to try and survive for a few days while waiting to be rescued.

When the doors to the bridge swished open, Kvati, the engineer that had been assigned to lead the team modifying Voyager's shields greeted her, " Good morning, Captain Janeway, like we promised the modifications are complete. Voyager should be able to pass through Rupor space undetected for several hours."

Kathryn nodded her head in appreciation as she made her way to the command station. "Mister Paris, how far are we from the planetoid we tracked the shuttle too?"

"If we travel at warp six we could be there in two hours," Tom answered, sounding much more rested than the night before. "If we travel any faster than that we risk interfering with the shield modifications and being detected by our friends."

The Captain set her jaw. Two hours, it could all be over in two hours. "Mister Paris, set a course for the planetoid, warp six."

"Aye, Captain."

Harry Kim had been in engineering, helping B'Elanna maintain the constant change of shield variances to keep them hidden from the Rupor, when Captain Janeway had summoned him to the transporter room. Grabbing a tricorder and a phaser before he left, he told B'Elanna to wish them luck. She had responded that Klingons don't believe in luck, but offered it to him anyways.

He found Janeway already standing on the transporter pad, her own tricorder and phaser in her belt, Tuvok was standing with her. Harry bounded up onto the transporter pad, on the other side of the Captain, and she gave the transporter chief a small nod of her head. Soon he felt the familiar sensation of being broken down to the very last atom in his body. It tingled; he always had loved how it made him feel, like he was free to go anywhere he pleased.

A rocky and barren landscape soon materialized before him. Harry looked about, reaching for his tricorder and pulling it out of his belt. Opening it up he noticed a deep path cut through the rock and his tricorder was picking up traces of plasma and other alloys that were common in Starfleet vessels and shuttlecrafts. He swallowed, they had transported directly to the crash sight. "Captain, I'm not picking up any life signs," he said softly, his dark eyes searching the face of his commanding officer. Her deep blue eyes were conveying a deep sorrow, one that Harry had not seen in her before. She was on the verge of tears, he was sure of it, and he felt a strong urge to comfort her. But there were no comforting words, for he was in just as much pain.

"It's quite possible, Captain, that Commander Chakotay and Counselor Barrett abandoned the shuttle to look for supplies and a place to set up camp," Tuvok reasoned, breaking the silence. "We should have Voyager do a planet wide sweep for human life signs."

Janeway's only response was a curt nod of her head. She motioned for Harry to follow her while Tuvok made the arrangements with Voyager to scan the area for Chakotay and Sarah.

Harry walked a few meters with her before they came across the shuttle, crumpled against the cavern's walls. His heart sank at the sight. What are the chances that anyone could survive a crash like this?

Janeway was picking her way through the open hatch, stepping over debris, scanning the area. Harry watched as her eyes took in the charred inner cabin, the smell of burnt plasma lingering in the chilled air. Suddenly she stopped and leaned down, brushing aside some ash to pick something up. When she straightened her form Harry could clearly see what she held in the palm of her hand; two Starfleet issued combadges. The sound of Tuvok approaching, his boots walking across the stone ground could be heard echoing off the walls, while Janeway ran her fingers absentmindedly over the two mangled badges.

"Voyager is scanning the area now, Captain," Tuvok stated, his eyes falling on the badges. The silence lingered, awkwardly, between the three officers.

And suddenly, Janeway's fingers closed in around the combadges, her eyes snapping up to meet Tuvok's. There was fire burning in them, Harry realized, the trace of the pain and sadness gone, replaced with a fury that was nothing like he had ever seen. "Get another team down here to search the area. Harry and I are going to go through this mess and see if we can piece together what, exactly happened."

With a nod of his head, Tuvok disappeared from the shuttle.

"Let's get to it, Ensign," Janeway said, turning about, venturing deeper into the destroyed shuttle.

Harry found that he had yet to learn how to bury his emotions like Janeway could and focus on the task at hand. His mind kept wandering to Sarah, how she had been becoming his friend, and now was added to the list of losses that Voyager had endured in just the three short weeks that they had been stranded out in the Delta Quadrant. Was this something that Janeway had learned over time, how to bury emotions? Was it the outcome of years in Starfleet? Or was it just a personality trait? Either way, Harry wished that he had the ability.

"Odd," Janeway's voice brought him out of his ponderings. He ventured into the shuttle to where she was standing, scanning the walls with her tricorder. "These conduits didn't explode because of the crash; they exploded because someone fired a Starfleet issued phaser at them to apparently catch the cabin on fire."

"So, the combadges were accidentally left behind?"

Janeway shook her head. "No, I think the combadges were left there as a ruse, to make the Rupor think the occupants in the shuttle had perished." She leaned down and started to scan the area where she had found the two badges. "Normally, there would be traces of human DNA, but I'm not picking any up where the badges where, meaning that Chakotay and Sarah weren't there when the conduits exploded."

Harry, feeling a new sense of hope, began to scan the rest of the cabin. Maybe the Commander and Counselor had survived this crash after all. Then his tricorder beeped, and he frowned, turning about to Janeway. "Captain, I think you should see this."

She picked her way through the ash towards him and began to scan the area that Harry was standing in front. With a frown she tapped her combadge. "Janeway to sickbay. Doctor, I'm sending up a piece of debris of the crash sight. I want you to confirm that it has either Commander Chakotay's or Counselor Barrett's DNA on it."

"Understood Captain," the Doctor's voice came over the comline. "I'll be ready for it."

Janeway took her tricorder and placed it on the piece of charred conduit that Harry had been scanning. She tapped her combadge again. "Voyager, lock onto my tricorder and beam it, along with the piece of conduit, directly to sickbay."

Harry heard someone answer, but his eyes were transfixed on the piece of conduit that disappeared in the transporter beam. It wouldn't take the Doctor long to determine if the traces of blood he had found on the debris were Chakotay's or Sarah's, and that would confirm, without a doubt that the Commander and Counselor had died in the crash, or been hunted down later. He felt something like a burning hatred swelling in his heart. The Rupor had murdered two officers, in cold blood. He didn't care if they had violated the aliens' twisted sense of authority. If Chakotay had been given the chance he surely would have retreated from Rupor space.

But the Commander apparently had not been given the chance. Him and Sarah had been shot down, tearing a path through thick rock until their shuttle came to a crumpled stop. If they had managed to even survive that crash, the Rupor must have gone after them, to finish the job. It didn't seem like them to just leave well enough alone.

Had their last few moments been terrifying? Painful? Or had they gone quickly? Harry prayed for the latter. He hated to think of his fellow officers, one whom he considered a friend, suffering a gruesome death.

"Tuvok to Janeway, Captain we've found something, it appears to be boot tracks leading up the mountain. Permission to continue?"

"Permission granted," Janeway answered, motioning for Harry to leave the shuttle with her. "Ensign Kim and I are transporting back to Voyager. Keep me informed, Commander, on your progress. Janeway out."

"The traces of blood on the conduit definitely belong to Counselor Barrett," the Doctor informed Janeway upon her return to Voyager. "But I can't tell you if she died in that shuttle or not."

Janeway rubbed her temples for a moment. "We didn't find any other traces of DNA, just one area with her blood. It could mean that they managed to get out of the shuttle before the conduits blew, or they made it look like the conduits had blown so the Rupor wouldn't come after them. Everything is up in the air right now Doctor."

"I wish I had more to tell you Captain."

The woman let out a frustrated sigh. It had been nearly thirty minutes since she had transported back to Voyager. She had heard nothing from Tuvok and the rescue team down on the planet's surface, and the Doctor's news wasn't what she had hoped to hear. "I'm going to assume that they're alive until otherwise notified, Doctor. I want you to be ready for causalities; who knows what kind of state we're going to find them in. The shuttle was a mess and after being stranded on a barren planet for two days their conditions may not be the best."

"Aye Captain," the Doctor replied. "I'll be ready."

"I'll be on the bridge," Janeway stated, making a quick exit out of sickbay and heading for the turbo lift. As she made her way to the safe, warm confines of the bridge, she had no way of knowing that her officers were fighting, at that moment, for their very lives.

The game of cat and mouse had been going on since Sarah had shaken him awake at dusk the previous day. Apparently their friends hadn't fallen for the destruction he had inflicted on the cabin to make it look like it had exploded in the crash. Chakotay had been forced to leave everything, but a tricorder, a canteen of water, and a blanket for Sarah, behind, and the two had left the tiny cave they had sought to seek shelter in. Now they were being stalked like prey, through the rocky terrain.

Chakotay hadn't actually seen the aliens, but he knew that they were there, the tricorder kept warning them of the life forms approaching. And every hour they seemed to gain on them. Sarah was loosing strength minute by minute, if she had even had any to begin with. For him, hypothermia had set in late that night as they braved the high winds at the peak of the mountain. Even the sunlight of the next day was doing very little to warm him up. If they didn't find a place to take shelter in that night, he was certain that they both were going to die out here. It didn't matter if Voyager was coming for them or not, they wouldn't survive long enough to see their crewmates.

"Chakotay, please," Sarah pleaded. "I need to stop. The pain…it hurts."

He shook his head, stubborn, determined to carry onward, even if his own legs were starting to give out. "We can't stop. Just grit your teeth and bear it. I promise, once we're back on Voyager I'll give you light duty shifts, but until then, just keep moving."

There was a tiny groan of protest, but she didn't say anything else. She probably didn't have the strength too. Since abandoning the shuttle the night before she had taken no medication to quell the pain or to stall the infection, both were running rampant through her body and here he was dragging her around over rough ground. I'm not making my case for First Officer of the Year, here, Chakotay thought with mild amusement, if there could be anything amusing about their current situation.

Sarah suddenly stumbled, taking Chakotay with her. "I…can't…Chakotay. I just can't…"

He felt a great weight tugging at his arm as Sarah sank to the ground. He was pulled down to his knees. For a moment he sat there, watching her as she stared up at the sky that was extremely reminiscent of her eyes.

"My father always made us lay out on cliffs to watch the clouds and stars when we were little. He liked to drag us on camping trip after camping trip; I hated every moment of it," she suddenly muttered. "Funny how the last thing I'm going to do is watch the sky."

Chakotay leaned over her and grasped onto her shoulders. "Don't you do this to me now! You're not through just yet, not if I have anything to say about it!"

She shook her head. "What's the point, Chakotay? Those aliens are only going to kill us. Let's consider it doing them a favor by dying before they get the chance."

"You are not going to die! Not when we've come this far!" Chakotay sucked in a large breath of air and tried to pull her back to her feet, but she was dead weight and he had very little strength left. With a huff he fell back onto his behind, the canteen rolling away from him, the tricorder smashing against the rock. He watched as Sarah's thick eyelashes soon closed over her eyes. It would only be a matter of time before she gave out, and he knew, that he wasn't going to be far behind her.

#star trek voyager #star trek voyager fanfiction #kathryn janeway #chakotay #janeway x chakotay #tom paris #sarah barrett (oc)#tom paris x ofc #harry kim #b'elanna torres #tuvok #neelix #kes #the doctor (emh)#this way became my journey

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mia-cooper · 7 years ago

Text

Ficlet: Casualties of War (K)

From my prompt me post:

@eyetagonthebridge said: It’s spider season in UK atm, I was watching tv last night and a huge one ran across the floor right at me. I shrieked like a little girl! What if KJ or C hates spiders and needs the other one to spider-wrangle for them? x

I may not have followed the prompt exactly, but here’s a bit of nonsense.

He’s really outdone himself this time.

“Mr Neelix.” I can hear the ice in her voice, and it sends the object of her ire into paroxysms of trembling. “Would you care to explain why you elected not to follow the correct biocontainment protocols when you beamed this … substance aboard my ship?”

Neelix’s whiskers are quivering almost as ferociously as his voice. “Ah, ah, well, Captain, you see… I, er…”

“Never mind,” she cuts him off, cracking like a whip. “Just fix it. And you, Commander,” she turns her glare on me, “I want you to supervise every move he makes. Personally.”

“Uh…” I’m starting to tremble internally as much as Neelix is on the outside. “Captain, I don’t think –”

“Well, that makes two of you.”

Ouch. She’s really steamed. Still, I try again. “Captain, it might be better if I have Tuvok take over. I’m really busy with the –”

“I don’t care what you’re busy with. Just fix it!” she snaps and stalks off.

Shit.

“Well, Commander,” Neelix has already regained his joviality with the captain’s exit, “where shall we start? Er, why are you backing away, sir?”

I force myself to stand still. “No reason at all. So, where did they all go?”

“Oh, all over the place, most likely,” he says cheerily. “Agile little things, they are. And they can jump like they’ve got springs in their legs. All eight of them,” he snorts.

I cringe.

“And those webs they shoot out are terribly sticky, but you learn to avoid them pretty quickly. Just make sure when you grab hold of one, you get both hands around its belly. It’ll flail around a bit, but as long as you hold on you won’t hurt it.”

I can’t help it: I whimper.

“Is something wrong?” Neelix’s orange eyes focus on me.

“No,” I mumble. “It’s just that … well, I’m not … I don’t really like…”

“You’re afraid of spiders?” Neelix asks at the top of his voice.

“Shh,” I hiss at him, glancing around. Sure enough, half the crewmen in the mess hall are staring at me and snickering.

“They’re perfectly harmless, you know. Just big. And ugly.” Neelix pats me on the shoulder, then chortles. “Who’d have imagined it? A strapping fellow like yourself, afraid of a few little creepy-crawlies? Ha ha ha!”

My teeth are gritted. “Not so little, in this case.”

“Oh, they’re only about the size of a Starfleet padd, Commander. And as I said, they won’t hurt you.”

“Maybe not,” I grumble, “but they’re sticky… and all those legs… and you said they jump.” The last word comes out more like a groan.

I can see Neelix is trying to be sympathetic, but there’s a smirk flirting with the corners of his mouth.

“If you like, I can go first into the Jeffries tubes,” he offers oh-so-helpfully.

“Let’s just get it over with,” I growl.

-------------------------------------------------

“What was that?” My voice is an octave higher than its usual register.

Neelix glances back over his shoulder at me. “Commander?”

I scoot backward in the cramped Jeffries tube, hugging my knees to my chest. “I saw something move. Over there.”

Neelix squints. “You’re right! There you are, my little beauty!”

He scrambles forward and makes a grab for the eight-legged horror. It scuttles sideways. He lunges. The arachnid abruptly changes direction and launches itself directly at my face.

Oh Spirits. The hairy legs! The plump body! The beady eyes! The terror as it spins its slimy, glutinous web from an orifice in its belly!

I’m screaming like a schoolgirl in a haunted house, batting wildly at the Thing that’s malevolently gripping onto my hair with its horrid little feet. I can all but hear its awful thin spidery voice cackling at me. The web is sticking to my face and uniform. I can’t breathe…

“Commander!” Neelix is shouting, grasping without success at my hands. “Hold still! The poor little thing, it’s terrified of you!”

If I wasn’t so preoccupied with being absolutely petrified, I’d laugh. Or slug Neelix in his spotty, spider-loving, non-alien-food-barrel-scanning face.

Finally, with a particularly wild flail of my arm, I manage to dislodge the fuzzy crawler and fling it halfway down the Jeffries tube. It ricochets off the wall and drops to the deck with a splat, then scuttles away into the distance.

Neelix is lying on his back howling.

“What is it? Did it bite you?” I’m still shaking, but I’m his superior officer and it’s my job to keep him safe.

Neelix can barely speak, but he manages to pant out, “Oh Great Tree… your face… oh my, Commander … I haven’t laughed so hard in ages!”

I feel like curling up in a ball and crying.

“Janeway to Chakotay.”

My heart is still racing as I tap my combadge. “Yes, Captain.”

“Have you and Mr Neelix cleared my ship of vermin yet?”

“Uh…”

Neelix leans over and speaks into my combadge. “Hello, Captain, it’s Neelix. Commander Chakotay and I are making good progress. We’ve almost managed to trap one of the little critters, so I’m sure the ship will be de-spidered in no time.”

There’s an ominous pause, then: “Are you telling me you haven’t managed to trap a single spider yet?”

“Err…”

The venom in her voice could out-poison a Terellian tree spider. “Mr Neelix, when you requested permission to beam up three cartons of leola root, I agreed against my better judgment. When you took it upon yourself to circumvent the proper transporter protocols for biomatter, I considered having the whole shipment flushed out of an airlock. But if you don’t contain this infestation, I’ll beam the whole lot into space with you inside. Now get it done!”

Our ears ring in the sudden silence as the comm snaps off.

“Don’t worry, Commander,” Neelix offers, perking up. “I have an idea.”

-------------------------------------------------

It takes two hours to reconfigure the sensors to detect each furry hell-beast and set up forcefields to trap every last one of them, adjust the fields to allow a stun-set phaser beam to penetrate each one, and scoop up each unconscious arachnid into an empty flour sack. The task is made ever more onerous by Neelix’s never-ending chatter about the anatomy of the chubby little creepers, loaded with advice about ‘facing my fears’ as he swindles me into doing the scooping.

But by the time we’ve collected every last one, I have to admit his theory has some merit: I am finding the plate-sized creatures less horrifying. I’m even beginning to take an interest in the brown and bronze striations on their fuzzy little carcasses and the short little front legs that look a bit like kittens’ paws (or so Neelix claims). And when Neelix rhapsodises about their bugged-out little eyes, which he claims are ‘adorable’, I find that I no longer feel as though my spine is attempting to forcibly climb out of my body.

Contrary to Neelix’s optimistic exclamations, though, I doubt I’ll be actively seeking contact with any kind of arachnid any time soon.

Finally, all the spiders are sleeping peacefully in a containment field in Sickbay, and I trudge wearily back to my quarters, desperate for a long sonic shower. My quarters are dark as I step inside, navigating on autopilot. I’ve already stripped off my jacket and started pulling off my turtleneck when something large and furry strikes me in the chest.

Screaming like a startled targ, I hop from foot to foot, brushing frantically at my violated body. How could we have missed one of the horrible creatures? And where the hell did it go? I’ve kicked off my boots and am halfway through yanking off my pants, terrified that the crawly horror has found its way inside my clothing, when I hear it.

That low, throaty, distinctly evil, very familiar chuckle.

Shaking but forcing myself to remain still, I croak, “Kathryn?”

“Lights,” she says, and I blink at the sight of her and almost scream again.

She slinks toward me, all skin-tight fishnet and enormous winged collar, her stocking garters flashing at me through the split in her skirt with every step. As she moves right up into my personal space, her long eyelashes sweep downward and her talon-like fingernails trail across my shoulders.

“Not Kathryn,” she husks. “Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People.”

She hooks a finger into my belt, and I’m starting to tremble for a different reason altogether now.

“I hear you’ve had a very interesting time today with my minions,” she murmurs. “Did the big bad Maquis manage to face his fear after all?”

My hands are busy mapping the exposed parts of her skin under that body-stocking, and my lips find their way to her throat.

“And here I thought you didn’t like spiders,” she purrs, slinking her arms around my neck.

“I’m starting to come around to …”

But the last of my words are muffled as she takes my mouth with hers. And I decide that I like contact with this particular arachnid very much indeed.

#miawrites #ask prompt #eyetagonthebridge #ficlet #ridiclet

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