Chapter Text
“You are no longer alone.”
The words that Starfleet had send them through the Doctor were still echoing through Kathryn’s head.
After the Doctor had told them everything about what had happened to him in the Alpha Quadrant, the Captain had had to excuse herself and retire to her quarters. She knew they still had to be on alert because of the Hirogens and Voyager’s proximity to their relay network but she just hadn’t been able to handle anything more.
The realization that Starfleet finally knew what had happened to them was starting to sink in and Kathryn couldn’t help but think about her mother and sister. Did someone already tell them that she was still alive? How were they doing?
A nauseating feeling started to creep up on her. The unknown was terrible but now she might actually find out what had happened to her family during her time away. What if her mother was ill or worse? What if something had happened to Phoebe, her little sister? What if something had happened to Earth?
But surely if something catastrophic had happened to their home planet, Starfleet would have told the Doctor.
What she knew for certain was that Starfleet was still out there and that they would now try to find a way to get into contact with them and maybe even rescue them from the Delta Quadrant. They really weren’t alone anymore.
Tears finally started to rise up in her eyes as the Captain allowed herself to feel relieved. For the first time in years, something had gone right in their struggle to get home. They were still 60.000 lightyears away but like she had said in Sick Bay, it felt like they were suddenly a lot closer to home than before.
Kathryn walked over to her coffee table and picked up a padd to look at the letters she had written to her mother and sister. She hadn’t been able to send them yet but now she felt surer than ever that one day she would.
She wanted to work on them a bit more, but the words were dancing in front of her eyes and the moisture of the tears didn’t help either. With a sob she sat down on the couch and let the hand that was holding the pad fall to her side.
There would be time to work on the letters later. There would be time to figure out what they were going to do with the Hirogen later. There would be time to gather the pieces of herself later.
For now, she just closed her eyes, letting some of the tears finally fall down her cheeks, while she tried to shut down her brain and just feel her emotions, letting them wash over her and letting go of the stress of keeping everything together for so long.
They were no longer alone. She was no longer alone. Her family would be told that she was still alive, and Starfleet would pull through. Soon she might even have to answer to orders from higher ranking officers again.
Somehow that thought pulled a laugh out of her, followed by an immense feeling of exhaustion.
She briefly considered just lying down on the couch, but she knew that she should just go to bed. Now was the time to rest.