Chapter Text
He’d waited 10 years, he thought. He could wait a few more minutes. As much as he had grown to adore this sweet and talented pack of kids, and respected Kathryn’s new crew, and might want to eventually talk to his old friend The Doctor, Chakotay really just wanted them all to go away.
The only thing that was keeping him sane was that she didn’t let go of him. In full view of her crew, she’d kept his hand in hers. That was new.
“Please, Doctor,” he said firmly. “I promise to report for a full workup first thing tomorrow. But for right now I really need to talk with Kathryn. Please.”
He saw her grin, and the joy of it ricocheted through him. The Doctor glanced between the two of them and some kind of realization finally seemed to dawn on his face. “Yes, yes, of course. I’m sure you two have a lot of catching up to do.”
“We do,” Kathryn said firmly and her gazed locked with his again.
Chakotay barely registered The Doctor taking his leave. Suddenly they were standing in the hallway of a ship called Voyager, something they’d done so often in those seven years that were both too long and too short. But here in this moment, the way she was openly staring at him, the way she held to him – yeah, definitely new.
They both said each other’s names at the same time. They stumbled over it and then laughed.
“You go first,” he said.
She reached to take his other hand, holding them both in her own. “It’s almost hard to believe you’re real. I’ve hoped for this so often since you went missing. Well, longer than that, but...”
He chuckled. “I know what you mean. And I’ve been living with a ‘not real’ version of you for 10 years.” He reached up and gently touched the streaks of gray in her hair. “It makes me grateful for this. I know you’re really my version.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Your version?” She was trying to sound irritated, but her face was adorably happy. It caught him. All those memories, all those times, where in spite of being the woman who brought down the Borg, she was also genuinely adorable. A random moment stuck out, her saying yes to Tom and Harry when they wanted to enter that race in the Delta Flyer. He knew he’d been staring at her that day, and like so many other times, couldn’t bother to stop or hide how much he enjoyed seeing her like that.
He stepped close enough that he could feel the warmth of her. “Yes. My version. The version that is home.”
She took a deep breath and he might have kissed her right then if they hadn’t heard footsteps approaching. Two ensigns walked by, gawking at the two of them, especially at the atrocious uniform he’d worn to escape the mirror universe.
Shaking his head he moved back, and gestured at himself. “I have got to get out of this thing.”
She chuckled. “And get that muck off of your face.” There was something in the way she said it, a promise that made him feel like sparks were going off underneath his skin. She seemed to be pondering something and then tilted her head. “Come on.”
In moments they were in front of a set of doors which swished open to reveal what were obviously her quarters.
“Your room?” he said.
“Yes, Captain,” she said and narrowed her eyes a little. “It’s not like you’ve never been in my quarters before.”
“True,” he said, hesitantly. But that had been during a time, when, as she might have put it, there had been clear “parameters” in place.
He saw a look of pain and doubt cross her face, and she withdrew her hand from his. “I’m sorry, you probably need your own space. I know this must be overwhelming, I’ll...”
“Stop,” he said, retrieving her hand again. Deliberately he stepped through the door, pulling her with him. The door swished shut.
It was dark in the room. Just enough ambient emergency lighting to see the shape of her next to him. Something about the darkness cut his own nervousness and he immediately pulled her back into his arms. She came easily, fitting into him as she had in the transporter room. There was no hesitation on her part, no sense of her being cautious about pressing herself against him, no indication that she had any intention of letting him go anytime soon. He wanted to bury his face in her hair, but remembered just in time.
With a sigh he moved back. “Computer, lights.”
Kathryn stared up with a questioning look. He gestured to himself. “Muck on my face,” he repeated.
She grinned and pointed to one end of her quarters. “Sonic shower and a second replicator.”
“You’ve got two working replicators?” he said, teasing her. Her replicator on their Voyager had been infamous. “What’s that like?”
“Heaven,” she said, tapping him on the chest. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” he said. “Perpetually starving. My diet had been pretty minimal until the kids rescued me.”
He saw the sorrow return to her face. Putting his hands on her shoulders he said, “I’m okay, Kathryn.” He wasn’t, not entirely. He had an army of suitcases full of emotional baggage to unpack, but not now.
She looked at him skeptically. “I’m not sure I believe that, Captain.”
He shook his head. “Well, how about we settle on I’m very okay, right now, in this moment.” Then he gave a firm nod. “And I’ll be even better if I get to eat something besides fish eggs with you.”
Taking a deep breath, she returned his nod. “Fine, you change, I’ll make dinner. But don’t think you’re getting away that easily.”
He took a couple of steps away, then turned back. Their eyes locked and he said, “Don’t worry, Admiral. For the first time in a long time, I’m right where I want to be.”