Disclaimer: Paramount owns them...blah... bah...bah
Rated: A mild R
Author: BonnieH44@go.com
Summary: and so it begins....
Category: AT, JU (seems like the only thing I do)
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First Contact
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After long exhausting hours of work, Janeway
finally entered her ready room and collapsed on the sofa. The Commander
was due any moment. Janeway let her thoughts drift back over their first
meeting. It gave a whole new meaning to “First Contact” she thought with
chagrin. She trembled slightly as she recalled his body pressed to hers,
his searing brown eyes, so cruel and angry from betrayal, turning to amazement
as he felt the strong, over powering chemistry their contact was generating.
Chakotay made his way to Voyager's ready room.
Spirits, here he was, 70,000 light years from home, and his heart was singing.
Images of Voyager’s captain kept invading his thoughts. He smiled ruefully
to himself. She has captured me, he capitulated, but not in the way she
had anticipated. He was hers to do with as she wanted. He had already decided
he would never lift a finger against her. If she wanted him in her brig,
that is where he wanted to be. Gods, he entreated, how could you do this
to me. Now! when my entire life has been turned upside down, you deliver
this unbelievable gift at my feet. Standing in the corridor in front of
the ready room door, he stopped, willing himself to take a few deep, calming
breaths. He felt like a school boy, his palms sweating, his stomach in
knots. He finally shook his head. “I must be crazy,” he thought to himself,
not for the first time since being hurtled to this side of the galaxy,
“I’m actually glad to be here!”
Hesitantly, he reached out to activate the buzzer.
"Come," snapped the authoritative voice, as the door slid
open.
Chakotay entered, his breath caught in his chest. He had to
will himself to breath. If he had any doubts about his feelings for the
formidable captain of Voyager, they were laid to rest as his body instantly
reacted to her close proximity. He tried to hide his arousal, was embarrassed
that he could not seem to control his body. His only consolation was that
Janeway was trying to ignore her own reaction. He noted the reddening of
her cheeks, her breathing turned rapid.
"Commander," she croaked out, "please, sit down."
Chakotay came to the desk, sat down in the chair
she indicated, steepleing his hands over his growing arousal; a gesture
that did not go unnoticed by the captain. He saw her eyes travel down his
chest to rest on his groin, then rapidly look away. He allowed himself
a small smile of triumph, a smile he wiped from his face instantly as her
eyes came back to rest on his again.
"I would like to take this opportunity to formally
extend the gratitude of myself and my crew to you and yours. I would wish
the price of our survival was not so high. I..." Janeway hesitated. She
had to get this out; she was, after all, in his dept. "I regret the loss
of your ship," she said finally, her voice low, her eyes never leaving
his. She had to gauge his response, had to know what to do about him, and
the rest of the Maquis.
The Commander nodded, acknowledging her gratitude,
but giving little else away.
"I realize there is going to be a lot of hostility,
anger directed toward me because of my decision to strand our two crews
in the Delta Quadrant." She looked out the viewport at the unfamiliar starscape.
"In all fairness to the Maquis, I'm am not just referring to your crew.
My crew is equally distressed by this turn of events."
Chakotay watched her intently. She still had not asked
him a question, a question he knew she needed to ask desperately. She needed
to know his intentions. She could hardly ask him outright if he intended
to mutiny... to take control of the ship.
"So, Commander. What do I do with 43 Maquis crewmembers
who hate Starfleet with a passion?"
Chakotay sat very still. This was a rhetorical question,
he assumed. He was certain she had already decided the fate of the Maquis.
He was surprised, therefore, to realize she was expecting an answer.
"42," he said.
Janeway looked at the man quizzically. So much was riding
on his answer.
"42 crewmembers," he repeated. "I never said I hated Starfleet."
Janeway just looked at him. This meeting was so important.
She had to know where the Commander stood. Everything hinged on his cooperation.
This conversation was going nowhere. Janeway was dancing
all around the problem.
Chakotay decided to take the "proverbial" bull by the
horns.
"Captain," he said finally, "it may surprise you to know
that a fair number of the Maquis agreed with your decision to destroy the
array. You may view my crew as criminals, but they are, for the most part,
compassionate people who have strong feelings regarding the powerlessness
of the weak. That is why they joined the Maquis in the first place."
"And you, Commander, what do you think of my decision?"
Chakotay took a moment to think about that. "I would have
done the same thing," he said honestly.
Janeway tried to take a final measure of the man before
her. She trusted him. Christ! she loved him! It was now or never. Janeway
turned away. So much depended on the Commander's good will. He was attracted
to her. Janeway felt it in her bones. Because of that, or perhaps in spite
of it, he would accept her offer; he would see the logic in it, he would
agree! He had to!
"Commander," she said turning back to him.
This was it, he thought to himself, 70 years in
the brig or...or what? What were the options of the vanquished, after all?
She could deposit them on the nearest earth type planet if she thought
she could not trust him. He had to make her see reason.
"Are you willing to accept the position of First
Officer?"
Chakotay was speechless.
Janeway, seeing his confusion, repeated the question.
"Mr. Chakotay," she said slowly, as if speaking to a small child, "you
need a ship, I need a crew. Are you willing to accept this posting? Will
you swear your allegiance to me?"
Chakotay's eyes grew wide. It was an elegant solution
to their problem. His admiration for the captain of Voyager increased exponentially.
Suddenly the impact of her words finally hit him. She would never become
involved with a member of her crew. His chest constricted as he realized
what this meant to both of them on a personal level.
Janeway could see his amazement, the growing respect,
then the utter despair as he realized the implications of her offer. Janeway
had already reconciled herself to that; she hated that she was the cause
of his pain. It was unavoidable, she told herself, given their positions
and circumstances.
He was trying to hide his disappointment. It was a hell
of an offer... one he could not turn down. The captain had known that.
It was the only way to safely merge the two crews.
Janeway thought she saw Commander's eyes mist over.
He got up, turned away from her. How could he do
this? She was his "reshun'dru." He had heard the ancient legends foretelling
of the meeting of soulmates; nothing prepared him for the reality. In truth,
he thought it was a myth. Janeway saw the broad shoulders set. When he
turned back, he was again the fierce Maquis captain. "There are a thousand
reasons to accept this offer, and only one why I should not!"
Janeway did not even pretend to misunderstand
him.
He stalked up to her, his face just inches
from hers. They could feel the heat, knew the kind of life to which they
were consigning themselves.
"God damn it," he growled, "if you can do this, so can
I! I accept your offer, Captain Janeway."
He turned on his heels, exited the ready room, not waiting
to be dismissed. He stood in the corridor, motionless. What had he done?
He had allowed her to sentence them to an emotional limbo that could last
well over 70 years. Spirits, how would he face her, day after day. Just
being in the same room caused his body to ache for her.
Well, he thought to himself, 70 years is a long
time.
Chakotay was a patient man, a persistent man. He
would be by her side. One day, he assured himself, she will come to you.
He would be the best goddamn first officer she ever had!
**************
Janeway had been sitting, trying to log the
events of the last few days for over two hours. She had no idea where to
start. She was no closer to logging these events than when she fist gave
those incredible orders. “Commander Chakotay, you have the bridge,” and
walked wearily into her ready room.
Janeway shook herself. She really needed to
put this in perspective, not to mention putting it in the log. Let’s see,
she thought to herself, the ship was on a course for earth, a staggeringly
impossible voyage that could take over 75 years. Her chief helmsman was
an ex-con. She had no doctor, no engineer, and to top off her list of spectacular
entries in this extraordinary log, she had just relinquished the command
of the bridge to her newly minted First Officer, Maquis renegade and criminal,
Commander Chakotay; a First Officer, she groaned inwardly, that she had
fallen in love with the moment they met.
He had said “Aye, Captain,” as if it were the most
natural thing in the universe for a Starfleet Captain to relinquish control
of her ship to a criminal.
Janeway saw the contentment in his eyes as she left
him on the bridge. He was actually glad to be here, she thought wonderingly,
delighted to be by her side. It was going to be a very long, long voyage.
*******************end*******************
BonnieH44@go.com