This story is written for two excellent people who are known for the ‘How to look at your first officer’ and ‘How not to look at your captain’ gifset series, and I think we can all appreciate that. Additionally, the wonderful @supernovacoffee volunteered to make me a J/C video to a song I fell in love with, and when I asked @emmikamikatze for a good fic prompt to write for her in return, I realised I could kill two delta flyers with one torpedo.
So
here it is, for you two lovely humans. A story written to a couple of
prompts you’ve requested of the tumblr universe sometime in the past few
months. Please enjoy:
After the ready room incident, Kathryn felt more anxious, and like she had angered Chakotay. She knew it was nearly impossible for her to anger him, but she was afraid. Being afraid bugged the living hell out of her. She was a Janeway, and Janeways weren’t cowards. She was so deep in thought that she h uad missed Tom’s question, and now the entire bridge was quiet, and waiting for her to answer. Damn it.
After sorting out that class A cluster fuck, Kathryn pinched the bridge of her nose, and leaned forward in her chair. She had been stealing glances over at Chakotay over the last few days, but saying and doing nothing. It was hard for her to accept love. Ever since… before she could finish her thought, he had caught her staring at him. She felt like he could see right through her. To her soul. To the core of her being. She quickly looked away but not before seeing that great smile crawl across Chakotay’s face. Those lips had kissed hers, and she wanted to kiss them again. She sat back in her chair and listened to the din of the bridge around her.
She didn’t see Chakotay get up and leave, so when she turned to look at him, it startled her when she saw he was gone. It irked her that he said nothing. Where the hell did he go?
Chakotay double checked that no one had followed him to the Brig. He laughed as he realized if anyone caught him doing this, he’d be IN the brig. With no one around he opened a floor subpanel and pulled out the digital read out monitor he had swiped from Kathryn’s desk. Some rules were meant to be broken. He wanted to know more about her. About the woman who had stolen his heart from almost the day he met her.
Kathryn’s hand held monitor could access any record he wanted for the ship. The only one he was interested in was hers. When he opened it he realized he needed a passcode. He only had 5 tries. He entered her birthday, no luck. Her Starfleet Academy Graduation date, no access, he tried the date she was assigned to Voyager, nothing. The date they had met.. BINGO! After getting into the interface, he checked again to be sure no one was around. He pulled up the personnel files and scrolled to the J’s.
On the bridge, Kathryn was up and pacing the floor like a caged lioness. Chakotay had been gone for at least half an hour, and it was driving her crazy. Finally, she tapped her communicator. “Janeway to Chakotay” no answer. She tapped again, “Captain Janeway to Commander Chakotay, do you copy?” Still nothing. Kathryn felt her face flush, and her skin grow hot. Out of desperation and trying to sound calm, “Computer, where is Commander Chakotay?” She waited for the mere seconds it took for the Computer to respond. “Commander Chakotay is in the Brig.” Kathryn furrowed her brow. The Brig? What the hell was he Doing? Fearing Chakotay was in trouble because he didn’t answer his communicator, she turned over her right shoulder. Lieutenant Tuvok, take a security team and go to the Brig, find Chakotay. Tuvok in true Vulcan fashion, nodded and left the Bridge.
Meanwhile in the Brig, Chakotay was neck deep in Kathryn’s file. He wondered how and when she had recovered from all this in her record. It explained her fears, and made him sick to his stomach. Tuvok’s voice hit Chakotay like lightning and Chakotay scrambled to put the monitor back in the floor. He was standing up as Tuvok rounded the corner.
“Commander, are you alright?” Tuvok asked as the security team fanned out into the brig. “I’M fine, what’s going on?” Chakotay asked as he nervously stood on top of the loose floor panel. “Captain Janeway was worried since you have been absent for nearly an hour” Chakotay nodded, “I’m sorry, I got lost in thought.” Tuvok stepped aside as Chakotay stepped towards him. “SO you came to the brig?” He asked following Chakotay down the corridor to the lift. “What can I say, when my mind wanders, apparently so do I.”
Kathryn turned as she heard the doors open onto the bridge. She almost smiled when she saw Chakotay, but the look in his eye cautioned her that his mood had changed. He wasn’t sour, but..p>Maybe thoughtful. It made her wonder what he was up to, but with past experiences, she knew she could trust whatever he was doing. She looked back at him and caught his gaze. “Everything alright Commander?” She asked. She didn’t ask simply out of curiosity, but also out of wanting to hear his voice.
“Everything is fine Captain, just needed to clear my head.” Chakotay responded as he sat in his chair. Kathryn nodded, but thought to herself that he had looked more relaxed when he left the bridge.
Inside Chakotay, his entire being was sighing in relief. He had almost been caught, and almost was too close. He was pushing boundaries, and his luck by doing this. But he wanted to know. Needed to know. He wanted to help Kathryn, and he knew she wouldn’t talk about it. He was going to have to get back down there and find a way to get that monitor to his quarters so he could search more. He hated doing this, but at times, Rules are meant to be broken.
More!
Also, @secretvixen83 I could give you a few constructive criticisms if you wanted that… message me if so??
honestly, you have a treasure trove of beautiful janeway and chakotay moments. you have their last dinner together before the accident in timeless. you have the watch-giving in year of hell. you have their casual dinners together, in private, under candlelight, drinking antarian cider. you have janeway offering chakotay a moonlit sail while they drink champagne. you have chakotay mourning janeway as she dies in the time loop. you have chakotay revealing to janeway, in the gentlest way possible, of her real life on voyager. you have how they almost always wake up in sickbay to each others’ faces. you have how janeway confessed that she couldn’t imagine a day without chakotay. so many of their interactions are proof of their affection, the affection that janeway/chakotay shippers believe could have been a beautiful romance had the writers allowed them to
… and apparently the pinnacle of their devotion to you is when chakotay starts spewing another “ancient legend” under racist writing again
Three years ago I didn’t even know your name. Today I can’t imagine a day without you.
Do I have your support?
Temporal Prime Directive.
We’ve been through too much to stop trusting each other.
Chakotay – let’s keep this one out of our logs, huh?
I’ll bring the croutons.
Surprise me.
You’ve just threatened the wrong woman, Chakotay.
Bridge to Chakotay: Scorpion!
For two people who started off as enemies, it seems we get to know each other pretty well. So I’ve been wondering… just how close do we get?
Bottle of champagne, moonlight sail on Lake George – how does that sound?
Chakotay, there’s no one I trust more than you. You’re a fine first officer. Are you ready to captain this ship?
Not for a second.
A soldier *and* a philosopher. Your intelligence file doesn’t do you justice.
Commander, you and I have the same problem. I think it makes sense to try and solve it together, don’t you?
They’ll push you. They’ll threaten you. But they need you. They need this alliance… You have to make this work. I want you… to make this work. Get this crew home…
I appreciate your trying to protect me, but a chance to see this place – it’s worth a headache.
Just be home before midnight.
As Captain, that’s a luxury I don’t have.
Thanks again for minding the store.
But when I’m through… things might be better for all of us. Trust me.
What’s important is that in the end, we got through this, together. I don’t ever want that to change.
Are you with me?
Maybe I could stand with an apple on my head and you could phaser it off.
I’d say, have a seat, it’ll be a while.
One of the nice things about being captain… is that you can keep some things to yourself.
The next few hours were tense. Kathryn couldn’t even look at him without an automatic smile creeping across her face. He thought it made her that much more beautiful, and had a hard time keeping his thoughts on the digital read out in his hand. He swore he could hear her thoughts, feel her– confusion? No that wasn’t it… disbelief? Sure. Disbelief that she herself had broken a cardinal rule of command. But at the same time, he got the feeling that she didn’t really care. He was brought out of his reverie by realizing she was staring at him.
“I’m sorry Captain, what did you say?”
“I said would you please come to my ready room with me for a moment?”
She raised an eyebrow at him and he knew he was pushing her patience. But damn was she gorgeous.
“Aye, Captain.”
He got up and followed her. He had to slow his heart down out of fear she would hear it. As they crossed the threshold and the doors closed, she turned on him. Her hand on his chest, her eyes searching for something in his.
“Kath–” was all he got out before she cut him off.
“I need to know something right now; were you serious before? About me not being alone? Were you serious about all of that?”
As he looked at her, he recognized the fear in her eyes. It wasn’t smiles he had seen- It was nerves. She was terrified, and he hated it. Someone made her this way, and the damage was long lasting.
She had stepped back from him, and he hated that too. So, he stepped to her, wrapped his arms around her, kissed her softly.
“Kathryn Janeway, I have never been more serious in my life. I will never leave your side, and whatever demons you’re fighting, we will fight them together.” He said as he held her a little tighter. She didn’t resist, and laid her head on his chest. If his heart could fly, it would be an eagle soaring majestically through the cosmos.
It took him a minute to realize she had started to cry, and by the time he noticed it, she had hidden it like she always did. He expected her to push him away, but instead, she wrapped her arms through his and hugged him back. They stayed that way for awhile, it seemed like milliseconds, but it had been about 5 minutes when she gently shook loose of him.
“Chakotay,” she whispered, “I can’t lose anyone else.”
Before he could say anything, she returned to the bridge, and left him in the ready room.
bekjaneway 