The damage to Voyager wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Environmental controls were still off line, and several decks had taken heavy damage, but it was nothing her staff couldn't handle. Tuvok was taking care of the weapons systems and Harry was working on environmental controls. Repairs were well underway and the alien ships did not seem to be pursuing them. It was only after she had reviewed the damage to her vessel and organized repair teams that Kathryn Janeway left the bridge in Tom's capable hands and stepped into a turbolift. "Deck five," she ordered, feeling the urge to pace back and forth, though the confines of the space did not allow it. Instead, she rocked back and forth on her heels, trying to ignore the sweat that continued to accumulate on her brow and the sinking feeling that hadn't left the pit of her stomach since the moment she had known Chakotay was injured.

As she stepped out of the turbolift, Kathryn forced herself to walk slowly and maintain a calm, cool exterior, even though her stomach was in knots and her heart was racing. She passed several crewmen in the midst of repairs on her way to sickbay, and she knew she needed to exude an air of comfortable authority around them. But when the sickbay doors swooshed open and she saw Chakotay lying on a biobed, the Doctor nearby, she forgot decorum and broke into a run. In a few quick steps, she was standing beside the biobed, taking Chakotay's hand in hers and looking down at his unconscious form. "Doctor, report," she ordered, not taking her eyes off of her first officer's face.

"He's suffering from severe plasma burns and has a minor concussion. His body has gone into shock," the Doctor explained as he pressed a hypospray into the Commander's neck. "Now, Captain, if you'll please move away from my patient?" When she didn't protest and backed away silently, the Doctor looked up at her, concerned. He wasn't sure she had ever obeyed an order from him that easily, but when he saw the expression of fear on her face, he realized that what many of the crew members had guessed must be true. As he continued to move around the Commander with ease and precision, running a dermal regenerator over his burns, he adopted a more soothing tone. "He's going to be all right, Captain. There's no need for alarm."

Janeway realized that she must have looked shell-shocked to prompt the Doctor to speak to her in that tone, and she tried to wipe the concern off her face as she watched the EMH treat Chakotay. The hologram expertly regenerated damaged skin and applied the necessary hyposprays. The Captain had never been so grateful for the holographic doctor as she was at that moment. She didn't know how long she had been standing there when she realized that the Doctor had completed his treatment and was running a medical tricorder over Chakotay. He turned to her and said, "He just needs to rest now, Captain."

She looked at him, trying to convey the gratitude she felt. "Thank you, Doctor. May I stay here?"

"Of course, Captain." The Doctor studied her carefully as she pulled up a chair beside the Commander's bed. As a rule, crewmen liked to gossip when they came to sickbay. It distracted them from their ailments and from the Doctor's prodding, so he had the opportunity to learn a great deal about the rumors that went around the ship and what people thought of them. Ever since the Captain and Commander Chakotay had returned from the planet they called New Earth, the ship had been abuzz with rumors about them. The Doc had dismissed these rumors as active fantasies of some of the younger, less experienced crew members... until now. The look on Kathryn Janeway's face when she had practically leapt across sickbay to Chakotay's biobed eliminated the last of the Doctor's doubts. With a small smirk on his face, he left the couple in peace, retreating into the privacy of his office.

Sitting at his bedside, Kathryn held one of Chakotay's hands in both of hers. She stroked the back of his palm, feeling the roughness of his skin compared to her own. The clenching fear in her stomach slowly evaporated and the adrenaline of the crisis fell away as she absorbed the solid presence before her. She took a deep breath, exhaling shakily as the events of the past few hours washed over her. Always, after a crisis, she reviewed her own decisions, asked herself if she had made the best choices, if there was anything she could have done differently or better. With a pang, she wished there had been some way to ensure that her double had returned to her own timeline, but she simply couldn't see how, and she didn't want to risk returning to Qrtpch space now.

Before her, Chakotay stirred, and her attention snapped back to him, but he did not awaken. She recognized the peaceful expression on his face as he settled into a deeper sleep. She gripped his hand tighter, knowing that she could have lost him today. Suddenly, Kathryn felt overwhelmed and she lowered her eyes to where his hand lay in her lap, clasped within both of hers. This would not be the last time he would go on a dangerous mission without her. How many times would she sit beside his damaged body in sickbay? She felt a lump rising in her throat, but she pushed it back. No, she thought. I won't give in to that fear. As she raised her face to look at Chakotay's sleeping form once more, she felt a fierce determination creep over her. I can't guarantee his safety or mine. I never could. But I can give him everything that I feel right here and right now. He might be taken from me tomorrow, or I from him, but we have this moment together. Right here. Right now. And even if that's all we have, I'm not going to waste one second of it.

Slowly, Kathryn stood and leaned over Chakotay's body, taking one of her hands and running it through his hair. She lovingly pressed her lips to his, and though his lips did not respond, they were warm and filled with life. She smiled, and this time the tears that threatened were tears of joy and gratitude. Bringing her mouth next to his hear, she whispered softly, "I love you."

Chakotay thought he felt something warm and soft on his lips as he slowly returned to consciousness. The feeling was familiar somehow, but he couldn't quite place it. He felt a tingle on his cheek as a strand of hair gently brushed his skin, and then he distinctly heard a soft voice whisper three words in his ear. At the sound of the voice, he forced his eyes to open, and as he turned his head towards the sound of the voice, he saw Kathryn straighten and look down at him anxiously. His vision remained slightly blurred, and his head was pounding. He found it difficult to keep his eyes open, but he forced his lips into half a smile. "I love you, too." He closed his eyes again, for just one more moment. He heard the sound of footsteps as the Doctor came bustling over.

"Commander," he heard the EMH's brash tone. "I see that you're awake."

"Just barely, Doctor," he managed, opening his eyes to the harsh lights of sickbay once more.

"How are you feeling?"

"I've got one hell of a headache, but I'm all right." He closed his eyes again and felt the Doc press a hypospray to his neck.

"That should help with the pain, Commander." Almost instantly, the headache began to subside, and Chakotay opened his eyes and looked up at the EMH. "You suffered severe plasma burns and a minor concussion. A headache is only natural."

Chakotay propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Kathryn with sudden alarm. He had almost forgotten the mission that had landed him in sickbay in the first place. "Captain Janeway!" he exclaimed.

The Doctor looked befuddled for a moment, about to tell the first officer that the Captain was standing beside him, but Kathryn understood his exclamation and replied, "She contacted us and told us to beam you off the shuttle. When we retreated from the battle, we didn't detect her life signs. Your shuttle took heavy damage."

"So she's... dead?" Chakotay asked hesitantly.

Kathryn shrugged. "We'll never know. She may have initiated the transport and gotten home safely."

"I'm sure she did," he told her reassuringly. Janeway only shrugged again, and then moved hurriedly to place a hand on his back and grab his arm as he attempted to sit up on the bed.

"Commander, you really should rest," the EMH protested.

"You'll get no argument from me, Doc, but I'd like to go back to my quarters. That is, if you have no objection?" Janeway looked up at her first officer, inwardly smiling at his tactics. He seemed demure, willing to comply with the Doctor's wishes... and yet she knew that it was a ploy to get the Doctor to allow him out of sickbay. She'd have to try this approach next time she wanted to get out of the EMH's clutches.

Studying the Commander's diffident expression, the Doctor reluctantly relented. "Very well, but come back and see me in the morning. If you feel any sharp pain or dizziness, contact me immediately."

"Of course, Doctor," said Chakotay, easing himself off the biobed, Kathryn's hand still clutching his arm for support. "And, thank you."

The Doctor virtually beamed at the appreciation which he so seldom received. "Oh, it's all in a day's work for the only Starfleet emergency medical hologram in the Delta Quadrant."

The Captain gave him a smile and replied, "Of course, Doctor." Then, as the EMH busied himself with his duties, Kathryn slid her arm around Chakotay's waist and let him place his arm around her shoulders for support. As she helped him back to his quarters, there was silence between them, but both of them enjoyed the closeness of the other, the warmth, the support, the bond that they could feel with no words at all.

...

Kathryn groaned in frustration. The appetizer was burnt. Why was it she had the worst luck with replicators? "I'm sorry," she said to the machine. "I'm going to be very nice to you from now on. Now, please, don't ruin the main dish." She programmed an old favorite for the main course and smoothed her hands over her coral dress. It had been one of Chakotay's favorite outfits from New Earth, and whenever she donned it, she wore it especially for him.

The chime to her quarters rang. "Come in." She checked the chronometer, feeling flustered. 1900. Why did he always have to be so infuriatingly on time? Chakotay entered, a bottle of champagne in one hand, and a single, pale, coral colored rose in the other. He handed the rose to her and kissed her cheek. "Aw," she said with a smile. "This dinner is supposed to be your celebration, not mine."

"Can't it be ours, Kathryn?" he asked with a sidelong grin as he replicated a small vase for the flower and placed it on the table, alongside the bottle of champagne. As soon as he had set them down, he moved swiftly towards her and took her in his arms, pressing his lips to hers in a gesture that was atypically romantic, even for him. She felt his fingers in her hair and his lips pressed against hers, and she felt her mouth responding to his, deepening the kiss as her arms snaked around his back and up the back of his neck. When he broke the kiss he took a small step back, not letting her out of his arms, but breaking away enough to study her. He could not mask the adoration or the hunger in his eyes. "You look beautiful tonight."

She couldn't help the blush that crept into her cheeks. "Thank you. I guess you're feeling better."

"I feel like a new man!" he exclaimed, stepping away from her and pounding on his chest like a primitive. "Ready to take on the universe."

She laughed, wagging a finger at him. "But are you ready to try my cooking?"

He forced his expression into mock-seriousness. "I don't know, Captain. Maybe we should have the Doctor standing by, just in case."

"Not if you want to spend the evening with me, Mister," Janeway answered, placing her hands on her hips. She gestured to the table, which was already set, and indicated for him to sit down. "You can open the champagne if you're looking for something to do."

He set himself to tearing the foil off the bottle as he asked, "What's for dinner?"

"Well, the appetizer was burnt, so I guess we'll just have to make do with a main course... and dessert..."

"Mmm." The cork made a satisfying pop as Chakotay extracted it from the neck of the bottle.

Kathryn stood at the replicator, hoping that her main dish wouldn't be as charred as the samosas she had planned for a starter. When the dish materialized, she breathed a sigh of relief and brought it to the table. "Vegetable biryani," she offered. "My grandmother's recipe."

"It smells good!" Chakotay said, teasing her by sounding surprised. She scowled as she served the biryani to each of them, and he poured the champagne. When they sat down across from each other, Chakotay raised his glass, "To Captain Janeway," he said. "May she find her way home." They clinked glasses and sipped in silence. Kathryn tried the food, and, to her surprise, it tasted almost as good as her grandmother's cooking. Chakotay teased that the meal was "almost palatable" but she knew him well enough to know that he really did like it.

They ate in silence for several moments, each absorbed in their own thoughts, before Kathryn finally spoke. "I can't stop thinking about her."

"The other Captain?"

Kathryn nodded. "I wish there was a way to know that she made it back safely."

"Why don't we just assume that she did?"

Janeway sighed. "It's not just that. She alluded to some terrible things that were going to happen to us. I wish she could have told me what."

Chakotay studied her. Over the past few years, he'd come to know every nuance of her face, every inflection of her voice, and he knew now that there was something more to this. "That's not the only thing that's bothering you, is it?"

Kathryn looked up at him, minor shock registering on her features. "How do you do that?" she asked with a small chuckle.

"Do what?"

"How do you know what I'm thinking before I do?"

He shrugged. "I know you."

They returned to their silence for a moment as she collected her thoughts and tried to figure out how to verbalize them. "I saw in her... what I could become... and I didn't like it. She was cynical and single-minded. I know I can be that way sometimes, but I don't ever want to be as jaded as she is, no matter how long we're stranded out here, no matter how badly I want to get this crew home... I don't ever want to lose my perspective." Looking at him earnestly, she reached across the table and took Chakotay's hand. "Will you help me with that?"

Putting down his fork, Chakotay reached over and took her other hand as well, squeezing tightly. "Of course I will."

She smiled and squeezed his hands one more time before letting go and reaching for her glass to take a sip. "She really is missing out, you know?"

She saw the beginnings of a coy smile spread across Chakotay's features. "Why is that?"

"She doesn't have you."

The honesty and simplicity of the statement surprised Chakotay; it was unusual for Kathryn to be so straightforward and direct about her feelings towards him. But rather than acknowledge how touched he was by the statement, he said, "We don't know what she's had to go through, live with... who she's seen die. We have no way of knowing how we might react under those circumstances."

"That's true. But there is one thing I'm certain of, and that's that we're stronger together."

This time, Chakotay did nothing to mask how deeply her words had affected him. Their dinner was unfinished, but it would keep. He walked around the table and took her hand, drawing her to sit on the sofa beside him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and drew her legs to rest over his knees. One of his hands strayed down to cover her knee, his fingers making lazy circles over the soft material of her dress. He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "We did it, you know," he said softly.

"Did what?" Her voice was almost a whisper.

"I went on a life-threatening mission without you. It didn't compromise our abilities to make good command decisions. It didn't unnecessarily endanger the ship or the crew. The world didn't end."

She regarded him thoughtfully and repeated, "The world didn't end." Then, suddenly, she burst into joyous laughter, throwing her arms around his neck, pulling her body into his lap. His arms encircled her, holding her rib cage.

"Kathryn, what's so funny?"

She was no longer certain if she was laughing or crying. "We never had to take any of it seriously, did we?"

Still confused, but unable to help the grin that spread across his features in response to her laughter, he asked, "What do you mean?"

"This was here for the taking, for us, all that time before New Earth. We could have had it all along; we just didn't see it. All that time, we were the only ones who were in the way." Her laughter slowly subsided and she brought her body to face him fully, raising herself up onto her knees, straddling his lap. She took his face between her hands, brushing her thumbs over his cheeks, and looked deeply into his chocolate brown eyes, seeing his devotion, passion, promise, strength... everything he was, in that moment, and everything that she was to him. Slowly, she brought her face closer to his, so that their lips were almost touching, so that she could feel his breath mingling with hers. "Chakotay," she whispered, her voice barely audible, "I love you." And before he had a chance to respond, her lips had captured his in the sweetest kiss of promise he had ever known.