A/N – I hope you don't get confused on the whole time thing (it boggles me as it is) but being the J/Cer that I am, I just HAD to take a shot. Anyways...

Disclaimer – Um, yeah, don't own it. If I did, the show would still be on, duh.

I hesitantly attach an earring to my ear, watching my reflection carefully. There's a sharp bark at my side and I drop the other earring, looking down at the small creature that emitted the sound. "No need to worry old girl. It's just going to be a few hours, and then I'll be home." The dog barks again, twice this time. "Oh don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't go if I didn't have to."

: Incoming message for Kathryn Janeway. :

"Wonder who that could be," I say, placing the earring into its rightful lobe and walking into my office nearby. The numerous PADDs scattered everywhere clutter the room, along with several books slumped on the floor. I manage to find my computer and tap a key to open the channel. "Chakotay, what a surprise."

"Kathryn, you look absolutely beautiful. I take it you're going to the reunion tonight?"

"Of course, aren't you?" I smile at his compliment.

"Possibly. Ani isn't taking too kindly to her first pregnancy."

"I hadn't heard," I say, my smile fading slightly. "When is she due?"

"Two more months. It's going to be a girl."

"I suppose congratulations are in order then," I say.

"I hoped you wouldn't consider it a duty, but thank you."

It falls silent for a moment, but I refuse to let this be hard. "Well if I don't leave soon, I'll miss my transport. I really hope you can make it."

"If not, I was hoping you and I could get together sometime. Catch up over the past year."

"I'd like that," I say, swallowing hard. "I'll see what my schedule is like and call you tomorrow evening."

Chakotay nods slowly. "I'll speak with you then. Good bye."

"Bye," I say, keeping the forced smile, as I close the channel. I feel winded suddenly, as if all air had been knocked out of me. "Pregnant," I whisper. The word suddenly has a new meaning added to it, leaving a bitter sensation on my mind. My dog barks in the doorway, shaking me from my thoughts of Chakotay and Seven. "I know, I know. I have an hour, but you can't blame me. You don't know the Commander like I do." I stand up and walk back into my bedroom where my evening dress lay. It's a periwinkle blue, spaghetti-strapped dress that meets my toes perfectly. I smooth a hand over it. Another bark startles me and I turn with a frown. "What is wrong with you tonight, girl? You haven't acted like this since you were a puppy." The dog barks again and I kneel down, picking the cocker spaniel up gently. I scratch behind my pet's ears. From the corner of my eyes, I can see a blue light reflect off the walls briefly before disappearing, and I turn to see a young man in a command uniform, and in his mid-twenties with soft jet black hair and piercing blue eyes. I hesitate momentarily at the unknown man, but there's a feeling of a previously established relationship.

"Kathryn Janeway," he says with a smile. "You look dashing."

"Pardon my bad memory, but have I met you before?"

"Well... in a sense, yes. I am your son."

I squint as I set my pet down and walk toward the man. "Just who do you think you are, beaming into my quarters and saying such a thing?"

"My name is Edward Owen Janeway and I need your help."

"My help? With what?"

"You might want to sit down. You're not going to like it."

"I'm just fine standing, now tell me why you need my help," I say, shifting my weight around to my other foot.

"I know you have a thing with the temporal prime directive, but it's not you that's breaking it here. It's me. But it's for my life. You see, when you caused the Borg transwarp hub to explode on your way back to the Alpha Quadrant, you tore open a portion of temporal space. Alternate universes were created, and the one I'm apart of is starting to fade. And I can't let that happen."

"How did you get here?"

"The timeship Relativity contacted our Voyager and informed us what had happened. They asked for someone to come back and repair the timeline, because if they didn't stop the other you from destroying the hub, then they too would be erased. We had no idea of what they were speaking about, we'd never heard of the Borg, but I volunteered to lend a hand after they explained our existence would seize."

"Forgive me, but I'm not following you."

"You're going to have to come with me. You have to stop your former self from listening to your future self so that my time can coexist with your own."

I briefly pause, getting easily lost in the whole past and future time confusion. "Why didn't Braxton just contact me?"

"He didn't think you'd respond too well with him because of the last time you two had met. He wanted someone you could trust to come, and suggested you, but you were... are... dead."

"I'm what?" I ask, obviously not hearing him correctly.

"The temporal wave that Braxton used to stop and contact us with was too strong. Right now the Relativity is relatively miscalculating many things, and the force exerted killed twenty crewmen. He tried to repair the misdeed, but since the timeline was already deteriorating, he couldn't."

"You do realize if I do agree to help you that it rewrites history. Tuvok will die from his mental disorder, and Seven will not have her child, to name a few things."

"Who?"

"Seven. Seven of Nine. Annika Hansen."

"I'm sure she's probably just a minor difference in our timelines."

"You can't just erase people. I liberated her from the Borg Queen! Are you saying that none of this will happen?"

"I can't say anything for sure right now. For now though, you need to come with me to the Relativity. Perhaps Braxton can put it into your terms since I'm not easily following you either."

"But I have to attend the one year anniversary of Voyager's return tonight. Surely someone will notice my absence and discover me missing."

"Voyager's home?" Edward asks breathless, eyes shimmering. "No matter," he says, briskly shaking his head. "It cannot wait. Perhaps Braxton can pull a few strings and delete your reservation to the anniversary."

I eye him for a moment, dying to know more about his future, but hesitating to change my own. I'd always wanted children, and if the young man before me could possibly be me son, I couldn't just turn my back on him. "Alright. Let's go."

Edward smiles, flashing brilliant dimples as he tapped his combadge. "Janeway to Braxton. Two to beam up."

The room comes into view, but it wasn't as I had remembered it. It is tattered, as if attacked unexpectedly, and there are many apparent damages all over the Bridge.

"Good of you to join us, Captain."

"Before this goes any further, I want a better description of what's going on. Why is this alternate timeline fading, and what can I do to stop it from doing so?"

"Both valid questions and they will be answered in time. Right now, I have to erase a Mr. Chakotay's memory of a previous conversation, and a Mr. Barclay's memory of a reservation. It may take a good fifteen minutes though; things are running a bit slowly. Perhaps you can get our guest something to drink, Eddie."

"Certainly. Right this way, mo-- Captain," Edward says with a choked voice, ushering me to the Turbolift. I hesitate briefly but nod, and enter the Turbolift. "Deck seven." The lift begins moving, and the silence that ensues is filled with tension that can be sliced with a hypospanner. Once on the proper deck, Edward leads the way to the desolate and dark Mess Hall where there are only a few tables, being that the ship is so small, and a window that is filled with stars and part of Earth. I smile as I approach the window, gazing out at my home. Edward watches me as he goes over to the counter and pours two mugs of coffee. He picks up the filled containers and goes to stand next to me. "Coffee, black," he says with a small smile, handing it to me.

"Some things will never change," I say, sipping the beverage thankfully. I really need it right now since my mind is refusing to quiet down. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Only if you really want to hear the answer. It'll probably break the temporal prime directive."

"Am... was I good mother to you?"

"Yes, to me and Shannon both."

Two. I have two children. The sentence in my head sounds so profound, but my heart leaps at the opportunity. "How old are you two?"

"Are you sure you really should be asking this?"

"I'd like to know," I say, bringing my drink to my lips briefly.

"I'm 24, and Shannon's 23. To be honest, neither of us was expected."

"Many things in the Delta Quadrant aren't," I say. It grows quiet for a moment as he seems to look at me with those eyes of my own. It's as though I'm really gone and he's finally getting to see a ghost of me or something. "You've never seen Earth, have you?

"Not in real life, no," Edward says, sipping his drink nervously. He doesn't really want to give too much away, knowing the possibility of his mother not getting home is now clearer. "Though you used to describe in detail what Indiana was like when I was a boy."

"It's a beautiful place. Lush farm hills that roll on for miles. It's really the only place I find peace some days, and I'm glad for my mother's simple company." I catch myself smiling as North America passes over in front of us, barely visible in the clouds.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"I suppose it's only fair," I say, holding my coffee close to my mouth, letting the aroma captivate me.

"Captain Braxton told me some of the events in your timeline, and I was just wondering... well... why did you give up on Chakotay?"

I swallow hard, but the lump that has gathered won't budge. "I never gave up on Chakotay. There are just certain lines that Captain and First Officer can't cross."

Edward laughs and shakes his head, turning and walking next to a table. He sets his coffee down. "It's funny you say that."

"Why?"

Suddenly, the comchannel breaks in. "Braxton to Ensign Janeway. If you could please show the Captain to the Bridge, I'm willing to try and explain what she must do now."

"Understood," Edward says. "Shall we?"

---

I stride on the Bridge, meeting Braxton halfway.

"I can speak with you in my Ready Room if you prefer a little privacy."

I nod, trying to ignore Edward's face sink.

"You have the Bridge, Ensign. Take it while you can," Braxton says.

"Thank you, sir," Edward says, walking to the Captain's seat and sitting in it. Braxton shows me to his ready room, and has a seat behind his desk. I remain standing since I really don't have the patience to remain still very long.

"Ask away, Kathryn," Braxton says, sitting back comfortably in his seat.

"Why is his timeline fading?"

"After the incident with the hub struck another universe up, the two began to fight for true existence. Sounds kinda hard to believe, but his duplicate reality began to try and overrun your own. And since truly only one can play out to the end, the one you currently reside in has... well... won. It's like a battle in a way."

"How long has it been in existence?"

"About twenty-five or so years ahead of your own, but with no Borg, they don't know as much as you do. It's remained parallel to your own since the beginning of time, and the only reason it was disturbed in the first place is because of the tear in space."

Feeling my knees weaken, I walk to a chair and sit down saying, "If it isn't one thing, it's another."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I can't get anywhere without 'disturbing' anything. The Caretaker, countless species, and now the hub."

"Though you did cause a massive explosion, I have a feeling that it wasn't you that allowed the other timeline to come into existence. You were, in essence, destroying the Borg Queen herself. My theory is that since the Borg does not exist in the other timeline, she used the explosion to her advantage and tore through time to outlive her lifespan."

"Interesting theory," I say, shifting in my seat. A life without the Borg would be paradise. "So tell me about this mission you want me to head up."

"It's not going to be easy, and in fact there are many things that could go wrong that we wouldn't be able to fix."

"Such as?"

"For one thing, it could all blow up in our faces and we would lose you, as well as the people in your timeline. You could also merge timelines and become permanently transfixed into the other timeline. If this were to occur, the timeline you are in now would be lost instead. For some reason, you seem to be the key factor."

"Just how many timelines are there?"

"We've only detected two. Your own and Edward's, but you must understand, our sensor readings are limited. The hub explosion has also affected us greatly, as I'm sure you observed on the Bridge."

"Indeed," I say. "Sorry for side-tracking you. The mission?"

"You are to go back just before your future self arrives and tries to convince your former self to use the hub. Hopefully we can get you there before she arrives and you'll miss her completely, but you'll have to work fast. You need to stop Voyager from destroying the hub, and continue the full journey. Now if your future self does interfere, I'm afraid that you'll have more trouble than we can handle. Too many crossing timelines would result a number of scenarios, none of them positive. This is when you could be transferred into the other timeline."

"What happens if I stop myself in time?" I ask, though my head is spinning with confusion.

"We'll be able to adjust the timelines and both can coincide without disturbing each other. Our ship won't be damaged, and we'll be able to beam you back to your time."

"But if I succeed, and then return, wouldn't my time have changed?"

"Obviously so. Though I'd be able to remain in contact with you long enough to straighten out your new life."

"I'm not sure if I'm up for rewriting history," I say. "I could erase little things that could lead up to eventual big things. I can't just take matters into my own hands just because an existence that I'll never know is fading."

"If the other timeline fades completely away, then so will the timeship Relativity. The effects from merely that would alter your past and all our previous assignments."

"So in other words, any way this goes, time will be changed."

"You can change it for the better, or for the worse."

"If I were to end up in the other timeline, when would that be, and would I know everything of that timeline? Would there be two of me?"

"I can't answer any of these questions because to be honest, I really don't know."

I sigh as I slump back in my chair. "I still don't fully understand this, but I have a feeling that if I don't do anything that it will not be pretty back in my time."

"Indeed. Our previous encounter and the Relativity's existence as a whole would tremendously effect your current time."

"Alright then. Let's get this over with."

I need some reviews for this one to work - those of you good with time stuff, let me know if I screwed up!