Disclaimer: The usual disclaimers apply here: I don't own Star Trek: Voyager, or any of its main characters. I do own this story, however, and all original characters.

Pairs: W/Greskrendtregk, Kes & Neelix

Rating: G

Author's Note: This takes place shortly after 'Parallax'.

Summary: Samantha Wildman receives a vote of confidence from a close friend.

One Small Step by peacejaw

As the door to the observation lounge opened, Ensign Samantha Wildman turned away from her solitary contemplation of the stars to face whoever had entered. To her horror, she saw the Commander striding towards her with a strange look of purposeful determination. She'd seen that look on him only once before; and because of that fact, she knew that she'd have to hear him out, no matter what he had to say.

"Hello Sam," Chakotay said coolly as he reached her. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too, Chakotay," she conceded. "How are things going for you here on Voyager?"

"It's been challenging," he admitted, "but I don't regret joining forces with Captain Janeway." He hesitated for a moment and then locked eyes with her. "You've been avoiding me."

Samantha shrugged noncommittally. "Maybe, maybe not." At the look he gave her, she quickly asked, "So what if I have been?"

"I want to know why," Chakotay demanded in a cool voice.

"Does it really matter why?"

"Yes, it does matter; at least, it does to me. So why have you been avoiding me?"

She sighed and turned towards the stars once again. "Hasn't the Captain told you yet? She knows that Greskrendtregk and I were spies for the Maquis."

"She told me that, yes."

"Well, I feel like I betrayed my husband, Chakotay; and you as well. Admitting that Greskrendtregk and I were spies was not an easy thing for me to do, and she'll eventually want to know what it was that we passed on to the Maquis, if she doesn't have documentation of it already. What will I do when that time comes?"

"I don't blame you for admitting the truth, Sam. And when the time comes, and it will, you will tell the truth about what you did. My entire crew will have to be questioned about their ties to the Maquis, and what they specifically did for the Maquis, sooner or later, whether they want to or not. And because I was the Captain of this particular Maquis cell, I will, no doubt, be investigated more thoroughly, arrested and charged with more stuff than my crew, and carry the knowledge of knowing that when I do up being court-marshaled, every member of my crew will probably be called to testify against me. I don't like it, but I've accepted that responsibility the moment I agreed to become a Maquis Captain. It's something that I will have to start preparing my crew for."

She didn't know how he could sound so calm and professional about the situation when his eyes were betraying his anger; not when they both knew the injustice of the situation. The Maquis were freedom fighters that defended their homeworlds in the DMZ, no matter what the cost was. And they'd refused to be forced off their homeworlds. They'd even refused to be harassed by their enemies, which included the Federation, since Starfleet had not stepped up to the responsibility of protecting its citizens from the Cardassians.

Lives had been lost, many without just cause. Many more had been drastically changed, and usually not for the better. In the Alpha Quadrant, there had been ways to deal with such things.

But on Voyager, there was no place to get away from the truths of their pasts. In the short time Voyager had been in the Delta Quadrant, they were already being forced to confront their inner demons; and she knew that neither one of them wanted to do so, as they had done things that they were not proud of. But there wasn't much choice, since Voyager would be their home as they traveled towards the Alpha Quadrant.

She licked her dry lips nervously, looked into his eyes, and asked, "But will my husband understand why I plan on telling the truth about our activities?"

Chakotay nodded once. "I do, and I think that you do as well."

"Maybe," she conceded slowly. "But that doesn't stop me from feeling like I'm betraying him somehow."

"When you do tell the whole story, Sam, I think that Janeway will understand more than you think. As will your husband…"

"I hope that you're right." Turning to look out at the stars, she asked huskily, "Is it true that the Captain appointed B'Elanna to be the Chief Engineer?"

"Yes," he admitted as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "And B'Elanna's rising to the challenge quite well in my opinion."

"Good for her." She chanced a look at him over her shoulder. "I think that being the Chief Engineer will do B'Elanna some good."

"So do I."

His smile lifted her spirits some, so Samantha gave a weak smile of her own. "Maybe getting stranded in the Delta Quadrant wasn't such a bad thing after all."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're getting the chance to redeem ourselves, aren't we? That would have never happened back in the Alpha Quadrant. We probably would have been captured, arrested, charged with something, and then convicted of those crimes. Here, we have a fresh start…" She shrugged and looked away. "Even with a fresh start, so many of us have families waiting for us back home. There is so much that we'll be missing while we're gone. That doesn't seem fair to me…"

"It's not fair, that's true enough. But do you think that our families would want us to dwell on our misery?"

"No."

"Neither do I." Chakotay smiled again. "We'll always miss our families, Sam, and they'll always miss us. And as much as I want to see my family again, I'm not entirely sure I'd want to be in the Alpha Quadrant right now."

Looking back at him sharply, she asked, "Why not?"

"From what Janeway's told me, there's a good chance of a Dominion Invasion sometime this year. If the Dominion does invade the Alpha Quadrant, the Cardassian war will seem … tame compared to what a Federation-Dominion war will do to the Alpha Quadrant. And while I'm willing to fight for my family's freedom, I know when I'm in over my head. I honestly don't know if the Maquis would survive a Dominion Invasion…"

She gave his statements some thought before asking, "So you'd rather face the Delta Quadrant's aliens than face the Dominion? That doesn't seem right to me…"

Chakotay shrugged. "I know, but it's what I think at the moment. I may change my mind, though, if we run into more hostile aliens than not while we're in the Delta Quadrant."

Samantha nodded once. "I will." Silence filled the room for a moment before she spoke again. "Do you honestly think that we'll get back to the Alpha Quadrant within our lifetime?"

"Janeway seems to think that it's possible, but I have my doubts. We're so far from home with no guarantees of finding any short-cuts home."

"I know what you mean," she agreed.

"Even if we are in the Delta Quadrant for nearly seventy-five years, there are some benefits to being here. We get to explore a quadrant that hasn't been explored by the Federation before…"

"I know."

He smiled briefly. "Just think, Sam, your department will be kept rather busy during our journey home … which means that you'll be kept rather busy."

"That's true enough, I guess."

"Captain Janeway seems to think that you'll be able to do your job relatively well, and I happen to agree with her."

"It's not like she had much choice about letting me stay on in my department, not when we're so far from home and so short handed."

Chakotay smiled knowingly. "You know that the Captain could have demoted you as well as removed you from the head of Xenobiology, right?"

"Yeah, I do know that," Samantha conceded slowly. "What's your point, Chakotay?"

Again, he smiled knowingly. "My point, Sam, is that she's giving you a second chance. Whatever you told her while you were in her ready-room made an impact on her decision to trust you and your willingness to do your job."

"So what you're saying is that she's willing to trust me even after I'd admitted that I was a spy for the Maquis?"

"Uh-huh."

Frowning in confusion, she asked, "But why? Why is she willing to trust me?"

"From what I can tell about the Captain, she's the type of woman who is willing to give most people another chance to redeem themselves, even people who, in my opinion, do not deserve another chance…"

Samantha smiled warily. "Someone like Tom Paris, you mean?"

Chakotay snorted. "Yeah; and if she's willing to trust him, why not trust you?

She shrugged noncommittally. "I think that you're questioning Janeway's loyalty to Admiral Paris or you don't trust Janeway's ability to Captain this ship. I know that you don't trust Tom…"

"For good reason," Chakotay said bitterly.

"But if Janeway is willing to put Tom to work," she continued, "and make him earn her respect and trust, then maybe she sees something in Tom that no one else has been able to see … or reach … before now. The fact that Tom would have to be put to work anyway is secondary, in my opinion."

"Uh-huh. That doesn't mean that I have to trust Tom. Or like him."

"True," Samantha agreed. "But it does mean that you will have to give Tom the chance to earn his place on Voyager, whether you like it or not."

"I know."

"Good."

Chakotay smiled again. "And you have to realize that you're being given a chance to earn Janeway's trust…"

"In time, I'll probably be able to believe that, Chakotay. But until then, please don't push the issue."

He held his hands up in mock surrender and smiled. "No problem. In the meantime, would you care to join me for dinner tonight?"

"Alright," she conceded, not caring that he was changing the topic as well as their surroundings, "as long as we don't talk about the heavy stuff anymore; at least, not tonight."

"I can live with that," Chakotay said lightly.

"Good!"

As they moved to leave the observation lounge, Samantha felt lighter somehow. It was almost as if she'd taken one small step towards redeeming her Starfleet career. Just maybe, she thought, things would actually turn out okay.

-Finished