A knock on the door woke Kathryn Janeway up. Stretching, Kathryn worked her neck around, trying to get the kinks out as she stood up from her easy chair. "Ooops, sorry Missy," Kathryn apologized, tripping over her beautiful German Shepherd.
The dog just looked at her mistress reproachfully.

"I'm coming!" Kathryn called. Opening the door, Kathryn froze. "Mark," she said, nodding coldly and going to close the door.

"Kathryn, wait!" Mark begged, putting his hand out to stop the closing door.

"What do you want, Mark?" she asked.

"Can we talk?"

Kathryn opened her door a little wider and pressed some buttons on the side of the door. When Mark stepped forward to come in, green networking kept him outside in the hallway. Kathryn stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well? I'm listening…."

"Listen, Kat, I wanted to apologize. It's just; you were gone for so long. Seven years Kathryn! Do you know what that did to me? You just…you disappeared, leaving me with Molly and…I didn't know where you went."

"How long did you wait before getting married again, Mark?" Kathryn cut her former fiancée off.

"A year. I wanted to see if you would come back Kathryn! But…I missed having company so much! I-I had to get on with my life."

"A year Mark," Kathryn shook her head sadly. She turned away, glad that the force field kept the man outside. "I tried for seven years to get back to you and not once did I give up hope! Now, I come back and find out that you were married while I was transported to the other end of the galaxy, dealing with the Maquis—almost mutiny—disgruntled ship mates, new species…almost certain death! Mark, you're married, so why are you here?"
"I wanted to apologize to you Kath. I never meant to hurt you in any way. You must realize that it almost broke my heart when you just disappeared like that. I-I was lonely."

Kathryn rolled her eyes and pulled her grey flannel sweater tighter around her. "Well as you can see Mark, I have gotten on with my life as well. Now leave."

"Kathryn, please. I-I made a mistake. I don't love Rose. I was just lonely."

Kathryn Janeway's eyes flared up at this and she—just barely—restrained herself from slamming the door in her former fiancée's face. "Go away Mark," she said. Then she slammed the door.

Former Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Starship Voyager leaned back against her door and put a hand over her eyes. In the last few weeks since the return from the Delta Quadrant, Kathryn had been badgered by Mark. It seemed that he was still in love with her…at least that's what he said. Going back through her sparsely furnished apartment, Kathryn sunk onto her leather couch and laid her head back. Since handing in her report to the Admiral and after several meetings, Kathryn had been left alone for the most part, giving her time to 'rest.' "Go out of my mind with boredom is more like it," Kathryn grumbled to the German Shepherd at her feet.

The German Shepherd lifted her head and looked up adoringly at Kathryn.

Almost as soon as she had gotten back to Earth—after she got a new apartment right by Starfleet Headquarters—Kathryn had adopted Missy from the local pet pound. The whole time aboard Voyager, the one thing that Kathryn had missed most was her dog, Molly. Molly however now belonged to Mark. She was part of Kathryn's old life, a life that Kathryn had given up when she took her role as captain of U.S.S Voyager—a life that she didn't knew she gave up.

Sighing, Kathryn got up, rousing herself from her memories but was brought back to them harshly when her gaze settled on the mantelpiece directly in front of her. On the white wood mantel, there sat the photograph of the crew of U.S.S Voyager. Kathryn herself was sitting in a chair, her crew surrounding her. To her left stood Tuvok, the reliable man, as usual. On her right was Chakotay, Kathryn quickly looked away from him and the woman beside him—Seven of Nine. Chakotay was still standing there, both he and Tuvok hovering almost protectively. Janeway rolled her eyes and moved on stopping when she saw Harry Kim's smiling face; a contrast when beside Tuvok, the stern Vulcan. She could almost feel how happy he was to be home…to almost be on Earth.

The picture was taken just before the crew left the ship and all the smiling faces brought back the joy that Kathryn had felt at getting her crew home safely. She saw Tom and B'Elanna standing together, Tom with his arms around B'Elanna and his new baby daughter, Miral. Closing her eyes, Kathryn could still hear Miral's first cries echoing over the bridge, a sound of hope in Voyager's absolute moment of triumph.

Beside the proud parents loomed the doctor. He was constantly fussing around B'Elanna and the baby for days after the birth. It got so bad that B'Elanna threatened to take the doctor's program offline before he would stop. And even then, he was calling at all hours of the night, asking B'Elanna to bring Miral down to Sickbay for more tests. Luckily, it was only a couple days before the crew left Voyager, so B'Elanna and Tom's sanity was preserved.

Beside Harry Kim stood Neelix, his face bright and his hair—for once—neatly combed back. Kathryn remembered how, at the farewell dinner, Neelix had stood up and made a toast to Kes, his missing beloved, who had helped them to get home.

Kathryn sighed and looked away from the picture. Even though they were all happy to be home, Kathryn missed her crew, she missed her friends. Occasionally she saw them in the halls in the Starfleet Headquarters, but they rarely got to speak anymore. Everyone was always surrounded by other members of Starfleet and when they passed in the halls, there was hardly any time to stop. Kathryn sighed and then decided that the holo-foozball table was just the thing to take her mind off her worries.