Summary: When Janeway, Tuvok and Chakotay beam down onto a planet for resources, Kathryn meets a mysterious stranger from the future who turns out mean more to her than she ever dreamed. Janeway/OC

Disclaimer: I don't Star Trek: Voyager. I've just borrowed them for a little while. I can't promise I'll return them in tip-top condition though. I hope you don't mind. ;) Oh btw, the new characters are mine, which means I can do whatever I want with them! Wooooo! XD

Note: This is set between Concerning Flight and Mortal Coil. Enjoy, and please review!

Part 1

Kathryn, Tuvok and Chakotay beamed down into the alleyway streets of the crowded city, and the blue light of the transporter faded to nothing.

"They appear not to have detected us," Tuvok said, taking out his tri-corder. "From what I can tell, this species has not had an encounter with aliens before."

"Good job we look like them," Chakotay murmured.

"Agreed," Kathryn said. "Come on. Let's get what we came for." They walked out of the alleys slowly, so as not to provoke suspicion, and began moving slowly through the crowded market place.

Part 2

The three Starfleet officers had got most of the resources they had come for, and had beamed them up from a dark alleyway.

"Oi! You three!" a rough voice snapped as they came back into sunlight. They saw three burly men in black hurtling towards them, pushing the crowds out of the way.

"Now we're in trouble!" Kathryn hissed. "Run!" The three of them raced away from the guards. A few moments later, Kathryn realised that she had been separated from her comrades. She looked around for them, but they were nowhere to be seen. The crowd was beginning to thin out, making it easier to run through.

Then, without warning, something grabbed her and pulled her into the shadows, a strong hand closing across her mouth.

Part 3

Kathryn tried to scream, but her captor shook her gently to silence her.

"Shhh…" a man's voice whispered, and the guard rushed past without seeing them. The man sighed in relief and released Kathryn. Instantly, she pushed him away and backed up against the wall.

"Who are you?" she tried not to raise her voice in case the guards came back. "Why did you help me?" The man maintained a polite distance from her, but his eyes bore into hers like drills. For a moment she forgot how to breathe.

"My name's Luke. Luke Jedar," Kathryn let her gaze rake over his face. His dark brown hair was short and stylish, and the Captain could just make out that his eyes were blue, fathomless and steady, locking with hers so she felt she could never break free. "I'm from the future." Kathryn's jaw dropped.

"The future?" she couldn't believe she was hearing this. "And you came back specifically to help me did you?"

"Yes," he stepped forwards one step. "We're friends in the future Kathryn. Trust me." Kathryn looked deep into his eyes. She could sense he was keeping something from her, but if he had wanted to hurt her, he would have done it by now. Slowly, she nodded.

"Great!" Luke smiled and took her hand in his, before pulling her towards the back of the dark alley. "This way! I know lots of secret alleyways we can take."

"What of my friends?"

"I have friends near here. I'll ask them to go look for your friends."

"Thank you," Kathryn said gently. Luke smiled and squeezed her hand. Despite the fact that she had only just met this man, she trusted him completely.

She allowed him to lead to through a series of hidden passageways, until they reached a dark clearing enclosed between the brick houses. There were several people huddled there, talking and whispering.

"Lereno!" Luke called, and a man with blondish hair and alien striped across his face jumped to his feet, the shock on his face morphing into delight.

"Kate!" he ran towards them and went to hug her, but Luke swiftly stopped him.

"Not so fast Lereno," he scolded. "Remember what she said."

"Oh yes!" Lereno laughed lightly. "You have no idea who we are anymore do you?"

"Umm... No..." Kathryn replied hesitantly.

"I'm Lereno. One day I'm going to be one of your most trusted friends."

"Oh really," there was something about this cheery fellow that reminded her of Neelix. She smiled. "Well, nice to meet you."

"And you!" Lereno grinned like a cherub. "Very much so, Kate! Very much so!"

"That's enough, Lereno, you don't want to frighten the poor dear now do you?"

"Of course not!" Lereno's voice went high in indignation. "It's been so long since we've seen her, I'm merely excited to see her again!"

"Quell your enthusiasm, Father," a female voice sighed. "You're like this everytime we see Kate."

"You can't tell me you're not happy to see her too, Fleur," Lereno turned to the woman who strode towards them. Her hair was long and brown, with two tufty ears poking from her head, catlike eyes, claws, fangs and a long sleek tail.

"On the contrary," Fleur waved her tail, "I am very pleased to see our friend, but I take after my mother and am able to restrain my enthusiasm to maintain some dignity."

"You Felinis," sighed Luke. "Always have an over-long answer for everything. If you don't mind, I think you're probably making Kate very confused. In her timeline, she hadn't even met us yet."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Lereno said with a fluster. "Forgive me I did not mean to be-"

"Lereno."

"Sorry." The alien man nodded to Kathryn again, and plodded back to the group, followed by an embarrassed Fleur.

"Sorry about that," Luke sighed. "He can be very over-enthusiastic."

"I see. You still haven't explained to me what's going on. What are you doing on this planet? And who are you? Really though?"

"I'm your friend," Luke said gently, gazing into her eyes. "Or I will be."

"But... I don't understand."

"You never have liked time travel, huh?"

"No."

"Same Kathryn I know and love," laughed Luke.

Love? Kathryn blinked, but he didn't seem to notice her confusion.

"These people are also going to be your friends. Lereno, Fleur, Mer, Lucy, Lunar, Jack and Scott. As for what we're doing here. Accident. We've been hiding from their government, who want to put us on show like trophies. Proof of life in outer space. We've been hiding from them for a year now."

"That long?"

"Yep. But we have each other, and that's all we need." They remained quiet for a minute, then Luke jumped.

"Ah yes! I was going to help you find your other friends, wasn't I?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the group huddled in the corner. "Hey, guys! We need your help." In record time, all 7 aliens were on their feet, and circled around them.

"What is it?" asked the one with blue hair, who Kathryn guessed was Lunar.

"Kathryn came here with two other friends. They were chased by the Black Guards. We need to find them."

"On it!" Fleur nodded – and transformed into a cat. She leapt the wall and was gone. Instantly, the others raced off. Noticing Kathryn was staring at the place Fleur had disappeared with a dropped jaw, Luke laughed.

"Didn't I mention that Fleur can turn herself into a cat?"

"I think you missed out that little detail." Luke laughed again, and took her hand. "Come on. Follow me."

That's all for now! I'll try to do some more soon! Please review! Please? Anyone...?

XXX Love, Goldie