Title: They Called Me Maggie
Author: ATX
Disclaimer: Voyager and all of its characters are property of Paramount.
Note: I know it's pretty much been agreed that Janeway's middle name was either Elizabeth or Marie, but this story just came to me.
"You know, I used to be called 'Maggie' by my friends in secondary school."
Chakotay looked over at Captain Janeway, who was sitting back in the con chair of the Delta Flyer with a pensive look on her face. "For your middle name?" he asked, checking on their course.
"Kathryn Margaret Janeway. I thought using my middle name would seem more exotic." Janeway leaned forward and briskly tapped the console in front of her. "We should be reaching Voyager in approximately twenty minutes."
"I'll hail them when we're in range." Chakotay glanced over at the captain. "Did it work?" he asked.
"Well, I certainly got a talking to from my parents. I was named 'Kathryn' for a reason; that was my name and what I was to be called. Not Katie, not Kate, and not Maggie. Kathryn."
"And how did young Kathryn take this news?" Chakotay asked with a smile.
"After that talk she promptly made it known throughout the school that she was now to be called Maggie or else." Janeway folded her arms and stretched her legs out underneath the console.
"Or else what?" He glanced over and saw her eyebrow twitch up.
"Just or else," she said, her lips curving into a crooked smile.
Chakotay laughed, and said, "I don't know. I would have liked to see what teenage Kathryn Janeway would have done."
Janeway sat up straighter in the seat and pulled one of her knees to her chest. "I was young, headstrong-"
"Was headstrong?"
She cleared her throat, and shot a glare at him. "I was searching for myself. I was trying something new. We're approaching visual range," she said, tapping the console with her left hand.
"How long did it last?"
"About all of three months. Then I met my first semi-serious boyfriend, Kevin, and decided it sounded sexier when he whispered Kathryn in my ear instead of Maggie."
Chakotay would later swear he had seen a tiny leer on her face as she said the last sentence, but it was replaced quickly by another look of nostalgia.
"Of course, once I was accepted to the Academy, I was immediately showered with various shortenings of my name, and there was nothing my parents could do about it."
Chakotay chuckled and shook his head. He glanced down at the console. "We're in com range. Delta Flyer to Voyager."
"Voyager here." Tuvok's voice sounded slightly tinny through the com channel. Janeway made a mental note to look at the receiver in the shuttle after they docked.
"We're approaching the rendezvous point, Mr. Tuvok," Janeway said, putting her feet back on the floor and leaning forward slightly in her seat. "Once we dock I want biological samples transported directly to sickbay for analysis."
"Yes, Captain. I assume your mission was successful."
"Very much so," Janeway said, looking to her right and tossing a smile at Chakotay. "Delta Flyer out."
As she maneuvered the shuttle toward the shuttlebay, Janeway tilted her head slightly toward Chakotay. "What about you, Commander? Did you ever try out a new name?"
"No. I liked my name." He leaned over and whispered, "And I like yours, too, Kathryn."
Janeway kept staring straight ahead, but grinned as she curved her neck slightly away from him when his breath hit her ear. She raised an eyebrow, and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "So do I, Commander."
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.
