Disclaimer: Paramount owns all the characters and the ship. The writers of the original Shattered script own some of the words. This is plan and simply a labor of love. No profit is being made from it.

Synopsis: A different ending to Shattered. During his travels through the fractured ship Chakotay gets some very interesting advice that may change the course of his life if he has the courage to follow it.

J/C, rating pg-13(maybe, there are some adult moments but nothing graphic)

This was written for the Purple Comet contest, so if you really like it you can go there and vote for it!

Special note: I would like to thank one of my readers who suggested this idea to me. I apologize for not remembering who it was!

Episode Addition to Shattered

"After Chakotay initiates the warp pulse, he should find himself back in his own time. He's going to have a few seconds to try resetting the deflector polarity... to divert the chrono-kinetic surge. If the time-line's restored, the rest of us should have no memory of what's happened here." Captain Janeway looked around the room at her future. The people she met today would impact her life in a short time to come. A few enemies, most would be crewmates, and a few would be friends but she had a feeling in her gut that one would be so much more. She takes a moment to memorize each face: Chakotay... Seven of Nine... Paris... Kim... Adult Icheb and Adult Naomi... And Torres. "So I'd like to thank you now... for putting your doubts aside...(she glances at Chakotay) ...and helping me put mine aside as well. Good luck to each of you."

The crew exits leaving the Captain and Chakotay alone in engineering. She moves beside Chakotay, who's entering a few final commands at the console. "Mind if I ask you one last question?"

Feeling the old closeness, he flashes her his best flirtatious smile. "Will I have to break the Temporal Prime Directive to answer it?"

"Maybe just a little. For two people who started off as enemies, it seems we get to know each other pretty well." She looks down and gathers the courage to continue. "I've been wondering... just how close do we get?"

Chakotay turns and leans his back against the railing that surrounds the warp core and gives this some thought.

Kathryn watched him carefully. He seemed to be turning her question over in his mind. She wondered if he was deciding how much of their future he should reveal.

He sighed heavily and finally spoke. "Let's just say, there are barriers we never cross."

Kathryn smiled and shifted her weight so she too was leaning on the rail. "And that bothers you?"

Chakotay cocked his eyebrow but did not answer.

"I know myself too well, Chakotay. Let me list the reasons: my fiancé, the crew, the ship, Starfleet and so on. Am I close?"

Amazed Chakotay turned and faced his best friend and greatest love. She was a different person yet the same. There was a lightness about her that his Kathryn no longer had. In that moment he realized the heavy toll their trip through the Delta Quadrant had taken on her. He desperately wanted to run his hand down her cheek, to let her feel in that moment the connection they would soon share. Instead he laughed and told her that she was more than close, she was absolutely correct.

Then she surprised him by moving closer and placing her hand on his forearm The gesture was intimate and familiar yet it felt new. "Don't let her, or rather me, hide behind those excuses. In case you haven't noticed yet, I can be very stubborn."

He shook his head and laughed. "Oh, I've noticed!"

"You need to be stubborn back!"

Chakotay turned to face her. His one hand rested on the rail while the other went to his hip. "What do you mean be stubborn back?"

"Commander, looking at you," Kathryn eyed him from head to toe, " I cannot believe that you don't know how to use your obvious charms to your advantage."

He stared at her as a blush rose to his cheeks.

She took a step closer to him fighting the urge to show him what she meant. "It's very simple Chakotay, don't give me a chance to think. When you have the opportunity swoop down for the kill. When I protest, swoop in again and again until I completely lose my senses. Make me feel instead of think!" She was now just inches away from him. Controlling the urge to do so much more she leaned up on her toes, and gently kissed his cheek, whispering one last thing before touching the panel that will return them both to their present. "And believe me, it won't take much."

~

Chakotay suddenly appeared in engineering and began to give orders. "Reroute main power to the deflector, and set the polarity to the frequency I'm inputting."

Torres looked at him, surprised. In her mind she questioned his sudden arrival in engineering. It was unlike him to come in and give orders to her staff. Usually he discussed things with her first. " Why? I have not heard anything from the bridge."

As his fingers fly across the console he turned his head and gave her a reassuring smile. "Ever heard of a lightning rod? In about three seconds, we're going to need one."

Her friend's smile told her all she needed to know. Without asking another question, B'Elanna stepped up to her console and did as she was asked.

Captain Janeway entered the bridge just in time to her Ensign Kim call for red alert. "What is it?"

Harry jumped up from her chair and moved swiftly to his station at opps. "I don't know."

Harry looked puzzled as he checked the reading on his console. "Captain, main power is being re-routed to the deflector dish."

The Captain whirled around to face him. "Who gave that order?"

Before anyone could answer the lights on the bridge dimmed and the ship trembled. On the view screen the bridge crew saw a line of magnetic energy approaching the ship. They watched as the streak crackled as it hit the ship. The ship rocked one last time before systems were restored to normal.

Still standing, Janeway called for a damage report.

"The deflector's been burned out, but we're okay.

Perplexed the Captain returned to her chair. The stars fly by as Voyager resumed its previous course. Before she has time to contemplate what just happened the turbo lift doors open and Chakotay entered the bridge. He walked past the Captain and sat down next to her in his command chair.

Janeway eyed him, there was a flair of anger evident in her eyes. "Do you mind telling me why B'Elanna burned out the deflector dish?"

"Actually... I ordered her to do it."

She abruptly turned in her chair to face him. "What do you mean you ordered it? Why?"

"Trust me: it was better than the alternative."

He looked a little too smug which only made her madder. "Which was what, exactly?"

Chakotay sat quietly considering his response. "I can't tell you."

Captain Janeway leaned her body in his direction. Her muscles were rigid. Her annoyance was evident. "Why not?"

Chakotay leaned to his right effectively putting a little distance between them. He smirked as he answered her question. "The Temporal Prime Directive."

Kathryn returned to her normal posture, both hands were on her arm rests while her back remained firm against her chair. She crossed her right leg over her left and raised her hands into a folded position on her lap. Chakotay thought he was off the hook until he heard her final sentence. "We will continue this discussion later."

~

Dinner was just finished and Chakotay poured each of them another glass of cider. He brought it to her as he joined her on the couch. He couldn't remember how but somehow the conversation had turned to a discussion of what scared them most.

After taking a drink of cider Kathryn continued her thoughts. "Forget particle fountains and subspace inversions. There isn't an anomaly scarier than a thunderstorm on the plains... especially when you're six years old." Chakotay turned to face her, picturing her as a six year old running through her parents' fields in Indiana.

"I remember watching a bolt of lightning split an oak tree in my grandfather's yard. I climbed it just a few hours before."

He smiled down at her. "Good timing."

She eyed him curiously. "So, what would've happened if you hadn't turned our deflector dish into a lightning rod?"

He let out a sigh. He was not sure how much longer he would be able to resist her subtle pleading and the looks she was giving him. "We've been down this road before."

Kathryn looked up at him innocently. "We have?"

Chakotay nodded. "You wanting answers to questions you shouldn't ask."

Without thinking Kathryn placed her hand on his thigh. "I know you're right, but it's strange thinking there's a piece of your life you don't know anything about."

He remained silent. She was trying to bait him and he knew it. Unfortunately for her plan there were only two thoughts running through his mind at this time. The first was sparked by the placement of her hand and the second by the advice her past self had given him. Kathryn continued to prod him. "But something did happen... outside the normal space-time continuum. Didn't it, Chakotay?"

He turned to look at her, ready to admonish her for asking him for information she knew he could not give, but instead he kissed her. When he saw the light reflecting in her eyes and felt the warmth of her body so near his, he couldn't resist any longer.

She was eyeing him expecting an answer. She had no time to react as his face inched toward hers. Expecting him to scold her, she was shocked when his lips touched hers. Her mind was telling her to push him away but her heart won its first victory in seven years.

His mouth tenderly brushed hers and then pulled back slightly. Before she could object he descended again. His two lips pressed against hers, parting them slightly, he ran his tongue across her bottom lip. He felt her shiver at the intimacy of his assault. Resisting the hungry urge to push her down, he leaned his body toward hers, gently easing her against the side of the couch. As his tongue continued to circle her lips, he felt her mouth open inviting him in.

She reached her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. As she did, she deepened the kiss, exploring his mouth with her tongue. Every fantasy she every had about kissing him culminated in this one moment. The heat of his body pinning her to the couch, the feel of his hand in her hair, and taste of him on her lips, it was as she imagined and more. All of it climaxing in the sultry sounds emanating from his throat.

Somewhere in his mind he knew that he must be crushing her. Without breaking their connection he pulled her up to a sitting position, but that wasn't close enough for either of them. With her help he lifted her up and sat her on his lap. He continued to kiss her as he started to run his hands up and down her back.

She missed the heat of his chest brushing against hers. She broke off the kiss and looked into his eyes. They were glazed over and dilated with passion. Thinking she was about to pull away, he grabbed onto her hips to hold her where she was. She pushed his hands away and then surprised him by swinging her leg across his lap. She sat facing him with each of her legs on either side of him. Very slowly she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close enough so that she could kiss him again.

It was his wildest dream come true, she was kissing him. He knew she could feel him pressed against her as she straddled his body yet she did not shy away. In fact she tried to push even closer. His used his hands to free the back of her turtleneck from her pants. He slide both his hands under the fabric. The heat of her body set his hands ablaze. He ran his large hands up and down the length of her spine. When his fingers grazed across her bra she gasped. At the sound of her voice, every sense in his body exploded. His sense of caution left him and he picked her up and reversed their positions. His hands begin to make the journey from her back to her stomach while his lips moved to her neck. He knew there was a spot just behind her left ear that he wanted to find. Suddenly, they both jumped up as the shipped rocked. Instantaneously they began to fix themselves while calling the bridge.

"Tuvok, report."

"An identified ship has just fired on us. Shields are holding."

"On my way." Both officers left her cabin and headed for the bridge.

~

In a hurried strides they emerged from the turbo-lift.

"We're being hailed."

The Captain walked up behind Tom Paris. "On screen."

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager and I do not take kindly to being fired upon!" She stared the diminutive blue alien on her view screen.

"Consider that shot a warning, Captain. We will expect you to turn over your vessel to us without further conflict."

"Then I am afraid your expectation will not be met. I have no intention of giving this ship to anyone, not now or anytime in the future."

"Then we will simply have to take it!"

The Captain signaled for Harry to cut the audio. "Tuvok, exactly how much damage can that ship do?"

"It does not appear that they can do much. To use an earth phrase, they have already hit us with their best shot."

The Captain began to pace. She walked back and forth in front of the command chairs. "There has to more to this. They must know that they cannot possible beat us in a fight yet they are actively seeking one."

Tuvok added. "It does not seem logical."

"Harry, open communications."

Before she could speak the captain of the other ship issued his orders. "We will give you one hour to prepare your ship to be boarded peacefully or otherwise."

If she wasn't so angry she might have actually been amused by this species audacity. "Captain surely you have scanned our ship and realize that our armourment is more than ten times yours. Along with that we have almost 150 people ready to fight on our behalf. This would be a foolish fight."

The entire bridge crew on the alien ship laughed. "Check your information again. All may not be as you remember it. You have one hour!" With that the transmition was cut.

Janeway looked around the bridge almost stunned. "Suggestions."

Tom Paris spoke up. "Let's call their bluff. They came looking for a fight. Let's give them one."

Chakotay who had made his way next to her quietly spoke next. "I think I may have an explanation." The Captain eyed him curiously. "But it is something I must tell you in private."

She inclined her head to the right of the bridge. "My ready room."

As they walked together he continued to speak to her in quiet tones. Before entering her private space she turned to her crew. "Harry do a complete diagnostic on all ships system. Tuvok, check with each department and make sure they are all battle ready. Better safe than sorry."

The door had barely closed before she questioned him. "This has something to do with the anomaly and the burned out deflector dish. Doesn't it?"

She had sat on the edge of her desk. He stood a few feet from her as he began to detail the events. "The ship was fractured into 37 different time periods. Most were from the past and few were from the future. When you passed from one to the other, you in all effect disappeared from the one you were just in."

Kathryn's eyes light up and she began to walk back and forth. "So, there would be no way for the ship to work in unison." Suddenly she stopped. "But then how do you get us back in temporal sink?"

"The Doctor developed a serum that allowed me to move from area to area. As I did I inoculated people to help me."

Now it was beginning to make sense. "Me?"

"Yes, you."

"When?"

"At the beginning. Before, you even left the Starbase."

The Captain shook her head. "You must have had a tough time convincing me to help you. How did we get the ship back in one time period?"

"The Doctor replicated the serum and we went through the ship and injected it into the gel packs."

"Why do I get the feeling that it was not as easy as you make it sound."

"I'll give the full run down later. Right now we are running out of time. The best I can guess is that these people are pirates. They sit just on the other side of the anomaly. Once a ship has been crippled by it they make their move."

A slow smile crept across the Captain's face. "Only this time they are not boarding a crippled ship."

Chakotay's smiled matched hers. "It seems to me the only question is how much crippling do we want to do ourselves?"

"What do you have in mind, Commander?

~

Each member of the bridge crew sat calmly at their station. Harry, "hail them."

"Captain, as I am sure you are well aware we are in no condition to fight you."

The alien smiled wickedly at the her. "I am glad you have come to see things my way."

"As I am sure you are also aware we are only in control of this immediate area. We will only be able to drop the shields around the bridge to accommodate your boarding party. We do not have control of any other parts of the ship."

"That is perfectly understandable. Myself and four of my men will transport over shortly." The alien captain leaned closer to the screened leering at Captain Janeway as he spoke. "And Captain Janeway, I am looking forward to meeting you."

"I can assure you, the feeling is mutual."

~

It was over in less than three minutes. They cocky boarding party materialized on the bridge to find themselves surrounded by a security detail armed with compression rifles.

Captain Janeway stood up and walked to where the men stood. "Why Captain, how good of you to drop by. Mr. Ayala escort our guests to the brig. And Captain, before you smile I think you should know that I am in command of the ship, the entire ship!"

She returned to her seat and waited. The news she was waiting for came about fifteen minutes later from Harry's station. "Captain they are powering weapons."

A slow grin crossed her face. "Hail then, Mr. Kim." The screen filled with the blue face of a confused young alien. He looked like nothing more than a teen-ager. In an attempt to posture he moved closer to the screen and stared at the crew members of Voyager. The Captain remained in her seat giving off an almost casual appearance. Finally she leaned forward and with her hands folded gently in her lap she spoke in a calm deadly tone. "Gentlemen, I am going to say this once so you better listen. I have your Captain and your shipmates locked up in my brig, where they will remain until I decide what to do with them. Before you get any ideas you might like to know that our ship remains in take despite passing the anomaly you are so fond off. I will contact you in 24 hours and let you know my decision concerning your people." Then she stood up and slowly walked toward the screen. Five feet tall never looked quite as large as it did at that moment when she placed her hands on her hips and addressed her new enemy. "And if you so much as make an aggressive movement toward my ship, I will kill them. Am I making myself clear?"

The young alien looked visibly shaken. "Yes, Captain." They watched him plop down in the seat in the center of the bridge as the screen changed to stars.

The bridge sat in stunned silence until Tuvok voiced the question that was on all their minds. "Kill them, Captain?"

She walked over to Tuvok's station. She could see the concern in his eyes. She waved her one hand dismissively through the air. "Tuvok, I have no intention of killing them. But they are bullies and my father always taught me that the only way to deal with a bully is to give them a dose of their own medicine."

"Interesting. My father taught me to walk away," he paused for moment, "unless of course your friends are being harmed then I believe his advice was to make sure you win."

There was a quiet chuckle heard throughout the bridge. The Captain placed her hand on her oldest friend's arm. "Why Tuvok, I believe there is a little human in you after all."

Tuvok blanched. "Captain, I see no reason to insult me!"

She turned and faced her first officer. "Now that our friends are secure in the brig and their ship is on 24 hour notice, I believe it is time for us to finish dinner. Commander?"

Suddenly he remembered what they were doing before they were interrupted. Cautiously Chakotay stood up and joined her near the turbo-lift.

Tom turned in his chair. "Captain, just one more thing. This was almost too easy. It's like you knew what they expected and they expected something much different then they got. How could that be?"

Captain Janeway turned toward her helmsman with a tiny smile emerging on the corners of her lips. "I can't tell you."

Tom looked confused. "Why not?"

"Temporal Prime Directive." Chakotay covered his mouth with his right hand. Once they were in the safety of the turbo-lift both commanding officers began to laugh."

Through his laughter Chakotay looked at her. "You are bad." He resumed his stance and stared straight ahead. "Deck three."

~

Once again they were settled in her quarters with a glass of cider in their hands. She was on the couch and he was on the chair on the side of the couch. Kathryn had replicated some cake for desert. They both ate and remained silent, lost in their thoughts. "Chakotay, what was it like? I mean meeting people from your past?"

He placed his glass down on the table and settled back into the chair. "It was strange. At first I did not know what was happening and even once I figured it out it was still strange. It was like I was seeing myself at different points in my life."

Kathryn leaned forward. "Do you mean you met other versions of yourself?"

"No, no. I met people who were part of my life at different times and that gave me what felt like a reflection of myself at that time. In one part of the ship I encountered my crew when they were being held in the cargo bay when we first came aboard. It was hard to see them all so angry. You were with me and at one point and I thought B'Elanna would kill you if I let her. It was sobering to think that I was that angry at one time in my life."

She leaned across the side of the couch and reached out to touch his arm. "You're a different man now, Chakotay."

"I know, but it is difficult to look back at yourself and realize that you really don't like the person you were." He was quiet for moment. "Then I encountered Seska and the Kazon."

Kathryn was taken aback. "That must have been terrible for you."

"It was worse then you can imagine. She was up to her old tricks. She complimented me and flirted with me. Then she ran her hand through my hair. I pulled away but not quick enough. Her touch brought flashbacks of her and I together. How could I have been so stupid?"

"You were not stupid. You just trusted her. She betrayed us all."

"I know but it is not the same. When I think that I shared my body with her I feel sick. Later, you were with me in engineering and Seska grabbed you and put a rifle to your head. The years of suppressed rage came back. I wanted to kill her with my bare hands."

Kathryn now had both of his hands in hers. She quietly asked him what happened.

His body relaxed a little. "The Borg drone, Seven of Nine came in and disarmed her."

"Seven?"

"Yes, one of the time fractures was when we worked together with the Borg, so Seven was on the ship."

"Sounds like you had an interesting trip."

Now he was smiling again. "Yes, I did."

She settled back into the couch. "Can I ask one last thing? What was I like? It seems so long ago that I can hardly remember myself."

He stood up and walked over to join her on the couch. "It was an experience seeing you."

"And what exactly does that mean?"

"At first it was very difficult. I appeared on your bridge and you wanted to arrest me. There was a coldness in your eyes."

She leaned her body into his and placed her head on the side of his arm. "Oh Chakotay, I am sorry."

He lifted his arm and wrapped it around her. "You didn't know. It was difficult but it was also kind of invigorating. I had to do a lot of talking to convince you to trust me. You know, this time I didn't have a ship to sacrifice to appease you!" They both laughed.

"How did you convince me?"

"I grabbed you and kidnapped you by pulling you through one of the temporal rifts. You had no other choice but to trust me then. After a few encounters with aliens or macro viruses you finally believed me."

"And I followed your lead to fix the ship?"

He looked down at her and cocked his eyebrows. "When have you ever just followed my lead? You fought me every step of the way. First you wanted to separate. Then after you saw some of the hardships we had faced you wanted to change everything and make sure we never got stuck out here. You wanted to undo what you called a big mistake."

"That sounds like me. No matter how many good things I see happening on the ship there is still a part of me that feels terrible that I made the decision to strand us here."

"I know." Without thinking he turned and kissed the top of her head. "It took a lot of convincing to make you see some of those good things. You would have enjoyed seeing your face when I told you that Tom became B'Elanna's husband. I think you said 'that angry woman in the cargo bay'. Finally you believed me and we continued on our journey."

She turned to look at his face. "But something else happened didn't it? Something between you and me."

"Nothing specific. It was just fun again. We laughed, we flirted, we worked together. There were no past transgressions burdening either one of us. It just felt different."

"Better?"

"Not better, just different. Nothing is better than being here with you right now. Besides, I got some very good advice during our time together."

"From whom?"

"From you!"

"And what exactly was this advice?"

"I can't tell you Temporal Prime Directive."

She slugs him in the arm. "Chakotay!"

"Okay. You told me not to let you hide behind your excuses. That I should make you feel instead of think." He could feel her backing away. She had turned to face him and started to slide toward the other end of the couch but he held her upper arms firmly in his and kept her where she was at. "Kathryn, before you say anything think back on what happened tonight. We were about ten minutes from the bedroom."

She wanted to deny it but she couldn't so all she did was shake her head. "Then we felt the ship rock and in less than three minutes we were on the bridge doing our jobs. During that whole crisis did you once think about what had happened on this couch?"

Her head was down. She was going to lose this argument. "No."

"I didn't either. On the bridge I was the Commander doing my best to help The Captain find a solution to the predicament we found ourselves in. The fact that not fifteen minutes before every fantasy I have had for the past seven years was about to come true had no effect on my actions. We can separate the two, I know we can."

"Every fantasy?"

He let go of her arms and crept a little closer to her. "Not every fantasy but it was a good start. I think we could go a long way toward making a few more come true if we pick up where we left off."

She looked at him with her eyes wide and full of innocence. "And where exactly was that Commander?"

She was now flat on her back and he was leaning over her. He planted his left leg on the floor and reached his hands behind her back. He pulled her up and moved her into a sitting position against the couch while he knelt in front of her on the floor. Once again he pulled her turtleneck out from her pants and ran his hands across her stomach. His faced moved toward her neck. "If I remember correctly, I was just about here." He continued to kiss her neck searching for that spot he knew would be her undoing.

The End