Day 1

Present Day (July 2382)

Lazily, Kathryn's fingers intertwined with those of her lover. The soft sheets remained bunched between them, partially covering her still-naked lower half. He stirred at her movements, a smile immediately working its way onto his face.

"We need to get up," she said, imparting reality.

Chakotay groaned, the peace of a sound night's sleep lifting too quickly.

"Computer, time," he asked, hoping for good news.

'The time is 0645 hours.'

"We have fifteen minutes," he said optimistically.

"Before we both have to be dressed and ready for duty."

"I'll be quick," he murmured into her neck. Her eyes widened and she giggled, then found him on top of her once again.

Twenty minutes later, Chakotay entered the conference room. She was already seated and eyed him with annoyance at his tardiness. It was, of course, an act. Just because their relationship had been made ever-so-slightly more public two months ago didn't mean they were ready to divulge all of their secrets.

Chakotay joined his colleagues, the captains and select senior staff of the other fleet vessels, at the table. One final straggler to the room of fifteen made him seem not so late.

The meeting passed without much fanfare. Most of the attendees seemed tired or bored. It was a natural slump after having had such an intense time on Sormana and he was certain that the next several weeks of planetary surveys would be a welcome reprieve.

If he was being honest, he might admit to her later that he didn't hear much of what was said during the meeting. His thoughts continued to drift to a very memorable evening two months ago. While their relationship hadn't exactly been a well-guarded secret, it had never been broached in public quite the way it was during a fleet-wide, senior officer dinner party hosted by Neelix.

Having been allowed to escort her on his arm, finally, and not just as a fellow officer but as a partner was a delicacy he thought he might never get to taste. He felt proud, satisfied, and most of all, excited for what this might actually mean for their chances at a real, honest to goodness relationship with – should he dare to hope – a public commitment.

But for now, the meeting was over and duty called. The attendees had begun to depart for their vessels and their assignments. He was set to return to his bridge, and she to her ship, when an alarm interrupted their goodbyes.

*Intruder alert, deck three*

Chakotay furrowed his brow and met the Admiral's slightly concerned eye. "Chakotay to Paris," he said after tapping his badge.

"We're on it Captain," Paris's stressed voice replied. "The intruder's in your quarters." It was obvious his first officer was running.

"Glad I didn't leave my lingerie strewn about," Janeway said with a raise of her eyebrow.

At that he grinned. "Funny, I don't recall you having any to leave."

Paris and Kim moved adeptly to flank opposite sides of the door to their captain's quarters.

"I feel a bit like we're Proton and Kincaid again, don't you?" Tom whispered, raising his phaser to point at the ceiling.

"If Chaotica is in there, I quit," Harry hissed back.

"On three?"

Harry nodded and readied his finger ready on the panel.

"One, Two –"

The door swished open and Tom shot a glare to Harry. "Wasn't me!" Harry mouthed back with a shrug. In a swift move they both swung through the entrance with weapons leveled. Two additional security guards arrived post-haste from down the hall.

"Don't shoot me!" a small, frantic voice shouted. "Please!"

The two men exchanged glances as Harry ordered the computer to resume normal lighting.

On the floor in the living area, stood a trembling boy. He had olive skin, dark, curly hair and Tom reasoned he couldn't be more than about seven years old.

"Sweep the rest," Harry ordered his officers and they all moved off to inspect the other rooms.

Tom lowered his weapon and slowly approached the child. "My name is Tom," he said. The boy began to shuffle backwards. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know," the boy finally managed, coming to rest on the couch. "It's just... I'm not supposed to be here and I'm going to be in really big trouble."

"Where did you come from?"

"I came from my ship."

Tom bit his lip. "Ok." Kneeling down in front of him, Tom continued. "What ship? How long have you been here?"

"Our ship is right out there, but you can't see it," the boy replied pointing out the window. "I haven't been here long, honest. I guess I tripped your sensors when I came into this room."

"No one else here," Harry reported, returning from the bedroom. Then he dismissed his men.

Tom turned to address the chief security officer. "Have the bridge run every sensor sweep they can think of within a ten-thousand meter radius of the hull. There's another ship beside us, we just need to find it. And make sure there isn't anyone else on board." Harry nodded and took his leave.

Tom returned his attention to the boy who was quick to explain himself. "There's no one else here but me. Please sir, please let me go back to my ship. My mom is going to be so mad. I'll lose privileges for a month!"

The officer took a deep breath. As much as he would have liked to have saved the boy from whatever punishment was to be doled out, he realized several things. First, if there truly was a ship outside and they couldn't see it, there could be something far worse lurking nearby. And second, he couldn't get the boy back even if he wanted to.

"We will make sure that you get home safely. But first I need for you to tell me a little bit about what's going on. Why are you here?"

"To find my father," the boy said meekly, then he quickly grew upset. "She was just going to leave! Without even saying anything and I just…" He paused to sniffle back the rising tears. "I wanted to see him. Just one time. I wanted to know what he looks like."

"I thought you said your parents are on your ship."

The boy shook his head. "Just my mom. My father lives here. Or, at least, he used to." He put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a piece of cloth. Tom recognized the arrangement of angular lines drawn on it immediately.

"His name is Chakotay. Do you know him?"

Tom Paris had never been quite so anxious for his captain to arrive as he was in the minutes that crawled by. His nervousness ratcheted up another notch when the admiral followed through the door.

"Captain, Admiral," Paris began, his posture a bit straighter than normal. "This is Tallo." He turned to the boy. "Tallo, this is Captain Chakotay. He is in charge on this ship. And I think he's the person you're looking for."

The boy's eyes grew wide as he craned his neck to the right and unabashedly examined Chakotay's tattoo. Tentatively, he stepped toward the tall man before him.

Not sure of exactly what to do next, Paris offered the piece of cloth to Janeway. If she felt anything at all about the symbol displayed there, she didn't show it. Tom renewed his mental note never to challenge her to a game of poker. Then he took his leave.

"You… you're Chakotay?" the boy asked shakily.

"Yes. That's right. My first officer said you were looking for me." Suddenly aware that he must have looked foreboding standing more than a half a meter over the child, Chakotay bent to one knee. "Can you tell me why?"

"You're my father."

Chakotay felt his breath hitch, a thousand thoughts raced through his mind and he was certain a thousand more were assaulting the woman who remained silent behind him.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Chakotay said. "I don't have any children."

"Well. Yes. You do," the boy said matter-of-factly. "You just don't remember."

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember," Chakotay corrected.

"You don't. You couldn't. You don't remember my mother either. But she remembers you. She's been looking for you for seven years."

While Chakotay did the math in his head, Kathryn took the initiative to speak. "Where is your mother now?"

"She's on our ship. Her name is –"

The chirp of a commbadge interrupted him.

'Kim to Captain Chakotay.'

"Go ahead," Chakotay responded, his eyes drifting upwards toward the admiral.

'A small ship has decloaked off our port bow. The pilot has hailed us and asked permission to come on board.'

"That's my mom," the boy said. He looked down at the floor and shuffled his feet nervously. "Oh man, oh man…"

"Permission granted. Beam her directly to my quarters."

A moment later a lithe, blonde-haired woman materialized across the room. Her first instinct was not at all what Chakotay expected.

"Oh," she said with a gasp, her vision now fully centered on the captain. Pale hands clasped across her mouth she moved with a solitary focus towards him. Janeway glanced back and forth between the two, looking for some sign of reciprocation from her partner's face but found none.

The woman came to a stop well within Chakotay's personal space. Her eyes welled with tears that she either couldn't - or didn't care to - hold back. She put a hand out as if to touch him and he did not flinch, but before her fingers could find his uniform, Tallo sprinted to his mother's legs. He wrapped his arms around her and began to plead.

"I'm so sorry mom. Please, I know I shouldn't have come here but you wanted to leave and I just thought we had been searching for so long I knew I had to come and see him and –"

The words finally registered and she looked down at the boy then silenced him gently with the hand meant for Chakotay. "It's okay Tallo. I understand. But you can't be here now. I'm sending you back. Have your breakfast and then go read your lessons. We'll talk when I return."

"Wait," Kathryn interjected, anxious to know more of the story unfolding before her. To do that she needed to keep as many pieces to the puzzle on their table as she could. "If he's hungry, let me take him to the mess hall. Surely you'd feel better with him on the same vessel as you."

The woman bit her lip then nodded. "Alright, Captain Janeway, thank you. I'll be there in a little while."

Kathryn paused a moment. "You know me too?"

"Yes. Well, I did," she regarded the change in the appearance of the uniforms which had once been so vivid in her mind. "Your rank insignia is different."

"She's an admiral," Chakotay informed her. "I'm the captain of Voyager now."

The woman turned back to him. "Congratulations. To you both." Her eyes began to betray a watery glisten once again. "I guess a lot of time has passed."

Janeway bowed her head slightly, gave Chakotay one last look of support, and then took the boy by the hand to lead him from the room.

"I'm afraid I still haven't caught your name," Chakotay said when he and the blonde haired woman were finally alone.

"Kellin. My name is Kellin."

Like sand through a sieve, realization trickled through. His eyes grew wide. "Kellin?"

"Yes," she paused for a moment, taking in his observations of her. "But you don't remember me, you can't possibly."

"You're right. I don't. But I tried to, for months."

"I…I don't understand," she said, but Chakotay was already moving to his bookshelf. From there he pulled out a tattered bundle of papers.

"I wrote these the night you were taken off of Voyager. They never made much sense to me, I thought they were the product of some kind of dream. But I guess…"

"It was no dream."

"Obviously," he clenched the papers in his hand. "So what the boy said was true? I'm –"

"His father. Yes."

Chakotay let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. Then he sunk into the couch. "You'll excuse me if I request our doctor to confirm that point."

"He may find it hard to do. Our species –"

"Can't be scanned," he finished. "I knew that. But if he's half-human then maybe?"

She sat down next to him. "Unfortunately, Ramuran genetics are rather dominant in that particular area." She regarded his worried features, the way his fingertips played over his brow, massaging the invisible knots there. "Not the kind of news you expected to get today?"

"Not exactly." He looked up at her. "Especially not from a woman I don't even remember. I have so many questions for you. What happened to you, where have you been? What really happened between us?"

"And I will answer all of them," she said, placing her hand on his arm. "Which one do you want to ask first?"

Chakotay thought a moment and regarded her closeness. To have another woman touching him in such a way felt wrong to him even though it seemed very natural for her.

"How did you remember me? And how did you get away? From my notes, I was under the impression that your species didn't allow anyone to leave. That's what started all of this, wasn't it?"

She nodded. "Yes. The Ramurans are a very secretive people. We don't make contact with others, we can't be remembered by others, and we do everything to conceal our existence." She sighed and he noted that these phrases seemed to be well rehearsed. "When I found out I was pregnant, my memories started to return, happenstance of biology I suppose. It was obvious after my first checkup that I was carrying a mixed-race child. The doctors didn't know what to do with me. I was the first person in recorded history to ever become pregnant by an outsider."

Chakotay held his breath at the sudden seriousness of her tone.

"Family is everything on Ramura. It's one of the reasons we don't let people leave. But the elders were…scared. They were worried that if people saw me with a hybrid child they would get the idea that this kind of thing was being accepted. You have to understand, this situation could have been both socially groundbreaking and personally very dangerous."

"So they let you leave?"

"They gave me two options. I could abort the baby, which I declined instantly. Or I could leave and not return. They phrased it as a reward. But now I know, it was meant as punishment."

"I don't understand."

"All I wanted to was to be with you, to have a father for my child. All I wanted was to get away and they gave me that chance. I welcomed it at first. I was so sure I could catch up and find you. But after a while, I realized I was chasing a dream. I was alone, with a baby and I was terrified."

Chakotay swallowed hard. "I can't imagine…" Guilt and frustration, rising quickly in his gut, would turn to anger if he didn't control it. "What did you do?"

"I tried to settle in a few places. Three or four times we even managed to stay for a couple of months. But the people I would get close to forgot us if I didn't see them every single day. Something would always happen to keep us away. The person would get sick, or go on a trip and then we were strangers again. A few times it became dangerous. People thought we were intruders."

"So you just kept flying?"

She nodded. "I kept looking for you. It was the only thing I could do."

Tallo, happily scarfing down a variety of fruit and pastries from the breakfast buffet, was all but oblivious when his mother and Chakotay came to join him in the mess hall. Kellin slid to a seat and put an arm around the boy's shoulder then began speaking to him softly.

"I have to return to the Vesta," Janeway explained, walking a few steps away with Chakotay. "I've kept them detained long enough."

"I'll see you in a few days. And I'll comm you tonight," he said, fighting back the urge to take her hands in his own.

"If you're too busy –"

"I'll make time."

"Tallo explained a few things to me, but not enough." She raised her hand to his chest. "Are you sure she's not deceiving you?"

"No. She's not. She's Kellin, exactly how I described in those papers. She remembers everything I wrote about. And look at him, aside from the ears he looks just like me."

She glanced back to the boy then nodded with quiet acceptance, finding that she couldn't disagree with the similarities between supposed father and son. "Enjoy this Chakotay," she said, hoping that her words masked the lurching in her heart. "He seems like a wonderful boy."

She removed her hand and then walked away.

"Where is Voyager headed?" Kellin inquired when Chakotay had returned to the table.

"We're breaking from the other ships to survey a few systems. Long range scans detected planets rich in deuterium and duranium. We're taking note of them for future use."

Kellen's eyes widened. "Is that so? I've been searching for deuterium. Our stores are running low."

"You're welcome to follow us," he said, hopeful.

"I…. I don't know. I don't think it's such a good idea that we stay here much longer."

"Please mom?" Tallo said, glazed danish dripping from his chin. "I want to stay."

She sighed and rubbed her brow. "We'll accompany them to the planet," she finally agreed. "But only because we need deuterium. And, we'll take our own ship. When we get there, I'm going to need to talk with your fath- Captain Chakotay a little more. I told you, before you disobeyed me and came over here on your own, it's not my intent that we intrude on his life."

A knot twisted in Chakotay's stomach.

"Yeah, yeah. But, can I ride on Voyager?" Tallo asked impatiently. "Admiral Janeway said that they have something called a holodeck that can take me anywhere I want. She said Chakotay would show me."

Kellin was about to object when Chakotay interrupted. "I'm not going to pressure you, but I'd appreciate it if you'd let him stay, Kellin," he said. "The trip will only be six hours. I promise he'll be safe."

At seeing the excitement in her son's deep, brown eyes - despite every motherly instinct - she relented with a sigh. "Okay."

"Yay!" Tallo shouted, bouncing out of his chair. "What are we going to do first?" he asked his father.

Chakotay picked up a napkin and wiped the remnants of breakfast from the boy's face. "That was first," he teased. "Now we're going to get your mother back to her ship. Then we're going to the bridge."

The boy grinned from ear to ear.

"Hey," Chakotay said, a smile appearing on his own face. Then he pointed to the boy. "He has my dimples."

"This is the bridge," Chakotay said proudly, walking his son out of the turbolift.

"Wow…." Tallo said, his eyes wide with amazement. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"It's where we run the ship."

"You mean it's where you run the ship," the boy corrected, awe still prevalent in his voice.

"There are a lot of people involved in making sure that Voyager runs safely and smoothly."

Tom Paris turned from looking over the shoulder of the officer at helm while Chakotay and Tallo descended to the captain's chair.

"Tallo, you've already met Tom. He's my first officer. Harry back there, who you also met, is our security chief and then there's Ensign Larson at Ops and Ensign Gwyn at the helm. She's our pilot." In turn, each officer offered up a smile and a wave to the boy.

Chakotay returned his attention to the commander. "What's our status?"

"Vesta just departed. We're ready to get underway."

"Course laid in sir," Gwyn confirmed.

Chakotay stooped down to the boy's level. "Tell them to engage," he whispered in his ear.

The smile that hadn't left Tallo's face since the mess hall sparkled even wider.

"Engage!" he shouted at the top of his voice and with a jump into the air.

"That was good Tallo," Tom chuckled. "Helm, surely you heard the young man, get us out of here."

"Aye sirs," Gwyn confirmed with a grin.

"What do you do in here?" Tallo asked, climbing over the railing at the back of Chakotay's ready room. He flipped his legs over the glass wall and hung upside down.

Chakotay shook his head. "Not that."

"Oh, sorry," Tallo apologized, righting himself onto his feet.

"This is my ready room. I work in here when there's nothing else urgent that needs my attention. It's an office."

"It's kinda boring."

Chakotay shrugged. "It works. Not everything on a starship is exciting."

"You need some art."

"I have art," Chakotay replied, then he motioned for Tallo to join him. Pointing to a small painting on the wall, he began. "This painting was given to me by Admiral Janeway's sister. She's a professional artist."

Tallo considered the broad, dark and heavy strokes of an abstract stormy sky. "It looks….sad."

"She painted it during a rather difficult time."

"I don't like it," he said, upturning his nose.

Chakotay tilted his head and had to agree. "You know what? Neither do I. Maybe you can make me something more cheerful to go in its place."

"Okay!"

"Here," he said, guiding the child toward a pedestal by the doors. "This is a Native American wedding vase. It was used in the ceremony that married my parents - your grandparents. It's been passed down for generations in my….our family."

"It's pretty," Tallo said, studying the image of a sun-face carved in its reddened surface. "Will I get to meet my grandparents?"

"I'm afraid not. They were killed a number of years ago."

"Oh," Tallo said sadly. "That's too bad."

"I'll be happy to tell you all about them though. And about your aunt, she lives in the Alpha quadrant."

"I'd love that. Until today, I didn't have any family except my mom. She's told me everything about Ramura but I don't know much about where you're from."

"I have a lot to tell you about my side of your family. We have a very rich and proud heritage that runs through our veins, Tallo."

"I hope I get to hear everything. But my mom doesn't want to stay very long."

Chakotay put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Well, I'll explain as much as I can while you're here. And I'll give you some books so you can read about Earth and our culture later."

"Can I see the holodeck too? And engineering, I want to see the warp core."

Chakotay smiled. "Of course. Let's take a tour of the ship and then I'll take you to the holodeck. I want to show you one of my favorite places from where I was raised."

"On Earth, right?"

"I grew up on a planet called Trebus." Chakotay stooped down slightly. "Hey, you wanna see something fun?"

Tallo nodded, eyes wide.

"There's a secret passageway out of my ready room," he took the boy's hand. "Come on."

Then they fled through the Jeffries tubes with all the stealth of spies on a secret mission and the vigor of youth that Chakotay hadn't felt in years.

Six hours later, Chakotay and Tallo stood before the platform in the transporter room.

"You look…. tired," Kellin said, eyeing Chakotay up and down. She took his hand and stepped off of the pad.

"Let's just say, he certainly has a lot of energy. I guess I have to work up to this parenting thing."

Kellin laughed and patted her son on the top of the head. "Did you have fun?"

"Oh, yes! Chakotay told me all about Trebus and Earth. He took me for a hike in the forest, we played in a swimming hole and we climbed a mountain!"

"A whole mountain, huh?" she said, feigning awe.

Chakotay made a pinching sign with his hand to indicate that said 'mountain' might have been a little smaller than the boy let on.

"And! I got to give orders to everyone on the bridge!"

Chakotay raised a finger to indicate it was actually just one order. Kellin chuckled and followed them into the corridor with her hand on Tallo's back.

"I need to return to duty for a little while," Chakotay said. "But, I've arranged for my first officer to bring his daughter to the holodeck so you youngsters can wear each other out."

"Great!" Tallo exclaimed. "I didn't know there were other kids on this ship."

"Miral's a few years younger, but I think she'll give you a run for your money."

"How long until you'll have located the planet with the deuterium?" Kellin asked.

"To be honest, I have to check the exact details," he said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable at his lack of knowledge. "The plan was to remain in this system today then move to another overnight before we arrive at the one you want later tomorrow."

"That'll give us more time to hang out here," Tallo said, hopeful.

"Let's not be hasty now Tallo. We don't want to overstay our welcome. We're going to play with the little girl a bit and then we have to go back to our ship. It's almost dinnertime."

"You're welcome to stay here on Voyager," Chakotay offered. "When we jump locations we won't be at warp. Voyager can tractor your vessel along."

"Thank you, but I really don't think -"

"Mom, please?!" Tallo begged. "We never get to ride on other ships. Let's stay here."

She sighed. "We'll see."

Tallo sidled back up to Chakotay and loudly whispered, "That means yes."

After a shared dinner and a bit more crawling through the Jefferies' tubes – which Tallo insisted that his mother must see - Chakotay was all too happy to shed his uniform jacket and boots, pour himself a glass of wine and settle down on the couch. He needed time to process everything that had happened in his whirlwind of a day. He decided, considering the circumstances, he would continue to write with pen and paper in a set of journals he had replicated for the sole purpose of not wanting to forget a single moment.

When he was done scribing, and realized that the hour was right, he opened a comm channel to the Vesta.

"I see you survived," Kathryn said, when his face appeared on her monitor. His heart flipped, as it always did whenever he laid eyes on her.

"Just barely," he replied, "That kid has a lot of energy."

"Maybe you're just out of shape," she teased.

He patted his stomach. "I can't argue with that." Then he leaned in closer. "It's good to see you. How are you?"

"I'm fine, nothing to report," she said, brushing him off. "I want to hear all about your day."

Chakotay sighed and relaxed back. He couldn't fight, even if he had wanted to, the deep abiding smile that had found itself etched on his face. "You should have been here Kathryn. He's just the most amazing little boy."

"Sounds like you're smitten."

"Oh, I definitely am. He's smart and funny, athletic and is very kind. I can't wait for you to spend some time with him."

She swallowed sip of her coffee, unsure exactly how to ask what she needed to. "So they're staying with you then?"

The sinking feeling briefly returned to Chakotay's stomach. "They're in quarters on Voyager but only for the night. I'm not sure after that. Kellin hasn't really made any plans."

"I see."

"She is in need of deuterium so they're accompanying us on our survey. They're be around for at least another day."

Kathryn nodded. "I'm sure she has a lot to consider. You both do."

"I intend on talking with her more about it tomorrow afternoon. Of course, before anything is decided I'll involve you as well."

"I appreciate the thought, but this is your son, Chakotay. Not mine." Then she quickly changed the subject. "What are you going to do with them tomorrow?"

"Kellin needs to prepare her ship to receive the deuterium. Apparently Tallo helps with that. In the afternoon, Tom and Miral are going to join us on the holodeck again. You should have seen those two little ones chasing each other this evening. I think things are probably pretty quiet in Tom and B'Elanna's quarters tonight. Aside from the newborn, that is."

"So Harry will have the bridge," she asked, prodding just a bit.

"Yes. And no, I haven't forgotten about my duties, Admiral."

"I didn't expect that you would," she said with a smile. "So, tell me. I want to hear everything you did with your son today."

And then he regaled her with every, single detail until she said it was time for them both to go to bed.