Six months later - Location: Earth
Kiernan Taya Janeway had adjusted splendidly to life on Earth. She continued to excel in her classroom studies and absolutely enjoyed living with her grandparents and, of course, Cassie. Her schedule had been arranged and once her schooling was done, she was sent to an after school type program where she would stay until Kathryn got off-work to pick her up, at least two days a week, when Chakotay had evening classes. During the other days, Chakotay would often pick her up from school, and they would go on adventures, bonding and getting to know each other on a deep level. Kiernan loved her evenings alone with Kathryn, as well, and Kathryn loved to teach her many things that amazed the young child.
During her stay, they had taken several trips to visit Kathryn's family in Indiana, whom Kiernan absolutely loved and adored. She in particular loved the vast farmlands and all the animals present. They also made sure to take her to visit Kate's adopted family in Cherokee, and they even visited Ireland once to see where her father and his parent's had both been laid to rest. That was a humbling experience for Kathryn to watch as her small granddaughter knelt down and talked to her Daddy. She may have only been three and a half years old, but she was wise beyond her years, and she knew exactly the sentimentality of this moment, even at such a young age.
Communication with Kate had slowed as the ship had likely moved out of communication relay range, but thankfully, Kiernan had adapted to her new life and didn't seem to be as remorseful as they all feared she would be. One evening, after tucking Kiernan in to bed, Kathryn joined Chakotay on the back patio in their double seated chaise lounge chair. He had built a small fire in the pit and they were enjoying the cool breeze of the evening and the sounds coming from the water that backed up to their home. They were content staying wrapped in each other's arms and enjoying the solitude of the moment, but that moment ended when Kiernan came out on to the patio with a terrifying look etched across her face.
Kiernan came to Kathryn's side of the chair and crawled up on top of Kathryn, who immediately noticed that the young child was shaking. Thinking she might have been sick, Kathryn immediately felt of her forehead testing for any signs of a fever, but when finding she was fine, she questioned, "Kiernan, honey, what's the matter?"
Kiernan buried her head in between Kathryn's breasts and wrapped her arms tightly reaching around Kathryn's sides as far as she could as if she were grasping on to her for dear life. She just keep shaking and her eyes were glazed over as if something had traumatized her. Cassie, who had been staying in the room with her, walked outside, but she didn't seem alerted by anything out of the ordinary yet she kept whimpering at the way Kiernan was acting. Chakotay stroked Kiernan's back and tried to coax something out of her.
Finally, Kiernan lifted her head off Kathryn's breasts but kept her arms locked around her sides while still laying on top of her. She looked Kathryn directly in the eyes, and Kathryn saw fear, which was something she had never seen before.
"Kiernan, my angel, please talk to me. Has someone hurt you? Are you okay? What's the matter? Please talk to us. We want to help you."
Kiernan shook her head and finally spoke. "I'm fine, May-May. It's not me, it's Mommy."
Kathryn couldn't help the look of confusion that came across her face, and when she glanced over at Chakotay, she saw that even his tattoo was slightly wrinkled in confusion.
He stroked the side of Kiernan's face before asking, "Your Mommy? I don't understand, sweetheart, what do you mean?"
Kiernan shrugged her shoulders in frustration. "It's Mommy. Something is wrong with Mommy. I know it; I can feel it. I was asleep and I woke up and felt her. I felt something and know that something has happened to her. She's hurt and scared."
Kathryn's mouth fell slightly ajar because there was no way this child possessed any sort of telepathic capabilities, yet it certainly seemed like she did. She smoothed her grandchild's hair and kissed her on the forehead.
"Honey, I don't understand. I know you and your Mommy are close, but how do you know this?"
"Because of this," Kiernan said while placing her hand over Kathryn's heart. "Mommy and I have a way of communicating. We can feel each other through our hearts, and I feel she's upset."
Kathryn's gut was starting to act up now, and Chakotay immediately sensed it. He tightened his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. Knowing that there was ultimately nothing they could realistically do, they had to figure some way to calm down Kiernan.
"Kiernan, I don't know how we can get a message to Voyager since they are past the relay stations, but I will send a message to them to see if I can find out anything, okay? But I know your Mommy, she is my daughter after all, and she's very strong. She's been through a lot of things before and always continues to come back stronger than ever. Whatever she may or may not be facing, I know she will fight and she will be okay. It's hard with her being so far away, but let's try to go back to sleep, okay?"
Kiernan nodded and asked innocently, "Can I lay my head back down right here and go to sleep in your arms?"
Kathryn couldn't help but smile. She stuck her lips out and Kiernan kissed her on her lips, which was something they had started doing not long after her arrival at their house.
"Of course, my love, you can always sleep with me."
Kiernan lay her head back on Kathryn's breasts and eventually fell asleep. To say Kathryn's curiosity and maybe even worry level had increased, was a small understatement. She glanced over at Chakotay, who in turn kissed her, and nodded his head. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and he tightened his grip on his two girls.
"This worries me, Chakotay. She's never done this before," she whispered after glancing down to ensure Kiernan had lulled herself back to sleep.
"I know, Kathryn. It's not like her at all."
Kathryn turned to face him a little more. "Are Native Americans that in tune with their sensing abilities? I mean there's no way she's telepathic."
He lightly chuckled. "We have our spirit animals and all sorts of things, Kathryn, as you well know. I guess we could be more slightly connected on personal levels. Maybe Kate and Kiernan have some sort of unique bond that we aren't aware of."
"Maybe so," she stated before motioning for him to help her. "I'm going to carry her back to bed, and then I think I need to try to go to bed, too."
"Good idea. I think we all need some sleep," he stated while helping her carry their grandchild back up to bed with Cassie hot on their heels.
Once back in their bedroom, Kathryn quickly retreated to the bathroom before eventually joining Chakotay in bed. She curled on her side and lay her head on his chest as he instinctively wrapped his arms around her. They shared a kiss, but neither could quite shake the thoughts that were running wildly through their minds.
Kathryn had drifted off into a light sleep, as Chakotay listened to her breathe, but as he was about to doze off, he was alerted to an incoming transmission. He knew moving would ultimately wake Kathryn up, and more than likely since it was coming through her console, it was likely for her. He carefully nudged her awake.
"What is it?" she groggily asked.
"Your console is receiving a message," he said watching as her eyes shot wide open. She motioned for him to go answer it, as she wasn't ready to be seen on the screen.
Since they were married, he was able to access her messages, even though he couldn't always respond to them. He always still felt the need to ask her permission, though, even if it did drive her insane. He went and hovered over her desk and hit the monitor to find Deanna Troi-Riker staring back at him. When he saw Deanna, his stomach immediately dropped, and he could have sworn he heard Kathryn nearly sound as if she were about to vomit as fear likely had just shot through them both after what had just occurred with Kiernan an hour or so earlier.
Deanna sensed both of their reactions, and it was a strong sensation that ripped through her own body.
"Chakotay, are you okay?" she questioned with hesitation.
He shook his head before responding, "I'm not sure, Deanna. We've just had an interesting evening with Kiernan, and the timing of your message is just a bit eerie with something that just happened here."
The expression on her face immediately changed, and Kathryn had seen it while making her way over to the work station.
"Deanna, we haven't heard from Voyager in a few days, so we assumed you all were outside of the communications range. Has something transpired?"
Deanna blinked a few times, and they could tell there was some slight interference with the communication system.
"We are still somewhat out of the relay range, so I wasn't sure if the message would come through, but I wanted to try nonetheless. Has something happened to Kiernan?"
Chakotay shook his head. "No, she just had some sort of strange notion tonight that something had happened to Kate."
Kathryn couldn't help but notice the blaring red in the background behind Deanna, and she immediately knew something had happened. "Commander," Kathryn stated drawing on her Admiral hat and donning her Starfleet role so quickly that it surprised Chakotay and even Deanna herself. "I see the red behind you, which I take it to indicate that you are under a red alert. Something must have happened if you are contacting me."
There was a slight nod in Deanna's head before she responded with news that would ultimately send shockwaves through Kathryn and Chakotay's house.
"Our mission thus far has been very successful. We've had no encounters with the Borg nor seen any evidence to support their resurgence. A couple hours ago, out of nowhere a vessel appeared in front of us. It never even showed up on any of our sensors. It looked like something the Borg would have constructed, but I immediately sensed that it was not the Borg. After stalking us for a while, we were finally hailed. The individual identified himself as a former Devore Inspector by the name of Kashyk, and within a matter of minutes, unaware to any of us, Captain Janeway disappeared from our bridge and was all but kidnapped before our very eyes."
At the mere mention of the name of Kashyk, the glass that Chakotay had been holding in his hand shattered, which Deanna saw and heard through the view screen. Kathryn's mouth fell wide open in complete shock at both Chakotay's reaction and the news that Kashyk had somehow returned and kidnapped her daughter.
"That's not possible. Kashyk and the Devore are in the Delta Quadrant, there's no way that they crossed into the…" she was rambling and Deanna cut her off.
"They did, ma'am. All former Voyager crewmembers verified with accuracy that it was Kashyk who was on the view screen."
"What does he want? Has he made any further demands?" Kathryn was adamant.
Deanna wasn't sure how to properly address this, so she just stated it bluntly. "He wanted you, Admiral," she stated and let it hang for a few moments before she continued. "Apparently, he thought that you were still captaining Voyager, and when Kate identified herself as Captain Janeway, he didn't even wait for a visual before he somehow locked on to her and took her. We can't figure how he managed to do it. She knows who he is, Kathryn, more than you think she knows, and I am not sure who I am more worried about – her or Kashyk."
Kathryn's was in complete disbelief, and she glared at Chakotay thinking that he must have spilled everything about Kashyk as she had never told Kate about her full encounter with him. Sensing a fight was about to escalate between the two, Deanna cut back in.
"She didn't find out from Chakotay," Deanna interrupted. "She read your logs, Kathryn, professional AND personal. She knows it all," Deanna added.
"How the hell did she do that!?" Kathryn, with her tone slightly raising, asked steadfastly but carefully avoided dropping a much stronger four letter word that she would have preferred to have done.
Deanna couldn't help but smirk, and even she noticed the smirk that crept over Chakotay's face.
"I'm not at liberty to divulge that information, as it…"
"Don't you give me that patient/counselor confidentiality bullshit, Commander!" Kathryn practically spat into the screen. "How in the living hell did she gain access to my personal and confidential logs?"
"That right now is not the concern, Admiral," Deanna said diverting the topic because she knew the answer to that question. "The concern now is Kate's safety and well-being. Kashyk is not the same person that you knew, and our entire crew currently is fearful for her life. I wanted to give you a heads-up to protect Kiernan from hearing anything should it come across the wire. The crew is working on a rescue mission as we speak as we have been receiving some type of communication from within the ship that is indicative of her finding a secret way to communicate with us. I will keep the two of you updated as I can, but please protect Kiernan from hearing this. Kate will be fine, but you had to know."
Before Chakotay could stop her, Kathryn stormed out of the room, and he knew where she was headed. Chakotay stared back at Deanna on the screen.
"Chakotay, I didn't mention this, but I'm actually worried about Kate. I don't have good feelings about Kashyk, and I know you must detest the man based on your reaction earlier. Kate didn't share with me all that she read in Kathryn's logs, but during the times we discussed things, I know that the mention of his name fueled something within her. Almost like a rage and fire."
Chakotay nodded, "We briefly discussed Kashyk. I wondered how she knew about him because I couldn't believe Kathryn would have told her. Kashyk is a dangerous man who loves to play on people's minds. He charmed Kathryn, and I think part of her fell for him. She even may have started to develop feelings for him. But then he used her and played her. In the end, she did the same to him, but it gnawed at her for months how he had treated her and how she had fallen for him. She didn't discuss much of that situation with me because I think part of her might have been embarrassed and even hurt by him. But, if she wrote about her personal feelings in her logs and Kate read those, I can see why she would be fueled with rage because if I could rip the man's heart out, I would."
Deanna blinked a few more times and nodded. "That's what worries me, Chakotay. The times she talked about him to me, there was hatred in her tone, and that doesn't usually exist with Kate as she doesn't hate anyone. But something about this man set her off. Now that he has her, I don't know what to expect, but I don't have a good feeling for either of their sakes."
"Me either, Deanna. But, thank you for letting us know. Please keep us posted, as I know this is going to tear Kathryn up that she can't be there."
Deanna faintly smiled. "I need to go, but take care of both of them. Troi out."
When the transmission ended, Chakotay leaned back in the chair and let out a huge breath. He grabbed a towel and cleaned up the broken glass and dabbed the blood from his hand. He eventually found the dermal regenerator and healed his hand before he strolled down to the kitchen. While peering out the back window, he saw Kathryn pacing between the two large trees that were in their back yard close to the water's edge. This was where she went to think, and when she was pacing, she was in deep thought. Chakotay knew her full wrath was about to explode. Instead of replicating a cup, he put on a pot of coffee for Kathryn. While it was readying, he quickly climbed the stairs to peek in on Kiernan. She was sleeping soundly, and he tucked the covers closer around her and kissed her on the cheek. He patted Cassie on the head before closing the door and heading back downstairs.
By the time he had walked out to the trees close by their dock on the bay, Kathryn had taken a seat in one of the chairs. He handed the steaming hot coffee mug to her and sat in the chair beside of her not uttering a word, just waiting for her explosion. He knew, if anything, this would cause her inner volcano to erupt. Kathryn was always relatively calm and cool during their trek on Voyager, but there had been times when the two of them had had some heated arguments. Kathryn always had a temper, but she tried to suppress it, but on occasion, she let it out. He knew this was one time that she needed to get it all out of her system so she could retreat to her typical persona and not terrify their grandchild.
The silence was utterly deafening to Chakotay, and he could literally feel the heat steaming from Kathryn's body. In the back of his mind, he didn't know if Kathryn was angrier over the fact that Kashyk had kidnapped her daughter or whether her daughter had accessed and read her personal logs. Nonetheless, he had a feeling he was about to find out.
Kathryn's body was rigid and she was furious. She couldn't fathom that the one person who she had prematurely let her guard down with, had suddenly resurfaced and was out to get her again but mistakenly got her daughter instead. She had no control over this situation, and it was eating her alive. She had to do something, yet she ultimately knew she couldn't do anything. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She had never experienced so many emotions at once, and she realized this was coming from sheer fear over what could possibly happen to her daughter at the hands of this man.
She popped up from her chair and began pacing again. "Kashyk, Chakotay!" she said a bit loudly and saw him raise his eyebrow and nod back towards the house as a reminder of who was still sleeping in their house.
"How the hell did he get into the Alpha Quadrant? How did he get my daughter? My God, Chakotay, he wanted ME and got Kate instead. I just, I can't … I want to kill him!"
Chakotay watched in somewhat astonishment. He wasn't quite expecting her to admit to wanting to kill Kashyk, but more than likely he knew that was the mother coming out in her.
"Kathryn," he said but she kept on.
"I feel so helpless. I want to help her. I want to trade places with her, but I can't do anything. If he harms her, Chakotay, I will never be able to live with myself. Of all the damn people in this universe that she had to run in to..." she trailed off as her pacing only intensified.
Chakotay wanted to stand up and calm her, but he knew to try would be futile because it would only anger her more. "Kathryn," he said with a calming and soothing tone, a tone that usually worked on her but for some reason this time, it backfired as her rage hit a level he had never seen.
"How the fuck can you sit there so damn calm, Chakotay? Our daughter's life is at risk and you just sit there staring at me? I mean you hate the man, Chakotay, you HATED him back then. There's no denying that. I saw how jealous you were all those years ago. You hated the way I was flirting with him. You hated every single thing about him, and the idea of me and him together sent you over the edge. He used me, Chakotay. I was stupid. I fell hard for a man who pulled me into his web and tricked me. In the end, I thought that I had gotten the last laugh, but now he shows back up somehow thousands of light years away and kidnaps my child and you just sit there!"
Kathryn's reaction and tone was not what Chakotay anticipated and it made him very upset. In a matter of seconds, before Kathryn could even realize it, he had shot straight up from the chair. He grabbed her by her biceps and shook her hard for a second before backing her into the trunk of the nearest large oak tree. He was fuming at her accusations. Needless to say, Kathryn had awoken the angry warrior that had been suppressed deep within him for so many years.
"Don't you dare try to make it seem as if I don't care that Kashyk has MY daughter. Yes, Kathryn, I hated the man. I always hated the man. He used you. He manipulated you. He hurt you. I wanted to protect you and take care of you, but you turned to HIM. Yes, you thought you had the last laugh, but now he's returned. There's NOTHING we can do, Kathryn. Our hands are tied. You do NOT have control of this situation, which I know is driving you insane. I'm not sitting back because I'm not worried about her. That's far from the truth, and you damn well know it.
"We can do something though. We can protect Kiernan. Did you forget about her, Kathryn? Kiernan? Our granddaughter, Kate's daughter. Maybe this is why Kate didn't let Kiernan go on this trip. She had NO idea this would happen, but my God, Kathryn, what if he had gotten Kiernan instead? Think about that. Think about her. It is our duty to protect her, and that I will do. That's what Kate wanted us to do. With that being said, I know you're mad, and you're going to regret all of this later, and I will, too, likely. We have to calm down. We have to keep the faith and hope. Kate is tough, and in my opinion, it is Kashyk who better be saying his last prayers."
The last statement that he had said made Kathryn's eyebrows furrow as she wondered if he knew something that she'd didn't.
"What exactly does that mean, Chakotay? Did Deanna say something else to you after I left that I need to be aware of?"
Still holding her firmly in his grasp, which he realized was probably a little too strong of a grip, he shook his head. "Not really. She just said that Kate never had hated anyone in her life, but anytime they had talked about him, Deanna saw a fueling rage deep within her."
Kathryn's eyes narrowed and Chakotay braced himself for another verbal assault. "If you hadn't told her about him," and Chakotay stopped her dead in her tracks.
"I haven't said a damn word about him, Kathryn. Kate is the one who brought him up to me. She read all of Voyager's professional logs to better understand everything we endured. And now, obviously, she must have read some of your personal logs. Because apparently she knows so much about him and you or whatever, that it's caused her to become a raging fire, at least according to Deanna. She knows I didn't care for the man, but I never told her what all I saw from my perspective."
Kathryn tried to shake him off, but he held firm. He saw the tears forming in her eyes, yet he knew that right now they were tears of anger.
"How in the bloody hell did she access my personal logs, Chakotay? You didn't even have access to that. That's a Starfleet violation, and hell, a violation of my privacy." Chakotay raised his eyebrows and smirked at Kathryn, which made her all the more furious. "What are you looking at me like that for?"
Chakotay couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you going to actually write your daughter up for that? Because let me warn you, Kathryn, if you dare to write Kate up for reading your personal logs, logs that you don't know how she accessed. Have you ever thought about how maybe you left your access unlocked and she just happened to read it mistakenly thinking it was your Captain's logs? But I'm warning you, Kathryn, if you try to take any action to reprimand her, you'll have to deal with me before I allow you to even consider that."
Kathryn's mouth fell open because she had never been threatened by Chakotay, at least not quite that bluntly. She didn't even know how to respond. As she stared into his eyes, she crumbled. She started shaking and the tears starting falling as if the flood gates had been released on a great dam. She collapsed against his chest and clung to him as if she were about to lose him. He heard her mumble something against his chest, but not being able to clearly understand what she said, he pulled her back and tilted her chin to look up at him.
"What did you say?"
Through a mixture of tears and gasps, she was breathless and heartbreakingly said, "I can't feel her, Chakotay."
Shaking his head in disbelief, as that sounded so much as to what Kiernan was saying earlier, he shook Kathryn lightly.
"What, Kathryn? I don't understand."
Instinctively, she reached for her neck where her star necklace used to always reside. "Her necklace, my necklace. The one you gave me…" the look on her face was almost helpless because she couldn't get him to understand her. "When I gave Kate that necklace, I told her, like you always told me, to touch it and that I was only a touch away from her. I don't know Chakotay, but ever since I put it around her neck, I felt I could always feel her. Even when she and I were at odds with each other for those two years, I could still feel her and knew she was thinking about me. But I can't feel her now. It's like something was just ripped away from me. I can't explain it."
He smiled at her and watched as her eyebrows wrinkled in frustration. "And yet you were questioning Kiernan's feeling her mother earlier and thinking it was a Native American trick?" She couldn't help but half smile at him in return. He wrapped her arms tighter around her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I think it is called the bond of mother's with their children. But just because you can't feel her, it doesn't mean something bad has happened. I know what's already happened is bad enough, but we have to be strong, Kathryn. You have to be strong not only for Kate but for Kiernan. If that small one senses anything wrong with us, we are both in trouble because the wrath of Kahn couldn't compare to her."
She pulled back from him a little as their hands both rested around each other's waists. She stared up at him before carefully tracing his tattoo with her fingers.
"I'm sorry. I was very, very mean to you a few moments ago."
He leaned down and kissed her on the lips immediately quieting her. "Don't apologize, Kathryn. I was jealous, and you ultimately had to get that out of your system."
She nodded toward the house and headed back in while he gathered the coffee mugs that were now littered across the lawn. Once he arrived back in the house, he didn't spot her anywhere downstairs. He carefully crept up the stairs and found her lying in bed with Kiernan. Kathryn had Kiernan curled protectively against her chest. It melted and ached Chakotay's heart, as he knew deep down Kathryn was terrified that she may lose her daughter to one man that had caused more turmoil to her own self than she ever dared to admit. Quietly, he lay down behind Kathryn, who was already on her side, and he curled her into his arms and placed a kiss on her cheekbone.
"I love you, Kathryn. I always have and I always will, and together, we will get through this."
She smiled and he felt it as he had rested his face against hers. She turned her head against his to kiss him once more on the lips.
"I don't know how I could have lived without you, Chakotay. I love you more than I can ever say," she said and held his gaze for a few moments before resting her head against him and falling to sleep.