A/n: Warning, the latter half of this chapter is upsetting. I don't own Star Trek Voyager.

"Wow." Chakotay commented warmly, "These are impressive." He wasn't exactly an expert in topography, but his years in the Maquis had taught him the value of a good map, even an old-fashioned paper one. It had been more than a little surprising when, perhaps merely to diminish the need for conversation, Magnus Hansen had pulled out three long rolls of yellowing sheets from behind a dusty display case. Its dark interior, filled with metallic objects he'd no doubt have to look closely at to have any chance of identifying, was locked up tight behind still sturdy doors. The three maps he had unfurled at his fingertips were covered with detail worthy of the spider's web that the depictions of the surrounding land rivalled in complexity. The mountain range he'd observed far in the distance, its peaks directed up at the clouds like a raised fist, were obviously an unachievable goal, since though they were meticulously indicated in each map but were not graced with the handwritten notes that accompanied almost every other geographical point noted on each map. Even if he had been able to read Swedish, the annotations were as cramped as they were numerous. The oldest two, which he dated by the relative discolouration of the sheets, were dominated by the habitually distracted scrawl that for him was synonymous with scientists, while the newest with the crack still in the page, was written almost entirely in a more measured, pragmatic hand which he automatically assumed belonged to Annika.

"Over 18 years in the making." Magnus replied, obviously pleased and in agreement with Chakotay.

Kathryn looked up from the PADDs that Magnus had also provided her with, thankfully programmed with translation software just as on Voyager. Although she had initially been the more eager to study the Hansens' collection when Magnus had suggested it, she now wore a pensive, tight-lipped expression. Chakotay knew her well enough to see that she was struggling not to become dispirited by this further evidence, proved by people who had lived through the transition, that they weren't going to be leaving this planet any time soon. "You've worked hard Dr Hansen, have gained a great deal of knowledge about this planet and its ecosystem. I…" She trailed off, glancing quickly at Chakotay, "I myself have been a little reluctant to explore."

"That's natural, you've been marooned and there's certainly a grieving process." Magnus told her softly, regarding her kindly as he sighed to himself, blue eyes crinkling at the corners with regret and resignation, Chakotay sensed this was the most honest the reserved man had been with them as yet. "Erin and I, we had to hit the ground running just to survive with Annika. From what I hear from Annika, your crew left you as comfortable as they could, so you two taking it slow is understandable." Though he said the first statement with some wry pride, his words about their situation were not bitter or judgemental, just pragmatic.

Kathryn gave him a weak but grateful smile before straightening in her chair, her next question one of professional curiosity. "I've been wondering Dr Hansen…"

"Magnus." The man now corrected, though he'd formal before. "With two Dr Hansens in the family, and a daughter who is fit for several doctorates, I think we'd better stick to first names on our side Captain."

"There'll be no ranks for us then." Kathryn echoed the sentiment quickly, "What I was going to ask Magnus is, what did you do with your ship's warp core? You obviously have a source of power, but surely the core was too unstable after the crash…"

"Undoubtedly it would've been, yes." Magnus agreed, "But we ejected the Raven's warp core when we knew for sure we were going to crash, partly in an attempt to…distract our pursuers."

Chakotay took 'distract' to mean attack. It was a last ditch tactic Maquis vessels had been known to deploy, ejecting the warp core and destroying it to disable Cardassian vessels in the inevitable explosion, much as he had done when he'd flown the Valjean into the flank of that Kazon freighter. "And did 'distracting' these pursuing vessels work?"

Magnus' eyes skimmed over the spartan room in which they sat. "Evidently not." He said drily, gripping the edge of the table to propel himself into a standing position. "We just had to get rather creative with the systems we had left."

Chakotay's eyes, against his will, riveted on the older man's empty trouser leg. Forcing himself to look contritely back at the maps, another question sprang to his lips. "You didn't lose your leg in that initial crash did you?" His stomach tightened in warning, "I only ask because there are three different people's handwriting on these maps in places…"

"You're right Commander." Magnus answered, either forgetting or ignoring Kathryn's dismissal of rank, "I started those maps in the early days. After the crash, thankfully, I was still a relatively young and healthy man, much like you are. I actually lost the leg in an accident while building the newest extension to this house. It was seven years ago now, just after Annika had turned seventeen."

Kathryn recognised a pointed comment when she heard it, mostly because she'd once also been a headstrong young woman with an overprotective father, just as Annika evidently was. She'd have to get around to probing Chakotay's intentions herself, since she saw him stiffen with the same awareness in the corner of her eye. "So…she's twenty four then?" she asked carefully.

Magnus started to nod the affirmative before the sound of laboured breathing behind him made him turn around to see Erin staggering into the room, her face pallid and sweating. "Erin!"

Annika appeared in a blink of an eye at her mother's back before her father could begin to hobble over or before Chakotay and Kathryn could fully get out from behind the table to help, looking frustrated as well as stricken. "Mama! You shouldn't…"

"I know Annika." Erin waved her off tiredly, but was too weak to do anything but submit when Annika slung her mother's thin arm around her own shoulders and half carried her over to a makeshift recliner, avoiding her mother's knowing eyes as she cocooned her in a ragged edged but still thick blanket.

Annika rose up on shaking legs from her kneeling position on the floor cosseting her mother, briskly brushing herself off as she glanced over at the table, still strewn with maps and PADDs, while avoiding the newcomers' gaze even more determinedly. "Clear the table please Papa." She instructed sharply, "I'm about to serve dinner."

Magnus looked between his wife and daughter uneasily, but gained nothing enlightening from either. "Of course." He agreed obligingly, only to see that Chakotay was already putting the clutter aside. Annika had turned back into the kitchen as soon as she'd issued her orders and hadn't waited to see who would carry them out, and Magnus found that left him relieved.

Their meal was plated up on the familiar grey metallic dining set that was ubiquitous on Voyager and indeed had been on all Federation vessels since time immoral. What Annika was served was much more appreciated, a tender, well seasoned vegetable stir-fry. Understandably, many of the ingredients were unidentifiable to the two uninitiated guests, but the alien greens were as tasty in Annika's combination as anything either of them had known, as were the many other more vibrant additions, varying in look from something similar to an aubergine to a pulse that could be mistaken for chickpeas. The smell alone excited Chakotay's taste buds, which had been numbed over the weeks by his own utilitarian meals. At least, unlike Kathryn's one attempt early on in their stay, his efforts had been edible, but he had a feeling he'd struggle to fight the urge to wolf down Annika's creation. However, before he could lift his cutlery, Magnus took the initiative and lifted his glass of dark blue fruit juice, of which they all had a tall glass, into the air. "Skål!"

"Skål!" Erin and Annika automatically echoed, Erin with more cheer than her daughter, though it was Annika who smirked slightly behind her glass at the deer-in-the-headlights expression reflected on both Chakotay and Kathryn's faces. "Cheers." She murmured.

"Sk…" Both Chakotay and Kathryn tried, though they quickly gave up and shamefacedly reverted to Annika's translation as the Swedes all chuckled good-naturedly, "Cheers!"

Chakotay sipped at the juice and smiled at once. "Very nice." He said approvingly, "It reminds me of something though…"

"It should." Annika replied, "One of the berries I use for this juice grows in abundance near your camp."

His eyebrows shot up, "Those bitter little purple berries? I found those inedible!"

Erin laughed, though the sweet sound soon lapsed into a raspy cough. "That's why it needs to be combined with the juice of three other native fruits to be palatable. Annika is very good at getting the balance just right."

"You invented it Mama." Annika countered in embarrassment.

"Yes." Magnus said shortly before turning his attention wholly on their guests. "Captain, Commander, you were going to tell us about your journey?"

Kathryn swallowed her first mouthful of stir-fry before answering warmly, "We'd be glad to." She proceeded to give a tailored version of their history on Voyager while they ate, with Chakotay only contributing occasional humorous detail, since he felt uncomfortable that the Maquis factor was carefully left out by his former Captain. Not that he really wanted to discuss politics, so he didn't quibble with her. Instead of focusing on the well-known, if edited, tale, he zeroed in on the Hansens' reactions. Magnus and Erin were as engaged, curious and generally sympathetic as he'd expected them to be, but Annika surprised him. She was obviously listening, her alert stance told him that, but her gaze was distant and she was almost hermetically silent, only speaking if one of her parents' prompted her. She was aloof, verging on haughty, almost as if her manner suddenly reflected her cool Nordic beauty. Realising this saddened him, since he suspected it wasn't natural for her, even when she'd been at her most wary with him early on, she'd been bright and articulate. He suspected the reason as he watched her anxious, weary eyes flick constantly back to her mother, she was continually on edge. The memory of that feeling, engrained in his mind, made him reluctant to focus on Erin too seriously. With his last, satisfying forkful of stir-fry, he tried to draw her out. "Thank you Annika, that was a wonderful meal. I haven't eaten like that since I left Voyager."

Kathryn mirrored Chakotay's appreciative smile, "Probably the best in awhile even with Voyager taken into account. Our chef Neelix's cooking is an acquired taste after all, especially his coffee substitute!"

Magnus chuckled, "I'm getting the impression coffee is pretty important to you."

"That's an understatement." Janeway admitted, "Once, when looking for a power supply early on in our journey, I said, 'There's coffee in that nebula!'"

Chakotay started to laugh along with the Hansen couple but stopped when he saw Annika soundlessly clearing up the plates. "I'll help you wash up…"

"No!" Annika said sharply, flushing as she heard her own tone, "Really, I'm used to doing it." She mumbled, snatching up the last of the dishes and disappearing through into the kitchen.

Chakotay hovered for a few minutes before suddenly deciding to follow her. Kathryn saw what he intended to do and shot him a warning look, but he ignored her. He expected to see Annika in the kitchen, which was part of the old ship, but when he left the wooden extension that was the porch/dining room he saw that there was another door to the outside built into the connecting corridor and Annika was standing in what served as their garden, washing dishes in a wooden basin perched on a ladder as an outdoor sink. He watched her obliviously at work for a moment before stepping outside. "Hey." He said softly.

Annika didn't even glance at him over her shoulder, instead bending to add additional water to the basin from a kettle that she'd carried out from the kitchen. "I don't need any help Commander."

"Sorry, I was raised to believe that the cook never cleans, it's pretty engrained." Chakotay replied wryly, tactfully ignoring her use of his now defunct rank, "I just thought I'd make one last offer."

Annika hesitated for a moment. "I'm fine." She reiterated.

Chakotay sighed as he warily approached her, "That's the problem, I don't think you are."

Annika's back stiffened before the scrubbing sound intensified. Chakotay had to wonder if she was rubbing her already scarred hands raw in the hot water. Her own sigh had the weight of the world behind it. "It's just…" He was close enough to her now to see her swallowing in the twilight, "My mother, she has certain…expectations and I believe they're unrealistic."

Chakotay bit his lip sorrowfully as her words brought back memories of his father. However, he suspected Annika's fears came from a deeper source than his own teenage angst. "How sick is she?"

Annika stilled abruptly, "She has a month…maybe six weeks." She whispered, "its cancer."

"Cancer?" Chakotay echoed, "But that was cured over…"

The plate Annika was holding splashed violently into the basin as she spun to face him, her whole face taut with impotent rage as well as grief. "Does it look like we have a hospital around here?" she snarled hoarsely, "We…We didn't even realise until it had spread so much that we couldn't identify where it started." She choked out, "She…She…"

"I know." Chakotay whispered, "And I do understand, my mother died of a brain aneurysm when I was thirteen."

Annika somehow paled further, guilt as well as grief consuming her striking face. "I'm sorry." She murmured faintly, compassion replacing her spurt of anger as tears began to flow.

Chakotay blinked back tears of his own, "She was in a coma for two days and it was…hell. I can't imagine what you're going through."

"I would not wish it on my worst enemy." Annika admitted before shutting the discussion down by handing him a soapy plate, her whole body shaking. "I think I need that help after all."

A/n: Please review. Thanks to The Cheshire Cheese for reminding me about this story as well as writing the amazing one-shot 'Time Enough', every C/7 fan should read it! Same goes for cojack's new story, 'Les Exilés', fans of 'The Gift' will especially love it because it's C/7 but Maquis focused.