First...my apologies for taking so long to get this done...I wish I had a really good reason...but life and lack of inspiration seem to be the best I can come up with!
This takes place at the time and is based "loosely" on the episode "Waking Moments". I have toyed with the timeline, the story...well lots of things...but that's why we call it fiction, right?! grin
I hope you enjoy and again, my apologies...
Chapter 10: A "Do-Over"
The festivities had passed very quickly that day. Kathryn found the quiet she was surrounded by after everyone had left a little disconcerting. All of the adrenalin of the past few days had seeped out of her system and she was feeling rather tired. She felt the comfort of two strong arms encircle her from behind, "Are you reading for the honeymoon, my love?"
"Hmm – I thought it would never get here. So where are we going?"
He took her hand and led her over to the "cabin" that had been their home during their stay on New Earth, "Right here."
She turned to look at him, "Chakotay, are you sure? The last time we were here…well, I'm sure it didn't end up the way either of us had planned."
He pulled her into a warm embrace, "Which is exactly why we need to try again. Do it the way it was supposed to be done. I know there are some wrongs that I want to make right – kind of like an old-fashioned 'do-over'."
She smiled up into those beautiful dark eyes, "Such as?"
"Well, first of all – this time I plan on being in that bathtub I made WITH you! No more watching and lusting from a distance."
Her eyebrow crooked up in traditional Janeway fashion, "Lusting, hmm? I'm pretty sure that lusting after your Captain is definitely against Starfleet regulations."
He pulled her close again and his mouth claimed hers in a searing kiss as his hands moved lower to pull her body flush with his. When he finally broke the kiss, she was breathless. "If you'll remember, my love, you were not technically my captain at the time."
Her eyes had clouded with desire as she answered him, "I stand corrected, Commander. Now that we have that clarified, I would like my husband to whisk me across the threshold to begin our married life together."
"First things, first…I believe my wife needs a long, hot soak in the tub."
She leaned in to his broad chest, enjoying the feel of strong arms around her. "You know what, Chakotay? For once…you'll get no argument out of me!"
She felt the rumble in chest from his laughter and then his deep voice, "I think I'm going to like this whole marriage thing…seems to take the fight right out of you."
She smiled against him, "Don't get too used to it, Chakotay – you just caught me in a moment's weakness – it won't happen again."
He lifted her chin and kissed her again, "I wouldn't have you any other way, my love. Now, let's get that bath ready."
"Chakotay?"
"Hmm"
"As much as I hate to admit it, you were right…THIS is much better…the backrest alone is far more comfortable than before."
Chakotay smiled as Kathryn leaned back into him in the warm water. His arms were on either side with his hands gently caressing her stomach. He gently kissed her neck, "Now that's twice in one day…first, no argument and now, I'm right…I should have brought you here again a long, long time ago."
Her low, throaty laughter sent waves of desire through him and his body responded. He nuzzled her neck, "Shall we go inside?"
She turned to kiss him fully, her body pressing into his – leaving no room for misinterpretation of what she wanted, "Yes…let's…"
A few hours later, the loud screech of a monkey outside the door woke the sleeping couple. Kathryn sat up with a start, "What the…?!"
"That sounds like this planet's equivalent of the early warning system…there must be a storm approaching…"
Kathryn scrambled out of bed and pulled her robe on, "Why in the world would you program a storm? Are you crazy?"
Chakotay just smiled as they made their way to the main room and took up residence under the shelter of the table.
The storm raged outside while the couple huddled under the table…doing their best to avoid falling dishes and paintings…Kathryn was scared…she had never liked storms, but she felt safer this time – with Chakotay's arms around her.
The storm finally subsided and she turned in his embrace, "So you want to tell me what that was all about?"
He shifted them so he was settled over her, pinning her gently to the floor, "That, my dear…" he kissed her fully, "…was about doing this right. I should've made love to you that day…taken advantage of you! Lucky for you, I'm a gentleman…"
She laughed as she pushed him and rolled over so she was now straddling him, "Well, lucky for you…I'm not always a lady!"
His laughter joined hers before claiming her mouth in a kiss, "Oh yes…I am a VERY lucky man…I've always enjoyed serving under you!"
"Chakotay?"
"Yes."
"If you're such a gentleman, why don't you help me off the floor? First you take unfair advantage of a pregnant woman and now you expect her to get up by herself?"
He extended his hand to her, "Well, I know how you like to be independent and self-sufficient…"
"That's an order, Commander!"
He pulled her to her feet and they made their way back to the bedroom. Once settled in, she asked, "So what do you think…a boy or girl?"
"Definitely a girl…with fiery red hair and blue eyes, just like her mother."
Kathryn smiled into the night, "Or a son…with the dark, caring eyes of his father."
"There's no use arguing with me, Kathryn – she's a girl. I know these things…"
"I think I'm in a better position to know this, Chakotay…you can't ALWAYS be right. I'm having a boy…and that's that."
He chuckled and pulled her closer to him as his arm closed possessively over the place where his child was growing, "Let's sleep on it and see what happens."
The events of the day and their activities from the evening had taken its toll, "Agreed…see you in the morning…"
Their eyes closed so quickly – neither noticed the snap of the fingers or the bright light that followed…
Chakotay returned to the cabin in the morning with some fresh fruit to find Kathryn sitting in the bed with a far away look, "Are you alright, Kathryn?"
"I had a…dream…no – more than that…it was a nightmare…"
"You want to talk about it?" He offered as he sat down next to her and offered the fruit.
"No."
"Kathryn?"
She continued to stare off into space, "It was disturbing, Chakotay."
"Would it help if I told you I had a bad dream as well?"
This got her attention, "Really?"
"Yes."
"OK, I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours. You first, though…Captain's prerogative." She grinned.
"I was hunting deer with my father – which was very unusual as I normally refused to do that. We had cornered a dear and I looked up to my father to see who was going to shoot it…but my father wasn't there, it was an alien I had never seen before."
That perked her interest up, "There was an alien in your dream?"
"Yes."
"Mine too…"
He could see her analytical wheels begin to turn, "Shall I call the Bridge or would you like to?"
"Oh Chakotay, I'm so sorry. I know we promised…but…"
"But this is not something the Command team can ignore…even if it is their honeymoon." He got up and located her comm. badge and handed it to her.
"Bridge…this is the Captain."
"Tuvok here, Captain. How may we be of assistance?"
She tried to fight back a lopsided grin, "Well the Commander and I have everything well in hand…" She could have sworn she heard muffled laughter coming from someone on the bridge….probably Paris, "Actually, we have a question which may seem very strange at first."
"Proceed, Captain."
She exchanged a glance with Chakotay and fought to keep the humor out of her voice, "Has anything unusual happened with the crew or ship since yesterday?"
"Ensign Kim has not reported for duty and Mr. Paris was late. He cited a bad dream with an alien as the reason for his tardiness."
They heard a muffled, "Thanks a lot, Tuvok…" from the Conn area.
She looked at Chakotay, "That's not like, Harry."
Chakotay hit his comm. badge, "Chakotay to Kim."
There was no response, Janeway was concerned, "Computer – locate Ensign Kim."
"Ensign Kim is in his quarters."
"Tuvok, meet me at Harry's quarters. Chakotay please assemble the rest of the senior staff – I want to find out if these aliens you, Tom and I saw in our dreams have anything to do with this."
"Yes ma'am."
"Chakotay?"
"Yes."
"I really am sorry."
"Hey – we'll always have last night…" he laughed.
"Oh that was a bad cliché…and I promise, as soon as we find out what's going on with Harry and these aliens, we'll pick up right where we left off." She promised as she struggled to get into her uniform.
"I'll hold you to that! What's wrong?"
She stopped her struggle for a moment, "I could swear that this uniform was not this tight just a day or so ago." She turned to view her profile in the mirror, "Chakotay! I KNOW I was not this big yesterday."
"Well, you are getting further along…this is to be expected…isn't it?" He now seemed a little unsure; she did seem to have blossomed overnight.
"Well…yes, but this seems a bit…excessive. Honestly, I don't know…this IS my first child, you know."
He moved to embrace her and then offer assistance with her uniform, "Mine too. As soon as we get to the bottom of this alien dream problem, we'll go see the Doctor, ok?"
"Okay…and thanks for the help." The worried expression was replaced by the Captain's mask and she was off to find out about Harry. Chakotay understood her better now, though, and knew she was still worried, but she was able to compartmentalize that fear until there was ample time and opportunity to confront it again. It may not be the best way for Kathryn…but it suited the Captain well.
After being unable to wake Harry in his quarters and learning that several members of the crew had been transported to sickbay, she was drilling the Doctor for answers, "Are they comatose?"
"Not exactly…they appear to be in a hyper-rem state. I've tried every conventional method I can think of to wake them…from drugs to direct cortical stimulation…and nothing works." The Doctor explained.
"Do you have any idea what's causing this?"
"Scans haven't detected anything…they are simply…asleep."
"I'd say this is a pretty good bet that this is somehow related to the alien in our dreams."
"Any progress on identifying our visitor?"
"Not yet, but I have everyone working on it. In the meantime, what's your recommendation?"
"Large doses of imenazine."
"I thought you said drugs weren't working?" She asked.
"Not for them…for everyone else. Until I can determine what is going on, I suggest they do not go to sleep."
"Will it be safe…for me? Under the circumstances, I mean?" She gestured to the baby.
"You won't be able to have as much as everyone else…but I'll monitor you carefully. I promise I won't let anything adverse happen to you or the child." There was almost a touch of paternal sentiment to his tone.
"Thank you, Doctor – I appreciate your diligence. When all of this is over, would you mind just doing a quick scan on the baby to make sure everything is alright? I'm probably just being nervous, but I'd feel more at ease."
"Certainly. Now if you'll excuse me, I must check on my patients."
"Of course, Doctor."
Several hours later, they had agreed on the physical aspects of the alien and Chakotay had convinced both Kathryn and the Captain to allow him to use lucid dreaming to try to contact the alien.
They were now in sickbay and Kathryn smiled at Chakotay and touched him gently on the chest as she was so fond of doing…even before he became her husband, "Pleasant dreams." Was all she said, but her eyes conveyed her concern about this course of action.
He smiled reassuringly at her before starting the ritual to enter into the dream state, "Akoochemoya…I am far from the sacred places of my grandfathers…far from the bones of my people. I seek to sleep – to meet the one who has visited us in our dreams."
It was several tense filled moments later before he woke up, Kathryn was relieved and showed him how happy she was to have him back during the turbolift ride to the bridge. Somehow Chakotay managed to "brief" her on what had happened and what they needed to do before they stepped on the bridge.
"Tuvok – scan for a six planet system – should be less than a parsec from here."
"I have located it."
"Tom – lay in a course."
They made their way to the planet system and, as the alien had advised, the crew started to wake up. The victory was short lived however when the ship came under attack.
"Red Alert – all hands to battle stations."
"They're coming around for another pass." Paris advised.
"Auxiliary power to the shields! Return fire!"
"No damage to the alien ship – we can't penetrate their shields." Chakotay indicated after viewing the results of their weapons discharge.
"Arm photon torpedoes…we seem to have a knack for provoking strangers these days. Fire."
"I've lost power to the torpedo launcher…there seems to be a drain on our power."
Then the alien appeared on the view screen and things went from bad to worse…
Before they could do anything, they were all being held captive by the aliens. While trying to plan an escape, Chakotay noticed the moon in a view screen and realized that he was still asleep. He tapped his hand three times to bring himself out of the dream.
"Commander Chakotay! You're awake."
"Are you sure?
"Yes…but I'm afraid you're the only one. After you entered your lucid dream, everyone began falling asleep one my one."
"The Captain?"
"Alright for now…but asleep."
"How long was I out?"
"Thirty-nine hours."
"That long?!" He consulted some scans the Doctor showed him, "So we're all sharing a communal dream. We have to find where these aliens are in the waking world, so I can deal with them on our terms rather than theirs.
"Collective unconsciousness," Seven explained.
"You mean we're all sharing the same dream?" B'Elanna asked.
"It is possible." Tuvok confirmed.
"This is all fascinating…but unless we have proof to the contrary, we have to treat this like an invasion."
Tom walked up and advised he had been able to get a Jeffries tube open. Half of the senior staff distracted the guards while Kathryn, B'Elanna and Tuvok went to engineering to try to get main power back online.
It only took a moment before B'Elanna was successful, "That was easy…"
The computer's cold voice sounded, "Warp core breach in 30 seconds…"
Janeway added, "A little too easy…eject the core!"
Flying fingers made the unsuccessful attempt, "It won't eject, Captain…we have to get out of here!" B'Elanna shouted.
Kathryn followed slowly, her thoughts spoken out loud, "I don't understand why you can't eject the core…something's not right." A realization hit her and she turned to head back towards engineering.
"Captain! You must hurry." Tuvok called out.
"You'll be killed!" B'Elanna shouted.
"I think I'm on to something…you two go!"
"Captain!!"
"That's an order…"
"Warp core breach in 5…4…3…2..1" The explosion was loud and B'Elanna's heart stopped…Chakotay was going to KILL her for letting the Captain do something so stupid.
The door opened and an unharmed Kathryn Janeway stepped through. There was sarcasm in her voice as she said, "Either I've become impervious to anti-matter explosions…or we're still dreaming."
Meanwhile Chakotay and the Doctor located the sleeping place of the aliens. Chakotay beamed down to try to disable the generator that was providing the catalyst for the dream state, "Doctor, I want you to go to the Bridge."
"Commander?"
"I'm giving you an order. Go to the Bridge and target my comm. signal with a photon torpedo."
"You're delirious. You're asking me to incinerate you!" The Doctor was not pleased with the turn of events.
"Not just me…these aliens...and their transmitter too. But only if you don't hear from me in five minutes! Understood?"
"Commander!"
"Understood?!!!"
Realizing there was no other way to end this, the Doctor agreed, "Aye sir."
He woke up the alien and pointed a phaser at him, "Tell me how to deactivate this transmitter or I start shooting."
The alien didn't' speak…so Chakotay continued, "I'll give you five seconds…5, 4, 3, 2…" before he could finish he fell asleep and joined the rest of the crew in the dream state.
Janeway wasn't sure she was relieved or worried that he appeared behind her, "Chakotay!"
He shot her a reassuring glance, but moved to face the alien.
"Who's going to help you now, Captain?" The alien asked.
"I found your cavern and your people – I'm there right now in the waking world. It's all going to be destroyed in less than two minutes unless you deactivate that transmitter."
"If you are there, you will be killed too. I think you're lying."
"Oh believe me…if I don't contact my ship, both of us are going to die in our sleep."
The look on his face indicated he was fully prepared to die for his ship…he avoided looking at Kathryn; he couldn't bear to see the look on her face right now. The Captain would understand that this was necessary…Kathryn would be less accommodating. Fortunately, the alien believed him as well and complied with the request…the nightmare was over for all of them.
"Chakotay – if you ever do anything like that again!!" She said it in a teasing voice, but he knew she had been worried. "I don't know what I would do without you…what we…would do without you!"
They were making their way to sickbay to visit the Doctor. "Would you like to talk about you testing your theory during a warp core breach?" He admonished.
Realizing he had her, "Touche'; but I still don't want you to do anything like that ever again."
"As long as you agree to the same."
They both nodded their head in agreement even though they both know they would do what was necessary to protect the crew and each other…even if it meant their own lives. They entered sickbay.
"Ah Captain, Commander…I've been expecting you. I'm ready to conduct the scan you requested."
"Thank you, Doctor." Kathryn offered as she climbed onto the biobed.
He began the scan, "Was there a cause for your concern? Did you have any symptoms that concerned you?"
"Well, it seems rather silly right now; but…well, my stomach seemed to grow…significantly almost overnight."
"Hmm…that's odd…"
Now Chakotay was very worried, "What Doctor…what is it?"
"Well, I can't explain it…but it appears that…Captain…"
"What Doctor?!! What is it?"
He straightened and looked at her directly, "You are pregnant with twins…one boy and one girl."
Tbc…