A/N: I can't believe we're actually closer to the end than the beginning! A big thank you again to everyone who's reviewed. You're all awesome. And Bee, yes you're famous now. Lol!

Also, the quote 'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood' is from the poem 'The Road not Taken' by Robert Frost.


'Time must pass differently here,' Kathryn thinks.

She's unsure how long she's been away from Voyager, but if the haggard look of Chakotay was anything to go by, she'd hazard a guess and say days have passed since her rather abrupt abduction. His unshaven look came as a surprise to her. It's not something she's used to, and it speaks of time better spent on other things.

Of crisis mode.

She wonders how concerned she should be.

After the Queen's last display of power, Kathryn has been left alone. There's a force-field erected around her, probably to make sure she doesn't go off and tamper with any of the ship's many systems. Her body aches, and though she's glad of the respite, it also worries her. The Queen is biding her time, and all Kathryn can do is wait. Wait, and hope Chakotay isn't considering giving in to the demands of the Borg.

7000 lives for hers? It's a ransom that should never be paid.

Not for her.

But for him?

If their roles were reversed like the Queen suggested, what would Kathryn have done?

She closes her eyes, feels his hands on her body, his lips against hers. She thinks of shared responsibilities, of burdens made lighter, and a steadfast presence in her life that she may have taken for granted.

What would she have done if he was the one held hostage? If she was the one who'd been asked to pay an unforgivable price for his return?

Would she do it?

Could she?

She imagines going against the regulations that bind her, betraying everything she stands for, everything her father stood for.

The thought of losing Chakotay, and the impact it would have on her, has lingered in the back of her mind for almost as long as she's known him. It's something she doesn't allow herself to dwell on, because it brings forth a tightness in her chest that threatens to suffocate her. He is the main reason she's managed to keep going for so long. What would become of her, of Voyager, if she was to lose him?

But to sentence 7000 people to a lifetime with the Borg?

'I couldn't do it,' she thinks. Even for him. She'd refuse the Queen, and she would've had to watch him, like he's watching her, die a slow and deliberate death.

One she could have prevented.

She would have said no, but she thinks the decision, in the end, would kill her.

And she wonders if the same is true for him.


The prison has been empty for over a week. His fury and hate are living, breathing organisms that relish their pardon. They swell within him, drowning out the rules and regulations he embraced, yet again, on that fateful day when he decided to follow the Starfleet captain who was sent to arrest him.

Chakotay has almost forgotten how easy it was, when he first joined the Maquis, to ignore the bonds placed upon him by the organisation he used to serve, and let his rage roam free. He's almost forgotten how it felt to fight towards a goal and not be held back or swayed to halt by Starfleet's restraints. In the Maquis, the end always justified the means.

Has anything changed?

7000 drones on a liberated sphere. Five sentient beings with minds of their own.

A lost starship with a crew of a 150. One woman whom he can't live without.

'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.'

Two roads carved out in the black of space.

B'Elanna is right. He will lose his position. He will face a court-martial when they reach the Alpha Quadrant, but then he was facing that already, and 30,000 light years takes a long time to travel. The hardest thing to live with will be Kathryn's disappointment.

Her inability to accept that he chooses her over all others.

It's a disappointment he can live with.

One she can live with.

Treason is surprisingly easy when you think your cause is just. But has he learned nothing since he first joined the Maquis? Is this the kind of man he is? The kind of man he wants to be?

He doesn't know. All he knows is that the clock is ticking. The deadline looms, and time waits for no man.

How do they save their captain without sacrificing thousands? No one has given him a satisfactory answer, and while the crew has kept busy, Chakotay has made his own plans.

It's not difficult to set a trap. All that's needed is an honest face and a devious mind.

Mr. Korok and his complement have left the moon, their course set, as the ship travels to meet its liberated sister. Voyager and the sphere have parted as friends, promising loyalty in the face of an ancient adversary that is threatening all of them. The general knows of the Queen's gambit, but he believes Chakotay when the functioning Starfleet captain assures him that Voyager will protect them till the very end. He doesn't know that Chakotay has mapped out the sphere's route on purpose, the coordinates ready for the Queen to download along with access codes that no one's thought to scramble.

The sphere has been with friends after all, and Chakotay has honest face.

The chime to the ready room sounds, and Chakotay is forced to wait for another time to question his state of mind.

"Enter."

He thumbs off the PADD he's been typing on, and watches as B'Elanna slides into the chair in front of him. She looks at him in that penetrating way she has when she's trying to decide if he's due for a beating.

He fights the urge to squirm.

B'Elanna's changed since their time as Maquis. He sees in her an officer Starfleet would welcome back with open arms. After a rocky start, she's found her footing, and she's blossomed under Kathryn's captaincy. Found the confidence she'd lost when she left the Academy. She's proud of her uniform and the job she does. But it still surprises him that it's Tom, and not B'Elanna, who's been most vocal about turning their back on Starfleet in order to rescue Kathryn.

"Did you need something?" Chakotay asks, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.

"Yes," B'Elanna answers, and continues without a shred of diplomacy. "I need your brain to start realigning itself."

"B'Elanna—"

"Have you even considered any of the proposals I've sent you?"

"Of course I have."

"Bullshit!"

Chakotay can feel his temper flaring. "You're forgetting who you're talking to, Lieutenant," he cautions.

"Don't you dare pull rank on me. This is not the first officer and the chief engineer talking. This is you and me, and I call bullshit. I have presented at least 14 possible options for a rescue, three that actually hold some potential. Seven and I have been working on creating a Unimatrix One and—"

Chakotay cuts off her rant. "They're all good suggestions, B'Elanna, but it'll take too long to implement them. We need a quick fix. The captain—"

"Is dying, I know!"

Silence follows B'Elanna's angry outburst. They stare at each other, both trying to rein it in. When she speaks again, her tone of voice has changed from heated to imploring.

"What do you think she would say if we went ahead with this? Sacrificing Korok's ship to get her back? She would never condone it. She would never forgive it."

"I know!" Chakotay snaps, then repeats more quietly, "I know."

B'Elanna softens. "Just look at the proposals. Don't do anything you'll regret."

"Fine," Chakotay sighs. "I won't give the Queen the sphere."

Silence envelopes the room. B'Elanna keeps scrutinising him. She knows him, has battled with him, and had his back for years. She's smelling a rat, but he's never looked her in the eye and straight out lied before.

In the end, she decides to trust him. "Okay," she says, her shoulders slumping. "We're close, Chakotay. Just... don't give up on us."

Chakotay allows himself a smile. "I suppose if anyone can do the impossible, it's this crew."

B'Elanna smiles too. "It's what we do."

Chakotay nods as she stands, and heads for the door. "I'll give you a progress report within the hour," she promises, and Chakotay nods again.

He watches her leave the same way he watched her come in.

With apprehension.

He exhales through pursed lips, and re-activates the PADD he was working on before the interruption. He goes through the sphere's access codes and the rendezvous coordinates one more time, and adds B'Elanna to the growing list of people he hopes will forgive him.

An honest face.

And a devious mind.


TBC