4 Months Later
'Seven of Nine is going to die.'
The words echoed through Kathryn's mind as she sat in her darkened quarters, the events of the previous few days on replay. An older version of herself, an Admiral no less, had gone back in time, from 26 years in the future, and was now onboard Voyager, trying to encourage them to get home early, to avoid the loss of more of her crew. Wanting them to take a Borg hub back to the Alpha Quadrant, when Kathryn wanted to destroy it, bring down part of the Collective, but they'd would have to do it from here, in the Delta Quadrant as there were only exit apertures. She'd ordered Seven to find a way to destroy the hub, then took a walk with the Admiral, when she'd broken the temporal prime directive.
'Die in the arms of her husband.'
That had explained everything, why he'd been missing their dinners, maybe not avoiding her, but she certainly didn't feel as close to him as she used to. She hadn't even noticed they were dating, was before they'd been stranded on a planet together, or whilst they were there? She didn't want to think about it, it made her angry, angry that he hadn't told her, she'd always considered him one of her closest friends, why would he not tell her? She got up from her sofa and walked into her bedroom, opening her drawer she pulled out his shirt, burying her face in it, pretending she could still smell him, though the scent had long since faded. Then she sat cross legged on her bed, the playing with the fabric in her fingers, it didn't matter why he hadn't told her, he was happy and that's what should matter.
That night she slept, holding his shirt, silent tears running down her cheeks.
=/\=
7 Years Ago
Kathryn exited the turbolift, her heart pounding, though this wasn't her first time on Voyagers bridge, it was her first time as its Captain.
"Captain on the bridge."
She looked around at her crew, Ensign Kim at his station, her commander, Cavit, stood in front of his chair, Lieutenant Stadi at the helm, Paris stood at the back, his arms folded, she walked around to her chair, after she'd sat so did Cavit.
"Lieutenant Stadi, lay in the course and clear our departure with operations." He instructed.
She could hear comments being made back and forth between her commander and helmsmen, though she wasn't paying much attention she knew when to say, "engage."
Voyager left dry dock, the view screen now showing Earth, Kathryn watched the planet, thinking about the people she was leaving for the next three weeks. She'd spent her last night, now two days ago, with Mark, they'd had a quite night in, he'd cooked a lovely meal, then they spent the rest of it in bed. She'd said goodbye to her mum and sister, reassuring Phoebe that she had plenty of time to get the baby's blanket knitted in the next three months before it was due. But as she watched Earth slowly get further away, something tightened in her chest, a feeling she'd rarely felt, almost warning her.
Fear.
=/\=
The plan had worked, though they'd lost the Admiral in the process, but her sacrifice had not been meaningless, she'd helped get them home. Home. They were actually home, Kathryn had promised to get them back and with the help of her future self she'd done that. She sat in her Captains chair, Chakotay sat at the helm, Tom having gone to sickbay to see his newborn, the sight on the viewscreen was one to behold; Earth, and escorting them, a fleet of Starfleets finest ships. Her heart pounded as she told Chakotay to set a course for home, she watched as he tapped buttons, setting them on the way back home. She wondered what the future would hold for them now, what would happen to the crew, what would Starfleet want to do with her... what would Chakotay do now? Though she'd promised to get Voyager back, she never thought it possible, not in her lifetime, then the Admiral turned up, and she was willing to spend another 26 years in the Delta Quadrant if it meant crippling the Borg, but they'd done both, destroying the hub and getting them back safely. She knew things would have changed in the seven years they'd been away, she was excited at seeing her family, and nervous. She couldn't help but feel overwhelmed, that feeling slowly tightening around her chest once more.
What would happen now?
=/\=
So this story is now finished! But Kathryn and Chakotays journey will continue in the second part 'What Now' so please keep an eye out for that in the near future. Thank you to everyone that's followed/favourite/reviewed ?