Boxing on Lake George Part 1- A Punch to the Gut
"Stop! Stop, please stop." Kathryn cried out surprising Chakotay, his opponent, and even herself. She slapped her hand over her mouth to stop any other words or the sob that threatened to escape. As soon as she realized what she had done she spun around to face the wall, embarrassed by her outburst.
"What the hell kid?" she heard Boothby yell angrily.
"Computer freeze program" Chakotay called out in reply and at the sound of his voice she felt herself choke on another sob.
"Kathryn" he called out but she couldn't respond. Instead she desperately tried to get her emotions and tears under control.
"Kathryn" he called again closer this time. She jumped when he put his hand on her shoulder. "Kathryn talk to me" he begged her in his soft kind voice. Swallowing her tears as best she could she turned around to face him.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you, I'm sorry." She apologized to him, quickly wiping a few tears away.
"I don't understand, what's wrong? You said you wanted to come watch?" He asked her confusion all over his face.
"I know I did. I'm really sorry. I'll leave and you can go back to...I'm sorry." She apologized again but was unable to finish her sentence as fresh tears threatened at the thought of him boxing once more. "I'll go" she added trying to push him away but he stopped her, taking her by the shoulder.
"I don't want you to leave I want you to tell me what's wrong" he begged her.
"I don't know...I was watching you and I was fine and then he hit you several times. And all I could see was you almost dying yesterday, you looked so bad when we finally got you to sickbay. I thought you were—I was going to lose you. And he just kept hitting you." She tried to explain but by the time she ended she was sobbing once more and he pulled her into his arms. She could feel the heat radiating off his skin as she buried her head in his chest and continued to cry.
"The safeties are on, he can't hurt me, nothing is going to happen to me." He tried to assure her.
"I know" she gasped. "But he just kept hitting you."
"I'm here and I'm fine you don't need to worry." He said calmly, trying to soothe her.
"I'm sorry I ruined your work out." She moaned feeling terrible.
"No you didn't." He insisted firmly but she didn't believe him.
"Yes I did. I shouldn't have come, but I didn't want to leave you not after almost losing you. I'm sorry."
"It's okay everything is okay" he reassured her, rubbing her back as she continued to cry. "Why don't we do something else. I'll put on another program. Would you like that?" He asked hopefully and she simply nodded. She wanted to be far away from the boxing ring.
"Computer play program Janeway46" he ordered. The Starfleet Academy boxing ring disappeared and was replaced by Lake George, a full moon shimmering off the water. They were standing on the dock, a sailboat was tethered nearby.
"Is this better?" he asked gently.
"Yes, thank you" she whispered.
"It's been a long time since we came here." Chakotay smiled down at her.
"Too long" she replied, her voice still nothing more than a whisper.
"I agree...would you like to sit down?" He suggested indicating towards the end of the dock.
"Yes please" he released her from his embrace and took her hand leading her over to the end of the dock. Sitting down they removed their shoes and let their feet dangle in the water. Chakotay then put his arm around her and she rested her head against him. They remained silent for several minutes as her tears turned to sniffles and then finally stopped. The moon shone down on them making the water sparkle, it helped her relax and compose herself once more.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently.
"I got scared" she admitted. "Yesterday I was afraid you would never open your eyes and look at me ever again. I don't think I have ever been that scared before. And I don't know why, you have been hurt worse before but this time was different. I had more to lose. Then when you were boxing I couldn't stand to see him hit you not after I nearly lost you. I got scared all over again. I really didn't mean to stop you though, that just happened." Kathryn rambled trying to explain.
"I'm glad it happened. I wouldn't have wanted you standing there being upset and not know it."
"But you wanted to box and I stopped you." She argued feeling guilty.
"I would rather be here with you. I'm sorry I didn't realize how much yesterday upset you. If I had known I would have never wanted to go off boxing on my own. I would have made sure we did something together so you could feel better." He countered rubbing his hand up and down her arm.
"But you shouldn't have to, you wanted to box."
"You are more important, this is part of being in a relationship. I should have known something was up when you wanted to come with me. You never want to watch me."
"I don't like the idea of you getting hurt at any time." Kathryn replied softly.
"Are you feeling any better?" he asked hopefully.
"A little yes, this is helping." She answered managing a small smile.
"Do you want to go out in the boat?" He offered and they both looked over towards the sailboat floating next to the dock.
"No, not tonight" she replied, shaking her head.
"Then how about a swim" he suggested with a mischievous grin.
"A swim?" she questioned confused.
"As you said it has been a while since we have been here and there is one thing I have always wanted to do, here with you."
"And what is that?"
"I want to swim naked with you under the moon." He declared as his grin grew.
"You want to go skinny dipping?" she gasped in surprise.
"We're alone on the holodeck Kathryn there is no one to see us or catch us." He assured her, there was now a twinkle of mischief in his eyes as well.
"But someone could come in" she objected.
"Computer lock holodeck doors" he ordered.
Holodeck doors locked
"Come on Kathryn are you telling me you have never even thought about going skinny dipping, ever?" he teased her.
"The quarries on Mars, the underground ones. I fantasized about swimming naked through them." She admitted blushing slightly.
"I guess it shouldn't surprise me that you would pick one of the most dangerous places to swim." He said with a laugh shaking his head.
"They are perfectly clear" she argued defensively.
"Now that is an answer I can accept" he said letting out a big laugh. "Kathryn, you and I are going in that water. The only question is do you want to be wearing your clothes when you do?" She was silent for a moment thinking the situation over. They were completely alone; it was one of the rare occasions when she could actually kick back and completely relax. And if she was being honest she really liked the idea of swimming naked with him.
"No I don't want to be wearing clothes" she declared. Suddenly standing up, she began to remove her dress.
"Spirits I love you Kathryn" he laughed standing up to join her and began to remove his own clothes. She had far less to remove and she stood there waiting for him. Yet when all that was left were the boxing wrappings on his hands she stepped forward and began to help him. As she unwound the material she felt her own body relax as layer after layer fell away. When she finally freed his hands she raised it to her lips and kissed his knuckles giving equal treatment to each hand. When she stopped and looked up at him he closed the distance and kissed her.
"You ready to go swimming?" he inquired, pulling his lips away from hers.
"Yes" she gasped breathlessly. Without hesitation he pushed her off the dock towards the black lake water below. She couldn't stifle the yelp that escaped from her as she fell through the air and splashed down into the water. She surfaced a moment later laughing. "You better plan on joining me, don't make me come get you" she threatened him lightly. The only response she got was him jumping off the dock and splashing down in the water near her. He surfaced a moment later and she swam over to him wrapping her arms around his neck.
"This is much more relaxing than boxing. I may need to rethink a few things." He said playfully before kissing her once more.
"I really didn't expect to react that way. I had wanted to watch you flex your muscles covered in glistening sweat. But then he hit you and it was like someone flipped a switch. It wasn't fun anymore and all I could see was you being hurt and dying." She tried to explain herself once more feeling it was important.
"I'm mad at myself for letting you come with me."
"I wanted to come" she argued.
"Yes but I should have come to my senses and realized this was a far better way to spend our time."
"You clearly wanted to box." She continued to fight him, she didn't want him to blame himself for her outburst.
"I was feeling frustrated. I could see the fear on your face the moment I woke up."
"I...I'm sorry I was so emotional" she apologized, she could feel her cheeks blush a burning red. She never wanted to be a stifling overprotective lover.
"No Kathryn I'm sorry. I wasn't upset that you were emotional, you had every right to be. I was frustrated and upset at myself for doing that to you, for making you afraid." He quickly apologized.
"Risk is part of the job" she replied softly.
"I know but I have always tried to make it easier on you, give you little to worry about or scare you." He admitted pulling her a little closer to him as they floated on the water.
"You have?" she asked in surprise.
"Of course I have. I hate making you worry or scaring you" he professed.
"Really? Then please tell me why you have crashed so many shuttles I've lost count of how many?" She countered eyeing him skeptically.
"But most of those weren't my fault" he objected weakly
"Sure they weren't" she snorted.
"Hey" he said, suddenly sounding very serious. "I have never intentionally put my life at risk. Everything I have done has been what I thought needed to be done for this ship and her crew including you."
"Thank you" she whispered before taking a deep breath. "I know over the years I have taken a few more risks than you would have liked. I'm sorry, though most of the time I felt I needed to take these risks to get us home. I know risks are part of the job. And next time it likely will be me on that biobed. I am sorry for any hurt or fear I might have caused you. But this is who we are and I am not expecting either of us to change. I wouldn't want that. I don't want you to think I am asking you to change. I would never do that. I just got scared."
"Neither of us is asking the other to change what we do on duty. But we are going to feel this way again. That is what this time is for to be with each other to work through these feelings so we can go back on duty and be able to do this job." He looked down at her to see if she agreed and she smiled up at him. Her heart swelled and she couldn't help but wonder how she got so lucky to find someone who understood her needs and responsibilities. And she leaned forward and kissed him.
"I do mean it. I think we should run this program more often. We've had fun here before and it is calm and relaxing." He told her when they finally pulled back from their kiss.
"I wholeheartedly agree, being here with you is the most relaxed I have felt in a really long time." She admitted letting out a content sigh.
"Next time we'll bring a picnic" he declared.
"Sounds perfect" she said resting her head on him.
"Though if you ever do want to watch me all sweaty flexing my muscles all you have to do is let me know and I will make it happen. And I promise no one will be landing a punch on me." He offered a mischievous look on his face once more.
"Promise?" she asked.
"I promise but otherwise I think it best if we don't spend out personal time together in that program." He wisely suggested.
"Agreed. Now it would be a shame if we didn't take advantage of these wet naked bodies." It was her turn to wear a mischievous grin.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Join me on the dock and I will show you just how much I love you." She requested and before he could answer she gave him a quick kiss and swam for the dock as fast as she could. Behind her she could hear him laugh and begin to swim after her. She could agree more, this was a lot more fun than his boxing program.
a/n I have been playing around with this story for a while for and thought it was finally time to share it. There will be 5 parts to this so there is more to come, if you would like to read more. Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed it-let me know what you think!