Chapter Four: "These Are My Quarters!"
Seska pushed a stray lock of black hair out of her face and rubbed her eyes tiredly. B'Elanna glanced over at her friend and frowned. "You look tired."
"No.I'm fine." Said Seska (A little more sharply then she had intended) and turned back to her computer consul.
"Well," sighed B'Elanna, downing the last of her now cold coffee, "You can stay up the rest of the night and pass out on duty tomorrow, but I'm going to bed."
"Good night." Said Seska, "I'll just finish up hear and then I'll go to bed, I promise."
B'Elanna laughed and stood up. "Well then, good night Seska."
"Night B'Elanna."
B'Elanna turned and walked from engineering. Seska sighed and began to close down her terminal. They had found nothing past what she had already gotten earlier. She still had no idea what kind of reality Chakotay came from or how to return him to it. A disturbing thought crossed her mind, 'what if we can't send him back?' she wondered. 'what if he's stuck hear forever?'
She got up, still harboring these thoughts as she left engineering. She took the turbo lift to the deck on witch her quarters were located and punched in the passcode to open the door. The sight that greeted her when she entered made her stop and stare. There, lying on the couch was none other then the object of her thoughts for the last six hours. He lay on his back, snoring gently. In that one moment he reminded her so much of her Chakotay that she almost broke down in tears. But then she realized that if she broke down every time she was near this duplicate of her husband she wouldn't be much use to anyone. After that thought her Cardassian instincts kicked in. She tiptowed over to the replicator and whispered, "One bucket of ice water."
The requested item appeared in the slot and she carefully lifted it and turned back to the man on the couch. Smiling evily she moved gracefully towards him, her training in the Obsidean Order making her footsteps silent and her breathing inodible. She reached the couch and stared down at the face of her uninvited guest. With one swift movement she upended the whole bucket of freezing water on his face and upper chest.
"AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!" he cried, his eyes flying open, "What the.?" he sat up, water dripping from his face and hair. He flung out an arm in the almost darkness and it connected solidly with the blade of one of her knives, witch had been sitting on the end table from her practise a few days before. He gasped in pain as the blade slashed the back of his hand. Luckily the blade had just grazed the skin and not even caused bleeding but it still must have hurt emencely, for Chakotay was staring at the hand in bewildered shock.
Seska stood back, hands on hips, not even bothering to hide the smile on her face. "Mind telling me why you're in my quarters?" she asked coolly.
"These are my quarters!" he shouted at her in rage, "And you have no right to come barging in hear in the middle of the night and try to murder me!"
"I didn't try to murder you!" snapped Seska, anger beginning to replace her amuzement.
"Oh.I'm sure." He snarled, "And the Borg Queen is coming for tea tomorrow afternoon, and the Vedians are planning to donate to a Blood Bank, and Q has decided, out of the kindness of his heart, to send us home. I don't believe a word you say, Cardassian, I never will again. It was a mistake to even let you on my ship. I should have seen the deception right away and killed you on the spot. I wish I had never met you! Do you have any idea at all of what it was like, thinking I was a fauther? Do you have any idea what it was like knowing that one of my most trusted friends and supporters was the exact thing I had been fighting!? And to top it off you had to be my lover! I don't think you have any idea of the torture that I could have saved myself if I'd never met you! So, now, please, get, out."
Seska just stood for a moment, stunned by the force of his words. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks but she wiped them away angrily. "And while you're at it," she snarled, "Why don't you wish that you'd never joined the Maquis, that you'd never met that friend at the Acadomy who got you involved. Yeah. And why don't you wish that the Cardassians hadn't wiped out your people. Wish that you had never wanted to leave your people for Star Fleet in the first place! That would make the universe a lot nicer place wouldn't it Chakotay? If all you had to worry about was how to prove yourself to your fauther? That would make things a lot simpler. But answer me this, do you like the man you are today? And if you do, think about this. With out the hardships you have endured, you wouldn't be that man you are today. You wouldn't have met Captain Janeway and her crew. You wouldn't have met The crew of The Liberty. You would have never met me.." Seska broke off as she remembered that just a few moments before he had wished for that exact event. Fresh tears began to flow down her cheeks and she made no attempt to wipe them away. Her body shook with sobs and she crumpled to the ground crying.She let all the frustration of the last hours pour out of her.
After a while she looked up, right into Chakotay's eyes. He knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. He held her silently until she couldn't cry anymore. Then he lifted her exhausted body into his arms and entered the bedroom. He lay her down on the bed, still fully clothed and gentley kissed her on the forhead before walking out. He continued out of the quarters and down the hall towards a turbo lift. He needed time to think over what had just happened.
He didn't realize where he was going until he stood outside the doors of the messhall. It would most likely be closed at this hour but he approached the doors anyway. To his surprise they opened without protest and he entered. The room was dark, making it hard to see.
"Computer." He called, "Lights." Immeedietely the room was bathed in light and he was surprised to see that he wasn't alone.
"Kes." He said in surprise as his eyes fell on the calm features of the Ocompa. She smiled at him and gestured for him to sit down.
"I thought you would come hear." She said quietly, "I senced that you were verry disturbed after the meeting."
"With good reason." Chakotay sat down in the chair across from Kes, "I've just found out that I am no longer in my own reality and my worst enemy is my wife."
"Yes." Kes nodded, "I thought I could sence some kind of hostility directed at Seska from you. Actually, you don't need to be a telepath to deduce that something is different between you two. What did she do to you?"
"I'd really rather not talk about it if you don't mind?"
"Of course." Smiled Kes, "Would you like some tea?"
"Yes, that would be verry nice please." Smiled Chakotay.
Kes lifted her hand and to Chakotay's amazement, a pot and two cups sored out of the kitchen to land softly on the tabletop.
Kes noticed him staring and asked, "Can the Kes in your universe not do that?"
"Well, actually," began Chakotay, "The Kes in our universe left slightly after Seven Of Nine joined the crew in search of higher things. We only saw her once after that and it's not something I know mutch about. Tuvok and Captain Janeway were verry secretive about it."
"I left Voyager?!" Kes wore a look of shock and horror, "But you are like my family! What could drive me to leave?.Well.maybe Seven Of Nine but even she couldn't make me abandon my friends."
"Well," Chakotay chose his words carefully, "You didn't really have a choice in the matter. You were being overwhelmed by the powers you suddenly possessed. You soon couldn't hold your corporial form and became a being of pure energy."
Kes stared in awe
"I take it that's not quite the way things happened hear." Said Chakotay.
"No. I believe I know the time to witch you refer but in this reality, I managed to control my powers and eventually home them and use them as a tool."
"That's another thing." Said Chakotay, "You people said that there had only been one trip to an alternate reality in history and yet you talk about them like they're an everyday occurrence."
"Well," sighed Kes, "I suppose that's what happens when we have two Q as part of the crew and another dating our Captain."
"I'm not even going to ask." Said Chakotay firmly as he got up, "Now, if you'll be so kind as to excuse me, the couch is sounding more inviting then it did a few minutes ago." And with that he left the room.
A/N: Well? What do you think? I'm really having a hard time figuring out what to do w/ this story so I'm sorry if I'm not updating frequently. One of my reviewers said I needed to fix the formatting and I tried. It's just that I'm blind and my screen reader isn't good with helping me format stuff, but I hope this is better. And as for a beta reader.the only person who will do it for me is my Mom but she's verry busy so this chapter went up with out her invaluable help. Thanks!
A/N2: I have fallen back on some of the events in Jerry Taylor's book "Pathways" in this chapter. It's a really good book!
Seska pushed a stray lock of black hair out of her face and rubbed her eyes tiredly. B'Elanna glanced over at her friend and frowned. "You look tired."
"No.I'm fine." Said Seska (A little more sharply then she had intended) and turned back to her computer consul.
"Well," sighed B'Elanna, downing the last of her now cold coffee, "You can stay up the rest of the night and pass out on duty tomorrow, but I'm going to bed."
"Good night." Said Seska, "I'll just finish up hear and then I'll go to bed, I promise."
B'Elanna laughed and stood up. "Well then, good night Seska."
"Night B'Elanna."
B'Elanna turned and walked from engineering. Seska sighed and began to close down her terminal. They had found nothing past what she had already gotten earlier. She still had no idea what kind of reality Chakotay came from or how to return him to it. A disturbing thought crossed her mind, 'what if we can't send him back?' she wondered. 'what if he's stuck hear forever?'
She got up, still harboring these thoughts as she left engineering. She took the turbo lift to the deck on witch her quarters were located and punched in the passcode to open the door. The sight that greeted her when she entered made her stop and stare. There, lying on the couch was none other then the object of her thoughts for the last six hours. He lay on his back, snoring gently. In that one moment he reminded her so much of her Chakotay that she almost broke down in tears. But then she realized that if she broke down every time she was near this duplicate of her husband she wouldn't be much use to anyone. After that thought her Cardassian instincts kicked in. She tiptowed over to the replicator and whispered, "One bucket of ice water."
The requested item appeared in the slot and she carefully lifted it and turned back to the man on the couch. Smiling evily she moved gracefully towards him, her training in the Obsidean Order making her footsteps silent and her breathing inodible. She reached the couch and stared down at the face of her uninvited guest. With one swift movement she upended the whole bucket of freezing water on his face and upper chest.
"AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!" he cried, his eyes flying open, "What the.?" he sat up, water dripping from his face and hair. He flung out an arm in the almost darkness and it connected solidly with the blade of one of her knives, witch had been sitting on the end table from her practise a few days before. He gasped in pain as the blade slashed the back of his hand. Luckily the blade had just grazed the skin and not even caused bleeding but it still must have hurt emencely, for Chakotay was staring at the hand in bewildered shock.
Seska stood back, hands on hips, not even bothering to hide the smile on her face. "Mind telling me why you're in my quarters?" she asked coolly.
"These are my quarters!" he shouted at her in rage, "And you have no right to come barging in hear in the middle of the night and try to murder me!"
"I didn't try to murder you!" snapped Seska, anger beginning to replace her amuzement.
"Oh.I'm sure." He snarled, "And the Borg Queen is coming for tea tomorrow afternoon, and the Vedians are planning to donate to a Blood Bank, and Q has decided, out of the kindness of his heart, to send us home. I don't believe a word you say, Cardassian, I never will again. It was a mistake to even let you on my ship. I should have seen the deception right away and killed you on the spot. I wish I had never met you! Do you have any idea at all of what it was like, thinking I was a fauther? Do you have any idea what it was like knowing that one of my most trusted friends and supporters was the exact thing I had been fighting!? And to top it off you had to be my lover! I don't think you have any idea of the torture that I could have saved myself if I'd never met you! So, now, please, get, out."
Seska just stood for a moment, stunned by the force of his words. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks but she wiped them away angrily. "And while you're at it," she snarled, "Why don't you wish that you'd never joined the Maquis, that you'd never met that friend at the Acadomy who got you involved. Yeah. And why don't you wish that the Cardassians hadn't wiped out your people. Wish that you had never wanted to leave your people for Star Fleet in the first place! That would make the universe a lot nicer place wouldn't it Chakotay? If all you had to worry about was how to prove yourself to your fauther? That would make things a lot simpler. But answer me this, do you like the man you are today? And if you do, think about this. With out the hardships you have endured, you wouldn't be that man you are today. You wouldn't have met Captain Janeway and her crew. You wouldn't have met The crew of The Liberty. You would have never met me.." Seska broke off as she remembered that just a few moments before he had wished for that exact event. Fresh tears began to flow down her cheeks and she made no attempt to wipe them away. Her body shook with sobs and she crumpled to the ground crying.She let all the frustration of the last hours pour out of her.
After a while she looked up, right into Chakotay's eyes. He knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. He held her silently until she couldn't cry anymore. Then he lifted her exhausted body into his arms and entered the bedroom. He lay her down on the bed, still fully clothed and gentley kissed her on the forhead before walking out. He continued out of the quarters and down the hall towards a turbo lift. He needed time to think over what had just happened.
He didn't realize where he was going until he stood outside the doors of the messhall. It would most likely be closed at this hour but he approached the doors anyway. To his surprise they opened without protest and he entered. The room was dark, making it hard to see.
"Computer." He called, "Lights." Immeedietely the room was bathed in light and he was surprised to see that he wasn't alone.
"Kes." He said in surprise as his eyes fell on the calm features of the Ocompa. She smiled at him and gestured for him to sit down.
"I thought you would come hear." She said quietly, "I senced that you were verry disturbed after the meeting."
"With good reason." Chakotay sat down in the chair across from Kes, "I've just found out that I am no longer in my own reality and my worst enemy is my wife."
"Yes." Kes nodded, "I thought I could sence some kind of hostility directed at Seska from you. Actually, you don't need to be a telepath to deduce that something is different between you two. What did she do to you?"
"I'd really rather not talk about it if you don't mind?"
"Of course." Smiled Kes, "Would you like some tea?"
"Yes, that would be verry nice please." Smiled Chakotay.
Kes lifted her hand and to Chakotay's amazement, a pot and two cups sored out of the kitchen to land softly on the tabletop.
Kes noticed him staring and asked, "Can the Kes in your universe not do that?"
"Well, actually," began Chakotay, "The Kes in our universe left slightly after Seven Of Nine joined the crew in search of higher things. We only saw her once after that and it's not something I know mutch about. Tuvok and Captain Janeway were verry secretive about it."
"I left Voyager?!" Kes wore a look of shock and horror, "But you are like my family! What could drive me to leave?.Well.maybe Seven Of Nine but even she couldn't make me abandon my friends."
"Well," Chakotay chose his words carefully, "You didn't really have a choice in the matter. You were being overwhelmed by the powers you suddenly possessed. You soon couldn't hold your corporial form and became a being of pure energy."
Kes stared in awe
"I take it that's not quite the way things happened hear." Said Chakotay.
"No. I believe I know the time to witch you refer but in this reality, I managed to control my powers and eventually home them and use them as a tool."
"That's another thing." Said Chakotay, "You people said that there had only been one trip to an alternate reality in history and yet you talk about them like they're an everyday occurrence."
"Well," sighed Kes, "I suppose that's what happens when we have two Q as part of the crew and another dating our Captain."
"I'm not even going to ask." Said Chakotay firmly as he got up, "Now, if you'll be so kind as to excuse me, the couch is sounding more inviting then it did a few minutes ago." And with that he left the room.
A/N: Well? What do you think? I'm really having a hard time figuring out what to do w/ this story so I'm sorry if I'm not updating frequently. One of my reviewers said I needed to fix the formatting and I tried. It's just that I'm blind and my screen reader isn't good with helping me format stuff, but I hope this is better. And as for a beta reader.the only person who will do it for me is my Mom but she's verry busy so this chapter went up with out her invaluable help. Thanks!
A/N2: I have fallen back on some of the events in Jerry Taylor's book "Pathways" in this chapter. It's a really good book!