Chapter 6: "Meanwhile."
A/N: In reading my reviews, (which, by the way, are all wonderful to receive), I realized that I had completely left out the other Chakotay. For this I am very sorry and this chapter is for everyone who was wondering what had happened to him.that is, if there's still anyone reading this.
***
Chakotay stared across the table at the woman who was, and yet wasn't Captain Janeway. It had been approximately sixteen hours since his disappearance and subsequent reappearance in the transporter room. When he had reappeared, however, he began to notice minute differences in the way the crew was acting. The larger inconsistancies had begun appearing when he had gone to engineering to find Seska, and upon his arrival, had found that she wasn't there. This in itself was not so unusual, but B'Elanna's reaction when he had asked about Seska's whereabouts had been extremely unexpected. A look of disgust, mixed with something that might have been sadness, had crossed her face and then she had suggested that he go see the Doctor. He had gone along with this course of action, but when he arrived in sickbay he got another surprise. The Doctor was there alone, working on some project or other. Kes was nowhere to be seen, and this bothered Chakotay, for he clearly remembered giving Kes all Beta shifts that week. He had inquired where Kes was and the Doctor had looked away uncomfortably. Then he told Chakotay to sit on a biobed while he scanned him. He never answered his question about Kes.
What the Doctor found, however, had been the most shocking revelation of the day. He informed Chakotay and Janeway, (whom he had called down to sickbay before agreeing to tell him anything), that Chakotay's brain waves were on a slightly different frequency then the rest of the crew's. There were minor differences in regard to his physical details as well. After a long debate, it was decided that this Chakotay must be from a different reality than their own.
So here he was, sitting in the mess hall staring across the table at the woman who was his captain, and yet a total stranger. He was also on his seventh cup of coffee, which might have had something to do with the fact that when he had been called to the transporter room to look at the anomaly it nearing his sleep cycle. It also didn't help that he hadn't slept at all in the sixteen hours he had been here. He smiled slightly to himself, wondering if he would break the captain's record of coffee drinking before this was over. The smile vanished, however, when Janeway glared at him.
"Do you find something amusing, Commander?" she asked.
"No, Captain," he assured her hurriedly.
"Good," she snapped, "because I can't find anything funny about our situation."
"Of course not," he said quickly.
Her face softened, and her voice, when next she spoke, was gentler. "Chakotay, I know that you want to get back to your reality, and I assure you that, if all possible, we will try to make that happen, but I think you should start considering the possibility that you might be stuck here. If we can't send you back, you're going to have to try to," she shuddered at the next words, "replace our Chakotay."
"I have every confidence in this crew, Captain," he said firmly, "I know that they will find a way to send me back and get your Chakotay back."
"Yes," she agreed, "But, if they can't.this ship needs you, this crew needs you.I need you."
His eyebrows shot up at this last statement. "*You*?" he demanded.
She dropped her eyes to the table, refusing to meet his gaze. "A captain can't function without a first officer." she said quickly.
"That's not what you meant." He persisted, leaning across the table, trying to catch her eye, "Tuvok could just as easily be your first officer.you said that you need me."
She continued to study the table, not saying anything. Before Chakotay could think of anything to say, Janeway suddenly looked up from the table and fixed upon him a hard, impersonal gaze.
"You can go now, I need to think about our problem alone. Thank you for joining me."
Her tone was flat and colorless. Chakotay, feeling dazed and confused, got up and made his way to the door. Upon reaching it, he turned and said, "Kathryn, if there is anything I can do to help..."
She cut him off mid-sentence. "Thank you," she said simply.
Once alone, Janeway tried to concentrate on their immediate problem, but her mind kept traveling back to Chakotay. The look in his eyes, the way he smiled, she felt somehow drawn to him, as if he were her Chakotay. She loved everything about him.
She quickly shook herself awake from her dream-like musings. 'What am I thinking?' she thought to herself. She found her eyes searching the wood of the table top once more, possibly for the answers she did not know. But even as she pondered her fascination with Chakotay, she knew deep down that it would never be possible. He was obviously in love with his version of Seska. A feeling of hatred flowed through her thinking of the Cardassian who had betrayed her trust, and more importantly, that of her first officer. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the pain that the thought of Chakotay and Seska together brought on.
Finally, she managed to pull herself together. Silently, she chastised herself for harboring such thoughts about her first officer. She had, however, come to one conclusion: she felt nothing for this version of Chakotay. If she ever had the courage to tell Chakotay how she really felt, it would be the Chakotay whom she had slowly, but inexorably fallen in love with, not a carbon copy of him. And with that thought in mind, she headed off to see how B'Elanna was doing on finding a way to send him back.
A/N: Before you say anything, I know that Janeway was probably waaaaayyyyy out of character. For this I'm sorry, and I'll try to stick to her personality more for the rest of the fic, but I'm not a really big Janeway fan, (no offense to those who are), so I am not really good at writing her.
Thanks go out to Heather, who helped tremendously with this chapter when I had writer's block, even though she knows nothing about Star Trek.
A/N: In reading my reviews, (which, by the way, are all wonderful to receive), I realized that I had completely left out the other Chakotay. For this I am very sorry and this chapter is for everyone who was wondering what had happened to him.that is, if there's still anyone reading this.
***
Chakotay stared across the table at the woman who was, and yet wasn't Captain Janeway. It had been approximately sixteen hours since his disappearance and subsequent reappearance in the transporter room. When he had reappeared, however, he began to notice minute differences in the way the crew was acting. The larger inconsistancies had begun appearing when he had gone to engineering to find Seska, and upon his arrival, had found that she wasn't there. This in itself was not so unusual, but B'Elanna's reaction when he had asked about Seska's whereabouts had been extremely unexpected. A look of disgust, mixed with something that might have been sadness, had crossed her face and then she had suggested that he go see the Doctor. He had gone along with this course of action, but when he arrived in sickbay he got another surprise. The Doctor was there alone, working on some project or other. Kes was nowhere to be seen, and this bothered Chakotay, for he clearly remembered giving Kes all Beta shifts that week. He had inquired where Kes was and the Doctor had looked away uncomfortably. Then he told Chakotay to sit on a biobed while he scanned him. He never answered his question about Kes.
What the Doctor found, however, had been the most shocking revelation of the day. He informed Chakotay and Janeway, (whom he had called down to sickbay before agreeing to tell him anything), that Chakotay's brain waves were on a slightly different frequency then the rest of the crew's. There were minor differences in regard to his physical details as well. After a long debate, it was decided that this Chakotay must be from a different reality than their own.
So here he was, sitting in the mess hall staring across the table at the woman who was his captain, and yet a total stranger. He was also on his seventh cup of coffee, which might have had something to do with the fact that when he had been called to the transporter room to look at the anomaly it nearing his sleep cycle. It also didn't help that he hadn't slept at all in the sixteen hours he had been here. He smiled slightly to himself, wondering if he would break the captain's record of coffee drinking before this was over. The smile vanished, however, when Janeway glared at him.
"Do you find something amusing, Commander?" she asked.
"No, Captain," he assured her hurriedly.
"Good," she snapped, "because I can't find anything funny about our situation."
"Of course not," he said quickly.
Her face softened, and her voice, when next she spoke, was gentler. "Chakotay, I know that you want to get back to your reality, and I assure you that, if all possible, we will try to make that happen, but I think you should start considering the possibility that you might be stuck here. If we can't send you back, you're going to have to try to," she shuddered at the next words, "replace our Chakotay."
"I have every confidence in this crew, Captain," he said firmly, "I know that they will find a way to send me back and get your Chakotay back."
"Yes," she agreed, "But, if they can't.this ship needs you, this crew needs you.I need you."
His eyebrows shot up at this last statement. "*You*?" he demanded.
She dropped her eyes to the table, refusing to meet his gaze. "A captain can't function without a first officer." she said quickly.
"That's not what you meant." He persisted, leaning across the table, trying to catch her eye, "Tuvok could just as easily be your first officer.you said that you need me."
She continued to study the table, not saying anything. Before Chakotay could think of anything to say, Janeway suddenly looked up from the table and fixed upon him a hard, impersonal gaze.
"You can go now, I need to think about our problem alone. Thank you for joining me."
Her tone was flat and colorless. Chakotay, feeling dazed and confused, got up and made his way to the door. Upon reaching it, he turned and said, "Kathryn, if there is anything I can do to help..."
She cut him off mid-sentence. "Thank you," she said simply.
Once alone, Janeway tried to concentrate on their immediate problem, but her mind kept traveling back to Chakotay. The look in his eyes, the way he smiled, she felt somehow drawn to him, as if he were her Chakotay. She loved everything about him.
She quickly shook herself awake from her dream-like musings. 'What am I thinking?' she thought to herself. She found her eyes searching the wood of the table top once more, possibly for the answers she did not know. But even as she pondered her fascination with Chakotay, she knew deep down that it would never be possible. He was obviously in love with his version of Seska. A feeling of hatred flowed through her thinking of the Cardassian who had betrayed her trust, and more importantly, that of her first officer. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the pain that the thought of Chakotay and Seska together brought on.
Finally, she managed to pull herself together. Silently, she chastised herself for harboring such thoughts about her first officer. She had, however, come to one conclusion: she felt nothing for this version of Chakotay. If she ever had the courage to tell Chakotay how she really felt, it would be the Chakotay whom she had slowly, but inexorably fallen in love with, not a carbon copy of him. And with that thought in mind, she headed off to see how B'Elanna was doing on finding a way to send him back.
A/N: Before you say anything, I know that Janeway was probably waaaaayyyyy out of character. For this I'm sorry, and I'll try to stick to her personality more for the rest of the fic, but I'm not a really big Janeway fan, (no offense to those who are), so I am not really good at writing her.
Thanks go out to Heather, who helped tremendously with this chapter when I had writer's block, even though she knows nothing about Star Trek.