Disclaimer: ST:VGR = NOT MINE! I don't remember if Tom's sisters were named, so I'm going to give them names in this story.
Author's Notes: Thank you to my Beta, AerynQ, for helping me with the titles and providing me with inspiration since I don't have a meddling sister.
Spoilers: Basically all of VGR's eps. Also, Pathways and Mosaic for some of the info. about the various families.
Summary: Get the cheese to sickbay. Hasn't been edited. Consider yourself warned.
Talk About Meddling Sisters
a.k.a.
It Gets Sappier and Sappier and Sappier
The return to Earth had finally been achieved. Seven years facing the Kazon, the Hirogen and the Borg had finally paid off. The intrepid Voyager crew had gathered what few belongings they had collected over the years and had left the ship for the final time.
Kathryn Janeway shifted her bag over her shoulder and slowly made her way into the crowd that waited outside her ship. She was almost overwhelmed by the people who surged around her, especially those random people that felt they had to hug her before continuing on to find their families. She just kept looking, searching for any familiar face as long as it wasn't either of them.
When she had found out about Chakotay and Seven, she had been shocked. Nothing had ever prepared her for this... betrayal by her best friend and her protegé. She had never expected him to go to Seven, even if she had never expected him to hold out for her. Seven was young enough to be his daughter! What was he thinking?
Kathryn's thoughts were broken when she heard somebody shout, "Kathryn!" She looked to her left, where she saw a beaming Owen Paris pushing through the crowd. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back through the crowd to where his family was waiting.
"Kathryn Janeway, I believe you remember my wife and daughters," he said proudly.
"Of course. It's wonderful to see you all again."
"And these two gentlemen are my sons-in-law. Harold, Luke, my best student Kathryn Janeway." Kathryn blushed slightly at the praise and shook hands with the two young men.
Abruptly, one of Owen's daughters (Heather, if Kathryn remembered correctly) pointed out into the crowd in the kind of speechless joy that only the appearance of long-absent loved ones can cause. Kathryn turned and looked in the direction that Heather pointed. Tom and B'Elanna were approaching with a squirming bundle held tightly in B'El's arms. They both smiled when they saw their captain standing with the Paris family.
"Is that who I think it is?" Owen asked, reaching out to B'Elanna's child.
"Yep, her name is Miral," Tom replied as his wife handed their child to her grandfather.
"My first grandchild. She is gorgeous." Tom seemed surprised to see tears flowing down his father's face as he looked at the child. Kathryn moved closer to B'Elanna as aunts, uncles and grandparents huddled around the newborn.
"How are you doing?" she asked, laying a sympathetic hand on B'Elanna's shoulder.
"I'm sore but I can deal with it," B'Elanna replied, resting against her husband.
"Good." Kathryn took a look at the family and suddenly felt out of place. Although Owen had been like a father to her when she needed it most, this wasn't where she belonged. "I'll see you two later, all right?" The two lieutenants nodded and watched her walk off before returning to their family.
Kathryn wandered around for a while before finding a small clearing surrounded by tall trees and leafy bushes. She sat on the ground in the midst of them, tucked her knees under her, and took a deep, calming, breath. All she could think about were Chakotay and Seven, images of them with love in their eyes and kids all around filling her mind's eye.
She didn't realize she was crying until she felt cool, wet drops hit her pant leg. She bit her lip, not wanting to be overheard crying on the happiest day of her crew's lives. Still the tears came, blurring her vision until all she could make out were very general colors. "Chakotay," she whispered, lowering her head to her hands and letting the tears fall freely.
Behind one of the trees Gretchen Janeway approached her hiding daughter, Phoebe. "Are you sure this is where they said they saw her heading?" she asked.
Phoebe immediately held up a finger to her mouth, indicating silence. She listened for a moment, making sure Kathryn had not heard before motioning her mother forward. Gretchen carefully parted the leaves, opening a window into Kathryn's hiding place. What she saw broke her heart. After a moment she pulled back and looked at Phoebe.
"Who's Chakotay?" Phoebe asked before Gretchen could get anything out.
"Her first officer, I think. Why?"
"Mom, can you stay here, comfort her a little? I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?"
"To have a talk with some of her crew." Gretchen didn't like the look on her younger daughter's face. It meant she was out for blood.
***
Phoebe approached the Paris family. Hopefully Tom wouldn't recognize her, as she had only met him once. "Excuse me," she said in a falsely sweet voice. "Do you know where I could find Commander Chakotay?"
"Yeah," said the young half-Klingon woman. "He's over there. The tall, dark guy with the tattoo. Can't miss him."
"Thank you." Phoebe nodded her head slightly in gratitude and headed off in the direction the young woman had indicated. She had been right, he was very hard to miss. He was also standing very close to a blond that Phoebe assumed was the cause of her sister's sadness.
"Excuse me, sir. Would your name happen to be Chakotay?"
"Yes." The man looked confused, since he obviously didn't see the resemblance between her and her sister.
"May I have a word with you in private?" The man looked to his companions, then back to her. He nodded. Phoebe led him to the edge of the crowd, behind a tree so that he could not be seen by his friends. As soon as she was sure that they couldn't be seen, she slapped his face as hard as she could.
"What was that for?" he asked, putting one hand up to where she had hit him.
"That, sir, was for making my sister cry."
The man took a second look at her. "You're Kathryn's sister, aren't you?" Instead of answering, she turned and walked away.
***
Gretchen held her eldest daughter tightly as they waited for Phoebe. She had finally managed to stop Kathryn's crying, but had not yet told her what Phoebe had said. However, she was about to say something when Phoebe showed up, a smile on her face.
"Well?" Gretchen asked, noticing the way Phoebe held her hand.
"Everything went fine Mom. I just talked with a couple people from her crew."
"What about your hand?"
"I tripped over a loose cobblestone on the walkway coming up here and sprained my wrist."
Gretchen didn't say a word, but she gave Phoebe a questioning look that said Tell me the truth later.
"I spoke with a Starfleet official too. They said they would give the crew a day to rest before starting the debriefing. So come on, let's go home," Phoebe said, hurrying them into the transporter booth. She gave the operators the address for their house and they were there in less time than it took to blink. She helped get Kathryn into the house and got her comfortable in her own bed before returning downstairs.
"You have a message," Gretchen said, preparing a light snack to take up to Kathryn's room.
"From whom?" Phoebe asked.
"I don't know. Says a friend. The computer says it couldn't trace where the message came from."
"Did it look threatening?" Phoebe asked, knowing that, if it had, her mother would have deleted it and not told her about it.
"No, I only looked at the first sentence, which said something to the effect of 'Kathryn was crying because of me?'" Phoebe nodded, unsure of whether or not to open the message. While she made up her mind, Gretchen finished preparing the snack and headed up to Kathryn's room.
Deciding that there was no harm in reading it, Phoebe walked over to the family computer and found the message already open on the screen. It read:
To Phoebe Janeway, from a friend.
You said I made Kathryn cry, but I didn't see Kathryn any time after we left the ship. And I only said complimentary things to or about her while still onboard or while talking to anybody outside. Do you have any idea why I was making her cry? Listen, I'd really appreciate it if you would reply as soon as possible to the following address in Arizona.
Phoebe stopped reading, a confused look on her face. The guy sounded nice enough, so why would he be making her sister cry? She sent a reply to the address provided.
To Chakotay, from a concerned sister.
Don't know, will try to find out.
She headed up the stairs to Kathryn's room. Her mother immediately stepped away from the bed and back into the shadows, as if she knew that Phoebe wanted to talk to Kathryn alone, but was unwilling to leave.
"Kath?" Kathryn's head slowly lifted itself off the pillow.
"Go away Phoebe."
"No, but you don't know how long I've waited to hear you say that." She heard a muffled chuckle from her sister and knew that it was a start. "I'm just as stubborn as you, so don't even think of trying to make me leave. Why were you saying Chakotay back there?"
"Chakotay..." There was a pause and a sniffle as Kathryn turned to face her sister. "Chakotay was my first officer, the man I was sent to capture. I was saying his name because... because I've lost him."
"Lost him how?" Phoebe asked, aware that this line of questioning was causing her sister to start crying again.
"He... I didn't reciprocate his feelings, so he loves someone else."
Phoebe smiled sadly. So this was what was bothering her. "Would it happen to be a young blond woman with a metallic eyepiece?"
"Yes. The young woman I took under my wing four years ago."
"Ahh." Phoebe edged closer and placed a sisterly hand on Kathryn's back. "I'm sure that he'll get over her and then you'll get your chance."
"Hmph." Kathryn yawned, all the crying having drained the last of her energy. Gretchen and Phoebe quickly made their way out of her room.
Once outside Phoebe turned to her mother. "I'm going to be on the computer if you need me."
"All right." Gretchen watched her in confusion as Phoebe descended the stairs.
Phoebe sat down at the computer and opened her messages. After she had read a few from various friends and family inquiring about Kathryn, she had an idea. She put the address in that had been included with Chakotay's message and waited for someone to pick up.
A man's face appeared on her screen. "Hello," he said. "May I help you?"
"Is Chakotay there?"
The man smiled. "Of course." He left to get Chakotay and she got a chance to look at his home. It was well-furnished without being gaudy and had a lived-in feeling to it. Overall, she liked it- but then mother had always said she was too nosy. She smiled to herself. If she wasn't nosy, she wouldn't be doing this.
Chakotay appeared. "Oh, it's you."
"Do you love her, Mr. Chakotay?"
"I-" His voice trailed off.
"Please answer my question truthfully."
He looked at her with sadness in his eyes. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Finally, he answered, "Yes, I do."
"What about the blond?"
"Seven?"
"I assume she's the one with the eyepiece, silver catsuit and high heels?"
Chakotay smiled and suddenly Phoebe was struck with the impression that he and Kathryn would be perfect for each other. "Yes. And for your information, I was only dating her because- well, I don't know why. But Kathryn doesn't love me, so it doesn't matter."
"You insensitive..." Phoebe trailed off, the rage that abruptly filled her cutting off her voice. She closed her eyes and sought the inner peace that one of her boyfriends had told her about. She finally calmed down enough to spit out, "She was crying, if you are so interested, because she thought you loved the Blonde."
"She was?"
"Yes, she was."
A tear of joy fell down his cheek as he beamed at the youngest Janeway. "May I speak with her?"
"All the crying wore her out," Phoebe said, her icy voice seeming to wake Chakotay up to the reality of the situation.
"I've got to speak with Seven. I'll get back to you later."
"Of course." She cut off the link and stared at the blank screen. Then she brought out a PADD and made a list of people that she needed to talk to. She had a plan.
***
Kathryn had been in debriefing for weeks. She sighed into her coffee as the admirals before her droned on. Fortunately, today was her last day. Afterward, she would have three months before her next assignment. The various rumors she had heard while cooped up here had all put her as either an admiral or the captain of the ship of her choice. Not that she believed the rumors though.
"Kathryn. Kathryn?" Owen snapped his fingers in front of her face. She hadn't even realized that the debriefing had ended. "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Well, it's time to get out of here." He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"We are going to get a bite to eat."
She watched as she was forced to walk out the doors and into the sunshine. Then, she was taken past a couple department stores, a repair shop and four restaurants. "Uh, sir? Why can't we eat at one of those places we just passed?"
"Because, my dear, I want to celebrate the end of those horrid debriefings by taking you someplace special."
"Like where?" They approached a huge building and Kathryn was surprised when they turned into it.
"Like here." He paused a moment, letting the doors open before him. Suddenly, she found herself in a large room, with a banner hanging from the ceiling, saying "Welcome home FINALLY!" Around her were the men and women who had been her crew for 7 years. As soon as she entered, a cheer rose up from them. Then, the music started. Searching the room, she spotted Harry and Seven at the other end, with microphones in their hands.
"You get the first dance," Owen said, bowing away from her and merging with the crowd. With a start, she realized that someone was close enough behind her to be invading her personal space. She turned around slowly, afraid of who she might find.
"May I have this dance?" Chakotay asked.
"Sure," Kathryn said, her mind refusing to say anymore. All she could think of was that he was next to her, leading her onto the dance floor. She held tight onto the hand that gripped hers. He stopped and she realized that they had already reached the center of the floor. Harry and Seven got their microphones ready and, at a cue from Phoebe Janeway, Seven started singing.
We were strangers starting out on our journey
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through
No here we are and I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you.
Now, Harry started singing and, for the moment, Seven was silent.
No one told me I was going to find you
Unexpected what you did to my heart
When I lost hope you were there to remind me
This is the start
Seven started singing with Harry as Kathryn held tight to her best friend. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest, aware that this might be the last time she got to dance with him. She sighed when he tightened his grip on her. She only half-listened as Harry and Seven launched into the chorus.
Life is a road I want to keep going
Love is a river I want to keep flowing
Life is a road now and forever
Wonderful journey
Now the two singers split back into their individual parts.
I'll be there when the world stops turning
I'll be there when the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
We were strangers on a crazy adventure
Never dreaming how our dreams would come true
Now here we stand unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you
Kathryn stopped listening, even though Seven and Harry were actually doing a good job singing the song. A couple minutes later, the song ended and the next one began. Chakotay moved away, but kept her hand in his. The rest of the crowd moved onto the dance floor while Chakotay guided Kathryn to the side of the room. Together they sat, watching Harry and Seven sing another duet.
"They look good together, don't they?"
"Yes, almost like they're... in love."
"Exactly." Chakotay looked at her. She smiled, not knowing what else to do. Chakotay was trying to think of something else to say when he felt an elbow in his ribs. Turning around, he saw Phoebe Janeway partially hidden in a potted plant behind their chairs. He got a confused look on his face, at least until she hit him in the ribs again. He turned back to his former-captain.
"I love you Kathryn."
She looked up at him with wide eyes. "I love you too." She pulled his head down to hers and kissed him gently. Behind them, Phoebe backed away and took a recording device out of her pocket.
She turned the device on and whispered into it, "Next project: Harry and Seven."