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Part Six

OK, we're finally at the last part. Don't forget to mail me if you liked it, or even if you didn't, but don't be too harsh....:)

Today you grasped
the stars as
they were slipping off
the edge of my horizon
and shook them back
into the sky.

When Kathryn came to she realised that she was back in her quarters in the habitat ring. Instinctively, her hand reached up to where she had found the implant, but it was gone. Too tired and weak to raise herself immediately, she called to the computer for the time. It was 1900 hours - the next day - 24 hours since she had kissed Chakotay goodbye, promising that she wouldn't be long. A soft snoring coming from the main living area of the quarters told her that Chakotay was asleep on her sofa. He had done this so many times when they had lived together, especially towards the end, before she left. She would be agitated, upset, and eventually crying, unable to sleep. He would stroke her hair, her head in his lap, and when she was asleep he would move to the sofa so as not to disturb her. She wanted to see him; the only thing she could clearly remember amidst the stuporous memories of the last day - his voice, and the end of the pain.

Pulling a robe around her she padded softly into the next room and over to where he lay. Dropping a cushion to the floor she sank down on her knees and watched him for a while. He must have sensed her presence, she thought, or at least that was being observed, for he soon grew restless, and began to wake. She smiled as he awoke, looking into his sleepy eyes.

"Hi," she said simply, smiling.

"Kathryn - you should have woken me up-" he began to rise.

"Hush now, just relax, I'm fine." He lay back down but reached for her hand. "Thank you for finding me."

"You're welcome." Both Kathryn and Chakotay sat quietly, absorbing all that was not being said. There was no need to attempt weak articulations when both knew no words would ever quite cover what had so recently transpired. Eventually Chakotay raised himself to a sitting position, rubbing his eyes. Kathryn made for the replicator, doubting that coffee existed that was strong enough for her needs right now.

"So what's happened while I've been out?"

Chakotay smiled wryly, he had known she would be asking dozens of questions, but the grin quickly dissipated.

"Well, Durant is dead."

"Dead? But - I was drugged! I didn't think I'd hit him that hard."

Chakotay raised his eyebrows.

"He was dead before we could get him to the infirmary. You and a hydrospanner make mean partners." He certainly hadn't meant it as a joke, and she certainly did not laugh, but a look in her eyes also told him that she wasn't unhappy that he was dead.

"Sisco has confined all of the Cardassian crew to quarters and Odo has been questioning them. It seems there is a group within Starfleet itself who are trying to cause trouble for the Federation."

"In Starfleet? Cause trouble?" Kathryn could not keep the sarcasm and incredulity from her voice. "Allying the Cardassians to the Romulans adds up to more than a little trouble!"

"Anyhow," Chakotay made to calm her. "What's important is that we are free to leave now. I want to take you away for a while."

"I can't go now!" He didn't argue, as if he'd fully expected this response.

"Well OK, let's make a deal. We stick around long enough to hear what action is going to be taken, and then we go away."

Kathryn smiled. He was doing it again, handling her. He had a gift for getting her to do what he wanted in a way that nobody else ever dreamed of, or dared. His trick was to start the bidding high, suggest something she would never agree to. That way, she would agree to what appeared to be the lesser' terms, in the interests of compromise, although it was usually precisely what he had had in mind in the first place. Her grin widened, her tacit approval of the plan a given. She picked up the two cups that had materialised in the replicator and brought them over to the sofa.

"Why on earth did you sleep out here? You must have been terribly uncomfortable."

"Well I didn't want to wake you. You needed your rest. Even that short exposure to that, that thing was a significant shock to your system, you need to rest up." He drained the cup Kathryn had given him and turned to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful," she said quietly, and it was true. There was no pressing business ahead, no crew to look out for, nothing. Only Chakotay. He was, she could tell, wondering whether or not to believe her, most likely remembering how easy lying like this seemed to come to her. How could she prove to him that she was back on form? A smirk briefly graced her features, and she took Chakotay's hand, pulling him to stand before her. Silently she began to lead him away from the sofa and towards the bedroom from which she had just emerged. "Actually, I think maybe a little longer abed might do me some good." She turned from him and her hips swayed suggestively as she walked through the doorway. She was taken by surprise as Chakotay lunged for her and swept her into his arms. They both giggled breathlessly before collapsing onto her bed. Chakotay lay beside her, stroking her hair.

"So how long would you say you'd need to stay in bed for?"

"For a complete recovery?" she asked innocently, even as her fingers trailed down his torso to find the edge of his tunic. "For a complete recovery.....as long as it takes."


***

Ten days later Kathryn still woke up feeling like a child at Christmas, because Chakotay was there. Slipping out of bed she got herself some coffee, and leaned against the bedroom's viewport. They could not see the wormhole from this side of the station, but Kathryn found the dusty scatter of stars just as beautiful. She named as many as she could, silently in her head, as she had often dreamed of doing on Voyager, but now it didn't seem so important. She smiled as she heard Chakotay roll over in the bed. What now? She certainly didn't feel like going back into active service. India Chapman's dealings in the weapons supply had left her suspicious of many people, and many people suspicious of her she imagined - she was an Admiral of the same generation after all. So what then? She new that she and Chakotay needed some time, some real time, just for them. But neither of them could be content doing nothing. That had been part of her original problem. Not for the first time her thoughts went back to the last night on Voyager, but now she was eager for the future.
"Kathryn?" She turned at the almost-panic in his voice; he still worried. Well, that would take time.

"I'm here Chakotay," she crossed to him.

"Come back to bed." It was a low growl of a request. She complied.


***
***


EPILOGUE

"Laying in a course, heading 141.41 mark 2."
"Bringing impulse engines on-line."
"All systems operating within normal parameters."

"Aerend you are cleared for departure. Captain, Commander. Good Luck."

The Aerend slipped gracefully from the upper pylon of DS9, taking one more pass of the station before her warp engines came on-line and she streaked out of sight.

Captain Benjamin Sisco sat in his office at the centre of the huge station. They were quite a pair, and he was happy to have known them. Sad also, because it was quite unlikely that he would ever see them again. They had taken the news of Admiral Chapman's involvement, as well as that of many other high-ranking Fleet personnel, in the arms scandal very hard. Sisco knew where they were coming from - he had seen a different side to Starfleet during the Dominion occupation of this station, but his place was still here. They had decided differently. Their request for a science vessel and the accompanying proposal had been well met, although Benjamin suspected Owen Paris had his hand in there somehow. A flight plan had been filed, but a very basic one and only as far as the galactic rim. He sighed, and looked into the vast vacuum into which the Aerend and its two-man crew had just vanished. He knew where they were going. Finding earth hadn't necessarily been finding home for them, they were made of different stuff now, and there was a part of that journey home that was missing, a chapter they had been unable to reclaim. They were brave, he would give them that. Flinging themselves back onto the mercy of the Universe, in search of what he was not entirely sure. But he was certain that they knew exactly what they were seeking, and wished with all his being that they found it.

~FIN~

Lines of poetry : from FIRE ROSES by Cynthia Fuller