Star Trek Voyager is the property of Paramount Pictures

The Pact

Kathryn Janeway watched Chakotay pour her a glass of white wine as they sat next to each other on her couch. He then handed her the glass.

"How was the chat with your sister?"

"Emotional," she replied. "Liberating."

"In what sense?"

Kathryn took a sip of her wine. "You and Phoebe once dated."

Chakotay laughed. "I never dated your sister."

"You did, for over a month."

"No," he replied. "I think I would remember dating a Janeway."

"Of course," she smiled. "But she would never give her surname on first dates, not to Starfleet men. She was always afraid they would only be interested in her because our father was an Admiral. You know, get in with the daughter, get in with the father? When a man asked for her name, she would always give her first names, Phoebe Carisa."

Chakotay stared at her, momentarily flummoxed. "She was your sister?"

Kathryn nodded. "The one and only Phoebe Janeway."

A smile slowly graced Chakotay's lips and then he laughed. "Wonders will never cease. This is quite a revelation, isn't it?"

Kathryn only gave a slight nod. "I'm surprised you didn't recognize her in the photograph I have, but of course she's a lot older now and used to dye her hair black in the old days."

"I would never believe you were sisters," he continued. "She was nothing like you."

Kathryn smiled. "Is that meant to be a compliment or an insult?"

"A statement," he smiled in return. "You're so disciplined and focussed, the perfect scientist.
She was very flamboyant and didn't worry about anything."

Kathryn lay back against her couch. She couldn't resist the next question. "And which sister do you prefer?"

Chakotay shook his head in amusement. He gave it to Kathryn, she would always ask what she wanted to know. He turned to her and her eyes were sparkling as she looked into his.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Her eyes sparkled another moment, and then sadness consumed them.

"There's something I have to tell you," she whispered.

"Go on."

"It wasn't a revelation for me. I've always known that you dated Phoebe. When I was first given the mission to capture you, Phoebe told me that you and she had once dated. We laughed about it, said what a small place the galaxy really was." She paused. "That's part of the reason I couldn't let anything happen between us."

"I don't understand."

"We made a pact, years ago. We said would never date each others ex-boyfriends." She paused. "It was all so long ago and in normal circumstances it wouldn't have been an issue, but out here, not knowing if I would ever see my sister again, little things we had shared became important and breaking the pact would seem like a betrayal. But it was more than that. It just seemed like another sign that we shouldn't be together."

Chakotay put down his glass on a table before them. "I can see how it would seem that way."

"I told Phoebe about us, how we felt about each other, and about all the conflicts I was going through. I needed that, you know, to talk to someone independent of this ship, someone I loved and trusted. When I mentioned the pact, she just laughed. She helped me clear some of the fog I've been lost in, helped me to choose a path. She was always a rock to me in that way. She helped me to see how wrong I've been, how unfair to you."

She put her glass down next to his and summoned all her courage. "If you're still interested, I'd like us to..." She paused, struggling, "to be more than just friends."

Chakotay reached for her hand and took it in his. "Of course I'm still interested. I love you, Kathryn. I always will."

She looked up at him and smiled through tears. "I love you too."

Chakotay brushed his fingers against her cheek and then slowly, tentatively, brought his lips down to hers and kissed her softly.


The End