"I Think I'll Keep You"
Dana Katherine Scully:
After helping Jean-Luc to recover the holodeck files from the old Enterprise, Kathryn was dirty and a bit disheveled. The bathtub in her room looked very inviting, but she knew that she didn't have time before the reception in Ten-Forward to fully relax, so she let her hair down, stripped her uniform off quickly, and stepped into the sonic shower.
When she was through, she wrapped herself in a towel as she brushed out her again long hair. It felt nice to have it back again. The Doctor had given her hair a growth stimulant at her request: after years of ignoring her appearance, Kathryn had been nervous about returning to Earth with the quick and easy haircut she had finally given herself on Voyager. She knew it was silly, but her appearance had always been important to her, and now more than ever did she want to remain true to herself.
Her hair fully brushed out, Kathryn began to meticulously braid and twist it up into one of the styles her mother used to put her hair into for special occasions. It was a bit more ornamental than her usual business- like bun, and she liked the way it felt.
Starfleet uniforms were all well and good, even pleasant for maintaining professionalism. But there were times that Kathryn felt that with all the work onboard Voyager she'd never had enough time to maintain the side of her that enjoyed dressing up and going out. Though the reception tonight was meant to be casual dress, Kathryn was going to wear one of her old favorites, a knee-length black silk dress with a bit of a daring neckline. The last time she'd worn it was the night of her engagement party, many many years ago. She was conscious of her age (just barely 50), but she felt years younger than the old stigmas predicted that she should.
Chakotay, however, seemed every bit his age. Kathryn remembered his week of hell vividly, beginning with the moment that she'd received the call from him. She'd been in the middle of a meeting with some of the most notorious Maquis leaders, and Chakotay's communication had forced her to leave the meeting nearly an hour early. When she first turned on her view screen she was frustrated and annoyed. "What do you want Chakotay?" she recalled asking. He told her what had happened, about how Seven had locked him in the house. She immediately cancelled the rest of the meeting, devoting all of her attention to helping her friend through his ordeal.
Over the course of that week, they were more intimate than they'd been since New Earth, since the moment he'd revealed his bathtub to her and silently proclaimed his love. He confided in her, told her everything. He left nothing out, no detail went unspoken. He asked for her help in keeping him from doing himself harm, she in turn provided him with a shoulder to cry on. They cried together, laughed together, panicked together...they spent every waking moment on the comm system, talking him through. The depth of their bond amazed her. And then Seven came back into the picture, and all communications from him ended almost immediately. Kathryn's defense system immediately erected walls around her heart, and she made little attempts to recontact him. She was hoping that tonight she could apologize for her behavior and check in on him.
Meanwhile, Jean-Luc was torn between conflicting emotions. He was deeply grieved by the loss of his friend Data, but he was also deeply in love with his CMO (a fact that Kathryn herself figured out), and the two opposing sentiments were driving him to distraction. They'd been trying to manually reroute power from one of the Enterprise E's holodeck control consoles through one of the secondary EPS conduits on the bridge (a very delicate procedure) when Beverly called him over the comm system. He nearly blew the circuit trying to tap his comm badge at the sound of her voice.
She told him that Geordi had just been to visit her, and that he was still struggling desperately with losing Data. Jean-Luc replied that they were all having difficulties, and Kathryn saw a hint of intense sorrow in her friend's eyes. They shared an involuntary moment of silence in reverence to their lost comrade, and then Beverly turned the topic to something much more cheerful. "Jean-Luc I was hoping that we might attend tonight's reception in Ten-Forward together." Of course he said yes and that he'd pick her up at her quarters at 2000 hours if that was alright. The sorrow in his eyes was replaced with a kind of childish anticipation overlaying a deeply affectionate reflection, and Kathryn finally completely understood what was going on. She was happy for them, they both needed the companionship.
The computer's reminder that the reception began in ten minutes snapped Kathryn out of her reverie. She quickly began to apply her makeup: still a production despite all of the technological advancements of the past century. She smoothed on a thin layer of a new foundation (palest ivory of course), then brushed on her favorite blush. She smoothed on a brown eye shadow that made her eyes seem ablaze, and brushed on a coat of black mascara. Almost as an afterthought, Kathryn quickly smeared on a coat of deep berry-coloured lipstick. It wasn't perfect, but there was no time to play around with it. As she took one last glance in the mirror, Kathryn took a hard look at herself. She saw a self-confident, independent, iron- willed, and brave woman: one whom she'd never truly seen in the mirror before. I think I'll keep you, she thought to her reflection.
Dana Katherine Scully:
After helping Jean-Luc to recover the holodeck files from the old Enterprise, Kathryn was dirty and a bit disheveled. The bathtub in her room looked very inviting, but she knew that she didn't have time before the reception in Ten-Forward to fully relax, so she let her hair down, stripped her uniform off quickly, and stepped into the sonic shower.
When she was through, she wrapped herself in a towel as she brushed out her again long hair. It felt nice to have it back again. The Doctor had given her hair a growth stimulant at her request: after years of ignoring her appearance, Kathryn had been nervous about returning to Earth with the quick and easy haircut she had finally given herself on Voyager. She knew it was silly, but her appearance had always been important to her, and now more than ever did she want to remain true to herself.
Her hair fully brushed out, Kathryn began to meticulously braid and twist it up into one of the styles her mother used to put her hair into for special occasions. It was a bit more ornamental than her usual business- like bun, and she liked the way it felt.
Starfleet uniforms were all well and good, even pleasant for maintaining professionalism. But there were times that Kathryn felt that with all the work onboard Voyager she'd never had enough time to maintain the side of her that enjoyed dressing up and going out. Though the reception tonight was meant to be casual dress, Kathryn was going to wear one of her old favorites, a knee-length black silk dress with a bit of a daring neckline. The last time she'd worn it was the night of her engagement party, many many years ago. She was conscious of her age (just barely 50), but she felt years younger than the old stigmas predicted that she should.
Chakotay, however, seemed every bit his age. Kathryn remembered his week of hell vividly, beginning with the moment that she'd received the call from him. She'd been in the middle of a meeting with some of the most notorious Maquis leaders, and Chakotay's communication had forced her to leave the meeting nearly an hour early. When she first turned on her view screen she was frustrated and annoyed. "What do you want Chakotay?" she recalled asking. He told her what had happened, about how Seven had locked him in the house. She immediately cancelled the rest of the meeting, devoting all of her attention to helping her friend through his ordeal.
Over the course of that week, they were more intimate than they'd been since New Earth, since the moment he'd revealed his bathtub to her and silently proclaimed his love. He confided in her, told her everything. He left nothing out, no detail went unspoken. He asked for her help in keeping him from doing himself harm, she in turn provided him with a shoulder to cry on. They cried together, laughed together, panicked together...they spent every waking moment on the comm system, talking him through. The depth of their bond amazed her. And then Seven came back into the picture, and all communications from him ended almost immediately. Kathryn's defense system immediately erected walls around her heart, and she made little attempts to recontact him. She was hoping that tonight she could apologize for her behavior and check in on him.
Meanwhile, Jean-Luc was torn between conflicting emotions. He was deeply grieved by the loss of his friend Data, but he was also deeply in love with his CMO (a fact that Kathryn herself figured out), and the two opposing sentiments were driving him to distraction. They'd been trying to manually reroute power from one of the Enterprise E's holodeck control consoles through one of the secondary EPS conduits on the bridge (a very delicate procedure) when Beverly called him over the comm system. He nearly blew the circuit trying to tap his comm badge at the sound of her voice.
She told him that Geordi had just been to visit her, and that he was still struggling desperately with losing Data. Jean-Luc replied that they were all having difficulties, and Kathryn saw a hint of intense sorrow in her friend's eyes. They shared an involuntary moment of silence in reverence to their lost comrade, and then Beverly turned the topic to something much more cheerful. "Jean-Luc I was hoping that we might attend tonight's reception in Ten-Forward together." Of course he said yes and that he'd pick her up at her quarters at 2000 hours if that was alright. The sorrow in his eyes was replaced with a kind of childish anticipation overlaying a deeply affectionate reflection, and Kathryn finally completely understood what was going on. She was happy for them, they both needed the companionship.
The computer's reminder that the reception began in ten minutes snapped Kathryn out of her reverie. She quickly began to apply her makeup: still a production despite all of the technological advancements of the past century. She smoothed on a thin layer of a new foundation (palest ivory of course), then brushed on her favorite blush. She smoothed on a brown eye shadow that made her eyes seem ablaze, and brushed on a coat of black mascara. Almost as an afterthought, Kathryn quickly smeared on a coat of deep berry-coloured lipstick. It wasn't perfect, but there was no time to play around with it. As she took one last glance in the mirror, Kathryn took a hard look at herself. She saw a self-confident, independent, iron- willed, and brave woman: one whom she'd never truly seen in the mirror before. I think I'll keep you, she thought to her reflection.