Disclaimer: It's all Paramount's! I'm just supplying a few thoughts...
Dedication: Here's something you can read, Jade. )
Note: Set just after Tuvok leaves Voyager in Year Of Hell. Possibly one of the best J/C moments in the episode occured, although it's not one I'd noticed until recently...
"Send Kathryn my best."
The words, Paris' cheeky signoff from Chakotay, echoed round her mind as she briefly shut her eyes, closing her hand tightly around the watch hanging from her waist like a talisman. How long had it been since she had seen Chakotay, or heard his voice? The hours had turned into days, the days into weeks, the weeks into months... and through all of them she had been fighting and battling for her life and the lives of her remaining crewmembers. In the precious few moments she had had to herself, she had closed her eyes in the same way she was doing now, conjuring his image to remind herself why she had to keep giving when it felt like she had nothing left to give. The thought of him had comforted her and renewed her almost as if he were there himself, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder or squeeze her hand.
It comforted her now. Gave her strength to fight what she hoped would be one final battle against the Krenim timeship. This time, it was all or nothing. They would get Chakotay and Tom back, or she and Voyager would go down together. There were no in-betweens no other options. The realisation actually cheered her slightly. The chance to make a difference again, instead of hiding in nebulae and just trying to survive from one day to the next. She rubbed her thumb across the watch and looked at the empty chair beside her own. Empty for too long. The ghost of Chakotay grinned back at her, and she nodded slightly before lowering herself efficiently into her own chair.
"Let's do it, Commander," she said to the empty bridge with a grim smile. "Let's give this our best."
END