Prompt 14: "Can I have this dance?" (J/C/7)

Episode: AU (Hamilton: An American Musical)

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The New Year's Eve Ball at General Edward Janeway's estate was always a lively event. In the year 1776, though, there was an extra spark in the air. With the war against England brewing on the horizon, all the soldiers on leave were determined to make the most of the night by drinking, dancing, and spending as much time with the young ladies as propriety permitted.

Kathryn Janeway watched it all from her strategic vantage point near the fireplace: the patterns of the minuet swirling in circles, the complex rivalries for love and power (it often amounted to the same thing). As a woman of beauty, confidence and (last but not least) wealth, she knew she could have all the dance partners she wanted, but first she needed a moment to herself, to assemble the mental armor she would need.

At the other end of the room, her younger sister Annie was sitting out the dance for entirely different reasons – not because she did not want to, but because no one wanted her. By rights, she should have had just as many suitors as Kathryn did, but when she was a child, an accident with an oil lamp had scarred her left hand and eye forever. It did not help that she had no talent for conversation, being both painfully shy and incorrigibly honest. It hurt Kathryn every time to see Annie so overlooked, and it made it difficult to get through the night with a smile on her face.

"You strike me," a male voice spoke from behind her, "As a woman who's never been satisfied."

She turned around, her rose-colored silk gown rustling as she did. There stood one of her father's officers, tall and broad-shouldered, the gold buttons on his dress uniform winking in the candlelight, scrutinizing her with the deepest, darkest eyes she had ever seen.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, sir," she retorted coldly, even as a flush rose up in her cheeks. "You forget yourself."

"Forgive me, miss." He bowed. "I only meant … you survey this ballroom exactly as General Janeway surveys his troops. As if you would rather fight alongside us than dance with us."

He was right; she'd been standing with her hands on her hips and her chin high, exactly like her father. She clasped them in front of her instead. "If I told you that was true, would you be scandalized?"

"Not at all. I admire a young lady who does not care for convention."

He did not look very conventional himself, she noted. His complexion was darker than most of those in her social circle, and he had a strange spiral-shaped tattoo above his left eye. His hair was unpowdered, black as licorice and tied back in a simple queue. And yet he carried himself with an understated confidence, as if he didn't care what anyone thought. Kathryn was fascinated. She wanted to know his name.

"If I resemble the General, that's no surprise, since I am his oldest daughter. Kathryn Janeway." She held out her hand.

"I suspected as much." He bowed over it. "Lieutenant Colonel Chakotay Hamilton. Would you care to dance, Miss Janeway?"

Chakotay Hamilton. She knew that name, not only from the newspapers, but from the stories her father told. As the illegitimate son of a Scottish trader and an Indian tribeswoman, he could never have risen so high in the ranks if General Owen Paris himself had not taken him on as a protégé. The younger man had impressed his superiors with his creative battle tactics, including some he'd learned from his mother's people for ambushing a superior force and using the wilderness to one's advantage. He was also a radical political activist who wrote essays arguing for natives and settlers to live together as equals. Annie admired him; she read about him with shining eyes and peppered their father with questions every time the Lieutenant Colonel's name appeared in the paper.

Everyone who knew him agreed that Chakotay would be a powerful man someday, powerful enough that his birth would be forgotten or at least overlooked. Today, however, he was completely inappropriate as a suitor for General Janeway's oldest daughter … no matter how much she might wish for him to be.

Anxious, undecided, Kathryn instinctively looked for help across the room, but her little sister did not notice.

Annie was watching Chakotay, and she could not tear her eyes away.

In that moment, Kathryn realized three fundamental truths at the exact same time – and being a clever woman, she put them into practice straight away.

"I have a better idea, sir," she said, in response to Chakotay's invitation to dance. She looped her arm through his and led him around the edge of the dance floor.

"Where are you taking me?"

She gave him her most authoritative pat on the arm. "I am about to change your life."

"Then by all means," he said, "Lead the way."

Fundamental Truth Number One: As the oldest (and the wittiest), it was her duty to marry well. The General was a wealthy man, but also a generous one with a large extended family. It was by no means certain that he would be able to provide for all his children unless he had sons-in-law who could assist him. And much as Kathryn liked to think of herself as unconventional, her father's approval meant the world to her, and so did the respect of her community. She could not risk throwing all of that away.

"Lieutenant Colonel Chakotay Hamilton, may I present Miss Annika Janeway?"

Annie rose from her chair and smoothed her gown. Wearing cerulean in contrast to Kathryn's pink, her golden hair piled into a pompadour, her blue Janeway eyes bright with nervous excitement, she had never looked lovelier. The scar across her eye made no difference whatsoever.

"Janeway?" asked Chakotay, smiling at them both as he traced the obvious resemblance.

"My sister," said Kathryn.

Fundamental Truth Number Two: Chakotay knew exactly what marrying into the Janeway family would do for him. She did not believe him to be a cold-blooded fortune hunter, but he was no fool. He had political ambitions, and knowing the same people her father knew would undoubtedly help. Kathryn knew she could be cynical, but it was difficult to avoid it. Even if his motives were pure, some part of her would always be suspicious. Annie's mind did not work that way, thank goodness. She was intelligent, but straightforward; she would judge Chakotay simply on his own merit, not by how others would behave in his place.

"Th-thank you for your service," Annie stammered as the young soldier bowed over her hand – then, as if she couldn't help herself: "Did you really steal cannons from the British Army? How did you do it?"

Kathryn sighed beneath her corset stays. Trust Annie to blurt out questions about weaponry at a time like this. If the General's firstborn daughter could have been his successor given the chance, his secondborn would have been the one who designed the guns.

Fundamental Truth Number Three: She knew her sister like she knew her own mind. Annie was odd and shy and difficult, but all she wanted was somewhere to belong. It was unfair that society had deemed her an outsider because of things beyond her control. If any man could see past those things, she would be the most loyal wife and mother he could ask for.

"If you will give me the honor of the next dance, Miss Annika," said Chakotay, "I will tell you all about it – no doubt more than you wish to hear."

"I would be delighted."

"I'll leave you to it." Kathryn gave Annie a small, teasing shove in the small of the back. The Lieutenant Colonel led her out onto the floor, arm in arm, just as a new song began to play.

Well played, Kathryn, she thought ironically, watching the handsome couple dance: step together, step apart; side by side, then face to face; palms together, eye to eye. Now you've gone and done it – set up the most fascinating man you've ever met as a potential future brother-in-law. Oh Lord, I'm going to regret this.

Watching Chakotay's dark eyes and Annie's bright face, however, she had the feeling she'd have regretted the other choice even more.