AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

This is my second chapter of the day, so if you haven't read the first one, please don't miss it!

I hope that you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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"We get to start over," Carol breathed out.

She was sitting on the side of the bed, braiding her hair. She was wearing pajamas—something she'd requested from the magical machine that seemed to be able to make something out of nothing. Kathryn had been more than happy to show her, again, how it worked. For her amusement, Carol had made Daryl matching pajamas. She'd been as happy as hell to bring them to him while he was brushing his teeth.

He changed into them, even though he'd never worn red plaid pajamas before—and even though he'd never thought about dressing so that he matched anyone.

They amused Carol, and that was enough. Besides, they were more comfortable than he even admitted to her that they were.

The way she said the words about a new start made them sound like they were the most beautiful words in the whole of the English language.

"We do," he said. "We can. If that's what you want."

"I don't think I've ever wanted anything more in my entire life," Carol said. She sighed. It was a deep sigh, but it didn't necessarily sound like a sad sigh. It didn't sound like the kinds of sighs he'd heard from her when they'd been camping together—the sighs that made it feel like there were a thousand miles between them and he had no way of figuring out how to cross the distance to reach her, if she even wanted to be reached. This sigh was lighter. "I'm so tired, Daryl."

"We're goin' to bed," Daryl offered. "Just as soon as you get done doin' your hair."

He lit a cigarette. He was sitting on his side of the bed. The only thing they had left to do was to command the computer to turn off their lights.

"I don't mean I'm sleepy," Carol said. "I mean—I'm tired. I've been tired for so long. I haven't slept, without worry, since the CDC. And—really, I didn't sleep without worry before then."

"I get it," Daryl offered. The CDC had been their first spot of hope after the world had turned and the dead had begun to roam. It had been the first place where they'd believed they could be safe. Their safety there had been so short-lived, though, and the surprise that it wasn't safe at all had been such a hard blow, that they'd, perhaps, never truly trusted a place after that. "I don't think Kathryn's gonna blow us up, though. I mean, if she was, she'da just been like do whatever the hell you want around here. She wouldn't have bothered with tryin' to figure out what kinda jobs we might want."

Carol smiled to herself.

"I like her," Carol said. "She's—sweet."

Daryl laughed to himself.

"I don't think you're supposed to call the captain 'sweet,'" Daryl offered. "She's like the captain of a whole military spaceship."

"So, she can't be sweet?" Carol asked.

"I guess she can be," Daryl ceded. "You really gonna bake cookies and shit with that thing tomorrow?"

Carol laughed to herself.

"That thing?" She asked.

"That—thing—I don't remember what he was called," Daryl said. "Neelix?"

"He was a Talaxian," Carol said. "And Kes is an Ocampan. It might be a good idea to remember these things. It shows respect. For their cultures or whatever."

"You gonna bake cookies with the Talaxian all day long?" Daryl asked.

Carol hummed.

"And I'm going to cook with him. And help out in sickbay. And Kathryn said that I could come to the bridge and her—her office or whatever. And I'm going to see if I might like to be some kind of secretary that runs errands and does odd jobs throughout the ship."

Daryl laughed to himself.

"You gonna start wearin' floral sweaters again?" Daryl asked, remembering some of Carol's previous incarnations. Each place they'd gone, it seemed, and each era of their journey had seen her searching for something. Each step of the way, she'd tried on different proverbial shirts until she'd practically been through a closet full of different versions of herself. "Or—lookin' for a king to recite Shakespeare to you?" Carol frowned at him. Immediately he was sorry, and he said as much. "I'm sorry. It's just—you've done this before."

"I haven't," Carol said.

"You were Betty fuckin' Crocker in Alexandria," Daryl said. "Get 'em to trust us, but don't trust them. You were the knife lady at the prison. You've been—the cook, and the washer woman. You—did whatever the hell it was you was doin' with Tobin an' you married good King Wenceslas. Then you was a pirate—or a fisherwoman or whatever."

Carol frowned.

"And then I ran away with you," Carol said. She raised her eyebrows at him. "My best friend, right? I ran away with you to—live. For once. To really live. To put it all behind me. To find a new life. To live my truth."

"I guess my point is—is bakin' cookies with the Talaxian your truth?" Daryl asked. "You're complicated, Carol. But—you could do weapons or tactical just as easy as I could. You didn't tell Kathryn your aim's better'n mine."

"I didn't tell her that I've murdered more people than I can count, either," Carol said.

Daryl's stomach churned a little.

"You had reasons," Daryl said. They'd all had their reasons. The world they'd known had been cruel—for Daryl and Carol, really, it had been harder for longer than it had been for others.

"But it doesn't matter," Carol said. "You didn't tell her everything about your past. I didn't tell her everything about mine."

"Because you wanna start over?" He asked. Carol nodded. She looked sad and, suddenly, he wished he'd never brought it up. He wished he'd left her alone—just as fucking happy as she had been when she'd brought him the pajamas and she was ready to go to bed to dream about the life she wanted. Daryl snubbed out his cigarette and got up. He walked over to where she was, sat down beside her, and pulled her into a hug. "Hey—it's OK. I'm sorry. We can do that. We can start over."

Carol laughed quietly and very insincerely.

"Not if you keep reminding me of the past," she offered.

"I won't," Daryl said, shaking his head. "I won't. None of it. Nothin' you don't wanna talk about. Just like I promised when we left for New Mexico. Except—it's even better now. We'll leave it all behind—all there on Earth. Everything you wanna leave there."

Carol's smile slowly returned.

"I don't want to leave it all," Carol said. "Sophia…Henry," she said.

"Just the bad parts, then," Daryl said. "The parts you don't wanna keep."

"What about you?" Carol asked. "You want to—leave your bad behind?"

Daryl nodded at her.

"Already have," he assured her. "You don't throw it in my face. Never. And I swear—I ain't gonna throw it in yours no more. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I did."

"What if you're right?" Carol asked. "What if—I don't even know who I really am anymore? What if—I never really got to know?"

Daryl's stomach ached with her words. His chest ached too.

"You're you," Daryl said. "That's all the hell that matters. Everything that makes you who you are—that's who you are." He laughed to himself. "And if who you are is someone who bakes cookies with Neelix all day long, then that's who the hell you should be." He hugged her again. "We get to start over. We get to decide who the hell we are now."

Carol smiled at him when he pulled out of the hug and he used his thumb to brush away the stray tear that trailed down her cheek.

"We get to start over," she said, sounding a little more like she had before Daryl had opened his mouth and stuck his foot halfway down his throat. He nodded at her. He wanted her to be able to start over and to leave behind every fucked-up thing he knew had ever happened in her life. He wanted her to have a fresh start. And, honestly, he was glad that he was there to see it happen.

He hadn't always been there before—not in the way he wanted to be.

Maybe, this time, things would be different, if he could simply find the strength inside himself to make them different. If he could find the ability to say what he needed to say and to do what he needed to do.

Maybe he could be part of her new life—without ever becoming one of her past regrets.

But, tonight, he couldn't steel his nerves up to take the leap. So, he simply rubbed her back, offering her a little more comfort for the sorrow his insensitivity had dragged up inside her, and did his best to put her to bed.

"And tonight," he said, "we get to sleep like we ain't slept in ages. Knowin' tomorrow? We start somethin' we never even imagined before."

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"Come in," Kathryn called. Chakotay immediately stepped into her ready room. She smiled at him, mostly because of the way he was smiling at her. He stopped directly in front of her desk and clasped his hands casually behind his back.

"Good morning, Captain," Chakotay said.

"Good morning, Commander," Kathryn said. "You look like you've got something on your mind."

"I was just reading my duty list," Chakotay said. "I see that I'm playing host again today?"

"There's something on long range sensors," Kathryn said. "Harry's estimating it's easily seven days from here at our current speed. Until then? There are clear skies. This is the perfect time to get Carol and Daryl settled before I'm really going to want you helping me make decisions about our next steps. In the meantime, your services aren't really required on the bridge. Any junior officer can fill in on a quiet bridge, and they'll be happy for the time."

"Any junior officer can lead Carol and Daryl around," Chakotay said.

Kathryn smiled at him.

"Are you feeling like the assignment is beneath you?" Kathryn asked, standing up. She walked around her desk. "I chose you because I thought you'd be best for the job."

"And why is that, Captain?" Chakotay asked.

"Because you're steady," Kathryn said. "And calm when you need to be—and this calls for calm. And, because Daryl needs to go to engineering."

Chakotay laughed to himself. He nodded his head, clearly catching on to everything she wasn't saying.

"B'Elanna," he said.

"B'Elanna," Kathryn agreed. "I'll call down there myself. I'll talk with her before you get there, but I think it might be a good idea to have you there to prepare Daryl while I prepare B'Elanna."

"And to soothe over any faux pas that Daryl might unwillingly commit," Chakotay offered. Kathryn smiled at him. She nodded her head.

"Will you handle it for me?" She asked.

"It is in my duty roster," Chakotay said.

"I can reassign you if you really feel strongly about it," Kathryn ceded.

"No," Chakotay said. "I didn't think about the fact that Daryl would be going to engineering. Perhaps you are right—maybe I'm the best person for that job."

Thank you," Kathryn said, closing the distance between them and squeezing Chakotay's arm with some affection. "Now—remember—help the make sure they can remember where their quarters are located so they can come and go some as they please. It may be best to give them a PADD with a map. The doctor's expecting them for physicals, so you'll need to take them both to be cleared by him before you take them anywhere else. Then you can take them to the mess hall. Neelix is expecting Carol today, so you can leave her there after breakfast. I'll talk to B'Elanna in the meantime, so you can take Daryl to engineering after breakfast."

"You're not concerned with me leaving Carol alone?" Chakotay asked, a little hint of humor to his words. Kathryn laughed to herself.

"I get the feeling that Carol can take care of herself, Commander," Kathryn offered. "Besides that, I think that dealing with Mr. Neelix will be easier for Carol than Daryl might find dealing with B'Elanna. I'm concerned that the two will at least need a formal introduction."

"Very well," Chakotay said. "I'll handle it." He stood there a moment, smiling at Kathryn in a very particular way that he had. She smiled to herself in response to his expression.

"What?" She asked. He shook his head.

"Nothing, Captain," he assured her. "I was just thinking—you remind me of a new mother. Worried about her young leaving the nest for the first time."

"They're my responsibility, Chakotay," Kathryn said. "Just like everyone on this ship. The difference is, they never asked to be here. They never asked to have to learn about everything and to deal with all this new information."

Chakotay reached a hand out and affectionately squeezed Kathryn's shoulder. She accepted and welcomed the gesture.

"I understand, Captain," Chakotay said. "And I promise that I'll make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible as they integrate into their new positions for the day. And, tomorrow, if they should decide to change duty stations again, I'll make sure they're settled in there."

Kathryn smiled at him.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "You know I depend on you for—everything, really."

Chakotay smiled at her.

"I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy their company," Chakotay said. "And the adventure. I'll give Daryl and Carol a lesson in Klingons this morning, if you'll give B'Elanna a lesson in Dixons."

Kathryn laughed to herself.

"Done," she said. "Just remember to call for security if you need it."

Chakotay laughed to himself at her teasing. He gave her an informal nod, and she mirrored the gesture as the only dismissal required for such a loosely given order. He left her ready room to go collect the Dixons, and Kathryn sat down at her computer to finish the duty rosters she was looking over and to contact B'Elanna about a possible new trainee in engineering.