Their visitor watched as Captain Janeway and Tuvok entered Sickbay. It was the day after she had woken up. She was recovering, but still felt strange and worn-out, not that that was surprising.

She saw Captain Janeway speaking to The Doctor, he nodded his head, and she walked over.

"How are you doing today?"

"Fine," she said, "Do you have more questions for me?"

"In a sense, I was wondering if you would agree to Tuvok questioning you, in a Mind Meld?"

"I thought we agreed to follow the temporal prime directive, as much as possible," the woman asked suspiciously.

"Yes, we did, and I hold to that," answered Janeway, "But I must be sure. Tuvok has promised to keep as much as possible to a few key memories, he'll know only a fraction of what you do. Beyond that, he's agreed not to pass on any unnecessary information to myself or anyone else. He'll just be verifying your identity and intent."

The woman hesitated, and Janeway continued, "I realize it's a terrible breach of privacy. If what you say is true you've been through quite a bit, and now you're faced with mistrust and invasion from those you came to help. This is the best way I know to confirm your story. I've worked with Tuvok for many years, and I trust his opinion. If he says you're telling the truth, I promise to accept that, going forward with reasonable caution."

Janeway held the woman's gaze, and she nodded.

Tuvok approached them both, "I am Lieutenant Tuvok," he stated without preamble, "Do you feel comfortable to try a Mind Meld now, or would you prefer a different time?"

"Now is fine," she stated, "There's no reason to put it off."

"Very well, perhaps you should sit, you appear to be not fully recovered."

She did so, and the Vulcan spoke again, "You should consider memories that would confirm your identity, and how you arrived here."

He put both of his hands on her face, "My mind to your mind, My thoughts to your thoughts."

One moment she was staring at the Vulcan's eyes and the next moment they were both tumbling through her memories.

"Daddy!" said a five-year-old her in a purple jumpsuit with white puffy sleeves, jumping onto Chakotay's lap, "I want to be the best dancer in the whole Quadrant when I grow up!"

"I'm sure you will be," came her father's warm voice, half pulling, and half hugging her into his broad chest.

Then a twelve-year-old her was standing in the same room, cold now, staring at her mother.

Dignified as ever, in the hallway in her Captain's uniform, Kathryn Janeway's baritone voice steeled, "Take care of Voyager."

"I will," came her defiant voice, and the book closed on their relationship forever.

"Run, run, run!" came a familiar voice, one she would know even if she forgot her own.

"Almost to the transporter," she answered to her headset as she dashed through Voyager's corridors as a grown woman. This memory was far too recent for her to not feel sick.

"What do I do now?" she said hurriedly, as she literally slammed into the transporter station in the dark of the ship.

"Stand on the transporter pad."

"Why? You're not here yet."

"I have to control it from here."

"That's not what you said before!"

"I lied, this is important. We agreed it was the only way."

"I am coming back down there," she said angrily.

"No time, this ship is dead."

"You're dead Tomas," she whispered.

He laughed, "I know."

"Don't you dare, it'll be like you never even existed."

"I'll see you in the Klingon afterlife then."

"Tomas…."

"Once you're there, don't look back, there's only forward. Undo the bad, get them home. Don't worry about us. I believe in you."

And then she was tumbling out of her memories, and to her great humiliation, crying. Captain Janeway moved, but before she could do anything else, the woman steeled herself and looked straight at Tuvok.

"What do you say?"

"You are, in fact, telling the truth."

Captain Janeway and Tuvok left Sickbay and took the long way back to her quarters.

"Is there anything else you can tell me Tuvok?"

"She is in fact the child of Commander Chakotay and yourself, raised on Voyager. The ship ultimately faced destruction and apparently a greatly dwindled crew. She and another survivor planned a way to return to this time period and stop the destruction, knowing that they would erase their own timeline by doing so, including their childhood and any additional children born on Voyager during that time. Her companion was apparently a great engineer, he seemed to be the leader of the plan, and he sacrificed himself to send her back. They may very well have been the only two left alive at that time, but it was unclear."

"What a horrible thing to go through," said Janeway sadly.

"Indeed," said Tuvok coolly.

"You know I still don't know her name, and she's apparently my child. I told her I would accept it if you confirmed her story, but I certainly haven't acted like it yet."

"I imagine it is a great shock, I believe any human would need time to process such an event."

"Still, what a reception from her home and parents," Janeway rubbed her forehead again, feeling yet another headache coming on, "I need to tell Chakotay as soon as possible, but how do you give news like that?" she finished with grim amusement.

"Indeed," answered Tuvok with a raise of his eyebrow.

Janeway waited in her quarters, as it just didn't seem right to give such news in her own Ready Room. It would've made it much more professional and therefore easier, but it wasn't only a professional situation.

She heard a bell.

"Come in" said Janeway, sitting on her sofa in the almost dark. It was late, she had waited until Chakotay had finished his shift to have this discussion.

"Feeling like a vampire bat this evening?" he joked easily as he entered. Although she often favored low lighting, she could tell he was concerned about her state of mind from her current position and the late invitation.

"Feeling like I've aged 20 years in the last few days," said Janeway tiredly, not hiding how drained her conflicting feelings had her.

"Does this have to do with our visitor?" asked Chakotay, "Is she in terrible trouble? Is this a moral conflict of some kind."

"Not exactly, more of a personal one."

"How is it personal to you?" he asked kindly.

"It's personal to you too." Janeway said frankly, "You had better sit down."

He looked at her cautiously and sat down in one of her dining room chairs.

Janeway debated for a moment the best plan of action. Should I mention our attraction, our partnership, how close we almost became when we were stranded?

Janeway wiped those thoughts and took another path instead, "She's from a future Voyager."

"What?"

"Apparently our timeline doesn't end well. 30 years or so from now, Voyager is still stranded in the Delta Quadrant, about to be destroyed. She appears to be one of the last alive. Another crewman somehow helped her return to our time."

"And you have enough reason to believe it's the truth?"

"She knows all sorts of things about the ship and its occupants. She didn't seem to be lying to me. I had Tuvok Mind Meld with her to get his opinion. And he saw enough to confirm it."

Chakotay nodded, clearly thinking.

"And then there are her genetics…."

"She's a young adult and human, going by that…most likely she's the child of two of our human crewman….You said this was personal?" he licked his lips, "Is she?"

"She's my child," said Janeway flatly, pausing as Chakotay starred at her, "She's your child too," she said softly.

Chakotay blinked several times, and then smiled.