A/n: Hi everyone! This will definitely be my last chapter before I've recovered from my surgery, thanks for the good wishes. I also owe a big thank you once again to xXBrightsideBumblebeeXx for betaing this for me, it was just the reassurance I needed! Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter.

Chakotay blinked painfully as the blinding white flash of Starfleet grade transporter faded and his surroundings were brought into clearer focus. He was standing on the main pad of a standard transporter room, memories of long ago away missions fought for dominance in his mind's eye with reality, although the sheer, brutally uncompromising modernity of this room would've made Voyager look like the quaint museum it now was. Being in a transporter room again wasn't the only nostalgia trigger in the room of course, he met Captain Harry Kim's eyes levelly, his sense of purpose keeping him eerily calm in the face of his old friend's pained disapproval, "It's good to finally see your ship Harry, although I wish it was under…easier circumstances."

Harry sighed slightly, and just as at the reunion Chakotay was struck by how old he looked, but perhaps that was the memory of the boyish Ensign tricking him. "As do I Captain, as do I." He replied in a resigned tone, pointedly referring to Chakotay by his new rank rather than the name he'd long ago earned the right to use. "I think we need to talk." He continued firmly, his tone making it clear that this was not really a request. Chakotay couldn't help but think that Kathryn would be proud. If Harry noticed the wry quirk of his lips this thought brought on, he ignored it and turned to his First Officer, "We'll go to my Ready Room Icheb. You can join us when you've arranged the tractor beam for the Flyer."

"Already under way Captain." Icheb answered perfunctorily, "The Flyer is under our control until you order otherwise."

"Good." Harry responded quietly, although his tone was so heavy it indicated nothing about this situation was good by any means. "Let's go then." He ordered, a tiny wince crossing his features as Chakotay stepped off the pad to be surrounded by three tight lipped security officers, "No, stand down for now." He told them awkwardly, shooting Chakotay an embarrassed glance that, though guarded, showed Chakotay a flicker of the amiable, loyal young man he'd known.

So, as Captain Kim had ordered, the three former crewmates walked through the ship unhindered by others, it was only when they reached the Bridge that anyone was bold enough to try to catch Chakotay's eye. Some of the glances were nervously sympathetic, making Chakotay wonder what exactly Harry had told them about their mission to apprehend him, while others were amusingly awestruck or worse, openly hostile. Chakotay knew why they were curious; he was famous, or infamous depending on perspective, as Voyager's valiant First Officer, as leader of a band of Maquis criminals, as the unashamed lover then husband of a Borg drone… He sighed to himself tiredly as he followed Harry into his Ready Room with Icheb closing up the rear. As soon as the doors had put them out of ear shot of the Bridge, he asked Harry bluntly, "How did you explain all this to your crew?"

Harry flinched, obviously guilty about the deception. Chakotay found he was relieved that Harry hadn't really gotten any better at hiding his emotions; there was something reassuring in that, he'd know where he stood. "I told them you're suffering from a rare neurological condition, one that leaves you confused and disorientated but only a threat to yourself…"

Chakotay's mind flashed back to Korath's puffy, fuming face, "Tell that to the Klingons."

Harry allowed himself a small laugh at that, but his heart obviously wasn't in it. "I intend to." He paused uneasily for a moment, eyeing him as he would a caged animal. "The Admiral, the Doctor, Icheb and I decided to withhold your plan from Starfleet for the moment, keep it in the family."

Family? Chakotay mentally repeated bleakly. My family is gone, dead and buried. "I assume you won't be withholding your thoughts on it from me though will you Harry?"

"Of course not!" Harry snapped suddenly, whirling around sharply to face Chakotay dead on. "Why are you doing this?" he asked desperately, almost pleadingly, all of his Captain's pride gone, "You're the last person I'd have ever expected to try something like this…"

Chakotay's gaze hardened challengingly. "If you've spoken to the Admiral already you know exactly why I'm doing it, if you couldn't make a good guess before." He replied bitingly.

Sorrow and regret instantly revealed themselves in Harry's now age wrinkled eyes, his shoulders slumping forward, as if acknowledging his argument wasn't a particularly satisfactory one. He took a deep breath, "We've suffered…horrible losses over the years, I'm not denying that, but there are some things that just can't be changed."

"You sound like me, or how I used to." Chakotay told him with a sad wistfulness, "Maybe it wasn't just the Captain who rubbed off on you."

Harry shook his head, "No, I think everyone helped train me up at least a little." He looked up at Chakotay with moist but hopeful eyes. "Aren't you going to give this up then?"

"I can't…" Chakotay said with surprising force, "I've come this far, I won't give up on them and you wouldn't want me to…"

Icheb spoke up for the first time since they'd left the transporter room, "This…mission has a low probability of succeeding." He remarked with cool succinctness.

Chakotay turned to face the young, well not so young anymore, former Borg questioningly. "Did Korath load me down with a dud?"

Icheb paused, obviously reluctant to answer. Chakotay could clearly envisage the cogs of calculation turning in his complex mind; it was a trait he and Seven had definitely shared. She'd be proud of her adoptive son, standing straight as a steel rod in his red and black uniform with the three gold pips of a Commander. Yet, Chakotay still thought of the lanky, solemn but eager to please young teenager he'd met over twenty seven years ago. It unsettled him to think that that boy was now the same age, and rank, as he'd himself been when he first met him. "No, the temporal device seems to be functional as near as I can determine." Icheb finally answered slowly, "But your plan is otherwise flawed."

"How?" Chakotay asked with interest, no more inclined to beat around the bush than Icheb was.

Icheb answered with a question of his own, "How are you going to convince the Voyager crew of twenty six years ago to follow your plan? The Admiral made it clear that after a great deal of…" He sighed in disapproval, "…ill-advised research on her part, she found that the Borg transwarp conduit was the only plausible faster route back to the Alpha Quadrant. I, however, doubt that you will be able to convince Captain Janeway to take such drastic action."

Chakotay nodded in acknowledgement of his point but replied steadily, "You didn't know the old Captain Janeway like I did. She'd do anything to get the crew home that bit faster, hell, I, in all my infinite wisdom, had to haul her back from some of her crazier plans." He looked at both men seriously as they sighed, knowing this had been true of their Captain. "Even then, we'd faced the Borg before and I can help them face them again…" His chest heaved painfully, suddenly weighted down with all his own niggling doubts. "I know they'll risk it, when they some of what will happen…"

Harry gasped, and then lowered his head unhappily, but anger sparked to life in Icheb's eyes. "You cannot tell them, it would be cruel." He said sharply, staring at Chakotay in disbelief, "You would wound Seven in that way?" he questioned accusingly, "You know as well as I do the guilt she would suffer…"

Hurt and outrage exploded from Chakotay in a near shout before it softened to an anguished groan, "I've never blamed her for any of this and I'd never let her believe that for a second…"

"Perhaps." Icheb conceded, grief starting to smother his anger. He'd loved Seven as a mother and knew he wouldn't be the full individual he was now without her early influence. As for Freya, he'd doted on Seven's child from her birth and as she'd grown she'd been a like a little sister to him… "What about Freya?" he asked softly.

A lump rose visibly in Chakotay's throat. A tearful catch could be heard in his now hoarse voice as he answered, "She may…not exist as she did here, but here she died young and…violently. I don't want that for her. If this works, Seven and I will have children and they will be loved by both of us just as much as we loved Freya here…"

These words had a deeper effect on Harry and Icheb than any of his other, louder, exclamations and Harry felt the loyal friendship in his heart win out against the obedient Starfleet officer. "I won't stop you trying Chakotay, not now. That journey cost too much."

"Yes…" Icheb whispered before he, in an unusual attempt at a human gesture, touched Chakotay's shaking shoulder. "You realise you won't be able to come back?"

Chakotay gave his arm a fatherly squeeze. "I always knew Icheb, and it's never mattered."

Seven of Nine stood in Voyager's brightly lit Aeroponics bay, uncharacteristically frozen by indecision as she apprehensively studied all of the flowers around her. Perhaps Chakotay wouldn't be expecting her to follow this custom, it wasn't as if she was in the habit of humouring human traditions. She shook her head in self-frustration, making her cortical node, which was still recovering from the removal of her emotional fail-safe the hour before, throb a little in complaint. No, it was considered well mannered to show gratitude to your host, and she certainly was grateful to Chakotay for showing her so much attention on their dates. She shivered nervously and checked her internal clock; there were still ten minutes until she was due to arrival at his quarters. Making her decision, she swept hurriedly around the rows of flowers, picking and choosing. She avoided pointedly sensual blooms such as roses and lilies for the same reason she wasn't wearing a dress, she didn't want to appear to be making presumptions about his romantic intentions, if he had any. So, she had put on a clean biosuit and now chose a mixed selection of innocuous, but still pretty and fragrant, flowers. Gripping the fine green stems gave her something to concentrate on other than her anxiety, although said concentration was almost snapping the flowers in two, and the canopy of the bouquet hid her badly shaking hands from view. Almost as an afterthought, she picked out a large daisy, but as she stared at the white petals a strange chant entered her mind. He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me… She suppressed the thought ruthlessly, blushing. Where had that come from? Suddenly, her internal clock reminded her that she had only five minutes and she dropped the daisy with an agitated sigh. As she stepped forward, her legs felt weak and disorientated, her heart starting to race. Losing patience, she made her way to her console and dialled in a site to site transport, dismissing Starfleet regulations for the moment.

When she materialised in Chakotay's quarters, his dark eyes, wide with shock, made her instantly fear a mistake. "Am I early?" she queried anxiously when he didn't speak.

He swallowed convulsively, fighting for composure. "No…you're right on time." He watched her avert her eyes shyly and felt an unexpected jest come to his lips, "Was there something wrong with the door?"

Seven shook her head, pink flooding her pale face and making her even more attractive. "I did not think it…discreet to be seen carrying flowers to the First Officer's quarters." She explained quietly.

Chakotay, despite his nerves, couldn't help but chuckle in agreement. "You're probably right about that." He admitted, reaching over to take the proffered flowers. He didn't want to correct that little misunderstanding, finding the idea of her researching such a thing adorably endearing. "I'll put these in some water…"

Seven felt a pleasant shock of electricity shoot up her arm as his warm hand brushed hers to take the flowers and, powered by that impulse, she tightened her own hand on his arm and pulled his face to hers, pressing a kiss to his lips. The kiss was passionate, she went further than she ever would have done if she'd taken time to think about the action, but it was Chakotay's response that brought true meaning to it. He didn't pause for a heartbeat before teasing his tongue past her lips, a sensation that made Seven gasp in surprise and pleasure before giving in entirely, helping him to deepen the kiss. Self awareness kicked in again brutally and Seven pulled back, the urge to smile suppressed by shock at her own forwardness. "I…I read that there can be a great deal of…tension leading up to the…first kiss…" She stammered as she met his smouldering dark eyes and gulped, "I wanted to attempt to…alleviate that tension…"

"That was very thoughtful of you." Chakotay murmured in a voice so low it made her spine tingle. She could now see the smile tugging at his lips in the semi darkness and was suddenly assured that the eyes burning into her were not angry but affectionate and…lustful. "What about the second kiss?"

Seven tried to dip her gaze again, a habit she had when uncertain, but she found she couldn't look away from him. "I…I would need to check my research…" He cut her off, as she had done to him previously, with a kiss. This one had a gentle confidence in it that made her want to melt into him as he kissed her even deeper than before, this time curving an arm around her waist, placing his hand on her hip bone, to pull her whole body flush with his. Her enhanced hearing could register a low moan building in his chest and she instinctively curled her fingers tightly around his uniform to prolong the embrace.

Just then, the insistent beep of their comm. badges went off in tandem. Stubbornly, they utterly ignored it, were in fact barely aware of the sound until it was joined by the Captain's voice, "Senior Officers, report to the Bridge!"

The hue of the red alert lights splashing over their faces made them acknowledge this, but if they hadn't badly needed air by this time they probably would've held out a little longer. Chakotay tilted his forehead down to touch Seven's as he muttered huskily, "Next time, we turn the comm. system off."

"Agreed." Seven murmured in the same tone, letting her head rest on his as she breathed heavily to restock her lungs."Let's go."

A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D