A few weeks later, at the beginning of the seventh year of their journey, Kathryn devised a plan to infiltrate the Borg collective that involved allowing herself to be assimilated.
It was a step too far for Chakotay.
He presented her with three further options, none of which involved her being part of the away team. They debated his suggestions in the ready room for two hours, but, at the end of it, she was unmoved. He conceded. When they emerged afterwards he was sure there wasn't a soul on the bridge who didn't know exactly what he'd been trying to do in there.
But, if she thought he was just going to let her do this without spending at least those hours that were left with him, then she didn't know him as well as she thought she did.
On the eve of the mission, he waited until 23.05, then he took his life in his hands, let himself into her quarters and climbed into bed with her, refusing to entertain the possibility she'd send him away. She didn't.
She helped pull his t-shirt up and over his head and then she husked into his ear, "Did you get lost on the way to your bedroom, Commander?"
"Not exactly, Captain. I was looking for something and I thought I might find it in here."
Then, he held himself over her, gently pinned her arms above her head on the pillow, sealed his mouth over hers and made love to her like there was no tomorrow.
Being with her all through that night soothed his soul a little, and he hoped it helped her find the strength she needed to go through with her ludicrously dangerous plan. It seemed to take everything she had to tear herself away from his embrace at 06.00 the following morning.
Before she left, she took his hand on the bridge in front of everyone.
He saw her resolve waver momentarily and he wondered for a split second if he should stop her, if she wanted him to stop her; but he let her go. Part of him understood that she needed to do this. Perhaps she believed reaching this level of devotion to duty would begin to atone for some of what she was still beating herself up about after the Equinox? Even though it was months ago now, she'd said nothing to make him believe she'd really moved past it yet.
After hours of chaos and destruction, she returned, weak but triumphant. Every instinct told him to go to her the minute they'd beamed her back, but he was in command and so he did his duty.
He sent Tom down to see B'Elanna, and was surprised when Paris returned to the bridge after a relatively short time. As it wasn't long before the end of the shift, Chakotay had presumed Paris wouldn't come back up. The pilot fielded a query from Harry Kim, who must have had the same thought as Chakotay.
"She's totally exhausted, so I've left her to sleep a while. I'll go back and see her later." Tom replied. As he turned away from Harry to seat himself back at the helm he caught Chakotay's eye and raised his eyebrow a fraction, sending a pointed look towards the turbo lift.
Chakotay stood immediately, "You have the bridge, Tom."
A little over twenty-four hours later, Chakotay returned to sickbay again and persuaded the Doctor to discharge the Captain to her quarters.
Despite her protests, Chakotay gathered her up into his arms and carried her all the way.
When they were settled on her bed he told her he was done hiding.
He knew she was in a weakened state and he probably shouldn't be issuing ultimatums at a time like this, but he'd reached his limit and that was that. It had been too hard. Something in him had snapped when he'd walked into sickbay the day before and seen her on that biobed.
He cradled her body in his arms and then she told him that she was sorry.
She wept silently and told him she'd been terrified that the mission would succeed, but that she wouldn't make it back. She said she was sorry for how hard it'd been recently – that she'd made things so hard. She asked if he could ever forgive her for using things he'd told her against him the way she had when they'd argued. He kissed her tears away and told her he'd forgiven her months ago!
She locked eyes with him and said that she was sure, now, that she wanted them to be together. And if he needed them to be open about their involvement, then open was what they would be.
Two days later, as they stepped off the turbo lift after their public breakfast in the mess hall, Chakotay placed his hand on the small of her back and addressed her none too quietly.
"B'Elanna tells me Tom has a new programme of an authentic, little Venetian restaurant that's well worth a visit. Fancy giving it a try and having dinner with me this evening?"
He could have sworn there was almost a collective groan from the bridge crew as they despaired of him, and, in his peripheral vision, he couldn't help but catch the look that passed between Harry Kim at opps and Ayala who was at tactical. Mike's grimace said far more than he ever did, and Harry was thinking so loud Chakotay could almost hear him. Does the man never give up?
A small, one-sided smile lifted the corner of Kathryn's mouth. "It's not enough that I braved Neelix's fish-substitute breakfast with you this morning?"
"I just thought you might welcome a little diversion, from your evenings alone with your novel."
"You know, that's a lovely idea, Commander, you've got yourself a date, come by my quarters at 19.00."
He wished he could've turned round to see Harry's jaw drop to the deck, but he knew it wouldn't really do.
As they entered the little restaurant that evening, out of uniform of course, they nodded acknowledgement to other crewmembers and seated themselves at a table in a secluded corner. Chakotay found it hard to concentrate on the food. Absurd though it might seem after several years of being with this woman, the evening felt like a first date.
As she drained the last of the wine from her glass his hand caressed her thigh beneath the table. Well, like a second date perhaps... They rushed the rest of the dinner somewhat.
A few days after that, he came off duty to find her stripped to her tank top, sweating, as she prised from its moulded fittings, a section of the bulkhead separating their quarters. She'd rarely looked so desirable to him as she did at that moment, and it was all he could do not to hoist her up to straddle him and talk her into bulkhead-sex right there. He snapped out if his reverie when she spoke.
She said it was uncaptain-like to skulk down corridors, so they needed a door. He laughed and kissed her hungrily until she pulled back, and then he sent her off to her bathtub while he finished the job.
He combed Ayala – probably the only man on the ship he could rely on not to ask any questions. His friend transported a door panel to Chakotay's quarters, together with the proper parts and tools needed to fit it and then he exercised some of his latent skills and promptly erased the transporter log. Even though she'd said she was OK with being open about their relationship, Chakotay didn't imagine Kathryn wanted to explain a modification like this to Tuvok yet, anymore than he did.
In the back of his mind, Chakotay wondered vaguely about where Mike had got the door from without arousing suspicion? He suspected Ayala's bathroom might now be kind of open plan…
Three weeks later, Tom and B'Elanna got married.
At the party after the ceremony, Chakotay dipped his head beneath the searchlight of Marla Gilmore's smile and reached for Kathryn's hand. He led her out to join the other couples on the dance floor.
He held her in an unambiguously intimate and sensual way, circling her waist with one arm to pull her flush against him and allowing his lips to graze her forehead. By the end of that one dance anyone who hadn't already noticed the gradually increasing off-duty intimacy between the command team during the preceding two or three weeks couldn't possibly be unaware of it any longer.
His heart raced as he suddenly worried whether she was really ready to face the consequences of what he'd just done, but she didn't pull back. She looked directly into his eyes and smiled her rare, radiant, full smile.
They left the party together. Paris watched them with a big grin on his face and nudged B'Elanna who just muttered,
"Finally."