The Ring

Chapter 2

The Ring was so well-received that I'm not sure it's really wise to mess with it, but here goes. Let me know if you want any more of this, or if I should have left well enough alone!

There was little chance that the crew reception in the forward lounge of the Federation starship Dauntless would not be a raging success. At their rendezvous point in the outer reaches of the Alpha quadrant, Captains La Forge and Janeway staffed both ships with skeleton crews and put the few working crewmembers on short rotations to ensure that every sentient being aboard both ships could join in the first homecoming festivities. Now the Voyager crew stepped into the same room with another full Starfleet crew like shy teenagers at a high school dance, for the first few minutes at least. Then drinks began to circulate, old friends fell into embraces, the noise level rose, and the full senior staffs filed in at the back of the crowd, beaming at their rejoicing juniors like proud parents.

The last to enter the room were Janeway and Chakotay. At their appearance, Harry Kim began a cheer that the whole crowd instantly took up. In perfect Juilliard pitch, he began, "For they are jolly good fellows…" and by the final chorus, the deck plating shook with the cry, "and so say all of us!" Captain La Forge joined their hands and raised the triumphant fist, before stepping behind the bar and pounding on the hard surface for attention. Two well disciplined crews fell silent.

"It is my great honor, and that of my entire crew, to welcome such a legendary crew aboard the Dauntless," La Forge said. "Our ship is your ship. We have been ordered to escort the Voyager into Earth's orbit and provide for any immediate needs you may have. Our medical staff are at your disposal, as are our holodecks, lounge, replicators, and other facilities. Further instructions for your arrival on Earth will be forwarded individually. But for now, I have one very important announcement to make to both crews."

The Dauntless crew, who had little reason to react anxiously to sudden news, smiled and stood at attention. A slightly different atmosphere charged the battle-weary Voyager crew, ready at all times for another life or death struggle. La Forge seemed to notice the tension he'd triggered. "This is nothing but good news," he assured them. "This morning after the senior staff meeting in my briefing room, I had an unusual and unexpected request, but one I was very happy to fulfill. I now have the unprecedented honor to announce …" he paused for dramatic effect, enjoying the perfect silence of the crowded room, "that Voyager's command team are now husband and wife – or wife and husband, if you prefer."

He turned to Janeway and Chakotay with a broad smile to meet theirs, and they all laughed as the crowd let loose in even longer and louder cheers than before. Chakotay put his arm around his wife's waist and, over her modest protest, drew her in to kiss her comprehensively as the Voyager crew, and then the Dauntless crew as well, caught up in the euphoria, stamped their feet and hollered their approval.

The blue stone glinted from where Janeway had snugged her arm around her husband's neck. As they reluctantly pulled apart, she stood on tiptoe to whisper in his ear: "You put him up to this."

Chakotay shrugged. "You're wearing the ring," he observed. "You're out of uniform."

Her eyes caught the challenge. "I'm off duty," she parried.

"Then no one can object if we sneak out," he answered, just before the wave of congratulating crew overwhelmed and separated them.

Three days had passed since she took his ring. After his unexpected proposal and her even more unexpected acceptance, he spent the night in her quarters. Late that night, as she lay in his arms for the first time, warm and satisfied, he felt her tremble. "Kathryn?" he murmured, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders against the cool, recirculated air, still memorizing every movement of her skin against his, in case the whole evening was some Q trick about to evaporate. He smiled against her bare shoulder. "Was the inspection up to your standards?"

Her low chuckle resonated against him. "Exemplary in every way," she murmured, then shook her head on the pillow, hair spilling around her. "I'm sorry. You won't believe this," her voice came to him muffled and embarrassed, "but I'm afraid."

He shifted to get a view of her face, but she was angling it away from him. "Afraid of what? Kathryn, I would give my own life before I let anything hurt you."

"That!" she cried, her fist hardening against his chest. "That's what I'm afraid of! That being with me will put you in greater danger, or that –" she paused, and he could feel her heart pounding against his side. He kept quiet to let her finish. "That this won't really work, you and me." Now she turned his face toward his. There were no tears, not from Kathryn Janeway, but he saw her raw honesty and how much it cost her to confess this weakness. His heart swelled and broke and healed all at once to read in her face, so close to his, how much he meant to her, how much Kathryn the great had put herself in his flawed hands. He had dared to hope, but had never really believed, that this moment would come.

He propped his head on his hand to study her with unshuttered adoration. "You're not getting rid of me," he told her. "Not now."

She ran a finger along his thick bicep with a slow smile of admiration and delight, then mirrored his position. "I said to you earlier that I don't know how to be this way with you. It will take me a while to get comfortable with it. I feel like we're… oh, I don't know" – she paused, but her fingers kept tracing across his skin, learning its texture.

"Sneaking around?" he suggested, settling his hand on her hip with a novel and invigorating sense of possession.

"Maybe," she conceded. "I can't wear the ring on duty, you know. It doesn't mean I'm trying to hide it." She lifted her left hand from his skin to examine the stone again.

He leaned in to kiss it. "I know. I respect who you are out there, Kathryn." He gestured with his head in the direction of the corridor. "But I'm more interested in who you are in here." She fitted her hand to his neck. "In here, you are mine," she purred. Then, softer and more sweetly, "And I'm yours." She pulled him in for a luxurious kiss. When at last he lifted his head, she said, "We rendezvous with the Dauntless in three days, you know."

His expression was puzzled. "Yes," he answered. "The crew's really looking forward to it. Are you thinking about Starfleet's reaction to these new … parameters?"

"Captain La Forge is a friend," she said.

He looked even more perplexed. "I've met him once or twice. Seems like a good man. But what do the Dauntless and La Forge have to do with us?"

She lifted herself on both elbows and gave him a doubtful expression. "Would you object to a shipboard ceremony? Something very simple?"

He grinned and ran his hand up her back. "Kathryn, I will marry you at any time or place you name. The sooner the better."

She let her shoulders sag. "I'm so glad. I was afraid you were going to want a huge event with everyone we've ever met."

"We'll have that later," he deadpanned, and watched her blue eyes go wide. He laughed and pulled her down to him. "You know that the crew won't let us get away without a party, don't you?"

She groaned. "I know. It almost makes me nostalgic for Neelix's events. But don't worry, we'll give the crew the celebration they deserve. I'll be the life of the party."

He brushed her hair off her face and looked at her more seriously. "How do you want to do this, Kathryn? I'm not interested in what anybody wants but you."

She drummed her fingers lightly on his collarbone, visibly making a plan. "I was thinking that Geordie would be able to do it, aboard the Dauntless, as soon as we rendezvous. Tuvok and B'Elanna can be witnesses."

"Without your mother and sister? Without the rest of the crew? Are you sure?" he asked.

Her face registered regret at the mention of her family. "I know, Chakotay. We can have a celebration with them when we get home."

"But not a wedding." He tried to catch her eyes again but she was studying something on his chest. "Kathryn, what's this about? You've managed to wait all this time to get me in bed…." He stopped and laughed at the indignant look on her face. "All this time to get me in bed," he repeated in a teasing tone, "but you don't want to wait for a family wedding when we're so close? What's going on? You know, I had a little fantasy of my own going of you walking toward me on Tuvok's arm, carrying roses." He reached for a lock of her hair and wound it around his finger.

She opened her mouth as if to call his bluff and offer him the most outlandish, celebrity-style wedding that Earth could provide, but he recognized the moment when she realized she couldn't do it. Her face lost its animation. "I just want it done," she said in a soft breath. "This will sound superstitious and absurd, but I – I'm afraid I'll lose you too. I'm strong, but I'm not strong enough for that, Chakotay. You saw what it did to the admiral." She lay her head on his heart and held very still.

He pulled her tight against him. "Yes," he answered. "Let's just get it done."

#

After their first briefing aboard the Dauntless with Voyager's full senior staff, Janeway caught Chakotay's eye as she rose to shake Geordie's hand and thank him for his welcome.

"My very great pleasure, Captain," Geordie said. "If there's anything I can do for you or your crew, please don't hesitate to ask."

Janeway glanced down and, to the astonishment of her assembled officers, Chakotay included, blushed. "As a matter of fact, Captain, there is one thing." When she spoke her simple request, the staff lost all decorum. Everyone spoke at once.

"You did not propose without telling me!" B'Elanna shouted at Chakotay, slamming a hand onto the table as she jumped from her chair.

"Congratulations!" Harry exclaimed, clapping his hands together in unfiltered delight. He stood slowly, continuing to clap, cheeks reddening with the boyish joy that the Delta quadrant had never extinguished.

Tuvok said nothing but rose as swiftly as his eyebrows. Janeway looked at him and reached out a hand. "Tuvok," she said, "would you stand up with me?"

"I would be most honored, Captain," he answered, and moved to take the place at her shoulder that had so long belonged to Chakotay.

Tom laid both hands on the table and seemed to pass through a moment of shock. "Of all the underhanded maneuvers to defeat my betting pool," he said loudly. He turned to point a finger at Chakotay, seated immediately to his right, who was taking in the mayhem with the face of a man perfectly content to observe. "You knew I had no Alpha quadrant scenarios!"

Chakotay burst into well-satisfied laughter. "That's right, Paris," he chortled. "It's all about you." He swiveled slightly in his chair to look at the angry new mother next to Tom. "I'm sorry, B'Elanna. Would you still be willing to stand up with me?"

B'Elanna's glower evaporated into her widest smile. "Any time, old man," she said, and stepped toward the head of the table. "But if you hadn't tipped me off that I needed to be at this briefing, I would have ripped off your arm to beat you with it, wedding or no wedding."

Seven alone sat still and quiet, next to Tuvok's empty chair. Janeway noticed and took a step in her direction, then stopped with uncharacteristic timidity when their eyes met. Seven observed the aborted advance and rose to face Janeway.

"Captain," she said, "I wish you and the Commander every happiness. However, if you will forgive me, I am needed in Astrometrics." She nodded to the assembled staff and left the room with her usual long stride. Janeway and Chakotay exchanged a glance, but nobody else took notice of Seven's entirely typical reaction. Janeway began to hurry after her, but Chakotay blocked her path and whispered, "No Kathryn, there's no need. She's okay, I promise."

At the head of the table, oblivious to the small drama that had just played out with Seven, Geordie had grown solemn at the request. "I would be honored," he told Janeway when she returned to his side. He pulled up the language of the Federation standard marriage ceremony on his console in a matter of seconds and turned to face the couple. "Are we ready?" he asked.

Chakotay stood to take his place beside Janeway, facing Geordie. "Computer, disable environmental alarms in the briefing room," he ordered. He laid his phaser on the table, then pulled a few more small items from his pockets. He set a small chunk of resin in a charred bowl the size of his palm, then lit the resin with the phaser. It began to smoke, filling the room with a musky scent.

Janeway reached under her collar and pulled out a light gold chain, weighed down by the blue stone and another, simpler ring. She detached the clasp and let the rings fall into her hand, then handed one to B'Elanna and the other to Tuvok. She stepped to the replicator and whispered a command. A small bouquet of peace roses appeared. She turned back toward Chakotay holding the flowers. "At least I can carry roses," she told him. He beamed and drew her to his side. "Now," she announced to the room, "I think we're ready."

Geordie picked up a pad and began with ancient words that the Federation had retained: "Dearly beloved…." The familiar phrase was strange and comforting within the sterile walls of the briefing room, like a glimpse of the earthly home that was now so much closer. Tom and Harry stood off to the side, grinning at their commanding officers as if the whole thing had been their idea. When Chakotay took the ring from B'Elanna and slid it onto Janeway's outstretched hand, even Tuvok cleared his throat. When Janeway slid the smooth, unblemished ring onto Chakotay's finger and repeated, in a husky voice, "With this ring, I thee wed," the big man lifted his other hand to brush his eyes.

Then Geordie looked up. "There is a place in the ceremony to speak your own vows, if you like." They both nodded and took a firmer grasp on the other's hands.

Chakotay spoke first. "My beloved Kathryn," he said, "my captain, my soulmate, my peace, I call upon the four elements – water, earth, wind, and fire – to bless and strengthen our union. We are still far from the bones of our ancestors, but today I promise you that I will be your family, I will put your needs first, I will make your burdens lighter, as long as I have life and breath to give you."

As on that long ago evening in the shelter on New Earth, Janeway let a tear flow openly down her cheek. Beyond Chakotay's shoulder, she saw tears on B'Elanna's face as well. "My beloved Chakotay," Janeway began, pulling his hands close to her, "my rock, my soulmate – you know that I insist on being a scientist first and foremost, but a few days ago I learned that there is a superstitious Irishwoman alive in me yet. She saw her destiny in you, from the beginning. You – " her voice caught, but she charged ahead. "You make me more than I am without you. I know that I have been careless with your heart." She gave a fierce little shake of her chin. "No more. From this day forward, I will guard it as my most precious possession."

Geordie, fearing that the entire room might collapse into tears if the ceremony went on a moment longer, took his opening. "With the authority vested in me by Starfleet Command, I now pronounce you husband and wife," he said in the sort of commanding voice that would put steel in the spine of any officer. "Commander Chakotay, I order you to kiss your captain!"

"I thought you'd never ask," Chakotay grinned at Geordie, and obeyed.

#

Later, at the party, Geordie's first officer, a middle-aged Vulcan named Lek, took his captain by the elbow as the Voyager crew surged forward to congratulate their commanding officers.

"Was this wise, Captain?" Lek said at Geordie's ear, eyeing the crowd. "Knowing what they will face on Earth?"

Geordie held his face expressionless and answered without turning to Lek, letting the noise of the party mask his voice. "Kathryn Janeway is a friend, and she's been to hell and back. I consider this the least I could do for her, considering."

Lek absorbed this predictably sentimental, human response without any visible reaction. "It may make things more difficult for them."

Geordie accepted a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, took a sip, then said to Lek, "After what they've been through, I don't think they give a damn about difficult. They wanted to be married, and they deserve that much. Let's give them a few moments of happiness." Restoring the welcoming smile to his face, Geordie faced toward the crowd. Lek stood beside him in his usual stern attitude, observing.

To their left, Janeway was accepting an ensign's embrace and explaining for the sixth or seventh time the provenance of her ring. Chakotay, still near her but facing another direction, was accepting one hearty slap on the back after another. A few male Dauntless crewmen, moving away after offering congratulations, didn't see their captain and first officer hovering behind them.

"How long you figure that's really been going on?" one said to the other.

The taller one shrugged. "They seem pretty lovey dovey. I don't think they've been together long."

"You don't really believe that they've been waiting seven years like their crew claims, do you?" The shorter man set down one glass and seized two more from a passing tray.

The taller man laughed. "No, they're just happy they don't have to hide it anymore, that's all."

Geordie frowned. If the communications he was receiving were accurate, this was the most mild of the gossip and accusations they'd have to face. "Crewman Barnes," he said, just loudly enough that both of his subordinates turned toward him, their faces transforming into apologetic masks when they saw who it was. "I believe I gave strict instructions to this entire crew to disregard anything you may have heard about the Voyager crew and give them the warmest welcome possible. No gossip, even seemingly benign, will be tolerated."

"Yes sir!" Barnes exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think about what I was saying. It won't happen again."

"Me either, sir," Crewman Chan echoed. "I apologize for the lapse."

"Very good," Captain La Forge nodded. "If you hear anyone else 'lapsing,' be sure to let them know what I said." The two young men nodded eagerly and hurried away from him. "So it's starting already, even here, against my direct orders," he said to Lek in a low voice. "This is going to be worse than I thought."