The Doctor's suspicions only deepened with every second he spent in Chakotay's company. The man he had always known for his attentiveness was now barely listening to him and sat frowning at the door Seven had used. Maybe I'm thinking too much, I know they weren't involved then, Seven still had her emotion suppressing implant at that point. Turning to Chakotay he tried valiantly to keep his anxiety from his expression, "You're free to go, there's nothing I can do for you." Chakotay blinked in surprise as if he had forgotten where he was and left Sickbay with barely a nod of acknowledgement to the Doctor. The worrying final diagnosis came quickly to the Doctor's mind and he knew he had to do something. Clicking hurriedly on his comm. badge he called Tom. "Tom I think you, me B'Elanna and…" He wondered whether to inform Tuvok of his suspicions but decided against it. "…Harry need to have a conversation."

"About what?"

"What do you think? The Chakotay situation."

Tom evidently caught his drift. "Right, ok. We'll meet in Harry's quarters in ten minutes; Seven's kids are still staying in mine. Are you going to tell me what's happened?"

"Not over the comm. line."

"See you there."

Ten minutes later the four of them had congregated in Harry's quarters. "What's the new development Doc?" asked Harry, breaking the ice as the Doctor paced anxiously.

"We have a new problem with Chakotay."

"He's been the problem all along…wait did Seven tell him?" asked Tom urgently.

"No, that's not it…" The Doctor braced himself for their reaction with an agitated sigh. "I have reason to believe he's jealous of Seven's late husband."

"Jealous? Of himself?" exclaimed Harry incredulously.

"I always thought they got up to something while they were stranded on that planet together…" muttered Tom.

"It's neither the time nor the place for that sort of talk!" snapped the Doctor.

"We're not saying it is Doctor but what other explanation do we have for jealousy? On the other hand he could have discovered something…" Harry responded.

"Would it be such a bad thing for him to know?" B'Elanna quietly spoke up.

"What do you mean? What about the Temporal Prime Directive?" Harry asked.

B'Elanna scoffed, "As if any of us have ever given a damn about that, Chakotay included."

"Let me get this straight you want him to know about Seven?" Tom asked his wife in confusion.

"Yes! All I know is that she made him happy, more than anyone else…she told me she didn't want to manipulate him…what else can you call that but selfless love?" B'Elanna was surprised at the strength of her own reaction but she remembered how much pleasure her friend had taken in his wife and children and it just didn't seem right to deny that.

"None of us are saying that Seven didn't love him or he her, we all know how it was, but this timeline isn't so great, Chakotay, Captain Janeway and many others have died in the last five years, personally I'd like that to change." Harry made his position clear.

"I know…so we tell him everything and send him back?" Tom pondered.

"Ourselves alone cannot make that decision…what does Seven think Doctor?" said Harry seriously.

"I have no idea, she's shut me out completely…" he replied, deeply dissatisfied.

"We'll just let it run its course, not interfere." Tom suggested quietly.

No one could refute that, so they left having determined that they should ignore the situation but not tell Tuvok about their conversation. As they left they were all dissatisfied in their own way but B'Elanna especially and Tom picked up on this as they walked home. "You've really changed your tune on Seven; I never thought you liked her."

"I didn't." B'Elanna admitted truthfully, "But Chakotay made her better…as you have me…I admire her more than like her I suppose…I don't know how I would've coped if I'd lost you like that…"

Tom turned to her, "I know you would cope…let's just pray to God you never have to." B'Elanna nodded thoughtfully in agreement.

Meanwhile Chakotay, against his better judgement perhaps, sought out Seven, unable to get her grief stricken face out of his mind. He found her in her cargo bay, mercifully alone.

Seven stood bent over the container, fighting her grief anger and fear, once again clutching the photograph. "Seven?" The sound of his voice made her jump, the gentle concern in it tearing at her soul.

"Chakotay!" she exclaimed in an unnaturally high pitched voice, he caught a glimpse of a photographic pad as she hid it from him but decided not to comment. "Can I do something for you…" She tried to call him Commander but couldn't bring herself to do it.

He averted his eyes and shifted his feet nervously. "Not really…I just…" Oh God, why am I here? Why do I feel so drawn to her, not only here but in my own timeline? His tone affected Seven and she automatically looked into his face, what he saw in hers made his heart twist and he reached out to her. "Have you been crying?" he asked her forcefully, unable to explain to himself why her glassy tear filled eyes affected him so much.

"No!" She read in his face that he didn't believe her. "It… is a very… stressful …time for me…"

"I know…you shouldn't let the Doctor add to that…"

Seven's lips twisted into a sad smile. "I know…you've told me that before." Why did I tell him that? It's too intimate.

"I did? Well, start to listen then!" He said trying to lighten the mood and failing dismally as she stood, head down and silent

Why do I have to love such a kind man when all I can do is reject it while longing to fall into his arms and cry? This bitter thought helped a single tear break through her defences and slide down her cheek without her fully realising.

Chakotay saw the tear and a lump formed simultaneously in his throat. "Seven…you know your husband and Captain Janeway would be very proud of you don't you?"

Seven bit her lip, imagining how Captain Janeway would react to this situation, not well. Chakotay, her Chakotay, would be so hurt… "Perhaps." She finally managed to reply, staring at the floor.

Chakotay wanted to say more, wanted her to reach out to him, but knew it would never happen. Stuck for words to say but unwilling to leave her, he said the first thing that came into his head. "You know after you were gone, the Doctor informed me I was out of temporal sync…of course I am! I've gone five years into the future…"

Seven head snapped up. "Wait! Did he say your cells were out of sync?"

Chakotay was relieved to see a flicker of the Seven he knew but was confused as to what she meant. "I don't know I can't really remember, does it matter?"

She stepped closer to him in agitation. "It may be relevant. There are many methods of time travel but only one that I know of takes the participant out of temporal cellular sync."

"What's that?"

"Temporal Anomaly 8465."

He smiled wryly at the name, it was so typically Borg. "I should have guessed." To his surprise she didn't seem to take him literally as she always had done in the past, just raising a knowing eyebrow at him.

"You should return to your quarters while I study this possibility."

"I could help you."

"No, I don't believe so." Her shields were back up, his moment of access was over. It hurt him more than he would have admitted to be shut out so unceremoniously.

"Keep me up to date." He told her, leaving without another word. He made his way back to his quarters but once there the agitation and frustration overwhelmed him. He struggled under the strain of his different emotions pulling him in opposite directions. Deciding to meditate he dug out his things from the cupboard, a surprise hitting him when he pulled out a child's toy train. What have they been using this room as, a nursery?

No matter how much he tried to relax, images and emotions bombarded him, mostly concerned with Seven. After hours of this he couldn't take it anymore and punched out wildly. "What's happened here?" he cried out in frustration. Seven's face floated in front of his eyes and he silently asked himself, What's happened to me? He made a rash decision, "Computer where is Seven of Nine?"

"Seven of Nine is in Commander Paris' and Lieutenant Torres' quarters."

What the hell's she doing there? He asked himself as he made his way there. When she opened the door with Luke at her side, he realised he hadn't thought about what he was going to say to her, finally coming up with, "The last place I expected to find you is here."

Seven's mind quickly formed a lie. "My quarters were damaged in an attack, Commander Paris and Lieutenant Torres have allowed us to stay here." They were both spared from saying anything else as Isabel suddenly began crying for her mother. "Excuse me." She told him quickly.

Luke remained where he was, staring at the stranger in the doorway. He didn't know why he was there, all he knew was that this man made his mother sad and that wasn't right. He had to make this man go away. He glared up at him, "Go away, you make Mama sad!"

Chakotay stared at the little boy in shock. "No, I don't."

Luke shook his head vehemently. "Yes, do! Go away!"

Chakotay's mind was reeling when Seven returned a couple of minutes later. "What can I do for you?" she asked.

Chakotay glanced quickly down at Luke. "Nothing…it doesn't matter…" He practically ran away, crashing into B'Elanna. "B'Elanna, tell me what's going on here!"

B'Elanna looked cagey, raising his suspicions even further. "Chakotay…if you really want to know you have to find out for yourself."

Chakotay gazed at her and saw truthfulness and anxiety on her face, nodding silently he retreated to his quarters. "Computer, give me access to Captain Chakotay's logs now! Access code Alpha Gamma 14 Beta 1!"

"Unable to comply."

"God damn it!" He yelled, bending down at the console, he would have to try to break into them, looking at the screen he got a shock, Borg algorithms. I'm blocked out of my own logs by her Borg algorithms! Suddenly all the pieces fitted together in his brain. No, it couldn't be. Something in him told him it was true and eventually he gave in. "Computer show me wedding and birth certificates related to Seven of Nine." This was not blocked and three popped up on the screen, all with the same familiar signature under husband and father. Shock numbed his emotions before he could feel anything, but as if his body was detached from his brain his hand tapped the comm. badge and his voice said, "Seven, come to my quarters please."

A/n: I decided not to drag it out anymore, what do you think? Please review!