The scans on Seven's console blinked a very bright red. She had been able to locate the stolen drive that the adult Gretchen had said was onboard. It had been added to one of their own shuttles. She looked up to inform the Captain she'd found a modified type two shuttle with the stolen experimental drive, but was cut off.

"Captain." Tuvok stated from his place at tactical. "A shuttle in shuttle bay one has powered up and the force fields around the bay door have been dropped."

Janeway turned quickly and stared at her Vulcan second officer. "Do not allow that shuttle to leave this ship." She commanded in an eerily calm voice.

"Captain, I'm detecting that Ms. Nonnahs' shuttle is also launching from shuttle bay two." Harry added.

Turning on her heel to look at Harry who was on the other side of the bridge, the Captain suddenly had an idea. "Harry, scan our shuttle for life signs."

It took a moment for Harry to complete the order but when he looked up the bewilderment was evident on his face. "There are no life signs, Captain, on either shuttle."

Janeway nodded. "That's what I thought."

"The shuttles don't seem to be going anywhere. They look as if they're following at a distance." Chakotay added in as he looked down at the screen next to him.

"Harry, keep an eye on those shuttles." Janeway ordered before turning to Seven. "Can you locate either of them?"

Seven looked down at her screen and tapped a couple of buttons before simply answering. "Yes."

Janeway nodded. "Seven, Tuvok, your with me. Arm yourselves. Commander you have the bridge. Do not try to tow in those shuttles."

"What's going on, Captain?" The broad shouldered first officer asked.

"We have a saboteur on board. Have B'Elanna scan every inch of this ship for explosives and a main control hub." Janeway ordered as she headed for the turbo lift.

Chakotay frowned. "Llennodo Nonnahs?"

Janeway shook her head. "No, actually it's Ensign Delvine." Then she shook her head again, this with a sigh. "I'll explain more later." If she can still remember any of this that is. As she waited for Tovuk and Seven in the lift she pressed the heels of her hands to her temples. She really hated time travel.

Tom shook his head as the turbo lift doors closed. "This is really going to make B'Elanna's day."

The hallway on deck five was empty except for the red haired captain hidden just around the curve of the corridor. The computer relied to her through her earpiece that both shuttles had been launched and the movements of Bruening's bio signs. He was heading her way quickly, no doubt on his way to shuttle bay one, but he would never make it. Gretchen loosened and tightened her grip on her phaser as she waited. For a moment she wondered how she could have let herself be taken in by him, but she knew that he wasn't like this in the beginning. He had been a good man when they'd first meet. The conflicts had changed him, like they had changed everyone; only he'd lost his grip on it all. Or at least that's what she told herself. She couldn't bring herself to believe that he'd used her.

The sound of fast moving footsteps brought Gretchen out of her thoughts and she reacted quickly. She stepped out from her hiding place just in time to come face to face with her target. "This stops here and now Mister Bruening. Put your hands on your head and get on your knees." She ordered as she pointed her phaser at him.

Bruening smiled sickly at her. "Hello Gee Jay. I was wondering you'd come out into the open so I could see your pretty face one last time."

"Get down on your knees and place your hands on your head, Lieutenant Bruening. You are under arrest for a countless number of crimes, starting with one hundred and forty-seven counts of attempted murder, and ending with treason against the Federation." Gretchen stated in a voice that sounded a lot like her mother's. "Then tell me where you put the bombs and the control hub."

The man remained standing where he was but his smile quickly faded. "Oh, so this is how we're playing it. Your going to pull rank and toss orders at me." The smile returned and it made Gretchen's stomach twist. He didn't look like him except for the smile. It was unnerving. "Well, Captain Janeway my dear, in case you hadn't noticed, I stopped taking orders from you a long time ago."

Gretchen could feel her body tense up as Bruening moved towards her, but she kept the phaser aimed at him. "Don't think your getting past me Malcolm."

Bruening took a few more steps closer to her and made a point of keeping his hands where she could see them. "You won't shoot me, Gee Jay."

The knuckles on her hand began to turn white from the grip that Gretchen had on the phaser. "You take another step closer and I will, Malcolm. Your not getting away, your going to tell me where you set up the bombs and where the controls are to turn them off, and your going to do it now."

"I don't think so baby. You see by the time you or them find anything I'll be on my shuttle and half way back to our time, and you'll all be space dust." He came a little closer. "Ya know, babe, it's a pity you won't be there, but hey look at it this way, you never liked being in the Alpha Quadrant anyway, you hated having to leave the Delta Quadrant, you hated having to leave Voyager. Now you'll never have to leave. You can be with Voyager in this godforsaken part of space forever."

It hurt Gretchen to hear him using what she had told him in confidence against her, but it did not surprise her. It seemed to just fit in with the type of man he had become. Gretchen smiled after shaking her mind clear. "Oh, wait, do you mean the type two shuttle you hooked the drive up to? The one that we were able to find, the one that I just launched along with my own out of the shuttle bays? The ones' that will self distract with one simple verbal command from me? Is that the shuttle you're talking about Malcolm?"

Bruening's cheeks grew a hot red as his eyes narrowed. "You blow up those ships and you'll be stuck here as well."

"It'll be worth it." She hissed in return.

"You'll die when this ship blows to pieces." He told her.

Gretchen rolled her eyes. Did he really think that was a clever line? Even if she weren't here at the moment she'd die anyway if the ship blew up. She wouldn't be here if anything happened to her baby self. "This ship isn't going to blow up, Malcolm, because your going to tell me how to stop the series or you'll die with us."

"We'll take you with us, Gee Jay." Bruening said after a long moment of silence. "We'll grab the kid and take her back to our time. You don't have to die. You didn't cause anything. You were just as much a victim as the rest of us!"

Now it was Gretchen who's cheeks burned. "This isn't about me or my life, Malcolm. I'm not going to allow you to kill an entire Starfleet crew, my family. My parents!"

The sick smile on Bruening's face reached to his eyes as he moved a little closer. He'd heard the sound of the others getting close and knew that little miss Starfleet captain would react if she thought the time line were being damaged. "They have to be stopped, Gretchen! If Voyager never returns to the Alpha Quadrant then the conflicts would never happen! What are one hundred and forty some lives compared to the thousands that will die in the conflicts!"

Gretchen had heard them coming as well. "Shut up, Malcolm."

"What's the matter, Gretchen? Don't you want the Admiral to know what her actions will end up doing? Don't you think your mother has the right to know she starts a war?" He barked at her.

Her face was nearly the color of her hair. "Not another word, Mister Bruening or I will have no choice but to shoot you."

"You won't shoot me, love." Bruening said sweetly as he reached out to caress her cheek.

Her left brow shot up as Gretchen tilted her head. Did he really think he could his chrams would work on her now after all that he'd done to her? She pushed him away with her left hand and watched as Bruening stumbled back. She didn't want to stun him because she wanted him to talk, but she did fire off a shot on the lowest setting which pushed him into a bulkhead.

Bruening growled in pain as he lunged forward, pulling a knife from his boot and raising it high over his head. Gretchen increased the level on her phaser and was about to fire again but stopped short.

"Mister Burening." Janeway called out. When the man turned to look at her she spoke just as she fired off a shot from her own phaser. "Don't mess with my little girl."

Bruening crumpled to the floor as soon as Janeway's shot hit him.

Nothing was said as Gretchen just stood there stunned as she watched the rest of the scene play out in slow motion. She watched as Tuvok mind melded with Bruening to find out where the bombs and control hub were, and then as the stunned man was taken away. It wasn't until she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up into a pair of icy blue eyes that she finally said. "Now I know someone will have to come clean up the mess I've made."

"You did not 'make a mess'." Seven said coolly and yet affectionately. "It was Bruening who contaminated the time line."

Janeway nodded, as she looked the young woman over with what Gretchen knew as a mother's eye. "What he said, about our return…"

"You know I can't explain that." Gretchen said quickly.

Her mother nodded, "I know but I wasn't going to ask about the 'war' he talked about. I was going to ask about what he said about you."

Gretchen looked down at the decking before she looked up again only to meet her mother's gaze. "It isn't important. I should have the shuttles return to the ship so I can remove the drive from your shuttle before we leave." Before her mother could say another word Gretchen was walking away.

"I will assist you." Seven announced after sharing a look with her love. She knew that Kathryn had a habit of over looking this certain detail. She was so focused, rightly so, on getting everyone back to the Alpha Quadrant that she forgets that not everyone onboard is from there. Seven her self harbored apprehension about returning to Earth, so she knew that the children born here on Voyager would feel the same way.

"Thanks, but I really think the less time we spend together the better." Gretchen replied softly to the woman now walking beside her.

"I will assist you." Seven repeated with a little more firmness to her voice. Then she softened as she added, "It would be more efficient if we worked together."

Gretchen smiled softly but warmly up at the younger version of her mother. She would clash with both of her mothers growing up, but never once did Gretchen every feel as if they weren't there for her. Even now she knew that the real reason Seven wanted to help was so that she wouldn't be alone. She'd just had a lot of emotional crap dumped on her on top of this highly stressful mission. The last thing Gretchen wanted was to be alone and somehow her mother knew that, even though this wasn't the mother who knew her so well.

Several hours later the three women stood in the shuttle bay alone. Burening was secured on Gretchen's shuttle waiting for the return trip to their present and his awaiting trail. Gretchen, dressed in her uniform, stood in front of her mothers and smiled at the beaming pride washing over her in waves.

"Gretchen," Janeway said as she reached out and put her hand on the young woman's arm. She hadn't been able to shake what was said about how her daughter felt about Voyager's return, and she wanted to know how she could help when this happened in her time.

Gretchen shook her head. "It's ok, Mom. Despite what you heard, I had a great childhood. I know you both worry about it but don't, you're great moms."

"In case I don't say it enough in the future I want you to know I'm proud of you." Janeway told the young woman before hugging her.

After hugged Seven Gretchen walked up the ramp to her shuttle but stopped when she caught sight of someone beaming in behind her mothers. She smirked at him. "Hey ya Duc."

The man in the very futuristic looking blue and black uniform just shook his head. "What is it with you Janeways and time?"

"Someone has to keep you on your toes, Commander." Gretchen teased.

"Go home, Captain." Ducane said with a shake of his head. "I have work to do here."

Gretchen nodded and looked again to her mothers. "See you in a few years."