I make no money off this because they aren't mine...I'm fairly certain you already know this. :) For other notes, check the prologue.

Ch. 5

"They're trying to blame you for this?" B'Elanna raged at Chakotay's announcement.

"Not trying…they made it very clear; they are blaming me for this."

"But, how?" Tom asked. "I mean, I was with you at the time Kathryn got kidnapped. I heard the call, and we were on Voyager. How much more of an alibi do you need?"

"Apparently Commander Hughes," Chakotay answered, referring to the commander in charge of the investigation, "has found evidence that the entire comm. call you heard was prerecorded."

"What?!" B'Elanna spluttered. "Okay, whoa, wait…can you just start at the beginning?"

"Sir, Captain Chakotay is here to see you," the lieutenant serving as secretary announced.

"Send him in."

Chakotay entered and immediately spotted Commander Hughes sitting on a couch near the side wall of the admiral's office. He couldn't help but feel a surge of distaste for the man.

"Captain, thank you for coming. I understand this is a difficult time for you," the Admiral said, standing up from behind his desk and offering his hand to Chakotay.

"Difficult?" Chakotay shook the proffered hand but dropped it quickly. "Difficult doesn't really describe it, sir."

"Yes…well, have a seat, please."

"May I ask what this meeting is about, sir?" Chakotay asked, reluctantly taking the offered chair. "Have you determined anything new with the investigation?"

"Nothing substantial, I'm afraid. Just a few…discrepancies we were hoping you could clear up for us."

"Of course, anything I can do…"

"Is it true you've started your own investigation?" Hughes asked, cutting Chakotay off midsentence.

He turned slowly to eye the commander. "Yes, some of my people have volunteered to help work on it."

"People like Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres?" When Chakotay nodded, Hughes cast the admiral a smug look. "Both former members of the Maquis. And I believe you also have Seven of Nine helping you 'investigate', is that correct?"

"Yes, Commander, that's correct." Chakotay replied tightly. "Why?"

"The way I hear it, you and Seven of Nine have been spending a lot of time together recently. What else have you been investigating?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Chakotay frowned. "Seven has been helping Starfleet engineers with the refit of Voyager while Commander Torres has been taking some extra maternity leave. She's been down in Engineering a lot replacing systems."

"And what about you, Captain? Have you been spending a lot of time down in Engineering?"

Chakotay nodded warily. "I've been closely monitoring what new systems are being installed in Voyager. So, yes, I've been down in Engineering a lot recently."

"You aren't an engineer, Captain."

"To survive in the Delta quadrant, we all had to roll up our sleeves and get dirty, Commander. I've worked on just about every system on that ship. I know my way around Engineering just fine."

Hughes lip seemed to curl up in distaste. "So, you're just a hands-on kind of officer?"

"Yes, what does that have to do…"

"And Seven of Nine? Have you been 'hands-on' with her, as well?"

"What?"

"Can't imagine your wife took that too well," the Commander sneered.

"My wife? What the hell are you talking about?"Chakotay got to his feet, refusing to be talked down to.

"Just how long were you and the Borg having an affair behind Admiral Janeway's back before she found out?" Hughes asked, standing toe to toe with Chakotay.

"You son of a bitch-"

"Gentlemen," the admiral banged his hand down on his desk, "that'll be enough. Captain Chakotay, please, sit down. Hughes," he continued, looking pointedly at the commander, "you're dismissed."

"They think you're having an affair with Seven?" B'Elanna asked incredulous. "Where would they even come up with something like that?"

"I have no idea. The only thing I can even think is that some of the refit personnel saw us together…maybe working in a Jeffries tube or something."

Now that his fury from the meeting was wearing off, Chakotay felt exhausted. "Other than that…there's nothing to even suggest…"

Seven cocked her head to one side. "While I do not find you repulsive, Captain, I would not be inclined to engage in any sort of extramarital affair with you."

"Thank you, Seven," Chakotay managed while B'Elanna just stared at the blonde.

Tom snorted, "Not to mention Kathryn would've blown you both out an airlock."

"And thank you for that, Tom."

"You are in error. I believe she would have used a phaser rifle," Seven commented dryly. At the disbelieving looks directed at her, she straightened. "The adm…Kathryn has often suggested using the injection of levity into intense situations."

Chakotay's heart clenched at how true Seven's words were. Kathryn really had done a miraculous job with her. He often wondered if it hadn't been for Maddie's calming influence if Kathryn wouldn't have given up on Seven a long time ago. He couldn't count the times he'd come home to find Kathryn pacing their quarters, Maddie sleeping soundly against her shoulder because it was the only way Kathryn wouldn't throw and break things because of yet another disagreement with the obstinate Borg.

Seven had gone head to head with Kathryn more than anyone else on the ship including himself. They'd come to refer to the Borg's formative years as training for when Maddie became a teenager. And now here was Seven, standing in his living room, applying the lessons Kathryn had so painstakingly tried to teach her, and Kathryn couldn't even be here to see it. That Starfleet would now try and pervert the relationships that the former Borg had managed to build incensed him further. If Kathryn were here, she'd have that commander's pips. And possilby his first born.

"What was that bit about us, though? Helping you investigate?"

"What?" Tom's question broke into Chakotay's thoughts. "Oh that. Well, as far as Starfleet is concerned…you are all in on it too."


The door had barely closed behind Commander Hughes' departure when Chakotay confronted the Admiral that had called him in.

"Sir, with all due respect," he seethed, "my wife and my child are missing! What the hell am I doing here?"

"Even in this day and age, Captain, when a crime like this is committed, more often than not, the perpetrator has some connection to the victim." The Admiral spread his hands open on the desk. "That unfortunately makes you a person of interest in this case."

Chakotay bristled but said nothing, forcing the admiral to continue.

"It has been suggested that you and Admiral Janeway were going through a bit of a rough patch." He held up a hand as though a friendly gesture. "Now I've been married for over twenty years, Captain, I understand that marriage is not all wine and roses."

"Kathryn and I are not going through a rough patch, and believe me, we have gone through them before." The incident with Ransom and the Equinox sprang to Chakotay's mind, but he wasn't about to start pointing out specific instances. "So believe me when I say that I would recognize it if we were having a rough time."

The admiral pretended to concede the point. "The Parises are close personal friends of yours?"

"Tom and B'Elanna are indeed close friends of both myself and Kathryn."

"I see." He pursed his lips. "And you were with Tom Paris at the time of incident?"

"I was on the bridge of Voyager. Tom was there as well as two or three others."

"And B'Elanna Torres, she was-"

"At home with their infant daughter."

"She's a pretty good engineer from what I hear."

"The best."

He nodded. "Uh huh, and she served with you prior to Voyager?"

"Yes, she was in the Maquis with me."

"And Tom Paris?"

"Briefly." Chakotay thought he could see where this was going. "As I'm sure you already know."

"Do any of you stay in contact with your old companions?"

"You mean our old Maquis companions?" He received the Admiral's nod. "No, sir. They all died on Tevlik's moon."

The older man seemed to consider this for a moment before offering, "Not all of them."

Chakotay's knuckles were white he was gripping the arms of the chair so tightly. With every question the admiral asked, his fury was growing and he was becoming in serious danger of striking the man. "Sir, may I be blunt?"

The Admiral sat back in his chair, pushing slightly away from the desk. He inclined his head. "By all means."

"What exactly are you suggesting happened?"

Steepling his fingers in front of his face, he regarded Chakotay for a long moment before speaking. "The evidence suggests that you were in some way involved in the abduction and disappearance of your wife and child, and that you have the motive and means with which to accomplish such an act either directly or with the help of accomplices."

The entire universe around Chakotay seemed to tip on its axis sending him careening over the edge. He lost all perception of his surroundings save for the man sitting across from him. "I see."

"If you admit to it now and cooperate, it'll go easier on you, son."

The roaring in Chakotay's ears threatened to drown out what the admiral was saying.

"Your home has a state of the art alarm system that was conveniently turned off. Your daughter has an emergency transport system that you reported as malfunctioning, and yet our engineers can find nothing wrong with it." The admiral's tone had become hard. "How do you explain these things, Captain?"

The beast in Chakotay's chest screamed in agony at his inability to strike at the enemy across from him, but he remained silent not deigning to answer the questions he himself wanted answers to as well.

"You told your daughter, and I quote, 'Mommy can take care of herself'," the Admiral continued outlining his case. "That doesn't sound like much of a loving husband to me."

Chakotay's own words repeated back to him made the bile rise in his throat.

"And yet, you told your daughter to hide, and you've started your own 'investigation'. What happened, Captain? Was Madelyn not supposed to be there? Did you get cold feet at what your 'friends' might do to your young daughter? Was it only Kathryn they were supposed to kill?"

Chakotay stood up, knocking his chair over with the back of his knees, his entire body shaking. "My wife is not dead, and the longer you investigate me, the more time you waste."

"You'll forgive me if I don't take you for your word."

"Are we through here?"

"For now," the Admiral nodded. "Don't leave the planet, Captain. We may have need to contact you again shortly."

B'Elanna couldn't believe it. She was enraged on Chakotay's behalf, but she was also worried. If Starfleet was investigating them, the real kidnappers were getting further and further away. "So now what?"

"Now?" Chakotay looked at her. "Now I'm going to do exactly what they expect. I'm going to pay a visit to Sveta. They want the Maquis involved with this? I'll make sure they're involved."

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