Author's note: This is my first fanfic, so comments are welcome. I hope you enjoy it.
NOTE: Paramount owns Star Trek Voyager and theses characters. I am just playing with them before it's their bedtime.
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"Paris," he said. Janeway looked at him, not knowing how Tom could be involved, but she did understand he believed Tom was behind this.
"You think Tom did this?" she asked.
"I'm thinking mutiny," he clarified. Then it all made sense to Janeway. She needed to get to the bridge and check it out.
"Doctor, if you don't mind, we would like to leave and go to the bridge, if we're healthy," she said. He scanned them once more before making a decision.
"Go right ahead," he said. "The cure appears to be working." With that, they left Sickbay and headed for the turbolift. Next stop, the bridge.
--
Tom knew that when that turbolift opened, it would be Janeway and Chakotay. He stood up the chair he had been sitting in--the captain's--and announced, "Captain on deck." The remaining bridge staff stood. Janeway forced a smile at them, then walked to Tom.
"Tom, my ready room, now," she said. Tom walked toward the ready room, but Harry wasn't going to let Tom take the blame.
"Captain, this wasn't Tom's idea," he said. She looked at him in disbelief.
"What wasn't his idea?" she said, anger hinted in her voice.
"The mutiny," he clarified.
"So whose was it?" she asked, trying to keep her voice in check. She didn't know what he was going to say, but she hada feeling she wasn't going to like it.
"It was mine." She was speechless. It was so unlike Harry that she hadn't even suspected him. "Tom only got involved after we had the whole thing planned out."
"We?" she asked. At this, B'Elanna stepped forward form the engineering station.
"Harry and I," she said. "It was his idea, but I helped plan it." Chakotay looked at B'Elanna, disappointed. B'Elanna could see it, but stood her ground. "Mutiny was only plan B. Tuvok wouldn't listen to reason and left us no other choice."
Janeway didn't know what to say, but clearly, this was going to be dealt with here and now. I hate when they gang up on me, she thought before speaking.
"Let me get this straight. You tried to reason with Tuvok, he wouldn't change position, so you mutinied, Tom took command, contacted the Vidiians against orders, and then came back for us?" The bridge officers looked at one another.
"Well, sort of," B'Elanna said.
"Sort of?" Chakotay asked. "Something must be missing in the story because that is what it seems like."
"A mutiny wasn't necessary for Tom to take command. Crewmembers were already beginning to stop working and stop listening to commands. Tuvok was putting them in the brig. We only set them free, took command, and locked him in the brig," B'Elanna said. She knew this was looking bad, so she walked toward the Captain, trying to reason with her. "Captain, if we hadn't done what we did, the whole crew would be in the brig, and Voyager would be a sitting duck, dead in the water. You should have heard Naomi Wildman. She said her first word. It was 'Janeway.'" Janeway had been about to say something but was silenced by that. If an infant knew her name and wanted her back, then surely, she couldn't go too hard on the crew. Besides, she really wanted to be back on Voyager.
She made her decision.
"Let Tuvok out and I'll forget this mutiny. If you need me, I'll be in my ready room," she said, then walked into her room. Chakotay watched her and then turned to Tom. He pressed his combadge and called down to the brig, where they were to let Tuvok out.
--
Tuvok was let out of the brig, and the first thing that happened was that he was summoned to the captain's ready room by Captain Janeway. He complied and was there as fast as he could move.
He rang, heard Janeway call him in, then entered. "You wanted to see me, Captain?" he asked.
"Yes, actually. It's about the mutiny," she said.
"What about it?" he asked.
"You're supposed to say, 'What mutiny?'" she said. There was a slight smile on her face and Tuvok realized she was joking, but he was surprised she was acting this way. he was surprised, but he knew it wasn't illogical. Tuvok's face remained unmoved, so she explained. "I've decided that the mutiny never happened and no disciplinary action will be taken." Tuvok nodded his head in understanding, but he still believed there should be some for of punishment. Janeway read it off of him, but left it alone. She wasn't in the mood for Vulcan logic.
She waited for him to say something, but he said nothing. After a few minutes of silence, she could take it no longer.
"If you have nothing to say, Tuvok, then you are dismissed," she said. He left, saying nothing. Once the doors closed, she walked over to her couch, lied down, and fell asleep. She needed to rest, to think. Sleep was calling her and she was not about to go to her quarters. If she was in her ready room, someone might think she was working.
--
Janeway stood and looked around her. She stood in the middle of a room of mirrors. She looked in each one, but she did not see herself. The reflection in each was different. In one, she was standing tall, a Starfleet admiral. In the next, she was a mother. In the third, she was a civilian and married to Chakotay. In the fourth, she was Amelia Earheart. She looked around at the rest and started to scream.
She pounded on the mirrors, but the images haunted her. She began spining and all of the images began to blur together. She wasn't able to see clearly. When she was finally able to see, she looked around.
She was in a dark cave. In the middle of the cave, was an old, locked box. It was a cage, locked with a large padlock and chains. She walked toward it, and saw what was inside. It was something red, with the word "Janeway" on it. She examined it closer, but never figured out what it was.
She heard a voice and sat up from her couch. She looked around and saw she was in her ready room. She was breathing heavily and got up. She tried to remember what she had dreamt, but she only heard "Find the key!" screaming in her mind. She might not have been as worried, if not for the fact she knew the voice, but could not place it.
--
The next day, Janeway and Chakotay went to Sickbay to be re-scanned by the Doctor. They were sitting on two biobeds while he got two hyposprays. The cure was working, but they would need another dose, just to be sure.
As the Doctor got ready, Janeway tried not to look into Chakotay's eyes--she still wasn't sure what she was going to say. Since she had gotten Tom's call, she couldn't think of anything but him and she knew she would not be able to look him in the eye just yet. Luckily, the Doctor walked up with the hyposprays and pressed them to their necks.
"You are free to go. Same time tomorrow," he said.
"Doctor," Janeway said. "How long will we have to take these?"
"According to the Vidiians, at least once a day for a week, but I am going to say a month, just to be safe," he answered.
"Thank you," she said, then stood up. She was not looking forward to more of these uncomfortable sessions. She walked out, and Chakotay followed. He did not speak to her, knowing she was going to need time. He knew she would be ready in her own time and pushing her would do no good. They went their separate ways, neither speaking to the other, except to relate orders and ship status. Janeway knew she needed to think and Chakotay knew too, but he wondered if she was taking this just a bit too far.
--
A month passed, and Tom Paris noticed the distance between Janeway and Chakotay. They only spoke about matters pertaining to the ship and crew, and nothing separate and only in front of crewmembers. Never alone together. He had seen they way they acted in Sickbay--he did take a few duty ships now and then--and how they couldn't even look at one another. Neelix told him they stopped having their weekly dinners.
Tom, B'Elanna, and Harry sat at a table in the mess hall, a chair empty at their table. The only other available seat was with Janeway. Chakotay walked in, passed Chakotay, and sat with them. Janeway didn't even look up from her work.
"Hello," he said. The there did not know how to respond--it was an odd situation. B'Elanna was the first to break the silence.
"What happened to you?" she asked. They all could tell she was angry--it was her hot klingon blood.
"What?"
"You're not yourself. You can't stop looking at her but you stay even farther away. What happened to you on New Earth?"
"Nothing happened," he said.
"Chakotay, don't lie to me. I know you better than that. Something happened back there, we all know it."
"Nothing happened," he insisted.
"If nothing happened, sit with her," she said.
"What?" he said.
"You heard me. Sit with her. Talk with her. Surely two months didn't leave you with nothing to talk about." Chakotay didn't know what to do, but saw Janeway leave. He got up, and followed her out. He realized he needed to say something.
"Hey," he said. He realized he had no clue what to say. He had been thinking about if everyday for that past month, but he couldn't think of what to say. Janeway looked at him, a bit surprised. "On your way to Sickbay for your last dose?"
"Yes," she answered and walked on. He was going to need to talk to her, it was driving him mad. Besides, he would feel bad for making her feel bad for being the reason B'Elanna was going to kill him.
--
The next afternoon, when they usually went to Sickbay , Chakotay went to the ready room. He rang the bell, and she called him in. He walked in and she expected reports. He gave her them, but stayed where he was. She looked at him, knowing what he was going to say already. She had been waiting for this, but still didn't know what she was going to say. Anticipation was killing her.
Actually, she had been dreading this. She had been thinking about what she was going to say every moment--awake and asleep--for the past month. She knew that no matter what she said, no matter how sure she was it was jsut right, she would wake up and scratch the words.
She stood up, and walked over to him, deciding she might as well speak from her heart. At least then, her feelings would be out there.
He opened her mouth to speak, but she covered it with her hand.
"Let me speak," she said. "I don't know what to say, but my heart doesn't want to go back. My heart screams for you, takes over my mind, and lets me think of nothing but you. I can't stop and I don't want to, but my job, the delta quadrant, and . . ." She couldn't say another word. She wanted to turn away, to cry, but Chakotay grabbed her and held her close.
"I will never leave you. You stole my heart since the start and no matter what you do, it belongs to you," he said. She looked up into his eyes and everything else disappeared. It was just the two of them.
Just then, they were interrupted by her combadge.
They separated and Janeway answered it. It was Tuvok. Tuvok, she began to think. That was the last thing she remembered before blacking out.
To be continued . . .
What do you think? I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, but I have lots of schoolwork so I hope I don't keep you waiting too long. Please comment.