The Hands of Time

Part VII

Rated: MA
Pairing: J/C
Summary: The hands of time stop for no one.
Disclaimer: The characters always belong the Paramount, and some of the script, but the story is mine...thank god for small favours.
Date: November 2000
Length: 1082 words

Three days later Chakotay awoke to the most horrific noise he has ever heard, and which he never in his life wished to hear again. For as long as he lived, he would never forget the noise Kathryn had made on that day, in that hour, at that beginning of the road.

Chakotay had vowed to stop her suffering. To release her pain. To make her the Captain she had been. It seemed to Chakotay every time he opened his mouth or his heart to this woman she ended up getting hurt. "Kathryn...what..."

She moaned and he knew. "Oh god, Chakotay it hurts."

In all the years he had know Kathryn Janeway, in the capacity of Voyager's Captain, as his best friend, as his would-be love, he had never heard a noise like that. "Kathryn...what can I do?"

She looked desperate. That was another thing that Chakotay had not expected to hear from her. The look of desperation dissipated as the pain subsided. He watched as she finally took in a gulp of air, and got the breath to speak. "Chakotay..." She whimpered.

He graced his finger across the soft and fair skin on her cheek. "If I could make it better I would."

She closed her eyes against the pain. Once the initial shock of labor had subsided and she realized this was something that she had to do, something she had no choice in...she had calmed considerably. Chakotay knew she was still in pain, and the occasional whimpers and groans only stood to increase his concern.

It felt like an eternity had passed, what was really mere hours. To Kathryn however, it felt like forever. Finally after the end of forever, she got the urge. "Chakotay, I have to, oh god I have push, I feel like...I have to go to the bathroom, I have to...oh god, I can't control this Chakotay."

Chakotay turned to her. "Kathryn honey, come back...come here, I need you to be here with me." He pulled her down to sit in front of him, her back supported by his body.

He whispered into her ear, "Kathryn, I know it hurts. I know you don't want to do this, but you don't have a choice. The quicker you concentrate, the faster its over with and hopefully we can all go home." He started to get up once the contraction was over. "Kathryn, I'm going to leave you for a minute, I need to go get Tom, he needs to be here. He needs to help." He hesitated before leaving her. "I love you." He kissed her temple and was gone.

Three minutes, but what to Kathryn felt like ten minutes past the end of the world Chakotay returned with Tom in tow. He whispered something to Tom, and the next thing she knew Chakotay was repositioned and Tom was checking her cervical dilation.

Tom looked at Chakotay and they exchanged concerned and knowing glances. Tom finally got up the guts to open his mouth and force commands to the woman who has saved his life more than once. "Captain...Kathryn, on the next one I need you to push. Remember only when I tell you. You're going to have to give me the control for a bit. I need you to give it all you've got. I need you to forget the why, forget the how, and forget all the people you'd like to kill for putting you here. Think, this will get the crew home. Think this will help. Think...that first officer of mine needs me to be strong, as he always has. Think push."

The next minutes went by in a flurry of excitement and action for Kathryn. She felt her world exploding. She felt the searing pain, she felt the extreme exhaustion, she felt her body being ripped in two by the emerging soul, she would learn to call Ris. Ris Chance Janeway was born on this planet, born to these people. Kathryn's thoughts led to her ideals for the future of this child. A future she pictured as futile. How can a people let a child be born to live...only to die.

Kathryn wept, she wept at the beauty of the moment. She wept at the hurt the death of this baby would cause her and Chakotay both. She wept at the loss, she wept at the pain.

She wept because it felt good, then...the shooting pain traveled from her back to her abdomen. "Oh god not again. Tom, what the hell is going on?"

Tom got a panicked look on his face. "Maybe its the afterbirth...maybe...Oh shit Chakotay, there's another one."

Kathryn looked panicked. "What do you mean 'there's another one'." She felt the urge. She pushed with all her might.

"It's crowning Kathryn, just a little longer."

Kathryn had tears streaming down her face. "Chakotay if its another boy...what are we going to do? How did we end up here? Chakotay, I love you."

With her admission she gave one last push and her second child was freed from its tomb of despair. She felt a great relief. She heard Tom proclaim the sex of the baby. "It's a girl."

Chakotay picked up the child, "Kathryn, a daughter."

Kathryn looked into his eyes the happiness in her own was reflected ten-fold. "Adrienne Clare Janeway." She smiled a watery smile as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Addy and Ris."

He kissed her lips, and then felt faint as the world around them disappeared.

I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone
All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind
Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind, All we are is dust in the wind
Don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind, All we are is dust in the wind

END PART VII
TBC in PART VIII

Dust in the Wind by Kansas