Rating: G thru PG-13
Bubbles... (J/C, Nov 26, 2003)
Bubbles, there ought to be bubbles.
Kathryn leaned back in the tub and tried to imagine her tub back home. When she opened her eyes, she was still on the planet.
It had been several weeks and she was finally settling into the routine on "New Earth". Chakotay was tolerating her fanatical pursuit of the bug that infected them. She watched him, watching her, knowing he was waiting for her to work out her nervous energy on her quest.
It was only a matter of time.
It looked like her time had run out.
The storm that destroyed her equipment had at the same time destroyed her hope and revived it. They weren't getting off this planet, ever, but that opened as many doors as it closed.
She sat in the tub, wiggling her toes against the wood. Wood he had hand carved. Her thoughts drifted back to watching him carve other things for their home. It hadn't occurred to her until just then that he always seemed to have his workbench set up nearby. Usually in direct line of sight from where she was.
Kathryn smiled. One of his Maquis campaigns no doubt. Not over selling, just displaying the goods to their best advantage, and just out of reach. She'd been too consumed with her work to really think about it before, but he was always there, not close enough to push her, but close enough that she'd gotten used to it and missed him when he wasn't around.
Like right now-he wasn't around and she wondered what he was doing. He'd been working on a sand painting when she'd come outside. He barely looked up as she passed by. Now she wondered if his gaze had followed her as she left the shelter. Or was she just letting her imagination run away with her.
There was a rustling in the bushes a few feet away.
Kathryn sat up suddenly.
They hadn't seen any dangerous wildlife, but still, naked in a bathtub would be a bad way to discover a new predator.
She called for Chakotay as she clambered out of the tub and wrapped a towel around herself. She was still tucking in the end when he arrive, phaser in hand.
Just then, the monkey stepped out of the brush.
Kathryn had to laugh at the situation. There she was, a Starfleet-former Starfleet captain, she amended, standing in a towel because a monkey had frightened her.
She glanced back at Chakotay and caught his eyes, before they looked up to her face. He looked away quickly and mumbled something as he shifted his weight.
Then he was gone, back into the shelter.
Kathryn watched him go. Maybe it wasn't all in her imagination? Maybe it was time to have a little talk about redefining parameters to fit their new status outside the command structure...
THE END
Sport... (J/C, Dec 7, 2003)
Janeway stopped abruptly and wheeled around. Tom almost fell over as he tried not to smash into her.
"I don't want to, Lieutenant." She stared at him, but he didn't flinch.
"But, Captain, everyone will be there."
She started walking again -- fast.
He jogged to keep up.
"It would be good for morale."
She raised an eyebrow and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
He knew he was getting to her. "You wouldn't have to sing, or dance, or anything. You could just help me emcee."
She kept walking.
"On old earth game shows, they always had female host. It won't be authentic otherwise." Tom voice began to twist into a whine. Authenticity wasn't his strongest card, but he was running out of arguments.
"Time's up, Mr. Paris." Janeway stopped in front of her cabin door and tapped the panel. The door whooshed open revealing Commander Chakotay, standing with arms crossed, filling the doorway.
Janeway slid past him without a backward glance.
"Captain!" he called after her, trying to shoulder his way past Chakotay, but failing.
Chakotay adjusted his stance, putting his hands on his hips, and drilling Paris with his eyes.
"Captain! Be a sport!" Paris called after her again.
Janeway chuckled as she took a cup of coffee from the replicator and carried it to the couch.
Tom's shoulders slumped and he gave Chakotay a dejected look.
Chakotay grinned and began to step back into the room.
Tom's eyes suddenly lit up. He pulled a PADD out of this jacket and tapped on it, calling up a picture of a 20th century duo of game show hosts, then he handed it to Chakotay.
Chakotay's eyebrows rose as he took in the sparkling emerald gown the woman was wearing.
Tom and Chakotay exchanged a look as Chakotay handed him back the PADD.
Chakotay turned and walked toward the couch. As the door slid shut Tom heard him say, "Kathryn, maybe you should reconsider this...."
THE END
Toes... (J/C, June 15, 2004)
This one is for Joanna --
In the middle of "Future's End", end of Season 3.
Kathryn walked along the boardwalk ostensibly looking for the source of the temporal distortions they'd been tracking. The sun was warm on her face and she wanted to kick her shoes off and stick her toes in the ocean.
Of course the ocean was a little farther away and Chakotay might notice her attention had wandered if she did anything that obvious.
Speaking of obvious, or thinking it, Chakotay brushed against her again. If he could have been any closer, she didn't now how.
He pointed at a bird flying by and at the same time his arm swung around her shoulders.
Ok, that was how.
She smiled and leaned into him. A quick glance up confirmed that he was smiling at her. No, he was beaming.
She commented on the birds and the sunshine as she wrapped an arm around him. Neither of them commented on the situation, afraid to shatter the moment by acknowledging it.
It felt so natural to stroll along the boardwalk as two anonymous people. Just a man and a woman enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. If they couldn't find a way back to their time, this is what they would be. Just a man and a woman in this time and place. Protocol would evaporate in the face of the Temporal Prime Directive. They would live out their lives in some obscure place.
Chakotay would love that, she thought. A simple life away from the big cities.
She hugged him closer as she thought about it.
Tom would love it here too. He was such a fan of the 20th century. And B'Elanna shared his interest --
She stumbled as her toe caught on the end of the boardwalk.
Chakotay caught her and kept her from falling. She was looking up at him to thank him when her communicator chirped. Tuvok had a lead on the time-ship.
Kathryn closed the connection and rubbed her forehead. She sighed and looked up at Chakotay.
His eyes looked wistful now. "Tuvok's ears and B'Elanna's ridges never would have blended in. And Chell..."
Kathryn squeezed his hand and let go as they walked off the boardwalk onto the street. "I know."
THE END
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