Where Loyalties Lie

By: Jennica Williams

DISCLAIMER: I am not using Star Trek for profit. Paramount owns the characters, the ships, the uniforms, the biogel packs, even Neelix's food, I'm just here playing around with the ideas running through my head. No copyright infringement is intended.

What if it had all been different? What if the Caretaker hadn't pulled the Liberty and Voyager from the Alpha Quadrant? Would Kathryn have gone on content in her life with Mark Johnson? Would Chakotay have stayed with Seska? Or would fate have brought Captain Janeway and Captain Chakotay together?

"Careful..." Captain Kathryn Janeway’s heart leapt into her throat as the officer at the helm of her ship nearly brushed a writhing strand of angry plasma energy. Her bridge, normally well lit, was bathed in an eerie silence that battled with the darkness of red alert as her intrepid crew concentrated on following the pre-plotted course.

Voyager’s first officer, Commander John Cavit, shook his head in disbelief when another thread of pure energy skittered across the viewscreen through what was rightly called the ‘Badlands’. "Who would choose to come to a place like this?" he asked rhetorically, light casting an unnatural glow on his tense features. His captain didn’t have to look at him to know she would see her own apprehension mirrored in his eyes.

"Exactly why they chose it," Thomas Eugene Paris, son of one of the most prominent admirals in Starfleet and a current inmate at the Federation Penal Settlement in New Zealand, answered simply.

There was no concern in his voice, Kathryn noted, slightly envious. He had been here before, seen the dangers, and lived to tell about them — or in this case, steer Starfleet in the right direction. At least, she hoped that was what he was doing. For all they knew, he could be leading them into a trap.

"I’ve got something on sensors," Ensign Harry Kim announced. He was the greenest of all the bridge officers — Voyager being his first post. Kathryn nearly smiled as she remembered his desire to make a grand first impression on his new captain.

"The ship?" she asked, her voice wavering a little. Inwardly, she cursed herself, but no one seemed to notice the slight flaw, they were so intent on their stations.

"Yes ma’am. I believe so, ma’am," Harry stammered. "It’s in orbit of an M-class planet."

M-Class. Janeway almost laughed at the absurdity of the turbulent atmosphere outside Voyager being permitted to host a planet that could support life. "Other vessels?" She inquired.

"None within three lightyears, ma’am."

"Scan the surface; that’s where they’d be."

Kathryn frowned, but refrained from reminding Mr. Paris that his place was to make suggestions that would lead them to his Maquis friends, not give orders to her crew. He would, after all, be back in the penal colony soon enough.

"Thirty seven life forms on the northern most continent," Kim said after a moment. "And an additional six on the Liberty."

"Energy signatures?" Janeway demanded, rising to stand in the center of the command ring. "Do they know we’re here?"

"No, Captain," a junior grade lieutenant replied from where she was filling in at tactical. As the woman hesitated a moment longer, Janeway wished not for the first time that her security officer and old friend, Lieutenant Tuvok, was at the young woman’s post. He was instead on the surface of this planet in the middle of nowhere — a spy for Starfleet among the Maquis.

"The ship appears to be running at minimal power."

"Good," Janeway stumbled as helm made another course change and then quickly retook her seat. "Stadi, enter an outer orbit — make sure they don’t detect us," She instructed and then tapped her communicator. "Janeway to transporter room 1, prepare to lock on all individuals on the surface and ship to transport them directly to cargobay 2." She offered Cavit a small smile as he took his place on her left. "And let’s get this over with quickly. We don’t want to give them a chance to fight back."

"Understood," the officer on duty several decks below replied.

"Do it." Kathryn could only imagine the panic the Maquis would face as their comrades began to disappear from where they were standing. Outlaws or not, she almost felt a small amount of pity for them.

Almost.

Chakotay, their captain, was the reason Voyager had been given this assignment. He was not a danger to Starfleet because he was Maquis — of course they wished to disband the small group of rebels and would stop at nothing, but that was not the primary reason for concern. No, Chakotay was dangerous because he was formerly Lieutenant Commander Chakotay — a Federation officer and deemed a risk by Starfleet.

"Transporter room 1 to the bridge. All the Maquis have been relocated to cargobay 2."

"Thank you," turning to the helm she nodded to Lieutenant Stadi. "Take us out on half impulse. Warp five when we’re clear of the badlands."

With their cargo collected, Janeway wished she could relax as she retook her seat, but knew that luxury couldn’t be permitted. They still had to escape the violent storms of the Badlands.

~ * =/\= * ~

"Insist on talking to their captain, Chakotay! Find out on what charges we’re being held for this time!"

Captain Chakotay didn’t flinch as his chief engineer, B’Elanna Torres, spat the words in his face.

Sensing he wasn’t going to give in to her first demands, she attempted another route. "At least let us put together a plan to get out of here!"

"No," he answered firmly as he had every time she had made the request. "We’re on a Starfleet vessel, B’Elanna."

Anger flashed at him through her black eyes. But even as she argued, Chakotay knew the anger wasn’t directed at him, "You’ve given up hope?!"

"Starfleet isn’t like the Maquis," he informed her gently. "They have more advanced security systems than we do. If one of us were to escape, I would be willing to place bets that some sort of proximity alarm would sound inside of three seconds."

"Two point four."

"What?" B’Elanna reeled to face one of the newer members of their small band — a Vulcan.

"A security breech would be reported within two point four seconds," Tuvok repeated, stepping up to join the group.

"And how do you know this?" the unmistakable accusation hung in the air for a moment before Chakotay stepped in.

"He served the Federation," he reminded B’Elanna tightly. "Just like I did." Ignoring the swoosh of doors opening on the other side he added, "And he has the same Starfleet training that you got."

"Chakotay!"

Turning deliberately slowly, Chakotay moved his eyes from B’Elanna’s tense features to the ice cool ones of a woman on the other side of the cargobay. Marching into the room, she was followed by two armed guards flanking her on either side.

For a moment, he thought her incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Waltzing into the middle of a group of irate Maquis members usually resulted in loss of life -- in fact, it was only Chakotay’s reminders that this vessel had more in the way of security and methods of enforcing that control that refrained his crew from attempting a break out.

Her eyes, he observed, never wavered from his. They met his glare with a cool one of her own as she came to stand only a few feet from him. For a brief instant, he wondered if this woman was a Betazoid -- it felt as if she could read his every thought just by glancing at him.

"Captain Chakotay?" Janeway asked formally, cocking her head to the side. She had recognized him immediately, of course, from his Starfleet file. Though, his face was beginning to show signs of aging that weren’t evident in the photo and his voice when he had been talking to the young Klingon woman had held a hard edge that couldn’t be conveyed by the picture.

"How do you know my name?"

"We were sent to find you," her eyes finally released his and flitted over his shoulder. "It’s good to see you, Tuvok."

Jerking around, Chakotay stared at the Vulcan.

"I must inform you that I was assigned to infiltrate your crew, sir," Tuvok began politely, hands clasped behind his back. "I am Captain Janeway’s chief of security."

Feeling the red-hot knives of betrayal slice through his flesh, Chakotay wasn’t sure whether to blame himself for not following up on those few instances where he suspected something or blame the other man. "Were you going to deliver us into their waiting hands, Vulcan?" he finally demanded.

"My orders were to accumulate information on Maquis activities," Tuvok replied evenly. "And then yes, ‘deliver you into their waiting hands’."

Chakotay returned his glare to Janeway as Tuvok moved to stand with the Starfleet officers.

"You’ll come with me, Captain," Janeway said as she moved to exit the cargobay.

"And if I don’t?"

She stopped and looked over her shoulder as the guards tightened their grips on the compression phaser rifles. "You will come with me," she said again.

Or they’d stun him and take his body, Chakotay concluded. Without choice, he moved to follow, but was stopped by Seska’s hand on his chest.

"Chakotay, don’t," she whispered, eyes wide with fear.

He looked down into her frightened features hidden from Janeway’s view and then back at the Starfleet captain. "I don’t have a choice," he murmured. "Take care of our crew."

She held his gaze for a moment and then stepped back to the comfort of her friends.

Chakotay slowly followed Janeway out of the cargobay and into the corridors of her ship.

~ * =/\= * ~

Captain Janeway drummed her fingernails on the surface of her desk as she waited impatiently for Admiral Jertok to arrive. He would want to talk about the Freedom, she knew instinctively.

Voyager had been docked at Deep Space 9 for three days now and there was no sign of a ship with the brig capacity to contain the Maquis that had been collected. Currently, they were stuffed into every available cell that DS9 and Voyager had to offer — which were fewer than many preferred.

The door chime alerted Janeway to Jertok’s presence outside her readyroom. Almost immediately, Kathryn’s palms turned clammy as she rose to greet the officer. It wasn’t that an admiral had requested to see her; high ranking officers had been a daily part of her life growing up. No, it was this admiral. Jertok wasn’t known as a caring individual; his words were always warm, but spoken coolly. He had no reason to pay the captain of Voyager a visit unless bad news was on the way.

"It’s good to see that you came out of the Badlands in one piece, Captain," Jertok motioned for her to sit back down. "Barely."

"It was unavoidable," Janeway replied automatically, touching her console briefly to deactivate the screen. "The Freedom issued her own auto-destruct sequence before we could inflict sufficient damage to warrant an evacuation."

"Still, it doesn’t reflect best on Starfleet."

"If you’re not going to put me on report for following Starfleet orders-"

"Relax, Captain," Jertok shook his head with a crooked smile. "I’ve read the report thoroughly. In your situation, I would have done the same."

"Admiral is there a ship on its way to rendezvous with us or should I plan to take Voyager back to Earth," Kathryn changed the subject hoping to hurry the conversation along.

"The Leesburg is scheduled to arrive any day now," Jertok replied." The Maquis will be taken to one of the penal colonies in the south Pacific. Mr. Paris will, of course, be returned to New Zealand."

"And Voyager’s next assignment?"

"Patrolling the Romulan/Federation border," Jertok informed her. "The Enterprise had to deal with several skirmishes last week and Jean-Luc has become rather irritated with them. He hopes that another Federation vessel in the vicinity will enforce the border."

"Understood," Kathryn rose as if to end the conversation, but Jertok lifted a hand.

"Captain Janeway," he began hesitantly, "I have some disturbing news that I must relay to you." Kathryn felt her stomach turn over at his suddenly uncomfortable posture. "It’s the Rennington. Mark Johnson was listed among the passengers — I understand you are engaged to him?"

"That’s correct," she answered, forcing her face to not betray the array of emotions surging through her body at the very mention of his name.

"The Rennington was enroute to Acamar III when they engaged the Maquis ship, Victory III," Jertok told her. "There were no survivors on either side."

Kathryn felt her jaw slack in shock and couldn’t hold the gasp at bay. Letting out a shaky breath, she took a small step backwards. Memories of taunting Mark as a child, loving him as a friend, falling in love with him the man, and finally agreeing to be his wife for all eternity, swam before unseeing eyes. Unable to fully accept what the admiral was saying, she fought the urge to insist that Jertok was lying--Mark was actually well and playing on his living room floor with Molly at that moment.

Raising her eyes back to the admiral’s grave features, she knew he spoke the truth. Nodding once, she forced her voice to remain solid as she answered him.

"Thank you for telling me, sir," gripping the edge of her desk, she continued. "If you’ll excuse me, I believe I need a moment."

"You’ve got several days, Captain," Jertok reminded her gently, not sounding at all like the aloof officer of his reputation. "I didn’t want to be the one to tell you, but..."

"Thank you," she felt forced to say it. Thank him?? For telling her that her fiancée was dead?!? "I’d rather know."

He nodded as if he understood, "I’ll be in touch about the Maquis situation."

Jertok took a moment to watch her, concerned, but his face impassive. Satisfied that she wouldn’t break down completely, he turned and left, but made a mental note to keep an eye on Captain Kathryn Janeway.

~ * =/\= * ~

Captain Chakotay rubbed his eyes against the harsh white glare of the lighting above his bunk on Voyager -- he was the last Maquis on board the ship and knew it.

"Get up," the voice that had disturbed his sleep said again.

Rubbing a sleep-drugged hand over his visage, Chakotay turned his head in the direction of the sullen voice — toward the blue forcefield that separated him from freedom.

Captain Janeway stood there as menacing as she had appeared five days before when she had first led him down to the brig. In fact, if possible she was more intimidating than she had appeared that day.

Lowering the forcefield, Janeway placed one boot inside the brig, but stopped when Chakotay leapt to his feet.

Glancing behind her, he saw that she had relieved the officer at the console, but kept a firm grip on the phaser holstered to her hip. He wouldn’t bolt, he decided. Not this time.

Brown locked with blue and for the first time Chakotay realized he was looking not at a captain, but a woman -- a woman with very beautiful eyes that had turned a murderous shade of sapphire.

"You killed them," she seethed under her breath, taking the final step into the brig.

"Who?" Chakotay’s lips curled up as he noticed the stains on her cheeks obviously from tears. "I’ve killed many people."

She physically stiffened at his words and clenched the phaser a little more tightly. "The Rennington," Janeway met the other captain’s eyes with a fierce glare. "They were enroute to Acamar III when the Maquis attacked."

"Was only the Rennington destroyed?"

"Did you expect others?"

"The Bozeman was scheduled for...termination."

"The Bozeman was not engaged in the battle," Janeway informed her prisoner coolly. "Only the Rennington was destroyed that day." Her lips curled to match Chakotay’s smirk knowing he very well may have had friends on the Freedom. "Although, you may interested to know that Voyager was involved in a tiny skirmish three days ago. The Freedom issued an auto-destruct sequence. No survivors."

With a roar of fury, Chakotay leapt at the petite woman, but she was already out of the brig with the forcefield in place before he could reach her. A startled cry of pain escaped from his lips when he bounced off with an angry blue sparkle and fell to the ground in anguish.

Pulling himself to his feet, Chakotay came to stand within inches of Janeway’s face on the other side of the barrier.

"My cousin was on that ship," he growled, attempting to mask the physical pain.

"My fiancée was on the Rennington," Janeway replied angrily, surprised to see a sheen of tears fill his eyes.

"They may be able to keep me locked away for a few years, but eventually I’ll get out and they won’t be able to stop me from taking revenge for her death" he threatened, his voice low. "And when I do, I’ll come after you. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll kill you."

Janeway took a surprised step back and coolly regarded the man before her. Without a word, she turned on her heel and marched out of the brig. Pausing to take a deep breath in the hall, she motioned for the guard to take his place inside the brig again as she narrowed her eyes at Chakotay’s angry features. "Not if I kill you first," she whispered.

~ * =/\= * ~

Two Years Later...

"Captain, I hate to intrude on the few hours of relaxation you have-"

"That’s alright, Admiral Jertok" Captain Janeway told the computer screen, hoping that her face didn’t betray the range of emotions she felt upon seeing this man’s visage again. "What can I do for you?"

Jertok exhaled nervously. "I’m afraid I have some rather alarming news for you. Do you recall the Maquis captain you apprehended several years ago?"

"Formerly Lieutenant Commander Chakotay," Janeway nodded, wondering if she would ever forget. She didn’t mention that was the last time she had spoken to Admiral Jertok, nor that his last piece of ‘alarming’ information had been the death of her fiancée. "A very strong, spirited man if I recall the Starfleet files correctly."

"According to the reports you later wrote, you informed him of the loss of one of the Maquis vessels and he didn’t take the news well," Jertok reminded her. "If I’m reading through the lines correctly, he probably made a threat on your life."

Kathryn nodded in the affirmative, "It became a personal matter," she responded, the image of Chakotay’s eyes filling with tears swam before her mind. "I felt it best left out of the report."

"Well, he’s escaped," Jertok told her, his voice impassive. "The officials at the prison noted on several occasions his obsession with your career and specifically you — which makes me fear for your life."

"Thank you for the warning," Kathryn smiled graciously at the admiral. "I’m meeting Voyager in three days and until then I’m sure he wouldn’t attempt to shoot down every shuttle between here and Deep Space Five."

"I hope my concerns are unwarranted," the admiral picked up a padd on his desk and began to scan it. "But do try to be careful, Captain."

"Understood, sir. Janeway out."

~ * =/\= * ~

"Tomato soup, hot." Captain Janeway couldn’t resist letting out a contented sigh as dinner materialized before her.

It had been eighteen hours since her conversation with Admiral Jertok and Kathryn had been working non-stop. It was for the good of Voyager, she told herself, but she knew the truth — it was easier than the alternative.

Speaking of the former Maquis captain had brought to the surface all the emotions Kathryn thought she had put behind her. Mark Johnson had been the hardest man she had ever been forced to let go and--

Captain Janeway let out a howl as the floor as the Socrates shifted under her feet and hot tomato soup splashed across the front of her uniform.

"Computer, report!" she ordered the shuttle, pulling herself to her feet and bending over to retrieve the now-empty bowl.

"Starboard shields are at 56%."

"How many ships are on sensors?"

"One. Gallant-class mercenary shuttle."

"Gallant-class mercenary....?" Tomato soup forgotten, Janeway fought her way to the front of the shuttle, gasping as a blown conduit cover sliced into her hand. Hanging in space was the source of the attack — a small merchant shuttlecraft, traditionally used to haul goods from one docked ship to another at a starbase.

Lightly armed, if at all, the shuttles were the least likely to attack unprovoked because they simply weren’t well fortified. But this shuttle had already done a good deal of damage to the Socrates, Janeway thought to herself choking on the smoke billowing from the console in front of her as another stream of phaser fire struck the shields.

"Other vessel, identify yourself," Janeway forced her voice to remain calm despite her hammering heart. Twin glowing dots aimed at her shuttle were the only answer.

"Torpedoes?!" she exclaimed, caught off guard all the while attempting to enter in an evasive pattern. "What did you do to that shuttle?" she choked out as they detonated against her port side causing the craft to pitch. Grabbing for something to hold on to, Kathryn winced as the hurt hand closed around a brace on the floor. Clutching it with all of her might and biting her lower lip, she pulled herself back up to the consoles.

The video screen flickered to life for the briefest of moments, but that was all that she needed for the image of a mouth curled up in a cruel smirk and a high forehead etched with a tattoo across it to be stamped into her mind.

"Captain Chakotay...."

"Structural integrity has been compromised," the computer’s recorded voice responded automatically. "Hull breech imminent. Please implement escape procedures immediately."

Breathing heavily in the over-heated cabin, Janeway punched several commands into the computer with more force than necessary and then watched with satisfaction as the Socrates’ phasers seared across the hull of the other ship. The other captain had taken the upper hand at tearing her shuttle apart, she thought to herself only half aware that three-quarters of the circuitry in the shuttle had already been burned out, but Starfleet clearly had the better weapons and could do just as much damage.

Fighting to remain in her seat as another orange laser sliced across the side of her shuttle, Voyager’s captain desperately tried to alter her course heading to a small M-class planet.

"I can’t leave yet," she muttered at the bleating computer, ducking a spray of sparks erupting from the panels above as they rained down on her.

"If I have to crash or die," Kathryn vowed, "Chakotay’s coming with me." Concentrating on the attacking shuttle, the Socrates’ own phasers lashed out with deadly force at the tiny merchant shuttle.

A sudden roar filled Janeway’s ears as the craft entered the upper atmosphere of the planet. Gasping for breath, she clutched the fabric of the seat and forced herself to not scream as black dots danced before her eyes.

Oxygen and pressure levels in the cabin were not within human tolerance, Janeway knew as she felt herself sinking into oblivion. Unconsciousness was impending.

Jertok had been right, she thought to herself welcoming the black void seeping over her, Chakotay had desperately sought revenge.

The gentle lap-lap of water hitting the sides of her grandfather’s boat in the Pacific Ocean tickled the edge of Kathryn’s mind as she let her body be relaxed by the swelling of the waves under her. She was safe in the haven of childhood and warm from Earth’s glowing sun — nothing could hurt her again.

Coughing, Kathryn tried to roll over, but found she couldn’t. Her sister, as usual, had claimed the deck right beside her. And, as Phoebe always did, she had brought that insufferable feather pillow along which was now smothering Kathryn. Trying to push it aside, Kathryn felt a wave of terror pass over her when it refused to budge.

Clawing her way back to reality, Captain Janeway awoke with a start and was surprised to find herself lying on the ceiling of the Socrates instead of her grandfather’s boat.

Taking deep breaths, Janeway forced herself to remain still in the wreckage.

"Rest for just a moment," she whispered to herself remembering the confrontation and the beating her body had taken. When her fingers felt cold water beside her, Kathryn jerked awake again.

Pausing to listen carefully for a moment, she realized that the gentle rolling of the vessel beneath her and the lap-lap on the side of the vessel in her dream had been very real— her shuttlecraft had landed in water and was sinking!

Janeway forced her body to turn over and was immediately hit by a wave of pain, followed by alarm slamming through her body. Pain, she could handle, Kathryn insisted, biting down on her lower lip. But, as she had shifted positions, so did the shuttlecraft — and it was now quickly plummeting.

Pushing aside a piece of sheet metal that had once been a wall, Kathryn tumbled out of the craft and into the sparkling waters of the planet’s ocean. After tugging off the jacket and boots that were pulling her down, Kathryn grabbed a seat cushion as it floated by and began to kick as hard as she dared, fearing she would hurt herself even more, and put as much distance between she and the sinking ship as quickly as possible.

With a final gurgle, the Socrates disappeared under the blue-green waves leaving her captain clinging to a cushion completely alone in the middle of an alien ocean.

Breathe. Kick. Breathe.

How long had she been swimming? Minutes? Hours? Days? Kathryn didn’t know nor did she care. Gripping the cushion that had become a dear friend, she pressed onward.

Every so often, a sea bird would swoop down and pick up a small fish in its razor-like jaws or squawk at her reassuring the captain that land wasn’t too far away. But, her weary muscles felt like she had been swimming for weeks.

If she ever caught the Maquis captain that had done this to her...

Was that a larger fish, Janeway wondered, watching the water. Who knew what sort of enemies might be lurking in this ocean.

Or, in the air. She was seeing the sea birds and their terrifying kills more and more frequently and took hope that land would be soon in coming.

Land. Ironic she should want it so desperately considering she had spent the majority of her childhood dreaming of escaping the planet that held her captive. Once she got to land, she vowed, she would take several weeks of leave and hunt down Captain Chakotay to take care of him once and for all.

Kathryn choked on a mouthful of seawater as exhaustion began to creep in. Her muscles were tense and the birds were giving her a headache. Resting her head on the seat, she gasped for breath while digging her nails into the pillow as if it was trying to leave her.

Just a little further...she told herself. Just a little further...

Don’t move. Be perfectly still, Kathryn told herself, closing her eyes against the terrifying site below her. If they can see, you’re dead but if they react to movement you still have a chance to survive.

Taking in a shuddering breath, Kathryn tried to calm her beating heart, but found she couldn’t even breathe.

A flash of a fin and squawk from a bird and it was over. Kathryn watched in amazement as one of the sea birds dipped out of the sky to snatch up one of the fish that had been circling her. As the sea bird flew away, the school of fish below quickly disappeared into the depths.

Gasping and coughing on seawater, Kathryn left the seat cushion behind as she stumbled ashore and fell to her knees in the wet sand by the ocean. Tears of joy streamed down her face. She had survived!

Crawling further up the beach, she finally allowed herself to collapse in the hot sand.

"I made it," she whispered, too tired to fully speak the words. Closing her eyes against the brilliant sun, Kathryn Janeway was content to let herself bake on the shore for just a few minutes as the cries of the sea birds lulled her to sleep.

Something was watching her.

Awakening by instinct, Kathryn’s first thought was to leap to her feet, but found that her body protested in agony when she tried to sit up.

Forcing herself into a sitting position, she inched away from the golden-furred beast that had nudged her out of a slumber and was now gazing at her with a hungry look in his beady yellow eyes.

There had been trees behind her, Kathryn remembered groggily. Reaching back, she frantically tried to locate a branch or some other object with which she might fight off the beast, but came up empty-handed.

Drawing in a terrified breath, she could only watch and pray that the animal would move away. Foul breath wafted in her direction as the beast’s tongue licked its mouth and the sea birds shrieked from overhead.

Crouching lower, the animal acted as if he was stalking her, ready to pounce. With a strangled cry, Kathryn clamored to her feet ignoring the salt and sand pressing into her wounds as she attempted to get away while watching behind her.

A roar emitted from the beast as he launched himself at her, but in mid-flight — just when Kathryn was sure all hope was gone — an orange beam sliced through the air near her shoulder.

Spinning to see who was responsible for the death of the creature, Kathryn was caught square in the chest by another beam of light and fell to the ground unconscious.

~ * =/\= * ~

For the third time that day, Kathryn Janeway weakly tried to pull out of the oblivion she was captured in. In the distance, she could hear a voice groaning as if in agony and felt heat on her face.

Her head was throbbing and she could hear her own heart pounding against the thin shirt she wore. Slowly it dawned on her that the soft whimpering sound was actually her and the heat on her face had a crackling and popping sound associated with it.

Opening her eyes against the harsh firelight, Kathryn tried to lift her head and peer around the small camp but found her hands tied securely.

"Eat." Gasping, Janeway looked up wide-eyed at the darker man bent over her. His face was smudged with dirt and it appeared to have rubbed off on his shirt as well. The pants he wore had torn at the knees and his feet were bare. But, it was his eyes that caught her attention. He could be dangerous, she saw at once, deadly even. With an exasperated sigh, Chakotay reached down and roughly propped her against one of the stone ledges that served as a wall to his camp.

"Eat this," he again ordered, holding a chunk of meat in front of her mouth.

"The last time you spoke to me," Kathryn winced at her hoarse voice, "You made threats on my life," She looked at the food in his hands with disgust. "Why should I believe you haven’t poisoned it?"

"Because if I had wanted to kill you," Chakotay growled leaning down into her face until he was mere inches from her, "I could have done it several times by now."

That was true, Kathryn had to admit. If ever there was an opportunity to kill someone, it was in her sleep — and judging from the darkness that had descended on the planet she had been unconscious for several hours.

"My hands are tied."

Pushing the meat closer to her mouth, Chakotay gave her no choice but to take a bite from the food he held for her.

It tasted like a combination of smoke and sand, but Janeway knew better than to complain. Accepting another bite of the meat, she cautiously peered up at her captor.

"Why didn’t you kill me?" she finally asked. "The Maquis aren’t exactly known for being merciful."

Taking that as a cue she didn’t want any more, Chakotay took a seat in the sand and proceeded to tear a chunk out of the meat she had been eating. "You’re more useful as a hostage," he replied simply, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"You think Starfleet will exchange Maquis prisoners for me?" Kathryn asked, carefully hiding her doubt. If he thought she questioned whether or not Starfleet would trade for her life, she was as good as dead.

"You’d better hope they do. If they don’t..." Chakotay shrugged as a smirk slipped over his features, "I may have to finish you off myself."

Janeway turned around, but not before Chakotay saw the fear in her eyes. Fear for her life, he recognized. He had seen it many times in the eyes of other Maquis prisoners -- and for good reason. He wasn’t known for being the soft type. Ever. But this one, he decided, would be spared. He needed her alive in order to make the trade for the remaining friends still in the detention facilities on Earth.

"Time to sleep," Chakotay tossed the bone he had been chewing on into the fire where the liquid remaining on it hissed and popped loudly.

Janeway jerked her attention from the shoreline and back to the Maquis at hand. Pushing against the wall behind her, Kathryn managed to lie down in a somewhat comfortable position — at least, as comfortable as she could be with her hands tied together. Closing her eyes, she listened as her only source of companionship tossed a few more logs on the fire and then lay down on the other side of the camp.

~ * =/\= * ~

The sun rose early the next morning -- too early for Janeway’s tired body. Aware that someone was moving around her, she opened her eyes and peered through the fog that was quickly burning off.

The fire had died out during the night, but the smell of smoke clung to her clothes and filled her nostrils. Twenty meters away, the waves pounded on the shoreline. But, Kathryn found that Chakotay had somehow secured her to a tree during her slumber.

She must be weaker than she had first imagined, Kathryn thought to herself. Rarely could she sleep hard enough to not hear the sounds on her ship. For her to find herself moved the next morning was unheard of.

"What are you doing to me?" Kathryn demanded trying in vain to loosen the belt that held her hands.

Chakotay donned the vest he had shed during the night without a word.

Anger swelled up inside her being when she watched her captor stride down the beach and disappear into the dissipating fog. Struggling against the belt, Kathryn spent several hours unsuccessfully trying to free her hands. The sun had climbed high overhead before she admitted defeat and collapsed against the tree that held her.

Eyeing the ocean, Janeway couldn’t help but think of the irony she was facing. If she died out here, it would probably be of dehydration. Yet, there was an entire body of water only meters away from her. Of course, that water would be of no use to her without removing the salt from it. But still, in her frame of mind, it was almost comical.

As the sun climbed higher, Kathryn grew weaker. She began to imagine that she saw people coming to her rescue. Phoebe, her sister, appeared several times. As did Tuvok and her parents. Once, even Chakotay appeared. It was then that she realized the lack of fluids was making her hallucinate.

As the sun began its retreat back to the horizon, Kathryn fell into a restless sleep plagued with nightmares of wild beasts attacking.

~ * =/\= * ~

Chakotay didn’t consider himself an evil person; he did what he had to do to survive. Sometimes, that meant murdering or giving the order to have a ship destroyed, but always it was for his best interests.

This case wasn’t any different.

Janeway would have been a hindrance had he taken her with him. There had been the chance that an animal would have killed her during the night he had been gone, but that risk had been worth it. He had needed to attempt to find a way off the island (he now knew that this was a small, deserted island as opposed to a large continent bustling with civilization) and had found both water and food in the process.

Peering over the edge, Chakotay half expected to find remnants of Captain Janeway’s body left over from some animal’s feast, but hoped otherwise. His prisoner wouldn’t be worth anything if her limbs lay strewn across the beach staining the sand red with her own blood.

Looking at the place where he had left her, Chakotay felt a moment of relief at finding her still moving. His friends would still have that opportunity. Taking his time to climb down without letting the animal he’d killed touch the ground or the small pouch of water spill, Chakotay made his way back to the fire pit and his prisoner.

As he opened the container holding the water, she opened her eyes and groggily looked up at him.

"A dead prisoner isn’t worth much to Starfleet," she told him through cracked lips.

"Drink." He ordered, touching the lip of the container to her mouth. When she didn’t immediately obey, he narrowed his eyes at her. "For all I care, you can die out here," he snapped. "And if that’s your choice, I wish you’d hurry up and get it over with because I don’t want good water to go to waste."

Knowing if she didn’t take the water, she’d die, Kathryn accepted the liquid.

~ * =/\= * ~

Chakotay awoke to the sound of thunder rolling across the clouds in the distance. Peering out at the ocean, he saw that the clouds tumbling angrily over one another obliterated the twin moons from site. Lightning in the distance triggered goose bumps that popped up on his arms as another crack of thunder reached his ears. Shivering in the cool wind that came only before a thunderstorm, Chakotay looked to the sleeping woman on the other side of his camp.

She wouldn’t do well in the storm, he knew. If she wasn’t already sick, her weakened body wouldn’t be able to tolerate the storm. And, if there was one thing Chakotay had learned from the Maquis, it was that prisoners were kept alive until they fulfilled their purpose.

Claiming a piece of driftwood from the fire to use as a torch, Chakotay began to walk in the direction of the woods intent on finding a shelter from the storm. At the edge of the camp he turned and looked back at his prisoner. She lay curled as best as possible on her side considering her hands were bound with his leather belt. Janeway appeared to be completely lost in sleep. She wouldn’t attempt and escape in the few moments he intended to be gone.

Plunging into the thicker part of the forest past the oceanfront, Chakotay ducked under a low palm-like tree and into the dark area beyond the beach. The foliage was thinner here than what it would have been on earth, he thought to himself. The trees must create a thick canopy not allowing light to the ground where smaller plants were trying to grow.

At that moment, the sky seemed to open and the cold rain began to pelt his skin. For a canopy as thick above him as there was, he thought to himself, it didn’t do much in the way of shielding him against the rain.

The water trickled through his hair resulting in a loud and carefree laugh. Unable to resist, Chakotay threw his head back to catch the fat raindrops in his mouth. Freshwater! He had found a small stream of water, but the rain was so refreshing. Within seconds, he was soaked to the skin in the icy cold rainwater, but he didn’t care. The rain cascading down his neck and face was clean and invigorating even though it resulted in a shiver from the coolness.

Mopping the water out of his eyes and returning to the situation at hand, Chakotay pushed back a single leaf that appeared to be more than a meter in length and was startled to discover it was dry underneath. Stepping back to view the tree it was attached to, he grinned like a schoolboy. The tree was huge and so were the leaves. Each one measured at least a meter in length and the lower branches created a shelter around the base.

Ducking beneath the branches, he glanced around for only a moment before breaking into a run for the beach.

The fire had died out in the rain, Chakotay saw as he came upon the camp. Janeway had apparently woken only moments before and had just managed to pull herself into a sitting position.

"We’re moving," he told her, unceremoniously throwing her over his shoulder.

Outrage and fear rising in her heart, Janeway pushed against his back with all her might — which was more than what he had expected. "Put me down!"

"With all due respect, Captain, shut up!" His voice startled her and for a moment she actually did stop struggling. "I found a shelter and there’s no way you’ll get there with your hands tied."

"You could release me."

"I’d rather not."

Taking one last glance around the small camp and using that moment to steady the captive slung over his shoulder, Chakotay made a run for the woods and began finding his way back to the overgrown tree. When he ducked under the leaves and deposited her roughly on the dry ground, Janeway immediately scooted as far away from him as possible.

"That’s right," Chakotay laughed at the anger in her actions, "Run far away from the mean Maquis who has saved your life several times over."

Kathryn’s eyes flashed with raw hatred, "I apologize if socializing with murderers and traitors to the Federation doesn’t come easy"

Chakotay grew deathly silent as he watched her detest for him spill out. "There are worse things to be called than a Federation traitor," he finally told her, his voice low and intense.

"At the moment, none come to mind."

Chakotay dropped to his knees and knelt down very close to Janeway and reached out to clasp her arms in his hands. She stiffened and leaned back as he came forward until he was certain he had her undivided attention. "Consider whom is the captive and whom is the captor." He told her, his breath hot on her face. "I would choose my words wisely if I were you."

Janeway froze as he gripped her arms tighter as if to reinforce the statement. With a sudden burst of hatred, he threw her back to the ground and moved to lean against the tree, half closing his eyes. He was still watching her every move, she knew as she carefully tried to gain a more comfortable position with her hands still bound.

Starfleet would come, Kathryn told herself. They had to. Until then, she simply had to sit tight and endure this Maquis she had captured a long time ago. And, she must never let down her guard, she reminded herself. What had happened was in her past, but the Maquis didn’t seem the type to let go of a grudge.

After what Kathryn thought might be a safe amount of time, she allowed exhaustion to overtake her as she slipped back into slumber.

Chakotay tried to peer through the leaves to see the rain clouds, but found it useless. Turning his attention to the captain lying a few feet away from him he could barely make out the features of her face, but saw that sleep had already overtaken her.

Resting his head against the smooth bark of the tree behind him, Chakotay closed his own eyes and allowed himself to drift back to sleep.

~ * =/\= * ~

"You’re awake." Groggily, Kathryn opened her eyes the rest of the way and found her captor watching her. "Maybe the correct term is ‘you’re alive’, which is a miracle unto itself."

Stiffening as he came closer, she winced when her arm, freshly bruised from being thrown to the ground last night, protested loudly. It hadn’t been a nightmare, she realized with dread. The shuttle crashing, the long swim, and being held prisoner by her archenemy wasn’t some dream she had conjured up in the comfort of her own quarters.

Mustering the strength to push herself out of the dirt she had been sleeping in, she ached to rub the grime from her face. A woman who truly enjoyed her real-water showers, Kathryn would have gladly accepted even a sonic shower if only it were available. Smiling a little, Janeway knew that if she was worried about getting a shower, her body was mending itself back together.

"My ship crashed in the ocean, but I seem to have faired better than you," Chakotay continued, "I did a little exploring while you were bound to that tree and discovered that we’re on an island. For all appearances, it’s deserted — I’m not sure sentient beings have ever set foot on the planet, let alone this island."

Chakotay stood and walked over to his prisoner. "If I untie you," he began slowly, still wrestling with the decision to release the enemy captain, "Are you going to attempt to kill me?"

"Why would you give me the opportunity?"

Black eyes smoldering into her own, Chakotay knelt down as if to speak to a child. "Apparently, you will survive — though that first night on the beach I had my doubts. However, now you’re simply slowing me down. By untying you, the workload is divided in two. But, I want your assurance that you’re not going to attempt anything stupid."

"You’ll take the word of a Starfleet captain?"

"No," Chakotay shifted; a phaser under his vest gleamed in the sunlight.

"If I was going to kill you, I’ve already had several opportunities during which I could have stolen the phaser and used it," Janeway retorted, finally managing to pull herself into a sitting position. "However, unlike you, I’m not a murderer."

Chakotay bit back the sharp retort on the tip of his tongue. Reaching down with a grunt of disgust, he roughly loosened the belt that had held her tight and then slipped it from her hands. "Keep in mind that I still consider you my prisoner," he reminded her, the belt now around his waist. "I fully intend to use you to get my own people freed."

Drawing in a deep breath, Kathryn gently touched the raw flesh on her wrists and arms before looking up. "Of course," encouraged by her regained freedom, she raised her eyebrows at him as if she had never expected anything less.

Angered by her sudden cockiness, Chakotay reached up and tugged on a large leaf sending a stream of dew into Janeway’s face. "Drink," he ordered as she yelped. "It won’t do either of us any good if you stay sick."

Wiping the water from her face as she stood, she glared hotly at the Maquis captain. "Have you always been so rude, Judas?" she demanded.

The phaser appeared with a flash and before Kathryn could react a beam of orange light sliced through the air narrowly missing her left ear.

"Next time," Chakotay growled, "I won’t be aiming for air."

Trembling, Kathryn quickly left the shelter of the tree and went outside where she hoped to enjoy a cool drink by herself.

"I need to find food," Chakotay said following her as he secured the phaser to his belt. "And a better shelter than this tree."

"I fully intend to escape from this dreadful place," Janeway told him between gulps of cool, fresh water. "Where’s my communicator?"

"It’s my custody now," Chakotay patted a small pocket on his vest. "Remember, you’re my prisoner — I make the demands, not you."

Standing to her full height, looked further into the wooded area. "What’s out there?"

"I haven’t had time to explore."

Taking a step to peer into the dense trees, Janeway stumbled as Chakotay grabbed her arm. "Just where do you think you’re going?" he demanded.

"You said we needed food — this place can’t be devoid of fruit."

Unclipping the phaser again, Chakotay trained it on her as he followed. "You’re still my prisoner; I’m coming with you."

"Fine."

For several minutes, the duo walked in silence with only the crunch of underbrush to be heard under their bare feet. Kathryn grimaced with each step, wishing she had somehow managed to keep her shoes.

It felt as if they had been walking for hours, Janeway thought to herself. The island (and it did appear Chakotay was telling the truth in at least that) had supplied them a silent breakfast in the form of berries from the few scrawny bushes under the trees. An hour or so later, they had found a babbling brook and were now following it.

Conversation had been nonexistent to this point. He was a murderer, she deduced, and wanted nothing to do with the authority her presence represented. In all actuality, Kathryn thought to herself, he was probably a little afraid of her. She had captured him once before — there was nothing stopping her from doing it again after this ordeal was over.

"Tell me about your ship. One of the best in Starfleet, right?"

Kathryn stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at him. His face was more relaxed than she had ever seen it. Gone were the hard-set jaw and piercing obsidian eyes. He looked....interested.

"My ship?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes, Voyager, right?"

Nodding slowly, she watched him for a moment and then continued to walk. "I have a loyal crew — they’d die for Starfleet if it came to it. Tuvok, for instance."

"What about her systems?" Chakotay asked. "There are rumors in the Maquis of bio-neural circuitry."

"They’re true," Kathryn said quickly, realizing that he was baiting her for information that would lead to a Maquis advantage. "That was perfected years ago and the ability for our computers to react more quickly has put the Federation leagues ahead of the other empires."

"So, commands being sent to your systems, weapons for example-"

"Are carried out in a fraction of the time it would take your computer," Janeway assured him. "Combined with the latest in phaser technology, a state of the art engine room, forty-seven torpedo bays, six deflector dishes, and the canon mounted to the nose even the Borg didn’t stand a chance."

"Your twisted sense of humor isn’t appreciated," Chakotay muttered. Suddenly, she had his attention. "You fought the Borg — and won?"

"Two ships destroyed with a single shot," Janeway feigned indifference. In all actuality, that had been a lucky chance, but he didn’t know they’d used an old Romulan tactic to disrupt space. "Thinking of hijacking Voyager?"

"The thought had occurred to me," Chakotay replied, pressing the nose of the phaser into Janeway’s back to remind her of the precarious position she was in. "Perhaps I’ll ask for my crew and your ship in exchange for your life."

"You’ll never seize her. With a maximum speed of warp 9.975, she’d outrun you any day of the week." Pushing a branch back so she could pass, Janeway let it snap back into place, catching her captor square in the chest.

With a quick twist of her arm, Chakotay pressed Janeway full against a tree and held her arm behind her back. "Amazing that Starfleet would take you," Chakotay snarled. "They must have been desperate that year."

"At least I’ve served honorably," she defended herself.

With a quick jerk on her arm, he forced tears into her eyes. Holding her firmly for a brief moment, he finally tossed her aside. "Honor," he spat, watching her on the ground like a child. "Is that all you think there is in life?"

Janeway tried to force herself to not cower; it would only get worse if he thought she could be broken. Lifting her chin to meet his eyes, she spoke softly. "Honor is what Starfleet-."

Kathryn watched in horror as Chakotay’s foot kicked the tree over her head. Instinctively ducking, she stared at him in dismay.

"Let that be a warning to you," he sneered, reaching down to pull her to her feet.

Kathryn felt him release her before her toes had found footing and knew she was going to fall. Reaching out, she grasped his arms and felt his hands come under her elbows to catch her. For a brief instant, she found herself closer to a pair of flashing black eyes than she had ever wanted to be. Then, with mutual disgust, both pushed the other away.

"Walk," Chakotay ordered, motioning with the phaser.

Without choice, Kathryn continued to lead the way, not at all sure where they were going.

Janeway stopped suddenly and Chakotay bumped into her. Paying no attention, Kathryn dropped to crouch near the ground and slowly began to lower herself off the ledge she had found.

Not three meters below, she dropped to a pebbly beach and couldn’t help but stand in awe at the beautiful site before her.

A waterfall. This accursed island actually had a waterfall that put Earths’ to shame!

The brook they had been following the past couple kilometers ended abruptly and cascaded over the edge in a stunning display over water and light. A small lagoon sparkled as the water pounded against its surface and spilled into the ocean.

If only she could share this with someone special, Kathryn thought to herself. The sound of a pebbles being disturbed reminded Janeway that she wasn’t alone on this beach.

"Not bad," Chakotay said admiring the waterfall. Catching site of the large fish swimming lazily in the lagoon he grinned. "This must be a nesting ground for them."

Kathryn eyed the man doubtfully, "Can you fish?"

Chakotay glared at her as if the question was unnecessary, "Of course."

Hours later -- hot, tired, and irritable -- Chakotay and Janeway trudged back to their tree empty handed just as the sun dipped below the horizon.

"You should have said you’ve never fished before," Janeway grumbled dropping to the ground and futilely attempting to brush the worst of the grime from her pants. "If I had known, I would have tried to rig a trap." She touched the top of her nose and bare shoulders gently. "What I would have given for sunblock today..." she muttered to herself.

"I don’t want to hear it, " Chakotay muttered in annoyance, "Besides, you’ve been treated a lot better than most in your situation."

Janeway turned away with a grunt, tired of listening to him. And sick of watching him struggle to act as if he were in control of every situation that had arose. That was a man for you, she thought to herself bitterly.

"Have you ever been held prisoner before?" Chakotay demanded. When she didn’t answer, he continued, "I’ve spent the past two years of my life as a prisoner of your precious Starfleet. It’s not exactly state of the art; though, I’ve seen worse."

With his words of prisons, Kathryn felt a rush of memories of pain and torture she had hoped long dead. Turning away, she refused to look up as a shadow fell across her line of sight.

"Perhaps she can be broken," Chakotay taunted, observing her downcast eyes. Quickly, her head snapped up and he was startled to see bright blue eyes flash at him. Laying the last of the berry stalks on the ground, he motioned to Janeway. "Help yourself, your highness," he told her, the last few words dripping with sarcasm.

Shooting a hot glare at the man opposite her, Janeway gingerly lifted a clump of berries and popped several into her mouth. They weren’t cool like they’d been earlier that morning, but they were sweet with a taste of fresh earth on them.

Her captor was observing her every movement; Kathryn pretended to not let on that she knew he was watching her. Probably afraid for his life, she mused. Criminals were that way — always having to watch their backs. And having a prisoner not bound would be an unsettling set of circumstances — even if he thought she was easily frightened. And, though she didn’t want to admit it, she was terrified of the Maquis monster with whom she shared the island.

When she had finished her share, Janeway tossed the stalk out of the way and watched her captor for a moment as he slowly ate the last of his berries. Lying down, she turned her face away from the Maquis captain and allowed the cool evening breeze to tickle her senses.

~ * =/\= * ~

"Get up, Princess."

Kathryn felt Chakotay’s toe nudge her shoulder sharply. With a grunt, she rolled over to her other side.

"If you don’t work," Chakotay stalked to the edge of the tree and lifted a leaf out of his way, "You don’t eat." With a snap, the leaf fell back into place leaving Janeway alone under the large tree.

Unable to fall asleep again, Kathryn pulled herself off the ground. Fighting the urge to snap out an angry jab, she trudged after the traitor.

Stopping at the edge of the tree, she watched her captor as he knelt to pick the red berries from the bush. His animal skinned vest hung loosely over the black and maroon shirt he’d arrived in. A few days ago, it might have been a nice shirt, Kathryn thought to herself, but after a couple of days of just trying to survive, there was more clay visible than cloth. His shoulders did fill it out nicely though. All in all, he wasn’t that bad to look at -- for a Maquis, she quickly amended.

"Ahh, her highness has finally come forth to grace us with her presence," Chakotay tossed at Janeway hearing her come up behind him.

"Stow it, Judas." Kathryn bent over a bush near the one Chakotay was examining and began to pluck the purple berries from it.

"Calling me names is not improving my opinion of you," he said as he filled a pocket with the small fruits. "And, as I am the one in possession of the phaser, you may wish to humor me."

"You may wish to not eat the berries off that plant."

Cocking an eye at her, Chakotay popped one of the red berries into his mouth and chewed it slowly. "Tastes fine to me," he told her as he continued to gather more of the berries.

Kathryn said nothing, but hid a smile as she snacked on the purple berries.

Silence descended over them for several long moments. "It’s going to rain," Chakotay finally said in way of changing the subject.

"So?"

"So," Chakotay fought the urge to allow the sarcasm into his voice, "We might want to think of finding a better shelter than that tree. I’d like to see if the beach you washed up on has any sort of caves hiding in those cliffs."

Twenty minutes later, stomachs full from a breakfast of berries and water, the duo took off in the direction of the beach. Stumbling across the hot sand in an effort to keep up with the man sprinting down the shoreline, Kathryn resisted calling out to her captor. Stopping to catch her breath, she watched Chakotay do the same several meters down the beach.

"Look!" Chakotay shouted to her from where he was clamoring atop a large boulder. Swiftly, Kathryn followed. Below them, in a small tidal pool, a dozen or so small shellfish tumbled over one another. "Those," he told her with an impish grin, "I can catch."

"I’ll believe it when I see it," Kathryn said, watching in amusement as Chakotay clutched his stomach and grimaced. "Tummy ache?"

"No," he forced the pain in his features to vanish. "I’m fine."

"I highly doubt that — you ate enough of those berries to make an elephant sick."

"You knew they were poisonous?!"

"Not poison," she corrected. "They’re just not good for you."

"How’d you know?" Chakotay asked crossly. "And why didn’t you tell me?"

"Red berries with gold flecks," she supplied. "In this system, they’re on the top ten ‘do not eat’ list — them and a handful of others." A smirk slipped over her features as she weighed her next words, "As for why I didn’t tell you, well, you figured it out for yourself quickly enough."

"Next time, warn me," he grumbled.

"Why should I?" she asked softly. "You’ve held me captive and abused me. If you die from eating toxic fruits, should I be concerned?"

"Because if I die," Chakotay frowned as pain again shot through his abdomen. "You will be forced to live on those berries and I haven’t seen enough of them to keep you fed — unless you learned how to hunt while at the Academy."

Knowing the plants wouldn’t last long if she was solely eating them, she nodded in acquiescence. "I’ll identify which fruits are permissible to eat for as long as you provide a meal."

"Good choice." Eyes roaming past the tidal pool, Chakotay lifted a hand to shade his eyes from the bright sun. "Hey, look over there," Chakotay pointed in the direction of a large pool of cliffs. He was almost certain there was a small cave visible from the boulder where they stood.

"Let’s get a closer look." Sitting down, Chakotay slid off the edge of the stone and then turned back to Janeway, hand held out to help her down. Pointedly ignoring the offer, Kathryn jumped off the edge and fell to her knees in the sand.

"That had to hurt," Chakotay snickered, watching as a wince of pain spread across her face.

"I’ll be fine," Janeway retorted, standing up quickly.

Shrugging, Chakotay unclipped his phaser from his belt and edged toward the cave. With a wave of his hand, he indicated she was to stay behind him.

"Afraid of bears in the cave?" Janeway laughed harshly.

"No. Just man-eating animals like the one that almost had you for dinner."

Fine, Kathryn thought to herself. If he wants to be difficult, so could she. Allowing him to enter the cave by himself, she waited in the hot sand for the ‘okay’. Glancing down at her bare feet, she wished that Starfleet boots hadn’t weighed so much in the water. If they hadn’t, her feet would have been protected from the vines and thorns yesterday and wouldn’t be frying in the sand now.

"All right!"

Stepping into the shade of the cave, Kathryn cringed as the pebbles cut into her feet. Rounding the first bend in the cave, she nearly collided with Chakotay waiting with a grin on his features.

"This will actually work," he said, slowly turning a full circle.

Joining him in the center of the room, Kathryn took a good look around the small room that she recognized would become her shelter until Starfleet sent a rescue ship (or until he killed her).

The L-shaped room they were standing in wasn’t too small, and it was surprisingly dry. The stone ceiling, walls, and floor were smooth giving Kathryn cause to wonder if this had once been part of an underwater chamber. There was a hole in the ceiling near the back of the cave, perfect for building a fire under, she deduced. Around the corner, near the exit, it was more narrow, but acceptable.

"I think we can move in now," Chakotay suggested, bending down to clear away a small area where he intended to build a fire.

"Great. I’ll just go pack my bags..." Kathryn didn’t try to hide the sarcasm in her voice.

"I have a better idea." Chakotay held out a sharp bit of stone to her. "Go cut down as many vines as you can find," he ordered. When she didn’t move to do as he told, he sat back on his heels. "I have to use something to make a door."

"I am not your servant," Kathryn bit out. "You can’t order me-"

"You’re right," he looked up at her sharply. "You’re my prisoner. Now, I can either tie you up again or you can try to help us survive. Which will it be?"

Janeway held her breath for a moment as his brown eyes pierced her own. He was a killer, she reminded herself. A dangerous criminal, by Starfleet standards. He had indirectly issued the orders that had killed her fiancée.

For a moment, she imagined he was part Betazoid and could read her very thoughts. Was it possible, she asked herself? He was Indian, she knew, from his Starfleet record, but he could be a half-breed. No, she reminded herself, if he had been part Betazoid, the record would have mentioned it.

He had taunted her unmercifully over the past few days, but he didn’t know her. In those few seconds, Kathryn felt as if, for just a moment, the masks they wore had slipped and, for an instant, they were back in Voyager’s brig -- neither trying to hide the tears for the ones they had lost.

Breaking the gaze with a fair amount of difficulty, Janeway exited the cave into the blinding sunlight. Under any other circumstances she would have loved to take a few minutes to bask in the warmth of the bright yellow sun above, but her skin was red and raw in places and she felt as though every memory in her soul had been laid bare before her greatest enemy. With as much speed as she could manage, Janeway set off to seek shelter in the woods as quickly as possible.

It took nearly half an hour to find a mass of vines covered with large yellow gourds swarming over a massive tree, choking the life out of it. Surveying it from a distance, Kathryn wrinkled her nose and advanced on her quarry.

The sharp stone Chakotay had given her would be of little use, she saw instantly as she began to attempt to cut the vines. Though flexible, the vines were sinewy and refused to give way easily. Finally, the first cut was made and part of the vine fell at her feet. With an exhausted sigh, Kathryn began tugging on the plant until it refused to budge anymore. Then, she started cutting again.

Three hours and four nicked fingers later, Kathryn dropped the last of a large pile of green creepers onto the sand.

"Good job, Captain. Starfleet would be proud," he cracked a crude grin at her. "I just hope they’re as loyal to you as you are to them," Chakotay said, dropping the last of the poles into the sand beside the vines.

"At least I have an organization of which to be proud," she threw back. "The Maquis run around in such a disarray it’s impossible to tell who’s doing what and which faction is fighting for which cause."

"Start laying them out side by side," he instructed as he moved to inspect the vines.

Kathryn opened her mouth to protest, but one look from Chakotay silenced her. Biting her lip in anger at his ordering her around, she knelt in the hot sand and began to lay the poles out flat.

"And, for your information," he informed her, snapping a vine tightly in place with more force than necessary. "The Maquis are more organized than Starfleet would lead you to believe."

"I’ll believe that when I see it."

"Which will never happen, of course." He laughed harshly. "You’d rather cling to those high and mighty Federation principles than see the world for what it is."

"Enlighten me," she jeered, knowing in her own mind that the Maquis twisted and bent the ‘truth’ to suit their needs.

Chakotay paused in his work to look up at her, "You have believed, probably from infancy, that Starfleet would protect you. What you don’t realize is that you’ve should be thankful you’re a prisoner of the Maquis."

"Thankful?!" Kathryn looked at him incredulously. "That I’m being held hostage?"

"Could be worse!" he spat into her face. "You could be a prisoner of the Romulans or Cardassians. Both of which torture their prisoners for information. I haven’t interrogated you as they would -- yet."

Stiffening at the mention of the Cardassians, Kathryn unwillingly took a step back, her face flushing with anger at his arrogance. Had he been held prisoner by them?! No, she reminded herself, his record would have made mention of that. "You know nothing of the Cardassian prisons."

"I know I’ve had friends taken by the Cardassians!" Chakotay took a menacing step in her direction. "They died in those prison camps!"

Kathryn felt a shiver run down her spine despite the hot sun. Memories of the hours she had been held captive were rushing back at her in full force. Memories she tried to forget, but failed. "Your friends were lucky," she stressed the last word. They didn’t have to live with the remembrance of dread and the cold metal box she had been kept in. Their dreams weren’t haunted by the tortured screams of their commanding officers and the wild bark of Toskanar dogs.

"Lucky?!" Suddenly, he seemed to raise another inch as if preparing to lash out at her.

Recognizing the mistake one second too late, Kathryn could only watch as Chakotay’s eyes went from dark and angry to astonished. "You thought I was going to hit you," he exclaimed, letting out the breath he had inhaled sharply.

"You’ve done it before!" she shot back. "That is the Maquis way!"

"Only when we don’t get what we want." Chakotay answered carelessly.

Kathryn felt her insides churn at his flippant remark. "You Maquis make me sick. Nothing matters to you except yourselves. You’re a selfish band of vagabonds with no regard to life!"

"And Starfleet has room to talk?!" Chakotay scoffed, throwing aside the vines he had been working with and stalking in her direction. "You, my dear, are directly responsible for the death of my cousin. If it wasn’t for the order you gave, she would be alive today."

"If she wasn’t killed in another skirmish that you deemed necessary. My fiancée, on the other hand, was completely defenseless," Kathryn pushed down the tears she always felt when she thought of Mark. She couldn’t let him see how he had turned her life upside down! "A civilian! But that didn’t stop you from attacking! Your people murder innocents! Mine only take the lives of those who threaten the Federation."

"Is that the justification that allows you to sleep at night?" Chakotay’s eyes flashed with the burning anger he felt from his gut.

"It isn’t justification when it’s the truth!" she shouted, leaning toward him as if to stress her point.

Chakotay reached forward and grabbed Janeway by the arms, lifting her hands to her eyes and shaking them. "Look!" he roared, crushing her wrists in his grasp. "What do you see when you look at your hands?" she struggled to escape, but he held fast. "They’re red! Stained with the blood of your so-called-enemies. Cardassians, Romulans, Maquis — none of it makes a difference to you or your precious Federation!"

Janeway’s face flushed crimson as she thrashed about to free herself. "I’d be willing to bet that your hands have the same amount of blood on them as mine and you have personally taken the lives of at least one of each of those races you named, with the exception of the Maquis — and probably more."

Chakotay grunted as her heel mashed the top of his foot and ground sand into skin, but he didn’t release his hold on her. "Call it what you like," he glowered, grasping her chin and forcing her sapphire eyes to meet his. "But there is a difference between killing for the weak and murdering for the strong."

Kathryn ceased her fight for a brief moment and said nothing, but narrowed her eyes at him. Pulling back, she wrenched her face free of his hands, irate that he still held her arms. "And that’s your justification".

"It isn’t justification when it’s the truth," he threw her own words back in her face, loosening his hold slightly as he did so. With one swift movement, Kathryn’s nails raked down the side of his face resulting in an anguished howl as he pushed her away from him.

Janeway stumbled away from the man emanating raw hate for her and everything she stood for. "My father gave his life trying to devise new crafts to protect the weak." Chakotay had to struggle to hear her voice as it sunk below her natural pitch. "I don’t need you to tell me that Starfleet doesn’t do its share of protecting."

"Where were they when Cardassians took over my home world?" Chakotay demanded, pressing a hand to his cheek as blood trickled through his fingers. "I looked into the logs before I left; there was a ship three hundred kilometers from them. But Starfleet handed us over to the Cardassians."

"One planet is hardly worth starting a rebellion-"

Chakotay reached forward and with one hand caught a fist full of hair as he pulled her to him again. "That one planet was my home." His jaw twitched slightly as the bloody hand grasped the other side of her head, lifting her slightly off the ground and pulling her face closer to his. "And now," his deathly quiet voice whispered into her face as she grasped his wrists. "It’s gone."

The eyes she stared into were wild with anger, Janeway realized -- an anger she had brought to the surface probably after many years of it being buried.

Throwing her to the ground, Chakotay turned his back on her. "It’s gone," he said again. "Because some admiral behind a desk decided the population wouldn’t mind living under Cardassian reign." When Janeway said nothing, he looked at the pile of vines strewn around. "Get out of here. I’ll take care of this mess myself."

Watching as Chakotay bent over to resume lashing the poles together, Kathryn could feel the rage between them as he worked. She considered persisting the argument, hoping that he would come to see her as an equal. If they were going to be working together to survive, she reasoned, she should not be forced to fear for her life!

"I-" Kathryn jumped back with wide eyes and stared at the scorched patch of sand at her feet. Horrified, she raised her eyes to see Chakotay standing, phaser now raised to her head.

"Go."

So, she went.

~ * =/\= * ~

Kathryn Janeway huddled close to the tree as freezing cold rain beat down relentlessly on her. The water had ceased to be refreshing to her senses days ago. Now she was just cold, wet, and exhausted.

After the argument with Chakotay, Janeway had quickly realized she couldn’t return to the camp. Or, maybe she had known it all along and this was her escape. Either way, she had cut herself off from the only human on this planet and was glad for it.

She would have celebrated had she not been shivering from both the cold wind of the storm beating against her and the fear in her heart. The storm Chakotay had predicted arrived in the night with a fury that had matched their tempers. It tore at her clothes and whipped her hair against her face and shoulders as it pounded the island around her endangering her life when trees around her tumbled over. Thankfully, or luckily depending on how she was feeling at the time, the tree that had sheltered captor and prisoner for several days was old and solid. It would take more than a few winds to knock it over.

Her body ached for the storm to release this island from its grasp, but her heart feared that day. For, when it came, Chakotay and his phaser would have free reign over the forests again and she would be the hunted.

The rain was letting up a little now, Kathryn saw as she peeked up through the branches that had been virtually attacking her only moments before. Clouds rolled across the sky quickly to reveal a star-filled sky causing the bodily aches to seem like a mere scratch compared to the ache that filled her heart. Oh, how she wished she was on the other side of that sky!

With one hand on the side of the trunk, Kathryn wearily rose to stand, still with face turned upward. The sound dripping of water and an animal calling to its mate shook her out of her reverie. There was work to be done. And quickly, because she had no way of knowing when the next storm would come.

Stumbling from her hiding place, Kathryn pushed wet ringlets of hair out of her face and started for the berry bushes. They would sustain her for the duration of the storm. Or, she hoped they would. Folding a neat pile tightly into a leaf, she stuffed it beneath a rock that had been hauled beneath the large tree during an earlier lull. Better to have crushed berries than none at all, she reasoned, remembering the winds.

Suddenly, all grew quiet around her. Too quiet, she knew instinctively. Moving on silent feet, she ducked into the safe haven of her branches as the sound of an animal crashing through the woods met her ears.

Appalled to find her body trembling with fear, Kathryn reassigned the reaction to her being cold, but she knew the truth. With no weapon of any sort, she was more vulnerable than she had ever been.

At that instant, a beast similar to the one that had stalked her on the beach crashed through the underbrush at the edge of her camp. Pausing for a moment in the bright light of the twin moons, it sniffed the air for clues as to where it should go next. Its golden fur was heavy with water, but the muscles were more prominent than ever. With one swipe of a massive paw, she knew that it could have killed her instantly.

Please, Kathryn begged it silently. Go away.

An orange beam of light sliced through the air suddenly and the animal darted into the woods on the other side of the camp.

The animal wasn’t the hunter, she realized. It was the hunted. And yes, there was the hunter. Chakotay paused only for a brief instant as he was led to the tree he had sought refuge from a previous storm. Then, without a backward glance, he pursued the animal into the woods.

Kathryn slowly felt herself daring to breathe again as she backed away from the scene that had taken place in her new haven. Sinking to the ground, she leaned against the tree and pulled her feet up to her chest as the phaser fire slowly faded away.

Abruptly, the sound of a sharp crack split the quiet evening, followed by an anguished scream. Stiffening, Kathryn wondered if she should go to her former captor’s aid or stay where she was. If he was hurt, she reasoned, it may only be a few hours or days before he died and she had the island (and his phaser) to herself.

If he died, she’d never forgive herself. He was her enemy, true, but he was also a human being. And, more importantly, so was she.

He’s a traitor to the Federation! He deserves to die, she told herself.

Yes, but you’re a Starfleet captain, a soft voice reminded her in the back of her head. You’re to protect the weak and come to the aid of those in trouble.

He tried to kill you!

You tried to kill his spirit.

In the end, it was her Starfleet and human compassion that won. Pulling herself from the ground, Kathryn began making her way slowly in the direction of the where the scream had emitted.

It didn’t take long to find him — he had only managed to run about forty feet before the tree limb had snapped and fallen.

That was where she found him. Pinned beneath a massive tree branch, fading in and out of consciousness.

Hesitating at the edge of the scene, she wondered if she should just grab the phaser and make a run for it.

"Just take it."

The voice was weak with pain and a soft groan followed it. Moving her eyes from the silver phaser to the face of Chakotay, Kathryn felt her stomach retch as her heart turned over in compassion. No one, no matter what he had done, deserved to be in as much pain as she saw reflected in his eyes. Forcing her eyes to avoid looking directly at his legs pinned under the tree limb, she gingerly reached down to lift the phaser from the mud.

"Go!" he gasped in agony, a hand rising to his head.

"You’re hurt," she reminded him, her voice as gentle as the birds calling to one another in the trees around them.

"I have a broken leg and my head feels like I might have a slight concussion," he diagnosed. "Leave me to die in peace. Isn’t that what you want? —me to die?"

Only the fluttering wings of the birds taking flight answered him.

Bracing herself, Kathryn looked directly at the leg twisted beneath the massive branch. Somehow, she knew she had to pry if off and then help him back to the cave. She couldn’t take him back to her tree — his leg would need to be set and she had nothing with which to work. Not that he had much either, but there may be a few straight pieces of wood.

"I’ve got to get this off you." Kathryn murmured to herself as she inspected the log.

"What are you going to do?" he scoffed. "Lift that branch off me?"

"Of course not," she palmed the phaser up to a higher setting. "I’m going to burn it off you."

Chakotay tried to twist away, "You’re crazy, woman!"

"While I’m firing," Janeway continued as calmly as if this were an everyday occurrence, "You hold as still as possible."

"And if you miss?"

She eyed him coolly, knowing who had the upper hand in the situation, "I never miss." Turning back to the bough, she eyed it carefully. Too high a setting and it would disintegrate, very likely taking his legs with it; too low would do no good.

Aiming carefully, she pressed the phaser in a tightly clenched hand and did not instantly release it.

Immediately, an orange glow filled the area around them, but Chakotay held still. The beam of light, Janeway saw, was carefully slicing through the log — she had chosen a good level.

Just as her beam went through the limb and it fell away in two, the man at her feet let out a cry of anguish at the shift of weight.

Kneeling beside him, she peered into his face. "Let’s go," she ordered, her voice hard as she reached for his arm.

"I still have one good leg," he argued. "I can get back on my own."

"With a concussion?" she belittled. "You’re more likely to get killed by that beast you were hunting."

Knowing she was right, but not understanding why she was helping him when he would have left her to die, Chakotay permitted Captain Janeway to pull him into a standing position, his arms grudgingly wrapped around her shoulders.

Struggling under the weight of the man, Kathryn tucked the phaser into the waistband of her pants and then wrapped her arm around Chakotay’s middle in attempt to steady him. Without another word, they slowly began to stumble back to the cave just as the heavens opened and poured rain down.

Eventually, the captain and her prisoner staggered into the dry cave, wet clothes clinging to their skin. Gently, Kathryn lowered Chakotay to the floor and tried to prop him against a wall before collapsing on the ground near him.

Chakotay attempted to adjust himself into a more comfortable position by using his hands to guide his leg. Sucking in a deep breath through clenched teeth, he bit back a sharp cry of pain.

"Where’s the firewood?" Kathryn asked one hand wrapped firmly around the phaser as she lay on her back staring at the ceiling of the cave.

"The fire doesn’t need any wood on it."

"But your leg does," she reminded him, turning her head sideways to search the small room with her eyes. Finding a pile of twigs in a corner, she kneeled down to search for the straightest piece. Unfortunately, none looked particularly unbent. The one in the corner was good enough, she decided quickly, and then moved back to his side. "This might hurt a little," Kathryn warned.

When he realized she intended to mend his leg herself, Chakotay started to protest loudly. "Are you out of your mind?!" he demanded, trying to scoot away. "You’ll kill me!"

"Two hours ago you fully expected me to do just that so what does it matter now?" Janeway demanded, her hands untwisting the fabric of his pant leg. "Give me your belt."

Eyebrows shot up at her demand, but when she glared at him he handed over the item wordlessly. Kathryn eyed the leg and then forced herself to remember all that she had learned in the basic medical classes at the Academy. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes she started to-

"Don’t close your eyes!"

Kathryn’s hands flew from his leg as she jumped back in surprise. "Don’t do that!" she shouted, more from being startled than anger. Shaking, she inhaled deeply again and prepared to snap his leg back in place. This time, without closing her eyes, she quickly forced the bones into a straight line as best she could and then tried to hold them in place as Chakotay writhed in agony.

Using his belt to secure the twig to his leg, she pulled away when finished. "That’s the best I can do," she told him. "Now, you just have to stay awake for the rest of the night to make sure you’ll wake again."

Chakotay said nothing, but slouched against the wall. Leaning against the opposite wall, Kathryn started to feel her eyelids drop.

"Talk to me," she ordered him quickly, knowing she would have to keep herself awake in order to keep him awake.

"About what?" he grunted, making no effort to hold his own eyes open. Scuffling noises alerted him to the fact that she was moving about the cave, but it wasn’t until hand connected with cheek that he registered her intent.

"What was that for?!" Chakotay yelped, his hand flying to clasp the cheek she had just smacked.

"Stay awake," Kathryn ordered. "Or, I may be forced to inflict the same punishment on the other cheek." Eyeing the angry red scratches she raised an eyebrow at him. "And I have a feeling that pain would linger even longer."

"And Starfleet prides themselves on their treatment of prisoners."

"That pain is going to save your life," Kathryn retorted. "In case you’ve forgotten, people die from going to sleep after getting a concussion."

"As you kindly reminded me only minutes ago, I was prepared to die a little while ago."

"Well then hurry up and die," Kathryn’s words reminded Chakotay of his own back down on the beach when he had returned to her.

They sat in silence for a long while, Kathryn poking at the fire and Chakotay watching her push around the hot coals. Finally, he lifted his eyes to her face, curious. "Why did you do it?" he asked.

Kathryn looked up in surprise. She had known he was awake — she was doing her duty to keep an eye on him, but she hadn’t expected him to speak to her.

"I’m a Starfleet officer," she told him bluntly. "And, I’m human."

"Most in your situation would have left me to die," he insisted. "Why didn’t you?"

"Humans have compassion," Kathryn pushed the stick into the fire and then leaned back against the cool wall. Shivering slightly, she rubbed her hands over her arms.

"You call this compassion?" he pointedly turned his reddened cheek in her direction.

"More than any Maquis could ever show."

Chakotay visibly stiffened at her cold words. "You do not know the Maquis," he reminded her. "So don’t try to analyze us."

"I know enough that if the situation had been reversed, you would have left me to die."

"Maybe so," a shrug. And then, "You may have been surprised."

"I doubt it." Kathryn forced herself not to outwardly react as his eyes burned into hers. Tiny seeds of doubt sprung into her mind as his gaze held hers. Would he have left her to die in the rain? Maybe not. Probably so.

After a full minute, his eyes flicked down to watch the fire between them. Flames danced through the night casting shadows on the walls and the faces of the cave’s occupants.

Every so often, Kathryn would glance at the other captain’s face to make sure he wasn’t asleep. And, each time, she found his eyes watching the flames as they continued to twist and bend around each other.

So they sat there in the silence, long into the night. The rain outside changed from the downpour to a gentle pitter-patter as the first few streaks of daylight began to show through the cloudy sky and spill into the cave.

Kathryn stiffened a yawn and looked over at her charge who was now, for the first time in hours, watching her instead of the fire.

"Go to sleep," Chakotay told her. "I’ll be fine now."

Stretching out on the stone floor, Kathryn curled an arm under her head to use as a pillow and clenched the phaser in her other hand. Slowly, her eyelids slid shut and she drifted off to sleep.

Several hours later, Chakotay opened his eyes and was instantly brought back to reality by the sharp pain in his leg. Gasping, he leaned forward to clutch it, but stopped just short of destroying the branches Janeway had used to straighten it.

"You fell asleep."

Looking over to where Janeway lay with one arm thrown over her face, he couldn’t help but feel as if the walls were falling in on him, "I told you I’d be fine." He replied stiffly, lifting a hand to rub the sleep from his eyes. "I never said I wasn’t going to get some sleep." Her slight frame was much thinner than when they had first arrived, but he had no choice. "I hate having to do this," he started, his voice and body revealing how much he loathed his helpless position. "But, would you find me a crutch of some sort?"

Janeway’s head rolled to the side to look at him in the dim light. The fire had died down to a few glowing coals — something else she’d have to take care of this morning in addition to finding them something to eat. "I suppose so," she reluctantly agreed. And then, looking pointedly at his leg she added, "Though, I’m not sure you should be attempting to walk at all for the next few weeks."

"Get me the stick."

She cocked an eyebrow at him as a hand drifted down to the silver object lying on the ground beside her. She had the phaser, blue eyes reminded him. She was in control and he had no right to make demands on her. The confining walls pressed closer.

"Please," he spit out the word as if it tasted bad. Not only did she have the phaser, but he was completely helpless and forced to rely on her for any food or water.

~ * =/\= * ~

Chakotay felt silly on his hands and one good knee, but there was little choice. Janeway had been unable to find a straight piece of wood long enough that would support his weight. So, he was left crawling in the sand to get wherever he needed to go.

At the moment, he needed to get outside. For the past week, Janeway had insisted that he move as little as possible and give his leg a chance to heal. But now, he was sick of only moving when she helped him outside to relieve himself. His body begged for a little exercise and he ached to see the sun with his own two eyes.

And so, with what little dignity he had left, Chakotay used his arms to pull his body from its place near the fire. When the first glint of sunlight spilled onto his skin, he turned his eyes upward and into the light.

The warmth of the sun felt so good — it was surprising how the simple things in life came to mean so much more when he was forced to go without.

Already exhausted, but determined to get outside and into the full sun, Chakotay continued. Hand over hand he strained, his leg dragging uselessly behind. Finally, he leaned against the smooth surface of the cave and took a deep breath of the salty air.

He had done it! It wasn’t much of an accomplishment, he knew, but it was something he had been unable to do five days ago. That time, Janeway had discovered him floundering only a few feet from where she had left him earlier that day.

It had become a routine of the past week. Early in the morning, Janeway woke and fetched water and food for breakfast and then went off alone, returning late — again with a little water and food for the two of them. The first couple of days, they spoke of trivial things — the weather, methods of cooking the berries and fish — and had even played a game or two of checkers in an effort to break the monotonous tone the island set. But two nights ago she had barely said anything to him before going to bed.

While she was traipsing over the island alone, he had experimented with methods to move his body around that put the least amount of stress on his leg. And today, he’d had success!

The sweet taste of triumph lasted for only a few minutes before Chakotay opened his eyes to see Janeway sitting several hundred feet away from the entrance to the cave. Her feet were pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around her knees. He couldn’t see her face clearly, but her eyes watched the ocean as it pounded on the shore.

Is this how she spent her days, he wondered silently. While they were struggling to survive on an island that threatened their very lives, she sat watching the waves instead of gathering a stock of food.

Deep inside, anger started to burn away at his stomach. He was useless and helpless, he knew. And she didn’t hesitate to remind him that he no longer had the phaser or the control of this island. But part of her job now that he was injured was to ensure their survival. If not for him, then for her own sake!

For several hours, Chakotay watched Janeway sit motionless. Finally the need to escape the burning sun grew too strong. Limping back into the cave, his thoughts wandered in the direction of the only other occupant of this island. Most individuals — especially those in Starfleet — would have been scouting the island and looking for ways to escape. What was it that had dominated Kathryn’s attention to the point of losing interest in the life going on around her?

~ * =/\= * ~

Chakotay awoke, not sure why, but certain that something had roused him from his sleep for a reason. Opening his eyes, he could barely make out the ceiling of the cave in the glow of the fire.

Carefully, he sat up. All was still around him. All, he saw, except Kathryn. She lay on her side, one fist clenched against the side of her face. Her lips move slightly, but he couldn’t make out the words she mumbled in her sleep.

Whatever she was saying, he saw instantly, it wasn’t helping her sleep.

Inching his way around the glowing embers in the center of the cave, Chakotay wondered if he was about to learn Federation secrets as he leaned closer to her.

"Kathryn klien, ging allein, in die weite welt hinein..."

It made no sense to him. Either the words were a different language or they were some sort of secret code. Maybe Starfleet codes? Either way, he had no way of finding out. The only thing that did make sense was that she wasn’t sleeping well and he wouldn’t get any sleep until she stopped talking.

Hesitantly, he placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently.

"Chakotay!" she gasped in shock at being awoken from the nightmare that was still fuzzy in her mind. He watched her physically give herself a shake and then blue eyes focused on him. "What?"

"You were having a nightmare," he started inching back to his side of the fire.

"Why did you wake me?" The words were snapped out more as an accusation than a question.

He looked back at her, as if not understanding her question. Finally, he shrugged carelessly. "I wasn’t going to get any sleep if you kept talking."

Kathryn instantly felt regret at having snapped at him. His words may have said he was only looking out for his best interests, but something in his dark eyes told her otherwise. Hesitantly, she lay back down and forced herself to fall back asleep.

~ * =/\= * ~

Chakotay paused to touch a small bush before pressing further into the woods. He hadn’t been mistaken — there were indeed tiny buds on them! Maybe a fruit of some kind, he thought to himself. Whatever it was, the buds looked as if they were ready to burst open.

Going slowly and being careful to not put his full weight on the injured leg, Chakotay crawled to the "bathroom". The first week, he had been forced to rely on Kathryn in order to go anywhere and so his trips outside were infrequent. After that monumental day in which he had escaped the grips of the cave, Chakotay had put himself to the task of achieving more mobility. Now, he was able to crawl a good fifty meters before getting tired out.

The sound of something not of nature triggered the Maquis reflexes ingrained in him. He ducked as close to the ground as possible and froze. The waterfall and small lagoon were only half dozen meters in front of him, but between him and the water’s edge was Kathryn.

Why, he wondered, had she taken refuge in this secluded area instead of staying on the beach by the cave as she had every other day for the past three weeks? Wasn’t it bad enough that she spent most of the days lounging around as if this was some tropical paradise? Had their roles been reversed, Chakotay knew he would have been working during the day.

Pulling himself back up to the crawling position, Chakotay started to go forward, but stopped short when he saw Kathryn raise a hand to her cheek and wipe it.

She was crying.

Inside, Chakotay felt as if something broke when he saw her wipe at the tears. He would never have admitted it to her or anyone else (and was having a hard enough time allowing himself to realize it), but she was human. Kathryn had feelings and fears just like he did and something made him want to go forward and let her know he had seen the tears and comfort her.

It was her vulnerability, Chakotay quickly decided. She might be almost an equal to him on this island, but she was still Starfleet. It was only this brief window of helplessness that made him think of her as anything more than the enemy.

Turning his back on her, Chakotay started to crawl back to the cave — the bathroom could wait.

~ * =/\= * ~

"Checkers tonight?"

Chakotay looked up in surprise as Janeway entered the cave. "I’ve had a pretty rough day," he said in an attempt at humor. "I don’t know if I can stay awake."

"Then, I’ll beat you again," she dropped down to the ground and handed him several pieces of fruit. "Are the fish done yet?"

Chakotay poked the items wrapped in leaves and smoking in the coals of the fire, "I think so," he said pulling them out. Unwrapping one, he pulled some of the flaky flesh off the bone and popped it in his mouth. "Disgusting, but I think it’s growing on me."

After a quick dinner, Janeway sketched out a checkerboard and they set up their game using the pieces of shell that had been collected earlier.

She was focusing more intently on the game than ever before, Chakotay noted, watching with amusement. There was no futile attempt at conversation tonight as had been the first time they had played — only the game was on her mind.

Or, was it?

While pondering his own move, Chakotay looked over and her and caught Kathryn staring aimlessly into the fire. Deliberately, he moved his shell into a perfect position for her to capture.

"Your turn," he said in way of catching her attention.

"What?" her head swung to look at him. "Oh," she smiled slightly. "My move." She took her turn (and his shell), but not before Chakotay had caught a glimpse of something akin to misery in her eyes. The rest of the game continued without incident.

"Let’s play again," Janeway declared after winning the first match. Thankful to have something to entertain his mind, Chakotay readily agreed.

"Again," she said after the second match....and the third.

"Again?" Chakotay asked with a laugh after he won the fourth. With a sweep of her hand and a nod of her head, Janeway had cleared the pieces and was setting up for another round.

"If you don’t mind me asking," Chakotay stopped her after the seventh game, "What are you trying to not think about?"

Janeway sat back in feigned surprise. "Who said I’m trying to not think about something?" she demanded.

"Seven games in a row?"

"I don’t have to listen to this," she backed away to her side of the fire. "I’m going to bed."

~ * =/\= * ~

"Do you ever feel remorse for killing so many people?"

"Do you?"

Kathryn paused for a moment, listening to the thunder as another storm rumbled in the distance. Her intent hadn’t been to bring up the blood on her hands — it had been to discover whether or not Mark’s ship had been targeted because of her. He wasn’t going to answer her question, so for now, she’d have to indulge him.

Nodding once, Kathryn continued, "When people die, I understand in my head that it’s in the line of duty. They’re criminals or attacking the Federation." She bit off a small bite of fruit and chewed thoughtfully. "But, in my heart I wish they hadn’t needed to die."

Chakotay shrugged and continued eating his fish.

"Don’t you have any feelings?" Kathryn asked in frustration, "I sometimes think the only concern you have is for yourself!"

"If you’re going to answer your own questions, then why bore others needlessly?" Chakotay made a face as he pulled a fish bone out of his mouth. Without any ceremony, he tossed it into the fire. "The company on this island is growing rather tedious.

"I’m not here to entertain you," she reminded him curtly.

"And it’s a good thing! I can’t imagine being forced to share this island with a more dull person."

"I’m sure you would have preferred that Cardassian girlfriend of yours," Kathryn replied in a sugar-sweet voice.

"I’d prefer anyone over you," Chakotay answered quickly and then realized what she had said. "My Cardassian girlfriend?"

"That’s right," Kathryn could hardly keep the smugness from her voice. "You didn’t know Seska was Cardassian."

For a brief instant, Chakotay’s face showed his shock and then his jaw tightened. "Better to have unknowingly loved a spy than to be loyal to a traitorous organization," he snapped.

Cobalt eyes flashed at him, but Chakotay only raised an eyebrow slightly as if to say, ‘You hurt me, I’ll hurt you.’

"You continually bring up my loyalty to Starfleet," Kathryn said in answer to the unspoken challenge that passed between them. "But, you’ve got nothing else on me."

"Quite the opposite, my dear."

"I’m not your dear,"

"Very true," Chakotay agreed readily. "No one could give me enough latinum to-"

"To what?" she broke in.

"To make me care about you — a Starfleet brat riding on Daddy’s reputation," he finished.

Janeway visibly prickled at the remark and then pushed to her feet, "My father—" a hint of a smile slipped over Chakotay’s features letting Kathryn know she had taken the bait. "I don’t have to listen to this," she glared down at Chakotay before turning on her heel. "I’m going to go count grains of sand."

"Sand is made of the same stuff glass is, you know. Don’t cut yourself."

She turned on her heel and shot him a withering glare. "I had no trouble passing basic chemistry."

"If I recall correctly," Chakotay’s voice was just above a whisper and she had to strain to hear it, "The only chemical make up you could remember was that of coffee -- until Trevor Davis stepped in."

"And just how do you know that?"

"He was my roommate."

"Trevor was my chemistry tutor for a month my sophomore year at the Academy. His roommate was Michael Vahn."

"We were only roommates for a week," Chakotay looked away. "I wanted to help a girl out with a class and he was supposed to suggest myself to her. He ended up liking her."

"Me?" Kathryn’s voice raised nearly an octave.

"Don’t be stupid," Chakotay laughed. "Just because we had chemistry together back at the Academy doesn’t mean you were the one."

Watching Chakotay’s cheeks flush when he realized how the sentence had sounded, Kathryn couldn’t resist poking a little fun at him, "So, now you’re saying we had chemistry together?"

"Her name was Amber; she was in my quantum physics class." Tossing the final fish bone into the fire Chakotay avoided Kathryn’s eyes as he lay down on the other side of the fire. "And she was gorgeous."

Forcing herself not to react to his statement, Kathryn lay down on her own side of the fire, one arm tucked under her head. A knot was forming in her stomach every time she thought about professors and admirals passing/promoting her on the basis of her last name. She should have changed it! If she had, Kathryn thought to herself, she would have been just another Kathryn at the Academy. Not Kathryn Janeway, daughter of Admiral Janeway.

Turning her face toward the fire she was startled to find Chakotay’s eyes watching her through the flames. For a moment, neither moved and time seemed to stand still. Slowly, Kathryn turned her head in the opposite direction and closed her eyes.

~ * =/\= * ~

Chakotay grasped the branches tucked under his arms as he made his way slowly out of the cave. His leg was still sore, but he was at least able to put most of his weight back on it. Kathryn, sitting in the sand to watch the sunset, looked away quickly when she saw him glance in her direction.

That was the fifth time today he had caught her watching him, Chakotay realized with a small amount of satisfaction. It was good for his ego to know that despite being treated atrociously by this island, someone still found him attractive.

That was the fifth time today....

He had been counting.

Chakotay stopped in the still-warm stand and took in the sight of the island’s only other occupant. Her pants had been torn off at the knees weeks ago and her legs were drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. Bare feet were buried in the sand and reddish-brown hair caught the last rays of sunlight as it blew across her face. He was too far away to see, but he knew that her left blue eye had a fleck of gold near the bottom of the iris. And there was a tiny scratch she probably didn’t know she had on her chin — the result of many treks through the woods to the lagoon.

Chakotay swallowed hard. When had he started to take notice of her wounds, he asked himself? And when had he memorized her eyes??

She looked lonely, he imagined. Her features were relaxed and honest, not putting up the front she used with him.

Cautiously, he approached. When Chakotay dropped into the sand and looked down at her face, he saw that her customary icy expression was back in place.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently, trying not to give away the disappointment at finding her facade returned.

"Fine," she replied, wrapping her arms more tightly around her legs.

Reaching over, Chakotay took one of her hands in his. Inspecting first the top of it in the receding sunlight and then turning it over in his hand he forced his face to not reveal his concern at the gouges and scratches. Some, he knew, were results of being bound for so long. Others, he guessed, were battle wounds. Both, he had inflicted on her.

Dropping her hand, Chakotay was silent as he looked out over the ocean. He could feel her eyes on his face, curiously searching for answers to questions she hadn’t voiced.

"We’re in this together," he said softly. "It wasn’t my choice to be shipwrecked on this island with a Starfleet brat, but —"

"Not your choice?" Janeway let out a disgusted grunt. "I believe it was you who attacked my shuttle and tried to kill me."

"I should have finished you off on the beach," he retorted.

"Why didn’t you?"

Chakotay’s face swung to look at her. "I’m not a killer," he fiercely stated. "I didn’t join the Maquis to kill people."

"You expect me to believe that murder is just an added bonus?" Kathryn scoffed. "You left Starfleet for what? A bunch of blood thirsty rebels?"

"No," his eyes burned into her. "My family was attacked. My mother and father, most of the relatives I had, wiped out in one battle -- my home was gone. And Starfleet stood by and did nothing."

"So, you turned on Starfleet," Kathryn finished for him. "How noble of you."

"Forget it," Chakotay muttered. "You’d never understand."

"What? I wouldn’t understand losing people to Starfleet?" Kathryn laughed bitterly as tears welled in her throat. "I lost my father to Starfleet before I was ever born," she informed Chakotay coolly. "Do you know what it’s like to grow up without a father?" He didn’t look at her, but she continued anyway, "A ‘casualty of the Dominion war’ he once called it, but it didn’t matter by then. Daddy and Justin —" Kathryn shook her head blindly, "Never mind."

"Did you lose them?"

"It was a long time ago," Kathryn murmured.

Silence once again descended over them like a thick blanket. The sun finally dipped below the horizon leaving a splash of oranges and pinks across the sky, but Kathryn couldn’t push the image of the tiny shuttlecraft carrying her beloved Justin and daddy down to their icy deaths from her mind.

Janeway knew she had finally found a common ground with the man she shared the island. The loss of a parent was a terrible thing to endure — the loss of both of hers would have been her undoing. Sneaking a glance Chakotay, Kathryn felt a stir of admiration begin to grow.

Beside her, Chakotay drew in a deep breath and then exhaled softly. "I’m sorry."

Turning slightly to stare up at the man’s face, Kathryn’s brows furrowed together in confusion. "Excuse me?"

"I’m sorry about your father and friend. And your fiancée," Chakotay spelled out, still not looking at her. "The Rennington." He heard Kathryn’s breath catch in her throat. Turning slightly, he saw that Janeway’s visage was turned from him, staring out at sea.

Bolding reaching out to lift her chin in his direction, he peered down into the sapphire eyes now bright with unshed tears. Holding her gaze, he was slightly surprised she didn’t jerk away from him.

"I’m sorry," he repeated himself. "We’ve been arguing every chance we get and I’m sick of it. I know you hate me more than anyone, but we’re the only two people on this island. Either we work together as a team or we can try to kill each other. Personally, I want to opt for the former, because the latter, given our backgrounds, could get bloody."

Pulling from his grasp but not breaking the gaze he held onto her with, Kathryn nodded. "Agreed."

~ * =/\= * ~

"Let me help you with that."

Kathryn nearly dropped vine she had been attempting to uproot as Chakotay’s hands closed over hers. Pulling together, they were mildly surprised when the vine snapped and sent both sprawling backwards into the sand.

"Thanks," Janeway sat up quickly and put some distance between them, one hand still clenching the vine and laughter in her voice.

"Another basket?"

Nodding, she shook the vine a little. "I thought it would be good to have one to store some fruit in the cave."

Chakotay looked to the sky. "It’s going to rain," he predicted.

Janeway’s brows furrowed in confusion as she gazed out across the pure blue sky over the ocean. "How do you know that? Some Indian trick?"

"Close," Chakotay assured her with a lopsided grin. "But not quite."

Following his eyes, Kathryn felt a sense of dread fill her being as the tumbling black clouds in the eastern sky behind her raced in the direction of the island.

Chakotay watched, slightly mesmerized, as Kathryn’s hands worked methodically to weave the vine into a basket shape with only the faint firelight to guide her. What would happen, he wondered, if he was to reach over and take one of her small hands in his? Almost immediately, he pulled himself in check.

"Tell me what happened to Justin and your father."

Betazoid, Kathryn thought to herself. He’s definitely part Betazoid. He had no way, of course, of knowing that her father and Justin had been on her mind more often than usual lately.

"Daddy and Justin?"

"Daddy and Justin," he didn’t pull his eyes from her face. "It must have been pretty traumatic. You’ve called out for them several times in your sleep."

"My personal life is hardly your business."

"I realize you only think of me as Maquis scum, but you had a nightmare that left you pretty upset and I though you might need someone to talk to about it."

"And you think I’ll confide in you?" the sarcasm wasn’t missed on Chakotay.

"Well, I am the last man on the planet," he reminded her wryly. "Other than that, I know about half the situation from the things you said in your sleep. Now, you can either clear it up for me or go on carrying it inside."

Kathryn looked up from the basket for a long moment, watching the firelight dance over Chakotay’s features.

"Justin Tighe was my first fiancée."

Chakotay’s eyebrows rose quickly, "Your first?" he echoed.

"Mark was the second," Kathryn continued. "He was on the Rennington."

"Any others?"

There was something odd in his tone of voice, she thought to herself. Calmly, Kathryn stared at him for several seconds before answering with a decisive, "No."

Chakotay’s mind was running at warp speed as he went through the realization that she had loved and lost two men in her lifetime.

"I can’t give details," Kathryn said softly, the basket lying forgotten at her feet, "But suffice it to say that Daddy, Justin, and I were in a test shuttle when it crashed on a moon. I was thrown clear of the debris, but there wasn’t enough power in the transporter to get both of them out." She grew quiet for a moment and Chakotay wondered if she would continue. "I couldn’t decide," she finally whispered, the howling storm outside nearly drowning her out. "Who should live and who should die. In the end, I lost both."

"I’m sorry." That’s what you say when you’re not sure what to say, right? Chakotay felt like kicking himself. Sorry hardly covered it.

Kathryn took in a deep breath, "Ancient history now," she told him sadly, laying the basket aside. Stretching out on the opposite side of the cave, she turned her back to him. "I’m going to get some sleep now. Good night."

He should say something. Do something. Anything. Lying down on his side, Chakotay watched as Kathryn’s shoulders rose and fell at irregular intervals. She was crying, he knew. He hadn’t meant to drag up a sensitive subject with her, but he had. And he was inadvertently responsible for the pain she now felt.

"Kathryn..." Her body stiffened as Chakotay’s hand touched her shoulder. "I’m sorry," he repeated, squeezing her shoulder.

Sitting up partially, Janeway allowed herself to be drawn into the warm gaze of her captor. The fire crackled and popped, illuminating her face and revealing her tear-stained cheeks. For once, she did nothing to hide them.

Lifting his hand from her shoulder, Chakotay gently brushed the tears from her face and then traced her jaw with his fingertips. Her mouth opened as if to speak, but Chakotay pulled his hand back as if her face had burned him.

"I’m sorry," he said again, breaking eye contact with her and quickly backing away. "I’m sorry."

A wave of loneliness washed over Kathryn as Chakotay retreated to his side of the fire. Lying back down, she faced him, hoping he would do the same.

An hour later, expecting her to have fallen asleep, Chakotay turned over to find Kathryn’s blue eyes watching him. With a small smile, she finally closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

~ * =/\= * ~

Kathryn awoke the next morning to the surf pounding on the shore instead of the monotonous sound of the rain and thunder that had lulled her to sleep for the past two days. Looking around the cave, she half expected to find Chakotay still watching her, but was pleasantly relieved to find it empty this morning. Leaping from her ‘bed’ she quickly made a beeline in the direction of the ocean.

"Don’t fall in just yet," a voice called to her as she splashed into the water.

"What?"

"The lagoon," Chakotay reminded her, coming into full view from around a crop of rocks. "We’ll take a trip over there and pick up dinner." Proudly, he held out a harpoon made from bamboo poles and a sharp stone tied to the end.

"The last time you tried to catch those fish," Kathryn commented, doubt on the edge of her voice, "We starved."

"After berries and smoked shellfish, I would have thought you’d enjoy the change."

"I would," Kathryn smarted back, "If there was any chance you could actually catch the things!"

"Let’s get going then and we’ll see who has the last laugh."

Following Chakotay, Kathryn silently wondered if he might actually be able to catch one of the fish. They didn’t swim very fast, she remembered, unless they were attacked. But, if he was able to throw the harpoon and spear one without attracting its attention beforehand, his plan might work.

Not long after that, Kathryn saw the lagoon spreading out before her eyes. Unable to resist, she broke into a run for the waterfall. With a loud splash, she dove into the water heedless of the fact that she was disturbing dinner and began to scrub at the grime on her skin.

Ducking under the waterfall with a carefree laugh emitting from her throat, she tilted her head back allowing the icy water to wash over her body and through her dirty hair. The cleansing water was doing wonders to make her feel human again. Several minutes passed before she stepped out of the waterfall and looked around at the fish she was swimming with.

Suddenly, Kathryn was pulled under the water by a pair of strong arms and held there for several seconds. Kicking and sputtering, she was finally allowed to resurface, but found herself unable to break away.

"Let me go!" she shouted at Chakotay, his arms still pinning her against his chest effectively refraining her from fighting back.

"For a Starfleet officer," he began, a teasing laugh closer to her ear than she had ever expected, "You could sure use some lessons in hunting."

"Hunting?!" Kathryn fought against the arms that held her fast.

"Yes! Dinner is having a fine time watching us — we’re supposed to be watching them!" He told her, stepping carefully across the pebbly bottom of the lagoon. Opening his arms wide, Chakotay bit back a laugh as he dropped Kathryn off the edge of an underwater cliff. Her arms flailed, hoping to catch onto something, but there was nothing to save her.

Dunked underwater again, she resurfaced facing him and treading water, a look of revenge on her features.

Chakotay backed away from her, but Kathryn’s toes had found the edge again and she was advancing on him quickly. He’d stripped off the shirt and vest, making it harder to push him under the water, but not impossible.

Finally, exhaustion overcoming both parties, they climbed to the bank of the lagoon and stretched out in the sand.

"Are you tired?" Chakotay asked, gasping for breath.

"No," Kathryn lied, not having the strength to say more.

"Good," he breathed deeply. "Then get up and catch dinner."

"You."

Laughing, Chakotay rolled over and propped his head up on his elbow. "Well," he surveyed her wet hair and clothes. "At least you don’t stink anymore."

"You didn’t smell much better," she retorted.

"Ahh!" he lifted a hand to his heart and feigned pain as he rolled onto his back again. "I’m wounded for life! The Almighty Starfleet Princess hath insulted me beyond a point which I can bear!"

"Get over it," she grunted sitting up. "And go wash that shirt before you wear it again."

"Who said I’m going to put it back on?" Chakotay cracked. "It’s amusing to watch you trying to look anywhere but at me." Seeing the color rise in her cheeks and knowing she couldn’t do anything about it made Chakotay laugh all the harder. Taking pity on the woman, he reached for the shirt and went down to the lagoon’s shore to wash it clean.

"You think I’m attracted to you or something, don’t you, Mr. Chakotay?" Kathryn demanded, trying to reclaim part of her wounded pride.

Pausing in his work, Chakotay glanced over his shoulder and was startled to find the color rise in her cheeks once more. "I would never be so presumptuous," he replied with the most respectful of expressions, but the playful smile tugging on the corner of his mouth suggested otherwise.

"You think you’re something special," Janeway marched down to the edge of the water and propped her hands on her hips. "But, you never met Justin or Mark."

An unexpected ache Chakotay couldn’t identify shot through his heart at that moment. Jealousy? No, he quickly told himself. He had no reason to be envious of either Justin or Mark.

But, even as he told himself, Chakotay knew that if they were to be rescued today, something would be missing in his life. Breaking the gaze she held his eyes with, he resumed washing the shirt.

"No," he said softly scrubbing the item at hand, "I never knew them."

Kathryn didn’t speak for several moments as the realization that something more than friendly banter had occurred during the exchange. He couldn’t actually have been hurt by that statement, could he? Unconsciously, she lifted a hand to where he had touched her jaw last night. No, that would be silly. Impossible even, she told herself.

Observing his every moment out of the corner of her eyes, Kathryn picked up the harpoon in her hand and moved to stand on the edge of the shore several meters away from where he was disturbing the water with his washing.

Chakotay glanced up and raised his eyebrows at her. "Are you actually going to attempt it?" he asked, the taunting voice she had grown accustomed to back.

"If I do," she replied quietly watching the fish swimming before her, "And if I catch one," her grip tightened on the harpoon, "You’re going to have to beg for dinner." With a sharp flick of her wrist, the harpoon flew into the water with a loud splash.

Both kept their eyes glued to the water as fish jumped and tumbled over one another in an effort to get away. As the gurgling water cleared away, Janeway grimaced at the harpoon wedged firmly in the sand.

A loud guffaw from Chakotay’s general direction caused Kathryn to glare at him. "I don’t see you doing any better," she badgered him.

He shrugged and returned back to his wash. "I took the same classes you did at the Academy," he retorted. "They didn’t see the need to learn that sort of thing, I suppose. Now, in the Maquis..." his voice trailed off.

"Are you saying Maquis training, if there is such thing, is superior to Starfleet?"

"There is no training for the Maquis," he laughed at the thought. "I would assume that you, with all of Starfleet’s intelligence about our actions, would know that. But," he continued quickly. "We’ve had to settle on planets before to make repairs and there was always someone who knew how to start a fire with two sticks and survive in the wilderness."

Kathryn felt a wry grin stretch across her face and couldn’t help pointing out, "But it was never you."

~ * =/\= * ~

"What are those?"

"Hopefully safe to eat," Chakotay retorted cheerfully as he collected a handful of the small cherry-like fruit. He had been watching the bush for a couple days and the moment the berries appeared to be ripe enough to pick, he had done so. Now Janeway eyed the fruit curiously.

"Well, they’re not on the top ten ‘Do Not Eat’ list," she told him, holding the cherry between a thumb and forefinger as she twisted it this way and that in the dim firelight. Grasping it by the stem, she bit off the piece of fruit and then closed her eyes with a smile. It was delicious.

"Not bad, huh?"

Kathryn opened her eyes quickly and then gave Chakotay a small nod. His attention had turned away from her and was now focused on the stem from the cherry he had just eaten. With a slight smile tugging on the corner of his mouth, he popped the stem in his mouth and leaned back.

When he produced the stem knotted in the middle Kathryn raised an eyebrow at him. Without a word, she claimed another cherry and popped it, stem and all, into her mouth. A moment later, she grinned smugly and held up the stem knotted in the middle.

Chakotay laughed out loud at her. "That’s easy enough to do," he told her, reaching for another cherry. "But can you do this?" A moment later he tossed a cherry stem knotted into a star pattern into the sand beside her.

"How’d you do that?" Janeway asked, peering curiously at it.

Taking another stem in his hands, Chakotay began to knot it using his hands. "First like this," he said twisting it carefully.

Moving across the cave until she was beside him, Kathryn studied his hands as they expertly twisted and tied the stem.

"And then tie it here," Chakotay continued as he worked with the dark red vine.

"Being careful to not drop the end," she observed.

"This is the hard part," Chakotay muttered, focusing intensely on his work. He barely noticed as Kathryn leaned slightly closer to him in an effort to watch his handiwork.

"And you’re done," with a grin he held the stem up for her inspection.

It was then that both realized how close they actually were. Kathryn’s heart hammered against her ribcage as she drew in a deep breath.

As she exhaled, Chakotay felt the hairs on his arm tremble slightly from her breath. He could feel electricity charging between the point where her knee was pressed against his leg as she had leaned in to watch his hands.

For what felt like an eternity neither moved. Chakotay studied her eyes carefully, noting the fleck of gold in her left eye. As his eyes caressed her face and slid over her mouth, she leaned away from him, startled.

"I’m sorry," she whispered hoarsely backing away from him.

Chakotay reached out and caught her by the wrist. "Don’t be," he implored.

Staring at his hand grasping her arm, she raised her eyes to him. Slowly, her face changed from wide-eyed surprise to cautious acceptance.

When he released her arm, a pang of regret stabbed through her body. But, just as quickly, joy followed when he touched her jaw.

"Good night," he said softly.

Reaching up to mimic the gesture, she bid him good night and then lay down on her side of the fire.

Eagerly, her eyes sought his on the other side of the flames. Finding them, she smiled in comfort and then closed her eyes to sleep.

~ * =/\= * ~

"Kathryn! Come here!"

Janeway’s head snapped up at the sound of her name. Chakotay was jogging down the beach in her direction, a huge grin on his face.

"It is alright if I call you Kathryn, isn’t it?" he asked, dropping into the sand beside her.

"I suppose so," she answered slowly. In all honesty, she liked the way he said her name — the way it rolled off his tongue as if he’d always called her Kathryn.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren’t you going to ask to call me Chakotay?"

Dark eyes twinkled at her resulting in a laugh bubbling out of her throat. "What if I don’t want to call you Chakotay?"

He returned the laugh with one of his own as he stood, "I hope you will." Holding out a hand he added, "Come with me."

Hesitantly, she placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her to her feet. Still grasping her hand, he began to lead her into the forest.

"What are we doing?" Kathryn was grateful to escape the hot afternoon sun as Chakotay led her down to the waterfall, but she had work to do on the beach.

"You’ll see," he replied mysteriously.

Minutes later, they stopped on the shore. Fully aware that her hand was still in his, Kathryn stepped towards the silvery fish that swam in a small enclosure to the side of the lagoon.

"Did you catch these?" she asked, turning to stare at him in amazement. A pair of eyes laughed back at her, confirming her suspicions.

"No more minnows for dinner," Chakotay added.

"Tonight we’ll feast," she laughed, dropping his hand. "Help me get these back to the cave."

Stepping down into the water, they were able to catch one of the fat fish with their bare hands. Chakotay wrapped ‘dinner’ in large leaves he had already stored and then hefted it onto his shoulder.

"We’ll be able to catch them in our spare time and keep them until we’re ready to eat," Kathryn noted as she admired the holding pen he had created. "That was good thinking."

They were at the edge of the woods near the cave when Chakotay stopped suddenly.

"Someone’s here," he stated in a low voice, crouching to the ground.

"Hello?" a voice called out from the direction of the beach. "Anyone here?"

Kathryn dropped to her knees in the sand as they stared wide eyed at one another. Reaching out, she nervously grasped his hand for a brief moment as the realization of their situation washed over both at once. If the person on the beach was Maquis, her life was in danger. If he was Starfleet, Chakotay was as good as dead.

Peering through the thick foliage, both got a glimpse of red and black walking the length of the beach.

"Starfleet," Chakotay whispered.

Kathryn squinted at the figure for a moment. Then, recognizing him, she swallowed hard. "Wil Riker. The Enterprise must be here."

For a long moment neither spoke. Then, Chakotay reached over and brushed a strand of auburn hair from her face. "I know what you have to do," he told her. "And, I’m ready to face them if...if I can just know that I can count you as a friend."

"Chakotay," Kathryn felt tears closing her throat as she comprehended what he was saying. "I had hoped you’d consider me more than a friend," she said slowly.

"I do consider you more than a friend," he replied.

"Then you’ll understand why I’m going to do this," she told him. Confusion leapt into his eyes as he clutched her hand. "I’ll contact the Maquis and send someone for you."

"Kathryn, don’t," Chakotay gripped her hand tightly. "Doing so may put you in danger."

"I will send help for you. That’s a promise, Chakotay." Leaning forward, Kathryn brushed a quick kiss over his cheek and then released his hand. Without hesitation, slipped quietly through the thick flora and went forward to meet Wil Riker.

"Commander!" she called his attention to her.

"Captain," he greeted her, jogging over meet her as she hastened toward the cave entrance. "I’m here to...rescue you. Are you alone?" his eyes searched the forest from which she had just come and seemed to linger on the spot where Chakotay still hid.

"Of course. I didn’t have a crew."

"There was word that a Maquis ship may have crashed here as well," Riker informed her.

"Captain Chakotay’s ship," Janeway confirmed. "I had assumed it landed in the ocean and he drowned," she laughed wryly. "I nearly drowned myself."

Riker eyed her disbelievingly, but didn’t question her. "Are you ready to go home?"

Smiling widely, Janeway nodded.

"Riker to Enterprise," he tapped his comm. Badge, "Two to beam up."

~ * =/\= * ~

The red and black uniform, familiar yet alien at the same time, hung loosely over her slender frame as Captain Janeway sipped a mug of hot coffee in Ten Forward two days later. Staring out at the world where Chakotay still hid, Kathryn wondered if he would be able to hide much longer.

Then again, she mused, the Enterprise had scanned and re-scanned the planet for a week before detecting a blip that indicated one life form on the surface. The rocks of the cave apparently shielded any attempts at scanning. It was Chakotay’s bio-readings that had been detected, Kathryn knew, but no one else needed to know that information.

Captain Picard and Commander Riker had grilled her about every hour of the many weeks she had spent shipwrecked before ordering her to refrain from public places as much as possible. Then Starfleet had conducted another interrogation via subspace channels.

She had told the truth as much as possible, reliving her long days on the beach and the nights spent in the cave escaping the unending storms. The only detail excluded was Chakotay.

Her story concerning his ship was simple: she had lost track of him when her shuttle crashed -- that much was true and Starfleet seemed satisfied. Only Wil Riker had questioned her more than once about the situation.

Earlier that morning, after the questioning was complete, Janeway had shut herself in her quarters and composed a message to a Ms. B’Elanna Torres, the only name from Chakotay’s crew roster she could recall from memory. It was scheduled to encrypt and send itself while she was in Ten Forward and then to erase all evidence from the ship’s system logs before she returned to her quarters.

"You look troubled," a voice spoke from behind Kathryn.

Turning a little more quickly than a captain should, Janeway found herself staring into the chocolate brown eyes of Guinan, Ten Forward’s hostess. "I...I was shipwrecked on that planet for several weeks." She managed to say. "I’m not entirely..."

"Ready to return to duty?" Guinan suggested with an understanding smile. "When one is hunted down by an enemy and thrust into a survival situation only to be just as quickly pulled out of it and thrown back into everyday life, we don’t always know how to cope."

Kathryn forced herself to meet Guinan’s eyes. Was it her imagination or did the other woman seem to be able to read into her mind?

"You may want to speak to a counselor about it."

Janeway began to protest, but the hostess continued, "Deanna is part Betazoid and well trained at helping people cope with their emotions."

A Betazoid!?! There was a Betazoid on board the Enterprise? Kathryn felt her stomach flip over. How was she supposed to stand by her story knowing there was someone on the ship who could tell she was lying?

"Unfortunately," Guinan continued, a slight smirk on her mouth indicating she may know more than she let on, "She’s on leave visiting her mother on Betazed. You’ll have to wait to contact her until next week."

"Thank you," Janeway returned the smile. "I just may do that."

Turning back to the window and the turquoise-blue planet turning slowly below her Kathryn swore to herself that by next week she would be as far from the Enterprise as was humanly possible. If it meant returning to duty before her body was fully healed, she would do so as long as it meant keeping Chakotay’s survival a secret.