TITLE: Getting There
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: A camping trip for Kathryn and Chakotay
DISCLAIMER: I'm gonna stop doing these eventually...

“Are you sure this is the right way, Chakotay?” he heard her say behind him. “It’s getting awfully steep.”

Her comments surprised him. Usually he would have thought that she would have been more than eager to hike the trail the locals had told him about. She had certainly seemed willing to go on a shore leave this time around for a change, even if she hadn’t decided just what she was going to do on it. But this time it seemed that while the shore leave itself had been no problem, getting her to accompany him had been a different matter entirely. He hoped her hesitation had not been over the choice of company.

“Just over the ridge apparently.” At least he hoped so; he’d yet to gain any evidence that ‘over the ridge’ was where their destination lay.

“What ridge?” She cursed quietly, no doubt having tripped over a root or a rock. “I can’t see a damned thing with all these trees.”

Well, he already knew that Kathryn Janeway was a child of the twenty-fourth century so perhaps her behaviour wasn’t too much of a surprise.

Chakotay kept pushing onward. The path wasn’t so steep that Kathryn would need any assistance and he was wary of giving it unwarranted. The past years had gradually made him aware of just when Kathryn would appreciate help, even if she didn’t ask for it.

But she was right. There were trees in abundance; their long dangling limbs sheltering the path that they were on. Occasionally, patches of sunlight escaped through, arriving in long beams of light that hit the woodland floor soundlessly. The resulting shadows danced every time a breeze swept through the leaves. In the distance was the sound of a river, slowly making its way downstream to the populated areas of the planet they were visiting.

At last, Chakotay got the proof he had been seeking. His ears were rarely mistaken. He turned his head and called back to her. “Not much further now, Kathryn.”

He waited for her at the final turn, wanting to see the expression on her face when she saw what they had come to. Adjusting the pack on his back, which contained their overnight gear, he stood there in silence.

Kathryn must have guessed what was ahead. The dull roar was markedly more noticeable now and it would be hard not to guess correctly. As she caught up with him, her eyes were wide and a large smile was on her face. “Is that…?”

He nodded. “I believe it is.” He stretched out his hand and she took it. Together they rounded the final corner of the path.

“Oh, Chakotay,” she breathed once they had stopped walking. “It’s beautiful.” He turned his head and caught the image of her face, burning it into his memory for all time.

They were at the edge of a small pool, the water for which was provided by a magnificent waterfall that crashed its way over a rocky outcropping some twenty feet above them. The pond was surrounded by a grassy area that lay on the edge of the woodland. Here the sun, unencumbered by trees, shone brightly through, causing the water to glint and sparkle.

“You knew this was here?” she asked, breathless.

“I had been told it was here,” he admitted. “But I didn’t know what it was like.” He smiled at her. “Glad you came with me now?”

Kathryn laughed. “It wasn’t quite what I had in mind for this shore leave, but now that I’m here…” She trailed off.

Chakotay wasn’t sure what Kathryn had had in mind but he was surprised that there had been some loose ideas floating around. Perhaps she had been thinking about attending some of the cultural events their host city had to offer or even their science museum. Possibly that was why she had been initially reluctant to come with him. “If you’d made other plans, Kathryn,” he said hesitantly, as he lifted the pack off his shoulders and onto the ground.

“Oh no,” she laughed. “I had no plans, just ideas. And besides,” she smiled. “Who could not want to spend some time with their best friend.” She leaned over the pack. “Where’s that tricorder? I want to test that water, see if it’s safe for us.”

Chakotay shook his head as he watched her grab the instrument and stride off to the water’s edge. She certainly knew how to get to him. Best friends, indeed. Mind you, he’d used that trick once or twice himself to stop her going off on some solo mission or other. Still, he couldn’t help but think that in another time and another place this might have been a romantic getaway rather than a much-needed chance for two friends to get together without ship’s business getting in the way.

Slowly he unpacked their tents and sleeping bags and found a reasonably flat patch of ground to set up camp. He had brought along one of the four man tents that were occasionally used for away missions, fearing that anything smaller might make Kathryn wary in some way. Not that he would ever pressure her into anything further than friendship but still, he didn’t want her thinking otherwise. Out of the corner of his eye he was able to watch as she moved around the water’s edge. She seemed relaxed now; he didn’t want to do anything that might put her on-guard.

After the tent was up, and the bedrolls laid out in it, he set to creating a fire for them. After years of jokes about his inability to rub two sticks together and her good-natured offers of ‘a hair for a good cause’ he had taken to carrying a box of firelighters on his trips off Voyager. The local who had told him of this area had also told him which types of wood made for good kindling and so it didn’t take Chakotay long before the flames were jumping and licking the edges of the fire-ring.

The sun was setting but it was still warm when Kathryn returned. “Safe to drink,” she pronounced of the water. “And bathe too if we wanted.” She sunk down onto the ground beside him and hugged her knees against her chest. “It is beautiful here, Chakotay.”

He looked up briefly from the vegetable stew he was reheating over the fire. “I’m glad you like it,” he said simply. Anything that gave her pleasure usually made him happy. Usually. There were a couple of things that he hadn’t been impressed with but those had been few and far between. “So are you going to go for a swim before dinner?”

Kathryn shook her head and laughed. “I’ve not brought my bathing suit.”

“So?”

“So, no, Chakotay.”

He made a face at her. “Shame,” he chided. Secretly though he was relieved that she was acting true to form. To see her strip down now might have easily caused dinner to be ruined and neither of them needed that.

She didn’t help matters by leaning over his shoulder. “So what’s cooking?”

“Stew,” he replied. “Does that please you, Your Captainness?”

“Nooo,” Kathryn threw herself backwards onto the ground. “Not the captain. I don’t want to be the captain. Not today. Today and tonight I want to be Kathryn.”

Chakotay pondered how to answer this. Being Kathryn usually meant not hiding, as he saw it at times, behind Starfleet protocols. It meant that she was putting herself first rather than the crew. To him it meant that she was being a woman. A woman to whom he was extremely attracted. “Fine,” he answered at last. “I was going to let my captain rest after dinner, but since she’s not here, Kathryn can rinse the dishes in the water.”

She leaned up on her elbows. “You are a bastard, Chakotay,” she said, staring at him. “Anyone ever tell you that?”

“Hey, don’t you go disrespecting my mother’s reputation,” he retorted. “You know what will happen if you do that?” She shook her head and he leaned over her. “I’ll resign my commission and make your life a living misery. Then you’ll know what a bastard I can be.”

Too late he realised the error in his movement. Now he was only inches away from her, staring into each other’s eyes, unable to move. The silence was almost unbearable; it was broken only the sound of their breathing. No, he prayed, don’t let me ruin things. Not here, not now.

Salvation came in the form of the pot bubbling. Both pulled back away, laughing, and Chakotay stirred the stew again. “I guess its ready,” he commented. Kathryn presented him with two metal bowls and he poured an equal amount into both. “Remember,” he warned her. “You’re washing up.”

She laughed but after the meal she did walk over to the water with the bowls, as well as the cooking implements, and rinse them out. Afterwards they sat quietly by the fire until Chakotay finally asked, “So what did you have in mind when you thought about shore leave?” He wondered later why he asked but he had and there had been no going back.

Kathryn looked down at the ground. “How about a nice luxurious hotel room, with a big comfortable bed and room service.”

It was said as a joke but neither her expression nor her tone was humourous. He didn’t want to press her but he had a feeling there was something more. “Kathryn?” he asked gently.

She sighed. “Chakotay, just how exactly would you define our relationship?”

The question threw him. “Our relationship? Whose relationship? The captain and first officer’s or…?”

“Ours, Chakotay,” she told him firmly. “As in Kathryn and Chakotay.”

He shrugged. “We’re friends. I’d like to think we were close friends. Why?”

“Friends?” She shook her head. “I think we’re beyond that. We’re like an old married couple at times. I’ve heard it said around the ship.”

Chakotay laughed as he attempted to figure out what was going on. Was he in trouble? Had he inadvertently gone too close to the line, maybe even crossed it? “Well, I know Tom Paris likes to make fun like that.”

“I’m not talking about Tom,” she replied in frustration. “I’m talking about people saying it who don’t even hang out with Tom. Think about it, will you. We work well together and then we spend time together. We’ve got to the point where we don’t care what we look like or feel like when we spend that time together. We know what the other is pretty much thinking most of the time but I don’t think either of us is afraid to yell at the other. Its like we’ve become a habit.” She paused and he could tell she was having a slight difficulty in getting the words out. “And then there’s how we feel about each other, which appears to be perfectly obvious to the rest of the crew.”

The breath caught in Chakotay’s throat. He had had a fair idea that Kathryn knew how he felt about her, even if he’d made every effort not to bring it up. Was she now saying that she felt the same? He sought refuge in his warped sense of humour. “So are you saying you want a divorce?” It was the wrong thing to say apparently. Her whole face fell, and her eyes darkened. “Spirits, Kathryn,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “For once you have totally lost me. Please, just tell me what you’re getting at here, because I have no clue. Have I done anything to upset the way things are? You know how I feel but you also know damn well I’ll never force the issue. Just tell me, please.”

“Are you happy with our relationship as it is?”

“Aw, hell, Kathryn.”

“Because I’m not.” The sentence was rushed and she gulped. He really was concerned now. She could either mean one of two things and he definitely didn’t want to jump to the wrong conclusion. “I mean, I…” She turned to face him. “Damn it, Chakotay. I want more than what we’ve got. Yes, I do know how you feel about me and I feel the same.”

Chakotay’s head was spinning. She felt the same? Was she now wanting to take things a step further? “But Starfleet…” he began.

Kathryn rolled her eyes. “I’ve done a lot of thinking over the past year or so about that. Starfleet never had a situation such as ours before. Even the deeper space missions never lasted more than a year or so. But we’ve been here six years now and although we’ve made amazing progress I don’t expect to get home any time soon. We can’t put our lives on hold, Chakotay. I feel I’ve done it long enough for both of us.” She laughed. “Goodness knows I put your life on hold when I made the decision to destroy the array. No need to prolong your agony.”

“The crew?” His mind was listing off the implications, ramifications of taking such a step.

“I’ve not heard one person complain when they’ve referred to us as that old married couple.” She smiled. “Any more potential concerns?” He shook his head; the crew and Starfleet were pretty much it. “Well, then, that just leaves one person.”

“Who?” he gulped. He had a feeling Tuvok might not be impressed.

“The first officer,” she grinned. “So far he’s not managed to add anything useful to this conversation. I’m beginning to wonder how he really does feel about me?”

There was nothing really he could say. “I love you,” was all that came out. “I’d like to further our relationship, if that’s what you’re saying you want.”

“It’s what I want.” She smiled shyly. “This is what I had planned for this shore leave.” She looked around. “Just in a different environment.”

“The luxurious hotel room you mean?” His brain was drifting off, silk sheets, her in his arms, champagne. Ironic really, that he himself had managed to ruin those plans.

She smiled ruefully. “I was going to have you come for dinner.” Now she rolled her eyes. “It all was going to be so perfect. I was going to seduce you with a bottle of fine wine.”

Chakotay threw back his head and laughed. “Kathryn, you’ve never needed a bottle of fine wine. You just needed to say the words.” He paused and his eyes narrowed. “In fact, you still need to say them. Unless you did and I missed them in my complete haze over the way this evening’s gone.”

Kathryn smiled, slid over so that she was sitting next to him, and placed her arms around him. “I love you, Chakotay,” she said slowly and solemnly. “I have for a very long while.”

He was mesmerised, found himself staring deeply into her eyes, saw his reflection in them, felt himself getting lost in them. Slowly, tentatively, he leaned forward, encouraged by the spark he saw in them, by the half-smile on her face. Their lips met.

Sex was always something Chakotay had enjoyed but making love to Kathryn Janeway was something else entirely. After that first hesitant kiss there had come a second one, more furious and explosive, that had led to a passionate dose of lovemaking right there by the fire. Then, in the darkness, they had bathed in the pool beneath the waterfall and the moonlight. Discovering a small ledge behind the raging torrent they made love on the platform, letting the water shield them from the world outside. Finally, they had retreated to their shelter and come together one last time before sinking into sleep.

He had woken early; the sunlight seeping through the material was falling on his face, almost blinding him through closed eyelids. His lover lay nestled against him; one leg sprawled over his, her hair fanned out across his chest. His arms were around her, and he stroked her back gently, relishing the feel of her so close to him. Remembering the night before he smiled. If Kathryn had had other plans for the evening then he certainly hadn’t been expecting this turn of events. Not that he was complaining.

His one concern now was that she might try to run from him, or retreat back behind her uniform once they were back on board of Voyager, but since she had initiated their nocturnal activities he hoped there was no need to be concerned. If she were to run from him then he wasn’t sure he could take the fall, not now, not after having had a taste of what it could be like with her.

Kathryn began to stir within his arms, stretching languidly, not in a hurry to be moving away from him. “Good morning,” she said lazily.

He inclined his head and lightly kissed her head. “I think it is,” he smiled. “Did I tell you last night that I love you?”

“Mmm,” she smiled. “But you can always tell me again.” She raised her head up and kissed him lightly. “I love you too, by the way.”

He looked at her and felt relieved. “For ever and ever?” he asked.

“For ever and ever,” she solemnly repeated.

“Promise that will never change?”

“I promise.” She smiled at him and prepared to lay down on him again.

“Promise never to cook for me?”

She laughed softly. “I think that can be arranged,” she murmured as she began to drift off into sleep again.

“Promise you’ll give up the coffee?”

She jerked upright again. “What? Never, no way. Love me, love my coffee, mister. Is that understood?”

And Chakotay did!

FINIS

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