Title: Breaking the news

Author: Pook

Fandom: Star Trek: Voyager

Rating: PG13

Summary: A Message in a Bottle add on.

Character/Pairing: Janeway/Chakotay

Spoilers: None

Warnings: None

Author’s Notes: Thanks for Katlady for the beta

Prompt Number for fic101: list 2 – 57 - doctor

Disclaimer: CBS/Paramount owns everything. No infringement intended.

Date: 18/3/07

~~*~~

After putting the finishing touches to his briefing paper, Owen Paris was about to place his thumb print on the padd when his combadge chirped.

“Hayes to Paris.” Steve Hayes, Operations Chief of Starfleet struggled to remain professional.

“Paris here, Steve.”

“Owen, are you sitting down?”

“Yes?”

“You better be. Voyager has just contacted Starfleet.”

“Voyager? …What? How?” He stammered. Oh God! He couldn’t believe it. After four years. They’d said goodbye to Tom at the memorial service three years ago and he’d forgiven himself. After seeing a counsellor, he’d eventually overcome the guilt for treating his son so horribly that may have led to Tom’s falling off the rails. A million questions popped in his head all at the same time. “Where?” He wasn’t actually sure if he’d said it out a loud.

Steve smiled at Owen. His normal calm military demeanour was gone as he struggled to retain control. He was just a father, not an admiral receiving the most impossible news. His son was not dead. Steve was very pleased that he was able to give some good news to the families instead of perpetual bad news due to the Dominion War. “Yes, Owen. Tom’s alive. They’re in the Delta Quadrant.”

“Delta Quadrant?” Owen ran his fingers through his short-cropped hair. The Delta Quadrant was far away - perhaps too far. “How far?”

“Look, Owen, come to the Ops room. I’ll fill you in there. I’m just going to contact Gretchen to inform her and have her transported here.”

“Steve, please let me do it.” Owen remembered that autumn day when he’d done possibly the hardest thing he’d ever done as a Starfleet officer. Deliver bad news to his best friend’s wife. He’d done it not once but twice. And it didn’t get easier the second time. If anything, it had been worse. He’d told Gretchen that Edward had died on Tau Ceti Prime and he’d told her that Voyager and Kathryn were missing and was more than likely dead. At the time, he’d thought Voyager had been destroyed in the Badlands. At the Memorial service, he’d had to be supportive for his family as well for Gretchen and Phoebe.

“Alright. I’m happy for you, Owen. See you soon. Hayes out.”

Owen turned to his computer and called up the communications interface then waited to be connected. Voyager had been found and Tom was alive. It was almost unbelievable. He had to believe it - Steve wouldn’t play such a cruel joke on anyone. He decided that he would contact Susan and the girls once he knew more.

“Owen, it’s nice to see you again. What can I do for you?” Gretchen asked. She’d just come inside after finishing some gardening.

Owen got straight to the point. “Voyager’s been in contact with Starfleet.”

Gretchen gasped and her heart skipped a beat as her legs gave way with shock, thankful for the chair behind her to catch her. She couldn’t believe it. Her daughter. Her Katie. Alive, at least she hoped, alive. “Kathryn?”

“I don’t know anymore than you, Gretchen. I’ve just been told myself. Stand by and I’ll beam you to Headquarters. Steve Hayes will brief us then.”

“Oh …” Barely breathing, Gretchen’s thoughts were racing as well. She had to contact Phoebe. What was she going to tell her? On autopilot, she said, “Er…Owen, give me a minute to lock up the house and then I’ll be ready.” Gretchen had to hold on to the desk as she stood up. Her legs were wobbly but some how she managed to set the security grid then waited to be beamed to San Francisco.

At Headquarters, Owen and Gretchen greeted each other with a hug then walked in to the briefing room together where Steve Hayes met them.

“Good morning, Gretchen and Owen.” Steve was happy for his friends. He’d known both Owen and Edward for nearly forty years since they’d attended the Academy together. He ushered them into the chairs then got straight to the point. “Voyager was transported to the Delta Quadrant relatively intact by a powerful being called the Caretaker. Currently, she’s 60 000 light years from Federation space.”

Worried by the implications of what he meant by relatively intact and equally by that vast distance, Gretchen reached for Owen’s hand and squeezed it for reassurance. They both knew what that distance meant. Even at top speed that still meant it would take sixty years for them to get back.

A lifetime.

“Oh God.” Sixty years meant Gretchen would never see Kathryn again. Her eyes misted over with tears. She couldn’t decide what was worse, knowing that she was alive but so far away she’d never see her daughter again or when Starfleet had told Gretchen that she was dead three years ago? She hadn’t really gotten over Edward’s death but she’d been returning to some semblance of normality and then to hear of Kathryn’s loss was a blow she’d thought she’d never recover from. From somewhere she drew the strength to carry on, for the sake of Phoebe and her family.

“Voyager’s EMH was transferred through a vast alien relay system to a Starfleet vessel on the very edge of the range of the network. There wasn’t much time before he had to be sent back. The Doctor has been debriefed and filled us in on what has happened in those four years. Kathryn and Tom both survived the initial very rough trip to the Delta Quadrant. They are currently alive and well according to the Doctor. Voyager is surviving and they’re making their way back home.”

‘Kathryn was alive’ was a mantra that Gretchen kept repeating in her mind, barely taking in anything else Steve had said.

Steve passed them a data chip. “On these chips are personal messages from Kathryn and Tom.”

Taking the chip in her hand, Gretchen gripped it tightly. She wouldn’t let it out of her sight. It was her only link to her daughter. At least she’d be able to hear her voice again and maybe there would be a recent picture of her in the data.

“At the moment, that’s all we know. We have our top people looking at this relay in an effort to maintain contact.” Steve said softly. His friends were trying to process the news. “As soon as we know anything more, I’ll contact you.” The Operations admiral stood up. He was about to call Susan Paris and Phoebe to come to HQ to help his friends.

Taking his chip in his hand, Owen needed to tell his family about the good news and then they would read his logs. “I’ve got to tell Susan and the girls.” Owen stood up, already heading for the door.

“Take all the time you need, Owen. I’ll clear it with Ross.”

“Thanks, Steve.” Owen shook his hand then left the room and headed for the nearest transporter room.

Steve Hayes left the room too. He contacted Phoebe and had her beamed over to HQ.

Gretchen hadn’t moved. The shock of knowing that Kathryn wasn’t dead was almost paralysing. She held her head in her hands. Some how she’d held herself together while she talked to Steve but now the floodgates were open and she cried her heart out. First, tears of happiness, for her daughter, knowing she was alive but then there were also tears of sadness. Kathryn was so far away that Gretchen knew that she would never see her again.

The briefing room door opened, Phoebe walked in slowly and knelt beside her crying mother, wrapping her arms around her. Admiral Hayes hadn’t told her much, only that Voyager had contacted Starfleet. “Mom? What is it? Is it Kathryn?”

Gretchen turned around and hugged her back. “Kathryn is alive.”

“Alive?” Phoebe’s heart nearly stopped. How? Where? She couldn’t think straight. It was unbelievable.

“Oh yes…” Gretchen hugged her younger daughter even tighter. “She’s in the Delta Quadrant.”

“Delta Quadrant?” Oh God! Tens of thousand of light years away. Why was the Universe so cruel to them?

Gretchen watched as Phoebe wiped a tear away. “Phoebe, all I know is that she’s alive and well.” She held up the fluorescent data chip. “This is a message from Katie. Let’s go home and watch it.”

“I’ll contact Rob from Indiana.” Phoebe knew that her husband could look after the kids for a night while she stayed with her mother.

Gretchen and Phoebe beamed back to the house in Indiana. Gretchen loaded the chip in to the computer and keyed in her NOK code. As the logs were being decrypted, Phoebe got them both a tea before settling down at the desk beside her mother.

The computer beeped.

Gretchen opened the personal directory. There were subdirectories addressed to her, Phoebe, Mark, and even Aunt Martha. There were also a few files to her close friends but was there one she didn’t know, a Sekaya - no surname, no serial number, ship, or starbase so he or she wasn’t in Starfleet. As NOK, she’d have to send these out to the people in question once she’s finished reading Kathryn’s letters. Maybe she’d get a message back from this mysterious person so she’d know what she was to Kathryn. She realised her initial curiosity was only a delaying tactic.

They both stared at the screen, lost in their own thoughts for a few moments until finally her mother opened latest Kathryn’s file addressed to her. Phoebe clasped her mom’s hand and began to read.

~~*~~

The Doctor stepped toward his captain; her emotions clear for him to see. “And they asked me to relay a message. They wanted you to know you're no longer alone.”

Kathryn’s voice choked with emotion. “Sixty thousand light years seems a little closer today.” For once, she allowed herself to feel openly and not hide behind the captain’s mask. She felt an overwhelming sense of joy and relief that the Doctor had contacted Starfleet. Soon there’d be happy families all over the Federation hearing the news of their loved ones. A weight had been lifted off her shoulders and it brought a tear to her eye.

Chakotay took a step closer when he heard Kathryn’s halting voice, deep with feeling. His hand rested on her back, silently supporting her.

“Captain, I will return to the Bridge.”

“Thank you, Tuvok,” Kathryn said quietly.

Tuvok nodded and left Sickbay. His bond with T’Pel was still strong even though they were separated by 60 000 light years. T’Pel already knew that he was alive and well. He was gratified for the crew that their loved ones would also now know that they were alive and well.

Kathryn turned back to the EMH. “Doctor, the letters?”

“I downloaded all the crew’s messages to Starfleet. Starfleet assured me they would endeavour to pass on all the letters, including the ones from the Maquis. Starfleet would only say that the Maquis situation has changed. Admiral Hayes said your mother was well and that he would personally pass your letters to her mother as soon as I’d left.”

Kathryn felt Chakotay’s hand rub her back and she drew comfort from his presence.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Chakotay was initially wary about the Maquis sending letters home fearing that Starfleet would use it against their relatives or friends. “Thank you, Doctor.”

“If you’ll excuse me, Captain. I have to see what Lt. Paris has done to my Sickbay while I was gone.”

“Fine, Doctor.”

“Captain, let’s go.” Chakotay ushered a still emotional Janeway out of Sickbay. Quietly, they walked back to their quarters. Both were lost in their own thoughts of home and loved ones.

As soon as they were inside their quarters, Kathryn fell into Chakotay’s welcoming arms. He wrapped them around her, holding on to his love as she cried, soothing her with gentle caresses and soft words. Her head was buried in his chest as she held on to him tightly. He kissed her hair as he held her in his arms.

After awhile, Kathryn relaxed then pulled back, looking up at Chakotay. Wiping her tears of happiness away, she then tried to dry the wet spot she’d made crying on him. “Sorry about that.”

Chakotay shook his head, stopping her hand by gently holding on to it. “Don’t worry about it, Kathryn.”

“My mom is …” Kathryn stopped chocked up with emotion.

“Your mother will soon know you’re alive and you’re happy.” He kissed her gently on her forehead.

“She’ll be pleased I’m fine but what about … Mark?” It had taken two years for Kathryn to let Mark go. She hoped that he’d forgive her for falling in love with another man and that he would find someone for himself. Part of her felt guilty about moving on but she couldn’t deny to herself what she’d felt for Chakotay. It was a love so deep that she’d never felt before either with Justin or Mark.

Chakotay had waited, hoping but never pressuring Kathryn to act on the obvious attraction they’d had almost from the moment that he’d beamed on to her Bridge. They’d become best friends and then when they were on New Earth, that had changed to love.

It was typical of Kathryn that she cared for other people sometimes more than she cared for herself. Mark had been a lucky man to know her for so long and Chakotay thought the man would’ve moved on. From what Kathryn had told him, he was a nice guy and deserved happiness. “Mark will be okay.”

“It’s just …”

“I know.” Chakotay cupped her face and tenderly kissed her on the lips. He would’ve preferred to stay here with her but they needed to get back. Tuvok could hold the fort down until she regained control. He was grateful to the Vulcan for the understanding he’d shown toward his captain and how contacting home would’ve affected her but they still needed to get back up there. “We need to get back up to the Bridge.”

Kathryn closed her eyes as he kissed her. His fingers lingered on her jaw as his thumb caressed her cheek. With such a simple gesture, she felt more loved than she’d ever felt before. Kathryn had wanted to stay right where she was but duty called. She pulled away then went to her bathroom to freshen up. After splashing water on her face, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were a little puffy but not much. They were happy tears so Kathryn wasn’t too worried. A weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she was ecstatic. She dabbed off the water with a towel and then returned to their living room.

Smiling as she walked by him heading for the door, she reached for his hand and squeezed it, guiding him with her. Chakotay grinned back because he could definitely detect a spring in her step. He had no choice but to follow his captain and his love wherever she went.

~~*~~