June 2000

Another scene addition or in this case more of a continuation, this time taken from the end of 'The Voyager Conspiracy'. I would suggest seeing the episode before reading this as other wise it would be impossible to understand.

Disclaimer:- Paramount is god and will remain so for the foreseeable future. They own these characters, but as they won't do it the right way, I'll have to do it for them.

Rating:- PG/13

Time Scale:- The end of 'The Voyager Conspiracy' strangely enough.

Enjoy!

*-*-*

A pot materialised and Kathryn reached for it, hesitating for a moment to make sure it wasn't too hot.

"I heard the strangest rumour today," she smiled ruefully, turning back to her eating companion with the pot in her hand. "Apparently the Captain and First Officer almost came to blows."

Dark eyebrows rose, crinkling the tattoo on the left of his forehead, as she poured his drink.

"Mutiny?"

"First Officer walked the plank," she grinned, moving to pour her own drink, lifting her eyes to briefly look at him. "So I heard."

"I don't believe a word of it," he replied as she sat and she could feel his gaze on her as he watched her over the rim of his mug.

"Me neither," she added.

They sat there quietly for a moment, each deep in their own thoughts. Each reaching the same conclusion.

"Seven was malfunctioning," she heard him say softly, their eyes lifting to meet. "We don't have that excuse."

"You're right," she replied, equally softly, her mind drifting back to what had and almost had happened. "We've been through too much to stop trusting each other."

Trust was after all, what their entire relationship was based on.

Lifting her mug to take a sip, she hesitated noticing Chakotay's quick glance at his own.

"You didn't poison the coffee did you?" he asked with the straightest face he could manage.

Pursing her lips together for a moment, she found herself inspecting her own brown liquid.

"No more then usual," she finally admitted wryly, both of them taking a sip at the same moment.

Maybe it was the looks, or the way they had said it, or the absurdity of the entire situation that caused each of them to laugh unanimously.

"It was all rather ridiculous though," she continued as soon as she caught her breath. "Nothing like a good conspiracy to bring out the best in people."

"True," he grinned back, those dimples out full force as he rose to his feet to bring them over to the couch, "but there was just enough evidence for it to be plausible, to make you start to doubt."

Sighing, Kathryn sat next to him, swivelling her body till she was stretched out across the couch, her head resting in her first officer's lap.

"Did you ever doubt 'us' Chakotay," she asked softy as a hand came down to brush a few strands of hair from her face.

"Not at first," he replied after a pause.

"But it was hard not to," she finished for him.

"You too then?"

She nodded.

"With everything that Seven had said, it was hard not to doubt everything, including 'us'," she admitted. "Deep down in my heart I knew that none of it was true, you've never been able to lie to me for one..."

She watched as he smiled slightly at that one.

"...but in my head it was hard to ignore. When Seven was telling me all this, all I kept thinking about was that you would never betray me. I came so close to telling her why it wasn't... couldn't be true, but I didn't think 'because I'm in love with him' was really a viable reason, at least not for her."

"Are you Kathryn?"

Pulling herself up, she stared at him blankly.

"You know I am," she whispered, a hand reaching up to gently stroke the side of his face as if to ease away any doubt he had. "I love you Chakotay, I wouldn't be here now if I didn't."

Smiling slightly, he pulled her close for a moment, placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"That's all I needed to hear," he replied, guiding her back down to his lips.

"Afraid the deceitful Captain was using this as a means to emotionally trap her Maquis First Officer for some kind of gain for when Starfleet and the Cardassian alliance brought their ships into this quadrant o built a military base?" she grinned up at him.

"Something like that," he smiled back after a slight pause. "Although, I have to admit, you weren't the only one who almost let slip our little relationship."

Her eyebrows rose at that.

"I was so deep in though over it all, that I barely noticed my slip of using your first name when talking to B'Elanna," he confessed

"What where you saying?"

"Oh I think B'Elanna was trying to persuade me to confront you and I was objecting, saying something like, 'Good morning Kathryn, all stations are operational, the crew's in good health and by the way, is it true you've been lying to us for five years?"

She laughed slightly, trying to envision that scene.

"I would have taken that well," she conceded. "What stopped you?"

"Us," e replied simply. "I simply wasn't ready to make the accusation, especially as I doubted the whole thing."

"Yet you wore a phaser."

"So did you."

"Good point," she grinned ruefully. "Arh, I'm glad paranoia is alive and well in the Delta Quadrant."

They fell into an easy silence, Chakotay's hand absently slipping under her blue turtleneck to caress the soft skin of her stomach.

"You know, we could make up our own conspiracy theory," he said suddenly.

"What about?" Kathryn sighed as he continued to draw lazy circles on her stomach. God that felt good.

"Us," he replied simply.

"Oh," she raised an eyebrow. "I take it you've already started to compile one then."

"You know me too well," he grinned.

"That's what i told Seven, so, out with it."

"Okay then, how did you meet?"

"Blind Date," she replied simply. "Set up by my friend Lettie while at the academy. You were the one I wouldn't have minded seeing again, but you never contacted me again."

"Too shy," he admitted with a grin. "Then what?"

"Sector 21749," she whispered softly. "You were on the Gage I believe."

He nodded.

"I was a Lieutenant," she continued, "and part of a team charged with defending a Federation out post from the advancing Cardassian forces. we got stranded, cut off from the main team, and for three days we went without food, water and sleep, waiting for yet another Cardassian attack. You were on the team that rescued us."

"Correct."

"Actually did I ever thank you for that?"

He shook his head, a twinkle in his eye.

Reaching up, she gently placed a kiss on his lips, before settling once more. "Thank you."

"So, where were we?" he continued.

"Stardate 48315.9," she filled in. "The minute I first saw you on my view screen at the array. Third time lucky."

He smiled. "Maybe we were meant to be together. Being in the Delta Quadrant sure meant we had to stay together this time."

"Maybe," she replied softly. "Then there was New Earth."

"The next step in our friendship," he pointed out, "and the first time I was allowed to call you Kathryn to your face, and the time I realised that what I felt for you went so much deeper then friendship."

"But then we got rescued and life went back to normal, until stardate 50509.7."

"What happened then?" he asked a little surprised.

"You crashed another shuttle," she reminded him, "and almost killed me in the process."

"Talent Night?" he asked, realisation dawning across his tanned features.

"And the day I realised, among other things, just how deep your feelings went."

"The rose?"

"Among other things," she smiled. "That was really sweet and thank you for listening to me in the holodeck that night."

"Hey," he grinned, "what are First Officer's for? Someone's got to look after the Captain's sanity."

Resisting the urge to slap him playfully, she just continued to cast her mind back.

"Then there was the Hirogens and the letters from home, which told me that I was indeed single again and then the void, the time I realised that I loved you."

"Oh I was wondering just what had made you so depressed," he grinned wickedly.

Groaning, she struck him gently on the shoulder as a warning.

"Then what happened?" she asked simply

"I believe it was the slip stream drive attempt and the messages we both received from a future me."

"Oh yeah, that's what sparked off our entire 'relationship' and we've been together ever since."

"Thank goodness for the contingencies when it comes to time travel," Chakotay smiled.

"So," Kathryn asked, shifting slightly to catch hold of his roaming hand, "do you believe 'we' could be a conspiracy ourselves?"

Pausing, he pretended to think about that one deeply.

"Who knows," he shrugged in reply, "'we' could be, or it could be no more then photonic fleas."

*-*-*

So what do you think?

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