DAYS LIKE THESE
By
Ammo
February
2001
It’s been a long time since I’ve written a ‘friendship’
story without romance being included, so here goes.
Disclaimer:- Paramount is the ultimate being. They own Voyager, I own nothing. The lyrics at the belong to the Rembrandts
not me. Chances are, you’ll recognise them.
Rating:- PG13
Enjoy
*-*-*
‘Some friends don’t help, but a true friend is closer
then your own family.’
Proverbs
18:24
*-*-*
Her wake up alarm never activated.
In the end it took the shrill bleep of the commline being
open to draw the Captain out of her deep slumber. Half awake, she groaned, rolling towards her bedside table, a
hand blindly reaching out to search for the offending badge.
“Janeway here,” she mumbled, her mind only partially
aware of just who it was contacting her.
“Good morning Kathryn,” a far too cheerful voice greeted
as she found herself wincing at his tone.
“Just woken up?”
“How did you know?” she growled
slightly, an arm slung lazily over her forhead.
“You missed breakfast,” he offered
helpfully.
“Pardon.”
“Breakfast?
Food? Messhall? This morning? Or did you forget?”
Her mind was blank.
It was too early for thinking.
Vaguely she remembered agreeing to meet him before duty in the Messhall,
but not until… she sat up suddenly.
“Chakotay, what time is it?”
“0745 hours, why?”
Unfortunately she could hear the humour in his voice.
“What?!”
Bolt upright she was fully awake now, mentally cursing
the efficiency of the computer’s wake up call, or in this, more likely her
efficiency to set it.
“Oh and Kathryn…”
“What?!”
“We have a staff meeting this morning. Don’t be late or the captain will have your
head.”
Grunting she signed off.
Ten minutes later she was dressed, but now on her hands
and knees. Where the heck had that
fourth pip got to? She was sure she had
put it on the side with the other three, but not it was gone.
“Computer, time?!”
“The time is 0756 hours.”
Damnit, she didn’t have time for this.
“Computer, one ocmmand pip.”
Watching it materialise, she sighed before clipping it on
beside the others. What she desperately
wanted was a thick, steaming hot mug of black coffee, but knew that would have
to wait. She didn’t have time now.
Exiting her quarters, she reached the turbolift and
waited… and waited… and still nothing happened.
“Copmuter, is there something wrong with this turbolift?”
“Affirmative,” came the standard reply, “shaft 2-1-8 is
out of order.”
Pursing her lips together she did her best not to react,
especially as she now remembered reading something about that in B’Elanna’s
report. Back tracking, she quickly made
her way to the nearest available turbolift and three minutes later she was on
the Bridge… unfortubnately, two minutes late for the staff meeting she herself
had called.
Entering the conference room, she found the senior staff
assembled and watching her as she took the seat at the head of the table.
“Good morning,” she offered as she faced them, not
bothering to give a reason as to why she was late. She was the captain after all, out here she answered to no-one. “So what’s the first report then? Harry, anything new to report on sensors?”
“No captain,” he replied shortly. “Just a rogue comet and a few uninhabited
star systems. All’s quiet on the
western front as they would say.”
“Thank you.
B’Elanna? I noticed this morning
that a few of the turbolift shafts are being worked on. Is there a major problem?”
“No Captain,” she shook here head. “As I mentioned in the report last night,
its just some maintenance work that needed doing.”
Oh right, that report.
Now she thought about it, she was sure she had not quite finished
reading that report.
“Right,” she offered, “I presume there are no other
changes?”
“No Captain.”
“Okay then.
Tuvok, any security matters to report?”
“None outstanding Captain.”
“Good and Chakotay, anything else that needs to be
brought to my attention?”
“Only one Captain,” he admitted as he handed over a data
padd.
Glancing at it, she was surprised to find that it did not
contain any sort of report, but rather just a few short sentences instead.
You’ve
forgotten about the party haven’t you? she read simply her
mind spinning as she started to frown slightly. What party. The party I told you about last
night, she continued to read, the Valentines one for next week.
Her eyes widening she suddenly reasoned what he was going
on about and just why she had called this meeting.
“Thank you commander,” she nodded formally, but with a
thankful twinkle in her eyes, “that’s very helpful. Right, now,” she continued turning back to the rest of them. “The main reason I called this meeting was
to discuss next week. AS some of you
will know, it’s Valentine’s Day next week, an old Human celebratobn and
Chakotay suggested that we might use the excuse for a party…”
*-*-*
Rubbing her temples, Kathryn attempted to collect her
thoughts as she sat in her readyroom.
For some reason her mind just did not want to behave itself. Maybe she was just not getting enough sleep she
reasoned. She had overslept this
morning, forgotten about the party and still had not finished reading
B’Elanna’s report fully. Talking about
reports, there was still a pile of seven or eight of them in front of her which
all needed reading, but first… coffee.
Halfway through the third report, she realised that not
only did Seven have a limited vocabulary (consisting primarily of words
beginning with a vowel, for example; illogical, unacceptable, insignificant and
inefficient), but that she would need at least another mug of coffee in order
for her to finish it.
Rising to her feet, she made her way to the replicator,
ordering yet another black coffee.
“Unable to comply,” came the response, “insignificant
rations for request.”
“What?!”
“Please rephrase the question.”
Sighing she found herself rubbing her temples even more, unable
to think about where all the rations may have gone to.
“Computer, how many rations do I have left?”
“Two.”
Damn, not even enough for the mug. Leaning against the railing, a thought
suddenly came to her and she quickly tapped her badge.
“Janeway to Chakotay, please report to my ready room
immediately.”
Five seconds later the door swished open.
“You wanted to see me Captain?”
Looking up, she smiled that smile, watching as Chakotay’s
expression gradually changed until his own smile hit full grin.
“Let me guess,” he started slowly, “you’re out of
rations, you’ve got…” he glanced at her desk, “at stack full of reports still
to read, and you won’t be able to manage without another mug of coffee. From the fact I’m standing here and not
Neelix I guess that you’ve decided to beg the rations of me rather then try one
of Neelix’s concoctions. Tell me, am I
anywhere close?”
“So you’ll lean me some then?” she asked her eyes
brightening.
“Nope.” His
simple response was as lethal as his grin.
“Oh, but…”
“I’ll *give* you some,” he cut her off, emphasising his
words. “But for a price.”
Suddenly she knew that look.
“What exactly?”
“Dinner, tonight, holodeck two. I’ll provide the food, you provide the company and don’t you dare
give me that look. I know you’ve a lot
of work to do, but one night off won’t kill you. You’ve been working too hard lately as it is.”
Relenting, one edge of her lips curved upward into her
slanted smile.
“Deal,” she grinned, “not gimme my coffee.”
“Steady one Kathryn, anyone would think it was life or
death.”
Her glare just made him laugh again.
“Computer, access my person ration account and transfer
enough rations for two mugs of black coffee into Captain Janeway’s account,
authorisation codes Chakotay-lambda-pi.”
“Authorization accepted,” the computer responded after a
slight pause, “transfer complete.”
“There Captain, you’re coffee is ready and waiting and if
there’s nothing else, I would like to return to my own work now.”
“Dismissed Commander,” she nodded, already turning back
towards the replicator. “Computer,
coffee, black.”
The mug was in her hands just seconds after it
materialized.
“Twenty hundred hours then Kathryn.”
“What?” she asked absently as she inhaled the thick
aroma.
“Dinner tonight.”
“Oh yeah, of course.
See you then Commander.”
She was partly aware of his laugh and headshake, but
truth be told, she was more interested in her coffee.
*-*-*
It seemed that no matter how many reports she read,
proposals she consented to and problems she sorted, more continued to
appear. B’Elanna’s annual report, or
list as she now referred to it due to the number of little things it included,
never seemed to end. Chakotay’s report
on crew performance was no shorter, ending with them discussing situations with
a few crewmembers that wanted to branch out into different fields. Then there was Tuvok’s weekly report on
performance and weapons review and the list went on.
Working through lunch, she hadn’t realised the time until
Neelix brought up a tray of… well it must have been something. Thanking him, she ate it as she worked,
barely tasting the food as it went down,
The first main break came halfway through the afternoon,
in between the crew interviews. The
door sliding behind the young Ensign, she finally allowed herself to close he
eyes and lean back with a sigh.
“One of those days then?”
Easing open the corner of one eye, she found Chakotay
watching her, a sympathetic smile on his face.
Smiling in response, she suddenly found she couldn’t stop until laughter
engulfed her.
“Care to fill me in on the joke Captain?”
Watching his amused face, she slowly caught a hold of
herself, wiping gently under her eyes.
“Today,” she admitted eventually. “People warned me that they’ll be days like
this; endless reports, reviews, proposals, no end of paperwork, so much so it
becomes a joke, but I guess I didn’t quite believe them. Not bad for a Starfleet Captain is it?”
“Well someone has to do it though,” he offered with a
smile, “but at least yo uhave dinner tonight to look forward to though, and
don’t you dare say you’ve got too much work.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” she threw back. “If I refuse I can count on you dragging me
out kicking and screaming.”
“Why Captain, speaking from experience.”
Ignoring the quip, she looked back down at the list,
making sure they returned to work.
*-*-*
With Chakotay having a few errands to run, they agreed to
meet up at twenty hundred hours on holodeck one. At nineteen-thirty hours, Kathryn pulled herself away from the
desk and made the trek back to her quarters.
A quick shower later, she pulled on a blue jumpsuit and white top and
attached her comm badge and turned to leave.
It as then that something small and shiny caught her gaze from the
floor. Bending down, she pursed her
lips together in an ironic way as her fingers curled round the small gold pip.
“So this is where you got to,” she murmured rolling it
around in her palm, before rising to her feet and placing it on the side.
Exiting her quarters, she automatically turned left, but
stopped after a few steps, before tunring around and following the corridor in
the opposite direction. After all, her
usual turbolift was still out of action.
Reaching the holodeck, she smiled slightly as she
realised just which program was running, stepping through the doors into a lush
green meadow. Shaking her head, she
made her way up the hill to where a figure was relaxing, a picnic set up
nearby. With Chakotay’s back to her,
she knew she had a few moments before he realised she was there and took the
time to study his figure. The cream
shirt was beautiful, his broad shoulders even more pronounced. The earth brown trousers just matched it
beautifully and when he leaned over…
“Are you going to stare at my behind all evening Kathryn,
or are you going to join me?”
A red blush beginning to form across her face, she tried
to push it aside as she joined him.
”How did you know I was here?”
He just gave her that look.
“So what have you got to eat then,” she continued
quickly, changing the subject.
Smiling, he picked up a few bowls and started to show
her.
*-*-*
An hour later, she lay back with a contented sigh,
watching as the sun slowly set over the horizon.
“I take it you liked it then?”
Looking across, she met brown eyes studying her closely.
“I loved it Chakotay,” she whispered, reaching across to
grip his hand. “Thank you.”
“I’m glad,” he smiled back gently, “you deserve a break
away from it all every so often. We all
do.”
Closing her eyes, Kathryn tried to fight back the sigh as
she rolled fully onto her back.
Breathing deeply, she embraced the silence, her mind whirling with
memories of the day, the way he had rescued and helped her, asking for nothing
in return but a restful evening which he provided, just so she could relax.
“Why are you so good to me Chakotay?”
Opening an eye, she was just in time to see the surprise
flitter across his face.
“And don’t so that you do all this because I’m your CO,
or even because we’re friends. This
goes way beyond all that, it always has.”
“How do you mean?”
Sighing deeply, she returned to watching the stars
beginning to form above them.
“You always put yourself out to help me Chakotay. Over the past six years you’ve done so much
to make my job easier, taking on the mundane tasks so I don’t have to. I owe you rations for more cups of coffee
then I can remember. You can’t tell me
that keeping the captain’s caffeine levels high is in the 1st
Officer’s handbook.”
He shut his mouth again.
“This morning, you made sure to wake me before I fully
overslept. You didn’t embarrass me when
it came to the party and you provided dinner for me knowing that I was out of
rations. You can’t tell me that any of
those is part of the job?”
“You’re right Kathryn,” he finally admitted after a
pause. “It’s not something that comes
with the pips, but it is something that comes with friendship. I do all those things because you’re my
friend Kathryn, my best friend.”
She snorted slightly at that.
“And look at what type of friend I turned out to be,” she
threw back. “I take advantage of our
friendship whenever I deem necessary. I
find myself purposely hurting you when all you’re trying to do is help, like in
the void, Equinox, the Borg. I’m nice
to you when I want something, cold when I don’t, yet you still come back. After all this time, after all I’ve done,
after everything we’ve been through, we’re still here, you still want to be my
friend. Why?”
“Because I wouldn’t be the good friend you claim I am if
I didn’t,” he replied simply. “And
you’re right, you do all those things, or have done at least, but you’re
forgetting all the times you were there for me. You put trust in me right from the beginning despite my criminal
record. You listen to by suggestions,
even if you don’t follow them. You
supported me through the Seska ordeal, never laying the blame on my
shoulders. You helped me after the Vori
brainwashing, put trust in my beliefs when it came to the sleeping aliens and
stayed with me during my confusion and the mad gene. Without realising it Kathryn you’ve done as much for me as you
claim I have for you, we just go about it differently.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Falling into a comfortable silence, they both continued
to watch as the stars appeared one by one above them.
“Promise me something Chakotay>2
Turning his head he nodded slightly.
“Promise me that you’ll always come back no matter what I
say. Promise me we’ll always be
friends.”
Reaching over, he caught her hand, engulfing it in his
large fingers.
“I promise Kathryn,” he whispered softly, blue meeting
brown, “I promise.”
*-*-*
So no one told you life was gonna be this way
Your job’s a joke, you’re broke, your love life’s been
away
It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear
Well it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or
even your year
But…
I’ll be there for you
When the rain starts to fall
I’ll be there for you
Like I’ve been there before
I’ll be there for you
'Cause you’re there for me too
You’re still in bed at ten and work again at eight
You’ve earned your breakfast so far, things are going
great
Your mother warned you there’d be days like these
But she didn’t tell you when the world was brought
down to your knees
And…
(Chorus)
No one could ever know me, no one could ever suit me
Seems like you’re the only one who knows what it’s like to be
me
Someone to face the day with, make it through all the
rest with
Someone I'll always laugh with, even at my worst the best
is you
Yeah…
*-*-*