TITLE: One Weekend
AUTHOR: Matteabrit, June 2002
SUMMARY: On a camping trip with Tom and B’Elanna, Chakotay has some news for Kathryn
RATING: PG
DISCLAIMER: Anything after Endgame is ours!
NOTE: This is for Astrogirl’s campfire contest. Yes, there is a campfire in there… Thanks to Jo for doing a readthrough for me – much appreciated!

“Sorry about that,” the gatekeeper said in a tone that was most decidedly not sympathetic. “But you know how it is when you get a large group in.”

“Yeah, sure,” Chakotay replied although Kathryn was certain he had no clue how it was. “Second avenue on the left, you said?” He took the printout of their booking and the campground from the attendant, dumping them immediately on Kathryn’s lap before putting the ground car into motion again.

Kathryn was still coming to terms with the exchange that had just taken place. “One of the smaller sites,” she muttered, repeating what the attendant had told them. “Two tents.” She turned to her companion. “Chakotay, what the hell are we going to do since we can only have two tents on the site?”

“It’ll be fine,” he reassured her as he stopped the car at one particular site. Stepping out, he stretched and took a look around at the space they had been given. She got out also, wary of what her former first officer might consider to be ‘fine.’ “We’ll put one tent here,” he continued, gesturing to one patch of grass. “The other tent there and I’ll bed out by the fire ring. No problem.”

Kathryn stopped in her task of pulling out their camping equipment from the back of the car. “You cannot be serious,” she said, staring at him.

“I am and I will,” he replied. “Just because it’s too much like roughing it for your liking, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it. It’s been a while since I truly slept out under the stars. What?” He took in her concerned look. “I refuse to share a confined space with Tom Paris and I’m sure he’d rather share with B’Elanna anyway.” He walked over and grabbed Kathryn’s tent from her hands. “Let’s get this set up, okay?”

“I just know I’m going to regret this,” she muttered furiously to herself as she followed him.

“You won’t regret it, Kathryn,” Chakotay replied, grinning. “After all, who’s idea was this? Just a nice weekend with Tom, B’Elanna, Kathryn and Chakotay. I know it wasn’t mine and B’Elanna’s not been camping since she was a child.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly have camping in mind,” she retorted as she kneeled down on the ground to wrestle with the various sections of the canvas tent. It was proving to be particularly stubborn and tedious and it felt as though Chakotay was doing nothing to help her. She glared up at him but it was a wasted effort as Chakotay chose that moment to turn his back to arrange the cooking equipment. “Tube A to Tube B,” she muttered as she began assembling her shelter. Ten minutes later, without an ounce of help from Chakotay the tent was up and she crawled inside it, determined to hide out for the rest of the weekend.

Lying on her bedroll Kathryn could hear the sounds of her friend moving about outside. It was easy to identify the scrape of the metal as he pulled open a camp chair, heard the shift of the chair as he sat down on it. The decreasing sound made her realise that he must have started reading something and she half wondered why he’d not tried to coax her back out. She yawned and settled in further on the bedroll and soon fell asleep.

She was woken sometime later by the sound of voices and realised that their company had arrived. “Nice tent, Chak,” she heard Paris comment. “I hear we can only have two tents here. So where are you sleeping?” She could almost picture the grin on Tom’s face. With a sigh she sat up and poked her head out of the small tent opening.

“Tom, B’Elanna, good to see you.” There was a light pushing of the tent walls as though someone was knocking to catch Kathryn’s attention. “That’s Kathryn’s tent. I’ve got the bedroll by the fire.”

Kathryn was still smoothing down her hair and clothing after her nap when the zip came flying down and a certain Tom Paris poked his head through the flap. “Nice place, Kathryn. Roomy.” He grinned at her before disappearing as fast as he’d appeared. She sighed and unzipped the tent’s flap fully so that she could step outside and greet the new arrivals properly.

B’Elanna was already setting up the other tent with an expert precision that made Kathryn glad that the younger woman hadn’t been around to see her in her own attempts. B’Elanna was an engineer in all parts of her life, able to assemble anything with the barest of instruction. It had proven to be a huge asset on board Voyager and Kathryn had been thankful for her expertise every time something had happened that required the engineer’s care. She supposed it came from having to put the Liberty back together time after time, but it was not something she voiced out loud.

Shortly Tom had got a blazing fire started and was beginning to pick on Chakotay’s food choices. Kathryn and B’Elanna sat back and let the men spar with each other, knowing after so many years that it was in jest. As the night wore on the darkness set in and they huddled closer to the flames, swapping tales and memories of their time in the Delta Quadrant.

“Remember Sam’s face,” Tom laughed. “She had no clue how to explain that one to Naomi.”

“Well, come on, Tom,” Kathryn chided him. “Whose fault was it she had to explain in the first place?”

“Hey, how was I to know…”

Eventually it was time for them to retire for the evening. Tom and his wife scurried into their tent with a hasty goodnight while Kathryn and Chakotay slowly doused the larger fire and put their things away. While Chakotay then placed his bedroll next to the dying embers Kathryn stood watching doubtfully. “Are you sure you’re okay, Chakotay?” she asked quietly.

He looked up from where he knelt on the bedroll. “I’m fine, Kathryn, really.” He reached out and grasped her hand. “Get some sleep, Kathryn. I’m going to make you take that hike with me tomorrow.”

She groaned in protest but grinned at him in the darkness. “Okay,” she conceded. “Good night, Chakotay.”

“Good night, Kathryn.”

She awoke what felt like only a short time later but she knew a couple of hours had to have passed. There was something making a rubbing sound against her tent, gentle yet persistent, and it took her only a few seconds to realise that what she was hearing was rain. She scooted around in her tent so that she was able to undo the door flap without getting herself wet and hissed to her friend in the dark. “For goodness sake, Chakotay, come inside. You’ll get soaked.”

“Its just rain,” came back the response.

“Chakotay, you get inside this tent this instant or so help you I will come out there and drag you in.” She paused. “And you wouldn’t want me getting sick now, would you?”

Kathryn heard a mutter and then his figure loomed up into her vision and approached the tent. She scooted to the back, switched on a light, and dug out a towel for him. When she turned back around he was sat just inside the tent. His hair was plastered to his face, which had a rosy hue to it.

“You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Janeway,” he muttered.

“And you, Mister Chakotay, have obviously increased in stubbornness since our time on Voyager.” She threw him the towel. “Dry yourself off, and you best get out of that shirt you’re wearing as well.” She moved back and began searching in his bag that he’d placed in the tent for safekeeping earlier.

“I learned from the best,” he chuckled as he followed her advice.

She made the mistake of turning back with the spare shirt rather than just handing it to him. He was sat not very far from her, and the tight space they were in suddenly felt a lot tighter. He had the wet shirt in his hands and his chest glistened from the rain that had soaked through the material. Her breath tightened in her own chest and it was with some effort that she was able to croak out, “Need a towel?”

He followed her gaze, looking down and running a finger across his skin. “Guess I do,” he grinned. “Got one to hand?” He paused. “Actually, can you look in my bag for another pair of shorts while you’re at it?”

Kathryn blinked. “Shorts?” Damn, this was going to be difficult.

“You wouldn’t want me to get sick, would you?” he grinned. “Just turn your back and you’ll be safe.”

She nodded and quickly turned away to go through his bag that he had placed in the tent earlier. Behind her she could hear the sounds of him getting out of his wet clothing and she sent a quick prayer to whichever deity might be listening that she find him dry clothes quickly. The thought of him almost naked behind her was beginning to affect her more than it should have done. Within moments she was breathing a sigh of relief as her hands closed around an old black tshirt and a pair of denim shorts as well. “Here,” she muttered holding out the objects blindly behind her.

“You can turn back now,” he said a minute or so later.

She paused before turning, wanting to give him that final second to make sure he was completely dressed again. When she did she only smiled briefly at him, muttering a quick, “That’s better,” before rearranging the bedding so that he might have a dry comfortable place to sleep. Wordlessly he assisted her so that in a couple of minutes they were able to lie down comfortably side by side. Shortly thereafter she heard him snoring softly. But for Kathryn sleep was a long time in coming.

The rain did eventually stop and Kathryn woke up the following morning to the sound of voices outside. The space beside her was empty and had it not been for the fact that the bedding was wrinkled she would have wondered if Chakotay lying there had been a complete dream. Sighing, she realised she would have to make an appearance sooner rather than later and was in the process of running a hand through her hair in a half attempt to make herself look reasonably decent in front of the others when the tent suddenly opened and a male hand holding a hot steaming mug of coffee appeared through the opening.

She grabbed eagerly, muttering a quick thanks and began to swallow the beautiful liquid. Outside she heard her former first officer tell the others that she’d be out shortly and she smiled. Good old Chakotay, always looking out for her.

And then she remembered the hike he’d promised to take her on!

It turned out to be not as bad as she’d feared, fairly light-going in fact. Tom and B’Elanna had declined to come with them, and as they left Chakotay made some comment about married couples. Somehow his comments struck a chord within Kathryn as though she felt she was missing out on something vital.

“You okay, Kathryn?” Chakotay asked as they were returning. “You’ve been quiet all afternoon.”

She smiled up at him. “I’m fine.” The truth was that she’d been cataloguing all the regrets in her life, and most appeared to centre on the man she was with. They’d been back home for a year and during that time they’d at least managed to rekindle their friendship. His relationship with Seven had come to an abrupt halt, which Kathryn had to admit, was surprising. But life had a strange way of humouring a person.

“Are you sure?” he asked her.

“Yes, I’m quite sure, Chakotay,” she snapped. Then she realised how bad that sounded. “Sorry, Chakotay,” she continued. “Just got a few things on my mind. Nothing major.”

“It’s okay.” He paused for a moment. “Actually, do you mind if we sit down a moment. There’s something on my mind as well.”

Kathryn agreed but inwardly she was wondering. Just what did Chakotay want to say? A few years ago she might have been concerned that he might have been about to make an inappropriate declaration of his feelings towards her but she didn’t need to worry about that now. Those days were long gone and she found with a slight pang of regret she missed them. “So what is it?” she asked, with what she hoped was an air of easiness.

He sat down opposite her and crossed his legs, resting his arms on his knees. “I’ve been offered an archaeology assignment,” he began.

She smiled. “That’s brilliant news.” He’d talked about archaeology and sociology, and mixing the two together for so long that she knew that this was a dream come true.

He shrugged. “You’d think. Thing is, its on Redana Three.”

Redana Three. It was an uninhabited planet in the far reaches of the Beta Quadrant. Ruins had just been discovered on it; and the initial survey had suggested that they might be hundreds of years old. Numerous Starfleet and Federation specialists had been vying to become members of the research team that would go out there. For Chakotay, it was a great honour to have been chosen for the team.

But it was still Redana Three.

“Oh,” she finally managed.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “That’s what I think too. It’s one hell of a mission but I feel like I’ve just got my landlegs back, you know.”

That was something she could understand. Seven years in space with limited time on land had ruined them all. Being back on land for more than a brief sojourn had taken some getting used to. At least Kathryn had had family to assist her. “At least you have no ties here,” she said slowly.

Chakotay laughed. “So what do you call you and B’Elanna then?” He looked sad. “I’m still going to miss my friends.”

“So you’re going to take it then.” She already knew the answer before he said it.

Kathryn forced herself to be cheerful during dinner. Tom cooked while Chakotay stirred up a roaring fire in the ring. The four sat there, and again the conversation turned to reminiscences about what had gone before. Finally Tom and B’Elanna made their excuses again and disappeared into their tent, leaving Kathryn and Chakotay in front of the fire, watching the flames.

“What are you thinking about?” Chakotay’s quiet voice cut into her reverie.

She looked across at him, his face half hidden in the shadows and hoped hers was in darkness as well. “Just thinking about how much I’m going to miss you,” she replied sadly. She’d not been able to stop thinking about it all evening. Kathryn had never really thought about what life would be like without Chakotay being there but now she was having to think about it, watch as it became a reality she never thought would happen.

Chakotay stood up and moved around to sit by her side. His arm went around her shoulder and she leaned into him, grateful for the warmth he exuded. He was solid, firm, a strong wall of support that she would never stop missing if her left her.

“I’ll miss you too,” he murmured into her ear. “I feel we’ve just got back on track. You’ve become such a part of me that I sometimes wonder how I existed before.” His breath swept across her skin and she knew all she had to do was turn her head slightly. It would be so easy. His words tantalised her, drew her in. The entire weekend so far had shown Kathryn that the illicit feelings she had once had for her first officer had not died, only buried deep within the captain she had been. But she was no longer the captain; she was in fact on a well-needed and well-earned sabbatical. And he was no longer a member of her crew. But he was leaving her and probably soon. She couldn’t ask him to stay; the assignment was too good to pass up. But he was saying the words that were in her heart.

She turned her head.

The kiss was tentative, a mere whisper at first, as both slowly comprehended what was happening. Kathryn remembered thinking how soft his lips were against hers, a direct contradiction to how he appeared to be when he stood alongside her. The touch lingered, grew slightly but nothing more. As they slowly pulled apart she looked into Chakotay’s smiling face. “Not bad,” she breathed.

His smile widened. “I’d say wow,” he said in a low tone. He glanced toward the other tent. “Either way perhaps we should move indoors. Before we become the next gossip piece.” He brushed his lips against hers again. “Why don’t you go ahead and I’ll douse the fire.”

Somehow Kathryn managed to stand up and get to the tent. It wasn’t until she kneeled down to open the zip that she realised just how shaky her legs had become. Two small kisses had turned her into a complete mess. What would something more do to her? With trembling hands she managed to unzip the tent and crawl inside. Now she was faced with a new problem. Chakotay had implied he was going to be following her in, how long would he be and just what exactly was he expecting?

She got her answer a few minutes later. While she was still sitting on her bedroll contemplating what might come next he opened up the tent and slipped inside. She remained in silence and watched him shut them in for the evening. Eventually he turned back to face her.

“Do we need to talk?” he asked quietly.

Kathryn shrugged. “I don’t know,” she sighed. “After all, you’ll be leaving soon for Redana Three.”

“So what are you saying?”

She looked down at the ground, trying to figure out how to get her thoughts into words. The truth was that she didn’t want to start something only to lose him at some nearby point in time. But didn’t the old saying go, it’s better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all? Or was that, was it better to have loved and lost? She couldn’t recall. “I don’t know, Chakotay,” she whispered. “I just can’t believe it took me this long to act on what I’ve felt for years about you and now I’m going to lose you.”

“You don’t have to lose me, Kathryn.”

Her head jerked up, reeling. “No, Chakotay,” she said firmly. “I won’t let you give up that assignment.”

Chakotay shook his head. “Who said I was going to offer to?” She felt herself go red at his comment; perhaps she had been a little presumptuous in even thinking that he might consider that. “But how about you come with me?”

It took a while for the sentence to sink in. Go with him? “What?”

“You’ve still got some time left on that sabbatical of yours,” he told her. “Come with me.” He grasped her hand tightly as he sat opposite her in the small space. “Come to Redana Three with me. Kathryn, we need time to work this out. I leave next week. I’m not asking you to make a lifetime commitment, just to give me a chance, give us a chance.”

Perhaps it should have been an easy decision to make, but not for Kathryn. Such decisions never were for her. It was a big step; she would be leaving behind friends and family, possibly even her career. And what if it didn’t work out? “Will you let me think about it?” she asked hesitantly.

Chakotay smiled. “I’ll take that to be not an outright no. Of course you can.” He ran a finger delicately down her cheek. “I love you, Kathryn,” he whispered. “And I’ll wait no matter how long it takes you to think about it.”

Kathryn felt like crying. Those were words she had longed to hear for so long, had not heard for so long. And they were coming now, when she could lose the speaker of them.

The sun was shining brightly when they woke. At Kathryn’s request, Chakotay had slept in the tent with her. She had curled up in his arms, his face nestled in her hair, her back pressed up against his chest. And she felt warm and safe. Over breakfast Chakotay had told Tom and B’Elanna about his assignment and they instantly said they would attempt to visit. Kathryn stayed quiet throughout.

Then the tents were dismantled, the four friends said their goodbyes and departed, leaving the site for the next party.

SIX MONTHS LATER

It was hot on Redana Three yet the team kept digging, on the verge of what could be the most important find of their mission. The civilisation of the planet had evidently been an advanced one yet it appeared to have died out at the end of Earth’s twentieth century. The team were trying to discover how and why it had happened.

A shout from a young man had an older woman running to his location. Peering over the edge of the pit he was standing in she saw what looked to be a building, half buried in the sand, with a door clearly visible. “Think he’ll like it?” the man asked.

She looked back towards another area of the dig, where her husband was assisting one of the cartographers in slowly mapping the land. “He better,” she retorted. “We’ve worked hard to get to this point.” She pulled out her commbadge and tapped it. “Janeway to Chakotay. I think we’ve found something.”

FINIS

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