Rated PG for language
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Trek, and therefore Voyager. I own this…whatever it is.
Summary: Endgame: What if Korath neglected to tell Admiral Janeway that his machine could jump more than just time?
Captain Janeway cast another covert glance at the intense older woman striding beside her. While it was nice to know she aged well, since she was having to work at keeping pace with the admiral, the expression on her counterpart's face seemed to be set in a perpetual frown.
What in the universe had happened to make this older version of herself so miserable? Although Janeway was leery about violating the Temporal Prime Directive, she dearly wanted to know why the admiral felt it necessary to come back in time to alter events.
They continued to walk the corridors. The captain knew if she kept quiet long enough, eventually the admiral would open up. However, patience had never been her strongest characteristic, and her teeth were tightly clenched in the effort to keep her mouth shut by the time Admiral Janeway finally spoke.
"Seven of Nine is going to die!" The words burst forth laden with emotion.
The captain stopped walking and folded her arms across her chest, confusion causing her to frown. "Seven of Nine? That sounds like a Borg designation. What…? Who…?" Recollection began to click in. "Are you referring to that drone who was our liaison with the Borg at the Northwest Passage three years ago? She's the one who tried to take over the ship and died when her link was severed with the hive mind."
The admiral's face ashened in shock. "What?"
* * * *
Captain Janeway cast another covert glance at the old woman striding along beside her. If the EMH hadn't verified her identity, Janeway would never have believed it. What had happened to change her so much? There was something so…she couldn't quite place her finger on it.
She'd never given Targ shit about the Temporal Prime Directive, and patience wasn't one of her gifts, so she growled at the admiral. "All right, old woman, spill it. Why the hell are you really here?"
The admiral frowned at being addressed in that manner, but shot right back, "Seven of Nine is going to die!"
The captain stopped walking and stared in astonishment. Now she knew what it was she saw in the admiral; it was weakness. She threw back her head and laughed harshly. "That's it? That's your big reason for causing all this trouble?" Stepping closer, she poked the admiral in the chest with her black gloved finger. "You wasted a trip, you old bat; you're too late. I killed the stupid bitch myself last week when I discovered that fucking holodeck program she made of Cha-kotay."
The admiral's face ashened in shock. "What?"
* * * *
Captain Janeway cast another covert glance at the older version of herself striding along beside her. It was good to know that she aged well physically, but the admiral seemed so hardened. Janeway wondered if she tapped the woman's shoulder if she'd shatter into thousands of brittle pieces.
It was difficult to wait for the white-haired woman to speak, but she managed to hold her tongue. The tension built as they walked the corridors.
"Seven of Nine is going to die!"
The words were a distinct blow, and Janeway leaned against the wall. "What?" As much as Seven could be a supercilious pain in the butt sometimes, she'd become a tremendous asset to the crew, and Janeway was quite fond of the young woman.
The admiral's perpetual frown deepened. "Three years from now. She'll be injured on an away mission. She'll make it back to Voyager and die in the arms of her husband."
The captain's eyebrows shot up in amazement. "Husband? How is that possible since Seven's announced she's gay and is in a relationship with Ensign Jenkins?"
The admiral's face ashened in shock. "What?"
* * * *
Captain Janeway cast another covert glance at the admiral striding along beside her. There was a scowl on her face that seemed etched there. Temporal Prime Directive aside, the captain was curious what had turned her into the unhappy woman walking the corridors with her. The crew of Voyager had already been through so much, it must have taken something horrendous to make her want to come back like this.
While she waited for the admiral to open up, her mind flipped through memories of some of their many hostile encounters. The Kazon, the Vidiians, Suspiria, the Hirogen, Species 8472, the Devore, the Borg. Janeway's lips pressed together in a thin line at that thought.
They had survived challenges from without as well as from within: Seska's betrayal early on, Jonas in cahoots with Seska, Suder's psychopathic behavior, losing sweet Kes at the same time as the arrival of-
"Seven of Nine is going to die!" The words were delivered from Admiral Janeway with emotional intensity.
Janeway stopped walking and faced the admiral, fisted hands on hips. Anger fueled her voice with acid venom. "And why the hell should I care what happens to that drone after she teamed up with Arturis to betray us to the Borg? For that matter, why do you care about that bitch, or have you forgotten that six of our crew died that day, including Harry Kim?"
The admiral's face ashened in shock. "What?"
* * * *
Captain Janeway cast another covert glance at the older version of herself striding along beside her. She wondered what had made this woman so hard inside. While able in body and mind, it was as the though her inner fire burned with a bitter fuel. She was not a happy person, that much was obvious.
Janeway was hesitant to violate the Temporal Prime Directive more than it already had been, but she couldn't help being curious what events had driven this woman to go to such extreme lengths to come back in time and change things. Just as her curiosity almost got the better of her, the admiral finally spoke.
"Seven of Nine is going to die!"
The explosive words hit Captain Janeway like a phaser shot and she stopped walking, leaning against the wall for support. Janeway had discovered that it was a lot harder to take the Borg out of the girl than it was to take the girl out of the Borg, and had spent a lot of time mentoring the young woman over the last three years. "What?"
The admiral's frown deepened further. "Three years from now. She'll be injured on an away mission. She'll make it back to Voyager, and die in the arms of her husband."
The captain's eyebrows rose in amazement. "Husband?" Although Seven had made great strides in reclaiming her humanity, Janeway found it hard to imagine any man being able to put up with the young woman's often cold, brusque behavior.
"Chakotay," the admiral replied sadly.
Fury engulfed the captain in a tidal wave, and she placed her fisted hands on her hips. "Are you telling me that Chakotay divorces me and marries that blonde?" she snapped.
The admiral's face ashened in shock. "What? You and Chakotay are married here?"
"Well, of course we are, you know that! Unless…" Janeway's anger mingled with confusion, and she frowned. "What did you mean by 'here'?" A ripple of astonishment was added to the emotional caldron as she watched the admiral's perpetual scowl slowly crease into something that resembled a smile.
"Well, hot damn," the old woman murmured. "Finally somebody got it right."
The End
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© Brianna Thomas, June 2007 Please email me to post/distribute elsewhere.