Title: Un Fantasma Tra Noi
Fandom: Star Trek: Voyager (sort of)
Pairing: references to Chakotay/Other
Spoilers: None
Author's Note: This story is set during an AU version of Caretaker as a part of my Star Trek: Phoenix AU. Some of the crew members are the same. Some aren't. The ship, likewise, is different.
Summary: This isn't how he expected to see her again.
Notes: For the Lacuna Coil challenge. Title means "A Ghost Between Us"
"Un Fantasma Tra Noi"
by M.
-
Her face on the view screen was the last thing he expected. Her presence here was the last thing he'd expected. Though, if he was honest with himself, he shouldn't have been surprised. Chakotay had known Amanda was due to take a new command. His contacts inside Starfleet had told him that much. But as of the last time he had talked to them, they hadn't known which class of ship or the name of the vessel. He should have known it would have been one of the new Sovereign-class battle cruisers. Top of the line, best of the best, she'd shoot for nothing less and would accept nothing less. He was proud of her.
He hadn't wanted things to end the way they had. With them over and him walking from Starfleet but he hadn't had any choice. He wouldn't ask her to betray the oaths she'd taken anymore than she would have asked him to hold to his. Starfleet was Amanda's life. She'd grown up around and in it. If there had ever been someone who had been born to be a Starfleet captain, Amanda Ziering was that someone. She'd never leave. She wouldn't know how to be anything other than Starfleet. He's seen her command, she can handle just about any situation it throws at her…but she would be completely and utterly at a loss if asked to live life as a anything else.
It was for that reason he'd done what he'd did. For that reason he'd deliberately destroyed their relationship and walked. He'd been preparing for this moment. The moment she came face to face with him, the Starfleet captain confronting the Maquis commander…The moment when she would have to take him into custody, lock him up in her brig, and deliver him to the nearest Starbase for transport back to Earth for trial.
He'd never expected that moment to come when the nearest Starbase was seventy five thousand light years away and both their ships in shambles. He can see that hers, though in better shape than his, has taken serious damage. The process that the alien had used to bring them clear across the galaxy hadn't been any gentler with her ship than it had his.
There was no surprise in her dark gaze. She'd known she would see him when the channel opened. She'd been briefed by Starfleet. Though, he was curious as to what she was even doing there. Starfleet wouldn't be interested in one Maquis ship disappearing, Maquis ships disappeared all the time. Part of being, as the Federation called them, terrorists. If, that was, they'd even heard about it. He couldn't imagine the Cardassians had been in any hurry to tell them about it.
Even if Starfleet had been interested, his ship was no match for a Sovereign-class. His ship wasn't a match for most of Starfleet's vessels, sending a Sovereign after them was, well, overkill. The cynic in him suggested that they'd sent not the ship but the captain. Expecting Amanda to be able to deal with him better than anyone else. They'd never made any attempt to hide their involvement. They'd never had a reason to. Or, expected to have a reason at any rate.
It was a valid point but he didn't think that was it either. Some of the brass at Starfleet Command wouldn't be above suggesting it as loyal to Starfleet as Amanda was, they wouldn't be able to order her to do that. To hunt him down.
He'd tried to prepare her for that. He hadn't told her the truth, of course, but he'd made their breakup as unpleasant as he could bear to. He'd done so in hopes that it would make her hate him. Make her angry enough to have absolutely no problems arresting him.
But he can also see in her eyes that she doesn't hate him. He didn't know what she felt for him but he knew Amanda. If she hated him…he'd know.
"Commander Chakotay,"
Her voice, though calm, cool, and professional, was exactly as he remembered. He wasn't used to seeing her like this. The composed and unflappable commander of a starship. He'd only seen her command a few times. Only seen the persona at a distance. He'd never had it directed at him like this. It was almost a heady experience, to be on the receiving end of it, and he wasn't sure why.
He nodded a greeting, content to let her carry the conversation. Amanda apparently had more information about what was going on than he did. Let her be the one to share first.
"I'm Captain Amanda Ziering," the greeting was unnecessary but he knew her. She was commanding a new crew and her personal life was her own. She wasn't about to let on to her senior staff, what was left of it, who he was to her or what she'd been to him. "Commander of the USS Phoenix." The quiet pride in her statement was probably indiscernible to any of the others, or even her own crew, but he heard it. This wasn't a reconstructed ship pressed back into service after Wolf 359. This command was the one she'd been working toward her entire career.
"Captain." He acknowledged with the same professionalism she'd given him. She'd addressed him by his Starfleet rank in an attempt to put them on moderately equal footing. One officer to another. "I take it you were brought here by the Array as well?"
She nodded once. "Yes. We were on a mission looking for you, actually." The tension in her words said there was quite a story behind them. She had been sent after him and was none too pleased about it. How they'd gotten her to do it had him wondering. Amanda wasn't a woman who followed orders without question. She tempered her obligation to her duty with more than a little common sense and had absolutely no problems challenging the orders of a superior officer if she believed she had cause.
In his mind's eye, Chakotay had little problem imagining her reaction when some faceless Admiral gave her the orders to proceed to the Badlands and find the Maquis ship commanded by her ex. The precise words she'd used were a mystery to them but he had no trouble hearing the tone of her voice. Righteous fury was something she had great command of. He'd seen her angry off duty, he'd seen her angry on. Off, she was a force of nature. On, she was controlled anger. Tightly focused and carried as much impact as a photon torpedo. He didn't envy whoever'd had the pleasure of giving her those orders. Not one bit.
"Well, you've found us." He said with much irony. "I'd ask if you'd like us to stand down to be boarded but…"
"Your irony does not escape me, Commander." She interjected coolly, irritated by his response. "I'm well aware of the situation and may I point out that the Federation, the Cardassians and the Demilitarized Zone are thousands of light-years away and if we don't work together, we may never see any of it again?"
He said nothing. She was right and they both knew it.
Taking his silence for what it was, acquiescence, Amanda took a step back, glanced down at her soiled uniform and then up at him again. "A member of my crew is missing." She revealed quietly. "An ensign." A kid if the look on her face was any judge. She was taking this personal. But he knew her well enough to understand why. Amanda Ziering was downright possessive of her ship and her crew. If one of her people was missing, she'd turn every piece of space dust over until she found them. "I was hoping he might have been transported back to your ship by mistake."
Time to lay the cards on the table. She hadn't asked for his help overtly but he knew her. Frayed about the edges, exhausted, holding herself, and her ship, together by sheer force of will. He had to wonder where her XO was. If he looked past the persona Amanda was projecting, he could see she was dead on her feet. She needed to rest.
He pushed concern for her aside in the face of concern for a member of his own crew. B'Elanna had disappeared as well. He'd been telling himself the same thing Amanda had. That, somehow, she'd been transported back to the other ship by accident and was no doubt giving them hell. But if she had been, Amanda would have said so by now. She wouldn't have held that back for anything.
"He wasn't." Chakotay said finally, dashing her hopes. "We're missing someone too. My engineer. B'Elanna Torres."
He watched the hope drain from Amanda's eyes. "She's not there, is she?"
"No." She shook her head. "I'm afraid she isn't." Moving to the center seat, she sat down and pushed a hand through her disheveled hair. "Well, Commander…it seems you and I are in the same boat as it were." She looked up again, smiling wryly. "Might I suggest we work together? Two heads and all that."
He returned the smile. She was the last person he'd expected to be commanding that ship but he had to admit, knowing she was, he felt better. "For once, the cliché holds true."
"They always hold true." She countered. "That's why they're cliché."
"Point taken." Chakotay affirmed with a nod. "We're in the same boat, Captain, we might as well make it the same ship. Three of us will beam over and we can talk."
"Very well. I'd tell you we're dropping the shields in preparation but…" She gestured to the damaged bridge. "I'm afraid we don't have any to drop."
So he'd noticed. "If it makes you feel better, Captain…we're not in any better shape."
Actually they were in worse shape. His ship was too old and too used to have withstood the trip as well as a brand new, top of the line starship could. Not that being a brand new, top of the line starship had helped the Phoenix much. It certainly hadn't helped it's missing crewman much.
"So you aren't, Commander, so you aren't." Amanda sighed. "We'll be expecting you."
He cut the channel then and turned to look at the Betazoid woman beside him. "Well?"
"She's exhausted." Kasha shrugged. "But you know that as well as I."
"That wasn't what I asked."
"No, I know. She has no intentions of throwing us in the brig the second we arrive." Lowering her voice and giving him a knowing look, she added, "But you knew that too."
He stood. "Kasha, Ayala, you're with me." Looking out at the massive starship before him, he inhaled a steadying breath. "The lady awaits."
Finis
Fandom: Star Trek: Voyager (sort of)
Pairing: references to Chakotay/Other
Spoilers: None
Author's Note: This story is set during an AU version of Caretaker as a part of my Star Trek: Phoenix AU. Some of the crew members are the same. Some aren't. The ship, likewise, is different.
Summary: This isn't how he expected to see her again.
Notes: For the Lacuna Coil challenge. Title means "A Ghost Between Us"
"Un Fantasma Tra Noi"
by M.
-
Her face on the view screen was the last thing he expected. Her presence here was the last thing he'd expected. Though, if he was honest with himself, he shouldn't have been surprised. Chakotay had known Amanda was due to take a new command. His contacts inside Starfleet had told him that much. But as of the last time he had talked to them, they hadn't known which class of ship or the name of the vessel. He should have known it would have been one of the new Sovereign-class battle cruisers. Top of the line, best of the best, she'd shoot for nothing less and would accept nothing less. He was proud of her.
He hadn't wanted things to end the way they had. With them over and him walking from Starfleet but he hadn't had any choice. He wouldn't ask her to betray the oaths she'd taken anymore than she would have asked him to hold to his. Starfleet was Amanda's life. She'd grown up around and in it. If there had ever been someone who had been born to be a Starfleet captain, Amanda Ziering was that someone. She'd never leave. She wouldn't know how to be anything other than Starfleet. He's seen her command, she can handle just about any situation it throws at her…but she would be completely and utterly at a loss if asked to live life as a anything else.
It was for that reason he'd done what he'd did. For that reason he'd deliberately destroyed their relationship and walked. He'd been preparing for this moment. The moment she came face to face with him, the Starfleet captain confronting the Maquis commander…The moment when she would have to take him into custody, lock him up in her brig, and deliver him to the nearest Starbase for transport back to Earth for trial.
He'd never expected that moment to come when the nearest Starbase was seventy five thousand light years away and both their ships in shambles. He can see that hers, though in better shape than his, has taken serious damage. The process that the alien had used to bring them clear across the galaxy hadn't been any gentler with her ship than it had his.
There was no surprise in her dark gaze. She'd known she would see him when the channel opened. She'd been briefed by Starfleet. Though, he was curious as to what she was even doing there. Starfleet wouldn't be interested in one Maquis ship disappearing, Maquis ships disappeared all the time. Part of being, as the Federation called them, terrorists. If, that was, they'd even heard about it. He couldn't imagine the Cardassians had been in any hurry to tell them about it.
Even if Starfleet had been interested, his ship was no match for a Sovereign-class. His ship wasn't a match for most of Starfleet's vessels, sending a Sovereign after them was, well, overkill. The cynic in him suggested that they'd sent not the ship but the captain. Expecting Amanda to be able to deal with him better than anyone else. They'd never made any attempt to hide their involvement. They'd never had a reason to. Or, expected to have a reason at any rate.
It was a valid point but he didn't think that was it either. Some of the brass at Starfleet Command wouldn't be above suggesting it as loyal to Starfleet as Amanda was, they wouldn't be able to order her to do that. To hunt him down.
He'd tried to prepare her for that. He hadn't told her the truth, of course, but he'd made their breakup as unpleasant as he could bear to. He'd done so in hopes that it would make her hate him. Make her angry enough to have absolutely no problems arresting him.
But he can also see in her eyes that she doesn't hate him. He didn't know what she felt for him but he knew Amanda. If she hated him…he'd know.
"Commander Chakotay,"
Her voice, though calm, cool, and professional, was exactly as he remembered. He wasn't used to seeing her like this. The composed and unflappable commander of a starship. He'd only seen her command a few times. Only seen the persona at a distance. He'd never had it directed at him like this. It was almost a heady experience, to be on the receiving end of it, and he wasn't sure why.
He nodded a greeting, content to let her carry the conversation. Amanda apparently had more information about what was going on than he did. Let her be the one to share first.
"I'm Captain Amanda Ziering," the greeting was unnecessary but he knew her. She was commanding a new crew and her personal life was her own. She wasn't about to let on to her senior staff, what was left of it, who he was to her or what she'd been to him. "Commander of the USS Phoenix." The quiet pride in her statement was probably indiscernible to any of the others, or even her own crew, but he heard it. This wasn't a reconstructed ship pressed back into service after Wolf 359. This command was the one she'd been working toward her entire career.
"Captain." He acknowledged with the same professionalism she'd given him. She'd addressed him by his Starfleet rank in an attempt to put them on moderately equal footing. One officer to another. "I take it you were brought here by the Array as well?"
She nodded once. "Yes. We were on a mission looking for you, actually." The tension in her words said there was quite a story behind them. She had been sent after him and was none too pleased about it. How they'd gotten her to do it had him wondering. Amanda wasn't a woman who followed orders without question. She tempered her obligation to her duty with more than a little common sense and had absolutely no problems challenging the orders of a superior officer if she believed she had cause.
In his mind's eye, Chakotay had little problem imagining her reaction when some faceless Admiral gave her the orders to proceed to the Badlands and find the Maquis ship commanded by her ex. The precise words she'd used were a mystery to them but he had no trouble hearing the tone of her voice. Righteous fury was something she had great command of. He'd seen her angry off duty, he'd seen her angry on. Off, she was a force of nature. On, she was controlled anger. Tightly focused and carried as much impact as a photon torpedo. He didn't envy whoever'd had the pleasure of giving her those orders. Not one bit.
"Well, you've found us." He said with much irony. "I'd ask if you'd like us to stand down to be boarded but…"
"Your irony does not escape me, Commander." She interjected coolly, irritated by his response. "I'm well aware of the situation and may I point out that the Federation, the Cardassians and the Demilitarized Zone are thousands of light-years away and if we don't work together, we may never see any of it again?"
He said nothing. She was right and they both knew it.
Taking his silence for what it was, acquiescence, Amanda took a step back, glanced down at her soiled uniform and then up at him again. "A member of my crew is missing." She revealed quietly. "An ensign." A kid if the look on her face was any judge. She was taking this personal. But he knew her well enough to understand why. Amanda Ziering was downright possessive of her ship and her crew. If one of her people was missing, she'd turn every piece of space dust over until she found them. "I was hoping he might have been transported back to your ship by mistake."
Time to lay the cards on the table. She hadn't asked for his help overtly but he knew her. Frayed about the edges, exhausted, holding herself, and her ship, together by sheer force of will. He had to wonder where her XO was. If he looked past the persona Amanda was projecting, he could see she was dead on her feet. She needed to rest.
He pushed concern for her aside in the face of concern for a member of his own crew. B'Elanna had disappeared as well. He'd been telling himself the same thing Amanda had. That, somehow, she'd been transported back to the other ship by accident and was no doubt giving them hell. But if she had been, Amanda would have said so by now. She wouldn't have held that back for anything.
"He wasn't." Chakotay said finally, dashing her hopes. "We're missing someone too. My engineer. B'Elanna Torres."
He watched the hope drain from Amanda's eyes. "She's not there, is she?"
"No." She shook her head. "I'm afraid she isn't." Moving to the center seat, she sat down and pushed a hand through her disheveled hair. "Well, Commander…it seems you and I are in the same boat as it were." She looked up again, smiling wryly. "Might I suggest we work together? Two heads and all that."
He returned the smile. She was the last person he'd expected to be commanding that ship but he had to admit, knowing she was, he felt better. "For once, the cliché holds true."
"They always hold true." She countered. "That's why they're cliché."
"Point taken." Chakotay affirmed with a nod. "We're in the same boat, Captain, we might as well make it the same ship. Three of us will beam over and we can talk."
"Very well. I'd tell you we're dropping the shields in preparation but…" She gestured to the damaged bridge. "I'm afraid we don't have any to drop."
So he'd noticed. "If it makes you feel better, Captain…we're not in any better shape."
Actually they were in worse shape. His ship was too old and too used to have withstood the trip as well as a brand new, top of the line starship could. Not that being a brand new, top of the line starship had helped the Phoenix much. It certainly hadn't helped it's missing crewman much.
"So you aren't, Commander, so you aren't." Amanda sighed. "We'll be expecting you."
He cut the channel then and turned to look at the Betazoid woman beside him. "Well?"
"She's exhausted." Kasha shrugged. "But you know that as well as I."
"That wasn't what I asked."
"No, I know. She has no intentions of throwing us in the brig the second we arrive." Lowering her voice and giving him a knowing look, she added, "But you knew that too."
He stood. "Kasha, Ayala, you're with me." Looking out at the massive starship before him, he inhaled a steadying breath. "The lady awaits."
Finis