A/N: If it weren't for MissyHissy3, I may well have abandoned this story mid-way through, because I was so busy elsewhere. Her suggestions broke through my block ('Can't they take an extra suit to get Seven out?' and then, when I had a brainwave and threw KJ into space without actually knowing how or even if I was going to get her back again, 'Can't she have the half of the suit with the oxygen supply?'). She put me back on track and I had a blast writing the last few chapters. Hope you've enjoyed reading them.

Epilogue

Two Months Later

I'm early, so I'm already sitting at the bar with a drink when Ayala arrives. He claps me on the back in greeting and then drags a stool up beside mine.

"Nice place," he observes, of the bar. It's certainly a notch above some of the dives we've spent time in over the past five years.

"Thought it was about time I went up in the world," I say. "So, how've you been?"

"Pretty good. Busy – you?" he glances around. "No Kathryn?"

"She had to find a secure terminal," I tell him. "She'll be here once she's done."

"Oh?" Mike says. "She talking to Earth? How's all that going?"

I scrub my thumbnail through the condensation on my glass. "They want her to go back. Admiral Paris has asked her to be part of the investigation. I think, if he had his way, she'd have had her rank reinstated already. He keeps bringing up that they'll need a high-ranking officer to take command of the Dieglian once it's ready to go out."

Mike nods. "And… what does Kathryn want?"

That's not an easy question to answer, and I take a mouthful of my drink before I do. "I think part of her wants to go back. A big part of her. She's been Starfleet her whole life. She believes in what it stands for, and she was born to stand on the bridge of a starship. That's not something you let go of easily."

"But?"

I shrug. "But trusting them again? That's a hard ask. Especially when she knows I never will again."

Ayala looks at me with one eyebrow raised. "Bit of a fundamental issue, there."

I shrug. "We're working through it. The biggest problem is that she's bored. Kathryn's just not used to standing still. When we first got to the retreat we were both exhausted, but two weeks in and it was like living with a jumping bean. And that's before she's even had coffee. I swear Mike, I had no idea she had so much energy – I guess on Voyager we were both always busy so I didn't take it in. The only time she's really still is when she sleeps."

Mike laughs. "And Seven?"

"She's all right. Getting there. There's still a long way to go. Kathryn's spending a lot of time with her. Tuvok, too. Credit to the Vulcans, they've done everything they can. Icheb and the Doctor have both been in touch. Icheb's trying to plan a trip out to see her."

"Are they going to be able to do something about her eye?"

"They hope so. They're going to try to remove the cortical implant next week. That'll be the turning point."

He nods, his face sober. "I think about her a lot. You let me know how it goes."

"I will."

"You didn't answer my first question," he adds. "How are you doing?"

"Good."

Mike looks at me. "Just 'good'?"

I look down at my drink with a smile. "What were you hoping for?"

"Are you kidding me? You're finally – finally – with the woman I personally witnessed you spend a decade trying not to be completely head over heels for. Hell, yes, I want to know it's better than good! If it's not working for you two, what hope is there for the rest of us?"

I can't help but laugh at his vehemence. "All right, all right. Yes, it is better than good." I shrug, not really wanting to talk about this in a bar full of people. Not really wanting to talk about it at all, if I'm honest. "We're getting to know each other again, and there are things about each other that we never knew in the first place. But we… fit. Then again, we always did. That was half the problem on Voyager – I think even then we were both pretty sure that we would. Made not being able to try all the harder."

"But?"

"No buts," I tell him. "Or at least, not to do with us. It's everything else. We still don't really know where we're going to go from here." I tip my half-empty glass towards Mike. "Which may be where you can help. How have you found the past two months? Feel like buying out my share of the ship?"

Mike grimaces and flicks a look over to the barkeep to order us more drinks. "Well – that's something we definitely need to talk about."

"Oh?"

Mike pauses as the barman sets our drinks down. He's got a pensive look on his face and suddenly I'm a little anxious about what he's going to say.

"Thing is," he says, "I've kind of… met someone."

I pause with my drink half way to my lips, because out of everything he could have said right then, that was way down the list of things I was expecting. It hit Mike hard when he split up with his wife, Elise. Hit me hard too, to be honest. Just one more thing that was wrong when Voyager finally got back to the Alpha Quadrant. He hasn't even shown the slightest interest in anyone else in all the time we've travelled together.

"You've met someone?"

For some reason he looks a little sheepish. "Yeah. Remember that regular drop off we have, out at the colony on Cestus IV? That little Bajoran farming community? Well, Praja's got a homestead there. The last few drops I've made, we've talked, you know? And then… well, then we more than talked."

"I'm happy for you, Mike," I say, and I genuinely am, although I'm trying to imagine out how it's going to work. "So what's the plan? She's going to sell up?"

He looks up at me. "No, actually she's asked me to go and live there. And… I'd like to give it a try. Apart from anything else, I'm tired of never being anywhere long enough to see my boys properly. With a proper base they could come and stay. I'd be able to spend decent time with them. Seeing you and Kathryn make a go of it, it's made me think. Life's too short not to take the chances we're given, right? And I like the idea of being a farmer. Truth is, I think I've been in space too long. I like the idea of having fresh air on my face. And Praja – well, you don't meet someone like her every day."

I suddenly realise just what it is he's about to say.

"So the thing is, I wondered if you wanted the ship?" Mike asks. "You don't even have to buy me out if you don't want to, not immediately. But it'd help me and Praja out. I've got bookings through the next six months and I can't just dump them and run." He raises his eyebrows and shrugs. "It's a really tight schedule, actually. Gonna keep whoever's running it plenty busy. Moving, moving, moving, every day a different star system – that kind of thing. Know anyone who might find that a good challenge, at least for a while?"

At that moment, the door opens behind us. I look up as Kathryn walks in through a bright shaft of light. She looks around the bar and when she sees me, her face lights up with a smile that I swear outdoes the halo of sun she's standing in. She's made for better things than sharing the command of a delivery skiff. Much better things. But it's being among the stars that she loves, and with our own ship we could do anything, go anywhere. Together.

"You know what?" I say to Mike. "I think I might."

[END]

A/N: I'm sure there will be those of you who will say, 'But wait a minute – you can't stop there. What happens next?' But real love stories never do have endings, a truth that J/C continues to prove twenty years on. Thank you for sticking with it, and a special thanks to those who have reviewed – I really appreciate you taking the time.