Balance of Power  NC-17

Part 7

The next day....

The look they gave her made her uneasy but she stood her ground. Hope stepped forward first. "I really don't like that idea Ryn. It has the potential to be dangerous. "

"Look, I'm not going to do anything, I would just feel more comfortable running the numbers from their ship. We could send Kalin, or one of the twins, or anyone else, but we'd still have a problem if the temporal waves interfered with the transporters. At least I can get back."

Katie glared at her daughter. "You make it sound like you expect a problem. I know that crew, they are very competent, why can't you give them the information and let them handle it?"

"That's just it, we still can't figure out what went wrong. Everything we've gone over indicates that we were in the appropriate dimension, it just doesn't make sense."

Kat looked up for a moment. "Ryn, is it possible we were looking at a when, not a where?"

Ryn looked at her for a long moment, before moving to one of the databases. "Everything we've based these calculations on has been the readings of each ship and that ships signature..." Her finger flew over the keys. "Now, due the temporal flux of this area, it is entirely possible that we missed something. I'm positive we opened a where but..." Her fingers continued to move rapidly. With a final tape, the information filtered onto the screen. "Sweet spirits and starfire! Kat you are a genius. We did open the correct where, just not the correct when. With the time differences we actually opened a rift closer to our time. We just assumed they were near our temporal highway." She glanced around stunned.

Tay snickered gaining everybody's attention. "Sorry I was just feeling sorry for Kathy and Chak." Kate shook her head in confusion, so he continued. "The young people on that shuttle... they must belong to them."

Hope clamped a hand over her mouth as Kat and Kadi chuckled. Ryn just shook her head. "And after we spent all that time convincing her kids between the two of them would be a blessing."

Kathryn smiled. "We'll just warn them so they go in with open eyes."

Katie shook her head. "They are just adjusting to the fact that they erased that last bridge, do you really want to tell them they are going to have kids, most likely in the next few years."

Ryn snorted. "Years nothing. If the vibes I got off them this morning are anything to go by, that private party they indulged in is already producing positive results."

"Oh my ..." Hope collapsed in her chair. "Poor Kathy..."

Tay shared a look with Chakotay and Chakkers. "Poor Kathy my foot, poor Chak." As the laughter died down amid the half-hearted glares from the wives, he continued. "Now how do you suppose they got locked in the turbolift."

Chakotay frowned at his daughters. "I think I have an idea."

Kat jumped up waving her hands. "I didn't do it this time! I planned it, but I didn't have the time."

He glanced around as Kadi nodded and Hope and Ryn shook their heads as well. When he glanced at his wife, he noticed her surrounded by her twins, looking deceptively innocent.

His other counterparts seemed to zone in on them at the same moment, each of them narrowing their eyes at their respective mates. "Kathryn..." Chakotay stepped forward, voice lowering an octave, taking on the stern tone he usually reserved for his erstwhile daughters.

She looked up at him, blinked several times, and flashed her most brilliant smile. It was in that moment he realized just where his twin daughters had gotten their evil streak. "Yes Chakotay?"

Kat stared open mouthed at her mother, "Oh... my.... god!"

"You did that!?" Kadi squeaked.

"Well," Kathryn shrugged, and made a mock attempt at polishing her nails on her jacket. "I had help."

Ryn just stared at her mother, "Oh you're bad... I am so ashamed--"

"That we didn't get to do it first!" Kat finished for her.

Kate glanced at her counterparts, then smiled at her own husband, "What? You're glaring at me like I did something wrong. Would you prefer we never got involved?"

"But..." The three Chakotay's stammered, "You tampered with the timeline!"

"Not really." Kathryn's eyes twinkled with mischief, "Especially since we know that they have kids. We just pushed a little." She glanced at Kate for confirmation, "Chance wasn't it?" At the other woman's nod she continued, "and Chase belong to our younger friends. So they would have gotten it right eventually. We just... gave them a little... push."

"That and it was really great watching the play back." Katie snickered at her husband, "You haven't moved like that since before Kes and Kol were born."

"MOTH-ER!" Ryn looked horrified.

Kat and Kadi cracked up, "Well at least you don't live with your parents anymore," Kat supplied, "You don't have to hear all the moaning, and the squealing, and the grunting... oh and I don't even want to have to mention the bed creaking." She gave a little delicate shudder.

Hope shook her head, "You all act like they've never had sex before. How do you all think you got here?" Then she blinked and gestured at Ryn, "Well she was hatched, but I think she's the only one. And besides that, we're all parents. Well, Kat isn't, and Kadi is about to be.. so... I think it's sweet." It took Hope all of five seconds to realize why Kadi was cringing and why everyone's attention was now on the younger of the twins. "Oops, sorry love."

"Ha! And she thought I was the one that was going to spill the coffee--so to speak!" Kat snickered, "Oooooh look who daddy's glaring at now... you're in for it now Kadi-girl!"

Kadi snarled in her sister's direction, "Oh shut up, at least I'm married."

"I'm not knocked up babe, you are, so being married has nothing to do with it." Kat nodded, quite satisfied with herself.

"No, but I can have gratuitous sex any time I want and its not considered a bad thing."

Kat shrugged again, "So can I, so you're still screwed--literally and metaphorically!"

Chakotay sighed, "Alright enough, we've had enough discussions on sex for one morning. And.." he pointed at his daughter, "We're going to have a long talk later."

Kat sputtered, "ME? She's the one that's pregnant!"

Kadi snickered, "Neener neener neener."

"Kadi Ryn," Her mother quieted her with a look, "We will be talking later as well."

Kadi sighed, "Damn, I knew it was too good to be true."

Kat just grinned, "Neener neener neener."

"Oh bloody hell, I'm surrounded by children and old people, god help the universe if this is all we have to save it!"

Hope gave Ryn a shove, "Oh quit being such a spoil sport. Admit it, you're enjoying this." When Ryn just stared at her she sighed, "Fine do it your way, but you know what they say about all work and no play."

"I play plenty thank you very much," Then Ryn smiled finally, "I just don't get caught..."

Katie lifted a brow at her daughter, "I'll keep that in mind the next time you decide to hold a party for two in my ready room."

Ryn just sighed, "She's never going to let me forget that." With a grin she glanced around. "Seriously though, we need to get back to work. Although I’m surprised Starfleet hasn’t sent temporal ships or whatever to correct this mess themselves."

Kat nodded. "Prolly too much for them." She glanced over at Ryn, concern shining in her eyes. "Do you honestly think its going to make a difference if you go over to Kathy’s ship and run the numbers from there?"

"As much as I hate to admit it," Hope glanced around the room, "She's right. Besides, if anything goes wrong during the transfer Ryn will be there to correct it before anything serious happens. However...." She stared hard at her sister, "She will behave herself and not do anything stupid such as opening portals on her own..."

Katie sighed, "I don't like it. But..." She held up a hand before her daughter could launch into another argument, "I suppose it is our best option for success." She glanced at her counterparts, "What do you think?"

Kathryn pursed her lips for a moment, "Alright--" But she held a finger toward Ryn and waggled it, "Your mother won't say so with an audience, but I will--You try anything "stupid" as Hope put it, and you'll find yourself in the brig. Is that understood?"

Ryn's jaw clenched shut for a moment, "Understood." If she had to, she would, that’s all there was to it as far as she was concerned.

~~~~~~~~~

The feeling of eyes watching finally drew Ryn's attention away from the com panel in front of her to the younger version of her father. Chakotay moved until her stood beside her and waited patiently. Ryn tried to ignore him, but it wasn't working. Finally she turned and glared at him. "Yes Commander?"

He took another moment to study her before answering. "What's going on?"

She raised her brow in true Tuvok fashion. "Pardon?"

"Come on Ryn, you've been staring at Kathryn and myself all day with this odd little smile. I don't approve. She and I have decided that what happened involved extenuating circumstances and would never happen again. We don't want our crew to know and your little smiles are going to give us away."

Ryn clasped her hands. "I see, and you're going to let her get away with that?"

"I don't see how its any of your business, but yes, its what she needs you see."

"Right its so much what she needs that your needs don’t matter?"

"As far as Kathryn is concerned I've always been able to put her first. It doesn’t mean I don’t want or desire, it just means I'm patient enough to wait."

Ryn glanced at the empty bridge. "I don't mean to be crude Commander, but now that you've had a taste of what you were missing, it doesn’t make you crave it all the more?"

Chakotay let out a frustrated sigh. "It's not all about sex, Ryn"

"I didn't mean to suggest it was. I was talking about the intimacy, the closeness, the sharing. Even I can tell that its something that’s been lacking in your relationship. You can't tell me its comfortable on the back burner or you never would have moved on to begin with."

"This is not a discussion I should be having with you, so drop it."

"You're right in one respect, this isn't something you should be telling me. Tell her."

He ran his fingers through his hair, and echoed his earlier sigh. "I already have talked to her damnit. I thought it was resolved last night. We talked and brought up things that have been simmering for years. Hell, she even initiated the first move. It was beautiful and wonderful and everything I dreamed of and I thought we had a future. Then you found us in that lift and we got back to the ship and suddenly she was different. I got the 'I had too much to drink and I don't think this was a good idea. I think we need to step back and look at this objectively' speech. I didn't know how to respond, but I didn't see anyone in her eyes but the Captain so I backed down." He dropped his hands to the console in front of him. "The only thing I know how to do right with Kathryn is to take my time. She seemed actually excited that we were the only couple here that didn't have violence, conflict, or misunderstanding forcing us together."

Ryn reached out and laid her arm on his. "Chakotay, don't let her push you away this time. It's very important that you get her back on the right track. You've got everything they've got in the palm of your hands if you just fight for it."

He caught the urgency of her tone. "What do you mean?"

She bit her lip for a moment in debate then decided to plunge in. "She's pregnant Chakotay, already, I sense it. You are going to have do some fancy footwork to keep it from turning into a conflict. I know you can get her back on track. You love her." She offered him a small smile of support.

He blinked in surprise. "It's not possible, it was only one night and it hasn’t even been 24 hours yet. How could you possibly know?"

She chuckled then unable to hold it back. "I'm strange that way. Besides, you're old enough to know that once is all it takes. I don't know how it will turn out for you. I don't have any idea what path you should take, whether you tell her or not. I just know that you love her and you have a chance at having everything you want. Turn your little tryst into a future."

He studied her for a long moment than nodded something so familiar lighting his eyes that she couldn't help thinking, poor Kathryn. Without warning he pulled her into a hug. "Tryst huh? Thanks."

She nodded. "My pleasure!" With another chuckle she focused back in on her work. She was confident he'd get it straight eventually. Besides, they were scheduled to open the portal in the next couple of hours, and there was still plenty to be done.

Chakotay walked into the ready room without permission. As Kathryn’s head snapped up, he stalked over to her. Even as she started to speak, he raised a hand to stop her. "I’ve been thinking Kathryn, and do you know what I decided?" He didn’t allow her an option to answer before starting again, this time his hands closing over the arm rests of her chair, effectively caging her in. "I’ve decided you are full of shit. I’ve also decided that I’m tired of playing by your rules. We made a decision last night, Love, and I’m not letting you back out now because you’re scared. I love you you see, and I want it all."

Kathryn’s hands came up to his chest and pushed in an effort to force him away. "Now is not the time Chakotay. We can discuss this if you must when we get home, but not now."

His hands slid up her arms and around her back, lifting her out of her seat, even as he leaned back, sitting on her desk. As he cuddled her to him, he smiled. "Oh I think now is the perfect time. I’m not letting you shut us out anymore. I don’t have a problem keeping it between us for now, but I’m keeping it and us. You just have to find a way to accept it."

She struggled a bit but he only tightened his hold on her. "I don’t like being pushed Chakotay, you know that…" She stuttered to a stop as he merely raised a brow.

"Funny thing, what you like and don’t like. I think you do like being pushed my dear. It makes it easy for you to submit control, it also makes it easier for you to deny everything if you don’t like the results." He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the nose. "Well my darling, I suggest you think deeply about that, because there are going to be results from our actions." He kissed her again, this time on her mouth, deeply, passionately. His gaze was tender as he pulled back. "We love each other Kathryn, why make it difficult?"

Her eyes were dazed and slightly unfocused as she nodded. She dropped her head to his chest. "Alright. You’re right, I am scared, but I do love you and I don’t want to let go of this either, but I still need time. Let’s keep this between us for now." At his look, she smiled softly, her hand coming up to caress his face. "I just need a little time to process it all okay?"

Chakotay nodded, "I can give you that." But before she could completely relax, he flashed a mischievous grin, "But you've only got 9 months to figure it out. So you may want to make it quick."

"What?"

He slid past her and started toward the door, "You heard me."

"Chakotay?"

"I'll see you later Kathryn. I have work to do, as do you."

"But what are you talking about, Chakotay? Hey, get back here." She sighed as he stepped through the ready room doors, "Huh?" She was just about to sit down when it dawned on her what he was insinuating. A brief flash of panic shivered down her spine even as she felt a jolt of joy at the thought. Shaking it off, she headed of the door, intent on hitting sickbay. Suddenly she had to know for sure.

A half hour later she waltzed back on the bridge. As she walked by Chakotay, who was once more studying the calculations over Ryn’s shoulder, she pinched him. As his head snapped up, she caught his eye and muttered "bastard" without any real heat. At his questioning expression, she nodded.

Chakotay grinned ear to ear and moved beside her as they headed toward their seats. Just before Kathryn sat, he leaned close and whispered in her ear. "I really like Tristan for a boy…"

She blinked and shook her head. After issuing a few orders to coordinate everything with the other ships to make sure they were all ready, she nodded to Ryn.

Once more the calculations were fed in and the various ships deflectors were brought into play to open yet another rift. However, rather than opening one, several small rifts began to open once more. The one that matched the temporal signature of the younger Voyager was barely wide enough for a shuttle craft. Ryn growled low in her throat. Her fingers flew over the keys, but to no avail. The rift they needed wouldn’t grow and too many were opening. With a frustrated sigh, she thought of Kadi’s suggestion about energy. Did it all have to be sentient, or could she somehow draw on what she had. She closed her eyes, focusing on the energy surrounding her. The life-forces of the crew were the most tantalizing, licking at her senses with the temptation of the forbidden. Slowly almost painfully she pushed it away, subverting it to the rest. She could feel the pulse of the ship, even sense the living tissue of the gel packs, but for all that they used a type of living energy, there was nothing there to draw from, no permission to be given. Even as she realized that point, she felt a connection. She could use those packs to amplify the power source, boost the energy and possibly control the portal. It took her a nanosecond to make the choice. The link was immediate and she felt the power surge instantly. The flow of it was different though, instead of sapping her strength instantly, it felt like a slow trickle, but at the same time was energizing. Tamping down on the distraction, she focused even harder, allowing herself to revel in the power of it. It was if she had become a part of the ship itself, a living conduit channeling the energy through herself from the packs to the deflector.

Kathy barely controlled the whoop of joy that bubbled forth as the deflector suddenly seemed to stabilize on the correct rift and widen it. Tuvok manned his post offering reports that the appropriate rift was indeed rising and the others were in fact disappearing. As Kathryn turned to get a report from Ryn, she froze. Her hand instantly grabbed Chakotay’s as she drew his attention to their guest. The girl stood before them, still, almost frozen in place. Her eyes were closed and the com she rested her hands on was starting to glow and unearthly blue. As they watched the glow began to spread up her arms eventually encasing her body. All activity on the bridge seemed to stop as the alien light flickered and strengthened. After several moments the light disappeared completely and the girl began to relax. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she started to focus on the com in front of her. Her eyes moved again, this time locking with Kathryn’s. With a sure nod, she motioned to the rift. "Have a safe journey Captain," her gaze shifted then and she smiled at Chakotay, "and a happy life together." With one more quick glance at the readings, she tapped her combadge. "Ryn to Voyager, one to beam up." As she dematerialized, Chakotay tightened his grip on Kathryn’s, before turning back to his task once more. With a quick flurry of commands, the younger Voyager returned to its rightful place in time.

~~~~~

TBC

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