Disclaimer: Paramount owns these characters (and half the world). I make no money off of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.
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Pain and Suffering
by Tamar Richardson
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Part 3: Pain's End, Suffering's Beginning
Chakotay pulled away from B'Elanna. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
His mind was going a mile a minute. He saw all the wonderful years he had had with Kathryn. Images of the first time he had told her he loved her, the day they got married, the day Alexis was born, and many more were all wafting around in the first officers head. Not a single regret or mistake among them. He was about to make the first mistake. "Everything's fine." he replied. And the sinful behavior continued...
Both of them were too preoccupied to hear the doors open. They did, however, hear the screams that followed. "Chakotay!" she shrieked.
Chakotay and B'Elanna immediately broke apart. "Kathryn?!" he stuttered.
"How could you?!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her body was trembling. She couldn't stay there any longer and watch them like this. Janeway spun around and ran out the doors.
Chakotay was dumb-struck. Somehow, he was able to stand up and run after her and try to repair the remnants of their broken marriage.
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"Kathryn!" he yelled after her.
"I have nothing to say to you." She continued to walk down the corridor, not even bothering to look back at Chakotay.
He caught up to her. "I don't know if it'll mean anything, but," he paused, trying to choke down the tears that were threatening to spring from his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry."
"It doesn't." She turned on her heel and continued to head down the hall.
Chakotay leaning his head against the nearby bulkhead, slumped to the ground and cried for the rest of the night.
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That was more than 40 years ago. A week later, as an act of kindness, the Returners gave Voyager technology that would get them home.
Unfortunately, one more life was lost before Voyager made the journey home. The mourning after the "incident", Commander Chakotay had been found dead in weapons locker 2.
Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres-Paris never loved again. She blamed herself so much for Chakotay's suicide, that she moved back to Qu'noS, never to venture out into the stars again.
Lt. Commander Tuvok can home to Vulcan, only to find that his wife and two of his children had been killed when a transport ship they had been on was attacked and destroyed by the Dominion.
Captain Kathryn Janeway died of natural causes 10 years ago. She was buried on Vulcan, right next to her husband: Commander Tuvok.
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