by Dakota

"No, Tom. I've had enough." Chakotay sounded determined to put a stop to the drinking that was going on around him.

"Awww, come on, Chakotay. How many times does a man get married?"

"It depends on the man, Paris, and I plan to get married just once in the morning, not sleep off a hangover acquired at this party and then facing my former fiancée to explain why I wasn't there on time."

Tom pulled out the stopper of a bottle of something very bright purple. "Let's have a Whopper."

"What's a Whopper?"

"It's a cross between a Suicide and a Banzai only you use Klingon vodka and Ferengi gin and add a touch of Romulan ale."

"No, thanks, Paris. You can drink that if you want. Just leave me out of it."

"Why? Are you against having a little fun with your friends?"

"Not at all. I'd just prefer to get to the church on time for my own wedding." Chakotay turned away murmuring that this was not quite what he'd call fun anyway.

"It's just a little harmless fun tonight." Tom was only slightly defensive.

"Well, your harmless tonight could be my disaster tomorrow." Chakotay was blunt.

"That won't happen. I promise."

"And just how do you propose to keep that promise?"

"Well, if you're still dancing at dawn, I'll roll up the floor and send you home." Tom paused while he thought of another example. "If you're whistling, I'll whisk you out the door."

"Just exactly why would I be whistling, Paris?" Chakotay didn't even want to consider how Tom would whisk him out the door. With his luck and Tom's juvenile tactics, he'd be soaked in whiskey in the process.

"I don't know. It was just an example." Tom looked up at the ceiling in exasperation before putting his forehead on the table.

"Well, your examples aren't very reassuring."

"Trust me, Chakotay. I know… you're getting married in the morning and I'll make sure… to get you to the church on time."

Chakotay moved on down the bar seeking a quiet corner as someone else claimed Tom's attention but ten minutes later, his sanctuary was invaded by Harry.

"Commander," Harry pulled out a chair and sat down. "What are you doing over here by yourself? You should be out celebrating with the others."

"I was just taking a break." Chakotay responded with a sigh of resignation. "I have to look good tomorrow you know, all 'spruced up' as Kathryn's mom would say."

"You'll look frantas… fantra… good to the captain. Don't worry 'bout it." Harry sounded confident as he slurred a few words. Suddenly Harry's face brightened.

"Hey! It'sss Jenny and Megan." He stood up and waved his arm in the air to attract their attention. "Girls, come and wish the commander the best."

"I wish you hadn't done that, Harry." Chakotay sounded dejected and slightly desperate. "And so will you once they get a hold of you for calling them 'girls'." Chakotay muttered the last sentence under his breath.

"Why not?" Harry was confused. Why anyone would want to avoid being kissed by the Delaney twins?

Chakotay shook his head in exasperation. "Now, they'll come and kiss me. They'll probably even tell me how much they'll miss me. How much can they miss me when they hardly ever saw me on a ship the size of Voyager and are currently stationed all of three doors down the hall from my office?"

"Ok, so they won't miss you. Just enjoy it." Harry's eyes glazed as he contemplated enjoying it himself.

"You mean enjoy it before Kathryn finds out and dumps me?" Even to himself, Chakotay thought he sounded a bit maudlin. That one drink must have been stronger than he thought. 

"She's not going to dump you, Comcander." Harry didn't sound at all confident as he put his arm around the commander's shoulders. "She waited sheven more than… sheven years for you. She's not going to walk away now."

"I'm not taking any chances, Harry." Chakotay shoved the arm off his back and turned to look at his companion beseechingly, "Promise me, if I'm doing anything that could by the remotest possibility make me late, stop me. Just get me to the church on time."

"What could you be doing that you'd be late to your own wedding?"

"Well, if I'm out flying a shuttle with Tom, shoot us down."

"Right. Shoot you down." Harry nodded obligingly.

"Shoot who down?" Tom pulled out a chair and sat down, placing a large pitcher of a purplish-red concoction on the table and three empty glasses. Carelessly, he filled the glasses and shoved two toward Chakotay and Harry.

"You and the moccander here." Harry replied simplistically patting Chakotay on the back as he picked up the glass and took a tentative sip.

"Why would you want to shoot us down?"

"I wouldn't." Harry nodded accusingly at Chakotay. "He said I should."

"If some blonde gets in my path," Chakotay demanded, "and I start wooing her, get the blonde out of town."

"Why?" Tom asked and was rewarded by a disgusted look from Harry.

"He'sh getting married in the morning, 'member? It's the excushe you used for thish party."

"I know that, Buster."

"Then why'dja ask?" Harry was belligerent.

"Anyway, what's getting married got to do with blondes?" Tom sounded perplexed.

"Howdja think B'Elanna would react if ya started wooing some blonde?" Harry retorted.

"I wouldn't do that." Tom replied seriously, sounding almost sober. "I like living."

Chakotay signed again as the conversation took a turn for the worst. He eyed the purplish-red beverage for a moment before picking up the glass. It tasted a lot better than it looked. He tasted it again and then reconsidered. If Tom had mixed it, it had to be lethal.

Chakotay leaned his head forward on his hands and closed his eyes, trying to block out the noise and the effects of Tom's concoction. He was nearly asleep when Tom shook his arm.

"Hey, who's taking you to the church in the morning?"

"No one. I'm planning on getting there on my own."

"I'll pick you up. You can't arrive alone."

"Sure I can."

"No, I insist." Tom spoke like it was all arranged. "Now, which church is it?"

"St. Chrisshoffer's," Harry volunteered as he refilled his glass for the third time.

"St. Christopher's?" Chakotay sounded surprised. "It's at some church called St. Christopher's?"

Harry and Tom looked at a very confused man. "Where did you think it was?"

"In the church at Starfleet Headquarters."

"That little chapel? It's way too small for a big wedding. It's the reception that's at Starfleet Headquarters. The wedding is at St. Christopher's Church."

"The wedding isn't at Starfleet Headquarters?" Harry and Tom shook their heads.

"It's at St. Christopher's Church?" Tom and Harry nodded their heads.

"Where's that?" Chakotay's desperation was growing.

"Is it on Monument or Memorial?" Tom looked at Harry as he spoke.

"Neither. It's on Cenotaph Court." Harry offered his information then paused, "I think."

"Where's that?" Now Tom sounded confused and Chakotay's desperation climbed another notch.

"Out by the Bay," Harry spoke derisively. "You need a compash to find it, Helm Boy?"

"Paris, if you lose the compass, I'm sunk." Chakotay forgot that he wasn’t going to let Tom take him to the church as it penetrated his alcoholic haze that none of them knew where the church was located.

"Don't worry, I won't lose it." Tom sounded about as confident of that as he did of surviving a supernova.

"You lose that compass and I'll kick up a rumpus like you've never seen before." Chakotay threatened.

"I won't lose it, Big Guy." Tom tried to reassure Chakotay. "Remember, B'Elanna wants you at that wedding almost as much as you do."

"Paris, you've got to get me to the church on time."

"I will." Tom turned to mumble to Harry. "We're all dead if we don't. Between the captain and B'Elanna, there wouldn’t be much left of the three of us if he's late."

Chakotay heard Tom's far from hushed comment. "You've got to get me to the church, Paris. Do you hear me? You've got to get me to the church on time!"

Chakotay roused slowly from sleep mumbling, "Get me to the church." 

As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he looked around at unfamiliar walls. All he could remember was the dream, or had it been real? He wasn't sure but the panic was growing. Bright sunlight was peaking around the edges of dark blinds pulled across the window. Had he missed it? His own wedding?

Gradually he became aware that a familiar voice was speaking to him. "Chakotay, are you all right?"

"Kathryn?" He turned his head toward the voice and saw a very familiar face with a slight smile filled with a great deal of concern.

"Yes. Are you all right? You were muttering in your sleep about flying and whistling."

Suddenly Chakotay remembered Tom's party in its entirety. "Did I get to the church on time?"

"You were an hour early and we've been married nearly a full day." Kathryn chuckled lightly, "That must have been some bachelor party Tom threw for you."

Chakotay calmed down slightly and allowed the memories of the previous day to surface. Slowly he smiled into the concerned eyes hovering above his to be rewarded as the concern changed into something much more intriguing and promising.

"It was." Chakotay lifted his head to gently kiss Kathryn. "Remind me to thank him someday."