Kathryn entered the holodeck warily. She was suspect of anything that Tom Paris found amusing. She was beginning to regret asking Chakotay to find out what Seven had meant when she said 'Captain Proton to the rescue' a few days earlier.

Chakotay turned to wait for Kathryn. He wasn't any more certain about the wisdom of exploring this program but she had asked for an explanation and this seemed the best way to get an answer. He watched her step warily onto the space ship featured in this particular episode. The lack of color made the ship seem more depressing than it already was. He had only a very general idea about the program.  Harry hadn't exactly been very enthused to know his commanding officers were going to explore this particular program so his details had been sketchy at best.

Kathryn stopped next to Chakotay.

"This looks awfully primitive. Are you sure this is the right program?"

"It's the one Harry mentioned. I think it's called "Satan's Robot" or something like that."

"I can see the robot but it doesn't even look like early robots. Why would they use something so impractical?"

"I didn't write the program so I have no idea. Shall I add the characters so we can watch them?"

"They're going to ignore us, right?"

"That's my plan."

"Ok."

"Computer, add characters and set mode to observe only."

"Acknowledged."

A man dressed in some sort of black robe and cap appeared and began fiddling with the controls at the other end of the control room. He was muttering to himself. Suddenly, the door burst open and someone who looked exactly like Tom Paris emerged shouting at the man.

"He even made the character he was playing look like himself?"

"This is Tom we're talking about, Kathryn. Who else would he use?"

"Sorry, silly question."

It was soon clear that the new character was Captain Proton and that he was trying to stop the man from carrying out some evil plan. A blond woman soon followed Proton into the room but she didn't say anything. Chakotay had to admit she was attractive. Kathryn saw him staring at the woman and pushed her elbow firmly into his ribs.

"Eyes forward, Cadet!"

Chakotay jumped then turned to grin at Kathryn. Before he could comment, the blond screamed. Not a soft gasp or even a moderate cry but a full-blown, shrill shriek designed to wake up everyone within a light year. That was enough for Kathryn.

"Computer, freeze program."

"Why did you do that?"

"I've seen enough, haven't you?"

"It was just getting interesting."

"Interesting? Just what exactly aroused your interest?"

"Just about everything. The plot seems to have been juvenile."

"That's being generous. What else?"

"Well, the characters are so bad they must be reflective of the era. Tom can program characters much better than this."

"That's true. I imagine Naomi can program characters better than this for that matter." Kathryn's comment made Chakotay smile.

"Well, regardless of the quality, I've seen enough to understand Seven's comment." Kathryn turned to leave.

"Kathryn, we have almost an hour left. Why don't we at least explore this ship some more?"

Kathryn considered Chakotay's suggestion. She had to admit that spending some time just looking around was a lot more enticing than watching the program run.

"Get rid of the banshee and the over-inflated ego."

"Computer, delete characters." Chakotay held out his arm for Kathryn. She nodded and put her hand on his arm as they headed for the door.

Ten minutes of boring halls and closets of questionable equipment later, they found what appeared to be the dining room of the ship. There were only two tables – one quite large with a single chair and the other only large enough for six or eight people depending how friendly they were.

"I guess that… What was his name? Chaotica? I guess he must eat alone." Kathryn pointedly sat at the larger table. Chakotay walked over to the cooking area and found nothing so he rejoined Kathryn.

"Computer, one coffee and one hot tea, sweet."

"Isn't that cheating?"

"Not really. It will get charged to my account. All the replicator is doing is sending it to me here."

"I meant cheating in this program."

"We aren't running the program. We're exploring the ship."

Kathryn smiled and picked up her coffee.

"To a successful exploration."

Chakotay nodded his head and held up his cup.

"To explorations."

They chatted about how the crew had recovered very quickly from the boredom and depression they had experienced in the Void. Kathryn knew that Chakotay was intentionally avoiding any reference to how she had reacted.

"Why did you go to all the trouble to explain Seven's comment? It would have been much easier to just ask Tom."

"I thought you might enjoy the break in ship's routine."

"The truth, Chakotay."

"I'm a fine first officer. I'm worried about my captain and I thought we might have a chance to talk if we were alone and away from the day to day running of the ship."

"You're a meddling first officer, too."

"Maybe. But you are finally relaxing a little and we are talking."

"But not about the things you would like to discuss, right?"

"No, but this will do fine. I'm not going to push you, Kathryn. When you're ready, we'll talk."

"Is that a threat or a promise?"

"Neither. It's just a statement of fact. We always talk when we're both ready even if one of us has to get a bit pushy sometimes."

"I'm never pushy."

"Whatever you say, Kathryn." Chakotay smiled as Kathryn feigned indignation. After a few minutes he continued. "You ready now?"

Kathryn sighed and shook her head slightly. The man knew her too well. She looked up at his eyes and knew that she was not complaining. She had done a lot of thinking in her quarters after they entered the Void and not all of it had been about her decision to help the Ocampa. Maybe it was time to correct a few other decisions before it was too late.

"Why did you come to talk to me a few days ago?"

"I needed your input and I was worried about you."

"Why were you worried?"

"You were avoiding everyone and everything. You had lost contact with the crew and seemed to have lost interest in the ship. People were asking about you and the only answer I could give them was that it was your prerogative and you owed us no explanations."

"Yet you asked for an explanation anyway. Why?"

"I just told you."

"That was the reason you would give the crew. Tell me the rest of the reason. Why were you so worried?"

Kathryn met Chakotay's eyes hoping he would understand the question. She saw his expression change ever so slightly when he figured out what she meant. She knew then that she knew him as well as he knew her.

"I was worried about my captain and my friend."

Kathryn was silent, forcing him to continue. Chakotay seemed angry that she was pushing the point.

"All right. You've never wanted to hear this before. I love you. I was worried about you so I came to make sure that you were really all right. I wanted to help if I could but you pushed me away. I'm still trying to help but you don't make it easy, Kathryn."

"I know." It was now Chakotay's turn to push her to speak. Kathryn didn't seem to mind this time. "I haven't intentionally made it harder for you, Chakotay, but I didn't know any other way. I did a lot of thinking during the last two months and not just about helping the Ocampa."

"I thought we'd worked through most of our disagreements over the years."

"Not my command decisions, my personal decisions. Those are what I've been thinking about, and most of them were made to deal with my feelings for you.

"I honestly thought we'd find a way home in a year or two. I know; there was no reason to assume we'd discover some technology in the Delta Quadrant that did what no one in the Alpha Quadrant had figured out yet. Call it unwarranted optimism or wishful thinking, I thought we could and I still think we will – just not quite so quickly.

"You were also supposed to be my prisoner and I knew that if I allowed myself to get involved with you that I would never be able to turn you over to Federation authorities. That's going to be a problem for me for everyone who once called you 'captain'. I don't even want to think about you in that context. Thank goodness the war with the Dominion seems to have changed the situation considerably in that regard."

"You're dancing around the point, Kathryn, and are going off on a tangent."

"Sorry. I'm not used to this sort of conversation. Where was I?"

"Decisions you made over the years."

"Ah, yes. The decision that I want to correct is the one where I denied myself any personal life when it comes to romantic involvement. That's what I was thinking about. I decided I wanted to countermand that decision, that is if you're still interested."

"I'm interested."

"You're not just saying that?" Kathryn was suddenly very unsure of herself.  Chakotay stood and pulled Kathryn to her feet. He wrapped his arms around her to pull her close and kissed her gently on the lips. As she responded to his kiss, he pulled her closer.

"Does that feel like I'm just saying it?"

"No. That feels like you mean it." Kathryn sighed in relief. "I was so scared you had changed your mind about me."

"Not going to happen, Kathryn. I love you."

"I love you." Kathryn paused. "That sounds so strange and so good."

The computer interrupted them. "Your time on the holodeck is over. Please end program."

Kathryn and Chakotay smiled at each other. Kathryn kissed him and then stepped back.

"Come with me on a walking inspection of our ship?"

"Only if you join me for dinner when we've finished."

"Agreed. Let's go. Computer, end program."

Kathryn took Chakotay's hand and led the way off the holodeck. They left behind the shadows of the Void and moved toward a future filled with a thousand stars.