Compos Mentis

Chapter 2

Kathryn clung to her mother in a way she hadn't since she was a child. She could feel the sobs wrack though Gretchen's body and was vaguely aware of Phoebe's arms around the both of them.

Only moments before Kathryn had led her crew through the winding corridors of Planetia Utopia to the station's large mess hall where Voyager's next of kin waited.

She had felt some apprehension on behalf of her crew. Different fortunes awaited them behind the doors of the mess hall. She knew Harry's family would be ecstatic over the return of their beloved son but B'Elanna and Tom had no idea as to how their family would react to their unforeseen return.

Kathryn hoped that B'Elanna's father would embrace his child with love and not the coldness of a casual acquaintance. She felt sure he would, Tom had mentioned that John Torres had made contact as often as possible over the past few months, looking for redemption.

She knew that Owen Paris felt his own apprehension at coming face to face with his son for the first time since his court martial all those years ago and prayed the Admiral's gruff exterior would not lead to an uncomfortable reunion. She knew he was proud of the man his son had become but there were long buried issues that would no doubt resurface with Tom's return.

As for the other members of her senior staff, Seven had displayed an uncharacteristic lack of self assurance about meeting her only living relative. But she was sure that through her family, Seven would find the last missing piece of her humanity. She had, after all, recently found romantic love with Commander Chakotay and Kathryn was pleased that Seven had his counsel during what was likely to be a turbulent time of adjustment for the former borg drone.

The Doctor's situation had thankfully been resolved before their return through the borg hub. Finally recognised as an individual in his own right, Reginald Barclay and Dr Zimmerman had both offered to help the Doctor settle in the Alpha Quadrant and only that morning Kathryn had received a request from Starfleet Medical for the Doctor to be re-assigned after the de-briefing to their top research lab.

As for Chakotay, Starfleet had made it clear that they had no intention of pursuing any charges against the former members of the Maquis and following the debrief there would be offers of commissions to all of Voyager's crew. Although she wouldn't quite trust it until the orders were formally signed. She knew Chakotay had a bright future ahead of him. Where he would choose to spend that future she knew he had not yet decided. He had been unusually quiet since Starfleet's announcement that morning and while he had assured her he intended to remain in Starfleet, she could tell that the return to the Alpha Quadrant had unbalanced him somewhat.

She felt guilty for not spending more time with him over the past few days. Their relationship had gone through a number of difficulties over the past few months and she did not feel as comfortable as she once did discussing any personal issues.

As for Kathryn herself, she knew she didn't have to worry about her future. She knew standing before those doors moments earlier that her mother and sister awaited her, ready with open arms and tears. She knew that she had two weeks of leave to celebrate the holidays and reacquaint herself with Earth before three months of debriefings. She would catch up with Mark and his new family, finding closure to that part of her life. Starfleet would make her relive every moment of the past seven years and either court martial her for her blatant disregard of the Prime Directive and Temporal Prime Directive or do something even more horrendous and make her an Admiral .

As she had stood before the mess hall doors, the thoughts had swirled around her and she felt the air begin to close in on her again, much like it had on the bridge only a few days ago. She'd tugged at her collar, her face flushing with sudden heat. She tried to catch her breath and closed her eyes, searching for calm.