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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello all!! Long time no see! I've missed you all. I decided to take a break from writing (or more accurately NOT writing) the Harry Potter fanfic I've been working on on fanfiction . Net to try my hand at another J/7 fanfic. I thought I'd exhausted all my plot ideas with the 60+ other Voyager fanfics I'd written, but I was inspired by a random tumblr post I saw the other day. This idea has been swimming around my brain for the last week or so and I finally decided to write it out. I can't promise it'll be any good, but I'll do my best as always and I'll try to actually finish this and not disappoint y'all.
I only just started typing this today so there may be some errors I haven't caught, but I wanted to go ahead and start posting again after being MIA for like three years. If anyone is wondering where I've been for the last 3 years, well, I've been here lol. I've been taking care of my mom since she was diagnosed with cancer in October 2018 and it has been really rough but we are both still hanging in here. We were careful and fortunate enough to avoid Covid, though we did lose some loved ones along the way. I hope you all are doing well and being safe too <3
Even with the pandemic and a ton of free time, I still struggle to actually write much of anything. Depression still runs rampant in my brain so that even when I have ideas it's hard to physically make myself write them down :( I did write a very long Harry Potter fanfic, which is posted on the other site, but it took me over a year and a half to complete, with long periods where I didn't write or update at all. When I finally finished it my masochistic brain decided it needed a sequel so I started one...but I haven't written anything on it in over a month. So, I am taking a break from that fandom to revisit my FAVORITE OTP, Janeway and Seven. So without further ado...
~RedPandaPrincess
Out of the Void
A Star Trek Voyager fanfic
Captain Kathryn Janeway sat on the couch in her Ready Room aboard the Starship Voyager, reviewing the daily reports on the Padd she held in one hand. In her other hand was a steaming cup of hot coffee. She paused in her reading to take a sip and looked out the window behind her couch. It felt good to see stars outside again and it brought a faint smile to her lips. The ship had just spent the last several months traveling through an empty expanse of space that the crew had dubbed 'The Void'. No stars, no planets, no stellar phenomena whatsoever. It had taken its toll on the crew, but none had taken it as hard as Captain Janeway.
With nothing much to do on a daily basis, the captain had been left alone with her thoughts...and they weren't good. Depression, anxiety, self-doubt and self-loathing...thoughts she didn't normally succumb to had kept circling in her mind and she couldn't get rid of them. She'd isolated herself from her crew, left Chakotay in charge, and locked herself in her quarters for weeks. She'd known it was wrong – the crew needed their captain – but she'd been in no shape to lead them at the time. After all it was her fault they were in the Void, her fault that they were even in the Delta Quadrant at all.
It had been her decision to destroy the Array that had brought them there, 70,000 light years from home. It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time, the Starfleet thing to do, to save the lives of the Ocampa even if it meant stranding her crew in the Delta Quadrant. But as Voyager traveled through the Void the captain finally succumbed to the guilt that had plagued her for the last four years. She'd convinced herself that the crew was better off without her and kept herself isolated from them...until the ship had been caught in the middle of a fight between the Malon and an alien species native to the Void. With Voyager in danger she'd been able to cast off her depression and step back into her role as Captain.
When it looked like she was going to have to remain behind, alone, in order to get Voyager to safety through a Vortex, her crew had refused. They'd disobeyed her direct orders, every single one of them, insisting they'd rather spend two more years in the Void than to leave their captain behind. It brought a lump to her throat as she thought about it now. In the end the entire ship had made it through the Vortex and they'd still been able to close it behind them to ensure the Malon could no longer use the Void as a dumping ground for their toxic waste.
That had been almost a week ago and although most of the crew seemed happy – happy to be out of the Void, happy that their Captain was back among them – Kathryn herself still felt antsy. She was pleased to be out of the Void, to be among the stars again, to have something to do other than dwell on her intrusive thoughts...but she was having a hard time concentrating. She felt uneasy, whether she was trying to work, trying to relax, or trying to sleep. She was restless and often wandered the ship at all hours, but nothing seemed to soothe her.
She had a game of Velocity scheduled with Seven of Nine later and she found herself looking forward to it even more than usual. She hoped it would help get rid of some of her pent-up energy so she maybe she could actually get some sleep tonight. It would be the first time she'd spent time with Seven since before the ship entered the Void and she always enjoyed spending time with Seven. She'd tried to schedule a match with Seven earlier in the week, but the former-drone had canceled on her at the last minute, insisting she needed to be in Astrometrics that evening. Kathryn hadn't protested too much – after spending so much time locked in her quarters, she felt she should be on the bridge as much as possible. She'd been working 12-16 hour shifts for the last week, forcing Chakotay to take time off until eventually he had to do the same for her. So tonight she would be playing Velocity with Seven, even if she had to drag the girl to the holodeck. Seven's work ethic rivaled her own and she knew she was glad to have work to do again, but she deserved a break too.
It had been over a year since she'd rescued Seven of Nine from the Borg, severed her link to the Collective, and returned her to humanity. Seven had resisted at first, but slowly Kathryn had gained her trust. As Seven adapted to the crew of Voyager, the two of them had become close. Even though they sometimes butted heads, the captain cared deeply for her, and Seven was one of the few people aboard who she considered a friend. There was no one else on board she'd rather spend time with.
Kathryn tore her gaze from the window and forced her attention back to the Padd in her hand, trying to focus on the Engineering report. She kept having to re-read some sentences over again because they just weren't sinking in like they should. She'd considered asking the Doctor for something to help her concentrate, but nixed the idea and opted for more coffee instead.
She finally reached the end of the report when the door to her Ready Room chimed announcing a visitor.
“Come in,” she called, setting the Padd aside.
The door opened and Neelix entered the room. The Talaxian served as chef aboard Voyager as well as Ambassador. He was smiling cheerfully as always as he greeted Kathryn.
“Good morning Captain!” he said brightly, and his gaze traveled past the captain to the window behind her. He sighed happily. “It's such a relief to see stars outside again, isn't it? I still haven't gotten used to it. Every morning I wake up thinking we're going to be back in that- that place.”
“I know what you mean,” Kathryn said, her smile faltering slightly. She cleared her throat and straightened up a bit on the couch. “What can I do for you, Neelix?”
“Ah, I'm glad you asked. I was hoping we could find somewhere to stock up on some non-replicated food items. Now that we're out of that Void-” he shuddered at the word. “-I'd like to have a nice feast for the crew with some fresh fruits and vegetables.”
“Well that sounds like a wonderful idea, Mr Neelix,” she replied. She was about to tell him she'd ask Seven to scan for a planet when he continued.
“I was just down in Astrometrics and there's an L-class planet on sensors, not that far from here, that Seven of Nine said has a lot of vegetation. It's only 5 light years out of the way. It doesn't appear to be inhabited. I was thinking I could get a small team together and do some foraging, if that's alright with you, Captain?”
“It's more than alright, Neelix. As a matter of fact, I think I'd like to join your away team,” she said. Getting off the ship for a while might be just what she needed to cure the restless feeling that had plagued her over the last week.
“You would?” Neelix asked, sounding surprised but pleased. “That'd be great!”
“I'll tell Tom to change course,” she said, standing up from the couch.
“Thank you, Captain. Oh I can't wait to tell the crew! A real feast with fresh food – what better way to celebrate getting out of the Void?”
“We'll certainly look forward to it,” she said, following him out onto the bridge.