What The Admiral Knew
(Its all there, in the maintext and in the subtext. The admiral herself is both maintext and subtext! Her actions and words are key!)
My headcanon for endgame details that leave us with a happy narrative between janeway and seven, dismisses any gross suggestions of a marriage between chakotay and seven outside of the "canon mistake timeline" which the admiral came back to rectify.* And something that leaves our beloveds with a little less emotional pain to bear.
"Hello Seven." -Admiral Janeway
I may revise this and flesh it out as time goes on but for now Im excited to finally have words to go with my feelings about how endgame is perfect for this interpretation if your willing to step into the possibility that seven needed answers on if she should proceed with her feelings for Janeway. Answers she thought she could find by experimenting with chokotay in a romantic setting and comparing those feelings to how she felt with janeway.
Turns out, the Admiral had the answers she sought and told her many things that helped seven gain the confidence to approach her captain, her friend, her love, about how she felt and what she could do about it.
Captain Janeway, meanwhile, wasn't sure she was needing answers but was steadfast in tackling anything that arose head on in the moment, so when the admiral arrived and told her many more things in private, janeway understood exactly why the admiral had come back on that very day and further understood why seven was initiating a romance with chakotay.
"There's got to be a way to have our cake and eat it too" -Captain Janeway to Admiral Janeway
The admiral came back 3 years prior to sevens death. This is significant to my headcanon bc if the admiral was only trying to save their lives, she could have come back the day or even the week before sevens fated death. But the admiral had even more up her sleeve. She intended to come back to stop seven from getting further involved with chakotay and the only way she could do that was to arrive THIS DAY, the day endgame took place, to have a nice long chat with her younger self and seven. A marriage vow between the captain and seven was needed to prevent the slew of future events and she only had this one day to get them to follow what they both already felt. Her love for seven is what lead her back. And it was the captain and sevens love for each other that saved them all.
The headcanon. (This all takes place the same day after the admiral left and blew up the hub, with voyager freshly starting out in the alpha quadrant)
That day, after the admiral had left voyager and destroyed the hub, captain janeway wastes no time and proposes to seven! Admiral janeway had made it clear its all or nothing!
Seven says yes! Their whole trip back to earth is a long engagement!! The whole crew knows!
"She's all or nothing to you Seven!" admiral says to seven and seven knows janeway is everything to her! She cant wait to talk to janeway. They stare at each longingly across the bridge, both waiting to talk to the other! Neither of them knowing the other has confessions for the other!
After the shift they are both hailing each other. The urgency!
"No, not the ready room seven, meet me in my quarters." Seven uses a site to site transport while janeway is waiting for a response. And she hears her door chime. She knows its seven but hopes its not chakotay. "Computer who is at my door?"
Seven of Nine arrived 4.5 seconds ago.
((This is how goes!!!))
Janeway never thought she would make this leap! Circumstances (the admiral) made her know she would never be happy if she didnt take this chance. And neither would seven. Seven never thought she would be so eager to talk to janeway about her experiment with chakotay. She needed to know if what she felt for janeway was specific to janeway. There is only one janeway in her life but she never thought she would tell her this, it was an experiment to understand her growing feelings for her captain and she knew it would be inappropriate to talk to her about them. But then the admiral had arrived and blew her mind with what the captain already knew! (The admiral knew so many things!!)
They are not even mad at each other, janeway is so pleased to have seven confiding in her and (secretly pleased) that she had only been using chak as a way to gauge her feelings for janeway. Shes even more pleased that chakotay did not stir within her the mutual stirrings of desire that only janeway had aroused within her. Seven is not expecting a marriage proposal from janeway! She is prepared to tell her how she has come to regard her as much more than a captain or mentor, much much more, (seven wants to emphasize this the best way she can) and, from what the admiral told her, she is confident in janeways mutual affection.
But it blows her mind when janeway proposes!
She short circuits and janeway is worried for a min that she misunderstood the admiral but then seven is smiling and nodding and saying yes. And janeway is so flushed and flustered she just laughs and sorta cries with relief and the anxiety of it all while she holds onto seven, both of them supporting each other from falling bc oh boy are they falling right now! Call me chaste but they do not go at each other right away! They are on new ground! Ground they've been aching to cross for at least two years! They just spend an eternity looking at each other witb this newfound appreciation for their shared love and the road theyre about to travel together. They are smitten! They cant even blink!
They keep it to themselves for the night, but the next morning at the staff meeting, janeway has seven sit beside her. As a final close to the meeting she says, "I have a formal announcement to you all that comes with an invite to a most hallowed celebration."
Everyone sits up intrigued. Janeway stands up and announces proudly "Your captain is getting married!" She nudges seven to stand beside her. Seven is gleaming with pride as she rises to stand firmly, supportively, next to janeway, their shoulders bracing each other as they both tremble inwardly with anticipation and giddiness. (Only they are aware of this, the crew doesnt notice their need to support each other, once again, from falling over with delight!) And janeway says further, "seven and i would be honored to have all of you present at our nuptials when we arrive back on earth." She slowly takes a moment to catch sevens eyes and smiles into them. "Home." She says just above a whisper but loud enough for the crew to hear. Seven nods and smiles at janeway with a glistening eye, then looks out at the staff, scanning for any signs of resistance or threats to this news regarding their captain. She sighs a quiet relief when she percives no aggression. Everyone (mostly) is either open mouthed or grinning or nodding approvingly. The senior staff has watched their relationship develop slowly and naturally over the years while becoming more intimate and devoted to each other. They are happy to finally see them officially together as a couple. (Naomi is chosen as their flower girl, of course. She couldn't be happier about that.)
The other timeline is dead in the water and served its purpose as warning beacon to all three bc only the admiral, janeway and seven knew anything about it!
My hc for endgame just exploded! finally I got it! this is what happened after the admiral left! That same day!
*The very fact that she came back to correct ALL the events of the mistake timeline IN CANON has a grip on me that wont let go. It basically begs me to look closer at another set of events that took place instead. The implied romance between janeway and seven that has been a staple in their relationship seems to be the intended course of events. If the romance between chakotay and seven had been intended, why would the admiral need to come back 3 years sooner than neccessary??! She could have come back any other time closer to sevens death and still succeded in her mission to keep them all safe! Tuvok further pushes this point by telling the captain his degenerative disease will take several years before it becomes a threat. The admiral knows the events of this timeline by heart! The only explanation is that she needed to come back so much sooner to stop the marriage between them from ever having taken place, and theres only one way the admiral knows to do that. She knows what the captian feels. She herself has been on this road for a long time. All she needs do is convince her younger self and seven to comply. And they do.
Companion piece to this post is Dialogues linked below.
💬 0 🔁 1 ❤️ 2 · What the Admiral Knew- Dialogues · (Selected Endgame Dialogue and Scenes with Personal Thoughts and Analysis) Companion Pi