A defense mechanism at its finest, constructed out of necessity. She wasn't always so closed off, so distant, but Kathryn realized early on in their journey that she was going to have to set boundaries if she was going to play this pivotal role in keeping her crew together. Being impartial was a necessity, and she could not afford to make decisions based on her personal attachments or views.

Chakotay did the opposite. He allowed his personal feelings towards the Borg and what Riley Frazier did to him to cloud his judgement. He was against the alliance from the start, and it hadn't taken much to convince him that tossing the drones aboard Voyager out the literal airlock was in the best interest of the crew. She fully believed that he thought he was doing everyone a favor, that he was protecting the ship (and her), but it hadn't been the correct choice to make.

The right Maquis choice, perhaps, but not the Starfleet one. As much as that betrayal stung, and still throbs from time to time like a dull ache in her chest, it only reinforced her way of thinking. Her self-imposed distance.

A distance she doesn't have to maintain while here.

Her shoulders sag, some of the tension bleeding out of her as she wills herself to relax.

"I know you are, and I appreciate that more than you know."