Disclaimer: Star Trek and all related characters belong to Paramount. Da DA dadada DAAAAA! Voyager has such a pretty theme song, and then THAT punchy little drama at the end.

AN: This one-shot was prompted by Twister, also a lovely episode for a subtle but telling moment about Tuvok's feelings for his captain. I am not making this relationship up, folks. Honest.

They stood in her ready room, not facing each other. Tuvok could clearly see the tension in his captain's shoulders and back as she stared out the window at the streaking stars. He knew her well; so well, in fact, that he knew exactly why he was here. She was struggling with how she was going to tell him. And some small part of him wanted to allow that struggle, just in case, against all reason, she might change her mind.

Finally, she turned. Captain Janeway didn't make important command decisions without looking her officers in the eye. She met the implacable dark gaze of her Vulcan security officer with steady strength, but Tuvok had lived around humans long enough to put a name to each emotion he saw, and had served with his captain long enough to barely even need to study her at all. The air between them carried her regret. She hadn't changed he mind, then.

"Tuvok, I simply have no other option that would solve as many problems at once." She sat down on her couch and he sat beside her, rather stiffly compared to her cat-like perch, boots neatly tucked under her folded legs. "What I want, what I would most desire simply has no bearing in this situation."

He nodded. "I will of course endorse any decision you make." He tilted his head slightly, his gaze gentle as his brought her attention in. "But I do caution you, Captain. Chakotay is an unknown factor. Promoting him to such a high position on the ship will leave you… vulnerable, if it turns out that he is not a reliable officer."

Janeway tossed a half-smile at him. "That's part of the reason you're here, Tuvok. You served under him. What's your impression? Is he reliable?"

Tuvok frowned. He had focused so closely on the immediate problem of the Maquis crew that he had not thought to prepare a formal recommendation on Chakotay, the Maquis leader. He disliked being unprepared for what was clearly a serious matter. But his captain had asked him, and so he would do his best. "If you disregard the fact that Chakotay left his commission in Starfleet to become a Maquis rebel, he is an honorable and highly moral man. I never found it onerous to serve under him, and always found him fair-minded and even-tempered. He is not rash, and would choose retreat over destruction. Obviously," he added dryly, realizing that his own existence was proof enough of that.

Janeway nodded thoughtfully. "Anything else?"

Tuvok thought carefully. He felt a growing irritation that he was being forced to defend and recommend a man for a position that both he and his captain felt should rightfully belong to him. But to join two crews, making the Maquis second officer was simply not an option. It would be seen as a damning insult, making all Maquis seem as second-class citizens. What Janeway was asking him was not if she should make Chakotay first officer, but whether she would constantly have to watch her back after doing so. "Yes, Captain. One more thing." He took a deep breath. The humans had a saying—in for a penny, in for a pound. He was familiar neither with pennies nor pounds, but realized that he was about to make a commitment, and he did not want to be wrong. "Chakotay has a deep respect for life of any kind. He has never taken a life in my presence, or that I have heard of, unless that death was absolutely necessary. I find this to be highly commendable." That was all he could bring himself to say.

It was enough. Janeway relaxed into the back of the couch, and then reached out and touched Tuvok's arm. "You have put my mind greatly at ease, my friend. Although I would feel better if it were you." Her brow creased. "Unfortunately, I don't have that luxury. We have two crews to bind together." Blue eyes softened as she looked at her friend, her council, her steady rock in troubled seas. In a way, he was the reason she was out here. If Tuvok hadn't been on that Maquis ship, she never would have followed them in. She had ended up crossing the galaxy for him, and she would cross it back in his company. If not her first officer, than as her second. "Will you accept commission as Second Officer?"

"I will do whatever you ask for the good of the ship, and for you. As you already knew, Captain." His deep brown eyes were steady on her, without a flicker to betray what he was thinking. She studied the fine bone structure of his face, the graceful sweep of his eyebrows, and the sensual curve of his mouth, and briefly imagined, if they did not shorten their path, what he would look like in seventy years when he was captain, when the rest of them were dead. Not good thoughts to have, but realistic. She did not mention them, but simply nodded.

"Thank you, Tuvok. I appreciate your candor, especially when it gains you nothing but grief for your trouble. You're dismissed."

He didn't think he had been so transparent as to betray his thoughts, so simply put it down to the obviously troubling situation they found themselves in. "On the contrary, Captain. It gains me your peace of mind. That is, after all, why you sent for me." She merely smiled at him, the smile that told him he had read her thoughts accurately, and that she was both glad of his insight and vexed at it.

He stood to go, but then hesitated, unwilling to fully disobey a dismissal. She looked up at him. "Was there something?"

He almost reached for her, his fingers flexing and then relaxing against his thigh. "We will make it home, Captain." As if saying so would make it true. And then he turned and walked out, conservation of movement and grace working in tandem. Janeway sat for a moment longer, lost in thought. One ship, two crews. One captain, two men. And a very very long trip ahead of them.

Long enough that all of it could wait while she had a cup of coffee.