Title: Insomnia
Author: Singing Violin
Series: Star Trek: Voyager
Rating: Will eventually get to M.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor the universe, nor the musical form I am emulating.
Author's note: This fic is somewhat of an experiment. I am modeling it after the musical form of Theme and Variations (second semester music theory). If it works, maybe I will try minuet & trio (semester 3), sonata form (semester 4), or rondo next. In any case, when leaving feedback, please keep in mind that I have picked a very specific form, which has constrained the story in various ways. For example, please don't complain that it's repetitive; that's the point.
THEME
Chapter Rating: K
Kathryn can't sleep. She paces, she drinks excessive amounts of coffee, she buries herself in paperwork.
Chakotay sees his captain fading with every day, growing thinner, paler, her eyes bloodshot, accentuated by the dark circles beneath them. He worries that one day she will simply disappear into oblivion.
Kathryn sees Chakotay eyeing her, and does her best to avoid his critique. She schedules herself opposite him, layers on makeup, hides in the Ready Room during most of her shifts.
He plots to meet her, reshuffling duty shifts so they'll overlap, keeping a watchful eye while attempting not to arouse her suspicion. Somehow, though, he knows she is aware of his concern, and – he hopes – deep down, is thankful for it, reluctantly awaiting his rescue.
He confronts her, on the bridge, so that she may not easily refuse his counsel. He bids her to converse in the Ready Room, and reluctantly she agrees.
She anticipates his questions, attempts to reassure him that she is fine, even as she knows he will not believe her. She sighs with her own measure of disbelief as he asserts that he can fix her problem.
The plan is ingenious. He needs not even inform the conspirators of his ultimate purpose, even though he suspects they too have noticed her fatigue; it would be imprudent to publicly acknowledge it.
Kathryn finds herself in an unexpected, yet oddly familiar situation. Her eyes droop, she relaxes, and finally loses consciousness, waking hours later more alert and refreshed than she has felt in a very long time.