Prologue:

Kathryn couldn't believe how happy she had been over the past 6 months. Ever since Q had snapped his fingers and sent her and Chakotay back to New Earth to discover their love for each other, she had felt so fulfilled. They had spent many nights in each others' arms and found comfort and refuge when the pressure of command had been too much for either to bear alone. She found Chakotay not only to be a wonderful First Officer, but a true friend; and, now her lover. She hated to admit how thankful she was to Q for starting this wonderful chain of events. Of course, at this point in time, Kathryn had no idea exactly how much Q was doing in his quest to show proper appreciation to his Kathy. She would, however, soon find out!

Chapter 1: The "Bug"

Another day had started in the Delta Quadrant; and, all was well. The Alpha shift was on duty – which consisted of the senior officers. Chakotay was manning the bridge, with Tom at the Conn, Harry at Ops, Tuvok at Tactical, and B'Elanna at the Engineering station. Captain Janeway had already situated herself in the ready room with a steaming cup of coffee; and, prepared to begin reviewing the daily reports.

Outside, the Bridge crew watched the stars streak by with little interest. Chakotay was about to order a series of diagnostics to make sure everything was running with optimal efficiency during the down time when the entire bridge crew heard a retching noise coming from the ready room.

"Tuvok, you have the bridge!" The crew heard Chakotay command as he moved toward the doors faster than an Olympic runner in the 100 yard dash.

As he entered the Ready Room, he saw Kathryn leaning over the lavatory just off of her ready room. "Are you alright?" The concern in his face was very evident. He grabbed a washcloth, wet it with cold water and begin wiping her forehead with it. He then settled down beside her kneeling form. He placed his arms around her and, as soon as he was sure she was finished, pulled her into the comfort of his arms.

A very pale Kathryn smiled weakly at him and said, "I do believe this is a breach of protocol, Commander!"

"So court martial me and throw me in the brig – after I've made sure you are alright!" He threw back at her without a moment's hesitation tossing in, for good measure, one is his devastating smiles.

He helped her to her feet. "I'm fine Chakotay, really. It must have been something I ate."

"You haven't eaten yet this morning. As I recall, we were…umm…occupied and did not have time to eat."

"Well, then there must be some type of virus going around. I'll be alright."

"Promise me you'll go see the doctor?"

"As soon as I've finished these reports." She lied.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He left the ready room, knowing full well that she would not go see the doctor.

Kathryn spent the rest of the shift in her ready room reviewing the reports. As the shift ended, Chakotay went in to see her. "Can I see you tonight?"

"Sure. I just have to go over some reports with B'Elanna about some engineering problems. As soon as I've finished, I'll call you and we'll have a bite to eat." She assured him.

"Are you going to see the Doctor?"

"Chakotay, please. I know you are concerned; but, I am fine. It's a bug and it will pass. Now please – I need to finish these reports."

Chakotay was not at all happy with her response; but, realizing it was futile to argue with her over this, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and left with the words, "Call me!"

Time 1900 hours

Chakotay had agreed to meet Tom at Sandrine's to play some pool in the hoped that time would pass quickly until Kathryn was finished with her meeting. He figured Tom would be a good companion as he was waiting for the meeting to adjourn as well so he could be with B'Elanna.

"Chakotay – that's the second easy shot you've missed in the last 10 minutes. Something on your mind?" Tom asked his pool partner.

"I'm fine, Tom – just a little distracted. Guess you're not too sad to hear that as your rations account will probably benefit positively from this tonight!" Chakotay responded with a smile.

"Nice try, Chakotay. Although I will enjoy divesting you of some of your weekly rations, my guess is that your thoughts are drifting to a certain Captain and the noises that so unpleasantly drifted from her ready room this morning." Tom knew he was playing with fire; but, that had never stopped him before.

Not realizing what he was saying, Chakotay had that far away look and replied, "She looked so pale, Tom. I'm worried."

"Hey, Chakotay – she will be alright." Tom crossed the room and patted Chakotay on the back in the manner that men do when they are trying to show some affection and concern for each other, but not quite sure how. "She's strong. She just may need some additional coercion to go see the Doc about this."

Tom stepped away and put the winning ball in the pocket. "Why don't you call her? You can see if she's about done; and, then you can 'convince' her to go see Doc."

"That's not a bad idea, Tom. Since I'm not accomplishing anything here, I just might do that." Chakotay replied back with a smile (only the second one Tome had seen since they started playing).

"Chakotay to Janeway"

"Janeway here"

"Captain, Tom is winning enough rations from me that I'll have to eat Neelix's cooking for the next several light years. I was hoping you were about done with your meeting so we could have dinner." Chakotay offered in his most charming voice.

"We're almost finished here, Chakotay. Give me 15 minutes. I'll be happy to treat you to some replicated dinner…since you may be unable to provide one for yourself." Chakotay's grin broke through like that of a school boy who had just received an affirmative to his request for a date.

Tom stood by silently watching the myriad of emotions that were dancing across Chakotay's face. If he didn't know better…well, this would be n interesting thing to keep his eye on – maybe even earn some extra rations for himself in the betting pool.

"Well, Chakotay, it looks like I'm not going to be able to take you for any more rations. Mind if I walk with you towards the Captain's quarters? I'd like to treat B'Elanna to something special from the replicators tonight."

Punching him in the shoulder, Chakotay shot back at him, "You mean I will be treating B'Elanna tonight since it's probably my rations you'll be using!"

Tom flashed his boyish grin in Chakotay's direction, shrugged his shoulders and simply said, "Whatever."

The two men left the holodeck smiling.

Meanwhile, in the Captain's quarters, the story was evolving a little differently:

B'Elanna had arrived on time, as usual. She was always eager to discuss her ideas regarding engineering with the Captain. She knew the Captain was a capable engineer so she would understand what B'Elanna was referring to; but, she also knew the Captain trusted her and had the utmost faith in her abilities. This was a luxury that B'Elanna had not been afforded by many of her former senior officers (with the exception, maybe, of Chakotay during their involvement together with the Maquis).

Upon her arrival, she noticed that the Captain did not look well. Instead of being dressed in her usual Starfleet uniform (which B'Elanna had thought secretly that perhaps the Captain slept in her uniform as much as she seemed to love it), she was in a set of flannel pajamas.

Janeway noticed B'Elanna's appraisal of her wardrobe choice. "Please excuse the way I'm dressed. It appears that I have contracted some sort of virus. I have soiled several of my uniforms today during various…umm…what should I call them - visits to the bathroom? I opted to save my remaining clean ones and go for the comfort of my old pjays. I sincerely hope you are not offended."

"Not at all, Captain – just a bit surprised."

"Please. Let's get down to work. I'm sure you'll want to meet Tom later this evening." Janeway smiled at the young woman as she lit up at the mention of his name. She thought she might have even caught a slight blush emanating from her face.

As B'Elanna began her dissertation on the current status of engineering, she couldn't help but notice that the Captain seemed distracted. Her normally pale face appeared even whiter. She could have sworn she saw her hands trembling slightly as well.

"Captain, have you eaten today?" B'Elanna asked with concern in her voice.

"I'm afraid that anything I might have attempted to eat was given a round trip ticket." She smiled weakly at her attempt at humor; but, currently felt anything but comical.

B'Elanna was just about to suggest a visit to the Doc when she heard the bree-ep of Janeway's comm badge signaling she was about to be called.

"Chakotay to Janeway"

"Janeway here"

"Captain, Tom is winning enough rations from me that I'll have to eat Neelix's cooking for the next several light years. I was hoping you were about done with your meeting so we could have dinner." Janeway smiled at the disembodied voice she heard It was a weak smile; but, it lit up her face, nonetheless. B'Elanna couldn't help but notice.

She mustered up all of her strength so she would sound strong for him. "We're almost finished here, Chakotay. Give me 15 minutes. I'll be happy to treat you to some replicated dinner…since you may be unable to provide one for yourself." She could almost imagine the look on Chakotay's face; and, despite her current physical condition, she felt excited that he would soon be on his way for their 'date'.

Janeway turned to B'Elanna, "Why don't we try and finish this up in the morning. As you can see, I'm really not dressed appropriately for Tom and Chakotay's visit. You're welcome to wait here for Tom."

"Thank you, Captain."

As the two stood and began to walk out of the office towards the living area of Janeway's quarters, B'Elanna noticed that Janeway hesitated slightly. The rest unfolded before her in slow motion: She saw each of Janeway's hands go to respectively to her forehead and her stomach. She saw her sway and fall unceremoniously to the floor. Time resumed its normal perspective; and, in a heartbeat, B'Elanna realized her Captain had fainted.

Rushing to her side, she called out to the air, "Torres to Sickbay. Emergency beamout for two!" In a shimmer of blue light, Kathryn and B'Elanna's form disappeared to re-emerge only a second later in sickbay.

Right after the beamout, Chakotay chimed for entrance to her quarters. No response.

He tried again – no response. He looked at Tom. There was concern growing on both of their faces at that moment.

Tom chimed in, "Computer - locate Captain Janeway and Lt. Torres."

The non-emotional voice of the computer responded. "Captain Janeway and Lt. Torres are in sickbay."

Both men took off in a run.

I'll be posting the next chapter soon - just have to type it.

Please read and review!