Author's notes:

- First of all, I want to thank picrusher for her extremely generous offer to beta this story. I am very grateful for her invaluable and unselfish contribution. (*hugs*)

- As for the story itself, it's set immediately after "Nemesis" (including its deleted scenes).

- Remember how uncharacteristically open and funny Jean-Luc was in that? Please keep that in mind while reading this story. I'm assuming the whole "First Contact" Borg revival changed him into a less detached guy.

- I know that BCrush was a blond in the movies, but I'll have none of that: she's still a redhead.

- The movies are canon for this story, but the books of the TNG relaunch series are not.

- This is a P/C story, most definitely, but there are hints of Janeway/Crusher. If you're not OK with that, then please don't go on. There's only enough to make JL see the light. Well, that and the fact that, in my headcanon, Janeway was always more into girls than guys. And no, none of the characters think it's anything out of the ordinary, because it's the 24th century, and the human race is supposed to have evolved, intellectually and socially.

- I'll shut up now. It's just that this is my first P/C story and only the second one I've ever written (the other being E/O – you know, from SVU). So please (pretty please) review. I'll need it if I want to keep trying. :D

You and the Night and the Music

[Officer's mess hall]

Admiral Kathryn Janeway quickly assessed the room she had just entered. When she reached an empty table in the corner, a few seconds later, she had already formed a mental map of the place and its current occupants. It was something she did without premeditation. Maybe it was part of being a Starfleet officer. But then maybe it predated her Academy years, and was a personal trait that had made her choose to be a scientist in the first place. At that moment, however, she was off duty, and tried to make herself relax.

The admiral often chose to skip dinner (what was the point of eating when a cup - or two - of coffee would do just fine?). That evening, however, she had yielded to the gentle pestering of one of her assistants. This young lieutenant's choice of words had reminded the admiral of her old friend Neelix. The discourse went somewhat along the lines of how she should drink less coffee and have something to eat every once in a while. The memory it brought back was the reason she had conceded the point to Lieutenant Suárez. For someone had who passed so many years trying to escape the Delta Quadrant and the confinements of Voyager, Janeway certainly did spend a lot of time feeling nostalgic about the life she had led on that ship. Or so she noticed at that moment. After letting out a sigh, she ordered a cup of coffee and a small bowl of vegetable soup.

Her coffee arrived quickly and while she sipped from the cup, she closed her eyes, once again resolved to try to relax. The first couple of sips were always the best, because the coffee still maintained the right temperature. She felt the hot liquid in her mouth, making her gums tingle from the activated circulation.

That was a sensation that never got old.

When she opened her eyes, something caught her attention out of her peripheral vision. Upon closer inspection, she saw that she was being observed. The woman gave her a constrained smiled and politely looked away. Admiral Janeway remembered seeing her when entering the room. The other one had been drinking what seemed to be a cup of tea and sitting alone at a table nearby. The admiral remembered her distinctly because, when the doors opened, the other woman had abruptly looked up, and then all the light had left her eyes (figuratively speaking, of course). Clearly, she had been expecting someone and was very much disappointed that Janeway was not that person.

As much as the latter tried to remember the stranger, she couldn't. She was certain they'd never met. And no, the admiral was not one for social gatherings, but she knew a lot of the senior officers who worked at Starfleet Headquarters. The other woman, a commander in rank, must have been a newcomer, or so Janeway thought, because she doubted that she would have forgotten such an acquaintance.

She seemed to Janeway to be of the same age as she was, or perhaps a bit older. And her hair was also red, but the stranger was in no way a small woman like herself. She had long legs. And long fingers. And a viciously long neck. She was also extremely beautiful, with blue eyes that matched her uniform.

Then it was the stranger's turn to look up and find herself the object of the admiral's attention. She didn't smile, though, as she glanced surreptitiously at the digital clock on the wall for the fifth time since Janeway had started to count. Whoever she was expecting was late. But who would leave such a woman waiting? Everything about her was pleasing: her quiet, collected demeanor, that look in her eyes (what was it, sadness?) that spiked one's curiosity, the charming way in which she held her cup (ignoring the handle and its function)... Admiral Janeway thought about how much the other woman stood out in that room. People were drinking, laughing and talking loudly, some of them were dancing or playing table games. The stranger drew attention to herself (Janeway's attention, at any rate) exactly because she wasn't doing anything to attract it - unlike everyone else around her.

That was precisely the thought on Janeway's mind when one of the members of the Bajoran band that was playing announced their last song for the evening over the microphone. The admiral then saw the other woman sigh, stand up and leave, without so much as a single glance her way.

I'll just have to find out, now, won't I?, Janeway thought.