Title: Definitely Nice

Author: Rina

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Star Trek: Voyager, its characters, and settings are the property of Paramount Pictures and Viacom; however, the words are mine. This story is for entertainment purposes only and I make no profit from writing or sharing this.

Timeline: Season 5

Summary: It's Christmas time on Voyager. Who's made the naughty and nice lists? Janeway/Chakotay and pure fluff.

Author's Notes: Written last year for VAMB's 2004 Secret Santa exchange. Merry Christmas, Keanna! Also, thank you, Jadie, for offering to beta this.

"Please?"

Chakotay made a face as he walked to his replicator.

"Coffee black and tea, Chakotay blend three." He glanced back at Kathryn. "Why don't you pester Tuvok to do this? Santa Claus is a grandfatherly type. Tuvok's older and more grandfatherly than me."

She rolled her eyes.

"Can you really see Tuvok playing Santa with each of us sitting on his lap and listening to us telling him our holiday wishes? He'd be lousy at it. Ho. Ho. Ho," she deadpanned, causing Chakotay to snicker. "He'd probably tell each of us that our requests are illogical and he'd be way too honest in telling everyone whether they were naughty or nice. Come on, Chakotay. You'd do it so much better than him. If not for me, then do for Naomi."

Shaking his head as he returned to the sofa, he handed her the cup of coffee he'd just ordered for her before sitting beside her. "It's not even a holiday I celebrate, Kathryn."

"No, but I know you at least had exposure to it at the Academy. It's not like you'd be a total fish out of water. Besides, how can you argue with a celebration of togetherness and giving?"

He snorted into his tea.

"Okay, so rumor has it that most Academy Christmas parties didn't quite fit that definition," Kathryn conceded with a grin to match his own. She leaned toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ours will, though."

"You're not going give in on this, are you?"

"Nope."

"All right. For Naomi," he finally conceded with a long-suffering sigh. He then put his arm around her shoulders. "And you."

"Thank you, Captain."

"You're welcome." Kathryn grinned at her assistant. As a Christmas gift, she had allowed Naomi to spend a portion of the Alpha shift on the bridge "filling in" for Commander Chakotay, who would be busy preparing for his role. Naomi was thrilled to have the opportunity to see up close and personal how the bridge really functioned.

"Captain, we're being hailed by an incoming vessel."

The captain winked at Harry and then glanced at Naomi.

"Would you like to handle this, Captain's Assistant Wildman?"

The young girl practically glowed with enthusiasm as she nodded. She leaped out of her seat and approached the viewscreen. In an impressive imitation of the captain that caused a few crewmembers to stifle a laugh, including the captain herself, Naomi placed her hands on her hips and snapped, "On screen, Mr. Kim!"

Her authoritative demeanor dropped when the sight of Santa Claus filled the viewscreen. With a gasp, her eyes widened with wonder as she greeted him. "Hello, Santa!"

"Merry Christmas, Naomi! I have a bag full of gifts for your crew. May I have your permission to dock, Captain Janeway?"

The captain came to stand behind her assistant. "You're just in time, Mr. Claus. My crew is just now preparing for a holiday party. Permission granted. My assistant and I will meet you outside our shuttlebay and escort you to the messhall."

As the viewscreen returned to show the stars once more, she held out her hand to Naomi and headed for the turbolift.

"Mr. Kim, you have the bridge. We'll see you all in a half hour after the shift change."

"Aye, Captain."

Everyone delighted in watching their fellow crewmates having to sit on Santa's lap to discuss what they'd like for Christmas and whether they were naughty or nice during the past year.

They all roared with laughter when Santa presented Tom with a bundle of switches for his behavior, though the general consensus felt that having a half-Klingon wife might possibly be punishment enough. He was soon presented with a real gift from Santa's bag.

Naomi shrieked with glee when she received a few new chapters for her Flotter program on the holodeck.

Well, almost everyone enjoyed the party...

"Little Tuvok, where's Little Tuvok?"

Kathryn bit back the urge to chuckle at Tuvok's almost imperceptive flinch.

"Captain, I fail to understand the necessity for every crewmember to sit upon Commander Chakotay's lap to discuss our 'wishes' and behavior."

"Come on, Little Tuvok. Don't be shy!" Santa called again.

She found herself unable to hold back a rather inelegant snort. "It's a morale booster, Tuvok."

Daring a glance at their Santa, she nearly lost it again when she saw the wicked gleam in his eyes. Once she regained a modicum of control, she managed to choked out "Get up there, Commander. That's an order. Santa's waiting."

Tuvok approached Santa, and with as much dignity as he could muster, sat upon his knee.

Santa gave him a good-natured slap on the back. "Have you been a good boy this year, Little Tuvok?"

"Indeed."

Santa rummaged through his bag one last time. "Last but not least, Little Kathryn! There you are Little Kathryn!"

Working her way through the crowd, she approached Santa with a rather cheeky grin. "Watch it with the 'little' there. Captain Kathryn," she whispered so only he would hear as she sat down on his lap.

He ignored her.

"Have you been a good little girl this year, Little Kathryn?" he asked as she sat upon his knee.

She smirked. "Santa, I plead the fifth."

"Oh, no! I know better that! I have it on good authority that you didn't bring a lawyer on board for this mission."

"Actually, I was hoping that would cover me until I get to the Alpha quadrant." She tried but failed to look chagrined.

"Nice try, but not quite," Santa said as he waved a gold-wrapped gift in front of her. "If I give this to you, will you promise to be nicer to your first officer, not drink so much coffee, and actually show up without protest to your annual medical checkups from now on?"

"My coffee consumption correlates directly to how 'nice' I am to my first officer," she grumbled and gave him a minor mock glare, causing her crew to laugh harder than they already were.

"I'll consider perhaps knocking a cup off my daily coffee intake." A little more kindly, she added, "And even if I don't, I will certainly endeavor to be a little kinder to my first officer."

"And what about not protesting to checkups, Captain?" The Doctor apparently wasn't about to allow that to pass by without comment. He earned a glare worthy of collapsing his holomatrix for his effort.

"Is that everyone?" Santa asked.

When no one else spoke up, he finally handed Kathryn her gift, collected his now empty bag, and bade farewell to the crew as he headed toward the mess hall doors.

Kathryn followed him. "Santa, allow me to see you back to the shuttle bay."

He nodded. As the holodeck doors swished closed behind them, Chakotay sighed in apparent relief.

"As nice as it was to see the crew that happy and laughing like that, I'm not sure I ever want to have to spend another evening with them all eventually sitting on my lap."

She laughed. "I thought we were going to have to pry the Delaney twins off of you. They were bound and determined that they were going to milk every moment they could from being that close to you. In fact, that was probably Christmas present enough for them."

"Don't remind me. At least they owned up to being naughty. Granted, I don't think they were the least bit remorseful about it! Naomi did seem to enjoy the party, though."

"You made her day. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her she could answer your 'hail'. That was a great idea to do a first contact with Santa, by the way. By the time we were in the turbolift and on our way to meet you, she was practically bouncing through the corridors."

They entered the turbolift and she gave their destination. "Deck three."

"The shuttlebay is now on deck three?" he teased.

She laced her arm through his as the turbolift opened. "Very funny. I have to go collect my first officer who has yet to make an appearance at the party—but first we need to my quarters for a moment."

They walked in silence to her quarters. Upon entering, she motioned for him to take a seat on the sofa while she went directly to her desk where she retrieved a red gift bag. She held the bag out to him as she sat next to him so that their legs touched.

"This is for you."

Chakotay carefully removed the tissue paper and pulled out a small, elongated box. Lifting the lid, he found a red slip of paper that read "Merry Christmas, Chakotay" in her handwriting with a sequence of numbers below it. He looked quizzically at Kathryn.

"I'll explain in a moment."

He reached back into the bag and pulled out another box. Inside of it was piece of plant. A hopeful expression painted his face as his breath caught. "Mistletoe?"

"Mistletoe." She leaned closer, tugging down the fake white beard he wore as she snaked her hand around his neck to pull him closer.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and stroked her back. Just as her lips were about to meet his, he whispered, "And the numbers, Kathryn?"

"The code to my quarters."

"I think I'm going to have to add you to the 'nice' list." He finally pressed his lips to hers, at first tentative as they adjusted to each other and then more passionately as neither wanted to let go. When they eventually pulled apart to catch their breath, he whispered, "Definitely nice."

Kathryn reached up to stroke his cheek. "Merry Christmas, Chakotay. I love you."

She closed the distance between them again, once again giving both of them the one gift they really wanted.