Shining Star

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright do not belong to me although I enjoyed the journey.

A/N-this story is based around the episode entitled VIRTUOSO which aired in season 6 of Voyager. I really hope you enjoy this story. I want to give a big THANK YOU to my beta on this story SCIFIROMANCE, who once again gave me loads of encouragement and advice. Thanks honey! Nikki :)

Chapter One

The doctor finished his rendition of the duet from the opera Don Carlos, Dio, che nell'alma infondere, as the last notes drained away the Qomar began clapping enthusiastically. The doctor literally puffed his chest out with pride as he surveyed the room, a superior smile touching his lips as he soaked in the applause. He gave a mock bow.

"Thank you, thank you..." he said loudly, bowing once again, smiling even wider when the Qomar asked for an encore. "Well of course, if you insist."

Captain Janeway turned to whisper into Chakotay's ear as the doctor's voice rang out once again. "He has certainly made an impression now, hasn't he." she said wryly. "They will never think of him as a mere hologram again."

Chakotay moved away from the captain slightly. He rather felt she was invading his personal space. He gave her one of the smiles that he reserved for her when he was trying to be agreeable. He was feeling especially tired as he had just pulled a double duty shift and would rather have been in his quarters resting then being subjected to the Doctors theatrics. Captain Janeway had forced him to come as she was in the middle of diplomatic talks with the Qomar and insisted he accompany her at every opportunity.

"Well Chakotay..." Janeway prompted him again, frowning.

"Sorry, I just got caught up in the Doctor's encore for a moment." he lied quickly. "You are right, he has made a favourable impression with the Qomar, and it will certainly make the talks go a lot smoother."

Janeway regarded him intently for a moment. "Mmm..Let's hope so." she replied eventually, returning her attention back to the Doctor as he began to sing the final chorus.

Chakotay breathed a sigh of relief, he thought that Kathryn was going to call him out on his lie for a moment but luckily she seemed to have fallen for it. He scanned the mess hall with his weary eyes and he caught Seven of Nine looking at him with a hint of amusement in her eyes. She was sitting two rows behind him, but with her enhanced Borg hearing she must have caught his conversation with the Captain. She arched her eyebrow at him and he saw a hint of a smile cross her lips as she returned her attention to the Doctor's performance. He found himself smiling as he faced the front; he knew that Seven had seen right through him.

More enthusiastic applause rang out as the Qomar stood up and gave the Doctor a standing ovation. His smile widened if it was possible and he began to introduce his next act, the jazz band Harry Kim and the Kimtones. Immediately they began to play an instrumental version of That Old Black Magic, the Doctor began to belt out the vocals, clicking his fingers in time with the music.

An exhausted Chakotay sank lower in his chair as he gave another heavy sigh. He found his head turning so that he could glance behind him and he once again caught Seven's eye. He saw her try to stifle her amusement as she put a hand over her mouth to hide one of her rare smiles. She, more than anybody aboard Voyager, knew how above himself the Doctor could become when he was the centre of attention. A feeling of boldness came over Chakotay and he found himself winking at Seven as if they were in league with each other, sharing some secret joke. He knew that he had gone too far when he saw red tinge her cheeks. Her smile had faded and she once again assumed the rigid demeanour she always hid behind whenever anyone managed to catch a glimpse of her human side.

Captain Janeway saw Chakotay looking over his shoulder and followed the direction of his gaze. For some inexplicable reason he was staring at Seven of Nine. In fact he seemed to be fixated on her. Kathryn's jealousy flared up. Seven was a beautiful woman after all, many of the male members of the crew had a secret crush on her, Harry Kim was one of them. However she had never seen Chakotay show anything other than polite interest before, but the way he was gazing at Seven now...he had a yearning look in his dark eyes. She could see that Seven was well aware of his attention as she appeared very flushed. Janeway narrowed her eyes, Chakotay was supposed to be focused on the diplomatic negotiations with the Qomar, not being distracted by the former Borg drone.

"Commander," Janeway barked at him, using his title."Is there something amiss? You are facing the wrong way."

Chakotay jumped guiltily. He tore his eyes away from Seven and gave the Captain a rueful smile. "Sorry,"

Kathryn looked back at Seven and she tapped her comm. badge. "Seven, I believe that lieutenant Torres requires some assistance in engineering. As the Doctors performance is drawing to a close I would like you to leave immediately." she stated coldly.

Seven stiffened. Her large blue eyes looked over in the Captain's direction and her cheeks flushed red again as she took in Janeway's triumphant expression. "At once Captain," was all she said as she rose gracefully from her seat and walked quickly out of the mess hall, her back ramrod straight.

Captain Janeway turned her attention back to Chakotay, who had a look of disgust on his face. Loud clapping once again resounded around the mess hall as the Doctor finally finished his performance. The Qomar representatives surrounded him offering their praise and congratulations on a wonderful performance. "Hadn't you better offer yours too?" Chakotay said sarcastically to Janeway.

She flinched at his harsh tone; she knew she had overstepped some invisible boundary with him. "Of course, I was just about to do so." she replied stiffly.

"Of course..." Chakotay echoed her. He stood up from his seat and gestured for her to go first. "After you, Captain..."

Kathryn could still hear the sardonic undertone in his voice. She locked eyes with him briefly before standing herself and leading the way to speak to the Doctor and the Qomar.

XXXXXX

Seven marched down the corridor, her eyes faced straight ahead. No one would ever guess from her posture that she was a bundle of whirling emotions. All she could see in her mind's eye was Chakotay looking at her and the playful wink he had thrown her way. She was mortified that he had caught her subtle smile of amusement at the Doctor's blatant showing off in front of their guests. She had been so sure that no one had been taking any notice of her. Why oh why did the Commander have to turn and look at her at that exact moment, and the Captain...

Seven swallowed nervously as she remembered Captain Janeway's annoyed expression. She must have guessed from Chakotay's obvious staring that she not been behaving in the proper manner. No wonder the Captain had dismissed her so quickly from the mess hall. There was no way that lieutenant Torres needed her help in engineering, B'Elanna had only used that excuse herself so that she could get out of having to listen to the Doctor. Seven had heard her telling Tom Paris about it. She found herself outside of Astrometrics, the gentle swoosh of the doors calmed her as she strode purposefully inside and began to go over the data she had been assessing that morning. This was her haven and she felt safe within the familiar confines of the walls. The large screen in front of her began to show the results of her hard work and she became immersed in the complicated mathematical configurations that began to stream down the screen. All thoughts of Chakotay and the Captain disappeared from her mind as she let her Borg logic take over so she could complete the task without any distractions.

XXXXXX

Chakotay finally escaped from the Captain and the Qomar as she eventually noticed how overtired he was. Tuvok was summoned to take his place and he gratefully left the throng behind. The corridors of Voyager were a welcome peace after all the noise of the gathered crowd. The Qomar were fascinated with the Doctor and his vocal talents. They had persuaded Janeway to allow the doctor to come to their home world and put on a one off performance just for them. The Doctor's ego was becoming increasingly inflated as he held court and lectured the Qomar on the intricacies of his vocal subroutines.

Chakotay had originally intended to head straight for his quarters to catch up on some much needed sleep, but the image of Seven hurrying out of the mess hall after Janeway had dismissed her unnecessarily sprang into his mind. His guilt in the part he had played made him wince. The Captain had been annoyed with his actions, none of it was Seven's doing.

"Computer, locate Seven of Nine..." he said suddenly.

"Seven of Nine is located in Astrometrics..." the computer's bland tone replied promptly.

Chakotay immediately switched direction and headed for Astrometrics, determined to issue an apology to Seven for his out of character behaviour which had resulted in her subsequent dismissal from the Doctor's performance. He tried not to question why he had acted in what could be regarded as a flirtatious manner. He seemed to be letting his guard down a lot around Seven lately. As he finally reached the large doors to the lab he thought he could hear singing. He shook his head wearily. He must be more exhausted then he thought, there was no way that Seven would be listening to music. He still did not enter though as once again he heard the beautiful voice singing. Chakotay pressed his ear to the closed doors and listened intently. The words to the song My Only Sunshine floated through the metal doors. He was captivated by the sound of the melodious voice.

"Computer," He whispered. "Who is singing in Astrometrics?"

"Seven of Nine is singing My Only Sunshine in Astrometrics," came the bland reply.

A smile lit up Chakotay's face as he continued to listen. "You have talents you have been hiding, Seven." he murmured. He was so caught up in the beautiful sound of her voice that he was unaware that she was about to leave the lab. Before he could step back from the doors Seven swept out of Astrometrics, still humming a tune. She collided straight into a startled Chakotay, who just managed to catch her before she fell...

A/N-I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks Nikki :)