"Captain!"
He grabbed her from behind. Short of forcibly removing her from the Briefing room and bringing the meeting to an abrupt end, there was not much else Chakotay could do with an irate Janeway on his hands. It had been two months since he had come on board Voyager and Janeway had always struck him to be thoroughly in control of her emotions, whatever the Delta quadrant threw at her ship and crew. He had never seen her lose her temper before, and never in such a spectacular manner.
Until now.
The pompous alien diplomat glided behind the safety of the table, his multi-layered nostrils vibrating rapidly. His two assistants-cum-servants moved two feet away from him. This new development in the trading talks between Voyager and the government of Orora visibly held no interest for them.
"Captain," Chakotay repeated, breathing in a faint scent of her perfume.
Janeway thrashed about, forcefully letting the Ororan know her opinion of his trade deal with a few pointed words—deceitful, sly and devious among them. Chakotay 's fingers dug into Janeway's upper arms, and he dragged her backwards, the heels of her feet scraping the carpet.
Five days of non-stop talks, and the ambassador had seen fit to add yet another item on a list already metres in length. All that had come before had obviously been a stalling tactic—the lavish dinners, the luxurious quarters, the young, tall, and beautiful escorts waiting for them at the end of long days of negotiations planet-side. They both knew that the negotiations had progressed too easily, been too good to be true, but Voyager did need the dilithium so generously offered.
A generosity which had evaporated into thin air ten seconds ago, along with the Captain's well-honed diplomatic skills.
She relaxed the tension in her arms, but he was reluctant to let her go as yet.
"It's okay, Commander. I'm fine now," she said in a terse voice.
He released her without saying a word but made sure to stand close, much closer that was his habit when they were on the bridge.
Janeway put an errant hair back in place and patted her uniform down. "My apologies, Ambassador," she said with a smile which Chakotay thought almost feral. "I thought we had reached a concrete agreement yesterday evening. I don't understand what more you want of us now."
"Really, Captain." The ambassador stretched his tall frame to its full height, seemingly reassured by Janeway's calmer behaviour. "Your bartering skills leave much to be desired. You can't possibly think that what you were proposing in exchange for the dilithium you so crave was enough. We have very little need for primitive cultural offerings, and your strange food would most probably make us sick."
Chakotay could not see the captain arguing the latter point.
"It's not all we've offered you." Janeway closed the distance between her and the table, and had to crane her neck upwards to talk to the man. "Our star charts alone are worth more than five tonnes of raw dilithium. And our medical database—"
The alien man waved his long hand about. "Those are nice extras, nothing more. As I explained when I visited your ship for the first time yesterday, exotic and rare races like yours are highly sought after among the members of our high society. We are only asking for one representative of your species, so as not to inconvenience your ship. It will also increase the bidding if there is only one of you on offer. The profit from the sale will go a long way to fully compensate my government for the goods and effort—"
Janeway bent forward, knuckles white against the table grain. The man flinched, his eyes wider.
"In our society, we do not trade people," she carefully enunciated, her voice dipping into ice.
Her feet shifted and Chakotay moved to intercept her. He was not sure the Ororan, for all his greater height and bulk, would survive a fight with a very pissed-off captain. Janeway lifted her hand to stop him and he slowly stepped back.
"I would have thought you would understand, Captain, and volunteer for the honour," the ambassador went on with another pretentious wave, his stance slack again. "Your high ranking makes you very valuable, and the rewards would be great. You would be living in luxury for one, rather than on this rather spartan ship," he added, wrinkling his wide nose. "Collectors will pay a very high price to get their hands on you—"
Janeway flew over the table and launched herself at the hapless man. By the time Chakotay reacted, the ambassador was holding his nose and squealing in pain.
Chakotay locked his arms around Janeway's chest and lifted her off the ground, before carrying her away, her legs kicking in the air. She was not heavy, but he struggled to keep his hold on her so great was her resolve to get at the ambassador.
"Let me show him what I think of his honour," she growled, pushing against his grip with all her might.
The Ororan cowered behind the table, a thin pale liquid trickling through his fingers. His assistants were pushing their backs into the door.
"Ambassador, I don't think you'll find our people as amenable as you hoped. We've got an innate aversion to being used as gifts." Chakotay had to raise his voice as Janeway threw one Klingon insult after another at the ambassador. The combadge mercifully declined to translate the inventive slurs.
"How can she refuse? It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Janeway snarled in response.
"Are you all like her? You seem to be so much more civilised, Commander."
"Better self-control than most, I suppose, but I am afraid none of us will ever fully appreciate your generous offer. The captain is by far the most intractable. She'll be nothing but trouble, I can assure you." Chakotay gasped as Janeway's elbow connected with his lower ribs.
"That won't do. Not at all!" His back to the wall, the ambassador was staring at Janeway with fear in his eyes. At least, Chakotay hoped it was fear the man was experiencing. Suited him just fine.
"Captain," Chakotay said with all the seriousness he could muster, "we can't risk a fight with the Ororan government. Their ships are much too powerful."
"Then I'll order the self-destruct. But before that, he's got the right to know what he'd get." A small dagger appeared in her hand from nowhere.
Chakotay tightened his grip and shifted her body higher on his chest. "You might want to review your terms, Ambassador," he hissed. His back was killing him.
The skin on the Ambassador's nose wilted. He shuffled towards the door, pushing his assistants out of the way. "You're right, Commander. Your race is clearly not suitable for our needs. I accept your terms. I'll make arrangements to transfer all the dilithium you asked for within the hour."
"Don't let him get away," Janeway shouted, almost breaking free.
Chakotay hauled her to the further corner of the room. "It's okay, Captain, he's going."
The Ambassador fled into the corridor, his servants rushing in his wake.
As the door swished closed behind the luckless Ororans, Chakotay felt Janeway sag in his grip. He let her down on her two feet, keeping his arms around her. Her whole body still shaking, she leaned on him, making no move to leave.
"Intractable, Commander? Nothing but trouble?" she said, catching her breath and laughing at the same time.
He could feel her heart pounding in her chest. "What would you have me say instead? Unpredictable? Reckless?" he whispered in her ear. A lock of hair dislodged from her tight bun tickled his nose. "Dangerous?"
"Dangerous? I like that," she whispered back. The back of her head settled in the crook of his neck. He slid his hands down to her stomach, feeling her need to regain her composure and find her anchor once again. Her threats had been an act, but she had not faked her rising anger at the Ororan's demands.
Her heartbeat and breathing quietened down. She patted his arm, and he let go of her, reluctantly taking a step back. "Thank you, Chakotay. Your idea to frighten the hell out of the Ororan ambassador was a stroke of genius. I do hope he'll think twice before collecting exotic visitors from now on."
"You were extremely convincing. I've never seen you so…fiery before."
She lowered her eyes, a faint shade of pink spreading on her cheeks. "I channelled my inner B'Elanna. Since you told me how I had upset her, I've been spending more time working closely with her. I might have picked a few of her quirks in the process." She put a hand on his arm, squeezing it gently this time. "Please don't tell her. She'll be mortified."
He laughed. "I won't, Captain. But now I understand where you got those colourful Klingon turns of phrase." He found her embarrassment rather endearing, but thought better than to press on. "If our little scheme had not worked," he asked, a grin on his face, "would you have accepted the ambassador's deal to sell you to the highest bidder?"
"To protect the crew? To save Voyager?" she murmured as if talking to herself. She turned her back to him and faced the Briefing room window.
"Yes, I would have," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone, glancing at the dagger in her hand.
Chakotay swallowed hard, suddenly realising that over the past two months, she had thought through all the options opened to her to their logical conclusions. There was indeed a price to pay for being the captain, and it was not only about crashed shuttles or helping frustrated crew members to better fit in.
He wanted so badly to tell her that nothing would make him leave her to a fate worse than death. To let her know he would never leave her behind, alone and abandoned. That he would do whatever it took, and more, to save her.
But he knew he might not always be there to hold her tight, carry her, pull her away from whatever threat would rise to meet the ship tomorrow, next week or any day for the next seventy-five years. He might not be there for her to lean on.
He remained silent.
Her shoulders straightened. "And that's okay," she added, still looking into the dark night outside.
She had a smile on her face when she turned around and lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. "But not today, thanks to a very clever first officer. Once the replicators are back online, this week's dinner is on me, Commander."
She waved him in front of her, and they stepped onto the bridge.
From a Tumblr prompt by Stellabrettiana. Many thanks to Cheile for the beta.