Harry was terrified.
"We need to talk," was all the Commander said.
Harry nodded dutifully, excused himself to Vorik and started following the Commander. At first he thought Chakotay might just pick an unoccupied corner of engineering, but as they walked out into the corridor and kept walking, Harry knew he wasn't going to get that lucky.
All of a sudden Chakotay stopped in the middle of the corridor, as if he too was wondering what the least inappropriate place to have the impending conversation would be.
Harry was frozen like a rabbit, afraid the Commander might look at him if he breathed too loudly.
Without saying anything, the Commander continued walking again. When they entered the turbolift, Harry thought his heart might explode.
"Deck six," said Chakotay. For about two minutes, Harry didn't breathe.
When the doors finally opened, he almost audibly sighed. Then he realized where they were going.
It all felt surreal. Harry hadn't ever been to the Commander's quarters.
You hadn't been to the Captain's quarters either before a few days ago.
Harry flushed.
Chakotay stopped, as Harry looked on in horror, at his quarters and gestured for Harry to enter ahead of him.
He wouldn't really kill me would he? He couldn't kill me in his quarters and make it look like an accident.
"Ensign Kim," Chakotay lifted a pad to eye level. Harry straightened to attention out of habit. "It's come to my attention that now that we're nearly back to Earth, you might be ready to face the music for some of your conduct as of late."
Harry was confused. Where was he going with this?
"Starfleet Uniform Code Article 134, Mr. Kim," Chakotay began, thumbing down the pad. "Indecent acts with another that are to the prejudice of good order and discipline, or are of a nature that brings discredit to Starfleet."
"What?" Harry gaped. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't this.
"Or fraternization," said Chakotay, "which is actually covered in the same article: an inappropriate relationship that compromises the chain of command. You could be facing dismissal and up to five years of confinement."
Harry paled. Was he serious?
"How do you think it's going to look at your court martial when they ask other members of this crew how partial the Captain is to you, and they tell the JAG that you've always been her favorite?"
Harry flushed again, but this time it was in anger.
"You are out of line Commander," he found himself saying, maybe shouting, he wasn't sure.
"What?" Chakotay stopped, narrowing his eyes at Harry. He'd been growing more and more satisfied as he threatened Harry, and he wasn't expecting to be interrupted.
"I said," Harry steeled himself. "You're out of line."
Harry took a step toward him, feeling overcoming good sense. That seemed to be happening to him a lot lately.
"I would never do anything to try and gain favoritism from the Captain," said Harry. "And even if I did, she would never put me ahead of any other member of the crew, and you know it!"
"Then what is this," Chakotay hissed, shoving Harry's note back in his face.
Harry looked at it, flushed again, and then set it down.
"Frankly Sir," Harry swallowed. "It's none of your business."
"Ensign," Chakotay was nearly bellowing now. "I am charged with maintaining the good order and discipline of this crew, and…"
"Oh please," said Harry, cutting him off. "You've been rearranging the duty shifts that you're supposed to handle impartially so you can spend more of your off-time with your new girlfriend, and the ONLY person who hasn't noticed is the only person who would care."
"That's enough!" Chakotay said. Harry didn't think it was possible for Chakotay's glare to become more hateful, but there it was.
"No," said Harry. "It's not enough. Don't pretend like you don't know me Sir. I've served with you for seven years. I've looked up to you for seven years."
Chakotay looked away. For the first time in three days it was he who was having trouble looking at Harry instead of the other way around.
"In all that time," said Harry. "I never thought I would see you threaten to compromise someone else's career because you were jealous."
In retrospect, Harry should have known that he shouldn't have made a comment like that to any man without fully expecting a punch to the face.
Still, it came as a shock when Chakotay's fist connected with the side of his head and sent him flying backward and down to the deck.
Harry was stunned still when his body made impact with the ground, and after a moment he tried to lift his head to look at Chakotay and groaned in pain.
His vision was blurred, but he could see the Commander clearly with at least one eye. Chakotay was looking, horrified, at his still-clenched fist.
"Harry," Chakotay whispered, all anger had evaporated. He turned pale.
Harry wasn't sure what would happen next, but was immensely relieved when Chakotay rushed to his side, and lifted him up off the deck.
"Let's get you to sick bay," said Chakotay.
While out of immediate danger, Harry still felt incredibly uncomfortable during the walk to sickbay, and not just because the side of his head was probably swelling like a pumpkin.
His inadvertent provocation, and the subsequent punch to the face, seemed to open a floodgate. Chakotay was beside himself with apologies on the way to sick bay.
"I can't believe I let myself get like that Harry," he said in desperation. "It was so wrong… the things I said to you…"
Harry wanted to tell him it was okay, but he ended up just groaning instead. His head hurt.
"You know I didn't mean it, right?" Harry had never seen Chakotay so near hysterics. "That I would never take advantage of your personal life like that."
Harry was actually embarrassed for Chakotay, and extremely uncomfortable with the level of regret his first officer was expressing.
He was visibly relieved when they reached sickbay, both because of the growing pain in his head and face and because he hoped it would herald the end of the first officer's over-the-top regret.
"Mr. Kim," the Doctor intercepted them on their way to the first bio-bed. "Commander."
The Doc helped Chakotay get Harry situated, and then snatched a medical tricorder.
"What happened?" the Doctor asked. He was calm at first, but looked perplexed at the readings on the tricorder.
Chakotay froze. Harry could see the panic on his face.
"I fell," said Harry.
"You fell?" the Doctor repeated, openly suspicious.
"Yeah," said Harry.
When you lie, lie as close to the truth as you can.
"Chakotay asked for my help with moving some furniture in his quarters," said Harry as smoothly as he could. His mind worked furiously as he tried to remember any other useful tidbits from his Academy course on diplomacy and tactics.
"You asked Ensign Kim?" the Doctor eyed Chakotay with apprehension.
"No one else was available," said Chakotay. He was still pale, and unusually nervous.
"I see," said the Doctor. "Well I suppose we're all in a bit of a hurry to get our affairs in order before we reach Earth."
Harry leaned his head back with relief, and then immediately regretted moving at all.
"You have a concussion Mr. Kim," said the Doc. "So whatever you hit, you hit it pretty hard."
Chakotay winced.
Harry panicked as he saw the Doc walk back to his office to retrieve something.
"Harry," Chakotay began.
"It's okay Sir," said Harry. "Really."
Chakotay still looked thick with guilt.
"I don't know if you remember Sir," said Harry, "but there have been a few times that I've acted… different because of my feelings for someone. I think everyone has."
Chakotay smiled a little, but his lips were thin with tension.
"Thank you Harry," said Chakotay. "I think it's safe to say that I owe you one."
"Or five!" Harry called as the Commander left sickbay.
He sighed.
"One for each knuckle," he said quietly to himself, before attempting to gently rest his head on the bed beneath him.
The Captain was a little ashamed of herself for feeling so happy about what had happened with Harry. She wasn't necessarily happy about the incident itself, but she couldn't squash the overwhelming feeling of satisfaction she felt, knowing that Chakotay wasn't the only one who could draw the attention of a younger partner.
Still got it.
She'd been thinking that all day long.
She really shouldn't have been. She hadn't even talked to Harry about it at all, not that he indicated that he wanted or needed to.
The Captain couldn't help feeling, perhaps less miserable about it, than she should have been.
Of course it was wrong. Of course it was a mistake.
But it had been good. Really good.
In fact thinking idly about how unexpectedly good such a bizarre experience had been was making her squirm with a strange mixture of pride and discomfort all day long.
"Captain," her combadge chirped.
"Yes Doctor?" she responded. "How can I help you."
"Could you put my channel on your monitor please?"
Kathryn walked back behind her desk and sat down, flicking the small screen on as she did so.
"What is it Doctor?" she fidgeted in her chair, trying to focus on the matter at hand and not the surreal events of the last 48 or so hours.
"Captain, I just treated Harry Kim for a concussion and superficial damage to the right side of his face," he said.
"What?" the Captain stood up straighter. So much for quelling her distractions. "What happened?"
"Well," the Doctor paused, "that's actually why I'm talking to you now. I'm not really sure what happened."
"Is he conscious?"
"Yes," the Doctor said, "but I'm afraid I'm not convinced that he's being entirely truthful."
"What?" Kathryn was somewhat flabbergasted, not that this had been her first surprise regarding Harry Kim in the last few days.
"He says he fell," the Doctor said.
"He fell…" Kathryn repeated.
"That's what he says," the Doctor almost shrugged. "He and Commander Chakotay both said that he fell while helping the Commander move furniture in his quarters."
"He fell while moving furniture and ended up with a concussion?" Kathryn was trying to hide her growing anxiety for the Doctor's benefit.
"Captain," the Doctor looked deeply distressed all of a sudden. "I'm afraid that the medical evidence makes an altercation more likely."
"An altercation?"
"Yes, Captain," the Doctor said. "Likely between Ensign Kim and Commander Chakotay, given their collective effort to 'pull the wool over my eyes' as they say."
This can't be happening.
"Thank you Doctor," she said, and shut off the terminal before he could say anything more.