A/n: Thanks to Mtwapa for putting up a new fluffy C/7 fic called "Joined Up". It's really good and I can't recommend it enough!
Beep. Beep. Beep. Chakotay's eyes creaked open as his brain could no longer ignore the irritating sound. With a groan he turned on his pillow to face his bleary eyes towards his bedside table and forced his arm, heavy with sleep, to grope around for the baby monitor Seven had given him. Finally his fingers closed around it and he put the speaker to his mouth, "Alright Seven, I'll be right there…" He muttered drowsily.
Within a few seconds Seven replied in a hushed tone of bemusement, "Celeste is asleep Chakotay, I didn't contact you."
"What? Then what was beeping…" He asked in confusion.
Seven couldn't suppress a tired chuckle. "Did you check your comm. badge?"
"Oh God…" moaned Chakotay, seizing his comm. badge which had been lying right next to the baby monitor, "Yes?"
Janeway's alert and commanding voice immediately responded, "Good Morning Chakotay, I need you down in Engineering to join the discussion with the Damarians about the fulinium."
"Yeah, of course… Give me ten minutes to get ready and I'll be there, okay?" Chakotay replied hastily as he reluctantly surfaced from under the protective warmth of his duvet and grabbed a clean uniform.
"I'll see you there." Janeway said calmly before disconnecting the line.
Chakotay sighed and picked up the baby monitor again to speak to Seven. "I think I'm now the perfect guinea pig for studying the effects of sleep deprivation." He joked as he started to give himself a quick shave to look presentable.
"If the Doctor decides to run such a study I will join you in helping him." Seven agreed, "To what have you been assigned?" She asked curiously.
Narrowly avoiding cutting himself as he forced his sleep numbed hands to grip the razor, Chakotay answered, "I've to go down to Engineering to discuss the trade deal some more, hopefully it won't take long…"
"I have observed that any sort of diplomacy generally takes a great deal of time."
Chakotay gave a knowing laugh. "You've got that right but I'll see both of you as soon as it's finished."
Chakotay walked into Engineering to find the Captain, B'Elanna and the Doctor all crowded around the console closest to the warp core, their expressions tense. "Where are Taltin and the others?" Chakotay asked as he approached them, "I thought we were continuing the trade talks…"
Janeway sighed and fiddled distractedly with her comm. badge before answering. "Harry's giving them a tour of the ship while I give some of B'Elanna and the Doctor's concerns a hearing."
Chakotay raised a questioning eyebrow in B'Elanna's direction. "Do you think their claims about fulinium are exaggerated?"
"Not exactly." B'Elanna replied pensively before regaining confidence as she showed him the scans she'd run on the mineral. "In fact it may make Voyager's engines run even more efficiently than the Damarians are estimating…"
Janeway appeared slightly frustrated by that information. "The more efficient we are Lieutenant, the quicker we return to the Alpha Quadrant!"
"I'm well aware of that Captain." B'Elanna reassured her but firmly stood her ground. "What I'm worried about is converting the engines back to deuterium when our supply of fulinium runs out, from what I've seen so far it would be an almost impossible task."
"So…" Chakotay mused thoughtfully, "Once you're using fulinium there's no going back, you're stuck with it."
B'Elanna nodded and the Doctor piped up in support, "That's probably the only reason they keep mining it, no one would do it unless they were desperate. When I did my medical checks on the three Damarians I was surprised they still had motor function, I've never seen such bad radiation sickness in humanoids that were still alive… I wouldn't recommend that Voyager's warp core start belching it out, we'd have a health crisis on our hands."
"Seven said it could even make drones ill if it wasn't refined properly." Chakotay told them, making the Captain perk up again as she sensed an opportunity.
"And does she know how to refine it properly and how to stop our engines being damaged?" Janeway asked eagerly.
Chakotay gave a standoffish shrug, wishing he hadn't said anything. "I have no idea…"
The Captain ignored him and tapped her comm. badge, "Janeway to Seven of Nine."
"Seven here, Captain." Seven's voice quickly responded.
"I need you to come to Engineering for a few minutes Seven."
There was a pause several seconds long and Chakotay could hear Seven speaking to someone in the background before answering, "I will be there as soon as I can Captain."
"Thank you Seven." The Captain replied in a satisfied tone.
B'Elanna, seeing her old friend tense up, gave Chakotay's arm a friendly squeeze. "Don't worry; everyone's been desperate to do a little babysitting ever since Celeste left Sickbay." She received a grateful smile in response.
Soon after Seven's conversation with Chakotay had finished, their daughter awoke again in need of attention. Just as Seven was halfway through changing her there was a loud ring at her doorbell. "Enter." Seven called as she finished putting on the fresh diaper and laid out clean clothes for her now very alert daughter.
The doors to her quarters opened to reveal a beaming Neelix, holding a large glass dish with some sort of neon green concoction within it. "Good morning Seven!" he boomed cheerily.
"Good morning Neelix." Seven replied in an almost as warm, but much quieter, tone.
"I brought my godmother's special Talaxian treat for new mothers, a kiljah bean flan!" With a flourish he set down the dish in front of her and removed the lid.
The smell hit Seven almost immediately and Celeste began to whimper. It smelled worse than one of Celeste's soiled diapers! As diplomatically as she could she began to dissuade him, "I'm sorry Mr Neelix but…" She paused for a second as her mind raced to think of an inoffensive answer, "The Doctor has said that I'm only allowed to eat certain things, since I'm feeding Celeste myself…"
Neelix's face fell. "Really?" he asked her in surprise. "That hologram's so…draconian! I can't believe he's even restricting what you can eat!" he muttered in outrage as he looked at her sympathetically. Seven tried her best not to cringe; she'd need to explain to the Doctor why Neelix was angry with him for a nonexistent order… Thankfully Neelix spotted Celeste and his thoughts moved on as he bent over the baby. "How's our newest crew member, the little star, getting on then?" he asked breezily.
"Oh…" Seven lifted Celeste onto her shoulder and quickly pressed the studs on her little outfit closed. "You're doing fine aren't you my love?" she asked the baby, rhetorically of course.
"She's looking wonderful! You're doing a perfect job so far Seven…" Neelix began to enthuse before the beep of Seven's comm. badge interrupted him.
"Janeway to Seven of Nine."
"Seven here, Captain." Seven replied quickly, allowing Neelix to take Celeste so that her arms were free.
"I need you to come to Engineering for a few minutes Seven." Janeway said in an order rather than in a request.
Seven glanced anxiously over at her daughter, not keen on taking her with her to Engineering, but Neelix caught her look and smiled at her. "I'll look after her until you're ready." He looked down at Celeste for approval, "You'll be fine with Uncle Neelix, won't you sweetiepie?"
Celeste gurgled happily and reached for his whiskers, making Neelix chuckle. Seven sighed deeply, she knew with certainty that Celeste would be fine; she would be the one who had trouble leaving… "Thank you Neelix, I appreciate that." She said with soft gratitude before going back to her comm. badge, "I will be there as soon as I can Captain." She registered the Captain's thanks but was already instructing Neelix, "She'll need fed again soon; I will hopefully be back well before that time but if she cries contact me."
"I will Seven, and don't worry." Neelix assured her as she continued to hover before finally stepping out of her quarters only to be met with a Damarian woman in the corridor.
"Can I be of any assistance?" Seven asked her politely, strangely ill at ease as the woman stared at her with a blank, empty expression.
"No, no thank you." She replied before her brow creased in thought. "You're the one who just had the baby?"
"Yes, three days ago." Seven replied.
The woman smiled, though her gaze was distant as she mumbled, "Ah… Congratulations."
"Thank you." Seven replied stiffly. "I must go." She muttered before heading away from the woman towards Engineering.
Seven sighed as she looked over B'Elanna's scans for the fifth time, at the Captain's insistence. "B'Elanna is correct. Voyager's systems would not adapt to any other fuel if we did as the Damarians said and altered them for fulinium, it is unfortunate but true."
"Well…that's that then." The Captain muttered.
"We'll still give them the medicine they need though, right Captain?" Chakotay questioned from his place at Seven's side.
"its Federation policy Chakotay, I'm not going to punish them!" growled the Captain, offended by his insinuation.
"Of course not Captain." Chakotay replied calmly.
"If I may, I will return to my quarters Captain." Seven asked politely.
"Go ahead." The Captain said dismissively.
Chakotay gave Seven's hand a squeeze as he whispered. "I'll talk to her and then come meet you in a couple of minutes, okay?"
"Fine." Seven murmured and headed back to her quarters.
As she stepped in to the room she was surprised to find it in semi-darkness. "Mr Neelix?" she called out fretfully, just as her eyes adjusted and she saw him collapsed on the floor. "Neelix!" She cried out and went to go to him but the glint of a phaser stopped her.
"Don't move." Seven's blood froze as she saw the woman holding the weapon, standing next to Celeste in her bassinette.
A/n: Please review! Can I assume that you want this cliffie updated before anything else?
