AN: Here we are, another chapter.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Chakotay sat down in his chair as soon as Kathryn had left the bridge under his control. He picked up his PADD and held it in his hand.
"Anything to report?" He asked.
"There is nothing," Tuvok responded.
"It's clear and peaceful out there," Tom said. "But—can we talk about what's going on in here?"
Chakotay raised his eyebrow at Tom when Tom turned around in his chair to face him.
"And what is it, exactly, that's going on in here, Lieutenant?" Chakotay asked.
Tom laughed to himself.
"Oh, come on!" He said. "You know what's going on. Everybody does. Do I really always have to be the one to say it? Harry?"
Chakotay turned around to look at Harry. With clear skies and little to keep them all occupied at the moment, Harry hadn't had anything substantial to do all day. At the moment, though, he looked like he was the busiest that he'd ever been and like looking away from his console for even a second would cause Voyager to suddenly go up in some kind of inexplicable fiery inferno.
Chakotay turned back to look at Tom.
"I don't believe Ensign Kim has anything to say," Chakotay said.
"Not when you're in the room, he doesn't," Tom said. "Fine—I'll be the one to say it. Nobody likes it when Mommy and Daddy fight. But more than that? Well—some of the crew has been talking and...we don't really think that being so rigid about protocol is absolutely necessary."
"What do you mean, Tom?" Chakotay asked.
"I mean we're all adults," Tom said. "And we're all stuck out her for sixty or seventy years. We know that you and the captain are married and we're fine with that. We're pleased about it. Even Tuvok is pleased and that's as close to ecstatic as he ever gets. We like to see her happy. We like to see you happy. Someday it might be one of us that's serving with someone with whom we have a relationship. We just don't think it's necessary to try to hide it constantly. In fact? Trying to hide it and trying to tiptoe around it doesn't make things more comfortable. It does the exact opposite."
"So what would you have us to do, Tom?" Chakotay asked. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're requesting."
"A little more openness," Tom said. "A little more transparency. That's all anybody's suggesting."
"Between the captain and I?" Chakotay asked. Tom nodded. "About our relationship?" Tom nodded again. "Starfleet has no protocol to cover a situation like ours. The captain doesn't want anybody to feel like she shows favoritism toward me. She also doesn't want our relationship to make anyone uncomfortable."
"It's a little more uncomfortable if we're trying to pretend that we don't know what we do know," Harry offered, finding his tongue.
"I believe what Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim are trying to express is that the crew, as a whole, is not bothered by your relationship with the captain," Tuvok said, "but rather would prefer that the relationship were more visible and open."
"And you know, Tuvok, that having a visible and open relationship wouldn't be considered wholly professional," Chakotay responded.
"That is true," Tuvok said. "However, I believe that it's necessary to consider the unique situation in which we find ourselves."
"I'll bring it up with the captain," Chakotay said.
"You might want to give it a few minutes, Commander," Tom offered.
"I think I know how to approach our captain," Chakotay said, laughing quietly to himself. "But thank you for your concern. Tuvok—can you handle things here? There are a few things I'd like to check on."
"If I may have a word with you first, Commander?" Tuvok asked.
"Very well," Chakotay said. "Harry—you've got the bridge. Tuvok?"
Chakotay stepped out into the corridor with Tuvok. The Vulcan regarded him as sternly as he ever did.
"Is there a problem, Lieutenant Tuvok?" Chakotay asked.
"Forgive me if I'm overstepping boundaries," Tuvok started.
"It seems like the whole crew might like to do away with boundaries altogether," Chakotay offered. "I don't think whatever you have to say will be a problem. I always value your input."
"I hope you will again," Tuvok offered. "It's about the captain, sir."
"What about her?" Chakotay asked.
"My study of human psychology has been limited," Tuvok said. "My study of Captain Janeway has not."
"You know her well," Chakotay agreed. Tuvok nodded.
"During pregnancy women go through a great deal of changes," Tuvok said. "Vulcans consider pregnancy a time when women must use superior control to keep their emotions in check. Captain Janeway is not a Vulcan, nor would I wish her to be one. Though her emotions are, at times, at one extreme or another, they help make her the incredible leader that she is."
"I could agree with that," Chakotay said. "What's your point, Tuvok?"
"My point is that the captain will be fine," Tuvok said. "She need only adjust to the changes that are taking place within her. However, there is one more thing about her that I think we should all bear in mind."
"What is that?" Chakotay asked.
"The captain will not appreciate the possible feeling of losing control of her body. She'll most assuredly fight it. We don't need to exacerbate that by making her feel like she has any less control on the ship," Tuvok said.
"I'm fully aware of that, Tuvok," Chakotay said. "Believe me. She's in complete control of just about everything."
"At the same time, Commander, the captain does not enjoy the feeling that her crew takes risks or faces challenges that she, herself, may not face," Tuvok said. "She has, in the past, put herself in extreme danger to show that she was willing to take on any challenge. If she feels that she is limited or otherwise out of control, it is possible that she might attempt to reassert her ability to face any challenge. It is prudent that we let her know that—while we wish to offer protection and comfort to her during the duration of her gestation—it is for the good of the child she is carrying, and for her own good, that we do it. It is not because of some perceived weakness or lack of ability."
Chakotay reached and patted Tuvok's shoulder. Tuvok accepted the affection from him.
"The captain is going to be fine," Chakotay agreed. "She is fine. But I appreciate knowing that you and everyone else on board are concerned about her well-being. That means the world to her, even if she's sometimes frustrated by her own feelings. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, though, and I'm certainly going to do my part to make sure that she knows how the crew feels."
"We're available to assist you however you may require," Tuvok offered.
"Thank you," Chakotay offered.
"And Commander?" Tuvok said, drawing Chakotay's attention back just as he'd started to leave. Chakotay turned quickly to pay him attention once more. "I am not an emotional being. However, I understand the emotions of those around me. The crew finds comfort in the outwardly expressed happiness of the captain. Although it may go against perceived protocol, I think it is important to at least consider allowing for a little more visibility in the relationships on board Voyager."
"We will consider it," Chakotay assured him. "Thank you. You have the bridge. I'll be back soon."
"Take your time, Commander. There are clear skies for as far as we can detect," Tuvok informed him.
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"Mmmm...I'm not irrational," Kathryn said.
"You're not," Chakotay agreed.
"I'm not unstable," she said.
"You're not," Chakotay agreed again, running his fingertips gently over her face. She closed her eyes whenever he neared her eyelids, but immediately opened them again when he moved away.
"I don't particularly appreciate knowing that you're all plotting against me behind my back," Kathryn said. She laughed low in her throat so Chakotay knew she wasn't nearly as offended as she might pretend to be. "That's got to be some form of mutiny."
She was feeling better. There was some truth to what Tuvok had said. Eating had gone quite a long way toward evening out some of her feelings. The private time she'd stolen with Chakotay on the holodeck was having some effect as well.
"Mutiny in the best interest of the health and well-being of the captain," Chakotay said. "It doesn't exactly sound like the kind of crime that gets one hanged."
He leaned and kissed her. She leaned up from her pillow to follow his lips and prolong the kiss, so he came back to let her tongue play against his a little longer. When he finally pulled away, she smiled at him.
"I'm not going to do anything to endanger the crew, Chakotay," Kathryn said. "Or myself, or the baby. Not if I can avoid it."
"I know you're not," Chakotay said.
"And it's easy to get irritated when everywhere I turn it seems that someone has an opinion on everything I do," Kathryn said.
"I'm sure it is," Chakotay agreed.
Kathryn laughed to herself.
"Are you just agreeing with me because you think I'm irrational?" Kathryn asked, raising her eyebrows at him.
"Now I think you might be paranoid," Chakotay offered with a smile. "I'm agreeing with you because I understand how you might be feeling. I'm only asking you to try to remember that everyone says and does what they do out of genuine affection and concern. Me especially. We're all new at this. None of us have ever been in exactly this situation before."
"I know," Kathryn said. "And maybe I need you to remember that—sometimes I don't always mean everything that I say. Not if I say it in the heat of the moment. I haven't been here either."
"I already know that," Chakotay assured her. "And I'm not taking anything to heart. I don't think anyone else is either."
"It does worry me, though," Kathryn said. "If I can lose my temper over—someone's facial expression? I'm going to have to be extra careful to consider my responses if we should find ourselves dealing with any hostile aliens."
"It doesn't worry me," Chakotay informed her.
"No?" Kathryn asked.
"No," Chakotay assured her. "Because I know that you always have a way of stepping back out of yourself when you're talking to a new species. I've seen you deal with enough of them. And—I also know that you having even more fire than you've usually got? Well, it isn't going to cause us any problems. On the contrary—it's probably going to make every alien in the Delta Quadrant leave us alone for fear of coming up against you."
Kathryn laughed to herself. She was relaxed enough now that she was taking his jokes as jokes, as she should, and not as things to which she should take offense.
Chakotay trailed his fingertips over the rise of her breasts and watched as her nipples responded, tightening and standing at attention once again. Her skin dimpled as a shiver ran through her body at his touch. He trailed his hand down to her abdomen and tickled his fingers there. Her muscles contracted, sucking her stomach in and away from him for a second. He smiled and rested his hand affectionately over the soft skin beneath her navel.
"You're ticklish," he commented.
"You knew that," Kathryn said.
"It always amuses me," Chakotay said.
"It's a form of torture, you know," Kathryn informed him.
Chakotay nuzzled his face against the side of Kathryn's and she hummed at him.
"Only when it's prolonged," Chakotay said. He straightened back up and rubbed his hand over the area where it had been resting. "They want to see a little affection between us. A little less formality."
"It's not professional," Kathryn said.
"I don't think they mean moving something like this to the bridge for public exhibition," Chakotay said. "You're more standoffish to me now than you ever were before and it's nothing except the fact that you're more aware of things now. I think they're just asking for the old way of things back. When it was OK for us to touch, sometimes."
Kathryn sucked in a breath and let it out.
"I feel like I'm more rigid on the bridge," Kathryn said. "More tense. Even in the mess hall if we're eating together. I'm just—aware, like you said. I'm worried that someone's going to be uncomfortable."
"And if they are, they'll talk to us," Chakotay said. "Just like we requested. Right now, just like we asked them to, they're expressing that they feel that tension that you're feeling. By trying not to make them uncomfortable, you're making them uncomfortable. I don't think anyone on this ship is as concerned with protocol as you are, Kathryn. Especially in the case of something where we have no true protocol."
Kathryn smiled at him.
"So you're saying I should just relax?" She asked.
"I'm absolutely saying you should just relax," Chakotay confirmed. "It would be better for absolutely everyone involved."
Kathryn sighed, purposefully blowing out her breath again.
"I'm still not a person who's going to go gallivanting around the ship acting like a lovesick teenager," Kathryn said.
"I wouldn't expect that you would," Chakotay said. "I expect you to always save your lovesick teenager moments for our private time. Just like I wouldn't want you sharing the fact that sometimes your appetite can be a little insatiable."
Kathryn leaned up to kiss him response to his statement and she purposefully bit his lip and tugged it. She ran her tongue over it quickly to soothe any discomfort that might linger from the scratch of her teeth.
"Maybe we could give it a try at the doctor's party," Kathryn said. "When we celebrate B'Elanna getting his new mobile emitter working. We could test it out—try not to be too tense."
"Sounds perfect," Chakotay said. "Now—about that appetite, are you going to be able to take a nap now that you've gotten everything else taken care of?"
"It's very hard for me to nap," Kathryn said, "when I know that there's a starship out there that I'm supposed to be captaining."
Chakotay sighed and wrapped himself around her. He snuggled her as tight as he could.
"Computer, change background to night," Chakotay commanded. Immediately the sky outside the cabin changed from day to night and bathed them in mostly darkness. Chakotay kissed the side of Kathryn's face. "Tuvok has the bridge and your combadge is right there. You're still the captain, even while you're napping. But take some advantage of the clear skies."
"What about you?" Kathryn asked.
Just that quickly, Chakotay could feel her relaxing. He could feel her breathing starting to slow. He could hear a subtle change in her voice. If he stayed there, quiet and still with her, it wouldn't take long before she drifted off. She wouldn't nap for long, but anything was better than nothing.
"I'm going to take advantage of the clear skies too," Chakotay said. "After all, we never know when we won't have that opportunity any longer."