A/N: Short little update. I've been busy with my master's but I've managed to find some time to begin the next story. Little Naomi will be joining the crew soon!

The crisp, clean smell in the air was the first thing that greeted Sarah when she opened her eyes. Second thing that greeted her was the back of a Starfleet issued sofa. She was curled up in a fetal position, a gray blanket draped over her body and the lights were dimmed. Her head pounded with the familiar sensation of the morning after a long night of partying. Sitting up she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, remembering that they were now back on Voyager, not on that hell called a Cardassian ship. Not drugged and thrown into fits of rage and violence. Captain Janeway had rescued them and beamed them back to the ship. What had happened to the Cardassians and the Kazons she wasn't sure. Right now, she didn't really care.

"Did you sleep well?" Kathryn Janeway's voice startled her.

Sarah turned to see the Captain sitting at her desk, sipping some coffee. She recalled now that she'd been in a state of hysteria when she had been beamed back to Voyager. Tom was injured, she'd been forced to watch it, of course she'd be upset—the pyschoactive drugs they'd used on her didn't help matters. She'd tried to scratch the life out of the security detail in sickbay. Chakotay had carried her out of the room when her violent, hysterical rants grew so loud that it was apparent that Kes was troubled. She remembered now that she was free from the drugs the look on Kes' face as Chakotay effortlessly swung her over his shoulder and carried her away. "Yes," she said, hoarsely. "How...long have I been asleep?"

Kathryn glanced at her computer. "Nearly twelve hours."

"Captain you should have woken me up, I would have gone back to my own quarters," Sarah protested.

"Your body needed it Sarah. I didn't mind. The Cardassians and Seska kept us on our toes for a couple of days. Now that we've put some distance between us and them I took the opportunity to catch up on my work. You didn't need medical attention, just sleep, so I promised the Doctor I'd keep an eye on you."

Sarah had given up a while ago arguing with the captain that she needed to sleep as well. She tried to stand up, mumbling that she'd leave the captain to her work, but she got dizzy and fell back against the sofa.

Kathryn was immediately standing and moving towards her. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"A little bit of both."

"Computer, one bowl of chicken noddle soup, hot and a glass of water," Kathryn ordered her replicator. The food and drink soon appeared and she brought it to Sarah. "Here, eat this."

Sarah looked at her sternly for a moment. "You didn't have to waste your replicator rations on me, ma'am. I could have gone to the mess hall."

Kathryn smiled and sat down with her. "The Doctor suggests light eating for the next few days. I don't consider Mister Neelix's food as light. And besides, I would have had to walk you there myself and like you said I have a lot of work to do and you don't want to keep me. Now, go on and eat Sarah. I'd actually like to chat."

The younger woman took a careful sip of her soup. "Chat? Chat about what ma'am? I'm pretty sure you know all that you need to know about what happened on the Cardassian ship."

"Yes," Kathryn replied with a nod. "I know enough and the rest will be in your report. I wanted to chat to see how you were emotionally holding up. When Chakotay and I dragged you here you were pretty hysterical, rightfully so. Now that you've had time to sleep and calm down, I wanted to know—how are you dealing with what happened?"

"I...I'm fine."

"Just fine? You were forced to watch the Cardassians and Kazons torture Tom. I have to imagine that you felt pretty powerless."

Sarah could still hear Tom's cries of pain, the sound of his bones breaking while the Cardassians and Cullah beat him. She adverted her eyes, a shiver running up and down her spine. "The drugs made it worse than it was."

"Did they?"

"They had a psychoactive effect. For all I know I imagined most of it."

Kathryn leaned back against the sofa, resting one leg over the other. "Tom was beamed back to the ship about as wild as they come. He knocked himself unconcious in the ensuing struggle with security. He has several broken bones, bruises, cuts, a concussion, but nothing that the Doctor will not be able to treat him for, and Commander Chakotay is almost positive he won't remember a thing thanks to the drugs. But he's concerned that you will. With your past history you're more...tolerable of the drugs shall we say. It was his decision to remove you from sickbay when you started to lose control. He felt you'd be safer away from seeing the Doctor work on Tom. There was no telling what you would do in that state. By the way, you did a number on Mister Ayala's face."

"I'll trim my nails later, ma'am."

The Captain chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about it," she said. "Sarah. Why haven't you been honest with me?"

Sarah knew what was coming next but she decided to play coy. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, Captain. I've always been honest with you."

"You didn't tell me about you and Tom."

"We wanted to make sure we were serious first."

"And are you serious?"

"Yes, I mean I'd like to think we are."

Kathryn's face broke into a warm smile. "Then I'm happy for you, both of you." She gave her young lieutenant a mock death glare. "But just remember, no interfering with your duties."

Sarah returned her smile, relief washing through her. Kathryn was giving them her blessing. It was the one thing she had been praying for since her and Tom had started to see one another. "I promise," she finally said, "duty will not be interfered with."

Teaser: The ship shuddered, gave a final groan and the lift went black. For a moment Tom stood there pressed against the wall. Until the female occupant of the lift let out a terrifying cry of pain and he was mobilized into action. A blackout was not going to stop that baby from arriving today.