The Captain stood outside of the Commander's quarters. She'd been thinking about what Tom said. About the way she had treated him in sickbay. He didn't deserve her treatment of him. Kathryn knew how he felt about her, he'd told her not all that long ago. And when she chose not to change the nature of their relationship, he'd put his feelings aside and remained by her side—as her friend.

She rang the chime and was admitted immediately. She walked in and let the door close behind her. "Hi," was all she managed, she felt terrible and didn't want to have this conversation, though she knew she had to.

Chakotay looked up at her, putting his PADD down on the table in front of him, he didn't smile at her and his eyes looked weary. "Captain," he acknowledged, motioning her towards the couch.

She took note of the use of her title, he was still upset with her. She sat on the couch and faced him. "I won't stay long, I just want to—," she stopped and let out a sigh. "Tom Paris said I pulled rank on you in sickbay. That you wanted to talk to your friend and I made you talk to the Captain."

Chakotay looked at her intently, "Yes, you did."

"And I've done it in the past. And I'm sorry for doing it to you. It's a convenient way to get out of conversations that make me uncomfortable. Sickbay wasn't the place to have the conversation you wanted to have, but I could have handled it in a way that would have taken your feelings into consideration, instead of just my own."

"Thank you," Chakotay smiled, a real smile, dimples and all.

He continued with a chuckle, "You're telling me you came to these realizations after a conversation with Tom Paris?"

"Actually, I came to them during the conversation," she smiled, feeling lighter. "If you still want to, we can have the conversation you wanted to have now."

Chakotay moved to sit next to Kathryn on the coach. "Kathryn, why would you put yourself in such a situation? Surely, someone else could have gone."

"I wanted to be the one to help her," Kathryn admitted. "I didn't want it to be someone else."

Chakotay remembered Kathryn's words in sickbay. 'I did this the way I wanted.'

When Chakotay didn't say anything, she continued, "I wanted it to be me and when Tom told me B'Elanna would choose me, I went."

Chakotay felt a horrible weight settle on his chest as he came to the realization Kathryn had gone as herself. She hadn't viewed it as her duty to help a member of her crew. She had feelings for B'Elanna that ran deeper than those of a Captain for a crewmember. He still found he needed the confirmation of her telling him, so he asked, "You didn't go as her Captain?"

Kathryn knew what this was doing to Chakotay. She felt awful for doing this to him. But he needed to know and she wanted it to come from her. She looked into Chakotay's eyes, "I didn't go as her Captain."

=/\=

B'Elanna finished the re-alignment—only because she'd told her engineering staff she was going to do it—and contemplated Tom's revelation. She couldn't understand why she would have wanted to keep the mark; why she wouldn't have just wanted to forget it all. How was it possible the Captain wasn't as disgusted by her Klingon side as she was?

Finally, she allowed herself to really think about what had happened during their encounter.

I want it to be me.

She had known what was going to happen and she wanted to be there.

Then B'Elanna realized the first real bite had come from Kathryn. She brushed her fingers over the palm the other woman had bitten. Kathryn had bitten her and then tasted her blood. There had been no revulsion in the act, she had done it in earnest.

Don't hold back. I want all of you… and then I trust you.

The Captain really did see all of her. She hadn't gone into it with blinders on. She knew what B'Elanna was capable of doing and she trusted her to not seriously hurt her. She had known when B'Elanna had started to hold back and let her know she wanted every part of her.

Kathryn had willingly given herself over to B'Elanna. B'Elanna had vivid recollections of Kathryn's face, the way her body had bloomed under her touch, the sounds that had emanated from Kathryn during her pleasure.

She remembered the pleasure Kathryn had taken in the sight of her naked body. And how she'd played the game of Klingon mating. She played the game to near perfection, inflaming and inciting both B'Elanna's anger and passion. She had lovingly encouraged B'Elanna's Klingon nature.

No, you will be mine.

Kathryn had claimed her. Had taken great pleasure in claiming her. There had been no hesitation or doubt in any of Kathryn's actions.

You are so damn beautiful.

Those words, along with the soft caress along her forehead ridges had been her undoing. Kathryn had said the words with such honesty and wonder, B'Elanna had fallen apart.

It was the middle of the night, but she needed to see her now.

=/\=

It took several minutes for Captain Janeway to acknowledge the chiming of her door. She'd finally given up on B'Elanna coming to see her. She'd been asleep when B'Elanna had decided she needed to talk to her.

"I'll be right out," B'Elanna heard from the other room.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was so late. This can wait until tomorrow," she said as she entered the Captain's private domain.

"Stay, please," she said as she moved into the room while tying her robe around her waist. "I'd like you to stay."

B'Elanna looked toward her Captain and her breath caught in her chest. She looked so unlike the unreadable Captain she saw every day. Kathryn's face was open and expressive; she could see both hope and trepidation clearly. B'Elanna realized the Captain was unsure of herself in this moment.

"Okay," was all she said, unsure of what she wanted to say.

B'Elanna realized she didn't want to say anything. She wanted to see something. She moved toward the Captain. Kathryn watched her approach with hopeful eyes; 'she doesn't seem upset,' she thought.

B'Elanna stood silently in front of her for a moment before reaching out and placing a hand on Kathryn's left shoulder. She lightly moved her finger over the fabric, it was soft and smooth under her fingertips. She moved her hand under the robe as Kathryn stood quietly watching her. She could feel a bandage and she slid the robe from her shoulder so she could see it. The strap of her nightgown lay across the bandage and she slid it off her shoulder before removing the protective barrier. She needed to see with her own eyes that the mark was in fact there.

B'Elanna sucked in a breath as she looked at the mark, red and slightly swollen, just starting to scab over. She looked up and studied Kathryn's face, Kathryn stared back at her—willing her to speak.

"Why did you keep it?"

"Because I couldn't keep the one on my cheek," she answered. "And I wanted to keep it."

"Why would you have ever wanted to keep it?"

"Oh, B'Elanna," she said as she reached up to cup the other woman's chin between her hands. She caressed her cheeks with her hands. "Before you left your mark on my cheek, you said 'forever.' I couldn't keep that mark, so I kept this one instead. Now I'll always remember, no matter what happens, at that moment you wanted it to be forever."

B'Elanna gathered Kathryn into her arms and held on to her tightly.