When she came back she found him sitting on the couch, nervously drumming his fingers on the armrest. As soon as she entered the door he jumped up.

"Oh, no need to get up-" she began, then she took a closer look at what he was wearing. His outfit consisted of dark blue satin pajamas, with the shirt left slightly unbuttoned to reveal a tempting glance of his chest. She caught herself staring.

"Is there something wrong with this outfit?" he asked and seemed worried.

"No, definitely not. You look good. I mean... you look hot, actually."

"Oh, really?" He smiled, genuinely surprised to receive such a compliment from another person. From a woman, especially. In the past it had always been him complimenting on other's looks, may it be Seven, Irina or anyone else. Although Irina had called him handsome once before, "hot" was something new. But now that he heard it for the first time he was sure he could get used to it.

"Yes, really. I always thought you were quite confident with your appearance, isn't that the case?"

"Well, I am not unhappy with my creator's physique. However, nobody has ever called me 'hot' before."

"Oh I am sure Danara Pel must have felt the same way about you."

"Yes, I suppose so." He nodded. Even though he assumed that Irina was right, Danara would have never used that word to describe him. She had been way more shy and reserved than Irina was. Irina spoke her mind and made clear what she thought and what she wanted. He had to admit, he liked that character trait a lot.

"What do you think, should we go to bed?" she asked, sitting on one side of it, leaving space for him to sit next to her. The bed was only intended for one person but she was sure they would fit in somehow.

"I would love to, but as you might know-"

"I know, you're unable to sleep."

"Yes, exactly."

"Could you do me a favour then?"

"I'm sure I can. What is it?"

"Could you just lie down with me and hold me for a while? I'm dead tired, I think I will be asleep in no time."

"Oh, of course. Whatever you want."

They snuggled under the blanket and the Doctor hugged Irina from behind, his hand resting on her belly. Since the bed was rather small, they had to squeeze together really tight, but none of them minded that. Finally, they had found a place where they could enjoy each other's company without any limitations. No risk of someone entering any time, no mobile emitter, no holodeck timer running out. Irina laid her hand on the Doctor's, his skin feeling warm under her touch. She could sense his body becoming more and more relaxed with every breath he took. It was good to know he felt better now. She understood that he had been nervous, since he had never lived with anyone else. He had always been on his own. And so had she, at least since she lived on Voyager. It would take some time to get used to the change, that much was certain. But although she was light years from home she had found something... or someone... that she had never imagined when she was back on earth. On this little ship, lost in the Delta Quadrant, threatened by the Borg, the Kazon, the Hirogen and whoever else they might encounter in the future, she had found love.

She still remembered how it felt when she had fallen in love with the Doctor. How she could not believe it at first and was eager to forget about it as soon as possible. How she dreamt of lying in his arms, here in her quarters, in her bed, but how she was certain that was never going to happen. But somehow, it had happened. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. To feel the warmth of him lying next to her was like a dream coming true. It had been so long since someone hugged her like that. Since she had fallen asleep in a man's arms like that. And she had not felt as safe as she did now in a very long time.

For the Doctor, however, this was the first time he went to sleep with a woman. Of course he had experienced sex before, but the act of going to bed with someone just to sleep was actually new to him. He loved having sex with Irina, but this here was something different. It was so calming and relaxing to feel her lying in his arms and just being there, with nothing to do, nothing to say and nothing to worry about. Sadly, he himself could not sleep but simply lying here with her was enough to fill his heart with warmth and comfort.

When he was first activated he wouldn't even have dreamed of where he was today. Not only did he have the chance to have sex... And God, how wonderful that was... He also had the chance to have a real long-term relationship. And all of that not with another hologram, but with another human. For him, that he was just programmed as the ship's doctor – and actually not even that, just the emergency doctor – that was more than he could ever have imagined. And yet, here he was. Mostly thanks to Irina. Of course, also thanks to Danara, but what they had was something very different. He loved her, but they had only two weeks until she had to head back to her people. With Irina he had years, hopefully. Years to learn and to get familiar with what it meant to live in a relationship. He was sure that not everything was going to be easy, but he definitely wanted to experience it. He wanted to go through all the highs and the lows together with her. He wanted to learn, to grow as a person and to be a good man for her.

He rested his head on his hand to be able to look at her better. How she was lying there, her face only lit by the stars outside the cabin window, she looked so fragile with her pale skin and her light blonde hair. But he knew that she definitely wasn't. She was always so strong and determined, most likely more than he was. He would have never told anyone but he admired her for that. She was not a hologram that could learn everything just by downloading new information into her data base. When she started working at sickbay, she had to learn everything from the bottom up. She had to sit down for hours every day and study. But still, she had mastered every task he had given her. She had become an important part of his work life but also his closest friend. And she had forgiven him his mistakes every single time.

"I don't know how I deserve you," he whispered into her hair but he didn't receive an answer. Instead, he could hear her breath going slowly and regularly. Apparently she was already fast asleep. So that meant, since he lacked the ability to sleep, that it was time for him to leave. But somehow he did not want to move one bit. Now, that he was lying here with her, getting back to sickbay wasn't so urgent anymore. It was night time, and if there was an emergency they would be called anyways. The work that was left could easily be done tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow maybe. It didn't really matter. The only thing he knew for certain was that he wanted to stay here with her just a little longer.

~ THE END ~ (for now)

So it is done! :) The story is finally finished, I can hardly believe it... For something that started out as "let's just write some random stuff during my lunch break" it became quite a long story I guess :D I want to thank all of my readers and especially everyone who left reviews! I love you guys! And I am so glad I am not the only Doctor fan out there. *woot* Your reviews were a huge motivation to keep writing and reading one always made my day a little brighter. Thank you so much! Also the constructive criticism helped a lot and I learned something new about the English language.

Now I am going to write some Doctor/Seven stuff I think. However, I've still got many ideas left for this story, too... And Irina kind of has a place in my heart so probably I'll continue. Actually I want to continue, but I can't promise that I'll find the time. If I do, I will add the new chapters here :)

If you have any requests or something that you would like to read just write me. I am always thankful for new inspiration :)

Persistentsquirrel out! *flies away on starship Voyager*