Usual Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek Voyager or anything associated with it, Paramount does!

Author's Note: I found these stored away, handwritten in a notebook from when I had just finished re-watching Voyager. They are a few of my favorite scenes from the show between the Captain and members of her crew, written from the character's perspectives. No plagiarism is intended; I just wanted to share my snippets and let you enjoy them if you want to! I'll post whenever I get time to type one up. Thank you, and please review!

A Captain's Heart

From: "Night"

Chakotay was talking to a silhouette. The voice that responded halfheartedly to his report was the captain's, yet the small shadow that spoke was not her. Nevertheless, he proposed the game, knowing her fondness for Velocity and desperately needing his friend. "It'll help clear your mind."

"My mind is perfectly clear." Again, that quiet, clipped voice coming from someone he didn't know.

He shifted uncomfortably. "Then what if I told you I'm not leaving until you join me?" he tried.

Her sarcasm dripped off her reply. "I'd say, 'Have a seat; it'll be a while.'"

Something deep inside him flared up in hurt anger, but he tamped it down, only saying, "Then I'll be blunt. You've picked a bad time to isolate yourself from the crew. This ship needs a captain, especially now." His impatience was blooming again. He had waited for so long for her to come back to them, but she had only retreated further away. He just couldn't understand how she could rob the crew of their leader when morale was at its lowest. She had never done this before, and he couldn't comprehend why she should do it now. He could see it was hurting her as much as it was hurting the rest of them.

"Would you be satisfied with, 'I'm just catching up on some reading'?" Kathryn offered in a somewhat placating manner. She walked a little ways toward him, but he still couldn't clearly see her face. "I'm not even sure I understand it myself. It started when we entered this." Gesturing outside, she asked, "What does the crew call it?"

"The Void," he answered softly, all traces of hurt washed away by his renewed concern for her. She turned back away from him to the blackened window.

"Charming," she replied. She ran her hands over her face and groaned, "Oh, what I wouldn't give for a few Borg cubes about now. Anything for a little distraction."

There was a long pause from her small figure. As he watched, he longed to go place a comforting hand on her shoulder as he sensed the misery rolling off her in an endless flood. He thought about how many times he had seen her gazing at the stars, and it was at that moment that he began to understand just how much the darkness outside was affecting her.

He listened quietly, almost holding his breath as she mused, "I almost long for the days when we were under constant attack. No time to stop and think about how we got stranded in the Delta Quadrant." She spun around, catching him off guard. "How did we end up here, Chakotay?"

It was a trap, and he knew it. As she began to circle around him, still not entered the light, he hesitated. She fixed him with a level, icy gaze and stopped pacing. "Answer me," she ordered.

He sighed, "We were faced with a difficult choice. We had the means to get home, but using it would have put an innocent people at risk." He took a strained breath and plowed on. "So we decided to stay."

"No!" she interrupted, her voice low and harsh. He flinched, and then she softened her voice and manner. "No. I decided to stay. I made that choice for everyone."

"We're alive and well," he countered, "and we've gathered enough data about this quadrant to keep Starfleet scientists busy for decades. Our mission's been a success." He hoped she wouldn't sense the lie he had just spoken. He had never really cared about Starfleet. He cared about her, and he knew her only mission had not been accomplished yet.

Unfortunately, she said bitterly, "Very same words I've been telling myself for the past four years. But then we hit this Void." She flung her arm out towards the window, tone rising, "And I started to realize how empty those words sound."

"Kathryn," he pleaded.

She stepped fully into the light for the first time; her eyes were haunted, and her hair fell freely over her face. Her words were punctuated by sharp hand gestures and trembled with self-directed rage. "I made an error in judgement, Chakotay; it was shortsighted! And it was selfish! And now all of us are paying for my mistake." Her voice suddenly dropped dramatically and dangerously as she lowered her head and glared, shadows playing on her features. "So, if you don't mind, Commander, I'll pass on that little game. And I'll leave shipboard morale in your capable hands."

Chakotay struggled for breath. He watched helplessly as she retreated into the darkness, simply letting it swallow her. He heard the small sound of her voice return to its previously composed tone as she finished, "If the crew asks for me, tell them the captain sends her regards."

She had become a silhouette once more, a shadow that he couldn't approach. Her head was bent in emotional defeat and her posture indicated obvious dismissal. Chakotay reluctantly left with hushed footsteps and a heavy heart. The door opened with an empty whoosh and closed with a soft thud.

Silence.