Disclaimer: Star Trek and its world, characters and ideas all belong to Paramount. The story belongs to me. I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to Cat C for her friendship and editing abilities.

1 Chapter 5

Chakotay grinned, dimples in full force, eyes sparkling mischievously, "Kathryn, are you inviting me to meet your family?"

Kathryn blushed again; "I didn't mean that the way you are taking it, Chakotay" gave a small grin as she spoke, letting him know that she was joking too. She really would love for him to meet her mother and her sister, Phoebe. She actually liked the idea of her family meeting the man she had been so close to for seven years, to approve of him in some way. She knew that she did want to have a relationship with him, eventually, considering he was the other half of her soul. She was not going to admit this to him too soon though, because she wasn't ready. She was still the Captain until Starfleet made the decisions that had to be made, and things settled down…

Chakotay grinned, "I'd love to come to meet your family, Kathryn. I've never been to Indiana." And I'd love to see where you grew up, and what makes you… you! He added in his thoughts.

She turned away from him, because she was blushing. She took a sip of her coffee to cover up the burning of her face. "It's beautiful there and very serene. It was a nice place to grow up." She changed the subject and started to go over the padds of information that she had been gathering about the Maquis, the Equinox crew and herself. The two officers worked together beautifully, and went over all of the reports, making changes, and adding information.

Chakotay almost couldn't stand being so close to her, yet restricted by her 'protocols'. He knew she loved him too, and was hoping to use this time to show her that her own feelings matched his. He could smell her perfume and her shampoo and it was driving him crazy. He took deep breaths to inhale her essence. One time, as they were bending over looking at a padd between them, he looked over at her noticed that her face was mere centimeters from his. His lips could feel the warmth radiating from her. He studied her face, drinking in every nuance, and was not paying attention to what she was saying. She turned to see why he had not responded to her question, and realized how close they were. They stared into each other's eyes for what felt like hours! He was so tempted to lean forward and just kiss her when she turned away, clearing her throat.

Later, Chakotay pointed out some good defensive evidence about a Maquis crewmember. When Kathryn turned to look at him, and found him staring back at her a hairsbreadth from her lips, her heart began to race. She felt his hesitation about wanting to kiss her, and wished he would just do it. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her and kiss her. When this thought crossed her mind, she blushed and turned her head quickly. As she turned her head away, a lock of her hair got caught up in his pips. "Oww!" she exclaimed.

Chakotay chuckled, more for relief of the situation than the humor that it provided. "Hold still, Kathryn. Let me try to get your hair out. I don't want to hurt you." He took the hair and tried to gently remove it from his rank pins, but it wouldn't budge. He tried to remove the pips, but they only pulled her hair further. Her hair was wrapped tightly around them. "What a mess this is! I can't remove them, without pulling your hair further, and I don't want to hurt you." He said, looking at her, but only seeing the back of her head due to the position she had to be in to keep her hair from being pulled. "What should we do? Should we call the Doctor?" he said with amusement in his voice. "That would surely cause gossip within the crew."

"Oh, Chakotay, this isn't funny. Can't you get them off your uniform?" she asked. She tried to reach over her head to get her hair out of the pins, but couldn't see to get it out easily. When her arms got tired, she said, "I just can't believe this. I think I'm tangling it more. I'm glad my hair wasn't longer! This is surely an embarrassing situation. I don't want to have to call for help, and I really don't want to cut my hair – I have no scissors near here anyway. Is there someone we can trust call to help us that wouldn't tell the crew?" she thought aloud. "Maybe we could call Tuvok or B'Elanna?" she suggested.

Chakotay began to laugh. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather not call anyone in. Tuvok has been known to start a few rumors himself, and B'Elanna will just laugh at us." He mused. "Could we replicate some scissors?" He asked. He then laughed. "Of course, I could just remove my uniform." He added playfully.

Kathryn rolled her eyes, "I don't think we need to go to that extreme, Chakotay. I suppose we could try the scissors, but then my hair would be uneven, and I'd have no way to explain that." She said. "Isn't there another way?" She rested her head on his shoulder, tired from keeping it in one position.

"It seems our two choices are cutting it, or either B'Elanna and Tuvok. They are the only two people I can think of that I would trust." Chakotay said. He felt a pleasant warmth fill him when she put her head on his shoulder.

Just then, the chime of her clock in her room alerted both of them that it was noon. "Lunchtime, she said. The whole crew will be heading for the Mess Hall. We need to make a decision quickly. They'll wonder why we're coming in late, together, to lunch otherwise. We also need to tell the crew what Admiral Paris said." She said.

"Janeway to B'Elanna" she said, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, Captain" was her reply.

"Could you please come to my quarters?" Kathryn asked, rolling her eyes.

"Of course, Captain. I'll be right there." she said.

"Ok, well, that was my command decision. You have to explain this to her!" Janeway said to Chakotay.

"Awww, I was hoping to remove my uniform." He teased. "Then, of course, we could get the hair out and not have to tell anyone, but I'd have to explain why I was hot and bothered."

The door chimed, and Kathryn yelled "Enter! Come in quickly and close the door."

When B'Elanna saw the two commanding officers on the couch, with the Captain's head on the Commander's shoulders, she smiled at them. "What can I help you two with?" she smirked. "Need some love advice from an old married lady?"

The Captain tried to turn her head to see the engineer, but couldn't without pulling her hair. She ignored the last comment. "As you can see, Lieutenant, we have a bit of a problem. While we were going over these reports, I misjudged where the Commander was sitting. When I flipped my hair, it got caught in the Commander's pips. We tried to remove it ourselves, but it is an awkward position for both of us and we just managed to tangle my hair further. Could you help us, and NOT mention it to anyone? That is an order, not a word to anyone, including your husband. He is one of the worst gossips on board!"

B'Elanna smiled. "Your hair is caught? Why, Captain, how did this happen!" she smirked. "I wish I could take a holo of it first!" she added, laughing. She had to move the coffee table out of the way to get to them, and knelt in front of the command team. She started working on extricating the hair from the rank pins. "Of course I'll help, and I'll try to keep it quiet, but this is quite funny. I know Tom likes to talk but, Captain, we are not aboard Voyager anymore. News doesn't travel as fast now. The crew are more interested in contacting their families than spreading gossip." She said.

She looked at Chakotay; "I call this working a little to close together. Then again, Tom and I usually remove our uniforms before we 'get close'. " She said, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice. She then looked the Captain in the eye, "Everyone on the ship knows the two of you have feelings for each other. Why do you hide it from us? Or are you hiding them from yourself as well?" she asked with a concerned look on her face. "Do you feel that we'll think less of you for being human? Don't. We all want to see you happy. Tom and I told Chakotay that at breakfast this morning."

She extricated the hair, with out many casualties, and removed the pips for the Commander to inspect. There were a few red strands of hair still attached to the pips. "Thank you, Lieutenant. You're dismissed to go to lunch." Chakotay said as B'Elanna finished. He said this before the Captain could air her thoughts. He was afraid she would say something to B'Elanna that would make them both mad.

Chakotay thanked her, swore her to secrecy and sent her on to the mess hall. He then removed the few pieces of hair from his pips and put them back on his collar. He handed Kathryn the hair. "Here you go, this is all you lost, thanks to B'Elanna. We should go now, we don't want to be too late." He then looked at her, "B'Elanna was right, we are no longer aboard Voyager, and those protocols no longer apply." He said, hoping to soften her hold on her feelings.

She looked up into his dark eyes, "Thank you, Chakotay, for swearing her to secrecy. I can't imagine what the crew would think if that story came out." She said, turning red. "I wouldn't want them to think we were doing anything improper." She looked at him again, "I know we are not on board Voyager anymore, but I need time to realize that. It still feels like it, and seven years of bottling up my feelings is going to take time to sort out. I will come around, I have been thinking a lot already, but I'm not quite ready yet." She told him truthfully. "Let's go to lunch." She said, standing up and motioning to the door.

They stood up, walked to the door and into the hallway. Several of the same Jr. Officers were still talking in the hallway, and looked over at the pair. Looks were directed to Commander Chakotay, asking in unspoken words what their long conversation was about.

He shook his head almost imperceptibly, but enough for the officers to know to keep quiet, for now. They had all agreed that the Captain and the Commander made a good couple, but she had obviously had not figured that out yet.

When the command team walked into the Mess Hall together, the crew turned to see them. The Captain had put on her "Captain's Mask" and was all business, and the Commander looked amused.

The Captain addressed her crew. "I have recently spoken to Admiral Paris. He informed me that our stay here shouldn't last much longer." At this, the crew burst out in applause. She raised her hands and waited until the noise died down before she continued. "He said that we only have a few more tests, and Starfleet Medical will clear us all to visit our families here on Earth. At this point in time, they want to keep an eye on us for further medical complications, so anyone who has family that are not planetside needs to contact them and have them make arrangements to come to Earth for your reunion. We will have a few weeks to catch up before Starfleet will begin to call us back for debriefing. We will all be debriefed except, of course, Miral Paris since she is unable to talk." She said, and again waited until the laughter died down. "You may contact your families now, and inform those who need it that they can stay in the VIP housing until we are released. Are their any questions?" she looked around. When no hands were raised, she said, "Alright, you may begin contacting your families after lunch. We have no definitive dates yet, but it will be soon."

After her address to the crew, she walked over to the food line, picked out an appetizing lunch salad and fresh coffee, then sat down at the table with the Senior officers. Commander Chakotay wasn't far behind her, and sat across the table from her.

The command team did not have the overwhelming feeling of being watched this meal, though every time there was laughter from a group of the crew, Janeway blushed slightly, wondering if they knew of the prior incident. She kept brushing her hair with her fingers, trying to erase any evidence of what happened.

More to come… Please review? : )