--Disclaimer-- Paramount owns all rights to characters, sets, yadda yadda yadda. I own nothing but the plots. All hail Paramount and TPTB…unless of course you're referring to Endgame. Then shoot them.

--Warning-- I am an avid J/Cer. If you are offended by this, do not keep reading. The following material may contain oodles of unbelievably cheesy J/C. Deal with it.

--R/R ing-- Please r/r. Flames welcome, as long as they're not along the lines of 'I hate this story. It sucks.' Flames gotta have a REASON. Then I'm fine.

--A/N-- I have absolutely NO idea when I'm gonna get this chapter done. I have finals next week (Jan 21-23), and I really should be studying. If, somehow, I manage to finish this chapter and study for finals, you all must hail me as some sort of genius. If not, then, well…I hope all you previous reviewers out there haven't lost interest in my unfinished story. And again, this is one of those awkward in-between chapters. There's not really much action going on. Unless you count Kathryn getting undressed to be action. Happy reading. :)

--Coffee Problems--

--Chapter 3 – Withdrawal--

"Kathryn…are we still on for dinner tonight?"

She sighed. "Uh…yeah. Sure. Why not? Just- don't make anything too complicated. I'll eat anything, as long as Neelix hasn't touched it."

Her companion smacked her playfully. The teasing evident in his baritone, he reproached her, "Kathryn! I thought Starfleet Captains were supposed to be diplomatic."

"There's only so much even we can take. That's why we all have first officers," Kathryn laughed in response.

They stopped in front of her door, and Kathryn entered, voicing her authorization code.

"Kathryn…is there anything I can do to help?

She smiled. "Well, I don't really think so. I'll be feeling awful for a few days – I don't know how I'll possibly get up in the morning without coffee. But I guess I'll have to start drinking energy blends or something," Kathryn finished with a shudder.

Chakotay still had his doubts about a coffee-free Kathryn. It was definitely what he'd been vying for, but actually getting his wish would be a little surreal. "If you're sure…then I guess I'll see you at dinner. Get some rest, Kathryn."

"Oh, I will. I think falling asleep is the only way I'll be able to keep my mind off coffee."

A grin appeared on his dark face. "This is going to be so much fun."

"Oh shut up, Chakotay."

He retreated, the doors softly swooshing shut behind him. Kathryn groaned and picked up a nearby PADD. Maybe reading B'Elanna's latest Engineering report would keep her busy. She glanced at the title and closed her eyes in dismay. 'Ways to increase warp core output efficiency by up to 0.047%'. That wouldn't distract her; she'd need coffee just to keep her awake through reading it. And thinking about coffee would lead to cravings, which would lead to- Stop, she told herself. You're not going to think about coffee any longer. There's no such thing. Think about…anything else. Tuvok, for example. Or Tom's latest Holodeck program.

Dropping the Engineering report, Kathryn instead picked up her new favorite Delcara Lewis novel. She'd started reading it over three weeks ago; lately, however, it seemed as if she hadn't had enough time to get through more than a few pages before someone interrupted. Maybe this would keep her occupied. She fell back onto her couch, thumbing through the chapters until she reached where she had left off. Sinking into the comfortable cushions, Kathryn began to read.

Exactly forty-seven minutes later, she sighed. She'd thought about coffee on an average of twice every five minutes; this obviously wasn't working. Maybe a nice, relaxing, hot bubble bath would help take her mind off things. Still in her uniform, Kathryn stumbled into her adjoining bathroom, making her way to the tub. She turned the hot water on full blast and poured lavender-scented bubble bath under the running stream. She slowly took off her clothes and sunk into the myriad of bubbles, reveling in the feeling of the steaming bath.

Later, Kathryn toweled herself off and checked the time. It was 1730 hours, so that still gave her well over an hour to get ready for dinner. Picking some lightly scented lavender lotion and perfume, she rummaged through her closet for something to wear. She finally settled on a sheer white blouse paired with loose-fitting green cloth pants. Brown loafers completed the casual outfit. The entire loose, earthy ensemble vaguely reminded Kathryn of New Earth, and that was definitely the look she was going for. She carefully daubed on some sheer makeup and headed to the replicator. She was visibly restraining herself from ordering a steaming cup of coffee. No. Focus on the matter at hand here, she reminded herself. What could she bring for Chakotay? A book, perhaps. Mentally scanning through the ones she had seen on his shelf, Kathryn decided on Angela's Ashes. He would appreciate that book, she knew. It wasn't on the required Academy list, and she hadn't ever heard him talk about it. Kathryn assumed he hadn't read it. And even if he had, she was pretty sure Chakotay didn't have a print copy aboard Voyager.

"Computer, what time is it?"

"1845 hours."

She would head out in ten minutes. Meanwhile, she grabbed her Delcara Lewis novel and slouched back onto the couch, trying not to think about coffee.

-- Okay, horribly boring place to stop, I know. So sue me. (Actually, don't. I've got about fourteen bucks at the moment). Did anyone notice the Magic Trek Number? It appears twice. The Number is so omniscient that it makes its way even to the Trek Fandom. Also, the name Delcara is taken from the TNG novel Vendetta. She's a beautiful woman who's out to get the Borg in a ship that's scarier than even their cubes. And Picard has decided to get in her way (sort of). It makes for an interesting read. If you're a TNG fan, go take a look. Angela's Ashes is a good book, too. It's not ST, but you should read it anyway. --