Author's Note: Wow this is going to be one nasty long sucker! Thanks for all the reviews… to all the faithful; you know who you are… don't stop reading… So I was a little unsure of where to go with this… so we'll do some observation from the bridge people's POV's and I'll take it from there.

As the doors to the turbolift hissed open and he finally stepped back onto Voyager's bridge, he noticed the Captain and Commander on the bridge, exchanging idol chitchat. They seemed comfortable with each other, but as he walked back to his ops station he couldn't help but notice how distant the Captain seemed. As they awaited the return of the other bridge officers, he could hear her laugh and he even caught sight of a smile, exchanged between the two. But her laugh was shallow and her eyes did not sparkle when she smiled. Something had happened while the crew was in the escape pods. Even though it was not obvious, you could cut the tension with a knife. The jokes and laughs were strained and nothing of the blossoming relationship that he had seen before the Kazon attacks. But he noticed something that he'd never seen before, the Commander was holding the Captain's hand.

He strutted onto the bridge, ready with a very snide remark, a funny comment, anything to catch the Captain off guard. He loved doing that, always loved to see her smile, and hear her insults. He was glad as anything that they had all lived through that ordeal, and he was glad to be back on the bridge so he could see his Captain. Taking his seat, he looked back at the Captain and Commander talking. He could feel the jealousy rising up from the pit of his stomach, but as he looked closer he noticed something a little different about the command pair. The Captain's smile was a fake one, and Chakotay's eyes did not dance like they used to. Something had happened between the pair, and noticing that they were no longer enraptured by each other made Tom delighted. He wanted to know what exactly had caused them to be so cautious around each other, but he couldn't be happier to be back on Voyager, until he saw the Commander take hold of the Captain's hand.

She watched as the crew assembled back on the bridge, and as she pretended to be interested in what Chakotay was saying, she could feel her mind wandering. What if she really did love him? It was not possible, she was not allowed, she couldn't, she had Mark… All rational thought went against it, but when she looked over at him and saw his smile, she felt her heart jump and her knees go weak. She could not love him! After what happened on the bridge, after he saved her, and the ship, she had thrown her arms around him in a hug of gratitude, but they held on too long and too tight, and she knew it had to end now, before she lost control. She swore that as long as she was Captain, as long as she was in Starfleet, hell as long as she was Kathryn Janeway, she would not love him. She couldn't love him. But as she looked over at him, he smiled again and she felt her defenses crumble again.

He knew that he had saved her from making a horrible mistake, he had saved her life and the ship, but he couldn't help linger on the fact that she had wanted to tell him something. She was about to utter something, and instead as he fired the torpedo she had told him not to miss. He longed to know what she thought during that split second... a few thoughts ran through his head as the bridge officers returned one by one.

"God Chakotay … I'll kill you if you miss, I'll take out my phaser and kill you"

"God Chakotay … I'm in love with Tom and never told him"

"God Chakotay … I hate you."

"God Chakotay … I love you…"

He knew it couldn't be the last one; there was no way that she was in love with him. He knew that he would always remain eternally devoted to her… but she was not in love with him. After all she followed Starfleet protocol to the tee and a relationship was strictly forbidden. As he smiled at her, he saw something in her eyes, a glow he had never seen before, almost a glow of adoration. She couldn't love him. Could she?

As he walked through the doors raptly awaiting orders, he was disturbed by the sight that lay before him. The Captain and Commander we laughing, Ensign Kim was staring at the pair and Lieutenant Paris had his eyes fixed on the Captain. Tuvok was disturbed by the lack of professionalism on board the ship. He was just about to talk to the Captain when she stood up and looked around, tears forming in her eyes. As she began to speak her eyes lingered on Commander Chakotay, but the intangible fire that was once burning between them had died out a bit, but as he looked closer, he could see that the Commander, who too had risen from his seat, had placed his hand on the small of the Captain's back. Apparently the fire had not been extinguished, it had grown stronger.

So I'll put some plot into the next chapter…