As if things weren't already hectic enough, now the engineering crew had to collect all their equipment that had suddenly gone flying when the ship had stopped.  Not to mention several of the team had been beat up in the incident, reducing the amount of working individuals a great deal.

            "This can't be happening." B'Elanna concluded, shaking her head.  "I must just be dreaming."

            "A bunch of circuits blew when we came to full stop." An assistant handed her a report of the new damages they would be working on.

            "Great." She heaved sarcastically.  "I quit."

            "Cheer up, Lieutenant," The assistant comforted.  "At least the Commander's not down here singing Britney Spears tunes anymore!"

            She allowed a smile to escape.  "True enough.  I was really going to strangle him!"

            "Were not!"

            "You better believe it!" B'Elanna boasted, resuming her work with a bit more cheer.  "What, you don't think I could take Chakotay?  I do have some Klingon rage stored up!"

            "Horrors!" The EMH knelt over his wasted flower vase.  It had flown to the far end of sickbay and exploded into a billion fragments when Tom hit the brakes.  "I'll have to start from scratch!"

            He started cleaning up the mess, feeling another rant coming on.  "Activate log!"

            "Activated."

            "Harry Kim!" He began, preparing a flood of insults.  "Harry Kim… is… Harry… let's come back to Harry, shall we?  Tom Paris!  Aha!  Tom Paris has just destroyed my floral arrangement!  Of all the inconsiderate things he's done this might just be the worst." The doctor seemed oblivious to the damage caused by the sudden stop across the entire ship.  "It seems every family has its prankster, and ours is undoubtedly Mr. Paris.  He'll stoop to anything for a cheap laugh, which really irritates me.  I don't think there's a soul on this ship that hasn't fallen victim to that scoundrel's practical jokes."

            He swept up the last bits of glass and began to start decorating anew.  "Not that he's all bad, of course.  Being the astute observer that I am, I can see the positive side in all my acquaintances, and Tom is helpful during his shifts as my medical assistant.  It's been interesting to watch him reform over the course of this voyage… of course his repentance is mostly thanks to me.  I've given him goals to strive for… a personality to emulate." The EMH sighed.  "He gets all his best traits from me!"

            Again consoled by his bragging, the doctor was able to focus on reconstructing his lost decoration.

            "I failed." Seven of Nine slumped across a table in the mess hall.  "And not only that… I lost the cookies."

            "Well tell me about it." Neelix sympathized.  "What exactly went wrong?"

            She tightened her lips mournfully.  "Commander Chakotay and Tuvok didn't want to violate bridge regulations.  And Mr. Kim is only interested in eating."

            "You took that tray to the bridge?" Neelix asked, a light in his eyes.  "Oh Seven, that's not exactly what I had in mind for you to do!  You have to do these sorts of things in private… catch somebody when they're off duty."

            "You might have mentioned that before I humiliated myself."

            "Don't worry, there'll be plenty of opportunities!  Now how about I teach you how to bake a double-layer chocolate mousse cake?"

            She nodded slowly.  "It is not efficient to give up too quickly.  I will adapt."

            "Sure you will!  Now let's get started!"

            "You've got a crumb in your hair." Janeway pointed.

            Chakotay brushed the top of his head.  "Did I get it?"

            "No, it's still there." She tried not to laugh.  "How did you manage to ruin all of Seven's cookies anyway?"

            "It wasn't my intention." He replied, shaking his head slightly to be rid of the crumb.

            "Still there.  Want me to get it?"

            He ran both his hands through his hair.

            "Still there." Janeway shook her head.  "I don't have any food in my hair, do I?"

            "Since when were you so worried about your hair?" He smiled 'that' smile.  A random girl on the bridge fainted abruptly.

            "I don't think it's a crumb, after all." Janeway ignored the girl and squinted her eyes.  "In fact, it's a button!"

            Harry could be heard sniffling in the back.

            "Oh… where'd that come from?"

            "The computer went haywire and spat out a couple hundred of these today." She explained, plucking the button off her first officer's head.  "I didn't know what to do with them, so I just let them sit there.  This one must have rolled in here."

            "We can't just let them go to waste!" Harry wailed.

            Tom shrugged.  "I agree.  We should do something with them."

            The command team looked unconvinced.

            "We could make a sort of… holiday out of them… everybody gets promoted for the day or something." Tom elaborated.  "That would be fun."

            "This is not a matter to make fun of, Tom." Janeway reasoned.

            "Come on, Captain." Harry pleaded.  "Today's been so boring… please?"

            "Anything would be better than watching these lights blink on and off." Tuvok agreed.

            "It would be good for morale." Chakotay ventured.

            "It seems I'm outnumbered." Janeway said.  "Okay… Tuvok can be in charge of passing the buttons out… but make sure you tell everybody that it's just for the day."

            "Yes, Captain." Tuvok said, happy to be escaping his console.  "I will start now." He took the button she was holding and affixed it to his own collar.  "Interesting…"

            A while later:

            "And that's the last button." Tuvok said.  "The crew has found this to be a reason to be in high-spirits."

            "Good." Janeway nodded.  "But why didn't I get one of these temporary promotions?"

            "Because you are already captain." Tuvok reasoned.

            "Hm." The captain considered.  "But now it looks like we're both captain." She pointed at Chakotay.  "That doesn't work."

            "I used every last button." It didn't occur to anybody that they could just replicate the extra.

            "HEY!" Harry bolted onto the bridge from wherever he had been.  "I didn't get a button!"

            "I was as thorough as is possible." Tuvok explained.  "There are no more buttons to give."

            "No!" Harry cried.  "This is so wrong!"

            "It's just for fun, Harry!  Lighten up." Janeway walked over to him.

            "But it was my idea!"

            "Actually, it was mine." Tom reminded him.  "I'm just so clever!  Like when I thought up this seat belt."

            "I'll make it up to you later." Janeway surprised everybody by snatching Harry's single button.  "HAHA!  Now I can be Super Captain!"

            "Super Captain?" Chakotay looked skeptical.

            The captain installed the fifth button.  "Of course.  I have no intention of letting you become my equal!"

            "Hey!" Harry whimpered.  "Why'd you have to do that?  Now almost everybody on the ship outranks me!"

            Tuvok cleared his throat innocently.

            "No way…" Kim said in disbelief.  "Well… Naomi Wildman doesn't outrank me… does she?"

            "For the time being… everybody does outrank you." Tuvok admitted.

            Harry buried his face in his hands and leaned his forehead on his console.

            "You're taking this too seriously, Ensign." The captain sighed.

            "Oh sure… he's taking it too seriously." Chakotay mocked.  "Unlike Super Captain over here."

            "You know you like it." She held up one hand.  "Now show some respect for your Super Captain."

            "I'll respect you all right…" He threatened playfully, grabbing her arm.

            "No flirting on the bridge." Tom pointed at the rule sheet, which clearly stated: 'NO FLIRTING ON THE BRIDGE!'

            "I didn't write that one…" Janeway looked confused.

            "I thought you wouldn't notice." Tom said, disappointed.  "That would have been really funny, too." He silently hoped that she wouldn't notice his other additions until later.

            "Ensign!" Seven of Nine walked through the turbo-lift doors anxiously.  "Why are you on the bridge?  You're off duty."

            "I came here to get a button… but instead, the captain stole mine!" Harry replied.

            "I got a button." Seven said carelessly.  "But look what I brought you!"

            He looked up and was greeted by a rather nice-looking chocolate cake.  "I'm not in the mood."

            She looked aggrieved.  "Not even… for the Delta Flyer?" She gestured towards the cake hopefully.  "It's looking for a docking bay!"

            "Don't start that again…"

            Seven stared.  "If you eat the cake… I'll give you this button."

            "Really?"

            "Why wouldn't I give a button to my romantic interest?"

            "Don't call me that!" Harry grimaced.  "All I am to you is a taste-tester!"

            "Good idea, Harry!" She set the cake on the ground and attacked the unsuspecting officer with a forceful kiss.

            "Maybe we should pass that no flirting rule." Janeway was disgusted.

            "That wouldn't be any fun!" Chakotay looked horrified.

            Harry was finally able to fend off the Borg.  "That's not what I meant, Seven!  Take it easy!"

            Seven turned a little red.  "I thought you were making a suggestive remark… I think I need more practice identifying those."

            "It's not too hard." Janeway offered.  "You know it when somebody is saying something like that.  For example: I'll respect you, all right." She raised an eyebrow at Chakotay.  "Just for the record, so would I."

            "Stop that…" Harry said.  "You're encouraging Seven to act inappropriately!"

            Suddenly, Tom Paris' eyes became extremely wide.  He snapped on his seat belt and threw Voyager into a complete stop again.  The bridge team was thrown to the front once more.

            "Transporter room," Tom blabbered excitedly.  "Beam up these coordinates now!" He galloped out of sight.

            "Get that away from my eye!" Somebody in the heap complained.

            "Ow… ow… stop moving like that, you're hurting me." Someone else moaned.

            "My chocolate cake…" Seven mourned, practically flattened under the weight of Tuvok.  "What are the odds?"

            "I'm pinned." Janeway cried.  "Who can move?"

            "I think I broke something this time…" Chakotay breathed.

            "Yeah… you broke me!  Try to move." The captain struggled helplessly.

            After much moaning, groaning, and cursing, everybody untangled and stood up.

            "You do that on purpose." Seven blamed, noticing the chocolate stain on Chakotay's uniform.

            "Ow… ow…" He clinched his teeth, holding his arm painfully.

            "Oh sure." Seven sniffled.  "Try to win sympathy from me… I'm holding you responsible for my cake… and my cookies."

            "I'm sure it was delicious." Harry licked his lips, finding his appetite again.

            "You really did break your arm, didn't you?" The captain began fixing her hair again.  "I thought you were just whining."

            "No… ow…" Chakotay cringed.

            "Captain," Seven said.  "I suggest you administer medical treatment on the commander.  It works wonders." She winked at Harry.

            "Don't you ever think about anything else?" Harry threw his hands in the air.

            "That's it…" The captain declared.  "Tom's losing all 'promotion day' privileges.  I'm sick of him."

            "Ugh… I'm a mess." Chakotay glanced at the state he was in.  "I think there's chocolate frosting in my ear."

            That seemed to intrigue the captain to a certain extent.  "Really?  That's… um… interesting.  Want me to get it?"

            "My arm's broken!  I'm just not in the mood."

            "Men." Seven shook her head.  "When will they realize that resistance is futile and comply?"

            "Hi guys!" Tom returned, unaffected by the mess he had created.  "Look what I found in space!"

            "Unless it's a hairbrush, I'm not interested." Janeway growled.

            "Well… it's actually a bubble gum wrapper… and there's a little comic printed on it.  Is that nifty, or what?" Voyager's pilot said.

            Tuvok, being the only person composed enough to return to his station, alerted the group that the ship was being hailed.

            "Oh GOD!  Not when I'm looking like this!" Janeway panicked.  "Everybody get to your spots immediately!"

            "But I think I'm bleeding internally!" Chakotay argued.

            "Live with it, Commander.  This is more important!  On screen!"

            An unrecognizable alien appeared on the view screen.  "Greetings!" He said, wrinkling his nose when he noticed the condition the bridge crew was in.

            "Hello." Janeway tried to look charming, but it was hard considering her hair was a mess and there was a scrape on her cheek.  "I am Super Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Starship Voyager."

            "Have you been in a battle recently?" The friendly alien was concerned.

            "You've just caught us at a bad time…" Harry explained.  "You know… one of those days?"

            "Kathryn… I need to go to sickbay…" Chakotay requested tiredly.

            "Shhhh.  I'm doing Super Captain stuff." She scolded back.

            "Should we contact you later?" The alien asked.

            "No!" The captain waved her hands.  "We're fine."

            "I'm not fine!  This could become infected and kill me!" The commander negated her statement again.

            "If you don't shut it, I'm going to kill you!" Janeway said out of the corner of her mouth, smiling afterwards.

            "Gotcha!" Seven announced as she pounced onto Harry, knocking them both to the ground.

            "Kathryn!"

            "Seven, get off of me!"

            "This is illogical!"

            "SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!"

            "You are insane." The alien remarked shrewdly.  "Do not contact our race… I would be afraid you're craziness would get to my people." The connection was lost, and the other ship sailed away.