AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

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Chakotay would be forever grateful to the EMH that his ever-adapting subroutines had read and understood enough of the situation to quickly tell Kathryn that, in sickbay, relationship protocols weren't expected to be followed in the same way they might be on the bridge.

With that information almost immediately offered to her, she'd practically fallen into Chakotay's arms. She'd allowed him to help her out of her badly burnt and damaged uniform. She'd allowed him to help her cover herself in the teal sickbay blanket that preserved a little of her modesty, and kept her covered from the eyes of any of her crew members that entered sickbay seeking treatment for injuries, while baring her injured back to the doctor. She'd rested her head against Chakotay's chest, as he stood next to her at the biobed, and she'd accepted his affection as the doctor had scanned her and started treatment.

Chakotay lifted his head enough to allow Kathryn to tip hers to the side. While the doctor worked, mending the cruel burns that covered her back and shoulders, Kes pressed hyposprays at intervals into Kathryn's neck. Kathryn sighed after the hiss of the hypospray and Chakotay immediately stepped closer, again, and kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you, Kes," Kathryn said.

"You're welcome, Captain," Kes offered. She scanned Kathryn once more.

"Well?" Chakotay asked.

Kes gave him a smile that he believed.

"Her fluid levels are beginning to level out," Kes said. "She needs quite a few more infusions for them to balance entirely, but they're improving. Her breathing rate is returning to normal. Her pulse is leveling out, and her blood pressure is beginning to make the shift back toward what we want it to be."

"In short," the doctor offered, "the selected course of treatment is having the desired effect."

"I'm starting to feel much better," Kathryn ceded.

Kathryn was not one to complain. In fact, she was one that was almost stoically "fine" to a fault. Chakotay always imagined her to be the kind of person who might be found holding one of her severed limbs and declaring that she didn't need medical attention. She fought against most kinds of attention, for herself, and almost always tried to deflect any attention onto someone else.

She was notorious for not taking care of her body. She neglected meals more often than anyone should, and Chakotay had worried, since he'd met her, that she ignored the fact that her body could not run on coffee alone. There were many times he convinced her simply to sip a glass of water if she refused everything else. She hardly slept, putting in hours that might be acceptable for a species like a Vulcan, but were simply too much for a human. And she was practically a professional at skipping her required medical check ups until she was nearly brought in under threat of the doctor temporarily relieving her of her position as captain.

When they'd entered sickbay this time, though, she hadn't argued or fought with anyone. She'd immediately recounted her symptoms, and she'd turned herself over for treatment—even asking for Chakotay's help instead of merely accepting it or having to be forced into accepting it.

She'd been more than happy to let Kes step away to treat the few wounded that came in—the majority of Voyager's crew members seeming to have stepped away from their conflict with the Kazon physically unharmed—but she hadn't pretended, not even for a moment, that she wasn't among the wounded and wasn't in need of her own share of medical attention.

Her only real request was that they put her mind at ease by scanning the baby—a request that, in all honesty, tugged at something deep inside Chakotay, as well as surprising him. Assured that the baby appeared stable, she gave permission to the EMH to do whatever he deemed best to guarantee that she recovered and the little one stayed well.

"The baby?" Kathryn asked after Kes's latest scan.

Chakotay smiled to himself. He felt her brush her face against his chest where it rested—he felt her nuzzle against him. The pain medication may have been just a little to blame for her affection, but he liked to believe that great deal of it came from simply having the EMH's explicit permission to behave like any couple might under similar circumstances.

"The readings show that the baby is fine," Kes said. "Heart rate remains strong and normal."

"The baby doesn't even know what's going on," Chakotay offered. "You're taking such good care of it."

Kathryn laughed quietly.

"It's just too small," Kathryn said.

"The baby is protected," the doctor offered, "and the mother's body is repairing itself well, given the circumstances. Do I have to order the two days of rest that I would like you to take, Captain, or will you take the time to fully recuperate without me having to issue a direct order?"

Kathryn laughed quietly, and Chakotay dared to let his hands trail down the lower part of her arms and find her hands. She intertwined her small fingers with his.

"I don't know the extent of the damage on the ship," Kathryn said. "I don't know what we may find as we're leaving Kazon space. I don't suppose there's any way I can take those two days off in a few days, is there, Doctor?"

Chakotay turned his hands to squeeze her fingers and massage her hands. He stepped away, just enough to give her the room to tip her head to the side, as Kes approached with another timed infusion of fluids, electrolytes, and vitamins that would help her body replenish everything it had lost in the fight against severe and widespread burns.

"I'm afraid not," the doctor said. "Captain—you and your little one are going to make a full recovery, but that doesn't mean that my assessment of the situation couldn't be wrong under different circumstances. Whether or not you're feeling the full effects of it, your body has been through a serious trauma. You're going to need time to recover from that, and to rebuild your strength. You may straighten your position, now, to allow me to make sure that I haven't missed anything."

Kathryn grimaced when Chakotay helped her straighten her spine.

"I was teasing, mostly, Doctor," Kathryn said. "I understand. Short of emergency, I'm willing to accept the two days without putting up much of a fight."

"Even in the case of emergency," Chakotay offered, "I think we're going to be able to handle things for two days, Kathryn. Besides, it might do you good to start learning how to delegate some tasks and to rest."

"The Commander is correct," the doctor offered. "You're going to have to start listening to your body, Captain. Very soon it will be making more demands of you than you have probably imagined in the past. The skin has all been repaired. I've done the best I can with the muscles, ligaments, and other tissues. Still, I prescribe two days of absolute rest followed by a slow return to normal activities. You will likely have some discomfort as your body continues the healing process. Your muscles are likely to be sore and, perhaps, rather tight."

"I can feel that," Kathryn agreed, stretching her back slightly.

"Is there anything we can do to make things more comfortable?" Chakotay asked.

Clearly satisfied with the condition of Kathryn's back, the doctor walked around and, taking the place that Kes normally occupied when she was administering something to Kathryn, he began scanning Kathryn.

"The same things you would do for any tight or sore muscles," the doctor offered. "Warm baths to relax the muscles, moisturizer for the healing and regenerated skin, gentle massage…nothing the captain should find too objectionable. Though you should be sure to keep the temperature of your water from being too hot. It can cause complications with your pregnancy."

"Duly noted," Kathryn offered.

Chakotay accepted the replicated uniform that Kes brought to replace the one that the captain had lost.

"Well, how am I now, Doctor?" Kathryn asked.

"You still need some time for everything to return to normal," the doctor said. "However, you're well on your way to recovery. Kes is going to program the replicator to produce the fluid infusion that you require. Your fluid levels are evening out, but I'm still going to request that you take the preparation every half hour for the next four hours, and then every hour for the following eight hours. After that, I will pay a visit to your quarters to see how things are going."

Chakotay offered Kathryn her uniform. He helped her get dressed, but it was evident that she didn't need his help in the same way she had when they'd first come into sickbay. The fluid, in particular, was helping with a great deal of the dizziness and disorientation that Kathryn had begun to feel from the burns.

There was relatively little privacy in the open-concept sickbay. They'd shared the space with the wounded that had come in, from time to time, for treatment, but it had been some time since anyone had needed anything. They were reminded, though, that the space was open and communal, when Daryl and Carol came through the sickbay doors as Kathryn was finishing dressing.

"Is something wrong?" Kathryn asked, immediately concerned.

"We're fine," Daryl offered. "Doc—just when you got a minute?"

"I have a minute now, Mr. Dixon," the doctor offered.

Daryl patted one of the biobeds and gestured to Carol to climb up. She didn't seem to even need the suggestion.

"Take your time," Daryl said. "Swear—we ain't in no hurry. Just—wantin' a little peace of mind."

"I seem to specialize in that these days," the doctor offered.

"Kathryn—are you OK?" Carol asked.

Kathryn smiled. While they were still in sickbay, and knowing that Daryl and Carol wouldn't be offended by the affection after their time on the planet together, Chakotay dropped his arm around Kathryn's shoulder. She leaned into him, and he thought that Carol might be able to see that Kathryn's eyes, if studied close enough, gave away the fact that she was under the influence of a great deal of fatigue mixed with a dose of pain medication that they were assured was safe for their growing baby.

"I'm much better now," Kathryn offered.

"The burns were pretty serious," Chakotay offered. "But—they're healed now."

"I told Chakotay about Seska's baby," Kathryn said. "Or—the doctor did."

Chakotay had hardly heard much about Seska's baby. As soon as the doctor had assured him that there was no possible way that it was his biological offspring, his attention had turned fully to the woman he loved and to the child that he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was his biological child.

"About that…" Daryl said.

Chakotay felt Kathryn tense and he tightened his hold on her. He led her around the biobed toward the one where Carol was sitting. She was headed there, anyway, even if she didn't know that's where her feet were going.

"Did something happen to it?" Kathryn asked.

Daryl rested his hand on Carol's thigh and stepped a little between them. Chakotay doubted that he even knew he'd made the move. It was simply in his nature, if possible, to put himself between Carol and absolutely anything that he thought might even make her uncomfortable.

"We let it go," Daryl said.

"You let it go?" Kathryn asked. "What do you mean?"

"One of the Kazon soldiers came," Carol said. "He said that the baby was—the Maje's son. He would be honored and cared for in the memory of the Maje. Apparently, this soldier was one of the higher ranking Kazons. He said he was likely to be the next Maje. He didn't want to fight. He only wanted…"

"He said he'd take the kid for himself," Daryl offered when Carol's voice broke off like she'd just decided not to finish the statement. "He'd raise it like his own. Teach it to be a good Kazon or whatever. We figured—it was better off with its people. You know? They know all about it. What it eats an' how…how it lives."

Chakotay squeezed the upper part of Kathryn's arm just before she stepped away from him and walked toward Carol. The doctor was already scanning Carol when Kathryn's hand found Carol's. Daryl stepped aside to let her into the space, clearly not viewing her as a threat.

"I know you wanted to keep him," Kathryn offered.

Carol gave her a smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"He really is better with his people," Carol said.

"Is that how you feel, being here?" Kathryn asked.

Carol clearly clasped Kathryn's hand in hers. She offered Kathryn a more sincere smile than before.

"I think—you are our people," Carol said.

Kathryn nodded, smiling to herself.

"I think you're right," Kathryn assured her. "Doctor? How is she?"

"You are in perfect health, Mrs. Dixon," the doctor offered to Carol. "Your blood pressure is a touch higher than it normally is, but that's entirely to be expected, given the circumstances. It should return to normal shortly, provided that you rest."

"The baby OK?" Daryl asked.

"The baby is in equally perfect health," the doctor assured him.

"So, you got no—prescription or nothin'," Daryl said, his statement falling somewhere between a question and a declaration. He allowed himself to be scanned, much like Chakotay had, as simply one of those acts that must be accepted when in sickbay. The doctor put his tricorder away almost immediately, showing clearly that he had no concerns to even voice.

"I would prescribe the same thing that I've prescribed for the captain," the doctor said, "if for no other reason than it simply can do no harm. Two days of uninterrupted rest and relaxation, followed by a slow return to normal activity." The EMH turned to Kathryn. "Understood, Captain?"

Kathryn smiled.

"Aye, aye, Doctor," she offered. "Am I dismissed."

"Two days," the doctor said, directing the words toward Carol, who was just sliding off the biobed.

"Aye," she said, with a quiet laugh. It was clear that she was simply testing the confirmation to see how it tasted on her tongue.

"Then you're both dismissed," the doctor said. "Captain, Commander, Kes will program the replicators. Remember your fluid regimen and I'll check with you tomorrow."

They all thanked the doctor, and Chakotay touched his hand to Kathryn's back—relieved to finally find it free of serious injury—as they all walked out of sickbay to find out what would absolutely have to be done for the four of them to be able to settle in and truly take the doctor's advice.