Trouble with Gossip
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but I thankfully get to play in the sandbox.
Note: This take place before the Season 6 episode Collective
"You better be dead Chakotay." Kathryn cried as she stormed into Sickbay.
"Unfortunately I'm still alive." He replied flatly from his position on the biobed.
Tom and Neelix jumped at her shouts and remained frozen unsure what to do as she blew into the room.
"Are you two hurt?" She growled at them.
At first they didn't reply as if they were no longer sure of the answer. Their eyes darted to the Doctor who shook his head in the negative. Only then did they speak and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at them.
"No ma'am" Neelix stuttered.
"No Captain" Tom chimed in a moment later.
"Then get out" she ordered pointing at the door. Quickly the two men rushed out of the room. They didn't even look back at their companion who was about to face her wrath.
"What happened? The ion wave was racing towards you and the Delta Flyer just sat there. The three of you waited far too long before finally getting out of there. What the hell was going on?" She demanded continuing to where he sat on the bed. Even the Doctor knew to move away. Though once she reached him her features softened a little and she gently touched the cut on his left cheek.
"We were trying to finish the scan, we thought we had more time than we did. It really wasn't that big a deal. We only got bumped around." Chakotay tried to explain, defending himself and the other two men.
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" she demanded. "You were lucky, damn lucky. Do you know how bad the damage could have been? You could have been killed. The Flyer could have been destroyed." She lectured him not willing to let him off that easily.
"Tom was on top of it, that is why he took off before I was in my seat. It was not as dangerous as it looked." He insisted calmly, continuing to downplay the situation.
"You got hurt" she reminded him firmly.
"As I said, I wasn't all the way in my seat. I got knocked out of it, landed on my arm and broke it. Easily fixed." He countered looking at the Doctor who only nodded curtly. Apparently he was not interested in getting dragged into their conversation, for once.
"Just because you can be easily fixed that is no reason to go carelessly breaking bones or bleeding." She replied looking at him trying to be stern but he could see her begin to crack and a smile played on her lips.
"What was with all the dramatics? Are you actually mad at me? It is hard to tell?" He asked with a smile of his own, showing off his dimples.
"I wanted to make sure they would leave and not come back. And no I'm not mad…anymore. Though I'm not happy either. You and Tom need to stop cutting it so close." She told him, letting out a sigh. For a few moments when the shuttle didn't move her heart stopped.
"I promise next time we will be safer." He vowed sincerely and she almost believed him.
"Not sure I should send you two out together again." She huffed, folding her arms in front of her.
"Tom really would think he was in trouble if you sent Tuvok with him instead of me." He pointed out and she could only imagine the pilot's protest if she sent the Vulcan with him.
"Don't tempt me. Doctor, can he return to duty when you are done?" She asked, being the Captain for a moment.
"Yes, I see no reason why he couldn't." The Hologram assured her.
"Good, then I will see you on the Bridge. I need to get back up there in case those ion stores head towards the ship." She informed him. Bending slightly she gave him a quick kiss before turning to leave the two men alone.
"I'll be up as soon as I can" he promised her. Both men watched silently as she left them just as quickly as she came in.
"Are you two ever going to tell anyone about your relationship?" The EHM huffed as he set to work healing his injuries once more, now that the raised voices had passed.
"Yeah…eventually. Honestly I thought they would have figured it out by now. Didn't think we would have to make an announcement or something. You figured it out." Chakotay confessed with a grumble.
"Clearly I am more observant than the rest of the crew. Though I didn't think much got past Tuvok. Is it possible some have noticed but are keeping the information to themselves?" He inquired, running the dermal regenerator over his cut.
"Sure, anything is possible but very little on this ship remains quiet for long." Chakotay pointed out. Hardly anything remained a secret on the starship and the two had been together for over seven months.
"True, which should make the solution to your dilemma easy—assuming you actually want people to know." The Hologram observed raising an eyebrow.
"Why would I want to keep it a secret? I love the Captain." He argued. In the beginning they had initially kept their relationship a secret but they knew people would eventually find out. So they stopped trying. Yet no one had seemed to notice.
"Then why don't you let someone 'accidentally' catch you kissing?" The Doc inquired.
"Where? In the turbolift like two teenagers? That would not be my first choice plus she would find that highly inappropriate and unprofessional. We are both adverse to obvious PDA." He objected, it felt very juvenile to act that way and they certainly weren't kids anymore.
"Clearly" the Doctor grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Why not just tell Neelix and ask him to keep it a secret, that is usually all it takes to make sure everyone knows."
"To be honest she wasn't thrilled with that idea either. But between you and me, I have tried to drop some hints to Neelix. Yet so far he has been totally obvious." He was beginning to doubt his ability to subtly hint at things.
"It's a wonder we made it this far with the crew so unobservant." The Hologram sighed dramatically changing medical tools.
"It isn't like I want the crew to spend their time thinking about my personal life or the Captain's." He countered knowing that on a small ship everyone was subjected to speculation and gossip. But that didn't mean he liked to think of people spending their time on his personal life.
"True...What if I were to let something slip to Mr. Paris?" The EMH offered, eager to conspire with him.
"I don't know? I suspect the Captain would not be too fond of that idea." He frowned at the thought of what she would say if she knew.
"I will be very discreet Commander, I promise." The Doc assured him.
"Fine. I have a feeling I am going to regret this and she is going to end up mad at me once more...but I'm out of ideas so go ahead Doc." He conceded throwing up his arms and admitting defeat, he had no better ideas.
"Thank you. I promise you won't regret it." The Doctor professed with a grin.
"We'll see" he replied unconvinced.
"There is nothing for you to worry about. I have this all in hand. Now, you are all healed Commander and can return to duty as well." The EMH said officially releasing him from the confines of Sickbay.
"Thanks Doc" Chakotay replied, standing up and walking out. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that he should not have accepted the Doctor's offer.
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"Computer activate Emergency Medical Hologram." Kathryn demanded as she stormed into the empty Sickbay. Chakotay slowly followed in her wake.
"Please state the nature—Captain what is wrong?" He cut off his usual greeting when he saw her glaring at him.
"What. Did. You. Do?" She yelled at him.
"I—I'm sorry Captain you are going to need to be more specific." The Doctor replied nervously.
"You had a conversation with Tom Paris about my relationship with Chakotay, after he apparently gave you permission." She angrily hissed at the EMH.
"Ah...yes I did." The Hologram confirmed his eyes kept darting to Chakotay for help but the other man had none to offer and kept looking down at his feet.
"What did you say to him?" She growled.
"I casually let him know about the status of your relationship with the Commander, that's all." The man promised emphatically.
"Then why does half the crew now think I am pregnant and Chakotay is furious about it." She demanded, eyes narrowing on him suspiciously.
"I am correctly assuming both of those are incorrect statements?" The EMH asked, curious enough to inquire despite his current fears of her.
"Yes" they both shouted with twin glares.
"Sorry" the Doctor quickly apologized. "I have no idea why anyone would think this Captain. I never said any of those things. Nor have I heard anyone mention them. I would have corrected them if I had." He emphatically professed his innocence.
"This is why I did not want to trust the news of our relationship to the rumor mill." She huffed at Chakotay as she rubbed her forehead, an all too familiar headache throbbing behind her eyes.
"Sorry we were both frustrated by the crew's less than stellar observational skills." Chakotay apologized not for the first time. She had already given him an earful before coming down to Sickbay.
"I have an explanation for that." The Doctor offered, trying to be helpful.
"Yes" she sighed, prompting him to continue yet not sure if she really wanted to know.
"According to Mr. Paris a lot of the crew falsely believed you were already in a relationship. They have been under this belief for a while, long before your actual relationship started."
"What?" they both replied in disbelief.
"How long?"Kathryn added.
"Well over a year I believe." He informed her and her frown only deepened.
"I am not sure how to feel about that" she sighed once more.
"It's not really a bad thing" Chakotay suggested.
"I guess so." She said dismissing the issue for the time being. "But it does nothing to help us with this current problem. What are we going to do?" She asked and the two men exchanged shrugs. Closing her eyes she massaged her temple as the cluster headache grew worse.
"Captain" came the sudden cry as Tom Paris rushed into Sickbay. At the sound of his voice she whirled around and fixed a deadly glare on him. He stopped right in front of her, at least he had the decency to look ashamed or embarrassed she wasn't sure which.
"What did you tell people?" She demanded ignoring B'Elanna a few feet behind him.
"I didn't tell them...any of that I swear." The helmsman professed his innocence.
"Well someone did." She snapped expressing her displeasure while still holding the younger man partly responsible.
"It was Seven and Naomi" B'Elanna bravely informed her, stepping forward.
"But it isn't what you think." Tom quickly added.
"One of you better tell me and you better do it quickly." She growled, rubbing her forehead again.
"When Naomi heard the news about you two she gushed to Seven. She is a child and like kids do she was imagining a quick progression of your relationship to a day when she would not be the only child aboard Voyager." Tom explained giving her what appeared to be a condensed version of events—much to her relief. She was running very low on patience at the moment.
"Seven gently admonished her for her fanciful ideas about someone else's relationship, making clear it was inappropriate." B'Elanna continued for him.
"Someone overheard them but all they actively heard was the Captain being pregnant and Chakotay being upset. Not understanding that what they were hearing were the wishes of a little girl, the news got passed on...very quickly." The Pilot finished and her anger slowly receding at the knowledge that it was the child responsible for the misunderstanding.
"I can't very well be mad at Naomi." She moaned her wrath deflating.
"She honestly didn't mean to cause this trouble." The engineer pointed out.
"I know, I know, but what do we do now?" Kathryn sighed her irritation was quickly being replaced by embarrassment. She hated the fact that the crew was gossiping about her relationship.
"Leave it to me Captain, I will take care of it." The younger man assured her with a determined look.
"Forgive me Tom but I am not feeling confident in your abilities to control gossip at the moment." She snapped in reply expressing her lack of faith.
"Normally I would tell you to trust that feeling." B'Elanna scoffed. "But he actually does have a decent plan."
"It will be a coordinated effort—me, B'Elanna, Harry, Seven, Neelix, even Tuvok agreed to help—we are all going to correct the rumors." The younger man explained, ignoring the half Klingon's dig at him.
"And if that doesn't work?" She questioned him skeptically. Everyone knew gossip was nearly impossible to combat.
"In a month or two it will become clear you are not having a child." The pilot pointed out with a pained smile.
"Tom" she admonished him.
"Don't worry, it will work, we will convince them, I promise." He assured her emphatically.
"That doesn't sound like a great plan but it is a plan and the only one we have. I guess that will have to do." She sighed resigned to the fact that she would have to rely on him to fix this.
"If I may make a suggestion. When you two decide to get married please just make an announcement."
"Thank you Tom, we'll take that into consideration. You may go now." She pointed forcefully at the door.
"Yes Captain, thank you." He nodded and quickly turned to leave as B'Elanna practically pushed him out the door.
"You two haven't secretly gotten married have you?" The EMH asked when they were alone.
"Doctor" she shouted.
"No" Chakotay snapped.
"No more rumors." She exclaimed, pointing a threatening finger at him while shooting the man she loved a warning glare. Both men dutifully nodded. "Now can you please give me something for his headache?" She groaned leaning against the nearby biobed and the Hologram leapt into action.
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a/n Thank you to everyone has been reading these fics I greatly appreciate it. I hope this one is just as fun and enjoyable. Please let me know what you think!