A/n: I apologise about the lack of updates, with visiting family and puppy-sitting my Easter holidays haven't left as much time for writing as I'd hoped!
Chakotay's body bristled with alertness as his bleary eyes, clouded with sleep though they were, recognised that he wasn't in his quarters. The next thing his wary senses registered however let him relax, the soft but steady rhythm of breathing, and then the fear numbing, warm weight of someone else's body against his. As his eyes adjusted enough to catch the gleam of golden hair which was reflecting even the faint light managing to reach this corner of the room from the anaemic mood lighting, memories, both agonising and euphoric, flooded his mind, heralded with a heavy sigh. He immediately stiffened, frightened to shatter this serene moment in all its simplicity, but Seven didn't stir, her breathing almost eerily calm in comparison with his own. He allowed his shoulders to flex awkwardly after a few long seconds, arching his neck to ease the crick that had almost certainly irked him away from sleep. A smile drifted across his face as he then shifted his head downwards to study the woman curled into him so completely that every contour of their radically different bodies met seamlessly, but as his gaze swept intently over her features his heart clenched with fresh concern. She was in a state of unconsciousness almost beyond what he could consider regular sleep; it was as if her body had forced her mind to surrender out of sheer exhaustion. He'd seen it before, in the faces of refugees from the Demilitarised Zone, so sapped in body and spirit that they'd crumpled into any quiet corner and given in to sleep even as the land itself seemed to have died around them, sodden with gunfire.
It was strange to put Seven's state of mind level with that, but the thought that she'd been within a knife's edge of death the night before, and had then reached out to confront him, the one that had inflicted the wound, within hours of it almost killing her put a lot of things in perspective. She'd been pushed well beyond her limit of physical, as well as emotional, endurance. He'd witnessed that last night. It wasn't that he didn't believe the confession she'd given him, knew it was as true as the profession of love he'd pressed on her, but he also knew that she may well retract it in the light of day, if her engrained Borg restraint kicked back in to keep the uncertainty at bay. As much as the crew tended to discredit the strict code of the Collective as a bad influence, Chakotay recognised it for what it was, a coping mechanism for someone who'd had more traumatic life experiences than happy ones. Their relationship had been a heady mixture of the two so far; he had to hope that the latter outweighed the former if their love was to survive any more barriers.
He swallowed hard, tenderly guiding the ticklish strands of her loose hair out of her face before letting glide through his shaking fingers. Trust was important now, he couldn't lose that just because of guilt, because part of him didn't want to be forgiven, that he didn't deserve that from her.
The stubborn, unrelenting buzz of the shift change alert, which resounded through all of Voyager's public spaces to ensure that everyone scheduled for duty couldn't plausibly claim they'd forgotten, released him from the maze of his convoluted, unsubstantiated worries. The sound's effect on Seven was more dramatic, her purple lidded eyes abruptly shot open with a startled gasp and she tried to sit up so rapidly that confusion left her dazed and flailing against Chakotay's strong arms that sped out to steady her. "What…What's wron…" She started to mumble, her wide, unfocused gaze leaving her blue eyes mirroring the vacancy of stained glass.
"It's just the duty shift bell." Chakotay murmured reassuringly, rubbing her back as she finally managed to get out of her contorted position around him and sit up. "I guess we stayed here a little longer than we intended to." He tried to smile at her then, his voice soft and light.
"I don't think I intended any of this." Seven muttered brokenly to herself as she swung her legs, riddled with pins and needles, to the floor and pressed the cool metal of her left hand against her aching head. She felt Chakotay's hand stop suddenly on her back, and although he tried to cover the slip she saw the flinch her words sent across his face. "I didn't mean…" She began, the rest of the sentence dying on her lips as she took in his expression. A hint of pained desperation she'd seen on his face so much in the past few hours still lined his brow, shadowing the dark eyes that were still haunted by guilt. The vulnerability that was in sync with her own was still there, making her heart squeeze with a feeling she couldn't pinpoint as either part of her own emotional tumult or as empathy for his. .
"I know what you meant Seven." He replied in a kind reprieve, though he sighed as he spoke, propping his back against the arm of the couch as he too tried to shake off the vestiges of sleep.
Seven nodded, grateful for the confirmation, her gaze drifting down to his visibly dishevelled clothes as she did so. Foggy recollections of her tears soaking into that shirt before sleep had claimed her returned and she flushed. She hadn't been lying on him like that all night surely? She didn't even need to mentally answer the question, she remembered the sound of his heartbeat beneath her ear and his murmurings of reassurance restoring an emotional calm she'd begun to believe at that point would never return. Her blush deepened as she tugged agitatedly at the collar of her sweater, it had slipped until not only the mutilation of her right shoulder was visible but also the slender strip of her bra strap. "I'm sorry that I…trapped you in such an uncomfortable position." She mumbled hurriedly, turning away from him as she continued to right her clothes.
Chakotay felt something close to relief upon seeing her shyness. He knew how to handle that and had always found it somewhat endearing, though right now he wanted to see her have some more confidence in him. "Don't be." To Seven's ears, his tone was firm enough to remind her of an order and she relaxed a little. "Actually, I haven't slept that well in a while." He admitted quietly, giving her a cautious smile.
Seven couldn't quite hold his gaze, instead taking a sudden and intense interest in a small hole in her tights at the knee. "Yes." She replied hastily. Chakotay suspected this was agreement as to the peace they'd felt, rather than a mere acknowledgement of what he'd said, but he couldn't be sure. "It is 0605 hours, I should be preparing for my shift in Astrometrics…"
Chakotay gave a soft groan that made her jump slightly as she watched him run a strained hand through his hair with concern. "Well, I was short-sighted enough yesterday to say I'd do the morning Bridge shift. That was before…" He trailed off awkwardly, "Anyway, I guess I'll be late." He concluded with a shrug.
Seven stared at him, looking so shocked by his nonchalance that it was verging on comical. "I will not delay you any longer…" She stuttered out, immediately moving to stand up but stumbling when she was caught off guard by her shoeless feet. She shivered as Chakotay caught her once again and pulled her back onto the stability of the couch, colouring himself when she narrowly avoided falling onto his lap.
"I'm delaying myself, the Bridge will wait." He told her sharply, "You're too worn out to be doing anything other than resting Seven."
Seven breathed an exasperated sigh, "I may be…tired..." She conceded reluctantly, "…but that doesn't mean I can avoid my duties forever, that failed once before." She gave him a pointed look and Chakotay knew she was referring to the near miss with the minefield that had led to the deletion of her holodeck programme and, in a way, had accelerated this whole development between them. "I haven't been 'pulling my weight' lately. I don't want to rely on Icheb to do so much; he's still so young…"
Seeing that he'd unburied another of her worries, Chakotay decided to give in on this one. "Alright." He conceded, gently laying an arm across her quaking shoulders as she curled in on herself fretfully. "You know that I can rearrange your duty shifts for a few days…" He started to tentatively remind her.
"No." Seven cut him off forcefully, her piercing gaze unwaveringly on his for the first time that morning. "I do not want our…" She gulped audibly, "…relationship to affect our respective duties." She smiled slightly to herself in relief as Chakotay clasped his hand around hers and squeezed it before she'd even finished the sentence.
"I can respect that." He assured her softly, bringing their laced hands to rest on his knee and then tracing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. "But, just for today, you could call in some backup. The Captain had you give Ensigns Carter and Licalsi Astrometrics training for a reason…" Seven arched both eyebrows at him and Chakotay belatedly remembered that the 'voluntary' training had been inordinately stressful for all three involved, to the point where he'd been quietly rearranging shifts so that the aforementioned Carter and Licalsi never needed to use that Astrometrics training. Not that the Captain had been let into that particular policy loop. "Sorry, I'd forgotten how…disruptive that was." He said with a low chuckle.
Seven's eyes narrowed at the memory. "Carter almost directed us backwards rather than towards the Alpha Quadrant when I left her alone. Licalsi spilled coffee on my control panel…"
Chakotay lifted his hands in the air defensively. "Okay, I won't bring that idea up again." He declared, smiling as he watched her face soften, a change that made the tired strain in her eyes all the more obvious. "You could ask Harry for a favour, he helped you build the lab…"
Seven edged forward on the couch, shoving her hair behind her shoulders as it fought to float in front of her eyes. "I do not require favours from Ensign Kim." Blood tinged her cheeks as the words came out more arch and teasing than she intended, and the way that Chakotay's eyes widened for a moment, his jaw locking, and she realised that she'd made a mild double-entendre.
Chakotay confirmed her suspicion by giving her a slightly lopsided grin. The expression as she'd been unintentionally suggestive had somehow managed to be utterly guileless and sweetly coquettish at the same time. "God, I hope not." He responded huskily, unable to keep a note of jealousy from his voice.
Seven allowed a small smile to gingerly grace her lips in response. "Good." She whispered, resting her elbows on her knees thoughtfully. "I will ask the Doctor for permission."
Chakotay exhaled, "Thanks honey."
Seven felt her blush extend up from her cheeks right up to the tips of her ears as she heard the term of endearment but distracted herself by activating her comm. badge, "Doctor, I apologise for not returning to Sickbay, it was remiss of me."
"I knew where you were Seven; you're still wearing your monitor." The Doctor replied, "I thought better of disturbing your sleep." He took a long pause, "Are you and the Commander…feeling better?"
Seven pursed her lips apprehensively and glanced at Chakotay, who regarded her pensively as he awaited her answer. "I believe so." She said slowly, her voice hitched as she tried to continue, "I…I contacted you to ask if I am fit for duty."
"Well…" The Doctor started reluctantly, "I'd like you to regenerate, but I think a dose of normality would do you good so I'm willing to compromise. If you start a three hour cycle now, I'm willing to release you for duty as long as you complete a full 12 hour tonight for good measure. In the meantime, consider yourself a convalescent."
"Understood." Seven replied crisply, clicking her comm. badge off as she felt Chakotay's gaze on her.
"You know…" He began stiltedly, cringing as he became aware of just how awkward suggesting a date was when, in many fundamental ways, the seriousness of their relationship had gone far beyond the set formula for the first few dates. "We could still do something together today. How about…" He halted, doubting himself. After the turmoil of last night, to suggest dinner wasn't advisable. "…lunch?" He finally finished, adding, to make her comfortable, "We could have it in the Cargo Bay, to keep the Doctor happy?"
Seven gave him a bemused frown. "You'd…You'd be comfortable in the Cargo Bay with me?" she asked disbelievingly.
Chakotay made sure to look her right in the face. "Why wouldn't I be?" he asked with gentle honestly.
Seven found herself blinking rapidly. "Okay." She whispered, "I'd like to have lunch with you."
A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D