The kiss quickly intensified beyond its initial warm tenderness as they both surrendered to the depths of passion that their respective secrets, and then the icy shock of the whole truth, had held them back from embracing. Utterly accepting his experience, Seven let Chakotay lead the kiss at first, relaxing to the extent where, perhaps for the first time in her adult life, her mind was pleasantly empty of anything beyond emotion and sensation. Soon though, instinct pushed her past response into action and her arms coiled around his broad shoulders, her body curling closer into him to join her lips in the fiery heat of contact. Since every action denotes a reaction, and the couple were at that moment totally tied to the laws of physics as well as biology, Chakotay's eager, automatic, response was to encourage her further, his strong frame pressing into her until she, lost to reality in that moment, overbalanced and almost fell backwards onto the Cargo Bay floor. Only the grip of Chakotay's clinging arms stopped her from sliding beneath him entirely. Anxiously, one of his hands immediately moved to cradle the back of her head, his fingers embedding themselves in the silky golden crown of her hair even as desire retreated far enough from his dark eyes to allow a flash of panic as well as guilt. "Sorry, I'm sorry honey, that was my fault…" He muttered awkwardly, a hoarse, breathless chuckle riding the words.

A little clarity returned to Seven's mind as she braced her hands against the floor to right herself. "Maybe." She commented with a tiny, wry shake of her head as she mentally admitted that the near mishap had been as much her doing as his. The decidedly sheepish expression with which he looked down at her rendered his strong, handsome face almost boyish and brought a bubble of laughter rising up her throat along with one ludicrous thought; if this was what he was like now, how he had he reacted as a teenager if he'd ever been caught in an overly amorous situation? "I am undamaged." She assured him seriously, the tentative beginnings of a teasing smile pulling on her lips as she gazed up at him.

Chakotay's face brightened instantly, humour and mischievousness sparking in his eyes as he leaned into her. In that moment, he could see in those clear eyes of hers, incapable of real deception, glowing with steady, unwavering trust and he could truly believe in what she's told him of her feelings for him, whatever he'd done. "I'm glad to hear that." He murmured, his voice hitting a low timbre that induced a shiver up Seven's spine even as she smiled softly at the honesty she could hear in the words.

Seven nodded, her old shyness prickling at her for long enough to tempt her to lower her gaze, but she found herself captivated by the details of his face as she slowly recognised the open, undisguised love written there. It was as if they were trapped in a magnetic field and they were opposite poles, she couldn't turn away now, let alone want to. Her breath hitched in her throat as she carefully, as if reaching for a priceless treasure, raised her hands to his face, her fingers, human and cybernetic, splaying over his warm skin for a moment before she pulled him down for another kiss. This time was slower, more certain. Chakotay lavished time on her now, gently encouraging her to explore him as his hands began to move reassuring circles down her sides, pulling her towards his lap as they both heard the moan rising in his throat. She found her fingers roaming over his face as his hold on her tightened, finding the slight change in his skin as she traced the tattoo, following the fading roughness of the few, now drying, tears of relief she could feel on her own cheeks as well as his. The realisation finally brought her need of air out as a gasp and she buried her head in his shoulder, suddenly overwhelmed, as the kiss broke. This was real, true reality. She wasn't dreaming, the pain of the day before, and the uncertain days even before that, hadn't been forgotten, but it had been forgiven and they had moved past it, loved despite all that. This was serious. Admittedly, it had never been casual in her heart, she realised that now, he hadn't been just her crewmate for a long time even before he'd trespassed on her fantasy, but now they were far beyond even preserving that façade for the sake of others. She could feel it, as the tension of hurt and fear had dissipated it had been replaced by another kind of tension altogether, perhaps even more potent. Restlessness was probably a better word for it; she'd seen it in Chakotay's darkened eyes too, restless desire that refused to submit to circumstance and propriety. When he'd returned her kiss just then, she'd known somehow that he'd quite happily hold her like this forever, and she'd irrationally wanted time to freeze. Feelings of that intensity weren't supposed to be confined within the limits of the Voyager command structure, even she, with her limited experience, knew that to try would be impossible. "What are we going to do now?" she whispered shakily, a chill of foreboding passing over her as she lifted her face up from the safety of his shoulder to call reality back into their world.

Chakotay's heavy sigh tickled the skin of her throat as he tried to control himself, his body felt like smouldering kindling, one move from her would send him over the edge into inferno. "Honestly?" He forced out huskily, allowing himself to place a soft but lingering kiss on the exposed part of her throat even as he cursed his current lack of self-control. "I have a few ideas right now…"

Seven stilled, since his lips had grazed a sensitive spot, but soon her anxiety came flooding back. "I was referring to…" She began weakly, "…what we're going to do about the crew?"

Chakotay's heart squeezed upon hearing the fear in her voice and that moment of empathy was enough to cool the desire and arousal pulsating through him to the point where he could reluctantly make a few centimetres of space between them and start to give an answer, "Seven…"

"I do not know how to communicate that our relationship has changed…" Seven interrupted faintly, "They…they will not understand why you would…" She trailed off, her voice catching as her gaze took on a vacant, trapped expression, a deer in highlights. "And the Captain, she will think it detrimental to Voyager's integration, we're being disruptive…" Her speech had quickened into near panic.

"Seven!" Chakotay cut her off firmly, grasping her shoulders to force her to focus on him. "We are not being disruptive!" His tone verged on an angry outburst and guilt radiated over him as Seven's face quivered, then withdrew into pensive stoicism. It wasn't her fault really, she'd been conditioned to consider the good of Voyager over her own feelings, to the point of martyrdom, and with the superhuman speed of her brain, she had considered possible future problems before he'd even moved past delight at the resolution of their personal one. Sometimes the brutal logic of her intelligence overwhelmed her without making room for anything else. "Listen to me Seven." He instructed her softly, "You're thinking the worst, and after all we've been through…" He sighed and she responded with measured nod of acknowledgement which led him to tuck his hand under her chin, "We're happy now aren't we sweetheart?"

"Yes." Seven replied resolutely, warming his heart with her complete lack of pause or preamble.

"Me too, and that's the main and only thing we should worry about, alright?" He assured her in a gentle murmur, reaching for her shaking hand, resting on his knee, a fond squeeze. "The crew will understand…" The remark that he didn't care what anyone thought at this point was on the tip of his tongue, but he doubted Seven would be comforted by that, to cast off those around her, her 'Collective', altogether, was a frightening and alien concept to her. "Some people might be surprised, but there's nothing wrong with that, we're just being honest and we have nothing to hide."

Seven absorbed these soothing, reasonable words for a few seconds before she swallowed bravely. "There will be a period of adaption, for all of us." She concluded slowly, unease tightening her mouth again as she added drily, "In my experience the Captain is more resistant to adaption that most. She will…resent that we, as part of her core group of officers, have hidden anything from her, let alone something of this…" She gave him a small smile, "…significance."

Chakotay sighed heavily, an unspoken concession that she had a point. "We haven't really hidden anything; we've barely revealed how we feel to each other…" He muttered, giving her a reassuring smile as she stiffened, "I'm not suggesting we hide from her now, I want everyone to know how I feel, but maybe we don't need to be exhibitionist right now either…"

Seven smirked at him tiredly, "I don't think either of us are exhibitionist by nature."

Chakotay chuckled in agreement, "What I meant was, we can have our privacy for a few more days at least." He relaxed as she let herself cuddle back into him and gave her forehead a tender kiss, "We haven't got used to being an 'us' yet, considering what's happened…" He paused thoughtfully, "We owe ourselves that before we think of anyone else surely?"

"For certain." Seven replied quietly, before looking up at him shyly, "I love you; therefore you are my first concern now, beyond duty."

"Since I love you too…" Chakotay murmured, pausing to give her a long kiss, "…then we really have nothing to worry about."

A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D I'm pretty tired from studying, I hope it hasn't shown up too much in my writing, and since said studying has to continue I'm not sure how regular my updates for any story are going to be, but I'll try my best I promise! :)