NOTE: i do not own Star Trek: Voyager or any of its characters. I'm just playing with them and they will be home by bedtime (they have a late bedtime).

Author's Note: I hope this is good and please comment. I have a vague idea of where this is going, so please bear with me. Enjoy!

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"Alright," the Doctor said. "You can leave Sickbay." Janeway had been sleeping only seconds before and a week without her coffee was tiring her out. So she thought she had imagined the Doctor talking.

"Captain," he said. She was still looking at him like he wasn't talking, and yawned. "Captain," he repeated, louder. This time, Janeway looked alert and to him.

"Sorry Doctor. Just tired. What did you say?" He sighed internally, but showed no signs of it to her. The last thing he wanted was her to get angry at him.

""I said you could leave now, Captain. The treatment seems to be working. It's been too days without VDC and the fetus has been fine. Just come back tomorrow for a follow up." Then he gave her a hypospray to the neck. She looked at him for an explanation. Clearly he wasn't a mind reader, so Janeway asked him. She actually had expected him to explain himself.

"What was that?" she barked.

"The second part of your treatment. You needed the original genetic adjustment and then you needed an oxygen boost in your blood," he said, like it was obvious. She agreed with him, still not fully understanding, but deciding it didn't matter.

She got up and walked out of Sickbay. She had changed into her uniform earlier and was headed toward the bridge. She knew Chakotay would be up there. She almost wanted to turn around and run back into Sickbay, just so she wouldn't have to talk to him.

No, she told herself mentally, I have to tell him. I need to talk to him. He needs to know. With that thought in mind, she headed toward the turbolift.

She got to the lift quickly and told it to go to "Deck One, Bridge." It started to rise and Janeway began to breath in and out, trying to calm her nerves. She couldn't remember a time she was more nervous. She'd faces may enemies, gone on many missions, and experienced many nerve wracking things, but this made her the most nervous. She wasn't sure why that was.

Because you are about to face your deepest fears head on and give away control of the situation, she reminded herself. That didn't help her much but by the time the turbolift doors opened, she showed no signs of nerves.

She walked out of the turbolift and over toward her seat. Tuvok, being stationed closest to the turbolift, saw her first.

"Captain on deck," he said. The rest of the bridge crew stood up and look over at her. Chakotay had been sitting in the captain's chair, but now was smiling over to her. She smiled at them all, and let the moment sink in. It was only a few nanoseconds in reality, but she felt like they had been like that for hours.

"As you were," she said. Then she walked over to Chakotay. "Commander, a word in my ready room?" She gave him a look and he realized it wasn't all about official business. He got up and followed her.

"Tuvok, you have the bridge," Janeway said before disappearing into her ready room, Chakotay behind her.

Janeway walked into her ready room and smiled. She headed for the replicator, preparing to order a coffee, but decided against it. Until she reprogramed it to give her decaf when she ordered coffee, she couldn't drink a drop. Instead, she went and sat on her couch. Chakotay walked over and stood.

Janeway wanted to forget it. Now that she was actually here, she couldn't find the courage to bring it up. Kathryn Janeway, get a grip. You can't put this off. You need to tell him before he hears it from the crew. She knew it was true. She smiled at him and told him to sit down. He did and they sat there for a few moments. Janeway knew what she was going to say but she couldn't bring herself to say it.

But before she could speak, Chakotay did. "Kathryn, this may be out of line, but I need to know how you feel about me. I can't keep away any longer." Janeway looked at him and she could tell it took all his courage to say that. She knew how to show him.

She leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

At first, it was a light peck and then turned into a long passionate kiss. Once they separated, they sat in silence. Neither spoke. They just stared into each other's eyes.

Janeway had somewhat figured out what she was going to say, but now she forgot it completely. She knew she needed to speak from the heart. She gave him another brief kiss, before getting ready to tell him. She opened her mouth to tell him, but was interrupted.

Not by Chakotay, but by Tuvok over the comm system. Tuvok, you have the crappiest timing in the whole galaxy, she wanted to say. Of course, as captain, she couldn't say that. Instead, she responded, "What is it Tuvok?" She tried to make it seem like she wanted to be left alone. She hoped he would be able to tell.

"Captain, there is something you and the Commander should see. Please come to the bridge." Janeway sighed internally. Chakotay helped her up and they walked out to the bridge. I'll tell him later. In my quarters. Yeah, I'll ask him there and I'll make dinner. I'll pretend it's just our weekly dinner, five months late. That I'm just making up for all the ones we missed. Then I'll tell him, after we eat . . .

Her thoughts stopped mid-sentence because she was now standing on the bridge. She was staring at the view screen and her eyes wouldn't move from it. As Tuvok played the message, she missed the words. All she could do was stare.

She had not been expecting this. It was the furthest thing from her mind. It was almost unbelievable.

This changes things. This changes things a lot.

To Be Continued . . .

More soon, please comment!