Tegan Chronicles STV Style 3:
What's Left of the Flag 2
Kathryn stepped off the turbolift on level three. Her feet were sore, her back ached and her head hurt. All she really wanted to do was get into a hot tub of water and let her body melt like an ice cube on a hot summer's day. She hit the button on the panel outside her quarters, the doors opened with a quiet hiss and she walked in. Her stomach tightened when she saw the once warm inviting dinner spread out on the table. She was suddenly reminded of her date that night. It wouldn't have been so terrible if she had stood her up over some galactic emergency, but she had merely gotten side tracked on her way to her quarters by a small inconsequential anomaly Seven had found in her scans. They spent hours studying it in the astrometrics lab before coming back to their original conclusion; it wasn't worth the time a detour would take to further investigate.
She looked over at the couch where Tegan must have grown tired of waiting for dinner, which was completely undisturbed and drifted off to sleep. She felt remorse as she moved over to her and brushed her hair off her forehead. She couldn't let her sleep on the couch to wake the next morning with a crick in her neck. She also knew Tegan needed to remove her prosthetic and she couldn't even do that for her while she was still in her uniform. "Tegan."
Her voice had barely been audible but tired green eyes opened and Tegan pushed herself up into a more comfortable sitting position. "Hey. What time is it?"
"2400 hours give or take a few minutes."
"Late night?"
"I got side tracked, I'm sorry."
Even before the apology was on her lips Tegan was shaking her head. "You never have to apologize for working."
"But I—"
Tegan quietly interrupted her. "Never."
"I could just kiss you, you know."
"What's stopping you?" She broke out one of her biggest grins which had its desired effect.
Kathryn leaned forward and placed her hands on either side of Tegan's face and kissed her deeply.
Tegan studied her face when she pulled back. "You're tired."
"Exhausted."
"Bath?"
Kathryn nodded.
"I can draw it for you while I clean up."
Kathryn smiled and blushed lightly. No one had ever drawn her a bath before, or even offered to.
"I'm not trying to be cheesy or even forward. I plan on leaving after I clean up." She looked over at the table, cold food littering its surface.
"Actually, I'd like that but I don't want you to go. You're off tomorrow. Stay the night."
"I uh—" Now it was her turn to blush as she brought her eyes up to meet Kathryn's. It was inappropriate for her to stay the night. What would the crew say if word got out?
"You can replicate something to sleep in and I promise not to get fresh. I already told Chakotay not to expect me on the bridge until noon."
"The joys of being Captain?"
"Something like that." She smiled softly. "So, what do you say?"
Tegan nodded as she stood. She disappeared into the bathroom and came out several minutes later. "Your bath awaits."
When Kathryn came out, after her bath, she was wearing her favorite peach satin night gown. She glanced over the cleared table before looking over at Tegan and frowning lightly. "You're still in your uniform."
"I was hoping you wouldn't mind if I grabbed a quick shower."
"Help yourself." She couldn't help but ponder on how domesticated they seemed.
Tegan stepped out with her hair partially damp wearing a pair of black watch plaid shorts and a thin black cotton t-shirt, the cooler air in the open living quarters caused her nipples to stand at attention. Kathryn admired the view with a crooked smile.
"Bed?"
Tegan nodded. "Lead the way."
After she removed her prosthetic Kathryn climbed in behind her and put her arm around her waist. "Is this ok?"
Tegan put her arm over Kathryn's and grinned in the darkness. "Perfect."
She carefully extracted her arm from under Tegan's surprised they had slept the entire night like that. Her bladder had woken her with its insistence that it was filled to capacity and needed emptied. She reluctantly slipped from the warmth of Tegan's body, out of the bed and quietly padded into the bathroom. When she emerged she was dressed in her uniform and headed into the larger living room of her quarters.
Fifteen minutes later Tegan walked out to a spread of bacon, biscuits, orange juice and coffee. "I feel under dressed."
"Nonsense, you're off duty today."
"I know." Tegan grumbled lightly as she fell into a chair.
"How do you like your eggs?"
"Anyway but sunny side up." She scrubbed her palm over her face. "How many cups of coffee have you had?"
"Just one, you look like you could use a cup yourself."
She shook her head and sniffed dismissively. "Give me another minute, I'll wake up." She looked at all the food. "Are you replicating enough for the entire ship?"
"Funny." She sat a plate with two eggs over easy in front of Tegan. "Neither one of us ate last night."
Tegan reached for a biscuit as she sat down across from her with her own plate of eggs. "Is that why my stomach keeps growling? And here I thought maybe a swallowed a lion last night."
Kathryn watched her make a face as she sat her orange juice down. "What's wrong?"
"I just brushed my teeth."
"You replicated a tooth brush?"
"No, I used yours." Tegan grinned. "Of course."
"You can leave it here if you want."
"We can't make a habit of this," Tegan raised an eyebrow. "People will talk.
"Let them." Kathryn shrugged.
"Bridge to the Captain." Her first officer's voice interrupted them.
She tapped her badge and frowned lightly. "Go ahead Chakotay."
"Sorry to bother you, but we just scanned a planet that's three days from our current position via the Delta Flyer. It looks to be rich in deuterium deposits."
"I'll be there in a minute, Janeway out."
"Duty calls."
"That it does." She took a quick sip of her coffee.
"I'll take care of this." Tegan waved her hand over the table.
"Leave it, I'll get it later." She stood up and stepped over to Tegan's chair. "What are your plans for the day?"
"I don't know. I might help Neelix in the galley."
"Do you know how to take it easy?" Kathryn leaned forward meaning to kiss her on the cheek but Tegan turned and caught her lips and softly sucked the bottom one into her mouth.
When she pulled back Tegan smiled. "Not really. You might want to fix your lipstick before you report to the bridge."
"Thanks."
Janeway stepped onto the bridge with a smile on her face.
"Good morning Captain." Harry beamed when he saw her smile and hoped it had to do with his discovery of the planet.
"Morning Mr. Kim."
"Sorry Captain, I know you wanted the morning off."
"It's fine Chakotay. I was able to sleep in and enjoy a nice breakfast." She didn't mention that the latter had been interrupted.
Tom turned around and grinned at her. "I didn't know captains knew how to sleep in."
"Normally we don't." She turned back to Chakotay, her expression turned serious. "Now, tell me about this planet."
He pulled up a star chart and showed her where it was in relation to Voyager while explaining that it was uninhabited. "It looks to have very high concentrations of deuterium. We could set up a rendezvous point with Voyager in seven days, that would give us three days travel each way and a day to collect some new reserves."
"Sounds like you've got it all figured out." She raised an eyebrow. "Who were you thinking of taking?"
"Well Harry found the planet while running scans in astrometrics before his shift this morning." He paused while a smile full of pride engulfed Janeway's face as she looked at her youngest officer. "And Seven helped us plot the course. There is an M class planet nearby, about three days at present speed. We could meet you there in five to six days if you wanted to stop and check it out. Seven says there are humanoid life signs present."
"I wouldn't mind checking it out. You can take Seven and Harry and leave as soon as you're ready."
"Thank you Captain."