Janeway entered the holodeck and paused for a moment outside the doors to Sandrine's French bistro. She smoothed her hands over her neatly styled hair and adjusted the jacket of her loose fitting, cream linen pantsuit.

The scene that met her when the doors opened was lively. Tom Paris's social events were usually well attended, but the turnout this evening was particularly high.

Janeway picked out Tom himself immediately. He was standing next to B'Elanna and Chakotay, both of whom appeared to be already well ensconced in their seats at the bar. Paris caught Janeway's eye, smiled broadly and started across the room in her direction. As he weaved his way towards her, Janeway took in Marla Gilmore, standing on the other side of Chakotay at the bar, a full glass of red wine in her hand. The blonde engineer was wearing a fitted sweater that hugged her figure and jeans that accentuated her slim hips. Kathryn noted how much better the woman looked out of the Starfleet uniform that always seemed to swamp her.

"Captain! It's good to see you here." Paris greeted her. "And may I say you're looking lovely this evening."

"Thank you, Tom." Janeway smiled. "You know I like to put in an appearance at a celebration of our success like this whenever I can make the time."

"Well I'm certainly glad you made time tonight." He turned to stand at her side, surveying the scene with her. "It looks like everyone else has too. I'm not sure I've ever seen it quite so crowded in here! Great isn't it?" He smiled, then pointed towards the bar area. "Although you may find you have trouble getting served. Sandrine has been known to give her male customers preferential treatment. Come on, if she disgraces herself by ignoring you, I'll get you a drink myself."

As she followed Tom towards the bar, Janeway was convinced she could feel Marla Gilmore's eyes on her, tracking her progress across the room. Gilmore exchanged a few words with Chakotay, smiled and then turned to move quickly away to join a table full of people on the far side of the room that included Noah Lessing, James Morrow, Brian Sofin and Angelo Tassoni. All of them. They'd all come. Chell was sitting with them, talking, of course. Janeway and Tom arrived at the bar before she'd had time to identify the other two members of Voyager's crew standing at the far end of the Equinox five's table. She greeted B'Elanna and then moved along the bar to stand on the other side of Chakotay's chair.

"Kathryn," he smiled warmly. "I'm glad you made it." He took in her attire and his dark eyes twinkled. "And out of uniform too. Did you spill coffee on it or something?"

Janeway shot him the withering look his attempt at humour deserved. "I'm rather overdressed actually, it's warm in here. I think I need to lose this jacket."

"Would you like to sit down?" he asked, immediately half-rising.

"No, thank you, I'm fine." Janeway's hand found its way to his shoulder to reinforce her words and keep him in his seat. She knew it would be easier to speak to him if they remained in their current positions, since the pumps she was wearing didn't lend her the height of the regulation heels and also, she intended to circulate in a little while. He settled back down and she slipped off her jacket and draped it over the back of his chair. Meanwhile, Tom Paris had positioned himself at the bar on the other side of B'Elanna and had already succeeded in getting the proprietress to present Kathryn with a glass of wine. She thanked him and he and B'Elanna resumed their conversation, leaving Janeway to her first officer.

Kathryn took a sip of the wine then looked over to Chakotay to find his eyes on the ocean blue wrap-over top she was wearing. The instant he became aware of her gaze he looked away and shifted in his seat slightly to angle himself towards her.

"You look lovely, Kathryn," he offered quietly.

"Thank you. At least I don't seem to have scared you off yet." She motioned towards the group Marla Gilmore had joined. "Your drinking partner couldn't get away fast enough once she saw me coming."

Chakotay followed her gaze and then his eyes found hers again and he frowned. "What makes you say that?"

Janeway took another sip of her drink and then gave him a knowing look. "You mean to say you didn't get to hear all about our little chat, after you left the poor woman alone with me in the mess hall yesterday evening?"

"Oh. That."

"Yes. That." Janeway sighed.

"Was it really that bad?"

Janeway's mouth twitched slightly while she considered how best to explain. "I just wasn't expecting to speak with her last night – for her to ask those sorts of questions. You and I haven't even discussed yet exactly what we're going to say to Command about them, if and when we manage to establish regular communication, that is."

"I see," Chakotay replied. "And you don't think she understood your position?"

He was still watching her and she wondered what exactly Gilmore had told him. She found herself wanting to justify her behaviour, even though in retrospect she actually felt a little uncomfortable about how that conversation had ended.

"No. I imagine she understood all too clearly. But I think she'd probably hoped that I would be more…supportive."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Kathryn. None of us like being put on the spot. Especially if, like you said, she was asking you about things you haven't discussed yet, let alone decided."

His comment was delivered without a hint of disapproval and Kathryn felt grateful for his understanding. She wasn't completely sure she deserved it in this case, but she felt grateful nonetheless. He was certainly being supportive.

She imagined that it was probably common knowledge among the crew that relations between her first officer and herself had been strained since the Equinox. Only a few weeks after that difficult chapter in the history of their friendship, a lingering mutual mistrust had been exposed by Seven's far-fetched conspiracy theories. Then, not long after that, they had found themselves in disagreement again when Janeway had decided they should repair the 'interactive' war memorial. And although he had even gone as far as encouraging her, saying it was nice to see her 'having a little fun', Kathryn still hadn't been able to shake the feeling that Chakotay hadn't really approved of her romantic relationship with the holographic bar tender in Fair Haven. Perhaps it was simply because Chakotay had been one of a small minority of the crew who had visited the simulation only once, whereas ever since the early days of their journey, he had regularly socialised in Sandrine's. She had been aware that something hadn't appealed to him about Fair Haven and had wondered vaguely whether she was somehow responsible.

As she stood at his shoulder and looked at him – really looked at him, his eyes on a level with hers and less distant than they had been in months - she was momentarily caught off guard by a sudden wave of longing for the days when they had been closer. The days when he would have called past her quarters to escort her to a gathering like this, when they would have arrived and left together. The warmth still there in his gaze and the complete lack of discernible antagonism, despite the difficult topic of this conversation, nourished her hope that they might still find a way to salvage their friendship. Maybe with a little effort, a little more time and a few more evenings like this, they could heal? It was only very recently, when she had woken up in sickbay after her eventful away mission with the crewmembers who had fallen through the net, that she had dared to begin to entertain this hope at all. Finding him there at her bedside again when she regained consciousness, and the genuine concern she had read in his eyes, had probably done her as much good as the hypospray the doctor had administered to counter her residual headache. But Kathryn believed the first step forward in the direction of repairing their friendship had been tentative. She didn't want them taking two steps back now because of her questionable behaviour towards Marla Gilmore - or towards any of the other former members of the Equinox crew for that matter.

She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Well, I'm glad that at least she feels comfortable enough to talk to you." She motioned towards the table where the five Equinox crewmembers were seated. "That all five of them do. And I know how hard you've worked these last few months to ensure that everyone on the crew gives them a meaningful second chance. Please don't think that I underestimate the amount of time and energy you've devoted to this. And I'm sure it can't always have been easy." She became aware of the warmth of his skin through the thin fabric of his shirt and they held each other's gaze for a beat longer than she thought they really should, here, in full view of the crew, but she didn't even think about turning away from him. This was only the second time in several months she'd really felt close to him at all, and she was convinced they both needed it. Protocol be damned. It felt right to touch him, to encourage and to nourish the connection she'd once taken for granted.

The lighting was subdued in the bistro, but even so, Kathryn thought he'd coloured slightly on hearing her praise his work or perhaps on feeling the prolonged contact of her hand on his shoulder, but she didn't regret embarrassing him. It needed to be said.

Reluctantly, she removed her hand and picked up her drink to take another sip.

"No need to thank me; just doing my job." He smiled. "They're the ones that have done all the hard work, trying to gain the crew's acceptance. And I'd say they've all made even more of an effort recently, particularly Angelo, James and Marla."

Kathryn knew that it was legitimate for her to leave personnel issues to her first officer. However, she was also quite certain they were both well aware that while her input with other new crewmembers had been extensive, so far with these five, it had been completely non-existent. He instinctively understood her discomfort where they were concerned, and so he had enabled her to avoid it. Now, in the aftermath of her conversation with Gilmore, Janeway wondered if it wasn't in fact time that she faced her discomfort for what it was.

"I do hope she didn't say anything too damning just now about yesterday."

He leant towards her slightly and lowered his pitch, his soft voice only just reaching her ears. "She didn't actually mention you or that conversation at all, Kathryn."

Immediately Janeway felt relieved, but more than anything she felt foolish. "Oh, I see. Well, I'm glad to hear that," she replied at once, grateful that Chakotay was looking over at the tables on the other side of the room rather than still at her. She inhaled deeply, already succeeding in schooling her emotions back to a semblance of composure.

They both sipped their drinks again and then he offered quietly. "It's good to see them here, even if they still feel the need to stick together. It's the first time all five of them have come to anything like this and it's got to be a step in the right direction."

"Yes, it is." She smiled at him and put her hand on his shoulder once more as she leant in to deliver her next words close to his ear. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I think it's time I took a step in that direction myself."

She turned and set off across the room towards the table occupied by the five most recent additions to her crew.