Sforzie
Summary:
Alpha Quad Days, Delta Quad Nights: Love is a Good Thing –
The relationships on Voyager are a turbulent bunch. Who will take a tumble
this time?
Disclaimer: Paramount is God, they own everything to Voyager, except for
the cool stuff that I
add.
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Alpha Quad Days, Delta Quad Nights
Episode Seven
Love is a Good Thing
By: Sforzie
“Oh, Chakotay,” Janeway breathed. He looked solemnly at her. Janeway
sighed, and
looked down at him. The smile on her lips seemed frozen.
“Chakotay, I can’t,” Janeway said finally. The smile faded slightly;
turned apologetic.
Chakotay looked at her in surprise.
“Why not?” he whispered painfully. Janeway’s body jerked slightly,
and her hands went to
her face. She sat down on the floor next to him. She choked back a quiet
sob, wiped her eyes,
and looked at Chakotay.
“It’s hard to explain, Chakotay,” she said softly. “But, it’s just
that I’m afraid of…”
“Of what?”
“When I was married to Tom, I knew I was in love with him. I knew I
was. But we
weren’t even together for a year! I’m not sure when I quit loving him. I
look back now and I
can’t even be sure that I was in love with him. And… and I don’t want to
happen to us.”
Chakotay looked crestfallen. “But you don’t know that will happen.”
Janeway buried her hands in her face again. “I don’t want to take
that risk.”
Chakotay snorted softly. “So you’d rather live in sin the rest of
your life?” He hadn’t
meant this to be humorous, but he saw Janeway smiled behind her hands. She
dropped them
again.
“Yes,” she said softly, “that’s exactly what I want.” Chakotay
blinked, and then cracked a
slight smile too. Janeway continued. “Chakotay, I love you. And while it
might be great to get
married, I would be just as happy just being with you without the lawful
binding. The titles don’t
count as long as we believe in each other and love each other.” She leaned
over and kissed his
cheek. “You know that love is what’s the important thing.”
Chakotay looked at her, and then exhaled slowly. After another
moment, he smiled. “You
have a way with words, Kathryn.” She smiled back.
“I know, it’s part of being a captain I guess.”
Chakotay looked thoughtfully at her. “I can still keep trying to
convince you, can’t I?”
Janeway laughed, “even though you know it will never work, of course
you can. I like the
attention.” Chakotay grinned and kissed her.
“Now, um, if you don’t mind.”
“I know, you’re needed on the Bridge.”
“Yeah.”
“Commander! It’s about time you got here,” Lt. Nirose grinned at him.
“It’s not nice to talk to your commanding officers like that,”
Chakotay shot back. “So
what was the problem?”
“Oh, just a problem with some security codes,” Nirose said
nonchalantly, “but we fixed
it.” She looked up. “However, I’m getting ready to go off duty, so I
shall relinquish command of
the Bridge to you.” She handed several padds to the dumbstruck Chakotay,
and strode quietly off
the Bridge. With a chuckle, Chakotay turn and went down to his seat in the
command level.
The next day Nirose stood nervously in front of her Captain. Janeway
was glued to a cup
of coffee, ignoring her. Calle cleared her throat. Janeway looked up.
“Oh, you’re still here. I’m sorry, is there something else you need
to discuss?” Janeway
set the coffee down and leaned back in her chair.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Nirose asked.
Janeway sighed. “Lieutenant.” She paused, smiling. “Why would I
mind? It’s only a
slight detour. In fact, it’s not really a detour because there’s some
supplies we need to get to
repair what we salvaged of the Encanta.” Nirose nodded finally.
“All right, just making sure.”
“Dismissed, again.” Nirose nodded, and exited the Ready Room.
Janeway chuckled, and
retrieved her coffee mug. Her comm-channel beeped, and Janeway pressed the
side of the
monitor.
“Yes, Doctor?”
The Doctor looked irritated. “How much longer do you want me to hold
him down
here?”
Janeway gave him an innocent look. “Who?”
“Your… roomie.”
“Oh, Chakotay. How did he check out?”
“Fine. Fit a horse. Maybe in better condition, actually. Either
way, your orders to keep
him in here seem until he is *better* seem unsupportable.”
“Funny,” Janeway looked away from the monitor with a devilish grin on
her face, “it
seemed like he was in a lot of pain this morning.”
“He wasn’t that willing to tell me exactly where it hurt.”
“I’d imagine not.”
“Admiral, are you trying to get some sort of revenge on the
Commander?”
“What would make you say that?”
“Just curious.”
“Not really.”
The Doctor sighed. “May I release him?”
“Is he ill?”
“No.”
“Then I see no reason to hold him.”
The Doctor sighed again and rolled his eyes. “As you wish.”
Janeway cut the line, and chuckled again.
A few hours later, a door chimed.
“Come iiiiiin,” came the reply.
Calle Nirose stepped carefully into Aries Healy’s quarters.
“Aries? Why is it so dark?”
“I was asleep,” Healy replied. Nirose found him seated on his bed.
She sat down next to
him.
“How are you feeling?”
“Are you going to mother me?”
“Maybe,” Nirose said lightly. Healy quirked a smile, and pulled her
closer for a kiss.
“Your hair looks better,” Nirose commented, rubbing his ridged nose.
“You’re not the first person to say that,” Healy smiled.
“How many other women have you had in your bed today?”
“None,” Healy shook his head, “but the Captain came by earlier to
check on me.”
“Uh huh,” Nirose sat up. “Um, Aries?”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t mind if we don’t see each other for a few days, do you?”
Healy froze. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s just that Captain Janeway gave me permission to go to
Earth for a week to take
the exams I needed to become a Lieutenant Commander,” Nirose said
nonchalantly. Healy’s
eyebrow’s rose.
“Is that so? Wow, you’re certainly moving up in the world.”
“I try,” Nirose said. “So you don’t mind?”
“No, of course not,” Healy smiled, “it’s not like I’ll go totally
crazy with missing you or
anything.”
“I was hoping you would,” Nirose quipped drily.
Later, Janeway sat at her desk in her quarters. A pair of hands
clapped over her eyes.
“Guess who?”
Janeway breathed a laugh, her hands going to those over her eyes.
“Let me guess…
Harry? Lt. Healy? Tom?” She pulled the hands away. “No wait, the hands
are too big. It could
only be…” Janeway set the hands down and turned in her seat to receive a
kiss from Chakotay.
“Chakotay, of course.”
“I can’t believe you thought I was your fly-boy ex,” Chakotay grinned.
Janeway
chuckled.
“After last night..”
“You are so cruel,” Chakotay sat down in the other chair. “Keeping me
locked up with
that hologram all day.”
“You deserved it,” Janeway smirked.
“You’re too much for me.”
“You didn’t seem to think so last night,” Janeway said lightly.
Chakotay’s eyebrow’s
rose.
“True. But guess what.”
“What?”
“You get to spend tomorrow in Sickbay.” Janeway laughed giddily as
Chakotay pulled
her out her chair and carried her off.
A few days later, the Voyager stopped at a science station.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving me,” Aries moaned.
“I’m going to be coming back!” Calle laughed. Aries sighed.
“Promise?”
Called laughed again, “yes, of course.”
“Okay.”
Janeway stood near the controls to the transporter. “Don’t worry
Lieutenant, I made her
promise to take any new jobs while on Earth.”
Aries nodded half-heartedly.
“You become quite the wimp when you’re alone, don’t you?” T’gana said
snippily.
“Get a boyfriend,” Aries shot back.
“Grow up,” retorted the Vulcan. Janeway sighed.
“Do I have to separate you two?” she asked. Calle cleared her throat.
“Don’t worry Captain,” she said, taking T’gana’s arm. “We’re going
now.” Aries made a
face at T’gana, who made a rude comment back at him.
“Ensign, get a grip on your emotions while you’re gone, please,”
Janeway sighed. T’gana
raised a brow.
“I know that your comment was made in jest, Captain, but you know that
is exactly why I
am going.”
Janeway stifled a groan. “Just go please.”
Lt. Nirose and Ensign Nugui stepped onto the transporter pad.
“We’ll be seeing you again in a week, Calle. Three weeks, Ensign.”
They nodded. The
transporter dissolved them and took them off to the station. Janeway cast
a glance at Healy as
she exited the transporter room.
She muttered under her breath as leaving, “Would anyone else like to
abandon ship for self
improvement?”
Later that day, Janeway sat in her ready room. Voyager was still at
the science station, to
allow Engineering to get some supplies and have a few systems checked. The
transport that
would take Nirose to Earth and Nugui to Vulcan had left just a few minutes
ago. Janeway was in
the middle of smirking her way through an announcement about the situation
between the
Klingons and the Nevians when there was a beep and a light blinked in the
corner of the screen. It
was a communications request. She accepted it, and sat up in surprise.
“Tuvok! Well, this certainly is a surprise. It’s good to see you
again. It’s been awhile,
hasn’t it?”
“We last spoke at your retirement ceremony eight months ago,” Tuvok
said.
“It has been awhile then. What’ve you been up to?”
“I have been teaching a class on Vulcan for emotional control,” Tuvok
raised a brow at
Janeway’s laugh. “What do you find humorous about my teaching an emotional
control class?”
“Nothing, Tuvok. You wouldn’t happen to be teaching a nine day course
next week,
would you?”
“Indeed I am.”
“Well, be sure to take good care of an Ensign Nugui,” Janeway smiled.
“I will,” Tuvok said after a thoughtful moment. “I was unaware that
you had came out of
retirement.”
“I didn’t realize that I hadn’t told you,” Janeway said
apologetically. Tuvok nodded.
“How did you find out?”
“I spoke to a friend who informed me on your… activities at Nevis
Prime.” Janeway
sighed.
“I’d say I hoped you didn’t harbor any ill feelings towards me, but
that would be illogical,
wouldn’t it?”
Tuvok made a thoughtful noise. “Admiral, how is the Commander?”
“So you heard about that too.”
“The son of my friend is stationed on your ship.”
“Ah, I see,” Janeway smiled. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me.”
“You might call it that.”
“What else has your friend told you?”
“Nothing else pertaining to you. However…”
“You’d like me to fill you in on my activities.”
“Yes.”
Janeway sighed with a smile, and leaned back in her seat.
“Well Tuvok, I got a divorce from Tom.”
“I was hoping that was the case.”
She didn’t press the point. “Then, I went to Florida with Chakotay.
Then we went to a
shipyard where the Voyager-C was. I was offered the captaincy, and took
it. Voyager got
involved with the problem at Nevis, and Chakotay and I got into an
argument. After it was
resolved, he asked me to marry him.”
Tuvok raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“You think there’s more to the story?”
“I am assuming there is.”
Janeway sighed. “I said no.”
“I am sure that you had good reason to decline.”
Janeway tapped the desktop nervously. “Well, I was afraid Tuvok. I
know you have
some memory of what that’s like.”
“Unfortunately, yes, I do.”
“After Tom, I’m just not sure I can go through all the marriage
business again.”
“I understand.”
“We’re just going to live in sin forever, I guess,” Janeway smirked.
“There is nothing wrong with living with your significant other.”
“I know that.”
“Is there anything else that I should know?”
“You always were nosy, weren’t you?” Janeway sighed. Tuvok said
nothing to the fact.
They spoke for a bit more about what he had been doing, and then closed the
channel. Janeway
stretched, and checked the chronometer.
“Almost lunch time,” Janeway murmured to the room, “I’ll go see what
B’Elanna is
doing.”
“Anyhow, I’m so nervous T’gana, I’m not sure if I’ll even pass it. Do
you think I’ll pass
it?” Calle Nirose peered inquiringly at T’gana. Calle had been talking
almost non-stop since the
transport had left.
“I believe that you’re chances of passing are high.”
Calle breezed past the affirmation, “that is such a Vulcan response.
I don’t see why you
have to get such control over your emotions anyways.”
“I don’t see why you have to get higher rank,” T’gana said drily.
Calle paused.
“True,” she continued, “but why do Vulcans have to go and suppress all
their emotions
anyways?”
“We just do,” T’gana said.
Calle fidgeted in her chair. “And that Pon Farr thing! I don’t see
why you can’t have sex
like normal people.”
T’gana rose to her feet. “I fail to see why humans think that their
habits should be the
base for everyone else’s.” She keyed the door and left their small cabin.
Calle stood also, cocked
her head and blinked.
“I didn’t say that!” she cried, following the Vulcan out of the room.
“You are trying to make me crazy, aren’t you?” T’gana asked as they
went down to the
hall. Calle sigh.
“Well, not exactly.”
“Well, it’s not going to work!” T’gana looked almost flushed. As it
was, her dark skin
had turned a shade darker. Calle huffed, and continued following T’gana.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your non-existent feelings,” Calle
said sharply. T’gana
glared at her.
Calle raised her hands in surrender. “Just kidding!”
Back on the not quite so sane ship of Voyager, Lt. Healy was fidgeting
in his seat. He’d
been doing this for some time, and was about to drive one of his commanding
officers insane.
Janeway had noticed that as of late, a certain helm officer had been
extremely distracted
while on duty. Aries Healy, in fact, had been like this ever since Voyager
had dropped of Lt.
Nirose and Ensign Nugui two days prior. For nearly half an hour Janeway
had watched him with
an amused, and yet bothered, smile. Chakotay entered the Bridge and sat
down next to her.
Healy mis-struck a key and his console beeped at him.
Janeway rose to her feet, and cleared her throat.
“Mr. Healy, may I please speak with you in my Ready Room?”
Aries looked up at her with a guilty expression, and then followed
Janeway to her office.
Once the door shut behind him, Janeway turned to Aries.
“Lieutenant,” you’ve seem distracted today. Is there something
wrong?” Janeway wore
her “captain’s mask”, keeping the smile off her face. Healy smiled though.
“Um, actually ma’am, it’s about Lt. Nirose.”
“What about her.”
“I miss her!”
Janeway cracked a sympathetic smile. “I see.”
Healy nodded.
“It’s alright, Lieutenant, I can understand how you feel.”
“Its terrible ma’am.”
“I know. But she will be back on board in five days; so I would
appreciate it if you paid a
bit more attention to your duties.”
Healy flushed, and nodded again. “Of course, ma’am.”
“And quit calling me “ma’am”,” Janeway smiled. Healy returned the
smile.
“Yes… Captain.”
“Dismissed.”
Janeway watched Healy return to the Bridge, and shook her head with a
wistful smile.
The door chimed.
“Enter.”
Torres entered the Ready Room slowly.
“Something wrong?” Janeway stood.
Torres smiled and shook her head. “No, I’m alright.” They sat down.
“Nausea?” Janeway queried.
“Just a little,” Torres admitted. “That and a stiff back.” She
raised the padd she was
holding.
“The systems check?” Torres nodded, wincing as she stretched to hand
it across the desk
to Janeway.
“You could have had someone bring this down, B’Elanna,” Janeway
sighed. Torres
shook her head.
“I wanted an excuse to get out of there,” she smiled. “We need more
women in
Engineering. They’re not so… careful.” She shifted in the chair. “You
don’t mind if I just sit
here for a bit?”
“Make yourself comfortable,” Janeway said, looking at the padd.
“You wouldn’t have a pillow, would you?” Torres grinned. “So, how are
you and
Chakotay?”
“All right.”
“He’s not taking being rejected too badly?”
Janeway shook her head.
“I know if he’d been Harry, he would have melted.” They laughed.
“So what’s this about the men in Engineering being over-sensitive?”
Torres sighed, “they won’t let me do anything! They’re so afraid that
I’m going to hurt
myself.”
“You should appreciate it.”
“I do.. I did at first, at least. But when we were installing new
components in the
computer the other day, I wasn’t allowed near them!”
“Well, some day you’ll appreciate it again.”
“Like when I’m too big to move?” Torres said sarcastically.
“Sounds about right.”
“Well, could you maybe talk to Chakotay and get him to put more women
on my shift?”
“Hey, he’s your friend too. You talk to him.”
“Aren’t you just the nicest.”
“I tend to think so,” Janeway grinned. “Would you like me to leave
you there or have you
rolled back down to Engineering?”
“I can take a hint,” Torres rolled her eyes with a smile. “Help me
up?”
“Of course. I can’t just leave you there stranded like a beached-”
“Don’t say it!”
“Need someone to talk to?”
Aries Healy looked up at the voice. Lt. Demamos, the quiet Security
chief, was standing
there with his lunch try.
“Go right ahead,” Healy sighed.
“I bet I know what’s wrong with you,” John Demamos said.
“You probably do,” Healy said, stirring his soup absently.
“You… miss Lt. Nirose.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“You didn’t sit still for more than twenty-eight seconds when you were
on the Bridge this
morning.”
“Are you really that bored?”
“Lately? Yes.”
“Me too.”
“Have you ever heard the Captain snore?”
Aries stared at Demamos for a moment, and shook his head. “No. When
did she snore?”
“She didn’t,” grinned Demamos, “I was just wondering if maybe she did
when I wasn’t
around.”
“Are you normally this weird?”
“Yes, I am,” John nodded seriously. “I just don’t talk on the
Bridge.”
“Why not?”
“It was a big no-no on the last ship I was on. If the Captain was on
the Bridge, you
couldn’t even whisper unless he asked you a question.”
“That’s awfully strict.” John shrugged.
“I was only on that ship two months. I don’t think the Captain liked
me.”
“What do you think of Janeway?”
John shrugged again. “Better than any other I’ve had.”
“The first two that I had on this ship were okay, but Captain Janeway
seems to have a
different outlook on things.”
“How’s that?”
“She’s… more open to the crew. The others tried to isolate
themselves.”
“She might have used to have been like that. But I guess out in the
Delta Quadrant, away
from regulations and stuff, she learned to change.”
Aries titled his head thoughtfully. “Maybe.”
“Did you hear about her and the Commander?”
“What about?”
“He asked her to marry him, but she turned him down.”
“He certainly took it well.”
“Yeah.”
“It probably had something to do with her ex,” John said.
“Her ex?”
“Ex-husband. Tom Paris, a fly-boy like you. They were married, but a
little after she
retired they got divorced.”
“Where’d you learn all this?”
“Here and there,” John said, “from the Doctor, and from TK.”
“Oh.”
“Love is like a scorpion sting, Aries. No matter how hard you try to
avoid it, if you go
and don’t watch your step in the middle of the night, you’re gonna get
stung.”
“Interesting. Who said that?”
“I just did.”
“You are weird.”
“Thank you.”
“I saw the strangest thing today in the mess hall.”
“What?” Janeway looked up from the book she was reading. It was the
same book, in
fact, that she had been reading when Chakotay had paid her that first visit
only a few weeks
before. Janeway still hadn’t finished it. At the rate she was going, she
never would.
“John Demamos.”
“Okay, he’s weird, but what so weird about seeing him?”
“He was talking to Lt. Healy.”
“He was talking to Aries?”
“Yeah.”
“He was talking to *anyone*?” Janeway laughed. “He barely even talks
on the Bridge.”
“I know.”
“What were they talking about?”
“I didn’t hear.”
“You should’ve tried harder.”
“I was just going in to get a drink for B’Elanna.”
“What, she couldn’t get her own?” Janeway grinned.
“I was sent to get it for her by someone in Engineering.”
“Was it a guy?”
“How’d you know?”
“B’Elanna was complaining again today about being pampered and not
being allowed to
do her job.”
“Sometimes I worry about her.”
“Mainly when she complains about being pampered?”
“Mainly.”
“Probably because Harry isn’t the pampering sort,” Janeway said.
“He’s more of the
cowardly worshiping type.”
“That’s a good description of him if I ever heard one.”
“Chakotay?”
“What?”
“Pamper me.”
“Fat chance.”
Janeway socked him with her pillow.
“Alright! I’m pampering. What would you like first, your Majesty?”
“Coffee.”
“What else?”
A few days later, Voyager returned from its brief patrol to Earth to
collect Nirose. They
would then head out to Vulcan to get and new and improved, de-emotionalized
Nugui, and start
out on a longer patrol.
Shortly after averting Voyager’s course, Torres found herself down in
Sickbay. Being drooled on. Holographically. Again.
And she didn’t like it.
One bit!
Honestly!
“Oh, c’mon, Doc, I can’t believe you.”
“It was an accident! I think,” Doc twitched nervously and leered at
B’Elanna. She sighed.
“Really? How did this happen?”
From his seat on a biobed the Doctor shrugged. “Got me.”
“What, did you let yourself be chased by a pack of wild dogs in the
holodeck?”
“Maybe.”
B’Elanna grumbled to herself. “Torres to Captain Janeway.”
“Janeway here.”
“We have a… problem.”
“Where?”
“Sickbay, where else?”
“Is it serious? I’m kinda busy.” B’Elanna heard laughter in the
background. Janeway snorted. “Quit! That tickles!”
“Captain?”
“Uh, yes, B’Elanna. The problem in Sickbay…?”
“The problem is with the Doc’s program. He seems to have contracted a
holographic strain of rabies.”
“Rabies?”
“Yes. But I think it was an excuse to drag me away from work I need to be
doing and make me come down here so he could flirt.”
“Let me speak to the Doctor.”
“Transferring…”
“What the hell did you do Doctor?”
“Pardon me?”
“What did you do?” Janeway’s voice was stern.
“Um…”
“Doctor, B’Elanna was in the middle of upgrading the comm relays. I don’t
think she needed to be bothered.”
“But this is serious…”
“Then I will come down there to tend to you.” B’Elanna heard Chakotay
groan in the background. “We’ll see just what your problem is.”
“Thank you Captain.”
“You’re welcome, B’Elanna.”
“Torres out.”
“Sneaky little creep aren’t you?” Janeway sneered at the Doctor as she
looked at the computer screen.
“Whatever are you referring to?” Doc ignored the sneer.
“Don’t play stupid.” Janeway sighed, rubbing her nose. She and Chakotay
had been in the middle of… well, what they had been doing wasn’t
important. They had been interrupted, again. The first time had been by
Healy requesting from the Bridge some time off. Janeway had grudgingly
given it to him; mainly to just get him out of her hair.
“Do you see this line of code?” Janeway pointed at a line of letters and
numbers.
“Yes.”
“Alpha-red-red-42356-ttedgvvvadllv578. Sound familiar?”
“Should it?”
Janeway resisted the urge to slug the hologram. “It’s a line of code that
causes the symptoms of rabies in a holographic person or certain
holographic animals.”
“Oh.”
“Doc, you need a love life.”
“Do I?”
“Yes,” Janeway sighed, tapping several keys. The Doctor’s image flickered
briefly, and then returned to normal.
“Thank you,” the Doctor said softly.
“Why don’t you go talk to Sandrine?”
“That woman?”
“Yes. I think she likes you.” The Doctor sighed.
“As you wish, Captain.”
“Try and leave B’Elanna alone unless its… really important.”
“I will.” She could have sworn he pouted. With a shrug, Janeway turned
and went back to her room to return to bed.
Two days later, Voyager arrived at Earth. Janeway sighed as she looked
out a window down to the globe that drifted below the ship. Chakotay
nudged her by the elbow and they continued down the hall to the transporter
room. Inside Aries Healy was waiting, excitedly hopping from foot to foot.
“Calm down, Lieutenant,” Janeway smiled.
“Captain!” Healy hadn’t seemed to notice Janeway and Chakotay entering the
room. The ensign working the transporters snorted a laugh.
“A bit eager, are we?” Chakotay said. Healy grinned, and nodded.
“I missed her a lot, sir.”
“I realize that,” Chakotay smiled. Janeway made her way up next to the
ensign.
“Is she ready on the other end?”
“Aye,” the ensign nodded.
“All right then,” Janeway patted the ensign’s shoulder and then went back
around the console. “Beam her up.”
A few beeps from the transporter console later, Calle Nirose materialized
on the transporter pad. Calle laughed as Healy scooped her up in a
welcoming bear hug.
*She seemed to glow from hips to pips
And oh the smile on her lips!*
As Healy set Nirose down, Janeway turned to them.
“Well?” her voice held many questions. Calle’s face sobered at the
question.
After a moment, Nirose broke into a grin.
“You are now looking at Lt. Commander Calle Nirose.”
END EPISODE SEVEN