In Which a Captain Corresponds with His Lady

Captain’s Personal Log:

Eventually, my headaches subsided. There were some moments when a rise in tension would cause the images to flare across my eyes. For the most part though, the memories were no longer painful. However, I had not moved past the Captain Proton debacle enough to have a sense of humor about it.

Thus, I was taking a hiatus from the Circle. They busied themselves with long range research and other projects and didn’t seem to object very strongly. Seven and B’Elanna remained a bit frosty after full disclosure of those events. My conversations with B’Elanna about her own responsibility in Tom’s holodeck obsession kept her from being furious. But lines had been crossed and the Lieutenant responded with wounded silence. She was, however, still speaking and dining with Tom and Harry, so I was confident that she would be playing with them soon.

Seven seemed dismayed about the overall lack of control shown by the boys. Though I was uncertain as to whether she and Harry were doing anything in private, she seemed content to wait for the resumption of play. I felt good about the confidence in our relationship I was sensing from her. It was she who came to me in my Ready Room moments before the end of my watch.

"I’ve cleaned and processed this message as much as is possible," she said without preamble.

I searched my brain for a second to figure out what she was talking about. The woman simply refused to believe that humans couldn’t access any data in a millisecond.

"Oh, Captain Picard’s message. Why did you have so much trouble with it?"

"The data is implausible," she replied. "I thought it was an error in transmission."

I was intrigued. "What if the data is merely out of your realm of experience?"

"Then, I will have many questions upon your review of the transmission," she said.

"I’ll give you a call," I replied. "Goodnight."

"Captain," she said with a nod.

I hurried back to my quarters for a quick meal of replicated soup. Then, in honor of the man writing, settled back with a glass of wine.
 
 

My Dearest Kathryn,

I was delighted to find out that you had survived. I envy you the Adventure you’re having. For a scientist with your mind, this must be a journey that is endlessly fascinating. I am writing over this vast distance to tell you of an extraordinary adventure we shared quite recently. Don’t be distressed that you don’t remember it. The reasons why will be clear upon the story’s conclusion.

Let me say as a way of explaining my behavior during this encounter, that I’d often thought of you in the years since that holiday we shared. Although I realized that our professional drives would have made a relationship impossible, I did regret not having the opportunity for further time with you.

I even looked up the Club as a possibility for vacation. That’s quite an establishment. It made me blush just to be in the lobby, but I was willing. Thank you for putting me on that list for a free trail membership. I still have it. I must admit that I don’t have the imagination to conjure the amazing fantasy you’ve been having Out There. The chronicles of Mistress Janeway’s escapades nearly singed my eyebrows. Kathryn, you have deeply flattered me by making me believe that I gave you pleasure.

These were the thoughts I had -- and still do -- in the back of my mind when I was on that Bridge that fateful day. The Enterprise was on patrol in a deep space sector. We were following a lead from Starfleet Intelligence that the Dominion had found a wormhole nearby making the Federation vulnerable to attack from the rear. I felt it was more a reflection of paranoia than of military intelligence.

Yet there we were on day four of a twenty eight day sweep. Lieutenant Commander Data reported an anomaly with characteristics similar to a wormhole. At first, I believed that perhaps Starfleet Intelligence was correct. We went to red alert and long range scanners began searching for Jem’Hadar signatures. That was not what we found.

Data detected the presence of a high concentration of taconite. Logically, he deduced, it could mean only one thing, a Federation shuttlecraft. You will find that this war has had a bigger impact on the Federation than anything in its history. Even the most seasoned in Starfleet have become fearful. I gave the command to follow wary of a very clever trap. Sensors indeed picked up a shuttlecraft which had crashed on a class M moon. It contained a single, very weak life sign. The shuttle itself was identified as one from Voyager. I sent an encrypted message to Starfleet then went with the landing party for the rescue.

The shuttle was damaged beyond any salvage efforts. Something had fused all the systems into a big metal mess. We found Captain Janeway a short distance anyway. Dr. Crusher determined that she was attempting to escape the toxic fumes generated when the systems melted. Her efforts had been only partially successful.

"Her lungs are damaged," Crusher reported. "We have to get her to the ship."

I concurred leaving Data to assess what he could from the wreckage to accompany the patient. It was imperative that I get answers from the Captain as quickly as possible, but I was also extremely concerned about Kathryn. The Janeway I knew could never be called fragile or vulnerable. Yet there she was lying on a bio-bed battered, utterly alone and absolutely fragile. When she woke, she needed honest answers and empathetic support.

Thus, I stayed, willing her to wake. She was different yet the same as when we met. The shorter hair made her features more delicate. Her skin was pale from the ordeal. I resisted a strong impulse to touch her. Beverly was already giving me a curious stare and Counselor Troi’s large eyes were upon me.

"Her lungs are clearing," Dr. Crusher informed me.

"Wake her," I replied.

"I don’t think that’s wise," she said.

"I need a few answers to find out if the Dominion is responsible. That sounds implausible, I know, but that is what Starfleet will be asking," I said in irritation. "Then, we can let her rest."

The Doctor complied but disapproval was written all over her face. The Captain stirred as soon as the hypo-spray was administered.

"Captain Janeway," I said quietly. "It’s Jean-Luc. You are in the Alpha Quadrant on the Enterprise."

"Enterprise… Captain… Picard…?"

"How did you get here?"

"My ship… where?"

"The shuttlecraft?"

She shook her head urgently. "Voyager… following… where?"

"How was it following, Kathryn?" I asked more insistently. I had her hands in mine somehow. My face hovered close to hers.

"Slip…slip stream. Please, Sir… where… is Voyager…?"

I stroked her hair. "There was only the shuttlecraft."

The look of expectation turned to utter anguish. My heart fell with hers.

"We’ll send out probes and continue long range scans. She may have come out at a different point," I said quietly.

She tried to sit up. "Have to help…"

Janeway promptly collapsed against my chest. I gently eased her onto the bed then let her go. Crusher, Troi and Nurse Ogawa were staring at me when I finally looked up.

"I didn’t know you were acquainted," Beverly said dryly.

"It’s a long story," I replied.

"Riker to Picard."

"Go ahead."

"Incoming transmission from Starfleet…"

"On my way."

I talked to three admirals including one from Starfleet Intelligence. Was she really Janeway down to the DNA? Could Voyager have acquired slip stream technology? I hadn’t talked to LaForge about that yet. They wanted her isolated from the crew -- moved bio-bed and all to VIP quarters and put under guard. Once stable, only Crusher and I were to see her until we reached the nearest starbase. Representatives from the Admiralty and Starfleet Intelligence were en route. The Enterprise was to proceed at top speed as soon as the shuttle wreckage was on board.

And thus it was done over both Crusher and Troi’s objections. Janeway was isolated in a comfortable room with a guard and a force field at the ready. I conferred with my senior staff about the location of Voyager, slip stream and what awaited the captain at the starbase. I listened intently at the efficiently gathered and well presented data, but my mind was on the patient. I had to get to her before she awoke. I desperately did not want her to awaken alone. The meeting ran its course. I gave my staff further orders and hoped to get on my way.

Dr. Crusher left stiffly. But Troi remained with an expectant look on her face. I tried not to sigh.

She blushed obviously aware of my feelings on the matter.

"Captain," she began. "I won’t keep you. I just wanted a short word."

"Of course."

"I know that you care intensely about the Captain’s well being, but I just wanted to caution you to let her set the pace… as she did with you…" she said quietly.

I smiled at that. I’d forgotten how much she could see with certain people. "Thank you, Counselor. I’ll keep it in mind."

Kathryn was very still in the bio-bed when I entered the room. I approached it carefully as though my movements might have startled her. My hand moved of their own accord stroking her hair then tracing the lines of her delicate features.

"My little hedonist," I sighed. "How am I going to find a way to get you through this?"

There was a small gasp from the next room. Beverly Crusher was standing there staring at me incredulously.

"Captain Kathryn Janeway is one of the few science officers to become a ship’s captain," she began. "Hers is reported to be one of the best analytical minds in Starfleet. She is a little hedonist?"

I didn’t want to tell her or anyone about that vacation. It was a little secret that I cherished from time to time. But the next few days would be impossible unless I shared it. My fingers found their way into her hair.

"I met Kathryn Janeway at a very difficult point in my life," I said.

"It was that trip you took to -- while we were getting refitted at Starbase 24," she replied. "You were different afterward. I often wondered why."

That took me aback. "I had felt good on Earth. For a little while, I felt human. But when I returned to the ship, with all of it’s technology and artificial atmosphere, I felt myself growing detached from everything -- even my own feelings. That place was close to Earth…"

"You thought that you could recapture those feelings," Beverly said.

I nodded. "It was beautiful, rural and I still felt numb, alone and detached."

"Until Janeway showed up?"

There was that arched tone again. I let it pass. "I recognized her when she checked in. Her papers were brilliant. But what drew me to her -- aside from the saddle she carried -- was the way she ate her dinner. I’ve never seen anyone enjoy a meal with such carnal abandon," I said. "I enjoyed that meal through her. I felt something for the first time in a long, long while.

"Afterward, I enjoyed the fire in the hearth and the port and the colorful conversations about me through her."

Beverly looked hurt. "You couldn’t have that pleasure with someone on your own ship?"

"With those close to me here, Beverly, I was too aware of the concern for my welfare to let myself go. Everyone so wanted me to be well and I didn’t want to worry any of you. I needed my crew to view me as whole," I replied. "Captain Janeway was simply enjoying a moment for what it was. There was no history at stake between us."

"Go on."

"I found myself wondering how she would relish the comfortable down bedding and the delicious breakfast. As a result, I enjoyed them. And I wanted more," I said. "I chose her mount and left instructions for what foods she should carry. Then, I waited for her on the trail."

I lost my train of thought for a moment reliving how glorious you looked on that horse thundering across the meadow with the wind in your hair.

"I knew what I wanted… what I needed from her when I followed her to that secluded glade. I was so purely feral that I almost felt ashamed," I smiled ruefully. "I actually imagined how you’d react to me stating that what would set me right was a good and proper rodgering."

Beverly actually smiled at that. "And you thought she would be open to the suggestion?"

"I don’t know how I knew, but I did. She enjoyed tactile experience like no one else I’d ever encountered. Somehow I sensed that sex would be a simple tactile experience for her.

"We ate. We drank wine. We began tasting each other. That set in motion an intense whirlwind of physical pleasure. We got caught in a storm and spent the night in a deserted cabin. I became a lustful animal. We parted the next morning. Other than the odd symposium or a Captain’s conference, we never had a similar experience."

I had spared her the details but I was certain that she saw them on my face as I stroked Kathryn’s cheek.

"Yet you feel the impact still."

I nodded. "I owe her a lot. I mean to do what I can to help her."

"Do you want more?"

I smiled wanly at that. "The thing I learned from her was to enjoy the moment for what it is without expectation. I have none. But I will help her."

Beverly nodded. "I’ll leave you with her. I’ll be monitoring her vitals."

"Thank you, Beverly. And thank you for listening."

Janeway awoke a few hours later. I helped her sit up and gave her water. She accepted my handling of her passively. I sensed that she was waiting for either questions or answers. As I expected, she began first keeping the details focused on the events that brought her shuttle to the Alpha Quadrant. It was an extraordinary tale in which each statement raised more questions than were answered. I held my tongue watching her carefully.

"We’d calculated for everything," she whispered at the end. Her eyes were glistening with unshed teats. "Or so I thought."

"Kathryn, yours is an amazing crew. It is likely that they came out of the stream light years away. You survived in a much smaller vessel. You have to have faith that they did as well."

She was silent for a moment. Then, she met my gaze again. "What does Starfleet Intelligence think?"

I sighed at that but knew that the only thing I could be is brutally frank. "In short, they probably believe that you are a shape shifting alien who has been waging war against the Federation for 26 months."

The Captain laughed. At first, I was relieved. But then I realized that she was growing hysterical. Immediately, I took her in my arms and held her close. The sobs racked though her. I held tight massaging her scalp and rubbing her back. The poor woman resisted my comfort as the grief and fear overtook her. I held her through the sobs, then the shakes then the trembling. After a time, she exhausted herself. I continued to hold her until she went limp against me. Once she stilled, I soothed her face with a damp cloth.

Once she slept again, I racked my brain for a way to build up her strength of will before Starfleet Intelligence got a hold of her. Though my brief visit at the Club and the mystique about it indicated that Janeway had formidable political support that could shield her, I sensed that she was in need of assistance to muster the will to gather those forces about her.

Food seemed to be a good beginning. While Doctor Crusher examined Janeway’s lungs, I went to Guinan to make a special request. By the time I’d returned, the bio-bed had been removed. Janeway was propped up in the bedroom still pale but more composed.

"Captain Janeway’s vitals are stable enough to move her to a more comfortable bed," she said.

"Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate that," Kathryn said.

"I want to make sure that you rest," Crusher replied. "That requires a certain amount of comfort."

"And good food," I said. "Compliments of Guinan, chicken noodle soup, a piece of French bread…"

"And strawberries," Janeway said as I assembled the food on a tray in front of her. "Real ones?"

"Guinan is very resourceful," Crusher said. "I’ll check in on you later."

"She dislikes me," Janeway said. "She knows about our history?"

"Yes, but I don’t want to talk about her now. I want you to taste this wonderful soup," I said.

"I don’t want to disappoint your friend, but I don’t know how much of an appetite I have," Janeway said.

I sat beside her with spoon in hand. "Just taste it for me."

She took the spoon then sipped the broth very slowly. A whisper of pleasure crossed her features. The bowl was soon finished as was the bread. Janeway seemed surprised.

"Awakening my appetites once more, Sir?" she asked. "Dr. Crusher would not approve."

I smiled proffering a strawberry. "I merely want you to eat. And call me Jean-Luc."

Kathryn opened her mouth to accept the lush piece of fruit. After blissfully chewing then swallowing, she smiled a small smile. "Delicious, Jean-Luc. But you must have more to do than keep me company."

"I have a remarkable staff, and it is my pleasure, Kathryn."

She accepted another strawberry. Her eyes met mine. They were searching for assurance. I gently ran my thumb across her lip.

"I won’t allow you to slip into dark thoughts and I will assist you in discreetly contacting those who can help you with Starfleet," I said quietly.

She licked her lips in the wake of my fingers seeming to enjoy the taste of them as well.

"I want you to sleep now. You still look exhausted."

"Yes, and it’s damned frustrating. I can think of half a dozen things I’d like to do right now, but I don’t have the energy," she quipped with a smirk.

"I’ll clear all this away," I said declining comment on the last provocative statement. "Then, I’ll be reading nearby."

"I can make room. Why don’t you read here?"

"You’ll be comfortable with that?"

"Completely. Please."

I was relieved. I’d wanted to be near her while she was aware of me. I wanted her to want me. And it was wonderful to have such a strong woman spoon around me seeking my strength.

She slept peacefully for a while. I reviewed some reports and quietly conferred with my staff. The first nightmare passed without her waking. I stroked her hair until she clamed. But the next time, she cried out sitting upright gasping for air. I rubbed her back until her breathing slowed.

"Lay back, Kathryn. You’re safe," I whispered. She did so but was as rigid as a board.

I leaned over her wondering if I should call Beverly. Before I could say anything, Kathryn leveraged up and sealed her lips against mine. I was startled, so I yielded to the exquisite taste of her mouth for a moment. The, I came to senses and broke the kiss.

"Please," she murmured.

It was very unwise. I was already behaving in a manner that Starfleet would undoubtedly find highly questionable. Yielding to such desires was approaching reckless. But I could not resist that pull or the plea in her eyes. The next kiss was explosive for me. Her sweetness and intensity flooded me with memories and renewed lust. I went on a careful and slow journey tasting and savoring her body from that sweet mouth downward. I’d forgotten how voluptuous Kathryn Janeway’s responses could be. I suckled at her nipples until she writhed against me then I moved to nip at her navel while reveling in the wonderful gasps and sighs coming from her. But I rejoiced when I heard the magical sounds she made when I went after the tangy sweetness between those slender thighs. I worshipped her there savoring every bit of her essence until she was quaking beneath me.

Kathryn looked blissful. She gazed at me in wonder.

"Jean-Luc," she whispered. "Take me."

"I just have," I smiled.

"And very well," she purred. "But you know what I mean and what I want."

Kathryn ran a hand down my erection. I certainly knew what she meant. I came to my senses long enough to secure the door under my code. In the next moment, I was naked and sheathed in her incredible heat. And like before, I had to watch her exquisite face as pleasure overtook her. That image of delight and abandon and the knowledge that my body caused it sent me with that heat milking the orgasm from me. It was all I could do not to topple onto her.

She slept then draped across me. It was if this was the place she’d always wanted to be. But that turned out to be only the beginning. We shared two more wondrous couplings that night. Despite my concern, Kathryn was intent on being had in several positions. She pleasured me orally with relish and abandon. To my amazement, I came each time.

Despite amazing fatigue, I carried her to the sonic shower and cleaned us both up before returning to bed. Beverly would be furious at my exhausting her patient and I didn’t want to flaunt the evidence. In the moments before I succumbed to sleep, I wondered if Kathryn’s appetite was due to the need to escape her current reality or perhaps she had been starved of this kind of affection for the whole time on Voyager. Whatever the case, I found myself feeling very possessive of her. And I began to entertain thoughts that went beyond the debriefing.

Kathryn was still asleep when I left to confer with Starfleet. The news was not encouraging. Factions had formed over the Captain. The most paranoid of them still wanted to interrogate her as part of the Dominion. Most wanted her knowledge of the Borg and other aliens Voyager had encountered. They were all very interested in slip stream technology. There was little chance that she would be free to help find her ship for months at minimum. This would devastate her.

My mood was not improved upon returning to her quarters. Dr. Crusher was quite grim faced and Kathryn’s pale, despondent visage had returned.

"Report," I said giving up on pleasantries.

"Captain Janeway’s lungs have healed completely. She is still in need of rest and I still believe it prudent for her to talk to Deanna to prepare for debriefing," she said matter of factly.

"It has been made even more clear how adverse Starfleet Intelligence would be to that suggestion," I replied. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Captain," she replied stiffly.

I looked at Kathryn. "Did you two have words?"

"Not really," she replied. "Dr. Crusher could use a stronger sense of whimsy. I told her so."

I nodded. "This is certainly true. And I’m sure that she took it well."

"Oh yes," Janeway smiled ruefully.

"I’ve got breakfast… fresh fruit, croissants and…"

"Coffee," Janeway sighed. "I can smell it from here."

The way she took that cup and inhaled the aroma made me feel good. Her face was bliss when she sipped it.

"I am in your debt, Jean-Luc," she murmured. "I have fantasized about real coffee for five years."

I smiled at her. It was at that moment that I saw the incredible woman who overwhelmed my senses in that beautiful meadow. But the sad face with the haunted eyes quickly returned.

"Kathryn…"

"Don’t you dare apologize to me."

"You are so vulnerable…"

"Never doubt that I don’t know what I want or what I need," she said between draughts. "I need this coffee. I needed what I had with you last night. I’ve needed something normal and human…"

"To make you feel alive."

"Yes," she replied. Her gaze held mine. "I felt so safe with you. I felt such affection from you. Being with you made me feel less alone."

"It was the least I could do," I replied with as little irony as possible. "Considering how you made me feel at a time when I was most lost."

Kathryn lowered her eyes and blushed as she began to eat the fruit. I wanted her so much then. And again I felt conflicted. Again, she read my mind.

"Lock the door, Jean-Luc," she said quietly.

I was astonished. "You -- you haven’t finished your breakfast."

"Later."

The look in her eyes prompted my decision. I called for the lock. I was tempted to call for a level five force field. Something had awakened an intense hunger in me. I did not want any interruptions. I stripped her as gently as I could. Somehow, her garments remained intact. Then, I feasted on her skin. I took a great deal of time swirling my tongue over her nipples, nipping at her sensitive spots while moving ever lower on her writhing form. I wanted the honey between her legs. Her clitoris was already throbbing for me. It didn’t take much in the way of licking and tugging to make her quiver and moan. There was a certain joy in hearing her moaning my name in delirium, but I kept after her because I needed her to be very wet for me.

In one fluid movement, I flipped over, kneed her legs apart, then plunged inside that wetness. She had me, I realized, grasped in that wet heat demanding that I move. And I did, but while I undulated in that exquisite sheath, I went after the tiny pucker exposed between her smooth, rounded cheeks. With one finger, then two, I prepared her for an even more intimate breach. Kathryn moaned my name loudly as she realized my intent. When I felt her orgasm spasm around my rigid flesh, I withdrew then gently shoved into that even tighter, hotter sheath. And Kathryn was pushing back against my thrusts. I swear I was being gripped in a way I’d never felt before. This time, when I climaxed it was with such vigor that I forgot everything and collapsed on top of her.

When I awoke, the room was dark and still. And though I felt well sated, I was oddly ill at ease.

"Kathryn?"

After a moment, the lights went up. It was not the flushed face of Kathryn Janeway I saw.

"Hello, Jean-Luc," Q said. He was as naked as I was. And I realized in retrospect that his expression had more emotion than I’d ever remembered seeing. But I was rendered speechless by anger. It was a fury the likes of which I had never experienced before. The only thing I could do was roll out of bed and away from him. I didn’t need to ask what happened to Janeway. I knew with a sickening dread that she had never been with me.

Q looked at me in dismay and growing alarm.

"I’ve… made a mistake. But I don’t understand. I gave you everything you wanted. I looked into your soul and gave you what I saw there," he said. "I never once thought of myself."

I struggled to find a voice for my fury, but there were so many ways in which he transgressed, my mind didn’t know where to begin.

"You humans are impossible -- you yearning for that ice queen and Kathy besotted by a tattooed cretin. I learned enough about you both to give you paradise and you would reject it because of a ruse," he sputtered.

It was then that I found my voice. Q must have sensed the coming tirade because he promptly disappeared.

Hours passed before I was calm enough to come out of that room. I hadn’t begun to figure out what I was going to tell my senior staff let alone Starfleet. They had to be told though, so I had them assemble in the Briefing Room. Before I could open my mouth to begin to explain, Q appeared with half the Admiralty who were there long enough to get tricorder readings then disappeared. Explaining to my staff seemed easier knowing that I was not about to be court martialed. I later found out that he had first appeared to the Admiralty at a formal dinner as Janeway before transforming and zapping them to the Enterprise. I was not even put on report.

Q did even more ‘favors’ for me over the following weeks and months. I received some valuable archeological artifacts and some invaluable information on the Dominion. Each gift renewed my anger. I’m certain that Q is aware of this. Thus, he has stayed away from me -- for now.

After some months of normal activity, I realized that there was some positive by-products to that whole sordid encounter. Aside from putting me in contact with feelings that I have for you (and do in spite of everything), whatever Q said to Beverly as Janeway has worked wonders on our relationship. The Doctor waited a suitable amount of time for me to fully recover from that folly. She then invited me to dinner as had been our habit before this whole incident.

I arrived with a bottle of wine in hand. When the door opened, I found that I was snatched inside her quarters, turned and pinned against the wall. She had a feral gleam in her eyes that I was unaccustomed to seeing. Without a word of warning, she removed enough of my clothing to expose my very interested member. And while still holding me against the wall, she licked me thoroughly then took the shaft in her mouth to the hilt. Her eyes never left mine as she sucked me while one hand fondled my testicles. It was wonderful. I was astounded, but all of the questions I had were forgotten as my synapses failed me. Beverly worked me to nearly climaxing three times while watching the results of her sweet torture play over my face. Then, with a final glint, she sucked even harder while a well-lubricated index finger found its way inside me from underneath and unerringly located my prostate. I think I screamed. I know I collapsed afterward. To this day, I cannot remember what, if anything, we had for dinner.

Later, I found that that Janeway had made a very simple observation that apparently struck a nerve with Doctor Crusher. She’d suggested that rather than spending so much time orchestrating dinners that only garner a lukewarm reception, that perhaps she’d get more of a reaction by showing up naked or giving me a blow job. Though it was not really you, I could honestly hear you saying something like that, especially if Beverly had provoked you with one of her quips or disapproving glances. At any rate, it was sound advice and I was pleased and surprised at this previously hidden talent.

Thus, the benefits of that fiasco have almost outpaced my anger and embarrassment -- though not completely. And it was those positives that popped into mind when I found that Starfleet had a way of communicating with Voyager. I thought I should tell you this tale as a way of letting you know how much our experience had impacted me and as a caution of what may come your way. Though I know that you have the formidable Chakotay by your side (I looked into the man’s history after I discovered that Q had been ranting about a real person) and I have Beverly, I still intend to look you up upon your return to re-establish contact and explore possibilities. Whatever happens, know that I am in your corner.

Your humble servant,
Jean-Luc
 
 

I put the padd down with trembling hands. My eyes stung with unshed tears. Never had I been so moved and in such an unusual ways. I was flattered, deeply so. I was repulsed for Picard’s sake, but I was impressed with Q’s ability to learn and emulate. I couldn’t begin to fathom how Chakotay would react to what was clearly a gauntlet being thrown. Overall, I was deeply conflicted.

On an impulse, I sent the file to Chakotay before my nerve left me. Then, I called for Seven. I knew that whatever her mood, I would enjoy the questions. She did not disappoint me.

"You seduced Locutus and are desired by a Q."

Well, that made me sound like quite a dish, didn’t it?

"Not exactly," I replied. "Q is a petulant child who still doesn’t understand that the universe is largely unconcerned with his desires."

Seven seemed amazed. "You would treat a being who can move whole planets with such disdain?"

"You’ll find that disdain is quite a weapon when used properly," I said. "Witness all that he is willing to do for the attention he craves."

"The Q are most illogical. All that power yet their pursuits are so frivolous."

I shrugged. "They have pursued all that we have or will pursue when our species was not even a single cell. They have long forgotten how to have concerns other than contemplating their own navels. That Q tried so hard to win Picard is shocking and intriguing."

"You will pursue him?"

"Absolutely not. He will have to come to me on his knees."

"And Locutus?"

"Picard. Captain Picard was a wounded man when I met him," I said. "We shared some simple, basic pleasures. I had no idea that that moment had such an affect on him. I’m deeply flattered."

Seven considered me. "Doesn’t the attention of such powerful male figures do more than flatter you?"

"Does this make me horny?" I wondered. I shrugged.

"I can’t get my mind around it," I replied. "Perhaps in a day or two. Do you want to share the experience?"

"Yes, I would."

I smirked at that. I was pretty certain that I could accurately do a cast of Jean-Luc. "We’ll set some time a day or two away. I’m going to have some special toys made."

"Very well," she said. "Goodnight, Captain."

"Goodnight, Seven."

I barely had time to think about the ramifications of that date, Chakotay was just inside my door. He had a padd in his hand which he immediately set down upon the nearest table.

"And what will you tell the eloquent Captain Picard when we reach home?" he asked softly as he crossed the room towards me.

I stared at him. Suddenly, I was in the man’s arms. He had me pressed against him. One hand was in my hair gently tilting my head to one side. He bit me at the curve of my neck and shoulder then sucked the skin under his mouth. I gasped.

"What will you tell him?"

He licked my collarbone humming against my skin. My legs got weak.

"I’ll tell him I’m very flattered," I replied leaning against him.

Chakotay lifted me in his arms to place me on the bed where he hovered over me.

"But…" he said against my temple before kissing me there. I could feel his heat and his hardness against my leg. I wanted his kiss. He knew it.

"…and I appreciate his support…" I murmured.

He kissed my eyelids. I arched against him. He brushed his lips against mine.

"But…"

I wanted him so much, but I couldn’t give in this easily.

"…and I count him as a friend…"

He growled in frustration and took my mouth savagely. I felt his hands going after my clothes.

"…but…" he said just over my lips. His eyes held mine. I couldn’t fight anymore.

"…but I’m otherwise… attached…" I sighed.

This kiss was tender. I felt his nimble fingers removing my clothes while he sweetly explored my mouth.

"They know the Captain or they know the Mistress," he murmured as he removed his own clothing. All I could do is watch him as his kiss had rendered me senseless. "I know Kathryn. No one will ever know you or have you like me."

Then he was in me and kissing me and moving in me. He was loving me. Jean-Luc Picard may have been able to, but my heart was here.

Afterward, he held me close and we drifted near sleep.

"Kim to Janeway."

"Janeway here," I replied sleepily.

"We have a trail containing a high concentration of taconite leading to a class M moon," he said.

I felt my eyebrow raise.

"Long range scans show a shuttlecraft… it’s from the Enterprise…"

"Keep moving," I murmured snuggling into the Commander who was laughing softly.

"Ma’am?"

"I’ll debrief you and the staff in the morning," I said. "Goodnight, Mr. Kim."

"Goodnight, Captain."

The arms tightened about me possessively. Q could wait. They all could wait. I fell asleep.

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43: Pastimes