by Dakota

Kathryn Janeway sat in her ready room contemplating the situation on Voyager. The Maquis had all finally accepted Starfleet uniforms and were slowly learning all the differences in routine on a 'fleet ship. That had caused a few problems including a broken nose in engineering. She had put off designating ranks for the Maquis or filling any of the senior officer positions until she had a better idea of the capabilities of the new members of her crew.

Kathryn was particularly unsettled by Chakotay, or to be more precise, by her reaction to him. He was blunt and outspoken but had told her his crew would accept 'fleet procedures and he had kept his word. He defended his people to her and made sure she knew what they could contribute but he was more demanding of them than she was. He allowed no mention of anything that smacked of mutiny or returning to Maquis methods in running the ship. She smiled – his approach reminded her of the way siblings would fight among themselves but stand up and defend each other against others. It worked -- she had to admit that. But it wasn't his methods that unsettled her – it was the man. He had asked a couple of very pointed questions that made it clear that he saw more than just the captain when he looked at her. Kathryn knew that she couldn't avoid acknowledging that she saw more than a Starfleet officer turned Maquis when she looked at him. That was what unsettled her.

Jerking her attention back to the present, she picked up a request from Neelix. The little man was trying to make himself useful and had taken his duties as 'morale officer' seriously. To him that meant planning lots of parties and his first idea was to celebrate a long time favorite on Earth – Valentine's Day. She sighed. That was not her first choice of holidays, but it fit the current season on Earth so she approved his request. It might do the crew some good to relax a bit; she only hoped Neelix didn't get carried away with the whole thing.

Three days later, Kathryn knew that Neelix had indeed gotten carried away but she didn't have the heart to tell him to tone it down. She had heard a few of the crew discussing the rumors and knew that many were looking forward to a few hours of nostalgia. Her door chimed and she signaled permission to enter. She wasn't all that surprised to see Chakotay walk in.

"Commander, what can I do for you?"

"We need to talk, Kathryn."

"Oh? About what?"

"All the people who are working without permanent rank or positions on this ship. It's been more than six weeks and none of my people has any idea of how they stand with you."

"Your people?"

"You haven't claimed them yet, so yes, 'my' people."

"They are wearing Starfleet uniforms. That certainly makes it seem like they're 'my' people."

"You can dress anyone up in a uniform but until you give them some authority and a permanent position, they aren't yours."

"I supposed you have some recommendations."

Chakotay didn't reply; he just held out a padd. Kathryn took it and started scanning it.

"Sit down. I'm not rushing through this."

Kathryn was pleased to see that most of his recommendations matched her own opinion. There were a few that surprised her though.

"I see that you've recommended Seska be given the rank of ensign. That surprises me."

"She's competent in her job but too confident – of a lot of things. I trust her but not as an officer on this ship." Chakotay's voice gave away no indication of the reason for the lack of trust.

"I also notice that you have Torres up for lieutenant. She seems too undisciplined to me for that rank so soon."

"That might be true, but she won't abuse the rank and I don’t think it's a good idea to make an ensign your chief engineer."

"Chief engineer!"

"You didn't finish reading my recommendations yet."

Kathryn finished reading the list and found nothing more that surprised her. She noticed more that a few things were missing.

"Ok, I'll approve all the rank recommendations but I need to think some more about Torres as chief engineer. I've seen what she can do as an engineer but I'm not sure she can handle the rest of the job." Kathryn paused then broached the missing items. "There are a few vacant positions that you didn't include and I don't see your name on this list anywhere."

"I didn't consider any of the Maquis qualified for those positions. I'm not going to tell you about the others – you still know them better than I do, but I'll give you my opinion if you want it. As for my rank, that's up to you. I resigned my commission once – it's not that important to me now."

"What positions are you qualified to fill?"

"My file says I'm a qualified pilot. I've taught tactics at the Academy so tactical probably makes the most sense – if you trust me with the weapons systems. Being in the Maquis taught me a lot about security and how to breach it, but I could obviously learn a few things about security breaching from Tuvok. When I was still in Starfleet, I was command track so I know how to do paper work, too. I'm a competent engineer but you already have more than enough people in engineering who are better engineers than I am. I am also a good captain – I can command a ship and I'm not afraid to make decisions. Somehow, though, I don't think that position is going to open up for a long, long time. You have a lot of choices, Kathryn."

Chakotay hadn't taken his eyes off Kathryn the entire time he talked and she knew he wasn't looking at her as an officer. She stood and crossed the room to the view port. He followed and stopped right behind her. She knew that the subject had changed as well as he did when he spoke.

"Like I said, you have a lot of choices to make, Kathryn."

"Did you know I'm engaged?"

"We can worry about that in seventy years. I think by then I can convince you to break it off with him."

"I can't get involved with an officer under my command. It's against regs."

"I'm not an officer under your command. I'm supposed to be your prisoner as far as Starfleet is concerned."

Kathryn turned to face Chakotay. He pulled her close. She didn't resist but didn't encourage him either. She was so close to yielding that Chakotay must have been able to read it on her face so he kissed her a bit roughly. When she still didn't pull back, he deepened the kiss and allowed his hands to roam over her body.

"How does Starfleet feel about nepotism?" Chakotay asked the question against Kathryn's lips.

Kathryn pulled her head back to answer. "As far as I know, the regs don't address it."

"So we have no problems with the regs then." Kathryn's puzzled look prompted a more complete statement. "Make me your lover before you decide on my rank."

Kathryn looked at Chakotay before wrapping her arms around his neck to pull his head down so she could whisper in his ear. "My quarters, ten minutes."

The next morning, Kathryn awoke surprised to feel no guilt or regret at her decision the day before. She was surprised that she was the one holding him rather than the reverse but she had no complaints. Chakotay roused and turned her on her back as he moved to nuzzle her neck. She reached for him eagerly.

"Well, I've made you my lover, Commander. Now I need a first officer. Will you be mine?"

Be Mine