The bridge had been fairly quiet that day. Captain Janeway spent the morning in her ready room. She hadn't contacted any member of the crew since arriving after breakfast and as it was now mid-afternoon Commander Chakotay was beginning to be concerned. He approached Lt. Commander Tuvok quietly at his Security/Tacital station, not wanting to draw too much attention to their conversation.

"So Tuvok, you haven't seen or spoken to the Captain either today? When was the last time you saw her?"

"The Captain arrived on the bridge this morning at approximately 0815 hours. I did not see her after that, though I was in the messhall from 1200 to 1230. I believe, however, that you were on the bridge during that time period. Therefore, we can conclude that she has not been out of the ready room."

Chakotay asked himself why Tuvok couldn't ever just answer a question simply. "Thank you Tuvok." He tapped his chest. "Chakotay to the Captain."

There was no response. He repeated the communication with the same result. He met Tuvok's eyes, the Vulcan merely raised his eyebrow.

"Commander, I suggest we enter the ready room immediately."

But Chakotay was already turning away and heading for the door. He put in his override code with Tuvok right behind him. As the door swooshed open their ears were assaulted with loud music, Tchaikovsky Chakotay thought. The Captain was sitting at her desk and appeared to be doing nothing more than staring into the air.

"Captain? Are you all right?!" Chakotay asked her, trying to be heard over the music.

"The 'Romeo and Juliet Suite' Chakotay." She met his eyes but he didn't actually see her. She looked ... blank. "Do you like it?"

"It's a little loud, Captain!"

"Computer, reduce music volume 75% ... 60% ... 23% ..."

"Kathryn! Turn the music off!" Chakotay leaned over the desk and touched her arm in an attempt to get her attention.

"Okay, okay, okay. Okie-dokie. Okie okie. Computer end music."

Chakotay looked at Tuvok. Then back at the Captain. She was staring again. Chakotay took Tuvok's arm and motioned him to the couches. When they looked back at the desk the Captain was curled up in her chair looking at the ceiling.

"Tuvok, we must get her to sick bay. I need your support here."

"You can rely on that, Commander."

"Chakotay to sick bay."

"Yes, Commander?"

"Doctor, Mr. Tuvok and I are sending the Captain to you. Please sedate her. I'll be down shortly to explain."

"But Commander, the Captain?"

"Doctor, do it or I'll have B'Elanna take your subvocal processors offline. Do you understand?!"

"No problem, Commander, Mr. Tuvok. Send her down."

"Chakotay to transporter room one. Transport the Captain to sick bay immediately."

Just before she de-materialized, they both heard her crying "No!"

When Chakotay got to sick bay he was in turmoil. He and Tuvok had agreed to relieve the Captain of command until further enlightenment by the Doctor. Chakotay prayed for good news the entire time he was in the turbolift.

Kathryn was on the main biobed, sedated, with a cortical monitor on her neck. The Doctor was continuing to run tests at his console. As Chakotay approached the biobed she stirred and he took her hand in his.

"Doctor, how is she?"

"I don't have a precise answer to that. Her brain-wave patterns are not within her normal parameters. Odd...her pituitary hormone levels became elevated in the past 30 seconds. The most significant problem is that the hypothalimus region of her brain shows a higher level of hormonal activity, out of proportion with the rest of her brain, to put it into layman's terms."

"Could you put more of that into layman's terms for me? What the hell is going on with her?!"

"Commander, I understand your distress. Let me explain it this way. Her memories are overwhelming the ability of her brain to deal with the here and now. Thus, her incoherent speech."

"What can we do for her?"

"That I do not know. Yet. Give me some time. I have every confidence I will find a treatment."

"I apologize, Doctor, for my earlier outburst."

"No apology necessary. I promise I will tell you as soon as I know something. You're welcome to stay."

Chakotay nodded to him, pulled up a stool and sat next to Kathryn sending more prayers to his ancestors for her recovery.

An hour later he was back on the bridge, still with no answers from the Doctor. He and Tuvok called a meeting of the senior staff to fill them in on the Captain's condition. Chakotay described it as overwork and stress resulting in some minor exhaustion and disorientation. The Doctor was doing everything he could and Captain Janeway should be returning to work by the next day at the latest. The officers were concerned but not overly so and for that the Commander was grateful.

It was almost time for the alpha duty shift to end when the Doctor called the bridge, quite agitated.

"Sick bay to Commander Chakotay! Commander, the Captain is gone! She de-activated me just long enough to leave - the computer says she is heading for shuttle bay one! I'm on my way there..."

"Thank you Doctor - is the cortical monitor still in place?"

"No - she removed it."

Tuvok hit his chest. "Security to shuttle bay one immediately. Stop the Captain. I repeat - stop the Captain, command code Tuvok gamma 2."

Harry at the ops station called out. "Commander, the Delta Flyer has been boarded and the launch sequence has begun."

"Harry, override the sequence!"

"I'm trying .... The Captain is using her command codes to lock me out."

"Get a tractor beam ready!" Chakotay forced himself to remain calm.  He muttered to himself, "She's at least coherent enough to get herself out of here..."

"Commander, she's launching the Flyer. It's out the door. Tractor beam engaged. And disengaged... She sent a tachyon burst to the point of contact. She's still only using impulse engines..."

"Tom - follow her!" Chakotay hit his chest with force. "Chakotay to the Delta Flyer! Captain - please respond."

"Chako-tay... Where are you...?"

"I'm on the bridge. Where are you?" He breathed a sigh of relief and decided to keep her talking, hopefully to distract her from whatever she was doing.

"I'm on the bridge, too. Why can't I see you?"

"Harry open a channel. On screen." The computer chirped. "There, Captain, now can you see me?"

"Hi Chakotay! Why aren't you calling me Kathryn? Did you forget my name..."

"I'm sorry Kathryn. So where are you going?"

"I forgive you...this time. Don't let it happen again, okay Chakotay? Hey - that rhymes!!" She started to laugh.

"Kathryn - can you tell me where you're going?"

"I'm going to take a bath under the stars. I need to find the monkey..."

Tom turned around with a surprised look on his face. "The monkey?" He chuckled. Chakotay glared at him.

"The monkey's long gone, Kathryn. You won't be able to find him out there."

"No-o-o! I want the monkey..." She was starting to cry.

"Forget the damned monkey!" Chakotay's long buried feelings were coming to the surface.

"You always were jealous of that monkey! You never liked him!"

"That's not true, I liked him. But he's very very far away. Why don't you tell me about the bath, okay?" He turned to Harry and spoke quietly to him "Harry, can you get a transporter lock on her yet?"

"Cha-ko-tay, you know about the bathtub, you made it for me...you're playing with me, aren't you? I remember how nice it was...talking with you in the tub..." Tom was turning around again, smirking.

"Commander, I can't get a lock, she's got the shields on a rotating multiphasic allignment. How is she doing that..."

"Keep trying Harry, at least figure out a way to get one of us over there."

"Why can't we go back to the bathtub Chakotay... Like last week?"

Chakotay tried to quickly change the subject. "Kathryn - how would you like me to come over there and be with you? We can go look for the bathtub together."

"But you told me we found it. Were you lying to me? You wouldn't do that, would you?"

"No, I would never lie to you, you know that. So can I come over there? I need you to fix the shields so I can beam there. Can you change the allignment?"

"Only if you promise you'll never leave me again..."

"I've never left you, Kathryn. What are you talking about? Fix your shields, and then we can discuss it. I promise."

"You left me a few months ago ... You didn't stay."

"I got called to the bridge, remember? I didn't want to leave, you know that." He turned in desperation to Harry. "Please tell me you've got the allignment figured out, Harry."

"Almost, Commander."

"Tom, just don't lose the Flyer."

"Chakotay, like you even have to tell me! That's my shuttle she's playing with" Tom chuckled. "Besides, this conversation is getting interesting..." He muttered to himself.

"Kathryn - have you fixed your shields yet?" He knew she hadn't but really needed her to get on a safer topic.

"What shields?"

"The shields on your ship there. Remember - you need to just remove the multiphasic allignment you set. Then I can come and be with you instead of so far away from you. Don't you want me to be with you?"

"Chakotay, we figured that out long ago, didn't we?"

Chakotay sighed. "Kathryn, please. Listen to me. Let's just talk about why you're keeping the shields up, okay? We can talk about other..things when we're together. So why are the shields up?"

"I need them up to get home. I promised you I'd get us home. Remember?"

"Yes, I remember. But you have to come back to Voyager to get home. I need you here, then we can get home together."

"Voyager?"

"Yes, the big ship - look out your viewport, you can see it. That's where I am. Can you see us?"

"Commander - I've broken through the shields. The transporters will work now."

"Yes! I can see it! It's a really big ship, isn't it?"

"It is a big ship, Kathryn. Now, I'm going to come over there, okay? You just sit tight." He turned around. "Tuvok, you have the bridge. Harry, whenever you're ready."

"Now, Commander."

The next sight to greet the bridge crew was that of their Captain squealing and jumping into the arms of the Commander. They looked at each other in surprise, all but Tuvok who remained in the command chair with an impassive face. They watched Chakotay pat her on the back and gently pull her arms from around his neck, setting her down. He sat in the pilot's chair.

"Mr. Tuvok, I'm bringing the Flyer in." He turned his head. "Kathryn, sit down over there, please."

"You came to see me! Thank you Chakotay. You'll stay with me now?"

"Yes, just sit down."

Tom saw the frustration on his friend's face. "Captain? This is Tom. Remember Sandrine's? Remember playing pool and beating me?"

"Hi Tom! Yes, I remember beating you. I beat you alot." She giggled.

"That's right. How did you do it? I mean, what were all those weird angle shots you managed to pull off? Can you let us in on the secret?"

Chakotay mouthed a 'thank you' to the lieutenant while Kathryn spent the flight time discussing geometric principles of pool. Once inside the shuttle bay, he took her firmly by the hand directly to sick bay.

"Doctor, please tell me you know what's wrong with the Captain." Chakotay looked down at the once more sedated woman. The cortical monitor blinked lights at him. He never wanted to see one of those things on her neck again.

"I think I do, Commander. It's a bit complicated, and I believe it is due to stress. Did anything happen in the past few days? I mean something significant, more than the usual stresses of her position?"

Chakotay thought for a few minutes. "Would her choice of music have any clue Doctor? I mean can we take anything that she's done or said since this began as having meaning?"

"Possibly."

The Romeo and Juliet Suite. What had they been talking about a few days ago? Tuvok and how he kept subtly interfering. The crew and how she was sure they wouldn't continue to back her. Starfleet and ... Well, enough said.

"Doctor, I think I know what happened. The question is, will that knowledge help you treat her?"

"Yes. Please, anything said to me is in confidence, you know that."

Chakotay sighed. He had to trust that Kathryn would understand his decision. "Doctor, the Captain and I had a serious discussion a few days ago about what she saw as the inherent difficulties with our situation. I think she picked 'the Romeo and Juliet Suite' because that's how despondent she was about it all."

"I see. I thought something was odd with the increased hormone levels I noticed while you were with her. Well, then, we need to talk about a solution...."

The Doctor brought Kathryn out of sedation with Chakotay holding her hand.

"Chakotay, you're still here?"

"Of course, where else would I be? Now listen, Kathryn. It's time to tell everyone. We'll start with just the senior staff, our friends, then we'll tell everyone else. It'll be fine, I promise. You need to trust me on this one. Can you do that for me? For us?"

"But...."

"No buts. Now, sit up." She looked intently at him, then did as he asked. The Doctor let the senior staff into sick bay, where they stood around the biobed with grins plastered on their face, all except Seven and Tuvok. Chakotay told them how long he and Kathryn had been an 'official couple' and how worried she was about their reaction. Of course, this was no surprise after that day, but everyone told the captain how happy for her they were. Even Tuvok.

The Captain's eyes glazed over and the Doctor sedated her again, shooing everyone back out. He then gave her an antidote to the increased hypothalimus hormones and saw that this time, the treatment restored the proper balance.

"Doctor, will she remember anything that happened?"

"That's hard to know. Assume not, until you learn otherwise. She should remember what happened in the past hour without question. Ready?" Chakotay nodded. The Captain again was brought around.

She blinked a few times, then smiled when she saw her lover looking down at her.

"Hi" she said.

"Hi. How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good. A bit fuzzy on the past day, but I remember the meeting. They're behind us, even Tuvok. I can't believe it. But what about Starfleet?"

"Kathryn - let's worry about that when it's time to worry. Okay? Right here and now everything is fine."

"Thank you Chakotay. I love you."

"I love you, too. Now, let's go have dinner. You must be starving. Doctor? Can she leave now?!"

He came out of his office. "Absolutely. Just leave the monitor on for another hour or so, then come back and I'll do a last check. Then Captain, you can go to bed in peace."

Kathryn grinned at Chakotay who grinned in return.

"All right, you two, go on - get out of here. See you in an hour."

The Captain and the Commander left sick bay arm in arm. In the messhall they were greeted with an impromptu party in their honor. Everyone had a great time. The senior staff made the Captain promise she wouldn't even think about Romeo and Juliet for the remainder of their journey.

She agreed.
 

The End.

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