"Captain, I can't believe you'd say that," B'Elanna looked at her in disbelief.

"I just think that he shouldn't be complaining quite as much as he is right now." Kathryn watched the men playing pool and swirled the synthehol in her glass.

"It's not like he doesn't have reason to."

"Well..." She didn't believe her, nor did she believe Chakotay.

B'Elanna felt her blood begin to boil, the half of her blood that was less easy to control. "Okay. You think his job is so much easier than yours, that you could do it with your eyes closed? I dare you to try it!"

It was Kathryn's turn to stare in disbelief. "You dare  me to?"

The engineer ignored the death glare that was increasing in intensity. "Yes. Try being the first officer of this ship, for one week, hell for one day. Then say his job is easier."

The pool game finished, Tom, Chakotay and Harry came over to the women sitting nearby, at once feeling the tension radiating off both. They sat down carefully. Tom was the bravest, half curious, half wanting to lighten the mood.

"So, what did we miss?" He grinned at B'Elanna, ignoring the Captain.

B'Elanna slowly released her tightly folded arms and took his hand, her eyes never wavering from Kathryn's face as she answered. "The Captain believes that the job of the first officer is actually quite easy and that she could do it without any problem. I dared her to try it."

Chakotay took a sip of beer to hide the smile that was forcing its way onto his mouth. He and Kathryn had held this discussion numerous times and he always gave in. She turned to him, almost sputtering in anger.

"Can you believe it? She dared me to do it!"

He thought over his options at that moment. Like small weights being piled on a scale, one side this, one side that. Hell, he thought, this could be very interesting. "I agree with B'Elanna, Captain. I don't think you could last one day handling what I do. I double dare you to try it. I'll do your job, which frankly I would love right now. I could use  the vacation." He bore his eyes into hers and waited.

Harry met Tom's eyes across the table. They briefly contemplated departing before having to witness Chakotay being tossed out an airlock or into the brig. Sure enough, the Captain's hand was hovering near her comm badge but suddenly it pounded the table, hard.

"You both think that I  can't do the first officer's job?! Fine! I'll take the dare - I, too could use a vacation. You, sir, have just been promoted to Captain - for one week or until one of us gives in! Starting tomorrow morning 0800 hours you can find me in the first officer's office. Reading my book." She crossed her arms and returned Chakotay's stare, giving him a hint of the death glare for good measure.

His eyes made a circuit of the people at the table, seeing the understanding in each. He smiled fully upon returning to Kathryn's gaze. "These members of the senior staff are our witnesses. You will make a ship wide announcement, not of the dare, but of the change of command structure. You can give any excuse you wish I don't care. And, hm-m-m, I think there needs to be a couple of ground rules set out. You will call me Captain while we are on duty, as your superior officer. I, on the other hand, can call you whatever strikes my fancy at the time. Tuvok will be informed of the true reasons behind this change. And you can give in whenever you wish. Deal?" He had one other rule that would be discussed in private, maybe.  He put out his hand to her.

Kathryn thought about his ground rules, thinking they were simple and she could live with them on the whole. The name thing could be bothersome but she wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her discomfort. She shook his hand and sealed the deal.

B'Elanna, Tom and Harry looked at one another in turn. Each thinking, for their own reasons, that the coming week could be hellacious.

By 0845 hours the following morning Kathryn had learned two things. One, the number of padds that could accumulate on a first officer's desk from various department heads and crew members in a given hour was phenomenal. Two, Chakotay's replicator was almost empty of rations. Coffee would have to be taken in the mess hall.

"Chakotay  to Janeway." Came over her comm. Kathryn smiled. She'd been waiting for Chakotay to call her with a question about one of her duties for thirty minutes now. She wondered what he was stumped about.

"Janeway here. What can I do for you, Chakotay?"

"Captain Chakotay, Kathryn. I've been waiting for the summary of Seven's astrometric report on the planet cluster we're expecting to hit next week. I believe it was due on the Captain's desk at 0830 hours this morning?"

She wondered how much damage could be done by a padd hitting him on the head as she hurled it. She took a deep breath. "I apologize, Captain," she said with more than a hint of sarcasm, "I will look into it and get the summary to you by 0930. Janeway out." She tapped her comm without waiting for his response.

Searching through the pile on the desk she uncovered Seven's report. It was lengthy and took her nearly twenty minutes just to read through. While she was in the middle of her summary the door chimed.

"Come in," she called, grateful she had reprogrammed the door to respond to her voice commands.

Two crew members came slowly in, looking a bit nervous.

"Good morning, crew members Wilder, Hollingsworth," she greeted them, wondering why they were standing expectantly in front of her.

Wilder spoke up, "Good morning, Cap... excuse me, um, Commander? Is that the right title? We ... had an appointment with Commander Chakotay this morning for 0915."

"I see. What was it regarding?"

They looked at each other, clearly uncomfortable. Wilder took the initiative again. "He's been helping us with some, um, problems we've been having...sharing quarters. He gave us something to try and we were to check back with him this morning."

"Well, I don't have the time at the moment. Return back here at 1030 hours."

"But the Commander arranged for our duty shifts to be covered only until 1000 hours, to give us time to talk."

All Kathryn could think was that she had ten minutes to finish the summary for Chakotay and she would be damned if she missed the deadline. "Tell the people who are covering for you to leave and come back at 1025. Dismissed."

Again they looked at each other then walked out. In the corridor, they spoke together for five minutes then headed to the lift, ordering the computer to take them to the bridge.

Rushing, Kathryn finished the summary in seven minutes and practically trotted to the lift. "Deck one," she barked at the computer.

Stepping quickly off onto the bridge, she almost knocked over Hollingsworth and Wilder who looked at her sheepishly. Nodding to them she proceeded to the ready room, saying nothing to the bridge crew who were all blatantly staring at her.

The doors opened and Kathryn took in the unwelcome sight of Chakotay sitting comfortably at her desk, a cup of steaming tea in front of him, the console open and two lone padds on the desk. She could have sworn he had his feet propped up the nanosecond before the door chimed.

"Have a seat, Kathryn," he smiled at her, indicating a chair.

She sat after handing him the summary, stifling the urge to wing it. He tapped the padd, reading quietly to himself. Finally meeting her eyes he dropped it on the desk.

"So, it appears as though at least one of the planets is class M. That means food stores may be able to get restocked and possible shore leave. I'd like a potential schedule of shore leave rotations for all eligible personnel on my desk by, say, 0800 hours two days from now. That should give you enough time, don't you think?" He smiled.

She merely stared at him. He knew how much she hated shore leave rotation schedules, she could barely tolerate reading through his. She usually just agreed with whatever he came up with after giving a quick scan, looking for his time planet-side and hers to see if he had arranged any time together. She bit back a response.

"Kathryn? Can I expect that on my desk?"

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

He picked up his tea and took a swallow. "I apologize for my rudeness. Can I get you a cup of coffee? Tea?"

"Coffee would be fine, thank you."

As he walked around her to get to the replicator, he put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it affectionately, for a bit longer than necessary. Her heart skipped. He rarely, if ever, touched her on or off duty. At least hadn't in a long long time.

"Come, sit here on the couches, I'll allow the informality of it. We have some things to discuss. Here's your coffee," he called to her as he sat under the viewports.

Meeting his eyes as she approached she detected no overt message regarding the touch. She didn't know quite what to make of it, she was only aware of her response. Sitting, she drank her coffee, sighing as the hot brew passed her lips. She needed this coffee, badly.

"So, Kathryn, I understand that you've had some difficulties this morning. Crew members Wilder and Hollingsworth came to see me. It seems as though you missed their appointment. Would you like me to give you the background so you know how to counsel them from this point onward?" His voice held a note of sincerity, but she wasn't sure whether to trust it.

"Why did they come to see you?"

"They were confused as to how to handle the situation with their relief. You see, the two crew members who were scheduled to give them time off both had department meetings to attend this morning starting at 1030 hours. I advised them to have B'Elanna call me and I would tell her just to let them be absent, so they could keep their meeting with you. It's important they work this living situation out."

"I could have done that, they didn't need to come to you," she retorted, angry.

"You dismissed them. They felt they had no choice but to follow the order to leave. They didn't know what else to do." He reached over and patted her knee. "It's okay, Kathryn, things will get easier after a day or two." His hand remained on her leg, again, for a bit longer than necessary. She watched it lift off to return to his lap. She continued to feel it on her.

"What are you doing?" She asked him point blank.

"Doing?"

"You know. The touching thing."

"Nothing you don't do to me. Why, does it bother you?"

"No," she lied.

"That's good. Because as I've come to understand it, on Voyager, the captain gets to touch everyone, especially the first officer. The first officer, however, isn't allowed to freely touch back unless invited to," he smiled at her again. "But anyway, to get back to the two orders of business we need to discuss. First, the shore leave rotation schedules?"

Her teeth clenched involuntarily. "Fine, you'll have them by 0800 two days from now."

"Good. And Wilder and Hollingsworth. Background wanted or not?"

"Not. I can take care of the situation."

He looked at her for a moment. "Fine then. Let me know if I can be of assistance." He stood. "You may take the coffee with you if you'd like."

"Thank you," she said sarcastically as she arose, too. Chakotay stepped close to her, less than eight inches away and, looking down at her affectionately, placed his hand over her heart.

"Would you like to have dinner with me, in my quarters, tonight?" He patted her chest and left his hand there.

Kathryn felt his touch, hot, seemingly right on her skin. She took a breath before agreeing. He pulled his hand back, smiling with satisfaction before stepping down to the desk. She walked off the bridge almost in a daze, not exactly focusing until the doors to the first officer's office opened and she sat down at the desk.

Chakotay sat in the Captain's chair and continued with his exploration of her desk. It wasn't the first time he'd ever had command of the ship and not the first time he poked through her drawers. Still he was curious what he'd find since then. Not much different, she still kept the neatest desk he'd ever seen. He justified his actions, thinking she wouldn't keep anything personal in such a public place. So when his hands encountered a flat box in the back of the top drawer he didn't hesitate in opening it. The sight stunned him. Inside were the remains of a flower that he recognized. A flower he had given her in a moment of weakness on their last shore leave together, nearly six months prior. It had been a large, beautiful, deep purple flower with orange stamens. It was now a shriveled remnant of it's former self. Still, Kathryn kept it protected. He quickly closed the box and replaced it.

"And, so, what was the exercise Commander Chakotay gave you to do?" Kathryn asked the dueling roommates sitting in front of her.

Hollingsworth paused before answering. "We were supposed to write down the qualities that we like and admire in the other person. He told us it would help us get some perspective."

She was a bit surprised at Chakotay's imagination. She asked them both to see their lists. With some reluctance they handed them over and she read the padds quickly. They had both come up with at least six things they admired in each other which looked sufficient to her. She handed them back to each of them.

"Well, it looks as though you did a fine job with this. I think if you remember these things when you deal with each other it should make a difference. Any other questions?"

Again they looked at each other, knowing they were about to be dismissed one more time and feeling powerless to stop it. They shook their heads and sure enough within five minutes were back in the corridor and heading to the lift with the ready room their ultimate destination.

After they left, Kathryn attempted to sort out the growing pile of padds on the desk, thinking that perhaps this vast amount of reporting on the ship's functions could be overkill. Not having time to debate this point she began her summaries which she knew were due on the Captain's desk by end of alpha shift.

Chakotay sighed after his meeting with Hollingsworth and Wilder, relieved that his three weeks of work in this particular situation hadn't gone down the tubes. Thanks mostly to the initiative of the crew members. And after talking at length with both of them, he felt comfortable they could continue to live together now they had some skills to handle their disagreements. But whether to talk to Kathryn or not was the real dilemma.

Late in the afternoon Kathryn had finished the last of her summaries and gathered the padds up with those of the department heads to take to the bridge. She was hungry, having skipped lunch to work. Determination, that great motivator, kept her fueled. Stepping off the lift onto the bridge she felt like she was back home and headed straight for her command chair, occupied by Chakotay.

"Hello Kathryn, how was your afternoon?" He said pleasantly to her. She felt the eyes of the bridge crew upon her and almost blushed as the familiarity in Chakotay's voice was heard by all. An automatic response of glaring at him was squelched. Silently she handed him the stack of padds. He quickly checked them. "Thank you. Tuvok, you have the bridge," he said as he stood.

"Very good Captain," the Vulcan responded, deadpan as usual.

"Kathryn, my ready room," Chakotay said seriously as he turned and left the bridge for the office. Kathryn stood for a minute, hands unconsciously on her hips, staring at the now closed ready room doors, reigning in her emotions.

Tom turned around fully at the helm, meeting Harry's eyes. Again, they were thinking the same thing. Hell was just beginning.

Chakotay was looking out the viewports as Kathryn entered. He turned to her, sitting once more on the couches, waiting for her to join him. She suddenly wished they would talk over the desk instead, needing the barrier for some reason. But she sat down and crossed her legs and arms.

"Would you like another cup of coffee? I apologize for my replicator being low on rations."

"No, thank you, I just had a cup. So what did you wish to speak to me about?"

He took in her defensive posture and made an instant decision to keep his second meeting with Wilder and Hollingsworth to himself. "I was just wondering how your first day went doing my job. From your perspective. Checking in with a new crewmember, that's all."

"Is that something you do often," she asked testily. She was feeling like a recalcitrant child for some reason. Dinner later with him seemed more and more like a bad idea.

"No, I don't very often get the opportunity to do so. I used to be able to, on the Liberty, seeing as how personnel in the cells often changed with rotations, and deaths. Those times here on the ship when people have changed duties, or even duty shifts by request, I try to schedule time either with them or with the senior staff member. Just to make sure the transition is going smoothly." He said all of this with the ease of a man with years of personnel experience under his belt. In spite of the dare, Kathryn was proud that he was her first officer. "So," he continued, "how is it going?"

"This is hardly the same thing. You dared me to do this job. I will do it."

Chakotay took a good look at her. There was more than defensiveness over the dare going on here, he was certain. She looked uncomfortable to be around him. He smiled to himself. Maybe she was getting a taste of her own medicine, maybe not.

She spoke again, "I admit, the volume of work is a bit more than I imagined but it's nothing I can't handle. Hard work and Kathryn Janeway have never been strangers."

"No indeed, Kathryn. No one would ever accuse you of being lazy," he said sincerely. He leaned closer, turning slightly to face her directly, and watched her body language tighten almost imperceptibly.

"And how are you liking the big chair today, Captain?" She heard the stiffness in her voice and willed herself to take a deep breath. She wished he would back away but she'd be damned if she let him see that.

"I had mostly a relaxing day. It's much nicer to be sitting in the Captain's seat knowing that you are safe and sound, still on the ship, rather than the usual conditions under which I'm promoted." Chakotay slowly raised his hand and placed it on her cheek, just touching her, as she had done to him more times than he could count. Well, maybe more. Actually it was 23....