Chakotay was due in her ready room in ten minutes to give the monthly review. He had already warned her that it was lengthy, offering to give her a verbal report, then leave the padd for her to study at her leisure. He thought he had to spend at least some of the time going over the anomaly that had shattered the ship into 37 different time periods. He walked a very narrow line between the information she needed and the precept of the temporal prime directive.

Janeway was waiting for him....thinking over the events of the past month. She had needled him about the cider that night they dined in the aftermath of the jolt from the anomaly that had fragmented the temporal matrix of the ship. It had slipped out that she knew where he had secreted the cider... she thought she covered nicely, quoting the temporal prime directive back to him. Chakotay passed it off as humor, but Janeway had been disturbed after he left her quarters. Just how did she know where Chakotay had been hoarding the cider. As she tried to sleep later in the evening, bits and pieces of the experience from seven years ago started to filter into her consciousness. She remembered seeing Chakotay for the first time, again, on her bridge. Remembered the quickening in her heart, even as she was ordering him to the brig. Immediately attracted to him, instinctively trusting him, she fought against the urge to deny what she knew to be fact; he was an outlaw, one that she had been charged with the responsibility to bring to justice.

She remembered his protectiveness towards her, not allowing her to roam the ship by herself under any circumstances. She found it difficult not to stare at him as they prepared the ship for the chromaton burst that would realign Voyager’s temporal matrix, bringing it back into sync with Chakotay’s time period. She could see the concern... and yes, the love in his eyes when he looked at her. She was not imagining that. She had seen his fear when Seska had threatened her life. He had allowed the Janeway of seven years ago to see the feelings he now masked for the Janeway who sat in her ready room waiting for his report.

Poignantly she remembered her question of seven years ago. She could not believe she had been so bold as to ask her future first officer point blank if they had become lovers. It had just seemed that the attraction between them was so overwhelming, she had to know, was desperate to know, secretly hoping that the answer was yes.

Janeway remembered the disappointment she felt when he posited his carefully worded response. “Let’s just say.... there are some barriers we never cross,” he had finally said. From his face, she knew it was not his choice. How unlike Chakotay to couch his answer in subterfuge. He was usually so straight forward. His response left so much left unsaid. She tried to mask her feelings, as she always did and continued to do during their seven year voyage, lamely saying she would see him in the future.

Preparing the report that included the anomaly had been very distracting. On his way to the ready room, Chakotay kept hearing the same question over and over in his head. “Just how close do we get?” Gods, how he had wanted to lie, tell her they were madly in love, had been lovers since the day they were stranded in the Delta Quadrant. He stopped in his tracks...it was really not a lie. They had been in love since the moment they first met. Even before, he admitted to himself... from the time he was thrown seven years into Voyager’s past. She had felt it too! He pondered the irony of it. Lovers who never touched, well not in any sexual, meaningful way anyway. Always reserved, controlled... but that did not negate the fact that they were lovers. How else could one explain her timeless question?

He stood in front of the ready room door, composing himself, steeling himself for what was to be a rehash of a very personal, painful experience. It was difficult to separate the dull, dry facts from the raging emotions that they kept dragging up. The litany continued in his mind, “just how close do we get?”

The door swished open, Janeway was sitting at her desk. She rose to formally greet him as he entered. It wasn’t until this very moment that both realized they had been unconsciously, albeit successfully, avoiding each other since the day they encountered the anomaly. Neither, it seemed, wanted to confront the question that swirled unbidden in both their minds.

“Commander,” she said by way of a greeting, gesturing to the seat in front of her desk.

“Captain,” Chakotay said formally, seating himself, crossing his long legs, attempting to achieve a comfortable position for what he knew would be a long presentation. Without preliminaries, he started directly in on the narration. He was 14 minutes into his 33 minute report when he glanced up from the padd to which he was referring.

Janeway was leaning her cheeks on her palms, elbows resting on her desk, intently watching his lips, obviously lost in thought.

Suddenly feeling very self conscious, Chakotay abruptly stopped his dissertation to lick his now dry lips. Janeway started, knowing she had been caught watching those sensuous lips, imagining what they would feel like on her skin. She looked into Chakotay’s eyes and blushed furiously.

Up until the moment she blushed, Chakotay thought only that she had let her mind wander, and was not paying attention to what he was saying. Suddenly, he realized what she had been concentrating on. Instead of the blood rising to his face, he felt it rush between his legs, his face seemingly going pale, he was mortified. Gods, it was incredible what this woman could do to him with just a look.

They both looked at each other for a long moment, neither knowing what to say. The wisest course of action was to remain seated, keeping the desk between them until he calmed down. The only flaw in that plan was that Janeway was seated directly in front of him, still blushing uncontrollably... his body was not cooperating. Chakotay finally stood, excusing himself. Janeway could see he was obviously aroused, uncomfortable.. He proceeded to the head where he was able to get his heart rate, not to mention other parts of his anatomy, under control.

He finally re-entered the room, shrugging, raising his hands in submission, smiling a self effacing smile that only endeared him to Janeway. They were both adults... it was useless to deny what just transpired. Chakotay realized Janeway had ordered the computer to lower the temperature, in an attempt to get her flushed face back to its normal hue. It had almost worked, but she had blushed again as he stepped from the head.

“Captain, maybe I should just leave the padd here for you.” Chakotay was giving her an out, allowing her and himself time apart to compose themselves... “or,” he shrugged, “I could come back later and...” his voice trailed off. And what, he thought to himself, have another go at the report? Not bloody likely! He would end up kissing her if she blushed for him again as she just had.

“Maybe we should just talk about this,” Janeway offered.

Chakotay could not see the efficacy of yet another lecture on fleet protocols. He just didn’t feel up to in tonight.

Janeway gestured to the sofa and asked him to sit. Seeing no way to excuse himself, Chakotay sat down and braced himself for the parameter pep talk he was certain was forthcoming.

“Chakotay,” she started, then stopped abruptly. She could see him bracing for the same, tired “talk” which for some reason she felt compelled to deliver every six months or so. Little did Chakotay suspect, Janeway felt it was finally time for some real communication between them. Suddenly, she felt exceedingly shy. Naked communication was not something she entered into easily.

Chakotay could see she was having difficulty formulating a coherent sentence and took pity on her. “Is something wrong, Captain” he finally said.

“I... I was thinking... before you came in here to give your report...” she started in again after a few beats... “I was thinking... I was remembering...” God, Janeway thought to herself, I’ve stared down the Kazon, the Vidians.. the Borg! Pull it together, Kate...she admonished herself. “Well,” she finally continued, “I was remembering... I know there are rules governing the temporal prime directive... but one can’t help it if one experiences what one is not supposed to have... or rather.. had never experienced.” Janeway was getting lost in the paradox, not for the first time.

Chakotay was struggling to sort through that garbled sentence when she started over, not able to meet his eyes.

“Chakotay, do you remember the night we encountered the anomaly? We had supper in my quarters and I alluded to the fact that I knew where you hid the Antarian cider? Much later that night, as I was trying to get to sleep, I had other flashes of memories from the time the ship was fractured. I remembered the encounter with Seven in the cargo bay, seeing Tuvok and a number of our crew injured...billeted in the galley, Seska and the Kazon in engineering...”

She finally looked up at Chakotay. His eyes were wide with surprise and something else that made her heart race.

“I remember you striding on to my bridge, as if you belonged there, had always been there. I knew you were the enemy, but I had this gut reaction that compelled me to trust you even as I ordered you taken to the brig. It was as if there was a war going on in my brain. I was receiving disparate messages. One told me you were this dangerous, ruthless, cunning Maquis outlaw I was sent to arrest. The other message was... well, you know what the other message was... it was apparent on your face, and I fear on mine as well.”

Chakotay had felt the enigmatic attraction to which was referring, but was more than surprised at her admission. She often exhibited a level of emotional control that even a Vulcan would envy. The Commander wondered just where this conversation was headed. He tried to keep his face neutral... not wanting to distract her... interrupt her, fearing he would jar her elbow, bringing her back to her senses. He desperately wanted to be where she was going.

Janeway looked down, away. She could hardly believe she was pursuing this conversation. She was so lonesome... so hopeful... so apprehensive. She had to know just where she stood with the Commander after all this time, after all she had put him through, after all the opportunities he had given her to start a relationship, only to be rejected time and time again. She thought she had waited too long... that the possibilility for a relationship with him had come and gone, squandered by seven years of self denial. But after reassessing the incident seven years ago, this Chakotay in this time period still loved her, she was almost certain of that. If she was just bold enough, she had only to reach out and grasp what she so desperately wanted.

“After we had secured Seska and the Kazon in the jeffries tubes, just before we returned to our respective time zones.... I asked you a question.” Janeway raised her eyes to him, swallowed hard, and plunged forward. “I knew the answer would violate the temporal prime directive... but I had to know... had to ask,” she continued, “the answer you gave was not the one I expected... or desired.” she added hesitantly.

Chakotay remembered the shock he felt as she asked that question. He had wanted desperately to lie to Janeway, to use this heaven sent opportunity to hold her, kiss her, create a memory to sustain him for a lifetime. He could not bring himself to be that selfish. To his surprise, though she tried valiantly to hide it, he knew she had been bitterly disappointed as he delivered his cryptic answer. He had not said he didn’t love her. He had only alluded to the fact that they had not been lovers.

Chakotay looked to her now, his brown eyes bright with unshed tears. “The next time I am asked that question,” he said, “this is the answer I would like to be able to give.” Slowly moving his lips to hers, he kissed her tenderly.

Surprised, but recovering quickly, Janeway was suddenly kissing him back. It was a slow, experimental, sensually delicious kiss that made both of them tremble. Janeway drew back after several seconds. A slow smile spread on her face, a smile that filled Chakotay with a warmth he had never experienced. The warmth suddenly turned to flame, as she was once again kissing him. This was no chaste kiss. Their second kiss embodied all the passion and flame that had been denied for years.

He felt different parts of his body warring with each other to get their fill of her. He wanted desperately to hold her close, but he also wanted to see her. He was holding her so tight, he feared he was hurting her. When he backed off a little to look at her, seeing his happiness mirrored on her face drove him to new heights of desire. He had never wanted anyone more than he wanted this woman. He willed his body to slow down. He wanted to savor their first time together.

Janeway had no intentions of slowing down. She approached lovemaking as she did everything else. Once committed, she was relentless. He would have to teach her that there was more to lovemaking than just screwing.... but perhaps this time...at this moment, it was right to let the animal instincts just take over..fuck... hard and fast. That was what Janeway was pleading for, what she wanted, needed from him at this moment. He was tearing at her uniform and his. Janeway stopped suddenly, remembering where they were. “Computer, engage privacy lock out. Janeway 0012.”

It took only a second to for him to ascertain she was more than ready for him. He lay on top of her on the floor of the ready room. He could feel the heat emanating from their bodies, saw her face, breathless in anticipation of penetration. He hesitated ever so slightly. Janeway looked at him. “Do it, Commander” she ordered. It was definitely crunch time.

“Yes Mame,” he groaned, as he thrust his length into her, eliciting a surprised grunt from her at his size coupled with the fact that she had not had sexual relations for a long time. He captured her mouth again, thrusting his tongue in time with his engorged member. Each thrust caused an explosion of pleasure that made him tremble.

Janeway held him to her body tightly, told him over and over that she loved him, whispering reassurances that she was his, she would never let him go, punctuating her sentences every so often with an order to “fuck me, Chakotay!”

They lurched themselves to orgasm quickly. Janeway moaned his name into his mouth as she came, the contractions causing whatever control Chakotay was able to bring to bear to dissipate quickly. He thought it just might have been a personal record for him to come that fast. Of course, there was that first time, when he lost his virginity. But that hardly counted. He had just barely started when he orgasmed, spilling both inside and outside of his partner, surprise and embarrassment registering on his face. Strange he should think of that experience now. He hadn’t thought about that encounter in his past in decades. He realized he had not felt the primal, elemental feelings Janeway elicited in him in a very long time. He pulled her to him, tears falling freely. His soul was soaring. He finally understood what his mother had told him when he had reached manhood. She had assured him that someday, somewhere, someone would love him, complete him, he would fall hard, it would be inevitable...uncontrollable. The realization of her prophecy made him shudder with gratitude that the fates had allowed him to experience this just once in his lifetime.

Janeway felt him tremble and pulled him closer. “What is it?” she asked. “Is something wrong?”

Chakotay smiled into her face, kissing her so tenderly, Janeway wanted to melt into his body, stay there, loose herself in his caress and never find her way back. They lay there, kissing sweetly and murmuring words of endearment... promises of forever and tears of joy exchanged.

Janeway knew this love they had consummated would overwhelm them for some time. There was no way either would be able to concentrate on ships business until they had explored the relationship and each other’s bodies properly. Reluctantly, she drew away from him, looking for her clothes. With a sigh, she picked up her tattered uniform. Useless! She would have to replicate a new one.

“Janeway to Tuvok,” she said finally. Chakotay was watching her, lying on his side on the floor, his head resting on his hand, a huge, dumb grin on his face that he could not seem to control. He was content to let her make all the decisions. Business as usual, he thought to himself. He made no effort to get up, get dressed... content to watch her as she walked around the ready room naked... formulating her orders to her ‘other Commander.’ She was also looking, appreciating his body as well. She looked at his groin, Chakotay’s body instantly responded.

“Mr. Tuvok,” she said as she continued to make love to him with her eyes, “you have the bridge till further notice. Please arrange duty rosters for your replacement. Do not include Commander Chakotay or myself in your arrangements.”

“Acknowledged” came the disembodied, dispassionate reply.

Picking up the all the laundry she could find, Janeway ordered the computer to transport herself and Chakotay to her quarters.

Fortunately, there were no anomalies, red alerts, alien intruders or space time inversions to distract the command team for thirty two hours. They finally emerged from her quarters, command structure firmly intact... ready to face a exuberant crew and any challenge the Delta Quadrant happened to send their way.