Revelation

Chakotay was beginning to doubt his sanity more and more. What the hell had made him offer to crawl through Voyager? His hands already had tender spots and his knees were chafed. Besides, the Jefferies tubes really were not the ideal place for someone his size. He barely managed not to bang his head into the ceiling. Cursing himself, he kept going. Well, crawling.

Had B'Elanna not infected Chakotay with her excitement, he would never have considered abusing himself this way. However, Voyager's Chief Engineer had come up with a plan to permanently improve the engines' efficiency. Even he, not really being into this technical stuff, had thought the idea to be sound.

But what had he gotten himself into? Chakotay was so damn sore that he no longer cared if B'Elanna's plan worked. The only thing which kept him from getting the hell ot ouf Jeffries Tube Seven was the prospect of working with his Captain.

Hell, he really had to be into masochism, Chakotay decided, crawling forward, inch by inch. They would be working side by side - literally. How was he supposed to make it through that? 'Damn,' he thought. 'Why couldn't I have thought of that before?' Unfortunately, it was too late for retreat now. No way he would be able to turn around in this small space, and there was no exit between himself and Kathryn. Well, he would have to hold tight and live through it, wouldn't he? Not that he had a choice anyway.

Keeping on crawling, Chakotay eventually reached the hatch which lead to the section Kathryn was working in. Letting out a relieved sign, he opened it and crawled through.

"There you are," Kathryn greeted him, but continued working on the plasma relay. "I've been wondering if you've got lost on your way here, Chakotay. It took you quite a bit time to arrive."

He settled next to her, shifting position until he was somewhat comfortable. "You should try crawling through the Jefferies tubes if you were my size. Believe me, it's easier for me not to crash a shuttle than not to bang into anything here."

"Poor baby," Kathryn chuckled, eventually looking at him, giving him one of those smiles he loved so much. "But if you despise it so much, why haven't you taken another hatch. There's one just around this corner," she pointed opposite to the direction Chakotay had come from, "you'd been here in no time at all." Upon his surprised look, Kathryn totally lost it, dissolving into fits of laughter.

"Six years on this ship, and yet I haven't managed to memorize its blue prints," Chakotay muttered under his breath, shaking his head. "Pathetic."

They then continued in companionable silence, Kathryn working on the relays, Chakotay handing her the tools she asked for. But every now and then, he took a moment to look her - whenever she wasn't paying attention, of course. He wouldn't want her to catch him staring at him, now would he?

"Have I grown a second head, or why do you keep looking at me this way," Kathryn asked casually. Had she not spoken up, nothing would have indicated that she had actually noticed, for she was still looking at the relay.

'Damn,' he thought. 'This much for subtlety.' Chakotay never got a chance to reply, though. Just as he was about to say something in return - he hadn't figured out what by then - Voyager shook violenty.

As it turned out, Chakotay's size and the small space did have advantages. Certainly, whatever it was that had just happened had sent him crashing into the wall, but the impact hadn't been too bad. His left elbow hurt, but other than that he was okay. Kathryn, on the other hand, hadn't been this lucky, as he was to realize a second later. He figured she must have hit her head, for she was now unconsciously lying on the floor. Worry crept up his spine as usual in such situations. He didn't know how badly she was hurt, and it scared the shit out of him. Reaching over to feel for a pulse, Chakotay was relieved to find hers strong and steady, though.

"Chakotay to Torres."

Static was the only response he received. Great, communications were down. Knowing his luck, transporters would be down as well, meaning he and Kathryn would have to crawl all the way back. Once she had come to, that is. And just in case crawling was an option as far as she was concerned.

Knowing that Kathryn would be fine for the time being, Chakotay started for the other hatch Kathryn had mentioned earlier. That, however, was a difficult task. Even more so than usual. His size was making things difficult as it was, but having to move past Kathryn made the task nearly impossible. He didn't want to add to her injuries, after all. But in the end, after banging his head and other parts of his body numerous times, Chakotay managed somehow, only to find the hatch jammed.

"Great," he muttered. "Just great."

Chakotay was soon to find out that turning around was even more difficult than moving past Kathryn, and he couldn't help swearing. Though some of the curses made even himself blush. By the time he was confronted with another jammed hatch, though, he didn't care anymore, letting out anouther couple of curses to vent his frustration.

Crawling back to Kathryn, Chakotay settled next to her and carefully lifted her head to place it in his lap. She might as well be somewhat comfortale when she same to, he figured and waited. Unfortunately, there was nothing else he could do.

*

Slowly opening her eyes, Kathryn came to. She then was hit by a wave of intense pain, accompanied by dizziness and nausea. Groaning, she closed her eyes again because it seemed to help a bit.

"How are you feeling?"

Only then did Kathryn realize that her head was resting on something warm and comfortable. Forcing her eyes open, despite the pain, she looked up into Chakotay's face. Worry was written all over his face, but a small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth anyway.

"I've seen better days," Kathryn hoarsely replied. It hurt to speak, for her throat had gone dry. "What happened?"

"I'm assuming B'Elanna's plan didn't quite work out. The ship rocked violently once. Hence your concussion," he said. "In addition to that, communications are down and the hatch is jammed. We're stuck here."

"Welcome to the Delta Quadrant. The place where something goes wrong every day," Kathryn commented dryly, feeling rather than hearing his laughter. She then tried to sit up, dizziness hitting her at full force upon that, but Chakotay gently forced her back down until her head came to rest in his lap once more. "You'd better not try to move."

"No argument here," she whispered through clenched teeth. "So, how long do you think they'll need to get us out of here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, actually. I think it's pretty safe to assume, though, that they're having difficulty at the moment. Transporters are probably down as well or else they would have beamed us out by now."

"Chakotay," Kathryn groaned, "you really know how to make me feel better, thanks."

"Anytime." His humor was immediately replaced by worry, though, as her eyes started to close. "You must stay awake, Kathryn. Come on, talk to me."

"Name a topic," she replied, her eyes fluttering open.

"Tell me about what you've planned on doing this evening," Chakotay suggested after some thinking. "And doing reports doesn't count."

"Spoilsport," she chuckled, then winced as it added to her headache. "Actually, I haven't really planned anything yet. However, I might just relax a bit, because I'm dead sure that's going to be the Doctor's advice once I've seen him."

Chakotay faked shock. "You and relax? Somehow I doubt that. Unless of course you've hit your head harder than I thought."

"Very funny, Chakotay. Even I do relax every now and then. Mostly over doing reports," Kathryn added in mock seriousness.

"I just knew there was a catch," he grinned.

As the time passed, Kathryn's dizziness and nausea got worse, and she actually began to look forward to seeing the Doctor. 'Alas, the biobeds aren't as comfortable as Chakoty's lap,' she thought. 'Well, I can't have anything.' Eventually, she began to felt really strange, though. That was when the walls suddenly started closing in on her. Kathryn had never been claustrophobic before, but that didn't help her now as the panic threatened to overwhelm her.

Chakotay immediately noticed as her breathing became ragged, her arms trying to keep the walls away. "Relax, Kathryn," he softly ordered. "Relax and breathe. Slowly inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth."

"I can't. I've got to get out of here!" She felt like she'd suffocate.

"Shhh," Chakotay whispered. "Close your eyes and breathe." He began stroking her hair. "Deep, slow breaths, Kathryn. Think about things that make you happy and keep your eyes closed."

The overwhelming sense of panic was getting weaker with every breath she took, but she couldn't quite concentrate on happy thoughts. His hands kept distracting her.

"Tell me about the things that make you happy, Kathryn."

His soft voice wrapped around her like a cocoon. "Coffee icecream," she whispered.

His quiet laughter was like balm. "What else?"

"Old books, a hot bubble bath, music by Mozart . . ."

"Breathe," he reminded her. "Go on."

"Flowers . . . long talks . . . dimpled smiles . . ."

That took Chakotay's breath away. His smile made her happy? This revelation alone made crawling through Voyager worthwhile.

Kathryn's breathing was gradually returning to normal. Now she was radiating the beauty of a sleeping child, and Chakotay caught himself wishing that this moment would never pass. He had to keep her awake, though. "Talk to me, Kathryn."

"I'm not alseep. Don't worry," she reassured him. Opening her eyes, she looked him straight in the eyes. "Thank you, Chakotay. I thought I was going to suffocate for a moment."

"Anytime," he smiled. "Your panic attack was the result of hitting your head, I suppose. Unless this wasn't the first time?"

"It was," Kathryn answered. "I wouldn't have qualified for command if I had had a tendency towards claustrophobia."

"Good point."

At that moment, they heard voices just behind the jammed hatch.

"I guess they've found us," Kathryn said. "And just in time. My head feels like it's going to explode any second."

Just then her commbadge chirped. "Torres to Janeway."

"Nice to hear you, Lieutenant. How's everything?"

"Repairs are almost done. The transporters don't work just yet. It'll take another half an hour. How are you and the Commander?"

"We're fine. Just get us out of here."

"Hold tight, we've almost got the hatch unjammed." Just then a loud, cracking noise echoed through the Jeffries Tube, vibrating off the walls. "Done."

The look on B'Elanna's face as her gaze fell upon her commanding officers was priceless, Chakotay decided and smiled. To his amazement, Kathryn didn't seem to care that her crew had caught her as she was comfortably resting her head in his lap, though.

"What happened?" B'Elanna asked, eventually finding her voice.

Kathryn carefully sat up. "Actually, Lieutenant, I wanted to ask you the same thing. One moment we were working on the plasma relays, the next my head was making rather unpleasant contact with one of the walls."

"Two relays blew up, sending the warp core into malfunction," she explained while helping her Captain through the hatch and out of Jefferies tube seven. "The next moment, we dropped out of warp, but the inertial dampers couldn't compensate for all of it. Hence the violent rocking of the ship."

The dizziness and nausea almost got the better of Kathryn once she was out, so she leaned agaist the wall for support. "I want a full report by 1800 hrs, B'Elanna. Now," she smiled weakly, "I'm going to see the Doctor."

"I'd better walk you there," Chakotay, who had just emerged from the Jefferies tube himself, said. "You don't look like you'll make it very far."

"No argument here," Kathryn replied and leaned on him for support. Together they walked off, a smiling B'Elanna watching them.

*

By 2000 hrs, Kathryn had finished reading B'Elanna's report and even managed to take a hot bath. She was just about to settle on her couch to read one of her favorite books as the door chime sounded. Knowing exactly who would be outside, she put the book away and opened the door, smiling.

"Hi," Chakotay greeted. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Not at all." Kathryn stepped aside and let him in.

"Good. Because I have a surprise for you." He then showed her what he had been hiding behind his back. Kathryn's eyes sparkled with anticipation as her gaze fell upon a bowl of coffee icecream and two spoons. "I thought we could share. Do you feel up to indulging in two of the things that make you happy?"

Kathryn looked up at him. "Two?" she asked confused.

Chakotay discharged his dimples then . . .

THE END

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