Disclaimer: Paramount rules, Voyager and the characters belong to them, yadda-yadda.
Summary: A brief moment in the Delta Quadrant that illustrates the J/C friendship in action.

Negotiations

by Mizvoy

Kathryn Janeway couldn’t sleep, hadn’t slept for days. Voyager was starving to death. Every engineering report she had read for the last three weeks made it clearer and clearer-they needed deuterium, the sooner the better.

When they discovered nearly pure deuterium on the moon circling the third planet of a red star system, Kathryn thought she would jump for joy on the bridge. All they had to do was negotiate a trade with the Xanduu who inhabited the third planet and they could refill their tanks and be on their way.

This type of negotiation was hardly a challenge for a crew that had experienced nothing but first contacts for the last six years. They followed the procedure that had worked dozens of times before. They invited the Xanduu agent for a face-to-face negotiation session in the impressive confines of Voyager’s conference room, a practice that allowed the captain to negotiate personally without leaving the safety of the ship. It also let the Xanduu have the opportunity to see what they might be interested in obtaining in trade while they were on board.

Except this time, nothing went right, and the Xanduu agent left in an angry huff. There had been no sign that their culture frowned upon males and females meeting face to face until the male agent walked into the conference room and met the captain. Much to Kathryn’s surprise, the agent had muttered a few choice words under his breath and then stormed back to the transporter room, leaving her with her mouth agape.

Chakotay, who had limitless patience and sixth sense about most cultures, spent the next two days talking to anyone who would listen before he managed to arrange a second meeting, this time on the planet’s surface between himself and the male Xanduu agent. Kathryn had become a persona non grata as far as the Xanduu were concerned, and, frankly, she wasn’t very excited about meeting with them, either. She just wanted the deuterium in her tanks and Xanduu in the aft sensor array.

Chakotay beamed down for the negotiations at the beginning of third shift, ship’s night, and Kathryn went directly to her quarters from the transporter room to get some much-needed sleep. She had a light snack, a long soak in her tub, and an hour of relaxing reading in her chair before she turned in. She fell asleep at once, only to wake up an hour later with a splitting headache.

Only Kathryn Janeway could get a tension headache while sleeping, she thought to herself as she rolled over on her back to study the overhead. She wondered how Chakotay was doing on the planet. She went over their trade proposal for the thousandth time and then she checked the clock, 0045, hoping he’d be in contact soon with good news. Please, good news. After tossing and turning for an hour, she decided to use the analgesic hypospray the doctor had given her for her tension headaches.

She lay down on her bed and waited for the medicine to bring relief, clutching an extra pillow to her like she used to do her teddy bear as a child. It occurred to her that Chakotay was an expert at negotiating with unknown aliens. His voice always remained steady and calm, soothing in its deep rumble. His eyes softened and seemed to have limitless depth as he listened, as if he understood what you were going to say before the words were spoken. He was patient and accepting, giving all the time and space needed to let you come to him, to accept the reasonable offer he made. He embraced you with kindness and concern, until you wanted to please him back. He was like that, and everyone responded well to it. She had faith in him.

She closed her eyes and relaxed. Before she knew it, she was dreaming. Chakotay held her, murmuring for her to rest, to sleep, to let him worry about the aliens this time. She pulled the pillow closer, burying her face in it as if it were his chest, wishing for his comforting presence. She finally slept soundly.

At 0530, the comm awakened her. “Chakotay to Janeway.”

“Janeway here,” she said, tapping the commbadge on her nightstand, knowing she sounded like she’d been asleep but unwilling to wait an extra moment for much-needed news.

“I woke you,” Chakotay said. “I should have waited until later to contact you.”

“That’s okay! I’m glad you called as soon as you could.” She sat up in bed, cradling the badge in her palm. “Where are you?”

“I just beamed back aboard. I’m outside the transporter room on my way to the bridge.”

“Come to my quarters instead. I want to hear your news in person and as soon as possible.”

She used the minutes before his arrival to throw on a robe, brush her hair and teeth, and replicate a pot of coffee. She handed him a mug as he walked in, noticing how exhausted he looked after spending their “night” awake on the planet. He sat heavily on the sofa and sipped the coffee. She waited for him to talk.

“We’re getting the deuterium,” he said, flatly.

Kathryn found herself collapsing beside him in relief. “You’re the best, Chakotay, the best! I was so worried last night I couldn’t sleep, and then I remembered how good you are at this. I dreamed that you told me to relax and sleep, that everything was going to work out fine.” She sat back and smiled at him hugely. He couldn’t help but smile back.

“What time was it when you finally fell asleep?”

“0230.”

“Interesting. That’s about the same time we settled the deal.”

“What have you been doing in the meantime?”

“We worked out the details, and they invited me to a huge banquet, some sort of Xanduu tradition when negotiations are successfully concluded. It’s all on this PADD.” He stopped to yawn. “We’re supposed to start mining in six hours.”

She held the PADD as if it were delicate crystal. “I think I’ll get dressed and read over the terms of the agreement. You’d better get some sleep.”

“I will.” He groaned as he started to rise. “All the tension of the negotiations followed by a big meal has me worn out.” He stood up and swayed slightly.

“Why not just stretch out here?” she said, gesturing to her sofa. “I’m afraid you won’t make it to your quarters.”

“Okay,” he replied sitting back down, too exhausted to protest. Kathryn helped him pull off his boots and spread a blanket over him before retreating to her bedroom to dress.

She emerged twenty minutes later looking like the perfect Starfleet captain and paused to study her first officer, his face so peaceful and handsome in sleep that she felt her heart wrench. How she wished that she could tell him, show him how much he meant to her. Instead, she pulled the blanket up over his chest and cradled his cheek in her palm.

“Thank you, Chakotay, for being you. Thank you for so many things,” she whispered as she knelt beside him. Then, she quietly left for the bridge.

Chakotay’s eyes opened, his cheek still warm from her touch. “You’re welcome, Kathryn,” he replied to the empty room, shifting so that he could see the moon that would soon provide Voyager the fuel she so desperately needed.

All is well-until the next crisis, he thought, drifting off to sleep.