This idea hit me {ouch!} on the bus, and I ended up handwriting this by candlelight during a blackout.

Kashyk waited for an hour in his quarters before he stood up and walked to the door.  The young guard gave him a wary look, but listened as Kashyk explained the situation.  He'd remembered something crucial which needed the captain's immediate attention.

"Can't you hail her?" asked the guard, evidently reluctant to give Kashyk access to the captain's quarters.

"Too complicated.  I must speak to her now."

The guard finally gave in and escorted him to Janeway's quarters.

Kathryn answered the door wearing a pale robe, but he didn't think she'd been asleep.

"There's something we need to discuss," he explained.

"I understand," she said.

They waited until the door had closed before they fell into each other's arms.

***

Afterwards, Kashyk pinned her hair up and Kathryn lay on her stomach while he painted an intricate design on her back.  The black ink dried quickly in the cool air.

"Do you do this often?"

Kashyk painted a long spiral down her spine.  "Sleep with gaharay captains?  Or paint my lovers' skin?"

"Um ... both, I guess."

"Never, on both counts."  He added a twisted design which surrounded and encompassed the spiral.  "But I used to paint a great deal when I was younger.  My father was an artist.  He was very angry when I decided to join the military. He's wanted me to follow in his footsteps."  He paused, judging the moment, gauging her reaction.  "I sometimes look back and think that he was right."

The design was complete: the spiral engulfed and yet enhanced by the surrounding twists and shadows.

"I have to admit, the Devore soldier persona did nothing for your personality."  Kathryn sat up and kissed him, cupping his face in her hands, exploring his mouth with her fingers.

"Funny," he murmured into her kisses, "I think I like *you* better out of uniform as well."  He moved his mouth to her neck.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kathryn said softly.

Sensing her need to talk, Kashyk raised his head and looked her in the eye.  "Oh?"

Kathryn shrugged.  "I guess ... over the last few years, the uniform has become the entirety of my life.  Out of uniform ... there's nothing.  This ... you ... are the closest I've come to completion in years."

Kashyk wrapped his arms around her waist and breathed in her scent, skin and paint.  "Have you ever thought of becoming a defector youself?  Just running away and letting Voyager cope without you?"

"I couldn't leave Voyager.  I wouldn't be able to live with myself.  And where would I go?  What would I do?"

"You could find a place anywhere.  You have an amazing mind.  If you'd been Devore, I'd probably be taking orders from you by now."  Gaharay officers were occasionally reconditioned, given a new identity and placed in the Devore military.  She would probably be deemed unsuitable, but maybe he would be able to persuade his superiors to take her anyway.

Kathryn laughed.  "Me?  A leather-clad, jack-booted interstellar bully?  Unlikely."  She gave him a mischievous look.  "Although if you *want* to take orders from me..."

Kashyk decided that he would definitely recommend Janeway for reconditioning.  Even if they had to destroy her formidable personality in the process, she would look phenomenal in the uniform.

END

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Copyright © 2000 Elizabeth M. Barr

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