A/N: I've been sick all week and hashing through a long fic - felt like writing something short. This is for warp6 aka m_class. Thx for the idea, hope you got the flavor you liked.

"You shouldn't be here," Kathryn said to her visitor once the doors had closed behind him.

Chakotay sighed and shook his head. The strong smell of menthol had hit him with his first step into her quarters and now he could see why. In the dimmed lights of her living room, his captain was resting rather uncomfortably on her couch. She was dressed in a loose-fitting sweatsuit and hung around her shoulders was a heavy blanket. In front of her was a box of tissues - half of the contents haphazardly strewn around - and a barely eaten bowl of soup lay on the table at her feet.

"Why ever not?" he asked, as if the answer weren't perfectly clear.

Kathryn cleared her scratchy throat. "Ship's safety. The command team shouldn't both be sick at the same time, and I'm clearly contagious."

Chakotay took a few steps towards her. "Number one, I believe that Tuvok is more than capable of handling things in the event we're both incapacitated. Number two, if I do catch your cold, I'm not too stubborn to go down to sickbay and be made well."

"I'm not stubborn."

"Really?"

"No."

"You do know that doctors discovered a cure for the common cold about three hundred years ago."

She sighed and rolled her watery eyes. "Yes."

"And you also know that we have a sickbay, right?"

"Yes, well, our Doctor is still on the planet at the conference."

"I'm sure Tom or one of the other medics could help you. I believe they're qualified for such a thing."

"I'm conserving resources," she said, and at that moment a visible shiver passed through her from head to toe. "Besides I'm fine, I don't need…" she held up her hand and then sneezed loudly into a tissue. "Anything."

Chakotay's dimples appeared as he smiled at her in disbelief. Despite her pigheadedness and her current condition, he never though that someone sick could look so beautiful.

"You're wasting our last day of shore leave to prove what point exactly? That you're stronger than a germ?"

"Shore leave is where I caught this bug. I've had enough of the planet. And I'll be…. be…." Chakotay watched painfully as her face grimaced, waiting for the onslaught of another unstoppable gale. The sneeze failed to materialize. "I'll be fine tomorrow."

"I've never known anyone so obstinate in all my life."

"Did you come here to lecture me?" she asked, looking up at him with scratchy, red eyes.

"I came here to get you to approve the departure plan. I knew you weren't feeling well, but I didn't think I'd find you quite like this."

Once again, Kathryn felt a tickle in her nose. She held up a finger and he waited patiently. Chakotay closed his eyes in brief amusement when she finally fired off a wailing sneeze, quite unbefitting of a Starfleet Captain.

Kathryn wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders then motioned for him to hand her the PADD. She quickly deposited her stamp of approval.

"Is there anything else I can do for you before I leave?" he asked kindly.

She shook her head. "I'll see you on the bridge in the morning."

"Right," he replied, voice laced with sarcasm. Chakotay took a moment to straighten up a bit of the mess that lay around her before turning to leave.

"Cough drops." Her quiet request stopped him just before he reached the door. "Can you get me some cough drops? My throat hurts."

Chakotay redirected his steps to the replicator. "What kind do you like?"

"What are my options?"

He thumbed through the display. "Menthol or not?"

"Menthol," she said with a sarcastic sigh. As if there were any other kind.

"Cherry, lemon, orange, elderberry, leola root…." Chakotay paused and grimaced slightly at how leola root would only add insult to injury as far as soothing a cold.

"Lemon. With honey."

A moment later the order was filled and her friend was on his way.

He would, of course, return after she had gone to sleep with a trusted medic in tow and an assortment of hyposprays.

The next morning, Captain Janeway appeared as normal and healthy as ever. She strode onto the bridge with a triumphant smile.

"See Commander, just a little cold," she remarked in his ear. Then she plopped proudly into her seat. "No need to call in the cavalry."

"Those must have been some cough drops. I see you won your battle with the germs and in record time I might add." As he replied, Chakotay caught an eyeroll and a knowing smile from Tom.

"That's right," she replied victoriously. "Now, are we getting out of here, or what?"