Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager belongs to Paramount, the writers, and whoever else can legally claim it. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon. I am making no profit from this, except for my joy when I get reviews. And hopefully I'm making lots of readers happy.

AN (it's a long one, sorry): In the many years I've been reading fanfic, I've often been intrigued by what we call 'prompts.' Someone gives you a word, idea, or sentence, and you write a story around it. I recently ran across an amazing author, DemonClowSorceress, who has a bunch of these stories. She chose couples, made up 50 prompts, and proceeded to write a story for each one. And as I read some of her prompts, I began to think about how they could apply to the couple on my mind at the moment. I also began to think of prompts of my own for that couple.

I plan to write short stories about each one, and if there's a specific one you want to read please let me know as I'm willing to change the order. Each story will have an episode reference so you know where it's set timeline wise (although they won't be in chronological order), but the stories will rarely have much to do with the episode, they'll take place sometimes after it but before the next one. Oh, and they don't go together; I just didn't want to publish 25 different short stories cause I think it's easier to keep them together. Especially as I've had so many ideas for Voyager fics that aren't really good enough to be big stories, but are perfect for this.

Most of these are cannon friendly, as in they could have actually happened in cannon. (Unlike a series I once wrote for Buffy, where I took each episode of season 3 and 'fixed' it so that B&A ended up together.) As much as I wanted to write each story with them ending up a couple, it seemed much more IC to simply put in what I consider 'missing moments,' ones that expand upon their unique and special relationship. I didn't just want to write 25 situations in which they could have gotten together, I wanted to write 25 moments that explored their relationship. Although I couldn't resist letting them get together in at least a few of them…

Thanks and credit to DemonClowSorceress for letting me use some of her prompts. Let me know if there's one you want next, or if you have an idea for one, otherwise they'll be going in the order my muse dictates.

25 Moments

By Lady Callista

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"There are moments in your life that make you, that set the course for who you're gonna be. Sometimes they're little, subtle moments. Sometimes they're not." -Whistler in "Becoming," from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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=/\=

PDA - In all fairness, Tom hadn't really expected him to actually do it.

Jealous - He wasn't really jealous of Michael; Chakotay loved that he could make her happier. What he was jealous of were the simple things, like the fact that the man had the privilege to hold her hand and touch her hair.

Mistress - He objected to the misogynistic culture on principle, but it was difficult to object to the reality of her hanging on his arm and whispering in his ear.

Boots - Without them on, she's the perfect height to hold. With them on, she's the perfect height to kiss.

Ahab - It wasn't being relieved of duty that distressed him the most. It was the fact that she was destroying herself and for the first time he couldn't save her.

Time - She couldn't decide if she wished they'd had more or less.

Prince - Of all the words and titles ever used to describe him, this was decidedly the oddest.

Fear - She hadn't meant to hurt him. Sometimes she forgot how sensitive the former Maquis captain was underneath all his strength.

Control - She knows she can't relate to his past, but she tries to help him live in the present as best she can.

Directive - If they hadn't forgotten about half of them, the senior officers of Voyager would have known just how close they were to beating James T. Kirk's record of temporal violations.

Betrayal - She knew he had dealt with the truth about Tuvok fairly well, but was afraid that Seska was going to be another story.

Holodeck - If anything ever proved Murphey's Law, it was that damn room. Just how many times had something gone wrong with it, anyway?

Charisma - There was just something about his take charge attitude and aggressive demeanor that was incredibly attractive, and the leather pants sure didn't hurt.

Implants - She had never been vain about her appearance, yet he saw the vulnerability and fear in her eyes the instant he walked into Sickbay. He still thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and made sure that shone in his eyes.

Vestige - She had always thought he would be beside her at the end, but when it came she could only cling to his last gift as she imagined that he was.

Uniform - It represented everything she knew they would need to survive in the Delta Quadrant, she just hoped she could convince him to put it on again.

Hair - Every night as she took her hair out of its severe bun, she smiled as the bounds of rank fell away and she could be just a woman for a time. The first time he was privileged to see the transformation he could only watch in silence, amazed at the difference.

Skirt - Chakotay could barely concentrate the day she walked into Chez Sandrine wearing a black number that made her legs look amazing.

Reciprocation - He had helped her through so many things, and she couldn't understand why he hadn't turned to her when he was the one who needed a shoulder.

Loss - Those minutes when he thought he had lost her were the longest of his life.

Trust - After all this time, he had thought that she trusted him.

Panic - "Captains don't panic," Chakotay admonished gently. "They just overreact in a very dramatic fashion."

Pilot - She trusted him to pilot Voyager when necessary and he had never failed her, but she felt a sinking feeling in her chest whenever he left in a shuttlecraft.

Baby - He had so many conflicting emotions when he found out that it wasn't his.

Coffee - There had been days when coffee was the only thing that made her morning bearable. Now all he had to do was walk into her ready room and she found herself smiling. And it was no longer just because he always brought a pot of coffee.

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I'm adding this because several people have asked for a quick guide to make it easier to find their favorites among these in the future. It's just a guide to which episode each story goes with, but if you remember anything about the fic you're looking for this should help.

2 PDA [3.25 Worst Case Scenario]

3 Jealous [6.11 Fair Haven]

4 Mistress [2.17 Dreadnaught]

5 Boots [6.24 Lifeline]

6 Ahab [6.1 Equinox]

7 Time [2.25 Resolutions]

8 Prince [3.11 The Q and the Grey]

9 Fear [5.19 The Fight]

10 Control [7.4 Repression]

11 Directive [7.11 Shattered]

12 Betrayal [1.10 State of Flux]

13 Holodeck [6.17 Spirit Folk]

14 Charisma [3.25 Worst Case Scenario]

15 Implants [7.1 Unimatrix Zero]

16 Vestige [4.9 Year of Hell]

17 Uniform [1.1 Caretaker]

18 Hair [2.9 Tattoo]

19 Skirt [5.10 Counterpoint]

20 Reciprocation [4.15 Hunters]

21 Loss [3.15 Coda]

22 Trust [2.20 Investigations]

23 Panic [4.7 Scientific Method]

24 Pilot [4.4 Nemesis]

25 Baby [3.1 Basics]

26 Coffee [1.16 Learning Curve]