I don't own the characters. Just playing with them.

Harry Kim was in big trouble… huge trouble… the most trouble.

In fact, he was having a hard time recalling a more terrible predicament. He'd fought the Borg, been attacked by species 8472, nearly had his life sucked out of him by a bunch of very attractive alien women he thought were family…

And nothing of any of those experiences prepared him for how incredibly screwed he felt in this moment.

He'd actually woken up quite comfortably. It was normally pretty chilly in his quarters, and rather than expend the ship's power making it toasty, he normally wore full pajamas to bed. After seven years, he was most surprised by just how comfortable he was when he woke up without a shirt.

He wasn't cold at all. He actually felt warmer than he normally did. He shifted drowsily, and the delicate hand fell from his chest.

He froze. Suddenly the entire night's events flooded back to him, and he stifled a groan.

He shifted ever so slightly, moving out of range of the hand… the Captain's hand.

Oh my God.

He didn't make a habit of visiting the Captain's quarters. That honor, he felt, was reserved for a select few. He'd never felt the desire to infringe on those boundaries.

Last night he and the Captain had shared a bridge shift, and he could honestly say that he'd never seen her so distraught on the bridge before. What was even more distressing was that there didn't seem to be an apparent reason for her distress. Her future self had come through time to take them home. Harry couldn't think of a time when things had looked so hopeful. If Admiral Janeway couldn't get the home, no one could.

Yet the Captain spent her entire shift looking like she was about to cry. Harry kept trying to think of something funny to say, to try and cheer her up, but every time he opened his mouth he'd see her face again and wimp out. He was genuinely worried that a wrong move really would make her burst into tears on the bridge.

An hour before their shift ended, the Captain stood up suddenly and headed for the turbolift.

"You have the bridge Mr. Kim," she said sharply, and she practically fled the bridge.

Harry stood helpless on the bridge for an hour, trying to figure out what could possibly upset the Captain so much that she would leave a duty shift early on the eve of their homecoming.

In his quarters after his shift, he tossed and turned fitfully, wondering if the Captain was getting any sleep.

He finally gave up trying to sleep, and sat up in bed.

Maybe it was actually meeting her future self that had the Captain so upset.

Harry could relate.

While he hadn't actually met his future self, getting that message was one of the most uncomfortable experiences he'd ever had. He hadn't cried, but he'd certainly been in a funk for a few days. He had a hard time paying attention, and when he was paying attention he was second guessing every decision he made.

He could only imagine how much worse that would be if he'd actually met his future self, and had to spend days in his company.

"Computer, is Captain Janeway in her quarters?"

"Affirmative."

"Is anyone with her?"

"Negative."

Harry pushed back the bed coverings and only just remembered to get back into uniform before he headed for the Captain's quarters at a brisk walk. He only hoped that she wouldn't think he was out of line for asking if she wanted to talk.

For a minute or so, after he pushed the door chime, there was no answer. He looked around nervously, feeling like he might as well be walking to the brig just for being there.

He was just about to abandon the endeavor completely when the door slid open, and the Captain appeared, in her nightdress, her face swollen and blotchy with tears. A flood of emotions crossed her face. First she seemed upset that he wasn't someone else, then she looked relieved, then resigned.

"Oh Harry," she said softly. "Come on in." She turned around without waiting for him to say anything and walked back into her quarters. Tentatively, Harry followed, walking far enough in for the doors to close, and then stopping.

"I'm sorry to disturb you Captain," he said quickly. "It's just that you didn't seem yourself on the bridge, and when you left earlier I was worried. I know I shouldn't be here, but I know you'd be angrier if I said something to the Doc so I thought maybe it had something to do with meeting the Admiral so then I…"

"Harry," she cut him off.

"Yes Captain?"

"You're babbling."

"Yes Ma'am." Harry swallowed and stopped talking.

The Captain seemed to be trying very hard to compose herself, despite the fact that Harry had plainly seen her in distress on entry.

"Why don't you have a seat Mr. Kim," the Captain said. Then she stood and walked toward her replicator. "Can I get you anything?"

"Um… no," he said hastily, wondering how much more awkward this situation could become.

"A bottle of champagne and two glasses please," she said to the replicator, apparently not having heard him. She looked at him over her shoulder. "Chakotay insists that if I'm polite to the replicator I'll get better results," she said primly.

"I've… I've never heard that before," he said, not sure if she really wanted a response or not.

"Apparently it's true," she said, shrugging. The champagne and glasses had appeared. She whisked them off the pad and brought them to her dining table, uncorking the champagne. "Which is good, because I feel like celebrating."

"Celebrating Captain?" Not that there wasn't plenty to celebrate, but Harry was a little confused. The Captain's words said one thing, but her… everything else said otherwise.

"Yes Harry," she began. "There are so many things that can happen on this ship that don't happen on other ships because they can't. Take Tom and B'Elanna for example, their relationship probably never would have gotten off the ground if we were back in the Alpha quadrant, and now they're about to have a baby! I think that I should be celebrating every new relationship I find out about among the crew from here on out." She handed him his glass.

As he watched her down her champagne, and get back up to refill her glass, he suddenly realized what must have set her off.

She must have just found out today that Chakotay was seeing Seven of Nine.

Which meant that Tom was right; had been right all this time. The Captain and her first officer were in love with each other.

Harry could have easily believed that Chakotay had been harboring feelings for the Captain before he started seeing Seven. The man wore his heart on his sleeve, even when he was attempting to be stoic. He was so utterly devoted and loyal to the Captain that Harry cou ldn't blame Tom for suspecting that there was more to it.

But the Captain? Before this very moment, Harry would never have guessed the depth of her feeling for her first officer, and he didn't think anyone else could have either.

Suddenly Harry felt like crying. It was incredibly unfair. Here the Captain was, just days before the whole ship would make it back home, and she'd just found out today that she'd lost, what must have been, one of the biggest things she'd hoped would be part of homecoming.

He watched her shakily put her glass down and walk over to the viewport. He could tell she was crying again, by the way her shoulders shook just a little.

Overcome, he followed her steps and wrapped his arms around her. He'd never seen his Captain in so much pain and he couldn't stand it.

They'd all dealt with heartbreak. Nearly all the loved ones had moved on by the time Voyager had made contact with the Alpha quadrant again, even Libby.

But to see it happen right in front of you. Suddenly Harry wasn't just heartbroken for the Captain, he was angry for her as well. How dare Chakotay do this to her! Harry liked Seven just fine, but she was NOT the Captain.

Harry slowly circled the Captain, and gently took her face in his hands.

"Captain," he said, trying to find the words to tell her how important and special she was to everyone. "There is no replacement for you. There is no substitute for you. You are one of the most amazing women I've ever met in my entire life. If he's decided that he doesn't love you, I'm sorry. But I don't think you know how many of us really do love you."

She reached up and covered one of his hands with hers, smiling faintly.

He was having such a hard time meeting her eyes, and was struggling with how much he wanted to take her pain away and how intimidated he still was by her presence.

Maybe that combination of feelings was why the kiss felt like such a rush.

He couldn't recall now exactly how it happened. He was pretty sure it was him, but it was really hard to say. All he knew was that he was kissing her, and she was letting him, and then kissing him back and then that was even more of a rush.

And now he was awake, in her bed, having spent most of the dark hours of the morning loving his Captain thoroughly.

She slept incredibly peacefully, and that made everything so much harder.

He didn't feel like he'd been thinking properly the night before, and he couldn't imagine what she would think when she woke up. So should he stay and risk the most awkward morning after of both of their lives, or should he sneak out of the Captain's quarters.

If he stayed he could be sure that she wouldn't feel like he'd somehow rejected her, or like he was hugely regretful of what had happened, but he also risked being a reminder of her own regret, which he was positive she would feel. He really did love her, even if it was the kind of love that didn't usually result in awkward morning afters.

After a few minutes more of lying stiff and terrified, he finally decided on the latter and slid as quietly as he could out of bed. He was normally pretty adept at putting on his uniform in record time, but he'd never had to be careful about making noise before. It felt like it took an eternity just to get dressed.

He was just about to leave, when he decided that he couldn't bear the thought of her feeling rejected in any way by him sneaking out, especially after her state last night. He left her a quick note, that he hoped wouldn't come off as awkwardly as he felt.

And then stopped.

Should he even attempt a site-to-site transport, or should he just fire out of the Captain's quarters and hope nobody saw him.

An unauthorized site-to-site transport would immediately show up on the bridge. He didn't think he could handle the inevitable interrogation by Tuvok later.

Nope. Straight out the front door was the only way to go. He took a deep breath, and walked straight for the corridor.

His head was down, which is probably why he didn't see that he was going to walk right into the admiral just feet from the door. He looked up at her surprised face, thinking fast to see if he could come up with a reason to be right outside, and then he heard the doors close shut behind him.

His felt his face get hot all the way to his ears.

"I'm so sorry Admiral, excuse me," he said quickly and hurried as quickly as he could without running in the other direction.