Star Trek: Voyager, "Coffee Break" Janeway, Gen

[paynesgrey]

Title: Coffee Break (457 words) by paynesgrey
Fandom: Star Trek: Voyager
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: None
Relationships: Janeway/coffee
Characters: Kathryn Janeway
Additional Tags: Ficlet, Humor
Notes: Written for fandom_stocking for lost_spook.

Summary: Janeway's coffee was getting cold, and that was unacceptable.

Other Links: FFnet

Captain Janeway had one, small sip of her delicious coffee before the ship rocked and she’d almost spilled the precious liquid all over her.

She set the coffee down, giving it one last morose look before she headed out of her ready room and joined everyone on the bridge. Red Alert screamed at her, people scrambled, and she got an update from Tuvok before she looked up at the screen.

Someone was firing at them. Someone she didn’t know, and someone that was keeping her from her coffee.

*

Most of the morning, Janeway and the rest of the crew had narrowly avoided an all out war with some hot-headed and territorial aliens. Thankfully, they were able to offer some goods as a sort of fealty, and then Voyager could pass through the space without another blast.

When Janeway returned to her cup of coffee from the morning, it was stone cold.

She almost cried.

This coffee was special. Neelix had found this for her as a gift, and it was at least real, grown somewhere organically in the Delta Quadrant (she didn’t care) and not created by the computer.

She almost drank it cold, but found herself with a free, quiet minute to warm it up and then hopefully drink the delicious liquid in peace.

Outside her ready room, the alert rang for a summons. She rolled her eyes and looked longingly at her coffee. “Come in.”

Paris and Torres came in arguing like the ship was on fire. Tempers flared, one was right and the other was right, and none of them were wrong, and frankly, Janeway didn’t care. But she had to take care of it.

As the two officers explained their dilemma, Janeway could feel her coffee next to her getting cold again.

*

The demons of the day seemed to finally leave her alone. She waited, wondering if someone else would come into her ready room with a problem. She warmed up her coffee again for the second time.

Janeway was determined to not let it go to waste.

She took a sip, and then another, and then sighed as peace found her. The delicious liquid coated her throat, inspired warm memories, and erased her sorrows for the day.

She enjoyed it with every taste on her tongue. She closed her eyes and tuned out the quadrant. Whoever was outside her ready room constantly summoning her would have to wait. They would probably be mad, but dammit, Janeway needed her moment.

Was the ship splitting apart? Another skirmish between crew members? Someone’s pet get loose on the ship? Or maybe there was a virus? She didn’t care right now.

And she wouldn’t, not until this last, wonderful special drop of coffee was gone.

END

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