Her gaze flashed in the direction of the voice. She peered into the darkness, but
couldn't make out anything. Who is it? Kathryn called blindly towards the
voice.
Uh... that you, cap'n? The voice was hoarse. It sounded familiar, but she
couldn't quite grasp who it was.
It's me. Who are you?
Tom Paris.
Kathryn let out a breath. Good. Maybe he'd know how they got there. She
continued her blind crawl across the cold floor, fumbling about for Tom's body.
Speak again, Tom; I'll find you. Are you hurt?
My head is killing me, and I think my ribs are bruised. He paused to draw in a
few sharp gasps of air, and Kathryn guessed that she only a few feet away now. How
about you?
I'm freezing cold, and blind as a bat, and I have one hell of a headache. But... I
couldn't be better. Her hand struck something warm soft, and she ran her hand up and
down the warm object. Is this you, Tom?
Yeah, captain. He paused a beat. I don't think you want to know what
part.
Oh! She quickly let go. He chuckled.
I'm sorry to disappoint you, Captain, but it was just my arm.
Kathryn pursed her lips, though he couldn't see them, and nudged herself up next
to him on the floor, her shoulder lightly brushing what she hoped was his
shoulder.
Okay, Tom, how did we get here? What do you remember?
What do I remember? he exclaimed. You woke up before me.
I mean-- were we on an away mission, was the ship attacked... what happened
to us? I can't seem to... my head must have been hit pretty hard.
The last thing I remember, he said slowly, Was lying in my quarters. I was
off duty. Next thing I knew, I was here.
Hmmm...
What about you? He asked.
Silence answered him.
Captain? He asked, darting out a questioning arm to make sure she was still
there. He brushed her coarse uniform, stretched over a warm, supple swell of skin. She
flinched under his touch, and he quickly drew his hand away with a sharp intake of breath.
I--I'm sorry, Captain. I was just making sure... that wasn't... was it--
My breast? Yes. I was lost in thought.
Oh, I didn't mean--
It's okay, she assured him, her hand reaching out to squeeze his shoulder in
reassurance, but finding the firmness of his chest meeting her touch. She drew her hand
back quickly. Sorry.
Don't worry about it. He was flattered. Tom was certain she'd done that
intentionally-- payback. An eye for an eye, in the captain's twisted logic. You touch my
breast, I touch your pec. He understood completely.
--I was in the messhall, talking with Neelix... and then here. Wait a minute,
something occurred to me right before... but I can't remember what, she was
saying.
Mmm-hmmm, he murmured, half-listening. He could feel her warm breath
tickling his neck in the darkness, and his imagination was working out the details of her
heaving breasts. Down boy, he told himself firmly. Now is not the time for the Libido.
The Libido can wait. There will be hell to pay with B'Elanna if the Libido insists upon
acting up now.
--or perhaps we're in some sort of cell... or maybe we're... Janeway was
carrying on a conversation with herself, as she tended to do the past two years ( and then
label it a group brainstorming session). Tom sat back and let her carry on the
conversation. Minutes passed, Janeway chattering contentedly on in the darkness. Hell,
if it made her feel okay, then why not let her?
So, what are the conclusions? She said after a while, as if divulging the results
of their brainstorming session. Perhaps we're prisoners, in some sort of cell, and our
memories have been erased in order--
Tom's eyes narrowed craftily as he plotted convenient ways to accidentally brush
up against her.
We'll have to crawl around, see how wide this cell is. Tom, are you listening?
She peered into the blackness besides her. Was he still there? She couldn't even see her
own hand one foot before her face.
The voice came, Of course, cap'n.
Well, then--
She heard a sharp intake of breath, and suddenly, both her breasts were being
clutched firmly, and her back was against the cold ground, the warm strength of his body
on top of hers. As quickly as he had grabbed and tackled her, he let go, recoiling his
warmth back away from her.
Sorry, ma'am.
Janeway blinked, incredulous, and sat up, straightening her tunic. Tom? What
the hell was that?
I thought I heard a noise. I wanted to protect you. I tried to grab your
shoulders, but... Whoops. False alarm.
She could swear she saw the whites of his grinning teeth through the darkness. A
funny expression she knew he couldn't see written on her face, she murmured, O-kay.
A pause. As I was saying, we should crawl around, get the dimensions of this
cell.
Okay. I'll go the way my head's pointed, you can go the way my ass is
pointed.
I was thinking we should stick together, she interjected. He could feel
her face burning. We don't know how wide this room is. We might have trouble finding
each other again. You can crawl with your hurt ribs, can't you?
They're feeling better already.
Good. Let's go.
* * *
After crawling about for a few minutes, they reasoned that the room was about
twenty meters by twenty meters wide. Tom was winded, his ribs were aching, and he
slumped against the wall of the cell.
Okay, enough crawling for now. Thank god we have turbolifts and don't have to
take those damn jefferies tubes everywhere, Tom moaned, fingers manipulating the flesh
of his temples to rub away his headache.
My head's killing me. she said. I'm going to lie down,
He felt what he guessed was the back of her head momentarily upon his lap,
brushing his penis through the uniform, before she seemed to realize she'd almost lain
down upon him. He hoped she hadn't noticed his state of semi-arousal, the state in which
he'd been since that first accidental brush with her breast.
Oops, sorry, Tom, she said softly.
It's okay.
I'll change my position. she said, and he felt the front of her head upon his
lap.
What are you-- oohhh. Her tiny fingers stroked his heated flesh through his
uniform, fiddling with the cloth binding up his member.
My, Tom, you're coming up in the world, she purred, tone pleased at the
growing hardness.
Are you, uh, feeling all right, Captain?
Was that really an accident back there, when you tried to 'grab my shoulders'?
He felt a rush of cold air against his dick, and then the delicious sensation of her fingers
tickling down its hard, aroused length.
Uhhh... God, no.
Naughty boy, Tom. A beat. You want me to stop? She queried innocently,
fingers withdrawing from his flesh.
No-- I mean yes! B'Elanna will kill me!
B'Elanna won't have to know, she cooed sensuously, Nobody has to know.
Just you, me, in the darkness, Her lips brushed his penis, soft and wet as she planted a
kiss. We can't see anything, no one can see us... No one will mention this. Her tongue
slipped out of her mouth and lightly grazed his heated flesh, eliciting a throaty groan from
Paris.
I... suppose... I... see your... logic...
Her chuckle was rich and deep, almost wicked. Five years is a long time, Tom.
You're in for a treat. And then, she enveloped him in her whole mouth.
Tom moaned as the warm, wet flesh closed about him, tightly, then pulled back,
tongue dancing tantalizingly about the tip. He fumbled until he could clench her hair
within his fists as her warm tongue traveled back up to his hilt, and slowly back down to
evelop him again, massaging him slowly. She continued this until he was on the verge of
coming, then withdrew completely, yanking her hair out of his hands. Tom's conscious
thoughts, lost in a whirl of arousal and throaty moans, suddenly spun back to clarity, and
he was aware of the aching need in his groin.
You're right. This is wrong, she said.
Wha-- He exclaimed, reaching out for her, grasping only thin air.
Her voice was farther off, lost somewhere in the blackness. You're attached, and
I'm the Captain. I can't afford to be intimately involved with anyone.
You've got to be fucking with me.
A sigh. No, Tom, as Captain, I can't fuck with anyone. Sorry.
You're going to leave me like this? he called, gesturing to his arousal, though
she couldn't see it in the darkness.
It would be wrong to continue. Tom caught a breath when he realized that she
was amused. There was a strange note in her voice, the evil, iniquitous sort of glee she
derived from leaving him like this. She was toying with him!
Flailing his arms out into the darkness, he sputtered, No, you can't--
Suddenly, there was a loud groan of opening doors, and light flooded the darkened
cell. He threw up a hand to shield his eyes, fumbling to close his pants with the other. He
now could see Janeway's form, shielding her eyes as well.
A shadowy figure, black against the bright light of the corridor, approached
them.
Computer, lights! The figure barked.
Paris and Janeway both gaped up incredulously at B'Elanna and the other
engineers flooding into the room. B'Elanna shot Janeway an apologetic smile.
Sorry, Captain. The holodeck power overloaded while you two were in here.
We were worried the overload might have injured you, but it took us a while to get the
doors open.
This is the holodeck? Janeway and Tom exclaimed simultaneously.
Torres blinked, confused. Yes. She looked from Janeway, then to Paris. I
thought you said you two were going to rewrite some of the Captain Proton
parameters.
We couldn't seem to remember how we got here. We must have lost our short
term memories. Tom said warily. B'Elanna took a closer look at both of them, then
gestured to her temple.
You two get hurt?
Tom glanced at Janeway, noticed the nasty bruise on her forehead, then felt the
one on his own.
Uh-- yeah. That must be why we couldn't remember getting here. We must have
been knocked out by the overload. Tom supplied. Janeway nodded crisply.
Thank you, Lieutenant Torres. Paris, report to sickbay at your leisure.
Janeway began to stride towards the door, but then paused thoughtfully to look around.
To think... the one time I end up in a strange place and don't say, ' Computer, end program...' is
the one time it would actually have made a difference. She shook her head regretfully,
and disappeared out the doors.
Paris gazed after her briefly, his groin aching, then met B'Elanna's curious
gaze.
What? He demanded. Her dark eyes traveled pointedly down his body, and he
realized she'd noticed his hard on. He shrugged sheepishly, and offered, I was thinking
of what it'd be like to have you in a darkened holodeck.
A lascivious smile crossed B'Elanna's face, and she quickly turned and ordered the
engineering teams out.
In the darkness of the holodeck, B'Elanna pushed him to the floor and took care of
his problem.
He reached sickbay in time to catch the captain leaving, and she nodded coolly to
him before she began to brush past him. He caught her arm right as she was about to
distance herself.
This is only the beginning, Captain, he threatened.
She smirked. Don't play games with me, Paris.
Who's playing games with whom? You started it! He exclaimed.
You started it with the 'accidents'. I simply topped you off. she countered
smugly.
Whatever you can do, I can top off better, Paris warned.
I'm warning you, Paris, if you continue this, you'll lose.
Either way, I'll enjoy the process. Tom assured her.
She laughed wickedly, wrested out of his grip, and glided off around the bend of
the corridor. Paris glared after her, but couldn't stop the smile from dancing over his lips.
She'd lose. She *would* lose.
Just wait and see, Janeway, He muttered. You don't know what's been
started.
