The BLTS Archive- More of the Burgeoning
by T'Pam (t_pam@yahoo.com)

---

Standard Disclaimer:  Voyager and all her crew belong to
Paramount/Viacom.  No copyright infringement is intended, as
this little tale is just for fun.

---

Captain Janeway bustled into sickbay, a worried frown on her
face.  "How is he Doctor?"

"It was only his head - again - Captain.  Anywhere else and
I would have been worried."

Tom groaned and sat up.  "Very funny Doc.  I'm fine
Captain."

She went over to stand next to his biobed.  "Would you like
to tell me what happened?"

Tom shook his head.  "It doesn't matter."

"Lieutenant Torres hit him," the Doctor told her gleefully.
"The blow gave him a black eye and the subsequent fall gave
him the concussion and split lip.  He bumped his head on the
coffee table in his quarters."

The Doctor stood there beaming, obviously pleased that he
could provide some gossip for once.

"I see.  Thank you Doctor."  She turned back to Tom.  "Did
B'Elanna hear about what happened in the mess hall last
night?"

Tom nodded miserably while the Doctor's eyes opened wide in
astonishment.  Something had happened and he wasn't privy to
it.  That situation would have to be remedied at once.

"What exactly happened in the mess hall?" he asked eagerly.

"You'll find out soon enough," the Captain told him shortly,
her eyes never leaving Tom.  She touched his shoulder.
"Would you like me to speak to her?  Explain to her that it
wasn't your fault?  After all, Seven approached YOU."

The Doctor's ears pricked up.  What had Seven been doing,
now?  "Would somebody please care to explain?" he asked.

The Captain gave him her death glare.  "No.  Your part in
this whole little fiasco will be explained shortly.  In fact
Commander Tuvok will be here to speak with you at any
moment."

The Doctor felt a decided chill.  He hadn't done anything,
had he?

"Don't worry about it Captain," Tom was saying.  "I'm sure I
can smooth things over with B'Elanna.  If you wouldn't mind
turning a blind eye while I strangle Harry, I'm sure
everything will blow over."

Janeway gave a small chuckle and patted his leg.  "I'll
leave it to you then."

As she left, Tom jumped down from the biobed.  "Can I go
too, Doc?"

The Doctor sniffed.  "There's no reason to keep you here.
Unless, of course, you wished to be a good Doctor's
assistant and fill me in?"

Tom gave a small laugh and made his way to the door.  "I'll
let Tuvok have that pleasure.  By the way Doc.  That reading
list you gave Seven?  I think it may be a little more -
memorable - than you intended."

The Doctor stood there for a few moments wondering what he
meant, before going over to the data base and accessing the
first novel on his list.

---

Chakotay sat quietly in a corner of the mess hall, savoring
the cornbread that Neelix had made especially for him.

He had wondered if he would ever get off duty, as Janeway
had been stuck in her ready room for most of the afternoon.
First with Tuvok, Tom and Harry and then with Seven.

Something was going on, that was for sure.  Harry had been
the first to leave the ready room and he had appeared
troubled.  It was some time before Tom came out, and he
looked amused, but also embarrassed.  With Tom it was hard
to tell.

And then there had been Tuvok.  When he and Janeway had come
back onto the bridge he had looked - well - embarrassed was
the only way to describe it.  There was a wounded look in
his eyes.  The Captain had given him the rest of the day off
to meditate.

Chakotay had heard him tell the Captain that he needed a few
hours to center himself and then he would speak to the
Doctor.  Was Tuvok sick?

He had raised his eyebrow at the Captain as she sat down
next to him, but she had merely shaken her head.  "You don't
want to know," she had said dryly.

She had been wrong.  He did.

He had just been about to go off duty and have a late
dinner, when she had been called down to sickbay.  Something
to do with Tom this time.

When she had come back, her eyes were twinkling merrily.
"Remind me to tell you all about this, next time we're
alone", was all she said however.

He sighed as he ate his cornbread.  He'd just have to wait.
He looked around the mess hall.  It was still rather crowded,
considering how late it was.

"I always thought there was something funny between those
two," a voice said loudly from the table next to him.  There
was a large group sitting there, all talking excitedly.

"Well, I think it's kinda cute," someone else piped up.  "Of
course, if B'Elanna finds out, they'll all be dead meat."

There was a collective shudder, as everyone obviously
thought about B'Elanna's wrath.

Chakotay leaned forward in confusion.  What the hell were
they talking about?

Hamilton, one of the conn officers laughed.  "I still can't
believe that out of everyone on this ship, Tuvok picked
Paris."

"Why?  I'd pick Tom any day."

There were a few murmurs of agreement and quite a few
giggles.  Chakotay peered into the semi darkness, to see whom
exactly was sitting there.

Hamilton gave a snort.  "Of course YOU would.  More than
half the ship probably would, but we're talking about TUVOK
here."

"Well, Tom teases him an awful lot and Tuvok teases him too,
in a Vulcany type of way.  Maybe he's always had a secret
yen for him."

Chakotay forgot all about his cornbread.  Tuvok?  Tom?

"Well, I wish I'd been here to see it.  Did Harry challenge
Tuvok to a duel?"  Harry?  HARRY?

"Yeah, tell us again."

Not only did Chakotay forget about his cornbread, he forgot
to breathe.

---

Neelix hovered around behind the rather large group of
crewmembers still lingering over breakfast.  Something was
up.

He had thought so last night, but had been too busy to find
out, now he had more time.

"She slugged him one," somebody said.  "Knocked him clean
out."

"I would too.  I thought he was a nice guy.  Just goes to
show you."

"Are you sure about this?" somebody else asked.  "I mean, I
can't imagine Tom doing that."

"Well, if I hadn't heard B'Elanna myself, I wouldn't have
believed it either.  You can just never tell, can you?"

"When did this happen?"

"Late last night.  From what I can gather, she must have
found out about it earlier and gone to his quarters and
knocked him cold.  He went back to sort things out and
that's when she kicked him out.  I was walking past at the
time and heard everything."

"Well, I'm shocked.  I really liked Tom."

Neelix couldn't stand it another moment.  "Excuse me, but
what exactly did Tom do?"

---

Neelix sat at one of his tables, too upset to move.  Every
one had gone to their respective duty stations by now and he
was all alone.

He kept shaking his head in disbelief.  It couldn't be true.
It just couldn't.  Not Tom.  He wouldn't believe it.

The mess hall doors swished open and Chakotay stepped in.
"Am I too late for breakfast?" he asked.

Neelix looked at him dumbly.  "Breakfast?  I - I - "

Chakotay came over to him, a look of concern on his face.
"Are you alright?"

"I - I - No Commander, I'm not.  I heard something.
Something terrible.  I'm having a hard time believing it."

"I see.  I heard something last night too. I found it hard
to believe also."

"Was it about Tom - and - " he gulped.

Chakotay nodded.  "Yes it was."

"And you believe it?"

"I've done a bit of checking.  There seems to be some basis
in the story."

"Oh no!"  He shook his head sadly.  "You think you know
somebody."

Chakotay nodded.  "I know what you mean."

"Does the Captain know?"

"Yes.  She's already spoken to them all."

"All?  How many were there?"

Chakotay frowned at the question.  "How many?  Just the
three I would assume."

"Three?"  Neelix shook his head.  "What's the Captain going
to do about it?"

"I'm not sure.  I haven't spoken to her yet.  She seems to
have sorted it all out, though.  Both Tuvok and Harry seemed
quite embarrassed when they came out of her ready room
yesterday."

"Tuvok and Harry?"  Neelix squeaked.  "They were the other
two?  Oh my!  OH MY!"  He jumped up, his agitation so great
that he could no longer sit still.

Chakotay watched him with a look of confusion on his face.
"Neelix?  I don't understand."

"What's the Captain going to do about Tom?"

"Tom?  It wasn't his fault.  Anyway he seemed rather amused
by the whole thing as well as embarrassed."

"He did?"  Neelix found he was wringing his hands in
despair.

"Neelix, you're really worrying me here.  I didn't expect
you to react like this.  I got the impression yesterday that
the Captain thought the whole thing was rather amusing.  And
I have to admit I can see the funny side of it too, even if
I am having a hard time believing it."

"Commander, I know that human customs are different than
Talaxian, but you have shocked me terribly.  The members of
the crew who were discussing this were shocked as well.
Having a flasher - I think that's what they called Tom - on
board, is a terrible thing."

"A flasher?  They called Tom a flasher?"

"Yes, I'm sure that was the word."

"Why the hell were they calling Tom a flasher?"

"B- Because he flashed his - um - you know - at Seven and
Harry and Tuvok."

"He did?  Great spirits!  When?  Why wasn't I told?  This is
unbelievable.  I should have been told."

"But Commander, I don't understand.  You did know, didn't
you?  You're the one who told me that Harry and Tuvok
were the other people Tom flashed.  Isn't that what we've
been talking about?"

"No.  We were talking about Tuvok and Harry fighting over
Tom in here yesterday."

"Tuvok and Harry fought over Tom in here yesterday?  When?"

"At lunch time.  You were here.  Didn't you see it?"

"No.  At least, something DID happen.  I remember now.  The
Captain took the three of them outside, if I remember
correctly.  Is that what everyone was talking about last
night?"

"Yes.  That's when I heard it.  Tuvok's approaching his ponn
farr apparently and he asked Tom to be his partner.  I think
that must be true because I know Tuvok went to see the
Doctor last night."

"I understand now.  Tuvok and Tom were having a rather
intense conversation, now that I think about it.  Harry was
listening in and started shouting at them."

"So you DID see it."

"Yes, but I didn't realize what was going on.  Oh dear!  I
didn't realize that Harry and Tom were involved."

"Neither did anybody else apparently.  From what I can
gather Harry ended up suggesting a threesome."

Neelix gulped.  "Oh my! Oh my!"

"Well all I can say is that I'm highly surprised by the
whole thing.  I never would have thought Tuvok ---"

"He probably became interested in Tom after Tom flashed him.
In fact that's probably why Harry is as well."

Chakotay opened his mouth and then shut it again.  He took a
deep breath.  "When I mentioned Harry and Tuvok before, I
was talking about the mess hall incident.  Not about Tom
flashing anyone," he explained slowly.

"I'm quite sure that the Captain doesn't know anything about
Tom flashing anyone," he continued.  "She wouldn't be amused
about that, let me tell you.  Are you sure he did?"

"Well no.  It's just that Ensign Jenkins was walking past
B'Elanna's quarters last night when she kicked Tom out of
there.  She'd already knocked him out, earlier in the
evening."

"Yes, I heard about that.  I assumed it was because she had
found out about the planned threesome."

"Well, of course that may be true Commander, but why did she
accuse Tom of flashing Seven?"

"Did she?"

"According to Ensign Jenkins, she did."

"I think we should go and find Ensign Jenkins."

"Yes Sir."

---

"He kind of fell out the door as I was walking past, if you
know what I mean Sir."

Chakotay nodded.  "Go on."

Jenkins screwed up his face as he tried to remember.
"Lieutenant Torres said some stuff in Klingon and Tom yelled
out for her to give him a chance to explain.  And that's
when she said, well you know."

"No, I don't know, Ensign.  Please try to remember exactly
what she said."

Jenkins flushed before continuing.  "She said, for all she
knew he HAD shown Seven his  - um - burgeoning erection and
- um - he'd probably flashed it to half the crew."

Jenkins cleared his throat.  "The Lieutenant then yelled
that Tom could go and flash it to the rest of the crew,
because it was the last time he was flashing it anywhere
near her."

"I see.  And from that you deduced that Tom was a flasher?"

Jenkins went even redder.  "No Sir.  It was just after
talking to some of my friends - well - we thought that Seven
must have accused him of flashing at her or something."

"Seven has accused him of no such thing.  I'd certainly be
aware if she had."

"Yes, of course Sir.  I did wonder about that actually.
I've just heard that he's actually on with Harry and that's
why B'Elanna socked him."

---

Captain Janeway's mouth was a thin, angry line.  "I do not
believe this ship."

"I didn't believe it for a second," Neelix assured her
hastily.

"I think the important thing here is damage control,"
Chakotay said.

Janeway nodded.  "Poor Tom.  He's done nothing at all, and
his reputation is in tatters."

"I'll soon fix that," Neelix told them.  "A few words in the
right ears will soon have the true story told."

"I'm sure Tom would rather THAT particular story never be
told either, but under the circumstances," she sighed and
let the rest of her sentence trail off.  It was the lesser
of two evils.

"I feel kind of sorry for Harry," Chakotay commented.

"Well I don't," she replied crisply.  "If he hadn't have
reacted the way he did in the mess hall, none of the rest of
this would have happened."

"I suppose so, but he's in for a bit of a rough time.  I can
imagine some of the teasing he's going to get and Tom vows
he's never speaking to him again."

"That won't last long.  Tom will have forgiven him by this
time tomorrow.  You know what he's like."

Chakotay nodded.  "You're probably right."

---

Tom stood morosely in an observation lounge, looking out at
the stars.  Life sucked, he decided.

The viewport reflected someone standing behind him, so he
turned around quickly.

Seven of Nine stood there, looking a little hesitant.  "Am I
disturbing you, Ensign?"

Tom sighed.  "It doesn't matter.  What can I do for you?"

"I require your assistance."

"Oh?  Sit down."  He waved to the couch under the window and
winced as she slowly sat down.  Something seemed vaguely
familiar about this.

"So, how can I help you?"  He winced once more.  He was
definitely getting a case of deja vu.

"I have decided to continue with my personal development
lessons, although the Doctor insists that I do not read
any more romance novels."

"That seems like a sensible decision."

"Yes.  However, the last novel I was reading - 'Loves Sacred
Flower' was rather addictive."

It was?  He estimated how many seconds it would take him to
reach the turbolift.

"There were many passages within the text that---"

"Um - Seven?" he interrupted swiftly.  "Didn't the Captain
have a talk to you about appropriate requests to other
crewmembers?"

"Yes.  Thank you for reminding me.  I would like to offer my
sincere apologies for any embarrassment that my earlier
request may have caused you.  The subsequent termination of
your relationship with Lieutenant Torres is regrettable,
although I do not believe that I can be held responsible for
it."

Tom cleared his throat.  "No, of course not," he said, a
trifle faintly.

"You accept my apology?"

"I - I - sure."

"Now, we were discussing certain elements of the text which
left me curious."

"No we weren't," he squeaked.  He could make it to the
turbolift in less than three seconds if he sprinted.

"Ensign Paris, you are nervous."

"Me?"  If she asked him to show her ANYTHING, he was out of
here.

"Do not worry, I do not wish for you to show me anything."
Whoops!  He must have said that out loud.

"You don't?"

"No.  The Captain explained to me why I should not have
asked you to show me your burgeoning erection.  I should
have waited until you suggested it."

Tom gulped.  He was pretty sure the Captain hadn't said
THAT.

Seven stood up suddenly.  "I wish something entirely
different."

"You do?"  He hesitated.  "What do you wish?"  His leg
twitched nervously.  He was pretty sure he could make it to
the turbolift in under two seconds actually.

"I wish to know what it feels like to have my heaving bosoms
caressed."

He was off and running before she had even finished the
sentence.  He stopped abruptly.  "You what?"

"I can remove my suit, if you prefer."  She attempted to
undo the back it.

"What?  Here?  Now?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Anybody could walk by."

"You do not wish for an audience?"

"Hell no."

"Very well.  Perhaps we could go back to your quarters?"

She walked towards him and he found he couldn't tear his
eyes away from her heaving bosoms.

"You will assist me?"

He shook his head to clear it and smiled into her eyes.

"What the heck, why not?"

After all, his erection WAS burgeoning.

---

The End. (Definitely)