by Kalkasar
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"Tom! Wake up!" Harry shook the pilot's arm gently and called his name again. "Tom!"

"Huh?" Tom forced his eyes open and yawned, turning onto his back to stretch, and displaying his body to the eager eyes of his lover in the process.

"Get up, Tom! You're going to be late for your shift!" Harry smiled and got up off the side of the bed, moving into the bathroom to give his hair a last minute tidying up in front of the mirror. He was in full uniform, fresh and neat as a pin.

"What?" Tom sat up."What time is it?"

"Oh-eight-hundred!" Harry replied from the bathroom, "You're on shift in forty-five minutes."

"Oh shit!" Tom scrambled off the bed and made his way into the bathroom."Gods, Har! why didn't you wake me sooner?"

"Well, there's gratitude for you!" Harry snorted as he laid the brush down on the wash basin."Just what have I been trying to do for the last half hour?"

Tom chuckled. "Oh right. . . maybe I should have told you that, sometimes, nothing short of a quantum hand grenade will rouse me."

"Oh there's no need." Harry turned to look at Tom. letting his eyes roam over the lithe, naked body of the pilot. "I found that out."

Tom struck a body builder's pose, flexing his pectoral muscles and staring at Harry with a suggestive grin. "Hey sweet baby, you smell kinda pretty! Wanna. . . smell me?" he leered.

Harry shook his head. "You're weird, Tom. . . you know that?" He walked into the bedroom and fetched his combadge, listening to the indignant mutterings in the bathroom.

"Harry!" Tom called, "Are you seriously going to tell me you've never heard of Johnny Bravo?"

"Johnny. . . what?" Harry finished pinning the badge to his shirt then peered back into the bathroom, Tom was in the shower, splashing water and soap about with the kind of abandon only he could muster.

"Harry, your education has been sadly neglected! I think I need to give you a thorough versing in Terran heros of the 20th century," he said as he scrubbed his hair to a rich lather.

"Sure, Tom." Harry grinned. "I'm late. . . see you on the bridge."

---

The first half of alpha shift passed without event and Tom met Harry in the mess hall for Lunch. Selecting something green, which looked almost edible from Neelix's range of 'delicacies' he carried his tray over to a table and sat down, waiting for the Ensign to join him.

"I see you opted for the purple mess today," he commented as Harry took a seat opposite him. "I guess it looks better than that yellow stuff."

Harry poked the food with his fork. "It's dead, anyway. . . and I have seen that yellow stuff before. . . when one of my aunts brought her new baby to visit."

Choking over a mouthful of his greenery, Tom quickly reached for a glass of water. "Har! this is hard enough without you grossing me out even more!"

"Sorry." Harry pushed the food around on his plate for a moment, then seemed to freeze as his eyes went towards the doors of the mess hall.

Tom followed Harry's gaze and slowly swallowed, forcing the last of the mouth full of green mush down his throat. He watched The First Officer in silence and cast Harry a quick glance, dabbing his lips with his napkin.

For a moment, the mess hall went silent, all eyes slowly turning towards the door, watching the big man as he stood on the threshold. Then, when Chakotay merely nodded to one or two crew members then proceeded to serve himself lunch the quiet buzz of conversation resumed.

"Harry." Tom said softly.

Harry turned to Tom with a small smile. "I'm ok," he said quietly. "At least it's good to see that he's back on his feet."

Tom nodded, making a pretense of continuing his lunch. "True," he said noncommittally.

"Tom, you need to talk to him." Harry said. "So do I, I guess, when it comes right down to it."

"There's nothing to say, Har. I mean. . . he's obviously chosen to forget what happened. . . .besides. . . "

"No, I mean it, Tom. This is all too important for any of us to just let it slide. Tom, you got hurt, bad. . . and so did the Commander, you don't just 'forget' something like that!"

"Harry, I. . . "

"Mind if I join you two?" Chakotay's voice cut into their conversation.

Harry fidgetted and Tom met his eyes for a moment before he cleared his throat and pointed to an empty chair, "Be our guest, sir," he said.

"Thanks." Chakotay set the tray he was carrying down on the table and eased his large frame into the chair Tom indicated.

"So, Commander," Tom began with a glance at Harry, who looked as though he might faint. He poured a glass of water for the ensign and pushed it towards him. "It's good to see you up and around again."

"Really?" Chakotay speared an odd looking vegetable with his fork and put it into his mouth, chewing for a moment before he continued. "I have to admit, I am surprised to hear that from you. Are you all right, Ensign Kim?" He glanced at Harry and lifted one dark eyebrow. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Y-yes, sir." Harry answered in a weak voice, looking anything but all right. "I'm fine."

Tom frowned and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest as he studied Chakotay carefully. "Why don't we cut to the chase, Chakotay?" he asked. "What do you want?"

"Want?" Chakotay fixed Tom with a cold glare, but his voice remained conversational."What makes you think I want anything from you?"

Tom shrugged lightly and returned Chakotay's gaze steadily. "Maybe the fact that this is the first time in at least four months that you have chosen to sit with us for a meal. Maybe the fact that whatever the official reports say, I don't think you've lost your memory for one moment. . . Or maybe the fact that I know where that vid is and you don't, Commander, maybe that's why you're here with the 'lets all be friends and forget the past' facade?"

"Tom. . . " Harry's voice cut in on a cautionary note.

"Let him be, Ensign." Chakotay said coldly. "His mouth would get him in trouble anyway, even if his tongue was cut out, that's what he is best at!"

Tom flinched, the reaction was fleeting, gone almost as quickly as it appeared, but Chakotay was quick to notice it. He smirked and got to his feet, "I didn't come here to trade insults with you, Paris. I think we understand each other. Why don't you give it some thought. Say. . . 24 hours?"

Harry watched as Chakotay walked over to another table and sat down with some of his former Maquis crew members. He frowned and let his breath out on a sigh.

"Well, I would say that went rather well," Tom said smoothly.

"Tom. . . you have to give him that vid. . . ." Harry met Tom's eyes. "He's never going to let it rest until you do!"

Tom stood and picked up his tray. "I'll think about it, Har. . . honest. But it's time I was back on the bridge. You coming?"

Harry nodded and got to his feet, taking his tray to the reclaimer then walking with Tom out of the mess hall. He smiled slightly as they went, thinking how good it was that He and Tom had made a long habit of eating together, at least they could share a meal and come and go from the mess together without attracting the kind of gossip that had happened the few times he'd eaten a meal with Seven.

---

When his shift ended, Tom went back to his quarters after telling Harry he would drop by a little later. Once there he went to a small Cupboard in his living area and retrieved the vid from Siggah. Holding it in his hand for several minutes as he pondered over his next move he then slipped it into his pocket and turned towards the doors.

The computer confirmed that Chakotay could be found in his personal quarters and Tom didn't hesitate. He made his way there and a few minutes later found himself standing at the Executive Officer's door. He pressed the chime and waited.

Chakotay didn't seem too surprised to see Tom. He stood up when the pilot entered and offered him a seat. "Can I get you anything? A drink?" Chakotay was the epitome of the polite host.

"Thanks, but what I have to say wont take long." Tom sat down on the sofa and clasped his hands together, his elbows resting on his thighs as he leaned forward and regarded Chakotay steadily.

"All right." Chakotay sat down and leaned back in his seat. "What's on your mind?"

Tom raised an eyebrow for a second and regarded Chakotay more closely, he had not expected such a polite reception. He leaned back and removed the vid from his pocket. "First of all, this," he said. "It's the original, and I haven't made any copies. If you hadn't made such a big deal out of it, I probably would have given it to you days ago." He held the recording out to Chakotay.

Taking it, Chakotay met Tom's eyes. "You were always a weird bastard," he murmured. "What kind of perverse pleasure do you get out of pissing people off."

Tom shrugged, letting that go by. "You were never the kind of half assed idiot you've been behaving like since you came aboard this ship, either, but I'm not going to try and figure you out." Tom held up his hand. "I am not finished yet, Chakotay. . . there are some things you need to hear, whether you choose to believe them or not is your own business, but I am sick of taking shit from you because you choose to believe the worst."

Chakotay scowled and fell silent, watching the pilot steadily. "OK, go ahead." he said softly.

"Whatever you believe, Chakotay, I want you to know, I was not out there in the badlands with Voyager to help run you down. Oh sure, that's the official reason I was out there, but you must have lost possession of your brain to think that I could turn back to Star Fleet and become their loyal stoolie after what happened to me. . . I had my reasons for being out there, not that they matter now, but bringing you to bay was not one of them!"

"I'd be interested to hear them, helm boy." Chakotay said.

"Too bad, you're not going to. And the other thing. . . I think you need to let your ass go loose, Commander, You need to lighten up and relax. You need to maybe get yourself laid once in a while and you need to lay off beating on the crew. That might have worked in the Maquis, but it is not going to work here. One of these days, someone twice as big and half as 'Fleet' as Harry is gonna have enough of you and they wont do it by half measures!"

Chakotay laughed. "Oh I see. Maybe you, Paris? You know you can't take me, haven't I proved that to you enough times already?"

"Yeah, well, I shoulda expected that." Tom got up and took a step towards the doors. "You have your vid. You got what you wanted, and I would appreciate it now if you will lay off of Harry and I." He stared at Chakotay for several seconds. "You were a good captain, Commander. . . a bloody good captain. . . I hope you will think about what I said," And he turned and walked out of the room without a backwards glance.

---

Harry was waiting for Tom when the pilot arrived at his cabin. He was dressed in a black mesh shirt and dark trousers, he smelled of the cologne he usually wore and his black hair was perhaps a little less rigidly controlled than he wore it on duty. He reached for Tom as the doors closed and shyly brushed his lips against those of the tall blonde.

"Mmmm," Tom murmured against the soft mouth of his lover and returned the kiss gently. "You look and smell great," he said softly, drawing back to gaze into trusting brown eyes. He drew a deep breath. "I have to be about the luckiest pilot in this quadrant tonight." Smiling he gently released his young lover as he asked. "What do you want to do, Har?"

"I thought we might go to Sandrine's for a while," Harry replied. "Maybe shoot a game of pool, and have a drink? I feel like showing you off, and you are the luckiest pilot in the quadrant. . . just like I'm the luckiest Ensign." He smiled into blue eyes that suddenly lit with pride and happiness and shoved Tom in the direction of the bathroom. "I went and got you some clothes, you can shower and change here."

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End