The BLTS Archive - Season V: Juggling Life
by Bridget Cochran (bjcochran@aol.com)

---

(c) 1999

This is number 13 in the Season V Series which included The Way of 
All Flesh, A Friend in Need, A Friend in Deed, Pride's Cloak, The Moon 
is Nothing, Conscious Betrayal, Molded Out of Faults, No Signposts in 
the Sky, Moving Forward, Trust Comes With Effort, Trust Me (10a) and 
Round Two.

---

Tom watched B'Elanna walk down the corridor toward the transporter
room. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, wondering what had
just come over him. Had he really given her a kiss for luck? Out here
in the middle of the corridor?

A frown wrinkling his brow, he turned to head back up to the bridge.
He almost didn't see Chakotay leaning against the bulkhead, affecting
nonchalance. Tom wasn't fooled. He moved very close to Chakotay.

"Ready for your field trip?" Tom asked. It was the first trip off ship
for the commander since his trip into chaotic space. The doctor had
been adamant that Chakotay stay close to home until he could
re-repress the crazy gene the aliens had activated.

He was too close to Chakotay to see his face well, so he ignored the
frown for the moment. A sure hand slipped around the waist of his
lover to rest on the small of his back while pulling him closer.
Chakotay's jaw tightened, that Tom could feel because he was rubbing
his cheek against it. Tom was testing the waters of 'public displays
of affection'.

Heretofore, it had been an unspoken boundary in their life together.
Other than the occasional manly pat on the back, or a surreptitious
pinch on the butt (initiated by Tom, of course), they didn't display
their relationship for the crew.

But Tom wasn't paying attention to any borders, unspoken or physical,
as he pulled Chakotay fully against him. But Chakotay wasn't relaxing.
It made Tom smile, as he moved his lips along the jaw to dip onto the
neck. Chakotay arched into the gently nibbling pilot, letting a sigh
slip out unguarded.

That's more like it, Tom thought and moved back up to Chakotay's jaw.
Tom was probably more surprised once or twice in his life, but it was
a different kind of rush when Chakotay grasped him by the waist. He
found himself bounced off the bulkhead where Chakotay leaned only
seconds ago and the commander was pressed full length against him. In
more ways than one.

His mouth was captured and plundered. Hell, it felt great. Tom
returned the kiss with the fervor of a man in love, letting his tongue
meet the pace Chakotay set, enjoying every moment the muscles warred
for supremacy. He sure didn't care who won, it was the war he enjoyed.

"Ahem," came from behind Chakotay.

The commander reluctantly withdrew his tongue from between Tom's lips.
Tom was even more reluctant about leaving it go and followed for a
nanosecond before letting the smile creep onto his face. It matched
the small tilt of Chakotay's mouth as he turned and faced Neelix and
Tuvok.

Neelix was beaming. He was a man who loved love. Tuvok, on the other
hand, help himself rigidly erect, hands behind back, brow raised.
"Gentlemen, this behavior is best reserved to private quarters and off
duty hours."

Chakotay pulled Tom into his arms for another totally uncharacteristic
peck on the cheek. "Blame it on the Demento Gene. Ready, Neelix?"

Tom and Tuvok watched the men stride toward the transporter room. Tom
turned to Tuvok, a smile lighting his face. "I guess, we're making
progress."

---

Hours later, he was sure he was never letting Chakotay go on another
away mission. There he was stuck on the bridge as the Malon freighter
hovered close to annihilating anything and everything within X number
of light years, while Chakotay was unconscious down in Sick Bay.

Head trauma, that's all the Doc said. Now he was stuck here doing
fucking fancy flying when he wanted to be down in Sick Bay with
Chakotay. Damn it. Concentrate. B'Elanna and Neelix were still over on
that leaking bucket of shit.

---

Tom was exhausted. How he could sit on his ass all day just touching a
keypad and be so tired, he'd never know. Well, maybe it was the
tension. Yeah, that was it. The tension. He dragged himself home on
autopilot.

Replicating a mug of tea, he sank in Chakotay's big chair and pushed
off his shoes. He immediately wrinkled his nose at the aroma wafting
from his feet. It was then that he admitted he had worked hard. He
shrugged out of his uniform jacket.

Nothing a shower wouldn't cure. But for now, he was going to sit back
and enjoy peace and quiet. He took another swig of the tea.

Chakotay shook his shoulder gently, actually massaging him into
wakefulness. He blinked from the sleep fog and looked up into the eyes
of his love. "I was sleeping," he said, never eloquent upon waking.

"You were," Chakotay agreed as he dropped a kiss on his forehead. "Do
you feel up for a shower?"

"I don't know about that." Tom accepted the hand up and into
Chakotay's arms. "But I bet I can get it up in the shower." His hands
immediately traveled to the firm, but not too firm, buttocks of the
commander.

"No surprises there, punk," Chakotay encircled Tom into a bear hug. "I
don't like the water too hot."

Tom was suffocating in his grasp. "I know," he croaked, "we can save
the sex for afterwards."

"Maybe." Chakotay let him go with a little shove. "Get naked."

Tom sighed as he pulled off his turtleneck. "You say the most romantic
things."

But Chakotay was already in the bedroom. "Bring your shoes with you,"
he said from the other room.

"Romantic bastard," Tom said, complying.

"I heard that."

---

Chakotay lay there very nearly crazy. That was nothing new. He was
splayed on the bed, barely alive, his body twitching like his last
nerves were dying. They weren't though. It was with every effort that
he moved his head in Tom's direction.

Pink skin glowed in the iridescence of reflected bathroom lighting.
Chakotay breathed deeply of sweat, semen and Tom. Shit. If he filled
his lungs full, he'd want to smell more. He couldn't get enough of it.
Couldn't get enough of Tom.

Okay. He could get enough of him. The paces Tom had just set him
through would take care of his primal urges for more than a few hours.
But he reached for the man lying beside him anyway, dragging him
closer.

Tom wasn't coming willingly, digging himself into the mattress.
"Chakotay, I stink."

Which would never bother the older man. "You do." He took another deep
breath as he pulled Tom into his hips, resting his arm loosely around
Tom's waist, his mouth on the back of the neck still damp with
perspiration. "Thanks for the roll."

Tom snorted. "Thanks for the roll? Gods, romance, thy name is
Chakotay." He eased back into Chakotay's limp lap. After a minute, he
said, "You're welcome."

Chakotay gave Tom a sharp hug. This man was the best thing that ever
happened to him, and sometimes Chakotay was afraid. The two were too
testy, too scarred by past failures, to completely relax.

Pitiful. "So, did you miss me when I was gone?"

Tom eased back onto Chakotay's chest. "Missed doesn't cover it. When
B'Elanna called for your transport, I wanted to puke. And I couldn't
get to Sick Bay. Other times Captain Hook is forcing me down there."
Tom's sigh nearly shook the bed. He turned and grabbed Chakotay up in
his arms, pulling him on top as he moved to his back. "But this time,
I have to be riot control on the bridge. It sucked, Chakotay. Big
time."

Savoring the weight and warmth, Tom let his hands glide up the moist
back, then back down again. The weight reassured him. The slide of
legs, the shift of his torso were evidence that Tom wasn't alone on
Voyager, in life. "If you didn't weigh so much, I'd let you stay here
forever," Tom sighed into Chakotay's ear.

"I'll go on a diet tomorrow."

Tom smiled at the dryness in the humor, but he also swallowed,
stiffening a little under the weight. Chakotay knew he rarely spoke
his feelings directly to Tom. Oh, yeah, the odd declaration when
absolutely necessary. But it was times like this, when he used off
hand remarks to tell the real feelings he couldn't verbalize easily
that he knew Tom understood. Tom was needed the words as well as the
actions; that was something Chakotay was just beginning to understand.
Funny how important understanding became when you really wanted to
make something work.

They lay in comfortable silence for a while. Chakotay was comfortable,
anyway. Tom hadn't pushed him off yet, so he stayed on his full length
cushion.

"Is B'Elanna gonna be alright?" Tom asked.

A frown crossed the dark brow. If Tom was a touch telepath, he might
have seen that coming. "I guess."

"Do you think her meeting with Tuvok is such a good idea?"

Chakotay's frown deepened. "She needs to control her anger."

"She's a Klingon, Chakotay. She shouldn't be controlling her anger,
she needs to be channeling it."

"Channeling?" Chakotay leaned up on forearms to fully see Tom's face.

"She needs to beat the tar out of something."

"She needs to learn meditation, to deconstruct the anger."

Chakotay could see Tom warring with what he wanted to say, and
awareness of his physical position in this conversation. For moments,
they stared, tension thick. "She's not a Vulcan, and she's not wholly
human. Klingon is a very dominant species." Tom's voice was quiet as
he stated obvious facts.

Smart man. Chakotay lay his head down on Tom's chest, knowing he'd
have to roll off of him soon to get to sleep. "Maybe she'd like to
spar with me on the holodeck." He felt the lips on the top of his
head.

"Maybe she would." Tom gently rolled Chakotay off of him, bringing the
man back to sit on his own lap. "She'd like to get a piece of you."

"Who wouldn't?"

"You shit."

"Night, punk."

---

The End