Title: The Arena
By: YS McCool
Pairing: Harry/Chakotay/Paris & Tom/B'Elanna
Fandom: Star Trek Voyager
Rating: NC-17
Warning: light D/S
Disclaimer: The characters and the starship are the property of Paramount and no copyright infringement is intended. Original characters are the sole property of the author.
Summary: Voyager and her crew find an abandoned world that offers them just what they need, but at what price?

***

~~~~~ Interlude ~~~~~

Tom purred as Chakotay and Harry massaged his body. Harry was rubbing Tom's feet, while Chakotay worked the tension out of his shoulders.

The ship had been on alert for the last four days as they passed the debris from a massive interstellar war. Voyager had been scavenging badly needed materials as they made their way through.

Navigating through the vast areas of destroyed ships, mine fields, and other hazards had left Tom somewhat frazzled and in need of his lovers' sweet attention. Lovers. The word still seemed strange to his mind. In his heart, he knew that Harry would have *never* betrayed Chakotay with Tom if it had not been for that strange and magical alien device that had shaved over a year from their journey and briefly stolen Harry's inhibitions.

Perhaps that was why he still had a hard time accepting that he was welcome in their bed. Their bed. He was in *their* bed. Four weeks later and he still thought of it as their bed. //Are you here for the sex, or are you here for the long haul, Thomas Eugene Paris?// He didn't know. He loved Harry and he respected Chakotay, but did he want to belong to them from now on? At four weeks, this had already lasted longer than eighty percent of his relationships.

He had found ecstasy in their bed, but could he find contentment there also?

Chakotay moved down to Tom's back. "How's this?"

"Excellent," Tom said. "Harry has taught you well." Tom opened his eyes and admired Chakotay's stomach. "Who taught you Harry?"

"When I was seventeen I was studying clarinet privately with a Master. His daughter... desired me."

"I can believe that," Tom said.

"She taught me massage, aroma therapy, vocal soundings--"

"What's vocal soundings?" Tom asked.

Chakotay snickered. "You might not have the strength for that."

"What's vocal soundings, Harry?" Tom repeated.

"It's a way for increasing the duration of your orgasms by vocalizing. The movement of the diaphragm influences the lower muscles of the abdomen which affect your orgasm. More so for women, but the technique can be adapted for men."

"I'm in. Anything that increases the power of my orgasm is a good thing."

"Tom, Chakotay is right. You're not ready. I have no intention of rushing your training."

"Not ready or not good enough?" Tom asked bitterly.

"Don't be a brat, Tom," Harry warned.

"How long did Chakotay have to wait?" Tom's voice was surly.

"This is not about Chakotay," Harry said.

"How long?" Tom repeated.

"Five months," Chakotay said. "Five months and two weeks."

"Chakotay, when Tom is being a brat, do not indulge him," Harry said firmly.

"I suppose the massage is over, and I can go back to my quarters?" Tom asked.

"Is that the way things went before? Step over the line and some privilege is taken away?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Tom said evenly. "Perfection in all things. Only the best for a Paris."

"Striving for the best is always a worthy goal, Tom. But perfection is an impossibility for us *mere* mortals." Harry petted Tom's bottom. "You were promised a massage, and you'll get one." He leaned over to whisper into the taller man's ear. "You'll have to do something much worse than this to be sent away. Much worse."

"I was perfect once," Chakotay announced proudly.

"Oh?" Harry inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"No, it's true. I was perfect. Everyone agreed. Then I drew my second breath and started bawling." He made a declining motion with his hand. "It's been downhill even since, but I have hopes." Chakotay received a tickling from Harry and Tom until he begged for and received mercy.

Tom was re-centered on the bed, and his massage continued. Harry uncapped one of his specially formulated body oils.

"Harry, that smells wonderful. What's in it?" Tom asked as the oil was applied to his stomach.

"Jojoba oil with essential oils of sandalwood, patchouli, jasmine, rose petals, oil of musk, and oil of vetivert." Harry and Chakotay worked the oil up the lieutenant's chest and shoulders.

"What was in the one you used last week?" Tom asked

"Which one?" Chakotay asked the purring man.

"The one you put in my bath. Ohhhh, that's so good." Tom shifted under their hands.

"Jojoba oil with essential oil of jasmine. You can also make it with chamoille, clary sage, marjoram, sandalwood, geranium, or ylang-ylang. But, jasmine was what I had available at the time," Harry said.

"Who taught you how to make your own oils?" Tom asked.

"Chakotay. We grow our own ingredients and save on replicator rations."

Tom was silent as the two men worked on his face. "I'm sorry," he whispered when they moved up to his scalp.

"Tom, you don't have to test us," Harry said as he carded his fingers through the taller man's hair.

"I'm always testing people," Tom confessed.

"How did we do?" Chakotay asked.

"You haven't failed me yet. But..."

"But?" Harry inquired.

"I'm still getting used to all this," Tom said.

"Now that the blush is off the 'let's try this position' phase?" Harry asked.

"You will get right to heart of a situation behind closed doors. It puts me off my stride," Tom complained.

"Get used to it," Chakotay said. "This is Harry uncensored."

"Ensign Petrie is still waiting on that spanking he promised." Tom smirked.

Harry wiggled his brows. "Next to B'Elanna, she has the nicest ass on the ship."

"B'Elanna," Tom whispered. "That's a lot of woman."

"Still have a thing for her?" Chakotay asked.

Tom hesitated before speaking. "It's a waste of my time and energy, but she and my hand have kept me entertained on many a lonely night."

Harry placed a lick across the head of Tom's erection. "Have you ever told her how you feel about her?"

"Of course not. Can't you see that my neck is still intact?"

"B'Elanna would never hurt you for saying that you care for her," Chakotay said.

"She wouldn't hurt you, you mean," Tom said.

Harry climbed on top of the handsome red haired pilot and rubbed their cocks against each other. "Tom Paris, you are a gorgeous man with a gorgeous soul. Anyone, and I mean *anyone* would be lucky to earn your love." He leaned over and kissed the taller man.

Tom melted into the kiss. Why couldn't he have come to Harry long before Harry decided on Chakotay? Why had he waited? If he had only made his move earlier, then Harry would be his, and Chakotay would still be lusting after the captain. Wouldn't he? Or would Tom be empty handed, and have a shattered friendship with Harry? Gorgeous soul? //But not gorgeous enough for Harry to come to me first.//

Those thoughts left his mind as Harry moved against him. "Harry, Harry, oh, Harry."

"Hmmmm," the younger man said as he kept their bodies moving in concert.

"Ohhhhhh, please, please, please," Tom chanted.

"He's talking too much, Chakotay," Harry complained.

Tom arched his head back and accepted the commander's cock into his mouth. Chakotay gently stroked in and out of Tom's mouth. "Tom, oh, Tom."

"All senior staff report to the bridge," Captain Janeway called.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh," the men screamed in unison. Hurriedly, they disengaged and dressed.

~~~~~ Welcome ~~~~~

Tom was having a hard time getting his uniform over his oil slicked body, not to mention his still rampant erection. Smelling like an exotic bouquet and nearly dizzy from the loss of blood going to his cock, he stumbled onto the bridge.

Tuvok stared and sniffed as Tom passed him. B'Elanna bit her lower lip and smoldered at him. Petrie sucked her finger and smiled at him. Even Captain "Cold as Ice" Janeway, looked like she was about to eat him alive. //What's going on?//

"I relieve you," he said to Ensign Macavoy. Instead of leaving, Ron leaned over Tom, and updated him on their current situation.

"You smell wonderful, Tom," Ron said.

"Thanks, Ron. It's a massage oil."

"What did you do to your hair?"

Tom touched his hair and realized that it was slick with oil from his scalp massage. "I was getting a scalp massage." Tom wondered about his appearance. He should have taken more time to make himself presentable, but the moment his relationship with Harry and Chakotay started to interfere with his ability to perform his duty, Janeway would step in. She would have no choice. With that thought, his erection deflated, and he lost his appeal to Macavoy.

Presently, the ship was at a full stop, which was bad, in front of a vast amount of drone sentry ships, which made things worse, that were randomly firing ionized pulses that could easily damaged Voyager, if not destroy it outright, which was... you get the picture.

"Tuvok, is there any pattern to the firing?" Janeway asked.

"None that I can detect," Tuvok reported.

Tom knew that if Tuvok didn't see a pattern, then there wasn't one. He study the "fence" that ships formed.

"Captain, there are several large gaps in the grid that Voyager can easily fit through," Paris reported.

"Move us toward one of those holes, Lieutenant," Janeway ordered.

"Captain," Kim called. "The drone ships are moving toward us at one-quarter Impulse."

"Tom, increase speed to one-half impulse."

"They are increasing to one-half Impulse," Harry reported.

"Red Alert!. Tom, increase speed to three-quarters Impulse," Janeway ordered.

"We've been targeted!" Harry reported

"Evasive pattern Paris-8," Tom called. "Hang on!"

"Paris eight?" Chakotay and Janeway asked in unison.

Tom barrel-rolled Voyager, and threaded his way through the ships that threatened to surround them with incredible agility. The drone ships fired volley after volley as Voyager passed, most shots hitting other drone ships.

"Shields holding," Harry called as he desperately clung to his console.

Then the firing stopped.

"Report!" Janeway called as she got off the floor. "Paris 8," she mumbled as she straightened her uniform.

"The remaining ships are returning to their original positions," Tuvok said. "Curious."

"To say the least," Chakotay said as he returned to his chair. "All stations report," he said into his chair's console.

"Captain, I'm receiving a transmission," Harry reported.

"On screen," Janeway said.

A holographic being appeared on the bridge. It was just over a meter tall, round, with three legs and four arms. It's outer flesh was a translucent shade of lavender with a vast amount of veins that could be seen beneath the surface. The being had no discernable mouth, or any orifice for that matter, but the universal translator was picking something up.

"Welcome... welllllcoooome." It held out three glowing rocks. "< crackle > < hiss > < pop >< spark >< hiss >"

"Can you clean that up Mr. Kim?" Chakotay asked.

"The distortion is on their end," Harry reported.

"There are a string of numbers coming through now," Tuvok . "They appear to be coordinates."

"There are significant gaps and white noise in the communication," Harry reported.

The holograph image disappeared.

"Mr. Kim?" Janeway inquired.

"Transmission ended from their side, Captain."

"Captain, a small container of nueadracite 452 has appeared 400 kilometers off our starboard bow," Paris reported.

"B'Elanna, scan the container. Are there any signs of a booby tray?" Chakotay asked.

"None, Commander."

"That's some welcome," Janeway said. "Beam the container to cargo bay one."

"Transport complete," Torres announced after a few seconds.

"Captain, a second object has appeared in the exact location that the nueadracite was beamed from." Harry tapped on his console. "It's repeating that same string of numbers, but with fewer gaps and white noise. It's seems to be a navigational beacon."

"See if you can clean up that signal. I want those coordinates."

"Yes, Captain," Harry said as he began to work on the signal. A few minutes of work produced a solid coordinate stream and a map, which Harry placed on the screen. "Long range scans indicate a partially shielded class M planet 3.02 light years away."

"Mr. Paris, lay in a course. It looks like we've been invited to visit."

~~~~~ An Open Hand ~~~~~

Harry was getting mineral composition reports from his preliminary scans that had him scratching his head. The odds of finding so many minerals needed for extended space travel on one planet were so small that even Tuvok had needed the computer to calculate it.

Then he found the city. It covered an area of over 10 million square kilometers. There were no other cities on the entire planet. The three satellite moons had abundant cities and towns, and like the single city on the planet, they were dead-- destroyed by orbital bombardment.

So far they had more questions than answers. The only thing they knew for sure when he was relieved at the end of shit was that the city had been destroyed over 1000 years ago.

Tom was eager to get off the bridge. Geo-synchronous orbit required little of his skills and less of his attention. Also there was the fact that only Tuvok had managed to restrain himself from coming over to the helm and having a deep sniff of him.

When he got on the turbolift, B'Elanna joined him.

"Tom, what is that scent you're wearing?"

"It's one of Harry's special massage concoctions. I didn't have the chance to clean it off."

B'Elanna pinned Tom to the wall and sniffed him from neck to crotch. "Hmmm, it's got to be more than the oil, Tom. Much more." She growled low in her throat.

Tom squished himself to the wall. "B'Elanna, do you know what you're doing?" She sniffed her way back up. She gazed at him with dilated pupils. "It's driving me crazy."

Tom smiled nervously. "How crazy?"

She kissed him brusingly hard. Tom dug his fingers into her hair and returned the kiss. They melted together. When the turbolift doors opened she pulled him along the corridor to her quarters. When he was unable to keep up with her Klingon pace, she carried him.

Tom had ample opportunities to escape. He could have said no. He could have yelled for help. Instead, he ended up in B'Elanna's quarters without so much as a whimper of protest.

She was tender with him. Undressing him slowly and placing only the lightest of nips on his flesh as his body was revealed. Her own clothes were not so gently removed. "Smell good, taste good," she said after she released the bit of flesh she was sucking.

"B'Elanna," Tom whispered. "Please," he begged as he wiggled underneath her. She worked her way down to his cock and took him deep into her throat. "Yes," he hissed as he thrust himself in and out of her mouth. He was getting so close, so deliciously close. Then she pulled away.

"Tom," she growled. "QaparHa'. I love you."

Tom had barely enough time to register the fact that B'Elanna had stopped sucking his cock before she was sliding down it. She was tight, she was hot, she was wet, and she was milking his cock with her incredible muscles.

He rolled her over onto her back and took control. She clawed, bit, and scratched as she came again and again under him. Tom bit B'Elanna's shoulder as he came inside her.

B'Elanna rolled Tom onto his side and stroked his face with her fingertips. "Did I hurt you?"

"Nothing permanent." His kissed her fingers. "What brought that on?"

"Your smell. Even now I can barely think." She rubbed her palms across his nipples. She nuzzled his throat. "Can't think. Don't.... want... to ... thinks" she said as she nipped his shoulder. "Should I stop?"

"No, don't stop," Tom urged. He would thought that having that powerful an orgasm would have drained him, but his body was responding to B'Elanna's touch. "Don't ever stop."

~~~~~~~~ Too Good to be True ~~~~~~~~~

Tom had a major problem, beyond the bruises on his shoulders, back, and cheek. He needed to get to Sick Bay before his duty shift began to take care of his wounds.

"Well, Mr. Paris. I see that congratulations are in order," the doctor remarked as he tended Tom's wounds.

"Thanks," Tom said absently.

"I had no idea that you and Lt. Torres were so close."

"It just suddenly heated up." Tom winced as the doctor closed the wound on his cheek.

"Klingons claiming their mates are usually a lot rougher."

"She took it easy on me," Tom said as he sat up.

Tom could not claim ignorance. He knew what B'Elanna was doing LONG before it had gotten to the point where he was bitten. The truth was he wanted it. He had wanted to be claimed, and presented to the rest of the ship not as a second choice, but as a first choice-- something that Harry could not offer him.

He cared deeply for B'Elanna, and with her, he would be the only one. No matter how well he was treated by Chakotay and Harry, he was not the center of attention for them. That was he wanted, and what he needed.

Now he had to tell them.

Tom arrived at the briefing ahead of Chakotay and Harry. He watched to the two men banter with Neelix before taking their seats.

"We missed you last night, Tom," Harry said.

"He was with me," Torres announced as she took the chair beside Tom.

Harry arched his eyebrow. "I see." There was no further conversation as Janeway started the briefing.

The planet that they were currently orbiting had a vast supply of vital minerals located in area 500 klicks to the south of the lone city. There were random sightings of organized power signatures from the city that indicated that at least part of their technology still worked.

The city represented such a find that Star Fleet would have dedicated years and vast resources to its study. But Tom saw that as a job for the local talent. Thankfully, so did Janeway.

They were split into teams and beamed to the surface. Tom chased phantom readings for almost an hour before he found a true storage site. Harry was already there.

Harry looked up from his labors to find Tom staring at him. Now was not the time for Harry to hear the other man's confessions. They were on the clock, as it were, and Janeway expected results. //Take good care of Tom, B'Elanna, or you'll answer to me.//

"Tom, good, I can use a hand." Harry waved him over. "The refined ore is right under here." He pointed to the square he had drawn into the hard earth with his phaser. Beside it was exposed machinery that Harry was worrying with a metal bar. "It was obviously meant to pop up, but the mechanism is frozen. The panel that is covering the ore is keeping the transporter from locking onto it." The two men worked silently as they forced the platform up. The panel slid back, just as Harry predicted, and the ore was exposed. "Voyager, as soon as the ore is clear beam it up. I have no idea how long this platform will stay in place."

"Understood," Torres called back.

When the ore reached its apex, it was automatically beamed up to the ship. As soon as it was gone, a shimmery dome with wide gaps tried again and again to form over the area. A rattling voice made a gibberish announcement.

"Voyager, emergency beam out!" Harry called. One by one, Voyager was able to snatch up the crew. Tom, Harry, and Chakotay were the last ones waiting for beam out when Harry lost consciousness.

He was cold, he was lying on a stone surface, he hurt, and he was alive-- those were the highlights so far. The place was so dimly lit that Harry could barely see his grimy hand in front of his dirty face.

The first bit of warmth he felt as he moved around his new and unwelcomed environment turned out to be an unconscious Chakotay. "Chakotay! Come on, Commander, wake up." He gently shook his lover.

Chakotay groaned and rolled toward Harry. "Ow, my teeth ache." He sat up. "Chakotay to Voyager. Voyager, come in." A static-laden hiss greeted him. "Great."

"Tom? Tom are you here?" A muffled groan came from about two meters to Harry's left. "Tom?" Another groan. "One more time, Tom, I've almost found you." Harry's hand encountered Tom.

"Harry, what happened?" Tom asked as he let the younger man check him over.

"I don't know, but I'm *sure* that I won't like the answer when I find out."

"Weeellllllcome to The CONTEST," a screechy voice intoned. A holographic being appeared before them.

"Short and ugly is back," Tom said.

"It's a different short and ugly," Chakotay said as he got to his feet.

"By accepting our gift < screech > < crackle > < crackle > < hiss >. Medical needs < crackle > < hiss >." Three packs formed at their feet, two more packs partially formed then turned to dust.

"I don't like this at all," Tom said as he pulled one of the packs to him. He rummaged through the contents as the hologram continued to crackle and hiss at them.

"Anything we can use?" Chakotay asked.

Tom ran his tricorder over some of the containers. "The food is poisonous. The water contains heavy minerals. The med kits should only be used if we are in the mood for a slow painful death, or indeed," he held up a medical instrument. "A quick painful death."

"Maybe I can scavenge some of the components to clear up our signal with Voyager," Harry suggested.

"Choose the path, may your gods guide you in the gaaaaaamesssssss!" the hologram proclaimed.

"I told you I wouldn't like it when I found out what was going on," Harry said as he removed the tainted food and emptied the poisonous water from all three packs.

"Put the food back in the packs, we might need them," Chakotay ordered.

"They're poisonous," Tom said.

"I know, but we might cross across some animals here, and we could use the food to distract them. The water is just weight, but keep the containers in case we find usable water." Sixteen separate doors opened. Most had faint light in the corridors beyond them, but some were blindingly bright. "I always preferred the stories where you only had three doors to choose from," the commander said as he pondered their choices.

"I think we're better off in the corridor with the best lighting," Kim suggested.

Tom stepped closer to the far wall and examined the corridor with his tricorder. Simultaneously, all the doors started closing as the ceiling started lowering.

"Not this one, the air is bad!" Tom shouted.

Frantically, the three men began scanning all the corridors. With a mere half-meter gap between the top of their heads and the ceiling, the three crew members plunged through their chosen door.

~~~~ Let the Games Begin ~~~~

Above their heads, a fuzzy map with strange symbols and a single, glowing and crooked blue line appeared. Harry quickly recorded the map with his tricorder.

"I drew better maps when I was a kid," Tom said. "Huge parts are missing, there is no explanation of the symbols on it, and nothing to indicate scale."

"If nothing else, it'll provide clues." Harry closed his tricorder, adjusted his pack, and briefly touched his phaser. At least it was still there.

The three men headed down the corridor. The walls were a dull gray and seamless. Harry allowed the other two men to lead and scout while he busied himself with taking apart one of the medical kits. It was sophisticated, and pretty much incompatible with Federation technology. It did, however, remind him of Tholian technology, which he had studied in the academy. At least, it gave him a reference point.

Harry bumped into Tom and dropped two of his components. When he bent down to pick them up, a huge scythe whizzed across where his neck would have been.

"Get down," Chakotay shouted. Three men rolled in different directions. Metal blades swung wildly from the ceiling and walls. "They're trying to separate us!"

"And they're doing a good job," Tom mumbled as he crawled along the floor. "Harry, lower that fine butt of yours before you get it sliced off."

"I'm trying. I just wish my ass was as flat as yours," Harry complained.

"That's enough, Ensign," Chakotay said as he crept along the floor.

Four agonizing minutes later they had moved out of the flying blades area.

"Sorry, Tom," Harry said as he got to his feet.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," Tom said.

Harry knew why he was angry-- it was just dumb luck that he was alive. One of those coincidence things. If he hadn't bumped into Tom and dropped those components, he wouldn't have bent down, and he would have been decapitated. Gone, just like that. Twenty-four and dead.

He pushed those thoughts away and surveyed his gear. Despite all the flying blades, he had only one cut on his backpack on one of the shoulder straps. He knotted the strap to keep it from breaking. No one else had suffered any damage, a fact for which he was very grateful.

They continued down the corridor with Chakotay in the lead.

Chakotay was trying to estimate how far they had come in their six hours of walking when he saw some sort of staging area ahead of them. Just in front of the area was a dark red force wall surrounding a solid black door .

The door was decorated with symbols. He picked up a small rock and lobbed it at the wall. The object was consumed and a spike of fire shot out like lava from where the rock had impacted.

The door itself was solid, cool to the touch, and the symbols decorated slight impressions in the material of the door.

"It looks like a puzzle," Chakotay announced. He looked for a common theme among the symbols and noticed the wavy lines that were sometimes bold and obvious and other times well hidden in the design.

Tom came up and stood to his left; Harry on his right. He went back to studying the tiles. He wanted to get them out of here as soon as possible. It was cold, he was hungry, and thirst was becoming a factor. The pattern was there, but which direction did it go. "Largest to smallest or smallest to largest? What do you think, up or down?" he asked

"Up," Tom and Harry said in unison.

Chakotay pressed the panels in sequence-- smallest to largest. The door opened and they went through.

"Blessings on < crackle >< hiss >," a disembodied voice said. A symbol lit up on the wall. Underneath the symbol, metal bars appeared.

Tom scanned the bars. "It's Yhathium-442." He placed the bars in his backpack. "When we get back, Engineering will be dancing in the corridors."

"That symbol is on the map," Harry announced as removed his tricorder from his belt. "So we've come this far."

"That's not very far," Tom said.

Chakotay agreed. They had walked six hours and had barely moved on the map. At this pace they would have dehydrated long before they came to the end of the indicated path. He needed to find his men water and food.

He watched Harry sit down and continue his work with the communication booster he had been working on since they had started down the corridor. He had every confidence in his lover. Short of B'Elanna, there was no one he would rather have working on their current predicament.

Harry worked quietly for almost an hour before began reassembling his device.

"Harry, what is the first thing you're going to do when you get back on the ship?" Tom asked.

"I'm going on a picnic on the shores of Crystal Lake, watch the sunset, then spend the night in one of the cabins." Harry paused as he gingerly connected a tiny panel. "What about you?"

"I'm going to replicate some knee pads so I can beg you for some of your massage oil."

"Let's see some of your begging technique," Chakotay said. "I might pick up a few pointers."

Tom went down on his knees and gave Chakotay the sorrowful eyes of a lost puppy that was shivering outside in the snow. The commander was ready to give the man what he wanted and he hadn't said a word.

Tom quivered his lip. "Please?" he said. "Please, may I have a precious few drops of your oil?"

"It needs something more," Harry critiqued. "What would you do with the oil that would make me want to part with it?"

"He's a tough audience," Chakotay said to Tom. "I was ready to cave in to you."

"I would use the oil to pleasure myself," Tom said seductively.

"Describe it to me," Harry demanded. "Would you have an audience, or would you be alone?"

"I'd have an audience. They would be close enough to see everything, but not close enough to touch me."

"Torture," Chakotay said. "Tom nude and just out of reach."

"Are you standing, kneeling, or lying down?" Harry asked.

"I start out standing. Just long enough to undress. I fold each item of clothing like you have taught me. Everything is stacked neatly so that I can dress in reverse order."

"You have been paying attention," Chakotay said admiringly.

"Now what?" Harry asked just before a burst of static came from his comm badge. He frowned and went back to work on the device. "Go on, you've stacked your clothes."

"I request a small pool of light to be placed on me, so that I'm the center of attention."

"You don't need fancy lighting for that," Chakotay said.

Tom smiled. "Thanks, Chakotay." Tom reached out with his fingers and touched the older man's lips. Chakotay kissed them. "Now I kneel, waiting several minutes before I even move. I want my audience to drink me in. "

"Slurp," Chakotay said.

Tom grinned. "Now I touch myself, taking long unhurried strokes along my skin, just using my fingertips. I want my audience to be centered on my skin, not just an particular body part."

"You're definitely more than a collection of sexy parts," Harry said.

"Now, I open the oil and pour a generous amount in my hands. I let it pour down my arms, dribble across my chest, and pool on my stomach."

"It's finally starting to get warm in here," Chakotay said as he flapped his jacket. "Don't stop now."

"I rub myself. No, that's wrong, I *love* myself before my audience." Tom lowered his head, seemingly lost in his thoughts. "I start at my lips, outlining them, before moving onto the rest of my face. Every move I make is to show what I like... what I need."

"What do you show them?" Harry asked.

"I show them every erogenous zone, some that I didn't know existed. Not just my nipples but the undercurve of my pecs and my ribs."

"Are you silent?" Harry asked.

"No, my every sigh is a clue for them to learn my body."

"What do you show them?" Chakotay asked.

"I drag my nails across my stomach. I tease my navel. I stroke the small of my back. Then... I like on my side and tease my ass."

"It's *definitely* getting warmer," Chakotay noted.

"I let them know what their hands could be doing to me. When I reach the point where I know that I *must* cum, I finally touch my cock. Stroking myself, calling their name, pumping my hips.... cumming, and finally rolling onto my back with a final whisper of satisfaction."

The three men sat in a silence that was only ocassionally broken by high pitched whines from Harry's experiment in communications.

"Why didn't you ever do that for us?" Harry asked.

"I didn't know that I could."

"You could have. We would have both enjoyed sharing that moment of intimacy with you," Chakotay said softly.

Tom said nothing for a long while. Chakotay could imagine all the things going through the pilot's beautiful head. If never felt comfortable enough to share such a powerful fantasy with Chakotay and Harry, then the relationship had been living on borrowed time. Perhaps, he had thought that if he waited, Harry would leave Chakotay for him. The commander couldn't blame him for that fantasy, he would have felt the same way if he had joined the two of them.

"Can I have the oil?" Tom asked.

"Yes, Tom," Harry said. "I promise a large bottle when we get back to the ship."

'When, not if,' Chakotay thought. He could always count on his young lover's 'never say die' attitude.

Harry suddenly had a huge grin. "I think I got it. Kim to Voyager."

"Voyager here," Tuvok said. "Are the three of you together."

Chakotay smiled. Harry had come through for them.

****************************************

Janeway toyed with her meal. For once, she couldn't blame her lack of appetite on Neelix's cooking. She was worried about her three missing men.

"Bridge to Captain Janeway," Tuvok called.

"Janeway here."

"We have a tight beam communication with the missing away team."

"Wonderful. Janeway to away team."

"Captain, Commander Chakotay here. We've seemed to have entered into some contest. We've made it out the first stage and we were rewards with three bars of Yhathium-442."

"I would rather have the three of you back, than have a ton of Yhathium-442."

"Thank you, Captain," Chakotay said.

"Janeway to Torres."

"Torres, here."

"Any chance of beaming them up?"

"No, Captain. I can't get a lock on them but I have them located as being over 1500 meters underground. I'm working on it."

"Keep working on it."

"Aye, Captain."

"Chakotay, I want you to keep this channel open. Hopefully, we'll be beaming you out of there fairly soon."

"We'd like that very much, Captain."

"Do you have any idea how you got there?"

"I believe that the hologram that we saw in the initial staging area was trying to tell up that by taking the ores from the surface they we had agreed to participate in this contest where victory is probably more ores and defeat is... death."

"Joy," Janeway muttered.

"That pretty much sums up our take on the situation." Chakotay looked at his crew. Harry was scrounging parts from the machinery in the wall while Tom scanned the weeds that were growing in the cracks on the other wall. He moved over to Tom. "Anything we can use, Lieutenant?"

"This one," Tom held up a weed with dark green leaves and purplish roots, "is the only one we could eat. The water in the root system is digestible and the stem and leaves are nutritious."

"But?" Chakotay prompted.

"It tastes pretty bad."

"How bad?"

"Neelix wouldn't try to push it on us."

"That's bad. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to be picky. We have no food or water. This weed might be the difference between survival and death. Pick all that you can. What are you calling it?"

"I've decided to log it as 'Chakotay's bitter root'. No aspersions cast on your own most delicious root, Chakotay." Tom gave the Commander his most winning smile, which promptly vanished with the Commander's next statement.

"Lt. Paris, we are on an open channel." Chakotay lowered his head and fought the laughter, with limited success.

Tom made the motion of thumping his head on the wall, followed by the ritual removal of his tongue. Chakotay pouted, pointed to his cock, and quivered his chin. Tom sputtered, then covered his mouth. "I'll get right on this, Commander," he said after regaining his composure.

Chakotay rarely got the better of Tom and was thoroughly enjoying seeing the younger man so embarrassed. He walked over to check on Harry's progress.

"Any luck with those components, Ensign?" He hoped that his formal tone would curtail Harry's sense of humor.

"I've made a portable heater and a cutter."

"Excellent, Ensign." He looked over at Tom, who was mumbling to himself. "Help Paris collect the last of the weeds."

Harry made a disgusted face. "Aye, Commander."

The three of them sat down and ate the weeds. Chakotay only managed not to gag because he was in command, and his men were counting on him to get them out of this. Full, or at least everyone declared themselves to be full, and miserable, they sat out to reach the next stage.

The limited range of Harry's jury-rigged heater meant that the three of them had to stay in close physical contact to keep warm as they made their way through the cold drafty corridor.

Chakotay noted that there were several sections in the walls where danger had obviously lurked before the place began to deteriorate. There were more and more remains brushed to the walls. Only a few were of species they had encountered since entering the Delta quadrant.

The bodies had been there so long that any edible food that they had in their packs was only of interest in archeological sense.

As they reached the area designated by a red block on the map, they discovered that here the walls no longer reached the ceiling. The walls ended just a little over their heads.

"We should boost someone up and see what's going on around us," Chakotay said.

"Harry's the lightest," Tom said.

"Toms's the tallest."

"What am I-- short and fat?" Chakotay asked,

"Open channel," Harry mouthed. "Commander, Tom is the tallest."

"And if I fall on my head, it won't be such a loss."

Harry smacked Tom's bottom. The strike sounded like a shot in the corridor.

"Commander, what was that?" Janeway asked.

"A ... nothing, Captain. Sounds are somewhat distorted in the corridor." Chakotay glared at Harry, who shrugged.

Tom was boosted up onto the wall, where he was just barely able to stand up without hitting his head. As far as he could see in either direction was similar corridors. All were littered with corpses. Tom swallowed hard when he recognized Borg corpses.

"Lt. Paris, report!" Chakotay commanded.

"More corridors like this one. Most of them are choked with corpses. There is one which is six over to the right that has ... nine Borg corpses in it." Tom got down off the wall with Harry and Chakotay's help. "All the corpses seemed to have died a violent death. Heads missing, limbs hacked, bodies pierced. We're in the midst of some vast graveyard. We are screwed."

"Lieutenant! That is not the attitude to carry on this mission."

"What kind of chance do three humans stand against something that could take out nine Borg?"

Harry put his arm around the taller man's shoulders. "Tom, you're not thinking clearly. There's too little oxygen in this section, and you're thirsty and tired." Harry stroked the taller man's face. "We have a much better chance than they ever thought about having. The systems running the hazards is deteriorating. We have passed several sections where were should have been in peril, but the machines stood impotent. Tom, we're going to make it. We have each other, and, if I do say so myself, we're a pretty hard combination to beat."

Tom hung his head. How could he have betrayed Harry? The man was caring personified. If Tom could have been Harry's alone, then even B'Elanna wouldn't have had a chance with him, no matter how much he loved the woman.

He couldn't come up with something to say, especially with an open comm-link waiting for him to embarrass himself again.

They moved on.

Tom passed the time not thinking about how cold he was, followed by not thinking how tired he was, moved onto not thinking how much he wanted some real food, and finally decided to dwell how much he had screwed up his life. That was leading to suicidal thoughts, so he decided to amuse himself with bitter root recipes.

"How do you think Neelix would prepare the bitter root? Weed tartar, weed souffle, weed flambe, or perhaps baked weed surprise?"

Harry and Chakotay joined in on the game. Wilted weed, poached weed, weed salad, boiled rockbill eggs in a basket of weeds, and stuffed weed leaves. It helped pass the time until they made it to the next staging area.

They couldn't rest. The place was choked with debris and heavy dust. The men covered their faces with their undershirts and held onto each other as they made their way out. It took them twenty minutes to make it to breathable air.

Voyager reported that once the group left the second staging area point that a large amount of two minerals that they had been desperately looking for rose to the surface for easy beam up

Tom thought that it was good to know how much their lives were worth.

~~~~ No River Too Far ~~~~

Harry hadn't realized he was even close to the edge of insanity when he decided that he had totally lost his mind. At the end of the corridor was a vast chamber where he could see a waterfall that made no sound.

"Tom, are you sure that this weed isn't an hallucinogenic?" he asked the red haired lieutenant.

"No, it's harmless. It only tastes like it should have side effects. Why do you ask?"

"I can see a waterfall, but I can't hear it."

The three men hurried down the corridor into the chamber. Chakotay was trying to say something to him, but Harry could hear nothing. Tom was also moving his lips, but no sound came from him either. Tom scanned the water and shook his head no. Chakotay waved them back into the corridor.

"Chakotay to Voyager."

"What happened, Commander?" Janeway asked. "You were out of contact."

"Captain, the next chamber has a waterfall fed river to cross. For some reason, no sound is possible in the chamber. We'll contact you as soon as we can."

"Good luck, Commander."

"What do you think?" Harry asked.

"The water is close to body temperature, unfortunately it is also highly saline so we can't drink it," Tom reported.

"We should take off our clothes and put them in the packs before we swim across," Harry suggested. "The packs are configured to be waterproof. At least we won't have to traverse the next corridor wet and cold."

"Good idea," Chakotay said.

They sat down and distributed all of Harry's jury rigged items among the three packs. They couldn't afford to lose any of them. They waited until they were at the shore of the river before they undressed.

Harry slipped into the water and was warm for the first time since they started this nightmare journey. He had formed a mental image of the occupants of the city, beyond what they knew of their physical appearance. They were deep space farers themselves, which explained their knowledge and accumulation of the materials that could sustain a ship. They had made their homeworld a one-stop shop for those materials, but instead of trade they wanted entertainment.

He could see them monitoring every square centimeter of the corridors, perhaps a separate channel for each corridor. Bets taken on the progress of each group. To the victory goes the spoils.

But why the "fence"? Because the others had sickened of the game and came for revenge or more likely, the materials. He believed that they were the prime targets responsible for the interstellar war.

Harry was well ahead of Tom and Chakotay. It had nothing to do with his youth, but instead was directly attributable to his love of the water. Tom like to sail across the top of it, and Chakotay liked to gaze at it and think. Harry liked to swim. It was his favorite form of exercise and he swam for the shear joy of it.

He was within sight of the far shore when he felt a creature brush past him. It was almost ten meters long, including a head that seemed to mainly composed of teeth. He estimated that it weighed between 700 and 900 kilos. Harry could have screamed for his friends, but it would have done them no good in this chamber of silence. He swam as if the life of the men he loved were in the balance, because they were.

Once on the shore, he dug out his phaser. The creature was built like a crocodile, riding low in the water. But it was definitely heading toward Tom and Chakotay. When it opened its jaws to take off Chakotay's head, Harry fired.

The creature abandoned its pursuit of Chakotay and turned back toward the source of its torment. Harry increased the settings and kept firing.

The water boiled with it's blood, large holes were appearing in it's head and body, and yet, it still came. Harry rushed backwards up the bank, still firing.

The creature's gaped jaw was as long as Harry's body, and it's eight legs gave it superior purchase as it climbed the rocky shore after the fleeing ensign. Harry swung up onto rusty catwalk that must have once spanned the river but now was missing most of it's midsection with was directly above the waterfall. He could image the creatures that could not swim the river, making their way across the wet and slippery rungs.

The metal protested Harry's weight as he clung onto the bars with one hand and fired with the other. The creature stood on its bottom four feet and snapped at Harry with what remained of its jaws. The catwalk was now starting to sag under his weight, bringing him closer to those deadly jaws.

Two new beams started blowing holes in the midsection of the creature. Tom and Chakotay had made it out of the water. It took several minutes of intense fire from all three of them to finally kill the creature. Harry continued to cling to the catwalk, waiting for any sign that there was still life in the monster.

Chakotay helped him down. His lover felt so wonderfully alive as Harry hugged him tight. He wanted to say something to him, something worthy of this moment in time when they were clinging shakily to each other, hearts bounding, and brains racing with "he could have been killed" scenarios.

The commander covered Harry's useless mouth with his and they kissed. Chakotay walked the two of them up the bank. Tom joined them and three shared passionate kisses and silent laughter.

In this silence, Harry saw Tom's torment. Without his words to cover what he was truly feeling, Harry could see the longing and disappointment in the taller man's eyes.

Chakotay was trailing his fingers in Harry's hair, a favorite activity for the Commander, while Harry rested his cheek on the older man's chest. Harry was feeling very loved.

Knowing how much he needed to feel this way made Harry realize how selfish he had been to keep Tom in this relationship. Tom would forever feel himself as being the interloper. The afterthought of the relationship instead of the first thought, as all lovers should feel.

Harry turned in Chakotay's arms and pulled Tom to his chest. He stroked the taller man's face. //I understand, Tom. I love you, and I want you to be happy. She better take good care of you or, Klingon or no, I'll rip her head off.//

The trio dressed, checked their packs for damage, filled all their containers with the water, and made their way to the opposite wall. The chamber was huge, and it took them some time to cross it.

Harry scanned the walls so that he could study their composition at a later time. Sound dampening like this was impressive. The scientist in him couldn't let the opportunity slip by.

Tom came over, took him by the hand, and led him to the door to their corridor. The three other doors led to corridors without breathable air.

"Chakotay to Voyager."

"Welcome back, Commander," Janeway said.

"Shouldn't you be getting some sleep, Captain?" Chakotay asked.

"I'll sleep when you do, Commander. How is your party?"

"We're tired but alive. We had an interesting encounter with a river creature."

"I look forward to your report."

"Let's just say that our only hope of revenge was to cause it to have a bad case of heartburn."

"Commander, I see the next staging area," Tom reported.

"Captain, we've made it to the next staging area."

"Chakotay, do you think that if we refused to pick up the consignment that your party might be released?"

"I doubt it, Captain. I don't want to lose the minerals that we are literally waging their lives against for a vain hope. Everything we've seen indicates that this is an all or nothing for the contestants."

"Commander, there is bedding," Tom reported. "And more undrinkable water," he added sourly.

"Captain, we'll be stopping here for a rest."

"Very good, Commander."

For Harry, working was better than thinking right now. He needed to turn the water they had into drinkable water. On the ship desalinating the water would be simple. Here he would take some thinking, he didn't want to end up with just a few drops of fresh water.

Chakotay used some of the salty water to boil the weeds, hoping that it would somehow improve the taste. Harry thought that hydraulic fluid would improve the taste.

Harry was able to extract almost two liters of drinkable water for each of them. It was bland, flat, and water had never tasted so good to him. They toasted each other as they took their first fresh water drinks in almost two days.

Tom was surprised to find that the salt water had taken some of the bitterness out of the weeds -- some, but not all. He ate as much as he could force down.

The sleeping cubicles seemed to come in all sizes. From "only a skinny two-year-old could fit" to the "let's have an orgy" size. The cold meant that they needed to share the bed and not waste body heat. A few days ago that wouldn't have been a problem, but now... now, he belonged to B'Elanna and Harry and Chakotay were too tempting.

He should have been too exhausted to be thinking about sex, but he wasn't. He could remember with perfect clarity every time that either man had touched him.

Harry climbed onto the bed, held his arms out, and pulled the commander tightly to him. Watching them together was making him hard. He climbed in beside Chakotay and turned his back to them The bed was very comfortable and it instantly warmed to his body temperature.

Chakotay reached over, squeezed his hand, and whispered in his ear. "Sleep well, Tom. I want you to know that I'll miss you when we get back to the ship. Not just the sex, but the playful times we had." The older man kissed his cheek. "Be happy, Tom Paris. No one deserves it more than you."

If Tom hadn't been so opposed to wasting water, he would have shed a tear-- they knew and they still cared. He lay there, listening and masturbating to the soft sounds of the two men kissing.

Chakotay stroked the silky hairs that were growing in on Harry's chin. He had never seen Harry with a beard-- he didn't like it. Nothing should be allowed to compete with the man's luscious mouth. It was a mouth that could make him insane to kiss, to brush with his fingers, and, Spirits preserve him, have wrapped around his cock.

Harry fired Chakotay's lust like no lover before him. Just kissing him was enough to make his heart beat so hard that he could feel it in his ears.

His young lover pulled back, placed a finger to his lips in signal for Chakotay to not make a sound, then kissed his way down Chakotay's body. Surely he wasn't about to do what Chakotay thought he was about to do? Not with the entire bridge listening. He groaned.

Harry bobbed up. "Stiff, Commander?" He gave Chakotay a warning look.

"Yes, Harry. My leg muscles are cramping."

Harry pulled Chakotay's cock from his trousers. "Let me see that leg?" Harry trailed his fingers along the rapidly filling organ. "This is bad, Commander. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to be a little firm with you."

"I understand."

"Are you ready?"

"More than you'll ever know." Harry sucked the head. "Oh, oh."

"Easy, Commander, this is for your own good." He went back to sucking the older man's cock, covering the surface with long slow licks.

"You're killing me," Chakotay wailed.

Harry replaced his mouth with his hand. "You'll thank me later." He dived back down on his lover's cock, taking the full length down his throat.

Chakotay clamped his jaw shut to keep from yelling nonsense that any fool would recognize as the things one only says when someone is taking you to an orgasm-- it almost worked. "Harryharryharry. < pant > < pant > Harry. < gasp > Harry. < pant > Don't < pant > stop. Aaaaaaaawwwww." Chakotay shouted. "Oh, YES!" He beat his pillows with his fists.

Harry licked his lips clean. "You see, Commander, it was just the thing you needed."

Janeway was feeling slightly wicked when she looked back at Torres, who was about to bit a hole in her trembling lip. Her Chief Engineer's attempt to maintain her composure was admirable, but the tension on the ship was extreme as the crew literally waited minute to minute to see if their three shipmates would live or die. She decided to lighten the bridge crew's mood. "Why can't we get massages like that?" she asked B'Elanna.

Torres lost it.

~~~~ Obstacles ~~~~

Harry awoke with a taste in his mouth that would have taken out a Romulan Warbird. By the way the others were reacting, they were in a similar situation. He blamed the weeds. It certainly wasn't from his taste of Chakotay.

Taking care of bodily functions in this tight section of the corridor required coordination and a major lack of embarrassment because they knew that the ship was listening. After a breakfast of parboiled weeds, and they were off to complete another leg of their journey.

As soon as they left, Voyager received another large shipment of needed ores. B'Elanna now had enough raw materials to reline the warp core. Harry wasn't looking forward to all the work that would entail but he was excited about the prospect of not having to worry so much about the excessive "mileage" to which they were subjecting the core.

Two hours after they left the staging area, Tom spotted their first robot. It was cleaning the right side of the corridor. For about twenty meters the corridor on that side was immaculate.

They tackled the machine, put it on its back like a turtle, and exposed its insides. Harry was able to tap into its guidance systems and update their map. With almost seventy percent of their map now filled in, they felt a little more confident.

"I wonder what this spotty grey symbols are for?" Harry asked.

"Huge boulders that could crush us like an ant," Chakotay said sourly.

"And you said *I* was gloomy," Tom smirked. He went around the corner where Chakotay was standing. "Oh, those are huge."

Harry rounded the corner and saw what they were talking about. The corridor was suddenly enormous. The white walls, floors, and ceiling made judging distances difficult. The tricorders gave them a better idea of the true trouble the boulders represented. The stones were very unstable. Some were heavy enough to crush a shuttle and would hardly notice one of them being in their path.

They carefully picked their way through the boulders. At the halfway point, Harry heard a mechanical whine approaching them from overhead. It was another robot. The machine whizzed haphazardly among the boulders, occasionally bouncing against a big rock several times before deciding to go around.

"Move," Chakotay ordered. They quickened their pace. Within sight of the top, the boulders began to roll. Chakotay was bringing up the rear when he was struck a glancing blow. Unconscious, the commander lay in the path two large boulders. Desperate to keep his lover from being crushed, Harry blasted a trench in front of Chakotay. Tom fired also. The first boulder fell into the trench and the second one came to rest on it. Harry scrambled around the rocks to find Chakotay getting to his feet.

"Darling, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, and wonderfully unflat." He looked at the two rocks. "That was a lot closer than I would have liked."

"Come on, you two. These rocks might not like their new home," Tom warned.

"Agreed," Chakotay said as he made his way up the corridor. Once they were at the top, Tom made sure that Chakotay had no internal injuries. "How am I doing?"

"You tired, bruised up, you have lacerations all over your face and hands, and you're dehydrated."

"He can have my water," Harry volunteered.

"Don't bother, Harry, because you're just as bad off, and so am I."

"We move on, people. We don't have much choice," Chakotay headed up the corridor. "We can splurge on replicator rations when we get back to the ship. I'm planning on Przenti and a bottle of Claret. I might even share."

Harry smiled. Przenti was the first dish he had prepared for Chakotay, and he would always associate the dish with his decision to pursue the older man. A decision he never regretted.

He decided not to linger on those thoughts until they were safely, or at least as safe as it got these days, on the ship. He went back to studying the map. With the update that they had gotten from the maintenance robot, the map now showed some worrying details, particularly this jagged gash that they were approaching.

Somewhere the spirits were laughing and rolling on the ground. The gash was a chasm in every since of the world. The tricorder told them that the bottom was over 3000 meters down and it was 51 meters across. Of the 8 separate crossings, only one, a rope-like bridge was intact.

"We need to cross one at a time," Harry suggested.

"This not that fat thing again, is it?" Chakotay asked with a pout.

"I thought that I was being practical," Harry said. "One at a time so that there is less weight on the structure."

"Teasing, Harry. Just teasing."

"Chakotay, your sense of humor always chooses to worst time to appear," Harry said . ~~Harry to Chakotay, 'Don't make me spank you.'~~

"Sometimes, I just can't help myself." ~~Chakotay to Harry, 'Spank me, spank me hard.'~~

Tom went across first, followed by Harry. It was easy for Harry to cross because it was so dark that you eyes never got to tell the rest of your body how far you were going to fall. He was glad that he would never have to do that again.

Chakotay was just over halfway across the rope bridge when he froze in place.

"Commander," Tom called. The sound sending crashing echos from beneath them. "Are you all right?"

"There's something on my back," Chakotay said softly.

Harry fumbled his light out of his back. He hadn't wanted to use it crossing the bridge. When he got the light on Chakotay he was horrified. A dark mass clung to the Commander's back and two one meter long purple spidery legs draped over his shoulders and crossed his chest.

Tom's light illuminated the space over Chakotay's head. A crisscross section of thin beams arched over that portion of the bridge. Hundreds of the creatures nested above.

"Don't move, Chakotay," Tom yelled.

"I wasn't planning on it."

Harry made his way to his lover as quickly as he could. He heard Tom firing, but trusted in his friend's skill and kept to the main task to getting to Chakotay's side.

"Harry, you know how much I respect life," Chakotay said.

"Yes," Harry said as he closed the gap between them.

"This thing is putting something on my back, and I want you to kill it."

"I understand that."

"It's going to cocoon me, and turn me into a birthday party treat for its eggs."

"I'm afraid that I disapprove of that plan."

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"I want you to feel free to call me by my pillow name in front of other people when we're off duty."

If Harry hadn't been so carefully placing one foot in front of the other on the single strand that constituted the rope bridge, he would have stumbled. In public? Chakotay was fiercely protective of their privacy. Even Harry's single slip of calling him 'Darling' earlier was going to be balanced against a ten minute "I value my privacy" speech. "Okay, Corazon."

The spider's center mass was effectively blocked by Chakotay's body. But, now that Harry was close he could remove the creature.

The spider was laying a thick mucous-like layer that hardened into a puffy crystallized material. Harry shot the creature with his phaser.

"Get moving, the bridge is going!" Tom called as he continued to shoot spiders.

Harry rushed back to the side. He had almost made it when he heard the bridge snapping.. Harry made a dive and caught the edge. He could feel the extra weight of Chakotay clinging to his back. "Tom!" Harry tried to find a foothold. "Tom, hurry!"

Tom grabbed the remains of the hand guide part of the bridge and lowered it down. "Here you go, Commander." Chakotay grabbed the rope pulled himself up hand over hand. Once up, he and Tom reached down to pull Harry up. The edge began crumbling.

"Run!" Harry shouted.

"Not without you!" Chakotay yelled as he tried to reach Harry and bring him up as the edge continued to disintegrate.

"Corazon, Tom, just go." Harry's hand hold was cracking under his fingers, and the rope was too far away. His last thoughts were of Chakotay as the rockface crumbled in his hands and he fell.

Tom grabbed the rope and attempted to use it to repel down the rock face to reach Harry, then his best friend fell into the darkness. Tom screamed; Chakotay screamed; Harry made no sound.

Tom scrambled back up to grab his light. "Commander, he may have landed on a lower shelf. Commander?"

"I was supposed to die first," Chakotay said firmly. "I'll never forgive him for dying first."

Tom was shocked by the granite expression on the other man's face-- it was not a sane expression. Not that Tom felt very sane himself. Harry just couldn't be gone. He had lost him once when the ship had been split in two, that was more than enough.

They shone their lights over the edge in search of Harry. The younger man was only fifteen meters down, but he was unconscious, surrounded by spiders who seemed to be fighting over him, and lying on a very narrow shelf.

Tom concentrated on repelling down the side, leaving the spiders to Chakotay, and his fears for Harry's safety for later. By the time Tom arrived at his side, Harry had an impressive honor guard of dead spiders. Some of the spiders were content with the fallen, while others still harbored thoughts of Harry.

Harry groaned and tried to sit up. "Ow. Must be alive," he muttered.

Tom straddled Harry's prone body so that they could share the narrow ledge. He could feel the warmth of Chakotay's light on his head and shoulders.

"No," Harry said. " I'm dead. There's an angel."

Any other time, Tom would have sucked that compliment up, but they needed to get moving. The unstable cliff side was pelting them with small rocks which might be soon joined by their larger kin. "Time to go, Harry," he said to the younger man. "Chakotay is waiting and he's not a patient man." Tom helped Harry to his feet and started back up.

Harry was in pain, but conscious and lucid. He was able to assist in his own rescue as they moved up the strained rope. Just as they cleared the ledge, the rope snapped.

Chakotay grabbed them both and pulled them back. "I'm not going to lose you, I'm not going to lose either of you."

Tom couldn't help himself, he kissed Harry. He needed to wipe away the mental image of Harry falling with this new image of a dirty, scuffed Harry, who was very much alive. Warm and yielding, Harry's mouth sent a plasma fire through Tom's blood. He lifted Harry's tunic up from his stomach. Crusted blood made the shirt stick to the wounds there.

"Careful," Harry complained.

"Easy, Ensign, I need to assess your wounds," Tom said before kissing Harry again. Chakotay eased Harry's tunic over his head and gasped. Harry's torso was a patchwork of darkening bruises.

"Is it bad?" Harry asked.

Tom didn't answer right away. Harry had three cracked ribs and some very deep bruises. At least they would be able to tape the ribs. There was no significant damage to the internal organs, but Harry needed rest, food, and water. The little bit of water that they had was nearly gone.

"Harry, I won't lie to you," Tom began.

"I would appreciate a lie or two right now," Harry said as he gingerly lowered his trousers. His left hip, no doubt where he had landed on the rock shelf, was highly purpled with a deep gash that required closing. The lash matched a blood soaked section in the trousers. Without his skintight trousers holding it closed, the wound was bleeding heavily.

Tom readied his phaser to seal the wound. "This is *real* bad, Harry, I have close this gash."

"Grip my arm, Harry," Chakotay said. "Look into my eyes." 'I love you,' he mouthed.

Tom started sealing the wound. "Tom, Tom! Arghhhhh!" Harry tried to bite down on the pain.

"Harry, I'm sorry," Tom said as he finished. He kissed away a tear that was coursing down the young man's cheek. "No, tears, we can't afford to lose the water."

Harry pulled his clothes back on. Wordlessly, Tom and Chakotay split the contents of Harry's pack between them. Then both poured some of their water into his flask.

The going was tougher now-- the climb steeper and the air drier. Some of the hazards in this section still worked. Chakotay took a somewhat perverse pleasure is destroying the machines of the people that had nearly taken Harry away from him. At least, that was Tom's interpretation of the small smile on the older man's face as they climbed over the smoking remains of the machinery.

Tom kept checking Harry for renewed bleeding, and Chakotay could barely allow more than half a meter get between Harry and himself. As for Harry, he never complained and he kept up.

Chakotay called a halt. Tom slipped off his back pack and checked Harry's feet-- there was some swelling on the left foot. The flesh around the gash on his upper thigh was hot. Harry was running a fever.

"Harry, why didn't you say something?" Chakotay asked.

"Like what? Hey, guys. I feel like shit? Can I get you to stand here and die with me? It's not going to happen." Harry forced his boot back on and nearly bit a hole in his lip while he did it. "The only way for us to survive is to keep moving."

"Harry--" Chakotay's words were drowned out by a mechanical rumbling noise. Four doors in the corridor opened and revealed four individual battle machines. "Never mind." They all got to their feet.

Two of the machines rushed them. One collided with the wall and the other fired a long flame just over their heads. Harry was being held up by his injured leg. When robot # 1 turned from the wall and came after them, Harry dived into the chamber of one of the silent robots.

Harry remembered having models of 22nd century battle machines that he would pursue his other toys with. That was a lot more fun than this. He worked the side panel off the robot who's home he was currently sharing.

The circuits of the silent battle machine were familiar to Harry after his endless tinkering with the smaller components. Tom and Chakotay were racing around, trying to confuse the pursuing machines, and to keep them from turning their attention onto the slow moving Harry. Their phasers seemed to have little effect on the enormous machines.

Harry closed the panel with full confidence. The machine remained inert. Harry flipped open the panel, and traced the problem to a loose connection with the power cell. "Come on, baby. Don't disappoint me. I don't need any more disappointments today." He pressed the restart. The machine lurched forward and placed itself between Tom and the battle machine that was trying to catch him.

"It's Rockem Sockem Robots!" Tom laughed. Robot #3 was aggressive, persistent, and brutal. Robots # 1 and # 2 never stood a chance.

"What the hell is going on?" Janeway demanded as Tom, Chakotay, and Harry cheered Robot # 3 on.

"Captain, we were under attack by two large robots. Harry managed to program a third one to run interference." Chakotay waved at his men. "We're moving on, Captain."

The staging area was just ten meters away from where the robots had attacked. The place was beautifully decorated with a twelve tiered water fountain sitting inside a 3 meter square pool.

Tom rushed forward and scanned the water. "It's drinkable!" The three men laid on their stomachs and drank.

Harry was very grateful, because he really had no idea how he was going to go on. Tom and Chakotay stripped him and wet him down. His bruises were painful, he was aching, and his mouth was *still* dry.

Chakotay hated looking at Harry's injuries, the evidence of his bouncing fall down the cliff face was painful just to look at, and the young man's fever was rising. "Harry, I'm going to get you out of this," he whispered to his lover. "I promise."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"Commander!" Tom shouted. Robot # 3 was walking their way, in it's hands were the heads of two other robots.

Chakotay placed himself between Harry and the robot. There was little he could do to stop the thing, but he would do the little that he could.

The robot placed the heads in front of them, and waited.

"Harry, have you been recruiting other slaves?" Tom asked. Harry groaned.

"Tom, open channel." Chakotay could plainly hear laughter over the channel.

Janeway ended that. "Commander, report."

"The robot that Harry programmed to defend us has presented us with the heads of the other two robots, Captain. Now it's standing here."

"Harry does seem to have charm to spare," Janeway said dryly. "Harry, did you program it to follow you?"

"No, Captain," Harry said with a groan as he pulled his tunic back on. "I gave it very simple commands. I don't think it wants to hurt us. There's not much we could do if it decided to hurt us."

"Keep us informed on your progress.."

"Aye, Captain." Chakotay didn't bother to glare at Tom. The lieutenant was well aware of what he had done. His worry was for Harry.

They filled ever container they could. Harry insisted on carrying some of the water. As they moved out, the robot followed.

Harry limped on without protest for almost an hour. Then he turned and gave the robot his pack. "Carry this." The robot picked up Harry and the pack and followed Chakotay and Tom.

When they arrived at what appeared on the map to be the last staging area, a holograph appeared made a quick hiss filled announcement and then nothing.

Harry was hanging limply in the robot's arms, sound asleep. His breathing sounded raspy to Chakotay and he was burning up.

"Captain, we've reached the final staging area, but we don't see an exit. Can you get a lock on us, yet?"

"Commander, we lost you all together once you entered this section. We're also getting massive power readings from all over the city."

Chakotay was nearly blinded when the lights came on, replacing the former fifty percent illumination. "Lights and panels coming on line, Captain. Why do I get the feeling that this is not good news?"

Tom and Chakotay began studying the panels. Chakotay hated to disturb Harry, but they needed his help. "Harry, we need your help."

Harry attempted to stand at attention while still lying in the robot's arms. It hurt Chakotay's feelings to see this attempt.

"Commander?"

"Harry, we're at the final stop on the map, but we still can't get out. I need you to look at the panels and see if you get us out of here."

Harry climbed down and made his way around the room. He kept hesitating and Chakotay had no idea whether the young man was thinking or gathering his strength. He pressed several panels in a slow and methodical fashion.

"No one ever leaves THE ARENA," a mechanical voice proclaimed. "No one ever WINS!" The room began to shake as walls parted revealing a legion of battle machines, smaller robots, and machines that they could only guess at, and none of them looked friendly.

Only two of the first rank of robots made it out of their cubicle before Harry sent the walls crashing back together. The motors pushing the walls closed were now fighting the robots that were trying to get them open. One flying robot squeezed through opening at flew down at Tom. The lieutenant fired. The robot absorbed the energy and returned the shot, disintegrating the row of computers he had ducked behind.

"Damn!" Harry shouted. "That was environmental controls." The room started to flood with water as the heat kicked up while ice formed on some of the machines. "I've had enough," Harry said coldly.

"You won't believe this," Tom said as he waded through the knee deep water while avoiding the buzzing robot. "This water is all drinkable."

When the flying robot came at Harry, the battle machine, which had been motionless since Harry had climbed out of its arms, snatched the menace from the air and crushed it.

"I like your loyalty," Chakotay said to the large robot.

Harry now had a schematic of the arena flashing on several of the screens. Chakotay recognized sections that they had been in and was grateful so many of the hazaards hadn't worked.

Harry turned from the screen and began firing his phaser at a dark blue panel on the ceiling. The entire roof disappeared as if it had only been a hologram.

"Voyager, three to beam up!" Chakotay shouted.

"Four to beam up," Harry begged. "We can't leave him. He would be a wonderful opportunity for study."

Chakotay didn't want to argue, the water had made it to his waist. "Lt. Torres, can you get a lock on the battle machine with us?"

"Yes, Commander."

"Four to beam up."

~~~~ Vigil ~~~~

"The Ensign's blood was contaminated by insect waste. That was the source of the virus in his system. The bio-filters removed the virus and now his system just needs to recover." The doctor stepped through the force field protecting Harry from further infections.

"Then, he'll be all right?" Chakotay asked.

"Yes, Commander. I was amazed that he was still able to function when he was so ill. But, I shouldn't be. A man protecting his mate is hard to stop." The doctor smiled.

"When will I be able to hold him?"

"Another six hours to be sure his immune system has recovered. Then I can drop the medical force fields. Until then, talk to the man. He keeps asking about you and Tom."

Tom came into Sick Bay as if summoned. He had insisted on personally seeing that Harry's Robot, now designated as The Sentinel, was safely tucked away in cargo bay four.

"Ah, Lieutenant. I'm glad to see that you remembered where Sick Bay is located." The Doctor began scanning Tom. "You're showing signs of dehydration, exhaustion, and you have enough cuts and scrapes for a schoolyard full of children. You make a nice bookend with the Commander."

"How's Harry?"

"The Ensign is recovering. I suggest you do the same. I'm authorizing three days off duty for you and Commander Chakotay, and two weeks for Ensign Kim."

"Torres to Commander Chakotay."

"Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Things are going crazy on the surface. I don't know what you did down there, but valuable ores, organic materials, and even some components are materializing all over the place. Plus, there's a massive build up of energy surrounding the area you were beamed from."

"We're going to grab what we can, and the helm is prepared to get us out of orbit in a moment's notice, " Captain Janeway said. "It's good to have you back, Commander."

"We've been confined to Sick Bay for a while, Captain, and the Doctor has recommended that we take a few days off."

"I agree," said Janeway. "Janeway, out."

Chakotay turned his attention back to Harry, who gave him a little wave. Tom took Chakotay's hand and the two of them sat down on a biobed where they could keep an eye on Harry.

Chakotay hadn't realized how exhausted he was until he woke up in Tom's arms.

"Hey, Sleepy Head," Tom whispered.

"How long?"

"Chakotay, you know exactly how long it is, and you even made me hang a towel off it once."

Chakotay laughed. He was going to miss this side of Tom, but Harry had told him that Tom and B'Elanna had mated and that was that. "How long have I been asleep, you naughty boy?"

"Two hours. You still give the *best* snuggle. I'll miss that. I'll miss everything."

Chakotay stroked the younger man's lips. "I wish we could have been what you needed." Chakotay leaned in for a long passionate kiss, possibly the last time he would touch those lips. When they pulled apart Chakotay saw B'Elanna standing at the door. He had no idea how long she had been there.

"How's Harry?" she asked.

Tom didn't pull away from Chakotay, nor did he remove his hand from the commander's hair. "He's getting better. We were pretty worried for a while. The doctor will allow us to touch him in a few hours," Tom reported.

"That's great," B'Elanna said. She walked up to the force field and waved at Harry. Harry toasted her with his juice. "You get better soon, Harry. I need to win some of those replicator rations back."

"B'Elanna, I need you to come back so we can talk. Okay?" Harry seemed slightly agitated. "Okay?"

"Sure, Harry. It's no problem," she reassured him. "I want to talk to you also." She turned back to Chakotay. "I'm glad to have all of you back in one piece." She squeezed Chakotay's shoulder and kissed Tom on the mouth. They shared a hungry kiss.

Chakotay felt like a voyeur watching this kiss that was just inches from his nose, but Tom was not letting him go. When the couple pulled apart, Tom, despite Chakotay's silent prediction, did not pass out from lack of oxygen.

He puzzled over the sexual dynamic that was playing out in this room. Tom had made his decision to be with B'Elanna, yet their series of close calls has made the younger man in need of physical reassurance of his former lovers safety. That was why he had held Chakotay and why Tom could not leave Harry's side.

B'Elanna appeared to understand that instinctively. She made no protest of Chakotay being in Tom's arms. Her kissing of her mate proved that. She knew that she only had one real rival for Tom, and that was Harry. Chakotay wondered if there was *any* chance that he would be able to hear this conversation between B'Elanna and Harry.

After Torres left, Chakotay and Tom shared a light meal. After they six day diet of weeds, it was ambrosia. The doctor left for the holodeck where he was performing in a production of "The Pirates of Penzance". Chakotay made him promise to make a recording.

"Chakotay, would you tell me a story?" Harry asked softly.

"Sure, love. What would you like to hear?"

"It doesn't matter, I just want to hear your voice." Harry turned on his side and watched the two men.

"Once, long ago, there was a Queen who ruled her people with great wisdom. Her people prospered and their neighbors were very jealous.

"A neighboring King sent his mightest wizard to destroy the Queen. The wizard failed to kill the Queen, but he did manage to steal her heart. The King was happy and did not execute the wizard for his failure, because this was better than killing her outright. He held her heart and sent word to her people that they would have to subjugate themselves to him or watch their beloved Queen waste away.

"Four stalwart warriors stepped forward and asked the Queen's advisors to stall the King while they attempted to recover the heart of their Queen."

"Who were these warriors?" Tom asked.

"Their true names have been lost to time, but much is known about them. The oldest was a great warrior and took the name of Strength. The next one was strong of belief and took the name of Faith. The third one pure of purpose and took the name of Honor. The fourth one was strong in mind and was known as Wisdom.

"They battled their way into the castle of the enemy King. Once they had defeated his personal guard, they threatened to cut out *his* heart if he did not reveal where the heart of their Queen was located. The King laughed because he knew that he was staring his own death in the face. He couldn't destroy the heart, so he had placed it in the river of fire that fed into the depths of the mountain of flame where it could never be found."

"So, he had no plan to honor the deal he was trying to make with the Queen's people?" Tom asked.

"Never. He knew that giving her back her heart would signal his doom."

"Go on," Tom prompted.

"The King was made into a sacrifice to the mountain when the four warriors came to the fork in the river of fire. His skeleton formed an arrow that showed the way to follow."

"That was pleasant," Tom said. "I hope you don't give Harry nightmares."

"Harry loves this kind of story. Don't you, Harry?" Harry answered with the soft breathing of sleep.

"He looks like an angel when he's sleeping, as long as he isn't wearing that sleeping mask. This doesn't mean that you don't have to finish the story," Tom said.

"The warriors fought many battles until they at last came to the chamber of the mountain gods, but only one could pass. Who would it be, Strength, Faith, Honor, or Wisdom? Wisdom said that all of them were needed so they should combine. It was Strength that brought they together, it was Honor that kept them together, and it was Faith that made them one."

"That's beautiful."

"Thank you."

"Go on."

"Once they were combined, they were unstoppable. They retrieved their beloved Queen's heart and returned to her side. The wizards of the kingdom restored their queen, and with her to guide them, they defeated their enemies."

"Nice story."

"Thank you, again."

Tom watched Harry sleep for a moment. "He's so beautiful. I think I fell in love with him the first moment I saw him. He looked so innocent, and he was back then-- innocent about people who would mean him harm. Straight from the Academy, fresh and vibrant, exuding everything that I had lost, or never truly believed in." Tom's hands went up and touched the force field as if touching it was like touching Harry. "Which warrior represents Harry?"

"Wisdom."

"Which one am I?"

"Faith."

Tom turned, shock on his face. "But Chakotay, I lost my faith a long time ago."

Chakotay turned the younger man's face back toward Harry. "Look at him, Tom. Really look at him. Harry's existence proves that you haven't lost your faith. You never gave up on this ship or this crew. Your faith kept all of us alive more times than I can count. No, Tom, you *never* lost your faith." They hugged.

~~~~~ A Challenge ~~~~~

Harry was readjusting his internal clock. They had been trapped in the Arena for almost seven days. He had slept most of the two days they had been back on the ship. During that time Voyager has recovered so much material from the planet that Neelix had joked that the crew would soon be sharing quarters with it. The ship had left orbit rather hurriedly when the city was consumed in a series of explosions.

He was feeling so much better that he was able to convince the Doctor to let him leave Sick Bay and recover in his quarters Chakotay and Tom had hardly left his side during these last two days. No matter what odd hour he awoke, he would find one or both of them keeping vigil. It was sweet but secretly, it also made him worry if he was more ill than they had let on.

B'Elanna had come to see him several times, but he had fallen asleep on her almost every time. Now, he was awake, and he knew what he had to do.

She was prompt, but Harry expected no less from her. "Hello, Harry. What can I do for you?"

"Sit down, B'Elanna, we need to talk."

"Okay." She sat down, the picture of poise.

"B'Elanna, you have given me grave insult," Harry said in his best disciplinary tone.

"What?"

"You have made an attempt to take my mate, Tom, away. I should cut out your heart and serve it to my targ."

She smiled. "Harry, you don't have a targ, and Tom makes his own decisions. What's the reason for the Klingon-like phrases of challenge?"

"Do you think that I don't value Tom? Do you think that I wouldn't kill for him?"

"You have Chakotay, Tom was just--"

"Just what? A toy, perhaps? No, B'Elanna, Tom means a great deal to me. I value him as much as I value Chakotay. Do you value Tom?"

"Of course I do."

"Then you'll fight me for him. Three days, holosuite 2, 1400 hours."

"Harry, even if I were silly enough to go along with this, you've just recovered from a life threatening illness." She got up and started to leave.

"B'Elanna!" She stopped and turned at the sound of command in Harry's voice. It was not a sound she was used to hearing from the normally easy going young man. "No Klingon ever values what they are *given*. Prove to me that you value Tom. Prove to me that his next breathe is as precious to you as your own. Prove to me that you'll love him as he deserves to be loved. Be in the holosuite to *take* him from me. Make Tom the ultimate war prize of your heart. Do that for him, or leave the field to those who *do* love him."

B'Elanna backed out of Harry's quarters without another word.

~~~~ War Prize ~~~~

Chakotay had returned to bridge duty for less than an hour when they noticed a group of five ships flying in formation toward them. When communications were established, Captain Janeway started a dialogue with the D'Santo.

The D'Santo were coming to investigate the energy signatures they were receiving from the dead city of the Mllitl. They feared that the hated Game masters had returned to their ancient home.

Upon hearing that the city had been destroyed, Voyager was greeted like long lost kin. The Mllitl wanted to trade, share information, and make introductions to other space faring races in the area. This was just what Voyager and her crew needed.

Voyager was in orbit around the Mllitl home world, where the captain and Neelix were in hot negotiations for information and the exchange of goods. The Mllitl offered shore leave as a carrot to act as the host of the meetings when other species started arriving. It let Voyager's glory for defeating the Game masters rub off on them. Chakotay thought it was a small price to pay to let his people get some well deserved shore leave.

Tuvok came to stand beside him. "Commander, might I have a word with you in private?"

"Certainly, Tuvok." Chakotay followed the Chief of Security into the Captain's ready room. "What is it?"

"Were you aware that Ensign Kim and Lt. Torres are scheduled to battle in less than ten minutes?"

"It's supposed to be training to get Harry back in shape after the damage to his leg muscle."

"I fear that it might be more complicated than that."

"What do you mean?" Chakotay asked, worry adding a flavor of panic to his words.

"All replications of weapons is part of my security report. Lt. Torres replicated a battlet, hardly a training weapon. I fear that they might be about to fight over Lt. Paris."

"We'll see about that. You have the bridge, Mr. Tuvok." Chakotay rushed onto the turbolift. "Computer, location of Ensign Kim."

"Ensign Kim is in holosuite 2."

Chakotay arrived at the holosuite, overrode the privacy lock, and went inside. Tuvok had been wrong about the time frame, they were already battling.

The scenario was from a Klingon story which took nine hours to tell on stage and was drenched in blood. Beside the raging river which was crossed by an iron bridge, there were two small lava pits, and the ground was littered with the dead. It was also raining. It definitely reflected Harry's touch.

His lover was using a three pronged modified whip which Chakotay had seen him use on holodeck slaves. Such an item would never be used on his lovers. Harry only used it as demonstration of his skill and strength. If he punished, he preferred his hand or one of his paddles.

B'Elanna was holding her own until Harry was able to remove her weapon from her hands with the whip. As the blade flew back and landed in the lava pit, Harry kicked B'Elanna in the ribs. He began to flay her exercise clothes away. She caught the end of the whip and pulled it from his hands. Harry laid a series of kicks to her jaw. Torres grabbed Harry's leg to yank him off his feet. She received two brutal blows to her back from his fists before he landed on the ground. She finished him off with three quick punches to the face.

"Lieutenant, what the hell are you doing?" Chakotay demanded when he feared she was going to continue to strike Harry now that he was out.

Torres stared down at the unconscious Harry. "We had to settle something, Commander. Tom, is *mine*." She walked away from the downed man.

Harry stirred on the ground, rolled over, and managed to get to his feet without assistance. "B'Elanna, remember that I fought for him. Now Tom must be the 'mate that is worth ten times the blood that was spilled to take him'."

Torres nodded. "Yes, he is. Computer, end program." She retrieved her weapon and left the holosuite.

"Harry, I'm having you committed. Are you nuts? B'Elanna could have killed you. What the hell was that all about? I thought that you were willing to let Tom go."

"I am, but I couldn't let her *ever* treat him like I had just grown tired of him. B'Elanna is *still* a Klingon, and no Klingon ever values what they are given. The most treasured things in their lives are the things that they had fought and spilled blood for. I needed to make sure that Tom was treasured by her. He deserved no less than that from me because *I* dragged him into a relationship where he didn't feel he was an equal. I had to give him this demonstration of my love."

"Harry, I can see how you got there, but starting a fight with B'Elanna was just too stupid."

"Chakotay, I owed him this, and so much more." Harry hugged his lover. "Help me to Sick Bay."

"Okay."

"Remember, this was a training exercise."

"And if Janeway finds out, you'll be cleaning the outside of the ship with your toothbrush."

"That's why I have you to protect me."

Chakotay snorted. "Chakotay to Tuvok."

"Tuvok, here."

"It *was* just a training exercise."

"I understand, Commander."

~~~~ Interlude, Part Two ~~~~

Harry squirmed under Chakotay's gentle laving of his balls. "Corazon, I am not a strong man. Mercy."

Chakotay chuckled softly. "No mercy, my heart, I intend to break your iron will and make you my slave."

"Too late, my love, I am your slave."

"Would you kill for me?"

"Name you enemy and start writing their eulogy."

"That's what I needed to hear."

"You're not jealous because I fought B'Elanna for Tom, are you?"

"A little."

"But, Chakotay, I fought a much greater enemy before I could even come to you that night."

"What enemy?"

"My own fear. Even now, it amazes me that I could push past all those doubts and fears and come after the man I wanted. I've never regretted it." He gently stroked Chakotay's hair.

"Neither have I." Chakotay spread lubricant on his fingers and readied his mate. It would be tender and slow this time in deference to Harry's recent injuries. "I'm still seeking my revenge for the 'blowjob while the captain is listening' trick you pulled on me.

Harry batted his eyes and gave Chakotay his most innocent look. Chakotay was not fooled for an instant. "But, Corazon, I was only giving you a massage. What kind of dirty mind would ever think I was doing anything else?"

"Every mind on this ship." Chakotay rolled the younger man onto his side and settled behind him. "You drive me to distraction, my love, and I bless you for it." He kissed and sucked Harry's throat as he eased his cock inside him.

"Oh, yes," Harry moaned as he gently contracted his muscles around Chakotay's cock. "That's what I need-- you inside me." He gasped as the older man withdrew almost completely before reentering him.

Slow. Tender. They took it slow, refusing to hurry this first time after so many days of danger and recovery. Chakotay concentrated on moving his cock across the smaller man's prostate. "Gods," he hissed.

"Uh-huh. Yes, yes, do it." Harry pushed back to meet his lover's every thrust. "Please."

Chakotay reached around his lover, stroked the younger man's stomach, and pushed Harry's hand away from his cock. "That's mine to play with this time, Loki."

Harry shuddered. "Am I your God of Mischief?"

"Yes," Chakotay purred as he pumped the smaller man's cock.

Harry reached between his legs and stroked the base of Chakotay's cock as it moved in and out of him. "Love you."

Chakotay felt his release coming. It was almost volcanic in it's intensity. "Love you. Now, cum for me. Me and only me, from now on."

"Yes."

"Say it."

"You and only you, Corazon."

Chakotay increased his tempo, knowing by the sound of his lover's panting that his actions were pushing Harry to orgasm. "Yes, love, cum for me." Harry's semen gushed across Chakotay's hand . "That's it, beautiful. That's what I wanted to see." The commander gripped the smaller man's hip and worked himself in and out of his lover.

"Cum inside me, Chakotay. Aaahhhh," Harry gasped as Chakotay deeply thrust into him and came. "Don't pull out, lover."

"I won't." The commander pulled Harry tightly to him.

"Will you miss him?"

"Tom? Of course. He was that spicy dish that everyone warns you about, but that you can't resist trying." He snuggled the smaller man. "Then it becomes your favorite dish. "B'Elanna might not realize what's she gotten herself into. Tom is a primal force." He kissed Harry's ear. "Like you."

~~~~ Epilogue ~~~~

Captain Janeway returned to the ship, in triumph, after many days of meetings with only Tuvok and Neelix to share it with. The final negotiations were over. Trades had been made, friendships formed, and best of all, Voyager would be traveling in friendly territory for the next two months.

She checked ship's time, and changed her duty shift so that she wouldn't have to appear on the bridge with only five hours sleep after her exhausting diplomatic duties.

As she passed B'Elanna's quarters she heard a thump, a thud, followed by a smacking noise. She leaned toward the door.

"Oh, Gods, TOM!" B'Elanna shrieked. Janeway was walking away when she heard. "Mercy, please. Harry make him stop."

'Harry?' Janeway puzzled.

"Sorry, B'Elanna. Tom is a high maintenance lover, and you have to know how to do this," Chakotay said.

'Chakotay?' Now Janeway was *really* confused.

"What's that?" B'Elanna asked in a slightly panicky tone.

"This is the best part," Tom said. "Wait until you feel ... this."

B'Elanna began to babble incoherently in Klingonese. Her voice rose to an enemy quailing roar. Then, there was silence.

Janeway leapt backwards when the door opened and Harry and Chakotay emerged wearing matching dark blue robes and nothing else. Inside the room, a nude B'Elanna was lying on a pallet on the floor, straddled by an equally nude Tom. The Chief Engineer's body glistened with oil., her eyes were closed, and she was panting as if she had just compleated the Kilngon high altitude endurance test. Tom placed a cork in the neck of a tall fluted bottle of oil.

"Welcome back, Captain," Chakotay said brightly. "I trust all went well at the comference."

"What's going on here?" she asked levelly.

"Oh, I was just helping Tom give B'Elanna a massage. Klingon physionomy is slightly different than a human's, and he was a little unsteady," Harry said.

"A massage?" Janeway asked.

"Yes, Captain," Chakotay said. "A massage."

"I've heard that story before," she said. "Goodnight."

Harry and Chakotay watched the Captain walk away. "I get the feeling she didn't believe us," Harry said.

The End

***

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