TITLE: Maneuvres: 49208.5
SUMMARY: A very unofficial outtake from the end of series 2 episode Maneuvres. After Seska's betrayal and shocking revelation, Chakotay finds his comfort in the arms of the woman who made sure Voyager rescued him…
PAIRING: Chakotay/B'Elanna.
I do not own Star Trek: Voyager. Because I don't, this didn't happen. It's M rated, it's very unofficial. Please don't sue me.
BPOV
It's all over the ship, the contents of the message Seska sent to Chakotay. I can't even being to imagine to think about how that will hurt him, how much that'll kill him, having everyone know his business, especially business like this. Mind, he did let Janeway put it on the view screen, she did give him the option. Still, I suppose I should pay him a visit, and make sure he's alright. I leave my quarters, and take the quickest route I know to his.
CPOV
The door makes it's official beeping noise to let me know there's someone there. Oh God, please bugger off.
"Who is it?"
"Let me in." Oh great.
"Go away, Torres."
"Security override Alpha 21347, Beta 2." The door opens to let her in and in she strolls.
"The locked door means I don't want to see anyone, Lieutenant."
"I'm not anyone, Chakotay. I was under the impression we were even friends. I came to make sure you were alright. And when I ran into Neelix, and he informed me you hadn't eaten for nearly twenty hours, I even dug into my replicator rations. I brought traditional roast dinner." She has, too. It's on a big tray, which she's carrying around very easily.
"In that case, I suppose you'd better come in." We sit down to eat, and I have to confess, she's done a very good job with the replicator. She made lamb shanks, in mint and rosemary sauce.
"So, how are you?"
"Fine."
"Don't insult me by telling me you're fine. Don't do that. Nobody would be fine having gone through what you went through today."
"What do you want me to say, B'Elanna?"
"The truth. That you're scared and confused."
"Wouldn't your Klingon side see that as an admittance of weakness, wouldn't you, being who you are, see that as me saying that I cannot handle my own mistakes?"
"I don't see that you've made any mistakes. Having lousy taste in women isn't a hanging offence." I smile vaguely at her as I remember that joking conversation in Engineering.
"Why did you come down here tonight, B'Elanna?"
"Because I have been here before."
"Like hell."
"I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone before - ever. And if you ever repeat this story, I will murder you and I will enjoy every damn minute of your painful and bloody death."
"I'm sure you would. And would you also enjoy the seventy years in the brig?"
"Quite. But the year I joined the Marquis, I fell in love with a man. He was human, and he was the first person to see past my Klingon rage and my - somewhat brusque attitude. I swear if you laugh I'll drown you in the gravy. He was Federation."
"He was Federation?"
"Shut up. Yes, he was. He and I - we were intimate. And then I caught him in bed, with another woman. I fooled myself into believing we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. The woman he spent the night with was Cardassian. And then I realised something. That woman was Seska, before she changed her face."
"Seska? Are you lying to make me feel better?"
"No. I never heard her speak, never got a real look at her. So I never knew, but her hair - I'd remember that hair anywhere. I saw it, when we came across the Kazon, and I knew. And she was my best friend on that ship, knowing who I was."
"Well. Shall I replicate some wine? I should think we both need a drink."
"Probably not the greatest idea. And you know there is a ship rule about drinking when you have duty shifts the next day."
"I won't tell if you don't." She looks at me.
"Go on, then."
"Rosé?"
"Gallo Family White Zinfandel."
"You have specific tastes in wine."
The one glass turned into two bottles. Each. Neither of us are drunk - I've got too much weight and height, and she's half Klingon and they're notoriously good at controlling themselves while under any influences.
"You look good tonight, B'Elanna." She laughs.
"Oh yes?"
"Yes," I say, definitely, "you do." She laughs again.
"You look alright. I suppose."
"Oh thanks. I suppose, coming from you, that's a huge compliment." She chooses not to answer, but suddenly slumps down so she's leaning on me. I pus an arm around her and now I'm leaving against the back of my chair and she's in my arms.
"I suppose," she says, very quietly, slurring her words ever so slightly, "we could start with the classics?"
"What classics?"
"Is that a Phaser in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?" We collapse into snorts of laughter. "Or, or, I think your utility belt is on wrong, your tricorder is poking me." There's another welter of laughter. Until I realise that she's serious.
"Oh. Sorry." She just sniggers.
"Don't be, this is really all quite fun," she slurs, before something goes a bit wrong and we both fall off the chair. "Ooooops."
"Quite. You hurt?"
"No. You?" she asks, sniggering away.
"No, don't think so." She actually giggles.
"You're a funny drunk."
"Right back at you, never heard you giggle before."
"Never had two bottles of wine before." She shifts above me, and I grab her hips reflexively.
"That Phaser in my pocket is highly sensitive, you don't want to be doing that." There are three seconds when she stays motionless apart from the vibrating motion from her suppressed giggles. Then, unbelievably, she shifts again, in the same way as before. "B'Elanna. Stop."
"Really all quite fun," she slurs again. "Good wine, wasn't it."
"You carry on, I'll not be able to hold it all back, Torres."
"Fine," she says, shifting.
"I don't want us to regret anything. In the morning."
"I've never regretted anything in my life, Chakotay. Not even that Federation bastard."
"And it won't- -"
"You talk too much, Chakotay," she says, quietly, before kissing me.
And my God, I've never been kissed like this before, and I've kissed perhaps more than my share of women. She's fire and she's ice, she's sun and rain, and it's incredible. Needless to say, we actually don't make it any further than the floor where we landed. It's hard, fast, fierce. She's almost wild, almost uninhibited, but with something tame in her eyes.
"You're holding out on me, Torres," I snarl in her ear. "Never hold out on me." A light flares behind those beautiful eyes, eyes I barely noticed as being undeniably sexy, and she lets go.
BPOV
I wake up in a very uncomfortable position. Oh God, the floor hurts. Why am I even on the damn floor? And - oh God, why am I all too obviously not alone?
Oh. Sweet. God. I sneak out so quietly, thanking every lucky star that Chakotay sleeps very deeply. I saw it all the time in the Marquis - no matter what the conditions, no matter what the situation, he could sleep anywhere and through everything. The only thing that would wake him was a computer summon, or a good slap round the face. I used to have fun with that. Oh God, and apparently we both had a hell of a lot of fun last night. Two bottles of wine? Why? Oh yes, because he was sad, and I just had to go play best friend. We had dinner, we had wine. A distraction along the lines of a nice Kazon attack would be most welcome.
I make it back to my quarters unseen, and that's strange. It must be very early in the morning, the night shift, which is a skeleton crew, must still be on, so nobody is wandering the Voyager corridors. Which is good, as my top is a little ripped. I don't regret anything, huh? I should never be trusted, I regret plenty of things in my life. When I gain the safety of my own quarters, I put the place on security lockdown, and go straight to bed. It's just past one in the damn morning. He won't even know I'm gone for hours. I have eight hours until I have to report for duty - I'm on the lie-in roster for the week. We might not even need to face each other for days. But of course, I can't do that.
And there's something else I can't do.
"Computer, activate Emergency Medical Hologram."
"Please state the nature of the medical emergency. Ah, Miss Torres."
"Good morning, Doctor."
"I'm assuming that the matter you wish to discuss with me is somewhat serious, due to the hour of your visit."
"Indeed. You're bound by a sacrosanct oath to keep doctor-patient confidentiality, no matter what?"
"Yes, of course."
"Then I need emergency contraception."
"I see. Is the matter about to arise, or has it occurred?"
"It has occurred."
"When?"
"Do you really need to know that?"
"Yes, Miss Torres, I do. Has it been in the last hour?"
"No, about three hours ago."
"Can you be more accurate?"
"Between nine and eleven. I'm - unsure."
"Miss Torres, you can tell me anything. I need to know if you were - forced?"
"No! No. It was - consensual, but we had been drinking." I'm so glad he's so clinical. I used to find him cold and uncaring, but now I love it.
"Very well. Can you tell me how much you had been - drinking?"
"Do you really need to know all this?"
"Yes, I do. I need to precisely adjust the parameters of the drug to compensate for blood alcohol, the physiology of the person with whom you - had relations with."
"You need to know who it was?" I practically scream.
"No, I need to know what species he was."
"Human. And I had two bottles of Gallo Family White Zinfandel rosé wine."
"Very well." He comes up with two tablets from the medical replicator. "Take this one now. Here is some water." I take it, because he won't tell me the rest until I have swallowed it obediently. "Take the second tablet in exactly twenty-four hours from now. The time is now 1:37. I shall privately communicate with you tomorrow morning at 1:30, and again at 1:36, so you are able to take the pill on time. Next time, may I suggest that you come to me first, so I can safely guard you against the - pitfalls of the human hormone."
"I can assure you, Doctor, I will not need you help in this - matter - again."
"Very well."
"And you won't be telling anyone at all, not in any capacity?"
"As neither you, nor the crew, have been placed in danger by this, naturally I will never break your confidence. Doctor/patient confidentiality, as you very rightly pointed out at the start of our interview, is sacrosanct."
"Good. Well, goodnight, Doctor. And thank you."
"Indeed, Miss Torres."
I sleep surprisingly well, and report to Engineering on time. Nothing too major has happened overnight, so I can settle down to what should be a reasonably peaceful duty shift.
CPOV
I stir when a high pitched ringing starts from my bedroom area. I walk towards it and make it stop. Bloody alarm operates on the same frequency as the comm. system, so I can guarantee it will wake me up. The first thing I notice is that I am naked. The second thing I notice is a bra on my recliner. The third thing that registers in any way is the crashing memory of last night.
Oh bloody hell.
No time now - I'm late for duty. How am I late for duty? Oh god, I don't care. I probably went into shock. She's on lie-in rota, and I can avoid her.
"Commander, may I see you in my ready room?" Captain Janeway has of course, been waiting for me. I follow her, as if I ever had a choice. "Are you feeling alright, Commander?"
"Yes, Captain."
"You aren't ill?"
"No, Captain."
"Well, Commander, I am at a loss. You've never been late before. Not once."
"I know, Captain and I'm sorry. I - overslept."
"That is rather unfortunate, and very unlike you. Why did this happen?"
"My alarm system failed to wake me. I will adjust it so it will not occur again."
"Very well, Commander. I can let you off this time, but next time, I will have to note it in the logs."
"I understand, but there won't be a next time, Captain."
"I'm glad to hear it."
She will never, ever know the double meaning of that statement. Ever.
Later that day, we have a very minor fluctuation in the warp core, but it's enough to take the drive out for a period.
"Torres to the Captain."
"Go ahead, Lieutenant."
"I have good and bad news, Captain."
"What's the good news?"
"The good news is, I can fix the warp core. The bad news is, that we're running very low on plasma. If we don't get some more soon, we will be getting back to the Alpha Quadrant just about in time for us all to be celebrating our second centuries."
"Do whatever you can to stretch our current store. How soon is soon?"
"We have enough plasma to last through another ten fluctuations, or if none of those happen and nothing major happens to the warp core, perhaps a month's supply before we have to get out and push."
"I'd like you to work directly with Commander Chakotay on this. He can collaborate with Neelix to discover if there are any planets nearby where we can obtain the plasma, and in the mean time, you two can discuss a strategy for making our plasma last as long as possible."
"Yes, Captain." I can hear her close her eyes in quiet despair. Good lord, I really do know her too well.
So that's why I end up in her office, facing her across her desk, and maintaining a very awkward silence.
"OK, look. We're stuck out here, on this ship, together, for maybe another seventy years."
"True."
"So we can't avoid each other forever, and we can't just not speak to each other for all that time, because then it'd be obvious we'd had sex, and pretty damn good sex," she says, bluntly. "I'm prepared to forget and move on, and behave like an adult about all this. Are you?"
"Certainly."
"Then we're still good friends and colleagues. Now that's dealt with, we need to start doing some chemistry. It is possible to make plasma, but we have few resources on board."
"How much extra help will you need?"
"Get me everyone with a major in chemical engineering."
"There aren't that many."
"Well, any help would be appreciated."
"I'll ask around. Oh and, B'Elanna?"
"Chakotay?"
"You left this behind." I hand over her bra, and she goes a brilliant, fiery red. "You have excellent taste in underwear."