AN: Chakotay crashes a shuttle and strands himself and the Captain on a desert planet. What else is there to know? :) J/C
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or its characters, unfortunately. Also, this has nothing to do with the Marilyn Monroe movie of the same name.
Some Like It Hot
"You are never piloting one of my shuttles again."
The exasperation in Kathryn Janeway's voice was evident as she gestured around the interior of the shuttle, parts of which were on fire or already charred to oblivion.
"It's not my fault!" Chakotay protested, shuffling through the debris to try to reach her. "There's no way I could have anticipated that–"
A small explosion cut him off. They both dove in separate directions for cover. "We need to get out of here. Now!" she bellowed. "Grab your gear and let's move!"
They quickly stuffed their packs full of supplies before making their way out of the defunct shuttle and into the blinding sun.
"This is a lovely planet you chose to crash on, Commander," she remarked snarkily, shielding her eyes with one hand. She turned in a complete circle to get a lay of the land. All she saw was dirt and rocks. No trees, no grass, no water. The sun was hot and she could feel her face flushing.
He shot her an angry glance before tapping his comm badge. "Chakotay to Voyager. Voyager, do you read?"
Silence.
"The comm link probably won't work with that interference we ran into," she stated. She took out her tricorder and started to scan. "It looks like there's a series of caves about eight kilometers from here."
"Eight kilometers? In this heat?"
Kathryn gave him a look. "What else are we supposed to do? We need shelter. And hopefully we can find some water."
He sighed. "Fine. Lead the way."
xXx
They trudged along the flat, rocky terrain towards the cave system. There were no clouds in the sky and no signs of life anywhere. It seemed they had crashed, most unfortunately, on the most desolate planet in the Delta Quadrant.
Kathryn slowed down before she finally stopped, Chakotay a few steps ahead of her.
"I have to take this off," she complained, removing her comm badge before she ripped her uniform jacket open and discarded it on the ground. She was glad she had chosen the short-sleeve turtleneck option that day; the air felt good around the skin of her arms, but she was still overheated.
Chakotay did the same with his jacket. His turtleneck was getting soaked through with sweat and his muscles could be seen rippling underneath. He thought for a moment, then removed the turtleneck too so that he was naked above the waist.
"Do you have that protectant spray the Doctor gave us?" she asked him, rummaging through her backpack. "I must have left mine in the shuttle. I'll turn into a lobster if I don't use it."
He gave her a lopsided smile as he handed her the canister. "Your face is already a little pink."
She looked up at him, noticing that he was now bare chested. A small "Oh" escaped her mouth.
"Thanks," she then said quickly, grabbing the canister from him. She sprayed her arms and hands, and then patted her face. "That should do it for a little while, anyway." She stole a glance at him while he looked off into the distance and cursed herself that she had chosen such a fine specimen of a man for a first officer. She should have picked Neelix. No inappropriate thoughts there.
She sighed heavily. "We need to keep moving so that we can make it to the caves before nightfall." He nodded and they continued on their way.
xXx
The afternoon sun beat down on the command team mercilessly. They still had three kilometers to go and they were rapidly running out of water and stamina.
Kathryn panted as she worked to keep up with Chakotay. If she didn't continue moving, she would surely melt. She focused on his tanned back and toned muscles, beaded with sweat, as if somehow they gave her the strength to keep going. Finally, she came to a halt to catch her breath.
"Take off your pants."
He stopped dead in his tracks. "Wh...what?" he asked, with a hint of trepidation in his voice. He turned around to find her shedding her own pants.
"I said take off your pants," she repeated, pulling one leg out of her trousers. She had already kicked off her boots and socks and had removed her turtleneck. "I'm too hot. And if I have to take off my pants, then you have to take off yours. I'm not walking around here like some kind of trollop."
"I think that's the best order you've ever given me," Chakotay smirked. She rolled her eyes and threw a boot at him. Soon, he was clad in only his gray Starfleet-issue boxers, and she in her Starfleet-issue bra and underwear. She felt relieved that her choice of underwear that day had been the Starfleet-issue boyshorts; sometimes she liked to wear more risque pieces to give herself some semblance of being feminine. That would not have been appropriate attire given the situation.
"You'll need to spray yourself," Chakotay pointed out, now that she was showing most of her smooth, fair skin. "Here, let me." He tiptoed over to her, careful not to step on any rocks with his bare feet, and sprayed her down with the Doctor's magic protectant potion. He tried to be as subtle as possible as he looked over every inch of her skin, both for her own sake and, of course, for his own selfish pleasure. She sucked in all her breath, aware that she felt vulnerable but also aware that she felt totally okay with it. It had been a long time since a man had seen this much of her body, and she took a few fleeting moments to revel in it.
"I think that's good," he said when he was finished. "Ready?"
She nodded, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Ready."
xXx
It was dusk by the time they reached the caves, which were still warm but thankfully several degrees cooler than outside. Chakotay took out a lantern from his backpack and sat down to assess their supplies.
He frowned. "We hardly have any water left."
Kathryn looked up at him from where she was sitting. She had made a small cushion by folding her pants into a square. "Hopefully Voyager will be able to restore communications soon."
They sat in silence for a while. Chakotay eventually noticed that she had dozed off, her head resting on the wall of the cave. He smiled, taking in the sight of her mostly-bare body. Finally, he drifted off to sleep. The last image in his mind was of her.
xXx
A large crack sounded throughout the cave.
Kathryn awoke with a start. The lantern was still lit, and Chakotay stirred in the other corner of the cave. She listened closely; it sounded like thunder. And rain!
"Chakotay!" she exclaimed, jumping up from her spot to shake him. "Chakotay, it's raining! Get the water bottles!"
He became alert immediately, aware of the close proximity of her body to his. He clumsily rummaged through his backpack to retrieve the bottles, which Kathryn took from him and placed outside the mouth of the cave to fill with water. He gazed at her while she stood in the entrance to the cave, watching the warm rain pelt the ground in sheets. Without much warning, she turned around and he quickly diverted his eyes to the nearest rock. She padded towards her corner of the cave, towards her backpack. Suddenly, he had an idea.
"Kathryn," Chakotay said, getting up and walking over to her. "Give me your thermos." He held out his hand.
Her eyes became very wide. "My...what?" she asked innocently. "What thermos?"
He tilted his head. "The one with the coffee in it. In your backpack."
She backed away from him slowly. "I think you must be mistaken, Chakotay," she replied. "I don't have any coffee–"
"I know when you're lying, Kathryn," he interrupted. His eyes twinkled. "Give. Me. The. Thermos."
"No!" she protested. She scooped up her backpack off the ground and held it firmly to her chest. He laughed at her, amused by her childlike behavior. He knew better than to come between his Captain and her coffee, but their survival on this god-forsaken planet was clearly a more important endeavor at the moment.
"We need to dump out the coffee and fill the thermos with water," he explained, inching towards her. "Coffee dehydrates. Water hydrates."
She stared at him, then suddenly turned around to sprint towards the other end of the cave in an effort to escape his silly plan. Didn't he know how ridiculous he sounded, wanting to dump out her precious coffee? He was too fast for her, however; he grabbed her by the waist from behind with one hand and snatched the backpack out of her grip with the other.
She tried to wiggle herself free from his grasp and snorted. "Oh, let me go, you jerk!" she bellowed.
He laughed and released her, all the while taking in the view of her backside. She let out a "Hrrmph" as she turned around to face him, crossing her arms angrily over her chest.
He gave her the lopsided grin she loved–and hated–so much. She knew he was right, of course, but she would never admit it to him. She watched forlornly as he took the thermos out of the backpack, exited the mouth of the cave, dumped the coffee over some rocks, and put the thermos on the ground to let it fill with the rain water.
"Are you going to sulk all night now?" he asked her bemusedly. She plopped down onto her folded pants that she had been using as a cushion and said nothing, choosing to merely glare at him instead.
Chakotay continued grinning despite her attitude. Pulling out an emergency blanket from his backpack, he unfolded it and laid it carefully in the flattest area of the cave.
"Can you hand me the other blanket?" he asked her while still adjusting the blanket on the ground. "We can use it as an extra layer on the ground or as a sheet if it miraculously gets chilly in here."
Kathryn shifted her weight and stared at her feet. "I didn't bring it. It wouldn't fit in my backpack."
He sighed. "Another reason why you didn't need the thermos of coffee," he replied coolly. As he turned to face her more directly, something pegged him directly in the forehead.
"Ow!" he cried. Kathryn immediately jumped up and ran over to him.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She put her hands over her mouth, trying not to laugh. "I meant to hit you in the back with the pebble but you turned around!" The giggles eventually became uncontrollable. She couldn't believe what a childish thing she had done. Maybe the heat had really gotten to her.
Chakotay sighed again and shook his head. He wanted to be mad at her, but there was absolutely no way he could be angry as watched her giggle herself into oblivion in her underwear. Instead, he simply sat down on the blanket and closed his eyes.
She sat down cross-legged next to him. "I'm sorry," she murmured, placing her delicate hand on his shoulder. "I'm just so hot, and tired, and cranky, and sore, and now I don't have any coffee, and…" She trailed off, looking away from him to survey the emptiness of the cave.
He shifted himself so that he was sitting directly behind her. "Let me help," he said softly. He lightly placed his hands on her bare shoulders and, before she could protest, began to give her a massage–not unlike the one he had given her on New Earth all those months ago. Except this time, they were both practically naked. That fact wasn't lost on her.
Kathryn stiffened a little at his touch, but she really needed the aches and pains to subside if she was going to survive until Voyager found them. After a few minutes, she finally relaxed. "Ummph" she moaned. "I have more knots than a sailboat."
He smiled. "You aren't too bad, actually," he replied. He moved his hands down her back, massaging every vertebrae until he reached the one directly above the waistband of her underwear. He gripped her hips and massaged the area with his thumbs. Suddenly, she began to feel uncomfortable with what was happening, meaning that she was actually totally comfortable–and that scared her.
She panicked for a moment, wondering if she should stop the charade before it went too far. She knew she was attracted to him, she could admit that now; but she also knew that it wasn't right, wasn't appropriate, for them to be anything other than friends and colleagues. She sucked in her breath and, in an effort to end the situation, turned to face him.
And she crumbled.
She crumbled the moment she looked into his deep, dark eyes. It had all been too much, watching him walk in front of her wearing hardly any clothing, the sweat dripping off his strong, toned body. The way he cared for her and stood up to her even when she was being obstinate. The many months of sexual tension and flirting. It had been too much, and now it was escaping every pore of her being.
"Kathryn…" he whispered, gazing into her clear blue eyes. He cupped her face in his hands. Her skin was flushed and dirty from their adventure, yet she was so beautiful, so perfect. He knew she was afraid of taking the next step, but he also knew in his heart that everything would be all right. How could it not be if they were together? He loved her with all his soul, and he wasn't turning back now.
He slowly brought her face to his. She didn't resist.
Their lips met in a fiery passion that neither one of them could have anticipated. They clawed at each other like animals, feeling every inch of the other's body, trying to satiate the urges they had endured for so long.
"I want you," he growled as he pulled away from her and pushed her down, laying himself on top of her.
"Then have me," she replied breathlessly. After what had seemed like an eternity of stolen glances and loaded words, she was ready for whatever the night had in store for her.
xXx
Sunlight streamed into the cave in searing waves. Chakotay groaned and rolled away from Kathryn's sleeping form laying next to him on the blanket. He was hot; the temperature in the cave had already gone up several degrees, even in the early morning hours. He reached for a water bottle, but he frowned when he saw that it was empty, remembering that they had gone through both water bottles and the thermos last night. They had worked up quite a sweat.
"Kathryn," he said, leaning over her and kissing her shoulder. "Wake up. We don't have any water left and this cave is getting ungodly hot and stuffy."
She stirred. "I can't move," she mumbled into the ground. She felt like her entire body was sticking to the blanket. She was also sore from all the walking the day before–and the night's activities.
Chakotay grinned and rolled her onto her back. "I love you," he said, giving her a peck on the lips.
"I know," she replied. Her eyes were still closed, but she smiled up at him. He grabbed her hands and hoisted her to her feet.
"We need to get out of here before this cave turns into a sauna, and not the good kind. Maybe we can find water somewhere," he said as he threw some supplies into his backpack before zipping it up.
Kathryn yawned as she pulled on her underwear and clasped her bra behind her back. "I'd probably be more helpful if I had some coffee…" she muttered. She slowly picked up her backpack and they stepped out of the cave into the blistering sun. It was as if it hadn't rained at all the night before; there were no puddles anywhere and the ground wasn't even damp.
Chakotay pulled out his tricorder. "I'm reading what looks like some vegetation, beyond the caves. There may be water there," he said. "It's about one and a half kilometers from here."
"That's not far at all," she replied. "Let's go."
xXx
Kathryn had underestimated the distance needed to reach their destination in the stifling heat. They hadn't even gone a kilometer before they both collapsed into a heap on the ground.
"I can't…" she started to say, but became too tired to finish the sentence. Chakotay unsteadily reached for his tricorder.
"Dear gods," he said. "It's nearly 125 degrees out here!"
"We're going to burn alive," Kathryn moaned. Despite using the Doctor's protectant spray, her skin had already turned a solid shade of pink.
They lay in silence for a while, paralyzed by the hot, thick air. Chakotay was nearly passed out when he heard it–a familiar static sound emanating from his backpack.
"Comm...badge," he stammered, mustering all his strength to unzip his backpack. He reached in, wrapped his hand around the comm badge, and brought it near to his face, tapping it. "Chakotay...to...Voyager…"
"Tuvok here, Commander. We've restored communications and transporters. We're going to beam you out presently. Stand by." Chakotay had never been so overjoyed at hearing Tuvok's monotonous voice.
He turned his head towards Kathryn, putting his cheek against the dusty ground. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing laboriously, but breathing nonetheless. He reached out with his hand to try to touch her, but she was just out of his grasp.
xXx
"Lieutenant Paris," said Tuvok as he stood from the Captain's chair. "Take a medkit and meet the Captain and Commander in Transporter Room Two. Then make sure they go directly to Sickbay. I've already alerted the Doctor and Kes to expect them."
"Aye, sir," Tom replied. He hopped up from his seat at the conn and headed to the turbolift.
Grabbing a medkit along the way, he made it to Transporter Room Two just as Ensign Nozawa was energizing the transporter.
Kathryn and Chakotay's near-lifeless bodies materialized on the transporter pad with their belongings. Tom took one step towards them before he realized they were only wearing underwear. He furrowed his brow, not really sure what to do. Turning to Nozawa, he nodded his head towards the door to dismiss him. After Nozawa had exited the room, Tom turned again towards his patients, trying not to stare; he had always assumed the Captain had a good figure under that uniform of hers, but he hadn't expected to ever see it. Why were they in their underwear? He knew that the planet was extremely hot, but he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to the story.
As if on cue, Kathryn lifted her head an inch or so off the ground to look at Tom. "It's not what it looks like," she croaked before collapsing again.
The cool transporter floor had awoken Chakotay, who had already sat up. He propped himself off the ground to stand and stepped over to Tom, placing his hand on the Lieutenant's shoulder. "It's totally what it looks like," he said lowly into Tom's ear, his eyes gleaming with pride. Tom's jaw dropped slightly as Chakotay smirked. Then he turned his head to look at Kathryn. "I'll get her a blanket out of the corridor emergency panel so we can walk her to Sickbay," he said as he exited the transporter room.
"Well," Tom stated under his breath to no one in particular, "I guess some like it hot."