A/N - Please forgive me if I get the sci-fi Tec-talk wrong and switch hyper spanners with plasma-aligners, etc. My focus is the couple ;)
"Where is my damn new engineer!?"
Lieutenant B'elanna Torres wiped the sweat from her brow as she crawled out of the jeffery's tube leading back to engineering. It had been a rough morning, and there weren't enough hands to fix the damage done by the Krogan attack the day before.
Luckily Captain Janeway had cleverly eluded the Krogan, and now they were back on their main course for home. Although if they continued to travel at a speed of warp two, they'd never reach Earth in their lifetime.
B'elanna scanned engineering again in frustration at not receiving an answer. Everyone was bustling, scanning, welding and realigning Voyager's sensors as instructed. But that didn't help the Lieutenant at the moment. She closed her eyes and let the frustration envelop her, embracing it full on. If the engineer to assist her didn't show up soon, she swore she was gonna— "Ensign Ryder, reporting for duty, Lieutenant."
B'elanna opened her eyes to take in the Starfleet officer's appearance. The woman had jet black hair tied back into a tight bun, not a hair out of place. Her eyes were trained on B'elanna, studying but kind. B'elanna appreciated they were the same color as her own, a dark chocolate brown, only the Ensign's had a natural darkening around her eyes, accenting the color; they were beautiful against clear milk-white skin. On the bright side, it'll be nice to work with someone so attractive.
"Good. Nice to meet you, Ensign. I need you to help me with the thermal protection grid surrounding the internal engine components."
After receiving a nod of understanding, B'elanna turned and re-entered the too hot jeffery's tube with Ensign Ryder in tow. It took them several sweltering minutes to reach the break in a side panel the Lieutenant had been working on earlier. She did her best to fix it but unfortunately needed to call in a science engineer as she did not specialize in thermal protection.
"Here," B'elanna indicated, pointing at the burst side panel. "I tried to reseal it, but it wouldn't hold."
Ensign Ryder removed her tool kit that was slung over her shoulder and took out a scanner the Lieutenant wasn't familiar with. B'elanna pressed up against the dead end of the jeffery's tube wall to make room for the Ensign to see the problem but it was a cramped space, the science tech would have to lean in close. B'elanna was suddenly self-conscious of how she smelled as the Ensign leaned across her. Ensign Ryder however, smelled like she was fresh from the shower. B'elanna's heartbeat began to quicken as the woman's elbow accidentally pressed up against her breast. The Ensign didn't even seem to notice; she was solely focused on the ruptured panel.
"I'm glad you called me," B'elanna blinked twice before registering the Ensign was talking to her. "The exterior plating is completely degraded and could've ruptured on impact."
"In other words, we almost gave the ship a new door, right?"
"Yeah. A big one." the Ensign replied laughing. Her laughter was music to B'elanna's ears. "Not to worry Lieutenant, we can fix this, but it's gonna take a few hours."
"I hate the idea of being in this tube for hours but let's do this. And you can call me B'elanna. You got a first name, Ensign?"
"Yeah, it's Alex." Alex held out her hand toward B'elanna to shake. Calloused hands met soft ones. They held each other's hand a little too long, and gazed into one another a little too deeply, but it was comfortable. A smile broke across Alex's face, and she began unzipping her blue Starfleet jacket, tossing it aside. The gray tank top showed off the officer's well-honed muscles. B'elanna made a mental note to get to the gym more as she shed her jacket too.
Working with Alex was a joy. They talked endlessly about nothing and everything as they worked. B'elanna did everything asked of her and learned some invaluable tips and tricks along the way.
At one point they had bumped elbows eliciting an apology from the Ensign. But B'elanna had laughed it off saying "it comes with the job." The smile she received after that reply had been worth it. The Lieutenant was a little sad that they were almost finished. Although the actual work was tiring and it was hot as hell in that tube, she didn't want to part company.
"I really enjoyed working with you today Ensign, any chance I can poach you away from cryogenics for engineering? I'd love to have a competent assistant for once."
"Get my hands dirty doing grunt work like this every day? Hmmm, I'm not so sure that appeals to me. Although I wouldn't mind working side by side with the attractive chief of engineering."
Is she flirting with me?
B'elanna can't hide her smile at the welcomed yet inappropriate comment. "Have dinner with me?"
"Absolutely, Lieutenant."
Packing up their tools and maybe not so unintentionally bumping elbows several times later, the officers climbed out of the jeffery's tube.
"Hope I don't have to fix anything like that for a while."
"You're the Chief, just send a crewman in," Alex joked.
B'elanna let a laugh escape as she entered a few commands into a nearby console before leaving engineering in the hands of the night crew.
"Think I'm gonna catch a shower first. Meet you in the mess hall in half hour?" Alex asked.
"I think we've worked through half the night. The mess hall's closed, most likely. That took way longer than I expected. Why don't you shower then come by my quarters? I'll replicate us something nice."
"At least good company made it go by faster. Sounds good, B'elanna. I'll see you soon."
And with that, Alex was out the door leaving B'elanna with a ridiculous grin plastered on her face as she caught the subtle sway of the Ensign's beautiful ass.