Creepy Crawlies

"Did you get it?" she yelled from the other room.

"I can't find it." he yelled back.

A chill ran dawn her spine. The thought of that horrible thing hiding somewhere, only to come out again when she was alone mad her toes curl and gave her goose bumps.

"Oh come on, you HAVE to find it! And KILL it!"

Chakotay peeked his head through the door, with the look of disbelief on his face.

"You don't mean to tell me that the fearless captain Janeway is afraid of a teeny tiny spider?" he tried not to laugh.

She put on a stern face and of course her hands on her hips. "First of all, that THING is NOT teeny tiny, and second…" The words got lost and her eyes grew wide in horror.

"Kathryn, are you alright?" Chakotay asked when he saw all color disappear from her cheeks.

She lifted a trembling finger and pointed at something, which seemed to be just somewhere above his head. Chakotay slowly turned around and made eye contact with the beast that had his captain scream like a little girl before.

It scared the hell out of him and he couldn't get away fast enough, but he tripped over his own feet and fell.

The eight-legged monster took advantage of the situation and jumped from his spot high on the wall towards a still struggling Chakotay.

Just before it reached its intended destination, phaser fire hit and left it splattered all over the floor, wall and… Chakotay.

"Ugh, this is disgusting." he said while wiping gooey stuff off of his face.

"Are you okay?" Janeway asked and finally left her safe spot in the far corner of the room.

"I'm fine, thank you." Chakotay answered and stood up. He tried to get rid of more green slime, but it was no use, his uniform was ruined. He looked at Janeway, who was trying hard not to laugh, but failing miserably.

"So you think this is funny, do you?"

"I'm sorry, Chakotay, I can't help it. You look…" she couldn't hold it anymore and snorted.

Chakotay shook his head. "At least it's dead. That thing was HUGE!"

"I told you so." Janeway handed him a cloth to wipe his face clean. "Thank you."

"What for? You killed it yourself."

"For coming to my rescue." she said.

Chakotay took a step towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm always here for you!" he said sincerely. "Even for ridiculously large spiders." He smiled a lopsided grin.

Janeway smiled up at him and felt a flutter in her stomach. She took the cloth from his hand and brought it up to his face. "You still have some here…"

She gently wiped his brow clean and their eyes locked.

"If circumstances would have been different, I would've kissed you by now." Chakotay whispered.

"If circumstances would have been different, I might have kissed you back." She replied without thinking.

They slowly closed the distance between them, never breaking eye contact, and kissed.

It was sweet and slow… and sticky…

"You need to take a shower." she whispered against his lips.

"I need to take a shower." He said almost simultaneously. They smiled and reluctantly parted.

Chakotay turned and started heading for the door, but Janeway grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

He turned back around and frowned. "Have a shower."

"Bathroom is THAT way." She said and tilted her head in the direction of her own bathroom.

Chakotay stood there, waiting for an explanation and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"You can't leave," she finally said. "I need you here in case you have to rescue me again from another horrible creature. You might have to stay here ALL night…"

Chakotay understood her suggestion and grabbed her hand, pulling her along with him to the bathroom. And they took his much needed shower…

THE END

BDC 2012