"I was just thinking about you." (Paris/Torres)

Author's Note: This story takes place after "Scientific Method".

/

B'Elanna was sitting cross-legged in front of an open panel inside a Jefferies tube, checking the gel packs - so far everything looked fine, but she wouldn't put it past the Srivani to leave a virus in the bioneural circuitry as a parting gift - when her commbadge chirped.

"Paris to Torres." She could hear Tom smiling even in those few words. An answering smile pulled her own lips upward.

"Torres here. What's up?" she asked cautiously, just in case the conversation wasn't private on his end.

"Just thinking about you." Nope. Definitely private. His voice had that liquid-honey quality she'd become very familiar with over the past few weeks. The last time she'd heard him sound like that, he'd been whispering close enough for her to feel his warm breath on her face. "I'm glad we had that little talk last night."

She blushed. There hadn't been that much talking involved, although she did remember an exchange of banter about their relationship being a product of alien experimentation that, to her secret relief, he'd been joking about as much as she had. After a night like theirs, it was obvious that their attraction was real.

"Me too," she said softly, even though the walls of the tube were too thick for anyone to overhear.

"Sooo … I checked your location. That Jefferies tube you're in looks nice and private."

"Tom … "

"And I haven't had my break yet this morning. I could beam right over. Fifteen minutes?"

"Tom, we can't," she said, trying to force sternness into her voice even as her skin tingled from memories of the last few times they'd done this. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Captain's right. We can't go sneaking around the ship like this. What if there's an emergency and we're not at our posts?"

Her voice cracked at the word emergency; the thought of the Srivani walking invisibly around the ship, spying and probing and injecting, nauseated her. In the Captain's place, she would have flown Voyager through the binary pulsar too if it got rid of them. If anything could shatter carelessness, it was a day like this. She wasn't taking anything for granted - not her rank as Chief Engineer, not the Captain's trust, and especially not Tom.

"Yeah, she's right. And so are you." His rueful sigh crackled over the comm line. "Too bad, though. Fifteen minutes would've been a challenge."

"Oh, I don't think so, Flyboy," she purred. "As an engineer, I'd choose endurance over speed anytime. Now stop distracting me and let me work, okay? I'll have a surprise ready for you tonight. You can look forward to that … all … day … long."

"You've got a mean streak, Torres."

"Uh-huh. And you like it."

"Mmm … you're not wrong." She could just picture that cocky grin on his face. That look had been getting on her nerves for three years; she never would have guessed how hot it could be when he was wearing nothing else. "We'll just see who's surprised tonight, then. Paris out."

The commbadge chirped, cutting her off before she could have the last word.

She swore at the empty air, but couldn't help laughing at the same time. Classic Tom Paris. Now he'd have her distracted all day too, and he knew it, but it was still the happiest distraction she'd known in a long time.