Author's Note: Thanks to the faithful for sticking with me through this bad boy! So I was tired of the deep emotion, so I included the next part to kind of liven things up a bit, so have some fun, sway to the music and think of the '40's! Enjoy folks! Please R&R as always. This was just so fun to write…
The bar was smoky and dimly lit, but as Harry walked in he could hear the sounds of swing music and could see that Sandrine's was packed with off duty crew members. Everyone was there, even Tuvok, who looked a little bemused by the woman who dancing around him in a ridiculous manner. She had way too much to drink, Harry laughed to himself. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Tom dancing with a brunette in a Starfleet uniform. As the swing music slowed to a sultry Spanish tune his eye caught on another couple who had just moved onto the dance floor. He couldn't see their faces, but he could tell that the man had his arm wrapped rather protectively around the petite woman's waist. Her hair was long, and in the dim lighting it appeared almost auburn.
He ambled over to the bar, and after grabbing a drink he focused his attention on Tom and the other couple in the corner of the dance floor. As the tune once again picked up in rhythm, he could see Tom twirl the brunette and Harry caught sight of something on her forehead, it almost looked like ridges, but that would mean… and Tom hated B'Elanna and certainly vice versa. But as the dance floor formed a circle around the pair, he noticed that both were smiling and laughing. It was then that Harry became very suspicious of the punch…
Chakotay had come up to her as she sat at her table in the corner of Sandrine's, observing the crew's party. How it began she wasn't sure, it had probably been one of Paris's little ideas, but she didn't mind, she'd actually felt a bit honored when Ensign Wildman had invited her to the party that evening. It made her feel like a part of the crew, especially when she entered, and everyone swarmed to talk to her, to get her a drink, to dance with her. To be honest, she'd never felt more at home than the moment she walked through those holodeck doors. At least until he had asked her to dance.
Sure, she wasn't the best dancer, but she loved it. He had insisted that she let her hair down, after all it was a party, and after some initial reluctance she had said "Ah the hell with it…" and as he laughed, let her hair down in a cascading wave of red. As the music turned into a swing dance, she hesitated a bit. "It's okay Captain, we'll go nice and easy…" She smiled a wildly flirtatious grin, but for once, she didn't care what he thought, after all it was a party, and there was plenty of real alcohol, he'd never know… As they twirled around the dance floor she found herself giggling like a schoolgirl, and he was no better. "Commander…" she interjected "Why did you never tell me about all your hidden talents?" He laughed and they continued to dance.
He marveled what a wonderful person she was when she wasn't in command, hell she was even pleasant, and that made Tom hate Chakotay even more. He hated the way his arm rested perfectly at her waist and the way she fit perfectly in his arms, it was like they were made for each other. Tom had danced with the Captain, but their dance was clumsy and nothing at all like her dance with Chakotay. He hated that he was dancing with the woman he loved. He needed a plan to break them a part and quick…Then his eyes fell on Torres.
She had agreed with Paris's plan quickly, after all she was not one to pass up an opportunity to break the Captain and Commander apart. Sure she had to dance with Paris, but it was a small price to pay if she eventually landed Chakotay. As they whirled around the dance floor, she found herself having fun, she was forgetting her mission! She needed to make Chakotay jealous, angry, anything but happy… but she found herself caught up in Tom's smile and his laugh. He too had forgotten the con to break apart the Command team, so she didn't feel so bad. They laughed uncontrollably and she felt herself getting dizzy from all the turns, but she didn't want to stop dancing. As her eyes locked with Paris's she couldn't help thinking that maybe he wasn't such a jerk after all, still a pig, but he wasn't all bad.
As the evening wound down, and everyone began to leave Sandrine smiled to herself, things certainly were getting interesting around here…