Summary:  Tom and Chakotay get caught with their hands on each other
and are forced to become a not so happy couple.
 
 

"This isn't my fault."

"And it's mine?"

"Well, if you wouldn't have screamed,"

"I wasn't screaming I was talking loudly and besides, it was your
idea to do it in the Governor's bathroom."

"I thought the door had a lock."

"It didn't."

"Well I know that `now' Chakotay!"

Tom glared at him and then moved to the far end his cell.  Through
the bars, he could see the younger man folding in on himself,
bringing his knees up on the hard bench that lined the wall and
wrapping his arms around his legs signaling an end to their
conversation.  As far as body language went Tom was an adept, it was
verbal communication he wasn't so good at, well at least not with him.

Giving up on trying to discuss their situation with his fellow
inmate, Chakotay sat back against the cold wall, closed his eyes and
sighed.

When did things get so out of control?

When Tom left B'Elanna?  It had stepped up then, got more intense but
that wasn't the start of it.  No, the madness had started way before
that, back to Jonas, three years ago.  He remembered their first time
clearly.

It had been shortly after Tom's appearance on `A Briefing with
Neelix' and his less than sincere public apology for misleading him.
Chakotay had called him on it and summoned him to his office.

He had walked in, no swaggered in spoiling for a fight and Chakotay
had been in the mood to give him one.  After a barrage of insults
from both of them, the argument had turned physical.

Tom had shoved him and he had shoved back only with more force,
knocking the irritating blond back into the bulkhead beside his
office door.  When Tom's arm had shot out aiming for his chin,
Chakotay had caught it deftly and had pinned both of his flailing
appendages over his head.  Breathing hard he had secured the rest of
the struggling pilot against the wall with the weight of his body.
That's when it had happened.

Having nothing left to fight with, Tom had leaned his head forward
and attacked him with his mouth.  If Chakotay knew then, what he knew
now he would have been better off hauling off and decking Tom but he
hadn't.  He had kissed him back.

The kiss had been brutal, spiteful and insolent but it had also been
exciting, stimulating and very, very hot.  When he had let go of
Tom's arms, the younger man hadn't used his free hands to escape but
to pull him closer.  Shortly there after, they were moaning, grabbing
at each other's asses and grinding their hips together.  They had
still been locked at the mouth when they had simultaneously exploded
in their respective trousers.  After that, Tom had left with a word.

The following week while they had not settled their personal
differences, surprisingly their working relationship improved.  Tom
no longer snapped back sarcastic answers to his orders and he stopped
criticizing the pilot's every move.  It had been almost ten days
before the tension had started to rise again.

This time when he called the younger man into his office for a small
act of insubordination, they had dispensed with the insults and
wrestling and went straight to the manic kissing.  That day he had
fucked Tom over his desk.

And so it went for almost two years.   A week of smooth sailing on
the bridge, a hard fuck or sometimes a quick hand job or blow job,
time permitting, and then back to pleasant happy faces for the
outside world to see.  Nobody knew back then.

They didn't socialize off duty and when they did get together, they
were very careful not to be seen.  They didn't use his office often.
It was too risky and used only as a last resort when it got bad.
Most times they met late at night in one or the other's quarters and
then it was in and out, pardon the pun.   They still didn't talk
much, Chakotay did not count the filthy language they used in the
heat of passion as talking and when they did speak it was never to
say anything kind.  They still fought viciously in private.

It wasn't a perfect arrangement, in fact if he analyzed it, it was
probably a little sick but it had worked.  Voyager although she
didn't know it benefited from their brutal liaisons.  That was until
B'Elanna told Tom she loved him.

Neither one of them had been dating anyone seriously.  In fact, he
hadn't been sexually involved with anyone while with Tom.  It hadn't
been necessary.  What he got from Tom was more than enough however
the same could not be said for the younger man.  Tom did sleep with
other people, not many but he did.

Chakotay hadn't really minded that he wasn't the pilot's only
lover.   It wasn't like they had a real relationship anyway but he
had balked when it came to B'Elanna.  She was like a daughter to
him.  He had suddenly gotten scruples and started thinking with more
than his dick.

He had not asked Tom to make a choice between him and B'Elanna.  He
simply told the younger man he could not have sex with him while he
was sleeping with the engineer.  Maybe, when he thought back on it
now, he had indeed been forcing the pilot to choose, whatever in the
end hadn't mattered.   Tom did choose B'Elanna.

If anyone had bothered back then to take the time to notice, they
might have seen the connection then, but they hadn't.

While Tom was with B'Elanna, they had reverted back to their previous
animosity while on duty.  For B'Elanna's happiness Chakotay had tried
to be civil, and he knew Tom had been trying too, but it had been
useless.  They had still crackled with sexual tension whenever they
were near each other and no amount of good intentions had been able
to disperse it.

Tom broke off the relationship after three stressful months.
Chakotay had felt guilty about that but not enough to turn him away
when he showed up one night in his office asking to be fucked.  It
had been the first time either of them had articulated their need
verbally.  Besides wanting the pilot so bad it hurt, Chakotay had
been too stunned to say no.  He had taken the younger man on every
piece of furniture in his office that night.

That's when it started, he decided while sitting on the hard bench of
his cell.  That's when it really got out of control.

The tenor of their relationship hadn't changed.  They still fucked
each other brutally and fought but after the breakup they needed it
more often.  Once a week was no longer enough to keep the bridge
harmonious.  Nor, Chakotay thought ruefully, we're they as careful.
They no longer restricted their sexual activities to his office and
their quarters after hours.

They had sex in Jeffries tubes, the turbo lift, the both the shuttle
and cargo bays and even the EMH's office.  They had no shame.  They
simply deactivated the doctor when they did it there.  Chakotay
wondered idly why Tuvok had never mentioned to him that the doctor
tended to go off line whenever Tom was on duty in Sickbay.

Anyway the point was, they were careless in their passion and now
they were paying the price for their reckless disregard.  They had
taken it too far and had finally been caught.  Only it hadn't
happened on Voyager but on an alien planet and he and Tom were facing
more than public disgrace.  They were facing an extended
incarceration.

The Verdanians were a kind and generous people.  The moment Voyager
had approached their planet with the possibility of trade, they had
been more than accommodating.  They had opened their arms and their
homes to the crew and gone so far as to throw a party for them at the
Governor's residence to celebrate the end of a successful trade
negotiation.  Both he and Tom had been among the honoured guests.

With the negotiations taking up most of their time, it had been a few
days since they had gotten together and were both feeling it.  During
dinner they had been short with each other, and had garnered not a
few stares from both their crewmates and their hosts.  Chakotay was
only glad that they had not been seated next to each other where they
could have touched or they would have made greater fools of
themselves than they did end up eventually doing.   Not that it
mattered now.

After the stressful meal, the gathering had become more informal and
guests had been allowed to mingle at will through the great hall.
Chakotay had played ambassador all the while looking for secluded
places to drag the pilot into to.  Tom had been doing the same only
he had been successful.

"Go to the bathroom."   The tempestuous blond had whispered
discreetly in his ear while passing on his way to said facility.
Chakotay had excused himself quickly.

Tom had been on him the moment he had shut the door.

"Oh baby I need you."  Tom had cried while biting at his neck and
fumbling with the fastening of his pants.  Tom's were already undone
and peeled back to reveal his weeping erection.  Chakotay had palmed
and had begun stroking it while the younger man had gone after his.

"Oh man Chak you're hard as a rock."  Tom had said when he found it.

"For now, fix it for me Tommy."  He had placed his hands on the tops
of the pilot's shoulders and had started to force him downward when
Tom had balked.

"Uh-uh, no blowjobs tonight baby.  It's been too long.  I need you to
fuck me."

"Later, when we get back to Voyager."  He had tried to push Tom down
again but he had spun out his grasp and had leaned over the vanity.

"No now."  He had demanded over his shoulder as he pulled his pants
down over his beautifully firm butt.  Tom's hole had been gaping and
glistening.

"You little bastard."  He had cursed.  Tom had planned this and had
prepared himself ahead of time.  The younger man knew he would not be
able to refuse this gift and he was right.  He couldn't.  Chakotay
had hated both of them at that moment.

"Call me anything you want, just do it while you're fucking my ass
Chak."

And he had.  While reaming the pilot's butt, he had screamed
obscenities at him.  He had been calling him a whore and fucking him
like one, fast and hard without a thought to his pleasure when the
door had opened.  He had shooting his load deep into Tom when Kathryn
had called out his name.  Tom came when the Governor had called for
security.

So here they were locked up in an alien jail awaiting sentence.  It
seemed one did not engage in public sex on Verdana.  Imagine that.

"Commander?"

Chakotay opened his eyes.  It was Kathryn.   A guard let her into his
cell and then left.   She took a seat beside him quietly.  Tom looked
over briefly and then huddled back into himself.

"I don't know what to say."  She said finally.

"You're disappointed, shocked, disgusted or all the above.  How's
that."

"That pretty much covers it."

"And you want to know why."

"Yes."

"I'm sorry.  I can't help you there because I don't know why."

"How could you not?  You were caught in a very compromising
position.  You didn't just fall into Tom."

Chakotay laughed.  It wasn't a pleasant sound.

"You'd be surprised to know how many times I've done just that or him
into me for that matter."

"This wasn't the first time the two of you have made love?"

Chakotay knew it was the romantic in her that asked that.  Kathryn
wanted to believe that he and Tom were in love and had been so
overwhelmed by their feelings that they given into a moment of sweet
passion.   Well she was wrong and he told her so.

"It wasn't even that.  Tom and I don't make love Kathryn.  We have
sex.  Hard, brutal sex and tonight was definitely not the first
time.  We've been doing it for years."

"But B'Elanna?"  Kathryn choked out.  Tom looked over again when he
heard her name.  Chakotay gave his answer to him and not his captain.

"We stopped then but after the breakup, I was right back in his bed
so fast the sheets hadn't cooled from her body yet."  He said
bitterly.  Tom winced and then hid his head again.

"My god Chakotay."

"I know.  What we did tonight was stupid."

"It was more than that.  It was criminal.   The Verdanians want to
lock up you both up for a year."

"A year?  Oh spirits."  Chakotay shifted his body towards her and
level his gaze.  It was time to pay for his lack of good
judgment. "You know you'll have to leave both of us behind, don't
you?"

"No."

"Yes, just leave us the Delta Flyer.  When our sentences are
complete, we'll head out after you.  Maybe we'll catch up, maybe we
won't but either way you can't make Voyager pay for our mistake.  It
isn't fair Kathryn."

"And this is?"

"Whether it is or not doesn't matter.   Federation protocols say
while we are here on this planet, we abide by their laws.   Tom and I
broke one, so it follows that we abide by their punishment.   I will
not let you break with the principles you hold so dear just to save
us."

"Well it's too late."  She put her hand up to stop his
protests.  "And I haven't exactly broken any protocols.   I just
explained the situation to the Verdanian court as I saw it and they
have agreed to let you go."

"Just like that?"

"No.  There is a condition to be met first.  You see I explained that
you and Tom were in love and just got a little carried away.
Thankfully they were very understanding however they did not do so
blindly.  They called my bluff."

"What do we have to do Kathryn?"  Somehow Chakotay knew he wasn't
going to like the answer to this one.

"You have to marry Tom."

He was right.

"What!"   Tom unfurled himself and ran at the bars that separated
their two cells.  "I will not marry that asshole!"

Kathryn rose and met him.

"Tom, please keep your voice down."

"Sorry captain but there isn't any way in hell that I'll make
Chakotay my husband, got that?"

Chakotay sat impassively on the bench too stunned to move.  He didn't
want to marry Tom either, couldn't actually but was surprised that
the younger man's vehement refusal hurt him.

Did Tom really hate him that much?  He knew they didn't get along but
spirits, the amount of venom in the man's voice made it sound if he
was truly disgusting to him.  How could Tom touch him if that was the
case?

"You would rather stay in jail?"  Kathryn countered in a soft
soothing voice.

Tom shrugged his shoulders.  "I've done it before, piece of cake."

"Well you don't have to, so you're not.   I need my pilot so you'll
just have to marry Chakotay.   You can annul the marriage as soon we
return to Voyager."  She gave him a hard look.  "Provided of course
the two of you don't somehow find a way to consummate it by then.
Otherwise, it will have to be a divorce."

"You're saying it's has to be a Federation marriage not a local
one?"  Tom asked.

"Yes the Verdanians are forgiving not naive."  Kathryn
replied.  "They know we might not necessarily take their marriage
ceremony seriously but our own, well that's different."

"Very clever."   Chakotay said from his bench.  "However I'm afraid
I'm with Tom.  We cannot marry."

Kathryn looked at him shocked, so did Tom but he ignored that.   It
was obvious she had expected an argument from Tom but not him.   She
had taken for granted he would agree to the marriage.  She turned
back to the stunned lieutenant.

"Can you excuse us for a moment Tom?"  She asked him.

"Yeah sure."  Tom retreated back to the far end of his cell and took
up his previous huddled position.

Kathryn sat down next to him with consoling expression on her face.

"I know it hurt to hear him say he didn't want to marry you Chakotay
but you have to put aside your wounded pride and do this."

"It's not pride Kathryn."  It was a little but that was not the point
he intended to make.  "I can't marry him because then I won't be able
to marry anyone else when the time comes when I truly want to.   My
people only marry once Kathryn and it's for life."

"It's not a real marriage Chakotay and it won't be one at all after
we return to the ship."

"Are you going to make me repeat vows?"

"Yes, that's part of the ceremony but it doesn't have to mean
anything.  You don't have to take them seriously."

"But I will," He nodded over at Tom.  "Even to him.  I can't mouth
words of loyalty, devotion and fidelity and not abide by them
afterwards.  Just like your Starfleet protocols, my religion, my
beliefs are a part of me Kathryn.  They make me who I am.  If I deny
them, then I'm nothing."

She sighed in exasperation.  "So you're willing to sit in jail too?"

"Yes.  I made a mistake, a big one and I'll pay for it."

"Oh for crying out loud Chakotay all you did was have sex with my
helmsman in a bathroom.  You shouldn't have to spend a year in jail
and Voyager shouldn't have to do without two of her best officers.
Marry him."

"Have you forgotten Tom doesn't want to marry me either?"

"No, but I think I can bring him around.   Marriage isn't as sacred
to him as it is to you.  The only religion he has is the Federation
and the Federation will allow him to marry again.  It's you, you're
the tough one.   Is there anything I can do to make it all right with
your beliefs?"

"Make Tom marry me for the rest of my life."  He said flippantly,
offering her an impossible solution.   He was getting tired of this
conversation and was ready to end it.

"Oh is that all?"  She replied irritably clearly not impressed by his
off handed comment.

He smiled at her and she scowled.  "Yep, if he'll agree to that, I'll
do it."

That was another vow he wouldn't break now that he'd made it but she
didn't know that and besides, Tom would never agree to marry him
anyway so he had nothing to worry about.  He would never have to make
good on his vow.

"Fine, wait here."   She got up and called for the guard.

From a side door a trusty came in and let her out of his cell.
Kathryn spoke to the guard quietly a moment, who then proceeded over
to Tom's cell and released him.   With Tom in tow, she left the room
completely.

Chakotay watched it all in silent confusion and dread.  She was up to
something.  He brooded until they returned five minutes later.  This
time the guard opened his cell and deposited Tom inside it.  With an
evil looking grin the younger man walked up to him and spoke.

"I'll marry you Chakotay."

"What?"  He cried.

"I said I'll marry you."  Tom winked and blew him a kiss.   "For
life."
 

TBC