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

"You little bastard!"

"Oh shit!"   Tom squealed as Chakotay lunged for his throat.  He
expected a negative reaction from his acceptance but hell, the man
looked ready to murder him.  He ducked to the right but the commander
was too quick for him and snagged his waist, tumbling both of them to
the floor.

"Take it back!"  Chakotay screamed in his face while lying on top of
him.

"No!"  He yelled back.  "The captain said you would marry me if I
agreed to it for life and I'm agreeing!  Are you taking that back?"

"Dammit you know I can't."  Chakotay groaned and then rolled off
him.

Tom did know.  That's why he'd said yes.

"Do you really hate me that much?"  Chakotay complained from beside
him.  He hadn't gotten up but was still laying on the floor next him
on his back.  They weren't looking at each other but staring up at
the ceiling.

"What do you mean hate you?  I'm marrying you aren't I?"

"Oh just stop it.  We both know we can't stand each other."

"Maybe but I'll be damned if I spend a year in this godforsaken
place.  I've been to prison, Chak.  It's not a fun place for someone
that looks like me."

"I'm not going to grant you a divorce Tom."  Chakotay's voice was
contrite.

Tom laughed to himself.   Chakotay had not even bothered mentioning
an annulment.   They both knew they would have sex again before that
happened.

"I know."  He said to the ceiling.  "So we'll stay married, big
deal.  It doesn't mean we have to set up housekeeping together.
Nothing has to change."

"Except you'll be Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Chakotay for the rest of
your life."

Yeah, like that will happen.

"I don't have to change my name."

"Yes, you do.  It's tradition."

"Yours not mine."

"Yours too, if you marry me."  Chakotay poked him the ribs causing
him to turn his head and look into his hopeful face.  "Care to change
your mind?"

"Nope."  Tom smiled at him.  "Lieutenant Chakotay it is."

"Bastard."  Chakotay spat, again using his favorite nickname and then
looked back to the roof of their cell.

"Yeah I know but you love it."  Tom replied lightly.

"I don't love you."  He said defiantly.

"So, my parents didn't love each other each and they got married."
Tom replied avoiding the logical response of he didn't love him
either.  He could do a lot of nasty things to Chakotay and he was
doing one right now but he could not out and out lie.  Well, not
about that at least.

"We're not your parents."  Chakotay countered.

"I know that.  They don't like sex having with each other and we do
baby.  We do a lot.  You're probably dying to do me right now, aren't
you?"

"So what if I am?"  Chakotay was nothing if not honest.  Tom knew
that and that's what was currently betting his whole life on.

"So do you wanna?"  This time it was he was doing the poking.
Chakotay grabbed his hand and held it.

"There's the guard and Kathryn might come back at anytime."

"Nothing she hasn't seen before."

"Well its something I'd prefer she doesn't see again."

"What if I ask the guard to keep an eye out as wedding present?"

"Tom," Chakotay propped himself up one elbow and looked down at him.
He was still holding his hand.  "You don't want to marry me, do you?"

"Yes, I do."   Not a lie but not entirely the truth either.

"What if I promise to protect you while we're in jail?  I won't let
anyone near you, okay?"

Chakotay thought he was afraid of being raped and was offering to
watch his back or more specifically, his ass.   He liked the idea of
the big man being his knight in shining armour but he liked the idea
of him being his reluctant husband more.

Earlier when the captain had named the terms of their release he'd
been outraged at the audacity of someone making him marry Chakotay.
As far as he was concerned it would be a cold day in hell before
somebody `made' him marry anyone, he wasn't the marry type, including
the tantalizing man he couldn't get enough of.

The only way he ever intended on becoming Chakotay's husband was if
the big man begged him on his hands and knees, and even then Tom
wasn't sure he'd say yes.  Not that he'd had any hope of that
happening.  Tom doubted the commander would ever deign to come down
from his high horse and sully himself long enough to do that.
Chakotay didn't want him for a husband, but as a dirty secret.  Tom
hated him for that even now when he sort of kind of maybe loved him.

At beginning when he had taken a chance and kissed him that day in
his office, he had been satisfied with their relationship.  The hate
hadn't been so bad then.  The secrecy hadn't bothered him nor had the
spicy hotness of the sex.  Good sex was good sex as far as Tom was
concerned no matter how brutal and it did get pretty barbaric from
time to time but only when Chakotay was very angry.

When that happened, the big man would toss his respectable facade out
the airlock and get real feral on his ass.   He said things and did
things that would send his adoring crew running and screaming to hide
under their beds.  Chakotay could be, when provoked a raging bull, a
snarling tiger, and even sometimes a targ in heat.  He was a sexual
animal.

The first time Tom had seen his wild side, he too had been staggered
but that hadn't lasted long.  Soon after, despite the resulting aches
and pains, he'd been delighted.  It was incredibly erotic to see
someone so rigid and straight-laced lose it in a fit of furious off
the wall passion and a very powerful feeling to know you were the
cause.

There after, Tom would sometimes even pick fights with Chakotay,
pushing him to his ultimate limits to make him let go, to see the
real man behind the starched uniform, to see the animal.  That was
the Chakotay he liked and respected.  It was the one on the bridge he
wasn't so crazy about.

First Officer Commander Chakotay was a self-righteous son of a bitch
and impossible taskmaster.  Nobody else saw him that way but
Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris did.  For that man, the one on the
bridge, he couldn't do anything right.  Even when he'd put his ass on
the line during the Jonas incident, the commander had still seen it
as a personal betrayal.  It was only when they were both stripped
naked of their uniforms and commands that Tom was able to please
him.  He still wasn't good enough for him mind you, hence the secrecy
they had shot to hell in the Governor's bathroom but he didn't
complain about his performance when they fucked.

So for two years it went.  He got to fuck the sexiest beast on the
ship and antagonize the sanctimonious first officer at the same
time.  It wasn't a bad arrangement and for a while he was almost
happy.

Enter B'Elanna Torres.  She told him she loved him and ruined
everything.

Chakotay had dropped him at the first mention of B'Elanna's offer of
love.  There had been no discussion.  He had just told him that was
it.  It was over and he didn't want him anymore.  Then it had been
Tom's turn to be angry. So to spite him, he had gone with B'Elanna.
It had been a mistake.

He didn't know it then but he couldn't give her what she wanted
because it belonged to someone else.

Eventually she grew tired of his evasive answers and emotional
distance and had kicked him out.   He had gone straight back to
Chakotay that same night.  Just shown up in his office and begged him
to fuck him and he did, all night, no questions asked.

That was when he fell in love with the first officer, well as much as
someone as emotionally screwed up as he could.  Tom was pretty sure
that what he felt wasn't the textbook definition of the word, the
love he learned at his father's knee was laced heavily with vengeance
and spite but for him it was close enough.

Although they fought like cats and dogs, he needed Chakotay as much
as he needed breathing.  It hadn't been that way with B'Elanna.

His stomach never hurt when she wasn't around and his heart never
beat faster when she was.  He didn't ache for her touch, or fall to
pieces when he got it.  It wasn't her fault.  B'Elanna was a good
woman, but just not for him.

He had missed Chakotay every day he was with her.  Unfortunately it
hadn't been the same for the big man.

Even though Chakotay had welcomed him back with open arms, Tom didn't
think he had been affected as badly by their separation because
nothing much changed.  They still hid their relationship and they
still fought.   If the Chakotay cared, he was real good at hiding
it.

Tom attempted to turn things around.  He made himself available to
Chakotay more often and when they weren't fucking like animals he
tried to talk to him without starting an argument.

The problem was after two years of fighting, he didn't know how to
relate to the big man any other way other than through sarcasm or
cutting jibes.  It wasn't like he had any role models to go by, his
parents had fought all the time and since Chakotay wasn't making any
effort to treat him like any more than a sperm depository, they
continued to spar whenever they were alone.

At first Tom had been heartbroken but then he got angry.  It was
easier to handle.  He resented the older man for making him love him
and more for not loving him back.  Oh yeah, resented the hell out
him, but he couldn't stop seeing him.

He knew it was pathetic and he hated himself every time he bent over
or got down on his knees but he did it anyway.  Surprisingly his new
found anger had an unexpected side effect.  The more he fought with
Chakotay the more it seemed the big man wanted him.  So he didn't
hold back.  He snarled and he snapped.  It was the one thing he knew
how to do that did make the older man feel at least something for him
but it did have one pitfall.

Chakotay now thought he hated him.  So much so, that Tom had little
doubt that if he ever got the guts to tell him how he truly felt, he
wouldn't be believed.  At best he would be laughed at, something he
would never be able to handle and at worse Chakotay be disgusted by
his pitiful attempt at love and stop seeing him.  He had no other
choice but to leave things as they were, well he didn't until now.
Today Kathryn had given him another option.

Taking him aside, the captain had told him that Chakotay would marry
him, if he agreed not to divorce him afterwards.

She wasn't telling him he already knew.  They had lowered their
voices but Tom had heard their conversation.  It was a small room
after all.  It had also meant the he had heard the tone of their
voices.

In the last three years, Tom had become aware of every inflection
that low sexy voice made and what each one meant.  So he knew
Chakotay was only trying to shut her up, that when he made the offer
it was under the assumption the he would never accept.

Tom knew that but he also knew that if he did accept, Chakotay would
really marry him.  He'd heard that part in his voice when he
mentioned his tribe.   It would be for the sake of his beliefs and
not out of love of him but that didn't matter to Tom.  What mattered
was that First Officer Chakotay would try to make the marriage work.

The same precious fucking honour that kept him from acknowledging him
as his lover would demand that he treat him with respect as his
husband.  It wouldn't make Chakotay love him but it would pull their
relationship out of the closet.

There would be no more blowjobs in Jefferies tubes, or quick fucks in
Sickbay, it wouldn't be necessary.  And maybe, just maybe they
wouldn't have to fight to get in the mood.

Forcing Chakotay to marry him was his best shot at normal
relationship with the big man and Tom wanted `normal' desperately and
Tom knew from desperate.   So what if he if was robbing Chakotay of
his chance of finding happiness with someone else?  The big man was
already doing that to him, so fair was fair.

If Tom couldn't have the loving, storybook relationship he wanted,
neither could Chakotay.  It was mean and it was spiteful but it was
also in Tom's mind justice.  Besides, he didn't think for one moment
that Chakotay would really stick it out.  When he did find somebody
to love, he would find a way to circumvent his beliefs.  The captain
herself had seconded that opinion when she had pleaded with him to
say yes.

Therefore he had accepted, letting the captain think it was for the
good of the ship and now letting Chakotay think it was because he
didn't want to go to prison again.  Neither one needed to know that
he wanted the marriage because not only would they'd been furious
with him, neither one would have understood.  It would be `his' dirty
little secret.

So pulling out an old trick, he discreetly pinched himself and let
his eyes mist.

"You can't protect me Chak if were not together.  What if they jail
us in separate facilities for a little extra punishment?  I'll be
alone."

Tom could see by the indecision on his handsome face, he had not
considered that.  Chakotay squeezed his eyes shut and fell back on
the floor.  He took Tom's hand with him and laid it palm down on his
chest.  Tom, out of necessity rolled on his side to keep Chakotay
from pulling his arm out its socket.

"Do you realize what it means to marry me Tom?   If you're my
husband, you'll have to act like it.  No more lovers, no more staying
out all night and no more smart remarks in public.  I'll demand your
loyalty and your respect.  It won't be status quo anymore.  Things
will change and if you decide you're tired of it, too bad.  I won't
separate from you and I'll never divorce you."

Promises, promises, Tom thought as he began rubbing circles into
Chakotay's chest with his captured hand.  The big man let him.

"Never is a long time Chakotay."  He said softly looking down into
his lover's face.  Chakotay's eyes flew opened and startled him.

"I don't take my vows, lightly Tom."  He said angrily.  "I said I
would marry you, if you stayed with me and I will.  I," Chakotay
paused and swallowed hard.  "I don't have a choice."  He said the
last sentence in defeat.  Tom's conscience twinged with a modicum of
guilt.

"You only said it because you thought I'd say no though, right?"

"Yes, I don't `want' you for a husband Tom Paris but regardless, if
you decide to go through with this I will honour my beliefs and will
treat you as such.  I will demand the same concessions from myself as
I do from you."

It was sad, but that was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to
him.  It may sound like a threat instead of a promise but it was the
best offer, he'd ever gotten or would most likely get.  And guilt or
no guilt this was an offer he was not going to refuse.

"I understand Chakotay.  It will be a real marriage."

"No, it won't ever be real but it will be binding."  Chakotay said
solemnly.

Oooh that one hurt.  Tom didn't have to fake tears after hearing
that.  To cover his distress, he slid both his body and his hand down
Chakotay's torso.  Within seconds, he had the big man's pants open,
and in a few more, his cock in his mouth.

Chakotay forgot the guard and gripped his head by the hair painfully
as Tom sucked him to completion.

TBC