Title:  Kian P7
Author:  Cheryl Forbes
Fandom:  Star Trek:  Voyager
Pairing:  Chakotay/Tom Paris
Rating:  NC 17
Series:  7 of ?
Email Address for feedback: forbesc@skyia.com
Disclaimer:  Voyager and her crew are property of Paramount and not
me.  Whatever.

Summary:  The court martial begins.
 

"To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to
cherish 'till death do us part."

Someday Tom vowed, he would say those words to Chakotay and not to
the ceiling tiles of his bedroom. The lieutenant had carefully laid
his uniform out for the next day before going to bed. It had been the
dress whites that had led his mind to wander to an another place and
another time where he would prefer to wear them.

Harry would be his best man and the captain would officiate.  It
would have to take place outside somewhere because Chakotay would
like that.  A forest glade reminiscent of Dorvan V, with mountains in
the background would be the ultimate setting.  Yeah, and with him in
his whites and Chakotay in something, anything black, standing
holding hands right smack dab in the middle.   Then they would live
happily ever after, starting with the wedding night.

Tom massaged the tops of legs under the covers and tried to think of
the perfect place to make love for the first time as a married man.
On a silk-sand beach on Risa under a full moon?  No, too public.
Voyager's bridge, over his console?  Naw, again way too public and
not very comfortable.  As Tom's hands extended their kneading to the
insides of his thighs, it came to him, Chakotay's bed.  It wasn't too
fancy and it wasn't too kinky, it was just right.

It occurred to Tom that he didn't even know what the inside of the
Chak's bedroom looked like.  Would there be pictures on the walls or
beautifully woven rugs like in the living area?  Would the bed sheets
be silk or cotton?  Cotton Tom guessed, not that it would matter to
him as he took Chakotay for the first time.

Tom laughed aloud in the near darkness of his quarters at the quaint
thought.  He was going to wait until marriage before sinking his
flesh into the darker man.  The pilot knew he probably wouldn't be
Chak's first but he would be his last. Groaning in need for his
lover, Tom's finger's traveled to his growing erection imagining how
incredible it would feel.

Chak would tight, warm and velvety as Tom entered him.  They would
have to do it with the older man on his back because Tom would want
to see the love in his dark eyes as they consummated their marriage.
It would slow, deep and intense and when they could no longer stand
it, they would come together.

Oh it would be so fucking great.  In the dimness of his cabin Tom
brought himself to orgasm thinking of his future husband's sweat
slicked body reposed in the after glow of their love making.

Careful not to mess his sheets, Tom rose from his bed to clean up in
the head.  As he wiped himself down with a warm cloth, Tom looked at
his reflection in the mirror.  A week ago he would have seen a man
terrified by love and who ran from commitment.  Tom tilted his head
exposing the bruise on his neck.  Now he saw a man who wore his
lover's mark proudly and had daydreams of spending the rest of his
life with him.  Smiling in spite of himself, the pilot clicked off
the light and returned to his bed.

Closing his eyes, he brought the covers up to his chin. Tom cleared
his mind and tried to get the sleep he knew he'd need. Tomorrow would
be a big day and an even bigger night.

After the trial, Tom Paris was going to ask Chakotay to marry him.

********

The stage was set and all but one of the players was here.

Kathryn looked around the converted conference room.  Harry had
removed the oblong table and replaced it three desks.  Hers backed up
against the viewport opposite the doors, with Seven's on her left and
a longer one to her right for the defense.  As the captain had made
this a closed hearing, Ensign Kim had not gone to the added trouble
of setting up chairs for spectators.  Only one was needed and that
was the lone chair beside her desk.

"I'm sorry Captain."  The holo-doc stood from his place behind the
defense table. He didn't look all that apologetic. "Mr Paris will be
here shortly."

"Very well Doctor, please sit."

The EMH retook his seat and sat down beside Tuvok who was here today
to represent her first officer.  At the far end of the desk was
Chakotay next to his lawyer, looking as stoic and as unreadable as he
did when facing a Borg invasion or something just as awful.  Like a
court martial for instance?

Damn she was furious with him still.  Not for getting himself
involved in this mess but getting Voyager involved too and when she
thought about it, she wasn't thrilled with her part in this fiasco
either. Prosecuting her first in command and her chief pilot was
definitely on her list of least favorite things to do, right up there
beside time travel.

They were convened here today to uphold the values of a society that
Voyager was striving to return home to and therein lay the paradox.
If she was forced to comply with that time-honoured system of beliefs
and punish two of her senior officers, they may never reach that
goal.  The captain needed Chakotay and Paris on the bridge, and not
in the brig, if Voyager was ever expected to get back to the Alpha
quadrant.  Kathryn pressed her forehead into her palm, in an effort
to assuage the building pressure behind her eyes.  When she heard the
door swish open, she looked up and forgot her headache.

Looking like a young prince, Lieutenant Thomas Paris entered the
conference room.   Instead of taking his seat, he walked straight up
to her desk.

"Forgive my tardiness Captain but I a little difficulty figuring out
my uniform."  Tom pulled at the bottom of his short waistcoat.

Unlike the rest of them who wore the longer tunics of the traditional
dress uniform, the pilot was wearing his formal whites and he wore
them exceptionally well.  The shorter cut white jacket trimmed in
braided gold worn over a teal blue under tunic, contrasted well with
the tight fitting black pants. Kathryn motioned him to take his seat,
purposefully lowering her head as to avoid seeing how well his
trousers fit him from behind.  She didn't need the picture of Tom's
firm butt popping up in her mind during Seven's cross-examination.

Kathryn waited until the lieutenant had taken his place at the far
end of the defense table beside the doctor, before beginning her
opening speech.

She explained that she wanted to keep this hearing as informal as
possible and that its goal was to discover the motives behind the
acts perpetrated on the planet.  Tom would be asked his plea and
allowed to present his case first, after which Chakotay and Tuvok
would have their turn.  Seven would be allowed to ask questions on
behalf of the court at the end of both recitals.  The final judgment
would come from her after the completion of both testimonies.  The
captain nodded to Seven of Nine, who rose from her desk opposite the
defendants' to read the charge sheet.

"Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris, you have been
charged with violation of the United Federation of Planets General
Order One, herein called the Prime Directive and General Order 16,
which reads,"

Seven recited from her Borg enhanced memory.

"Starfleet personnel may extend technological, medical, or other
scientific assistance to a member of a previously unrecognized
sentient species only if such assistance in no way compromises the
Prime Directive or the security of the Federation or Starfleet."
Finishing she retook her seat.

"Thank you Seven."  The captain and reluctant judge turned to the
enchanting being sitting beside the holo-doc. "And how do you plead,
Lieutenant?"

Tom stood and gave her a disarming smile. "Innocent your Honour."  He
cast his eye in the commander's direction as he strode across the
room to sit in the witness chair.

Wishing she were in one of her holo-novels right now and not
presiding over the persecution of two of the best officers she had
ever served with, Kathryn got the ball rolling.

"Very well Doctor it's your show."

********

"And then you had sex?"

"No."

Thinking he'd rather be in Sickbay lancing boils, the EMH tried to
redirect his client's answer.  "Didn't you say that after having
sexual intercourse with the commander, you felt compelled to correct
Rad's radiation poisoning and make him fertile?"

"What I said was that I made love to Chakotay. It wasn't just sex."
Tom directed the rest of his answer to Commander Chakotay.  "That
night in the tent before we met up with Emiak, Chak showed me what it
was like to really like to be loved. He touched me like no one else
had and made me feel like I was the most important thing in the world
to him. In that one night he reshaped my life and gave me a newer,
brighter future."

Tom's voice trembled and he turned to the captain.

"Captain, Rad loved Kian at least as much as I do Chakotay, but
because of his illness they had no future. It wasn't fucking fair.
Why should a son-a-bitch like myself have such happiness and someone
like Rad, who never did a selfish thing in his whole miserable life,
be denied it?  Maybe I saw it as some kind payback, I don't know.
All I knew is that I had the power to make things right, to write the
story the way it should have been written and I took it."

It was a powerful statement and the EMH's new programming told him
that was it was the right note to go out on.  Their entire defense
was that Tom's actions were motivated by his infatuation with the
commander. The lieutenant had no intention of breaking the Prime
Directive and subsequently felt justified in giving his aid.

The doctor rested his defense, allowing Seven to have her turn at the
love struck pilot.

********

"How many people have you had intercourse with Lieutenant?"

Seven aligned herself so close to him, she was practically standing
on his toes.  Tom tucked his legs under the chair before answering.

"I don't know I didn't keep track."

"Would you say that it was more than ten?"  She tilted her chin and
raised her eyebrows.  The left one didn't go as high as the right,
due to the remnant Borg appendage that framed it.

"Maybe."

"Would you say it was more than twenty or thirty?"

"Possibly."  Tom didn't like the way this line of questioning was
going.

"Were any of them of equal or higher rank than yourself?"

"Yes."

Seven's long legs took her to the centre of the makeshift courtroom.
With what looked like a smile in Tom's eyes she asked her next
question.

"So Commander Chakotay was not your first sexual liaison with someone
of superior rank."  She didn't wait for an answer but continued
on.  "Tell me Lieutenant have you ever used your sexual favours to
your advantage?"

Oh she was good. He gave her a glare that would have killed a normal
human.  Tom wouldn't say he fucked his way to the top, but a little
slap here and a little tickle there had gotten him over the stigma of
being an admiral's son.  More than one commanding officer, who'd been
willing to right him off as product of nepotism, had taken an about
change of face after a demonstration of his particular abilities.

And then there was prison but that had been a matter of survival not
advancement.  The happiest day of his life up to a week ago, had been
when Janeway had come to his rescue.  If you wanted to eat, sleep or
basically just live, you learned how to take up the ass without
complaint, and you learned to like it if you wanted to remain sane.

"Lieutenant answer the question."

Tom looked at the captain as she gave her direction.  This was not a
question he wanted to answer in front of her or Chakotay.  He sucked
the inside of his bottom lip between his teeth and lowered his head,
giving his response to the shining floor of the conference room.

"Yes."

"So then would it be fair to say that by acceding to the commander's
physical desires you hoped to gain his favour?"

"Yeah I guess in a way but that's not." The razor-edged blonde
cut him off.

"Being Commander Chakotay's lover would gain you certain privileges
on Voyager would it not?"

"What privileges?"  Tom brought his head up.

"Bigger quarters, choice duty shifts and perhaps an increase in
rations."  Seven squared her shoulders and captured his killer gaze
without fear. "It would be extremely advantageous for you to do what
the commander wanted and more to gain his privilege, would it not?"

"That's not why I helped Rad and that's definitely not why I became
intimate with Chakotay."

"Really Lieutenant?  I think it unlikely that you would change your
previous mode of operandi so suddenly.  You have made seduction a way
of life, why would this time be any different?"

"Because this time I fell in love!"  He stood from his chair and
Seven gave her ground and took a step back.

"Excuse me all to hell for having feelings! I didn't fuck him because
I didn't want to pull a night shift to or to avoid Neelix's
cooking!"  Tom fell back down into his chair.  "Gods it wasn't even
that way. I never controlled him. Fuck I couldn't even control
myself.  All I knew it that I had to have him and it was that
desperation that made me sensitive to how Rad felt about Kian."

Hurt and guilt poured out of him but not one once of regret did.

"So maybe I screwed up.  I can accept that, in fact I'm kinda of used
to it.  But being with Chakotay never, ever had anything to do with
making my life easier because in truth it's done everything but that."

It had been a long time since he'd cried for any reason, but Tom
found himself fighting back tears.  He looked over at Chakotay for
support but the big man's eyes were fixed on the PADD before him.

Anger began to supplant Tom's misery as Seven called an end to her
inquiry and the captain declared a recess.

********

"Guilty."  The commander said from the witness chair.

"On both counts?" Kathryn preempted Seven.

"Well it is my understanding that if I'm guilty of violating the
General Order One it follows that I'm equally guilty of General Order
16 as well."

"So you consider yourself unequivocally guilty?"  The captain said
not liking his answer.

"Well not necessarily.  It all depends on what you consider guilty.
I did things down on the planet that I felt had no choice but to do,
but in the end they were my choices and not the lieutenant's."

"So Lieutenant Paris's explanation of what happened is flawed?"

"Yes."

"I protest Captain."  Tuvok stood from his seat.  "Procedure dictates
that the defense presents its case first before questioning by the
court."

Knowing there wasn't any point; Chakotay forfeited his right to
council.  The security chief arguments would only hinder his
explanation and ultimately, Tom's acquittal. Kathryn honoured his
request on the condition that he didn't incriminate himself.  That
matter of law settled, Chakotay re-addressed the captain's question.

"Tom did what he was told to do and nothing more.  I told him to heal
the native and that's what he did.  There was nothing romantic about
it."

"So you admit to your guilt."  Kathryn winced visibly.

"No I don't, not exactly. I saw someone injured and I helped them.
The Prime Directive crossed my mind when I saw his plight but I found
it was be beyond the realm of good faith to let him die.  We have an
unspoken contract to nurture fledgling societies and so that's what I
did even though I had no knowledge of who he was or what his mission
was.  All I saw was that his death would serve no purpose and whereas
his life would. And to me at the time, his life wasn't anything about
getting the Ki to his father, it was all about Kian."

"And Tom's involvement?  He said he was the one responsible for
healing the native."

"Physically yes, I depended on his expertise, but he'd would have
never had done it without my influence."

"Explain."

"I abused my authority and suborned his co-operation."

"In English Commander."  The captain looked at him in exasperation.

"I took him to my bed to get him to do what I wanted.  I'm not proud
of it but it seemed the easiest course."

Kathryn leaned forward on one elbow. "Couldn't you have just asked
him without making sexual advances?"

Chakotay had to be careful here because that in reality was all he
had done.  Unfortunately saying so would implicate Tom and that was
not an option.  The lieutenant had already spent time in prison
because of the Maquis.  Chakotay refused to let that happen a second
time to the man he loved beyond all else.  He just wished he'd been
able to explain it all to the young man first.

"I couldn't take the chance he'd refuse and subsequently relieve me
of command or worse put me under house arrest."  Chakotay caught
Tom's incredulous glare out of the corner of his eye.  "The
lieutenant's born and bred Fleet Captain.  I couldn't casually ask
him to betray the principles he'd grown up his entire life
believing.  I needed an edge."

"So you lied and told him you loved him."

"Yes."  Oh that one hurt.  Chakotay didn't dare look Tom's direction
for fear of standing up recanting his testimony.

"So you don't regret your actions on the planet?"

"No Captain. Voyager wouldn't have gotten this far without the help
of strangers.  I was just returning the favour."

She asked him few more questions on times and the order of events
before adjourning the session to make her judgment.

With his house arrest suspended, the commander was now free to go
anywhere on Voyager he chose.  Unfortunately the only place he wanted
to go, he couldn't.  It wouldn't be safe to see Tom until after
Kathryn made her ruling.  The young man would demand Chakotay change
his testimony and with one look from those crystal blue eyes; he
might just do that.

Something inside him had died when he denied his love for Tom.
Chakotay just hoped that after everything was said and done, Tom
would still be there for him to bring it back to life.

********

Surprise, surprise, Chakotay refused to see him.

Tom removed his jacket and threw it the length of his quarters before
slumping down on the couch.

Chakotay seduced him!  Oh what a fucking riot that was!  The
commander was crazy if he thought the captain was going to believe
such an outrages lie and it was a lie, wasn't it?

"Of course it was!"  Tom yelled into the air.

Somehow Chakotay had got into his brain, that Tom needed saving and
trust the ever dutiful commander to feel it was his job to be his
knight in shining armour again. The pilot remembered the commander's
protective attitude on the planet when Emiak arrived.  If they ever
hoped to have future together Tom was going to have to break the big
man of that nasty little habit.

Tom had been playing with the big boys for along time now and was
perfectly able to take of himself.  Well for the most part anyway,
but the point was Chakotay needed to see that Tom wanted him as a
partner and not as a bodyguard. Their relationship had to be built on
equal ground or it wouldn't in the long run, survive and Tom
definitely wanted a long run.

Getting up from the couch crossed his cabin to order a beer from the
replicator.  Grabbing the glass and quaffing half of it in one gulp,
he noticed his rumpled jacket on the floor in the corner.  Putting
his beer down on the table, he retrieved the garment.

He'd looked good today, Tom thought as he ran a finger along the gold
braid and hoped Chakotay had thought so too. Maybe he'd wear the
uniform when he proposed and Tom, despite Chakotay's earlier denial
of their love, still intended on proposing.  It might not be tonight
as planned but it would be soon.  The commander would have to do some
big time apologizing and ass kissing first. Tom smiled for the first
time since returning to his quarters at the mental image of Chakotay
on his knees begging his forgiveness.  Of course Tom would let him
stay down there too long before joining him and taking."bereep".
The sound of the door chime broke his reverie.  Chakotay!

Slipping on his jacket and running a hand through his hair, Tom
instructed the computer to open his cabin doors.  He put on his
brightest smile and waited for his dreamboat to sail into his
quarters.

"Tom!"

But it wasn't his dream. It was his worst nightmare.

TBC