C/P story part 7
7 February 2004 20:23![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mandragoraIs there no end to this rubbish?
Chapter Seven
Chakotay gasped, the feel of the water sloshing around him adding to the stimulus. The water had cooled during the time he and Tom had been in the tub and now it felt deliciously cold against his fevered skin. Tom shifted his position slightly and flexed his internal muscles again around Chakotay's cock, causing Chakotay to moan desperately. What this man did to him... And he could tell from Tom's grin that he knew it too. Hmm, time to make Paris moan in his turn. He reached down a soap covered hand and grasped Tom's erect shaft firmly, noting with satisfaction that the younger man lost his smile, as, in his turn, he whimpered at the stimulation. It was Chakotay's turn to grin, which Tom couldn't resist returning. Oh, it was so much *fun* when they attempted to outdo one another. Chakotay pulled Tom, head towards him, meeting his mouth in a fevered kiss, then bit lightly at his neck, running his tongue down to the hollow in the collarbone. He knew this never failed to turn Tom into a pile of goo, noting with satisfaction the younger man's long drawn out moan.
He speeded up his movements, as Tom clenched his legs harder round Chakotay's hips. "Faster," he demanded.
"Sorry...Tom... I'm...an old... man," Chakotay panted.
"Doesn't feel...like that... to me."
Yes...yes...Chakotay could feel it, the moment of orgasm was upon him, he was... coming... deep within Tom Paris' beautiful ass. He cried out, head thrown back, calling Tom's name, even as the other man was clawing at his back, screaming out loud and spilling his fluid through Chakotay's fingers, coursing out into the cool water.
The two men collapsed forward into each other's arms, heads together, both struggling to draw air into aching lungs, even as they heard the sound of applause. Two damp heads swung round as one to encounter a tall, statuesque redheaded woman who was standing by the side of the bathtub. She looked completely human in appearance, was wearing a Starfleet uniform, complete with captain's insignia and was still clapping; her expression was a strange mixture of admiration and what could only be described as arrogance.
"Wha..."
"Who the hell are you?!"
"And what are you doing in my bathroom!" Tom demanded.
The woman smiled superciliously. "I'm Q. Of course."
The two men exchanged identical looks of dismay.
"That doesn't explain what you're doing here, now!" Chakotay said with forced calm.
She smirked. "Admiring your, er, performance."
Chakotay stood up furiously, saw her interested gaze rake him up and down and sat down hurriedly again. Tom muttered something under his breath, Chakotay couldn't hear what, although the Q evidently could because she raised an eyebrow. "Should I be shocked? *Could* I be shocked?"
Tom glared at her, then swiftly got out of the bath, pulled a towel from its place on the wall and wrapped it around his waist. He handed another to Chakotay, who stood up, covered himself in a similar manner and stepped out beside Tom, who was standing with folded arms glaring at the woman. He noted absently that she was very tall for a woman, almost as tall as Tom, probably as tall as Chakotay himself.
"So, did you enjoy yourself?" Tom's tone dripped sarcasm.
"As a matter of fact I did. Actually that's why I'm here."
Tom raised an eyebrow in his turn. "Oh. A Q who's a voyeur. Now why doesn't that surprise me?"
"I object to that," the woman said. "I'm not *just* a voyeur."
Chakotay tensed up even more at those ominous sounding words. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.
The Q moved and perched on the side of the bathtub. She ran a thoughtful finger through the soapy water. "That the night is young, the sap is rising, yada, yada, yada. In short, that I'd like to join in."
"*What*!"
"You have *got* to be joking!"
She looked at the men coolly. "Not at all. I'm quite serious here." She rose to her feet and stretched slowly, showing off her quite spectacular figure. Her bosom heaved as she inhaled deeply. Both men's eyes were riveted to her display. "Now, admit it," she cooed seductively. "You're not exactly adverse to the idea."
Chakotay blinked. "Sorry Q. I don't so threesomes."
"No? Pity, as Tommy over there *does*."
Chakotay' gaze swung to his lover, who flushed scarlet all the way from his chest to the roots of his hair. "That was a long time ago," Tom said defensively.
"But you have so much experience at it."
He glared at her. "That's not... It isn't... Well, I'm not doing it with you!"
She sighed. "Mortals! So difficult."
"We're not interested Q." Chakotay's voice was curt.
She sighed again, more deeply than before. "Oh I see. You think I'm interested in some sordid one-night stand. That's because I haven't told you yet while I'm here. Of all the males of all the species in all of the galaxies... in short, I have chosen you to be the father of my child." There was a stunned silence. "Well, one of you anyway." Chakotay and Tom exchanged incredulous stares, as she continued. "I know, you're probably asking yourselves why a brilliant, beautiful, incredibly wonderful omnipotent being like Q would *want* to mate with a couple of scrawny..." A slow perusal up and down both male bodies, both still covered with droplets of water from the bath. There was a very female appreciation in her gaze as she continued, "hmm, well perhaps scrawny isn't *quite* the right word... bipedal specimens like us?"
"Let me guess," Tom snapped. "No one else in the universe would have you."
"Nonsense! I could have chosen a Klingon targ. A Romulan Emperor. A Cyrillian microbe."
"Really. We beat out a single celled organism? How flattering." It would have been possible to mine dilithium with Chakotay's tone.
"It's an overwhelming honour, isn't it," she said eagerly, apparently missing, or choosing to miss, the sarcasm. "I can't get either of you out of my mind. You're both beautiful, passionate, look *so* good together--"
"And are totally uninterested," Chakotay snapped through his blushes.
"Oh really?" She advanced on him slowly, then wrapped her arms around his neck. He tried to dislodge her arms, but her grip was like solid duranium. He looked appealingly across at Tom for help as she pressed herself against him, letting him feel every centimetre of her firm, lushly female, well-endowed body. To his chagrin, he felt an unmistakable stirring in his groin.
Tom bit at his lip, trying to control his amusement, even as he touched her shoulder. "Let him go, Q."
"Oh, of course, darling. I wouldn't want you to feel left out. She switched her attentions to Paris, leaving Chakotay as the one who was valiantly trying to dampen his amusement at the look on Tom's face, a mixture of panic and male appreciation.
"Let both of us go, Q," Chakotay said sternly. "I have to admit that the form you've chosen is very appealing, but really, although I can't speak for Tom, I can tell you I'm not interested."
"Me neither," Tom said, rearranging his towel as the Q reluctantly unwound her arms from around his neck.
"Oh, I get it. You're playing hard to get."
Tom glared at her. "As far as you're concerned, Q, we're impossible to get."
Her face lit up. "A challenge. Oh good. This is going to be *fun*!" She snapped her fingers and disappeared, leaving the two men staring at one another in disbelief.
By unspoken mutual accord, they walked into the living room area of Tom's quarters, where they both sank down on the couch. There was a short silence, then Tom started to giggle. Chakotay glared at him. "What's so funny?"
"A threesome. With Q," Tom hiccuped. "You should have s...seen your face when she suggested it."
"Well," Chakotay returned testily, "you should have seen yours when she said how much experience you've got at it."
Somewhat embarrassed blue eyes met brown, then both men gave up and roared with laughter.
"So, have you?" Chakotay asked, when the laughter had died down, and the pair of them were lying in companionable silence on the couch.
"Some," Tom admitted.
"Okay. Want to tell me about it?"
"Sometime, maybe," Tom said evasively. "But for now, don't you think we ought to concentrate on what to do about Q."
"You're right. I wonder what her game is? I'm assuming that she doesn't really want what she claims she does."
"Probably not. But she sure did look good in that uniform, though." At Chakotay's glare, Tom protested, "Well, she did."
Chakotay finally grinned ruefully in acknowledgement. "Okay, I'll give you that one. But, if she did want to, um..."
"Mate with us?"
"Yes. I assume that you're really not interested?"
Tom looked at him with exasperation. "I'm really not interested. Shit! Jeez Chakotay, do you think that I'm some kind of sex maniac or something?" As Chakotay opened his mouth, Tom held up a silencing hand, "On second thoughts better not answer that one."
Chakotay laughed, he was unable not to. "I don't think that, Tom. Although I do think that you're an incredibly passionate..." He kissed him, lightly. "...sexy..." Another kiss. "...man." And another. He deepened the kiss, until suddenly Tom pulled away. "What's wrong?"
"I was just wondering. Suppose she's still watching us."
Chakotay felt like a bucket of ice cold water had just been used to quench his ardour. "Gods! You could be right!" They stared at one another in horror.
"You know what this means, don't you," Tom said in a very grim tone.
Chakotay nodded glumly. "No sex!"
~~~~
Chakotay sat in his ready room. His mood was grim, not least because he was feeling frustrated as hell! These past few days had been a torment, being near Tom, sitting beside him, smelling him, feeling the heat from his body, but not daring to touch him, because every time he did, a certain supposedly omnipotent, voyeuristic, interfering immortal being turned up to watch. Although he and Tom had initially decided to abstain for a while, to wait and see if Q turned up, that resolution hadn't lasted very long, the pull between them was too strong. They'd ended up adjourning a meeting to discuss crew evaluations, by grabbing hold of one another, preparatory to some serious humping, only to find just at the vital moment that Q was standing there, watching. They'd broken apart, both stark naked, to frantically grab some clothes to cover themselves.
Q had attempted to persuade them to let her join in, to be met with the same firm no. This had happened twice since then, leaving Chakotay certain of two things. One was that he had no self-control where having sex with Tom was concerned; luckily the converse seemed to be equally true. And two, he was growing to *really* loathe that female Q! It had got to the point where he was seriously considering a threesome, just so he could have sex with Tom again.
Then there had been the problem of what to tell the crew. In the end, he and Tom had decided that all the crew needed to know was that they were being visited by a female Q, who seemed to have some weird idea of romancing the two of them. They hadn't admitted their pre-existing relationship, figuring that, if they could, they'd continue to keep it quiet. For a start it was no-one's business but their own and they didn't know what effect any sort of announcement would have on the crew. The problem was that Chakotay hadn't reckoned on he and Tom continuing to see one another for this long, so hadn't considered it ever being necessary to let the crew know. And in any event, as it was inevitable the relationship would end at some point, it just seemed better to keep it to themselves.
However, needless to say, many of the crew's reaction to the news that the female Q was romancing both the Captain *and* the First Officer was one of vast amusement. Most weren't sure whether she was proposing one at a time or some sort of threesome, but whichever it was, and speculation was rampant, this was too delicious a situation not to enjoy. Chakotay was pretty certain there were several betting pools on it, but at least none of them were being run by Paris - this time. The female Q had popped up all over the ship, asking for advice on how to woo Chakotay and Tom. Harry Kim, B'Elanna, Megan Delaney, to name but three, reported encounters with her.
Chakotay longed for a distraction, anything to take the crew's mind off the gossip, but they were hanging in space, studying the supernova that had erupted close to Voyager recently. This was a rare event, so unusual that only two other starships had ever witnessed it before and none as close as Voyager. It had been an awesome sight, the star in question blossoming into an explosion of light and colour. Chakotay felt privileged to have seen it.
He looked up as the doorbell beeped, calling absently, "Come."
In walked Tom. He sat down without being asked and ran a hand through his hair, pulling it out of its neat shape into curly disorder. Chakotay watched his every movement with unconscious fascination. Tom caught the deep, hungry look in Chakotay's eyes.
"Fuck!"
"Unfortunately not any time soon."
"This really stinks! You know that Chakotay."
"You're preaching to the converted."
"Shit!"
"Yeah."
They stared at each other, longingly, even as there was a flash of light. As one, they sighed with resignation as two voices spoke. "Q!"
"Nice to see you too, boys," she purred. "Oh dear. So glum. Tell Auntie Q. What's wrong."
Chakotay glared at her. "You know very well what's wrong."
She shrugged insouciantly. "Now really, that's not fair. It's not my fault that you're too inhibited to have sex with me around. Or you are, at least, my dear. Somehow I don't think Tommy here has quite the same scruples."
"Thanks!" said an indignant Tom.
"Oh Tommy darling, really. You can't possibly claim to be inhibited. Not after that little display you put up on Regus VI."
Chakotay turned an interested eye towards Tom, who was blushing furiously. Another thing to ask him about when this was all over. Assuming it ever was, please the creator.
"I really don't understand why you both don't just give in and have some fun with me. As well as fathering my child of course."
"Oh, " Tom said, crossing his arms defensively. Chakotay couldn't help thinking that he was doing that a lot recently. "And how are you going to tell which one of us is the happy father."
She looked at him as if he was an insect that had crawled out from under the nearest rock. "Because I'm a Q, of course." Her tone was withering.
"Well, forget it, Q. I'm not having babies with you. If I ever have any children, I'd like them to be at least humanoid."
"You should have thought of that before you had children with Captain Janeway!"
Tom groaned and shook his head. That damn warp ten experiment, again. He swore it was always going to haunt him.
The Q's expression softened. "Come on boys. Now what would make you happy...I know." In a burst of inspiration, she clicked her fingers and Tom was suddenly holding a golden Labrador puppy. He looked down at it, his expression a mixture of surprise and delight. Chakotay felt a little twist to the heart, which he banished as Tom resolutely put the puppy down.
"It's not going to work Q. Why don't you just give up and go away. Just accept that we're not the men for you."
"Truer words were never spoken," said another voice, one that was all too familiar, from behind them. "I don't understand why you're wasting your time with these..." He paused, but, obviously not able not come up with an epithet vile enough, continued, "...limited little bipeds anyway."
Chakotay and Tom exchanged resigned glances, then turned to see the sight of the male Q, the one who had visited the ship before, standing there, also dressed in a Starfleet captain's uniform. His undeniably imposing presence wore a scowl.
"I could ask you the same question," the female Q replied. "You're the one whose obvious interest in these beings got me curious about them after all. I asked myself, Q, what could these inferior beings possibly have that could make Q take an interest in them. So much of an interest that he neglects you, the Q he's been involved with for the past four *billion* years in favour of studying them. When that should have taken all of 2 nano seconds!"
The male Q rolled his eyes. "Oh really. I suppose that's why you had to come to one of the places *I've* already visited."
She smiled sweetly at him. "Exactly. I tried your precious Enterprise, but..." She sniffed disdainfully. "...really there wasn't much of a choice there. I mean, Jean Luc Picard. Or Will Riker! Of course that Doctor on DS9 was rather sweet, but looked like he lacked stamina. And then, I thought of Voyager. And saw these two." She made a sweeping motion of her arm towards Tom and Chakotay. "And they looked, hmm...very pretty together, I must say. And then it struck me; two is better than one! A stroke of genius, if I do say so myself." She attempted to look modest, without much success.
"So, you've decided to pollute the Continuum with the DNA of one of *these*!" The male Q made a gesture of incredulity in the direction of the two humans.
She beamed at him. "Exactly!"
"But why them? My dear, really, what a choice. Helmboy or Chuckles!"
"Hey!" Tom said indignantly. "I'm no longer the pilot, in case you hadn't noticed."
The male Q shrugged impatiently. "Not at the moment maybe."
Chakotay decided to maintain a dignified silence over the Chuckles crack. "I'm going to ask you again, politely," he said, his ire only just under control. "To get the hell off my--"
"Captain to the bridge," said the voice of Lieutenant Kim.
Captain and First Officer exited swiftly, to discover that two more supernovae were about to erupt. A dawning suspicion began to form, as Chakotay looked at the two Q, who were openly scowling at each other. This had almost certainly got to be something to do with the Q; this many supernovae could be no natural phenomenon.
"Marge," Tom ordered Hamilton, "take us out of here. Are we too close to go to warp?"
"Sorry, yes."
"Maximum impulse then,"
"Aye, sir."
The helmswoman busied herself at the conn, as Chakotay glared at the female Q, and moved towards her slowly.
"One supernova every century is about average. We've seen three in as many days. You have something to do with this, don't you!"
The male Q spoke from his position near Tom on the other side of the bridge. "He may be an inferior specimen, but he's right. This is your fault."
"Mine!" the irate female yelled. "I'm not the one who started it!"
The ship rocked as it was hit by the shock waves from the two supernovae. Tom stumbled and grabbed hold of the railing for balance.
"Do something," Chakotay yelled at the female Q. She grabbed hold of him, shot Tom a regretful glance and disappeared with a snap of her fingers.
"Why that..." the male Q muttered, before he too disappeared.
~~~~~
Chakotay found himself standing in what appeared to be a 19th century North American mansion. The room he was in was elegantly appointed, with spacious French windows, closed and covered with shutters against what seemed to be a storm outside. He looked down at himself; he was dressed in a Union officer's uniform, although he couldn't remember what rank.
The double doors to the room opened and the female Q, dressed in a blue hoop-skirted long dress walked in.
"Where are we. And why did you bring me here?"
"You're in the Continuum now," she said.
Chakotay looked around dubiously. "This isn't how I remember it." [CHECK WHETHER CHAKOTAY VISITED LAST TIME]
She shrugged. "This is more representative of the state of the Continuum now. I picked an era out of your people's history that seemed appropriate." Chakotay looked at her quizzically. She frowned at him. "What!?"
"Well, this isn't really my people's history," he said, half apologetically.
She sighed impatiently and there was a reality shift around them. They were now standing in what Chakotay thought was probably a 16th century European town house, although he wasn't absolutely certain. Tom would have known, he thought absently. His clothes had also changed; his attire now consisted of knee breeches, with a matching coat in green silk and he felt his hair brushing his shoulders. Q was dressed in a gorgeous red silken dress.
"Um, English civil war?" he ventured. She nodded. "This isn't my history either."
"Oh, *all right*!"
Another reality change. Now he was standing in a large, hacienda style house, but his clothes were, if he wasn't mistaken, from the 20th century, the earlier part of it probably. He looked at her enquiringly.
She shrugged. "Spanish Civil War. 1930s"
"Closer," Chakotay said, thinking that he almost certainly had a few Spanish ancestors, but probably well before the 1930s.
She scowled at him and there was yet another shift. This time they were in a large utilitarian building; its walls were pockmarked and torn. He was dressed in old style combat fatigues and she was in dusty trousers and a torn jacket. He blinked, confused. "Bosnian War, 1990s," she informed him.
He sighed. "Look, the original scenario was fine, really!"
Muttering something about how there was no pleasing some people, she shifted the scene again, back to the North American Civil War.
"Okay, I know where we are. But not why. And what about my ship!"
Q shrugged. "Well, you told me to do something. I would have liked to have brought Tommy along too, but there wasn't time. And I'm sure your ship will be fine. Or don't you think Tommy can handle it?"
"Yes, of course," Chakotay blustered, wishing he felt as confident about that as he tried to sound.
"In any event, this is beyond your ship. It's even beyond you and me, and Tommy. This is about the future of the Continuum itself." She moved to the windows as she spoke and opened the shutters.
"I think I can guess," Chakotay said as he looked out at the scene outside, the sound of old fashioned gunfire permeated the air. "Civil war."
She nodded sombrely.
~~~~~
On Voyager, Tom was picking himself up from the floor. He felt something trickle down his forehead and touched it; his hand came away wet with blood. He looked around at the bridge; sparks of electricity arched across it as com panels fizzed. All around, lay dead or unconscious crew. "Status," he barked.
"Warp's down," Kim reported from Ops. Tom sighed with relief at hearing that Harry was okay. "And we're sixteen billion kilometres from where we were."
"Thanks Harry. Engineering. B'Elanna."
"Here Lieutenant. I'm on it; we're trying to repair the warp core. I'll be able to give you an estimate shortly."
Tom turned as a groan sounded from his left; it was the male Q. Like Tom, he too had a head wound, which, Tom was pretty sure, was unprecedented in the case of a Q. Tom advanced on him and grabbed him by an arm. "What's going on. Where's Chakotay? Are you the one causing the supernovae?" he demanded.
"One question at a time, please Tommy."
"Not good enough! I want answers!"
"Let me go before I incinerate you and your precious ship!"
Tom looked at him consideringly, still holding his arm. "I don't think you can."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Q snapped his fingers. Nothing happened.
"Something's happened to your powers hasn't it," Tom said letting go of his arm. "I'm right aren't I. Otherwise you wouldn't be here wounded with us mere mortals. Dammit Q," he said impatiently. "I want answers and if you won't cooperate, maybe you'd enjoy some time in the brig."
Q's dark eyes glared at the lieutenant's icy blue. "Oh, all right!" Q finally said testily. Then as an aside, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."
Tom suppressed a grin, not wanting to admit that even in the midst of this crisis, with Chakotay missing and the ship damaged, he found the Q as amusing as hell.
~~~~~
Tom sat in the captain's chair at the hastily assembled senior staff meeting. He felt extremely uncomfortable sitting here, the first, and hopefully last, time he'd ever do so. His worry for Chakotay gnawed at him; a worry he felt on several levels, not just for his captain, but also for his what? His lover, he supposed was as good a word as any, certainly better than sexual partner. In addition, there was his nagging doubt, one which had never quite gone away in the months he'd been first officer, as to whether he was up to this, taking command of Voyager. If they couldn't get Chakotay back... No! He wasn't going to think like this. They'd get Chakotay back. He felt sick at the thought that he might never see him again. But that was because he didn't want the responsibility of being captain, he told himself, knowing he was lying even as he thought it.
"Okay Q," he ordered. "Spill it!"
"Do you remember Quinn, the Q philosopher?"
Tom nodded. "Yes, of course."
"Well, at the time I warned that the consequences of his suicide would be severe. And they were. Civil war no less."
"Among the Q?" Kim asked incredulously.
Q sighed theatrically. "Even among such advanced being as ourselves, yes. I myself, and Q..."
"Which Q?" Tom interrupted.
"The Q who's been hanging around here these past few days Tommy. You know the one who wants to mate with you."
There were muffled snickers as Paris blushed. God, he hated being so fair skinned at times. He attempted to recover by smirking at Q. "Oh yes, her. I'm not likely to forget. So, what was all that about anyway?"
"You mean the idea about mating with you and Chuckles?"
There were more snickers as Tom's smirk froze momentarily. "Yeah. That one."
"The idea is that by combining the omnipotence of the Q with humanity, a better breed of Q will be born, more civilised, with a wider understanding." Tom listened to this with an open-mouthed expression as Q beamed. "I know, brilliant isn't it!"
"You sound like it was your idea."
"It was!"
Tom stared at Q in surprise. "Then why..."
"You and Chuckles?"
Paris nodded as the rest of the senior staff looked on in fascination. "Because she stole my idea. I'm the one who first suggested it, to--" He broke off abruptly.
"To who?" Torres asked.
"Never mind. Although I have to say that I'm disappointed in Q's taste. You and Chuckles. Mind you..." a dreamy look came over Q's face. "Actually, she has a point, that's quite a pretty picture."
It would probably have been possible to melt marshmallows on Tom's complexion at this point. "Okay, okay. Enough. Look, Q, there's gotta be a way of getting into the Continuum besides you snapping you fingers. How about we work together to get you and us into the Continuum, so we can rescue Chakotay and you can go on to lead your troops to glorious victory." Tom sat back in his chair, his seemingly relaxed posture belying his underlying tension.
Q pondered for a moment. "There is one way, but this rickety barge probably won't stand up to the stress."
"Yeah well, Q. This rickety barge is your only option for now. So I suggest we get to it. B'Elanna, you'll work with Q on the engineering specs. Harry, give her a hand. Jon..." Tom continued to give out orders, his concentration wholly on the task at hand.
SECTTION TO BE CONTINUED
~~~~
No, this isn't the end. I skipped ahead to start writing another part 'cos I had An Idea. The Idea part is coming up next.
Chapter Seven
Chakotay gasped, the feel of the water sloshing around him adding to the stimulus. The water had cooled during the time he and Tom had been in the tub and now it felt deliciously cold against his fevered skin. Tom shifted his position slightly and flexed his internal muscles again around Chakotay's cock, causing Chakotay to moan desperately. What this man did to him... And he could tell from Tom's grin that he knew it too. Hmm, time to make Paris moan in his turn. He reached down a soap covered hand and grasped Tom's erect shaft firmly, noting with satisfaction that the younger man lost his smile, as, in his turn, he whimpered at the stimulation. It was Chakotay's turn to grin, which Tom couldn't resist returning. Oh, it was so much *fun* when they attempted to outdo one another. Chakotay pulled Tom, head towards him, meeting his mouth in a fevered kiss, then bit lightly at his neck, running his tongue down to the hollow in the collarbone. He knew this never failed to turn Tom into a pile of goo, noting with satisfaction the younger man's long drawn out moan.
He speeded up his movements, as Tom clenched his legs harder round Chakotay's hips. "Faster," he demanded.
"Sorry...Tom... I'm...an old... man," Chakotay panted.
"Doesn't feel...like that... to me."
Yes...yes...Chakotay could feel it, the moment of orgasm was upon him, he was... coming... deep within Tom Paris' beautiful ass. He cried out, head thrown back, calling Tom's name, even as the other man was clawing at his back, screaming out loud and spilling his fluid through Chakotay's fingers, coursing out into the cool water.
The two men collapsed forward into each other's arms, heads together, both struggling to draw air into aching lungs, even as they heard the sound of applause. Two damp heads swung round as one to encounter a tall, statuesque redheaded woman who was standing by the side of the bathtub. She looked completely human in appearance, was wearing a Starfleet uniform, complete with captain's insignia and was still clapping; her expression was a strange mixture of admiration and what could only be described as arrogance.
"Wha..."
"Who the hell are you?!"
"And what are you doing in my bathroom!" Tom demanded.
The woman smiled superciliously. "I'm Q. Of course."
The two men exchanged identical looks of dismay.
"That doesn't explain what you're doing here, now!" Chakotay said with forced calm.
She smirked. "Admiring your, er, performance."
Chakotay stood up furiously, saw her interested gaze rake him up and down and sat down hurriedly again. Tom muttered something under his breath, Chakotay couldn't hear what, although the Q evidently could because she raised an eyebrow. "Should I be shocked? *Could* I be shocked?"
Tom glared at her, then swiftly got out of the bath, pulled a towel from its place on the wall and wrapped it around his waist. He handed another to Chakotay, who stood up, covered himself in a similar manner and stepped out beside Tom, who was standing with folded arms glaring at the woman. He noted absently that she was very tall for a woman, almost as tall as Tom, probably as tall as Chakotay himself.
"So, did you enjoy yourself?" Tom's tone dripped sarcasm.
"As a matter of fact I did. Actually that's why I'm here."
Tom raised an eyebrow in his turn. "Oh. A Q who's a voyeur. Now why doesn't that surprise me?"
"I object to that," the woman said. "I'm not *just* a voyeur."
Chakotay tensed up even more at those ominous sounding words. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.
The Q moved and perched on the side of the bathtub. She ran a thoughtful finger through the soapy water. "That the night is young, the sap is rising, yada, yada, yada. In short, that I'd like to join in."
"*What*!"
"You have *got* to be joking!"
She looked at the men coolly. "Not at all. I'm quite serious here." She rose to her feet and stretched slowly, showing off her quite spectacular figure. Her bosom heaved as she inhaled deeply. Both men's eyes were riveted to her display. "Now, admit it," she cooed seductively. "You're not exactly adverse to the idea."
Chakotay blinked. "Sorry Q. I don't so threesomes."
"No? Pity, as Tommy over there *does*."
Chakotay' gaze swung to his lover, who flushed scarlet all the way from his chest to the roots of his hair. "That was a long time ago," Tom said defensively.
"But you have so much experience at it."
He glared at her. "That's not... It isn't... Well, I'm not doing it with you!"
She sighed. "Mortals! So difficult."
"We're not interested Q." Chakotay's voice was curt.
She sighed again, more deeply than before. "Oh I see. You think I'm interested in some sordid one-night stand. That's because I haven't told you yet while I'm here. Of all the males of all the species in all of the galaxies... in short, I have chosen you to be the father of my child." There was a stunned silence. "Well, one of you anyway." Chakotay and Tom exchanged incredulous stares, as she continued. "I know, you're probably asking yourselves why a brilliant, beautiful, incredibly wonderful omnipotent being like Q would *want* to mate with a couple of scrawny..." A slow perusal up and down both male bodies, both still covered with droplets of water from the bath. There was a very female appreciation in her gaze as she continued, "hmm, well perhaps scrawny isn't *quite* the right word... bipedal specimens like us?"
"Let me guess," Tom snapped. "No one else in the universe would have you."
"Nonsense! I could have chosen a Klingon targ. A Romulan Emperor. A Cyrillian microbe."
"Really. We beat out a single celled organism? How flattering." It would have been possible to mine dilithium with Chakotay's tone.
"It's an overwhelming honour, isn't it," she said eagerly, apparently missing, or choosing to miss, the sarcasm. "I can't get either of you out of my mind. You're both beautiful, passionate, look *so* good together--"
"And are totally uninterested," Chakotay snapped through his blushes.
"Oh really?" She advanced on him slowly, then wrapped her arms around his neck. He tried to dislodge her arms, but her grip was like solid duranium. He looked appealingly across at Tom for help as she pressed herself against him, letting him feel every centimetre of her firm, lushly female, well-endowed body. To his chagrin, he felt an unmistakable stirring in his groin.
Tom bit at his lip, trying to control his amusement, even as he touched her shoulder. "Let him go, Q."
"Oh, of course, darling. I wouldn't want you to feel left out. She switched her attentions to Paris, leaving Chakotay as the one who was valiantly trying to dampen his amusement at the look on Tom's face, a mixture of panic and male appreciation.
"Let both of us go, Q," Chakotay said sternly. "I have to admit that the form you've chosen is very appealing, but really, although I can't speak for Tom, I can tell you I'm not interested."
"Me neither," Tom said, rearranging his towel as the Q reluctantly unwound her arms from around his neck.
"Oh, I get it. You're playing hard to get."
Tom glared at her. "As far as you're concerned, Q, we're impossible to get."
Her face lit up. "A challenge. Oh good. This is going to be *fun*!" She snapped her fingers and disappeared, leaving the two men staring at one another in disbelief.
By unspoken mutual accord, they walked into the living room area of Tom's quarters, where they both sank down on the couch. There was a short silence, then Tom started to giggle. Chakotay glared at him. "What's so funny?"
"A threesome. With Q," Tom hiccuped. "You should have s...seen your face when she suggested it."
"Well," Chakotay returned testily, "you should have seen yours when she said how much experience you've got at it."
Somewhat embarrassed blue eyes met brown, then both men gave up and roared with laughter.
"So, have you?" Chakotay asked, when the laughter had died down, and the pair of them were lying in companionable silence on the couch.
"Some," Tom admitted.
"Okay. Want to tell me about it?"
"Sometime, maybe," Tom said evasively. "But for now, don't you think we ought to concentrate on what to do about Q."
"You're right. I wonder what her game is? I'm assuming that she doesn't really want what she claims she does."
"Probably not. But she sure did look good in that uniform, though." At Chakotay's glare, Tom protested, "Well, she did."
Chakotay finally grinned ruefully in acknowledgement. "Okay, I'll give you that one. But, if she did want to, um..."
"Mate with us?"
"Yes. I assume that you're really not interested?"
Tom looked at him with exasperation. "I'm really not interested. Shit! Jeez Chakotay, do you think that I'm some kind of sex maniac or something?" As Chakotay opened his mouth, Tom held up a silencing hand, "On second thoughts better not answer that one."
Chakotay laughed, he was unable not to. "I don't think that, Tom. Although I do think that you're an incredibly passionate..." He kissed him, lightly. "...sexy..." Another kiss. "...man." And another. He deepened the kiss, until suddenly Tom pulled away. "What's wrong?"
"I was just wondering. Suppose she's still watching us."
Chakotay felt like a bucket of ice cold water had just been used to quench his ardour. "Gods! You could be right!" They stared at one another in horror.
"You know what this means, don't you," Tom said in a very grim tone.
Chakotay nodded glumly. "No sex!"
~~~~
Chakotay sat in his ready room. His mood was grim, not least because he was feeling frustrated as hell! These past few days had been a torment, being near Tom, sitting beside him, smelling him, feeling the heat from his body, but not daring to touch him, because every time he did, a certain supposedly omnipotent, voyeuristic, interfering immortal being turned up to watch. Although he and Tom had initially decided to abstain for a while, to wait and see if Q turned up, that resolution hadn't lasted very long, the pull between them was too strong. They'd ended up adjourning a meeting to discuss crew evaluations, by grabbing hold of one another, preparatory to some serious humping, only to find just at the vital moment that Q was standing there, watching. They'd broken apart, both stark naked, to frantically grab some clothes to cover themselves.
Q had attempted to persuade them to let her join in, to be met with the same firm no. This had happened twice since then, leaving Chakotay certain of two things. One was that he had no self-control where having sex with Tom was concerned; luckily the converse seemed to be equally true. And two, he was growing to *really* loathe that female Q! It had got to the point where he was seriously considering a threesome, just so he could have sex with Tom again.
Then there had been the problem of what to tell the crew. In the end, he and Tom had decided that all the crew needed to know was that they were being visited by a female Q, who seemed to have some weird idea of romancing the two of them. They hadn't admitted their pre-existing relationship, figuring that, if they could, they'd continue to keep it quiet. For a start it was no-one's business but their own and they didn't know what effect any sort of announcement would have on the crew. The problem was that Chakotay hadn't reckoned on he and Tom continuing to see one another for this long, so hadn't considered it ever being necessary to let the crew know. And in any event, as it was inevitable the relationship would end at some point, it just seemed better to keep it to themselves.
However, needless to say, many of the crew's reaction to the news that the female Q was romancing both the Captain *and* the First Officer was one of vast amusement. Most weren't sure whether she was proposing one at a time or some sort of threesome, but whichever it was, and speculation was rampant, this was too delicious a situation not to enjoy. Chakotay was pretty certain there were several betting pools on it, but at least none of them were being run by Paris - this time. The female Q had popped up all over the ship, asking for advice on how to woo Chakotay and Tom. Harry Kim, B'Elanna, Megan Delaney, to name but three, reported encounters with her.
Chakotay longed for a distraction, anything to take the crew's mind off the gossip, but they were hanging in space, studying the supernova that had erupted close to Voyager recently. This was a rare event, so unusual that only two other starships had ever witnessed it before and none as close as Voyager. It had been an awesome sight, the star in question blossoming into an explosion of light and colour. Chakotay felt privileged to have seen it.
He looked up as the doorbell beeped, calling absently, "Come."
In walked Tom. He sat down without being asked and ran a hand through his hair, pulling it out of its neat shape into curly disorder. Chakotay watched his every movement with unconscious fascination. Tom caught the deep, hungry look in Chakotay's eyes.
"Fuck!"
"Unfortunately not any time soon."
"This really stinks! You know that Chakotay."
"You're preaching to the converted."
"Shit!"
"Yeah."
They stared at each other, longingly, even as there was a flash of light. As one, they sighed with resignation as two voices spoke. "Q!"
"Nice to see you too, boys," she purred. "Oh dear. So glum. Tell Auntie Q. What's wrong."
Chakotay glared at her. "You know very well what's wrong."
She shrugged insouciantly. "Now really, that's not fair. It's not my fault that you're too inhibited to have sex with me around. Or you are, at least, my dear. Somehow I don't think Tommy here has quite the same scruples."
"Thanks!" said an indignant Tom.
"Oh Tommy darling, really. You can't possibly claim to be inhibited. Not after that little display you put up on Regus VI."
Chakotay turned an interested eye towards Tom, who was blushing furiously. Another thing to ask him about when this was all over. Assuming it ever was, please the creator.
"I really don't understand why you both don't just give in and have some fun with me. As well as fathering my child of course."
"Oh, " Tom said, crossing his arms defensively. Chakotay couldn't help thinking that he was doing that a lot recently. "And how are you going to tell which one of us is the happy father."
She looked at him as if he was an insect that had crawled out from under the nearest rock. "Because I'm a Q, of course." Her tone was withering.
"Well, forget it, Q. I'm not having babies with you. If I ever have any children, I'd like them to be at least humanoid."
"You should have thought of that before you had children with Captain Janeway!"
Tom groaned and shook his head. That damn warp ten experiment, again. He swore it was always going to haunt him.
The Q's expression softened. "Come on boys. Now what would make you happy...I know." In a burst of inspiration, she clicked her fingers and Tom was suddenly holding a golden Labrador puppy. He looked down at it, his expression a mixture of surprise and delight. Chakotay felt a little twist to the heart, which he banished as Tom resolutely put the puppy down.
"It's not going to work Q. Why don't you just give up and go away. Just accept that we're not the men for you."
"Truer words were never spoken," said another voice, one that was all too familiar, from behind them. "I don't understand why you're wasting your time with these..." He paused, but, obviously not able not come up with an epithet vile enough, continued, "...limited little bipeds anyway."
Chakotay and Tom exchanged resigned glances, then turned to see the sight of the male Q, the one who had visited the ship before, standing there, also dressed in a Starfleet captain's uniform. His undeniably imposing presence wore a scowl.
"I could ask you the same question," the female Q replied. "You're the one whose obvious interest in these beings got me curious about them after all. I asked myself, Q, what could these inferior beings possibly have that could make Q take an interest in them. So much of an interest that he neglects you, the Q he's been involved with for the past four *billion* years in favour of studying them. When that should have taken all of 2 nano seconds!"
The male Q rolled his eyes. "Oh really. I suppose that's why you had to come to one of the places *I've* already visited."
She smiled sweetly at him. "Exactly. I tried your precious Enterprise, but..." She sniffed disdainfully. "...really there wasn't much of a choice there. I mean, Jean Luc Picard. Or Will Riker! Of course that Doctor on DS9 was rather sweet, but looked like he lacked stamina. And then, I thought of Voyager. And saw these two." She made a sweeping motion of her arm towards Tom and Chakotay. "And they looked, hmm...very pretty together, I must say. And then it struck me; two is better than one! A stroke of genius, if I do say so myself." She attempted to look modest, without much success.
"So, you've decided to pollute the Continuum with the DNA of one of *these*!" The male Q made a gesture of incredulity in the direction of the two humans.
She beamed at him. "Exactly!"
"But why them? My dear, really, what a choice. Helmboy or Chuckles!"
"Hey!" Tom said indignantly. "I'm no longer the pilot, in case you hadn't noticed."
The male Q shrugged impatiently. "Not at the moment maybe."
Chakotay decided to maintain a dignified silence over the Chuckles crack. "I'm going to ask you again, politely," he said, his ire only just under control. "To get the hell off my--"
"Captain to the bridge," said the voice of Lieutenant Kim.
Captain and First Officer exited swiftly, to discover that two more supernovae were about to erupt. A dawning suspicion began to form, as Chakotay looked at the two Q, who were openly scowling at each other. This had almost certainly got to be something to do with the Q; this many supernovae could be no natural phenomenon.
"Marge," Tom ordered Hamilton, "take us out of here. Are we too close to go to warp?"
"Sorry, yes."
"Maximum impulse then,"
"Aye, sir."
The helmswoman busied herself at the conn, as Chakotay glared at the female Q, and moved towards her slowly.
"One supernova every century is about average. We've seen three in as many days. You have something to do with this, don't you!"
The male Q spoke from his position near Tom on the other side of the bridge. "He may be an inferior specimen, but he's right. This is your fault."
"Mine!" the irate female yelled. "I'm not the one who started it!"
The ship rocked as it was hit by the shock waves from the two supernovae. Tom stumbled and grabbed hold of the railing for balance.
"Do something," Chakotay yelled at the female Q. She grabbed hold of him, shot Tom a regretful glance and disappeared with a snap of her fingers.
"Why that..." the male Q muttered, before he too disappeared.
~~~~~
Chakotay found himself standing in what appeared to be a 19th century North American mansion. The room he was in was elegantly appointed, with spacious French windows, closed and covered with shutters against what seemed to be a storm outside. He looked down at himself; he was dressed in a Union officer's uniform, although he couldn't remember what rank.
The double doors to the room opened and the female Q, dressed in a blue hoop-skirted long dress walked in.
"Where are we. And why did you bring me here?"
"You're in the Continuum now," she said.
Chakotay looked around dubiously. "This isn't how I remember it." [CHECK WHETHER CHAKOTAY VISITED LAST TIME]
She shrugged. "This is more representative of the state of the Continuum now. I picked an era out of your people's history that seemed appropriate." Chakotay looked at her quizzically. She frowned at him. "What!?"
"Well, this isn't really my people's history," he said, half apologetically.
She sighed impatiently and there was a reality shift around them. They were now standing in what Chakotay thought was probably a 16th century European town house, although he wasn't absolutely certain. Tom would have known, he thought absently. His clothes had also changed; his attire now consisted of knee breeches, with a matching coat in green silk and he felt his hair brushing his shoulders. Q was dressed in a gorgeous red silken dress.
"Um, English civil war?" he ventured. She nodded. "This isn't my history either."
"Oh, *all right*!"
Another reality change. Now he was standing in a large, hacienda style house, but his clothes were, if he wasn't mistaken, from the 20th century, the earlier part of it probably. He looked at her enquiringly.
She shrugged. "Spanish Civil War. 1930s"
"Closer," Chakotay said, thinking that he almost certainly had a few Spanish ancestors, but probably well before the 1930s.
She scowled at him and there was yet another shift. This time they were in a large utilitarian building; its walls were pockmarked and torn. He was dressed in old style combat fatigues and she was in dusty trousers and a torn jacket. He blinked, confused. "Bosnian War, 1990s," she informed him.
He sighed. "Look, the original scenario was fine, really!"
Muttering something about how there was no pleasing some people, she shifted the scene again, back to the North American Civil War.
"Okay, I know where we are. But not why. And what about my ship!"
Q shrugged. "Well, you told me to do something. I would have liked to have brought Tommy along too, but there wasn't time. And I'm sure your ship will be fine. Or don't you think Tommy can handle it?"
"Yes, of course," Chakotay blustered, wishing he felt as confident about that as he tried to sound.
"In any event, this is beyond your ship. It's even beyond you and me, and Tommy. This is about the future of the Continuum itself." She moved to the windows as she spoke and opened the shutters.
"I think I can guess," Chakotay said as he looked out at the scene outside, the sound of old fashioned gunfire permeated the air. "Civil war."
She nodded sombrely.
~~~~~
On Voyager, Tom was picking himself up from the floor. He felt something trickle down his forehead and touched it; his hand came away wet with blood. He looked around at the bridge; sparks of electricity arched across it as com panels fizzed. All around, lay dead or unconscious crew. "Status," he barked.
"Warp's down," Kim reported from Ops. Tom sighed with relief at hearing that Harry was okay. "And we're sixteen billion kilometres from where we were."
"Thanks Harry. Engineering. B'Elanna."
"Here Lieutenant. I'm on it; we're trying to repair the warp core. I'll be able to give you an estimate shortly."
Tom turned as a groan sounded from his left; it was the male Q. Like Tom, he too had a head wound, which, Tom was pretty sure, was unprecedented in the case of a Q. Tom advanced on him and grabbed him by an arm. "What's going on. Where's Chakotay? Are you the one causing the supernovae?" he demanded.
"One question at a time, please Tommy."
"Not good enough! I want answers!"
"Let me go before I incinerate you and your precious ship!"
Tom looked at him consideringly, still holding his arm. "I don't think you can."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Q snapped his fingers. Nothing happened.
"Something's happened to your powers hasn't it," Tom said letting go of his arm. "I'm right aren't I. Otherwise you wouldn't be here wounded with us mere mortals. Dammit Q," he said impatiently. "I want answers and if you won't cooperate, maybe you'd enjoy some time in the brig."
Q's dark eyes glared at the lieutenant's icy blue. "Oh, all right!" Q finally said testily. Then as an aside, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."
Tom suppressed a grin, not wanting to admit that even in the midst of this crisis, with Chakotay missing and the ship damaged, he found the Q as amusing as hell.
~~~~~
Tom sat in the captain's chair at the hastily assembled senior staff meeting. He felt extremely uncomfortable sitting here, the first, and hopefully last, time he'd ever do so. His worry for Chakotay gnawed at him; a worry he felt on several levels, not just for his captain, but also for his what? His lover, he supposed was as good a word as any, certainly better than sexual partner. In addition, there was his nagging doubt, one which had never quite gone away in the months he'd been first officer, as to whether he was up to this, taking command of Voyager. If they couldn't get Chakotay back... No! He wasn't going to think like this. They'd get Chakotay back. He felt sick at the thought that he might never see him again. But that was because he didn't want the responsibility of being captain, he told himself, knowing he was lying even as he thought it.
"Okay Q," he ordered. "Spill it!"
"Do you remember Quinn, the Q philosopher?"
Tom nodded. "Yes, of course."
"Well, at the time I warned that the consequences of his suicide would be severe. And they were. Civil war no less."
"Among the Q?" Kim asked incredulously.
Q sighed theatrically. "Even among such advanced being as ourselves, yes. I myself, and Q..."
"Which Q?" Tom interrupted.
"The Q who's been hanging around here these past few days Tommy. You know the one who wants to mate with you."
There were muffled snickers as Paris blushed. God, he hated being so fair skinned at times. He attempted to recover by smirking at Q. "Oh yes, her. I'm not likely to forget. So, what was all that about anyway?"
"You mean the idea about mating with you and Chuckles?"
There were more snickers as Tom's smirk froze momentarily. "Yeah. That one."
"The idea is that by combining the omnipotence of the Q with humanity, a better breed of Q will be born, more civilised, with a wider understanding." Tom listened to this with an open-mouthed expression as Q beamed. "I know, brilliant isn't it!"
"You sound like it was your idea."
"It was!"
Tom stared at Q in surprise. "Then why..."
"You and Chuckles?"
Paris nodded as the rest of the senior staff looked on in fascination. "Because she stole my idea. I'm the one who first suggested it, to--" He broke off abruptly.
"To who?" Torres asked.
"Never mind. Although I have to say that I'm disappointed in Q's taste. You and Chuckles. Mind you..." a dreamy look came over Q's face. "Actually, she has a point, that's quite a pretty picture."
It would probably have been possible to melt marshmallows on Tom's complexion at this point. "Okay, okay. Enough. Look, Q, there's gotta be a way of getting into the Continuum besides you snapping you fingers. How about we work together to get you and us into the Continuum, so we can rescue Chakotay and you can go on to lead your troops to glorious victory." Tom sat back in his chair, his seemingly relaxed posture belying his underlying tension.
Q pondered for a moment. "There is one way, but this rickety barge probably won't stand up to the stress."
"Yeah well, Q. This rickety barge is your only option for now. So I suggest we get to it. B'Elanna, you'll work with Q on the engineering specs. Harry, give her a hand. Jon..." Tom continued to give out orders, his concentration wholly on the task at hand.
SECTTION TO BE CONTINUED
~~~~
No, this isn't the end. I skipped ahead to start writing another part 'cos I had An Idea. The Idea part is coming up next.
