But To Go Through
Author: Gwen Slaughter
Email: gkslaugh@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
Codes: P/T
Disclaimer: Tom, B'Elanna and all of Voyager belong
to Paramount and Star Trek, I am just borrowing them
to have a little fun.
Notes and acknowledgements: This is to BR and Tracy
and everyone else who asked me what was next and
pushed me to write it. :) And my muse, which wouldn't
let me rest until I did. Please enjoy.
One warning though, this one is truly fantasy.
"But to go through..."
A moment in time piece
(following "No Way Out")
He kissed her. It was as simple, and as complicated
as that. They had been staring at each other for what
seemed like hours, though in reality only seconds had
passed. He then strode across the room to reach her.
Intending to do what he had planned from the moment he
walked out of his quarters that morning. He was going
to tell her, right then and now. No matter what Harry
had said, no matter the audience they had at the
moment and no matter that it more than likely was not
the right time. He was going to tell her; he needed
to tell her. He kept that thought in mind the entire
walk to her, that seemed to last an eternity. Even as
he watched her tense at the approach he kept his
determination; right until the moment he reached her.
He sat next to her at the table with their legs and
arms almost touching but not quite. A breath away.
He looked at her for a moment without speaking and for
the first time noticed the look in her eyes and what
it truly meant. So he kissed her.
She had meant to protest; she really did. She had
meant to move away from the table before he even got
there. But she didn't. She couldn't. The look on
his face, in his eyes, held her captive and she
couldn't breathe let alone move. When he reached her
she looked to him expectantly, waiting for him to
speak. Yet he didn't, not with words at any rate. He
kissed her and she grabbed hold of his shoulders,
gripping tightly, planning with the only conscious
thought she had left to push him away. Yet her body
betrayed her mind and pulled him closer. The passion
with which he took her mouth killed any protest and
rushed hot fire through her body.
Suddenly, it didn't matter who they were in their
shipboard lives. It didn't matter that this moment
was so wrong, that they were in the mess hall and
everyone was staring, that they were creating gossip
for a lifetime on board the small ship they inhabited,
or that this wasn't supposed to be happening at all.
The rest of the world, effectively, was washed away
beneath the power and meaning of that kiss. All that
was left was need, desire, obsession, and fire. It
felt as if they were inside each other, in a cocoon of
their own making. Empathic links being the impossible
things that they were surely to be. It felt as though
they had come home.
It was a rather drawn out kiss. Never quite becoming
one thing or another. It was intense, passionate,
tender, and incredible all at once. Yet they were at
least dimly aware of their surroundings and how far to
push. Mercifully. It flowed like their life force
within them, forever joined; though neither could
remember when it had occurred.
Reality reinserted itself by the sound of cheering all
around them. Consumed in each other they had created
quite a spectacle. Yet neither could truly bring
themselves to care. It just couldn't' seem to matter
there, in that moment.
He broke the kiss off slowly and leaned back slightly.
Then tracing his finger down her cheek he leaned
forward again, leaning his forehead against hers as
their breathing slowed. As they watched the play of
emotions in each other's eyes they knew one thing for
certain. Things had just been irrevocably changed.
-------------------------------------------------------
"Tom? Hey Tom, you still with me?"
Tom jumped, startled at the sound of Harry's voice and
suddenly realized he hadn't moved from his spot just
inside the mess hall door.
"Um, yeah Harry I'm here. What did you say?" he asked
slowly, finally breaking his gaze away from B'Elanna's
table.
Harry looked at him strangely for a second following
his gaze. "I just wondered if we were going to get
breakfast or stand here all day, that's all."
"Oh. Sure. Of course, let's go see what colors
today's adventure is shall we?" Tom said, trying a
smile.
Harry just looked him and then shook his head.
Sighing, he went to greet Neelix.
Tom moved to follow and paused, glancing back at the
table. B'Elanna was gone.
End :)