And Then There Were Two

gkslaugh@yahoo.com

Pairing: P/T though no names are really mentioned
Rating: PG-13 for a little inuendo nothing serious
Set: after "The Gift" though that doesn't matter
much...

Disclaimer: not mine, never were, just playing around
w/ them for a little while

Authors notes: figured I would write something a
little more "on topic" LOL :) I have no idea where
this one came from, just a little something to
brighten up a cold morning. Hope you enjoy. Feedback
as always is adored.

"And then there were two"

It started out innocently enough. A game of pool, a
few drinks, a celebration that they were alive for yet
another day. Better than alive actually, they were 10
years further along in their journey than they had
been just the day before. Leaving behind an enemy...
and a good friend, part of the family.

Why she agreed in the first place she wasn't quite
sure. Surely it was dangerous. Games played with him
always were. Given how she had begun to feel towards
him, more and more as of late, made it even more
dangerous. She agreed anyway. Maybe because she had
had a few too many "real" drinks than she had had in a
very long time. Maybe because everyone else had
agreed as well. Maybe because she didn't figure there
was much chance she'd lose. Maybe she couldn't resist
a challenge. Or maybe simply that she had very little
resistance at all when it came to him.

Just pool had become boring, he said. Even the
Captain, whose competitive nature kept her in the game
more often than not agreed with that sentiment. She,
however, chose to decline what came next, despite her
wide grin at the one who had proposed it. She was
still the Captain after all. Saying her goodnights
she left the rest of them, most of her senior staff
included, to their game.

It grew in scale gradually. First the innocent bets
that always seemed to be placed despite the so-called
regulations against them. In this even the Captain
was involved. After this, and a bit more drinking,
came the dares. A rather adult game of truth or dare.
Kept contained to the holodeck, but these too grew in
scale. Till someone, not even the one they all would
have expected, made a new suggestion. A rather old
one actually, though usually played with a different
game.

Her companion was intrigued by the idea. Suprising,
one would think, considering his vast experiences.
"Strip pool, huh?" he remarked slowly, looking only
at her. His look was intense, challenging, wanting,
and playful all in one. A very charged moment to be
sure, though they were not the only ones in the room,
or the only ones taking to the idea.

And so it had begun. Games were played 2 on 2, till
some would either give up out of discretion or
embarrasment, or lose badly. Those instances were
quite humerous actually. For those that lost were not
left with too much of their dignity. Their only hope
was that the drinking would blur the rememberences the
following day.

She was winning. So was he. They had yet to play
each other however, either on the same team or
against. So maybe it was destined to end up the way
it did. They weeded out all their opponents, on both
sides. The distance growing smaller with each
victory.

And then there were two. She was caught completly off
guard by it. At first only those who lost would
leave, most others interested in watching the
competition. But as it grew later... She had been
watching so intently she hadn't noticed. He finished
defeating his last opponent with a flourish. About to
concede to the inevitable, his opponent a leggy blonde
from the sciences, took one look across the room - and
ran. He grinned watching her departure. Turning, he
locked his gaze across the room and his grin grew
wider for a moment before disappearing completly.

"Shall we?" he asked, gesturing for her to join him.

Dangerous. Playing games with him were always
dangerous. Only she had no resistance when it came to
him.

the end