AUTHOR: Sally
SUMMARY: The Enterprise shower scene, Voyager style
RATING: PG13
DISCLAIMER: Berman and Braga didn't deserve these guys, but they got them anyway.
DEDICATION: To all those who found the scene in Enterprise offensive and not necessary, and to the JC fans who wanted to know why it never happened in Voyager!
"Decontaminate?" Kathryn all but shouted at the EMH. "With him?"
"Yes, Captain," the newly functioning Emergency Medical Hologram replied. "You were both in an area where there was strong contamination. And you will need help in application of the decontaminant."
She looked across at the Maquis captain, willing him to back her up. He merely smiled. She growled inwardly. With his smile he could probably charm a million women into giving them what he wanted. And now she was going to be stuck in a potentially compromising situation with him.
"What about Torres and Ensign Kim?" she managed to say.
"They went through the process earlier." He led them to a small chamber. "Now, strip," he commanded.
Chakotay immediately obliged. He was down to his underwear before he noticed that his Starfleet counterpart had not done the same. He finished pulling a sock off and looked up at her expectantly.
"Turn around when you're quite ready, Mister Chakotay," she said with a steel tone to her voice.
"You expect me to walk in backwards?"
"You can walk in forwards. I'll be right behind you." She paused. "You can be assured that neither of us will be in a position to wound the other with weapons."
He smiled sardonically. "Whatever you say. You are the captain." He turned around and walked into the unit.
"And don't you forget it," she muttered to his retreating back. Hastily, she stripped down to her crop top and shorts and stepped into the unit behind him.
"So who goes first?" he asked, sensing her presence.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Who assists who first?"
"I suggest," she began. "That we tend to our own needs first." She nearly bit her tongue as she realised the phrase she had just used. "I presume your mother taught you how to wash yourself?"
She watched his back tense. "My mother taught me more than you'll ever know," he said quietly.
They continued in silence for a while before Kathryn groaned. Immediately, Chakotay turned to face her. "Are you okay?" he asked, searching her face with his eyes.
"Yes, fine," she muttered between gritted teeth. "It’s just been a long day, that’s all."
"I know," he answered quietly. "You did good out there today, Captain. And you impressed the hell out of me." He smiled. "Come here. I know what you need." Her eyes flew wide in alarm and he laughed. "Oh, please," he joked. "Like I would ever do that to you. Look, just come here and turn around. So your back is toward me."
Hesitantly she approached and did as he asked. Within seconds she found herself being relaxed by a gentle pair of hands on her shoulders. "How did you learn this?" she breathed.
"My mother," he murmured into her ear. "You did the right thing, you know. You could have said to hell with the Ocampa and completed your mission."
"I know."
"I expected you to do that, you know. I thought you'd have no problem with shipping us straight back to the Federation and Starfleet." The hands paused briefly.
"I couldn't do it."
"To us or the Ocampa?"
"Does it matter?"
"Thank you," he whispered again. The hands again began to massage her shoulders.
"Mmm," she moaned. "That is so good. Perhaps I should take you on as captain's personal masseuse." The words were said without thought as she continued to melt under his ministrations.
"I'm worth more to you than that."
His words were an immediate wakeup call. She wrenched herself away from his touch and swung around. Her brain fired back into action. Looking him straight in the eye she said, "First officer. No brig time."
He stepped back. "What?"
"I need a first officer. You have a displaced crew who would probably like to avoid spending the next seventy years in the brig. You become my first officer and your crew will become free members of my crew, treated no differently unless they deserve it on an individual basis." She cocked her head at an angle. "How about it?"
"Starfleet rules I suppose."
"This is a Starfleet vessel."
"And no brig time for any of my crew?"
"I can't afford it, unfortunately."
"Unfortunately?"
"I need people in all departments. Your first assignment will be allocating people to those departments."
"If I accept?"
"Do you have a choice?"
He smiled and she had to force herself not to weaken in the face of that smile. My goodness, she thought to herself. He really is quite handsome. She immediately felt guilty for having such a thought. Seventy thousand light years away her fiancé was waiting for her.
"Done," he said suddenly.
"What?"
"I accept your terms." He held out his hand.
She released a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. "Very well then, Commander Chakotay," she smiled. "I expect to see you on the bridge in half an hour." She cast an appraising eye at him. "Fully dressed please. In proper regulation uniform."
With that she opened the door to the decontaminating unit and stepped out into the fluorescent brilliance of sickbay.
FINIS