PWP NC-13
C/P

Disclaimer: They aren't mine, I'm only borrowing. (damn!)

Sorry it's late Leone, and thanks for the inspiration Elli (Hugs to you both)

The senior crew of Voyager were huddled somewhat drunkenly in the mess hall as Captain Janeway took centre stage under the now rather bedraggled homemade Christmas Tree that had been `liberated' from the crew quarters by a stealth team consisting of Tom "my ass is so cute I can get away with anything" Paris, Harry "I'm not as innocent as I look" Kim and B'Elanna "mess with me and die" Torres.

"At this time of year, our thoughts inevitably return home to our loved ones. It is a sad time and yet one of hope. We are missing but not forgotten. We WILL get home." Kathryn announced solemnly. Then seeing a number of people wiping their eyes furtively she shook herself and decided to get on with the program.

It had possibly been a mistake to let Neelix make the punch with real alcohol, she realised. Everyone was in that strange twilight stage of inebriation where it would take very little to push them either into tearful remembrance or ribald humour.

Plastering a huge grin on her own slightly squiffy face, she gestured to the tree.

"I am not even going to ask how THAT got here, although I trust it will be returned more or less in one piece." She laughed, giving a significant look at Tom, who returned her good-hearted accusation with look of wide-eyed innocence that fooled no one.

"As you all know, in view of our depleted energy resources, I made a rule this year that no personal presents were to be given. Instead, everyone's names were put in the computer and randomly selected so that each person has ONE present from an anonymous source. Since the present opening will be public, I trust that no one has had an attack of bad taste." Kathryn said with a mock glare.

Judging by the wide grins and embarrassed shuffling of feet, she was sure that a few surprises were in store. She hid her own amusement as best she could. The anonymous presents had been her idea. She had felt the fun that could be garnered from the `opening' would make up for the otherwise lean state of their celebrations.

"Okay," She said, reaching for the first brightly wrapped parcel and reading the tag. "Samantha!"

Sam Wildman stepped forward hesitantly to good-natured laughter. She took the present from the Captain and slowly unwrapped it. Her pale face flushed with embarrassment but with good humour she shook out the flimsy negligee and displayed it to the gathered crowd before returning to her place amidst wolf whistles and catcalls.

"Tuvok" the Captain said as she picked up the next parcel.

The Vulcan, who had refrained from the punch despite endless cajoling, stepped forwards with a look of complete disinterest on his face. He unwrapped his present, looked calmly at the contents and said "Most illogical."

"Come on, show us!" Ayala called out.

Tuvok glared at him but complied, dangling the furry handcuffs from his fingertips as though they were diseased.

Tom elbowed Harry in the ribs and howled with laughter.

"I can't believe you actually did it." He sniggered quietly.

Harry flushed. "I said I would." He whispered back.

"He won't know they were from you!" Tom pointed out.

Harry gave a grin that belied his supposed innocence.

"Nah, but at least when I DO get into his bed, I'll know they are in the drawer." He snickered.

"When hell freezes over, Harry." Tom replied.

"Which will be the same day YOU get in HIS bed." Harry whispered back, nodding at the stoic first officer who was hovering behind Janeway's shoulder, obviously wishing he was somewhere else.

Tom gave a wide enigmatic smile in return. "That's what YOU think." He purred with pretence of confidence.

"Seven" Kathryn called out and the elegant blonde approached her with a definite list to her walk.

Seven unwrapped her present and then stared into the box, lost in inebriated wonder.

"I wonder what she's got." Harry sniggered, only to be shocked and moved when the ex-Borg extracted a beautiful music box with a dancing ballerina on top.

"It is – beautiful." Seven exclaimed and Ayala ducked his head to hide his furious blush at her reaction.

B'Elanna elbowed Tom fiercely "Looks like Greg fancies his chances with the Borg." She sniffed contemptuously but her face showed a trace of wistfulness as she watched Seven return to her place, the treasured gift clutched to her chest.

"B'Elanna" Kathryn called out.

B'Elanna stalked forward aggressively and almost snatched the gift box. She gave the crowd a wide-toothed grin and ripped the present open only to stop in unconscious imitation of Seven as she regarded the contents.

"Who got her?" Harry whispered to Tom

"Dunno, I only had time to make sure that we got our personal choices, I couldn't control the whole thing without triggering an alarm." Tom whispered back.

"Well whoever it was, has damn good taste." Harry replied as B'Elanna displayed the rainbow hued spider-silk kaftan to the crowd.

B'Elanna's eyes searched for Tom's face. Seeing the surprise in his blue eyes, she sighed internally. The gift was so beautiful she had hoped desperately that it had been from the pilot. She knew he wasn't interested in her in THAT way, but still she clung on to hope.

Fortunately, she was too distracted by her thoughts to notice Neelix capering about in glee at the obvious success of his gift.

"Tom" Kathryn called out and the blond stepped forwards with a cocky grin. He knew that Chakotay had `picked' his name so he was confident that the present would be as boring and staid as the Commander. Tom loathed scenes of public embarrassment, he had experienced too many in his lifetime to see the humour in them (unless they were happening to other people of course).

He opened the present with gusto and peered inside. What he saw made him shrink with embarrassment. Shit, he must have cocked up, he decided. There was no way in hell that the Commander would have given him THIS!

Tom prayed for a hole to open up and swallow him.

Unfortunately he was obviously overdrawn at the prayer bank, because the only result of his hesitation was a stomping chant started by Harry "you used to be my friend, you bastard" Kim of "Show us, show us."

Plastering a grimace that he hoped would pass for a grin on his face, Tom slowly revealed his present. The room erupted in hysterics. Tom cursed his fair skin as the heat in his face blazed like a beacon.

Kathryn looked at the item in Tom's hands in complete shock and then a wicked grin crept across her face.

"Are you going to model it for us, Lieutenant?" She asked sweetly.

"It's a bit too chilly in here." Tom replied tightly, meeting Chakotay's eyes over her shoulder. The big man's face was impassive but there was a definite glint of humour in his dark eyes as he met Tom's accusing look.

Swallowing nervously, Tom broke eye contact and returned to Harry's side, the black silk Basque clenched in whitened knuckles, its suspender straps trailing on the floor.

"It's just your colour, Tom." B'Elanna snickered as he passed.

Bastard, he thought, you bastard. And yet, it hadn't been mockery he had seen in Chakotay's eyes but something else, something that made his cock suddenly feel as hot as his face.

Tom was too lost in a confused jumble of hope, anger, lust and embarrassment to pay much attention to the rest of the gifts. Was this a bizarre attempt to humiliate him, or a genuine expression of interest? And if it was the latter, did Chakotay actually expect him to WEAR the bloody thing?

"Chakotay" Kathryn called out. Tom jerked to attention and looked furtively at the big man as he approached the Captain. For a moment brown eyes met blue in a knowing smirk.

Shit! Tom realised, he KNEW. Somehow he had known that Tom had tampered with the random selection. Which meant that his present HAD been a message. Tom's cock stirred hungrily at the thought and he held the Basque in front of himself protectively in an effort to hide the growing bulge in his groin.

Chakotay delved into his box and froze in shock. The crowd rumbled with anticipation. Slowly Chakotay drew out the contents and displayed a plain brown jar to the assembled horde. A general sigh of disappointment greeted the apparently unexciting present.

Chakotay looked directly into the crowd and met Tom's eyes in appreciation of the subtlety of the gift. He had the choice now to step back and merge into the shadows or to acknowledge the present publicly.

Tom flinched under his gaze. The Commander's next actions would prove to him whether his own present had been an invitation or a cruel prank. Hope warred with fear as he teetered on a knife-edge between disappointment and possible fulfilment of a long-held fantasy.

Deliberately Chakotay hesitated and then made a show of reading the writing on the jar.

"Chocolate Body Paint." He read out solemnly and the room erupted with mirth.

"Do you like lickable chocolate, Commander?" Kathryn asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"It would depend on the `lickee'" Chakotay replied with a wide – dimpled grin, staring directly at Tom.

The eyes of the crowd turned as everyone swivelled around to seek the source of his stare. A collective gasp was heard as they realised that the red-faced pilot was the object of his attention.

With great aplomb, Chakotay turned to the Captain.

"If you will excuse me, Kathryn, I have a prior engagement, I think."

Wide eyed, Kathryn motioned him to go and watched him prowl down the rapidly dividing crowd to his prey.

Tom trembled as the Commander approached, his treacherous feet refusing his impulse to get the hell out of there. He hadn't been sure what his present would unleash but it sure as hell hadn't been the dark predatory beast that was publicly stalking him.

He flashed a helpless look at Harry, who just grinned at his discomfiture.

The saying, don't play with fire unless you want to get burnt, occurred to him briefly and then the Commander was directly in front of him, his powerful frame completely overshadowing any advantage that Tom's greater height might have awarded him.

"Cha-Chakotay?" He queried helplessly

"Let's go." Chakotay said quietly, grasping his arm and steering him towards the door.

"Where? Why?" Tom asked, feeling the situation completely spiralling out of his control.

Chakotay gave a feral grin and brandished the jar at him.

"I'm hungry, Tom." He purred with a leer.

Deciding he had definitely bitten off more than he could chew, and wondering what alien had taken over Chakotay's body, Tom began to slowly retreat backwards to the growing amusement of his drunken fellow-officers. He had dreamed so many times of being swept off his feet by Chakotay, but in his fantasies the Commander had never been so out of control, so blatantly animalistic.

Tom's cock was straining at his tight jeans, pointing like a compass at the magnetic presence that was advancing on him, even as he twisted his head in panic to find an escape route.

Chakotay smirked at Tom's panic. After years of secret desire, he had finally managed to wipe the arrogant grin off that beautiful face and the resultant sweet vulnerability of the pilot was like an aphrodisiac. He charged forward, grabbed Tom around his slender waist and hitched him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift.

Tom struggled briefly in mortification as the entire room began to cheer and then he sighed and gave in to the inevitable. As Chakotay stalked out of the room with his burden, Tom looked up from Chakotay's shoulder, met Harry's eyes and winked.