Summary: C/P, KT's CPSG "Halloween" challenge. Part Three: Half of them are called.
Copyright September 2001 Cassatt

Neelix was waiting for Tuvok to finished getting dressed. He sat on the bed in his white clothes, looking around the room for the umpteenth time, studying the paintings on the walls, the ornate wooden furniture, the lace curtains. His eyes rested on the lamp sitting on the bedside table. The flame inside the glass globe was moving, waving like a flag in the breeze. Reaching over, he turned the small knob and watched as the flame grew taller and denser. In a form so small, fire was a beautiful thing, he thought.

A noise broke his contemplative mood. He wasn't sure he actually heard something, it was so faint, but his senses were immediately on high alert. He heard it again. A scratching sound, coming from the door to the hallway. Louder than something a rodent-like animal would make. For some reason, his palms started to sweat. He got up and approached the door. It happened a third time.

Without hesitating, he opened the heavy wooden door, looking down at the floor. There was nothing there. His scalp tingled.

The door to his right opened and he turned quickly. Ayala was poking his head out, looking down at the floor.

"Greg, did you hear it, too?" Neelix called.

The man seemed startled by the question, if the look on his face was any indication. "Scratching? Near the floor? On the door?" he said.

Neelix nodded.

"We thought it sounded like a cat."

"What's a cat?"

Greg smiled. "Sorry, I forget sometimes. A cat is small, domesticated, pointed ears, long tail, claws..."

The sound of a child's giggling interrupted him, coming from the far, other end of the hallway. Neelix turned quickly to his left and saw the back of a small child dip around the corner, moving out of sight. His heart began to beat furiously.

"Come on, Harry," Ayala was calling back over his shoulder as he raced by Neelix, inadvertently frightening him more. Harry, clad in all black, dashed out of their room and, barely meeting Neelix's eyes, motioned for him to follow, too.

Neelix wasn't sure why, but he followed, adrenaline racing through his bloodstream.

They left behind two open doorways and one empty room.

Chakotay got dressed in the bedroom along with Tom. He was questioning his reactions and state of mind continually, unbeknownst to the younger man. For one thing, he thought he should feel more self-conscious, after all, he'd just made a brazen move out of nowhere and seduced the man in his bathtub. Which was another thing. How he got there. He decided to shelve that one for a while. His last checkup with the Doctor the week before had assured him the recessive gene that controlled his sanity was still dormant. The treatment was still working.

He tried not to watch Tom pulling on his clothes but he couldn't stop himself. He found he was daydreaming again, about how he'd like to take the white clothing back off, then about how wonderfully the silky fabric draped over Tom's shoulders. How the vee neck showed off that beautiful blond chest hair of Tom's. About how...

"You're staring, Chakotay," Tom said, teasing gently. In truth, it thrilled him.

"I apologize," Chakotay said with a deep smile, not sorry at all.

"Accepted." Tom took a risk, but he was feeling risky. Hell, he was feeling like he could do anything, take on the Borg or even the Vidiians. He might pay tomorrow, when his commanding officer came to enough to build the wall back up between them, but tonight? Tonight he was going to give this his all.

He did something he'd always dreamed of being able to do. He walked up to Chakotay and wrapped his arms around his shoulders and neck, dipped his head and zeroed in on the man's mouth, kissing him passionately, pushing his tongue against those full lips, gaining entrance and plundering to his heart's content. He loved to kiss, and it was becoming crystal clear to him that the man whose tongue was playing with his did, too. Chakotay had him in a tight embrace, beginning to move against him, the thin fabric between them doing nothing to conceal any part of their bodies from roving hands and gently thrusting hips. He was falling, but had to stop it.

"Fuck, Chakotay," he murmured against the bronze neck after wrenching his mouth away.

Holding Tom tightly, his hands making their way under the tunic to caress his back, Chakotay had to agree with the sentiment. "All night, Tom, we've got all night," he said softly.

After putting their boots back on, they left their room, locking the door behind them, having decided, for some reason, that it was the right thing to do. Chakotay put the key in his pocket and took Tom's hand, lacing their fingers together.

Tom stopped walking and looked at him intently. Even in the low light his gaze was piercing.

Chakotay smiled. "What? You don't want me to hold your hand? Well, get used to it. We're not on the bridge, and we're not exactly on duty, we're here with our friends. And maybe in five or ten years, though I doubt it, I won't need to touch you, but here and now I do. Okay?"

Tom knew he had a ridiculous grin on his face but couldn't stop it. "I never said I didn't want to hold your hand. Just don't want to compromise your command position on this mission."

"Don't worry about that, Tom." Chakotay started them walking again.

Tom's mind was whirling. "Does this mean I can touch you in public if I want?"

"Sure, I trust you not to embarrass me." He met Tom's eyes so the younger man could see he was sincere.

Tom pulled his hand away and put it around Chakotay's shoulder. Still walking, he pulled them together and leaned over, kissed the back of Chakotay's neck, let go and took his hand again. They smiled at each other.

A few more meters and Tom's mind came to a screeching halt. Maybe in five or ten years... His heart skidded into his ribcage and pounded it unmercifully. He turned and looked at this man whom he had wanted for so long, too handsome by half in the all black outfit, a serene smile gracing his face. Could he really have meant that?

Chakotay decided that later, in between fucking each other into near oblivion, they'd talk. It was time.

Neelix had caught up with Harry and Greg before they'd even rounded the first corner. All three had glimpsed the child turning another one, heard the light patter of footsteps running away from them. They'd followed, but that was the last sighting they'd had. The quick footsteps continued, however, and they had kept up the pursuit.

Now they were standing at the top of a large circular staircase, somewhere in the far reaches of the building. They'd turned so many corners and gone down so many different hallways which all looked the same, none of them really had any idea where they were. Breathing hard, their hearts were racing and they kept darting looks between themselves but no one was saying a word.

The footsteps they'd been following were heading down the stairway, they could hear them almost distinctly, yet when they looked down the center of the tall wooden structure they could see nothing. Then there was just a flash of red, like the tail of a coat, and another giggle floated up from near the bottom of the stairs.

Greg didn't hesitate. He started down the stairs, jumping occasionally, trying to take more than one step at a time with his long legs. Harry took off right behind him. Neelix did hesitate, but, deciding he didn't want to be separated from his companions, followed as quickly as he could. He tried not to think about what they were doing, running almost blindly into the bowels of this dark building.

"Tuvok to Neelix." Neelix almost took a header off the side of the stairway he was so startled by the Vulcan's voice coming from his chest. He hit his combadge as best he could on the fly.

"Neelix here."

"Where is here?"

"I'm not sure, Mr. Vulcan," he said, panting now. Greg and Harry hit the bottom and turned to him.

"This way, Neelix," Greg said, pointing to his left. They hurried away.

"Lieutenant Ayala is with you, then. May I assume Ensign Kim is, as well?"

"Yes, sir. We are pursuing," he paused, trying to come up with a description, "an intruder - we are on the first floor but that's all I know."

"I will inform the commander. Tuvok out."

Neelix hit the bottom and ran off to his left, grateful to see the retreating backs of his friends.

"Tuvok to Commander Chakotay."

The sound echoed through the cavernous entrance hall as Chakotay was descending the stairway with Tom. He tapped his combadge and asked Tuvok where he was. The eating room. He said he'd be right there and they headed to their left.

Though Tom had been prepared, he felt the first inkling of nerves. Chakotay, though, squeezed his hand more tightly, radiating calm. Tom tried to quickly absorb some of it.

Still, he had to credit Tuvok. The man's eyebrow only raised a few millimeters as he stood talking to his commanding officer holding hands with the Chief Helmsman. He told them what he knew. According to Neelix, he, Harry and Greg were somewhere in the building tracking an unspecified intruder. Tom sighed to himself. Bedtime was not going to come soon.

"An intruder, Tuvok?" Chakotay asked, now seeming less than calm. "How do they know who belongs here and who doesn't?"

"That is a logical question to ask."

Chakotay made a small noise that Tom recognized. The commander hit his combadge. "Chakotay to Ayala. Greg? What's going on?"

There was no response.

Chakotay repeated the action. This time Greg answered. "Chakotay? I think we'd rather explain when we see you."

"O-kay - return to the eating room, then."

"That might not be possible. We don't know how to get back."

"You can't come back the way you got there?"

Greg coughed slightly, and Tom almost started to laugh. "We've tried, but we don't seem to be able to get past a certain point. When we take the hallway at that point, we end up here. No matter which turn we make, we end up here."

"Do you have a general idea of which direction you're in, from the reference point of the entrance hall? If you've just come in the front door, which way would you turn to get where you are?"

"Right."

"Good. So you're further into the building from where we are. Each of you take off your shoes and start pounding the floor at the same time. We'll follow the sound."

"Acknowledged, Commander."

He tapped his badge to end the link and glanced at Tom. The hint of mirth he saw in Tom's eyes made him want to kiss him. Hell, he thought, everything Tom did made him want to kiss him. Giving himself a mental shake of the head he then looked at Tuvok, catching him studying them intently.

"It would appear, Tuvok," he said, "that our crew gets lost if we take the tricorders out of their hands."

His eyebrow raised significantly at that. "Indeed."

Very faint knocking sounds were heard from down the hallway.

"Time to put that Vulcan hearing to the test," Chakotay ordered, sweeping his hand ahead of him and nodding to Tuvok.

Tuvok nodded in return and preceded them into the hall. Tom was not particularly concerned about his friends, but was enjoying Chakotay's veiled exasperation. As they followed Tuvok, Tom again slipped his hand out of Chakotay's and put it around his shoulders, pulling them close. He leaned in and whispered, "I think you look much better in your black clothes than he does."

"And I'm imagining that you look a helluva lot better than Neelix," Chakotay whispered back.

"God, I hope so!" Tom hissed, then laughed out loud. Tuvok turned around. Tom immediately took his arm off and Chakotay snorted.

"Is there a problem, Tuvok?" he said sternly.

"Commander. Though this is a most unorthodox away mission, I feel it my duty to remind you of Starfleet regulation 128.4 which.."

Chakotay interrupted him. "Mr. Tuvok. I know perfectly well what regulation 128.4 states and, frankly, I do not think it applies. But whether it does or doesn't, only the captain can call me on the carpet for it. So until we return to the ship, I am your commanding officer. You will keep your opinions to yourself. And you will not show any disrespect to Lieutenant Paris." Chakotay hadn't felt this angry at Tuvok in a long time. He tried to keep breathing.

Tom watched Tuvok reigning in his reaction, feeling more than uncomfortable. The tapping was still heard, but he had the strong urge to try and diffuse this situation. He walked up to the Vulcan. "Mr. Tuvok, permission to speak freely?" He knew the man would never turn down deference.

"Yes, Lieutenant."

"I remember a conversation you and I had, on the side of a mountain, when we were stranded, away from everyone. We talked about unfettered emotions, as you called 'em. I know you have memories of what happened to you, even though you don't feel them. Can you try and give Chakotay some breathing room? He deserves to be unfettered, Tuvok. He's done enough for all of us." He stopped himself from pleading as he wanted. He waited. The tapping continued.

"Mr. Paris, you've spoken quite eloquently on the commander's behalf. It appears as though I was incorrect in my assessment of the situation." He turned his attention to Chakotay. "Commander. Please excuse my impertinence. I will be making no report to the captain and I will... endeavor to support you and this mission to the best of my abilities."

Chakotay took a deep breath. "Apology accepted, Tuvok. Now - let's go rescue our friends."

"Very good, Commander." Executing a perfect Starfleet turn, Tuvok started down the hallway again.

Chakotay took Tom's hand, lacing their fingers together once more. He lifted it and kissed it softly. "Thank you, Tom," he said, vowing he would show his gratitude more profoundly when they were alone.

"You're welcome," Tom answered. Pleased he'd been able to do something, still he wondered what exactly Tuvok had decided the situation was to begin with, and what the hell regulation 128.4 was. As they followed the dark man in the black clothes deeper and deeper into the very dark building, he decided they'd be doing some talking later that night. It was time.

"I'm taking a break, my arms are tired," Harry said. The three of them were sitting cross-legged, now in their stocking'd feet in one of the darker hallways they'd been through. The wall sconces were few and far between.

"I wonder how close they are." Neelix felt slightly embarrassed for sounding nervous. But after what they'd seen, or not seen, and then not being able to get back, he was anxious for the other three come around the corner.

"Don't worry, Neelix, we'll get out of here and back to our cozy rooms," Greg said, patting the man on the arm. They'd all stopped banging their shoes on the floor during this exchange, and Greg was just about to call the commander and check on their progress when they heard the faint giggle. Their eyes darted to each other quickly.

"Ignore it," Harry stated.

"...this way..." whisper soft, almost not heard, as though spoken against the wind.

Two of the three turned slowly. The third pushed up with his hands and began to walk down the hall.

"Greg! No!" Harry grabbed his leg.

"But don't you see him? He's right down there," Greg said, pointing. "He finally said something. I'm just going to get a little closer. I'll be okay." He shook off the hand clutching his white pants leg and kept moving.

Harry stood and hit his combadge with more force than necessary. He didn't see anything down the hall other than maybe a door and glancing at Neelix standing next to him, he was fairly certain he didn't either. He made contact with the commander as he watched his friend move further away, telling Chakotay they had to follow Greg.

"Bang on the floor again, I think we're close, real close."

So he and Neelix bent over and gave a few more hits.

"Hey, Harry!" Tom's voice startled them from behind. They spun around quickly and almost cried with relief to see the three men.

A strangled shout and loud thud came suddenly from the other end of the hall. Harry turned and went running down the passageway along with everyone else, toward a white form lying on the floor.

Tom dove to his knees and began a quick triage check, turning him over gently. They all could see the large red area rapidly growing larger on Greg's left shin.

"I need the medkit! His pulse is strong, but... shit..." Tom was trying to rip the pants leg without much success.

"Tuvok," Chakotay ordered, handing him the key, "you know how to get back - the kit is in the upper right drawer of the dresser, room is the third door on the right, go." Tuvok left in a sprint.

Tom was pulling off Greg's socks as fast as he could, telling the others he needed theirs, too. He'd gotten the pants yanked up and off the wound, but it was really too dark to tell much, other than that they needed to staunch the bleeding. "Tie two together, quick, fold up two more," Tom said as he used the patient's socks to sop up what was there, seeing the cut was deep and bleeding profusely. He used the two folded ones as a pad, and the other two to tie them tightly against the wound. "We've got to keep his leg elevated." Harry immediately lifted Greg's foot, sat, and put it on his shoulder. Neelix put the man's shoes back on him.

"Tom, why isn't he awake, do you know?" Chakotay asked, slipping his boots back on.

"No idea. And we've got to make a decision - it's way too dark here for me to really see why the hell he's bleeding so much. There was more light in the eating room..."

They looked at each other. "Can he be moved safely?"

Tom broke their eye contact to look at his friend on the floor. Then back up at his commanding officer. "I think he'll be fine, but I can't guarantee it."

Chakotay squatted down, clapped Tom on the shoulder and hit his combadge. He told Tuvok they were moving, then the four of them hoisted the patient up and started back to the center of the building.

Tuvok locked the door behind him after speaking with the commander. He walked rapidly down the hallway to the stairway and headed down. What he had sensed in the room he'd just left was sifting through his mind, logical path to logical path. He trotted down the stairs, gathering two lamps from the entrance hall. The smell of human male pheromones hadn't exactly surprised him, given the commander and lieutenant's apparent relationship. Entering the eating room, he put the lamps on the dining table and left to get two more. It was something else, the heaviness he felt in other parts of the building was not felt in that room.

Greg woke up en route, when Tom was changing his makeshift bandage for the second time. They were now officially out of socks until they saw Tuvok. Greg was alert but subdued, though claimed he could walk just fine. Chakotay was most concerned because he wouldn't say what had happened, and Harry and Neelix were just as reticent. They picked the man up and continued on their way.

Harry was realizing they were much closer to the eating room that he'd thought, and was feeling even more confused by the time Greg woke up. He met his friend's eyes and by unspoken communication they agreed to say nothing until they'd had a chance to talk. Then he looked at his other friend and got an equivalent agreement from him. The Talaxian would be spending some time in their room before turning in for the night.

Tom made quick work of repairing the gash in Greg's leg, once the man was lying on the dining table with mostly sufficient light bathing the wound. One hypospray for residual pain, one as an antibiotic, the regenerator to heal not only the cut in his dermal layers, but also a muscle tear and 'the protector' was once again whole. Tom's recommended course of treatment was a warm but not hot bath, to clean off the blood and relax the patient.

No clear answers were forthcoming from the lost trio, however, and both Chakotay and Tuvok were reluctant to let the subject drop. The three men claimed they were still confused and requested some time to talk amongst themselves before giving a report. Tuvok acquiesced to his commanding officer, who granted their request after eliciting a promise that they'd give the report first thing in the morning.

What was worse, perhaps, was that the captain called in the midst of this discussion. All six men stood stock still when her voice intruded. Chakotay answered her hail.

"So how is everything going, Chakotay?"

"Fine, Captain. We are just finishing our status meeting before retiring for the night."

"And what is your status?"

He met each pair of eyes, in turn. "Lieutenant Ayala had a minor fall, but Lieutenant Paris fixed him up good as new. Other than that, we are just... talking. There isn't much else to do."

"It sounds pretty boring. I'm sure your report will be fascinating, however." None of them missed the amusement in her voice. Tuvok made a small move as if to say something but Chakotay held up his hand to stop him.

"Yes, boring is the word. Was there anything else?"

"No. I'll speak to you in three hours. Janeway out."

The faint beep coming from Chakotay's combadge spurred Tuvok into action. "Commander, I must express my disagreement at keeping things from the captain..."

Chakotay interrupted him. "Tuvok, what the hell am I supposed to tell her? We're staying in a large, dark, building, something happened whereby three of her officers got lost, one got injured mysteriously and none of us really knows much else? How would that have enlightened her? We're all fine. Part of my job is to see that things she needn't worry about are kept off her plate. I thought we both understood that."

Tuvok made a noise that could have been considered a sigh coming from anyone else. "Very well." He turned to the three quiet men and the interrupted discussion resumed.

Tom went looking for some type of kitchen, needing a sink to rinse out the bloody 'bandages'. He figured there must be something nearby. His friends had been heading upstairs and he fervently hoped Tuvok went with them, though he'd left Chakotay and him in the eating room.

He found what he'd been looking for just down the hall. Standing at the sink, trying to clean blood out of Starfleet issued socks, he thought about his life in the three plus hours since he'd beamed down to this planet. Umbra. He'd almost forgotten the jokes they'd made when they first encountered it but now, he supposed, the joke was on them. It was one of the darkest places they'd been to, aside from the inside of a Borg cube, or a cave. Funny thing was, he was already getting used to it. To the low ambient lighting, the candles, the flame lamps. How all of it made Chakotay's bronze skin glow. He shook his head and began to laugh softly at himself. Four hours ago he wouldn't have even dared to let himself think about Chakotay's skin.

Looking down at the mess that used to be five pairs of socks, he gave up. His sleeves were blood spattered and from what he had noticed of his legs, they were too. And he was hungry. Running his hands one more time under the water, he almost yelped when two other hands hit his waist and ran around his body, pulling a large, strong one against his back. Kisses began to fall on the back of his neck and shoulders, and a warm spot that started inside his chest spread outward, enveloping him as Chakotay was. He leaned back into the embrace with a soft groan.

A deep chuckle and a squeeze was the first response. "How're you doing," Chakotay said.

"I feel dirty, the socks are wasted, I'm hungry, and you feel fantastic."

Chakotay pushed him slightly off and spun him around. "Three out of the four we can take care of. What do you want first? Food, new socks or bath?"

He groaned again, feeling a further tightening in his groin. "You should not say that word to me," Tom said, shaking his finger, "we should make it a rule or something, Chakotay cannot say the word 'bath' to Tom, or Tom will lose all semblance of control and pounce on Chakotay..."

The man began to laugh, showing both dimples, making Tom even more nuts.

"I'm not kidding, Chakotay, and furthermore, said pouncing will take place no matter where or when."

Chakotay raised his hands up. "Okay, okay, we'll make it a rule, I won't say the word unless I want to be pounced upon," he said, grinning widely. "So how 'bout some food?"

Tom considered pouncing anyway, but decided he'd wait. "I thought we were only supposed to eat when they said."

"Don't ask me why, but I'm sure it will be okay. Let's look around..."

They found some sort of bread that tasted good, something that looked and tasted like a mild cheese, and various things they assumed were fruits. They were in a bowl with green pruox, a fruit Medrich had brought up to Voyager as a gift for the senior staff. Tom found a large plate and loaded it with food while they discussed the sock problem. Chakotay decided to tell the captain at the next check-in and ask for some to be beamed down. Carrying the bounty, they went up the stairs to their room, leaving the pile of bloody socks in the sink, not knowing what else to do.

Harry opened the door and let Neelix in, neither of them able to say more than 'hi' for fear of sounding inane. Greg was soaking his leg in the bathtub, but called them both in so they could talk. They joined him, sitting on the floor as they had sat in the hallway downstairs, none knowing how to start this conversation.

"Mr. Tuvok told me they just wanted to understand what had happened. I think he was trying to reassure me that we weren't in any kind of trouble," Neelix said quietly.

"I don't see how we can be. In trouble, that is," Harry said. "We're just supposed to live here for a few days, we've got no real mission..."

Greg looked at his friends and absently scratched his regenerated epidermis.

"Do you know what I just saw?" Neelix said, deliberately changing the subject, though also wanting an opinion or two on it. Especially from Harry. Both he and Greg shook their heads. "The commander and Tom had just come up the stairs. I'm sure I saw them holding hands."

Harry's heart stopped beating for a moment and he met Greg's eyes.

"Do you think I could be mistaken?" Neelix persisted.

Greg gave Harry a slight shrug in response to his unasked question.

"Well, I don't think I am, because I saw something else," Neelix continued, "Tom leaned into him and, well, nuzzled his neck as they walked away. It was dark, but not that dark." He studied the two men with him. "So. What do you know?"

Harry could see that it was up to him. "Well, Neelix, obviously I haven't talked to Tom since we got here, but if that's what you saw, let's just say I'm not all that surprised."

Neelix looked at Greg for confirmation. "No, Neelix," Greg said, "I'm not that surprised either."

The Talaxian steepled his hands under his chin for a moment. "I see. That explains all kinds of things over the past years, doesn't it." They nodded. "So. Greg. Tell us what happened down in that hallway today."

He reached out with his foot and turned on the hot water, letting it run for longer than was probably necessary. He finally looked at them again. "I don't know. Not exactly. I saw the boy, well, I sort of saw him, he was standing in front of the doorway. I got within three or four meters and then he was gone again. That's when I was pushed down, then something grabbed my hands and pulled me along the floor, and my leg was cut and that's all I remember."

Harry was disconcerted by the strong man's apparent uneasiness. His, too. "Why is this bothering us so much? We've seen every type of alien, had our minds taken over, dealt with more weirdness than I care to think about..."

"Harry, this wasn't an alien. I mean he was of this planet, but... don't ask me how I know that, I just do," Greg said quietly. "There's one other thing I didn't tell you. When I got close enough to see him better, I remember being confused."

Harry watched him move his hand in and out of the water, over and over. "What did you see?"

"He had no face."
 
 

On to Part Four

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