 bad ones away." I kept my voice calm and nonjudgmental with an effort. He would have been highly sought after in prison, I could see that.  "What happened in the past is over and done with. Everything we both did, led us here. Here, to the Delta Quadrant and each other. One decision another way and we might never have met."
He was silent for a long time and I gave him the courtesy of respecting his thought processes. We didn't have to make up thirty years of living in the next hour. Hopefully, we had years ahead to share our pasts with each other. Finally, he sighed and raised his head to look at me in the dim starlight.
"I can't regret any of it then. Except the mistakes that hurt others."
"We both made those, Tom. Someday, I'll share some of mine with you. You're not alone when it comes to mistakes. War seems to bring out the worst in all of us." 
Oh gods, he was tasting me to go along with his sniffing me in the sickbay a few days before.
"More." I whispered and he kissed me. This time our mouths opened and I tasted him as well. The herbal tea only partially masked the frijhas chips he'd eaten earlier. But underlying it all was just... Tom. Tasty and addictive. Our tongues slowly rubbed against each other and when his tickled the roof of my mouth, I groaned a chuckle.
He pulled back just far enough for me to see his smile. "You like that?"
"Like isn't strong enough, Tom." I kissed the corner of his mouth and licked my way across his jaw and behind his ear. He'd turned towards me, curling his legs up onto the couch and I held him against my chest with questing hands that kneaded his back into relaxation.
"Hm-m-m, that feels good." He whispered.
"I like touching you. I dreamed of you. Of kissing you. But it wasn't as good as the real thing."
He raised his head and we kissed again. Sweetly, tenderly but with passion lying underneath. There was time to go slow and so we did. After an hour of touching and holding and speaking softly of the future, we left the lounge for our respective rooms. It was hard to say good night but he needed the space to think about us and I was afraid of going too fast. So, I just wished him sweet dreams and left him at his door.
My dreams were sweet indeed.
Chakotay called me into his office the next morning. "Gregor. Is there something you'd like to tell me?"
I blushed. I couldn't help it. His question brought back the wet dream I'd awakened from a short hour before. Tom's mouth should be declared a lethal weapon. "No. Why do you ask?"
He quirked an eyebrow at me and waited patiently. It's one of those things I really dislike about him. He can out wait any of us. And has. But this time I had someone to protect and I was prepared to beat him at his own game. So, I sat back and folded my arms.
"Let me put this another way. Is there a reason that we shouldn't send the two of you down to see if you can pry loose the crystal?"
Damn, he's good. "No, there isn't. I think we'll work well together."
"I see." And his dark eyes seemed to look deep into my soul. "Very well. Go get fitted out for a respirator and goggles. I doubt there's any air left in the cave."
I was out of my seat before he'd finished talking and headed for the door.
"And Gregor?" His voice was concerned. "You know you can come and talk to me at anytime."
I didn't turn. "I know. Thanks." And I left for the transporter room, relieved to be gone from his all-seeing eyes. Maybe someday I would go to him and try to explain myself, but not now. Not when we were still so new and fragile.
I met Tom in the transporter room and let B'Elanna fuss over our equipment. The sonic cutter we were taking with us was the largest one in the inventory and it taxed my strength to wrestle onto the platform. B'El helped Tom adjust his respirator while Harper helped me. Our eyes met over our helpers and neither of us could hide our grins.
The Captain joined us with a few last minute instructions and the statement that we would be monitored constantly, both conversation and biorhythms. If anything fluctuated, we'd be yanked out of there. Sounded good to us. She wished us luck and we switched on our helmet lights and breathers before watching the room dissolve around us.
The cave was pitch black except for our small lights. It was Tom's first look at the crystal and he drew in a sharp breath at its icy brilliance. He touched it wonderingly. While our lights played across the upthrusting shards of the triple crystal, it seemed to change color. First green, then pink followed by rapid slides into yellow, blue, purple and red. Then it was back to a cloudy white.
I lugged the cutter over to it but stopped when he stretched out his other hand. "Gregor, I don't think we should be cutting it. It's not dilithium. Just because we can doesn't mean we should. Look at the size of it. It's been growing here for millennia. This doesn't feel right."
'Lt. Paris. It would have been nice if you'd voiced this opinion before going down there.' The Captain's wry tones came over the comm link.
"Sorry, Captain. I hadn't seen it then. It's practically alive to my touch."
I touched the shard closest to me and was surprised at the temperature of the crystal. It was almost warm to the touch and there was that play of colors again. I met Tom's eyes and smiled.
"I think I am, Captain. The crystal is warm but the cave is ice cold. And there's an odd play of colors within when ever we touch it. Wait a moment and we'll touch it together and see what happens."
Tom nodded and our hands met on either side of the main crystal shard. The colors surged beneath our fingers and a humming sound filled the cave with vibrations so strong I could taste and touch them. Our eyes locked and suddenly, I could feel Tom inside of me, so close we were one.
Then the vibrations grew stronger yet until the whole cave was trembling with the sound and earth and stone began to dance down upon us. My last thought was... earthquake.
I awoke in sickbay to silence. Opening my eyes, I wondered why I was there until with a start I remembered the cave. Sitting upright, I looked around, relaxing only when I saw Tom in the bed next to mine. He looked all right but I shakily got down from my bed to cross to him. His skin was warm to the touch and I held his hand in mine just because I could.
"Well, that answers one of my questions." Chakotay's voice sounded from the other side of the room.
I glanced over at him and shrugged my shoulders. "Was it another earthquake?"
"No. It appears to have been a... crystal-quake." He crossed to the other side of Tom's bed. "When your vital signs went off scale, we transported the two of you out of the cave. The crystal came with you. When you appeared on the pad, you were both unconscious but gripping the crystal and each other. We pried you loose and brought you here. That was three hours ago."
"Where's the crystal now?" I was intrigued but the rest of my attention was on Tom, willing him to wake up.
When his eye lashes fluttered against his pale cheeks, I gripped his hand hard and brought it to my lips. His beautiful blue eyes opened and gazed up at me in bewilderment. "Gregor?"
"Right here, Tom. It seems we precipitated a little quake of our own." And I repeated what Chakotay had just told me. When he saw the Commander watching us, he blushed hard and looked at me in dismay.
"When you're ready, come to the transporter room. We still have to decide what to do with the crystal. Did I mention that when we tried to beam it back to the planet, it absorbed the transporter beam?" Chakotay said with a smile before walking out of sickbay, leaving us to the holodoc's tender mercies.
After getting a clean bill of health from the doctor, we left for Tom's quarters. Rather shyly, he invited me in and began pacing through the living room. "He saw us holding hands. Did he say anything to you before I woke up?"
"Tom," I halted him with my hands on his shoulders, "he's all right with us. 
"Really?" He looked frightened for a moment before resignation took its place. "Hopefully, he won't say anything to the others. I don't want them giving you a hard time."
I gathered him into a hug, his arms coming around my waist. "Tom, I don't care who knows. But right now, it would be nice if we didn't have to deal with the others. Just with us."
"Us. That's really scary, Gregor."
"I know, love. But remember, we're going to take it slow and sure." I tilted his