by Adam
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"Tom, I said I don't want you to go. I have a bad feeling about this. Please Tom." Harry begged to his husband who was about to head off to the sea world they were orbiting in order to see just what exactly was at the centre of the planet.

"Harry, there's nothing to worry about. Haven't I always come back to you? No matter how hard, how dangerous the missions seems?" Tom argued. Harry thought for a moment, his brows furrowing, as he had to acknowledge Tom was right about this, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"You know I'm right, don't you?" Tom said with a grin lighting his face. He'd seen Harry thinking it over and knew the exact moment Harry realised he was right. Ah, he loved him.

//Damn him! // Harry thought, not really angry. //He knows me way too well//

"Tom, just be careful okay?" Harry leaned in for a quick kiss, which Tom as usual turned it into a battle. A duel to see whose tongue would be dominant over the other.

After finally breaking away, his cheeks flushed, Tom nodded.

"Anything for my baby." He grinned once more before squeezing Harry's cheeks and running for the door.

"TOM! YOU said you'd stop doing that!"

Harry was gonna pout, which usually won him over but Tom was already racing away.

//Two can play at this game// Harry thought sniggering.

Tom was almost at the Shuttle bay when he turned around checking for Harry. Upon seeing no sign of him he frowned. Maybe he had gone too far. He knew Harry hated him doing the cheek-squeezing thing.

But before another thought could be had he felt the familiar sensation of the transporter and was suddenly face to face with a naked-except for a 3 sizes too small thong, Harry.

"Oh baby!" Tom yelled in excitement. Quickly moving forward and cupping Harry's well-endowed meat. As Harry stepped back, Tom stepped forward not willing to lose what was his.

"AH-AH-AHHHH Romeo!" Harry joked. He waited patiently for a second, simply smirking at Tom's confused face when he heard it and smiled with glee.

"Mr Paris, are you planning on reporting to duty?"

"Oh FU.."

"MR PARIS! I strongly suggest you do not continue."

Harry burst out into fits of laughter at Tom's crimson face. Leaning forward he whispered in Tom's ear whilst tightening Tom's grip on his crotch. "You want this, you rush back without a scratch."

Tom's nodded enthusiastically before kissing Harry deeply.

"Mr Paris?" The Captain's angry voice chimed over the Comm once more.

"I'll miss you baby." Tom then fell to his knees and leaned forward so he was facing Harry's bulging goods. "I'll miss you too!" he whispered even quieter.

With that Tom once more ran out of his quarters retracing his steps from only minutes before.

--- ShuttleBay

Tom was met in the shuttle bay by a red-faced Captain.

"Thank you for joining us, Lt." The Captain said, her voice was in full no-nonsense mode, but her face held a slight smile which allowed Tom to sigh in relief knowing that she wasn't too upset.

"I'm sorry captain, I'll start up the Delta Flyer."

--- Just submerging into the Ocean World

Tom's mouth was open in awe at what he saw. Fish swimming by the ship getting progressively bigger as their depth increased.

"…Yes Chakotay. Delta Flyer out." Captain Janeway finished her final communication with Voyager before they hit interference depth.

"Captain, did you see that?" Tom asked, standing and pointing out of the window like a young child would.

She couldn't contain a smile at Tom's youthful enthusiasm, and she herself had to admit she was exhilarated at the things she was seeing.

"Don't worry, Tom. Ships computer had been set to record at 9 different views from around the ship. We'll see everything there is to see." she attempted to reassure.

The depth increased more and more and the hull of the ship started to contract slightly giving groaning noises above the constant computer hum.

Tom saw the Captain was planning to stop and maintain this depth but he needed to see, he needed to know so much what was down there, at the centre.

"The ship can take it Captain, only another few hundred metres. Please!" Tom begged, his voice holding obvious desperation.

"Alright Lt." The Captain nodded, her eyes never leaving the structural integrity grid.

--- On the Bridge

"Commander, they're almost there but sensors are showing several hull breaches. But their course and speed are continuing."

"The Captain would be seeing these fields the same as we would Ensign, she…"

"NO Commander!" Harry shouted. Panic begin to overcome him. "I'm scanning using a multitronic Borg node. Seven and I were working on it. These are minor fractures but if enough of them occur in the same area the Hull will breach."

Chakotay knew Harry was not wrong, the pure emotion and look of his face was enough to tell him he was 100% correct.

"Tuvok, contact…"

"I'm sorry, commander." Tuvok spoke, already anticipating Chakotay's orders. "Our contact with the Delta Flyer was lost several minutes ago. Some electrical interference and the increasing depth are causing the communication problems."

Chakotay didn't want to look back over to Harry. Knowing the face he would see at first, stubborn determination, denial and then the worst… final acceptance.

But Chakotay was not ready to give up. They could still resurface.

---
Back on the Shuttle

The Captain's head finally left the structural integrity after seeing there were the same problems, which could wait at least a few hours before needing repairs.

Tom was busy at the console, recording and scanning everything he could.

Suddenly, and without warning a huge, what could only be described as an electric eel/shark looking cross breed swam dangerously close to the shuttle? Both officers knew how close when sparks flew off around them as the enormous creature made contact.

"We're losing her, Captain!"

"I'm venting plasma and reinforcing secondary thrusters."

"It's not enough, barely even slowing us down!" Tom informed, whilst furiously tapping at every console around him.

"Boost the EH Buffers…"

"… remix the starboard grid with…"

". . .re-route intake field…."

This carried on for minutes more as the screaming of the hull was nearly all that could be heard.

Both Tom and Kathryn looked up and at each other at the same moment. They knew unless something happened they were done for.

The same creature as before was once more making a very close pass and touched the Delta Flyer's hull once more. The sparks flew once more but this time the power came on fully instead of shorting out.

Hope filled both officers again as they began to gain more ground. The surface was getting hundreds of metres closer.

--- Bridge

Sighs echoed through the bridge, Harry's loudest of all as the Delta Flyer could be seen approaching the surface. Harry, now once more as playful as ever switched the display screen on zooming in as close to their surfacing position as he could get.

A crackling was coming through the Comm; the Flyer had made it through communications block. "Arrreeee, ouuuuuu… na… … ke…. .p…. . omise… …ar . .y?" Crackled through, then repeated again, this time crystal clear.

"Are you gonna keep your promise Harry?" This immediately got all eyes on the bridge on him making him blush profusely.

Harry remained silent, watching the viewscreen for signs of the Flyer. A ripple in the water was there first signs, and then the screen came into view. The viewscreen had been so magnified and focussed by Harry that both Tom and the Captain were clearly seen through the Flyer's screen. Tom jokingly gave a wave, and winked, knowing somehow that Harry was looking back at him.

Suddenly the bridge saw sparks going off in the rear of the flyer. Water gushed in.

The breaches Harry had spotted earlier had weakened still at the creature's bumps into the ship and now the breaches could hold no more. Water filled the ship quickly, mixing with the computers shorting out all the electrical equipment, including engines.

Tom was in his sight still, looking up into the sky where he knew his love was. He was shouting something. That Harry could see somehow through the tears that were pouring down his boyish face.

"I LOVE YOU, HARRY" Tom was shouting, over and over. Then went quiet.

Tom looked up through the flyer's windows knowing his fate. The transporters were under repair; the EMH was also offline after their recent attack. Even if a shuttle got to them in time, the only other person able to save himself and the Captain and bring them back from the dead, would be himself.

Tom grabbed the Captain's hand in his; rank no longer had any meaning. Their ship was now below the water and falling at an increasing rate.

Although no longer able to see the surface, he knew his husband was still there, watching.

He couldn't speak, the water invading his lungs. But his thoughts were still there, and they were speaking what his mouth could not.

"Never a dull moment with my Harry. I'll be watching you. honey. Please remember me, I love you." His final thought ended as he felt the final squeeze from his Captain's hand. The woman who'd been brave enough to give him his second chance.

He squeezed back, knowing she was already dead.

//My Harry// Tom's final thought.

---

End