Disclaimer time once again!  Seventh verse same as the first . . 
. everybody *sing*:

I don't own these characters, (chorus) Paramount does!
I don't own this venue, (chorus) Paramount does!
I am making no money off of this, (chorus) Paramount does not 
either!

This story involves sex between two men, aka: slash.  If that is 
*not* your cup of tea, sweet as it is, then don't read it!  (simple, 
ain't it??)
Feedback is *very* much appreciated, and always answered. 
Flames will be passed around to friends and chuckled over.  :)  

It's 87 damned degrees outside, the *last* thing I need is 
flames!!  Maybe that's why this story got so, er, warm.

'Ignition' by Amirin


***************************************


It had happened with no warning at all.  One minute he and 
Harry were just walking along the cliff.  The next thing he knew, 
Harry was going off the side.  And he was in danger of going 
with him, as he grabbed Harry, and Harry's momentum carried 
them both forward.

Tom crashed to the ground and dug in with his toes, but it was 
only slowing them down, stopping didn't seem to be an option. 
Harry was fighting him, which made no sense whatsoever.

Harry squirmed, trying desperately to make Tom let him go, but 
the man was tenacious.  Looking down, Harry checked to see if 
there was a spot he could get to, or a ledge, or something to 
grab hold of, but there didn't seem to be anything and he kept 
sliding, taking Tom right along with him.  "Let me go!" he yelled, 
as they slid another few inches.  "I am *not* going to take you 
with me!" 

"Harry, shut up!" Tom yelled back.  Let him go, yeah right, just 
let him go and watch his best friend hurl down a cliff to his 
death.  What a *fun* way to end this particular away mission, 
there, Harry, appreciate your suggesting it.

He looked behind him, searching for something to wrap his legs 
around, to hold him, so Harry could use him as a human ladder 
and get his miserable, ungrateful, sorry ass the hell back up this 
cliff.  Two boulders and a tree.  Swell.  And Harry was *still* 
trying to pull his hands out of Tom's grip, the moron. 

The big rocks were a few feet away on either side of his knees, 
but too far away for him to get his legs around either one of 
them.  The tree was several feet behind and to the side of one 
of the rocks.  Wait a minute; that just might work.

Tom got his phaser off of his belt, with the hand Harry refused 
to take.  Harry looked up at him, saw it in his hand.  His eyes 
grew wide, as they met Tom's.  A resigned expression came 
over his face, acceptance almost, as he nodded, closing his 
eyes.

"Do it," he grated through clenched teeth.  "Better than the 
alternative."

For a microsecond, Tom was stunned.  Then he passed the 
boiling point into rage.  The son of a bitch actually thought Tom 
was going to use it on him.  "If you survive this, *then* I'll kill 
you!" he roared.  "But *not* before!"  He twisted around slightly, 
and aimed carefully over his shoulder.  Firing the phaser, he cut 
through the large trunk of the tree, sending it crashing to the 
ground, bouncing toward him, before it rolled partway up his 
legs, then stopped as it hit the rocks.  Tom gritted his teeth 
against the pain, telling himself it was nothing compared to what 
he was going to make Harry feel for putting him through this.

Harry heard the crash and felt the tremor from above, but 
couldn't see what Tom had done.  The other man's hand 
tightened unbearably on his and he gasped, eyes tearing up as 
bones crunched together.  He looked up to see Tom's face, 
wondering why the man had suddenly gone white.

Tom dropped the phaser next to him and grabbed Harry with his 
now free hand.

"Come on!" he groaned loudly.  "Climb, dammit!"

Harry was about to protest, when he realized they weren't sliding 
anymore, or heading for the bottom of the cliff.  He let go with 
one hand and grabbed Tom's forearm, as Tom grasped his. 
Releasing the other hand, he grabbed his friend's shoulder and 
Tom's hand came under his arm.  Slowly, he was able to make 
his way to the top, grabbing the fabric on the back of Tom's 
uniform.  He made it, finally, gasping, rolling to one side, and lay 
there, exhausted.  He raised up, to see Tom's head resting on 
his hands, then followed the man's body until the sight of the 
tree trunk laying over his friend took his breath away.

"Oh, gods, *Tom*!" he cried out, looking for the phaser.  Finding 
it, he quickly began to cut hunks of the tree off each end, 
making the shortened remainder fall off to the side with a loud 
thud.  Tom wasn't moving, he noticed, and he hit his comm 
badge, praying there was someone close enough to hear him 
through all the interference on the planet.  Thankfully, he found 
Tuvok, who said he was on his way.

He lay down next to the man, one hand on his back, unwilling to 
touch him more for fear of hurting him.  He nearly cried with 
relief when Tom's head slowly turned toward him.  Tom's back 
was on fire, which wasn't good.  But his legs were totally dead, 
which was even worse.  He glared at Harry; gods, he was still so 
*pissed* at the guy.

"Harry, he said softly, causing his friend to move in closer to 
hear him.  "When I can feel my legs again, I am going to kick 
the shit out of you."  With that, he sighed and closed his eyes, 
the pain in his back mercifully knocking him out.

Harry just lay there, gaping at him. Damn it, he'd only been 
trying to prevent Tom from going off the cliff, and to certain 
death, with him.  He knew there was a special place in hell for 
people who were responsible for the death of a loved one. 
Loved one.  Well, sure, he loved Tom, he was his best friend. At 
least, he used to be, Harry thought, as he now recalled Tom's 
last words.


                    <<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Tom woke up in sickbay, again.  Hell, maybe they should just 
put his name on the biobed, gods knew he was in it often 
enough.

The Holodoc was leaning over him, looking satisfied.  Tom 
sighed with relief; when the Doc looked smug, there was nothing 
to worry about.

"Lt. Paris, I am pleased to report that you are going to be just 
fine. Your legs will recover and there is no permanent damage 
to your back.  You'll need to take it easy for a couple of days. 
But, you should make a complete recovery," the Doc told him, 
brisk and to the point, as usual.

"Thanks, Doc," Tom sighed, too relieved to make one of his 
usual smartass remarks.

The Doc noticed and smiled gently.  "You're going to be fine, 
Lieutenant," he repeated, before returning to his office to let 
Tom rest.

Tom didn't feel like sleeping, what he really felt like doing, was 
finding Harry and pounding the living daylights out of him. He 
heaved an angry sigh and tested the legs.  Some stiffness, but 
no pain.  Maybe a little weakness; no big deal.

After a little while, he had to endure the requisite peptalk from 
the Captain.  Nice how she was so worried about him. He tried 
not to snort when she told him how impressed she was, his 
saving Harry's life like that.  He also tried not to let on how much 
he wanted to throttle his best friend. That golden throat in his 
hands, his fingers feeling the pulse beating beneath them . . He 
came out of his reverie to see Janeway looking at him 
uncertainly.  He grinned weakly.

"Sorry, Captain, I guess I'm still kind of out of it," he confessed. 
Like Harry had been out of it.  Right out of his mind, if he 
thought that Tom would *ever* . . .

"Of course," Janeway sympathized.  "Get some rest, Tom.  I 
need you back on the bridge just as soon as you can get there." 
With that, she left, leaving Tom to his thoughts.  Not good, most 
of his thoughts were of Harry.

He lay there for a while, wondering what the hell Harry had been 
thinking.  Like Tom could just let him go.  Out of his everloving 
mind. Tom sighed.  Everloving.  He shook his head, derailing 
that particular train of thought.  Did *not* want to go there.  He 
settled in to rest but boredom soon got the better of him. Maybe 
he could rest in his quarters.

"Hey, Doc, how 'bout letting me out of here if I promise to be a 
good boy?" he called out.

The Doctor heaved a holographic sigh.  He'd known it was too 
good to last, having an actually quiet and pensive Tom Paris in 
sickbay.  He nodded his head and beamed Tom to his quarters.

Tom got around slowly, having to walk by leaning on one piece 
of furniture after another, but he was getting there.  The strength 
seemed to be coming back and the stiffness was easing the 
more he wandered aimlessly around his quarters.  The door 
chimed as he was heading for the couch.

"Come," he called, unable to prevent his eyes from narrowing as 
a cautious Harry Kim entered.

"How are you doing?" Harry asked quietly, not missing the look 
in his friend's eyes.

"I've been better," Tom answered with hostile breeziness.

"You're still angry at me, aren't you?"

Leave it to Harry to grab the bull by the balls.

"You have no *idea* how angry I am at you," Tom hissed. 

"I'm sorry . ." Harry began, before his outraged friend cut him 
off.

"What the *fuck* were you thinking, Harry?" Tom yelled at him. 
"Did you honestly think I would just let you go flying off a 
goddamned cliff, without doing everything I could to prevent it? 
Did you?  Gods!" he yelled, pacing, not even noticing that his 
legs were working perfectly now.

Harry looked at the floor. He'd never seen Tom so angry.  Okay, 
he *had*, but it had never been directed at him, before.

"Don't you *ever* underestimate me again, do you hear me?" 
Tom was still pissed, but the volume was lowering, somewhat. 
With the anger working its way out of him, the fear he'd been 
ignoring was slowly moving to take up the vacated space.

"I would do anything I had to, to save you, whatever the hell it 
took," he told Harry fiercely.  "*Anything*, you got that?  Gods, 
don't you *do* that to me again," he paused, the quiet intensity 
making Harry look up, surprise clouding his features as he took 
in the tears in Tom's eyes.

"Don't you *ever* give up on me, Harry.  I would move heaven 
and earth to help you, if I could.  Don't you ever give up on me 
like that.  To think I would use a goddamned *phaser* on you?" 
Tom ran his hands through his hair, knowing he was shaking, as 
Harry took a couple of steps closer to him.  Harry reached out 
toward Tom and suddenly found the man in his arms.

"Damn you, Harry, you scared the hell out of me. Gods, I 
thought I was going to lose you," Tom whispered into his hair.  

"I know, I'm sorry," Harry said softly against Tom's ear, his 
forehead coming to rest on Tom's shoulder.  "I just couldn't 
stand knowing that I'd take you with me when I went off that 
damned cliff.  It would've *killed* me to know I was responsible 
for your death."

"Hitting the ground would've have killed you first, Harry," Tom 
said quietly.

Harry froze, then quickly pulled away to look at Tom.  The man 
was grinning. Slightly, but grinning.  Harry glared, then snorted, 
as Tom pulled him into his arms again.

"Gods, you are so twisted, Tom," he muttered, though he 
understood the reason for the humor, as he let himself melt into 
the heat he found in his best friend's arms.

"I couldn't bear it if something happened to you, Har," Tom 
murmured, content to remain like this forever, with Harry in his 
arms.  He moved back a little to lose himself in dark, dark 
chocolate-colored eyes.  

"You mean so much to me," he breathed, seeing Harry focus on 
his mouth.  Damn, all he wanted in the world at that moment, 
was to feel Harry's mouth on his. He groaned as his wish came 
true, when Harry swayed toward him and those full, soft lips 
touched his. 

Harry groaned into the warm sweetness of Tom's mouth, as 
exploring lips parted to allow his tongue entrance.  His arms slid 
rapidly around his friend, and he registered Tom's hands on 
him, moving from the back of his head down to his ass.  He 
stroked Tom, as well, bringing the man in close enough to enjoy 
the stirrings of arousal he felt through the uniform.

Tom kissed Harry like he wouldn't ever get another chance.  He 
memorized every  nuance, burning it into his mind, knowing it 
would keep him warm on the coldest day in hell. Gods, so hot, 
as he found Harry's tongue with his, stroking its wet heat, when 
Harry moaned into his mouth.

Harry placed a hand on Tom's face, caressing him, before 
letting it play with soft, fire-gold hair. He knew he was being led 
backwards, but it didn't fully impact on his conscious mind until 
he impacted with the wall and Tom came up hard against him. 
He groaned as Tom's leg came between his, rubbing his 
growing erection, and Tom's tongue licked his mouth, before 
settling in again for another shattering kiss.

Tom knew he'd probably end up taking Harry against the wall, if 
the man would let him, and he moaned as the feelings that 
image evoked went through him like phaser-fire.  He began 
tearing off his clothes, before Harry caught on and started doing 
the same.  Boots were quickly kicked off, before everything else 
went flying around the room, and Tom had Harry back up 
against the bedroom wall again, grinding his hardness into 
Harry's, his mouth burning a steaming trail down the other 
man's throat.  Tom tried not to use his teeth too much, he knew 
most of his lovers didn't care for it.  Of course, most of his 
lovers had been female, too, he recalled, as Harry cried out, 
meeting his hot look with lust-glazed eyes.

Harry gave Tom a millisecond to make eye contact, before he 
launched himself at the other man, roughly working long fingers 
into his hair, before moving his head up with his chin and 
fastening his mouth on Tom's neck.  He sucked hard, feeling 
the other man cry out, giving Tom permission to be a bit 
rougher than usual with him. A warm hand firmly caressed his 
ass, before one finger made its way into the cleft there and 
stroked the small opening, entering gently from time to time with 
just the tip.  Harry gasped, thrashing against Tom, who groaned 
at the movements of Harry's hard cock as it collided with his 
own.  

Tom quickly dropped to his knees, leaving his hands on Harry's 
smooth ass, to gently finger-fuck him as he worked generous 
amounts of lube into him. One of Harry's hands came to rest on 
his head, not to dictate or suggest, just to touch and confirm 
that his best friend was on his knees in front of him, fingers 
probing him intimately, as Tom's mouth came forward, opening 
to take Harry's hot, hard cock into its warm, wet softness.  

Harry's head went back, lightly thumping into the wall, his own 
knees nearly giving way.  He leaned against it, resting, letting 
Tom love him with that perfectly beautiful mouth of his, before 
he began thrusting gently, as Tom's tongue flicked over his 
cockhead repeatedly, slick fingers doing to Harry what Harry's 
cock was doing to Tom's mouth. At his friend's urging, he began 
moving faster and so did those long, talented fingers inside him. 
He looked down to see Tom, face flushed with concentration,
kneeing before him, giving him a dangerously incredible blow 
job, and a hot wave shot upward from his feet to his cock, 
rocking him. Unbelievably, Tom sped up and Harry thrust faster, 
gasping before white-hot lust mated with burning need deep 
inside him and the resulting conflagration brought him 
screaming to orgasm.

Tom stood up quickly after bathing Harry clean with his tongue, 
to spin him around and push him onto the bed.  He rolled Harry 
over and moved his legs apart, fingers still stroking him halfway 
to a mental breakdown.

Harry knew exactly what Tom had in mind and he wanted, 
needed nothing more than to feel his best friend's hot, hard 
cock fucking him into oblivion.  He moaned a long drawn-out 
'yes' when Tom took his place behind him and removed his 
fingers.  He barely had time to take a breath before Tom thrust 
into him, so deeply it felt like it had actually nudged his heart 
into skipping a beat.

Tom began a punishing rhythm, telling himself he wasn't 
punishing Harry for scaring him, doubting him, or anything else. 
 Harry groaned beneath him and moved his legs further apart to 
give Tom more room, before he came back into Tom, taking his 
own breath away for a moment, moving himself up onto elbows 
and knees.  Tom gripped his hips so hard he knew there'd be 
bruises later, as he fucked Harry harder and faster. So tight and 
hot, gods, how could he not have known Harry would be like 
this?

Harry arched hard up into Tom, his head coming back with a 
soundless scream.  There wasn't enough air in his lungs for him 
to make any noise with, his fingers digging into the sheets so 
hard, he could hear them tearing.  Tom was pumping him 
furiously and he tightened himself around Tom, deliberately, and 
heard his harshly muttered curse.  He did it again, harder, and 
felt Tom plunge into him, moving at near lightspeed, his friend 
shaking like the ship was under fire. 

Tom felt Harry around him, surrounding him, making him insane 
with intense desire.  He couldn't get enough of him, couldn't 
take him fast enough, or hard enough.  His cock was on fire and 
the rest of him was catching, as he fucked Harry.  The 
tightening in his groin hit him suddenly and he started a low wail 
he couldn't keep inside himself any longer, the long groan finally 
culminating into a loud cry.  Light flared behind his eyes, nearly 
burning out his retinas; all he saw was Harry and light and all he 
felt was Harry and heat, as slow, wicked flame began 
consuming him alive.  The scream in the back of his throat was 
begging for release as loudly as he was, as it finally washed 
through him, brilliant and terrifying, bringing him into a backdraft 
as his climax hit him.  Scream tearing out of him, at last, he 
violently spent himself inside Harry, Harry taking all there was of 
him, until there nothing left within him to burn. 

Exhausted, he fell onto Harry, who buckled under him like 
melting sheetmetal, and the two hit the bed, then lay there, 
utterly depleted.  Had they been on the holodeck, Tom would 
have called for rain, something to put out the last embers of the 
raging blaze that had overtaken them both. Harry pulled him 
into his arms and he sighed, wrapping himself around his friend. 
And wondered if the sparks they struck off of one another would 
ever ignite them so, again.  


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