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I suppose you could say it all started when I broke my pinky toe.
A silly incident really, involving me walking around in dimly lit quarters, reading a PADD and forgetting I rearranged my furniture.
The pain was excruciating.
So I did the only thing I could do: I cursed. A lot.
“Ouch! Ooh, shit that hurts! Damn it!”
I tried to stand on it, but that turned out not to be a very good idea.
“Computer, initiate site-to-site transport: Captain Janeway to Sickbay.”

I materialized in Sickbay where the Doctor was giving B’Elanna one of his famous massages. The ones that involved a little too much elbow pressure to be entirely comfortable for a full blood human…
He turned to tend to me when he heard the telltale sound of a transport in progress.
“Ah Captain, what seems to be the problem?”

“I think I broke my pinky toe.” I wailed. Captains don’t wail, I know, but I was tired and a broken toe is a real pain in the… toe actually.
A distinctive chuckle came from B’Elanna’s direction. Whether it was the wailing or the broken toe she found amusing, I didn’t know. Anyway, I cast a glare her way. You know, one of those infamous ‘do-that-again-and-I’ll-kill-you’-glares. I’m good at those.
This time it had little effect, since she was lying face down, decently covered with only her upper back and legs bare.

And everything could have been all right if I had just looked away right there and then. But that would have been to easy, right? No, my eyes just had to fall upon that little expanse of smooth flesh that would haunt me for days. That area of her body was so rarely exposed that I had never seen the interesting tattoo that adorned it.
The tattoo wasn’t really big, maybe four centimeters in diameter, and consisted of a series of very graceful swirls. I stared intently at it.

“Ahem.”
The Doctor literally shook me out of my reverie. I had the good grace to blush when he looked at me with a good impression of Tuvok’s raised eyebrow.
“Well, you’re good as new again Captain.”
I hopped of the biobed and placed my weight on my left foot. Definitely felt better than the last time I tried to do that.
“Ah feels much better. Tattoo Doctor. Good evening Lieutenant.”
I didn’t see the incredulous looks that were cast at my departing back. But in the corridor I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks. Did I just say ‘tattoo’ instead of ‘thank you’?


~ ~ ~


“Captain, is something wrong?”
I shook my head in wonder.
“Not that I’m aware of, Chakotay. Why would you think that?”
He leaned over to me so that the rest of the Bridge Crew couldn’t overhear us.
“You have been staring in my eyes for fifteen minutes now. I thought that maybe there was something I need to know about?”

I blinked in surprise. Staring in his eyes? I wasn’t staring in his eyes! I was staring at his tattoo. Was the man cross-eyed?
“Uhm, I was just wondering about your tattoo Chakotay.”
His shoulders visibly sagged and I suppressed my irritation. When would he get over that puppy dog crush? Honestly, couldn’t the man take a hint?

He sighed. “Ah, the tattoo.”
“The tattoo, Chakotay. Does it hurt a lot when you get it?” My mind was wondering what kind of torture B’Elanna had had to withstand for it.
“Well, in my tribe it’s a very sacred ritual that…”
My mind screamed: ‘not again, not again, not again!’ If I heard the word ‘tribe’ and ‘ritual’ in one sentence again, I was going to kill him. I could claim it was in self-defense to avoid court-martial.
I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“I didn’t mean specifically in your experience. I meant in general. Does it hurt a lot?”
He was almost positively pouting. Ever seen a grown man pout? It’s not a nice sight.
“If it’s done in the traditional way, it’s no picnic. But I suppose that there are fairly painless methods for it these days.”

“Hmm.” I answered and faced forward again to get lost in my thoughts, completely ignoring the longing looks Chakotay cast in my direction.
I wondered where and when B’Elanna had gotten that tattoo of hers.
And why. What did the symbol mean? Maybe I could figure it out if I could study it in detail. Yeah right, like I would ever see it again.

I shot upright when the idea struck me, startling Chakotay so much that he actually yelped in surprise and turned a nice shade of beet red when he realized that it sounded very, how shall I put this, feminine.
The Bridge Crew, with the exception of Tuvok of course, was trying desperately to hold their laughter. Tom Paris was having a field day.
Grinning, I walked away.
“I’ll be in my Ready Room, Commander. You have the Bridge.”

Once I was settled at my desk, I pulled up B’Elanna’s personal and medical files. Maybe there was some reference about the tattoo in one of them.
Hey, I might be obsessed about some things, but at least I don’t scream like a woman when someone startles me…
Unfortunately, my meticulous research turned up nothing.
So I had the choice: see it in the flesh or be haunted by it forever.


~ ~ ~


After a not so restful night filled with visions of my tongue following the swirls of that tattoo, I walked into Engineering. Ship’s business, I swear.

“Good morning Captain! You look a little tired.” B’Elanna cast me a worried glance.
I mumbled something about nightmares by way of explanation.
“You seem a little tense lately. Maybe you should let the Doctor massage you. When he doesn’t use his elbows too much, it actually feels quite good.”
The horror of it. Last time, I couldn’t sit straight for two days. I smiled sweetly.
“I don’t think I could stand that kind of torture again. And the Doctor enjoys it far too much for his own good. The harder I yell, the harder he presses…”
“Maybe you should let someone else give you a massage then. I could do it, if you want that.”

I stared at her like she’d just grown another head. And then my brain kicked into gear. Me, B’Elanna, massage. Massage meant considerably less clothing between us than usual. So maybe I could catch a glimpse of that little tattoo I couldn’t get out of my head. Of course, the lack of clothing would be mostly on my side… Anyway, I could cross that bridge when I came to it. I saw benefits in this plan. I put on my sweetest smile. “That would be lovely, B’Elanna. Stop by my quarters after your duty shift?”


~ ~ ~


Who ever knew a day could pass so slowly? To kill time, I considered various strategies that would get me to look at the tattoo more closely.
And I also tried to figure out why I was so obsessed about the damn thing in the first place. Must be boredom kicking in. Life on Voyager had been surprisingly uneventful lately. At least I made progress in dealing with that. Last time something like that had happened, I had developed a depression. Now, it was an obsession. The latter was preferable, right?

After my duty shift, I hurried to my quarters and raised the ambient temperature by 5°C.
The door chime sounded and I let B’Elanna in.
“Phew, it’s hot in here.” she said, looking around.
I readied myself for phase 1 of my plan: “Yeah, I figured I didn’t want to get cold. You’re welcome to take off your jacket and shoes if it bothers you too much.”
She took off her jacket and hung it over a chair. Damn, still not much closer to target tattoo. On to phase 2.

She headed for the replicator. “Okay, you get ready while I replicate a bottle of massage oil.”
I took off my jacket and turtleneck, leaving nothing but my standard issue bra. She returned as I lied down on the sofa.
“Can I sit on your legs? That way I have better access to your back.”
“Sure.” I shrugged.
“I’ll take off my shoes first, just a second.”
She took them off and wiggled her toes in her socks.
Phase 2 completed.

She climbed on top of me and sat down, making sure I was still comfortable. Her soft fingers opened the clasp of my bra.
Uhm? Houston, we have a problem? This wasn’t part of my master plan! I lifted my head to protest, but she shushed me before I could utter a word. “Relax Captain.”
I lied my head down and let her fingers do their magic on my back.

It felt amazingly good. The tension left my body under her touch.
After what seemed like hours, she suddenly stopped.
“Ouch, sorry Captain, but I’ve got a cramp in my right leg.”
She moved away from me and sat on the floor rubbing her painful leg.
I sat up. “Let me help you with that.”

“Uhm, Captain, you uh…” She indicated her chest area.
What? Oh right. Damn. Flashing wasn’t part of the plan either. Note to self: when in extremely relaxed state after massage: check presence of bra.
I put on my bra and sat next to her on the floor, taking her calf in my hands. She pulled up her pants so I could reach it better.
Gently I massaged the cramps away. And than it hit me. I was so very close to my target. I just had to go for it. This could be my only chance.

She frowned.
“Captain? Captain, what are you doing?”
I smiled as I pulled off her sock.
There it was: the beautiful tattoo on her ankle that had haunted me for days.
I smiled.
Mission accomplished.