Squeaky

"Caught ya lookin'"

Lieutenant Malcolm Reed frowned as he peered at the charred circuitry of the phase pistol in front of him, deciding that he was going to have a little chat with Ensign Young about how much emphasis he was placing on 'kill' over 'stun' during target practise. He held out his hand to the man standing beside him. "Needle-nose pliers."

Commander 'Trip' Tucker slapped the tool onto Malcolm's palm. "Don't try and deny it. You know I saw."

"I have no idea what you are referring to, Commander." Malcolm replied, not lifting his eyes from the pistol, "Number three wire, if you please."

"Yes you do," Trip leaned in closer to Malcolm, his breath puffing gently against the Lieutenant's ear, "when I was in decon." He passed over a small piece of the red-wrapped material.

Malcolm was silent for a moment as he removed a section of burnt wiring from the pistol with the pliers and deftly reattached the new wire in its place. "Decon?" he said finally, "you mean after you were possessed by that wisp thing?" He glanced at the other man.

Trip gave him a broad smile. "That's it."

Malcolm stopped what he was doing to look squarely at Trip. "And what, pray tell, did you catch me looking at?"

Trip's smile changed to a wicked grin. "My body."

"I hardly think so!" Malcolm turned his attention back to the phase pistol.

"You were! Admit it!" Trip said, nudging Malcolm with his shoulder, "I was in decon in my underwear, and you gave me the once-over. You know you did!"

"That's preposterous!" Malcolm hissed, turning his head to look at the two ensigns working quietly a few feet behind him. Stephanie Cormack and Ian Young were busy testing the targeting scanners, and didn't seem to be paying any attention to his conversation with the Commander. "What reason could I possibly have for doing that?"

"'Cause I'm hot."

"What?" Malcolm yelled, then immediately lowered his voice. "That's ridiculous!"

"Huh?" Trip said, looking genuinely shocked, "you don't think I'm hot?"

"No!" Malcolm whispered emphatically, "you are not 'hot!' Hoshi is hot, T'Pol is most definitely hot. You are not hot!" He focused intently on the phase pistol.

"'Course I am!" Trip exclaimed. He turned towards the two ensigns. "Stephanie! Ian!" he called, "Y'all think I'm hot, dontcha?"

"Yes sir," Ian nodded seriously.

"Absolutely," Stephanie echoed. "No question."

Trip turned back to Malcolm, "There," he said, "see? I'm hot."

"All right," Malcolm conceded, "you might be a little hot—"

"Just a little?" Trip raised his eyebrows.

"Okay! You may be hot," Malcolm said, "but that does not mean I was checking you out when you were in decon! I was with the Captain for Heaven's sakes!"

"That's never stopped you before," Trip winked. "You know I caught you. Admit it."

Malcolm looked sideways at him, a blush spotting his cheeks. "Well, perhaps—"

"There!" Trip crowed, turned back to the ensigns and pointing emphatically at Malcolm, "I knew it! Malcolm was checking me out! He just said!"

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "I would hope so, sir. You are engaged, after all."

"If you want to take the Lieutenant early for your anniversary dinner, sir," Ian added, "I'm sure Cormack and I can finish up here."

"Did you tell everyone?" Malcolm asked, feeling his blush deepen.

"Yup!" Trip grinned, "Wanna go?"

Malcolm looked at the phase pistol, "I still need to—"

"I'll get it," Stephanie said, "you go on."

"Thank you, Stephanie, Ian," Trip said, bowing to the two other officers as he pulled Malcolm from the Armoury, "and don't expect to see the Lieutenant 'till tomorrow late!"

"Will do," Ian called after them as Trip half-dragged Malcolm out the Armoury doors. They could still hear their commanding officer protesting weakly as he was led down the corridor.

"They're such a cute couple," Stephanie sighed.

"Not as cute as you and Fraser," Ian said waggling his eyebrows, "I still want pictures."

Stephanie poked him hard in the ribs. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Ow!" Ian cried, rubbing his chest, "you know I was joking!"

Stephanie eyed him, "Yeah, right."

"Well," Ian sighed, looking at the forlorn phase pistol, "I guess you'd better get started on that if you're going to finish by end of shift."

"Like hell!" Stephanie laughed, "You burnt it out, you fix it. Besides, I got a date." Closing up her station, she started walking towards the exit.

"Hey!" Ian called after her, "If you're leaving early, you owe me one!"

"Tell ya what," Stephanie called behind her, "how's about I don't tell the Lieutenant what really happened to the phase pistols, and who you were trying to impress with your shooting skills."

Ian swallowed hard. "Have a good night," he called. She waved and shut the door behind her.

Ian walked over to the table, picking up a piece of the phase pistol. "She caught me?" he muttered to himself, "I can't believe she caught me!" Shaking his head, he set to work.