Hayes was in a bad mood. He wished more than ever that the door to his quarters could be slammed. He could get some satisfaction from that. Instead, he had to be content with the quiet swish that the door made—but that wasn't enough, not nearly enough.

"Why do I let Reed get to me?" Hayes muttered to himself as he paced back and forth in his small quarters. He scanned the area, looking for an object to throw against the wall—one that would make a lot of noise. He needed to purge some of the tension and aggression he was feeling. Unfortunately, nothing in his sparsely decorated room would do the trick.

Hayes' day had started bad and ended worse. He had spent the last few minutes listening to the captain lecture Reed and him about their inappropriate behavior. He couldn't believe he let himself be goaded into a fight with Reed. He smiled as he remembered the satisfaction he felt as his fist connected with Reed's face. That satisfaction was quickly erased as he ended up on his back on the floor. That Klingon move was fantastic!

They defeated the alien, at least. That was something. After all was said and done, their juvenile frolic eased the animosity between the two of them. He could feel the tension subside as they stood at attention in the captain's office, wondering if they'd been dismissed. With an unspoken agreement, they turned and left the room, heading their own separate ways. So why was he still so upset and unsettled?

The answer could be summed up in one word: Reed. Hayes didn't want to fight anymore—that much he knew. An apology wasn't enough for causing the lieutenant's detached retina, but Reed had achieved some payback by giving him one hell of a punch to his kidney. Damn, that hurt. Hayes admired the armoury officer's tenacity and had to concede that Reed was very good at hand-to-hand fighting. But why did he have to be so paranoid, anal-retentive, exasperating, and shortsighted?

"He drives me crazy!" Hayes blurted out as he tried to cope with his unsettled feelings. If he was being honest with himself, he would admit that he almost wished to have their relationship back to the way it was before the fight. Hayes worried that without the animosity between them, he would never have the chance to be close to Reed again. The lieutenant's passion would once again be hidden behind that well-developed professional veneer. Hayes shuddered at the thought. What reason would they have to get that close again?

Hayes stopped pacing as realization struck him like lightning. Friendship with the other man wasn't enough for him. He wanted something more aggressive, more energizing, and more passionate with Malcolm Reed. He wanted him, body and soul. He wanted Malcolm under him, writhing in the throes of passion, calling out his name as he came hard, and passing out from the overwhelming sensations. He wanted…

<Brreeeep>

Hayes' erotic musings were interrupted by the door chime.

"Come in," he responded automatically.

Hayes was stunned as Reed entered his quarters. This was the last person he expected to see, but the only person he wanted to see. Yet, he wasn't ready to see him right now. What was he going to say? Fortunately, the lieutenant spoke first.

"I wanted to sincerely apologize for attacking you, Major," Reed began formally.

"That's not necessary, Lieutenant," Hayes responded as he quickly gathered his wits. "There's really no reason to apologize. Besides, if anyone should apologize, it should be me."

"I disagree, Major. I really should have exercised more restraint."

Hayes was glad the lieutenant didn't exercise more restraint. He hadn't been so exhilarated and, quite frankly, aroused in quite a while. "Restraint is underrated," he replied with a smirk. "Besides, I think we both needed to get it out of our systems."

"You're probably right," Reed admitted with a smile. Hayes thought that his smile was one of the nicest things he'd seen in a long time.

"Would you like a drink?" Hayes asked hopefully. "I have a bottle of whiskey stashed away."

"I'd like that, if it wouldn't be an imposition," Reed responded.

"No trouble at all. I'd love the company."

The two men sat in companionable silence as they sipped the whiskey. Hayes kept thinking about the two of them together, sexually, wondering how the armoury officer would react if he leaned over and kissed him. He thought that he would probably have more than a bruised left kidney after Reed was done with him.

As time went on, Hayes became flushed and, unfortunately, his body reacted to the images in his head. He hoped the other man hadn't noticed, but when he looked into the face of this former adversary, he knew the game was up.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me?" Reed asked cautiously.

"Well," Hayes began hesitantly, "I was just thinking about where we go from here, I mean now that we've come to an understanding and all." He knew he was beginning to ramble, but he couldn't stop. "It's just that, you know, we've been at it so long that I'll miss, you know, I'll miss… our interactions."

"But I'll still be around. We will still… interact, won't we?" Reed replied, trying to draw Hayes out.

"What? Yes we will, I suppose, I mean, uhm, no. That's not what I really mean. It's just that I like it when we are together… and, uhm… oh, never mind," Hayes sighed.

"Bloody hell, Hayes. Just tell me what you're thinking already!"

"Promise you won't try to hurt me if I tell you?"

Reed laughed. "Are you afraid of me, Major?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Hayes denied emphatically, then laughed at his own automatic reaction. "It's just that I would rather not end up in sickbay again, if that's all right with you."

"Then I guess I can agree to hear you out," Reed replied with a smirk.

"Well, here it goes." Hayes took a deep breath. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in pursuing a personal thing, I mean… uhm… , with me, and you… together."

Reed smiled. "You don't think we'll drive each other crazy?"

"Probably, but the sex would be fantastic!"

"Sounds good to me," Reed replied wholeheartedly. "There's just one minor detail…"

"What's that?"

"I'm on top."

"Now wait just a minute," Hayes countered, aggressively grabbing the other man's shirt. "There's no way I'm going to bottom in this relationship!"

"We'll see about that," Reed challenged, drawing Hayes into a powerful embrace.

The two men discovered throughout the evening that they were equally matched. In the morning, Hayes awoke early and took the time to simply gaze at his new lover. He had to smile in spite of himself. It turned out that being part-time bottom boy wasn't so bad after all.

***

The End.