by Dakota

"Where's Mr. Vulcan?"

Tom glanced over at Neelix. "He volunteered to take this shift on the bridge."

"Oh, that's too bad. I was looking forward to picking up a few pointers from him tonight."

Neelix may have been disappointed but Tom was enjoying himself. He had finally gotten most of the senior staff together to play poker. He had heard stories about the poker games held on board the Enterprise. Chakotay confirmed the stories as being similar to those one of his students told him while he was teaching advanced tactics. The stories were almost a legend among some of Voyager's crew. To Tom they had sounded like fun.

Tom glanced around the table as Chakotay dealt. Harry was nervous. He should be an easy target tonight. Neelix was chattering about the game making it clear he had been studying the rules but not the spirit of the game. Seven was intently watching Chakotay. Anyone else watching that closely would be watching for someone dealing from the bottom of the deck but with Seven it was more likely an effort to determine the most efficient way to deal the cards.

B'Elanna made Tom slightly nervous. She hadn't wanted to play but had come only to shut Tom up. Tom knew he'd better not be the one taking home her rations at the end of the evening. There was one more chair but it might stay empty. Despite all his pleading, Tom had not been able to get the captain to commit to participating. He sighed and picked up his cards. The jumble of mismatched low numbers and a solitary jack were not an auspicious beginning.

Chakotay was pulling in his winnings for the third hand in a row when the door slid open to admit Captain Janeway. "Am I too late?"

Tom stood. "Of course not, Captain. We've just started."

The captain smiled and moved towards the open chair. Tom noticed her eye catch Chakotay's across the table as she sat down. "What are the stakes, Tom?"

"One ration per chip. The only limit is that you can't exceed your current ration balance."

"May as well get all my chips now then." Tom was surprised that the captain didn't protest that rule and more surprised that she was starting out with her maximum – until he saw how few there were.

"Been drinking more coffee than you should again, Captain?" Chakotay's comment earned him a mild glare.

B'Elanna was dealing. "Everybody, ante up."

Tom smirked at the captain who hadn't been upset by the commander's comment as they all tossed in a chip.

Harry won the next hand. Neelix stumbled into a winning hand but won very little because everyone could tell whatever it was, it was  good. Chakotay won the next hand after taking a good portion of Harry's rations. The captain was playing cautiously and had lost only a few rations before she won the fourth hand and wiped out Harry.

Chakotay collected the rest of Seven's chips three hands later. The captain took the last of Neelix's rations on the next hand.

A few hands later found Kathryn, Tom and B'Elanna all folding as Chakotay continued to raise the stakes. When the last of them folded, he tossed in his hand without showing it and pulled in his winnings that included the last of B'Elanna's chips.

"You were bluffing?" B'Elanna demanded.

"If you wanted to know, you should have called." Chakotay ignored the flash in B'Elanna's eyes. "You want to see my cards, Torres, you have to pay for the privilege."

Tom stifled a chuckle at the look on B'Elanna's face then turned his head down when she scowled at him. Tom's smile faded at the end of the next hand as the last of his chips ended up in the slowly growing stack in front of the captain.

Chakotay watched the captain pull in her winnings. "It's just the two of us, Kathryn."

"It's your deal, Chakotay."

Tom could hear the challenge in her voice as she met Chakotay's eyes. He pushed closer to the table, anxious to keep an eye on the game now. He didn't think either would stop playing until all the chips were in one pile.

Tom wasn't disappointed. For more than half an hour, the captain and first officer played steadily and seriously. Chakotay had the advantage but the captain won enough hands to stay in the game.

Then Chakotay tried to bluff and she called. He lost twenty rations on that hand. On the next hand, she again called but lost when he spread a full house on the table. Undaunted, she again matched his raises and finally called only to see her flush lose to another full house.

Tom wondered if she would concede but she did not. She pushed the cards toward Chakotay. "It's your deal."

Again, Chakotay took over the betting and the captain countered his raises three times before calling. He wasn’t bluffing. As the majority of her chips were pulled to his pile, she straightened her back as if bracing for a battle.

The captain's eyes were on Chakotay as she picked up the cards to deal. "Five card draw, nothing wild."

Both picked up their cards and Tom felt the tension in the room change even though neither moved a muscle on their faces. Call it the captain's mask or a poker face, he could not tell if she had a good hand. The commander was the great stone face himself. His expression hadn't changed in twenty minutes.

He opened. She raised him. Neither asked for any cards.

He matched her and raised her.

She called and fingered her remaining chips. She studied her cards then looked at Chakotay as if trying to read on his face which cards he held.

She tossed in her final chips. "I raise you ten."

For the first time since they had been playing head to head, Chakotay seemed surprised. He called and raised her ten chips.

The captain sat up. She stared at Chakotay as she spoke. "It seems I'm at a disadvantage, Commander. Is there anything I can offer as an alternative to rations?"

Tom had no idea what the commander was thinking but the slight change in his expression made him sit forward, sure that whatever Chakotay had just thought it was interesting and Tom didn’t want to miss anything.

"I can't think of anything that you'd find it acceptable, Kathryn" Chakotay's voice was cool and carried a hint of a dare. "Perhaps you have a suggestion that might interest me?"

The captain tilted her head cockily. "A kiss?"

"One kiss?" Chakotay smiled. "I don't think so. One kiss per chip, maybe."

"All right, I call."

"That's ten kisses, Kathryn. Are you that sure of winning this hand?"

"Do you accept the bid or not, Commander?" The captain challenged.

Tom watched as Chakotay stared at his hand then back at the captain. He stacked his cards in a neat pile directly in front of his chest, and laced his fingers together in a show of confidence.

"I accept the bid, Kathryn."

"Then I call, Commander. Let's see your cards."

Slowly, Chakotay turned over his cards one by one. Nine of spades. Ten of spades. Jack of spades. Queen of spades. King of spades. 

“That’s a straight – and a flush!” Neelix said. Tom nodded, his eyes focused on the captain.

The captain's expression didn't change as she stared at the cards. She looked up at Chakotay and nodded slightly then stacked her cards carefully face down on the table in front of her.

The captain stood. "You win, Chakotay. I'll pay off the rest of the bet – in my quarters." She glanced around the table at the others before smiling mischievously at Chakotay. "I don't owe them anything."

Chakotay nodded and stood smiling, "I'll expect all my other winnings in my account in ten minutes, Tom. Oh, and thanks for the game."

As the door closed behind the command team, everyone looked at each other astonished at what they had just observed.

Tom picked up the captain's cards as Harry's voice echoed in the background. "Do you think she'll talk him out of collecting?"

"Probably." B'Elanna answered the question. "Either way, we'll never know."

"We already know." As Tom spoke, he snapped the cards on the table with the same precision that Chakotay had used to display his winning hand. "She had a royal flush."