JOINT VENTURE
by B'Elanna, Geena, and Rhonda
At Holidays, Janet and Axel sat within earshot of the ever-present Trevor. P
Knowing Trevor was listening, Janet said to 'Axel' loudly, "Do you remember that little ski place in Colorado we went to once?" Axel nodded, not really having a clue what she was referring to. "Let's take a trip there for our honeymoon," she said, grabbing his hands. P
Axel nodded, gulping. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked
her, his voice barely audible. Janet nodded telling him he needed to go
make the reservations, so they could leave the next day.
Axel left, and Trevor came over to sit down beside her. "Going skiing,
huh?" he asked. P
Janet feigned ignorance. "Oh Trevor! Why, I didn't see you sitting there." P
He chuckled, wondering why she was taking her scheme to such lengths. He only hoped that he had a chance to change her mind, or at least find out why she was dead set against having anything at all to do with him. Then, he'd have the fuel to re-light the flame that made them what they are together. P
Axel came back to the table. "All set! We leave first thing tomorrow." He looked down. "Mr. Dillon, do you mind? I'd like to sit down." P
Trevor only chuckled and pulled a chair from the table behind them. He patted the seat. "There ya go, have a seat. We don't care, do we?" He looked at Janet. She groaned, then motioned for Axel to sit in the chair, knowing full well that when Trevor dug his heels in NO ONE could budge him. P
Axel gave her the details of their flight plan. She took the tickets and told the men she needed to pack and call Amanda. Trevor smiled at her and promised to be good. She scowled at him and told Axel she'd see him later. Once she was gone, Trevor took out a piece of paper and laid it down on the table, pushing it to Axel. P
"What's this?" Axel asked. P
"This," Trevor told him, "is the complete history of 'Mr. Axel Green' or can I call you Albert Carrington?" Trevor's grin was triumphant. P
Axel looked at him accusingly. "You had no right!" P
Trevor grabbed him by the collar, "Wrong." Suddenly realizing he was in public, he let go of Axel and told him to sit down, they were going to talk. "I've been to hell and back with Janet," he told Axel. "If you'd told me one year ago I'd be madly in love with Janet Green, I'd have said you were off your rocker. But you know what... I am madly in love with her. And no one, not some two-bit actor, NOR the real Axel will take Janet away from me." P
Axel looked at him with a little fear in his eyes. "Look Mr. Dillon, you can't come in here and treat me like this." P
Trevor's eyes bore into his. "You listen to me, Albert," he began, "I want to know when that flight leaves. Once you tell me, you call Janet and tell her you went to an audition and you 'broke a leg,'" he grinned at his own pun. P
"Why would I do that?" Albert challenged. P
Trevor grinned at him, "You have an outstanding warrant, isn't that right Albert? I have connections to the PVPD. You see, I used to be a cop, and it's awful hard to get a part when you're in jail." Albert flushed, handing Trevor the information. "If you know what's good for your health and freedom, you better call Janet and tell her you can't go, but that she should go anyway to keep up appearances." P
"Why do you want her to go alone?" asked Albert. P
"Don't worry pal, she won't be," replied Trevor mysteriously. He threw some money to Albert. "Consider yourself fired," he shot to him then walked away. P
Albert heaved a huge sigh of relief, deciding this job wasn't worth his
career. Shaking his head, he picked up the money, put it in his pocket,
and left. P
The next morning at the airport, Janet was standing at the counter, about to cash in the second ticket when Trevor appeared by her side. P
"Mornin' Toots," he grinned at her. She turned and groaned. "You have an extra ticket I see. Where's Axel?" P
"He broke his leg," she told him, "but you already knew that, right?" P
Trevor feigned innocence, "Now, why would I know that?" He went over to the ticket counter and tried to buy a ticket, then came back to her. "Gee, it seems like the plane is sold out, and you are NOT going to Colorado alone." P
"Fine," she turned, "then I won't go at all!" P
Trevor looked at her and grinned. "Hold on there, Toots. The tickets aren't refundable," he reminded her. Taking the tickets from her hand, he pushed her toward the gates. He handed the tickets to the steward, took Janet's hand and led her to their seats. P
Janet said, "I hate you!" through clenched teeth. P
"You keep tellin' yourself that," he told her. "Just keep tellin' yourself that." P
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The plane trip was almost unbearable for Trevor; Janet sat in stony silence staring out the window. Trying to lighten the mood, Trevor asked, "Penny for your thoughts?" P
"Throw in your head on a block and I'll consider it," she shot back. P
"Aww, come on babe, lighten up there, we'll have fun; a little skiing, building a snowman, maybe have a snowball fight." P
"Snowball fight," she said, "hmm, great idea. I'll be sure to load mine with a rock." P
Trevor tried once again to get her to open up. "Come on Toots," he pleaded with her. "I don't bite ya know... unless of course you want me to." He grinned at her wickedly. Janet smiled slightly despite her ire over his pushiness and intrusion in her life. "Aha, I got you to smile, that's a start." Janet turned away again, regaining the stony look she boarded the plane with. "Oh come on Toots, not the sour puss face again." P
She turned to him. "Trevor," she said, her voice holding a soft, anger filled tone. "You push your way into my life, AFTER I asked you to let me go," she remarked pointedly, "and look, here you are. Do you not know what NO means?" P
The pilot came over the PA and told the passengers they could now unfasten their seat belts. P
Trevor caressed her face with both hands and turned her gaze to meet his. "Yes," he told her firmly. "I do know what no means, but," he inched closer to her, his lips mere inches from hers, "only when someone really means no. And baby I can prove you don't mean it." He closed the distance between them and captured her lips with his. P
"Trevor," she moaned, placing her hands on his chest to push him away. Trevor, however, had different plans, and, when she placed her hands on his chest, he pulled her closer. P
"Ahem," they heard behind them. Janet looked away, embarrassed at being caught in an embrace. Trevor looked up to the flight attendant telling her they didn't need anything right now. She smiled knowingly at them and moved onto the next seat. P
"Janet..." he looked at her, but she refused to meet his gaze. "Janet," he repeated gently, turning her face to look at him. "This is not the time or the place," he began, but Janet cut him off. P
"You're right," she agreed. "When the plane lands I'll just go on back to Pine Valley and you can have our rooms... uh, I mean room." Trevor pretended not to notice the slip, although it reinforced the fact that this 'Axel' thing was a hoax. P
"Sorry, Babe, can't do that," he informed her. "This has been brewing for months now, and we are not going back until one of two things has happened." P
Janet stuck her chin out stubbornly. "And they are?" P
He looked straight into her eyes. "You are going to tell me the whole truth about this Axel thing, and then we are going to settle this thing between us." P
She looked at him and shook her head. "Wh... what thing?" her voice trembled. P
"You are going to give me one GOOD reason why you won't marry me, a REAL one this time," he noted, "or I am going to convince you that I want... no, NEED you in my life, as do Amanda and even Tim. Either way, when we leave, there will be no more secrets. You will either be my wife OR my lover, but I am not letting you out of my life." P
With that, he kissed her with the hard passion of a man denied, then released her. She took a quick breath, trying to replace the oxygen he took with that powerful kiss and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, the exhaustion of keeping a step ahead of Trevor kicked in and she fell asleep. P
Trevor looked over at her and grinned. He whispered, "You're mine,
Babe, and I am going to make it so. Even if it kills me." P