Written for Photogirl for VAMB Secret Summer. Her prompt was: "The 100th episode special edition of A Briefing With Neelix goes horribly wrong... Fluff/humour/angst balance at the author's discretion (but preferably without anything too dark and depressing). Inclusion of Paris, Torres, Kim and EMH would be appreciated. Side helping of P/T optional."

Written jointly with the wonderful Sareki, without whom I would never have finished this on time. She's the best writing partner a girl could ask for.

Author's note: This piece takes place shortly after Scientific Method

Public Displays

"Well, Mr. Paris, aren't you going to congratulate me?"

Tom looked up from the biobed he had been calibrating. What in the world is he on about now? For a moment, Tom wondered if he was willing to find out, or if he wanted to take the easy path out. He glanced at the time. Only half an hour was left in his shift.

"Congratulations," Tom replied with a small smile, having settled on the easy route.

"Do you have any idea what I'm referring to?" the Doctor asked, obviously exasperated.

Tom sighed. There was apparently no way he was going to get out of talking about whatever this was, this time. "Could you maybe refresh my memory?"

The Doctor heaved a great sigh, and not for the first time, Tom wondered where in the universe he picked up these mannerisms. Had his programmer really been this theatrical? "Since Neelix is still sick with Bolian laryngitis, I'm going to host the one hundredth episode of A Briefing with Neelix," the Doctor said proudly.

Oh lord, Tom thought, but replied instead, "There's only been one hundred episodes of that show? Isn't it on every morning?"

"That's Good Morning Voyager," The Doctor replied, obviously disgusted by the fact that Tom didn't know there were two shows. "Don't you watch our community created programming?!"

Hell no, Tom thought. At least not when I'm not on it. "Well… I must have just confused the titles."

The Doctor looked less than convinced, but Tom didn't really care. He turned his attention back to the biobed, which fortunately displayed the time. Only twenty-five more minutes. Then he could leave this hell and head to B'Elanna's quarters. Where she was waiting for him. Hopefully in that silky blue number.

It was the first night in a week that they had both been free, and Tom planned to take full advantage of the opportunity. He smiled a little, fondly remembering the last free night they'd spent together, and the morning that had followed it.

"Aren't you going to ask what I have planned?" The Doctor's voice broke into Tom's ruminations, bringing him back into the moment.

"Uh, sure. What do you have planned, Doc?" Tom turned his attention to the biobed, trying to get his work done while pretending to be interested in what the Doctor was saying.

"Well, I think that currently the show is a little flat."

Of course you do, thought Tom.

"That's not to say I wouldn't want to keep some of the traditional segments… Neelix's 'Around Voyager', for instance."

Tom nodded, thinking, Of course you'd like the gossip segment.

"But the show is missing a certain respectability. It needs a little more… culture. So I'm thinking of debuting my very own opera!"

Tom winced.

"Of course, not all three hours of it."

Tom felt his stomach turn, knowing, that at some point, he would be stuck listening to all three hours of it.

"Just an aria or two."

There was a pause. Tom knew he had to respond now. "Sounds great, Doc."

"You really think so?!" The hologram replied, excitedly. "Because I have more ideas! I'm thinking at least one medical lecture is in order. After all, this crew's medical knowledge is woefully lacking. And I was just going through the images I took of the luau a couple weeks ago. There are some beautiful shots in there… and a couple quite handsome ones of you and Lieutenant Torres."

Crap. Tom winced again, wondering when in the hell the Doc had taken pictures of them. They had still been under the influence of those alien experiments and had spent most of the luau in a somewhat secluded spot making out. He hoped dearly that the pictures were from the couple of times they had come up for air and gotten drinks from the bar and not from when Tom had had his hand up B'Elanna's dress. But damn, she looked good in that dress.

The Doctor was still droning on about all the things he was going to do, but Tom had stopped paying attention. There were only ten minutes left until he had to leave, and really, he didn't care at all about this show. Every once in a while he would make an interested noise, and that seemed to placate the hologram until his shift was over.

=/\=

"Did you see it?!" B'Elanna exclaimed as she entered his quarters the next day.

He had. The whole ship had. It was 'the talk of the town', as it were.

A Briefing with Neelix: Hosted by the EMH, had been the biggest disaster of all time.

"Yeah, I saw it," Tom replied, setting down the PADD he had been reading. "I rather enjoyed the photo-documentary of Harry's gastrointestinal distress. You know, the Doctor's treatment of it really was revolutionary."

B'Elanna shot him a look. "You know that's not what I'm referring to. Did you see that picture he showed of us?" she demanded, flopping down on the couch.

I did and I asked for a copy. "Well, at least your dress was still… covering everything," Tom replied. B'Elanna grabbed the pillow next to her and thumped him on the head with it. He playfully wrestled it from her grasp, giving her a kiss on the cheek. When she got like this, it was hard for Tom to tell if she was actually mad or not, so he usually just assumed the best and crossed his fingers. "It's fine, B'Elanna. Everyone knows we're together."

"And having sex! The Doctor's comment about us needing to get our contraceptives updated… That is completely inappropriate!"

"To be fair, he didn't use our names," Tom replied, knowing that wouldn't placate her, but feeling the need to say it anyway.

"He said, 'the feisty engineer in gold and the only slightly competent medic in red'! Who else could he have been talking about?!" B'Elanna exclaimed, rising and starting to pace the room.

Tom sighed. I guess this is an instance of actually upset and not playfully upset. "B'Elanna, why does this bother you so much? I mean, yes, the Doctor could have been less… well, less like the Doctor, but everyone knows we're sleeping together."

She spun to face him. "I don't know why it bothers me! It just does! Some things are meant to be private," B'Elanna said, the frustration evident in her voice.

Tom stood and approached her. He could feel his own insecurities rising as he took her into his embrace. "Is it me?" he asked, his voice quiet.

B'Elanna drew back from him, a confused expression on her face. "What?"

Tom didn't really know how to respond. He didn't want to voice the doubts: that B'Elanna was embarrassed by him, or some such other thing that his rational mind told him wasn't true, but his heart worried over anyway.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, B'Elanna put it together herself. "Oh, no, Tom!" she said as she kissed him. "It's… I've just always been like this. I don't like other people sticking their nose in my business. You know that."

Tom ran his hand through her hair, feeling the weight partially lifted from his heart. "But you don't know why?"

B'Elanna broke their embrace and made her way back over to the couch. "I don't know. I guess…" B'Elanna took a deep breath. "I've spent most of my life trying to figure out how to control my… outbursts. My emotions. And, you know," she paused, and began to pick at the arm of the couch. "I guess that includes my love for you. So, I don't know… I feel like I have to control it. Like everything else."

"So you feel like 'public displays of affection' mean you're not in control?" Tom asked, joining her on the couch and wrapping an arm cautiously around her.

"Well, that's part of it. But when I share things with people, the things that really matter, like how I feel, it makes me… I don't know… vulnerable? Like I can't control the situation anymore. Or whether people are talking about me, or how they are judging me. So I want to save those things for the people that really matter. The people I can trust."

Tom kissed her on the cheek, taking in the scent that was uniquely B'Elanna. Hearing that she felt so vulnerable for the simple act of daring to have emotions in public pained him, but he couldn't help noticing the implication that he was someone that really mattered to her. That she could trust him. His heart swelled at the thought, and he wrapped his other arm around her, giving her a supportive squeeze. "Well, I'm okay with not making a big deal in public. As long as I know how you feel in private."

B'Elanna smiled, obviously relieved. "Oh, well that's good because I know a way to show you just how I feel about you," she replied, climbing onto his lap and pulling him into a deep kiss.

Fin