Title: Smouldering Embers

Time: Coincidental and shortly after "Blood Fever" (Star Trek:Voyager)

Rating: T

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, all belong to the writers of Star Trek: Voyager

B'lanna collapsed wearily into Tom's arms after her battle with Vorik. Tom wrapped his arms around her protectively, holding her close to him. He was simultaneously relieved and disappointed that the blood fever of the Pan Farr had passed. He had come so close to realizing his long-held dreams of making love to her, only to be interrupted by Vorik, who had come to claim B'lanna as his mate. Vorik had inflicted the Pan Farr on B'lanna in the first place, placing her in danger and changing her into...well, suffice it to say, a B'lanna Tom had never seen before.

Chakotay made contact with Voyager and gave the command to beam all crew members back to the ship. Tom scooped B'lanna up into his arms and prepared to be beamed up. He felt her arms snake around his neck possessively. As he carried her to sickbay, he could feel her softly running her fingers through his hair, her lips and breath hot on his neck. He wondered if a few embers of that blood fever were still smouldering. "Get her to sickbay," he thought to himself. "She is still your friend, and regardless of what was about to happen, it would not be fair to take advantage of her now."

Tom entered sickbay carrying B'lanna and laid her on a biobed. She gently placed her hand on his cheek, caressing it with her thumb. She said nothing, but her eyes spoke volumes–a mixture of passion and confusion and weariness. Tom gently kissed her palm, then quickly took her hand in his, pulling it from his cheek and holding it tenderly as the doctor came in.

"I understand the blood fever has passed," the doctor said cheerfully. "We'll still want to check her vital signs to make sure she's alright. Yours as well, Mr. Paris."

The doctor quickly scanned Tom with his medical reader and gave him a clean bill of health, save for the bite on his cheek, which he quickly and painlessly sutured with a laser. He then scanned B'lanna and found that her chemical imbalance had returned to normal.

"She just needs some rest. I'll keep her here a few hours for observation, then release her to her quarters," the doctor said.

"Thank you, Doctor," Tom said. He took B'lanna's hand again and squeezed it. "You heard the doctor. You get some rest now. You're going to be fine," he said softly. She nodded, her eyes still displaying her complex emotions before she closed them. Tom left sickbay and returned to his quarters, indulging in a cold shower.

B'lanna was back on duty within a few days, and back to her old self. The emotion Tom had seen in her eyes as he left her in sickbay was now gone, or at least well hidden. He had wanted to talk to her about their experience, but wasn't sure that was a good idea. An opportunity presented itself when they were on the elevator together, but his hopes of rekindling any embers that remained smouldering were dashed, at least for the time being. "Be careful what you wish for," was her response.

What Tom didn't realize is that before the doctor released B'lanna from sickbay, he gave her a stern warning.

"You're out of the woods for the moment. But that doesn't mean you're completely cured. In Vulcans the Pan Farr returns once every seven years. You're the first half-Klingon that I've witnessed with this condition. I have no idea yet how this affects Klingons or half-Klingons for that matter. It could come back in seven years, it could come back sooner than that," the doctor said.

"So you're saying it could come back at any time without warning?" B'lanna asked.

"I'm afraid so," the doctor said. "I won't know anything more until I do more research. You're willingness to share your experiences will be of great help to me."

"Of course," B'lanna replied. "I've worked too hard to suppress my more aggressive Klingon nature to have it undermined by a Vulcan disease."

"It's not a disease, it's a normal way of life for them," the doctor replied. "And now it must become a normal way of life for you, I'm afraid. I will do whatever I can to help you through this."

"Thank you, Doctor," B'lanna replied. She turned to leave sickbay, but the doctor stopped her.

"One more thing," the doctor added. "What do you plan to tell Mr. Paris about your situation?"

"I haven't thought about that yet," B'lanna said. "I think for professional reasons discretion is best for the time being. I'm sure at some point I will need to warn him that my condition may change suddenly without warning. But for the time being, the less we talk about it, the better."

"I think it's important to tell him," the doctor replied, "but I will leave that to your discretion. Just remember, you are not the only one that is affected by your condition once it worsens."

"Duly noted," B'lanna said flatly.

Now as she made her way to engineering, her last words to Tom reverberated in her head.

"Be careful what you wish for..." she thought to herself. "Why didn't I tell him then? That would have been the perfect opportunity. But I don't want him to think that I want to continue anything between us. We're friends, colleagues. It would be unprofessional." She glanced up and saw Tom walking down the corridor. Momentarily she returned her focus to her work, but then her sense of duty, and her feelings of respect for Tom got the better of her. "I owe it to him," she thought to herself. "He needs to know." She left engineering and rushed down the corridor, catching up with him. "Tom," she called.

"B'lanna," Tom said, surprised.

"I was wondering if we could grab a drink this evening. There's something I need to talk to you about..."she said.

TBC