Author : sKiTzO sHy VioLeT
Summary : Something's gone horribly wrong with the Voyager timeline and a member of Voyager's future must fix it....
Note : This was originally "Ten Things I Love About You", but I got an idea and decided to rewrite it.
IMPORTANT NOTE : If you do not like the idea of two people of the same gender together, do not read any further. ALSO!! This is the second edition of "My Captain..." because the first edition was VERY poorly written
~*~
Peas porridge hot.
Sweat trickled down Ensign Janice Blair's brow as she concentrated on her battered console.
Peas porridge cold.
A spark shot from the machinery in front of her and she practically leapt out of her skin in shock.
Peas porridge in the pot
Moving reluctantly back she shook her head.
Nine days old.
"Nice nursery rhyme."
Janice whirled around to come face to face with Second First Officer Commander T'Perra Kathryn Paris. The other woman stood before the Ensign with an air about her that was intoxicating. That was the way T'Perra was. Intoxicating.
Her beautiful brown hair was shoulder length and full of delicate curls. She took the greatest care of her hair, using only the finest products on it. Her skin was soft to the touch and held the most perfect tan one could hope for. Her body was sleek and slightly muscular. Though her frame was small it screamed of power. Her smile was even more intoxicating than the air around her and her eyes.... One couldn't explain her eyes in merely one sentence. They were a deep blue gray, and held a knowing and confident look. They were mysterious and inviting, and more intoxicating still than her smile. One could get lost in her eyes.
And that was the way she liked it.
"Was... Was I saying that out loud?" Janice felt her face flush instantly. They were alone in Astrometrics, and that realization deepend the crimson of her skin. She'd been attempting to repair damage made by the borg when the other woman walked in and she wanted nothing more than to return to her work. When T'Perra Paris turned her charm on for you, you were lost forever.
T'Perra nodded and pushed a piece of hair away from the Ensign's face, who shuddered slightly in response. Smiling her Commander took the younger woman's hand and brought it up to her lips. She kissed the back of it and never took her eyes off of Janice's.
The Ensign's eyes darkened.
Perfect. T'Perra thought.
"T'Perra-"
The other woman held her hand up at the protest. "Please," she said smiling. "Call me Perry."
~*~
"So what happened?" Janice's best friend Lily Delaney nearly bounced out of her chair. She was a low ranking Engineer and her life was plagued by monotony so she often lived off of her friends' "adventures" (as she called them), afraid to embark on her own. She was too shy to go on a date. She'd been offered, but was never able to accept for fear of being hurt. She was the exact opposite of her mother.
"Nothing." Janice replied hastily. "She just asked me to dinner." Her encounter with the Second First Officer still had her shaking. She couldn't believe what had happened, what had *actually* happened. The entire ship was in love with T'Perra Kathryn Paris, but none had captured the Commander's heart. Now she, Janice herself, had her own chance to tame the impossibly wild.
"You're going to dinner with her?!" Lily stopped in her tracks, her voice reaching an insanely high pitch. "How.. But.. You... She.."
"She has a lot of admirers," Janice sighed, grabbing the Ensign's arm and pulling her along. "I know. So she has a lot of dates, so what? I'd rather be one of those dates than not."
Lily shook her head. She was one of the very few who hadn't fallen to the Commander's spell. "I just don't understand how *everybody* can be in love with her. *I* don't love her and you know how I am! She hasn't gotten to *me*."
"Yet."
~*~
"Come in," Sighing Perry put her book down on the bed. Tucking some of her curls behind her head (and scowling when they returned to her former position) she crossed her legs once more. Her direct superior, First First Officer Chakotay, strode through the door, a grin upon his face.
Perry knew that if they were on Earth she would have had to stand when he came in, but she remained seated. Everybody on Voyager was so close by then that they sometimes even called eachother by their first names while working. Perhaps I *should* stand when he enters. The Commander reasoned with herself. I mean, he *is* the First First Officer, and I'm only the Second. I'd have to stand if we were in Federation Space. She brushed it off with a shake of her head reminding herself that in the Federation, Second First Officer wasn't even a recognized title.
"I heard you've caught another fish in your net." Chakotay said playing with one of the trinkets on her shelf, something he did often. Finally setting it back down he moved to sit beside her on her bed. "Janice Blair. Quite a catch."
The young woman smiled and nodded. "Yeah," she replied holding back a small laugh. "I don't know why I didn't bait her before."
Chakotay laughed shortly and tapped her leg twice. For a few minutes they sat in silence together, content just with each other's company. The Native American was like an uncle her, or even a second father. His close friendship with her mother had brought him into her life and she was very thankful for it. Even though they were generations apart he was her best friend. Her only real friend. The only one she confided in, but even then she was still a mystery to even him.
"You ever hear that nursery rhyme," Perry broke the silence after a few minutes. "Where it's like.... 'Peas porridge hot. Peas porridge cold'."
"Peas porridge in the pot nine days old." Chakotay finished nodding. "Yeah, what about it?"
She furrowed her brow, causing the ridges there to seem more defined. "I don't know." She replied, her voice getting quiet suddenly. "I just... There's something about it.... That I feel... But I don't know...."
Chakotay nodded again, not needing for her to finish. After a few moments he picked up his earlier comment.
"About Janice," he said, looking at his friend with a look that held some concern. "Don't you think it's about time you settled down with one person?"
Her eyes locked onto his for a moment and held a sadness he'd never seen before. She was always an upbeat person. Not unbearably upbeat, but she wasn't down as often as the normal person. It was part of her "game", as she called it, Chakotay had always guessed. Now...
"Why do you settle with one person?" She was clearly uncomfortable with the question, but Chakotay pressed it. He wanted nothing more than to see her be happy, and his marriage years were the happiest of his life.
"I love Kathryn very much." He replied hoping she'd drink in his words and desire the feelings he had enough to where she'd strive for it herself. And yet, her eyes. The sadness in them told him something... Something he couldn't quite place and he hoped she'd tell him. "She is my everything. I can't imagine life with anybody else. Frankly, if something were to happen to her I would never be able to be with anybody else. After Kathryn, there's nothing. No one. Don't you want that for yourself?"
Perry had been listening the whole time, but looking down at her bed. Her head snapped up to look at him and mixing with the look of sorrow he saw there he detected something else. Anger? Defense? What?
"Of course I do." She tried not to snap at him, and Chakotay could sense her effort. Immediately he realized the reason for the look of sorrow. "I want it more than anything. But..." She sighed and grasped for words. "You don't understand. I want that love, that feeling, but it's not out there for me! Some people like you and the First Captain are lucky! Me, I'm not. I have this void in my heart that shall never be filled! No one person can fill it."
"But many can?"
A solitary tear trickled down Perry's face, announcing her very rare vulnerability. Chakotay felt honored to be witnessing it, but she brushed the salty moisture away, taking the moment with it. She straightened up and took in a deep shuddering breath. "That one person just isn't out there for me."
Minutes passed before either of them spoke again. They sat in the same silence as before, except this time there was a hint of tension in the air.
Chakotay coughed a little and finally spoke up, trying to lighten the mood. "So," he began, forcing a smile. "I've noticed something odd. Nobody around here seems to be brandishing a scar."
Perry's face clouded with confusion and slowly it dawned on her. Her superior, however, continued.
"I mean," he went on to say. "You'd think a love bite from you would be a prize. How is it that you're the only klingon I've heard of that doesn't give love bites?"
Smiling weakly, the previous feeling of sadness still conveyed in her features, she replied.
"In my eyes, love bites require love."
~*~
The doors to the bridge opened in protest, allowing the First Captain through. The ship rocked once more, catching the aged woman of balance. Gripping a rail she held on tight until it was safe to walk again. Finally able to stand upright she made her way to her command chair.
"Captain!" Second Captain Naomi Wildman moved out of the chair and stood aside. She offered her help to the older woman who waved it off.
"I'm fine." First Captain Kathryn Janeway sat in her chair and shouted for a status report.
~*~
To be continued....