A/N- I've been watching Voyager repeats and have fallen in love with P/T again, and this story occurred to me. It's set 6 months after Caldick Prime, the premise being that instead of being discharged from Starfleet, Tom is given the option to repeat the academy instead. It is a work in progress, but I do have the rest of the story mapped out, although I may update rather slowly. Not sure if anyone still reads Voyager fanfiction, but I've certainly enjoyed writing it.
Cadet Tom Paris took a deep breath and put on his smile, same as he did every day. Only today wasn't quite a normal day, today was his first day at Starfleet academy. Well, his second first day. Today he would enter Starfleet academy as a cadet for the second time in his life, two years after he had completed it, six months after he had killed four people in a shuttle accident on Caldick Prime.
He knew this was the only way he'd ever fly for Starfleet again, but still it cut deep. He'd completed the academy well enough the first time through, passing the courses he needed to pass, excelling in the courses that involved flying. Doing it through a second time wasn't going to change anything. And sitting in lectures with green new cadets was going to hurt. They were there because they were the best of the best. He was there because he had killed four people. Agreeing to it had prevented him from being cashiered out of Starfleet and ending up as a freight pilot, or worse. But it still wasn't going to be pleasant, hence the fake smile he was so familiar with nowadays.
His first task of the morning was a meeting with his assigned mentor for the next three years, the same mentor he'd had the first time through the academy, Admiral Hollis. Retired from command, he'd been teaching at the academy for twelve years, and he got all the awkward cases. Those who were brilliant but difficult would find Admiral Hollis on their case pretty quickly. Tom had been aggreived to learn that he had been assigned to him the first time round, not considering himself that difficult a person, but had assumed it had been his father's doing. Now he wasn't so sure.
Pulling awkwardly at the collar of his cadet uniform, six months out of uniform had left him unused to the restrictiveness around his neck, he walked into Admiral Hollis' office without knocking. The admiral was a close friend of his father's, and knowing his father Admiral Hollis had already been briefed on how to deal with Tom. Tom's father had been all for court martialling him and even having him thrown into prison when he'd found out about Tom's involvement in Caldick Prime, and Tom fully expected him to make his life in the academy difficult.
Instead Admiral Hollis smiled and said, "Ah Tom, ever the rebel. Do sit down." Tom sat down, suddenly uncertain. He'd come here with a defiant spirit, determined that his father's anger wouldn't put him off flying again, and he had, in truth, rellished the prospect of having to fight against something. This smiling man was something of a disappointment.
"I know, I know, I'm supposed to be terribly intimidating and lecture you on how irresponsible you were and how lucky you are to be here." Admiral Hollis met Tom's eyes, and for a moment Tom could see sadness in them, "But you know that already, you killed four people, of course you know that."
Tom found that he couldn't keep eye contact with the admiral, and squirming slightly in his seat, the best he could come up with was, "Yeah."
Sensing Tom's discomfort, the Admiral continued, "Well I'll keep this brief. You've done this before so you can do it again, if you want it enough." The moment broken, Tom could meet the Admiral's gaze again, and he did trying to convey just how much he did want to do this.
"If you manage to do this, and I think you just might, you're going to need a recommendation from me. No Captain is going to take on a pilot who's already killed people through their own recklessness unless I put in a good word for you. And for that I'm going to want some proof."
Tom didn't say anything, what could he say. The admiral was right, and he was prepared to do anything if it meant he could fly, the fact that he was here proved that.
Seeing the determined look in Tom's eyes, the admiral nodded slightly. "I don't know how much you know about the Maquis, but there's a lot of sympathy for them at the academy, and we're losing people to them, losing some of our best. One of our most promising commanders, a man named Chakotay, went over to them about a year ago, and he's been recruiting disaffected academy students. He's very charismatic, and he's snared a lot of our best people." The admiral watched Tom's reaction to this, there had been some speculation as to Tom's own loyalties when they had decided to offer him another chance at the academy instead of just throwing him out. But there was nothing there suggesting that Tom might be disloyal. The boy was a pilot, as long as he had something to fly he was happy.
"You might just be the best pilot we've had through here in a decade, but most of the people who get in to the academy are good. We've got an engineer here who's got the potential to be one of the best ever to graduate. She's quick on her feet, and very, very good at what she does. If we lost her to the Maquis she could be a serious threat, especially if someone like Chakotay got hold of her. And the way things are going at the moment, we're not going to keep her for very long. She's refused our offers of counselling, and we can't keep ignoring her behaviour, even with her brilliance. That's where you come in. She needs someone who can reign her in, and since you're going to have to be reigning some of your own extravagant traits in, you'll be the ideal person for the job."
It took Tom a while to take this in. He sat there looking at the admiral for a few seconds, before saying, "You have got to be kidding me. You want me to babysit some drama queen who you can't keep under control. Me? Tom Paris? I've got to be the worst person you could have picked to do this." Then, realising who he was speaking to, he added an uncomfortable, "Sir."
"She's got to be taught the consequences of her actions Tom, and I can't think of anyone better to do that than you."
Tom was about to protest this when the screen on the admiral's desk beeped. The admiral looked down at it and sighed. "Her names B'Elanna Torres, I'm sure you'll find her. You will do this Cadet Paris."
Recognising the tone of the admiral's voice, Tom reluctantly said "Yes sir." It wasn't an official order, but it may as well have been.
"Dismissed."