Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek Voyager nor do I profit from this story.
This was originally posted as a response to a prompt at the Bechdel Test Comment Fic-a-thon on Livejournal.
Prompt: Star Trek Voyager, Kathryn Janeway & B'Elanna Torres, rebuilding the warp core as therapy
Kathryn liked to walk around Voyager at night when she couldn't sleep. There wasn't ever a real purpose to the stroll, but she found it far more relaxing than staring at the ceiling of her cabin pondering her decisions to date. Self-reflection wasn't always a good thing she mused as she decided to visit Engineering and check on the warp core.
Skirting past the few personnel on duty in Engineering at this hour, Kathryn was surprised to find that the light was on in her new Chief of Engineering's office. Hoping that there was nothing wrong with the ship, she knocked on the door before pushing open upon hearing a gruff "Enter" uttered from within.
B'Elanna didn't even look up from the PADD she was hunched over studying. "If it's not an emergency, which it's not because I don't hear an alarm going off, it can wait until tomorrow morning."
Kathryn couldn't help but chuckle. "It is morning Lieutenant Torres."
Hearing her superior officer's husky voice had B'Elanna bolt up, knocking her chair back and almost falling herself in an attempt to get to an approximation of being at attention. "At ease Lieutenant," said Kathryn, attempting to keep the amusement out of her voice.
"Captain," B'Elanna said once she relaxed, "How can I help you?"
"You could tell me what has my Chief of Engineering up into the early hours of the morning. The alpha shift ended hours ago."
B'Elanna hesitated for a second before answering. "I wanted to go over some warp core readings. Nothing jumped out at us during routine inspections or diagnoses, but I had a feeling and wanted to make sure there wasn't anything to substantiate it."
Janeway raised a eyebrow. She had chosen Torres over Carey because of hunches like this one, but she needed her Chief rested, not worrying about ghosts. The irony didn't escape her.
"I was a science officer before I entered command. Mind if I take a look at the data as well? Maybe between the two of us, we can figure out if there's a problem."
B'Elanna copied the data she had been looking at to an empty PADD and handed it to the Captain before gesturing to the other chair in the room. Kathryn took it and began going over the data while B'Elanna retook her seat.
After about 30 minutes, Janeway had also developed a feeling of unease about Voyager's warp core. It was like Torres had said, nothing in the data stood out at her as remarkable, but there were some inconsistencies that, when taken together, could potentially indicate a problem. The issue was that getting down to the root of the problem would require a complete overhaul of the warp core, something that Janeway was hesitant to authorize as it would require Voyager to sit idle for at least a week with only emergency power. A sigh escaped from her lips.
B'Elanna looked up at the sound. "I see you see what I do, Captain," she said after studying Janeway's face. "I'm going to have to tear the warp core apart to find the problem."
"What's your best guess for how much time it would take?"
B'Elanna thought for a moment. "If I have the entire Engineering crew working around the clock, three days. With a bit of luck, it could be less than that. Otherwise, I'll need five days."
Kathryn managed to keep her command face on even as astonishment tried to break through. She knew though that Lieutenant Torres didn't say things she didn't mean and that if she said she could strip and rebuild the warp core in three days than it would be done in three days to the minute.
"Ok. There's a planet we're approaching that Neelix has been wanting to visit. Something about getting the ingredients for his famous Tulopian soup. We'll put in orbit and you'll have the time needed to overhaul the warp core. But in the mean time," and with the change in tone, B'Elanna unconsciously straightened in her chair, "you'll get some sleep. I need my Chief Engineer fully rested if we're going to do something that is normally only done in a shipyard."
B'Elanna nodded in agreement and then stared pointedly at the Captain as a yawn escaped Kathryn.
"And on that note, I think I am also going to head to bed." Kathryn said as she rose from the chair. She turned to leave and was stopped by one final comment.
"Thanks Captain. For trusting me."
Kathryn merely nodded in response before leaving the office and heading to her cabin. Making Lieutenant Torres her Chief Engineer had been the right decision.