Disclaimer: The Star Trek Voyager characters and the Star Trek universe that I borrow them from belong to Paramount/Viacom. The story belongs to me. You can archive my story if you want, just let me know first.

Title: Truce

Pairing: P, T
Timeline: About a month or two after being stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

Rating: PG

Summary: Paris and Torres come to an understanding in the beginning of their journey through the Delta Quadrant and take their first step toward friendship.

Author: Peggy Schultz
Email: www.ajourneythrough. Note: I just found this story with my Voyager stuff. I think it was supposed to be the beginning of a longer story, but I thought it worked well as a vignette. All I had to do was to just edit it a little. ;)

Truce

After finishing another late night shift piloting Voyager through a seemingly boring stretch of space, Tom Paris sat on the edge of his bed with a sigh. He had just finished changing out of his uniform and into a pair of gray shorts to sleep in. Looking at the pile of red and black uniform that littered his bedroom floor, he decided to worry about the mess in the morning. After three months in the Delta Quadrant, he still could not get used to wearing a Starfleet uniform again. Would he ever get used to it, he wondered.

It was only 2335 hours and although he did not feel overly tired he did not want to roam Voyager's corridors at this hour; he had tried that after the first two weeks of being stuck on Voyager and ended up a punching bag for some of the other crewmembers. Of course he hadn't seen who they were, and wasn't sure if they had been the Fleeter's, the Maquis, or both. That night he had to report to the annoying holographic doctor and listen to a lecture about why he should report it to the Captain, or Lieutenant Tuvok. Tom did not want to make a return trip to see the Doc anytime soon. Since Harry was most likely already in bed because he had the early shift tomorrow and both holodecks were already reserved by other crewmembers, Tom decided to just try and get to sleep early.

As he lay in the bed, he wondered if his shifts were Chakotay's way of telling him he and most of the rest of the crew still did not trust him. The crew had gone out of their way in the last three months to make sure that Tom knew exactly how they felt. If it wasn't for his friendship with Harry Kim, he was sure that he would have gone crazy in the small ship. He probably would have asked Captain Janeway to let him off of the ship at the next friendly planet that they came too.

Suddenly the sound of his door chime brought him out of his thoughts. Tom slowly sat up, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and told his visitor to enter. "Harry must not be able to sleep," he thought as he heard the door slide open. Tom stood up and took a step toward the doorway of the bedroom.

"B'Elanna," Tom gasped, looking at the Chief Engineer. She stood in his quarters looking around at his meager belongings. Suddenly Tom realized that he was naked except for the pair of shorts, he quickly grabbed his robe and put it on.

"You expecting someone else, Paris?" she asked.

"No, I thought you might have been Harry, I was just getting ready for bed," Tom explained. He could not believe the half Klingon was in his quarters. He had felt an immediate attraction to her since he had first saw her in the Ocampan tunnels, but knew because of her friendship with Chakotay he didn't stand a chance.

"Does Harry always come to your quarters late at night, when you're getting ready for bed?" she asked with a sly smirk.

"No, I just thought that Harry might have had trouble sleeping or something, and was bored," Tom groaned, knowing that he had just made it sound even worse.

B'Elanna Torres smiled at him and he felt his heart race. She was so beautiful when she smiled. She should smile more often. "Don't worry Paris; I know that there is nothing going on between you and Starfleet."

Tom smiled, "Oh and just how do you know that Torres?" Tom asked.

"You're a pig Paris, I knew it would be a mistake to come here," she said and turned toward the door.

"Come on Torres, you started it; now what did you come here for? If it's about the con report I'll have it to you tomorrow before alpha shift is over."

"That's not what I was here for," she said still facing the door.

"Ok, well is there something that I can do for you then?"

"Harry suggested that I should talk to you and get to know you before I believe what the rest of the crew are saying about you," B'Elanna said and turned to face him looking into his blue eyes.

"And is that what you want to do? Do you want to listen to Harry or the rest of the crew, including Chakotay?" Tom immediately winced at the sarcasm that dripped out of his own mouth when he said the commander's name.

"And what is that supposed to mean Paris?" she asked taking a step toward him.

"Nothing, it's just that you are close friends with Chakotay and you've known him longer than Harry. I thought that you would listen to him before Harry."

"Chakotay is like the older brother that I never had Paris, he may tell me who he thinks would not be a good friend for me, but I choose my own friends."

Tom could not believe what she had said to him; her words almost duplicated Harry's words when they had still been in the Alpha Quadrant. "Would you like to come in?"

For a brief moment, she looked like she would change her mind and leave as quickly as she had come, but then she nodded and walked further into his quarters. Tom suddenly felt very nervous. He hadn't felt nervous with women since he was in high school.

"Please sit down," Tom said and waved his hand in the direction of his living area where his couch and chairs were. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"Raktajino please," she told him as she sat down on the chair furthest from the couch.

Tom went to the replicator and ordered a raktajino and a coffee for himself. Then brought the drinks to the living area and sat them on his coffee table.

"Thank you," B'Elanna said. She took the cup in her hands. Tom smiled slightly, as he tried to think of something to say to her. He never had this much trouble talking to people before.

"So how did your shift go today?" B'Elanna asked.

"Fine, I had a few minor course adjustments, other than that nothing really happened. How is everything in engineering?"

"Fine, there were a few malfunctions in some of the minor systems, but that's to be expected when we can't stop at star bases to make routine repairs."

"Yeah, I guess," Tom said and took a drink of his coffee.

"Can I ask you something," B'Elanna looked at him. She held the warm drink in her hands, but did not drink from it yet.

"Sure," Tom nodded unsure if he really wanted her to ask.

"When you were in the Maquis, were you a spy like Tuvok?"

"A spy," Tom chuckled standing up. He walked away from the couch, stopped in the middle of the room, and turned around to face B'Elanna. "Who told you that?"

"Chakotay and I also heard some of the other Maquis talking about it. You left on your first mission for Chakotay and then the next time that we see you, you are in a Starfleet uniform on board the ship that was sent to find us."

"I guess when the Maquis discuss me, they don't stop to think if certain aspects make sense or not." He ran his hands through his hair as he watched her reaction.

"Like what," B'Elanna asked. She put the Raktajino down on the coffee table and stood up.

"Like the fact that if it was true, the Fleeter's would not treat me quite as bad as they have been."

"Come on Tom, they hate you because of Caldik Prime. Chakotay seems to think that your prison time was all a hoax, so that the Maquis wouldn't suspect you were a spy."

"It seems you have already made up your mind about me Torres, so why don't you tell me why you are really here? Did you want to warn me to stay away from Harry, since Harry obviously won't listen to every one who already told him to stay away from the ex-con? Wait, that's right, I'm not really an ex-con after all it was all a big hoax," Tom said and took a step toward her.

"Let me tell you something Torres; for a hoax, it was certainly pretty damn good. They even had me fooled. I had to go to court to learn my sentence while my father sat in the back of the room pretending to not know who I was. My mother was in the front row crying as they gave me a longer sentence than they did the Maquis who were caught at the same time I was. I guess when they actually sent me to Auckland, where I was beaten almost every night; it must have been my imagination. Two of the beatings I received would have killed me if the guards hadn't come by. I guess they just forgot to mention that it was all a hoax though. And that I was only there until Janeway came and asked me to help find Chakotay. The Fleeter's hate me because they don't think that an ex-con should be piloting the ship, especially after Caldik Prime. If it was a hoax, Captain Janeway would have told the rest of the crew so that they would at least try to refrain from beating me."

B'Elanna stared at him for a moment without saying anything, then she finally said, "I'm sorry, Tom," and started to walk toward the door.

"Tom," he thought, when had she started calling him by his first name? "Wait," he said, "it's ok. I'm used to people thinking the worst about me. Usually they're right, and you would probably be better off if you did stay away from me."

B'Elanna whirled around and glared at him, Tom took an unconscious step backward at the anger that filled her fiery eyes. "You shouldn't be used to it and like I told you already, I choose my own friends." she took a step closer to him. "So Paris is that how you plan to live your life, letting everyone think that you are the bad guy," she asked. She stood directly in front of him now.

"It has worked so far," he admitted. If she wanted to hurt him, he knew that she could, and he wouldn't be able to prevent her.

"Really," she chuckled and looked up into his blue eyes.

"Yes, really," Tom said looking down into her brown eyes.

"Well I don't think so. You risk your life for the ship and even those of us who treat you like scum. You don't have to live that way anymore."

"I… I can't," he stammered.

"Why can't you? Everyone deserves a second chance Tom," B'Elanna told him.

Tom looked into her eyes and wondered if she was right. Does someone like him who has messed up anything that was ever good in his life really deserve a second chance?

"Well I have the early shift tomorrow so I should go and let you get some rest. Maybe tomorrow night Harry and I can join you at Sandrine's."

"Sure," Tom nodded. He stood rooted to the same spot for a few minutes after she had left his quarters wondering if that conversation had really taken place or if he had been dreaming. Running his hand through his hair again, he sighed before returning to bed wondering if the chief engineer would ever stop amazing him.

The End 