Very Human of You

Tom Paris leaned against the corridor wall. –She should be coming around any second- he thought, his stomach churning in apprehension. As he heard footsteps, he faked a moan. B'Elanna Torres rounded the corner, intent on the PADD in her hands. So intent, apparently, that she failed to notice Tom slouching against the wall near the turbolift.

Or not.

"It isn't working, Tom," she chided glumly, pressing the button that opened the turbolift doors, and Tom followed her in. He had doubted the old 'sickbay' trick would work, anyway. "Deck eleven."

"Deck six," B'Elanna said, the tone of her voice making the order a contrasting argument. Tom closed his eyes and opened them again quickly, as if that would change the present expression on B'Elanna's beautiful face. He in took a deep breath. "B'Elanna…"

Tom frowned. He'd been expecting to be interrupted. He was, quite obviously, wrong. She looked at him, the expression in her dark eyes unreadable, but said nothing.

"We can't just- be like this…" he continued.

"Be like what?" she snapped back, unblinking.

"You know what I mean!" –And don't pretend you don't- he pleaded silently.

The night before, B'Elanna, Harry Kim, and himself had gone out for the basic game of pool at Sandrine's. She-B'Elanna- hadn't seemed like herself. Perhaps a bit distant. He had asked her what was wrong and she had, after a small argument, broken up with him.

Tom Paris wasn't one to walk around with a broken heart on his sleeve. When he first returned to his quarters, he'd assumed it wasn't….well, real. Perhaps she was drunk. (Perhaps he was) B'Elanna angered very easily. She could have been in a….a bad mood. Yes, he had decided, that had to be it. But he knew, somewhere in there, that he was lying to himself. He still did now, stronger than ever. –And don't pretend you don't-

She averted her eyes. "I meant it, Tom."

He shook his head. "But without any reason or anything-?"

"Oh, you think there wasn't a reason?" she asked sharply. "Because, here and now, I can give you several…"

"Oh, really? Because from this side-"

The turbolift gave a sudden, sharp lurch, cutting Tom's angry words off. The lights winked, and turned off.

B'Elanna shook her head. (Or seemed to; it was really too dark to tell) "Great. Torres to engineering. The turbolift is down."

"Power is out through the entire ship," came the voice of Lieutenant Carey, through B'Elanna's commbadge. "We should have it back online within a few minutes. Anyone else stuck there with you?"

"Paris," she said shortly. "Hurry up with the repairs, we all have jobs to do."

"Aye, sir. Carey out."

A few awkward moments passed. Tom fidgeted in the darkness. "Can't you fix this?" He wondered aloud. "You're the super-engineer."

"I can't fix a ship-wide blackout from a malfunctioning turbolift." B'Elanna replied dryly.

"Oh. So there's a limit to your genius."

"Yes, there is." Was it Tom's imagination, or was her voice lighter than it had been a few moments ago? He half-smiled, and murmured, "Bet no one else could have gotten you to admit that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Her arm brushed against his shoulder, quickly, meaning that she was turning to face him. He was surprised by the sudden warmth.

"Nothing." He stated innocently, hoping the statement had worked its magic. A couple of seconds passed. Then:

"Help me here, Tom."

"Huh?"

Her voice was farther down, now. "Here, in this panel…"

Not knowing where she meant, his hands flew to some location on the wall as he knelt. Tom heard a snort. "Dangit, Tom, you're useless." Strong fingers grabbed his wrist and jerked his hand to an opening in the wall. He rubbed the injured party with his other hand. "That hurt," he complained mildly.

"Don't be such a baby," B'Elanna replied harshly.

"Don't start, B'Elanna-"

"You're telling me not to start? You're the one who started in the first place!"

Her face was closer to his, now, in the darkness. Tom closed his eyes. "Was that a contradictory sentence?" Yet again, no response. This seemed to be her reaction lately, when she appeared to have nothing to say.

He fingered the panel she had indicated. "What are we supposed to be doing, anyway?"

"No clue." Her voice had a busy quality to it. He'd loved her voice like that since the first time he'd heard it.

B'Elanna let out a sigh. "This is just not working."

Tom put a hand where hers seemed to be. Surprisingly, she didn't pull away.

"Are you sure you're only talking about the repair work?" he asked of her gently. Years seemed to pass by.

"You're such a pig, Tom," he heard her mutter, but in a soft way.

"Is that why?"

"Is that why what?"

"Let's not go into thatagain…"

"Oh shut up, will you?" The hand moved away in a jittery manner.

"Fine."

There was a rustling movement that made it seem that B'Elanna had stood up. He stood up along with her.

"I mean seriously, Tom; if you're just quiet for once…"

"Fine."

"-And not acting like such an idiot…"

"I said fine, dangit!" '

This time not filled with working, another awkward silence passed. There seemed to be many that day. Tom's eyes had adjusted to the dark, but only slightly. He could now gaze at the other shape in the turbolift, and could only assume that she was staring back at him. Then, a strange sound issued from the figure in front of him. Something funny was happening to her breathing. Tom frowned, but then he recognized the sound; crying.

B'Elanna Torres was crying.

"B'Elanna?" he asked incredulously, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice but failing miserably.

"Tom…" he could tell she was trying to harden her voice. This also was failing miserably. "I just don't know anymore….we've been stuck in the bloody quadrant for over six years now…I'm not even sure if I want to go back! But I should! And I'm not sure if you want to go back, either…..or if we're even right for each other….half the time I can't stand you, half the time you can't stand me, with my temper….and you always at Sandrine's, drinking and doing those bloody shuttle projects and all…And I know that somehow you love me….and sometimes, I just can't let go and love you, because I'll loose the strength I've gained over the years…" She kept babbling on through unnatural sobs. Tom was astonished; he'd never seen a Klingon cry before, let alone B'Elanna.

Then her tears fell to a loud silence. She let out a slight laugh, like a bark.

"Sorry. Very Klingon of me, huh?"

Tom closed his eyes. "No," he said thoughtfully. "Very human of you."

The next thing he felt was her lips pressing hard against his.

Down in engineering, Carey tried to communicate to the people in the turbolift. "Carey to Torres." Nothing. "Lieutenant Carey to Lieutenant Torres." He could hear the faint sound of the commbadge being shut off. He frowned. "Hello? B'Elanna?"

Harry Kim stood next to him, chuckling. "I knew that would work. We can probably turn the turbolift's power back on, now."