Apologies 2
B'Elanna
Tom entered Engineering and saw B'Elanna at the door of her office talking with Vorik. He walked over and waited for them to finish.
Vorik left to do the task he had been assigned, and B'Elanna turned to Tom. "Do you need something Lieutenant?"
"I'd like to talk to you in private if you have time," replied Tom sincerely.
"Come into office," she answered softly.
Once they were sitting, Tom began. "B'Elanna, I'd like to apologize for not leveling with you when we were working with that Cardassian missile. I was undercover and couldn't tell anyone why I was being such a jerk."
B'Elanna looked at him carefully. He seemed sincere enough. "I can't really hold it against you. I'm glad to know it was a ruse. I guess I should apologize to you too."
Tom stared at her and asked, "Why would you owe me an apology? You tried to help me."
"For not coming to say goodbye," she said softly. "I was so angry that you were leaving…not trying to make it work…I didn't want you to go.?
Tom smiled. "It's okay, B'Elanna."
She smiled back. "Harry told me he's throwing a party for you tonight in Sandrine's. I'll be there. I have a hunch that a lot of people will be there. A lot of the engineering department will be there. They've all been talking about how you pulled off rescuing Voyager."
"Just doin' my job," answered Tom modestly. "Neelix played a part too. Without him, Jonas' lock outs might have kept them from pulling me off that shuttle before it blew."
B'Elanna stiffened slightly. One of her engineers—a former Maquis at that had betrayed Voyager. "It's a good thing Jonas is dead, or I'd be in the brig," she muttered darkly.
"Hey, I didn't mean to upset you. There was no way you could have known," said Tom.
"Seska, Jonas….my track record with people isn't all that good," answered B'Elanna.
"Well, your 'track record' with Harry and I is pretty good," quipped Tom with a teasing grin.
B'Elanna chuckled, "Yeah, after you stopped being a pig."
Tom grinned at her. "I had to revert to 'pigdom" for my mission, but it's safe to safe that my undercover persona is gone for good."
"It better, Tom Paris, or I may have to break your nose," joked B'Elanna. "Just ask Joe about that."
Both of them laughed. It was good to be able to laugh again, thought Tom. "Well, B'Elanna, I have a few more people I need to apologize to, so I'll see you at the party."
B'Elanna watched him leave. Tom had certainly changed from his first days on Voyager. She was glad to count him among her friends.
