Tom Paris went from asleep to awake in an instant. He lay perfectly still, analyzing his situation. Something was very wrong here. Something was missing. Tom's eyes flicked around the room in a quick inventory. Everything was as it should be. Then he realized what was wrong. Or rather, what was right.
He didn't hear Chakotay.
The hope he'd been suppressing for time out of mind sparked again, much as he tried to tell himself it was probably in vain. He sat up slowly. "Computer, what's today's stardate?" he asked, reflexively bracing for the same old, same old.
Stardate 49383.4
"Yes!" Tom hollered, throwing his hands in the air in ecstatic triumph. Elen kept her word! Voyager was free! Paris could honestly never remember being happier in his life. He hastily tugged on his uniform and headed out for the bridge. He was late for his shift, of course, but he really didn't care this time.
People were always staring at Tom Paris, but they did so even more today. The blond lieutenant bounced down the corridors, singing very loudly with a goofy grin plastered on his face. He was a free man again, celebrating his freedom with jubilant song. He knew that the passing crewmen probably didn't appreciate his rendition of Oklahoma, but he figured that they owed him one.
Oh, what a beautiful morning!
Oh, what a beautiful day!
I've got a beautiful feeling...!
He trailed off dramatically, grabbed the passing Tal Celes, and dipped her into a sound kiss. After a second or two, he let her go and continued on his way. Tal collapsed dazedly against the wall and watched Tom Paris entered the turbolift, still singing.
Everything's going my way!
Tom burst onto the bridge and announced, "Sorry I'm late!" He smiled brightly at everyone and made his way down to relieve Baytart at the conn. "You should've called me. That said, thank you so much for leaving me alone." He sat down and looked over his shoulder at Chakotay. "If I never hear 'Chakotay to Paris' again, it'll be too soon."
He turned back and concentrated on his work. The first officer smirked slyly and his hand strayed toward his comm badge. Janeway gave him a mock stern glare and Chakotay desisted with a roll of his eyes.
"So, Tom, how does it feel to be back to normal again?" Harry asked conversationally. Business as usual continued on the bridge, but Tom was perfectly aware that everyone was eavesdropping on their conversation.
"It's nice. I mean, the loop was fun for the first dozen or so times, but after a while it got really old. I'm happy to get back in the saddle again, do normal stuff, fly the ship into some new territory, scan new things..."
"Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations?" Harry added helpfully.
"Preferably new life that doesn't trap you in endless time loops," said Tom with an overly theatrical (though not entirely fake) shudder.
"I've been wondering something," the Ops officer said thoughtfully. "What'd you do during the loops, when you weren't working on a way out? Knowing you, things got pretty crazy."
Tom chuckled wryly. "Funny. You were actually the one who gave me the idea to get crazy."
"Really?" Harry seemed to be pleased at that information. However, he wasn't deterred from his question. "So...what'd you do?"
Paris' eyes flicked to the command officers briefly before returning to his control panel. He didn't want to give away too much because he didn't relish the idea of Janeway towering over him thundering 'You did WHAT on my SHIP?!" So he stuck to the basics, a much safer option. "Not much. Went on some dates. Played around on the holodeck. Shuttle race. Scavenger hunt. Stuff." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I kind of want to apologize, though, for the... the thing with the..."
He trailed off, smiling to himself as everyone on the bridge unconciously strained forward to hear the end of his sentence. They were destined for disappointment. There was a beat, then Harry prompted, "The thing with the what?"
"Oh, nothing. Forget I said anything."
"No, I want to know. What thing with the what?"
"Nothing, Harry, really, forget it."
"Tom."
"Harry."
"Gentlemen," Janeway cut in. Her tone was firm, but she was smiling at Paris' obvious baiting of his friend. Kim subsided, but Tom could tell from his look that this conversation definitely wasn't over yet. Tom welcomed it.
Silence reigned on the bridge for a while. Nothing interesting happened, which meant nothing dangerous happened, which was a mercy. Tom was pleased to immerse himself in the normalcy and forget that he'd lived yesterday over and over a zillion times. Unfortunately, some people just kept bringing it up!
"Hey Tom, you notice what today is?" This from Harry, whose dancing eyes indicated that there was a joke in here somewhere.
"Stardate 49383.4?"
"No, the day. It's February third."
Tom smacked his forehead against his console. That had honestly never occurred to him. "Of course it is," he muttered sarcastically.
"What is the significance of the day?" Tuvok inquired curiously.
"If today is February third," Harry explained, "then yesterday was February second."
"And?" Chakotay asked, still not understanding. Tom swiveled around to face him.
"Which means the day that was looping? It was Groundhog Day."
