Operation Homecoming

Chapter Nine: John Torres

Based upon Star Trek: Voyager, set after Endgame

Author's Note: I tried to write Owen Paris like he was in the show, but he kept just turning out like Tom. I'm going to pretend that this was on purpose: that Tom gets his sense of humor from his father, and Owen Paris and Admiral Paris aren't exactly the same person.

Author's Other Note: This one is significantly longer than the others because it contains two ideas for stories that I had that I didn't develop into their own stories, as I thought they would be boring stand-alones.

- - Deck Four - Airlock - -

B'Elanna stood next to her husband by the airlock. They were a few minutes early. She had overestimated how long it would take to get both Tom and Miral out of the door. It may be easy now, but Miral was only a few days old. Things would certainly get more time consuming once she was mobile.

Right now, Miral was huddled against her chest, her little arms and legs tucked under her body like a little insect. It really was quite cute.

The door opened to reveal an older, slight, blonde woman, taller than B'Elanna, but not much so. Well, she had been blonde, in her younger days. It looks a little more sandstone, now. Her eyes went straight to Tom, smiling through tears. It was true, Tom did have his mother's eyes. B'Elanna could see Owen standing behind her.

Tom's mother took two steps towards her son and hugged him tight.

Owen followed his wife, and offered B'Elanna a quick and gentle hug. She was momentarily taken back, having not expected it. B'Elanna wasn't exactly a "hugger." Owen released her and stepped aside, revealing the remainder of his party.

They all rushed forward. B'Elanna recognized Tom's two sisters, and their spouses, and their children. All five. She wasn't sure which name went with which child, but she remembered all five names. As they all rushed out of the airlock, B'Elanna was reminded of something Tom had shown her once: two dozen clowns piling out of a very small land vehicle.

As Moira's husband came through the airlock, carrying their youngest, B'Elanna saw the last member of their party. She gasped.

The excitement of Tom's family hushed at her exclamation.

Owen put his hand on her shoulder. "I hope you mind me bringing a friend."

A friend? B'Elanna thought. It was her father.

At least the smile on his face seemed genuine. He took a few tentative steps towards her, until he was only inches away. She wanted to look at Tom for encouragement, but couldn't seem to tear her eyes away.

"I never . . ." his voice cracked. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I never thought I'd see you again." Without a warning, he threw his arms around her.

B'Elanna was still for a moment, completely caught off guard. But, driven by some instinct she couldn't identify, she hugged him back and it felt amazing.

After a few moments, he released her. He paused as he put some personal space between them, looking at Miral a little closer. There wasn't much to see with her face buried in B'Elanna's chest.

There was an odd silence, before Tom's sister spoke, "What are we all doing, standing in the hallway? Tom, where are we going?"

"Haven't see me in ten years and you're still bossing me around," he said.

"What are big sisters for?"

Tom started ushering everyone towards the turbo lift.

B'Elanna and her father took up the rear. She couldn't help but feel that Owen was chaperoning them. "So," she asked, "how did you two meet?"

"It was at a Voyager Family Reunion," Owen explained. They had been told about those. They were conventions, of sorts, where all the families of the Voyager crewmembers met together. The first one had been after they received the letters from the Hirogen array, and had occurred every several months afterwards.

"I was making the rounds," Owen continued.

Owen had noticed the man several times. He was clearly by himself, and he hadn't spoken to anyone. Owen approached him as he was staring at a photo of the senior staff. It was the photo taken on "Ancestor's Eve," a holiday their Morale Officer invented.

"It's a good picture, isn't it?" he asked.

The man nodded. "It is. It almost makes them look like a family."

Owen smiled. He had thought that as well. He looked at the smile on Tom's face in the photo. "They do look happy."

The man frowned.

"They don't?" Owen asked.

He shook his head. "It's not that." He paused, thinking. "They all have a new family, one that we know nothing about."

"Not 'nothing'," Owen said. He gestured around to the room full of Voyager families. "We all know someone there, that's why we're all here."

The man looked around before turning back to the photo. "Maybe one of them can tell me about the man who's got his arms around my daughter."

Owen smiled. So this was John Torres (he had read the files on every member of Voyager's crew), B'Elanna's father. "That's my son, Thomas."

John turned towards him sharply.

Owen extended his hand and introduced himself.

John took the hand and stated his own name before regarding the photo carefully.

"So, what kind of a man is he, your son?"

Owen took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Honestly, I don't know."

This surprised John, as it should, Owen supposed.

"He and I had a falling out a few years ago. I haven't spoken to him in . . . Almost 6 years."

John nodded, seemingly understanding.

"But, I can tell you that he's a joker. He hates taking things seriously. He can be obsessive about projects or hobbies, but his interest burns out quickly. He's pretty smart, when he wants to be. And he's a damn good pilot. He's a good friend; assuming you mean a damn to him."

John nodded, considering the man who was clearly involved with his daughter.

"What about her?"

"As long as we're being honest, I haven't even seen her since she was 12 years old."

Owen struggled to hide his reaction.

"Her mother and I separated and I never kept in touch. I regret that, now." Owen allowed the man silence with his thoughts for a moment. "She's got a quick temper. She takes everything too seriously, and too personally. She ornery and moody - at least she was moody as a teenager."

"Aren't they all?" Owen asked.

John feigned a chuckle. "But she's tough. And she's fierce. She's smart and she's loyal." John continued to stare at the photo.

Owen put his hand on John's shoulder. "Would you like to meet my wife?"

"I'm afraid we had a wedding reception without you," Owen said. "And a baby shower."

- - Mess Hall - -

B'Elanna had done an excellent job of avoiding her father during dinner, but now her efforts were becoming ridiculous. She retrieved Miral from Tom's mother (who had been bogarting her all evening), and went to sit by her father.

"Hi."

"Hi," he responded. He leaned towards her.

"Would you like to hold her?"

He nodded. They performed a quick exchange and her father stared at his granddaughter. He was silent for a few minutes, so was she. "Thank you," he said at last.

"For what?"

"For letting me come to dinner. For contacting me a few weeks ago. For writing . . ."

"It was Tom, actually, who convinced me to write you." B'Elanna met her father's gaze for a second, maybe two, before he looked past her. "I'm glad I did," she admitted. B'Elanna followed her father's gaze to Tom.

"He's good for you," he said. Maybe it was a statement of fact, maybe it was a revelation, she wasn't sure.

B'Elanna nodded. "He is." She considered it for a moment, deciding whether or not she wanted to risk sounding foolish. She decided to risk it. "He helped me stop fighting with myself. And he loves me for me, every part of who I am."

"He's a better man than I am," her father admitted quietly. B'Elanna didn't respond. After a few seconds, her father looked back at her and smiled. "What more could a man ask for his daughter?"

B'Elanna gave him a tight smile before settling next to him, looking out the view screen at the familiar sight: McKinley Station.

"B'Elanna, I was a little untruthful, before," he admitted.

"When?"

"When we first spoke. Spoke for the first time."

B'Elanna nodded, understanding he meant via the Midas Array when they were in the Delta Quadrant.

"I told you that when I found out your ship disappeared, I thought I had lost you. But, I found out your ship disappeared when they announced Voyager had been found."

John had the news on in the background as he was preparing for work. He still liked to cook himself breakfast, if he had time, vice just replicating something. He was only half listening to the transmission when something caught his ear and he moved in front of the display. "Computer, replay the last 2 minutes."

The computer beeped in acknowledgement and the newscast moved back 2 minutes.

"The holographic crewman, an original Emergency Medical Hologram, EMH, Mark I, was able to provide extensive details which would not have been able to be revealed by a standard transmission, or log set.

"For those of you just joining us: USS VOYAGER: Lost, but Found. Nearly four years ago, the starship Voyager, under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway, went missing during a top secret mission in the vicinity of the Cardassian border. Her disappearance had caused significant tension between the Federation and the Cardassians, even before the start of the war with The Dominion.

"Three weeks ago, a Federation Starship in the Beta Quadrant received an unusual transmission from a most unlikely source: a hologram from the Delta Quadrant. The Doctor, as he is called by the Voyager crew, provided exact timelines and courses which the starship Voyager has been following for the past four years.

"She was pulled into the Delta Quadrant by a powerful alien known as the Caretaker. Unable to use that technology to return home, the ship turned toward home at high warp. Voyager was pulled into the Delta Quadrant around the same time was the Maquis vessel Val Jean. Val Jean was destroyed shortly thereafter, but her crew was rescued by Voyager. Now, the combined Maquis-Starfleet crew is working together in an attempt to make their way back to the Alpha Quadrant.

"Direct families of all Voyager personnel have been informed of the status of their loved ones. Now, we'll identify those crewmembers which are still alive and well on Voyager, in the Delta Quadrant. Captain Kathryn Janeway, Commander Chakotay, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, Lieutenant Thomas Paris, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, Ensign . . ."

"Computer, pause!"

John stared at the screen to see the image of a stunning young woman with cranial ridges. He had not seen her in fifteen years, but he recognized his daughter. She was alive. In the Delta Quadrant. John didn't know what overwhelmed him more. He collapsed into a chair.

He had assumed . . . He didn't know what he had assumed. It wasn't as if he had kept tabs on her after he left. After he abandoned her. The photo they used did not show her in uniform, meaning she had been one of the Maquis. He wondered if she believed in their cause or was just looking for a fight.

He was overjoyed that he knew his daughter was alive and well. He was overcome with despair that she was trapped on a ship on the other side of the galaxy and that he would never see her again. Then and there, John started researching everything he could about his daughter and The Voyager.

"After several months, a co-worker noticed my change in behavior and recommended I seek some help. I started seeing a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with clinical depression. I'm still working through it."

B'Elanna was staring at him when he turned to look at her. "So am I," she said. "When I learned that the Maquis were all dead, except for us . . . I had some problems."

"Hereditary, I suppose."

Again, they lapsed into silence.

After a few minutes, B'Elanna saw the door to the Mess Hall open and Harry enter. He stopped abruptly, clearly not expecting to see so many people. He turned to leave. B'Elanna waved him over.

Harry joined her.

"Harry, this is my father, John. Dad, this is Harry. He's Tom and my best friend."

Harry smiled, not offering to shake her father's hand, due to the fact that both were full of holding Miral. "It's nice to meet you, Sir."

"John," he corrected. "And it's nice to meet B'Elanna's friends; the people who have been her family for so long.

- - - End Chapter Nine - - -