Chapter 11

Tom sat at the helm, waiting for the command to enter the wormhole. They were waiting for it to reappear, and he was ready to take Voyager in. They had gotten a message from Starfleet that they would be met on the other side by none other that the Enterprise. They were also informed that on board was a group of four high ranking officers including his father, who would be beaming aboard as soon as they got to the other side to start the preliminary debriefings. He was nervous meeting the man that was his father. They had been assured that no action was going to be taken on the former Maquis, and if they wanted to stay in Starfleet, they would be welcomed. Also he had been told that his sentence had been communed and he was not facing going back to Auckland. He knew that had been his father's doing and he was grateful for that and how his father had stepped in to defend the former Maquis. Things had changed in the Federation since they had been gone. The war with the Dominion had gone bad, and they had just in the last year been able to come to a peaceful end. The Federation was rebuilding and they needed all the help they could get. And besides, the Maquis were no longer considered terrorist, but patriots fighting to save their homes. This had pleased all on Voyager to find out they were no longer wanted people. Chakotay had learned that his home planet Darvon V was no longer under Cardassian rule and, he had learned that his two older brothers were actually ambassadors to the the Federation. His mother was still alive and well, which made him very happy. Ayala found out that his family was safe and sound on Darvon V and he was planning as soon as he could to go home. They were all excited to be going home.

Now, Tom waited. As he watched the view screen, he saw the evidence of the wormhole forming. Behind him he heard Chakotay say

"Here it comes!"

Then on the screen, the wormhole opened and Janeway ordered

"Take us in Tom."

"Aye Captain."

His fingers played across the console and they began moving towards the opening. As they entered, they could feel the beginning of some turbulence.

"Hang on. It could get bumpy!"

Tom said as he adjusted some headings and then it calmed down some. There was still quite a bit of vibrations, but all in all it was a smooth ride. The Captain turned towards Harry at ops and asked

"How long till we reach the other end?"

"About thirty seconds Captain. I hope they're ready for us."

The vibrations increased and the ship began to pitch a bit, but Tom was able to straighten them up, and as they neared the exit, he began to count.

"Exiting in...5...4...3...2..."

They shot out of the wormhole at warp two. It took Tom all of twenty seconds to slow them down and come to a full stop. He turned to the Captain and said

"Sorry Captain, those last few meters of the wormhole shot us up to warp two. We overshot the Enterprise by about three light years."

He looked a little sheepish but she just smiled at him and said

"Good job Tom in slowing down so fast."

Harry called out excitably

"Captain, we're being hailed by the Enterprise."

"On screen."

The view screen lit up with the face of Captain Picard and Admiral Paris.

"Captain Janeway...welcome home"

Picard said with a smile on his face

"Thank you Captain Picard..It's good to finally be home. Admiral Paris, it's good to see you."

She had stepped down and now was standing right behind Tom, her hand on his shoulder. She gently squeezed it as she spoke. Admiral Paris walked forward and said.

"Katie It's so good to see you after all these years. Congratulations on getting you're crew and ship home."

He then looked at Tom and said in a softer tone

"Tom...son.. it good to see you."

"It's go...good to...see you too..sir."

The admiral could see the tears welding up in his son's eyes and knew he had them too so he continued, his voice a little gruff

"We will be there in twenty minutes. My staff and I will beam aboard then and we can have a proper hello to you all."

He stepped back, and then they closed the link and all that showed on the screen was the stars of home.

Twenty minutes later, the senior staff were all assembled in transporter room one waiting the arrival of their visitors. They received the message that they were ready, and Janeway told the transporter chief to energize. After a moment, Captain Picard, Admiral Paris, and three of his staff materialized on the platform. All the senior staff came to attention as Captain Janeway walked up to greet her visitors.

"Captain Picard...Admiral welcome aboard Voyager. She shook Picard's hand but when she turned to Owen Paris he grabbed her into a bear hug and said

"Glad to finally get to hug my portage. It's so good to have you back."

He stepped back and looked at her.

"You're looking good, Katie."

She smiled and said

"Let me introduce you to my senior staff. This is Commander Chakotay, my first officer, Lt Commander Tuvok, my chief of security and tactical officer, Lt B'Elanna Torres, my chief engineer, Ensign Harry Kim, chief of ops, and Lt. Tom Paris, chief Conn officer and chief field medic."

She smiled at each one as she introduced them. Picard and Admiral Paris shook each hand, but when Owen reached his son, he took him in the same bear hug he had given the Captain. He whispered in his ear so only Tom heard him.

"Tom...Tom...son it's so good to have you back. Your mother and I have missed you so much."

When he stepped back, there were tears in his eyes, and he reached up and brushed them aside. Tom was close to tears himself as Owen reached up and brushed his son's cheek. He dipped his head a little, and smiled at his father and softly whispered.

"Th..Thank you sir. I'm glad to...to be..home."

"We'll talk later. I have messages from your mother and sisters."

Tom nodded, and the group of commanding officers strode out of the transporter room. Tom felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see both Harry and B'Elanna smiling at him. He realized that he had tears streaming down his cheeks, and embarrassed, he wiped them away.

"Sorry guys, I didn't think I'd act like a fool."

"Don't apologize for being human Tom."

He looked at B'Elanna and saw something he thought he'd never see. She had tears in her eyes too. He smiled his sheepish smile and said

"Thanks. It was just good to finally meet my Dad. He has changed from the father I had read about. I'm glad that I've change too. Now maybe we can build a relationship and I can be the son he always wanted."

"Tom, you are that son."

Harry said. They all turned an left the transported room as well, talking of families and what they planned to do when they reached Earth.

Three days later, Voyager was approaching Earth. The Federation had planned a gala celebration for their return, and had asked to have Voyager make a grand entrance before they landed on the grounds of headquarters. Tom was thrilled that he was going to have the chance to show off some of his fancy flying. They would be entering the atmosphere in ten minutes, and Tom was planning what moves he would make as not to shake up anyone, either on board or on the ground. When they had got to the right altitude, Tom turned to the Captain and got the okay to begin. He turned back to the helm and smiled. He made a few maneuvers in the air, and then he took Voyager and flew not twenty feet above the Golden Gate Bridge, as he prepared to land on the front lawn at Headquarters. There were fireworks, as Tom gently landed the ship. Once he had shut down the engines, he turned to the Captain and said.

"The Eagle has landed."

Only Chakotay knew the reference referred to the Apollo moon landings in the late 1960's as he was also a fan of early space flight. But Tom knew it also referred to his animal guide. In his head he could almost hear the eagle laughing at his statement.

They had been through a debriefing and also a complete physical to make sure no one was carrying a bad DQ bug. They had all passed with flying colors. They had attended countless affairs for Starfleet, answering countless questions and giving countless interviews to the press. They were considered hero's and were all quite tired of the media circus,and now, after a week of being home, the senior staff had decided to get together at a small cafe just outside of headquarters. It was perfect, because not many people knew it was there. It was a small mom and pop operation, and they prided themselves with a great menu. It had actually been Owen Paris who had suggested it, and he had made sure that the press knew nothing of the night out. Now, discretely, there was a couple of Starfleet security stationed near the door to make sure no press got in. Now the group was relaxing at a table towards the back of the cafe. They had enjoyed a wonderful meal with no interruptions from anyone. The Captain and Chakotay and Tuvok were talking and Harry, his parents and B'Elanna were enjoying themselves. Harry's parents had already 'adopted' B'Elanna into the family and she was having a nice time talking to them. The Doc, Seven and Admiral Paris were busy with a conversation about what the Doc was going to do now. Tom watched the look on his father's face as he talked with Voyagers two most unusual crew members and smiled at his mom and said.

"Dad's over his head with those two."

His mother smiled and said

"He certainly is enjoying himself. I haven't seen him look so alive since..."

She looked back at Tom with a loving look on her face.

"I'm just so glad you're home...I always knew you were alive."

Tom leaned down and placed a light kiss on his mother's forehead.

"I'm sorry...mom...I don't remember anything from my childhood, but I hope we can start from scratch and build new ones."

"We will Tom, all of us."

He hugged her and after a moment, she turned to join the conversation with her husband. Tom felt a hand on his arm and turned to Harry. He had such a large smile on his face, and Tom knew he was happy that his parents had accepted B'Elanna.

"Tom, they love her just as I do. I'm so happy."

Tom smiled and said

"That great Harry. B'Elanna looks happy too. She was sorry that her dad couldn't be here, and now she has you're parents to take some of the sting away."

"Yeah, I'm so happy."

He leaned towards Tom and said

"I asked B'Elanna to marry me and she said yes!"

Tom could see how happy Harry was and was glad for him, but he felt a little twinge of sorrow. He was still alone, but he put on a smile for Harry and replied

"I'm so glad for you Harry. I hope you'll both be..."

Suddenly, Tom's face paled and he got a weird look on his face. Harry face sobered and he said

"What is it Tom?"

It took a moment for Tom to speak, and when he did, he sounded...as if he was seeing a ghost.

"Oh my god, Harry...it's her...it's really her."

Harry turned and looked in the direction that Tom was looking, but he only saw the other patrons. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Who, Tom?"

Tom had not taken his eyes off the person he was watching. Now he slowly rose and started towards the person. His movement was noticed by everyone at the table. They all heard Tom say before he was gone

"It's her...the woman in my dream."

He reached her table and looked down at her. She was just as beautiful as he had dreamed. She turned her head and looked up at him and the look on her face turned to shock. Together they said

"It's you."

He sat down and said

"My name is Tom...Tom Paris."

She nodded and answered

"My name is Jill Morgan."

It was plain that somehow they knew each other. The people at the table he had left just stared and wondered how a person from a dream could be real. But there she sat. It was a miracle.

The End.

A/N OK, its not really the end. When I thought up this story last week, I had always planned a sequel. I couldn't just leave Tom like that. My sequel is named Unforgettable, so as soon as I start writing it, I'll begin to post. This will be a story about Tom and Jill, so other Voyager members will not be that visible in the story, but will pop up here and there. I want to thank all who took the time to read this story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And thank you for all who took time to write such nice reviews. I hope to have the first chapter of the new story up by next week.