Chapter 14 – B'Elanna

A/N: This chapter is told in flashback sequences. As always, thank you for your reviews and feedback!

###

A tool kit clattered to the floor, sending spanner and tuners everywhere. "Oh gods damn it! Someone get that cleaned up!"

Chakotay raised an eyebrow as he watched the scene unfold in engineering. Teams were everywhere, clad in repair jumpsuits, practically climbing over the core as they began the repairs. Deputies were running back and forth between monitoring stations, trying to keep track of everything that was going on. And in the middle of it all was B'Elanna Torres, calling out orders like there was no tomorrow.

Chakotay caught the attention of her deputy chief. "Hey Joe, what is going on down here?" he asked.

"Monthly scrub down," Joe said as he checked a few readouts. "I'm reading a phase flux over here," he called out.

"It's nothing," one of the specialists called down from the second story.

"If it isn't…" Joe muttered under his breath before turning back to the XO. "Sorry about that. We only get full shut down time once in a few months and the Chief wanted us to take advantage of it. What's up?"

"Actually, I have a question for the Chief." Well, he thought to himself, it wasn't really a question. He wanted to talk with her, just for a minute. For the last fifteen years, B'Elanna had been his closest friend, the first one to know about anything that was bothering him. Even after marrying Kathryn, he still confided in B'Elanna whenever he needed a sounding board or a neutral party. Most of the time she just listened and gave him odd looks at the sorts of things that he chose to worry about. Other times, she would tell him that what ever it was, he was being stupid and should just deal with it. And every now and then she would smile. He had a feeling this was going to be one of those times.

Joe shrugged. "Fire when ready."

###

"When was the last time you slept old man?" B'Elanna handed him a cup of coffee and sat down. The mess hall was almost entirely deserted, but Chakotay didn't notice until he looked up to realize that she was waiting for him to respond.

"What? Maybe back when we were in the Alpha Quadrant."

She punched him in the shoulder. "It is too soon for that kind of stuff and you know it. What's wrong?"

He ran his hand through his hair. "Where do I begin? I don't have a ship anymore. We don't have a ship. We are quasi-prisoners but it turns out that none of us have any chance of returning home within our lifetimes. We are stuck out here and the only way we are going to survive is through the help of a Starfleet crew."

"Is that really what you believe?" she studied his face for a moment.

"She wants to integrate the crews."

"Captain Janeway?"

"Yes. She told me that if we choose to stay with her ship that she is going to start finding places for my people within her ranks," he sighed.

"Shit."

"No kidding," he muttered.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"What do you think I'm going to do, Lanna? I mean, what choice do we have?"

"No way," she shook her head. "I am not going back to Starfleet. Not after everything we've been through, everything we've been fighting for out there. She can't expect us to drop everything and pick up exactly where we left off."

"That is exactly what she expects."

"You can't do this. You can't go along with her."

"And what do you suggest I do instead?" he gave her a look. "Ask her to just keep us onboard as our own kind? Drop us on the nearest habitable planet? Buy a ship with what money we don't have? Our options for independent survival disappeared the moment we got here. What we are facing, what they are facing is more than anyone of us can handle on our own. They need us. I mean, have you seen their engine room lately? It looks like a landmine went off down there. They need you. They need the skills and abilities we can offer."

"We aren't going to go along with this," she stood up to leave. "No one, I mean, no one wants to go back to that kind of life. What has happened to you in the last 72 hours? You can't just give up, not after everything we've been through."

"What has happened to me?" he slammed his hands on the table. "I'll tell you. My ship was destroyed, my crew decimated, and the only person offering a solution that makes any sense at all is a Starfleet captain. How do you think that makes me feel? It makes me feel crazy, like every single thing I have been fighting for over the last five years is nothing. Freedom fighters are worthless out here. We don't need suicide bombers and hunger strikers. We need good people who can fix a ship and fight back before we are completely wiped out. This isn't what I wanted but it was the hand we were dealt."

"So you've made up your mind?" she asked quietly.

"Lanna, we don't have any other choice."

###

"You like her."

"I do not."

"Yes you do. I saw the way you were looking at her, Chakotay. You like her."

"Fine," he sighed. "I like her."

B'Elanna laughed. "Oh boy, old man, are you in trouble now."

###

B'Elanna shook her head in disbelief. "A watch? You're giving her a watch?"

"Why not?"

"For her birthday?"

"What's wrong with a watch?" he folded his arms across his chest.

"Nothing," B'Elanna said as she turned back to her repairs. "Except that she's not an old man retiring."

"Too formal?"

B'Elanna set down her tools for a moment. "Look, Chakotay, were you ever dropped on your head as a child?"

He frowned. "That far off?"

"She's a lady."

"She's not like any lady I've ever met."

"And how much experience do you have with that?" she gave him a look and as she motioned for him to hand her the tricorder.

"Fine. What do you suggest?" he said, handing her the scanner.

"As an appropriate gift for Captain Janeway?"

"Yes," he said exasperatedly.

"Something that will convey your deep respect, yet secret love of a wildly talented and unpredictable woman who…"

"B'Elanna!"

"Flowers for starters," she said.

"She likes flowers?" he asked surprised.

She gave him a funny look. "You really were dropped on your head, weren't you? Of course she likes flowers! Have you ever taken the time to look around her ready room or were you too distracted by its owner?"

"So flowers. And…?" he said, choosing to ignore her sarcasm for once.

"She likes books, home cooked meals, I mean you've seen her with a replicator," the Chief Engineer shook her head disparagingly.

He nodded, beginning to follow along. "And some freshly brewed coffee?"

"Now you're talking."

###

"Look, fly boy," B'Elanna glared at Tom across the briefing table. "What the hell are you doing in my engineering briefing? Last time I checked, your current form of punishment was medic duty."

"I'm trying to broaden my horizons, that's all." Tom had a smug grin on his face as he stared down the Chief Engineer.

"Do you even know the first thing about warp theory?" B'Elanna looked at her deputies and shift leaders for support. The other officers were trying to hide their smiles as the pilot prepared to get whooped by the chief.

"Of course I do," he tried to act confident. "I know all about warp theory. Like warp and its theory." The crew burst into laughter.

"All right, Tom. We've all had our fun. Get out."

"No, I'm serious. I don't know anything about warp theory. That's way I'm here. Call it work study."

"I'll call it a waste of my time," B'Elanna said.

"Please? I've got to get out of sickbay."

"Fine, but if you even say one word, I swear, I'll kill you."

"Got it. I won't say a thing. Lips are sealed."

"Tom…" she glared at him. "Everyone, get out of here," she said, dismissing her meeting. "Okay, I get it," she said as soon as they were alone. "Sickbay is the worst. But why are you here?"

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something," he said in all seriousness.

"And you need to do it now?"

"It's about the Captain and Commander."

B'Elanna stopped. "What did he do?"

"What?" Tom asked, confused. "He didn't do anything. It's her."

"What about her?"

"I think she likes him. I mean, really likes him," Tom said and B'Elanna could see that apparently for once in his life he was being honest. "Her face lights up when he comes to the bridge. She looks forward to their dinners, always invites him to talk in her ready room, and relaxes whenever he is nearby. I've never seen her like that before."

"So why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"Well, you are close with him, I guess I just wanted to know…" Tom muttered.

"What?" she demanded.

"Is it mutual?"

"Tom!"

"If he likes her, she deserves to know!"

"And you are going to go tell her?" she couldn't believe him. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Can't you see it, B'Elanna? They are perfect for each other and they are the only ones who don't know it yet. Isn't their happiness important to you?"

"Of course it is. He is my best friend. That doesn't mean I'm going to go barging into his personal life!"

"I'm not going to go barging," he folded his arms. "I just want to know."

B'Elanna frowned. "And you promise you won't do anything stupid like start a betting pool or announce it over the intercom?"

"I promise," he said, holding up his hand.

"I think he loves her. And I think he has from day one."

"I knew it!" Tom cried triumphantly.

"Tom!"

"Sorry," he shook his head. "Thank you, B'Elanna," he said, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. She gave him a surprised look. "Well, I'm off."

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"Back up to the bridge."

"Oh no, you aren't. You signed up for engineering work study and so far you've done neither." She handed him a pair of coveralls.

"B'Elanna…."

"Down here you call me 'Chief.' Understood?"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?" she prompted.

"Yes, Chief."

"Now go."

###

"When are you going to propose?"

Chakotay choked down the last of his coffee, startled, and looked up to see B'Elanna sitting across the table from him, digging into her breakfast as if she hadn't just dropped a bombshell.

"Excuse me?" Chakotay finally managed to say.

"You heard me."

"Actually, I was busy scalding my mouth with coffee. Want to ask again?" he tried to act calm, raising an eyebrow.

"When are you going to propose to Kathryn?" B'Elanna said seriously.

"We're in no rush to get married."

"Come on, you've been together for a long time. No one dates this long without an offer." She folded her arms across her chest.

"Oh really?" he mused.

"It's crunch time, Commander. You need to bite the bullet and just do it."

"How do you know I'm even going to propose to her?"

"Because I saw the ring."

Chakotay nearly dropped his mug. B'Elanna was staring at him with those piercing brown eyes. He couldn't believe she had figured it out.

"How could you?" he ran his hand through his hair, preoccupied. "I made sure that I hid it in the …" he looked up and saw B'Elanna laughing hysterically.

"What?" he demanded.

"I never saw the ring," she laughed. "I didn't even know you had a ring."

"You didn't!"

"But now I know for sure that you are going to propose," she smiled and picked up her plate to take it to the replicator, but Chakotay caught her arm as she got up.

"You won't tell her, will you?" he asked in all honesty.

"Of course not." She gave him a reassuring smile. "So, when are you going to propose?"

"Tonight," he smiled.

###

B'Elanna swung down from the railing. "What do you need, Old Man?" she asked with a smile. He watched his old friend walk over to him. Voyager had been good to her. Better than she would have every cared to admit. She had a husband and two adorable children, a job that challenged her intellectually and physically and a group of friends who loved her and understood her. She had been so mad at him when they first ended up out here and on this ship. It had torn him up inside. But little by little she began to get used to this sort of stable life again and she began to thrive. Yes, he was still called down to Engineering every once in a while to undo the damage she had done by torturing one of her specialists, but B'Elanna had made this ship her home now. She had proven time and time again that there wasn't anything she wouldn't do to protect it or her crew.

Finally, he realized that she was staring at him, waiting for him to answer her question. "It's nothing. I just wanted to let you know that Kathryn is pregnant again."

"No kidding," she chuckled.

"What?" he asked.

"Come on, Chakotay. She's been off the bridge every morning for the last three weeks, but she's fine in the evenings and she's given up coffee. We've all been through this four times already. We know the drill."

Chakotay looked at her, stunned. "Are we that predictable?"

"Only to me," B'Elanna gave him a pat on the shoulder. "So when's the baby due?"

"They are due in about seven months."

"They?" B'Elanna's jaw dropped.

"Twins."

"You two never do anything half way, do you?" she said.

"Well, this was a surprise. A happy one to be sure, but a surprise."

B'Elanna smiled and gave him a hug. "Congratulations, Old Man."

"Thanks, Lanna."