AN: I know I mentioned it a while back but just a reminder, in this story Threshold never happened.
Chakotay strode towards sickbay, with cool and controlled steps, at the end of his shift. His outward appearance revealed no clues as to the inner worry and frustration that was increasing by the second. The senior staff, with the exception of Tuvok, was at lunch when security was called to the mess hall. None had returned. With the bridge run by a skeleton crew of inexperienced crewmen, he'd felt obligated to remain there. He'd received updates from Tuvok, but none had very much detail. All he knew was that there had been an altercation, several crew members were in sickbay and a few were in the brig. While the state of the ship worried him greatly, of equal or greater concern would be his Captain's reaction to the affray. Being in sickbay she probably knew more about what was going on than he did.
As Chakotay walked into sickbay he immediately noticed the presence of the security team keeping order in the, now full to capacity, room. He groaned inwardly and turned to head toward Kathryn. She was standing in front of Tom's biobed hugging him. This time his sigh was quite audible, he would just have to get used to the idea that they were siblings. Kathryn noticed Chakotay's approach and greeted him with a hug. He turned to greet Tom and was momentarily stunned by his watery eyes not to mention the bloody broken nose, at which time Tom, feeling emotional as he was, decided to hug his commanding officer. Chakotay returned the hug awkwardly.
"What the hell happened here Paris?" Chakotay demanded.
"I'm not sure, sir. B'Elanna broke my nose and fractured a couple of the metatarsals in my left foot." Tom explained.
"Your what?!"
"She broke my foot; she stomped on it. When she broke my nose I landed on Harper who was with Telfer, he pushed me off of her and into Kes and Tal, then Neelix pulled Kes away, Harry went running toward them, he never made it he tripped in the middle of the scuffle and started swinging with the rest of them. Telfer was helping Celes up then Harper was fighting with Celes then B'Elanna stomped on my foot and I didn't see how everyone else got involved. I was just trying to keep B'E safe and avoid her left hook; I didn't want a broken jaw, too."
Chakotay looked around for B'Elanna and noticed her angry stare aimed right at them. "Have you tried to talk to her? She can't hurt you when she's behind the force field you know?" Chakotay teased Tom.
"I know. Broken foot, remember? Doc hasn't gotten to me yet and he won't give the Captain anything for the pain and the stiff muscles; says he doesn't want her running off and firing any more torpedoes in her condition."
Chakotay looked around and noticed the Doctor and Kes working on patients.
"Doc, you think you could get to Mister Paris soon? And get the Captain something for the pain." Chakotay thought he'd help Tom and Kathryn out.
"This is a triage, Commander, it is more efficient if I treat the most serious injuries first! And the Captain doesn't need anything for the pain, what she needs is to take a slow walk around the deck to help her recover. I think you should take her on one now." spewed the self-righteous hologram. Kathryn threw up her hands and reluctantly agreed to go on a walk.
"Yes, Doc, I will." answered Chakotay, "However, about Mister Paris, wouldn't it be most efficient if you treated your medic first? Then you could have his assistance in treating others. That is so long as there aren't any life threatening injuries that will become fatal in the time it takes to treat Mister Paris."
"Oh. Why… yes I suppose you're right." The Doctor admitted. "Ok, you're next Mister Paris."
Chakotay retrieved some sweatpants and a t-shirt for Kathryn from their room. He was sure she wouldn't want to walk around the corridors in a medical gown. When he returned the Doctor was working on Tom's injuries.
While Kathryn went to go change rather slowly and stiffly, Chakotay took the opportunity to try and speak to their Chief Engineer.
"B'Elanna what's going on? Do you realize what you've caused?"
B'Elanna took a moment to study Chakotay and came to the conclusion that the poor man had absolutely no clue what was going on. She wasn't sure she wanted to be the one to break the news to him.
"He's a pig, a jerk, a PetaQ. I should have torn his arm off and beaten him with it." She snarled.
"That's enough! Your domestic issues set off a brawl in the mess hall, B'Elanna. Not Sandrines, not some bar on shore leave, the mess hall! These people were all friends this morning, now they're beating on each other and you started this whole thing. Don't you think personal issues are best dealt with behind closed doors?" Chakotay snapped back.
"Oh, ok next time I'll call him into my quarters before I beat the jackass up." She raised her voice so that Tom could hear the last part clearly.
"What is wrong with you? What the hell did Tom do that has you so angry?"
She paced a little for a moment then leaned against the biobed and bit her thumbnail with a pensive look, as if she was trying to decide what to say and how to say it. Looking down at her feet she mumbled, "I have reason to believe that he was sleeping with someone else when we first started dating, or around the time he was trying to get me to go out with him."
"What?" He said somewhat incredulously. She repeated her last statement.
"B'Elanna, you knew how Tom was. Now if he's cheated on you that's one thing, but you can't be angry at him for something he did before you agreed to go out with him."
"No, I know, but there's more to it. Let's just say, he still seems close to this person and I don't know if I trust them now."
"There's no excuse for what you did in the mess hall, and as for your trust in him; your engagement party is next week, how did you get this far in a relationship with someone you don't trust?" He paused a moment and thought. "Look, B'Elanna, jealousy almost cost me my relationship with Kathryn, and more than that, my family, my child. If you love Tom you need to talk to him openly. Don't allow yourself a knee-jerk reaction like I did. You love each other as much as Kathryn and I do. Talk to him, clarify things." Chakotay sounded a bit like a counselor and he knew it.
B'Elanna bit her lip thinking Oh, Chakotay, if you only knew. "Ok, Chakotay you're right, I'll talk to him."
Kathryn, who had by now changed, walked up next to Chakotay. "So are you two going to tell me what is going on? Why is my mess hall in shambles and my sickbay filled to capacity?"
B'Elanna turned away slightly, then, not wanting Chakotay to see her anger toward Kathryn, she looked down and studied the sock on her one unbooted foot. She remained quiet. It was Chakotay who filled Kathryn in on B'Elanna's suspicions. Unlike Chakotay, Kathryn caught on quickly. In fact she sometimes thought that her pregnancy had helped bring Tom and B'Elanna together. They both spent quite a bit of time with her and with each other during the early stages of the pregnancy and she didn't remember Tom being seen with any other women at that time so she quickly surmised what B'Elanna's suspicions were.
"Chakotay, will you bring the baby? I want her to meet her Auntie B'Elanna."
"Kathryn, don't you think that we should wait until punishment has been decided for B'Elanna? Afterall, she's being held behind a force field right now, and maybe this isn't the best time…"
Kathryn held her hand up to stop Chakotay's words. "I think it's a perfect time after all if Tom and B'Elanna are going to be her godparents then B'Elanna should start bonding with her. Don't you think?"
Chakotay begrudgingly walked away and towards the premature baby's biobed.
"You know you're wrong B'Elanna. Tom wasn't seeing anyone else." As Kathryn spoke B'Elanna flashed her an angry glance but Kathryn continued. "I remember when he took the medical tricorder from sickbay; he said he didn't replicate one because he needed his rations for a special dinner. Oh sure, he played it off as if it could be any woman on the ship, but I knew he was desperately trying to get you to go out with him. Trust me B'Elanna, his only interest at that time was you, and it has been that way ever since."
B'Elanna let out an angry, "Ha." Then said, "What about before, Captain, let's say a few weeks before that? Maybe six to eight weeks before that? You know right around the time you came back from that planet, before we went after Seska's kid."
Chakotay walked up with the baby and Kathryn took her from him. "Lower the force field." She ordered.
B'Elanna gave a start as if she might consider going after Kathryn but her eyes came to focus on the baby and she simply muttered, "Coward." Instead.
"Oh, B'Elanna," said Kathryn shaking her head. "Don't you want to meet your goddaughter?" She deliberatly slipped the cap off of the baby's head as she spoke. Tufts of dark red hair came to stand in a small peak at the top of the baby's head. "Tom says she has a mohawk, whatever that means." B'Elanna glanced over at the baby; still angry and thinking that Kathryn was using her as a shield. "You know what something B'Elanna? The title of Auntie B'Elanna and Uncle Tommy, isn't honorary, it's the real deal. Tom really is her Uncle." She gave B'Elanna a moment to digest the information. After a moment B'Elanna looked up at her quizzically.
"What do you mean he really is her uncle?"
Kathryn stepped closer to B'Elanna. "It seems Tom and I are related. Our DNA implies that we are half siblings and the best we can gather is that Owen Paris is my biological father."
B'Elanna took another look at the baby and noted her dark hair and the baby's complexion; darker than both Kathryn and Tom but not as dark as Chakotay. She blinked as the full impact of the Captain's words hit her. "Oh Kahlass, Kathryn… I thought… Oh God… I'm so sorry I thought…"
"I know what you thought. Right now I think you owe your fiancé an apology and you owe me and Neelix and month's worth of double shifts in the mess hall. Engineering duties and emergencies come first but barring that, a few hours in the mess hall will help you remember not to punch first and ask questions later."
B'Elanna hung her head in shame. Kathryn was her friend, Tom her fiancé, they had both put so much of their trust in her and now she felt awful.
"Yes, Captain."
"Now would you like to hold your goddaughter?"
At this B'Elanna smiled and said, "Really even after I… Yes, of course I want to hold her."
Kathryn ordered the guard to keep the force field down and asked B'Elanna to take the baby back to the infant biobed, which was conveniently close to Tom. Kathryn smiled up at a stunned Chakotay and said, "You can take me on my walk now."