Comparisons - Part Seven
By T'Pam


For disclaimer, codes and rating, please see part 1.


~^~

B'Elanna paced up and down in the tiny cell, wondering what
the hell was the matter with her. Nobody stirred her up the
way Tom Paris did. He was stubborn, pigheaded, irritating,
attractive... she broke off at the thought. Was she
attracted to him? He was certainly good looking and kind and
generous and brave and... she stopped herself. He was a
friend... nothing more. She cared about him as a friend
would. She cringed as she thought about how angry the
Captain had been with them both. Her ears still burned.

Of course, she hadn't helped matters with her little display
as they'd arrived at the brig. But that had been Paris's
fault as well. She had walked through the corridors behind
him, and in front of the Captain and Tuvok with as much
dignity as she could muster. She thought she'd done a pretty
good job too, until they were standing outside the cells.

"You can both spend the night in here to cool off," Janeway
had said angrily.

"I don't think these cells are big enough, Captain," Tom had
answered. "You'll never fit both Torres and her nose in one
of them."

She'd screamed angrily and pounced on him, only to find
herself propelled into one of the cells and Tuvok almost
glaring at her.

The Captain had been furious and told them that they could
both stay in the brig for the rest of the journey home as far
as she was concerned.

"Would you mind pacing a little quieter? You're giving me a
headache," Tom complained. She couldn't see him, he was in
the cell next to hers, but they could certainly hear each
other. She promptly started stomping around the cell as
loudly as she could. This didn't last for very long,
however, as Tom made no comment.

She looked across to the guard. It was Ayala, a friend of
hers from the Maquis. "Do you know how long we're going to
be kept in here?"

"I'm sorry, B'Elanna... I don't. And I'm not supposed to
talk to you."

"I won't tell anyone."

"Sorry. I'm just following orders."

"Come on, Ayala. We're friends."

"Sorry, B'Elanna. I don't want to get into trouble."

A snort came from the other cell. "She's pretty good at
getting friends into trouble."

"What are you saying, Paris? That this is *my* fault?
You're the one with the big mouth. It's almost as big as
your head. And if you don't shut it, I'm going to put my
fist in it."

Tom chuckled. "I think the wall might stop that."

B'Elanna kicked the wall in frustration and Ayala hurried
over. "Come on, B'Elanna. Calm down. He's just trying to
stir you up."

"And I'm doing a pretty good job of it, if I do say so
myself."

"Paris, will you shut up?" Ayala said in exasperation, as
B'Elanna started swearing in Klingon. She hurled every
insult she could think of at him, before sinking down on the
bunk at the far side of the cell.

All was quiet for a few moments, and Ayala, with a look of
relief, headed back to his station.

Tom's voice ruined the peace. "Same to you, Torres, with
bells on."

******

"Do you see what I'm trying to cope with here? They're like
two little kids." Janeway threw her hands up in frustration
as Chakotay turned off the security monitor from the brig.

"Tuvok, you'd better get down there before Torres *does*
manage to put a hole through the wall," she said with a sigh.

"Yes, Captain. Do I have your permission to nerve pinch her
if necessary?"

"You have my permission to shoot her, if necessary. That
goes for Tom too."

Tuvok raised his eyebrow a little before speeding away.
Chakotay couldn't hide his amusement.

"It's not funny, Commander."

"I agree. It's a very serious situation," he answered,
struggling to keep a straight face.

"Yes, it is. What if the rest of the crew decided to act
like that?"

"I don't think that's very likely."

"Perhaps not. Quite frankly, Commander, I'm out of my depth
here. I don't know what to do with them."

"Well, Lieutenant Tuvok's sessions with B'Elanna should
help."

"Yes, but that's in the long term. What do I do with her in
the meantime?"

"Perhaps if we kept them apart? Banned them from going near
each other?"

"This is a small ship. But I suppose it might be possible
until B'Elanna can control herself a little more. The sad
part of it is that she's been trying to help him. Tom's been
so quiet lately."

"Well, he's certainly not quiet now."

"No. Perhaps this has done some good after all. I still
would like him to come to you for counseling. He needs to
accept his loss and move on."

Chakotay nodded. "I agree. He's obviously very angry with
B'Elanna for not leaving him alone and this is his way of
dealing with it. He certainly knows how to push her
buttons."

"Oh, he's very good at that. The first time I met him, he
pushed a few of mine."

She quickly filled him in and Chakotay couldn't help
laughing. "Talk about making a great first impression."

Janeway laughed as well. "Despite all that, I've really come
to like him and care about him. I hate to see him
withdrawing into himself. I hope you can help him."

"I'll try, Captain."

"Good. Now, shall we turn the security monitor back on and
see if Tuvok has actually had to shoot either of them?"

Chakotay chuckled and reached across to turn it on. All was
quiet. Both Tom and B'Elanna were sitting on their bunks.
They watched in silence as Tuvok prepared to leave.

"Please contact me, Mr. Ayala, if there is any more trouble."

"Yes, Lieutenant."

As soon as Tuvok had gone, Tom laid down, but B'Elanna jumped
up and hurried across to the barrier of her cell. "I'm sorry
if I got you in trouble, Ayala."

He shrugged carelessly, but didn't answer.

She sighed and sat down again.

As the silence lengthened, Janeway sighed in relief.
"Hopefully, that's the end of it now." She turned off the
monitor.

Chakotay smiled. "It should be."

******

There was silence in the brig for quite some time. Tom had a
pounding headache and he was starting to feel very guilty
about baiting B'Elanna. She was his friend and was only
interfering because she cared.

"B'Elanna?" he called out tentatively. "I'm sorry too. I
shouldn't have goaded you like that. I know you were just
trying to help."

"Yes, I was." B'Elanna said gruffly. "But I shouldn't lose
my temper all the time. I'm sorry I attacked you. I didn't
hurt you did I?"

Tom gave a small laugh. "A few bruises here and there, but
I'll live."

"Oh, Tom! I'm so sorry."

"Forget it. I deserved them."

"No, you didn't."

"Yeah. I did."

B'Elanna jumped back off her bunk again and started pacing.
"I feel terrible. I'm a lousy friend."

"No, you're not. You're a great friend. The best."

B'Elanna snorted, continuing to pace.

"Um. B'Elanna? Do you think you could stop pacing? It
really *is* giving me a headache."

B'Elanna sighed, but Tom heard her sit back down on her bunk.
He sighed with relief. Shutting his eyes he tried to go to
sleep.

"Tom?"

He decided to ignore her.

"Hey, Paris?" She was louder this time.

Tom groaned quietly and opened one eye. "What? I'm trying
to go to sleep here."

"Sleep? It's the middle of the afternoon."

"Yeah, well I'm tired." He opened both eyes and stared at
the ceiling.

"You're always saying that."

"Well, this time I really am."

"Yeah, right, Paris. If you don't want to talk to me, just
say so."

"Okay. I don't want to talk to you."

"Very funny." She lapsed into silence, and Tom - with
another sigh of relief - shut his eyes again. If he stayed
still, with his eyes shut, the headache wasn't so bad.

"I hate being locked up in here," B'Elanna suddenly grumbled,
making Tom's eyes open immediately. "How long do you think
she'll keep us here?"

Tom gave in, and slowly sat up. "Hell knows. It was
supposed to be overnight, but now it could be longer."

"How much longer?"

Tom sighed. "I don't know." His head continued to pound.

"Well, you must have some idea. What's the usual procedure
in a case like this?"

"I don't know," he repeated, starting to become annoyed.
"I've never actually had a fight with a fellow officer
before."

"Well, you didn't have a fight this time. You just let me
attack you."

"What was I supposed to do?" He was becoming seriously
annoyed now.

"I don't know. Fight back. The least you could have done
was try to stop me."

Tom shook his head in anger, and the movement made his head
spin. "I'm not in the habit of fighting girls, Torres,
although in your case, I could make an exception."

B'Elanna hooted. "What are you getting so riled up about?
Did I embarrass you?"

Tom tried to think of some smart rejoinder, but his head was
pounding too hard. "Why don't you shut up?" was all he could
manage.

"Don't tell me to shut up," B'Elanna yelled.

"Well someone sure as hell should," he yelled back.

They started hurling insults at each other and Ayala rushed
over. "Cut it out, you two."

They continued to yell back and forth taking no notice of
him. Ayala was yelling at them both too by now.

"When I get out of here, I'm going to..."

"Who says you're going to get out of there?" The voice was
quiet, but deadly. It had the desired effect. B'Elanna shut
up in mid sentence.

Chakotay and Tuvok stood in front of them. "I didn't want to
believe just how childishly you two were behaving," Chakotay
continued. "Do you want to spend the rest of our journey
home, here in the brig? Because I'm telling you, if you keep
this up, you will be."

Chakotay continued to remonstrate with them, but Tom barely
heard him. Now that the adrenaline rush from arguing with
B'Elanna was over, his head was hammering once again. He
wondered whether he should say something about it. Ask if he
could go to sickbay. His eyes watered as the pain increased.

He had just decided to, when he heard B'Elanna say, "I think
I need to go to sickbay. I've got a toothache." Damn
Torres, anyway!

"Nice try, but it won't work," Chakotay said with a smile.
"You're both staying here for the next two days. Whether
you're let out after that, depends on you."

"But, my tooth really *does* hurt."

"Then it looks like you'll be suffering."

"Chakotay! Prisoners are supposed to be given proper medical
attention," B'Elanna protested.

"For proper medical conditions; they are."

Tom seethed with anger. He couldn't possibly tell the
Commander that he had a fairly severe headache, now. He'd
never believe him... thanks to Torres.

Chakotay left, but Tuvok took over Ayala's station.

"Look's like Tuvok's going to keep us under control,"
B'Elanna commented. Her voice was amused.

But Tom wasn't. "Why don't you just shut up, Torres? Now,
because of you, I'm stuck with this headache."

"Lieutenant Paris, I will only say this once," Tuvok said
from his station. "There will be no discussions of any
kind, between yourself and Lieutenant Torres. I do not
expect to have to repeat myself."

Tom sighed and sat down heavily on the bunk.

******

"Tuvok intends to keep an eye on them himself," Chakotay told
Janeway. "I'm not sure if I got through to them or not.
B'Elanna certainly looked contrite enough. Then she ruined it
all by pretending to have to go to sickbay with a toothache."
He looked worried.

"What is it, Commander?"

"I'm just wondering if perhaps we're being a little hard on
Tom. After all, B'Elanna was the one fighting him. He
wasn't fighting her, just trying to defend himself. I know
he stirred her up, but she should be able to handle a little
teasing. He's very upset."

"I can't say I'm surprised. He's had an exemplatory record
up until this, and we both know he has emotional problems at
the moment."

Chakotay nodded. "At one stage, while I was reading them the
riot act, I thought he was going to cry. He had tears in his
eyes, and was very pale and shaky. He didn't say a word
either."

"Oh, dear. I shouldn't have thrown him in the brig. He's
still trying to deal with not being able to fly. I think we
should let him out in the morning."

"I agree. What about B'Elanna?"

Janeway sighed. "We'll let her out too. She's needed down
in engineering."

"Should we turn on the monitor and check to see if they're
finally behaving?"

Kathryn shook her head. "I'd rather not know. Lieutenant
Tuvok will let me know if there are any more problems I'm
sure."

"I don't think there will be. If that's all, Captain, I'll
get back to the bridge."

"Thank you, Commander."

Kathryn continued to read her reports after he'd left, but
she found it more and more difficult to concentrate. She
couldn't stop worrying about Tom. She had a soft spot for
him and freely admitted it. She wondered if she should go
down to the brig and check on him. Make sure he was all
right.

She could go down later this evening, on the pretext that she
was telling them personally that she was ignoring their
behavior in the brig, and that they would be let out in the
morning. That way she could see Tom for herself. Let him
know that she wasn't that mad at him. That would go a long
way to reassure him, if he was as upset as Chakotay thought
he was.

She sat up abruptly. Why was she so worried about Tom? He'd
had a bad blow, she knew. His whole life would now be
changed. But in a way, hadn't they all? She supposed it was
because flying meant so much to him. He was so gifted and
now, because of her, he'd lost that gift.

She felt guilty about it. If he hadn't come back for her on
the crumbling staircase, his hands might not have been so
badly damaged. She knew that the damage had been done when
the helm had exploded, and then the Caretaker had beamed Tom
down to the Ocampas, instead of leaving him in sickbay so
that the EMH could treat him. She couldn't help wondering
just how much more damage he'd done on the staircase though.

She shook her head. Thoughts like this were counter
productive. It wouldn't change what had happened. She also
knew that the reason that she felt so close to Tom was
because of his father. Over the years, Tom's father had told
her so much about him that although she'd only really known
Tom these past few months, she felt like she'd known him
since he was a small boy.

Owen Paris had been like a second father to her. He had
guided her and supported her all through her Starfleet career
and she owed it to him to make sure that Tom was all right.
Since accepting the painful truth that he would never be able
to fly again, Tom had become withdrawn, and the fight with
B'Elanna and subsequent punishment could be more than he
could handle.

The thought of him sitting in the brig, so upset, was more
than she could bear and she determined that she *would* go
down there before her evening meal. This firmly decided; she
found she was able to concentrate on the reports in front of
her.

******

"Did it not occur to any one that Mr. Paris may have been
injured? It appears that Ms. Torres did more than just
bruise him. He is concussed. I cannot believe that you have
two crewmembers fighting to the death..."

"It was hardly to the death, Doctor," Janeway interrupted.

"Be that as it may, they were fighting... inflicting bodily
harm on one another..."

"Well they weren't really fighting," she interrupted again.
"Tom was just trying to get B'Elanna off of him. But I
realize now that B'Elanna was banging Tom's head against the
wall. He didn't say anything about being hurt."

The Doctor sniffed his disapproval. "I realize that you are
not medically trained, Captain, but surely it has not escaped
your notice that Ms. Torres is Klingon and..."

"Half," Janeway interjected. "She's only half Klingon."

"Oh, well that makes all the difference," the EMH said
sarcastically. "If you will allow me to finish what I want
to say? She is stronger than most of the crew, and especially
a human with limited use of his hands. I find it hard to
believe that you just threw them both in the brig without
having him examined first."

"You're right, Doctor," Kathryn agreed. "I'm afraid that I
just didn't think of it at the time. I was mad at the both
of them," she pulled herself up short. She didn't have to
explain herself to this computer program. Although it was
becoming more and more difficult to think of him in those
terms. As she watched him bustling around Tom, it occurred
to her that the EMH was becoming as real to her as any other
member of the crew.

She was glad that all Tom had was a concussion; he'd looked
so deathly ill when she'd had him beamed directly to sickbay.

When she'd entered the brig, Tom had seemed to be sleeping
peacefully, and she'd almost left without speaking to him. It
was only because Tuvok had informed her that he'd been asleep
for nearly three hours that she'd gone over to him.

She was standing looking into his cell, thinking how tired he
must be, when B'Elanna commented that he slept like the dead.
She'd been unable to waken him, she'd said, sounding a
little annoyed, and Kathryn had taken a closer look. Tom
looked awfully pale, so she'd asked Tuvok to lower the force
field.

She'd been shocked to discover that Tom was not asleep as he
appeared, but unconscious, and had had them both beamed to
sickbay immediately. The Doctor had begun treatment quickly
and efficiently, but not without his usual caustic comments.

"Is he going to be all right now?" she asked.

"Naturally. My medical expertise has conquered once again.
However, I can only hope that you have learned from this
experience, Captain, and that in future any crewmembers under
these circumstances will be examined before incarcerated."

"I can assure you, these *circumstances* will not be
repeated. I will not have crewmembers attacking each other."

The EMH snorted a little as if he found that idea totally
unbelievable and then continued as if she hadn't spoken. "If
you are in too much of a hurry to have them thrown behind
bars to come to sickbay, then I suggest notifying me and
since I am stuck in this," he waved his arms around the room,
"hell-hole, I will send someone to the brig. Kes is more
than capable of carrying out a simple examination already, and
even Mr. Paris should be able to check for injuries.
Although, that is of course if he is not one of the
combatants."

Kathryn sighed rather loudly, but merely said, "Thank you,
Doctor. When Tom wakes up, send him back to his quarters."

"Oh? You don't want him back in the brig?"

"No. I think he's been punished enough. He didn't really do
anything except not know when to keep quiet."

"Ah! I am gratified that you have discovered this apparent
character flaw. I myself find him quite trying at times.
Considering how patient and understanding I have learnt to
be, I believe that this fact is telling in itself. If I find
that he tests my patience, I can only imagine what Ms. Torres
- who is renown for her lack of patience - has to..."

On that note Kathryn quickly left the sickbay, without
another word.

She heard the Doctor's - "Well, really! People can be so
rude!" - as the doors closed behind her.

******

"It seems to me that everything's turned out rather well,"
Chakotay remarked as the doors to the ready room closed
behind Tuvok.

"Yes, it would appear so," Kathryn agreed. "Although I'd
rather not have had to deal with a guilt stricken Vulcan.
Putting himself on report for dereliction of duty was a bit
much. And the argument as to why it was a logical step,
since he had heard Tom say that he had a headache and ignored
it, almost had me agreeing with him."

Chakotay chuckled. "Vulcans can be very persuasive with
their logic. If it comes to that, he probably should have
reported me too. After all, I knew there was something
wrong. If I'd asked Tom if he was all right instead of
assuming he was upset, he probably would have told me."

"Yes, and if I had done what the Doctor suggested, and had
him checked over before throwing them in the brig...
Everything's 'if only', Chakotay. At least he's all right
now."

"Yes, he is. I had a long session with him last night and he
seems much more cheerful today. He let out his anger at fate
and his grief, and I think now he's ready to move on. He'll
need a few more sessions with me yet, but he's definitely
better than he was."

"I'm glad. I thought he seemed a little more like his old
self this morning."

Chakotay laughed. "Spirits help us when he does get back to
'normal'. I get the impression he can be a little
irrepressible at times."

Kathryn bobbed her head up and down in agreement. "But if
that's all we have to worry about, I'll be happy."

"B'Elanna seems determined to try her best with Tuvok too.
She was horrified at what she had done to Tom and genuinely
never wants anything like that to happen again."

"Well that makes two of us. I know she cares about him, but
he seems to bring out the Klingon in her."

"I know. I think she cares about him a little too much."

"Oh? You think it's more than just friendship?"

Chakotay nodded. "I've known her for a while now and yes,
she's definitely attracted to him. She wouldn't admit that
though, not even to herself."

"You sound a little disapproving. Don't you like Tom?"

"Of course I do. I think everybody does. It's not that.
It's just not a good idea to become romantically involved on
a starship."

"Under normal circumstances, I'd agree with you, but we could
be out here a long time. People are bound to start pairing
off. It's only natural."

"I suppose you're right. But if something happens and they
break up, they can't exactly be reassigned. They're stuck on
the ship together."

"I think that would be taken into consideration before any
serious relationships were formed. Aren't you jumping the
gun a little, Commander? All you have is a suspicion that
B'Elanna may be attracted to Tom. You don't know if he
returns these feelings, and I don't think he's even thought
of her in that way, or even if they would ever do anything
about it. They may prefer to remain friends."

"I suppose so."

"I'm still hoping that we can find a way home before any of
this becomes an issue."

Chakotay smiled. "Me too."

*******

Over the next few weeks Tom settled into his new life and
even admitted to really enjoying working in sickbay. He
still missed flying and sometimes that depressed him, but on
the whole he was amazingly cheerful. He helped Kes in the
airponics bay, when he wasn't in sickbay, and had even devised
- with Chakotay's help - some training programs, for the
pilots.

Chakotay had talked him into that... he hadn't wanted to
remind himself of what he could no longer do. But the
Commander had been very insistent, saying that Tom had so
much experience that would really benefit the other pilots,
that he'd finally agreed.

It'd been painful to watch Chakotay testing and enhancing his
program, asking his opinion on how to ensure that the pilots
got a proper workout. He had wanted to take over the
controls many times himself, but knew that his fingers
wouldn't move quickly enough to allow him to complete the
complex maneuvers.

That first time had been difficult; the pain had been a tight
knot in his throat, and Tom had found it hard to even answer
the Commander's questions. Chakotay had been his usual
understanding self and somehow Tom had got through it.

Each time had been a little easier than the time before and
now Tom, who realized that it would probably always hurt a
little to see someone else at the helm controls, was able to
contribute to the training programs with enthusiasm. The
other pilots were even coming to him for advice, which he was
more than happy to give.

They had been out in the Delta Quadrant for seven months now,
and although the crew were still hopeful of finding a
wormhole or the other caretaker, they no longer believed that
they would be home in the foreseeable future. They had all
settled into their respective roles on Voyager, and other than
a slight suspiciousness that still lingered between the
Maquis and Starfleet, the ship was running smoothly.

The main problem that they seemed to have was with the Kazon.
Every few weeks they seemed to run into a different sect of
them and none of them were friendly. Voyager's superior
weapons and shields protected them to a certain extent, but
they still suffered damage, and they all realized that if
ever the different sects united they would be in real
trouble.

Luckily, they had not seen the Vidiians since their first
encounter with them, when they had stolen Neelix's lungs.
The Vidiians had obviously taken Janeway's warning seriously.
Unfortunately, they had also not seen any planets that had
any suitable materials that they could use. Their shortages
were becoming serious and the Captain had the crew searching
each sector that they entered, hoping for a planet that could
help them.

******

Finally, they reached a section of space that the Kazon
didn't seem to have any claim to and contained three separate
planets that were rich in the materials that Voyager needed.
Janeway beamed down an away team to investigate the first
planet, which showed promise of having materials that were
needed urgently in engineering, while Voyager continued on to
the other two planets, rich in food supplies.

She told the away team that Voyager would be back in three
days to pick them up. B'Elanna was in charge of the team and
was as excited as anybody had ever seen her. On the away
team with her were two ensigns from engineering - Janine
Palmer and Brian Mitchell, a security officer - Peter Durst,
and Tom in his role of field medic.

The Captain wasn't expecting any trouble, but since Voyager
would be out of communications range, she didn't want to take
any chances. Somebody with medical knowledge would come in
handy, in case someone had an accident and got hurt. She
told herself sternly that her decision had nothing to do with
the fact that Tom had been dying to get off the ship.

The away team were beamed down, next to the entrance of a
cave, and B'Elanna went straight to work. While Lieutenant
Durst and Tom scanned the cave to ensure that there wasn't
any safety hazards there, she and the other engineers set up
their equipment. The cave was huge, dark and damp, but there
were no security problems that they could find.

"I'm getting all sorts of readings from these walls,"
B'Elanna announced a short time later. "I think we've hit
the jackpot." They worked quickly and efficiently for some
time before Tom, who wasn't able to help much, told B'Elanna
he was going to go outside to see if there was any food they
could have for dinner instead of their ration packs.

"Good idea," she said. "Durst, go with him. I don't know
about the rest of you, but I don't fancy sleeping in here
tonight. It's too creepy or something. Maybe we could camp
out under the stars? The nights are supposed to be quite
mild here."

Everyone readily agreed with the suggestion - obviously the
cave was getting to them all - so Tom picked up their
backpacks and went outside to set up the camp.

"What about here, Tom?" Durst indicated a clearing not far
from the cave entrance. "This should do fine."

Tom nodded and dropped the backpacks. "I don't know about
you, Pete, but I seriously do not want to eat those field
rations. Let's see if there's any native fruits and
vegetables we can eat, before setting up camp. I think it'll
be dark soon."

"Okay, Tom. My tricorder says there could be something
promising in this direction."

They had only just set off, when Tom stopped abruptly. "What
was that?"

"What?"

"I'm not sure. I thought I heard something." Tom turned
around and stared at the cave entrance.

"It was probably B'Elanna or one of the others." Durst
pointed his tricorder at the cave and paled visibly.
"There's five lifesigns in there."

"Come on," Tom took off at a run, pulling his phaser from his
belt as he ran. As they reached the entrance, they entered
slowly and carefully. There was no sign of the other away
team members.

"Where the hell could they have gone?" Durst asked in
disbelief as he scanned the cave once again. "There's no
other way in or out of here that I can find."

"Since B'Elanna and the others aren't here, there must be
something hidden somewhere," Tom answered. The sudden sound
of a phaser shot behind him had him spinning around in time
to see Durst fall to the ground. Movement from the corner of
his eye made him realize that someone was pointing a weapon
at him too.

Before he could react, blackness engulfed him.


End Part Seven