In The Dark

by Synbou

After being hit by an energy wave, Voyager's crew are assessing the extent of the damage, and trying to keep Tom alive. P/T the final chapter

3. He Found His Way Home.

AUTHORS NOTE: My personal experiences with coma always led me
to wonder: where does the soul go when the brain can't function
anymore? Well, I was too young to remember anything, so Im left
sole with my imagination
Isabelle S.

DISCLAIMER: Tom Paris and Voyager's crew belongs to Paramount.
However, all unrelated character and places, meaning the residents
of Port-Ayalexis, belongs to US. So here's a another take at what
could be Tom Paris secret life.

This a P/T in essence, but mostly a P/L.
We've got you interested? You'll have to read to know. He Found
His Way Home is 3/5 part of In The Dark and its rated PG.

SYNOPSIS: Chakotay finds Tom in an other reality. But, is it based
on Tom's past or a fantasy.

In The Dark part 3: He Found His Way Home.

By Synbou
Synbou@hotmail.com


Commander Chakotay ran down Voyager's hallways. He felt like
something was going to explode inside him. This had to be a bad
dream. Seeing Tom Paris disappear through that hole in the ice
didn't really mean that the young man was dead. Chakotay just
couldn't accept it. But, the ice breaking, Tom being swallowed by
the water, the darkness, it was all coming to such an abrupt
finality.

The Commander reached sickbay, where he joined his Captain. She
stood in front of the close doors, obviously dreading to enter.

"Kathryn," he said harshly.

She turned to face him. Spirits, he couldn't ever remember seeing
her like that. She looked so vulnerable and in pain. She knew what
she would find on the other side of those doors and didn't wanted
to face it any more than he. They both held each other's gaze for
a second. He put his hand on her shoulder and together they
walked in sickbay.

The first thing he saw was B'Elanna Torres standing a few meters
away from the main biobed where the Doctor was working with the
help of Samantha Wildman. B'Elanna turned toward him and Janeway,
tears were running down her face. He felt Kathryn stiffen under his
touch, she had an expression of dismay on her face. He looked more
closely toward the doctor and finally saw Tom. His inside turmoil
turned into unbelievable relief, it felt almost like ecstasy. He
sighed. Tom was a survivor. He mentally kicked himself for
forgetting that, for even for a moment.

"Thank the Spirits," he breathed. "He still alive."

"Commander! You're here," said the EMH turning to face Chakotay.

"What happened?"

"We were in engineering. Nobody could see me except Tom. He could
see all of us. And then... Did he tell you about Garden?" At The
Doctor's puzzled expression, he continued: "I guest not."

"Commander?" Janeway asked confused, her eyes were going from him
to The Doctor.

"It's sort of complicated, Captain," Chakotay answered. "Doctor,
how he is?"

"Not good. There is some brain activity, but he is in a very deep
coma again," The Doctor explained. "All this running around the
ship has exhausted his system. We stabilized his vitals, however
his pulse and blood pressure are still low."

"Gentlemen," began Janeway, fed up of being in the dark. "What is
going on here? Why is Tom in uniform?"

"I'm sorry, Captain, its just that I had to see if Tom was still
with us. Why don't we go to The Doctor's office. I'll explain
everything."

Once there, they sat down: The Doctor behind his desk, Chakotay and
Torres sat in front of it, and Janeway leaned on its corner.

Chakotay took a deep breath and, with the help of The Doctor,
started to explain the events of the last three hours. He told them
about the aliens living in the spatial anomaly and how they had
taken over the ship. How the interference of the alien minds had
put everyone to sleep, and somehow woke up Tom. He talked about how
he had met Tom on the Spirit Plain, in The Winter Garden. How Tom
had woke up and got the ship away from the anomaly, thus out of the
reach of the intruders.

Then he paused for a few long seconds.

"There is more," said Janeway, sensing Chakotay's hesitation.

Chakotay sighed heavily and pressed on: "Once the aliens were gone,
Tom started to loose consciousness, and we were back in the Garden.
It was stormy. The wind was so strong and I could hardly move. Tom
was on a frozen pond. Before I could get to him, he fell trough the
ice. It was as if the water had swallowed him whole."

Chakotay stopped to take a few deep breaths. He continued more
quietly.

"I thought we had lost him. Then, I was back in my quarters in the
same position than before. After that, I came here and you know the
rest."

There was silence again, as each one of them absorbed what Chakotay
had just said.

"He saved the ship once again," B'Elanna whispered in mix of
sadness and pride.

Janeway, agreed with a sad smile.

"How can we help him," she asked. "Doctor do you have any
suggestion on how to proceed, now?"

"I would like to try to contact him again on the Spirit Plain,
Captain," Chakotay said. "I've been able to do it once. I might be
able to do it again."

"This has been a difficult day for all of us,," began The Doctor,
"especially for Mr. Paris. So, I suggest that you all go get some
sleep. Meanwhile, I will take care of my patient; try to build back
his stamina." He exchanged a look with Chakotay. "Commander, I
understand that you want to try something right now, but this is
not good either for you or the Lieutenant. So, go get some rest.
All of you. I assure you that if there is any changes in Mr. Paris'
condition, I will call you."

Reluctantly, they all agreed on getting some well deserved rest.
Chakotay accompanied Kathryn and B'Elanna once again to each of
their quarters before turning in, himself. His mind was set on
getting a good night of sleep; only well rested would he be able to
help Tom. And, deep down inside, despite an itching doubt, he
believed he could help. Tom had survive The Day, at least
physically. There was hope. Tom would eventually find his way home
to Voyager.

***

The following morning, Janeway, Chakotay, Harry and B'Elanna were
sharing coffee in the conference room. It had been a long night for
all of them, and they were bracing themselves for an other
difficult day. An other day without Tom Paris usual 'joie de
vivre'.

For Chakotay, the wait had taken an all new meaning. Tom had
haunted his dream in the early morning, or was it Chakotay who had
visited the Winter Garden again. This time however, the Garden was
full of light shining on the pond, playing through the trees. It
had been quite beautiful and relaxing. Tom had been sitting on the
bench, the Himalayan laying beside him.

"You're taking this really at heart, Chakotay," Kathryn Janeway
told him sympathetically.

"I do. I don't know how to explain it," Chakotay sighed. "I never
had someone trust me so implicitly before. I wouldn't never had
thought that Tom ever would."

"That how it is with Tom. It's all or nothing," Harry said.

"The Doctor said that Tom was doing better. His condition is no
longer critical, but it's unstable. He can't stay like that for too
long," said B'Elanna. "Chakotay, do you really think you can get
through to him?"

"I'll try, B'Elanna. We all want him to come home."

"Well, before you do anything," Janeway told him. "You should
consult with the Doctor."

"Of course."

***

Janeway and Chakotay met with the physician in his office. They
agreed that the Commander would remain in sickbay while he tried to
contact Tom on the Spirits Plain. This way, The Doctor could keep
an eye on both of them.

So, Chakotay settled on a biobed. His medicine bundle and his
'Akoona' with him. He started by slowing his breathing.

"Akouchimoya, we are far from the land of our people..." he began
to recite. Gradually he entered a meditative state.

***

The first thing that Chakotay realized was the noise.

People talking loudly, footsteps, things being moved around... He
was definitely not in the Winter Garden. As his vision cleared, he
found himself amazed by his surrounding. He was in a interior
market, beside a fruit stand. People were carefully choosing
different fruits and vegetables.

Judging by all the different colors and warm clothes that the
citizen were wearing, it had to be autumn. He scrutinized his
environment in order to assess where he was. By the mix of cultures
and the labels used to mark the prices, the Commander recognized
the place to be Kimira,a Federation colony in the Kara Prime
system, back in the Alpha Quadrant. He had visited the planet a
long time go as a Starfleet officer, at a time when the population
had been recovering from a war with the Irsians, a neighboring
race.

"Chakotay?!" he heard Tom Paris called from somewhere. There he
was, making his way toward him through the crowd. He was dressed in
civilian, black pants and a wine wool turtleneck. He had a packsack
on his back and he was carrying a few bags filled with fruits and
vegetables. "Chakotay!" he said again visibly happy to see him. "I
didn't know you were in Port-Ayalexis. What are you doing here?"

"I just got here," the Commander answered. That was true enough.
*Think fast!* he told himself. "I just been reassigned to Kimira."

"Really? I don't remember Audrey mentioning that... I mean, Admiral
Larsen. Then again, I'm so busy these days, I hardly keep in touch
with the Department."

"You know the Admiral well?" Chakotay asked. *Keep him going and
keep it friendly until you know what's going on, he thought.

"Oh, Yeah. I've been working with her for the Missing Person
Department for years, now. She is a very ongoing person, very
dynamic and open, an excellent commanding officer. I'm sure you're
going to enjoy working with her as much as I do."

"Well, it's god to know," Chakotay said more impress by Tom
enthusiasm, than his praises concerning the Admiral. "So you're
still in Starfleet...?

"Sort of," Tom answered. "I'm more of an outside consultant."

*Easy, Chakotay. Don't hit a nerve,* he warned himself.

"How long have you been on Kimira?"

"On a permanent basis, I'd say four or five years," Tom answered
while starting to walk again, obviously disturbed by the fact that
they were standing in the middle of the alley, blocking the
traffic. "You don't mind if we keep up this conversation while I do
my groceries, do you? I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Of course not. The Missing Person Department? I taught you were a
pilot."

"I am, among other things," he said with grinning.

"How long as it been since we last seen each other? I can't
remember when was the last time."

Tm looked at him thoughtfully.

"Gee, Chakotay, I can't remember either. Are we getting that old?!"
he exclaimed with mock disbelief.

So, it seemed that Tom was taking things for granted. *Maybe some
kind of defense mechanism. Tom has a lot of them.* Chakotay told
himself. *But, don't go over analyzing, here.*

They stopped by a meat stand where three butchers were busy serving
consumers and rapping different pieces of meat on a counter.

"Hi, Tom!", one of them said. The others briefly look up from their
tasks to nod and smile at him. "What can I do for you, today?"

"Tad, I need a quick fix for tonight," Tom told the older man. "I
had my mind set on those brochettes of yours."

"Beef? I thought it was Solenn's night? Or did you managed to
convince her to eat red meat."

"No such luck, my friend. I ran out of supplies and made a
strategic exchange with Solenn, so I made chicken rice yesterday."

The butcher chuckled. "How many brochettes do you want?" he asked.

"Ah.. four, no six!" He turned to Commander. "You have to come and
have supper with us tonight, Chakotay," he said. "Oh! but that's
right you don't eat meat. I'll find something else for tonight and
I'll serve the brochettes tomorrow. Tad, give me only four please.
By the way, this my friend Chakotay, he's new around here."

"Nice, meeting you Chakotay," the butcher said smiling. "Tom, I
don't have any chicken brochettes left, but I have some of pork.
Would Solenn prefer that?"

"Four brochettes of pork would be great."

"Coming right up. You know, I can put this in an air tight rap for
you so you could keep it longer and fresher."

"Thanks, that would be much appreciated," Tom answered.

A few minutes later, Tad handed over a bag.

"I put a bone for Mocha in the bag," the butcher said grinning.

"Tad, you're spoiling that dog too much. She's gonna love it." Tom
exclaimed himself while he paid for the goods with a credit card.

"Say hello to Loreena and the kids, for me," Tad said.

"The same to your family."

They walked away from the butcher's shop, back in the crowded
alley. Chakotay had to walk rather fast to keep pace with the
younger man.

"Loreena and the kids?" he echoed unable to masked his surprised
expression.

"That's why you have to come to the house tonight. You have to meet
my lovely wife and our two daughters, Sayana and Solenn."

*His wife and daughters! "Since when are you married?"

"Six years. I met Loreena at the university. I was studying with
her sister, Gwanna. Loreena was doing her business master. One
semester, we took acting classes together and fell in love," Tom
related. His blue eyes were sparkling and he was smiling.

"Does Starfleet Academy have a campus on Kimira?"

"No. But Yanka University has one in the city. I did my doctorate
in Astrophysics here."

"Doctorate!?" Chakotay repeated. "I knew had advanced courses in
Astrophysics, but I never thought you had a doctorate."

"The things that you learn about people, huh?", he teased.

"You can say that again," agreed the Commander.

Tom's smiled widen.

Chakotay realized that his companion had never stop smiling since
their encounter. He seemed very happy, sure of himself, and
enjoying his surroundings. He was very at ease in this crowded
market, exchanging salutations with a lot of people. Obviously, he
was well known and appreciated here. The Commander could recognize
the side of Tom's friendly personality that was showing more and
more on Voyager. It was so different from his cocky and bitter look
on life that Chakotay had despised so much when he had first met
the man. He reminded himself, that this was Tom's dream becoming
some sort of reality. A reality where Tom was happy. Chakotay felt
some relief, he knew that Tom had many nightmares, he had feared
that he would have walked right into one of them.

"What kind of sauce do you like?"

"What?" Chakotay asked confused.

Tom laughed at his companion. "Pasta for supper sound great to me,
and easy to sell to the three women of my life. I asked you: what
kind of sauce do you like? You're my guest. You can choose anything
you want except something that has seafood in it. Neither
girls like that."

Chakotay looked at Tom with a grin before choosing on a "Sauce
rosee", enthusiastically approved by Tom, who started considering
his options in wine.

There again, Tom was really friendly with the owner of the small
Italian gourmet shop. He introduced them. Together, they chose some
broconchini and Parmesan, fresh basil, pesto and an Italian bread.
This was going to be good. Chakotay really hoped that he could stay
for supper, it would change from Neelix *exotic* and a little too
alien cooking. "Kimirian cuisine is very good, but I prefer
Italian. A little taste of home," Tom said once they were back in
the alley.

"Earlier, Tad said that it was Solenn's night..."

Tom laughed at the memory. "We all like different things, and the
things we like kinda repeat themselves. We came to this agreement,
since there is no way I'm cooking two or three different meals in
order to please everyone. So, one night a week Solenn gets to pick
what we're gonna have for supper, another it's Sayana's, another
it's Loreena's. The others are mine, cook's prerogative. Got to
admit that it's often negotiable. You have kids, Chakotay?"

"No, I'm not that lucky."

"Depends on which days," Tom argued. He laughed again. "That's not
fair, but it's true. I am very lucky."

"Well, you look happy," observe Chakotay. "And, I'm happy for you.
Although, doesn't make my assignment easy."

"What do you mean?"

"Tom." Chakotay took a deep breath. "Running into you was not an
accident. Well, yes. I didn't expect to see you at the market. I
mean, not in Port-Ayalexis. You're my assignment. Starfleet has a
proposition for you," he explained. "But here isn't the best place
to talk about it."

People were passing by them going from one shop to another.
Children were running around. It was noisy and it was distracting
both of them. Chakotay saw Tom's cheerful expression changed into
a more blank one. Like a mask had just been put on his face. A mask
Chakotay knew too well.

"Frankly," Tom said. "I don't know what Starfleet has in mind,
especially since Admiral Larsen didn't mentioned you were coming.
Still, you're my friend and you deserve that I listen to you.
Doesn't mean I have to agree with Starfleet's proposal."

Chakotay smiled at Tom's honesty and mostly at being called a
friend.

"I can live with that," he granted. "Thank you. So, where are we
going next?"

Tom's smile came back.

"By some more fruits. Like I was saying I like a little taste of
home. There's this shop where you can find things from all over the
galaxy. That's about the only place you can find apples and oranges
around here, we have a replicator at home, but just isn't the
same."

So, Chakotay was back next to a fruit stand. It was quite
impressive. There were all kind of fruits and vegetables from at
least twenty different worlds. Chakotay couldn't help noticing all
the ones originating from Earth. Oh Spirits, how could they have
ended up so far away from their home. He wished he could stay here,
too.

"Hi Martine! How are you?" Tom said giving a warm hug to the forty
something woman.

"The little one is not with you, today?"

"No, but I have my friend Chakotay with me."

"I see that he is the one who's carrying the bags," Martine said
teasingly.

"He's just earning his meal," Tom said casting another of his
mischievous smiles. "Looks like your receiving new stuff every
week?" he observed. His gaze was flying over the huge display.

"Yes. It's a good season right now. I just received something
you've got the see. I think it's a vegetable. I just don't know yet
what I could do with it."

She left them for a few minutes and came back holding something.
Chakotay's eyes grew wide in recognition. He could barely hide his
disgust.

"It's some kind of root," Martine said.

"Leola root, to be more exact," Chakotay confirmed.

"Is it any good?" Tom asked.

"Well, it's really... versatile. But trust me, you won't like it,"
Chakotay told him, knowing how much Tom hated the thing.

"You know Martine, I'll go with the usual."

"Oh Thomas, You never try new things!" she said with mock
disappointment.

"Sure I do, but when it comes to food I prefer sticking to what I
know."

They left Martine fruit stand for what Tom called his all time
favorite place, the coffee shop. For someone who was not a coffee
lover as much as Kathryn and Tom were, Chakotay still found himself
quite excited over all the different jars containing over sixty
different kinds of this precious delicacy. Chakotay started wishing
he could bring Kathryn here. He knew she would be ecstatic.

"You like coffee, Chakotay?"

"Not as much as you do, that's for sure. I just was thinking of a
friend who would be delighted to be here. Remember Kathryn Janeway,
Captain Kathryn Janeway?"

"Kathryn Janeway? You know her?" Tom asked very surprised.

"Yes."

Tom eyed him oddly like if he was hesitant of sharing his thoughts.
Somehow his features had changed, just like when the Commander had
mentioned the new assignment from Starfleet earlier. "I'm afraid I
don't know her personally. But, she served under *Dear Old Dad* for
a couple of years," he sighed in order to wash the bitterness that
had tinted his tone at the reference of his father. "Chakotay,
Kathryn Janeway disappeared a few months ago, God knows where. The
department have been looking for her, but no success so far. I'm
sorry."

"I didn't know that. I'm sorry, too," Chakotay replied quietly.

*You just don't know how sorry, I'm. At least, you haven't forgot
all about her.*

"So, you have a preference for coffee?" his companion asked more
lightly.

"About a taste from home? Colombian is good."

"Sold!" Tom made his way to the jar and took a spoonful of the dark
brown beans and put them in a bag.

***

The Paris home was about fifteen minutes outside Port-Ayalexis, in
a small residential area call Seal-Cove. It was an old house, that
Tom and Loreena had renovated with a lot of taste. The front door
swung open as Sayana ran into the house. She was followed closely
by the blond Labrador, Mocha, that greeted them on the porch.

Chakotay exchanged a smile with Tom who was rolling his eyes in
mock disagreement. They had left the market in hover car and had
stop by Sayana's school to pick her up at the end of her classes.

"Daddy!" called a high pitch voice as three years old Solenn ran
into her father's arms. Tom had barely enough time to put the
grocery bags on the floor, before he easily lifted up his daughter.
He placed a kiss on her forehead and gave her a bear hug. An
affectionate gesture that Chakotay had seen him do with his seven
years old, earlier. He could see the obvious resemblance between
the two. Solenn had her father's fair complexion and his blue eyes.
Sayana however, bared absolutely no resemblance to him with her
auburn hair and brown eyes, but somehow she seemed familiar.

"Hi there! How's my Soleil?" Tom asked happily.

"Shining," she answered making Tom softly chuckle.

"Oh?... Hello," Solenn told Chakotay as she realized his presence
behind her father.

"Solenn, this is my friend Chakotay. Chakotay this Solenn, my
little Sunshine."

"Nice meeting you, Solenn."

The little girl kept staring at him for a minute with sparkling
blue eyes that would remind B'Elanna of her dear warp core.
Chakotay smiled to himself. What would B'Elanna think of this? Did
she know? Assuming this was, had been, real.

"You have a drawing on your head like Mr. Blank," Solenn finally
told him.

Tom looked back at him with a smile that was holding back his
laughter. "Mr. Black is one of the gold fish," he whispered to him.
"Solenn, why don't you show your fish tank to Chakotay while I get
rid of all the bags?"

"You wanna see MY fishes?" she asked.

"Yes, I would like that very much."

"Daddy! I'm going play with Thalia!" Sayana called, passing by
them, the dog still on her heels.

"Don't forget to be back in time for supper," Tom simply reminded
her.

Chakotay followed Solenn to a corner of the living room where the
fish tank was displayed on a shelf above a small play table.

The child took great delight at pointing all fishes by their names.
There were Mr. Black, the gold fish with a black mark on his head,
Mr. Red and Mr. White. She turned of her heels:

"The cat is Mr. Blue!" she said laughing.

"As you can see, we are very original when it comes to pet names,"
he heard Tom say from the kitchen.

Chakotay turned to look at the cat. On the chair near the fireplace
there was the blue-grey Himalayan, he had seen before. The cat that
had been sitting on Tom's laps in the Winter Garden. *It could
definitely be Tom's animal guide,* Chakotay told himself.

He rapidly surveyed the living room. It was a warm room with a lot
of windows through which you could see the sea at the far end of
the backyard. On one side, there was the fireplace surrounded by
sofas. At the other end, there was a baby grand piano standing
proudly on an oriental rug covering the hard wood floor. There were
a few coffee tables here and there covered with pictures and books.
Paintings were decorating the walls on which the light of the
afternoon sun was shining on.

Chakotay approached the fireplace, where he found a family picture.
He looked closely at the women. *Ricky!* Tom's favorite
holo-character was his wife, Loreena?! Quite frankly, he didn't
really know what to think of this. He still wasn't sure if this
whole thing was part of Tom's memories or one very elaborate
fantasy.

He came back to the picture, it had been taken in a park, that
could have been the Winter Garden, on a bright summer day. The
children were sitting on there parents laps. They were smiling and
holding each other. Chakotay could swear he felt the love that
emanated from the picture.

He was about to put it back to its place when he saw the silver
necklace that both Tom and Loreena were wearing. It was an Decca-
star in a thin circle. Chakotay knew the symbol and the
implications that it meant. It was the logo of The Silver-Seas
Foundation: an non-profit and non-political organization that was
an ally of Amnesty International, promoting and protecting ethical
rights. The Foundation had put itself on the line while providing
aid to the people of the DMZ, on both sides of the line.

He remembered that Starfleet was not to please with that fact, and
that they were keeping an close tap on the Foundation's activities.
Did this mean Tom was a member of the Foundation? It surely
explained his presence on Kimira, since the Foundation headquarters
were in Port-Ayalexis. However, he didn't recall ever seeing Tom
wearing the necklace before, neither on Voyager or while working
with the Maquis. *Who really are you, Tom Paris?* he asked himself.
He exchanged a few words with Solenn, then found his way to the
kitchen, where Tom was chatting with a woman that was in her mid
sixties.

"Chakotay, meet my mother-in-law, Hester," Tom said. "Chakotay is
going to stay with us for a few days, while he conducts some
business in Port-Ayalexis."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Mr. Chakotay," Hester told him,
bending her head a little and smiling. He could see a faint
resemblance with Sayana.

"The pleasure is all mine," he said, repeating the greeting
gesture.

"Tom, I'll see you tomorrow. I have to run, otherwise I'll be late
for my dance class. Don't forget to take your medication and to get
some rest."

"Yes, ma'am." Tom's words rolled off of his tongue in a practice
manner.

With one last kiss to Solenn, Hester left rushing out the door,
leaving Tom with his task of putting the groceries away.

"Medication?" Chakotay echoed, being careful of the tone of voice
he used.

"It's nothing really. I was sick a while back. I'm better now. The
medication is just to prevent a relapse," Tom answered as he was
putting the fruits and the vegetables in the refrigerator. "Pull up
a chair, my friend. Would you like something to drink? We've got
about anything you can think of: apero, wine, juice... If we don't,
there is the replicator."

"A glass of fruit juice would be nice," said Chakotay as he sat
down at the table.

Tom gave him a glass of cranberry juice, pored himself a glass of
wine, then went on putting the food away. They kept the discussion
light, talking mostly about how well the Kimirian society was
recovering from the war with the Irsians. Chakotay couldn't help
but notice how everything had its place in the cupboard. The
kitchen was very well designed.

Once the groceries had been properly stored, Tom started to make a
salad to accompany the pasta. While he was doing so, he talked with
Chakotay and kept an eye on Solenn. The little girl was in the
living room putting a puzzle together.

At about that time, Sayana came in drenched from head to toe.

"What happened?" asked Tom concerned, as he helped her out the wet
clothing.

"It just started to rain really hard," said the child through
chattering teeth.

One glance out the window, provided the evidence to collaborate her
story. It was only then that Chakotay became aware of the sound of
the beating rain on the glass panes. *Why didn't I noticed that
before?* he wondered.

"That's weird," Tom observed. "The sun was shining just minutes
ago,"
Then turned his attention back to his oldest daughter. "Go put on
some dry clothes before you get sick, Whirlwind."

From his seat at the table, Chakotay had not missed one detail of
the scene that had just occurred. He hadn't missed Tom concerned
look. The older man had noticed that some very small details were
sometimes amiss. Chakotay filled that piece of information to the
back of his mind and came back to the here and now, so to say, as
Tom came back to the kitchen.

"The weather is always unpredictable in the Fall. I could swear
that it's becoming darker faster, too. That's unusual. I hope
Loreena took her umbrella this morning," Tom said as a matter of
act.

"I think that it's the same on every planet that experience
seasonality," said Chakotay. *God, I'm starting to sound like
Kathryn.*

A few minutes later, Sayana came back dressed in a sweat shirt and
pants that obviously came from two different outfits. The clashing
colors rivaled even Neelix's wardrobe.

"Is this okay?" she asked he father.

"Well, Whirlwind, it's quite colorful," said Tom, cracking a smile.
"As long as your aunt Victoria doesn't see you, your fine. My older
sister is a fashion designer. The other, Christine, is a marine
Biologist," he informed Chakotay.

"What do I do, now?" asked the child already bored.

"What kind of homework do you have tonight?"

"Just some spelling, and I know those words," said Sayana
confidently.

"Really?" replied Tom. "Why don't you go and get me your notebook
and we go over them together?"

Reluctantly, she went upstairs and came back with her vocabulary
note PADD. She handed it to her father He put it on the counter,
next to the salad bowl. It was only then that Chakotay realized,
that she had never stepped into the kitchen itself. Even at that
moment, she stood just outside of the room.

Tom started to ask the simple words while making supper. Chakotay
had tuned his chair in order to see both Tom and Sayana. She did
know most of the words. He smiled at the fact that Mocha was on one
of her side and Mr. Blue on the other.

Tom noticed Chakotay's questioned look.

"Nobody under five feet is allowed in my kitchen when I'm cooking,"
he answered.

"And that includes the four footed ones too, I see," said Chakotay
grinning.

"Especially them. They know where the line is. Don't you, Blue?"
The big cat looked at Tom and gave a mumbled "Meow" that almost
sounded like 'yes'. Chakotay had to laugh. He couldn't wait to tell
all of this to Kathryn.

Sayana's spelling bee was over and she was allowed to go play with
her sister in the living room. The salad was done, and the pasta
was cooking, when Loreena arrived. She found Tom and Chakotay in
the kitchen.

The brown harried woman was wearing a green skirt and jacket. Her
blouse was few shades lighter. She was holding a briefcase with the
logo of the Foundation on it. She nodded to Chakotay before
planting a kiss on her husband's lips. The gesture was so familiar
to Chakotay that it felt like he had just walked in Tom's holodeck
program of Sandrine's bar.

"I see we have company for supper," she observed on a friendly
tone.

"Loreena, this is an old friend, Commander Chakotay. I met him in
the market this afternoon. He's going to be in Port-Ayalexis for a
few days, so I invited him to stay here."

"Welcome to our home Commander. It's a pleasure to meet you," she
said smiling, presenting her hand.

"Thank you. It a pleasure to meet you as well."

"So what's for supper, M'Love?" she asked Tom poking around the
pots.

"Why, Pasta," Tom answered playfully. Chakotay recognized that
tone. He had heard Tom use it with Ricky. But now, he was hearing
it more and more around B'Elanna this days. Ricky's program having
disappear a while back.

Rushed footsteps came in toward them, and the two girls appeared
calling:

"Mommy, Mommy, you're home!"

Loreena stepped out of the kitchen and scooped both of them up into
a bear hug.

"How are my girls?"

"Great!" answered Sayana. "I knew all of my words this morning."

"That's wonderful. And you Solenn?"

"Me and Granny went to the park, and I swing high, high, high. I
almost touch the sky!" the youngest said with enthusiasm and the
conviction of a three years old.

"You can't touch the sky, Solenn," rebuked Sayana.

"Daddy can."

"Girls," said Loreena before it turned into a fight. "Now, go and
play and don't fight. Us, grownups, want to talk a little before
supper. Okay?"

"Okay," they answered as one, and went back to play.

Loreena turned toward the kitchen, but was intercepted by the dog
who wanted a pet, too.

"Your worst than the children, Mocha," she told her, petting her
head. "And how was your day?" The dog just wagged her tail happily.

When she finally made it back to the kitchen, Tom was waiting for
her with a puppy face.

"You didn't ask how my day was?" he said in mock hurt.

Loreena took on that puppy look, too. Obviously a private game
between the two. Chakotay just sat back and watched as she came up
to Tom and kissed him a second time.

"And how was your day, M'Love?"

"It was good. We found the Richards. Alive, all of four of them."

"Now, that's good news!" she exclaimed herself. "What had happened
to them?"

"Their transport hit spatial rift and they ended-up, dead in space,
42 light years off their original course. Once we found the rift,
I didn't have too much difficult to track them there."

"You actually entered the rift?" asked Chakotay aware of the level
of risk involved with this kind of procedure.

"Well, we did a few scans before. The rift was small, but stable.
I didn't have any trouble going through. Piece a cake."

Chakotay and Loreena shared a smile and shrugged. They both knew
that for Tom, piloting was like breathing.

"Well, I have to admit that I saw you pilot through amazing
things," the Commander told him.

"Oh, he is a man of many talents, isn't he?" Loreena teased.

"You think so, M'Love?"

"I do. On the other hand, if you don't want to loose your culinary
one, you're better to take your sauce of the heater before it
burns."

"You are always right, are you M'Love?" Tom said cracking a smile.
He gave her quick kiss on the lips before putting the sauce away.

*Those two are too funny together,* Chakotay thought. They were
making a great pair. A few minutes later, they called the kids and
settled down at the dinner table. Tom opened a good bottle of wine,
a luxury he appreciated more than most. He was quite a connaisseur.
Good vintage was something he had learned growing up in the
*Admiral's house*, and at Sandrine's. In fact, most of the items of
his collection were gifts from the French woman. During the course
of the meal, Chakotay had it confirmed that both of Them were
working for the Foundation. In fact, Loreena was one on of the CEO.

"Solenn, stop playing with your food and eat," said her mother.

"Why? Daddy does it all the time," she argued.

"See, Daddy is a grownup," Tom replied.

"Daddy doesn't always give the best example," Loreena teased, her
husband cast her a wounded look.

"I don't know what this is..." Solenn said sheepishly.

"You know what this is Soleil, it's a sauce rose. We had that
before," her father told her.

"Sauce rose?"

"Soleil, it tomato soup with cream. It's very good," Tom said.

"Tomato soup? Okay."

Chakotay tried to muffle a chuckle. *The apple never falls far from
the tree,* he thought. And this one was closer than most.

After desert, Tom light up the fireplace, the adults passed to the
living room for a cup of tea. The children were sent of to play, to
spend their last energy before bedtime. The cat sat on his usual
chair near the fireplace, and the dog laid in front of it, enjoying
the warmth of the fire.

Loreena came in with a three cups on a tray and a teapot. She set
it down and pored Chakotay a cup of lemon tea.

"For you, Sir. It has a good flavored body, not too sweet or tart,"
she said presenting him the cup, the way Tom had presented his
wine.

"Thank you," he replied grinning while taking it carefully.

Then she took an cup that had already been filed and handed it to
her husband.

"Straight from your sister's personal collection: your tea,
M'Love," Loreena told him apologetically.

Tom, looked into the cup a little disgusted. He hated the stuff,
and it showed.

"You see, Chakotay, we have a dozen different flavors in this
house, and she gives me the stinky stuff," he complained. "For
once, could I get the good vintage?" he pleaded to Loreena.

"Hush, M'Love. Take your medicine," she ordered. "You shouldn't
complain, you don't have to drink that stuff ten times a day
anymore."

"Yeah, lucky me," he said somewhere between humor and sarcasm in a
way only Tom Paris could master. Then he emptied the cup in three
gulps, while holding his breath. *May as well get it over quickly.*
He always told himself.

"What exactly is it?" Chakotay asked.

"It an algae infusion," Tom answered. "It helps to prevent the
division of cancerous cells. It's a long story. Now, what was it
you wanted to talk to me about, earlier?"

Chakotay stiffen in his seat. He knew the subject would have to
come up sooner or later. He was relieved that Tom was the one who
was bringing it up. Every passing moment were making this hard on
Chakotay. How was he going to tell him that this was not true. That
his life here was an illusion. That his real life was on Voyager.
That Loreena was in fact Ricky, and that this reality was based on
Tom's memories or a fantasy. Unfortunately, he didn't know Tom well
enough to know where the line was drown.

"Tom, can you remember when we last saw each other?" he asked.

The young man eyed him oddly. He was about to say something, but
Chakotay serious expression kept him silent. He seem very confused
for a moment. He gazed at his wife, who gave him an encouraging
look.

"We were on a Federation starship together. I was there as an
observer. A short mission," he finally answered mostly to himself.

"That's true. You were on that ship to find me. My ship was lost in
the Badlands. Can you be more specific? It's important, Tom." Tom
sighed in frustration. Loreena put her hand on his forearm.

"The Badlands? I was sure I had work together afterward."

As Tom was about to continue, the cries of the children broke
suddenly through the thickness of the moment. Soon Sayana ran into
the room with a doll. She had the body in one hand and the head in
the other.

"Mommy! Mommy! Solenn broke my doll," she whined.

"I wanted to dress Dolly," the youngest cried.

"You took her head off!" Sayana turned to her father. "Can you fix
it, daddy?"

"Let me see what I can do, Whirlwind," he told her, taking the
offended toy and its head. Like he had done a hundred times before,
he put it back together again. "Thadammmm!" he said handing it back
to Sayana.

"You fixed it!" she exclaimed herself taking her doll back.

"What do we say?" asked Loreena.

"Thank you," answered Sayana automatically.

"Your welcome," said Tom kissing Sayana's forehead.

"Now, girls if you can't behave, both of you will go to bed right
now," Loreena warned them in a stern voice.

"But, bath comes first," Solenn informed her mother as sternly.

Which made the adults smiled.

"Yes it does and that's what it's time for, so both of you
upstairs," their mother said getting up.

"No," Solenn said not moving an inch.

"What do you mean: no?"

"I want Daddy."

"Fine you can have Daddy. Now go!"

Tom was trying hard not to laugh, Chakotay even harder.

"You heard her Tom," Loreena commanded him. "Off to the tub."

"Yes, ma'am." He apologized to Chakotay saying that the children
were running this part of the show, then he added as he was getting
up and heading upstairs after the children; "oh, powerful Daddy
fixer of all things."

"Oh, all mighty Mommy; finder of all lost things," Loreena
answered.

It was clear to Chakotay that those lines had been well rehearsed
before. He also noticed that one parent never overdid the other.

**

Less than fifteen minutes later, it was bath time for the Paris
girls. From the kitchen downstairs, Chakotay could hear the
children and Tom laughing, while he was helping Loreena to put the
dishes away.

"They are certainly enjoying themselves," he remarked.

"The girls love their father. He tries to make every moment he
spends with them special. Bath time is no exception." She laughed.
"There is usually a lot of water on the floor when he is done. He
gets as wet as they do and he is not even in the tub. Sometimes I
wonder how he does it."

They heard the kids squealed and laughed even harder. Tom even
joined the chorus. Loreena and Chakotay had to laughed too, when a
disgusted wet Mr. Blue flew down the stairs. The only thing still
dry was the tip of his tail. He was shaking every paw, literately,
in his marathon for the first floor, to shake off all of the water.
He stopped for a split second at the foot of the staircase to stare
at the dog, that was laying there. They exchanged a glare, each
wishing they were the other. The poor cat gave one last disgusted
look at the dog and the two adults before fleeing to his basket.

"He'll never learn to stay away," said Loreena getting her breath
back.

"I take it, it has happened before," Chakotay stated.

"Only about once a month. He finds the kids bath toys fascinating.
When he gets too close, the kids either use him as target practice,
with their water pistols or they take him for a swim."

Chakotay sat back at the table, musing once again about Tom's
family. These people were so busy, but yet they had time to enjoy
the small things. They were good parents, loving and caring. Tom
always made sure every question the girls had got a reasonable
answer, admitting that he didn't know, if it was the case, but
promising to try to find the answer soon. Tom and Loreena had the
principle that if a child was old enough to ask a question, he or
she deserved an answer. Chakotay couldn't agree to that. A little
part of him hoped that Tom would forget all this. The Delta
Quadrant was so far from home, and they would never have a life
like that there. However, that this was real or not, he promised
himself never to forget his stay with this family.

There was a commotion upstairs, and Chakotay's reflections were
shattered by Solenn's screams. Loreena an the dog were on their
feet and on their way to the upper level before he realized
something was happening. Quickly, he followed her.

"Stay," Loreena commanded to the dog who stopped dead in her
tracks. They entered the bathroom and was welcomed by a grizzly
sight. There was glass over most of the floor. Tom was on his knees
holding the youngest by the shoulder trying to comfort her. Blood
coming from an open wound on his arm, was spreading over the tiles.
Solenn was crying and mumbling incoherent words.

"Mommy, Daddy's bleeding! Daddy's bleeding!" Sayana was
screeching.

"Solenn. It's Okay. Daddy will be fine. Don't cry, Soleil," Tom was
saying gently. His blue eyes met his wife's. "Loreena, take care of
Solenn and Sayana."

"I'll see to Tom." Chakotay told her, trying to be as reassuring as
possible.

Loreena picked up Solenn, put her daughter in the hallway, and did
the same with the other one.

"Come, I'll tuck you into bed," she said to her children lovingly,
but firmly.

Tom opened the cupboard under the sink, and pulled out a medkit.
Chakotay helped Tom pick himself off of the floor. As soon as he
stood straight, Chakotay felt him go limp in his arms.

***

The alarm went off, and B'Elanna woke up. She got up from the
biobed where she had dozed off earlier and saw The Doctor come to
Tom's bedside. She bit her lip to prevent herself from asking what
was wrong. She wasn't sure if she could find her voice anyway. The
Doctor had let her sleep in sickbay as long as she stayed out of
his way. It had been five hours since Chakotay had initiated his
lucid dream. She could only hoped that he had made contact with Tom
during all that time.

"His blood pressure is drooping," The EMH was kind enough to inform
her. He pressed a few hyposprays against his patient's neck. His
concern lessened by the desired effects of the medicine, but they
did not fix everything. "He is starting to experience respiratory
difficulties. I'm putting him on respiratory support."

"Doctor, time is running out, isn't it?" B'Elanna voiced her fear.


The Doctor looked at her in dismay for a few seconds. "I'm afraid
so. Whatever the Commander is doing, he better do it fast."

***

They went to Tom's bedroom, where he sat on the bed.

"What happened?" Chakotay asked as he helped Tom take off his
sweater in order to see where all the blood was coming from. For
the first time, he had a close look at Tom's necklace.

"Sayana brought up a glass earlier to get a drink of water. In was
dressing Solenn. Somehow I hit it and it fell on the toilet, then
shattered. Shards flew every where and one cut me. It's a miracle
that none of the girls were hurt. How does it look?" he asked as an
after thought. The long gash on his left arm was bleeding
profusely.

"In can't tell, it's bleeding too much," the Commander admitted.
"How can you bleed so much?"

"My blood doesn't clot well. It's a side effect of the tea."

"The tea?"

"In had cancer a while back. The stinky stuff prevents it's
reoccurrence by preventing rapid cell division. It interferes with
wound healing and blood clothing."

Chakotay nodded as he opened the medkit, and pulled out a
tricorder, a hypospray containing a coagulant, and a dermal
regeneration patch. Following Tom's instructions, he gave him a
dose of the coagulant, then scanned the wound that was still
bleeding even with the pressure that was applied to it.

"There is no glass in it," he informed Tom. Then, he wiped as much
of the blood away, and rapidly place the dermal patch. It sealed
itself to the skin and prevented further blood loss.

"How are the girls?" Tom asked his wife the minute she stepped into
the room.

"They're fine. Solenn is under her magic blanket. Don't worry. How
are you?" she asked coming to kneel beside Chakotay.

"Fine. Chakotay missed his vocation. He would make a good nurse."
The Commander chuckled. "No, not me. You would have more the nerves
to do that than I would." *After all, you're the one The Doctor
chose to be his medical assistant.*

"Pretty hard to do that, when you're the patient," Tom commented
with a hint of humor.


Loreena gave a good look over Tom to see if there was no other
cuts. There wasn't any, but a nasty bruise was forming where he had
hit the floor. There was an other one on the other side, that seem
to be a few days old.

"How did you get that?" she asked her husband.

"In don't know," answered Tom looking at the brownish spot.

"How have you been feeling lately?" Loreena asked him. She hated to
see bruises on Tom, especially when he didn't remember getting
them.

"Good, maybe a little tired, but its midterm season."

Tom and Chakotay could see how worried she was getting.

"I got the afternoon off, tomorrow. I'm going to call Dr. Burgers
and make an appointment for you. We can meet for lunch, and then go
together."

Tom started to argue that it wasn't necessary. That he was fine.
But, Loreena didn't buy it. She reminded him how Dr. Burgers had
impressed on them the importance of early detection during his last
bought with cancer. He looked down at his arm that was covered with
drying blood, and had to concede with her.

"Okay, but don't tell the girls. They don't need to be more
frightened than they already are."

"In won't. Now you stay still and rest for a bit. You got to let
that heal before you get up and around. I'll bring you something
sweet to raise your glucose level."

"But what about the story?"

"The children will make do without their daily addition to the trip
of the intrepid starship Voyager. I'll do it the old fashion way.
I'll read them a book. I don't want to see you out of that bed
until I come back."

"Yes, ma'am," said Tom laying back and watching her go. "Loreena?"

"Yes?" she asked turning back.

"Can I have a kiss?" She bent forward and put a tender kiss on her
husband's lips. Before leaving, she asked Chakotay to make sure
that Tom wouldn't move off that bed before she returns. He smiled
at her in agreement.

"What's the story about the intrepid starship Voyager?" he asked
intrigued at how Tom's mind was processing that part of his life.

He was first answered by a chuckle.


"The girls were saying that they were too old for fairy tales, that
there wasn't enough action. So, I started a story of my own. It's
about a starship lost in space. Their mommy is the Captain.
Sayana's father is the first officer. Of course, I'm the pilot.
Sayana is the chief engineer, and Solenn is the nurse. Dr. Burgers
is the doctor and Tad, the butcher you met at the market, is the
cook. Each evening, we add an other adventure to Voyager crew. It's
actually a lot of fun."

"Sayana's father," Chakotay echoed.

"I didn't tell you this, did I? Loreena was involved with Adrian
before we met. Together they had Sayana, but it didn't work out.
When I met Loreena, Sayana was already 14 months old. Now, I'm the
lucky one to be married with Loreena, and Adrian married a charming
woman, Claire, three years ago. We're all good friends."

"Don't tell me, in your story, the Captain and the pilot are having
a heated lover affair," Chakotay said teasingly.

"Actually, it didn't turn out that way. See, the pilot fell madly
in love with the dishing, but opinionated, chief engineer. When it
comes to the Captain, she is having a secret, but not so secret
passionate love affair with her First Officer."

It took every bit of control he could master, so that Chakotay
would not blush. *How much does Tom know about me and Kathryn?* he
wondered worried.

***

"Are you coming to bed?" Loreena asked hopeful.

"Not yet. I got some more work to do," Tom answered.

"You know, you're working too hard and you need some real sleep,"
she said. "If you're not sleepy, I'm sure I could fine a way to
tire you. We could practice making that other baby..." Loreena
proposed with the saddest puppy face Chakotay had ever seen.

"I knew you had an ulterior motive to get me into bed," he teased
her. "This is really becoming an obsession."

"Like you're not obsess with sex..." she said.

"Tell me Dear, am I leaving you unsatisfied?"

"Of course not M'Love."

"Good. But, I was not talking about sex, I was referring to that
baby idea of yours. I thought we had settle this? You see,
Chakotay, we've been at this for the last year."

"Well, I want another one. A little boy with you curly blond hair
and you're sky blue eyes. Doctor Burgers says that there is no more
risk due to your illness. That with some help from science we would
have an healthy baby."

"It's not a kid she wants," he told Chakotay. "It's a clone of me!"

"Apparently, she doesn't have enough of one of you," Chakotay said
grinning.

"He's right M'Love," Loreena told Tom and kissed him.

"Me, who thought we had just settle that one, too," he said
teasingly.

***

It was very quiet in the Paris household. Everyone had gone to bed.
Chakotay had not been tiered, but had decided to play along. He was
laying in the guest bedroom, staring at the ceiling. He was going
over the events on the day, making a metal report for the Captain.
He was still trying to figure out how he was going to tell Tom that
this was not real. Each time, he had tried to bring the subject up,
something had happened: the kids needed something, the dog wanted
to go outside, a call from a co-worker. Obviously, Tom defense
mechanisms were running interference in order to protect him.

The screeching cries of a child made him jumped. One of the girls
was crying. A few seconds later, Chakotay heard Tom come up the
stairs and enter Solenn's room, which was just across from his
bedroom.

"It's okay, Sunshine. Daddy's here. Was it an other bad dream?"

Tom's voice was calm and soothing. The child's crying subsided a
little.

Chakotay heard Solenn mumble a response.

"Tell Daddy, all about it," said Tom in that same gentle voice.

Solenn had calmed down significantly, since her father's arrival.

Chakotay heard the bed covers rustle.

"You got your magic blanket?" asked Tom.

Chakotay heard a mumbled 'yes', then the squeak of the old wooden
rocking chair.

The child started to tell her dream to her father. It was not a
trivial tale of monsters in the closet. What she spoke of revealed
horrors that he had heard about the Irsian/Kimiran War. Chakotay
wondered at how such a young child raised in a loving family could
have such dark dreams. Then again, he reminded himself that this
was Tom's reality. A reality in which Tom's was probably reliving
a part of his life, reacting to elements thrown at him from the
outside, and dealing with his own defense mechanisms. Solenn's
dreams could just be an other way for Tom's mind to express itself.
Chakotay wasn't a counselor and felt frustrated at the uncertainty
he felt toward all his assumptions.

Tom had listened, never saying anything that could have minimized
what the child was saying. It was clear that it wasn't his first
time dealing with the nightmares.

"You're safe," he told his daughter. "The war is long gone. It will
never happen again. Sayana, mommy and I will take good care of you,
My little Soleil."

Chakotay heard the sound of a ruffling blanket, then the chair
began to rock. Then Tom began to sing, on a soft sweet voice:

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when
skies are grey. You'll never know dear how much I love you. Please
don't take my sunshine away."

The melody almost put Chakotay to sleep, but he came to when he
heard Tom leave the room. He went down stairs. Chakotay got up, and
after putting a robe on, he followed him.

Tom was in the kitchen getting something to drink. The first thing
that the older man noticed was that Tom was still dressed.
Obviously, he had not been asleep, like Chakotay had assumed.

"Did Solenn wake you?" asked Tom concerned, when he saw Chakotay.

"No, I was awake before that."

"Good. The other women of the house sleep so soundly, that they
rarely wake up when Solenn cries. Do you want something to drink?
I was going to get my self a boll of hot milk."

"Some tea, thank you. Does Solenn often have such bad nightmares?"
Chakotay asked.

"She's been having bad dreams since she was small baby. But, they
have been getting more regular lately."

"Where does she get the images to fuel such dreams?" wondered
Chakotay concerned.

"I wish I knew," Tom answered with a sigh reflecting his own
worries. "We have been keeping her quite sheltered when it comes to
those things. We never talk about the war when she is around.
Sometimes, it's as if she had been there, with us." Tom stopped and
smiled to himself a bit, a sad smile. And then, a tear rolled onto
his cheek. He looked away and busied himself stirring the milk.

Chakotay did not say anything. What could he say? After a few
minutes of a awkward silence, he decided to change the subject.

"What time is it?"

"Twenty past two."

"Where you still up because you expected Solenn to wake up?" he
asked.

"Not particularly." He answered, giving a cup of hot tea to his
guest. As he poured the hot milk into a boll, he went on: "I'm one
of those night persons who do there best work when everybody else
have gone to bed. I was putting the finishing touches to my lecture
for tomorrow."

"Lecture?"

"Yeah, I'm teaching Emergency Flight Procedures 401 at the
university. The class is in the morning."

"Could I come?"

"Sure, I'd like that."

"Since when do you teach?"

"Four years, now. I started as Professor Semak assistant instructor
while I was doing my doctorate in criminology. I'm up for tenure
next year."

"Criminology? What's the link with piloting?" *Criminology? Now,
where does that come from? Is it a way to explain his criminal
record?*

"None. I just have many different interests. As long as I'm
qualified, they pretty much let me teach anything," Tom shrugged.

The atmosphere was calm, friendly and relax. Chakotay considered
the timing perfect to tell Tom why he was there. So, he did until,
he heard the front door open. *What now?*

"Is that you Gael?" Tom asked like a parent who had been expecting
a teenager that have had a special permission to break curfew.

"Yeah, Tom. I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow," a young man said
from somewhere in the hallway.

"Come here a minute. Why are such in a hurry, tonight?" Tom asked
as he got to his feet and met Gael in the hall. Chakotay heard him
start laughing and went to joined them. What he saw shocked him.
Gael was standing in front of them sheepishly. He was covered in
mud from head to toe.

"What happened *this* time?" Tom managed to asked between two
chuckles.

"Oh, not much. Just hanging with the gang."

"The usual, I see. Gael go take a shower. I can smell you from
here. I see we need to have that discussion about the Catacombs
again."

Before leaving, Gael shyly handed a PADD to Tom.

"And you got arrested, too," Tom observed lightly without even
reading the content. "What did Chief Rayan have to say?"

"That even if he knew that you probably weren't sleeping yet, that
this wasn't worth disturbing you. I think he knew you'd never let
me into your car."

"Wonder why," Tom started shaking his head from side to side, a
smile still on his face. This was not worrying him too much.

"Could you sign it and give it back to the Constable?" Gael asked
pointing to the PADD.

"I'll sign it, but you are going to take it back. That's your
responsibility."

"I suppose so. Who's your friend?" Gael asked changing the subject.

"This is Chakotay. Gael," Tom introduced. "Go to bed. I'll see you
tomorrow."

"You too. Don't stay up all night you need your beauty sleep," the
young man told him.

Chakotay watched Gael go as he mused about the fact that everyone
knew Tom wasn't sleeping. *Wonder if just here, or if he also
doesn't sleep much on Voyager, too?*

"Now, that was Gael. He's a kids I'm helping to stay on the right
track. I found him a few years back. He had joined one of the
street gangs of Port-Ayalexis after the death of his parents.
Loreena and I offered him a place to stay. He can come and go as
he pleases. Although, we see him more often now that he decided to
go back to school. His doing great. His good kid and we all love
him a lot. His like a little brother to me."

*A little brother, just like Harry.*

They didn't have the time to sit back in the kitchen, when a
computerized voice informed them of an incoming message from
Admiral Larsen.

"Sorry about that," Tom sighted. "Chakotay, why don't you go back
to bed, and I'll see what my boss wants?"

"Sure, see you tomorrow."

***

Chakotay entered the kitchen the next morning. It was smelling of
fresh made coffee. The kitchen table had been set for the morning
meal. It took an few seconds for him to recognize Gael, sitting at
one side. *Wow, can just a shower change a person this much?* He
had thought that the young man had brown hair, but they were
actually paler than Tom's. The girls were finishing their bolls of
cereal. Loreena was also there, dressed in a blue tailor, ready to
go to work.

"Good morning, Chakotay," Loreena greeted. "Did you slept well?"

"Good morning, and yes I did. Where's Tom?"

"In his office. Why don't you go get him. His breakfast is getting
cold," she suggested. "It's the room at the end of the hallway."

Chakotay wasn't in Tom's office yet, that he could heard him laugh.
The first thing that the Commander noticed when he entered the
room, that is after the pictures papering one wall, and the book
shelf's, was the blue fish. He had never seen such a pretty
creature before.

"What is that?" he asked his host.

"Oh, that's Indigo, he's a Siamese fighter fish. My sister,
Christine, the one who is the marine biologist, gave him to me. She
has a whole collection and said that he reminded her of me. Go
figure."

"Already back to work," he pointed out, while looking closely at
the fish. It was moving around showing off long flowing fins.

"Correcting a few assignments. Steph, one of my students, writes
very interesting papers. To bad he can't spell. Still, that kid is
a smart-ass."

"I know somebody like that," Chakotay mumble trying to make out the
face on the picture behind the fish boll. He knew it. Delicately,
he pushed the boll aside, then got a good look at Harry Kim's face.
He lifted up his head and gazed at all the pictures on the wall.
There were people from Voyager's crew, mixed with other people he
didn't know. His eyes rested on Kathryn's face. Her hair was cut
short. The Commander assumed that Tom's memories of her were
recent.

"Are they all missing people?" he asked.

"Yeah, an awful lot, huh?" he looked at the picture Chakotay was
staring at. "I'm sorry about her. The only thing I can tell you is
that were doing the best we can to find her. To find them."

"I'm sure you do," Chakotay replied with convictions. "Well, I've
been sent by your wife to find you, and tell you that breakfast is
getting cold."

"Let's go then."

***

"People," Tom addressed his students. "I know that spelling is
hard, but you could at least spell the technical terms right. You
know, there such a thing as a glossary at the end of your textbook.
Tell you what: if this doesn't improve by the end of the semester,
the final 15% of your mark won't be on participation, it'll on a
spelling bee."

The whole class shooed and booed at him.

"Come on my seven years old could do better!" Tom said, as he held
up his hand to put an end to the protestations. "Well, well," he
added with a mischievous smile. "I suppose you're going to have to
work on this, won't you?" He shrugged. "Now that this has been
taken care of, why don't we pass at the fun part? If I remember
correctly, last class we were orbiting Planet Hell, weren't we?"

The students agreed. From his seat in the corner, Chakotay could
hear some mumbled laughter. These students were not Starfleet
cadets, that was obvious. But, as much as Tom was running his
classroom like the one of a public university, one could tell
however that he was an Academy graduate. Chakotay had to admit to
himself that Tom was quite a good teacher. A very entertaining one,
too. After everything he had seen so far, why was he surprised?

They were discussing methods to achieve orbit around a planet with
strong magnetic poles, known to all as Planet Hell, which was
represent by a small beach ball, that Tom was tossing to anyone who
had a comment. They were betting replicator rations on the validity
of the various hypotheses.

"Replicator rations?" Chakotay asked puzzled and quite amused.

"We needed something to bet with. Since we can't wager anything
real, I came up with the replicator rations from the bedtime story
I tell the children."

So, like all the other students Chakotay started to bet rations
too. They had included him as a full member of the group, and the
Commander was having a great time. As a Starfleet officer, and a
pilot, he thought of many situations applicable to the subject at
hand. The two and a half hour class passed too quickly.

"Tom," Steph whined, after Tom had explained the Zerok manoeuver.

"Tell me this is something Semak and you don't agree on. There's
got to be an easier way to do that!"

"Steph, there always something easier than a Vulcan technique. But,
the Zerok Manoeuver is very effective. Trust me, it looks worst
than it is. Go try it in the simulator, all of you. If you have any
questions, you know I'm always available. Gee, if you guys can't
contact me, get worried! This was a lot of fun. I look forward to
next week"

***

Tom and Chakotay were walking down a the busy hallway of Yanka
University, in downtown Port-Ayalexis, when a young Vulcan student
came up to them.

"Mr. Paris, can I have a word with you."

Tom stopped dead in his tracks, looking around like he was
searching for someone, then he look back at the student.

"Are you talking to me?"

The student nodded puzzled. Chakotay had to bite his lower lip to
prevent himself from laughing.

"I'm sorry," Tom continued. "I was afraid you were talking to my
dad. You see, he's Mr. Paris, I'm Tom. And yes, you can I have a
word with me as long as I get it back. I might want to use it
again, later."

The student eyed him oddly trying to process the logic of Tom's
sense of humor. It was just the thing to do to a Vulcan.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Lirok?"

"I was wondering if I could attend your Fl-447 class, while I'm
doing the pre-requisite course?"

"If you can survive my sense of humor, I don't see any problems."

"Thank you, sir."

"And don't sir me! Were not in the military."

"Sorry... Tom."

"You'll do just fine in my class, Mr. Lirok."

Once the Vulcan departed, Chakotay turned to him.

"You never seemed offended at me calling you, Mr. Paris."

"You have?" Tom asked.

"Sure, you probably didn't say anything because I outrank you," the
Commander stated.

"Well, you don't any more, so don't do it again. It's really
insulting, you know. Especially since you're my friend."

"I'll keep that in mind," Chakotay said smiling.

Once outside they started to make their way toward a small French
bistro called: Les Copins D'Abord, where the two men were supposed
to have lunch with Loreena. The restaurant was located on the pier
following the bay, which had given the nickname of Blue Heart City
to Port-Ayalexis.

It was quite a beautiful day. The sun was shining making the water
sparkle, and the yellows, reds and oranges of the leaves even
brighter. Chakotay was enjoying every minutes of it. It felt so
real to his senses, so good for his aching spirit.

A hand suddenly grasped his arm and Chakotay turned just in time to
take a hold of Tom before the young man's legs gave away.

"Tom! What's wrong?"

His companion was bent in half, visibly in a lot of pain. His
respiration was quick and shallow. Chakotay could see the colour
fading away from Toms face by the second.

*You have waited to long!* he accused himself. *You have to tell
him now! He's dying!*

"Tom, you have to listening to me," he ordered. "I'm here to bring
you back to Voyager. It's time to go back. This isn't real.
Remember, when we met in the Winter Garden, I told you I would help
you come back home. Home is Voyager, now. "

Chakotay could tell that, even if Tom was barely listening, some of
his words had meaning to him.

"Please Chakotay, go get Loreena," he pleaded, between two painful
breaths. The bistro, it's just by the corner. Chakotay, I can't
leave without her."

Tom's anguish and pain cut right through Chakotay's heart. Deep
inside, he knew that Tom would never follow him, whatever he said.
He wasn't ready to leave without Loreena. He wasn't ready to live
without her, either. So, against his better judgement, Chakotay
dragged Tom to a bench and helped him sit down.

"Hold on. I'm coming right back with Loreena," he promised.

The Commander started running as fast as he could toward the
restaurant. The thought of leaving Tom behind, in pain, was tiring
him apart. He was almost at the corner of the street. He could see
the French bistro.

But, he never made it there.


End of Part 3.

We know, we might have pushed the limits a little That's the
effects Secrets have on us. Still interested? Look for *In The
Dark:
It happened One Night*
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Synbou (a.k.a Isabelle S and Louise B)
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