~ Harry ~
"Thanks, Harry," Paris said as Tom set the chilled water bottle in front of him. After a days worth of lugging around communication pieces in the hot sun, the cool drink, added with the evening breeze, relaxed the two officers. Harry sat down across from his friend on the ground. The jovial sounds of everyone else around the campfire were welcoming, but the friends wanted away from the heat and noise, so here they sat in the shadows of the looming trees. Harry found it comforting to be alone – kind of – after the intimacy of working in such close proximity from earlier on. On Voyager, they could always retreat to a room; here, they were permitted to go nowhere alone. Individuality seemed to melt away as the crew was meshed together, and the result was this: crewmen becoming disjoined from the group. He knew the Captain would hate to see everyone not being team players, but for the moment, Kim didn't care.
Tom leaned forward, his face slightly overtaken by the firelight. "So, did you hear the latest scandal?" A shake of Harry's head prompted Tom to continue. "Apparently, the Captain and commander were caught having – "
"There you are!" B'Elanna's pregnant form was storming towards them. Actually, Harry thought, it was more like waddling at this point. Whatever it was, she wasn't happy. A glance at Tom's blank expression told him that he had no clue what he had done this time. Or hadn't done, for that matter. She stopped at the sight of Harry, who was leaning over slightly, straining to hear the gossip.
"You didn't tell him, did you?" B'Elanna demanded.
"No, you just interrupted me. I was about to."
"No, don't!"
"Why not?" The confused man replied, only to have B'Elanna start half whispering, half yelling down towards Tom, who seemed to absorb none of what she was saying. Harry caught the gist of what she was shouting – had they really done that? – and stopped B'Elanna's rant with his hands, not wanting to risk his life by getting too much in the way. She gave him a glare that made Harry shrink back.
"Um, I get what happened. You don't have to whisper." Harry watched as B'Elanna shot her husband a see-how-you're-corrupting-him look.
"Fine. Tom something's not right with Chakotay and the Captain, so quit telling people about this."
"Harry's the first person I told! Or at least tried to tell. Besides, what's the big deal? I thought we were supposed to be happy!"
"Tom, I talked to them. Right after they came back. The Captain was…withdrawn."
It was Harry's turn to chime in. "So? She's been like that since yesterday."
B'Elanna threw her hands in the air. "What is it with men? You guys both know as well as me that they should be showing emotion or…or…something! They are just so impassive." She paced quietly around in the darkness. Harry watched quietly. What was going on in her mind now? He was happy for them, but he was slightly worried about what B'Elanna was thinking. Harry knew B'Elanna hated to see Chakotay upset more than anyone else – with the possible exception of the Captain – but he didn't want to see her do anything rash that might upset this new ground for the command team. When she finally stopped and faced them, Harry cautiously waited for the verdict.
"We should go talk to them." Huh? Go talk to them? Harry wet his lips and spoke.
"B'Elanna, I'm not sure I want to go talk with them…"
Her eyes came to rest on him. In a quiet voice she said, "You aren't coming. It's a couple – to – couple talk." Harry felt relieved, then immediately sorry for Tom, who was trying to babble his way out of it.
"No chance, Flyboy. You care just as much about their happiness as I do. Let's go." B'Elanna dragged her husband to his feet, taking him back towards the camp. Harry still sitting, watched as someone put out the fire and decided to go back. As everyone laid down to sleep, Harry watched as the crew that had known each other for seven years act as if they were afraid of one another, even of themselves. The unknown future lay in front of them, and it scared even Harry.