By Diane Klepper
(Author's Note: This is the fourth part of "Voyager: The First Year" series. Sorry this part took so long to write but I kept getting distracted with other stories. I'll try to have the next part out soon,)
B'Elanna Torres quickly ate another forkful of her dinner trying not to taste Neelix's latest concoction. She looked up at her dinner companion and noticed that Harry Kim was still staring at the messhall door. She put down her fork and said in frustration, "Will you quit looking for him Starfleet…He his not coming."
Harry frowned, "Tom promised he would join us for dinner Maquis…give him a few more minutes."
"Harry when will you get in through your head that Tom Paris is a selfish pig that only cares about himself."
"B'Elanna if you only gave Tom a chance you wouldn't believe that….He knows he made a lot of mistakes in the past…. He wants to make a new life for himself on Voyager but unfortunately there are people on this ship he doesn't want him too."
B'Elanna Torres put down her fork. "What areyoutalking about?"
"Someone trashed his quarters last week. When I picked Tom up for breakfast he wouldn't let me in his quarters…He told me he didn't clean his quarters for a few days and he was embarrassed about the mess. When he came out of his quarters I saw his clothes and stuff all over the floor."
B'Elanna picked up her fork and continued eating. "So what if his quarters got a little messy…That happens to me when I work double shifts."
Harry frowned, "He was lying…Tom told me his father always insisted that he kept his stuff neat in case some Starfleet official came to see his father…Tom is very particular about how his quarters looks…Someone most of trashed them."
"Then why didn't he report it to Chakotay or Tuvok?"
"He's trying to fit in…There are enough Starfleet and Marquis officers on this ship who don't like him…Tom doesn't want to cause any trouble."
B'Elanna yawned. "Harry…I'm really tired and I don't think Paris is going to show up so I'm going back to my quarters to get some sleep…I'll see you tomorrow Starfleet."
Harry smiled at her. "Okay Maquis…but I'm not giving up on you and Tom being friends."
B'Elanna just smiled. "Right," and walked out the door. B'Elanna walked to the nearest turbolift and pressed for the lift waiting for the door to open. The corridor was deserted. The door opened and B'Elanna was about to walk in when she heard a moaning sound from a few feet away. Thinking that a member of the crew was sick or injured B'Elanna called out, "Whose there?"
Another moan answered her question so B'Elanna walked towards the sound. "Whoever is there come out or I call security."
A soft voice said, "Please don't."
The person sounded like he or she was in pain so B'Elanna asked, "Do you need to go to sickbay?"
"Look I'm fine…can you please go?"
Frustrated B'Elanna said, "Look…I just want to help…come out"
A few seconds later, Tom Paris came from around the corner. With his right hand he was holding unto the wall for support. His uniform jacket was ripped and he was holding onto his stomach with his left hand. Tom's nose was bleeding and blood was dripping onto his tunic.
Shocked B'Elanna said, "Paris what happened to you?"
"Holodeck accident."
B'Elanna frowned, "Come on Paris. . .I'm not as naive as Harry…you got into a fight."
Tom frowned, "Okay I got into a fight…Look Torres just pretend you didn't see me…Chakotay is watching me like a hawk. I don't want to give him any excuse to take me off the helm."
B'Elanna looked at Tom Paris and felt a little sympathy for him. She knew what it felt like to be an outsider on Voyager. But she had her Maquis friends while Paris, was distrusted by everyone on the ship but Harry and Captain Janeway. B'Elanna finally said, "Okay I won't say anything but how are you going to explain your injuries without going to sickbay."
Tom gave a little smirk trying to mask the pain he was in. "I borrowed a dermal regenerator out of sickbay."
"You mean you stole it."
"Okay I stole it…I better get back to my quarters before anyone else sees me…Thanks Torres for keeping quiet." As soon as Tom took his hand off the wall he almost fell but B'Elanna grabbed his left shoulder to steady him.
"I'll help you to you quarters…you will never make it their on your own."
Ten minutes later B'Elanna helped Tom sit down on his couch. They were lucky that they didn't run into any other Voyager crewmembers. B'Elanna turned to Tom and said, "Where do you keep your regenerator."
"In the bathroom…its okay Torres…I'll be fine you can go know."
B'Elanna frowned and said, "If anything happened to you Harry would be upset…I'll help you with your injuries."
Tom smirked, "I knew it B'Elanna…you are just looking for an excuse to see me without my shirt on."
B'Elanna growled, "In your dreams Paris." B'Elanna went into the bathroom. She opened up the medicine cabinet and found the dermal regenerator. B'Elanna left the bathroom and walked over to Tom and helped him take off his jacket and his Starfleet issue tunic. She cringed in sympathy when she saw black and blue marks all over his chest and stomach. Some where mostly healed but others were fresh. "Tom this is not one fight…The last time I saw someone with as many bruises as you there were a prisoner at a Cardassian camp,"
Tom cried out as she touched one of the newer bruises. He finally said in a whispered voice, "It's not as bad as it looks…I just have to conserve power on my regenerator….it's too risky to steal another one out of sickbay so I only use enough power so I am able to report for duty every morning."
B'Elanna nodded and then turned on the regenerator at it lowest setting and watched as the more severe of Tom's bruises lightened to a light shade of black and blue. She then went over his nose and mouth and watched as the dried blood disappeared. B'Elanna put the regenerator back into the bathroom and entered the living area of Tom's cabin.She saw Tom was standing up putting on his tunic. She looked around his cabin and saw that his cabin was spotless. "I see you have finished cleaning up."
"Cleaning up?"
"Harry knows about you quarters being trashed."
"Damn it."
B'Elanna looked at Tom and frowned. "Do you know who beat you?"
Tom smirked, "No….usually they turn out the lights and blindfold me first…Today they were waiting for me right outside the messhall…One minute I'm walking towards the messhall and then all of a sudden I find something covering my head and I feel myself being dragged into a supply closet."
Surprised B'Elanna said, "Harry was right…you were planning on meeting us for dinner."
"Hey I don't have that a lot of friends here…I can't afford to lose Harry's friendship."
B'Elanna smiled at that comment, "Harry does have a way of making you want to be a better person." B'Elanna frowned, "Do you have any idea whose attacking you?"
Tom gave a sarcastic laugh, "It's the Maquis…from the time they came aboard they made itclear that I was a traitor who would sell out my Mother to get out of jail."
Angrily B'Elanna said, "How do you know its not Starfleet…They don't like you either."
Tom laughed. "Yeah the Starfleet officers hate me too…but they are more civilized about it…They only shove me around a little and call me a few names I don't like to repeat in front of a woman when no senior officers are around to see it."
B'Elanna laughed, "Names you can't repeat in front of a woman…Come on Paris I'm half Klingon I could curse you out in two different languages."
Tom smiled at the comment, "Your probably right."
B'Elanna smiled. Even though she didn't like to admit it to herself she found spending time with Tom not as bad as she thought it would be. Maybe Harry was right about them becoming friends. B'Elanna looked at Tom and said, "Tom I promise I won't tell anyone about the beatings, but will you tell me why you really didn't report them?"
Tom whispered one word, "Harry."
"Harry?"
"Yeah…if I don't keep quiet they are going to go after Harry…I can't let them hurt Harry."
B'Elanna frowned, "But it's okay if they attack you?"
Tom frowned, "Look B'Elanna I hurt enough people throughout my life…my friends who died at Caldik Prime…my family…I can't let anything happen to Harry…He shouldn't have to suffer because he was stupid enough to pick me as a friend."
B'Elanna looked at Tom and some reason she didn't quite understand she wanted to help him. "Maybe if I speak to a few people and let them know that if they don't leave you alone they have to answer to me."
Tom smiled at her. "B'Elanna I really appreciate you want to help…but I don't want you to get hurt."
B'Elanna snarled sat him, "What are you saying I can't take care of myself?"
"No….but why do you want to get involved?."
B'Elanna smiled at him. "Because its hard enough to keeping Voyager going without me worrying about a pilot that is too beat up to fly straight…and besides I promised Harry I would give you a chance…maybe your not a total pig after all."
Tom smiled at the complement. "Thanks B'Elanna….I could always use another friend."
"I guess I could too…besides Harry is bugging me to get to know you better."
Tom laughed, "He's is doing the same thing to me….I'm having breakfast with Harry before shift tomorrow…Maybe you could join us?"
"Maybe I will…Tom you should rest now…even after the dermal regenerator you will still be sore in the morning…Goodnight, Tom."
Tom walked B'Elanna to the door. "Thanks again, B'Elanna. Goodnight."
Tom watched B'Elanna excited his quarters. He gently touched his stomach and smiled. He still felt a little sore but he felt a lot better then he did a few hours ago. He had another friend on Voyager in the fiery half Klingon Chief Engineer. He smiled at the thought that someday she could be more but for now another friend on Voyager would make the long trip home seem a lot less lonely.