"What happened?" Demanded Chakotay.
Harry shrugged, not quite realizing that the Commander couldn't see him. It's more peaceful in the dark. He thought.
"You now have phaser capabilities, Commander, but I would suggest not taking any action until the shields are functioning." Tuvok began to wonder if Chakotay would take his advice as Kathryn once did.
"Lock targeting sensors onto the Maquis ship. Harry, beam their commanding officer directly to the Brig." Chakotay said, as if to answer his silent question.
"Sir," Harry inhaled deeply to calm himself and wiped the tears from his eyes. "There's a chance she won't survive." As he said it, the lights suddenly came on.
The Commander looked around, quickly assessing the damage before speaking. "Do it, Kim!"
"Done, Sir." Harry said after a moment.
"Tuvok, destroy that ship!"
Tuvok knew better then to question a senior officer, and he wondered if he'd live to regret it.
The explosion shown on the main screen lit the Bridge with a brilliantly white light. The shockwave sent a jolt over the entire ship, sending everyone reeling to the floor.
Chakotay stood and wiped the blood from his jaw. "Let's go." He said, motioning Tuvok to join him in the turbolift. Seven slipped in with them just as the doors closed, leaving Harry alone on the Bridge.
Making sure he was completely alone, Harry walked down to the command level of the Bridge and bravely proceeded to his beloved Captain's body. Kneeling down beside her body, he placed his hand on the top of her head. "I wish you were here." He whispered. "You wouldn't have destroyed them. Chakotay is under a lot of stress and he won't make a good captain." He placed both hands between his knees and tipped his head down, letting the tears come harder.
Chakotay walked a purposeful two steps into the room and locked his eyes onto the young Bajoran Maquis woman that sat alone, sulking in the Brig.
"You have no right to hold me here!" She howled, coming as close as she could to the force field as she could without actually touching it.
"Oh really?" He stopped directly in front of her. He swept his arms wide as if to encompass the entire room. "Well, it looks like I can."
"You have no right!" She screamed again. "You killed every person on my ship! You showed them no mercy!"
"Oh, like the mercy you my Captain and the dozens of other officers that were killed?" His face reddened and he signaled the security officer to lower the force field.
Chakotay stepped through and clasped his hands around Ro Laren's throat. "All I have to do is squeeze." His face was centimeters from hers.
"You don't want to do this." The panic in her voice bothered the security officer, but Chakotay didn't notice it. He was angry, stressed, tired, and dangerous.
"Can't we talk about this like civilized people?" She pushed, hoping he would see things her way.
He didn't. "No. You kept up the assault on Voyager. I don't know how many are dead, but one thing I know is you will be next." He released her and pushed her to the ground, giving him the time to get out before she could.
Walking out, Chakotay headed for the turbolift. Getting on, he found Tuvok and Seven hadn't left. They obviously knew that he'd be angry. "Bridge."
"What did she say, Commander?" Tuvok asked.
"Not much." Growled Chakotay.
"Is she repentant?" Tuvok pressed.
"I doubt it."
Silence filled the small area until the doors whisked open.
A startled Kim leapt to his feet. "Commander!" He stuttered.
"What were you doing, Ensign?" Chakotay didn't really want anyone near Kathryn's body.
"Nothing, Sir."
"What were you doing, Kim?" He walked over and stared Harry down.
"Sorry, Sir." Harry fled to the OPS station, trying hard to keep from crying.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Seven standing there.
"He is upset, Ensign, try not to take it personally. Why don't you go and assist Paris?"
Seven let a slight smile cross her lips for the first time that Harry has ever seen. "I'll take over here."
Harry nodded solemnly and left the Bridge.
A soft, continuous beep echoed through the quiet, peaceful dark that had dominated Kathryn's body for a painlessly long time.
"Kathryn, Darling, can you hear me?" The loving voice that had stayed, unwavering, at her bedside, belonged to her mother.
She tried to answer, but found she couldn't speak. She wasn't even sure if her mouth could open. It was painful to try and she wondered how long she'd been asleep, if that's what it was.
"You've been unconscious for 2 ½ months, Kathryn." Her mother said as if answering her question.
Kathryn's eyes widened. "Two-" She managed to say, but it hurt, badly.
"Ssh...don't speak." Gretchen crooned.
"Phoe-" She tried to go on.
Her mother held a finger to her lips. "She's right here, and she's fine."
Phoebe stepped into her line of vision. "So was being stabbed worse then dying?"
Kathryn grinned painfully. "Yeah."
"Do you remember what happened?" "Gretchen was gently holding her hand.
She nodded, eyes tracing Phoebe's face, assuring herself that her baby sister was still alive.
A bright light flashed in her eyes. As it dimmed, she saw that there was no one around her, just an empty white room.
"Well done, my good and faithful servant."
"Q." She sighed. Kathryn found she was still laying in the diagnostic bed, but was now strapped down.
"Yes, yes, yes. You have saved your sister, therefore you have saved yourself." Q circled the bed stooping by her side. "Don't you understand, Kathy, you saved yourself!"
"I heard you!" Kathryn barked. She was sure she would have bit him if he were standing close enough. "Why am I tied to this bed?"
"Because, fascinating things are happening on your ship and I intend to let them run their courses without interference from Captain Kathryn M. Janeway. Get it?"
She sighed heavily and let her head fall back. "Whatever you say as long as nobody is getting hurt."
Tom's whole body shook violently as he watched the doctor place the knife against B'Elanna's stomach. He made a neat, shallow cut and then went over it, this time harder and with more confidence. The Doctor's confidence was Tom's weakness, especially being that B'Elanna was the first person he had ever tried this on. Her body flinched, reminding them both that she didn't have anything for pain at all.
"Can you do anything, Doc?"
"I'm not sure, Lieutenant, I'll let you know." The Doctor continued through the surgery until he got to where Tom and B'Elanna's baby lay, safe and protected.
Tom watched as the Doctor gently lifted the baby from the only place it had ever known. He was glad that B'Elanna was unconscious, essentially unable to feel the pain.
"The baby is fine." He announced. "However, I'm losing Lieutenant Torres." He handed the soft, pink, wrinkled bundle of baby to Tom who wrapped it in the last shirt he was wearing. The baby's sobs filled Engineering as Tom rocked his child back and forth in his arms to calm it. To distract himself from his dying wife, Tom began talking to the baby. "It's alright, Daddy's here."
The Doctor sealed the cut he had made with a crude version of a laser scalpel. Just at that point, B'Elanna regained consciousness.
"What...?" She grimaced and held her breath, visibly in severe pain, before continuing. "What's going on?"
"You're hurt. Now be still and lie quiet!" Commanded the Doctor.
Grudgingly, she obeyed, but probed along side her, searching for Tom's hand and finally finding it. She fought the pain well, occasionally gripping Tom's hand all the harder as the Doctor began examining her for further damage.
"B'Elanna..." Tom started, attempting to distract her. "The baby's alright."
"I can tell." She tried to smile while gritting her teeth. She glanced at the wailing bundle in Tom's arms. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"I forgot to check." Tom blushed, winning a full smile from B'Elanna. He pulled back the blue-gray t-shirt and then looked up, grinning sheepishly. "It's a boy."
"Can we name him Thomas?" She asked, almost pleadingly.
"Is that what you want?" He looked at her closely, unsure if she were teasing or not.
She nodded solemnly. Then she struggled to remove her hand from Tom's and pressed it against her head as if shielding her mind from a blinding light.
"Alright then." He looked at his son laying quietly, at last, in his arms. "Thomas Paris Junior."
B'Elanna softly smiled, then let her eyes fall closed.
The startled Lieutenant leaned forward abruptly, but the Doctor blocked him by holding his hand in front of Tom's face.
"She needs rest and will live, but if we don't get her the proper medical treatment soon she'll never walk again."
Tom constructed a mental picture of B'Elanna rolling around in a wheelchair giving orders as if she was walking. Then he began to think about how independent she was. "She wouldn't take to well to a wheelchair, Doc, she'd be in a state of depression for her entire life. What would that do to our children?"
The Doctor, shaking his head, looked down at B'Elanna. He then left, giving Tom strict instructions to contact him the moment she awakens.
"Tom! Tom, where are you?" Someone on the main Engineering level was searching for him.
The mostly happy Lieutenant leaned over the partially nonexistent rail that surrounded the eerily silent warp core. "Up here, Harry!"
The young ensign climbed the ladder cautiously and joined Tom at the top, near where B'Elanna lay. "What happened to her? Is she going to be okay?"
Tom inclined his head toward the pile of debris. "She was under that, and it was hot. Yeah she'll be fine, but it's possible she'll never walk again. I'm worried she might...become depressed." His expression betrayed his worry.
"If she loves you, and I know she does, she won't kill herself. I wouldn't worry myself about things like that." He gestured toward the baby. "Have a name yet?"
"B'Elanna wants to name him Tom. And it's fine with me."
"We'll soon have enough power to rendevous with the escape pods and shuttles. Then you could introduce Miral to her baby brother."
"That ought to be fun." He held the baby out to Harry who took him eagerly. Tom then knelt by his wife who was beginning to stir.
Opening her eyes, B'Elanna looked up at Tom. "How long was I asleep for?"
Her beloved husband smiled at her. "Ten minutes, maybe eleven."
She groaned and turned her head to Harry. "You didn't tell me you had a baby!" She accused teasingly.
"Huh? Oh!" He rolled his eyes, trying in vain to act hurt.
"Tom he started..." He started after a moment. "We lost the captain." He shifted his gaze to the activity below.
"Are you alright Harry?" B'Elanna watched the tears fall down his cheeks and to the ground. Even through her own pain, her heart reached out to Harry. She knew that deep down, he was suffering more than she was.
He merely shrugged. Looking down, he watched the tiny baby that squirmed in his arms and sighed. "Life. . . ."
Tom and B'Elanna exchanged a questioning glance, then both returned their gaze to the man playing with their son, he was probably their family's closest friend.
Tom looked back at B'Elanna, an unspoken and exciting question burning in his eyes.
As his response, B'Elanna nodded.
"Hey, Harry. Do you feel up to playing godfather?"
"Yes." Harry turned excitedly. "Could I?"
"We'd be honored." B'Elanna spoke before Tom could. All he could do was nod.
Harry looked down his little godson and smiled gently. "Welcome to Voyager, Little One. Welcome to your new home. . . ."
