Ten Years Earlier: Stardate 38406.6 (29th May 2361 1030)

Tom couldn't avoid hearing the whispers. They were all around him, accompanied by a knowing glance and followed by an offensive snicker. After six months he was thoroughly sick of it. Standing, the Lieutenant suddenly understood that he couldn't even count on his father to protect what remained of his tattered reputation. He'd finally come to the end of patience. Ready to explode before this meeting, Lt. Thomas Paris had had enough and needed to strike back.

"There is an old book," he announced in a deadly tone, standing in the waiting room of the Admiral's office at Starfleet headquarters, "that states, 'let he who is without sin, cast the first stone'." Tom's eyes swept the space, finding no one would meet his glaze. "I made a mistake, I owned up, I was punished and yet you still have the tenacity to treat me like a pariah. Tell me, are you all so perfect, that you haven't screwed up, at least once." The young lieutenant's clear and angry blue orbs caught and met each of the ten people his father called his staff. Their eyes round with shock, they sat, silent and transfixed. "That's what I thought," his resentment couldn't be controlled. It laced his tone as he pivoted and started towards the door.

"Lieutenant," a short, red haired woman stood directly in his escape route. In another setting, Tom would have found her attractive, even if she was in science blue with two and a half pips at her collar. Stopping his departure hadn't improved Paris's disposition. "Join me for a walk."

"Yes, Sir," Tom barked, his fury barely contained. Great, he thought, I'm about to get chewed out by one of my father's lackies. This day just gets better and better.

"I prefer Commander, Mr. Paris, Ma'am will do at a pinch," a smiled appeared on her lips. Kathryn Janeway knew exactly who he was and why the young man was furious. The similarity between her mentor and his son couldn't be denied. Tom Paris would look like his father in another thirty-five years.

Nodding his acknowledgement of the rebuke, Tom fell in with the woman. Not another word past between them until they were out of the building and in the watery San Francisco sunshine. Even then, the Lt. Commander chose to keep moving, her hands behind her back.

"It's the price we pay," Kathryn spoke quietly once they were in an open area, "being the children of Admirals."

With that sentence, Tom knew exactly who this woman was. "Janeway, Kathryn. You served with my father on the Al Batani. You must have been good. You were all I heard about after the Arias expedition."

"I was lucky, then Captain Paris noticed my skills. I was a lowly Ensign, straight out of the Academy. I've learnt a great deal from him over the years," Kathryn smiled.

"Such as?" Tom challenged.

"How to report mistakes so they don't become public knowledge," she fired back, grey-blue eyes narrowing on the man at her side.

"And how," Tom almost spat the words, "would you have handled my situation?"

"Quietly," Kathryn offered, watching as the words hit the younger man.

"I killed three of my friends, for crying out loud," Tom's anger and frustration rose once again. Yet, he couldn't just storm off and lick his wounds. The tiny woman hadn't dismissed him. One confrontation was enough for the day.

"You made a mistake, Lieutenant," Kathryn chastised, her tone including a note of understanding, something Tom had never heard from a superior before. "You were almost killed yourself. From the medical report, it was touch and go for several hours. You didn't set out to deliberately crash that shuttle. From what I read, once the initial error was made, you did everything in your power to limit the damage."

"They're still dead," Tom hissed.

"And your alive," Kathryn went for his throat, as she saw it. Survivors guilt, she knew, could eat a person alive. "That's the real problem here, isn't it, Tom? You know, next time it might be you. What would you say to the pilot who survived in the same situation."

Thinking hard, he couldn't come up with anything. No sarcastic quip entered his mind. Turning his ire on the woman causing it, Tom demanded, "what would you?"

"I think the young man is flagellating himself enough and nothing I could say would help," Kathryn answered slowly, keeping her tone low. "I believe he's abjectly sorry for causing that crash and he'll never make the same mistake again. I don't think the death of his companions will ever leave him and it's made him grow up in ways he's still discovering. I hope he'll learn from this situation and it will make him a better person, pilot and officer. As to what I'd tell him, would any words make the memories easier to bear?"

Falling into silence, Tom continued to match his pace to the woman at his side. Lt. Commander Kathryn Janeway had been the first individual not to judge him but offer council. It meant more to Tom than he could ever communicate.

"Come on," she smiled, indicating the door to his father's office building. It seemed they'd walked in a circle without Tom noticing. It told him how much this woman discomposed him. "There must have been a reason for being in the Admiral's office."

"He's trying to push me into a space assignment," Tom confessed with a weary sigh.

"You're not ready," Kathryn's tone implied she understood. "As I hear it, your position, instructing simulation-based piloting to first year cadets is mindless, boring and well below your skill level. Your wasting your time in your current assignment, Tom."

"I'm healing," he retorted as they stepped into the lift.

"Your hiding," she responded, "because you don't want to face a negative reaction from your colleagues. As far as you're concerned they've already judged you. Starfleet is a big organisation. The Paris and Janeway names aren't known everywhere. Trust me, my last two postings have allowed me the obscurity I wanted to make my own name, to create the reputation I deserve."

"Maybe you could choose my next assignment for me," Tom attempted to tease. The words came out more brittle than he wanted.

"I'm so glad you asked," Kathryn knew the moment Tom understood. Her appearance at his father's door hadn't been accidental. She'd played him. "I'm about to exchange this half pip for the real thing and science blue for red after completing Command School. Along with the promotion comes a posting to as the officer in charge of a Miranda Class supply vessel. I'm short a Conn and second bridge officer."

"Me," Tom's astonishment coloured his tone.

"If you're willing to give up your position at the academy at the end of the term," Kathryn smiled. "I know she's not the Exeter, but Deception is a step up from class two shuttles."

As quickly at that, Lt. Tom Paris's fortune changed. The twenty-seven-person crew might know about his indiscretion, but it was never mentioned. Kathryn Janeway kept a tight ship and her senior officers cohesive on the short missions out of Starbase 245.