"B'lanna, I'm not used being the adult in this relationship. So give me a break already. I know you don't like the fact that Seven and Chakotay are getting married, no one here does but we are all here because the Captain made it perfectly clear that she would be attending" he opened his mouth to continue but B'lanna interrupted.
"Ya that is another thing" she paused looking to see if anyone was listening "What is wrong with the Captain? We all know that she loves the big lug, yet she is going to sit here and allow this farce to happen." she started pacing "Well you know what Tom, we have stood around, for close to seven years now, allowing those two to pretend that they don't absolutely love and adore each other" She lifted her hands in frustration "Then we finally make it home and what happens" she exclaimed angrily "That blonde bimbo decides to make a play on Chakotay and the idiot decides that it is time to move on."
Tom looked around the hall and noticed that they were beginning to draw a crowd. Tom was not lying when he said that he was having a hard time not having a tantrum of his own and start yelling at the top of his lungs just how unfair this all really was. He loved the Captain like a sister and he had come to respect the Commander. He could tell that even though Chakotay was about to marry Seven, the Captain was the only one he truly loved. But he had given his word to the Captain that he would allow Chakotay to try and be happy with Seven without meddling. He knew that Chakotay would never be happy without the Captain, so was it really breaking a promise if he lead the crew in one last attempt at getting their commanding officers together. He felt bad that Seven would be hurt but he knew if he allowed this farce to happen then she would suffer more in the long run.
And what about the crew. Poor Harry was devastated, he reacted to the news like it was his parents who had gotten a divorce and now he had to make a choice as to whose house he would be going to on vacations or holidays. Little Naomi had refused to be the flower girl, and in fact had run away when Chakotay had asked her. The Doctor had gone on a long oration about the stupidity of man kind and how his Captain and Commander were at the top of the list. Tuvok had raised an eyebrow in a show of disapproval when he heard about the nuptials, which was the most emotion any of them had seen him display. The rest of the crew had looked to B'lanna and Tom, as the fourth most senior officers, to guide them. Tom knowing that their interference would only hurt the Captain had kept the crew on their leashes. Until now.
He looked around one more time and saw the sadness and hopelessness in the crews eyes and made his decision. They had not made it all the way to the Alpha Quadrant for it all to end up like this. He looked at his still fuming wife and knew what he had to do. Always the showman Tom stepped up to the podium where the bride and groom were going to be standing in a couple of minutes.
"Okay everyone gather around" Tom noticed immediately that the crew had perked up. They started making their way towards Tom knowing that something was up as this was the most animated he had been since the announcement of Seven and Chakotay's nuptials. The Voyager crew was all there along with some of their family members. The family members, not knowing about the personal relationships and goings about of their two most Commanding officers, looked confused. Their Voyager family member would take the time to whisper an explanation and steer them towards Tom. Tom had no idea what explanation was given but it got their attention. "Now as you all are aware, we have been trying to put on a brave face for the last three months." Many people nodded. "We have been walking around keeping our personal feelings, about what is about to happen, under wraps." he heard some grumbling "Out of respect for the Captain"
"Here, here" a few shouted from the back.
He turned around making sure to capture everyone's eye. He wanted to see if they were all with him. What he saw was conviction and he received reassurance that this was the right thing to do. "we have kept silent" he paused "But no more we" he extended his arms gesturing to all of them "know what the Captain and Commander mean to each other and we are not about to let them continuing to suffer because they are to stubborn to admit they love each other." There was immediately a thunderous cheer to follow the proclamation that the crew had been waiting for months.
A dry tone interrupted Tom's rousing speech " I would just like to point out that this is inappropriate, dangerous, and could potentially get us all killed" he paused and for years after Tom would try and get Tuvok to admit that he was a big softy under all the logic. "The Captain and Commander are two of the most stubborn people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing." he looked at the crew who was in utter shocked at what the serious Vulcan was saying "We will have to use all of this crews abilities to pull this off." he gestured back to Tom. "Proceed Mr. Paris"
"Here, Here" came the happy chorus from the crew.
B'lanna gave her husband the time to rally the troops now it was her turn to give them the assignments to put the plan in motion. "Okay everyone we have to move, get into groups of 10 and make sure you come up with ideas. Remember we have to get Seven to back off" she gave them all an evil grin "and we cannot kill her" she shrugged nonchalantly "at least not yet" the crew chuckled. No one really wanted Seven hurt they just wanted her out of the way. "Okay everyone"
Tom noticed first what his wife did not. knowing he needed to stop her before she gave away what they were about to do "B'lanna" he tapped her shoulder. She immediately whipped her head around "What" he jerked a finger towards the direction of the unwanted guest coming into the dining hall.
"Tom" she shrieked" What is that bloated Barbie doing here" Blanna groused when she saw Seven come into the reception hall where the ceremony was to be held.
All of a sudden as if in slow motion Tuvok saw Vorik come up behind the ex-borg silently. No one would have noticed what he was doing if they hadn't been paying close attention to the situation like Tuvok was. He had been head of security for many years after all. He thought he should intervene, but the years of being in charge of the Captain's safety was a habit that was hard to break.
No one in that reception room would ever be able to admit that, had they known what was about to happen, they would have put a stop to it so they were happy not to have to contemplate it to deeply.
Harry turned just as Seven started to go down in slow motion as Vorik put the Vulcan nerve pinch on her. She started to go down, and before she hit the floor Vorik was able to catch her. He looked up at the shocked faces of the crew "I thought the logical course of action was to remove our biggest obstacle" he tone was so even that it took a few seconds for everyone to react. The crew looked from one another, finally resting on Tom, B'lanna and Tuvok to gage their reaction. Tuvok of course just raised an eyebrow, Tom smiled and B'lanna gave a shrugged. "Okay everyone lets get to work".
"Okay everyone, first off we have to find our targets." Tom turned towards where Harry was still kneeling over Seven as the Doctor made sure she was out but okay. "Harry" he paused until Harry was looking at him.
"I'm on it" he said as he made his way toward the computer screen. He started pushing some buttons trying to locate their Commanding officers combadges. "Um guys" he turned towards the crew waiting for him "I think maybe we may not have to do anything after all"
Tom pushed his way towards the screen in front of Harry and took a look at what Harry was looking at. He looked at Harry to confirm before turning to share the good news with the crew.
"Break out the champagne everyone we may have something to celebrate"
Story Notes: I know Seven backed off, but the fact that she interfered is enough to make me not want her at the crew's celebration when they found out Chakotay and Kathryn were together.