Went back and edited the previous chapters. Added section breaks to all the chapters, and tossed in a small line about why Harry was called "Wonder Boy Potter'. You don't need to reread the chapters, but I thought a head's-up was good.
Voyager - Year 2
Potter and Chakotay had been stranded on a barely habitable moon for several days, and it had been a trying time for both of them - so much so that when they returned to the ship, Lt Potter turned himself into Captain Janeway for insubordination.
Chakotay talked to Janeway in her ready room after Potter had been sentenced to the brig. "Actually, I think that you should either negate his brig time completely, or lessen it dramatically. I've been riding him since we got stranded in this quadrant for something that I've come to realise he was right about - Seska. I'll tell him that as well. But it was the very offence he insisted on being sent to the brig for - insubordination - that got my head out of my ass, to be blunt about it."
"But he was insubordinate, by both his testimony and yours."
"What if that insubordination was specifically to cause the superior officer in question think about the reasons for his dislike of the insubordinate officer?"
"I suppose we'll have to ask the Lieutenant his intentions, then," Janeway said with a smile. She and Chakotay headed toward the brig.
As soon as they entered the brig, Lt Potter was on his feet and standing at attention. "Captain." he said.
"At ease, Lieutenant," she said. "You're in the brig."
"But I'm still an officer. I need to keep discipline, or else I'll develop bad habits that will need to be removed once I'm released. Something I should have remembered down on the planet."
"So you were insubordinate? You were not trying to shake Commander Chakotay from his dislike of you?"
"Depends on how you mean it, Captain. I was angry at him, and said things to him in a nasty manner. That was the insubordination. I was, however, hoping to shake him up just enough to get us to be able to work together until you got Voyager back to us."
"Which was the decider, in your opinion?" Janeway asked.
"A mixture. I was angry, as I said, but I needed his help. Call it fifty-fifty. Either way, I earned my sentence by not keeping my temper. There should have been a better way to get his attention."
"I admire your candour," Janeway said. "I also listen to recommendations from my first officer. That said, I am lowering your sentence to one week instead of a month, based on a recommendation from Commander Chakotay."
The captain found herself mildly amused by Lt Potter's frown. "Permission to speak freely, Captain?" he asked, to which she nodded. "What lesson does that teach if you do that? Have a really good excuse before you break the rules? I respectfully request that you reconsider lessening my sentence."
"I'll take that under advisement for next time, Lieutenant. For the moment, consider that you have one hundred and sixty-seven more hours in here. I will notify you if I take your recommendation and return you to the full month." Lt Potter nodded and then saluted. "At ease," she said with a small laugh.
She walked to the door and then stopped. "And in answer to the question you asked, I would have to say 'yes'. We don't want mindless drones here. The rules are not inflexible. They can't answer all questions. So yes, having a really good excuse before breaking the rules is a good thing. You just might be able to avoid punishment."
"I expect I'll see you in a week," Chakotay said as Janeway left. "At which point I will be apologising properly to you for my attitude."
"Then maybe my brig time is worth it, if I might end up with a new friend," Harry said.
"I must say that you impressed me with your insistence on doing brig time," Chakotay said.
"You might not be so happy or apologetic when you hear why I did it," was the response. At Chakotay's intrigued look, Potter continued. "First off, I wanted the other Starfleet people to think on some of the plans I've heard around the ship - the crews still aren't blended perfectly. Ever hear the phrase 'Don't do the crime if you can't do the time'? Yeah, I was angry at you, and went over the line, but I was pretty sure that I'd finally shock you out of your dislike of me and turn back into the guy that the Starfleet records said that you were."
"Good thinking," Chakotay said with a laugh. "That doesn't sound like all of your reasoning, though."
"It wasn't," Potter said. He pulled his wand from his sleeve and cast something. "Just to make sure we're not overheard. I've tuned it so that the ships sensors won't get through it either. But the other reason is simple. Have you heard the conversations around the ship? The people you led in the Maquis are actually starting to warm up to the Starfleet crew. They saw that the Captain is willing to throw one of her own people in the brig for talking back to one of the Maquis. That's helping to tear down the walls between our crews. Hell, spending a month in the brig would have been worth it if it meant that the Maquis and the Starfleet crews get friendlier with each other."
He dropped the spell while Chakotay thought. Suddenly, the man threw his head back and laughed. "You're all right, Mr Potter. I like the way you think."
"Thank you. Maybe we can pass each other in the hall now and not growl," was the reply, punctuated with a grin.
"Probably." After a short pause, Chakotay added, "But they're still bigger and made of duranium."
It was Potter's turn to laugh outrageously. When he caught his breath, he said, "The better I get to know you, the more I believe that."
"Mr Paris," Harry asked in a weary voice. "Can we just once go through one of these without the snide tone? It's nothing I can write you up for, or even want to, but I'm tired today, and don't want to say something I'll regret later."
"Nobody else seems to regret the nasty stuff they've said about me," Paris replied from the other console.
"They will, I'm sure of that. The worthwhile ones will actually apologise."
Paris raised his eyebrows at that. "Look," Harry continued, "I always thought you got a raw deal. Yeah, you shouldn't have covered it up, but you came forward and admitted it. So instead of busting you back down as far as possible or even forcing you through another year at the Academy, they drum you out. That teaches every other person paying attention that they should stick with the lies, rather than be honest. Nice to know you can trust all the newer officer cadets, right?"
"Like you?" Paris asked.
Harry blinked for a moment. He snorted once and then threw his head back and laughed. "Got me with that one! You're absolutely right, Mr Paris. I stay honest because I want someone to be proud of me."
"Anyone specific, or is it a generic thing?" The tone wasn't quite so mocking this time.
"Girl I knew back when," he said.
"Uh-oh, girlfriend stories."
"She wasn't my girlfriend, but she was one of my best friends. She'd be disappointed in me if I lied and cheated my way to a position of power. That would make me no better than the … psychopath we were fighting."
"Sounds like someone was editing himself," Tom said with a small grin.
"Good idea to, to make sure I don't slip in front of someone like, say, Captain Janeway, who can put my arse in the brig."
Tom laughed "Is this psycopath thing you're talking about from your time in the past?" he asked.
"Yeah. I'm actually getting a little nervous, because the pictures I saw from that time that show I returned home should have happened by now."
"Oh?" There was real interest in Tom's voice now.
"Yeah. There's a photo of me with my arm around her shoulder and an odd looking shuttle behind us. We don't have one like that right now - maybe you'd want to design it?" Harry asked with an impudent grin.
"You'd let me design a shuttle?" Tom asked in surprise.
"Why the hell not? You and I both love to fly, so we've both got ideas of the kind of things we'd like to fly." He snorted. "Just wait till we're on Earth in my time. I'll show you flying on a broom."
Tom Paris's eyebrows rose to his hairline, or tried to. "A broom? You're kidding me."
Harry pulled his wand and cast Lumos. "Nope. Remember, I'm one of those people that apparently led to the invention of some of the tech we use now. Not personally, but the fact that we can do things like Apparate and Floo and such led to those who can't cast magic trying to figure out ways to imitate them. In a number of cases, they improved the idea."
Paris was nodding. "Interesting. Not something commonly mentioned in the history lessons."
"Who wants to admit that they came up with a great idea because someone else thought of it first?" Harry replied.
"Good point." Tom looked over at Harry. "I'll be magnanimous and let you take credit for the new shuttle design when I invent it." The impudence was back, but there was a tone of humour that didn't have the snark to it now.
"I appreciate that, Mr Paris," Harry replied with a laugh. "I'll see if I can remember your name when it comes to the acceptance speeches," he added in a haughty tone.
The laughter that greeted the next shift surprised everyone.
"Lieutenant, you amaze me," the Doctor said. "You may be the only person in Starfleet who willingly comes to me for their yearly check-up."
"In my past, I learned that the doctors always win that argument, so why fight it?" Harry said with a smile. "Besides, unless you discover that I've got a terminal case of the creeping crud, it's not that much of a problem."
"No sign of crud, creeping or otherwise, Mr Potter, although your right shoulder worries me slightly. The connective tissues seem a little loose. As for your attitude in regards to doctors, you're right. We always win." he smiled. "If only I could convince Captain Janeway of that. She fights her check-up like everyone else seems to."
"Maybe we can talk to the Chief Engineer. She seems to have some ability with things like that. There's got to be a way to give you access to the rest of the ship. What happens if you can't have a patient moved, but they don't conveniently fall over on you here in Sickbay?"
"Finally, someone understands!" the Doctor said.
"Considering the number of times I ended up in the infirmary at my school? Magic can keep someone immobile, which helps, but the school's Healer was kept on her toes."
"I would love to meet this person and compare notes someday."
"With luck, and if B'Elanna can come up with something, you will. I expect any day now we'll be bouncing back to Earth in one way or another."