It was now January 2377. Rear Admiral Kathryn Janeway confronted Captain Kathryn Janeway on the bridge of the USS Voyager in what was the perfect example of the immovable object meeting the irresistible force. The crew had seen time-shift anomalies at work before but nothing like the conversation that was going on now. If it was a conversation. More like a tempest.
This was truly a battle of wills, the stubbornness of Kathryn Janeway readily apparent to all. Here was a rear admiral who was risking everything to include her career, her future, and even her life to make something so wrong turn out right.
And who could blame their Captain? There she was on her ship, on her command deck, being confronted by herself from twenty-eight years in the future informing her in no uncertain terms that she had screwed up. And killed people. And nearly destroyed her ship.
And Rear Admiral Janeway had deliberately picked that location and time to argue it out so that the senior officers would all be present to include Commander Chakotay, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, the recently re-promoted Lieutenant Tom Paris, and Ensign Harry Kim. Plus the entire Alpha shift command deck crew who watched in stunned silence as the two egos went round and round as if no one else was there.
The discussion abruptly ended when Rear Admiral Janeway ordered herself to obey her commands. The two then retired to her / their quarters on Deck 2 to continue their discussion.
In the meantime, the crew rubbed their heads, let out some air, and returned to duty.
/
A very grimy and smelly Lieutenant Torres left the bridge and headed to her quarters after having pulled yet another back-to-back shift in engineering. Today of all days she had to pass Paris in the corridor just a minute ago after Beta shift ended. But he paid no attention to her as usual; just looked at his PADD as she walked by. She liked it that way. He knew it.
And of course she had caught his scent and forced herself to push down those nagging feelings. Once again. It looked like she was going to have to take matters into her own hands tonight. Once again.
Entering her quarters exhausted from crawling through a half-mile of Jefferies tubes over sixteen hours, she put a command lock on her door and went over to the food replicator. Spent a few credits on a cup of coffee and a piece of pizza for dinner. And added a leftover salad, of course.
Pizza! The one habit she had retained from her very brief time befriending that helmboy nearly five years ago. She thought about how they shared a whole one then.
Now she plopped down into the comfy chair at her desk while munching away, pushing aside the piles of PADD's that were running hundreds of diagnostics on everything systemic to do with Voyager. All green so far.
One PADD, however, held her attention because it was unlike any she had seen before. Rear Admiral Janeway had just given it to her along with a small box. And stringent instructions to view the message first. As she understood her orders, the communication was from Lieutenant Commander B'Elanna Torres who had a few things to say to her from the future.
Torres knew such things were possible; Harry Kim had experienced a personal time differential and so had others aboard. But to have yourself tell you that you needed to listen to yourself was something else. It went beyond the pale, as far as she was concerned. Still, orders were orders and she was now a Starfleet officer, even with temporary rank.
Pulling her legs up under her chin, she positioned the wide-screened and very intriguing technological device on its own stand and hit the touch PADD key.
There she was. Oh my God! What the hell happened to me? A twenty-seven-year-old Torres was looking at herself just a few months before turning fifty.
There was that quirky smile she saw so often in her own mirror. But those blood-shot eyes! Dark circles. No make-up. Hair a mess. Grey hairs showing. Wrinkles. Her throat skin starting to sag. This was what two decades and more of stress in the Delta Quadrant had turned her into. Her youth expended in space serving the Maquis and then Starfleet.
Is that me? She poured over the image. There was that tiny mole by her nose. She counted her forehead ridges. Did a computer retinal scan looking for Hologram technology and found none. And her fingerprints were on the PADD. And an included hair sample with her DNA. It was her alright.
She hit play.
"So, Torres, I suspect by now you have run every possible test imaginable to verify that I am indeed talking to you from the future. And believe it, I am."
Okay.
"And I am telling you right now in no uncertain terms that I am one pissed off half-human, half-Klingon and I have you to thank for it. YOU, B'Elanna Torres, are an insecure bitch who has ruined my life and yours. And all because you decided that you did not like what you saw in that box years ago in 2371 and did everything you could to make sure that it did not happen."
B'Elanna looked at herself. This was not what she was expecting. But she was intrigued and now pulled herself up closer to the desk. She drank some water and adjusted the screen.
"And you know what? Just like everything else you set your mind to do, you succeeded. Oh yes, you did a very nice job of pushing Tom Paris away and crushing the very spirit out of him. You destroyed every last ounce of love he had for you."
Yes, she had certainly done that. And now regretted it.
"Or so you thought. But you know what? You are WRONG!"
B'Elanna scoffed. There was no way he held any feelings for her. She had humiliated him at every opportunity over the years. He just walked past her moments ago without a single thought. Only a fool would still…. Wait, does he really have feelings for me?
"Yes, it is still there, Torres. Right now, just as you are there. And you know how I know that? Because I just saw him yesterday. We had coffee and sweet rolls together. And he told me that he loves me and always has. And I still love him and told him. And you know that more than anyone don't you, you stupid jerk!"
B'Elanna found herself nodding in agreement. She was biting her lower lip. This is so ridiculous! In love with Paris! No way. But…I am.
"So here is what you have accomplished by denying yourself a lifetime of happiness. You have lost the love of a decent man, the only one for me. And you. Us. A life together where we rarely fought and when we did we loved making up. And two wonderful kids. And successful careers. And so much love that we really needed, both Tom and me. And you."
"You forced him into marrying someone who will become a drunk, a woman who never had one ounce of real concern for him other than sex."
"So now it is January 2377, your time. And they have been a couple for well over two years now, haven't they? After nearly dying in space together, right? And they have dinners and pizza and hang out on the Holodeck. Lake Como, isn't it? And passionate shore leave on M-class planets."
B'Elanna knew all of this. After all, she had caused all of this to happen. She had watched that relationship blossom and even caught them once having sex on a beach.
"But who just saved him from ALICE last week? That was you, yes? And why couldn't Nicoletti get through to him but you could?"
She had no clue. Tuvok asked her because Sue had failed. She saw something in Tom's head but denied it. Buried feelings. A burning for her. She shuddered.
"Tuvok went to you, Torres, because Janeway knew. She ordered him to find you. And why were you in Sickbay already? Because you were worried sick about him. And Tom trusts you. For all that you have done to him, he trusts you. Not her. And he still cares for you. He loves you. You petaQ."
Ouch! That one hurt.
"All he is to her is a great screw. Ask Seven-of-Nine, she knows. Ask to see her PADD, if you want. She's watched them go at it enough. All over the ship. And there is nothing there, really. It is just mechanical. She wants the sex and he is so very good at it."
"But he is still going to ask her. He is going to pop the question in March 2377. That is sixty days away in case you are too stupid to figure that out. And it is going to happen during a race, a race where you, B'Elanna Torres, sent her instead of Harry Kim to be Tom's flight engineer. And something is going to happen out there and Tom is going to ask her. And she is going to say yes."
"And they are going to get married that same night. And you are going to be there because Janeway will order you to be there. And you know how I know? Open that damned box now, Lieutenant Torres."
"Yes, Ma'am." Torres the lieutenant reacted automatically to Torres the lieutenant commander. She lifted the lid and pulled out the dried up flower that was inside.
"Do you have it, B'Elanna? Look at it real close. That is a flower from the wedding bouquet that you are going to catch. It came to you deliberately. Sue wanted you to have it because she caught Tom. She just enjoyed rubbing that in."
B'Elanna growled. Why the hell did I just do that? She reached up to her chin expecting to feel a scar there but it was smooth as always.
"And later that night after all the pleasantries and you refusing to dance with Tom, they will head off on their honeymoon aboard the Delta Flyer. Your honeymoon, Torres. The one you will never have."
"But you are going to be in your quarters by then. And you are going to leave the lights dimmed. And you will sob and smash everything you can get your hands on and beat your head bloody against the wall of your sonic shower. And if you don't believe me, here is the damned scar on my forehead that I never repaired. Freeze this frame and zoom in. Take a good look, damn you!" She pointed to her head.
B'Elanna did as B'Elanna asked her. It was there alright. She involuntarily touched her forehead ridges. It wasn't there now.
"And later, oh say about three months afterwards, Tom will announce that Sue is pregnant. And you will be there again. And your guts will turn, both stomachs, because that should have been your baby. But nooooo. It is his and hers."
"And when he reveals this he will be so happy about becoming a father. And then he will indirectly tell you that he knows you screwed with the Temporal Directive. That this should never have happened. And you will hurt so badly that you will want to crawl into a hole and die. But you don't. Instead, you leave me to my fate. Husbandless, loveless, and childless at age fifty. You damned idiot."
B'Elanna winced. She could not believe what she was saying to herself. But then again, she had a similar conversation like this one in her mirror more than once. But she was strong and did not cave in.
"Oh sure, you will eventually get home. Sooner now. And then earn three Starfleet Academy degrees and become a bigtime engineer with a Ph.D. who developed slipstream technology and the theory to support it. And you will get all kinds of laurels and recognition and piles of latinum. And give talks all over the Alpha Quadrant, as a very wealthy woman. And be so important. Soooo empowered."
"You would have had that anyway. I have it now. And who cares?"
B'Elanna stared. And gulped.
"You do not know what is important, B'Elanna. You want to know what is really important in life? Family, B'Elanna. That is what is important. The one that is always there for you. The one you don't have now and have dreamed about your entire life. And never will have because…." She sobbed and could not complete her thought.
Yes, she was right. Of course she is right because she is me.
Future B'Elanna rubbed her eyes. "And every day you will wake up alone. You will be wishing, praying, hoping that all of this is just a nightmare. And that you will rouse in the arms of the only man who ever loved you. And that is Thomas Eugene Paris. And he won't be there because you screwed it all up, Torres. And you deserve all the misery that comes to you because of it. THIS is what you will become. Me. You stupid bitch."
All of a sudden, B'Elanna was beside herself. She stopped the PADD recording. Now she looked at the flower and picked it up. It crumbled into dust. Her mouth moved. Oh my God. I am an idiot.
She restarted the video. "So why did I do this? Make this PADD message just for you? Because I am giving you a gift, B'Elanna. I am giving you the opportunity to make this right. To have a second chance at love."
"To finally understand that there is more to life than just work and loneliness. And that Tom Paris is not our father. And you are not our mother. And that nothing, and I mean nothing, can ever replace what goes on between a man and a woman who truly love one another. And B'Elanna, I love Tom Paris. I love him so much that I know if you do the right thing and succeed in correcting the Temporal Directive that my life as it is…is over. I will be gone, as I am now."
B'Elanna stared at herself. The older version was sobbing again. And shouting.
"And SO WHAT! That is a small price to pay for happiness! I might as well be dead. I feel like I am. I need to be loved, to give love in return. And so do you. And…I can't. Dad and Mom are dead. No one to give it to. But Tom. And he is taken."
Torres sat at her desk on Voyager holding her hands in her face, the tears streaming down.
"You don't have much time, B'Elanna. But at least you have it. In my entire Starfleet career so far I always took the hard right and never the easy left. Please, for Kahless sake, go win his heart! Make us happy and marry him. I beg you."
Torres was trembling at her desk. It was welling up inside her and she was going to explode. Her feelings for Tom were so controlled. But it was so hard now to keep them inside.
"Remember this, B'Elanna. Please remember this. Someone I highly respect once told me that there are no guarantees in life. Sometimes you just have to grab what life offers you and enjoy it."
"But no matter what, I will live with your decision. After all, I have to."
/End Recording/
B'Elanna Torres collapsed in her chair and spun around and around. Was this right? Was this what she wanted, to be miserable forever? Or was she going to fall in love all over again with the man she now knew to be decent, caring, and loving? She saw that man every day and what he had done for Voyager numerous times. Put his life on the line for their ship. And for her. And she had already fallen, hadn't she?
And then it occurred to her that one reason she had done what she did was that she believed she did not deserve him. He had never indicated that to her. He always had treated her with kindness and respect, even when she pushed him away and belittled him. No, she deserved him alright. And he deserved her. The real her.
And she would be damned if that petaQ assistant engineer of hers would have the only truly honorable man on Voyager, more honorable than Chakotay or Tuvok or Harry.
She knew it. She loved him. She had that burning feeling. The one she had tried so hard to fight off for years. It was leaking out now. Soon it would be a gusher.
She did not have a lot of time to turn things around and maybe she never would. But not for the lack of trying. She had to plan this out, take a precious day or two to really think about what got them going in the first place.
She recalled old memories. First they became friends. Then respected colleagues. Equals. Then more until she abruptly shut that off. Now they were just two people who had to work together.
That night, for the first time in four years, B'Elanna Torres slept deeply and contentedly.
/
Two days later Tom Paris sat in the Voyager officer's mess hall eating his breakfast just before Alpha shift. Sue Nicoletti was in the chow line and would soon join him and Harry Kim. He contemplated the pile of purple glop on his plate. He wondered how Neelix could turn oatmeal into something that looked like it had been ejected at warp speed from the throat of a Targ. But there you go.
Harry was pushing a spoonful of warm cereal into his mouth when he suddenly stopped and nearly spit it out. Tom thought he was choking but Harry shook his head, his eyes wide in astonishment. He indicated with his spoon for Tom to look behind him.
Paris turned around and stared into the narrow waistline of a gold engineering uniform. Looking up he saw the beautiful face of B'Elanna Torres. Her make-up was perfect, her hair was done with that special braid he loved, correction had loved, years ago. And his favorite perfume. And she was smiling. At him.
"Umm, there does not seem to be anywhere else to sit so I was wondering if I might join you. For breakfast?"
Tom glanced around at several empty tables. Who stole Torres and replaced her with a Hologram?
"No worries. Have a seat…umm…Lieutenant."
B'Elanna sat down, as if this was normal routine. It had been a long time ago, nearly five years now. She started to eat just as Sue Nicoletti came over and sat next to Tom, placing a possessive hand on his thigh.
"So what brings you here, Ma'am?" Sue was stunned to see her boss eating with them.
Without looking up, B'Elanna spoke. "We just received something called ablative armor from Admiral Janeway. And some futuristic coating that prevents Borg tractor beams. And some upgraded photon torpedoes. All of this is going to take extensive cooperation between engineering, helm control, and operations to make sure there are no issues during the install."
Everyone nodded. Prudent. Typical B'Elanna.
Torres continued. "I will need to work very closely with Lieutenant Paris, he being the chief pilot and I being the chief engineer. And Ensign Kim for operational considerations. And you, Susan, are the best engineer I have regarding hull modifications, next to me of course. So you are going to be very busy running multi-level diagnostics to ensure that we install everything to specifications. I am also putting you in charge of supervising the installation crews."
Sue was shocked. "Umm…that is quite a lot of responsibility, Lieutenant. I…."
B'Elanna looked at her. "I think you are capable. And I will double-check everything myself. However, if you do not think you can handle it I can ask Lieutenant Carey to find someone more…confident. Maybe Seven will do it."
Tom and Harry were smirking. B'Elanna fought back a laugh as she ate. She knew exactly what she was doing.
"No. No. I can do it. I am just floored by the trust you have in me. I won't let you down."
"Good. Better get to it then. Once you have finished your breakfast, of course." B'Elanna kept eating.
Sue left soon enough. Harry followed her to take over as Alpha shift operations officer. Tom was about to leave for the helm but Torres stopped him.
"Wait, Lieutenant. I am not through with you yet."
Paris shook his head and smirked. Once again, typical Torres. You left when she was done with you. He considered that innuendo.
"Yes, Lieutenant. So what can helm control do for engineering now?"
Torres put down her spoon and wiped her mouth.
"Accept my apology."
Tom gave her a blank look. He was expecting something rude but not that. What the hell is she up to?
"For what? You haven't done anything out of the ordinary. Lieutenant."
Torres was looking straight into his blue eyes with her brown orbs. For the first time in years she noticed just how blue they were. And how sad they looked, as he peered at her. There was a lot of pain there. And more.
"For everything, Tom. I have been a real asshole. And I know that the mess hall is not the best place to say what I am going to say but it can't wait. There isn't enough time to wait."
Did she just call me Tom? This can't be B'Elanna Torres, the ice queen.
"Years ago I made a mistake. A big mistake. I allowed my fears to ruin our friendship. Yeah, years ago I thought you were a pig. But frankly, I enjoyed being with you and Harry and especially with you. You are a funny guy, Tom. You made me laugh. And we had a lot of fun on the Holodeck and working on engineering and helm issues and just hanging out together. And building the Delta Flyer. I always considered that to be our ship."
Stunned. Tom was absolutely stunned.
"But over the years I have come to see you differently. Same Tom, sure. But you are much more than that. You are the most caring person I know. A professional in every sense. A gentleman. Courageous. Smart. Best damned pilot in the Delta Quadrant. And I was just beginning to be your friend years ago when I looked in that box."
Tom sat up. Then he stood up. "No. Wait. You don't have to do this."
"No, you wait. This is my confessional right now, Lieutenant Paris. Please, sit down?"
He did. A few crewmen were now staring. But neither one of them cared what they thought.
B'Elanna continued. "I know that you know what was going to happen to us because you looked in that box too. And I did my best to prevent things from happening that should have happened, things I now regret. And I know that you and Sue are a couple now and perhaps will go even farther in the future."
Tom had just been considering that. Sue was pressuring him.
"But I still want to be your friend, Tom. To see if we can be friends once more. That's all I am asking. A second chance at…friendship." Then she added as she touched his hand. "Please."
Holy shit. This can't be happening. He had to ask. "Why now?"
B'Elanna laughed. "The reasonable question comes from Tom Paris! For one because we are going to be working very closely together so we can get home in one piece. Another is that I really like you and have missed your company. And I suppose the main reason is that we have lost a lot of time that we should have spent getting to know one another better. Working together and just having fun. I forgot what it was like to just have a good time personally and professionally. You bring all of that out in me. And…more."
Right. Just forget four years of crap. "Uh huh. Anything else? Lieutenant."
He's not buying it. Might as well come clean. "And because I got a wake-up call from the future. A PADD message from me that I needed to mend the fence with Tom Paris. I will show it to you if you want to see it. Is that good enough? Tom?"
She was smiling that smile and Tom thought he was going to melt. He was going to pinch himself but he knew he was awake.
A PADD message from the future. Admiral Janeway at work. Must have been a doozy. "Yeah, that's good enough. Don't need to see it. I trust you…B'Elanna."
She pulled out her regular PADD. "Good. So let's go over what I have in mind for the ablative armor upgrade and please give me your input on helm control. We can run the numbers later at my private workstation."
/
"Well, Sue that looks good so far. Three weeks of work and you have everything to spec and within tolerances. I would say that you have done a damned fine job."
Sue Nicoletti was ecstatic. She had been working closely with Lieutenant John Hargrove who had proven to be a top-notch engineer himself. And operations and helm control. Everything was coming together.
"Umm, Lieutenant Torres, I was wondering if I could take off a bit early. I want to go with Tom to the monthly birthday party in Sandrine's tonight but I am in the middle of a level four diagnostic. I haven't seen a lot of him recently."
Yeah. Except in bed every night. "Well, I need those numbers by 0500 or it will impact the torpedo install. You should be done by 2200 and the party won't be over until after 0100 or so. I am sure Paris will wait for you. He's like that, you know. Patient."
Sue was disappointed. She had definitely noticed Torres spending more time with her lover but had not caught on yet as to what B'Elanna was up to. But now she was getting a very good idea. She was obviously being kept busy.
"Okay, Lieutenant. All play and no work makes for a bad engineer."
B'Elanna nodded. "It does." She headed off to her quarters.
Her door opened and once inside she quickly stripped and took a sonic shower. Standing naked in front of her mirror, she pulled up her red silk panties and put on a matching bra with the front closure. Then the lipstick, eye liner, eye shadow, and her hair did up to perfection with those braids once again. And then quickly into the bedroom. On went the waiting garter belt.
Squatting down in front of her dresser she carefully opened a drawer she had not accessed in years. She removed a dress, a red dress that Tom Paris had given her back in the day as a birthday present. The one she had tossed into the disposal immediately but then retrieved for some damned reason.
It was red silk and set off the color of her olive brown skin. She smirked as she noticed the contrast. She was half Hispanic after all.
And the dress had a slit up the right side that exposed her thigh more than just a bit. And a neckline that displayed her ample but not too large breasts. Tom had picked this one out for her with the hope that she would wear it for him alone on the Holodeck. Sandrine's was just as good.
She pulled on her black stockings first and hooked them to the garters. Then the dress. And those five inch spiked-heeled red shoes that put her mouth right about the same level as his. After all, he was 6'1" and she only 5'5." A girl has to compensate when with a tall man.
She giggled at her boldness but time was so very precious. She had to let him know that she was interested and that had to be sooner rather than later. Five weeks to him asking her to get married.
A dab of Tom's favorite perfume behind her right ear. Out the door.
She joined a group of similarly-dressed officers and crew heading for the turbolift. Most paid no attention to her, barely recognizing if at all who she was in that outfit. But one Ensign, Freddy Bristow, was coming off shift and exited the turbolift as the group got on. He turned his head, saw Torres, and walked straight into a bulkhead.
B'Elanna laughed. If Tom had that reaction, wow. She hoped he would.
She began to feel a bit guilty as the lift moved to the proper deck for Sandrine's. Here she was trying to break up Tom and Sue so she could be happy. No, so Tom and B'Elanna could be together as it was supposed to be. And the Temporal Directive regarding them would be repaired, if things went as they were supposed to when she and Tom eventually tied the knot.
All of this washed right out of her head as the doors opened and there was the entrance to the bar. The place was packed but she had no problem identifying her target. Tom Paris was sitting on a stool contemplating a glass of synthetic wine, the empty seat next to him held in reserve for Sue.
Here goes. Torres walked in right behind the group and at first no one noticed. Then Megan Delaney saw what she could only describe later as a vision. She nudged Jenny who poked Seven who jabbed Chakotay. Several mouths dropped open and more than one glass hit the floor. Captain Kathryn Janeway blew the shot on the eight ball that let Harry Kim win at pool for the first time ever. Janeway smirked. Someone was on the prowl.
She followed B'Elanna's measured step to discover that her objective was Tom Paris. That did not cause her to be surprised. She had suspected there was something there but it was B'Elanna who had terminated that long ago. She obviously had a woman's prerogative and changed her mind.
Now Torres swung her hips and used her high heels to wiggle her shapely ass. Of course, Tom was oblivious to the sound of mumbled discourse that followed in the wake of Voyager's chief engineer.
That was until he heard her familiar voice. "Is this seat taken?"
As in the mess hall, Tom turned but this time nearly fell off the stool. There was B'Elanna and she was wearing that dress. The one he had replicated for her because he thought at the time she did not realize just how beautiful she was. And she was not beautiful. She was overpoweringly gorgeous and much more. He found himself getting an erection. And she noticed.
"No, Lieutenant…umm…B'Elanna, I mean. I was waiting for Sue but you can have it. I need to be going anyway." He went to gingerly stand up but felt her hand touch his arm.
"Must you? I was hoping you would buy me a drink. A light beer. Please. It's been a long week."
Tom nodded his okay and indicated to Sandrine who was more than happy to comply.
B'Elanna wrapped her ruby-red lips around the bottle and gave it a lick. Then she carefully took a swig, never breaking eye contact. Her tongue went into the opening.
Tom knew exactly what she was doing; he was born at night but not last night. And he had been well-schooled in France by Ricky. And he was as good at it as Torres was, when he wanted to be. No, she wanted something but he wasn't sure what. Little did he realize that what she wanted was him.
And she did. There was no doubt in her mind anymore. She had been a fool for years and the last three weeks of working together proved it.
It was as if they had never grown apart. They anticipated each other's concerns and offered quick and effective solutions. B'Elanna would need to make an adjustment on a console and reach for the proper tool. Tom already had it and put it in her hand. And it was always calibrated to spec. It was so natural for them to be a team. And they joked around and she would smack him and then they would laugh. And look at each other with an unsatisfied longing. But only look.
And then last night Tom with Sue walked B'Elanna back to her quarters. And B'Elanna looked at Tom and he was giving her that look, the same one she had seen in that damned box when they were making love on the Delta Flyer. And she knew. He loved her too. And now she thought that Sue sensed it, as well. But she had said nothing. Not even when she was assigned that complex diagnostic to keep her occupied.
But she remembered what future B'Elanna had told her. Sue only liked Tom because he was a good screw. Maybe that was it. Sex can be very controlling. But after more than two years together Sue would just let her move in on him? That did not seem right.
But for now there was music…and Tom. And she wanted to dance so she asked him. Just like that, as natural as can be. And they got up with other couples and he put his arms around her waist and she had hers around his neck. And she buried her head on his chest and could hear the thrumming of his heart and smell his cologne. And they moved slowly around the floor, as if they were one. She felt content and protected.
And then Tom pushed her away and said he was sorry but Sue was here. And there she was, cleaned up and dressed to the nines in a deep blue dress with a PADD in her hand.
"Hey boss, nice dress. I have those numbers for you now. Transferred them to this PADD. You might want to go over them so if I need to change anything I can do that by 0500. Oh, I'll take Tom off your hands now. Thanks for keeping him warm." She grabbed him by the hand and led Paris to the bar stools. Tom just shrugged and sat down.
B'Elanna was obviously disappointed but knew that she still had time. It might take a while. But who knows. In the meantime she decided to go back to her quarters and go over the numbers.
/
She sat on her couch and went over what had happened. The numbers were fine; that wasn't it. It was that she was out of practice and not in how to seduce a man. She simply had expected too much too soon in a relationship. She had thought that Tom would just flip and they would end up in bed. But now she knew that was wrong. Tom was gentle and patient, exactly what she wanted but did not need when time was important. But that was why she loved him. He moved at her pace and she was moving way too fast. Have to think how to move this along.
Her door chimed. Who could that be at 0238?
She looked at the security port and there was Sue Nicoletti once again in her Starfleet uniform. She opened the door and Sue came in.
"Hi Lieutenant. I thought you might be up so I came by to see if you had gone over the numbers."
"I did. They all check out. You are doing a fine job."
Sue grinned. "So are you. A fine job, for sure. Lieutenant."
"Excuse me?" B'Elanna did not like that tone.
"And I am not talking about the refit."
Ah hah. B'Elanna had been expecting this.
"Look. You had your chance at Tom years ago. You decided to just crush him like a bug. You broke his heart and treated him like dirt. You still did until what, three weeks ago? Now all of a sudden you have changed your mind. And I think I know why."
B'Elanna looked at her. All she could say was, "Why?"
"Because he showed you his PADD, didn't he? The one from future Tom Paris. The one where he told himself that he had married the wrong woman, me, and that he was still in love with you decades later."
Torres gulped. Tom had sent a PADD back, as well! And Sue had obviously read it. He must have showed it to her. But not to B'Elanna. After all, Sue was his…future wife.
Nicoletti glared. "You may be my supervisor, Lieutenant Torres, but you are also low-life scum. You are only doing this because you think we are miserable. Well, we are not. We have a great relationship and I want more. I want him. All of him. Married. Forever. And there is no way in hell that you are going to get him because what you two might have had ended years ago."
"And you did everything you could to get us together in the first place. I am so very glad for that, Lieutenant. But with all due respect, go screw yourself. Leave my Tommy alone."
Nicoletti turned and walked out.
B'Elanna stared at the door. Her hands clenched and her fingernails pierced the skin drawing blood. She should report her for insubordination.
But who had she been kidding anyway? Sue was right. She had only been doing this because of time. And her knowing what she would become in the future. She and Tom were long past being together. It was over.
She slowly undressed and then put on her tank top and a pair of clean panties. She held up her dress, Tom's dress. His scent was all over it. She smelled him and it filled her completely, just as it always did.
But no one ever gets a second chance at love, do they?
Taking the dress with love in her heart, she folded it up and put it away in the drawer. For some reason, she started to cry.
/
Tom Paris lay in bed when the door to his quarters opened and Sue stepped in. She set the lock and pulled off her boots and socks.
"Where you been? I've been waiting."
Sue stripped, the duty tunic and pants first. Then her tank top, bra, and regulation underwear. She turned and dimmed the lights. "I stopped by to see Torres to make sure the numbers were good. They were."
Sure. Of course she did. "You knew that. I checked them with you. Twice."
Sue nodded. "But you are not B'Elanna Torres."
Tom agreed. And neither are you.
Sue crawled into bed and immediately reached for Tom's penis. He was flaccid but that was no problem. She started to work on him with her fist. And if that did not work, then she would….
"Is there something you want to tell me, Sue?"
She smirked and kept pumping. "Yeah. I'm crazy about you. But you know that." She started to lick his nipples.
Tom was fighting off that urge to get hard and so far it was working. He had to concentrate.
He cleared his throat. "So when did you get so good at burglary?"
Sue stopped and looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean. You want to tell me about my new PADD and why it was left on top of my desk? And that you are the only one besides me who knows the combination to my lock-drawer? What did you see, Sue?"
Sue stared at Tom in horror. She had left in a hurry when she thought she heard a noise. He found out. Have to think.
"Well, I was curious, you know. I had never seen a PADD like that one and you know I love technology. So I just thought I would give it a quick looksee and then the next thing I knew your video came up. And you were so much older, you know? Going bald, wrinkles, greying hair, the whole nine yards. But you still had those eyes. And then I just sort of…hit play."
"And you were not going to tell me, were you?"
Of course not. But she was thinking fast. "Umm. Sure, I was intending to, at some point. But I did not have a chance yet. I've been working hard and…"
"Did you tell B'Elanna about my video?" Tom was deadly serious. Sue knew it when he was.
She gave him that look; the one he knew meant she was very uncomfortable. She sat up now and put on a tank top. She was cold.
"I might have said something to her about it. We were talking about my having done a good job and then I got angry. You know, about how she has been coming on to you. And I knew why after I read that message. It was because you had shown it to her, your PADD message. And that you two were now going to force things. And, well, I got jealous. That's it. Can we get back to business now? I'm very horny."
Tom stared. Ever since he was a child the one thing he demanded in all of his relationships with women was trust. They always let him down and then they dumped him. And he never had trusted Sue. And now he knew why. She was a sneak.
But not B'Elanna. She had told him about her PADD message even though he did not mention his. Of course, he had not read it yet at the time. Admiral Janeway gave it to him much later, for some reason.
"I never showed B'Elanna my PADD, Sue."
"What? No! Then why the sudden change in her behavior? Why is she coming on to you like gangbusters? That…ice cold bitch!"
Tom became furious. He never lost his temper with her but he did now. "Don't you ever call her that! She isn't that way. She is one hell of a woman and a fine officer and an incredible engineer. More than you will ever be. I can't believe what you did!"
He was livid. He stood up and pulled on his shorts. "You violated my trust once again, Sue Nicoletti. You went behind my back this time! And you did not even have the decency to tell me that you were interested in this damned PADD! I would have showed you the video because I thought I might be able to trust you one day. But I never could."
That finally came out. And it felt so good.
"Get the hell out of here. You can come get your things later. We're done."
Sue panicked. "Tom, listen to me. I'm sorry. I love you. Don't do this to me! I'll…make it up to you. Do something special for you. Anything you want. Don't leave me."
Tom almost seriously considered what she said. But he knew she would just do it again. And again. And again. She never really cared for him. It was just his cock and his skill at performing on demand. Her nightly screw, nothing more.
In a few seconds he recalled their relationship over the last few years. It never seemed right. They had fun, sure. But he could never confide in her because she talked too damned much. And that had cost him a pip once.
And who had been there a month later when he got out of the brig? Not Sue. It was B'Elanna Torres. With a hot meal of spaghetti and meatballs that she actually had cooked with fixings she begged from Neelix. She mentioned something about how skinny he looked and then went right back to being Torres the ice queen.
And who had been there just a few weeks ago when ALICE took over his brain? B'Elanna Torres. Sue Nicoletti could not get through to him. A panicked Janeway ordered Tuvok to find Torres and get her to Sickbay. Janeway knew. And B'Elanna did not have to be found. She was already there.
Tom's eyes began to water and not from anger. It was so obvious now. B'Elanna had done such a great job of hiding her feelings by just pushing him harder and harder when what they both wanted was to get closer and closer. And he had confirmed it, from the future.
"Get out. Right now or I will throw you out." He was boiling, something that rarely happened.
Nicoletti got dressed in a hurry. She picked up what few things she kept in his room. A few clothes, a robe, and some toiletries. She knew it was over.
And it had been fun while it lasted. But there were other fish on Voyager and she had been working hard alongside Lieutenant John Hargrove. He was handsome and showed a little interest. Maybe things might work out after all. If not him, then there were others.
"Okay, Tommy-boy. I hope you and that half-Klingon whatever have a great life together."
That was it. Out the door.
Tom was relieved. A great weight had lifted from his shoulders.
He looked at his chronometer. Alpha shift would start soon but he was off for twenty-four hours. And he knew that B'Elanna had been ordered to take the day off, as well. She was working too hard on those upgrades. She could use a distraction.
He ran to the sonic shower. Maybe I can catch her before breakfast!
