B'Elanna Torres was beside herself as she walked into her latrine. She had twenty-four hours off and had no idea what she was going to do. She rarely had free time anymore. And those upgrades needed to be finished soon but Captain Janeway was very insistent. You will take one full day off and relax, B'Elanna. And that is an order.

Hah. The one thing she did not need or want was more time. Time was not her friend. It had proven to be something she hated and resisted. She was doomed to be alone. Forever.

She looked at her desk and that PADD. That incredible technological device from the future whose message was so brutally honest and offered so much hope. She had considered it to be a lifeline, in a way. But it turned out to be just an illusion.

But as much as she hated to admit it, her future self had done her one huge favor. For a very brief moment in time she had experienced love once again. And with Tom. She had long-forgotten how that sensation of being with him had filled her and consumed her and drove her crazy. She was so out of control and just relished it. She was almost giddy at times.

And then Sue had caused reality to sink in once more. And B'Elanna came back to reality in a hurry. Like a tumbling shuttlecraft she had landed hard, absolutely crushed.

Happiness was for someone else, not B'Elanna Torres. And she knew it.

As she checked her make-up and combed her hair she wondered what she would do with yet another day on Voyager. She decided to go eat something in the mess hall alone as usual and then trade for some Holodeck time. She could use some Bat'leth training; her skills were eroding.

Taking one last look into the mirror, she noted the bland expression on her face. The mask she was so used to living with and how others saw her. She shrugged her shoulders and headed to the door. It opened and she stepped out into the world of sadness, her entryway locking behind her. After making sure the door was secure she turned around.

And there was Tom Paris with a smile on his face. It grew when he saw her. He was just leaning on a bulkhead, as nonchalant as if he was a statue. A futuristic PADD was in his hand.

"I'll show you mine, if you show me yours." As he laughed his eyes twinkled like they used to do years ago but not so much anymore. Except for the last three weeks when they just danced when he looked at her. Now she knew something had changed in him. For the first time in years, he was happy.

B'Elanna blinked. There he was. Now what? Tom put the PADD into a pocket and moved very slowly towards her. He was reading her reaction and she knew it. And she stood there not knowing what to do.

The corridor was getting warmer or was it her? She started to feel panic; her heart was beating so fast, as his eyes locked onto hers. And she almost said something about leaving her alone. But nothing came out of that mouth except an anticipatory exhale. And a tentative smile.

So now he stood there nearly nose to nose. And they just stared into each other's eyes swallowing hard. Her hands were crossed in front of her waist and her fingers twitched. Tom's hands were being wiped on his uniform pants. They were slick with sweat.

And then B'Elanna did something she should have done years ago. She just flung herself at him and kissed him. Really kissed him. Her tongue forced its way into his mouth and he reciprocated. And his arms closed around her automatically, as he hugged her oh so tightly. And he swung her around and around in that corridor, barely missing lieutenants and ensigns who moved and ducked on their way to the turbolift and the next shift.

When he stopped twirling her in a circle Tom and B'Elanna started laughing. Then they pulled apart a bit as she slid down his body and her feet slowly returned to the floor. And he just kept his arms around her. So natural. Then one hand went into her hair and the back of her head. He smoothly pulled her towards him again and she did not resist.

Their lips met gently and they both gasped at the contact. Neither one of them cared that they were standing outside of her quarters. And the foot traffic continued to move on by with their smirks and grins. It seemed the whole damned crew knew about these two. And had wondered for years what the hell had happened to them so long ago.

Tom now slid his other hand around her back and she pressed willingly into his body. He moved her backwards against her door as his kisses became more urgent and she responded in kind to his tongue and lips. Her hands were kneading his muscular shoulders and then he was clenching her waist, never wanting to let go.

His mouth moved from her lips to her cheek and then to her neck. Then he looked down into her eyes. She gave a little smile and a quick nod, feeling behind her for the door key pad. She worked that combination so fast by touching codes from memory and the door opened. Then he simply moved her inside.

Anyway, he thought he did. She actually pulled him in. She wanted him there. She needed him. He was all she had ever wanted and needed. And had fought so hard to resist. They collectively caught their breath.

"Tom…about Sue. I don't want to…."

Tom was panting. "It's over, B'Ella. I ended it. She left."

Oh God. He called me B'Ella! I have not heard that in years!

She bobbed her head a bit. Acknowledging what she had known all along. That it had always been B'Ella and Tommy.

"Tommy, you're absolutely crazy, you know that?" She held him in a warm embrace.

"Yeah. It's the company I keep. Rubs off."

He threaded his fingers through her hair once again then brushed his hand along her neck. He pushed her chin up and she saw in his eyes that he wanted her. And she wanted him.

There was that gaze, the intensity of that look. He focused entirely on her as if there were no one else in the universe. She just let herself fall right into him as he kissed her fully one more time. She was moaning now and they were both more than aroused.

And then they stopped and looked at each other, kissing and touching. And knowing that they were going to make love.

But not yet. Not today. For now they were going to enjoy themselves, as friends and equals before becoming lovers. They had too much respect for one another to blow it now.

And B'Elanna led Tom to her couch but first stopped by her desk to retrieve that PADD. And she handed hers to him and he did the same for her.

And they saw each other in the future as two wretched people who were so in love with each other. And then as the videos rolled and they listened through an earpiece they took each other's hand and began to kiss once more.

And Tom looked into her eyes as his video ended. "I love you, B'Elanna Torres."

She nodded as hers ended, as well. "I love you too, Thomas Eugene Paris. Always will."

Tom's eyes were wet. "You know I have a song on my other PADD that I want to play for you. It is from the 1960s and Van Morrison. It's called 'Brown-Eyed Girl.' That's what you are to me. Have always been."

He pulled the PADD out and plugged her ear piece into it along with his. As the song played, Tom sang to her, as he stared into her brown orbs. Sue hated that song but he had sung the lyrics often over the years, always wondering why things had never worked out.

And now he was so grateful that he had the second chance at love with B'Elanna that he had so desperately wanted. And she obviously had wanted with him, as well.

And they began to kiss again, warmly, passionately, and deeply. Years of wanting this to happen flooded through them like a torrent.

And later that day on Holodeck 2 one would find Tommy and B'Ella walking along a beach, a special program he had made for her years ago but never thought they would access. Tahiti was a marvelous place for romance and someday, if fate allowed, he would take her there on their honeymoon. If and when she would agree to marry him.

/

Several weeks passed by and today was a very special day. Tom Paris was about to board the Delta Flyer II to participate in an inter-species, light-speed shuttle race.

Earlier he and B'Elanna had a lively discussion over what was going to happen regarding the flight engineer position. According to what Tom had seen of the future, the engineer was to have been B'Elanna. But she was sick with some strange flu-like bug and did not want to ruin Tom's chances to win. Reluctantly he deferred to her judgment, acknowledging that she was always right about these sorts of things.

That left Harry Kim who had been Tom's choice in the first place. Or Seven-of-Nine. Or Sue Nicoletti.

Tom and B'Elanna discussed this decision in detail. And they both expressed concern about feeling trapped by what they knew should happen versus what might happen. As Tom put it, knowing the future was almost as bad as not knowing it. If you made a mistake, everything changed. If you did what you were supposed to do, everything changed, as well.

And the Temporal Directive had been fluctuating already. Soon after Tom and B'Elanna became a couple, Sue lost all knowledge that she had any relationship with Tom Paris other than a few weeks of dating and kissing during their first year on board. As far as she was concerned, Tom and B'Elanna had been together for nearly three years. About half the crew thought the same thing, which confused matters to no end.

For Rear Admiral Janeway, her preparations in arguing with her captain self for what she knew was coming with the Borg had gone rather smoothly. Torres was a whirlwind of efficiency and Nicoletti was demonstrating previously untapped skills. Engineering was working at a high tempo and everything was falling into place.

But she also knew that Paris and Torres must get married if the timeline was to reset properly for them. And that had to happen today. If it didn't there was no telling how their inaction would affect the Temporal Directive. And maybe not just for them but everyone aboard. There was no way to be absolutely certain.

But the two seemed reluctant to follow through. They had become passionate lovers, to be sure. But marriage was something else. And Admiral Janeway almost intervened but stopped. The B'Elanna she knew from the future had told her to stay out of it. If she could not convince herself to do what she must do then so be it.

And initially B'Elanna wanted to get married to Tom just as her future self had wanted her to do. But neither one of them was ready. They just did not know each other well enough to make that kind of commitment. So they decided only a week ago that they had nearly a year to figure it all out. As long as they were married by February 2378, then what did it matter anyway?

So B'Elanna being sick meant that she would not be on the Delta Flyer. That meant Harry Kim was the logical choice. But fate seemed to intervene once again. Kim had been helping Irina the Terrellian work on her ship and she requested that he remain as her flight engineer. Using her obvious powers of sex appeal, Harry was more than happy to oblige.

That now left Seven or Sue.

Seven, however, was busy analyzing the race course finding ways to cut time. When a very ill B'Elanna came to her to request that she take the engineer's position the former Borg respectfully declined. Instead she told Torres to do it herself because winning was a matter of honor.

That got B'Elanna thinking. She was not that familiar with the race course but she was quick on the uptake. And she knew the Delta Flyer II intimately; she had designed and helped to build it. If only she was not sick. Maybe she needed to see the EMH after all.

Then she ran into Sue on the way to Sickbay.

Sue, however, was not too keen on racing either. She avoided even largish shuttles and the Delta Flyer II in particular. After all, It was really Tom and B'Elanna's shuttle, not hers. And she also felt very uncomfortable being alone with Tom Paris, a person she had once dated. Still, as a professional officer, she agreed to act as flight engineer for the first of the four scheduled heats. Tom had a major fit but deferred to B'Elanna's judgment.

B'Elanna watched the race initially from Sickbay. The Doctor had finally diagnosed her with an infection, not a virus, and that had affected both her stomachs. A hypospray consisting of a dicylcloverine and an antibiotic cocktail meant she was cured.

Feeling much better and moving to the mess hall, B'Elanna now joined the assembled crew who were cheering on the racers. At the time, Tom and Sue were in third place and having difficulty getting around the ship to his front.

Torres knew what to do instinctively; she was mentally manipulating the engineering controls to rapidly adjust forward and side thrust to literally 'scrape shields' with the number two-positioned shuttle. That would allow Tom to use the momentum to slip by. He would then be at the widest part of the course where his skill as a pilot meant he would pass the lead ship and finish the heat in first place.

But Sue was not as skilled as B'Elanna when it came to the Delta Flyer. She hesitated at the engineering controls when Tom asked her to adjust the port-side thrusters to sixty-five percent updraft and then reverse polarity. Not familiar enough with that move, she made a key adjustment error and barely skimmed the starboard thruster control instead.

Voyage's crew watched in horror as the Delta Flyer suddenly careened onto its port side and rubbed against a pylon. The nose lifted just enough to flip the ship upwards and then into a twisting backwards tumbling motion.

Tom calmly spoke into the microphone that he could not stay on course. Sue was thrown around the interior when the anti-gravs failed to keep up and she was knocked unconscious. And B'Elanna suddenly found herself screaming; she was watching Tom Paris being killed because she had not been on that ship.

The Delta Flyer tumbled off course and into open space, the only thing that managed to save a disaster. If any other pilot had been at the helm the ship would have experienced a hull breech and might even have exploded.

But Tom Paris was no ordinary helmboy. It took every ounce of nerve he had to do the exact opposite of what he thought he should do. Now he trusted his training and experience; something he had not done years ago on Caldik Prime during his overly cocky years. He reversed engines and gave the ship full throttle. The ship fought itself into an upside down but stable position and held together as he reached a complete stop. He then righted the shuttle and shut down the engines. Moving out of his seat he checked on Sue with his medical tricorder. Her pulse was strong but she was out cold with a concussion.

"Delta Flyer to Voyager. We're okay. I will need a tractor beam. Sue is stable but needs to get to Sickbay."

Tom's calm voice soothed Torres who was beside herself with worry. Chakotay had his arm around her and she hugged him and cried. "He's okay, B'Elanna. It will take more than that to kill Tomcat Paris."

Torres looked up at her mentor and friend. "We haven't even begun a life together and I almost lost him!"

Then Chakotay said something curious, as he tossed a pensive look in the direction of Seven-of-Nine.

"There are no guarantees in life, B'Elanna. Sometimes you just have to grab what life offers you and enjoy it."

Torres stared. She had heard that exact phrase before. "Thanks, Chakotay. It is all so clear now."

She ran to the shuttle bay.

/

"So let me get this straight. You want to end our relationship before it has even started?"

B'Elanna was sitting in the engineer's seat aboard the Delta Flyer II. She was wearing a flying suit identical to Tom Paris.

Tom had stopped the race when he and B'Elanna began to quarrel over their future relationship. Apparently, she was having doubts over where they were heading.

"Yes, Tom. I was never really sure about us, you know. I mean, things have been moving along so fast. We are sleeping together now and even living together in your quarters. And this has happened in what, just a few weeks."

Tom blinked. What the hell are you talking about?

"B'Elanna, we have been together nearly three years now! I can understand that you think I am just using you for fun and sex but that is not it at all. I love you! I want to be with you!"

Now it was B'Elanna's turn to be shocked. Nearly three years? Could it have been that long already?

"Well, if it has been that long…then why are we not…." Her voiced faded in disappointment.

Ah hah. Tom knew it would come down to this. But that was why he stopped the ship in the middle of the final heat. She was the most important person in his life. And now she was finally going to hear it.

"You think that everything else is important to me but you, B'Ella. You think my priorities are wrong. But let me tell you something Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, all I want to be is the man you are in love with! I don't give a damn about this race. I give a damn about you, period."

B'Elanna was stunned. "I…did not know you felt that way."

Tom moved to her and grabbed her hands. She was so beautiful. "Look, you have a tough Klingon exterior. I did not know you liked the mushy stuff."

B'Elanna smiled. This was working out just fine. Just so very fine.

"Do I look tough now?"

Tom could take a hint. "Does that mean you might be in the mood for some mushy stuff?"

"It depends. What are you thinking about?"

Tom smiled and slowly moved his mouth toward hers. "Well, there is the kissy stuff." He planted a really wet one on her willing lips. She responded.

"That was nice."

"And there is the 'You are the most important person in the world to me.'"

"I like that one too."

"And then…there is the happily ever after."

B'Elanna smirked. "And how does that one work?"

Tom smiled. Here goes. Off the cliff. "Well, traditionally it begins with a proposal."

At that point a warning came over the comm. Harry Kim had initiated it after discovering that a bomb had been planted aboard the Delta Flyer that would lead to a warp core breach. Tom jumped into the command seat while B'Elanna took over engineering.

Paris looked at the ship' computer as he started the engines. They would have just enough time to reach a nebula and jettison the overloading warp core. The nebula would contain the explosion.

He was so thankful that B'Elanna Torres was the flight engineer. She knew the Delta Flyer inside and out. Even now her skilled hands were inputting the proper command sequences to get the subroutines back on line. She was concentrating hard and there was not much time left.

Still….

"So what's your answer?"

B'Elanna was nearly done. The engineering display was showing green indicating that she had the ejection port open.

"My answer?" Is he serious?

"Will you marry me?"

"You're proposing NOW?"

"It's as good a time as any!"

B'Elanna filed that question away for later. "Clear! Go!"

The warp core ejected and then exploded, throwing the Delta Flyer around like a cork on the ocean and knocking Tom and B'Elanna to the deck.

Moments later Tom awoke. He was in a panic. Is she okay?

"B'Elanna!"

Torres shook her head and indicated she was fine. She dragged herself up. "I guess we lost."

Tom jumped into the pilot's seat and was running a quick diagnostic. Everything showed green except for the absent warp core with its red indicator. But he had impulse power.

"That depends."

Torres was confused. "On what?"

"On how you answer my question."

It suddenly registered. Tom Paris had been serious. He was seriously asking her to marry him. But was he really serious?

"I thought you only asked it because we were about to explode." She did not believe that. But….

Tom spun around in the command chair and looked as solemn as he could muster.

"Well, we're still alive… and I'm still asking."

Oh my God. She moved forward to the auxiliary flight control station and sat directly across from Tom.

Finally, after three years together Tom was actually popping the question. Her mind started turning. There was something…something that she had done years ago. That had prevented this moment from happening to her. And she knew instinctively that someone else was there instead. But who?

But she could not remember anymore. All she knew was there he was with that little boy look so patiently waiting for her to make up her mind. And she was stalling.

"How come you never asked me before?"

Tom knew that patience was a virtue in dealing with B'Elanna Torres. But not now. Not when he was baring his soul to her. Not when so much was at stake. Their future together was on the line.

"How come you're still avoiding the question?"

"I'm thinking." B'Elanna answered honestly and much too fast. Thinking about their future. Thinking about what marriage would mean. Thinking about could they have children. And thinking that she was absolutely supposed to be here, not her. But who was 'her?' Her brain knew for a moment but the name just slipped away.

But Tom was not one to give up. He pushed just a bit harder.

"Think faster."

B'Elanna knew she was going to say yes. But she just could not resist a playful response.

"Why? You going to withdraw the question?"

Tom knew the war was over. He could see surrender in her eyes. "No, but I might start to beg. It could get embarrassing."

He leaned in and kissed her, still waiting for the answer he so desperately wanted to hear.

They broke their kiss. She whispered "Yes, Tom. I will marry you! Now! Tonight!"

That evening, Starfleet legacy Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris wed Starfleet Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres in front of two Janeway's, the entire crew, and the universe. Seven-of-Nine caught the bouquet and then shot a knowing glance toward a very receptive Commander Chakotay. After a Neelix-prepared reception and dancing, the couple adjourned to the Delta Flyer II with its impulse engines for their long-needed vacation and honeymoon.

/

Two figures lay intertwined on the deck of the Delta Flyer. Their bodies moved perfectly together, as they engaged in passionate love. The two screamed out each other's names as they reached their climax. Both of them sighed as they collapsed, B'Elanna on top of her husband, Tom. Twice in thirty minutes. And it was not over yet. Klingon's have three lungs for a reason and endurance was one of them.

"Hmmm." That sound came out of her mouth as a low growl. B'Elanna glanced at the wide chest below her and the bite mark surrounding Tom's left nipple. She giggled "Ooops!" Poking at the mark she stated, "Did I do that?"

Tom grinned. "Do you mean that after two years, ten months, and ten days of dating and three hours of marriage that you don't recognize a Torres love bite when you see one? I'm appalled."

"Oh, you!" B'Elanna slapped her husband's arm affectionately. "I should punish you for that remark!"

Tom's blue eyes twinkled. "Punish me? Humm, I can't wait to see what you have in mind." Tom waggled his eyebrows and B'Elanna burst into a fit of giggles. Tom just started laughing.

Once the merriment subsided, silence took over the shuttle. Tom and B'Elanna stared at each other with a look of love and desire. She closed her eyes as Tom gave her a kiss, pushing his tongue into her willing mouth. He then withdrew his tongue and nipped an earlobe causing his wife to shiver with delight.

B'Elanna now rubbed Tom's shoulders and then dropped her hand between his thighs, searching successfully for something that was once again becoming very hard. "Humm, looks like someone has some energy left. More than a bit. Is that you Tom Torres?"

"Yes, ma'am, B'Elanna Paris. At your service. But before we do what I am hoping we are going to do once again, I think we should take care of some business."

B'Elanna sat upright, still straddling his thighs.

"What kind of business?"

"Klingon business. I want to take the blood oath with you. Now."

B'Elanna was stunned. Tom had obviously read Women Warriors at the River of Blood. In that romance novel, the male hero asked the female heroine to take the oath with him as a sign of his respect for her. To indicate to the entire world that he honored her and was worthy to be her mate.

"Tom, I…yes. Okay."

She picked up his arm and gathered his scent, the smell of sex and sweat arousing her. Her blood began to sing and she leaned down. Tom knew what was coming. "Don't hold back on me, B'Elanna. Don't you ever hold back on me."

She nodded. "I won't. Never." Then a strange thought came to her mind. "I told you to be careful what you asked for, Lieutenant, because now you are going to get it."

Tom did not remember her saying that to him. Or did he? On a turbolift, wasn't it? So muddled. Who cares!

She bit his chin and drew blood, tasting the iron in it. Her groin became very wet and she was ready to take him into her once again.

Meanwhile, Tom smelled her breasts and her body in general, his excitement increasing by the moment as he gathered her scent. He was shocked by how aroused that was making him feel. Those Klingon's were on to something, no doubt.

Reaching behind his wife's head he pulled her close, biting her chin and drawing her blood. They had just completed the first part of the ritual by claiming each other as their mate.

Now B'Elanna rolled off of Tom so he could sit up on his knees in front of her. She took a similar stance and stared into his eyes.

"Tom, you know that once we go through with this we will be blood-bonded. This is no joke, Tom Paris. We will become one, our souls intertwined. We will swear to protect each other forever. Is this what you want?"

No hesitancy. "Yes, more than ever, B'Elanna."

She smiled. "Me too. jiH Dok, my blood."

Tom looked deep into her eyes, as well. His love for her was overwhelming him. He spoke the words back to her with feeling. "maj dok, our blood."

Then the two said the final words. "Tlinghan jiH, I am a Klingon."

There was only one step left and that was to make the blood bond real. Tom had come prepared; he now held a small Klingon ritual knife that he had fashioned himself in the ship's maintenance shop. B'Elanna's eyes widened in recognition and she held up her left hand. Tom cut it. She did the same to him. Pressing their left hands together they mixed their blood, releasing the incredible urge to make love. They did not need that, of course, but their need was so strong now.

For some reason, both Tom and B'Elanna recalled an event in their lives that seemed as if it never happened but did. Or did it? They were on Sakari IV, B'Elanna consumed by Klingon blood fever and about to die. Tom was lying on the grass with her on top of him, their clothes about to be removed. She had just ground her groin into his crotch and felt his erection. She laughed and he grinned. Then the image faded away.

This was the here and now and that was what mattered. And they made love for nearly an hour, taking their time gently, as Tom had learned so long ago in France. The pain sticks, heavy objects, and Klingon poetry could wait, for now.

Unbeknownst to the two newlyweds, they would return one week later to find their quarters had been thoroughly cleaned and their possessions packed. Captain Janeway's wedding present to them was on Deck Two, a former VIP conference room converted into living quarters with space for expansion.

And when they unpacked both Tom and B'Elanna had a feeling that some of their property was missing. Two of their PADDs had somehow disappeared. They looked all over but could not find them.

They did have them, didn't they?