Janeway's perspective
Walking into the Mess hall, three things jumped out at me. Tom Paris, sat staring at the stars outside, glass of milk between his palms, Neelix quietly packing up the kitchen for the night and Harry Kim clearly flirting to a red haired beauty. I sighed and made a mental reminder to have a word to her daughter about Starfleet fraternisation protocols. But for now, I ordered a coffee (I think ive had enough coffee for now) and walked over to Tom.
"This seat taken?"
"Captain!" Lt. Paris went to stand up, and stand to attention. I quickly put a hand up to calm him,
"At ease, Lt." I rushed. He relaxed, smiled and sat back down. Silently, he gestured to the seat and I sat down.
"You disobeyed me" I started. His smile faltered for a moment, "And it was probably the best thing you could have done. I understand that if you were to tell anyone, your plan would have failed."
Paris looked relieved, "Yes, that's exactly it Captain. Thank you"
I smiled widely, patted his arm and stood up. I turned to walk away when I decided to say one more thing. "Mr. Paris?"
"Mmm?"
"Don't think this gives you the right to disobey me again" I said with a wink. He laughed and nodded. I turned and walked out the door. As I did, I saw out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ensign Kim lean in for a kiss from Angie.
Yes. Angela will make a fine addition to this crew. And my motivation to get home has had a reboot. My daughter doesn't deserve to live her life on this ship. None of my crew do. And I am going to get them home. Every single one of them.
"Janeway to the helm. Set a course….for the alpha quadrent"