Chapter 7: Barbaric B'Elanna
All of the senior officers were gathered in the briefing room, waiting for the Captain to arrive. The majority of them hadn't got a clue what the meeting was about. All they knew was that the Captain had scheduled a meeting for 1400 hours and by 1410 hours, they were still waiting.
Lt. Torres inspected all the faces at the table. She was hoping to spot whether anyone knew the purpose behind the meeting. She was bored of waiting.
"Anybody know what this is about?" she wondered aloud, her smirking face leaning lightly on her palm.
Her fingertips danced across her cheek as she continued to lean forward, her eyes taking note of Ensign Kim shrugging his shoulders.
"Anyone?" she stressed her question that time.
Of course the Commander and the Doctor knew but they kept quiet. It wasn't their place to tell.
"No." Seven of Nine decided to answer.
B'Elanna both scoffed and rolled her eyes as she faced the former drone.
"I wasn't talking to you!" she snapped.
Seven remained cool and composed in her chair, B'Elanna's words not having any effect on her. However, the same could not be said about Tom Paris. He for one was rather shocked by her attitude, his brow dropping as a result.
Granted, he knew that B'Elanna didn't like Seven, everybody did, but he'd never seen her act upon her feeling so harshly, especially not for something as minor as Seven answering a question.
"B'Elanna!" Tom cried, his tone hushed but firm towards the woman sat in the seat next to him.
Again she scoffed. "Don't you B'Elanna me!" she warned harshly, "She's a Borg drone!"
Commander Chakotay was sat opposite the half-Klingon engineer, he too completely surprised by her behaviour. She wasn't acting like the B'Elanna he'd known for so many years.
"That's enough, Lieutenant!"
"Really, Chakotay?!" she cried, falling back against her chair in a huff.
He didn't answer verbally, he just looked at her. However, instead of backing down, B'Elanna just smirked and rolled her eyes enough to noticeably look towards the door.
"You know…?" B'Elanna voiced after a moment, "If we were ever this late, we'd been in serious trouble. How come she gets away with it just because she's the Captain?"
"Lieutenant!"
"B'Elanna!"
Both the Commander and Lt. Paris had spoken at the same time, Chakotay's voice much firmer than before. There was a line and she was crossing it big time.
"I'm merely saying rules are rules." she looked down and examined the nails on her hands, something Tom couldn't help but frown at. He'd never seen her do that before. "I say we walk out. Prove a point. She's late so we left."
"Lieutenant, you're dismissed." the Commander decided. She was already digging a hole too deep to climb out of. "Report to your quarters. I'll speak to you afterwards."
B'Elanna laughed dryly. "You're kicking me out… really?" she shook her head, "Don't make me laugh, Chakotay."
Even Tom was reaching his limits. This wasn't the B'Elanna he knew.
"What the hell's gotten into you?" he demanded of her in a rough, whispered tone.
"Don't you dare try and lecture me!" she shot him an icy look, "I'm not five years old."
It was Tom's turn to scoff. "I know." he leaned a little closer to her, "Five year olds are never as rude as this!"
B'Elanna met him in the middle, her mouth dangerously close to his face.
"Watch your mouth, Fly Boy," she warned, "Or I'll knock your nose into it."
"Lieu…" the Commander almost stood to show her he meant business. However, he was interrupted when the Captain suddenly entered the room.
Everyone looked away from Lt. Torres and to the new arrival, each of them clocking just how pale their Commanding Officer appeared.
"Sorry I'm late." she apologised, shooting both the Commander and the Doctor a warning look. She wasn't in the mood for them making a scene.
She looked towards the Commander again, for encouragement that time. Seriously, why was she so afraid to say two words?
"Well, I won't make you wait any longer." she sighed, "I'm pregnant… and I thought it best to inform you all before the rumours start circulating."
Shock seemed to be the most prominent emotion shared between the members of the group. During their wait when they'd wondered what the meeting was about, the last thing on their mind was that.
"Well, now we know what you get up to in your ready room." they all heard B'Elanna mutter rather loudly.
While Tom felt his eyes close in the hope to somehow remove himself from the situation, everyone else turned to face the grinning engineer.
"Lieutenant!" cried the Commander.
The Captain too had turned to look directly at her Chief Engineer. If it had been another member of the crew, she honestly thought she'd have cried. Torres' reaction had been exactly what she'd been dreading. However, as it had come from the woman in question, it actually had shocked her more due to the fact it was out of character. That alone only made her stand her ground.
"I do beg your pardon?" the Captain's tone was dangerously flat.
B'Elanna slowly stood up, cocking her head to the side upon reaching the Captain's level.
"You heard me." she sneered.
The Captain was not at all amused, neither were any of the officers. The Commander was a mixture of angry and concerned. He'd never, ever seen B'Elanna disrespect the Captain. Over the past three years, he knew she'd developed a great respect for her. What had suddenly happened to change that, he really didn't know.
The Captain returned B'Elanna's cold stare. "Wait for me in my ready room." she ordered.
B'Elanna sniggered. "Sorry. Don't really fancy being alone with you in there… who knows what could happen?" she sighed before looking away from the Captain and towards the Commander, "Oh, Chakotay… you know you could do so much better than… this."
The Captain couldn't lie. B'Elanna's words stung but she refused to let that show. She'd deal with her in a moment.
The Engineer left unfazed, laughing quietly to herself before disappearing and leaving a very confused group of officers. Tom slowly looked away from the back of his hands and towards the Captain. Words could never express how sick he was feeling. He was actually trembling. He wanted nothing more than to apologise for B'Elanna's behaviour but it wouldn't have made any difference. He couldn't change what they'd all just seen.
The Captain shuffled on the spot, refusing to look any of them in the eye for a few moments. Somehow that made ignoring B'Elanna's behaviour a little easier. It also made it a hell of a lot easier to tell them all about the history of her pregnancy, and about Q.
=/\=
The Captain had tried but she really couldn't get B'Elanna's behaviour off her mind. She knew the Commander had gone to have a word after the meeting but she hadn't heard anything since.
Her work wasn't getting done, the Captain knew that much. Despite the fact she felt as though she was working non-stop, she still had the exact amount to do as she had when she started. Three hours gone and she was still nowhere near completion.
"Sickbay to Captain Janeway." the Doctor's hail allowed her a needed break.
She instinctively lifted her head. "Yes, Doctor?"
"Captain, I have Lieutenant Torres down here." she could hear the urgency in his voice, "Can you please report to Sickbay?"
She had no hesitation despite the earlier incident. Part of her was sure that whatever the problem was would explain the half-Klingon's behaviour. That was why it made her a little anxious. She wanted to know yet she didn't.
"I'm on my way."
The Captain arrived in Sickbay pretty quickly, her concern growing when she saw both the Doctor and Lt. Paris stood at B'Elanna's bedside. She was virtually lifeless on the bio-bed, her skin pale and clammy.
"Report." the Captain order upon approach.
Tom didn't look up, he just kept his hands tightly gripped around her cool limb. He should have known there was something wrong. They all should have. B'Elanna would never behave in the way she did in the earlier staff meeting without a damn good reason.
"Ensign Wildman found her collapsed just outside of Engineering." the Doctor explained, directing the Captain over to the surgical console, "I didn't find anything wrong until I ran a neurological scan."
The Captain remained silent. She had no intention of interrupting the Doctor before he had finished.
"There's an unusual energy signature emanating from her parietal lobe." he showed her the scan before meeting her eye, "It matches the energy field surrounding your baby."
This Captain sighed loudly, glancing worriedly towards B'Elanna.
"You mean the baby's affecting B'Elanna?" she asked quietly, a nice lump growing in her throat.
"No, Captain." the Doctor shook his head, "Q is."
The Captain released a rough breath, struggling for a moment to allow her lungs to continue processing the necessary amount of oxygen. She really wished she hadn't just heard that.
Her eyes welded shut, only for a moment, as she felt her jaw clench. She still may have been angry about what he'd done to her but she could deal with it. After all, rather her than anyone else. However, her crew was off limit and she damn well was going to make that clear. Nobody messed with her crew in such an inhumane way, not if she had anything to do with it.
Once the initial shock wore off, the Captain looked back towards the Doctor. She could tell by the grim expression on his face that there was more to come.
"What else?" she was thankful her voice didn't betray her.
The Doctor sighed. "It's starting to cause brain damage."
Tom felt himself flinch at those words. He couldn't believe what was happening. He'd rather it happened to him any day, not B'Elanna. Not his B'Elanna.
"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
A sudden flash made all three of them turn towards around. While the Doctor only watched on, Tom felt his face harden. He'd never been a violent man, not really. However, if he hadn't been at B'Elanna's bedside, he was sure he would be wrestling with Chakotay as to who would manage to kill the omnipotent being first; either that or they'd be working together.
The Captain's usual uneasiness around Q hadn't made its usual appearance. Her anger was far too dominant to allow herself to feel uneasy.
"Make her better." she ordered calmly.
"Not until you tell me what I've done."
"Q…" she wanted to plead but she wasn't giving him the satisfaction, "You do what you want to me, but you don't mess with my crew. Now make her better!"
The Doctor was surprised to see the Captain so cold. He'd never seen her like that before. Of course he understood her reasoning but it was still chilling to witness.
"Kathy…" he tried to object.
"Just do it!" she snapped, her art of negotiation being lost within an instant.
Q sighed. "Tell me what I've done!"
The Captain briefly looked away, needing to have a moment in order not to break. Q took note and decided it best to keep quiet for a moment. The Captain wasn't acting like the Captain he'd met just over a year ago, her time of course.
"Stop this, Q." she sighed as she looked back, "Just stop this and leave."
Q sighed. He wasn't going to win this one.
With a single snap of his fingers, Q disappeared. At the same moment, B'Elanna's eyes shot open and she gasped, her breathing rapidly increasing.
Much to both Tom and the Captain's relief, she was fine. The scan conducted by the Doctor and the simple nod of his head confirmed that.
The Captain slowly approached, her eyes meeting B'Elanna's not too long afterwards.
"Captain!" her tone was urgent, "Captain, I'm sorry. I didn't – I didn't mean…"
The Captain sighed, softly shaking her head and patting the young Lieutenant's shoulder.
"It's okay." she insisted, seeing the crease on her distressed face, "B'Elanna, its fine." she promised, "I'm just glad you're okay."
B'Elanna sighed and nodded, grateful to have the Captain's forgiveness. Smiling in return, the Captain tapped her shoulder before looking between the two men in the bay. She couldn't really have asked for a better outcome.