TITLE: Obsession (simple, I know, but all I could think of) BY: Avillion Summary: Ensign Genie Wilson is obsessed with Tom Paris. When she realizes that he loves B’Elanna, the consequences could be deadly. This story takes place after "Revulsion" but before "Scientific Method." Disclaimer: Paramount owns them, I'm just writing the story. Genie is mine. RATING:PG-13(I think) **This is my first ever attempt at fanfic of any kind, so please, be kind. And I would love to hear from anyone who reads this. PLEASE!! Seriously people, you have no idea how much it would mean to me, criticize if you want, tell me you hated it, anything to know that peope are reading it!!! :-) Thank you so much to PJinNH for Beta reading for me!! If there is anyone who has not read her stories, go to her page right now, don’t even bother reading my story first--trust me, you’ll thank me for this!! "Bye Genie, thanks for all your help." "No problem!" she said energetically. She stopped to flash a brilliant smile at the staff in stellar cartography before quickly exiting into the corridor. The instant the doors slid shut behind her, however, the smile vanished and was replaced with quiet mutterings about how much she hated helping out there. She was, after all, an engineer, and in her own mind a very good one. That afternoon Lt. Carey had informed her that stellar cartography could use some help and asked her if she wouldn’t mind lending them a hand. She had wanted to say no, but Lt. Carry was her superior and she understood that it was not a question but an order. Ensign Genie Wilson was roughly 26 years old, short and thin with short dark hair and striking green eyes. She was rather attractive and there were several men on Voyager who would have been more than happy to spend an evening with her. No one could understand why seemed to prefer to spend her free time alone. It was now almost 2300 hours and she was exhausted. As she entered her quar- ters she had a pleasant thought. "Computer, what is the location of Lt. Paris?" "Lt. Paris is currently in the mess hall." Perfect. Perhaps if she got there quickly she would have time to sit and have a drink with him before he went back to his quarters. She quickly checked her appearance before heading back out of her quarters into the corridor, this time on her way to the dining hall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Genie Wilson was not the only crew member on Voyager who had a long day. Tom Paris was unfortunately, if typically of late, scheduled to pull a double shift at the conn and in sickbay, and was very happy that he finally had a chance to relax. He was even happier that that chance was with B’Elanna Torres. They were seated at a small table in the corner of the nearly deserted place, leaning close to one another and giggling quietly. Had anyone been paying attention they would have realized that the pair had been there for over an hour. "It wasn’t *that* bad," Tom said kindly, trying to sound as if he actually meant it. "Oh please!" laughed B’Elanna. "That had to be among the worst meals that Neelix has ever come up with, if you could even *call* it a meal." "Alright, it was pretty awful. What do you say we give our stomachs a break tomorrow and stay in for dinner?" "Why lieutenant, is that a proposition?" "More of a plea," he joked, reaching across the table to take her hand in his. "Your quarters or mine?" she said. Tom could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn’t speaking of dinner tomorrow. "How about yours? My place is pretty messy right now." "Alright," she said as she stood up to leave. "Wait a few minutes before you follow me, we don’t want people to talk." She started to walk away but Tom refused to release her hand, pulling her back to the table. "You know, Bella, if we told people about us we wouldn’t have to worry about whether they were going to talk or not." "I know. Soon, I promise, but not tonight." "Tomorrow?" "Alright, tomorrow," she said, smiling softly. Her grin grew wider as she said "You had better let me go, Helmboy, unless you would prefer to sleep in your own quarters tonight?" "Oh no, you’re not getting off the hook that easily," he smiled, quickly brushing his lips across her fingers before letting her go. Neither one of them noticed Genie Wilson sitting nearby, staring as if trying to decide what they were saying. As B’Elanna left the room Genie quietly slipped over to the table where Tom was still sitting. Being slightly pre- occupied he didn’t even notice her approaching until she was sitting down in the seat that had just been abandoned by Lt. Torres. "Hello Lieutenant, mind if I join you?" Tom thought a moment before saying, "Hi Genie," thankful when it appeared that he had come up with the correct name. "Usually I would love the company, but I forgot to give Lt. Torres an important message. I had better go catch up with her," he stated as he stood to leave, hoping that the grin on his face wasn’t as obvious as he was sure it must be. "Well I’ll see her early in engineering. Would you like me to deliver your message?" she asked hopefully, desperate to keep him from leaving. "No, this can’t wait. Sorry, maybe some other time," he called over his shoulder before disappearing into the corridor. Genie sat back down dejectedly, bitterly contemplating the possibility that the rumors about the chief engineer and the helmsman might be true. She quickly dismissed the thought. "The very idea is ridiculous," she mumbled quietly, "She’s not his type, she’s a half-breed for god’s sake! Besides, my Tom would never cheat on me, especially not with someone as ugly as *her*!" It didn’t take long for her to convince herself, and with that settled she went back to her quarters, content to spend the night dreaming of Tom Paris. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "B’Elanna, wake up," Tom said as he lightly brushed his lips across her forehead. "I don’t want to wake up. I’m tired," she yawned. "Why are you in such a hurry?" "We have to make an appointment with the captain before one of us goes on duty." "Why?" "B’Elanna," he groaned. "Don’t you remember? You said that we could start telling people about us. I just thought that the captain should be the first to know." "I did say that, didn’t I? You’re right, we should tell the captain first, but do we have to do it right now? I’m tired. You kept me awake until pretty late last night, remember?" she said, trying non-effectively to conceal her smile. "Me? I would never keep you from your beauty rest, not that you need any. In the future I will be certain that you are asleep by 2200 hours," he dead- panned. She sat up suddenly, grabbing his collar and pulling his face close to hers. "Don’t even think about it Flyboy," she said as she pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss. Her arms went around his neck and he pulled her very close, thinking to himself *I guess the captain will have to wait a little while.* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Computer, what time is it?" "It is 0900 hours," the computer responded monotonously. A smile crept across Genie’s face as she remembered that she didn’t have to be in engineering until 1300. She stretched slowly and deliberately as she looked around her quarters. She stood up and walked to her desk, gazing at the holopics that covered it. There was one of Tom having a drink at Sandrine’s, one of him at the conn, several from the luau, one of him playing pool with Harry and B’Elanna, although they were not included in the picture. Then there was her favorite: A picture of him sitting on the beach, staring intently out into the waves as if trying to rediscover something he thought he had lost, clearly unaware that anyone else had been there. The pictures were the only personal items in her quarters, the rest looked much as it had the day that she had been assigned to Voyager. After several minutes it occurred to her to find out where Tom was, and she inquired, "Computer, what is the current location of Lt. Paris?" "Lt. Paris is in turbolift 4." She smiled to herself, now entirely satisfied that she had been correct about his relationship with Lt. Torres. Fortunately she neglected to ask who he was with or where he was headed to, as she would not have been happy to discover that he was alone with B’Elanna on the haulted turbolift. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "You’re sure that you want to go through with this? No second thoughts?" Tom inquired, slightly worried about what the response would be. "Not a one. Why? Are you sure that you want to go through with it?" she said, almost concealing the nervousness in her voice. "Of course. I want everyone on this ship to know that you’re my Bella," he said confidently. "Even the Delaneys?" she said jokingly, but she had to admit that she did feel a slight twinge of jealousy. She knew that any woman on the ship would love to be with the attractive pilot, and that many of them had been in one way or another. But that was in the past. She knew that he loved her, and that if he loved her anywhere near as much as she loved him she had absolutely no cause for concern. "Whatever do you mean?" he said, feigning innocence. "You know exactly what I mean Helmboy," she smiled. Her tone turned a bit more serious but kept its playful edge as she said, "Do you think that you can handle breaking the heart of practically every woman onboard by announcing that you’re attached?" "Me? I can just imagine the dirty looks I’ll get when the men realize that I’m the reason you haven’t been paying attention to them! I’m going to need a bodyguards to fend off all of the men who would love to have me out of the way!" "Like who?" At the surprised look on his face she laughed. "I just want to keep my options open." "Well lets see," he said, pulling her close to him. "There’s Cohen, Havel, Ginsburg, James, Dylan, Kistler, Engels, Cunningham, Cage, the list just keeps going." She was amazed when she discovered that he was no longer joking and was actually a bit upset. He hated the thought of these men coming on to her, and she could see it in his eyes. She enjoyed that fact despite her- self, realizing that she loved how protective he was of her. "Well then, I suppose that we will both be disappointing a lot of people today. Do you think that it’s worth it?" she smiled, barely an inch away from his face. "Definitely," he responded, pulling her into a quick kiss before resuming the ride to the bridge. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tom and B’Elanna were standing side by side in the captain’s ready room. They were experiencing the same conflicting emotions, excited that they wouldn’t have to keep their relationship a secret anymore, but at the same time slightly nervous about others’ reactions, especially when it came to the captain. Janeway had always been important to them both, they each credited her with helping them turn their lives around. They knew that without her they would never have found a home on Voyager, and in turn, would never have found each other. As they stood in front of the captain it occurred to them both for the first time that she might disapprove. They were, after all, members of the senior staff, and she might not like the idea of them being involved with one another. B’Elanna could hear the nervousness in his voice, although she knew that no one else would recognize it, as Tom spoke, saying "Captain, there is some- thing that we have been meaning to tell you." He paused and B’Elanna flashed him a quick smile to help reassure him. "B’Elanna and I are in love and have been seeing each other quietly for the past several months," he rushed. "I see," Janeway replied impassively. "We have decided that it is time we went public with our relationship, and we thought that you should be the first to know." When he had finished Tom looked apprehensively at Janeway, wishing he had thought about what to say before he came. After several moments B’Elanna found the courage to look at the captain and felt a sense of utter relief when she saw the look in her eyes. It was ob- vious that she was happy for her crew members. When Tom looked at Janeway he thought that he could detect a hint of pride as well. She allowed a smile to grace her lips as she looked at them each in turn, saying, "I’m very happy for you two, I know that you will be happy together, and I’m honored that you chose to tell me first." What she didn’t say but certainly thought was how important they were to her, almost like her children. She knew that they were part of her family, and was very gratified to see that they had found happiness with each other. As they turned to leave, B’Elanna gave the captain a heartfelt thank you, and the looks that the two women exchanged spoke for them. Janeway smiled as she watched Tom place his arm lightly around B’Elanna’s waist before the doors closed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "You told the Captain?" Harry asked in disbelief. He, of course, had known of Tom and B’Elanna’s relationship for some time and was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to let other people know. "What did she say?" "She just said that she was happy for us and that she knew that we would be happy together," Tom grinned as he sat down next to his best friend. "Well, now that the Captain knows, who are you going to tell?" "Harry, that’s not what I mean when I say that we are *telling people* about us. It’s just that we’ve kept our relationship a secret for so long, and now we can be public about it. Like if Megan Delaney asks me if I’m free for dinner I can just tell her that I have plans with B’Elanna instead of making up some excuse, and I don’t have to watch impassively as half the men on this ship ask her to dinner." Harry thought about this for a moment before a broad smile erupted, "I wish I could see the look on Freddie Bristow’s face when he *finally* realizes that he doesn’t have a chance with B’Elanna." "You know, Harry, you can be downright evil sometimes, a lot more so than I ever realized," Tom laughed, but he knew that he would love to see it too. He had to admit that he was relieved that maybe the men onboard would back off of B’Elanna. He knew that she could definitely handle herself, but he still felt protective of her. Whenever he noticed another man staring at her he felt the most curious mixture of jealousy, anger, and maybe even a little bit of pride that this beautiful, strong, intelligent, wonderful woman had chosen *him* to be with. They talked for awhile about this and that before Tom realized how late it was getting. "I’ve gotta go, Harry. B’Elanna gets off shift in a little less than 10 minutes and I want to meet her down in engineering." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Computer, what time is it?" "The time is 1750 hours" B’Elanna groaned, ten minutes left. Usually she was reluctant to leave at the end of the shift, but lately it seemed she just couldn’t seem to keep her mind on her work, and today was no exception. Her thoughts kept drifting to a certain blue-eyed pilot. She had been in a wonderful mood all afternoon, which was especially good considering the fact that her engineering crew seemed to be having a particularly difficult day. It wasn’t that the tasks were difficult, only that everyone seemed a bit distracted. Fortunately for them, the only real problem had involved one of the ensigns and hadn’t been a major incident. After arriving ten minutes late for her shift, Genie Wilson had decided that the scans she was supposed to run were too boring and too easy for her and had started to work on other things. When B’Elanna arrived to pick up the results and Genie hadn’t even started the entire engineering staff held its breath. But B’Elanna surprised everyone by telling Genie that she knew the scans were very routine and that she was sorry, but they needed to be done, and she asked her to get started right away. Genie simply thanked B’Elanna for being so understanding and told her she would have them done as quickly as possible. Everyone thought that this was particularly generous, especially for the usually strict Chief Engineer, and commented on how lucky Genie had been. She readily agreed and praised B’Elanna right along with them, but had anyone bothered to look they would have seen the coldness and the insincerity in her eyes. But that was over with, and the ensign was on her way to the Chief’s office, results in hand, when she noticed Tom Paris enter. She caught her breath, ecstatic to see him unexpectedly. She began to approach him when she noticed that he was looking for someone. *Good,* she thought, *I’ll wait here and make him come to me.* She smiled broadly, but the smile quickly disappeared when she saw him cross swiftly to B’Elanna’s office. Genie came as close to the office as she could, hoping to be able to see and hear what was going on without being noticed. She felt a deep anger rising from the pit of her stomach when she saw Tom walk over to B’Elanna and slide his hands around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Ready to go?" he asked her. "Almost, just let me finish entering this data," she said as she keyed the information into the PADD in her hands. "What are we doing tonight?" "Nothing much, what do you think about dinner in the mess hall? I have to save my replicator rations, I have something special planned for later this week," he said, grinning broadly. She turned in his arms to face him, "What?" "If I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?" She eyed him carefully, trying to decide how to get him to tell her what his plans were. After several moments she saw that it was hopeless. "OK, I’ll play along, but it had better be good Flyboy," she said as she leaned up to kiss him. That was all Genie could take, she loudly called out, "I’ve finished the scans, Chief," as she barged into B’Elanna’s office. She had expected that at the sound of her voice Tom would immediately break away from B’Elanna and was shocked when she entered the chief’s office to find them next to each other, his still arm draped lightly over her shoulder. "Thank you," B’Elanna said as she took the PADDs from the ensign. Genie just stood there staring, and both Tom and B’Elanna mistook the rage and hatred in her eyes for embarrassment at what she had obviously witnessed. When she lingered in the doorway B’Elanna said kindly, "That will be all for today. Thanks for doing those scans." At that, Genie turned abruptly and left, silently cursing B’Elanna. **That half-breed bitch will regret trying to steal Tom from *me.* He may think that he wants her now, but he’ll remember how much he loves me and come back, and the fastest way to make that happen is to get rid of that distraction.** Had anyone been around to see the look in Genie Wilson’s eyes at that moment, they would have been shocked, and then afraid, and rightfully so. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Captain Janeway scanned the room quickly before setting her tray down next to Chakotay’s in the mess hall. "Sorry," she said quietly, hoping that he wouldn’t be too upset. She was a little late and could tell that he was slightly perturbed at having to eat by himself. "Not a problem," he answered. "So, where were you?" "I was on the bridge. I just lost track of the time." "That’s not like you," he said in surprise. "I know. I was just thinking about Tom and B’Elanna." "Why? Did they get into another fight? How many of his bones did she break this time?" he inquired, unable to keep the slight amusement out of his voice. "On the contrary, Commander. I thought you would have heard by now--it seems that our pilot and chief engineer have been having an affair. They approached me this morning to tell me that they are in love," she responded, more than a little amused herself. At this startling revelation Chakotay nearly choked, and Janeway couldn’t help but laugh. "They’re *what*?!?" "In love, Commander. I’m sure you know a little something about that," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "Tom and B’Elanna? I can’t believe... I mean... I never even saw it coming." "Really? I thought that it was obvious, or at least conceivable. So what do you think?" Chakotay thought for a moment before responding. "I don’t know. Now that I think about it B’Elanna has seemed a lot happier lately, and I suppose that’s because of Tom. I hope that they are happy together, but a part of me is afraid that he’ll hurt her." "Chakotay, you would feel that way about any man that pursued B’Elanna." "I suppose you’re right, I guess I’m just protective of her. She’s like family to me, I don’t want to see her hurt." "I don’t think that you have to worry. I’ve seen the way Tom looks at her. It’s like when she’s in the room, everything else disappears to him. He loves her very much," she responded warmly. "Yeah, I guess I do know a little bit about that," he smiled. "Still, I would like to talk to Tom, just to make sure he knows how much she means to me." Moments later the much-discussed pair walked into the mess hall, and practically every head in the room turned. Tom couldn’t help but laugh as he thought about how quickly gossip spread on the small ship. B’Elanna, however, didn’t like all of the attention and quickly scanned the room for a place to sit. Seeing the captain and Chakotay, she quickly made her way over to their table. "Mind if we join you?" she asked, hoping that they weren’t intruding on any- thing. "Not at all, we’d be happy for the company," Chakotay said brightly. The four sat together, talking and laughing, and no one really noticed Genie sitting at a nearby table, listening to their every word. After finishing dinner, the captain offered to get desert for everyone and asked B’Elanna to help her carry it, knowing that Chakotay would like a moment alone with Tom. As soon as the two women had left the table, Chakotay stated candidly, "What are your feelings towards B’Elanna?" "Excuse me?" Tom spluttered, caught totally off-guard by the question. "You heard me, I need to know how you feel about her so that I can decide whether or not I want to try to talk her out of this relationship. She means a lot to me and if you ever hurt her I’ll-" "Hold on for a moment, Commander. Look, I love B’Elanna. I love her more than I’ve ever loved anybody, more than I ever even thought was possible. She’s smart and funny and warm and caring and sensitive and spirited and charming and beautiful-- although she doesn’t know it. I try to tell her, but I don’t think she believes me. She’s everything to me, I don’t know what I would do without her. Love isn’t even the right word, I love my friends, I love my job, but what I feel for B’Elanna is so much more than that, the word doesn’t even exist--" he stated emphatically, searching for the right words and praying that the commander would believe him. "OK, Tom, I believe you. I just had to be sure. I hope you understand." "Then you won’t try to convince her to leave me?" he asked slowly, annoyed with himself for being so obviously apprehensive. "No, I won’t. In fact, you two have my blessing." "Thanks, I know that will mean a lot to B’Elanna." And with that the conversation turned to lighter subjects. The Captain and B’Elanna returned just in time to see Genie Wilson stand up and leave the mess hall. Unfortunately they were too distracted to notice how enraged she was. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ That night, Genie sat alone in her quarters, seething at what she had heard. She clutched her pillow tightly, practically ripping it open, remembering what he had said, playing the scene over and over again in her mind. "She’s everything to me, I don’t know what I would do without her." "She’s smart and funny...and beautiful." "I love B’Elanna." "No you don’t! You love *ME*!" she screamed, hurling the pillow across the room. It landed on her desk, knocking her pics of Tom to the ground. She immediately ran to pick them up, speaking to the pictures as if they were him. "I’m so sorry, darling, I didn’t mean to scream at you. It’s just that--why did you tell all of those lies to Chakotay? I know that you don’t want the crew to know about us because you don’t want people to be jealous, but pretending to be in love with that half-breed won’t help. They’ll find out eventually. And then B’Elanna," she spat the name out as if it were something absolutely vile, "will be broken-hearted." She stated the last part with a slight smile, beginning to formulate a plan on how to remove the Chief Engineer from Tom’s mind permanently. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "He did what?" B’Elanna yelled. "Asked me about our relationship. He wanted to know how I felt about you so that he could decide whether or not to try to talk you out of it," Tom answered. They had returned to his quarters after dinner and, just as they arrived B’Elanna happened to ask him what he and Chakotay had talked about while she and the Captain had been gone. "I’m going to kill him!" she stated furiously. "Why? He was just trying to protect you, Bella. Trust me, I know how he feels. Besides, if anyone should be angry it should be me. I was the one he didn’t believe in. You know that I would never hurt you, right?" "Of course, Tom." "Chakotay asked me how I felt about you, and I tried to explain it to him, but it’s not possible, it’s like--," he paused for a moment as if at a loss for words. Suddenly he turned to her, gently placing his hands on either of her shoulders and gazing intently into her eyes, silently pleading with her to understand. "B’Elanna, my eyes see because they love to see you. My ears hear because they love the sound of your voice. My hands feel because they love to feel you near. My heart beats because it loves you. I live because I love you. Without you I am nothing." It was B’Elanna’s turn to be speechless. She could feel the sincerity in his confession, and she knew that she felt the exact same way, but at the moment she didn’t trust herself to speak without crying. Fortunately she didn’t have to say anything, Tom knew exactly how she was feeling. A moment later he swept her into his arms, and she began kissing him as he carried her into the bedroom. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "The time is now 0500 hours," the computer’s all-too familiar alarm sounded. B’Elanna groaned lightly as she dragged herself out of the bed and away from Tom’s warm embrace. It always seemed so cold when she got out of bed in the morning. She moved to the closet in complete darkness, not wanting to wake Tom. She reached in to grab one of the uniforms that she now kept in his quarters. It had been four days since they had informed the captain of their relationship, and they had been alternating quarters as usual. They both knew that it would be easier just to move in together but were each afraid to broach the subject, both with each other and the captain. After all, as far as the crew was concerned the status of their relationship was still new, and they didn’t want to shock people too much. "Bella?" he called out softly. "Where are you going?" "Engineering Tom, I need to work on a few things before the briefing this morning. I’ll see you then." "OK, but don’t forget--holodeck 2, 1900." "How could I forget? You’ve been talking about this program non-stop for four days. I’ll see you later. Lunch, 1200?" "Sounds great." She smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When she arrived in engineering she noticed how few people were there. "Of course, it is 0530, not many people are ever here at this hour," she reminded herself, relaxing as she slowly sat down in her office and picked up a nearby PADD. She didn’t even notice when Genie stepped into her office a few minutes later. "Can I talk to you, Chief?" she asked apprehensively. "Of course Ensign," B’Elanna responded, bestowing a small smile on the ob- viously nervous woman. "I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry about putting off the scans the other day, and about walking in on you and T-Lieutenant Paris. I thought that maybe this would make up for it," she said hopefully as she handed B’Elanna a steaming cup of coffee. "It’s the good stuff, replicated, not Neelix’s creation." "Well thank you, Ensign, this wasn’t at all necessary, but I’m not one to turn down decent cup of coffee," she smiled, taking a long drink. "I’m sorry that you had to be the one to run those scans, I know they’re boring, but perhaps... I can get you started on... some of the more challenging prob..." She managed to breathe out before slumping over in her chair. Genie smiled. Her plan was going perfectly. She crossed to a control panel and quickly keyed in a couple of commands. After a few seconds the hum of the transporter could be heard as the shimmering light enveloped both she and B’Elanna and they disappeared. **************OK everybody, that’s it for part 2-part 3 will be out as soon as i get around to writing it, but a few comments might convince me that i need to get to work-c’mon, i already begged for feedback once, do i have to do it again? ok, ok, give me a minute to get down on my knees, have to grovel properly ya know-"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND FEEDBACK!!!!!!!! I WILL LOVE YOU ALL FOREVER IF YOU DO!!" my addy is avillion@hotmail.com-use it!!