Disclaimer: Star Trek: Voyager and all it's components belong to Paramount. This story and Kata belong to me. Please check with me before linking this anywhere else. You can download it for personal use, but keep my name and the disclaimers attached. All comment can be sent to me at jpyt25b@prodigy.com, but it's One of my first attempts at fanfic so don't be too critical Tom, B'Elanna, and the Maquis by Katie B. "B'Elanna, I've got a new recruit," Chakotay whispered to her. "Really, who?" B'Elanna seemed intrigued. "The man over there," Chakotay pointed to a blond haired, blue eyed man, "His name is Tom Paris." "He's kind of cute," B'Elanna said thoughtfully. "Don't get any ideas," CHakotay cautioned, " He's an admiral's son. His father considers him a failure. He's a womanizer- the longest he's probably been with a woman is a week." "Then why'd you recruit him?" "He's the best pilot I've ever seen and he's willing to work for anyone who can pay his bar bills," Chakotay continued, "I want you to work with him at restoring helm control to that Starfleet shuttle we stole. Come on, I'll introduce you," the two walked over to Paris. "Paris," Chakotay said, " this is B'Elanna Torres, my engineer. B'Elanna, Tom Paris." "Nice to meet you," Tom mumbled. *Wow! She's gorgeous!* "You too," B'Elanna responded. *He's even better looking close up!* "Paris, you'll be working with B'Elanna at restoring helm control to a shuttle of ours." "Yes, I understand." "B'Elanna knows where it is, she'll take you there," Chakotay nodded at them and walked of. "So, lead on, Torres," Tom said after a moment of silence. "Follow me," B'Elanna commanded. Tom followed without protest. When they got there, Tom was surprised. "This is a Starfleet shuttle!" B'Elanna shrugged, "We use what we can get." "So where do we start?" B'Elanna led hum to a blown apart console. "Here," was her curt response. They worked in silence for several minutes. "You don't seem to like me much," Tom observed. "What gives you that idea?" B'Elanna questioned. "Oh, maybe the fact that you've said about two words to me since we met." "Chakotay told me about you." "And which story did he tell you? The failure? The admiral's son? The bar bum?" Tom questioned, his voice growing louder. "He told me you were a womanizer..." "Just looking for the right woman," Tom said staring at B'Elanna until she blushed and turned away. "He told me you considered yourself a failure," she continued. "And that you were willing to work for anyone who would pay your bar bills." "He's right," Tom said simply. "But why? He also admitted that you were the best pilot he'd ever seen. Why waste your life?" "B'Elanna, I *am* a failure. Did he tell you about Cadlik Prime?" she shook her head mutely."I killed three of my best friends, falsified the reports, and eventually confessed and got court-martialed. My father, the admiral, practically disowned me," when B'Elanna said nothing, he contnued, "So now you know the whole Tom Paris story?" "Tom," she said, neither of them realizing they now used the others first name. "I don't think anyone should waste their lives like that." "I'm trying to get my life back together! But," he continued his voice rising, "of course no one believes that! You don't of course, how could you? You know what Chakotay told you and you believe that! I know you do!" "Maybe I do! After all, I've only know you for ten minutes!" B'Elanna yelled at him. "Don't you understand? I never was able to live up to my fathers expectations and I never will!" "At least you had a father! Look at me! I'm half-Klingon! My father was human, he didn't want me! He left me when I was five! I barely remember him!" "Well, how am I supposed to know that!" In response, B'Elanna punched in a console. Tom stared at her. "Oops," she said and began laughing, soon Tom joined her. "I wish I could do that!" Tom said. "It must be satisfying." "It is," she agreed. "Did your father really leave you?" "Yes, he was a human, my mother a Klingon. My mother always said he left because I was too Klingon," she paused. "Were your father's expectations that high?" "Yes, they really were. I was expected to join Starfleet. Oh, I wanted to, from the earliest age, I wanted to be a pilot," his eyes grew distant. "I remember a time when I was five, running flight simulations. My father brought all his admiral friends to come and see me. After that, his expectations were always high." "I'm sorry, Tom," B'Elanna said softly, placing her hand over his. They grew even closer over the next few weeks... "Ready to work, B'Elanna?" Tom grinned, coming up to her. After they had worked for a while, B'Elanna commented, you know this would be done a lot faster if I hadn't punched in that console." "I don't mind it," Tom said looking at B'Elanna. "It means I get to spend more time with you." B'Elanna looked at Tom shyly and Tom took her face in his hands and kissed her. When they broke away, B'Elanna stammered,"Well, um, we should, you know, um, get back to work." Tom nodded. After a few minutes Tom said, "B'Elanna I didn't kiss you because you're pretty, or because you were there...I kissed you because... B'Elanna the minute I saw you, I knew you were special. Every minute we spent together made me more sure that you were the woman for me." "Tom...I...I think I feel the same way. After only a short time I find myself falling in love with you. I've never felt this way before." "I love you, B'Elanna," Tom said, and she knew he meant it. "I love you too, Tom," B'Elanna said meaning every word of it. By the end of that week the shuttle was finished. Chakotay then assigned to a mission to raid the Cardassians. Chakotay was finding it harder and harder to find reasons to dislike Tom and was even beginning to like him a little. As Tom was about to board the shuttle, he heard someone running up behind him. It was B'Elanna. "Tom," she gasped. "You better come back to me!" "I will, B'Elanna and that's a promise." Several weeks later Tom hadn't returned. "Kata," B'Elanna said, turning to her best friend, "I'm afraid he'll never come back. "I'm sure he will," Kata said comfortingly. " After all, if he got caught we would have known." Kata, a half-Betazoid, half-Klingon was one of the few who could understand B'Elanna's feelings about her mixed heritage. Kata had the mind power of a full Betazoid and the strength of a full Klingon, which meant, as Kata put it once, she could 'read your mind and then beat you up.' With her Klingon's strength, however, came the Klingon's temper. "But what if he's not all right, Kata. I..I love him Kata." "B'Elanna, he told you he'd be back and he *will* be. I've never as strong of love as I felt from Tom for you." Just then, Chakotay walked by, "Are you talking about that good-for-nothing Tom Paris? I doubt he'll be back. He has nothing to fight for." Tom's absence had soured any good thoughts Chakotay had of him. "Do you think he's right?" B'Elanna asked. "I respect Chakotay's opinion so much." "B'Elanna, Chakotay is more disappointed in Tom then you think. He was starting to trust, even like, Tom when Tom left. If Tom manages to get back, like you *know* he will, then he will trust Tom." "Thanks, Kata," B'Elanna said as the two parted. The next day Kata came running down the ~corridor, "B'Elanna! A shuttle is coming in! It's Tom!" B'Elanna's chocolate eyes lit up, "When's his ETA?" "Tom hours, be at the docking port!" and Kata was gone. Two hours later, B'Elanna was nervously waiting, when a shuttle landed. It's pilot jumped out in record time and B'Elanna ran into his arms, "I love you." "I love you, too, B'Elanna, I love you, too." "Paris," Chakotay's voice sounded. Tom jumped, "Yes, sir." "You're not so bad, Tom," and Chakotay walked off. THE END ~I'll probably write a sequal to this, but I have to finish some other things (non-P/T) first. Hope you liked it!