Beloved B'Elanna Part 1
Author's note:
This is my first fan fic series, so please bear with the possible
mistakes and other insignificant anomalies. This series is dedicated to
Robbie McNeill and Roxann Dawson, two of the greatest Star Trek actors
there ever were and will be.
Beloved B'Elanna, Part 1 - Yours and Mine
by Cheile
Lieutenant Tom Paris walked onto the holodeck one afternoon after
his duty shift. It had been a long day.
First, they had encountered an asteroid belt, ten times worse than
the Belt back in the Alpha Quadrant--which had taken some tricky flying
and everyone holding their stomachs for hours after that. Then having
to try and endure Neelix's leola root stew for lunch, which much to
Neelix's chagrin, no one could eat. To top it all off, he had been
distracted all day. He was surprised that he had been able to fly at
all.
With a deep sigh, he flopped into a cushioned chair. One of the
characters,a tanned blond girl, came toward him, but he waved her away.
Ordinarily, he would have loved a backrub from the holo-girl to ease the
tension in his back and shoulders, but not today. He was too
distracted.
*If only she would..... No, Paris, don't be ridiculous. You're
completely wrong. It's another infatuation, nothing more.*
But it was much more than that, Tom knew. He was in love.
*
Down in Engineering, Voyager's main warp core pulsed slightly,
the plasma within flashing and flickering, swirling in a never-ending
spiral. Hardly anyone was around; most of the engineering crew were
off-duty, on the holodeck or resting after today's pitching ride through
the asteroid belt. Only one
person was there, still hard at work, despite the fact that every muscle
ached every time one was moved or flexed.
With a sigh, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres pushed herself out from
beneath the main console, where she'd been fiddling with the circuits,
and shook her silky raven-dark hair out of her face. Rising gracefully
to her feet, she brushed the dust off her uniform and turned to the
computer. Slender fingers danced over the console's keys. The computer
beeped twice. She scowled at the screen, tapped a few more keys and
waited. After a single beep, the results came up.
Satisfied, she tapped another key and let the screen go blank.
Her dark eyes scanned the whole room. Deciding that there was
nothing else she could do, she stretched, winced at the tension in her
back, then left,heading for the turbolift.
*
*Admit it, you're in love.*
*Oh, shut up!*
Tom shook his head, trying to get the argument out of his mind.
But he knew it had to be true. The constant thought of her, always
wondering, even worrying on occasion, had to be more than a mere
infatuation. He'd once been infatuated with Kes, but it had been
nothing more than that. Besides, she and Neelix were too close anyway.
He had gotten over Kes quickly.
But this one--it had been plaguing him since Vorik had gone
through the pon-farr for the first time. Ever since then, he seemed to
notice her more.
"Hello, Tom."
He froze. She was here.
He forced a smile. "Hello, B'Elanna."
B'Elanna Torres flopped into the chair next to him. "God, it's
been a long day." She closed her eyes and leaned back against the
cushions.
Tom studied her for several minutes. Her dark hair was
shoulder-length,
softly framing her face, accenting her high cheekbones. A few errant
wisps fell across her forehead, slightly obscuring her brow ridges. She
reached up a slender tanned hand to brush them back. He watched,
transfixed.
*She's so beautiful.*
*Well then, tell her so!*
He was about to speak when she opened her eyes and sat up
suddenly. The stubborn wisps fell back in place. Unconsciously, he
reached over and brushed them back. Then he realized what he was doing
and froze, his fingertips lightly touching her cheek.
B'Elanna had also frozen at his feather-light touch. Her stomach
had twisted into a knot and she was trembling. What was happening to
her?
For a minute, the two stayed in that position, their eyes
locked, their faces inches apart. Then suddenly B'Elanna broke away.
"I have to go," she managed to say. "I'll see you later." She
rose to her feet and walked away. Once outside the holodeck doors, her
legs would no longer support her. She collapsed to her knees, still
trembling.
*What's the matter with me? I've been around Tom hundreds of
times, but
I've
never felt like this.*
After a few minutes had passed, she got to her feet and headed
for the
turbolift. She hadn't slept for nearly seventeen hours. She had to get
some sleep. Perhaps everything would make more sense the next morning.
B'Elanna reached her quarters five minutes later. Kicking off
her shoes and shrugging out of her uniform jacket, she flopped on her
bed. Again, the puzzling questions returned. Why had she felt so
strangely around Tom? Was there something wrong with her?
Still confused, B'Elanna drifted off into slumber.
***************
"Oh, this heart's on fire
Right from the start, it's been burning for you.
Oh, this heart's on fire
One thing, honey, this heart's true."
-- Bryan Adams, "Hearts on Fire"
****************
Tom awoke the next morning. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, then
got to his feet and groaned. He had gotten practically no sleep the
night before.
*Of course, you idiot. All you thought about was B'Elanna.*
It was hard for him to admit that he was actually in love with
her. He had been so overconfident to once think that no one could
possess his heart. But he had never anticipated meeting someone like
B'Elanna.
With a sigh, he started to get ready for the day.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, Tom walked into the mess hall. He
anxiously looked around for B'Elanna and was more than a little
disappointed to see that she was not there.
Neelix looked up from his cooking. "Good morning, Lieutenant.
What'll it be?"
"Have you seen B'Elanna?"
"Lieutenant Torres?" Neelix thought for a minute, then shook his
head. "No, actually, I haven't."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."
He sighed and turned away. Neelix watched him go, then
shrugged.
Tom looked around the room. Noticing Janeway and Chakotay
sitting together, he headed toward them.
Janeway looked up, a light blush touching her cheeks as she saw
him. Chakotay glanced at her, then up at Tom. "'Morning, Paris."
"Have either of you seen B'Elanna?"
The two looked at each other, then shook their heads. "Not this
morning, we haven't," said Chakotay.
"Are you sure?"
Janeway laughed softly. "I'm sure she's all right, Tom. Check
down in engineering. It's the most likely place she'll be."
Chakotay was studying Tom intently, watching the emotions play
across his face. Disappointment, a slight flash of anger, then
exasperation. He sighed and turned away. Chakotay couldn't help the
smile that began to grow on hisface.
"And get that grin off your face, Chakotay."
Chakotay's smile turned into a wicked grin as he glanced at
Janeway. She was struggling to hold back her laughter as Tom left the
mess hall.
*
Tom had looked everywhere for B'Elanna--the bridge, engineering,
her quarters. Finally, he said, "Computer, locate Lieutenant Torres."
"Lieutenant Torres is in Holodeck two."
"It figures--the last place I'd look," he said under his breath as
he headed for the turbolift.
He walked onto the holodeck. He didn't recognize the setting.
It was a dark and dreary forest, with huge trees and tons of shadows.
Puzzled, he ducked a swaying branch and started down a small path.
"B'Elanna?"
A sound from behind caused him to spin around. A tall,
Cardassian-looking figure, completely armed, stood not ten feet away.
He knew it was one of the holodeck characters, but the sight startled
him.
The Cardassian stormed forward, intent on murder. Tom decided
that he would let the character "kill" him and that the program would
end. Then maybe he could find B'Elanna.
Suddenly, a crimson flash streaked past him. Tom turned to see
B'Elanna, bat'leth in position, knock the character to the ground, then
deliver the slashing deathblow. The figure vanished.
Three more came out from different directions. She performed the
same moves on each one, whirling to meet the next before the first had
disappeared. As she turned to kill the third, he thought he saw the
shine of tears in her eyes.
"B'Elanna, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," she snapped, lashing out at yet another character.
"There is something wrong," he insisted. She wasn't going to get
out of it and hide her feelings this time. He followed her across the
field and grabbed her arm. She jerked away.
"Talk to me, B'Elanna."
"There's nothing to say," she insisted.
"Tell me."
She took in deep breaths, several emotions flashing across her
face--anger, sorrow, a hint of fear. Then without warning, she flung
the bat'leth down, fell to her knees and burst into tears.
Tom was shocked. Usually, B'Elanna hid her feelings--and she
never cried. Seeing her like this, devastated, her face buried in her
hands, broke hisheart.
He knelt beside her and put an arm around her. "Tell me what's
wrong."
She tried to shrug away from him. He would have none of it,
however. Pulling her hands away from her face, he tilted her chin up so
that she was forced tolook into his eyes. With the other hand, he
brushed her tears away. "Now tell me what's wrong."
"You can't help anyway, Tom, so it wouldn't do any good."
"If you tell me, you'll feel better."
B'Elanna took in a deep breath, then turned to face him. His
cerulean eyes
were locked with hers, full of gentle reassurance. A tremble went
through her. She was still having odd feelings, yet somehow she felt
better when she was close to him.
"When I was in high school, I had only one friend. Her name was
Chelsea Roberts. She was the only one that didn't care that I was
half-Klingon. We were walking home from school one day. We separated
and she went her way. Ihad gone about another half-block when I heard
her screaming. I ran back and found Chelsea trying to get away from a
half-dozen Cardassians. I ran to help her. But they overpowered
me--and forced me to watch as they heartlessly murdered her. They left
me for dead, too. But I survived. The other kids at school blamed me.
They said I was a curse--that Chelsea died because I was with her."
Tears filled her eyes again. "She was so sweet. Why did they kill her?
Why?!"
"It was meant to be. At least you tried to defend her. So many
others would have run away. But you ran back." He pulled her close.
"What counts is that you tried to help."
She shook her head, burying her face against Tom's shoulder. "But
I couldn't," she cried.
"Shh," Tom whispered. He lightly stroked her hair.
B'Elanna sighed deeply. She didn't want to look him in the eye,
for fear she would lose her nerve.
Cupping her chin in one hand, he tilted her face up, brushing the
last tear away. Their eyes met. For several minutes, B'Elanna stared
into the cerulean depths, full of concern--and something else. What was
that softness in his eyes?
"B'Elanna," he began hesitantly. "B'Elanna, I...."
"Senior officers to the bridge immediately." Janeway's voice
through thecomm system interrupted the moment.
B'Elanna got to her feet and hurried for the holodeck doors.
*....love you,* he thought as he followed her to the bridge.
*
The turbolift doors opened. As B'Elanna dashed to the engineering
station,Tom hurried down to the conn. "What's happening?"
"There's a displacement wave in front of us," Harry Kim called
from ops. "It's moving toward us."
"Start backing us up, Tom," Janeway ordered. "Once we get enough
kilometersdistance between us and it, turn us around and take us to
maximum warp."
"Aye, Captain," he answered, his fingers flying over the controls.
"I can try disrupting it with a graviton particle field," Tuvok
said.
"Do it!"
Voyager trembled slightly as the graviton field burst out beyond
the shields to meet with the displacement wave.
"No effect," Tuvok reported.
"B'Elanna, divert all possible power to the warp engines. Harry,
full power to shields. Tom, turn us around and get us out of here.
*Now*."
Tom shot a half-second glance at B'Elanna. She was frantically
tapping atthe console, her fingers racing across the keys. Turning back
to the conn, hebegan to bring the ship about.
"Captain, we've lost warp power," B'Elanna called.
Janeway spun around. "How?!"
"I don't know." She tapped at a key, then scowled at the readout
it gave her. "There's no way to create a stable warp field."
"Can you give us impulse?"
"Impulse is all we have."
"Tom, full impulse."
"Captain, the displacement wave is now in front of us as well as
behind us,"Harry spoke up. "No, it's on all sides. We're surrounded!
It's going to engulf us!"
"Brace for impact!" Janeway's voice echoed through the decks
below as the displacement wave took hold of the ship and hurled it into
the void......
To be continued......
Email: pepsi333@cris.com
