DISCLAIMERS: Paramount owns the characters of Tom and B'Elanna. The story is mine.
SUMMERY: After a bitter battle, Voyager is ruined beyond repair in a hostile part of space. To save the crew, Janeway evacuates the ship. Tom and B'Elanna learn to get along while stranded on an uninhabitated planet. Set in the second season. Rated NC-17.
Wanring: No one under 18 should read this story. If you object to m/f sex, you should find something else to read.

Chapter One-The Evacuation

"Reroute all power to the shields!" Captain Janeway's voice came over the comm in Engineering.

"Aye, Captain!" Lt. B'Elanna Torres shouted back. To her staff, she said, "You heard her!"

B'Elanna was nearly jerked off her feet as another blast rocked the ship. She heard a console explode behind her, and she winced as the noise echoed in her ears.

"What's taking so long!?" She shouted as she tapped at the console before her. The readings did not help her mood. She snarled at the console, and tried again.

Another blast knocked her into the console. She heard a shout then a thud. She tapped her comm badge and called Sickbay. A moment later, the ensign was beamed away.

"Power of non essential systems is rerouted to the shields!" Carey shouted from another console, "That should give us some more time."

B'Elanna nodded, "What's the damage?"

"Three consoles are ruined..."

Carey was cut off as another blast rocked the ship. The console in front of Carey exploded, sending him across Engineering.
"Engineering to Transporter Room One!" B'Elanna shouted, "Beam Lt. Carey to Sickbay!"

B'Elanna didn't see Carey leave as she went back to her console.

She thought the battle would never end, but finally the firing ceased. The Chief Engineer looked around her domain to see destroyed consoles, unconscious or dead engineers, and sparks flying everywhere.

"Torres to Bridge," she called, "What's going on up there?"

"It's a mess up here, B'Elanna," Chakotay said, "The alien ship is destroyed. How long till everything is back online?"

B'Elanna checked her readouts then said, "Shields can be back on in twenty hours. Weapons will take a day to get fixed. Everything else...at least a couple weeks."

"Get the shields back online," Chakotay ordered, "They're a priority."

"Yes, sir," B'Elanna shouted, closing the link.
~~
Chakotay entered Sickbay and was met with chaos. There were people everywhere. If someone was able to walk and work a tricorder, they were ordered to help with the more seriously injured.

The Commander went to Lt. Tom Paris, who was working on Captain Janeway.

"How is she?" Chakotay asked.

Tom looked at him briefly before going back to his tricorder.

"She has a concussion, three broken ribs, and minor cuts and bruises. She'll recover, Commander."

Chakotay nodded in relief. He then looked over Tom, and saw a gash on his forehead.

"You have a cut on your forehead, Paris."

"Thanks, Commander," the pilot remarked without looking up, "I already know. I also have a couple of bruises. Nothing serious."

Chakotay shook his head, and went to the Doctor, who was working on Carey. He did not notice Paris glaring at him.

As if you really cared, Tom thought bitterly.

He then went to work on healing Janeway's wounds.
~~
Hours later, Captain Janeway woke up in Sickbay. She winced at the brightness of the lights. She moaned and opened her eyes to see Kes.

"Hello, Captain," the little blonde said softly, "How do you feel?"

Janeway groaned as she moved her left hand to her head, "What happened?"

"We were attacked. You were thrown across the Bridge. There were a lot of casualties; five deaths in all. The ship is in ruins."

Janeway closed her eyes. The ship is in ruins? If there is another attack they were doomed.

"I need to call a meeting," she whispered.

Kes nodded, "You can leave in a couple of hours. The meeting can start then."

Janeway nodded then addressed the ceiling, "Janeway to all Senior Staff, there will be a meeting in two hours. Janeway out."

She then let sleep take over.
~~
Two hours later, Tom Paris stepped off the turbolift and headed for the Briefing Room. He just finished working on the navigational relays in Engineering. He was surprised to see it in shambles. He was not surprised to hear B'Elanna Torres shouting orders to her remaining staff. He almost went unnoticed until B'Elanna turned around from the warp core to see him.

Tom smiled at the thought as he entered the Briefing Room. She was already in a bad mood, and his presence there only made it worse. At least, he knew what she had said she didn't mean.

The pilot sat down in the only seat available, beside the still angry half-Klingon. He made sure, though not to anger her further.

If that is possible, he thought to himself.

He then looked at Janeway as she began the meeting.

"I called you here, because of the status of this ship. Lt. Torres, what have you to report?"

B'Elanna looked at her datapadd, "Shields are at thirty percent. Weapons will take twelve hours to get back online. Helm control will take three days. In short, we have weeks upon weeks of work ahead of us. And that is with everyone helping, and if we don't have any more problems."

Janeway nodded. Neelix then spoke up, "I believe we will have more problems. The Jharen are very territorial. That's what this attack was about, we were in their territory. They will return."

Without weapons and limited shields, they were sitting ducks. They wouldn't survive another attack. Taking a deep breath, Janeway spoke, "We're sitting ducks out here. I am giving the order to evacuate. I will announce this over the comm system. Any questions?"

The Senior Officers looked at each other. They knew this was the hardest order Janeway had to give. They knew they had to leave ths ship or die. They had no questions to ask.

"All right. Dismissed."
~~
B'Elanna Torres hurried as fast as she could to the nearest escape pod. She had stopped by her quarters to grab some clothes, datapadds, and a tricorder. She knew she would need them. She also downloaded her logs she had recorded from the past year. She wanted to remember her life on a starship.

She stopped short at a pod. She was surprised to see that it was already occupied by one Tom Paris.

"Oh, sorry. I'll find another," she said, turning away.

Tom grabbed her arm, stopping her, "There might not be any more escape pods left, B'Elanna. This is a two person pod. Come on, I won't bite."

B'Elanna fought back a sneer. He was right. There might not be any more pods. She nodded, tossed her bag at him, then climbed in beside him.

"You better not bite, Tom Paris," she warned, half-seriously.

Tom just smiled, shut the pod's door, and launched the pod into space.

They watched as Voyager grew smaller as the pod flew through empty space. The two could barely keep the sorrow from their faces or voices.

"I'll miss that ship," B'Elanna whispered.

"Me, too," was Tom's sad reply.
He then set a course for the Alpha Quadrant.

Chapter Two-The Planet

The stars cruised by them at warp two. Tom wondered how the rest of the crew were fairing. He wondered if he would see any of them again. He looked over at his right and smiled inwardly. At least he had beautiful company; even if she appeared that she didn't want to be here with him.

"How are you holding up, B'Elanna?" He asked, breaking the long silence between them.

B'Elanna jumped at the sound of his voice. She had been lost in her own thoughts. She was also wondering about the rest of the crew. She also was wondering how long she and Tom would last out here before they ended up fighting.

She looked at him, confused at first, but his words finally registered. She smiled slightly, "I'm doing fine, Tom. I'm just wondering how long we'll last out here. I didn't bring much food."

Tom nodded. He was worried about food as well, "We can scan for planets that have the nutrients we need."

B'Elanna agreed and began scanning. In a few minutes, she spoke, "There's a Class-M planet two light years away. It's uninhabited, but it has what we need."

Tom nodded and tapped at his controls, "At this speed, we'll reach it in three hours."

"Good. Let's go."

Tom smiled, "Yes, ma'am. Laying in course."

B'Elanna smiled in turn. She knew he was going to miss saying that to Captain Janeway. B'Elanna, in a way, felt honored that he was saying that to her.
~~
Three hours later, the planet was in viewing range. The two stared in awe at it's beauty. It was a small planet with three large continents. The oceans were a deep blue, and the clouds were a soft pink. They scanned the planet, and found that no higher life-forms lived on the planet. The closest they came to were tree primates.

"Where is the most abundant nutrients, B'Elanna?" Tom asked as he maneuvered the pod into the planet's orbit.

"On the third continent," she answered, "In the southern hemisphere."

Tom nodded, and began to bring the pod into the planet's atmosphere. The descent was rocky at best. They were tossed around the small compartment space until they were groaning from bruises. Finally, Tom landed the pod with a thud in a clearing.

"Where here," he said with a sigh of relief.

B'Elanna opened her eyes and stared out the viewscreen. The clearing reminded her of a carpet. The grass looked very inviting as she imagined its feel beneath her bare feet.

This would have been great for shore leave, she thought. The thought made her miss Voyager and the crew that much more. She never realized how much that ship had meant to her. She looked over at the pilot, who was studying her with concern.

"I'm fine," she said before he even opened his mouth.

Tom recovered quickly, though, "Ready to get out of here then?"

She nodded. The two grabbed their bags, and left the tiny eascape pod.

The two breathed in deeply the fresh air of the planet. They almost forgot what fresh air felt like, breathing only sterile air of a ship for so long. They brought out their tricorders, and began scanning for the nutrients they needed. It wasn't long before they were heading off into the forest a few yards a head of where they landed.

B'Elanna pointed her tricorder at a tall plant, and read the results. It had some of the nutrients they needed, but it's leaves were poisonous. She grumbled and moved on. She looked ahead of her, and saw Tom scanning a plant. She wondered if he missed Voyager any. She smiled as she knew he would miss flying the ship. She also knew that he would miss the holodecks most of all.

He's probably going to miss that pool hall of his like crazy, she thought. She then shook her head. He wasn't visiting it as much anymore after it became so popular. She knew though, that he was spending a great deal of his free time on the holodecks.

I wonder what he was doing? she shook her head at that thought. It was none of her business, but she kept wondering. Was he treating some woman to a private holoprogram he made, or was he alone, deep in thought.

She knew if she wanted an answer, she would have to ask him. She didn't want to make it sound as if she was poking her nose in his private affairs or trying to insult him in any way. She finally gave up, and directed her thoughts to finding some food.

Tom picked a leaf from a nearby plant he had scanned and tasted it. He savored the taste then smiled. It tasted like apples. He picked some more then scanned the flower itself. It held some nutrients as well and was not poisonous. He picked the flower and some more behind it. He then stood up, and spotting B'Elanna a few feet from him, headed in her direction.

"B'Elanna, I found some flowers," he reported, "The leaves taste like apples and the flowers are also edible. Find anything?"

He knelt beside her as she scanned a plant in front of her. She read the results then picked a leaf to taste it.

"This is all I found so far," she answered him after she swallowed the leaf, "This tastes like a leaf, but it's edible. It has several nutrients that we need."

Tom nodded and helped her pick the plants. The two then headed back to the pod with their findings. They knew though, that they would need to find some meat for added nutrients that the plants did not provide. It was starting to get dark as they neared the pod. Hunting would have to wait until the morning. If the creatures didn't find them during the night.

After a meal of ration bars and some of the plants they boiled, the two built their fire up some more to keep the more aggressive animals at bay. The two then setting in for the night.

Before she went to sleep, though, she asked the question that had pondered her earlier that day.

"Tom, what would you miss most about Voyager?"

Tom didn't need to think of his answer, "I would miss flying her the most. I never thought I would ever be flying anything again, much less a starship."

B'Elanna smiled, "I think I'll miss fixing the engines the most."

"I would think you would miss yelling at your staff the most," Tom interrupted.

She laughed, "You would think that! No, it would be fixing her up after a battle that I would miss. I felt the most alive during those times. Sometimes, though I was scared that I wouldn't get the engines or even the warp core back online in time for an escape."

A thought suddenly came to her, "You really counted on me, didn't you? If I couldn't get the engines to work, you couldn't get us out of danger in time."

Tom nodded, "Sometimes, I got worried when the warp drive went off line. I knew I still had impulse engines, but that would barely get us out of danger. I always wondered if you panicked down there when that happened. I was always relieved when the warp drive came back on. You would never know, though."

B'Elanna had agree with that. One never knew what went on inside Tom's head when a battle was being fought. Of all the times, she yelled at him for putting her engines through hell, she never thought he needed her expertise to keep the engines working, so he could get the ship to safety.

I guess I could have gone easier on him, she thought, But I was also on edge after and during those battles. I had no thought of being easy on anyone.

B'Elanna then realized that she hadn't commented on his last words. She turned over and stared at him. He was looking back at her thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry, Tom," she said, "I never realized that you depended on me to keep the ship going. I guess I was thoughtless."

Tom shook his head, "Forget it, B'Elanna. You were busy, you didn't have time to think about how I was feeling or doing on the Bridge. All you needed to think about was getting the ship's engines in order."

B'Elanna smiled, "That's all I've ever thought about in Engineering. The whole crew counted on Engineering. I guess that's why I was such a bear to work with. I knew we had to work hard to keep the ship going."

Tom's eyes sparkled with a mischeivous gleam, "Engineering would have been boring without you, B'Elanna. Your staff would have told you that. They admired you, even when you were giving them hell."

B'Elanna felt a swell of pride at that thought. They did respect her and even admire her. She smiled and nodded.

"Now get some sleep," Tom said, changing the subject, "We have a long day ahead of us, hunting."

"I hope you know how to hunt," B'Elanna mentioned.

"It'll come back to me," came the reply.

The two snuggled into their blankets and fell asleep.

Continue to Part Two
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