Disclaimer: Paramount owns all...and probably have stock in a foam rubber factory too. We should all know by now this is not how they want the characters to behave...
Sequel to the episode additions for Fortune's Foe (last seven episodes from season 4) and Fortune's Dream 1 (Night; Drone; Extreme Risk; and In The Flesh) and Fortune's Dream 2 (Once Upon a Time; Timeless; Infinite Regress; Nothing Human).
Kathryn lay there staring at the ceiling. Damn him anyway, she thought. She shifted slightly, not enough to get comfortable since she didn't want to wake Chakotay again. At least one of them would get some sleep.
Her lack of sleep could be linked directly to the fact that Ensign Paris had returned to duty that evening, quietly, subdued...It was all very formal--so unlike the Tom Paris she'd grown used to during the past four years.
She hated it.
"You really need to sleep," Chakotay muttered as he rolled over and wrapped his arm around her. "Tom?"
"Yes." She let him pull her closer to him. "Why the hell did he have to go and do it?" It really wasn't a question, but he answered her.
"Because he believed."
"I know..." She sighed. The Tom Paris of four years ago would not have done something like this...He'd pulled some incredible stunts--but never for a cause. In many ways that Tom had been easier to deal with.
"The kids are growing up," Chakotay said as he nuzzled her neck.
"Huh?" She rolled over to face him.
"Tom has grown. Four years ago he was just drifting. What will you do with him?"
"I have no idea." She closed her eyes tightly. "See how he redeems himself, and when he's ready, restore his rank." She opened her eyes. "And I had been thinking of promoting him...and the others." She tried to smile, but couldn't. "I never want to have to make that kind of decision again..." She'd have destroyed him--and would have been miserable.
"You did what you had to..." He ran his fingers along her face. "He gave you no choice...he knew the consequences of his actions."
She just nodded. Another sign of just how far the young lieutenant--ensign, now--had come. Four years ago he did things without thinking...Now...
"You really need to try to sleep."
"I'm sorry, I'm keeping you awake."
"I'm not complaining." He chuckled quietly.
She smiled at him. He'd been very patient these past thirty days as she came to terms with recent events. She ran her hand along his chin. "I promise to try to sleep, if you do." She closed her eyes to cut-off his alternative suggestion. "And thank-you."
"For sleeping?"
She shook her head without opening her eyes. "For being here, letting me talk."
"My pleasure, ma'am."
"Sleep, Commander...That's an order."
#
Jenny placed the most recent starchart on the table. "There are two class-M planets in the next system. Both are inhabited."
Seven didn't turn but acknowledged her words. Jenny bit her lip to keep from saying anything. She disliked having to work with Voyager's resident Borg, even if she found Seven extremely knowledgeable and efficient.
"Do you want me to report our findings to the Captain?"
"That will not be necessary, I shall deliver them to her." Seven turned and faced Jenny. "Thank-you."
It was all Jenny could do not to laugh. "You're welcome, Seven." The ex-Borg had made a lot of progress in the basic social skills.
"Ensign, I am curious about something. Why do people have trouble telling you and Megan apart?"
Jenny smiled. "Because they are not observant. You can tell us apart?"
"Yes, it is inefficient not to notice the differences. Your sister has dimples."
"Dimples?" Jenny laughed. "I don't think anyone has ever noticed that before. I have a question for you. Harry?"
"Ensign Kim?" Seven looked puzzled. "He's an effective worker."
"No," she was still laughing. "I mean do you have romantic feelings for him?"
"He is a friend."
"Is he more than a friend?" Jenny stopped laughing. She'd been flirting with Harry for over four years...She'd flirted with many of the male crew members--but Harry was sweet, and she figured she should start thinking of settling down.
"I...I do not understand the question. Harry was the first person after Captain Janeway to accept me as a human." She paused. "I think I do understand. You have feelings for Harry?"
"I like Harry and would like to develop a relationship with him."
Seven nodded. "Like Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay?"
Jenny looked at Seven, slightly stunned. She'd always figured those rumors were just that--rumors. "Do you know something about them?"
"I have said too much--I think." Seven returned to her work, effectively ending the conversation. Jenny returned to her station, wondering how long the Captain and Commander had been an item.
#
B'Elanna stirred her soup absent mindedly, barely noticing the passing diners. She stopped and started stirring the opposite direction.
"Are you planning to eat it?" Chakotay asked as he sat down across from her.
"I should." She lifted her spoon. "How are you?" She smiled slightly.
"Fine," he looked at her quizzically. "And you?"
She shrugged. "Okay." She put her spoon down and leaned across the table. "Don't you think Tom has been punished..."
"B'Elanna," he cut her off with a growl.
"Come on, Chakotay. Everybody on the ship agrees with what he did--even the Captain."
"It's how he did it--not that we agree with him or not..."
"Kahless. Nothing is going to happen--their council will cover it up; and in just a few years everybody will die.
"We don't know that..."
"And never will." She sighed as she sat back. "I know what he did...No, how he did it was wrong--but was it so wrong?"
Chakotay didn't answer for several seconds, then shook his head. "We can't get involved in every situation we come across, no matter how much we want to. No matter how much we believe in the rightness of our help--not everybody wants that help."
"It's so unfair."
"What can I say, life's a bitch."
She shook her head and smiled. "It doesn't make it easier..."
"I know...So does the Captain. Really, B'Elanna."
"You should know." She smirked slightly as she started to stand. "I'll see you at the staff meeting."
Chakotay watched her leave the mess hall.
Chakotay shifted his position again as glanced down at his console then back up at the view screen. The scene around him hadn't changed much since he began his shift three hours ago. Harry was still staring at his screen, pretending all was well. Tuvok was studying his analysis of their contact with the Devore.
Tom sat dutifully at the conn, efficient and quiet. No jokes...Which considering his present mood, Chakotay realized, was probably a good thing. He probably looked like he would murder the next person who talked to him. No one had. Everybody had avoided Voyager's second-in-command today.
The captain, for the fourth day in a row, was elsewhere.
He leaned back in his chair and tried to relax. For almost five days she'd been avoiding him. He knew better than to let her isolate herself like that. She was upset about Kashyk and the whole game she had played--he hadn't thought anything else had happened, but now he wondered.
Suddenly he stood. "Mr. Tuvok, you have the bridge."
The Vulcan acknowledged the order and moved to the center of the bridge.
#
He ignored B'Elanna when he entered her office. He barely noticed the engineer start to speak, then silently back out of her own office. He focused on the other woman, Voyager's captain.
She stood there, infuriatingly calm and passive. He waited several seconds, then four days of pent-up anger burst forth.
"Damn it, Kathryn. I think I deserve something."
"I know." She spoke with a calm monotone. "I just don't know what."
"The whole crew is speculating about you and that..." He couldn't bring himself to say Kashyk's name.
She stared at him; and for the first time since this all began, he really noticed how she looked--exhausted and unhappy. She continued to face him. "I just don't know how to begin. I knew he was using us. I had hoped he wasn't...I used him, I know..."
Chakotay suddenly smiled. "The guy was a SOB and you're worried about him?"
"I almost believed him..."
"Good, I wouldn't want to discover you had become a cynical pessimist."
She grinned. "Oh, Chakotay, you could always make me smile. Thanks." She held out her hand. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shut you out, I just needed time..."
"I understand." He gripped her hand. "Kashyk was very persuasive. And polite."
She laughed. "And very charming." She paused. "I do wish he had been what he claimed. In his case, I think I would have liked to have been wrong." She suddenly chuckled. "I would like to see how he explains what happened."
#
#
Kraylk smirked to herself as she listened to her superior grumbling again. Served Kashyk right, she thought. It had been her information and her plan he had blown. And now she was enjoying his discomfort. Koro's self-proclaimed gift to womanhood had been beaten by a woman. She would have liked to have met Voyager's Captain--it would have been a pleasure to send her and her crew to the detention centers, but Kashyk had once again left her out of his plans (her plans) but right now it was just as well she wasn't mentioned anywhere. Kashyk would be demoted--if he was lucky--and maybe, just maybe, the arrogant bastards on the promotion boards would recognize her potential to be a full-fledged Inspector.
She sighed. It probably wouldn't happen. Devore military was male dominated with a distaste for females serving in active duty. Even though she was responsible for the capture of over 50 telepaths this past month, she expected to be passed over once again.
She smiled slightly as Kashyk swore. His one hope of saving face was to find the wormhole with the data he'd stolen from Voyager. She almost laughed. He'd been so sure of himself when they'd planned this mission, Voyager's Captain was a woman, and apparently alone. He would seduce her and have her betray herself...
Only the captain hadn't been seduced and in the end Kashyk had been caught in his own web of deceit. The *counterpoint* data (as he called it) was useless. And he had until tomorrow afternoon to find something...
This really was fun she realized as she looked over at her superior. It was the first time she'd seen him panicked.
Yes, she really was enjoying herself. But it wouldn't do for anyone to know that. She returned to her analysis of the data.