Part 9 added on 19 December 2000
Disclaimers are in part 1.
Rating: PG13
B'Elanna stood just inside the Captain's ready room nervously shuffling from one foot to the other, anxiously awaiting Janeway's arrival, but instead of worrying about what punishment the Captain would deem fit for her attack on Tom Paris, all B'Elanna could think about was Seven. The younger woman's look of bewilderment and shock after witnessing the attack on the arrogant helmsman had been like a bucket of cold water on B'Elanna's anger, and now all she felt was fear, fear that she'd spoilt everything, and the deceptively sensitive former drone would no-longer care for her. Their relationship was still in the process of forming but already B'Elanna felt a connection to Seven that had been missing in her previous relationships. The question was how would the inexperienced ex-Borg react to seeing B'Elanna attack someone because of her, would she be repulsed by this all too graphic show of Klingon aggression, just as others before had been, or would she allow the repentant engineer to make amends for her actions? It was strange, it had been Tom who she'd hit but Seven to whom she felt she owed an apology, she just hoped that the other woman would give her the chance to do just that.
Hearing the door behind her open B'Elanna turned to face the Captain, the older woman's face was set in a granite mask of anger, and as their eyes locked the engineer was granted the distinct displeasure of one of Janeway's force ten glares.
"Eyes front Lieutenant." Janeway barked.
B'Elanna turned to face the Captain's desk, doing her best to look repentant, professional and the epitome of a good officer, while in reality she was feeling like a naughty nine year old who'd been caught trying to sell official secrets to the Cardassians in exchange for candy.
Janeway stood behind her desk, leaning forward slightly she rested her hands on the desk top and stared hard at her officer. "You are aware that striking another officer is a court-martial offence?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Was it worth it?" Janeway's voice was deceptively quiet but the anger could be detected just under the surface.
B'Elanna didn't answer for a moment, she thought of the pleasure she had received when her fist landed in that smug face and was about to answer in the positive until she remembered all that she could have lost because of it. "No." She whispered.
"What?" The Captain's voice rose, abruptly pulling B'Elanna out of her musings.
"No ma'am." B'Elanna said in a more powerful voice.
"You are a senior officer, one of the people I rely upon to keep this ship and this crew together. Now here you are letting your emotions cloud your judgement and behaving in a manner that I wouldn't accept from the greenest of cadets." Janeway paused allowing B'Elanna to stew for a moment, while at the same time trying to decide on what course of action she should take. The incident was serious enough to warrant time in the brig or even a demotion, the problem was that B'Elanna was needed at the moment to supervise the latest engineering changes in order to avoid the present danger, and even once the immediate danger had passed B'Elanna was still the most able engineer they had and demoting her from Chief would seriously effect the smooth running of the ship. "I have been made aware of certain facts that Commander Chakotay seems to feel pertinent to your actions today, but I will not tolerate this kind of behaviour from my staff, is that understood?"
"Yes ma'am." B'Elanna stood up straighter and prepared to be ordered to the brig.
"Do you have anything to say in your defence Lieutenant?" Janeway demanded.
"No ma'am."
"That's not good enough." Janeway snapped, she'd had enough of her Chief Engineer lashing out first and thinking second, and hoped that by making her confront the reasons behind her actions B'Elanna might start to curb her temper. "I want to know why you struck Ensign Paris?"
B'Elanna shuffled uncertainly, she didn't like having to talk about her feelings but if she was going to explain her actions that is exactly what she needed to do. Then her mind once again flashed to Seven, if she was to have a chance at a relationship with the ex-Borg she couldn't have the Captain think she was an uncontrollable lout who was unworthy of her favourite. "I know I was wrong to hit Tom, I just." B'Elanna fixed her eyes on the floor, her rage starting to boil once more at the thought of the helmsman's paws all over the young blonde. "When I saw him put his hand on Seven and then try to kiss her, I just lost it."
"And that is your reasoning? You were jealous so you just struck out?" Janeway was disappointed, she had expected more from B'Elanna.
"I wasn't jealous." B'Elanna looked at the Captain slightly confused, who was she meant to be jealous of? Did the Captain believe that she was jealous of Tom winning over Seven? Who in their right mind would think an intelligent and innocent woman like Seven could be attracted to someone like Tom? Then again who would think she'd be attracted to an ill tempered half breed Klingon? "I was angry. He ruined Seven's first kiss and there he was trying to kiss her again."
Now Janeway was confused "They're dating. Its only natural that they would kiss and.." she broke off not wanting to continue that line of thought. "You finished your relationship with Ensign Paris, and have to understand that you can no-longer dictate who he becomes involved with."
B'Elanna looked at Janeway as if she'd just mooned the mess-hall and started reciting Shakespeare in Klingonese. "They are not dating." She enunciated very slowly as if talking to a child.
"Yes they are." Janeway was more confused than ever. "Chakotay told me, besides why would they be kissing if they weren't dating?" Ha, got you on that one she thought.
B'Elanna lost all sense of discipline as she moved to stand as close to the desk, and the Captain, as possible, and leaning her fists on the table let her anger rise to the surface once more. "He forced the kiss, it was her first and that arrogant P'taq ruined it." In a quieter voice she added. "When I found her she was crying. I, I'd never seen her cry before."
"What!" Janeway stood back from her desk as if she'd been struck. "He wouldn't."
"Seven told me herself. She wouldn't lie about something like that."
Kathryn just stood there for a few moments, her anger flaring to uncontrollable levels as she thought of anyone taking advantage of the young woman. The thought of him forcing himself on her was charging the normally cool headed Captain to murderous highs, images of the lecherous bastard forcing more than a kiss from the young beauty were dancing in her mind, making it hard for her to breath. "I'll have him put in the brig for the rest of his miserable life."
"Captain?" B'Elanna was getting concerned by Janeway's rising colour and the look in her eyes that was bordering on homicidal.
"He will not get away with this." Kathryn banged her hand on the desk. "I will not allow anyone on my ship to get away with sexually assaulting another member of the crew. Seven is only..." She seemed to loose her voice for a second. "She's an innocent, and that.."
"No, Captain he didn't do anything." B'Elanna interrupted.
"You said he forced her." Kathryn turned her murderous glare on the younger woman, if she'd made this up it would be the Klingon who spent eternity in the brig. "Are you telling me you lied?"
"No, its not...when I said he forced her I didn't mean he assaulted her." B'Elanna recognised Janeway's reaction as a mirror image of her own and cursed herself for explaining it so badly. She knew that without Seven's restraining hand she would have joyfully strangled Tom, and by the looks of it Kathryn was set on decapitation at the very least. "He kissed her without her permission, but from what Seven told me it was sort of a misunderstanding, or if you ask me just a typical case of Tom believing he's irresistible."
"But he did force her to kiss him?" Kathryn tried to clarify, still feeling the need to cause the helmsman serious bodily harm. "That could be considered emotional assault."
"Captain, I think you're allowing your emotions to effect your judgement." B'Elanna parroted the Captains words from earlier, and couldn't help a momentary feeling of smug satisfaction in doing so.
Kathryn looked at B'Elanna and acknowledged the use of her own advise, she still wasn't happy about Tom's actions but if it was a misunderstanding, as Seven maintained, then she really couldn't take any action against him. That brought her mind back to the reason she was here, B'Elanna's attack on Tom, prompted as she was now led to believe by his actions towards Seven. That made her wonder why the indifferent engineer was suddenly so protective of the ex-Borg, perhaps her suspicions about the change in their relationship were correct. "You're right, I was allowing my emotions to rule me and that was wrong. I'm close to Seven and I over reacted, but I thought the two of you were on less than friendly terms, so why were you so enraged by this?"
"We're.." B'Elanna found herself suddenly fascinated by the shine on her shoes, and a blush began creeping up her neck. "Well we've erm, that is Seven and I are, well we're sort of seeing each other, I think."
"You think?" Kathryn wasn't quite sure how to take this news but the sight of the usually forthright and take charge lieutenant suddenly turned into a stammering teenager made her want to laugh.
"Well, we haven't actually been out on a date or anything yet, but we've been growing closer over the last month or so and we erm.." B'Elanna's explanation trailed off, she was about to mention the kiss but didn't feel right about discussing something so private with anyone. Unfortunately beyond that one moment in the cargo bay there wasn't anything concrete to their relationship, only feelings. "I care about her Captain, and I think she cared about me."
Kathryn noticed the depth of that admission, but also the use of the past tense. "You don't think she still feels the same?"
"I'm not sure." The half Klingon really didn't want to discuss this but the Captain was looking at her in an inquisitive manner that promised further questioning unless she explained herself fully. "After what happened in the mess-hall I'm just afraid she won't want anything to do with me."
"I'm sorry." Kathryn felt like walking round the desk to give B'Elanna a hug, she looked so sad, but then she remembered why they were there in the first place and decided to put a more formal distance between them, so pulling out her chair she sat down. "However this still does not excuse your actions towards Mr Paris."
"No ma'am." B'Elanna stood back to attention.
"If Ensign Paris decides to press formal charges you could be facing time in the brig and loss of rank. If he does not, then due to our current situation and the need for your expertise in engineering, I am willing to forgo incarceration at this time." Janeway pressed a few commands into her desk console before continuing. "You will be confined to your quarters for the foreseeable future, you are to be allowed out only to carry out your engineering duties. Is that clear?"
"Yes ma'am." She tried not to smile, they both knew that during a ships upgrade the only place B'Elanna would visit were her quarters and engineering anyway. So except for a possible excursion to the mess-hall to sample one of Neelix's culinary delights, her punishment wouldn't even effect her.
A chime announced the arrival of Tuvok and Ensign Claire Mortimer who had both been summoned by the Captain. "Ensign Mortimer will you escort Lieutenant Torres to her quarters." Janeway ordered.
Claire nodded and led B'Elanna from the room.
Claire walked a silent B'Elanna Torres to the turbolift, their progress observed closely by every member of the bridge crew, who only waited a second after the lift doors closed before starting to speculate about what might have happened in the ready room. The security officer was worried about her friend, news of the incident in the mess-hall had spread rapidly throughout the ship and Claire feared that B'Elanna was sinking into a depression over Tom's new romance, or whatever the Captain had said to her.
"How are you doing B'Elanna?" She asked once they left the turbolift.
"I wish I knew." B'Elanna gave the young officer a reassuring smile despite her mood.
"Is it because of whatever punishment the Captain has prescribed?" The security officer probed.
For the first time since leaving the ready room B'Elanna allowed a real smile to capture her face. "No that's not it." The smile soon disappeared as she thought of the reason for her present melancholy, but looking at the friendly and level headed red head who walked beside her the usually private half Klingon decided to open up a little, and try and gain some perspective on her worries. "I think I've just screwed up the best relationship of my life."
Claire looked at her as if she'd suddenly confessed to being a Cardassian spy, "You're worried 'cos you think you've lost Tom?." Her respect for the engineers intelligence and taste was rapidly being blown out an airlock.
"No! Do I look demented?" B'Elanna stopped dead in the middle of the corridor, crossing her arms she gave the security officer a stare of pure disgust. "I was referring to Seven actually." She was beginning to question her decision to talk to Claire, if the woman was foolish enough to think she'd get upset over a waste of space like Paris she couldn't be that bright or even the slightest bit sensitive.
"Seven?" Claire was reminded of Harry telling her of his suspicions about the changing relationship between B'Elanna and the ex-Borg. "I'm sorry, it must have been hard to find out that she and Tom were going out. I mean I was shocked and I'm not even in love with her."
B'Elanna's colour began to rise in anger thinking about people assuming Tom and Seven were dating, but that soon turned to a blush as she heard Claire refer to her being in love with the young Borg, not that she wasn't, it was just the first time anyone had said it, including her. "I don't know why everyone keeps saying Tom and Seven are dating, because they are not. She and I, well we're seeing each other, I'm just worried that she'll call it off after my behaviour in the mess-hall."
"So Harry was right." Seeing B'Elanna's bewildered look she continued. "He thought there was something going on between the two of you, and I guess that's why he was so worked up when he thought Tom had taken Seven away from you. He's still very protective of her, well about her romantic life anyway." Claire didn't sound exactly pleased about that.
"I know he cares about her, but you've nothing to worry about Claire, he told me himself that he's no-longer interested in Seven romantically." B'Elanna place a reassuring hand on the red heads arm. "You're the only one he's interested in now."
"Yeah." Pushing her own unexpected insecurity to the back of her mind Claire tried to return the favour and reassure her friend. "I don't think Seven's the kind of person to be so easily scared off. I mean she's not the sort to rush into things without thinking about them thoroughly, so to make a giant step like starting her first romance she must be sure of her feelings for you."
"You think so?" The half Klingon blushed again and wondered if her face could take all the extra heat that seemed to infuse it whenever she thought of Seven.
"Of course." Claire noticed that her friend seemed to have cheered up slightly. "Why don't you talk to Seven, find out what she's feeling?"
"Hurmph!" The engineer threw her arms up in disgust. "How am I supposed to do that? I can't even leave my room except to go to engineering, and that's not exactly the most ideal place for a romantic discussion."
"Well surely Seven can visit you in your quarters?"
"I doubt the Captain is likely to allow me an open house to all visitors." Coming within sight of her quarters B'Elanna saw the security officer waiting outside her door. "See? She's already got a watcher appointed to make sure I don't leave my cell."
"Your over reacting." Claire said sternly.
"Am I?" B'Elanna's temper was once again on the rise.
"Look I'm sure that if she wants to Seven could easily get in to see you, and before you start getting all broody Klingon on me, yes I'm sure she wants to see you."
Arriving at her quarters B'Elanna activated the door but before she entered she took the time to squeeze Claire's arm, a habit she seemed to have inherited from the Captain. "Thanks, and I'm sorry for being a broody Klingon on you." She smiled warmly at her friend and entered her rather comfy gaol cell.
Captain Janeway sat behind her desk watching her Chief Engineer being led from the room, but instead of being angry at the younger woman for hitting Paris, she was sitting there thinking how nice it would have been to inflict the punch herself. Thinking that the womanising helmsman was dating Seven had been annoying enough, but to know he'd been spreading rumours about the non-existent relationship was making her angry, the anger fuelled by the news of the forced kiss. If it weren't for her captains responsibilities Janeway would have loved nothing better than to have the young man frog marched through the ship buck naked, while all those who felt the urge, which she was guessing would be quite a few, threw rotting vegetation at his lily white body.
"Captain?" Tuvok interrupted her increasingly pleasant thoughts of humiliation.
"Yes Tuvok?" Kathryn schooled her face into a more professional pose.
"I have despatched a security detail to stand guard outside Lieutenant Torres quarters. Are there to be any further disciplinary actions I should be made aware of?" The Vulcan had been surprised at the news of B'Elanna's actions, he had believed the previously hot tempered and volatile half Klingon had managed to curb her more excessive emotions.
"If Ensign Paris," the name said in a disgusted voice, "doesn't press charges, then I think house arrest is more than adequate for the crime. She only broke his nose."
Tuvok raised a supercilious eyebrow at the last sentence. "It was assault Captain. Although I do concur with the prescribed punishment." Tuvok had detected his captains less than friendly tone in reference to Mr Paris, and as her friend, as well as her Chief of Security, he thought it his duty to enquire about her state of mind. "You seem more disturbed by the recipient of the attack than the person responsible, are there perhaps circumstances to which I am unaware?"
"You could say that." Tom's behaviour wasn't exactly a security matter, and Kathryn knew Tuvok wasn't too comfortable discussing other peoples emotions, but in this case she needed someone to talk with. Her feelings about Seven and this latest development in her knowledge of the young woman's love life had left her feeling protective and confused. "Were you aware of the rumours about Tom dating Seven?"
"Yes."
"Well it appears he made it up." She waited for Tuvok's eyebrow to descend back to its usual location. "According to B'Elanna, she and Seven are involved and that was the reason behind her attack on Paris."
"And you believe Lieutenant Torres' account?" The Vulcan questioned.
"Yes. I'd noticed the change in the way they acted around one another, and even though I must admit to feeling somewhat jealous." Here Janeway stole a peek at her friend, trying to gage his response to her admission, "the idea of Seven seeing B'Elanna is a lot more easy to swallow than her dating Tom."
"Lieutenant Torres would make a more logical partner for Seven of Nine." Tuvok agreed. "Your jealousy over Seven's developing relationship would appear to disturb you."
"Well surprisingly enough I'm not used to feeling envious when one of my crew gets involved with someone else." Kathryn didn't like talking about her inability to control her emotions but thought Tuvok might be able to put a more logical slant on her feelings. "I never would have thought...I mean I suppose this means I subconsciously wanted a relationship with her."
Tuvok noted the confusion in her voice and wondered at the human insistence in attributed all of their emotional responses to others as signs of romantic attraction. "Do you wish to have sex with Seven of.."
"No!" Kathryn cut him off with one strong and decisive word.
"Then I think it safe to reason that you do not wish for a romantic relationship with her." He again wondered how a woman who was usually so intelligent could not even understand her own feelings, especially when they were so clear to practically everyone on the ship.
"Then why would I get jealous?" Kathryn was confused, again, and she didn't like that feeling.
"You have always had a unique relationship with Seven, you have advised her and watched as she grew into an individual. It is probable that your jealousy was triggered by a perceived threat to that relationship by Seven developing another friendship."
"She has other friends." Janeway countered, "I've never experienced jealousy over them."
"The only two friendships Seven has engaged in that are close to the level of her relationship with you, have been with the Doctor and Naomi Wildman." Tuvok continued. "Neither of them provide Seven with the type of guidance and stimulation that you do. Lieutenant Torres is, however, another strong, intelligent and passionate woman and it is reasonable to assume she will provide Seven with guidance and stimulation. Although it is likely to be of a different variety to your own, considering we now know they are involved romantically, you could have seen her as a threat to your friendship and have been jealous of their growing closeness."
"Great." Janeway went from confusion to self disgust. "So I'm just being selfish?"
"It is fairly normal for human mothers to feel jealous when their offspring show signs of independence and start listening to the opinions of others." Tuvok reasoned.
"I am not her mother Tuvok." Janeway actually seemed shocked at the idea.
"No, but to a large extent you have assumed the maternal role in her development." He again felt like he was explaining the obvious.
"So I just don't like the idea of my chick leaving the nest?" Kathryn sat for a moment in quiet contemplation trying to workout her feelings towards the young former Borg. "You're right, I never really thought about it before, but I guess I have always seen her as my responsibility, more so than anyone else on the ship. She is just so innocent in many ways and I always felt that I needed to protect her from, well from everything I suppose."
"Do you feel the need to protect her from Lieutenant Torres?" Tuvok probed.
"No, I trust her now not to deliberately hurt Seven, although I think it would be a good idea for me to have a talk with Seven, just to make sure she doesn't have any problems adjusting to the romantic life." Kathryn allowed her feelings of jealousy to wash away, but in their place was a renewed feeling of anger. "Tom is a different matter."
Tuvok said nothing, but even without verbal or even eyebrow communication, it was obvious that he agreed.
"He deliberately lied about Seven, I'm not sure why, but if he wants people to think he's dating her I think it would only be fair for him to get a visit from his future 'mother-in-law' so she can tell him just what the rules are when dating her little girl." The look on Kathryn's face was positively malicious and for a fleeting second Tuvok felt sorry for the helmsman.