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''B'Elanna and Tom were plotting. Again.
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon in the Paris and Torres household and they both felt bored. During the seven years in the Delta quadrant they had valued every free hour they could get. But now, back home, they didn't know how to spend whole days without any work that had to be done.
In the last six months they had visited relatives and colleagues and built up a new life and career, but now that they were properly settled, their life being a simple routine again, they didn't know what to do with themselves.
"You know what?" B'Elanna looked at her husband who was sitting opposite of her, chewing on a piece of pie. "It's about time that the Admiral and Chakotay get their act together and admit that they love each other? Don't you think?"
Tom almost choked on the pie and gave his wife a suspicious look.
"Well, yes. We all know that. But we also know that this isn't going to happen soon or in the near future. OK, Chakotay dumped Seven as soon as they set foot on earth, but on the other hand the Admiral didn't make a move on him, nor did she answer the calls and messages he sent her afterwards. That's common knowledge now. At least if you are in contact with the Delaneys it is. So why do you think something will happen soon?"
"Because we will be helping them see the light," B'Elanna stated matter of factly, leaving Tom staring at her with narrowed eyes.
"Who are you and what have you done to my wife? I can't believe what I'm hearing. Weren't you the one who always told me to let it be? The one that said that I shouldn't interfere with destiny and that, although my intentions had always been good, it would never be worth the Admiral's and Chakotay's revenge?"
"Yep, that was me." She smiled at him innocently. "But you see what happened? Nada. Furthermore, it's Chakotay's birthday soon and what would make a better present then to unite him with the love of his life?"
"OK, I think I'd better call the Doctor now. Either you're sick, or some alien took over your mind."
"Stuff it, Tom." B'Elanna said in the impatient tone he knew so well. "Let's be honest for a moment. I'm bored stiff, you're bored stiff and if Chakotay and Janeway aren't able to master the basics of 'How to get together with the one I love', then they most definitely need help. And what can they do to hinder us anyway? They aren't our commanding officers anymore and what we do in our private time is nothing to concern Starfleet, is it?"
Tom made a face as if thinking deeply before breaking into a big grin.
"You're a genius, B'El and absolutely right. So what do you have in mind?"
She shrugged. "Nothing at the moment but I'm open to suggestions. Although one thing is certain. Nothing will happen as long as they're not in the same place at the same time."
Tom nodded. "Right. So how do we get the two of them to meet up?" He fell silent and B'Elanna could see the wheels in his brain turning. "OK, how about the Captain Proton program? We could invite the two of them to test my new holo-novel. I always intended to invite them anyway. Of course, we wouldn't tell them that the other one had been invited as well. And then we tweak the program so that there'll be a little accident, for example..."
"Forget it," B'Elanna interrupted him. "It can't be something that obvious. First," she started to count on her fingers, "they're not stupid and will know what we're pulling. Second, such 'little' accidents can turn nasty faster than you can say 'Captain Proton' and you don't want to have Janeway's hair catching fire, or something like that, do you? And third, the more complicated our matchmaking plan will be, the more likely it is that something will go wrong. Don't let's play with too many variables here, OK?"
Her husband nodded reluctantly and sighed. "I hate to say it, but you're right. But what do you suggest?"
"Let me think for a moment. Can you take a look at Miral in the meantime? It's unusual for her to sleep that long, although I guess the two hours of crying this morning wore her out."
While Tom was looking after their daughter, B'Elanna let her thoughts wander freely, plans forming in her head, only to be discarded moments later. When Tom came back ten minutes later she finally had an idea she thought that would work and she grinned up at him.
"Miral's still sleeping and you better spill it, or I'll torture you until I have all the information I need."
"You mean you'd try to torture me, Flyboy, but a man can dream, I guess. Sit down if you want to hear what I have to say."
"OK, OK," he said, resuming his former place at the table. "What it is?"
"We both agree that our first goal is to get the two of them into one place, right? So, let's assume that we'll manage that without too much of a problem. But how to get the two of them to talk to each other? And even harder, how to get them to admit their feelings? One thing's for sure; they will not open up voluntarily and as I said, a complicated plan will do us no good. "
"And? Come to the point, B'El."
"Patience, Tom, patience. But I feel like being nice today and I'll tell you the secret. What we really need is pressure. We must put them under immense pressure in a situation that they can't escape. After a while one of them will lose their nerve and their true feelings will be revealed."
"Nice idea, but how will you achieve this."
"That's easy. When you were looking after Miral I remembered something I read in last month's issue of 'Starfleet Today', and all we now need is to call your father and Tuvok."
"Tuvok? Of all people." He gave her a look as if she had lost her mind.
"Yes, Tuvok. You see, in this article they mentioned..."
"Would you please tell me again how we got into this predicament?" Kathryn Janeway wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at Chakotay who was kneeling some short distance from her.
He turned toward the sound of her voice and placed his shovel he had been digging beside him.
"Was that a rhetorical question, Kathryn? Or do you really want to hear the same explanation for the fourth time?" He grabbed for the bottle of water and took some thirsty sips.
"Yes, it was. But maybe hearing it again, I will finally make some sense out of our being here."
"You know exactly why we're here and be honest with yourself; who would've been better suited for this mission?" He shrugged. "After all it was us who spent more than seven years in the Delta Quadrant, wasn't it? And that artifacts similar to those we assembled from the Kazon showed up at Vulcan's Forge might easily be the archeological sensation of the century. What would it mean if ancestors of the Kazon were here on Vulcan some thousands of years ago? Were the Kazon really an Alpha quadrant race or did some of their sects travel that far in the past? And if they did; why?"
He looked excited, being in his element by now.
"You know what? At the moment I couldn't care less if some Kazon were here in some distant past. Sure, no one knows more about them then we do, but they could've sent someone else to recover the artifacts. I would have loved to take a look at them back on earth."
When he answered his voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Come on, you know how Starfleet politics works. What would get them better press than to send Starfleet's newest Admiral and 'golden girl' and the former 'Maquis terrorist' who turned back into a fine Starfleet officer and now works for Starfleet as a professor for archeology?"
"You read that nonsense that they wrote about us?" She raised her eyebrow in best Tuvok style. "However, it really wasn't necessary to send us here personally. What did we do to deserve this? Not only is it Vulcan's Forge. It's a desert canyon, for god's sake, and one of the hottest regions on Vulcan. Furthermore, you might've forgotten about it but it's the middle of summer here and we don't even have a reasonable accommodation."
She nodded at the small conglomeration of tents some way behind the excavation site and made a face. Shaking her head she sighed and pulled her hair-band loose to get some sweaty, stray strands of hair back into the short ponytail.
"It is only our eighth day here and I feel like jumping out of my skin. I drink several liters of fluids every day but it still feels like I lose even more sweating. It is incredible and unbearably hot during daytime and doesn't get much cooler at night. And don't forget about those jigger fleas, which try to eat us alive."
"It's only for three more weeks and haven't we visited places worse in the Delta Quadrant?"
"We have, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it here. I guess it's at least 130 degrees Fahrenheit today." She took a look around before her eyes rested on two persons working in a tent some hundred feet away. "Somehow it's comforting that we're not the only ones stewing here, isn't it? It's almost like the good old days."
She paused for a moment, giving him a half-smile. "OK, I'll leave you to your digging now. I have to answer some messages and afterwards I want to work on the translations. It might be that we will have more success with the second scroll. See you later."
With that she was gone.
"When you said you wanted to send those two to Vulcan, you never mentioned that we would be going as well." Tom Paris muttered between his teeth, while entering some data into a PADD.
"And how often do you want to repeat that? You know as well as I do that I had no idea that we would be assigned to this mission along with them. It was Tuvok's idea. I tell you, that damned Vulcan has a cruel sense of humour."
B'Elanna was working at a replicator that had suddenly malfunctioned the day before and did not even look up. It was the fifth time that Tom mentioned their misfortune today and she had lost count at how often he had reminded her of that fact during the last seven days.
"Humour? Tuvok has no idea about humour? I can still see his face over the intercom when he told my father and us, that this mission would need a good pilot and engineer and that we would be suited perfectly, considering the fact that we worked with Chakotay and Janeway for years."
"Don't forget the part when he said that he would be 'very glad to have the opportunity to assure himself of our well-being personally'."
"How could I forget that? And did he so much as say 'hello' to us since we arrived here? No. I can hardly wait to meet him tonight and to give him a piece of my mind."
"And what will you tell him? That it was nice that he decided to support our matchmaking scheme, because he surely knew what we were planning, but that it wasn't such a nice idea to drag us along as well? Janeway and Chakotay would surely be happy to hear that."
"That's the best part of it all. I really thought your idea would work and what happened? Nothing. They're polite with each other but it's almost like the last year we spent in the Delta Quadrant. They don't seem to be the least bit interested in each other."
"That is typical of you and men in general." B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "Haven't you watched those two? When we met for the first briefing, Janeway entered the room without so much as a glance at Chakotay. Did you see him then? I can tell you he was hurt. The smile on his face that had appeared when he had seen her all but disappeared. Since then he's polite with her but nothing more. And the Admiral? She treats him like she treats everyone else and that isn't normal by any means. After all, they'd been best friends for a long time. And I can tell you the heat is getting to her. When I went out for a walk with Miral last night I saw her at the replicator where she wanted to order some coffee ice cream. When nothing happened she gave the poor thing a good kick. No wonder it doesn't function anymore."
"It was her? Wow." He gave the replicator a thoughtful glance. "However, how long do you want to wait till something happens? I don't want to spend the rest of my life here. I have nothing against living 'long and prosper', just not here, please."
"I don't think we'll have to wait that much longer." At Tom's doubtful look she continued. "When Janeway's starting to kick the replicator's butt you know something's up. And let me tell you, I can almost see the smoke coming out of Chakotay's ears. It's like the good old Maquis days. When things got really nasty he got really quiet at first, only to explode when it was finally too much for him. He might have borne most of Janeway's moods on Voyager when it was in the crew's best interests, but he won't tolerate her foul mood much longer."
"Let's hope you're right."
They both flinched when the replicator came back to life with a loud 'beep'.
When the four former Voyager members, as well as Miral, arrived at Tuvok's house in the evening, the sun was just going down. It was still hot and there was no breeze to cool them down.
"I'm looking forward to see Tuvok. Who would've thought that I'd miss this dry Vulcan one day?"
"Ah, come on, Tom. He isn't that dry. At least not all of the time. Just let's hope that he's got air conditioning inside." B'Elanna had linked arms with Tom and she was looking at the impressive house they were just nearing.
Chakotay and Janeway were trailing along some steps behind them. Chakotay who was pushing the buggy with Miral, looked at his former captain.
"Tuvok's house looks wonderful. Have you been here before?"
"No, unfortunately not. But he got it only shortly before Voyager was launched. He never had the chance to get settled here." She sighed. "Although he told me that T'Pel made it a beautiful home. I hope he's going to show us his greenhouses. In his last message he told me that he is working on a new orchid crossbreed."
They fell silent, both not knowing what to say.
"It's still way too hot, don't you think? she finally asked when the silence between them became uncomfortable. "I have the feeling I will never be able to think clearly again. It's like my head is filled with dust and sand."
"Well, I wouldn't call it cold." He looked at her and for a moment his gaze lingered on the dress that she was wearing. Thanks to the heat it was clinging to her body, emphasizing her curves. "You know, I'm happy to be here tonight. Not only because I missed being together with the crew day after day, but because I missed being with you."
She stopped and for a moment she just looked at him. Her gaze vulnerable for the tiniest of moments. Then she had raised her mental shields again and when she spoke her voice was casual.
"Why, that's nice of you to say, Chakotay. You know, I missed all of you, too."
She could see that her remark made him angry but she held his gaze steadily.
"That's not what I meant, Kathryn and I would appreciate it very much, if you would finally stop playing those games with me."
"I am not playing any…"
B'Elanna and Tom had reached the house's door and it was opened by Tuvok even before they had the chance to knock.
"Welcome to my modest home. I am glad that you could make it." The Vulcan had become leaner and paler since they had last seen him, probably a consequence of his illness.
"Lieutenants Paris and Torres, Commander Chakotay, Admiral Janeway," he greeted everyone of them in turn "and how nice that little Ms. Paris could make it, too."
"Tuvok, it's so good to see you. How are you?" Janeway stepped forwards and embraced Tuvok who returned his former captain's gesture a bit reluctantly.
After greetings were exchanged, Tuvok guided them into the house where they were further welcomed by his wife, T'Pel.
A tour through the house soon showed that Tuvok had not only bought himself and his family a spacious home, but that it was furnished sparsely but with style.
As Tuvok's children weren't present, the six adults and Miral sat down in the living room. T'Pel served them a selection of native dishes and their conversation was quiet but nonetheless pleasurable. They talked about Tuvok's healing progress, the archaeological digging and finally settled on reminiscing about their times on Voyager.
"I really don't know if I could say the Borg were the most dangerous species we met on our way," B'Elanna just said. "but maybe that's because we became used to them somehow. Or maybe we just became used to Borg habits. After all we lived with a former Borg drone for several years. Especially at the beginning she was way more Borg than human and even now she cannot really deny her past. But that is something we all have in common. Our past will always be a part of us and influence the way we are in the present and what we will become in the future."
The five adults nodded at her words and T'Pel turned to Chakotay.
"Now that Lieutenant Torres mentioned Seven of Nine, or should I say Ms. Hansen, I would like to ask you a question, Commander Chakotay. It is my understanding that the two of you have been in a relationship for some time now. How is Ms. Hansen and how well is she adapting to life on earth? I can imagine it is not easy for her and that some people will still meet her with a certain distrust, originating from her being a former Borg drone."
Chakotay had been being busy with stabbing a piece of Vulcan Drabson vegetables onto his fork but now he looked up sharply. His gaze went to Kathryn, who was suddenly busy with turning her wine glass in her hands, then to Tuvok who watched him calm and unperturbed, to finally settle on T'Pel, who was waiting for his answer patiently.
"I'm sorry, but I can't give you any news about Annika. We broke up almost as soon as we had reached earth. It was our mutual opinion that we were not only too different, but that we would not have time to form a functioning relationship in the turmoil of trying to build up a new life. I already told Tuvok in one of our last communications, but you mightn't have had any reason to talk about it." He narrowed his eyes and gave Tuvok an enquiring look.
Tuvok nodded at Chakotay's last words and turned to his wife. "The Commander is right. I must have forgotten to tell you about it." Then he looked at the others. "However, I am pleased to be able to announce that Ms. Hansen is well. I received a message from her only yesterday. She is still busy researching the possibilities for an effective use of nanoprobes together with the Doctor. She asked me to greet all of you, especially the Commander and the Admiral."
"That ...that's nice to hear, Tuvok," Janeway said, a strained smile on her face. She looked around the table but Tom and B'Elanna were feigning interest in their dishes, while Chakotay looked sullenly into the distance. T'Pel was nowhere to be seen and she thought that Tuvok's wife must have gotten up and gone to the kitchen.
"That was not all of the message, if I may say so. Ms. Hansen wanted me to wish all of you the best for the project and she said that she hopes that things between you and the Commander will finally be settled. Furthermore she said that she was sorry that she had interfered in the way she had. She meant that she should have known of the affection between the Commander and you and that she should have supported the two of you instead of staying in your way."
Just now T'Pel reappeared. "The bread is ready. I hope you'll try some with the soup."
She pretended not to notice the strained atmosphere and sat down with them again.
"So, what do you think will be the results of the digging? Do you think the script rolls and artefacts will turn out to be Kazon in origin?"
"It's really too early to say yet," Tom said when no one else volunteered to answer. They entered into another discussion of the project and the rest of the evening went smoothly. When they departed at half past twelve, the general mood was good.
B'Elanna and Tom were the last to leave and before they were fully out the door B'Elanna turned to Tuvok and whispered.
"What was that about Seven's message tonight? You must have known it would disturb Janeway and Chakotay."
"Yes, in fact I did. I thought that if you went through all those pains to interfere with the Admiral's and Commander's love life, I could at least try to help this interference to be a success. Both of them were not at their professional and personal bests during those last months and Seven of Nine agreed at once when I suggested that I would recite a faked message from her."
Tom shook his head. "You? Acting as matchmaker? It's indeed strange times."
"I have to disagree with you, Mr. Paris. You were in dire need of my help. After all, you are not known for plans that actually function as they were intended."
Tom made a face but didn't reply to it.
"And do you think things will work out," B'Elanna asked?
"Let me formulate it like this: If nothing happens within the next two days, you may call me 'Neelix'."
Tom laughed. "You aren't joking, are you? But be assured, we'll remember that." He turned to his wife and together with Miral they left, catching up with Janeway and Chakotay who were already some distance ahead.
It was late, almost three a.m., and Chakotay couldn't sleep. His troubled thoughts didn't want to leave him alone and it was still too hot, even for his liking. When he turned in his bed for what seemed the hundredth time he got up and decided to take a walk, despite the darkness outside.
He had just left his tent when he saw a figure, clad in what seemed to be a white night gown, sitting on one of the rocks near one of the excavations. In the pale star light he could not see at once who it was, but thought it might be B'Elanna or Kathryn. Approaching slowly he saw that it was Kathryn and for a moment he thought about turning round and leaving her alone when she spoke to him.
"So you can't sleep either."
"No, it's like I can't breathe in the tent. And you?" he sniffed "By the way, do I smell hot coffee?"
"You do. It's never too hot for a good cup of coffee and to come back to your first question, I'm just not tired. You want some?"
"No thanks." He sat down on the rock beside her. For a while neither of them spoke and they watched the stars in the night sky.
"I'm really sorry," Chakotay said after almost half an hour had passed.
"About what?" she looked at him surprised.
"About acting like a jerk. I should never have agreed to date Seven. I should..."
"Can't you just forget it?" Kathryn interrupted him. "I really have no desire to talk about this. What you do or don't do is completely up to you. You have no obligations towards me." Her voice got colder with every word and when she was done speaking she turned away, resuming her watch of the night sky.
"Is that why you avoided me at all costs throughout the last months? Why you never replied to my messages? Because you didn't want to talk about it?" He knew that he had spoken louder than he should and that the anger in his voice could be heard, but he didn't care. "Do you think it has been always easy to love you? In our last three years in the Delta..."
"Love? Who is talking about love here?" She interrupted him again and this time he could here anger in her voice as well.
"I'm talking about love." He could not sit still any longer and sprung up. "You know that I loved you, or do you want to deny it? Don't you dare to tell me you didn't know it since New Earth. And didn't I always respect that we couldn't be together because of protocol? Didn't I respect that we had to abandon every thought of personal happiness for our crew's sake? Haven't I been a true friend to you, even in the last years when you didn't seem to care about me anymore?
Kathryn got up as well and glared at him.
"Oh what a wonderful friend you were in our last months on Voyager. And of course I could feel your love when you decided to date a woman half your age. A woman that not only has the maturity of a teenager, but that I loved almost like a daughter. And why should it have hurt me when you refused my dinner invitations, when you didn't have time for some hours on the holodeck anymore? What the hell did you expect? And please excuse me for being so dumb for thinking that it might be a good idea to give you and Seven the time and opportunity to build a stable relationship. I might not have liked what the two of you did, but I thought you still deserved a chance for happiness."
She ran her hand through her already dishevelled hair, making it look even more messy.
"Sure, Kathryn. That explains a lot. Do you really think I believe that you didn't hear about my break up with Seven weeks, or even months, ago? Why didn't you give me a chance to explain then?"
He made some steps into her direction so that only mere inches were separating then. When she spoke she had to look up at him.
"How would I have known what you wanted from me? Maybe you only wanted to ask me to talk to Seven for you. Or maybe you only wanted to reconnect because of the break up. You might have thought that it would be easier to try to seduce me than some other women that you would have to get to know first. And on a different note, couldn't you have imagined that I might have felt hurt about you and Seven."
She was sweating. Beads of sweat were running down her forehead and neckline, pooling between her breast and finally dragged down her gown by gravity.
"Do you really think that I would be that low?" His voice had become calmer and in his face anger mixed with disappointment.
"I don't know what to think anymore. I thought I knew you, but I was proved wrong."
"Dammit, Kathryn. I have had enough of these foolish games. In the end everything comes down to your fear. You're scared. Scared to love. Scared to allow yourself to feel. And you don't want to be vulnerable or lose your almighty control. But sometime you just have to take chances. Let's face it. You've been wrong and I've been wrong and we can argue for hours about who hurt the other at which opportunity." He paused and took a deep breath.
"Just tell me one thing? Do you love me? If not, we will finish the project and I will never bother you again. But if you do, I will end this discussion here and now. If you do, I'll do what I've longed to do for years. I'll kiss you with all my love and let the past be past."
He looked down at her but she did not meet his eyes.
"Kathryn, do you love me?"
She sighed and looked up at him again.
"Yes, I do. And I have for a long time."
At her answer a small smile formed on his lips and he leaned down to her.
Their first kiss was sweet, only lasting a second with his lips barely touching hers. It was enough to set her body on fire though and she pulled his face down for a more passionate kiss. When they had to take a breath some time later, she looked up at him and when she spoke her voice was even more low and husky as usual.
"Your tent or mine?"
B'Elanna was still tired and let out a yawn. Not only had she gone to bed late but thanks to her energetic daughter, she was up way too early. It was barely six o' clock in the morning and during the four hours she had slept she'd had a strange dream about people screaming at one another.
When, with Miral on her arm, she neared Chakotay's tent she could hear his soft snoring. She smiled, hoping her old friend was sleeping well. Maybe at least his dreams would be happy ones. She was about to pass when she saw several different footprints in front of his tent. Looking around she saw a small bundle of clothes lying nearby and when she went to take a look, it proved to be Chakotay's T-shirt.
Looking back at his tent a suspicion formed in her head and after arguing with herself for a minute she went over and opened the tent's flap just a little bit to be able to take a quick look.
What she saw almost made her gasp. Letting go of the flap she turned around at once, almost running back to her own tent. Inside, she placed Miral into her cradle, before waking her husband by shaking his shoulders forcefully.
Tom yelped and jumped at her rough touch.
"Wha... What's the matter? Has something happened?"
"You could say that. Get up. You won't believe what I'm going to show you."
"It had better be worth my time," Tom growled, while hastily putting on some clothes.
"It is. I swear." When she saw that he was almost finished, she left the tent after a last look at Miral, who had fallen asleep again.
With Tom following her, she went over to Chakotay's tent where she listened for his snoring first before opening the flap again. Waving at Tom to come nearer she let him take a look, grinning from ear to ear when seeing his shocked expression. Her husband was shaking his head, his eyes as round as saucers.
After a last look they left and prepared themselves a cup of coffee before sitting down outside, enjoying the fresh air of the early morning.
"Was that real?" Tom turned to B'Elanna.
"It was."
"They really did it?"
"How should I know? But at least it looks like it. She sleeping in his arms, her head on his chest, their clothes, except his T-shirt, lying around all scattered in his tent."
"But how? When? They weren't doing it yesterday. That much is sure."
"You know, I dreamed of hearing people arguing last night. I guess I might have heard the two of them. A confrontation between them was more than due, don't you think? And conciliatory sex is the best, isn't it?" She winked at him. "But be that as it may, we've done it."
When she looked up at Tom he was smiling happily and she snuggled into his arms.
"Yes we did. I'm happy for the both of them. They deserve to be happy after all these years. But now that we've finished our mission, let's see that we get done here. I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary."
B'Elanna sighed. "Me neither. But what will we do when we're back on earth?"
"Good question." He thought for a moment. "What about setting up Seven..."
"...and the Doctor?"
They grinned at each other.
THE END