The BLTS Archive - Halloween on the Holodeck
by Kate (k4writer02@yahoo.com)

--

Published: 01-24-04

Updated: 01-24-04

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Paramount. I
do not own Star Trek, the characters, or the star ship
Voyager. I am not making any profit from this story.

Acknowledgments: Thank you to the CT group for
supplying the challenge and to Briana for acting as a
beta reader.

---

"What's that about my temper?" B'Elanna Torres demanded
in a low, threatening tone, placing her tray next to
Harry's at the long table.

Tom Paris, who was still in line for the day's meal,
hastily stepped behind Tuvok, the security officer. If
Harry had managed to enrage the tempestuous engineer,
he wanted a phaser in between him and his half- Klingon
ex-lover.

Oblivious to the danger, the Delaney twins looked up
from Harry Kim and Joe Carey to smile at the
lieutenant. "B'Elanna, your ears must be burning."
Jenny Delaney said cheerily. "We were just talking
about how wonderful it would be to have a Halloween
party in Engineering. The warp core provides such a
nice ambient lighting, don't you think, Harry?"

"I had nothing to do with that suggestion," Joe said,
sweat breaking out on his forehead as he looked for an
object to place between his face and the Chief.

"Out. Of. The. Question." B'Elanna bit off each word so
it was its own sentence. "There is delicate equipment
there. It's a hazardous area. Do you understand what
that means?" She took one of the calming meditation
breaths that Tuvok and Chakotay had worked on with her.

Meg wrinkled her nose. Jenny pouted. B'Elanna silenced
their protests with a Look that clearly said 'If you
don't like it, go to Sto-Vo-Kor. Engineering is mine.'

"I agree with the lieutenant," Tuvok said, in his
clipped precise tones. "Engineering is a sensitive
area, and if the crew partakes of spirits, as seems to
be a custom for nearly all Earth holidays, it would be
unwise to have them in a sensitive area of the ship."

Foiled by the combined might of the Chief Engineer and
Security Chief, Meg and Jenny settled back petulantly.

"There's no reason we couldn't do it on the holodeck."
Harry suggested lightly. "We'll just write a program.
So you can keep the warp core lighting effect but also
have more Halloween stuff." He smiled, proud of
himself.

"That's right," Jenny cooed. "We don't have to have all
those nasty conduits and stations everywhere."

B'Elanna choked on her soup, and a vein began to pulse.
"Nasty conduits?" she repeated, a tremor in her voice.

Tom regarded her warily. Was it better to quarantine
her and risk getting ripped apart himself or let her go
for Jenny's jugular? Higher motives won out over
self-preservation. "She didn't mean it, B'Elanna," he
said.

The lightning rod effect took place. "And you're an
engineer now, Paris?"

"Well you're hardly a stellar cartographer."

"Will you two knock it off?" Meg Delaney asked. "For
heaven's sake, just because you broke up doesn't mean
you have to gnaw on each other's bones every chance you
get."

Tom sent her a tight smile. "So, what's this about a
party?"

"For Halloween," Jenny said. "It was my favorite
holiday when we were living on Earth." She included her
sister easily.

"Costumes are the best," Meg agreed.

"You didn't go in for ghost stories?" Harry teased.

"Never." Jenny shivered. "At least, not without someone
there to hold on to," she flirted.

Harry swallowed. Meg rolled her eyes at B'Elanna, as
though to say 'Men. So easy to play with.'

"I admit, I have never seen the point to masquerading
as someone or something else and demanding a reward,"
Tuvok said, back stiff.

Neelix bustled over at the word candy. "It's the first
break I've had in my line in an hour." He beamed. "My
leola root soup must be just terrific!"

No one wanted to contradict him directly, but Jenny did
manage to say, "Is everyone going to replicate costumes
for the party, then?"

"Masks at least," Meg declared. "But we can't use the
holodeck. That's the problem. They're already reserved
that night."

"Cargo bay 2?" Neelix asked. "What is this Halloween,
anyway? Everyone seems very excited about it."

"It's an Earth holiday," Tom broke his glaring match
with B'Elanna to answer. "Kids dress up in costumes and
walk from house to house trick-or- treating." The cook
looked blank. "Asking for candy," he clarified.

"Older kids make mischief though," B'Elanna said
sharply.

"By the light of the moon, no doubt," Neelix said,
delighted. "What wonderful imaginations your people
had."

"Don't let them fool you, Neelix," Jenny said
earnestly. "Halloween is really scary. All these
animals can come at you. Ravens, werewolves and
vampires. And black bats and black cats and-,"

"You sound like Dr. Seuss," B'Elanna said, standing.
"I've got to get going."

"You barely touched your leola soup," Neelix said,
looking crushed.

"You've got a line," she answered simply, dropping her
tray at the station and leaving the mess hall with a
dark cloud floating behind her.

"Don't worry about her," Tom told Neelix and Jenny.
"She just hates Halloween."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Mischief." Tom shrugged. "I get the sense that on
Kessik IV, the teenagers directed lot of mischief at
the only two Klingons in the colony."

Harry, the perpetual innocent, looked bewildered. "But
racism died out centuries ago."

Jenny touched his shoulder. "Who taught you Ethics in
the Academy?"

"Discrimination has always, and will always be part of
human societies in some form," Tom said bitterly. "It's
like the wolf in sheep's clothing. Hides itself in all
sorts of bizarre and fascinating ways."

"The wolf. That's a traditional part of Halloween,
right?" Joe Carey asked, uncomfortably aware of his own
prejudices against Klingons.

"Werewolves," Tom said. "There are some great old scary
movies about that." He winked suggestively at Jenny.
"Good to watch with someone else."

Harry sent Tom a 'gee thanks buddy' look.

"Well, who reserved the holodeck? As morale officer I
could address them about the crew's need to recognize
holidays from home," Neelix offered helpfully,
returning from his duties as chef and server.

"That information is confidential," Tuvok said dryly.
"For exactly this reason. Pressure to give up reserved
holodeck time could foment resentment among the crew."

"Ease up Tuvok. Who wouldn't want to come to a
Halloween party?" Tom said jovially.

"B'Elanna." Harry ticked off crew members on his
fingers. "Dalby. Chakotay?"

"Why wouldn't the commander participate?" Neelix's face
drooped.

"He honors his ancestors. Halloween is just a little
bit tacky and trashy," Harry explained.

"Tacky and trashy never stopped any of us from enjoying
Sandrine's," Megan pointed out. "No offense, Tom."

He held up his hands. "None taken."

"Besides, can't you just imagine what kind of costume
he would show up in?" Jenny asked.

Delightedly, Jenny and Megan's eyes locked, as they
shared what Voyager crew members called "a twin
moment."

"She would strangle us," Jenny muttered.

"Would so be worth it though." Meg grinned.

"For the benefit of those of us who haven't shared a
brain since childhood," Harry reminded them gently.

"We think we should set up B'Elanna and the Commander,"
Meg said boldly, meeting Tom's eyes. "Maybe if she
moves on socially, it'll prove to you that you can
too."

Harry shifted uncomfortably, uncertain about being at
ground zero when the bomb detonated.

Tom didn't say a word, but Joe Carey stood nervously.
"I'm not participating in any conversation about the
Chief's love life or lack thereof. I like being in one
piece. I don't particularly get jollies from visiting
sickbay and the doctor."

"Wimp," Tom called. "I participated-"

"Shut up, Tom," Harry told the conn officer, as
Chakotay entered the mess hall.

The first officer nodded amiably at Paris, Kim, the
Delaney twins and Tuvok, but selected a seat at a
separate table, where he began to review a data padd.
He ate distractedly. Paris frowned at the behavior
change. It was like B'Elanna to focus on work during
meals, but the first officer believed in giving each
action its own time.

"Commander," Paris called cheerfully, against his
better judgment, as Jenny stared at him, slack jawed
and Meg kicked him under the table.

Chakotay turned. "Mr. Paris."

Harry sighed. Relations between the first officer and
conn officer had been strained since, weeks before,
Ensign Vorik had triggered blood fever in B'Elanna. She
had turned to Paris, and he had helped her. But
introducing intimacy too quickly and under such intense
conditions damaged their friendship, which had been
growing towards more. The relationship failed
spectacularly and publicly. The destruction of the
first serious Starfleet/Maquis romantic relationship
had placed a damper over the whole ship, with former
Maquis taking B'Elanna's part and Starfleet taking
Tom's side.

The Delaneys had decided to cut the tension with a
party, and Halloween was the perfect excuse.

"We're giving a Halloween party, but the holodeck is
reserved for Friday night. Is the cargo bay available?"

"I'll check," Chakotay said. "Who reserved the holodeck
time?"

"Computer won't say." Jenny pouted. "But if you
happened to find out, could you send them in our
direction? The crew needs to party." She tossed her
pretty head. "Plus, I'm dying to dress up in a really
slutty costume. I don't make enough people drool."

"Jenny!" her sister scolded.

Harry Kim choked on the soup and Tom Paris had to be
physically restrained from making a remark. Tuvok stood
and left with dignity, while the commander turned back
to his padd.

"Come on boys, I know you want details about my
costume," Jenny teased.

"Shut up," Megan said.

"I'll give you a hint," she said, delighting in Harry's
blush, as he resisted eye contact with determination.
"Leopard print thong."

This time, every man in the messhall choked on his
meal.

"It's just a real shame we can't have the party unless
we find out who reserved the holodeck time," she said
angelically. "I couldn't wear that costume to cargo bay
2. I'd freeze to death."

"Enough. They're motivated to find a place for the
party," Megan hissed.

Jenny grinned. "They're motivated to do more than
that."

"Jenny, when was the last time--"

"Finish that question and I'll throw you out an
airlock," Jenny said sweetly. "Harry, are you done? You
can walk me to my next shift."

Harry, who was not done, dropped his tray without
qualm. "Later, Tom."

"And Jenny wonders why I tell her she has no subtlety,"
Megan said dryly.

"Jenn's a trip," Tom acknowledged. "But you know, her
in a leopard print thong would do more for morale than
any quantity of leola root."

Megan sighed. "You really are a pig, aren't you?"

"I have a reputation to maintain," Paris said. "You
know I don't mean it that way. Jenny's just one of
those girls who is so out there about her body. She
loves displaying it.

"I just wish that she realized that every time she
displays her body, she displays mine too." Megan
sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm really being a drag."

"Hey, no." He covered her hand with his. "You're
worried that guys see Jenny naked and think it's you?"

Megan made an unladylike sound. "Well, we are identical
twins, so obviously we're interchangeable."

"No," Tom said. "No, I know you're not."

Megan met his eyes. "Maybe you aren't a pig. You should
worry less about that reputation." She checked her
chrono. "Oh God, I've got bridge duty and I'm gonna be
late. The captain'll have me for breakfast."

"Coffee with a side of Megan?" Tom teased, as she fled.

Chakotay turned to look at the younger man. "You really
want to know who has the holodeck time?"

"Yes," Tom said. "Everyone really needs to just cut
loose for a night."

"Think about the only person on this ship who can order
the computer to keep information confidential."

"The captain," Tom realized.

---

"How did you convince the captain to give us the
holodeck again?" Megan asked, as she and Paris stood in
the gridded room and began to write a program.

"Let's just say that a version of B'Elanna's pool boys
are going to be running around here in costumes
matching Jenny's."

"Leopard print thongs and the captain." Megan
shuddered. "I did not need that mental picture, Tom."
She hit his shoulder. "Seriously, now. How did you do
it?"

"I presented a logical argument."

"And when that didn't work?"

"I turned the ensign on her. You know no one can say no
to Harry when he puts on his earnest face."

Megan grinned. "Looks like Jenny might have to make
good on that promise."

"She could just wear sandals," Tom said. "Thong is a
slang term for a piece of footwear popular with surfers
from the twentieth century. Flip flops was another
word, I think."

Megan smiled. "I'll pass that on. Thanks."

Companionably, they began to hash out decorating.

---

"Chakotay, no," B'Elanna argued. "I don't want to go to
some stupid Halloween party. I don't see the point to
dressing up for one night to go hang around people I
see every day who are just going to analyze every move
I make to see if I'm about to beat Tom, his latest
flirtation, or jump somebody else."

Chakotay raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Thought you were
over Tom. You said you were happy for him and Megan."

"I am," B'Elanna said, sharply.

"So, you don't have to worry about acting out in front
of the crew."

"I'm not worried," she said defensively.

"Then what is wrong?"

She sighed. "I hate Halloween. Growing up it was always
an excuse for older kids to put on masks and pick on me
or egg the house. One year they threw rocks and broke
windows. By then, we knew security wouldn't come. My
mother ran out on the porch with a batleh. Scared that
bunch of kids half to death. So they complained to
their parents, who called security, and wouldn't you
know they reprimanded my mother for scaring children
and refused to record her statement about the broken
windows and my black eye."

Chakotay frowned. "So an injustice happened when you
were a child. Don't let it affect your pleasure in
today."

"Couldn't we just stay in? We'll have fun, I promise."

Chakotay's mouth turned down. "You don't want anyone to
know about us."

"It's not that." She sighed. "I do, but I don't think
we're ready. I mean, everyone saw me and Paris from a
million klicks away, and they saw the end too. But
us-they'll either think I'm getting favors or that I
threatened you into a relationship."

Chakotay made a face at her.

"I thought making faces was below your dignity," she
said, settling into his lap.

"You're not over Paris." He kissed her ear. "If you
were, you'd be ready to face him and his new love
interest, with me."

"Guilt is not fair," B'Elanna complained.

"Effective though. What should we go as?"

"So we're definitely going together?"

"Consider it our public debut as a couple."

"I don't know what I want to be. Wear," she corrected
hastily, but he could see the wheels turning in her
mind.

---

"You don't seriously expect me to wear that, do you?"
B'Elanna stared at the garment on the screen, to which
Chakotay was pointing. Her tone sounded brusquely
dismissive, but from the way her eyes were focused on
the dress, Chakotay could tell she was already
imagining the way the silk would feel as it brushed the
back of her legs. "People would laugh at me. Besides,
if I wear this, what the hell are you going to wear?
There's no matching outfit for a man. Well, not a
self-respecting one anyway."

Chakotay knew better than to answer her verbally. He
made a few keystrokes, and another image filled the
screen of her data padd.

"You would wear this?" B'Elanna asked incredulously,
turning her eyes from the screen to her best friend.
"No fooling? No twisted sense of humor?"

"You only call my sense of humor twisted and weird when
you're afraid to agree with me," Chakotay teased,
fiddling with the padd.

"You only make jokes when you want to mess with my
head."

"If I wanted to mess with your head, I would suggest
Tarzan and Jane costumes, but I hear Jenny and Harry
already reserved them."

"Is that why I saw him drooling?"

Chakotay shook his head. "I didn't need to know that
about Ensign Kim."

"So Tarzan and Jane are out. What else?" B'Elanna
asked.

"I haven't done too much research, but I have heard
that Chell is going in traditional Bolain garb."

"I am not going as a Klingon warrior," B'Elanna said
instantly. "What you just showed me is too pretty for
me, but that's not pretty enough."

Wisely, he did not interfere with her self-deprecation.
"I wouldn't be able to touch you all night for the
spikes." He smirked at her. "I know that Paris and
Megan are going as gangsters from Earth's twentieth
century."

"A gangster and his moll," B'Elanna agreed. "What's a
moll?"

"I think that it's a captain's woman, but in civilian
terms."

B'Elanna bit her lip. The stigma of being "the
captain's woman" had lessened since the earliest days
of Starfleet, but it had never entirely disappeared. In
the Maquis, there had been no such stigma. They had
been more aware of the immediacy of life and imminence
of death. Love, when offered, was usually taken.

Even Chakotay, the most honorable man she knew, had
taken a lover while he battled for the Maquis. B'Elanna
frowned a little as she thought of Seska. But now, they
were on Voyager, and he was the first officer, and she
was the chief engineer. And they were lovers.
Sometimes, she still had trouble wrapping her mind
around the change.

In the Maquis, she had loved him from afar, jealously.
She had loved Seska, her friend, but hated her too, for
enjoying Chakotay's bed. She had loved the way fools
do, concentrating on her own wants. Back then, they had
been friends, nothing more. But somehow, friendship
connected them and bonded them each to the other in a
more profound way than any other relationship in her
life.

When they had come to Voyager, he has showed his faith
in her by arguing that she should be the chief
engineer. He fought for her, and she supported him in a
thousand unseen ways. He could never be aware of all
she had done to bolster his authority and reassure the
Maquis of his unchanged loyalty to them. Similarly, she
would never fully be able to recognize all the things
he had done to smooth her path.

Over the years, they had grown to be better friends.
She understood his struggle to earn respect and
cooperation from Starfleet and Maquis crewmen
simultaneously, while forging them into one crew. And
he understood her struggle with herself and her
struggle with the strictures of Starfleet. He could
gauge her longing to belong and her contempt for the
fleet that represented a Federation that had never
embraced her.

She saw past the dignity and control to the man within.
She saw through the steely resolve to the hot temper.
She understood his love for his people and ancestors
and need to celebrate them, but she also saw the side
of him that had left his planet to search for more. She
saw the unsatisfied young man who still wrestled with
the guilt of abandoning his people, but she loved the
man who had not lost himself to bitterness, the man who
fought not for vengeance but for justice.

"I think the first costume you showed me is perfect,"
she said, though a lump in her throat caused her voice
to catch.

Chakotay gave her a quizzical look. Her tone had
changed from slightly querulous to passionate. "Are you
sure?"

"The Lone Ranger was a resistance fighter," she trailed
her fingers through his hair. "He fought for justice
against the men who would corrupt his land after his
brother was murdered," she said sincerely. "And I love
imagining the leather look on you," she added
playfully.

"B'Elanna, this is a Zorro costume, not the Lone
Ranger," Chakotay said mildly, ignoring her leather
jab.

She shrugged dismissively. "They're all the same. Zorro
fought injustice from the invading Spaniards, even
though one captured his heart. As long as I get the
dress I don't care."

"So your true motives are revealed," he teased,
catching her hand as it played with his hair.

"I'm gonna look gorgeous in that," she gave up the
self-deprecation when she remembered that Chakotay
wouldn't argue with her about her looks. She pointed
with her free hand, which he also captured. "And you're
just going to stop hearts."

"Then it's a good thing we're having the party on the
holodeck. The doctor can move there immediately."
Chakotay kissed her palm.

She laughed. "Has your sense of humor been this messed
up for long?"

"You know it has," he told her lightly, dropping her
hand and beginning to kiss her forearms.

"So this is it? These are our costumes?" She took her
arm away to focus on concluding business.

"Zorro and the lovely señorita. It's perfect for us."
She laughed, pulling him up from the chair. "Can't you
see the eyes popping out now?"

"I'd rather imagine your eyes on me," he flirted.

"Whose eyes did you think I meant?" She asked sweetly,
as she led him toward her bed. "I'll claw out the eyes
of anyone who looks at you too long."

"Oh good, we'll be locked in the brig together for two
weeks, me for beating off other men and you for
attacking other women."

---

"B'Elanna's coming," Tom repeated.

Harry nodded. "That's what I just said."

"B'Elanna's coming?!" Tom said again, squeaking this
time.

"Yes, Tom." The ensign looked at his best friend. "She
contributed her share of replicator rations this
morning. She doesn't want Neelix to have to cater this
event. She wants real chocolate."

"But Megan's coming. With me." Tom was stuck in first
gear.

"So?" Harry asked patiently.

"So I happen to like Megan. I don't want B'Elanna to go
homicidal on us."

"Give her a little credit, Tom."

"Harry, you don't understand. I was involved with her.
I know her. I've been at ground zero when her temper
goes off. I don't want to go through that again."

"Tom, when we woke up together in the Caretaker's
facility do you think she was a ray of sunshine who
calmly smiled, accepted captivity and sat around
drinking tea with the Ocampans?" Harry sarcastically
reminded Tom that he also knew what their friend was
capable of.

"That was different. There were drugs, sedatives and
restraints immediately at hand." Tom realized how
ridiculous he was being and sighed. "I just can't see
this ending any good way."

"We'll have the doc on call," Harry said, with a touch
of uncharacteristic dark humor.

"So you and Jenny, huh?" Tom raised his eyebrows at the
ensign.

"Yeah," Harry admitted.

"I think it's good," Tom said, in an unusually serious
tone. "You couldn't wait for Libby forever."

Harry winced, then said soberly. "The Libby who may or
may not be waiting on Earth is not my Libby. He's dead
to her, and she's gone for me." Harry hesitated. "I
know we're all far from our families. But I'm more
separated from mine than anyone else on this ship. We
usually don't admit that I'm not the Harry who woke up
next to B'Elanna on Kes's homeworld, not the Harry who
shipped out on this Voyager. But today is the day for
ghosts, isn't it?"

Tom tasted bitterness. Harry usually acted with such
innocent conviction that it was easy to forget how much
the young man had learned. Tom had never doubted
Harry's "Ensign Eager" persona, but perhaps that was a
mistake. Maybe Harry's fleeter-than-fleet attitude was
used to cover up something else. As an expert in
maintaining facades, Tom mentally castigated himself
for not recognizing the possibility that Harry's
innocence and naiveté were not genuine.

But the moment had passed. "Jenny's great, though,"
Harry said. "I admire her."

"Is that the word for it these days?" Tom asked, trying
for a lighter tone.

Harry made a face. "So I drool every time she walks in
a room. I'm allowed."

"Encouraged," Tom corrected. "It's about time for you
to start looking around."

"I don't know, it's just that if it ends, we'll be
stuck seeing each other for the next sixty years."

"You'll manage," Tom told him. "B'Elanna and I have."

Harry snorted. "Some kind of managing. You're scared
that she's going to rip you and your new girlfriend
limb from limb."

"No I'm not," Tom lied.

"You just said you were," Harry stared at his friend in
confusion.

"Well, I don't think she'll inflict permanent damage,"
Tom said defensively. "I just don't think she'll be
happy."

"What about Meg?"

"She definitely won't be happy," Tom admitted.

"Good luck buddy. Just remember that gangsters carried
pistols."

Tom laughed. "What did Tarzan carry?"

Harry blushed. "I don't know how that rumor started."

"So it's not true? You and Jenny aren't wearing
matching men and women's- "

"I'm going to let myself be convinced," Harry smiled.

Tom let loose a wolf whistle of approval. "Harry, I'm
glad to see you're finally letting me rub off on you a
little."

---

"Help me zip up the back?" B'Elanna pleaded.

Chakotay was fully dressed in pants, shirt, boots and
mask. He was still fiddling with the belt and sword as
he turned around to look at her. He promptly dropped
it. "You look better than I imagined. And trust me, my
imagination is hard to top."

"We'll just have to do our best after the party, won't
we?" she asked, delighted by the banter that had been
missing for so long. "Come on, zip me up."

He obeyed, but allowed his hands to graze her spine and
linger over her back for a little too long. She turned
and looked at him over her shoulder. "Thanks." She
kissed him lightly. "You look amazing."

"I can't get this damn thing right," he mumbled.

"Let me." She began to play with his belt, fastening
it.

He tapped her hands away. "Hey. If you keep on doing
that we won't make it to the party."

"That's a bad thing? If we stay in, we have more fun. I
don't have to gauge out any eyeballs; you don't have to
break any arms-,"

He interrupted her smoothly "And we get ribbed by the
entire crew when they realize that we didn't come
because we were together."

"We go and get ribbed by the entire crew anyway," she
said.

"No, we go and they cower in fear of setting off the
powder keg of me, you, your ex-lover and his newest
friend."

"So you admit people will have more fun if we don't
go."

"I did not replicate this thing just for you."

"Pity," she sighed. "I thought you did."

"Well, mostly for you," he admitted.

"Let's go," she said, as he adjusted his hat.

---

"Mr. Paris." The Captain nodded gravely. She was
stiffly starched in her Victorian governess's dress.
"Ms. Delaney."

"So glad you could come, Captain," Meg laughed, pushing
at her ridiculous feather headband, trying to see the
rest of the world. "Where's Commander Chakotay?"

"I was wondering that myself," the Captain said.

"You didn't come together?" Someone stomped on tactless
Jenny's foot. She squealed indignantly. "Never mind.
There's candy under the warp core moon, and don't
forget about the haunted house!" she advertised.

"Or the tunnel of love," Tom stage whispered to the
room. "She's been through it twice already. Come to
think of it, she suggested adding it to the program,
too."

Meg slapped his shoulder. "He's already had a few cups
of punch," she explained to the Captain. "But the
haunted house is really good!"

The Captain turned away, towards the refreshments,
making a mental note to avoid the punch. She passed a
dazed Joe Carey, an exhausted Samantha Wildman and an
adorably costumed Naomi. Naomi was plopped in front of
her mother haphazardly, her halo somewhat askew. Her
wings were twisted beside her, and her face was smeared
with chocolate.

The Captain had just popped a candy into her mouth and
located a cookie when a collective gasp caused her to
turn toward the door. Chakotay was there, and even her
heart skipped a beat when she saw him dressed as an
ancient Earth hero. But the shocking part was the woman
beside him. She stood on spiked heels. A red silk dress
curled around every curve, and a black lace shawl
rested on her shoulders. B'Elanna stalked in beside
Chakotay. Silence followed their wake, as they moved
toward the center of the party: the food table.

Kathryn Janeway stood her ground, gripping the cookie
so tightly it began to crumble. Tom held onto Megan.
For once, not even Jenny had a smart comment. Harry
made eye contact with Chell, then Nicoletti and rubbed
his fingers together in an ancient gesture symbolic of
payment. He watched the pair with the smug
self-satisfaction of a man who has won a bet.

"Jenny, how do you feel about dinner tomorrow, my
quarters, my treat? Anything you want," he whispered.

"Make it breakfast," she teased huskily.

"Let's make it dinner," he said firmly. "Look, I like
you. But I don't want this going too fast. Tom and
B'Elanna self-destructed because they got too physical
too fast. I don't want that for us. So can we get to
know each other a little first?"

Jenny stared. It was the first fully coherent speech
Harry had ever made to her. It was also the first time
she'd been turned down after making an offer like that.
"We could do that," she agreed in a squeaky voice. "How
many rations did you win?"

"I don't know yet," Harry murmured. "They look good,
don't they?"

"Why don't you go tell them so?" She gave him a push in
the right direction.

"And break the silence?" Harry asked loudly.

B'Elanna turned and granted him a grateful look. "Trust
you, Starfleet."

"Only for you, Maquis." He raised a cup of punch in her
direction.

A ripple ran through the crowd. Most of the guests knew
that the purpose of the party was to prove that the
crews were integrated. Harry and B'Elanna were not
participating.

"You haven't told me I'm gorgeous yet," she said, not
sure where the words came from. She was not the type of
woman who usually fished for compliments on her
appearance.

"I'm scared of looking below your neck," he said. "The
Commander might give me duty crawling through the
Jefferies tubes eight hours a shift every shift for the
next three months."

"Worry more about me," she smirked. "Nice costume. What
are you supposed to be anyway? A hairless ape?"

Harry laughed. "Good to know spunky B'Elanna's back."

"Where did I go?" she asked, pressing her back against
Chakotay for a moment of support.

"Bitter B'Elanna took over for a little while there,"
Harry told her honestly.

"Did that have to be so public?"

"You are gorgeous," Tom called. Maybe it was the punch,
maybe it was the passage of time, maybe it was the fact
that she was so obviously happy, but his fear of
B'Elanna retribution had vanished.

Megan swallowed, and waited to be treated like a
lightning rod.

"So are you," B'Elanna nodded amicably in his
direction, making public peace. "Megan, that's an
awesome dress - can you see out of that mask?"

"No," the Delaney twin mumbled. "If I open my eyes are
you going to hit me?"

B'Elanna rolled her eyes. "Not tonight. Now stop
cowering. This is a party about ingesting as much sugar
as possible, and as far as I can tell, no one's doing
that."

The room began to bustle a little too loudly with
forced cheer.

"See? Was that so terrible?" Chakotay whispered in her
ear.

"We certainly fed the gossip mill."

"Good. They were starting to hypothesize about Neelix's
spices."

"We spiced things up all right." B'Elanna tossed her
hair. "Come to the haunted house with me? I promise to
pretend to be scared if you promise to protect me
against the stupid monsters of the night."

Kathryn clenched the cookie. "Chakotay. B'Elanna." She
addressed them, unconsciously using her school marm
tone.

Chakotay gave her a look that clearly said, 'Captain
you may be, but I have also been a captain, and we are
equals." B'Elanna's stance unconsciously became more
defensive.

Captain Janeway had cracked down on romantic
relationships with a vengeance after the disaster
B'Elanna and Tom created. Since shipwide morale and
camaraderie had taken a noticeable nosedive after those
events, Kathryn had rather actively discouraged
romantic relationships among officers. Their society
was essentially closed, and would be for the
foreseeable future, so the last thing they could afford
to do was create tension by a failed romance,
especially on the senior staff. Janeway wanted to
prevent sabotaging Voyager's future in the Delta
Quadrant by having a senior staff that was incapable of
working together, so she had drawn up the Voyager
policy. Kathryn had published it one week after Tom and
B'Elanna's spectacular lovers' quarrel had caused an
away mission to fail. She was careful not to contradict
official Starfleet policy directly, and she promised
that she would not institute discriminatory practices
against those who did enter romantic relationships, but
she would not sanction them either.

"You look lovely." She choked on the word-or the lump
of candy that had become lodged in her throat the
moment they walked in the door. "You do realize that
there are operating protocols about romantic
relationships among colleagues?"

"Kathryn, I think this conversation can wait for a
briefing room." Only Chakotay could be so bold. "Your
costume is very attractive as well."

"Thank you. Perhaps it can wait." Janeway inclined her
head an inch or so, relenting for him as she would for
few others. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to check on
the status of the ship."

"If there's a problem, Tuvok will contact you,"
Chakotay said. "Stay. Have some fun."

She gave him a tight smile. "Thank you for your good
wishes, Commander," she emphasized his rank.

Chakotay felt an unexpected pang. Had his love for
B'Elanna cost him the Captain's friendship? His lover
pressed against him, and he tried to reassure her with
a glance.

"I simply have a headache. It's not worth going to
sickbay over it, the doctor would only make it far
worse before he relented and gave me an analgesic. I
was only making an appearance for the sake of morale. I
expect to see you at the meeting tomorrow morning.
0800." Even in a Victorian costume, Kathryn exited with
military precision.

B'Elanna sighed. "Well I feel suitably chastised," she
drawled sarcastically.

"She didn't try to forbid us from seeing each other,"
Chakotay offered.

"Try being the operative word," B'Elanna huffed. "You
probably have the code of conduct regulations on this
memorized. You're ready to cite chapter and verse at
her."

"Maybe," Chakotay admitted. "If it becomes necessary."

"So well-prepared. Did you know that's one of the
reasons I love you?"

"Is it?" he teased. "What are the others?"

"Hey, move it to the Tunnel of Love." A former Maquis
hooted. "Let the rest of us at the real food."

B'Elanna led Chakotay away from the center table. Maybe
Halloween wasn't the worst holiday after all.

---

The End