The BLTS Archive - Fireworks second in the Festive Occasions series by Sasscat Bu-to-y (fitchett@netaccess.co.nz) --- Disclaimer: Paramount own Voyager et al. Guido Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament in... 1605? Anyway, thanks to the both of them. Archiving: ASC and JuPiter Station. Anyone else, just ask. Feedback, as always. (c) Sasscat Bu-to-y 1998 --- The door chimed. Again. Janeway looked at the pile of unread PADDs on her desk and sighed. Some days... "Come in," she called tiredly. Paris sauntered in with yet another PADD, looking irritatingly energetic. "Did I come at a bad time?" "It's *always* a bad time," Janeway retorted. Especially with Tom; especially since what had happened between them on Halloween. But she hadn't had command training for nothing, and put on a pleasant face. "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?" "Well, I thought morale could do with a little boost, and since Guy Fawkes Day is coming up..." He handed her the PADD, and she shook her head. "Tom, Halloween was two days ago. We're not having another party this soon. And Guy Fawkes is just three days from now; we won't have time to plan anything." "The plans are right there," Paris objected. "All you have to do is approve them. No extra work required. There's a planet not far from here that would be perfect for fireworks--" "No," Janeway repeated. "But--" "No, Mister Paris. I am not going to approve these plans. Have I made myself clear?" "It would be good for morale..." She shook her head. Paris tried again. "It's three entire days away - wait, hear me out, Captain," he added when she started to shake her head again. "It's three entire days away. Now, you know I'm going to follow you around every minute of those three days until you say yes, so why not make things easy on yourself?" Janeway laughed, but shook her head. "No, Tom. And that's final." Paris regarded her for a moment then nodded and walked out. --- Janeway sat at a table in the mess hall with her tray and looked across at Paris. "You weren't kidding when you said you'd follow me for three days, were you?" Tom shook his head and grinned. "Beginning to change your mind, Captain?" "Not a whit." Janeway dug her fork into the... whatever... that Neelix was calling lunch today "Besides, it's only two more days. After that, you'll have to give up." "After that, I'll just follow you around like this," Paris countered, and put on a soulful, woebegone expression. Janeway laughed and shook her head. "And what if I decided I liked you following me around?" She slipped a forkful of the stuff into her mouth and grimaced. "Then maybe we could get together and make a few fireworks of our own," he smirked. A moment later he realised what he'd said, and winced at her expression. She didn't comment on his trespass into forbidden territory, but dug her fork in again and concentrated on finishing her lunch. Paris didn't speak again either, and both finished their meals in silence. --- Janeway turned as he followed her into Sandrine's. "As long as you're here, care for a game of pool?" "Okay," he agreed readily, "but how about this: if you win, I'll quit following you. If I win, we get to have a Guy Fawkes celebration." Janeway quirked an eyebrow at him. "There're only two days to go. Getting a little desperate, Lieutenant?" "Afraid you'll lose, Captain?" he shot back. "Not a chance." She called up a cue and gave him an amused look. "I'll even let you break." "Deal." But he missed his second shot, and once it was Janeway's turn she began to clean up the table. It wasn't long before she only had the eight-ball left to sink, and she smirked at Paris. "Looks like you're going to miss out on your 'celebration', Mister Paris." "That's a shame." He moved closer as she bent to place the shot and breathed quietly, "I rather hoped it might be a repeat of Halloween." She missed. Her arm jerked almost of its own free will the instant Tom mentioned Halloween. Even if she hadn't shot just then, she doubted she would have been able to concentrate properly anyway. Not with her mind filled with thoughts of that one mindblowing kiss they'd shared; and him standing right next to her, breathing on her neck. As the cue-ball skimmed neatly past its target, she straightened to fix Paris with a steely glare. For his part, Tom looked almost contrite. But he couldn't quite hide the glee in his voice when he announced, "I think I just won." "You cheated," she accused him. "And anyway, it wasn't a real win." "A win by default is still a win," he retorted. "And sexual harassment is a punishable offence." Paris looked almost shocked at the accusation, then shook his head. "Has to be more than once to qualify as harassment." "Lunch," she supplied promptly. He looked away for a moment, but only a moment. "Come on, Kathryn," he protested. "It's not that big a deal." Janeway gave him a dirty look and put her cue on the table. "You can have your little party," she said quietly. "But don't expect me to spend a lot of time with you." "Don't you think you're being a little petty?" he demanded. "For Christ's sake, Kathryn, it's just a party. It's not like--" "Mister Paris," she interrupted. "You'd do well to remember that I'm your superior officer, and address me as such. Is that understood?" His eyes flashed, and he nodded once. "Understood, *Captain*." "Good." She gave him another long look and left. --- Two days. Two days it had been since she'd spoken to Tom Paris, and already she was missing him. This was ridiculous. It wasn't like she didn't see him on the bridge every day, or at staff meetings. But once her initial anger had faded, Kathryn had found she couldn't stand the cold chasm between them. And she had to admit, it was a good party. Just getting her feet on solid ground again was a relief, and the bonfires and fireworks made it all the more special. And it wasn't that Chakotay wasn't a good conversationalist... but he wasn't Tom. And she missed Tom. Right now they were sitting watching the fireworks, bright against the black sky. Something in the planet's atmosphere was obscuring the stars - Tom had been right about it being a good place for fireworks. God, she was already getting maudlin. How pathetic. She leaned her head against Chakotay and pointed at a particularly bright cluster of exploding light that had been attached to a wooden pole. "What's that one?" Chakotay, who had helped plan the display, followed her finger and smiled. "Funny you should ask that. It's called a Catherine Wheel." Oh. She glanced towards the other side of the bonfire they were going to burn effigies on later - God only knew why - and saw Tom watching her. The firelight danced over his face, leaving dark hollows around his eyes and making him look somehow incredibly vulnerable. He looked away the minute he realised she'd noticed, and she sighed. "Chakotay, will you excuse me a moment?" "Of course." He smiled. "It's about time you talked to him." She looked at him sharply, then laughed. "You're too damn perceptive for your own good, Commander." Chakotay made a shooing motion with his hand. "Don't stall, Kathryn. He won't wait forever." Janeway gave him another sharp look. Chakotay meant waiting as in Tom waiting for her to talk to him tonight, right? Probably. On the other hand, her entire crew were notorious romantics. She sighed and made her way around the bonfire. Paris was pretending not to be waiting when she got there. When she sat down next to him, he nodded stiffly. "Captain." "Tom." At the use of his name he looked at her in surprise, then quickly back at the fire. "Tom," she repeated. "We need to talk." "I know," he said softly. "I-- Captain, I apologise for what I did in Sandrine's. It was inappropriate and completely out of line." "Yes," Kathryn agreed. "It was. But--" She noticed curious looks from the people nearby and stopped. "Look, can we go somewhere else?" Tom glanced around, seemingly reading her mind. "Of course. Back here." He rose and began to pick his way away from the bonfire. She followed him - this was a switch from the last few days, she thought wryly - to a dark patch of grass under a tree. The fireworks were dim whistles in the distance, and the air was cool against her face. "What you did," she repeated, "was inappropriate, yes, and definitely the wrong way to go about organising morale-lifting events. But it was more than that. What happened between us on Halloween..." She sighed and shook her head. "That was wrong of me, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have started something I couldn't finish. And when you kept reminding me about it--" He started to speak and she waved him silent. "I know, you didn't do it on purpose, but that's what it felt like to me. And it frightened me, because I've spent too long learning to sublimate my feelings to throw that all away. I was angry, and I overreacted, and for that I apologise." "Captain, I'm sorry. I didn't realise..." Paris shook his head and looked in her direction. "It's just my way, Captain. Don't-- Don't think I meant to make things hard for you. I didn't. What I feel... I don't have the right to force that on to you. You believe you can't, as captain, have a relationship, and I have to respect that. Even if--" He stopped suddenly and shook his head. "It won't happen again, Captain." "Thank you. And... I could probably permit it, once in a while, if you wanted to call me Kathryn." He smiled, not one of the masks from his Tom Paris repertoire, but one of the genuine ones that always pulled her stomach in and made her want to kiss him. She almost did kiss him, leaning slowly forward until she twisted her head away at the last moment. She could feel his breath, warm on her cheek. "I'm sorry," she breathed. "This isn't fair to you." She could feel him smile in the darkness. "It's okay, Kathryn. Just remember, if you change your mind, I'll be waiting. Now," and suddenly he was on his feet again, "we'd better get back to the party, huh?" She smiled back. "I suppose we'd better. But Tom," he turned to look back at her, so that there was a halo of firelight around his figure, "you'd better not ask for any more parties until halfway though next year." He laughed and slid a companionable arm around her waist, deciding not to mention just yet that Christmas party he'd been planning. --- continued in the third story in the Festive Occasions series 'A Call to Armistice'