[posted: 4/27/97] Q Fever By: Amy Michelle Bitter, (c) 1997 (amyb@i1.net) * Author's note: This story is a sequel to Blood Fever. Lieutenant Tom Paris sat alone at a secluded corner table of Voyager's mess hall, lost in his thoughts. "Hey Tom, mind if I join you?" asked Harry Kim with his food tray in hand. "Tom....Tom!" Harry said forcefully. "Huh....what?" Tom muttered being pulled from his daydream, "Did you say something, Harry?" Tom asked his best friend. "I said, 'mind if I join you,'" Harry repeated. "Sure, sit down," Tom answered, "I could use the company." Harry sat down plopping the tray of Neelix's so-called food on the table in front of him. Just the mere sight of it made him long for his mother's "home cooked, no replicator meals". He suddenly regretted betting B'Elanna that week's worth of replicator rations on that volleyball game. "Where were you a minute ago?" Harry inquired, "You seemed light years away." "I'm just tired, I had a long day," Tom lied. He was thinking about her again. About B'Elanna. "Believe me," Harry started, "I know the feeling. We should be entering that new star system next week sometime, and it's just full of nebulas and spatial anomalies. I can see that on long range censors already. But after those run ins with the Kazon, I'll be glad to get out of this sector. Don't you agree?" Harry rambled on. "Tom...Tom are you OK?" Harry asked worriedly, but someone else had Tom's attention. The beautiful B'Elanna Torres who had just entered the room. "Yeah, Harry," Tom answered, "I'm OK, just exhausted. I'm going to my quarters." "Goodnight." "Goodnight Harry," Tom called back as he turned around and ran right into B'Elanna. "Uh, B'Elann....I mean...I'm uh, sorry," Tom finally managed to get out. What an *idiot* you are! Tom thought to himself. "That's OK, Tom," B'Elanna answered. "No harm done," she smiled. *God, she has a beautiful smile,* Tom thought. "We're still on for tomorrow night, aren't we?" B'Elanna asked. "Tomorrow night?" Tom wondered aloud. "Don't tell me you forgot already," B'Elanna said. "Volleyball on Holodeck 2. I'm going to win some more of Harry's replicator rations," she teased. "That was pure luck," Harry called to her, "Besides you won't even have the chance to try to beat me, I can't come. I got the late shift tomorrow night." "Too bad," B'Elanna said, "I was really looking forward to beating you again. You're still going, aren't you, Tom?" Still going? Of course he was still going. A chance to spend time with B'Elanna alone, he wouldn't miss it for the world. "I'll be there, 1800 hours sharp," Tom said. **************************************************************************** Tom lay in his bed, sleepless. Tossing and turning, turning and tossing. No matter what he did, he just couldn't get her out of his mind. Ever since that damned away mission, he hadn't been able to concentrate on anything else but B'Elanna Torres. Sure, he'd had crushes on girls before, but none like this one. He was beginning to think he was falling in love with her, but that was crazy, she could never feel like this about him, but when they were on that away mission, down on that planet, something happened between them. He knew she had to have felt it too. What he did for her was out of more than just friendship, she had to know that. "Stop it, Tom!" he said aloud to himself, "You're Tom Paris, you don't let women do this to you." "Oh, you've got it bad," a voice from the corner said. "Computer, lights," Tom commanded. The room illuminated to reveal no other than the infamous Q sitting in his quarters. "Paris to security, intruder alert in my quarters," Tom said forcefully. "Now, why did you have to do that?" Q asked. "What the hell are you doing here?" Tom questioned. "Well, you see," Q began, "you need my help, so here I am." Just then, the door opened and Lieutentant Tuvok stood there, phaser in hand. "What seems to be the problem here?" Tuvok inquired. "Why Tuvok, it's so lovely to see you again," Q tried hopelessly to flatter the cheif security officer. "I assure you, the feeling is *not* mutual," Tuvok retorted, "Now, if you'll come with me." "You know," Q started, "you really should try to smile more often." "I'll take that into consideration," Tuvok said, but before anything else could happen, Q snapped his fingers and made Tuvok disappear, something Tom wished he could do a couple of times. "Vulcans," Q said in disgust, "They're so logical." "What did you do to him?" "Oh, don't worry, he's OK. Besides, with him gone we can discuss your little problem." "I don't have a problem," Tom insisted. "Sure you do," Q retorted, "you're in love, with that engineer." Tom wondered how Q knew that, and if Q knew it, who else did? "Tom, Tom, Tom, when will you mortals ever learn? You can't fool me, I can read you like a book." OK, so maybe he *was* in love with B'Elanna, but he couldn't let Q know that. Lord knows what kind of crazy stunt he'd pull. Everyone on Voyager had heard of Q's pranks on the crew of the Enterprise. And he wasn't about to be the butt of one of Q's jokes. "I have no idea what you are talking about," Tom lied. "Sure you do," Q insisted, "You're crazy about her. I see you daydreaming about her, making a fool of yourself. If you ask me, this whole love thing is *so* overrated." "Look Q, I am *not* in love with B'Elanna!" Tom was starting to angry, he didn't like Q knowing his personal thoughts. "So, are you saying that you could do perfectly fine without Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres in your life?" Q wondered. Of course he couldn't! He couldn't go five minutes without thinking about her. But, he wasn't about to let Q know that. "I could do perfectly fine!" Tom shouted. "Fine then, have it your way." And with one snap of his fingers, Q had made himself disappear. **************************************************************************** *That was the strangest thing,* Tom thought to himself when he woke up the next morning. It had to be a dream. If it wasn't, Captain Janeway would have had the ship on red alert at the first sight of Q. It had to be a dream he convinced himself. Tom headed to the turbolift. He had just enough time to go to the mess hall to get a quick cup of coffee before his shift started. Besides, he thought, this would be a great opportunity to see B'Elanna. She always had a cup of coffee before her shift, too. As the turbolift opened, there stood Harry Kim. "Good morning, Tom. Did you sleep OK?" "Yeah, I just had the strangest dream about Q." "About Q?" "Yeah," Tom answered, "But let's not talk about that, I'd like to forget the whole thing." "So, where are you off to?" Tom asked, "I thought you were working the late shift." "I am working the late shift, but Neelix is having some trouble with replicators. Carey was too busy in Engineering, so I told him I'd take a look at them." "Carey?" Tom asked, "Why can't B'Elanna look at them?" She after all was a much better engineer, everyone knew that, even Neelix. "Who?" Harry inquired. "B'Elanna Torres, the Chief Engineer on this ship." "Carey is the Chief Engineer, Tom," Harry said, "Who's B'Elanna?" The turbolift doors opened, and the two friends headed towards the Mess Hall. *Harry must be playing some kind of joke,* Tom thought. Tom got a cup of coffee, sat down at his usual secluded table in the corner, and began to scan the room for B'Elanna. "Good morning, Lieutenant," Neelix greeted him with that nauseating cheerfulness. "Hi, Neelix. Have you seen B'Elanna this morning?" "I'm sorry, who?" "B'Elanna Torres," Tom insisted. "I'm sorry, I've never heard of any B'Elanna on this ship." *This had to be some kind of joke,* Tom thought, *That's it, B'Elanna had put them up to this. Any minute, she's going to come through that door laughing at me.* "That's really funny, Neelix," Tom smiled. "Tell B'Elanna she really got me that time." "Tom, I really don't know any B'Elanna," Neelix insisted. "Sure you don't, Neelix. Well, I better go, or I'll be late for my shift." Tom walked out of the Mess Hall and stood at the turbolift waiting for the doors to open. As soon as they did, he stepped into the empty turbolift, still laughing to himself about the prank. Suddenly Q appeared. "I thought you said you could do perfectly fine without B'Elanna?" "What? What are you talking about?" Tom wondered. "Last night, you said you could do perfectly fine without her, so, I got rid of her. She really was just a distraction to you," Q said, and with another snap of his fingers, he was gone. *That's ridiculous,* Tom thought, *You can't just make people disappear.* "Computer, locate Lieutenant Torres." "There is no one on Voyager with that name," the computer responded. *How could this be?* Tom wondered. He'd just seen her the night before. The turbolift doors opened to the Bridge. B'Elanna had to be there. He looked around, but he couldn't find her anywhere. "Mr. Paris, may I help you with something?" Tuvok asked. "Tuvok!" Tom had never been so excited to see him. "Remember last night in my quarters, Q he was there. He made her disappear. B'Elanna, she's gone." "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but I was not in your quarters last night and I have never heard of any B'Elanna." "What?!!" Tom was begining to get angry. "I'm not crazy!" "I never said that you were, but perhaps you should go to Sickbay," Tuvok suggested. *Yeah,* he thought, *I'll go to Sickbay. The Doctor can tell me what happened to B'Elanna.* **************************************************************************** Tom entered Sickbay and activated the EMH program. But, before the Doctor could ask him to "Please state the nature of the medical emergency," Tom blurted out, "Doc, tell me where B"Elanna is." "Who?" the hologram asked, "Mr. Paris, I'm a doctor, not a detective." "B'Elanna Torres, she was a member of this crew and she just disappeared." "Well, I can't help you, I'm sorry," the Doctor said, "Besides, I don't see why the disapperance of a crew member would upset you this much." "Because Doc, I love her!" Tom was shocked. He hadn't even admitted to himself yet, and now he just blurted it out to the Doctor. "I need her," Tom said. "Well, that's a lovely sentiment, but I don't know why you're telling me about it. If there is no emergency I will turn myself off now." And with that, the EMH disappeared, and Q reappeared. "I hate to say I told you so," Q said. "Q, bring her back, now!" Tom ordered. "So, you *do* need my help." "Yes, I need your help, and I need B'Elanna. Please, Q, bring her back." "Your so much more fun to play with than Picard, he would *never* admit he needed me. OK, you can have her back." Q snapped his fingers and was gone. "Computer, locate B'Elanna Torres," Tom commanded. "B'Elanna Torres is in Main Engineering," the computer responded. *She's back, she's really back,* Tom thought, *And I'm never going to lose her again.* **************************************************************************** Tom stood in front of Holodeck 2. He had to tell her. He had to tell her that he loved her and that he needed her. If she rejected him, he would have to get used to the idea of them being just friends, but he had to tell her. The door opened and there stood B'Elanna. "Hi," she smiled, "I hope you brought your replicator rations." "I did," he smiled back, "but we need to talk about something first." "It sounds serious, what's wrong?" she asked. "I am serious, let's sit down." The two sat on the warm sand of the volleyball court overlooking the ocean. The beach was beautiful this time of the evening, the sun was just about to set. "The sunset is so beautiful," B'Elanna said. "Not as beautiful as you," Tom shocked himself, it wasn't as hard as he thought it would be to confess his feelings to her. B'Elanna looked at him, and their eyes met. "I mean...uh?" he started out, "Look B'Elanna, I can't hide my feelings anymore. On that last away mission, what I did for you, I didn't do it just because we're friends. I did it because I really care about you. I think I'm falling in love with you." She stared at him with a blank face. *Say something, say anything,* he thought. "I'm sorry if this is too sudden, B'Elanna, I just had to tell you. I had to tell you that I need you." He looked at her trying to get some idea of what she was thinking. Then she smiled, and he smiled back. "I care about you too, Tom, more than anyone else ever in my life." "So, do you think that we could be more than just friends?" Tom asked. "We already are." She smiled. She took her hand and touched his cheek. Their lips met in a passionate kiss, just as the golden sun dipped into the ocean. ***THE END*** I know, it's kind of sappy, but I'm a sucker for happy endings.