"No Such Thing as Faeries"
by Ardelle
To my fantastic cousin Almada- because I love you
Part 2:  "Me and a few of my kind are going to play a little game."

        B'Elanna looked in the mirror, still unable to take it all in. 
Pregnant?  Her?  It seemed impossible.  But all other evidence pointed
otherwise.  Such was the way with life.  She'd gained a lot of weight,
and her figure had become...a bit ungainly.  Tom had been doting over
ever since she got pregnant, in fact, he'd be coming over in a few
minutes.  She was worried about how she looked, though Tom said he'd love
her if she broke out into chartreuse and melon spots and grew
greenish-gray tufts of hair from her nose...but B'Elanna wondered about
that.  Her engineering smock covered up most signs of pregnancy, but it
didn't make B'Elanna *feel* any less pregnant.
        The fact was her pregnancy had been a difficult one.   Once or
twice she had yelled at the Doctor, "Couldn't you just give me something
that'd pop the baby out now?!  This pregnancy had been a pain in the
ass!"  The Doctor had merely said, "No, I can't do that.  I suggest you
save your energy, B'Elanna, because your ass will feeling a lot more
pained before this ordeal is over."
        B'Elanna didn't appreciate the Doctor's budding sense of humor at
all.
        She thought that she saw a snatch of sky-blue eyes in the mirror
so turned around.  Behind her stood a...man...woman...whatever.  It was
hard to tell- the person was tall and pale, slender, and strangely
beautiful, with long pale hair.  It was decked out in a lavish velvet
tunic of dark green trimmed in gold, black tights, and brown velvet shoes
that curled at the toe.  The creature's ears were long and pointed, not
tapered like Tuvok's, but long, the end traveling several inches on the
side of it's head.  Though B'Elanna could have sworn the creature's eyes
had been blue, they were a startling shade of lilac.
        "Who the hell are you?  What are you doing in my quarters?"
        "Your quarters?" the creature asked, in a voice that deemed it
male.  "I live here too, you know."  His eyes shifted to a smoky gray
color, then back to lilac.
        Suspicious, B'Elanna tapped her comm badge.
        "None of that!" he exclaimed.  "I shall tell you this.  Me and a
few of my kind are going to play a little game.  You won't catch on for a
while, and when you do, you won't want to believe it."  He grinned
jovially.  "You probably won't even want to believe this encounter.  But
that, mortal B'Elanna, is your problem."
        "Who are you?  What are you?"
        "I am many things," he said.  "Many things.  I am Puck, Robin
Goodfellow, Pwca.  I am the chair that slips out from underneath you, the
phaser that will not fire.  My people are called the fae, or the Folk. 
As in the Fair Folk- faeries."
        "I do not believe in fairies."
        His eyes flashed an angry, dark, reflective color, then slowly
lightened to smoky gray.  "That will make all the more difficult for
you," he said with a cold little laugh and a twist of a grin.  B'Elanna
blinked curiously.  The strange man was gone.
***
"Every time some one says 'I do not believe in fairies,' somewhere
there's a fairy that falls down dead."
-"Peter Pan" by James Barry
***
        The night had been awkward, to say the least.  Tom had spent all
dinner time fiddling around with his napkin, and B'Elanna had spent the
whole time trying to find what that Puck fellow meant.  For some reason
she never thought to report it- little did she know the comm badge
wouldn't have worked if she had tried to.  It was one of their favorite
holos- a twilight picnic, minus the bugs and other nuisances.  There were
plenty of stars and fireflies though.  Or at least, *they* thought they
were fireflies.  Tom had installed romantic music as well, but tonight,
both of them were nervous, as if a cloud hung over them.
        "Uh...B'Elanna?"
        "Yes, Tom?"
        Tom got on one knee and handed B'Elanna a tiny, satiny box. 
Inside was an engagement ring, a simple gold band with a reddish diamond
set in it.
        "Red diamonds are the most valuable," he said quietly.
        "Oh Tom..." B'Elanna said.  "This ring...How long will you have
to eat Neelix's cooking to make up for this?"
        "I don't care.  I would take a life time of Neelix's meals
if...if...B'Elanna, will you marry me?"
        Tears sprung to B'Elanna's eyes, though she couldn't imagine why.
 She felt so wonderful!  She kissed Tom long and hard before saying,
        "Yes, I will.  Of course I will."  Tom started crying as well,
and they just hugged each other for the longest time.  B'Elanna, though
ecstatic, felt as if something was slightly amiss.  Some one was
watching.  She swore she could hear a tiny voice say, *No good will come
of this.*
***
"Do not anger the Little People.  That's just downright stupid."
-Krysia O'Keefe, "Victims of Circumstance"
***
        "What should we do with her?" asked Fwry.  "Tlyn can't pop out
any more- she's a danger to us.  Now the whole crew will be on the
lookout for us.  What do you say, Gantrayria?"
        "Me?" asked Gantrayria, who had been floating idly about,
inspecting their surroundings.  The meeting place of Voyager's fae was
under one of Neelix's large cooking pots.  Since all of them(no one ever
bothered to count how many there were) could shape-shift and shrink, it
made a very good hiding spot.  They always had some one stay invisible
outside to watch for Neelix, though.  They might be immortal, but none of
them relished the idea of being cast into boiling leola root stew.
        "No, the other Gantrayria," said Fwry with a stamp of his tiny
foot.  "Who did you think I was talking too, you ninny?"
        "I dunno.  Never thought of it, really."
        It was true that most of the fae spent their lives at idle
pleasures- playing tricks, discovering secrets, and making children, then
forgetting it all the next day.  However, Gantrayria was one of the worst
examples.  Along with being idle, she was stupid.
        "I should imagine you wouldn't think," said Fwry.  He glared at
Tlyn, who was sitting on the top of a mushroom, legs drawn underneath
her, looking upset.  "What happened?  Why couldn't you pop out?"
        "I tried!" insisted Tlyn.
        "You couldn't even shape-shift or change color!  Bad, Tlyn! 
That's very bad!"
        "I was frightened of the robot woman.  She smelled of strange
metals.  She didn't believe.  She wasn't even suspicious.  She wanted to
get rid of me."  Tlyn squirmed on her mushroom-chair.  Her eyes were
moss-green; the color of distress.  "I cannae do it under such pressure! 
I try!  I cannae do it!  But I can when they're not lookin'.  Doesn't
that count enow?"
        "I don't think so.  What do you think?" he asked, addressing the
fae present.
        "I say we banish her!" some one cried.  Everyone else agreed.
        "Banish her forever!" some one else said.
        "Folk!" Puck exclaimed, entering.  "What happens in our cooking
pot court?  Who are we banishing?"
        "Tlyn," Fwry said.  "She's a danger for us.  She almost got
caught the other day by the robot woman."
        "The other day?  Are you so sure?" asked Puck in an amused tone. 
"More like eight monts."  His eyes were goldeny-yellow, laughing.  Then
they grew a serious gray.  "However, I can see how this is a problem. 
That Kes was problem enow, having to sneak around her senses.  But that
Seven- she's scary.  She sees things but she doesn't believe them until
the statistics are in front of her on a computer screen.  Very dangerous
for us.  However, Tlyn, no matter how frightening one mortal is, you must
be able to pop out at any time.  Not just when they're not looking.  Any
otherwise leads to trouble, 'less you're doin' it on purpose.  Has this
ever happened before?"
        Tlyn thought to lie, but Puck had a way of looking straight
through you when you spoke.  She knew that the minute she lied Puck would
see her tongue forked, and that would lead to no better a punishment.
        "Yes.  Once or twice before, Naomi has caught me.  Nobody
believed her."
        "Luckily.  So, fae, you say she should be banished?"
        "Indeed!"
        "For her own good!"
        "For *our* own good!"
        Puck shrugged indifferently.  "That's settled then.  How long?"
        "Forever!" they said collectively.  Tlyn gasped in horror. 
Puck's brow furrowed.
        "Dear me, not forever.  Isn't that being a little bit hard on
her?  I say we...relocate her for say...thirteen years.  Then, if she
doesn't like being without us, we'll let her come back if she likes. 
How's that for fair?"
        The audience mumbled their agreements; fae mostly not cruel folk.
 To themselves, that is.  Tlyn was a bit sad but did not cry, that was
too human.  If Puck said it was so, it was.  Surely he had a good reason.
 She would miss them, though.
***
"In no time at all they were standing there
In the front of a little church
Among their friends and family
Repeating those sacred words
The preacher said, "Son kiss your bride,"
And he raised her veil
Like the night they met time just stood still..."
-Collin Raye, "One Boy, One Girl"
***
        Laughing, Tom carried B'Elanna through the threshold.  It was a
bit difficult, as she was eight months pregnant, but he managed it.  They
sat on the couch, deciding what would go where, kissing and laughing. 
Puck watched from his invisible post on a flower vase.  "I just love a
happy ending," he said, wiping a mock tear from his eye.  In real, the
whole display made him sick, and he very well knew it wasn't a happy
ending.  It wasn't even an ending yet.  The worst was yet to come.
        At that very moment, B'Elanna went into labor.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Everything belongs to whoever it belongs to, yeah, yeah, you know who you
are.  No offense meant to anybody please don't sue.  Ask my permission to
post this on any web pages or the like or if you want to send it to
others.  Have a nice day, don't step on any faeries.

Deirdre/Ardelle