CHANGE OF COMMAND 
Part four:
By: Lauren Taylor

        B'Elanna stood in front of her mirror. It felt like a different
person staring back at her, someone wearing a red uniform with four pips.
It had been a week since the accident, and the crew was slowly adjusting
to the changes. B'Elanna had still worn her engineering uniform for a few
days, due to problems with the replicators, but now she was in a command
uniform, not feeling like herself at all. She took a deep sigh, and
headed out the door.
*********************************************
        Tom stood in front of the turbolift doors, waiting for them to
open. He began thinking about Captain Janeway, like he found himself
doing almost every second since her death. There were so many great
things in his life that wouldn't have been possible without her. Because
of her decision to let him on Voyager, he made his first best friend, was
on the senior staff, and had found his first true love. It was amazing
that, with all the girls Tom had dated over the years, that B'Elanna was
the only one he felt that he could call a true love. Ever since he and
B'Elanna had started dating four months ago, not a day went by that he
didn't thank the stars around him for the opportunities that Janeway had
given him. 
"Tom." B'Elanna smiled from inside the turbolift.
        Tom returned the grin and stepped inside right next to her. He
gave her a kiss on the forehead, and then stepped back to admire her new
look.
"Red's a good color for you. You look stunning."
"I'm a captain. We aren't supposed to look stunning." she laughed. Tom
looked at her for a moment, glad that she was laughing and smiling. She'd
been a wreck ever since the news came one week ago, and it was good to
see her getting on with her life. 
"Kim to Torres" Harry's voice interrupted her.
"What is it, Harry?" she asked him.
"Are you on your way up here?" 
"Yes, I am. Why?"
"There's something you need to see."
***************************************************
"A wormhole?" B'Elanna said to herself, staring in amazement at the
viewscreen.
"Yes, and apparantly, from what the scans tell us, it will lead us to a
point in the Delta Quadrant, but one very close to the Gamma Quadrant.
>From there, it's only about a year to the DS9 wormhole." Harry explained
to her from the ops console. Even though he was technically first
officer, B'Elanna considered him the ops officer too. 
"Is it stable? Can we take Voyager through this thing?" Tom asked from
the helm.
        All eyes turned to Harry, awaiting his response. He nodded his
head yes.
        Cheers rang out from every corner of the bridge. Home. They were
finally going to go home. It didn't matter to the crew that it was still
another year until they got there, all that mattered is that they would
be back in the Alpha Quadrant again. 
        B'Elanna walked over to Tom, the only person besides her not
ecstatic over the news. 
"How are you doing?" she asked him.
"I'm not too excited. There's no home there for me. I just wish Captain
Janeway could have been there for this." he looked up at her. She rubbed
his shoulder as if to say me, too, and looked up at Harry.
"Harry, you have the bridge. I'll go make an announcement to the crew,
and then we'll proceed on in."
**************************************************
        The announcement had been made, and B'Elanna was getting up to go
onto the bridge when she heard the door chimes.
"Come in." she called out, expecting Harry.
        Tom walked in, with a smile on his face.
"What are you so happy about?" she asked him, with an identical smile on
her face.
"B'Elanna Torres," he began as he got down on one knee, "will you marry
me?"
        She stared at him in shock for a moment, and then spoke.
"Yes." 
***************************************************
TO BE CONTINUED

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