Notes: OK, this was inspired by Serena's recent weird, alternate
dimension stories. It starts out when Tom is being asked by Captain
Janeway to be on Voyager. He's asked to be chief helmsman, though. The
jail sentence and the Caldek Prime thing never happened.
Also, since most of this is from "Caretaker", I'm going to skip around a
lot, since all of you know what happened in that one.

REKINDLED FLAME
By: Lauren Taylor

Tom Paris entered Captain Kathryn Janeway's office holding the hand of a
little girl. 
"Captain, you wanted to see me?" he asked.
She looked up from her work, and smiled.
"Mr. Paris. It's nice to see you again. It's been a long time." she said.
The last time the two of them had seen each other was at his father's
funeral, when he was only fifteen. His father had been killed when he and
Janeway, who was just an ensign at the time, had been captured by the
Cardassians. 
"I apologize about having to bring her." he said as he gestured to the
little girl, who looked about two years old, "I couldn't find a sitter."
"That's quite alright. I had no idea you were a father. She's adorable.
What's her name?" Janeway asked.
"Meredith Ann Paris." he replied as he picked up the little girl and
placed her on his lap. 
"Who's her mother?" the captain asked.
"A woman I met while at the Academy. B'Elanna Torres. She's half-Klingon.
We got married when we were seniors, and had Meredith a year and half
later. When Mere was just six months old, B'Elanna left me to join the
Maquis. I haven't seen her since." Tom explained.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Now, down to buisiness. I called you here
because I have a request to make. I'm just about to take command of a new
ship, It's Intrepid class. Voyager. We're in search of a Maquis ship that
was lost in the Badlands a few days ago. A friend of mine was on that
ship as a spy. I'd like you to be my chief helmsman." she told him.
"Captain, I'd love to, but will I be able to bring Meredith? I'm not
going if I can't." 
"You can bring her. There are crew quarters with a child's bedroom. We
leave tomorrow."
**********************************************************
"Meredith, tell the nice man what you want to drink." Tom instructed his
daughter. They were on DS9, waiting for Voyager to leave, and were
spending their time on the Promenade.
"Apple juice!" the little girl exclaimed.
"And one coffee." Tom added. The Ferengi barkeeper walked over to get the
drinks.
"Are you on Voyager?" a man a few seats away from Tom asked. Tom looked
over to see a young Oriental man in a gold engineering uniform.
"Yes, I am. Tom Paris, chief helmsman."
"I'm Harry Kim, ops." he said as he moved over next to Tom.
"And this is my daughter, Meredith." he told Kim.
"Hi!" she exclaimed.
"Hello there. I'm going to be on your daddy's ship. Where's her mother?"
Harry asked.
"It's a long story, I really don't feel like going into it."
*************************************************************
They were in the Delta Quadrant. What was this mission going to? The
entire crew had been transported to some sort of farm place, and had just
now gotten back. Tom had tracked down Meredith while they were there, and
kept her out of danger.
"Computer, how many crew members are unaccounted for?" Janeway asked.
"One crew member. Ensign Harry Kim." the computer replied.
"Captain, we're being hailed by the Maquis ship." a lieutenant at
tactical announced.
"Yes, commander, what is it?" Janeway asked.
"We're missing a crew member, and we were wondering if she had shown up
on your ship. B'Elanna Torres?" Chakotay asked.
"No, she hasn't shown up here." Janeway answered with a glance at Tom,
"We're missing a crew member as well."
*************************************************************
Tom and the two aliens, Neelix and Kes, had finally located Harry and
B'Elanna. They were just a few meters ahead of them, but with how dark it
was in the caves, it was hard to see anything. 
"We've caught you!" Tom exclaimed with a grin on his face as he tapped
Harry on the shoulder.
B'Elanna turned around, and stared at Tom for a moment.
"Tom. It's been a long time. How are you?" she asked calmly. Harry looked
at B'Elanna, and back at Tom.
"You two know each other?" he asked confused.
"You could say that." Tom laughed.
***************************************************************
B'Elanna stood in front of the turbolift, waiting for the doors to open,
one week after meeting up with Tom. She'd managed to avoid him, but had
gotten to see Meredith. She'd grown up so much, even though she was only
two and a half. 
The turbolift doors opened to reveal that the only passenger on it was
Tom. She stepped in, and calmly ordered the turbolift to deck five.
"Where's Meredith?" B'Elanna asked after a few moments of silence.
"Harry's watching her."
"Oh, perfect. Leave her with someone who's probably never taken care of a
kid in his life." she replied sarcastically.
"Computer, halt turbolift!" Tom exclaimed. He turned to B'Elanna.
"Who are you to be telling me how to raise my daughter? I'm not the one
who abandoned her when she was a baby just so I could go blow up some
Cardassians!" he screamed at her.
"Tom, that's not all the Maquis is, and you know it! I didn't want to
leave you and Meredith. I had to. I didn't fit in with Starfleet. The
Maquis was the only choice I had."
"It was not the only choice! You could have dropped out of Starfleet if
you didn't fit in!"
They stood in silence for a few moments, glaring into one another's eyes.
"Tom, this is crazy. You and I are going to be here for awhile, let's at
least try and be civil to one another." B'Elanna finally said.
"You're right. It's better for Meredith. But, B'Elanna, let me ask you
one thing." Tom answered quietly.
"What is it?"
"Do you still love me?" he asked. There was a pause, while she stared at
him.
"Just forget I ever said that. Computer, resume turbolift." he stated.
They stood in silence for a few more moments, and then the turbolift
doors opened onto deck five. B'Elanna started to walk out of the
turbolift, but turned around. She stepped to Tom, and gave him a kiss.
They kissed for a moment, as if they were still together. As they drew
apart, B'Elanna walked away. Before the turbolift doors closed, Tom
called out to her.
"I guess this means we're going to be civil to one another, doesn't it?"
he grinned.
She turned around and smiled back. Her and Tom were back together.
Together again. Forever.

THE END

OK, Paramount owns them, but doesn't own anything even closely related to
this plot!