Chapter 8 - Truth be ….. Thought 

( this chapter was written while I was listening to Faith Hill ) 
 
 

0300 Hours : 

Tom slowly woke up and noticed he wasn’t in his quarters. He turned over and saw B’Elanna lying next to him. ‘ Crap!’ He thought. He slowly got off the bed and made sure she didn’t wake up. He left her quarters and let her sleep. 
 
 

0900 Hours : 

B’Elanna woke when she heard someone calling her. She opened her eyes and sat up. There was no one in the room. 
“ Paris to Torres. B’Elanna , answer.” ‘ Torres ?’ she thought. She looked down at her uniform and noticed this silver pin. “ Paris to Torres. B’Elanna respond.” It was coming from the pin. She pressed it and answered. “ Hello?” She said. “ B’Elanna , it’s Tom. I knew I should have told you how to use your com badge . Anyway , are you ready to visit Engineering? I’ll take you there after my shift ends.” Tom said. 

“ When does your shift end?” She asked. “ In three hours. Also to ask for the time , just say ‘ computer what time is it ‘ “ He explained . “ Thanks.” B’Elanna laughed. “ Alright. I’ll see you later. Paris out.” 

‘ Paris? Tom Paris.’ She thought, “ It works.” She smiled. B’Elanna got up and decided to take a sonic shower. 
 

Bridge: 

Tom typed a few commands into the Helm and leaned back in his chair. Normally he would have been enjoying this but right now he was worried about B’Elanna. 

‘ What if she doesn’t remember anything ,Paris? ‘ He thought. ‘ Your feelings for her won’t change but it’ll take even longer for her to feel the same about you.’ 

‘ You love her, you always have.’ A voice inside him said. ‘ I love her.’ He thought. 

“ What did you say , Lieutenant? “ Chakotay asked. Tom turned around and gave him a confused look. “ Commander?” Tom asked. “ You were mumbling to yourself. Why don’t you share it with everyone else? “ The Commander said. “ Umm….it’s really nothing . It won’t happen again , sir.” Tom cleared his throat and faced his station. “ Make sure it doesn’t .” Chakotay replied. 

‘ We’re going to visit Engineering later and she’ll find out she’s Chief Engineer. That’ll make her happy . ‘ He thought again. ‘ And you love to see her happy.’ The voice said again. 
‘ I really wish you would shut up.’ He thought to the voice and realized it was his self conscious telling him the truth. 
 

Engineering: 

Joe Carey sat in B’Elanna’s office, miserable. A year ago he would have jumped at the chance to be in charge of Engineering , but he’s gotten used to seeing her here. He missed her and so did everyone else in Engineering. Lieutenant Paris called him before he had to go to his shift and said he was going to bring B’Elanna over later . Carey left B’Elanna’s office . “ Alright everyone! The Chief is coming in later and I want this place in top shape, understood? “ Carey shouted. 

“ Yes, sir.” They all said. 
 

3 Hours Later : 

B’Elanna sat on the couch and sighed. It took her 30 minutes to find a uniform 2 hours ago and she’s still tired. She still didn’t understand why Tom would take her to Engineering. “ I probably worked there.” She said out loud. She heard a chime like when Tom came in last time. She still didn’t know how to open the door but she decided to say something.” Come in.” She said thinking it wouldn’t work but the doors opened. 

“ Well , I know how to open the doors now.” She grinned. 
Tom smiled. “ You ready? “ He asked. “ Sure.” B’Elanna smiled. They both left her quarters and made their way to Engineering. 
 

TBC