Disclaimer: All material objects and people belong to Paramount. Whatever I 
make them say or do is born of my own imagination., Paramount has no control 
over it. This was not authorized by Paramount but they can't sue me. Also, 
Tor'Rone is a figment of my own imagination. There is no such disease in real 
life or Star Trek real life.

Author's Note: I'm not going to say too much about the story, lest I give it 
away, but although this is a P/T story, it's more about their interaction with 
their parents and how they find kindred spirits in each other. Not too much 
mushy stuff between Tom and B'Elanna. If you enjoy this, send any praise or 
criticism to Priyavp@aol.com. Please be kind. I'm kinda thin-skinned. By the 
way, this is rated PG-13, because, well, because it would be if it were a movie. 
(This, a movie? Yeah, and I'm Superman!)

Daddy's Little Girl
     By Priya V. Prasad


     Tom Paris stared into a glass of thick golden liquid. He didn't know what it 
was, but it tasted really bad. He couldn't think straight when he drank it. Hell, 
he couldn't think at all. But he didn't need to think, about anything…or anyone. He 
just could slowly die of boredom staring at his drink. He lifted up his glass and 
through the translucent liquid and saw someone come in. 
     After picking up a glass of something, his unexpected visitor sat down in 
front of him. "Hi," he said and looked out the window. Of course, there was 
nothing there but it was a comforting nothing. B'Elanna Torres glanced 
thoughtfully at Tom. 
     "Tom, what's up?"
     "Nothing."
     "Tom, don't lie to me."
     He sighed. "I guess I was just thinking about Dad, again. Y'know, Captain 
Janeway says that after the Caldik Prime accident, my dad was so worried that 
I had been hurt. He had no idea that it was all my fault. The damned Paris family 
legacy! My two sisters got away when I was trapped. They were Daddy's girls. I 
was trapped in the Paris family's Starfleet heritage. To my father Starfleet was 
more than a career, it was a life, a tradition. Damn him for being such a rotten 
dad!"
     "At least your father loved you. At least he was there," B'Elanna responded. 
Tom's mouth opened and closed. He stared back down at his drink. When he looked 
back up B'Elanna, she had a faraway look in her eyes, tempered with the pain of 
the memory.
     "Look, Lanna, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories…'
     His voice trailed off when he realized that she was remembering something 
that was happy, because the faintest hint of a smile played across her lips. 
     "B'Elanna."
     Torres snapped out of her reverie. "What?"
     "You seemed …happy… remembering something. What was it?"
     This time the smile played out fully across her face. Tom resisted the 
impulse to reach over and trace the rare smile with his thumb. She had to talk 
to a friend not anything else. 
     "When I was four, my father took me to the lakeside…."
* * * * * * * * *
     Four-year-old B'Elanna Torres skipped happily around her room. Today Daddy 
would take her to the lakeside and she could swim, all by herself. None of the 
other children in the colony could swim by themselves. Their Mommy's or 
Daddy's always held their bodies so they wouldn't drown. 
     "Daddy?"
     Daddy turned around. "Yes B'Elanna?"
     "Are you sure you won't tell Mother about this?"
     "Of course not! If I did, she wouldn't speak to either of us for weeks!"
     Actually that prospect looked rather inviting to B'Elanna. She had always 
liked Daddy better than Mother. Daddy read her meaningless fairy tales at 
bedtime and sang songs that weren't about fights and honor. Mother never read 
her stories or sang songs like Daddy did. But B'Elanna knew she wasn't like 
Daddy. Daddy didn't have bumps on his forehead like she and Mother did. She 
never told anyone but she was scared that Daddy didn't like her because of her 
forehead. But she and Daddy were going to have fun today so she didn't let 
herself think about sad things. 

     "Can I go in now, Daddy? Please?" B'Elanna pleaded with her father. 
     "Okay," Daddy replied. "But don't go in too deep. I'll be there once I set up 
the picnic."
     B'Elanna bounded towards the lake and ran in. "Daddy! The water is cold!" 
she shouted through chattering teeth. Daddy laughed merrily. 
     "Put your head underwater and hold your breath. You'll get used to it."
     B'Elanna did what her Daddy said. When she came up her Daddy was talking 
to Christi's daddy. Christi's mother and baby sister were there, too, but B'Elanna 
didn't see Christi. That didn't bother her too much because she didn't really like 
Christi. B'Elanna decided she would go underwater again this time with her eyes 
open.
     She went under and saw somebody's two dangling feet. She came up to see 
who it was. There was Christi bobbing her head furiously trying to stay above 
water. But Christi was small and she was in the deepest part of the pool. She 
couldn't keep her head up long enough to cry for help, but B'Elanna could see that 
she was trying. Totally forgetting her daddy's warning, B'Elanna swam in to help 
Christi. She pushed Christi away from the deep end and towed her towards the 
shallow part, so her feet could reach the bottom of the pool. When B'Elanna 
realized that Christi had passed out, she pulled her gently to her parents. 
Christi's parents and B'Elanna's daddy had seen the whole thing and looked at 
B'Elanna in amazement. Christi's mother was the first to react. She ran out to 
hug B'Elanna.
     "You saved my little girl!" she said as she hugged B'Elanna tightly. "Thank 
you!"
     When B'Elanna turned to her father, he lifted her up and swung her around.  
"B'Elanna, you saved Christi's life! I'm so proud of you!"
     She hugged her Daddy tightly. "Really?"
     "Remember, Lanna, I'll always be proud of you and love you, no matter 
what……"
* * * * * * * * *
     "…I guess he didn't really mean that," B'Elanna finished. 
     Paris looked at her sympathetically. There wasn't much he could think of by 
way of comforting words. 
     "Thanks for listening, Tom. I've never told anyone about this, not even 
Chakotay." As she got up, she leaned over and gently kissed Tom on the cheek and 
walked out. That, obviously, surprised the hell out of him.
     When he later reflected on the moment, there were a million things he 
could have said or done. But he just stared after her, his mouth wide hanging 
open. 

     Tom Paris sat on the bridge, in his usual position, wondering why B'Elanna 
was avoiding him today. He was sure it had to do with what happened last night. 
Maybe she was just shy because of that kiss. He shook his head. B'Elanna wasn't 
like that. He was about to go on pondering when he heard Harry Kim's voice 
behind him. 
"Captain, there's an unidentified ship coming in on the port side, reading one 
faint life sign. Captain, that person's human!"
     Tom's head snapped up to the viewscreen. A small ship about the size of 
Neelix's shuttle drifted aimlessly in space. The markings on the ship were 
unfamiliar and the warp signature looked vaguely Starfleet, but it could be from 
anywhere.
     "Hail that ship!" the captain said, clicking into business mode. 
     An image of a haggard man appeared on the screen. He looked about fifty-
six. His eyes were haunted as he looked at them through his viewscreen. Paris 
thought he looked vaguely familiar. 
     "La……Lan….Na…." he managed to get out before he collapsed. 
     "Beam that man to sickbay, now! Helm, tractor in that ship. I want to know 
who that man is." 

     Janeway entered Sickbay briskly. "Doctor, how is your patient doing?"
     "He's stable, Captain, but he's gone into a coma," the holodoc replied. "I 
really can't do anything for him until he wakes up. But I can run a scan on his 
DNA to see if he is related to the 37's."
     "If he is, then I want to know where he got his ship. The 37's don't have the 
technology to go out into space," the captain said as she walked out of sickbay, 
almost bumping into Tom Paris as he walked in. 
     "Doc, do you know who this man is?" Tom asked.
     "No, but if I did, you would know too." The doctor's eyes narrowed. "Unless 
you already know."
     Paris looked at the holodoc in surprise. "No, Doc, I don't know who he is, but 
I have this strange feeling that he looks familiar." Paris shrugged. "Sorry to 
bother you Doc. Good luck." Paris left the doctor mumbling under his breath 
about hotshot pilots who loved trying his patience. 

     As Paris entered the mess hall, he saw that all the tables were filled 
except B'Elanna's. He grabbed a tray of food that actually looked rather edible, 
and headed to the corner where she was sitting.  She looked up briefly. "Oh, 
hello, Lieutenant," she said. 
     Paris was taken aback. *Not ‘Tom,' not even ‘Paris,' it's ‘Lieutenant' now.* 
he thought. Before he could say anything, B'Elanna looked back up again, and Tom 
saw her eyes. They were cold and uninviting, unlike the night before when she 
had been warm and open. Paris, hurt and a bit heartsick, got up and left the 
table. 
     "But Tom, you haven't eaten anything!" Neelix said as Tom walked out of the 
mess hall. 
     "Later Neelix, I'm not hungry right now." And with that Tom left room, 
getting a little more irritated and a little more angry by the minute.

     "Doctor to Captain Janeway."
     Kathryn Janeway had been discussing crew business with Chakotay when 
she got the page from the Doctor. She was somewhat relieved that he had paged 
at that time because she and her first officer were very close to being in a 
compromising position.
     "Yes, Doctor?"
     "I've found something remarkable about this man not only is he human, I 
found traces of Vulcan DNA. Very faint but they are there. I would guess that his 
great-great-great-grandfather was Vulcan."
     "Do you know yet who he might be?" Janeway asked. 
     "Not yet Captain, but I know he can't be one of the 37's. None of them had 
traces of Vulcan blood. This man is definitely from the Alpha Quadrant. I'm still 
working on finding out his identity."
     Janeway smiled encouragingly. "Good luck. Janeway out."
     She turned to back look at Chakotay, whose apologetic look changed to that 
of vague recognition.. 
     "Captain, that man looks like someone I looked up in a Starfleet record 
bank, but I can't remember who," he said. 
     Janeway frowned. "Has B'Elanna found anything in his ship? Any logs, 
records?"
     "Nothing yet, but she said she found something that could be a diary, 
because it was encrypted. She said she would try to decode it." 
     Janeway nodded thoughtfully. "Captain," Chakotay continued. "I'm worried 
about B'Elanna. She's been thinking about her father again."
     "Has she said anything to you?"
     "No, but she's gotten withdrawn and cold. She's always like that when she 
remembers her father's leaving her."
     "Chakotay, I know she's your best friend and she's a valuable member of the 
crew, but maybe she has to get through it by herself once, so she can realize 
that her friends will only help her if she asks them. B'Elanna is not very 
forthcoming with her problems, but I think she'll tell somebody if she really 
needs help.  If this interferes with her work, though, you have my full 
permission to talk to her about it."
     Chakotay smiled. "Thank you, Captain."
     Janeway smiled back. Chakotay couldn't help but notice that she looked 
beautiful like that. "You know, Captain, if you get to know B'Elanna better, you 
could become good friends."
     "I know, Commander," she replied. "I know."

     B'Elanna rubbed her eyes sleepily. She had been awake most of the night 
trying to decode the mysterious stranger's diary. *Let me try this last code 
before I go to sleep.* She punched in a sequence and hoped it would work. 
Suddenly all the nonsense turned into English. B'Elanna's eyes widened as she 
saw that this man had at least twenty years of a diary in the chip she found. She 
scrolled to the beginning and started reading…..
     "All I can think about is my little girl. All the fun times, her bright smile, 
and her mother. But I'm dying. I can't die in front of my child. She's always 
thought of me as the world. I don't want to see her world crumble in front of her 
eyes. I love her so much, and her mother too, but I can't say it. I don't know how. 
I sent my wife a communiqué. I want her to show my angel that I didn't want to 
leave them. I am just too weak at heart to stay. I don't know how many years I'll 
be like this. I know my mental state is slowly getting worse. I went through an 
unstable wormhole, and crashed on a desert planet. Somehow the thought of my 
little girl kept me alive, I don't know why. I plunge blindly into dangers, hoping 
they will kill me before I die of insanity. But I am kept alive, for a purpose I do 
not know. All I can think about is my little girl…."
     Torres fell asleep, her eyes stinging with unshed tears, dreaming of that 
horrible day when her father left….
* * * * * * * * 
     "Daddy! I couldn't sleep last night so I fixed your tricorder. It really wasn't 
broken." B'Elanna's five-year-old figure bounced into the dining room. She knew 
her father would be there sitting at the table, drinking his coffee, like always. 
She stopped short when she realized he wasn't there. "Mother? Where's Daddy? 
Is he sick?"
     Mother's face was more serious than usual. "Your father left. He went away 
and he's not coming back."
     B'Elanna took a moment to realize the horrible truth. No more Daddy! How 
could she live? She ran to her room and looked at herself in the mirror. She 
wasn't like Daddy. That's why he left. Because she was a Klingon. B'Elanna now 
knew why she had ridges on her forehead. Because her mother was Klingon. But 
her father wasn't. He was human. Her father left her because she was a Klingon. 
She flung herself onto her bed, face down. She hated being Klingon. It wasn't 
fair! She started screaming "Daddy! No! Daddy! Don't go! Why? Daddy, why? No!"
     In the dining room, her mother sat quietly, sympathizing with her 
daughter's grief. She could get away with it this time, for she had good reason.
* * * * * * * *
     When she woke, B'Elanna found herself on her desk, with tears streaming 
down her face. She wiped them away angrily and got herself ready for duty. 

     Paris had just gotten off duty, when it struck him. He sat down at the 
computer terminal in his quarters and tapped into the Voyager record banks. 
"Computer, show me the service records of Jason Torres." Information flashed in 
front of his face. Graduated from the Academy with honors….married K'Atur, 
third child of Kagh…..daughter: B'Elanna Torres….promoted to Commander…refused 
an offer to serve on the Enterprise-C. Then Paris saw the picture of Jason 
Torres. He looked just like B'Elanna with the exception of his forehead. He also 
looked like a much younger version of the man they had picked up in the ship. 
Without further delay, he ran to Sickbay, forgetting to turn off his computer 
terminal.

     "Doctor," Tom said, panting. 
     "What?" came the irritated answer. 
     "I know who that man is."
     "What! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" 
     "I'm telling you now, because I just found out," Tom replied impatiently. 
     "Well?"
     Tom went to the monitor that was displaying the man's DNA. He called up 
Torres' DNA sequence and put it on top.
     "Amazing!" the holodoc said. "It's a perfect match! How did you know?"
     "I thought he looked familiar, when it occurred to me that he looked like 
B'Elanna. It was a wild guess, but it was right."
     "I'll tell her immediately."
     Paris stopped him quickly. "I think you should tell the Captain. I'll tell 
B'Elanna personally," he said and headed out the door.

     Paris found B'Elanna in her quarters reading something. "What's that?" he 
asked.
     B'Elanna looked up "It's the diary of that man we found. Most of it is about 
his young daughter and his wife. He doesn't even say their names, or anything."
     "Oh, so you don't know."
     "Know what?" B'Elanna looked at him, her Klingon features twisted into a 
look of confusion. "What are you talking about?"
     "Well, we found out who the man is." Paris saw that he was getting 
nowhere being elusive. "B'Elanna he's your father."
     She stared at him no expression on her face. She was silent for a long time 
before she started slowly, "My father."
     Tom nodded. She glanced at the diary. "No."
     "B'Elanna, don't close this out. Don't close me out, either."
     "I want to be alone, please, Tom." She looked up and it was plain to see that 
she had hurt him again. *It's better this way. Anyone who gets close to me 
doesn't like what he sees. I get hurt all over.*
     Without another word, Tom walked out, hurt. 

     "Captain, this is the doctor."
     "Yes, Doctor?"
     "We have found out who the man is. Lieutenant Torres found no ID to back up 
this but he's the perfect DNA match, and what is in his diary seems to be 
consistent with the facts."
     "Well? Don't keep us in suspense, Doctor."
     ‘He is Jason Torres, father of our Lieutenant Torres."
     Chakotay looked alarmed. "Have you told her yet?"
     "Mr. Paris went to tell her personally, to somewhat lighten the blow."
     "I see."
     "And Captain, the patient is revived. He came to after Lieutenant Paris left 
Sickbay. He's somewhat delirious, though. He keeps calling for his ‘Lanna.' I can 
only assume that he's referring to our Ms. Torres."
     "I'm coming down there. You can tell B'Elanna that he's conscious, but I 
think she'll only come down when she good and ready."

     *You idiot! He was only trying to help you as a friend and you hurt him 
again, just to save yourself. How KLINGON can you get?* B'Elanna was trying to 
deal with the situation by getting mad. She couldn't get mad at her father, and 
Tom was only trying to help, so she tried getting mad at herself. It was working 
better than she'd care to admit. Then the doctor told her that her father was 
awake and calling out her name. She had to do this by herself. Harry wouldn't 
understand, and she had chased Tom away.  There always was Chakotay. He could 
help her, but B'Elanna had the feeling that he had something-or someone-else on 
his mind. No, this was her problem. She never needed help before with her 
problems, and she wouldn't need it now. She flung herself onto her bed. God, she 
had messed up her life so much. It was a special talent she had.
     She went to the bathroom to wash her face. She would go to sickbay totally 
cool and controlled, and hope no one would be there if-when-she lost her 
control. 

     Sickbay was deserted except for Lieutenant Tom Paris. The doctor had 
deactivated himself and Kes had gone to the kitchen to help Neelix. Only Tom and 
Jason Torres' sleeping form were in Sickbay. He looked down a his friend's 
father. He just stared for a while until he finally spoke at the semi-conscious 
form. "So you're the one who left B'Elanna and hurt her so badly. That hurt her so 
much. She won't let anyone through. I know I'm going to regret this if you hear 
this, but you're a jerk."
     Tom turned on his heel and walked out. He almost bumped into B'Elanna as 
she came in. A long moment of tension stood between them. Tom made sure to 
keep his expression cold and closed, like she had in the mess hall. The moment 
passed and Tom walked away briskly, leaving B'Elanna alone in Sickbay. 
     She sat down near her father's biobed and sighed. "Oh, Dad! I've made such a 
mess of my life. I did that in the Academy, then the Maquis was a useless waste 
of my time, although," she smiled ruefully, "I did learn some pretty good tricks. 
But now I'm back in Starfleet, and I practically chased away one of my best 
friends." B'Elanna didn't even admit to herself that he could be a little more than 
a best friend. "Oh, Daddy! Why did you leave? Why?"
     Torres was jerked out of her reverie when she heard a low moan. Jason 
Torres' eyes popped open. He vaguely remembered waking up before and seeing 
people bustling around him. They had sounded like medical personnel. Now he 
was aware of someone sitting next to him. He turned to see the person, and 
knew he was hallucinating. The woman sitting there looked so much like K'Atur. 
But even more, she looked like his little girl, but all grown up. "Lanna!" he cried. 
Then he immediately composed himself. "Where am I? Who are you?"
     "It's me, Father. It's B'Elanna," she replied. He narrowed his eyes at her. "You 
aren't B'Elanna. My little girl is in the Alpha Quadrant. This is the Delta 
Quadrant."
     "I know, Dad. It's a long story." For the next three hours, B'Elanna proceeded 
to tell her father about the life he missed being a part of. 

     Tom was surprised when he heard the familiar beep of the door. He was 
even more surprised when he saw who it was. "Lieutenant Torres! How nice of 
you to come! I …….."
     He stopped his sarcasm when he saw the look on her face. "No more 
‘Lieutenant,' Tom. Just B'Elanna." She sat down next to him on the couch and 
started speaking hesitantly, "I just came to say ‘I'm sorry' and that I didn't 
want to hurt you…and that I really need a friend to talk to."
     Tom didn't say anything but just smiled his heart melting smile. At least, 
that was the effect it had on B'Elanna. Then she, very uncharacteristically, 
broke down into sobs. "Oh, Tom! He loves me! My Dad actually loves me! I know, I 
saw it in his logs. And Tom, he told me. It was the first time in twenty-three 
years that I believed he loves me!"
     Tom just pulled B'Elanna onto his shoulder and let her cry, her tears running 
off her face and onto his uniform. Before he knew it, he was nodding off, with 
B'Elanna sleeping peacefully on his shoulder. 

     Tom's first thought when he woke was, for some reason, *I'm really going 
to get it.* He looked down at the pressure on his shoulder and realized exactly 
why. He tried to get up as slowly as possible so as to not wake B'Elanna up. If 
she knew she had spent the night with Tom Paris….well, he didn't want to know 
what she'd do. Tom put a pillow under B'Elanna's head and silently went about 
his business of getting ready for duty. After his shower he debated whether to 
wake her up or not. Before he could reach a decision, he heard a soft moan 
coming from the couch. B'Elanna opened her eyes and stared at her surroundings 
blankly for a second, then realized where she was. "Tom?"
     "Yeah?"
     "About last night…"
     Tom held his breath ready to get rebuked harshly. 
     "Thank you."
     "Uh…you're welcome. For what?"
     "You listened. You were a friend. That's what I needed. Thank you."
     Tom smiled, rather self-consciously, and sat down next to B'Elanna. 
"Promise you won't kill me for doing this."
     She creased her brow in confusion. "For doing what?"
     "This." On impulse, Tom reached down and kissed B'Elanna gently on her lips. 
She was, undoubtedly, surprised, but she got over it in time to return the kiss, 
which in turn surprised Tom, again. This time, though, he held on to her. When 
their lips parted, B'Elanna glared at Tom. 
     "I *will* kill you for this."
     "I like to live dangerously."
     B'Elanna shook her head and headed towards the bathroom. "Tom, you don't 
know what you're getting yourself into."
     Tom sat back on the couch, chuckling softly. "I think I have a pretty good 
idea."
     B'Elanna spun around and faced Paris. "What exactly is that supposed to 
mean?"
     Tom smiled mischievously. "Forgotten already? Don't you remember the 
time about eight months ago on Sa-" 
     B'Elanna cut him off sharply. "Don't even think about it, Paris."
     Tom shut his mouth but the devilish look didn't leave his eyes. B'Elanna 
resumed her course to he bathroom, muttering, "Men!"

     Jason Torres was sitting upright on the biobed,  arguing with the holodoc. 
"Look, Doc, I feel fine. I'm in good enough condition to leave this place."
     "No, you are not, and I think I should be the one to make that decision."
     Torres yielded finally, muttering, "Doctors! Always boring their patients to 
death!"
     As the Doctor continued with his seemingly never-ending series of tests, a 
tall, blond man with ice blue eyes walked into Sickbay. Torres' jaws dropped. 
"Owen? Goddammit, it couldn't be, Owen would be as old as I am! I'm sorry, son, I 
thought for a second that you were Owen Paris!"
     "Actually, I'm Tom Paris. Owen Paris is my father."
     Torres smiled widely. "I'm Jason Torres. Your father was my roommate in 
the Academy! I lost contact with him when I got married, though. Last time I 
heard of him, he was a Commander."
     Tom turned to the Doctor. "Doc, let this guy out. He can sample some exotic 
cuisine in the mess hall and catch up on the last twenty years."
     The Doctor gave the two of them a resigned look. "Very well. Just try not to 
get food poisoning."
     Tom Paris wore an unmistakable smirk on his face as he led B'Elanna's 
father out of Sickbay and towards the mess hall. He had a feeling he could find 
out a lot more about B'Elanna if he played his cards just right. Hell, she was 
worth it.

     While Tom Paris was accompanying her father to the mess hall, B'Elanna 
Torres pulled out her father's diary and read some more. 
     "Every time I try to end the delirium and kill myself, I just can't. Something 
inside me won't permit it. If I try to drink some poison, my hand just stops and I 
can't bring the cup to my mouth. If I try to crash the shuttle, my mind won't give 
me the correct procedure. It's as if my spirit wants to be set free from my 
delirious mind, but my soul is stopping me. The thought of my family tortures 
me more and more. I cannot die, but I cannot turn back to where I was. God 
seems to be keeping me locked in some sort of eternity, and my refuge would 
only be the Devil in Hell. But with my sickness, anytime I am not in physical 
pain, or not insane, I am missing K'Atur and B'Elanna. That is my worst torture 
in the never-ending cycle. Even as I write my mind is on my daughter, 
B'Elanna…….."
     B'Elanna put down his diary, overwhelmed again that her father loved her 
since she had never suspected that anyone was capable of actually loving her. 
She resolved to get to know him better. "Computer, what is the location of Jason 
Torres?"
     "Jason Torres is in the mess hall."
     "Companions?"
     "He currently is with Lieutenant Paris."
     B'Elanna's eyebrows shot up. "I have a bad feeling about this," she muttered 
as she left her quarters for the destination: the mess hall.

     Tom and Neelix watched carefully as Jason Torres took a bite of Neelix's 
leola root flavored chocolate pie. 
     "Well?" Neelix asked, anxious to know what his first customer of the day 
thought of his latest creation. 
     Torres made a valiant effort to hide the grimace that was forming on his 
face but didn't succeed. "It certainly isn't like any chocolate pie I've ever eaten 
before," he replied, truthfully. 
     "It contains a substance called leola root. This particular batch has an 
interesting story behind it. Ensign Peters-"
     Neelix stopped when he heard a soft chuckle behind him. "Why Lieutenant 
Torres! I was just telling this gentleman about my new leola flavored chocolate 
pie. Would you like to try some?"
     "Later, Neelix."
     "But Lieutenant! I insist…"
     "Neelix…"
     Neelix threw his hands up in resignation. "Fine! It's your loss."
     "I'll risk that."
     "Hello, B'Elanna," the two men chorused from the table. 
     "Young Paris here is telling me of a few instances in your life which you 
probably don't want any one to know about."
     "Oh? Like what?" B'Elanna asked, raising her eyebrows at Tom. 
     "Uh, well, nothing. Nothing, really."
     "Right." B'Elanna sat down propped her elbows on the table. 
     Tom sensed that B'Elanna wanted to talk to her father, alone. "Well, I'll be 
going. My shift starts in about twenty minutes," he said, a bit awkwardly. 
B'Elanna's father intimidated him a little, mostly because he knew Owen Paris, 
but also because he was *B'Elanna's* father. Paris felt like a boyfriend being 
introduced to his girlfriend's parents. He left father and daughter alone and 
went to go about his own business.
     The elder Torres looked at his daughter curiously. He could tell something 
was wrong, although she wore a cheerful mask. Even after his life-long absence, 
he was somehow attuned to the moods of his daughter.  "Lanna, what's wrong?"
     B'Elanna was about to lie and say nothing was wrong, when the question 
that had haunted her for twenty-three years came out. "Dad, why did you leave 
me?" B'Elanna heard herself say. 
     Jason Torres took a deep breath. "I was infected by a Vulcan disease called 
Tor'Rone. It affects the part of my brain that, simply put, controls my sanity. I 
go into fits of paranoia or pain. They've gotten farther apart nowadays, but I 
don't know if I'm getting better or worse."
     B'Elanna nodded as her father related the details of his affliction. It fit 
with what was written in his diary. But her question was not yet answered. 
     "But, Dad, why did you go away? Couldn't it have been treated? Couldn't you 
have stayed?"
     Jason looked at his daughter, and realized for the first time, how much he 
had hurt her. "B'Elanna, one of the symptoms was violent seizures. I was so 
afraid that I'd hurt you or your mother. I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to grow 
up with an insane and abusive father. I wanted you to have a happy life. Lanna, 
I'm so sorry!" He reached over and hugged her, tightly.
     B'Elanna hugged her father back as hard as she could. It seemed that if she 
let go, he would disappear like he had twenty years before. Suddenly, her 
father's grip became like iron, choking B'Elanna. "Dad, I…….can't……….breath! 
Let….go!"
     Her father's earlier words hit her like a bolt of lightening. *Oh God! He's 
having a violent seizure!* "Torres to Transportor Room. Emergency beam-in to 
Sickbay!"
     Two seconds later, in Sickbay, Torres was trying to contain her father, who 
was clawing around frantically, while the doctor went to get a hypospray.
     B'Elanna heard a hiss as the medication was being applied and felt the body 
sag in her arms. The doctor had already set up a biobed and his tools. 
     He launched into a full scale scan of Jason Torres' body and turned to 
B'Elanna. "Lieutenant Torres, I have to know what exactly happened in the mess 
hall."
     "He finished saying something, personal, and then hugged me, and I hugged 
him back. Suddenly, he started choking me and I could hardly breath. I managed 
to keep him away for a few seconds so I could initiate an emergency beam-out."
     "I see." The doctor frowned. 
     B'Elanna was silent for a beat and then she spoke up. "He said he was 
diagnosed with Tor'Rone twenty-three years ago. The symptoms were getting 
fewer and farther apart recently."
     The doctor looked back at the scanners. "I can't say anything conclusive at 
this point, but he seems to be getting better."
     B'Elanna sighed with relief. There was still so much unsaid between them. 
She wanted to know her father much better, since she had never had the chance 
before. She had tried when she was thirteen, to no avail.
* * * * * * * * * * 
     B'Elanna locked her room door and went to her computer terminal. If her 
mother found out about this, she would….B'Elanna didn't want to think about 
what her mother would do. She entered a fake path manually so that her mother, 
if she wanted to check up on her, would think she was studying. She took a deep 
breath and mentally prepared herself to learn more about her father. "Computer, 
display full service records and logs of Jason Torres."
     She gaped at the amount of information that came up on her screen. She 
started with the personal logs. She wanted to know *who* her father was. The 
face that she hadn't seen for seven years came up on the screen. He started 
speaking.
     "B'Elanna seems to have a natural aptitude for engineering. We found that 
out with our visit to the Federation office outside the colony. She was 
fascinated by the technology-"
     "TURN THAT OFF NOW!" B'Elanna jumped at the sound of her mother's voice. 
She looked up, only to find K'Atur standing in the doorway. 
     She switched the terminal off and stood up. "Your father left, why do you 
want to know about him? Are you so weak that you can't accept that he's gone?" 
There was a dangerous edge to her mother's voice that B'Elanna had heard a few 
times before. But this time she stood her ground firmly.
     "What's so weak about finding out more about my father? Why don't you let 
me know who he is? Are you afraid you'll start missing him?" B'Elanna held her 
breath after the words fell out of her mouth. She had never defied her mother 
before, especially not this much. K'Atur never let anyone talk about her husband 
in her presence, and certainly not in her own house.
* * * * * * * * * *
     B'Elanna was only aware that she had been when the beeping of a scanner 
jolted her. She saw the holodoc frantically trying to stabilize her father. 
"Doctor, what's going on?"
     "Lieutenant, it seems that I was mistaken about your father's condition 
improving. He's slipped back into a coma and I can't seem to stabilize his 
condition. I'll have to wait and see if he survives this coma."
     B'Elanna's heart sank at the Doctor's words. She spent the rest of her off 
shift by her father's bedside, praying that he would recover. 

     When Tom learnt of Jason Torres' condition, he headed straight for Sickbay 
at the first chance he got. Just as he expected, B'Elanna was sitting next to her 
father. "How's he doing?" Paris asked. B'Elanna looked up, noticing Tom's 
presence for the first time. 
     "He's not doing that well. The doctor thinks he won't be able to survive this 
time. I'm wishing that he will live." 
     Tom glanced at the readings above the biobed. "Lanna, I think it's a little 
too late." 
     B'Elanna looked up and gasped. "Where's the doctor?" 
     "Did somebody call me?" The doctor poked his head out of his office. 
     "Torres' readings are flatlining."
     "What?" the doctor was at the biobed in a flash. As the holodoc worked, 
Tom put a comforting hand on B'Elanna's shoulder. She flinched ever so slightly, 
but did not shrink away.
     They watched helplessly as the doctor put down his instruments and shook 
his head. "He'll wake up but then he'll only have a few minutes before he dies. 
And even then, I can't guarantee his sanity. I'm sorry, B'Elanna."
     The doctor's use of her first name indicated that he truly was sorry. "Thank 
you, doctor. I think I'll stay here till he wakes up."
     The doctor deactivated himself, leaving Tom and B'Elanna alone. B'Elanna 
sank down into a chair, her head in her hands. "There was so much I didn't tell 
him, now he'll never know."
     Tom sat down next to her and held her hand. "Just tell him the most 
important thing. It covers just about everything."
     B'Elanna considered his cryptic answer and frowned. She looked down at 
their interlocked hands. "Tom, I really appreciate your support throughout the 
past few days. Thanks, a lot."
     Tom leaned over and hugged B'Elanna and for the third time, they kissed, 
this time, neither of them was surprised and their true feelings for each other 
shone in each other's eyes. They pulled back at the same time. Tom felt a blush 
creep up his neck to his cheeks. B'Elanna closed her eyes and passed her hand 
over her lips, and opened her eyes. 
     "Tom, why did you kiss me?"
     Tom stammered. Since when did he stammer in front of a woman? God, he 
must be really nervous. "I….I…we…we're friends. It was friendly."
     B'Elanna looked at him skeptically. "Tom, friends don't kiss like that."
     Tom knew he was blushing furiously. "Lanna, you know I'm interested. And 
you've been showing some more than friendly feelings. You can't say you don't 
want this either."
     B'Elanna opened her mouth to respond but a moan from the biobed behind her 
cut her off. "Dad!"
     "Lanna!" He looked up at his daughter. Her eyes were watering, but she was 
holding back the tears. He knew he'd never see her again. "I'm dying, aren't I?"
     B'Elanna looked down. A tear found its way down her cheek. She wiped it 
away quickly. "The doctor doesn't think you'll be able to survive much longer."
     The elder Torres looked into his daughter's eyes. "At least I can tell you one 
last time, I love you, B'Elanna."
     B'Elanna looked at Tom finally comprehending his cryptic words. "Dad, I 
love you, too. I always will." She knelt down beside his bed and cried into his 
hand. She would stay that way for an hour, until she was sure that her father 
was dead.  
     "To.Tom.." Jason managed to get out. 
     Tom, who had kept a respectful distance, came closer to hear the dying 
man's words. "Yes?"
     "Tom.take care.of...he...her. Take care of my li.girl," he said in his last 
breath. Tom nodded solemnly before Jason Torres closed his eyes, forever.

FINIS!
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