#protective B’Elanna

[shsy7573]

We’re in This Together - Ch. 12

For more info or chapter index, see overview post

WARNING: This chapter contains segments of character death. (SPOILER’S FOR CHAPTER : It’s fine tho I swear)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own own Voyager or any of the characters in this fic (except for the aliens. Those were my creation.)

*This story is not beta-read and has not been edited or proof-read in any way! This was just something I threw together over the past three days and decided to post as my first entry on this site!*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER TWELVE

B’Elanna watched Janeway’s laboured breathing as she slept. Even though she was sleeping, the Starfleet Captain’s expression was anything but peaceful. Her pain, it seemed, was potent enough to follow her into unconsciousness. Voyager’s Chief Engineer brushed her knuckles gently over the woman’s cheek, and watched as her expression softened ever so slightly.

The touch, despite how soft, was enough to jostle her from sleep. Her eyes face contorted as the full force of the pain came back. She opened her eyes a crack to see her Lieutenant smiling down at her.

“Sorry, Captain. I didn’t mean to wake you. You can go back to sleep if you’d like.”

Kathryn huffed, starting to sit up. Immediately she regretted it as the whole world went out of focus, and black dots danced at the edges of her vision. She fell un gracefully back down with a thump, and closed her eyes.

“That’s all right… I don’t… I don’t think… I’ll be going… back to sleep… anytime soon.”

Torres furrowed her eyebrows in sympathy. “Do you want a pain killer? We have used them for a while. I took one this morning when I woke up for my shift.”

Kathryn shook her head slightly, the best she could manage in her agony. “They don’t… help.”

The engineer placed a gentle hand on her Captain’s forehead. She winced at the heat of the Captain’s skin, and turned to pull out the woman’s water.

“Here,” she murmured, pouring some of the cold liquid onto the woman’s face, “this should help a little. Drink some too.”

B’Elanna helped sit Janeway up enough so that she could comfortably drink. When she’d had enough, the engineer set her bottle back down, and lowered the Captain into her lap.

“Thanks,” Kathryn breathed, blinking groggily up at her companion. The feeling of the cool water on her skin was an instant relief, but it was short lived as the area slowly warmed up again.

“Anytime.”

Kathryn closed her eyes again as her breathing returned to its heavy, slow rhythm.

“I wish there was something I could do to make you more comfortable.”

Janeway inhaled deeply before responding, “you’re… doing… your best… Voyager… be here… soon.”

B’Elanna couldn’t help but wince again as the Captain spoke. Every one of her words seemed to take a little more out of her. Torres couldn’t even begin to imagine what sort of pain the woman was in.

“Yes, they’ll be here soon. Just save your strength. I’m not going anywhere.”

The Captain hummed, and swallowed harshly in response.

“I hate to break it to you, Captain, but I don’t think you’ll be able to jump right into work after this. I know you really miss looking over the system's reports, but the Doctor’s gonna be on your ass about resting for at least a week.”

B’Elanna was reworded by a couple of small, barely audible chuckles that jostled the Captain’s body.

“I’m still looking forward to that sonic shower. And after that, you’re welcome to join me on the holodeck or you like. I was thinking of forcing Tom to write me a new program. Or, I supposed I could do it myself, but- who has the time for that? Nothing too spectacular, thinking a nice, long quiet beach with soft white sand, big blue waves, and no tunnels of caverns in sight. Maybe a couple people out in the water, just having fun and living in the moment.”

As Torres spoke, Kathryn allowed herself to get lost in the words. She imagined herself on such a beach, and the thought made her smile. The warmth of the sun on her, the cool breeze blowing in from the sea as the setting sun turned the sky pink. Big waves on the horizon, where you could just make out a couple of surfers getting the last of their waves in before turning in for the night. It was where Janeway wished she was right now.

“It sounds… nice…” she rasped.

“Yeah? I thought so too. With you on my side, maybe you can order Tom to make it.”

The Captain smiled at this, and B’Elanna took it as a win.

-

After a couple hours, the Captain’s breathing really started to shallow out. B’Elanna had taken to holding her hand firmly as she struggled to stay awake.

“Just hold on a little longer Captain. Help is on the way.”

The only sigh that Janeway both heard and understood the Lieutenant was a small squeeze of her hand. B’Elanna squeezed back, running a hand across the woman’s face.

“Give me one second, okay? I’m just gonna check to see if the homing beacon is still active.”

Gently, B’Elanna let go of the Captain, and took off her comm. badge. Amazingly, even after all the floods and spider-attacks and rock climbing they’d done, it had remained stubbornly pinned to her Starfleet uniform. Speaking of said uniform, it had seen better days. There were several holes in the fabric, the biggest ones being on her chest and around her back.

Upon inspecting her badge, she was able to confirm that the homing beacon was still indeed active. That was good. It meant Voyager would know just where to find them when it arrived.

She placed the badge back on her uniform, and grabbed the Captain’s hand again. Not even bothered with how covered in sweat it was.

“Good news, Captain. Looks like our luck hasn’t completely run out yet. The badge is still working.”

The woman’s lips twitched, B’Elanna took at as the best the attempt woman could muster at a smile. She brushed her thumb across Kathryn’s forehead, sending a silent plea to her ship as watched her energy dwindle. Please, Voyager. Hurry.

-

At this point, B’Elanna had given up on keeping track of the hours passed. All she knew was they had been sitting here forever, and there was still no sign of Voyager.

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon. They’re probably just trying not to overreact.”

B’Elanna was alarmed by the lack of response from Kathryn. She’d been chatting to her idly on and off for the last little bit, and the woman had always at least managed a twitch of her fingers. Now though, there was nothing.

“Captain?” She asked, giving the woman a slight jostle with her knee.

No response.

She tried again, pumping the woman a bit harder.

“Captain! I told you not to doze off on me again!”

But B’Elanna knew that wasn’t what this was. Not this time. As she watched the woman’s chest for any sign that she might be breathing, she was alarmed to be greeting by a complete and utter stillness.

“No!” She gasped, sitting up and laying the woman’s head on the ground beside her.

“No, no, NO!”

She started chest come pressions.

“Come on, Captain! Don’t do this to me again!”

Tears streaked her eyes as she pushed the palms of her hands deep into the woman’s chest. She knew she was probably going to break her ribs with pressure like this, but she would take broken ribs over a dead Captain any day.

“Come on, please! Please, you can’t leave me! Not now!”

Two inches deep, one hundred beats per minute.

“We’re in this together, remember?!”

Help will be here soon.

“You promised!”

They have to be here soon

“Please, just hold on!”

Then, the worst thing that could have possibly happened, happened. Faintly, at the very edge of her senses, she heard the sound of scuttling.

B’Elanna’s chest compressions stilled as she listened to confirm what she was hearing. 

No! Not now! Please, not now!

Fat tears dripped from her eyes, and down onto Kathryn’s face as she leaned over the dying woman. Desperately, she placed one hand on her cheek, and the other one in her hand. She leaned down until she was nose to nose with Janeway’s slack face. “I’m not leaving you,” she whispered. “You hear me? I’m not leaving you! So don’t you dare leave me!”

No response.

A sob racked her body as she pressed her hand firmly into Kathryn’s face.

“Please!”

No response.

She heard the sound of a hiss behind her.

All the despair in her face fell away at the sound. The tears still poured down her face as she drew her phaser and turned around.

Eight of the Arachnomen faced off against her. Each of their eyes locked on in hunger, madness, and intent to kill.

Looking at the creatures, B’Elanna was overtaken by a blinding, thick blanket of unimaginable fury. This, all of this was their fault. One of their kind had killed her Captain. Her friend and all these creatures cared about was food. They were disgusting, and retched, and the purest form of evil that, other than the Borg, no other species ever came close to.

And they were not going to take her Captain away from her when they were this close to getting home.

“YOU WON’T TOUCH HER!” B’Elanna roared, but the Arachnomen didn’t seem phased by her fury.

With one final hiss, the hoard lunged, and B’Elanna started firing.

In an instant, a cascade of pincers, hands and fangs engulfed B’Elanna and the Captain. The half-klingon fired her phaser like a mad woman, doing everything in her power to keep the creatures’ fangs from biting her, and to keep all of them away from the lifeless form of her Captain underneath her.

Pretty quickly, B’Elanna’s rage subsided just enough for her to realise that she could never right off all these aliens at once. So, thinking fast, she improvised.

The engineer shot her phaser right at the base of one of the stalactites. The large spike came crashing down, impaling one of the Arachnomen, and covering the area in a thick, quickly dissipating layer of debris.

Using the opening, B’Elanna threw Janeway over her shoulder and fled towards the nearest tunnel. Her feet carried her even faster than they had the day before. It didn’t matter anymore that Janeway was dead weight, Torres’s survival instincts were kicked into too high a gear for her to be slowed down.

The aliens ran after her as she clambered up the tunnel, dodging their long, outstretched limbs and shooting blindly behind her as she continued her beeline through the tunnels.

The Arachnomen were gaining rapidly, their brief moment of surprise not nearly enough to keep the Chief Engineer in the lead for long. She pushed her legs to run faster, practically throwing herself down the passageway as it began to twist and turn.

After five minutes of running for her life, B’Elanna’s felt her eyes widened as they gazed upon her next obstacle. The ground veered up in a sudden slope, approximately seven feet tall, and with very little ways to jump up it. Not unless you had spider limbs.

With a pounding heart, the engineer used all of her strength to throw Kathryn up the the top of the wall, before leaping up as high as she could and draping her arm over the ledge.

One of the aliens grabbed a hold of her leg, and began to drag her back down towards the ground. B’Elanna kicked and screamed as the others piled on. She managed to tear her leg free of one, and used the face of another to shove herself further up the ledge.

One of the aliens jumped up towards the ceiling, and made a frantic grab at her shoulder. It missed, however, and its long spider-limbed hand shot past B’Elanna and managed to grab hold instead of the Captain’s arm. It dragged her body backwards, and B’Elanna shrieked in protest as she held the body of her comrad on top of the ledge.

She rammed her arm out, smacking the spider's own limb hard against the corner of the ledge. It shrieked, letting go of the Captain in its pain.

As hard as she was fighting, Torres’ heart lurched as she felt the seemingly endless sea of grasping limbs starting to drag her back down the ledge. She clawed desperately to the tunnel floor, kicking mangled legs back at the spiders, but it was no use. There were too many of them.

Just as she was convinced that there was no way out of this, a voice came through on her comm.

“Voyager to away team, do you read me!”

B’Elanna kicked one of the aliens off her, giving her just enough leeway to reach up and press her badge. “Chakotay!” She shouted, her voice riddled with pure terror as she was pulled further away from Janeway, “I can’t hold them off anymore! You gotta get us out of here!”

“Stand by for transport.”

“Sick bay, Chakotay! Both of us!” B’Elanna ordered

“Acknowledged!”

B’Elanna screamed as she lost her grip on the tunnel ledge. Just as her body was dragged into the commotion of the Arachnoman’s frenzy, her and Janeway’s bodies dematerialized into the transporter beam.

[leohtttbriar]

star trek fic recommendations

(small Note: i don't read a lot of fic and don't seek it out very often, so i am one hundred percent sure there is a lot more beautifully written star trek fics out there and if anyone has any recommendations for me i am very happy to take them!)

+ piercing music played with bloodied fingers - by 1nterlaced @firstroseofspring

T'Pring takes her fill.

This fic blew out the little we get of T'Pring in the show and created this fascinating person with history and perspective in both a convincing way and with this underlying theme of the value of "choice" in personhood--which not only springs off from canon but enriches it in such a way that I really think this should be published into the ongoing canon of this character. The language is considered and interesting and really engages with the conceit of Vulcan aliens. The craft of this whole fic is truly gorgeous and makes the ending, the climax of choice and interest and attention all established so beautifully in T'Pring as the story progresses, all the more intense in resolution and feeling.

Quote: "One week into her arrival, the sky is cloudy and starless and has been nothing else. Despite the heavy pollution on the planet, the sight is beautiful- emerald green with a constant blanket of thick white clouds. The storms in the area are incessant, roiling and loud. She’d taken a trip to the coast the day before and found that the seaside was much of the same- a ferry trip she'd planned to take to a small island was forced to re-accommodate to be taken by a safer mode of transport, and she’d watched the turbulent waters through the glass instead of feeling the water under her feet."

+ say it soft, and it's almost like praying - by @daemonologywrites

In space, she is simply Lieutenant Uhura. (Or: isn't it a little fucked up that Uhura's first name doesn't get canonized until 2009?)

An incredibly sensual and sensitive examination of Uhura's name and the intimate nature of names and language in general. Absolutely adored it as a framing for how Uhura perceives a varied universe and how she feels perceived by it in turn. The attention paid to details of sound and phrase is reflected by the language of the fic itself, which is beautifully and artfully written. Since it's canon that Uhura translates poetry in her free time (and speaks significantly about moonlight), this fic reads as exactly the sort voice needed to describe her relationship with words and with others.

Quote: "The issue being: that no matter how Uhura thows herself into the fires of dialect and idiom, there are yet those phonemes too fine to be heard by human ears, too harsh to be uttered by a human tongue. Her universal translator can analyze the sound waves and synthesize the appropriate components, but woman-to-woman, alien-to-alien, her heart skips a beat and that fine name worthy of study and finesse (she'd only heard it once in its entirety but the tune of it had lingered oh-so-long) becomes simply—'T'Pring.'"

+ Cut the Strings - by @lostyesterday

During an attempt to secure dilithium from a seemingly abandoned refinery, a terrifyingly powerful and perceptive artificial intelligence takes control of Seven’s body and holds B’Elanna hostage. B’Elanna must rely on her engineering skills and her wits to save both Seven and herself.

This fic was fascinating--it could really be one of the truly memorable Star Trek episodes. The questions coming from its story and characters and writing were all of a sci-fi short story quality and the conceit underlying the plot sticks with you. It's also a particularly good story for the character B'Elanna, capturing the things that arouse B'Elanna's sympathies and showing so movingly how she controls those sympathies and uses them to react and to think and to protect and to just be B'Elanna. The touch of real intimacy between the characters works so well at the end of the story, the way they both wanted to reach out to the other, in a way that finally overcame the tension between them, was really lovely.

Quote: “I had a body once, you know,” Lady Aria whispered. B’Elanna’s eyes flew open. The expression on Seven’s face had turned soft and wistful. “It was fully mechanical – not partially organic as this body is. But they destroyed it.”

+ Simulacra - by TheonlyDan

Philippa Georgiou will always fall into Michael’s arms. You kiss her. She angles her face just in time so your lips land on her cheek, not her mouth. So there’s your last kiss.

This fic portrays a tension between Michael and Georgiou so completely; Michael's yearning, her rationalizing, her acceptance, her non-acceptance--it's all laid out in sparse intimate moments, with evocative figurative language, arguing really well that there is both horror and comfort in being something significant to someone else.

Quote: "Georgiou is fixated on being everything to you, everything and a little extra. So there’s love."

+ patience - by @trillscienceofficer

“I thought eating azna would be enough to calm me down, but I was wrong.” Lenara didn’t hold Jadzia’s gaze for very long, like she was ashamed of something. “I’ve been missing home— I mean Trill, terribly lately.” Jadzia frowned. She’d had no idea. Jadzia and Lenara share a meal (and some feelings) at the replimat.

Everytime I think about this fic I ache. It shows precisely what it is that Lenara left for in "Rejoined," while still being a story about her staying. Lenara's distinct loneliness in this is almost difficult to read because in the moment in the fic there truly is no solution to it except (as Jadzia says in this) to grow comfortable with the discomfort. Jadzia and Lenara, in both dialogue and interpersonal interaction, are so real in this, acting and speaking as any person does about things so beyond their control. And the details in the world-building are both so interesting and lend their choices and their regrets so much depth. When Jadzia remarks that she hasn't ever been to a particular Trill festival, not in any of her lives except one (who remembers it differently), the weight of all the memories that Jadzia and Lenara carry is felt, which is so important I think to both the characters and any version of how their romance plays out.

Quote: “Depths,” she said, hiding her face behind her hands. “It’s really too late now, isn’t it? I can’t bring you the festival, not now and not ever.” She met Jadzia’s eyes, stricken, and Jadzia’s chest constricted painfully. Lenara continued: “The stupid part is, I never really cared for it before. I don’t like the smoke, or the spiced cider, or freezing outside while the fire runs out. And yet now it feels like I’ve lost this— big part of my life. It doesn’t make sense,” she finished forcefully.

+ words for the way you live - by Mirekat

The Dax symbiont, in the wilderness

There's something so special in the idea of exploring the perspective of the symbiont itself and this fic delves so beautifully into what that personhood would feel like; memory and sensation and what it means to be beloved parasite or to have a parasite, the ineffable relationship between symbiont and host. The language in this fic implies a person of deep feeling and attachment and (I might just be inferring this for my own interpretation--it's a very rich fic) makes the argument that part of the Trill conceit to gain vast experiences is sourced in the symbiont itself for the symbiont loves (in a complicated way) each body it is and mourns and continues, inevitably.

Quote: you will know symbiont. you will know parasite. you will know that you can think, and that because you can think you can choose, and that it is right for you to choose symbiont and not parasite, to choose bodies with words and long memories 

+ When Janeway met Tuvok - by mystery_ink

Janeway appears in front of three admirals after what she thought was a successful mission.

This take on Janeway is so inspired and so fascinating, I wanted to live with Lieutenant Janeway for several long years. The tension in the story unfolds so well and the realism inherent in the situation makes the characters feel so real. The indignation on both sides, the change that will happen to them both (only artfully hinted at), and the way it's not a large action that Janeway takes to concede something to Tuvok at the end but it's nonetheless significant: it's all compelling.

Quote: “Lieutenant,” Aates said gently. “We’d like to hear your side of the story.” - “What story?” Densa asked. “This is real life we’re talking about here.”

+ Speech - by raven (singlecrow)

Five languages she learned to speak, and one she already knew.

I found this fic in a crazed fit, desperate for Uhura content, by basically blocking every male character tag and relationship on ao3, and then some. It was very worth the effort. This is so creative and so interesting and so fun and so moving and exactly what I want to see explored more and more and more. The ideas of different languages described in this are delightful and watching a character encounter them and seek, determinedly, to understand them was even more so. I want whole books dedicated to the morphological constructions of the smell-language. Actually, all of them. I want a book for all of them.

Quote: The people of the Light worked with their hands. Their world was made of chromium and glass, wood and stone, smoothed with saltwater, and time. Nyota had told Spock about their intricate art, their solidity of tradition, and the elegiac sparseness of their poetry. She had talked with her hands over breakfast, about cultural continuity and fluidity, and how a world never recorded was never objective, described and experienced in flux.

[clementine-kesh]

given b’elanna’s sly little smirk at seven doing violence i think if b’elanna and seven were trapped in some sort of chute type situation and seven had to fight off a crazed mob in order to protect b’elanna she would be just as horny for seven about it as tom was for harry in that scenario

[asurprizinglysanefangirl]

Name meanings of Star Trek main characters

TOS –

James - Supplanter; Holder of The Heel

Spock – I don't know

Leonard - Lion Strength; Descendant; Lover

Nyota – Stars

(Bonus - Uhura – Freedom (crafted from the Swahili word uhuru for the show))

Mongomery - Mountain Belonging to The Ruler; Man Power

Hikaru – Radiance; Light

Pavel - Small; Humble, Modest

Christine - Follower of Christ

TNG –

Jean-Luc - God Is Gracious; Bringer of Light

William - Resolute Protector; Will, Desire; Helmet, Protection

Data - Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis

(Bonus - Soong – Grandson, Descendant (it's a Chinese surname))

Deanna – Valley; Devine; Goddess; Church Leader

Beverly - Beaver Stream, Meadow

Geordie - Land-Worker, Farmer

Worf – I couldn’t find anything for either his first or last name

Tasha – Christmas Day, Birthday (Of Christ)

Wesley - Western meadow

DS9 –

Benjamin - Son of The Right Hand, Son of The South, Son of my Days

Kira - Mistress, Lady; Beam of Light; Black; Glitter, Shining

(Bonus - Nerys – Noblewoman; Hero)

Jadzia - Princess

Julian - Youthful; Jove's Child; Downy Bearded

Odo – Nothing [Cardassian meaning] (The following is extracted from the ST Wiki -  "Odo's name stemmed from the Cardassian word for "nothing", Odo'ital, which was the loose translation of the "unknown sample" label in Bajoran on his laboratory flask. After he was discovered to be sentient, the scientists began jokingly referring to him as "Odo Ital", in a similar manner to a Bajoran name, which eventually got shorted into simply "Odo".)

Odo - Wealthy; Inheritance; Richness [Human meaning] (Because apparently it's also a human name!)

Quark - I couldn't find anything

Miles O’Brien - Soldier; Who Is Like God?; Merciful

Elim - Place of Strong Trees

(Bonus - Garak – To Sojourn, To Dwell. Check this article out for more information)

Jake - Supplanter; Of Jacob

Nog – Agriculture (it’s a Chinese surname)

Ezri – Helper, My Help

Voyager –

Kathryn - Pure

Chakotay – Man who walks the Earth but only sees the Sky

Tuvok – I don't know. (There probably is someone who knows the Vulcan meaning of Tuvok and Spock out there.)

B’Elanna – (Belanna is an actual name) A noble woman who is beautiful

(Another bonus - Torres - Towers)

Tom - Twin; Innocence

Harry – Home Ruler

The Doctor – The name Jason means Healer, so I sometimes think of that as his name

Neelix – It was created for the show

Kes – I couldn’t find anything

Annika (Seven of Nine) - Grace; Favor; Gracious; Elegant

[merci-bitch]

please write those headcanons for Janeway!

Sure thing ! A bit long whoops

Not my gif!

- Janeway is a very gentle lover

- This whole situation between the two of you happened after she got the letter from Mark, saying he’d moved on and married someone else

- It was no secret you were one of Janeway’s favourite crew members

- She was very protective of you

- You were one of the youngest, but older than Harry onboard

- After an away mission that left you injured with a few bruised ribs, Janeway was a little too worried

- The first to notice was Tom

- He mentioned it to B’Elanna. And she started seeing it as well

- Well, Tom, B’Elanna, and few more started making little theories

- Pairing the two of you together

- Later on, even Chakotay joined in

- Kathryn was very against any thoughts like that

- Chakotay told her about the “rumours”

- She was shocked, but not as surprised as she thought she’d be

- She started keeping her distance from you

- It was wrong

- She realised that she cared very deeply for you

- Perhaps more than she should

- You didn’t really understand what was happening, but respected her distance

- She was your captain after all

- It wasn’t until B’Elanna asked you how the captain was with a wink in her eye

- So you went to the captain and talked

- It caused a little stir between the two of you

- Eventually it calmed down, but she still kept her distance from you

- Slowly she started apologising for herself and how inappropriate it was

- You started spending time together again

- She was still a little distance, her feelings for you still a little tumbly

- It was eventually Chakotay who pushed her towards you with reassurance

- But it was small at first

- She told you she cared deeply for you

- So it kinda built from there

- Slow and gentle

- You started spending more time together, dinners and hours in the holodeck

- Kathryn is very much for physical affection in private

- A hand stroking your cheek, a shoulder squeeze, a kiss on the cheek, a side hug, you name it

- She misses it too, after so long in the delta quadrant

- She’s very fun outside her “captaincy”

- She still holds her distance on the job and refuses any viable PDA, she’s still the captain

- Loves neck kisses

- She loves cuddling

- A MASSIVE TEASE AND FLIRT

- Honestly

- So many smirks and looks

- It’s insane

- Her voice is already low and growly, but when she lowers it even further??

- Oh boy

- You’re done for it

- It later comes out that the two of you are involved

- No one was really surprised, and none had anything against it, much to Kathryn’s relief

- She’s so protective and loving it’s just so <3

- She doesn’t treat you any different

- Perhaps shes a bit harsher with you, because she still wants to maintain those different qualities

- She’s still your captain

- HUGE DOG LOVER

- She misses her beautiful girl at home

- You’re her rock

- Specially when something rough happens and the crew becomes one man shorter

- It takes a pull on her

- During the void she shut you out, much like Chakotay, but still wanted you close

- After the darkness she slowly comes back, with your help of course

- Many people see the captain as a happier person with you

- But she’s still the same old captain

- Kathryn reads a lot of books

- She often says it’s literature, but sometimes it might actually be erotic love stories

- Purely innocent of course

- When she’s about to lose a game in the holodeck, she pulls rank

- Something to notice when she’s upset or angry is that she tends to mumble to herself. Perhaps stress clean her quarters. You find it amusing sometimes to watch

- But don’t get on her bad side

- When she’s angry, she’s scary

[lostyesterday]

Re-watching The Omega Directive got me thinking about the parallels between Seven in that episode and B’Elanna in Prototype. It’s interesting how both Seven and B’Elanna have a strong scientific curiosity and drive to push the boundaries of the known even when the unknown is incredibly dangerous. Seven’s desire to observe and understand the Omega molecule even when its presence is incredibly likely to destroy her and the space around her parallels B’Elanna’s desire to see if she is capable of building a sentient robot even when she knows the potential negative consequences. And in the end, both Seven and B’Elanna give up their desires in the last moment – destroying that which fascinates them in order to protect the people around them. But the desire to discover lingers. And I think in many ways this is because both of them, for different reasons, desire to be part of something greater than themselves.

[baubeautyandthegeek]

Slowly She Softens - Seven of Nine/B'Elanna Torres

A/N: Day 6 Part 2 for @startrekfemslashweek

Had you told Seven she would ever love B’Elanna, she would have laughed. Not from mirth, not really, she simply knew B’Elanna hated her. Had hated her. Might yet hate her again… It starts slowly, they talk, Seven learns to apologize, learns many things, B’Elanna watching from afar. Then, one day, B’Elanna steps up to help her when other crew are less than friendly. It’s slow, steady, B’Elanna’s headstrong ways slowly worming their way into Seven’s thoughts even when they are apart. Love blooms when Seven is nearly killed to protect her. B’Elanna brings her home, stays with her as she heals and, when Seven complains about fatigue, works to improve her alcove. Love blooms slowly, but they both know this is right.

[phoenixfeathersinfall]

Hello! ☄️ and 📚 for the ask game?

Hi hi friend, thank you so much for asking this! I had to think about it for a little bit! 🤔

Favorite Fic You’ve Read: I have so many, I re-read fics I enjoyed fairly often because I find it comforting, just like I do with my favorite published books! If you want to know more specifically about a show or pairing, just ask! One I come back to frequently because it ticks a lot of my boxes (feels like an episode, hurt/comfort elements, etc.) is “Standards of Care” by sahiya. A Dominion-engineered virus infiltrates the station and Julian works to find a cure at great risk to himself while Garak tries to protect him. Anything by this author is great, tbh, they always choose intriguing plots and they have such a wonderful approach to the characterization of all the Niners!

Headcanons: I will literally sit and consider headcanons as a form of amusement. Here’s a few!

Jadzia has so many hobbies (many of them niche) from all those lifetimes! Julian will try most any of them with her because that man is down to try most anything. They have a lot of fun!

Seven mentions that as a child, she wanted to be a ballerina, so I think it would be really neat if she had the chance to take up ballet as a sort of reclamation and a homage to the little girl Annika was 🥺

B’Elanna is such a romantic and she loves storytelling; I think she’d use some of her limited free time to write her own short stories or novels! They’d be very popular if she decided to share them, but these are just for her so she can explore anything she wants without judgement.

[voysubplots]

When Voyager discovers a new class of planet, Janeway puts herself, Tom, and a few other crewmembers on the away team sent down to investigate. Chakotay desperately tries to convince her not to go, but Seven gets to work designing a new type of protective away-mission gear for the Captain.

When Seven tries to get her to wear the gear, Kathryn thanks her but refuses. Tom asks if he can still wear his, and Seven informs him that she did not make any in his size. He asks why, but she simply arches an eyebrow at him, clasps her hands behind her back, and walks away. 

B’Elanna laughs at this before remembering to be angry about it.

[shsy7573]

We’re in This Together - Ch. 8

For more info or chapter index, see overview post

DISCLAIMER: I do not own own Voyager or any of the characters in this fic (except for the aliens. Those were my creation.)

*This story is not beta-read and has not been edited or proof-read in any way! This was just something I threw together over the past three days and decided to post as my first entry on this site!*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER EIGHT

Even though they had left the ruins, the Captain didn’t think she’d be able to get the image of the Arachnoman attacking its friend out of her mind. Not for a long, long time. She was grateful when B’Elanna told her that she’d only heard what happened. Kathryn didn’t want her Chief Engineer to be going through what she was.

It was hard to tell if the nausea was from the venom in her system, or from the sign of the creature’s remains. Either way, it was taking all of the Captain’s willpower to keep it down. She couldn’t afford to lose the little amount of food that she had inside her.

Somewhere along the path, B’Elanna had looped an arm around the Captain’s waits for support. All the walking had seriously irritated her ankle, and she could practically feel her foot swelling inside her shoe.

Long story short, neither one of them was doing great. What else was new?

They continued walking. For three and a half hours all they did was walk. Staggering onward down the long, winding, endless tunnel. They pushed onward though, renewed by a new sense of hope as the floor seemed to slope upwards. And even though the incline made their journey harder to bear, neither one dared complain.

So far, the tunnel had shifted directions twice. Looping once until it seemed they were going the same direction they’d come from, and then again a little further down the path, putting them back the way they were originally headed. After that, the ground had become more uneven. Weaving up and down in varying degrees of steepness as they walked. But even as it did, there was no question to the fact that they were travelling upwards.

Now, though, the ground levelled out as they came across yet another cave. About a metre in, the ground beneath their feet slanted down in an almost completely vertical drop. The bottom of the pit was over fifty feet down, creating a large, vast canyon between both sides of the cave.

Tall, flat pillars of stone spanned the gap of the cavern, creating an imperfect path of stepping stones across the great expanse. The distance between each pillar was just narrow enough to be able to jump from one to the next… or at least, narrow enough for an Arachnoman to jump from one pillar to the next. A human and a half-klingon, though, that was a different story.

“Are you kidding me!” B’Elanna yelled, her voice echoing down the canyon walls, before bouncing up the other side, and curling back across the roof of the cave. The amplified noise sent a fresh racket of agony pulsating through the Captain’s head, and she raised an instinctive hand towards her ear.

“There’s got to be another way across.” Kathryn reasoned, looking around the cave for any sign of a bridge or an outstretched ledge.

“Why would there be?! The Arachno-stupid-aliens wouldn’t need it! So there would be no viable reason for them to—“

“—There!” Janeway exclaimed, pointing down the side of the canyon.

Now, it was worth noting that the length of the chasm far exceeded the length of that singular cavern, with each side of the cave pressing right up against the canyon’s edge. Almost to the point where there was no distinction between the two as the canyon expanded onwards.

Almost.

At the border of the canyon and the cave, there was a lip just big enough for a foothold. It seemed to run all the way along the edge of the canyon, before going out of sign behind a bend in the wall. And, not too far from the wall of the cave, was a very small, very thin bridge running from one side of the ravine to the other.

A way a cross.

“Oh.” B’Elanna startled, “oh, there is.”

They looked at each other, each sporting a hopeful, optimistic gaze. A smile broke across the Lieutenant’s face, and the Captain’s expression quickly mirrored it. With a renewed spark ignited in their hearts, they made their way towards the wall.

B’Elanna allowed the Captain to go first, professing that she didn’t have too good of a track record with climbing. Accepting this, Kathryn slowly inched her way onto the narrow ledge. Even with her back pressed firmly against the cave wall, her toes still poked out into the open air.

Halfway to their destination, her brain reminded her that she was not as fit as she was when they’d gone rock climbing, and one bout of dizziness could send her hurtling off the edge. That wasn’t even considering how hard it would be to cross the bridge.

For a moment, Janeway’s hope began to dwindle.

“Maybe this was a bad idea.”

“Oh it definitely was a bad idea!” B’Elanna exclaimed, keeping her eyes trained on the far side of the ravine. She refused to look down. “Unfortunately, it’s our only idea.”

The Captain sighed, continuing to shuffle down the ledge. The engineer had a point, there.

Far too soon for the Captain’s liking, they made it to the bridge. It didn’t look as tiny as it had from the cavern, but it still wasn’t a promising sight.

B’Elanna, immediately seeing the issue, looked back and forth between her hesitant Captain and the bridge.

“Ohh… yeah, this was a bad idea.”

Janeway looked back at B’Elanna, a mischievous glint in her eye as she responded. “It’s our only idea.”

The Captain took one determined step onto the bridge. The fast movement made her world spin for one terrifying moment, before she restabled herself. She shot her Chief Engineer a winning smile, which did not go very well received.

“You’re gonna fall!”

“I am not gonna fall! Watch!” She took another step. Now, she was completely off the wall, and balancing on the bridge, which was just barely wider than one of her shoes.

“Captain!”

“Relax!”

“I am not relaxed!” B’Elanna yelled. Although, despite herself, she found her smile returning. This was completely dangerous. Extremely reckless. But oh, so Janeway. It was ridiculous.

She watched as her Captain took another step. Bringing the foot from behind all the way around and setting it in front of the other. Her arms swayed as she did so, allowing her to keep her balance as she repeated the process with the next foot.

“Wait for me!” B’Elanna said, forcing her own body away from the safety of the ledge. “Someone has to be there to catch you!”

“I’m not gonna fall!”

“If you say so!”

Not two minutes later, Janeway did, indeed, almost fall. A fresh bout of dizziness flooded over her as she looked up from her feet to see how much father they had to go. Her body tipped, and her arms flailed as her feet lost their hold.

In the fog of her mind, she didn’t even process what was happening until it was over. B’Elanna reached forward and grabbed the woman’s backpack, pulling her back on the ledge.

They were silent for a moment, remaining still as both women regained their nerves.

“Told you you were gonna fall.”

“I didn’t fall.”

“You were falling!”

“But I didn’t fall!”

If B’E’lanna wasn’t using her arms to balance, she’d facepalm. Instead, she settled for a deep, loud exhale, “You’re the worst!”

“Careful! Wouldn’t want you to be hanged for insubordination.”

The Lieutenant rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything as they continued their perilous shuffle across the Madman’s Tightrope.

-

Half an hour later, the pair reached the over side of the cave. The minute they were able to step away from the canyon’s walls, they collapsed.

Also immediately, B’Elanna started giggling. “You are so lucky I was with you.”

“I was fine!”

“You nearly feel like four times!”

“Actually, it was five times.”

“That’s not any better!” The Lieutenant laughed, all the terror she had felt over the past thirty minutes coming out as one, big fit of humour.

The Captain listened to the engineer’s laughs for a moment before responding, “we made it didn’t we?”

“Barely!”

Unable to help herself, Kathryn joined in with a few chuckles of her own. “Yeah, we’ll, I suppose I could have been a little more careful”

“You think?!” B’Elanna cackled, looking at her Captain with wide, exasperated eyes.

Their joy carried on for a few more moments before it was indubitably cut short by the far too familiar sound of scuttling.

In an instant, they were on their feet, phaser’s drawn. This sound was more urgent, much faster. If either of them had to guess, they’d say that a couple of the Arachnomen had heard them.

Four aliens came running out of the tunnels, their eyes blazing in desperation as they spotted the Captain and her Chief Engineer.

“Food!” They hissed, all at different increments as they charged.

B’Elanna fired her phaser at the two on the right, while the Captain focused her fire towards the ones on the left. The former, having a much clearer head and far better health currently, was able to subdue hers in a matter of seconds. Janeway, however, was interrupted by another dizzying spell at the quick, sporadic movements of the creatures, and the harsh noise of the phaser fire. She managed to down one, but the other was a different story.

The spider lunged at Kathryn, and B’Elanna jumped forward into action. She pushed her Captain out of the way, making herself the target of the creature’s attack instead. It rammed her to the ground, ramming her head hard against the floor. For a moment her world spun, leaving just enough of an opening for the Arachnoman to slice its pincers across her chest.

As B’Elanna cried out in pain, Janeway felt her world click back into focus. With a fuller sense of clarity than she had in days, she reached for her phaser. It had skittered out of her grip, and was dangling dangerously over the edge of the chasm. The Captain of Voyager wrapped her fingers around the device, and turned it towards the alien attacking her friend. With two flicks of the trigger, it was on the ground.

Kathryn shoved herself off the ground, grabbing the limp body of the Arachnoman and pulling it off her Lieutenant.

“B’Elanna!” She cried, a paralysing fear twisting in her gut as she looked at the downed woman.

Torres groaned in response, slurring out a murmur of incomprehensible words. Not wasting any time, Janeway unzipped B’Elanna’s backpack and pulled out the med kit. She worked quickly, using the trauma kit to repair the chest wound with fairly decent efficiency. It was strange. All day she’d been feeling uncoordinated and out of it. But right now, when her friend and colleague was in need, her focus was obsolete.

After she’d finished with the chest wound, which took approximately twenty minutes, she shoved the med kit back in the bag, and heaved B’Elanna over her shoulder. The Lieutenant was still conscious, but she was disoriented and groggy, with a sea of confusion layered across her face.

Time seemed to pass in a blur as the Captain carried her crewman. Inwardly, she was kicking herself. This was her fault. B’Elanna had jumped in to save her, and now she was hurt. What if it was really serious? What if she dies because Kathryn was too out of it to shoot a phaser?!

Janeway shook her head. She couldn’t worry about that now. All that mattered was getting B’Elanna somewhere safe so she could more thoroughly examine her.

-

B’Elanna groaned as she slowly came back to her senses. The world came back into focus, the slush in her head separated into coherent thoughts, and she was able to make out the world around her. As she tried to sit up, a roaring pain in her head protested with great intensity.

A pair of hands gently pressed the woman back to the ground.

“Lie down, B’Elanna. It’s alright. We’re safe.”

Torres looked over to see Janeway hovered over her. Her eyes warm and her gaze gentle as she lowered her friend back down.

“What happened?” B’Elanna croaked, bringing a hand up to massage her forehead.

Janeway’s eyes darkened for a moment, but her smile and warmth remained. “You hit your head. I think you might have a concussion.”

The half-klingon groaned, that would explain the headache. And the confusion. And the kind of out-of-it feeling she had.

“How long ago?”

“Three hours.”

B’Elanna nodded, and allowed her eyes to wander around the area. She realised they were no longer by the cavern, nor were they in one of the tunnels. Instead, the area around them looked like a little cave, way smaller than any of the places they’d stayed in before.

“Where…?” She breathed, trailing off as the word rattled her brain.

“A small cave, about an hour from the canyon. It seemed a good enough place to spend the night.”

As the pain in her head subsided, B’Elanna tried again to sit up. This time, the Captain helped her. Bringing her up slowly so as to not aggravate her headache, then leaning the Lieutenant’s body against her own.

“I don’t remember walking for an hour,” the Chief Engineer remarked, getting a better look of the cave they were in.

It turns out it wasn’t as small as she thought. The walls were close together, but it was tall. The Captain and herself were posted on top of a ledge about halfway up the wall. “And I don’t remember climbing up here.”

Janeway smiled, “that’s because you didn’t. I carried you.”

This got B’Elanna’s attention. She snapped her head towards the woman, the quick action causing her world to tilt for a moment. She didn’t care though, she was too surprised.

“You carried me?! For an hour?!”

“And up the ledge, yes.” Janeway added, helpfully.

Torres sputtered, looking at the clearly exhausted, sickly, fever-ridden figure of her Captain. “B-But you’re sick! That’s not even— How—?”

Kathryn held up a hand, an amused expression settling on her face. “I’m a Captain, remember? My crew comes first.”

B’Elanna was still shocked as she looked away, gaze turning out infront of her.

“That’s some superhero level shit, right there!”

Kathryn ran her hand soothingly across B’Elanna’s back. “Why don’t you eat some of your rations, then get to bed.”

“Bed? But I just slept for like—“

“You weren’t asleep. You just weren’t aware. You still need to rest, because unlike me, you may actually feel better after a good night’s sleep.”

Although it was difficult for Torres to wrap her head around, she decided it would be best to listen to her Captain.

“You’ll still wake me up when it’s my shift, right?”

“Of course. It would be unwise not to. I’m not so far gone yet that I can’t use my judgement.”

B’Elanna nodded, a far away look in her eyes as a set of rations was delicately placed in her lap.

“Eat, Lieutenant, then sleep. You’ve been through quite a lot today.”

The half-klingon complied, chewing mechanically on her rations, before settling down to sleep. Her head unashamedly nestled in the Captain’s lap. Just as she was about to close her eyes, Kathryn spoke again.

“And… B’Elanna.”

The girl in question looked up.

“Thank you.”

The engineer smiled, and closed her eyes.

[isagrimorie]

I hope Star Trek Legacy will answer if Seven reconnected with the Voyager crew after she exacted her revenge on Bjayzl.

I’m pretty sure B’Elanna is all for Seven being in the Fenris Rangers. I feel like if she didn’t have Miral to think about she’d also volunteer.

Fenris Rangers is the sort of organization and cause B’Elanna would throw herself into.

Miral has the whole possible Klingon Chosen One going on, and B’Elanna and Tom have a whole thing to look forward to trying to protect Miral from that.

And possibly why B’Elanna stays with Starfleet, because if there is one thing Starfleet is good at is protecting one of their own.

(Unfortunately, not always the case considering Icheb).

But I bet the first thing B’Elanna says to Seven is: “You look Maquis.”

And Seven would have retorted with: “I look better than a Maquis.”

And then they’d laugh.

I also bet B’Elanna would realize how alike they were and be a bit thrown how the Ice Queen Borg, pain in the ass she knew in Voyager was actually a fountain of emotion. Just like her.

B’Elanna might also note that she likes Seven better now that she’s not always inserting herself in B’Elanna’s engineering work.

The moment B’Elanna hears about Seven of Nine becoming Captain of her own ship she saids a bottle of the finest Klingon Blood Wine, and the note that said: “Good luck, buddy.”

She will know how much of a pain Seven will be now that she’s the Captain. No way they’re gonna shift her out of Engineering unless Seven builds herself an Astrometrics lab.

And then there’s Seven’s infamous Efficiency reports.

B’Elanna amends her order from a bottle to a crate of the best Klingon Blood Wine and sends that to Seven’s new Chief Engineer, whoever that ends up.

And then a Raktajino coffee order for Raffi. She doesn’t know Commander Musiker but B’Elanna’s sure Seven’s First Officer will need it too.

Seven will get wind of all these and ruefully admit to herself but not to B’Elanna that she was right.

Seven sends B’Elanna a Vulcan meditation candle.

B’Elanna sends her a message that reads: “You asshole.”

[bumblingbabooshka]

id love to hear about your ideal tuvok-seven and tuvok-b'lanna relationships!!!!

THIS IS VERY LONG AND /ALL/ OFF THE DOME PLEASE FORGIVE ME. Seven&Tuvok: Tuvok is the first person on board who Seven forms a friendly bond with. They understand one another’s methods of communicating very well. They’re both seen as cold and unsocial by others. Tuvok is excused from this because he’s Vulcan but Seven is constantly told she’s wrong for this because she’s human. Perhaps a bit of resentment from Seven about this but it’s not a huge problem. Tuvok is one of the few people Seven feels she can relax in front of

(B’Elanna too - though they argue more than Tuvok/Seven that’s another kind of relaxing. She can talk to her like a friend where they’re on equal footing rather than the Doctor or Janeway who tend to talk ‘down’ to her by which I mean they present themselves as being a mentor figure and Janeway is also literally her boss).

Seven does not need a father figure or another mentor in my mind. She has enough of that, EVERYONE is that. I know people view Tuvok showing care for Seven as fatherly but I personally view it as more friendly concern. In my mind Vulcan parenthood or Tuvok’s particular brand of fatherhood seem to stem more from teaching. (Ex: The children from Innocence or his lessons with Kes). Tuvok does obviously care about Seven but not in what I perceive as a fatherly way. It’s far more interesting to me that Seven is often helping/protecting Tuvok or that they’re often in some kind of dangerous situation together. I think it’d be interesting to lean into that more. Like, it’d be sort of sweet if the relationship Seven finds confidence in caring for someone else in was with a Vulcan. I know they have that whole borg children thing, I couldn’t care less about that honestly. The Naomi-Seven relationship is cute enough on its own! 

Both Seven and Tuvok go to and through hell for each other.

My personal favorite Tuvok-Seven moment other than Comfortable Silence one we all know and love is the one where Seven believes the borg are calling her and she tells Tuvok to get out of the shuttle so he won’t be assimilated. Tuvok then says no, he’s not leaving her. It’s just so fucking sweet to me. Both of them. Seven’s like ‘I want to spare you this’ and Tuvok’s like ‘I’ll walk headfirst into this for you’. 

I see both Seven and Tuvok as traumatized people, both of whom would probably deny this citing either ‘borg’ or ‘vulcan’ as the reason this is so. However they both seem to suffer a lot, especially when it comes to their minds. Tuvok even parallels Seven’s initial trauma in being fully assimilated into the borg yet this never comes up between them. Look more into that!! What was that like?? They both suffer traumas, in some cases even similar (Repression, Retrospect) or the same traumas but the reaction of the crew to those traumas is very different with Seven being badgered about her emotions & reactions and Tuvok being left alone with his. I just think it’d be nice for them to have a certain solace. Tuvok would have a shoulder to lean on Seven would have someone who wouldn’t be expecting anything out of her.

Regarding the Borg thing: If ANYONE could understand how being part of an interconnected network of minds would be comforting it would be Tuvok. If ANYONE could understand how being suddenly and traumatically separated from that network via the actions of a certain captain Janeway could be confusing and painful it would be Tuvok. Not that I think Tuvok blames Janeway, I don’t at all. He’s Vulcan (it would be illogical) and also Kathryn’s #1 stan so I think that could again be a point of friction between them. Tuvok doesn’t push Seven in any direction but doesn’t ever admit that Janeway could be wrong. I think at one point in Year of Hell he literally tells Seven she shouldn’t disagree with her? But just Tuvok’s general behavior in the show (like not commenting on her attempting to torture information out of a guy and going on a bloodthirsty quest for vengeance in Equinox) shows that despite what lipservice the show pays to him being her ‘moral compass’ in earlier seasons he mostly just agrees with her after that one instance of him going against orders. He has a tremendous amount of faith in her and would probably encourage that same faith in Seven. That or he’d just excuse himself from the issue by saying he’s Vulcan and can’t really comment on what it means to be human.

Long story short Tuvok is in desperate need of characters he’s not seen as a mentor figure for and Seven is in desperate need of characters that aren’t trying to mold her into what their vision of a good human/starfleet officer is. I think they could and should find that in one another.

B’Elanna & Tuvok: Both B’Elanna and Tuvok have a lot of similarities in their backstories that are unexplored. They both at one point wished they were not the race they are (for different reasons and to differing degrees as Tuvok grew out of this and B’Elanna still has it). They were both sent to a temple to better connect with their heritage. They both quit Starfleet (at different times). They both are seen by people chiefly with regards to their species ‘It’s because [s]he’s Vulcan/Klingon’ and they have both taken issue with it in the past. They both seem like they have had a complicated relationship to humanity with B’Elanna lauding it and Tuvok loathing it (not actively in canon I mean in the past for Tuvok).

B’Elanna from a young age viewed humanity as Good. Full stop. No matter how much humans hurt her the lesson she seems to take away from it is that she needs to change, not that humans should change. She covered her ridges, she lies about not knowing Klingon, when she knows her baby will be born with her features she’s TERRIFIED of how her daughter will be treated and tries EVERYTHING in her power to “fix” (HEAVY air quotes) her and make her socially acceptable to humans. 

Tuvok on the other hand, when faced with similar (though not as dire, sustained or internalized as B’Elanna) issues went the opposite way. He grew to really resent how humans pushed their own beliefs and values onto him. I think it’s interesting how he mentioned humor specifically, implying that Tuvok has and had his own sense of humor - of personhood - that humans didn’t understand and thus ignored or viewed as lesser.

Now for how these elements would interact…B’Elanna in her dreamscape in Barge of The Dead places Tuvok as the arbiter of What is a Good Klingon which I interpret as meaning she views him as very upright and traditional. This makes sense as we see Tuvok is a very staunch person. In canon he doesn’t struggle at all with his cultural identity. He is Vulcan and he’s at peace with that no matter what anyone has to say about it - unlike B’Elanna. He even has a holoprogram of a temple which is interesting when you take into account the fact that B’Elanna denies her cultural spirituality.

I think B’Elanna would see Tuvok as a bit intimidating and very frustrating. He’s stubborn like her and I can’t imagine them working well together. They don’t interact much but the two times I can remember him doing so he says something that could be interpreted as very hurtful (though the narrative hates B’El- doesn’t see it that way).

1 After B’Elanna tells him a painful story about her past in which she was bullied to the point of snapping and attacking another student Tuvok immediately uses the same jeer to incite her to anger yet again. After he intentionally does so he criticizes her for being angry and says she’s too easily riled up.

2 After B’Elanna is acquitted in Random Thoughts Tuvok says something along the lines of “You know for a brutal and illogical Klingon you actually control yourself somewhat well.” and B’Elanna says “Thanks??” which…B’Elanna…you can punch him, it’s okay. I know you don’t punch people but you can do it just this once. Again, I don’t see them being either father/daughter or mentor/mentee. (I assume them having a father/daughter bond is just conceptual as Tuvok IS a father and B'Elanna has a bad relationship with her own) They don’t interact with one another much and seem like they would aggravate each other as they’re both stubborn and kind of similar. I think in fact that Tuvok constantly being relegated to ‘Mentor Figure’ is side-eyeingly similar to the ‘Magic N*’ trope by which I mean Tuvok is used in both canon and fan narratives ONLY to advance other characters’ stories, give them advice etc but his own personhood remains unexplored or seen as unimportant. 

I think B’Elanna-Tuvok could really bring that out. Both of them being just two people. B’Elanna and Tuvok arguing, learning about one another, coming to respect each other. B’Elanna questioning Tuvok and his ideas and Tuvok being unused to that, caught off guard - and through that questioning and response we learn more about both of them as people.

Tuvok, at the end of the day, is not a therapist. He’s just some guy who’s part of a culture which is known for controlling themselves. He doesn’t even seem to really WANT to do what little exercises of control he does with B’Elanna (he says Chakotay insisted). Tuvok is not a people person and doesn’t seek out interactions with others. When he talks to others they often view him as either cold (perception of Vulcans) or superior (Tuvok-specific trait) neither of which I think B’Elanna would jive with well. 

I think it would be very interesting if B’Elanna called Tuvok out on how he’s implied to view Klingons. I think she’d be way more likely to do this with Tuvok because he’s not a human. Like, imagine if after rising tensions Tuvok makes one little comment too many and B’Elanna’s like “Hey. Do you remember when you were an ensign and people kept making these comments about YOU??? Do you think maybe you’re doing the exact same fucking thing right now to me???”

ALSO one last thing I find interesting is (I’m sorry) LITERALLY ONE line in Innocence that’s NEVER brought up again. Tuvok saying that he used to believe in the concept of a katra and the Vulcan afterlife but “in recent years” he’s begun to experience doubts. Let B’Elanna and Tuvok talk about spiritual doubts.

At the end of the day I DO ABSOLUTELY want them to be friends. I want them to stick up for each other when a human makes a little comment. I want them to have each others fucking backs. Maybe it's not the fact that I'm Vulcan or You're Klingon that's the problem.....maybe it's the whi- humans...that are wrong. This could also connect to Seven's personal journey with humanity. Seven seeing that two people she cares about have been hurt by humanity and humanity's perception of them could be an interesting thing for her to notice and think about in regards to what sort of person she wants to be.

[curator-on-ao3]

⭐ Director's Cut on the First Impressions ficlets, please!

Bahaha! Thank you for asking about those, @fiadorable! ❤️😂

Okay, so the trio of ficlets that form First Impressions are all … first impressions … in the context of two first officers — Jack Ransom and Una Chin-Riley. I originally posted the first and second ficlets to Tumblr (sort of glorified shitpost fics) and people asked me to put them on AO3, which was really nice. I put all three stories on AO3 a few days before the Lower Decks/Strange New Worlds crossover was announced and I thought, “Whoa. Of all my crackships, is Chansom actually going to go canon?!” So, yep, the joke in the crossover made me happy because how can you have first officer actors married to each other and not make a joke about it? The show did good.

Anyway, for the first ficlet, Jack Ransom falling for an Una Chin-Riley hologram (and Mariner teasing him about pulling a Geordi LaForge/Leah Brahms) was fun, and Jack meeting — and respecting — the actual Una as an aged and wise ambassador, all in the service of Jack’s emotional journey for his own self-confidence, was nice to explore. I see Jack as having a really beautiful and needy heart that he hides to protect himself (per Deanna Troi’s analysis). Letting Jack be vulnerable with Una made my own heart happy.

For the second ficlet, I was amused by the number of Trek characters played by married Trek actors and I wanted to get them all into one place. Hence, the nightclub that in my mind is officially named “Okudas,” but I couldn’t get that in there. Having Kira and Bashir (married actors!) comment on Jack and Una (married actors!) while reflecting on Tilly and Ryn (married actors!) and so, so many more had me smiling. (B’Elanna and Damar! Spock and Admiral Rollman! Jean-Luc Picard and the lounge singer from a dive bar in 21st century Los Angeles!) I like to believe that once Una and Jack figured out why they were at the nightclub (“Okay, so we’re fictional characters played by actors who are married to each other. That’s ummm …” “Not even the strangest thing to ever happen to me.” “Yeah, same.”) that they sort of warily circled each other, then Jack made a joke about testing out the ol’ rod and berries (yeah, a Roddenberry dirty joke — I truly believe Jack would go there) and Jack got nervous when Una seemed annoyed at first by his humor … but then he saw the amusement in her eyes and they both absolutely cracked up laughing.

The third ficlet was the only one of the trio that I wrote directly for AO3 (didn’t begin life as a Tumblr fic shitpost). And I have to say, I have a special place in my heart for it. The way Christopher Pike initially dismisses Jack Ransom as an idiot and, sure, it’s fine if Una has history with this guy from the future because it’s obviously just physical attraction and … what’s that? Jack is actually intelligent? Well, shit. Writing Chris becoming more and more insecure while Jack and Una have no idea that Chris is freaking out … and Chief Kyle just wants everyone out of the transporter room … had me laughing (lovingly) as I wrote and every time I edited.

Thank you so much, @fiadorable, for asking about that trio of firsts for two of my favorite first officers. ❤️

Want more information about a fic I wrote? Send me an ask.

[grissomesque]

Tag Game: First 10 Lines Challenge

Rules: Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able to and see if there are any patterns!

Thank you for the tag, @curator-on-ao3! 🥰

I'm going to start with something unpublished, actually, just as proof of life:

1. Chapter 5 of In a Wounded Dawn. It's coming, I swear!!

The first time it happens is an accident. Once something captures Tom’s interest, he tends to have one speed: pedal to the floor. And Kathryn Janeway’s had his attention for a long time, the intervening years between the Academy and now doing nothing at all to lessen the way that she makes him want to turn his whole life upside down if it means she’ll keep smiling at him in that way she does, warm and inviting.

2. How We Are Hungry - T, J/P (published today!)

She goes because she thinks she should, because Chakotay stands there and asks after her morning plans and she knows that all that will hold them together, in the end, is discipline.

3. Mating Instincts - G, J/P drabble

Tom’s first thought when Vorik tries to initiate pon farr with the captain, of all people, is: good for him. Bold move. Can’t fault his taste, that’s for sure.

4. Daylight - G, J/P

She says I can’t the way other people say I want. He hears it less with his ears than in his bones, it howls through his marrow, I can’t, I want, please, I love—

5. Retrograde - T, Beverly Crusher/Seven of Nine drabble

“I can’t figure you out,” Beverly says. And Seven, who has long since given up any pretense of incuriosity, says, “Oh?”

6. The Better Part of Valor - G, J/P

Turbolifts, when they fail, make a uniquely identifiable sound. It is the sound, Kathryn thinks now, of inevitability.

7. That High Place in the Darkness - T, J/P

What Kathryn knows is this: She’s cold. She’s cold in a way she has never been cold before. Cold like the vacuum of space. Cold like she couldn’t swear to being alive if someone put a phaser to her head.

8. A Good Pilot - G, J/P

“New rule,” Tom says. “You don’t get to take the Flyer out without me anymore.”

9. Eighty-Nine Cents - G, Picard/Crusher

Maybe we should be afraid, she says, and even as the words leave her mouth she does not know what they mean, and because their connection has been severed, neither will he. But he is probably going to hear it as an ending.

10. Beginning, Again - G, B7 drabble

After the end—after the homecoming, the scrambling to protect the Maquis, the Doctor, Icheb, …herself, After her summary rejection from Starfleet, After that, B’Elanna comes.

In conclusion, patterns, um: Angst? Longing? People trying and failing not to want what they want? I'm fun at parties 🤣

I don't know who to tag! Imma tag @regionalpancake, and anyone else who wants to tap in tag me so I can see your list!

[warpfive]

okay, second try. b'elanna + being protective of reader on an away mission !

b'elanna torres x reader

CW: gn!reader, creepy alien

she absolutely doesn’t hide her emotions very well. you’ve always had an easier time than most when it comes to looking past b’elanna’s hot temper and knowing how she’s really feeling. her anger doesn’t always come out because she’s pissed off - it’s also when she’s scared, frustrated, confused, sleep-deprived, hungry…

so when you accompany her down to some backwater planet full of thugs and she loses sight of you for a few minutes and finally spots you after thinking the worst, her mood instantly flips.

b’elanna demands to know where you went. you tell her you weren’t very far, just inspecting a compound being sold in one of the vendors - that was the whole point of the mission, wasn’t it? potentially finding another source of fuel for voyager? not having to rely solely on a single energy source?

you’re right, of course. b’elanna just doesn’t want to admit how worried she got when you disappeared, even if it was for a few short minutes. but she knows what happens in these kinds of places if you aren’t careful - and to be quite honest, if it comes down to you or some magical power source for the ship, b’elanna is going to choose you.

so she’s careful. always has one eye on her tricorder and the other on you (she’s good at multitasking - every engineer has to be.) none of these aliens have ever seen a klingon before but they seem smart enough to veer away whenever one is glaring at them from across the market if they stray too close to you, innocently trying to do your job.

but one man was foolish enough to try. b’elanna wasn’t sure if it was you he wanted, or your technology, or both. his grip on your arm was too tight to be friendly. the sneering look on his face causing a frightened one on yours, and you didn’t even have enough time to try and reach for your phaser before b’elanna was on him. a clean, hard punch against his jaw while yelling out obscenities managed to scare him off. b’elanna wanted to do more. she hung back because you touched her shoulder.

“thanks,” you tell her. “i told you to stay close,” she answers. “i know. you’re right.”

she thinks you’re placating her. the reflex to keep arguing surged, but she pushed it down. if she caused a fight, you might want to drift away again and this call was much too close. b’elanna tempted to have voyager beam you back up, and just as her hand came up to tap her badge, you gasped at the tricorder, grabbed her arm, and pulled her in the direction of the energy signature. 

of course, as luck would have it, the material you found was compatible with voyager, but wasn’t a great long term solution. b’elanna gets a little annoyed, feeling like the away mission (and the danger it put you in) was all for nothing. next time they come across some shady place, she’ll have to ask the captain to keep you onboard.

but you didn’t see it that way! later that day, when you two were tired and discouraged, you talked about how nice it was to get away from the ship, just the two of you. b’elanna scoffed, not believing that you actually had fun in that hovel and being grabbed at by dangerous creeps.

you simply replied that you knew b’elanna wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you. and if that wasn’t enough to surprise her, you continued in saying that spending time with her, even in an awful place like that, was enough for you.

and b’elanna decided to scrap her idea of talking to the captain.

[clementine-kesh]

making timeless a harry episode was such a perfect narrative choice imo it’s an episode that really only works with him in the driver’s seat. first of all, the show establishes very firmly that his two strongest motivators are a) getting home and b) protecting the people he cares about, so we get this excellent tension of him getting a) but not b) and seeing how he handles that. second of all, he’s the most interesting to see betray the federation because of how the show sets him up as the young, idealistic starfleet officer. chakotay, b’elanna, and tom would all happily sell starfleet to the romulans for a corn chip. janeway’s already made some ethically questionable decisions to get her crew home. tuvok’s a vulcan and isn’t really about taking huge, stupid risks. the doctor and seven don’t have any real connection to the federation at all. so harry has the furthest to fall in terms of going from the starfleet golden boy to tearing everything down, which really drives home the the grief and guilt of losing voyager in a way that wouldn’t be nearly as impactful with any of the other characters