Not Another Minute
Just how I would like to see Unimatrix Zero end.
You know the drill, it all belongs to Paramount. I only own
the story.
Special thanks to Marianne for the beta reading on such
short notice.
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Not Another Minute
by: Tracy Sobieski
"What do you mean, I can't see her?!" Tom asked Chakotay
angrily.
"She doesn't want you in Sickbay now, Tom. She doesn't want
you to see her like this."
"I don't care what she -looks- like! I'm going down there,
whether she likes it or not." Tom turned to leave the Ready
Room.
"No, you're not. You have the bridge for the next shift.
I'll be in Sickbay debriefing the Captain." Chakotay told
him in a firm voice.
Tom's eyes narrowed as he looked at the Commander.
"After all we've been through, I can't believe you're doing
this. It's been two days!"
"Tom," his voice softened. "You don't want to go down
there. You don't want to see what they did to her. Trust
me. Let the Doctor finish his work."
Chakotay spoke quietly, pain filling his voice. To see his
friends violated in such a manner was horrifying. And
Kathryn............. he wasn't about to let Tom face the
same thing. Paris could do without the mental image that
Chakotay would carry for the rest of his life.
"She's fine, the Doctor says he'll have her back to normal
by tonight. Leave it at that, please. If not for anything
other than -her- feelings. Do it for her, okay?" Chakotay
watched as the pilot stared up at the ceiling, trying to
regain his composure.
"Tell her to call me if she changes her mind."
It was the longest double shift he ever endured. Tom paced
for hours, so furiously, that the rest of the bridge crew
almost threw him into the turbolift when Chakotay came to
relieve him.
Then the Doctor wouldn't let him into Sickbay. Tom went
back to his quarters raging about stubborn Klingons,
heartless Indians and arrogant doctors.
She was there. Standing in the middle of his quarters.
Paler than he remembered. Her hair darker and longer than
she usually wore it. Dressed in his robe. He couldn't
breathe. He couldn't think. All he could do was feel.
Relief, pain, terror, hope..............love.
*****
He picked up a piece of glass from the broken vase that lay
in shards on the ledge above her bed. B'Elanna couldn't
read his expression, but she could feel the tension coursing
through him. Even the wild desperate way they had just made
love hadn't eased it. He was still inside her, unwilling to
break their connection. She looked up, worried, he was
wound so tight she thought he would snap.
"Hey......," there was a gentle question in the word.
"Do you love me?" he asked quietly, intent on the glass in
his hand.
"Tom, you know....."
"Just yes or no," he ground out. "Do you love me?"
"Yes," she didn't think pushing him right now was wise.
He stared into her eyes for a long moment then his hand
tightened around the shard of glass. It cut into the skin.
Blood flowed freely.
"Maj dok," he said with conviction and pressed the glass
into her hand, lacing his fingers with hers.
"What?!" To say she was shocked was an understatement.
"You could have spent the rest of your life as a drone and
you did it without a thought to me. Not so much as a look
to let me know what you were planning. It hurt, B'Elanna.
You are my whole life and you didn't even consider my
feelings on the matter."
"That's not true......"
"NO! Let me finish. I realized when you were gone that I
have no right to expect you to take me into consideration
when it comes to decisions in your life. I've never even
had the courage to tell you how I feel. So I promised
myself something. I made a vow that if you came back to
me--not another day, not another hour, not another minute
would pass without my telling you this. I love you B'Elanna
Torres. With everything I am. I want to spend my life with
you. I want to have children with you. I want to grow old
with you. I want to die in your arms and spend eternity in
Sto-vo-Kor with you. I won't allow anything to come between
us again. Not the borg, the ship, the crew, the alien of
the week, not anything. So make your decision. Life with
me as my mate and all it means, or I go. I can't be what I
was before, it's gone too far."
She looked up at him, dazed. Would he never cease to amaze
her? There was no decision to make really, he was her mate
already in her heart. B'Elanna squeezed the hand that was
joined with his, letting the glass cut into her palm.
"jIH dok," she whispered in return.
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