DIFFERENT PATHS
By: Lauren and Julia

Part: Ten
By: Lauren

Time had no meaning anymore. Tom knew that he'd been in the cave holding
Lindsay for awhile now, but it may have been only a few minutes. The cold was
stinging now, and Tom had both himself and Lindsay wrapped up heavily in
blankets. B'Elanna's body was lying on the floor, with his back to her. He
couldn't bear to look at her.

Darkness had fallen right around the time B'Elanna died. Tom almost saw a
symbolic meaning in that. He had one working wrist beacon, and it was only
giving out a faint light. 

He didn't know how he'd make it back on Voyager. During the months when they
weren't speaking, he was still in love with her, and was able to see her. Now
she was gone. 

"Tom?" he heard a voice in the distance call out, "B'Elanna?" 

He stood up and walked to the edge of the cave. All he could see were two
lights, and some fuzzy figures holding the lights. He shined his wrist beacon
in hopes that whoever it was down there would see it. One of the lights
shined
directly on him, and he had to shield his eyes from the brightness. The
lights
were bobbing up and down as whoever holding them began running towards
him. As
they got closer, he was able to tell that it was Harry and Chakotay. 

"Tom." Harry said, out of breath, "Are you all right?"

"Fine." he answered. 

"Where's B'Elanna?" Chakotay asked, peering into the cave. 

Tom looked down for a moment, then closed his eyes tightly fighting off
tears.
He couldn't answer. Chakotay motioned for Harry to go in the cave to find
B'Elanna. 

"She's got a baby." Tom said after a few silent moments. He pulled back the
blankets from around Lindsay to show Chakotay. He was stunned, but didn't
have
much time to react as he heard Harry's call. The two men ran inside, and saw
Harry knealt down beside B'Elanna's body.

"She's been dead for at least an hour." Harry woefully told them. 

"I'll take her. You take the baby from Tom and help him back to our shuttle.
We need to get the two of them to sickbay." Chakotay ordered Harry. He nodded
in response, and Tom handed Lindsay to Harry. Harry held the baby close to
his
chest to keep her as warm as possible. 

Five minutes later, they were at the shuttle. Chakotay laid B'Elanna down on
one of the benches in back, while Harry prepared a little bed for Lindsay
using a box from the back which he lined with blankets. Tom sat down on the
empty bench and stared at B'Elanna. 

Chakotay handed Tom a cup of coffee to help him warm up, and then sat down in
the pilot's seat. He hadn't said a word since they left the cave, although
when he was holding B'Elanna and walking a bit ahead of Harry and Tom, it
looked as though he was giving her a blessing. 

"You doing okay?" Harry asked about ten minutes after the shuttle left the
surface. Tom just nodded. 

"You need to get some sleep, Tom. Just lie down and rest." Harry said,
getting
up off the bench so that Tom could sleep.

"Can't sleep, Harry. There's too much to do. Someone's got to take care of
Lindsay in sickbay, someone's got to tell Scott..." Tom spoke up. He paused
for a moment, then looked up at Harry, "He's going to hate me. He's going to
think I killed her." he whispered.

*

After getting a quick check-up from the Doctor, Tom was certified fit for
light duty and was ordered to run scans on the baby. Scott had already been
informed of B'Elanna's death when the shuttle got within communication range
of Voyager and Harry had told Captain Janeway, who was in her ready room with
Scott. Scott, Tom had heard, was hiding out in his quarters, and wasn't too
pleased with him. 

"What in the hell is your problem?" a scream came from the doorway. Tom
looked
up from his tricorder to see a red-faced, furious Scott glaring at him. 

"Scott, I miss her as much as you do. Believe me, I didn't do-" Tom pleaded,
words cut off as Scott ran for him and pushed him to the ground. 

"Don't lie to me, Tom! I know how you feel about her! What is this? If you
can't have her, no one will?" he yelled, tears falling. 

Tom rolled out from under Scott's grasp. He stood up, while Scott kneeled on
the floor, face buried in his hands. Tom could tell this frustration was
coming from the despair of losing B'Elanna. 

"Scott, you have to believe me. I admit, I was upset with B'Elanna for ending
our relationship. But I would never do anything to harm her. The doctor is in
the operating room, performing an autopsy right now. You can see the results
and then you will know that B'Elanna died from complications with the
childbirth along with the injuries suffered in the crash."

"The crash that came about while you were flying." Scott muttered.

If the shuttle still existed, I'd have you check the flight logs! There was
nothing I could have done to prevent the crash!" Tom explained to him,
kneeling down beside him. Scott looked at Tom, then stood up and looked at
his
daughter, asleep in a bassinet. 

"Lindsay will be all right?" Scott asked. Tom nodded as he stood up. 

"It's amazing. I would expect at least some slight health problems, but
there's nothing. She's perfectly healthy." Tom told him. 

"I hope I can raise her without B'Elanna there." Scott said to himself,
wiping
away some stray tears. Tom clasped a hand on Scott's shoulder. 

"You'll do fine." Tom whispered. 

"If you would like to view the body, you may do so now. The autopsy is
complete." the Doctor told them as he exited the operating room, headed to
his
office. Scott looked back at Tom, silently inviting him to join them. He
picked up his daughter, and headed into the room. 

Scott took B'Elanna's hand and kissed it lightly. His face tightened as he
fought off tears. Tom stood on the other side of B'Elanna and watched her,
smiling sadly. 

The two men stood in silence, both taking their last looks at the woman who
meant so much to each of them. One who believed that she would have been his
wife, a woman he would spend his whole life with; the other knowing the
truth.

TO BE CONTINUED

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