ANGEL By Morticia 46/? ST: Voyager C/P Rating. SLASH, m/m NC-17 Archive: Anywhere, just let me know, please Disclaimer: Tom, Chak et al are Paramount's (lucky devils) Angel is mine (yippee!)   Part 46   TOM I came to with a start, sitting up so quickly that the various members of my father's crew who were hovering over my bed leapt back in astonishment. "Where are we?" I gasped "You're on the USS HPTS, Tom, we're taking you back to Earth" a voice soothed "I mean where the FUCK are we in space you moron? And what the hell kind of name is HPTS anyway?" I snapped, swinging my legs off the bed and jumping to my feet. I swayed a little, admittedly, but I was so infused with my new enthusiasm that I wasn't going to let a little dizziness put me off. The ensign gaped at me, opening and closing his mouth wordlessly in surprise at my apparent return from the dead. "Okay," I said "Just tell me how far we are from Deep Space 9" "Um, well, that is we are about 12 hours away at warp 6" the ensign muttered I was momentarily surprised by the answer and then I realised that we had taken a roughly parallel course with Voyager, only at a slight tangent since we were aiming directly for Earth, therefore if we turned around now we would arrive only a few hours behind her. "Take me to the bridge" I ordered, and the young ensign blanched but responded automatically to an order from a Paris and led me meekly to the bridge. As I emerged from the turbolift, the entire bridge crew did a double take. "Lieutenant Paris," the Captain acknowledged after he had managed to close his jaw "I had been informed that you were - um -`indisposed'" "The reports of my imminent demise were no doubt greatly exaggerated, Captain" I grinned  "Tell me, what did the Admiral say when you reported my illness?" The stocky Captain turned puce. " Well, ahem, well we, that is I didn't, well I" "Didn't tell him" I finished smoothly. I had been banking on the fact that the crew would have been too terrified to let my father know I was so ill. Since this was my father's private yacht it would be crewed by low-ranking subordinates who couldn't get posted onto proper military vessels. I was sure that even the Captain would be easy to intimidate. "Well, ahem, No, but then it's just as well isn't it? I mean since you look so hale and hearty now!" The Captain said with a weak smile Since I knew that I still looked and felt like an animated skeleton I had to admire his nerve. "I don't want to cause you undue concern, Captain but my `indisposition' was a symptom of an ongoing condition. It appears that I left my medication on Voyager in my haste to depart. Unless we head for DS9 now, I'm sure that a relapse will be inevitable" I lied "But my orders are to escort you to Earth without delay" he spluttered "Not much point delivering a corpse, Captain. I don't think that my father would be very pleased. I'm sorry to inconvenience you but we will simply have to turn around and go to DS9. I'm sure you wouldn't want to have to explain to my father that you were only 12 hours away from fetching my medicine and you didn't do it." "Nobody told me you were `medically' ill" The Captain muttered furiously "What do you expect after all these years in the Delta Quadrant? Of course we all picked up some viruses. In fact, come to think of it, it would probably be a good idea for all of your crew to get immunized. Who knows what I might transmit to you in the next few days, in fact, you could all be infected now. I must admit you look a little feverish, Captain." The Captain mopped at his brow, which had definitely begun to glisten as my words sank in. "Delta Quadrant viruses, hey?" he muttered nervously "No natural immunity, Captain, it's amazing any of us survived as long as we did. Of course we had a sickbay. As I understand, there isn't a doctor on the USS HPTS is there?" I asked smiling sweetly "Ensign J'harm'n, set course for DS9, Warp 8" The Captain snapped, looking at me as though I carried the plague. With a wide grin of thanks I offered my hand to the Captain, he pretended not to see it and shuffled back a few paces until he was out of my reach. "Perhaps I should return to my quarters until we arrive." I murmured "Yes, yes lad, do that, have a lie down, leave us to get you to DS9" the Captain muttered, desperate to get me off the bridge. "Thank you, Sir, you won't regret this" I said blithely. At least not until my father found out, I thought, with a pang of guilt, but then again, they would hardly have turned around if I had told them the truth, would they?     CHAKOTAY   It took hours for the crew to disembark from Voyager. One by one we were processed through a petty bureaucratical system of identification, debriefing and assignment of temporary quarters. Surprisingly, the notification of the Maquis crewmembers' pardons turned out to be true, even if the Starfleet officials assigned to the task gave them to us with an attitude of great reluctance. Personally I was initially treated with a modicum of respect but as soon as I made it clear that I had no intention of remaining in Starfleet, I found myself unceremoniously dumped in the queue with the rest of the crew. I noticed that Kathryn and Tuvok were swept past the queue like a pair of visiting dignitaries, and taken to a no doubt rapturous heroes welcome. The rest of us were processed like so many illegal immigrants, our belongings searched and samples of our DNA taken for identification. It was a sobering experience. I was glad that I was there to keep the tempers of the crew in check as we went through this humiliating process and I was furious that Kathryn had abandoned us to the wolves without even a backwards glance. I saw Neelix hustled away by some officials and was concerned enough to try and follow but two grim security guards prevented me following and I was too aware of my role as protector of the others to risk an incident right then. Even the original Starfleet crew were forced through a ritual of reaffirming their original loyalties and pledging their ongoing allegiance to Starfleet before they were allowed to pass onto the station. Despite my intense sorrow at the deaths of B'Elanna and Seven, I was glad that they were spared the harrowing ordeal. B'Elanna's temper and Seven's insecurity would not have coped well with the situation. In my capacity as leader, I felt constrained to wait until every last member of Voyager's crew had been released before venturing onto DS9 to find Angel, who had been passed through freely as soon as we disembarked. The atmosphere on the other side of the docking bay doors was so different that it was overwhelming.  The promenade was thronged with welcoming civilians. Dozens of Bajorans had come aboard to specifically welcome the ex-Maquis. Even the military personal wore huge smiles and were friendly and helpful. Of course, the presence of several news crews with live vid-cams probably had a lot to do with the change in attitude from the officials. Despite the petty way in which Starfleet had taken the private opportunity to humiliate us, public opinion on the heroic return of Voyager had obviously tied their hands. My crew was therefore safe. Which meant I could now depart for Earth. "Commander Chakotay! What an honor to meet you again!" I spun in surprise at the familiar sarcastic voice and my heart sank. "Commodore Benson." I acknowledged tightly "Well as I live and breathe, I never expected to see you in a Starfleet uniform again, Chakotay, not after the way you left us, must be hard to find good crew in the Delta Quadrant." Since I clearly remembered removing two of his front teeth during my resignation speech, I thought his comment was pretty mild "I see that orthodontists have been doing a cracking trade in my absence," I said mildly "If I had my way you'd" Benson started only to jump as a news-cam got thrust in his face, "You'd get a medal, Commander" he ad-libbed furiously and I had to smile. He had always been quick on his feet. After all, on our last meeting I had been intending to punch him in the nose as I recalled. "You're too kind, Commodore" I replied smoothly "I can't wait for the opportunity to catch up with where we left off!" and I turned away towards the promenade. It took forever to wend my way through the throng. Over and over I had my hands grabbed and shaken as various members of my old crew dragged their families to greet me. It was unbelievable how many people had managed to arrive in time to meet us. Though to be honest, most of the Maquis originated from nearby worlds in the DM zone. Most of the Starfleet crewmembers would have to wait several more days to be reunited with their families Which of course reminded me that Tom was already more than halfway to Earth by now. I was frantic to catch him before he actually reached Earth. Once his father had him in his clutches, who knew when I might see him again? Unless we departed immediately I knew there was no chance of doing so, but I couldn't find Angel anywhere.  There was no point in taking any other ship since only Angel's was fast enough for us to get a chance to catch up with the USS HPTS. After several fruitless hours, I finally gave up my search and went to the temporary quarters that had been assigned to me. I took a shower and changed into civilian clothes. At last Angel arrived, looking flustered and angry. "Where the fuck have you been?" I snapped by way of greeting He just blinked at my tone and sat down on the edge of the bed. "They won't let us depart yet!" He griped "I've spent the last six hours trying to get my ship released from Voyager's shuttle bay but they won't have it." "Bastards, I'll sort it out." I growled, heading for the comm unit Angel restrained me with a gentle hand on my arm. "Don't Chak. I've finally managed to get them to talk reasonably to me. They are trying to resolve the problem. If you go in guns blazing you'll just put their backs up." "So when WILL they release your ship?" "Reading between the lines, I think they are just making sure that you attend the party tonight. It would be bad publicity for them if you raced off before the "Welcome Home" speech. Since it's being broadcast live!" Angel grinned wryly. "What bloody party?" "The whole crew are going to be in a place called "Quarks", only I gather it isn't really big enough so they've spent the last three days knocking down walls." Angel laughed "They don't want the guest of honor escaping after all their effort." "The guest of honor will be Kathryn Janeway. The only reason they want me there is to parade on her leash, so she can say `Look at my tamed Maquis wolf! Aren't I clever!'" "I thought you liked the Captain." Angel murmured in surprise "Oddly enough, I did once." I replied "But either she's changed or I never really saw her clearly before." "So you'll attend the party?" "I don't seem to have any choice, do I?" "Better get dressed then." "I am dressed" "I meant in your uniform, Chakotay." "I don't have a uniform, Angel. We're home." "But I - I thought they'd offered to re-instate your commission." Angel said in bewilderment I looked at him suspiciously. How the hell had he known? "I declined, only I didn't know it was general knowledge" I replied shortly, as a little voice in my head began to insistently whisper that maybe the source of Angel's information was the same person who had conveniently impounded his ship. "Oh, someone mentioned it when I was trying to get my ship released" Angel replied, flushing slightly. "We are going after Tom" I stated firmly, watching his face closely for his response. "Of course we are, Chakotay" Angel replied with such innocent surprise that I felt ashamed of my doubts. "Let's go to this bloody party, then. The sooner we get there, the faster we'll be able to escape" I said firmly "Sure, Chak. All you have to do is look relaxed and happy, and glad to be back. I'm sure they'll let us leave as soon as the speeches are over" Angel replied soothingly. As I followed him to "Quark's" I knew that he was probably right, however, as I figured it, there was now no way in hell to catch up with Tom before he disembarked.  I was not naïve enough to imagine that it was co-incidence, however it was probably completely unfair of me to blame Angel. It was more likely that Admiral Owen Paris had engineered the delay, probably assisted by Kathryn and Tuvok. If only my father's advice had been more practical. It was all very well him telling me that Tom was my soulmate. It would have been a hell of a lot more helpful if he had told me how to do something about it.   TOM   It was only as we got within communications range of DS9 that I realised that my plan had far too many holes in it. All it would take would be a message from the Captain of the USS HPTS to the officials on DS9 and he would discover that the only medical condition that I suffered from was a broken heart. Somehow I had to beam myself onto DS9 before he spoke to security. I was uncertain how well DS9 was protected but in view of the recent War with the Dominion, I was sure that an unauthorized transport would be impossible. My only hope of getting off my father's ship and onto DS9 without being immediately apprehended was if I had help from inside. My old friend Julian Bashir was posted as a doctor there. It would seem perfectly natural for me to put in a call to DS9's Sickbay and perhaps my call would convince the Captain that my story was genuine. At least for long enough for me to beam off. I knew that the panic I had inspired in him about the mythical virus would mean he would soon be contacting officials to inquire about immunizations and then my deception would be revealed. I called the bridge from my Conn. unit and requested a person to person communication with Doctor Bashir. "Of course, Lieutenant" The Captain replied "Um, are you feeling unwell again?" "I think that it would be a good idea, for the safety of your crew, if I was beamed direct to DS9's Sickbay." I replied smoothly, "Just to be on the safe side" "Oh, of course, I'll contact DS9 immediately" "It's better if I speak to Dr Bashir myself, he'll need to know my symptoms so he can prepare." I held my breath as I waited for the Captain's reply. "I'll put the call straight through to your Conn unit then" He finally decided. A few minutes later Julian's surprised face filled the screen. "Tom Paris! My god. You look like death warmed over!" he spluttered "Thanks, Jules. I love you too!" I grinned "What are you doing here? I was told you had gone straight home." "It's a long story. I need a favour Jules, a huge one." "Anything" he replied generously "You need to authorise me beaming aboard as a medical emergency" "Well, that wouldn't be hard to pull off since you look dead already" Julian laughed gently but his brown eyes were filled with genuine concern. "Only there'll be people coming after me almost immediately, I think. I need to get away from sickbay as soon as possible and I'll need you to pretend I'm still there for as long as you can manage it." "What have you done this time, Tom?" Julian asked sadly "I've fallen in love with someone." "Well that's not a crime!" He spluttered in surprise "That's what YOU think, Jules and if I don't get to him now, I might lose him forever." "Him?" Jules asked in astonishment and then a wry grin crept over his face "Hell, Tom, if I'd known you were into guys I'd have snapped you up myself back in the academy!" "Will you help me?" "Will I get court martialled for this?" "Probably" He looked at me pensively for a few minutes and then grinned "Shit, won't be the first time. Okay Tom, I'll set it up. Get to the transporter room." "Oh, Jules, find out where Chakotay is for me so I can hit the ground running." "Chakotay? The big Maquis with the gorgeous ass?" "Yeah, and it's my ass, Jules, so hands off" I grinned back Julian smirked wickedly and switched off. As I made my painful way to the transporter room I realised that "hit the ground limping" would be a more apt description. TBC