Fic: Flowers

Feb 21, 2019 20:20

Title: Flowers
Author: Erin (erinm_4600)
Characters, Pairing: Kathryn Janeway (mention of Tom Paris)
Rating: G
Summary: She gets flowers every year, but doesn't know why
Warning: post-Threshold *Written for QPID at starfleet-hq
Disclaimer: The original and current characters belong to Gene Roddenberry, CBS, UPN, Paramount, JJ Abrams, all the movie folks, the TV folks, and their respective actors. The OCs are mine.

The first time Kathryn Janeway entered her Ready Room, she hadn't noticed the tiny vase, holding four flowers, until it had to be moved. Sure, the blueprints of Voyager were easily-viewed on any PADD or terminal screen, but she liked the feel of actual paper under her fingers.

The second time she received flowers, they had come on a food tray, delivered to her in Sickbay, by Neelix. She smiled at the small buds, but didn't actually give them another thought, assuming the Talaxian had simply tried to 'dress up' her meal.

The third time Kathryn received the flowers, she was once again in her Ready Room, lost in thought. Giving a glance to the oddly-familiar blooms, her brow tightened, as she tried to place just where she'd seen those flowers before...

The fourth time the flowers arrived, Kathryn asked the computer to identify the flower, but the Computer had no answer. When asked where they had come from, the Computer only responded that the parameters had been manually-entered into the Replicator.

The fifth time the flowers arrived, her patience was already at a boiling point, because of Tom Paris' recent actions. Seeing the four, familiar flowers, vased and sitting on her desk, Kathryn threw her hands up and demanded the Computer tell her exactly who had put the flowers there.

When the Computer responded with Tom's name, her first reaction was that buttering her up with flowers wasn't going to get him out of trouble, but quickly remembered the flowers had been coming for a while.

"Computer, when was the last time these flowers were delivered to me?" The Computer gave her a Stardate exactly one year prior. "And the time before that?" Kathryn prodded.

Two years prior.

Moving over to the viewport, Kathryn stared out at the stars for a bit, pondering, then turned back. "Computer, what happened on this Stardate, six years ago?" As the Computer began regurgitating events of that hour, Kathryn waved a hand. "Computer, general events only, please. Significant events, added to the ship's log, only," she clarified.

"Nothing significant was added to the log, on this Stardate, six years ago," the Computer replied.

"What about the days prior?"

"Multiple records added to the ship's log, regarding the disappearance of Kathryn Janeway and Tom Paris, aboard the shuttle Cochrane." Kathryn sucked in a deep breath and glanced at the ceiling.

Four flowers.

"Damn him," Kathryn muttered as she moved to the desk and picked up the vase. She fought a smile as she raised the flowers to her nose, and said a little prayer for the three surviving kids.

~challenge, .starfleet-hq, fic: star trek

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