This was such an interesting take on B'Elanna's behavior in Extreme Risk. I loved the comparison of Tom and Harry's reactions to what she did, and how the events of Timeless allowed Harry to see B'Elanna through a news lense. Well done!

This story made tears spring to my eyes. I hope you keep writing! :'D

There's a much needed clarity to Harry and B'Elanna's friendship in this, and it's defined by critical mistakes they've both made (or going to make in Harry's case). I think Harry needed to see that, to know that drive to atone for one's mistakes and save those that you care about. B'Elanna wanted to do that, but she couldn't, and that moment when you described her depression and attempts to kill herself as a method of avenging the ones she lost rang with a crystal clarity.

The final line is very suiting of Harry, especially considering the speech that he gives in Endgame. Somehow, it makes me think that those extra 16 years in the DQ would have made getting back to Earth that much more memorable, but still wracked with tragedy.

Very well done,

CP7

P.S. I enjoyed the cameo appearance of Vorik :)

There is so much in this piece that I love, I can't quote favourites. Except, perhaps, this one for it summarizes B'Elanna's character so well:

"She is silent, watching him, looking as if she's trying to find a hole in his logic so she can go back to the loneliness and pain." Some people literally have to have love, trust and friendship thrust upon them.

As for your end note, just - thanks. I am both humbled, and touched.

awwww I really enjoyed this story hun. I miss you xx

Oh goodness, it seems the chasm between Harry and B'Elanna has now grown to divide Tom and Harry as well.

I am so glad to see that Tom is supporting B'Elanna, even if there is some shaky trust now between the two of them. She needs this now, more than anything.

The conversation between Harry and Tom is bitter and hard to swallow, but Tom needed to say the things that he did. Harry can't ignore B'Elanna forever, much like B'Elanna could not keep pushing down her grief with pain. Everyone must face difficult things at some point in their lives, and while B'Elanna has just surfaced from her ordeal Harry still has to find his footing. I really like that parallel between them in this.

Here's hoping that things work out, in one way or another.

CP7

Some times you have to rip off the first scab to promote healing. Painful, but cleansing. I always considered Extreme Risk to be one of the braver episodes, but it did end with a bit of the too-easy "all better now" approach. I'm glad you chose to let us look at the dark side of friendship.

Awww. I love meddling Tom, making it clear that if it came to it he'd go with B'Elanna, but really, just trying to push Harry to do the right thing

So very tragic, and in the wake of events bodering on such a thing it emphasizes B'Elanna's pain as she recovers. I can understand both sides of this: B'Elanna in her apprehension, trying to keep a friendship from breaking, and Harry, feeling betrayed and confused by someone that he considers family.

"She's still their spitfire chief engineer with a chip on her shoulder the size of the Horsehead Nebula." - I remember the exact episode when this comparison was first said, and I absolutely love that you've used it again here.

"Her desperation to feel led Harry up those steps, forced him to his knees, and bared his neck to the hungry thunking blade without allowing him his final words." - chilling, and the use of the guillotine only adds to the effect. Well done.

"A single, sudden wham that echoes through the chasms of her regret. Everything closed, except for his eyes.

And they are daggers plunging into her body." - one of the most haunting images in this piece, because I can sense those daggers reaching from his eyes over to B'Elanna, converying his own pain.

Well done, Dax. I look forward to more.

CP7

What a beautiful and necessary companion piece to "The Time Between". I do hope that "the chair that she never occupied" will find B'Elanna soon - in both the ways that she failed to fill it.

Oh this is so sad. Poor Harry, he's so hurt by her.

This was really, really good. A well-written, kind of saddish, angsty friendship piece. Am I correct in assuming it's not done yet? It's really, really good.

This piece does make me sad, though. It's like both of them are abiding by some unspoken rule. They both want to just give it up and make it all better, but they know they can't do that yet; they need to give it time, and it makes them both sad. :'-(

It's totally great! Thanks so much for writing another story- I was hoping for something soon! :-)

Katia