Oh, god, you can't just leave it at that!
Please, a sequel? Please? I'll give you (almost) anything!

She had thought she would enjoy hearing Paris like this.
Alone. Scared. Trapped.
You know, like he was finally beginning to get what he deserved.
No more arrogance or mockery, no more fake smiles and lies- just pure pain, terror, and panic.
She thought she would savor every second of it, treasure it.
She was so, so wrong.
God, Paris had never sounded more vulnerable- so damned young, and lost- so fucking TERRIFIED for his dying friends.
Friends... She hadn't known they'd been friends.
She'd never stopped to think the impact the incident would've had on Paris himself.
But damnit, if that terror and pain in his voice didn't stir up every protective instinct she had- well then, she must be a tap-dancing fish.
He'd pleaded for them to live, begged for them to just WAKE UP, and the crushing despair that seemed to resonate from every anguished word- it made her want to cry.
Damnit, this was Paris she was talking about- and yet even in her own mind, she was defending him, now. Was this pity?
Somehow, he didn't seem the type to appreciate pretty.
Of course, when he'd told his dead friend "I should never have let you fly-"...
Now, THAT, made her heart stop.
Well, Shit.
But she just couldn't get his broken, horrified voice out of her head, playing back over and over like a broken record.
("Help is coming- please stay alive!" "Please, oh god no!" "Somebody help us!")
God damnit, she couldn't live with herself if she was cruel to him, now.
(Unless the bastard earned it. Fuck, even "Bastard" was a term of endearment. Calm it, you don't even KNOW him!)
The next time she passed Lt Paris in the halls, several days later, she smiled, and acknowledged him respectfully.
If he noticed her change in opinion, he didn't say anything.
She resolved she couldn't make this mistake again.
She had assumed Paris was a heartless bastard, a moral-less playboy. It taken him being kidnapped, trapped, and drugged, along with ship malfunctions for her to see the truth.
Lt Tom Paris was human- he had regrets, memories, nightmares- he'd made mistakes.
But now, he was trying to fix that. Now, he was saving lives, taking risks.
And so, she had 2 resolutions that day.
First of all, no more assumptions- she'll learn the whole story. next time, thanks.
Secondly, however, was that Lt Tom Paris was a good man- (Really, not because of what they'd heard, that was just a trigger- now she could see all the good he'd done. How could she have been so blind?) and she'll be damned if she won't defend him when necessary.
Because, Really- they're weren't enough good men in this world.

(random add-on: the thoughts of a random Voyager redshirt.)

please, i'm begging you- please, give me more! MORE!

"Please- Oh, god, no. I'm sorry- I'm so, so sorry! Hey, come on guys. Wake up! Help is coming, please stay alive! Somebody help us! Please, PLEASE! Oh, god. I'm sorry, Durk, i should never have let you fly!"

This is just... beautiful.
i love it. LOVE.
(Who doesn't like Whumping their favorite characters, right?)
I know you said already you wouldn't, but please, please, PLEASE, either write a sequel or find someone else to do so. It's just to beautiful to let it die!

AAAAAAAWWW, WHY NO SEQUEL?!

Good story, well written and enjoyable.

But at the end, I would agree with Tom that he was at fault for Caldek Prime. Whether he was in the pilot's seat or not you have him say "I never should have let you fly." Which implies that he was the senior pilot and the one with responsibility for deciding if who was qualified to pilot. It's still ultimately Tom's misjudgment that leads to the crash. Even if he's not the one that make the piloting error, he's the one who put an unqualified individual at the helm.

I love this story. For what it's worth, it's Kathryn, not Kathrine...

Wow!

This is brilliant! Such strong emotion in this, I loved it! _

Many thanks for this great piece of writing, love your characterisation of Tom.

Jen

x

very well written, left me wanting more - liked the claustrophobia bit suffer from it myself

Ahem, *clears throat* I know I may be a little late with this, after all this fic was posted a LOOOOOOOONG time again _ But I would really love it if you would countinue! So far I have red most of your fics and from what I've seen your a amazing writer. But out of all this has been one of my favourites and I beg you to countinue!

~Night Sky~

that was really good! but who's Durk, and what's Cal Prime, and what else did he say? could u reply and email me?

hey, this is good.

I love this story! I've read it about a billion times! I'd like to try my hand at a sequel, if you don't mind. Can you e-mail me with permission? Also, if you do have any ideas about where you'd like it to go, I'd be glad to hear them, becasue I wouldn't like to write it and then have you hate it!

omg that was soooo sad and very well written..LOL at the comment about not knowing what happened on cal prime-I think I have a clue but I'm not exactly sure so silverknight you are NOT alone lmao. Anyway-very good story loved it!

-.-