Title: Green

Author: Anne Rose

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer: Voyager and its characters belong to Paramount Pictures.

No infringement intended.

Spoilers: none

Summary: J/C, K/7, P/T, Neelix, holidays and alcohol, always an

interesting combination - throw in a seasonal fixation with green, and

no one is safe. (15K)

Archive: I would be honored if you want to archive it. Please let me

know where so I can visit it.

Author's Note: This story won 2nd place in the Ros a Gael, St.

Patrick's Day fic contest at http://jcmadness.tripod.com/. Thanks to

Henry Lee for beta reading this story. © March 15, 2001

Green

by Anne Rose

~*~*~*~

"It was the beer - that damn green beer. It had to be," Tom moaned as

he rolled into Chakotay. Chakotay shoved him roughly causing him to

elbow Harry. Harry flailed at him ineffectually, moaned and then

curled up on his side, carefully avoiding his dislocated shoulder.

"Even with the beer, you should have been able to tell that wasn't

B'Elanna," Chakotay grumbled.

"That wasn't beer," Harry groaned. "We haven't been away from home for

so long that we could mistake that for beer."

"True," Tom agreed, as he propped himself up, against one of the bunks.

"But still... I'm not sure Chakotay. There was something very

familiar about that woman. If she wasn't B'Elanna, then the holodeck

used her as a template."

"Which woman," Harry asked, sitting up on the hard floor.

"The green one," Tom and Chakotay answered in unison.

"They were all green," Harry muttered.

"Next time Neelix wants to research earth holidays, we need to convene

an oversight committee," Chakotay pronounced, as he hoisted himself up

onto the other bunk.

"Orions aren't from earth," Harry added.

"An interesting point, Harry, but the time to share that observation,

with Neelix, would have been before the party."

"Yep Harry, that's why you're still an Ensign," joked Tom.

Harry scowled at him, but before he could respond, Chakotay cut in, "I

wouldn't be too cocky Tom, we haven't heard from the Captain yet on all

of this."

"I'm not worried about the Captain, she's *your* problem," he looked

meaningfully at Chakotay. "The woman I'm concerned about has a

Bat'leth, and a hangover."

The rest of their conversation was cut off by Tuvok entering the brig.

"Gentleman, you will follow me to sickbay. Enough of the Doctor's

functions have been restored so that you may be treated now."

"It's about time," Harry muttered. Tuvok gave him a severe glance.

"What? It wasn't my fault," he protested.

"Uh, actually Harry, one of the moments that is fairly clear in my mind

includes you giving some very interesting commands to the computer

regarding the EMH," Tom volunteered.

Chakotay put his hand on Harry's good shoulder reassuringly, "Harry,

sometimes there are things a man's just got to do, but next time, don't

decompile the whole program - be selective. One of the first tactical

rules is, always leave yourself an escape route."

They arrived in sickbay, and found the Captain just leaving. She

seemed to be standing a bit straighter and stiffer than usual. She

looked them over as they walked in. "Gentlemen. In spite of what

happened at the party last night, I apologize for the delay in your

treatment, but it took us a while to get the Doctor back online, and

since Mr. Paris was indisposed... well, I'm sure you understand."

"Yes, Captain," they said in unison.

The Captain left sickbay quickly, as the Doctor set about repairing the

damage. He healed all the main injuries, but they were still a bit

tender. As he worked, the men continued to compare notes and tried to

dredge up memories from the party. Finally, he administered a

hypospray to each man to counteract some of the lingering effects of

the beer.

The results were dramatic. Tom had dissolved into a fit of laughter,

leaning on the biobed for support. Meanwhile, Harry blushed bright red

and his mouth dropped open. He looked around at Tom and Chakotay,

mortified. "How are we going to face them?" he asked. His memories

were still fragmented, but the parts he remembered were enough to

thrill and terrify him at the same time.

Chakotay, on the other hand, had become almost catatonic as the effects

of the hypo set in. He stood frozen, his posture rigid and the only

movement was the muscles along his jaw twitching. After a few minutes,

he brought his hands up to cover his face and sighed deeply. Sighing,

and taking a few deep breaths, he looked at Tom and Harry. "Perhaps we

should consider a side trip to the escape pods on the way to the

bridge."

~*~*~*~

"It was a holodeck malfunction - that damn holodeck," B'Elanna said,

between gulps of raktajino.

"It should be taken off line for a full diagnostic," Seven pronounced.

She was still experiencing distortions in her visual processor, and

swayed a bit as she tried to align herself with the room.

Captain Janeway tried to make herself more comfortable on her ready

room couch, but she had several strained muscles she still couldn't

account for, and they made sitting difficult. "Ladies, would you be so

kind at to tell me what you remember of last night?"

"I arrived at Holodeck 2 at 2100 hours for the St. Patrick's day party

as ordered," Seven raised an accusatory eyebrow at the Captain. "I

proceeded to imbibe the green substance Neelix was serving, and at

approximately 2130 my memories become unreliable. I do remember

deciding to reevaluate Harry Kim's suitability for... a research

project I wish to restart," she paused.

"Yes Seven, we all got a pretty clear idea of your intentions for

Harry, and he seemed to be a very willing lab rat," she laughed.

Seven was uncertain how to react to B'Elanna's teasing, so she

continued with her narrative. "After serving the drinks, Neelix

informed me that I must wear something green for the festivities. I

told him I did not have anything green to wear, but he was not

discouraged, and kept insisting that I comply. Eventually he offered

to have the holodeck provide me with something green to wear. By that

time my judgment was severely impaired, and I complied," she concluded,

looking over at Janeway.

The Captain massaged her forehead as she tried to remember the events

of last night. "I only remember pieces. Neelix also served me, and

also insisted that I wear something green, which he had the holodeck

program provide. Then I remember dancing with a man. I don't remember

who, it was either a member of the crew or one of the holo-characters

from the program."

"Well that certainly narrows it down," B'Elanna smirked.

Janeway glared at her, and then continued, "He seemed familiar, I think

he was from one of my holo-novels, and I remember laughing, dancing,

and thoroughly enjoying myself," she finished with surprise. Seven

raised an eyebrow at that, but remained silent. "B'Elanna, we haven't

heard from you. What light can you shed on last night?"

B'Elanna thought for a moment, while wrapped herself around her warm

mug. "I remember similar things, the drinks, the green, and I remember

the Doctor putting up a fuss about the way Seven and Harry were

dancing."

"Ah yes," Janeway interrupted, "that may explain his accident."

"The Doctor tried to cut in, but Harry refused and then... he

threatened the Doctor." She gasped as she remembered more details,

"And you look stunning in green, Seven," she laughed. "After the

altercation with the Doctor, I found Tom and danced with him for a

while. He was behaving oddly. Every time I tried to dance closer to

him, he would push me away..." she trailed off in thought.

Janeway choked on the coffee she was drinking, "That was you?" she

gasped. "You should be impressed that he was able to push you away.

Orions are infamous for their affect on human males."

B'Elanna looked at her in shock, and thought again about what she had

seen Seven and the Captain wearing, and then back to Neelix's comments.

When the realization hit her, she let out a pained sigh and collapsed

against the couch. "That little rodent did more than have the program

change our dresses for us. Kahless, what went on last night?"

"I think we now have enough data to draw a number of conclusions.

Clearly we all..."

Seven was interrupted by Janeway holding up her hand, "Seven, I'm not

sure I want to discuss what else happened."

"Captain, there is a significant gap in the time between when we

entered the holodeck at 2100 hours yesterday, and when the transporter

log says Tuvok beamed us back to our quarters at 0400 this morning,"

B'Elanna offered. "There is also the matter of the Chakotay, Tom and

Harry being beamed to the brig at the same time, with a minor emergency

procedure being preformed on Harry to reset a dislocated shoulder."

"I don't remember the incident with Harry's shoulder. When was that?"

Janeway asked.

B'Elanna laughed and threw a knowing look at Seven, "I think you were

otherwise occupied at the time, Captain."

"What?"

"You and your friend from the holo-novel disappeared for quite a

while," B'Elanna smirked, "and you only resurfaced a few minutes before

the Doctor and Tuvok came to break up our party. It seems the Doctor

had analyzed Neelix's beer and found it had a lot more than alcohol in

it. When he tried to separate everyone and transport us to sickbay,

that's when the fight broke out."

Janeway rubbed her head again and blushed as some of the events of the

previous night broke through the fog. "Oh dear," she muttered.

Seven tried to explain. "Harry objected to being forcibly separated

from me, and your friend reacted similarly, Captain. In the fight that

followed the Doctor was disabled, and Harry was injured."

"Yes, I remember some of that, and then we were all transported to

sickbay. You and B'Elanna worked on the Doctor, and then he worked on

us," she smiled at the hopeless irony of the situation.

She was about to say something else, when her commbadge beeped. She

tapped it, "Janeway here."

"Captain, the prisoners have been treated in sickbay. What would you

like done with them now?" Tuvok asked.

She glanced around the room at Seven and B'Elanna before telling him,

"Escort them to the briefing room Tuvok. We'll meet you there in 5

minutes, and bring Neelix and the Doctor." She looked again at the two

women, "Ladies, I think we can all agree that while last night was

enjoyable, it would not look good in the official record." They

nodded. "I think we'll find the men are equally willing to have this

all just go away."

With that they got up and headed to the briefing room. B'Elanna helped

herself to another raktajino under the guise of getting a cup of coffee

for the Captain. Seven selected a fruit juice with additional

B-vitamin supplements. They were able to make themselves comfortable,

or a close approximation, on one side of the table, by the time the men

arrived. Chakotay, Tom, and Harry followed Tuvok the Doctor, and

Neelix in, and took their seats on the opposite side of the table.

Harry and Tom shifted nervously in their seats, while Chakotay sat

still, staring out the view port. He had an air of calm about him,

usually reserved for condemned men who had made their peace and were

now only awaiting the inevitable.

The Captain reviewed a P.A.D.D. the Doctor handed her, for a few

minutes, and then looked up. "Gentlemen, it seems we all had quite an

evening." Chakotay opened his mouth to speak, to explain, but she

silenced him with a hand. "Before you say anything, let me tell you

what the Doctor found. It seems the beer that Neelix made has an

unusual affect on humans. It lowers our inhibitions, like normal beer,

but it also has stronger, disorienting properties. Once under its

influence, we might do almost anything, and apparently we did. I've

talked to B'Elanna and Seven, and none of us feel there is any need to

pursue disciplinary action. Unless one of you feels it is necessary."

"Yes Captain, I found the evening very enjoyable, with the exception of

Ensign Kim's injury," Seven confirmed, with a glance at Harry that made

him blush. As she spoke, B'Elanna also smiled at Tom. He looked

apprehensive at first, but when she winked at him, he relaxed

noticeably.

"If the three of you feel the same, then based on that report, I'm

inclined to simply pretend that this incident never happened. The

party only included the senior staff, so the damage will be minimal.

She paused and looked around the table. Every head nodded, so she

continued. "We need to have all the participants agree to this in

order to have containment. So, I have asked Tuvok to clear up one

mystery. We need to make sure we all stayed in the holodeck and that

no one else needs to be involved. I believe Commander Chakotay and I

were each dancing with characters from the holo-program, but we need to

make sure of everyone. Tuvok, what did you find?" Chakotay stared at

the table, and held his breath.

"Captain, I reviewed the logs from the party, and there were no

additional crew involved. We do not need to involve anyone else."

"Very good. In that case, Tuvok and Seven, I want you to do whatever

is necessary to clean this up - officially, last night never happened.

I don't want the bureaucrats back home sticking their noses into our

affairs." She winced at the poor choice of words, but she went on,

"The rest of you, the Doctor has ordered a day of sick-leave for

everyone. He thinks the most practical solution, at this point, is for

all of us to just sleep off the remaining effects of the toxins.

You're all dismissed unless there is something more."

Several mumbled 'yes, captains' were heard as they stood and began to

leave.

The staff quietly filed out of the briefing room. Chakotay paused in

the doorway and turned to look at her, "Are we going to be alright?" he

asked.

She responded automatically, "Commander, we were all very drunk..." but

she trailed off, uncomfortably looking away. She sighed, and then a

tiny smile began to tug at the corners of her mouth. She walked over

to him and rested a palm on his chest, while she whispered

conspiratorially, "but the parts I do remember seemed very enjoyable.

Just between you and me," a loaded phrase indeed, given the bits of the

previous night's activities she remembered, "that tattoo is very

distinctive." She said with a wink.

He was shocked for a moment, but then he began to smile too. Covering

her hand with his own, he moved a half step closer, allowing the door

to slide closed behind him. He leaned down to whisper, "I'm glad to

hear that Kathryn, because I don't have to be sober to remember that

Orions don't have red hair."

~*~*~ The End ~*~*~