There Is No Point Summary: Harry has no reason to live anymore. "Come on, where is he...." Tom Paris whispered to himself in the holodeck. He dressed in his Captain Proton costume, complete with the metal helmet, old fashioned leather jacket and those tacky laser blasters. The black and white Captain Proton scenario was set up and ready to go, Doctor Chaotica in waiting, but only Harry Kim, Buster Kincaid, was missing. Tom couldn't wait any longer. He tried to give Harry a benefit of a doubt and not call him as he could be busy finishing up work. But it's been over 10 minutes and still he hasn't shown up, or even called. Holodeck time is precious when there's only two of them on a ship with 130 people with nowhere else to turn for recreation. He finally called out to the computer in frustration, "computer, locate Ensign Kim." "Ensign Kim is in his quarters." Tom knew Harry wouldn't have simply forgotten the time. He was eager to resume their adventure and talked constantly all day yesterday about their excursion into the Captain Proton universe. Tom could simply run another program, but he didn't get prepared for nothing, so he tapped his commbadge, "Paris to Kim." He waited. There was no reply. Tom tried again. "Paris to Kim. Hey Harry, what's up with this? We're supposed to meet at the holodeck at 2100!" Still nothing. "You there Harry? Hello?" Tom all along knew it was *that*, but he didn't think it was that bad. Right now, he was angry by the lack of any response. At the very least Harry would talk to his best friend. Tom had everything ready to go only to get stood up by his friend, who only a day before was so looking forward to this. Tom didn't think *it* could have affected him that much that he would never step out to see the light of day again. He sighed and told the computer to shut the program down. The adventures of Captain Proton will have to wait another day. The image of the black and white setting disappeared into thin air to be replaced by the gray of the holodeck grid. Tom subsequently marched out of the holodeck, helmet and gun in hand, to the nearest turbolift. He couldn't help to call out with some venom the name of the deck he was headed to, the deck of Harry's quarters. A chime to his quarters. No response. Another chime. Still nothing. Tom had asked the computer again to confirm whether Harry was still inside his quarters or not. He was. Tom gave up ring the bell but instead chose to pound directly on the door as he yelled. He didn't care about the looks his yells would get from the passing crewmembers. "Harry?! Come on! Open the door." After a long pause, Tom continued. "At least you should have the courtesy to tell me if you're taking a rain check. I could have used the time for other things." Some crewmembers living near Harry's quarters came out to see what went on with the loud pounding and yells. Tom remained fixed on the closed door, ignoring the curiosity of fellow colleagues because they knew what it was all about. Tom can't help but to think of *that*; it was so memorable, but it's been at least 24 hours and he figured Harry would have gotten over it. He didn't know Harry's access codes and his piloting skills and rank didn't qualify him to override and open the door. Tom actually considered calling Tuvok to check out if there was anything wrong, but bothering security for some small thing like this was a waste. Harry couldn't have done anything drastic, even as bad as *it* was, he still had his duties to honor and a Captain to answer to. Tom finally relented and left; Harry was still recovering. * Harry couldn't face anyone, not even his best friend Tom. What happened the night before was so absolutely embarrassing that even stepping out of his quarters to play a holodeck adventure was dangerous. The best course of action was to stay out of the spotlight other than to do his duties. The others know no better. They kept trying to help Harry, like the Doctor's ill fated attempt earlier in the day. * The viewer in Harry's main room came to life as the Doctor appeared onscreen. 'Sickbay to Ensign Kim. Am I to understand that you wish to take part in an anatomy lesson regarding the position and difference of the human elbow and the female--' Harry turned off the viewer in disgust without even acknowledging the Doctor. One thing he was going to do when he finds the time was disallow the Doctor free access into anyone's quarters without permission. Harry chuckled sadly at the ironic fact that the Doctor was the person to teach Seven in human social skills when the Doctor himself lacked any tact at all. * It was the beginning of the alpha shift the next morning. All the officers were present at their stations, except for one glaring exception. The Ops officer that was supposed to be there at the very moment was not present. Janeway had noticed the obvious problem, but she was sympathetic, given what had happened two nights ago. It was not easy returning back to duty when everyone on the ship know about what he *did*. She would have felt grateful if her Captain let her be a few minutes late, not that she would have anyway. Commander Chakotay was about to ask the computer where Ensign Kim was, but Janeway gave him the sympathy look and Chakotay ceased. There was no need to give more attention to the poor guy that already had gather more than enough through a simple accident. About ten minutes or so passed by before a turbolift door swished open to finally reveal the man of the moment, Ensign Kim. He quickly made his way to his station and tried his best not to look into the eyes of the bridge officers that turned their attention to him the moment he stepped onto the bridge. He simply mumbled, "sorry being late, Captain," and immediately gave his attention to his console, at the same time hoping the other people would do the same and stop looking at him. Even though Captain Janeway generally doesn't like to intrude upon the private lives of her crew, what happened to Ensign Kim could have an effect on his concentration and his duties, which could lead to more problems. She had already allowed him to be late, and now she was going to get to the bottom of it. It was another part of being a good captain, looking after her officer's well being. She got up and called out neutrally, "Mr. Kim, my ready room please," then making her way to her ready room. Harry wondered which god he offended to have to suffer through this. Now even the Captain was going to be involved. All he wanted now after a whole day off to spend in his quarters yesterday was to go through his shift without anymore complications. Harry will not accept that a simple accident would ruin his the trust and confidence he earned with the Captain. Harry lowered his head, sighed to himself and made his way to the Captain's ready room, avoiding the looks and snickers from the others. * "Have a seat Harry," Janeway gestured Harry to sit down on the couch once he entered the ready room. Janeway herself made her way to the couch and sat down. Harry could have sworn the Captain's tone of voice was gentle. He was expecting some kind of dressing down or a strict warning, just something negative. He hesitantly walked over to the couch and sat down. Janeway could tell by a single look that Harry wasn't his usual self. Even after having the entire day off yesterday, he looked like a man who hadn't slept for days. Well, she can't blame him really, if what she heard was true, what Harry experienced wasn't something so easily forgotten. "How are you Harry?" "Me? Oh, fine, fine Captain. Never been better!" Harry immediately regretted saying that. No one in his situation could ever claim he was fine. "I'll get to the point. I saw you run out and heard about what happened two days ago. In fact, I heard different versions of the story," Janeway was having a real hard time to try not to laugh. "But all of them said you accidentally, uh, invaded Seven's personal space? The crew is still fired up over this. But what I want is, I want you to tell me what really happened Harry, the truth." Harry knew there was no other way out. He had to spew the story, relive the difficult memories, experience the embarrassment again. "*It* all started..." * "Seven! It's a surprise to see you here, with Ensign Kim no less!" The Doctor exclaimed as he stepped in between the Ensign and the former Borg. Both had just arrived in the holodeck, the setting being the resort program for the party, and Harry told himself he was going to try to be as friendly as possible, coming to a public event with Seven of Nine will no doubt draw plenty of attention to him. But with people - hologram - like the Doctor bugging him and his ex-Borg friend, it was not going to be easy. "I'm happy that you decide to appear at a fine social function like this one! Just remember to use all the social skills I've taught you Seven! And..." "Excuse us Doctor," Harry interrupted with false sincerity, took Seven by the elbow and lead her away from the Doctor. "Thank you, Ensign," Seven said, glad to be lead away from the annoying hologram. "The Doctor has been very helpful, but he was not helpful there." Harry flashed a smile at her, but annoyance returned in bad fashion when Neelix approached the couple. "Seven! Ensign Kim! It's so nice to see you two here!" The good-natured, and always energetic morale officer remarked. "We have some great activities planned and some great new foods for you both to try! But I must say, why are you two still in your uniforms?! This is a--" Once again before the irritable Talaxian could finish pointing out whatever he had to point out, he was interrupted, this time by Seven. "I see... a friend, excuse us." Seven took Harry's arm and dragged him away from Neelix. "That makes us even, Seven." Harry commented after Seven returned the favor. Seven turned and showed Harry a rare, small smile. They both kept walking around the resort, not particularly heading anywhere, but avoiding the overly excited people like the Doctor and Neelix and using the time to go over technical details and other work related things. Both Harry and Seven found this acceptable; Harry wasn't forcing Seven to try to participate in the activities other crewmembers were doing, and Seven wasn't voicing her displeasure about the irrelevance of everything. Harry was going over the next upgrade of the astrometrics lab when he saw from the corner of his eye both the Doctor and Neelix approaching them. "Uh oh." Harry assumed Seven heard him and saw the twin of annoyance coming, thus he stopped and immediately turned the other way in an effort to avoid them, while also putting out his right hand to grab Seven 's elbow. Only problem was, Seven had not heard Harry and kept on walking. Harry knew something wasn't right the second he grabbed on to what supposedly was Seven's elbow. It didn't feel like an elbow; it was squishy. "Ensign Kim, why did you grab my left mammary gland?" Seven announced bluntly, and unfortunately loud enough that everyone in the holodeck could hear her. Everyone's eyes turned and stared at Harry as all the activities and conversations came to a halt. "Well, that must be a fabulous experience for you Mr. Kim," the Doctor said sarcastically amongst the silence and shock. Harry never felt his face heat up as fast as that moment. His face was flushed and clearly became flustered. He could have died right there on the spot from the embarrassment. No words were going to make what just happened any better. He was the center of attention, the one that was heard to have grabbed Seven's, uh, certain anatomy. There was no other option but to flee the holodeck. "Ensign Kim did not answer my question." Seven stated, baffled by the other people's reaction and Harry's warp speed exit. * "That's the truth Captain. It was all just a stupid accident. A big misunderstanding. I was trying to grab the elbow..." Harry finished painfully. "I'm sorry Captain. I disappointed you by my actions." "No, it's all right Harry. It was an accident," Janeway reassured the thoroughly embarrassed young ensign. "Accidents happen all the time. It just so this happened in front of everyone." "Yes! In front of everyone!" Harry snapped. "They probably think I'm a pervert! Or I was taking advantage of Seven! Or... or... There is no point anymore trying to explain! And Seven... I don't even want to go there..." "Harry, don't worry about what the others think," Janeway felt like a mother telling her young son that he didn't do anything wrong. "I'm sure they know that it was just an accident, nothing more. You of all people know these gossip that goes around are what the crew does for fun. It doesn't help that Seven didn't understand what you did was an accident and her response was an embarrassment to you." Harry's features relaxed slightly, Janeway noticed. "You'll have to face the storm and hope it would past as soon as possible. Maybe something more sensational would come along, and the attention would shift off you. Just don't let it distract you from your work. That's the reason I called you here." "I understand, Captain." Janeway smiled. "That's all Harry, you may go now." Harry headed to the ready room exit. Before he reached the door, Janeway called out to the ensign. "Harry, one last thing." "Yes Captain?" "I had a chance to speak with Seven earlier today. She told me she enjoyed the time she shared with you, and wouldn't mind being in your company again." Harry blinked a few times, taking in what the Captain said. Was that a vote of confidence? Well... after what happened two nights ago, he needed all the support he could get. The End