Chapter 23 added on 7 Nov 2000
Disclaimers are in part 1.
Rating: R
The lieutenant reported to Engineering the next morning, looking forward to returning to duty. It gave her something to take her mind off of what she and Seven had gone through last night. She needed the petty assignments to divert her attention from what she had to tell Seven. After she had accompanied the ex-drone back to her alcove, B'Elanna had used most of the night thinking about their relationship, what was best for Seven, and what Janeway felt for the ex-drone, putting her own feelings aside.
All of a sudden, the ship lurched, and B'Elanna was thrown against the console she was working at. It was as if the ship had struck an object, and B'Elanna scrambled over to the diagnostic panels to find out what was going on. Lt. Carey was half a second behind her. The power readings to the warp core were low as if the core had been drained, and the engines were off-line.
"Bridge to Engineering," the Captain's voice blared over the comm. "We've hit a spatial rift. Report."
"Warp engines are off-line, possibly due to damage to the plasma injectors. I'll get a team working on them. Long range sensors are also damaged, might be the rift emitting dechyon particles," Carey hypothesized.
"I need those sensors back online within the hour, Lieutenant, if we're going to navigate through this part of space," Janeway made it known.
"Aye, Captain."
Lt. Carey looked over to B'Elanna, and rolled his eyes, believing this was only the start of their problems. He started passing out assignments to the Engineering staff, and sent B'Elanna to work on the sensors, knowing she would be the one fastest enough to assess the damage and figure out a way to fix them within the time frame.
"Lt. Carey to Seven of Nine," he hailed, surprising the half-Klingon mid-step when she turned around to head towards the equipment lockers.
"Seven of Nine here."
"Seven, Astrometrics isn't going to be much use if we don't get the long range sensors back online. Can you come down and help Lt. Torres with the repairs?" Carey requested, as B'Elanna's eyebrows shot up.
There was a slight pause, then Seven responded, "I will be there shortly."
Not wasting one more second, B'Elanna jogged over to the diagnostic console for shipwide systems to track down the problem. It took a few minutes, but she located the source of the damage to one of the EPS conduits located near the plasma manifold in Jefferies tube junction 918. By then, the Borg had arrived in Engineering and joined the lieutenant. There was an initial awkward moment of silence, but both were professional enough to dissociate their emotions from their work, and made their way over to the access port. They crawled a short distance through the Jefferies tube to the EPS conduit, and in a matter of minutes, already made headway in the repairs.
"Did you sleep well, B'Elanna?" Seven inquired, even as she realigned the circuitry.
Sighing, the half-Klingon admitted, "Not really," as she removed the last piece of the damaged conduit, never to be used again.
"I wish I could have held you..."
"Yeah," B'Elanna replied softly, snapping in the new replacement.
Seven scanned it with a tricorder, noting that the temporary rearrangements would provide power to the sensor array and allow the afferent data stream to feed directly to Ops on the bridge.
"We are finished here," Seven informed her.
"Wow, we should tag team more often," B'Elanna quipped, injecting a little humor into the situation.
Seven gave her a wry look, and packed their instruments. Before she could comment, they heard a familiar voice calling down the tube.
"You guys need any help here?" Harry asked as he poked his head into the hatch opening.
B'Elanna smiled. Harry had that affect on her, maybe because he always seemed so goofy in a good way.
"You're too late!" she yelled over.
"Great. Then maybe you guys can help me alter the sensors so we can find these spatial rifts and seal them."
B'Elanna snorted, and tilted her head toward the hatch, indicating that they should get out of the Jefferies tube and go help Harry. Seven smirked and followed the more compact woman out of the confined surroundings. Buzzing with activity, Engineering looked like a zoo, when the lieutenant finally slipped out of the opening, with extra personnel having been called in to work on the ship repairs. All of the repair assignments and duty stations were covered, though somewhat excessively and almost inefficiently, B'Elanna noticed, but Carey was still new at running the department.
Seven had one long leg out of the hatch when her other foot got caught on the trimming of the Jefferies tube. She leaned back into the tube to maneuver her foot, letting out a small exhale, when she felt another hand on her ankle.
Something had clicked inside the Klingon's brain, something along the lines of 'foot not working--go help,' and B'Elanna had automatically responded to it, having performed similar actions when Seven was injured.
B'Elanna reached in, freed Seven's foot, and scooped up the young Borg in her arms, setting her down outside the access hatch. Caught off guard, Seven released her hold around B'Elanna's neck hesitantly, and murmured a quiet thanks.
Harry was visibly surprised to say the least, after observing the entire incident along with Ensign Bristow, who was only a couple of feet away. Bristow, who suffered from a unrequited crush on the former Chief Engineer, stopped breathing all together.
From across the walkway, a few crewmembers exchanged curious looks. They had seen the lieutenant carry Seven out of the opening, almost lovingly. The two women's reputation for not getting along was infamous, and therefore the whole event had been a shock to those who happened to have glanced in that direction at that particular moment.
Even Seven didn't know what to make of it, and she blushed uncontrollably as she stood next to her companion. B'Elanna caught their stares. Though she wasn't Chief Engineer anymore, her presence was still commanding.
"You all didn't get enough assignments?" she asked rather acidly.
The young officers promptly put their eyes back into their sockets and went back to work. Harry shrugged, and lead them over to the sensor consoles. He had suffered B'Elanna's temper before, and by now he knew when she was being truly serious and when she was not.
~~~~~~~~
Seven had returned to Astrometrics when the long range sensors had been recalibrated. An hour later, that left B'Elanna and Harry alone as they made their way to the Mess Hall to grab a bite before returning to their respective posts.
"So.... What was that all about?" Harry couldn't keep his tongue any longer, as he peered at his friend.
"Harry, did anyone ever tell you that you're nosier than a Ferrengi bartender?" B'Elanna remarked, not even dignifying the question with an answer.
"Oh, come on, B'Elanna. It was really obvious. What's going on between the two of you?"
"I don't want to talk about it right now."
After they had obtained their food and sat down at a table, Harry decided to broach the subject again, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"You know, when I fell in love with Marayna from the Holodeck, you told me you saw it in the way I looked at her," Harry recalled.
B'Elanna dropped her fork, and fixed a dangerous glare on him. "What do you want me to say, Harry?"
"Nothing. Just that I recognize the look. Heck, I used to look at Seven that way." He raised his hand when B'Elanna opened her mouth to speak. "BUT, I don't anymore. You can rest assure that my feelings won't be hurt," he said gallantly.
The half-Klingon let out a short chortle. "I'll remember you said that."
"You deserve to be happy. Does Seven know?"
Shrugging, B'Elanna replied casually, "She knows I care about her."
"God, you're worse than me."
She almost choked on his comment.
~~~~~~~~
The rest of the day went by quickly for Seven. With Tal Celes and Icheb assisting her, Seven charted a preliminary safe path through the region avoiding the more dangerous spatial rifts. Some of the rifts were actually multi-dimensional, and the bridge crew was occupied for most of the day trying to seal them, stabilizing that area of space. By 1800 hours, Seven completed her tasks and was eager to leave and find B'Elanna. Unfortunately, Captain Janeway dropped by to see her, needlessly concerned about her first day back on duty, which she made sure to point out.
Kathryn just laughed and patted the beautiful blonde on the shoulder. At the Captain's request, Seven showed her the course the she had plotted for Voyager to use once they repaired the warp engines. It seemed to Seven that the Captain was more interested in observing her as she spoke rather than the stellar map displayed on screen, and was standing quite close, enough to invade her, what humans termed, "personal space."
"Seven," Janeway spoke softly.
"Yes, Captain."
From the small distance, Seven could see the smooth contours of the smaller woman's face. Kathryn Janeway had aged nicely.
"I haven't told you how much I missed you when you were gone. I was worried that I had lost the both of you."
Seven didn't know what to say, but she was touched by the sentiment. "I missed your presence as well."
"You've grown, in a way, since you set out on the away mission. It's hard to explain, but it's almost as if you've become more open and expressive," Janeway marveled, placing a warm, gentle hand behind Seven's shoulder.
"I...I learned a great deal from my experiences, and from B'Elanna."
"How remarkable...." There was a long pause as the two women gazed at each other, no longer as mentor and student, but as two adults seeing past the exterior and the rank. "Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?" Kathryn asked.
B'Elanna chose to enter at that moment and paused near the doorway, finding the two of them standing close, their faces less than a foot apart. Oh, she tried not to get jealous, not to let the sight of their intimacy take a stab at her heart, but it was difficult. Even though her expression remained impassive, the sick twisting feeling in her chest left her breathless and in pain. And the touch. Janeway was touching Seven. Not in the friendly sort of manner a good buddy would casually dole out every now and then, but an actual caress only one might imagine a lover would give.
Sensing the Klingon's presence, Seven moved away, flustered, and unable to decide what to tell the Captain. Kathryn resolved the situation for her.
Glancing over to the lieutenant, Janeway said, "I see you still have some work to do, Seven. I'll leave you both to it. Let me know what you decide later."
Janeway walked over to B'Elanna on her way out of Astrometrics. "How's everything going down in Engineering? Getting back into the swing of things?" Kathryn asked, grinning warmly at the younger woman, unaware of the tension between them.
"Fine, Captain. Things are going smoothly," B'Elanna reported, her voice steady, but her complexion pale.
"Good. Let me know if you have any problems," called back over her shoulder as she strode out of the room.
"I was just about to find you, B'Elanna," Seven told the lieutenant as she moved over to the Borg's side.
"Until Captain Janeway invited you to dinner," B'Elanna added.
"I will decline so that we can spend the evening together," Seven replied, hoping they could bridge the gap that had formed in their relationship since they returned from the planet.
B'Elanna strolled up the steps to the large screen, and stood quietly admiring the view of stellar space and all its magnificent natural wonders. Seven surveyed her silence patiently, noting the way even the most enchanting elements of the universe could not compare with the Klingon-Human hybrid. Of all the qualities B'Elanna's lineage had assimilated, somehow the most perfect blend of attributes had combined to create this woman.
Looking out into the stars, B'Elanna felt her initial jealousy and heartache subside. It had taken her a long time to come to the point where she was now, a lot of thinking, a lot of debating, and most of all, a lot of crying last night, but the half-Klingon knew that what she was about to do was for the best. Maybe Seven wouldn't understand it right away, but the Borg needed the truth.
"Seven, have you ever noticed the way the Captain treats you differently from the rest of the crew?" B'Elanna asked, not trusting herself to look at the young woman just yet.
It was an odd question coming from B'Elanna, but Seven was willing to indulge the discussion. "Captain Janeway had taken it upon herself to guide me in developing my individuality when I was first separated from the Collective."
"Do you think, if we hadn't been stranded on that planet, that you and the Captain would have eventually...formed a romantic relationship?"
Seven frowned. "B'Elanna, why are you asking this?"
"I just want to know..." B'Elanna folded her arms, still facing away from the ex-drone.
"The Captain and I are friends." She emphasized the last word, as she walked up to the platform. "Do you doubt the sincerity of my feelings toward you?"
B'Elanna turned and gazed into Seven's eyes. "No," she said softly.
"Do you doubt my ability to have feelings for you?"
"Never," the lieutenant denied, shaking her head slightly. She swallowed hard and tried to again. "Don't you ever notice the way the Captain looks at you?"
Seven creased her brow in confusion.
"I think the Captain is interested in you, Seven. I think she wants more than just a friendship."
"You are wrong," Seven angrily protested. "The Captain and I have a platonic relationship, and you will not cheapen it by making her intentions obscene."
"That's not what I'm trying to say," B'Elanna replied, putting her hand on Seven's arm to soothe the Borg. "Seven, in all the time you've spent with the Captain, you've never thought of her from a romantic prospective? We've all seen the way you two interact. Can you tell me honestly that you've never considered Janeway as a potential lover?"
"My past feelings are irrelevant. What is relevant here are my feelings for you." Seven felt uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had turned. Hands clenched tightly at her side, she moved away from the other woman.
"You didn't answer my question," B'Elanna noted, as she came up behind the ex-drone.
"I don't see the point in answering," she replied, taking in a deep breath as the situation felt suffocating. "But if you must force me to.... I have wondered in the past, but those thoughts were fleeting. It is illogical to dwell on them. What I want now is to be with you."
"But you still feel something for her, don't you. When she looks at you with all her focus, when she touches you in that gentle, comforting manner, when she drops everything else to assure your well-being, it draws you to her, doesn't it?"
Seven tried to fight the images, the memories that came to mind of the petite, auburn-hair woman with the powerful presence, the one who guided her, demanded her loyalty and won it. They had spent so many hours together alone, sharing an understanding of what it meant to be isolated from the rest of the crew.
"I do not comprehend what you are attempting to do B'Elanna. Do you wish to terminate our relationship?" Seven questioned, her anguish growing with each second. She did not understand why humans like to play such games.
"I'm not doing this to torture you, Seven," B'Elanna murmured, her voice wavering from her own pain as she spoke. "But I can't...we can't ignore the fact that part of you loves Kathryn Janeway."
"Just as part of you loves Tom Paris," Seven countered, giving B'Elanna an accusing look.
"Okay, that's true. However, I've had closure on that relationship. You haven't had the chance to make a choice yet, with all the possibilities in front of you."
"I have made my choice! I don't know why you can't accept it. Why you don't want me."
Seven voice's was harrowed and passionate. And in a fit of desperation, she struck out at the bulkhead next to her with an open hand, a Borg-enhanced hand. The metal crunched audibly under the blow, and a small dip in the surface remained as a lasting reminder of the ex-drone's heartache. Forgetting her own safety, B'Elanna grabbed Seven about the shoulders, spun her around, hugging onto the blonde tightly, and captured Seven's gaze.
"You listen, Seven. I want you. I want you so much it pains me when you're not around. I just don't want you to have any regrets. To look back one day and think what if.... You and Janeway have a bond, and could have a future together. When we were stranded together on the planet, we didn't know if we would ever be rescued, if we would ever find Voyager."
B'Elanna freed one of her own hands from holding the Borg, and pointed to the two them. "Then, we happened,... and it's wonderful," she continued. "But now we're back on Voyager, and the circumstances have changed. There are other people involved. We can't make mistakes like our parents did by not thinking things through."
Seven sobbed, turning her head away, not wishing to hear anymore of what B'Elanna had to say. "Why do you hurt us, B'Elanna?"
"I don't mean to." B'Elanna wept, knowing she may well have given up the love of her life. "I love you, Ani..."
Seven looked up wonder at the sweet words she had longed to hear from B'Elanna. But what would have given her overwhelming joy was tempered by the emotional turmoil in her heart.
"I wish I could believe you, Bey," Seven responded brokenly.
"Believe me. I love you, and sometimes that means I have to be able to let go of you a little so that you can be your own person and make the decisions you need to make without influence. And if you decide you don't mind settling for a non-practicing half-Klingon engineer..."
Seven stopped crying, and looked at B'Elanna, really looked at her, letting the woman's words seep in. She held the exquisite face in her hand, coming to realize that B'Elanna wasn't breaking up with her. If the Klingon felt she had a choice to make then Seven wasn't going to disappoint. She would consider everything carefully.
"We can still see each other, correct?" Seven asked.
"You better count on it," the Klingon replied, and kissed her.
To be continued....