Disclaimer: The characters belong to Paramount, but the story and ideas belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended. I only borrowed them for a little while, no profit will be made, except for maybe psychological. WARNING: DO NOT read if you are uncomfortable with or offended by f/f romance.
Code: T/7.
Rating: PG
Archiving: Please ask permission.
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Any feedback or other comments should be sent to BCBones@aol.com
Description: Very sweet short for Valentine's day
Short story
25 Feb 2001
"Naomi Wildman."
The young child turned to see her friend enter the Cargo Bay, after having waited there for nearly an hour. The morning had been eventful, with Neelix having alerted the entire crew that the Mess Hall would be observing the Terran holiday of Valentine's Day. She had spent most of her time waiting for Seven making heart-shaped valentines to give to people like her mother had taught her.
"Hi, Seven! I was hoping you would come back here after the senior officers' meeting," Naomi replied.
Seven arched an elegant brow. "And how were you aware that we had a meeting?"
"The Captain's Assistant should know everything that goes on," the bright child answered offhandedly like it was common knowledge.
Seven allowed a faintly amused smile and walked over to where Naomi sat, just at the foot of her regeneration alcove, and peered down at the odd little project that had been underway.
"What are you doing?" the ex-drone asked, crinkling her brow in confusion at the apparent disorder.
"I was just about to ask you to join me. I brought over some paper and scissors so that we could make valentines, Seven," Naomi said as she looked up her towering friend.
"Valentines?" Seven sighed in resignation at yet another confusing human tradition she was unfamiliar with. "This is related to Mr. Neelix's announcement this morning."
"Yep!"
Naomi tugged at the hand which was closest to her in a wordless request for her friend to sit down. Craning her neck was getting tiresome. Seven complied and slowly scrunched her tall frame into a sitting position on the floor, picking up a pair of scissors purposelessly.
"Here," Naomi began, as she folded a red piece of construction paper in half, took up a big marker and started drawing on it, "why don't you copy what I'm doing and I'll tell you all about today..."
~~~~~~~~~~~
A Valentine's Day in the Life of ......
Seven walked through the corridors on Deck 4 on her way to the bridge, greeting her fellow crewmmembers as she pass them by, all the while scrutinizing each one for their suitability. She palmed the red piece of tightly folded paper in her hand nervously as she dismissed every one of them.
'Crewman Chell...he dislikes me. Too suspicious in nature. Unworthy of assimilation.'
'Crewman Tal Celes, attractive and understanding, but not efficient.'
'Commander Tuvok, logical and efficient, but mated and chronologically too mature for me.'
During her time with Naomi, she had made just one of the heart-shaped valentines instead of the dozen or so by her friend which had completely littered the Cargo Bay floor. Seven felt that logically she could only love one person at a time, and therefore, she needed only one. When she questioned Naomi about the number she intended to give out, the child just laughed it off stating she was too young to settle for only one person to like.
For Seven, the difficulty laid in selecting the individual for which to give the valentine to, who would hopefully return her romantic feelings or the very least, the possibility of it. At first, the Borg was reluctant to participate in the tradition of the holiday, but changed her mind after thinking it over. It had been a while since she felt the soft lips of another individual touching hers. But since she had only kissed Axum in Unimatrix Zero, practically virtual rather than true reality, then she had never actually kissed another person, and that left her with an empty feeling.
Seven entered the turbo lift, but before the doors closed, she saw the stocky figure of Neelix rush in, just in time to catch the lift with her. He greeted her with his usual enthusiasm.
"Seven! On your way to the bridge too?" he asked.
"Yes," she said a bit briskly, unfairly blaming the poor man for her brewing predicament.
"Do you know what day it is today?"
"YES, unfortunately."
Neelix pouted comically, and tried to soothe the obviously annoyed ex-drone. "Now, Seven, this is a wonderful Terran tradition. In fact," the cupid leaned over to whisper secretively, "I have it on first authority that you will be receiving more than one valentine today."
Seven looked sharply at him in surprise while he answered back in a smirk, barely containing his chortle of delight with the news. Neelix turned his face forward, and allowed the poor blonde to muse over what he had said. Stepping back, Seven leaned against the wall of the lift, to hide her forming blush and clocking knees. She glanced over the man's profile, noting the fine mane that sprung from the head of the shorter figure. As an individual, Neelix was extremely considerate, kind-hearted, with many a good intention. He certainly deserved a valentine of some sort. However, she concluded she would not be the one to give it to him.
The doors opened onto the bridge, and as Seven exited the lift, she noted that the command posts had not been spared by the indignity of the holiday either. A few of the crewmembers had left their valentines at their station while Lt. Paris was blatantly wearing the outlines of a few of them on his face. Frowning in disapproval, the Borg headed straight for the Captain's Ready Room, knowing the level-headed woman would not indulge in such frivolous activities during ship's business.
"Come."
Seven heard the beckon and walked into the room, relief pouring into her veins when she saw the Captain as she should be, drinking a cup of coffee and scanning a few reports in hand.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Seven?" the Captain inquired sweetly.
"I am ready to give my report on the Astrometrics sensor sweep of this region of space, Captain," the ex-drone replied formally.
"So soon? Well, by all means..."
Janeway got up from her chair and strolled over to the computer console on the wall adjacent to her desk. She watched as Seven uploaded the information and briefly went over her discoveries, all the while appraising the young woman that had taken her life by storm.
'She's definitely grown up to be a confident, self-assured individual with her own kind of thoughts and feelings,' Kathryn contemplated to herself. 'If I weren't the Captain and her mentor...'
Seven did not notice however as she concentrated on giving the supposedly memorized report, determined not to let the stress of Valentine's Day get to her. Finally, she reached the description of a nebula which contained a few interesting readings, including a strong signal that indicated a form of liquid dilithium which the ship could use.
"Good work, Seven. I guess we'll be making a course change after all," the Captain told her. "I'm sure B'Elanna will appreciate the new supply of dilithium to power her warp engines."
They headed towards the Bridge, but the Captain paused, then turned and walked back to her desk. Seven observed as the Captain leaned down into a drawer and pulled out a small, elegantly decorated with woven paper and gold leaf box.
"I'd like for you to have this. I know human customs may seem a bit strange sometimes to you, but it's just a small gesture in the spirit of the day. And in case, no one else has the opportunity to show you what it's all about," Janeway said, as she passed over the gift to a baffled Seven.
"Thank you, Captain," Seven acknowledged awkwardly, looking down at the box of chocolates.
Seven exited the Ready Room even more troubled than before, while Janeway only sighed and shook her head. The Borg was touched by the gesture, but her hand had refused to return it by releasing the folded valentine.
~~~~~~~~~~~
At noon, Seven went to the Mess Hall in search of lunch as her other search proved futile despite her earnest attempt. She had intended to invite Icheb along with her, knowing the young man always seemed to snack on supplements alone in Astrometrics rather than mingling with his fellow peers. It had been her initial instinct to do so after she was severed from the Collective, but she hoped to ease his transition better with her experience. She couldn't locate him however, and decided it was best not to interrupt what he was doing by calling him over the comm.
Quirking her brow, Seven took her food tray from the still smirking Neelix, and spotted Ensign Kim sitting alone on the far end of the room. She proceeded over to him, remembering their friendship and wondering if he would be an appropriate candidate. After all, they had almost copulated. She was sure that if she had been more insistent that night, they would have ended up doing so. Fortunately, Harry was a "nice guy" as many had described him, and had not taken advantage of the situation.
"Ensign Kim, may I join you?"
Harry blinked twice before a beatific smile emerged on his face. "Of course, Seven. And call me Harry," he added.
'Less formality,' Seven noted as she sat down. 'A possible romantic intent.'
To her, everyone seemed to be acting a bit differently today, as if the holiday itself had induced some kind of spell on people.
"What is that object on your tray?" she asked, spotting the dark, red shape.
"Oh, this? Naomi gave that to me when she bumped into me in the corridor. Kinda sweet doncha think?"
"Indeed," Seven said, considering whether or not it was appropriate now for her to give the Ensign another valentine when Naomi had just given one of her hearts to the man.
"I see you are braving the tofu-loaf," Harry teased, eyeing the congealed blob.
"The protein content of the nutritional supplement is adequate for my daily requirement," Seven answered matter-of-factly.
Harry chuckled affectionately at the beautiful blonde, still dazzling to his eyes. "How's your day going?" he asked, gazing intently in contrast to the casual demeanor with which he asked his question.
"It has proceeded without much interruption," she responded somewhat evasively.
"Have you gotten a valentine yet?" He got more to the point.
Before Seven could answer, she was interrupted by a large boom that rocked the ship. The red alert blared ostensibly in the background as the crew scrambled to their feet.
"All hands, this is the Captain speaking. We were just struck by an electromagnetic discharge from the isoplasmic nebula, and we have changed course away from the vicinity. Red Alert is canceled," announced Janeway. "All engineering staff report to Engineering."
Seven and Harry exchanged looks, before they turned heels and headed down toward Engineering.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The two senior officers strode through the double doors amidst a flurry of activity. Crewmates were running back and forth, yelling at each other above the clamor as they set about repairing the damaged systems.
"Where's B'Elanna," Harry questioned one of the crew, grabbing him as he passed by.
"Over near the warp plasma coils, Sir," Ensign Bristow replied, pointing towards the section of Engineering.
Seven and Harry found the agitated half-Klingon on her way into an access hatch, all the while shouting orders to her staff.
"Hey, B'Elanna, could you use an extra pair of hands?" Harry called out before the nimble figure could disappear into the Jeffries tube.
B'Elanna peered over to the two new bodies that crowded her work space. "Thanks, Harry, but I think I've got everything covered," she replied tersely.
"Are you sure? Looks like you guys have your hands full. You could use the help if you want to get these people out in time for the party," he ribbed.
B'Elanna rolled her eyes, and replied, "If they want to leave for the party later, that's fine with me. I'll stay and finish the work."
Impatiently, the lieutenant shoved a large case of equipment into the tube in front of her, clearly wanting to get back to work. Harry knew this wasn't the best of time for B'Elanna with any regards to a romantic holiday, so he didn't push it.
"Alright, but hail me if you do need help," the Ensign offered, realizing he was getting in the way more than anything.
"Lieutenant Torres..."
Before B'Elanna could hop into the hatch, she was stopped once more by another voice. It was then she noticed that the Seven had been standing next to Harry the whole time.
"What is it, Seven?"
"I'm sorry the nebula has caused so much damage to the ship. It was my Astrometrics analysis that led the Captain to change course towards the nebula," the Borg apologized, feeling somewhat guilty all of a sudden for the chaos.
B'Elanna had an expression of amazement on her face as she heard the ex-drone apologize to her for the first time with so much sincerity. Perhaps sensing the distress in her voice, B'Elanna tried to reassure the young woman.
"...It's not your fault, Seven," B'Elanna responded with unexpected gentleness. "No one anticipated the nebula to be so unstable, especially since it could support liquid dilithium. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some burnt out EPS conduits to fix..."
The lieutenant crawled into the tube as she said the last part, not bothering to wait for an answer. They watched as she disappeared down the narrow shaft.
"Come on, Seven. You know how it is...too many cooks in the kitchen."
Reluctantly, Seven left the lieutenant to her devices, and accompanied Ensign Kim back to the Mess Hall so that he could finish his lunch. Seven made an excuse not to join him for the rest of the meal, saying she had to go track down Icheb. Before she left however, he pulled her aside and handed her a small card with an image of two hearts next to each other. She managed a weak smile in return for his much larger one as he walked away, still holding onto the almost crumpled valentine she had made in her hand. She glanced down at it, wondering why she still could not part with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The young Borg sat off and away a bit to the side, watching as a mixture of crewmembers danced away in the middle of the Mess Hall. The tables and chairs had been cleared from the center of the room, and decorations had been hung over the bulkheads, attempting to create a mood of love for the couples. Flowers, candy, and cards were abundant as men and women, women and women, men and men chatted together, occasionally throwing not-so-subtle, gooey looks at one another.
She was asked to dance a couple of times by the Captain and the Doctor. Gracefully, the Captain lead her through a wonderfully slow waltz that took her breath away, capturing the attention of everyone in the room. Then the women sat together, discussed topics of interest, and drank a delicious bottle of Arcadian summer wine. It seemed wondrously romantic and Seven was completely taken by the Captain's charms. But somehow the valentine hidden in the sleeve of her biosuit remained there all evening.
During the rest of the night however, she watched as Lt. Paris flirted with his flock of groupies, being handed off from one girl to the next, dance after dance. It was the only thing that fouled her mood on an otherwise enjoyable night. She saw him kiss a few girls as they rubbed up next to him in the dim lighting while the dancing and partying progressed. Watched as he fondled a few of them in their drunk giddiness. And when he came over to offer his company at one point, she flat out refused him.
At last, it was the Doctor who approached her when he discovered her aloof in her own area of the room. He walked over to her and handed her a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He asked her for one last dance, and she complied.
"So Seven, who will be your Valentine?" the EMH asked, his eyes sparkling.
"I have not decided yet. I do not think I have found a suitable candidate," she answered truthfully.
Though he appeared somewhat disappointed, he nodded in understanding, seeing the confusion in her eyes. The young Borg seemed genuinely concerned.
"Don't worry. You'll know when the time is right," the Doctor reassured. And all through the song, he held her like a gentlemen and twirled her around the room for a few more minutes before he relinquished his hold.
"Well, I'm afraid my time is up however."
"What do you mean?" Seven questioned, hoping she had not hurt the Doctor's feelings.
"I have to return to Sickbay. Captain Janeway asked if she could borrow my mobile emitter," he replied delicately.
Caught off guard, Seven had no words to say.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The night was winding down, and there were a few noticeable no-shows, B'Elanna being one of them. Seven spotted Icheb and went over to him, ready to reprimand him firmly for staying up beyond his designated regeneration period. He was holding a heart-shaped card.
"Icheb, you should be regenerating."
"Yes, Seven. I'm sorry, but I had to come and tell you that I won't be needing the extra lessons in warp mechanics and quantum theory tomorrow morning," the young man told her.
"I don't understand. I thought your tutors had canceled your lessons so that they could attend the festivities."
"Yes, but Lt. Torres offered to tutor me today. We were able to complete the lessons barring the interruption from Main Engineering," Icheb informed.
"I see," Seven said with a crease in her brow, fearing the extra work had plagued the already stressed Klingon.
Though her facial expression seemed harsh, privately however, the young Borg softened at the thought of someone else looking after and caring about her protégé. She peered at the valentine in his hand and asked curiously, "You have received your first valentine. Who is it from?"
Blushing, Icheb replied, "Naomi Wildman accosted me in Cargo Bay 2, and gave me this token of her affection."
Seven sighed. If Naomi could find more than a dozen valentines, then she could find one. And at last, she knew where to look.
~~~~~~~~~~~
B'Elanna tapped in the last commands into the computer terminal. She let out a deep breath as she began replacing the all the access panels she had removed to repair the remaining conduits in the Jefferies tube, a little weary after pulling a double shift. She turned her head at the sound of the access hatch opening and saw the top of a blonde head poking into the tube. For a second, she thought it was Tom who had come looking for her, the very idea of it making her sick. But then she realized that it was Seven of Nine crawling towards her and relaxed a bit.
"Seven? What are you doing here?"
"I came to thank you, Lieutenant. Icheb informed me of your volunteering to tutor him in both warp mechanics and quantum theory today," Seven told her, as she sat down next to the half-Klingon.
"I had some extra time today, at least I thought I had," B'Elanna shrugged off.
"In any case, it was a relief to Icheb not to have fallen behind in his studies, all for a Terran holiday."
B'Elanna snorted in agreement. "I remember what it was like. I was pretty uptight about my study assignments when I was in the Academy. You can tell Icheb he has nothing to worry about. He's a bright boy."
"Still, I appreciate your efforts in providing him with an appropriate role model, and...befriending him...," the young woman added, her blue eyes focused completely on the half-Klingon.
B'Elanna stared into those shimmering blue pools before finding her voice again, not used to compliments. "It's not a problem."
"And you, Lieutenant? You did not wish to attend the festivities tonight and join in on the traditions?" Seven questioned carefully, searching the exotic face for some kind of sign.
"I guess I just don't have any reason to celebrate on Valentine's Day anymore," the half-Klingon replied bitterly.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant, about the dissociation of your marriage. Mr. Paris did not deserve your affections," Seven spoke honestly.
B'Elanna gazed at the young Borg in amazement for the second time today. The silence between them was a bit awkward.
"Maybe I have no luck with love," B'Elanna remarked sadly, looking away, then became embarrassed by her moment of weakness, and busied her hands with cleaning up.
"When the time is right, Lieutenant," came the reply.
The half-Klingon turned her head to speak again, but Seven was gone. Her last glimpse of the ex-drone was the curve of the long slender body unraveling as it stepped away from the access hatch. B'Elanna sighed and reached down to pick up her instruments. Her hand found a piece of paper and she lifted it up to her eye. It was a heart-shaped valentine, looking slightly rumpled and almost pitifully fragile.
Amused and puzzled at the same time, the engineer wondered if the ex-drone had left it there by accident. To find out, she had to open the card of course, but then again, she would also end up invading the ex-drone's privacy. Peering about guiltily, B'Elanna cracked open the well-creased piece of paper and read the note inside. Her eyes widened in shock at the message. There written in bold, precise lettering it said:
BE MY VALENTINE, LT. TORRES.
^
(Signed) SEVEN OF NINE
With her mouth agape, the lieutenant lowered the heart-shaped valentine and stared blankly at the nondescript bulkhead in front of her, until she finally she shook herself out of it.
'This has got to be some kind of joke,' B'Elanna thought to herself as she replayed the conversation.
Pushing the remaining panel back in place, she just had to stop herself and laugh. The smiles, the giggles just kept bubbling up, and the poor engineer couldn't control the joy that threatened to spill.
'Damn, I hope the Hydroponics Bay wasn't completely raided.'
~~~~~~~~~~~
The party was over. It was quiet in the Mess Hall when she stepped in, and B'Elanna cursed herself for being too late, fearing the room was already deserted. But there, in the corner framed by the dim starlight, she saw the lithe figure standing forlornly in the shadows. With roses in hand, quietly, she walked over to the young woman, not wanting to startle the perfect vision before her. Even so, Seven heard her soft footsteps and turned to greet her, their gazes meeting like timeless entities of moon and sun.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometime later...
A small compact body slid out from under the covers and pitter-pattered her way across the room to a drawer, careful not to wake her sleeping companion. She opened it and found what she was looking for even in the darkness. She unfolded the creases that were still there and gazed lovingly at the piece of kismet. Softly, she made her way to the replicator, whispered a few commands, and the computer complied.
She lifted the newly framed valentine and placed at her bedside, before slipping back under the covers, snuggling down to sleep again. Her lover smiled imperceptibly.
The End