Chapters 8 - 9 added on 21 Dec 2001
Disclaimers are in part 1.
Rating: NC17
Chapter 8
The next morning, B'Elanna found herself growing irritated with her short-term disability. She wasn't sure she liked being taken care of and was quite certain she hated sitting by while Seven packed everything. The tall blonde had even forgone sleep so that B'Elanna could have the bed and tent. They had argued briefly over that until Seven explained that she really didn't need the sleep if she could regenerate in the next two days. She also explained that when she did sleep, she tended to thrash violently with nightmares and would no doubt hurt B'Elanna. Then, when the engineer awoke, she was discomforted that Seven had already prepared another analgesic, even though privately she knew she needed it. The final insult was that she couldn't even change her shirt without the blonde's help.
Seven tied a rope to her backpack and lowered it off the edge of the ridge that led down to the trail. Afterwards, she came over to B'Elanna, and attached a carabineer and rope to the smaller woman's harness. "Are you ready to begin, B'Elanna?"
B'Elanna was slightly confused so she asked, "How are we going to do this, Seven?"
"You will simply walk down the rock-face holding onto the rope as I lower you down," the tall blonde stated as if it were obvious.
"You sure you can do that?" B'Elanna still had reservations about anyone being strong enough to carry her weight, even though, obviously, the woman had already brought her down this far alone. Seven merely raised her eyebrow pointedly at B'Elanna. "Okay. I just had to ask. I guess I better get going then."
B'Elanna and Seven walked to the edge of the small ridge, and B'Elanna took a breath before facing the blonde. The rope was taut between them. The smaller woman leaned back holding onto it, and started walking down. When she reached the bottom, the rope went slack, and she looked up in time to see Seven scaling down the ridge effortlessly. Her strength and suppleness were made more apparent by the simple clothes she wore. B'Elanna looked away when she realized she was staring at Seven's shapely legs and rear.
They traveled down the mountain like that until they were at the transport point. By then Seven was carrying both backpacks and they had been hiking through the woods for a while. When they got to a clearing, Seven told B'Elanna that they could transport out but seemed hesitant to leave.
"B'Elanna, I must ask a favor." The blonde was almost timid again. B'Elanna knew she would grant Seven any favor she asked. "Would you please keep what I told you last night in confidence? I do not wish for anyone to know how easily I was used." She stared down at the ground and her voice softly cracking.
B'Elanna reached up and grasped Seven's chin in her hand, forcing the blonde's eyes to her own. "I'll never tell anybody Seven, on my Honor. But, you've got to realize that you didn't do anything wrong. That petaQ is the one who should be ashamed, not you." She reached around Seven and carefully hugged. Seven smiled weakly and nodded.
"Thank you, B'Elanna."
~~~~~
After transporting back to the ship, Seven escorted B'Elanna to the sickbay. She needed to know B'Elanna would be alright. She was also still carrying her new friend's pack.
When they walked into sickbay, the Doctor was a bit surprised to see them talking amicably but decided to keep his council for once. He also noticed the Klingon's arm in a sling, so he grabbed his scanner and made a sour face as he walked over to them. B'Elanna had hopped up onto the first biobed.
"Well, what has Super-Klingon done now?" he asked as he scanned B'Elanna's arm. She figured it must not be so bad because it was well known that he was especially sarcastic when injuries were easily fixed.
"She had an accident," Seven answered harshly fixing him with a lethal glare. Both the Doctor and B'Elanna were surprised by her sudden protectiveness. B'Elanna just looked up at Seven and grinned, causing Seven to grin back.
The Doctor coughed and said slowly, "I see. Well this elbow has four nasty fractures. I'm surprised there wasn't damage to the rest of the arm. What happened?"
B'Elanna explained her fall and subsequent loss of consciousness. Then, Seven told the rest of the story explaining how she healed the other wounds and downloading the data from her tricorder. He was quite impressed with the blonde's treatment and told her so as he healed the elbow. He extracted a promise from B'Elanna that she would return the next day for a scan and that she would take it easy until then. Finally he sent them on their way.
When they left sickbay, the two women walked to the turbolift together. Each woman was sad to see the other go, but both needed to return to their private space and rest. Finally, as the turbolift reached Seven's deck B'Elanna stopped the lift to speak privately with the woman.
"Seven, I'm glad we talked and I think we could be good friends. I'm just sorry I was so stubborn. Anyway, what I wanted to say was 'thank you'. Thank you for taking care of me and healing me. I'll never forget it." She smiled at the ex-drone. "And I was serious about talking to me whenever something's bothering you."
"Thank you, B'Elanna. I, too, am happy that we are becoming friends. I promise to talk to you only if you will do the same." She looked at B'Elanna with a raised implant.
B'Elanna snickered and punched Seven gently on the arm. "Yeah, ok. If I have any talking to do I'll make sure you hear it. But I won't get too mushy. I am part Klingon you know!"
Seven grinned, and B'Elanna released the lift. As Seven stepped out, B'Elanna called after her. "Hey, you want to do something tonight? Maybe go to Sandrine's and shoot some pool?"
"I have never played pool," Seven stated. "I think I would like that. I will be done with my regeneration at 2000 hours. Is that acceptable B'Elanna?"
"Make it 2100. This Klingon needs some beauty sleep." B'Elanna grinned.
"I do not think you can become more beautiful B'Elanna. Nevertheless, I will meet you at 2100 hours. Shall I come by your quarters?" B'Elanna was taken aback by Seven's comment so she just dumbly nodded and stepped back letting the lift doors close.
~~~~~
At 2100 hours B'Elanna's door chirped, announcing her visitor. She hurriedly finishing dressing and called out, "Come on in Seven."
The blonde, dressed in her old plum biosuit, entered B'Elanna's quarters. She looked around, noting the ceremonial Klingon weapons mounted on the wall. The tidy room had a remarkable efficiency that Seven would not have expected in the engineer.
B'Elanna came out of her bedroom dressed in a casual green tunic and loose fitting black pants. Seven thought she looked beautiful, but, knew better than to tell her new friend that. "I am ready for my pool lessons, jonwI' (engineer)," she smiled.
"Uh . . . Yeah, Seven. I don't know if I'm ever going to get used to you spouting off Klingonese." She laughed, shaking her head. "Let's go crash the bar, then, shall we?"
~~~~~
When they arrived at Sandrine's B'Elanna dragged Seven straight to the bar. The lithe engineer slapped her hand down hard getting the attention of the holographic bartender. She grinned at Seven stating conspiratorially that they needed 'pool fuel.' Seven was rather dubious when she was handed a large stein of ale, but made no complaint. It was so refreshing to have the gorgeous woman beside her. She was willing to go through any ritual B'Elanna saw fit in order to keep the engineer happy for the evening.
They left the bar, making their way to the tables. There were many crewmembers present and the place was hopping with excitement. Twice, B'Elanna was stopped by friendly crewmembers and they stayed talking for short times.
When they rounded the corner for the table area B'Elanna suddenly dropped her stein. Seven gaze followed B'Elanna's glare to the pool table. She was surprised to see Tom Paris giving a female ensign his own version of 'pool lessons' which evidently included quite a bit of fondling and some kissing on the neck. A ferocious growl erupted out of B'Elanna, but before she could charge Tom, Seven quickly snaked her left arm around the woman's tiny waist.
"Let go Seven!" B'Elanna bellowed. "I'm going to tear him in half and toss him out of an airlock! Come here you son of a targ!"
This finally caught Tom's attention. He looked up to see the unbelievable sight of Seven of Nine holding back his furious Klingon girlfriend and wondered if he could run out of the holodeck before B'Elanna got away from Seven. However, no matter how violently B'Elanna was squirming the blonde's grasp was holding. The blonde also seemed to be whispering into the engineer's ear. B'Elanna quit her struggle and glared into Tom's eyes, but Seven's grasp didn't falter an inch.
"You have 30 seconds to explain this Tom. I'll decide if you live after that, "B'Elanna growled ferociously.
The helmsman was feeling foolishly brave because of Seven's iron grip. "You were the one who wanted to go back to dating B'Elanna. I'm just doing what you wanted."
He moved closer to the pair with his best puppy dog eyes. That was a big mistake because Seven was feeling a little vindictive at the contemptible man for hurting her new friend. Cruelly, she loosened her grip on B'Elanna just enough so that when B'Elanna's predictable lunge at the helmsman occurred she got one solid connection. Smirking at the dumb man, she then reeled the engineer back in. All this time B'Elanna was hurling epithets at him like daggers.
"You hit me," he whined loudly, his voice distorted through his now broken nose.
"I believe it would not have occurred had you not been foolish enough to walk into range Mr. Paris," Seven said pointedly raising her eyebrow.
B'Elanna was calming down but her eyes were still at a lethal level. "Paris, if you ever come near me again I'm going to rip your arm off and beat you to death with it. We're through." She turned her head towards her captor. "I'd really like to leave now Seven."
"Of course B'Elanna," Seven said letting her go after assessing the possibilities of B'Elanna carrying out her threat right away. She waved her arm towards the exit. "Shall we?"
B'Elanna simply nodded and stomped away from the scene.
~~~~~
When they left the holodeck, B'Elanna was still angry but no longer had anywhere to focus her ire. Seven looked the Lieutenant over, deciding right away that she need to help her friend channel her aggression.
"B'Elanna, would you let me show you one of my favorite holoprograms?"
The brunette's eyebrows rose high on her forehead. Seven had a favorite holoprogram? She remembered her vow. Even though she wasn't really sure she was in the mood, it was probably better than going back to her quarters alone right now.
"I guess Seven, but I don't know what kind of company I'm going to be right now."
They went down the corridor to the other holodeck. Seven checked its availability and found it in use. Before B'Elanna could object Seven hit her comm. badge and interrupted the current user. The Borg traded five holodeck slots for his time, then did the same for the next holodeck time. The ensign leaving the holodeck felt he had gotten the better part of the deal and headed off to Sandrine's. B'Elanna was curious at this point.
They entered the empty holodeck together and Seven called out the commands for her holoprogram. "Computer run program Seven Omega gray." The holodeck was transformed to a desolate looking battlefield on the outskirts of a village.
"Hey! This is one of my battle simulations," B'Elanna exclaimed. "I've never beaten this one."
"You can not beat this one alone B'Elanna. I have studied the simulation fully after engaging in the battles twice. I determined that it was programmed to be utilized by at least two people engaging the enemy forces simultaneously. However I did not bring you here for battle. There is another part of the program I don't know if you have considered utilizing. That is where I'd like to take you." Seven smirked at B'Elanna. "It involves a slight change of clothing. With your permission?"
B'Elanna just grinned at Seven and nodded. 'Leave it to her to figure out why I could never beat this stupid battle.'
"Computer, alter my clothing to reference Seven Omega Gray. Furnish Lieutenant Torres with similar armor."
A noise similar to the transporters was heard and the two of them were suddenly standing in full Klingon battle armor. B'Elanna gasped as she looked down at herself. She noticed she now had a d'k tahg (traditional Klingon knife) on one hip and a kut'luch (an assassin's dagger) strapped to the inside of her left arm. Her boots had brought her an inch higher than normal, while Seven's boots actually didn't alter her height because her high heeled shoes underneath had not been removed, only altered in appearance. B'Elanna looked at Seven next and noticed the blonde was releasing her hair from its bun and shaking it wildly. The engineer swallowed hard as she raked her eyes over the blonde's body. Seven in full Klingon regalia was a sight that could have brought Kahless himself to his knees. The blonde noticed B'Elanna's gaze and raised her eyebrow.
"If you're ready to proceed," Seven said waving her arm in the direction she wanted to head.
B'Elanna snapped out of her reverie. She was amazed that the blonde's plan had so quickly tempered her anger at Tom. She grinned rakishly, nodded and followed Seven's lead. As Seven lead her down a trail that she had never taken in the game, B'Elanna reviewed the incident in Sandrine's. It occurred to her that a week ago she would have assaulted Seven for trying to hold her back from Tom. However, this evening she had let the strong woman hold her back and hadn't even thought of hurting her. Nobody had ever been allowed to restrain her like that, so why did she let Seven do it?
They came out on the other side of the town and Seven headed towards a tach. B'Elanna had never even noticed it. She burst out into laughter as Seven made it to the bar's doors.
"You brought me to a Klingon bar? This is one of your favorite holoprograms?" B'Elanna slapped Seven hard on the back.
"I thought you might be more comfortable letting out your natural Klingon instincts in a place where your aggression will not land you in the brig B'Elanna. I also knew you would probably like to consume some wornagh (dark Klingon ale) even if it is synthahol."
Seven inclined her head then opened the door.
As B'Elanna followed her in she found her surprises weren't over. Seven was well recognized by the holoprogram's characters as evidenced by riotous shouts. One giant of a Klingon warrior lumbered over and held his arm out for Seven, which she grasped in a warrior's handshake below the elbow.
"be'basvaj! My hearts can beat again now that you return! I see you've brought a friend! Is she as wicked as you be'basvaj?" He was animated around Seven, but she seemed to be tolerating his presence. He studied B'Elanna as if gauging his chances there.
B'Elanna was still trying to translate. Her Klingonese was rusty, but she thought he was calling Seven 'Metal Warrior Woman.' When she noticed he was leering at her hungrily she growled deeply in warning. He laughed a deep, full-bellied laugh.
"You do not frighten me, little one!" He roared out between laughs.
Suddenly, Seven grasped the hologram around the neck and lifted him high into the air. "But I do Horan! And you will not insult my friend or I will take it as a personal dishonor. Do you understand?"
His eyes were bulging out slightly and he was choking, gasping for breath. Both of his hands were on her wrist trying to escape her iron grip. To see the giant Klingon dangling in mid-air was amazing to B'Elanna. She knew that one of the appeals of the Klingon games was the realism of mass and feel that each hologram had. It was very easy to get injured in these games if the safeties weren't fully engaged. She usually set the program down to medium safety so that any punches she took were felt, but if she got shot or stabbed it would sail through her.
"I understand be'basvaj," he managed to croak out. "I meant no insult."
Seven looked deep into his eyes and simply replied "Acceptable." After that she tossed him across the room into a support post as if he were a rag doll. The patrons erupted in laughter and some raised their glasses in silent salute to the buxom beauty.
"Now, B'Elanna. Shall we get some wornagh?" The blonde was sporting a raffish grin.
~~~~~
After about 15 minutes of drinking alone, Seven's in-game acquaintances began to migrate to their table. She introduced B'Elanna as the finest Klingon warrior she had ever known, causing B'Elanna to blush. Her boasting started detailing how she knew that the warrior woman was just what the town needed to overthrow the corrupt house that was the town's grief, also the objective of the game. She began listing out a plan and buying drinks for the surrounding warriors, but credited the plan to B'Elanna. B'Elanna just sat there amused at the blonde's propaganda in her favor. The Klingon's ego had never been played up so well. Whenever she and Tom had played games together, he always insisted on being the hero, usually relegating her to either sidekick or, despicably, damsel in distress. Soon the warriors were clamoring around B'Elanna asking questions about how she would handle this or that situation. She grinned and answered each question firmly.
Seven knew her plan was succeeding. B'Elanna was wrapped up in planning a battle with the other warriors and wasn't even drinking that much. She had no doubt that if left to her own devices, B'Elanna would have caused herself harm this evening. Now, the beauty was a picture of confidence.
Soon the whole group was split up into two, with B'Elanna leading the covert group, and Seven leading a frontal assault on the house. B'Elanna found the whole scenario glorious. She had never before played this game from an assassin's perspective. Before, she would run in with her bat'leth and surge as far as possible in full battle lust. Now, her group was running behind the scenes, killing whoever they encountered, and waiting for the frontal assault to distract the House's warriors.
In the end, B'Elanna's kut'luch slit the throat of the head of the house cleanly, effectively winning the game. The rest of the house was defeated quickly and easily by the rest of the two groups. B'Elanna cut a swatch of hair from the leader's head then removed the necklace which signified his leadership from around his neck. A roar of congratulations reverberated through the house and soon B'Elanna was hauled onto shoulders and carried outside amid cheers and salutes.
They had carried her all the way through town that way and back into the tach. Seven had followed along, smiling at her friends elation. They spent the last 45 minutes Seven's reserved holodeck time celebrating in the tach, with every town member and warrior giving B'Elanna praise and a drink.
~~~~~
They left the holodeck together in great spirits. B'Elanna, who had consumed innumerable drinks, wandered tipsily back towards her quarters with the cool blonde in tow. The Klingon animatedly regaled the former Borg on how much fun it was to finally beat the game. Seven's smiles were unselfconscious. The blonde couldn't remember ever having this much fun.
When they arrived at B'Elanna's door, the engineer strode in expecting Seven to follow. Nevertheless, the blonde was feeling a bit insecure and stayed outside the door until B'Elanna turned around pulled her in physically. Seven smiled bashfully as the Klingon pushed her down on the couch and ordered two sodas from the replicator.
They talked for hours deep into the night. First, the conversation was about the Klingon games into the holodeck repertoire. B'Elanna was surprised to learn that Seven had just as much interest in the battle simulations as she did. Seven explained that she too had to find useful ways to release her physical aggression, and since nobody on board could safely spar with her enhanced physiology she had looked through B'Elanna's files to see what the engineer did. The Klingon laughed deeply at the confession, but some part of her realized this reaction was new; a week ago she would have wanted to throttle the beauty.
Later in the evening they talked about their mutual frustration of having an above average intelligence that set them apart from the crew. It had never occurred to B'Elanna to think that Seven might be resentful of her intelligence's side effects. They both had grown accustomed to have ideas and insights quashed because of others lack of understanding. From there, their conversation turned to ideas they had never shared with others. Each had designs they never shared for fear that they wouldn't be accepted. However once they were brought into the light, between the two of them the ideas began to grow.
It turned into a brainstorming session on one of Seven's ideas to improve the warp drive. Her idea had been so similar to one of B'Elanna's that they recognized instantly where they had each gotten stuck and how each plan complimented the other's so brilliantly as to form a perfect plan. Seven's analytical approach and B'Elanna's intuition and insight combined and they brainstormed with each other, pouring everything down onto padds until the problem that had been straining each separately was solved somewhere around 0200 hours.
"Kahless, Seven. We can achieve warp 9.985 if we implement this! Beyond that we would be able to hold warp 9 for an extra hour beyond what we can now," the engineer exclaimed exuberantly.
Seven happily absorbed the joy radiating from the Klingon. The vivacious woman before her was the epitome of passion. The cool blonde was overjoyed that she was present and part of the engineer's current cheer. The ex-drone's face was actually a bit sore by now from smiling as much as she had tonight.
Soon, B'Elanna yawned deeply. Seven knew she needed to leave her friend to rest so she stood slowly and looked down to the lithe woman. "I think you should rest, B'Elanna. I want you to know I have enjoyed this evening immensely. However, I will excuse myself now."
Surprised to find the blonde retreating to the doorway, B'Elanna leapt from the couch to escort her to the door. The Klingon couldn't believe it, but she was disappointed to see Seven leaving. Grasping the blonde's elbow before she could trigger the door sensors, she looked into the azure eyes and said, "Seven, before you go, I wanted to thank you for keeping me out of the brig tonight. And for being such a good friend afterwards." She pulled the startled blonde into a solid hug and held her for a moment. Awkwardly releasing the woman, she stepped back. Seven smiled, nodded, then turned and left.
~~~~~
When B'Elanna woke the next day, she was truly at peace. She stretched luxuriously then bounced out of bed. As she was taking her shower she considered the fact that she wasn't even sad to see Tom gone. Somewhere in the night everything had solidified for her. She didn't need the helmrat or his condescending love. He was a better friend than lover, but he wasn't even the best friend she could have. Also, her heart deserved a best friend and an equal.
After her shower, she dressed for the lake. She wasn't going to waste her leave inside this ship when the glorious sun was still calling her. She had to drop by the sickbay on her way out though. The Doctor had been quite clear about rechecking her elbow before she did anything physical. Grabbing her comm.. badge on the way out the door, she headed down to the sickbay.
~~~~~
Seven exited her alcove feeling a bit melancholy that morning. Her eidetic memory was still torturing her at times with cruel flashes of memory. It was especially bad in the mornings. She brought her focus back to the good times she had with B'Elanna the previous night and the thought of the engineer's beautiful smile cheered her somewhat. With that in mind she decided to work on a project she had conceived in the beauty's presence last night.
As she wandered over to the replicators, she called out to the computer to provide her with a mixture of early 20th century blues and jazz. At the replicator, she spent some of her many rations on a large chunk of duranium and a fair piece of tritanium. She gathered some tools she would need and took her materials over to right below her dais, sitting down to begin her work.
~~~~~
After leaving sickbay, B'Elanna had a bounce in her step. The Doctor had cleared her for all activity, so she had some serious playing planned. When she stepped into the turbolift, she was about to call out for the transporter room but a thought of the beautiful blonde former Borg changed her mind. With a beaming smile, she ordered the turbolift to Cargo Bay 2.
Entering the cargo bay, she found the computer blaring out some funky old blues song. The whole situation was slightly amusing. The blonde was sitting on her dais carving something and had not even noticed B'Elanna's entry. The funniest part was Seven of Nine singing along.
"My mama done tol' me son, A woman'll sweet talk, And give ya the big eye, But when the sweet talkin's done A woman's a two-face, A worrisome thing who'll leave ya t'sing The blues in the night."
The Klingon could no longer resist laughing after a few lines of a Borg twanging out Ebonics. Seven looked up at B'Elanna and smiled at the sight of the warrior's mirth.
"B'Elanna, how may I assist you?" the blonde asked with a grin. She put away her carving in a nearby box so that the other woman wouldn't see.
The engineer approached Seven still giggling. "Well, I wanted to see what you were doing today. You have plans?" She sat down next to the former drone and smiled.
"No, B'Elanna. I had simply planned on working on a few projects in the cargo bay," Seven responded.
"Nope. I won't let you do that be'basvaj," she lightly punched Seven's shoulder as she called her by the Holodeck nickname. "Grab your bathing suit and some light clothes. We're going swimming!"
"Indeed? I can not swim B'Elanna," the blonde looked a bit worried.
"Don't worry, Seven. I'm sure once I teach you, you'll adapt," B'Elanna's mischievous grin was infectious. The blonde returned a grin, stood and walked over to an area where her personal belongings were stored. After Seven was changed, the two women left together for the lake.
Chapter 9
A week later, Voyager was still on the planet. Almost all of the crew had finished their leave, except for the last rotation, which had three days left. B'Elanna had gotten permission from the Captain to initiate the upgrades that Seven and she had come up with, and the pair had spent all of their working time together on the project. Often, after 10 hour shifts, Seven would have to remind the engineer to stop to eat. Usually when this happened the engineer would invite Seven to the Messhall and they would eat together, discussing the improvements and a myriad of other things. Afterwards they would usually retire to B'Elanna's quarters or Sandrine's where B'Elanna was teaching Seven the fine art of Pool. Tonight they had plans at B'Elanna's and left the messhall with the engineer rambling over a tale of her Maquis days.
~~~~~
Tom Paris, top helmrat of the USS Voyager, jerked away from his buddy, Ops Officer, Harry Kim. Tom was plastered. He hadn't meant to get caught necking with that ensign. Hell, it was B'Elanna's fault anyway. She all but broke up with him before going off on leave. Even when she got back, she was completely unavailable. It wasn't his fault, damnit. Why was it always his fault? Tom pulled up short when he heard a low voice, one he would recognize anywhere, followed by low precise tones. He sprinted around the corner and rammed right into B'Elanna, growling, "Bitch!" He clumsily picked himself off the floor and completely disregarded his ex's angry expression. He was plastered, he was alone, even his best buddy was stammering apologies to the bitch. While trying to make time with that rigid drone!
"Watch it, Tom," B'Elanna muttered. Looking him over, she realized he was drunk and decided he wasn't worth the trouble. She nodded to Harry and caught Seven's eye, saying, "C'mon. Let's take this someplace less crowded."
"Where do you think you're going?" Tom sputtered. He was not going to be dismissed. He was the one who would do the dismissing. "Half-breed trash like you can't just walk away from me! You toss me away like I'm nothing and get all pissy when I spend my time elsewhere. What the hell did you think was going to happen, little girl? That I'd come pissing all over myself to keep you?"
"petaQ!" B'Elanna pulled back to slug the helmrat, but her fist was caught in the vice like grip of Seven's enhanced hand. Seven shoved Tom out of the way and pulled B'Elanna to her, wrapping the angry woman in her arms. As B'Elanna struggled in vain to attack Paris, Seven spoke to Harry.
"I believe you should remove Mr. Paris." Harry nodded and hurried to pull his friend up. "B'Elanna! DaHlvlaHbe'! ghaH ghaj targh tlq je qagh yab! SoH mej!" Seven growled out in perfect Klingon, 'He can't hurt you! He has the heart of a targ and serpent worms for brains! Leave him!'. B'Elanna froze and listened to her friend. She howled in laughter and turned to face Seven.
"You're right of course be'basvaj! I'll see you later helmrat. Bye, Harry." B'Elanna turned on her heel and resumed her course for the turbolift with Seven in tow.
"What the hell did that drone say?" Tom whined to Harry.
"Stow it, Tom. You're being an ass." Harry pushed him down the hall in the other direction.
"Hell no! I'm gonna get that half-breed bitch! If she thinks she can treat me that way she's mistaken," He exclaimed.
Harry just stared at his friend in disbelief. "I don't think I know you, Tom." The Ops officer shook his head disgustedly and walked away leaving his friend alone in the corridor.
Seven heard the rest of Tom's ravings as she and B'Elanna approached the lift. Once B'Elanna got in the lift she stepped back and told her friend, "I have something I must attend to, but I will meet you in your quarters in a short while."
"Uh, sure, Seven," the engineer answered. "See you in a few then."
The lift door closed and the ex-drone turned back to where she knew Tom Paris had been last based on his still audible grumbling. She approached him from behind. When she was right on top of him, she pulled him up by his shirt collar and dangled him high in the air.
"You are a lucky fool Mr. Paris. You are lucky that I was here tonight and could keep B'Elanna from attacking you. She is certainly capable of doing you great bodily harm. I do not stop her to protect you, fool. She is my friend and I do not wish to see her or the ship damaged by her having to spend time in the brig for maiming our best helmsman. You are a fool for many reasons, the foremost being that you had the best mate on this ship and you threw her away for childish pursuits. You would be an even greater fool if you continue to believe I will allow you to disparage my friend. I have no compunction whatsoever in dealing with you myself if you continue in your folly. The threat of the brig is futile with me, as you well know, and the Captain can not make me follow any order I do not wish to follow." She grabbed a nearby piece of duranium plating from the ceiling, bending it down with her Borg enhanced hand, shaping it into a hook. She made sure he watched every movement as she crushed the solid metal, then turned him so that she could hang him off of it by the back of his shirt. "I have fought with the Captain, and faced down the Borg Queen. Do not test me. You will fail."
Seven turned and left him hanging there shouting epithets and flailing a few feet off the ground. As she walked away she could not help the satisfied smirk that took over her face.
~~~~~
Seven arrived at B'Elanna's quarters a little while later. The engineer let her in and eyed her suspiciously. The former drone was hiding something behind her back and had a playful smirk on her face.
"What do you have there Seven?" The Klingon asked.
"I had planned on giving this to you at a later date, but thought that tonight you might appreciate it. It is to thank you for your kindness out on the mountain, for caring for me while I was so distraught," Seven stated and held out a long blood red box.
"You didn't have to give me anything Seven. That's what friends do for each other," B'Elanna said, but the childish glee on her face gave away the fact that she wanted the gift anyway. When she opened the box, she gasped. A spectacular kut'luch, with a black blade and intricately carved scimitar handle stared up at her. Grasping the handle, it fit like it was made specifically for her hand. Running a finger lightly down the blade, she jumped and yelped after cutting herself unexpectedly. After sucking on her finger, she asked, "Kahless, Seven. Where did you get this?"
The blonde was ecstatic that her gift was so well received. Watching her friend's face light up, then display a wealth of emotion was all the reward she would ever need for her effort. "I made it for you jonwI'. The blade is duranium and the hilt tritanium. I thought you might enjoy adding it to your collection after I saw your skill with it in the battle simulation."
B'Elanna's breath froze in her chest. Never before had someone given her such a thoughtful gift, just for the giving. Realizing that the blonde had no expectations of return, sincerely wanting only to show her appreciation, the engineer was overcome with emotions. So many emotions she could not process them all. She reached out and gave the cool woman in front of her a deep embrace. "It's the best gift I've ever received Seven. Thank you."
"I am glad you like it B'Elanna. I will have the sheath finished within a few days. Then you will have a weapon as easily concealed as you did for the holodeck. Thankfully, we are not arguing in the engine room anymore, or I might really be worried for my safety." She said, deadpanning the last bit.
At the expected laugh, Seven pulled back some from the embrace and stared into the molasses brown eyes. She knew she was developing very deep feelings for her friend, but also knew that she valued the friendship more than any chances of an escalation. In times like this though, when the feisty woman held her so close, and her deep rich musk was so strong to the Borg enhanced senses, Seven felt like her cortical array was in overload. The blonde stepped back from the embrace, disguising her discomfort with a deep breath, walking over to the replicator. She ordered their favorite drinks and sat down on the couch. B'Elanna, still ogling her new toy, sat down next to her diving into questions about how the knife was made.
~~~~~
One week later, Voyager was once again on its way to the Alpha Quadrant. The crew's spirits were extremely high; seven days of shore leave and 20 days without attacks had left everyone unusually buoyant. The scout ship had encountered smooth sailing since leaving the planet, so it was not surprising that the first senior staff meeting was just now being held.
Lt. Torres noticed that the last person to enter was Seven of Nine. The blonde looked unaccountably stiff this morning. When B'Elanna looked at her friend, Seven's eyes were only slightly warmer than frozen over. It disturbed the engineer that this was the first time she had seen the former drone so formal in weeks. She spent the first half of the meeting ignoring the boring reports around her, instead trying to fathom what was bugging the blonde.
Her attention was diverted for a short while as she made her reports. She couldn't help bragging over her and Seven's improvements to the warp core, which was met with mostly happy faces. The only ones who didn't react joyously to the news were the sulking helmsman, the Vulcan who nevertheless raised his eyebrow in approval, and the still seemingly emotionless Seven.
After the meeting, the Captain stopped Seven and B'Elanna before they left. Janeway approached the two women, putting her arm around the blonde's lower back and her other hand on the engineer's shoulder. The redhead went into a short speech about how proud she was of them for working out their differences and for their accomplishments in engineering. At first, the Klingon was ecstatic for the praise, but something about Seven's reaction was unnerving her. The Borg had her jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles in her cheekbones stood out in relief. Her stance was extremely rigid and she wouldn't look the Captain in the eye. When Janeway finished, the former drone thanked her politely then vacated the room very quickly, leaving a stunned Torres behind with the older woman. B'Elanna turned to the Captain to say her polite goodbyes, so she could catch up with her friend, but as she did she could have sworn she caught Janeway leering at the Nordic beauty's retreat.
Leaving the conference room, B'Elanna took the turbolift down to Engineering. Not seeing her friend, she asked the computer for her location. The computer stated the former drone was currently located in Jeffries tube14 subsection 8. Crawling into the tube with a spanner in hand, she was determined to get to the bottom of Seven's cool behavior. She found Seven working on a relay conduit in the cramped space.
"Seven, as far as I know, we've repaired everything. So what are you doing?" B'Elanna asked in a gentle tone.
"This relay is out of alignment by 0.0035 percent. It is inefficient. I am aligning it," The blonde replied in cool crisp tones.
B'Elanna reached out and softly grasped the tall woman's shoulder. She could sense that Seven was on the edge of something extremely emotional and after the meeting she had begun to make some guesses. None of her suppositions were pleasant. Somehow though, after the interactions of the last couple of hours, the Klingon knew that they were likely.
"Seven, what's bothering you? Are you upset with the Captain?" the engineer asked softly.
At the mention of the Captain, the blonde became very stiff and inhaled sharply. "It is irrelevant. I must make these adjustments." That was a confirmation of sorts to B'Elanna's theory.
"You're hurting, Seven. I want to help," she said as she soothed the rigid back with her hand.
"My pain is irrelevant," the Borg replied weakly.
B'Elanna grabbed Seven's shoulders, forcefully spinning the woman around to face her.
"Not to me," the Klingon pleaded. "I don't like to see you hurting this way. I want to see you happy."
Seven was stunned by the vehemence in her friend's voice. It seemed that it was upsetting B'Elanna greatly to see the former drone saddened. It left her slightly confused as to why the engineer was so invested in her emotions. She was looking into her friend's doe brown eyes and felt trapped by their beauty. The energy and emotion in those eyes was enrapturing and she desired the leave to get lost in them forever.
B'Elanna watched the play of emotions over the blonde's face. The Borg mask was falling slowly, but her eyes were already much more expressive than they had been during the meeting. The ice chips had fallen away and left the azure behind, the warmth that the Klingon saw when she knew that Seven was truly feeling again. A single tear escaped Seven's human eye, but before it could travel very far down her cheek, the slightly older woman reached out, cupping the porcelain cheek in her palm, stopping the tear with her thumb. The blonde closed her eyes, leaning into the contact, her mouth parting slightly with a small gasp. 'Kahless, she's beautiful,' the engineer thought. Something deep inside of the warrior called out for this friend, howled for this moment. Her Klingon side was having no trouble telling her to claim the beauty. Her human side was hard pressed to resist having known no other who would honor her human heart as much as the Borg had in the past few weeks.
Time slowed to crawl for the two women. B'Elanna was drawing the blonde closer, leaning up to her lips, as unerringly as a moth to a flame. She knew no other feelings than the desire to kiss the willowy woman with all the tender compassion she felt for her. The former drone was caught in a well of desire to be held in the embrace of this warrior woman. Her Borg enhanced senses were overloading. The full smell of the Klingon, the slight callous of the hand that gentled her face, the sound of the warrior's hearts beating louder, quicker in her chest all served to cause a cascade reaction in the Borg, culminating in a shiver of desire. As the lithe woman's lips were almost upon her own, Seven could taste the air that was escaping the Klingon's mouth and it caused her to moan. Their lips collided slowly, tenderly, but shortly after she could feel the caramel beauty's tongue seeking entrance, which she granted. The kiss began to build and B'Elanna started to run her hand down Seven's face, and slowly to the back of her neck to pull her in tighter.
Then all hell broke loose as the red alert Klaxon shattered the moment and they were tossed aside in the tubes wildly. Seven regained her composure more quickly and was able to catch B'Elanna as she was thrown from another rocking of the ship. The engineer opened her eyes to find her head only inches from a support beam. Suddenly the tube was spinning. It took the woman a moment to realize that Seven had literally picked her up and spun her to face the Jeffries tube exit. Gaining her balance, she sprinted as quickly as possible through the tubes heading back for her engine room, the blonde on her heels.
As the engineer jumped out the tube access, she surveyed her room, finding it in complete disarray, staff running about diligently. Immediately she began barking orders and summarizing what tasks need to be handled first. Looking over her shoulder, she caught sight of the blonde lifting an ensign off the floor. The Borg steadied the young man, then raced over to a console calling up commands.
B'Elanna was working at her console to increase shield integrity when the ship careened aft. Collecting herself off the floor, she jumped back up and looked over the data flowing over the console. It wasn't good. Whoever was attacking them was strong, and their shields were down to sixty percent. She could see that Tuvok was calling up a heavy torpedo assignment, so she had hope that they would make it through quickly. Their weapons systems hadn't been damaged thus far, giving them good odds.
There was a high pitched whining noise behind her and she turned in time to see six tall furry humanoids materialize. One of the ugly creatures saw her and took aim. She ducked his wild shot, but was dismayed when she heard the explosion behind her. Turning just in time to see the main power and control relay for the antimatter reactant injectors finish exploding, B'Elanna knew she only had minutes to reroute control and power before a cascade reaction began. The ships safety's were still online thankfully, so the Intrepid class ship dropped completely out of warp, causing most of the invading party to fall. Being prepared for that eventuality, the engineer held onto her console tightly with one hand, entering command furiously with the other.
Re-routing control over the ARIs was the highest priority in the Klingon's mind. An uncontrolled release of antimatter without the magnetic constrictors could overload the warp drive chamber. An uncontrolled release might wipe out both ships. She had the power re-routed and was working on the computer control when she heard another disruptor blast at her back. Expecting to be hit with the blast, she was surprised to hear a low female grunt instead.
Seven of Nine was behind her fighting off the invaders, and had taken the blast meant for B'Elanna. The blonde growled and leaped from her spot to the would be attacker, ripping his disruptor away and using it to knock him out cold. She tossed the weapon aside and dispatched two more of the invaders with her bare hands. The sickening sound of necks snapping gave the engineer a good idea who would win the battle, so she hurried back to her task.
As she finished, she heaved a sigh of relief. After informing the Captain that they once again had warp, she ran through the remaining systems, assuring herself that the other important systems were not in immediate danger. Turning back to find the drone and assist her she found all of their invaders but one unconscious or dead on the floor. The remaining attacker was being held high above the floor by Seven's grip around his throat. B'Elanna wasn't sure but she had a good idea that the garbled noises and drool leaving his mouth weren't normal. She rushed over to the Borg and put her hand on the blonde's arm.
"You can let him go now, Seven. Put him down." B'Elanna was using her best soothing voice but the blonde barely budged.
"Species 9763. A despicable race not worthy of assimilation. They prey upon the weak, plundering each sector they roam through, capturing whoever they can. After stealing their technology, they torture and eat their victims." The blonde practically spat out her summation of the race. Her face was a tortured mask of disgust.
As B'Elanna tried to find something to say to calm the woman, she noticed blood pouring down from a wound in Seven's stomach. The biosuit was scorched leaving a gaping hole which revealed a twisted mass of implants and burned skin. The most alarming thing for the Klingon was that she could actually see what looked like pulsing internal organs pushing up against the metal of the implants. The blood pouring from the wound had already stained a large portion of the blue biosuit and the stain was traveling down her hip and thigh.
Security poured in finally and accessed the situation, training their weapons on the surviving invaders. Seven tossed the furry creature to one of the security officers. She turned to head to a console. B'Elanna was so surprised she didn't immediately understand what the former drone was doing. As the Borg's hands began flying over the console trying to correct damage to systems, the Klingon was jarred back to reality. She grabbed her friend by the shoulder and said to her firmly, "Seven, you're injured. You've got to go to Sickbay."
"My injuries are irrelevant. You need my help, B'Elanna. I can report to the sickbay after we have fixed the damage," Seven stated calmly.
"Listen you thick-headed Borg. I thought I already told you that you matter to me and I don't like seeing you hurt. I won't be able to work knowing you're sitting here bleeding and in pain," she growled out, then softened her tone. "Please bangwI', take care of yourself for me," the engineer pleaded.
"bangwI'?" Seven asked softly in disbelief. B'Elanna had just called her 'my love.' Her heart caught in her throat and she felt dizzy. The most beautiful woman on the ship had just declared a love for her that she had never dreamt possible. She reached out and cupped B'Elanna's face in her palm. "HltojQo'." (Don't deceive me.)
"jI'Ip bangwI' Hija'. qawIv. " (I vow, my love. It's true. I choose you.) B'Elanna answered, kissing the palm of the beauty's hand.
Seven smiled radiantly. "jIQuch bangwI'." (I am happy, my love.) she leaned down and tenderly kissed the smaller woman. Her head was spinning, she had never known such joy. She felt dizzy with all her emotions, then realized, it wasn't all emotion. "B'Elanna…" she croaked out as she passed out and fell into the warriors arms.
B'Elanna was scared. She had never seen anything overwhelm the Borg physically. She activated her comm. badge and ordered an emergency beam out to sickbay.
Continued in next part ....