Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager and all who sail in her belong to Paramount/Viacom and no infringement of copyright/trade marks is intended. This story includes same sex relationships between women. If you are offended by this or it is illegal where you live or you are underage then please read no further. I also need to thank my betas Arcanum and Anaglyph, without whom, all this would be far poorer and quite littered with mistakes - thanks for the support.
Code: T/7.
Rating: R
Archiving: Perfect Misfits and The Vinculuum are a given, anyone else, please ask.
Feedback: Yes please - I wouldn't post it if I didn't want it.
Any feedback or other comments should be sent to rebelgirl_uk@yahoo.co.uk
Description: Inspired by a challenge issued by Voyooho in Voq Je Bang, the rules of which are displayed just prior to the start of Part I, I must therefore dedicated this to Voyooho and thank her for firing my muse.
| Part I 18 April 2001 | Part II 18 April 2001 | Part III 18 April 2001 | Part IV 31 May 2001 | Part V 31 May 2001 |
| Part VI 31 May 2001 | Part VII 31 May 2001 | Part VIII 31 May 2001 | Part IX 21 Dec 2001 | Part X 21 Dec 2001 |
| Part XI 21 Dec 2001 |
Part I
18 April 2001
Rules of the Challenge:-
1. B'Elanna has to actively seduce an unwilling Seven.
2. Seven has to be involved in a relationship with someone other than Janeway.
3. Has to have at least PG-13 content, for the same reason as wyld's challenge.
4. Must find some way to deal with cortical node booby trap besides ignoring it.
B'Elanna Torres curled her fingers round the hot cup of coffee and took a deep sip, surveying the Mess Hall from over the rim of the black and silver cup. She could feel the moist heat steam onto her face from the cup even as the cup warmed her fingers and hands. From her vantage point near one of the large windows in the hall, she could watch the occupants unnoticed, or more particularly, watch for one occupant.
B'Elanna had finally found enough Klingon honour and courage to be honest with herself about her feelings for the ex-drone. As her love for helmsman Tom Paris had dwindled, her attention had focused on Seven of Nine and how she felt whenever they crossed paths. Their confrontations were legendary. Recently though, they had been far less frequent as the Chief Engineer had taught herself not to react to the actions of the tall blonde in the same hot-headed manner. She felt sure that Seven of Nine deliberately provoked her in order to get a response. As she continued to analyse that she came to wonder if the borg was doing it to be irritating or because she craved the same feelings as B'Elanna from the interaction.
B'Elanna could no longer deny was that she was totally head over heels in love with Seven. Her hearts would race when she felt her presence. Her pupils would dilate, trying to take in as much light as possible so that she could admire the tall, curvaceous body, the swell of her breasts and sway of her hips as she moved. Before conversing with Seven, she would fight to get her breathing under control and her skin felt hypersensitive when she was so close to her, yet unable to touch her.
Her stomachs lurched as the object of her desire walked through the doors and up to the counter. B'Elanna was too far away to hear any conversation between Seven and Neelix, but she could admire how she gracefully nodded her head as Neelix said something that met her approval.
Seven turned and she smiled, her face lighting up as she detected the instigator of the smile. B'Elanna thought her hearts would give out completely as Seven approached her, but just as suddenly wished that they would when Seven sat down at a table opposite the provocateur of her smile. B'Elanna closed her eyes briefly - trying to block out the image - but it was too late. It seemed burnt onto her retinas. Seven had sat down across from Thomas Eugene Paris.
Tom rose to brush his lips lightly across Seven's cheek. "Hi Seven, bang on time," he smiled warmly at her.
"You are incorrect, Tom. I am 3.45 minutes late. I needed to speak with Mr Neelix to request his help with the Borg children while I am occupied on our…" she paused slightly, searching for the right word.
"Date?" Tom offered.
Seven nodded.
Tom sat back and grinned. "You're gonna love it Seven, I've put a lot of work into this holo-program." He described the program animatedly until Seven stopped him with a quirked eyebrow.
"If you describe the whole program to me, it will hardly seem worthwhile taking part in it," she reminded him.
"As long as I'm with you anything seems worthwhile," replied Tom, but he took the hint and changed the subject.
Due to the proximity of her table, B'Elanna had managed to hear every word of Tom's plans. Every smile or look he shared with Seven cut deeply into her. She felt shocked by the intensity of her emotions. Not wishing to inflict further torture on herself, B'Elanna stood up, pushing her chair away with the backs of her legs and returned her cup to the replicator, retreating back towards her safe environment of engineering.
Seven glanced up and acknowledged B'Elanna's passing them with a nod. She felt somewhat uncomfortable in starting up a relationship with Tom, as she knew she would have to work closely with Lt. Torres but so far the half- Klingon had done nothing to indicate that she was unhappy about their relationship. Come to think of it, B'Elanna had done nothing to indicate her approval either but Seven felt that at least open hostility had been avoided. Tom was easy company and had been one of the first crewmembers to extend his friendship to her when she had first came aboard Voyager. At the time he had been involved with the Chief Engineer but as Tom had explained, the two had drifted apart.
The one link that had held them together had been B'Elanna's pregnancy but since the accident in Engineering that had forced her to miscarry, Tom had admitted to B'Elanna that he no longer harboured the same feelings. They remained friends and they had supported each other through their loss but now it was time to move on.
Seven felt that the sandy haired helmsman was a suitable candidate for a first relationship, having researched the subject thoroughly. She felt comfortable in his presence and was relaxed enough to practise "small talk" and other inanities on him without feeling insecure. Her biggest problem was B'Elanna though.
After discovering that she had a cortical inhibitor that would never allow her to feel strong emotions like love, she had approached the Doctor and asked for advice. Seven had balked at the idea of extensive surgery that may or may not work and had covertly continued to research her problem. She now believed that she had a solution but it was one that would involve a great deal of involvement from the Chief Engineer. Seven was confident that B'Elanna would be willing to help under normal circumstances but was unsure that she would assist Seven in feeling love for Tom Paris.
The helmsman dragged her back to the present with a touch from his hand. "Hey, I lost you there for a moment", he grinned at her, but did not remove his hand from Seven's.
"I apologise, Tom. A matter personal in nature distracted me," she explained hesitantly and then stood up abruptly. "If you are ready to proceed, shall we go to the holodeck?"
*
B'Elanna was lying on the floor underneath the warp core muttering a whole host of klingon and human curses and in many cases, a mixture of the two as she tried to isolate the power fluctuation that was causing Voyager to drop out of warp without warning. It had taken her the better part of the shift to narrow it down to just one portion of the bio-neural circuitry but she was almost there now. As she reached, without looking, for her tricorder, her hand brushed across a boot, drawing B'Elanna out. Her eyes travelled hungrily up the boot owner's legs and over her torso before coming to a halt as she gazed into wide clear blue eyes.
"Can I be of assistance?" Seven asked, quirking the metallic implant above her eye questioningly.
Torres fought to regain control of her senses as she greedily absorbed as much of Seven as she could - from the look of her to her smell. She even sounded gorgeous and the small brunette wondered for a microsecond how Seven's voice would sound if she were crying B'Elanna's name aloud in passion.
She forced her brain to concentrate and eventually worked her dry mouth into answering. "If you'd been here a while ago I'd have said yes but I think it's done now". The engineer grabbed her tricorder and ducked back under, using her continued work as an excuse to hide her flushed face from the statuesque blonde.
"Then when you have finished, could I discuss a project with you?" Seven spoke slightly louder to combat the physical barrier separating their faces.
"Sure, Seven. But my shift finishes soon. Can we discuss it over dinner?" B'Elanna's muffled tones came from underneath where she was working. Somehow, B'Elanna had found it easier to ask Seven to dinner when she wasn't facing her.
"I do not require nutritional supplements.."
"At this time, yeah I know," finished B'Elanna. "Well I do and I can't think straight on an empty stomach".
Seven opened her mouth to question B'Elanna again when the Chief Engineer interrupted her.
"If you ask how my having an empty stomach interferes with my thinking process, I won't help you".
Wondering how the lieutenant could have anticipated her when she could not even see her, Seven merely looked at where she approximated the half klingon's head to be and asked, "Would 19:00 hours be convenient for you?"
After receiving an affirmative, Seven stared at the half-hidden body of Lieutenant Torres for a moment. She felt certain that the woman was smiling under the panel. Seven spun on her heel and wondered again at the complexity of B'Elanna Torres. She headed to find Tom and tell him that she would not be available to see him tonight.
*
Seven looked on in amazement as she watched B'Elanna busily tuck into a huge portion of Neelix's latest creation while barely pausing to breathe.
"You must have an extremely high metabolic rate, Lieutenant", she stated blandly.
B'Elanna's fork paused halfway on its journey to her mouth and she grinned wryly. "That's what being part klingon does to you, I think", she responded cheerily before adding, "and being Chief Engineer I barely get a chance to sit down, so I use up a lot of energy." She finished her forkful before speaking again. "So what is this project then Seven?"
Seven studied her wordlessly for a while before sliding a data padd across the small table towards B'Elanna silently.
B'Elanna paused slightly before picking the pad up. She wasn't certain but she felt sure that she'd seen worry, if not fear, pass fleetingly over Seven's exquisite features. Wondering why a project would cause her distress she reached out and examined the padd. Seven saw B'Elanna look confused briefly and was about to explain the whole concept when she was stopped by B'Elanna's raised hand. The olive skinned woman sat and studied the padd for several moments, totally absorbed in the information that had been submitted, her dinner completely forgotten. Seven merely waited, trying to read her expressive face as she dealt with each concept. Finally, B'Elanna looked up, sat back in her chair and exhaled audibly.
"Have you told the captain about this?" asked Torres.
Seven had anticipated the question but did was surprised that it was the first thing B'Elanna asked. "I did not want to approach the captain until I spoke with you. I believe that you are the only member of this crew able to assist me in this."
"I'm not sure I can help you Seven," B'Elanna began.
Seven fought off a wave of disappointment and regret, wondering if the Chief Engineer would not help because of Seven's relationship with Tom. Her worry proved unfounded as B'Elanna continued though.
"I don't know if I understand borg nano-circuitry well enough to make the modifications".
Seven released a breath she failed to realise she had been holding. "Lieutenant, you are the most skilful engineer on this ship. Your talents are legendary amongst your staff. You also possess phenomenal ingenuity and improvisational skills."
"Are you sure you are not Borg?" Seven asked suddenly, startling B'Elanna until she realised that Seven was actually joking.
"Quite sure," she grinned openly at the jest and Seven continued.
"I am unsure if this procedure will work, regardless of how much data I collate. However I am willing to attempt this rather than a medical operation that has poor odds at best for success; but only if you are prepared to work with someone you have a deep dislike for, Lieutenant." Seven hid none of the sadness she felt over this. Of all the people on board Voyager, B'Elanna was probably closest to her equal in intelligence and strength. Seven had just never been able to break through and actually become friends with the compact brunette.
B'Elanna stared at the beautiful blonde sitting opposite and wondered how Seven could have no perception of the feelings that were radiating from her. B'Elanna would happily die for Seven at this moment. A chance to foil the cortical inhibitor and release her deepest inner emotions, with the faint hope that they might one day be directed toward her, could not be forsaken. Simultaneously, she felt her hearts lurch as she realised that Seven needed her both as an engineer and as a friend.
She fought to keep her voice under control as she answered. "Then what I suggest we do is gather as much data as possible, rig out a few tests and then present the final findings to the captain. There's no point bringing this to her attention unless we're absolutely confident that we can be successful."
B'Elanna was warming to this challenge as every second passed and her mind was already racing ahead and working out duty schedules to get maximum time on the project.
Seven found herself comforted by the fact that B'Elanna had used the term 'we'. She knew now that the half-Klingon was sold on the idea and she would help Seven. Perhaps she had at last found a way through the volatile woman's defences. There had been no mention of how the result would affect either of them, and for that Seven was grateful. She could detect B'Elanna's rise in body temperature, pulse and breathing but reasoned that those reactions were in response to the project that had been laid before her. For the first time since she had discovered the terrible secret of the cortical inhibitor, Seven felt hope again.
To be continued....