chains4

Chains Around my Heart
Part 4
by Kimmi

Disclaimer: If I owned them instead of Paramount, B’Elanna and Seven would have been married with two kids and Paris would have been scrubbing toilets with his tooth brush. But I don’t, so they didn’t. Oh yeah, don’t bother suing me, you can’t get blood from a turnip.

Warning: You should know by now, I still suck, so more of the same crappy technobable

Dedication: To Adi, my beacon in the cold dark night. You where my light when my sorrow threatened to swallow me in it’s ghastly maw. Thank you Tator, you’re a good friend.

Many thanks to Rebelgirl for her awesome beta work. Without her this would completely suck, the woman is a godsend. Any and all mistakes that remain are all my fault.

Part 4

Janeway fumed in silent rage as communication was broken. She couldn’t see it from her ready room, but knew without a doubt that the shuttle was gone. She had let B’Elanna’s earlier insubordination slide, but this was going too far. She had wanted them to stick together. Splitting up, in her mind was a bad idea. She couldn’t protect them if they weren’t there. Of course she really couldn’t protect them if they stayed. But that wasn’t the point. The Klingon had ignored and disobeyed her. At least Chakotay was the only one that had witnessed the entire debacle.

“What do we do now?” Chakotay asked   He hadn’t liked the idea of just stopping and waiting for the enemy to catch them but at least now he could worry a little less about B’Elanna. He had confidence in her abilities to hide; he had taught her after all.

“We’ll just have to buy them some time. Once Seven has recovered we can rendezvous with their shuttle and resume our journey home,” the Captain informed him with more confidence than she actually felt. “Helm, lay in a course to intercept the alien vessel, warp 5.”

“Aye Ma’am, laying in course,” Ensign Murphy replied although she definitely wasn’t happy about it. She had seen the thing up close and personal the last they had come up against the J’kozyn and she doubted that they would fare much better this time. But an order was an order, so she obeyed.

“Captain, are you sure about this? What do you hope to do? There’s no way we can stop them, they’d just run over the top of us and continue on. We should go the opposite direction from B’Elanna and Seven and try to draw them off.” Voyager’s second in command thought this was a much more viable option than the Captain’s plan. He just didn’t see what she hoped to accomplish, except maybe getting them all killed.

Janeway had to forcibly school her features to keep from frowning. She didn’t like her decisions being questioned. “I want to try to make contact with these people again. If we can explain Seven’s situation, then perhaps we can open a dialog with these people, learn from them, trade with them. I think we can benefit from communicating with this race.”

Chakotay frowned. He had voiced his objection and as usual the Captain had chosen to ignore any opinion that differed from hers. And he was still no closer to figuring out how she thought she was going to get them to listen to her. He sent a silent prayer up to his totem animal, asking it to keep not just B’Elanna and Seven safe, but all them.

“I’ll be in my ready room. Contact me as soon as we come within a million kilometers of the ship. Commander, you have the bridge.” As she strode from the room, the diminutive woman could feel the eyes following her. She knew what they were thinking, but she really didn’t care. She was going to keep the J’kozyn away from Seven and B’Elanna, no matter what the cost.

“Janeway to Engineering.”

“Lieutenant Carey here. How can I help you Ma’am?”

“We need to disguise the shuttle’s ion trail Lieutenant. Here’s what I want you to do…”

After explaining what she needed to the engineering department the Captain replicated a cup of coffee and took a seat behind her desk. She sipped at the hot brew, taking comfort in its familiarity while she gathered her thoughts.

“Computer, begin recording personal log.
I know it’s irresponsible to risk my crew and ship for two people. I know that the course of action I have started us on may be an exercise in futility, that nothing I do will change the outcome. The only defense I can give is I would do the same for any one of my crew, they know it as well. But I know what they’re thinking, ‘How many times will I put them in danger to save Seven?’ How many times have I challenged the Borg? How many times have I defied the odds to bring her back? I don’t know what drew me to her, what it is about her, about both of them that brings my maternal instinct to the fore and makes me fight tooth and nail for them. Perhaps it is their vulnerability, their innocence, although I’m sure most people would have a hard time describing either of them that way.

They would argue that Seven has the assimilated knowledge of thousands of species and that B’Elanna’s time in the Maquis had shown her things that would jade the most staunch of souls. But I would contend that Seven’s return to humanity makes her even more defenseless than those of us who were allowed to grow into our maturity. She didn’t have her entire life to build walls to protect herself. She didn’t have time before she was robbed of her childhood to learn how to deal with all the hardships and even the joys the universe can throw at us. She’s so open that she is hurt so easily, even if she does a damn fine job of hiding it.

B’Elanna on the other hand learned too much too fast, and it made her build her walls too high so that no one could really touch her. There is incredible strength in her, a hard core of steel, but it is wrapped up in the insecurity of her father abandoning her, of her fear of being rejected on the basis of what she is and not who she is. She’s afraid to really let herself go, to truly be herself because she’s scared that if anyone sees the real her, they will leave her too.

So what can I do? These two young women need protecting, not just from the outside world but from themselves. I have to make sure they get a chance to be happy, and I truly believe they can be happy together. They just need a little more time, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure they get it. Computer, end recording.”

Kathryn sat back wearily in her chair still wrapped up in thoughts of her surrogate daughters. If they had been her own she couldn’t have loved them more. She hoped that somehow she would be able to reason with the J’kozyn. Make them see that what they were doing was wrong. If she couldn’t then she actually felt sorry for them. Because if Seven died, B’Elanna would find a way onto that ship and only their Gods could help them then.

********
B’Elanna’s journey away from Voyager was mostly a blur. She remembered the frantic beating of her heart, the whine of the alcove as it worked to remove the alien nanoprobes, the beep of the shuttle’s instruments alerting her to changes in course or obstacles ahead. But mostly it was the silence she remembered. The ambient noises that surrounded her had nothing to do with this silence. It was space pressing in on their tiny shuttle, reminding her that it could snuff out their lives without thought or reason. It was the fact that there would be no one to help them if they got into trouble. It was the fact that she wanted, needed, to talk to Seven, hear her voice telling her it was going to be okay, but she couldn’t. And so the silence became a living thing, stalking, hunting her.

The alcove’s whine became its breath, hot and putrid on the back of her neck. The stars became its eyes, boring into her soul, shredding her confidence with its cold callous stare. The inky darkness of space became hidden talons, ready to tear at her flesh and strip it off her bones to leave her bleeding, alone and dying. The beeps, clicks and creaks of the shuttle became its voice, whispering to her, worrying at her, telling her she was going to fail that she wasn’t good enough that it would take everything from her. Its voice snaked through her mind, letting her know she would have to watch Seven die slowly before it took her apart, inch by inch. It was almost more than she could stand.

Whenever she could, B’Elanna allowed the ship to fly on auto-pilot so she could sit next to the sleeping beauty still quiet as death, wishing it was as easy as a fairytale to awaken her. Just a kiss to bring the princess back to life. Just a word to quicken her heart. Just a simple spell to restore her to health. Instead all she could do was hold her hand, fingers on the pulse point, just to assure herself Seven was still alive. The moments of solace from her overstressed mind’s illusions were too few and far between to help her completely shore up her defenses against the deceptions of her fear.

When she had to be away from the former drone’s side, the hybrid tried to concentrate on ways to hide their trail. Once she flew straight at a large asteroid, firing phasers just before they impacted and cutting the engines at the same time. Then she allowed the shuttle to drift for several hundred kilometers before starting the impulse engines and moving on. She took them so close to a small star’s corona that she could swear that she got a sun tan. She hitchhiked on the tail of a small comet. She used every nebula she came across, doubled back on her trail, changed the variance of any and every system on the engines to try to disguise its signature, vented plasma and ignited it and a host of other tricks to try to buy them time and distance. But she had run for so long on so little sleep to begin with that eventually it all caught up with her.

B’Elanna was so tired her skin felt like it was crawling off her bones. Her eyes burned as if she was caught in a plasma fire and her head weighed a metric ton. Still she fought it as long as possible trying to get just a little further away from danger that pursued them, but only minutes passed before she felt her eyes starting to close of their own accord. She jerked herself out of the pilot’s seat and stumbled back to where Seven lay. She busied herself with checking the blonde over and repeating the treatment an hour earlier than she should have needed to.

The Klingon didn’t want to wait any longer, because she knew sleep was going to claim her no matter what she did to stave it off. She examined every connection, every conduit and every setting, trying to reassure herself that when she fell asleep that nothing would go wrong while she slumbered. Once she had convinced herself that everything would b fine until she woke up, she lay down next to Seven, carefully wrapping herself around the still figure. She lay her head on the ample chest, needing to hear the heartbeat beneath it. Throwing one arm around the ex-drones slim waist, she was entering the realm of Morpheus before her eyes had finished closing.

*******

Janeway was on her fourth cup of coffee when the call came from the bridge. The J’kozyn ship was in communication range at last. She sighed heavily before draining the last bit of murky comfort from her cup, gathering her nerve to return to the bridge. The captain drew her command mask on over the apprehension she felt and stepped out of her ready-room with a confidence she didn’t feel. If the crew of her ship knew about the doubts that constantly plagued her, she felt sure they would lose all faith in her. That was something she couldn’t allow to happen. If she had any hope of getting them all home her people had to trust her.

Long strides carried her to her chair and she regally took her seat. “Helm drop to full impulse and hail them Mr. Kim.”

The next sixty seconds stretched into an eternity of jangled nerves and apprehension as they waited for a response to the standard message they sent out. Harry had to clear his throat twice before he could get past the lump lodged there. “No response Ma’am.”

Janeway bit back the sigh that threatened to seep out, she hadn’t really expected them to answer on the first try. She shook it off and stood directly before the forward view-screen. “Open a channel Harry, audio and visual. I want them to see who they’re coming after.”

“Channel open.”

“This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager to the J’kozyn ship pursuing us, break off your attack. We do not want to engage you in combat but we will if forced. We would much rather talk to you and try to resolve this. Please respond.”

Harry cut the transmission as the captain finished speaking and frowned at the back of her head. The dark man knew as well as the rest of them that they couldn’t take on that ship. He could only hope that she had a plan, otherwise they were going to be running for their lives very shortly, again.   “No response Captain.”

Janeway turned at the dispirited statement from the young ensign. “Keep sending it Mr. Kim until they answer or we are forced to fight them.” Before she could return to her seat her second in command’s voice stopped her cold.

“Captain you can’t be serious. You know there is no way we can win in a direct confrontation with that ship.” Chakotay doubted they would even be able to get within weapons range of the behemoth bearing down on them.

The captain’s icy glare cut off any other protests. She didn’t like the fact that her second was questioning her judgment in front of the crew and she was most definitely going to speak to him about that later. But they needed to know what she had planned so that when the time came they wouldn’t hesitate to follow orders, “I am very well versed on this ship’s capabilities Commander. I have no intention of engaging that ship, however they don’t know that. I need them to believe it though, to give us time to find a way to get them to talk to us or if that fails to just give Seven and B’Elanna little more time.”

“Um Captain won’t this just give them less time? I mean when they scan us they are going to know Seven isn’t on board. If we had stayed where we were it would have given them several more hours.” Harry wasn’t one to normally questions command decisions but it had been bugging him ever since they began their headlong rush to cut off the alien ship.

Kathryn had to force herself not to roll her eyes at this latest affront to her command decisions. Now was not the time for the young man to start thinking like a senior officer. It was true that Starfleet didn’t want mindless robots that just followed orders but she had been the highest ranking officer, the voice of Starfleet so to speak, for so long she wasn’t used to having her orders questioned. “Normally you would be right Mr. Kim. However if we had stayed where we were the J’kozyn could have easily picked up their trail. That’s why I had engineering vent plasma through the nacelles and then flood the area with theta radiation. We’ve continued to do so at random intervals to hopefully mask our deception. Now what’s our ETA to rendezvous with the J’kozyn?”

Harry could feel the heat of his embarrassment rising furiously up his neck and face and was thankful it wouldn’t show on his darker skin. He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to challenge the captain’s decisions and now he felt incredibly stupid for doing so.   He had seen the discharges on his panel and had been sent a notice from engineering saying not to be alarmed but hadn’t given them any more thought. He managed to choke back the apology clawing its way out of his throat. He was determined not to draw any more attention to himself or more of the captain’s ire. “We should arrive within minimal safe distance in ten minutes Ma’am. I wouldn’t recommend getting any closer than that, that ship has its own gravity well. We should enter a parking orbit around its equator at no less than two hundred thousand kilometers.”

Janeway readily agreed with his assessment and gave the appropriate orders to the ensign manning the helm. She sat back in her chair to wait for the next few eternities to pass as the ship on the screen loomed large and ominous. For just a moment Kathryn allowed her imagination free reign and for a split second thought she could see a hulking giant crouched, ready to pounce. Mammoth rotten teeth, gore dripping from their craggy surfaces grinned at her from its cruel mouth, ready to engulf her. The captain shook off the image with a shudder and returned her attention to the scene in front of her.

The alien vessel now dominated the entire view screen and was obscuring the stars. As they drew nearer fear knifed its way through every heart on the bridge cutting deeply into their courage and unnerving them all. They had nearly reached the point where they would take up orbit when a bright green beam lanced out of the ship and blinded nearly everyone. The only person not affected was Tuvok who happened to be looking down at his panel at the reading the sensor array was gathering. So it was he that informed the captain of what was occurring, “Captain we are being scanned.”

Janeway rubbed her eyes trying to clear the after-image burned into her retinas so she could see what was happening. “Are they powering weapons?”

“Unknown Captain. Their scan is interfering with our sensors,” the Vulcan’s calm tones informed the captain.

“Helm back us off another five hundred kilometers. Tuvok divert more power to the shields,” Janeway instructed her crew as her vision began to clear. She was about to order a hailing frequency opened when Tuvok announced and incoming transmission, audio only. “Finally, lets hear what they have to say.”

Instead of a voice demanding their surrender or even an apology for their unprovoked attack there came a nightmare-inducing screech. The noise was like a thousand fingernails scraping down a blackboard mixed with the screams of a million tortured souls and the rending of flesh. The sound pounded into their minds like a warp core breach making everyone on the bridge grasp their heads in pain. Fortunately the security chief was able to mute the transmission after only a few seconds but it had played long enough to leave every man and woman with a nauseating headache.

Using a Vulcan meditation technique Tuvok was the first to recover. “Captain the J’kozyn ship is moving away from us.”

Janeway sighed, wishing that it had gone better but resigned to the failure. “Ensign Murphy follow them but keep a respectable distance.”

**********

Seven’s eyes snapped open as the regeneration cycle completed and released her from its grip. The first thing she noticed was that she was no longer in pain. The second thing she noticed was the body draped over her with its head resting on her chest. She knew without even looking whom it was by the rich spicy aroma that drifted up to her.

She carefully moved her hand from where it lay beside her to B’Elanna’s back. The other woman was obviously having a nightmare, twitching and whimpering in her sleep as she ran from her inner demons. As Seven ghosted circles over B’Elanna’s back she could feel the other woman beginning to relax. The knots that had formed beneath the surface began to come unwound and her breathing started to even out.

Seven allowed herself the small pleasure of gently caressing B’Elanna’s back to comfort her but soon got lost in the feel of the body above her. She had certainly felt and seen her friend’s body before but it never ceased to amaze her. The Klingon’s compact form was like duranium covered with velvet and she didn’t understand how something so hard could feel so soft at the same time. It was true that over the last month B’Elanna had lost some of her muscle mass but the underlying steel that defined her body was still there.

She would have been content to stay just as they were for an eternity but her name coming in a strangled cry from the engineer made her freeze. B’Elanna stiffened and cried out again, the sound so full of agony and panic that it tore at the blonde’s heart. Seven shook the woman, calling her name to bring her out of the nightmare.

B’Elanna was watching Seven die at the hands of a ghastly looking alien, its skeletal claws squeezing the life out of her. Putrid flesh dripped off its eyeless skull as it laughed at the choked cry that escaped her throat while she watched, helpless to stop it. The former drone was struggling but the creature’s grip was too strong and as the life drained out of her eyes and as her body slumped in its grasp a strangled scream ripped its way out of the hybrid’s body. As she watched Seven fall bonelessly to the ground her body seemed to lose cohesion with every molecule turning to liquid as her soul sought to follow the ex-drone’s.

Just as she felt herself leave her body she was wrenched out of the nightmare and was momentarily blinded by a bright light. For a moment she was convinced she was dead and was seeing the light of heaven her father had told her about when she was young. It made a strange sort of sense to her that since she had once before seen the Klingon Barge of the Dead, this time she would see something from the other half of her heritage.

It took several long seconds before her vision cleared and she could see the drab gray walls of the shuttle and then Seven’s cerulean blue orbs filled with concern. All she could do was stare open-mouthed at the vision before her. The blonde was not only alive but awake and holding on to her tightly.

B’Elanna stretched out a tentative hand, almost afraid that the former Borg would disappear like a wisp of smoke if she touched her. She reached out to stroke a petal soft cheek though to reassure herself. “Seven you’re awake. How do you feel?

“I am functioning within acceptable parameters, however I feel much better than my last cognizant recollection.” Seven tightened her grip on B’Elanna as her abused body stiffened at the memory of white-hot daggers ripping their way through her flesh.

B’Elanna propped herself up on her elbows to take the bulk of her weight off the ex-drone and to get a better look at her face. “Exactly how much within acceptable parameters Seven?”

“I am functioning at ninety-two percent of optimal efficiency. My Borg systems have been completely repaired however there is still some residual damage to my human organs. It will be repaired during my next regeneration period. I do not believe there will be any lasting impairments.” Seven pulled the hybrid back down to her, needing the closeness of the other woman for reassurance. “B’Elanna how did you defeat the J’kozyn weapon when the entire Borg Collective could not?”

B’Elanna settled herself next to the lithe blonde although she reached behind her for the scanner to reassure herself that Seven was completely cured. As she began searching for any of the microscopic invaders that might still be operational she began giving the former Borg all the details of the procedure she had devised.

Seven listened patiently as the Klingon described the treatment that had saved her life and her opinion of the brilliant woman rose by leaps and bounds. There was one thing that disturbed her though. “B’Elanna, thank you for saving my life. I do not know how I will ever repay you, however I do not believe you should have disobeyed Captain Janeway’s orders. You should not have risked your position on Voyager for me.”

B’Elanna couldn’t believe what she was hearing, “Seven, first of all I’m the one that owes you, not the other way around. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t even be here to help you. Second of all the captain was wrong. If we had stayed there the J’kozyn would have already caught up with us and finished the job. There is no way I could have allowed that to happen. I owe you a debt of honor, I owe you my life and besides when it comes to you I have a new set of chains around my heart.”

The Klingon saw something pass over the ex-drones face as she finished speaking. Before she could identify it however she found herself dumped abruptly on her backside on the shuttle’s cold floor. Seven was off the cot and headed toward the front of the small ship before she could get to her feet. Getting up as quickly as she could B’Elanna took off after the younger woman.

Seven heard the hybrid stop just behind the co-pilot’s station where she was sitting trying to stop the flow of tears streaming down her face. The engineer had said many hurtful things to her in the not-so-distant past but none had ever caused the sort of pain she was experiencing now. She was suffocating. The Klingon as well as others had called her an Ice Queen many times but this was the first time she had truly felt like one. Her heart was frozen mid-beat and she didn’t know if it would ever thaw. The feelings coursing through her at B’Elanna’s words hurt worse than the alien nanoprobes that had nearly killed her a few short hours ago. “I am sorry Lieutenant. I did not intend to become another burden to you. Once we return to Voyager I will make an effort to distance myself from you so as not to cause you undo distress.”

B’Elanna was speechless. For a moment she couldn’t fathom what could have elicited such a strong reaction from the ex-drone. She replayed the conversation they just had over in her mind and then smacked herself soundly in the head as realization dawned on her. Seven took a lot of things at face value and the way she had phrased it she wasn’t surprised at her reaction. “Torres you are lower than targ shit. How could you be so stupid?” She mumbled to herself as she rushed to the blonde’s side taking one long elegant hand in her own. “Seven I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. I’m not very good with words and I have an unhealthy taste for my foot. Kahless knows I could never think you were a burden, you mean too much to me.”

Seven flinched away from the touch and refused to look at her. B’Elanna could see the twin rivers running freely down her alabaster cheeks and felt like kicking herself in the head. “Seven please let me explain. Just listen and wait until I finish though, because I’ll probably screw it up at first. Please?”

She waited for an acknowledgement but was only greeted with silence. Seven didn’t try to move though so she took that as permission to proceed. Keeping a firm grip on the ex-drone’s hand B’Elanna launched into the explanation and hoped that she could make enough sense to put the woman’s fears to rest. “I was happy up until I was about five, when my father left. That’s when I first felt it. There were these huge heavy chains that were strangling my heart. As I got older they lightened a little but never really went away. When I was old enough I ran away from home and went to the Starfleet Academy with some pipe-dream that if I was a good officer my father might be proud of his half-breed daughter and want to have something to do with me. Of course that didn’t happen. I didn’t fit in there and so I ran again with a few more links in that chain added on for good measure.

I wandered around aimlessly for a couple of years until I finally joined the Maquis. I didn’t really fit in there either but they needed my skills and so they accepted me and for a while it seemed like I had found my place. But the things I saw and did still haunt me sometimes. Then the Caretaker ripped us out of the Alpha Quadrant and I get thrown together with people I had come to despise and I had to start all over again. Then Seska, who I thought was my friend, turns out to be a Cardie spy and betrays us all.

So all in all, the chains I was carrying around weighed about twice as much as a ton of duranium. They got a couple of pounds lighter when the captain took a chance on me and made me Chief. Then there was Tom. At first I was recklessly happy. Here was someone that pursued me and that made an effort to actually woo me. I felt wanted for the first time in a very long time. I wanted so much to be loved and be in love that I fooled myself into thinking I was. I did love him but I was never really in love with him. And then everything came crashing down on me when I lost the baby.”

B’Elanna knew she was crying but she didn’t want to let go of Seven’s hand to wipe the tears away. “I was being crushed under the weight of my chains. I could almost feel my bones being ground into dust they were so heavy. And then here you come. Demanding that I get off my ass and live. At first I was annoyed because I just wanted to be left alone then I admit I got a little angry but mostly I was just in pain and numb to everything else.

But you kept at me, demanding that I live, not taking no for an answer. You put your own health in jeopardy to make sure I was taken care of and for the first time I felt like I really mattered to someone. You refused to give up on me and forced me to take a good long look at myself. You are the best friend I’ve ever had Seven and you make me want to live. The loss of my daughter will always weigh on my heart, nothing can get rid of that. But the others are gone, you broke them and replaced them with one of your own.” The ex-drone tried to pull away from her again at the words but she clung tighter and forced her to hear her out.

“Those chains were black, heavy and suffocating. Yours are like the finest, purest gold and lighter than helium. They lift me up and cradle me, where the others pulled me down. That’s what I was trying to say with my usual grace and tact. And my foot firmly planted in my mouth apparently. So uh that’s it.” She wanted to say more, to tell the blonde how she had come to love her but she couldn’t seem to get the words past her lips. She tried to tell herself that it was too much to soon but a little voice in her head just screamed coward at her.

Seven pulled her hand away from the B’Elanna’s desperate grip and reached out, gently wiping the tears from the Klingon’s face. Her emotions were reeling so quickly that she felt like a ship without inertial dampers in a force 10 ion storm. She felt as if she had been pitched across the shuttle to land in a puddle at the engineer’s feet. She had gone from happy to be alive, to broken hearted, to ecstatic all in the matter of a few short minutes. She opened her mouth to speak but found she had lost control of her vocal cords. Clearing her throat, the ex-drone finally managed to breathe out the Klingon’s name.

B’Elanna looked on in wonder at the infinite emotions flashing across Seven’s face. Then she heard her name whispered so tenderly that it sounded like a caress, embracing her, soothing her soul. She opened her mouth to answer the siren call of azure eyes but before she could speak the blaring klaxon of the shuttle’s proximity alert cut across the peaceful moment and sent both women scrambling for the ship’s controls.

Seven’s gaze shifted quickly from her screen to her companion when the Klingon growled low in her throat. It was anger, rage and terror all rolled into one and it could have peeled the paint off a ship’s hull. She looked up at the forward view screen just as B’Elanna brought the image up. The J’kozyn had found them and they had nowhere else to run.

******

Voyager had been struggling to keep pace with the immense ship for the last several hours but the gap between them increased steadily. Whatever technology the aliens had at their dispense was obviously very advanced but not as advanced as the Borg. They didn’t have trans-warp drives, but they were able travel at sustained speeds of warp 9.99999 with no apparent difficulties.

Kathryn had difficulties imagining the kind of energy it took just to power a ship that size, let alone propel it through space at these speeds. They were as close to warp 10 as they could get without crossing that line.

They had already pulled nearly an hour ahead of Voyager and would have even more of a lead by the time they reached B’Elanna and Seven’s shuttle. Janeway was pushing her ship to its limits in an attempt to stay with the gargantuan but without her chief engineer she wasn't sure how long they could keep up their current pace. If the fiery little Klingon had been here she had no doubt that the woman would find a way to get her more power from the engines and to keep them going for as long as she needed them to. Of course the ex-drone would be right beside her arguing that her methods were the only correct ones and that B’Elanna should comply with her superior logic. Kathryn had no doubts that she would have had to reprimand both of them once the crisis was over. She sent a silent prayer out to any deity that might be listening to keep her two surrogate daughters safe.

The captain was resisting the urge to retreat to her ready room to seek solace within its quiet walls. She was torn between the need to stay on the bridge and keep her eyes on the J’kozyn and the need to have a little privacy and allow herself just a moment to scream at the universe for its callus disregard of the puny mortal lives that populated it. She had to get up though even if she didn’t leave the bridge. The tension had energy humming through her body so fast she thought she was going to burst into flames. So Kathryn paced, stopping every so often to glance at a crewman’s console and mumble to herself at the readings. Luckily for the rest of the bridge crew, they chose to ignore her.

******

B’Elanna was furiously entering commands into the computer trying to find one last ditch effort to keep them out of the enemy’s hands. She raised shields and powered weapons while at the same time entering a course that would take them dangerously close to an unclassified anomaly. From her sensor readings it had extremely strong gravimetric sheers and a deep gravity well. They wouldn’t be able to get too close to it without being pulled in and torn apart. Of course that meant that the J’kozyn ship would have to stay further away than they did. With its greater mass they would have a harder time maneuvering and their gravity combined with the anomaly’s would hopefully drag them in.

Seven watched the hybrid as their shuttle barreled toward the dangerous spatial formation. B’Elanna had a look of grim determination on her beautiful face. Gone was the defeated broken woman she had been after the death of her child and husband. Gone was unbearable pain, self-doubt and despair. Now the Klingon woman was focused only on keeping the two of them alive and defeating their enemy. At this moment she looked more alive than she had in months. Her skin shone with vivacity taking on a bright sheen and her eyes glowed as she focused on the task at hand.

B’Elanna glanced sideways, trying to check on Seven and maneuver the shuttle at the same time. She hadn’t really had a chance to do a complete scan and she was worried that she might have missed something. She noticed that the ex-drone was staring at her intently and she could feel a blush creeping its way up her neck toward her cheeks. She had seen Seven watch her before but for some reason this time seemed different. Perhaps it was light shining off an unshed tear or the fact that she had just the barest hint of a tender smile on her full lips. Perhaps it was because her gaze felt more like a caress than a look.

The blonde could see the reaction the older woman was having to her frank perusal and she turned away quickly, schooling her features to their usual stoic visage. Embarrassment colored her alabaster face tinting it to match her companion. Turning her attention back to the sensors Seven tried to cover her consternation by studying the data streaming across the screen, “B’Elanna how did you locate this anomaly?”

The Klingon mentally waved off the angry hornets buzzing in her head and tried to concentrate on the question posed to her. “Um well I didn’t really know for sure that it was here until just a minute ago. Before I fell asleep I noticed some strange readings, you know a couple of planets in non-concentric orbits that couldn’t be explained by any local phenomenon things like. I just took a shot in the dark that there was something out here that I wasn’t picking up on sensors yet that was affecting them. Plus I was running out of ideas of ways to hide our trail.”

Seven just barely managed to control a grin at the chagrined look on her companion’s face. Once again she was amazed at how B’Elanna’s leaps of intuition had led her to a solution. “Indeed. I believe your plan is sound and is our best chance at survival.”

The engineer looked up from her screen with a grimace marring her face. “I hope you’re right Seven, because we’re about to find out. The alien ship has closed to six million kilometers. We should reach the anomaly just about the same time they come within weapons range. See if you can get a little more power to the shields and I’ll try to get us as close as I can to the event horizon.”

B’Elanna moved the shuttle as fast as she dared, already feeling the extreme forces buffeting the small ship. She fought to keep steady as the inertial dampers quickly became overwhelmed. She managed a quick glance at the woman in the seat next to her. Seven’s fingers were flying over the controls as she pulled every watt of power available and a few that weren’t from the ship’s systems. “How we doing over there?”

“The shields are now at one hundred twelve percent. The J’kozyn ship has closed to three million kilometers. We are now nine hundred kilometers from the anomaly. B’Elanna I would not recommend getting closer. The sheer factor increases by eighty percent every hundred kilometers closer to the event horizon,” Seven informed the Klingon with only a slight waver in her voice to indicate her unease.

B’Elanna considered the ex-drone’s information for a moment. She had wanted to get closer to ensure that the alien ship wouldn’t be able to reach them, but the danger from the chaotic forces posed just as great a danger. She would have to compromise and hope that they were close enough to get the protection they needed without having the haven itself destroy them. “You’re right Seven, I’m going to hold us here. I’d say target their weapons or engines but I can’t tell where they are.”

“Nor can I. However I do not believe that the shuttle’s weapons would have much impact upon them if we were to locate them. ” The blonde turned as she gave the brunette her assessment.

Confusion echoed through B’Elanna’s twin hearts. “What are you suggesting Seven, that we just give up? Because I’ve gotta tell you, I don’t want to go out like that. We have no where else to run and I’d rather die with honor, fighting for our lives till my last breath and taking as many of them with me as possible.”

“On the contrary B’Elanna, I was merely pointing out that our weapons would most likely not penetrate their shielding. I do not wish to give up, nor do I wish to die but firing on the ship is highly unlikely to provide the desired results. We will have to find another alternative.” Seven knew that it had cost B’Elanna a lot to run away from an adversary. It was not in either of their natures to flee but the Klingon had done it to save her. She vowed to repay the gift she had received.

“I’m sorry Seven, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Well if we’re going to think of something it has to be now. The J’kozyn ship has closed to one million kilometers and they don’t seem to be slowing. They’re going to be on top of us in a minute.” B’Elanna felt terrible for her accusatory tone but she was terrified and was struggling to contain the fear that was becoming a wild animal, clawing its way to the surface. “What about sustained phaser burst aimed at the largest power signature we can find?”

“Again I believe that penetrating their shields will pose a problem. Perhaps if we change the frequency rapidly we can slip through their shield harmonics.”   The ex-drone was just as much at a loss as the engineer. They were out-gunned and out-classed and there didn’t seem to be an answer to their dilemma.

Before B’Elanna had a chance to respond to Seven’s suggestion the shuttle was rocked as it was bathed in an electric blue light. Seven reached out instinctively to steady the other woman as the jolt threatened to throw them from their seats.

“Shit! They have us in a tractor beam. I’m reversing engines full impulse, I’m going to try to break us free,” B’Elanna yelled in a near panic. She had expected an outright attack(,) not to be snatched from their sanctuary, scant though it was, and she wasn’t prepared to deal with this. She had figured the aliens would come at them guns blazing. After all that was the reason they had been chasing them. Right?

Seven was just as confused as B’Elanna was. She was also afraid. The J’kozyn were not acting within the behavioral patterns the Borg had established for the race. She had no idea what they were doing or why. That lack of knowledge had her rattled but not so much that she didn’t immediately see the flaw in the Klingon’s logic.   “B’Elanna you must desist!”

B’Elanna froze more from shock at the near yell than from the order itself. It was the closest she had ever heard the blonde come to screaming in fear. “What, Seven why? We have to break out of this tractor beam before they pull us to far from the anomaly.”

“If you succeed we will be propelled back into the anomaly and we will be destroyed,” Seven spoke quickly trying to make the engineer see her error.

B’Elanna felt as if someone had punched her in the gut as all the air in her lungs rushed out in a strangled cry. In her haste and fear she had very nearly killed them before their enemies ever got the chance. Despair settled on her shoulders like a large boulder crushing her and grinding her into ash. When she found her voice it sounded small and weak to her ears. “What are we going to do Seven?”

Before the blonde could answer the rocked violently to the port side as if a giant hand had reached down and swatted the small ship. The console to B’Elanna’s left exploded in a shower of sparks causing the Klingon to duck to avoid the small sharp projectiles. The overhead lights blew and they were plunged into darkness for a few breathless moments before the emergency lights came on. Seven turned to her station, the only one working and pulled up what little information it could provide her, “Shields are down, life support at forty-five percent, engines off line and we have no external sensors at this time.”

B’Elanna’s engineering mind kicked in and she quickly calculated that it would take at least five hours to repair the damaged systems Seven had just listed. They didn’t have that long and they were out of options. “I can rig the warp core to breach.”

Seven thought she had imagined the softly spoken statement for a moment until she turned to look at her companion. The yellow emergency lights gave the hybrid’s eyes an unearthly glow and turned her caramel skin sable. The look in those normally warm brown eyes told her everything she needed to know. B’Elanna saw only one way out, an honorable death that would take as many of their enemies with them as possible.

A thousand thoughts, plans and half-ideas flew through her mind in a split second but the ex-drone couldn’t see a way out. They had cheated Death too many times and now he had come for them with a bitter vengeance. Seven didn’t want to die. She had just barely caught an infinitesimal glance at what her future could hold and she didn’t want to give it up. She wanted the happily ever after that Naomi Wildman’s story books always ended with. She wanted this to be a bad holo-novel that would end with just a word. She wanted this all to be just a hallucination induced by an imbalance in her cortical node, but it wasn’t.

Seven was just starting to nod her assent to B’Elanna’s plan when she noticed a faint glow reflecting off the main view screen. It was coming from directly behind them, from inside the shuttle. The ex-drone allowed herself a sigh of resignation as she turned toward the engineer and tried to catch her eye, their last option had just vanished like a waft of fog in the bright morning sun.

B’Elanna saw the gleam a nanosecond after Seven and the realization that they were no longer alone dawned bright and harsh in her mind. She caught the blonde’s movement toward her out of the corner of her eye but ignored it as her warrior’s instincts kicked in. Her body coiled and retracted in on itself like a cobra ready to strike. Her senses revved into overdrive delivering hundreds of impressions at once. She instantly disregarded the familiar, the song of Seven’s heartbeat, the heaven of her scent, the soft sigh that escaped her. Instead she focused on the cloying unknown smell that filled her nostrils and the slight rustle of movement behind her. She knew where the intruders where from the almost intangible of their breath and with the grace and power of a jungle cat she twisted and leapt pulling a Met’leth from its hiding place at the small of her back.

Seven watched in awe as B’Elanna launched herself from her chair, a wicked looking knife in her hand seeming to appear from nowhere in her hand. Time slowed to a crawl. The rage in the hybrid’s eyes was terrible in its beauty and the lithe blonde was thankful she had never managed to make the dark woman that angry at her. The compact body exploded, muscles tensed and rippled, ebony hair flew like a war banner behind the proud head, the dark generous mouth curled into a snarl and the growl that burst forth was noble in its wrath. Then time stopped. The look of fury faded and surprise replaced it as the Klingon hung motionlessly in the air, unable to complete her lunge.

As B’Elanna leapt at their attackers a battle rage such as she had never felt enveloped her. Her sight flooded with a red tide of hatred. Her mind cleared until all she could think of was the way it would feel as her blade sank into flesh. There was no fear, no hesitation and no thought but to destroy those that threatened them. Her nose filled with the scent of the blood that was about to spill and her Klingon ancestors howled in triumph as she gave in completely for the first time to the other half of herself. She could see her victory, smell it, taste it, gloried in it and then it shattered like a flawed dilithium crystal under pressure.

B’Elanna’s forward momentum was halted abruptly by an unseen force, it felt as if she had suddenly slammed into a bulkhead covered in molasses.   The strength of the impact forced the air out of her lungs and the viscous atmosphere that now surrounded her made it hard to move, much less breathe. Her rage was instantly replaced with surprise and then fear. She was hanging motionless two feet above the floor.

The boiling red seas of her anger calmed and her vision cleared in the face of this unexpected development. Her body was frozen in place but her eyes, by some miracle, still worked. She turned her molten brown orbs on their attackers and saw truly them for the first time and nearly choked on the bile that rose suddenly in her throat. She couldn’t believe that such beautiful beings had caused Seven so much pain and her so much fear.

Species 296 as the Borg had designated them were a race of angels. Taller than Seven by nearly a meter their skin was as white and smooth as alabaster. Their hair was the color of flame and flew about their heads, moved by some unseen wind. Their eyes were a solid luminous blue without a hint of a pupil and glowing from within. And wings, they had wings. Not the pure white feathered wings that she had always seen in pictures, but gauzy like the finest Altarian silk, iridescent and shimmering delicate things that invoked images of faeries and butterflies. They were thin and willowy with longer limbs and smaller torsos than Humans and they were the most pure things she had ever seen.

B’Elanna allowed her awe to show plainly on her face as her feet met the floor. She hadn’t been aware of moving until her weight was resting solidly on the steel grating. Her surprise and veneration only held sway for a few moments though as her anger blasted its way back to the front of her mind. It reminded her that these beings, no matter how angelic looking, had tried to kill Seven. She snarled like a feral beast as she struggled to break free of whatever force held her still.

Seven found herself rooted to her seat. She knew from her time as a drone that the J’kozyn had powerful minds but it seemed that they had further developed their abilities since the last time any of the race had been assimilated. She listened with only half an ear to the Klingon’s impressive string of curses in several languages while she watched the invaders for any clue to their intentions. If she had been asked a week before if these people would attack someone who was not Borg, she would have said no. Now she was not so sure and it frightened her.

B’Elanna screamed, snarled, cursed and explained in great detail what she would do to the intruders if they even looked at the ex-drone sideways. She reached a point where oxygen became an issue and she paused just long enough to take a deep breath. Just as she was about to launch into another tirade she found her words frozen in her throat as one of the aliens moved with preternatural speed to stand nose to nose with her.

She watched mutely as the J’kozyn raised its delicate arm, touching first its temple and then gesturing to hers.   As comprehension bloomed in her mind B’Elanna found her voice. “You’re telepathic aren’t you and you want permission to enter my mind?”

The engineer felt her hearts quicken their staccato beat as the tall alien bent its head in confirmation. B’Elanna was scared because she had never liked the idea of someone rummaging around in her head because it was the ultimate invasion of privacy but she needed to be able to communicate with the androgynous beings if she had any hope of convincing them to leave Seven alone. She nodded her assent and steeled herself for the invasion of her mind.

~~Thank you for allowing us to speak to you. I am T’mryn.~~

The voice was not the harsh penetration B’Elanna had expected but more like a softly played melody whispering in her mind. “I’m B’Elanna and this is Seven of Nine, former Borg drone. We tried to speak to you before but you attacked us and hurt my friend.”

~~We apologize for that unfortunate misunderstanding. The elders were in council at the time your ship approached and the young crew left in charge was frightened by the Borg signatures they picked up from some of your systems. When the elders returned and learned of their actions they took steps to correct this error but you fled.~~

B’Elanna’s first instinct was to believe that it was lying to her but the voice had such a ring of sincerity that she couldn’t help but believe the androgynous alien was telling her the truth. However she had some questions that she needed answers to. “Now that you know that Seven’s not Borg anymore are you just going to let us go?”

T’mryn cocked its head at an angle regarding her solemnly for a moment before nodding in agreement and releasing her from its invisible hold. B’Elanna nearly stumbled when her body was suddenly forced to bear its own weight once more. She quickly regained her equilibrium and forced herself to remain calm. “So that’s it? You’re letting us go and we’ll go our way and you’ll go your way and we pretend this never happened?”

~~Our people will molest you no further. We would like to ask however how it was you were able to separate her from the Collective and how you defeated our weapon. If you have achieved this feat then the Borg may yet find a way to accomplish it. There is also the danger that you may be assimilated in the future and then they would have the information. If we know how you did it then we can change the weapon significantly enough so that the same method will not work again.~~

B’Elanna was taken aback and it showed in her voice. “I thought you already had all that information. You’ve been poking around inside my head all this time and you haven’t found it?”

~~I have initiated only the slightest of contacts with your mind, enough for you to understand me and for me to understand you. To find the knowledge we need to safeguard ourselves would require a deeper connection and for that we need you express permission. We do not ‘poke’ about in other beings minds without consent. Will you allow the scan?~~

B’Elanna thought carefully about what the incandescent alien was asking her to do. On one hand she didn’t like the idea of someone being able to see her innermost thoughts and feelings. But on the other hand she knew that the weapon was the only the J’kozyn had against the Borg and she abhorred the Collective with every fiber of her being.

It was a difficult thing they were asking of her though and she other things to consider, like Voyager. They could see her authorization codes, the ship’s defensive capabilities, shield frequencies and a thousand other things that could have disastrous ramifications for the wayward starship. B’Elanna was ready to refuse when she felt a warm mesh-covered hand entwine with her own. She looked down into bewitching crystal blue eyes and felt her fear melt away. “You’re sure?”

Seven’s gaze never left the Klingon’s liquid brown orbs. She had listened intently to the conversation and understood why the J’kozyn wanted to do the scan. Species 296 had never been known to be aggressive preferring to retreat from conflict rather than cause harm to another living being. Now that she knew the assault on Voyager had been a mistake made by frightened children her faith that they would not attack anyone other than the Borg was restored. But she knew that B’Elanna would need reassurance, “Do you swear that you will not scan any information pertaining to our ship’s systems? And do you further swear that if you do inadvertently find such information you will not use it in an aggressive manner towards us?”

B’Elanna watched breathlessly as T’mryn crossed its hands, left over right, above where its heart should be at the same time she heard the feather-soft whisper in her mind. ~~Upon my life and my honor I give you my word that I will not search for such information and that if I do find it accidentally that I nor none of my race shall ever use it against you or your people.~~

The hybrid was moved by the formal declaration and made up her mind to allow the alien access to her memories. “All right lets get this over with.”

B’Elanna reached out and took the long-fingered hand T’mryn offered to her. The milky-white skin covering the delicate digits was as soft as shadow.   It radiated warmth that rivaled her own hot-blooded Klingon physiology and the touch served to further calm her fears.

~~You must focus your thoughts. Think of Seven, of when she was first rescued from the Borg.~~

B’Elanna thought about the first time she had seen the ex-drone, fully Borg and frightening. Then she felt her memories shuffle and saw Seven, her humanity restored standing arrogantly in main engineering using the Klingon’s workstation. Shuffle. Now she and the blonde were arguing, B’Elanna screaming and Seven giving her logical reasoning dispassionately. Shuffle. The two women were having what had become their normal interacting with one another, fighting, Seven cold and remote, B’Elanna angry and passionate.   Shuffle. One’s death. Shuffle. The Borg Queen taking Seven . Shuffle. The Borg children. Shuffle.

The images came faster and faster until B’Elanna thought she would go crazy. Not only did she see her memories but she relived them. Every emotion she had felt back then crashed through her body now, leaving her a quivering mass of adrenalin and anger. She ripped her hand out of the light grip T’mryn had it in as she gasped for air.

~~I am sorry. I did not realize your race was so volatile regarding your emotions. I believe I can suppress them so that you will not have to experience them again. But tell me, how is it that you now champion one you once held so much animosity for?~~

The engineer didn’t even have to think about the answer. “Because I was a gutless toDSaH QI’yaH that acted without honor. I let my fear and hatred of the Borg cloud my judgment. It took me a long time and a tragedy to see the individual behind the Borg mask. I saw only arrogance and cold aloofness when I should have recognized it for the defense mechanism it was.   Now I would storm the gates of Gre’thor and challenge Kahless himself to spare her a moment of pain. So if you want to call me her champion go ahead, it’s as good a description as any. Now let’s get on with it.”

T’mryn took her hand again and B’Elanna was thrust into the past once more. This time she could tell the difference though. No longer were the emotions she had felt then tearing at her. Now it was if she was simply watching one of the Doctor’s holo-slide shows. The invasion was over much more quickly this time and when the pale alien released her there was only a sense of peace.

~~Thank you for sharing with me.~~ T’mryn sent softly into her mind. ~~I believe you are correct. That method would not work for the Borg. However I think that our weapon will be redesigned now. The J’kozyn have a new purpose. You have shown us much B’Elanna of Voyager, perhaps our people may meet one again day under better circumstances.~~

The hybrid sighed in relief. “So that’s it? We can go now and we have your solemn oath that you won’t come after Seven again?”

~~You have the oath of all my people that Seven of Nine will never be attacked by our race again. As I said before this was a grievous mistake made by frightened young officers that had never before confronted the Borg. All they knew was the memory of the pain those of our race suffered when they were assimilated and without an elder to lead them they reacted rashly. From this day forward an elder will sit watch with the younger crews, even if it means missing a council meeting. Please do not hold our lack of foresight against them.~~

B’Elanna knew first hand how fear could obscure rational thinking and children were more vulnerable than adults. Since T’mryn had apologized and assured them they had nothing to fear from the J’kozyn she was ready to forgive but she wasn’t the one that had been attacked. The dark engineer looked down at the pale beauty still sitting beside her with the question clear in her eyes. Seven had been the injured party so it was up to her to dispense absolution.

As long as B’Elanna was in no immediate danger, Seven had been content to sit by and watch the proceedings. She had never relaxed her guard but she allowed the Klingon to take the lead in the negotiations. The ex-drone knew what B’Elanna was silently asking her and she believed they were in agreement, “I will not hold the mistake of a few children against an entire race. They reacted to the remembered pain of three thousand of their race that had been brutally slain by an entity that I was a part of and whose technology we have integrated into Voyager’s systems. I shall not place blame for their actions. You have given your word that they will not be placed in such a position again and I will accept that. I am truly sorry that your people were made to suffer such agony at the hands of the Collective.”

The tall willowy alien bowed deeply and B’Elanna reached out to Seven and gripped her shoulder. She knew how hard it was to let go when someone attacked you and the former Borg had done it not once but twice. She had forgiven B’Elanna herself in order to help her through the hardest time of her life and now this. It showed the Klingon once again how much honor and integrity the blonde had.

Suddenly all the pain, confusion and fear crashed down on the engineer’s head and she felt more drained than she ever had. B’Elanna pulled her eyes away from Seven and returned her gaze to the angelic being in front of them, “As charming as I find your company T’mryn and as fun as this entire experience has been I’m ready to get back to our ship and I think Seven is too.”

Seven’s ocular implant rose at her companion’s sarcastic tone. “Indeed I am also looking forward to returning to Voyager. However B’Elanna I am concerned that the ship may have not yet been decontaminated.”

B’Elanna nearly smacked herself in the forehead. In all the excitement she had completely forgotten about the fact that the ship might still be infected and they would still be required to stay on the shuttle. “T’mryn is there anything you can do about your little mechanical bugs still on our ship?”

The J’kozyn smiled softly at her, the act making the alien look even more like one of the heavenly host.

~~It has already been taken care of. When we scanned Voyager for you we sent the deactivation code to the probes. It is safe for you to return. Now we will take our leave of you. You ship should be arriving shortly. We wish you a safe journey. May your feet always find the right path.~~

Before either woman could respond in kind the tall aliens disappeared in a blaze of blue light and they were once again alone.   B’Elanna kneeled down and wrapped her arms around Seven whispering into her hair. “You’re safe thank Kahless. I’d say that was almost too easy except for the warp core breach in my head.”

The ex-drone pulled away from the embrace and allowed a small smile to grace her lips. “Then I should get you something for it. I would not want my champion to suffer when a simple hypo-spray can cure her.”

The Klingon could feel the blush racing at light speed up her neck to infuse her face. “You heard that part huh?”

The blonde was slightly amused at B’Elanna’s embarrassment but she controlled it so as not to offend the older woman. “Indeed. It is a privilege to have such a strong, courageous, resourceful, capable and honorable woman as my champion. Would you truly storm the gates of Gre’thor and fight Kahless for me?”

“Anything for you,” the fiery engineer breathed without a second’s hesitation. She screwed up her courage to say what she had wanted to say earlier but had let fear get in the way of. “I’d do absolutely anything for you Seven, you’re my avwI tIq. You could ask me to clean the inside of the warp core while it was online and I would do it.”

Seven had never allowed herself to hope for anything more than friendship from B’Elanna. As a result she was struck speechless by the declaration for a moment until the hybrid turned away from her taking her silence as a rejection, “avwI tIq? Guardian of your heart? B’Elanna I do not know what to say. I … I have felt strongly for you for some time however I did not believe you could return my feelings. I am… I…I do love you...”

“I hear a but in there.” At first the Klingon’s hearts had soared at hearing the ex-drone say she had feelings for her but the long pause had made them constrict until she thought she would pass out from the pain.

“Indeed there is. I do love you B’Elanna however I do not believe that either of us is ready to begin a relationship. You have not yet recovered from your losses and are officially still on medical leave. I have never been in a relationship and although I have researched them thoroughly I do not think I am ready to proceed with one at this time. ” As Seven finished her explanation she was nearly brought to knees as she saw tears beginning to fall from soulful brown eyes. She had seen B’Elanna cry many times during her recovery but she had never been the cause for them and the knowledge that she had harmed the beautiful woman made her physically ill.

“So that’s it huh? Ok, I’ll move my stuff out as soon we get back and I won’t bother you again.” In B’Elanna’s mind there was nothing left to say even though her hearts had been shattered. Seven didn’t want her and she couldn’t blame the woman. She had been horrible to the ex-drone from the moment she had come aboard and a few weeks and some pretty words couldn’t change that.

Seven reached out quickly and grabbed the sobbing woman’s arm as she tried to escape to the rear of the shuttle craft and drew her into a crushing embrace. She stroked the velvety sable hair and tried to convey all she felt with the simple touch. When she felt the trembling begin to subside the blonde pulled back and took the engineer’s tear swollen face in her hands and wiped the last traces of tears away. “B’Elanna bangwI, I do not wish for you to leave our quarters. I do not wish to change the nature of our relationship at this time because I believe it would be a mistake for both of us. I merely think we should take time to adjust before we add new variables.”

A huge smile split B’Elanna’s dusky rose-kissed lips. “So what you’re saying is you want to take it slow? We live together and date until we decide we’re ready to get married? ”

The implant above Seven’s eye rose at the sudden transformation in her companion. Leaning forward she brushed B’Elanna’s mouth in a chaste kiss that promised more than simple passion to come, it spoke of an eternity of devotion and love.

The Klingon responded by holding the ex-drone close to her body pouring her soul into the embrace. She had found nirvana by being enfolded in two strong arms and the touch of a pair of petal-soft lips. B’Elanna looked up and fell into Seven’s liquid sapphire eyes losing herself in their depths. She hung there for a lifetime when she was ripped out of paradise by the piercing wail of the computer.

‘Voyager to shuttle. B’Elanna, Seven come in.’

The hybrid rested her head on the former Borg’s broad shoulder. She needed just one more moment of contact before they were thrust into debriefings and medical examinations. B’Elanna allowed the moment to end as she sighed and responded to the hail, “Torres here Captain. We’re fine ma’am and ready to come in out of the cold.”

‘Glad to hear it Lieutenant. The alien weapon has been purged from the ship so as soon as we are within range I’m going to have both of you beamed directly to sickbay. We’ll guide the shuttle in from here and I will meet you in sick bay.’

“Understood Captain we’ll be ready, “B’Elanna answered pulling a face. She knew they would have to go see the doctor sooner or later but she had been hoping for a little later.

‘Good, I’m looking forward to your debriefing. Voyager out.’

B’Elanna groaned and leaned heavily on the tall blonde. “I am in so much trouble. I wonder if the captain will just throw me in the brig, or under it?”

Seven held the smaller woman close enjoying the feel of her compact body against her. She spoke softly as she tried to reassure B’Elanna. “I do not believe that under the circumstances the captain will feel compelled to punish you. Perhaps she just wishes to make you ‘squirm’?”

The engineer chuckled against the shoulder she was nestled in grateful for the former Borg’s strength and dry wit. B’Elanna couldn’t believe that not so long ago Seven was driving her crazy and now she was the only thing keeping her sane. As the familiar tingle of the transporter beam swept through her body the brunette crushed the blonde to her and held on tight as they faded out.

****
B’Elanna’s head spun for a moment as the transporter buffer pulled her scattered molecules back into a cohesive pattern. After everything she had just gone through with the J’kozyn her body had decided it had had enough and chose dizziness as its rebellion. Luckily Seven was with her to steady her and when the engineer saw the look on the captain’s face she was doubly glad for the support. It wasn’t that the red-head looked particularly angry at her, it was more the impish smile that spread slowly across her face that had B’Elanna worried. It was smile that would make the devil’s blood run cold. She wanted to start trying to explain her actions to the captain and maybe stave off the worst of the chewing out she was going to receive but the red-headed spitfire cut her off with a wave of her hand.

“Excuses can wait until after the Doctor has examined you both.” Kathryn was already enjoying the look of concern on the Klingon’s face. She had allowed the young woman much too much leeway and it was high time she reigned both B’Elanna and Seven in a notch or two. She turned her attention to the doctor and nodded at him in a silent command to begin and then stood back and watched.

It only took the EMH fifteen minutes to clear Seven as fit before he started on B’Elanna’s exam. She tried to keep the annoyance off her face as he clucked over her and ran every test he could think of and a few she was sure he had made up. When the physical had been drawn out to over half an hour, twice as long as the ex-drone’s, the fiery engineer had had enough, “All right that’s it, you are through poking and prodding me. Just say I’m fine so I can get to the brig!”

The photonic physician shook his head and chuckled softly to himself, he was happier than he could say. It seemed that the old B’Elanna was back and wasn’t afraid to show it. “Well you do have slightly elevated levels of dopamine, epinephrine and noradrenaline but I’m not really worried about that. They look like they are already returning too normal on their own. You’ve lost a little weight since I was last allowed to examine you but I trust that trend won’t be continuing. Other than that you are in perfect health.”

The hybrid weathered the doctor’s indignant glare with only the smallest hint of remorse. She knew she had lost weight even though Seven had been force feeding her. “Well I haven’t had much of an appetite lately but it’s coming back. So you don’t have worry about it, I’ll be back up to fighting weight in no time.”

“Well now that we’ve established that both of you are fine and in no immediate danger I’d like to know what happened after you disobeyed a direct order, stole my shuttle and went AWOL. By the way those three are just off the top of my head, I’m sure I could think of a few more charges given a little time.” Janeway had spent every second the two young women were their own worrying about them. Now that she could see for herself that they were fine the captain let go of her concern and let sharp fear she had felt fuel her anger.

B’Elanna winced at the incensed tone in her commanding officer’s voice but it was the hurt look on the older woman’s face that got to her the most. She had screwed up and now she had to pay the piper. She just hoped her relationship with Janeway wasn’t irreparably damaged. “Captain I’m really sorry. I wasn’t thinking about you or Voyager or the crew, I was only thinking about Seven and myself. I was frightened out of my mind that she was going to die and that I would be completely alone. I know it doesn’t excuse my actions and I’ll accept whatever punishment you decide on.”

Kathryn let her gaze soften just a bit at the heartfelt admission because god only knew if she had been in the engineer’s shoes for the last couple of months that she might have done the same thing. “We’ll worry about that in a minute. First I want to know what happened after you left and how you managed to convince the J’kozyn to let you go.”

B’Elanna resisted the urge to smile as she felt a warm hand press into her lower back silently offering support. She pulled herself up straight and looked her captain in the eye as she began her report. “The first thing I did was to head toward….

…..and then you arrived and beamed us back on board,” B’Elanna finished in a rush. She knew she would probably be in a lot more trouble now that Janeway knew the full scope of her transgressions. She had leaned back into the ex-drone soon after she began her tale, needing a little support as she laid her head on the chopping block. Now the Klingon stood straight as the short red head began pacing and waited for the axe to fall.

Kathryn was upset that one of her senior officers had allowed such a large breach of security but she was also a bit disappointed that she hadn’t been there. One of the privileges of being a captain was first contact and from the way B’Elanna had described them the J’kozyn were a very remarkable race. “Telepathic and telekinetic, amazing. You’re sure they didn’t find your command codes?”

The hybrid had to force herself not to roll her eyes. “I don’t think so ma’am. But even if they did we can change them. Plus they only seemed to be interested in how I beat their mechanical contagion and how Seven was severed from the Borg. Besides they don’t need our codes they could have taken us down anytime they wanted. You said it yourself, we had no way to defend ourselves against them if they want to destroy us. I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again though.”

Janeway thought about what her lieutenant had said for moment. It was true that the J’kozyn could have simply ‘run’ over them without inflicting any substantial damage to themselves, but she wasn’t clear on how her chief engineer could be so sure. “Did you pick up something during the your connection?”

Torres shook her head as she answered. “I’ve only had a couple of experiences with telepathy and I’m not a Betazoid No, it was something T’mryn said right before they left. It gave me the impression that they were going after the Borg…to rescue them.”

The captain knew she looked shell-shocked but the statement seemed so ludicrous that it made her jaw drop. Kathryn schooled her features back to her usual command mask as quickly as she could before asking for clarification. “Why would the J’kozyn rescue their sworn enemies and whom would they rescue them from?”

B’Elanna knew her explanation was going to sound a little crazy but she was positive that her hunch was correct. “I think they went to rescue the Borg…from the Borg. He/she/it, whatever was really interested in how exactly Seven was severed from the collective and how she had regained her individuality. Then there was the comment T’mryn made that their weapon was going to be redesigned and that the J’kozyn had a new purpose. It just struck me that they were going to try to defeat the Borg by saving them.”

Seven believed the Klingon had made another of her brilliant leaps of intuition and made complete sense to her. “I agree with B’Elanna’s assessment. It is the most likely scenario that can be extrapolated from the data available and from what is known of nature of Species 296. The memories from the J’kozyn that were assimilated showed that they were a very honorable people. They had achieved peace among their people a thousand years before they encountered the Borg. They were non-aggressive towards other races preferring to retreat from a confrontation rather than take life. They only became hostile after the Collective caused them such horrific agony.

The J’kozyn are a telepathic race and such an intense incident would have been transmitted to the survivors. Those survivors would have then shared it with others until it was engrained in every being’s mind. It has most likely been passed on to each new generation and they have felt everything that those who were assimilated felt. I believe that trauma inflicted on the entire species would drive them to attempt such an endeavor as severing the entire Borg Collective from the hive mind.”

Janeway was having trouble taking in this new twist but she trusted the two women’s judgment. If they believed that was what the J’kozyn were going to do then she was inclined to go along with their theory. “Well then all we can do is wish them luck. If they succeed then they will have neutralized the most insidious threat in this or any quadrant.”

The captain crossed her arms over her chest as she let the subject drop. She knew that there wasn’t anything else they could do about the J’kozyn situation and she still had to dispense her lieutenant’s punishment. “Now Lt. Torres, about stealing my shuttle and disobeying orders. These are some very serious charges and normally I should throw you in the brig until you could be court-martialed. However I understand that there were extenuating circumstances although it does not excuse your behavior. So for punishment I am taking away you replicator rations and holo-deck privileges for the next three months. I also want you back in engineering within the week. You will be confined to quarters when you are not on duty meaning you will report to your duty station, take your scheduled breaks, eat lunch in the mess hall and then return to your quarters after your shift. You will not overwork yourself. You will not begin one minute before or stay one minute past the end of your shift. Your staff can and will handle the bulk of the work as you ease back into the routine. And if you ever pull a stunt like this again you will make the rest of the trip home in the brig. Understood?”

B’Elanna was flabbergasted. Not only was she getting off extremely lightly but the captain seemed to telling her that she was still the Chief Engineer. At first all she could do was nod. It took her a moment to find her voice to answer and when she did it was a little shaky. “Yes Captain I understand. I’m sorry it won’t happen again.”

Kathryn finally allowed her joy at having Seven and B’Elanna back on board and in one piece show through in the smile she turned on them as she stepped toward the door. “Good. I trust that it won’t.”

“And Captain, thank you,” B’Elanna called out before the older woman could disappear down the corridor. She saw the red head nod just as the doors closed cutting off her view of her commanding officer.

The hybrid turned to face Seven and wrapped her arms around the tall ex-drone’s neck leaning against her in relief. “I can’t believe she let me off that easy.”

“I believe that the correct colloquialism is ‘I told you so’,” Seven informed the Klingon with amusement coloring her voice.

B’Elanna backed away from the warm embrace. She reached up and pulled the drone’s head down to her own brushing her lips softly against Seven’s in a gentle kiss of pure devotion. “Yes you did and I’m glad you were right. Now let’s go home.”

Seven could only nod. Her voice had been stolen by the simple words. As she took B’Elanna’s hand and walked out of sick bay she felt that she finally understood the true meaning of the word. She had found a home in the arms of a loud, temperamental, volatile, fiery, beautiful brilliant half-Klingon woman. Now that she knew that she had found her Omega, Seven couldn’t wait to get back to their quarters to show her love her vision of perfection.

The End.