Inesperada Madre – 2

Warning:  This story deals with an unexplained pregnancy, but it WILL NOT be a rape fic.

Don’t own ‘em, don’t own anything, don’t sue me.

Thanks to RebelGirl for her awesome betaing skills.  Anything that’s still screwed up is completely me fault for not taking her advise.






For the second time in an hour B’Elanna woke up in sick bay completely disoriented.  The first thing she could make out as the room swam into focus was the worried faces of the doctor and the captain.  “What are you two doing in my quarters?  What’s going on?”

Janeway glanced sideways at the Doctor, eyebrow raised in silent question.  The hologram merely nodded at her, urging her to answer.  The captain swallowed a heavy sigh and returned her attention to the young woman lying on the floor.  “We’re not in your quarters B’Elanna, we’re in sickbay.  Do you remember anything that happened this morning?”

The hybrid concentrated hard, trying to recall the events that had led up to her waking up on the floor.  At first all that she remembered were small bits and pieces; being horribly sick, sipping tea, the captain holding her as she sobbed.  Then everything rushed back like a flash flood and B’Elanna gasped, “I’m pregnant and Seven is the father.”

Tuvok’s eyebrow nearly crawled off his head at the strangled statement.  He had stayed in the Doctor’s office while the EMH had performed the test and had only come out when the Klingon had risen from the bio-bed and then collapsed.  As a Vulcan, Tuvok had tight control over his emotions but even so it took him a few seconds to squash the surprise that shot through his ordered mind.  Preferring to distance himself from any other emotional displays, the tall officer left the lieutenant’s care to the Doctor and captain and went to examine the results of the exam.

The security chief carefully studied the information the computer had compiled.  He judged that although the conclusion was puzzling he could find no fault with the results.  The tests had now told him who was responsible for the engineer’s condition but they could not tell him how or why.  For that he needed to speak to the other person involved.  Tapping his comm-badge calmly he called the ex-drone.  “Tuvok to Seven of Nine.  Please report to sick bay immediately.”

‘Commander Tuvok, I am unable to comply at this time.  I am currently running several scans that require my attention.  I will report as soon as they are completed.’

Janeway was suddenly seeing red at the dismissive tone in Seven’s voice and she was more angry with the young woman than she could ever remember being before.  She hit her own comm.-badge so hard she would later discover a small dark bruise where it lay against her chest.  “Janeway to Seven.  I don’t give a damn what you’re doing.  Get down here now.  That’s an order.”

The captain cut the channel before the blonde could answer and turned to help B’Elanna up off the floor.  She led the Klingon back to the bio-bed she had been on earlier and made her lie back down.  Kathryn could see that the young woman was in shock and she wanted her prone in case she passed out again.  She was trying to focus on her friend instead of her fury at the ex-Borg and how betrayed she felt.  Janeway would have never thought in a million years Seven could do something like this.  She thought she knew the former drone better than that.  

B’Elanna wasn’t as shocked as the captain thought she was.  Rather, her mind was racing so fast that it had effectively shut out the rest of the world for the moment.  Something about the entire situation felt very wrong, aside from the fact that she was pregnant with Seven’s child.  That fact had startled her at first because, although parthenogenesis wasn’t unheard of, it was a complicated and time-consuming procedure.  Since she didn’t have any gaps in her memory that would seem to discount that method.  

That still left the alien theory.  Maybe some cosmic practical joker had decided that it would be funny to impregnate her and then study her reaction.  It wouldn’t be the first time the crew had be made into lab rats.  Of course the first alien comedian that came to mind was Q.  But she quickly discounted that omnipotent pain in the ass.  If he was responsible B’Elanna was sure he would be there already, gloating.   That left Seven herself, and the hybrid just couldn’t bring herself to believe that the ex-drone would do something like this, she had no reason to.  Besides, even though they still didn’t get along they had learned to tolerate each other for short periods of time and things had been less strained between them for the last couple of months.

While considering the former Borg a sudden thought nearly brought her off the examination table. “Doctor I’m not going to be assimilated from the inside out, am I?”

The EMH had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that the question caught him by surprise. He had been closely studying the DNA profile of the lieutenant’s child, trying to find some clue as to how the feat had been accomplished.  So far he had found nothing to indicate anything out of the ordinary besides the parentage. “No there is no sign of nanoprobes in the amniotic sample I took.  It’s only Seven’s genetic material that’s been used.”

B’Elanna was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the doors to sickbay opened and the subject of their discussion walked in, in all her arrogant glory.  The Klingon took the few seconds before pandemonium broke out to observe the tall blonde.  She saw Seven’s brilliant blue eyes widen slightly as she took in those that were gathered.  She was certain the ex-drone was surprised to see her there although she covered it quickly.  Before she had a chance to see anything else though the captain leapt into her interrogation.

As soon as Seven stepped into the room, Janeway had to struggle to keep her rage in check.  She took several deep breaths before she felt able to confront the ex-Borg without screaming at her.  She faced the taller woman and gestured to the console behind her.  “Seven would you care to explain this?”

Seven had been in an extreme state of confusion ever since she had received the brusque message from the captain.  Her self-appointed mentor had never before spoken to her is such a harsh manner and the ex-drone could think of no reason why she would do so now.  She had been following orders lately and had avoided confrontations with other members of the crew, even B’Elanna.  In fact the blonde had believed that her behavior had been exemplary and was now wondering if she had inadvertently made some sort of social error that she had been unaware of.

So it was with a disconcerting sense of trepidation that Seven entered sickbay.  She had expected to see Tuvok and the captain as they had ordered her here and the Doctor’s presence was customary as it was his domain.  It was the fact that B’Elanna Torres was there, out of uniform and on a bio-bed that gave her pause.  The former drone wanted to know why the lieutenant was there and what it had to do with her.  She was about to voice the question when Janeway’s harsh voice brought her focus immediately back to the diminutive redhead.

Seven immediately stalked to the computer console anxious to find out what had the captain acting so strangely.  She quickly scanned the information on the screen and for the first time in her short existence as an individual the statuesque blonde felt her jaw drop in surprise.  Her head snapped up and shocked azure eyes locked with haunted brown for a split second before returning to the readout only to repeat the action several more times.

Seven stepped away from the offending machine trying to distance herself from the stark reality displayed so innocuously.  She shook her head as she turned to Janeway. “This can not be true, it is impossible.  Someone is perhaps playing a ‘joke’.”

Kathryn began to pace trying to control the sudden urge to strike the ex-drone.  She had never before wanted to hit Seven even at her most infuriating and and the violent impulse alarmed her slightly.  The captain took several deep breaths before she felt in control enough to address the younger woman. “Do you mean to tell me that you know nothing about this?  I find that completely unacceptable.  I want to how and more importantly why you did this Seven.  I know you and B’Elanna don’t get along but I never dreamed that you would violate her in this manner.”

Seven was stunned.  The same woman who had wrested her away from the Borg, encouraged her, mentored her in her journey to becoming an individual and had become like a surrogate parent was now accusing her of a heinous crime.  “I assure you Captain, I had nothing to do with this.  I do not know how this could have happened but I can tell you I am not responsible.”

Janeway found she wasn’t willing to listen to the ex-drone’s denials.  She felt utterly betrayed by the blonde’s actions and she needed time to figure out how to not only deal with the crime but with the woman that had perpetrated it.  “I wish I could believe you but the evidence is there on the screen.  You are the parent of that child.  Tuvok, please take Seven into custody.  I want her in the brig until formal charges can be filed.”

B’Elanna couldn’t believe her ears.  She had never seen the stoic woman act this way before and she felt she had to put a stop to it before it when too far.  “Wait.  Captain you can’t really think Seven did this, because I don’t.  I think she’s as much a victim here as I am.  Someone must have stolen her DNA and then used it to create this…this child.  Besides, we haven’t been alone together in more than a month and this is something that would take time to do.  Right Doctor?”

The EMH had been as surprised as the two young women by the captain’s behavior.  He didn’t think the former Borg had had anything to do with the lieutenant’s pregnancy anymore than B’Elanna did and he wanted to clear her name.  “Quite right.  Acquiring Seven’s DNA could have been done at any time.  All someone would need is a single hair with a live follicle.  Harvesting an egg however is a time consuming procedure that requires very specialized equipment, extensive medical training and a secure place to do it.  Then combining the two women’s genetic material to create a fertilized egg has its own unique set of problems and requires a fully supplied lab.  Then the egg had to be implanted into Lieutenant Torres.  It would also have to be done by someone with a medical degree.  I don’t believe Seven could have done it Captain.”

Kathryn truly didn’t want Seven to be responsible for this but her gut feeling was telling her that she was.  The captain looked to the Vulcan, hoping that he back her up. “What do you say Tuvok?  You’re in charge of security.  Do you think Seven should be thrown in the brig or allowed to remain free until the investigation is concluded?”

Tuvok knew what the captain wanted but he could not give it to her.  The fact that Seven was irrefutably the mother of B’Elanna’s baby was not evidence that she had had an active role in its creation.  “At this time we have no way of knowing if Seven of Nine is the attacker or another victim.  Without such evidence by Federation law she of cannot be held unless B’Elanna Torres chooses to press charges against her.  Lieutenant do you wish to have Seven charged at this time?”

B’Elanna shook her head emphatically.  She wasn’t sure why the captain was acting so bizarrely, Janeway was usually the first one to leap to Seven’s defense.  She was certain though that the blonde had nothing to do with it and she didn’t want her to suffer for their commanding officer’s irrational reaction, “No, I don’t.”

Janeway knew she had lost this round.  She would acquiesce to B’Elanna’s wishes for the time being.  She didn’t want to upset the engineer any more than she had been today.  Once she was proven right the captain would personally throw the ex-drone in the brig. “Fine, but I am gong to restrict your movements.” Kathryn quickly held up her hand to silence the objections she could see the others were about to voice.  “No this is my prerogative and I’m taking no arguments.  Seven you are restricted to cargo bay 2 when you’re not on duty in astrometrics.  Is that clear?”

Seven stood ramrod straight in front of the captain and looked her fully in the eye when she answered, “Crystal clear, Captain.”

B’Elanna had had enough.  She had received the shock of her life and the high emotions running through the room had tired her beyond belief.  All she wanted to do now was get out of the room.  “Doc get me my clothes.  I need to get back to Engineering.”

“Oh no you don’t.  You will take the next two days off to rest.  You’ve received an incredible shock not to mention fainting twice.  I want you to go back to you’re quarters and sleep.  Give yourself time to adjust.”  The EMH was adamant.  He didn’t want her putting anymore stress on her body today and if he had to lock her in her room he was prepared to do it.

B’Elanna had no intention of being away form her engines for two days.  She had already fallen behind in the time she had been in sickbay and she didn’t even want to think about what would be waiting for her if she was out that long.  “Oh no, I’ve got a department run.  I feel fine now and if the nausea comes back I’ll come back for another injection of whatever you gave me before.  And Klingon’s don’t faint.”

The doctor shook his head.  B’Elanna was his most stubborn patient.  She was constantly ignoring his advice and it was a constant struggle to get her to rest when she was injured.  “Klingons may not faint but pregnant Human/Klingon hybrids under too much stress do.  You will either rest for two days in your quarters or you will do it here.  Your choice.  Look at it this way, it will give you the time you need to decide what you want to do.”

Janeway added her voice to that of the Doctor’s; her concern for the engineer overriding her suspicion of the astrometrics officer.  “He’s right B’Elanna.  Go home and I’ll come by a later to check on you.”

Faced with both the EMH and the captain B’Elanna knew she was outnumbered and there was no chance she was going to get back to engineering today.  “Fine, I’ll go back to my quarters.  Just get me my clothes.”

The Doctor retrieved the hybrid’s clothes and she went to change.  Kathryn’s eyes narrowed as she observed the ex-Borg following B’Elanna’s movements.  She didn’t like the way the blonde was looking at the Klingon.  “Seven return to duty.  As soon as your shift is over I want you to report directly to cargo bay 2.  You’re not to leave for any reason barring an emergency.  Dismissed.”

Seven had watched B’Elanna walk away in complete awe.  If someone had told her yesterday that the volatile engineer would be defending her to the captain she would have had the doctor examine them for serious head injuries.  The ex-drone wanted to speak to the dark woman and ask her why but the captain ordered her out.  Instead of answering or even acknowledging Janeway, Seven turned sharply on her heel and left the room.  

As soon as the door closed the captain turned on her security chief.  She was extremely disappointed that he hadn’t supported her.  Kathryn knew that they were going to have to move fast to find the evidence she knew had to be there to convict the ex-drone.  “Tuvok I want you to start an investigation immediately.  The doctor said B’Elanna is three weeks pregnant so start a week before and go a week after that date.  I want you to scrutinize every minute of every internal sensor log.  Track Seven’s movements and find out how and where this happened.”

B’Elanna saw Seven walk out the door just as she was pulling on her uniform jacket and rushed to catch up with her.  She heard the captain’s tirade and decided to slip out while the woman was too occupied to notice her.  The hybrid was grateful for Janeway’s support and understanding but she didn’t know what had come over her as far as the tall blonde was concerned.  Kathryn had always been the former Borg’s staunchest supporter.  It was almost as confusing as the pregnancy itself.

She hurried out the door as the captain was issuing more orders to the Vulcan and rushed down the corridor in an effort to catch up to the drone.  As B’Elanna rounded the corner that led to the turbolift she saw the object of her pursuit standing stiffly in the hall.  As she drew closer, the tall blonde turned and resumed her journey to the lift.  They entered it together but both seemed reluctant to speak except to give a destination.

B’Elanna could tell Seven wanted to talk to her since she had obviously been waiting for her.  The Klingon even thought she caught the other woman throwing nervous glances her direction but she couldn’t quite catch her eye.  The hybrid didn’t know exactly what she wanted to say to ex-drone but she felt the need to say something as the tension was starting to get on her nerves.

B’Elanna turned to her companion and opened her mouth only to shut it again when nothing would come out.  She took a deep breath while internally berating herself and tried again.  “Seven, I’m sorry for the way she treated you.  I don’t know what the hell she’s thinking.”

Seven couldn’t seem to look B’Elanna in the eye and she wasn’t sure why.  She knew she had had nothing to due with the hybrid’s condition but the knowledge didn’t seem to stem the guilt she felt.  She knew it was illogical but felt that the Janeway’s judgment of her somehow made her culpable.  The former drone was grateful for the Klingon’s defense though she wished she didn’t need it.  “Thank you Lieutenant.  I assure I had nothing to do with this crime and I am sure Mr. Tuvok’s investigation will exonerate me.  Although somehow I do not believe that Captain Janeway will accept his conclusions.  She seems intent on persecuting me.”

The door to the turbolift opened as it came to halt on deck eight.  Seven was surprised when B’Elanna exited alongside of her. She had assumed the engineer would continue her journey to her quarters.  

B’Elanna remained silent until they entered Astrometrics and she made sure the room was empty.  The Klingon didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation and start the rumor mill into overdrive.  Once she was sure they were alone Torres forced herself to speak even though she was extremely uncomfortable discussing the situation.  “Look Seven, I know I’ve accused you of a lot of horrible things including trying to assimilate the ship.  I was wrong.  I know that now and I apologize.  I know you didn’t do this, that you wouldn’t but I need to know that you’re not going to say anything about this to anyone.”

Seven wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact that B’Elanna was carrying her child.  There was a jumbled mass of conflicting emotions that the ex-drone wasn’t ready to try to unravel.  “Then you do not plan to keep the child?”

“I don’t know Seven.  At this point I have no idea what I want to do or should do.  To tell you the truth I wanted to terminate almost from the moment I found out but now I just don’t know.  I told Janeway I would think about so I will. All I ask is that you don’t say anything until I’ve made a decision.”  B’Elanna knew she sounded desperate but she needed to know that she was going to have the time to think about it properly.  She didn’t think she could do that with people dropping in and asking questions or offering advice.

“I give you my word Lieutenant, no one shall learn of this from me.”  Seven knew that her assurance was simply for the Klingon’s state of mind.  She had never engaged in idle gossip and indeed had never wanted to.  She could not understand the crew’s need to discuss each other’s personal lives.

B’Elanna nodded as relief washed over her.  She didn’t really think Seven would tell anyone but for a reason she couldn’t quiet fathom, she needed to hear the blonde say it. Now that she had the ex-drone’s promise, exhaustion slammed into her as the day’s trauma’s caught up with her.  “Thank you Seven.  Now I think I’m going to lay down for awhile.  I’ll see you later.”

As Seven watched B’Elanna stumble out of Astrometrics, she felt a sudden overwhelmingly fierce urge to protect the engineer.  She made a vow to herself to support the caramel-skinned woman no matter what choice she made.  

******
 
The captain  returned to her ready-room after giving her security chief the last of her instructions.  Replicating a hot cup of coffee Kathryn sat wearily behind her desk trying to decide how to record the day’s events in the logs.  On one hand B’Elanna’s privacy had to be protected but on the other Seven’s crime had to be documented.  

Janeway couldn’t have been more disappointed in Seven.  She had taken a huge chance when she had severed the blonde from the Collective.  The captain had taken the young woman under her wing, offered her guidance and mentored her quest for individuality.  She had felt that Seven was making tremendous strides and forging inroads with the crew until now.  True, there had been bumps along the way but all in all progress had been made.

The captain’s greatest source of frustration with Seven had been her inability to get along with B’Elanna.  The two were constantly butting heads and ending up in her ready-room where she had to mediate a temporary ceasefire.  Admittedly the Klingon’s temper had a lot to do with it but the ex-Borg exacerbated the problem by choosing to ignore protocol.  

Kathryn had hoped that with time the two would learn to at least tolerate each other.  Even if they never became friends she had wanted the young hotheads to be able to work together without it turning into a bloodbath.  The captain just didn’t understand how it had come to this, what had pushed Seven over the edge.  She was afraid she never would.  

The redhead decided to wait to enter an official log until they had the evidence needed to convict the former drone.  It was getting close to lunch time and with all the excitement she was sure the fiery engineer hadn’t eaten.  Janeway put her cup into the recycler and left her office, heading for the turbolift and ultimately the crew quarters.  

She nodded to her first officer as strode to the lift door.  “Chakotay I’m going to lunch.  You have the bridge.”

It was only a few minutes before the captain reached her destination and was pressing the door chime requesting entrance into her chief engineer’s quarters.  It took so long for the hybrid to answer that Kathryn was beginning to think that she had disobeyed orders and gone back to work.  As she was about to ask the computer the lieutenant’s location a disheveled B’Elanna opened the door.

The Klingon ran a hand through her mussed hair as she stood in her doorway trying not to growl at the intruder.  “Captain, what are you doing here?”  

Janeway felt embarrassment color her cheeks when she realized she had woken the hybrid.  “I’m sorry B’Elanna I didn’t mean to disturb you.  I stopped by to see if you wanted to have lunch.  If you’re not up to going to the mess hall and trying to identify Neelix’s special I can replicate something, my treat.”

The engineer stepped back silently inviting her commanding officer in.  She wasn’t sure how she felt about the redhead dropping in after the strange display in sickbay but B’Elanna owed her a lot for everything she had done for her.  So she was willing to overlook her treatment of Seven, for the time being.  “As long as we make it something light.  Even with the Doc’s miracle drug for nausea I don’t think I can handle anything heavy.”

Janeway breezed into the small quarters and headed straight to the replicator.  She quickly punched in her selections and watched two bowls of potato soup shimmer into existence on the platform.  The redhead carefully picked up the hot containers and hurried to the small table.  “This should be bland enough for you and still put some much needed nourishment into your body.”

B’Elanna took her seat and stared balefully at the food for a moment trying to gauge what her body’s reaction was going to be.  She steeled herself and took a tentative taste and waited a second for it to settle.  When the thick soup hit her stomach the Klingon’s appetite kicked into overdrive and before she knew it the bowl was empty and Janeway was staring at her with a slight smile on her face. “Captain, I am so sorry.  I didn’t realize how hungry I was.“

Janeway waved a hand in dismissal.  It was gratifying to her to see the hybrid wolfing down the simple meal as she had so obviously needed it.  It also helped to alleviate the small amount of guilt she felt for disturbing the woman’s rest.  “It’s all right B’Elanna, don’t worry about it.  And I thought we had agreed that you were going to call me Kathryn when we’re not on duty.”

B’Elanna was having trouble reconciling this image of a calm companionate woman with the angry condemning one from that morning.  She suddenly felt the need to defend the former drone once more and try to get the captain to realize that she had overreacted. “Cap…Kathryn I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me, not only today but for the last three months.  I probably would have been spending the rest of the trip home in the brig if it hadn’t been for you.”

As the Klingon paused for a breath Janeway took her hand and used the opportunity to interrupt.  “B’Elanna you know that I would do anything in my power for you if you needed it.  I care a great deal about you and value our friendship.  I really enjoy our conversations and have actually come to depend on them to help me stay grounded.”

The hybrid felt warmed by the older woman’s frank declarations but it didn’t change the fact that she felt the captain had treated the blonde dishonorably and she needed to know why.  “Thank you.  I appreciate that and I want you to know I feel the same way.  There’s just one thing that bothers me.  Today in sickbay you were really hard on Seven.  I don’t know how you can believe that she would do this when even I don’t.”

Janeway sighed, she would have thought the engineer of all people would understand.  “B’Elanna I realized that I had been blind these last three years and I’m sorry that it took something like this to open my eyes.  Most of the crew you included, have warned me over and over that she couldn’t be trusted.  I allowed myself to believe that she had accepted her severance from the Collective but the opposite was true.  Seven has obviously been harboring massive amounts of resentment for me, you and perhaps the entire human race.  I don’t want you to worry about anything.  As soon as Tuvok finds his evidence we’ll hold a trial and find her guilty.  She will never be able to hurt you again.”

tbc